CHENGDU - Chinese panda researchers plan to release two giant pandas into the wild later this month under a program to help rebuild the wild panda population.

China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Southwest China's Sichuan Province said the captive-bred pair, a male and a female, have received two years of training in Wolong to survive in the wild.

Ba Xi, the male panda, was born on July 26, 2015, and Ying Xue is just 14 days older than Ba Xi.

Researchers at a meeting organized by the State Forestry Bureau earlier this month agreed that the pair are in good health and have developed the ability to live in the wild independently.

They will be the second panda pair released into the wild.

In October last year, three-year-old Hua Yan and two-year-old Zhang Meng, bred in captivity, were released to the Liziping Nature Reserve in Sichuan.

Researchers have decided that the second pair will also be released to the Liziping Nature Reserve.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature reclassified the giant panda species as "vulnerable" rather than "endangered" last year, thanks to decades of protection efforts.

According to the China giant panda breeding technology committee, the population of captive giant pandas has reached 520 worldwide.

However, the captive stock lacks genetic diversity. China has planned to improve the wild panda population by creating giant panda national parks, releasing more pandas into the wild, and furthering scientific research.
WILLISTON -- A suspected member of a notorious international criminal gang has been arrested in Williston and is being held at the Grand Forks County jail.

Border Patrol agents from the Grand Forks Sector of U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested 39-year-old Concepcion Carcamo-Portillo at 7 p.m. Wednesday, spokesman Kristoffer Grogan confirmed. Numerous tips from concerned citizens led officers to the El Salvador national, Grogan said.

Investigators determined the man was in the U.S. illegally and is an alleged member of Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the El Salvador-based international criminal organization MS-13.

Carcamo-Portillo was booked Thursday evening into the Grand Forks County Correctional Center.

This arrest is a testament to our cooperation with our (Department of Homeland Security) partners to disrupt one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in the United States, Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke, commander of the Grand Forks sector, said in a statement. This arrest is the direct result from of information passed from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and a call from a concerned citizen.

The DHS and U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the U.S. and in El Salvador arrested 267 suspected MS-13 members in an effort to crack down on the gang, according to a news release. The arrests were part of Operation Raging Bull and led to arrests in September, October and through Nov. 11, the release said.

Multiple agencies, including Border Patrol and CBP, collaborated in and provided support for the operation.

Carcamo-Portillos capture was not part of the operation, Grogan said, adding the Williston arrest was an isolated incident. Officers are investigating his suspected role in the gang.

Its unclear if there are other members of MS-13 in the Williston area or in North Dakota, but Grogan said there is no reason to believe the public is in danger. He encouraged anyone who sees suspicious behavior to contact Border Patrol at (800) 982-4077.
Representatives of outdoor recreation and conservation groups see both potential and peril in a new advisory committee being created by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke.

The former Navy SEAL and congressman from Montana, who was appointed by President Donald Trump to lead the department that oversees agencies like the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is creating a Made in America recreation advisory committee.

According to a news release, the goal of the committee is to expand access and improve infrastructure on public land and waterways by harnessing innovation of the private sector.

The spirit of American innovation and ingenuity is what built our country, and the Interior Department wants that same spirit and energy to resonate within the realm of outdoor recreation on our public lands, Zinke said in the release. By forming this committee, I look forward to hearing from the best and the brightest in our private sector on how to improve the public experience on our federal lands and waters by expanding access for all Americans. We already have thousands of private partners who operate on federal lands. Whether its the iconic Jammers in Glacier National Park, the historic El Tovar lodge at the Grand Canyon, or the kayaks that you can rent on the Potomac River, American workers are at the heart of helping American families experience our great outdoors.

The release included enthusiastic comments from two Republican members of Congress who identify themselves as fans of recreational vehicles.

Americas abundance and beauty is something to be both preserved and admired, said Rep. Dennis A. Ross, R-Fla. As an RV enthusiast, I have been able to experience firsthand the glorious landscape of our great nation, and am thankful for those American entrepreneurs and innovators who think of new ways to experience what our country has to offer. I hope that with their guidance, more Americans will be able to witness the vast bounty of our land, from sea to shining sea.

Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., said her district is the RV capital of the world.

Im pleased Secretary Zinke is launching the Made in America Recreation Advisory Committee to help achieve the important goals of increasing access to our nations public lands, boosting investment in outdoor tourism, and building more American-made products like RVs and boats.

Committee members will be chosen for the diverse backgrounds in outdoor industries, according to the news release.

Paul Sanford, national director of recreation policy for the Wilderness Society at Washington, D.C., said he doesnt object to the committee, but doesnt want it to be overpopulated with people who represent recreational vehicles and motorized recreation.

I hope it will be an inclusive group that also involves human-powered recreation, which is a significant part of the user community, Sanford said. Its not just RVers. The human-powered recreation community deserves a seat at the table as well.

Sanford said there is room for private-public partnerships when it comes to managing public land, and pointed to the Youth Conservation Corps as an example of non-governmental groups helping agencies with work backlogs, such as trail maintenance. But he is also leery of any attempts to lean too far in the direction of commercialization of public lands or steep user fees. Zinke has separately proposed dramatically raising entrance fees at some national parks.

We get nervous when we see excessive privatization of public land and transformation of public land into private enterprises that can price people out of them, he said. That is when we start to push back.

Sandra Mitchell of the Idaho Recreation Council embraced the idea and said the committee could help ensure all user groups, both motorized and non-motorized, are treated equally.

This will bring people who are out in the field to the table and bring their experiences to share and discuss. I think it will make for better management.

Her group has advocated against rules and regulations that restrict motorized access to federal land and said all-terrain vehicle riders, snowmobilers and motorcyclists often get blamed for having a greater impact than hikers and bikers.

We need a level playing field that will manage for better management, she said.

Grant Simonds, government affairs liaison for the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association at Boise, said there are a number of issues the committee could address. For example, he said outfitters are excluded from operating on some BLM wilderness study areas in southern Idaho, even though they can operate in areas that have been designated wilderness.

If this committee were to take up an issue like that, that would conceivably increase outfitted access on lands, he said.

Simonds also said he would welcome the group working on trail maintenance issues.

According to the news release, the committee will make recommendations on policies and programs that expand or improve recreational infrastructure through public-private partnerships, implement sustainable operations embracing fair, efficient and convenient fee collection and strategic use of fees, improved interpretation and creating tools to help Americans discover their lands and waters.

Nominations to the committee can be submitted to Terry Austin, associate director for business services, National Park Service, Office of Business Services, 1849 C St. N.W., MS 2717, Washington, D.C. 20240; or via email at teresa_austin@nps.gov.
University of Wyoming students will pay more in fees starting next year to help fund advising and other services at the school.

The universitys Board of Trustees approved the program fee increase Thursday. The new fees will have an average cost of about $450 per student each school year and are expected to bring in an additional $4.5 million in revenue annually, according to the university. The money will fund advising, as well as various academic programs, as UW works to move into a future of tighter budgets.

The new fee structure also simplifies the previous fee structure, which included more than 140 different such costs, according to a UW press release.

Ben Wetzel, president of the Associated Students of the University of Wyoming, praised the move.

(O)ver half of this proposal is not new fees, but rather combining already existing fees into one simple place and adding transparency for students, he said in an email. Even though increasing fees at all is sometimes unpopular, there are a lot of benefits that come with program fees.

He said one benefit was a course guarantee, meaning that, for instance, If a chemistry class can hold 100 students, and youre the 101st student, the University guarantees they will find a new time and location to offer the classes you need.

The fees, which include a $6 advising cost per credit hour, are broken down by college:

Engineering, $31 per credit hour;

Business, $26 per credit hour;

Arts and Sciences, between $9 and $31 per credit hour;

Agriculture, $21 per credit hour;

Education, $28 per credit hour;

Environment and Natural Resources, $26 per credit hour;

and Health Science, between $12 and $27 per credit hour.

On average, music students will see the largest increase  about $368 per semester, according to the release. Humanities students will be on the lower side, at roughly $108 per semester.

The university has lost roughly $41 million in state funding in the wake of the economic downturn. In May, 37 staff members were laid off, and the university announced it was eliminating five, low-enrollment programs. Its also offered two rounds of buyouts for faculty and staff, and hundreds of positions have been eliminated.

The university has been incredibly fortunate in receiving strong support from the state, which has allowed us to provide excellent educational opportunities at a very low cost to students, President Laurie Nichols said in the press release announcing the fee increases. Challenging times need not undermine the universitys commitment to quality, accessible and affordable higher education.

Spokesman Chad Baldwin said the cost hike was the university recognizing that it needed to find a way to make these improvements in student services with its own resources  that it wouldnt be able to rely on additional state funding.

The $6 advising fee will fund a new advising model and is intended to help expand student success and career planning and placement services. That, in turn, will ideally help the university achieve its goal of boosting its freshman-to-sophomore retention to 80 percent while increasing its graduation rates.

The new plan requires more than 20 new full-time equivalent employees in advisor and counseling support.

Other areas on campus that will receive a bump from the new fees include the Success, Tutoring, Engagement and Personal Growth Program; the Math Lab and Oral Communication Center; tutoring; internship outreach and coordination; and supplemental instruction, according to the press release.

The Associated Students of the University of Wyoming passed on Oct. 31 a resolution supporting the program fee increase. According to the university, a survey of undergraduates revealed that less than a third of students were opposed to the increase. The largest number of responses  more than 47 percent  said they were maybe in favor of the increases. More than 20 percent said they were without reservation.

Generally, higher education in Wyoming is among the cheapest in the country. A Student Loan Hero study from March ranked Wyoming third for lowest per-credit hour prices, behind only New Mexico and California.
Wyomings all-Republican Congressional delegation has thrown its weight behind GOP efforts to overhaul the federal tax code, with Rep. Liz Cheney voting in favor of the Houses version of the tax plan on Thursday and Sens. John Barrasso and Mike Enzi cheering along the Senates own proposal.

Cheney said she voted in favor of the House bill because it lowered taxes, simplified the tax code and eliminated the estate tax, which applies to inheritances from a single individual worth more than $5.5 million.

By letting Americans keep more of their own money, this bill will generate economic growth and create jobs, Cheney said in a statement.

Senate passage uncertain

The House passage of the $1.5 trillion bill on a mostly party-line 227-205 vote brought closer the biggest revamp of the U.S. tax system in three decades. But thorny problems await in the Senate where a similar measure received a politically awkward verdict from nonpartisan congressional analysts showing it would eventually produce higher taxes for low- and middle-income earners but deliver deep reductions for those better off.

Congress Joint Committee on Taxation estimated the Senate plan would mean higher taxes beginning in 2021 for many families earning under $30,000 annually. By 2027, families making less than $75,000 would face tax boosts while those making more would enjoy cuts.

The Senate bill was approved late Thursday by the Finance Committee and sent to the full Senate on a party-line 14-12 vote. Like the House measure, it would slash the corporate tax rate and reduce personal income tax rates for many.

Sen. Mike Enzi, who sits on the committee, applauded the bills approval. He said the bill would double the standard deduction and child tax credit, as well as encourage U.S. multinational corporations to bring their money back.

Tax reform is about letting people keep more of what they earn in order to help grow the economy and create jobs in Wyoming. This tax bill would do just that, Enzi said in a statement.

The House plan and the Senate Finance bill would deliver the bulk of their tax reductions to businesses. Each would cut the 35 percent corporate tax rate to 20 percent, while reducing personal rates for many taxpayers and erasing or shrinking deductions. The ojected federal deficit would grow by $1.5 trillion over 10 years.

Impact on health care

Enzi also touted the Senate bills repeal of the Affordable Care Acts individual mandate, which levies a tax penalty on individuals who do not purchase health insurance. Enzi noted that repealing the tax penalty did not remove insurance subsidies or otherwise alter the ACA, though the individual mandate is generally considered necessary to control costs by keeping younger, healthier people in insurance markets.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has projected that repeal of the mandate would result in 13 million more uninsured people by 2027, making it a political risk for some lawmakers. Elimination of the mandate, which would reduce the insurance subsidies paid by the federal government, would add an estimated $338 billion in revenue over 10 years that the Senate tax-writers used for additional tax cuts.

The analysts problematic projections for the Senate bill came a day after Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson became the first GOP senator to state opposition to the measure, saying it didnt cut taxes enough for millions of partnerships and corporations. With at least five other Republican senators yet to declare support, the bills fate is far from certain in a chamber the GOP controls by just 52-48.

Even so, Republicans are hoping to send a compromise bill for Trump to sign by Christmas.

Congress must seize this historic opportunity to provide tax relief for Wyoming families and job creators and send comprehensive tax reform legislation to President Trump for his signature, Cheney said.

Looking for a win

A White House statement that now is the time to deliver also underscored the GOPs effort to maintain momentum and outrace critics. Those include the AARP lobby for older people, major medical organizations, realtors  and, in all likelihood, every Senate Democrat.

Despite controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House, the Republicans are still smarting from this summers crash of their effort to dismantle President Barack Obamas health care law. They see a successful tax effort as the best way to avert major losses in next years congressional elections. House Republicans concede they are watching the Senate warily.

Barrasso, the fourth-ranking Republican in the Senate and an ally of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, delivered a floor speech on Wednesday praising the GOP tax reform plan. He highlighted both the temporary reduction in personal tax rates for low-income earners as well as corporate tax cuts, which Barrasso said would lead to raises for employees.

Millions of American families will be far better off because of the tax relief that Republicans are working on, Barrasso said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
CHEYENNE  A 21-year-old man has been accused of fatally shooting another man in a southeast Wyoming residence.

The charges against Cody Hess include second-degree murder in the death of his roommate, 35-year-old Michael Robbins, last Tuesday at a residence south of Cheyenne.

Public defender Devon Peterson suggested the shooting was in self-defense.

Hess made his initial appearance in Laramie County District Court on Thursday.

Laramie Circuit Court Judge Denise Nau set bond at $5,000 and set his preliminary hearing for next Wednesday.
Mark Finley has a working man's plan for completing the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route from Alberta and British Columbia through Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico.

"I'm taking my time," said the 61-year-old staffer at the Spokane REI store.

Although his goal was inspired by a film about the Tour Divide race, thoughts of pedaling 150 miles a day along the continental divide and sleeping on dirt and snow ranks up there with waterboarding in Finley's mind.

But riding a leisurely pace would require 50-60 days to cover the 2,750 miles, he said. "I am still employed; I don't have that block of time."

So he's doing the route a stretch at a time over three years.

For the first segment - the 265-mile Canada stretch he rode in August - Finley talked his wife of 36 years into recruiting a friend to join her as a support team with an Airstream trailer well-stocked with food - and regional craft beers.

"Compared with the racers and thru-riders, I am a sissy," he said. "I want to enjoy the scenery to the fullest and stop to rest or relax whenever I feel like it - or close to it."

The north end of the GDMBR he rode starting in Banff, Alberta, was green and flush with creeks and rivers - a dramatic contrast to the next segment he chose to ride in October at the southern end of the route in central New Mexico.

"I called it quits in Silver City and didn't ride the last 115 miles to the Mexico border," he said. "It's absolute desert and there's no water in fall. I was on my own for that segment. I could have done it, but the fun factor was going to be near zero. I'll finish that stretch another time."

After knocking off those two segments, Finley's pumped and scheduling to bag stretches of the route over a total of three years.

"I met so many great people - that was my biggest takeaway from what I've ridden so far," he said, noting that a short pit stop extended to hours of enjoyable listening as a ranch owner told stories about being a medic during the war in Korea.

"I could go a long time without seeing people, but it seemed that if I needed something I would bump into somebody in a pickup stopping to say, 'Hey, you need anything?'"

While his five-day ride in Canada was fully supported, Finley flew to New Mexico and rode on his own for six days, generally sleeping on the ground in a bivvy sack.

"I was amazed at how fast I'd go through my 180-ounce capacity for carrying water," he said. "Twice I ended a day without enough water to cook a freeze-dried meal.

"One of the saving graces of riding in fall is that it's elk hunting season. Hunters are well-equipped and very generous. They saved me a couple of times."

The racers' routine of 16 or more hours in the saddle a day is "beyond my wildest imagination," he said. "After a week of riding and sleeping under the stars, I'm banged up. My wrists are fatigued from the washboard roads.

"I ride only in daylight. No matter how good a headlamp is, it's not as good as the sun for reading technical terrain. I'm not out there to fall."

Eating everything he could, he still lost weight. "It's a rigorous route of ups and downs," he said. "Or there might be a headwind on a stretch of nothing but heat and sky for 120 miles."

He reveled in the food in Pie Town - a name originating from savvy town fathers looking for a way to lure business down off Interstate 40. It worked. Finley went to one of several thriving cafes that feature homemade pie, bought a whole one hot out of the oven - "they didn't sell by the piece" - and devoured every bite.

That night he stayed in the Toaster House, a cabin provided to muscle-powered travelers by a family that appreciates them.

"The lady who owns and runs the place is legendary for helping hikers and bikers," he said. "I got to chat with her for about 40 minutes. When she bought the place in 1982 she knew it was right on the trail and warned her kids that they were going to have lots of visitors.

"There happened to be a four-hour downpour the night I stayed there and I was snug in a loft, dry and happy as a clam."

Certain spots along the route are targeted by racers, touring cyclists and long-distance hikers alike, such as the Beaverhead Work Center on the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. "It's a guaranteed source of water from deep artisan wells and it's free," Finley said. "It even has wi-fi. Few riders pass that up with 180 miles of desert to go before reaching Mexico."

He packed about 30 pounds of gear, which is 10-to-18 more than self-supported racers might carry. One day the gear bag mounted in the frame between his legs caught crosswinds like a sail. "At first I was getting blown sideway, skidding on the gravel," he said. "But in some cases, I could tack into the wind and get a boost. It was cool."

He rode at a pace that allowed him to be fascinated at the number of grasshoppers and scorpions smashed on one stretch of road.

By fall, some stretches also were littered with goat head, a nasty weed seed that punctures tires.

"I was thankful that I'd had our REI bike mechanics convert my wheels to a special tubeless tire and rim setup," Finley said. "Instead of tubes, they pour in 4 ounces of liquid Latex. The first night I must have had 100 goat heads in my tire. It was completely flat. But I pumped it up to full pressure and started riding. As the wheel went around, the Latex filled and sealed the holes, just like that."

He carried a small stove for preparing freeze-dried meals on two nights. The most memorable dinner, however, was lucking out one night at the Beaverhead Work Center. A man preparing a barbecue for 40 women in for firefighter training offered Finley a steak dinner if he would wash the potatoes. "Small chore for a grass-fed ribeye grilled to perfection," he said.

Wyoming and Colorado are on his schedule for next summer after snow clears from the 11,000- and 12,000-foot passes. Montana will be last since it's the closest to Spokane and doable at a spur of the moment.

"I'm able to cherry pick the best weather," he said. "My admiration of what racers go through is so much higher as I experience the route. They're hardcore. I'm not."
LARAMIE  Graduate student Brad Lyke recently arrived in Laramie to begin work on an astronomy Ph.D. at the University of Wyoming, but it was not that long ago that he had never heard of the place.

As an undergraduate at California State University, Long Beach, Lyke was given the opportunity to do research alongside other undergraduates from across the country in UWs Department of Physics and Astronomy.

I came here and realized this is the best school possible for me, he said. So, it was being here that actually got me to come back.

The departments research internship program dates back to 1987.

Every summer eight undergraduate students from across the U.S. are invited to take part in a collaborative research project on the UW campus.

Starting in summer 2015, UW astronomy professors Danny Dale and Chip Kobulnicky struck up an agreement with Alex Rudolph of California State Polytechnic University-Pomona to reserve two of those eight internships for students coming out of the California higher education system.

The arrangement introduces students such as Lyke  who would have never considered UW otherwise  to the university and to Laramie, Dale said.

(Lyke) probably wouldnt have thought of a school thats in a pretty rural location, coming from a big town like San Diego, but he came here and he saw how cool it was and hes coming here, Dale said. I dont think he would have given us a second thought if we hadnt had these sort of agreements in place with these people in California.

The agreement also makes it more likely students from diverse backgrounds hear about UW and what it has to offer, Dale said.

Earlier this month, Dale and Rudolph signed a memorandum of understanding stating the UW Department of Physics and Astronomy will strongly consider some graduating California students for entry into its graduate program.

Basically, they help advertise our program to Cal State students, Dale said. And then we do a few things on our side that will help them get a second, closer look than they might otherwise get.

The majority of California State universities are Minority Serving Institutions, meaning they have a more diverse pool of potential graduate students than UW. And in the large California higher education system and elsewhere, many students are knocked out of consideration for advanced degree programs on the basis of solely their GPA or GRE score, Dale said.

Well make sure we give them a second look  like look at the letters of recommendation and if they have research experience and their grades in the last couple of years in their specialty classes, he said. We waive the application fee for the students with the partnership.

Cal-Bridge  the California program that places these students in graduate programs across the country and, since 2015, has encouraged these students to apply to UW  tries to find the talented students who would otherwise fall through the cracks, Dale said.

On their end, theyre trying to make sure students who might otherwise get overlooked get a shot, he said. And you can find the diamonds in the rough, who might not have had the opportunities earlier in life, but they definitely have the motivations and skills and they turn it on in grad school.

In addition to bringing in diverse students, the agreement also helps the astronomy program maintain a 50-50 gender parity among its graduate students.

We recruit a very diverse population of students from across the state of California, which is of course very diverse, Rudolph said. A lot of these programs are trying to reach out more broadly than to people who are traditionally involved in physics or astronomy and get to a broader segment of the population  to so-called underrepresented minorities and women.

Many of these students would have never considered UW, much less going on to do research or obtain an advanced degree, Rudolph said.

The types of students we get dont come from backgrounds where family members have gotten Ph.D.s, he said. In fact, most of our students are first generation college students. They are overlooked in the sense that they would never have probably found their way to a program like Wyoming  or any other program we send students to  without our being there to be able to guide them toward those opportunities.

Lyke, for example, is the first member of his family to earn a bachelors degree and the first to pursue an advanced degree.

The agreements between Dale and Rudolph  both the agreement to save spots in the undergraduate research internship program and the new agreement to consider California students for graduate school  also introduce several students to a completely new place and way of life, by giving them a taste of Wyoming, Rudolph said.

I think thats a really special thing in our current, somewhat polarizing environment where people dont necessarily interact the way youd like them to, he said. So, I just think its really great.

Lyke said he was drawn to the undergraduate summer internship because of the benefits associated with UWs program  a focus on collaborative research and the opportunity to take part in all parts of that research  but decided to come back for graduate school because of the small-town atmosphere.

(Californias) pretty much paved for half the state, Lyke said. And I like this small-town feeling. Everybody here was absolutely wonderful. The whole town was nice, as opposed to where Im from, which is L.A. and San Diego. People there are not as nice.
The University of Arizona Poetry Center has landed a $500,000 grant that will fund the creation of new poetry that sheds light on this countrys criminal justice system.

One of the big goals is to change the racial inequities in the prison system, says Tyler Meier, the executive director of the Poetry Center.

The grant is from the Art for Justice Fund, formed earlier this year by philanthropist and art collector Agnes Gund. Spurred by a desire to do something about the inequality and injustice that has led to mass incarceration in this country, she sold a painting and established the fund with $100 million.

The first round of grants were awarded earlier this month; the Poetry Center was one of 30 organizations from around the country to receive one.

The three-year project will fund the commission and presentation of new poetry, the publication of the works, and the creation of a digital archive of the new works.

We want to change how people imagine what the future of incarceration is, says Meier. Poetry does an incredible job of seeing beyond.

A key element to the project, he says, is the centers collaboration with poet and lawyer, Reginald Dwayne Betts. Betts has several poetry books to his credit, many academic and literary honors, and last year received his law degree from Yale. He has been in the news lately because the Connecticut bar refused to admit him as he is a felon  as a teen, he carjacked a car and spent nine years in prison. The decision was reversed in September and he now works in the New Haven public defenders office.

In each year of the grant, which begins in July, four of the writers commissioned will come to Tucson to present their new works.

Another aspect of the grant is to commission found-text poetry  found-text is a type of poetry collage, where the words, phrases, even passages are pulled from other sources and shaped into poetry.

The sources that will be used for found-text poetry: legislative bills and laws. Think Jim Crow laws. Or the Separate Car Act (passed by the Louisiana State Legislature in 1890, it called for separate train cars for whites and blacks).

We will explore legislation that has most disproportionately affected people of color, he said. We will ask poets to use that language to create found text.  Literally, well use the language to form an artistic response.

The Poetry Center has long been involved in bringing poetry to people who are incarcerated. It administers the Arizona prison writing workshops, which are led by Richard Shelton, Ken Lamberton and Erec Toso, and currently sponsors a poetry program for youths at the juvenile detention center.
Tucson Masterworks Chorale will introduce its new conductor on Sunday, Nov. 19, when it opens its 68th season with Songs of Poetry and Love.

The choir in July tapped Yoojin Muhn as its artistic director, replacing Jonathan Kim, who took a university teaching job in Wisconsin.

Muhn, who also serves as the music director at Oro Valleys Vistoso Community Church, will lead the choir in works that express love and poetry through choral music. The program includes Brahms Neue Liebeslieder-Walzer (New Love-Song Waltzes), featuring a quartet of soloists and two pianists; Eric Whitacres Five Hebrew Love Songs, with a solo violinist; Randall Thompsons Frostiana, which sets seven of Robert Frosts poems; Harold Darkes In the Bleak Midwinter; and John Rutters What Sweeter Music.

Muhn, a native of Seoul, South Korea, started her music career as a church pianist when she was 12.

She later studied composition at SookMyung Womens University in Seoul, and earned her masters degree in sacred music from Westminster Choir College, where she graduated with distinction. She also earned a masters degree in choral conducting from the University of Cincinnati and a doctorate of musical arts in choral music from the University of Southern California. While there, she directed the Oriana womens chorus and led the concert choir as an assistant director.

Before coming to Tucson, Muhn was on the conducting faculty at Southwestern A/G University in Texas.
Casas Adobes Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ at 6801 N. Oracle Road will host a presentation on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the HiRISE camera 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 19, according to press materials.
FARGO  Before you go over the river and through the woods to Grandmothers house, make sure you pack for the trip. Or rather, pack for the unexpected things that could happen on the way.

As the temperatures continue to drop, snow blows and winter travel can become dangerous, experts urge drivers to take precautions, not just behind the wheel, but even before getting in the car.

If you havent already, the time has come to check and pack your winter survival kit.

If you dont know the drill, the idea is pretty simple  load a container with the essentials you would need if you get caught in your vehicle for a number of hours.

There havent been a lot of advancements in the world of winter survival kits. The essentials remain:

Small shovel and window scraper

Gloves, hats and blankets

Flashlights with fresh batteries and warning flares or triangles

Shop rags or paper towels

Drinking water and nonperishable snack bars

A source of heat, such as a multiple wick candle

Warm clothes and winter boots

Jumper cables

A rope

Something to read or an activity book to stay busy

Sand, cat litter or traction mats

One newer item authorities urge travelers to bring is a phone charger.

Sgt. Jesse R. Grabow of the Minnesota State Patrol says that even if you leave home with a fully juiced phone, if you find yourself in trouble and calling to get help, your battery will drain if you dont keep it charged.

A trooper for 19 years, he says sleeping bags or warm blankets are the most important thing people neglect to pack.

I see so many people underprepared, underdressed for the weather. They rationalize, Oh, its just a quick trip to Fargo-Moorhead, but I see a lot of people stranded and not have the proper warm clothing.

Lt. Michael Roark of the North Dakota Highway Patrol says warm layers is one thing hes sure to keep in all of his cars.

I make sure theres a blanket, heavy duty gloves, hat and even coveralls in my vehicle, he says.

He adds that jumper cables are another thing people often overlook.

Grabow says to remember youre not just packing to keep yourself safe and warm, but also everyone in the car. He recalls a family that got stranded on a rural road and it took hours for emergency crews to reach them.

You may have to adjust accordingly depending on the size of the group youre traveling with, Grabow says.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some Nov. 18 papers in history. With a subscription to newspapers.com you can search the Arizona Daily Star and many other newspapers using keywords or dates, and download articles or pages.
The last steel beam, covered in flags, a small ceremonial tree and signatures scribbled with Sharpies, was hoisted into place during the topping off ceremony for the University of Arizonas new Health Sciences Innovation Building on Friday afternoon.

The 220,000-square-foot $165 million building under construction is on the west side of the Arizona Health Sciences Campus, north of the Bio5 building off East Helen Street and North Cherry Avenue.

The nine-story facility is expected to open to students in summer 2018 and was designed to be a cutting-edge facility, said Provost Andrew Comrie.

This building is to serve all four of the health colleges: medicine, nursing, pharmacy and public health, said Angela Souza, senior director for planning and facilities for health sciences. We want (the students) to be together because thats how theyre going to work  in teams.

Architects planned common areas for students in different disciplines to mingle and study.

Classrooms were designed to facilitate the flipped classroom approach to teaching, which prioritizes group work over lectures.

The key was to be flexible, Souza said. (The classrooms) can be rearranged depending on what an educator wants to accomplish.

Also included in the design is a large forum for special events, as well as space for simulation and clinical skills where students can practice before tending to real patients.

We are teaching in the settings we think theyre going to be in, said Leigh A. Neumayer, interim senior vice president for health sciences. Were teaching for the future.
A former Northern Arizona University professor was arrested Oct. 30 and indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on five counts of felony stalking  one involving a student  and three counts of giving false information to law enforcement.

Melissa Ann Santana, 36, who worked as an associate professor of interior design, is accused of habitually stalking and harassing two firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service hotshot crew in Flagstaff, the wife of one of the firefighters, one of their friends, and an NAU student.

The stalking occurred from February 2015 to September 2017 and was largely committed through electronic communication, according to U.S. District Court documents. Santana committed the offenses using many different identities, email addresses, social media accounts and temporary telephone numbers.

The names of the victims are redacted in the report.

Santana was arrested on the NAU campus on Oct. 30 by United States Forest Service law officers. NAU spokeswoman Kimberly Ott said on Monday that Santana was no longer employed at the university but would not comment on her arrest.

The university does not comment on what appears to be an ongoing criminal matter, Ott said.

Aliases and false statements

Santana met both firefighters through the online dating app Tinder. She met the first firefighter, labeled as N.L. in court documents, in November 2015, where she used the online alias Ann, 29 according to court documents.

N.L. told law enforcement that he had a sexual relationship with the married professor, meeting mostly in her NAU office and his house, until June 2016, when he ended the relationship.

The second firefighter, labeled as K.T. in court documents, was matched on Tinder with Santana, also under the alias Ann, 29 in August 2016 and told her he wanted to meet in September 2016. He told law enforcement that he quickly learned that it was the same person who was harassing his coworker.

Both men received harassing messages from Santana under multiple false names such as Laura Towner and Kendall Patterson, according to court documents.

The messages ranged from sentimental, such as a text to N.L. that said I miss you so much, to malicious, with Santana telling K.T. to be like the Granite guys and go die in a fire, referring to the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who died in the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013.
Donald Trump pledges to make America great again, at least so say his Chinese-made hats. Wouldnt it make more sense for him to bring that manufacturing back here and create American jobs? Trump recently applied for work visas for an additional 70 foreign workers at his lavish resort, Mar-a-Lago. Its logical to assume that his other properties have such workers. I would ask him to remember that his unbelievably expensive border wall is to prevent foreigners from taking American jobs.

Now he says that by giving the uber wealthy huge tax cuts, theyll start new jobs here. Why should we think that these billionaires will use that money to create new jobs from the top down when Trump doesnt? Ronald Reagans trickle-down economics didnt work when he tried it; it probably wont work now.

Don Vandine

Sierra Vista
There were nearly 3,000 deaths caused by airplanes since 2001 (including the perpetrators). I don't know how many were wounded on September 11, 2001. All the perpetrators were foreign-born Muslims, so this is clearly a radical Islamic phenomenon. Dozens more have been hurt or killed by motor vehicles. Perhaps we need to restrict air travel, and motor vehicle purchases or rentals, to those who have been through an FBI background check. Is the letter writer is unaware that the Las Vegas shooter and the Texas church shooter both passed the required background checks, and the shooter in California built his own weapons, bypassing the background checks. As has been explained many times, universal background checks (which include private sales) can only be accomplished through universal firearm registration, and invasive inspections. Everywhere this has been implemented, it was followed by confiscation and draconian gun control laws. It is the slippery slope Nancy Pelosi is hoping for, but it is not the answer.
Furious with her mother, a 5-year-old girl packs up her Barbie doll carrying case full of socks and runs away from home, ending up a mile away at her mothers best friends home. Its a cute story with a happy ending, one that my family still enjoys telling 50 years later, describing one of my earliest life adventures.

But running away from home is not cute or funny, and rarely does it have a happy ending. Sadly here in Tucson, on an average night, it is estimated that 150 teens are missing or homeless. Who are these youth? They are our neighbors, the kid that bags our groceries, a classmate of your child, the youth that everyone talks about but no one talks to.

In Tucson, the face of homelessness is often the older white male standing on a corner with a cardboard sign asking for help. Many dont think of the 1.7 million youth in America who experience homelessness each year. These hidden faces are left wandering the back alleys of downtown, sleeping on the couches of friends and facing the daily dangers of being trafficked.

They are young people who were kicked out of their homes because they are LGBTQ, ran away from abuse and family dysfunction, have been expelled from school or gave up and decided to go it alone after being rejected by their peers. The list of individual reasons seems endless, but regardless of the cause, we as a community need to wrap our heads and hearts around the fact that there are too many kids on the street.

Our Family Services fills the void around youth homelessness in our community. Our street outreach team is regularly out connecting with youth, sharing resources, working to earn the trust of these already jaded young people. Our Reunion House shelter is available to provide a safe environment for runaway youth, ages 1217, and youth who have been removed from their homes due to abuse and neglect.

Our therapist and case managers are available to hear their difficult stories and provide support and longer-term housing options for youth ages 18-24. With partner agencies we work to wrap these youth with support, services and safety to the tune of over 500 youth each year. On an average night, Our Family provides 85 young people a home, a safe place to rest, relax and restore. But the need is much greater.

During this National Runaway Prevention Month, let us each pledge to get engaged and stay engaged with the youth of our community. Consider partnering with Our Family to learn more about the runaway youth problem and how lending your time, money and advocacy can help.

If you are ready to roll up your sleeves, you can take action.

1. Educate yourself about the issue: Join our book club or sign up for our newsletter, check out our website  www.ourfamilyservices.org  for more info.

2. Get involved in advocacy: Like our Facebook page to learn about our advocacy strategy launching in early 2018.

3. Join the cause: Donate to one of the Arizona Charitable Tax Credit organizations, like Our Family Services.

4. Talk with others and invite them to get engaged.
Sometimes watching Tucson Unified School District Governing Board meetings feels like watching a taping of a what-not-to-do school board training video in front of a live, studio audience.

The TUSD Governing Board provided another installment at its Nov. 14 meeting when it took up the very last item on its lengthy agenda: Request for Classification Review  Requested by Board Clerk Mark Stegeman.

The title of this episode: Dont Target the Job of an Employee Who Not So Long Ago Filed a Hostile-Work Environment Complaint.

Or, How to Scare TUSD Employees. Thats a little catchier.

On Tuesday, Stegeman asked the board to direct the TUSD HR department to review the Director of Staff Services to the Governing Board position to find out if the duties merit the $79,000 salary the person in the job, Mary Alice Wallace, receives. Its only about saving money, he said.

Now, TUSD is unusual in that its Governing Board has its own staff, and the director reports directly to the board president. Only the districts chief counsel and the internal auditor report to the board. All others fall under the superintendent.

Stegeman has described Wallaces job as secretarial, although she supervises two employees. Like in many jobs, the description on paper doesnt come close to describing the work thats actually done. I dont think he gets it.

Wallace and her colleagues handle all the paperwork for Governing Board and audit committee meetings; they find and assemble documents, make sure legal requirements and policies are met, record meeting minutes, conduct research into previous board action when asked, process the paperwork for student discipline hearings that reach the board, among other duties.

When board members want information about other parts of the district, they file a request for information with Wallaces office. Her office rides herd on it and distributes the resulting information to the entire board. Last year, Wallace filed 300 such requests. People come to us for all kinds of things, she said. Its detailed work.

Wallace, you may remember, filed a formal complaint against Board Member Rachael Sedgwick earlier this year after a deluge of emailed insults, threats and intimidating remarks, including: Who hired you? Do you think you are replaceable? And, last, how many people do you think the board needs working for it in the Board office? Do you think the TUSD community thinks your salary is fair?

The complaint prompted an investigation and, eventually, mediation. When I spoke with her on Friday, Wallace said that today her relationship with Sedgwick is professional, which is all she wanted  to be treated as the professional she is. Wallace also said she hasnt seen investigation results because the board has to vote to share it with her, and they, as yet, havent. I considered it over with, she said.

But now that her job and salary have been targeted for review, Wallace is understandably concerned. Shes worked for TUSD for 27 years, always in the board office that, after three promotions, she now leads. There were seven employees when she started, now there are three.

I have never had a salary increase that was not part of a promotion or raises approved for everybody, she said. Ive never apologized for what I make  you work, and you earn your money.

Stegeman stated at the Tuesday meeting that he thought, in this time of $4.5 million in budget cuts the district is facing, the board has to be able to look at our own shop.

There has been criticism for years that in the Governing Board office that our salary bill is higher than it should be and I dont know if thats true or not, he said.

When asked if the district is conducting other job classification or compensation reviews, Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said yes, theyre looking at bus drivers, research project managers and American Sign Language interpreters  to determine if these employees are underpaid compared to the private sector.

Not exactly the same kind of review as the board majority  Stegeman, Sedgwick and President Michael Hicks  voted to pursue about Wallaces position.

After the meeting, Stegeman acknowledged to Star reporter Hank Stephenson that it would have looked better if hed asked for a review of all board office positions, so it wouldnt look like the board was retaliating against Wallace. Well, yeah. But it goes beyond appearances.

In a district plagued by teacher vacancies, declining enrollment and distrust by the public, the message the board majority has sent is clear, even if they refuse to see it: Stay too long, earn too much, complain about mistreatment and your job could end up under review.
Help India!

By Mirza Mosaraf Hossain, TwoCircles.net

The gangrape and murder of a minor Adivasi girl in North Dinajpur in West Bengal has resulted in massive protests across the region and once again highlighted how Adivasis in Bengal continue to be treated as second-class citizens in the state.

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The minor girl belonged to Kaderganj village Karandighi block in Bengals North Dinajpur district. On November 4, she was brutally gang-raped in her house and subsequently killed during her parents absence.

This brutal killing has stirred the sentiments of the whole Adivasi community of the district leading a massive protest on National Highway 34 on Monday. More than five Adivasi community organizations held the protest march of 2500 people calling angrily for the rapists and murderers to be brought to justice.

The same day, five people allegedly accused of committing this heinous crime were arrested by the local police, but anger among the Adivasi communities is yet to subside

On November 4, parents of the deceased participated in a community programme, Eknaam held 200 meters away from their house in their village Kaderganj. Her parents went to listen to the programmes and left the daughters home, when they saw that they were sleeping.

According to her mother Arati Hansda, when we saw Ritika, she was dead. Her body was marked with several scrapes, her throat was smeared with blood and above all, a special kind of grass was there in her head that is found in a nearby place, namely Lichubagan. After visiting the place, we confirmed that she was raped and killed and later she was brought to the house and left there so that her death could look like a heart failure or something like that.

Local residents informed TwoCircles.net that the murdered minor was a bright student and used to help out in the community by reading aloud and checking letters or other official papers sent to any of her illiterate neighbours. Her mother lamented, she was the only literate person in our family. She helped our neighbours in any cause relating to reading and writing. But now who will do all those tasks? She demanded no less than a life sentence for all the accused.

When the news of this incidents reached other Adivasi people in the region, community organisations visited the family of the victim. The Organisations included Adivasi Socio-Educational & Cultural Association (ASECA), Adivasi Mahasabha, Sara Bharat Adivasi Adhikar Mancha, Bhumi Rakha Committee and All India Adivasi Bikash Parishad, All India Santhalis Students and Youth Association of India, Uttar Dinajpur Adivasi Sommonoy Committee, as well as others.

Samuel Mardi, the President of All India Santhali Students and Youth Association of India, said, when we got to know about the incident, we visited their family and after some discussion with other Adivasi Organisations, we decided to organise a protest march on November 13 after witnessing the inaction of the police administration. He added, We submitted a memorandum to the Superintendent of Police, Raiganj whom we demanded to be present at our protesting location in the presence of the Block Development Officer (BDO) of Karandighi block.

Although the accused have been arrested, the Adivasi organisations expressed deep resentment at the way the police handled their anger. Mardi accused the local police of attacking the Adivasis of the Kaderganj village in order to suppress the issue. When the police of Karandighi police station was asked against about these accusations by TwoCircles.net, the local officials denied any wrongdoing. They also refused the claim of police inaction and said that the police, after arresting five people, is now conducting further investigations to check if there are other persons involved in this case.

The anger among local residents also points out how the Adivasi community has suffered extreme violence in the region. Last July, Raiganj saw close to 30,000 people protest over the molestation of four Adivasi women including two minor girls, which led to the district administration arresting six people in relation to the matter. The locals say that last years incident and the incident from November 4 this month, are all ample evidence to prove that the Adivasis of the region continue to remain ignored by the state government and their security remains massively compromised.
Farukh Abdullah is the son of Shiekh Abdullah, the tallest Kashmiri leader who threw his lot with India and later became Chief Minister of Indian Administered Kashmir. His son Farrukh is a leader in his own right and has been a cabinet minister in the union cabinet under Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He has now stated some home truths, which for long were hidden under rhetoric. Farrukh stated in a recent interview to the Times that POK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) was a part of Pakistan and nobody can change that. Farrukh was roundly criticized but his son Omar has defended his father and said that the BJP and other parties could prove his father wrong, by taking steps to annex POK.

The statement of Omar has been reported by NDTV.

A home truth

Farrukh Abdullah has stated a home truth. The dispute with Pakistan has simmered for 70 years and four wars have been fought over Kashmir and yet the status quo has not changed. It shows that neither side has the capability to defeat the other decisively. Farrukh thus stated a reality. People did not look at the second part of his statement where the veteran politician stated that the part of Kashmir with India will remain with India and Pakistan may fight any number of wars, yet they cannot take the Indian administered Kashmir.

This is a very balanced statement and if both countries realize that they will have to be content with what they have, there is a chance of peace returning to the valley.

The LOC will have to be accepted as an international border. This is the only solution to the Kashmir issue that has bedevilled Indo-Pak relations for nearly seven decades.

The problem

The problem commenced in 1947 when the then Maharajah of Kashmir Hari Singh, decided to make a bid for independence. He signed a standstill agreement with both India and Pak but Pak disregarded the agreement and invaded Kashmir.

The Pak troops aided by tribals reached Srinagar and a panic-stricken maharajah signed the instrument of accession to India. The Indian army moved in and threw the Pak invaders back but at a critical moment, with the Pak army and tribals on the run agreed to a cease-fire and reference of the dispute to the UNO. This was one of the biggest blunders committed by Nehru.

Way forward

The situation has not changed for seven decades as Pakistan occupies a third of Kashmir and the LOC marks the control of each country over the portion administered by it. Indian and Pakistani leaders routinely make statements that "entire" Kashmir belongs to it, but the fact is that the LOC is the effective border between POK and Indian Kashmir. Omar is right when he says that apart from rhetoric, India can never capture POK.

Its about time this was the basis of a solution to the Kashmir problem
If you were to guess which state earned the highest Gross Domestic Product per resident, would you guess that the winner  by a long shot  wasnt a state at all?

Washington, D.C., rakes in more than $160,000 per person, more than doubling runner up Massachusetts and far eclipsing North Dakotas own $62,837 earnings per resident. D.C.s special interests have created their own economy influencing where American tax dollars are spent, and the rest of the country is losing out. As a result, the top four wealthiest counties in the country are all part of Greater Washington D.C. If that makes your blood boil as much as it does mine, you, too, should support the Republican tax plan.

Under the proposed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Washington will return an estimated $1.5 trillion to Americas hardworking families and businesses. In North Dakota, that means a roughly $2,287 pay raise for every middle-income family in the state. Its enough for eight months of groceries in the average household, or for a local restaurant owner to invest in wage increases or a much-needed new employee. Most importantly, it means money in the hands of local individuals and job creators, rather than in the pockets of overextended Washington bureaucracies.

It doesnt take a degree in economics to know that a dollar spent on federal taxes is a dollar unavailable to the local economy. With some of the highest national business tax rates in the world, the United States ensures that not only do we lose the capital to finance our most successful local entrepreneurs, but we incentivize successful businesses to relocate overseas. Congress tax plan hopes to court the best and brightest business owners by being especially friendly to small businesses.

The vast majority of small businesses in America are taxed at individual rates, not corporate rates. The Republican bill calls for lowering the top marginal rate on many of these businesses to 25 percent, down from the 39.6 percent rate theyre currently saddled with. The reduced rate also is subject to anti-abuse rules to make sure the tax cut benefits the small businesses it was designed to help.

But the benefits of tax reform extend far beyond income and revenue.

The tax plan allows businesses to immediately write-off loan interest and capital investment expenses. Its a simple rule which is far more practical than the current system, which forces small business owners to perform complex mathematics to determine their tax savings from depreciating purchases across multiple years. Small business owners who arent lucky enough to moonlight as certified public accountants can look forward to wading through a 114-page IRS document explaining how in the world to calculate what you dont owe them.

When it comes time for small businesses to expand, its these cost and time saving measures which make daunting new expenses  like a new van for a local catering company, or another excavator for a landscaping business  far more manageable.

In President Donald Trumps words, tax cuts are going to create a new age of American prosperity. With the Republican tax plan bringing American dollars out of the swamp and back to Main Street, I have no doubt that American prosperity will quickly follow.
Friday saw one Navy Pilot getting totally creative over Okanogan County, Washington. He (or she) mischievously sketched a massive phallic image in the sky, leading to plenty of amusement, but also condemnation, from the general public and Navy bosses.

Absolutely unacceptable behavior by Navy pilot

Officials at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island told KREM Channel 2 News that they hold their aircrew to the highest of standards. For this reason, they found the random skywriting to be absolutely unacceptable, and of zero training value. The statement went on to say officials are holding the crew concerned accountable for the prank.

Some local residents were impressed, with Twitter user Anahi Torres describing the appearance of a giant phallic shape in the sky to be a monumental happening in Omak, Okanogan County.

The most monumental thing to happen in omak. A penis in the sky pic.twitter.com/SM8k1tNYaj  Anahi Torres (@anahi_torres_) November 16, 2017

Taking a different angle, another Twitter user, Adam Gessaman, posted an image of the human genitalia sketch, merely pointing out that some Navy pilots from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island had done some skywriting that day.

Some pilots at NAS Whidbey did some sky writing today. https://t.co/9IsYvkX1za pic.twitter.com/Lm7kpMhKpY  Adam Gessaman (@adamrg) November 17, 2017

However others were not impressed at all by the appearance of the skywriting.

A mother sent images of the skywriting and told KREM 2 that she was deeply upset, and worried that she may have to explain the phallic image to her kids.

Name of naughty pilot has not been released

As for the Navy, they have not released the identity of the artistic pilot and there was no mention of what punishment they may face for the stunt, but the Washington Post pointed out that it was pilots from Electronic Attack Squadron 130 of NAS Whidbey Island who were responsible for the prank.

Task & Purpose report that the incident will probably be handled internally by the Navy, but added that while sketches of penises in the sky may be offensive, there is nothing illegal about it. KREM 2 quotes FAA officials as saying that unless the act itself poses some kind of safety risk, theres nothing they can do about it.

While the phallic image looks pretty convincing, KREM 2 did consider the possibility that it was not intentionally made in the shape of Male Genitalia. They theorize the pilot may have had something else in mind while swirling and swooping over Okanogan County. They describe the images they received from various sources as being sky drawings of what some consider to be male genitalia.

However, Task & Purpose, who say they have closely scrutinized the images, say its pretty clear-cut - they are 100 percent certain the drawing represents what they call a giant dong.
Donald Trump is back on social media and he isn't happy with a variety of topics. One issue that the president is focusing on is the previously released "dossier" that accused him of several unconfirmed acts.

Trump on Twitter

When Donald Trump pulled off his shocking upset win over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton last November, questions were quickly raised to the legitimacy of his victory. Not long after his win, reports circulated that the Trump campaign had been in possible cahoots with Russia. In the weeks and months that followed, several well-respected news outlets and government reports revealed that not only did Russia hack the 2016 presidential election, but that they did so with a Trump win in mind.

One of the reports came from CNN, which included a so-called "dossier," which revealed Trump's dealing with Russia. Buzzfeed took the reporting a step further to claim, without full evidence, that the former host of "The Apprentice" took part in a sexual act with Russian prostitutes. As expected, Trump and the White House accused the sources and media of pushing "fake news," though the story hasn't gone away. As seen on his Twitter account on October 19, Trump is back on the defensive attack.

Workers of firm involved with the discredited and Fake Dossier take the 5th. Who paid for it, Russia, the FBI or the Dems (or all)?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 19, 2017

Taking to his Twitter feed on Thursday morning, Donald Trump hit back about the latest news surrounding the dossier, or what has been commonly known as the "pee tape." "Workers of firm involved with the discredited and Fake Dossier take the 5th," Trump tweeted out, before rhetorically asking, "Who paid for it, Russia, the FBI or the Dems (or all)?"

Trump suggests pee tape dossier was financed jointly by Russia and the FBI https://t.co/8pU4FC76v7 pic.twitter.com/Qv91wWPaiK  Newsweek (@Newsweek) October 19, 2017

Not stopping there, Donald Trump also hit back against the "fake news" media when it comes to other Russian-related stories.

"Uranium deal to Russia, with Clinton help and Obama Administration knowledge, is the biggest story that Fake Media doesn't want to follow!" Trump posted. The billionaire real estate mogul has made a habit out of lashing out on social media, with his Twitter rants becoming routine and commonplace on an almost daily basis. Whether it's Democrats, rival Republicans, Hollywood critics, or the "fake news" media, Trump doesn't look to be slowing down his criticism anytime soon.

Uranium deal to Russia, with Clinton help and Obama Administration knowledge, is the biggest story that Fake Media doesn't want to follow!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 19, 2017

Next up

While it's currently unknown whether or not the details of the alleged "pee tape" can be verified, Donald Trump appears impacted by the story. As time moves forward, only time will tell if the contents of the dossier are ever revealed to the public.
On Friday, November 17, the Rev. Jesse Jackson announced that he has Parkinson's disease. Not only that, but he revealed he has had it for two years and had been receiving outpatient care. Additionally, he shared that he is making some lifestyle changes to slow down its progress. A report by Yahoo! News confirmed this information.

The well-known 76-year-old civil rights advocate chose to tell his supporters now even though members of his family and close friends have known about it for a long time. Years ago, they noticed symptoms that led them to believe Jackson had the chronic neurological disorder.

Not a stop sign

In a statement, Rev. Jackson said it has been very painful coming to grips that he has the disease. However, he said Parkinson's disease is not a stop sign. Instead, it is a signal for him to make some lifestyle changes. Therefore, he is going to focus on physical therapy to slow down the progression of the disease. He said he was also going to use his voice to help find a cure for the disease.

The disease

According to the Parkinson's Foundation, there are about 60,000 people in the United States who are diagnosed every year with the disease. The symptoms start out with tremors and when the disease gets worse, people with it experience stiffness and difficulty walking and coordinating their movements.

Even though there is no known cause of the disease, there are treatments including certain medications, surgery and physical therapy that Jackson said he would dedicate himself to doing.

It is interesting to know that no one actually dies from Parkinson's disease, but they do die from the complications associated with the disease.

In fact, Jackson's father died at the age of 88 after he suffered a heart attack that was brought on because of Parkinson's complications.

What this means for Jackson

It is too soon to know how Jackson's illness will affect his work because he remains active with the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition that he founded nearly 50 years ago in 1971.

The Chicago-based civil rights group has kept him busy over the years. He still does a lot of traveling around the country. Just last month, he was one of many people who went to Puerto Rico for a hurricane-relief mission. He also hosted a symposium in Washington, D.C. this week.

Even with Parkinson's disease, Rev. Jackson vows to continue his life's mission to help those who can't help themselves. That includes working to free innocent prisoners among other things.
The city of Oakland should have shut down or ordered repairs to a Fruitvale district live/work warehouse before 36 people were killed in a fire in 2016, a California judge ruled this week. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brad Seligman found the San Francisco Bay Area's third-largest city had a "mandatory duty" to rehabilitate or raze the warehouse, which had been converted to a live/work space without permits, once it was aware of the hazards.

"There is no question of the authority and obligation of the city to act when faced with an unsafe and substandard building," Seligman ruled.

The decision kept Oakland as a defendant in a lawsuit brought by families of the victims seeking damages for wrongful death and injury, but the city is expected to appeal.

The lawsuit also names the owner of the warehouse, the managers of the Ghost Ship facility, the local electric power company, and more than a dozen others. One defendant, a co-sponsor of the performance on the night of the fire, was dismissed from the case.

The so-called Ghost Ship was home to dozens of artists, mostly young people, who built makeshift living spaces out of found objects and carpets, and powered their electric lights, cooking equipment and amplifiers using extension cords attached to another building nearby.

The Ghost Ship, believed to be one of perhaps dozens of illegal live/work facilities in Oakland, featured a performance stage on the second floor.

In fact, it was during a Dec. 2, 2016, musical presentation that the fire broke out. Investigators from the Oakland Fire Department and U.S. Dept. of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were unable to determine exactly why or where the fire started.

But the blaze apparently spread quickly through the crowded warehouse, trapping concertgoers on the second floor where many bodies were found. The main access to the second floor was a makeshift stairway of wooden pallets that quickly collapsed, and a second stairway was behind a partition and could not be easily located, especially after the jury-rigged lighting system failed.

Dozens of artists rented spots to live and work in the two-story warehouse at 1305 31st Ave. But the building, in Oakland's working class Fruitvale District, had not been inspected by the city for more than 30 years, despite numerous visits by police and firefighters, according to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.

At issue was whether those visits and others by social workers were enough to give the city notice of hazardous conditions at the Ghost Ship warehouse, and Judge Seligman concluded it was, even if there had been no formal inspection. Standard governmental immunity did not relieve the city of its duty to act in a dangerous situation, the court said.

Next up in the civil case is a decision on whether the county of Alameda, where Oakland is located, also may be liable for the loss of life.

Criminal proceedings against master tenant Derick Almena and his assistant are still pending. They have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

All 36 victims, who ranged in age from 17 to 61, died of smoke inhalation, according to the Alameda County coroner's office.
The Zimbabwean military is still the power behind the world's first "coup-that's-not-a-coup" but where does this leave the nation? Robert Mugabe has been asked to retire but he is treating the request with the same contempt he treated the loss of the election to the MDC in 2008 - he has just said NO!

Mugabe is buying time

Mugabe is hoping the African Union and SADC will declare the military action a coup, thereby rendering the activity anti-constitutional which should lead to intervention by the AU or SADC countries. The current Chairperson of SADC is President Zuma of South Africa who has condemned any non-democratic change of government but SADC countries are not all on the same page.

Botswana's President Khama has already called for Mugabe to step down peacefully, thereby publicly making his feelings on the matter clear.

Incredible vibe in Harare city center. The atmosphere is jubilant, hopeful, that a new Zimbabwe is possible. The citizens have spoken: #MugabeMustGo!!! pic.twitter.com/zRplDg7tT9  Doug Coltart  (@DougColtart) November 18, 2017

Meanwhile back at the ranch

Or in this case, the sprawling Mugabe mansion referred to as "the Blue Roof", it would appear Grace is missing. BBC is reporting she is still in Harare yet South African sources insist she is currently in Namibia. A return to South Africa is probably deemed too risky as there is a civil warrant of arrest waiting for Grace Mugabe for assault.

Grace is gone and Robert is still officially President - for now

President of what? A crippled nation that has been systematically destroyed over nearly 4 decades. When Britain handed the keys to Zimbabwe over to Robert Mugabe in the early 1980's the new Zimbabwe Dollar was worth US$1.20. The nation was almost entirely self-sufficient with the exception of oil supplies.

By 2007 the Zimbabwe dollar was hitting the trillion dollar mark against the US$ under the rule of one man (and let's be fair - his Generals). Shops contained matches and cigarettes and almost nothing else! It took longer to count out several million Zimbabwe dollars to pay for your cappuccino than it did to drink it. Women stood shoulder deep in crocodile infested water, as close to mother hippos as they dared, to fish for their children's dinner.

Fishing next to the most dangerous African animal, hoping the hippo would chase away crocodiles -desperation is an inadequate word.

So is this out of the fat and into the fire?

It may well be. The Vice Presidents and Generals propped up Mugabe's reign for a long time. VP Mnangagwa is not called "Crocodile" for nothing, after all, he masterminded the annihilation of the Matabele people and ruthlessly beat MDC supporters so badly that the MDC refused to participate in the last elections, fearing too many deaths.

The problem facing the "Crocodile" and his cronies now though, is the reaction of the nation who are expecting change at last. Will they order the military to crush these hopes once they are power?

Let's hope not.

For now, though, let Zimbabwe rejoice in their freedom from Police harassment and revel in the idea that there may be HOPE again after a brutal and oppressive regime that has lasted longer than Apartheid.
Zimbabwe has been described a having experienced a coup, but in the words of a Zimbabwean on Twitter, it has to be the coolest coup in the world. It has alternatively been described as the classiest coup. While the military of Zimbabwe does not describe it as a coup, but as a peaceful transitional period, foreign media all bang on about how it looks like a coup and therefore is.

Zimbabwe citizens do not care for obscure UK politicians commenting

There have been tweets from rather obscure British politicians telling the Zimbabweans that Mugabe is a democratically elected leader, but Zimbabweans neither want nor need foreign intervention right now.

They have, for the first time in years been able to gather without being beaten and assaulted by brutally rabid police. It matters not right now that Mugabe negotiations might have stalled. Right now, the army in Zimbabwe is the most popular thing since real US$.

In pictures shared by those on the streets, come some amazing insights of the birth of unity and the hope for a new future.

A solidarity protest in pictures

The solidarity march and day of prayer happened Saturday 18 November 2017, after President Mugabe had ruled for 37 years through suppression, violence, and purges. This makes the images out of Zimbabwe even more special. Freedom to march peacefully is a luxury indeed, in Mugabe's Zimbabwe.

"if this is a mistake I am glad we making it together," read one tweet.

Pastor Mawarire so often arrested and charged just for trying to address the people was unmolested.

Zimbabweans meeting and greeting their military.

The coolest coup in the history of the world, army tankers being celebrated like mad. Peaceful yet so powerful, #Zimbabwe #Zimbabwecoup #SolidarityMarch pic.twitter.com/wtTVAtVMyB  Cde Zipit (@karlMadz) November 18, 2017

CDE Zipit's 'Coolest coup in the history of the world," Twitter video.

The soldiers are the 'hottest' people in town today.

Love and tolerance are very evident.

Well done Zimbabweans for this defining moment.Thumps up to the unsung heroes from the City of Kings (Bulawayo),the first to publicly boo Disgrace/Mugabe duo sending them to a frenzy of tantrums,firing of VP & military take over!!#Zimbabwean#Bulawayo#Zimbabwe#SolidarityMarch pic.twitter.com/jW4SVbEcZN  #FillUpFNBStadium (@ntonto31) November 18, 2017

It was not confined to Harare but crowds stretch as far as the eye could see as similar marches happened in the second city - Bulawayo.

There was a clear message for SADC and the AU not to interfere in what Zimbabweans want.

People of all ages and races joined in the unity march. They were all Zimbabweans enjoying the first taste of freedom in the air.

Some of the most eye catching shots from the #Zimababwe #solidarityMarch against Mugabe pic.twitter.com/uZCeWEXuvu  Young Black King  (@pyepar) November 18, 2017

Taking a slap at Grace Mugabe's dynasty ambitions was a sign that said: "Leadership is not sexually transmitted!"

RT for Awareness Please FREE All Those Who Were Put In Jail For Criticising Mugabe #MugabeMustGo #Zimbabwe #SolidarityMarch   MUGABE MUST GO  (@vvs_1k) November 18, 2017

Meanwhile, those imprisoned for criticizing Mugabe who are jailed have not been forgotten during the jubilation.

Chat 263 posted up a video to show the jubilant mood of Zimbabweans who celebrate the 'coolest coup' in the world.

Zimbabwe knows how to have a classy coup. They also know how to protest in style!

Zimbabweans flocked to take selfies with the military.

As Trevor Noah said on Comedy Central, there may be a lot of Americans who wish they could do the same thing - have a classy coup!

It is still a long road to go, with questions about peaceful transitions and honoring the constitution, but that's tomorrow's problem. For today, Zimbabweans are just amazed to be able to march peacefully and not be thrashed by squads of brutal police. Compare what you have seen above to just one year ago shown in the video below.

Note - With special thanks to those on the ground who freely shared their images and videos with Zimbabweans in the diaspora.
PHNOM PENHThe Chinese Embassy here on Monday donated 9,130 Chinese language books to five universities and schools in Cambodia. The beneficiaries are the State-owned Royal University of Phnom Penh, Asia Euro University, Min Sheng Chinese School, Duan Hua Chinese School and Li Qing Chinese School.

Speaking at the handover ceremony held at the embassy residence in Phnom Penh, Chinese Ambassador Xiong Bo said the books included literature, history, geography, tourism, education, arts, culture, language and agriculture with a total cost of 330,000 Chinese yuan ($50,000).

He said the donation was aimed at promoting Chinese teaching and further enriching the teaching resources of Chinese schools in Cambodia.

"It's the second time that the Chinese Embassy donates reading books to schools in Cambodia," Xiong said. "I believe that the books will help Cambodian students and researchers to learn and to understand better about China."

The ambassador said as more and more Chinese investors and tourists came to Cambodia, the demand for Chinese speaking would be surely on the rise.

Chhun Hok, vice rector of the Royal University of Phnom Penh, said the university opened a Chinese Language Center in 2007 and a faculty of Chinese literature in 2010. To date, the center had offered short courses to 1,700 students and the faculty had provided bachelor's degrees to 175 students.

"The books will be very useful for students to study and to understand better about Chinese culture and development," he said.
I have been a member of the Girl Scout movement for over 50 years, and as an adult, I am still learning leadership skills through girl scouting. I stay involved because I enjoy being part of a sisterhood which is inclusive, girl-led, in which girls feel safe to succeed and unleash the power of the G.I.R.L (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader).

Girl Scouts Dakota Horizons serves girls throughout North Dakota and South Dakota, and parts of Minnesota and Iowa. If I could name only one thing girls learn when theyre involved with Girl Scouts, its that they gain the confidence to tackle new things. From building robotic hands to creating resources that enable new immigrants to learn to read English, our girls have done amazing things for more than 100 years. Through girl scouting, they receive the encouragement, guidance, training, and confidence they need to grow into women who lead by example and do great things for their communities, their nation, and the world.

In the Girl Scout movement, we have always known that girls are the key to our collective future. Gender balance in the workplace and in the public sphere are vital to ensuring that every voice is heard and every outlook is considered. To us, theres no mystery why corporate boards with more gender balance outperform male-dominated boards. One of the best things we can do to ensure the long-term strength of the United States is to invest in girls. Women bring an invaluable perspective to the courtroom, the classroom, and the caucus room.

Girl Scouts is the best leadership experience for girls in the world, created specifically with and for girls. The Girl Scout Leadership Experience is a one-of-a-kind leadership development program that pairs girls with strong female role models and mentors who help each girl develop her potential. At Girl Scouts, girls find a safe space where they are free to just be themselves without the pressures and social anxieties that can come from a mixed-gender environment. Our leadership model is designed to meet their interests and needs because its collaborative and places importance on a diversity of perspectives.

Leadership doesnt happen by accident, and because of Girl Scouts, I can look back on my career, and know the GSLE was responsible for my successes. I earned my master of public administration degree from the University of North Dakota, but before that, as a Girl Scout, I earned the highest honor you could achieve at that time  the Curved Bar award. (Today, its known as the Gold Award.) During my professional career, I was appointed to the North Dakota Public Service Commission in 1993 by then-Gov. Ed Schafer, as the first woman to serve on that commission. When I retired, I did so as president of the Public Service Commission.

Creating more female leaders means starting young and making sure todays girls are acquiring the skills they will need to take on the 21st century leadership roles of their futures. Through our more than 100 years of experience, Girl Scouts has become the experts at giving girls the tools they need to empower themselves by teaching them that their voices count, they must stand up for what they believe in, and they have the strength to take the lead. Our programs are specifically designed with girls in mind.

Im also author of the books "Spectacular North Dakota Hikes  Bring the Dog," and "Important Voices, North Dakotas Women Elected State Officials Tell Their Stories," both published by the Institute of Regional Studies at North Dakota State University. Because of girl scouting, I followed where my passions led me, in both my business and creative life.

The Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award in girl scouting, is earned by fewer than 6 percent of Girl Scouts annually. The Gold Award requires girls to demonstrate their leadership skills by addressing a local or global issue. Girls typically spend one to two years on their project and must show the project will have long term benefits. Girls projects range from ones that address poverty to illiteracy to environmentalism. Girl Scouts who earn the Gold Award are truly noteworthy.

I encourage all former and current Girl Scouts to actively examine how girl scouting has made a difference in their lives and in their communities.
Not much was expected to come out of the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, after US President Donald Trump pulled out of the Paris Agreement.

And not much seems to have been achieved at the annual gathering of global climate negotiators, which was scheduled to end on Friday but dragged into the wee hours of Saturday.

However, many see a silver lining in the dark clouds of global warming, because a new alliance of 19 countries committed on Thursday to quickly phasing out coal, which was welcomed by many as a "political watershed" that signaled the beginning of the "end of the dirtiest fossil fuel". New promises were made by Angola, Denmark, Mexico and New Zealand for the "Powering Past Coal Alliance", led by the United Kingdom and Canada.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, addressing the conference, emphasized that the response to climate change would determine the destiny of humankind and urged accelerated action to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

French President Emannuel Macron, who has emerged as a new climate champion and the most vocal critic of Trump, said France would try to bridge the funding gap for the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change created by the withdrawal of the United States, and urged its European Union partners to do the same.

And on Wednesday, governments for the first time acknowledged they can play a leading role in protecting forests and reserved natural habitats, and keep temperature rise at a "safe level", which indigenous peoples' groups saw as a victory.

These "first peoples", long marginalized, also seem to have achieved breakthroughs in terms of official international recognition of their rights, autonomy and participation in negotiations.

This is important as the territories of these groups, whose combined population is about 370 million, contain 20 percent of the carbon of the world's tropical forests which they often have to defend against loggers, farmers and miners.

Besides, less-developed countries succeeded in brokering a resolution on Wednesday to ensure the final document will put pressure on rich countries to take action on carbon cuts and climate finance.

Now down to the brass tacks.

Instead of accepting the less-developed countries' proposal to discuss the pledges made by the rich economies to fight climate change, the conference agreed to seven measures to monitor the rich nations' actions, including urging UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to make efforts to persuade the majority of the parties to ratify the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol, work out a process to track and report on the progress made to meet pre-2020 commitments including taking stock in 2018 and 2019, and assess the funds rich economies contribute to help the poor ones to cope with climate change.

That means no consensus yet on ratifying the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol, without which keeping global temperature rise to below 2 C will be impossible.

All this shows the consensus is on compromise, not climate action. And Aziz Mekouar, Moroccan ambassador to the climate talks who brokered the talks, said as much in his remark: "People were really constructive and willing to reach a compromise."

Amid all this comes a dire warning from more than 15,000 scientists from over 180 countries that: "Time is running out" to stop business as usual because the threats posed by rising greenhouse gas emissions on biodiversity loss are pushing the biosphere toward disaster.

The new warning, published in BioScience on Monday, is an update to the "World Scientists' Warning to Humanity" issued by about 1,700 leading scientists 25 years ago. That the 1992 warning that the planet was on its way to being "irretrievably mutilated" went largely unheeded should give us an idea about what to expect in the future.

And it's anybody's guess whether the climate skeptics and deniers will be swayed by the latest warning or heed the words of 12-year-old Timoci Naulusala from Fiji who, speaking in Bonn about the impact of last year's Cyclone Winston, said: "My home, my school, sources of food, money, water were totally destroyed. My once beautiful village, which I called home, is a barren waste. Climate change is real, not a dream."

The author is a senior editor with China Daily.
Wild, unspoiled, faraway, mysterious Alaska fires up the imagination and brings out your spirit of adventure. It is now much easier to explore Alaskas magnificent mountains, lodges, fjords, and glaciers and see whales, seals, grizzly bears, and other wild animals than it was even a few years ago. Visit the museums, restaurants and cafes in Juneau and Anchorage and explore Denali, Glacier Bay National Parks. Here are the best things to do in Alaska.

We recommend that you call the attractions and restaurants ahead of your visit to confirm current opening times.

1. White Pass & Yukon Route Railway  Courtesy of Rocky Grimes - Fotolia.com

The White Pass and Yukon Route is a Canadian and American narrow gauge railroad that links Skagway in Alaska and Whitehorse in Yukon. It was built in 1900 during the Klondike Gold Rush  the fastest way miners could reach the goldfields. It operated until 1982 and was resurrected in 1988 as a heritage railway. It allows passengers to travel back to the past, riding the rails on a real gold rush train, past waterfalls, glacial rivers, steep gorges, and dense forests that have hardly changed since the time of the gold miners. The train climbs up 3000 feet with passengers aboard parlor cars, both vintage and replicas and with huge windows and observation decks, along the 10-foot-wide train track carved into the mountain. The scenery is breathtaking, and the places the train passes by, such as Dead Horse Gulch or Inspiration Point, fire the imagination and take you all the way up to the headwaters of the legendary Yukon River. 231 2nd, Skagway, AK 99840, Phone: 907-983-2217

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2. Kroschel Films Wildlife Center  Kroschel Films Wildlife Center

Located about 28 miles from Haines, Alaska, the Kroschel Films Wildlife Center is an amazing place where filmmaker and naturalist Steve Kroschel takes care of abandoned or orphaned wild animals from Alaska or Canada. It is not a zoo, though, and the animals live free and unmolested in their natural environment, providing you with some perfect photo opportunities as you walk along a well-groomed trail for about 600 yards through the magnificent Alaskan wilderness. You will encounter 15 species of animals, including grizzly bears, foxes, wolves, lynx, moose, reindeer, owls and others. Steve combines his filmmaking and animal care with a message about the interconnectedness of all life on Earth and natural healing. Mile 18 Mosquito Lake Road, Haines, AK 99827, Phone: 907-767-5464

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3. Sealaska Heritage Institute  Sealaska Heritage Institute

Sealaska Heritage Institute is a nonprofit organization and institute in downtown Juneau, originally founded in 1980 to preserve and protect the region's Tlingit Tsimshian, and Haida indigenous cultures. The institute, which moved into its permanent home at the Walter Soboleff Building in 2015, strives to create a place where Native and non-Native Alaskans alike can learn about their heritage through permanent exhibits and special event programming. The museum's permanent cultural exhibit showcases a variety of works by prominent Native artists, including luminaries such as Wayne Price, Robert Davidson, Preston Singletary, and David Boxley. A traditional clan house dubbed as Shuka Hit is also showcased, along with space for rotating art and cultural exhibits. Three major public art exhibits are showcased on the museum's grounds, including a 40-foot panel exhibit by Robert Davidson paying tribute to a Haida supernatural figure known as "Greatest Echo." 105 S Seward St, Juneau, AK 99801, Phone: (907) 463-4844



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4. Kodiak Laboratory Aquarium & Touch Tank  Courtesy of Andrea Izzotti - Fotolia.com



The Alaska Fisheries Science Center is home to the Kodiak Laboratory Aquarium & Touch Tank, a 3500-gallon freestanding aquarium and touch tank containing species from the Kodiak Island waterways. Common species in the aquarium and tank include crabs, shrimp, snails, starfish and fish. Children and adults alike will enjoy handling the residents of the touch tank. Tour guides are on hand to provide information about the sea life and answer questions. The science center's conference rooms provide fantastic views of the water and visitors can marvel at the massive, 25,000-square-foot complex that houses the aquarium. Things to Do in Kodiak 301 Research Court, Kodiak, AK 99615, Phone: 907-481-1700

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5. Alaska Native Heritage Center  Alaska Native Heritage Center



The Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage is a cultural center, museum and gathering place where visitors can learn about the heritage of eleven of Alaska's major cultures by viewing exhibitions, watching artists demonstrations, songs and dances, and listening to stories. Alaskan Native dancing, Native games demonstrations and mesmerizing storytelling all take place in the Gathering Place. The Hall of Cultures features exhibitions by Alaskan Native artists. Artists sell their art and crafts around the hall. The theatre shows the Heritage Center-produced film, Stories Given, Stories Shared, and many other movies about the different cultures and peoples of Alaska. Even more interesting exhibits await outside the center building there are six life-sized Alaskan Native dwellings scattered in the woods around nearby Lake Tiulana where visitors can see demonstrations of the traditional way of life of different Alaskan peoples. 8800 Heritage Center Dr, Anchorage, AK99504-6100, Phone: 907-330-8000

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6. The Aurora Ice Museum, Fairbanks, Alaska  The Aurora Ice Museum



Located in the Chena Hot Springs Resort, the Aurora Ice Museum is open year-round. Created with over 1,000 tons of ice and snow, the museum is kept at 25 Fahrenheit (-7 Celsius), so visitors are loaned parkas to tour the museum in comfort. The museum contains a gallery displaying sculptures by world champion ice carvers Steve and Heather Brice, an observation tower, three bedrooms (polar bear, Christmas tree and childrens fort), a Northern Lights room and even an ice outhouse. An ice alter can be rented for onsite special events or weddings, and the museums chandeliers change color to evoke the aurora borealis. 17600 Chena Hot Springs Road, Fairbanks, AK 99712, Phone: 907-451-8104

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7. Things to Do in Alaska: Running Reindeer Ranch  Running Reindeer Ranch

Less than half hour from downtown Fairbanks is the Running Reindeer Ranch, where you can learn all you ever wanted to know about these curious animals of the north. The ranch owner and manager Jane, who has lived most of her life in Alaska, will take you on a walk through the beautiful, dense birch forest with the reindeer and engage you in reindeer games, tell you about the forest, the reindeers home, and explain all their adaptations to life in the Arctic. You can watch the reindeer as they run free and happy in their forest world, untrained and often unpredictable, so what kind of adventure you will be having is pretty much up to them. Once the walk is over, Jane will take you to a nice, warm room by a fire, give you cookies and a hot drink and tell you stories about life in the north and, of course, about reindeer. In the summer, she will proudly show you her vegetable garden. Things to Do in Fairbanks Goldstream Rd, Fairbanks, AK 99709, Phone: 907-455-4998



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8. Places of Interest in Alaska: Husky Homestead, Alaska  Husky Homestead

If you have ever wondered what it would feel like to stand on a dog sled speeding across 1000 miles of frozen Alaskan tundra, and you are not prepared to enter the next Iditarod race, then a visit to the Husky Homestead is your best alternative. Legendary Jeff King, four times winner of the Iditarod race and hundreds of other races across North America, has opened his home to those curious about the Alaskan lifestyle, including the hardships, challenges and, of course, the huskies. You can hear great stories from Jeff and his staff, many of whom are also famous mushers, you can play with puppies and watch fully-grown majestic animals both at training and at work. Jeffs home is located within Denali National Park and all visitors are brought in by Husky Homestead buses from Denali hotels. PO Box 48,, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK 99755, Phone: 907-683-2904



9. Alaska Things to Do: Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitors Center  Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitors Center

Located on the banks of the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks, the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center is a regional visitor center for Interior Alaska and Fairbanks. The center is an interesting and very successful cooperation between the Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Tanana Chiefs Conference and the Alaska Public Lands Information Center. There is a 9000-square-foot exhibit hall with dioramas and displays featuring rural Alaska seasons and landscapes from the interior. The information center part offers brochures, walking and driving tour schedules, and a vacancy listing, and answers visitor questions and inquiries. There is also a theatre with free films on Alaskas natural and cultural history. 101 Dunkel St, Fairbanks, AK 99701-4806, Phone: 907-459-3700

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10. Alaska Tourist Attractions: Alaska Raptor Center  Alaska Raptor Center

Even in remote and sparsely populated places like Alaska, wild animals suffer from human encroachment into their habitats and are increasingly injured or killed. Two Sitka ladies decided that someone had to do something about the injured raptor birds and so they developed the Alaska Raptor Center in 1980. They started in their backyard with one injured bald eagle. Eventually, their action attracted other volunteers and they were able to help more birds, so they first moved to a shed on the campus of Sheldon Jackson College and then, in 1991, to the current 17-acre space on the Indian River. The center provides medical care and treatment to about 200 injured birds each year, mostly bald eagles. The main goal is to rehabilitate them and release them back into the wild. Those birds that are too severely injured and would not be able survive in the wild stay in the centers Raptors-in-Residence facility and are visited by tourists and school kids as part of the educational program on raptor birds and environmental conservation in general. Things to Do in Sitka 1000 Raptor Way, Sitka, AK 99835-9302, Phone: 800-643-9425



11. Things to Do in Alaska: Denali Visitor Center  Courtesy of TODD - Fotolia.com

Before venturing into the magnificent 6,000,000-acre Denali National Park and Preserve, stop by the highly informative Denali Visitor Center, the main parks information and welcoming facility. It includes a restaurant, gift shop and bookstore, bus stop, bag check, and railroad depot. The center is an ideal place for visitors to learn more about what to expect in the park as well as its most interesting features by talking to park rangers, by watching the film "Heartbeats of Denali", and by checking out a small but interesting exhibit area. Many ranger-run activities in the park start at the Denali Visitor Center. Also, most of the trails in the Denali park have an easy access from the center, where you can get the map of all trails. Denali National Park and Preserve, Phone: 907-683-9532

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12. Fun Things to Do in Alaska: Alaska SeaLife Center  Alaska SeaLife Center

Located in Seward, Alaska, on the scenic shores of Resurrection Bay, the Alaska SeaLife Center is Alaskas main public aquarium and its only permanent rehabilitation facility for marine mammals. Since opening in 1998, the center works on preserving the integrity of the marine ecosystems of Alaska using research, conservation, rehabilitation and education. Most funds for the 115,000-square-foot facility came from the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill restitution and its purpose is to remind visitors through interactive activities of the importance of the integrity of Alaska's nature. Through viewing windows, visitors can watch a Stellers sea lion swimming underwater, puffins diving into the waters of a carefully designed habitat, or harbor seals sprawled on rocky beaches. There is a discovery touch tank that engages your senses and the Chiswell Island exhibit, where you can watch what is happening at the Stellers sea lion rookery in Resurrection Bay through a remote camera live video. The center offers self-guided tours as well as special behind-the-scenes tours and animal encounters. 301 Railway Ave, Seward, AK 99664-3801, Phone: 907-224-6300



13. Alaska Activities: Talkeetna Air Taxi  Talkeetna Air Taxi

To see everything that majestic Denali has to offer in its 8,000,000 acres of Alaskan wilderness would take more than a lifetime. The best way to see it all, ancient glaciers, sky-high mountain peaks and mile-high gorges, is from the air or by flightseeing. Talkeetna Air Taxi promises to show you one of the most magnificent mountain landscapes on Earth from the comfort of one of their ten safe and modern planes as well as a helicopter that will not only fly over Denali but will also land on a glacier so that you can experience a world normally known only to mountaineers after a long, hard climb. All their tours are customized and depend on the weather conditions and current visibility. 14212 E 2nd St, Talkeetna, AK 99676, Phone: 907-733-2218



14. Activities Near Me: Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's Tour, Ketchikan, Alaska  Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's Tour

An adventure with the Bering Sea Crab Fishermens Tour aboard the legendary F/V Aleutian Ballad is not quite the hair-raising death-defying battle with the sea you saw in the series Deadliest Catch. You will meet the same crew and board the same boat, but the boat has been made more comfortable with a heated amphitheater and a panoramic upper deck. The boat will take you on a comfortable cruise through the calm, protected waters of the Inside Passage around the bays and islands surrounding Ketchikan until you reach the rich fishing grounds. You will watch the crew haul the catch and place some of the animals in a live tank so that you can see them and take photos before they are released unharmed back into the sea. Have a look around on the trip to the fishing grounds and you might spot some of the rich Alaskan wildlife such as bears, bald eagles and seals. The cruise lasts about three hours. Berth #3 Tender Float, Ketchikan, AK 99901, Phone: 888-239-3816



15. Kenai Fjords Tours  Kenai Fjords Tours



Located about 125 miles south of Anchorage, the small town of Seward is the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park. Departing from Seward, Kenai Fjord Tours will take you on a close-up encounter with ancient glaciers, gray and humpback whales, sea lions, orcas, arctic birds, seals and porpoises. You can see Kenai Fjords National Parks calving glaciers and magnificent alpine and cirque glaciers. Learn about the history of the rugged cliffs of Resurrection Bay and travel deep into the park to experience the unspoiled beauty of the Northwest Fjords. You can choose one of their many day tours  the Resurrection Bay Tour, the National Park Tour, the Fox Island Tour with dinner and many others  aboard one of their large 95-foot specially designed vessels that can accommodate up to 150 people in the comfort of heated, enclosed cabins and with a large observation deck. The tours last from three to nine hours. 1304 4th Ave, Seward, AK 99664, Phone: 907-777-2852

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16. Alaska Tourist Attractions: Jewell Gardens  Jewell Gardens



Jewell Gardens is a collection of beautiful, organic vegetable and flower gardens thriving in the Alaskan climate. Located in the gardens at the base of the rock wall is the Garden City Glassworks, an onsite glassworks studio, and glass installations created by Glassworks artists feature throughout the garden. The garden railway runs along 250 feet of track through Skagwee, a miniature replica of Skagway as it was 100 years ago. Visitors can visit the gift shop and enjoy a guided tour, followed by either full tea or luncheon at Poppies Restaurant, which opens for lunch daily from 11 am to 3 pm. The restaurant offers views of the garden and serves food and drink prepared with garden-fresh, organic ingredients. Skagway, AK 99840, Phone: 907-983-2111



17. Sitka National Historic Park  Courtesy of Acker - Fotolia.com



Sitka National Historical Park is a day park run by the National Parks Service. The site uses programming and media to educate the public about the cultural battle that took place between Russian traders and the indigenous Kiks.adi Tlingit people back when Russia was the dominating force in the North Pacific. Totem poles line the parks coastal trail and are part of the visitor centers display, along with other traditional Tlingit objects, such as the hammer that clan leader Katlian used as a weapon in the Battle of 1804. The park also offers the rare opportunity to view an example of Russian colonial architecture in the form of the Russian Bishops House. There is a bookstore with titles on the areas history and traditions and there are ongoing events run by park rangers and scientists. The park houses over 1,000 original glass plate negatives by Elbridge W. Merrill that document the cultural interaction between colonial Russians and the Tlingit. 103 Monastery St., Sitka, AK 99835, Phone: 907-747-0110

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18. Alaska Railroad  Courtesy of NoraDoa - Fotolia.com



The Alaska Railroad offers a train service to Alaskas most popular destinations, such as Denali National Park, Seward, Talkeetna, and Anchorage. The railroad operates two passenger classes, both with full-service dining and bar service; the GoldStar Service class is available on the Coastal Classic and Denali trains, while all trains features the Adventure class. Meals, soft drinks and two alcoholic beverages are included in the GoldStar Service ticket price. Pre-packaged day and multi-day itineraries are available, with accommodation and activities included in the multi-day packages. Both seniors (65+) and military personnel qualify for discounted pricing. All trains accept credit or debit card payments for onboard purchases. Phone: 800-544-0552



19. Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Portage, Alaska  Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center



The animals at the AWCC are typically injured or orphaned and have been brought to the center for care. If the animals cannot be released back into the wild or sent to another center after treatment and rehabilitation, they become a permanent fixture at the AWCC. The center holds public feeding sessions several times a day and during the summer, hour-long shuttle bus tours let visitors watch and learn about the different wildlife. Also during the summer, you can, for an additional fee, take a behind-the-scenes tour where a chaperone takes you through the center so that you can see food being prepared and have a one-on-one visit with an animal resident. Mile 79 Seward Highway, Portage, Alaska 99587, Phone: 907-783-2025

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20. Alaska Attractions: Totem Bight State Historical Park  Courtesy of porbital - Fotolia.com



Totem Bight State Historical Park hosts 15 totem poles and a model indigenous village. Totem poles tell visual stories through symbolic characters carved into the pole, and the totems on display in the park speak of the rich natural resources in Alaska. The villages clan house is typical of those built in the early 1800s, sized for 30 to 50 dwellers with a central fireplace in the one large room. The houses carved posts recount stories, while the front of the house displays a painting which is historically uncommon and signifies abundance. The park teaches young artists totem pole carving and also repairs or creates copies of totem poles left by indigenous people when they moved to find work in the early 20th century. 550 W. 7th Ave, Suite 1260, Anchorage, AK 99501-3557, Phone: 907-269-8400



21. Things to See Near Me: Juneau Whale Watch, Alaska  Menno Schaefer/stock.adobe.com



There is so much to do in Juneau, which is surrounded by lush rainforests and ancient glaciers and has more trails than roads and more wildlife than people. However, nothing can compare to seeing your first humpback whale slowly emerging from the cold depths of the sea with breath-taking majesty. Juneau Whale Watch is an established local company that will make your encounter unforgettable. Their whale watching adventure takes three to five hours and starts on a bus that takes you from downtown Juneau to the Juneau port at Fishermans Bend in Auke Bay Harbor, where you board one of their custom-made whale watching boats. While cruising the bay looking for whales, keep an eye out for bald eagles, sea lions, seals, black bears, and other Alaskan wildlife. You can see the humpback whales and orcas who often hunt in these waters. Once the whale is in sight, the captain will shut down the engine so that whales can approach the boat, as if posing for the photos. You can stand outside or in the heated cabin with a large viewing window. Things to Do in Juneau 76 Egan Dr Suite 300, Juneau, AK 99801, Phone: 907-723-9209



22. Alaska Tourist Attractions: Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum  Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum



Located in the Wedgewood Resort and Bear Lodge in Fairbanks is the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum, an amazing collection of antique cars and historic fashion that showcases how the design of both clothes and cars changed dramatically between the demure Victorian era and the more cheerful Art Deco age. There are more than 80 antique cars, from horseless carriages, electric cars and steamers to speedsters, midget racers, cycle cars and 30s classics. You can see Alaskas first car, an 1898 Hay Motor Vehicle, 1920 Argonne, 1921 Heine-Velox Victoria and 1906 Compound, all kept in excellent shape and still going strong. The museum also features over 100 antique costumes in its clothing exhibit. 212 Wedgewood Dr, Fairbanks, AK 99701, Phone: 907-450-2100

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23. Alaska Tourist Attractions: Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park  Courtesy of Zack Frank - Fotolia.com The Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park offers three historical tours led by park rangers. The 30-minute tour of Jeff Smiths Parlor Museum recounts the story of Soapy Smith, the notorious conman and influential Skagaway citizen who was murdered in an 1898 gunfight. The museum also contains Gold Rush period artifacts and local folk art. The tour of the historic district covers four blocks and several of the 20+ buildings managed by the park during the one-hour session. You can also spend 90 minutes learning about the history and wildlife of Dyea, a boomtown during the Gold Rush and current a National Historic Landmark. Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, Skagway, AK 99840, Phone: 907-983-9200



24. Alaska Vacation: Santa Claus House, North Pole, Alaska  Santa Claus House At the Santa Claus House, you can experience Christmas any day of the year. Started by Con and Nellie Miller in 1952, Santa Claus House began as a community trading post where locals could buy supplies, pick up their mail or simply stop in for a few minutes of chit chat and a soda. During the 1970s, the store began to increasingly focus on Christmas items, and today you can find a huge assortment of Christmas gifts, including food, clothing, merchandise, and toys. Take a photo with the 42-foot tall, three-dimensional Santa outside the house or in the photo sleigh, visit the reindeer team, or enjoy some holiday food and drink while browsing. 101 St. Nicholas Dr., North Pole, Alaska 99705, Phone: 907-488-2200



25. University of Alaska Museum of the North  University of Alaska Museum of the North Located on the Fairbanks campus of the University of Alaska, the University of Alaska Museum of the North is a great introduction to vast, mysterious Alaska, including its people, history, art, culture, plants and animals, through a range of galleries with permanent and temporary exhibits. A new wing, added in 2005, is an art exhibit in itself, evoking glaciers, alpine slopes and the legendary Yukon River, and has won many awards. The gallery showcases two thousand years of Alaska art  from old Eskimo carvings to contemporary sculptures and paintings, both Native and non-Native. Exhibits in the Gallery of Alaska represent Alaska's major cultural and ecological regions, with Alaska's biggest gold display, major displays of Native artifacts, and the worlds only fully restored steppe bison mummy from the Ice Age. The exhibit The Place Where You Go to Listen is a fascinating light and sound display that is constantly changing with the current position of the moon and the sun, aurora borealis activity and the frequent earthquakes. Guests are welcome to relax in the common room with a TV and DVD player, puzzles, and areas for reading. There is also a deck with a gorgeous view. The restaurant features East Coast, seafood, and Tex-Mex dishes so there is something for everyone. Breakfast is always included in the stay and later in the day you can enjoy lunch, supper, or appetizers. 1962 Yukon Dr, Fairbanks, AK 99775, Phone: 907-474-7505



25 Best Things to Do in Alaska

More ideas:

Russian Bishop's House

In 1741, Captain Aleksei Chirikov of the Russian Navy landed in Alaska and the period of Russian colonization in Alaska began. After the Battle of 1804, the Russian settlement of Sitka was founded. From 1808 until 1867, when the Tsar sold Alaska to the United States, Sitka served as the Russian colonys capital. The Russian Bishops House was built in 1842 and is a rare example of Russian colonial architecture.

The house served as the administrative center for the Russian Orthodox Church, which had locations across North America, and is a lingering reminder of Alaskas Russian history. A 16-year project by the National Parks Service began in 1973 to make the building look as it did in the early 1850s. The house lets visitors experience life in Sitka during the Russian-American period.

501 Lincoln St, Sitka, AK 99835, Phone: 907-747-0110

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"It is not going to go away after spring comes. We will have to have a plan, a facility, funding mechanism and someone to operate it."

 Mayor Mike Seminary, on the need for a mens homeless shelter in Bismarck-Mandan.

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"When you don't own the mineral rights or the surface rights, you can't say no. The best you can do is have conversations with people and try to limit the intrusiveness of what they're doing to the area."

 Jay Clemens, who owns land in the Badlands and works with oil companies in an effort to reduce their footprint.

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"This may be the most important thing I do as lieutenant governor. May they go in peace and not leave anything behind."

 Lt. Gov. Brent Sanford, pardoning two Thanksgiving turkeys.

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"I can tell you without a doubt that we do have an opioid problem."

 Dr. Elizabeth Faust, senior medical director of behavioral health at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota.

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"The (Department of Health) has thoughtfully crafted these rules to ensure patient safety, product safety and public safety. The department is committed to a transparent process, and we welcome the public's input on the proposed rules."

 Mylynn Tufte, a state health officer, on rules governing the state's voter-approved medical marijuana program submitted to the state Legislative Council.

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"We don't know what this new (state) assessment is, but we do know what the ACT is. It worked for our schools and our community."

 Ben Johnson, Bismarck Public Schools secondary assistant superintendent. Twelve high school districts in North Dakota plan to take the ACT at the high school level in lieu of state assessments.

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"Fortuna ranked up pretty close to the top of my duty assignments. That was one of my better ones just because I liked my job and I liked the people I worked with and I got along real well with the local community."

 Retired Tech. Sgt. Don Erstad, saying the now closed Fortuna Air Force Station was a good assignment.

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"I've long said I want to work with Republicans and Democrats on a tax reform bill that achieves real, lasting relief for the middle income Americans who need it the most. But, so far, partisan politics have won out."

 Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., discussing the tax bill in Congress.

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"I always say we started with a big prayer and a small loan. We didn't have any cash down, didn't have any cash flow, but our loan officer always said we had character."

 Tom Campbell, on how he and his brothers started a potato farm operation. Campbells now seeking the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate.

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"It encompasses not only the rodeo, and our history with the rodeo, but our history with the west and the wild west. And still continued ranching. It's all a big part of our history here."

 Deputy Chief Lori Flaten, of the Mandan Police Department, on the two new patches for officers uniforms.
HA NOI  Strong economic growth since 2015 has created a thriving domestic property market that is likely to continue next year, said Construction Minister Pham Hong Ha.

Ha told the first annual Viet Nam Real Estate Forum in Ha Noi on Wednesday that the markets growth had made significant contributions to the countrys socio-economic development.

Upbeat signs have been seen in the market index. Property inventories have fallen sharply due to growing housing demand, while the flow of direct and indirect foreign investment into the sector has soared, he said.

The property markets recovery has also bolstered the financial-securities market and other related industrial sectors, such as construction and building materials, the Minister said, predicting that resort properties would also continue to develop.

However, he said the market had displayed a lack of transparency. Further, parts of the real estate market had been manipulated by those with vested interests.

Most investment in property projects had come from credit institutions, banks and by mobilising home buyers.

The structure of property products has not been suitable or closely managed. The supply of high-end estate segments has been higher than demand, while there has been a lack of commercial and social housing projects, the minister added.

In addition, he said, State management agencies had not developed policies to respond to changes in the market. Also, he claimed the Government had not had adequate policies regarding taxes, credits and land, to regulate resources for market development, and had not encouraged social housing projects.

Nguyen Tran Nam, chairman of the Viet Nam Real Estate Association (VNREA), agreed, saying that the estate market would be more stable next year.

Statistics indicate that Ha Noi has some 20,000 apartments for sale. In total, the capital and HCM City have 45,000 to 50,000 apartments that are offered for sale in the market, while consumption results in only 30,000 sales per year.

Therefore, the market has enough apartments to meet current demand, Nam said, adding that there is no speculation in the market.

Nguyen Trong Ninh, director of the ministrys Department of Housing Management and Real Estate Market, said the property market continued to see stable growth, including in resort properties at a Nang, Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa and Phu Quoc - Kien Giang, which were attracting investments from local and foreign investors.

Credit in estate under control

Outstanding loans in the property sector are in line with the Governments orientation and the markets real demand. By the end of July, outstanding loans in the sector rose 4 per cent from last year. Property loans account for 9 per cent of the countrys total outstanding loans.

The portion has been stable since 2013. The loans in the estate sector have focused on apartment projects, which are suitable for peoples demand, said Nguyen Quoc Hung , director of the Credit Department under the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV).

In addition, the central bank has asked credit institutions to actively resolve bad debts, especially in the property sector. The bad debt rate in the sector was sharply reduced from 7.05 per cent in 2013 to 4.06 per cent in 2017.

Hung said the SBV would continue to stabilise the monetary market, while closely supervising credit in the estate sector to ensure effective and sustainable credit growth.

He proposed to continue renewing and improving planning, while shortening the time for approving social and commercial housing projects. Meanwhile, policies for these new types of properties, such as condotels and officetels, should be completed.

He said the Government was also on guard against speculation-driven growth in the market. Further, banks will not issue loans worth more than 70 per cent of a project to property developers, and investors must use the loans to invest only in the project for which they received the loan.

Economist Le Xuan Nghia said he believed that financing for social housing projects has been challenging, as it mainly comes from bank loans instead of non-profit or Governmental resources.

Bank loans should not be a long-term solution, as they cause pressure on the banking sector. I think the Ministry of Construction should study experiences from other countries in mobilising resources. This could include the establishment of a fund for social and inexpensive housing projects, he added.

VNREAs vice chairman Nguyen Manh Ha said social housing projects have been mostly located in big cities, such as Ha Noi and HCM City.

The projects should be set in locations that are not too far from the city centres, and receive support through tax breaks.

Ha said establishing the fund could be difficult, as low and middle-income residents would likely be unable to contribute to the fund. Deep-pocketed donors would need to step up.

The issue is that each locality should have their own solution to resolve the problem, he said.

The forum, organised by VNREA in co-operation with the financial-economic channel VITV, is a large event that will assess the real estate market in a comprehensive manner, from commodities and segments to housing-related issues, such as land, finance, credit and tax.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nams telecom infrastructure gives it a good foundation for developing business models based on digital connections, vital for success in the fourth industrial revolution, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong inh Hue said yesterday.

As such, the nation will focus on building a world of super-connectivity needed to tackle challenges posed by Industry 4.0, he told a forum held in Ha Noi.

In line with its aim of being a constructive Government, his administration will work closely with the business community as well as local and foreign experts to overcome problems that arise, the Deputy PM added.

He also said that the Government would promote corporate social responsibility on the basis of harmonious interests between the State, the people and businesses.

Efforts will continue to remove administrative barriers and develop favourable policies and mechanisms to boost national competitiveness, he said.

The Deputy PM noted that Viet Nam has achieved remarkable success in developing its telecommunications industry, with over 130 million mobile phone subscribers and more than 55 per cent of the population regularly connecting to the Internet.

This has laid a good foundation for new business models based on digital connections, including sci-tech startups, he said.

With the right approach, low-income groups can also participate in and benefit from the fourth industrial revolution, he added.

To be successful, every country and every business needs to come up with a unique solution and approach. Knowing the problem and having a different vision is very important in todays context, Hue said.

The forum featured in-depth discussions among the prospects of a competitive and inclusive Viet Nam, measuring social impacts of businesses, the WEFs new approach to assessing national competitiveness and technological change, bottlenecks to improving national competitiveness and other solutions for improvement.

Justin Wood, Asia Pacific head of the World Economic Forum (WEF), said that the impact of the Fourth Revolution will lead to a shift in focus from cheap labour to labour quality.

In response, the WEF has been working on a project with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) to develop a human resources training system using the formers experience and expertise in business competitiveness and economic development, Wood said.

The WEF sees that Viet Nams connectivity index will improved in the coming years, said Thierry Geiger, WEFs Head of Analytics and Quantitative Research on Global Competitiveness and Risks.

He noted that Viet Nam has evolved from a low-income to a middle-income country, and is looking to further develop into a high income one in order to avoid the middle-income trap.

A super-connected world will provide opportunities for all individuals, businesses and organisations in all regions regardless of borders, creating the ultimate opportunity for development, which is true for Viet Nam and all other economies, said Gemma Corrigan, WEFs expert on Economic Growth and Social Inclusion Initiative.

However, the Deputy PM noted that some recent changes in business models have caused social disturbances through large-scale displacement of workers, as has happened with taxi firms and some manufacturing industries.

The new transnational digital platform business model has to address the issue of fair financial obligations and fair competition, and the role of the State in managing this development process, Hue said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son noted that the Vietnamese Government and WEF had early this year signed a co-operation agreement on future economic development.

At the moment, the WEF is in the process of preparing a report on Viet Nam during the Fourth Industrial Revolution that is expected to provide practical recommendations.

Jointly held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and the WEF, the theme of yesterday event was Competitiveness and Development in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.  VNS
HCM CITY  Vietnamese leather and footwear exporters must comply with the EU-Viet Nam free trade agreements rules of origin and be prepared to deal with EU barriers and anti-dumping measures, speakers said at a seminar held yesterday in HCM City.

The meeting, organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the European Trade Policy and Investment Support Project (EU-Mutrap), was held to help exporters take advantage of the EV-FTA when it takes effect in 2019.

Phan Thi Thanh Xuan, vice chairwoman and general secretary of the Viet Nam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (Lefaso), said the EV-FTA would increase exports because of lower tariffs and contribute to eliminating other trade barriers.

However, Vietnamese leather and footwear manufacturers and exporters will confront challenges as well. To meet EU requirements, Vietnamese businesses will have to improve technologies and manufacturing processes to ensure high quality.

Because most leather and footwear manufacturers in the country are foreign-invested, locally-owned enterprises will have to enhance competitiveness to increase market share.

Vuong uc Anh, deputy head of the origin of goods division under the Ministry of Industry and Trades Export-Import Department, said that exporters should comply with EV-FTAs rules of origin in order to make the most of EV-FTA.

Exporters will not be able to enjoy tariff cuts to zero per cent unless they meet EV-FTAs rules of origin, Anh told Viet Nam News.

Professor Sanggeeta Khorana, an expert from EU-Mutrap, said Vietnamese businesses subjected to EU barriers and anti-dumping measures should be able to prove that they do not receive subsidies.

An anti-dumping investigation can be initiated whenever the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission decides that information is sufficient to launch an official investigation.

Viet Nam earned US$13.1 billion from leather and footwear exports in the first nine months of the year, an increase of 11.4 per cent over the same period last year.

Last year Viet Nam ranked as the third-largest footwear manufacturer in the world, after China and India, according to Lefaso.

The EV-FTA will come into force in 2019, connecting Viet Nam - one of ASEANs most dynamic manufacturing hubs with the EU  one of the world biggest markets with GDP of over $18 trillion, accounting for 22 per cent of the worlds total GDP and a population of over 500 million.

Once the EV-FTA agreement goes into effect, the EU will eliminate import duties on 85.6 per cent of its tariffs lines on Vietnamese products. After seven years, 99 per cent of EU tariffs will be removed for Vietnamese products.

Vietnamese textiles, footwear and seafood products (except for canned tuna and fish balls) will incur no import duties within seven years after the agreement takes effect.

As of the end of last year, Viet Nams leather and footwear exports to the EU reached nearly $5 billion, making the EU the second-largest leather and footwear importer of Viet Nam after the US.

This comes two years after Viet Nam enjoyed EUs generalised system of preferences (GSP) with tariffs reduced from 13-14 per cent to 3-4 per cent.

In recent years, Viet Nam has become one of the most active players in negotiating and implementing free trade agreements.

The EU is Viet Nams second-biggest export market, while Viet Nam is EUs 11th biggest source of imports.

About 900 European enterprises have invested in Viet Nam, which has the largest European business community in Southeast Asia.  VNS
HA NOI  Le Van Chung could not hide his happiness when his seven-member team from Duy Tan University won first prize in the information technology (IT) category at the Vietnamese Talent Awards 2017 held on Thursday evening.

No words could describe my feelings now. I can only say that this is the most unforgettable moment of my life, Chung said. We, seven people, worked on our project for five years. We are happy to receive positive feedback.

The team won its prize, presented by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, for its design of a 3D human body simulator that facilitates teaching, learning and research in health science.

Phuc said at the awards ceremony that fostering talents was of great important to the prosperity of the country. He added that the Vietnamese Talent Awards, initiated by Viet Nam Study Promotion Association, had created a campaign of continuous learning and innovation at all ages, over its 13-year history.

Its time for self-taught talents and the youth to start up together with scientists to promote innovation for the future of our country, Phuc stressed. Our country will develop strongly if we can take the opportunity and promote the brainpower of Vietnamese.

The industrial revolution 4.0 was bringing many opportunities and it was critical for the country to promote talent and innovation to avoid lagging behind, he said.

Phuc said that Viet Nam was determined to develop a transparent and constructive Government to encourage every potential and promote innovation, adding that the Government could also make use of innovative solutions.

Phuc appealed to Vietnamese talents in every field to create a society of learning and innovation.

The Vietnamese Talent Awards, first held in 2005 to honour inventions in IT and then expanded to other fieldsnamely science and technology, environment, health and talent promotionis now a launching pad for young businesses and start-ups.

Other products honoured this year include a multi-functional agricultural machine, an advanced technology application for reproductive health care and raising population quality, a kidney transplant operation, the app service connection Rada and spell checker DoIT.

Promote real-life application

Chung said that his team still faced difficulties in applying the product in real-life situations.

The product has been implemented for one year at Duy Tan University and a clinic in a Nang City and received positive feedback from students as compared to traditional learning methods.

However, we meet with difficulty in bringing our product into real-life application due to a lack of hospital budgets for this and our lack of relations with universities, he said. We hope that our product will be widely known and applied at universities and hospitals.  VNS
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered the Peoples Committee of Tien Giang Province in the Mekong Delta to respond to local reports that a section of the Tien River was filled in to build a nearly 10-ha fruit park in the provinces Cai Be District. Photo tuoitre.vn

HA NOI  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered the Peoples Committee of Tien Giang Province in the Mekong Delta to respond to local reports that a section of the Tien River was filled in to build a nearly 10-ha fruit park in the provinces Cai Be District.

If any violation is discovered, the committee must respond according to relevant regulations, Phuc said.

The move came after the online newspaper VnExpress published an article on October 31 detailing the construction of the fruit park in the district.

According to the report, construction started about six months ago after developers got a green light from the provincial Peoples Committee.

The article said local residents became worried that the construction could change the flow of the river after a section was filled in to create more land for building the park. Residents feared it would worsen the risk of landslides along the rivers bank.

According to local media reports, the 9.78ha project includes 6.8 ha that must be built over the river. The investor of the VN375.5 billion ($16.5 million) project is the Peoples Committee of Cai Be District. It is estimated that over 434,618 tonnes of sand will ultimately be used for filling in a section of the river. By early November, the constructor had already finished piling concrete poles along the length of the project and made embankments, preparing to use sand to backfill Tien River.

In a related movement, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on November 1 sent an urgent legal document, signed by Deputy Minister Nguyen Linh Ngoc, to ask the provincial Peoples Committee halt the construction of the fruit park.

Additionally, the committee and relevant agencies were directed to re-evaluate the projects environmental impact assessment, especially, with regard to its potential effects on drainage and flood prevention efforts. The ministry also required the agencies to consider carefully the projects implementation of regulations on land, environment and water resources.

The document said the provincial Peoples Committee approved the project on October, 31, 2016 and the initial environmental impact assessment report had evaluated the projects impacts on the rivers flow.

However, the ministry said the content of the evaluation under the report lacked the comments of the Department of Water Resources Management, which are necessary because Tien River flows through multiple provinces. VNS
HCM CITY  American historian Larry Berman, author of a book on Vietnamese legendary spy Pham Xuan An, spoke about the famous spy with students from the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) yesterday.

Speaking at the talk Pham Xuan Ans Dream for Viet Nam, Berman told tales of the intelligence agents life and his dream of peace and friendship between Viet Nam and the US.

Ans great dream is that war is over, he said, adding that An had also helped heal relations between Viet Nam and the US.

Bermans book, Perfect Spy: The Incredible Double Life of Pham Xuan An, Time Magazine Reporter and Vietnamese Communist Agent, was released in 2007.

Major General An (1927  2006), who was also known as X6, Tran Van Trung and Hai Trung, began to take part in revolutionary activities in the early 1950s and was inducted into the Communist party in 1953.

He was sent to study journalism in the US to create a cover to penetrate deeper into the government and military of the former Sai Gon administration.

After returning to Viet Nam, An worked for Reuters, Time magazine and the New York Herald Tribune while providing intelligence to the Vietnamese army fighting against the US invasion of south Viet Nam and the former Sai Gon administration.

After the war, he was awarded the title "Hero of the Peoples Armed Forces" by the Vietnamese Government.

His life was featured in a 12-episode documentary produced by Vietnamese female director Le Phong Lan. The film was broadcast on HCM City Television (HTV) in 2006.

Berman is a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of California-Davis.

He has written several books on the Viet Nam War, including Planning a Tragedy: The Americanization of the War in Viet Nam and Lyndon Johnsons War: The Road to Stalemate in Viet Nam.

He visited Viet Nam several times to write his book on An, and later returned to introduce his book and talk about the spy.

The talk at USSH, which was part of the schools 60th anniversary celebration, attracted more than 200 students and lecturers.

Le Huu Phuoc, deputy headmaster of USSH, expressed his gratitude to Berman for his visit.

Bermans love for Viet Nam heals the war wounds of two countries and promotes friendship between their peoples, he said at the event. VNS
HA NOI  The Government is intent on creating conditions for the Internet to flourish in the country, but it has to happen under State management, adhere to the law, international agreements and global trends, Deputy PM Vu uc am told the parliament yesterday.

He was speaking during a National Assembly discussion on State management of the press and social media, where issues of controlling toxic and inappropriate content as well as progress on e-government were discussed.

am agreed with NA deputies that implementation of e-government has not happened in tandem with Governments downsizing efforts.

The e-government project requires significant capital, which is difficult to source under current budgetary constraints, he said.

As of July, only one per cent of public services were being provided at level 4 (where every procedure including payment can be done online) and five per cent at level 3 (where procedures, excluding payment, can be done online), am said.

He said the rate of level 4 administrative services vary from ministry to ministry, with the Finance Ministry showing a 26 per cent rate and the Labour Ministry postin a dismal 0.4 per cent.

The Deputy PM also said that in the near future, the Government will set specific e-government markers for agencies and localities to achieve, and those who fail to do will be sanctioned.

Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan acknowledged the unstoppable trend and indisputable role of the Internet and social media in bringing people closer, providing easier access to the wealth of knowledge.

On the other hand, social media and Internet can also be used to help spread toxic information and anti-State propaganda, invade privacy, and incite violence and ethnic or religious hatred.

 we must recognise that social media itself is not a bad thing, but the behaviour of users can be a problem, he said.

Tuan told the NA deputies that 70 per cent of the countrys population are Internet users and 53 million Vietnamese  more than half the total population  are active Facebook users.

The negative black energy that even just one million users emit has significant impact on the social medias environment, he said, adding that it was mostly negativity that attracted people. Good deeds do not receive as much attention, he said.

The communications minister also admitted that the press was trailing behind social media these days. The press must hold its pivotal role of influencing information in the right direction on the Internet media.

Responding to NA deputies concerns over ethical breaches in the media, including some instances of misleading and sensationalist reporting; and of reporters blackmailing businesses with exposure or negative pieces and, on the other hand, writing fluff pieces for remuneration.

The violations committed by some press agencies are certainly serious, but they cannot alter the flow of the mainstream press, the minister said.

Tuan said he has directed relevant agencies to handle such cases adequately.

Other issues discussed at the hearing included information and internet security, domination of foreign services in the Vietnamese online market, the need to require transnational companies to follow domestic laws, downsizing newspaper and television channels under the management of Governments agencies, and a better management of media content produced by major news outlets in cooperation with private investors.  VNS
HA NOI  National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and her deputy Tong Thi Phong launched the official website of the 26th Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF-26) at a ceremony held in Ha Noi yesterday.

The website, available at https://appf26.vn, consists of seven main sections in Vietnamese and English. It offers official and updated information on the event, which will be held in Viet Nam in January 2018. Delegations of participating countries and news agencies can also register for online conferences through the website.

At the ceremony, the APPF-26 logo was also introduced, which features the image of the Viet Nam National Assembly House and national flag.

The APPF was founded by former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone on March 15, 1993. Bringing together parliamentarians from across the Asia-Pacific region, the forum aims to directly assist APEC, contributing to peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

The APPF is a mechanism that enables parliamentarians to discuss issues of common concern, and to deepen their understanding of the region and the interests and experience of its diverse members. The forums proceedings address political, security, economic, social and cultural issues, thus furthering regional cooperation and building relations between and among parliamentarians from the Asia-Pacific region.

Viet Nam hosted the 13th APPF in the northern city of Ha Long in January 2005.  VNS
AK LAK  Everyone has their own interest. To me, I choose rescuing wild animals as my passion, said Nguyen Thanh Long from the Central Highlandss province of ak Lak.

For four years, Long has bought countless number of wild animals from restaurants around Buon Me Thuot City and released them back into the forests.

His videos of freed animals posted on Facebook mostly attract praise, but others wonder if he is not just trying to catch attention.

Despite mixed opinions, he is determines to continue his mission.

Longs wildlife passion began in 2012 when he raised a wild squirrel. One time, while walking with his pet and seeing it playing around, he realised that the natural environment was best for it. Therefore, Long let the squirrel return to the forest. Before leaving, it looked back to see him once last time and wagged its tail as if to say, "thank you".

In the same year, during a trip to ak Nong Province, he bought a pregnant basilisk and took it to the Serepok River area to release. It feels like finding something you lost a long time ago when releasing animals, Long said.

According to him, animals are usually meek and only turn ferocious when they are wounded. When veterinary centres refused to treat them, Long became an amateur vet. He carefully studies the habitats of each species before releasing them to avoid causing any conflicts over food chains.

In late October, Long rode from Buon Me Thuot City to ak Nong Provinces Krong No District to free a 2.7kg weasel he bought two months ago. It was trapped with two front legs broken. Long bandaged its limbs until the weasel recovered.

Looking at the weasel shuffling into the forest, Long told the Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper his further plan.

Despite the pain, the weasel is using all its strength to return home. This motivates me to call for stronger action from society in protecting wild animals. Using my own money to rescue them is just an initial step for a comprehensive preserve project ahead. Fortunately, my family always supports me, he said.

Releasing wild animals is not as simple as it seems. Long has to prevent illegal hunters chasing his releases by limiting the number of his supporters and hiding detailed information of locations. Moreover, he has learned to protect himself from animals. A scar left by a monkey he released in 2013 always reminds him to be careful when doing this job.

As home to many animals, including endangered species, Yok on National Park is a tempting target for illegal hunters.

According to Nguyen The Hien, officer of the parks Sciences and International Co-operation Department, all traps and shotguns are made exclusively for different animals.

Among all, clamp traps are the most dangerous and brutal. They immobilise unlucky animals that step on their sharp jaws.

Traps are commonly placed in grass fields, in dense jungle or near riverbanks where animals usually go searching for food. They are so well camouflaged, humans struggle to detect them.

In 2013, a five-year-old elephant was caught in a trap, injuring its front leg and trunk. Although it was rescued and treated by experts from the parks and other international organisations, the beast never completely recovered.

Therefore, besides preventing deforestation, forest rangers also have to collect traps and rescue animals.

According to Hien, animals rescued or handed in by local people undergo a health check-up. Those that are healthy are released immediately, otherwise, they receive medical treatment and special care at the parks wildlife rescue station. With caged animals, experts keep them in a semi-natural environment and train them in survival before release.

At present, the station is the temporary home to five deer, three monkeys and several other endangered species.  VNS
HA NOI  For six years, Vu Van Quang has helped hundreds of students cross the road safely. His two daily shifts at Trung Son Tram Primary School, from 10 to 10:45 in the morning and from 16:15 to 17:00 in the afternoon, are inspired by disturbing accidents he saw years ago.

I was obsessed with having witnessed students have accidents in front of Hospital 105 several years ago, said the resident of Son Tay Towns Trung Son Tram District to the newspaper Kinh te & o thi (Economic and Urban Affairs).

Since then, I have volunteered to help them cross the road safely at busy hours, he said.

National Highway 21A crosses in front of Trung Son Tram Primary School with dense traffic-flow. Despite a sign indicating that the street is one-way, many drivers flout the rule, threatening pedestrians.

Tran Thi Thanh Nga, a parent of a student at the school, is concerned about the situation. It is so dangerous. There are too many cars driving on the street at rush hour, she added.

When the school bell rings, marking the end of the students school day, Quang starts his job.

I go to the school 30 minutes prior to the finishing time. There are three people in our group. While two others stand on both ends of the street, I directly guide students to cross the road, Quang said.

Blowing a whistle and holding a baton, he leads students across, group by group.

o Minh Anh, a student in Class 3B, has seen Quang everyday since he first began attending the school. My friends and I always ask Quang to help us cross the road every day since we do not dare to go a step without him, he said.

An enthusiastic volunteer

Quang is a retired army major. In 2011, he started working in Trung Son Tram District as a school crossing guard. Thanks to Quangs initiative, there have been no accidents involving pedestrian students ever since.

Le Thi Thanh Xuan, principal of Trung Son Tram Primary School, said she is grateful for his efforts. The school is located near the busy National Highway. Therefore, we feel much safer having him helping students cross the road, she said.

Phung Van Phuc, head of Trung Son Tram District Peoples Committee, said that Quang also raises parents awareness of traffic safety when they pick their children. Also, the local authorities contribute to his effort by calling for local agencies to collaborate in upgrading the damaged road and setting up signposts and speed bumps to ensure safety for students of near-by schools.  VNS
YEN BAI  Residents of Ban Mu Commune in Tram Tau District, one of most disadvantaged areas in the mountain province of Yen Bai, have often relied on the illegal felling of valuable timber from the po mu tree (Fujian Cypress) to make ends meet.

But now that the final stands of big trees have been chopped down and sold, the poverty rate in the mostly Mong population has hit about 78 per cent.

Sung A Lu, chairman of the commune Peoples Committee, claimed that timber trafficking in the region had ceased because there were no more po-mu trees.

The commune was notorious for illegal logging and trading. Po-mu forest once protected water resources, and prevented soil erosion, according to Tuoi tre (Youth) newspaper.

Reporters spent days convincing a local to show them the way to the forest area where po-mu trees still survived. The 45-year-old man said he used to be an illegal logger, but for the last 10 years, had turned to farming.

The group walked for half a day in the forest to reach the felled po-mu trees, which have a stong perfume that can be smelled from 100 metres away. The banks of streams that flow through the area are littered with roots and branches of po-mu.

In the bad old days, loggers built tents to live in while they hacked away at the precious timber, waiting for rain so they could float their stolen goods out of the forest.

Po-mu is valuable. A kilo of po-mu costs VN 1,500 -2,000 but timber slabs from the tree trunks cost much more, a logger named Xinh said, adding that the illegal trade earned men about VN 4000,000 -500,000 a day each.

Another logger said that when there were many big trees, they chose ones near the streams so that they could be transported easily.

Now, no big trees are left. We have to dig up the roots of big trees. Small trees are also being chopped down," he said.

The timber is gathered at the edge of the forest and carried by motorbikes at night to purchasers.

To buy illegal timber, a must-have wide-ranging relationships. Each has his own territory which is defined clearly.

In Ban Mu Commune, a buyer named ong is quite famous. He said he spent a lot of money to open a workshop storing and processing illegal po-mu in the commune.

He told reporters that under the heaps of sawdust on the side of the workshop were tens of cubic metres of po-mu hidden.

ong said that he moved his workshop from Nghia Lo District to Ban Mu Commune because Nghia Lo ran out of po-mu.

My workshop looks small, but without relationships [with local authorities], dare you open?, ong said, adding that other would-be buyers one tried to open up, but soon closed.

In favourable conditions, especially after rice harvest, he employs about 30 people at his workshop. They process up to 10 tonnes of raw timber a day, he said.

Another notable buyer in Tram Tau District is Thuy, a woman who says: When you are in Yen Bai and have any timber business, call me!

Thuys worshop specialises in po-mu which is often processed to make beads for mats or beaded car-seat covers.

The beads are hidden in packages labeled as animal feed or fish feed or noodles.

Thuy said that she sold tens of tonnes of po-mu beads monthly.

ong said it was difficult to hide po-mu on buses because of its dense scent.

ong said that he sold hundreds of tonnes of po-mu beads to an agent in Nghia Lo District yearly for VN 20,000 per kilo.

The agent is responsible for transportation and would fix any problems if detected.

Tuoi tre (Youth) newspaper found that as soon as po-mu beads arrived in Nghia Lo District, they would be strung together to make car seat covers or beaded bracelets. On average, a completed beaded mat costs VN4 million and a seat cover VN 2 million.

The products often cross borders in Lao Cai or Lai Chau to reach China.  VNS
Nearly 1,000 people registered to donate their tissue and organs at a health festival in the northern province of Nam inh on Friday. Photo nhandao.vn

NAM INH  Nearly 1,000 people registered to donate their tissue and organs at a health festival in the northern province of Nam inh on Friday.

Addressing the festival, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Viet Tien said the supply of tissue and organs is still far below demand in Viet Nam, with more than 10,000 patients waiting for organ donors.

Donating tissue and organs, particularly from brain-dead people, is a humanitarian action that needs to be promoted, he added.

Organised by the Nam inh University of Nursing, National Coordination Centre for Organ Transplantation, and Viet Nam Red Cross Societys Central Committee, among others, the event attracted more than 5,000 students from universities and colleges in the province.

Vice President of the Viet Nam Red Cross Society Central Committee Tran Quoc Hung said anyone can donate, and the promotion of tissue and organ donation among youths is important to patients and the health sector.

Viet Nam is in dire need of more organ donors. About 16,000 patients suffering from heart, kidney, liver and lung diseases and more than 6,000 blind people are awaiting eye donations, according to the Ministry of Health.

The country passed a law relating to organ donation in 2006 but the number of clinically-dead patients whose organs have been donated is extremely low.

Public awareness of organ donation remains limited, leading to a shortage of organ sources.

According to reports of Ha Noi-based Viet uc Hospital, one of the 17 facilities qualified to perform organ transplants, there are about 1,000 brain-dead patients every year. However, only a few dozen donated their organs.

Statistics in 2016 showed that about 99.4 per cent of organ transplants in Viet Nam were done with organs from living people, with the remaining 0.6 per cent conducted with organs donated by brain-dead people.

The first organ transplant involving a brain-dead donor was conducted at Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City in 2010. Since then, similar surgeries have been carried out at Viet uc Hospital, Military Medical Academy and Hue Central Hospital.  VNS
DAVENPORT  Lee Enterprises Inc. announced Friday the selection of five Enterprise of the Year Finalists for 2017, honoring superior performance in key business and customer measures.

The Courier was one of the finalists.

The five finalists for the companys highest honor were selected from among more than 50 divisions in 22 states, representing print and digital daily newspaper operations, regional agricultural publications and nationwide digital services, said Kevin Mowbray, president and chief executive officer.

These five finalists rose to the top of a very impressive group of enterprises, Mowbray said. In honoring these finalists, we also applaud the outstanding performance all across Lee in serving advertisers and readers in our communities, as well as delivering impressive results on many key business initiatives.

The 2017 Enterprise of the Year Finalists are:

The Courier in Waterloo. The combined readership of Sunday and daily publications reaches 73 percent of their market. The publisher is Roy Biondi.

The Journal Times in Racine, Wis., was a finalist in 2016. The combined audiences of The Journal Times and journaltimes.com reach nearly 80 percent of adults in their market. The publisher is Mark Lewis.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, was the 2016 and 2012 Enterprise of the Year and a finalist in 2010. The Post-Dispatch reaches nearly 1 million readers weekly, and stltoday.com is the most widely visited website across all digital platforms in St. Louis. The publisher is Ray Farris.

The Times and Democrat in Orangeburg, S.C., was a finalist in 2016. The Times and Democrat is the first and best source of news in Orangeburg and surrounding communities, delivering information anytime, anywhere through print, online and mobile devices. They are the primary sources of local news, information and advertising in the region. The publisher is Cathy Hughes.

Times Media Co. of northwest Indiana based in Munster. Enterprise of the Year in 2014 and finalist in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016. The Times and NWI.com are Northwest Indianas media leaders in local news and information, and NWI.com has the second largest audience of any website in the state. The publisher is Chris White.

The winner will be announced in December.
NEWTON  An Ankeny man accused of trying to lure children in three Iowa counties is now facing a weapon charge.

Jeff Lee Altmayer, 57, is accused of having a sharpened toothbrush in his cell at the Jasper County Jail in Newton where he is awaiting trial on charges in Grundy, Jasper and Monona counties.

According to court records, Altmayer sharpened a toothbrush handle, creating an instrument capable of inflicting injury. The toothbrush was found in a cup in his cell Tuesday, and other items around the toothbrush hid the alteration, record state.

He was charged with possession of a weapon in a correctional institution. The charge is a felony.

Altmayer is awaiting trial on enticement, sexual abuse and kidnapping charges for allegedly approaching children in Dike, Colfax and Onawa and offering them money to get into his vehicle in 2016.

In August 2016, he allegedly groped a girl who entered his vehicle in Colfax after telling her he would pay her $100 to do yard work at his home. The Grundy County incidents happened in June and August 2016 near Dike City Park and a mobile home park east of Dike. He was arrested in November 2016 after he allegedly attempted to lure a 6-year-old girl into this car and then claimed to be a police officer when neighbors intervened.

Altmayer also is considered a person of interest in an August 2016 incident where a man approached children at Clay Park in Cedar Falls, according to authorities.
JOHNSTON  An Iowa member of Congress would change U.S. House rules to require members and their staffs to pay settlements with people who accuse them of sexual misconduct.

Taxpayers should not be on the hook for misdeeds that members of Congress or their staff commit, Democratic Rep. Dave Loebsack, of Iowa City, said about a report by the Washington Post that $17 million has been paid out over the past 20 years to settle workplace misconduct claims made against members of Congress and their staffs.

It is not an appropriate use of taxpayer money, Loebsack said. In fact, Im going to be doing what I can to change the rules on that.

Loebsack, who said he was appalled by the use of tax dollars to pay these settlements, said the names of representatives and their staff members who commit these egregious acts ought to be made public and we should make that person pay for whatever costs there may be associated with this particular action.

Loebsack made his comments during taping of Iowa Press.

Also Friday, 1st District Rep. Rod Blum told Radio Iowa he is outraged by news of the secret settlements.

I had no idea that there was this settlement fund or slush fund and I have no idea where that money comes from, Blum said. I am absolutely shocked to hear this, but it comes back to the swamp. Thats why Ive been an advocate of draining the swamp. We need to expose these types of things.

Like Loebsack, Blum said he will co-sponsor legislation to prohibit federal funds from being used to pay workplace misconduct claims.

No more of that, Blum said. If you sexually harass somebody, you should be paying yourself, not the United States taxpayers.
WATERLOO  After nearly six years of service from American Airlines, the Waterloo Regional Airport Board has proposed switching to United Airlines as the airports sole carrier.

The board voted 4-1 at the end of an hour-long special meeting Friday to recommend the change to the U.S. Department of Transportations Office of Aviation Analysis, which makes the final decision.

Under the recommendation, the airport would continue to be served with 13 round-trips each week to Chicago OHare International Airport, as it is now under American. If approved, the new carrier would begin a two-year term of service May 1.

Major Waterloo airport project takes off WATERLOO  The Waterloo Regional Airport is undertaking its largest construction project in 

The mayor and I are going to send a letter that contains these recommendations on Monday, said Hugh Field, chairman of the board.

Waterloo Regional Airport operations are subsidized by the Department of Transportation through the Essential Air Services program. The annual subsidy would total $1.9 million with United versus $1.73 million with American, a difference of $168,971.

American Airlines operates out of Waterloo through regional brand American Eagle. United would operate its United Express service through SkyWest Airlines. Both would use a Canadair Regional Jet 200, or CRJ 200, a 50-seat aircraft now being flown at the airport by American.

Officials hope the change will improve service and eventually lead to more daily flights out of the airport, including other possible destinations. Keith Kaspari, the airports director of aviation, said service such as on-time flights has been an issue with American.

What were trying to do is provide the best air service that we can, Kaspari said, for all of eastern Iowa. He noted United told airport officials in March there would be the possibility of additional frequency of flights both east- and west-bound, and that is very appealing to us.

Board member Steve Dust stressed the importance of eventually adding other destinations. If we dont find a way to get people west of here were going to continue to be very constrained, he said.

Field called the difference in service between the two airlines astonishing based on statistics shown to the board. We think well fill the planes if we have reliable service, he added.

Mayor Quentin Hart, who attended the meeting but is not a member of the board, signaled his interest in changing carriers. I think weve grown as much as were going to grow with American, he said.

I think American believes we have tapped out our growth, said board member Gwenne Berry.

Kaspari initially proposed recommending the airport stay with American.

At the bottom line, I think what we try to do is we put pressure on American to improve service. He expressed concern with another change in carriers after only six years, particularly in light of customers loyalty to their frequent flier programs.

I favor what Keith wants to do, said board member Arlene Humble, the lone dissenter on the vote. She expressed concern about losing customers who have built up frequent flier miles with American.

United offered two options for the airport. The second one splits the 13 daily round-trip flights between OHare and Denver, Colo. The subsidy for that option would have been $751,418 more.

Board member Scott Voigt made a motion for the first United option because of the service, suggesting further pressuring American wouldnt work. Its futile trying to negotiate at the 11th hour, he said.
WATERLOO  Richard Brown said he left his claw marks in the quarterdeck when he turned over the USS The Sullivans DDG 68 to another commander in 2004.

But the U.S. Navy rear admiral said no such effort was required to get him to Waterloo on Saturday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the sinking of the USS Juneau, which claimed the lives of Waterloos five Sullivan brothers.

It truly is a special honor for me  it is not a task, it is not a chore  it is an honor for me to be here in Waterloo, said Brown, who previously commanded the ship named after the brothers.

All the good the military does in the world today is because of the legacy given to us by those who cherish service, the legacy of the five brothers and their family, Brown said. Their sacrifice has helped make this country the great power that it is today.

With every action undertaken and every conflict resolved and every life improved, we pay tribute to these heroes, he added. Thats why were here today.

Brown, who currently heads U.S. Navy Personnel Command and serves as deputy chief of naval personnel, was the keynote speaker at the commemorative event, which drew a crowd to the Grout Museum Districts Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum.

George, Francis, Joseph, Madison and Albert Sullivan were among 687 shipmates who perished after the Juneau was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sank Nov. 13, 1942, following the Battle of Guadalcanal during World War II.

A commemoration of the anniversary was part of ceremonies held in New York City during Veterans Day weekend, which included the crew of The Sullivans, a ship sponsored by Kelly Sullivan, Alberts granddaughter.

There are so many people that are at every event, Kelly Sullivan said. Its like a family.

In New York I was with my crew, so its my Navy family, she said. Here Im with my Waterloo family, and theres really great people here.

Her brother, John Sullivan, came from Lenexa, Kan., to take in the ceremonies.

Im in awe of the people that show up, who take time out of their day to honor veterans, and of course my family is a part of that story, he said. This was humbling and inspiring at the same time.

Brown said everyone who serves in the Navy knows the story of the Sullivan brothers.

One theme persists throughout all those discussions, he said. And that is the theme of service: service to our nation, service to our Navy, service to our ship, submarine or squadron, service to our family, to our friends, service to our shipmates and service to the men and women we lead and serve with.

Brown said he felt a special bond to the ship and the Sullivan family.

My mothers maiden name is Sullivan; her mothers maiden name is Sullivan, he said. Im the first Irish (commanding officer) of the ship. Im the first C.O. to bring the ship to Ireland.

U.S. Navy veteran Russell Rosenberger drove from Gladbrook for the ceremony Saturday.

I heard about it on the radio, and knew I had to be here, said Rosenberger, who served from 1962 to 1966 and later in the reserves. Honestly and truly, in naval history the Sullivan name is preeminent.

Mayor Quentin Hart also spoke at the event, noting the Sullivan motto of we stick together lives on today.

The Sullivans embody the Waterloo work ethic and story, Hart said. It is appropriate that they are recognized for their sacrifice and for the blue collar family that they were.
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Nov 18, 2017 | By David

A Belgian engineering company is looking to digitize the way we harvest produce, one strawberry at a time. Heverlee-based startup Octinion recently developed a strawberry-picking robot equipped with machine vision and a 3D printed hand. Its advanced computer vision system can determine when a strawberry is ripe and ready to be picked, while the additively manufactured arm delivers damage-free produce  all at a rate similar to human workers.

Octinion CEO Tom Coen believes the machine will be the future of strawberry-picking, replacing migrant workers in California and other large berry-growing regions. Agricultural labor, at this point, is not sustainable, in the sense that its often people who come a long way  a few thousand kilometers  [to] do that work, Coen says.

Its a contentious topic nowadays, as the Trump administration continues to target newcomer communities in the US, many of whom work in the agriculture industry. The massive strawberry farms of California are particularly integral to these communities, supplying a source of income to migrant workers and their families.

Over the past two decades, however, the industry has increasingly struggled to remain afloat. According to recent reports, the number of fieldworkers in California has shrunk nearly 40 percent since 2002, a shortage that economists credit largely to tightened immigration policies as well as a stronger Mexican economy. The labour crisis is real. But for those who manage to remain out in the fields, new value is being placed on their labour. Fewer workers means an influx of competitive wages and other benefits such as health insurance, childcare, or even a piece of the land.

Replacing those fieldworkers with a robotic strawberry-picker would inevitably terminate those opportunities, sacrificing the livelihood of thousands of migrant labourers. For farmers hardpressed to make ends meet, however, theres little wiggle room when it comes to cutting costs. As seen with Octinions robot, machine labour increasingly presents a viable solution thats getting harder and harder to ignore financially.

Were a bit slower, Coen says of the robot compared to a human strawberry picker, but were already economically profitable because the cost per berry is similar. Even though the machine isnt as fast as a human worker, Coen is confident that his robot offers other advantages. Octinions website boasts that the machines picking speed, picking quality, and sorting quality are all comparable to a skilled human picker, but the robotic strawberry picker offers advanced quality monitoring to allow sorting, crop monitoring and precision farming.

The robot is mounted onto an autonomous platform called Dribble, which uses beacons to navigate around greenhouses and requires no structural changes to be made to the facility.

A patented soft touch gripper picks the strawberry without damaging the fruit, and the 3D printed arm has a capacity of picking one strawberry every 3 seconds. All in all, the machine picks about 70% of all ripe strawberries damage free, at a rate thats comparable to human fieldworkers. Whether farmers opt to hand their fields over to machine labour remains to be seen  the robot strawberry-picker is still in its testing phase  but Cohen remains optimistic that hes on the brink of something big, for better or for worse.

Octinion will begin pilot testing with strawberry farmers in 2018, and is preparing for the commercial launch of the harvester in 2019. The company is already looking to expand the robots applications into greenhouse-grown vegetables such as peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

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40 wrote at 11/23/2017 10:47:11 PM:i would love to have this back at home to help me pick my strawberry then eat them




Emily Raboteau in Orion Magazine:

IT WAS UNUSUALLY HOT FOR JUNE, and the heat was dry at the deserts edge. The semiarid South Hebron Hills were stubbled with brown scrub and thistles and strewn with bone-colored rock. Though it was not quite summer and not yet noon, my guide, Ahmad S., estimated the temperature at thirty-seven degrees Celsius or, as my mind translated it, almost one hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Drink, Ahmad, a water lab technician, reminded me. I lifted my canteen to my lips and, without thinking, drained it. A first-world privilege, thisto be thoughtless about water. We were at the ankles of the West Bank, far off the utility grid, in the cab of Ahmads dusty truck. Ahmad, twenty-nine, Palestinian, comes from a town northwest of Hebron called Halhul. When I met him he was a newlywed. His new wife had been married once before. Because she was a divorcee, Ahmads brothers looked on her as used goods but hed dissented from that point of view and married her for love. With his light-brown skin, gelled hair, gold chain, slim-fitting jeans, and Nikes he could have passed for one of the Dominican guys in my neighborhood in New York City. But apart from Ahmads slick look, I found nothing familiar in the desolate landscape. We may as well have been driving on an asteroid. The desert was bewildering to me as a city dweller, and not just because of its harsh quiet and the vast field of vision it offered, but also because of the pitiless way it exposed one to the sun. No buildings to offer cover or shade. No straight lines. Just rolling hills of rubble and saffron-colored dust. I felt jet-lagged, carsick, and ill at ease.
FOUNDED BY TAYLOR GOSON, THE BRAND IS ALREADY GETTING A PHENOMENAL RESPONSE FROM AN INCREASING NUMBER OF CONSUMERS

New York City, NY, USA  November 17, 2017: Luxury Avant Street apparel from New York City, GOSN NYC has proudly announced that it is offering a wide range of street apparel in its latest collection of tops. With its fabric imported from the finest Japanese mills and each cut made with precision, the brand firmly believes in perfection. Moreover, the clothing options offered by the brand are perfect for the everyday office as well as weekend trips and vacations.

I few years back I used to collect old military garments and would deconstruct them to make them more of my own. said Taylor Goson, the Co-Founder of GOSN NYC, while talking about the inspiration behind the brand. Most of my inspiration comes from Japanese culture, taking utilitarian style garments and adding intricate detail to make them my own and unique. Taylor added. Taylor founded the brand alongside Thaddeus Gurley. According to the co-founders, the brand is definitely going to extend the line to pants and technical outerwear coats in the days to come with GOSN boutiques worldwide.

Taylor and Thaddeus have also expressed collaboration and partnership plans with other leading brands in the fashion industry. Some of their favorite brands include Maharishi and tattoo artist Koji Ichimaru. New York City is the cultural hub where all the cultures from around the world blend smoothly to create the best and most trendy fashion in the world and GOSN NYC plans to lead the way into the future with its unique and amazing product line.

For more information and to order online, please visit: www.GOSN.nyc

Media Contact

Company Name: GOSN NYC

Contact Person: Taylor Goson & Thaddeus Gurley [Co-Founders]

Email: Taylor.Gosn@gmail.com

Phone: +1 330 730 8020

Address:433 Broadway Suite 522, New York, New York 10013

Country: United States

Website: www.gosn.nyc
The Oregon Community Foundation's Latino Partnership Program (LPP) hosted more than 200 Oregonians from small business, education, health, government and nonprofit sectors on October 5 and 6 in Salem for the inaugural Conexiones Summit. The location was significant since OCF'S Northern Willamette Valley Leadership Council launched LPP in the Salem region in the early 2000's. For the past decade, OCF's Latino Partnership Program has been collaborating with Latino leaders and organizations around the state to engage with Oregon's fastest-growing community.

Conexiones continued this engagement by focusing on education, leadership development and community and cultural bridges with attendees. Latinos and non-Latino partners represented regions from Ontario to Ashland, from Lincoln City to Madras and all along the I-5 corridor. The theme, "transforming communities together," highlighted the important role Latino leaders in Oregon play in transforming the state and encouraged action. Local and national speakers, including Maria Hinojosa and Luis Avila, reminded attendees to believe in their own capacity to create change.

"Latino education achievement and increased Latino representation and leadership remain the focus of our work through the Latino Partnership Program," said OCF President and CEO, Max Williams. "What's exciting is all the opportunities that lie ahead of us. Latinos in Oregon will continue to transform our communities and state."

Through work sessions that dug deeper into issues such as education, small business, health and leadership, attendees made new connections, committed to collaborations and discussed big ideas to identify solutions to key issues, around a set of common goals. The discussions and big ideas that LPP documented will provide a roadmap for Conexiones attendees, their partners and other Oregonians to help move these ideas forward in the future. For more information about Conexiones and OCF's Latino Partnership Program, visit http://www.oregoncf.org/ocf-initiatives/civic-engagement/latino-partnership.
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From Stews to Stars: the World's Oldest Writing

CLAY TABLET. FOUND: Babylon, Iraq. CULTURE: Late Babylonian. DATE: A.D. 62. LANGUAGE: Akkadian. ( The Trustees of the British Museum) In early 2016, hundreds of media outlets around the world reported that a set of recently deciphered ancient clay tablets revealed that Babylonian astronomers were more sophisticated than previously believed. The wedge-shaped writing on the tablets, known as cuneiform, demonstrated that these ancient stargazers used geometric calculations to predict the motion of Jupiter. Scholars had assumed it wasn't until almost A.D. 1400 that these techniques were first employed--by English and French mathematicians. But here was proof that nearly 2,000 years earlier, ancient people were every bit as advanced as Renaissance-era scholars. Judging by the story's enthusiastic reception on social media, this discovery captured the public imagination. It implicitly challenged the perception that cuneiform tablets were used merely for basic accounting, such as tallying grain, rather than for complex astronomical calculations. While most tablets were, in fact, used for mundane bookkeeping or scribal exercises, some of them bear inscriptions that offer unexpected insights into the minute details of and momentous events in the lives of ancient Mesopotamians.

First developed around 3200 B.C. by Sumerian scribes in the ancient city-state of Uruk, in present-day Iraq, as a means of recording transactions, cuneiform writing was created by using a reed stylus to make wedge-shaped indentations in clay tablets. Later scribes would chisel cuneiform into a variety of stone objects as well. Different combinations of these marks represented syllables, which could in turn be put together to form words. Cuneiform as a robust writing tradition endured 3,000 years. The script--not itself a language--was used by scribes of multiple cultures over that time to write a number of languages other than Sumerian, most notably Akkadian, a Semitic language that was the lingua franca of the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires.

After cuneiform was replaced by alphabetic writing sometime after the first century A.D., the hundreds of thousands of clay tablets and other inscribed objects went unread for nearly 2,000 years. It wasn't until the early nineteenth century, when archaeologists first began to excavate the tablets, that scholars could begin to attempt to understand these texts. One important early key to deciphering the script proved to be the discovery of a kind of cuneiform Rosetta Stone, a circa 500 B.C. trilingual inscription at the site of Bisitun Pass in Iran. Written in Persian, Akkadian, and an Iranian language known as Elamite, it recorded the feats of the Achaemenid king Darius the Great (r. 521--486 B.C.). By deciphering repetitive words such as "Darius" and "king" in Persian, scholars were able to slowly piece together how cuneiform worked. Called Assyriologists, these specialists were eventually able to translate different languages written in cuneiform across many eras, though some early versions of the script remain undeciphered.

Today, the ability to read cuneiform is the key to understanding all manner of cultural activities in the ancient Near East--from determining what was known of the cosmos and its workings, to the august lives of Assyrian kings, to the secrets of making a Babylonian stew. Of the estimated half-million cuneiform objects that have been excavated, many have yet to be catalogued and translated. Here, a few fine and varied examples of some of the most interesting ones that have been.

Letters

Among the thousands of Mesopotamian tablets containing both official and personal letters, one example stands out as the first recorded customer complaint and evidence of a business relationship gone very sour. Nearly 4,000 years ago, a man named Nanni expressed his extreme displeasure to the merchant Ea-nasir about a recent copper shipment:

When you came, you said to me as follows: "I will give Gimil-Sin (when he comes) fine quality copper ingots." You left then but you did not do what you promised me. You put ingots that were not good before my messenger (Sit-Sin) and said: "If you want to take them, take them; if you do not want to take them, go away!" What do you take me for, that you treat somebody like me with such contempt....Take cognizance that (from now on) I will not accept here any copper from you that is not of fine quality. I shall (from now on) select and take the ingots individually in my own yard, and I shall exercise against you my right of rejection because you have treated me with contempt.

Recipes

The earliest known recipes, by many centuries, are found on three tablets dating to the Old Babylonian period. Though seemingly simple, their minimal instructions could only have been followed by experienced chefs working for the highest echelons of society. This particular tablet features 25 recipes for stews and soups, both meat and vegetarian, including some directions--though no measurements or cooking times--for an amursanu-pigeon stew:

Split the pigeon in half--add other meat. Prepare the water, add fat and salt to taste; Breadcrumbs, onion, samidu, leeks, and garlic (first soak the herbs in milk). When it is cooked, it is ready to serve.

With the exception of amursanu, which is probably a type of pigeon, and samidu, an unknown spice, the ingredients are certainly recognizable. But the dish would, in fact, be impossible to replicate, says Benjamin Foster, curator of the Yale Babylonian Collection. "People often think that because they can cook Arab or Persian food that they can make this stuff, but they don't know how much regional cooking was changed by the Muslim conquests. If you cook these up using modern Near Eastern ingredients, it is pure fantasy--but often delicious."

Laws

The best known and most influential of the Mesopotamian law codes was that of King Hammurabi of Babylonia (r. 1792--1750 B.C.). Featuring nearly 300 provisions covering topics ranging from marriage and inheritance to theft and murder, it is the most comprehensive of these codes. While it famously includes retributive, eye-for-an-eye clauses, it also takes on more complex scenarios, imposing harsh punishments for accusation without proof and for errors made by judges.

The code appears written in intentionally archaic cuneiform on a towering seven-and-a-half-foot-tall diorite stela that was recovered from Susa, in present-day Iran, where it was taken after being stolen in the twelfth century B.C. Featuring a relief of Hammurabi receiving divine sanction from the sun-god Shamash in its upper portion, this stela and others like it would have been publicly displayed during Hammurabi's reign and long after. "The code was certainly set up in in city squares, in temple courtyards, in public places--where it was seen by populations," says Martha Roth, an Assyriologist at the University of Chicago. It was also used in the training of scribes for at least 1,000 years after its composition, and several manuscripts of it were found in King Ashurbanipal's (r. 668--627 B.C.) seventh-century B.C. library at Nineveh, in present-day Iraq.

The precise legal function of Hammurabi's code is unclear, as there are few references to it in legal records from his era. However, says Roth, these records do suggest that "the provisions as outlined in Hammurabi map onto the daily reality in a fairly close way." The code was also clearly intended to establish Hammurabi as the guarantor of justice for his people. "In order that the mighty not wrong the weak, to provide just ways for the waif and the widow," reads its epilogue, "I have inscribed my precious pronouncements upon my stela."

This trope of the king as protector of the downtrodden appears regularly in Mesopotamian inscriptions, but the earliest known example is found on several cone tablets known as the reforms of Urukagina (r. ca. 2350 B.C.), a king of the Sumerian city-state of Lagash, in present-day Iraq. According to the inscriptions, the king addressed a number of social inequities, including reducing the power of greedy temple overseers and abusive foremen. "There's a consciousness about reform in it that is unique until now," says Roth, "and in history it comes about here for the first time."

Maps

CLAY TABLET. FOUND: Sippar, Iraq. CULTURE: Late Babylonian. DATE: ca. sixth century B.C. LANGUAGE: Akkadian. ( The Trustees of the British Museum) Cuneiform tablets were long used for making maps and plans of towns, rural areas, and houses, but rarely for anything larger or without commercial interest. A unique tablet, thought to have come from Sippar in present-day Iraq and dating to around the sixth century B.C., shows much more and reflects something of how ancient Babylonians saw themselves in the world. This Mesopotamian mappa mundi consists of a circular map surrounded by triangles, with explanatory text above and on the opposite face. The central circle shows the Babylonian realm, bisected by the Euphrates, which is straddled by Babylon itself. Several other geographical areas are labeled by name, and the continent is surrounded by a ring called the "ocean" or "Bitter River." Beyond the boundary waters are seven or eight outlying regions or islands represented by triangles, of which portions of four survive. The text is largely concerned with these far-flung, perhaps mythological, places. One is described as a "place where the sun is not seen," another as a place where "a winged bird cannot safely complete its journey." Further descriptions speak of "ruined" cities and gods, and animals both fantastic (great sea-serpent, scorpion-man) and exotic (lion, monkey, chameleon).

According to Wayne Horowitz of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the tablet "reflects a general interest with distant areas during the first half of the first millennium, when the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires reached their greatest extents."

Medicine

In the ancient Near East, illness was as much a spiritual affliction as a physical one. Demons and ghosts played large roles in diagnosis and treatment, but that's not to say that the practice of medicine wasn't codified. One collection of cuneiform texts lists hundreds of medically active substances. And the Late Babylonian diagnostic manual called Sakikku, or "All Diseases," reveals the careful diagnostic observation of ashipu, or doctor-scholars. The manual, which dates to around the sixth century B.C., consists of 40 tablets, including a treatise on the diagnosis of epilepsy, called miqtu, or "the falling disease." The writer explains the subtleties of the neurological disease's presentation in great detail, provides basic prognoses, and ascribes different kinds of seizures to particular malevolent spirits. "[If the epilepsy] demon falls upon him and on a given day he seven times pursues him--[he has been touched by the] hand of the departed spirit of a murderer. He will die."

Religion

In November 1872, a self-taught Assyriologist named George Smith working as an assistant at the British Museum happened upon a fragment of a tablet that would soon become the most famous cuneiform text in the world. One of thousands excavated decades earlier at Nineveh, in present-day Iraq, the tablet told a story eerily similar to that of Noah in the Old Testament. In it, the gods resolve to destroy the world and all life with a great flood, but one of the chief gods warns one man in time to prevent the extinction of all living things: "Demolish the house, build a boat!" the god urges. "Abandon riches and seek survival! Spurn property and save life! Put on board the boat the seed of all living creatures!"

The man, his family, and assorted animals wait out the flood in the boat while all other living things perish. Smith presented his translation several weeks later at the Society of Biblical Archaeology to a packed audience that included the prime minister, the archbishop of Canterbury, and many members of the press. "When Smith announced that one of these unappetizing-looking tablets from the barbaric, strange world of the Middle East contained a parallel text to Holy Writ, people were astonished," says Irving Finkel, a cuneiform expert at the British Museum.

The tablet deciphered by Smith turned out to be the 11th part of the 12-tablet Epic of Gilgamesh and had belonged to the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (r. 668--627 B.C.), who aspired to gather all known cuneiform writings. Since Smith's discovery, more than a dozen cuneiform tablets containing some portion of the flood myth have been identified, the earliest of which predate the earliest known versions of the biblical flood text by a thousand years.

Kings

Royal inscriptions are among the most important sources of ancient Near Eastern history. One of the most intriguing examples is found on the statue of King Idrimi, who ruled Alalakh, a city in present-day Turkey, in the fifteenth century B.C. A lengthy cuneiform inscription sprawls across the statue, spinning a first-person tale of exile, triumph, and redemption.

"In Aleppo, the house of my father," it begins, "a bad thing occurred, so we fled to the Emarites, my mother's kin." Idrimi, a younger son unwilling to play a diminished role, decamps for Canaan, where he finds countrymen who recognize his royal lineage. With their help, he wins over his home city and is proclaimed its rightful ruler by the king of Mitanni, the major regional power. Idrimi then repairs Alalakh's toppled city wall, conquers more cities, builds a palace, cares for his people, and performs the necessary prayers and sacrifices.

The portion of the inscription that covers Idrimi's reign is very similar to inscriptions left behind by kings from across the ancient Near East, from Hammurabi of Babylonia (r. 1792--1750 B.C.) to Ashurnasirpal II of Assyria (r. 883--859 B.C.). "The things Idrimi does once he becomes king are the things that Near Eastern kings conventionally claimed to have done in their inscriptions," says Jacob Lauinger, an Assyriologist at Johns Hopkins University. However, Lauinger adds, the portion covering Idrimi's exile is more akin to the Old Testament stories of Joseph and David, both younger sons who reach great heights. Just as the inscription's narrative is a hybrid, so is its language. It is written in Akkadian cuneiform--as was only proper for a royal inscription at the time--but with clear Canaanite influences, such as the placement of verbs at the beginning of clauses.

Although the text reads as if written by Idrimi during his reign, a recent reanalysis of the statue's stratigraphy suggests it may actually have been written several decades later. As scholars continue to puzzle over this most unusual royal inscription, the wish expressed in its final lines has been fulfilled: "I wrote my service down on my tablet. May one regularly look upon them [the words] so that they [the words] may call blessings on me regularly."

Warfare

LIMESTONE STELA. FOUND: Girsu, Iraq. CULTURE: Sumerian. DATE: ca. 2450 B.C. LANGUAGE: Sumerian. ( Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY) During the millennia in which cuneiform script was used, Mesopotamia saw city-states jockey for resources, empires grow and dissipate, and seemingly countless kings made and unmade on the battlefield. Successful military campaigns brought land and resources, affirmed royal power, and granted privileged access to the gods. In turn, sculptures, reliefs, and cuneiform writings were commissioned to memorialize victories and legitimize claims. The Stela of the Vultures documents one of these conflicts from Sumer's Early Dynastic III period (2600--2350 B.C.). "The monument stands at the beginning of a long line of historical narratives in the history of art," says Irene J. Winter, a professor emeritus at Harvard University, in her analysis of the stela.

During this period, Sumer was a collection of city-states surrounded by agricultural land. As the city-states grew, so did the potential for border conflicts, such as one that raged for 200 years between Lagash and Umma, both in present-day Iraq. The Stela of the Vultures, which survives as seven fragments of what was once a six-foot slab of limestone, records Lagash's eventual victory. One side depicts the god Ningirsu, holding his enemies in a sack, while the other shows a series of scenes from the conflict. A cuneiform account by Lagash's leader, Eannatum, wraps around the stela: "Eannatum struck at Umma," it reads. "The bodies were soon 3,600 in number....I, Eannatum, like a fierce storm wind, I unleashed the tempest!"

The historical side depicts Eannatum leading a phalanx of soldiers trampling enemies underfoot, a victory parade, a funeral ceremony, and another, poorly preserved tableau--along with, at top, the image that gives the stela its name, a kettle of vultures consuming the heads of Umma soldiers. It is, in a way, a document both poetic and legal--it invokes the grace and power of Ningirsu, and stakes a claim to land won by force.

Lagash's primacy was short-lived. By the end of the period, Umma had plundered its rival and begun the consolidation of power that would result in the rise of the Akkadian Empire. The tradition of documenting battles in words and pictures continued, perhaps reaching a peak with the Assyrians in the seventh century B.C., when they carved elaborate battle reliefs in the North Palace of Nineveh in present-day Iraq, and documented the siege of Jerusalem on a series of octagonal clay prisms called Sennacherib's Annals.

Last Tablets

Though Akkadian as a spoken language in Mesopotamia died out toward the end of the first millennium B.C., cuneiform continued to be used by temple scribes and astrologers. Greek scholars are known to have flocked to Babylon during this time to learn astronomy, and excavated tablets inscribed in both Greek and Akkadian show that at least a few of these visiting astronomers even tried to master the art of writing cuneiform. But the end was near. The last known tablets that can be dated were written in the late first century A.D. Some scholars believe cuneiform ceased to be used around that time, but Assyriologist Markham Geller of the Free University of Berlin believes it endured for another two centuries. He points to classical sources that mention that Babylonian temples continued to thrive, and believes that they would have maintained scribes still capable of reading and writing cuneiform to ensure that rituals were properly performed. He also thinks cuneiform medical texts may have continued to be used to diagnose illnesses during this era.

But in the third century A.D., the neighboring Sassanian Empire, known to be hostile to foreign religions, seized Babylon. "They shut the temples down," says Geller, "and they sent everyone home." He believes it was only when the very last of these temple scribes died that the rich, 3,000-year-old cuneiform record finally fell silent.
Two bodies found in a rural Macon County area overnight are believed to be those of an Atlanta-based rapper and his promoter cousin, both missing nearly two weeks.

Macon County Sheriff Andre Brunson said investigators believe the victims are Edward Reeves, also known as Bambino Gold, and Kendrick Stokes, also known as Skooly Kee Da Tooly. Their bodies have been taken to the Alabama Department of Forensic Science for confirmation, Brunson told AL.com Saturday morning.

The first body was found about 5 p.m. Friday off of County Road 13. Brunson said somebody walking in the area made the discovery and told a friend who then called law enforcement. Sheriff's officials, including Brunson, responded to the scene and confirmed what the person saw was indeed a body.

The scene was secured and an investigation launched. A deputy searched overnight in the area and discovered the second body about 4:30 a.m. Saturday off of Highway 80. Brunson said the two bodies, obviously victims of homicide, were about three to four miles apart. "They were not far off of the road at all,'' the sheriff said. "It looks like somebody placed them there. I don't think they were killed there."

"It's very sad,'' Brunson said. "My heart goes out to the families and we're working hard to get to the bottom of this."

Reeves, 29, and Stokes, 30, were cousins by marriage and longtime friends. Both originally from Montgomery, Stokes was in his hometown on Saturday, Nov. 4, to promote a party at Sky Bar on Debby Drive. Reeves came to town on Sunday and shortly after 9 p.m. they left Stokes' house to attend the Alabama National Fair. "A lot of people saw them there,'' Stokes' mother, Felicia Stokes Webster, told AL.com in a previous interview. Then, she said, "They just vanished into thin air.''

After a couple of hours, they left to head back to Atlanta but Reeves said he had to make one stop at a friend's house. That was about 10:55 p.m. Reeves and the friend talked briefly, and then Reeves and Stokes left.

The friend said the men were supposed to return and when they didn't, he began to try to reach Reeves by cell phone. By 1 a.m., Reeves' phone was going straight to voicemail. The following morning, other loved ones also tried to call both men but, again, they only got voicemail.

"Between 11:30 p.m. and 1 a.m., something happened between that time,'' Webster said. "What happened, we don't know."

Reeves and Stokes were last seen in a 2016 white Honda CRV. It wasn't clear whether that vehicle has yet been found.

Stokes started working as a promoter when he was just a young teenager, she said. Up until his disappearance, they talked every day to pray together. Each morning, Webster would send her son scripture to study for the day. "I talk with him every day,'' she said. "This is not like him. He reads His word and he prays."

Reeves, a father, has appeared on over 150 mixed tapes since 2011 and has featured with artists such Sy Ari Da Kid, Boosie Badazz, Ray Vicks, Eldorado Red, and Doe B. Alley Boy, according to published reports. Reeves in September 2017 YouTube video discusses surviving a previous gunshot wound.

The sheriff said the Macon County Sheriff's Office, the Montgomery Police Department and the State Bureau of Investigation are working together on solving the crime. "My condolences go out to the families,'' he said.
Theres been surging national interest in private-school-voucher programs with the Trump administrations embrace of the idea.

But newer research on large-scale voucher programs has complicated the debate over private-school choicepolicies which allow families to use public money or aid to attend private schools, including religious ones.

What does the research say? In a nutshell: The most recent findings are mixed, but they lean more toward negative.

I spoke at length with researchers from most of these studies for story I did on how private schools receiving public money in Florida face little state oversight.

Ed Week Investigates: There Is no Oversight Private School Vouchers Can Leave Parents on Their Own

Studies out of Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio, and the District of Columbia have found that students, most of whom are low-income, fare worse academically after leaving their public schools.

But a separate study that looked at low-income students attending private school in Florida with state aid, found that students enrolled in college at higher rates than their peers in public school.

I think the best evidence from the best recent research ... if anything, it looks like that maybe kids going to private school on voucher programs might do worse in reading and math than they do in public [schools], said David Figlio, an economist at Northwestern University, whose study of vouchers in Ohio for low-income students attending poor-performing districts found voucher students performed significantly worse on state tests than their peers who were eligible for vouchers but remained in public schools.

His research on Floridas biggest private-school choice programthe Florida Tax Credit Scholarshipfound that on average, attending a private school on an FTC scholarship had zero effect on student academic achievementwhich was generally true of most early voucher research, said Figlio.

There are possible explanations: theyre getting a worse education ... theyre getting a different form of education ... and I dont think we really know the truth, Figlio said. But I think theres precious little evidence so far that these kids do better academically.

Similarly, negative results were found in a recent study of Washington D.C.'s voucher program as wellthe only federally funded voucher program in the nation.

Students, at least in the Indiana and Louisiana voucher programs, recouped their academic losses after being in private schools for a few years.

Oversight and Demand

Indiana and Louisiana have something else in common that makes these findings even more interesting: They have some of the strictest oversight rules for private schools receiving voucher money in the country.

So at least in those two cases, increased oversight doesnt necessarily guarantee students will do better academically, nor do low test scores dampen parental demand.

In Indianas voucher program for low- and middle-income students, the state assigns private schools letter gradesjust like it does for public schoolsand boots low-performers out of the program. All private schools in the state are required to be accredited.

But researchers from Notre Dame and the University of Kentucky examined data for Indiana voucher students in grades 5 through 8 and found that their math scores dropped significantly in the first few years of attending a private school. By the fourth year, students had recouped their losses, but about 25 percent of students in the researchers sample had returned to public school in that period.

We know that on average, those kids that switch back are lower-achieving and their achievement drops even more when they return to a public school, and thats not good, said Mark Berends, a sociology professor at Notre Dame and the director of the Center for Research on Educational Opportunities. But he is hesitant to draw conclusions. This is still an analysis we are still working out ... Its intriguing, but we have more work to do.

In Louisianas program for low-income students attending low-performing public schools, private schools that accept voucher students arent allowed to pick and choose who they admit. Students must also take the states standardized tests.

Similar to Indiana, students in Louisianas voucher program performed much worse in both reading and math than their low-income peers who remained in low-performing public schools, according to two separate studies.

But low-test scores dont appear to deter parents from enrolling their students in the programs.

"[D]espite having very negative impacts on student performance, its over supplied, said Christopher Walters, an economist at the University of California at Berkeley who studied Louisianas vouchers with researchers from Duke University and MIT. The parents could be interested in other school attributes [such as] religious instruction ... But one takeaway is that we shouldnt expect parents to make choices that improve student academic achievement.

Nor has it deterred lawmakers from expanding such programs.

Too Much Regulation?

Regulations could be part of the problem: they may actually drive down student academic performance in voucher programs by discouraging high-quality private schools from participating. At least thats one theory for whats happening in Louisiana, where state schools chief John White believes that private schools accepting vouchers be held to the same accountability standards as regular public and charter schools.

Only low-quality schools that are struggling to attract students may see voucherswhatever the cost in autonomyas an attractive deal, said Patrick Wolf, a professor of education policy at the University of Arkansas.

It really is a bit of a Catch-22. I think good arguments can be made on either side of the regulation question, said Wolf, who co-authored the other study on Louisiana vouchers.

Certainly one way to attract more high quality private schools is to offer more money and the other is to limit the regulations. The question is, is there really a stomach for that in the public community?

A Silver Lining?

There is a silver lining to this cloud of negative findings, and its in the Sunshine State. There, a recent study of the Florida Tax-Credit Scholarship, which gives hefty tax incentives to businesses that donate money to fund scholarships for low-income students to attend private schools, found that those students were more likely to go to college after high school than their peers that remained in public schools.

The longer students were enrolled in private schools, the larger the effects.

However, there are a couple of caveats.

The kids who stick around longer are probably the kids for whom the program is more successful, said Matthew Chingos, the director of the Urban Institutes Education Policy Program. That could manifest itself as just ... parents are not pulling them out because they feel its working, but it could also manifest itself through the school being more likely to encourage them to stick around.

Additionally, Chingos study couldnt eliminate selection biasthe idea that the most motivated families are likely to opt into school choice programs. (That was not an issue in the Louisiana studies because vouchers are awarded to students using a random lottery.)

Finally, researchers couldnt track students who attended private colleges or colleges outside of Florida, so more students could be going on to pursue a post-secondary education than counted in the study.

Related stories:
Capital murder charges against one of the men charged in a two-year-old's shooting death were dismissed Friday morning.

Joshua Isaiah Carpenter, 22, was charged with capital murder and two counts of attempted murder in the August shooting that left toddler Ron'Narius "Duke" Austin dead and two others injured. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Virginia Vinson issued an order Friday dismissing all charges.

Carpenter's attorney John Lentine said, "We (the Carpenter family and myself) are very appreciative of the District Attorney's office continuing thorough review of the facts of this case and its determination that there was no credible evidence to support the continued prosecution of Joshua on any of these charges. "

Prosectors filed the motion for Carpenter's charges to be dismissed late Thursday.

Three other men, Tyrone Smith Jr., 18; D'Marcco Harris, 21; and Mykayl Harris, 20, remain charged in the fatal shooting. D'Marcco Harris and Mykayl Harris, who are cousins, were indicted on three counts of capital murder and two counts of attempted murder; Smith was indicted on two counts of capital murder and two counts of attempted murder. All three were denied youthful offender status.

Two-year-old Duke was shot in the head while in the car with his parents and another man, Donta Terrell, on August 5. Terrell and Duke's mother, Toshima "Shay" Rembert, were injured in the shooting. After they were shot in the 4200 block of Fourth Avenue South, police said the victims drove to Birmingham's popular Avondale district. Police responded to the Chevron gas station in the area, where they found Duke's father holding him in the backseat.

When Carpenter was released on bond last month, Lentine said the lead detective in the case confirmed no witnesses identified Carpenter firing at the victim's car, or even having a gun the night Duke was killed.

Cheryl Irby, Duke's grandmother, said the three men charged have "no remorse" for the 2-year-old's death. "We'll have to live with this for the rest of our life," she said. "It's still devastating, and it's unbelievable to us."

Irby said, "We want justice for our baby. He deserves it."
Despite allegations of sexual misconduct against Senate candidate Roy Moore, many pastors in Alabama and other states in the Southeast are sticking by the twice-removed Chief Justice.

"This attack on Judge Moore is an attempt by the Democrats to sway voters in Alabama," said Pastor David Floyd of Marvyn Parkway Baptist Church, Opelika. "I don't believe those women. In this country you are innocent until proven guilty."

Floyd is one of around 50 pastors that signed a letter of public support for Moore in August before allegations of sexual misconduct and the dating of teens became public. Moore has denied the allegations, calling them an "attack on my character and reputation" and a "desperate attempt to stop my political campaign for the United States Senate."

Pastor Franklin Raddish of the Capitol Hill Independent Baptist Ministries, a nationwide church, told AL.com from his South Carolina home that the spate of accusations against men in politics, Hollywood and elsewhere was a "war on men."



"More women are sexual predators than men," said Raddish. "Women are chasing young boys up and down the road, but we don't hear about that because it's not PC."

Kayla Moore, wife of the 70 year-old former Chief Justice of Alabama, rereleased the letter from supportive pastors on Tuesday in the aftermath of The Washington Post story that accused Moore of initiating a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old and pursing three other teenagers. Since then, more women have come forward to complain about Moore's behavior.

AL.com attempted to reach out to every pastor that had supported Moore prior to the release of the allegations Nov. 9. Of the 29 churches that responded, 19 confirmed that the pastor in question was still supporting Moore. The remaining 10 did not confirm support. And a further 21 either did not respond or could not be reached for comment.



While Republicans in Washington DC are calling for Moore to step aside, the Alabama GOP is supporting the embattled Gadsden native. Rep. Mo Brooks has also said he would continue to support Moore and Rep. Bradley Byrne indicated that it was for the electorate to decide. Rep. Robert Aderholt said he had no reason not to vote for Moore.



And while some pastors in Alabama have withdrawn their backing in recent days, most still endorse Moore, underlining the unwavering support he has received from his conservative Christian base since the beginning of the election cycle. Moore faces Democratic candidate Doug Jones in the special election for the U.S. Senate on Dec. 12.

Forty percent of evangelicals polled between Nov. 9 and Nov. 11 said they were more likely to vote for Moore in the wake of the allegations against him, according to a recent poll.

Pastor Raddish in South Carolina said that Moore was dealing with the double standards of the mainstream media and the political elites in Washington, which he said had not reacted to other sexual scandals in the same way. "No one told Trump to stand down, what about the allegations against Clinton and his extramarital affair? The Democrats made a laughing stock out of those women. And now Al Franken is keeping his job."



"Also, why did the mothers of these women not come forward," said Raddish. "The mother knew, the family knew, and not one of them did anything. Any mother with red blood that found out her daughter had been violated would have kicked down doors."



"Why didn't they tell the state police, the FBI, the local sheriff?" added Franklin. "Because it's not true."



Pastor Paul Hubbard of Lakeview Baptist Church, Montgomery, told reporters from WSFA channel 12 that if Moore has done what people say he's done he should "be arrested and tried in court... but accusations are just accusations."

Hubbard explained that the biggest issue with the allegation is that they came 40 years later.

But not every pastor on the original list wanted to remain on it. Some didn't even know they were on the list in the first place.

Tijuanna Adetunji, a member and pastor of Fresh Anointing House of Worship in Montgomery, said that while she believes in Moore's values and still supports him, she did not want it to seem she was supporting Moore because of the allegations. Her name and that of her husband, Bishop Fred Adetunji, were taken off the list.

Pastor Thad Endicott of Opelika and Dr. George Grant of Parish Presbyterian Church in Franklin, Tenn., both asked to be removed. Dr. Grant was not aware he was on the original list and said he hadn't spoken to Moore in 10 years.



"Not my state, not my politics," he told a Nashville TV station.
Secretary of State John Merrill (AP/Phillip Rawls)

There were 140 confirmed crossover votes in the Sept. 26 Republican runoff for the U.S. Senate, and none will be investigated further for possible prosecution, Secretary of State John Merrill announced in a press release today.

Last month, Merrill's office had compiled a preliminary list of 674 crossover votes in 41 counties and sent them to probate offices for verification. Of those, 534 turned out to be mistakes by a poll worker, another election worker or the voter, Merrill said.

Merrill said he called the probate judges from the 20 counties with 140 confirmed crossover votes.

"After these reviews and the conversations were completed, there were no instances in which a local Probate Judge deemed it necessary to pursue additional investigations that could potentially lead to prosecution," Merrill said. "Without new information being introduced in this review, this matter is now considered closed."

The Alabama Legislature passed a ban on crossover voting this year and it was in effect for the first time in the Republican runoff in the special election for the U.S. Senate between Roy Moore and Sen. Luther Strange.

The law says that if a person voted in one party's primary, they cannot crossover and vote in the other party's subsequent runoff.

The law only applies to party runoffs and has no bearing on general elections, like the Dec. 12 election between Moore and Democratic nominee Doug Jones.

Last month, Merrill had said he wanted those who intentionally violated the new law to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, including prison time and a hefty fine.

Asked today what changed, Merrill said:

"It was not recommended that additional investigation be conducted. And prosecution was not recommended by any probate judge. And if they're the ones that are doing the investigating, and they say there's no evidence, I'm not trying to refer a case with no evidence."

Asked if he regretted taking such a hard stance on the penalty for intentional violators, Merrill said:

"Absolutely not. I'll do it again, every time. Because I answered the question. And the question was, what do you want to happen to these people if they vote and it's proven that they did it on purpose. And my answer is the same. We want people to know they're not going to break the law in Alabama and get away with it."

Merrill said the names of the 140 confirmed crossover voters will be retained by his office and the probate offices in case they cross over again.

"If it occurs again and the same person is involved, you start to build a file then," Merrill said.

Probate judges and local election workers are best suited to determine whether to investigate further because they generally know the voters, Merrill said.

"People know each other. That's how you know what direction you need to go," Merrill said.

Overall, Merrill said implementation of the new law was successful. There were 589,175 voters who took part in the Aug. 15 primary and 480,270 who took part in the runoff.

"Couldn't have worked any better," Merrill said. "When you've got 99.97 percent of the people in the state that are following the law without exception and you've got 140 people statewide that have crossed over according to the law but have not done so in an attempt to circumvent the law, I'd say it's hard to educate people any better than that."
Congresswoman Terri Sewell, a Democrat from Alabama, has joined the list of lawmakers calling for U.S. Senate Candidate Roy Moore to drop out of the race.

"I believe the multiple accounts of the women who have bravely come forward over the last two weeks," Rep. Sewell wrote on Twitter Friday afternoon.

Sewell's statement comes in the wake of articles on AL.com and in the Washington Post that detail allegations of sexual misconduct or assault against Moore. Several women have accused Moore of pursuing them for dates when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s.

I believe the multiple accounts of the women who have bravely come forward over the last two weeks. Roy Moore should drop out of the senate race. As Alabamians we should send a clear message that we have ZERO tolerance for sexual abuse and predatory behavior!  Rep. Terri A. Sewell (@RepTerriSewell) November 17, 2017

"Roy Moore should drop out of the senate race," Sewell's statement reads. "As Alabamians we should send a clear message that we have ZERO tolerance for sexual abuse and predatory behavior!"

Click here to read AL.com's coverage of Roy Moore.

Moore has repeatedly and vehemently denied the allegations. The Senate candidate also has said he has no plans to leave the race.

Sewell has joined the ranks of several politicians who are calling for Moore to step aside. That list includes several Republicans, such as House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Sen. Richard Shelby R-Alabama also has said Moore should drop out of the race.

Many in-state leaders, including the Alabama Republican Party have said they continue to support Moore's candidacy. Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday said she plans to vote for Moore.

Who says Roy Moore should 'step aside?' More and more Republicans are calling for Roy Moore to step aside. Posted by Reckon by AL.com on Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Moore is seeking to defeat Democrat Doug Jones in the special election Dec. 12. Sewell endorsed Jones in the Democratic primary in August.
Embattled U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore is the subject of an Alabama Bar Association complaint filed by a Massachusetts attorney who previously has made complaints against Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions.

Attorney J. Whitfield Larrabee claims Moore violated the Bar's rules of professional conduct, in light of allegations of sexual misconduct that have surfaced in articles by the Washington Post and AL.com. Moore has repeatedly and vehemently denied the claims of sexual misconduct. His campaign didn't respond Friday to a request for comment on the Bar complaint.

Larrabee late Thursday sent a copy of the complaint to AL.com. The document alleges several instances of misconduct by Moore, a licensed attorney in Alabama.

"During the course of his career as an attorney, prosecutor and District Attorney, Moore has engaged in predatory sexual activity," the complaint states.

Asked why a lawyer from the northeast part of the United States decided to file a complaint against an Alabama attorney, Larrabee said he felt it was his duty.

"As a concerned citizen and member of the bar in Massachusetts and elsewhere, I feel that it is my duty to speak up when I become aware of egregious misconduct by members of the legal profession," he said in an email to AL.com's Paul Gattis.

Earlier this year Larrabee filed a complaint against U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who previously held the Senate seat Moore is seeking. That complaint stemmed from Sessions' testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee during its Russia probe.

Larrabee also has filed complaints with federal prosecutors in New York and Florida alleging bribery, fraud and conspiracy against then-candidate President Donald Trump and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, reported AL.com's Howard Koplowitz.

The complaint against Moore outlines allegations by Leigh Corfman, Beverly Young Nelson, Tina Johnson and Gena Richardson.

Click here for AL.com's coverage of Roy Moore.

Potential penalties for violation of the Bar's code of conduct include public or private reprimand, probation and disbarment. A spokeswoman said the Bar doesn't comment on or confirm receipt of complaints. They are considered confidential unless or until a finding of guilty or guilty plea.

Corfman has accused Moore of taking her to his home in Etowah County when she was 14, removing her clothes and touching her over her bra and underpants. She also alleges that Moore guided her hand to touch him over his underwear. Moore denied the allegations and said he didn't even know Corfman.

"Moore's claims were lies," Larrabee wrote to the state Bar.

The complaint also details allegations that Moore tried to rape Nelson outside her workplace when she was 16, accusations that he grabbed Johnson's buttocks and claims that he forcefully kissed Richardson.

Threats of litigation

Larrabee's complaint addresses the Senate candidate's threats to file lawsuits against AL.com and the Washington Post for reporting the allegations against Moore.

"The reporting about these events by the media outlets was protected by first amendment activity," Larrabee's complaint states. "The threatened suits were frivolous, insubstantial, wholly without merit and made in bad faith. If Moore files the suits, it will be an abuse of process and malicious prosecution."

Larrabee claims the lawsuit threats are "akin to witness intimidation." The complaint states the accusers are potential witnesses with relevant testimony for the Senate's Ethics and Judiciary committees, if Moore is elected.

Prior conduct

Larrabee's complaint also references Moore's past actions of defying a federal court order and being suspended from the Alabama Supreme Court. Moore has been twice elected to and twice removed from the Alabama Supreme Court--once for refusing to remove a 5,000-pound statue of the Ten Commandments from a courtroom and most recently for telling probate judges around the state not to issue same-sex marriage licenses. The complaint states Moore has failed to follow the law, improperly spoken publicly about pending court cases and interfered with legal process.

The complaint alleges Moore violated three state bar rules by committing criminal acts, engaging in dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation, and engaging in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice.

Roy Moore Alabama Bar Association Complaint by Ashley Remkus on Scribd
Erin Edgemon | eedgemon@al.com

St. Vincent's Health System celebrated the grand opening of its new urgent care location in Homewood on Friday.

The clinic at 1944 28th Ave. S. provides walk-in care for minor injuries and illnesses seven days a week, according to the health system. The location treats a wide range of conditions, including ear or eye infections, flu, fevers, cuts that may need stitches, allergies, and upper respiratory tract infections.

To reduce wait times, patients can check in online at stvurgentcare.com before coming into the clinic.

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Ben Flanagan | bflanagan@al.com

The University of Alabama has created an online crowdfunding drive, and the Million Dollar Band is its first project.

Today the university launched UA Crowdfunding, described as an online fundraising platform. Projects will run about 30 days and allow donors to support different projects on campus.

Managed by the Office of Annual Giving, UA Crowdfunding "will build support for projects that might otherwise go without funding," the university said in a statement. Campaigns will be created and run by academic departments, student groups and others beginning next spring.

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Erin Edgemon | eedgemon@al.com

EBSCO Income Properties, a subsidiary of EBSCO Industries, recently acquired The Grand Reserve apartment complex in Pike Road.

According to public records, the Birmingham-based company purchased the Class A, 376-unit apartment complex for $49.1 million. The sale closed on Nov. 13.

The upscale apartments are located at 160 Stone Park Blvd. along Interstate 85 about 12 miles southeast of Montgomery.

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William Thornton | wthornton@al.com

Alabama's commerce secretary says an aircraft manufacturing operation for Tuskegee could be a "gamechanger" for the region, as well as Alabama's aeronautics industry.

"The potential economic impact of this project on Tuskegee and the surrounding region is massive," Secretary Greg Canfield said this week. Canfield is on his way back from Italy following a three-day trade mission there.

State and local officials toured the Venegono Superiore factory near Milan of aerospace company Leonardo, which plans to build the T-100 trainer jet for the U.S. Air Force at Tuskegee. But that's if the U.S. Air Force awards the contract next spring.

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Lee Roop | lroop@al.com

The German auto parts manufacturer BOCAR will build a new plant in North Alabama and hire 300 high-tech workers to supply parts for regional automobile manufacturers, officials announced today. Work on the plant will start in spring 2018 on a site adjacent to I-65 near I-565 in the part of Huntsville located in Limestone County.

BOCAR will invest $115 million in a state-of-the art plant, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said, and it will pay "great wages." Battle added that "for every one of these jobs, two-and-a-half other jobs are created for people who will work in your drug stores, your grocery stores and maybe even building a house for someone working there."

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Erin Edgemon | eedgemon@al.com

The historic Hilltop Arms Apartments in Montgomery will be redeveloped into a modern, upscale boutique hotel, the developer announced on Wednesday.

The new hotel, Hilltop Suites & Spa, will feature 80 suite hotel rooms, more than 6,000 square feet of meeting and event areas, and numerous bars and restaurants, Sys-Con, LLC said.

The hotel will have a rooftop bar and lounge that will feature breathtaking views overlooking downtown Montgomery and the Alabama River, the developer said.

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Lee Roop | lroop@al.com

Airbus has landed a massive order for more than 400 new jets, and indications are that at least some of them will be made in Alabama.

In Germany, Der Spiegel took notice of the news as the largest single deal in the company's history. In the U.S., Kristi Tucker, director of communications for Airbus Americas, said that the arrangement struck at the Dubai Air Show had a definite connection to Airbus' Final Assembly Line in Mobile.

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Lee Roop | lroop@al.com

Retailers and smaller U.S. companies jumped again Friday as they continued to report strong third-quarter results, but technology companies and other big U.S. corporations couldn't add to the previous day's gains.

A slew of retailers including discount chain Ross Stores, shoe store Foot Locker and clothing companies Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch soared following strong results or forecasts. Wal-Mart helped kick off a retail rally a day ago. Technology, health care and industrial companies slumped. On Thursday they led stocks to their biggest gain in two months.

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A worker demonstrates a pyro-electric wheel airbag initiator during a presentation for journalists at the international automotive supplier Takata Ignition Systems GmbH in Schoenebeck, Germany, in 2014 (Photo: Jens Meyer, AP)

A new report on recalls of potentially deadly Takata air bag inflators shows that automakers have replaced only 43 percent of the faulty parts even though recalls have been under way for more than 15 years.

The report, issued Friday by an independent monitor who is keeping tabs on the recalls, also shows that auto companies are only about halfway toward a Dec. 31 goal of 100 percent replacement of older and more dangerous inflators.

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File photo

Construction of new homes climbed 13.7 percent in October, the biggest jump in a year as builders broke ground on more apartments and single-family houses.

The Commerce Department said Friday that the monthly gain put U.S. housing starts at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.29 million units. That is the best pace for home construction in 12 months.

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Catalonia has taken a big step back. It is currently in the position that it was prior to 1982, when the Spanish autonomous communities system was established.

We, the Catalans, asked to solve our dispute with the central government through a referendum to democratically decide on the independence of Catalonia. There was general discontent and demands that needed to be addressed. The response of the Spanish government was not only to deny us this right, but also to crack down on Catalonia and leave it in a much worse state.

They have imprisoned half of the Catalan government, while the other half is in Brussels, embarrassing Madrid and causing instability within the Belgian government.

What happened in the past month and a half has had an immensely polarising effect on the general population. On December 21, we Catalans are called to the polls, for elections that were imposed by Madrid and with candidates of pro-independence parties in jail or in exile.

In this atmosphere, the election campaign will likely do no more than whip up more extreme sentiments on both sides and deepen the societal divide. And whatever the outcome of the vote, it will not resolve the crisis.

Dangerous polarisation ahead of the elections

The recent events have mobilised not only a huge part of the population that is unhappy about the central governments mismanagement of the crisis and mistreatment of Catalans, but also the part that is ready to defend the unity of Spain, fearing Catalonia could develop an extreme form of nationalism.

Pro-independence voices have increasing influence in the Catalan society. They enjoy strong emotional support from the general public which remembers vividly the police violence in October and continues to protest the ongoing victimisation of imprisoned activists and politicians.

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They do not trust Madrid. They see the actions of the central government not as attempts to resolve the crisis, but as punishment and deliberate humiliation of the Catalan people. The pro-independence crowd continues to organise large gatherings to defy the central government. On November 8, a general strike paralysed parts of Catalonia as thousands went out in the streets blocking, railroads and highways and chanting Freedom! Three days later, hundreds of thousands marched in Barcelona demanding the release of pro-independence movement leaders which they consider political prisoners.

Supporters of unity with Spain have also held large rallies, including one on October 12, Spains national day, which ended in a brawl between unionists and independence supporters. On October 29, hundreds of thousands marched in Barcelona to celebrate the application of Article 155, with chants like Long live Spain!, Spanish Barcelona!, and Puigdemont in prison.

The pro-unity movement in Catalonia is apprehensive about the rise of Catalan nationalism and does not trust the education provided in Catalan public schools. They fear that their children will be indoctrinated with a Catalan identity. They believe that if they express their Spanish nationalism in an independent Catalonia, they would be singled out and persecuted. They do not see the pro-independence movement as a grassroots one and consider it an initiative of the Catalan government to cover up its mismanagement of regional affairs.

Needless to say, the pro- and anti-independence crowds do not see eye-to-eye and their antagonism is increasingly reaching dangerous levels. If this polarisation persists and deepens, the election risks becoming another plebiscite, where people vote for staying with Spain or for establishing a Catalan republic and where the losing side could refuse to accept the results.

No solution will come out of the elections

In the December elections, the pro-independence parties will run separately, despite calls by removed Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, to form a coalition. But even without a coalition, there is a chance they might win the majority in the elections.

A survey released on October 31 by Catalonias Center for Opinion Studies shows that pro-independence parties have a majority if they form a coalition.

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The ruling Peoples Party (PP) in Madrid has threatened to re-apply Article 155 if the pro-independence parties win the elections and continue with their push to establish the Catalan Republic proclaimed on October 27.

That would mean that the newly elected parliament would be dissolved, its government would be suspended and its members would likely be prosecuted. Then another election would have to be called, plunging Catalonia into a permanent crisis.

There is also a chance that the parties in favour of unity with Spain win the December 21 elections. The central government is hoping that the so-called silent majority will go out to vote in favour of the PP and is currently promoting it as the party that has solved the Catalan challenge.

The pro-unity parties  the Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSC), the PP and Citizens Party  are ideologically very different and the only issue that they agree on is unity. They would face a formidable challenge in forming a stable coalition government that is able to make decisions. These parties would struggle to resolve major political and socioeconomic problems because they simply lie on different ends of the political spectrum (one is leftist, the other conservative, and the third is liberal).

The PSC prioritises regulation in socioeconomic affairs, promoting policies that mitigate poverty and encourage small business. Both the Citizens Party and the PP support deregulation and neoliberal policies favouring big business over social justice.

Furthermore, the PSC does not support anti-autonomy measures. It would not agree to change the current educational system in Catalonia to remove the priority status of Catalan language and culture  a policy that both the Citizens Party and the PP are in favour of. In other words, a coalition between these three parties would be difficult to sustain for four years, especially in a polarised environment.

However, such a government could survive long enough to try to suppress pro-independence activism and sentiments, alienating a huge part of the population and enabling the rise of a more vicious form of nationalism. Spain and Catalonia have already suffered from the effects of toxic fascist politics and it is a dangerous move for the pro-unity parties to push in that direction.

There is another option that could take Catalonia out of this vicious circle. An opinion poll conducted in late October shows that 57 percent of Spanish citizens are in favour of another referendum to resolve the current crisis  an option that was proposed by the Catalan government and rejected by Madrid.

The central government could allow another referendum to be held  one that does not involve police violence and arrests  and accept the will of the Catalan people for independence or for unity. This is the only solution that would guarantee lasting stability in Catalonia.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bonn ended with some progress on the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

After a long night of debate over finance between developed and developing nations, the Paris Agreement finally made progress towards its implementation in 2020.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, which concluded on Friday in Bonn, Germany, was all about creating an operating manual for the accord  a means by which governments can enhance their efforts on climate change action, through the so-called Talanoa Dialogue.

Current national pledges to cut carbon emissions equate to a 3 degrees Celcius rise in global temperature, while the Paris Agreement aims for 2C, or preferably closer to 1.5C. Experts say there has already been a 1C rise in temperature since the industrial revolution, and recent hurricanes and wildfires demonstrate the need for urgent action.

Paula Caballero, the global director of the World Resources Institute, said there was a lot of work to do in 2018.

Next year is the year to really step up climate action, she said. I think what we have here in Bonn sets us on a good road ahead. Theres a lot of homework to do and its not easy, but I think were seeing real and decisive action on behalf of governments, cities, states and the private sector.

But there is still the thorny issue of how poorer nations are paid for the damage caused by the emissions of the rich.

Fijian Jenny Jiva from the Pacific Island Action Network welcomed the progress of the Paris Agreement, but said the world is still falling way short of what is required: Its certainly not enough for the survival of the Pacific. There needs to be increased ambition and a greater responsibility taken by developed countries. They need to keep fossil fuels in the ground and they need to move towards a safe and just transition towards renewable energy.

US pledge

Fossil fuels were a focus inside and outside the negotiating halls in Bonn. There was no coal phase-out from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but the United Kingdom and Canada launched an alliance of 20 nations to wind down coal use.

Members of a delegation sent by the administration of US President Donald Trump to promote fossil fuels were shouted down by dozens of protesters, as a coalition of US states and cities stepped into the void to say: Were still in the Paris Agreement.

It doesnt matter how much Donald Trump tweets. He can tweet his fingers off but he cannot stop us. The states are leading on this issue, and we will not be stopped, because the world cannot wait, Washington Governor Jay Inslee said.

Next year, the process moves to Poland, where the world will be expected to increase carbon-cutting ambitions.

In the meantime, French President Emmanuel Macron will host a climate summit in December to try to keep up momentum  but it is a long, slow process getting the world to agree on the finer details of the fight against climate change.
Aid has started to trickle into Yemen almost two weeks after the Saudi-led coalition closed land, air and sea borders.

Aid has started to trickle into Yemen almost two weeks after the Saudi-led coalition closed land, air and sea borders.

Vital supplies are being allowed into ports in government-controlled areas. While the blockade was designed to choke the alleged flow of weapons to Houthi rebels from Iran, it has made life difficult for millions of Yemenis as it cut off basic needs and assistance.

But the United Nations says only a complete lifting of the blockade will stop what could be the worst famine in decades.

Although liberal ports have been opened, there is still no flow of aid to the airport in the capital Sanaa and the port of Hodeidah through which a bulk of all aid was delivered.

Al Jazeeras Mereana Hond reports.
Israels control over the Palestinian population is based on a system of colour-coded IDs in the occupied territories.

As Israel expanded its control and occupation over four territories in the aftermath of the Six Day War, it devised a system of population control that remains in place five decades later.

After the 1967 war, the Israeli military declared the occupied territories to be closed areas, making it mandatory for Palestinian residents to obtain permits to enter or leave. Palestinians who were abroad during that time missed out on the subsequent population census and were not granted identification papers.

The clear delineator that has separated and dictated the lives of these Palestinians is the colour-coded identification system issued by the Israeli military and reinforced in 1981 through its Civil Administration branch. Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip have green IDs  generally issued once they turn 16  while Palestinians in East Jerusalem and Israel have blue IDs.

The cards affect everything from freedom of movement to family unity.

Tool of control

IDs are still issued by the Israeli military, despite the 1993 arrival of the Palestinian Authority government, noted Tahseen Elayyan, head of monitoring and documentation for the Palestinian rights group Al-Haq.

When it comes to the West Bank and Gaza Strip IDs, the role that the PA plays is more of a secretarial role, such as printing them out, he told Al Jazeera. Ultimately, it is the Civil Administration in the Bet Il settlement who decides to issue them, based on whether the Palestinian is included in the population census.

Miriam Marmur, international communications coordinator for the Gisha human rights organisation, said that Israels control of the Palestinian population registry has been central to its efforts to control movement and demographics in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Power over Palestinians residency status is used as a tool of control, she said. Palestinians must be included in the Palestinian population registry to obtain ID cards and passports.

In the occupied West Bank, Marmur added, Palestinians must have their IDs for internal travel, due to the checkpoints interspersed within the territory.

This system has drawn comparisons to laws in apartheid South Africa designed by whites to control the movement of blacks and mixed-race people and to keep them in inferior positions.

Separation is the rule

Freedom of movement for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, especially over the past 25 years, has been heavily restricted between these territories, where separation is the rule and access is the rare exception, Marmur said.

It is illegal for a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank to travel to Gaza and Jerusalem unless they have a special travel permit from Israel. Likewise, Palestinians in Gaza are forbidden from going to Jerusalem and the West Bank unless the Israeli military issues them a permit.

Israeli law had different military orders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Elayyan said. Each territory was administered by a different Israeli military commander. The point of that was to maintain the division between the two territories, to make them easier to control.

According to Marmur, Israel has practically stopped processing requests for registration and changes of residency status since the year 2000.

As a result, many Palestinians have been unable to choose their place of residence, as well as take up opportunities for study and work, she said.

Since that year, which was when the second Intifada broke out, students from Gaza have been forbidden from going to study in the occupied West Bank.

Family unification

These identification cards can also impinge on Palestinians right to family unification if a husband and wife hold different ID cards.

Palestinians from Gaza who marry residents of the West Bank cannot move to the West Bank to live with their spouses, Marmur noted.

Furthermore, Palestinian ID-holders who marry those who do not have an ID live with the risk of forced separation. Children can only be registered under one parent, not both.

A poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in 2013 concluded that 31 percent of Gaza residents  more than half a million people  had relatives in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem or Israel. Twenty-six percent of Gaza residents had relatives in the occupied West Bank.

The blue Jerusalem IDs

Freedom of movement is not as restricted for Jerusalem residents, who are granted permanent residency in the city but not Israeli citizenship. While they also need permits to go to Gaza, they can travel freely to the occupied West Bank and modern-day Israel.

However, restrictions are manifested in other ways.

The Israelis act like giving us permanent residency in Jerusalem is a privilege, but it is more cosmetic than anything else, Dalia Nashashibi, a primary school teacher from Jerusalem, told Al Jazeera.

Yes, we face shorter queues when crossing the Allenby border and yes, we can move from one territory to the other [except Gaza] without a permit, but we still get searched and humiliated at checkpoints, she added. Thats as far as the privilege extends.

Holders of the Jerusalem IDs live under the constant threat of residency revocation. Living outside Jerusalem in the other occupied territories is considered sufficient grounds for Israel to annul a permit.

For financial and family reasons, many Jerusalemites live in the occupied West Bank, but they must maintain a house within Jerusalems municipality to keep their residency. Israeli authorities regularly conduct random inspections of households in Jerusalem to see whether the blue ID holders actually live there.

These Palestinians must pay a hefty property tax to the municipality  in addition to the national insurance tax  yet they receive few municipal services, with their neighbourhoods severely lacking in infrastructure, health services and educational facilities.

This is all part of Israels attempts to maintain a 70:30 Jewish-Palestinian ratio, Elayyan said.

They lessened the number of Palestinians in the population census that were given Jerusalem IDs and added more geographical lands around the city that were used to construct Jewish-only settlements, he said.

The situation is even harder for Jerusalem ID holders who live outside the country, Nashashibi added: If we do not come back for a visit after more than three years have passed, then our IDs are automatically cancelled. We suffer so much, she added. The Jerusalem ID has more negatives than positives.
Some in the country are stocking up on food supplies as tensions mount over resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Tripoli, Lebanon  Ahmad Tajeldin Abdullah remembers when his neighbourhood was filled with dead bodies. Three years ago, on the streets of Tripoli, he witnessed snipers shoot children on their walk to school, homes destroyed by explosions, and women being shot while hanging laundry outside.

Abdullah was starting to get used to peace in his country, but now he is terrified that it is about to end.

I can already see a war coming, he says. I have a daughter whos just 13 days old. Im afraid for my childrens lives.

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His fear stems from a political crisis brewing in Lebanon.

It started on November 4, when Prime Minister Saad Hariri abruptly resigned.

He made the announcement from Saudi Arabia, fell off the radar for eight days, and then broke his silence in a televised interview, again from Saudi.

The series of events fueled rumours that Saudi forced Hariri to resign.

Lebanese officials believe the Sunni-led country is using him as a pawn in their competition for regional power against Hezbollah, an Iran-backed, Shia group that has established a strong military and political presence in Lebanon.

As Abdullah points at bullet marks on Tripolis buildings, he says what seems to be on a lot of minds in Lebanon: Iran and Saudi Arabia are fighting for power, and I am afraid they will they use Lebanon as their battlefield.

If this tiny country goes to war, the consequences could be dire  especially now, as it struggles to maintain political stability, continues to heal from its last civil war and hosts nearly two million Syrian refugees.

Many have already started storing up on food, saving money, and preparing for something they have become all too familiar with: war.

Toll on economy

Since Hariris resignation, Tripoli business owners have felt the effects. Fadi Shaker went from averaging $300 a day at his candy shop to $20, Jinan Dib has had four days without a single customer at her salon, and Monzer Nshabe has profited about $7 a day at his dishware store.

People are scared a war is going to start, so theyre holding onto their money, said Nshabe, who typically makes $100 a day.

Theyre only buying necessary things, like food.

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Lebanons last war was between 2011 and 2014, when the Syrian crisis spilled into Tripoli.

In Lebanon, you can't guarantee anything. There is no permanent peace. by Mohamad Youssef, Tripoli resident

People who supported President Bashar al-Assad fought those against him.

The battles, which left nearly 200 people dead, are still fresh in the minds of residents.

Twenty-five-year-old Mohamad Youssef remembers seeing a man get shot dead outside his house. After that, he did not go outside for two years, dropped out of college and relied on rain for drinking water.

When Hariri resigned, I felt a big possibility there will be war, he said. In Lebanon, you cant guarantee anything. There is no permanent peace.

For many, there appears to be one person who can ease tensions between Saudia Arabia and Hezbollah: Lebanese President Michel Aoun.

Balance of powers

Hezbollah has gradually become Lebanons strongest political and military force, possessing veto power in Lebanons cabinet and playing the decisive role in getting Aoun elected last year.

Since then, Aoun has supported Hezbollah, putting a wedge in Lebanons balance of powers.

In the eyes of Saudi Arabia, that means Hezbollah and Aoun are establishing an anti-Saudi front and moving Lebanon further away from a neutral stance, instead in favour of Iran, said Imad Salamey, director of the Institute for Social Justice and Conflict Resolution at the Lebanese American University.

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On the same day as Hariris resignation, Houthi rebels in Yemen launched a missile attack targeting Riyadh, which the Kingdom blames on Iran.

Saudi sent a message to Lebanon by pressuring Hariri to resign, Salamey says.

And, on Tuesday, the Kingdom sent another message by inviting the head of Lebanons Maronite Catholic Church to the country. Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai met King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Few details of the meeting were provided, but Salamey says the Saudis likely told the church patriarch to persuade Aoun, who represents Lebanons Christians, to change his pro-Hezbollah stance.

Saudi money

Saudi Arabia has injected about $4bn into Lebanese banks to help Lebanon maintain a healthy economy, but the Kingdom has threatened to pull its money out if Aoun does not fall in line  a move that could bring Lebanon to its knees.

There wouldnt be war as much as there would be chaos  people breaking into stores, people breaking into apartments, people without jobs or money, Salamey said. There would be people in the street, rioting. It could be a collapse of the state.

This is not the first time Saudi has made such threats.

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Last year, it punished Lebanon for siding with Iran in the Syrian war, slashing billions of dollars in aid.

But not everyone agrees with Salameys fears.

Asad AbuKhalil, a political science professor at California State University, says that taking money out of Lebanon will not break the country.

Israel came and tried to invade Lebanon in 2006, and Lebanon did not collapse, he said.

Lebanon lived through many civil wars and did not collapse. Its going to take a world war to make Lebanon collapse. The Saudis do not understand the situation, and thats why they overreached and overreacted.
Search for missing vessel enters third day as President Mauricio Macri vows to do everything possible to locate vessel.

A NASA research plane has joined the search for a missing Argentine submarine, as concern is growing over the fate of its 44 crew members.

No contact has been made with the vessel, the ARA San Juan, since Wednesday, prompting authorities to launch a major air and sea search operation.

We will do what is necessary to find the submarine as soon as possible, President Mauricio Macri said on his Twitter account on Saturday.

The TR-1700 class diesel-electric vessel had been returning from a routine mission to Ushuaia, near the southernmost tip of South America, to its base at Mar del Plata, around 400km south of the capital, Buenos Aires.

Argentina accepted an offer from the United States for a NASA P-3 explorer aircraft, which had been stationed in Ushuaia and was preparing to depart to Antarctica, to make an exploratory flight over the search area.

Rising tension

Al Jazeeras Daniel Schweimler, reporting from Mar Del Plata, said tension is mounting with each hour that goes by.

The families of those crew members are gathering at the naval base here in Mar Del Plata, said Schweimler, adding that Pope Francis  an Argentine  had said he was praying for the missing crew members.

The German-made ARA San Juan is one of three submarines in the Argentine fleet.

It is a very old submarine, said Schweimler.

The Argentines bought it second-hand from its German manufacturers back in 1985. It had a big overhaul in 2008 with the idea of it staying in service for another 30 years.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has made a dramatic policy change in his battle against drug gangs.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has made a dramatic policy change in his battle against drug gangs.

He has ordered local police units to stand down and let the government drug enforcement agency take the lead, citing corruption in the police force and the need to clean up.

Al Jazeeras Jamela Alindogan reports from Manila
The crossing, which is being run by the Palestinian Authority, is expected to remain open for three days.

Egyptian authorities have temporarily opened the Rafah border crossing with the besieged Gaza Strip for the first time since the signing of a power-sharing deal between Palestinian political parties in Cairo last month.

Rafah, the main crossing in Gazas south, is expected to remain open for three days, starting on Saturday.

Hosam Salem, a Palestinian journalist at the crossing, said about 10 buses had left the Strip by 15:00 GMT, while one bus had entered.

He estimated that about 500 Palestinians had been allowed to leave.

The reasons for travel include medical and humanitarian ones, education purposes and the return of Palestinians stuck outside.

Rafah is the main exit for the two million Palestinians in the Strip to the outside world since Israel imposed an airtight land, sea and air blockade on the area more than a decade ago.

But following President Abdel Fattah el-Sisis rise to power in 2014, Egypt has kept the crossing largely closed.

The last time that Rafah was opened was on August 16  about three months ago. Over the past year, the crossing has been open for just 14 days in total, according to Salem.

If the border crossing remains open for two weeks, then maybe there will be less congestion and things will be under control. But if it is open for three days only, then things arent going to improve much, he said, estimating that more than 20,000 people had applied to leave the Strip two months ago.

Some people are leaving because they need medical care, others are leaving because they want to continue their studies outside. But there are also whole families that are packing their bags and taking off to go settle somewhere else, he continued, highlighting Gazas bad economic situation.

Unity agreement

The Palestinian parties reconcilliation agreement on October 13 saw the transfer of authority over the border crossing from Hamas, the movement that runs the Gaza Strip, to the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA).

Hamas Ministry of Interior and National Security said in a statement on Saturday that the relevant teams from the ministry have been present from the hours of the early morning to prepare the buses for travellers.

From then on, the PAs General Authority for Crossings and Borders was responsible for facilitating the travel to the Egyptian side, according to the statement.

Iyad al Buzom, Gazas interior ministry spokesperson, said Saturdays development is the start of a new phase of the Rafah crossing and is hope for keeping the crossing permanently open in the long run, to end the suffering of people in Gaza.

After a decade of divide, last months agreement between PA and Hamas gave hope to Palestinians in the besieged Strip that conditions would improve.

Impacted by a suffocating blockade, three Israeli assaults, and punitive measures from the PA aimed at forcing Hamas to cede control, the Strip has been experiencing a downward spiral that has only worsened an already dire humanitarian and economic situation.

The small enclave is one of the most densely-populated areas in the world. It has been aptly described as the worlds largest open-air prison.

About 42 percent of Palestinians in Gaza suffer from poverty, youth unemployment stands at 58 percent and some 80 percent rely on international aid, mainly for food, according to the World Bank.

Nadia Abu Shaaban, a 24-year-old student living in Gaza city, said she is not hopeful that the opening of the crossing would change the situation on the ground.

I want to leave and continue my studies outside, but weve been through this so many times  where things just remain as bad as they are. Its hopeless, she told Al Jazeera.

Everyone in Gaza wants to leave, but were going to wait and see if things actually improve. So far, it seems that the crossing is really congested, and people are jumping over each other to get through. Its a mess.

Despite promises from Palestinian leaders that the unity deal will ease the difficult conditions in Gaza, the substantial effects of reconcilliation remain to be seen.
Jabal al-Baba residents express fear about future as they anticipate the forced removal of their community within days.

An entire village consisting of dozens of Palestinian Bedouin families is threatened with imminent forced displacement, after Israel issued a rare evacuation order for the whole community.

Jabal al-Baba, which lies to the east of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, is home to more than 300 people.

Residents are becoming paranoid of the future because it is unknown, Atalah Jahalen, a local community leader, told Al Jazeera on Saturday.

All their lives, they have lived and built in this area, and now all of it can be destroyed at any moment.

According to Jahalen, Israels civil administration and police entered Jabal al-Baba on Thursday. They hung a poster in a central location detailing the evacuation decision and displaying a map of the area.

The order informed residents that they had eight days to collect their belongings and leave, or else Israeli authorities would return to force them out.

Israeli officials also scattered copies of the map on the ground and took pictures of it before leaving.

Israels new strategy

Jabal al-Baba is situated in the heart of Israels contentious E1 plan, which aims to connect the illegal mega-settlement of Maale Adumim to Jerusalem  settlements are considered illegal under international law.

The plan would further isolate occupied East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank and sever the Palestinian territory from north to south.





Residents of Jabal al-Baba arrived in the area after being displaced from the Negev during Israels establishment in 1948.

Since Israels seized the Palestinian territory in 1967, the Israeli government has refused to recognise Jabal al-Baba and has led routine demolition campaigns in the village for years.

The village is located in Area C  which is under total Israeli administrative and military control. Obtaining permission to build in Area C is nearly impossible for Palestinians.

According to Jahalen, 52 of the villages 57 homes have been demolished in the last three years for having been built without Israeli permits. In August, Israeli forces demolished the communitys kindergarten.

The residents have no choice but to live in a perpetual cycle of rebuilding homes and structures demolished by Israel.

In every corner of this village, you will find a demolished house  and a rebuilt house standing next to it, said Jahalen.

But the latest Israeli order is a break from the routine in Jabal al-Baba.

The evacuation order issued on the community is one typically used to evict unauthorised Israeli settler outposts constructed in the occupied West Bank.

Alon Cohen-Lifshitz, a researcher for Israeli NGO Bimkom, told Al Jazeera the recent use of the order on Palestinian communities is aimed at speeding up the expulsion of Palestinian residents.

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Cohen-Lifshitz said that demolition and stop-work orders that are routinely issued against specific structures in a community had limited success for the Israeli government, which found itself stuck in court for years battling appeals and petitions against the orders.

The evacuation order necessitates fewer legal proceedings than previous demolition orders placed on the community, and allows for Israel to target the entire village, rather than specific homes and structures, Cohen-Lifshitz explained.

Last week, Israel used a similar order as in Jabal al-Baba on two Palestinian villages in the Jordan Valley, prompting Aviv Tatarsky, a researcher for Israeli NGO Ir Amim, to conclude that this is not a one-time thing or a targeting of a specific area.

Its a new method Israel has decided to use against Palestinians.

A spokesperson for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Israels agency responsible for implementing Israeli policies in the Palestinian territory, told Al Jazeera the order was issued as part of the enforcement against the illegal construction phenomenon in the area.

Push Palestinians out

Tatarsky said that regardless of the evacuation being linked to Israels plans to expand Maale Adumim, Israels bottom line in Area C is to push Palestinians towards the Area A and B enclaves, which comprise the remaining 40 percent of the West Bank.





Area A is under the control of the Palestinian Authority and encompasses the majority of Palestinian cities. Area B comprises most Palestinian rural communities and is under Palestinian administrative and joint Palestinian-Israeli security control.

Israel wants to make the number of Palestinians in Area C as small as it can, said Tatarsky.

Jabal al-Baba, located on the Israeli side of Israels separation wall, which will surround the village on three sides upon its completion, is a thorn in Israels development plans in Area C.

The families here live a simple life, said Jahalen.

But we have an important role in resisting Israels forced displacement of Palestinians, he added.

Our presence here blocks Israel from expanding its settlements into Jerusalem, explained Jahalen, noting that the Bedouin in Area C are the last line of defence against what many activists and rights groups have said is Israels goal of annexing the entirety of Area C.

After years of fighting Israels policies, residents of Jabal al-Baba are now facing an uncertain future that could leave them displaced a second time, with no alternative location provided by the Israeli government.

But the community has vowed to stay.

We will not surrender, said Jahalen.

If they succeed in evicting us, then they will move on and evict all the other [Palestinian] communities in the area, he added.
Hundreds of Eritreans gather in Stockholm to protest against arrest of teachers and the director of an Islamic school.

Stockholm, Sweden  Hundreds of Eritreans gathered outside the embassy of the east African nation in the Swedish capital Stockholm on Friday to protest against the recent arrest of teachers and the director of an Islamic school.

The arrest of Hajji Musa Mohammednur, president of the board of the Al Diaa Islamic School, and several other teachers triggered a rare protest in the capital Asmara on October 31.

Thousands marched towards the presidents office, demanding the release of Mohammednur and the other detainees.

Mohammednur has opposed the governments school nationalisation policy that among other strictures bans the use of hijab, a headscarf worn by many Muslim women who feel it is part of their religion, and religious education in the school based in Asmara. The policy also affects Christian schools.

The arrest of Mohammednur was the spark which unleashed the peoples anger in Eritrea and among the diaspora, Zein Shawkai, a political dissident who participated in the protest, told Al Jazeera.

The protest marked a first in Eritrea since the country gained independence in 1991 from Ethiopia following a 30-year war. The Eritrean state forbids any associations and gatherings.

The protesters in Stockholm included young and old Eritreans, Muslim and Christian, and a few Syrians who came to express solidarity. They chanted anti-government slogans demanding the removal of Eritrean President Isayas Afowerki: Down, down Isayas and The people want to get rid of the regime.

Interference in peoples personal choices

They held posters of the imprisoned Mohammednur and various Eritrean prisoners of conscience.

The atmosphere turned from serious to joyous as speeches were mixed with patriotic songs.

Protesters came from across Sweden, and buses were organised to ensure people made it to the rally outside the embassy in the suburb of Lidingo.

Despite the freezing cold, people stood for over three hours under the watchful eyes of the police who were present to ensure no clashes would happen in case government supporters showed up.

Nagash Osman, one of the protest organisers, thinks interfering with peoples religious beliefs proved to be the final straw for many in Eritrea and that is what led to the protests.

They are trying to force their own rules on the people and the educational system, he said.

In telling people not to wear the cross or the hijab they are interfering in peoples personal choices and beliefs.

He added that the diaspora has been staging anti-government protests for the last 25 years, but what is new is increased international attention and the fact that demonstrations actually happened inside the country.

Shawkai explained that international media coverage of Eritrea increased after the United Nations Human Rights Council set up an inquiry commission in June 2014 to investigate rights abuses in Eritrea.

The report concluded that Eritrea committed widespread abuses that could amount to crimes against humanity.

We do not want to be forgotten

We want to keep Eritrea in the news, we dont want to be forgotten again. We want the Eritrean story to stay alive, Shawkai said.

According to Shawkai, the Eritrean regime has stepped up its propaganda and the spreading of fabricated news recently, such as claims that the protests are staged by the Muslim Brotherhood.

It is the sign of an end to all the silence and fear that have haunted our people for decades by Semhar Selassie, a protester

This is false. Muslims and Christians are standing side by side inside and outside Eritrea protesting against the regime. There is no difference between Muslim and Christian Eritreans when it comes to national identity and solidarity, said the event organiser Osman.

After the protest in Asmara, Minister of Information Yemane Gebremeskel, tweeted Small demonstration by one school in Asmara dispersed without any casualty, hardly breaking news.

Defending basic human rights

On November 4, an opinion piece on the official organs of the Ministry of Information claimed that the demonstrators were a group of teenagers chanting Allahu Akbar.

Many of the people Al Jazeera talked to mentioned the media blackout from inside the country.

Just give us a chance to tell our side of the story, Shawkai said.

Semhar Selassie, 30, a teacher, also stressed the importance of letting non-state-affiliated voices be heard in the coverage of Eritrea.

What happened is far from having religious or sectarian motives. It is as simple as a schools basic rights being violated and unlike the previous 26 years, people didnt keep silent about a violation of their rights. People stood up to defend their basic human rights and the regime couldnt just digest this fact.

Selassie said that by spreading propaganda, which could divide the people, the government is trying to divert the attention of people from the real issue.

Despite the government crackdown there was a sense of hope within the diverse crowd in Stockholm.

What happened in Akhria, Asmara, on October 31 is the beginning of what will have to come. It is the sign of an end to all the silence and fear that have haunted our people for decades, she said.

The Eritrean matter is far from over, actually its active stage is just beginning.
The deaths of multiple civilians in a police operation Port-au-Prince has shocked local residents as the government battles gangs in the wake of UN peacekeeper departure one month ago.

The deaths of multiple civilians in a police operation Port-au-Prince has shocked local residents as the government battles gangs in the wake of UN peacekeeper departure one month ago.

A police operation that ended in a school in Haitis capital, Port-au-Prince, has left at least seven civilians dead.

Residents say the number is higher and that some were executed by the police.

The accusations of rights abuses come as Haiti re-establishes its armed forces after the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers.

Al Jazeeras Teresa Bo reports from Port-au-Prince.
Six separatists and an Indian air force commando die in gun battle in a northern part of Indian-administered Kashmi.

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir  Six separatists and an Indian air force commando have been killed in a fierce gun battle in Indian-administered Kashmir, according to police.

Security forces on Saturday launched an operation in Hajin village, 40km from the main city of Srinagar, after receiving intelligence information about the presence of separatist fighters in the area.

Shesh Paul Vaid, state police chief, told Al Jazeera that security forces had killed six fighters linked to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group.

The operation is over, Vaid told Al Jazeera. All the six terrorists killed today were Pakistani, the state police chief told Al Jazeera.

Inspector General of Police Munir Khan confirmed to Al Jazeera that one Indian Air Force commando was killed and another one wounded in the fighting.

As the news of the killings spread, protesting residents chanting anti-India slogans took to the streets in various parts of Kashmir.

In Hajin, police attempted to disperse protesters and prevent them from reaching the site of the gun battle, according to a junior-ranking officer in the area.





Rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for the Indian-administered portion to become independent or merge with Pakistan.

Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown. India maintains roughly 500,000 soldiers in the territory.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep among Kashmirs mostly Muslim population and most support the rebels cause against Indian rule despite a decades-long military crackdown to fight the armed rebellion.

India has accused Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, which Pakistan denies.

Earlier on Saturday, thousands of people in Srinagar attended the funeral of separatist fighter Mugees Ahmad Mir, who was killed in a shoot-out with security forces on Friday night.

Many local youth spent the night in the cold outside Mirs house, where his body was kept overnight.

Fearing violent clashes, authorities put volatile areas of Srinagar under curfew and ordered the closure of schools and colleges to prevent protests from spiralling.
Lebanese leader in Paris with wife but without three children amid speculations he remains a Saudi political hostage.

Lebanese leader Saad Hariri has arrived in Paris to meet French President Emmanuel Macron, who said he expected him to return to Lebanon within days or weeks.

Despite Hariri announcing his resignation in a televised speech two weeks ago, Macron has said he will welcome Hariri with the honours that are due a prime minister.

The politician from Lebanons Sunni community made the announcement during a trip to the Saudi capital Riyadh on November 4, but politicians within his own Future Movement, as well his rivals, have demanded he return home to formalise the decision.

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I will  welcome Prime Minister Hariri with the honours that are due to a prime minister, indeed resigned, but whose resignation hasnt yet been recognised in his country, as he hasnt been there, Macron said at a conference in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Friday.

So nevertheless Ill welcome him as prime minister, he added.

Prime Minister Hariri then has the intention, I believe, to return to his country in the following days or weeks. Its for him to discuss his own future, but I dont have any doubts about this subject.

Al Jazeeras Zeina Khodr, reporting from Lebanons capital Beirut, said Hariris children had not accompanied him on the trip and that could raise a lot of questions.

Some in Lebanon will definitely say that one way or the other, Saad Hariri remains some sort of a political hostage, she said.

Hariri: Detained or not?

On Wednesday, Lebanons President Michel Aoun, accused Saudi Arabia of detaining Hariri, a standpoint held by the Iran-backed Shia movement, Hezbollah, which is part of the countrys governing coalition.

Hariri condemned Hezbollah in his resignation speech, but the groups leader Hasan Nasrallah believes he was coerced into standing down.

A later Reuters report citing sources close to Hariri said Saudi was holding the leader for refusing to confront Hezbollah and Iranian influence in Lebanon.

On Friday, Lebanons Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, during a visit to Russia, criticised groups for attempting to dislodge the Lebanese head of state, without naming them.

The suspicions are not limited to Lebanese politicians.

Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Germany after its foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel, condemned Saudi interference in Lebanons internal politics.

Hariri rejected the claims that he was being held by the Saudis in a televised interview and later in a tweet directed at Gabriel, but analysts said his demeanour during the interview was not consistent with his statements.

To say that I am held up in Saudi Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie. I am on the way to the airport Mr. Sigmar Gabriel.  Saad Hariri (@saadhariri) November 17, 2017

Hariris resignation throws Lebanons fragile political set-up into chaos as it leaves Hezbollah with the arduous task of finding a Sunni politician willing to lead a new coalition government.

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Under a political deal reached last year, a coalition government was formed in Lebanon, with Hariri as prime minister and Aoun as president.

According to Lebanons constitution, the office of prime minister must be held by someone from the Sunni community.

Saudi Arabia and its Arab Gulf allies view Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation because of its role in Arab countries ranging from Syria to Yemen.

But Saudi Arabias Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said from Spain that unless Hezbollah disarms and becomes a political party, Lebanon will be held hostage by Hezbollah and by extension Iran.
Nedal Zoya was denied a job at an orphanage in New Delhi because she looked like a Muslim lady in her hijab.

An Indian social worker says she was denied a job at an orphanage based in the Indian capital of New Delhi because her recruiter felt that her hijab made her look like a Muslim lady.

Everything was going smooth, we exchanged many emails, Nedal Zoya, a graduate from Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, told Al Jazeera.

But a few days ago, I got an email stating that I am sorry to inform you that even [from] a distance of one kilometer you look like a Muslim lady due to your external Muslim gears. This comment was referring to her hijab, a headscarf worn by many Muslim women who feel it is part of their religion.

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After being short-listed by the Delhi Orphanage for Girls in October for the post of social worker, Zoya was asked, by Harish Varma, the president and CEO of the orphanage, to give an online test and send a picture of herself to.

Varma suggested Zoya remove her hijab as one of the pre-conditions to proceed with the recruitment process.

Muslim girl with modern thoughts

After Zoya refused to do as she was asked, Varma sent her an email expressing that he was shocked to know that conservative Islam was her priority, not humanity, and that all her higher education has gone down drain.

In the email exchange between Varma and Zoya, obtained by Al Jazeera, Varma expressed that he would not allow any kind of religious activities inside the orphanage.

Zoya was later informed that another Muslim girl with modern thoughts and a religion free mindset was hired for the same post.

I dont take it as a rejection. I dont consider myself a victim, the 27-year-old said.

My motive was to create [an] awareness as I am not the only one who has faced such discrimination. People at least need to discuss this matter so that such discrimination on the basis of religion and appearance can be questioned, she said.

Local media reported that Saurabh Bharadwaj, Member of the Delhi Legislative Assembly from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party said that his government will take action against Varma if Zoya will officially lodge a complaint, adding that the Indian constitution did not allow anyone to discriminate on the basis of someones faith.

Secular appearance

Varma told Al Jazeera that the decision was taken based on her eligibility for the job and that the candidate he was looking for should be secular.

We are a secular country, we are not giving preference to people based on their religion, which is why I want my orphanage to be religion-free, Varma told Al Jazeera.

My religion is humanity and yes I dont want any influence of any religion in my organisation.

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Indias constitution guarantees right to freely profess, practice, and propagate ones religion.

[My by Nedal

scarf adds to my boldness and confidence. And its completely my choice to cover my head]

Zoya believes it was an example of how Islamophobia in India is growing and how it can affect the future of Indias Muslim population, some 14 percent of the countrys 1.3 billion people.

[My] scarf adds to my boldness and confidence. And its completely my choice to cover my head, she said.

In 2015, a 22-year-old Masters in Business Administration graduate was denied a job in Mumbai as the company said it only hired non-Muslim candidates.

Growing trend of Islamophobia

Rights groups and many studies say Muslims, along with Dalits and other marginalised groups, face discrimination in jobs and the housing sector. Sachar Committee instituted by the previous UPA government submitted its report in 2006, which painted a negative picture of Muslims economic and educational status.

Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, there has been an increase in attacks on Muslims by Hindu far-right groups. More than a dozen Muslims have been killed by cow vigilantes since then.

In April, Amnesty International released a report urging authorities to ensure that there was no impunity for those responsible for public lynchings and other hate crimes against Muslims in several states.

This growing trend of Islamophobia needs to be stopped in its tracks. State police departments must ensure that those responsible are brought to justice, the report said.

Zoya feels Islamophobia needs to be tackled at its roots.

I believe that Islamophobia can be significantly reduced if not totally eradicated if the parents/guardians/families shape their childrens idea about religion, peace, love and harmony in a way that they are not influenced by what they see or hear but rather by their own logical reasoning and non-judgemental approach.

For any kind of change to take place, the mindsets must change.
US President Donald Trump has vowed to make the North American Free Trade Agreement better serve US interests, but Mexicans are concerned that cheap US imports are destroying Mexicos cultural relationship with its traditional maize varieties.

US President Donald Trump has vowed to make the North American Free Trade Agreement better serve US interests, but Mexicans are concerned that cheap US imports are destroying Mexicos cultural relationship with its traditional maize varieties.

Negotiators from the US, Mexico and Canada are in Mexico City to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement, known as NAFTA.

In this fifth round of talks, one of the big issues on the table is corn.

It is Mexicos top agricultural import from the US.

But some say cheap American varieties are damaging Mexicos rich and various maize heritage.

Al Jazeeras Julia Galiano reports from Mexico City.
As US refuses to renew PLO office permit in Washington, officials say they will end contact with Trump administration.

Palestinian officials have warned that they will freeze all communication with the US, following steps by the Trump administration to close the Palestine Liberation Organisations (PLO) office in Washington, DC.

Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Saturday the PLO had been informed by the US Department of State of a decision not to renew the operating permission for the organisations diplomatic office in the American capital.

The state departments move was in response to the Palestinians decision to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), and to submit files for investigation of several Israeli war crimes, including settlements, against Palestinians, according to Erekat.

The senior PLO official said the organisation had sent a letter to the US government officially informing it that all communication lines with the Trump administration would be cut off if it followed through with the plan to shutter the office.

This is very unfortunate and unacceptable. This is the pressure being exerted on this [US] administration by the [Benjamin] Netanyahu government while we are trying to achieve the ultimate deal, said Erekat, adding such steps will undermine the whole peace process.

Ninety days

The PLO is seen by the international community, including the United Nations, as the representative of the Palestinian people.

Every six months, the US Department of State signs a waiver that allows the PLO office to remain open in Washington. The certification period for the current waiver ended this month.

In a comment to Al Jazeera, a White House National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson said the move does not mean that the office will be permanently closed.

He added that US President Donald Trump now has 90 days to determine whether Palestinians have entered into direct, meaningful negotiations with Israel.

Since Trump was elected a little more than a year ago, he has made no progress on promises to forge a peace deal between Palestinian and Israeli officials.

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Instead, illegal Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories have expanded exponentially and, for the first time in two decades, a new Israeli settlement is being built in the West Bank.

Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, said in a statement that the US measure aiming to bring the closure of the PLO office represents an unprecedented step in the history of US-Palestinian relations.

He added that the development represents a blow to peacemaking efforts, while rewarding Israel, which is working to obstruct US efforts by persisting with its policy of settlements and its refusal to accept the two-state solution.

International Criminal Court

The NSC spokesman cited a condition introduced in US Congress in 2015  the year in which the Palestinian Authority (PA) joined the ICC  concerning certain Palestinian actions related to the court, as one of the reasons behind the non-renewal.

The provision, which was enacted in 2015, imposes legal punishments on the PLO and the Washington office if it does not comply with the conditions outlined by Congress.

The provision includes ramifications against Palestine if the state takes any actions with respect to the ICC that is intended to influence a determination by the ICC to initiate a judicially authorised investigation or to actively support such an investigation that subjects Israeli nationals to an investigation for alleged crimes against Palestinians.

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It also promises consequences if Palestinians obtained full UN membership or any specialised agency thereof without an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians.

While Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute  the treaty of the ICC to which all members are bound to  its nationals could be tried by The Hague-based court for crimes committed on Palestinian territory.

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The PA has previously submitted files of evidence to The Hague-based court of Israeli war crimes, but a preliminary examination is still ongoing.

In February, PA President Mahmoud Abbas said officials would take the issue of Israels illegal settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories to the ICC.

Since 1967, Israels government has transferred between 600,000 and 750,000 Israeli citizens into the occupied Palestinian territories. They live in illegal, fortified settlements  the largest of which houses some 64,000 Israelis  built on Palestinian land, often private property, seized by Israel.

Al Jazeeras Tom Ackerman, reporting from Washington, DC, said the development came at a very awkward time.

Jared Kushner, Trumps chief negotiator and son-in-law, and Jason Greenblatt, the US Middle East representative, have been shuttling between Ramallah and Jerusalem to try to work out what they have been advertising as a blueprint for a concrete plan that they will be unveiling early next year, said Ackerman.

The threat of disrupting all these negotiations, even the preliminary ones, seems to be a serious one, he added.

So the question is, is this a mixed message on the part of the Trump administration? Will they back off on the actual threat to close the PLO office, or is this just a pressure move to try to gain leverage?
A UN inquiry team investigating the use of chemical weapons in Syria will be disbanded, after Russia vetoed a resolution to extend its mandate.

A UN inquiry team investigating the use of chemical weapons in Syria will be disbanded, after Russia vetoed a resolution to extend its mandate.

The move scrapped a Japanese effort to allow the inquiry to continue for 30 days, to give time for negotiations on a wider compromise.

Al Jazeeras James Bays reports from New York.
Absent Lebanese prime minister says he will be back in Beirut to take part in Independence Day events on November 22.

Saad Hariri has confirmed he will return home to Lebanon in the coming days to take part in Independence Day celebrations.

I will return to Beirut in the coming days, Hariri said in Paris, where he met French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday in a bid to solve the political turmoil surrounding his sudden resignation as prime minister two weeks ago.

I will participate in the celebrations for our independence and it is there that I will make known my position on all the issues.

Lebanon will mark its Independence Day on Wednesday, November 22.

Earlier on Saturday, Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri both posted statements saying Hariri would return for the occasion.

A statement on Aouns official Facebook page said the president received a phone call from Hariri after his arrival in Frances capital, in which the Lebanese prime minister confirmed his participation in the Independence Day celebrations.

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Berri posted a similarly worded statement on his own Facebook page.

Hariri announced his resignation as Lebanese prime minister in a televised speech on November 4, shortly after landing in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

He has not returned to Lebanon since and his trip to Frances capital, Paris, on Saturday was his first outside of Saudi Arabia since he made the announcement.

Politicians within his own Future Movement, as well his rivals, have demanded he return home to formalise his resignation.

Saudi role

On Wednesday, Aoun accused Saudi Arabia of holding Hariri against his will, a standpoint held by the Iran-backed Shia movement, Hezbollah, which is part of the countrys ruling coalition.

Hariri condemned Hezbollah in his resignation speech, but the groups leader Hasan Nasrallah believes he was coerced into standing down.

A Reuters report citing sources close to Hariri said the Saudis were holding him for refusing to confront Hezbollah and Iranian influence in Lebanon.





On Friday, Lebanons Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, during a visit to Russia, criticised groups for attempting to dislodge the Lebanese head of state, without naming them.

The suspicions are not limited to Lebanese politicians.

Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Germany after its foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel, condemned Saudi interference in Lebanons internal politics.

Hariri rejected the claims that he was being held by the Saudis in a televised interview and later in a tweet directed at Gabriel, but analysts said his demeanour during the interview was not consistent with his statements.

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Al Jazeeras Zeina Khodr, reporting from Lebanons capital Beirut, said Hariris children had not accompanied him on the trip to Paris and that could raise a lot of questions.

Some in Lebanon will definitely say that one way or the other, Saad Hariri remains some sort of a political hostage, she said.

Hariris resignation throws Lebanons fragile political set-up into chaos as it leaves Hezbollah with the arduous task of finding a Sunni politician willing to lead a new coalition government.

Under a political deal reached last year, a coalition government was formed in Lebanon, with Hariri as prime minister and Aoun as president.

According to Lebanons constitution, the office of prime minister must be held by someone from the Sunni community.

Saudi Arabia and its Arab Gulf allies view Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation because of its role in Arab countries ranging from Syria to Yemen.

But Saudi Arabias Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said from Spain that unless Hezbollah disarms and becomes a political party, Lebanon will be held hostage by Hezbollah and by extension Iran.
From Yemen war and princes detentions to womens rights, delegates meet in UK to discuss succession of developments.

London, England  Saudi Arabia is a country in crisis, from the kingdoms contribution to more bloodshed in Yemen to its growing rivalry with Iran, as it attempts to convince the rest of the world that liberalism is expanding at home, delegates at a conference in the UK capital have heard.

As the kingdom reels from a rapid succession of developments, politicians and academics gathered in London to speak on Saturday at the Crisis in Saudi Arabia: War, Succession and the Future summit, attended by around 200 people and organised by the non-profit press monitoring organisation Middle East Monitor.

Paddy Ashdown, the former leader of Britains Liberal Democratic party who once mediated in the Bosnian conflict, warned that it was crucial for countries such as the UK and US not to take sides in a standoff unfolding between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Now, we are in a really dangerous situation where if a war breaks out, you have the great powers supporting opposite sides, he said, referring to Russian support of Iran and the Wests backing of Saudi-led initiatives, such as the coalition in Yemen.

I have long been warning that if we didnt help to build bridges and the West simply supported the Sunnis, in this case, Saudi Arabia, that it would be inevitable that Russia would support the Shia, he said.

Ashdown also described the sale of British arms to Riyadh for use in the war in Yemen and the UKs tacit support for the Saudis as shameful.

It is shameful that Britain is supplying weapons and indeed tacit support to Saudi Arabia when it is clearly in breach of international law in its indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Yemen.

Regional rivalry

Tensions between Riyadh and Tehran, already heated over the Yemen war, have risen in recent weeks after the kingdom precipitated the sudden resignation of the Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, focusing attention on the potential for the escalation of a wider conflict with Iranian proxies such as Hezbollah.

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The launch of a missile towards Riyadh, meanwhile, by Yemens Houthi rebels  who are believed to be backed by Iran  was ultimately blamed by Saudi officials on Hezbollah and Tehran.

The audience heard keynote speakers and experts discuss growing fault-lines, contradictions and tensions in the kingdom.

Jack Straw, who has served as Britains foreign secretary as well as home secretary, said Saudi Arabias defence spending is the fourth highest in the world, outstripping that of its regional rival, Iran. However, he noted that the true scale of social inequality in the country was unknown because its absolutist rulers have prevented scrutiny.

We have seen a very good example of that exercise of absolutist power with the detentions on November 4 of around 200 senior Saudis now incarcerated in the most luxurious prison in the world, the Ritz, and facing allegations of systematic corruption totalling $100bn, equivalent to the whole of Saudi Arabias national debt, said Straw.

Mohammed bin Salmans moves

Saudi Arabia has reached a turning point in how it views its strategic role in the Middle East since Mohammed bin Salman, the son of King Salman, was named crown prince in June.

The ambitious 33-year-old Mohammed bin Salman is also the countrys defence minister. He has introduced a series of social and economic reforms as he consolidates his power.

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His latest move  the arrest in a corruption crackdown of more than 30 senior figures, including members of the extended royal family  has been interpreted by critics as a political purge to defuse public disquiet over corruption at the highest levels, but also to neutralise potential rivals.

But Mohammed bin Salmans efforts to assert the kingdoms regional primacy through an assertive foreign policy have backfired in Yemen and Qatar, and are opening a new front in Saudi Arabias regional rivalry with Iran.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia, along with the kingdoms Gulf neighbours Bahrain and the UAE launched a blockade against Qatar in June, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism  a claim Qatar strongly denies.

PR stunt

Madawi al-Rasheed, a visiting professor at the London School of Economics, said the rise of Mohammed bin Salman represented a concentration of power in a country once distinguished by multiple fiefdoms in which power was shared between clans.

She dismissed the corruption crackdown spearheaded by the young Saudi as a public relations stunt.

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Of course, this is a great PR initiative because all of us love to see those corrupt people behind bars, but these anti-corruption purges take place in an opaque kingdom with no freedom of expression and with no independent judiciary, she said.

We know that dictators pick a few people, put them in jail, accuse them of corruption, and thats a very effective, populist way of getting rid of your rivals.

Madawi warned liberals outside Saudi Arabia not to be taken in by Mohammed bin Salmans recent reforms concerning women, such as permitting them to drive.

These are media and PR exercises that want us to believe that the regime has actually changed, she said.

Nothing has changed, all we have seen is a concentration of power in the hands of one man and a purge of the  regime to pave the way for the arrival of a new elite that will appropriate the resources and that is under no obligation to explain its budget or its corruption to anybody.

Professor Ahmed al-Dubai, a Yemeni scholar, traced the historical role Saudi Arabia had played in his country, and interpreted the current conflict as an attempt to limit the progress of democratisation in the wider region since the uprisings of 2011.

Hugh Miles, a journalist who exposed the Saudi governments secret programme to kidnap defectors and dissidents living in Europe, argued that the principal motive for the recent crackdown by Mohammed bin Salman, known colloquially as MBS was personal rivalry.

The main reason for the purge is money: MBS needs to cover the deficit and he also wants to enrich himself, said Miles.

He was not happy with the slow pace of enrichment through normal means like defence contracts, so he decided to speed it up by seizing his cousins money.

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Journalist and analyst Bill Law agreed, suggesting that the recent crackdown represented a purge of commercial rivals. The conflict in Yemen was an effort by Mohammed bin Salman to burnish his reputation as a warrior prince, he said.

The Saudi-headed coalition, which supports Yemens internationally recognised government, has been at war with the Houthi rebels since March 2015.

The coalition has been repeatedly criticised for attacking civilians during the conflict.

More than 10,000 people have been killed and more than 40,000 injured since the outbreak of the conflict, according to the United Nations.

A cholera outbreak has also claimed the lives of more than 1,800 people since April, with 400,000 suspected cases across the country, according to the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
President Robert Mugabe is fast losing his grip on the country and pressure is building on him to quit.

President Robert Mugabe is fast losing his grip on the country and pressure is building on him to quit. Heres what you need to know:

What is happening?

Mugabe, 93, has ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years and many claim his leadership has been repressive. He heads the ZANU-PF party and is the worlds oldest head of state.

In a dramatic turn, the army placed Mugabe under house arrest on November 15 and there are now increasing calls for him to quit.

On Saturday, thousands gathered in the capital Harare and the second city of Bulawayo to demand Mugabes resignation in scenes that would have been unthinkable one week ago.

On Sunday, ZANU-PF expelled him as leader and gave him a Monday noon deadline to resign, or face impeachment.

In a national address later on Sunday, Mugabe defied widespread calls to quit, pledging to preside over a ZANU-PF congress next month.

Why did the army target Mugabe?

The army insists it is not launching a coup, but on November 15, as well as placing Mugabe under house arrest, the military seized the state broadcaster and blocked access to government sites.

The takeover unfolded after Mugabe sacked Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa on November 6 for showing traits of disloyalty.

The ex-vice president is an ally of army chief General Constantino Chiwenga and a veteran of the countrys struggle for independence.

Many believe Mugabe sacked Mnangagwa to make way for his wife Grace to become vice president and eventually rule the country.

Army commander Chiwenga had warned that the military would act if purges against former war liberation fighters did not cease.

Who are the war veterans?

War veterans, who fought alongside Mugabe during the 1970s struggle for liberation from Britain and spearheaded the repossession of white-owned commercial farms in the 2000s, claim their president has betrayed the revolution.

The ongoing purges of scores of Mnangagwa allies have widened the rift between the Mugabes and various groups of war veteran leaders.

Victor Matemadanda, secretary-general of the Zimbabwe National War Veterans Association, recently told Al Jazeera the ongoing expulsions were a strong indication that Mugabe was acting in his own interests and those of his wife.

Whos with Mugabe and who is against him now?

As well as the army, opposition and war veterans, some members of Mugabes own party have turned against him. All 10 of ZANU-PFs provincial structures have passed a motion of no-confidence against Mugabe and called on him to step down as the ruling partys first secretary.

On Sunday, regional dignitaries from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) were expected to meet in an extraordinary session to discuss the Zimbabwe situation in neighbouring Botswana, where the SADC headquarters is located.

SADC chair, South African President Jacob Zuma, is a close ally of Mugabe and was the first to talk to the leader after the military takeover.

While the regions leaders have been silent on Mugabes fate, Botswanas President Ian Khama has openly called for the elderly president to step down.

Will Mugabe quit?

He has certainly lost his grip on power, but whether he will resign remains to be seen.

Mugabe made his first public appearance on Friday, two days after being placed under house arrest, as he attended a graduation ceremony.

In his televised address on Sunday, Mugabe vowed to preside over ZANU-PFs key party conference in December, despite having been dismissed as leader of the party.

The party congress is due in a few weeks and I will preside over its processes, said Mugabe.

Analysts, however, say the end of his decades-long rule is near.

Ill be most surprised if he survives the week, Stephen Chan, professor and author of Robert Mugabe: A Life of Power and Violence, told Al Jazeera on Sunday.

He cant address the Congress; he is no longer the president of the party.

This is just defiance  this is simply the old man going down with all of his guns firing. They are blank shots, however, because they cant have any real effect.
Backed by the army and ruling party officials, rare show of public anger in Harare comes days after military takeover.

Harare, Zimbabwe  Thousands of Zimbabweans have taken to the streets to demand President Robert Mugabes resignation, a spectacle that would have been unthinkable just one week ago.

Saturdays rally in Harare, the capital, is backed by the army, which seized power on Wednesday.

The mood at Zimbabwe Grounds, where speeches took place, was celebratory.

The site is symbolic. In 1980, around 200,000 people gathered at Zimbabwe Grounds to welcome Mugabe from exile after the liberation war from white-minority rule.

Crowds there on Saturday cheered: Chiwenga, lead the war to remove Mugabe, referring to General Constantino Chiwenga, who had warned of military intervention before the takeover.

Protesters are attempting to reach State House, but presidential guards have blocked access.

Al Jazeera witnessed a general telling crowds to go home and not to proceed because we will finish the job.

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The operation we are doing together as a country is a journey, Major General Sibusiso Moyo told those attending the rally.

We cannot go around the mountain in one day, but through your support we have covered a great distance, he added in Shona.

Marchers seemed confident their goal to remove Mugabe would be achieved soon.

Just the amount of people, the different backgrounds and races that came out, showed that we all agreed today, Anesu Dawa, a 26-year-old unemployed graduate, told Al Jazeera.

Everybody came out just to say its not necessarily what we want to happen, but its what we dont want to happen  and that is for President Mugabe to still be president, she said.

And we all agreed today that he must go.

A demonstration is also taking place at City Hall in Bulawayo, the second city.

Florence Mguni, a 59-year-old who went to train in Mozambique as a liberation fighter at the age of 15, travelled overnight from Bulawayo in the hope of witnessing Mugabes departure.

She told Al Jazeera that as a war veteran, she demands Mugabes immediate resignation because his leadership has done little for her.

We went to fight in the war, I was taught how to hold a gun as a young girl, but today Zimbabwe is free and I am poor. Im a widow and my children arent in school because I cant always afford to pay their fees, she said.

Roads and mobile networks were jammed because of the large crowds as demonstrators raised banners with slogans such as: Go, go, our general!, Enough is enough  Mugabe must go and Leadership is not sexually transmitted  a reference to First Lady Grace Mugabe, who is widely believed to be eyeing the vice presidency.

Some protesters hugged and cheered soldiers, as helicopters circled above the capital.

Tapiwa Magidi, a 32-year-old geologist, said Mugabe should resign because the 93-year-old leader was not serving young people.

We are a lost generation. Most of the young people in this country were born after independence, but we are now grown and we dont have much, he told Al Jazeera. We cant get jobs, we have to live at home with our parents and we cant even afford to get married.

Tapiwa Tavaziva, a 32-year-old financial adviser who had left Zimbabwe for the US, said: I spent 12 years out of this country because of Mugabe and the situation in this country. Hes been responsible for so many things that have happened to people in their personal lives, he broken up so many homes, family structures are broken and we dont have what we used to because he (Mugabe) loves power.

He has to go.

A show of peoples force

Zimbabwe has been in turmoil since early Wednesday, when the armed forces seized power and placed Mugabe  who leads the Zanu-PF party, under house arrest.

March organiser Chris Mutsvangwa, head of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, said the protest against the president is not a Zanu-PF affair, but a show of peoples force against Mugabes 37-year rule.





William Gerald Lumumba Mutumanje  popularly known as Acie Lumumba, an activist who was expelled as the Zanu-PF youth leader, said the rally was a send-off for Mugabe as he encouraged people to march.

Activist pastor Evan Mawarire described the event as a momentous occasion and an opportunity for a fresh start to advance democratic change.

Mawarire has previously faced charges of undermining the president and trying to overthrow an elected government by calling on Zimbabweans to protest against spiralling economic and political problems.

Marches have also been called for in parts of South Africa, the UK and the US  countries that millions of Zimbabweans migrated to in search of safety and better living, as various economic and political crises at home have left more than 70 percent living below the national poverty line.

Mugabe has lost control

All 10 of ZANU-PFs provincial structures have passed a motion of no-confidence against Mugabe and called on him to step down as the ruling partys first secretary.

Zanu PFs 10 Provincial Coordinating Committees (PCC) said the leader had lost control of the party and government business due to incapacitation stemming from his advanced age.

The provincial branches move was carried by Zimbabwes state broadcaster, ZBC, which was seized by the army as part of its takeover on Wednesday.

If Mugabe fails to resign on Saturday, the party says it will convene a special committee meeting on Sunday in which the Zanu-PF Central Committee will consider the provincial resolutions to recall Mugabe.

The Zimbabwean president appeared in public on Friday  the first time since the armys takeover on Wednesday  attending a university graduation ceremony in Harare.

Zimbabwes military has said it was engaging in talks with Mugabe, promising an outcome soon.

[Mugabe] knows this not a game, independent parliamentarian Temba Mliswa told Al Jazeera.

As a legislator, he said he would start the process to put forward a motion to pass a vote of no confidence.

If he refuses to leave we will start a motion to pass a vote of no confidence in his presidency when parliament sits again on Tuesday.

Regional dignitaries from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are expected to meet on Sunday in an extraordinary session to discuss the Zimbabwe situation in neighbouring Botswana, where the SADC headquarters is located.

While the regions leaders have been silent on Mugabes fate, Botswanas President Ian Khama has openly called for the elderly veteran to step down.

Follow Tendai Marima on Twitter @i_amten




It is the first anniversary of the power-sharing deal following the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir, but many Sudanese complain the promised transition to democracy is too slow.
As the oil-rich country fails to pay its debt, we examine what happens next and what it means for its people.

Oil-rich Venezuela has always paid its debts  even at the expense of its citizens.

But this week, everything changed: Venezuela is now officially in default, which means its officially bankrupt.

Rating agency Standard & Poors declared the nation in selective default on Monday after it failed to make $200m in repayments for global bonds due in October.

As more payments are due, Venezuela is facing what could be a messy financial unravelling. And thats not a good situation for its starving population as state assets may have to be sold off to pay credit holders.

President Nicolas Maduro is acutely aware that he is running out of money, and he wants to restructure the billions owed to China, Russia and oil service providers.

One by Edward

restructuring is US financial sanctions which prevent US investors from participating in any restructuring or refinancing deal.]

Russia has already agreed to restructure $3bn worth of debt held by Moscow. But US sanctions mean that other credit holders cant even be in the same room as those negotiating the restructuring. And its not clear whats going to happen next.

Where we go from here is anyones guess, explains Edward Glossop, an emerging markets economist at Capital Economics in London. Venezuelas debt restructure talks look doomed to fail and its only a matter of time before the government and state-owned oil company outright defaults on its external debt.

One of the key hurdles for the restructuring is US financial sanctions which prevent US investors from participating in any restructuring or refinancing deal  and thats why we think the restructuring and refinancing is likely to fail in the current environment, says Glossop.

Also on this episode of Counting the Cost:

Zimbabwes broken economy: Zimbabwes army seized control of the country on Tuesday night, claiming it was removing criminals around Robert Mugabe, and held the president and his family under house arrest. But can the military intervention really bring change for the countrys ailing economy?

The price of Bitcoin jumped as much as 10 percent on Zimbabwes Golix exchange on Wednesday after the countrys army seized power. Zimbabweans, just like Venezuelans, are buying things they think might retain value.

Alisa Strobel, a senior economist at IHS Markit from Cape Town, offers her take.

Lebanons economic squeeze: Caught in the middle of a bitter Saudi-Iran rivalry, worries are growing about the outlook for the Lebanese economy. Growth has slowed to just over two percent a year from an average of eight percent before the war in Syria. But regional rivalries between Saudi Arabia and Iran have raised fears of a Qatar-style blockade.

The recent resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri in Riyadh under mysterious circumstances has not been resolved. Just before he quit, the government had managed to pass a budget after years of political stalemate.

Sami Atallah, the director of the Lebanese Center For Policy Studies in Beirut assesses why this matters for the region.

Digital pills: Its been called the worlds first digital medicine, and analysts say it could open up a new frontier in the Internet of Things. The US Food and Drug Administration just approved a digital pill. Basically, its a sensor the size of a grain of sand. Once swallowed, it will send data to a smartphone app when patients have taken their medication. Kristen Saloomey reports from New York.

Lab meat: Research shows that the global meat industry produces more greenhouse gas emissions than all cars, planes, trains and ships combined. But scientists in the Netherlands say they are close to bringing laboratory-grown meat to the market. This could slice emissions and save energy, reports Fleur Launspach from Amsterdam.
There are reports Saudi Arabia is demanding money from the senior officials it recently arrested.

Hes stoking huge tension in an already volatile region.

Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has made a number of controversial decisions that many believe could forever change the kingdom and the entire region.

The developments in Saudi Arabia and what they mean for the rest of the world have been the focus of a conference in London on Saturday.

Thats where former diplomats and Middle East Analysts have been meeting to discuss the crisis and Saudi Arabias future.

So, how far will Saudi Arabias young crown prince go to achieve his goals?

Presenter: Laura Kyle

Guests:

Pierre Conesa  Lecturer at the Paris Institute for political studies

Sami Hamdi  Editor-in-chief of The International Interest

Afshin Shahi  Senior lecturer in international relations and Middle East politics at the University of Bradford
Riyadhs Middle East power struggle and the role of the news media. Plus, the challenge of covering Manus Island.

On The Listening Post this week, Saudi Arabias Middle East power play as seen across the regions media. Plus, the lock-down facing journalists trying to cover refugees on Manus Island.

Lebanons PM and Saudi Arabias power play

In just two weeks, the new Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman has upended both the domestic and the regional balance of power with a series of moves that have left observers struggling to keep up.

Regional media have reported the resignation of the Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the arrest of dozens of princes and businessmen and the threat of regional conflict through the political positions that they bring to the mix.

International media have also shown their colours by selectively seeing what they want to see in the new prince.

I do not have the patience to listen to the overt propaganda of the Saudi channels. So Im not a follower of Al Arabiya or of Al Jazeera which is the Qatari-based channel. But what struck me more and what upset me more was the propaganda coming from western media. That I found to be quite surprising and truly yellow journalism, Rania Masri, an academic and writer, told The Listening Post.

Contributors:

Rania Masri, academic and writer

Habib Battah, editor, BeirutReport.com and journalism lecturer at the American University of Beirut

Asad Abukhalil, professor, California State University, Stanislaus

David Hearst, editor, Middle East Eye

On our radar

Zimbabwes army seizes the state broadcaster as it moves to take control of the countrys succession.

Julian Assange trolls Trump Jr while defending WikiLeaks journalism.

Venezuelas new media law raises heckles from press freedom activists.

Covering Manus Island

Last year, Papua New Guineas Supreme Court ruled that Australias imprisonment of asylum seekers on the island of Manus was illegal and ordered the closure of the camp.

Unfortunately, the story attracted little attention since Australias offshore processing centres for asylum seekers have operated largely under a shroud of secrecy.

Journalists trying to report on conditions at the prisons have been blocked at every turn by the governments involved.

Eighteen months since that court ruling, the Manus Island camp has closed but the refugees are refusing to leave fearing attacks by local people.

The Listening Posts Johanna Hoes returns to the story of the refugees on Manus Island and Nauru.

Contributors:

Elaine Pearson, director, HRW Australia

Paul Farrell, senior reporter, Buzzfeed Australia

Matthew Abbott, documentary photographer

Amir Taghinia, former Manus refugee

Behrouz Boochani, refugee
Dr Marc Lamont Hill is an award-winning journalist and author and is the Steve Charles Professor of Media, Cities, and Solutions at Temple University. Hill is known for his work addressing the intersections of race, justice, politics and culture. His latest best-selling book is We Still Here: Pandemics, Policing, Protest and Possibility which follows on the success of Nobody: Casualties of Americas War on the Vulnerable from Flint to Ferguson. Hill has received numerous prestigious awards from the US National Association of Black Journalists, GLAAD, and the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.
Unable to focus on the PowerPoint that could turn him into an official doctorate student at UF, Ehsan Fereyduni broke down crying.

The 33-year-old was scrolling through his Instagram account Wednesday morning when he came across a video of a childs birthday party that was abruptly interrupted by a massive earthquake.

There was a hole in the wall but you could see balloons inside the house still, he said. My heart became heavy. I couldnt keep watching. I was thinking: Why this happened?

The video was one of many social media posts illustrating the aftermath of an earthquake along the Iran-Iraq border Sunday. The disaster is the deadliest earthquake in 2017, killing nearly 500, according to CNN. At UF, about 20 students met on Turlington Plaza under a starless night sky Friday to show support for the victims.

People surrounded a cement block table covered with a black plastic mantelpiece and about 30 lit candles. They talked among themselves, trying to make sense of the catastrophe.

Fereyduni, a UF chemistry doctoral student, said the past week has been rough for him. He has been struggling to process the disaster that struck his native country, Iran, while still studying for an oral exam needed to continue pursuing his Ph.D.

After crying for about an hour Wednesday, he messaged the Iranian Student Association asking them to hold a memorial event, he said. The UF student organization agreed to file the space permit and use their funds for the vigil, said Hossein Mosavi, the groups vice president.

Its our moral responsibility to show support to our community, the 26-year-old UF civil engineering doctoral student said.

Although Fereyduni was feeling a little insecure before taking it, he said he passed his test Thursday morning and felt relieved.

Unfortunately, the burden from the tragedy back home continued.

If I pull my phone out and see Instagram right now, it is full of photos of the earthquake, Fereyduni said during the vigil, reaching for his phone in the back pocket of his jeans to show the stream of new, disastrous pictures appearing every second.

Fereyduni said he knows the event wont take away his pain completely, but he hopes it will serve as the first step toward recovery.

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Talking to people and praying helps, he said. We cant be there, but at least we can send prayers and positive things for the people who were affected by it.

Damon Ghetmiri, a 22-year-old UF mechanical engineering senior, lights a candle during a vigil for those who died in Iran and Iraq. There was a 7.3 magnitude Sunday, which killed at least 450 people.
The latest Open Doors report on international education has revealed that the United States hosted 1.08 million international students during the 2016/2017 academic year. This marks a 3 percent increase over the prior year. The number of African students hit a record high at 37,735, marking a 7 percent increase over the prior year. There []http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric...
The allegations against Roy Moore, Harvey Weinstein, and now Al Franken, each more damning by the hour, have awakened the conscience of the media. As if on cue, thoughtful voices in the press have been reflecting on their own past sins. Our willingness to believe Moores accusers, the pundits say, stands in stark contrast to our treatment of the women who once accused Bill Clinton.

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times says: I believe Juanita Broaddrick.

Chris Hayes of MSNBC: As gross and cynical and hypocritical as the right's "what about Bill Clinton" stuff is, it's also true that Democrats and the center left are overdue for a real reckoning with the allegations against him.

CNNs Jake Tapper: The accusers of Bill Clinton were never given the credence and treated with the same respect that these women are being treated

Matt Yglesias, writing in Vox: What (Bill Clinton) did to Monica Lewinsky was wrong, and he should have paid the price.

The list could go on. Finally, after all these years, the mainstream media is confronting the damage it did to the victims of sexual misconduct, to its own credibility, and to the country.

As usual, the press is playing us for fools.

An examination of these media confessions brings up two questions. First, is it likely that writers, pundits and anchors from every major media outlet chose essentially the same moment to confess to sins from 20 years ago? No. The reason these pundits are all saying the same thing is that theyre reading from the same script.

Second, is it credible for some in the media to claim that sexual harassment was viewed differently in the 1990s and was therefore misunderstood and neglected back then? Again, no. Bill Clinton was elected president only one year after the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas inferno (during which, we should note, Clarence Thomas was not accused of touching anybody).

The medias confession is phony. But it is also brilliant. By finally condemning Bill Clinton for his mistreatment of women, the press is gently, but firmly, escorting him from the public stage. The American left wants to face forward, and theres no place in its future for the Clintons. Seen in this light, the medias re-evaluation of Bill is of a piece with Donna Braziles takedown of Hillary. It is time for the Clintons to retire. And since they no longer control the levers that might extend their tenure and punish their enemies, the Clintons are finding that their friends are of the fair weather variety.

But the Clintons forced retirement is only half of the medias confession strategy. By absolving itself of Clinton-era sins, the press is setting the stage for something much more important: an all-out attack against President Trump on the basis of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

At some point in the near future, we can look forward to a long line of Trump accusers, all of whom will approach the podium in the span of a few short days. Its difficult to predict exactly when these accusers will take the stage, but its easy to predict that they will. They may appear as Congress is examining the Mueller findings. They may make their announcements during Trumps impeachment by a Democrat-controlled House in 2019. Or these accusers may have to cool their heels until the fall of 2020. Whenever it comes, we will be overwhelmed by the accusations and by the credibility (real or perceived) of the women accusing Donald Trump.

Trump must be destroyed. At least thats the plan. And sexual harassment will have to be the means by which this is accomplished. Its becoming clear the Mueller findings, whatever they turn out to be, will not be enough to unseat the president. The Uranium One/Fusion GPS scandals may not go anywhere in Jeff Sessions DOJ, but they are enough to cast doubt on Muellers credibility and on the Trump-Russia collusion story.

Without collusion, and without corruption, the media will need a new tool and sexual harassment neatly fits the bill. The NBC tape released last year featuring Trumps locker room talk was a near-miss; Trump escaped that noose by deflecting attention to the Clintons and their own harassment issues. The media has made sure that cant happen again. Trump will need a new strategy if he is to make it to a second term, or survive his first.

To be clear, the issue of sexual assault is a real one, and it should be taken seriously. (If the medias confession were genuine, particularly in regard to the credible allegations of assault by the former president, it would be welcome.)

But demeaning the issue by transforming it into a game of political gotcha, as was done in the Clarence Thomas hearings, is dangerous to our republic and ultimately corrupts the process by which we choose our government. If at some point we find ourselves selecting the candidate who wasnt accused of making a woman feel uncomfortable at a cocktail party in 2003, we will have ceased to be responsible voters. Heres hoping against hope that the president is prepared and that the truth (whatever it may be) wins out in the battle sure to come.
The irony. So rich it could give you gout.

At a fundraiser on September 9, 2016, Hillary Clinton made a soul-baring gaffe. With uncharacteristic candor, she stated that half of all Trump supporters are a "basket of deplorables," that they're "irredeemable," as well as "racist, sexist homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic  you name it."

Naturally, with her epic lack of self-awareness (see What Happened book tour, 2017) and a blind spot about herself that rivals a covered wagon's, she said this adjacent to a banner pimping her slogan, "Stronger Together."

Because Hillary Clinton is all about the unifying.

I checked. Page 1 of How to Get People to Like You begins with the following sound advice: "Don't insult, belittle, demean, diminish, castigate, or otherwise excoriate people you want to like you."

Stands to reason.

And yet, if you're Hillary Clinton, apparently this helpful truism is much harder to glean when you have a steady stream of smoke being blown up your symbol for the Democratic Party. Accomplished as she is, the Queen of Pantsuits fell prey to the fawning sycophants surrounding her. You'd think the most qualified candidate in history would've figured out it was a bad idea to middle-finger middle America  but you would've thought wrong. Helpful truism, part 2: The only thing that rivals Hillary Clinton's bred-in-the-bone penchant for lies and corruption is her reliably flummoxed efforts to GPS a clue. She just doesn't get it.

This is sad. And astonishing. And hilarious. And exhausting.

Clinton's dirty bomb that day wedded her forever to the sneering elite tribalism so memorably fire-started by Barack Obama a few years earlier, when he casually derided the desperation of the flyover states with his comments about bitter people clinging to guns and religion. When these two blue-chip democrats revealed their true selves, the curated facade of caring cultivated by the left for years finally yielded to the dark bigotry beneath. It was a clarion call to the progressive left that the extreme bias against which they loudly and incessantly claim to take the moral high ground is actually warranted and welcome  as long as it's leveled against the right.

The left got the message, like a bat signal in the sky. The cordial, buttoned up, stealth loathing of yesteryear gave way to pitchforks and torches. The left's hatred of Trump now goes to 11, and by the associative property of partisanship, they hate his supporters with nearly the same level of fear and loathing. Gone are the Golden Rule, the idea of understanding "the other," and any effort to walk around in someone else's shoes, as per Atticus Finch. They have all been jettisoned in favor of an almost apocalyptic mission directive to destroy the president of the United States of America by any means necessary.

So Clinton finally let her hair down and said what she really felt that night  which is the divine right of grandmothers everywhere. She was never really interested in being the president of all Americans anyway  just the president of the Cool Kids on the Coasts. When Hillary Clinton coughed up the hairball that was her deplorables comment, it was id-based, gasp-worthy, and gross. But it was also the opening salvo in a new war that allowed leftists permission to be their worst selves.

This was clearly freeing for them  and eye-opening for the rest of America.

Given the kraken-level nightmare known as the Weinstein scandal, and the horror show of entrenched corruption that is the DNC (recently affirmed by former DNC chair Donna Brazile  herself an admitted cheater and liar), the progressive left and the Democratic Party are lately doing a good impression of something craven, crumbling, and near collapse. The moral posturing, virtue-signaling, and imperious judgment ended up not being a good look for them. But that's all they appear to have now.

The ink-black irony of that fundraising night has spawned a siege of similar inversions. With the recent Uranium One, Steele dossier, and Podesta collusion exposures, not to mention the Wasserman Shultz I.T. imbroglio, it is worthwhile to once again note the mind-bending irony of the Jan Brady-like "Russia, Russia, Russia!" hysteria in which leftists have steeped themselves for over a year, as it now gives way to what might be a bona fide Russian scandal  implicating (wait for it) Clinton and the DNC.

The hits keep coming. Will our elected officials get to the bottom of the Clinton Foundation's pay-to-play schemes? Will we ever know what was in those bleach-bitted Hillary "yoga" emails or the many thousands recovered from sexting enthusiast Anthony Weiner's computer? What about the nexus of conspiracy suggested by the Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton "grandkids chat" on the tarmac as it dovetailed with James Comey's premature decision to not indict Hillary for her "grossly negligent" choice to set up that private server? Do James Clapper, Donna Brazile, and Susan Rice merit Get Out of Jail Free cards for their straight-faced, verifiable lies  Clapper while under oath? And now that Tony Podesta has stepped away from the lobbying firm he ran with his brother John, will the special counsel even bother to expose their Russian affiliations when it has a clear agenda and bigger fish to fry?

All of them look a little...well, deplorable. And all of them have Hillary Clinton in common  the author of their despair. She has maelstromed all those around her into her vortex of deceit. But how much longer will the Manchurianed faithful who carry Hillary's water continue to do so, even as it breaks their backs? When will the dam finally break and drown Clinton's vaulting ambitions once and for all?

Hillary Clinton now evokes Miss Havisham in Great Expectations  stuck in time, muttering away to herself in a darkened room about what might have been, on a hopeful night long ago, gone terribly wrong. She cast her own shadow across all those people who think differently from how she does in the American heartland. She condemned them, because she was never possessed of the strength of character, honesty, or self-awareness to condemn herself.

But this is hardly a surprise, as her political calculus was established early on: whatever it takes. With her attempts to shame and silence her husband's accusers even as she asserted the right of all rape and sexual assault victims to be believed, Hillary Clinton made her deal with the devil of political fortunes. With her nimble side-stepping of the avoidable tragedy in Benghazi, complete with stone-faced lie about the origins of the attack to the parents of murdered soldiers  while attending their funerals, no less  she made her peace with being beneath contempt. And with the news of her commandeering of the DNC to hamstring Bernie Sanders and game the system, the circle is complete. Clinton's ongoing health issues turn out to be an infection of the soul  and she is beset.

Like the oblivious irony of her fundraising night slam on red-state America, even as she sought be their president, Clinton continues to live a life of hypocrisy and desperate careerism. Recall how she pearl-clutched at Trump's "horrifying" debate comment when he said he'd keep us "in suspense" about whether he'd accept the election results? With a straight face, Clinton has now almost literally spent a year blaming Russia, the DNC, sexism, misogyny, Bernie Sanders, WikiLeaks, James Comey, Barack Obama, uninformed voters, voter suppression, self-hating women, the media, and the Electoral College for her loss  and has never accepted the results of the election.

Every day, I thank America for dodging that bullet. It was Matrix-like.

With each new revelation, the kismet she brought on herself relegates Clinton closer to political oblivion. Her reductive bigotry said more about her, after all, than it ever did about her intended targets. Hillary Clinton took aim at those she deemed "irredeemable" that fundraising night and let fly her weapon of choice. Her words boomeranged back to crown her in the end. Let the record show  Hillary Clinton is the real deplorable.

It's a twist ending you saw coming all along.
The rush to judgment by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, and others was premature, but the facts about Judge Roy Moore may be unraveling the fiction as we speak, starting with the accusation that Moore was banned from the Gadsen Mall for repeatedly trolling for young women. The problem is, the manager of the mall says Roy Moore was never banned:

The former manager of the Gadsden Mall, Barnes Boyle, said he does not remember Moore being banned. It was part of the job, yeah, we did have written reports and things (on people banned, Boyle, 86, who managed the mall from 1981 to 1998, told WBRC. To my knowledge he was not banned from the mall.

Moore has been under intense pressure to get out of the senate race as new accusers have continued to come forward.

The legacy media ran with the unverified story by a mall worker that Moore had been banned and Sen. Graham even repeated it on Fox News.

Sen.Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he had been willing to give Roy Moore the benefit of the doubt when the sexual misconduct allegations arose, but now hes heard enough and he thinks the Alabama Senate nominee is guilty. Were in a political environment, Graham told Fox News host Shannon Bream. [When] the allegations first came out I said, if true he should step aside. Ive heard enough. I believe the women. He was barred from a mall. His behavior was so extreme in his thirties that apparently the Gadsden mall put him on the no-fly list, he said. That tells me a lot. I dont know anybody personally whos been banned from a mall.

But, as President Ronald Reagan used to say, facts are stubborn things, and the fact is Roy Moore was not banned from the Gadsden Mall for predatory activities:

Remember the mall worker who so convincingly said Roy Moore was banned for harassing young girls decades ago? Well the mall manager from 1981-1996 came out and said Moore was never banned so far as he knows. The time frame isnt exact, but it would seem that something like that would be common knowledge for some time. The media reported the mall workers interview as if it were fact over all the major networks, but it was hearsay Barnes Boyle, who was manager of the Gadsden Mall from 1981 to 1996, told WBRC News in Alabama to his knowledge Moore was not banned. To my knowledge, he was not banned from the mall, Boyle told the news station. We did have written reports and things. But to my knowledge, he was not banned from the mall, Boyle told WBRC in Birmingham, Ala. Most of the accusations were in the 1970s but Moore was prominent and if he was banned in the 70s, he would likely have still known.

This is another claim about Roy Moore that mysteriously never became an issue in his statewide and county races, that is, until he threatened the GOP establishment in Washington, D.C. by winning the Alabama Senate primary. Then, accompanied by serial accuser Gloria Allred and a box of tissue, women such as Beverly Nelson suddenly found their alleged trauma too much to bear without telling their tale of woe conveniently just four weeks before a national election. Casting doubts on her story is none other than her stepson, Darrel Nelson:

Darrel Nelson, the stepson of Republican senatorial candidate Roy Moore accuser Beverly Young Nelson, claims that his stepmothers accusations are one hundred percent a lie. I know for a fact that there is a lot that that woman does not tell the truth on, Nelson claimed in an in-person interview with Breitbart News. Do I think that Beverly is trustworthy? No, I really dont. Could I see her making it up?  The odds are in that favor. Beverly Nelson, 55, gave a press conference earlier this week at which she claimed that Moore sexually assaulted her in a car in December 1977 or early January 1978 when she was a 16-year-old high school student. Nelson said the alleged assault took place outside a restaurant in Gadsden, Ala., where she says that she worked as a waitress Beverly Nelson says that she told her husband about the accusations against Moore before they got married. Before I married my husband, John, I told him what Mr. Moore had done to me, she said alongside Allred at the news conference. Darrel Nelson said that neither Beverly nor his own father ever mentioned the claims against Moore. If she told him, you would think that somewhere along the conversations of talking to his son and talking to his family that he wouldve mentioned something like that. Thats something you dont hide from anybody, he said.

Then theres the issue of the yearbook which Nelson and Allred claim Moore signed, which Allred has thus far refused to have examined by independent experts who can verify the age of the ink and whether in fact the handwriting is Moores, that is, until she can milk it for more camera time as the election clock runs down:

Gloria Allred is a highly accomplished, if controversial, lawyer who is admired -- or reviled -- for her sensational representation of women who are alleged victims of sexual assault and sexual harassment. Yet on Wednesday she committed a major blunder when she declined a public invitation by the attorney representing Roy Moore, Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Alabama, to have a key piece of evidence examined by independent experts. (Moore attorney Phillip L. Jauregui ) noted that handwriting experts cant look at a copy on the Internet theyve got to look at an original. He demanded that Allred release the yearbook to a neutral custodian so that a professional expert could examine it to determine whether the signature was genuine -- or, as he contended, a fraud. He said that Allred would be free to send her own handwriting expert to examine the yearbook and the signature for herself. Allred then called into CNN, reaching Wolf Blitzer live on The Situation Room. She said that she would be willing to submit the yearbook to an independent expert or experts -- but only once her client and Moore had testified under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics before the election. She would not agree to have the yearbook examined otherwise, claiming were not going to be distracted.

Having experts verify whether it is Moores signature or not on a key piece of evidence is a distraction? Or maybe finding out it is not Moores signature as he claims would blow Allreds chance for more publicity, and blow more smoke before a national audience.

Theres a principle in law which says that if a witness is caught lying about the littlest thing then all of that witness testimony can be discarded. There is another principle that guilt should be determined in a criminal case beyond a reasonable doubt. There is plenty of reasonable doubt here  decades-old accusations unmentioned during Roy Moores political career until now, only to be resurrected by celebrity lawyer and serial accuser Gloria Allred.

One key question is whether Bob Menendez and Al Franken will be barred from the Senate as Moores accusers say he should be if he wins on Dec. 12. Equal justice under the law, right?

Daniel John Sobieski is a freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investors Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications.
A Pentagon report composed earlier in 2017 and obtained by reporters at The Washington Times in October makes a chilling recommendation: The federal government should enhance its power to conscript American citizens in wartime, all in the name of social justice.

The Times Rowan Scarborough wrote that the Report on the Purpose and Utility of Registration System for Military Selective Service recommends expanding the Selective Service System (SSS), an independent federal government agency tasked with maintaining personal records for individuals subject to possible military conscription, to include women.

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed Proclamation 4771, requiring all American males aged 18 to 26 (born on or after Jan. 1, 1960) to register with the Selective Service. Authorizing SSS and facilitating a draft, should the government call for one, was necessary, Carter wrote, because of his [deep concern] about the unwarranted and vicious invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union and occupation by them of this innocent and defenseless country, which is completely unwarranted.

The Pentagons report says including women in the SSS system would promote social justice by showing a commitment to gender equality throughout the armed services, and fostering a sense of public service that comes from requiring draft registration as a ritual of adulthood.

Instead of including women in the conscription database, the federal government should [show] a commitment to gender equality by not forcing people of either gender to register for the draft. Conscription is coercion and an example of how government uses power and threats to force individuals to act against their wishes. By contrast, a completely volunteer military is based on a consensual exchange; individuals trade their time and effort for payment, housing, and future benefits.

Protecting personal liberty by providing for the common defense, not showing a commitment to gender equality, is the real reason the U.S. military was created. But a government that eliminates the fundamental right for people to choose to work for the military cant possibly also serve as a true defender of freedom. A gender-inclusive SSS may treat the rights of men and women the same, but gender-equal coercion is still coercion all the same.

Those who support maintaining or expanding the ability of the government to draft citizens into the military say such a power is necessary to ensure the country is secure. But even if a major war were to erupt, government itself acknowledges that a draft would be unnecessary to provide for the common defense.

In 2002, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service published The Military Draft and a Possible War with Iraq, an analysis of U.S. military capabilities and reserve troop levels. In the report, national defense specialist Robert L. Goldich wrote, A requirement for major increases in active duty strength could be met much more quickly by activating more reserves than by instituting a draft. A draft would not provide the trained officers and noncommissioned officers to man units effectively; it would only turn out freshly-trained junior enlisted recruits.

Ignoring utilitarian arguments about what the military needs and moral arguments about coercion, theres a fundamental constitutional argument against the draft as well. The 13th Amendment clearly states neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

The draft is a form of involuntary servitude to the state. Additionally, because any power not specifically given to the federal government is reserved for states and the people, it follows that the federal government lacks the constitutional authority to coerce individuals to fight its wars and lacks the authority to facilitate that coercion, too.

By keeping SSS alive, the federal government would retain its ability and infrastructure to create a draft, and thus it would also retain the governments power to destroy the very freedom the draft is supposedly meant to protect. Instead of supporting such a clearly immoral system, Americans should trust their fellow citizens will answer the call of duty if and when a true crisis occurs, a model that has worked throughout many periods of U.S. history.

Jesse Hathaway (jhathaway@heartland.org) is a research fellow with The Heartland Institute.
In a pathetic bid to escape accountability, Rep. Corrine Brown, a Florida Democrat thrown out of office in last year's primary after she was charged with corruption, pleaded for mercy from a court sentencing her after her conviction, suggesting she was so good that she never thought she'd need to:

"I am sorry you have to be here today to see me in this situation," Brown said in her statement to the court. "I never imagined I would one day be in court asking people to speak on my behalf  never."

It goes to show how inured she was to the idea of stealing as wrong, or why lining her pockets with the proceeds from a fake charity bothered her so little.

Now facing as much as nine years in prison, Brown had a lot of people coming forward and speaking up on her behalf, seeking leniency in sentencing:

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee provided a glowing character witness of Corrine Brown during her sentencing hearing Thursday. Jackson Lee described via telephone testimony it as her "privilege" to characterize Corrine Brown as a "loving person." She said Brown has had a "pointed and direct effort [in] helping others, not herself." The veterans' community loved Congresswoman Brown, Jackson Lee said, stating that Brown has helped those with PTSD and other issues following fighting overseas. She also stated Brown helped tremendously with relief efforts during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. "That shows a character of giving to others unselfishly," Jackson Lee said.

In other words, she was adept at giving away other people's money, not forgetting to give away some of it to herself.

The prosecutor, Tysen Duva, saw things differently and pointed out other problems:

Duva said Brown was accustomed to receiving money she should not have received. She also lied about donations to colleges, churches and other entities. He also argued that Brown has made ludicrous comments during the investigation, including a comment where she essentially said that had investigators not been looking into her case, the Pulse shooting in Orlando would never have happened. She also referred to the charges as "bogus" and "racist," implying that she was targeted for her race in the case. Duva objected to that notion by saying, "She was targeted because she committed fraud, not because she was black or white."

So what we have here is a thief, a giver away of other people's money who engineers praise for it as if she had given it away herself, and someone so determined to wriggle out of efforts to hold herself accountable that she plays the race card any which way she can, almost as a protective talisman.

Any questions as to why her re-election effort to her thirteenth term last year, under a slogan of "Corrine Delivers" before a new electorate, pretty well went bust? Brown was defeated in her re-election bid by a fellow Democrat during the primary, Al Lawson.

Heck, forget the questions about going bust with voters. Is it any wonder that with people like this in high office, the public holds Congress is such low esteem?
We've been watching what they call "the reckoning of Bill Clinton." What we are really seeing is the implosion of a political party that made a pact with the devil and corrupted itself to the core.

It sort of started with Donna Brazile's book Hacks and her explosive comments about Mrs. Clinton's campaign. I was listening to a radio interview with Miss Brazile last night and could not help but say: "Donna  why now and not 18 months ago? What job in a future Clinton White House did you have mind that forced you to stay silent?"

Now we have Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York saying President Clinton should have resigned in 1998, when the scandal exploded.

Okay  I guess it's better late than never. However, this whole episode just proves how corrupt the Democratic Party really is. They are nothing but a bunch of dishonest opportunists who have suddenly discovered that President Clinton was not a very nice gentleman after all.

As for Senator Gillibrand, the hypocrisy is overflowing. She replaced Mrs. Clinton in the U.S. Senate and never refused to have President Clinton campaign on her behalf. In fact, not long ago, she praised him for campaigning for her seat.

Now she is singing a different tune. Why is that?

The first reason is that it does not cost her anything. The Clintons are a couple of old folks who won't matter much in the future. In fact, they may be facing some legal challenges down the road, from uranium sales to the infamous Fusion GPS dossier to contributions to the Clinton Foundation.

The Clintons are toast, and Senator Gillibrand has no use for them anymore. She explains her raw opportunism along the lines that times have changed.

Really? When was it acceptable in some other time for a man to drop his pants in front of a White House intern? Or for the president's wife to lead a campaign to destroy the women who were accusing him over past behavior, way more complicated than inappropriate touching?

Senator Gillibrand and Miss Brazile are two ladies living in a "basket of deplorables," to use a phrase from not long ago.

Would Miss Brazile have written that book or would Senator Gillibrand be talking about resignation if Mrs. Clinton had won?

The answer is a loud no. They would have been defending the new Clinton presidency and enjoying whatever benefits, especially Miss Brazile, it would have provided them.

Deplorables all, from the Clintons to Brazile to Gillibrand, and now Franken!

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
The ban on big game trophies from African safari hunts paid for by well-heeled Westerners came in the wake of a 2015 news item about Cecil the Lion being killed by an American dentist on tour for a wall trophy, leading to an outcry. As news of the ban reversal led to complaints, Trump tweeted :

President Trump has found himself in the middle of a brouhaha , moving to reverse an Interior Department end to an Obama-era ban on the importation of big game elephant trophies. He's getting blasted on all sides.

Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts, Mr. Trump tweeted. Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you!

Obviously, he's been taking incoming flak about this and not solely from the usual cast of leftists. Yet it's a complex matter whose resolution will depend strongly on a single set of facts and education and recognition of the realities of Africa. That's a tall order in this instant-gratification sound-bite age.

Michael Savage outlines the problems with the optics of this quite well:

Permitting the importation of elephant trophies? Are you kidding? This is a stereotype of the ugly Republican . . . on steroids. Everything the left says about the insensitive, earth-killing, animal destroying, oafish Republican is coming to fruition all in one move. Who advised you on this Mr. President? You still have time to reverse this order and restore common decency. Stop the importation of elephant trophies and stop it NOW. If you do not do this you will forever lose the independent, animal-loving voter.

We can add that it doesn't help that Trump's sons have been photographed themselves with big-game trophies. That brings up the second optical problem in lifting this ban: That only the very rich can afford to go on these big-game hunting safaris and bring home these trophies for their mansion walls. Normal people can't do these things, even if they wanted to, which generally they don't. Those who are fans of hunting, however, see things differently. If they are poor, they go on the deer-culling hunts and put the steer heads up on their walls, or if they live close to the wilderness, bears. If they are rich, it's all about elephants, leopards, cape buffalo, rhinos and lions, the trophies of those who can fly to Africa and shell out $60,000 or so for a lion and maybe $40,000 for an elephant. It's a populist issue.

But against that sentiment, there's the fate of Africa to consider.

The lifting of the ban supposedly came about because of an Interior Department study showing that two nations, most probably Zimbabwe and Zambia, had raised their elephant populations so that the hunting of a small number of them by trophy hunters could be sustainable. If that's true, and these aren't nations that have any importance to the U.S. otherwise, these facts should be considered. The high fees from the trophy hunts, it's argued, would help increase the elephant populations, because the money would be directed toward conservation and anti-poaching efforts. Leaving these places without those funds ensures that the animals become solely nuisances and hazards to African villagers who cannot make a living from them, and opens the gate to poachers.

The New York Times notes it this way:

Overhunting has caused a decrease in the number of lions in some areas, especially Tanzania, according to a 2012 study, and hunting has been restricted there. But the researchers behind that study concluded that hunting was less of a risk than an outright ban. Without the trophy hunt money, locals would increasingly poison lions, which are considered dangerous to humans and livestock, said Vernon Booth, a Zimbabwe-based ecologist.

Neel V. Patel, writing in Slate of all places, sums up the issue like this:

Our knee-jerk reaction to hunting (and to Trump) ignores good data that suggest hunting works as a means of conservation.

Patel's whole argument is well laid out, and worth it to read the whole thing. It's pretty much an echo of the old libertarian argument that permitting the farming of animals is what keeps their populations high. Cows and pigs are farmed and there's never any shortage of those. Property rights are an incentive for owners to guard and protect as well as increase numbers and thus, wealth.

More importantly, there are the feelings of the Africans to consider. They want a few safari hunters to come to Africa to live out their biggest fantasies of the big game hunt in exchange for appropriate compensation. The nations of Zimbabwe and Zambia very likely pleaded for those ends to the bans, given that the absence of hunters has starved them of their livelihoods as well as endangered their care for the wild animals for lack of funds. Zimbabwe, for instance, was probably forced to cull 200 lions because it could not draw trophy hunters.

Animals, it is important to note, are not romanticized in Africa, not even by the well-heeled city dwellers and certainly not by the rural population, whose attitudes reflect those of Alaskans and northwesterners when bear problems become an issue.

Zimbabwean medical researcher Goodwell Nzou, in a superb and memorable op-ed in the New York Times, brings a reality check to the problems of wildlife for people in Africa:

In my village in Zimbabwe, surrounded by wildlife conservation areas, no lion has ever been beloved, or granted an affectionate nickname. They are objects of terror. When I was 9 years old, a solitary lion prowled villages near my home. After it killed a few chickens, some goats and finally a cow, we were warned to walk to school in groups and stop playing outside. My sisters no longer went alone to the river to collect water or wash dishes; my mother waited for my father and older brothers, armed with machetes, axes and spears, to escort her into the bush to collect firewood. A week later, my mother gathered me with nine of my siblings to explain that her uncle had been attacked but escaped with nothing more than an injured leg. The lion sucked the life out of the village: No one socialized by fires at night; no one dared stroll over to a neighbors homestead.

One of the better authorities on animal realities, National Geographic, has published an interview outlining the wisdom of allowing culling of wildlife populations, which, with the term 'intervention' can mean, hunting;

The ecosystem is a very complex machine and whether anyone likes it or not, humans have intervened with cities, roads, dams, pumped water, fences, and livestock. The only way to mitigate that intervention is by further, more focused, and carefully considered intervention, for the sake of the entire ecosystem. It is important to bear in mind that the wildlife here, and in the majority of other wildlife areas in Africa (hunting areas exceed the total area conserved by Africas national parks by more than 20 percent), does not exist as our, or anyone elses, luxury. The Bubye Valley Conservancy is a privately owned wildlife area, or to put it another way, it is a business. The fact that it is a well-run business is the reason why it is one of the greatest conservation successes in Africa, converting from cattle to wildlife in 1994 (only 22 years ago) and now hosting Zimbabwes largest contiguous lion population at one of the highest densities in Africa, as well as the third largest black rhino population in the world (after Kruger and Etosha). This is only possible because it is a business, and is self-sufficient in generating the funds to maintain fences, roads, pay staff, manage the wildlife, pump water, and support the surrounding communitiesall extremely necessary factors involved in keeping wildlife alive in Africa.

So even as quite a few of us abhor the idea of hunting elephants and lions for sport on its own merits, as Savage does, and others resent the class implications of African trophy-hunting as a luxury of the rich, the preponderance of the evidence seems to point to the libertarian argument that farming animals - which includes allowing the culling of the herds by fee-paying trophy hunters is the best way to keep them numerous, alive and healthy.

It's counterintuitive on first glance, yet it seems to be the best solution. That leaves President Trump on the horns of a dilemma, either having to educate Americans on the wisdom of this policy, which, as someone who never talks down to people, is unlikely to want to do, or else reversing the policy and leaving the Africans and their incredible wildlife inheritance, to fend for themselves, underfunded, isolated, unable to fight off poachers and unable to make their voices and interests heard.

It's one of the thornier issues he will have to navigate, given the high level of public interest in this news. My hope is that he tries to educate.
News / National

by Staff Reporter

Eight of Zanu PF's 10 Provincial Coordinating Committees (PCC) have called on President Robert Mugabe to step down as President of Zimbabwe and President and First Secretary of the party saying he has lost control of the party and government business due to incapacitation stemming from his advanced age.The provinces also said President Mugabe has allowed the formation of cabals.The Zanu PF Mashonaland West Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC) has made seven resolutions, key among them a call on President Robert Mugabe to step down as the First Secretary of the revolutionary party.The PCC also called for the convening of a special central committee meeting within 48 hours to discuss the current political situation.The PCC meeting also called for the renunciation of the G40 cabal, and resolved that there be a revocation and annulment of the suspensions and expulsions that took place after the party's 2014 congress.Members who attended the meeting also unanimously agreed to mobilise for, and attend a solidarity march slated for Saturday the 18th at the Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare in support of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces' interventions to stabilise the economy and defuse a potential political instability that was threatening peace.Fanuel Chikomba the party provincial secretary for administration read out the agenda of the meeting before the house endorsed the proposals.Tommy Mwanza proposed that former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa retains his post in the party, a position also shared by Ziyambi Ziyambi, who said the former vice president's dismissal was not endorsed by the central committee as per the constitution of the party.Provincial war veterans leader Cornelius Muhoni and Mashonaland West Minister of State Webster Shamu told the coordinating committee that the move taken by the ZDF was necessary in quelling a potential threat to national security posed by Zanu PF's intra party squabbles.The meeting heard that the party is supreme over individuals, who had turned it into their personal project, and were glorified unnecessarily.In Masvingo, the Zanu PF Masvingo province has convened an urgent provincial coordinating committee meeting where Ailess Baloyi, the party's vice chairman read out the resolutions with the first one being that the province is calling for the immediate resignation of the Zanu PF First Secretary and President, Robert Mugabe.Baloyi said in the event that Mugabe refuses to resign, the province recommends that he is recalled from both the party and government.The province also said they are in solidarity with the action taken by the ZDF led by General Constantino Chiwenga.Masvingo provincial chairman Ezra Chadzamira and Zanu PF chief whip Lovemore Matuke also said they are now working to rebuild the party that had been invaded by selfish elements.The province also resolved to attend the war veterans' solidarity rally penciled for this Saturday.Moving on to Mashonaland East province, the party has called on President Mugabe to resign, failure of which the party will recall him.The motion was read by provincial chairperson Bernard Makokove at an emergency provincial coordinating committee meeting at the provincial headquarters in Marondera.The province said it supports the action taken by the ZDF to restore sanity in Zanu PF and recommended for action against members of the G40 cabal.There were also recommendations for the central committee to convene a special meeting within 48hours to re-align the party with current developments.Former women's league national political commissar Marble Chinomona, former provincial chairman Joel Biggie Matiza and provincial war veterans' chairperson Daniel Sigauke supported the motions.The party has also called on members from all districts to come in their thousands for the solidarity march with the ZDF in Harare on Saturday.The Zanu PF Midlands provincial executive has unanimously resolved to recall President Mugabe from both the party and government and they have called for an urgent central committee meeting to re-align the party ahead of the 2018 general elections.The resolution was made during a provincial coordinating meeting at the party's Convention Centre in Gweru.The province proclaimed solidarity with the ZDF for stopping the rot and capture of the party and government by the G40 cabal.Zanu PF central committee member and war veterans secretary general Victor Matemadanda told party members that Zanu PF does not belong to a family and implored them to bury their differences and embrace everyone as the nation charts its course.The province which is working side by side with war veterans is inviting every Zimbabwean for a solidarity rally in Harare and transport to ferry people has been availed in all the districts in the province.Meanwhile, the province went on to reaffirm that former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa who was fired unprocedurally from the party and government is still a central committee member.In Mashonaland Central, the Zanu PF Mashonaland Central Provincial Coordinating Committee has resolved the recalling of President Mugabe as party president and the resignation of Dr Grace Mugabe as Secretary for Women's League.Zanu PF Politburo member Chen Chimutengwende said illegal suspensions and expulsions have divided the party.Mashonaland Central Provincial Affairs Minister Advocate Martin Dinha said the party was captured by a few individuals for personal gain which is being corrected now.The meeting applauded the role played by the defence forces in plucking out rogue elements within the party while also recommending the expulsions of Dickson Mafios who was the chairman, secretary for administration Wonder Mashange and the provincial youth league secretary for administration Karima.The Zanu PF Harare Province PCC has resolved that President Mugabe should retire from his duties and support the ZDF Commander for uprooting the culprits destabilising the party.Zanu PF Politburo member Clevaria Chizema also said as women they have to respect the President by acknowledging his job as a leader and wish to see him retire.Other party members have expressed their support to the resolutions adding that they wish to see President Mugabe being an adviser after retiring and accept the move taken by the ZDF Commander.National Assembly member for Harare East constituency Terrence Mukupe also said the outcome of the unfolding events in the Zanu PF political terrain will bring positive results since all the members who were corrupt will no longer be tolerated but to face the wrath of the law.The meeting has also called for the party to convene a special committee meeting within 48 hours to realign the party in line with the current political developments.Zanu PF Manicaland Province also said the President must resign or risk being recalled by the party.The province's PCC meeting saw members unanimously agreeing that there had been infiltration of the party by individuals bent on destroying it from within as well as enriching themselves.There was also a call for the central committee meeting to realign the party to make it functional.On the slated solidarity march in Harare, the Manicaland branch said it has secured 33 buses to be used to ferry those who wish to attend the march that will see people congregating at Robert Mugabe Square then walking to the State House.There was also consensus that Mike Madiro takes over the chairmanship of the province while Happiness Nyakuedzwa was selected as Women's League secretary with Tawanda Mukodza winning the approval of the Youth League.In Bulawayo, the Zanu PF Provincial Coordinating Committee has called for the recalling of the party's President and First Secretary Robert Mugabe while calling for the re-admission of Mnangagwa as the new party leader.Addressing party supporters this Friday (today), Zanu PF provincial chairman Dennis Ndlovu said his executive has decided to recall President Mugabe as its leader for fanning factionalism in the party.Ndlovu said his province supports the intervention of the army in trying to bring normalcy in the country while calling for the reinstatement of all expelled party cadres saying Mnangagwa should be appointed interim party leader.Ndlovu urged the province to shun unnecessary divisions which he said destroy the party in the province.
Toy Freaks and other creepy ways to exploit children and get rich on YouTube

Ever see Toy Freaks? It was the 68th most popular channel on YouTube. It was because its gone, banned for flouting YouTubes community guidelines. Google, YouTubes owners, were super cautious not to act too rashly, allowing Toy Freaks to post more than 500 videos over six years and garner over 7 billions views. Social Blade estimates the channel earned up to 8.7 million a year for the creators and just over 7m for Google.

As advertisers baulked at having their brands associated with Toy Freaks and other weird and often frighteningly unsettling YouTube channels, Google pulled the plug. Community guildines are nothing compared to the bottom line.

What you missed was single dad Greg Chism, 46, aka Freak Daddy, filming his two daughters  named Annabelle and Victoria; age nine and seven, respectively  being freaked out by his antics. They are filmed wearing baby clothes, sucking dummies and being terrified by live snakes. One commentator saw videos of the children vomiting and in pain.

It turns out that you cant dictate you audience, and if you publish videos of children in the bath screaming their heads off as dad tosses in a toy toad and claims it to be real, a few nasties arrive to take a long look. Below a film of the daughters playing in a swimming pool, a viewer wrote:

Victoria, Annabelle, Ive been wanting to call you for years and I want to call you today how do I call you whats your number anyways please.

Mr Chism, 46, offers:

I am a single father of two daughters and solely focused on providing for their future. I am blessed that our family has been able to take such a remarkable journey in life while entertaining millions on YouTube.

Hes swallowed the marketing guff. But hes right: millions did watch; not all them children and bots. He continues:

Unfortunately, allegations such as these are truly dangerous and reckless and sadly demonstrate the point that in todays irresponsible internet culture, the truth is often rendered irrelevant.

Carolyne Keenan, a child psychologist, adds:

The Toy Freaks content contains footage of activities that a lot of children would not be allowed to do. One of the videos shows a child smashing a bowl of cereal off the table, encouraged by a much older man, a dad figure, to kill a fly for example. Videos like this allow children to explore a world that in real life would feel scary, dangerous or get them into trouble.

Its fantasy, right, but featuring actual children, which is peculiar. But is the broader issue here less the alleged exploitation of minors than fears of humanity being in thrall of technological advance? What is irresponsible internet culture? Printing, comic books, radio and TV were all met with a large doses of fear. But its not the kids freaking out; theyre alright. Its the adults affecting young peoples lives with their own prejudices, perversions and anxieties.

Anorak

Posted: 18th, November 2017 | In: News, Technology Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
News / National

by Simbarashe Mwandipenda

Former Zimbabwean deputy Prime Minister Professor Arthur Mutambara has come under attack on Twitter after he called on Army Generals to be resolute about the 'coup'."The Generals must be resolute. You cannot be half-pregnant. Either you are pregnant or you are NOT pregnant. Either there is a coup or there is NO coup."There is no such thing as a "No coup" COUP, or a "cousin" of a coup," he tweeted.However, others labeled him a political opportunist while others told him that the situation in Zimbabwe does not warrant for definitions.
Not at all. It just seems like a lot of back-and-forth talk.

Yes. I'm growing very worried over what might happen.

If it keeps up, I might be a little more concerned.

I think there are much larger things to concern us as a country.

It's hard to tell; I can't take the leader of either country seriously.

Vote

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Mrs. T departed for Connecticut last Friday morning, and I promptly hurled myself into a frenzy of urban activity. It was a brilliant and balmy weekend in New York City, the best of all possible times to be out and about, and so I spent very little time at home. On Friday evening I saw To Be or Not to Be on Broadway. The next morning I went to the gym, dropped by Mr. JazzWaxs apartment to listen to records, visited two art galleries, and returned to Broadway to see Katie Holmes make her stage debut in Arthur Millers All My Sons. On Sunday I took a brisk walk through Central Park, ending up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where I spent an hour looking at paintings, then returned to the Upper West Side to dine at Good Enough to Eat, where I hadnt eaten for weeks. Walking through the front door felt a little like coming home after a sea voyage.

Youve probably guessed that I spent a good-sized chunk of the weekend looking at the paintings, watercolors, and etchings of Giorgio Morandi, which are currently on display at the Met, Pace Master Prints, and Lucas Schoormans Gallery. My trip to the Met wasnt quite as satisfying as Id hoped, however, though not because of the show, which isnt quite perfectthe choice of etchings is less than representativebut comes close enough to be unforgettable. The problem is that the curators of the show made the inexplicable and irreparable mistake of installing it in a high-traffic area that is mere steps away from the museums new downstairs cafeteria. As a result, Giorgio Morandi, 1890-1964 is drawing large numbers of people who would rather talk than look at art, not a few of whom seem unaware that the use of a cellphone within five hundred yards of a Morandi still life would be punishable by death and/or dismemberment if I had anything to do with it.

Im sure, by the way, that I beamed benevolently at some of the very same people when I saw them in Central Park a few minutes earlier. Parks are supposed to be crowded on balmy Sunday afternoons, and I enjoyed every minute of my long walk from the West Side to the East Side. But a park is by definition open to all comers, a gathering place for the demos. An art museum is a trickier proposition. I know that I ought to want the Metropolitan Museum to be crowded seven days a week, that it should be a sign of cultural health for its galleries to be packed. I also know what its like to visit a museum that time and demography have passed by. In 2003 I paid a weekday visit to the Newark Museum and was shocked to find myself the only person in the galleries other than the guards. I would never want that to happen to the Met.

Alas, the experience of high art is democratic only in theory, never in practice, which is why there is something inherently contradictory, perhaps even deeply wrong, about seeing crowds at an exhibition of the paintings of Giorgio Morandi. Morandi is a difficult painter, one whose still lifes inevitably strike the casual viewer as both repetitive and plain. They require close, quiet attention in order to be appreciated. Giorgio Morandi: The Art of Silence is the apt title of a monograph about Morandi published a couple of years ago. It is inconceivable that anyone capable of talking in the presence of Morandis late watercolors, which are so concentrated and oblique as to border on outright abstraction, could possibly be appreciating them.

My Saturday visits to Pace Master Prints and Lucas Schoormans Gallery were a different story. I spent a half-hour looking at the two dozen etchings on display at Pace Master Prints, and throughout that time I was the only person in the gallery devoted to Morandi. I was glad to be alonebut troubled, too, by the fact that no one else in New York City was there. Morandi, after all, was one of the greatest printmakers of the twentieth century, a master of his infinitely subtle medium, and the Pace show is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, an indispensable pendant to the Met retrospective. How is it possible that so important an exhibition should have drawn only a single viewer at midday on a Saturday in October? Be careful what you ask for, I thought as I left the gallery.

Things were different in yet another, more benign way when I arrived at Lucas Schoormans Gallery, whose Morandi show seems to me to be just about perfect. Instead of a hundred paintings and works on paper, there were a couple of dozen carefully chosen pieces on display. Instead of a clamorous horde of visitorsor nonethere were six or seven people whose rapt, uncasual silence spoke for itself. Not for a moment did I doubt that they were there for the right reasons. Yet they had passed no test to be admitted: Lucas Schoormans Gallery, like Central Park, is open to all comers, not just to wealthy collectors or accredited connoisseurs. To partake of its offerings is, in the truest and best sense of the word, a democratic experience.

As for the Met, it iswell, the Met. While no great museum gets everything right, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, like the Phillips Collection, comes far closer than most. I am blessed to be within comfortable walking distance of its front door, and I expect to go back to see its Morandi exhibition several more timesbut never again on a Sunday afternoon. It is possible to believe in the necessity of democracy without feeling the need to idealize it.

* * *

Lucas Schoormans Gallerys Giorgio Morandi: Paintings and Works on Paper and Pace Master Prints The Etchings of Giorgio Morandi both close on Saturday. For more information, go here and here.

Giorgio Morandi, 1890-1964 is up at the Met through December 14.
News / National

by Staff reporter

GOVERNMENT has renamed various military barracks in honour of veterans of the armed struggle and military gurus.In a Government Gazette issued yesterday, Defence minister Sydney Sekeramayi said King George VI Barracks and the Airforce Headquarters in Harare had been changed to Josiah Magama Tongogara Barracks.
The actress tweeted that she is shocked reading what Deepika is going through, adding that she in absolute awe of her strength and courage.

Los Angeles: Hollywood actor Ruby Rose has come out in support of Deepika Padukone amid the ongoing controversy surrounding her upcoming film 'Padmavati'.

Deepika, who plays the titular role in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali-directed film, has received threats from Rajput Karni Sena with one of its leaders warning her against "inciting" sentiments.

"I am in shock at reading what my dear friend is going through but in absolute awe of her strength and courage.

"Deepika you are one of the strongest women I know," Rose, who appeared alongside Deepika in the "xXx: Return of Xander Cage", tweeted.

Following the threats, the Mumbai Police has tightened Deepika's security.

Meanwhile, the film has been sent back to the makers by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) as the application for the certification was "incomplete".
CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi slammed the makers of Padmavati for the private screening.

New Delhi: While the Censor Board chief made his irritation with the director and producers of controversial film Padmavati public on Saturday, it is learnt that Union information and broadcasting ministry is also unhappy with the makers of the film over what they see as attempts to undermine the authority of the Central Board of Film Certification by securing extra constitutional approval for the movie by organising a special screening of the film for senior journalists and opinion makers.

Producers of Padmavati had organised a special screening of the movie in Mumbai to which several top journalists and opinion makers were invited. After watching the film, many tweeted favourably about it, which has seemingly drawn the ire of the ministry.

According to sources, the I&B ministry has pointed out that every filmmaker needs to follow set norms and procedures before a movie is cleared for release in theatres and such attempts by filmmakers and producers are unwarranted.

Given that the CBFC is the only body that can legally certify movies for release in the country, the private show for a select group of journalists and opinion makers is being seen as an attempt by the producers to undermine the authority and legality of the CBFC.

CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi slammed the makers of Padmavati for the private screening.  Disappointing that Padmavati is being screened for media and getting reviewed on national channels without CBFC having seen or certified the Film. This compromises the role of systems and balances that are part of a functioning industry. Its myopic to treat the certification process haphazardly to suit convenience... On one hand, holding the CBFC responsible and pressurising to accelerate the process and on the other hand, attempt to subvert the very process, sets an opportunistic precedent, he said.

On Friday, the CBFC had sent Mr Bhansalis film back to the makers citing that the application for certification was incomplete.

The makers know and admit that the paperwork is not complete  the very disclaimer whether the film is work of fiction or a historical was left blank and not stated. On simply and legitimately being asked to provide important documents, (they are) accusing the CBFC of looking the other way and delay, Mr Joshi said.

After the special screening, Rajat Sharma, editor-in-chief and chairman of India TV, tweeted about the film and broadcast a special programme on the issue. Others who attended the special screening include Arnab Goswami editor-in-chief Republic TV, veteran journalist Ved Pratap Vaidik and Zakka Jacob, deputy executive editor CNN News 18.

Not a single scene, dialogue or sequence in the film Padmavati that could hurt Rajasthani or Rajput pride, Rajat Sharma tweeted after watching the movie.

After watching #Padmavati, I must say there is nothing objectionable. No dream sequence, no romance between Alauddin Khilji and Rani Padmini. The movie is a tribute to Rajput bravery and valour, Jacob tweeted.

Though Alauddin Khaljis siege of Chittor in 1303 is a historical fact, most modern historians reject the authenticity of Rani Padmini and the best-known story about the siege. The earliest source to mention Rani Padmavati is an epic poem, Padmavat, written by Sufi poet Makil Muhammad Jayasi in Awadhi in 1540.

Karni Sena, a fringe political group, has been protesting against the film since its shooting began. They allege that the film shows a romantic relationship between Padmavati and Khilji. More protests erupted after the films song Ghoomar released, alleging that it is an artistic and historic fraud to portray an incorrectly attired courtesan-like painted doll in the song as the very queen the film purports to pay obeisance to.
While the English version of the film was able to get certified, the regional versions couldnt.

There is much consternation and panic among filmmakers lined up for censor certification. The Central Board Of Film Certification (CBFC) rule that films must apply for certification 68 days in advance has driven the industry into a state of panic. The axe has fallen on the dubbed Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions of the new Hollywood franchise Justice League, which failed to procure censor certification in time.

A source from Warner Brothers revealed, We somehow managed to get the original English version of Justice League certified in time for release. But the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions fell prey to the 68-day rule. The dubbed versions could not be censored as the censor board has started following the 68-day timeline strictly from this week onwards.

Apparently the Warner Brothers representatives requested for an exemption to the rule just this once as their advance booking for Justice League in Hindi Tamil and Telugu had already opened.

The source from Warner says, We requested the CBFC to at least give this film an exemption from the 68-day timeline as we already had the censor certificate for the English version from before the rule was strictly implemented. Unfortunately they havent yet obliged. Hopefully the CBFC would view at least the Hindi dubbed version of Justice League soon and we can still release the Hindi version later this week.

The sudden setback in release plans created a situation of panic in theatres across India, as advance booking for the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions were already opened. This problem is not going to end in the near future.

A leading producer says, It is unreasonable and absurd to expect us to submit our films 68 days in advance, and that too the complete and fully edited version. Films are in post-production till days before release. How can they be given to the censor board so much in advance? I believe several films whose release dates are announced in the coming weeks wont get censor certification because of the 68-day rule. At least the previous CBFC chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani would listen to us and try to help us. Prasoon Joshi is inaccessible.
He added that there was really no conflict between these Hindu and Islamic communities as they have been living together for centuries.

Lucknow: Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Friday met the All-India Muslim Personal Law Boards (AIMPLB) executive president and senior Sunni cleric Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali.

Talking to reporters later, the spiritual leader said, We both agree that we have to build the bridge between the two communities. We have to create a friendly atm-osphere of belongingness and togetherness so that we can solve all the issues of the country.

He added that there was really no conflict between these Hindu and Islamic communities as they have been living together for centuries.

We have to take forward the idea of brotherhood through talks. We all respect the law, but the law cannot connect the hearts of people. A law will remain a law and people will have to follow it but what is important is that the feeling of togetherness and harmony has to come from within, he said.

AIMPLB leader Maulana Khalid Rashid said the two leaders held discussions on how to bring these two communities together and spread communal harmony in the entire nation.

We are thankful to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for teaching people to live their lives in an orderly manner, he said.
News / National

by Staff reporter

I know some are celebrating already. But it's not yet a done deal. The meandering road has one or two more turns. Let's navigate them and them and we will celebrate more when we reach our destination. Zimbabwe Grounds to Blue Roof.  Nick mangwana (@nickmangwana) November 18, 2017

Zanu PF United Kingdom Based official Nick Mangwana has warned against premature celebration.Mangwana said on twitter, "I know some are celebrating already. But it's not yet a done deal. The meandering road has one or two more turns. Let's navigate them and them and we will celebrate more when we reach our destination. Zimbabwe Grounds to Blue Roof."
The actor said he is elated with the decision of joining BJP.

Actor Rahul Roy joined the BJP in the presence of Union Minister Vijay Goel. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: Actor Rahul Roy on Saturday joined the BJP in presence of Union Minister Vijay Goel at the party headquarters in New Delhi.

He said it was a significant day for him and thanked the party.

"The way Narendra Modiji and Amit Shahji have been taking the country forward and the way the perspective of the world towards India has changed in the past two years is remarkable. I am elated to have taken this decision," Roy told the media.

The actor said he wants to contribute towards the development of the country and is ready to take up any task entrusted to him by the party.

Roy made his Bollywood debut at the age of 22 in the 1990 blockbuster 'Aashiqui'. He acted in movies like 'Junoon' and 'Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee'.

The actor also won the debut season of television reality show 'Bigg Boss'.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates on Friday met UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath and assured further collaboration in the health and education sector.

Lucknow: Microsoft founder Bill Gates on Friday met UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath and assured further collaboration in the health and education sector.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also signed a MoU with the Regional Virus Research Institute in the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur. Both will work towards eradication of the acute encephalitis syndrome, said principal information secretary Avanish Awasthi.
Kulbhushan Jindal, the accused, demanded a bribe of Rs 2 lakh for not demolishing property in Narela.

The accused was caught red handed with Rs 75,000 and recovered cash of Rs 5,00,00 from his car. (Photo: PTI | Representational)

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested a junior engineer of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for demanding bribe of Rs two lakh.

Kulbhushan Jindal, was arrested for demanding Rs two lakh for not demolishing property in Narela.

The investigative agency caught Jindal red handed with Rs 75,000 and recovered cash of Rs five lakhs from his car.




17 Patels, four women, five Congress rebels named; two sitting MLAs dropped.

New Delhi: The BJP on Friday released its first list of 70 candidates, including chief minister Vijaybhai Rupani and five Congress ex-MLAs and rebels, for the coming Assembly elections in Gujarat where 182 constituencies will go to polls next month.

The list includes 45 candidates whose constituency will go to polls in the first phase on December 9. Voting in the seats of 25 others will be held on December 14 in the second phase. The results will be declared on December 18.

Among the prominent names that were announced included Mr Rupani who has been renominated from Rajkot West, his deputy Nitin Patel from Mehsana, party president Jitubhai Vaghani from Bhavnagar West and former superintendent of police (SP) P. C. Baranda, who had resigned from IPS just two days back, from Bhiloda. Fifteen ministers from Mr Rupanis Cabinet have been named from their respective seats.

The BJP has also fielded five former Congress legislators and rebels, who had joined the saffron fold recently. These include  Raghavji Patel, a loyalist of former Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela, from Jamnahgar Rural; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja from Jamnagar North; Ramsinh Parmar, chairman of Amul Dairy, from Thasra; Mansinh Chauhan from Balasinor and C.K. Raolji from Godhra.

In all, the BJP has renominated 49 candidates and fielded 16 new faces. Only two sitting MLAs  Varsha Doshi from Wadhwan and Bhavna Makwana from Mahuva  have not been given tickets in the first list. There are four women in the 70-member first list. Of these, 17 are Patels, 18 OBCs, three SCs and 11 STs. A majority of OBC candidates are Thakores followed by Kolis.

The names were finalised by BJPs Central Election Committee, which met on Wednesday and was chaired by party president Amit Shah. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Rajnath Singh, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Mr Rupani.
Indian delegation was led by Pranay Verma, Joint Secretary (East Asia), Ministry of External Affairs.

India and China had resolved a more than two month-long military face-off at Doklam in Bhutanese territory towards the end of August this year. (Photo: PTI/Representational)

New Delhi: More than two months after the resolution of the Doklam military face-off between India and China in Bhutanese territory, India and China held talks on border issues in Beijing on Friday which was described by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi as constructive and forward-looking.

Significantly, both diplomats and military officers from both sides participated in talks. Despite the setback to ties due to the earlier Doklam stand-off, the two countries appear to have decided to engage each other in dialogue again and work towards improvement in ties as envisaged jointly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. According to the MEA, the two nations "reviewed the situation in all sectors of India-China border and agreed that maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border areas is an important prerequisite for sustained growth of bilateral relations".

In a statement, the MEA said, The 10th round of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was held in Beijing on 17 November 2017. The

Indian delegation was led by Pranay Verma, Joint Secretary (East Asia), Ministry of External Affairs. The Chinese delegation was led by Mr. Xiao Qian, director general, department of Asian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two delegations comprised of diplomatic and military officials from each side."

The MEA added, "The talks were held in a constructive and forward-looking manner. Both sides reviewed the situation in all sectors of India-China border and agreed that maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border areas is an important prerequisite for sustained growth of bilateral relations. In this regard, the two sides also exchanged views on further confidence building measures and strengthening of military-to-military contacts."

The MEA further said, "WMCC was established in 2012 as an institutional mechanism for consultation and coordination for the maintenance of peace and tranquility in the India-China border areas, as well as to exchange views on strengthening communication and cooperation, including between their border security personnel. The two sides agreed to hold the next meeting of the WMCC at a mutually convenient time."

India and China had resolved a more than two month-long military face-off at Doklam in Bhutanese territory towards the end of August this year. The face-off had been triggered after the Chinese PLA had tried to build a road at Doklam. China regards Doklam as its territory and calls it Dong Lang.
Top officials of ministries of home and defence, chiefs of intelligence agencies, besides Sharma also attended the meeting.

The issue was discussed in detail at Wednesday's meeting of the core group on Kashmir, chaired by the union home minister and attended by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, where it was decided to ask the Jammu and Kashmir government to work on the cases of juveniles. (Photo: PTI/File)

New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh has asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to move all juveniles, arrested for pelting stones and other unlawful activities, from jails to remand homes and review their cases sympathetically, officials said.

The decision is considered to be an attempt to reach out to the people of Jammu and Kashmir by the central government after the appointment of Dineshwar Sharma as the Centre's special representative to initiate talks with all stakeholders.

The issue was discussed in detail at Wednesday's meeting of the core group on Kashmir, chaired by the union home minister and attended by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, where it was decided to ask the Jammu and Kashmir government to work on the cases of juveniles.

After the core group meeting, the Jammu and Kashmir government has been asked to shift all juveniles, who were arrested for pelting stones and other crimes, to remand homes and review their cases sympathetically, a home ministry, privy to the development said.

The state government is expected to take the initiative to shift the juveniles to remand homes and review their cases soon, the official said.

Top officials of ministries of home and defence, chiefs of intelligence agencies, besides Sharma also attended the meeting.

The Centre's special representative also briefed the union home minister and others about his first round of talks he had with various sections of the society there last week.

Sharma will again visit the state soon to continue his mission of holding a sustained dialogue process.

However, the anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir will go on even though the central government has appointed the special representative to initiate talks with all stakeholders in an effort to bring a lasting peace in Jammu and Kashmir with violence by Pakistan-based militants groups continuing unabated.

Director General of Police of Jammu and Kashmir S P Vaid had recently said that around 170 militants were gunned down by the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir this year.

Two Army soldiers were killed and a CRPF jawan suffered injuries in an encounter in Pulwama district of the state on November 2.

Three militants were gunned down in Pulwama in an encounter in which an Army jawan was also killed on November 6.

Three militants, including Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar's nephew, were gunned down by security forces in Pulwama district on November 7.
A Garud commando of the Indian Air Force (IAF) was also killed, a defence spokesperson said.

Security forces cordoned off and launched a search operation in Chandergeer village in Hajin area of the district after receiving specific intelligence input about the presence of militants in the area, a police official said. (Photo: Representational/PTI)

Srinagar: 6 Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists including 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi's nephew Owaid were gunned down in an encounter in Hajin area of Jammu and Kashmir's northern Bandipore district on Saturday.

A Garud commando of the Indian Air Force was also killed and another Army jawan was injured in the gun battle.

Among the slain militants is Owaid, a son of Zakir Rehman Maki and nephew of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhavi, the mastermind of Mumbai blasts, said Jammu and Kashmirs Director General of Police, Shesh Paul Vaid.

Lakhvi is a top leader of the LeT and currently serves as its supreme commander of operations in Jammu and Kashmir. He figures in the National Investigating Agency (NIA)s most wanted list.

The police chief identified two more slain men as the LeT commanders Zargam and Mehmood and said, All the terrorists neutralised today were Pakistanis.

In a tweet, he also said, The encounter is now finished and was a success. Total of 6 LeT terrorists eliminated. Weapons and ammunition recovered.

The DGP termed the killing of the militants as great success for the security forces including the Armys 13 Rashtriya Rifles, the J&K polices counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) and 45th Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

They had together launched a cordon-and-search-operation after specific inputs about presence of militants in Hajins Chandergeer area earlier during the day.

The fighting broke out soon after the security forces laid siege to the area, 36-km north of summer capital Srinagar, on learning about the presence of militants there, a police spokesman here said.

It is the same area where two IAF commandos Sergeant K Milind Kishor, 33, and Cpl (airman) Nilest Kumar Nayan, 31, and two militants including a Pakistani national were killed and two Army jawans injured in a similar clash on October 11.

Like them, the Garud commando who laid down his life during the fighting on Saturday was part of the counterinsurgency operation for operational experiences and training. the officials said.

Defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said, The name of the IAF martyr will be disclosed to media only after his family is informed about him being no more to follow the practice.

The police officials said that the LeT militants had tried to escape from the security cordon while firing their guns but the security forces foiled it and killed all the six of them one by one.

The clash took place on a day when the security forces in riot gear were enforcing a security lockdown in major parts of Srinagar to hold back protests and possible violence amid heightened tensions over the killing of a militant commander Mugees Ahmed Mir in a shootout in Gulab Bagh area on the peripheries of the capital city.

The incident which took place on Friday evening had also claimed the life of Sub-Inspector Imran Tak of the J&K police besides leaving a Special Police Officer injured.

Thousands of mourners participated in the funeral of the slain militant in Srinagars Parimpora area. Later angry crowds of the youth clashed with the security forces, the witnesses said. The security forces fired teargas canisters to quell stone-throwing mobs.

The authorities had earlier ordered closure of all educational institutions in the Srinagar district for the day. Train services were suspended and internet services were partially withdrawn.

Separatist leaders were either placed under house arrest or detained in police stations as a precautionary measure.
A case has been registered by the police against the school management under Sections 324 and 504 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

'The school manager did not listen to my child; he just cut off his jeans and then used the scissors on his legs,' the victim's father said. (Photo: ANI)

Kanpur: A class 11 student in Kanpur on Saturday suffered cuts on both legs after the school management allegedly used scissors to cut off his jeans as punishment for not wearing school dress.

Vinod Pal, victim's father said, "The school manager did not listen to my child. He just cut off his jeans and then used the scissors on his legs. The manager should have sent him back home if he was not wearing the school dress."

"Such behavior is not tolerable," the angry father said.

A case has been registered by the police against the school management under Sections 324 and 504 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Further details are awaited.
Mufti said that the move would give the desired push the tourism industry the State has been craving for.

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, on Friday sought direct flight operation from the Srinagar airport to the ASEAN countries to boost tourism in the State.

In a letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister, Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, she has said that in order to give fillip to the tourism industry in the State, the Centre should include the Srinagar Airport in the list of the airports in the country from where flights to ASEAN countries are to be operated.

She said that the move would give the desired push the tourism industry the State has been craving for. The operation of flights from and to cities like Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bangkok, Singapore and other cities in the region would have a positive impact on the local tourism industry and bolster the States economy, the letter said.

An official spokesman here said that several deputations from thetTourism industry had met the Chief Minister in last few months and requested for connectivity with ASEAN countries to tap the tourism market in the region.

In another communication to Union Agriculture Minister, Radha Mohan Singh, Mehbooba Mufti has sought continuation of Central assistance to the local poultry industry, extension of loan recovery period and waiving of interest in respect of unit holders to sustain their business which suffered heavily due to floods of 2014 besides the high cost of feed imported from neighbouring States.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Education and Toursim, Priya Sethi, said on Friday that the State government is working on developing religious places to tap pilgrim tourism potential. She said that the PDP-BJP coalition government is determined to promote historically significant religious places of worship to tap every aspect of pilgrim tourism.

She said, The City of Temples Jammu has great potential in the field of tourism as edifices, monuments, religious and other scenic places, which reflect the culture and tradition. She added that Jammu has set a great example of religious harmony and development of religious places for the promotion of pilgrim tourism in the region is the utmost priority of the government. She also said that the idea of pilgrim tourism is to showcase to the world States rich and diverse spiritual and religious heritage.
Union MSME minister Giriraj Singh said the concerns of the business community were being addressed by the government.

In October, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had lashed out at the Modi government, calling the GST - 'Gabbar Singh Tax', meant to extort money from people. (Photo:PTI)

Bhopal: In a retort to Rahul Gandhi's jibe terming the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as 'Gabbar Singh Tax', Union minister Giriraj Singh on Friday said the body language of the Congress leader resembled that of Gabbar Singh, the tobacco-chewing dacoit made famous by actor Amjad Khan in film 'Sholay'.

In October, Rahul Gandhi had lashed out at the Modi government, calling the GST - 'Gabbar Singh Tax', meant to extort money from people.

"Some people are making a hue and cry. The prince (Rahul) is saying that this is 'Gabbar Singh GST'. This is not Gabbar Singh tax. You are making a mistake. Your language resembles that of Gabbar Singh. Your body language resembles that of Gabbar Singh," Singh said.

The Union Minister of State (independent charge) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) was addressing a convention of small and medium entrepreneurs at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.

"Behind closed doors, your finance ministers (of Congress ruled states) extend support to the GST, but outside, you term it as Gabbar Singh Tax. These are double standards," he said.

Singh said the concerns of the business community were being addressed by the government.

In a tweet last week, Gandhi stated, "We will not allow BJP to impose a Gabbar Singh Tax on India. They cannot break the back of the small and medium businesses, crush the informal sector and destroy millions of jobs."

The Congress vice president repeated his jibe at election rallies in Gujarat.

Singh claimed that MSME sector provided jobs to around 10 crore youth. 80 per cent of jobs, he said, were provided by the small and medium businesses with only 20 per cent of total investment, while 80 per cent money was invested in big businesses that employed only 20 per cent of the industrial work force.

Singh defended demonetisation, and said despite facing problems people's faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained unshaken.

"(BR) Ambedkar had also suggested that currency should be demonetised every 10 years. But Indira Gandhi (former prime minister) could not dare to demonetise the currency," he added.

In his address, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the US adopted talent from across the world and that led to its success.

"If there were no Indian doctors, half the US would remain ill," he said.

At the convention, Chouhan announced sops for the state's MSMEs, including 40 per cent subsidy on the machinery required for setting up small-scale industries as the previous subsidy regime ended upon introduction of the GST.

He also said that the small-size plots would be provided to the MSMEs as per their need, besides simplification of other rules.

A large number of small and medium-size entrepreneurs are attending the two-day convention.
News / National

by Staff reporter

A Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander has urged the country's uniformed forces are there to protect the country at all cost.These officers and non commissioned officers have just finished some top courses in communication at this school of signals and are graduating with one vision to defend the country's national integrity'.Addressing delegates during a graduation ceremony at the Zimbabwe National Army School of Signals today, Commander Bulawayo Brigade Colonel Ratham Moyo said the uniformed forces should protect the country at all times.Colonel Moyo said the destiny of this country should be guided by its touching history which saw several men and women perishing in their quest to see a liberated Zimbabwe.The Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander said the country's economic fortunes will soon change for better as government will soon be fully implementing sanctions busting measures like the economic blue print ZIM ASSET at full throttle.The graduation ceremony which comprised members of the national army and the Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Services witnessed a number of outstanding students walking away with various prizes.
At Banswara and Jhalawar the number of foreign tourists arrival has been growing steadily.

Jaipur: This is a sort of migration no one objects to. In fact, everyone eagerly waits for it as it relates to migratory birds, mainly from Europe, Central Asia, China and Mongolia, which attract tourists and boost Rajasthans economy.

Between August and January, the state becomes a second home for demoiselle crane, rosy pelican, painted stork, flamingo, bar headed geese, spot bill duck, black headed ibis, mallard common teal, common pochard, pintail, shoveler, tufted duck, wigeon, brahmini ducks and coots.

The winged visitors draw ornithologists, photographers and ordinary bird watchers during these months, bringing cheer to all those associated with the tourism sector.

Till a few years back, Bharatpur was the only destination for lovers of migratory birds, however, with their wetlands, thick forests and water bodies, four districts of Hadauti, Bundi, Baran and Jhalawar are also growing in popularity.

According to Kotas assistant tourism officer Sandeep Shrivastava, abundant food at the aquatic sites and absence of poaching in the pollution-free belt provides safe habitation to birds.

A colony of painted stork in Udpuria village is one such sought-after destination, he added. The Wagad region in west Rajasthan has nearly 21 dams and Indira Gandhi Canal that attract birds.

More and more migratory birds have been coming to the Wagad belt due to the large number of water bodies , said Kamlesh Sharma, public relation officer at Banswara.

Udaipur-based Anil Rodgers, who is involved in studies and creating public awareness on migratory birds, said, Arrival of birds has boosted tourism and created income opportunities for the locals in areas like c, hitherto, not frequented by tourists.

Hari Mohan Meena, wildlife researcher and a programme coordinator at the Society of Conservation of Historical and Ecological Resources, said that migratory birds had been frequenting these places for ages but they have come into spotlight in recent years.

Sandeep Sharma, now preparing for the third bird fair in Kota, agreed. We have taken the initiative to raise public awareness on the importance of birds, he said.

At Banswara and Jhalawar the number of foreign tourists arrival has been growing steadily. Banswara received 139 tourists in 2016 compared to 82 in the previous year, while number of tourists in Jhalawar had gone up from 80 in 2013 to 130 in 2016.
Congress sources said that the Patidar outfit wants to field its own candidates in 30 seats, a claim denied by Mr Patel.

New Delhi: As the last date of filing nominations for the first phase of Gujarat elections inches closer, sources said intense bargaining is on between the Congress and its alliance partner, Hardik Patels Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS).

Congress sources said that the Patidar outfit wants to field its own candidates in 30 seats, a claim denied by Mr Patel.

We have not sought tickets. Our agenda is reservation and will remain so. We want the Patel community to get reservation, Mr Patel said in a media interview.

On Saturday, while Mr Patel sought to show his strength by holding a prestige rally at BJP president Amit Shahs home town in Mansa, Gujarat, defying official restriction, the Congress was grappling with a 24-hour deadline, ending on Saturday night, set by the Patidar leader to come clean on seats and the reservation issue. Mr Patel expressed hope that all sticky issues will be resolved in talks with the Congress.

There is a political issue. I am confident the matter will be resolved by evening, Mr Patel said.

Congress sources said some PAAS leaders were in Delhi on Friday to discuss pending, thorny issues.

They maintained that PAAS had sought 30 seats but a settlement could not be reached as Congress leaders were busy discussing their own list. Backdoor parleys are on and a settlement is expected soon, a source said.

Ashok Gehlot, Congress general secretary incharge for Gujarat, said, We are finalising our list and will release it soon. We have authorised our state unit chief to speak to our alliance partners and settle the issue.

Earlier, despite refusal of permission by police, Mr Patel went ahead and addressed the Mansa rally on Saturday.

The Patidar leader hit out at the BJP government for threatening his supporters and withdrawing permission for the rally.

Mansa is the place where the Patidar reservation demand and agitation began in 2015. Hours before Mr Patels supporters started gathering in Mansa, about 40 km from Ahmedabad, a prominent leader of the Patidar quota protest movement, Ketan Patel, joined the BJP, which named 36 candidates in its second list for the polls.

The Patidars comprise around 12 per cent of the states population and can influence the outcome in 60-odd seats in the 182-member Assembly.

November 21 is the last date for filing nominations for the 89 seats going to polls in the first phase on December 9. The second phase of voting will take place on December 14. Election results will be out on December 18.

Last week senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal was in Ahmedabad to meet PAAS leaders to discuss constitutional options for giving reservation to Patels in government jobs and colleges.

According to PAAS leaders, the Congress had offered an arrangement under Article 31 and 38(2) of the Constitution, though it would not be within the 49 per cent existing quotas for reserved categories.

The Central Election Committee of the Congress has met twice in the last one week to clear the names of its candidates for Gujarat. The NCP and Sharad Yadav faction of the JD(U) have already announced that they will contest Gujarat elections in an alliance with Congress.
Make public final price of each aircraft, says Rahul Gandhi.

New Delhi/Jaipur: A day after defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman had hit out at the Congress and termed its allegation on the Rafale deal as shameful, French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the fighter jet deal would bolster Indias security and was a win-win partnership between the countries.

Speaking at the launch of Bonjour India 2017-18, a four-month-long event to mark Indo-French partnership, the Mr Le Drian was quoted by news agencies as saying, It (the Rafale deal) is really a win-win partnership. To a question on the row over the fighter jet deal, he said, I read the statement of the defence minister of India, who explains how the purchase of 36 Rafales has been a very good opportunity for Indias security and a very good opportunity to work in the context of Make In India as well.

But Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, undeterred, continued his attack on the deal.

Responding to Ms Sitharamans comments, Mr Gandhi tweeted on Saturday, Whats shameful is your boss silencing you.

Mr Gandhi also asked the defence minister about the pricing of the Rafale jets. Final price of each Rafale jet? Did the Prime Minister take permission of the Cabinet Committee on Security before announcing the purchase in Paris? And why did the Prime Minister bypass experienced Hindustan Aeronautical Limited? Mr Gandhi asked.

The Congress and the BJP have been exchanging barbs over the Rafale aircraft deal, with Mr Gandhi accusing the Prime Minister of allegedly changing the entire deal to benefit a businessman, a charge debunked by the ruling party.

India had inked an inter-governmental agreement with France in September last year for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs 58,000 crore, nearly one- and-half years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the proposal during a visit to Paris. The delivery of the jets is scheduled to begin from September 2019.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, Ms Sitharaman had dismissed the Congress charge of irregularity in the deal, and claimed it was cheaper than what was negotiated under the previous multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) deal under which 126 fighter jets were to be bought. She also said that her government had addressed the vacuum in the national security structure created by the indecisiveness of the UPA dispensation by immediately going for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter planes in a fly-away condition.

However, CPIM(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said that Ms Sitharamans statement on the Rafale jet fighter deal has raised more questions than answers. He said he would like to know why comparative prices between the earlier scrapped deal for 126 fighter jets and the present one for 36 aircraft had not been shared.

The defence ministers press conference raises more questions than it answers about the Rafale deal. Why have comparative prices not been shared, as the Modi government claims it bought Rafales cheaper? Mr Yechury tweeted on Saturday.
Kumar has already decided to field around 12 candidates in the tribal belt of Gujarat where the JD(U) has traditionally been strong.

New Delhi: The JD(U) faction led by Nitish Kumar on Friday managed to keep the arrow symbol of the party with the Election Commission ruling that the group led by the Bihar chief minister has demonstrated overwhelming majority support in the legislature.

The group led by Nitish Kumar is hereby recognised as the Janata Dal (United)... Consequently, the group led by Nitish Kumar is entitled to use the reserved symbol Arrow of the party as a recognised state party in Bihar, the EC said in its order.

The EC ruling comes as a setback for the partys faction led by senior leader Sharad Yadav who is fighting the coming Assembly polls in Gujarat in an alliance with the Congress.

Sources said that Mr Yadav-backed candidates, headed by tribal leader Chotubhai Vasava, will now be contesting the December 9 and 14 Assembly polls as independents or under the Congress symbol.

The JD(U), which is a recognised state party in Bihar, had split when Mr Kumar had decided to walk out of the Grand Alliance in Bihar in which the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress were partners.

Mr Kumar has already decided to field around 12 candidates in the tribal belt of Gujarat where the JD(U) has traditionally been strong.

While senior lawyer and Congress leader Kapil Sibal argued for the Sharad Yadav camp, Rakesh Dwivedi appeared on behalf of the Nitish Kumar group in the hearing before the EC.

The commission said that the test of majority support as upheld by Supreme Court in Sadiq Ali versus EC applies in the case like all prior party symbol controversies.

Mr Yadav has been maintaining that the faction led by him is the real JD(U) though his factions working president Chhotubhai Amarsang Vasava moved the poll panel staking claim over the party and its election symbol.

In a press statement, JD(U) national secretary K.C. Tyagi asked all rebel members to come back into the party fold.
Le Drians visit was also to prepare the groundwork for the visit of French President c early next year.

New Delhi: After extensive talks between visiting French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi, India and France on Friday decided to strengthen cooperation both in fighting terrorism as well as in the strategic Indian Ocean region, with France too being an Indian Ocean-rim country with island territories. The strengthening of cooperation in the Indian Ocean comes, even as India, Japan, the US and Australia could be part of a formalised quadrilateral arrangement in the Indo-Pacific region. Mr Le Drians visit was also to prepare the groundwork for the visit of French President c early next year. Mr Le Drian also called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi who said that the significance of India-France Strategic Partnership is not limited to the bilateral context, but acts as a force for peace and stability in the regional and global context as well.

Expressing deep concern over the increasing terrorism in the world, we decided that the two countries have to come together and resolve to remove this evil and we have made an appeal to all the countries of the world that they should collectively protest against all nations who provide sanctuary to terrorism, finance terrorism, and support terrorism, Ms Swaraj said at a joint press event with the French minister.
After Rahul Gandhi takes over as president, there will be structural changes in the Congress organisation.

New Delhi: The decks have finally been cleared for Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to take over the reigns of the party. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has called the meeting of the apex decision making body, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Monday November 20. The CWC is expected to ratify the schedule of the elections to the post of the Congress president as proposed by the Central Election Authority of the Congress.

The internal elections of the Congress concluded in October. Several state units including Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have already passed resolutions urging Mr Gandhi to take over as the president of the party. Mr Gandhi was expected to takeover as the president of the party before October 31st but got delayed due to the upcoming assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh on November 9. After that, Mr Gandhi was away to Gujarat to take part in the Navsarjan Yatra.

Insiders claim that Mr Gandhi will be the only filing nomination for the post. Usually, the schedule will be of around 15 days but in all probability, Mr Gandhi will be elected unopposed on the date of withdrawing nominations. This could well be before the first phase of polling in Gujarat which takes place on December 9.

After Mr Gandhi takes over as president, there will be structural changes in the Congress organisation. There will be two leaders who will be appointed to assist Mr Gandhi in tackling the affairs of the party.
The new owner was not identified.

The necklace, known as the Art of de GRISOGONO, Creation 1, has a rectangular diamond weighing 163.41 carats as its centerpiece. (Photo: Facebook/de GRISOGONO)

An emerald and diamond necklace set with the largest flawless white diamond ever to come to auction has sold for a world record 33.5 million Swiss francs ($34 million), the star lot at a Geneva sale, Christies said.

The necklace, known as the Art of de GRISOGONO, Creation 1, has a rectangular diamond weighing 163.41 carats as its centerpiece. The stone, found in Angola in 2016, is framed on one side by rows of diamonds and on the other by pear-shaped emeralds.

The buyer, bidding by telephone at Tuesday nights sale, will remain anonymous, Christies said in a statement. The pre-sale estimate was $25 million to $30 million.

The diamond is more than 40 percent larger than a flawless white oval diamond of 118.28 carats sold by rival Sothebys in 2013 in Hong Kong for $30.6 million, yet the price fails to reflect that, said Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77Diamonds.com, Europes largest online diamond jeweler.

This is a worrying sign for the top end of the diamond market suggesting it is not as immune as one would have hoped to downward price pressures caused by global factors such as the Chinese slowdown, Russian sanctions and lower oil prices, he said in a statement.

The second top lot was a light pink diamond that belonged to French royalty for two centuries. Weighing 19.07 carats, it fetched 14.37 million Swiss francs, roughly double its pre-sale estimate, Christies said.

Called Le Grand Mazarin, it takes its name from Cardinal Mazarin, who become Frances Chief Minister in 1642 and assembled a gem collection. The stone then became part of the French crown jewels.

During its 250 years in the French Crown Treasury, it belonged to four kings (Louis XIV, Louis XV, Louis XVI and Charles X), two emperors (Napoleon I and Napoleon III) and two empresses, Christies said. It was sold to Frederic Boucheron, one of the favoured jewelers of Frances great families, at auction in 1887 before passing into a private collection.

The new owner was not identified.

At Sothebys on Wednesday, the star lot will be The Raj Pink, the worlds largest known fancy intense pink diamond. Found in South Africa in 2015, it weighs 37.30 carats and is estimated at $20 million to $30 million.
The Navy apologizes for this irresponsible and immature act, a spokesperson said.

Navy officials acknowledged one of their crews was behind the stunt, saying the aircraft "left a condensed air trail resembling an obscene image to observers on the ground." (Photo: Representational Image/ Pixabay)

In a bizarre incident, the US Navy was left embarrassed after a pilot painted an enormous outline of a penis in the sky using condensation trails from his warplane.

Residents of the town of Okangon, were stunned to see the F-18 jet scrawling the phallic symbol on Thursday with the image going viral very soon.

Navy officials acknowledged one of their crews was behind the stunt, saying the aircraft "left a condensed air trail resembling an obscene image to observers on the ground."

Speaking about it ," Lieutenant Commander Leslie Hubbell, a spokeswoman for the Naval Air Station on Whidbey Island, said in a statement, "The actions of this aircrew were wholly unacceptable and antithetical to Navy core values."

The statement further added that they have grounded the aircrew and are conducting a thorough investigation of the same.

"The Navy apologizes for this irresponsible and immature act," she added.

Many onlookers on the ground posted images of the drawing on social media and appeared amused by the stunt.

According to one Ramon Duran who spoke to The Spokesman-Review, he was running errands when he noticed the jet drawing the male genitalia.

"After it made the circles at the bottom, I knew what it was and started laughing," Duran said.
The study appears in journal Psychological Science.

Children who have been spanked by their parents show an increase in behaviour problems relative to children who have never been spanked. (Photo: Pixabay)

Parents, you may want to avoid spanking your kids, suggests a recent study.

Children who have been spanked by their parents by age 5 show an increase in behaviour problems at age 6 and age 8 relative to children who have never been spanked, according to new findings.

The study, which uses a statistical technique to approximate random assignment, indicated that this increase in behaviour problems cannot be attributed to various characteristics of the child, the parents, or the home environment - rather, it seems to be the specific result of spanking.

Lead author Elizabeth T. Gershoff (University of Texas at Austin) said that the findings suggest that spanking is not an effective technique and actually makes children's behaviour worse not better.

Historically, trying to determine whether parents' use of spanking actually causes children to develop behaviour problems has been difficult, because researchers cannot ethically conduct experiments that randomly assign parents to spank or not.

Gershoff and coauthors Kierra M. P. Sattler (University of Texas at Austin) and Arya Ansari (University of Virginia) examined data from 12,112 children who participated in the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. When the children were 5 years old, their parents reported how many times they had spanked their child in the past week (if any). The researchers classified any child whose parent provided a number other than zero as having been spanked.

The researchers then matched children who had been spanked with those who hadn't according to 38 child- and family-related characteristics, including: the child's age, gender, overall health, and behaviour problems at age 5; the parent's education, age, and marital status; the family socioeconomic status and household size; and factors related to parenting quality and conflict in the home.

Pairing the children in this way yielded two groups of children whose main difference was whether their parents had spanked them, effectively accounting for other factors that could plausibly influence the behaviour of both parent and child. This approach allowed the researchers to approximate the random assignment of participants to groups, a hallmark of experimental design.

To gauge children's behaviour problems over time, Gershoff, Sattler, and Ansari examined teachers' ratings when the children were 5, 6, and 8 years old. Children's teachers reported the frequency with which the children argued, fought, got angry, acted impulsively, and disturbed ongoing activities.

The results were clear: Children who had been spanked at age 5 showed greater increases in behavior problems by age 6 and also by age 8 when compared with children who had never been spanked.

"The fact that knowing whether a child had ever been spanked was enough to predict their levels of behavior problems years later was a bit surprising," said Gershoff. "It suggests that spanking at any frequency is potentially harmful to children."

"Although dozens of studies have linked early spanking with later child behavior problems, this is the first to do so with a statistical method that approximates an experiment," she concluded.

The study appears in journal Psychological Science.
The woman was brave enough to fight back, but there are many who cant.

New Delhi: Standing up in solidarity with this newspapers journalist, who was mol-ested and attacked insi-de the Delhi Metro premises, Nirbhayas mother Asha Devi lashed out at the deteriorating law and order situation in the national capital. Nothing has changed in last five years. Despite tall claims made by the government and the police after December 16, 2012, the system doesnt have an account of as to how many girl child and women are being raped on a daily basis, she said.

The woman was brave enough to fight back, but there are many who cant. Just as a girl or a woman is questioned repeatedly about how it happened, why are culprits who have been arrested not meted out with the same treatment. In last five years, nothing has changed and its a shame that despite several incidents being reported daily, the authorities concerned are unmoved, Asha Devi added.

Reacting on the molestation-cum-assault case, DCW chief Swati Jaihind said, I feel strongly for the two women who came out and fought the molester. We have issued a notice to DMRC in this regard and have questioned them over the isolated spots, why was there no security and why the complainant was made to wait for so long?
News / National

by Staff reporter

Prophetic Healing and Deliverance (PHD) Ministries leader, Prophet Walter Magaya has been conferred with an honorary doctorate in theology by the University of South Africa (UNISA).Hundreds of people gathered at the Miriam Makeba Memorial Hall at the UNISA campus in Pretoria to witness the event.Guest of honor at the event, Dr Kangwa said graduates need to be very responsible as the cap of honor bestowed on them demands them to work extra hard."You must carry the responsibility of your qualifications to add value to the society they belong to," he said.Also among the graduates was Dr Miriam Jukulu from Tanzania, who emphasised that this certification has rejuvenated her and is raring to go and deliver back home in Tanzania.Dr Magaya said he feels honored and is going to work extra hard to save the entire populace of Zimbabwe and beyond.The graduates were drawn from SADC countries which included South Africa, Lesotho, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The move has come after doctors are seen dodging rural duties.

The state health department has taken this decision with the aim of encouraging maximum doctors to work and serve in rural areas. (Representational Image)

Mumbai: The state health department is going to provide extra allowance/incentives for doctors serving in rural areas. The move has come after doctors are seen dodging rural duties.

With the decision, the doctors will get overtime for the extra hours they work. Doctors working in rural areas earn Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000. But, they have to work more than eight hours or attend emergencies and Out Patient Department (OPD). According to the decision, doctors will now earn up to Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh.

The state health department has taken this decision with the aim of encouraging maximum doctors to work and serve in rural areas. According to officials, the decision of giving extra money for overtime is in favour of doctors who want to work in rural areas and earn decent amount.

Talking to The Asian Age, Dr Sanjeev Kumar, commissioner, National Health Mission (NHM) said,  The funding initiative will make doctors serve more in rural areas and we are also open to other offers in case a doctor brings up some new ideas with the district committee for serving in counter parts of areas.

When Dr Kumar was asked about how the remuneration will play out, said,  The remuneration is depending on the performance of doctor which is going to be linked to their bio-metric attendance. If a medico manages to perform more than 20 to 30 surgeries per month, the amount would be credited into his or her account.
Mumbai police has already provided security at the actress' residence and office on her request.

Mumbai: Deven Bharti, joint commissioner of police (law and order), on Friday warned people protesting the soon-to-be-released film Padmavati, not to be "adventurous" and commit any crime after a threat was issued by the Shri Rajput Karni Sena to the film's lead actress, Deepika Padukone.

Mumbai police has already provided security at the actress' residence and office on her request. A senior police official also said that security will be provided to any person who is linked with the film, collectively or individually. Mr Bharti said, "Any individual or group, which attempts to be adventurous, will be dealt with sternly and will face strict legal action."

Mr Bharti added, "Police does not interfere with protests carried out in a democratic manner. We are committed to provide security to everyone individually or collectively and have taken adequate measures. We assure that we will not allow miscreants to create any problem."
As per figures gathered from canteen sources, 30-40,000 small 250 ml water bottles are purchased from them every month.

Mumbai: In its bid to implement the plastic ban very strictly across the state, the Maharashtra government will include a provision of three to six months imprisonment and a hefty fine for offenders, environment minister Ramdas Kadam told The Asian Age on Friday.

The ban will be imposed after giving people options and a proper time frame by which its use has to be phased out. So we have decided to implement the ban from Gudi Padwa, which will be held in March next year, he clarified.

Mr Kadam said, The plastic ban has been well implemented in Canada and few other countries as well as in Kerala and Himachal Pradesh in our country. So I am sending four teams to study and submit a report in 15 days on the act, rules, various legal provisions, modes of implementation as well as alternative solutions offered. We will also study and make necessary amendments in the act in the upcoming session.

A time frame of 4-5 months is sufficient to discover alternatives for plastic.

The minister also clarified, We will enforce the law strictly, so we are making punishment of 3-6 months and or fine for repeated offenders. Initially, we will impose a fine, but habitual offenders will be sent behind bars.

So now milk in plastic bags will not be allowed. It will have to be provided in glass bottles and tetra packs. Cold drinks in plastic bottles, water bottles and use of plastic in packaging, including food items will also be banned, Mr Kadam said.

Mr Kadam also said that he would request all ministers and bureaucrats not to use plastic water bottles. More water filters and necessary arrangements will be done at Mantralaya so as to serve water in a glass for all. It will help the environment as well as reduce expenses too, he said.

Though the state government has decided to ban plastic water bottles in Mantralaya as part of its plan to ban plastic across the state, such bottles are preferred by ministers and top bureaucrats, even though purified water coolers an filters are available on every floor of the building. The monthly cost incurred by government toward this is around Rs 3 lakh per month. However, this is only from the Mantralaya canteen, and there is no accounting for the number of bottles purchased from outside. During the regime of the earlier government, water was served in glasses.

As per figures gathered from canteen sources, 30-40,000 small 250 ml water bottles are purchased from them every month. This bottle is sold for Rs 5 in the market while its price in the canteen is Rs 7. Most ministers remain in Matralaya for only 5-6 days in a month. Many of them are directly purchasing from markets as well.
Elizabeth and Philip will spend the day with other members of the royal family, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said.

Despite three of their four children having divorced, this royal union has endured through the decades without any public hint of marital strife. (Photo: AP)

London: He accepted living in her shadow. She forgave his periodic gaffes.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip will celebrate their platinum wedding anniversary on November 20, marking 70 years since they married in the splendour of Westminster Abbey.

Despite three of their four children (Charles, Anne and Andrew) having divorced, this royal union has endured through the decades without any public hint of marital strife.

Now, they join a small club of couples who have spent seven decades together.

No events are planned to celebrate their landmark, but the bells of Westminster Abbey will ring at 1300 GMT in tribute.

Elizabeth and Philip will spend the day with other members of the royal family, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said.

After 70 years of marriage it's a burgeoning clan, with four children, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

They expect to welcome a sixth great-grandchild in April, when Prince William and wife Kate Middleton's third child is due.

The 96-year-old Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, retired from the public eye this summer, enjoying his newfound free time reading and painting.

For her part the Queen, at 91, is slowly passing over some of her official duties to her son Prince Charles, now aged 69.

Meeting at 13 years-old

It was a version of love at first sight.

Elizabeth was aged just 13 when she first laid eyes on her future husband Philip, then a dashing 18-year-old blond army officer.

The pair may have met in their teens, but it would be eight years until the nation celebrated with pomp their fairy-tale wedding at Westminster's famous abbey on November 20, 1947.

The princess dazzled, dressed in a satin dress embroidered with roses and decorated with 10,000 pearls and sparkling crystals.

In this post-war period, it was "a flash of colour on the difficult road we're taking," said Winston Churchill, leader of a Conservative Party then in opposition.

Fresh memories of the war and fears of anti-German sentiment meant several of Prince Philip's German relatives - including his three surviving sisters - were not invited to the ceremony.

Prior to the wedding, the Queen Mother asked her future son-in-law if he would cherish her daughter.

"Cherish Lilibet? I wonder if that word is enough to express what is in me," he replied, using the Queen's childhood nickname.

He went on to say that he had "fallen in love completely and unreservedly" with her.

Read: As Queen Elizabeth takes a back seat, Prince Charles steps up

Sacrifices

After their honeymoon - at Balmoral, the Scottish holiday estate of the royal family - the newlyweds moved to Malta where Philip, a naval officer, had been stationed.

However, the premature death of King George VI, in 1952, put an end to the more carefree life the young couple had adopted on the Mediterranean island, and propelled Elizabeth to the throne.

It also forced Philip to sacrifice his career in the Royal Navy to become the Queen's spouse.

The son of a Greek prince banished from the country, he renounced his titles and Greek Orthodox faith and became a British citizen to marry Elizabeth, adopting his mother's anglicised name, Mountbatten.

But their children would take the Queen's family name, Windsor.

On his 90th birthday in 2011, she surprised her husband by making him Lord High Admiral, the titular head of the Royal Navy and a role she had held since 1964.

It was reported to be a show of gratitude for his decades of unstinting support as her consort.

That support has come alongside a steady stream of gaffes, sometimes with xenophobic hints, which the Queen appears to have forgiven him for.

"I think the main lesson that we have learnt is that tolerance is the one essential ingredient of any happy marriage," Philip said in a golden wedding anniversary speech in 1997.

"You can take it from me that The Queen has the quality of tolerance in abundance."

The man she referred to as her "rock," also once remarked: "My job first, second and last, is never to let the Queen down."
Autofill with Google can seamlessly share logins across websites and mobile apps.

Users can choose from multiple Autofill services (similar to keyboards today). By default, Google includes Autofill, but users can also select any third party Autofill app of their choice.

Starting in Oreo, Autofill makes it easy for users to provide credit cards, logins, addresses, and other information to apps. Forms in your apps can now be filled automatically, and your users no longer have to remember complicated passwords or type the same bits of information more than once.

Users can choose from multiple Autofill services (similar to keyboards today). By default, Google includes Autofill, but users can also select any third party Autofill app of their choice. Users can manage this from Settings->System->Languages>Advanced->Autofill service.

Now, Autofill with Google supports filing credit cards, addresses, logins, names, and phone numbers. When logging in or creating an account for the first time, Autofill also allows users to save the new credentials to their account. If you use WebViews in your app, which many apps do for logins and other screens, your users can now also benefit from Autofill support, as long as they have Chrome 61 or later installed.

The Autofill API is open for anyone to implement a service. Google is actively working with 1Password, Dashlane, Keeper, and LastPass to help them with their implementations towards becoming certified on Android. Google will be certifying password managers and adding them to a curated section in the Play Store, which the "Add service" button in settings will link to. If you are a password manager and would like to be certified, you can get in touch with Google.

What you need to do as a developer

As an app developer, there are a few simple things you can do to take advantage of this new functionality and make sure that it works in your apps:

Test your app and annotate your views if needed

In many cases, Autofill may work in your app without any effort. But to ensure consistent behavior, it is recommended providing explicit hints to tell the framework about the contents of your field. You can do this using either the android:autofillHints attribute or the setAutofillHints() method.

Similarly, with WebViews in your apps, you can use HTML Autocomplete Attributes to provide hints about fields. Autofill will work in WebViews as long as you have Chrome 61 or later installed on your device. Even if your app is using custom views, you can also define the metadata that allows autofill to work.

For views where Autofill does not make sense, such as a Captcha or a message compose box, you can explicitly mark the view as IMPORTANT_FOR_AUTOFILL_NO (or IMPORTANT_FOR_AUTOFILL_NO_EXCLUDE_DESCENDANTS in the root of a view hierarchy). Use this field responsibly, and remember that users can always bypass this by long pressing an EditText and selecting "Autofill" in the overflow menu.

Affiliate your website and mobile app

Autofill with Google can seamlessly share logins across websites and mobile apps  passwords saved through Chrome can also be provided to native apps. But in order for this to work, as an app developer, you must explicitly declare the association between your website with your mobile app. This involves 2 steps:

Step 1: Host a JSON file at yourdomain.com/.well-known/assetlinks.json

If you've used technologies like App Links or Google Smart Lock before, you might have heard about the Digital Asset Links (DAL) file. It's a JSON file placed under a well known location in your website that lets you make public, verifiable statements about other apps or websites.

You should follow the Smart Lock for Passwords guide for information about how to create and host the DAL file correctly on your server. Even though Smart Lock is a more advanced way of signing users into your app, our Autofill service uses the same infrastructure to verify app-website associations. What's more, because DAL files are public, third-party Autofill service developers can also use the association information to secure their implementations.

Step 2: Update your App's Manifest with the same information

Once again, follow the Smart Lock for Passwords guide to do this, under "Declare the association in the Android app."

You'll need to update your app's manifest file with an asset_statements resource, which links to the URL where your assetlinks.json file is hosted. Once that's done, you'll need to submit your updated app to the Play Store, and fill out the Affiliation Submission Form for the association to go live.

When using Android Studio 3.0, the App Links Assistant can generate all of this for you. When you open the DAL generator tool (Tools -> App Links Assistant -> Open Digital Asset Links File Generator), simply make sure you enable the new checkbox labeled "Support sharing credentials between the app and website".

Then, click on "Generate Digital Asset Links file", and copy the preview content to the DAL file hosted on your server and in your app. Please remember to verify that the selected domain names and certificates are correct.

Future work

It's still very early days for Autofill in Android. Google is continuing to make some major investments going forward to improve the experience, whether you use Autofill with Google or a third party password manager.

Some of our key areas of investment include:

Autofill with Google: Google wants to provide a great experience out of the box, so they include Autofill with Google with all Oreo devices. Google is constantly improving our field detection and data quality, as well as expanding our support for saving more types of data.

WebView support: Google introduced initial support for filling WebViews in Chrome 61, and we'll be continuing to test, harden, and make improvements to this integration over time, so if your app uses WebViews you'll still be able to benefit from this functionality.

Third party app support: Google is working with the ecosystem to make sure that apps work as intended with the Autofill framework. Google urges you as developers to give your app a spin on Android Oreo and make sure that things work as expected with Autofill enabled. For more info, check out the full documentation on the Autofill Framework.
The Summit in Hyderabad, to be attended by 1,500 entrepreneurs from 170 countries, will be co-hosted by India and the US.

Narendra Modi during his visit to the White House in June had invited Ivanka Trump, 36, to visit India. (Photo: File)

Washington: US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, who is also a top White House advisor, will be leading the American contingent at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India later in November, the State Department has announced.

The Summit in Hyderabad, to be attended by 1,500 entrepreneurs from 170 countries, will be co-hosted by India and the US.

The theme for the mega event will be 'Women First, Prosperity for All' and on supporting women entrepreneurs and fostering economic growth globally.

Narendra Modi during his visit to the White House in June had invited Ivanka Trump, 36, to visit India.

During the Summit, following closely on the heels of the Global Entrepreneurship Week, the attendees will participate interactive discussions and workshops, spread over three days, with accomplished entrepreneurs and investors who will share their knowledge and experience on how to start and scale a business.

The State Department said Friday in a statement that it is working with selected partners through the SPARK Global Entrepreneurship Private Sector Coalition, led by the Global Entrepreneurship Network.

In addition to the Global Entrepreneurship Network, several US companies such as Amazon, Amway, CNBC, Cognizant, Dell, Google, Intel, Kauffman Foundation, Salesforce, Silicon Valley Bank and Walmart are supporting the GES 2017.

"The financial and in kind support from the GES partners opens opportunities for more entrepreneurs to participate from around the world.

"Partners also enhance the overall experience at the Summit, including through the creation of networking lounges and a Global Launch Lounge to encourage new commitments toward global entrepreneurship," the State Department said.

"Partners will also provide direct services for the entrepreneurs including live streaming sessions, global media coverage and programs to help entrepreneurs continue to grow and scale after the summit," it added.
Jadhav has filed an appeal with Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa to seek clemency, which is still pending.

Former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of 'espionage'. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: Pakistan on Saturday said it is considering a request from India to let the mother of imprisoned former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav meet him, apart from his wife who has already received permission to visit the prisoner.

Mr Jadhav has already been sentenced to death by a Pakistani Army court on charges of espionage and sabotage while India has dismissed the allegations against him and had demanded consular access. Pakistan had recently made the offer which it had described as humanitarian.

According to news agency reports from Islamabad, Pakistan foreign office (FO) sources said India in response has again asked Pakistan to issue a visa to Jadhavs mother so she can also visit her imprisoned son. FO spokesman Mohammad Faisal confirmed that India has responded to Pakistans offer. Indian reply to Pakistans humanitarian offer for Commander Jadhav received & is being considered, he tweeted.

Mr Jadhavs mercy plea is currently pending before the Pakistan Army Chief. Pakistan claims he was captured last year from its restive Balochistan province while India has alleged that Jadhav, after his retirement from the Navy, worked as a businessman in Iran from where he was kidnapped. India had approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) earlier this year following the sentencing of Jadhav to death by the Pakistani military court. Pakistan is still refusing to give India consular access to Jadhav. Jadhavs parents had earlier requested Pakistan to grant them a visa to see their son.

Pakistans humanitarian offer had triggered tremendous speculation that the two countries could be moving towards some sort of understanding on the issue which in turn could see rock-bottom ties improving. Both countries have released each others fishermen from captivity in recent times. India has also been granting medical visas on humanitarian grounds to ill Pakistanis desperately needing treatment in India.
Mr Song's trip comes just a week after Donald Trump visited Beijing as part of an Asia tour.

Mr Song has already visited Vietnam and Laos to inform them of the results of the congress, a typical courtesy China extends other communist countries after such important meetings. (Photo: AP)

Seoul: China's special envoy on North Korea met high-ranking North Korean official Choe Ryong Hae after he arrived in the capital, Pyongyang, the North's official KCNA news agency said Saturday.

Special representative Song Tao, the head of the ruling Communist Party's external affairs department, informed Mr Choe about China's 19th National Congress "in detail," and stressed China's stance to steadily develop the traditionally friendly relations between the two parties and countries, KCNA said.

China has yet to offer any details of Mr Song's visit, which began Friday, and it is unclear how long he will be in North Korea.

The influential state-run Chinese tabloid the Global Times said in an editorial that it was unwise to expect too much from his trip, saying his key mission was to inform North Korea about the recently concluded Communist Party Congress in Beijing.

"Song is not a magician," the newspaper said.

Read: Days after Trump visit, China to send special envoy to North Korea

"The key to easing the situation on the peninsula lies in the hands of Washington and Pyongyang. If both sides insist on their own logic and refuse to move in the same direction, even if Song opens a door for talks, the door could be closed any time."

China has repeatedly pushed for a diplomatic solution to the crisis over North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and missiles to carry them, but in recent months it has had only limited high-level exchanges with North Korea.

The last time China's special envoy for North Korea visited the country was in February 2017.

Mr Song's trip comes just a week after Donald Trump visited Beijing as part of an Asia tour, where he pressed for greater action to rein in North Korea, especially from China, with which North Korea does 90 percent of its trade.

Mr Song has already visited Vietnam and Laos to inform them of the results of the congress, a typical courtesy China extends other communist countries after such important meetings.

It is not clear whether Mr Song will meet North Korea's youthful leader Kim Jong Un.

Mr Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged messages of congratulations and thanks over the Chinese party congress, but neither leader has visited the other's country since assuming power.

Mr Song's department is in charge of the party's relations with foreign political parties, and has traditionally served as a conduit for Chinese diplomacy with North Korea.

China's new special envoy for North Korea, Kong Xuanyou, who took up his position in August, is not believed to have visited the country since assuming the job.
A French diplomat confirmed Hariris arrival but would not comment on his plans beyond meeting Macron.

Hariri announced his resignation Nov. 4 in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia, throwing Lebanon into a serious political crisis. (Photo: AFP)

Paris: Lebanons Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrived in France on Saturday from Saudi Arabia, seeking to dismiss fears that he had been held against his will and forced to resign by Saudi authorities.

Hariri is scheduled to meet at midday with French President Emmanuel Macron, who is trying to mediate in the region to avert a proxy conflict in Lebanon between Iranian-backed and Saudi-backed camps.

An Associated Press journalist saw Hariri emerge from a convoy that arrived Saturday morning at his Paris residence, where police stood guard. Hariri walked out of his car and moved straight into the building without speaking to journalists.

Lebanese television showed the prime minister accompanied by his wife Lara al-Azm, but none of his three children appeared.

A French diplomat confirmed Hariris arrival but would not comment on his plans beyond meeting Macron. Its unclear when Hariri might return to Lebanon.

Before leaving Riyadh, Hariri dismissed as rumours reports about his alleged detention in the kingdom. In a tweet, he insisted his stay in Saudi Arabia was to consult with officials there on the future of Lebanon and its relations with its Arab neighbours.

Hariri announced his resignation Nov. 4 in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia, throwing Lebanon into a serious political crisis.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun refused to accept it, accusing the Saudis of holding him against his will. Many Lebanese saw it as a sign the Sunni kingdom  the prime ministers chief ally  had decided to drag tiny Lebanon into its feud with the regions other powerhouse, the predominantly Shiite Iran.

In his televised announcement, Hariri cited Iran and Hezbollah for meddling in Arab countries, particularly Saudi Arabia. He also said he was afraid for his life.

Shortly before he left Riyadh, Saudi Arabia asked its citizens for the second time in less than two weeks to leave Lebanon as soon as possible given the circumstances there. That raised fears of more punitive actions to come.

Macron said Hariri will be received with the honours due a prime minister, even though he has announced his resignation, since Lebanon hasnt yet recognized it.

Hariris family is expected to have lunch at the French presidential palace. Macron said he thinks Hariri intends to return to Lebanon in the coming days and weeks.

The Hariris have long-standing ties to France, Lebanons onetime colonial ruler.
Meanwhile, a senior Saudi official dismissed the mounting speculation that the Crown Prince will soon ascend to the throne.

New Delhi: Saudi King Salman plans to step down in about a weeks time and name his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), as his successor, according to a report.

After the move, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, 81, will continue only as a ceremonial figurehead, the Daily Mail reported citing a source close to the Saudi royal family.

The move will likely take place next week unless something dramatic happens, the source claimed.

Meanwhile, a senior Saudi official dismissed the mounting speculation that the Crown Prince will soon ascend to the throne.

There is no possibility whatsoever that the king will abdicate, Bloomberg quoted an unnamed official as saying.

Saudi kings usually stay in power even when bad health prevents them from carrying out their job, the official said, on condition of anonymity. He noted the example of King Fahd, who stayed on as monarch until his death in 2005 despite being gravely ill in the last few years of his reign.

The source quoted by Daily Mails report said that once the transfer of power is complete, the new 32-year-old king will ramp up hostilities against Saudi Arabias bitter rival Iran, with fears of a possible military clash.

Mr Salman will also target Hezbollah, the Shia militia in Lebanon that is backed by Iran, the source said.

MBSs plan is to start the fire in Lebanon, but hes hoping to count on Israeli military backing. He has already promised Israel billions of dollars in direct financial aid if they agree, the source was quoted as saying, referring to the crown prince by his initials.

If what the report claims is accurate, then the transfer of power will be the final step in Mr Salmans power grab. It will also come close on the heels of the arrest of more than 40 Saudi princes and officials in a corruption probe, which is being seen by many quarters as the Crown Prince ridding himself of rivals.
News / National

by Staff reporter

President Robert Mugabe is reportedly set to concede defeat to the command element of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces on Sunday.This comes after thousands of Zimbabweans took to the streets on Saturday demanding that Mugabe, who has been ruling the country for nearly 40 years, step down.Father Fidelis Mukonori, the chairperson of Mugabe's negotiating team, confirmed that the president will meet the defence force for the second time.The other members of Mugabe's negotiating team include acting intelligence director Aaron Nhepera and Mugabe's spokesperson George Charamba.
by Christopher Sharma

Nepalis will go to the polls on 26 November and 7 December. Voters are called to renew the federal and provincial parliaments. Some 96 parties have registered. Requests for donations also come from  different currents within the same party".

Kathmandu (AsiaNews)  Over the past few weeks, some of Nepal's wealthiest business people have become unreachable to escape the demands for donations from political parties.

Business people have gone abroad or switched off their phones to avoid pressures from political parties asking for money to fund the upcoming elections on 26 November and 7 December.

Nepal is in fact set to go the polls to elect the federal and provincial parliaments. A total of 96 parties have registered.

Pashupati Murarka, former chairman of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCII), unplugged his phone ten days ago.

"We are facing pressure from the parties asking for contributions in excess of what we can offer, he said. The same applies to different currents within the same party. "

Ganesh Lath, Pradeep Kediya, Gopal Kediya and Subodh Kumar Gupta are other business leaders who have received requests for money. Last week, they fled to Indonesia to avoid them.

The business people who are still reachable are those running for office.

"We helped factions in the recent local elections, said Kush Joshi. Giving more money is not easy. At the same time, leaders are not creating a favourable environment for business, which makes matters even worse for us.

"What is happening reflects the pain and suffering of the Nepalese business community, said Bhawani Rana, FNCCIs current director.

We cannot protect the right to do business because senior politicians and those elected as prime ministers do not understand our situation and force us to make donations. "

The business community also fears the unification of the countrys various Communist parties, who have announced that they want to create a socialist country with a communist government.

The instability of the parties in power and the uncertainty affecting the economy and private companies have exacerbated the feeling of precariousness.
by Mathias Hariyadi

The prelates renewed their support for the nations values of unity and harmony to which Catholics were committed before and after independence. The Vatican was among the first foreign states to recognise the new country, which the Indonesian Catholic Church helped stabilise. Mgr Albertus Soegijapranata of the Semarang Apostolic Vicariate played an important role.

Jakarta (AsiaNews)  The annual meeting of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Indonesia (KWI) ended in Jakarta yesterday. The ten-day event (6-16 November) was centred on The Catholic Churchs historical relevance and significance: The Church's Call to Purify the world.

During their gathering, Indonesias Catholic bishops stressed the role the Catholic Church played in the process of national unification at a time when Islamist groups are getting stronger.

At the final press conference, Mgr Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, archbishop of Jakarta and KWI president, described to journalists the commitment of Catholics to the Indonesian struggle for nationhood.

The Church's contribution to the birth of the nation began well before independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1945.

On 28 October 1928, nationalist youth movements gathered in Central Jakarta for a congress and made the Sumpah Pemuda or Youth Pledge in which they proclaimed the ideal of "one homeland, one nation, one language," key to the states political and philosophical foundations.

Archbishop Suharyo said that the first day of the historic Congress took place inside the building of the Katholieke Jongelingen Bond, the Catholic Youth Association.

"The building no longer exists. The original site is now inside the Jakarta Cathedral compound, where the Function Hall is located, said the archbishop of Jakarta.

After independence, the Catholic Church's action became internationally relevant. "The Vatican was among the first foreign states to recognise politically and historically the birth of the new state."

The Holy See opened its embassy in Jakarta in 1947 and the nunciature is in walking distance from the State Palace and the cathedral.

In the following years, during the period of political turmoil that affected the new nation and its leaders, President Soekarno and Vice President Mohammad Hatta, the Indonesian Catholic Church helped stabilise the country.

The work of Mgr Albertus Soegijapranata of the Semarang Apostolic Vicariate played an important role. He set up some groups and organisations in support of Pancasila, a political doctrine based on pluralism.

The Bishops Conference is committed to keeping alive the memory of the important role Catholics played in Indonesian history and calls on them to renew their support for the national values of unity and harmony.

"This is becoming increasingly important today, since these values have become the target of various extremist groups, who want to replace them with other ideals," Mgr Suharyo said.
Signs of Saudi-Israeli rapprochement are growing. General Gadi Eisenkot talks about intelligence co-operation with Arab countries against Iran, the common enemy.

Riyadh (AsiaNews) - For the first time in history a Saudi-owned paper, Elaph, published an interview with a senior Israeli leader, Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces General Gadi Eisenkot.

In what is perhaps another first, a top Israeli leader said publicly that Saudi Arabia has never been our enemy. It has not fought us nor have we fought it.

Still, Israeli daily Maariv noted today that despite growing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the latter is not yet ready" for official relations with Israel.

Since Mohammad bin Salman became Saudi crown prince, the alliance between Riyadh and Tel Aviv has become more visible and is no longer a taboo.

In Paris and Beirut, some reports mention a possible meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and Mohammad bin Salman in the French capital, brokered by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.

Relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia have always been secret, and Israel has always kept a low profile to avoid embarrassing the House of Saud, the Custodians of Islams two most sacred places.

Nevertheless, Riyadh began to prepare Arab public opinion for rapprochement with Israel when it launched the Arab Peace initiative, offering diplomatic relations between Tel Aviv and all Arab countries, in exchange for full withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories, [and] recognition of an independent Palestinian state with al-Quds al-Sharif (Jerusalem) as its capital.

Although Israel has never accepted King Abdullah's proposal, Saudi Arabia has continued to seek better relations, albeit behind the scenes.

Until a few months ago, General Anwar Eshki, adviser to King Salman and head of the Middle East Center for Strategic and Legal Studies, was Saudi Arabias chief point man with Tel Aviv.

Last year, he visited Israel and said that Saudi Arabia would recognise Israel after the Arab Peace Proposal was implemented.

When he visited Israel in May, US President Donald Trump also promised to get Israel recognised by almost all Arab countries.

In an interview with Elaph, General Gadi Eisenkot said that the danger is Iran and that Israel is ready to exchange experiences with moderate Arab countries and to exchange intelligence to confront Iran.

At the same time, he said, We have no intention of attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon and bring about a war, adding, However, we will not accept a strategic threat to Israel.

With respect to Lebanon, the general said he was happy with the past 11 years of relative quiet since the Second Lebanon War. He admitted though that the situation in that country was complex and that the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri in Riyadh was surprising.

Regarding Hezbollah, Eisenkot noted that the Shia group is beginning to feel financial pressure and starting to get into big material problems, adding that there has been a noticeable decline in support for the group in Lebanon, even in places like Dahiya, a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut, at a level unseen before.

The Israeli Chief of State rejected accusations that Israel supported the Islamic State group (ISIS) and Al Nusra. "The claims we're aiding the Nusra Front and its ilk in the Golan are baseless. They're our enemies, just like ISIS," Eisenkot said.

We have attacked them more than once, he added. We aid the villagers on the Golan medically and we help our Druze brothers. We help only in humanitarian ways.

On the crisis in Syria, he noted that Israel prevented Al Nusra from getting into Hadar, in south-western Syria.

Still, although ISIS has been severely beaten and the elimination of the organisation will come soon, its ideas can return in the guise of other names and groups in Syria and the region. (PB)
Great progress in science raises "great and serious" questions. Scientific and technological progress is needed for the good of all humanity, and its benefits cannot only profit a few.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  Pope Francis this morning met with the participants in the plenary assembly of the Vaticans Pontifical Council for Culture. The meeting was centred on The Future of Humanity: New Challenges to Anthropology aimed at understanding the future developments of science and technology.

In his address, the pontiff noted that the great progress in medicine and genetics, and the incredible advances in autonomous and thinking machines, not only lead some to think that we are "almost at the dawn of a new era and the birth of a new human being, superior to what we have known until now, but push others to raise great and serious questions. For Francis, the principle that not everything that is technically possible or feasible is therefore ethically acceptable remains valid.

Citing the question in Psalm 8, What is man that you are mindful of him, and a son of man that you care for him? the pope said that the anthropological answer emerges already in Genesis and runs through Revelation, developing around the fundamental elements of the relationship and freedom.

"The relationship unfolds according to a triple dimension: towards matter, land and animals; towards divine transcendence; and towards other human beings. Freedom expresses itself in autonomy  which is naturally relative  and in moral choices."

"This fundamental system has underpinned the thought of much of humanity for centuries and still maintains its validity today. But, at the same time today, we realise that the great principles and fundamental concepts of anthropology are rarely questioned even on the basis of a greater awareness of the complexity of the human condition even though they require further investigation."

Considering anthropology as a "fluid horizon that evolves due to socio-economic changes, population movements and their intercultural exchanges, but also because of the development of a global culture and, above, all the incredible discoveries of science and technology", Francis noted some fundamental points that are needed to meet the challenges of our time.

The starting point is the appreciation of the sciences", which "find their ultimate foundation in Gods design. He 'chose us in him, before the foundation of the world," and 'destined us for adoption to himself (Eph 1:3-5) and entrusted us with creation 'to cultivate and care" for the earth (Gen 2.15).

Precisely because man is the image and likeness of a God who created the world out of love, the care of the whole creation must follow the logic of free giving, love, and service, rather than domination and abuse.

It is fundamental to "draw on the treasures of wisdom preserved in religious traditions, popular wisdom, literature and the arts, which deeply touch the mystery of human existence, without forgetting, or rather by rediscovering those found in philosophy and theology."

To avoid the "tragic division" between "humanistic-literary-theological and scientific culture" and "to encourage greater dialogue between the Church, the community of believers, and the scientific community," the pope turned to Laudato Si, noting the "pressing need for humanism".

Two other great principles that the Church offers for this dialogue are the centrality of the human person and the universal end-use of assets.

"Scientific and technological progress is needed for the good of all humanity, and its benefits cannot only profit a few. In so doing, we shall avoid in the future adding new inequalities based on knowledge, increasing the gap between rich and poor." Indeed, another "always valid" principle for Francis is that "not everything that is technically possible or feasible is therefore ethically acceptable.
Photo of 2018 Clarity PHEV courtesy of Honda.

Honda's 2018 Clarity Plug-in Hybrid will retail for $34,290, which is more expensive than its main competitor, the Chevrolet Volt.

The 2018 Clarity Plug-in Hybrid will retail for $33,400 with a delivery fee of $890. The 2017 Volt retailed for $33,220 without the delivery fee included.

Honda's new PHEV, will go on sale Dec. 1, will arrive in two trims, including a base model and Touring, which will retail for $37,490, including the delivery charge. The vehicle is eligible for the federal income tax credit of $7,500.

The Clarity Plug-in Hybrid has been given an EPA fuel economy rating of 47 miles of all-electric range. Its gasoline-only range has been set at 40 mpg on the highway and 44 mpg combined.

It will be powered by a 181-horsepower electric motor that makes 232 lb.-ft. of torque that draws from a 1.5-liter Atkinson four-cylinder gasoline engine and 17-killowatt-hour battery pack. Total system output is 212 hp.
Photo of 2018 Accord 2.0T Touring courtesy of Honda.

The second of three planned models of Honda's tenth-generation 2018 Accord mid-size sedan will retail for at least $31,200, including delivery fees, and will go on sale.

Honda's 2018 Accord 2.0T follows the Oct. 18 release of the Accord 1.5T. Honda will also release an Accord Hybrid powered by a 2.0L Atkinson cycle engine and pair of electric motors.

The Accord 2.0T is powered by a VTEC Turbo direct-injected inline-four that makes 252 horsepower and 273 lb.-ft. of torque. It's available in four trims, including Sport, EX-L, EX-L Navi and Touring. The most efficient EX-L models can deliver 34 mpg on the highway and 23 mpg in the city.

The mid-size sedan delivers power through a 10-speed automatic or six-speed manual transmission.

Read full pricing here.
News / Press Release

by Morgan R. Tsvangirai

The Principals of the MDC Alliance met today, 17th of November 2017 in Harare and considered the current situation in the country and resolved as follows:1. Noted the Military intervention against President Mugabe and his government and considered such action to resonate with the national public sentiments and hence irreversible in effect and fact.2. Commended the military for respecting the sanctity of the lives of all Zimbabweans and appealed to them to continue to ensure that nothing is done which may result in loss of life.3. Appealed to the authorities currently in charge of the country to respect the constitutional rights of all Zimbabweans.4. Appealed to SADC, the AU and the UN to assist the people of Zimbabwe in ensuring that there is a peaceful and irreversible transition to democratic people centred rule.5.That there must be an all inclusive transitional mechanism with a mandate to:Return and restore the country to constitutionality and constitutionalismEnsure economic stabilisation to bring to an end the current economic and social suffering of the people.Adopt and implement democratisation measures and electoral reforms leading to free and fair elections within the shortest possible time and resulting in the birth of a legitimate government with the full and unconditional support of the people.___________________________________Morgan R. TsvangiraiMDC ALLIANCE PRESIDENT
Oh guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurl!

Washington Post reports:

On a fall evening two years ago, donors gathered during a conference at a Ritz-Carlton hotel near Washington to raise funds for a 31-year-old candidate for the Ohio legislature who was a rising star in evangelical politics.

Hours later, upstairs in a hotel guest room, an 18-year-old college student who had come to the event with his parents said the candidate unzipped his pants and fondled him in the middle of the night. The frightened teenager fled the room and told his mother and stepfather, who demanded action from the head of the organization hosting the conference.

If we endorse these types of individuals, then it would seem our whole weekend together was nothing more than a charade, the stepfather wrote to Tony Perkins, president of the Council for National Policy.

Trust me . . . this will not be ignored nor swept aside, replied Perkins, who also heads the Family Research Council, a prominent evangelical activist group. It will be dealt with swiftly, but with prudence.
TBC takes a look at what's left of the East Hills Mall and updates readers on the progress of its evolution.
News / Regional

by Stephen Jakes

Mthwakazi Liberation Front has said they do not support the idea that former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa because he has a hand in the 20 000 people's killing in Matabeleland and Midlands in the 1980s.This come at a time when President Robert Mugabe faces destroning and his days as president are numbered."We would therefore openly advice this General without fear of favour that, installing the BUTCHER of the Matebeles, Emmerson Mnangagwa, will directly result in the type of conflicts he mentioned in his statement," said the party."We are therefore in total agreement with the view expressed, not by the AU or SADC, BUT by the Organisation of Ermerging Africa States (OEAS), a superior continental organisation in thinking and philosophy than the AU and SADC combined, that the way forward in the imposed unitary state of present-day Zimbabwe should be the implementation of a TWO-STATES solution with immediate effect, MATEBELELAND and MASHONALAND, constituted and separated by the historic boundaries (borders) that were signed for by King Lobengula between Mthwakazi and Leander Starr Jameson representing Mashonaland (the Jameson line), and between Mthwakazi and Barotseland (present-day Zambia) and between Mthwakazi and Botswana (then Bechuanaland) and lastly between Mthwakazi and South Africa (then Transvaal)."The party said all these borders were signed for by our King Lobengula and not a single one was ever signed for by Nehanda, Kagubi and or any of the grandparents of Shona people who today call themselves Zimbabweans."It cannot therefore be correct that the people of Mthwakazi as descendants of a great and properly constituted Kingdom of Mthwakazi which had diplomatic relations with the rest of the world must continue to benefit death, destruction and perpetual insignificance from Shona HEGEMONY as constructed and passed on by the British to Robert Gabriel Mugabe, Emmerson Mnangagwa and their butcher henchmen," said the party."As the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi), we have really tried to appeal for help regarding our plight throughout the world, but this world, all of it, from newly liberated countries like South Africa to the former colonialists themselves, notably the British are all DEAF. It is like they don't want see or hear any evil. Worse still, some of these countries such as Britain have actually colluded with Robert Gabriel Mugabe, Emmerson Mnangagwa and their BUTCHERING team in exterminating the Matebeles."The [party said they are not therefore surprised that the dethronements of Robert Gabriel Mugabe by his little monsters have triggered a wave of reactions from President Jacob Zuma, the European Commission, Donald Trump's administration, and from Boris Johnson, British Foreign Secretary  a person that we have tried to engage as MLF without any response."All the reactions from these world leaders have one thing in common: they have all turned a blind eye to the plight of the people of Mthwakazi. These same world leaders must therefore not raise an eyebrow when the people of Mthwakazi finally take a stance and oppose the RULE BY CONQUEST as historically and contemporarily dished out by Britain, Robert Gabriel Mugabe and Mnangagwa's Zimbabwe for a combined period of one hundred and twenty four (124) years, with the determination never experienced before. These same leaders must therefore not rush to label the people of Mthwakazi with all criminal terminologies when that happens, because it will not bother us, after all we have been condemned to death by the same international community that includes the AU and SADC for far too long," said the party."For the people of Mthwakazi (Matebeleland), therefore, the composition of the Interim Government for Mthwakazi (Matabeleland) must take place immediately with the urgency it deserves, and should be inclusive of all Mthwakazi political formations and the royal family."
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Opinion / Columnist



Enos Denhere believes in betterment of our people Email enosdenhere@gmail.com

Zimbabwe citizens have gone through rough pages over the years. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Its goal is to further socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security cooperation among 16 southern African states .The SADC countries were hundred percent non committal in assisting Zimbabwe to the extend South Africa business have been profiting on Zimbabwe economical decline. The ECOWAS , Economic Community of West African States, also known as ECOWAS , is a regional economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an area of 5,114,162 km2 (1,974,589 sq mi), and in 2015 had an estimated population of over 349 million. ECOWAS proved to be decisively and effectively unlike it's blundering counterpart SADC.Zimbabweans have cried for a conducive environment all these years which promotes social, political and economical will but no one was willing to provide solution for them. SADC turned blind eye on what was happening in Zimbabwe. The regional bloc should not take sides when handling the issues which concern domestic affairs. If SADC had properly addressed the Zimbabwe issue ,we wouldn't be in this situation.South Africa has never even been concerned by the dramatic increase of Zimbabweans in their land. Yes , it can be for greener pastures but the issue was social, economical and political conditions which were no longer favorable. Nothing was done to solve the problem. The economically harsh conditions and the environment had generated fear so citizens could not express their constitutional rights at will. We suffered the most with no solution. Our way of solving our problems will never be the same as western countries. Whatever happens in Zimbabwe be rest assured we have great thinkers in the country. Even Zimbabwe Army has lots of professionals. There is a time when a people find their own way of doing things. We as Zimbabweans will handle our issues. The world ignored our plight. Our people perished in foreign lands. We became slaves. SA burnt some Zimbabweans alive. For once please world leave us to chart our way forward. Don't put us in book or academic analysis at all. We are a unique case. These analysis do not bring the poor food on the table. They are not necessary and practical. Leave our Army to restore whatever they can. We are the Zimbabweans and empowered to work it out. Our infrastructure is depleted , dramatic increase of street kids and no employment. Enough is enough of your treaties to protect each other in offices SADC Heads of States. where was this so called world when Zimbabweans were suffering. Zimbabweans don't want any rhetoric anymore. We have masses of people who are starving. We went hell all along ,no country never thought of assisting us but instead you were milking opportunities which were suppose to be ours in our disadvantageous state.For sack of integrity of the nation, the Zimbabwe Defence Forces jumped in to rescue the citizens from the few individuals who were causing instability; committing crimes that were causing social and economic suffering to the country.We want betterment of people.Enough is enough to humanity suffering, our retired elders sleeping in banking queues to get few coins while few individuals enjoying and determine the pace of the economic growth while our neighboring countries watching doing nothing about it. If the Southern Africa countries could go back to the spirit they had during the liberation struggle of carrying each others burdens. SADC want to come when the whole house is now engulfed on fire. If regional bloc want to assist they have to be sober minded . All we want is the President Mugabe to step down with dignity and let him respect the wishes of Zimbabweans who are no longer interested in his leadership. We have suffered a lot in this country.The South Africa government, entire SADC bloc, our Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Political leaders and Civic Organizations which are involved in this dialogue to bring transitional dispensation to Zimbabwe should be guided with our national blue print called the Constitution of Zimbabwe and think of families, elders, youth, friends and our future generation.
Opinion / Columnist

There is excitement in the country and a feeling that a better Zimbabwe is coming soon. Unfortunately this excitement has overruled logic.Consider these points:The primary problem with the current government is that there are no checks and balances and no accountability from whoever is in power. The office of the president has been given so much power that whoever is president can do almost anything and get away with it legally. The current proposal from the military is not to address this but to replace R.G. Mugabe while maintaining the system with a person of their choosing. Effectively you replacing the face of the system but retaining the power associated with the position and as the old adage goes "power corrupts". Whoever replaces Mugabe has the power to repeat everything that Mugabe has been doing and it will all be legal.The premise presented by the military is that those who fought the liberation war have an inherent right to be in power until that whole generation dies. How about those who were too young to go to war then, or those who were born after the war? Are they also not fully Zimbabwean with an equal right to be allowed to be to occupy the top position in the land?Currently the military are breaking the country's laws. The are arresting certain people and there are reports that they may have tortured some of their prisoners. They are demanding that the people they have captured be brought to book for their past deeds. Will the same apply to the military personnel who have broken the law and continue to do so, or are they above the law? Having some people above the law is one of the main issues that has lead the country to where it is today.The only way to truly improve the live of the average Zimbabwean is to decentralise power so that whoever is in power is a servant of the people and is accountable to the people. This is what the concept of devolution is all about. So Zimbabweans, if you do not insist that a balanced government takes over and ensures that electoral reform is instituted before any election takes place and that the new constitution is completely adopted and aligned with the country's laws, if you accept only a change in who leads ZANU and has ultimate unopposable power in Zimbabwe and do not demand more , you and the generations after you will regret this missed opportunity. The decentralisation of power away from the one man, the President, and having everybody accountable to the law of the land is the only way you can ever hope to fix your country.
The Coast Guard is searching for a missing boater near Mead Point.

Coast Guard searching for missing boater from Manatee

Fraser Horne went missing Friday

His boat was found near Mead Point

Officials said Fraser Horne, 63, from Cortez went missing Friday. Horne's wife said her husband departed from Egmont Key aboard his 30-foot boat, Golden Rush, but did not return home on time.

The Coast Guard received the call around 6:15 p.m. and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew located the boat around 11:15 p.m. about 5 miles north west of Mead Point.

Officials said the vessel's engines were left on, but the boat was in neutral. Horne's wallet, keys, and shoes were also located on the vessel.

Crewmembers from Hillsborough County Sheriff Office, Holmes Beach Police Department, Manatee County Sheriff's office and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are aiding in the search.



The Coast Guard asks boaters to keep a lookout and contact Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg watchstanders at (727) 824-7506 with any information regarding the whereabouts of Horne.
Special Glass Float Drop Over Holiday in Central Oregon Coast's Lincoln City

Published 11/16/2017 at 4:17 PM PDT - Updated 11/16/2017 at 6:07 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Lincoln City, Oregon)  Walk off that Thanksgiving feast coma on the central Oregon coast by looking for treasures on the beaches of Lincoln City. The tourism hotspot is having a special Thanksgiving glass float drop over the holiday weekend, from November 23 to 26.

Lincoln City's mysterious Float Fairies will hide 100 extra glass art pieces to celebrate the

Thanksgiving holiday. Hidden with care, rain or shine, look between the high tide line and the embankment for a colorful keepsake.

It's also the beginning of the holiday season in town, with some specials events involving a tree lighting and Santa.

This special glass drop is part of Lincoln City's annual Finders Keepers program, which is celebrating its 19th anniversary and continues through Memorial Day, with glass floats put out every day. The signed, numbered, and handcrafted floats are hidden along the seven miles of public beach in Lincoln City. You find one - you keep it.

When a float is found, the fun continues. Register your glass float by texting FLOATS to 24587, visiting our online registration page or by calling 541-996-1274. Each registered float comes with a certificate of authenticity and a biography on the artist who made the float.

In between the hunting expeditions for glass treasure, discover unique holiday treasures worth giving at the Tree Lighting Party & Santa Sale at the Lincoln City Cultural Center from November 24 through the 26. Handcrafted arts and crafts will be for sale from local artists and vendors from noon to 7 pm on Friday, from 10am to 4pm on Saturday and from 10am to 3pm on Sunday.

Looking for holiday deals without the stress of large crowds? The Lincoln City Outlets invite you to their Black Friday weekend, where you can take advantage of specials and discounts from over 40 brand stores - all without the hassle of crowds and traffic.

For more information on the Thanksgiving special glass drop, call 541-996-1274 or visit Oregoncoast.org/glass-floats.

More on the Lincoln City Tree Lighting Party. The day following Thanksgiving brings the Lincoln City Tree Lighting Party and Christmas Market to the central Oregon coast town.

Starting at noon, Black Friday shoppers can listen to the Bell Tree carols while they browse the Christmas Market, the Chessman Gallery and the LCCC Members Gift Shop. Krista Eddys famous make-and-take ornament workshop will be open to kids of all ages from 2 to 5 pm. This years project: adorable yarn-wrapped stars and trees. Donations are happily accepted but participation is free, while supplies last.

At 5 pm, LCCC volunteers and staff will begin to serve the cookies, hot chocolate and coffee, generously provided by Kennys IGA and the Morgan Family. If weather permits, the crowd will gather outside (if not, there will be room inside to enjoy). The Sweet Adelines  a longtime tradition on the central Oregon coast - will perform and lead a group carol sing, followed by the countdown and the flip of the switch, to illuminate the community Christmas tree and the rest of the Cultural Centers new outdoor light display.

Lincoln City Hotels/Lodgings for this event - Where to eat - Map and Virtual Tour

At around 5:30 pm on Friday, a fire truck from North Lincoln Fire & Rescue will deliver Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus to the south entrance of the Cultural Center. They'll make their way to the auditorium, where Santa will hear wishes, pose for photos, collect food donations and give away candy canes on the decorated stage. The last event of the evening will be the Cake Walk, with cupcakes, cakes and other treats donated by local bakeries and restaurants. Your first ticket is free; all other chances are just $1.

Activities will continue on Saturday, November 25, from 10 am to 4 pm., including the Christmas Market  and Santa Claus and his reindeer will arrive at 2 pm, hearing wishes and taking donations for the Lincoln City Food Pantry.

On Sunday, November 26, a new set of vendors will take over the Christmas Market space. The Lincoln City Farmers & Crafters Market will be open for business, selling late season produce and a variety of seasonal goods. Hours on Sunday will be 10 am to 3 pm. Bring your donations for the Lincoln City Food Pantry, and visit Santa Claus starting at 11 am. Website for further info.



















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Opinion / Columnist

This article was written by Dr. Takesure Tazvishaya in his on personal capacity as a Zimbabwean.

Zimbabwe has once again made headlines and surprised the world. The so called "coup" is a creature that is generally despised world over but it has been a different atmosphere in my beloved nation- in actual fact it has been celebrated. It is a nation that has suffered under authoritarian rule where only one man is been known at the helm of leadership for the past 37 years. Military take over has been a clean swipe cleansing off the rot. If the president was somehow involved in this act then he must be waking up from his long lone dream, the rot has now been profusely smelling and it was high rather overdue to deal with it accordingly and for him to directly deal with it might look like selling out on his people but rather ask the army to take charge. The military has indeed led the cry of the nation and we expect more to be under thorough investigation including Goreraza, son of Grace, the Harare city council and the board members of the government parastatals etc. It is by starting with the most influential that the little ones down their will learn that it must not and never be done- and here i refer to corruption. Lets see how the stage unfolds. We cannot allow this country to continue being ranked a fragile state. Its insane!Time has come and we see the chickens come home to roost. It is a new era in our country. The rebirth of not just ZANU PF but the nation at large and its liberation principles. For ZANU PF, it was becoming ugly and more of a family party or rather a party led by just the women and youth leagues as they were becoming the centre of attention, the key factors and bosses in the party. Seriously it does not need one to look far just from the rallies - the youth interfaces, the old man were made to become the young kids on the block, being told who is the mother - really ridiculous. How can you be a mother of 60 -70 year old men when you are in your 50s, insanity has been driving this party but now it is waking up. Not only do we need to see Zimbabwe fostering equal opportunities across all our provinces but also implore the growing freedom of social media, our freedom to express our thoughts in humanly dignifying manner.There are many questions that remain hanging and we hope the answers will come soon . Such questions include Is Mugabe going to step down or continue to rule until ZANU PF congress or elections next year? Is there going to be a transitional leadership if Mugabe steps down and who is going to be part of it? Is Mnangagwa going to take over until the elections and give the people of Zimbabwe the mandate to decide their future? Others wonder if the army takes a soft stance now what is the fate of the generals if Mugabe is allowed to continue to rule until Dec ZANU PF congress or elections due next year? You must remember that he is a ruthless man and is capable of anything extraordinary but we the people of Zimbabwe will rise even more if anything happens to the people who protect us and their leaders too. For they are one of us and we together are Zimbabweans. You will be surprised that in Zimbabwe, we are actually happy to have military man mount roadblocks than the police and these military man, believe you me, don't make our hearts bleed with fear but are joy and a sign of restoration of normalcy. People in the streets of Harare can freely express their thoughts and feelings and its in the presence of the army that we can do so and not police. With the latter you will be behind bars for undermining the office of the president. Ahhh come on he is equally human as everyone and he makes mistakes and we should be able to point them out freely and he should also accept and act accordingly.Besides, now you hear calls for Mugabe to step down among those that want to jump the boat while sailing - vana mucheka dzafa- well let those that started the process finish it without unnecessary hinderances, rather preach for continuation of calm and positive outcome. I call for people to watch the events as they fold and the talks going on will yield what is right for people of Zimbabwe. As expected the voice of SADC and AU is louder than it is suppose to be and when it was time for them to raise alarms they folded their hands. This may sound ridiculous but serious those bodies are to some extend useless. Looking at the public statements, they jump into uninformed conclusion of the situation on the ground. You hear for example the African Union head, the president of Guinea Mr Alpha warning that AU will never accept a military coup d'etat. I wonder which world this man lives in? He said that Zimbabwean problems should be resolved by ZANU PF party and the army must not intervene- this makes me laugh. One would ask this man where has ZANU-PF leadership been for the past 15 years plus and worse still more recent the past 4 years when the economy continues to decline and continue to be the creators of unemployment and ploughing hatred amongst one another? So the people of Zimbabwe have the worst economic security, a high security risk and measures had to be taken. Further, you hear that SADC members calling for an emergency regional summit to discuss the peaceful situation in Zimbabwe, as if there has been an unconstitutional take over of power or a seige of some sort. Hey! In as much as we respect these regional bodies they need to be cautions of their statements. We can deal with our own problems and we have never been this united and together we shall rebuild our nation. Viva Zimbabwe!!!
Opinion / Columnist

Zimbabwe faces a grave constitutional crisis. For all the ambiguity in General Chiwenga's statement it challenges President Mugabe either to turn his back on his wife and other members of the G40 faction or to face the wrath of the military. In reality however it provides Mugabe with little choice - because the thought of Mugabe turning his back on his wife at his age, and in his state of dependence, is unthinkable.It would also be a grave mistake to think that this comes from a small or weak faction of the military. It is a significant fact that the Commander of the Army General Sibanda sat next to Chiwenga and reporters at the press conference have said that there were some 90 senior officers present. It appears that the only significant officers not present were Police Commissioner Chihuri and Airforce Commander Shiri (who I am told is ill). The presence of General Sibanda in particular demonstrates that at the very least a significant portion of the military oppose what is going on within ZANU PF, and consequently the decisions taken recently by President Mugabe.So although General Chiwenga did not overtly threaten a coup, and although he swore allegiance to President Mugabe, in reality the military have demanded that Mugabe reverse his various decisions or else there will be consequences. It is hard to see Mugabe backing down on the decisions he has taken, and therein lies the growing crisis - or the vortex of the perfect storm I have been speaking and writing about for 18 months.A critical question to be asked is what stance democratic forces and leaders of the opposition in Zimbabwe should adopt? There is a grave danger that some may delight in the crisis and rub their hands in glee at the dilemma President Mugabe has been placed in. That would be wrong in my view. Zimbabwe simply cannot afford to have a de jure or de facto coup; once any change of power in any Nation comes through a means other than the strict fulfilment of the Constitution, in letter and spirit, a dangerous precedent is set which is hard to reverse. It is important therefore that the opposition speak with one unequivocal voice that the military needs to stay out of politics and be confined to barracks.However that will not deal with the crisis our Nation faces, made worse now by this statement of discontent by the military. What then is the constitutional way out of this mess?I believe it is found in Sections 96 and 97 of the Constitution. If President Mugabe finds that his position has become untenable then he can resign in terms of section 96. Of course that is highly unlikely, and in that case the only remaining lawful and constitutional method is for President Mugabe to be removed from office in terms of section 97 of the Constitution.Section 97 states that where a simple majority of the Senate and National Assembly believe that the President should be removed from office because of serious misconduct, his failure to uphold the Constitution or his inability to perform the functions of office they are entitled to set a Committee representing all the parties in Parliament to investigate the President's removal. If that Committee recommends that the President be removed from office, then a joint resolution of the Senate and House of Assembly may vote to remove the President from office. If two thirds vote in favour then the President ceases to hold office.If that were to happen in this instance then section 14(4) and (5) of the Sixth Schedule will apply in selecting the President's replacement. These sections mandate that the person who was last Acting President shall take office for a period of 90 days whilst, in this case, ZANU PF selects a replacement from its own ranks to see out the term of office. That person would then be President until the next election scheduled to be held next year.In my view if President Mugabe refuses to accede to the military's demands this is the only lawful means for those within ZANU PF, who are annoyed by President Mugabe's recent decisions, to address the situation.The opposition of course will play a vital role in this if it indicates that it will support any resolution brought by ZANU PF members to remove President Mugabe from office. It seems to me that it will be relatively easy to get the initial simple majority in Parliament to start the impeachment process. Furthermore I suspect that if all MDC T, MDC and Independent MPs and Senators joined forces with disaffected ZANU PF MPs and Senators (who quietly support both Mnangagwa or even Joice Mujuru) it may be possible for them to achieve the required two thirds majority to remove President Mugabe from office.Beyond this it would be unwise for the opposition to support any threat, veiled or otherwise, to violate the Constitution. That is a perilous path which our beloved Zimbabwe cannot afford to follow.Senator David ColtartBulawayo14th November 2017
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, pose beside opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim in his hospital bed in Kuala Lumpur, while Anwars wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, looks on, Nov. 17, 2017.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Friday visited his political archrival, jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim who is recovering from surgery, in an unlikely stopover ahead of a general election expected to take place by mid-May 2018.

Anwar, 70, who is serving a five-year prison term after being convicted of a sodomy charge three years ago, is recuperating after undergoing a surgery on his right shoulder last Sunday.

I visited Anwar Ibrahim at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital today.  May he recover soon, Najib said on his Facebook page and Twitter account.

His comment was accompanied by a photo showing Najib, his wife, Rosmah Mansor, Anwar and his wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Anwar was sentenced to five years in prison in 2014 after the Court of Appeal reversed a High Court decision and found him guilty of sodomizing a former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, in 2008. Anwar has denied the charges, describing them as politically motivated.

This is Anwars second sodomy conviction. He was arrested, convicted and jailed on sodomy and corruption charges in 1998. The sodomy conviction charge was overturned in 2004, but the corruption conviction stood.

Following the court action, he claimed he was framed by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the party that leads Malaysias ruling bloc.

Malaysian government officials and UMNO leaders have denied framing Anwar, who was imprisoned for abuse of power in 1999 when Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister.

Mahathir and Anwar apparently ironed out their differences and agreed to form an opposition alliance called Pakatan Harapan (The Pact of Hope) with Anwar as its de facto leader.

Son issues statement

Anwars son, Muhamad Ihsan Anwar, issued a statement Friday, thanking Najib for his hospital visit, but emphasized that his father was injured during an accident while under government custody last month and his condition worsened from imprisonment.

Muhamad Ihsan was referring to an incident that occurred while Anwar was being transported to prison after receiving treatment at the hospital.

Najibs hospital visit comes five days after Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told a political gathering that the countrys general election will take place in six months.

The elections will take place no later than 180 days from now, he said. Those who say that the elections will take place later than that are out of touch with reality.
Government troops and militants linked to the Islamic State (IS) committed atrocities during their five-month battle in the southern city of Marawi, rights group Amnesty International (AI) said Friday in the first detailed human rights analysis of the conflict that ended in October.

In its research carried out in September, AI documented how IS militants targeted Christian villagers, often killing them by slitting their throats. Some militants allegedly killed 25 civilians and held dozens hostage while others pillaged and robbed homes.

Extensive bombing runs aimed at targeting the gunmen often wiped out entire neighborhoods and killed civilians. In the early stages of the war that began on May 23 and was declared finished on Oct. 23, at least 12 soldiers were killed in two separate errant airstrikes by the military.

Marawis civilian population has suffered immensely amid one of the Philippine militarys most intensive operations in decades. Displaced en masse when the fighting began in May, thousands of people are now returning to a city that has been utterly destroyed in places, where civilians have been slaughtered by militants, and both sides have committed abuses, AIs Crisis Response Director Tirana Hassan said.

The IS-linked militants bloody, months-long siege of Marawi took a heavy toll on civilians, with Christians in particular singled out for brutal attacks, including grisly extrajudicial killings, Hassan said.

Armed forces spokesman Maj. Gen. Restituto Padilla said AI had requested permission to conduct a ground investigation, but as far as he knew, it was told to get in touch with the countrys foreign office in New York.

Up to this time, we have not received it yet and perhaps it is still in the loop, he said. But we have told them that we are committed to  international humanitarian law and respecting human rights.

He noted the military leadership would not tolerate nor condone misdeeds of our soldiers as they continued to wrap up clearing operations in the south. He said troops were told at the start of the conflict to follow strict instructions to abide by all that we have been taught to respect, chief of which are the rules of conflict.

Now, the Amnesty International report is something that we will answer once we get it officially, he said, adding that the guidance provided to troops on the ground was to observe the proportionality in the use of force.

We understand that they also questioned the manner by which we employed bombings to address threats in the area, he said, emphasizing that troops were faced with extraordinary challenges even as they managed to rescue more than 1,700 civilians trapped in the crossfire for weeks or held captive by the gunmen.

He stressed the AI report was based on allegations, and that if there were infractions committed by troops in the course of the fighting we can say that these were isolated incidents.

Padilla said soldiers emotions had been running high, considering that 166 of their comrades were killed in the clashes and that could have been the reason why one video that circulated on social media showed soldiers beating up a civilian.

He said that any report of human rights violations were very disturbing and theyre very serious. An internal investigation by the military resulted in no evidence.

Civilian targeted

AI said it interviewed at least eight people who said they escaped areas controlled by the militants only to face mistreatment by soldiers including torture.

Among those were a group of Christian construction workers who had been trapped. One who was in his 40s, was shot at by militants on his first attempt to flee while three of his colleagues were killed.

The man was detained by the Marines on his second attempt when he crossed a bridge to safety.

We thought that we were safe. But then the master sergeant arrived. Then they told us that we were ISIS. They beat us. I was punched and kicked, he told AI, using another term for IS.

My companion showed his ID, but the military said he was a sniper for ISIS. I was beaten with an Armalite [rifle]. They tied our hands and feet with electrical wire. I was crying and they would not listen. The military was very angry because 13 of their men were killed.

AI said troops poured burning hot liquid over the body of another survivor, causing him to pass out. He was later handed over to the Red Cross.

The enemy was equally brutal. About four dozen survivors told stories of at least 10 separate incidents where about 25 civilians were gunned down or had their throats slit.

It described one incident when a man in his 40s saw the militants hijack a hospital vehicle and execute its driver because he could not recite the Shahada, an expression of faith in Islam.

AI also interviewed a group of six painters who escaped after hiding for five days. They were chased and fired at by the militants, who hit three of them.

The militants also captured many hostages, who were forced to work and were used as human shield to deter advancing troops. At least one was executed and many others were abused, AI said.

They brought us to a mansion where they kept us hostage.  In the mansion we were used as slaves, following their orders. We cooked, prepared food. If we didnt follow their commands, they would hit us. Once they fired near my head, AI quoted a survivor.

Independent probe sought

AI said many of the civilians trapped for extended periods were workers who were living in a state of fear, at risk of being found by militants and hit by bombs or bullets. An unknown number were reportedly killed by the governments aerial bombardment.

It was unable to travel to Marawi to determine if the Philippine militarys use of artillery and airstrikes breached their international humanitarian law obligations.

Further independent investigation is needed to determine whether the infrastructure damage and the loss of civilian life was militarily necessary and proportional to the threat posed by the militants, Hassan said. The Philippine authorities must bring those responsible for torture and other violations to justice and ensure that the victims receive adequate reparations. They must also initiate a prompt, effective and impartial investigation into whether its bombing of civilian neighborhoods was proportional under international humanitarian law.

The fighting was declared over in Oct. 23, when the military confirmed it killed Isnilon Hapilon, the acknowledged leader of IS in the region. More than 1,100 were killed in the five-month battle, including 920 militants and 47 civilians.

AI said restrictions on access made it extremely difficult to independently confirm the figures.
Opinion / Columnist

A week in politics

Cat and mouse games

On SADC/AU/UN

The 18 November March

The Good Generals

Annitha Ndlovu is a political activist based in the UK

Life is full of surprises and it is true that a week is a long time in politics. Only last week, the future looked bleaker than ever in our beloved Zimbabwe. Another deputy president had just been fired at the behest of that old witch, Jezebel known as Dr Amai. Poor Mnangagwa's dream to become the president had just been put to an end by Dr Stop It Grace Mugabe. The First Lady herself was all set to become the president of the Republic of Zimbabwe. Enter the Good Generals! Led by non-other than the rough diamond in the shape of Chiwenga. Next we hear is that president Mugabe is under house arrest and can no longer go to the toilet without asking for permission. Life! But Generals, what took you so long?The Generals have delivered Mugabe's head on a platter. That on its own is brilliant news. The Mugabe dynasty idea has been surgically aborted without the consent of its chief architects, the husband and wife team. But all the same this is good riddance, hamba Satane! And please take along your G40 pals with you on the way out. Unless the Generals need some target shooting practice.The cat is toying with the mouse, a paw here and a paw there. It's not a coup, it's something like it. ZOU graduation ceremony one minute, back under house arrest the next. Don't be fooled. The president is a prisoner at present and no amount of diplomatic makes-believe will change this reality. Make no mistake; the old man is soiling himself every minute with trepidation. The end is nigh. The Generals mean business. Don't be fooled by the smile on a soldier's face, behind that is a mean killing machine. Mugabe is as good as dead and Grace is as good as done.Please stop seeking relevance by pretending to care about Zimbabwe and its long suffering masses. Far from it. As for SADC and AU leaders they must be quacking in their boots thinking that they may be next in line to test the same bitter medicine. So why would they support this action taken by the Generals? Please do not take advice from that Mbeki retiree. He is the one who led us into this mess in 2008. As for the UN, they should buzz off and mind their own business for since when have they cared when Black lives are at risk. If they care so much about us, they should start by cleaning the mess in their own back yards in the West where overt and covert racism is the order of the day. This is the same UN which recently wanted to crown Mugabe as the ambassador of healthcare. Tibvirei!The old fool has challenged Zimbabweans to flood the streets if they do not want Bob, Grace and Chatunga to bless this country with their God-given rights to lead the nation. And boy has he blundered judging by the early show of support for the coup on the streets of Zimbabwean cities. The people have spoken and they say no to a Mugabe dynasty. No to a Zanu monopoly on power. And yes to taking into account the wishes of all serious takeholders. Mugabe's stubbornness and by refusal to resign with immediate effect has just united a deeply divided nation. Mugabe should go now, full stop. He has nothing to handover and nothing to offer us as a people.You will continue to retain the title of the Good Generals as long as you achieve your mission of disposing this despot. Your credibility will go if you guys mess up this mission. Once Mugabe is gone, we expect you to head back to those lovely barracks. Mission accomplished. Not to rest on your laurels but to prepare for your next mission in 3-5 years' time. That Mnangagwa guy will need removing much sooner. We can't afford another 37 years of zanu-lyte misrule for there will be no country left after that. And you will lose the tittle of being the Good Generals. You may think that is a small price to pay considering the opportunity you have to increase your loot. Big mistake that is what got Mugabe in this mess in the first place. He did not care about his credibility and he did not care what we thought about him as a nation. Please don't think that you are invincible or indispensable. Nobody is.
LUANDA - Angolan President Joao Lourenco has fired his predecessor's daughter from her influential post as head of the Sonangol state oil company, the presidency said in a statement.

Isabel dos Santos

The sacking marks a watershed moment in Lourenco's young presidency as he seeks to assert his authority and clear out the legacy of his controversial predecessor Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled with an iron grip for 38 years.

Lourenco swept to power as the ruling party's candidate in August elections after pledging to clean up Angola's endemic graft, tackle nepotism and revive its listless economy.

"Under the powers vested in him by the constitution, the president... has decided to relieve the following directors who make up the board of Sonangol," said the statement, which named the former president's daughter Isabel.

During his campaign to win the presidency, Lourenco, the 63-year-old former defence minister, vowed to distance himself from his all-powerful predecessor who remains head of the ruling party.

"Nobody will be above the law," he told foreign media on the eve of his election victory.

Known derisively as "the princess", 44-year-old Isabel became the public face of the Dos Santos business empire during her father's presidency.

Isabel dos Santos described herself as an "entrepreneur" on her Twitter account and the US-based Forbes magazine claims that she is Africa's richest woman.

It estimates that her personal fortune could be as much as $3.3bn.

She is also active in the telecoms sector and notably controls Unitel, Angola's leading mobile phone operator, as well as satellite TV network Zap.

She also holds 25% of the capital of Portuguese media giant NOS and has invested heavily in the banking sector.

Isabel's removal from Sonangol's top job comes as a surprise, for she had often stated that she wanted to remain in the top job.

"The job of Sonangol is not dependent on the electoral process... I want to continue," she said ahead of the August elections.

Isabel has faced increasing pressure from foreign oil companies in recent weeks, according to Alex Vines, an analyst at the Chatham House think tank in London.

"A number of international oil companies wrote last month to President Lourenco asking for reform... structural reform of Sonangol is the result," he said.

Benjamin Auge of the French Institute of International Relations added that Lourenco was unable to control Isabel and "preferred to have his hand on the economic heart of the country".

Angola's opposition accuses the ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party of suppressing dissent and the Dos Santos family of bleeding the country dry through corruption and decades of mismanagement.

Black gold provides 70% of Angola's revenues and almost all of its hard currency, but many of the country's citizens are mired in poverty.

Even through the collapse in oil prices in recent years, crude has remained Angola's leading revenue source.

Angola, which along with Nigeria is one of Africa's top oil producers, has been in the grip of an economic crisis since 2014 as the global price of oil has remained flat.
United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. JAIME CORDERO-GUERRA, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent No. 16-4088 Decided: November 16, 2017

Before: CHAGARES, VANASKIE, and FUENTES, Circuit Judges

OPINION*

This immigration appeal centers on whether Petitioner Jaime Cordero-Guerra has presented sufficient evidence to undo a 19-year-old default removal order. Cordero-Guerra came to the United States from Guatemala at age 13, and is now the father of two U.S. citizens. He has no criminal record. But in 1998, a removal order in absentia was entered against him after he failed to appear at a removal hearing. In 2015, Cordero-Guerra hired an attorney who helped him file an unsuccessful motion to reopen his 1998 case. On appeal, Cordero-Guerra makes two arguments in support of his motionhe never received notice of the 1998 hearing, and changed country conditions warrant relief. To receive relief, however, Cordero-Guerra must present evidence supporting his claims. A sufficient level of evidentiary support has not been brought forward, and we will therefore deny Cordero-Guerra's petition for review.

I.

Jaime Cordero-Guerra Guerra was born in Guatemala in 1975. At age 13, Cordero-Guerra entered the United States without inspection and settled in Horsham, Pennsylvania, with a brother who had also entered the United States.

When Cordero-Guerra was 21 or 22, he traveled to Guatemala for approximately one year. Upon his return in 1998, he was apprehended by U.S. Border Control. Removal proceedings began. Cordero-Guerra posted bond after he provided the Government with his Horsham address, and he traveled back to Pennsylvania. The Immigration Court scheduled a removal hearing and mailed notice to the Horsham address. Cordero-Guerra failed to appear and the Immigration Court entered a removal order in absentia against him.

In the midst of this 1997-98 period, Cordero-Guerra's girlfriend, Milagro de Jesus Alarcon Ortega, gave birth in Guatemala to the couple's first child. Cordero-Guerra returned to Guatemala in 2001 to marry Ortega. His second return to the United States occurred without incident. Ortega gave birth to the couple's second child in Guatemala, then followed Cordero-Guerra to the United States with the two children in tow. In 2007 and 2012, the couple gave birth to two children in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Those children are U.S. citizens.

In 2015, as the United States announced a later-scuttled administrative program to defer enforcement actions against certain undocumented aliens who were parents of U.S. citizens, Cordero-Guerra hired an attorney to try to clear up his immigration status. With his attorney's assistance, he contacted the Immigration Court and filed a motion to reopen his removal proceedings to rescind the in absentia removal order. Cordero-Guerra also sought asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. The Immigration Judge denied rescission of the removal order because Cordero-Guerra had failed to rebut the presumption that proper notice of the 1998 removal hearing had been given. The Immigration Judge also denied Cordero-Guerra's requests for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed, and Cordero-Guerra now petitions this Court for review.

II.

We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C.  1252, and venue is proper because the Immigration Judge completed Cordero-Guerra's proceedings in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Id.  1252(b)(2). We review the BIA's denial of a motion to reopen for abuse of discretion. Santana Gonzalez v. Att'y Gen., 506 F.3d 274, 276 (3d Cir. 2007).

III.

Generally, an alien must seek to reopen his or her case within ninety days of the entry of a final removal order. 8 U.S.C.  1229a(c)(7)(C)(i). Here, Cordero-Guerra filed his motion more than seventeen years after his removal order became final in 1998. Thus, Cordero-Guerra's motion is untimely under the general rule. Exceptions do exist, however, and Cordero-Guerra's case explores two of them: (1) the failure of the Government to provide notice of the removal hearing, and (2) changed country conditions in the alien's country of nationality.

A. Notice

The first at-issue exception involves the Government's purported failure to provide notice. If the Government fails to provide an alien with notice of his removal hearing, the alien may file a timely motion to reopen even after the 90-day period has expired. 8 U.S.C.  1229a(b)(5)(C)(ii). If the alien's motion shows that notice was ineffective, the motion is not untimely, the removal order may be rescinded, and the case may be reopened. Id. In practice, the timeliness and notice issues run together: either notice was ineffective and the motion to reopen is timely, or notice was effective and the motion is untimely. In proving that notice was ineffective, it is the alien who bears the burden of production and proof. See Pllumi v. Att'y Gen., 642 F.3d 155, 161 (3d Cir. 2011) (citing 8 C.F.R.  1003.2(c)) (The burden of proof on a motion to reopen is on the alien to establish eligibility for the requested relief.).

Notice may be made effective either by personal service or service by mail. 8 U.S.C.  1229(a)(1)-(2). Service by mail shall be considered sufficient  if provided at the most recent address supplied by the alien, 8 U.S.C.  1229a(b)(5)(A), but that presumption may be rebutted by an alien's bare denial of receipt of notice if that denial is supported by circumstantial evidence corroborating the alien's claims. Santana Gonzalez, 506 F.3d at 280. For example, in Santana Gonzalez, we ordered a case to be reopened where the alien denied that she had received notice because that denial was supported by two corroborating facts: (1) the alien's Cuban nationality suggested she lacked a motivation to lie because the Cuban Adjustment Act made similarly-situated Cuban citizens categorically entitled to relief, and (2) the alien had taken repeated affirmative steps to adjust her status, having a relative, an attorney, and two Florida state agencies contact the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on her behalf. Id. at 280-81.

Here, the Government attempted service at the address that Cordero-Guerra provided, and the United States received no indication of any problem with that attempt. Cordero-Guerra states in an affidavit that he never received the mailed service papers, but aside from that denial, he has submitted no corroborating evidence. For example, his affidavit does not dispute that he was living at the Horsham address to which service was sent. It also does not indicate that he had trouble receiving his mail either from the mail carrier or from any co-tenants. He submitted no affidavits from family members or neighbors indicating a problem with his mail. And, unlike the alien in Santana Gonzalez, Cordero-Guerra is not Cuban and has provided no evidence of any prior efforts to address his status. Instead, all that is before us are two conflicting pieces of evidenceCordero-Guerra's uncorroborated assertion that he never received notice, and the Attorney General's assertion to the contrary that notice was mailed to Cordero-Guerra's address. Because it is Cordero-Guerra's burden to carry, we cannot rule in his favor.

B. Changed Country Conditions

The second exception pertains to changed country conditions. The BIA is obligated to grant a motion to reopen that is otherwise untimely if the alien can make a prima facie showing that conditions in the alien's country of nationality have changed since the removal hearing such that asylum or withholding of removal is warranted. 8 U.S.C.  1229a(c)(7)(C)(ii); I.N.S v. Doherty, 502 U.S. 314, 323 (1992).

The BIA cited several factors that cut against a finding that Guatemala has grown dangerous enough to warrant relief: Cordero-Guerra does not suggest he was threatened with or subjected to violence during his 2001 trip to Guatemala; Cordero-Guerra did not seek asylum from 1998 to 2015, suggesting that at least during that time period he lacked a fear of threats of violence in his home country; and Cordero-Guerra has presented no evidence that his family currently residing in Guatemala is threatened with or subjected to violence.

Cordero-Guerra does not point us to any evidence in the record of changed conditions in Guatemala that conceivably could warrant asylum or withholding of removal. He does not dispute the Government's assertion that his family members have remained in Guatemala without incident. Instead, he asserts that his children will be subject to extreme and usual [sic] hardship if he is removed. (Petitioner Br. at 25.) But Cordero-Guerra has cited no legal authority that purports to support the contention that hardship to his children is an adequate basis for a changed-country-conditions finding, and we are aware of none. We therefore conclude that the BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying Cordero-Guerra's motion to reopen based upon his changed-country-conditions argument.

IV.

Because neither the ineffective-notice nor changed-country-conditions exceptions to the ninety-day limitations period on Cordero-Guerra's motion to reopen apply, the BIA was correct in finding that Cordero-Guerra's motion was untimely. We will deny Cordero-Guerra's petition for review.

FOOTNOTES

. Related to the notice issue is Cordero-Guerra's procedural due process argument that the removal order violated the Fifth Amendment because it was issued without notice. The Attorney General argues we lack jurisdiction to consider this argument because Cordero-Guerra failed to present it to the BIA. But either way, the argument folds back on the notice issue, and so we need not reach it: Cordero-Guerra has not shown that notice was ineffective, and so Cordero-Guerra's Fifth Amendment argument that ineffective notice violated his right to due process cannot possibly succeed.

VANASKIE, Circuit Judge.
United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. MICKEL MESA RAMIREZ a/k/a Mickel Mesa, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent No. 16-2713 Decided: November 17, 2017

Before: HARDIMAN, ROTH and FISHER, Circuit Judges

OPINION*

Mickel Mesa Ramirez, an immigrant who was ordered removed because of his multiple criminal convictions, petitions for relief from an order denying his motion to reopen his case and reissue a previous Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) order. For the foregoing reasons, we will deny in part, and dismiss in part, Mesa's petition for review.

I.

Mesa, a citizen of the Dominican Republic and a permanent resident of the United States, was ordered removed in May 2014 on account of his numerous criminal convictions, including various possession of controlled substances charges and one distribution charge. Mesa appealed to the BIA, and the BIA affirmed the removal order. Mesa was ineligible for cancellation of removal because his distribution charge was designated as an aggravated felony. Accordingly, Mesa was deported in January 2015. After he was deported, the Superior Court of New Jersey vacated the conviction for his aggravated felony charge based on ineffective assistance of counsel, rendering him eligible for cancellation of removal. On July 2, 2015, the BIA received Mesa's motion to reopen his case. Later in the month, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild requested to file an amicus brief in this appeal.

In August 2015, the BIA denied the motion to reopen on timeliness grounds, as the motion was filed more than 90 days after the final administrative order. Because Mesa claims that he was not served with notice of this decision, in October 2015, he requested that the BIA reissue the decision; when this was denied, he renewed his request in February 2016. In March 2016, the BIA vacated the August 2015 decision and issued an Amended Order clarifying that it had accepted the National Lawyers Guild as amicus curiae, but again denying Mesa's motion to reopen. Days later, Mesa submitted yet another motion to reissue and reopen. On May 13, 2016, the BIA construed Mesa's latest request to reissue and reopen as a motion to reopen and reconsider; it again denied both motions. Mesa then timely petitioned for review to this Court.

II.2

On appeal, Mesa raises numerous arguments, including that 1) the BIA erroneously construed Mesa's May 2016 motion to reopen and reissue as a motion to reopen and reconsider, 2) this Court should review the BIA's decision from August 2015 because Mesa was never served with it, and 3) the BIA erroneously denied his motion to reopen. For the following reasons, we do not find any of these arguments meritorious.

A.

Mesa first argues that the BIA erroneously failed to rule on Mesa's motion to reissue. Mesa correctly notes that while his motion was titled a motion to reopen and reissue, the BIA construed it as a motion to reopen and reconsider because the BIA thought he was not actually seeking reissuance.

While the BIA did disregard the title of the motion, its decision to construe the motion as a motion for reconsideration and not a motion to reissue was not erroneous. The BIA has the ability to construe a motion when it is erroneously titled. Here, the opinion Mesa requested to be reissued was already vacated, rendering its reissuance an impossibility. Additionally, the motion does not mention reissuance anywhere other than the title; the substance of the body discusses the motion to reopen and Mesa's remaining removable acts. Accordingly, the BIA liberally construed the motion as a motion for reconsideration in Mesa's favor.

B.

Mesa alternatively requests that we review the BIA's August 2015 decision because his petition for review of that decision is still timely. A petition for review must be filed within 30 days of the final order of removal, and this period does not begin until the BIA mails its decision to the petitioner's address of record. Mesa claims that because the August 2015 decision was never served on him, his appeal remains timely. We disagree.

Mesa contends that he never received the decision because the BIA's decision did not purport to have been mailed to the Dominican Republic. However, in July 2015 Mesa requested that any letters continue to be mailed to his sister's address, as it is easier for her to receive [his] documents. He filed a change-of-address form, indicating that his sister's New Jersey address should be the address of record, and the August 2015 decision was mailed to this address. Mesa does not allege that the decision did not arrive at the address on record; accordingly, the thirty-day period in which to file a petition for review has expired, and his petition for review is untimely.

C.

Finally, Mesa appeals the BIA's August 2015 denial of his motion to reopen. Because this petition for review is untimely, as noted above, we need not discuss its merits.

III.

For the aforementioned reasons, we will dismiss in part and deny in part the petition for review.

FOOTNOTES

. Notably, Mesa filed his appeal on April 2, 2015, but the BIA rejected it because he failed to file a change of address form.

. We have jurisdiction over petitions for review of final agency decisions under 8 U.S.C.  1252.

. App. 2 n.1.

. Circuits have reviewed this decision under inconsistent standards. Compare Krougliak v. I.N.S., 289 F.3d 457, 460 (7th Cir. 2002) (applying abuse of discretion), with Wang v. Ashcroft, 260 F.3d 448, 452 (5th Cir. 2001) (applying plain error). Under any of these standards, however, the BIA's decision was proper.

. See, e.g., Krougliak, 289 F.3d at 461 (approving the BIA's construction of a motion to remand as a motion to reopen); Wang, 260 F.3d at 452 (same).

. App. 28 n. 1.

. App. 14-17.

. 8 U.S.C.  1252(b)(1). Because the denial of a motion to reopen is also a final order of removal, Jahjaga v. Attorney Gen. of U.S., 512 F.3d 80, 82 (3d Cir. 2008) (citing Cruz v. Attorney Gen. of U.S., 452 F.3d 240, 246 (3d Cir. 2006)), this statute of limitations applies here.

. Singh v. I.N.S., 315 F.3d 1186, 1188 (9th Cir. 2003) (citation omitted); see also Radkov v. Ashcroft, 375 F.3d 96, 99 (1st Cir. 2004).

. App. 130.

. App. 131.

. App. 59.

ROTH, Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. BENITO REYES-SANTANA, a.k.a. Gerardo Reyes, a.k.a. Benito Reyes-Santano, Defendant-Appellant. No. 16-10492 Decided: November 17, 2017

Before: CANBY, TROTT, and GRABER, Circuit Judges.

MEMORANDUM*

Benito Reyes-Santana appeals his guilty-plea conviction and 46-month sentence for attempted reentry of a removed alien, in violation of 8 U.S.C.  1326. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.  1291, and we affirm.

Reyes-Santana argues that, during his plea colloquy, the district court violated Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11 by failing to (1) advise him of the elements of the offense and (2) obtain a factual basis for his plea. Because Reyes-Santana did not raise these objections below, we review for plain error. See United States v. Dominguez Benitez, 542 U.S. 74, 80 (2004).

To convict a defendant of attempted reentry, the government must show that the defendant entered the United States with the specific intent to enter the country free from official restraint. United States v. Argueta-Rosales, 819 F.3d 1149, 1156 (9th Cir. 2016) (internal quotations omitted). The record reflects that the district court did not advise Reyes-Santana of this aspect of the offense during the plea colloquy. We nevertheless affirm Reyes-Santana's conviction because he has not shown that the court's error affected his substantial rights. See Dominguez Benitez, 542 U.S. at 83 (to prevail on plain error review, defendant must show a reasonable probability that, but for the error, he would not have entered the plea).

Reyes-Santana also argues the district court erred by applying the 2015 Guidelines instead of the 2016 Guidelines. Reviewing for plain error, see United States v. Waknine, 543 F.3d 546, 551 (9th Cir. 2008), we affirm Reyes-Santana's sentence. In light of a recent decision of this court, see United States v. Martinez, 870 F.3d 1163, 1169 (9th Cir. 2017), the sentencing range under the 2016 Guidelines is the same as under the 2015 Guidelines. Thus, any error in the court's use of the 2015 Guidelines did not affect Reyes-Santana's substantial rights. See Waknine, 543 F.3d at 552 (a nonprejudicial error does not affect substantial rights).

AFFIRMED.
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. WILLIAM SHROPSHIRE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. ISIDRO BACA and ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR THE STATE OF NEVADA, Respondents-Appellees. No. 16-15214 Decided: November 17, 2017

Before: W. FLETCHER and TALLMAN, Circuit Judges, and HOYT,** District Judge.

MEMORANDUM*

William Shropshire appeals the district court's dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus, challenging convictions for one count of kidnapping and multiple counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon. The district court dismissed the petition on the ground that it was barred by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act's (AEDPA) one-year statute of limitations. The appellant presents two arguments on appeal: first, that he is entitled to equitable tolling, and second, that he is actually innocent of the kidnapping charge.

We review de novo a district court's decision to dismiss a petition for writ of habeas corpus under the AEDPA's statute of limitations. Summers v. Schriro, 481 F.3d 710, 712 (9th Cir. 2007); Spitsyn v. Moore, 345 F.3d 796, 799 (9th Cir. 2003). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C.  2254 and 28 U.S.C.  1291.

The appellant waived a state appeal and thereafter, in 2010 and 2013, filed unsuccessful state writs of habeas corpus. The appellant's federal petition for writ of habeas corpus was filed February 2014, more than three years after his only timely filed state petition.

The AEDPA establishes a one-year limitations period for filing federal habeas petitions. 28 U.S.C.  2244(d)(1). The period runs from the date on which the [state] judgment [becomes] final by the conclusion of direct review or the expiration of time for seeking such review. 28 U.S.C.  2244(d)(1)(A). The appellant concedes that his federal habeas petition was untimely, but he asserts that he qualifies for equitable tolling due to his inability to access state records and his mental incompetence.

The appellant is not entitled to equitable tolling due to his inability to obtain trial records or medical records. During the period for which tolling is sought, the appellant filed a motion to modify the judgment and two state habeas petitions. Therefore, it cannot be said that the appellant's lack of access to the state records constitutes an extraordinary circumstance that made it impossible to file a petition on time. See Lott v. Mueller, 304 F.3d 918, 924 (9th Cir. 2002) (quotation omitted).

The appellant is also not entitled to equitable tolling based on mental incompetence. A petitioner seeking equitable tolling due to mental incompetence must show an inability to rationally or factually personally understand the need to timely file, or a mental state rendering an inability personally to prepare a habeas petition and effectuate its filing. Orthel v. Yates, 795 F.3d 935, 938 (9th Cir. 2015). The appellant was judged competent before he was sentenced in September 2009, and the record does not reflect any finding of incompetence after that time. Furthermore, he filed several state petitions during the years after his sentencing, indicating that he was capable of preparing and filing habeas petitions. It is, therefore, not evident that mental incompetency rendered the appellant unable to prepare a habeas petition and effectuate its filing. Id.

The appellant also claims that he is actually innocent of the kidnapping charge because the state cannot prove the asportation element of kidnapping with regard to one of the victims. [A]ctual innocence, if proved, serves as a gateway through which a petitioner may pass whether the impediment is a procedural bar  or  expiration of the statute of limitations. McQuiggin v. Perkins, 133 S. Ct. 1924, 1928 (2013); see also Sawyer v. Whitley, 505 U.S. 333, 339 (1992). The appellant cannot access this gateway because the record before us does not reveal new evidence in light of which no juror, acting reasonably, would have voted to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. See McQuiggin, 133 S.Ct. at 1928 (quoting Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298, 329 (1995).

The kidnapping charge to which the appellant entered a plea of guilty was one of eleven similar charges. Even if the appellant established that the asportation element was not proved in the count to which he entered a plea, there are ten potential robbery or kidnapping charges for which no proof of innocence has been presented. Therefore, the appellant has not demonstrated that he is actually innocent of the crimes to which he pled guilty. Id.

At oral argument, counsel for the appellant argued that our recent decision in Gonzalez v. Sherman, No. 1556855, 2017 WL 4532464 (9th Cir. Oct. 11, 2017), extended the time to file a federal habeas petition. In Gonzalez, we held that the AEDPA's statute of limitations clock restarts when a state-court judgment is amended. Id. The appellant successfully had his judgment amended to reflect credit for time served on November 4, 2010. Therefore, Gonzalez does not aid the appellant's equitable tolling claim because he did not file his federal habeas petition within one year of that date. Accordingly, the appellant has failed to show that he is entitled to equitable tolling or is actually innocent and thereby overcomes the AEDPA's one-year statute of limitations.

The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.
Bryan alumnus Dr. Don Reed 63 has officially assumed the role of generosity advisor for the college. He tells potential clients, As our paths may cross on campus or in your area, I look forward to conversations about our common heritage through Bryan and the opportunity to invest in the future generations of students who seek the Bryan experience.

With an extensive background in ministry, banking, donor development, and estate design, Dr. Reed is uniquely qualified to offer financial consulting service to the Bryan College family, from alumni to friends of the college.

After graduating from high school at 16, he was introduced to the field of banking. His employer invited him to take advantage of resources provided by the American Institute of Banking to earn college credits, starting with night courses at the University of Buffalo. This was only the beginning of Dr. Reeds journey. At the bank he spent a year and a half developing his customer service and financial skills at a tellers window, working with people from the entire range of socioeconomic wealth. The bank promoted him to the position of junior loan officer by age 18.

Dr. Reed had planned on attending a Bible school in New York, but through several conversations he was introduced to Bryan College. Less than a month later, I found myself in Tennessee entering the Bryan experience. This was another one of Gods good surprises, showing me His plan, said Dr. Reed. At Bryan he was challenged to integrate education with the Bible.

Following his graduation from Bryan with a B.A. in Greek in 1963, Dr. Reed kept pursuing higher learning to answer Gods call on his life toward ministry. This included a Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, a Master of Christian Education from North American Baptist Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry from Bethel Theological Seminary. During that time the Lord called him to embark on a 43-year career in local church ministry. Here he experienced church staff ministry, church planting, senior pastorate, and regional oversight of 75 churches in northern California.

Now having finished that full-time ministry work, Dr. Reed and his wife, Rae (also from the class of 63), are deeply involved with volunteer work: a road that has led back to Bryan College! He said, Part of the joy in volunteering presently is our work with Bryan. In the later years of local church work, I also took training in major donor development and estate design. The Bryan development staff has graciously provided opportunity to serve in these areas from our current remote location in Arkansas. Periodic visits to the Bryan campus allow contact with individuals for conversations about generosity and Kingdom investment. Other conversations take place through phone calls, emails, etc. This service is one way in which we can repay in part what others did for us to allow us to attend Bryan.
The Chattanooga Department of Transportation will close a section of Granada Drive between Provence Street and Gardner Street beginning

Monday, Nov.

for approximately 30 days for roadway repair. This will be a full closure and detours will be posted.
Japanese fair trade regulators raided last month the offices of Airbnb over suspected violations of antitrust laws, the home rental site has revealed, denying any wrongdoing.

The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) carried out an on-site inspection of Airbnb and the company is co-operating with the regulators investigation, Airbnb Japan said.

A JFTC spokesman declined to comment. Regulators seized documents from Airbnb in Tokyo on suspicion that it broke antitrust rules by asking users not to list properties on rival sites, according to the Nikkei business daily.

All hosts and partners in Japan who list properties on Airbnb are able to list them on other platforms, and we will work with the JFTC to address any questions they may have, a Singapore-based Airbnb spokesman said.

The Nikkei said that Airbnb forced some users to sign contracts promising not to use other sites. The Airbnb spokesman said this was not the case.

Airbnbs rise has seen a growing crackdown by legislators in cities such as Amsterdam and Barcelona.

The hotel industry sees Airbnb and other services as providing unfair competition, while community groups have criticised the site for driving up property prices and contributing to housing shortages as landlords buy to let.

Community worries about noise and safety, along with opposition from hotels and traditional ryokan inns, have presented obstacles to efforts to loosen regulations on short-term rentals.
Twenty-First Century Fox shares jumped in US trading and Sky shares rose in London after sources said both Comcast and Verizon Communications were also interested in buying parts of its studio and TV operations.

A week after reports of interest from Walt Disney in buying out much of Rupert Murdochs US film and television empire, the sources hinted at the prospect of a battle between other media suitors for the assets.

Buyers have expressed interest in Foxs production studios, cable networks FX and National Geographic, and international assets such as the Star network in India and Sky, sources told Reuters. Fox shares have gained about 9% in value in the last six months.

Sky shares shot up by over 3% at one stage to the top of the FTSE. Comcasts interest in the 39% stake in Sky seems plausible, said Liberum analysts. Its NBC Universal has publicly stated its interest in expanding its non-US assets for a number of years and the UK is a key market for many of the US media groups, the analysts said. The US groups interest demonstrates Foxs stake in Sky is still seen as a valuable asset, Liberum added.

Either Disney or Comcast would be a good fit, but its always about price and neither has to be a strategic buyer, only opportunistic, said JBL Advisors analyst Jeffrey Logsdon. Shares of other media companies which could be dragged into a round of consolidation of US film and TV production and distribution were largely unchanged. Comcast, the largest cable provider in the US, has steadily boosted its content ownership over the years and buying Foxs assets would give it an international distribution footprint and strengthen its position against Disney.

Traditional media companies have been struggling with subscriber declines as streaming service Netflix has gained traction with younger audiences that shun cable and satellite offerings.

Netflix and Verizon shares were marginally higher at one stage. Disney and Comcast shares both inched down. Fox and Disney are co-owners of Hulu, a streaming service that offers on-demand and live TV packages. Hulu is also partially owned by Comcast and Time Warner. Although acquisition of a movie studio and cable channels would be a departure for wireless carrier Verizon, its interest in Fox assets was likely piqued by rival AT&Ts bid for HBO and CNN owner Time Warner, which is awaiting regulatory approval.

(I am) sceptical of a Verizon deal, creative businesses are very tough to manage for an outsider, Mr Logsdon said.

Foxs other assets include Fox television network, Fox News Channel and Fox Entertainment Group.

Reuters
An Englishman who suffered a brain injury while on holidays in Ireland has penned a letter of thanks to the people of Dublin.

Mark, whos from Lancashire, collapsed outside a restaurant in Leeson Street as he went out for some fresh air mid-dinner on September 11.

Lucky a passer-by rushed to his aid and quickly called the emergency services.

Both a fire engine from C Watch in Donnybrook and a Rathfarnham based ambulance responded to the call and rushed him to hospital, saving his life.

Thanks to Mark for writing this letter and to @LordMayorDublin for sharing. A fire engine from C Watch in Donnybrook responded alongside our Rathfarnham based ambulance. Great to hear that things are going well. https://t.co/yfYIu8PTzb  Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) November 16, 2017

As Mark was unable to communicate with the first responders he could not let them know that he had left his partner inside, who finally traced him in hospital on the Monday morning.

Mark wrote to the Mayor of Dublin, Micheal MacDonncha thanking everyone in Dublin who attended to me and helped my partner in the awful days after the accident

I received a lovely letter from Mark in Lancashire who asked me to thank people of Dublin, esp the Emergency Services, who helped him after he suffered a brain injury on 11th September. He is very grateful all in Dublin who were so friendly and thoughtful to him and his partner. pic.twitter.com/MAxoKf7Z88  Lord Mayor of Dublin (@LordMayorDublin) November 16, 2017

He goes on to name the Ambulance Service, St James Hospital and Beaumont Hospital where he had the operation for a bleed in his brain, the Central Hotel in Talbot St who, let his partner stay free of charge for the night.

He then ended the letter with, I cannot explain how grateful I am to the people of Dublin who have been the most friendly and thoughtful people I have ever met and you must be so proud to be mayor of such a wonderful city.

I would be the most grateful if you could pass on my application to the people of Dublin in any way you can.
Male suicide and the role of men and masculinity are some of the key issues up for discussion today at a 'Men's Voices' conference in Dublin.

The role of fathers and families also comes under the spotlight, along with the youth perspective on being male in today's society.
By Cormac O'Keeffe

Irish criminals in the Netherlands will be tracked down and handed over to the Irish authorities, Dutch police say.

The warning was made after police there arrested eight people, including three Irish nationals, as part of a large-scale drug investigation targeting the Kinahan crime cartel.

In an operation in Amsterdam with the gardai, Dutch police confiscated 175kg of drugs, a computer generating bitcoin, and two vacuum-packed bags of cash. Police suspect the criminals were using a bitcoin mine, or bitcoin farm, to pay for drugs with the digital currency.

The items were found in two apartments in the city, one of them protected with a reinforced metal door with 13 bolts.

Four Dutch nationals and a Belgian were also arrested and are suspected of being involved in supplying the drugs to the Irish criminals.

Gardai were in the Netherlands for the operation, led by assistant commissioner John ODriscoll of Special Crime Operations.

Dutch police said the arrests and searches were the result of a legal assistance request from Ireland under EU laws.

In a statement, police in Amsterdam said that, on the basis of the request, they began their operation.

The criminal investigation department conducted an investigation which led to arrests in various parts of the city on Wednesday.

The co-operation with Irish colleagues is very good, said Pim Jansonius of the Dutch police.

Our signal to foreign criminals is very emphatic  Amsterdam is not the place to be.

The person who does not understand this message is tracked down and handed over to the Irish authorities.

Video footage emerged showing the moment three men were arrested by elite police units in Amsterdam as part of the operation targeting the Kinahan cartel.

Dutch police carried out a controlled stop of a vehicle the men were travelling in.

Armed officers masked, handcuffed, and blindfolded the men before taking them away in separate police vehicles for questioning.

The three Irish men include one in his 50s from Dublins south inner city, considered an importer and money man for the cartel.

The other two are from Limerick, one of whom is a serious drug supplier and who has been previously hit by the Criminal Assets Bureau.

The three are understood to have been brought to court by Dutch police yesterday evening and remanded for two weeks to allow for further investigation.

It was part of an Irish-Dutch operation which resulted in seizures in Ireland and the arrest of five people.

This included more than 300kg of cannabis herb, worth around 6m, which was seized by the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau near Ashbourne, Co Meath.

In Dublins south inner city, local detectives seized around 3.5kg of drugs, 6,000 in cash, and four improvised firearms.

This story originally appeared in the Irish Examiner.
11/16/2022

The 15th-ranked Chattanooga Mocs close out the regular season Saturday at Western Carolina. Its the first time the Mocs and Cats complete a football campaign against each other. Chattanooga ... more
A new report from Focus Ireland has found mental and physical health problems with children who have been homeless.

The charity interviewed 25 families who had exited homelessness between 2014 and 2016. Concerns about the long-term effects of homelessness on children have been raised by parents.
A teenager has been shot and seriously injured in West Dublin.

Emergency services were called to Shancastle Park in Clondalkin shortly after 11pm last night.

They found a young man suffering what appeared to be a gun shot wound to the head and treated him at the scene.

The youth was stabilised and taken to Blanchardstown hospital with "serious injuries".

The area around the shooting has been sealed off and Gardai are appealing for witnesses.
Update 2.49pm: Lebanon's prime minister Saad Hariri has said he is returning to the country and confirmed he is resigning amid political tensions.

He told reporters in Paris: "As you know I have resigned and we will speak about this matter there (Lebanon)."

Mr Hariri, who flew to France from Saudi Arabia, where he first made his shock resignation announcement, said he will go back to Lebanon in the coming days to take part in Independence Day celebrations.

Update 10am: Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri has arrived in France from Riyadh, seeking to dismiss fears that he had been held against his will and forced to resign by Saudi authorities.

Mr Hariri is scheduled to meet French president Emmanuel Macron, who is trying to mediate in the region to avert a proxy conflict in Lebanon between Iranian-backed and Saudi-backed camps.

An Associated Press journalist saw Mr Hariri emerge from a convoy that arrived on Saturday morning at his Paris residence, where police stood guard.

Mr Hariri walked out of his car and moved straight into the building without speaking to journalists.

Lebanese television showed the prime minister accompanied by his wife Lara al-Azm, but none of his three children appeared.

Before leaving Riyadh, Mr Hariri dismissed as "rumours" reports about his alleged detention in the kingdom.

In a tweet, he insisted his stay in Saudi Arabia was to consult with officials there on the future of Lebanon and its relations with its Arab neighbours.

Earlier: Saad Hariri has left Saudi Arabia for France, two weeks after declaring his resignation from the kingdom and sparking speculation that he was forced to do so.

The surprise resignation announcement by Mr Hariri on November 4 plunged his country into turmoil and stunned the Lebanese, many of whom saw it as a sign the Sunni kingdom - the prime minister's chief ally - had decided to drag tiny Lebanon into its feud with the region's other powerhouse, the predominantly Shiite Iran. Lebanon still has not recognised his resignation.

In his televised announcement, Mr Hariri cited Iran and Hezbollah for meddling in Arab countries, particularly Saudi Arabia. He also said he was afraid for his life.

Shortly before he left Riyadh, Saudi Arabia asked its citizens for the second time in less than two weeks to leave Lebanon "as soon as possible" given the "circumstances" there.

Less than a week after Mr Hariri resigned, Riyadh ordered its nationals to leave immediately, raising fears of more punitive actions to come amid sharp criticism from Saudi officials of Hezbollah, Iran's ally in Lebanon.

The announcement early on Saturday was posted on the Saudi embassy Twitter account. It came shortly after the embassy reported that it is closely following reports of an attack on two Saudi nationals in a Beirut neighbourhood. There was no immediate security report of the incident. Mr Hariri tweeted before he left Saudi Arabia that any attack on a Saudi is an attack on him personally.

Mr Hariri, a dual Lebanese-Saudi national, stunned Lebanon and the region when he declared his resignation from Saudi Arabia, sparking speculations he was held against his will and forced to resign.

In a series of tweets before leaving, Mr Hariri dismissed as "rumours" and a "lie" reports that he was detained or prevented from leaving the kingdom. In a rare English tweet, Mr Hariri named German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel when announcing that he was heading to the airport in Saudi Arabia. He apparently singled out the top German diplomat because he had criticised meddling in Lebanon's affairs.

"To say that I am held up in Saudi Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie," Mr Hariri said. "I am on the way to the airport Mr. Sigmar Gabriel."

Before heading to the airport, Mr Hariri met with the Saudi Crown Prince and other senior officials, according to a member of Mr Hariri's political party and two Lebanese television stations.

He is expected to arrive in Paris on Saturday morning. Local Lebanese TV said he left Riyadh with his wife. His family had lived in Riyadh for years.

French president Emmanuel Macron said Hariri will be received "with the honours due a prime minister" even though he has announced his resignation.

Lebanese president Michel Aoun accused Saudi Arabia of detaining him.

Saudi officials denied the reports, adding that Mr Hariri was an ally. But they railed against Iran-backed Hezbollah, accusing the two of meddling in the region's affairs and backing anti-Saudi rebels in Yemen.

The resignation by Saudi-aligned Hariri raised concerns in a region already beset by conflict. Many feared Lebanon's delicate sectarian-based political system could be easily upended if the county is dragged into a battle for regional supremacy between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

On Friday, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said there will be no stability in Lebanon unless the militant group Hezbollah disarms. "This is what we hope," Adel al-Jubeir said at a press conference in Madrid with his Spanish counterpart.

It was the second day in a row that the Saudi minister railed against Hezbollah. On Thursday, he called the group a "first-class terrorist organisation" that should lay down its arms and respect Lebanon's sovereignty. Saudi Arabia has already asked its nationals to leave Lebanon.

The Arab League is due to hold a meeting on Sunday in Cairo at Saudi Arabia's urging where the Lebanon crisis and Iran's role in the region are expected to be discussed. Many fear more Saudi punitive actions against Lebanon may be planned.

AP
The body of a woman has been found in the hunt for missing teenager Gaia Pope, which UK police are "confident" is the 19-year-old.

The discovery was made on land close to where clothing positively identified as Miss Pope was found on Thursday.

Miss Pope had not been seen since she vanished from the Swanage area of Dorset on the afternoon of November 7.

Police said the discovery was made at around 3pm today by specialist search teams near the coastal path and the field where items of her clothing were located.

Detective Superintendent Paul Kessell, of Dorset Polices major crime investigation team, said: "Although the body has yet to be formally identified, we are confident that we have found Gaia.

"Her family have been informed and are being supported by specially-trained officers.

"Our thoughts remain with all of her family and friends at this very traumatic time. They have requested privacy and that we make no further media releases at this point.

"The coroner has been notified and further forensic examination will continue. This will guide the investigation in respect of the circumstances of the death which at this time remains unexplained.

"I would like to thank the community for their support and understanding while this large-scale investigation continues and their efforts in looking for Gaia.

"We have received a huge amount of support from the public who have contacted us with possible sightings of Gaia and items of found clothing.

"I can confirm that we have recovered all the clothing we believe Gaia was wearing when she disappeared and, with thanks, we no longer require the public to assist with searches."

The devastating news comes hours after hundreds of people joined searches this afternoon looking for the teenager.

Members of the local community taking part in a search for Gaia this afternoon. Pic: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

Miss Popes father, Richard Sutherland, joined volunteers who had come together to search areas around Swanage today.

Addressing members of the public who had gathered at Durlston Country Park, Mr Sutherland said: "I just want to say a massive thank you for coming out. It is very heart warming and the support gives us a lot of hope."

The mass searches had been organised by the Find Gaia group on Facebook and saw volunteers gather at the country park, near the main beach and to the north of the town looking for Miss Pope, who suffers from severe epilepsy.

Since she disappeared hundreds of missing person posters have been distributed across the county.

Detectives have arrested and released under investigation three people, a 71-year-old woman, a 19-year-old man and a 49-year-old man, named locally as Paul Elsey.

Yesterday, Miss Popes mother, Natasha, said she has not given up hope her daughter will be found alive - saying "I believe miracles can happen".

In a message posted on social media, Ms Pope said: "I believe in this community and I believe miracles can happen.

"I am holding onto hope, along with Gaias sisters and the whole family who are my strength. Please hold on with us.

"My eternal thanks to everyone who is out there searching for my little girl. Please come out over the weekend and do what you can. Every one of you makes a difference."

Earlier, Mr Sutherland said he feared his daughters epilepsy may have played a part in her disappearance as she had been warned by doctors she was at risk of sudden death from the condition.

Miss Pope has not been seen since about 4pm on November 7 in Manor Gardens, Swanage.

An hour earlier she was captured on CCTV buying an ice cream in the town, having been driven there by a relative.

She was said to be wearing a red checked shirt with white buttons, grey and white woven leggings and white trainers. The black jacket she had on was recovered from a property in the area.

Forensic investigations have concluded at two properties, which are believed to be the homes of a 71-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man.

The pair were released under investigation on Tuesday after being arrested on suspicion of murder the previous day.
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The National Theater Live is returning to China in 2018, with more screenings of sellout English stage productions.

A new production of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night featuring an all-male cast. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Launched in the United Kingdom in 2009, National Theater Live, an initiative that broadcasts British theater productions to cinemas around the world, has brought works featuring film actors, such as Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston to Beijing and Shanghai since 2012.

Among the eight productions, the National Theater Live will bring the hit musical, Follies, starring Imelda Staunton, Janie Dee and Philip Quast; Tony Award-winning director Ivo van Hove's new work Obsession, starring Jude Law; a critically-acclaimed version of Edward Ablee's classic, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and a new production of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night featuring Tamsin Greig.

Besides, the highly-praised productions, One Man, Two Guvnors and Skylight, will return a third time to Chinese cinemas thanks to its popularity and positive reviews.

According to co-organizer, Beijing-based ATW Culture Media Ltd, the sole distributor of National Theater Live in China, 28 new productions will be screened in cinemas and 16 productions will be streamed online, in the first half of 2018.

Besides working with National Theater Live, ATW Culture Media, in collaboration with UK distribution company Trafalgar Releasing will also bring theater content on screen in China from the Royal Shakespeare Company's Live from Stratford-upon-Avon, Almeida Theater Live and Branagh Theater Live.

Following the success of the King and Country series of Shakespeare history plays, the Royal Shakespeare Company's Live from Stratford-upon-Avon will return with two productions, Julius Caesar, one of the most famous historical tragedies written by William Shakespeare and Titus Andronicus, one of Shakespeare's most violent plays that is rarely performed on stage.

Separately, American distribution company BroadwayHD will present two new Tony Award-winning productions, Indecent and Present Laughter.

The Russian company, Stage Russia HD, will bring The Seagull, a classic play by Anton Chekhov.

A new live brand, More2Screen, will bring two more screening categoriesdance and exhibitionsto China, including English choreographer Matthew Bourne's revivals of three classic ballets, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Car Man, and the exhibition of Hokusai: Mitsubishi by British Museum, alongside David Bowie Is by Victoria and Albert Museum.

According to Li Chongzhou, the CEO of ATW Culture, since 2015 the company has distributed and promoted 39 theater productions on screen from seven major brands worldwide.

And with over 1,400 screenings, theater productions in the form of cinema screenings have reached more than 200,000 people across 24 Chinese cities.

"For Chinese theatergoers, this is a rare opportunity to experience world-class theater productions at home," says Li.

"New content and new categories will shorten the distance between China and world's top theater productions, and enable more Chinese to enjoy the finest shows from all over the world."
National Aluminium Company (Nalco), along with Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd (MECL) and Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL), would hunt for strategic mineral assets in South Africa and other African countries. The three government-controlled firms are expected to float a joint venture (JV) shortly to work out the modalities.
The Indian Association for the Club of Rome organised a two-day conference, Towards Resource Resilient India, in Mumbai with focus on resource efficiency, resource inclusivity, resource security and resource use impact, and to find solutions relating to . It included the possibility of disruptive technology to find solutions and suggestive policy actions.
Public sector giant Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is looking to ramp up its presence in the global markets through exports. Ten per cent of SAILs saleable steel production will be targeted for the new markets overseas, including Africa, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, a company executive said.
(From left) Mukesh Ambani, Devendra Fadnavis, Rameshbhai Oza and Ajit Doval, at the launch of Naiks biography, The Nationalist, by Minhaz Merchant in Mumbai on Saturday. BS photo by Kamlesh Pednekar
One Indian Air Force (IAF) Garud personnel lost his life and six terrorists were gunned down on Saturday during an encounter in Hajin area of Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district.

Two Indian Army personnel were also injured in the operation, which started earlier in the day. The operation is still underway.

Later on, it was found out that the nephew of the mastermind behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks-- Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi-- was among the six killed militants.
The ongoing construction activity at the Pragati Maidan fairground has marred the spirit of trade fair this year with lesser stalls and crowds compared to the previous years. However, traders were still hopeful of good sales now that the business days are over and the fair is open for common people.

"The crowd is lesser this year. The ITPO (India Trade Promotion Organisation) has reduced the number of visitors from 150,000 on a per day basis last year to 60,000 per day this year," Wanida Wongpitak, a trader from Thailand who has been participating in the fair for two consecutive years, told IANS.

"We are expecting more sales once the business days are over," he said on Friday, the last day for only business visitors.

Recollecting the period of demonetisation, Wanida said: "Last year, we had faced problems as the fair coincided with the demonetisation period. People had less currency to spend. This time I have a (point-of-sale) machine, but for that, I charge 5 per cent extra."

Wanida's stall displayed a variety of products made of mango wood and bamboo, like vases, bread baskets, candle holders and other decorative items, including items which were customised for the Indian market.

"Chapati boxes and teacups are especially for Indian customers. The teacups got sold out very fast. Our products are all USFDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved, they are food and water friendly," he added.

India International Trade Fair at Pragati Maidan, Delhi. Photo: Sanjay Sharma

The other stalls of Thailand displayed colourful accessories, artificial jewelleries and flowers  giving visitors a wide range of choices.

According to the ITPO, the expected footfall this year is not more than half of that of last year. "Last year, our footfall was 14 lakh. This time, since the fair is in half the area, we are expecting 60,000 daily on an average over 10 days. First four days are for business," a spokesperson had said earlier.

The last year was held in an area of over 100,000 square meters with around 7,000 exhibitors.

Another attraction of the international trade fair was the bedazzled Turkish stall displaying glossy ceramic showpieces, melamine trays and fashion jewelleries. Colourful lanterns and chandeliers stole the attention of the crowd.

Just next to the crowded Thailand stores was a quiet stall from South Africa that displayed handcrafted verdite and African jade stone sculptures.

"I have been a regular participant for quite a number of years now, although I was not here last year. This year, people don't seem too interested in buying my sculptures," rued Robert Kaliyongo (the artist), adding: "I'm hopeful that people will turn out in large numbers in the remaining days."

"We have been coming here for more than 10 years now. The crowd this year is fine," said Yee Ye San, a trader from Myanmar. San told IANS that she had a collection of both precious and semi-precious stones like topaz, jade, amethyst and pearls.

Afghanistan stalls were stacked with a wide range of dry fruits, rugs and carpets and semi-precious stone jewellery. Other stuff that stood out at the foreign stalls were Rajshahi silk sarees from Bangladesh, perfumes from Dubai and saffron from Iran.
Veteran Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Narayan Datt Tiwari on Saturday became unresponsive when he was being given physiotherapy and was shifted to a hospital in New Delhi.

"Tiwari became unresponsive while he was being given physiotherapy. His son Rohit Shekhar Tiwari was present at that moment."

"He alerted the team of doctors at Max Hospital immediately. He has been shifted to the ICU there," said a statement from his office.

Earlier, Tiwari was put on life support system after his health deteriorated on November 5.

The nonagenarian leader was on October 26 also shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital from the private ward after he was diagnosed suffering from fever and pneumonia.
Underlining the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJPs) unease at the Congress partys allegations of wrongdoing by the National Democratic Alliance(NDA) government in the Rs. 58,000-crore purchase of 36 fighters last year from Dassault, a French company, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman led a counter-attack on Friday.
Pakistan on Saturday said it has received India's reply to its offer to allow the wife of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death here, to meet his wife. According to sources, India has requested that Jadhav's mother be allowed to meet him first.

"India's reply to Pakistan's humanitarian offer for Commander Jadhav received and is being considered," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal tweeted.

According to a Foreign Office source, India has sought an additional visa for Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother, Avanti Jadhav, and permission for her to meet her son.

Jadhav's mother had filed a visa application with the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi earlier this year.

The source said that India has expressed reluctance in sending Jadhav's wife alone to Pakistan and insisted that his mother's application should also be processed.

India maintains that Jadhav's mother has a right to meet her son.

In a sudden move, Pakistan had last week informed India that it would be willing to allow a meeting between the "self-confessed spy" and his wife "on humanitarian grounds".

The meeting would take place on Pakistani soil, the Foreign Office spokesman had told reporters.

It is not clear what prompted Islamabad to allow Jadhav's wife to meet him in Pakistan.

There were rumours that the two countries discussed the issue at a recent meeting between Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the newly-appointed Pakistani High Commissioner to New Delhi Sohail Mahmood.

Islamabad, however, denied that the issue came under discussion.

Pakistan claims Jadhav is a serving Commander of the Indian Navy and was working for India's premier intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Islamabad says he was apprehended by law enforcement agencies on March 3, 2016 in Balochistan after he illegally crossed over into Pakistan. India has said Jadhav is a former navy officer and denied he was working for RAW.

Jadhav was sentenced to death earlier this year by a Pakistani military court. However, the International Court of Justice ordered a stay in his execution.

New Delhi has repeatedly sought consular access to Jadhav, but Islamabad has denied permission on the ground that such access in cases related to spies was not applicable.
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Italian-French illustrator Beatrice Alemagna, who has won numerous international awards for her illustrations, recently visited Beijing promoting her new book to Chinese children.

Italian-French illustrator Beatrice Alemagna attends a promotional event in Beijing for her new picture book on Nov 15, 2017. [Photo/China Plus]

In the new picture book "Have a Nice Trip, Baby," Alemagna compares sleep to travel. The book begins with a little boy who embarks on a journey at the same time each day, taking with him a milk bottle, a fluffy fish, a pacifier, and his favorite books.

At the promotional event held in Beijing, the author explained how her bedtime picture book helps children mentally prepare themselves for a good sleep.

Miao Wei, deputy director of the book center of China Children's Press and Publication Group, praised the book for reflecting the authors unique way of thinking about young children and helping them set up good habits.

The China Children's Press and Publication Group published the book in China earlier this month.
Ignoring denial of permission by the authorities, the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) is determined to go ahead with its mega rally in Mansa town here on Saturday evening to demonstrate the community's support to young leader Hardik Patel, despite the 'sex CDs' on him - in a big worry for the ruling BJP.

PAAS leader has said that in spite of the authorities denied them permission, they will be holding a massive 'prestige rally' in Mansa, showcasing the support the group has among the Patidar community.

Patel also claimed that they would "drop a bigger bomb" on the ruling BJP against the recent releases of CDs alleging a sex scandal against him.

The Gandhinagar police have denied PAAS permission for the Adhikar Sabha rally, but PAAS is adamant to hold the event with or without police permission.

Mansa, about 41 km away from Ahmedabad, is the hometown of BJP president Amit Shah. It is also the place from where the Patidar reservation demand and agitation had started in 2015.

After two years of agitation and witnessing many ups and downs, the PAAS has seen recent attacks on Patel over the "sex CDs" which have gone viral on social media. The CDs show Hardik's lookalike or allegedly him with a woman in compromising situation.

Alleging that the CDs are doctored and are the handiwork of the BJP, has threatened to "drop a bigger bomb" on the issue at the rally in Mansa town.

Through this rally, he and the PAAS group also want to convey the message that the entire Patidar community is still with them in their demand for reservation for the Patidars.

The Congress has come out in support of Patel in the CD row. However, the talks between the party and the PAAS leaders in Delhi on Friday seemed to have suffered a setback with the group giving an ultimatum of 24 hours to resolve the reservation imbroglio.

Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, too, has extended support to Patel.

The rally in Mansa will be a big worry for the Gandhinagar district administration as they had earlier given permission for the rally.

PAAS leader Atul Patel claimed that permission was cancelled on "flimsy grounds". "The authorities told us that if the meeting is allowed at the location decided by the PAAS, it could create enmity among communities and so the venue should be changed. This is not possible for us," Atul said.

"Come what may, we are not going to change the rally location in Mansa," he added.

Gandhinagar District Superintendent of Police (DSP) Virendra Yadav said: "We have not granted them permission. They want to hold it on the main road. During the election period, we discourage even political parties from holding functions on the main roads, which can cause traffic problems. We have asked them to find another place. If they do so, we can consider their demand for permission," he said.

"If they carry on with the rally without permission, legal action will be initiated," the police officer added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged people to share their ideas for his November's .

"What are your ideas for this month's Mann Ki Baat, which will be held on Sunday, 26th November? Share them with me on the Narendra Modi Mobile App.

"Dial 1800-11-7800 and record a message for . You can also write on the MyGov open forum and share inputs for this month's Mann Ki Baat," the Prime Minister said in his tweet.

MyGov website also said: "As always, Modi looks forward to sharing his thoughts on themes and issues that matter to you.

"The Prime Minister invites you to share your ideas on topics he should address on the 38th Episode of ."

Send us your suggestions on the themes or issues you want the Prime Minister to speak about, it said.

"Record your message for the Prime Minister in either Hindi or English. Some of the recorded messages may become part of the broadcast," it said.

The website also asked people to give a missed call on 1922 and follow the link received in SMS to directly give their suggestions to the Prime Minister.

Mann Ki Baat is a radio programme hosted by Modi on the last Sunday of every month to addresses people of the nation on All India Radio, DD and DD News.
All three accused in the rape and murder of a minor schoolgirl in Kopardi in July 2016, have been found guilty by a special court in Maharashtra on Saturday.

Vijayalaxmi Khopade, the lawyer for one of the accused, said that the verdict was delivered by Ahmednagar District and Sessions Judge Suvarna Keole under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.

Another lawyer, Prakash Aher, told IANS that the quantum of punishment for the convicts will be argued and decided on Tuesday, November 21, by the same court.

The Kopardi gang rape case took place on July 13, 2016, when a 15-year-old schoolgirl was brutally gang-raped, mutilated and killed, sparking off a major casteist and political furore in Maharashtra. The Class 9 student was out to fetch some spices from her grandmother's home in the same village.

When the crime came to light late that night, it sparked off widespread condemnation and protests across the state with different political parties and Maratha groups demanding capital punishment for the accused.

The police nabbed the three prime accused -- Jitendra alias Pappu Babulal Shinde (26), Santosh Gorkha Bhawal (30) and Nitin Gopinath Bhailume (28) -- who have been found guilty by the court under various charges including rape, conspiracy, murder and other charges, celebrated Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told the media shortly after the verdict.

The high profile case trial started before the fast-track Special Court on December 20, 2016.

In the past 11 months, the prosecution examined 31 witnesses while defence lawyer Vijayalaxmi Khopade examined one witness in the case.

The prosecution said that the prime accused -- Shinde, allegedly raped and murdered the victim, while the other two accused, Bhawal and Bhailume "conspired" with him in committing the heinous crime.

Though the investigators had previously hyped the crime as "gang rape", Nikam later submitted 24 pieces of evidence to deduce that Shinde had raped and smothered the girl to death.

Bhawal and Bhailume were not present physically at the scene of the crime but helped and conspired with him in committing the gruesome crime.

On the "conspiracy" of the co-accused, Nikam argued that Bhawal and Bhailume were present when Shinde had teased the girl two days prior to the incident. Shinde had given a missed call to Bhailume when he and Bhawal were in the vicinity of the crime.

"The entire case was based on 'circumstantial evidence' which we have proved to the court. Though the accused may lie, the circumstantial evidence cannot lie. Besides, other forensic evidence also helped clinch the case," Nikam said.

Bhawal's lawyer Khopade questioned the invocation of charges under Pocso in absence of oral or documentary evidence to prove the victim's age.

She also challenged the prosecution claim that the complainant, a cousin of the victim, had seen the prime accused Shinde after the incident.

Advocate Khopade also questioned the claims made by another eyewitness - a "purported" classmate of the victim whom she (the lawyer) labelled as a "ghost witness" - that she had seen Shinde eve-teasing the victim in the presence of Bhawal and Bhailume two days before the incident.

She also questioned the narration of the victim's cousin (the complainant) who stated in the court that he had seen Shinde under a Neem tree on the night of July 13; that he had chased him to his house, that he spoke to his (Shinde's) mother, and that he along with other family members had shifted the victim to a hospital.

Bhailume's lawyer, Aher contended that his client had been "framed" in the case since his name did not figure either in the first information report or the supplementary statement of one of the witnesses.

He demanded to know why the girl's father, who was in a nearby field, or her grandmother to whose home she was going to fetch the spice, were not examined.

Both defence lawyers argued that there was no medical evidence against their clients and questioned the veracity of the "eve-teasing" incident that took place two days before the crime.

Prime accused Shinde's lawyer Yohan Makasare contended that his client was "framed" and there were many contradictions in the police "panchnama" and the evidence as adduced by the prosecution.

The trial went through a series of hiccups, and at one stage, Khopade sought to summon six persons, including Nikam, as a defence witness, while Aher urged to call Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as a defence witness in the case.

While Aher later withdrew his plea, Khopade moved the Bombay High Court (Aurangabad Bench), which partly rejected her plea to make Nikam and four others as defence witness, but allowed one person, Rajendra Chavan to be made a defence witness.

Later, she (Khopade) moved the Supreme Court which upheld the High Court orders.

Meanwhile, several political leaders, social activists and others all over Maharashtra demanded capital punishment for the three accused after they were pronounced "guilty" by the Special Court on Saturday.
The Centre late on Friday doubled the import duties on most varieties of crude edible oil and raised them by over 15 percentage points for refined oil.
In the wake of the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops at Doklam region in Bhutan earlier this year, officials from both sides discussed border-related issues at the 10th round of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs in Beijing on Friday.
The government of Tamil Nadu has proposed setting up aerospace and defence parks and the Centre has asked the state to come out with a proper plan, said Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Speaking to reporters in Chennai, after an interaction with the industry organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), she said that the State Industry Minister M C Sampath has mooted an idea to set up aerospace and defence parks in Tamil Nadu.
The GST Network will launch a facility for businesses to make changes to their August and September GSTR-3B return forms from November 20, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi said on Saturday.
A day after the Election Commission recognised the group led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the Janata Dal (United) and rejected the claim of the Sharad Yadav faction over the party's name and election symbol, the veteran socialist leader said his party would fight the Assembly elections in Gujarat on the 'auto rickshaw symbol'. In Gujarat, the group is led by legislator Chhotubhai Vasava.
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri met French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday after he arrived in Paris from Saudi Arabia for talks on a crisis sparked by his resignation earlier this month.

Macron welcomed Hariri and his family at the Elysee Palace. The meeting came hours after a phone call between the French President and his Lebanese counterpart Michel Aoun.

The Lebanese President's office said that Aoun had thanked Macron for "France's actions in favour of Lebanon" and confirmed that Hariri would be in Beirut for Lebanon's Independence Day celebrations on November 22.

Hariri announced on November 4 from the Saudi Arabia capital Riyadh that he was stepping down as Lebanon's Prime Minister. He accused Iran of sowing "discord, devastation and destruction" in the region and said he feared there was an assassination plot against him.

He spent two weeks in Saudi Arabia, a stay that sparked speculation that he was being held against his will.

Aoun refused to accept Hariri's resignation, accusing the Saudis of holding him.

The Saudis as well as Hariri denied this. But he has not publicly explained the nature or length of his stay in Saudi Arabia, the BBC reported.

With European diplomats scrambling to defuse the crisis, France seized the role of mediator. Five days after Hariri resigned, Macron made an unscheduled trip to Riyadh to meet him and Saudi officials.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Hariri had been invited to France and was living in "Saudi Arabia by his own will".

After meeting Macron, Hariri is expected to visit a number of Arab capitals.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia recalled its envoy to Berlin over comments by Germany's Foreign Minister suggesting Hariri was being held against his will.

Sigmar Gabriel made the remarks during a press conference with his Lebanese counterpart.

"Saudi Arabia has decided to recall its ambassador to Germany for consultations and will give the German ambassador in the Kingdom a letter protesting these unfortunate and unjustified statements," the Saudi state news agency SPA said.

Saudi Arabia also denied forcing Hariri to resign in an attempt to curb the influence of its regional rival Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, which is part of a national unity government that Hariri formed last year.
The Chinese Ambassador to Nepal has said that China has taken the request of Kathmandu for building a cross-border railway line seriously and has begun a feasibility study, the media reported.

In an interaction with the media here on Friday, Ambassador Yu Hong also said Beijing is working towards fostering a new type of relations and to build a community with a shared future for mankind, the Kathmandu Post reported.

Ambassador Yu expressed happiness over Nepal's move to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and said the initiative has given a wider opening for countries, including Nepal, to integrate the economy and people-to-people contact. Nepal signed up to Chinese President Xi Jinping's flagship BRI in May.

Yu added that Nepal and China are working on several fronts like cross-border railway connectivity, highways and construction of a dry port. "China has taken the request of Nepal government of building cross-border railway line seriously. A team has begun a preliminary feasibility study," Yu said.

Laying emphasis on Nepal-China relations, Yu said the two countries in 2009 forged a "comprehensive partnership of cooperation featuring ever-lasting friendship".

Likewise, expansion of the Rasuwagadhi-Syafrubeshi road link, resumption of Araniko Highway and construction of dry ports in Tatopani, Rasuwa and Yaritoo are also on Beijing's priority list.

The Chinese Ambassador's interaction with the media in Kathmandu comes weeks after the conclusion of the Chinese Communist Party Congress in China, enshrining "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" into the party constitution.

China will deepen relations with its neighbours in accordance with the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness and the policy of forging friendship and partnership, she said.

"Not just the present, our future too is closely linked, which is why working together for a better tomorrow is a must," Yu said.
Digital economy to create 400 million jobs n China: report.



China is committed to developing a digital economy with openness and shared benefits and the rapid development of the country's internet is visible proof of its success, said Ren Xianliang, deputy director of the Cyberspace Administration of China.

Ren reiterated that China advocates the free flow of information and welcomed foreign businesses to work in the country, on the condition that they abide by local rules and regulations.

"We welcome global internet companies to develop their businesses in China. But this is based on the premise that they will obey the local laws," Ren said at a State Council Information Office news conference on Thursday.

He said that China will host the fourth World Internet Conference in the river town of Wuzhen, Zhejiang province from Dec 3 to 5. Leading domestic and overseas internet tycoons will attend the conference, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's chairman Jack Ma, Tencent Holdings Ltd's CEO Pony Ma and Baidu Inc's chairman Robin Li and foreign giants such as Microsoft and Qualcomm.

Twenty sub-forums are planed during the event from Dec 4 to 5, covering topics related to the digital economy, cutting-edge technologies, the internet and society, cyberspace governance and the community of shared destiny.

By Nov 7, more than 400 enterprises had confirmed their participation in the Light of Internet Expo, including 419 exhibitors. Some 126 companies will showcase their latest products and technologies at the event.

For the first time, the conference will release two blue books - World Internet Development Report 2017 and China Internet Development Report 2017. The former will explain the current situation and development trend of the internet industry around the globe, such as innovation ability, industrial development, internet application and cyber security. The second report will summarize China's experiences in internet development.

Ge Huijun, publicity chief of Zhejiang province, said since the first World Internet Conference was held in Wuzhen in 2014, the region has experienced fast development. As of September, Wuzhen boasts 148 registered internet companies, with the total registered capital reaching 4.04 billion yuan ($609 million).
Co said on Saturday that it was recalling about 900,000 minivans because second-row seats may tip forward if not properly latched after being adjusted.

The Japanese automaker said the recall covered 2011-2017 Honda Odyssey minivans, all but 2,000 of which are in North America, and that it had 46 reports of minor injuries related to the issue. Honda said it was working on a recall fix to help ensure proper latching and, in the interim, had posted a detailed instruction sheet on how to ensure seats are properly latched.
A key round of talks to update the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) formally opened on Friday, but within hours Canada was complaining about inflexibility by the United States, which is demanding big changes, a union leader said.

Canada and Mexico went into the talks prepared to address hard-line US demands that they had previously dismissed as unworkable, officials said.

But Canadian union leader Jerry Dias said Canada's chief negotiator Steve Verheul told him in a private meeting that the US side was unwilling to budge.

"Steve Verheul in essence is saying the United States is not showing any flexibility," Dias told reporters when asked what Verheul told him. Dias repeated his long-standing prediction that the talks would end in failure.

There is relatively little time left to thrash out a deal under the current schedule. Negotiators met in Mexico City for the fifth of seven planned rounds that are due to wrap up by the end of March to avoid affecting Mexico's presidential election.

A spokesman for Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is in overall charge of the Nafta negotiating process, declined to comment on the remarks by Dias. A spokeswoman for US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer also declined to comment.

US President Donald Trump, who says the North American Free Trade Agreement is a "disaster," has frequently threatened to ditch the pact unless big changes are made.

"We're just getting started. There's a long ways to go. It's a challenging negotiation," Verheul told reporters earlier in the day.

Canadian and Mexican officials initially indicated they would simply not discuss contentious US proposals such as a five-year sunset clause and boosting the North American content of autos to 85 percent from the current 62.5 percent.

The focus in Mexico City would be on making arguments to the US side as to why their proposals as written would not work, a Canadian government source said.

Canada, the source added, was happy to discuss so-called rules of origin governing auto content but insisted the 85 percent figure was impossible.

Canadian sources said on Thursday they were open to a Mexican proposal to review Nafta every five years rather than the US plan to bring in a sunset clause that would automatically terminate the deal if it was not renegotiated.

The Trump administration on Friday issued revised Nafta negotiating objectives, largely to reflect demands that it has already made in the talks. These include new language in line with proposals to radically change dispute settlement systems, eliminate Canadian dairy tariffs and allow US protections for seasonal produce growers hurt by Mexican imports.

Unchanged is the U.S. goal that Nafta be revised to shrink US trade deficits with Mexico and Canada

Canada and Mexico both send a large majority of their goods to the United States and prefer the treaty continue rather than deal with the economic disruption caused by a US withdrawal.

Sending a message

But Mexico has also stepped up its efforts this year to find alternative markets.

Mexico's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Friday to emphasise openness to doing business with nations other than the United States.

"At the same time as we carry out this negotiation process, Mexico is expanding its commercial horizons," Videgaray told a news conference. A senior official in Mexico's foreign ministry said the remarks were intended to send a message to Washington that "we don't depend on them."

A Mexican official said the United States needed to make clear what it hoped to achieve with tougher rules of origin, given the difficulty of raising the threshold.

Noting that 85 percent North American content was not feasible, the official said Mexico did not want "a rupture" to occur in the talks.

Washington also wants Nafta to set a 50 percent minimum US content requirement for autos, which Canada and Mexico say cannot work.

"Once (the Americans) have explained all that, we can see about finding common ground," the Mexican official said.
Robert Mugabes 37-year grip on political power in Zimbabwe is all but over. The ruling partys 10 provincial co-coordinating committees resolved late Friday to oust the 93-year-old president, a decision thats set to be ratified by its central executive as early as this weekend. The nations parliament is due to reconvene on Tuesday and could impeach him should he refuse to resign.
Russia has vetoed for the second time in 24 hours to block a UN Security Council resolution to re-authorise an investigation into the use of chemical weapons in Syria, media reports said on Saturday.

Friday night's development was the third veto of an extension for the chemical weapons investigators in the past month, reports CNN.

After Russia vetoed a compromise 30-day extension of the mission proposed by Japan, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said that Russia "saw fit to waste our time".

UK Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said he was, "frankly astounded" that Russia would block a resolution to restructure how the mission operates to meet some of Moscow's concerns.

Swedish Ambassador Olof Skoog called for immediate additional private consultations.

The Security Council was holding those consultations Friday night, but no further vote was expected.

The mandate for the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) to inspect for chemical weapons ran out at midnight on Friday.

Russia vetoed the resolution along with Bolivia. China was the sole country to abstain.

Italian UN Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi, President of the Security Council, said the group "will continue to work in the coming hours and days to find a common position in light, of course, of this crucial non-proliferation issue that we have been debating for the last days".

On April 4, more than 80 people were killed in a sarin attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun -- an attack that prompted the US to launch 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase, CNN reported.

A joint report from the UN and chemical weapons inspectors last month determined the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the attack.

Syria has repeatedly denied it had anything to do with the attack and rejects that it has any chemical weapons.

This is the 11th time that Russia, which supports Assad, has used its veto to stop a resolution on Syria, where some 500,000 people have died in a civil war that erupted in March 2011, reports Efe news.

The JIM was created in 2015 with the support of all five permanent members of the Security Council.

A Russian draft resolution to maintain the JIM with the changes sought by Moscow was defeated handily on Thursday, receiving only four votes.

Syria had handed over its chemical weapons arsenal to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons under a 2013 accord brokered by Washington and Moscow.
A top Chinese envoy landed in North Korea today in a trip hailed as a "big move" by US President Donald Trump, who has urged Beijing to pile pressure on its nuclear-armed ally.

Diplomat Song Tao is visiting the North on behalf of President Xi Jinping to brief officials on the recent Chinese Communist Party congress and other "issues of mutual interest", foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

He is the first major Chinese envoy to visit Pyongyang in more than a year with ties severely strained between the two countries.

Analysts expect Song to address the nuclear standoff, which has roiled relations between the two Cold War-era allies as China has backed United Nations sanctions on North Korea over its missile tests and sixth nuclear blast.

Trump, who warned Xi during his trip to Beijing last week that time was "quickly running out" to solve the nuclear crisis, took to Twitter on Thursday to hail the mission as "a big move, we'll see what happens!".

A brief report from North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency this morning confirmed Song had landed and met with Choe Ryong-Hae, a senior Pyongyang official and a close aide of leader Kim Jong-Un.

The report said Song told his hosts China wanted to "develop the traditional friendly relations between the two parties and countries" but contained no further details of what was discussed.

Washington wants China, which accounts for 90 per cent of North Korea's foreign trade, to put more economic pressure on the reclusive regime.

But experts doubt Song's visit will yield major breakthroughs.

"China has virtually no political influence on North Korea. Its influence is derived from economic leverage," Bonnie Glaser, China expert at the Center for Strategic and Studies in Washington, told AFP.

"Relations are extremely stressed. Perhaps the lowest point since the Korean War," she said. "Perhaps (the mission) will put a floor under China-North Korea relations, preventing further deterioration."



China has imposed its own banking restrictions on North Koreans in addition to enacting a series of UN measures that include bans on imports of coal, iron ore and seafood from the North.

But Beijing fears that squeezing Pyongyang too hard would cause its collapse.

Song is the first Chinese envoy to make an official trip to North Korea since October 2016, when vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin visited.

Song gave scant details about the trip, saying he did not know who he would meet or what topics he would discuss.

China's relations with North Korea are currently at "the lowest point they've been in history", leaving the North diplomatically at its most isolated, said Lu Chao, director of the North Korea Research Centre at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences.

As a high-level diplomat, Song would likely meet directly with North Korea's top leaders, he said.

"As far as North Korea is concerned, China's opinion is still an important one and will certainly arouse their full attention," Lu said.

As nuclear tensions have soared, Xi has pushed for negotiations and a "dual track approach" in which the United States would freeze its military drills in the region while North Korea halts its weapons programmes.

Trump claimed this week that Xi had agreed to drop his plan during their talks last week, but Beijing stood by its policy.

"We believe that at the moment, this is the most realistic, feasible, fair and reasonable plan," Geng told a regular news briefing.

Yuan Jingdong, a specialist in Asia-Pacific security issues at the University of Sydney, expects little from Song's mission.

"We can expect some face-saving, assuring but very general and abstract commitments with no substance changes in North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes," Yuan said.

The visit is "more about warning North Korea against going to extremes than forcing it to give up the nukes" because China's top priority remains maintaining regional stability, he said.

Song would likely "assure Kim that if he behaves within a reasonable bound he can expect Beijing to continue providing some assistance and resist broadening the sanctions.
A major oil spill on the Keystone pipeline in South Dakota helped push US crude prices higher on Friday, while fueling opposition to another pipeline project by owner TransCanada Corp that faces a crunch decision in Nebraska next week.
Seventeen kilograms of gold on Saturday was confiscated from Nepal-China's only operational trade route.

Nepalese Police recovered 17 kilograms of gold from Kerung border point of Rasuwa, the only trade route currently in operation between Nepal and China, reports the Kathmandu Post.

According to officials, they received a tip-off that a jeep was transporting gold from Tibet.

The gold was confiscated during a security check.

The jeep has been seized and the driver has been arrested.

An investigation is underway.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Patiala House Court on Saturday has fixed the next date in Abu Salem's 2002 Delhi extortion case on November 21.

The recording of evidence was completed in the case.

Abu Salem is facing trial and was extradited from Portugal in 2005 along with five others.

He, in 2002, allegedly made extortion calls to businessman Ashok Gupta, demanding Rs 5 crore as protection money.

Businessman Gupta, in his complaint, had stated that Salem repeatedly called and threatened him.

Police also claimed to have recorded some of the telephonic conversations.

Abu Salem was sentenced to life imprisonment by a special Terrorist and Disruptive Activity (TADA) Court in the 1993 serial blasts in Bombay that had killed 257 and injured 713 people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Afghanistan is hopeful that Pakistan will cooperate in dealing with the issue of the safe havens of the terror groups.

The safe havens of the terror groups still remain a major issue and the Afghan government is hopeful that Pakistan would cooperate in this regard, reported Khaama Press, quoting Afghanistan Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, as saying.

The comments were made in a meeting with the United States Vice President Mike Pence at the White House.

The two discussed the political environment in Afghanistan and also focused on President Donald Trump's South Asia strategy and its beneficial impact on the security situation in Afghanistan.

VP Pence commended the Afghan security forces for their bravery and sacrifices in fighting the insurgency and international terrorists, such as ISIS and al-Qaida.

According to White House, Vice President Pence and Dr. Abdullah reaffirmed the enduring partnership between the United States and Afghanistan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday encouraged ethical role models and pioneers to make new contributions to raising socialist cultural-ethical standards.

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets representatives attending the award ceremony on ethical role models and pioneers in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 17, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)



Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while meeting representatives attending the award ceremony on the initiative.

Fifty-eight people were honored as ethical role models, the sixth group to receive the honor since 2007.

They were recognized for their outstanding experiences in helping other people, acting bravely for a just cause, being honest, devotion to work or showing filial piety and love for their family.

The moral models included late geophysicist Huang Danian, who helped China advance in deep earth exploration.

Recognition was also given to another 265 nominees for the awards, which are given out on biennial basis, according to the Central Commission for Guiding Ethic and Cultural Progress.

At the ceremony, the commission also revealed the results of other awards on cultural-ethical advancement.

A number of cities, counties, villages, organizations and schools were given credit for their contributions.

On the cause of raising cultural-ethical standards for minors, 32 cities and districts, 200 organizations and 100 individuals were rewarded.

Wang Huning, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, addressed the ceremony.

He attributed the historic achievements in the initiative during the past five years to the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi at the core and the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

To promote socialist cultural-ethical development in the new era, studying and implementing the essence of the 19th CPC National Congress is a primary political task, and the most important task is to study and publicize Xi's thought, said Wang, who is also head of the Central Commission for Guiding Ethic and Cultural Progress.
Chinmoy Choudhury resigned as Advocate General of the Assam government and stated that there was "outside interference" in his functioning, where he was not allowed to work with "full dignity."

"The present government in the state appointed me as the Advocate General and I took charge of the post on July 1, 2016. Subsequently I found there was lots of interference from outside sources. I was not allowed to maintain the dignity of my office or discharge my duties comfortably," Chinmoy Choudhury, who resigned as the Advocate General of Assam government on Thursday told ANI.

Choudhury further said, when he suggested that a panel of advocates should be made, it was considered, but was never put to action.

"When I suggested that the system prevailing at that time must be abolished and a panel should be made with large number of advocates who will carry out work of the government and also look after all the cases irrespective of departments, it was never put to action," he said.

"On many occasions, suggestions came from outside, that so and so should be allowed to handle this case. I realised it was time for me to quit and in order to give full honor to the chair I was holding and myself too," Choudhury added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bangladesh's ruling Awami League is holding a public rally at the Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka to celebrate and give recognition to the historic March 7, 1971 speech of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as a documentary heritage.

The speech was given by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on March 7, 1971 at the Ramna Race Course in Dhaka before over two million people. It was delivered during a period of escalating tensions between East Pakistan and the powerful political and military establishment of West Pakistan.

In the speech, Rahman proclaimed: "This time the struggle is for our freedom. This time the struggle is for our independence."

He announced a civil disobedience movement in the province, calling for "every house to turn into a fortress".

The speech inspired the Bengali people of what was then East Pakistan to prepare for a war of independence amid widespread reports of armed mobilisation by West Pakistan.

The Liberation War of 1971 began 18 days later, when the Pakistan Army launched Operation Searchlight against Bengali civilians, intelligentsia, students, politicians, and armed personnel.

On October 30, 2017, UNESCO added the speech in its the Memory of the Register as a "documentary heritage". UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova announced the decision at the UNESCO Headquarters, Paris.

The Awami League is holding the rally under the banner of the Nagarik Committee. It begins at 2.30 p.m. local time.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to address the rally as chief guest while Professor Emeritus Dr Anisuzzaman will preside over the programme.

Awami League general secretary Obaid-ul-Quader and other top leaders will participate in the programme.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Baloch delegation under the leadership of Professor Naela Quadri Baloch has urged the Canadian Government to help stop genocide in Balochistan.

The delegation met Canadian Member of Parliament Ron McKinnon on Friday.

They reportedly discussed the role of the Canadian government in attempting to stop the ongoing Baloch genocide and infiltration of state sponsored religious terrorist groups in the pluralistic peaceful Baloch society.

The Baloch are facing religious and ethnic terrorism at the frontline, and the Baloch delegation felt it is the responsibility of the international community to support the Baloch in the name and spirit of global safety and security.

For decades, in Balochistan, economic exploitation through the plundering of natural resources, and the systematic economic, social and political exclusion of indigenous Baloch people, has become the norm.

In addition to this, enforced disappearances, extra-judicial killings and an escalating crackdown on freedom of expression are used as covert tools to brutally repress the Baloch peaceful struggle for justice, rights and equality.

Since the construction of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)has begun, the Baloch have been forcefully cleared, enforcedly disappeared and effectively excluded from the project at all levels - despite plentiful promises made by the Pakistani authorities of development and employment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mehran Marri, a prominent leader of the Balochistan struggle, who was detained by the Swiss authorities at the Zurich airport has been released.

After being released on Friday, Mehran was asked by the Swiss authorities to leave the country.

His tweet reads, "Just wanted to let all of you know that last night I was released from detention at @Zrh_Airport and asked to leave Switzerland."

Mehran announced that he will take the Swiss authorities to court.

"I am safe with my wife and children in Stutgart, Germany and will take the Swiss authorities to court or deporting a European citizen from a European country at the behest of the epicentre of jihadi terrorism i.e. Pakistan. I want to thank all of you who stood by me in my dark hour. Thanks Times of India, TMI and Republic TV for reporting my ordeal," he tweeted.

Mehran said, "A special thanks to my friend Altaf Hussain of the @OfficialMQM for his statement of support to me and the ongoing Balochistan struggle to end Pakistsn's 70-year occupation of our homeland. Bhai, we will never forget you as our fellow traveller."

"It's a sad day when the HQ of UN Human Rights is under sway of the HQ of Taliban and AlQaeda. But rest assured, we shall overcome and see a day when Pakistani occupation of Balochistan will end in the defeat of the Punjabi-China marauders and mass murderers," he added.

Youngest son of the late Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri, Mehran Marri was travelling to Geneva to attend the Baloch unity moot called by his brother-in-law, Brahumdagh Bugti, president of the Baloch Republican Party (BRP).

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The Bihar Skill Development mission on Saturday, started a Recruit, Train and Deploy (RTD) model, taking a step further in skilling the youth of Bihar.

This new project will further accentuate in the skilling mission and effectively help in training the youth.

The event saw the participation of more than 10 SSCs i.e. textile, tourism, hospitality, electronics, domestic, media and film.

Most of the SSCs welcomed the 'RTD model', especially the flexibility to industry partners in exercising the trainings and the modularity it provides in trained workers on the job.

SSCs also stressed on the role that they can play in the 'RTD model'. Some suggestions were provided in terms of engaging SSC to bring industry associations and developing quality training programs.

"RTD is the first of its kind scheme modeled on providing flexibility to industry to train candidates from any location having no restriction pertaining to location specificity. The willingness of our department in collaborating with industry, SSCs, and most importantly with training providers in addressing the concerns and developing BSDM as the best model for skilling," said IAS, Principal Secretary, Labour Resources Department and CEO, Bihar Skill Development Mission, Dipak Kumar Singh.

"RTD is an effort in the direction of helping industries and TPs. Kudos to the State Project Management Unit team from EY LLP, ably led by Project Director, Mr. Amit Kumar Pandey for the overall implementation of different skill training programs undertaken by BSDM," he added.

Training providers welcomed the new provision and the flexibility the RTD is providing.

Leading stakeholders including corporates such as representatives from NSDC, Sector Skill Councils, Amazon, Microsoft, Samsung, IBM, GE, CREDAI, TCS, HCL, Apollo Medicals, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Foundation, ASMAC, Government Officials, attended the program.

"We have onsite skilling models with makeshift class rooms for the purpose of training aspiring candidates," said S Roy from CREDAI.

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Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has lauded the Andhra Pradesh government for using technology to help farmers in the state.

"Andhra Pradesh is taking bold steps. I expect we will be accelerating it (technology usage). More than half of India's population engaged in agriculture, and three-fourths of rural women are engaged in agriculture. Apart from gender equality, research has shown that having more women also increases production by 20 to 30 per cent," Gates said at the valedictory session of the AP AgTech Summit-2017.

Gates also noted that the growth in the economy will not only lead to a higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but also lift people out of poverty.

"First, we can turn the largest economic sector in the country into a source of growth instead of a drag on the economy. Secondly, we can make sure that growth is inclusive and that it not only leads to a higher GDP but also lifts people out of poverty. Third, we can produce enough nutritious food to spurt a healthy and well-educated labor force for the future, when the Indian economy will depend on even more on highly skilled workers," he added.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was also present in the summit. Naidu requested help from Bill and Melinda Foundation in agriculture, nutrition and health.

Gates further said, "Two examples that I am very impressed with; one is the Mega Seed Park, which really is the first of its kind and it will make available lots of high-quality seeds and coupled with that is the new EC distribution application, D-Krishi, which will help farmers access quality seeds in a timely manner and ensure that the government's resources are being widely used. These are the kind of innovations that will help achieve the Chief Minister's goal of sustained double-digit economic growth in Andhra Pradesh over the next decade."

Gates, who landed in Visakhapatnam on Friday, visited the exhibition stalls in the summit along with Andhra Pradesh chief minister.

The summit focused on innovative ideas, technologies and global best practices to push agricultural transformation in the state.

This three-day global event was organised by the Andhra Pradesh Government in association with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Dalberg Advisors.

More than 1,500 global leaders from 61 countries including business heads, start-up founders, leading policymakers, progressive farmers, NGOs, agriculture and technology experts participated the summit over three days.
The Opposition has criticized the Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao's (KCR) decision to send 1000 agriculture officials on Israel tour.

The Chief Minister told Assembly on Thursday that around 1,000 government officials will travel to Israel to study farming techniques.

Criticising the 'junket', Telangana BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) spokesperson Krishna Sagar Rao accused the government of "splurging money".

"The Chief Minister has failed miserably at the governance front. He wants to take 1000 agriculture officers on a study tour that would cost the state exchequer Rs. 30 crore," said Rao.

"Instead of paying out the dues of farmers whose loan waivers scheme is not complete yet, he wants to splurge public money on trivial issues and issues which are not important for the state," Rao added.

The Congress is also highly critical of the Israel junket.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Dr. Sravan Dasoju said, "Chief Minister KCR is highly irresponsible and takes no accountability of the public money that is why he is spending hundreds of crores of rupees and sending thousands of people to Israel time and again."

A similar tour to Israel was undertaken in April 2015 by a Telangana government delegation which was led by the agriculture minister. Isreal is known to use farming techniques that ensure high agriculture yield with less water.

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The chairperson of Dyal Singh College's governing body on Saturday asserted that the new name 'Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya' is an inspiring name for the college.

Speaking to ANI, Amitabh Sinha, the chairperson of college's Governing Body said, "Notification was issued that Executive Council approved Dyal Singh evening college becoming a full-fledged day college. Then we had to give it a new and inspiring name, we decided it should be 'Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya'."

This comment from the chairperson comes a day after the Executive Council approved Dyal Singh evening college to become a full-fledged day college.

"Notification was issued that Executive Council approved Dyal Singh evening college becoming a full-fledged day college. Then we had to give it a new and inspiring name, we decided it should be 'Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya'," Sinha further said.

Earlier on September 21, Dyal Singh (Evening) College principal Pawan K Sharma had received a notification that the Executive Council has given approval to the evening college becoming a full-fledged day college.

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The administrative department of Delhi University's Dyal Singh College on Saturday decided to rename its evening college as 'Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya'.

Yesterday a notification in this regard was issued and accepted after it was decided to turn Dyal Singh (evening) college into a full-fledged day college.

Speaking on the decision, the principal of Dyal Singh College, Pawan Sharma told ANI, "The name inspired millions during freedom struggle. It'll also inspire students. There mustn't be controversy on it. People opposing it haven't understood it well. We'll not reconsider it, it's final".

Sharma further added that they had to come up with a new and inspiring name.

Meanwhile, the Students' Union of India (NSUI) had come out strongly against the move stating that, "The governing body has renamed the evening college in a hasty manner to distract the students from actual questions of education governance."

"They are also disgracing the legacy of Punjab's first freedom fighter-Sardar Dyal Singh Manjithia," NSUI said.

Earlier this year, the college had decided to turn Dyal Singh Evening into a regular shift college.

Some of the teachers and students had been dissatisfied with the proposal that the new regular shift college would continue to function in the same campus.

On July 20, Dyal Singh (morning) teachers had protested against the decision to change Dyal Singh Evening college into a day college without allocating it a separate campus.

A group of teachers and students had allegedly tried to disrupt a governing body meeting to be held that day.

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Saad Hariri, who recently sparked a crisis by resigning as Lebanese prime minister, has arrived in France to hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron.

President Macron had invited Hariri and his family to France in a bid to defuse tensions in the Middle East.

However, President Macron clarified that he is not offering Hariri a political "exile," but wants him to come to France for a while to help calm tensions in Lebanon.

On that note, it was earlier reported that Hariri was allegedly held captive against his will by Saudi authorities and was forced to resign.

Before arriving in Fance, Hariri, however, denied claims that he was held hostage in Saudi Arabia.

Hariri had unexpectedly resigned in a televised address from Riyadh and said that he feared for his life on November 4.

He has not returned to Lebanon since then.

However, the Lebanese President Michel Aoun has refused to accept his resignation before he returns.

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A tuberculosis outbreak in central China's Hunan Province has recently drawn public attention.

Authorities with Hunan's provincial health and family planning commission announced on Friday that 29 students in a middle school in Taojiang County had been diagnosed with tuberculosis as of Thursday, while five other students are suspected of having been infected.

So far, 38 students have resorted to prophylactic medication, and 72 have received treatment, according to the commission.

On Friday afternoon, staff with the National Health and Family Planning Commission arrived in Taojiang to help deal with the outbreak.

According to the local government, the school has about 3,000 students. Of the infected ones, 25 are in the same class. All infected students are those expected to sit the national college exam soon.

Zeng Shengda, with Taojiang's disease control and prevention center, said that the first infection occurred in January. Between February and July, another five students came to the center for examination and treatment. On Aug. 6 and 8, three more students sought treatment at the center.

"The patients that came before July did not reveal they were students," Zeng said.

In August, the county government launched screening for all the students in the school.

The provincial and county authorities are still investigating the cause of the outbreak.
Saad Hariri on Saturday confirmed he will return home to Lebanon in the coming days to take part in Independence Day celebrations.

Al Jazeera quoted Hariri as saying that "I will return to Beirut in the coming days. I will participate in the celebrations for our independence and it is there that I will make known my position on all the issues."

Lebanon will mark its Independence Day on Wednesday, November 22.

Hariri made this statement after meeting French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday in a bid to solve the political turmoil surrounding his sudden resignation as prime minister.

Earlier on Saturday, Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri both posted statements saying Hariri would return for the occasion.

A statement on Aoun's official Facebook page said the president received a phone call from Hariri after his arrival in France's capital, in which the Lebanese prime minister confirmed his participation in the Independence Day celebrations.

Hariri announced his resignation as Lebanese prime minister in a televised speech on November 4, shortly after landing in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

He had also launched a vicious tirade against Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah group for what he said was their meddling in Arab affairs.

Hariri accused Tehran of spreading chaos, strife and destruction throughout the region.

Lebanon is sharply divided along a camp loyal to Saudi Arabia, headed by the Sunni Muslim Hariri, and a camp loyal to Iran represented by Hezbollah.

Hariri also said that Hezbollah's policies have put Lebanon "in the eye of the storm."

Hariri was appointed prime minister in late 2016 and headed a 30-member national unity cabinet that included the Shiite militant Hezbollah.

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At least 20 displaced people were killed and 30 were injured in a car bomb attack carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on Friday in eastern Syria's Deir Ezzor province.

A car bomb was detonated by ISIS terrorists in the area between al-Jafra and al-Koniko in Deir Ezzor's northern countryside, claiming the lives of 20 civilians at least and injuring around 30 others, many of them women and children, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

The explosion comes days after a similar car bomb attack targeting displaced people in the same area killed and injured dozens.
The Ahmednagar district sessions court on Saturday pronounced the three Dalit youths in Kopardi rape and murder case as 'guilty'.

The chief accused were Jitendra Shinde, Santosh Bhaval and Nitin Bhailume.

The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on November 21.

On July 13, 2016, a 15-year-old Maratha girl was brutally raped and murdered by the trio in Kopardi, Ahmednagar.

Following the incident, the Maratha community had taken to the streets to protest across various districts of Maharashtra under the banner 'Maratha Kranti Morcha'.

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Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday attended the last day of the MSME-Self-Employment Convention here, wherein, he said the state government will work towards enlightenment of the youth.

Speaking at the convention, the Chief Minister said, "The Madhya Pradesh Government will encourage and enlighten the students by visiting colleges as well and a network of small cottage industries in Madhya Pradesh will be set up".

He said that a network of MSMEs would be set up across the state with the help of youth and the state would extend all cooperation in this regard.

This will generate employment, hoping that it would add 7.5 lakh jobs by next year, he said.

"You all have immense potential. I will help you to fulfill all of your dreams," the Chief Minister said while addressing the public.

Earlier yesterday, he said that if women decide to set up their own businesses then the state government will provide them with subsidies, adding the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Self-Employment (MSME) industries will be given 40 percent subsidy.

The two-day convention was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for MSME Giriraj Singh.

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Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi's nephew Owaid, along with five other Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, was gunned down by security forces during Bandipora encounter on Saturday.

Huge cache of arms and ammunition have also been recovered from their possession.

Congratulating the security force for their achievement, Jammu and Kashmir DGP S. P. Vaid said that Hajin has been a difficult area to operate, but they are very clear in their aim.

"Hajin has been a difficult area to operate. We have lost few of our soldiers in this area in this year. But we are very clear in our motive and will continue with our operation," Vaid told ANI.

Earlier in the day, Jammu and Kashmir authorities ordered to suspend data services, including 2G, 3G and 4G services in Hajin area of Bandipora district in view of the encounter.

One Indian Air Force (IAF) Garud personnel also lost his life and two Indian Army personnel were injured in the encounter, which was started earlier in the day.

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Former Pakistan primemminister Nawaz Sharif has reportedly given the green signal to the PML-N government to replace Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

The Dawn quoted sources at the highest levels of government, as saying that Dar could be replaced by an an adviser on finance or a full-fledged minister, who must be a member of parliament.

At present, the former proposal is under serious consideration.

The daily quoted the sources, as saying that two of the people being considered for the job are former finance minister Shaukat Tarin and former State Bank of Pakistan chairman Dr. Ishrat Husain. The name of Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Economic Affairs Miftah Ismail and Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal are also doing the rounds.

Tarin told Dawn that he could consider helping out in some capacity, but not as a finance minister or as an adviser. He said that there is a need to make the right selections to bring the Pakistan economy back on track.

Dar is facing corruption charges, which has to the issue of non-bailable arrest warrants due to his absence from court.

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The Pakistan government has reportedly agreed to allow both Chinese and Pakistani investors equal opportunity to invest in economic zones to be established along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The cabinet meeting on the CPEC, which was chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, issued a notification in this regard on Friday.

Earlier, media reports had suggested that only Chinese investors would be accommodated in the economic zones and Pakistanis will be barred from investing there.

A spokesperson for the prime minister said that Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal gave the participants of the meeting a detailed briefing on the CEPC.

The participants were informed that a feasibility study of the construction of Gwadar Port was complete, and the construction could begin as early as March 2018. The project will be completed in three years.

Previously, the government had claimed that the project would be complete by December 2018.

The prime minister was also informed hat the seventh meeting of the Joint Working Group of CPEC would be held in Islamabad on Monday.

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Zimbabweans are expected to take to the streets across the country on Saturday to demand the ouster of incarcerated President Robert Mugabe.

Media reports said that veterans of the independence war, activists and ruling party leaders have publicly called for Mugabe's exit and exile. Eight of Mugabe's ruling party's 10 regional branches have appeared on state television and called for him to go.

The 93-year-old autocrat is yet to resign and was said to be "buying time" to negotiate an end to his 37 year reign.

Saturday's marches will cap an unprecedented week in which army generals led by General Constantino Chiwenga seized power and placed Mugabe under house arrest.

On Friday, President Mugabe a attended a graduation ceremony.

Support is reportedly building up for ousted Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose sacking sparked the army intervention on Tuesday.

Pastor Evan Mawarire, an outspoken Mugabe critic who rose to prominence last year with his #ThisFlag protest movement challenging the president over the economic crisis, called on Zimbabweans of all backgrounds to march with the war veterans.

"The citizens are joining hands across political divides... across ideological divides," he said in a live broadcast on Facebook.

"We have joined hands with war veterans, with the church and young people. We will stand together for a new Zimbabwe... We are marching in order for us to thank our military."

Zimbabwe's military chiefs said in statement Friday they had detained some "criminals" in Mugabe's government after their lightning power grab which appeared to be the climax of a dispute over who would succeed the veteran leader. They did not give any indication about whether Mugabe would remain head of state.

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A study has recently revealed that women who experience sexual harassment at work are more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, eating disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The study also found that in order to cope with the situation, these female victims also resort to drink and drugs.

The findings suggested that although most victims are women, still the number of complaints by men have risen by more than 15 per cent in just 15 years.

However, the results also found that male victims do not find their experiences as anxiety-provoking as females and nor do they see it as bothersome, stressful or upsetting as females.

Study author Professor James Campbell Quick from the University of Texas in Austin, United States said that the evidence continues to suggest that the female victims may experience negative mood, eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse as well as work turnover intentions, long-term anxiety, job stress and or burnout.

In a recent survey of 2,000 Britons, the team found that one in five women - and seven per cent of men - stated that they have been victims of sexual harassment in the workplace.

For the data analysed, they found the total number of complaints actually fell 28.5 per cent from 1997 to 2011.

Quick stated that an interesting finding of the study is that the percentage of charges filed by males increased 15.3 per cent; yet, women continue to file the majority of complaints.

Furthermore, the results also found that men in the military are 10 times more likely to experience sexual harassment than civilian peers. But approximately 81 percent of victims do not report it.

The researchers suggested that the organisations need to be proactive in establishing policies prohibiting sexual harassment, raising employee awareness, establishing reporting procedures and educating employees about these policies.

The research appears in the journal of Occupational Health Psychology.
The Lahore unit of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has reportedly started the process for placing former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and four of his relatives on the Exit Control List (ECL).

The Dawn quoted a NAB Islamabad spokesman, as saying that apart from Sharif, his two sons and daughter Hussain, Hassan and Maryam, and his son-in-law Captain (retired) Mohammad Safdar, are likely to be placed on the ECL.

Hussain and Hassan have already been proclaimed offenders for skipping court proceedings in references pertaining to their family's Avenfield properties, Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metals Establishment, and Flagship Investment Ltd.

On Thursday, NAB had requested the interior ministry to put Finance Minister Ishaq Dar's name on the ECL after an accountability court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for him. Mr Dar, like Mr Sharif's sons, has continuously been absent from court proceedings in a reference against him for owning assets beyond his known sources of income.

The NAB headquarters would ask the interior ministry to proceed further.

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The Sri Lankan Navy apprehended four Tamil Nadu fishermen and seized one boat near Delft Island, on Saturday.

The fishermen have been taken to Kankesanthurai naval camp for interrogation.

Yesterday, 10 Tamil Nadu fishermen were apprehended, and one boat was seized by the Sri Lankan Navy near Point Pedro.

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Team of Special Cell of Delhi Police arrested two people with over 1300 cartridges on Saturday.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of Special Cell, Pramod Singh Kushwaha Sandeep has confirmed the news of the arrest.

Providing further details, he said, "The first accused is Mahipal from Wazirabad. We have recovered 360 cartridges from him. 200 out of those were 315-bore cartridges and the rest 160 were 32-bore cartridges".

On tracing the steps backwards from Mahipal, Special Cell found that he was sourcing these cartridges from Sandeep Yadav in Aligarh.

"Sandeep's older brother Sanjeev has a gun shop named Yadav Gun House, which is licensed. However Sandeep was misusing this license to sell cartridges illegally to criminals in Delhi-NCR", the DCP added.

The Special Cell seized a total of 950 cartridges, out of which 750 were 315-bore and 200 were 32-bore cartridges, from Sandeep.

"We caught the courier that was carrying these cartridges from Sandeep to Mahiwal", the DCP added.

Shedding light on the magnitude of the seize, the DCP said, "In a span of 10 days, 2000 cartridges have been supplied so the numbers could be higher because this has been going on for a year".

The DCP promised further action on the issue and concluded, "We will officially seize their documents and investigate further".

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United States President Donald Trump has begun paying his legal bills related to the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign out of his own pocket.

Trump, who claims a multibillion-dollar net worth, is also working with the Office of Government Ethics and tax law experts to personally pay the legal bills of some White House staffers caught up in the multiple investigations into his administration and his presidential campaign.

"The President is paying his own legal fees, as was always his preference. He does not want to deplete any funds that may be available to assist current and former staffers," CNN quoted Ty Cobb, the White House's special counsel on the Russia matter, as saying in a statement.

"The Administration and others are working with the Office of Government Ethics and tax specialists to create a lawful mechanism for payment of fees for staffers. It is expected to be operational shortly," he added.

According to the report, the Republican National Committee had earlier paid for Trump's legal bills, amounting more than $230,000 from a legal expense fund to the firms of two of Trump's personal attorneys, John Dowd and Jay Sekulow.

However, it is unclear who paid to Marc Kasowitz, the first lawyer Trump hired to oversee the response to the growing probe into allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 campaign.

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The Jammu and Kashmir authorities have imposed restrictions at eight police station areas in Srinagar as a precautionary law and order measure after the killing of a terrorist in Zakura.

The police stations under which restrictions are imposed include Pairmpora, Rainawar, Safa Kadal, Nowhatta, Khanyar and MR Gunj with partial restrictions in areas under Maisuma and Kralkhud police stations.

The state government has also ordered the closure of schools and colleges on Saturday as a precautionary measure to prevent any protests in the city.

Earlier on Friday, a police officer and a militant of Al-Qaeda affiliated group were killed and a militant was arrested during an encounter in the outskirts of Srinagar.

The sub-inspector, identified as Imran Tak, was hospitalised where he succumbed to injuries.

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From USFDA

Divis Laboratories has received an Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from US-FDA for the Company's Unit-II at Visakhapatnam, as closure of audit by FDA.

The company's Unit-II at Visakhapatnam was inspected by US-FDA in September 2017 wherein a Form-483 was issued with 6 observations.

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Situated at Jain Food Park, Jalgaon

Jain Irrigation Systems announced that on 18 November 2017 a fire broke out at 2.00 am in Onion Dehydration Warehouse of Jain Farm Fresh Foods, subsidiary of the Company situated at Jain Food Park, Jalgaon in State of Maharashtra.

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Sri Lankan police on Saturday arrested 19 people after violent clashes erupted in Galle District.

A police curfew which had been imposed in six areas across the district was lifted on Saturday morning.

A police official told Xinhua news agency that the situation had not returned to normal and tight security would remain across the district throughout the day.

Over 200 police officers and 100 officers from the Special Task Force were deployed in Galle following the violence which erupted between Buddhist and Muslim groups on Friday night.

Media reports said the groups had clashed over an accident which had escalated to violence.

Several people were injured in the clashes while some houses had also been damaged.
Denise Young Smith, who joined Apple in May as its first Vice President of inclusion and diversity, will leave the company at the end of the year.

"We deeply believe that diversity drives innovation," an Apple spokesperson was quoted as saying by TechCrunch.

Christie Smith will replace Young Smith to take over the position next year. He had spent 17 years as a principal at consulting firm Deloitte.

"We're thrilled to welcome an accomplished leader like Christie Smith to help us continue the progress we've made toward a more diverse workplace," the report added.

Earlier this month, Cornell Tech, a graduate school in New York had announced that Young Smith will be the new Executive-in-Residence at the university and will begin her role in January 2018.

Young Smith has been with the tech giant since 1997. She was serving as human resource chief before taking her position in diversity and inclusion in May.

She faced backlash over her comments on diversity while speaking at a conference last month.

"There can be 12 white, blue-eyed, blonde men in a room, and they're going to be diverse too because they're going to bring a different life experience and life perspective to the conversation," she had said.

--IANS

ksc/pgh/dg

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An Argentinean submarine has lost contact in the South Atlantic with 44 crew on board, military authorities said.

The ARA San Juan was carrying out a surveillance mission in Argentina's exclusive economic zone near Puerto Madryn, around 1,400 km south of Buenos Aires, Xinhua news agency reported.

Argentina's naval commander for the Atlantic, Gabriel Gonzalez, told the media on Friday that radioelectrical communication was lost with the submarine "48 hours ago".

The last communication with the craft happened on Wednesday.

Navy spokesman Enrique Balbi denied that it had been found.

Answering rumors about the submarine, Balbi said that news of a fire on board was "not official information".

"There may have been a technical fault, there is no communication yet."

The Foreign Ministry also issued a statement, saying "the governments of Chile, the United States and the United Kingdom have offered logistical support and exchange of information in this humanitarian search".

Three planes, four ships and one helicopter are searching the area for the missing submarine.

The ARA San Juan is a TR-1700 submarine made in Germany, which joined the Argentinean navy in 1985.

--IANS

amit

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Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital authorities in Bihar have imposed Rs 50,000 fine each on 54 second year students for ragging their juniors, an official said on Saturday.

DMCH Principal R.K. Sinha imposed the fine. The students have been directed to pay the penalty amount by November 25, the official added.

Failing to pay the fine would invite stern action, the college authorities said. The guardians of the 54 students have been informed.

The college authorities took the action after its Anti-Ragging Committee submitted a report. The Committee was formed on a directive of the Medical Council of India (MCI).

On November 11, a first year student of the DMCH living in the college hostel complained to the MCI about the ragging incident. She accused the senior students of repeated ragging.

"The victim complained that she was abused, beaten and mentally tortured. She alleged in her written complaint that the seniors put pressure on her for one work or another," an official said.

The MCI on November 16 directed the DMCH to take action.

Last week in a similar incident, the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College administration in Bhagalpur had imposed Rs 25,000 fine each on 33 second-year students for ragging their juniors.

Principal Arjun Singh imposed the fine of Rs 8.25 lakh on the 33 students of the 2016 batch for ragging the 2017-batch students earlier in November.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
British rider Daniel Hegarty was on Saturday killed in a crash at the Macau GP, held in Macau, one of China's Special Administrative Regions.

Top Gun Racing's rider Hegarty crashed at Fisherman's Bend, sustaining serious injuries as he hit the barriers after losing his helmet, reports Efe.

"The Macau Grand Prix Organizing Committee extends its deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Daniel," the organizers said in a statement.

The statement added that Hegarty died while he was being transferred to hospital.

This is the second deadly accident at the Macau GP since 2012, after Luis Carreira of Portugal died on the same turn.

The Macau GP is the only track that features motorcycle and car races on the same urban circuit.

Hegarty became the 16th rider to die on the circuit in its 63-year history.

--IANS

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An Irish Catholic priest has called for Christians to stop using the word Christmas because it has been hijacked by "Santa and reindeer", the media reported on Saturday.

Father Desmond O'Donnell said Christians of any denomination need to accept Christmas now has no sacred meaning, reports the Guardian.

O'Donnell's comments follow calls from a right-wing pressure group for a boycott of Greggs bakery in the UK after the company replaced baby Jesus with a sausage roll in a nativity scene.

"We've lost Christmas, just like we lost Easter, and should abandon the word completely," O'Donnell said.

"We need to let it go, it's already been hijacked and we just need to recognise and accept that."

O'Donnell said he was not seeking to disparage non-believers. "I am simply asking that space be preserved for believers for whom Christmas has nothing to do with Santa and reindeer.

"My religious experience of true Christmas, like so many others, is very deep and real - like the air I breathe. But non-believers deserve and need their celebration too, it's an essential human dynamic and we all need that in the toughness of life."

A registered psychologist and author, O'Donnell said the meaning of Christmas had eroded over time and become commercialised.

--IANS

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China and Ukraine have agreed to step up their cooperation in renewable energy, the Ukrainian government said.

The agreement was reached during the plenary meeting of the Chinese-Ukrainian Subcommittee on Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ukrainian government press service as saying in a statement.

Ukraine, which heavily relies on imported energy, sees a great potential in its renewable energy cooperation with China, as per the statement.

"China is the world leader in renewable energy capacity expansion. It influences the global trends of the clean energy development."

In particular, Ukraine is interested in implementing joint investment projects with China, establishing joint factories for the production of equipment and materials for renewable energy facilities, and creating financing mechanisms for clean energy projects, the statement said.

The Ukrainian government has this year developed the country's "Energy Strategy," setting the target to increase the share of the renewables in the energy mix to 25 per cent by 2035 from the current four per cent.

--IANS

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A Bachelor in Computer Application and his accomplice, who used to smuggle illegal ammunition to criminals and various gangs in Delhi and the National Capital Region, have been arrested with 1,310 live cartridges, police said here on Saturday.

According to the police, Sandeep Yadav, 25, and Mahipal, 42 -- hailing from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh -- had been supplying ammunition to various gangs and notorious criminals in Delhi, Haryana, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh for the last three years.

"Sandeep Yadav and Mahipal were arrested on Friday night from Wazirabad area of north Delhi following a tip-off where they had come to hand over 1,310 cartridges to their contacts. Out of the cartridges recovered from them, 950 are of .315 bore and 360 of .32 bore," Deputy Commissioner of Police P.S. Kushwah said.

"This is one of the biggest recoveries of ammunition this year. Sandeep Yadav holds a Bachelor in Computer Application (BCA) degree from a college in Aligarh. During investigation, we came to know that Yadav's brother operates a gun house in Aligarh," Kushwah said.

"The accused admitted that they have supplied more than 20,000 cartridges to the criminals of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh to date," the officer added.

--IANS

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Indian Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt. Gen. A.K. Bhatt on Saturday told his Pakistani counterpart there appeared to be a disconnect between the intent of the Pakistan Army headquarters and the troops.

In an unscheduled hotline talk requested by Pakistan, its DGMO Maj. Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza alleged that Indian security forces have resorted to unprovoked firing and targeted civilians opposite Poonch sector.

Lt. Gen. Bhat said retaliatory firing by Indian troops has only been carried out in response to unprovoked and repeated cease fire violation from Pakistan's side.

Bhatt impressed upon the Pak DGMO that there appeared to be a disconnect between the intent at the Pak GHQ (general headquarters of Army) which reiterates its desire for peace and the actions of Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC), who resorts to heavy firing without provocation, an official statement said.

He further exhorted the Pakistan DGMO to resolve this existent credibility gap to ensure that peace and tranquillity is maintained along the Line of Control.

The DGMO further clarified that the Indian Army always maintains impeccable standards of professionalism and does not target civilians in any manner.

"Indian Army will continue its effort to ensure peace and tranquility on the borders. However, Indian Army troops will continue to take all retaliatory measures and retain the right to punitively respond to any provocative acts of aggression from Pakistan side," the Indian DGMO said.

--IANS

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Calling for an "inter-disciplinary" approach to answer the requirements of the future, President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday said leading educational institutions will need to adapt to the changing technologies.

Speaking at the 94th annual convocation of the University of Delhi, the President also said that universities would need to innovate in terms of academic content as well as mechanism of delivery.

"We are entering a world where Artificial Intelligence is changing not just how our society 'does' but how it 'thinks'. We are at the edge of a society of cognitive machines. As such, the challenges and the opportunities before us -- and particularly before those who are graduating today -- are immense," President Kovind said.

"Our leading institutions, such as the University of Delhi, will need to adapt as well. They will need to innovate -- both in terms of academic content and mechanism of delivery," he stressed.

The President said traditional barriers between fields that were once regarded as sacrosanct were breaking down.

"New courses and programmes will have to be devised if our education system is to answer the needs of the next 25 or 30 years. Some of these may call for adopting a multi-disciplinary or inter-disciplinary approach," he said.

The President also said that the "University of Delhi is in many ways the University of India".

"Every state and region of our country is represented here," he added.

--IANS

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Defending his assertion for internal autonomy to both parts of divided without obliterating the Line of Control (LoC), National Conference (NC) President Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said if India wants to get Pakistan-administered (PoK), let it move towards the LoC with guns.

"If India wants to liberate the PoK, let it move towards the LoC with guns," Abdullah told a party meeting in winter capital Jammu, adding that wars were no solution as these bring only death and destruction.

Abdullah also reiterated his demand for grant of regional autonomy to different regions in Jammu and to assuage the aspirations of people.

"J&K is a unique state and needs special dispensation in terms of regional autonomy to satiate the urges of various regions," he said.

Without naming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he lambasted the alleged overt and covert attempts being made to weaken Article 370 and said demand of autonomy was within the framework of the Constitution.

He said the NC would not allow the attempts of repealing Article 35-A to succeed. He said its fallout would be more disastrous for Jammu than other two regions of the state.

"People will come here to take your land," he said accusing the BJP of raising the issue to make electoral gains and divide the people.

He questioned the ruling Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for advocating self-rule for Jammu and Kashmir, saying the PDP could not safeguard the state's special status and surrendered fiscal autonomy over GST.

"What could have been our own prerogative over tax structure rests with the central GST Council now," he said.

He also hit hard at the coalition government for abandoning the border residents, who stand exposed to harsher winter due to lack of shelter.

He referred to his recent visit to various parts of the LoC in north Kashmir including Teetwal and Machil and said the border dwellers were facing lots of problems due to failure of the government to provide better roads, communication and electricity facilities to them.

"The PDP-BJP alliance will have to pay for all its wrongs," he said, adding that the people were suffering due to non-governance, development deficit and lack of accountability.

He alleged that survivors, widows and the families of soldiers, who laid down their lives for the country, were being neglected in the state.

Abdullah referred to his visit to the bereaved family of Sohanlal Bhagat, the soldier killed in Manipur, and said the family was totally shattered and devastated.

He lamented that none of the ministers in Jammu and Kashmir Government had time to visit the family.

"This is how soldiers and their families are treated," he said and mentioned the state funeral accorded by Himachal Pradesh to the soldier killed along with Sohanlal Bhagat in Manipur.

He sought constitution of a commission to look into the plight of war widows and families of the killed soldiers.

"Army chief General Bipin Rawat must work for this and formulate a report on the condition of war widows to be tabled in Parliament," the NC chief said while assailing those indulging in war mongering.

Referring to over-reaction on his recent statement on PoK, Abdullah invoked then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee saying that the sanctity of LoC could not be trampled by crossing over during Kargil incursion.

He also referred to the return of the strategically crucial Haji Peer picket in north Kashmir to Pakistan after India conquered it in 1965.

"NC had not advocated this, but the Indian nation as such took this decision," he said.

--IANS

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Google on Saturday celebrated the 116th birth anniversary of renowned Indian filmmaker, actor and writer Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre, famed as 'V. Shantaram', alias Annasaeb.

A colourful doodle depicts Shantaram's pensive profile, with an iconic old movie camera of the early filmmaking era, stills from a Marathi film, and his two later blockbusters, "Do Aankhen Bara Haath" and "Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje".

Shantaram was born on November 18, 1901 in a Marathi Jain family in Kolhapur in Maharashtra.

He started acting at the age of 20 in a silent film -- barely seven years after the legendary Dhundiraj Govind Phalke alias Dadasaheb Phalke created Indian cinema history with his first feature film "Raja Harishchandra" (1913).

Later, the multifaceted Shantaram not only continued acting but also went into film-making, and made his mark in acting, producing-directing, scripting Marathi and later Hindi films.

Over the years, he acted in films like "Surekha Haran" (1921), "Sinhagad" (1923), "Savkari Pash" (1925), "Parchhain" (1952), "Stree" (1961), besides the globally-acclaimed "Do Aankhe Bara Haath" (1957) and "Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani" (1946) -- the latter considered a tribute to Indo-Chinese friendship.

Other major films included "Duniya Na Mane" (1937), "Padosi" (Marathi-Hindi, 1941), "Dahej" (1950), "Amar Bhopali" (1951), "Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje" (1955), "Pinjra" (Marathi-Hindi, 1972/1973) among others.

He was among the earliest to realise the power of the film medium to convey social messages effectively which he utilised to the hilt.

Shantaram made films woven around such powerful themes, interspersed with good acting and music, through the Prabhat Films which he founded in 1929 in Kolhapur, and later through the Rajkamal Kalamandir.

Accordingly, Shantaram's films tackled wide-ranging subjects like the rigid caste system, dowry menace, communal harmony, socio-economic divides, gaps between the rich-poor, etc., all of which are still relevant today.

At one time another legendary actor filmmaker Charlie Chaplin had described Shantaram's "Manoos" (1939) as one of the most interesting Indian classic films.

A 'formist-social drama', it told the story of an honest policeman's love for a prostitute and his attempt to reform and rehabilitate her by marrying her, but how society did not approve of the relationship which ultimately ended in misery.

In his sterling career spanning nearly six decades, Shantaram was involved with more than 55 films, several of them top blockbusters of that era and bagging some of the topmost honours and accolades.

He was conferred the coveted Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1985 and in 1992, the country's second highest civilian honour, Padma Vibhushan, posthumously.

Shantaram was married thrice including first to Vimla, and had three children - Prabhat, Saroj and Charusheela.

Later he married actress Jaishree Kamulkar through whom he had three children, including Marathi actor-filmmaker Kiran Shantaram, renowned Hindi film actress Rajshree and Tejashree.

His third wife was his former co-actress Vijaya Deshmukh alias Sandhya, his co-star in several films including "Jal Bin Machhli, Nritya Bin Bijlee" and "Do Aankhen Bara Haath".

Shantaram introduced his daughter Rajashree and a young boy Jeetendra (Kapoor) in "Geet Gaya Patharon Ne". Both went onto become legendary stars.

He passed away in Mumbai on October 30, 1990, aged 88.

Later, the central and state government instituted the 'V. Shantaram Award', besides other awards in his name by various organisations to honour people excelling in different branches of filmmaking.

--IANS

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There is much consternation and panic among filmmakers lined up for censor certification. The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) rule that films must apply for certification 68 days in advance has driven the industry into a state of panic.

The axe has fallen on the dubbed Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions of the new Hollywood franchise "Justice League" which failed to procure censor certification on time.

A source from Warner Brothers revealed: "We somehow managed to get the original English version of 'Justice League' certified in time for release. But the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions fell prey to the 68-day rule. The dubbed versions could not be censored as the censor board has started following the 68-day timeline strictly from this week onwards."

Apparently the Warner Brothers representatives requested for an exemption to the rule just this once as their advance booking for Justice League in Hindi Tamil and Telugu had already opened.

"We requested the censor board to at least give this film an exemption from the 68-day timeline as we already had the censor certificate for the English version from before the rule was strictly implemented. Unfortunately they haven't yet obliged.

"Hopefully the CBFC would view at least the Hindi dubbed version of 'Justice League' today ,and we can still release the Hindi version later this week. But the Tamil and Telugu versions are unlikely to be released this week," said a source from Warner.

The sudden setback in release plans created a situation of panic in theatres across India, as advance booking for the Hindi Tamil and Telugu versions were already opened.

This problem is not going to end in the near future.

Says a leading producer: "It is unreasonable and absurd to expect us to submit our films 68 days in advance, and that too the complete and fully edited version.

"It is unreasonable and absurd to expect us to submit our films 68 days in advance, and that too the complete and fully edited version.

"Films are in post-production till days before release. How can they be given to the censor board so much in advance? I believe several films whose release dates are announced in the coming weeks won't get censor certification because of the 68-day rule. At least the the previous CBFC chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani would listen to us and try to help us. Prasoon Joshi is inaccessible," said a leading producer.

While Prasson Joshi remained inaccessible Pahlaj Nihlani's reaction to this comment was a classic: "It's like the elder bahu being seen as less evil by her mother-in-law when the younger bahu arrives."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Director of film "S Durga" Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, who moved the Kerala High Court after his film was dropped from the final list of 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), has apparently lost interest in screening of his movie at IFFI even if the court grants permission.

Asked whether his film would be screened if the court gives the go-ahead, he told IANS on Saturday: "I don't know if my film will be screened there (IFFI), because it is not anymore the film festival it used to be.

"Earlier, IFFI used to be the festival of cinema. But now the festival is organised by a government that represents a political party ... every decision reflects their agenda. It should be the film festival of India and not of BJP or any ruling government, but that's what is happening now."

According to him, a single-judge bench will hear his case on Monday. "They said off-the-record that whatever the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has done is not right... I am hoping for justice."

Sanal, upset with the sequence of events over the past a few days, said he had been forced to run around the court and interact with the media, telling them what was latest regarding rejection of his film.

"I am a creative person, have no habit of dealing with court and all this is affecting my peace of mind and ruining my focus on the upcoming project," he said.

"I think artistes should be given freedom to express their opinion and thoughts through their work, or else they will become the pleasers of government and they will go singing around the songs hailing their political agenda... How will democracy survive then?"

The film community was feeling a threat and facing a challenge on practising the basic right of freedom of expression, especially after the controversy over Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Padmavati", Sanal pointed out.

"I know people talk about using creative liberty in a responsible manner, but what does that even mean? There are fringe groups who are saying if we are making films on XYZ, it will hurt their religious or cultural sentiments.

"So, as filmmakers, who all are the people we should be caring about?" Sanal threw a poser.

"We are living in a country that has diverse religion, region, culture and sentiments. I think we should sensitise people to open up their heart instead of stopping creative people to air their opinion," he added.

--IANS

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India has asked the UN member nations to follow democratic principles and re-elect Dalveer Bhandari as a world court judge by accepting the global majority he has received in the General Assembly.

The election "has to be decided on the floor of the house" and not the Security Council, India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin said. "We are a democratic country; we will abide by democratic verdict. We urge all others do too."

The election of Bhandari, who received an almost two-thirds majority with 121 votes in the 193-member Assembly, is being blocked by the Security Council, where Christopher Greenwood from permanent member Britain has gotten nine votes in the body with 15 members. A candidate has to get absolute majorities in both chambers to be elected.

The runoff between Bhandari and Greenwood has reached the "tipping point" with third election meetings scheduled for Monday to break the deadlock that has persisted through 11 rounds of balloting over two meetings in the Assembly and 10 rounds in the Council.

With the election now a test of wills between the high-powered, but unrepresentative Council and the globally inclusive Assembly, Akbaruddin told representatives of about 160 countries at a reception for Bhandari on Thursday: "The General Assembly reflects the spirit of 'We the People'.

"All the contests in the past have ended by taking cognisance of the sentiment and spirit that the universal membership of the General Assembly has reflected."

General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak was having a round of meetings on Friday afternoon with Security Council President Sebastiano Cardi and officials of the UN legal and General Assembly departments in preparation for the balloting on Monday, his spokesperson Brenden Varma said.

Ahead of the balloting, India is fighting against rumours floated by Greenwood's supporters aimed at discouraging voting for Bhandari by saying India and Britain were in talks for him to withdraw or that a joint conference made up of three representatives each from the Assembly and the Council would decide the election.

India opposes the UN using a joint conference if the deadlock persisted after Monday's voting, calling it a "can of worms" that would challenge the will of the UN majority.

"We understand that some impression is being sought to be created that India and UK are in talks and Judge Bhandari may withdraw, as he may not be allowed to win," Akbaruddin said.

"We are here," he declared. "We intend to stay the course until the will of the majority prevails."

As for a joint conference, Akbaruddin said the UN cannot go back to a "toolkit" from age ago that has, in fact, never been used in its history.

"We also understand that there is talk of a joint conference mechanism to break the deadlock," Akbaruddin said. "Let me tell you right now upfront that not one person has approached me with this proposal, certainly not the representative of the country whose candidate is being faced."

"The precedent is clear," he said. "As is expected in the 21st century, the candidate who enjoys overwhelming support of the General Assembly membership can be the only legitimate candidate to go through."

He cited the outcome of the ICJ elections in 2011 and 2014 when the candidate who won the Assembly majority prevailed.

Susana Ruiz Cerutti of Argentina won in the Council and Patrick Lipton Robinson of Jamaica in the Assembly in the 2014 ICJ election. After 12 rounds of voting, Cerutti withdrew gracefully.

In 2011, Julia Sebutinde of Uganda had a majority in the Assembly and Abdul Koroma of Sierra Leone in the Council. When the deadlock continued after the 10th round of balloting in the Council and 11th in the Assembly, the African Union prevailed on Sierra Leone to back off.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)

--IANS

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Indian and Myanmar armies will conduct their maiden joint exercise in India's northeastern state of Meghalaya, an army official said on Saturday.

The five-day exercise slated to start on November 20 will be held at the newly-inaugurated state-of-the-art Joint Training Node at Umroi Cantonment, about 25 km from Shillong, the state capital of Meghalaya.

Exercise "IMBAX-2017" is the first-ever military training exercise on United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO) between the two nations, being conducted on the Indian soil, according to Defence Spokesperson Lt. Col. Suneet Newton.

He said 15 officers from the Myanmar Army and 16 officers from the Indian Army shall jointly train for over a period of six days.

Newton said the aim of the bilateral training event is to train the Myanmar delegation for participation in the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations under the UN Flag.

"The Indian Army has a rich experience of serving in the UNPKO and during the IMBAX-2017, the focus will be on training the Myanmar Army delegation on the tactics, procedures, expertise and methodology required by the contingent of the member nations for serving in UNPKO," the defence spokesperson said.

Indian and Bangladesh armies successfully conducted Exercise SAMPRITI at Umroi Joint Training Node on November 11.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union on Saturday urged the industry to chart out a plan for the next 50 years and work with the armed forces.

Speaking at an interactive meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Sitharaman said Tamil Nadu-based companies should plan ahead in meeting the demands of the defence forces.

The Defence Minister said the central government will remove the hurdles in domestic defence manufacturing.

Sitharaman said the Tamil Nadu Industry Minister M C Sampath had mooted the idea of creating an aerospace cluster and defence parks.

Sitharaman said she has asked CII officials to hold discussions with the state government and chart out a plan.

Questioned about Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit visiting districts and meeting officials, Sitharaman said there was nothing wrong in that.

On the alleged firing at Indian fishermen by the Coast Guard recently, Sitharaman said the truth would come out on the completion of an inquiry.

Sitharaman said the talks for the purchase of French Rafale fighter jets began in the year 2000 and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government did not take any concrete decisions after holding negotiations between 2004-2013.

She said it was only Prime Minister Narendra Modi who boldly decided to sign the deal to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets.
Software vendor Infosys would configure the editing facility in the GST Network by November 20 to enable traders to file their three-page summary return (3B), said the GST Group of Ministers (GoM) Chairman Sushil Kumar Modi on Saturday.

"Over 2 lakh tax payers were unable to file their summary returns (3B) in August and September due to the non-provision of the editing facility in the GST Network. By November 20, the editing facility will be operationalised by the GST Network," Modi told reporters after the GoM met for the fourth time here.

The GST Network (GSTN) is the backbone of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) on which the new indirect tax regime is operated in real-time, as all its functions are automated, he said.

The city-based IT major bagged the Rs 1,300-crore contract in 2015 to design, develop, maintain and operate the GSTN for three years across the country.

"All forms related to tax payers will have editing facility for previewing, downloading, printing and displaying specific error messages -- to make the portal more user-friendly," said Modi.

The GoM is also incorporating suggestions of states into the system to make the Network more user-friendly and interactive.

"As filing of returns is the 'atma' (soul) of the GST, everything is getting stabilised. We are trying to operationalise everything based on the timeline we had given to Infosys," claimed Modi, who is also the Deputy Chief Minister of the JD-U-BJP coalition government in Bihar.

The GST Network is also hiring people to analyse the data of the states.

"We have also asked Infosys to deploy more ingenious and qualified professionals," asserted Modi.

Infosys has hired 100 more engineers in the last one month, taking the total number of its employees working for the GSTN to 621, he shared.

"In the first meeting (September), as we told Infosys to deploy a resident engineer in every state, the company has deputed 30 of them in each of the 30 states across the country to address any issue related to the Network," he said.

Instead of tax payers writing e-mails and making calls for glitches, an engineer has been posted in every state capital.

In September, Rs 93,141 crore were received as indirect taxes, which increased to Rs 95,131 crore in October, shared the Deputy Chief Minister.

The average revenue shortfall of all the states for August was 28.4 per cent, which declined to 17.6 per cent in October, he said.

"The average revenue shortfall has declined from July to October, indicating that the system is stabilising. People are becoming in tune with the GST as the complaints are also coming down."

At least nine states have the least revenue shortfall with Delhi achieving a break-even point with its revenue turning to positive from negative, said Modi.

The GoM has also planned to meet Infosys co-founder and Chairman Nandan Nilekani to brief about the working of the GST Network, he added.

Besides Modi, other GoM members are Chattisgarh Minister for Commercial Taxes Amar Agarwal, Karnataka Agriculture Minister Krishna Byregowda, Kerala Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Issac and Telengana Finance Minister Etela Rajendar.

GSTN Chairman Ajay Bhushan Pandey and GSTN Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Prakash Kumar assist the GoM in addressing the technical glitches, which have marred filing of returns by the traders since the new indirect tax regime was launched on July 1.

Odisha Finance Minister Shashi Bhusan Behera, Modi, Pandey and Gowda were present at the fourth GoM meet held here on Saturday.

The decision to form the GoM was taken at the GST Council in Hyderabad on September 9 after several member states complained to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who heads the Council, that the glitches were causing problems for taxpayers in filing returns and making payments.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar on Saturday blamed jailed AIADMK leader V K Sasikala and her family for the Income Tax (IT) raids at late Chief Minister and her aunt J Jayalalithaa's residence late on Friday night.

Speaking to reporters here Jayakumar said it is "painful" to note the IT raids at Jayalalithaa's residence.

"It is the family of Sasikala and TTV Dinakaran to be blamed for the IT raid," Jayakumar said.

Jayakumar said Dinakaran is blaming Chief Minister K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam for political gains. Condemning the raids, sidelined AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran supporter and former MLA, V P Kalairajan told media, "This is just political vendetta and targeting of one family".

Attempts being made to destroy our family using the Income Tax department, we are not scared. Won't run away: TTV Dhinakaran on IT raids pic.twitter.com/nVZUXFePDj  ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2017

Responding to the media in Tuticorin (600km from here), Minister of State for Finance and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan said, "The raids were done on the basis of specific information and not for political vendetta."

On Friday night IT officials recovered a laptop, a desktop and four pen drives from two rooms used by Sasikala at Jayalalithaa's residence here, said a senior official.

"We received an input that some important electronic storage devices are going to be clandestinely removed from two rooms used by Sasikala in Veda Nilayam (Jayalalithaa's residence)," the IT official told IANS preferring anonymity on Friday.

According to him, it was a "limited mission". "We are not searching the entire premises," he had said.

This swoop comes after November 9, where the I-T official raided Sasikala's family members and premises of Jaya TV in Chennai and unearthed an unaccounted income of over Rs 1,400 crore.

The raids on 187 locations, including Bengaluru, Hyderabad and New Delhi, were conducted by over 1,000 officials, who split into more than a dozen teams on day one of the searches on November 9.

The raids were conducted based on inputs, including those from the Finance Ministry's Financial Intelligence Unit.

The office of Tamil channel Jaya TV in Chennai, TTV Dhinakaran's farmhouse off Auroville near Puducherry and premises of several other relatives of Sasikala at various other places were searched.

Sasikala nephew says raids don't seem to be politically motivated

Earlier, Sasikala's nephew and head of Jaya TV Vivek Jayaraman said raids at properties linked to their family members and associates "don't seem" to be politically motivated.

Jayaraman told reporters here that I-T sleuths posed various questions about companies headed by him, including Jazz Cinemas, besides seeking accounts for the jewels worn by his wife during their wedding.

He said it was explained "in detail" to them.

When asked if the raids were politically motivated, Jayaraman said, "It doesn't seem so".

"They (taxmen) have done their duty and we are answerable (to them). Every citizen of the country has to pay income tax.. I am clear about that," he said.

It was the "duty" of a citizen to pay taxes and anyone found violating the law was "liable" to face action, Jayaraman said.

On details of seizures made during the raids, he said the sleuths queried about documents on "general accounts".

"There were documents in the companies, general documents, about general accounts. So the questions were raised about these documents.

"We are into movies, distribution of movies, so they asked questions about agreements concerning them. We have answered them clearly," he said.

Asserting that he would present accounts of his wife's jewels, Jayaraman said, "We are ready to answer whatever queries posed by I-T officials in the future".

In an apparent reference to the searches, he said, "Let's not hype what's not true."
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has left Saudi Arabia for France, a TV channel owned by his family announced on Saturday.

"Hariri left the Riyadh airport on his private jet with his wife and is headed for Le Bourget airport (near Paris)," the BBC quoted the Future TV as saying in its announcement.

Hariri is expected to meet French President Emmanuel Macron and then visit other Arab capitals before a possible return to the Lebanese capital Beirut.

On Wednesday, President Macron said he had invited Hariri and his family to Paris after the French leader spoke by telephone to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The French president was later forced to clarify that he was not offering political exile, and that he expected Hariri to stay only "for a few days".

Hariri resigned unexpectedly during a visit to Riyadh on November 4. But his resignation has not been accepted.

While announcing his resignation, Hariri accused Iran of sowing "discord, devastation and destruction" in the region and said he sensed there was an assassination plot against him, the BBC reported.

Hariri earlier denied claims that he was being held hostage in Saudi Arabia, saying that it "is a lie".

Lebanese officials had earlier said Hariri was being detained in Saudi Arabia - a claim denied as "false" by Riyadh.

France, Lebanon's former colonial ruler, has been trying to mediate in the crisis.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has recalled its envoy to Berlin over comments by Germany's Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel suggesting Hariri was held against his will.

Gabriel made the remarks during a press conference with his Lebanese counterpart.

Hariri has close ties with Saudi Arabia. He holds both Lebanese and Saudi citizenship, owns properties, and Riyadh is a key backer of his political party, the Future Movement.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrived here on Saturday after two weeks in Saudi Arabia, a stay that sparked speculation that he was being held against his will.

Hariri, who dismissed the speculation but has not publicly explained the nature or length of his stay in Saudi Arabia, is scheduled to meet French President Emmanuel Macron later in the day.

The two leaders are expected to hold talks on a crisis sparked by Hariri's resignation two weeks ago during a visit to Riyadh. But the resignation was not accepted, the BBC reported.

Hariri announced on November 4 from the Saudi capital that he was stepping down as Lebanon's Prime Minister, but officials in Lebanon said that his resignation would not take effect until he delivered it in person in Beirut.

He accused Iran of sowing "discord, devastation and destruction" in the region and said he feared there was an assassination plot against him.

On Wednesday, Macron said he had invited Hariri and his family to Paris after the French leader spoke over telephone to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The French President was later forced to clarify that he was not offering political exile, and that he expected Hariri to stay only "for a few days". France, Lebanon's former colonial ruler, has been trying to mediate in the crisis.

Hariri is also expected to visit other Arab capitals before a possible return to Beirut.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has recalled its envoy to Berlin over comments by Germany's Foreign Minister suggesting Hariri was being held against his will.

Sigmar Gabriel made the remarks during a press conference with his Lebanese counterpart.

"Saudi Arabia has decided to recall its ambassador to Germany for consultations and will give the German ambassador in the Kingdom a letter protesting these unfortunate and unjustified statements," the Saudi state news agency SPA said.

Lebanese officials had earlier said Hariri was being detained in Saudi Arabia -- a claim denied as "false" by Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia also denied forcing Hariri to resign in an attempt to curb the influence of its regional rival Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, which is part of a national unity government that Hariri formed last year.

--IANS

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A 30-year-old man was arrested on Saturday for allegedly sexually exploiting a woman journalist on the pretext of marriage for over three years, police said.

Police said the woman, who works with a news agency in central Delhi's Connaught Place area, had filed a complaint on Thursday against the accused person, Tanuj Chaudhary, for raping her on the pretext of marriage.

"We have arrested Tanuj Chaudhary on Saturday from his hideout at his friend's house in Ghaziabad. Two police teams raided his residence in Ghaziabad but he was not found there," Deputy Commissioner of Police B.K. Singh told IANS.

"The woman in her complaint stated that she met Chaudhary on a social networking site 'Facebook' in 2014 and started chatting with him. After some days, Chaudhary insisted on meeting her and they met in a restaurant in Delhi where he expressed his feelings and said he loves her," Singh said.

"Initially, she refused his proposal but later she agreed when he won her trust saying he wanted to marry her. Chaudhary developed physical relations with the victim many times without her will on the pretext of marriage. He also took her to various outstation locations from 2014 to 2017 till August," the officer said.

"The victim also assisted the accused and helped him in getting a job near her office six months ago but Chaudhary quit it. When she asked when he would marry her, he refused her marriage proposal and started ignoring her. He also changed his phone number and blocked her on Facebook," he added.

"The victim later filed a complaint against Chaudhary for cheating and raping her," he added.

--IANS

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Even as camera-friendly and Internet-savvy Prime Minister Narendra Modi waxes eloquent on his "Beti Padhao Beti Bachao" campaign, the right-wing fringe elements openly threaten a leading actress -- an inspiration and role model for thousands of young Indian girls -- under his government's nose. Modi and his government have done nothing but maintain silence, ultimately amounting to indirect approval and further encouraging these elements.

The volunteers of Shri Rajput Karni Sena had earlier physically assaulted "Padmavati" director Sanjay Leela Bhansali on the sets of the movie. It's deja vu as they are out on the streets again, mocking the "law and order" that Modi claims to have improved.

While the controversy around the movie may be looked at from different lenses -- that of creative freedom and sentiments of a large community -- Mahipal Singh Makrana, president of the Rajasthan unit of the outfit, shamed his community as well as the country when he stated that they would not hesitate to chop Deepika Padukone's nose like Shurpanakha, a character in the "Ramayana" whose nose was chopped off by Lakshmana.

His comments show the deeply rooted patriarchal views at the core of his outfit's thinking. It's more than just the controversy over the movie and many would argue that the boiling "Rajput blood" of Makrana couldn't resist a woman openly asserting her creative freedom. It's that sick feeling when a man from the Stone Age has no heart to listen to a woman. Makrana is not the only one -- our proud country is testimony to open barbs of many like him. The Prime Minister's grooming too has been under an organisation with similar views -- the RSS.

What is sad is the Prime Minister has not to put aside the motivations of his ideological parent and placed "India first" in his actions, as he does in his words.

And it is not an isolated instance, but the new order of the day. It seems just yesterday when Paresh Rawal, a BJP parliamentarian, had openly threatened Booker-winning author Arundhati Roy. Rawal had kicked up a storm by his tweet that urged violence against the much-acclaimed author of "The God of Small Things". That was in sharp contrast to the otherwise comic personality he was thought to adorn.

In 2015, when leading writers returned their Sahitya Akademi awards to protest growing intolerance, many from the ruling dispensation, including Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma, had spewed venom against them.

The Modi government, as it is today, remained a mute spectator to all of these instances.

The open threat against Deepika Padukone is in gross violation of several laws and the state's silence over it does not augur well for any thriving democracy. The government has before it the task of taking strong measures and control these outfits if we are not to turn into a banana republic of sorts.

(Saket Suman is a Principal Correspondent at IANS. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is due to meet the country's Defense Forces chief Constantine Chiwenga on Sunday, a media report said.

State broadcaster ZBC on Saturday quoted Roman Catholic priest Fidelis Mokonori, one of the facilitators of the talks, as saying , Xinhua news agency reported.

This will be the second meeting between Mugabe and Chiwenga since the military took over the government this week.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Odisha government on Saturday asked all the district collectors to submit by November 25 reports on crop damage suffered due to untimely rain.

The government is likely to announce a fresh package for affected farmers after getting information from the district collectors.

"You are aware that farmers have been affected by drought and pest attack during the current year. Now, the present unseasonal rain has further affected the farmers in some parts of the state," said Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Bishnupada Sethi in a letter to all district collectors.

He said the affected farmers are eligible to get agricultural input subsidy in prescribed rate as per the norms of state disaster response fund, who have sustained crop loss of 33% or above due to the calamity.

Due to depression over the Bay of Bengal, heavy unseasonal rain occurred in several districts during the period from November 15-17 affecting the standing crops in the state.

Meanwhile, the state government officials undertook field visits ate several places in the crop affected areas after the intensity of the low pressure induced rainfall declined across the state.

The state government has announced packages for drought and pest attacked farmers.

--IANS

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More than 100 Rohingya refugees have drowned in shipwrecks and boat capsizes as they fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh, according to a UN official.

Stephane Dujarric, the chief UN spokesman, on Friday said that the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has received reports of some 30 improvised rafts, carrying more than 1,000 people arrived in Bangladesh from Myanmar, reports Xinhua news.

Unable to pay to cross over to Bangladesh, the spokesman said refugees "are building rafts from whatever materials they can get their hands on" to make the four-hour trip across the Naf River.

Recent arrivals told UNHCR that they had been "waiting for more than a month in desperate conditions" on the shores of Myanmar, according to Dujarric.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported approximately 620,000 Rohingya refugees have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh since August 25.

"The refugees are mostly living in makeshift settlements without adequate infrastructure or services," Dujarric said.

Dujarric pointed out that the Rohingya Refugee Crisis Response Plan has received nearly $140 million, just under one-third of what is actually needed.

He urged donors to disburse the funds as quickly as possible.

--IANS

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Pakistan has dispatched humanitarian relief assistance to the earthquake victims of Iran, said officials.

A C-130 plane, carrying 12 tons of relief goods, was sent to Tehran on the directives of Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the country's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The shipment included 165 tents, 1,050 blankets, 200 tarpaulins, 200 plastic mats, food items and other supplies, which were handed over by the NDMA team to Iranian officials at the Tehran airport.

Pakistan and Iran have enjoyed a long-standing friendship, reflecting in every hour of need, the authority said, adding that the Pakistan government has reiterated its resolve to provide all possible assistance to help the bereaved families.

A 7.3-magnitude earthquake rattled the border region between Iran and Iraq on Sunday night, leaving almost 500 people dead and extensive damage.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hundreds of supporters of various Rajput organisations in Bihar on Saturday staged protests against filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, demanding a ban on his film "Padmavati" in the state.

Shouting slogans and chanting "Jai Shri Ram", the protestors, including women of Rajput Mahasabha, took out a protest march here and demanded banning of the upcoming Bollywood movie. They also threatened to not allow its screening here.

There were also reports of similar protests against "Padmavati" in Bhagalpur, Aurangabad and Supaul districts.

Virat Hindustan Sangam (VHS) had staged protest in Patna against "Padmavati" on Friday.

VHS, a Hindu nationalist outfit founded by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and MP Subramanian Swamy, burnt Bhansali's effigy at the Kargil Chowk, demanding immediate ban on the movie while also threatening to take 'severe action' against theatres screening the film.

Protesters said the legendary queen of Chittor had been portrayed negatively in the film and that, they said, was done by money coming from gangsters based in Middle-East countries.

Earlier, Bihar minister Jay Kumar Singh and BJP MLA Gayanu Singh, both from Rajput community, supported protest against "Padmavati".

Senior BJP leader from Bihar and Union Minister Giriraj Singh has also extended his support toward the protests against "Padmavati".

--IANS

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Amid growing protests over Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Padmavati", the leader of a Rajput group in Gujarat has criticised the filmmaker, alleging it was a "tactic" of Bhansali to "always create a controversy ahead of his film's release" to create a boom at the box-office.

Protests against Bhansali's upcoming movie "Padmavati" are burgeoning around the country, and has also rubbed off in the poll-bound state of Gujarat.

This time the Rajput community's various groups are not against the film's release on December 1 as the Supreme Court has refused to stay it.

The Gaurav Swabhiman Sabha in Gujarat has declared a pledge to not let the film run in the theaters of Gujarat, as they feel that it has been mischievous on the part of Bhansali to depict Rajput women in "degrading fashion".

The group's leader Shersinh Rana told the media, "In the coming days we will be reaching out to all the people in Gujarat and urge the people to boycott this film. Besides we will be fielding around a thousand people at each theater the film will be shown in the state. We want to inflict maximum financial blow to the mischievous film director Bhansali."

When IANS asked him about the apex court verdict, Rana said, "I totally agree with the apex court's decision, but why is it that every time Bhansali produces a film it lands in controversy? He has made a habit of it, and we will make him pay for it. And why did he display it to some groups when first it has to be shown to the CBFC before the certification?"

According to Shersinh Rana, the group will work along with other Hindu organizations in the state and hold 'Gaurav Swabhiman Sabha' in each of the three districts of the state. The demonstrations and meetings will start from November 25 in Surat, on November 26 in Dhanera, and so forth covering major cities of the state. A mega convention is planned at the GMDC ground in Ahmedabad on December 3 for the cause.

Earlier, people associated with Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and those belonging to Rajput, Karni and Gurjar communities too had warned against release of the film that allegedly tarnishes the image of Queen Padmavati.

Last month, a mob of Karni Sena and VHP members had destroyed a rangoli depicting actress Deepika Padukone made by a local artist in a city-based mall.

The ruling BJP too had written to the Election Commission seeking a ban on release of the movie till after the Gujarat Assembly elections on December 9 and 14.

--IANS

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Russia's newest A-100 aircraft with the most advanced airborne early warning and control (AWACS) system made its maiden flight on Saturday, a media report said.

Quoting a news release issued by Vega Radio Engineering Corporation, the designer affiliated with the Russian state-owned industrial and defence conglomerate Rostec, Tass news agency said the multifunctional aviation complex of radar patrol and targeting A-100 made a debut flight and the avionics and elements of the radio engineering complex of the aircraft were tested during the flight, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the press service, the aircraft is installed with a unique antenna system and the state-of-the-art radar equipment, which enables it to quickly build up a radar field in a predetermined direction of operation.

It can also guide fighters and bombers to hit detected air, ground and naval targets, the company said.

The A-100 aircraft, built on the base of the Il-76MD-90A transport aircraft, is expected to replace the A-50 AWACS aircraft currently in the service of the Russian Air Force.

--IANS

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Russian long-range military bombers launched an airstrike on Islamic State facilities in eastern Syria on Saturday, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

The strike was carried out by six Tu-22M3 strategic bombers on the IS facilities near the city of Abu kamal in the Deir ez-Zor province, with the air cover provided by Su-30SM fighters deployed at the Khmeimim airbase in western Syria, a ministry statement said, Xinhua news agency reported.

All targets including a number of terrorists, equipment and weapons were destroyed as a result of the strike, the statement said.

The aircraft returned to their bases after completing the combat mission, it added.

The Russian military has recently intensified its efforts to combat the IS. Dozens of strikes have been launched by Russian bombers and submarines near Abu kamal, one of the last IS strongholds in Syria, since the beginning of November.

--IANS

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Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury on Saturday said Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's media statement on has raised more questions than answers, and asked why comparative prices between the earlier scrapped deal for 126 fighter jets and the present one for 36 aircraft had not been shared.

"The Defence Minister's press conference raises more questions than it answers about the deal. Why have comparative prices not been shared, as the Modi government claims it bought Rafales cheaper?" Yechury said.

"Was there a CCS meeting held and approval given before Modi announced buying of 36 fighters in Paris on his own in April 2015?," he said.

The CPI-M leader also questioned why there was no transfer of technology clause in the deal for 36 jets.

"Modi boasts about 'Make in India' but signs a deal with France that includes no transfer of technology. Is this his 'Make in India'?" he said.

Sitharaman in a press conference on Friday had dismissed the Congress' charge of irregularity in the deal for buying 36 Rafale fighter jets off-the-shelf from France, and claimed it was cheaper than what was negotiated under the previous multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) deal under which 126 fighter jets were to be bought.

The Minister, however, did not give any figures comparing the prices.

Under the MMRCA deal, 18 Rafale fighters were to be bought off-the-shelf from Dassault, and 108 were to be manufactured in India under licensed production by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).

Sitharaman also said that no procedure was violated in the deal that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government signed, and that it was inked after clearance by the Cabinet Committee on Security. She also pointed out that the deal was signed only in September 2016, almost one and a half years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the announcement in Paris in April 2015.

The Minister also said that transfer of technology in a deal for just 36 fighter jets was not viable.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday ruffled feathers of political leaders and fishermen organisations with her claim that distanced the Coast Guard from a firing incident off the Rameswaram coast earlier this week in which two fishermen were injured.

"Where did the bullet (that hurt fishermen) come from. We don't have such bullets. How could it be from us (Coast Guard). Don't point fingers at us (Coast Guard). Only an inquiry will reveal who was behind the firing," she told reporters as a controversy brewed over the firing incident.

Fishermen associations had earlier in the week announced a protest against the incident and even threatened not to go for fishing accusing the Coast Guard of firing at local fishermen because they spoke in Tamil.

However, they withdrew the protest after the Coast Guard headquarters in Chennai offered an apology and ordered an inquiry.

Reacting to Sitharaman's statement, DMK Working President M.K. Stalin said it was unfortunate that the Defence Minister was asking where the bullet came from. "It is an insult to the hurt feelings of the fishermen," he told reporters.

Jesu and Sahayam, office bearers of fishermen's association in Rameswaram, said the Defence Minister's statement was contradicting the statements of Coast Guard officials, who admitted that their force was behind the firing incident and tendered an apology. It was on this basis that the fishermen withdrew their protest. "It is very unfortunate," they said.

--IANS

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Sri Lankan author Anuk Arudpragasam's "The Story of a Brief Marriage" -- a touching tale of a young man trapped on the frontlines between the Sri Lankan Army and the Tamil Tigers -- has bagged the $25,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2017. .

Related in meditative, nuanced and powerful prose, the shattering novel marks the arrival of an extraordinary new literary voice. Bangladesh Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith presented the award to Arudpragasam at the magnificent Bangla Academy here during the closing ceremony of the three-day long Dhaka Literature Festival on Saturday evening.

Arudpragasam announced he would donate one-third of the prize money to the organisations working in northeast Sri Lanka, to the cause of Rohingya Muslims and to those providing succour to Muslims in Kashmir.

"The jury met and discussed the shortlisted novels in detail. As all the shortlisted novels had considerable strengths and remarkable literary quality, deciding the winner was not an easy task. However, the jury agreed that Anuk Arudpragasam was the best possible choice for his outstanding novel, "The Story of a Brief Marriage". The novel is impressive for its intensity and rich detail and for exploring the tragic heart of war with such quiet eloquence. It is also a testament to the redemptive power of love, and to the human spirit's capacity for hope," jury chair Ritu Menon said.

Speaking to IANS soon after receiving the prize, Arudpragasam said that he now "hopes to become a full-time writer" and that it was a "great honour for him to be recognised by the best from the fraternity".

"I am young and currently pursuing my Ph.D. I hope to return to Sri Lanka and become a professor if I cannot become a full-time writer. I had a wonderful literary agent and I got lucky perhaps in publishing very easily. But I really hope more and more people read this novel to explore the depths of tragedy that people in Sri Lanka have gone through," Arudpragasam said.

Apart from Anuk Arudpragasam's "The Story of a Brief Marriage," the other four novels in the shortlist were Aravind Adiga's "Selection Day"; Anjali Joseph's "The Living"; Karan Mahajan's "The Association of Small Bombs"; and "In the Jungles of the Night" by Stephen Alter.

"This year the shortlisted novels were all equally exciting with diverse subjects which brought out the nuances and the changing dynamics in South Asian life in a unique and evocative way. It must have been a tough task for the jury members to choose from these five exceptional contenders and arrive at the eventual winner. We are honoured to be invited to give the award this year in Bangladesh. The DSC Prize has now completed seven successful years, and it remains focused on recognizing and showcasing the immense talent writing about the South Asian region and bringing it to a larger global audience," said Surina Narula, co-founder of the DSC Prize.

The DSC prize was founded in 2010 and over the past seven years has emerged as a major literary award. Apart from Menon, an eminent feminist writer; Valentine Cunningham, Professor Emeritus of English Language and Literature at Oxford University; Steven Bernstein; celebrated screenwriter, director, author, cinematographer and lecturer based out of Los Angeles; Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, revered radio and television broadcaster from London; and Senath Walter Perera, Senior Professor in English, University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka.

Past winners of the DSC Prize include H.M. Naqvi of Pakistan, Shehan Karunatilaka of Sri Lanka, Jeet Thayil and Cyrus Mistry from India. Jhumpa Lahiri won it in 2015 for "The Lowland". The winner last year was Anuradha Roy for "Sleeping on Jupiter".

(Saket Suman is in Dhaka at the invitation of the promoters of the DSC Prize. He can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in)

--IANS

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US President Donald Trump's travel ban and immigration policies might have not gone down well in some parts of the world but Caroline Beteta, the Visit California President and CEO, says it's too early to gauge the effect on travel business in the Golden State following such action.

"It's little too early to say that because we do our inbound international research long-term. The benefit is California is far away from Washington, it's the other side of the country. Also, people around the world know that California has different culture and vision about embracing diversity and inclusiveness and why it is made for such a strong economy and spirit about California that resonates with everyone," Beteta told IANS during her second India visit here.

Visit California, the destination marketing organisation for California, has brought a CEO Mission to India this month. This delegation consists of 11 CEOs of cities and attractions and is being led by Beteta.

She was also the former Vice-Chairperson and Chairperson of Brand USA, where she provided strategic direction for the projected $200 million global programme.

California commands 27.5 per cent of the market share from Indian outbound travel market to the US, accounting for 319,000 visitors who spent $706 million in 2016 in the Golden State. Also, according to Visit California, spending by travellers totalled $126.3 billion in 2016 in California, generating 1.1 million jobs in the state and $10.3 billion in state and local tax revenues.

Beteta feels California as travel industry has a message of authenticity and inclusiveness and that's what they are focussing on.

"We know that we will connect with people around the world. Also when it comes to safety and security of people, everybody wants to make sure they are given full attention when they are visiting any destination, just like India. So we make sure that we take care of people from all around the world," she said when asked about reports that stated some officials in US are concerned about tourism business going down in the days to come.

She also feels that the recent meeting between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the ASEAN summit in Manila will help the travel business of both the countries.

"Anytime heads of state gather, it's good for the facilitation of international travel," she said.

"Travel promotes understanding and I think we are the biggest form of public diplomacy in the form of hospitality industry and bringing peace to this world so a meeting between heads of state definitely helps," she added.

For her, India holds an important place for tourism growth in California.

"We have seen healthy growth and it has increased over the years. We are expecting six-to-seven per cent increase soon and what we have seen is high prospect of growth in next several years... may be about 40 per cent between now and 2021," said Beteta.

"With the growing middle class in India, we just feel that we have a lot of connectivity and experiences that would be highly appealing to the Indian market," said the CEO who appeared excited about her trip to Agra to visit Taj Mahal.

(Nivedita can be contacted at nivedita.s@ians.in)

--IANS

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The US military has reported a total of 20,348 sexual assaults from 2013 to 2016 at the country's defence installations around the world, the Pentagon said in a new report.

The report, provided by the Department of Defence's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) on Friday detailed the number of sexual assault reports across the services and joint bases, as well in combat zones, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Army had the highest number of cases at 8,284 in the four years, according to the report.

The number of cases in the Navy stood at 4,788, with 3,876 reports in the Air Force and 3,400 in the Marine Corps.

The Pentagon estimated that 32 per cent of service members experiencing sexual assaults in the 2016 fiscal year, up from 25 per cent in the previous two years.

Holding Army, Navy and Air Force units, Joint Base San Antonio had the most sexual assault reports of any joint base across the four-year period, with 881.

As to combat areas, Afghanistan received 295 sexual assault reports from fiscal 2013 to 2016, higher than any other country that has US military presence.

"One of the features of the department's reporting program is that service members can report allegations of sexual assault at any time and at any place," Nate Galbreath, deputy director of the SAPRO, said.

"A report could involve allegations of an incident that occurred while on deployment, while away on leave, or even prior to entering the military."

In 2013, the Pentagon began allowing victims of sexual assault to seek legal help without notifying their command and police, which would be classified as restricted reports.

Sexual assault victims who seek police involvement have unrestricted reports.

According to the SAPRO statement, the statistics were published now "due to recent requests for this information under the Freedom of Information Act".
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit back at Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the multi-crore deal, claiming it was "shameful" that her boss was "silencing" her.

He also asked her whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken permission from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) before announcing the purchase of the fighter aircraft in Paris.

Gandhi's retort comes a day after Sitharaman alleged that it was shameful on part of the Congress to raise objections on the deal.

The Congress had raised several questions on the deal, accusing the government of compromising interest and security while promoting "crony capitalism" and causing a loss to the public exchequer.

"Dear RM, what's shameful is your boss silencing you. Please tell us: 1. Final price of each jet? 2. Did PM take CCS permission before announcing purchase in Paris? 3. Why PM bypassed experienced HAL and gave the deal to AA rated businessman with no defence experience?" Gandhi tweeted.

The Congress and the BJP have exchanged barbs over the multi-crore Rafale fighter aircraft deal.

While the Congress was alleging that a scam was brewing in the deal, the BJP claimed that the renegotiated deal was transparent and better than the deal negotiated by the previous UPA government.

India had inked an inter-governmental agreement with France in September last year for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs 58,000 crore, nearly one-and-half years after the prime minister announced the proposal during a visit to Paris.

The delivery of the jets is scheduled to begin from September 2019.
In an attempt to eradicate (TB) by 2030, delegates from 114 countries have agreed to take urgent action to end the world's deadliest disease.

The announcement came at the first WHO global ministerial conference in Moscow on ending .

"Today marks a critical landmark in the fight to end TB," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

"It signals a long overdue global commitment to stop the death and suffering caused by this ancient killer," Ghebreyesus said.

Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 53 million lives since 2000 and reduced the TB mortality rate by 37 per cent.

However, progress in many countries has stalled, global targets are off-track, and persistent gaps remain in TB care and prevention.

As a result, TB still kills more people than any other infectious disease. There are major problems associated with antimicrobial resistance, and it is the leading killer of people with HIV.

"One of the main problems has been a lack of political will and inadequate investment in fighting TB," Ghebreyesus said.

"Today's declaration must go hand-in-hand with increased investment," he added.
As many as 14 people were injured when a private bus overturned here today, the police said.

The bus was on its way to Bangarmau from Sandila when it overturned, they said.

The injured were rushed to a nearby community health centre. A man and his wife with serious injuries were referred to a trauma centre in Lucknow, the police added.

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At least five more bullet-riddled bodies were recovered today in a remote district of Pakistan's Balochistan province, days after 15 corpses were found in the same region.

The five bodies were found in Tajban area of Turbat district and are linked to the earlier recovery of 15 bodies in the same district on Wednesday.

Baloch separatist militant group Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) had claimed responsibility for the killings.

A local police official said residents found the bodies and alerted police who moved them to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital in Turbat.

"All victims belonged to Gujrat district of Punjab and had received multiple bullets wounds," the official said.

The 15 bullet-riddled bodies found on Wednesday were also identified as residents of Punjab who were trying to reach Europe illegally through Iran and Turkey.

Yesterday, security forces had shot dead a BLF commander who they claimed was involved in the killing of the 15 people.

Baloch nationalists blame the Pakistani government for exploiting the natural resources of the country's largest province and often target government installations and security forces.

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Two Pakistani college students have been sentenced to 75 years in prison by a court for raping and killing an 11-year-old boy in the Punjab province.

Convicts Musadiq Ahmed and Ahsan Hassan were accused of killing the Class 5 student after raping him in Sahiwal district, some 230 km from Lahore, in November last year.

Initially the police had registered the case on charges of murder, kidnapping and unnatural offences under the Pakistan Penal Code.

But after the protest by the victim's family and locals, the police also included terrorism sections in the FIR and the suspects were prosecuted in an anti-terrorism court (ATC) here.

"The ATC today awarded 75 years imprisonment to each suspect and also imposed a fine of Rs 400,000 on each of them on different counts," a court official said and added the convicts confessed to their crime before the judge.

According to the FIR, the convicts and the victim studied in same academy in a village in Sahiwal. On November 7, 2016, the convicts on return from the academy kidnapped the minor boy and took him to a deserted place where they killed him after raping him.

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Eight youths have been arrested under suspicious circumstances near the Ram Janmbhoomi checkpost in Ayodhya, police said here today.

The youths, who were travelling in a car, were stopped near the checkpost around 2am last night, they said.

An ATS team, led by Additional SP Rajesh Sahni, was rushed from Lucknow to question the youths, according to a statement released by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) here.

The team found that the eight youths were residents of Khalilnagar Basni village in Nagaur district of Rajasthan. They had set out on a pilgrimage on November 15 and were on their way to Kichaucha Sharif in Ambedkar Nagar district.

According to the statement, Nagaur police said the eight youths have no criminal record but the matter was being investigated from all angles.

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The Aam Aadmi Party, the main opposition party in Punjab, today sought from the Punjab Assembly speaker to enhance the number of sittings in the House to enable members to raise their issues.

The party further said the increase in the number of sittings will help in lessening the chances of disorder in the House.

It also suggested a live telecast of the proceedings of the House like it was being done in both the Houses of Parliament and state legislatures of Delhi, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

These demands were submitted to Speaker Rana K P Singh here by the AAP MLAs, including Sukhpal Khaira who is also the leader of the opposition, Kanwar Sandhu, Rupinder Kaur Ruby, Pirmal Singh Khalsa and Kulwant Singh Pandori, a party release here said.

Khaira, in the letter, claimed that the number of sittings of the Punjab Assembly had been decreasing every year as a result of which, members get limited opportunity to express their views.

Khaira, MLA from Bholath, said that the number of sittings during the period of 1952 to 1977 were far greater than the number of sittings during current time.

"For instance, the number of sittings, held during the year 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1966 were 55, 37,44, 54,56,57 and 32, respectively," he said.

He further said former chief minister of Punjab Partap Singh Kairon used to reply the debate in the House for one or two hours. Thus, members could get little opportunity to create ruckus in the House.

The party demanded that the number of sittings should not be less than 40 in a financial year.

Khaira demanded that the discussions on issues like farmers' suicides, stubble burning, rising number of accidents, could be held in the House to seek suggestions of the members on these issues.

Notably, the upcoming three-day winter session of the Punjab Assembly will commence on November 27.

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A farmer committed suicide in Ganjam district allegedly due to crop failure after pest attack and unseasonal rains, making him the 10th farmer to take the extreme step since October in Odisha.

The opposition BJP lashed out at the BJD government for the farmer deaths and alleged that the state agriculture and labour ministers had ridiculed distressed peasants instead of mitigating their plight.

The farmer, who was identified as Rajendra Bhuyan of Baulajholi village under Kukudakhnadi block, died after consuming pesticide. He was a share-cropper and had cultivated paddy in over four acres, district officials said.

His death follows the alleged suicide by another farmer at coastal Kendrapara district yesterday due to crop loss in the unseasonal rain since November 13.

Confirming Bhuyan's death, Berhampur Sub Collector Sidharth Shankar Swain said the tehsildar, agriculture officer and police rushed to the spot and were inquiring into the reasons behind it.

The farmer's family members alleged that he had taken loans from different people in the village amounting to Rs two lakh, promising them to repay after harvest.

He was under severe mental pressure following the crop loss due to the pest attack and incessant rainfall in the district, his son Laxman told reporters.

Laxman said last night his father consumed pesticide which was in the house and he was found dead this morning.

"We have provided Rs 10,000 to his family members from the Red Cross for immediate expenditure and to perform the last rites," Swain said.

The post-mortem was conducted at the MKCG Medical College here and the cause of the farmer's death would be ascertained after getting the report, said inspector in-charge of Berhampur Sadara Police Station, S S Mohapatra.

BJP state secretary Bibhuti Jena said "The government should now accept that the farmer committed suicide due to the crop failure. His family should be provided with Rs 20 lakh as compensation."



BJP general secretary Arun Singh, who is the party's Odisha in-charge, attacked the BJD government, alleging that some state ministers had ridiculed distressed peasants.

"It is unfortunate that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has remained silent all along and no action was taken against the ministers who made irresponsible remarks about the crisis faced by the farmers in the state," Singh told reporters in Bhubaneswar.

The state government is instead trying to blame others for the farmers' suicides in order to hide its failure and inefficiency, he alleged.

Agriculture Minister Damodar Rout had said he did not want to visit the family of Bargarh farmer Brunda Sahu, who had taken his life after setting fire to his crop which suffered a pest attack, as they did not belong to the BJD.

His comment came after Union Minister of State for Agriculture G S Shekhawat and other BJP leaders visited Sahu's house.

Rout had also said that farmers who had burnt their paddy crops would not be given compensation.

Labour Minister Sushant Singh had claimed the farmer had committed suicide after being instigated by the BJP.

The BJP leader said the party was trying to alert the BJD government about the problems of the farmers. "But the state government refuses to wake up and act," he claimed.

Referring to the suicide by the Bargarh farmer, Singh said he had approached the authorities for help but no official or minister came forward and the man was driven to commit suicide.

The Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh governments were providing bonus to farmers and concession on agricultural loans but the Odisha government had not taken any such step to help the distressed farmers, he added.

Reacting to Singh's statement, Rout said the BJP leader should realise that agriculture is a state subject in which central leaders have no role. Under the Constitution, it is the responsibility of the state government to deal with issues of agriculture and farmers.

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The Apollo hospital has joined the Landmark Group in its campaign titled 'Beat Diabetes' to spread awareness about the disease, which is increasing at an alarming rate in the country.

Under the collaboration, the campaign will be conducted across 100 selected stores across 15 states 29 cities in India for 10 days from November 10 to 19, the Apollo hospital said in a statement.

More than one lakh people are expected to undergo the blood glucose test during the campaign period.

The 'at risk' individuals will be advised to contact a doctor for further assessment.

The 'Beat Diabetes' was initiated in 2010 as part of the 'Social Initiatives' and since then more than 4, 97,670 people have been screened.

"India's economic boom has been accompanied by a meteoric increase in the number of people with diabetes and those at- risk for the disease," Sangita Reddy, Chairperson and JMD Apollo Group, said in a statement.

"Diabetes will be the world's seventh largest killer by 2030 and intense, focus and joint effort from all stake holders within society is required to tackle it in India," she said.

India had 69.2 million people living with diabetes as per the 2015 statistics published by the International Diabetes Federation.

More than 36 million people remained undiagnosed in India. Diabetes is known as a slow and silent killer because the disease can go undetected and people do not receive the necessary treatment in time.

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Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the Namami Barak festival here today and said that Barak and Brahmaputra rivers have the same language, that is of brotherhood, unity and harmony.

Sonowal said the Namami Barak is not only a festival but it is a new journey to explore these parts of Assam. Saying this festival is organised to revive humanistic values, to discover resources and possibilities of the land.

He said Namami Barak festival would "boost our commitment to develop the economy of the state and motivate us to engage with renewed vigour to take Assam into high growth trajectory".

The chief minister said that Barak valley has been neglected for long and people of this valley have lots of anguish and disappointments.

Stating that Namami Barak is an effort to ensure that the people of this valley can move forward in equal footing with the rest of the state, Sonowal said just like Namami Brahmaputra was inaugurated by then President Pranab Mukherjee, Namami Barak is also fortunate to have President Ram Nath Kovinds participation.

He said forces inimical to the states peace and development must be defeated by the people living across the plains and hills, Barak and Brahmaputra valleys of the state by staying united.

Urging the people to strive for building a society based on equality and harmony as envisioned by Swami Vivekananda, Sonowal said that Bhupen Hazarika and Hemanga Biswas through their creations always tried to keep the bond of unity and harmony among the people strong.

The chief minister also said that the Central Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is giving lot of importance to develop Barak valley along with the whole of northeast.

Railway ministry has introduced many new trains from Barak Valley and today also a new train connecting Silchar Dibrugarh- Trivandrum has been flagged off, he informed adding Dibrugarh and Silchar direct air connectivity has also started.

The chief minister also requested Minister of State for Railways, Rajen Gohain to start a new train from Saurashtra to Dibrugarh and Silchar.

Construction of the mini secretariat at Silchar would start soon and Vivekananda Cultural and Research Institute is also going to be set up here, he said.

River navigation from Silchar to the Bay of Bengal via Bangladesh would be started and this would boost the trade and business activities in the region, he said.

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Two Cambodian journalists were charged today with spying for allegedly filing news reports to Washington-based Radio Free Asia amid a sweeping government crackdown on dissent.

The reporters were detained on Tuesday night, days before Cambodia's main opposition party was dissolved over accusations it conspired with the US in a treason plot.

That case was blasted by Washington as baseless and decried by rights groups as hastening the country's descent into a de facto one-party state under premier Hun Sen.

The ruling followed months of legal attacks aimed at silencing Hun Sen's political rivals, outspoken NGOS and independent media. Radio Free Asia was forced to shut its office after 20 years due to a series of threats.

The former RFA journalists -- Oun Chhin and Yeang Sothearin -- now face up to 15 years in jail for allegedly running an illegal media studio from a guesthouse in the capital, according to police.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court decided to charge them with providing a foreign state information that is destructive to the national defence", said court spokesman Ly Sophana.

Hun Sen, a firebrand ultra-nationalist in power since 1985, has been leaning heavily on anti-American rhetoric to justify the unprecedented clampdown on critics before elections in 2018 which he is now guaranteed to win.

His allegations of a US-backed coup plot have sent relations with Washington into a tailspin.

Yesterday, Washington demanded the immediate reversal of the ruling against the opposition party, which it said had stripped next year's election of any legitimacy.

A spokesman for Hun Sen's ruling party said the country would be fine without American backing.

The widening rift is the latest chapter in a complex history between the two nations.

After pummelling Cambodia with bombs during the Vietnam War, the US went on to become one of its biggest donors as the kingdom rebuilt from the ashes of the brutal Khmer Rouge era of 1975-79.

But America's influence has waned significantly in recent years as China muscles into Southeast Asia, propping up authoritarian leaders like Hun Sen with aid and investment free of pressure to safeguard human rights.

Critics say Beijing's backing has given Hun Sen the confidence to drop even the facade of respecting a free press and other democratic institutions.
A senior Chinese envoy has met an aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in Pyongyang, the two sides said Saturday, stressing longstanding ties despite deep divisions over the North's nuclear activities.

Song Tao is visiting on behalf of President Xi Jinping, ostensibly to brief the North's officials on the recent Chinese Communist Party congress and other "issues of mutual interest".

The two communist neighbours, once said by Mao Zedong to be "as close as lips and teeth", are at odds over the nuclear standoff and US President Donald Trump is urging Beijing to pile pressure on Pyongyang.

Song, the first senior Chinese envoy to visit in more than a year, had been widely expected to raise the impasse over North Korea's missile and nuclear tests in his Friday meeting with Choe Ryong-Hae, a top official in North Korea's ruling party.

But a Chinese Communist Party report of the meeting made no mention of those issues, focusing instead on platitudes about the long relationship.

A party statement said Song and Choe agreed that mutual ties were "the common treasure of the two peoples".

"Both parties should make concerted efforts to promote the development of the relations between the two parties and the two countries and let them benefit the two peoples," the statement paraphrased them as saying.

A brief report by North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency said Song told his hosts that China wanted to "develop the traditional friendly relations between the two parties and countries", but gave no further details.

Trump, who warned Xi during his trip to Beijing last week that time was "quickly running out" to solve the nuclear crisis, took to Twitter on Thursday to hail Song's mission as "a big move, we'll see what happens!"



The United States wants China, which accounts for 90 per cent of North Korea's foreign trade, to apply more economic pressure.

But experts doubt Song's visit will yield breakthroughs, saying Beijing has far less political influence on Kim than is thought despite the economic ties.

"Relations are extremely stressed. Perhaps the lowest point since the Korean War. Perhaps (the mission) will put a floor under China-North Korea relations, preventing further deterioration," said Bonnie Glaser, China expert at the Center for Strategic and Studies in Washington.

China has imposed its own banking restrictions on North Koreans in addition to enacting a series of UN measures that include bans on imports of coal, iron ore and seafood from the North.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra today called upon the law graduates to keep abreast of the legal consequences of the 'Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)', the digital revolution sweeping the World.

Delivering the Fourth Convocation address of National Law University of Odisha (NLUO) here, the CJI said a lawyer should not only be adept in the traditional practice and procedures of law, but must keep up-to-date with the new and specialised fields of law.

Referring to the wide acceptance of digital modes of payments in the country now, he said the footprint of technology is expanding and virtually redefining our working and lifestyles.

"You all are going to enter the manifold streams where law is needed, when the country is rapidly pushing digitisation in almost every walk of life", the CJI said.

He was addressing the students in the presence of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Justice Amitav Roy of the Supreme Court, Orissa High Court Chief Justice Vineet Saran, who is also the Chancellor of the University and the vice chancellor of the University Srikrishna Deva Rao.

On the recent debate of allowing foreign law firms to enter the Indian market, the CJI told the law graduates that their role would become increasingly important and indispensable.

"With your calibre, you would stand firm guarding the interest of Indian lawyers and ensure that you can offer equally competitive legal services to Indian as well as foreign parties," he said.

"If there is indeed one profession which contributed the most in the fight for Independence and played the most significant part in bringing about national awakening and political consciousness, it has been the profession of law," he said.

Justice Misra said students must be pondering today which field of law (litigation, corporate or teaching) is more lucrative, and which direction would lead them to success.

"Do not think of lucrative in mere terms of material gain, and do not restrict your mind to think of success as a status symbol. The first step is to recognise where your passion lies.

"Do a soul search and decide where you can give your best in terms of betterment of the society and downtrodden--only that should be your path and destination! That should be your fundamental aim of a lawyer," he said.

Justice Misra said learning is a continuous process and it should not end on the graduation day.

He quoted educational reformer and philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurthy, "There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning."



A total of 145 students were conferred with the degrees, out of which 114 received dual degrees of BA LLB and BBA LLB, 30 received LLM degrees and one scholar was awarded with PhD.

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Pakistan today said it is "considering" India's request to let Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother meet him, apart from his wife who has already received permission to visit the Indian death row prisoner.

Last week, Pakistan said it had offered to arrange a meeting between 46-year-old Jadhav and his wife, months after India had requested it to grant a visa to his mother on humanitarian grounds.

Foreign Office (FO) sources here said India in response has again asked Pakistan to issue a visa to Jadhav's mother so she can also visit her detained son.

FO spokesman Mohammad Faisal confirmed that India has responded to Pakistan's offer.

"Indian reply to Pakistan's humanitarian offer for Commander Jadhav received & is being considered," he tweeted.

Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April on charges of espionage and terrorism. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May halted his execution on India's appeal.

Pakistan has repeatedly denied India consular access to Jadhav on the ground that it was not applicable in cases related to spies.

Some media reports have linked Pakistan's latest offer to quiet efforts by the US. Pakistan, however, insisted that its offer was made purely on humanitarian grounds.

Jadhav has filed an appeal with Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa to seek clemency, which is still pending.

Last month, the Pakistan Army had said it is close to a decision on the mercy petition of Jadhav.

Pakistan claims its security forces arrested him from restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered the country from Iran.

However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.

Jadhav's sentencing had evoked a sharp reaction in India.

After India approached the ICJ, a 10-member bench on May 18 restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case.

The ICJ has asked Pakistan to submit its response or memorial by December 13 before the court could start further proceedings in the case.

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Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama will arrive in Bodh Gaya, the place where the Buddha had attained enlightenment, on a 50-day-long tour next month, officials said today.

"The Dalai Lama will arrive in Bodh Gaya on December 26. His tour will be 50-day-long. During his stay, the Dalai Lama will be offering discourses at the Kalchakra Maidan on January 5-7 and again on January 14-16", Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee member Arvind Kumar Singh said.

"The Dalai Lama is also expected to receive a number of heads of state from ASEAN countries who are likely to visit Delhi for attending the Republic Day celebrations and then fly to Bodh Gaya to seek the blessings of the revered spiritual leader", he said.

Divisional Commissioner, Magadh, Jeetendra Srivastava said "a high-level meeting, chaired by Gaya District Magistrate Kumar Ravi, was held yesterday in which discussions were held to make necessary preparations, including security arrangements, in view of the Dalai Lama's proposed visit".

Inspector General of Police, Patna Zone, Naiyar Hasnain Khan said "the Senior Superintendent of Police of Gaya, Garima Malik, has been directed to submit a report after reviewing security requirements for the Dalai Lama and other VVIPs who may be visiting during his stay".

"The district police will be provided all assistance from zonal and headquarter levels with regard to CCTV cameras, central paramilitary forces and other security-related requirements", the IGP added.

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The Indian Army today told the Pakistani military that there appeared to be a "disconnect" between the Pakistan Army headquarters' intent and the actions of its troops along the Line of Control and asked it to address this "credibility gap".

In a telephonic conversation over the hotline, Indian Army's Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen A K Bhatt told his Pakistani counterpart that Indian troops will continue to take all retaliatory measures and "retain" the "right" to punitively respond to any provocative acts of transgression from the Pakistani side, the Army said.

The unscheduled talks took place following a request from the Pakistani DGMO, who during the conversation, accused Indian security forces of resorting to unprovoked firing and targeting civilians in the Poonch sector, it said.

Lt Gen Bhatt emphatically conveyed to Pakistan DGMO Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza that retaliatory firing by the Indian troops is carried out in response to unprovoked and repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan, the Army's Additional Directorate General of Public Information said in a statement.

It said Lt Gen Bhatt told the Pakistani DGMO that there appeared to be a "disconnect between the intent at the Pak GHQ (General Headquarters) which reiterates its desire for peace and the actions of Pak troops along the Line of Control, who resort to heavy firing without provocation."



He further exhorted Maj Gen Mirza to resolve this "existent credibility gap" to ensure that peace and tranquillity is maintained along the LoC.

The Army said Lt Gen Bhatt clarified that Indian troops always maintain "impeccable standards of professionalism" and do not target civilians in any manner.

Bhatt said that the Indian Army will continue its efforts to ensure peace and tranquility along the borders.

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Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has written to Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani, urging her to ensure that 'Padmavati' is not released without necessary changes to the film.

Raje also said that the Censor Board should consider all possible results before certifying the film, a day after the Board sent the film back to its makers because the application for the certification was "incomplete".

In the letter to Irani, she suggested that a committee of historians, film experts and members from the Rajput community be formed to look into the film's subject and necessary changes be made to it so that it does not hurt the sentiments of any community.

The letter is the first official communication from the Rajasthan chief minister on the controversy surrounding the epic drama directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh in lead roles.

Both Padukone and Bhansali have received threats.

The film is based on Rajput queen Padmavati and is scheduled to release on December 1.

Various Rajput groups have been protesting across the country, including in Rajasthan, against releasing the film, alleging it "distorts" history and hurts sentiments of people.

Yesterday, the protesters blocked entry to the Chittorgarh Fort in Rajasthan. Today, a similar protest was held at the Kumbhalgarh Fort in Rajsamand district of the state.

Raje said a filmmaker has the right to make a film as per their understanding but provisions were also there in the Constitution to control such rights in case of hurt to public sentiments and law and order.

Therefore, she said, there should be a rethink on the release of the film, an official statement said tonight.

A delegation from Mewar region, comprising the state's Urban Development Minister Shrichand Kriplani, MLA Chittorgarh Chandrabhan and others, met Raje at her residence and expressed gratitude for writing the letter to Irani.

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Ahmedabad-based drug maker Eris Lifesciences has entered into a definitive pact with Bengaluru-Based Strides Shasun to acquire latter's India branded generics business for a cash consideration of Rs 500 crore.

"The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and parties intend to close the transaction by November 30, 2017," the companies said in a joint statement.

Strides' India branded generics business comprises a portfolio of over 130 brands in the domains of neurology, psychiatry, nutraceuticals and Gastro, among others, it added.

"Along with the brands, the employees of Strides' India branded generics business will also become a part of Eris, but the exact numbers have to be worked out," Eris Lifesciences MD Amit Bakshi told PTI.

As per the terms of the agreement, "Eris will acquire the marketing and distribution rights for the said portfolio of products in India while Strides will retain the global rights for these products," the statement said.

Commenting on the development, Strides MD Shashank Sinha said: "This transaction is the outcome of our portfolio reprioritisation to focus more sharply on larger regulated market."



The company retains global rights for the divested portfolios, which have significant sales in Africa and will continue to grow its emerging market business, he added.

"Net proceeds from this transaction will be used to pay down debt to the tune of Rs 400 crore," Sinha said.

With this acquisition, Eris Lifesciences will be among the top ten companies in the Central Nervous System (CNS) segment, the statement said.

"The transaction is a good strategic fit for Eris and will strengthen our position in the key segments of CNS and Gastro-Intestinal therapies," Bakshi said.

Eris expects to realise cost and revenue synergies from this transaction given the company's strong presence in the branded business in India, he added.

For Strides, MAPE Advisory Group and Tatva Legal acted as the transaction advisor and legal advisor respectively, the statement said.

EY India was the exclusive M&A advisor and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co was the legal advisor to Eris Lifesciences on this transaction, it added.

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Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has apologised to the barber community after he made an analogy about the prefession to target the Congress-NCP government over incomplete projects.

Fadnavis, while speaking at a programme near Pune on November 9, had said that during the previous Congress-NCP government, various irrigation schemes were left incomplete as money was not being provided for them.

To highlight his point, he had said, "In the garb of schemes, the houses and vaults of contractors were being filled (with money). Just like a barber shaves half beard of one man and half portion of hair of another to prevent customers from leaving when there is a long waiting (queue). Similarly, these people (previous government) gave a little cream to everybody, that left the works incomplete."



"Our government is doing the work of completing these pending schemes now. In another two years, we shall complete all of them and farmers will benefit," he had said.

Following Fadnavis' comments, the barber community held protests at some places, including Osmanabad district, and put up posters showing him with half beard and with only half portion of head sporting hair.

Facing backlash, Fadnavis yesterday wrote a letter to the association of barbers and apologised for his comments.

"I only wanted to stress on how the previous government left projects incomplete and in doing so, I unintentionally gave an example. I did not mean to hurt the sentiments of anybody in doing so," Fadnavis said.

"Yet, adverse reactions were brought to my notice. I wish to clarify that there was no intention of hurting anybody's sentiments. I express my apology to the barber community as their sentiments have been hurt," he said.

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Farmers from all over India will participate in a two-day protest from November 20 under the banner of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) to demand "better prices for their produce and complete freedom from debt".

According to the AIKSCC, members of around 180 farmer organisations are expected to participate in the protest.

"Our main demand will be full remunerative prices as a legal entitlement with correct cost estimations and at least a 50 per cent profit margin over the cost of production," All India Kisan Sabha president Ashok Dhawale said.

"We will also demand freedom from debt, including an immediate comprehensive loan waiver, as well as a statutory institutional mechanism to address farmers' debt on an ongoing basis," he said.

Dhawale said, "Even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Lok Sabha poll campaign, had promised that if elected, farmers would get good prices for their crops and he would implement the Swaminathan Commission recommendations, nothing has been done so far".

According to the AIKSCC "steady rise in input costs, like fuel, pesticides and fertilisers and even water, and slashing of subsidies by the government" are some of the key factors behind cost versus income imbalance presently being faced by the farmers.

"This massive injustice in prices is pushing farmers into debt, to commit suicide and ignite repeated protests across the country. To address the plight of farmers we are congregating in large numbers in Delhi on November 20 in a 'Kisan Mukti Sansad'," an All India Kisan Sabha leader said.

The AIKSCC, an umbrella forum of farmers, will also organise 'Kisan Mukti Sansad' or farmer's parliament at the venue of their protest.

On November 20, a draft 'bill' encompassing the two demands will be introduced and passed after the debate by the farmers' parliament.
Farmers from all over India will participate in a two-day protest from November 20 here under the banner of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) demanding "better prices for their produce and complete freedom from debt".

According to the AIKSCC, members of around 180 farmer organisations are expected to participate in the protest.

"Our main demand will be full remunerative prices as a legal entitlement with correct cost estimations and at least a 50 per cent profit margin over the cost of production," All India Kisan Sabha president Ashok Dhawale said.

"We will also demand freedom from debt, including an immediate comprehensive loan waiver, as well as statutory institutional mechanism to address farmers' debt on an ongoing basis," he said.

Even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Lok Sabha poll campaign, had promised that farmers would get good prices for their crops and he would implement the Swaminathan Commission recommendations, nothing has been done so far, Dhawale claimed.

According to the AIKSCC "steady rise in input costs, like fuel, pesticides and fertilisers and even water, and slashing of subsidies by the government" were the key factors behind cost versus income imbalance presently been faced by the farmers.

"This massive injustice in prices is pushing farmers into debt, forcing them to commit suicide and ignite repeated protests across the country. To address their plight we are congregating in large numbers in Delhi on November 20 in a 'Kisan Mukti Sansad'," an All India Kisan Sabha leader said.

The AIKSCC, an umbrella forum of farmers, will also organise 'Kisan Mukti Sansad' or farmer's parliament at the venue of their protest.

On November 20, a draft 'bill' encompassing the two demands will be introduced and passed after debate by the farmers' parliament.

Farmers from Tamil Nadu said they were mulling over beginning a third round of protest in the national capital.

"We might continue the protest in Delhi once again after consulting farmers from other parts of the country," media coordinator of the agitating farmers Prem Kumar said.

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Veteran actor Shabana Azmi today said the film industry should boycott the International Film Festival of India to mark its protest against threats to filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and his "Padmavati" star Deepika Padukone.

Calling the situation "cultural annihilation", Azmi criticised Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani for her silence on the issue.

"Smriti Irani is preparing IFFI dats possible only bcoz the Indian Film Industry brings such acclaim to it but keeps quiet about Padmavati!



"This is exactly like HKL Bhagat and Congress celebrating IFFI in Delhi after the murder of Safdar Hashmi in 1989. Cultural Annihilation," she tweeted.

The actor, who put out a series of tweets on the issue, added that the film industry should come together to support the movie.

"The entire film industry should boycott IFFI in protest against the threats to @deepikapadukone SLB and #Padmavati," she said in another tweet.

"Padmavati", which is facing protests by several Rajput groups and others, has been sent back to makers by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) as the application for the certification was "incomplete".

A leader of the Shri Rajput Karni Sena cited Ramayana's Surpanakha nose-chopping incident and warned Deepika against "inciting" sentiments. Following this, the Mumbai Police tightened Deepika's security.

Police have also beefed up security at Bhansali's residence in Versova.

The 48th edition of IFFI is being held in Goa from November 20-28.

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Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has not resigned, the Pakistan government said today amidst reports that the embattled leader has decided to step down after his indictment in the Panama Papers scandal.

The National Accountability Court had indicted Dar on September 27 in a corruption case but has continued to serve as finance minister amid strong criticism from opposition parties.

Different media channels, including Geo TV reported citing sources that 67-year-old Dar has sent resignation to Abbasi, forcing the government to clarify the confusion.

Mussadik Malik, PM House spokesman, said that Dar has not resigned but under rules his ministry was run by the Prime Minister.

"When a minister is absent or on eave due to illness, his ministry is controlled by the Prime Minister," he said.

Earlier, the Dawn reported that government has decided to replace Dar who is facing a corruption case and also away from country to seek medical treatment in UK.

"The decision was taken after getting a green signal from former prime minister Nawaz Sharif," a senior government official told Dawn.

The source said a list of leaders to replace Dar had already been drafted, the report said.

Two of the people being considered for the job are Shaukat Tarin, who served as finance minister in the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government and Ishrat Husain, who was governor of the State Bank of Pakistan during Pervez Musharraf's regime.

Speculation rife in Islamabad and in the media suggests that name of Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Economic Affairs Miftah Ismail is also on the list, as is that of Ahsan Iqbal, currently holding the twin ministerial portfolios of interior and planning.

Dar is accused of accumulating assets worth an estimated Rs 831.7 million, which is disproportionate with his known sources of income. The accountability court in Islamabad has already issued non-bailable arrest warrant against him.

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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said the Coast Guard chief had informed her that they did not have the type of bullets that were allegedly fired at Tamil Nadu fishermen on Monday.

Sitharaman said she spoke to Coast Guard (CG) authorities and those in Tamil Nadu soon after the alleged firing incident.

She sought details from the Coast Guard chief after seeing the reports on TV channels, the minister said on the sidelines of a CII event.

In reply to a question, she told reporters that the CG chief said that "we don't have such bullets".

"If a wrong has happened, those who did it will be definitely punished," she said, asserting that making accusations without a proper inquiry was unacceptable.

"No such bullet is available with the CG. I don't know from where the bullet had come. At the same time, what the fishermen had said (that they were attacked) was true. It is good for all of us to talk after a thorough enquiry," she said.

"I understand the travails of our fishermen" and it needs to be found out who fired at them, Sitharaman said.

The ICG had on Tuesday denied that its personnel opened fire and said "no fisherman has been fired upon by any CG ship in Palk Bay".

In a statement the ICG had said it might have been an attempt by the fishermen to "divert" attention as they were checked and warned by the Indian Coast Guard Ship against "unauthorised" paired trawling.

Yesterday, the Madras High Court directed the Tamil Nadu Police to appoint an officer of the deputy police superintendent rank to monitor the ongoing investigation in the matter.

Fishermen Care, a Chennai based association, had made a plea to the court on the incident. The Mandapam Police in Ramanathapuram district was looking into the matter.

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Former Karnataka MLA Mahima Patel, son of veteran socialist leader J H Patel, joined the Janata Dal (United) here today in the presence of party's national president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The development comes a day after the JD(U)'s Kumar faction achieved a crucial victory with the Election Commission rejecting the claim of the rival faction led by former national president Sharad Yadav over the party's name and election symbol.

Patel was inducted into the JD(U) in the presence of Kumar, party's national general secretary K C Tyagi and its state unit president Bashishtha Narayan Singh, among others.

Speaking on the occasion, Patel said he will lead the party in Karnataka and work towards providing it with a "strong base" in the southern state.

Speculations were rife that a decision would be taken at the meeting on the number of seats the party would contest in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls, which was ruled for more than a decade by the BJP, a coalition partner in Bihar's ruling combination.

However, Singh told PTI "no decision as such was taken on Gujarat, though it came up for a discussion. We have always maintained that we will fight the Assembly polls in that state. We have done so in the past too, despite our alliance with the BJP. We intend to do the same this time."



"How many seats we will fight in Gujarat will be worked out after the poll-preparedness of prospective candidates is reviewed," he added.

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Former prime minister Manmohan Singh will receive the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development this year for his leadership of the country between 2004 and 2014 and for enhancing India's stature globally.

According to a statement from the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, Singh was unanimously chosen for the award by an international jury chaired by ex-president Pranab Mukherjee.

"The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development is awarded to Manmohan Singh for his leadership of the country and his achievements during the momentous 10 years from 2004 to 2014, for his contributions to the cause of economic and social development, for improving India's stature in the world and its relationship with the neighbours and the leading nations of the world, and for his dedication to the security and well being of ordinary citizens regardless of their faith, caste, region or language," a statement from the Trust's secretary Suman Dubey said.

The Trust said Singh is only the third Indian prime minister to complete two full terms as the PM between 2004 and 2014. His tenure witnessed the path-breaking nuclear agreement with the US and the Copenhagen Climate Change agreement, the statement said.

Singh, who as the governor of the Reserve Bank of India and the finance minister in the government headed by P V Narasimha Rao, played a pivotal role in ushering economic reforms, it said adding that as prime minister he led India in achieving the highest sustained rate of economic growth since Independence.

The Trust said Singh has been responsible for making India's voice heard more effectively at international forums.

"The 10 years of his premiership were not only a period of rapid economic and social changes, they witnessed the lowest terrorist violence, prolonged period of communal harmony, peace on the country's borders and a globally acknowledged rise in India's standing in the global community of nations," the statement said.

The international award named after former prime minister Indira Gandhi was instituted in 1986. The award has been announced on the eve of Gandhi's birth anniversary, which falls tomorrow.

The last two recipients have been the Indian Space Research Organisation and the UN High Commission for Refugees.

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Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who has not returned to Beirut since his surprise resignation two weeks ago, will be home for Independence Day on Wednesday, the president's office said.

Hariri telephoned President Michel Aoun after arriving in France from Saudi Arabia on Saturday and "told him that he would be in Lebanon to take part in Independence Day celebrations," it said.

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In pursuance of an earlier direction, the Allahabad High Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to apprise it of the steps taken for establishing a modern slaughterhouse in Gorakhpur district.

The Bench comprising Chief Justice D B Bhosale and Justice M K Gupta had asked the additional advocate general on Thursday to give apprise the court byNovember 28 in the matter.

The Bench passed the order hearing a writ petition filed by Dilshad Ahmed and several others of the district.

The petitioners had claimed that there was no slaughterhouse in Gorakhpur and alleged that the government was adamant on not providing one in the district.

Earlier the petitioners had stated before the court that they had to offer a suitable land for establishing a slaughterhouse.

The court had directed the commissioner to examine the land and to file an affidavit and to state how much time it would take to develop a slaughterhouse.

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Hundreds of Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists were smuggled out of Raqqa in Syria last month as part of a deal struck by the US and UK armed forces, a media investigation has claimed.

ISIS fighters and their families were covertly evacuated by American, British and local Kurdish forces from the de facto capital of the terrorist group after it was bombarded in October, and freed to "spread out far and wide across Syriaand beyond," according to a BBC documentary titled 'Raqqa's Dirty Secret'.

Foreign fighters who had joined ISIS - those not from Syria and Iraq - were also allegedly able to join the escape convoy.

"There was a huge number of foreigners. From France, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Yemen, Saudi, China, Tunisia, Egypt," a local driver told the BBC.

The report describes how the escape convoy of trucks carrying 250 fighters, 3,500 family members, and loads of arms and possessions, was arranged on October 12by local officials in meetings attended by a western officer.

The aim was to spare the lives of attacking forces and end the four-month battle over Raqqa, a crucial stronghold of the terrorist network.

"Great pains were taken to hide it from the world. But the BBC has spoken to dozens of people who were either on the convoy, or observed it, and to the men who negotiated the deal," the makers of the documentary claim.

The Kurdish-ledSyrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had cleared Raqqa of media so that the ISIS escape from its base would not be televised.

It claimed that only a few dozen fighters had been able to leave, all of them locals.

But a local driver told the BBC that the convoy was six to seven kilometres long and included almost 50 trucks, 13 buses and more than 100 of ISIS' own vehicles.

ISIS fighters, their faces covered, sat defiantly on top of some of the vehicles.

"Footage secretly filmed and passed to us shows lorries towing trailers crammed with armed men. Despite an agreement to take only personal weapons, IS fighters took everything they could carry. Ten trucks were loaded with weapons and ammunition," the report said.

The SDF did not want the retreat from Raqqa to look like an escape to victory.

No flags or banners were allowed to be flown from the convoy as it left the city, the deal struck by local officials had stipulated.

In light of the BBC investigation, the US-led coalition fighting in Syria admits the part it played in the deal.

"We didn't want anyone to leave. But this goes to the heart of our strategy, 'By, with and through' local leaders on the ground. It comes down to Syrians they are the ones fighting and dying, they get to make the decisions regarding operations," Colonel Ryan Dillon, spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve, the Western coalition against ISIS, was quoted as saying.

He maintains that while a Western officer was present for the negotiations, they didn't take an "active part" in the discussions and that only four foreign fighters were allowed to leave in the convoy and they are now in SDF custody.

According to the report, the deal to free the ISIS fighters was about maintaining good relations between Kurds leading the fight and Arab communities who surround them. It was also about minimising casualties.

"ISIS was well dug in at the city's hospital and stadium. Any effort to dislodge it head-on would have been bloody and prolonged," the BBC report said.

"But it has also meant battle-hardened militants have spread across Syria and farther afield and many of them aren't done fighting yet," it added.

The SDF, meanwhile, continues to maintain that no such deal was done.

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Karnataka IT Minister Priyank Kharge today pitched for concessions in import duties on machines and equipment for ease of start ups to grow as manufacturing industries.

He said the state government was engaging with the centre to push for lesser duties on necessary equipment.

The minister was responding to a question from the audience at the valedictory of the three-day Bengaluru Tech Summit on what Karnataka government can do to minimise duties for ease of start-ups to grow as manufacturing industries.

The audience member said the price of imported equipment doubles by the time it reaches India, which was a major road block for any industry to grow.

Kharge said he would have been better positioned to answer the question as a union minister since the matter of concession in import duties on machines and equipment comes under the purview of the Central government.

Citing examples of Samsung and Apple,he said these mobile phone majors assemble their products here. If the government wants them to manufacture in India under its 'Make in India' programme,it should give opportunities to allow cheaper import duties and give concession for a period of time, he said.

"95% of Apple phone is imported. Give them (the companies) 10 years time, give them some subsidies and tell them that in 10 years time, 95% of the phone should be manufactured in India. So until I create that eco-system I cannot push manufacturing," he said.

He, however, urged industrialists and start-up companies to start a social movement and put pressure on the Centre.

During the event, the government distributed cheques to the tune of Rs 20.03 crore to 100 start-ups its 'Elevate 100' programme.

The government claimed 'Elevate 100' is India's first comprehensive entrepreneurship platform to fund start-ups, selected after four rounds in a two-month long rigorous contest.

Under Elevate 100,38 infotech startups were sanctioned Rs 5.50 crore, 27 medical technology startups Rs 4.30 crore, 17 electronic system design and manufacturing startups were allotted Rs 3.6 crore, 12 biotech startups got Rs 2.80 crore.

An amount of Rs 1.33 crore was earmarked for six animation, visual effects, gaming and comic sector startups, four agriculture startups were sanctioned Rs one crore, Rs 40 lakh for three clean-tech startups and four startups in the field of aerospace and aviation were sanctioned Rs 1.10 crore.

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The ruling JD(U) today took a swipe at the luncheon meeting between Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav and claimed that the Congress vice president in the past was aversed to any show of proximity to RJD supremo Lalu Prasad.

Gandhi and Yadav had met over lunch at a restaurant in Delhi yesterday after which the latter had posted a photograph clicked on the occasion on Twitter, thanking the Congress vice president and saying he felt "appreciated" and "grateful".

"It seems a new relationship is being built between Bofors and 'Chara' (fodder)", Janata Dal (United) chief spokesman Sanjay Singh said in an obvious dig at the scams in which the names of top leaders of the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal have figured.

Taking potshots at Rahul Gandhi, Singh asked, "He is so conscious of his image that he used to avoid sharing the stage with Lalu Prasad despite the latter being his long-time political ally. Does he see no problem now in hobnobbing with the RJD supremo's son."



Meanwhile, RJD national vice president Shivanand Tiwary said "it is indeed the beginning of a new relationship. Both Rahul and Tejashwi have a common political goal which is to defeat the BJP."



"We hope misunderstandings, if any, between Rahul and Lalu will be cleared and the Congress vice president will be in direct touch with Tejashwi over issues relating to Bihar," Tiwary added.

The RJD, the JD(U) and the Congress had fought the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls together forming a formidable 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) which had defeated the BJP-led NDA in the state surmounting a country-wide wave in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, differences between Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the RJD leadership over the issue of corruption cases involving Tejashwi, who was then his deputy, led to the collapse of the 'grand alliance' in July last.

Kumar resigned from his post and was immediately offered support by the BJP, which paved way for his return to the NDA after four years.

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Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das today said the state government proposed to invest Rs 2000 crore to develop selected tourist places as world-class tourist destination.

The selected tourist spot include Rajrappa shrine in Ramgarh district, Itkhori in Chatra, Lugu Buru hills in Bokaro, Anjan Dhaam in Gumla and Parasnath in Giridih districts of the state.

Talking to media persons at Rajrappa, Das said his government has listed tourist places of the state which would be developed with Rs 2000 crore.

Jharkhand has enough potential for the growth of tourism sector, which would create employment opportunities for villagers, Das said.

The famous Rajrappa temple would be developed on the lines of Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir.

Those who will face displacement problems for beautification project would be rehabilitated, said a senior official adding that nearly 600 people might be displaces from the new project, who would be settled by the government.

Earlier, Das along with Drinking Water, Sanitation and Water Resources minister Chandra Prakash Chaudhary arrived at Rajrappa temple this morning on a chopper and offered prayer at Goddess Chhinnamastika temple.

Das held a high level meeting in administrative building of Rajrappa tourist complex with senior officials of the state including chief secretary Rajbala Verma, Tourism secretary Rahul Sharam, and deputy commissioner, Ramgarh Rajeshwari B to discuss the proposed project for Rajrappa shrine.

Das asked senior officials to arrange preparation of Detail Project Report (DPR) for Rajrappa temple beautification project with a target to complete it by 2019 with an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore.

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In a significant push to expand IT incubation space and encourage startup ventures, the Kerala government has approved support for private entities and tie-ups with national and global agencies for setting up incubators and accelerators in the state.

The Pinarayi Vijayan-led government has also decided to revise norms in the state IT policy to align with the national Startup India campaign, providing greater incentives to startups in Kerala.

State IT Secretary M Sivasankar issued orders in this regard this week following a proposal from the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) on schemes to develop an additional 500,000 sq ft of incubation space outside of the existing incubators in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.

KSUM recommended the participation of private sector to help realise the goal of the 2014 Kerala Technology Startup Policy of creating one million sq ft of IT incubation space, a statement said here.

It will be a major step towards achieving the target outlined in the IT policy 2017 of creating 10 million sq ft of office space to provide direct and indirect employment to 2.5 lakh people, it said.

"We have set ambitious goals for our IT sector and this is an important step in realising them.. Private sector participation will strengthen both our startup infrastructure and ecosystem.. the government is willing to incentivise such partnerships," Sivasankar said.

As per the order, the state government will support private entities with proven experience in startup mentoring to set up incubators or accelerators in the state, with capital, operational and promotional assistance, as per norms.

It may also tie-up with national and international agencies for mentoring and incubation support, it said.

The agencies are classified into three groups for specific incentives.

"We have been assigned to extend support to the agencies in accordance with the IT policy," said KSUM CEO Saji Gopinath.

The incubators would receive operational and internet support for a period of five years, and all incubatees would be eligible for our promotional schemes such as startup boxes, grants, seed funds, cloud credits and so on, he said.

"These facilities will be monitored closely and subject to appraisals," the official added.

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Describing Larsen & Toubro's non-executive Chairman A M Naik as a man with great vision, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani today said he is the first and the "original Make-in-India man".

"My association with Naik goes back to 35 years, when I saw him as a young engineer and that was in 1983-84. At that time, he was the original Make-in-India man," Ambani said at the launch of Naik's biography titled 'The Nationalist' here this evening.

The book, authored by Minhaz Merchant, details how Naik, in his 53 years at the nation's largest engineering company, has travelled the long and arduous route to reach great heights.

"During that period (1983-84), I had returned from the US and we wanted to build capacities. I was quite idealistic and wanted to build a world-class facility. So I thought we would have to import from Germany and Japan. But Naik told me the he would do it. That is the vision I saw in him in the 80s," Ambani said.

He further said the basic parameter in the 35 years of association was that we will make in India, but without compromising on the quality.

"I told him that we want quality to be better than anyone else and you have the Reliance business," Ambani said.

"Being a shop-floor man, Naik could understand the micro details and he was very ambitious. His curiosity and ambition is such that whenever, during our talks, I told him that foreign firms have got certain technology, he would strive to develop a much better version of it. When I told him about the CAD (computer-aided design) system, within three months, L&T had developed it.

"Recently, I spoke to him about artificial intelligence and I am sure that within a few months you will tell me that your intelligence is better than the whole world," Ambani said.

He further said that the architecture of partnership between L&T and Reliance is cost-plus and a win-win.

Talking about the opportunity the country has going forward, Ambani said, "In the next 10 years, India will go from a USD 2.26 trillion economy to USD 7 trillion. This will be the biggest opportunity in the world and I am sure that engineers like you and me and entrepreneurs will really take a lesson from your book and life."



Speaking at the event, Naik said, "In 1965, destiny brought me to L&T. I entered the gates of Larsen & Toubro at Powai with a dream in my heart. I consider myself fortunate that I could join the company I had dreamt about, and eventually attain a position, from where I could reshape that very dream."



Naik said between 1999 and 2017, the group's revenue has grown from Rs 5,000 crore to nearly Rs 1,25,000 crore on a like-to-like basis.

"During the same period, market capitalisation rose from around Rs 2,000 crore to over Rs 1,70,000 crore.

"We have actively participated in national missions in nuclear power generation, aerospace, infrastructure and hydrocarbon. We are paving the way for a new future in defence, digital and smart world and getting prepared for a fast changing technology-driven environment," Naik said.

He further said the company was "taking Brand India far beyond our shores by exporting high tech plants and systems to over 30 countries".

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Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrived in France today from Saudi Arabia, where his shock resignation announcement two weeks ago sparked accusations that he was being held there against his will.

Hariri is in Paris at the invitation of France's President Emmanuel Macron, who is attempting to help broker a solution to a political crisis that has raised fears over Lebanon's fragile democracy.

Hariri and his wife Lara, who landed at Le Bourget airport outside the French capital at 7:00 am (0600 GMT) after flying in from Riyadh overnight, were due to meet Macron at noon.

A source close to the premier told AFP that Hariri's two youngest children, Loulwa and Abdelaziz, born in 2001 and 2005 respectively, had stayed behind in Riyadh "for their school exams".

His elder son Houssam, born in 1999, was due to arrive in Paris separately from London.

"Hariri does not want to mix his children up in this affair," the source said.

The couple were whisked to their Paris residence in a seven-car convoy under tight security.

"To say that I am held up in Saudi Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie," Hariri had tweeted just before his departure, adding to repeated denials of the rumours from Saudi officials.

A source close to Hariri said the premier had held an "excellent, fruitful and constructive" meeting with powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman before he left.

Hariri, a dual Saudi citizen who has previously enjoyed Riyadh's backing, announced his resignation on November 4.

He said he feared for his life, accusing Iran and its powerful Lebanese ally Hezbollah of destabilising his country.

But Hariri's failure to return from Saudi Arabia prompted claims he was essentially being held hostage there, including from Lebanese President Michel Aoun who refused to accept his resignation from abroad.

Hariri's resignation was widely seen as an escalation of the battle for influence between regional arch-rivals Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, which back opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

His attempt to step down also coincides with a purge of more than 200 Saudi princes, ministers and businessmen.

Hariri met French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Riyadh on Thursday as Paris, which held mandate power over Lebanon for the first half of the 20th century, seeks to ease the crisis.

In another development, Riyadh today recalled its ambassador to Berlin in protest at comments by Germany's Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel which were interpreted as a suggestion that Hariri acted under Saudi orders.

Without mentioning Saudi Arabia directly, Gabriel had on Thursday said he shared concerns about the threat of instability and bloodshed in Lebanon and warned against "adventurism".

"Lebanon has earned the right to decide on its fate by itself and not become a pinball of Syria or Saudi Arabia or other national interests," he had said earlier in the week.

Ahead of Hariri's departure, the Lebanese president -- an ally of Hezbollah -- welcomed the announcement of the trip to Paris, expressing hope that it was the "start of a solution".

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A man here allegedly strangulated his 18-year-old daughter to death and later surrendered before the police, an official said today.

The incident occurred last night at Sadarpur village here.

The man strangulated his daughter, a Class 12 student, and later called the police and surrendered before them, Superintendent of Police (City) Arun Kumar Singh said.

He claimed that his daughter was having an affair and yesterday when she was talking to a boy on the phone, he objected to it, the officer said.

In a fit of rage, he strangulated her. The body has been sent for post-mortem and a case has been registered, the SP said.

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With nearly two-thirds of members of the UN General Assembly supporting India's Dalveer Bhandari in the election to the International Court of Justice, India has strongly quelled rumours about withdrawing from the race.

India has also ruled out any compromise asserting that the candidate who enjoys overwhelming support of the General Assembly members can be the only legitimate candidate to go through.

In the straight contest between the remaining two individual judges - Bhandari and Britain's Christopher Greenwood - Justice Bhandari, 70, has consistently received significantly more votes, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin said.

The gap between him and the other candidate has been growing and in the last round was 53 votes among the general membership, Akbaruddin told representatives from more than 160 countries at a reception hosted for Bhandari at the UN headquarters here.

"What happens in such circumstances? The precedent is clear. As is expected in the 21st century, the candidate who enjoys the overwhelming support of the General Assembly membership has always been selected as the only legitimate candidate to go through. As recently as three years ago, we had exactly the similar parallel...the pattern is exact.

"In fact, if someone looks at the voting, it shows the will of the General Assembly rightly prevail in the ICJ election," he added.

Observing that the General Assembly reflects the spirit of "we the people", the top Indian diplomat said all the contests in the past have ended by taking cognisance of the sentiment and spirit that the universal membership of the General Assembly has reflected.

"We see the election today at a tipping point. It is now no longer about an individual.. It is also no longer about the representative or a nominee of a country. It is now about whether the outcome of the election to the world court - the International Court of Justice - reflects the sentiment of the peoples of the world. The only gauge of that is the General Assembly of the United Nations," he asserted.

"We have a choice of either acknowledging the spirit of our times and ending this process honourably or trying to stem the democratic drift of inclusivism. The choice we now have is about what shape do we want to give to the future direction of multilateralism, universalism or emphasis on opposition by a few," he told the representatives.

Akbaruddin said "some impression is being sought to be created" that India and the UK are in talks and Judge Bhandari may withdraw, as he may not be allowed to win.

"You can see that Judge Bhandari is here. We are here. We intend to stay here. The United Nations is our home. We will ensure that the will of the majority prevails. Times have changed," he said.

Since the establishment of the UN, this election process "provides us with a clear opportunity" for all the general membership to contribute to make the difference, he said.

"It's an opportunity that comes once in a lifetime for an individual. We did not plan for it. We did not ask for it. We are mere agents in the process. Our collective choice will make the difference on Monday," he said, with Bhandari standing by his side.

Impression is also sought to be created that India has agreed to a joint conference mechanism to break the deadlock.

"Let me tell you right now upfront that not one person has approached me with this proposal, certainly not the representative of the country whose candidate is being faced," Akbaruddin said.

"Yes, we have talked. Sure, we are diplomats, what else do we do? We talked, but never once was such a proposal made," he said. "If a proposal is made outside of us, I leave it to you what to think," he said.

"Everyone can see where the momentum lies. This is not the first such election where a decision has taken so long," he said referring to ICJ elections in 2014 and 2011.

"The joint mechanism has never been resorted to as perhaps it is too complicated to implement," he said.

He described this as a "toolkit" which has never been used in the history of the UN, and perhaps with valid reasons as it "opens a can of worms".

Akbaruddin asserted that the momentum lies with India.

"The situation is clear even at this stage. One candidate has failed to reach anywhere near the absolute majority mark in the General Assembly for numerous consecutive rounds - when he was in a group of six and when he is on a ballot with two names," he said.

This election is getting prolonged only because the clear support of 121 is being equated to the support of nine, he said referring to the last round of ICJ elections held at the UN General Assembly and Security Council early this week.

"The election to the world court cannot be decided by three or nine. It has to be decided on the floor of the house," he added.

"This election is to the 'world court' which decides upon issues brought to it by member states, without recourse to other bodies," he said, hoping that the results will reflect the sentiment that is prevailing in the universal membership.

In his remarks, the top Indian diplomat also ridiculed the logic being put forth by some countries that Britain as a permanent member of the UN Security Council needs to be present in the ICJ.

"More than seven decades since the establishment of the United Nations, the election provides an opportunity for all of the general membership to contribute to making a difference. It is not an opportunity that we had planned for but is also not an opportunity we should let go of. Such occasions come rarely. Our collective choice can make a difference," he said.

"For a long period, not all of the P-5 were represented in the ICJ," he said.

P-5 stands for the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the US, Britain, China, Russia, and France.

Akbaruddin congratulated judges Antonio Augusto Cancado Trindade of Brazil, Ronny Abraham of France, Nawaf Salaam of Lebanon and Abdul Qawi Ahmed Yusuf of Somalia for their well- deserved election to the ICJ.

Based in The Hague, the ICJ has a bench of 15 judges, five of whom are elected every three years for a nine-year term.

Established in 1945, the role of the ICJ is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by states and to give advisory opinions on legal questions.

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The Nationalist Congress Party on Saturday said it will contest the Assembly elections in Gujarat next month in alliance with the Congress to oust the 22-year-old BJP regime in the state.

NCP general secretary Tariq Anwar said the result of the Assembly polls will show people's feelings and perception about the central government's performance.

"The NCP has extended its full support to the Congress and will fight the Assembly polls (in Gujarat) in alliance with the Congress," Anwar said in a press conference here, his Lok Sabha constituency.

People of Gujarat are feeling disenchanted with the BJP government for the first time in 22 years and they want a change, he said.

Elections for Gujarat Assembly will be carried out in two phases on December 9 and 14.

Anwar alleged that the Centre influenced the Election Commission (EC) to declare the poll dates of Gujarat separately, and not along with that of Himachal Pradesh, so that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could make some announcements there.

To a query on the reported phenomenal growth of a company of Jay Shah, son of BJP chief Amit Shah, the Katihar MP said the way the entire government and party machinery stood up in his support proved that they were trying to "protect" Amit Shah.

On Bihar, he said the EC recognised the group led by JD (U) president and state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar but it would not help him (Kumar) much in the elections as he has betrayed the mandate of the people by aligning with the BJP.

The EC yesterday recognised the group led by Kumar as the Janata Dal (United), rejecting the claim of the Sharad Yadav faction over the party's name and election symbol.

Anwar also urged the Nitish Kumar government not to move the Supreme Court against the Patna High Court order in favour of contractual teachers working in government schools.

The high court on October 31 ruled that "Niyojit" teachers, who were hired on a consolidated pay, were entitled to salary on a par with regular teachers working in various government schools in Bihar.
Nepal and China are working on several key areas including cross-border railway connectivity, highways and construction of a dry port, China's envoy in Kathmandu Yu Hong said today.

Hong's statement comes within days of Nepal cancelling a USD 2.5 billion hydropower project that was to be built by a Chinese state-owned firm.

"China has taken the request of the Nepal government for constructing cross-border railway line seriously," Hong said, adding a team has already begun preliminary feasibility study for the project.

Similarly, the expansion of Rasuwagadhi-Syafrubeshi road link, resumption of Araniko Highway and construction of dry ports in Tatopani, Rasuwa and Yaritoo are also on Beijing's priority list, she pointed out.

Nepal should reap benefits from the prosperity of China, she remarked during a press meet organised on the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China and Sino-Nepal relations by the Embassy of China in Kathmandu.

"Nepal could benefit from China's prosperity in various sectors including trade, investment and connectivity as Nepal has already joined the China-proposed One Belt and One Road (OBOR) initiative," she said.

The Chinese envoy stated that China was supporting Nepal on the basis of "equal treatment, mutual cooperation and shared development framework".

Sino-Nepal relations have strengthened further in recent times, she said, adding the high-level exchange of visits, feasibility study on railways in Nepal, increasing number of Nepali students in China indicate the "robust" bilateral ties.

She said China was working out to resume Tatopani border point and to smoothly operate Araniko Highway as these were important factors to promote bilateral trades.

The Chinese envoy also praised Nepal's one-China policy, which states that there is only one Chinese government and that the island of Taiwan is a breakaway province that belongs to China.

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Six Pakistani militants of the LeT, including the nephew of Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, were gunned down in north Kashmir's Bandipora district on Saturday in an encounter in which an IAF Garud commando was also killed, officials said.

Apart from Lakhvi's nephew, two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commanders were also among the militants killed by the security forces, Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police (DGP), S P Vaid, said.

Security forces launched a search operation in Chandergeer village in Hajin area of the district after receiving specific intelligence input about the presence of militants in the area, a police official said.

The search operation resulted in an encounter when the militants hiding there fired on the search party of the security forces, who retaliated.

"Six LeT terrorists have been eliminated in Bandipora encounter," Vaid said.

He said all the six militants killed in the encounter were Pakistanis.

One of the terrorists named Owaid is the son of Zakir Rehman Maki and the nephew of Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, he said on Twitter.

Two LeT commanders -- Zargam and Mehmood -- were also eliminated in the operation on Saturday, the DGP said, adding that the operation was a "success". Six weapons were also recovered from the encounter site.

Srinagar-based Defence Spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said an IAF Garud commando was also killed in the operation.

"An IAF Garud commando was killed, while an army soldier was injured," he said.

The Garud Commando Force is the special forces unit of the IAF.

The anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir have continued in the wake of violence by Pakistan-based militants.

Vaid had recently said around 170 militants were gunned down by the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir this year.

Two Army soldiers were killed and a CRPF jawan suffered injuries in an encounter in Pulwama district of the state on November 2.

Three militants were gunned down in Pulwama in an encounter in which an Army jawan was also killed on November 6.

Three militants, including Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar's nephew, were gunned down by security forces in Pulwama district on November 7.

An Army jawan and a militant were killed in an encounter in Kulgam district on November 14.
A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team today met the family members of RSS leader Ravinder Gosain who was shot dead last month.

The probe agency led by Inspector General G P Singh also visited the crime spot where Gosain was killed, a police official said here.

The RSS leader was shot dead on October 17 by two motorcycle-borne persons near his house in Gaganjit colony.

Later, the Punjab government handed over the probe to the NIA.

This month, the state police had claimed to have achieved a major success in solving several targeted killing cases including that of Gosain with the arrest of five persons.

They were accused of killing people under a conspiracy to fan communal violence in the state.

The arrested included Jimmy Singh, Jagtar Singh Jaggi, shooters Hardeep Singh Shera and Ramandeep Singh.

Jimmy was produced in a local court in another case and was remanded to one-day police custody.

Commissioner of Police R N Dhoke said that a police team left for Moga to bring Ramandeep and Shera here for further investigation.

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Amidst an outrage over a series of farmer suicides in Odisha, Union Agriculture Secretary Shobhana Kumar Patnaik today said no such case has so far been "conclusively proved" to be due to agriculture issues.

"We have engaged experts to analyse the cause of farmer suicide cases. The government may take some measures after getting the report from experts," Patnaik told reporters here.

Asked about the possible reasons behind farmer suicides, he said those could be due to different factors like domestic problems or personal causes.

"There is no evidence that the farmers commits suicide only due to agri issues," he said.

Noting that farmers suicides were a "big challenge" before the country, Patnaik, who was here to attend a function in the city, said there was a need for a change at the policy level.

He, however, said the farmers in India were passing through a transition period as peasants were shifting from traditional agriculture to the commercial farming.

"Since most of the farmers are small and marginal categories, they incur loans to sustain commercial farming," Patnaik said.

Besides, the Union agriculture secretary said the small and marginal farmers often take agricultural loans at higher rates. When they fail to repay the loans, they get disturbed, he said.

Patnaik also lauded the Odisha government's work in agriculture sector, saying the state's agricultural productivity was almost coming in line with the national average and Odisha had won Krushi Karman award four times in six years.

The Union agriculture secretary suggested that the farmers of the state should involved in cultivation of high- valued horticulture crops.

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Over 250 migrants making the dangerous crossing to Europe were rescued today off Spain, with several other vessels still in need of rescue, authorities said.

Spain is the third busiest gateway for migrants arriving in Europe, but far behind Italy and Greece. However, the number of people arriving by sea in Spain has nearly tripled over last year to 17,687.

Many Africans undertaking the long route to Europe are choosing to avoid crossing danger-ridden Libya to get to Italy along the so-called central Mediterranean route, and choosing instead to get there via Morocco and Spain.

The number rescued off today off Spain stood at 266, who had been aboard 24 makeshift vessels, said a spokeswoman for the rescuers. Some 15 other boats in need of help were still being sought.

Authorities took the migrants to ports at Cartagena, Malaga and Torrevieja, which are all along Spain's Mediterranean coast.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) 158,935 people have made the dangerous crossing to Europe this year and another 2,982 died or went missing while trying.

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As much as 66.82 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of paddy has so far arrived in the mandis of Haryana, of which 58.49 lakh MT paddy was purchased by government procurement agencies.

The current arrivals were 8 per cent higher than the crop that had arrived in the corresponding period of last year.

While stating this here today, a spokesman of the Food and Supplies Department said that 27.18 lakh MT of paddy was purchased by the department, 19.17 lakh MT by Hafed and 5.54 lakh MT by the Haryana Agro-Industries Corporation.

He said that 6.40 lakh MT was purchased by the the Haryana Warehousing Corporation and 19,585 MT was bought by the Food Corporation of India.

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Hundreds of residents led by the Rajput community today blocked entry to the Kumbhalgarh Fort in Rajsamand district "for some time" demanding a ban on 'Padmavati', a day after a similar protest at Chittorgarh Fort against the movie.

The protests against the epic drama based on Rajput queen Padmavati also spread to Kota, where nearly 200 Congress party workers demonstrated against the Sanjay Leela Bhansali- directed film. They hanged an effigy of the filmmaker at a square in the city.

The Congress party protesters termed the Censor Board's decision to return the film without certification a "political stunt" amid the proposed state assembly elections in Gujarat.

But Central Board of Film Certification chief Prasoon Joshi said today the application for certification for the film was incomplete and thus was sent back.

The situation in Chittorgarh was normal today, the SHO of Chittorgarh police station, Omprakash, said.

The Circle Officer of Kumbhalgarh, Chandan Singh, said: "The entry was blocked for some time due to the protest and it resumed after the protest was over."



He said elaborate security arrangements were made in view of the protest which ended peacefully.

The majestic hill fort of Kumbhalgarh is the birthplace of legendary king Maharana Pratap and a Unesco world heritage site.

According to the Chittorgarh police station SHO, Devendra Singh, who allegedly shot in the air during the protest at Chittorgarh Fort yesterday, has been booked under the Arms Act, but he was not yet arrested.

Rajasthan was yesterday rocked by protests against the film with protesters blocking entry to the Chittorgarh Fort and burning effigies of Bhansali. The entry to the fort remained blocked till 5 pm yesterday.

Rajput groups have alleged distortion of historical facts in the period drama starring Padukone, Shahid Kapur and Ranveer Singh.

In March, the Chittorgarh Fort was vandalised by a group of men who broke mirrors installed at the Padmini Palace. Three mirrors installed at the Padmini Palace were damaged by four-five unidentified men.

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Pakistani authorities today deferred by 24 hours the operation against protesters led by hardline clerics blocking two busy highways in the capital, as the earlier deadline for them to disperse peacefully or face a crackdown came to an end this morning.

About 2,000 activists of Tehreek-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYR) and the Sunni Tehreek Pakistan (ST) for about two weeks have been blocking the Islamabad Expressway and Murree Road that connect Islamabad with its only airport and the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal said the government has decided to give talks one last chance and convince the protesters to disperse peacefully instead of resorting to force.

"The government is trying to deal with the situation. We will wait for the outcome of the talks with leaders of protesters," he said.

Iqbal said Senator Raja Zafarul Haq will head the negotiating team and expressed hope that he would succeed.

Hundreds of supporters of the TLYR have blocked the main road to Islamabad, threatening violence if Law Minister Zahid Hamid is not sacked.

They blame the minister for changes to an electoral oath (Khatm-i-Nabuwwat or finality of the Prophethood) that they allege amounts to blasphemy. The government has said the issue arose due to a clerical error.

The government had buckled under pressure and restored the oath to its original form on Thursday after the National Assembly passed the amendment to the law.

The government had come under criticism for letting the protests linger on despite hardships faced by commuters but it balked away from use of force due to fears of a backlash by extremists.

However, authorities acted after the Islamabad High Court yesterday ordered the city administration to clear the roads and issued a 24-hour deadline for protesters to disperse. Hundreds of security personnel in riot gear were deployed to take action against the protesters.

The protesters, however, refused to call off the demonstration and demanded that Law Minister Hamid be removed for allegedly orchestrating the changes in the electoral oath.

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PMK MP Anbumani Ramadoss has filed a petition in the Madras High Court for a direction to the state government to close down all sand quarries in the state to save rivers, water bodies besides farmers and consequently use an alternative to sand in construction activities under government projects.

The First Bench, comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M.Sundar, before whom the PIL came up recently, directed the state government to file its counter affidavit within three weeks and rejoinder, if any, to be filed within one week thereafter.

In his petition, Anbumani also sought a direction to the state government to take appropriate action against illegal and unlawful mining activities in the state by setting up an expert committee under the guidance of a retired judge of Supreme court/High court.

He said unless the state government imposes a complete ban on the use of river sand in construction activities in the state, the demand for river sand will continue to exist.

This will encourage the greedy and rapacious middlemen and authorities concerned to continue to indulge in sand mining activities in river basins and the natural resources of rivers in the state will always be under danger, he added.

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Several houses and businesses belonging to the minority Muslim community have been attacked allegedly by Sinhala mobs in Sri Lanka's southern district of Galle following violent clashes, prompting police to arrest 19 people and impose a curfew.

The curfew was imposed in several areas of Galle district yesterday night, police said.

A few houses and businesses belonging to the minority Muslim community has been attacked after a minor incident involving the majority Sinhala community.

Police's Special Task Force and the military has been deployed to bring the situation under control, police said.

About 19 people have been arrested, it said.

Vajira Abeywardena, a senior government minister in the town said: "A small incident on Thursday night was brought under control and later yesterday another group had escalated the situation."



Muslims account for just 10 per cent of Sri Lanka's 21 million population. The community has been complaining of increasing attacks against them in recent years.

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Union Minister Suresh Prabhu today said trade policies cannot be formulated just within the four walls of the Ministry and that there must be an outreach to more agencies.

Policies of trade and commerce "are becoming extremely intricate," the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry said.

In his video message played at the inauguration of the two-day UEF Trade Summit here, Prabhu said more stakeholders need to be consulted on this subject.

"We must think about policies in a very comprehensive manner and that means lot of stakeholders need to be consulted.. That means the government cannot just frame the policies within the four walls of Mantralaya (Ministry)," he said.

The government should "go out and have these outreach programmes" with those other than its agencies, he added.

Prabhu was originally scheduled to attend the event as Chief Guest, but said he could not make it, since he was travelling.

Therefore the video message was played out.

Speaking at the event, Sri Lankan Minister of Industry and Commerce, Abdul Rashid Bathiudeen recalled that his country had signed a free trade agreement with India in 1998.

The "most significant" Indo Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA) played a crucial role in shaping his country's subsequent "economic integration" with other countries in the region, Bathiudeen said.

"Undoubtedly this is the most significant Indo-Sri Lanka partnership we have realised on the commercial front.. I am sure that the ISFTA played a crucial role as a catalyst that shaped our subsequent economic integration that the other countries in the region," he said.

With the ISFTA becoming operational in year 2000, the value of Indo-Lanka bilateral trade has increased in an "unprecedented manner" from USD 650 mn in 2000, to close to USD 5 bn by 2016, he noted.

The two-day summit will among others, deliberate on ways to effectively influence economic, social and educational development of the country, UEF has said.

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Protests against Bollywood film 'Padmavati' spread to Kolkata today with an organisation of the Rajput community burning pictures of its director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and demanding "objectionable" scenes of the movie be deleted before release.

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had yesterday sent back Bhansali's film, slated to be released on December 1, because the application for the certification was "incomplete".

The film, starring Deepika Padukone as Padmavati, Shahid Kapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Alauddin Khilji, has triggered protests by Rajput groups in different parts of the country, especially in Rajasthan.

Protesters burnt pictures of the film's director at the Press Club in the city.

Rajesh Singh, president, Bharat Kshatriya Samaj, which organised the protest, told reporters that certain scenes involving Padmavati has "deeply hurt the Indian culture and the values of the Hindu population in the country".

"The scenes which are objectionable and harmful to Indian culture need to be deleted before release," he said



Singh said the government should form a committee comprising intellectuals, media persons, representatives of the Rajput community and experts to oversee the film's release.

To a question, he said, the protests have, so far, been peaceful. "But, if no corrective action is taken, we will take whatever action is required," Singh said



CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi slammed the makers of 'Padmavati' today for screening the movie for various TV channels without getting a censor certificate.

On the threat of physical harm to Padukone, a spokesman of the Brahman Samaj, which took part in the protest, said it has nothing against the actor, but the portrayal of the character.

"She (Padukone) is an actor might not be aware that the character portrayed in the trailer is a travesty of the real Padmavati. She is a professional actor and hence, we have nothing against her," he said.

Protests against the film continues to rock Rajasthan, agitations were also held in Patna and Bengaluru. The Mumbai police has tightened security for the actor and the film director.

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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today that she was proud to have a leader of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's stature.

"Modi ji is a person with qualities like discipline and sympathy for the poor, who came to public life and is now a great leader. I am proud to have a leader of such stature," she said.

She was speaking at an event here after releasing "Sindhanai Kalanjiyam", the Tamil translation of poems written originally in Gujarati by Modi.

Speaking in Tamil, Sitharaman said she was happy to see Modi in a new light, as a poet.

The defence minister said Modi, contrary to the general perception that he was autocratic, was a person who did what was required for the people.

Noted Tamil poet Vairamuthu praised Modi, saying his talent as a poet needs appreciation. He also hailed Modi for his gesture when he called on the ailing DMK leader, M Karunanidhi, during his visit to the city on November 6.

The collection of poems has been translated into Tamil by Rajalakshmi Srinivasan, a Sanskrit professor.

Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan and Tamil Nadu BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan were among those present at the event.

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Former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi today called for setting up of a collegium system to appoint election commissioners, including the poll panel chief, to keep "perception of neutrality" intact.

He said election commissioners get an "unwanted tag" of political appointees and time has come when appointment of all ECs, including the CEC, is made through a collegium system.

Quraishi, who headed the constitutional body from 2010 to 2012, said the Election Commission (EC) was doing a "great" job in conducting free and fair polls in the world's largest democracy.

"No issues that our commission is largest in the world and been doing a great job in conducting free and fair elections.

"But one thing really saddens me...that we do not have a system where commissioners are appointed through collegium system. We get an unwanted tag of political appointee and it really sounds bad," he said here.

The retired bureaucrat was speaking at the Mumbai Litfest' organised in the Prithvi Theatre in suburban Juhu.

He said chiefs of election bodies across the world and even heads of other bodies in India like the Central Vigilance Comission and the Central Information Commission are named through a collegium system where the government and the opposition leader make unanimous selection.

But unfortunately, the Election Commission is deprived of this arrangement, said the former CEC who has authored a book titled 'An Undocumented Wonder- The Making of the Great Indian Election'.

He was speaking on the topic, "Counting Every Vote", along with veteran journalist N Ram.

Underlining the importance of each vote, Quraishi recalled the defeat of Congress leader C P Joshi who lost by one vote (in 2008 Rajasthan Assembly polls).

Interestingly, his wife and daughter had reportedly not cast their own votes.

The former IAS officer said, "The day I took charge of the commission, I had two challenges - first (to curb) money power and second (to address) voters apathy to cast vote. We succeeded a lot (in tackling these challenges) but we still need to do a lot more."



Quraishi batted for the voting rights of undertrials of the country and said polling stations can be set up within prisons to let them exercise their franchise.

Senior journalist Ram said that despite the EC doing a great job, it has failed to curb money power and bribing of voters.

"I don't think the Election Commission is solely accountable for it. There is, I think, one area where the commission has failed -- that is to curb use of money that is paid to voters as a bribe.

"Every voter is somehow paid a bribe before casting his or her vote. This is by and large due to corruption. This is not a pathological phenomena but rather a normal phenomenon."



He raised the issue of the government cracking down on unaccounted money in funding political parties and said putting a cap of Rs 2,000 on cash donations is a "joke".

"Today the government is cracking down on unaccounted money in funding political parties, but it has made it easier for big corporates and high net-worth individuals to make anonymous (political) donations," the noted journalist said.

"And the move to lower anonymous cash donations from Rs 20,000 to 2,000 is like a joke because now under the new provisions, anyone can buy electoral bonds (to be issued by the government) with whatever amount without revealing his name and can legalise cash donations," Ram said.

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Home Minister Rajnath Singh has asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to move all juveniles, arrested for pelting stones and other unlawful activities, from jails to remand homes and review their cases sympathetically, officials said.

The decision is considered to be an attempt to reach out to the people of Jammu and Kashmir by the central government after the appointment ofDineshwar Sharmaasthe Centre's special representative toinitiate talks with all stakeholders.

The issue was discussedin detail at Wednesday's meeting of the core group on Kashmir, chaired by the union home minister and attended byDefence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, where it was decided to ask the Jammu and Kashmir government to work on the cases of juveniles.

After the core group meeting, the Jammu and Kashmir government has been asked to shift all juveniles, who were arrested for pelting stones and other crimes, to remand homes and review theircases sympathetically, a home ministry, privy to the development, told PTI.

The state government is expected to take the initiative to shift the juveniles to remand homes and review their cases soon, the official said.

Top officials of ministries of home and defence, chiefs of intelligence agencies, besides Sharma also attended the meeting.

The Centre's special representative also briefed the union home minister and others about his first round of talks he had with various sections of the society there last week.

Sharma will again visit the state soonto continue his mission of holding a sustained dialogue process.

However,theanti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir will go on even though the central government has appointed the special representative to initiate talks with all stakeholders in an effort to bring a lasting peace in Jammu and Kashmir with violence by Pakistan-based militants groups continuing unabated.

Director General of Police of Jammu and Kashmir S P Vaid had recently said that around 170 militants were gunned down by the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir this year.

Two Army soldiers were killed and a CRPF jawan suffered injuries in an encounter in Pulwama district of the state on November 2.

Three militants were gunned down in Pulwama in an encounter in which an Army jawan was also killed on November 6.

Three militants, including Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar's nephew, were gunned down by security forces in Pulwama district on November 7.

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Hollywood actor Ruby Rose has come out in support of Deepika Padukone amid the ongoing controversy surrounding her upcoming film "Padmavati".

Deepika, who plays the titular role in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali-directed film, has received threats from Rajput Karni Sena with one of its leaders warning her against "inciting" sentiments.

"I am in shock at reading what my dear friend is going through but in absolute awe of her strength and courage.

"Deepika you are one of the strongest women I know," Rose, who appeared alongside Deepika in the "xXx: Return of Xander Cage", tweeted.

Following the threats, the Mumbai Police has tightened Deepika's security.

Meanwhile, the film has been sent back to the makers by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) as the application for the certification was "incomplete".

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Two more school threatsboth found at Eau Claire schoolsbring the total up to five threats at different schools in a nine-day period.

A student reported graffiti in a girls restroom at DeLong Middle School on Wednesday, an email to parents said. Administrators and law enforcement soon identified the student responsible.

Late the following day, a statement referencing a bomb was found written on the wall in a boys restroom at North High School. The school did not go into a lockdown or hold after Eau Claire Police Department analyzed the situation, according to an email from principal Dave Valk to parents.

In light of the recent threats in the ECASD, as well as surrounding districts, we have extra police presence on site (Friday), Valk said.

The Wednesday and Thursday threats come after several notes threatening violence and weapons were found at Eau Claire Memorial High School, Chippewa Falls Senior High School and Menomonie High School, all in a nine-day stretch.

Two 16-year-old students were identified Monday as suspects in the Chi-Hi threats; Chippewa Falls Police Chief Matt Kelm said both were referred for terroristic threats and bomb scares.

Theyre both 16, so the whole case, including the charges, will be referred to the Chippewa County juvenile intake, Kelm said.

The Chippewa Falls School Board will hold a pair of expulsion hearings on Tuesday. One is scheduled at 5:15 p.m. and the other at 6:45 p.m. Both sessions, closed to the public, will be in the districts Administration Building, 1130 Miles Street.
Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa today opposed the decision to rename Dyal Singh (Evening) College in Delhi as Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya, saying the move would negate the legacy of the philanthropist.

Sirsa said it was S Dyal Singh Majithia's efforts that resulted in the college getting its land on a lease in 1960.

Majithia made huge contributions as one of the leading philanthropist of the country, Sirsa said in a statement.

"Dyal Singh Evening College is an important part of the Dyal Singh Trust. Changing the name of Dyal Singh (Evening) College is like negating his legacy. Nobody would tolerate it," he said.

Sirsa's remarks came a day after the Governing Body of college decided to rename it as Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya.

Expressing high regards for VandeMataram, the MLA said, future generations would not know about a great philanthropist if the college was renamed.

"We would not let the name change happen. If it is not revoked, it would result in unpleasant protests," Sirsa said, adding that he had already had a word with the chairman of the college's management committee to not initiate the process.

Various students too have opposed the decision to rename the evening college. "Instead of improving facilities in the college, the chairman of the college bypassed all existing mechanisms and overruled the dissent from students and professors and took a decision for renaming with support from the ABVP," student Swali Prakash said, referring to the RSS- affiliate student body Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.

Congress-affiliated National Students Union of India said in a statement it would welcome the trend of renaming colleges if students will be provided better infrastructure and facilities.

"When the governing body seeks to change the name they also disgrace the legacy of Punjab's first freedom fighter



Sardar Dyal Singh Manjithia. The establishment of the Punjab National Bank, Dyal Singh College were noteworthy contributions by him," the NSUI said in the statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Army's Corps of Engineers, also called the Sappers, celebrated their 237th Corps Day at the Western Command headquarters, near here, today.

On the occasion, a wreath laying ceremony to pay tribute to martyrs was organised at the 'Veer Smriti' at the Chandimandir Cantonment, a defence release said.

Maj. Gen. S Radhakrishnan, Chief Engineer of the Western Command, paid tributes to the those killed in the line of duty.

The Sappers of the Western Command have been on the forefront for development of border areas with better road connectivity and improved infrastructure for the populace, the release said.

Engineers are one of the oldest supporting arms of the Army and consists of four wings Combat Engineers, Military Engineering Services, Border Roads Organisation and Military Survey, the release said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Comedian-actor Sarah Silverman broke her silence on longtime friend Louis C K's sexual misconduct in a moving monologue before the latest episode of her Hulu talk show, "I Love You, America."



"This recent calling out of sexual assault has been a long time coming. It' good. It's like cutting out tumours: it's messy, and it's complicated, and it is going to hurt, but it's necessary and we'll all be healthier for it. And it sucks. And some of our heroes will be taken down and we will discover bad things about people we like, or in some cases, people we love," Silverman said.

"And it s**** and some of our heroes will be taken down, and we will discover bad things about people we like, or in some cases, people we love. Let's just say it: I'm talking about Louis," she added.

C K and Silverman's friendship has spanned more than 25 years, with the latter playing a fictionalised version of herself on the former's FX series, "Louie."



Silverman was clearly emotional as she spoke, appearing to fight back tears multiple times as she went on to describe C K's behaviour.

"One of my best friends of over 25 years, Louis C K, masturbated in front of women. He wielded his power with women in f****d up ways, sometimes to the point where they left comedy entirely. I could couch this with heartwarming stories of our friendship and what a great dad he is, but that's totally irrelevant, isn't it?



"Yes, it is. It's a real mindf***, because I love Louis. But Louis did these things. Both of those statements are true. So I just keep asking myself, 'Can you love someone who did bad things? Can you still love them?' I can mull that over later certainly, because the only people that matter right now are the victims," she said.

The New York Times published a piece last week alleging that C K had repeatedly asked women he encountered in work- related environments to watch him masturbate.

"These stories are true," C K said in a statement after the story was released.

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City Corporation Mayor V K Prasanth, four women councillors and a staff were injured today following a scuffle between CPI-M and BJP councillors during discussion on installing high mast lights in the city.

The injured were admitted to the medical college hospital here.

The CCTV visuals showed noisy scenes in the council meeting and the mayor leaving the hall and falling down the stairs while moving towards his chamber in the first floor.

Prasanth was injured in the head and also suffered bruises in the body.

His condition was stable, a Medical college hospital release said.

Councillors Raziya Beegam and Sindu both from CPI-M and a aide of the mayor B Mohan are the others suffered injury and they are under treatment at the hospital, the release said.

The injured BJP councillors Beena and Lekshami were admitted to the general hospital here.

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A pall of gloom descended here as the body of slain Sub-Inspector (SI) Imran Tak was laid to rest at his village, Basantgarh, with Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh promising to recommend his name for a gallantry award.

Three militants travelling in a car opened fire on a police team at Zakura crossing on the Srinagar-Ganderbal road, killing Tak and injuring a special police officer (SPO) yesterday.

Tak's body was brought to the Udhampur District Police Lines in an ambulance in the early hours and after a wreath laying ceremony, was taken to his village, around 82 kms from here, official said.

He was laid to rest with full state honours, they said.

The ceremony was attended by the deputy chief minister, ministers Naeem Akhtar and Chander Prakash Ganga, BJP state president Sat Sharma, Chief Secretary B B Vyas, DGP S P Vaid among others.

The sub-inspector's family members, including his wife and minor daughter, broke into tears several times during the ceremony.

"We will recommend his name for the Shaurya Chakra as he was a very brave officer and led from the front in the fight against militancy," Singh said.

Several people, including politicians from various parties, paid floral tributes to Tak and thousands attended the funeral prayers at his ancestral graveyard in Basantgarh.

In a mark of respect, shops in the village were closed today. He was popular among the locals, the officials said.

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Police in Spain shot and injured an unarmed Frenchman today at a toll station near the French border, who officers said was shouting 'Allahu akbar'.

The officers mistakenly suspected he had a weapon, a police statement said, adding that they do not expect to open a terrorism investigation.

The man, of Moroccan origin, was travelling with a woman in a vehicle registered in France and approached the toll by the border town of La Jonquera in the north of the country in the early hours today morning.

Police said a Guardia Civil patrol was alerted because the man had a "strange" attitude and "seemed to be manipulating something inside the vehicle".

"The police asked him to get out. He finally got out with something in his hands and he moved towards the officers," said a spokesperson for the Catalan police.

The spokesperson said that, according to the policemen present, the man "shouted 'Allahu akbar'(God is greatest)".

"The police officers repeatedly asked him to stop, shot in the air to intimidate him but as he continued to move forward, they shot him in the hip," he said.

The man "then undressed" and "appeared to suffer from mental problems".

According to the Guardia Civil his life "is not in danger" and he is being cared for in a hospital in Gerone.

Police say an investigation is underway to establish the facts about what happened.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah today asked party leaders and workers to start preparing for the panchayat polls and strengthen its units to thwart attempts to "split" the party.

This was the first visit of Abdullah to the party's headquarters here after being re-elected as the NC's president last month.

"We need not to wait for the announcement of the panchayat polls. We have to work hard from today and strengthen each of our units to defeat the opponents," he told his party's activists.

The elections were supposed to be held last year, but could not be conducted because of the explosive situation in the valley following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8, 2016.

The state government has failed to hold the panchayat elections this year, so far, after large scale violence during the by-poll in the Srinagar Parliamentary constituency on April 8 and the forced the cancellation of the by-election to the Anantnag Parliamentary seat.

The former chief minister said, "Attempts would be made to split the party once the panchayat elections draw closer."



"There will be conspiracies to divide the people on communal lines and split us, but we have to remain alert and foil such nefarious designs. NC workers need to stand up at that time and safeguard everyone," he said.

Terming panchayat polls as the first test of the NC, Abdullah said that the Jammu and Kashmir government is yet to take a decision on the elections as Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is making different statements about the state's situation at different places.

"She is saying in Delhi that there is peace (in Kashmir), but on reaching Kashmir she is saying there is no peace and election is not possible. She knows very well that her brother will lose (the election from Anantnag parliamentary constituency)," he said.

He asked women leaders and activists to use 33 per cent reservation in each panchayat.

Abdullah accused the PDP-BJP government of failing to mitigate the sufferings of the people and said the NC strongly believes in unity of the people.

"Our slogan is Hindu-Muslim-Sikh-Christian unity and we will work in accordance with it to take the state to new heights," he said.

Referring to his recent visit to various areas along the Line of Control in north Kashmir, including Teetwal and Machil, he said people are facing lot of problems due to failure of the government to provide better roads, communication and electricity facilities.

"They too are citizens of India. I want to ask the government to reach out to these people of these places instead of making mere statements and development claims," he said, adding that despite the "step-motherly" treatment by the government, the people are happy with the country and do not want Pakistan.

"They are still looking at this country, they are saying that we are not Pakistanis and do not want Pakistan," he said.

Abdullah said he would work and fight for the rights of the people till his last breath.

"Before going away, I want to see the people of the state prosperous and living in communal harmony," he wished.

The NC leader said that his party had passed the autonomy resolution, but would also work to ensure regional autonomy in accordance to the wishes and aspirations of the people.

"The National Conference will make it happen," he said.

He also criticised the state government for implementing Goods and Service Tax (GST) and said they have surrendered the financial autonomy to the centre as well.

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A strong earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale jolted the Nyingchi city and surrounding areas in Tibet, close to the border with Arunachal Pradesh, in the early hours today.

No casualties were reported immediately but the quake caused power failure and damage to properties and roads in several villages of the region.

The epicentre of the quake was detected at a depth of 10 km in Nyingchi, the state-run Xinhua agency reported.

Four minor aftershocks measuring between 5 and 3.1 on the Richter scale were reported from the city's rural areas.

Basang Cering, party chief in Zhaxigang village of Lunang Township, told Xinhua that he could not stand still inside his house when the quake struck. Six houses in his village were damaged in the jolt.

Sources with local electricity supply said the power grids of both the Tibetan province and Nyingchi are operating normally, though an emergency response mechanism has been launched.

The China Seismological Bureau observed that the highest seismic intensity of the quake affected an area of 500 square metres, which is sparsely populated.

The tremors triggered falling rocks, blocking a highway linking Nyingchi's city proper with Tangmai, one of the quake-hit townships. Armed police transport troops are clearing the road.

The Fire Department of the Ministry of Public Security said fire fighters from Nyingchi are ready in Tangmai Township. Another team of rescuers will take helicopter to Gyalha village at the epicentre, after road to the village was blocked by rocks.

The Ministry of Transport has also dispatched staff to investigate the safety condition of bridges in the affected area.

The Tibet subsidiaries of Chinese telecom providers China Mobile and China Tower said that their networks are operating normally. But the Tibet branch of China Telecom reported the disruption of an optical cable for broadband service in Pome and Zayul counties.

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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has asked the Indian Ambassador in the Philippines to initiate steps to exhume the body of a person with a life jacket that has a marking of the Emerald Star, the cargo ship which sank off Okinawa over a month ago, for identification.

MV Emerald Star, that had 26 Indians on board, sank on October 13, 2017. While 16 Indians were rescued, remaining 10 could not be found.

In a series of tweets, Swaraj said the Coast Guard of Philippines have informed India that an unidentified decomposed body of a person with a life jacket marking Emerald Star was found on October 28 on island city of Banua.

"Since the body was decomposed, it was buried there," Swaraj said, adding that she has asked the Indian Ambassador in Manila that the body be exhumed and brought to Manila for identification through DNA testing.

The external affairs minister said the search operation for missing Indians was going on.

"We continued search for missing Indians on nearby islands," she said.

Extensive search operation was launched by Japan and the Philippines after the ship sank. The Indian Navy had joined the operation.

Indian missions in Japan, the Philippines and China were coordinating the search operation.

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In the summer of 1978 when Long Island native Monica Turner was an undergraduate at Fordham University, she volunteered as a naturalist in Yellowstone National Park.

They stationed her at Old Faithful. She fell in love with the park. Little did she know how much time she would spend over the ensuing decades in fire-scorched swaths of Yellowstone forest.

Turner is a landscape ecologist at UW-Madison. She studies the way natural systems operate over large tracts of land like a park, state or watershed. In Yellowstone she has been investigating what climate change means for forests that have bounced back from fires for millennia, but now face drought-fueled blazes of greater intensity and frequency.

She has also explored ecosystem changes in Wisconsin, examining how removal of fallen tree limbs along developed lakeshores deprives some species of cover used to elude predators. And shes pinpointed places in the Yahara River basin where small changes in land use could mean big improvements in water quality.

Now shes leading a team exploring abrupt ecosystem changes  problems that spring up in a matter of years, much faster than the usual pace in the natural world. Many are related to climate change: increased extreme weather events, loss of coral reefs, and huge blooms of toxic algae.

Turner and her husband have two grown children who have helped her do field work during summers in Yellowstone. She is planning a family vacation  with no forest fires  in a frozen, snow-covered Yellowstone this winter.

How have forest fires changed?

The 20th century mostly had weather that was too cool and too wet to burn as extensively as it does now  (Climate change) has actually been kind of scary in terms of what could happen, but really interesting from a scientific standpoint.

What are some of the things youve learned from the fires in Yellowstone?

Following the fires of 1988, the main message was how resilient these forests were. The 1988 fires looked catastrophic to the public, but it was not catastrophic for the forest. I mean, they came back without any intervention.  The native species were present, you didnt have invasive species come in, I mean all of these things you might predict would happen, didnt happen. So for 20 years I was giving talks, you know, that big fires are not unusual for these systems, and they have been happening for 10,000 years.

Whats different now?

(There are predictions that) by the end of the 21st century the norm for Yellowstone will be hotter and drier than it was in the summer of 1988. It wouldnt be the exception anymore  Its really launched a whole new direction in our work.

What have you found?

Changes in the system of fire and recovery (are) one of the big issues my students are working on  We see more drought and see these fires happening in short order.

How does that play out now compared to the conditions in 1988?

Back then, we didnt have this much young forest (growing back after previous fires) on the landscape  and it did not burn like this.  In these areas we are seeing a very large reduction in the number of trees that are coming back after this kind of fire.

Why?

If the fire didnt burn (the trees seeds) completely, whatever seed was there can shed. But here they were just completely consumed and so I think we lost the seed source (in those areas) almost completely.

Thats one of the mechanisms that could affect how our forests develop in the future as fires change.

So whats happening in these parts of the forest? Is the problem the seeds were consumed in higher intensity fires, or that the younger trees dont bear many cones, or was it the drought?

I think its all of those. This is getting to that whole abrupt change idea where you have a double whammy or trifecta of conditions.  The trees were young so they didnt have as many cones and this fire was really intense. This is our hypothesis  And then for the seedlings that are there, afterwards theres no protection, theres no shade, theres nothing here. If we get another dry summer the next year, will they survive?  There is potential for this kind of fast change to happen in almost any system. Its usually when a couple factors are changing at once  They are really, really hard to anticipate. Its really hard to know if something that you care about is about to fall off a cliff. Were trying to see if we can find ways to anticipate them in the future.

 Interview by Steven Verburg
Indian Army's Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) on Saturday asked his Pakistani counterpart to take steps to ensure peace and tranquillity along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

During a telephonic conversation, Lt Gen A K Bhatt told his Pakistani counterpart that there appeared to be a "disconnect" between the Pakistan Army's reiteration about the desire for peace and the action of its troops, official sources said.

Citing various incidents, Bhatt said that Pakistani troops resort to heavy firing without provocation, they said.

The telephonic conversation between the two DGMOs took place following a request by the Pakistani side.

Lt Gen Bhatt impressed upon the Pakistan DGMO Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza that there appeared to be a "disconnect between the intent at the Pakistani General Headquarters which reiterates its desire for peace and the actions of Pakistani troops along the Line of Control, who resort to heavy firing without provocation," a source said.

Bhatt further exhorted his Pakistani counterpart to resolve this "existent credibility gap" to ensure that peace and tranquillity is maintained along the LoC.

The Pakistan Army DGMO alleged that Indian security forces have resorted to unproved firing and targeted civilians along the LoC in the Pooch sector.

Bhatt, however, made it clear that the Indian Army always maintains impeccable standards of professionalism and does not target civilians in any manner.
It is "unfortunate" that Tamil Nadu ministers "surrendered" their rights and authority by justifying the meeting of the governor with state officials, Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy today said.

On November 15



, a political row had erupted in Tamil Nadu over Governor Banwarilal Purohit meeting government officials in Coimbatore as the DMK and other opposition parties claimed that it amounted to interference in the state's rights.

"Governors and Lt Governors are appointed by the Centre on the states and Union Territories and they cannot go beyond the constitutionally demarcated authority and intervene in the routine work of elected governments," he told reporters here.

He said he was of the firm view that the NDA government at the Centre was trying to "rule" Tamil Nadu through its "benami."



"It is quite unfortunate that ministers of neighbouring Tamil Nadu were surrendering their rights and authority to the state's governor by justifying his meetings with officials and reviewing implementation of schemes in the state," the chief minister said.

Reacting to Purohit's meeting with state officials, Narayanasamy had alleged that the central government was trying to "cripple" governance in opposition-ruled states using Governors and Lt Governors.

Referring to Lt Governor Kiran Bedi's style of functioning, he said, "She had been holding meetings with officials, visiting various localities without informing him or the ministers or legislators concerned."



"This is a clear case of violation of the statutorily demarcated powers and authority available to a Lt Governor in the Union Territory of Puducherry," he alleged.

The Puducherry chief minister is engaged in a bitter spat with Bedi over her style of functioning for the more than a year.

The Congress leader claimed that he has been waiting for more than four months for a reply from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his letter seeking an appointment with him to discuss thesituation arising out of the "arbitrary style of functioning of Kiran Bedi."



Narayanasamy further said that he was consulting legal experts for a "judicial remedy to protect the rights of the elected government" here in context of the "frequent interference by the Lt Governor" in the routine administration.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The showrunners of the Amazon's hit series "Transparent" are reportedly planning to continue the show without its lead actor, Jeffrey Tambor, against whom sexual misconduct allegations have been levelled.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the creator of the show, Jill Soloway, and its writers are making all efforts to save the show from being terminated.

Tambor has been accused of sexual misconduct by two women, prompting Amazon to launch an internal investigation.

The Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Awards winning actor was accused of acting inappropriately around his former assistant Van Barnes, who made her allegations in a private Facebook post, which he has denied in a statement, calling Barnes a "disgruntled assistant".

Trace Lysette, a co-actor in the series, also accused Tambor of sexual misconduct and making sexually charged remarks.

In a statement to Deadline, Tambor has denied the fresh allegations against him and said that he is not a predator and it was "distressing" for him to be labelled as one.

"I know I haven't always been the easiest person to work with. I can be volatile and ill-tempered, and too often I express my opinions harshly and without tact. But I have never been a predator ever.

"I am deeply sorry if any action of mine was ever misinterpreted by anyone as being sexually aggressive or if I ever offended or hurt anyone. But the fact is, for all my flaws, I am not a predator and the idea that someone might see me in that way is more distressing than I can express," said Tambor.

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President has put on hold a decicion to import trophies of elephants from Zambia and Zimbabwe into the US to "review all conservation facts" after he faced criticism from animal rights activists.

On Thursday, the Trump administration reversed an Obama- era ban to issue permits for elephant trophies from Zambia and Zimbabwe, which environmental groups say would lead to more poaching.

"Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts. Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you!" Trump said in tweet late last night.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke supported Trump's decision.

"President Trump and I have talked and both believe that conservation and healthy herds are critical," he said in a statement.

"As a result, in a manner complaint with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, the issuing of permits is being put on hold as the decision is being reviewed," Zenke said after the Trump administration was criticised for its decision earlier in the day.

Earlier, the Fish and Wildlife Services said after more than two years of extensive assessments, it has determined that importing limited numbers of hunted elephants from Zimbabwe and Zambia into the US will help protect wild elephants for future generations.

The decision is part of a robust US conservation strategy that seeks to eliminate poaching and associated wildlife trafficking while using legal, managed hunting programmes to support wildlife and habitat conservation in range countries.

Well-managed hunting programmes provide huge economic incentives across Africa to conserve some of the planet's most iconic and beloved species, it said.

Noting that the US holds range of countries to high standards that demonstrate hunting and management programmes benefit the conservation of species in the wild, the service said after providing copious data and evidence, Zimbabwe and Zambia have shown that allowing limited numbers of elephants to be legally taken in their countries will provide much- needed conservation dollars to preserve habitat and protect wild herds from criminal poaching gangs.

Center for Biological Diversity had described this as a "horrific news" and said that "it's shocking" that Zinke is lifting the trophy ban during a military coup.

After Trump's reversal of the decision, the center welcomed the move.

"It's great that public outrage has forced Trump to reconsider this despicable decision, but it takes more than a tweet to stop trophy hunters from slaughtering elephants and lions," Tanya Sanerib, senior attorney with the Cente.

"We need immediate federal action to reverse these policies and protect these amazing animals," he said.

The number of elephants in the wild plummeted 30 per cent overall between 2007 and 2014, despite large scale conservation efforts. In some places it has dropped more than 75 per cent due to ivory poaching.

In 2016, there were just over 350,000 elephants still alive in the wild, down from millions in the early 20th Century.
Two men were arrested for allegedly smuggling ammunition from Uttar Pradesh to criminals in Delhi and the National Capital Region, police said today.

Mahipal (42) was arrested on November 16. He led the police to his supplier and a gun house owner Sandeep Yadav (25) in Uttar Pradesh who was arrested the next day, Deputy Commissioner of Police (special cell) P S Kushwah said.

The police seized 1,310 live illegal cartridges from their possession.

During interrogation, the official said that Yadav revealed that the gun house license was in the name of his brother.

He came into the contact of several criminals of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh and started supplying illegal ammunitions tothem on higher prices for over three years, he said.

More than 20,000 cartridges were supplied to criminals in Deelhi and Uttar Pradesh during these years, Kushwah said, adding an investigation is underway.

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UN General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak has held several rounds of consultations at the UN headquarters in New York ahead of next week's crucial election to break the deadlock between India and the UK for the last seat at the International Court of Justice.

India's nominee Dalveer Bhandari and Britain's Christopher Greenwood, who are seeking re-election at the Hague-based ICJ, are locked in a major battle as 11 rounds of elections held in both the UN General Assembly and UN Security Council have failed to yield results.

The UNGA and the UNSC are scheduled to meet Monday afternoon for the 12th round of voting. The meeting will be presided over by Lajcak.

Under the election procedures, the balloting would be held simultaneously by the Assembly and the Council.

In the successive rounds of elections spread over two days in the last two weeks, Bhandari, 70, enjoyed nearly two- third majority in the 193-member Assembly.

Greenwood, 62, received nine votes as against five by Bhandari in the Security Council. As per ICJ rules, the candidates need to gain majority in both the General assembly and Security Council to be declared elected.

The Hague-based ICJ has 15 judges on its bench.

Elections for one-third of its judges are held every three years.

While four of the ICJ judges were elected early this month when they received the required majority of votes in both the General Assembly (193 members) and the 15-membered Security Council.

Earlier today, Lajcak's spokesperson Brenden Varma told reporters about the meetings.

"The president will meet today with the president of the Security Council, Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi of Italy, as well as the UN Office of Legal Affairs and the UN Department for General Assembly and Conference Management," he told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.

Asked to elaborate on the presidents consultations and the nature of the current impasse, Varma responded that the General Assembly was planning to meet on Monday to resume the elections, and no deadlines had been missed at this stage.

"In that regard, it is premature to speak about any sort of impasse," he said.

"It would be good to wait until Monday to see how the meeting goes," the spokesperson added.

Regarding the consultations, Varma said the president would be discussing the continuation of the elections.

"Because the candidates need to secure majorities in both the General Assembly and Security Council, coordination between the two organs, including with respect to the timing of the elections, is helpful," he said.

"The president is a big proponent of dialogue, which includes talking to various interlocutors about issues and ensuring that everyone is on the same page," he said.

The consultations could be seen in that context, Varma said.

Meanwhile, the US refused to respond to questions on ICJ elections in New York.

"We do not preview our votes at the UN," a State Department Spokesperson told PTI.

The US is not only a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, but also it has significant influence over the members of the body.

Its stand on the issue is not known publicly.

India is aiming at getting two-thirds of the votes in the UN General Assembly on Monday.

Senior Congress leader and former UN official Shashi Tharoor has called on the Security Council "to respect the mandate of the General Assembly".

A day earlier, Varma said there were additional procedures that could be followed in New York if the Monday's meeting remained inconclusive.

For example, a joint conference could be formed, consisting of six members (three appointed by the General Assembly and three by the Security Council).

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The security forces during a search operation arrested a wanted miscreant and seized arms and ammunition in Dima Hasao district today.

Superintendent of Police, Ankur Jain, said the arrested miscreant, Resley Langthasa alias Konet was wanted by the police for his involvement in a number of cases of extortion, robbery and dacoity.

Acting on a tip off the operation was launched and the accused person was apprehended from a hut in Hatikhalia area.

Langthasa took the security forces to a jungle where he had kept hidden one AK series rifle, one magazine, 18 live AK ammunition and three Chinese hand grenades, police said.

The arms and ammunition were recovered and seized in presence of local witness, the SP added.

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Noted journalist and chairman of the Hindu Group, N Ram, today alleged the "war" against the NDTV group is "motivated" because of its coverage of the Gujarat riots of 2002.

Ram, during a discussion at the Tata Literature Live festival here, also said the present government has learnt the art of "targeting" its political opponents as well as the media.

The government has denied that the investigation against NDTV is due to any vendetta, and said it is an off-shoot of continuing investigations by the Income Tax Department and Enforcement Directorate since 2011.

Senior government sources also maintain that the inquiries in this connection were initiated by the IT Department in 2011 during the previous Congress-led UPA government.

Ram alleged the investigation "is clearly motivated, it is clearly (to do), I think, with their coverage of Gujarat, of what happened in Gujarat in 2002."



"I think one of the most objectionable features today is the discriminatory attitude and targeting political enemies. I can say on behalf of many media colleagues, for example, the war against NDTV," he said.

He said the government targeting a media house is as "bad" as a corrupt deal, "if not worse."



He was also severely critical of demonetisation.

"What was said and what was achieved? Politically it seemed to have delivered some dividends to the ruling party," he said.

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"Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner has publicly denied the sexual harassment allegation levied against him.

Kater Gordon, an assistant-turned-writer, told The Information on November 9 that Weiner told her that she owed it to him to see her naked.

"I will just say what I've said: the allegation is not true," Weiner said at an event here.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, he then addressed the larger issue of sexual harassment in the workplace, emphasising that "this is a very important topic and a topic that has been an obsession of mine, in my work and in my life



and for, like, 92 hours of the show.

"We wanted people to be having this conversation and it's great that were having it. It's a very serious issue.

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By Jemima Kelly

LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin may have surged a staggering 700 percent since the start of the year but most investors at a Summit this week said they had not been tempted to play the volatile cryptocurrency.

The difficulty of assigning a fair value to a speculative instrument that is less than a decade old and lacks the fundamentals that drive other asset classes was the main reason for steering clear of bitcoin, investors speaking at the Global Investment 2018 Outlook Summit said.

Others said the cryptocurrency's use for criminal purposes such as money laundering was another reason to stay away, as was the widespread perception that the bitcoin rally was another bubble destined to burst.

"Can you live without bitcoins? Yes. Could you live without tulips in the Netherlands? Yes," Sankaran Naren, CIO of ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company, said at the Summit in Mumbai, referring to the tulip mania bubble in the Netherlands in the 17th century.

While a single bitcoin is worth nearly $8,000 , Japan Post Bank <7182.T> Chief Investment Officer Katsunori Sago said he believed its fair value was about $100 and it would have to fall to that level before the bank would consider buying it. [nB9N1E70AQ]

The idea that the bitcoin market, which is now worth $130 billion, constituted a bubble was the broad consensus among participants at the investment summit, which took place in London, Mumbai, New York, Singapore and Tokyo.

BITCOIN FUTURES

Bitcoin was created in 2008 as a Web-based cryptocurrency to move money around quickly and anonymously but the market is not yet regulated by any mainstream financial institution.

While scores of digital currency hedge funds have been launched this year, institutional investors worry that bitcoin is too lightly regulated, too volatile and too illiquid to risk investing other people's money in. [nL8N1MD5JR]

The difficulty in having an idea what bitcoin's value should be also means that institutional investors are not just staying away from buying the currency, but also staying away from selling, or "shorting", it.

"Bubbles can go on for much longer, and get much bigger, than anybody ever predicted before they start, and therefore when you're shorting something you need to be very very careful," Peter Fitzgerald, head of multi-assets at Aviva Investors, told the Reuters Summit in London.

Even the imminent launch of bitcoin futures by the world's biggest derivatives exchange operator, CME Group Inc , would not be enough to entice most mainstream investors. But it would draw in some.

Major British hedge fund firm Man Group said it would add cryptocurrencies to its investment universe if the CME bitcoin future is launched in December, as planned.

CME Group said last month it would launch a futures contract for bitcoin later this year in response to increasing interest from clients. [nL4N1N65PG]

BLOCKCHAIN INTEREST

Laurence Fink, CEO and founder of the world's biggest asset manager, BlackRock Inc. , said he wondered why bitcoin got so much media attention, particularly given its use in money laundering.

"I don't think about bitcoin; it's just not even on my mind," Fink told the Reuters Summit, though he allowed that while it's a tiny product, "it's fun to watch". [nL1N1NJ18N]

Still, many investors at the summit said while they were shunning bitcoin and the hundreds of other cryptocurrencies launched in recent years, they were interested in investing in the technology known as blockchain that underpins them.

BlackRock's Fink said blockchain did have a legitimate future, even if its widespread use was some way off.

Blockchain works as a tamper-proof shared database network that updates itself in real-time, automatically processing and settling transactions using computer algorithms with no need for third-party verification.

Banks and other financial firms are investing heavily in the technology, believing it could reduce costs and make their operations faster and more efficient. [nL8N1NM380]

"I travel a lot and I meet a lot of clients. Very rarely do I get asked about bitcoin - I don't know where that excitement exactly resides," Joachim Fels, global economic advisor and a managing director at Pacific Investment Management Co (Pimco), which has about $1.69 trillion in assets under management, told the summit in New York.

"But we spend a lot of time internally to look at what's behind this, to look at the ... implications of blockchain for the way how transactions are recorded and what it means in terms of potential for disruption in the financial sector," he said.

Many summit participants said interest in cryptocurrencies in the mainstream investment universe was limited to high-net worth individuals and companies managing portfolios for individual wealthy families.

But Mike Novogratz, former star macro hedge fund manager at Fortree Investment Group and now CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners, said institutional investors were only about six to eight months away from adopting bitcoin. [nL1N1NJ215]

"The institutionalisation of this space is coming. It's coming pretty quick," he said at the summit in New York.

(Reporting by Jemima Kelly; additional reporting by Tomo Uetake and Hideyuki Sano in Tokyo, Jennifer Ablan and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York, and Helen Reid and Ritvik Carvalho in London; editing by David Clarke)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It was a very young deer. On a Friday a few weeks back, my wife and I stopped at Prairie View Cemetery to take some paperwork into the office. While my wife was doing that, Don, our sexton, came over and told me that there was an injured deer lying next to some grave stones.

We drove down there, and sure enough the deer was lying quietly next to the head stones. You could tell it was in pain and from time to time it put its head down flat on the ground. Don said that it was there when he got to work and had briefly run out into the field to lie down but shortly thereafter the deer returned to the cemetery.

Don thought the deer had been hit by a car and probably broke its hip or leg. Many thoughts run through your head at such a time. We could leave the deer where it was and ignore it. We could leave the deer there and hope it will run out in the field and die there. I dont think either one of us wanted to kill it, or even if we did, how could we do it. Lake Hallie village ordinances prohibit the discharging of firearms in village limits, plus, if we shot and missed, the consequences of that could be problematic. So it was decided to call the Lake Hallie Police Department.

Betty Collins the Lake Hallie police dispatcher answered politely as she always does. Betty has been with the Hallie/Lake Hallie Police Department for 29 years. I think if I told her that aliens had just abducted Don, our sexton, she would ask for a description and which way they were heading. Probably she would call Dons wife, Cheryl, and tell her not to expect Don home for supper for a while. Anyway, I told Betty about the problem, and she sent officer Bowman over.

Officer Bowman arrived, and we both walked toward the deer. It got up and ran about 2 rows to the east and laid down again. Its right leg would not support its weight. So officer Bowman took out his service weapon, made sure that there was nothing behind the deer, and with one shot later the deer was dead. Don came over with his pickup truck and took the deer out to his farm where it would become coyote food, as he said.

It has been years since I went deer hunting and killed a deer. Looking back, the fun was not in killing a deer but the fact that I had my extended family with me. We got by without a modern sporting rifle, which usually now is a variant of the M-16 military rifle  in short a semi-automatic gas operated rifle that shoots a very high speed bullet.

The weapons we used were simple: a Marlin 30-30 lever action, a 250/3000 Savage lever action, a 20 gauge pump action shotgun, and my brother-in-law had a very strange Russian bolt action rifle in a weird caliber 7.62x54 and 3 Winchester Model 97 30.30 lever action rifles. Every one of those guns required you to physically do something to get off more than 1 shot. Getting off a second shot was almost impossible, for we hunted in the brush country around Pray south of Neillsville in Clark County. After deer season, the guns were cleaned, oiled and put away until the next year. Then the guns were forgotten.

There are about 595,000 deer hunters in the woods today. Many will be carrying high powered semi-automatic weapons. Hopefully all are well trained and knowledgeable about their weapons. Hopefully all will remember several basic rules including: Know your target and beyond, never point a gun at something unless you are going to shoot it, be sure the barrel is clear of obstructions before shooting, dont rely on your guns safety, learn the mechanical and handling characteristics of the firearm you are using and the always popular but very often forgotten treat all firearms as they were loaded. This is not a sport for children.

Well these few words are not a hunter safety course but they will have to do for now. So if you are out deer hunting, have a safe and successful hunt.
Indian government hiked The import duties on cooking oil in a bid to support domestic farmers. The import tax on crude palm oil has been hiked to 30 per cent, said a government order issued on Friday, which is twice what was charged earlier. Meanwhile, On the duty on refined palm oil has been increased to 40 per cent from 25 percent earlier. India is the world's biggest importer of edible oil.

As per the government order, the import tax on crude soy oil coming to India, which earlier was 17.5 per cent, has been raised to 30 per cent. Meanwhile, the import tax on refined soy oil has been to 35 percent from 20 percent earlier, the order said. Bulk of India's palm oil imports come mostly from Indonesia and Malaysia, whereas soy oil is mostly imported from Argentina and Brazil.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) today said its heavy construction arm of L&T Construction has won order worth Rs 8,650 crore from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). The company mentioned in a BSE filing that the order is for constructing Package 01 and 03 of Mumbai Trans Harbour Link.

"The proposed Mumbai Trans Harbour Link will serve as an economic gateway to Navi Mumbai connecting to Nhava Sheva Port, the Mumbai Pune Expressway and the Mumbai Goa highway," it added.

The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link project involves construction of 21.8 km bridge connecting Mumbai mainland with Navi Mumbai. While L&T has secured Package 01 of the contract jointly with IHI Corporation, Japan, it will undertake work under Package 03 on its own.

The Package 01 will include building a multi-level interchange at Sewri and a 6-lane bridge from Sewri to 10.38 km into the Mumbai bay, a Business Standard report said. This bridge will cross the Sewri mudflats, Pir Pau Jetty and Thane Creek channels, along with country's first of its kind orthotropic steel deck crossing other obligatory navigation channel.

Under Package 03 of Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, L&T Construction will build a 3.6 km 6-lane bridge at Navi Mumbai connecting National Highway 4B, State Highway 54, as well as interchanges, rail overbriudges and toll plazas.
Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson today said it has partnered with Bharti Airtel for 5G technology for the telecom giant's India operations.

"We have MoUs (agreements) with 36 operators globally. In India, we have recently tied up with Bharti Airtel for 5G technology," Ericsson Senior Vice President and Head of Market Area South East Asia, Oceania and India Nunzio Mirtillo told reporters here.

He, however, did not comment on the financial details of the partnership.

As part of the partnership with Airtel, Ericsson will work with Bharti Airtel on creating a strategic roadmap for evolution of the network to the next-gen 5G technology, Mirtillo said.

Ericsson is already a vendor to Bharti Airtel in areas like managed services and 4G.

Earlier this year, Bharti Airtel had inked a similar pact with telecom gear maker Nokia to expand their partnership to areas like 5G technology standard and management of connected devices.

Ericsson today showcased the first live 5G end-to-end demonstration here using its 5G test bed and 5G NR Radio.

This, Ericsson claimed, has an "extremely high throughput and ultra-low latency".

Mirtillo said the company is committed to the Indian market.

"The 5G technology showcase has been organised in the direction of creating a robust 5G ecosystem in the country even though 5G network are rolled out by 2020," he added.

According to Ericsson's estimates, 5G technology -- that will support faster data access -- will enable a USD 27.3 billion revenue potential for Indian telecom operators by 2026.

"The largest opportunity will be seen in sectors like manufacturing, energy and utilities followed by public safety and health sectors," a report by Ericsson said.

It added that this will be over and above the revenue generated from traditional services, which is expected to grow up to USD 63 billion by 2026.
World's Largest Museum Dedicated to the Bible Marks Grand Opening in US Capital Contact: Michelle Farmer, 770-813-0000



"We want to take a moment to set our differences aside and say, here's a book that has changed our worldimpacted lives; and we want to celebrate it in this facility today. And when guests leave hopefully they will be inspired to get engaged with it," Co-founder and Chairman of the Board Steve Green said.



"We created this museum to help our guests understand and appreciate the role of the Bible--not only in America, but globally," Summers said.



"Our purpose is this: to invite all people to engage in this wonderful book we call the Bible," Zeiss said. "Its history, its narrative and its impact. In fact, those are the three themes you will see throughout this museum."



Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said, "It is appropriate that in the nation's capital where we have soaring museums and monuments and where people visit us from around the world that the Museum of the Bible would be built here."



Cardinal Wuerl read a letter from Pope Francis: "His Holiness Pope Francis sends cordial greetings and prayerful best wishes to all gatheredfor the inauguration of Museum of the Bible. It is his fervent hope that this significant cultural institution, through its extensive collections and exhibits, will promote a better understanding not only of the rich and complex history of the biblical text, but also the enduring power of its message to inspire and shape the lives of individuals and peoples of every time and place."



The Israeli Minister of Tourism, Yariv Levin, shared a message from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "This impressive building and the fascinating educational exhibits it contains is a fitting home for the thousands of religious texts and artifacts in your remarkable collection. By featuring Jewish, Protestant, Catholic and other faith traditions, the museum highlights our shared values and beliefs."



Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer said, "Today, nearly two and a half centuries after America's founding, we are gathered to celebrate the arrival of the Bible in your capital.  Just as the Bible has always been the most prized possession of the Jewish people, the Bible has always been cherished by the American people. The towering figures that are memorialized with monuments in this great city surely testify to that."



The morning ceremony was followed by an official ribbon-cutting in front of the museum's entrance.



Museum of the Bible opens to the public Saturday, Nov. 18, at 10 a.m. Timed-entry tickets may be reserved at



Media Resources: WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- One day before Museum of the Bible opens to the public, a diverse group of faith and secular leaders from around the world gathered at the eight-story, 430,000-square-foot museum in Washington to dedicate the newest museum in the nation's capital in front of a standing-room-only crowd. Those joining in the celebration in the museum's 472-seat, technologically advanced World Stage Theater included Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington; Rear Admiral Margaret Kibben, chief of chaplains of the U.S. Navy; Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt, president of the Rabbinic Cabinet of the Jewish Federations of North America; U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry Black; and Ron Dermer, Israel's ambassador to the U.S. Museum of the Bible President Cary Summers, Executive Director Tony Zeiss, Ed.D., and Chairman of the Board Steve Green welcomed guests and spoke about the vision of the museum."We want to take a moment to set our differences aside and say, here's a book that has changed our worldimpacted lives; and we want to celebrate it in this facility today. And when guests leave hopefully they will be inspired to get engaged with it," Co-founder and Chairman of the Board Steve Green said."We created this museum to help our guests understand and appreciate the role of the Bible--not only in America, but globally," Summers said."Our purpose is this: to invite all people to engage in this wonderful book we call the Bible," Zeiss said. "Its history, its narrative and its impact. In fact, those are the three themes you will see throughout this museum."Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said, "It is appropriate that in the nation's capital where we have soaring museums and monuments and where people visit us from around the world that the Museum of the Bible would be built here."Cardinal Wuerl read a letter from Pope Francis: "His Holiness Pope Francis sends cordial greetings and prayerful best wishes to all gatheredfor the inauguration of Museum of the Bible. It is his fervent hope that this significant cultural institution, through its extensive collections and exhibits, will promote a better understanding not only of the rich and complex history of the biblical text, but also the enduring power of its message to inspire and shape the lives of individuals and peoples of every time and place."The Israeli Minister of Tourism, Yariv Levin, shared a message from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "This impressive building and the fascinating educational exhibits it contains is a fitting home for the thousands of religious texts and artifacts in your remarkable collection. By featuring Jewish, Protestant, Catholic and other faith traditions, the museum highlights our shared values and beliefs."Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer said, "Today, nearly two and a half centuries after America's founding, we are gathered to celebrate the arrival of the Bible in your capital.  Just as the Bible has always been the most prized possession of the Jewish people, the Bible has always been cherished by the American people. The towering figures that are memorialized with monuments in this great city surely testify to that."The morning ceremony was followed by an official ribbon-cutting in front of the museum's entrance.Museum of the Bible opens to the public Saturday, Nov. 18, at 10 a.m. Timed-entry tickets may be reserved at museumofthebible.org

Select Highlights and B-roll:



Photos: Select Highlights and B-roll: demoss.com/newsrooms/museumofthebible/multimedia/museum-of-the-bible-video/18 Photos: demoss.com/newsrooms/museumofthebible/multimedia/grand-opening-photos

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The bumper perfect bound Summer issue of Campaign Brief  which features the annual TVC Production + Content Report  is out now.

The Augmented Reality front and back cover come to life with the Alt.vfx app, also released this week in the Apple App Store here and Google Play here.

AGENCY PRODUCERS: Get your FREE COPY. Simply email your name, position, and agency to: michael@campaignbrief.com

Subscribe Now @ only $44 per year. To get so much more than whats on the blog, make sure you are a subscriber to the print edition of Campaign Brief. CB is the only advertising creative magazine in the region, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

Subscribe online (where you can also view and read current and past issues going back to 2007).




Being a Portfolio and Reel Gold Member gives you access to both the agency and production company databases for a whole year and the on-line On-Air-Selection DVD. Now relesed bi-monthly, it contains up to 70 local commercials with both production company and agency creative details.

Staffing and location details are constantly updated, and Portflio & Reels research staff personally contact all companies to ensure that contact details are accurate.

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Friday, November 17, 2017 at 5:31PM

Apple is postponing the release of its HomePod smart speaker until 2018. The company, which showcased the HomePod along with the iMac Pro during this year's WWDC (World Wide Developer's Conference), is the company's answer to Amazon's Echo and Google Home, speakers that integrate smart assistant technology.

We can't wait for people to experience HomePod, Apple's breakthrough wireless speaker for the home, but we need a little more time before it's ready for our customers, an Apple spokesperson said. We'll start shipping in the US, UK and Australia in early 2018.



The HomePod Speaker which integrates the companys Siri smart assistant with hi-fi speakers and the ability to run searches. As with many Apple products, this will be a US-first device before it heads to Canada and the rest of the world. Apple is now competing with Amazon and Google, who have similar products in the market. It is also now encroaching on Sonos, whose class leading networked speakers have dominated the market.

Apple is a latecomer in this area which is occupied by Amazons Echo and, more pertinent to Canadians, Google Home, which is now available in Canada an many other countries. Amazon just made the Alex smart assistant available in Canada this week.

Source: The Verge
A check in November 2013 found that 85 per cent of the 21 tenants supposedly audited had not received a visit or phone call from Spotless, with no documentation or photos of the 21 audits. Spotless found no fails, whereas a departmental team found that 19 of the 21 work orders had either trade or administrative deficiencies.
"That will be one of the options for us to have a look at [reducing cost], but for some women that may not be the barrier, it might be something else," Ms Fitzharris said.
"My personal hope for Zimbabwe as it always has been is for a country that is a constitutional democracy where there is independence of the judiciary and other instruments to keep check of excesses of those in power; where all citizens are free to choose their leader and representatives without fear and violence, a country that has equal opportunity for all who live in it whilst recognising the need for specific temporary measures to address the inequitable treatment towards sections of our communities such as women and the youth.
"The majority of these people were seen during normal business hours and the prevalent advice for many years would have been for them to stay home and get well and not attend any sort of health practitioner with their cold"
Stephen Bittels rocky tenure as Florida Democratic Party chairman ended in disgrace Friday after he said he would resign following accusations from women that he leered at them, made suggestive comments and created an unprofessional work environment.

When my personal situation becomes distracting to our core mission of electing Democrats and making Florida better, it is time for me to step aside, Bittel said in a statement. I am proud of what we have built as a Party and the wins we have had for Florida families, but I apologize for all who have felt uncomfortable during my tenure at the Democratic Party.

Bittel will formally resign next week. Party leaders will elect his successor Dec. 9 in Orlando.

Elected in January after a contentious internal campaign, Bittel lasted less than a year on the job. His departure marks the latest case of sexual impropriety shaking the state Capitol.





Bittels position became untenable after all four major Democratic candidates for Florida governor urged his ouster following a Politico Florida report late Thursday in which six women anonymously complained about Bittels behavior. They said he was creepy and demeaning. Bittel apologized, but it was not enough.

Vice Chairwoman Judy Mount, the former head of the Jackson County Democratic Executive Committee, will serve as the partys interim chief and then seek the position permanently. Tampa activist Alan Clendenin, a past chairman candidate, said he will also run.

The calls for Bittels resignation from Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and Orlando businessman Chris King made it impossible for Bittel to continue at the party helm.

I am glad Stephen Bittel resigned  there was no alternative, Gillum said in a statement. The FDP must move forward quickly to rebuild their culture and create an inclusive, safe work environment. Beyond changing the culture there, we must all commit ourselves to changing the power structures that have allowed too many men to behave this way for too long. It will not happen overnight, but we cannot tolerate it any longer.

The gubernatorial candidates weighed in long before the only Florida Democrat elected statewide, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, did. Nelson commented on Bittels fate after Bittel announced his exit.

As Stephen Bittel said, hes stepping aside for the good of the party, Nelson, who is running for reelection next year, said in a statement. Sexual harassment is never acceptable.

Nelson had backed the chairman bid by Bittel, a Coconut Grove developer and longtime Democratic fundraiser. So had U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston, the former Democratic National Committee chairwoman, who also didnt comment Friday on the accusations against Bittel until after his resignation statement.

Stephen Bittel did the right thing for the party, one that hes worked so hard for in the past, she said. But as a party and as a society, we must learn from this.

Emails released in July 2016 by WikiLeaks showed DNC staffers so disliked Bittel  then co-chairman of the DNCs national finance committee  that they wanted to seat him away from President Barack Obama at a Grove fundraiser.

No one has accused Bittel of inappropriately touching women. But the six women who spoke anonymously to Politico Florida said his inappropriate comments and penchant for keeping breast-shaped stress-squeeze balls in his office  which Bittel said were gags  made it uncomfortable to work with him.

There was a lot of boob stuff in his office, a former fundraiser who interacted with Bittel told Politico Florida. Several women said they tried not to leave each other alone with Bittel in his office, home or private jet.

In his initial apology, Bittel said he would do better.

Every person, regardless of their gender, race, age or sexuality should be treated with respect and valued for their hard work and contributions to our community and if any of my comments or actions did not reflect that belief I am deeply sorry, he said in a statement. I have much to learn, but my goal is and has always been to make sure every member of our party has a safe environment in which to succeed. It seems Ive not been successful in that goal, and I will do better.

Starting with Gillum, the gubernatorial candidates then said only Bittels resignation would be acceptable.

King noted the national wave of sexual harassment and assault allegations against powerful men in media, the movie industry and politics, including in Tallahassees insular and male-dominated Florida Legislature.

Its not right that its taken so long, but unveiling a culture of harassment is a vital step to building the just and fair society we hope to be, King said. Its on all of us now to hold perpetrators accountable. The breadth and depth of these allegations speak to a larger problem with the environment in Tallahassee and more generally in our politics.

Republican gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Jack Latvala of Clearwater stepped aside from his position as Senate budget chief and was placed under investigation over harassment allegations , which he has denied. Former Senate Democratic Leader Jeff Clemens of Atlantis resigned after admitting he had an affair with a lobbyist.



Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article185207928.html#storylink=cpy



Bittel resigns as Florida Democratic Party chief following report of demeaning women

TALLAHASSEE  Florida Democratic Party Chairman Stephen Bittel resigned on Friday in the face of a torrent of top Democrats  including the entire 2018 gubernatorial field  demanding he step down from the high-level post.

His resignation follows a POLITICO report published Thursday night that he had a history of making demeaning remarks toward women, according to former party staffers and consultants.

When my personal situation becomes distracting to our core mission of electing Democrats and making Florida better, it is time for me to step aside, Bittel said in a statement.

The women interviewed by POLITICO said Bittel created an unprofessional workplace environment for women, noting that he made persistent inappropriate comments, leered at young women and even invited them on his private jet.

The women, who were reached independently by POLITICO and insisted on anonymity out of fear for their jobs, said Bittel never inappropriately touched or threatened them. But he made them feel so uneasy that they didnt want to be alone with him due to his body language, suggestive remarks and even the breast-shaped stress squeeze-ball he has been known to keep on his desk.

Bittel was just elected to the post in January following a contentious race. He had the support of Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz , two of the most prominent Florida Democrats.

On Friday morning, the entire 2018 Democratic gubernatorial field was calling on him to resign.

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Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, one of three top gubernatorial candidates, applauded Bittel's decision to leave the job.

I am glad Stephen Bittel resigned  there was no alternative," he said in a statement. "The FDP must move forward quickly to rebuild their culture and create an inclusive, safe work environment."

Earlier, Democratic candidates Gwen Graham, Chris King and Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine had all urged Bittel to turn in his resignation.

Graham, a former congresswoman, said she had called Bittel and told him that he should step down.

None should have to work in an uncomfortable environment, her campaign said in a statement. Bittels behavior and the atmosphere he has created is unacceptable."

Levine said it was time to change the culture at the Florida Democratic Party. No individual should feel less than safe and comfortable in their workplace," he said in a statement.

King, a businessman, said the stories of Bittel and others in the Capitol speak to "a larger problem with the environment in Tallahassee and more generally in our politics."

Nelson and Wasserman Schultz could not be reached for comment Friday.













Florida Democratic Party chair apologizes after 6 women complain of 'demeaning' behavior

TALLAHASSEE  Six former Florida Democratic Party staffers and consultants say that current party Chairman Stephen Bittel has created an unprofessional workplace environment for women that includes persistent inappropriate comments, leering at young women and even inviting them on his private jet.

The women, who were reached independently by POLITICO and insisted on anonymity out of fear for their jobs, said Bittel never inappropriately touched or threatened them. But he made them feel so uneasy that they didnt want to be alone with him due to his body language, suggestive remarks and even the breast-shaped stress squeeze-ball he has been known to keep on his desk.

Depending on the circumstance and the person discussing Bittel, they said he would make references about women cooking dinner, showing their breasts, their age, whether they wanted to ride on his plane, come to his hotel room or if they thought he was attractive.

There was a lot of boob stuff in his office, said a woman who was a fundraiser years ago and had to interact with him. I was told by other women not to go into his bathroom. I was warned.

In a written statement, a spokesman for Bittel didnt dispute the womens accounts and acknowledged he had the breast-shaped stress balls. But, he said, they were a gift from a former female general counsel of his company years ago as a joke for his birthday. He keeps them in a drawer with other gag gifts.

Bittel also apologized.

Every person, regardless of their gender, race, age or sexuality should be treated with respect and valued for their hard work and contributions to our community and if any of my comments or actions did not reflect that belief I am deeply sorry, Bittel said. I have much to learn, but my goal is and has always been to make sure every member of our party has a safe environment in which to succeed. It seems Ive not been successful in that goal, and I will do better."

The gist of the womens accounts were bolstered by the observations of two male Democrats who worked with them and a former female candidate for a prominent office. They, too, did not want to be identified criticizing Bittel out of fear of angering the powerful party chairman, an independently wealthy developer who has long been a prominent political rainmaker tied to a secretive donor alliance.

Bittel is so-well connected that the states best-known Democrats, Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz , call him friends and he has hosted President Obama and Vice President Biden at his home. Privately, many women werent as much awestruck by Bittel as turned off.

Hes just so f----ng creepy, said a former female party staffer, anger palpable in her tone. He just leers at you, and stares. I dont know if you know what that feels like, but he just leers at you. I dont know how to describe the feeling.

The allegations come at whats a turning point for addressing sexual harassment, an element that has long been an ingrained part of Florida politics, but only recently has bubbled to the surface in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual-harassment case that rocked Hollywood, media and national politics.

The environment in Florida changed, in large part, following the resignation of former state Sen. Jeff Clemens (D-Lake Worth), who POLITICO reported had an extra-marital affair with a lobbyist. That was followed by six women telling POLITICO that state Sen. Jack Latvala touched them against their will or made demeaning remarks about their bodies or appearance. The Pinellas County Republican and gubernatorial candidate, who denies wrongdoing, is facing two Florida Senate complaints for sexual harassment.

In recent days, as Democratic women began approaching POLITICO with their stories, Bittels supporters worried it would jeopardize his new post as party chairman, which he won in a disputed party election after the 2016 elections.

Among Democrats, Bittel had a reputation for a brusque style that made enemies or led to mockery behind his back.

Before a 2016 Miami fundraiser, for instance, Democratic National Committee staffers made fun of him and conspired to give him poor seating away from then-President Barack Obama, according to hacked emails published by the group Wikileaks last year. And this June, after his election as chairman, Bittel ran afoul of black lawmakers in a dispute at a party gala where he called some of them  childish . Bittel apologized and offered his resignation.

'Hes very demeaning'

The women who spoke with POLITICO about Bittel said theres often a palpable sense of discomfort when interacting with him, and several described an informal policy of staffers not leaving women alone with the multi-millionaire South Florida commercial real estate developer.

The biggest thing I will say is that it became a policy that women, especially junior staff, were never to be left alone with him in his office, plane or house, said a former party staffer.

She said that Bittels remarks and the environment he created for women staffers was one of the reasons she no longer wanted to work for the Florida Democratic Party.

There is a reason I left, she said. Hes very demeaning. Hes inappropriate in his comments he makes to women.

She mentioned that Bittel liked to talk about womens breasts. But she didnt want his specific remarks  though corroborated by a second source  printed because she was concerned it would reveal her identity.

The same woman says the fact that Bittel is known within party circles for having a belittling attitude towards women largely explains why the party wasnt more strident in attacking Latvala after his scandal.

Its not an accident theyve been so quiet, she said.

Like the others interviewed, she said Bittel would offer rides on his private airplane.

The most suggestive thing he does is invite women on his plane or over to his home when his wife is not in town, she said. It is not like these things are in the eye of the beholder, the suggestion is very clear  His reputation is very clear, and it has been there since before he was party chairman. Bittel was elected to the job earlier this year.

Why ask about a womans boyfriend?'

A former party fundraiser who spent time working in Bittels office prior to his time as chairman said he was overtly creepy towards women.

She did not work directly for Bittel but during her time working with FDP she regularly interacted with him. One of her most indelible memories was Bittels frequent inquiries about her boyfriend.

Really, who does that. Why would he ask about a womans boyfriend? she said. And it was not like a how is your significant other doing? It was not that at all.

She said shortly after leaving the Florida Democratic Party, there was a memorable goodbye call with Bittel. He asked if he could help her in her next career move, and then asked whether she might consider moving to Miami for a job opportunity. And then she recalls him saying, will your boyfriend be moving with you?

I hung up, she said.

She quickly called back with a clear message.

Ive never had this type of guts, so Im not sure where it came from, but I told him hes creepy towards women, makes them feel uncomfortable, and its not ok, she said. It needs to stop.

In response, he sent a text message she remembers clearly.

Thank U [sic] for ur [sic] honesty, she says he wrote back. I hope your words make me better.

Its inappropriate

A recently departed Florida Democratic Party staffer tells a similar tale, underscoring a consistent theme with women overtly uncomfortable being alone around the partys chairman.

He makes comments about what women wear, about how they look, she said. Its inappropriate.

She said there are women she knew that have left the party, in part, because of how Bittel interacted with them.

It just, at a certain point, becomes difficult and uncomfortable to do your job, she said. And everyone there knows that.

Another young woman staffer who no longer works for the party said she made sure not to be alone with Bittel. But one time in the office, she said, he wound up standing so close to her that she felt uneasy. A co-worker, she said, spied the situation and made sure to enter the room and stay there.

He never said or did anything, but he was just too close and I just felt him in my space, she said. He was just a weird, creepy guy to be around  Maybe he doesnt know how to read a room or control his voice.

A fifth woman who also formerly worked at FDP headquarters in Tallahassee said she remembered the first time she met Bittel he commented on her looks and then asked her do I look good? The woman, who was older than the younger staffers Bittel was known to be interested in, said the comments struck her as inappropriate because she felt objectified. I mean, who does that the first time you meet them?

Bittel also kept a breast-shaped squeeze ball on his desk. It was weird, she said. Another Democrat said it just made people uncomfortable.

The strange behavior of Bittel wasnt just limited to staffers and consultants. A former female candidate for office recalls bringing two young attractive young staffers with her to see if she could rustle a donation out of the donor.

Bittel didnt pay much attention to her, but he spent time staring at her two staffers, the candidate told POLITICO. She said Bittel kept remarking about the young womens age.

I felt uncomfortable leaving them in the room with him, she said. It was kind of icky.

I didnt even get the check, she added.

A consultant who worked years ago with Bittel she recalled he would enjoy talking about young women and repeatedly brought up topics, such as the sex lives of others, that she would often try to shut down. But he would bring it up again.

She said she hoped Bittel had changed his ways and said she was disappointed, but not surprised, that so many women are starting to complain.

He is not a predator. Hes not a terrible person, she said. But hes inappropriate. And hes been allowed to be inappropriate for a long time.





Miami billionaire STEPHEN H. BITTEL is resigning as Florida Democratic Party Chair after women complained about inappropriate sexual comments and breast toys in the office.Note to Democrats: no more billionaire Chairs, please.BY PATRICIA MAZZEIpmazzei@miamiherald.comMiami HeraldNOVEMBER 17, 2017 11:46 AMUPDATED NOVEMBER 17, 2017 05:23 PM==================-------------------------------From Bloomberg:COMPANY OVERVIEW OF TERRANOVA CORPORATIONExecutive ProfileStephen H. BittelFounder and Chairman, Terranova CorporationAge 61BackgroundMr. Stephen H. Bittel founded Petroleum Realty Investment Partners, L.P in 1999 and serves as its President. Mr. Bittel is the Founder of Terranova Corporation and has been its Chairman since July 1980. He also serves as the President at Flagler Retail Associates, Ltd. Mr. Bittel has been a Director of Aldabra 4 Acquisition Corp. since August 24, 2007. Mr. Bittel is a Board member and Vice Chairman of Development of the National Jewish Democratic Council and has led the Greater Miami Jewish Federation's Washington Mission in 2009 and 2010. He served as Director of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation since January 1, 2011 until December 31, 2014. He served as Chairman of the Miami Chapter at the Young President Organization. He serves as Director of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company LLC. Mr. Bittel serves on the Advisory Board of Florida International University Foundation and Alonzo Mourning Charities Board of Directors. Mr. Bittel served as Director on the Boards of the Community Partnership for the Homeless, the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority and the Jackson Memorial Hospital Foundation. In 2005, Mr. Bittel was awarded the South Florida Business Journal Ultimate CEO award. Mr. Bittel is a Member of the United Jewish Committee Young Leadership Cabinet, the Florida Bar Association, the Real Estate Round Table, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Young President Organization. Mr. Bittel is an At-Large member of the Democratic National Committee, serves on the Rules and Bylaws Committee. He is a licensed Real Estate Broker. Mr. Bittel received an A.B. from Bowdoin College, magna cum laude in 1978 and a J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law in 1982.From
"The tried and tested consultation methods [have been in place] for a long time. The sense I get is people are now asking for a little bit more, we need to find what that little bit more is."
Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

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You are our people. You Care. We Care2.
One of them is a limited edition modern supercar, whereas the other is a classic open-top model thats simply gorgeous. So what could they possibly have in common?



The answer is that both the Ferrari F12tdf and Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster are offered for sale by RMSothebys, at their New York auction that takes place on December 6, and both have a similar estimated selling price: $1.1-$1.4 million and $1.25-$1.5 million, respectively.

Introduced as the spiritual successor to the 599 GTO in 2015, the Ferrari F12tdf came in a limited run of 799 units. It benefits from a number of aerodynamic enhancements over the regular F12 Berlinetta, and it also packs an extra punch, with its 6.3-liter naturally aspirated V12 making 780PS (770hp) and 705Nm (520lb-ft) of torque.

This particular example was shipped to Long Island Ferrari new in 2016, and since then, it has been driven for less than 400 miles (644km). It still has a factory warranty available until July 2019, and its covered by the Ferrari Genuine Maintenance program until July 2023.

The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster, on the other hand, is the convertible version of the Gullwing. It debuted at the 1957 Geneva Motor Show and was produced in 1,858 units.

The auction house doesnt provide more details about this 1958-made car, except that it retains the original matching chassis, body, engine, and drivetrain and was outfitted with several options from new. Still, looking at the pictures we can see its pristine condition that could help it re-achieve its bedroom door poster status.

Now, each one is extremely desirable for its own reasons, but if you had the opportunity to bid for one of the two, which would it be?

PHOTO GALLERY
Jaguar Land Rover has commenced testing of self-driving prototypes on roads throughout the United Kingdom. In particular, according tto The Telegraph, the British automaker has been running its driverless vehicles through the countrys streets for a number of weeks already.



This is the first time these vehicles have left the confines of closed roads and tracks and been used in public. Jaguar Land Rover says that a human driver sits behind the wheel of each prototype, but for the most part the vehicle controls itself through a plethora of advanced sensors.

We stand on the brink of a mobility revolution. The impact of the changes we are about to embrace will be huge across all sectors of the UK economy. The opportunities are great: this mobility revolution will change lives profoundly, said JLR chief executive Ralf Speth.

While the UK hasnt become a hotbed for autonomous vehicle testing like some U.S. states, like California, the country has quite generous laws about the testing of such vehicles. In fact, the UK never ratified the Vienna Convention, which requires drivers to have control of their vehicle at all times. This means no law changes had to be made for self-driving cars to test throughout the country.

PHOTO GALLERY
Photo: Hoodoo Adventure

Penticton will have the chance to run with Santa Claus later this month to promote physical activity for youth.

The Santa Rec Run will take place for the sixth-straight year on Nov. 25, beginning outside of Hoodoo Adventures at 10 a.m. and ending at the same location.

The route is down Lakeshore Drive, and participants have the option of a 10 kilometre run, a 5 km run or a kids fun run.

Proceeds from the run go entirely to the Youth Outdoor Recreation Society, a non-profit program that funds outdoor activities for schools in the Okanagan-Skaha school district.

"We just found this a good way to help support the programs that we are passionate about, and put so much value into," Lyndie Hill said, owner of Hoodoo Adventures.

"A lot of times, budget is a barrier for schools to get involved in the different things that we do that can be so beneficial to getting kids outside and active."

Hill said when people register, they are able to pick which school their fees go to.

Last year's Santa run saw the largest turnout in its five years, raising close to $2,000.

Hill said 150 people took part last year, and expects there could be up to 200 participants this year.

"We did bump (the date) up earlier this year, in hopes that the cold wouldn't scare people off," she added.

Registration for the run costs $15 dollars per person, or $40 for families of three-to-five with kids.

Those wishing to participate can register here.
I found it very disheartening to see the results of a recent poll on Remembrance Day observance.

Of those in the Okanagan that took the poll over 13% did not recognize this somber occasion be even wearing a poppy, this is a sad statement on our society.

I suspect many do not realize that without the sacrifices of those brave men and women the world as we know it would likely be very different. If Nazi Germany had succeeded, many that have come here from Britain or much of Europe would not exist.

Gord Marshall
Photo: Pixabay

Interior Health is expanding its immunization program for meningococcal disease in the South Okanagan after learning of a third case in the area.

Anyone aged 15 to 24 in Oliver, Osoyoos and Okanagan Falls is being offered the vaccine free of charge at the Oliver health centre.

Last week, IH initially urged students of South Okanagan Secondary School in Oliver to get vaccinated after two cases were confirmed in students.

IH is taking this precautionary measure after becoming aware of a third individual in the community who contracted meningococcal disease in early October, a news release states.

This is not a new case and there is no indication of sustained transmission of the bacteria in the community. This individual did not attend South Okanagan Secondary, but had social linkages to the school.

Risk remains low, but those aged 15-24 are urged to get immunized because meningococcal disease is reported more frequently among the age group.

People are also reminded to avoid sharing water bottles or cigarettes and to frequently wash their hands.

Meningococcal disease is a bacterial infection that occurs rarely in Canada. It can affect lining around the brain and blood, with the potential to be deadly.

Immunization clinics are being hosted by IH at the Oliver Health on Saturday and Sunday, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on both days.
Photo: The Canadian Press

The future of the Site C hydroelectric dam is the subject of pointed questions from labour unions, environmental groups, Indigenous Peoples and high-ranking civil servants with the British Columbia government who want answers about the projected costs of scrapping the $8.3-billion project.

The New Democrats are poised to decide Site C's fate by the end of the year after a review by the B.C. Utilities Commission, the province's independent energy regulator, concluded the dam is over budget and behind schedule.

But one Site C opponent said Friday he already senses the government will complete the megaproject.

Green Leader Andrew Weaver said he does not have inside information, but he is convinced the NDP will decide to keep building the dam, already under construction for more than two years.

"I can't see them giving pink slips to thousands of people on Christmas Eve," he said.

B.C. Hydro, the province's public utility, says more than 2,000 people are working on Site C, which is near Fort St. John.

Weaver said he began to feel the government moving towards supporting the project this week after a group of labour unions said the utilities commission report did not properly calculate the cost of stopping Site C. An estimated $4 billion has been spent on Site C so far.

Weaver said the Greens, who have an agreement to back the minority government in the legislature, will remind the NDP at every opportunity about its change of position if it keeps the project going.

"We'll add that to the collection of things we find really irritating that you've done," he said.
Photo: SOPAC A sign going up at 99 Nanaimo in 2011 claiming the lot for an arts centre

The South Okanagan Performing Arts Centre Society is asking the city hold onto an empty downtown lot until at least spring 2019 while the group mobilizes.

The property at 99 Nanaimo Avenue has been eyed by the organization as the future home of a downtown performing arts centre for years now, but little progress has been made.

SOPAC last came before council with a similar request in February. At the same meeting, the YES Project told council it was considering the property for a new youth centre.

But with the YES Project finding a home on Main Street earlier this month, the arts group is again looking for a commitment from the city.

A report to council states a commitment in principle for the site is needed for the society to organize a symposium to plan the project.

The workshop would bring together experts in contemporary creation and presentation of the performing arts with representatives of the areas arts community, the tourism industry and local planning professionals, all leading toward identifying the best options for realizing the SOPAC project, the report states.

City staff note now that the YES Project has found a home, there has been little interest in redevelopment of the empty lot.

Holding the site for 16 months should not have any negative impacts, the report adds.

The request includes a letter of support from the Downtown Penticton Association for the project, dated Oct. 5.

However, city councillors voiced weariness of the project in February when they were faced with picking between it and the YES Project.

Were going on a decade, now of hoping that this will happen, said Coun. Max Picton. At what point do we simply say, well, we may have to consider alternative uses for this property.

Council will debate the request on Tuesday.
Photo: File photo JCI is now accepting nominations for Vernon's 2017 Good Citizen of the Year.

The Junior Chamber International (JCI) Vernon Good Citizen Committee is looking for someone to reward for all their good deeds.

JCI is now accepting nominations for Vernons 2017 Good Citizen of the Year.

The award is given annually to celebrate and recognize an individuals efforts in, and contributions to, the community.

Nominations can be emailed to [email protected] or dropped off at Okanagan Restoration Services Ltd., 6236 Pleasant Valley Rd.

The committee is asking all nominations include a letter describing why the person being nominated should receive the award, as well as the nominators contact information.

If someone has been nominated in the past, but did not win they can be nominated again.

Nomination Deadline is Jan. 5, 2018.

The recipient will be surprised with the award during the week of Jan. 15- 19.

The nominator will be contacted about this in advance.

JCI Vernon will escort the recipient in the Winter Carnival  Carnival in Wonderland Parade on Saturday, Feb. 3. The award will be officially handed out at the Winter Break-Out on Wednesday, Feb. 7.

For more information, call Sarah Moorhouse or Cera Brown at 250-542-3470 or email [email protected].
Photo: The Canadian Press

The members of the Tragically Hip and "Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek were among the Order of Canada recipients to be honoured with medals on Friday.

Kingston, Ont., natives Rob Baker, Johnny Fay, Paul Langlois, Gord Sinclair and the late Gord Downie were made members of the Order of Canada for their cultural contributions to the nation and work on behalf of social and environmental causes.

Downie was previously honoured during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in June for his work in raising awareness of Indigenous issues.

Trebek, originally from Sudbury, Ont., was made an officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of his "iconic television work" and commitment to educational, environmental and humanitarian causes.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A Toronto man has been sentenced to five years in prison for claiming nearly $1 million in Goods and Services Tax and Harmonized Sales Tax refunds to which he wasn't entitled.

The Canada Revenue Agency says Alexander Wiafe  who was convicted of fraud over $5,000  also was fined $96,000 and faces an additional 18 months in custody if the fine isn't paid within five years of his release.

The CRA says Wiafe  the director and sole shareholder of Wiafco Industries Ltd.  filed eight quarterly GST/HST returns between March 13, 2013, and Dec. 31, 2014, claiming refunds for purchases that were either fictitious or not incurred by the company.

It says Wiafe claimed a total of $997,842 in refunds and received two refund payments totalling $106,057, which he used both for personal expenditures and also to further the fraud.

Wiafco was purportedly in the business of importing and exporting used clothing, but court heard that records and an inspection of its business premises did not reveal any legitimate commercial activity or source of funds.

In fact, the CRA says Wiafco's invoices and banking records were falsified, and Wiafe paid for leasing the business premises and equipment with the refunds he received from filing his first two fraudulent returns.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A woman who failed to take her son to the doctor for a strep infection has been sentenced to three years in prison  a punishment a Calgary judge says fits the grave crime that resulted in the seven-year-old boy's painful death.

Tamara Lovett, 48, was convicted in January of criminal negligence causing death.

Justice Kristine Eidsvik said it wasn't Lovett's fault her son Ryan got sick, but she had several days to get him proper medical care. The trial heard Lovett gave Ryan dandelion tea and oil of oregano when he developed the infection that kept him bedridden in their Calgary home for 10 days in 2013.

"Ryan suffered terribly from this inaction." she said in her sentencing decision Friday. "He died an excruciating, unnecessary death.

"Her failure to bring him to a medical doctor caused his death."

She noted that Lovett is still suffering terribly from grief and has admitted what she did was wrong.

"Her remorse, I believe, is genuine," said Eidsvik.

But the judge said she's not sure there has been a sincere shift in Lovett's beliefs that made her skeptical of the medical system.

The Crown had called for Lovett to spend up to five years in prison while her lawyer proposed one year behind bars and one year probation.

Prosecutor Jonathan Hak said outside court the sentence sends a clear message.

"If your child is not getting better, you are legally and morally bound to take that child to an actual doctor for actual medical care."

Defence lawyer Alain Hepner said Lovett's prison term will pale in comparison to what she has already suffered.

"She's received a life sentence already for being responsible for the death of her child," he said outside court.
Photo: The Canadian Press Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

The federal government will allocate up to $327.6 million over five years and $100 million a year after that to fight gun and gang violence, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Friday.

The money will finance a variety of programs to cut gun crime and criminal gang activities and stem the flow of illegal firearms into communities.

In March, the federal government also plans to host a summit on criminal guns and gangs, Goodale said, bringing together experts, front-line police, provincial, territorial and municipal government officials and community and Indigenous leaders to discuss the issue.

"Guns and gangs are not someone else's problem, they are everyone's problem and we need to work together to develop more effective intervention and enforcement approaches for reducing gun and gang violence across Canada," Goodale said at an event in Surrey.

"Lives, senselessly lost, are a clear indication of the urgency of fighting this scourge."

The government says there were 2,465 criminal firearms violations in 2016, an increase of 30 per cent since 2013. It also says 76 per cent of gang-related homicides involve firearms, compared with 20 per cent of non-gang killings.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A panel has decided against changing custodial conditions for a B.C. man who killed his three children during a psychotic break.

The B.C. Review Board released its decision on Friday, following an annual review of Allan Schoenborn's case.

It says the 49-year-old must stay at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam, but could be allowed escorted visits into the community.

Schoenborn was found guilty of stabbing his daughter and smothering his sons in their home in Merritt in April 2008, but a judge later ruled he was not criminally responsible for the deaths because he was experiencing psychosis at the time.

Crown counsel Wendy Dawson argued last week that the board should withdraw the discretionary power it gave the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam two years ago to allow Schoenborn accompanied access into the community.

But defence lawyer Dante Abbey told the board the possibility of escorted outings is an important tool to motivate Schoenborn in his recovery and withdrawing it would do further harm.
Photo: Contributed

Vancouver Police are warning the public after a young woman was sexually assaulted Wednesday night in East Vancouver. Minutes after getting off the SkyTrain at the Nanaimo station, she was grabbed from behind and groped before the masked suspect ran off.

The suspect is described as an Asian man, 20 to 30 years-old, 58, with a slim build and short dark hair. He wore a dark-coloured ball cap, dark-rimmed plastic framed glasses, a dark jacket with a light-coloured liner, dark pants, running shoes, and a white medical mask covering the lower half of his face.

The VPD Sex Crimes Unit believe this attack may be related to a similar incident from Oct. 29. where a woman was assaulted after exiting a transit bus near Victoria Drive and East 64th Avenue. The suspect in that incident was described as an Asian man, 59, 160 lbs., with short black hair, wearing a dark-coloured jacket, shorts, and a medical mask covering his face.

Although we have not confirmed the link between the two incidents, we want the public to be aware that similarities exist and one man could be responsible for both attacks, said VPD Constable Jason Doucette.

Out of an abundance of caution, we are sharing this information, and asking people to remain vigilant, particularly after leaving transit in East Vancouver. All suspicious behaviour should be reported to 9-1-1 immediately," he added.

Sex Crime Investigators would like to speak with anyone who has information about either of these assaults. Please call 604-717-0604 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Photo: The Canadian Press Paul Quassa is seen in this undated handout photo. A longtime Inuit politician has been chosen as the fourth premier of Nunavut. Paul Quassa was chosen by his fellow legislature members following a short campaign and vote.THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Government of Nunavut *MANDATORY CREDIT*

A longtime Inuit politician has been chosen as the fourth premier of Nunavut.

"I am out of words," was Paul Quassa's first statement after spending Friday answering questions from his fellow members of the legislature as to why they should vote for him.

Quassa then delivered a brief thank-you in Inuktitut.

"I am honoured to lead Nunavut and guide our shared vision for the territory," Quassa said in a statement.

"I am humbled by my fellow members' belief in me, eager to begin the work ahead and meet my counterparts across the country."

Under Nunavut's consensus-style government, the premier is chosen by members of the legislature following a general election, which was held Oct. 30.

The legislators also choose members of cabinet, who are assigned their portfolios by the new premier. There are no political parties and the members not in cabinet serve as a kind of opposition to scrutinize legislation.

Quassa has been a member of Nunavut's legislative assembly since 2013 and most recently served as education minister.

But he has a long career in Inuit politics behind him. He was one of the negotiators of the 1993 Nunavut Land Claim and was elected in 1999 as head of the group that oversees that claim.

His term with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. was interrupted over concerns over more than $20,000 in credit card expenses. He was reinstated after he repaid the money.

Quassa, who is from Igloolik, has worked with Isuma Productions, the film and video company that produced the movies "Atanarjuat" and "The Journals of Knud Rasmussen." He is also a former CBC broadcaster.

It was his second run at the premier's chair. He lost in 2013 to Peter Taptuna, who chose not to run in the recent election.

By many measures, Taptuna left the territory in better shape than when he took office.

The books remain balanced. Three mines are now producing and several others are moving forward. The Conference Board of Canada predicted 4.9 per cent growth for Nunavut this year, which would outpace the Canadian average.

Taptuna's government also passed Inuktitut language legislation to ensure services are available in the language most people speak.

Still, familiar problems remain. Nunavut is short about 3,000 homes and overcrowding is one reason tuberculosis rates are 50 times the southern average.

Suicide is also an epidemic. Taptuna declared it a crisis and appointed a high-ranking bureaucrat to oversee a new prevention strategy that includes a social media focus.

The territory's education system remains stuck between English and Inuktitut, producing graduates that many say function well in neither language. Taptuna's government  with Quassa as education minister  failed to pass legislation that would have created Inuktitut schools.

Quassa's government faces negotiations with Ottawa on a deal that would give the territory jurisdiction over its lands and resources, similar to what provinces enjoy.

And tough talks with the federal government over a carbon tax that many northerners argue is unfair will also be a challenge.

Quassa, his cabinet and Speaker Joe Enook are to be formally sworn in on Tuesday.
Photo: http://lmofcs.ca/

Reconciliation between Canada and its Indigenous peoples took a step forward with the government giving First Nations more control over child protection.

The Ministry of Children and Family Development has delegated child-protection authority for Metis families in the Kamloops area to Lii Michif Otipemisiwak Family and Community Services.

"We are committed to keeping children out of government care and returning them to their families, their communities and their culture. Transferring authority for Metis children and family services to the Lii Michif Otipemisiwak is a great way to mark Metis Day and one of the ways we can act on our commitment to true and meaningful reconciliation," said Katrine Conroy, Minister of Children and Family Development. "Indigenous and Metis communities know best how to take care of their children. We're working collaboratively and respectfully with Indigenous and Metis agencies and communities to ensure they have the right tools, funding and support to make a difference for the children and families they serve."

Delegation is the method through which the ministry transfers all or parts of its legislated authority under the Child, Family and Community Service Act (CFCSA) to an Indigenous child- and family-serving agency, which then delivers services directly to children in government care.

"Reclaiming this responsibility has remained our priority, as it is through healing our families that we will strengthen our communities and Nation," said Colleen Lucier, executive director of Lii Michif Otipemisiwak Family and Community Services (LMO). "We are honoured to be part of this positive change, and confident that with the teachings of our ancestors, and with the guidance and support of Elders and Metis leadership, we will improve outcomes for our Metis children, youth and families."

There are three levels of delegation, increasing in authority from voluntary services to full child-protection services, which includes investigation of child-protection concerns.

The LMO has achieved the highest level of delegation, which allows it to deliver all the services that the ministry would offer under the CFCSA - from family supports, to developing foster homes, to providing services for children moving out of care, to child-protection investigations and enforcement.
COLUMBUS  A 39-year-old Schuyler man pleaded guilty Friday to using false identification to get a job at Columbus-based Pillen Family Farms nearly three years ago.

Platte County District Court Judge Robert Steinke fined Cesar Madora-Marino $2,000 for his conviction of attempted criminal impersonation.

Madora-Marino, who was previously scheduled for a jury trial next month, waived a presentence investigation and proceeded straight to sentencing for the Class IV felony, which carried a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment, 12 months of post-release supervision and a $10,000 fine.

The defendant was initially charged with two counts of identity theft, a Class III felony punishable by up to four years in prison, two years of probation and a $25,000 fine.

In exchange for Madora-Marinos plea to the reduced charge, the prosecution agreed to a fine only and dismissed the second identity theft count.

According to court documents, a Columbus Police investigation of the case began in April when a Greeley, Colorado, man reported to police there that someone was using his identity to work at Pillen Family Farms in Columbus.

Columbus Police Investigator Heath Haynes wrote in his probable cause arrest statement that Madora-Marino used a fraudulent Nebraska identification card and Social Security number to gain employment in February 2015.

Pillen Family Farms officials reported the defendants earnings were $26,599 in 2015 and $29,886 in 2016, figures that were verified by W-2 forms provided by the company. Pillen officials also told authorities the employee resided in Schuyler.

When Haynes contacted the employee in Schuyler, Madora-Marino admitted using both forms of false identification so he could provide for his family, court documents state.
COLUMBUS  Don and Judy Dworak live their lives by a simple lesson.

We were taught to share if you can share, Don said.

The couple have been doing just that in numerous ways, impacting both the community and state.

For their contributions, the Dworaks were selected as the 2017 Distinguished Philanthropist Award winners. They will receive the award during a Columbus Area Philanthropy Council program at The Broken Mug at 1C Church, 2200 28th Ave.

The honor is appreciated, but not something the two were expecting.

They stretched, Don said. When I look at the previous recipients, I think we are not in that league.

That humility covers more than 60 years of giving to the community.

The two are originally from David City and moved to Columbus in 1969. Don said it was instilled in both of them early to perform charitable acts.

I think we feel that way because we had pretty good guidance from our parents and grandparents. They helped people, the 83-year-old said.

Don was a teacher for two years, then worked for an insurance agency before the couple opened their own insurance business. When they weren't working, the two were active in supporting many nonprofit organizations, especially in the area of education.

Recently, Don served on the board for the Childrens Scholarship Fund of Omaha, which provides tuition assistance for low-income families to send their children to private or parochial schools. The Dworaks have been active supporters of Scotus Central Catholic, as well as St. Bonaventure and St. Isidore Catholic churches.

The two believe education is important and served as honorary chairs during the effort to build a new library/cultural arts center.

Theres a real need for it, Judy, 75, said of the project that got turned down by local residents during an April bond vote.

They also started the Judy and Don Dworak Endowment for the Columbus Community Hospital Foundation. That endowment assists patients who need help paying hospital bills.

Don has supported more than a dozen other groups as a member or by serving on the board, including the Boy Scouts, Rotary, Eagles, American Red Cross, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Nebraska Wildlife Federation and Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation.

He was able to explore his lifelong interest in politics by being elected as a senator to the Nebraska Legislature for two terms starting in 1974.

That was one of the greatest experiences in my life to be able to help people, he said.

A piece of legislation he is particularly proud to have introduced is the habitat stamp program passed in 1977. The program has raised millions of dollars used to purchase thousands of acres of land for public hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation.

He also headed up an effort to purchase and renovate the Nebraska State Museum building and served as a delegate to Republican National Conventions in 1976 and 1980.

Even with a long history of giving back, the two feel like what they have done isnt that special.

Weve probably taken more than weve given, if you want to be honest about it. All of us are in that position, Don said.

The Dworaks wont be the only ones recognized at the Nov. 27 event.

Richard Otterpohl will be honored with the Legacy Award, which is given posthumously to an individual who left a lasting legacy through philanthropic giving after death.

Otterpohl, who passed away in 2014, left the majority of his estate to the Columbus Community Hospital Foundation and Columbus Christian School Foundation.

The hospital named Lake Esther, a pond just east of CCH, after Otterpohls mother, Esther Otterpohl Campbell.

Youth Philanthropy Contest participants will also have their projects on display at the event scheduled for 5-6:30 p.m. at 1C Church.
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Nebraska would be one of the states hardest hit if the U.S. decides to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to a report released Friday.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released its assessment of which states would feel the biggest negative effects from a NAFTA pullout just as U.S. negotiators were heading back to the bargaining table with their Mexican and Canadian counterparts.

The talks in Mexico City commenced Friday and are expected to last through Tuesday.

President Donald Trump has said he believes NAFTA is "the worst agreement ever negotiated" and is a much better deal for Mexico and Canada than it is for the U.S.

He has sought changes to the deal that many observers have said are unworkable.

Among the most contentious, according to the Bloomberg news service, are increasing the regional content requirement for automobile manufacturing to 85 percent from 62.5 percent, with a 50 percent minimum for U.S. content.

Another contentious U.S. proposal, Bloomberg said, is adding a sunset clause, which would automatically terminate the deal after five years unless the three countries agree to extend it.

Assuming he doesn't get what he wants in a renegotiation, the president has threatened to withdraw from the 23-year-old trade deal.

Experts have agreed that would have negative effects for all three countries, but, according to the chamber, it would hit a dozen states, including Nebraska, much harder than others.

The report projects that 87,000 jobs in the state would be at risk if the agreement is terminated, 10th-most among all the states.

"Fully 42 percent of Nebraska exports are destined for customers in Canada and Mexico, generating more than $2.6 billion in export revenue. A large majority of Nebraskas grain and oilseed (93 percent) exports go to Canada and Mexico, and withdrawing from NAFTA would hit this sector hard," the report says.

"Beef, corn, and soybeans are Nebraskas chief agricultural products, and the NAFTA market is critical for each. Nebraska is a top beef exporting state, and Mexico is a critical market. However, withdrawal from NAFTA would lead to an increase in Mexican tariffs on beef from zero to 25 percent, a significant blow for Nebraska ranchers."

The report says Michigan would likely be hit the hardest, with 366,000 jobs at risk.
Gary DeClue, a native of Farmington and graduate of Farmington High School, has been named to the Culver-Stockton College Fine Arts Hall of Fame and was inducted during the Alumni Honors Banquet held on campus during Homecoming festivities in Canton in late September.

DeClue, currently of Quincy, Illinois, is a retired Fine Arts division chair at John Wood Community College in Quincy. He earned degrees at Culver-Stockton College and Northeast Missouri (Truman) State University and completed advanced study at Drake University, Westminster Choir College and DePaul University.

In 1991, DeClue was named coordinator of Fine Arts at John Wood Community College and was selected to develop the schools first-ever fine arts program. He was a key figure in the planning and design of the $8.8 million Paul Heath Center, chairing the Fine Arts Design Committee and working with the buildings architect to plan a facility that would meet the needs of a growing fine arts program. He was a dedicated champion for the inclusion of an auditorium in the facility and insistent that the venue have outstanding acoustical properties.

DeClue directed three music groups at JWCC - Concert Choir; Vocal Show Ensemble; and Jazz Band - scheduling a rigorous concert season and tour to a major metropolitan city each year. He was also instrumental in the development of the Associate of Fine Arts degree and encouraged hands-on opportunities in performance and the visual arts. DeClue also served as JWCC Department Chair for English and Humanities and designed curriculums for music, art and drama. Under his leadership, the JWCC Fine Arts Department was named Arts Organization of the Year by the Quincy Society of Fine Arts.

While at JWCC, DeClue received the Quality Service Award and the Faculty Member of the Year Award two years running. He was twice elected President of the Colleges Faculty Senate and served as the Colleges representative to the Illinois Faculty Advisory Council for the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

DeClue was awarded the title Professor Emeritus upon his retirement from JWCC in 2015.

DeClue has also received several national awards in education. He was named a Master Presenter at the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development for the University of Texas in Austin and was also awarded the Illinois Distinguished Advisor Award for Phi Theta Kappa international honor society in Washington, DC, after guiding the group to its first ever 5-star rating.

DeClue is still active as a performer, clinician, and adjudicator. An experienced actor, he has played the part of Senator Stephen A. Douglas throughout the midwest and received national recognition for performing the role in the C-Span production of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. He has twice been featured as Senator Douglas on WSEC-TVs Emmy-winning PBS series Illinois Stories and recently revisited the role at the Lincoln in the District festival in Quincy. DeClue is also a member of Quincys legendary jazz group Ben Bumbry and the Messengers.

He is the son of Wanda DeClue and the late Raymond DeClue of rural Farmington.
Paul Pogba of Manchester United scores his sides third goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Newcastle United (Gareth Copley / Getty Images)

MANCHESTER, England  Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned from a seven-month injury layoff in Manchester United's 4-1 victory over Newcastle in the English Premier League, and so did the striker's bravado.

"I feel special," Ibrahimovic said. "Different day, same quality. I am not worried at all because I know what I can do."

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Asked if he feared the knee ligament damage was career-ending, the 36-year-old Swede replied: "Lions, they don't recover like humans."

United also welcomed back Paul Pogba from a shorter layoff with a hamstring injury. On his first appearance in two months, Pogba scored and set up another goal as he restored fluidity and dynamism to the team.

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"The most important thing is Zlatan came back, I came back," Pogba said. "We were more effective."

United overturned Dwight Gayle's early strike for Newcastle to remain eight points behind league leader Manchester City.

Pogba created the equalizer for Anthony Martial before Chris Smalling put the hosts ahead. Pogba then increased the advantage and Romelu Lukaku made victory certain by ending his seven-game goal drought.
High-heat roasting, this version from Ruth Reichl's new book "My Kitchen Year" is about the simplest method you can ask for. (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune)

Your dad does the best grilled turkey. Only way to do it, you swear. Wait, what about grannys cornbread-stuffed bird, roasted bronze and filling the entire house with a delicious perfume?

Let's be honest: There are, perhaps, more "best" or "perfect" turkey prep methods on this planet than there are turkeys at any one time: Smoked. Deep-fried. Braised. Butterflied. Poached, sous-vide style, in a vacuum-sealed bag.

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And, of course, the classic roasted.

Yet even that preparation is open to interpretation. And arguments. To stuff or not to stuff. To baste or not. Though the big bird has long dominated Thanksgiving tables, cooks everywhere are still searching for the perfect method.

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Here's our argument: They all work. So pick the one you like and ignore Uncle Fred.

We can help. Whether you've never roasted a turkey, or are looking to change the way you roast it, we've got five popular methods along with a few things you need to know to master each. Just thaw the bird (in the refrigerator, with a pan underneath), roast to 165 degrees internal temperature then let it rest about 30 minutes to distribute its juices.

Maybe you'll quiet the turkey debate and go back to arguing the merits of fresh vs. canned cranberry relish.

Now, please could you pass the gravy.

High-temperature roasting

Simple, no-fuss approach. This recipe is from Ruth Reichl's new "My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes that Saved My Life" (Random House, $35).

High-heat turkey: Heat your extremely clean oven to 450 degrees. Rinse and dry a 16-pound turkey and bring it to room temperature. Put it on a rack in a roasting pan, add a cup of water, put it in the oven, and forget about it for an hour. Rotate the pan, make sure there's still about a cup of water in the bottom (if not, add more), and cook for another hour and a quarter to an hour and a half, until a thermometer in the thigh registers 170 degrees. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the turkey to rest for half an hour before carving. That's all there is to it. Really.

Key: Oven must be perfectly clean; old drippings and spatters can produce lots of smoke. Use turkey as close to 16 pounds as possible. Be sure it is completely thawed.

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Getting under the skin

Butter, herbs or even stuffing, is tucked under the skin. This method puts moisture plus flavor on the breast meat which can become dry during roasting. Also helps with crisping skin.

Starting at the neck opening, slide your hand under the breast skin. Gently separate skin from the meat, reaching all across both halves. Stuff with softened butter to which you've added chopped fresh herbs, minced garlic, spices, etc. Or tuck in some of your favorite stuffing; one with a fatty meat to moisten the bird is best. Want a recipe? We like one from British chef and TV cooking show star Jamie Oliver (see below).

Key: Work carefully to loosen the skin to avoid poking holes in it. Distribute mixture as evenly as possible.

Brining

Makes for a juicy, flavorful bird. And you can choose a brine (salt-water mixture) with flavors you like.

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Be sure time is on your side. Skip the store-bought brines: You have everything in your kitchen to make your own. Figure 1/4 cup salt for every quart of water, then add a liberal amount of seasonings. We like this bourbon brine from Tribune Newspapers columnist JeanMarie Brownson: In a large food-safe plastic bucket or container, dissolve 1 cup dark brown sugar and 1/2 cup coarse salt in 2 cups very hot water. Stir in 2 cups cold water, 1/2 cup bourbon and 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes. Put the turkey in the brine. Add enough cool water to completely immerse the turkey. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

Key: Bird must be completely thawed before brining begins. Always soak bird in brine in the refrigerator; some recipes brine overnight, others suggest 12 hours. Discard brining liquid. Pat bird very dry before roasting. Brining will increase saltiness of pan juices.

Don't stuff it

The bird will roast faster, saving you 30-45 minutes roasting time. And you need not worry about food safety issues that may arise with temperature variations between the stuffing and bird.

Fill the cavity with herbs (sage, thyme, parsley) plus wedges of onions, oranges and apples. Place bird on a rack in a roasting pan and roast at 325 degrees, 15 minutes per pound.

Forget basting

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Regularly basting a bird with butter or pan juices is time consuming and annoying and lowers the oven temperature every time you open that door.

You can still get bronzed skin by liberally applying fat (often butter) to breast and legs before roasting. We like this trick: Soak a double layer of cheesecloth (large enough to cover breast and legs) in melted butter then drape it over bird for first hour of roasting before removing to finish roasting. Make sure bird sits low enough in oven so cloth does not touch oven's top coil.

Key: Browning too fast? Cover with foil to continue roasting to required temperature.

jhevrdejs@tribpub.com

Twitter @judytrib

Roast turkey with herby pork and apricot stuffing

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Prep: 1 hour

Cook: 3 hours and 40 minutes plus cooling and resting time

Makes: 8 servings

Adapted from Jamie Oliver's "Cook With Jamie."

Olive oil

1 sprig fresh sage, leaves picked

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6 strips pancetta or thinly sliced bacon

1 bulb garlic, broken into cloves

4 medium red onions, peeled

2 ribs celery, trimmed, chopped

1 big handful breadcrumbs

1 handful dried apricots

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10 ounces ground pork

Zest of 1 lemon

Pinch of grated nutmeg

1 large egg

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

12 small sprigs fresh rosemary, plus a few extra

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12-pound turkey, at room temperature

2 carrots, peeled

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1 large orange

2 tablespoons plain flour

1 quart chicken or vegetable stock

1 Heat the oven to maximum. Heat a saucepan until medium hot and add a splash of olive oil, sage leaves and the pancetta or bacon. Peel and chop 2 garlic cloves and 1 onion. Add garlic, celery and onion to saucepan and fry everything gently until soft and golden brown. Take the pan off the heat, add the breadcrumbs and, while the mix is cooling down, chop the apricots roughly and stir them in. When the stuffing has cooled down, add the pork, lemon zest, nutmeg, egg and lots of salt and pepper, and mix everything together well.

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2 Chop remaining onions in half and slice carrots thickly. Give turkey a good wipe, inside and out, with paper towels, and place it on a board, with the neck end toward you. Find the edge of the skin that's covering the turkey's breasts and gently peel it back. Work your fingers and then your hand under the skin, freeing it from the meat. If you're careful you should be able to pull all the skin away from the meat, keeping it attached at the sides. Go slowly and try not to make any holes. Lift the loose skin at the neck end and spoon the stuffing between the skin and the breast, tucking the flap of skin underneath to stop anything leaking out. Pop the orange in the microwave for 30 seconds to warm it up and stuff it into the cavity. Weigh the stuffed turkey and calculate the cooking time (about 15 minutes per 1 pound).

4 Place the bird on a large roasting pan, rub it all over with olive oil and season well. Surround with the chopped carrots, onions and remaining garlic, cover with tinfoil and place in the oven. Turn the heat down right away to 350 degrees, and roast until the juices run clear from the thigh if you pierce it with a knife or a skewer. Remove the tinfoil for the last 45 minutes to brown the bird.

5 Carefully transfer the bird to a cutting board and loosely cover with foil; allow to rest, at least 1 hour. When the resting times nearly up, skim the surface fat from the roasting pan and add the flour and stock. Place the tray on the stovetop and bring to a boil on a high heat. When the gravy starts to thicken, strain it into a bowl. Carve your turkey, serve with the gravy and dig in!
Chicago 

When the average American thinks of a Mexican dog, the little feisty Chihuahua comes to mind. This is largely thanks to the fast food giant Taco Bell that used the Chihuahua as its mascot, and whose television commercials have received criticism over the years for perpetuating Mexican stereotypes.

But since the promotion of "Coco" this year, the new Disney Pixar movie based on the Mexican tradition of Day of the Dead has awakened a binational interest for the noble and charismatic Aztec dog or the "Mexican hairless" dog: the Xoloitzcuintle.

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The animated film revolves around a Mexican boy named Miguel who, following his dream to become a musician, runs away from home and ends up in the Land of the Dead with his ancestors a likely reference to Mictlan of the indigenous Mexica tradition. Miguel is accompanied by a street Xoloitzcuintle named Dante who, according to ancient beliefs, has the ability to guide souls in their journey to the underworld upon their death.

The term Xoloitzcuintle comes from the Aztec language Nahuatl. 'Xolotl' means strange and itzcuintli signifies dog.

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In the old Mexican belief system, Xolotl was the god of transformation, duplicity; of darkness and the unknown. He was considered the twin brother of the supreme god, Quetzalcoatl, and was depicted as a man with a dog's head, according to the Association of Friends of the Museum of Mexican Popular Art.

The origin of the Xolos goes back about 3,000 years. For a long time, they were an endangered species. The Spanish conquest of Mexico almost wiped them out, and since then they have been cast aside because of their peculiar appearance. The ancient breed has won dog competitions in Mexico and the United States for being the "ugliest" dogs, despite its intelligence, ability, and speed.

A small but growing population of Xoloitzcuintles is located in the Chicago area. Sol Hernandez is a Pilsen resident who owns a family of five Xolos since before they were "trendy," she said.

Hernandez imported her first Xolo, Xihuitl, from Guadalajara, Jalisco in 2010. Soon after, she brought a female, Etskuni, which in 2016 gave birth to three puppies. Mother Xolo sometimes hunts squirrels, Hernandez said, as the breed is known for hunting coyotes.

There xoloitzcuintle comes in miniature, intermediate and standard size. Their slim, dark bodies lack hair, except for the tufts on their head, and occasional hair on the spine and the tip of the tail.

"They need a lot of space and they are sensitive to the cold. They are not ordinary dogs," Hernandez warned those who might be thinking of obtaining a "sacred" dog after watching the movie.

The Xolos have roots in the state of Hidalgo and are concentrated in central Mexico. In Chicago, Xolo dogs can be found in some homes in Little Village, Albany Park, and Cicero.

In 2016, the Xoloitzcuintle was officially recognized as part of the cultural heritage in Mexico City.
Esteban Burgoa embraces a boy in Oaxaca, Mexico during one of his trips to deliver aid to indigenous communities affected by the earthquakes. (COURTESY)

With their babies in their arms, several indigenous women from Santa Maria Xadani, Oaxaca, rushed to receive powdered milk, diapers and wet wipes from a man unloading a trailer truck. A video in social media shows the women thanking the man in the Zapotec language for the aid they received from the United States, which included food, clothing and new shoes.

"Diushs xquixhe (thank you very much, may God be with you)," the women said, sending a message to the donors.

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It was Esteban Burgoa, who lives in Chicago, the man that transported some 80,000 pounds of humanitarian aid into the Oaxacan Sierra in his trailer and distributed the supplies to those affected by the earthquakes that hit Mexico in September.

In a series of Facebook posts and videos, Burgoa documented his journey along with the reactions of those receiving the supplies gathered by community members in Chicago and New York City.

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"I came to serve the people in the same way I served the United States," said Burgoa, 54, a veteran of the US Navy and a native of Veracruz, Mexico.

A few volunteers and firefighters from New York also joined him on the mission to Mexico during the months of October and November.

The Oaxacan women, along with children, grandparents, men and young people from Chiapas, also thanked the community members of Chicago and New York for the help they received.

A group of women gather to receive diapers and milk in Oaxaca, Mexico. (COURTESY)

Burgoa, a trucker and a real estate agent in Chicago, put work aside to travel through Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Veracruz, and other cities for two months to deliver the help, he said.

He now has returned to the U.S with hopes to gather the supplies necessary to make a fourth trip to the affected Mexican communities.

This time, the veteran wants to transport the machinery and the tools necessary to help people rebuild their homes at a low cost. Burgoa is currently collecting donations to help rebuild a school in the mountains of Oaxaca.

In Santa Maria Xadani, the devastation was impressive, said Burgoa.

The town belongs to the district of Tehuantepec, about 20 minutes from Juchitan, Oaxaca, an area vastly affected by the natural disasters in Mexico.

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Since September 7, Oaxaca is no longer the same.

82 percent of the state's territory 470 of the 570 municipalities were declared disaster areas, according to reports.

Those affected are close to one million, of which 120 thousand are in shelters, without a home, according to reports. The situation is similar in at least 41 municipalities. Authorities have reported 105 deaths; 82 due to the earthquakes of September 7, 19 and 23, and 23 others due to the rains.

Esteban Burgoa carries a little girl while helping a group of men and boy from an indigenous community in Oaxaca hold a posted that reads "We need help," in Spanish. (COURTESY)

In early October, another delegation from Chicago sent supplies collected by activists in the Chicago and the metropolitan area, supervised by the Rev. Jose Landaverde.

Some donations were given to the Catholic priest Alejandro Solalinde, founder and leader of the Albergue Hermanos en el Camino, in Ixtepec, Oaxaca, a shelter that focuses on the protection of Central American migrants moving through Mexico.

Both groups shared the delivery of donations on their social media platforms. The videos and photos show barefoot children receiving shoes, seniors unwrapping wheelchairs and mothers collecting diaper bags.

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Burgoa said he is committed to returning to help "raise up" the indigenous communities.
Two months after hurricanes Irma and Maria wreaked havoc on the island of Puerto Rico, many residents in the island are still trying to come to terms with what happened. Many have lost their homes, some have lost loved ones and a few have even lost their hope.

In Chicago, members of the Grace and Peace Community Church at 2100 N Kildare Ave., and other community members have joined forces to make up for the lack of resources being sent to the island as well as provide evacuees with resources upon arrival. Working out of their sanctuary, the church has organized with about 20 other churches, Puerto Rican institutions, and schools, to send relief aid to the island.

Pastor John Zayas says the congregation became the leading distributor of donations almost unexpectedly after a woman in Elmwood Park, Illinois, reached out asking for help to store donations in the church's Revive Center.

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"We recently sent 155,000 pounds of food," said Pastor John standing in the worship space that since hurricane Harvey has been used to store pallets on pallets of bottled water and food.

The building is unheated, missing some windows and does not have proper lighting. Despite it all, Pastor John and other volunteers work to sort through the daily delivered donations and organize shipments to the island.

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"It's a multitude of folks and it's [ordinary] people. Individual folks giving ten cases of water or, [there was] one family who bought a pallet of water. This is how this has all added up, people just giving to people, not large corporations, businesses or politicians," added the pastor whose family is from San Lorenzo and Catano, Puerto Rico.

Donations to help Puerto Rico arrive daily, says Pastor John, sometimes even in semi-trucks. (ALONDRA VALLE/HOY)

The entire operation is run by community members. The pastor has leaned on members who have had job experience in distributing centers to deal with the logistics. Shipments are made by volunteers who are willing to check up to 300 pounds of goods on their flights to Puerto Rico and then personally deliver those goods to the organizations that requested the aid to ensure that the process is as transparent as possible.

"After my last trip to Puerto Rico and working with the agencies I worked with, I found out that they are really connected to the communities," said the Pastor.

Although some progress is being made, he said it's not enough considering the damage the island has to recover from.

Pastor John, of Grace and Peace Community Church, has traveled to Puerto Rico to deliver goods to areas severely affected by Hurricane Maria. (ALONDRA VALLE/HOY)

"It was hard to see the island that was once a paradise, now looking like a third world country," he said.

80 percent of the island is still lacking electricity and hopes of moving forward and returning to a normal life are diminishing on the island, the Pastor added.

"They feel like they're not wanted right now. Like they're second-class citizens like they're the forgotten ones," he said. "And all of these emotions are building up from hundreds of years of feeling a little not recognized. They are people that are resilient, that are willing to fight back and make it happen but some folks are dispirited. It's hard to continue living the way the island is, they're at a pause."
Harold Washington, Chicagos charismatic first black mayor, died 30 years ago on the day before Thanksgiving.

He was a remarkable man, a child of the Chicago Democratic Machine who broke that machine to his will.

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But I suspect that in some retrospectives, one thing might be lost. And I dont want it to get lost.

Because what happened 30 years ago, as Chicagos black politics tore itself apart after Washingtons death, still reaches across the decades and shapes the political face of the city today.

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The Washington ascendancy story involves the struggle, and hope and promise of African-Americans who had been denied so much in a city mired in racist politics.

But the story after he collapsed  the story that isnt often told  is about the death of black political power in Chicago.

It was killed in a vicious black-on-black Chicago political war, full of racial invective and identity politics.

Its not a nice story to tell; some might not want to hear it, but thats what happened, said professor Robert Starks of Northeastern Illinois University, who was one of the young black organizers for Washington.

Whats sad about it all is that we had the power. We fought for it for decades, fought the machine; and then, after he died, we fought among ourselves and handed it right back.

We just gave it away. Thats whats sad, said Starks.

There are prominent black elected officials in Chicago. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx and also Kurt Summers, the city treasurer, to name a few.

And that fellow who learned his politics here and was himself belittled in ugly racial terms, not by whites, but by black Chicago Democrats: Barack Obama, who was told he wasnt black enough.

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Obamas office was the presidency. But still, the office of the mayor of Chicago is the mark of power in this town.

The mayoralty is the whole ballgame, said Starks. And the black community had that power. And in a terrible, self-destructive fight, we cut each others hearts out and it was over.

I was there. Starks was there. And there are still reporters and politicians who were there, who saw it firsthand when black politics died in Chicago.

After Washingtons death, there was an inevitable fight for power.

On one side was Ald. Tim Evans of the 4th Ward, a protege of the notorious Democratic machine boss Claude Holman, backed by blacks and whites and Latinos of the citys political left.

On the other was Ald. Eugene Sawyer of the 6th Ward, backed initially by several black aldermen who had to withdraw their support, leaving him to rely on white aldermen who had opposed Washington.

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It was Sawyers 6th Ward political organization that delivered for Washington in his historic 1983 election. The 6th Ward pulled in the most votes for Washington citywide.

In college at Alabama State in Montgomery, Sawyer and other young men from the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity would stand guard around the home where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stayed during the 1955 bus boycott. They put their bodies in the way of violence to protect him.

But in the days after Washingtons death, it was Sawyer who was demeaned, loudly, publicly, as an Uncle Tom, as a race traitor. And Claude Holmans protege? They named him Washingtons true heir.

It was nonsense. But it was backed by skillfully applied racial invective, and the raw emotion of black Chicago after Washingtons passing left African-American voters vulnerable to the suggestions.

The Evans forces, led by Washingtons tough political director Jacky Grimshaw and pro-Washington aldermen were determined to keep power. Evans wouldnt have run things. Evans was their front man.

So in the days between Washingtons death and the Chicago City Council meeting to appoint a new mayor to fill Washingtons term, the Evans forces hit on a perfect plan. It was desperate. It was ugly. And it worked.

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They held a Washington memorial service that was in reality a political rally for Evans. City Hall buses hauled thousands to the UIC Pavilion. It was the perfect setup.

At the Evans rally, his backers rhetorically peeled Sawyers skin and denounced him as a race traitor. The loudest was the late Sun-Times columnist Vernon Jarrett, a longtime friend of Washingtons and the citys leading African-American journalist.

Shouting, emotional, Jarrett compared Sawyer to African militia killing African babies. He said black aldermen who favored Sawyer were like those freed slaves who voluntarily returned to the plantations.

He compared black politicians supporting Sawyer to the Klan.

Treat those black enemies like you treat the Ku Klux Klan, Jarrett shouted as the crowd roared.

As Starks recalled that night as we spoke the other day, he said:

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When Vernon started, I thought: Its all over. Black politics is over. The Daleys were loving it. They saw the fracture.

The late activist Lu Palmer, one of the true founders of the Washington movement, warned about turning the memorial into an anti-Sawyer rally that would rip the black vote apart.

And since that time Ive been wary of emotional appeals in politics, to turn the heads of vulnerable voters in the cynical exercise of power.

After Sawyer was selected by the City Council, Evans went to court to force a special election. The Chicago media were decidedly pro-Evans. Sawyer was politically decapitated.

I drove south recently to the 6th Ward, to speak to Sawyers son, Ald. Roderick Sawyer.

It hurt my father deeply, Sawyer told me. They called him Mayor Mumbles, they called him Uncle Tom, the media piled on. And whats odd about it all is that my dad provided more jobs to black people than almost anyone except for John Strogers 8th Ward.

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All he wanted to do was fill out Harolds term, then he would have retired. He died bankrupt, and the ones around Evans, they did OK for themselves, didnt they?

Sawyer only served about 15 months before the special election, forced by Evans, was called. And the angry rhetoric of those times, the strident attempts to define black political aspirations, all the shouting gave white liberals the chance to peel away.

And they backed Richard M. Daley, son of Boss, for mayor. He promised to quiet the angry voices in Chicago. He ruled for two decades and spent the city into near bankruptcy. And he begat Rahm Emanuel.

If Sawyers enemies had not lowered themselves to casting him as a race traitor, theres a good chance Chicago would have a black mayor today.

But it was Daley. As if by coincidence.

Evans became the longtime and undistinguished chief judge of the Cook County Courts.

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Former pro-Evans alderman and now U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush  who once said Obama wasnt black enough to challenge him  has had a long career, although hes not known for a thing.

Former pro-Evans alderman now U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis isnt known for legislation either. But he is known for once carrying a golden crown on a satin pillow for the wealthy Korean businessman Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who proclaimed himself a messiah at a ceremony.

Former pro-Evans alderman now U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez has built a nice power base. He wont die bankrupt.

They got along just fine with Daley.

But the scars on the black community havent healed, Roderick Sawyer said. They should have treated my father better.  After that rally, it was over. And 30 years later, we havent had a serious black candidate for the office of mayor.

This isnt the rosy version of Chicago history. But thats what happened in those days after Harold Washington died.

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Listen to "The Chicago Way" podcast with John Kass and Jeff Carlin  at http://wgnradio.com/category/wgn-plus/thechicagoway.

jskass@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @John_Kass
The former foreign correspondent Georgie Anne Geyer talks at the Drake Hotel in Chicago on Nov. 15, 2017. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

Next to the golden elevator doors in Chicagos old Drake Hotel is a case filled with photos of famous guests.

Princess Di is there, Aretha Franklin, Vince Vaughn, Diane Keaton, and a woman whose fame is less glittery, Georgie Anne Geyer.

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I was studying Geyers photo the other day  her frank gaze, her elbow propped on a typewriter, a bow at the collar of her silky blouse  when a bellhop passed by. He paused.

Shes an amazing lady, he said, unsolicited. My favorite guest.

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Geyer, who was in town for an event in her name at Dominican University, is 82 now, but when she came to her hotel door the other afternoon she still had the keen gaze of the younger woman in the photo downstairs.

She was wearing bright red lipstick, her blond hair pinned up. With a smile, she waved a hand slightly in front of her mouth to indicate that she has trouble speaking. Ten years ago she had surgery for tongue cancer, and her speech has been slurred ever since.

It didnt matter. For the next couple of hours, we talked.

Geyer is often described as a legendary journalist, but she prefers the word reporter, a life that began at the Chicago Daily News.

I dont think there was a day when I wasnt filled with expectation, she said, thinking back on her newspaper life. Who am I going to interview today? What am I going to learn today?

Reporting wasnt an obvious choice for a woman of her place and moment. Born in 1935, raised in a brick bungalow on Chicagos working-class Far South Side, she grew up in an age when, as she wrote in her autobiography, there was no womens movement, and the old feminist movement of the twenties had left little residue for our type of world. Too, World War II had left the United States with men who craved the hearth and women who craved their men.

Chicago, as well, was different in that era.

It was a very harsh city then, she said, glancing toward the hotel rooms windows and Lake Michigan just beyond. It didnt have this gorgeous front lawn that Chicago has today. Not the gorgeous big buildings.

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Geyer was still a girl when she felt the urge  her destiny, she says  to write and to explore. In her 20s, after graduating from Northwestern University, she took a job at the Chicago Daily News, where she was surrounded by men. One was Mike Royko, who went on to be the most famous columnist Chicago ever produced.

Royko sat in front of me, she said. He was a very smart boy when he came. He never expected to be as good as he was. Suddenly you saw this genius come out of this sweet boy.

Years later, after shed seen the huge stress and success that writing brought to that boy, and after hed watched her become a famous foreign correspondent, he wrote the introduction to her autobiography, Buying the Night Flight.

Out in the newsroom  and the Chicago Daily News was typical of major newspapers of that era  a woman was as rare as a teetotaler, he wrote.

He went on: Shes nuts, we all laughed, in our basso voices, when Gee Gee made clear her intentions to become a foreign correspondent.  We were still chuckling when she managed to get herself assigned to South America.

They soon learned it was no joke. Geyer traipsed into the mountains of Guatemala to interview guerrilla fighters, covered a revolution in the Dominican Republic and scored an interview with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, just one of many foreign leaders through the years who agreed to talk to her.

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And what was Castro like?

Essentially incoherent, she said.

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi?

He was a desert boy, raised in a tent. He never really got it in the city.

Irans Ayatollah Khomeini?

I knew that everything he said was dissimulation.

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In those years, before computers and Wi-Fi, she traveled with three outfits of clothes, a bathing suit and an Olivetti typewriter.

She went to Africa, the Middle East, the Soviet Union, almost everywhere, it seemed. She wrangled interviews with Iraqs Saddam Hussein, the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, King Hussein of Jordan, almost everyone, it seemed.

It was the kind of foreign correspondents life thats rare today, not only because newspapers are shrinking but because the world makes it harder.

One of my specialties was getting to these guerrilla groups, she said. Today I couldnt do that with ISIS or al-Qaida. Theyd kill me.

Eventually, Geyer moved to Washington, D.C., and settled into writing a syndicated column. She was so well-known that her doppelganger  an ostensibly fictional blond journalist named Georgie Anne who had worked in Chicago and written a biography of Castro  appeared as a regular character in the 1990s sitcom Hearts Afire.

She hated the depiction, notably the dubious way the sitcom Georgie Anne used her feminine wiles. That was not her way. Royko wrote a column denouncing the show. (The shows creator denied the connection.)

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Meanwhile, the real Georgie Anne continued to make her mark, giving speeches, appearing often on political TV talk shows.

Then the tongue cancer came.

It destroyed my professional life, she said.

Words, not just written but spoken, were the tools of her trade. After the surgery, she went to therapy after therapy, hoping in vain.

I kept thinking I would be the way I was, she said.

She never would be. It meant the end of phone interviews and Washington events where she once cultivated sources.

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When you come and you cant speak, she said, people tire of you very quickly.

Still, she could write.

One day this week, she went to the Drake business center to compose her weekly syndicated column, a reflection on President Donald Trumps trip to Asia. It wasnt a glowing review.

Shes still mulling what to write about the new wave of outrage over sexual harassment. She calls this moment way overdue, but isnt sure what she wants to say.

I dont want to get to a point, she said, where men are afraid to say, Hello, beautiful.

Geyer hasnt been overseas in 10 years, but her mind still roams the world. Every morning, she reads five papers, with CNN on mute, and a cup of coffee and her cat by her side. Her favorite moment of the day is happy hour, 5 p.m., when, although she can no longer eat, she can sip a scotch and soda.

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The night after our interview, she went to Dominican University in River Forest for the second annual Georgie Anne Geyer Initiative lecture, part of a program that funds scholarships for students who want to be foreign correspondents.

She wrote a speech that a friend delivered for her, about the need to search for truth in the country, in the world, beyond the screaming.

Few people have seen as much of the world as Georgie Anne Geyer has, and theres still more to see, though she may not get there.

I miss going into a place, getting to know people, getting their stories, she said on the afternoon we talked. But you have to come to some peace in yourself.

Out the window, Lake Michigan had gone dark. It was 5 p.m.

Happy hour.

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mschmich@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @MarySchmich

[ Column: Isn't it romantic? Not when we're talking about Roy Moore ]

[ Column: When will all this talk about sexual harassment end? ]
An 18-year-old man was seriously wounded about 5:30 p.m. Friday in the Little Village neighborhood on the West Side, Chicago police said.

He was standing on the porch of a home in the 2300 block of South Sacramento Avenue when someone shot him in the abdomen, police said. He was taken in serious to critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital, according to police and fire officials.

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No one was in custody.

In a separate West Side shooting a little more than a mile away, a 21-year-old woman was shot in the back in the Lawndale neighborhood about 3:30 a.m. Saturday, police said.

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She was on the sidewalk in the 1300 block of South Albany Avenue when someone in a red sedan fired shots at her. She was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where her condition was stabilized.

Check back for updates.
Police found a 1-year-old boy unharmed after he was taken in the theft of a running car in the 9100 block of South State Street on Nov. 18, 2017. (Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune/Videolicious - Chicago Tribune)

The woman pulled over at the three-car traffic crash to make sure her friend was OK early Saturday on the city's South Side.

The 28-year-old got out of a white Hyundai Sonata with her 9-year-old son and left the car running for her 1-year-old son, who was still seated inside, according to Chicago police and a relative.

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That's when a stranger jumped in her car and took off  with the little boy still inside.

After about 10 minutes, Gresham district police officers found the car half a mile away in the 9100 block of South Prairie Avenue in the West Chesterfield neighborhood. The boy was not harmed.

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The woman believed the man who jumped in her car was another driver involved in the traffic accident, said relative Wendy Fowler. The crash happened near the expressway in the 9100 block of South State Street.

After locating the car, officers used yellow crime scene tape to block off the vehicle from the street and called an evidence technician to recover prints from it. A detective also came to the scene.

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The woman sat in a car with other people as police investigated, talking and crying on the phone as she recounted her experiences to others. She was too distraught to talk to a reporter.

The cheerful baby boy sat in her lap, squirming and smiling, gleefully unaware of what had happened.

The incident comes less than a week after police found two infants unharmed who were taken in a running vehicle that was stolen in the nearby Chatham community early Sunday.

In that theft, the 36-year-old father went inside a gas station in the 8700 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue to buy a bottle of water. He figured he'd be right back and left the keys inside the black Chevrolet sedan about 12:15 a.m.

The father told police he watched a man get into the vehicle and drive away.

Officers found the car legally parked about five minutes later in the 800 block of East 90th Street with both infants unharmed.

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Chicago police have said said they repeatedly warn the public against leaving cars running and unattended, at any time.
Chicago police issued an alert warning of several armed robberies in recent weeks on the South Side.

Police said a group of at least four people displayed a weapon and demanded victims' property or used force without a weapon.

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The robbery spree started about 4:30 a.m. Oct. 2 in the 200 block of East 87th Street was followed by at least 11 more incidents.

 Oct. 2 about 7 p.m. in the 8600 block of South Cottage Grove.

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 Oct. 5 about 3:45 p.m. in the 8200 block of South Maryland Avenue.

 Oct. 10 about 4 p.m. in the 8700 block of South Cottage Grove.

 Oct. 11 about 9 a.m. in the 8200 block of South Ellis Avenue.

 Oct. 11 about 4 p.m. in the 8100 block of South Cottage Grove.

 Oct. 13 about 12:05 a.m. in the 8700 block of South Cottage Grove.

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 Nov. 5 about 7:05 p.m. in the 600 block of East 87th Street.

 Nov. 7 about 3:30 p.m. in the 8400 block of South Cottage Grove.

 Nov. 8 about 7 p.m. in the 8300 block of South Maryland Avenue.

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 Nov. 12 about 11:15 a.m. in the 8200 block of South Cottage Grove.

 Nov. 12 about 2 p.m. in the 8200 block of South State Street.

The robbers are described as one to four black males, between the ages of 15 to 40, 5-foot-2 to 6-foot-3 tall, and weighing between 110 to 200 pounds. The suspects have various hair styles and complexions, police said.

Anyone with information about the robberies should contact detectives at 312-747-8273.
It's hard to exaggerate the praise heaped on Air Force Gen. Jay Silveria after his impassioned speech against racism went viral at the end of September. Silveria, superintendent of the Air Force Academy, spoke after five black cadet candidates at the academy's prep school found racial slurs written on message boards outside their rooms.

"If you can't treat someone from another race or a different color skin with dignity and respect, then you need to get out," an angry Silveria told students. "If you can't treat someone with dignity and respect, then get out." When video of his speech hit the internet -- nearly two million YouTube views -- and then cable TV, and then the old-fashioned press, the applause began. Silveria, some said, was a true American hero.

But in a few of the nation's largest media outlets, the acclaim wasn't just about Silveria. For some, celebrating Silveria was at least as much, if not more, about President Trump than it was about the Air Force general. For them, it was not enough to praise Silveria. One must also to denounce Trump.

The Washington Post published an editorial headlined, "Moral guidance, if not from the president." Silveria's speech was "a welcome reminder of what leadership can look like," the paper wrote, "all the more necessary and welcome because of the absence of leadership at the highest levels of government."

On television, CNN took a leading role in lauding Silveria. Anchor Brooke Baldwin began a segment on the general by saying, "Some say the president's rhetoric is divisive, not that of a commander-in-chief. Others will say that's why they love him. What is true, whether you agree with him or not, he has a tendency to go too far, to divide rather than unite. There's a moment I wanted to share with you today that has so many people saying, 'Those are the words of a leader,' at a time when the divided nation needs them most."

Baldwin played a long clip of Silveria's speech and then introduced a live interview with Silveria himself. She began the interview with, "May I just say bravo ... "

CNN's Don Lemon also reported the Silveria story as a Trump story. "I really hope the president is watching tonight as well as his supporters," Lemon said, adding that Silveria's words "are a stark reminder of everything our president is not saying."

"I think it's just a crying shame we don't have this kind of leadership from the president," added CNN's Van Jones.

Now, as everyone knows, there's an update to the story. The cadet candidate who reported the racial slurs has admitted that he was behind the whole thing. It was all a hoax. The young man, who is black, has left the academy.

Anyone who follows such incidents, certainly anyone in the news business, should have known that there was a substantial chance the Air Force Academy vandalism was a fake. Too many such incidents have turned out to be hoaxes not to raise suspicions about new ones, pending the results of an investigation.

There was the young black man in Kansas who admitted writing racist graffiti on his car. There was the black man in Michigan charged in three racist graffiti incidents at Eastern Michigan University. There was the young Muslim woman in New York who admitted making up a story about being attacked by white Trump supporters. The black Bowling Green State University student who said white Trump supporters threw rocks at her. The University of Louisiana student who said a white man wearing a Trump hat tried to pull off her hijab.

Then there was the wave of stories about threats to Jewish community centers -- stories that received widespread news coverage in the context of the new Trump presidency. Most of the threats were made by a teenager in Israel, with the others made by a former journalist who was somehow trying to get back at a former girlfriend.

None of that means that all hate crimes reports are false. But it does mean people reporting and commenting on them should be cautious until the facts are known.

Gen. Silveria chose not to be cautious.

Now, Silveria has chosen to double down on his message. "Regardless of the circumstances under which those words were written, they were written, and that deserved to be addressed," Silveria said in a statement to the Colorado Springs Gazette. "You can never over-emphasize the need for a culture of dignity and respect -- and those who don't understand those concepts aren't welcome here."

There's also a need for accuracy when the head of the Air Force Academy makes a high-profile statement that reaches millions of Americans.

But it seems unlikely Silveria's jump-the-gun performance will hurt him, certainly not with those who repeatedly brought President Trump into coverage of the phony hate crime. When CNN reported Silveria's response to the hoax revelation, Baldwin was quick to offer support. "Well, he's right," Baldwin said of Silveria. "The words ring true. It's just unfortunate to learn who really (did it)."

Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner.
Nicole Harris, center, shown here celebrating after receiving her master's degree on May 11, 2017, with her daughter, Delilah Mables, and friend Lawanda Carvin, was exonerated in 2013 after spending nearly eight years in prison for the murder of her 4-year-old son. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)

A federal jury sided with Chicago police Friday and awarded no damages to a woman who alleged that detectives coerced her into confessing to the killing of her 4-year-old son more than a decade ago.

Nicole Harris spent nearly eight years in prison before a federal appeals court in 2013 overturned her murder conviction. After her release, Harris sued eight Chicago police detectives and officers involved in the investigation, alleging they coerced her confession during a 27-hour interrogation that involved questionable use of a lie detector test.

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After hearing three weeks of evidence, the jury deliberated for about seven hours before finding in favor of the officers on all seven counts, including conspiracy, fabrication of evidence, malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Harris was not present for the verdict when it was read in U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eves courtroom. Her lawyers said in a statement that they were very disappointed with the outcome.

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Although Nicole has been declared innocent of these charges by the courts, this decision confirms the difficulty in overcoming a false confession, the statement read.

After the trial was adjourned, Andrew Hale, the lead attorney for the officers, said he needed authorization from the citys Law Department before he would comment. The Law Department, meanwhile, emailed a one-sentence statement saying, We are pleased with the verdict and the fact that the jury agreed that the officers who investigated this unfortunate and tragic case did not commit any misconduct.

Harris son, Jaquari Dancy, was found in his room by his father in May 2005 with a fitted bedsheet cord around his neck. Police originally believed the boy died after he became accidentally entangled in the elastic, but the investigation took a turn after an anonymous tip.

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After more than a day of questioning, Harris allegedly admitted she was angry that Jaquari wouldnt stop crying and choked him with a telephone cord until he stopped struggling and blood was coming out of his mouth, court records show.

Harris testified at her criminal trial that shed only confessed so the interrogation would end. She said she was told incorrectly that she had failed a polygraph test and that one of the detectives screamed at her, calling her a monster and telling her she would spend the rest of her life behind bars if she didn't cooperate.

The day after Jaquaris death, his 5-year-old brother told authorities he saw Jaquari wrap the cord around his neck while playing. The judge barred him from testifying at Harris trial, however, citing in part the boy's belief in Santa Claus and Spider-Man.

A Cook County jury found Harris guilty of first-degree murder after only two hours of deliberations. She was later sentenced to 30 years in prison.

In a strongly worded opinion, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that excluding the brother's testimony was not only unconstitutional but that it robbed Harris of the most valuable piece of evidence in her defense. His testimony would have bolstered Harris' claim that Jaquari's death was accidental, as the medical examiner's office had initially ruled, the judges wrote.

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jmeisner@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @jmetr22b
A rider waits to board a westbound bus near the CTA Blue Line station on Chicago Avenue near Milwaukee Avenue on Oct. 31, 2017. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)

It looks likely that the CTA will include a fare hike in its proposed budget next week to make up for a loss in state funding.

Its unknown what an increase might look like  if it would be for all types of rides, or rail only, or for regular fares but not passes. But any rate hike carries the risk of driving down already sinking ridership, transit experts and advocates say.

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Theres always a decrease with any fare increase, said Charles Paidock, secretary for Citizens Taking Action, an advocacy group for transit-dependent riders.

The rule of thumb in the transit industry is that a 10 percent hike can reduce ridership by about 3 percent, said Ian Savage, a Northwestern University economics professor who specializes in transit issues.

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An analyst with the American Public Transportation Association said that for transit systems with fares around the CTAs level, the most common increase is 25 cents, said spokeswoman Virginia Miller. If applied to the current $2.25 rail fare, that would be an 11 percent increase.

Neither Mayor Rahm Emanuel or CTA President Dorval Carter have ruled out a fare increase, though both stress that they want no service cuts. Carter said Wednesday that staff members were leaving no stone unturned to find ways to plug the deficit without raising fares.

The head of the Regional Transportation Authority sent a letter to the CTA last week advising it to raise fares to balance its budget or risk losing some funding  which would result in massive service disruptions.

The state budget passed last summer imposed a 2 percent sales tax surcharge plus a 10 percent cut in public transportation funding on the transit agencies. Those cuts combined with sluggish sales tax growth adds up to 2018 funding losses for all three local transit agencies  the CTA, Metra and Pace. For the CTA alone, the loss is more than $33 million.

The boards of both Metra and Pace voted to raise 2018 fares last week.

The agencies have had no capital plan from the state since 2009 to fix their aging infrastructure. The CTA also has not been getting full state reimbursement for the mandated free and reduced-fare rides it provides to students, seniors and other eligible riders.

Meanwhile, CTA ridership has fallen almost 9 percent since its peak of 546 million riders in 2012, down to 498 million in 2016, a situation it blames in part on lower gas prices and increased use of other transportation options, like ride-hailing services and bikes. The drop, mostly affecting bus ridership, reflects national trends.

The agency also has other future costs to consider. It is negotiating with its unions on new contracts, which are expected to increase operating costs. Its 2017 spending plan was for $1.52 billion, a 3.3 percent increase over 2016.

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The CTA has not raised fares across the board since 2009, when it increased the cost of bus rides to $2 from $1.75, and L rides to $2.25 from $2. It raised pass prices in 2013.

Washington, D.C.s, transit service raised fares this year to $3 for rail and $2 for buses, according to figures provided by the CTA. Philadelphia and San Francisco also raised fares this year to $2.50 for bus and rail. In New York City, a fare for bus or rail on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is $2.75, and officials are talking about a possible increase.

Cities with transit fares lower than Chicagos include Boston, at $2.25 for rail and $1.70 for bus, and Los Angeles at $1.75 for bus and rail.

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Former CTA executive Director Robert Paaswell, now distinguished professor of civil engineering at the City College of New York, said all older legacy transit agencies face the same issues as the CTA and Metra: decades of poor funding by the government, of setting fares too low and lack of help from the private sector. He said the private sector, which depends on transit riders for workers, should be contributing to better transit.

Paidock said he is opposed to any fare increase and irritated at the CTAs talk about preserving service when the agency has cut service over the years. He cited as an example the elimination of several bus routes in 2012.

Paaswell said riders will be more willing to pay higher fares if service also improves. If you raise fares and the trains are more crowded, thats when youre really going to begin losing ridership. You must provide better service with an increased price.

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Kyle Whitehead of the Active Transportation Alliance, which advocates for pedestrians, cyclists and transit users, said that if fares go up, lawmakers should explore establishing a discounted fare for low-income riders.

The transit cuts, which were buried in this summers budget agreement, are unacceptable given the proven economic, environmental and public health benefits of public transit investment, said Whitehead, the alliances government relations director. Meanwhile, the state continues to pursue costly and ineffective road projects that only lead to more driving and sprawl.

mwisniewski@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @marywizchicago

[ RELATED: Emanuel doesn't rule out CTA fare hike ]

[ Column: As buses slow and ridership sinks, advocates look for ways to lure commuters back ]

[ Metra board OKs fare hikes, service cuts for next year  and warns there could be more ]
Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypools letter to the school district watchdog publicly acknowledged his role in an investigation that has centered on a $250,000 contract awarded to a law firm that once employed CPS general counsel. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool apologized Friday for conduct related to an ongoing inspector general ethics probe, in an unusual letter to the school district watchdog.

Claypools words publicly acknowledged his role in an investigation that has centered on a $250,000 contract awarded to a law firm that once employed CPS general counsel Ronald Marmer. The attorney is among several of Claypool's former colleagues and past political donors who have won district jobs and consulting contracts.

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Claypool said he intervened to reword an invoice for an outside legal opinion he requested on the matter, after telling Inspector General Nicholas Schuler that he did not recall asking for such changes.

Claypool also acknowledged Schuler has unspecified documents that contradict the CEOs initial claim.

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Schulers office has already concluded that Marmer violated the districts ethics code because the attorney receives severance payments for his work at Jenner & Block, but still supervised that law firms work on this years failed CPS effort to sue the State of Illinois over education funding.

Four in-house CPS attorneys reached the same conclusion, Schuler said this summer in a preliminary internal report.

Claypool then tapped two additional lawyers  veteran district labor attorney James Franczek and a former CPS general counsel  for additional opinions.

Those attorneys also agreed Marmer violated the ethics code, according to Schulers internal report.

I was disturbed when they then billed for their advice, because I had not asked for a formal opinion and did not expect to be charged for one, Claypool wrote Friday. And, to be candid, I didnt agree with their advice and didnt want it to undercut public confidence in our lawsuit, or create a distraction to the civil rights violations of Chicagos students.

Claypool said he did not recall requesting changes to a legal invoice in order to make the description of services on one of those bills less specific.

However differently I recalled my past conversation, the documents you shared with me this week make it clear I did do that, Claypool wrote, without specifying. I apologize for that mistake.

A district spokeswoman said Claypool asked Franczek to reword the initial description of services, which involved the terms ethics and Marmer. 

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The invoice was reworded to say the work concerned a personnel matter, CPS spokeswoman Emily Bittner said.

Schulers report said Claypool ultimately turned to a seventh attorney and political supporter, J. Timothy Eaton, who concluded Marmers conduct didnt violate the ethics code.

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I strongly believe there was no ethics violation, Claypool wrote. I believe the board policy lacks clarity and that the intent of the policy should matter.

Schuler on Friday said he had seen Claypools message, but declined to comment.

Chicago Teachers Union officials used the opportunity to call again for Claypools firing, or prosecution.

Claypools ethical failures demand, at the very least, his firing, CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey said in a statement.

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If one of the Chicago Teachers Unions members engaged in anything remotely like Claypools misdeeds  in this case, fabricating public records to protect his hand-picked top lawyer  they would be fired and face the possibility of criminal prosecution. Claypool should be held to the same standards.

jjperez@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @PerezJr

[ RELATED: Chicago Public Schools blocking ethics probe of top attorney, watchdog says ]

[ CPS inspector looking into $250,000 contract for board attorney's old firm ]

[ Chicago school board to pay Jenner & Block $250,000 for lawsuit that is 'in deep freeze' ]
As Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx's first year in office comes to a close, prosecutors dropped charges against 17 men and two others won a new trial in a span of four days. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

Last week marked an extraordinary flurry of activity in Cook Countys main criminal courthouse as States Attorney Kim Foxxs first year in office comes to a close.

In just four days, prosecutors at the Leighton Criminal Court Building dropped charges against 17 men in all, and two others claiming innocence won a new trial and their freedom after years in prison.

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Foxx, who ran as a reformer on the issues of wrongful prosecutions and police reform, had come under criticism from activists who saw her first-year record as mixed at best. But in an interview Friday with the Chicago Tribune, she said the recent events highlighted her offices commitment to reform.

This week has heartened me about the good work that we do, she said. As a prosecutors office, inasmuch as we fight for public safety, we also recognize that we have to right wrongs and be willing to do that.

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Foxx ousted two-term incumbent Anita Alvarez in last years Democratic primary by hammering away at Alvarezs handling of the Laquan McDonald shooting as well as what critics viewed as foot-dragging on wrongful conviction cases.

A protege of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Foxx had the backing of Democratic Party cash and cruised to victory in the general election over a meagerly funded Republican opponent, becoming the first African-American woman to hold the countys top prosecutorial post.

Throughout the campaign, Foxx touted her roots growing up in the citys Cabrini-Green housing complex to convince voters that she would lend a sympathetic ear to issues such as rampant gun violence and police accountability. Though Foxx had been an assistant state's attorney, she also had worked in the public guardian's office and, as Preckwinkle's former chief of staff, pushed criminal justice reform legislation in Springfield.

The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, which represents rank-and-file officers, declined comment for this story but has been critical of Foxx as weak on crime.

Among those to go free last week was Arthur Brown, 66, who spent nearly 30 years in prison for a double murder. Prosecutors reversed course on the case after Browns attorneys went directly to Foxxs inner circle to argue for the release.

Browns lead attorney, Ronald Safer, said Tuesday the quick reaction indicated a culture shift in the office.

Before approaching higher-ups, Browns attorneys had spent months tangling with prosecutors in postconviction proceedings. Foxx was not personally aware of the details of the case until Safer alerted her and her top deputies, she said.

Foxx said she wants her prosecutors to focus less on narrower legal points on which postconviction issues have usually been argued and more on determining the fairest outcome for each case.

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I think its moving from kind of the myopic vision of can we win on this issue? she said. Having a broader view of did the right outcome happen in this case? versus can we defend the conviction?

Browns case benefited from a fresh set of eyes, Foxx said.

That ... I think allowed for us to sit down and speak with the assistants on the case and say, I know you were looking at this narrow issue, but lets take this in its totality.

The day after Browns release from jail, another longtime inmate, Jose Maysonet, was granted freedom  but only after five former Chicago police officers said they would assert their 5th Amendment rights and refuse to answer questions.

Without the former cops cooperation, the office had little choice but to drop the charges, even though prosecutors said they remained convinced of Maysonets guilt.

Those officers not availing themselves to testify under oath ... undermined, obviously, the conviction in this case, Foxx said in the approximately 45-minute interview.

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Among the five officers was former Detective Reynaldo Guevara, who has drawn increasing attention because of allegations he beat numerous suspects and coerced witnesses while on the force.

Foxx told the Tribune her office is closely examining each of the convictions linked to Guevara.

Across the board, what is his level of involvement? What are the facts? What are the allegations about the involvement? she said. Weve targeted those cases in which he has been involved.

A similar review of cases tied to disgraced former police Sgt. Ronald Watts led to what is believed to be the countys first mass exoneration Thursday when the offices Conviction Integrity Unit cleared 15 men at once of drug convictions.

Foxx said Watts corruption conviction  he and a subordinate were sentenced to federal prison in 2013 for stealing money from a drug courier who was secretly working with the FBI  doesnt necessarily taint every conviction tied to the ex-sergeant.

You have to look at individual cases, she said. Is he operating with the same people? Is he on the scene? Is he writing the (police) report? Is someone else writing a report?  His name alone does not offer the taint.

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Foxx did not give specifics about how many Watts-related cases her team is investigating, but she acknowledged the number is voluminous. Attorneys for the 15 men cleared of wrongdoing last week say as many as 500 additional convictions tied to Watts and his crew need to be investigated.

In the wake of the mass exoneration, Chicago police abruptly reversed course last week and removed seven cops once part of the allegedly corrupt crew from street duty and gave them desk assignments.

Foxx promised a review of cases connected to officers tied to Watts. Prosecutors have been alerted to notify supervisors of such cases, she said.

There will be an evaluation of those cases, Foxx said. The question will then be what is the level of (the officers) involvement, then deciding what to do.

The offices Conviction Integrity Unit, which is spearheading the investigations of the potentially tainted prosecutions, has seen a fivefold increase in claims of innocence this year compared to 2016, according to Foxx.

The unit is staffed with just six attorneys, including Mark Rotert, a veteran attorney brought in this summer to lead the effort.

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Budget constraints prevent her from staffing the unit as much as she would like, Foxx said, but she plans to begin rotating more employees in and out of the unit to help with the load.

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The offices postconviction unit, which deals with claims of constitutional violations, is also short-staffed -- just four attorneys to handle 900 to 1,000 cases, Foxx said.

Foxx said she hopes rank-and-file prosecutors will proactively spot potential issues with their cases and feel empowered to address them.

Moving forward, its how do we make sure that were flagging these things earlier? she said. How do we make sure that everyone has the tools and opportunity to intervene ... sooner?

Chicago Tribunes Jason Meisner contributed.

mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com

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Sandhill cranes stop at Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife Area in northwest Indiana on their way south for the winter. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune) (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

A rolling bugle call pierces the woolen autumn sky. Looking skyward, the source comes into view: a V-formation of soaring, long-necked sandhill cranes gliding among the clouds.

Thats such a wonderful sound, said Bob Fisher, as he peered through binoculars from high atop the treeless hill, a former landfill, at the Greene Valley Forest Preserve in Naperville.

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The appearance of sandhill cranes is happening with increased frequency across northern Illinois, part of a widespread regional recovery.

Once nearly vanished from the Midwest, sandhill cranes have bounced back and returned by the thousands. The population is booming.

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Its an incredible recovery. Its one of the best Midwest bird stories, said Rich Beilfuss, president and CEO of the International Crane Foundation. Theyre back in peoples lives in a way we really havent seen in a while.

In the 1930s, only two dozen breeding pair of sandhill cranes lived in Wisconsin. The population in the upper Midwest is now between 65,000 and 95,000, researchers estimate. The recovery has accelerated in the last decade, when the number of sandhill cranes more than doubled, growing at a rate of 4.4 percent per year, according to a coordinated fall survey from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The biggest boost for the sandhill cranes re-emergence in the region, scientists said, is the conservation and restoration of wetlands, marshes and prairies, the birds preferred habitat for nesting and breeding.

Researchers also said sandhill cranes ability to adapt to human development  the creeping expansion of cities and suburbs, as well as farm fields  has allowed the birds to come back from the brink.

Theyve made this existential decision to live with people, rather than avoid them, Beilfuss said.

Some scientists predict the sandhill crane may be on track for a recovery similar to the Canada goose, which has risen from obscure to ubiquitous.

The sights and sounds of the sandhill cranes peak as temperatures drop and trees turn bare in late autumn. Fall is when the birds leave Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and Ontario, migrating past the Chicago region on their way south to Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. Thousands of cranes take to the skies every week, calling to each other as they navigate over the city and suburbs.

The birds unique call is usually the first clue to their presence. The Audubon Society describes it as a ratting kar-r-r-r-o-o-o.

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Its a very loud, strange call, said Dave Fronczak, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who studied the regional distribution and population of sandhill cranes for four years, which resulted in the first comprehensive snapshot of their numbers and range since the early 1980s. Im usually with people and theyre wondering, Whats that noise? It starts out as faint, and I always look up in the sky and say, Oh, there they are. Now more and more people are seeing them. Its like putting a name to the face.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 11 A sandhill crane prepares to land at Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area near Medaryville, Ind., on Nov. 17, 2017. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

More common locally

The population expansion is so widespread that some sandhill cranes, once a rare sight in Illinois, are spending more time closer to Chicago, especially in Lake and McHenry counties, researchers said. In the past, the cranes were mostly seen and heard during migration season, but more birds are stopping south of the Wisconsin border to live, said Jeff Fox, who has extensively studied the birds and co-written a progress report on their reproductive success and survival.

They are recolonizing all of this regional wetland habitat, said Fox, noting the birds favor cranberry farms and retention ponds in subdivisions. They seem to be pretty adaptable.

Fox said that within a five-minute drive of his home in Grayslake, he knows of about a dozen long-term breeding pairs. About a half to 75 percent of the cranes that settle in northern Illinois end up on private property, Fox said. Others make their homes in wetland forest preserves such as the Rollins Savanna.

There are a lot of cranes around, but you dont know how many unless youre looking for them, Fox said.

Earlier this spring, dozens of sandhill cranes were counted in the counties of northern Illinois, according to the crane foundation, with the most  429  spotted in Winnebago County. Spotters in Lake County found 63 cranes. In McHenry County, there were 51.

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Greater Sandhill Cranes near Medaryville, Ind., on Nov. 17, 2017. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

Concert on the farm

The numbers were significantly greater this week as the migration kicked into full gear. Sandhill cranes gathered by the hundreds in a muddy farm field in northern McHenry County on the Wisconsin border, their trilling call echoing across the landscape. On the ground, the birds searched for food or rested, occasionally fluttering and dancing into the air when startled by the noise of a passing school bus.

Every few seconds, a new group of cranes appeared as black dots in the skies above, croaking their song as they descended, wings outreached, with the help of a gusty wind. The cranes approached the farm field like a quieter, more majestic version of airplanes preparing to land at OHare, tipping their wings back and forth to stay on course and occasionally flapping to adjust direction.

As they neared the ground, they dropped and dangled their spindly legs in a soft plummet to earth. Then the cranes added their bugle call to that of their comrades in the field.

These cranes likely were headed south over the suburbs, hooking around the western edge of Lake Michigan on their way toward northwest Indiana. There, in the expansive Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife Area, they converge with thousands of other sandhill cranes staging in the area. At most recent count, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, there were 7,706 sandhill cranes at Jasper-Pulaski, the highest weekly total since this years count began Oct. 10.

The Indiana DNR expects the peak arrival time this year to be in late November or early December. Most of the cranes at Jasper-Pulaski will continue south to Florida, and to a lesser extent Georgia and Tennessee, although a few will remain throughout the winter in Indiana, property manager Jim Bergens said.

Bergens has worked at Jasper-Pulaski for 40 years and has witnessed the sandhill cranes' resurgence up close.

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It's been pretty neat, Bergens said. Any time you see a population that at one time was listed as threatened and endangered, to see them rebound and be removed from the list, thats always significant. It's always special when you see large numbers of critters, and that's the case with the sandhill.

It will take the sandhill cranes about three days to reach Florida, Bergens said, as they travel hundreds of miles a day, using a northwest wind to help push them along. The birds are aided by thermals, or columns of rising air, which allow them to more easily soar. They learn migration routes from veteran, older group mates. The birds usually fly several thousand feet above the ground and can reach speeds of about 45 mph, depending on the strength of the wind.

Expanding their range

In addition to increased numbers, a count conducted by the crane foundation shows increased density of the birds in the popular central Wisconsin breeding areas, and a recovery that radiates into surrounding states.

It's not just the numbers, its where they are, said Beilfuss, who is also a wetland ecologist. The fact that you are seeing them in Chicago, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. Theyre coming back.

Sandhill cranes, scientists said, are gregarious, smart and social creatures. That temperament has served them well during this recovery. Once a prized possession of hunters, stricter hunting laws have also aided in the rebound.

The exact number of birds in the Midwest, technically known as the Eastern population of greater sandhill crane, varies by year, affected mostly by the comprehensiveness of the bird count and variations in the weather. Federal and state employees, along with volunteers, compile the yearly numbers.

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Regardless of fluctuation, the overall trend in this region has been a steady uphill climb since 14,385 sandhill cranes were counted in 1979. In 2015, the three-year average was 80,890, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service tally.

The birds, which have a wingspan of about 77 inches and can live to be 20 years old, eat shoots and tubers, grubs, insects, small reptiles and amphibians. But they also thrive off waste grains left behind in farm fields.

In wetlands and marshes, sandhill cranes can find the food they need and a buffer from predators, where they are able to safely protect their young, Fox said.

Unlike whooping cranes, which have struggled to reproduce, sandhill cranes have found breeding success.

So they have been able to add to their population a lot faster, and they are better at avoiding being killed, Beilfuss said.

One of Foxs next projects is helping the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership evaluate why those birds have not been very successful at breeding. The success of sandhills, he said, may provide clues for the recovery of the whooping cranes.

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Back at the windswept hill 200 feet above the forest floor, Fisher, an organizer of the Greene Valley hawk watch, counts hawks with fellow bird enthusiasts during the fall but also notes the arrival of the sandhill cranes.

Theyre going to come from there, Fisher said during a recent weekday morning, pointing to the north where gray clouds gathered in the distance. They are migrating daily, but it seems that there are one to two days every late fall when they really like movement. They must all talk to each other and say, Hey, its time to go.

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The sky was quiet. Then someone spotted them.

There they go! Fisher said. Look at how theyre just gliding.

About 10 minutes later, in the air over Woodridge, another flock appeared. A group of 20 flew overhead. Then another 18, followed by 15 more, a formation of 37, an arrangement of 22.

Then the cranes soared southward, disappearing into the haze.

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poconnell@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @pmocwriter

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Deangelo Williams, 21, was charged with aggravated vehicular hijacking with a weapon, armed robbery and murder. (Cook County sheriff's office)

A Milwaukee man is facing felony charges after the carjacking of an 88-year-old man ended in a crash that killed his accomplice, police said.

Deangelo Williams, 21, was charged Friday with aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm, armed robbery and murder, according to Chicago police.

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About 9:45 a.m. Wednesday, an 88-year-old man was returning from the gym when he was confronted in the 1000 block of West 61st Street by two people who were wearing masks, according to authorities and his family.

The two men pulled out a weapon and the owner of the vehicle handed over the keys to his 2003 silver Lincoln, officials said. The men then sped off, going north on Aberdeen Street, then went north on Wentworth Avenue, police said.

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Officers spotted the Lincoln.

Seconds later, the Lincoln struck a semi-truck and slammed into a retaining wall in the 4900 block of South Wentworth Avenue, authorities have said.

The driver of the vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene. The passenger, Williams, was taken in critical condition to Stroger Hospital, police said.

According to Cook County court records, Williams was ordered held without bond.
A 53-year-old man died more than two weeks after he was battered in a West Rogers Park home, according to officials.

Herbert Rohloff, 53, died at 9:12 p.m. Thursday at Presence St. Francis Hospital in Evanston from complications of multiple injuries and from congestive heart failure, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. His death was ruled a homicide.

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Rohloff was injured about 2 p.m. Oct. 31 in a home in the 6200 block of North Artesian Avenue, according to the city's data portal. The next day, he was admitted in serious condition to St. Francis Hospital, Chicago police said.

Rohloff lived on the same block where the battery took place, according to the medical examiner's office.

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Police did not release additional details about the battery. No one was in custody as of Friday night.

Check back for updates.
A crucifix looms over the Sicilian town of Corleone, the ancestral home of the late Mafia boss Salvatore "Toto" Riina. (Gregorio Borgia / Associated Press)

CORLEONE, Sicily  Cosa Nostra's "boss of bosses," who was serving 26 life sentences as the convicted mastermind of dozens of murders of rivals for power on his Sicilian turf as well as prominent anti-Mafia heroes, died Friday in an Italian hospital prison ward.

Salvatore "Toto" Riina's passing, a day after his 87th birthday, is likely to trigger a scramble for power among Mafia clans in Palermo, the traditional hub of the crime syndicate's leadership.

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Nicknamed "the beast" for his ferocity, Riina leaves behind a significantly weakened Cosa Nostra after his ferocious killing campaign eventually backfired, triggering a fierce government crackdown aided by a small army of turncoats who broke with the centuries-old Mafia "honor" code and started collaborating with authorities.

Still, experts described the Sicilian Mafia as very much a vital criminal force, now focused on growing revenues gained through extortion and other traditional lucrative rackets.

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A farmer's son from Corleone, a medieval Sicilian hill town that was home to the murderous Corleonesi crime clan, Riina orchestrated a bloody strategy of eliminating Palermo-area rivals to climb to the top of the syndicate's leadership as "capo di capi"  boss of bosses.

Salvatore Riina, "boss of bosses," at police headquarters in Palermo, Italy, shortly after his 1993 arrest. (Nino Labruzzo / Associated Press )

Even after his capture in 1993, a year after twin bombings snuffed out the lives of Italy's two leading anti-Mafia prosecutors, Riina continued to hold the scepter of power despite imprisonment under a special regime of isolation reserved for Mafiosi that allows little contact with relatives and other links to the outside world.

"He was still considered the 'boss of bosses,' even in prison," top anti-Mafia prosecutor Franco Roberti told The Associated Press.

Former Palermo anti-Mafia magistrate Alfonso Sabella agreed. "Up to 3:37 a.m."  the time of Riina's death  "he was still the 'capo' of Cosa Nostra," he told Sky TG24 TV.

Helping Riina keep the respect of his henchmen was his steadfast refusal to repent or in any way cooperate with law enforcement, authorities said.

"His death will lead to a power struggle at the top of the Cosa Nostra," Roberti said, even though the severe restrictions on outside contacts during his decades in a Milan prison cell ensured he no longer had any day-to-day operational influence.

Much attention is focused on Italy's No. 1 longtime fugitive boss, Matteo Messina Denaro, as a possible successor, whose power base is the Trapani area of western Sicily. But a report by Italy's special multi-force anti-Mafia investigative agency DIA noted that the various Sicilian Mafia crime families would likely oppose having someone not from the Palermo hub command their clans.

Agreeing with that assessment was Riina's former driver and bodyguard, Gaspare Mutolo, who became one of Italy's most prominent "pentiti," or turncoats in 1991, offering to give his intelligence to top anti-Mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone, who along with fellow prosecutor Paolo Borsellino was killed in the 1992 bombings masterminded by Riina that also took the lives of their numerous bodyguards and Falcone's wife.

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"Usually, the Mafia chieftains are almost always in Palermo," Mutolo, who was freed several years ago after serving a lengthy prison term, told a gathering of the foreign press corps in Rome.

Asked what qualities kept Riina at the helm of the Cosa Nostra for so many decades, Mutolo replied: "Riina didn't seem so intelligent but he was evil inside."

Arriving in a ski mask that showed only his eyes and lips to disguise his identity, Mutolo noted that Riina was the first to break with the Mafia's code of conduct barring the killing of women or children.

It was during Riina's reign, that, in a failed bid to stem the steady growth of turncoat ranks, the 15-year-old son of one of those collaborators was murdered, his body found dissolved in acid in 1996, two years after the boy was kidnapped.

Convicted of killings that began in the 1950s, Riina carved out a particularly ruthless reputation in a crime syndicate notorious for its ruthlessness. Rival bosses were mowed down in the 1970s and early 1980s at a rate of practically one a day in the Sicilian capital as Riina orchestrated his rise to power.

Captured in 1993 in Palermo, where he had been holed up in an apartment hideout, Riina was convicted in 1996 of conspiring in the murder of Borsellino and five bodyguards, followed a year later by his conviction in the deaths of Falcone, Falcone's wife and three bodyguards in a bomb blast along a highway near Palermo's airport.

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Riina didn't seem so intelligent but he was evil inside.  Gaspare Mutolo, driver for Salvatore "Toto" Riina

Born in the central Sicilian town made famous by novelist Mario Puzo, who borrowed the town's name, Corleone, for the main character in his 1969 novel "The Godfather," Riina went into hiding that same year after being ordered by the state to leave Sicily after he had finished serving a five-year prison sentence for Mafia association.

He married a local woman 14 years his junior, Antonina Bagarella, who was trained as a schoolteacher and was the sister of two alleged Cosa Nostra bosses. Riina was handed his first life sentence in 1987 after being tried in absentia on murder and drug trafficking charges.

In the years since Riina's capture, Cosa Nostra has witnessed a degree of marginalization when compared to the Calabrian-based 'ndrangheta organized crime syndicate that, awash in cocaine trafficking revenue, has spread northward through Italy and across much of Europe.

"But as always happens, these periods alternate and there are changes. We are now seeing an increase in activities on a financial level by Cosa Nostra subjects," Roberti added. "We are monitoring this."

The DIA intelligence offered a similar assessment.

"Cosa Nostra is shaping up as a still very viable organization, with a pragmatic approach to business, aimed at profitable investments of dirty money, the creation of laundering enterprises to guarantee solid footing even to their own heirs and to filling coffers that were significantly impoverished by the blows inflicted by the state" through confiscation of ill-gained property and other wealth, it said.

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Although noting "growing signs of impatience with the Corleonesi leadership," the agency said the death last year of another top Corleone-native boss, Bernardo Provenzano, failed to trigger any rustlings of rebellion among Mafia dons.

Riina, who died hours after the Justice Ministry had agreed to allow family members at his bedside, had been in a medically induced coma following two surgeries in recent weeks in the prison wing of a hospital in Parma in northern Italy.

Monreale Archbishop Michele Pennisi, whose diocese includes Corleone, where Riina's wife still lives, told the AP that he didn't know if the family intended to transfer Riina's body to Corleone. But he said that a public funeral would not be allowed since Riina was a "public sinner."

"If the family members ask, a private prayer in the cemetery will be considered," he added.

A sign at the entrance of Corleone, home town of mafia boss "Toto" Riina. The former "boss of bosses" was one of the most feared Godfathers in the history of the Sicilian Mafia. (Filippo Monteforte / AFP/Getty Images)

A town synonymous with the mafia

Corleone has witnessed recent signs of rebellion against an entrenched Mafia culture where religious pageants pay tribute to reigning mob bosses, with processions stopping outside the dons' homes.

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A town square is named after the two top anti-Mafia magistrates slain by Cosa Nostra bombings. Inaugurated in 2000, an anti-Mafia museum, together with the International Center for Anti-Mafia documentation, also educates visitors about the fallen heroes in the war against the Sicilian crime syndicate.

When native son Riina was arrested in 1993 in Palermo, schoolchildren ran into Corleone's streets in joy, rallying behind a banner that read "Finally"  their jubilation a reflection of a new and burgeoning resistance to the Mafia by a younger generation of Sicilians.

"A moment of liberation for us," the mayor called it at the time.

But the Mafia's grip on the town isn't easily removed.

Corleone's City Hall is currently run by authorities sent from Rome's Interior Ministry after the municipal government was dissolved by government decree due to Mafia infiltration. Local public contracts have long been a traditional source of income for Cosa Nostra.

Whether the end of the Riina era will spell change for Corleone was unclear for its citizenry.

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Whoever his successor as the top Mafia boss may be, "I know for sure there is still a (Mafia) mentality here that we need to dismantle," said Mario Alfieri a Corleone pharmacist.

An employee of the anti-Mafia museum, Lorena Pecorella, noted that Riina died in prison, "where it was right for him to die." She said the town's negative heritage as a synonym for the Mafia will be difficult to eradicate.

"We know the negative heritage he is leaving us young people," she said.

Old-timers in the town can recall when in the 1950s and 1960s, parents warned children to come home straight from school because Mafia rivalry was exploding into a killing nearly every day.
William O'Neill laughs during a campaign stop at the Democratic party headquarters in Mentor, Ohio, in October 2010. (Amy Sancetta / AP )

COLUMBUS, Ohio  An Ohio Supreme Court justice who recently declared his intention to run for governor is defending "heterosexual males" amid mounting accusations of sexual misconduct.

Justice William O'Neill took to Facebook on Friday to make a pithy statement about what he describe as the "national feeding frenzy about sexual indiscretions," and in doing so, disclosed details about his own sexual history.

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"In the last fifty years I was sexually intimate with approximately 50 very attractive females," O'Neill wrote. "It ranged from a gorgeous blonde who was my first true love and we made passionate love in the hayloft of her parents barn and ended with a drop dead gorgeous red head from Cleveland.

"Now can we get back to discussing legalizing marijuana and opening the state hospital network to combat the opioid crisis."

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O'Neill, a Democrat, drew swift, bipartisan condemnation from Ohio politicians - and from the chief justice of the state's supreme court.

"No words can convey my shock," Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor said in a statement emailed to The Washington Post. "This gross disrespect for women shakes the public's confidence in the integrity of the judiciary."

Ohio Democratic Party chairman David Pepper said O'Neill's Facebook post was "terrible," especially given its timing.

"We're having a serious national conversation about rape culture and sexual harassment, and it's crucial for men to take time to listen to women and consider their experiences and insights," Pepper wrote on Twitter, adding: "Justice O'Neill's Facebook comments both dehumanize women and do nothing but trivialize this important conversation, which is actually about harassment and abuse, not encounters between consenting adults."

O'Neill could not immediately be reached for comment Friday by The Post. His campaign spokesman, Chris Clevenger, condemned O'Neill's comments, calling them "both disturbing and misguided," and said he was quitting the campaign.

The justice's remarks came one day after broadcaster Leeann Tweeden publicly accused Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., of forcibly kissing her during a USO tour in 2006 and groping her breasts while she was sleeping on a plane during the trip home. Tweeden's revelation was made shortly after an explosive congressional hearing on sexual harassment, which female lawmakers said is a pervasive problem on Capitol Hill.

O'Neill said in his post that it was time to "speak up" for heterosexual men "now that the dogs of war are calling for the head of Senator Al Franken."

"I am sooooo disappointed by this national feeding frenzy about sexual indiscretions decades ago," the justice wrote in his post.

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O'Neill, who announced that he is running for governor in 2018, has already stirred up controversy by holding his seat on the state supreme court until he submits his petitions for candidacy.

He wrote in the Star Beacon earlier this week that once his paperwork is filed, "I will resign from the Supreme Court. And not a day before. Here's why."

"In 2012, I was elected by over 2 million Ohioans to serve on the Supreme Court of Ohio. It has been a privilege, and nowhere will you find even a shred of suggestion that I have done anything other than a competent, impartial and professional job.

"There are currently about 99 cases pending before the Court. I have participated in them, conducted the research and consulted with my colleagues. They are nearly ready to be released. To simply walk away from those matters would be grossly unfair to the litigants, and a violation of my oath of office . . . which I cherish. As I indicated this week, I have already voluntarily informed the Court I will not be sitting on any new cases from this point forward. That is the right thing to do.

"When I file petitions to run for governor I will be a candidate for governor. Anything short of that act is constitutionally protected free speech, which has been ratified by none other than the late great Justice Antonin Scalia."

Following O'Neill's Facebook post, lawmakers and political leaders slammed him for his "crass" comments; some also called for the judge to step down.

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"There's a very serious conversation going on right now in this country about sexual harassment and @BillForOhio's crass post is ill-timed and dismissive at best. We have to be better than this," Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor (R) said Friday on Twitter.

Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley (D) tweeted that "sexual harassment, degrading and devaluing women is not a joke. Justice O'Neill should resign."

Connie Pillich, who is also running for governor, agreed the justice should resign, tweeting, "there's nothing funny about sexual assault."
DETROIT  The University of Michigan has until 5 p.m. next Friday to agree to let white supremacist Richard Spencer speak on campus or a federal lawsuit will be filed, his lawyer said Friday.



In a letter sent Friday to university Pres. Mark Schlissel, Kyle Bristow, who represents Cameron Padgett, an organizer for Spencer's speeches, demanded a decision be made in the next week. The organization, the National Policy Institute, filed a request seeking speaking space at UM late last month.



"I have been following with interest recently-published newspaper articles about the University of Michigan's response to Padgett's simple request which was made on October 27, 2017 , and I am disgusted and dismayed that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution is being flippantly disregarded by you and your colleagues because of the political viewpoint of the speakers who would attend the proposed event and the heckler's veto which is being utilized by left-wing individuals who are detractors of Padgett and Spencer," Bristow wrote in the letter, which he also sent to the Free Press. "Regent Ron Weiser, for example, described Spencer as 'disgusting,' and Regent Andrea Newman suggested that she 'would be happy to defend a lawsuit' if sued for wantonly infringing upon my client's right to free speech.



"The University of Michigan has until Friday, November 24, 2017, to publicly acknowledge that Padgett can rent a room on its campus at which Padgett and Spencer will speak, or else I will make Regent Newman "happy" by filing suit in federal court and seeking a court order for the same in addition to a significant money judgment.



"Violations of our people's sacred right to free speech will not whatsoever be tolerated by me. I will use any and all resources as my disposal to see this matter through to a just and equitable conclusion."



Spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said the university has not yet made a decision, but continues to carefully consider it.



"The university will carefully consider the request, paying close attention to the safety and security of our community," he said.



Multiple groups across campus have come out against UM letting Spencer speak.



Earlier this year, the group requested space at Michigan State University, which turned down the request.



"After consultation with law enforcement officials, Michigan State University has decided to deny the National Policy Institute's request to rent space on campus to accommodate a speaker," the university said in a statement then. "This decision was made due to significant concerns about public safety in the wake of the tragic violence in Charlottesville."



Spencer's group has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to have that blockage overturned. Spencer's group has also filed a lawsuit against Ohio State University, which also turned down a request for speaking space.



Robert Sedler, a constitutional law professor at Wayne State University, said courts have established that the overriding principle for public universities when it comes to speech on campus is neutrality toward the content.



"Once it allows access it cannot discriminate on the basis of content," he said, meaning that the university can't prohibit racist speech and allow equality speech.



Even if a public university fears that the speech will incite violence, Sedler said, it must allow it if there's advance notice. The university must protect the speaker and can use law enforcement to prevent violence, he added.



UM has had controversial speakers in the past, including earlier in October, when Charles Murray appeared on campus. Hecklers shouted at him during the speech and protested his speech. No arrests were made.
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BILLINGS, Mont.  A Montana congressman misled investigators about his assault on a reporter the day before he was elected and claimed that the "liberal media" was "trying to make a story" out of it, according to documents released Friday.

U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, told an officer in the aftermath of the attack that Guardian newspaper reporter Ben Jacobs had grabbed him by the wrist and pulled both of them to the floor, according to notes from a Gallatin County sheriff's officer who interviewed the politician the night of the attack.

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Multiple witnesses contradicted that account, and Gianforte later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault. The attack occurred the day before his victory in a May 25 special election, by which time many voters already had cast ballots by mail.

More than 100 pages of documents, photos and audio from the investigation were released under a court order following requests from The Associated Press and other news organizations.

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The documents include interviews with members of a Fox News crew who were in the room with Gianforte and Jacobs at the politician's Bozeman campaign office. They said Gianforte became enraged over what he perceived as biased coverage before body-slamming Jacobs, throwing him to the ground and punching him.

Gianforte staffer Josh Elle  the candidate's driver  told investigators that he was in an adjacent room when he heard a commotion and looked into the interview room. Elle told investigators that Gianforte appeared to be striking the reporter with closed fists before someone in the room closed the door.

Another worker said Gianforte and others on the campaign had been complaining earlier in the day about "duplicitous" campaign coverage by the Guardian and Buzzfeed.

Gianforte told Sgt. Scott Secor in an interview that Jacobs had interrupted as the Fox crew set up for an interview and "started interrogating in a very intensive way."

"I probably shouldn't do it but I reached out for his phone ... he grabbed my wrist, he spun and we ended up on the floor ... so he pulled me down on top of him," the sergeant quoted Gianforte as saying.

In the hours after the assault, Gianforte's campaign spokesman, Shane Scanlon, issued a statement that also blamed the attack on Jacobs, saying the reporter had grabbed the candidate's wrist. The records released Friday show that Gianforte first gave the misleading account to authorities.

He didn't appear in public until his victory party the next night, when some in the crowd cheered him over the confrontation. Gianforte publicly apologized to Jacobs and told supporters he wasn't proud of his actions.

His spokesman, Travis Hall, insisted on Friday that the documents contained "nothing new."

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"No one was misled, and anyone who says otherwise is mistaken. Greg took responsibility for his actions and is focused on serving the people of Montana," Hall said in an emailed statement.

Gallatin County Attorney Marty Lambert said he was aware of Gianforte's comments to investigators but did not consider additional charges such as obstruction of justice because authorities were focused on the assault allegation.

"When the police are investigating a case, suspects of crimes will say misleading things, and apparently that's exactly what happened here on the part of both Mr. Gianforte and his campaign," Lambert said.

"It is not a crime per se to lie to the cops," added Lambert, a Republican. "The main thing here is he was charged with assaulting Ben Jacobs and pled guilty to that."

Gianforte paid a $385 fine and completed 40 hours of community service and 20 hours of anger management counseling. He also donated $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The assault happened too late in the campaign to affect the outcome of the election to replace Ryan Zinke, who resigned to become President Donald Trump's Interior Department secretary.

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Gianforte is up for re-election next year and has filed to run. Six Democrats have lined up to challenge him.

The congressman unsuccessfully fought a judge's order for him to be booked by law enforcement and photographed like other defendants. In October, Gallatin County District Judge Holly Brown ordered the release of Gianforte's mug shot, which is sure to be used as fodder by Democrats in the run-up to the election.
By day, he was a clerk to a federal judge, a Harvard Law School graduate at the start of his career. By night, he was a ghost hunter and a devotee of the macabre.

Brett Talley is now President Donald Trump's nominee for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench as a U.S. District Court judge in Alabama.

Few in memory have been nominated with credentials quite like those of Talley, 36, an Alabama native, a political speechwriter, an author of horror books and a fledgling lawyer who has never tried a case.

In 2009 and 2010, he was a member of the Tuscaloosa Paranormal Research Group, a volunteer operation that since the early 2000s has held all-night vigils and used infrared cameras, handheld sensors and other devices to search for spectral entities in plantation mansions, abandoned hospitals and other buildings.

"He was a real help. . . . He was quiet and real smart," David Higdon, the group's founder and leader, told The Washington Post. "We try to do everything scientific."

Talley did not respond to requests for an interview.

In 2014, when he was a speechwriter on Capitol Hill, Talley took a Post reporter ghost hunting in a District cemetery. As he paused at graves, Talley said he always maintained a level of skepticism during the paranormal outings.

"I tend to believe there's a good scientific explanation for the weird things people see and hear," Talley said at the time. "But I'm open to the idea, and it's fun."

Talley's nomination has been received with some skepticism.

In recent days, he has drawn heat from multiple Democrats in Congress for failing to disclose in a Senate questionnaire that his wife, Ann Donaldson, is chief of staff to the White House counsel. Critics said her position could present a conflict if issues related to the White House were to go before the district court.

Last week, an American Bar Association review committee gave him a rare "not qualified" rating because of his lack of legal experience. He is one of four Trump nominees to receive "not qualified" ratings this year, the first such ratings to be disclosed by the association in more than a decade.

In October, during a nomination hearing, some Democratic lawmakers questioned whether he could be an impartial judge, citing posts he made as a conservative blogger several years ago. One blog post he wrote after the Newtown, Connecticut, massacre was titled, "A Call to Arms: It's Time to Join the National Rifle Association."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said at the hearing: "I have never seen anyone in 24 years before this committee with the strong statements that you have made on weapons. And when I think of what just happened in Las Vegas, it makes it very difficult for me."

Talley responded that he wrote the blog to stimulate discussion. "If I am fortunate enough to be confirmed, I will take an oath to set aside my own views and to do justice," Talley testified.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, recently praised Talley as a good choice, saying in a statement he "has a wide breadth of various legal experience that has helped to expose him to different aspects of federal law and the issues that would come before him."

Largely overlooked in the controversy is perhaps the most remarkable detail in the professional history he gave the committee - that he was a member of the Tuscaloosa Paranormal Research Group for two years.

Talley was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1981. He attended the University of Alabama, where he earned top marks, and then went to Harvard Law, serving as an editor of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy.

He graduated in 2007 and, while clerking for U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler in Tuscaloosa two years later, asked Higdon whether he could join the paranormal group.

Higdon recalled Talley as a bright and charming guy with a budding interest in the supernatural. For all that, Higdon said he was a little wary with Talley, as he is with other volunteers. Higdon wanted to be sure Talley was joining in earnest. The group had about 15 members.

"I wouldn't have someone as a joke in my group. We do go out and have fun. But there's a time to get down to business," Higdon said. "The whole time, I don't think he was doing it as a joke."

The group went out once or twice a month to investigate old plantation mansions, abandoned prisons and other buildings they had heard might be haunted. Higdon said Talley joined them at least a dozen times.

The group does not try to banish ghosts, Higdon said, only to identify them.

"All we can do is say yea or nay - you have something, but we can't get rid of it," he said.

He said Talley helped carry and unpack cases filled with thermal sensors, infrared cameras, tripods and K2 meters, handheld electromagnetic field devices favored by paranormal investigators. Talley helped monitor the all-night "investigations," Higdon said.

Just as Talley's interest in the horrific was blossoming, he left the paranormal group behind. He went to work for Judge Joel Dubina of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, headquartered in Atlanta.

About the same time, Talley was writing horror fiction, including novels. In 2011 his novel "That Which Should Not Be" was published by JournalStone and was semifinalist for the Horror Writers Association Bram Stoker Award.

In a Q&A with Talley at the Unlocked Diary website, an interviewer wrote that the book has "awesomestastic gooeyness oozing from every page to where you will be licking it off your fingers and savoring it for days to come."

The interviewer asked Talley for his advice about the best way to get into trouble on a Friday night.

"I love old, abandoned buildings. Factories, insane asylums, that sort of thing," Talley wrote in the exchange. "I am always trying to get people to go with me, but no one ever does. You have to watch out or you'll get arrested for trespassing."

In 2012, Talley and Higdon co-authored "Haunted Tuscaloosa," a short book of stories about ghostly doings in Alabama. At the time, Talley was working as a speechwriter for Republican Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

Higdon said Talley wrote the book using Higdon's recollections and ideas. In the introduction, Talley raises questions about the line between personal experience and verifiable fact.

"In this book, there are children who died too early, professors who never left the classroom and even the spirit of a collie that still serves its master, long after his death," Talley wrote in the introduction.

"Some will criticize these stories, saying they are not real history," he wrote. "But that raises a question. What is real history? Sure, we know the dates and the major players, but the color, the heart of the matter - that we see through eyewitnesses."

Talley describes himself as a Christian in his Twitter profile.

"I personally believe in good and evil," he said in an online video interview about his books. "Sometimes good and evil are sort of shades of gray and they're all matters of perspective. And sometimes things that seem evil may be good."

From 2013 to 2015, Talley worked as a speechwriter for Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio. In a statement to The Post, Portman said, "Brett Talley is one of the smartest, most talented lawyers that I know, and I have no doubt he will be a terrific district court judge for Alabama."

Talley then took a job as deputy solicitor general in the office of the Alabama attorney general.

He and his wife, Ann, were married in 2015 in Tuscaloosa, where they met as undergraduates at the University of Alabama. She also attended Harvard Law School.

Talley came to Washington with the Trump administration in January, and he was named deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy.

In the recent hearing held by the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., asked Talley about his background as a horror fiction writer.

"How does that come in?" Flake said, according to a video of the hearing. "That's an interesting background for a judge."

Talley grinned broadly and said he would try to draw on his horror background when writing legal opinions.

"Well, Senator, I would hope that would at least make for some interesting opinions," Talley said. "And I will try to sneak in some horror references if I am fortunate enough to be confirmed."

Not everyone is amused. A scientist and a historian of science told The Post that Talley's activities and writing raise subtle but powerful questions about his views on science and the value of verifiable facts. Robert Proctor, a historian at Stanford University, studies science and technology, and the cultural production of ignorance, which he has termed agnotology.

"I don't think it's a good sign that a judge would embrace the reality of ghosts. What other parts of modern science would he be willing to reject? Climate change? Darwin's theory of evolution?" Proctor said in an email. "The judge will presumably be ruling on 21st-century disputes, not questions from the Middle Ages."

Higdon said he understands the skepticism about Talley's interest in the supernatural. He said that no one can prove ghosts exist. But he recalled the intensity he felt on a night not long ago when he had an "oh-my-gosh moment" in an old hospital, when a "full-blown shadow person" crossed his path in a basement corridor.

He said that many respectable people have believed in ghosts and that people like him across the country remain hopeful.

"We hope one day we can prove it," Higdon said. "It's faith."
An unsuccessful legal battle to prevent the release of a federal subpoena will cost the College of DuPage and its foundation more than $500,000 after a court ruling Friday.

Nearly half of that amount  about $225,000  is a reimbursement of legal fees to the Chicago Tribune after the college and its foundation failed to turn over the subpoena, a refusal that prompted the news organization to sue for the documents disclosure two years ago.

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The Tribune sued the school and foundation, which serves as the colleges fundraising arm, in April 2015 to obtain various documents that reporters were denied after they filed an open records request. The college later provided most of the documents, but the foundation refused to turn over a subpoena it received as part of a sweeping federal investigation into the states largest community college.

The federal inquiry came after the Tribune raised questions about top administrators expenses, contracts awarded to members of the foundation board and other spending issues under a previous administration at the Glen Ellyn campus. There have been no criminal charges leveled in connection with the investigation.

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RELATED: Tribune wins decision in FOIA case against College of DuPage, foundation

In a groundbreaking decision this year, an Illinois appeals court unanimously ruled that the foundation is subject to the states Freedom of Information Act and ordered that it turn over the document. The unanimous ruling marked the first time an Illinois higher court had ruled in favor of releasing records in the possession of a public colleges fundraising organization.

As part of its ruling, the court also ordered the college and foundation to pay the Tribunes legal fees, in keeping with state law.

The Tribunes reporting revealed wasteful spending and terrible management decisions at the College of DuPage, Tribune Editor and Publisher Bruce Dold said in a statement. Unfortunately for DuPage taxpayers, this court decision is the result of more of the same at the college and the foundation. It has always been clear that this was a public document, and the college and foundation could have ended this case immediately, at any time, by simply releasing a document that rightfully belongs to the public.

The Tribune sought reimbursement for about $225,000 in legal fees, according to court documents. DuPage County Judge Robert Gibson, who initially ruled that the foundation was subject to the states open records law, approved the vast majority of the Tribunes request Friday.

In addition to the Tribunes costs, both the college and foundation incurred their own legal bills during the protracted FOIA battle. The foundation has spent nearly $150,000, while the lawsuit cost the college about $134,000, according to public records.

The college and foundation had argued that the Tribunes legal bills were too high, but the judge ruled they were reasonable given the complex nature of the arguments and the expertise needed to prevail in a precedent-setting case involving fundamental First Amendment freedoms.

The benefit (of the Tribunes legal representation) to the client is high, Gibson said. Its also a benefit to the public.

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Gibson noted that the Tribunes legal bills were less than the combined invoices from college and foundation. He also said the Tribunes bills reflect the fact that attorney Alexandra Block had a heavy workload because there were two defendants in the case and their legal strategies often diverged.

Ms. Block had to face two opponents who didnt always speak with one voice, Gibson said.

Its unclear how the college and foundation will split the Tribunes fees. Though they were ostensibly on the same side during legal arguments, college officials repeatedly tried to persuade foundation leaders to turn over the subpoena, a move that would have brought an end to the Tribunes lawsuit.

It wasnt until after the appellate ruling that the foundation agreed to release the subpoena, a largely benign document that sought financial records, meeting minutes and background information about foundation board members.

At the colleges urging, the foundation agreed to adhere to the states Freedom of Information Act shortly after the appeals court decision. Under their agreement with the school, a COD attorney now reviews all FOIA requests received by the foundation and provides an opinion as to whether the requested documents are public records. If the foundation disagrees with the colleges position and denies the petitioners request, the foundation is then responsible for any future litigation fees stemming from the denial and thus spares the college the expense of legal battles like the one with the Tribune.

A college spokesman declined to comment on that agreement or how the Tribunes legal fees will be split. The foundation did not respond to a request for comment.

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"College of DuPage recognizes and respects that the Circuit Court has rendered a decision in the fee litigation brought by the Chicago Tribune, COD spokeswoman Wendy Parks said in a statement. As the College considers how best to move forward, we do so with enthusiasm for the ongoing work of building upon our student-focused success as well as a host of key initiatives that will help strengthen the community.

In March 2016, Gibson ruled that the foundation is subject to open records requests because it conducts government business and that the subpoena is a public document.

The Second District Appellate Court upheld that position, rejecting the foundations position that it is a charitable organization with no public role. The justices pointed out that the foundation controlled the colleges fundraising operation and was staffed by employees who were paid by the college and received state health and retirement benefits.

The appeals court held the college equally responsible for improperly withholding the subpoena from the Tribune, saying the college should have done more to retrieve it from the foundation. According to the ruling, a college employee  who also had foundation responsibilities  accepted the subpoena from federal agents in April 2015. She then had a conversation with her boss, who served as both the foundations executive director and a college vice president.

After that conversation, a third college employee drove the subpoena to a private attorneys office in Wheaton, where it remained throughout the litigation.

The court ruled that simply giving the document to third party did not absolve the college of its obligation to retrieve the subpoena once the Tribune requested it under FOIA on April 16, 2015.

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The foundation had argued that the documents release could have a chilling impact on future fundraising because corporate and private donors who wish to remain anonymous may fear public disclosure. The appeals court rejected that argument, saying the Freedom of Information Act includes exemptions and the Tribune had requested a document that was clearly a public record under the law.

sstclair@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @stacystclair
A jury trial has been ordered for an Aurora man charged with a fatal shooting last year at a social club on the city's East Side.

Alfredo Soto, now 50, pleaded not guilty in January to killing 31-year-old Martiniano Alverez, of North Aurora, in August 2016 at the Latin American Club on the 1300 block of Dearborn Avenue.

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Indicted in October 2016 on murder charges, Soto remains in the Kane County jail with bail set at $5 million. An order signed recently sets Soto's trial to start March 5 with Kane County Circuit Judge Linda Abrahamson.

Police and prosecutors have said Soto and friends were drinking at the Aurora club's bar the night of Aug. 1, 2016. When Alvarez showed up, he became involved in what was described to be a "normal conversation," the Beacon-News reported. Soto left the bar area and walked to the front door, telling Alvarez to join him. As Alvarez walked toward the door, Soto shot him several times with a handgun, police said.

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Officers got to the bar just after 6:30 p.m. and found Alvarez near one of the entrances with multiple gunshot wounds, according to police.

Soto drove away in his white pickup truck, but police arrested him a short time later at his home on the 700 block of Iowa Avenue, the Beacon-News reported. Paramedics took Alvarez to an Aurora hospital, where he died of his injuries later that night, police previously said.

The private club had a doorbell visitors must ring to gain entry when a reporter went there after the shooting. Police last year said they didn't think Alverez's shooting was related to a December 2015 robbery and fatal beating at the same place. In that attack, assailants beat two men in the club, and one, 79-year-old Felipe Garcia, of Plano, died from complications tied to the injuries.

Soto's prior convictions around Kane and Kendall counties include reckless discharge of a firearm and criminal damage to property in 2015, violating a restraining order in 2014, battery in 2013, and drunk driving in 2004.

hleone@tribpub.com

Twitter @hannahmleone
Two south suburban men have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for their role in a string of armed cellphone store robberies in the Chicago area and around the Midwest, according to the U.S. attorney's office in southern Indiana.

Jeffrey A. Kemp, 41, of Dolton, was sentenced to 32 years and Lawrence D. Adkinson, 28, of Hazel Crest, was sentenced to nearly 29 years after being convicted by a jury in southern Indiana in August of conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to brandish a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, robbery, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, the U.S. attorney said in a news release Thursday.

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The men had used violence "to terrorize retail store employees around the Midwest," Josh Minkler, the U.S. attorney for the southern district of Indiana, said.

In the Chicago area, cellphone stores in Joliet and Orland Park were among those robbed during a series of holdups in the summer and fall of 2015, with the spree also targeting stores in Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky and Missouri, according to the U.S. attorney.

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Eight other men previously pleaded guilty in connection with the robberies, but Kemp and Adkinson were described by authorities as the leaders of the group, supply vehicles and guns and deciding which stores would be robbed and who would commit the robberies.

The robbers often held firearms to the faces of the cellphone store employees before restraining them in the back rooms of stores, the U.S. attorney said in the news release.

The investigation started when cellphone stores in Indiana and Kentucky were robbed at gunpoint on successive days in July 2015, with the investigation being led by the FBI and involving a coalition of state and local law enforcement agencies, according to the release.

In the Sept. 13, 2015 holdup of a T-Mobile store in Orland Park, two men armed with handguns entered the store, ordered five employees into an office then loaded a garbage bag with cellphones and the employees' personal belongings before fleeing in a sport utility vehicle, according to police.

Kemp, Adkinson and five other Southland residents were arrested a few days later after police traced them to a hotel in Postville, Iowa.

mnolan@tribpub.com

Twitter @mnolan_J
Dolton Riverdale School District 148 paid for a sitting board member to attend a two-day grant-writing workshop in September and then appointed her to an unadvertised $110,000 grant-writing-focused position the following month, records show.

The district paid for Lisa Davis-Smith, who resigned her seat on Oct. 10 to accept a grant-writing-focused job with the district, to attend a two-day professional grant development workshop at the University of Illinois at Chicago in mid-September, according to records the Daily Southtown obtained in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

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Less than a month later, the board accepted Davis-Smith's resignation and immediately created a new administrative position, director of state and federal programs, that it hired her to fill. The position, which involves oversight of the "planning, implementation, evaluation and reporting required in all state and federal funding projects," was not advertised and Davis-Smith was not required to submit an application or resume, or interview for the position, Superintendent Kevin Nohelty said.

At the time of her appointment, Nohelty said the district, which relies heavily on state and federal grant funding, was in need of an administrator who could devote all of her energy to applying for grants.

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When asked about her qualifications at the time, Nohelty said he knew Davis-Smith had recently taken a course to sharpen her grant-writing skills. He did not disclose at the time that the district had paid $550 for her to take the course while she was a school board member.

Nohelty said in a subsequent telephone interview that Davis-Smith had no grant-writing experience outside the recent workshop, but he defended his decision to hire her.

"It's just like if you were to hire a principal who had never been a principal before, and came right out of the classroom," he said. "They haven't actually stepped in those shoes to serve as that principal, however they have certain skillsets that maybe have prepared them for it when they do step into that role."

Davis-Smith was herself once a principal in District 148, but resigned in 2013 amid misconduct allegations, records show. In 2014, the Illinois State Board of Education suspended her educator license for one year following an investigation into accusations that she improperly asked two teachers to help pay for a home remodeling project, administrative charging documents show.

According to the terms of her 2014 consent order of suspension, Davis-Smith "neither admits or denies engaging in the conduct alleged in the Statement of Charges and is entering into this Agreement for the sole purpose of avoiding the cost and inconvenience of litigation."

As part of the suspension order, she agreed to complete 12 hours of counseling concerning "proper workplace boundaries," "impulse control" and "overall mental health."

Jayne Purcell, the district's superintendent at the time, "concluded that Ms. Davis-Smith's breach of trust was so serious that it rendered her incapable of working for District 148 in any capacity," documents show.

Davis-Smith, who started her new job with the district earlier this month, did not respond to questions submitted for her through the district and does not have a publicly listed phone number or home address.

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Nohelty, who did not work for District 148 during Davis-Smith's previous tenure, said he did not believe the circumstances of her prior resignation from the district were relevant to her ability to perform her new job.

He said he sought out the sitting school board member for the yet-to-be-created grant-writing-focused role earlier this year after seeing unique promise in her and recommended she attend the two-day workshop at UIC on Sept. 14-15 in preparation.

"She's very detail-oriented, project management-focused, and it was very clear to me through several conversations that I had with her that that particular workshop would be a good one for her," he said.

When asked why he'd singled out a school board member for the job rather than a current district employee, Nohelty said he saw in Davis-Smith the type of skillset he believed would be important for the role.

"Dr. Davis-Smith has not only proven herself through her work performance when she was an employee of the school district, but also she has the knowledge and the education that I thought would be a great fit for that position," he said. "That's why I recommended her for the position."

Asked to explain what led him to that conclusion, considering Davis-Smith had neither submitted a job application nor interviewed for the job, Nohelty said, "I know excellent talent when I see it."

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"I've spent some quality time with Dr. Davis-Smith," he added. "There's been many discussions I've had with her on a variety of professional topics and I knew exactly the talent that I had."

Ben Silver, a community lawyer for the Citizen Advocacy Center, an Elmhurst-based government watchdog group, said he'd never heard of a situation where a district "groomed" a school board member to take a job in the district.

"That's unbelievable," he said when apprised of the situation. "There's always a back-and-forth between taxpayers and boards on money spent on training. But that's when the training is actually related to board work.

"This is clearly not related to board work. They paid for her to (receive training) in a position she was not in at the time."

Silver also took issue with the district's decision not to advertise the position or require that Davis-Smith apply and interview for it.

"A two-day grant writing course to get a $110,000 a year position is absolutely mind-boggling," he said.

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John Porter, executive director of the American Grant Writers' Association, a national group of professional grant writers and grant managers, said that a two-day grant-writing workshop is not sufficient preparation for a full-time grant-writing job.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

"Two days just isn't enough," he said. "There's too much to learn about the ins and outs of grants."

Such a course is worthwhile, Porter said, but does not offer the amount of grant-writing practice or feedback that someone taking a full-time grant-writing job needs to justify the salary.

He said he recommends that school districts seeking to employ a full-time grant writer hire someone with a grant-writing certification, a designation that can be obtained by passing a standardized test.

Porter recommended that, at a minimum, prospective grant writers complete an extensive training program online. He said his association offers a program that affords students about 40 hours of training they must complete over a 90-day period. Most finish it in three-to-four weeks, he said.

"If they don't take any training," he said, "it would take a couple years of failure before they kind of figure out what they're doing wrong."

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zkoeske@tribpub.com

Twitter @ZakKoeske
Last summer Jason Kazin, a senior at Stagg High School in Palos Hills, wrote a three-part piece of music that his schools wind symphony band performed last month. (Donna Vickroy/Daily Southtown )

Jason Kazin has long known music to be his passion.

But the senior at Stagg High School in Palos Hills realized this past summer it could also be therapeutic.

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Kazin, 18, was in the midst of already doing the seemingly unimaginable  composing a complete musical piece for his school's elite concert band  when the unexpected happened: His grandmother, Rita Kaczynski, died.

And so his composition, "The Ever-Burning Fire," which began as a fun ode to summer, morphed into a tribute to the woman who taught him how to play piano.

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The Stagg wind symphony performed the piece during its fall concert Oct. 16. It was recorded and entered into a contest for musical composition with the Illinois Music Educators Association.

Band director Bob Mecozzi said that as impressive as the piece is, "My favorite part about the performance was the reaction of the audience and the kids onstage. Jason explained it to the audience, and then afterward he got a standing ovation."

"The next day (at school) we were talking about it with the students and asked them what their favorite part of the concert was, and, to a man, everyone said, 'Jason's piece,'" Mecozzi said.

That, he said, is what music is supposed to do  move people.

Mecozzi said Kazin showed up on the first day of summer band camp with the completed work, something very few musicians, let alone student musicians, have been able to do.

"He was very humble about it. That's one of his best qualities. He just showed it to me. He didn't demand I do anything with it. He just wanted to share it me. We, together, decided. 'Hey, let's perform this.'"

Mecozzi said the piece had educational merit and allowed for collaboration.

"We let students make notes on their parts and refine parts. So they were able to take some ownership of it," he said.

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The piece fit perfectly with the theme of the concert, which was music from different time periods, Mecozzi said.

"Each band represented a different time period from the Renaissance and classical era to modern day with Jason's piece. It was great for the students to have something from 2017, written by somebody who's right here going to classes with them," he said.

Working with a notation software called Finale, Kazin said he began the composition process the day after final exams last spring.

He'd written the first part, which, he said, "basically reflected my summer up to that point. It is fast, but it has structure. I had a plan, and it went to paper easily."

Then, as he strove for contrast with the second part, the news of his grandmother's death threw him for a loop. It affected him so deeply that he sort of developed writer's block, his mom, Amy Kazin, said.

"I remember him coming into the family room one night and saying, 'I don't know what to do with this. I'm really struggling with this,'" said Amy Kazin, who, like her husband, Ken Kazin, teaches music at Evergreen Park High School.

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"I remember saying, 'You can pray on it.' And I said, 'You have talents, and you have a way to express yourself. Why don't you see if you can put it on the page? See if you can express what you're feeling through melody,'" she said.

The next day, she said, Jason Kazin spent about three hours in his room with the door closed.

"He finished the second part. That was a turning point for him. The rest of it kind of flowed," she said.

He said his pain is reflected in both the pace and loudness of that part.

"I was exploring both the literal and figurative meanings of fire," he said.

The first part of the piece he likened to a campfire. The second, to a candle in memory of his grandmother. And the third, to a bonfire, which symbolized the anger that often follows grief, he said.

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Trombonist Jason Kazin, a senior at Stagg High School in Palos Hills, poses with his band director, Bob Mecozzi, following the fall concert that featured a piece composed by the 18-year-old Hickory Hills resident. (Amy Kazin photo)

"For the third part, I didn't know what to write except chaos. So I showed that," he said. "You know how pieces have melodies, something you can recognize? Well, that third part didn't have that. I just layered one on top of the other, basically creating melodies of their own, but together there was no definite melody. It was chaotic, and that's what I wanted it to be."

Mecozzi said, "It's not just his ability to compose, it's his ability to compose for such a large-scale piece. It's not just on trombone, the instrument he knows best. He's writing every percussion part, every woodwind part, for every instrument. So he studied the proper ranges for every instrument  what would be in a good area for high school students to play?"

"He knows the audience he's writing for. That's something very few high school students can do," Mecozzi said.

Kazin was sure to write in "special," or fun parts, for each instrument, Amy Kazin said, including a horn solo for his sister, MacKenzie, who is a junior in the wind symphony, and an improv part for percussion.

"I'd been pondering some kind of drum break, mostly because percussion never gets to do that," he said. "I let them for 10 seconds do whatever the heck they wanted." But there were some rules. "I told them it had to be loud and chaotic and blow the audience back. Those were the words I used to convey what I wanted the percussion section to do and, boy, did they whale away."

The closer, he said, "kind of shows that toward the end of the summer that I had accepted what had happened and moved on. The moral of the story is that no matter what happens, your spirit can't be destroyed and your soul is the ever-burning fire."

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Kazin, who has the rare gift of perfect pitch, which is the ability to detect a note on the piano by sound, also sings in the school chorale and recently achieved Eagle Scout rank with his Boy Scout troop.

A resident of Hickory Hills and a graduate of Glen Oaks School and Conrady Junior High, Kazin aspires to be a music educator. He has a younger brother, Keaton, who is in fourth grade.

"Jason is very genuine," his dad said.

"Which is why he is so well-liked," his mom added.

Ken Kazin said he didn't hear his older son's complete piece until the concert.

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"When he explained what it was about, it was really touching. From a musician to a musician, he really put a lot of technique into it for such a young age," Ken Kazin said.

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"I've never seen this kind of work from a kid at this level. I've had kids arrange a piece for a jazz band or even a marching band, but for a whole concert band to play a complete song  that's pretty extraordinary," he said.

Amy Kazin added, "We've collectively been teaching for over 40 years, and neither of us has written a concert band composition."

Jason Kazin is preparing for auditions at various colleges across the state.

"I don't know where I'd be without music," he said. "It's my passion that I want to turn into a profession."

dvickroy@tribpub.com

Twitter @dvickroy
The Lynch family, mother Kerry, from left, Mary Cate, Maggie and father Chris, are with the students of Christ the King elementary school Friday during an all-school field trip to see the movie Wonder in Chicago Ridge. ( Gary Middendorf/Daily Southtown )

They cheered, they cried, they applauded, and when two of the characters kissed for the first time, they booed emphatically.

Nearly 300 students from Christ the King School in Beverly recently traveled to AMC Theatre at Chicago Ridge Mall to see the movie "Wonder."

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The Lionsgate film is based on the best-selling book by R.J. Palacio about Auggie Pullman (played by Jacob Tremblay), a boy with cranial facial deformities, who struggles to make friends and make his way through middle school.

After the morning screening, many in the student body, which included everyone except the sixth grade, which had already seen it, and the preschool, which was deemed too young, offered their reviews. They were, in a word, "wonderful."

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Maria Condron, Bridget Badke and Ava Solis each gave a hearty five stars to the film, which stars Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson as parents eager to help their son assimilate into society.

"We read the book in fourth grade and this movie was just like the book," said Maria, a seventh grader.

"I hope it changes the way people think," classmate Bridget said. "I know it changes things for me."

Timmy McKee, a fourth-grader, said, "I think it's probably gonna put me under a depression. It was very sad in parts. I really almost cried."

Timmy's classmate, Danny Moody, said, "Half of my class cried. It was a really good movie. I would give it five stars if I was a critic. It's sad but in a good way."

The message, Danny said, is "to choose kindness. In other words, don't judge a book by its cover."

Ava, a seventh-grader, said her favorite part was when the character Jack Will musters up the courage to befriend Auggie.

Among those in the audience were kindergartner Mary Cate Lynch, as well as her parents, Kerry and Chris Lynch; little sister Maggie; and grandparents Maureen and Bob Ryan.

Born with a cranial facial condition known as Apert syndrome, Mary Cate has been at the forefront of a local campaign started by her mother to remind people of the importance of acceptance and kindness.

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People are afraid of differences because they're mysterious and unfamiliar, Kerry Lynch said.

Even she, a nurse, never had heard of Apert syndrome until her daughter was born, she said.

"It's scary because it's an unknown. So I thought if I could make cranial facial syndrome a 'known,' that would not only help Mary Cate but everyone who's different," Kerry Lynch said.

Since her oldest daughter's birth, Kerry Lynch has brought the "Choose Kind" message featured in "Wonder" into schools across the Chicago area. Mary Cate accompanies her.

Mary Cate Lynch, center, exits the AMC Theatre in Chicago Ridge on Friday after watching Wonder with fellow the students from Christ the King elementary school. ( Gary Middendorf/Daily Southtown )

Along the way, Kerry Lynch, who is expecting her fourth child, has sung the praises of Palacio's book, which follows the story of 10-year-old Auggie as he heads off to school after years of being home-schooled.

Born with facial deformities, Auggie has endured 20-plus surgeries in his short life. Though he is interested in outer space and "Star Wars" and has a great sense of humor and a gift for science, the only thing his peers can see when he first steps foot in school is the fact that he looks different.

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The book was published two months after Mary Cate was born.

"Somebody sent it to me when she was 6 months old. I read the back cover and then put it on my nightstand. I was not emotionally ready to read it," Kerry Lynch said.

Then she and Mary Cate were invited to Christ the King school. That was followed by an invitation to talk at Kolmar School in Oak Lawn.

"So I decided to read the book. I finished it in one day and cried my eyes out. I was just enthralled with it and its message. I knew a lot of it mirrored our life and what it will be like as Mary Cate grows up," Kerry Lynch said.

As the invitations rolled in, Kerry Lynch began to give the book a shout-out wherever she delivered the "Choose Kind" message, not that it needed her endorsement, she said.

"The book kept picking up more and more momentum and became kind of a steppingstone and a good tool for teaching kindness. I'm amazed at how many kids and adults have read it," she said.

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Because she loved how it shed light on cranial facial syndrome and the way it promoted empathy and kindness, Kerry Lynch said she was nervous to see the movie. So often movies don't live up to their literary roots.

So when the sixth-grade class at Christ the King won a free screening through a contest sponsored by Lionsgate and The Gap, Kerry Lynch accompanied the students to the theater two weeks ago. She saw it for the second time with Mary Cate on the field trip.

"They nailed it. They hit every important piece. You're laughing and crying, tears of sadness and anger but also of happiness. The actors and actresses are great. And just the whole message is so important to the world we live in today," she said.

Though Mary Cate, 5, declined to give a review, saying only that she "loved" the movie and Auggie, before heading off to have a snack, her father, Chris Lynch, offered a rave review.

"The movie is awesome. It does a good job staying true to the book. It's a tough story to tell, but I thought the screenwriters and actors did a really good job. I was looking around and there was a lot of clapping and a lot of crying going on."

Though the book has done very well in terms of sales and readership, Chris Lynch said a motion picture, released during the holidays, enables access to a larger audience.

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"Hopefully, it will teach the world that, yeah, these kids look a little different on the outside but they're like every other person on the inside," Kerry Lynch said.

Principal Ann Marie Riordan said Christ the King school embraced the "Choose Kind" movement before Mary Cate was old enough to go to school.

"So when she came this year, we were like, 'This is even better. We have Mary Cate, she's ours,'" she said.

Incorporating the message into discussions and activities across the school, Riordan said, is not only "the right thing to do. It is the best message for our society today."

When the students returned to school, Riordan said they were to be greeted by the sixth-graders who'd be handing out bookmarkers.

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School counselor Kelly Sullivan said when she learned the movie would be released Nov. 17, she suggested an all-school field trip and got to work prepping the students with readings, discussions and activities.

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"It's funny, the little kids don't even notice Mary Cate's differences. She's just another kid cutting out letters in class. And the older kids notice but, they're so accepting, it's no big deal," Sullivan said.

Even Maggie, at the tender age of 4, shares words of wisdom. "She just has Apert syndrome. So what?"

Sullivan added she was happy that her favorite quote from the book made it into the movie:

"We can't change the way we look, but we change the way we see."

dvickroy@tribpub.com

Twitter @dvickroy
Will County Sheriff's officials want a state law to curb what they consider "frivolous" lawsuits and requests for information filed by inmates at the county jail.

Deputy Christine Miller, who serves as one of the Freedom of Information Act officers for the sheriff's department, said she receives "80 to 120 requests" per day from the county's 750 to 800 inmates.

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Issues have ranged from the seemingly innocuous  the brand of toilet paper used at the jail, and the nutritional data of its food  to the potentially risky information on lockdowns at the jail and cell searches.

Miller, along with Undersheriff Bob Contro and Deputy Chief Brian Conser, urged the county board's Legislative and Policy Committee Tuesday, to create a new state law limiting the number of FOIAs and lawsuits, as others have done.

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According to Wisconsin state law, those incarcerated can only request information related to their own case or their minor children, and federal law limits inmates to three civil lawsuits per year, officials said.

Responding to these requests takes up a "big chunk" of her day, but the issue is further complicated since not all questions are recognized as a FOIA because inmates often use the jail's standard form for seeking supplies, Miller said.

"They say they meant it as a FOIA, but how are we supposed to know?" she said.

Some of those not treated as a FOIA have resulted in lawsuits against the sheriff's department, officials said.

"They can request anything. It's a game with them," said Miller, adding that she currently has 50 FOIAs sitting on her desk.

One inmate in Stateville requested photos of 18 to 24-year old female inmates, "and we had to give it to him," Miller said.

The current state law does not outline what a FOIA request form has to be, assistant state's attorney Katie Rabenda said.

"We may have to consider every request as a FOIA. Some days there are 150 to 250 requests. If that happens, the sheriff would have to hire more people," she said.

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Denying a FOIA request also takes time to process the paperwork with the Attorney General's office, she said.

Rabenda said she currently has 12 FOIA lawsuits from inmates suing the sheriff because they were denied such information as the jail's policy on how they search cells, copies of other's phone calls or a juror's phone number.

"We usually win, but it's a long process," she said.

"We believe certain government information should be available to the public, obviously. But one lawsuit was over a nutrition label. That's garbage  that's not even government information," said the county's chief of staff Ragan Freitag. "They are expanding FOIA, not tightening it."

"This is a complete and utter waste of taxpayer dollars," committee member Ray Tuminello, R-New Lenox, said.

Deputy Chief Conser said some inmates have filed 15 to 20 lawsuits each year and because inmates are considered indigent, the processing fees are waived.

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"I am inundated with forms, and deputies have to serve these papers," he told the committee.

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Conser said if there were a state law to mirror the federal law than limits a detainee to three civil lawsuits per year, "we could stop a lot of these frivolous lawsuits."

He also said there is case law that shows inmates have lost their "good time credit" (time off for good behavior) for filing lawsuits determined to be frivolous.

Brent Hassert, the county's state lobbyist, said he could "definitely look into this," but cautioned that "any time you deal with FOIAs and rights, there is more push back than you realize."

The flood of forms from inmates is "ridiculous," he said, calling it a "waste of time, energy and taxpayer dollars."

"Obviously, it's a problem beyond Will County," Hassert said. "People are sitting with nothing to do and they come up with lots of ideas."

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Twitter @SusanLaff
Roger Agpawa, foreground, is surrounded by supporters April 24 outside a Cook County Circuit Court judge's courtroom following an initial hearing seeking to block him from becoming Markham's mayor. (Mike Nolan / Daily Southtown )

It's been more than seven months since voters in Markham chose Roger Agpawa to serve as their mayor, yet he is unable to take office.

That may soon change.

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State law bars convicted felons from holding elected municipal office. Agpawa, 60, pleaded guilty to mail fraud in 1999 as part of a medical insurance scheme.

Agpawa, fire chief in neighboring Country Club Hills, told voters and Markham's 12,500 residents he's been a model citizen for the past 20 years. He made a mistake in the past and deserved a second chance, he said.

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He didn't serve any prison time as part of his plea agreement. He paid restitution and fulfilled the terms of his sentence, he said. In other words, he paid his debt to society.

Since I first wrote in January about Agpawa's ineligibility to serve as mayor, I've noted it would take a presidential pardon to absolve him of his federal crime and satisfy legal requirements to hold local public office.

After Agpawa won the election in April, Cook County State's Attorney Kimberly Foxx sued to block him from taking office. A judge in August affirmed his ruling that Agpawa could not be seated as mayor, in accordance with state law.

Now, a measure to change the law is working its way through the Illinois General Assembly.

By a vote of 40-17, the Senate on Oct. 25 approved Senate Bill 225. If passed by the House and signed into law by Gov. Bruce Rauner, it would allow some people convicted of felonies more than 15 years in the past to serve as mayors, on city councils and village boards and as trustees of school districts and other local tax bodies.

"This is the right thing to do," state Sen. Terry Link, D-Gurnee, told me Friday.

He was chief sponsor of the bill in the Senate and said the legislation would address situations like the case of Jeff McBride, the top vote-getter in April for the Waukegan School District 60 board. McBride was convicted in 1981 of felony theft for stealing an air conditioner.

"He's been a model citizen ever since," Link said. "Why should we prohibit that person from serving in public office for the rest of his life?"

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The bill passed by the Senate would amend the Election Code to allow people convicted of "infamous crimes" to hold elective office if they "completed the sentence ordered by the court for the offense at least 15 years prior to taking office."

"However, this paragraph shall not apply to a person who is a child sex offender," the bill states.

The measure was sent to the House, where it was assigned to the Judiciary Committee. The lead sponsor, state Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Waukegan, told me lawmakers want to amend the legislation to more carefully define eligibility requirements.

"It didn't address people who previously held public office" and were convicted of felonies related to that service, she said.

"As you know, we've had a problem with people committing crimes while in public office," Mayfield said. "We want to preclude people who betrayed the public trust."

Representatives also want to toughen the language to bar people convicted of all sex crimes  not just those against children  from holding local office, she said.

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"We want to strengthen it," she said. "We think it's a good bill, it's just not soup yet."

I was told the inability of the House to act on the legislation during the two-week fall veto session should not be interpreted as a sign the measure won't ultimately pass. The House is likely to consider the bill during the spring session that begins Jan. 23 and concludes May 31.

"The bill will still be alive all of next year," said Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan. The measure needs a three-fifths majority to pass, he said, and in general, "Republicans are not in support of it."

I reached out to Agpawa for comment about the legislation. He replied in an email Friday that his attorney has advised him to not publicly comment because they are appealing the judge's ruling in August.

"I can share that our case is before the Illinois Appellate Court and for that reason (I) have been advised by counsel not to comment publicly in any way on or about the issue, on either matter until a decision has been made," Agpawa said.

If the bill becomes law, it would apparently allow Agpawa to be sworn in as mayor of Markham.

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Following the election, the Markham City Council selected longtime Alderman Ernest Blevins to serve as interim mayor. Agpawa distributed business cards identifying himself as "mayor-elect."

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Campaign disclosure filings with the Illinois State Board of Elections indicate Agpawa's campaign received support from the previous Markham Mayor, David Webb Jr.

The state board shows no third quarter filing for Roger A. Agpawa for Mayor, nor does it show a filing that the committee has been dissolved. The most recent filing, for the three months ending June 30, showed a balance of $14,063.

An earlier filing showed that on March 20, Citizens for David Webb Jr. made an in-kind donation of $3,875 to Agpawa's campaign for a billboard.

Webb, 69, did not seek re-election after serving 16 years as Markham mayor.

Cook County Clerk David Orr certified that on April 4, Agpawa received 771 votes for mayor. The other candidate on the ballot, Perry D. Browley, received 294 votes. Kenneth "Mojo" Muldrow Jr. received 652 write-in votes and Errol Powell received 158 write-in votes.

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Twitter @tedslowik
The end of a JB Pritzker ad says, we need to stop President Donald Trump and Pritzker will fight for Illinois. Well, his party, the liberal Democrats, haven't fought for Illinois for decades. Illinois is bankrupt. People and jobs have been leaving and there are high taxes.

I saw on the 6 p.m. news where the county is going to eliminate 1,000 vacant positions to save $50 million. Maybe it's just me, but how do you save $50 million if the jobs are already vacant?

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Evergreen Park

Sadly, government at every level has become nothing more than a taxpayer liability. Every level is ruled by power hungry, money grubbing individuals. They all boast of the services they provide that are mediocre at best.

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J.K.

I was watching a science channel on television that covered the 1970's Voyager mission to the outer planets of our solar system. What was striking was the astounding brilliance of the scientists involved in the project. The show revealed the amazing ability of the collective intellect of those involved to pull off a stupendous scientific achievement. Our scientists are the true "stars" of humankind; not actors, not athletes and not politicians. None of them can compare in importance to mankind.

What's Speak Out?

Speak Out allows readers to comment on the issues of the day. Email Speak Out at speakout@southtownstar.com or call 312-222-2427. Please limit comments to 30 seconds or about 120 words and give your first name and your hometown.
In response to RC in Oak Lawn . . . JB Pritzker ads say Gov. Bruce Rauner hasn't done nothing it's because of House Speaker Mike Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton. Pritzker left that out. As you said, Rauner doesn't take a salary neither does President Donald Trump. I dare to say a Democrat doesn't take a salary. Washing machine spinning faster.

Driving through Oak Lawn, I noticed more Chicago Blackhawks flags and Chicago Cubs flags than I did American flags. I guess with this generation the multimillion-dollar Blackhawk players and Cubs players are more admired than the soldiers who fight and die for this country and protect the freedoms and liberties we all enjoy. Well, it's sad to see what America has come to.

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I keep hearing the phrase, "The Democrats have no message." I'm a progressive liberal. I want free health care and free education for all as a right, not a privilege. I want an escalating tax rate on the wealthy. The more you make, the greater percentage you pay. I want the minimum wage raised to a living wage of $15 per hour. I want the cap on Social Security tax eliminated. I want our coal dependence reduced and replaced with clean energy. These are a few of the many I could give you but you get the idea so the next time Republicans want to know what we liberals want, just reread this and you'll know exactly what we want.

Stan, New Lenox

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President Donald Trump is obsessed with former President Barack Obama's executive orders. Trump is going over each and every one and looking to change. I guess this is his way of, as he touted during the election, making America great again. As they keep stating, "Let's give him time. He's a businessman, not a politician."

BJ, Hazel Crest

What's Speak Out?

Speak Out allows readers to comment on the issues of the day. Email Speak Out at speakout@southtownstar.com or call 312-222-2427. Please limit comments to 30 seconds or about 120 words and give your first name and your hometown.
"A Garfield Christmas" is back after a 10-year hiatus, with updated music and script but the same old feisty feline whose favorite part of the holidays is getting presents and eating, especially lasagna.

The musical features 20 holiday and original classic songs and dance numbers. "A Garfield Christmas" will be performed at 3 p.m. Dec. 2 at the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan.

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"We built this show about 12 years ago and Jim Davis (creator of Garfield) was very pleased with it. He loves musicals," said Jack Desroches, executive producer of Milestone Productions, which has produced a host of shows including "A Garfield Christmas."

"We took it off the road to do new things, and the timing is right to bring it back. You can come to the show. You don't have to think too much. There's no political correctness involved. Nobody will preach to you. It's an opportunity to sit back and have fun.

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"There's a lot of music in the show. There's a lot of color, a lot of dancing  there's a ton of fun in it," Desroches said, adding the show appeals to all age groups.

There is a bit of a moral to the story:  iIt's about tradition.

Garfield, consumed with getting presents (not so much giving them) hasn't been paying attention to how important holiday traditions are.

While Jon, Garfield's owner, is busy decorating the tree and getting ready for the holidays, the audience gets "introduced to things from Jon's life, like the angel on the tree, the nutcracker that's a family heirloom, his old teddy bear."

These objects come to life and instruct Garfield about tradition, Desroches said. They also have their own issues. For example, the angel is afraid of heights and the teddy bear is lonely.

Some of the grownup audience members might notice that "Garfield likes Christmas for the reasons we might not like to admit that we like about Christmas. Garfield loves food," for example.

One new song written by Milestone Productions staff is "Christmas Dinner," which should elicit some laughter from the audience, Desroches said.

The audience is invited to participate in the show, including singing along  and at some point will be asked to help when Odie (Garfield's sidekick K9 friend) goes missing.

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"I produce it that way so we can engage the younger children  they're not just watching things move on the stage. They'll understand that part of the plot," Desroches said. "We get an awful lot of college students who come out to see the show too, because it's full of Garfield sarcasm."

For example, while Jon is dressed like an elf preparing the house for Christmas, Garfield makes fun of him.

"Of course Jon doesn't hear it. The sarcasm has a lot more to do with how we respond," Desroches said.

Desroches said he expects audience members to leave the show thinking about their favorite holiday traditions. For him it's decorating the tree. He's been married for 37 years and has children and grandchildren.

"My wife has always collected ornaments," he said. Some are from a baby's first Christmas or from their many travels. "As we put the tree together, we relive 37 years and even more."

Garfield himself is a tradition, Desroches said.

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"He is a lot of who we like to be. He hates Mondays. He loves lasagna. He's afraid of spiders. He's who we are."

Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.

'A Garfield Christmas Live on Stage'

When: 3 p.m. Dec. 2

Where: Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St., Waukegan.

Tickets: $20.50 to $40
Investigators looking into the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old North Chicago man at a Halloween party in Lake Forest on Oct. 29 have identified several people believed to have been involved in the shooting, the Lake County Major Crime Task Force reported Friday.

No one has yet been charged in the shooting of Shaft D. Wilson Jr., which occurred at a party in the 1300 block of West Estate Lane East in the northern suburb, according to task force spokesperson Chris Covelli.

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"We have brought in people for questioning," Covelli said. "Quite frankly, there have been many individuals who have attended this party who have not been cooperative with the investigation. The level of cooperation has created some of the challenge in the investigation."

A firearm was recovered and is undergoing ballistics and DNA testing at a crime laboratory, Covelli said. He declined to provide details on the type or caliber of the firearm, and when or where it was recovered.

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Investigators have interviewed more than 100 people in connection with the shooting, according to a task force press release issued Friday. According to police, Wilson, of the 1600 block of Argonne Drive, North Chicago, was shot when someone produced a firearm and began shooting during an argument. Covelli said many partygoers immediately fled the scene.

According to authorities, approximately 150 to 200 people were in attendance at the Halloween-themed party, which had been organized by an acquaintance of an adult living in the home. The party was promoted on social media and most of the attendees were adults who traveled from southern Wisconsin and northeast Illinois.

The owners of the home were not living there.

A preliminary autopsy by the Lake County Coroner's office determined that Wilson's death was a homicide due to gunfire. Toxicology results are still pending.

It's unclear when and if charges could be filed in the case. Covelli said nobody is in custody related to the investigation.

In the release, authorities reiterated that the shooting does not appear to be random and, therefore, is not a threat to the community.

"The investigation remains very active," Covelli said. "A lot of progress has been made since the initial report of the shooting was made."

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Lake Forest Police at 847-810-3818 or Lake County CrimeStoppers at 847-662-2222.

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kberkowitz@pioneerlocal.com
All animals adopted out through shelters, rescue groups or humane societies in Naperville would have to be microchipped as part of the adoption process, under proposed changes to the citys animal control ordinances. (Renyold Ferguson / Associated Press )

A proposal to revamp Naperville pet sale policies, requiring pet stores to use only commercial breeders in compliance with USDA regulations and shelters and rescue groups to microchip all animals available for adoption, will be considered by the Naperville City Council Tuesday.

The proposed Animal Protection Act mirrors changes made in August to the Illinois Animal Welfare Act. The state measure prohibits pet stores from working with commercial breeders  defined as a facility with five or more breeding dogs  that have received citations or violations from the USDA during facility inspections.

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The City of Naperville has monitored sales of animals from commercial breeders in pet stores since June 2014, according to city documents. Two Naperville pet stores  Happiness is Pets and Petland  source their pets from commercial breeders. A third, Dogpatch, does dog and cat adoptions but does not utilize commercial breeders.

The act still allows pet stores to obtain animals from commercial breeders that have not violated USDA rules and from small breeders that do not require a license from the USDA. Pet stores may also obtain pets from shelters, rescue organizations and the humane society.

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Under the city's new proposal, Illinois' law on animals sold in pet stores would be adopted as a local ordinance and enforced by Naperville Animal Control.

"It's the city's role as regulators to stay up to date with legislation in all areas," said Linda LaCloche, spokeswoman for the City of Naperville. "This is something that we are always looking to do, and when the state passes regulations, we evaluate them and make decisions on whether or not we need to update our ordinances."

Naperville City Councilman Kevin Coyne asked city staff in August to develop an ordinance that protects pets in consideration of the state law, case law involving pet stores and similar ordinances in other suburbs.

Another prong of the proposal would require all shelters, rescue groups, humane societies and pet stores to microchip dogs and cats before selling them. The city's animal control division would also be required to microchip impounded animals before returning pets to their owners.

"I don't believe we have mandatory microchipping now, but really the purpose of microchipping is to quickly reunite lost pets with their owners," said Kristen Foley, senior assistant city attorney.

The proposal also seeks to prohibit pet owners from leaving their noisy animals outside for extended periods of time. Pets would be prohibited from making constant noise outside for more than 20 minutes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and for no more than 10 minutes between 10:01 p.m. and 6:59 a.m., according to city documents. Another protection for pets would prohibit people from leaving animals in cars during extreme hot and cold weather conditions and during certain outdoor weather conditions.

Foley said she is not sure how many animal noise complaints the city has received.

"When we were looking at the ordinance as a whole along with animal control, we wanted to make the language in this more specific so people could know time frames of when animals could be outside barking," Foley said. "We didn't have time frames before."

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The proposal also includes an increase in fines for ordinance violations, according to city documents.

ehegarty@tribpub.com
Naperville Sun readers have plenty of opinions when it comes to the news of the day. Here are some of the comments left on stories posted on our website  www.napersun.com  and on our Facebook page.

In response to a story about students feeling stress because of the pressure to perform, fill up their schedules with extracurricular activities and get into good colleges:

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What is good enough? My high school friend just went to Northern and majored in Stats and has a job making over 100k and owns a gorgeous home in Evanston. He got mediocre grades. It worked out fine. Most people I know are happy to make 80k...that's very good. It's just that Naperville costs too much and these expectations make people unhappy.

Being in college, I am thankful for the great education and preparation that Naperville North has given me. College courses are very hard. Naperville North taught me that I have to work hard to succeed and if I ever needed help, they helped me. I think everything North is doing now is great. They made my transition into college a lot easier because of the skills they taught me.

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The sooner we stop pushing kids into believing the only viable life path is academia, the better. Some of the most successful people I know locally are plumbers, HVAC installers, and similar.

6 million skills jobs are unfilled in this country because of the lack of skilled workers. This is one of the reasons that our infrastructure is crumbling, not enough skilled workers.

We absolutely need to stop assuming college is the only path. The trades are vitally important. Who doesn't need a plumber or electrician or mechanic? They are going to be extinct if we aren't careful about the messages we give to kids.

I was just talking about this today with a friend - there are many paths to success!

How about if we just stop pressuring them into thinking that they have to have their entire lives mapped out by the time they are in 8th grade? Talk about stress! Most adults don't even know what they want to do "when they grow up"!!!! Let these kids be kids and explore different areas of interest and learn without worrying if some elite college that they probably won't even want to go to in 4 or 5 years is going to accept their classes.

I have seen so many kids get into their elite 1st choice school and hate it. They end up coming home and going to COD or transferring to another school. All of that pressure for nothing.

I applaud schools for taking steps to reduce stress. I have two kids high school so I see the stress, but this article is stress inducing. The pressure to perform on standardized tests is still there. The pressure to take AP classes (not for everyone) is still there. And it's only in these 'elite' high schools where parents can afford tutors to improve those test scores on standardized tests. Many, many kids don't have that advantage thus continuing to widen the gap. Simply 'needing' therapy dogs and the like induces stress. At my kids' school the dogs only come around during finals week. While very cute, I'm not sure they remove the intense pressure to do well, which is really where the stress lies.

In response to a story about Naperville-area religious organizations trying to keep congregants safe in the wake of church shootings while still be welcoming to newcomers and a sign at United Church of Christ in Naperville with the message, "Guns are not made in God's image":

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So moronic; the guy who shot up the Texas church wasn't their neighbor in the pew next to them. Law abiding citizens are NOT the ones you have to worry about! (Plus clothes, shoes, wallets, purses, etc. aren't made in God's image either. Is he going to ban those if that's the (il)logic?

So a sign on the door (declaring a place of worship as a gun-free zone) is going to stop someone intent on harm? Obviously, no.

Long time fan of this church sign box.

Mental health issues

Glad to see these churches are standing on principle to resist the gun culture's incessant need to legalize all guns, in all places, all the time. May the forces of non-violence prevail over those who are willing to give in to the forces of violence.

Violent psychopaths, murderers, and criminals aren't made in God's image either.

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Once again, we have liberal anti-gun zealots equating responsible, licensed, concealed carry individuals with these mentally ill, seriously deranged people, gang bangers or terrorists. Get a grip. There are 16.5 million legally licensed people carrying concealed firearms in the US. In Illinois, there are just over one million now licensed. With that many people legally carrying, If anti-gun supporters were to be believed, where are all the reports of people with concealed carry permits committing mayhem and murder? No where.

In fact, less than 0.02% of concealed carry permits are revoked each year due to charges of illegal use of a firearm and those that are revoked are for other disqualifying reasons such as carrying in gun free zones or drinking alcohol while armed, not because they committed an offense related to drawing or illegally firing the weapon. There is no evidence anywhere in the US that people with concealed carry permits are causing even a minor increase in illegal gun related shootings or deaths. It's just not happening anywhere. Yet, to hear these anti-gun fanatics, you would think that we are waving guns in the air firing off wild shots and yelling "Yahoo!" as we run through the streets. The fact is, there are only about 6,000 murders committed each year with a gun and most of those are gang related or in the commission of another felony.

I legally carry almost everywhere now, including church. As long as I can legally enter an establishment, I will have my sidearm with me. And those restaurants or stores that voluntarily post no guns allowed, I simply do not patronize those places. If I plan to drink alcohol, I leave my gun at home, locked up.

The shooting at the Walmart in Colorado was the final straw for me. No place is safe and I refuse to be a victim.
Students from McCarty Elementary School gather around National Geographic explorer Dr. Nizar Ibrahim to check out the fossils he brought during a presentation Friday. (Jane Donahue / Naperville Sun )

Make no bones about it, kids get excited about dinosaurs.

Area students and residents were treated to a unique lesson in science Friday morning when paleontologist Dr. Nizar Ibrahim paid a visit to Patterson Elementary School in Naperville and McCarty Elementary School in Aurora and presented a community program to the public that night.

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Ibrahim, the National Geographic explorer who uncovered the mystery of the spinosaurus, shared his personal story of how the biggest of all carnivorous dinosaurs was found.

"Dr. Ibrahim's story about how he discovered a dinosaur really encourages students to think critically about our planet and how it has changed over time," said Tara Bell, District 204 instructional specialist for science. "We want our students to recognize that science is always seeking evidence for explanations on how things are or have been in our natural world."

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"He was so ambitious," fifth-grader Natalie Ievans said. "The Sahara desert is deadly pretty much and humans can't live out there. It was really interesting to see that and know that he had gone out there many times to search for spinosaurus."

Ibrahim recounted the story of how the spinosaurus  larger than a tyrannosaurus  lived during the Cretaceous period about 100 million years ago. It was discovered in the early 1900s by a German paleontologist, but the remains were lost during World War II when the museum was bombed.

Ibrahim was on a mission to rediscover the spinosaurus and conducted expeditions around the globe until he unearthed the remains in the Sahara.

"I admire how much effort he put into that and that he never give up," Natalie said. "You should keep working on your goals, no matter how disappointed you are or how ready you are to give up."

Bell said it's important to provide students with opportunities to engage with scientists such as Ibrahim because it enhances college and career readiness and cultivates a sense of possibility and wonder.

Ibrahim's visit was part of Exploring Science, a new science resource District 204 is implementing for elementary school students. Cengage Learning, the publisher of Exploring Science, partnered with National Geographic to sponsor Ibrahim's visit. He concluded his visit with a free community presentation Friday night at Waubonsie Valley High School.

Jane Donahue is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
Local superintendents called the results of the first administered SAT achievement test a good place to start on how to best improve students' performance and get them ready for college or careers.

During the 2016-2017 school year, juniors in the state took the revamped SAT college readiness test instead of the ACT. The move pleased district administrators in Elmwood Park District 401, Leyden Township District 212 and Ridgewood District 234. They called the exam a pretty good indicator of student skills.

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From the results, which were released at the end of October, superintendents can assess how to revamp the curriculum, personalize the types of resources students will need and find ways that staff and administrators may need to more efficiently monitor student progress. They also could help find better methods to prepare for next year's exam.

According to the Illinois School Report Card, at the Illinois State Board of Education's website, in the category of overall performance, throughout Illinois, 34.5 percent of students met or exceeded the standards set by the state. At Elmwood Park High School, about 37 percent met or exceeded expectations. Ridgewood was near the state average, at 34.6 percent. At Leyden, that number was 26.5 percent.

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The Illinois average SAT scores were 1,015.9 composite, 511.5 for reading and writing and 504.4 for math. At Leyden, the average composite was 972.3. The average reading score was 484.4 and the average math score was 487.9. At Ridgewood, the average composite was 1,018.2. The average reading score was 515.4, and the average math score was 502.8. At Elmwood Park, the average composite was 1,018.5. The average reading score was 507.9, and the average math score was 510.6.

Nicholas Wade, superintendent of Elmwood Park Unit School District 401, said the SAT is rigorous and complex. Overall, it offers a picture of how students were being prepared for college and careers, he said. Wade said he is "particularly proud" about the first results and added, "there's always room for improvement especially when there's a new assessment."

At Leyden Township High School District 212, Superintendent Nick Polyak said he hoped scores would have been higher, as SAT scores mean opportunities for scholarships, whether students get into college or not.

He noted he was concerned about their growth, how far they move from one year to another and "seeing more significant progress year over year."

"It's important, but where I sit, I'm concerned about creating well-rounded citizens who are successful and can make the world a better place, about creating a relevant and authentic learning experience that can be far more important on a grand scale," he said.

At Ridgewood High School in Norridge, Superintendent Jennifer Kelsall said the area on the SAT that concerned her was math, which has been a consistent challenge.

She said the administration has not made a full plan to assess the direction that District 234 will take but she is confident that these results will help them understand what they need to do differently and how they can better support students before the next SAT exam is administered.

"I always want the students to do better. I don't know if I will ever be satisfied with the results. But this is a good start," she said.

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Deborah Kadin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
A state audit of the Gary Community School Corp. released Friday is harshly critical of systemic slipshod spending and sloppy accounting patterns that continued to take place even under a state-appointed fiscal manager.

The 235-page audit, which focused on the period from July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2016, points to missing records and an ongoing absence of internal controls over most accounting procedures that made it difficult to gauge an accurate picture of the district's finances.

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Many of the findings echoed those found in the prior 2012-14 audit, released in 2015, which led Indiana State Board of Accounts state examiner Paul Joyce to question whether the district could continue as a going concern given its financial liabilities.

Joyce could not be immediately reached for comment Friday.

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According to the report, the district failed to establish a review of payroll claims to ensure employees were paid correctly. A school board-approved salary schedule or collective bargaining agreement was not provided for audit.

Among the other findings, the audit reported the district did not make pension payments to the Indiana Public Retirement System, so the state began withholding payments.

The district also failed to pay its food service provider for student meals even though it had received a federal grant.

The litany of repeated financial issues led the General Assembly to establish a takeover law earlier this year. The state hired Gary Schools Recovery LLC to run the fiscal and academic operation of the district with Peggy Hinckley serving as emergency manager.

Her firm is required by the state to develop a system of internal controls by next month.

Hinckley said Friday that the district's failure to establish proper accounting methods under former fiscal manager Jack Martin underscored the reasoning for the state to take over the struggling district.

Lack of basic accounting controls

Incomplete records and the failure to establish basic accounting standards continued to plague the district, as irregularities were cited in multiple areas, including how it spent money on payroll, incoming and outgoing accounts, special education, Title I federal funds and food services, the report said.

The district ended its fiscal year in June 2016 with more than a dozen accounts in the red  including its general fund (its main checking account) and others funding debt service, transportation, special education and technology. The district was overdrawn by nearly $20 million total across all of its accounts because it spent more than it received, the report showed.

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The school board was cited in the report for failing to meet "responsibilities to taxpayers" by ensuring "adequate budgeting, accurate accounting and informative reporting of all financial transactions and the establishment of sound business practices for effective and efficient operation of all schools."

In her written response, Hinckley accepted nearly all of the audit's findings and agreed to submit a plan to the state to fix cited issues by January.

School board and superintendent cited

The report also cited Superintendent Cheryl Pruitt and school board members for charging expenses to the district's credit card that were not properly validated or justified. A complete credit card statement was provided to state auditors only for one claim and partial statements for other claims, leaving incomplete records for the audit.

Either school board members, Pruitt or a school attorney charged $568 for 12 meals without presenting receipts justifying it as a business expense, the report showed.

Pruitt charged $257 in gasoline purchases on a district credit card during the audit period, according to the report. Her contract inked in December 2016 provides a $1,000 per month vehicle expense allowance requiring her to personally pay for gas and maintenance. A school board member also charged gas directly, rather than submitting a mileage reimbursement request, the report showed.

On Friday, Pruitt disputed that she improperly charged gas expenses to a district credit card, saying it could have been used during frequent trips to Indianapolis. Pruitt said she would be willing to acknowledge and repay any disputed expenses. She referred additional comment on the audit to Hinckley.

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An unidentified school board member charged $3,176 for six hotel stays without receipts and justification as a business expense.

School board President Rosie Washington said she was unaware of which board members may have submitted those expenses. She disputed the accusations, saying she believed that board members had not been given credit cards for several years.

When asked whether the audit's findings could damage the school board's case to eventually return the district to local control, Washington expressed frustration that its members no longer had the authority to respond to state auditors.

"We were not allowed ... after that meeting was held (delivering findings). I did ask if the board could come together and look at those citations (more closely) so we could comment on it. I was denied that," she said. "The only response they wanted would come from Peggy Hinckley."

Unpaid bills

The Gary school district had $16,971,524 in unpaid vendor bills as of July 2017, according to the report. Those included:

Pensions: Due to a failure to keep up with employee pension payments on each paycheck, the Indiana Public Retirement System garnished $7,844,469 from the district's state and federal funding between May 2014 and June 2016.

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NIPSCO: The utility company successfully sued the Gary district for $5.2 million after it failed to make a single payment between July 2014 and March 2015, requiring monthly payments. It now owes $1,032,963.

Phone bills: Gary failed to make any payments on its phone bill between November 2013 and March 2017. It owes $407,548.

Gary Sanitary District: In late 2014, the district paid its 2013 bills. Between February 2016 and June 2017, it did not make a payment. It owes $548,615.

Unemployment taxes: The district failed to pay unemployment taxes for a more than three years between October 2013 and January 2017. In April 2017, it signed a payment arrangement requiring it to make back payments and the current balance until October 2019. It owes $525,277, not including past interest.

IRS: After failing to pay part of its payroll taxes in mid- to late 2013, Gary now owes $7,128,444, not including penalties and interest. In 2015, the IRS inked a deal where the district pays $10,000 per month. As of July 2017, Gary had paid $270,000 toward that debt.

Health insurance: The district owes $3,564,161.

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Transportation: The district owes $430,316 to bus vendors.

Service union benefits: $797,773 is owed for unpaid service union employee benefits.

mcolias@post-trib.com

Twitter @meredithcolias

Twitter @ccwriterPT
All votes in the CO-3 election won't be counted until the end of this week
The Chinese Embassy on Monday donated 9,130 Chinese language books to five universities and schools in Cambodia. The beneficiaries are the State-owned Royal University of Phnom Penh, Asia Euro University, Min Sheng Chinese School, Duan Hua Chinese School and Li Qing Chinese School.

Speaking at the handover ceremony held at the embassy residence in Phnom Penh, Chinese Ambassador Xiong Bo said the books included literature, history, geography, tourism, education, arts, culture, language and agriculture with a total cost of 330,000 Chinese yuan ($50,000).

He said the donation was aimed at promoting Chinese teaching and further enriching the teaching resources of Chinese schools in Cambodia.

"It's the second time that the Chinese Embassy donates reading books to schools in Cambodia," Xiong said. "I believe that the books will help Cambodian students and researchers to learn and to understand better about China."

The ambassador said as more and more Chinese investors and tourists came to Cambodia, the demand for Chinese speaking would be surely on the rise.

Chhun Hok, vice rector of the Royal University of Phnom Penh, said the university opened a Chinese Language Center in 2007 and a faculty of Chinese literature in 2010. To date, the center had offered short courses to 1,700 students and the faculty had provided bachelor's degrees to 175 students.

"The books will be very useful for students to study and to understand better about Chinese culture and development," he said.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela on Friday, saying bilateral relations have "turned over a new leaf" with the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) holds a ceremony to welcome Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela before their talks in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 17, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Varela is making his first state visit to China after the Central American nation established diplomatic relations with China in June.

"Chinese and Panamanians have had friendly exchanges for over 160 years. Forging diplomatic relations on the basis of the one-China principle meets the aspiration of generations of people in our two countries," Xi said.

"China-Panama relations have turned over a new leaf," Xi said, adding that China will work with Panama to jointly draw a blueprint for the development of bilateral relations.

Varela said he was proud to make the historic visit to China in the capacity of president, fulfilling his long-cherished wish. He inaugurated the Panamanian embassy in Beijing on Thursday and visited the Great Wall on Friday.

"I have experienced your national spirit and resilience represented by the Great Wall. I solemnly reaffirm Panama's adherence to the one-China principle and support for the peaceful reunification of China," Varela said.

"As the Chinese saying goes, a man who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man. Your political decision to establish diplomatic ties with China and visit China is a feat of a hero," Xi told Varela. "Your contribution will be remembered in the history."

Xi said establishing diplomatic relations will benefit the generations to come and the two countries shoulder the mission to set the direction for future relationship.

Hailing the rapidly progressing bilateral cooperation in the past five months, Xi said China hopes to push forward cooperation so that bilateral relations enter a fast track.

China and Panama should treat each other on an equal footing and foster deep mutual trust. China is sincere in developing relations with Panama, featuring win-win cooperation, common development, openness and inclusiveness, according to Xi.

"Panamanian friends will see China's concrete actions," Xi said, calling for more exchanges in legislative institutions, political parties and local governments.

China regards Latin America as an indispensable partner for the Belt and Road Initiative, and both sides should synergize development strategies to complement each other, Xi said.

He said he expected early harvests in maritime, infrastructure, trade, investment and finance cooperation and active exchanges in education and tourism.

Xi said China's commitment to building a community of shared future for mankind reflects the world's aspiration for peace, development and prosperity.

China supports Panama to play an active role in China-Latin America cooperation and will work with the country to contribute to world peace and development, Xi said.

Varela said that Panama-China friendship dates back a long time, and his people fully approve the decision of establishing diplomatic ties with China, which is in the interests of both peoples, and will promote Panama's development and improve its people's livelihood.

The past five months have laid a solid foundation for the long-term growth of the bilateral relationship. The facts proved again the establishment of diplomatic relations is a correct decision, said Varela.

He said that Panama will work with China to strengthen high-level contact and people-to-people exchanges, promote cooperation in trade, investment, finance, poverty reduction and infrastructure, and cement coordination within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations.

Varela said Panama is ready to be an important friend of China in Latin America and that Panama supports the Belt and Road Initiative.

He said Panama will take the advantage of its unique geographical position to cooperate more with China in ports, maritime affairs, shipping, railways and logistics to jointly implement the Belt and Road Initiative and improve world connectivity.

Varela extended congratulations on Xi's re-election as general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee in late October. He said he agrees with the people-centered policies set at the 19th CPC National Congress and admires China's great achievement in social and economic development as well as poverty reduction.

The 19th CPC National Congress has set China's development goals and roadmaps up to 2050, Xi said, adding that China enjoys a bright future and history will further prove the decision to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries is completely correct.

Varela said that the 19th CPC National Congress, depicting a blueprint for China's future development, means a lot to China and the world. "I believe China and the CPC will make even greater contribution to world peace and human progress," he said.

After the meeting, Xi and Varela witnessed the signing of bilateral cooperation agreements in the Belt and Road Initiative, trade, investment, maritime transportation, railway, human resources, industrial parks, agriculture, quality inspection, civil aviation and tourism.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also met with Varela earlier on Friday. Li said the two heads of state had mapped out the blueprint for the development of China-Panama relations.

China appreciates Panama's adherence to the one-China policy, and is ready to strengthen political trust with the country based on mutual respect, equality and respect for each other's core interests, Li said.

China hopes to combine its advantage as a major trading country of goods with Panama's geographical advantage, to carry out cooperation in logistics network, Li said.

Varela said he believes forging diplomatic ties with China will help Panama's economic growth as well as win-win cooperation with China.

Panama expects to enhance cooperation with China in inter-connectivity and building of logistics, he said.

Panama will offer convenience to Chinese investment, and build itself into a center for Chinese companies' cooperation with Latin America, Varela added.
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United Nations Security Council on Friday failed to adopt Japan's draft resolution extending 30 days for mandate of mechanism investigating chemical attacks in Syria.
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Iraqi security forces battling Islamic State (IS) militants freed Friday the city of Rawa near the border with Syria, dislodging the extremist militants from their last urban stronghold in Iraq, the Iraqi military said.

Military vehicles of Iraqi army carry out an operation to drive out Islamic State (IS) militants from their last urban stronghold in the Iraqi western border with Syria, near Rawa, Iraq, on Nov. 11, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

The troops and the paramilitary local tribal fighters fully liberated Rawa and raised the Iraqi flag on some of its buildings, Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah, the commander of the offensive, said in a brief statement.

At dawn, the Iraqi forces pushed into Rawa from three directions and liberated four neighborhoods in the western part of the city, Yarallah said in an earlier statement.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated the people of Iraq and the security forces on the liberation of Rawa, which is located some 80 km east of the newly-freed city of al-Qaim.

Abadi, also the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, made his comments during a visit to the Joint Operations Command headquarters in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, according to a statement issued by Abadi's office.

"The liberation of Rawa within hours reflects the great strength and power of our heroic armed forces and the successful planning for battles," Abadi said.

He also said the Iraqi forces are continuing clearing the rural area and the nearby desert to secure the Iraqi border with Syria.

On Nov. 5, Abadi raised the Iraqi flag on Husaibah border crossing with Syria two days after the Iraqi forces recaptured it and the nearby city of al-Qaim from the extremist militants.

The troops will continue to clear the villages in the vast rural areas in the north of the Euphrates River as well as the desert between the provinces of Anbar and neighboring Salahudin.

On Oct. 26, security forces started a major offensive to free last IS urban stronghold in Iraq near the Iraqi-Syrian border.

The IS militants seized large swathes of territory in Iraq in 2014. After three years of battles, the Iraqi forces have retaken most of the occupied areas from the terrorist group, including the country's second largest city Mosul.
representation with proportional financial obligation!



..with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow-citizensa wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities. Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address


State-owned Yuexiu Group and Pearl River Enterprise Group unveiled their subsidiaries for the rental housing business in Guangzhou on Thursday, with local branches of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank pledging at least 1 trillion yuan ($151 billion) in financial support during the coming five years.

Yuexiu Group owns businesses in the investment, property development and management sectors as well as financial service, and this advantage will drive the company's long-term rental apartment business, said group Chairman Zhang Zhaoxing. The group's Hong Kong-listed unit Yuexiu Property Co holds shares of Hong Kong-listed Yuexiu Real Estate Investment Trust.

Pearl River Enterprise Group has been engaged in the construction of government subsidized housing projects since 2011 and will play a role in the investment, construction and management in this sector, said its Chairman Zheng Shuping.

The move marks a step forward in the efforts of the Guangzhou authorities to develop the local rental housing market, with the city listed as one of 12 in a pilot program launched by the central government for expanding the rental housing market.

The city government issued a 16-measure program in July, including a pledge for equal rights to social services for both house buyers and renters.

It launched a rental housing information platform last month, with more than 100,000 rental housing units already available on it. Guangzhou stands as a huge rental housing market, with more than 3.6 million rental housing units available, said Yang Weilong, director of Guangzhou Real Estate Rental Administration Office.

An association of companies engaged in rental housing was established in the city last month and signed a framework agreement with China Hospitality Association for supplying management talent to the sector.

The central authorities have reiterated on many occasions that "housing is for living in, not speculation".

The development of the rental housing market and increased supply of rental housing are important measures in adjusting the property market in the long run, said Wang Hongwei, director of Guangzhou Housing and Urban-Rural Construction Committee.

A better rental housing market provides the key for Guangzhou to stand out in the future by attracting high-caliber talent, said Zhou Jun, deputy president of Guangdong provincial branch of ICBC.
A robot is displayed at a news conference in Beijing, March 30, 2017. [Photo/IC]

China is committed to developing a digital economy with openness and shared benefits and the rapid development of the country's internet is visible proof of its success, said Ren Xianliang, deputy director of the Cyberspace Administration of China.

Ren reiterated that China advocates the free flow of information and welcomed foreign businesses to work in the country, on the condition that they abide by local rules and regulations.

"We welcome global internet companies to develop their businesses in China. But this is based on the premise that they will obey the local laws," Ren said at a State Council Information Office news conference on Thursday.

He said that China will host the fourth World Internet Conference in the river town of Wuzhen, Zhejiang province from Dec 3 to 5. Leading domestic and overseas internet tycoons will attend the conference, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's chairman Jack Ma, Tencent Holdings Ltd's CEO Pony Ma and Baidu Inc's chairman Robin Li and foreign giants such as Microsoft and Qualcomm.

Twenty sub-forums are planed during the event from Dec 4 to 5, covering topics related to the digital economy, cutting-edge technologies, the internet and society, cyberspace governance and the community of shared destiny.

By Nov 7, more than 400 enterprises had confirmed their participation in the Light of Internet Expo, including 419 exhibitors. Some 126 companies will showcase their latest products and technologies at the event.

For the first time, the conference will release two blue books - World Internet Development Report 2017 and China Internet Development Report 2017. The former will explain the current situation and development trend of the internet industry around the globe, such as innovation ability, industrial development, internet application and cyber security. The second report will summarize China's experiences in internet development.

Ge Huijun, publicity chief of Zhejiang province, said since the first World Internet Conference was held in Wuzhen in 2014, the region has experienced fast development. As of September, Wuzhen boasts 148 registered internet companies, with the total registered capital reaching 4.04 billion yuan ($609 million).
MILAN - The Belt and Road Initiative would provide long-term development chances for growing industry sectors in Italy and China, according to professionals from both countries.

The issue was discussed at a recent forum held in Italian city of Milan, which attracted Italian and Chinese entrepreneurs, officials, and experts.

Titled "Building a concrete roadmap for Italy and China's Joint Growth", the event was organized by Italy-China Foundation with the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

"As a comprehensive project, the Belt and Road (initiative) might give all companies a strong opportunity to reduce their costs, and cut distances in both cultural, infrastructural, and logistical terms," Massimiliano Guzzini, vice president of lighting technology firm IGuzzini, told Xinhua.

The Belt and Road Initiative, which comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was proposed by China in 2013, with the aim of building a trade, investment and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.

Having spent years in China, where the firm opened a branch in 2005, the entrepreneur is able to observe "great changes" in the Chinese society, and the consumer trends in Asia overall.

"Design was not yet well known at the time (2005), but since then I have seen Chinese firms, training courses, and universities' departments and research centers growing steadily in the sector," Guzzini said.

Now that the industry was showing vibrant signals of potential growth in the area, the Belt and Road Initiative would "indeed boost the future development of our industry", he added.

For Italy, China is currently the ninth largest market for exports, and the first target market for sales to the Asia-Pacific region, according to Italy's state-owned export credit agency SACE. The trade exchange between the two countries suggest there is room for broad development.

Italian sales to China reached 11.1 billion euros ($13.2 billion) in 2016, marking a 6.4 percent rise over the previous year, and are expected to increase by some 296.8 million euros ($350.2 million) by 2020, the agency's data and forecast showed.

Apparel, jewellery, fibres and yarns, drugs and pharmaceutical products, machinery, shoes, and textile are among Italy's top 10 sectors in terms of exports to China, according to Italy-China Foundation.

On the other hand, Italy is China's fifth largest commercial partner for trade volume, and has become one of the major recipient countries of Chinese investments in Europe in latest years. As such, projects related to the Belt and Road Initiative would likely benefit many different industries.

For example, in terms of facilities connectivity, which was among the five cooperation priorities of the Initiative, as Vice President of China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) Xu Yingxin said at the forum.

"It means helping to develop infrastructure construction of railways, highways, ports, electric power, and telecommunications in the Belt and Road countries," Xu said.

Xu told Xinhua that the Belt and Road Initiative is meant to benefit all of the countries involved. "It means we could have in the future a stronger and more unified market, which is good for everybody, including China."

As for the specific sector he represents, the textile industry, Xu deemed the Initiative has come in the right moment.

"I think China's textile industry is in a very critical phase of transformation and adjustment, and the Belt and Road Initiative provides us with the opportunities to expand," he said.
LEBANON  The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has fined an unlicensed contractor who performed an asbestos abatement at a vacant commercial building on Grant Street and the two people who hired him.

DEQ fined David Cameron Gillott and Laura Lee Gillott $3,605 for failing to hire a licensed asbestos abatement contractor to perform the asbestos abatement that took place during demolition work.

DEQ also fined the contractor who did the work, Eric John Frazier, doing business as Frazier Construction Company, $2,800 for performing asbestos abatement without a license from DEQ.

The Gillotts, who also failed to have an accredited inspector survey the building for asbestos material before work started, hired Frazier to demolish the building. Vinyl flooring in the building contained asbestos.

Contractors who handle asbestos must be properly trained and licensed. The removal didn't comply with state asbestos regulations and likely caused the release of asbestos fibers in the air.

Asbestos fibers are a respiratory hazard proven to cause lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis. Asbestos is a danger to public health and a hazardous air contaminant for which there is no known safe level of exposure.

Neither the Gillotts, nor Frazier, have appealed the penalties.
China will transfer some state assets, including shares of state-owned companies (SOE) and financial institutions, to the country's social security funds as an aging society puts pressure on pension payments, an official document showed Saturday.

The assets will be transferred to the National Council for Social Security Fund (NCSSF) and wholly state-owned companies, according to a document released by the State Council.

The transfer ratio will be 10 percent of the state-owned equity.

Under certain circumstances and upon approval, the NCSSF can set up a pension fund management company to independently operate the transferred assets.

The NCSSF and local SOEs that receive the equity can earn dividends from SOE shares and have the right to disposal, but will not be involved in the management decisions of the companies, the document said.

The recipients will, in principle, be subject to a three-year lock-up period before they can sell the transferred shares.

Pilot programs on the transfer will start in 2017, with shares of three to five centrally supervised SOEs and two central financial institutions to be transferred.

Starting in 2018, the program will be expanded to more centrally supervised companies, with assets to be transferred in groups.

The move will ensure the sustainable development of the country's basic pension insurance system, while also diversifying the capital structure of SOEs as part of an ongoing reform to improve SOE efficiency, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said in an online statement.

The program will only involve a small number of listed SOEs, with the majority being non-listed central and local SOE equity, the MOF said.

With more than 200 million people over the age of 60, China faces a severe challenge in meeting its pension obligations.

While the overall picture has stayed positive, geographical imbalance has remained. In areas where economic growth is behind the national average, such as the old industrial base of northeast China, fewer people have paid contributions while many have retired, resulting in a periodic deficit.

To address the issues, authorities have been striving to increase pension fund revenue by expanding coverage and raising fiscal investments.

Pensions are traditionally held by banks or used to purchase treasury bills. They are now allowed to be invested in a variety of financial products, including bonds and stocks.

Since the end of 2016, seven provincial-level regions have entrusted their pensions to the NCSSF in the hope of more diverse and higher returns.

The transfer program will further ease the mounting pressure, and cut the burden of the working generation by expanding the pension fund scale without raising taxes or pension contribution rates, the MOF said.

The MOF also said that the program is not aimed at selling off state-owned assets to meet the pension obligations. Rather, it is a long-term mechanism that supplements social security funds and optimizes the structure of state-owned capital.

According to previous estimates by China International Capital Corporation, a 6-percent transfer rate of SOE shares to social security funds would result in a 1 percentage point reduction to basic pension contribution rates for companies.

That will lower corporate costs notably, and will also foster the healthy growth of the capital market as social security funds become a large and long-term institutional investor in the market.
Visitors take a look at a Baidu self-driving vehicle during a tech expo in Beijing.[Photo by Sheng Jiapeng/China News Service]

Self-driving vehicles still have a long way to go before they can reach the mass production stage or be used commercially on a large-scale due to safety concerns, although such cars have become the development trend, experts said.

Experts believe that self-driving vehicles will be ready for commercial use by around 2020. Chinese internet search giant Baidu Inc is expected to achieve the goal ahead of schedule.

Baidu, which is pushing artificial intelligence to fuel growth, with a special emphasis on self-driving vehicles, is confident that such vehicles can hit the roads next year, according to its Chairman and CEO Robin Li.

Baidu aims to put autonomous mini-buses that can operate in designated areas into mass production and trial operation by the end of July 2018, in cooperation with Chinese bus manufacturer Xiamen King Long United Automotive Industry Co.

It also plans to launch self-driving car models in 2019 in cooperation with manufacturers JAC Motors and BAIC, as well as the Chery Automobile Co, Li said, noting that these vehicles will be able to reduce traffic jams endemic to Chinese cities.

"Baidu's efforts are significant to the automotive industry, but more tests are needed before such vehicles can reach mass production and large-scale commercial application given safety concerns," said Zeng Zhiling, managing director of LMC Automotive Consulting Co.

Zeng warned "self-driving vehicles are vulnerable to cyber attacks." He explained that since these vehicles are highly intelligent and networked, hackers might invade the system, thereby posing dangers to road safety.

Self-driving has become a trend in the automotive industry, but the safety issue comes as the top priority, said Xu Yanhua, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, noting that US tech heavyweight Google Inc is still in the testing stage of its own self-driving vehicles.

Baidu has invested heavily in the research and development of autonomous driving technology. In April, it launched a new project Apollo, an open platform on which its technologies can be shared with developers and automakers.

The platform signals a move to compete with Waymo, a self-driving car development company spun out of Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc.

The company has been operating its autonomous minivans on public roads in Arizona, the United States, without a safety driver since mid-October. Several accidents involving Waymo self-driving vehicles have been reported over the years.
A screenshot of Melania Trump's video clip on her Twitter account. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

US first lady Melania Trump posted a video clip on her Twitter account on Thursday afternoon titled "Thank you #China", followed by the flags of China and the United States.

The one-minute video shows many memorable moments that she and her husband, President Donald Trump, had during their state visit to China from Nov 8 to 10, such as the warm reception they received; attending cultural performances; her interaction with Chinese students; and visiting the Great Wall as well as Beijing Zoo to meet a giant panda.

The posting generated tens of thousands of likes, including from President Trump. It quickly drew many comments by the US first lady's followers, with words such as "Thank you, China, for your graciousness to our lovely First Lady," by someone with the username Julie Jam;

"Beautiful country with beautiful people. Thank you for sharing," by Randi;

"1st Lady, I am happy you had a nice time in China," by Greco Babeo;

"China was very welcoming, for our FLOTUS!" by Dee KC;

and "Thank God. Thank President Xi, Thank China," by Phyllis Bennett.

The Twitter account, Melania Trump@FLOTUS, is run by the Office of the First Lady and has more than 9 million followers.

During the state visit to China, Melania Trump also sent multiple tweets about the China trip, including thanking President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, for their warm hospitality, her "wonderful" meeting with giant panda Gu Gu and her "unforgettable memories" at the Great Wall.

President Trump, whose Twitter account has 42.8 million followers, also has sent numerous tweets in the past week praising the successful and fruitful state visit to China and thanking China's leaders and people for their hospitality.

After the US president wrapped up his state visit to China on the morning of Nov 10 and headed to Vietnam to continue his 12-day Asia tour, his wife stayed behind to visit Beijing Zoo. She met and fed giant panda Gu Gu and learned about his nutrition and training.

She also sent toy eagles to a group of schoolchildren waving miniature Chinese and US flags in front of a panda enclosure. They also posed for photographs.

Later that day, she toured the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall in Huairou in northern Beijing.

Zhang Yunbi contributed to this story.
Workers are finishing up construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the world's longest bridge-tunnel complex. It stretches a total of 55 kilometers. [Roy Liu/China Daily]

The world's longest bridge-tunnel complex, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, is "95 percent complete", according to the chief engineer for the bridge's island and tunnel project.

Lin Ming, also the project's general manager, discussed the bridge's status in an exclusive interview Thursday with China Daily at a bridge construction site in Zhuhai, Guangdong province.

Lin said the bridge will be finished by year's end. It is a key infrastructure project in the blueprint for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

With the bridge project nearing completion, delegations from different countries have visited and expressed their interest in inviting Lin's team to build similar infrastructures.

A group from Spain, among the most recent visitors, approached Lin about the possibility of applying Chinese technology to a potential bridge-tunnel link across one of the world's most famous channels, the Strait of Gibraltar, Lin said.

He said that shows that after the construction of the HZMB, China is being recognized as one of the world's leading countries in offshore undersea tunnel technology.

The project stretches for 55 kilometers, 20 times the length of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, and it will shorten the four-hour drive from Hong Kong to Zhuhai to half an hour. Construction started in 2009. It is designed to withstand a magnitude 8 earthquake, a super typhoon with wind speeds of 184 to 202 kilometers per hour.

The tunnel and artificial island project is seen as the most difficult task and an area using the latest technology and design. The 6.7-kilometer tunnel is the country's first offshore immersed tube tunnel and the world's longest, deepest embedded project of such kind. In an immersed tube tunnel, parts are sunk at the construction site and water is pumped out after they are joined.

The island-tunnel-island structure was designed to allow easy movement of shipping at one of the world's busiest deep-water passages, the Lingding West Channel, the middle channel of the Pearl River estuary, Lin said. As many as 4,000 ships a day navigate waters above the tunnel, serving ports around the estuary, officials said.
The number of Chinese students taking the Graduate Record Examination is expected to keep growing, even though the number studying in the United States is increasing at a slower rate than before, according to the company that administers the test.

Given the need for students to have international experience and the high value that Chinese culture places on education, more Chinese students are getting graduate degrees abroad, where the GRE is often required, said David Payne, vice-president and chief operating officer of global education at Educational Testing Service.

ETS is a US-based nonprofit organization that administers many international tests, including the GRE, required by most graduate schools in the US for admissions.

The Open Doors Report released by the Institute for International Education recently showed 350,755 Chinese studied in the US in the 2016-17 academic year, an annual increase of 6.8 percent and the slowest growth rate since 2006.

Payne said the slowing growth rate might result from Chinese students' increasingly diverse options for overseas study destinations, and that the improving quality of Chinese universities has enabled more students to stay at home for their higher education.

"But the US will stay a preferred destination for overseas study," he said, adding that more programs, especially ones taught in English outside the US such as in Australia, Canada and Europe, are now requiring applicants to provide GRE scores. "So I think that will continue to drive the number of GRE test takers in China," Payne said.

The Chinese mainland had 58,679 GRE test takers in 2016-17, up 2 percent from 2015-16, the third-largest number of test takers after the US and India, Payne said.

Another factor is that more Chinese students are taking the GRE as undergraduates abroad. "We noticed several years ago that the number of test takers in China appeared to be dropping slightly, but when we looked at how many students by nationality were taking the test, the number (of Chinese test takers) was actually continuing to increase," he said.

"What we discovered was that more Chinese students were going to US institutions as undergraduates and were taking the GRE in the US."

He also said Chinese students are particularly strong in quantitative reasoning - a section of the GRE - compared with the average score globally.
Twenty-nine students had been diagnosed with tuberculosis by Thursday in an outbreak at a middle school in Taojiang county, Hunan province, local health authorities said on Friday.

Five other students are suspected of having the disease, and another 38 students are taking medication for disease prevention, according to a release from the Hunan Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission.

The 72 students, from Taojiang No 4 Middle School, are now being treated and are under healthcare management, the release said.

After the outbreak in August, health authorities in Hunan expedited treatment and the outbreak is under control, the commission said.

Students and parents became aware of the outbreak in mid-August, when the school organized health tests at the school, according to the Beijing News.

The outbreak was first confirmed on Thursday by Taojiang county, which said the outbreak occurred at the school on Aug 19.

In a statement released on Friday evening, the National Health and Family Planning Commission, the country's top health authority, said its minister, Li Bin, had urged authorities in Hunan province to verify and release information and do their best to provide treatment to students after media reports of the outbreak this week.

Staff and experts dispatched by the national commission arrived in Taojiang on Friday afternoon to supervise handling of the outbreak, the statement said.

TB is curable and preventable, and schools must report confirmed or suspected cases immediately to local centers of disease control for screening and tests, the statement said.

"Many of our experts are dispatched to Taojiang to handle the incident," a staff member from Hunan CDC, who declined to be named, told China Daily on Friday.

People diagnosed can return to daily life with a document from a certified hospital showing they have recovered or treatment has been successful so they are no longer contagious, said Tang Yi, director of the Hunan Institute for Tuberculosis Control's department of prevention and control.
Zhu Aijun (R) and her daughter Li Xinyun pose for photos in the cabin in Shenyang, capital of Northeast China's Liaoning province, Nov 17, 2017. Zhu Aijun has been a flight attendant in China Southern Airlines since 1987, and Friday is her last flight before retirement. Her daughter Li Xinyun, who became a flight attendant in 2016, has been permitted to fly with her mother. [Photo/Xinhua]
A rescue team removes fallen rocks on an expressway after an 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Nyingchi in Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region Nov 18, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

LHASA - Three people sustained minor injuries following a 6.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Nyingchi in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region at 6:34 am Saturday.The quake caused power failure and cracks in houses in a number of localities in Nyingchi City, according to the regional seismological bureau.The epicenter was detected at 29.75 degrees north latitude and 95.02 degrees east longitude, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. The quake struck at a depth of about 10 km.The quake was felt strongly in several counties in Nyingchi. As of 6 p.m., 227 aftershocks had been detected, including one with a magnitude of 5or higher.Basang Cering, Party chief in Zhaxigang Village of Lunang Township, told Xinhua that he could not stand still in his house when the quake struck. Six houses in his village were damaged by the jolt.Sources with the regional power grid said the power grids of both Tibet and Nyingchi are operating normally, though it had launched an emergency response mechanism.The China Seismological Bureau has launched a third-degree emergency response mechanism, and held a teleconference to monitor an investigation into the situation. A team of 32 experts has been sent to the quake zone.The bureau observed that the highest seismic intensity of the quake affected an area of 500 square meters, which is sparsely populated.The tremors triggered falling rocks, blocking a highway linking Nyingchi's city proper with Tangmai, one of the quake-hit townships. Armed police transport troops are clearing the road.The Fire Department of the Ministry of Public Security said fire fighters from Nyingchi are ready in Tangmai Township. Another team of rescuers will take a helicopter to Gyalha village in the epicenter since the road to the village was blocked by rocks.The Ministry of Transport has also dispatched staff to investigate the safety condition of bridges in the quake-hit area.The Tibet subsidiaries of Chinese telecom providers China Mobile and China Tower said that their networks are operating normally. But the Tibet branch of China Telecom reported the disruption of an optical cable for broadband service in Pome and Zayul counties.
China, as the world's major cargo trade country, is ready to develop a logistics network cooperation with Panama based on its regional advantages, Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday.

Li made the remarks when meeting with Panama's President Juan Carlos Varela in Beijing. The two countries established diplomatic ties in June.

The establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Panama has "initiated a historical chapter for bilateral relations, benefiting the people of both sides", Li said. China is ready to connect the Belt and Road Initiative with Panama's development strategy and deepen mutual beneficial cooperation for long-term and stable bilateral relations, as well as regional and global economic growth.

Efforts also should be made to deepen bilateral friendly exchanges through beneficial and win-win cooperation to bring well-being to the people of both sides, he said.

Varela said Panama highly appreciates China's achievement in development, as well as its influence on the international community. He said Panama stands firm to the one-China principle and is ready to provide more convenience to Chinese companies that invest in Panama.
HONG KONG - A cooperation arrangement was signed on Saturday between the mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on the co-location arrangement at the West Kowloon Station of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL).

The agreement marks the first step by the two sides in taking forward relevant tasks of co-location arrangement pursuant to the "Three-step Process."

Governor of Guangdong Province Ma Xingrui and HKSAR Chief Executive Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor signed the cooperation arrangement in Hong Kong at noon, signifying the formal commencement of the "Three-Step Process" by the mainland and HKSAR in jointly proceeding with the relevant work for implementing the clearance procedures of the Hong Kong Section of the XRL.

According to the arrangement, both sides agreed to establish a port at the West Kowloon Station of the HKSAR to implement co-location arrangement whereby both sides will, in accordance with their respective laws, exercise exit and entry regulation, including immigration inspection, customs regulation, and inspection and quarantine measures etc, on departing and arriving people travelling between the mainland and Hong Kong, as well as their personal belongings and luggage.

"As a cross-boundary high-speed rail, efficient and time-saving clearance procedures are absolutely essential to realizing the full potential of the XRL in terms of speed and convenience," Lam said.

Implementing co-location arrangement will enable passengers to travel between different destinations across the country with ease and convenience, and allow Hong Kong to provide a direct high-speed rail service to an increasing number of the mainland cities.

This will fully unleash the transport, social and economic benefits of the Hong Kong Section of the XRL, Lam said.

After the signing, Hong Kong and the mainland will jointly seek a decision by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress approving and endorsing the arrangement, and then commence the local legislative process.

Both sides will also seek to meet the target of implementing the co-location arrangement at the West Kowloon Station upon the commissioning of the Hong Kong Section of the XRL in the third quarter of 2018.
Guangdong governor Ma Xingrui (left) and Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor pose for photos after signing a deal of Co-operation Arrangement Between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on the Establishment of the Port at the West Kowloon Station of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link for Implementing Co-location Arrangement in Hong Kong, November 18, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

The express rail link connecting Hong Kong and Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong province saw a major progression on Saturday, signaling the start of the finishing work on the customs arrangements of the much-anticipated high-speed rail route.

The Hong Kong SAR government signed a co-location cooperation deal with Guangdong municipal government on Saturday, marking the start of the "three-step" process of implementing a joint checkpoint plan at Hong Kong's high-speed rail terminus.

The deal, called the Co-operation Arrangement Between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on the Establishment of the Port at the West Kowloon Station of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link for Implementing Co-location Arrangement, laid a legal foundation to place designated areas within the West Kowloon terminus to allow both authorities to go through customs checks at one-go.

After the signing, the SAR government and mainland will jointly seek a decision by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) in approving and endorsing the arrangement, before Hong Kong starts working on local legislation of the co-location plan.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said while meeting the press on Saturday afternoon that she was informed that the NPCSC would deliberate the deal in December and the government would table the deal to the Legislative Council (LegCo) in February 2018 as soon as possible.

The plan is expected to be implemented along with the operation of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) in the third quarter of 2018.

According to the deal, areas on the B2 and B3 levels, the platform areas on the B4 level and the connecting passageways, the Mainland Clearance Area and back office, the waiting hall for departing passengers, station platforms and the connecting passageways and escalators are designated as Mainland Port Area, subject to mainland laws.

Meanwhile, the compartments of trains in operation on the XRL within the area of the Hong Kong SAR (including trains which are in motion, stationary and during embarkation or disembarkation) are also regarded as part of the Mainland Port Area.

The co-location arrangement would fully unleash the transport, social and economic benefits of the Hong Kong Section of XRL, Lam said after signing the deal with Guangdong Provincial Governor Ma Xingrui on Saturday morning.

Lam also noted that the government would carefully consider views from the Legislative Council and other social sectors on implementing the plan, and take appropriate follow-up action.

Besides signing the deal, both sides also agreed to set up a port liaison and coordination mechanism to ensure "the safe, smooth and efficient operation of the Mainland Port Area and its effective regulation", and an emergency handling mechanism to assist the mainland in handling sudden or emergency incidents which may occur in the Mainland Port Area in the course of operation.

Contact the writer to willa@chinadailyhk.com
A Chinese student has won an international award for her film about a US missionary who set up a refugee camp at Ginling Women's College during the Nanjing Massacre in 1937.

Luo Yiyun, 26, who majored in Creative Producing at Columbia University in the United States, won the JCS International Young Creatives Award for The Peacemaker from Nanking.

Nanking refers to Nanjing, now the capital city of Jiangsu province. She will receive her prize at the International Emmy World Television Festival Nominee Medal Ceremony in New York on Nov 18 along with two other winners from Kuwait and Chile.

The one-minute film, which was shot on a cell phone, tells the story of Lu Yi'an, a Chinese student from Nanjing, who goes to Iraq to be a volunteer during her summer vacation. Luo linked Lu's journey with the story of Wilhelmina (Minnie) Vautrin, who came to China as a missionary and teacher in 1912 and was working as the acting dean of Ginling Women's College when the Japanese army invaded in 1937.

"Vautrin's sanctuary saved my grandma, 6 years old then, and many other lives during the assault of Nanjing and the subsequent massacre," said Luo, whose grandmother was one of the refugees who stayed in Ginling Women's College, which served as a refugee haven, harboring up to 10,000 women in buildings designed to accommodate between 200 and 300 people.

"Minnie Vautrin will always be my heroine, not only because she bravely stood up against violence and saved 10,000 lives. As a student from Nanjing, to make the history of war known to the world is my responsibility."

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, in which more than 300,000 Chinese were killed by Japanese invaders when the city was occupied in December 1937.

Luo went to the US in 2007 when she was 16 and went to high school near the Mexico border. She describes it as a time of "having no friends" as she was the only Chinese student in class.

Most of Luo's classmates had never been to China, or anywhere in Asia. She said many of them thought China was a country where everyone did kung fu, like Jackie Chan in the movies they had watched.

Luo said at that time she realized the power of film to "tell people stories of other cultures, to promote harmony among diversified communities, and to help people to better understand each other".

She now plans to expand Vautrin's story into a full-length feature film.

"The film was made to inspire young people to learn the lessons from the history and avoid the repetition of evil, and encourage them to do the right thing at difficult times," Luo said.

"Yi'an is motivated by Ms Vautrin, and I hope we all can be."

panmengqi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/18/2017 page10)
The 15th South Sea Guanyin Cultural Festival opens on Nov 17 in Putuo Mountai with a grand ceremony at the square in front of the South Sea Guanyin Statue. [Photo by Wu Bo/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 15th South Sea Guanyin Cultural Festival, which began Nov 17 and ends Sunday, was held at Putuo Mountain, an island under the administration of Zhoushan in East China's Zhejiang province.

The festival began with a grand ceremony at the square in front of the South Sea Guanyin Statue, a 33-meter-high bronze statue that sits on the southeast corner of Putuo Mountain by the sea, with views the surrounding hills.
Chinese electronics giant Hisense announced on Tuesday that it would acquire a 95 percent stake in Japan's Toshiba Visual Solutions Corp as part of its efforts to expand its global business. Under the 12.9 billion yen ($112.44 million) deal, which is likely to be completed by the end of February next year, Hisense Electric Co, the listed unit of Qingdao-based Hisense Group, will buy the TV business of Japan's struggling conglomerate Toshiba. After the transaction, Hisense will integrate the research and development wings, supply chains and global resource channels of the two companies.

Toshiba Visual Solutions is not Hisense's first global acquisition. In 2015, it purchased Sharp's TV business in Mexico and acquired Sharp America's TV line for the North and South American markets. Also, the Toshiba-Hisense deal is one of the many overseas acquisitions by Chinese enterprises in recent years, some involving much larger amounts.

But why has Hisense's latest acquisition invited so much attention despite not involving "big money"? Possibly because Japanese home appliance manufacturers once dominated the world market and "Toshiba in the new era" was a very popular advertisement in China.

In recent years, many established Japanese electronics makers have sold their brands or flagship business to foreign, including Chinese, companies. For example, Chinese mainland company Midea has bought 80 percent stakes in Toshiba's white household appliance business and acquired its brand license for 40 years, and Changhong has purchased Sanyo's TV business and Haier its white household appliance unit. Besides, Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co has acquired Sharp. In fact, four of Japan's six major color TV makers have been taken over by Chinese enterprises.

However, the predicament faced by some Japanese home appliance makers because of widespread losses, staff layoffs and withering away of the once powerful brands is not a collective fiasco for Japanese enterprises. Since the home appliance industry is not a high-profit sector, some Japanese electronics companies have decided to sell some of their stakes or sell them off totally to reduce their losses and pursue self-transformation.

Still, as an important part of Japan's manufacturing, the decline of its home appliance industry paints a picture of decline for its manufacturing sector as a whole. But compared with the acquisition of Japan's home appliance makers by foreign companies, perhaps the recent corporate scandals have dealt a heavier blow to Japan's manufacturing.

Kobe Steel's test data fabrication scandal and its ongoing fermentation have triggered an earthquake across the global supply chain of auto and aircraft manufacturers, and raised grave concerns about the safety of Shinkansen trains, aircraft and automobile products.

In the auto industry, Nissan halted production in all its plants in Japan last month after it emerged that vehicles rolling off its lines were being quality checked by uncertified staff for more than 20 years. Subaru, too, said its quality test data might have been fabricated for 30 years. Similar quality scandals include fraudulent fuel consumption test by Mitsubishi, and the accidents caused by its defective airbag design.

Needless to say, these scandals have tarnished Japan's image as a quality manufacturer.

Despite their brilliant performance in the past, some Japanese enterprises have developed such "big-enterprise diseases" as systemic rigidity, overstaffing, excessive technology worship, slow pace of innovation, and the failure to take into consideration the changes brought about in the market by the internet.

The "fall" of Japanese manufacturing enterprises should be a lesson to Chinese companies, but it should also prompt them to work harder to reach the highest standards of manufacturing.

Chinese TV brands' share in the global market increased to more than 30 percent last year, replacing the Republic of Korea at the top, partly because of the overseas expansion and global acquisitions by Chinese TV makers. And as Japanese TV brands are likely to further withdraw from the market, Chinese manufacturers should raise the level of their technologies, enhance their brand value and influence, strengthen their research and development, and upgrade their supply chain and global resource channels. Only by doing so can Chinese enterprises grab the market share conceded by Japanese brands and add value to the made-in-China brands.

The article was first published in Beijing Youth Daily.




A new production of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night featuring an all-male cast. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The National Theater Live is returning to China in 2018, with more screenings of sellout English stage productions.

Launched in the United Kingdom in 2009, National Theater Live, an initiative that broadcasts British theater productions to cinemas around the world, has brought works featuring film actors, such as Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston to Beijing and Shanghai since 2012.

Among the eight productions, the National Theater Live will bring the hit musical, Follies, starring Imelda Staunton, Janie Dee and Philip Quast; Tony Award-winning director Ivo van Hove's new work Obsession, starring Jude Law; a critically-acclaimed version of Edward Ablee's classic, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and a new production of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night featuring Tamsin Greig.

Besides, the highly-praised productions, One Man, Two Guvnors and Skylight, will return a third time to Chinese cinemas thanks to its popularity and positive reviews.

According to co-organizer, Beijing-based ATW Culture Media Ltd, the sole distributor of National Theater Live in China, 28 new productions will be screened in cinemas and 16 productions will be streamed online, in the first half of 2018.

Besides working with National Theater Live, ATW Culture Media, in collaboration with UK distribution company Trafalgar Releasing will also bring theater content on screen in China from the Royal Shakespeare Company's Live from Stratford-upon-Avon, Almeida Theater Live and Branagh Theater Live.

Following the success of the King and Country series of Shakespeare history plays, the Royal Shakespeare Company's Live from Stratford-upon-Avon will return with two productions, Julius Caesar, one of the most famous historical tragedies written by William Shakespeare and Titus Andronicus, one of Shakespeare's most violent plays that is rarely performed on stage.

Separately, American distribution company BroadwayHD will present two new Tony Award-winning productions, Indecent and Present Laughter.

The Russian company, Stage Russia HD, will bring The Seagull, a classic play by Anton Chekhov.

A new live brand, More2Screen, will bring two more screening categoriesdance and exhibitionsto China, including English choreographer Matthew Bourne's revivals of three classic ballets, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Car Man, and the exhibition of Hokusai: Mitsubishi by British Museum, alongside David Bowie Is by Victoria and Albert Museum.

According to Li Chongzhou, the CEO of ATW Culture, since 2015 the company has distributed and promoted 39 theater productions on screen from seven major brands worldwide.

And with over 1,400 screenings, theater productions in the form of cinema screenings have reached more than 200,000 people across 24 Chinese cities.

"For Chinese theatergoers, this is a rare opportunity to experience world-class theater productions at home," says Li.

"New content and new categories will shorten the distance between China and world's top theater productions, and enable more Chinese to enjoy the finest shows from all over the world."
Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen (C) and Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Deng Ying (R) present to children gifts during the groundbreaking ceremony for a giant panda enclosure at the Copenhagen zoo in Copenhagen Nov 16, 2017. A giant panda enclosure will be built at the zoo for a pair of giant pandas that are scheduled to come to Denmark from China in about one year. [Photo/Xinhua]

COPENHAGEN - Denmark's most visited zoo in the capital city of Copenhagen held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new enclosure for a pair of giant pandas that are scheduled to come to Denmark from China in about one year.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen together with Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Deng Ying lifted ceremonial shovels and broke ground for the Panda House, which is to be built on the site of the zoo's old Elephant House.

Addressing the groundbreaking ceremony, Deng said the cooperation in the protection and research of giant panda is of great importance to deepening the friendly relations between the two nations.

"Amity between people holds the key to sound relations between states," Deng quoted a Chinese saying, adding that the giant pandas are not only China's national treasure, but also envoys for friendship and symbol of peace.

She also expressed the hope that the friendship between the two peoples will continuously bear new fruits.

For his part, the Rasmussen said he is happy about China's decision to send the pandas to Denmark.

"It will be a strong signal of the 10 years' anniversary of China-Denmark Comprehensive Strategic Partnership when they arrive next year."

"Though Denmark and China are two very different countries and hold different views on some issues, the two nations enjoy very good bilateral relations. Bringing the pandas to Denmark will be a symbol of that," Rasmussen added.
BUENOS AIRES - An Argentinean submarine has lost contact in the South Atlantic with 44 crew on board, military authorities said on Friday.

The ARA San Juan was carrying out a surveillance mission in Argentina's exclusive economic zone near Puerto Madryn, around 1,400 km south of Buenos Aires.

Argentina's naval commander for the Atlantic, Gabriel Gonzalez, told media on Friday that "48 hours ago", radioelectrical communication was lost with the submarine.

The last communication with the craft happened on Wednesday and navy spokesman Enrique Balbi denied that it had been found, after press reports suggested it had.

Answering rumors about the submarine, Balbi said that news of a fire on board was "not official information. There may have been a technical fault, there is no communication yet".

The foreign ministry also issued a statement saying that "the governments of Chile, the United States and the United Kingdom have offered logistical support and exchange of information in this humanitarian search".

Three planes, four ships and one helicopter are searching the area for the missing submarine.

The ARA San Juan is a TR-1700 submarine made in Germany, which joined the Argentinean navy in 1985.
Albany Police officers, city leaders and more than 100 mid-valley residents turned out Friday to celebrate the opening of the new, 40,400-square-foot Albany Police Station at 2600 Pacific Boulevard SW.

"This is another grand day in Albany," Mayor Sharon Konopa told the crowd. "This year we've had the fire station, the carousel and now the new police station."

Konopa remarked that when she was elected to city council 20 years ago, all the talk focused on the need for a new police station.

"We've been talking about it for 20 years," she said.

Albany Police Chief Mario Lattanzio spoke next, thanking his wife, Kim, for "putting up with him" during the process of completing the new station. He went on to thank a host of others, from the architects to the construction crew to many members of his department.

"I got here about four-and-a-half years ago and I've been working on this project ever since," he said.

Lattanzio also gave a nod to former chief Ed Boyd, who in 2009 was instrumental in the purchase of the land where the new station stands. Former city manager Wes Hare, fresh from a volunteer work trip to Africa, was also honored for his efforts in bringing the new station to fruition.

After Konopa cut the ceremonial ribbon, which was made from police line tape, visitors enjoyed cookies and lemonade as they toured the new facility, which includes large atriums, open areas up to the top floor and breezeways that overlook areas below help complete a design concept called "designed interaction," which encourages and even requires officers from different departments to interact during their shifts. this is an element that was lacking at the old station.

The project got the green light in 2015 after voters approved a bond to fund replacement of both the Jackson Street police station and the fire station on Lyon Street.

The new facility joins the new Albany Fire Station 11, which opened Oct. 6. Both were designed by Mackenzie Architects of Portland.

The original date for the station to open was set for Nov. 20, but that date was moved to Dec. 4, so that contractors could put the finishing touches on some minor details in the building.

According to the city, money for both the police and fire stations came from:

 $18 million in bonds approved by voters in 2015. The bonds actually sold for $18.6 million. The buyers paid a premium for them, with no additional cost to taxpayers.

 The Central Albany Revitalization Area Board, which is contributing $1.455 million to building costs, plus an additional $197,200 for a new traffic signal at Sixth and Lyon.

 Linn County, which bought the old police station for $1 million. That was added to the project for contingency costs.

Total cost for both buildings: $26,288,500.
I had the privilege or reading a pre-release version of "God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church." Here are 20 quotes from the book, which you should pick up.
The family of a Spring electrical contractor who died from injuries from a fiery explosion at the Whitehall Hotel in downtown Houston last week have sued the hotel chain and others for at least $1 million.

According to a negligence suit filed in Harris County district court on Friday, Jose Zadezensky, 72, and his step-son Jonathan Ruperez, 29, were working as contractors in a basement room of the hotel on Nov. 10 when a violent explosion took place.

At the time, Houston Fire Department Deputy Chief Blake C. White told reporters a transformer explosion had caused a fire to ignite. Soon after the booming explosion, thick plumes of black smoke billowed out of one side of the Whitehall Hotel. Hotel guests and others who were near the hotel the afternoon of the fire said they heard what sounded like an explosion.

Zadezensky died two days later from his injuries. The cause of his death, as well as the details of the accident, are still under investigation, the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences said Friday.

In a suit filed Friday, Ruperez and others related to Zadezensky allege negligence by hotel owner Houston Hotel Associates Limited Partnership, LLP and other companies. Also listed as defendants are Sotherly Hotels LP, MHI Hotel Services dba Chesapeake Hospitality, CenterPoint Energy, and Reliant Energy.

Representatives of the companies listed as defendants in the suit either declined to comment, or did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.

In the suit, attorneys for the family say the two men asked a hotel maintenance employee to shut off a breaker box so as prevent any electrical currents while they worked.

The hotel employee, the suit says, told them he did not know which breaker should be turned off.

Zadezensky then asked for blueprints of the hotels electric lines so that he could confirm which breaker needed to be turned off, the suit says. The hotel employee denied their request, the suit says, and instead guided them into another room.

There, the suit says, the employee notified the two men of a transformer that needed to be repaired. An aluminum ladder was standing in the room from previous repair efforts, the suit says, which Zadezensky tried to move.

As soon as he touched the ladder, an electrical explosion occurred which resulted in a fire, the suit says, Ruperez was blown backward from the power of the explosion and fell to the ground. Upon turning back towards the explosion, Ruperez saw his father Zadezensky engulfed in flames.

Ruperez immediately ran to his aid in an attempt to put out the fire engulfing his father, the suit says. Ruperez tackled Zadezensky and was able to smother the flames.

Zadezensky was later diagnosed with burns on 85 percent of his body and 90 percent of his organs, the suit says, while Ruperez also suffered severe burns.

The suit also says the hotels sprinkler system did not turn on until several minutes after the explosion.

A temporary restraining order was also issued Friday to halt cleanup and repairs at the hotel in order to preserve evidence.

(Zadezensky) was unknowingly sent into what was essentially a deathtrap of uncontrolled electricity surges, Derek Potts, who is representing the family, wrote in an email Friday. Our client suffered one of the worst deaths there is: burning alive and living for several days before passing.

Clarification: A previous story gave an incorrect age for Zadezensky.
A 67-year-old Houston woman was sentenced to four years in prison on Wednesday for posing as an ICE agent and promising to help a woman's husband become a U.S. citizen, according to court documents and the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Amalia Barnette offered to help the family make a now deceased relative a U.S. citizen if they paid her cash, according to testimony in the three-day jury trial.

"They were just worried that she had been doing this to more people that were afraid to come forward," prosecutor Andrew Figliuzzi said. "They felt like they were standing up for other people in their community."

Barnette originally approached the family in November 2015 to purchase a trailer from their business in north Houston, according to court documents. The woman returned to the business asking for another trailer and struck up a conversation with Elena Ozuna.

Ozuna eventually shared with Barnette that her husband had been deported to Mexico several years ago. Barnette told the woman she was an agent for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office.

The woman claimed she could help Ozuna's husband, Antonio, become a U.S. citizen. Over the next two weeks, Ozuna paid Barnettte $1,800 in cash and gave her a $2,500 trailer, according to court documents.

Barnette also required the woman to complete a government document as part of the process.

When the woman's daughter, Irma, met the woman in December 2015, she asked her to provide federal identification, but Barnette claimed she lost it.

Irma continued to challenge the woman to show a form of federal identification, but Barnette left and the family did not hear from her again.

Barnette was eventually caught in Mexico in early 2016 by Border Patrol agents, said Figliuzzi. Agents found a duffel bag in her car, which had the victim's drivers license and multiple other licenses

There were also citizenship documents and photos of Barnette dressed as different types of ICE agents. Barnette was previously charged for a similar crime in Lubbock but the case was dismissed, said Figliuzzi.

Both Elena and Irma testified in the trial. The father, Antonio, passed away in 2016 from a heart attack, Figliuzzi said. A detective from Lubbock who worked her previous case also testified.

"The problem is many times the victims are afraid to come forward and they don't trust law enforcement," said Figliuzzi. "We as an office want to let them know, that we are looking out for them and if they feel that they're being preyed on that we won't hesitate to fight for justice in their case."
Lee Haidusek Chambers is officially announcing her candidacy to be the next Liberty County Clerk.

In an emailed statement, Chambers explained that, if elected, she hopes to apply her knowledge and hard work to the county's primary record-keeping office, as well as the management of the county's election. She intends to draw on her experience as an attorney and engineer with significant computer technology experience.

Chambers was born and raised in Dayton, Texas, the daughter of Charles and Shirley Haidusek. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in 1982.

After working for major computer manufacturers for several years, Lee attended the SMU School of Law where she earned her law degree in 1997.

Chambers' experience includes working on a variety of computer applications used in government operations, and she was the creative force behind the Texas Department of Information Resources.

As an attorney, she has over 20 years of legal experience covering many areas of the law, including criminal, civil, probate and real estate. She was also co-counsel and wrote the brief on a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Chambers is an active volunteer in the community and her church. Married to Tommy Chambers, she has two sons, one adorable grandson, and a very special shelter dog.

The County Clerk's Office is responsible for birth records, death records, marriage certificates, real estate records, the case files for several areas of law, even cattle brands.

As Liberty County's election official, the County Clerk is responsible for ensuring that all voter-age citizens are able to participate in the most fundamental right of democracy: elections.

Chambers says she is committed to the security and integrity of the county's records and will ensure that all elections in the county are open, fair, and beyond reproach. According to the statement, Chambers says she intends to be proactive, not reactive, in leading the Count Clerk's Office, and plans to incorporate growth estimates and technology forecasts into a long-range plan for the office.

Chambers believes she knows the importance of being forward-thinking, but with enough of a foot in the past to preserve and protect the things that make Liberty County special. She has a unique mix of education and experience that is a perfect fit for the position.

"Please vote for a fifth-generation Liberty County native who will bring a professional approach to the County Clerk's Office. Vote for Lee Haidusek Chambers for Liberty County Clerk in the Republican Primary on March 6, 2018," the statement concludes.

For more information on Chambers' candidacy, go online to www.Lee4LibertyCountyClerk.com.
I did a segment on TV last year, and it was called "Restore don't Re Finish." It was all about taking a shortcut to restore the original beauty of your cabinetry. By the time you read this, it will be Thanksgiving, and four weeks before Christmas, and the last thing you need is to have your kitchen in an uproar! I mean, you have Christmas shopping to do!

Do your cabinets look dull, lack the deep color that they did when they were new? Have they discolored around the sink, and where the knobs and pulls are located? We used to tell customers that to refinish cabinets, it was a three-step process  strip, stain, varnish. If you have a large kitchen, and you do it yourself, it's a very long process. But you don't have to do that! With Restor A Finish you can revive and restore the original color of the cabinets in one step without removing the varnish. If you can dust your cabinets, you have all the skill needed to restore your cabinets. It's a simple wipe on and then wipe off to make your cabinets look refreshed. Restor A Finish will simply blend away surface scratches, white rings, fading, and dulling  penetrating through the existing finish.

After you restore the color of your cabinets, apply Feed and Wax to preserve the color. (wait 30 minutes) If your cabinets just look dull, a quick coat of just Feed and Wax will bring the patina back into the wood. Restor A Finish comes in nine colors, and if the color is not perfect don't worry, Restor A Finish is very forgiving. If a contractor has looked at your cabinets and said they needed stripping, just try Restor A Finish first!

I am giving thanks at this time of the year for my supportive family, for new opportunities and for the chance to get to talk to you each week. If you have family over for this special time  remember share the last piece of pumpkin pie!

Now to the email 

Question: We just moved into a home that has granite. I was so excited about having granite that I didn't notice that it didn't shine. So I am wondering if there is anything that I can apply to the granite or will it require that I call a pro?

Answer: Granite Gold has a Polish that will provide a beautiful shine to your granite. First, clean your granite with their daily cleaner and then seal your granite. I just had granite installed this summer, and thoughtlessly I didn't seal the granite. You can't seal your granite too much, and it is very easy. Just spray on, wipe down, and buff dry. That's it! Once you clean, and seal then you can polish. And I promise it will add a beautiful shine.

Question: We had some high winds recently, and a limb fell into my gutter and put a hole in it the size of a silver dollar. What can I patch it with that will hold up?

Answer: There is a patch that is normally used for sheetrock called Fibatape. Fibatape has adhesive on one side that you are going to apply over the hole. After it cures, brush on Through the Roof covering your patch and extending past the repair. This will keep your gutter watertight.

Question: We have a rug in our home that is slippery. My wife and I know how to step on it, so we don't go flying. But the other day my neighbor walked in and nearly hit the floor. Tell me what I can apply to this rug, so it is safe for everyone that comes over.

Answer: There is a product called Fiber-Lok that you brush on like paint. It will give the rug a backing so that the rug will stay put on your floor. It's especially useful for bathroom rugs that you wash and dry and the rubber backing has peeled off. If you don't want to paint the back of your rug, use Rug Gripper tape. You can put it on the back of the rug, place your rug on the floor and it will stay secure. The nice part about Rug Gripper tape is that it does not leave a sticky residue on the floor.

If you cannot find the products mentioned here locally, you can find them at www.happyhandyman.com. Click on Shop Johnnie's Favorites, or call the store at 210-341-1573. Email happyhandyman2@yahoo.com. Mail can be sent to Johnnie Chuoke's Home and Hardware, 2361 NW Military, San Antonio, TX 78231.
LEBANON  The Lebanon School Board isn't discounting the idea of a countywide vocational charter school, but it is going to look at other ways to expand career-technical education, too.

Superintendent Rob Hess had floated the idea of a charter school at the board's meeting in October, saying such a school could include partnerships between the district and local industries and would help students develop skills for living wage jobs.

Funding from Ballot Measure 98, which Oregonians approved last year to help fund so-called CTE programs, could be tapped to help create the school, Hess said. If the board were to approve the concept, the next step would involve submitting a planning grant to the Oregon Department of Education.

Board members reviewed Hess' idea at their November meeting on Thursday and added their own thoughts, Chairman Tom Oliver said.

With Mike Martin and Richard Borden absent, board members Nick Brooks, Russ McUne and Oliver agreed to create a committee to consider CTE "from a broader perspective," Oliver said.

A charter school would be a great tool to recruit students to Lebanon, and money would be available to get it started, Oliver said.

However, it also has the potential to duplicate or detract from vocational classes already offered at Lebanon High School, he said. It also could set students up to make a difficult choice: A vocational-only track or a university-prep program?

Lebanon experimented with a setup a little more than a decade ago that divided the high school into four "academies," each with a different academic or vocational emphasis.

The idea was for students to be able to focus on classes within their interest areas, and to connect them with teachers and peers they would stay with for the entirety of their high school experience.

But among other issues, parents complained students were being forced onto narrow education tracks and denied access to other electives and core classes by virtue of the academy choice they had made.

"That's not what we want to do," Oliver said. "We want the CTE track to be available to all of our students."

To that end, he said, the committee will look at the possibility of developing a vocational charter school, but also will explore other possibilities for vocational technical education.

No details have been decided on how to organize the committee or when it will begin to meet. Oliver said the board envisions committee members including parents, teachers, industry representatives and other area residents.

Hess told board members Thursday there are currently 10 CTE programs at Lebanon High School, the most in 20 years, but skilled workers are still in high demand.

He said he envisioned the school being open to grades 7-12 and marketed throughout Linn County through an application process.

"Our system is already under-resourced," he wrote in his proposal. "We must be able to attract students from outside Lebanon to make the school viable."

Potential partners could include the Boys & Girls Club, Linn-Benton Community College, the city of Lebanon and the business-school-Chamber of Commerce partnership known as Pipeline.

Hess said he had no intention of creating a school that would compete with, or eliminate, any current Lebanon High School programs.

"It is about expansion, not contraction," he wrote.
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Grand Parkway Infrastructure (GPI) officials were overwhelmed with the turnout at the first of many public meetings scheduled as the final leg of SH-99 completes the Loop around Houston.

The ballroom of the Dayton Community Center was buzzing with up to 200 residents who filed in to see firsthand the highway project.

"Today we're showing the aesthetics and landscape plan, but what people are really interested in is the map," said Heather DeLapp, public relations manager, GPI, the design/build contractor on behalf of TxDOT. "Where is it going to go? And when is it going to start."

DeLapp, who was having to speak loudly over the crowd, said that while residents may not be seeing much, there is a lot going on behind the scenes.

"We want folks to understand that we're working on the design of the road, right-of-way acquisition with property owners, and working on utilities," the PR manager said.

"With the corridor being 50 miles long, there's a lot of activity and planning that goes in advance so that when we turn dirt next year, we'll be ready to go and work as hard and diligent as we can," she said.

Plans are to begin in mid-to-late 2018 at the furthermost parts of the project tying in the most northern portion at the US 59/69 interchange and the southernmost portion of the project in Baytown. The middle section is the area that includes Liberty County and is expected to begin in 2019. DeLapp said at that point, the entire 50 miles will be under construction. Once underway, the anticipated completion date is 2022.

Right-of-way is working with landowners to make sure the land is secured before proceeding with construction.

"We're working on a website that's currently under development that will go live toward the end of the year. It will have the most accurate information with maps and more," DeLapp said.

"Once the design is complete, we're at 60 percent right now, we'll have another public meeting that will actually show more with regard to access, how to utilize the roadway, and where you can anticipate the location of entrances and exits," she said.

A public groundbreaking ceremony will be announced mid-next year to kick off the construction.

Some of the landscape features include native planting for reforestation along the route where possible.

"It's something that TxDOT is really pushing to make the landscape pleasing to the eye and easy to maintain," DeLapp said.

At the major interchanges, there are also state-required detention ponds to help avoid flooding.

The color scheme of the interchanges has already been secured and will be finalized soon. The high visibility areas have beautiful columns for support and manicured landscaping.

Former Liberty County Judge Lloyd "Tookie" Kirkham, who served between 1995-2007, had nothing but praise for the TxDOT project.

"I think this is going to be one of the best things for Liberty County. It's going to be a toll road and the good news is that the traffic that goes over it will pay a toll," he said.

Some of that money will be dedicated for Liberty County coffers, the former judge said.

Much of those funds will come from TxDOT who will pay for the bond and maintenance first. Then a portion of that will also go toward the construction of the two lanes. Consultants say that money for Liberty County will come years down the road after the bond and construction money is replaced, but Kirkham promised it was coming.

"More than a decade ago, the commissioners court formed a toll road authority just for this project. What we want to make sure, in a meeting with TxDOT, is that we know what the formula is, how many axles, how much is paid, and so forth," Kirkham said.

The money, he said, would be tagged for Road and Bridge funds to use for improvements on county roads.

Don Jeans was at the meeting getting information for his grandfather and family.

"My family owns a ranch off FM 2100 and FM 1960 and we're in the process of selling the land. It's important to know the schedule of SH 99," Jeanes said.

Jeanes was pleased with what he saw, but was more interested in the actual schedule of the project, but didn't find any dates on the placards. Those will come later once the land acquisitions are complete.

"Our property isn't right on the Grand Parkway, but probably a fair distance from it," Jeanes said.

The family owns approximately 900 acres and has about 800 listed with Republic Ranches for $7,000 per acre.

One Dayton couple had concerns because the map shows the highway splitting their land. Scott and Carla Merka own 16 acres off CR 602 and came looking for answers.

"We believe that they will take about 3 to 7 acres, but the real problem is that at least one acre will be landlocked on the other side and we won't be able to get to it at all," Scott said.

That's not the only concern.

"We'll lose our hay meadow too," she said, and the additional income they relied upon from the sale of the hay.

"I'm going to see what it's going to be like and how close it will be to the house. We want to see if they will put up any kind of barriers to block the sound," Scott said.

They spoke with the manager in charge of right-of-way.

"I can't really tell you much about how close until the surveys are done," said Arthur West, right of way manager, Webber, LLC.

"As soon as we get the surveys in, the environmental studies are complete, and the appraiser makes the appraisal, we'll put a package together that we have to send to TxDOT for approval. At that time, somebody will call you to come out and make an offer," he told the couple.

City officials were also on hand to answer questions and felt the excitement in the room.

"I think the turnout was quite good. It was great to see a lot of the property owners and interested people around the area to come out and ask questions of GPI, TxDOT and the city," said Dayton City Manager Theo Melancon.

"We're excited about the opportunities with the Grand Parkway as it finishes the Loop around Houston. We feel confident that we can manage the growth that will be coming to Dayton and maybe it will give us an opportunity to bring amenities to Dayton that people would like to have without having to drive 30-40 miles," Melancon said.

County Judge Jay Knight, who missed the event because of judicial continuing education out of town, said the best asset in Liberty County is land.

"We will manage this right and have the best of both worlds with rural and city life," he said.

Many residents lingered and asked questions and while not all were answered on Tuesday night, officials said more answers would be available once the plans were completed.

"This is just one of the events that we're going to host. As the project progresses, we'll be more involved with the communities," DeLapp said. That includes making the rounds speaking to civic groups, chambers and anyone who would like to have a speaker at their event can contact them by emailing DeLapp at hdelapp@ferrovial.us.
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Actor Sylvester "Rocky" Stallone is the latest in a seemingly endless line of male celebrities and politicians accused of sexual assault.

A police report obtained by Mail Online allegedly claims that a 16-year-old fan was intimidated into sex with, and threatened by the Academy Award nominated actor.

The girl, now a woman, claimed that Stallone told her he would "beat her head in" if she ever spoke about what he and his bodyguard allegedly did to her, the Guardian reported.

HEARTBREAKING: Aly Raisman gives chilling details about Larry Nassar's sex abuse in new book

The alleged incident happened at the Las Vegas Hilton in 1986 when Stallone was promoting "Over the Top."

"According to the police report, the unnamed woman, who was staying at the hotel with her family, said she was given keys to a hotel room by the actor's bodyguard, Michael De Luca," the Guardian reported. "After having sex with Stallone there, the woman claimed that De Luca became involved in the encounter, at which point she became 'very uncomfortable,'" the Guardian added.

Now Playing: Leeann Tweeden, morning news anchor on TalkRadio 790 KABC in Los Angeles, says she was kissed and groped by Sen. Al Franken during a USO Tour trip to the Middle East in December 2006. Tweeden shared her story in a 1,200 word article for KA Video: FoxM9NJ

Stallone has since denied the allegations, calling them "ridiculous" and "categorically false."

Fernando Alfonso III is a digital reporter at Chron.com. You can read more of his stories here and follow him on twitter at @fernalfonso. If you also like surreal GIFs and Polaroids, go here and here.


A Houston man who was 16 when police say he killed someone will be tried as an adult.

Desmond Hawkins, who turned 18 on Nov. 8, is accused of shooting and killing Reginald Sherman on Oct. 11, 2016, in what police have said was a robbery attempt. According to court records, Sherman and Hawkins met outside of the May Food Store at 8500 N. Main St. There, police say Hawkins demanded Sherman give him money and then shot and killed him.

Hawkins will stand trial as an adult for capital murder charges after his case was waived by a juvenile court through a process known as certification.

Prosecutors must prove it was not practical to proceed with a felony case before the defendant's 18th birthday, as well as show probable cause that the defendant committed the crime. A judge then considers whether that person is a threat to their community, also considering factors such as the nature of the crime and the likelihood of rehabilitation.

Prosecutors say Hawkins has known gang ties and called the shooting premeditated. A psychiatrist meanwhile described him as having a "high level of criminal sophistication and dangerousness in comparison to most offenders his age," according to court documents.

"The state believed, and the judge agreed in his court order transferring this juvenile to adult court, that this defendant could not be rehabilitated in the juvenile justice system," Michele Oncken, a deputy chief with the Harris County District Attorney's Juvenile Division, said in an email this week. "It is our duty to protect the community from the most violent offenders."

Juvenile treatment

The case comes amid bipartisan movements nationally to re-examine how juveniles are treated in the criminal justice system. Those movements have been bolstered by recent Supreme Court decisions and a growing body of research that shows even older teenagers are not fully mentally developed, and thus shouldn't necessarily be condemned to spend most of their lives behind bars, without rehabilitation and at a tremendous cost to taxpayers.

"The reality that juveniles still struggle to define their identity means it is less supportable to conclude that even a heinous crime committed by a juvenile is evidence of irretrievably depraved character," the court wrote in its 2005 decision to end the death penalty for juvenile offenders. "From a moral standpoint it would be misguided to equate the failings of a minor with those of an adult, for a greater possibility exists that a minor's character deficiencies will be reformed."

The court then ruled in 2012 that mandatory life sentences for juvenile offenders were unconstitutional.

Texas lawmakers, for their part, were ahead of that movement, banning in 2009 life sentences without parole for those 16 and younger. Four years later, the state Legislature extended that policy to 17-year-olds.

Currently, youth offenders - including Hawkins - can be sentenced to life, with the possibility of parole after 40 years.

Harris County has in recent years been trending away from juvenile certifications, a reversal applauded by reform advocates. Then, in 2016, Harris County saw a surge in the number of juveniles certified as adults. That uptick, however, appeared to have been driven by an increase in armed robberies committed by youth offenders, a Houston Chronicle analysis found at the time.

But whereas many states have re-sentenced such offenders in the wake of the court's decision, inmates in Texas must apply individually.

As of July, there were 12 Texas inmates serving life sentences for crimes committed before they were 18, the Associated Press reported.

Paroles are rare

Texas groups are also pushing for so-called "second-look" bills that would make such inmates eligible for release after 20 years. Two such pieces of legislation were introduced this year, but were not voted on by lawmakers.

In the last 15 years, only about 8 percent of all people convicted of capital murder have been granted parole, according to the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, which supports the legislation.

"There's much more nuance, and we need to treat each case individually and have avenues for rehabilitation," said Lindsey Linder, a TCJC attorney. "When you're so young, and especially when you think about the prevalence of guns in communities impacted by crime and violence, and how easy it is for them to get access to them and take a life in a second - that's something we need to think about."

Linder also noted that many juveniles are sentenced under the law of parties, which says those accused for minor roles in a crime face harsh punishments simply for being associated with the illegal activity.

"This is particularly ripe for situations of injustice," she said. "Not only are you holding a young person accountable as if they were an adult, you're also holding them accountable for what someone else did."
A longtime Houston police officer arrested in an extensive prostitution sting in October has been identified.

Robert Teweleit, 54, was arrested Oct. 4 during a 10-day sting at a massage parlor turned brothel that was taken over in early October by Houston Police Department, spokesman John Cannon exclusively told Chron.com Friday afternoon. He was charged with misdemeanor prostitution, according to Harris County District Court documents.

Teweleit's name and mugshot were initially withheld by police following the sting, which netted 138 other people. Those names and mugshots were immediately released. Teweleit was not identified because he was an undercover officer, Cannon added. Teweleit was last assigned to the auto theft division. He was sworn into the department September 1986.

READ MORE: HPD prostitution sting nets Houston cop among 139 clients

Cannon told Chron.com that they were comfortable releasing Teweleit's name, information, and mugshot Friday because enough time had passed since his arrest. Teweleit was initially suspended with pay until he retired from HPD on Nov. 1

Teweleit retained the legal services of Paul Gene Aman, who was unavailable for comment Friday. Aman's legal administrator, David Donahue, told Chron.com Friday afternoon that he worried of his client's identity being made public considering his undercover position in the department.

Teweleit is due back in court Dec. 11.

Once known as the "7 Star Spa" at 11316 Westheimer, the massage parlor with seven private rooms, two stand-up shower rooms and a kitchen/laundry room had a sordid history of prostitution busts before it was closed in 2016, police officials said during a news conference Oct. 26.

HPD's vice division reopened the spa in early October as "8 Star Spa," and officers disguised themselves as employees to make arrests. Most of the men were arrested at the brothel after money changed hands, and they were then booked into jail.

During a news conference Oct. 26, HPD Chief Art Acevedo said the undercover police officers charged an average rate of $60 as a door fee and $120 for sex acts.

"These 139 individuals are part of the reason the sex trade is alive here in Houston," Acevedo said during the conference. "These men should be ashamed."

Because Teweleit was arrested while off duty, the Houston Police Officers Union is not representing him, second vice president Joe Gamaldi told Chron.com. Teweleit's arrest and charge does not affect his pension, Gamaldi added.

"If the allegations are true, it is conduct unbecoming of a Houston police officer," Gamaldi said.

Fernando Alfonso III is a digital reporter at Chron.com. You can read more of his stories here and follow him on twitter at @fernalfonso. If you also like surreal GIFs and Polaroids, go here and here.


A woman accused of crossing the Hidalgo bridge with cocaine tied to her thigh was arrested by police on Monday, according to a report.

Lorena Barrera, 23, was apprehended while walking on the bridge from Reynosa to Hidalgo, reports news station CBS 4 News. Police said they found a kilogram of cocaine on Barrera while they searched her down.
A 39-year-old male was killed Thursday evening after a single-vehicle crash in the 4000 block of Santiam Highway south of Lebanon, the Oregon State Police has confirmed.

The accident occurred around 6:40 p.m. The victim was driving east in a silver 2001 Acura coupe when he veered off the road and struck a tree. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His name is being withheld pending next of kin notification.
In late September, before he resigned, Millersburg City Manager Steve Hasson filed an ethics complaint against retired city administrator and recorder Barbara Castillo, alleging that she had used her position for personal gain.

On Friday, the Oregon Government Ethics Commission decided to investigate the matter.

By statute, the agency has 180 days to complete the investigation.

Castillo, in a brief telephone interview, said she would fully cooperate with authorities.

There are logical explanations for every complaint that he made, and I responded to them. Starting Monday, I will be working with the Ethics Commission to get it resolved, to get it settled, she said.

Castillo worked for the city for 42 years before retiring this summer.

Hasson wrote on Sept. 26, using the citys letterhead, that Castillo may have violated state law by managing a city-owned property and house that she and her husband occupied, and approved other expenses in which she had a self-interest.

Several of the public property upkeep expenditures associated with her inhabiting this public property appear to be of a direct personal benefit, Hasson wrote.

In 2016, for example, taxpayers provided $17,000 for the upkeep of the three-bedroom house on four acres, for which Castillo paid $700 a month. A Realtor contended that the property should be renting for $1,500 a month or up, according to Hasson.

Among the expenses at the property were $5,020 in 2013 for valances and curtains, $2,070 worth of bark dust in 2014, $6,500 for house painting in 2015, $2,560 for window repairs in 2014, and $2,400 for tree care in 2016, all approved by Castillo.

I cannot imagine spending over $5,000 of the publics money on a fancy curtain and valence, Hasson wrote.

Hasson added that Castillo had few if any financial controls or accountability, and that the citys auditing firm suggested he contact the Ethics Commission.

He also took issue with Castillo spending $3,000 on appetizers for her retirement party, and providing $3,000 in bonuses in the form of gift cards to company employees in 2016 and 2017, among other issues, according to his complaint letter.

Castillo responded to the commission that if she or her husband werent capable of making repairs, she hired someone to do those and each expense was reviewed and authorized by the council. The gift cards also were approved, she said, according to commission paperwork.

I was very careful to not use my position in this way as my honesty and integrity are a part of me, Castillo told the investigator.

Millersburg Mayor Jim Lepin said Castillo was innocent until proven guilty.

It bothers me tremendously, that we have a small handful of people new to our community who are trying to smear the reputation of someone who has contributed so much for our community.  And shes still volunteering for our community today, Lepin added.

He stressed that Hasson was acting as an individual and not representing the city, despite that the complaint was written using the citys letterhead.

Hasson was hired in February as Millersburgs city manager. He hired Sarah Cook to serve as city recorder.

Both resigned in late October, as did the deputy city clerk. Though not given as a reason for leaving, the timing also coincided with a staff vote of no confidence in Lepin.

During Hassons last meeting, the City Council voted to name Castillo as the acting interim city manager, saying that she would volunteer for the position. Hassons complaint against Castillo had already been filed with the state.

The next week, the City Council met again, letting the public know that Castillo had withdrawn her name from the position. The council then unanimously voted to hire Kevin Kreitman, a former Albany fire chief, for the temporary role.
The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p.
A United States Senate hopeful who seems attracted to teenage girls, details of which emerge years later, and a scandal that makes the front page of most newspapers.

We're talking about Alabama's Roy Moore, right?

Not entirely.

More than a century ago in Montana, the state's richest citizen, who also happened to be one of its senators, William Andrews Clark, found himself embroiled in a scandal that parallels what the embattled Moore is facing today.

Four in '04

Arguably the richest man in America at the time, Clark  er, Sen. Clark  found himself in a predicament to which he was thoroughly unaccustomed. The man who had made fortunes in nearly every business he touched, from merchandising to banking to mining to railroads, found himself on the verge of the being derailed.

At least four women had captured the interest of the press in connection with Clark, who had been widowed in 1893. He certainly felt the walls closing in on him.

He was being sued by Mary McNellis for $150,000 for breach of contract in New York City because he allegedly "seduced, debauched and impregnated her," while promising marriage.

The judge in the case ruled against her, but the case itself remains sealed. Later, it was discovered that McNellis' lawyer had suddenly sold his interest in a Canadian mine to none other than Clark  everyone assumes for a tidy profit.

In Bill Dedman's book "Empty Mansions," he noted that McNellis and Clark had met during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1896, and apparently kept in contact. McNellis claimed that Clark had wooed her with a dinner of oysters and champagne at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City in October 1900, according to Dedman.

Clark, using a defense that seems strikingly modern, claimed that indeed he had known McNellis and she was "rather agreeable and very intelligent."

But Clark stopped short of admitting anything inappropriate.

"(I did not promise) to marry Miss McNellis, or ever made love to her or induced her to believe that I was going to marry her," Clark was quoted as saying.

The case disappeared, although some have speculated Clark's money eventually bought her silence.

Meanwhile, noted abolitionist Hattie Rose Laube was still warring with Clark and his family because she claimed Clark had written her a promise of marriage while the senator was traveling in Europe.

Everyone seemed to want him  or his money.

But McNellis and Laube were the adult women.

There was also Kathlyn Williams, who was just a girl when Clark agreed to "sponsor" her.

Williams was described as a "blonde beauty" who came from modest means in Butte. She caught Clark's eye while acting in Butte's theater circuits.

The details of their relationship remain clouded, but Clark sent Williams to New York to study opera. Later, he bankrolled her career switch to acting.

He was 40 years her senior.

Williams would go on to have a noted career as an actress on stage, and during the early days of silent film she appeared in several dozen films and several "talkies."

She would later credit Clark for helping her career and, she added, the careers of other "boys and girls." As Dedman notes, "The names of no boys survive."

These reported dalliances almost certainly caught the attention of a young woman in France, Anna La Chapelle.

So she became the fourth woman to emerge in 1904 as one of Clark's lovers. But, she had something those other women didn't have  Clark's child.

Handsome child to Mrs. Millionaire

Likely reading about her rivals and worrying that she, too, may be discredited or discarded, La Chapelle asked Clark for a "competency," a quaint old-fashioned term hiding a racy reality. A competency, or settlement, was money that would have ensured financial stability for La Chapelle and her child, Louise Amelia Andree Clark, who would later be called "Andree."

In his kiss-and-tell biography of the family, William Mangam, who worked for the Clarks for more than a quarter-century, claimed Andree's first and real given name was Wilhemina Andree, a feminine form of her father's name, William Andrews. However, that report, like so many surrounding Clark, has never been corroborated.

Clark had sent La Chapelle from Montana to France when she was 16 to study music. Eight years later, Clark made a move as shrewd as any he had ever made in business.

Knowing that he'd have a difficult time disputing La Chapelle or the child  Clark's own sister had been serving as her chaperone  he couldn't simply deny or ignore the reports. Acknowledging paternity of Andree might cause a stir, but an even larger scandal might break out when some nosy reporter put together the rest of the story  that Clark would appear to abandon a girl who'd been in his care as a teenager and with whom he'd fathered a child. Leaving La Chapelle disgraced might tarnish his reputation, which was still recovering from the shame of not being seated in the U.S. Senate four years earlier when it was revealed he'd bribed the Montana Legislature for his seat.

So Clark did the only other thing he could think of: he fabricated a complete but effective lie.

The firestorm of public attention that erupted when a 65-year-old senator married a 20-something musician broke in a Montana newspaper, and not the one Clark himself owned.

On July 12, 1904, The Anaconda Standard ran with a front-page story that had the headline:

THEY'RE MARRIED

AND HAVE A BABY

The Anaconda Standard, which had been owned by Clark's arch-enemy and rival Marcus Daly before he died, delighted in breaking the news that Clark had not only been secretly married, but had a child, too.

The paper reported the story that Clark and his bride concocted a tale that gave everyone cover, but hardly had a scrap of verifiable truth.

The Standard mocked, "The ceremony was performed that made the handsome child of the western mining fields the bride of the many-times millionaire."

Clark claimed the couple had actually been married more than three years earlier on May 25, 1901. That date was convenient on several counts. First, Clark had indeed been in France at the time, so it was plausible. More importantly, the date was also more than nine months before the birth of Andree on Aug. 13, 1902.

Keith Edgerton, chairman of the history department at Montana State University Billings, wrote an article on the curious romance of Clark and La Chapelle in the most recent edition of Montana, The Magazine of Western History.

In "A Copper King's Mysterious Marriage," Edgerton reviewed the purported circumstances surrounding the nuptials and found, like others who tried piecing parts of it together, the story was virtually free of facts.

Clark had indeed been in France at the time, but because of his status as one of the richest men in the world, and because Clark craved the spotlight, his 1901 trip to France was well covered in the press. A check of his itinerary revealed Clark was having a good time touring France, but no mention is made of a marriage.

For example, Edgerton notes that Clark was in Blois and allegedly married the next day in Marseilles, a distance of 500 miles. In order for the story to be true, Clark would have also had to skip a honeymoon, rush off to London to meet his son, and forget to tell William Jr. that he had just married a woman, leaving her behind in France.

The Clarks also claimed they'd been married by a priest in Marseilles, but no record of the wedding or document has ever been discovered. Clark was known as a stalwart Presbyterian and Mason, and yet claimed the ceremony was performed by a Roman Catholic priest.

Several years later, when Anna La Chapelle Clark wanted to come home with her two children, she signed an affidavit that said, "no record of said marriage is known to exist."

After news of the surprise marriage broke, Clark's spin doctors at The Butte Miner newspaper responded on July 13  a day later  to the salacious story that had been gleefully reported by its rival.

It claimed that La Chapelle had been taken in by Clark as a ward when her father had died. Later, another flourish was added to the story: La Chapelle's father had perished in one of Clark's Butte mines.

But Pierre La Chapelle was not a miner. He was a quack doctor who likely lived long enough to see his daughter leave for France. Pierre La Chapelle had his own fake stories as authorities in Butte had charged him with practicing medicine illegally.

The Standard followed up its coverage and claimed that nearly a decade earlier, a young La Chapelle had asked a local banker to support her fledgling acting career. The banker declined, but sent La Chappelle to Clark. The Standard's implication was obvious: Everyone knew Clark wasn't likely to turn down a teenage girl.

"There was one thing that Clark loved more than money," said a source in Edgerton's article. "That one thing was what women had to give."

Dedman's book puts it this way, "(He) was an ardent admirer, if that's what one wishes to call it, of the fair sex."

Later, almost a decade after the bombshell wedding announcement, Clark would tell the story differently, that he had first noticed La Chapelle playing the piano and a violin duet at a commencement where Clark was keynote speaker.

Clark's recollections don't mention how La Chapelle, whose parents had to take in boarders in one of Butte's grittiest neighborhoods to make ends meet, had managed to scrape together tuition for a college 70 miles away in Deer Lodge where Clark just happened to be a trustee.

After graduation, Clark claimed, he agreed to help the teenager by sending her to study in Paris. At that time, both of La Chapelle's parents were still living, not dead from a mining accident.

After La Chapelle was sent to France, Clark started to provide financial support for her mother, Philomene, as well as Anna's two siblings, Arthur and Amelia.

Damage control or no big deal

What may be most difficult about Clark and these relationships is knowing the exact nature of them. Unlike today and unlike the allegations against Roy Moore, few details and specifics of these relationships have been disclosed.

In the case of McNellis, in which she argues Clark impregnated her, the court record was sealed.

It's impossible to know the exact nature of Clark's odd relationship with teenage actor Kathlyn Williams. And it's even harder to pinpoint when and how Clark and La Chapelle met.

Edgerton, who has studied Clark for years, said there's no definitive evidence of improper sexual relationships between Clark and teenage girls. Yet, Clark's behavior doesn't seem normal, even by Victorian standards.

"Is it weird because we don't know about it and are looking at it through our lens of today?" Edgerton asked. "Or is it just weird?"

To make matters more difficult, it's even harder to tell what the average Montanan thought of these events because there was no social media, no feedback sections, and even letters to the editor were heavily scanned for propriety and selectively chosen. In Montana, many mining companies found the easiest way to control their message was to own a newspaper, Edgerton said.

The only possible clue is how the newspapers positioned the story; the Clark marriage made the front page in both Butte and Anaconda. Usually, the front page was reserved for world events. Local stories were usually only moved to the front page when they were considered huge news.

The Butte Miner, Clark's mouthpiece, seemed to be in full damage-control mode after the news broke.

Having been beaten on a story about its owner, The Miner triumphantly declared, "(the marriage) is not a surprise to their relatives and close friends in Montana. It had been known for many years that the Senator was very fond of his young ward and his marriage was known to his legal advisers and closest friends both in this country and in Europe."

The same article seemed to grasp at ways to describe the romance of the senator and a woman 39 years his junior.

"He learned that his early affection for this beautiful girl had ripened into love," the paper said in an article that contained a picture of Clark, La Chapelle and baby Andree. "It was a happy moment in Senator Clark's life when he understood that his love for Miss La Chapelle was reciprocated."

Some of his relatives, legal advisers and closest friends may have known about Anna and Andree, but one group didn't.

His other children.

Poor Papa

Anna La Chapelle was younger than any of Clark's four living children, a fact they seemed to disapprove of only slightly less than the concern about what would happen with their father's estate and vast fortune.

Mangam's book recounts a "dejected and dispirited" old man moping to visit his two daughters in New York City, late in June 1904, just two weeks before the news hit the papers.

Katherine Clark Morris writes to her brother, William Jr., to urge him not to be too angry with "dear father."

The letter from sister to brother arrived just five days before The Standard broke the news:

"While both May and I are greatly grieved and dreadfully disappointed we must all stand by dear father and try and make it as easy for him as possible as already he realizes his mistake  your heart would have ached could you have seen him the night he left us for St. Louis, and indeed I can't get over the way he looked so badly ... and dear, be as good and kind to him as you can for it is hard for dear father."

Mangam also manages to recount the note Clark wrote to his son about the situation, a letter the senator apparently ordered his son to destroy.

In it, Clark urged his son to understand the "alliance" he made with Anna, and that it wouldn't change the relationship with his older children.

Clark assured his son that Anna would not be permitted in his mansion on Fifth Avenue, and also said that "previous civil marriage is necessary to validate a marriage in France, but not necessary in the case of a citizen of the United States and Montana whose laws relating to the solemnization of marriages are familiar to you."

In other words, the made-up story was just the cover he needed to make the story hold up back in the United States.

But word of the family's dissatisfaction with the marriage had already leaked back to Butte, and The Miner was once again forced to go on the defensive. It published a column-long statement from Clark himself: "It has been stated that my family objected to this union. Whatever apprehension, if any, may have existed in this respect on my part, it was entirely dissipated when the facts were disclosed by cordial reception of the information and their approval of these relations which were so essential to my happiness."

After all, Clark continued, the real reason for all of this fuss and sudden announcement, had nothing to do with him, a scandal, his career or his family.

"I wanted my child to be educated in America and brought up as a resolute and patriotic American," Clark closed,

Meanwhile, just over the hill in Anaconda, The Standard had published a slightly different take.

It showed a cameo portrait of the aging senator, who was then 65. Next to it, a much larger line drawing of La Chapelle, who looked like a slightly cross-eyed teenager. The pictures were enhanced by cartoon hearts.

And a very noticeable stork.
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CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- A Cleveland Heights man is charged with aggravated murder in a Euclid man's shooting death, police said.

Brandon Smith, 27, is also charged with kidnapping and felonious assault in the Monday killing of Daanahr Pugh on Desota Avenue near Compton Road, police said.

Pugh was shot about 9 p.m. during an argument, police said. The 22-year-old man died after paramedics took him to University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office said.

Investigators have not provided a motive for the shooting.

Authorities also took Smith's girlfriend into custody when they arrested him Wednesday night at a motel in Streetsboro, police said.

Gabrelle Thomas, 25, of Cleveland Heights, is charged with obstructing official business, drug trafficking and carrying a concealed weapon in the case, police said.

Smith and Thomas appeared Friday in Cleveland Heights Municipal Court. Smith is being held on $1 million bond, while Thomas remains in custody on $500,000 bond, police said.

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Grand theft, Noble Road: At 6:20 p.m. Nov. 9, police were called to the Gas USA gas station at 2610 Noble Road, where a man, 25, said he left the key in his father's SUV and the vehicle running when he went inside the station. When he came back outside, the vehicle was gone.

A witness said he saw three males get off an RTA bus and get into the vehicle and drive away.

At 2:50 a.m. Nov. 10, an officer spotted the SUV on Parkdale Road. After a brief chase, officers made a traffic stop and two of the SUV's four occupants ran from the vehicle before it came to a full stop. Left inside were a girl, 17, of Cleveland, and a boy, 15.

The girl told police she lied to her mother and said she was going out with a friend, but instead was picked up at her home by three males in the SUV. The four later went to Taco Bell, then were seen by police.

The girl said she did not know the SUV was stolen. Police drew up paperwork on the girl on charges of receiving stolen property and curfew violation.

Police completed paperwork on the boy on charges of theft, receiving stolen property and curfew violation.

Officers were unable to apprehend the two male suspects who were in the SUV's front seat. Gas station surveillance video is being examined to try and determine the suspects' identities.

Assault, Devonshire Drive: At 12:15 p.m. Nov. 11, a man reported that he and his wife argued at their home and while he held their baby, the woman approached, ripped open his shirt and tore his undershirt, then scratched his chest face and neck.

The man waited two hours, until his wife left the home, to call police. Officers observed blood on all of the scratches. The man wanted the incident documented, but didn't want to pursue charges.

After seeing the man's injuries and hearing his story, police decided to pursue charges of domestic violence, assault and child endangerment. Police asked the man to call them when his wife returned.

Theft, Mayfield Road: At 8:35 a.m. Nov. 11, police were dispatched to Walgreen's, 3020 Mayfield Road, on a report of a shoplifter.

A clerk told officers that a woman put two bags she carried into a shopping cart then selected items from around the store. At the checkout counter, the woman took the items out of the bags, one by one, and handed them to the clerk to be scanned, but did not remove all of the items.

After about a minute, the suspect took the bags and ran from the store without paying. Police were unable to locate the suspect's car, which was driven by another person.

Surveillance video showed that the stolen items totaled $163.

Hit-skip, East Overlook Road: At 10:35 a.m. Nov. 12, a woman reported that as she drove eastbound on Lee Road another car traveling eastbound on East Overlook Road attempted to cross Lee Road and struck the front driver's side of her car.

The driver of the other car, a woman, got out, asked the woman if she and her daughter, 4, were hurt, then got back in her car and drove away. No information was exchanged. The complainant and her daughter were uninjured.

The complainant managed to record the suspect's license plate number. Police went to the suspect's Cleveland home. The suspect claimed that she did exchange information and that she had the other driver's name on a piece of paper. She could not produce for officers that paper or the other's driver's name.

The woman was arrested and charged with hit-skip.

Burglary, Noble Road: At 1:45 a.m. Nov. 10, police were called to an apartment on a report of a burglary.

A man said he left his apartment at 8:30 that morning and returned at about 11:30 p.m. When he got home, he noticed that the lock opened easier than it usually did and that pieces of wood from the door were on the floor.

Checking the apartment, the man found that a 32-inch TV and seven pairs of designer sneakers were stolen from his bedroom. In addition, $30 in loose change was missing from the dining room.

Burglary, Allston Road: At 12:45 p.m. Nov. 12, a woman checked on her brother's home and found that it had been burglarized. The woman saw that a kitchen window was broken and, police believe, was used to gain entry into the home.

The woman's brother was away on vacation at the time. The woman was able to tell police of some items that were missing from the home.

Missing were two 50-inch TVs, a 32-inch TV, and a TV that had been in the basement.

Theft, Mayfield Road: At 11:20 a.m. Nov. 11, police investigated a shoplifting case at Walgreen's.

Police were told that the male suspect left the store and was walking with a bag over his shoulder. An officer spotted the suspect walking northbound on Superior Road. The officer asked if he could look inside the bag. Inside the bag was a smaller bag containing deodorant and other personal hygiene items from Walgreen's. The man had no receipt for the items.

Police learned that the man was wanted in Lakewood on an aggravated robbery charge.

A Walgreen's employee said she saw the man stealing items and when she went to speak with him, he walked out of the store without paying for the goods.

The stolen merchandise had a total value of $126. Police charged the man with theft and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was then transported to Lakewood on the warrant.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The former executive director of a development corporation in the Collinwood neighborhood was indicted Friday on theft and other charges for using private funds to purchase personal items.

Tamiko Parker is charged with aggravated theft, grand theft and money laundering for embezzling $223,878 from the Collinwood & Nottingham Village Development Corporation (CNVDC) to purchase a variety of lavish clothing, trips, a motorcycle and casino trips, according to a Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas indictment.

Parker's ex-husband, Lamont Johnson, was also indicted on theft, according to court records.

No attorney information was listed for Parker or Johnson.

Parker -- who served as the corporation's executive director from October 2014 to October 2015 -- purchased a $15,000 Harley Davidson motorcycle and accessories from several dealerships throughout Northeast Ohio, court records and county officials said.

She also used the corporation's ATM card to withdraw thousands of dollars on casino premises, pay for trips and personal clothing from Victoria's Secret.

Parker paid 40-year-old Johnson $32,000 for lawn mowing services and other labor for the Collinwood & Nottingham Village Development Corporation. However, the labor was not approved by the corporation and Parker recorded payments to "LAJ Construction," a false business.

The prosecutor's officer said Parker, 45, was indicted three previous times for employee theft.

Court records show Parker withdrew money from accounts owned by CNVDC and purchased money orders that were payable to her and deposited into a PNC Bank with name of Tamiko Johnson, which was solely under Parker's control.

Friday's indictment stems from an investigation into Parker by the Cleveland Police Department for fraud. The prosecutor's office began a broader investigation into the corporation's financial documents after they were told about the fraud case by Councilman Michael D. Polensek earlier in the year.

"Those funds were designated to improve the lives of the residents and business owners in the Collinwood neighborhood," County Prosecutor Michael C. O'Malley said in a news release announcing the indictment. "Unbelievably, she has three prior convictions for employee theft and it is our hope this fourth prosecution puts an end to her serial embezzlement."

Parker and Johnson are scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Nov. 30 at 8:30 a.m.

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MADISON TOWNSHIP, Ohio - A Madison Township father is accused of abusing his infant twins, causing brain trauma and multiple fractures, police said.

Chad A. Humberston, 37, is charged with two counts of child endangering in the case, police said Friday in a news release. The charges are second-degree felonies.

Doctors discovered a 2-month-old boy suffered brain trauma and had fractures to his extremities when they examined him Oct. 31 at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, police said.

Investigators learned the boy had a twin sister and examined her as well. Doctors discovered the girl had fractures to her skull and extremities, police said.

The twins' current conditions were not released.

Detectives have not said how or when the injuries occurred. A Madison Township detective did not immediately respond to a request for more information.

Investigators filed charges against Humberston on Monday and obtained an arrest warrant the following day, Painesville Municipal Court records show.

Humberston was arrested Thursday and taken to the Lake County Jail, police said. He was scheduled to appear at an arraignment Friday morning, police said.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Friday's crime and courts comments section.
WASHINGTON - In public, Wesley Goodman was an up-and-coming conservative who championed pro-family and anti-LGBT causes and aspired to someday run for Congress.

In private, he exchanged salacious texts and emails with gay men he met on Capitol Hill, and sent sexually suggestive messages to young men he met through conservative circles who were too intimidated to publicly complain, according to three people who knew him when he worked in Washington.

Goodman's double life ended this week when he resigned from the Ohio legislature after House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger was alerted to Goodman's involvement in "inappropriate behavior" with a man in his state office in Columbus.

The married, 33-year-old was elected to the 87th district seat in 2016 after working for the Conservative Action Project, a network of economic, social and national security conservatives. He previously worked for conservative U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, a Champaign County Republican.

Former state legislator Wesley Goodwin posted this photograph of himself at the Bucyrus Bratwurst festival on a public social media account that has since been made private (Screenshot from Instagram)

Johnny Hadlock, then a staffer for another GOP congressman in Washington, said he met Goodman in 2010. Hadlock said he confided in Goodman that he was a closeted gay man and the two began exchanging text messages.

In an interview with cleveland.com, Hadlock described the messages as sexting and gay banter, and said he engaged in phone sex with Goodman.

"Wes never sexually harassed me -- we both knew what we were doing and we were both fine doing it," Hadlock said.

Hadlock went on to work for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign and now works at a D.C. non-profit. He said he last talked with Goodman in 2014. In private Facebook messages shared with cleveland.com, Goodman initiated conversation with Hadlock several times, once when he said his wife was out of town and another when he said she was asleep.

In one conversation, Goodman told Hadlock he was in his underwear. In another, he asked if Hadlock was sexually aroused. Hadlock said the two never engaged in physical sexual acts.

Another conservative with Ohio ties told cleveland.com that Goodman engaged in predatory behavior toward younger men after leaving Jordan's office, sending inappropriate material and propositioning them via text message and Facebook messenger.

The conservative operative said he'd target college kids who wanted to have him as a mentor and were scared to report his sexual advances because they didn't want to damage their own careers. A former co-worker shared screenshots of messages Goodman sent him that the operative likened to the lewd texts that derailed the congressional career of New York's Anthony Weiner.

"It was suggestive 'I am here in my underwear' kinds of stuff," the longtime GOP operative recalled.

Former Ohio legislator Wesley Goodman poses with former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint in this screenshot of photograph posted on an Instagram account that Goodman has since made private.

Goodman was seen as a rising conservative star and a good networker who could help young people get jobs in conservative organizations, the Republican activist said.

"People never really wanted to come forward against someone in power," the operative added.

On Friday, The Washington Post published an account that described a 2015 incident where Goodman was accused of inviting the teenaged son of a Republican donor to his bedroom in a Ritz Carlton hotel. The young man awoke in the middle of the night to find Goodman pulling down the zipper of his pants, and ran from the room in a panic at around 4 a.m., according to the account in the Post.

According to the Post, the incident triggered Goodman's departure from a conservative group called the Council for National Policy, whose president, Family Research Council head Tony Perkins, urged Goodman not to run for public office and severed ties with him upon learning of his state legislative campaign.

Goodman had served as managing director of an offshoot of Perkins' group that was formed to counter President Obama's agenda, such as the Affordable Care Act.

Another former GOP congressional staffer, Chris Donnelly, told cleveland.com that Goodman replied to a Craigslist post on a board for men seeking men, and the two had a sexual encounter in 2008. In a response shown to cleveland.com, an email account using the name Brady Murphey described himself as a "straight/curious" guy who needed to be discreet.

"Maybe we can hang and see what's up, no expectations really," the response said. "But your post seemed cool so let me know bro."

Donnelly said Goodman was "all over Craigslist" and responded to several ads posted by Donnelly and other gay men.

"It became a running joke between me and my gay friends on Capitol Hill," Donnelly said. "It's not like it was some one-off thing."

Hadlock and Donnelly reached out to cleveland.com because they were disappointed Goodman would push anti-LGBT policies while secretly seeking out and being intimate with other men.

Donnelly said the last time he saw Goodman was at a conservative event in 2009. Goodman was there with Jordan to urge support for the congressman's D.C. Defense of Marriage Act, which would have overturned a local law allowing recognition of same-sex marriages. Goodman was handling the issue for Jordan, Donnelly said.

Donnelly said he warned Ohio Republicans that Goodman's behavior in D.C. didn't match his socially conservative platform. Emails show Donnelly shared this information with Kenny Street, political director for the Ohio Republican House Republican Caucus, after Goodman won his district primary in May 2016.

Donnelly said Street told him he would take the matter to Speaker Cliff Rosenberger and later that the caucus planned to confront Goodman.

Rosenberger spokesman Brad Miller said the speaker had not heard the allegations published by the Post until Friday and had not heard allegations about Goodman sending inappropriate messages to younger men. When asked whether Rosenberger had heard the rumors of Goodman's past, Miller said they can't chase down every rumor.

"Until someone comes forward with a substantial allegation -- and when that occurs there is immediate action to make sure the proper protocols are followed," Miller said.

Miller said Rosenberger first heard of the incident that occurred in Goodman's Ohio office on Tuesday, and the two agreed his resignation was appropriate.

Former Ohio legislator Wesley Goodman poses with former House Freedom Caucus member Tim Huelskamp of Kansas - an ally of Champaign County GOP Rep. Jim Jordan - in this screenshot of a Tweet that was subsequently deleted from Heulskamp's Twitter profile.

Goodman apologized and asked for privacy for himself and his family in a statement released Wednesday morning.

"We all bring our own struggles and our own trials into public life," Goodman said in the statement. "That has been true for me, and I sincerely regret that my actions and choices have kept me from serving my constituents and our state in a way that reflects the best ideals of public service."

Hadlock said Goodman doesn't deserve privacy given his history of supporting anti-LGBT causes, but he always liked Goodman and hopes the situation brings him some relief.

"My hope for Wes is that he can now pursue an authentic life and be happy, whatever that means," Hadlock said.

This story was reported with Washington Bureau reporter Sabrina Eaton.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Cleveland man charged in a string of shootings this year, including one where he is accused of killing a man then setting fire to his body, was supposed to be on state-supervised parole for three years following his November 2014 release from prison.

But a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge's technical error at the 2010 sentencing of Jerry "J-Roc" Sims Jr. invalidated the state's ability to check in with him every month and subject him to random drug samplings with the threat of going back to jail if he didn't follow the rules.

Sims, who prosecutors say is a member of the Soldiers of the Struggles and Heartless Felons gangs, is being held on $1 million bond on charges including aggravated murder, felonious assault, aggravated arson and tampering with evidence in three shootings this year dating back to May.

In 2008 and 2009, Sims was charged in four separate cases with attempted murder, felonious assault, domestic violence, trafficking in heroin and being a felon in possession of a weapon in four separate case.

He pleaded guilty to one count each of attempted felonious assault, a weapons charge and domestic violence, in exchange for prosecutors dropping the other charges.

Judge Brian J. Corrigan sentenced Sims in July 2010 to four years in prison. He was subject to three years of parole after his release, which Ohio Department of Corrections spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said came on Nov. 19, 2014.

Judges are supposed to advise defendants that any violations of the terms of their parole could lead to an additional prison sentence of "up to one-half of the original sentence imposed."

Corrigan told Sims that any misbehavior while he was on parole could land him back in prison for a sentence "not to exceed nine months," according to a transcript of the hearing.

A lawyer representing Sims raised the issue after Sims was released from prison in late 2014, arguing that the error invalidated his parole. Cuyahoga County prosecutors conceded the argument, and Corrigan terminated Sims' parole in February of 2015.

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction declined to provide the specific requirements of Sims' parole, but provided a generic form that each parolee signs. The parolees promise not to obtain any firearms, take drugs or drink alcohol and abide by the rules as set by the Adult Parole Authority.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court spokesman Darren Toms issued a written statement on Corrigan's behalf.

"While any judge would be disappointed that a sentencing error occurred, being on post-release supervision is not a guarantee that person will not reoffend," Toms said.

Twenty-five percent of inmates released on post release control in 2012 committed a new crime within three years of their release, according to a report published earlier this year by the state's prison system. That's a tad less than the 29 percent of all of those released from prison that year that reoffended within three years, according to report.

The court has seen several cases in recent years where authorities said men on parole carried out killings.

Jerome Bell was was convicted of murder in an April 2016 shooting that occurred less than a year after his release on parole for aggravated robbery conviction.

Carlton Springer was convicted of beating his ex-girlfriend to death in September 2015 while he was on parole for a 2012 domestic violence conviction.

Craig Wilson pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter in a July 2015 shooting that he committed while on parole on felonious assault charges.

To comment on this story, please visit Friday's crime and courts comments page.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neill offered an apology Saturday for a sexually-charged Facebook post, though said he was not sorry if he helped elevate the discussion on sexual assault.

O'Neill - the only Democrat elected to statewide office who declared his candidacy for governor last month - posted Friday about was he said were his sexual exploits with 50 women. He equated possible interest in his consensual sex life to allegations of sexual harassment against Democratic U.S. Sen. Al Franken. He also defended Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore in an interview with cleveland.com.

After the post went viral, he later told his critics to "lighten up."

On Saturday afternoon, O'Neill posted an apology on his Facebook page.

Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neill, a Democrat and candidate for governor, apologized Saturday for a Facebook post describing his past sexual escapades, comparing them to allegations of sexual harassment against other high-profile politicians.

"If I offended anyone, particularly the wonderful women in my life, I apologize. But if I have helped elevate the discussion on the serious issues of sexual assault, as opposed to personal indiscretions, to a new level...I make no apologies," O'Neill wrote on his Facebook. "Suggesting the admitted conduct of Senator Al Franken and the alleged conduct of Judge Roy Moore are on the same level trivializes the serious subject at hand."

But O'Neill also seemed to stand by some of his original assertions on Franken and Moore.

"There are Democrats out there who are saying neither one of them pass the purity test to sit in the United States Senate. And that is sad," O'Neill wrote.

A Los Angeles radio host accused Franken of forcing her to kiss him during rehearsal for a skit at a USO show and of groping her while she was asleep.

Moore stands accused of sexually harassing seven young women, including molesting a 14-year-old.

O'Neill said Friday neither had been convicted of anything and calls for their resignations violated their due process.

O'Neill did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.

O'Neill's original post was widely condemned on social media, including from his fellow Democratic politicians and Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor.

Chris Clevenger, O'Neill's campaign manager who said he had no prior knowledge O'Neill was going to make the original post, quit the campaign as well.

Numerous people called for him to both drop out of the governor's race and resign his seat on the bench. O'Neill is expected to drop out of the governor's race when Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard officially enters.

O'Neill said Friday he would not step down from the high court.
An appallingly crude and tone-deaf Facebook post by Ohio Supreme Court Justice William O'Neill, who recently announced he is running as a Democrat for governor, makes it dramatically clear that he is unfit for either public office. He ought to step down from the bench and withdraw from the race for governor.

In the Facebook post, O'Neill stated that he was disappointed by the "national feeding frenzy about sexual indiscretions decades ago" and went on to boast of intimate relations with "50 attractive females."

He said he wants to "speak up on behalf of heterosexual men" -- never mind, apparently about the waves of female victims who have revealed recently that they were sexually harassed or assaulted by politicians and Hollywood bigwigs.

It's ridiculous for O'Neill, who sits on the bench of the highest court in Ohio, to confuse his love life (which we hope was consensual) with allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault and pedophilia.

And instead of saying he was wrong when a Columbus Dispatch reporter called him about his post, O'Neill doubled down on dumbness by saying that sexual harassment charges trivialize the political process. He said that Democrats were wrong for calling on U.S. Sen. Al Franken, a Democrat from Minnesota, to resign from office for having sexually harassed a woman while he was a comedian. They were wrong, he said, because Franken had apologized.

Franken's apology was an important start but it was just that. Even Franken realized that because he called for a congressional ethics investigation into his actions, which was the correct response. Powerful men abusing and assaulting women is never a trivial matter and a judge who envisions himself as governor ought to know that better than others.

Yet O'Neill doesn't get it as his embarrassing Facebook post shows. And that should clearly disqualify him for any public office.

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In 2018, Ohioans will elect a new governor and elect or re-elect a U.S. senator, 16 U.S. House members, 99 Ohio House members, half the 33-member state Senate, and two Supreme Court justices. If you like the quiet life, don't become a political party's statewide chair.

And don't read Friday's Facebook post by Democratic Supreme Court Justice William M. O'Neill, age 70, a Chagrin Falls widower who is running for governor, who wrote that "in the last 50 years I was sexually intimate with approximately 50 very attractive females."

O'Neill said he was posting that because he's "sooooo disappointed by this national feeding frenzy about sexual indiscretions decades ago." That statement appears to confuse consensual sexual contacts (contacts which may or may not have been discreet) with the non-consensual contact alleged against U.S. Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, and the multiple non-consensual contacts alleged against Alabama Republican Roy Moore, who's running for the Senate. Note to Justice O'Neill: You might want to check your law books and dictionary, judge.

For the top of the ticket, there's no lack of candidates. (Republican Gov. John R. Kasich can't seek a third consecutive term; if he could, he'd win.) Four Republicans want to succeed Kasich: Attorney General Mike DeWine; Secretary of State Jon Husted. Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor; and U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, of Wadsworth. DeWine may have an edge because of statewide name recognition. Last week, his campaign announced a blizzard of endorsements from other prominent Republicans, including House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger. Still, May's primary is 170 days away, a geologic era in Ohio politics.

There's also robust competition for the GOP nomination to challenge Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, in 2018. One GOP contender is State Treasurer Josh Mandel, also a Greater Clevelander. He failed to unseat Brown in 2012. This year, Mandel has two challengers for the nomination. One is Mike Gibbons, a Cleveland investment banker. Even discounting for political razzmatazz, Gibbons seems to be campaigning every day in yet another county. Also seeking the GOP's nod to challenge Brown is Marysville Republican Melissa Ackison, an outspoken foe of the Affordable Care Act. Somehow, some way, Republican State Chair Jane Timken, an in-law of the Canton industrial dynasty, has to manage these jousting egos without fracturing her party.

As for Democrats jostling for a 2018 slot, they call to mind something said by Texas Democrat Bob Eckhardt: "Trying to organize liberals is like trying to organize quail to fight the bird dogs." That's Democratic State Chair David Pepper's headache.

Depending on whether you count O'Neill in or out of the contest, four (or five) Democrats are vying for Democrats' nomination for governor: O'Neill; former state Rep. Connie Pillich, of Cincinnati; state Sen. Joe Schiavoni, of suburban Youngstown; former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, of suburban Akron; and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley. O'Neill has said he'd drop out if former Attorney General Richard Cordray decides to run. Cordray is resigning as director of the federal Consumer Financial Projection Bureau, which would clear the way for Cordray to run.

Meanwhile, O'Neill says he isn't officially a candidate until he qualifies for the ballot early in 2018, so he isn't breaching a rule that judges who run for non-judicial offices must resign. That prompted state Rep. Niraj Antani, a Miamisburg Republican, to add another ring to the circus: He wants the General Assembly to remove O'Neill from the court.

Bottom line: On Thanksgiving, an Ohioan's list of things to be grateful for should include this precious prospect: By Thanksgiving 2018, two weeks after the statewide election, all this political brinkmanship should be over.

This column was corrected on Nov. 18 to reflect that Mike Gibbons is the name of the Republican U.S. Senate candidate.

Thomas Suddes, a member of the editorial board, writes from Athens.

To reach Thomas Suddes: tsuddes@cleveland.com, 216-999-4689

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Not without thy wondrous story, Illinois, Illinois,

Can be writ the nation's glory, Illinois, Illinois.

-- official state song

SPRINGFIELD, Ill.  This state's story, which lately has been depressing, soon will acquire a riveting new chapter. In 2018 Illinois will have the nation's most important, expensive and strange election.

Its importance derives from this fact: Self-government has failed in the nation's currently fifth-most populous state (Pennsylvania soon will pass it). Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner will seek re-election with a stark warning: The state is approaching a death spiral  departing people and businesses suppress growth; the Legislature responds by raising taxes; the exodus accelerates.

Rauner, whose net worth earned as a private-equity executive is $500 million, give or take, probably will be running against someone six times richer. The race might consume $300 million  "maybe more," Rauner says  eclipsing California's $280 million gubernatorial race in 2010, when that state's population was three times larger than Illinois'.

The strangeness of the contest between Rauner and the likely Democratic nominee (J.B. Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune) is that Rauner's real opponent is a Democrat who has been in the state assembly since Richard Nixon's first term (1971) and has been speaker all but two years since Ronald Reagan's first term (1983). Michael Madigan from Chicago is the "blue model" of government incarnate. This model is the iron alliance of the Democratic Party and government workers' unions. Madigan supports Pritzker, who is committed to the alliance. This is the state of the state under it:

Unfunded state and local government retirement debt is more than $260 billion and rising. Unfunded pension liabilities for the nation's highest-paid government workers (overtime starts at 37.5 hours) are $130 billion and are projected to increase for at least through the next decade. Nearly 25 percent of the state's general funds go to retirees (many living in Texas and Florida). Vendors are owed $9.5 billion. Every five minutes the population  down 1.22 million in 16 years  declines as another person, and an average of $30,000 more in taxable income, flees the nation's highest combined state and local taxes. Those leaving are earning $19,600 more than those moving in. The work force has shrunk by 97,000 this year. There has not been an honestly balanced budget  a constitutional requirement  since 2001. The latest tax increase, forced by the Legislature to end a two-year budget impasse, will raise more than $4 billion, but another $1.7 billion deficit has already appeared.

The one Democrat who did not vote for Madigan for speaker this year says he's since been bullied. Another Democratic legislator  an African-American from Chicago's South Side, a supporter of school choice  broke ranks to give Rauner a victory on legislation requiring arbitration of an impasse with a 30,000-member union. Madigan enlisted Barack Obama to campaign against the heretic, who was purged. These were warnings to judges, who must face retention elections. They  including the one who refused to trigger arbitration by declaring a negotiation impasse  are, Rauner says, "part of the machine" in this "very collectivist state."

Thuggishness has been normalized: Because Rauner favors allowing municipalities to pass right-to-work laws that prohibit requiring workers to join a union, Madigan's automatons passed a law (Rauner's veto stood) stipulating up to a year in jail for local lawmakers who enact them.

In 2018, Rauner will try to enlist voters in the constructive demolition of the "blue model." It is based on Madigan's docile herd of incumbent legislators, who are entrenched by campaign funds from government unions. Through them government, sitting on both sides of the table, negotiates with itself to expand itself. Term limits for legislators, which a large majority of Illinoisans favor, would dismantle the wall.

A 60 percent supermajority of the Legislature is required for such a constitutional reform. So, next year voters will be urged to oppose any legislature candidate who will not pledge to vote to put term limits on the ballot. And all candidates will be asked how often they have voted for Madigan for speaker  he has a 26 percent approval rating  and to pledge not to sin again.

"I love a fight," says an ebullient Rauner, whose rhetoric cannot get much more pugnacious. He calls Madigan "the worst elected official in the country" and Madigan's machine "evil." The nation has a huge stake in this brawl because the "blue model" is bankrupting cities and states from Connecticut to California, so its demolition here, where it has done the most damage, would be a wondrous story enhancing the nation's glory.
Operation Christmas Child: Northwest Hills Community Church, 3300 NW Walnut Blvd. in Corvallis, will continue to collect shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child during the last few days of National Collection Week.

Remaining collection hours are 9 a.m. to noon today; 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday; and 10 a.m. to noon Monday.

Residents are encouraged to pack shoeboxes for the project, including items such as school supplies, toys, games, hard candy and a letter and picture from the sender. Information on how to pack the boxes is available at www.samaritanspurse.org.

Taoist meditation group: The group will meet at 9 a.m. Sunday at the First Alternative Natural Foods Co-op north store, 2855 NW Grant Ave. in Corvallis.

The event will feature Taoist Quiet Sitting meditation, also known as "Preserving the Light of the One." Information: docneedlestcm@gmail.com.

Tutu discussed: First United Methodist Church, 1165 NW Monroe Ave. in Corvallis, is taking a look at powerful people of faith for the next few weeks, including the 9:30 a.m. service this Sunday.

Participants will discuss Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Also, Pastor Rob Kirby of Westminster Campus Ministry will share a bit about himself.

Bah'ai devotions: "A World Growing to Maturity" is set for 10 a.m. Sunday at 5006 SW Hollyhock Circle, Corvallis.

Every person, from the beginning to the end of life, passes through different stages of development, each marked by certain conditions peculiar to that age. So it is in the life of humanity as a whole. Now, as we emerge from humanity's adolescence, we are growing into new moralities and capacities capable of meeting the requirements of maturity, recognizing our global connectedness and global conscience.

All are welcome to join in sharing inspirational readings and prayers followed by discussion.

Pastor installed: Lebanon First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), 170 E. Grant St., will install a new pastor at 4 p.m. Sunday.

All members and friends of the church are invited to attend the installation of Pastor Zane Ridings.

Ridings grew up in Salem, attending Salem First Christian Church and South Salem High School. He received an honors Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and religion with a minor in sociology from Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois, and a Master of Divinity degree from Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas. He most recently worked as a minister in training at Midway Hills Christian Church in Dallas, Texas.

Symphony concert: Local events celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation continue with "Our Judeo-Romano-Christian Heritage," a concert set for 7:30 p.m. Monday in Austin Auditorium of the LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th St. in Corvallis.

The Corvallis-OSU Symphony Orchestra program will include Mendelssohns Symphony No. 5, "Reformation" and other works. The orchestra is under the direction of Marlan Carlson. Tickets: free for students, $22 and up for others, at http://cosusymphony.org/tickets.

Thanksgiving service: An ecumenical Thanksgiving worship service is set for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the United Presbyterian Church, 330 Fifth Ave. SW in Albany.

Communion will be celebrated. An offering to benefit Albany Helping Hands will be taken. The Nelson Family Woodwind Quintet will provide music. A pie reception will follow the service.

Share your nativity set: Organizers of the Corvallis Nativity Festival are seeking community members willing to lend their nativity sets for five days in early December.

Those willing to lend their creches can bring them to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 4141 NW Harrison Blvd., between noon and 9 p.m. Nov. 30. Nativity owners set up and take down their own pieces, but help is available. The exhibit will be taken down between 4 and 7 p.m. Dec. 5.

No items lent to the exhibit are left unattended at any time, even during the night. Further information is available from Suzanne Woods at 541-760-4715.
Good academic workshops are hard to run. I know, because this is a task that I have failed at, and continue to fail at, repeatedly.

For that reason though, it is a treat to see someone else run their workshop successfully. I was at one recently that was spectacularly run: Jill Hasday's Public Law workshop at the University of Minnesota. The setting is intimate: a small group of students and faculty gathers in the late afternoon (without wine -- which I usually think of as being key) and they take apart whatever paper is the focus of the discussion. Indeed, after about an hour, the paper that is being discussed almost becomes secondary to the idea that the participants have by then honed in on as being central. My colleague, Joseph Blocher, and I were lucky enough to have our paper "Puerto Rico and the Right of Accession" be deconstructed last week and it was a special treat for the both of us. We have a concrete measure for whether a workshop was good (taken from our dear friend, Steve Choi): Did it help generate ideas for a new paper? This workshop gave us at least three. That's more than any other workshop I've been to. I don't know how Jill inspires her students or what magic potion her colleagues who attend take, but I want the secret sauce to use next semester at my workshop series with Guy-Uriel Charles.

The one question that Jill, Daniel Schwarcz and at least two students asked that keeps bugging me is: Why didn't Puerto Rico use the fact that the overwhelming majority of its bonds were governed by its own local law to directly restructure it? Couldn't Puerto Rico have passed a set of laws to enable it to engineer a sharp reduction of its debt? Greece did precisely that in March 2012; and it faced constitutional protections of property and prohibitions on expropriation very similar to what Puerto Rico would have (as an aside, the challenges to the Greek restructuring of 2012 -- and there have been dozens of suits filed -- have failed so far). Indeed, the US did something like this with the gold clauses in the 1930s, to jumpstart the economy and get it out of the depression (actions that withstood legal challenge in a set of famous cases such as U.S. v. Perry).
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It was an upbeat morning in Bridgeport on Thursday, with one glaring problem, as three developers talked ebulliently about their projects with the local chamber of commerce and the regional business council.

The problem: a Republican tax reform bill in Congress that would wipe out the biggest federal programs for restoring historic buildings. Within hours, the U.S. House passed that version of the bill, threatening a disaster for cities across the country  nowhere more than Connecticut.

Federal Historic tax credits would be gone. The largest federal program for tax-exempt loans and tax credits to convert old buildings into low- and moderate-income housing, gone.

One project, the Cherry Street Lofts in Bridgeport  a hulking, formerly abandoned complex that dates to 1870, the old American Graphophone Co., later Columbia Records, later Bassick  has $24 million in federal historic tax credits, another $15 million in federal credits for affordable housing and $17.5 million in tax-free debt. That is well over half the $80 million project cost for the first phase of 157 apartments.

All of it would have been unavailable under the House reform bill.

Across Connecticut, mostly in Bridgeport, New Haven and

Hartford, developers use tens of millions of dollars every year from these programs. More than 100 projects have been completed using the credits since 2002, including such landmarks as Old Town Hall in Stamford and the Winchester complex in New Haven.

In the heart of Bridgeport, McLevy Square, a combination of stores, apartments, a German-style beer hall that is set to open next month in the old Peoples Savings Bank building and a comedy club relied on $3 million of federal historic tax credits.

The developer, Forestone Capital, redid the Mechanics & Farmers Savings Bank building across the street in 2014 and hopes to convert a nearby 1896 building, the old Corn Exchange at 211 State St., into apartments.

You might imagine these projects would still happen under the Republicans tax reform because lower tax rates for partnership profits would free up more money. You would be wrong, numerous developers and policy experts said this week, because in most cases, there simply would be no way to make historic redevelopment add up.

These types of projects barely work financially, even with federal historic credits amounting to 20 percent of eligible costs. Rents just do not support the high cost of historic renovations, and yet the old buildings bring huge economic value to the community as a whole.

For many of these buildings, it would be more cost effective to tear them down and build new, said Brett Wilderman, a principal at Forestone.

If the House version becomes law, he said, Weve got to find another path.

These buildings define old cities exactly at a time of re-urbanization, when people and companies want to be in cities. The federal credits make sure the work is done correctly.

This is who we are as a people, said Kristina Newman-Scott, director of culture at the state Department of Economic and Community Development, who oversees the states $32 million-a-year historic credit.

The bid to kill the development credits, combined with other aspects of the Republican tax reform plan, amount to a war on cities. Not by chance, the House GOP plan would also eliminate deductions for state and city income taxes  which exist largely in states with the most vibrant urban areas.

Think of the redevelopment credits as a sort of GI Bill for old urban buildings  a great investment in the very forces that are driving the whole U.S. economy these days.

The attack on them is happening without public hearings, without expert testimony of the sort that we saw when the tax code last underwent a major overhaul in 1986 and  get this  without clear fingerprints. There isnt anyone in Congress speaking out loudly against these tax credits.

No, theyre on the block only because Congress needs to keep the fiscal shortfall resulting from its cuts in taxes for the ultra-rich to $1.5 trillion over 10 years. Proponents had to ditch some tax credits and deductions regardless of the consequences.

That would be catastrophic for the development community, Gary Flocco, managing partner at Corvus Capital Partners, the developer of Cherry Street Lofts, told the Bridgeport business crowd. These are working people that housing will not be provided for. ... Without these historic credits, these deals can never go, and these projects will fall like lead.

There was good news late Thursday night in Washington, D.C. The latest Senate version includes the housing programs and it restored the historic credit, albeit with a longer delay in payments to developers. Theres still a lot of legislating to go, said Shaw Sprague, senior director of government relations at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

A video clip showing none other than President Ronald Reagan popped up in recent days on the websites of preservation groups. Reagan, who expanded the historic credits sharply in 1981 and 1986, talks about how the credits make economic good sense.

In fact, projects under the historic tax credits have a 99 percent success rate, Sprague said.

As for the affordable housing bonds and credits, if they were to die, half of the affordable housing market would be eliminated, said Kevin Gremse, a Fairfield resident who helps makes deals happen in his role as a ranking officer of the New York-based National Development Council.

The scope in Connecticut is hard to define. Private groups citing federal data list $156 million in federal historic tax credit allocations in Connecticut, at 122 projects, between 2002 and 2016. But the list includes projects in Waco, Wichita Falls and Waxahachie, places that are clearly not here. The federal agency that runs the program said Connecticut had $368 million of projects with credits over the last six years but doesnt give credit totals.

The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority issues $75 million to $85 million a year of the housing bonds, but at least one other state agency also participates in the program, and that figure does not count the massive housing tax credits.

Still, compared with the scope of the tax reform debate, the housing programs and the $1 billion-a-year historic credit are small potatoes. The broader issue is about how we live.
Every beachgoer knows that moment when you lay in the sand, ready to soak up some rays and listen to waves, and then realise the sun is shining right on your face.

We frantically try to cover-up with anything we can find, but our towel is sandy and damp from the sea, our drink has spilled, and sunscreen is in our eyes.

Thankfully there are a slate of products to keep our faces - and drinks - protected, our heads comfortable, and our perfect day at the beach intact.

FEMAIL has rounded up five of the quirkiest and fun beach products to help make the upcoming summer days even more relaxing (and Instagram-worthy).

Shader is a $70 multi-purpose shade that can be adjusted with the movements of the sun

It is also wind and sand-proof, keeping both your skin and your eyes protected from those harmful wrinkle-creating UV rays while still getting a full-body tan

Shader is exactly what its name claims, a $70 portable multi-purpose shade that can be adjusted with the movements of the sun.

It is also wind and sand-proof, keeping both your skin and your eyes protected from those harmful wrinkle-creating UV rays while still getting a full-body tan.

There are detachable straps so you can attach your Shader to a sun lounger, as well as a pocket for your phone to keep it sand-free as well.

The $140 premium version comes with a solar panel with two USB charging points, a six-pack drink holder, and a removable pillow with a cool pack built in.

Head Beds is a $30 miniature deckchair for your head, outfitted with a pillow made out of 100 per cent cotton (pictured)

Head Beds creator Harry was inspired to launch the design when, during a trip to South America, he noticed people were propping up their heads with 'a whole heap of weird items'

If you love the feeling of the sun on your face, but don't find the sand to be a comfortable place, Head Beds may be able to save your beach day.

The product is a $30 miniature deckchair for your head, outfitted with a pillow made out of 100 per cent cotton.

Head Beds creator Harry was inspired to launch the design during a trip to South America, when he noticed people were propping up their heads with 'a whole heap of weird and wonderful items'.

'It was clear that something more bespoke was needed that actually provided the necessary support, and was easy to transport to the beach,' he explained.

Harry met a local market trader named Diego in Brazil, who handmade beach deckchairs, and together they designed something on a smaller scale.

Head Beds officially launched its first range in 2012 and has since sold thousands of its stylish little cushions.

Tesalate has engineered an ultra-absorbent $79 blanket that can absorb up to a liter of water and allows for sand to slip right off

It has been created to dry in half the time of a regular towel, and the lightweight material can be rolled up and thrown right into a purse or tote

Every beachgoer who spends the day both swimming and tanning knows the struggle of trying to get comfortable on a sandy and damp towel.

So Tesalate engineered an ultra-absorbent $79 blanket that can absorb up to a liter of water and allows for sand to slip right off.

It has been created to dry in half the time of a regular towel, and the lightweight material can be rolled up and thrown right into a purse or tote.

And the towels come in plenty of beautiful colours, from a multi-patterned 'Bohemian' style to stars, stripes, flowers, and anchors.

For those who want to stay out of the sun completely, but still look stylish in the sand, a Sombrilla comes perfectly in hand

The 100 per cent cotton canopy, which sells for $169, provides plenty of shade to keep you and your loved ones UV-safe

For those who want to stay out of the sun completely, but still look stylish in the sand, a Sombrilla comes perfectly in hand.

The 100 per cent cotton canopy, which sells for $169, provides plenty of shade to keep you and your loved ones UV-safe.

It was the first-ever product designed by Skye Hollingsworth and Claire Harris for their company Hollie & Harrie.

The pair found existing beach tents on the market too stifling, blocking any kind of breeze from the sea. Even their children refused to sit under the umbrellas.

So the friends decided to design a stylish canopy that children would love to play beneath while their parents lounge right beside them.

The Sombrilla comes in almost every colour of the rainbow, with patterns ranging from flowers to birds and palm trees.

Soon Sunnylife will be launching an inflatable beach chair as well, allowing you to lounge by the sea without the sand getting anywhere but your bare feet

No list would be complete without inflatables from Sunnylife, whose stylish and kooky products were practically made for Instagram.

But the most convenient product is by far their inflatable drink holders, letting you bob in the waves with your drink resting on a cherry or cactus just meters away.

The drink holders range in price from $19-$25, and come in everything from pineapples and watermelons to gold swans and metallic pink flamingos.

And soon Sunnylife will be launching an inflatable beach chair as well, allowing you to lounge by the sea without the sand getting anywhere but your bare feet.
After hibernating for the winter months, summer invites us to crack open the windows, invite the warm weather in and take the time to make some upgrades to our homes and interiors.

And whether you're looking to update a few things or have an entirely new home refresh this year, there is always something you can do to make your abode more beautiful.

Ahead of summer in the Southern hemisphere, FEMAIL spoke to Sydney-based interiors expert, Heidi Albertiri of The Lifestyle Edit, and she revealed the five ways to style your home for the new season.

Pour a glass of chilled rose and prepare for some inspo.

EMAIL spoke to Sydney-based interiors expert, Heidi Albertiri (pictured) of The Lifestyle Edit, and she revealed the five ways to style your home for the new season

According to Ms Albertiri, the best thing you can do to ensure your home is filled with summery vibes is add indoor plants - palm plants are all the rage right now (stock image)

1. INDOOR PLANTS

According to Ms Albertiri, the best thing you can do to ensure your home is filled with summery vibes is add indoor plants.

'As we move into the warmer months, it's all about bringing the outdoors inside and creating a fresh environment to relax in,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

After fiddle-leaf fig plants were big last year, the interiors expert said 'we are now moving towards palms for a tropical vibe':

'Palms of all sizes are available for you to style into your bathroom, lounge room or bedroom,' she said.

'Place them in a natural fibre basket and the look is complete.'

Nothing says summer like white, and when it comes to summer styling, according to Ms Albertiri (pictured), think 'less is more'

'Introduce flowing sheets in whites and soft blush, for a neutral effortless look,' she advised - adding that you should choose materials like linen and cotton (stock image)

2. PARED-BACK LINENS

Nothing says summer like white, and when it comes to summer styling, according to Ms Albertiri, you need to think 'less is more'.

'Introduce flowing sheets in whites and soft blush, for a neutral effortless look,' she advised.

'Also, choose materials like linen and cotton, as they are breathable and perfect for balmy summer nights.'

Sprinkle linen cushions, blankets and throws around your home - you'll feel as though you're in an island paradise in no time.

Sprinkle linen cushions, blankets and throws around your home - you'll feel as though you're in an island paradise in no time (stock image)

3. BRIGHTLY-COLOURED MATS

In summer, it's always all about the colour.

And Ms Albertiri is a huge fan of 'bringing a pop of colour into your home by way of a vibrant mat or rug'.

'Brightly-coloured rugs help to lift the personality of any room in your home,' she added.

Either discount stores, like Kmart or IKEA, or more expensive places will have options.

Whether you go for a basket with a 'plant inside it, a beautiful chair or a rattan handbag thrown over a door handle', there's nothing that signifies warmer weather more than rattan (pictured)

4. HINTS OF RATTAN

Whether you go for a basket with a 'plant inside it, a beautiful chair or a rattan handbag thrown over a door handle', for Ms Albertiri there is nothing that signifies the warmer weather more than rattan.

'Rattan is an affordable way to add a summertime vibe to any space in your home,' she said.

Ms Albertiri recommends some of the pieces at The Life Style Edit, and confessed 'the trick is to not put too much thought into styling them and make them look as natural as possible for an effortless look'.

'Look for accessories in natural fibres such as wood and stone. Then, introduce these materials with food platters, plates, homewares and decorative pieces,' Ms Albertiri (pictured) said

5. ACCESSORIES IN NATURAL FIBRES

'If you live in Australia, then the warmer months are all about being outside in the sunshine, which is why I love using natural textures to bring the outside in,' Ms Albertiri said.

Therefore, she is all about 'using natural textures'.

'Look for accessories in natural fibres such as wood and stone. Then, introduce these materials with food platters, plates, homewares and decorative pieces'.

Finally, Ms Albertiri recommends pairing your accessories with a 'fresh floral arrangement'.

To read more from Ms Albertiri, visit her website here.
Lucian Freud had at least 12 illegitimate children by five mistresses, with some estimating he fathered as many as 40

One would expect the daughter of artist Lucian Freud  and great-granddaughter of the father of modern psychology Sigmund  to cut a Bohemian dash, and Bella Freud, 56, certainly doesnt disappoint.

The gamine fashion designer has dumped her 72-year-old husband for an artist who is 22 years her junior.

But then a lust for life is in the genes. Bellas father was a promiscuous, louche, charismatic and utterly selfish man who had as many as 500 lovers. His female subjects were often his romantic partners, or became his lovers after sitting for him. Some went on to have children by him.

Lucian married twice, and had two daughters by his first wife, Kitty Garman, none by his second, society beauty Lady Caroline Blackwood, but at least 12 illegitimate children by five mistresses. Some friends estimate he may have fathered as many as 40.

A ruthless seducer with no interest in conventional family life, in one year alone, 1961, Freud had three children by as many different women.

By the time he died in 2011, at the age of 88, he had acknowledged 14 children  the oldest now 69 and the youngest 33. Ten of them inherited his 42 million (after tax) estate.

Some were only vaguely aware of each others existence. So who are these children, and what is his dynastic legacy? The answer is that the Freuds are the most unlikely clan, artists galore of all different stripes, with a dizzying number of divorces, scandals and family disasters between them. Indeed, barely a single marriage has stayed the course.

His two daughters by his first wife

During his five-year marriage (1947-1952) to Kitty Garman, the illegitimate daughter of sculptor Jacob Epstein, Freud had two daughters, Annie and Annabel, his only legitimate children.

Andrew Tift's triptych of Lucian Freud's first wife, Kitty, which won the BP Portrait Award

1. Troubled poet whom Daddy painted nude

Annie, who was born in 1948, was painted nude by her father at the age of 14, for his 1963 portrait Naked Child Laughing. She recalled him moving her hair off her nipples with his paintbrush.

There was some hurt done, not intentionally, and it was nothing to do with sex  perhaps it was more an intrusion into innocence. It was all very well for Dad to say it was all right. No one else felt that it was, she said recently.

She became an embroiderer and then worked in local government. She is now a poet.

Poet Annie was painted nude by her father when she was aged 14 and recalls him moving her hair away from her nipples with a paintbrush

Annie lives in Dorset with her second husband, a retired electrical engineer, whom she met on the internet. Her daughter May, 42, by her French-born first husband Jean-Loup Courret, lives in Suffolk. Lucian was furious when Annie wouldnt let May  his granddaughter  pose for him at the age of six. She was shocked when she discovered the existence of her half-siblings and felt anchorless over Freuds betrayal  suffering a nervous breakdown.

2. Daughter and muse

Freud painted Annabel (four years Annies junior) both clothed and nude, as a child and later as an adult woman in 1988s Annabel Sleeping, which shows her in a blue dressing gown. Annabel married an architect in 1974, with whom she has a daughter, Katie Louise, 34.

Today, she lives in a modest flat in Tulse Hill, South London.

Annabel was painted both clothed and nude by her father. She now lives in a flat in Tulse Hill, South London

His four children by beatnik lover

Lucian Freud took Suzy Boyt as his lover when she was his student at the Slade School of Fine Art. Between 1957 and 1969, she had four children with him. Suzy gave up painting to raise them and for a time supported the family by selling antique lace. She then bought a cargo ship and took her children around the world. In Trinidad, the boat fell into disrepair and the family was deported, penniless, to start again in London.

Suzy Boyt became Freud's lover when she was his student at the Slade School of Fine Art

1. The wild teen turned drugs counsellor

Alexander Boyt, known as Ali in the family was  according to his siblings  a wild teenager. Aged 16, he was said to have got drunk in France and got into a fight with a group of Hells Angels who tried to stab him.

Alexander Boyt works with people who struggle with substance abuse and lives in Islington, North London

He once set up a skate park and now, aged 60, works with drug and alcohol abusers. He lives alone in Islington, North London.

Lucian used him as a model several times. He recalls: I once apologised to Dad for something I did, and he replied, Thats nice of you to say, but it doesnt work like that. There is no such thing as free will. People just have to do what they have to do.

2. Chippy punk author

Rose Boyt provoked pointed references to great-grandfather Sigmund when her first novel, Sexual Intercourse, was published in 1990. It was about a girl and her sexually charged relationship with her father. A punk teenager, she says she had a chip on her shoulder because her family was really poor.

Rose Boyt's first novel, Sexual Intercourse, was published in 1990, provoking pointed references to her great-grandfather Sigmund Freud

I was extremely anti-social. I stayed out all night and took drugs, she said.

Her father painted her nude, for 1979s Portrait Of Rose, when she was 19, a portrait she describes as crew cut, open legs, naked.

Her most recent novel is Hows Your Father. Now 58, she lives in Islington with husband Mark Pearce. They have two children.

3. Mum of a pop star

Isobel Boyt (known as Ib), 56, was painted by Lucian with her partner Paul Costelloe while pregnant in 1992  the picture, Ib And Her Husband, is worth around 18 million. She has three daughters and her Facebook page suggests she lives in Athens. One daughter, Alice, was in the moderately successful band Big Deal.

Isobel Boyt was painted by Lucian with her partner Paul Costelloe. Her daughter Alice went on to form the band Big Deal

4. Satirist of middle-class yummy mummies

Susie Boyt, 47, a novelist and style columnist for the Financial Times, is the youngest of the Boyt brood and says her sister Rose largely brought her up. She went to Oxford University but was devastated when her boyfriend died in a climbing accident.

Susie Boyt is a novelist and style columnist for the Financial Times. She is a graduate of Oxford University

She is married to Tom Astor, a scion of the Astor dynasty, who managed the band Gorillaz and now produces films. They have a daughter, Mary, 16 and live in Hampstead in North London. Susies sixth novel, Love And Fame, was published this year.

Two girls by publican's daughter

Bernardine Coverley was 16 when she met Freud in a bar in Soho in 1959. The daughter of Irish Catholic parents who ran a pub in Brixton, she attended boarding school from the age of four. When she was 15 her parents moved back to Ireland but she headed to London where she met Lucian. The artist first painted her aged 17 and pregnant with Bella, in 1961s Pregnant Girl. He was 37 and had been married twice. They never lived together. At 60, she went to Mexico to work in an orchid nursery, an experience she turned into a book. She died aged 68, four days after Freuds death.

Bernadine Coverley with Lucian Freud, who she met in a Soho bar in 1956 when she was 16 years old

1. The Fashionista

Bella Freud is owner of the eponymous fashion label and designer of the must-have 1970 jumper  a block-coloured sweater emblazoned with the number 1970, beloved of Kate Moss and Alexa Chung. Her London shop sells expensive clothing  and a perfume called Psychoanalysis.

She saw little of her father until she was about 11. At 16, Bella left school and moved in with Rose Boyt, her half-sister, in London, and began sitting for her father.

Bella Freud is owner of the eponymous fashion label and designer of the must-have 1970 jumper

I sat nude for two paintings, which was strangely unembarrassing. As soon as youve got your clothes off, you forget about them, she said. At the age of 21, Bella fell in love with Italian playboy Dado Ruspoli. He was 58. His hedonism inspired the seminal Sixties film La Dolce Vita. He was also an opium addict who introduced Bella to his habit. It was lovely, she said. Opium, for all its faults, was a lovely drug; very gentle.

Back in London, she launched her fashion label and in 1993 met James Fox. He was the author of White Mischief, a novel about dissolute expats in Kenyas Happy Valley which was made into a film starring Charles Dance. Bella and Fox married in 2001 and have a 16-year-old son. This week, the Mails Sebastian Shakespeare diary revealed she dumped Fox and is now dating 34-year-old artist toy-boy Taz Fustok, almost 40 years younger than her husband. Just the latest move in this very complicated, and Freudian, family saga.

2. The Novelist

Best-selling novelist Esther Freud, 54, is married to actor David Morrissey, 53, star of the BBC TV series The Missing, and famous for his portrayal of a youthful Gordon Brown in the TV drama The Deal.

Esther Freud, 54, is a best-selling novelist and is married to actor David Morrissey, with whom she has three children

They have three children aged 22, 19 and 13 and live in Highgate, North London. When aged four, her mother took her and her sister travelling.

Their adventures in Morocco were the basis for her novel Hideous Kinky, which was made into a film starring Kate Winslet. Her books include The Sea House, Mr Mac and Me, and the coming-of-age novel Love Falls.

A son by his posh muse

Freud's 1974 Hayward Gallery retrospective exhibition included full-frontal nude pictures of Lady Jacquetta Eliot. In all, she sat for Freud for nine years from 1969 to 1978, and featured in nine of his paintings.

Lady Jacquetta Eliot sat for Freud for nine years from 1969 to 1978, and featured in nine of his paintings

1. The Whirling Dervish

Growing up, Francis Eliot, 45, considered himself the son of Perry, the raffish 10th Earl of St Germans, although it was an open secret that he was the issue of Jacquettas long affair with Freud.

Francis Eliot was named after artist Francis Bacon. It was an open secret that he was Lucian Freud's son

He was named after Freuds fellow artist Francis Bacon, giving rise to a sardonic joke from Perry, who knew he was not the boys biological father: How do you like your bacon ? Freud?

Francis is married with two children and lives in an artistic community in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire. He is an expert whirling dervish, the eastern dance practised by Islamic mystics, and teaches dance in the 5 Rhythms method, combining movement and meditation.

Four by fashion student

Lucian met Katherine McAdam when she was a 19-year-old fashion student and he was married to his first wife, Kitty. They had four children (Jane, Lucy, Paul and David)  all born after Freuds second, childless, marriage to Caroline Blackwood had collapsed.

Freuds womanising drove McAdam to despair, and in 1966 she moved to a council flat. The children didnt see their father again until they were adults. They were excluded from his will.

Lucian drove Katherine McAdam to despair with his womanising. The four children he had with her were excluded from his will

1. The Sculptor

Jane McAdam Freud, born in 1958, lives in Harrow, North West London, with an architect and two grown-up stepsons.

She was 31 when she reconnected with her father after winning a scholarship to the Rome Academy of Fine Art. He asked if she would teach him to sculpt.

Architect Jane McAdam Freud won a scholarship to the Rome Academy of Fine Art and shortly after reconnected with her father

Lucian helped fund a masters degree at the Royal College of Art but they saw less of each other as he grew older. Jane was angry that their branch of the family was not acknowledged by him.

He always (wrote) to us on cards with his work on it. I keep them in a box. Thats all it is, though. A little box of bits. Half our parentage, Jane said.

2. Cruise ship artist who married a plumber

Lucy McAdam Freud is one of Lucians three children born in 1961. A gifted artist, she graduated from the Wimbledon School of Art. She is now an art instructor for Cunard cruises.

Lucy McAdam Freud is a gifted artist who graduated from the Wimbledon School or Art and is now an art instructer

She has two sons, Peter and James, by her ex-husband, a plumber she married when she was 22. Lucian was invited to the wedding but didnt come.

When she visited him as he was ailing in 2011, she hadnt seen him for 15 years. She said: He stroked my cheek and cuddled me as if there had never been such a distance between us. He told me, Im a very selfish person. Maybe it was a kind of apology on his part.

3. The son who contested the will

Paul McAdam Freud, 58, an artist, re-established contact with his father in 1989 at a book launch. Lucian said that he wanted to paint Pauls wife Kathryn (a doctor with whom Paul has three children). She did not sit for him.

I was a bit livid. Why would I want my father looking at my wife naked? said Paul, who lives in Southwark, South London.

Paul McAdam Freud is also an artist and re-established contact with his father at a 1989 book launch

But a relationship developed between father and son, with visits, postcards and phone calls.

In 2014, Paul lost a three-year battle over his fathers will. About 42 million, the bulk of the estate after tax, had been left to a secret trust run by a solicitor and his half-sister Rose Boyt.

Paul was told that he and his siblings would not get a share of the fortune and that the documents would remain secret.

Paul had first met his half-sister Rose  although he didnt know their relationship at the time  at a club where they both worked when he was in his 20s.

I never knew I had a [half] sister, he said. I was captivated. She was very attractive, and I was an active young man. She had a friend, and I remember thinking, Which one?  they were both attractive and friendly. I ended up seeing her friend. I learned about Rose a couple of years later.

4. The magic mushroom enthusiast

David, at 53, the youngest of the McAdam Freuds, lives in East Sussex with a former Vogue fashion editor. He was artist-in-residence at Worthing Museum last year.

He also works for the charity A Band Of Brothers, which mentors young men who feel the lack of a father figure. David has four children by three different mothers and lost touch with one, Violet, when she was a baby.

David McAdam Freud lives with a former Vogue fashion editor and works for the charity Band of Brothers

When he was 24, he met his father in a bar but they never developed a relationship. He did, however, see him  and paint him  on his deathbed.

Lucian was so secretive and such a very strange character, he said.

David eventually met all ten of his acknowledged half-siblings, some for the first time, at their fathers funeral.

In September, David signed an online petition calling for the re-legalisation of the supply and possession of Psilocybin or magic mushrooms.
Were all trapped! my mother said, Were all trapped in a body with limitations, even the most able-bodied among us! And were all guided by minds with limitations of their own. You want to know my philosophy? Its this: our job, regardless of our bodily circumstances, is to rise above what holds us down, and to help others do the same! We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg (American novelist) Advertisement

Dear Bel,

I am at the end of my tether and dont know where to turn. I lost my son (45) last year through alcoholism. His father and I divorced 20 years ago and both remarried, certainly happily in his case. He was a serial cheat who put the children through hell.

My son was driven to succeed and build a good life for his family, he was also driven by his materialistic wife.

They have two lovely boys, but his wife allowed them to witness all sorts of hell, due to my sons drinking. She didnt want to call time on the relationship while he was still functioning and bringing in a good income.

When she finally told him to leave he spent a year in a depressing flat and quickly deteriorated. She wouldnt let the boys see him (which I can understand) and he cried for them every day.

It was me who spent all my time trying to get help, taking him to A&E, to psychiatrist appointments all over the country, eventually losing my job as a result.

It was me who once stayed awake for two nights, dealing with the police etc  until he was eventually found dead in his flat.

At the age of 63 its not been easy to find work and Ive had to settle for a low-paid clerical job until I can retire. This is really where the problem is.

My ex-husband and his wife are retired and financially comfortable. They can see the boys whenever they like. I feel bitter and resentful that they seem to have hijacked my grief and my grandsons.

Im my sons mother  not the new wife. Yes, I know this is selfish and unreasonable.

'How do I accept being left out gracefully? How do I move on? Its brought back all the bitterness and jealousy of the divorce,' says Penny

The last straw has come when even though we all arranged to get together on the anniversary of his death, it now turns out that its just going to be his dad and his wife, the boys as well as my daughter and her children.

How do I accept being left out gracefully? How do I move on? Its brought back all the bitterness and jealousy of the divorce, as well as the loss of my son.

Please give me some advice.

PENNY

Your story is very sad indeed. What you have endured would tax the strongest person. It might be that your sons fatal addiction could be traced back to his fathers ill-treatment of the family  whatever the truth, your current ill-feeling is understandable.

Yet bitterness, like acid, corrodes everything it touches. Entirely destructive, it can eat away at affection, making people not want to see the sad, isolated one who has chosen to embrace pain, jealousy and rage.

Does that sound harsh? Its just meant to be true. So many things in your email worry me that I must point them out, in order to advise.

'It was me who spent all my time trying to get help, taking him to A&E, to psychiatrist appointments all over the country, eventually losing my job as a result,' writes Penny

First, you imply that your own second marriage is less than happy, which (I suspect) fuels resentment and jealousy of your first husband.

Second, you describe your daughter-in-law as materialistic and suggest she stayed with your tragic son because of his salary until she could bear it no more.

You blame her for exposing your grandsons to their fathers drinking. But what would you have had her do? Throw him out sooner?

Witnessing your sons deterioration and taking on the burden of care must have been terrible. One result is that you have a job thats beneath you. Then you say, This is really where the problem is.

Having read this several times I think youre implying your lack of money is a factor in your being estranged from the family, whereas your ex-husband is financially OK and so has access to the grandsons.

This interpretation would link to your description of your daughter-in-law as materialistic. Is this fair? Is this really true?

Nobody can highjack your grief. I have nothing but compassion for your loss. But if you resent your ex-husbands access to your grandsons, it might be useful to wonder

if hes a welcome visitor because he and his second wife are happy.

You describe yourself as selfish and unreasonable  so please examine those words carefully and consider what to do about them. I sympathise with those feelings of

being left out of the gathering to mark the anniversary of your sons death  but maybe your daughter and daughter-in-law are worried it might be too much for you.

If you constantly carry bitterness and jealousy and angry grief to the family table, it can make everyone else feel even more miserable.

Of course, Id prefer them to rally round you. But perhaps hostility to your ex, his wife and your daughter-in-law has become a fence that keeps them out.

I hope you accept their decision with grace, because vowing to do so (reflecting on what I have written) will give you a chance to move on. You have two sets of

grandchildren to forge good relationships with and retirement to anticipate.

I hope that now you no longer have the agony of worrying about your poor son, you can work on your marriage and try to make positive plans for a future with your whole family.

I love him more than he loves me

Dear Bel,

We have been married for 45 years and I think I have always known that I love my husband more than he loves me.

He recently found a female friend who he talks about all the time both to me and other people. This makes me feel embarrassed and foolish.

He keeps telling everyone he married me because when he came back to the UK after a year abroad all his friends had got married  implying I was all that was left!

I was 16 when he came back and I didnt start going out with him until I was nearly 19, we got married when I was 20.

I never considered myself on the shelf at 19. I married him because I love him.

I have asked him if he is seeing someone else but he said: how can he as he comes back to me every night? That has done nothing to quell my fears.

I dont think he will leave me but believe he stays with me out of pity. I dont want that.

I feel sure if I instigated a split with him he would go along with it. We have spoken about it and he has never said thats not what he wants  so I must assume that it is what he wants, but he wont do anything about it.

Over the past year he has behaved in such a way that even our friends and children think something is going on.

I think because he has found this friend it has given him the courage to say what he feels about me and our marriage.

I am concerned about being on my own emotionally and financially.

My heart is broken and I think we will not be together much longer.

It would be good to get some advice from someone not close to my problem to help me make that decision.

TESSA

Some people believe in the power of prayer, others in the ability of intense visualisation to influence events  and there are those who reckon you can get what you want by simply asking the universe to give it to you.

I offer no opinions there  but I do believe in self-fulfilling prophesies. The term was coined in 1948 by the American sociologist Robert Merton to describe a false definition of the situation evoking a new behaviour which makes the originally false conception come true.

In other words, you get an idea in your head then consistently act in such a way that the notion turns out to be true. Obviously it has a huge relevance to the upbringing of children (I once heard an indifferent young mother in a childrens ward describe her baby as naughty.). But I also believe it to be a factor in many relationships.

Here you are, telling me that you are the also-ran in this marriage. Youve never believed he loves you, think he stays with you out of pity, and constantly cross-examine him about a potential split caused by a woman friend you think he wants to be with.

You must assume (you say) a whole lot of destructive negatives  because youve decided to believe they are true. Your suspicions  surely based on nothing much at all  are determined enough to make you heart-broken because we will not be together much longer.

What are you doing? To be frank, if your husband has indeed behaved in such a way that people think something is going on  it could be because you have made life so anxious, so needy, so dreary, that he is relieved to escape to the conversation of a lady who doesnt make him feel thoroughly depressed.

Honestly, I do feel very sorry for anybody who appears so set on unhappiness. Of course, it could be that your suspicions are correct, and he is fonder of this lady than he should be.

But if I were in your shoes  afraid of being on my own both emotionally and financially  I would do something about turning myself into the kind of wife who is a delight to be with.

I know a woman whose husband (working abroad) developed a mega-crush on a stunning colleague.

The wife was scared and angry  but very wise, too. So she made sure that what was waiting for him on Friday nights was utterly captivating on every level. The marriage flourished.

Please try to change your mind set  now. Investigate Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and try a couple of sessions with a local therapist. Do the exercise of flipping all your negative statements to make positive ones. You can throw your marriage a lifeline right now  but not if you are so intent on drowning it in your tears.

AND FINALLY: Life will pass you by if you just wallow

The rising divorce rate has created a generation of lonely middle-aged men and women. Its almost certainly not what they planned; they had their dreams  but life got in the way.

More and more baby-boomers (45-64) are living alone, while the number of over-75s alone has risen from 1.78 million to 2.21 million in the past 20 years. And loneliness is a problem often met in this column.

The other week I had supper in London with a very old friend. Since her husband ended their marriage (his infidelity) years ago, shes lived alone. I asked whether she ever felt unhappy and/or afraid of the future.

I want to share her inspiring reply  because we can all learn from this forever-young 65 year old. She feels lucky to be close to her two sons, one of whom is married with two children.

So her first concern is to be a cheerful, hands-on mum and granny, for whom nothing is too much trouble and who never moans.

Then, she is still close to her ex-husband  so much so that his current lady confided he would do anything for her. She believes it absolutely.

There are no recriminations in this story  none of the negatives that tear children apart and infect family life. Do I hear you say its impossible? No, it is not. I tell you, too many people choose to nurse blame and make themselves miserable.

Third, my friend keeps up with many friends and activities. She attends lectures, digs her allotment, is involved with the residents group in her flats, and goes to plays, movies, exhibitions to keep in touch.

All this makes her an exemplary person anyone would want to spend time with.

Now, my question to readers who live alone is this: are you like her? If your answer is a sad shake of the head, then why not try something like the University of the Third Age with a friend or neighbour, and make a new start?
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Corey Dunlop, 28, was devastated when he thought his 92-year-old grandma, Miriam Dunlop, wouldn't be able to make it to his wedding.

So when he found out she would be able to attend, he was sure that every special moment between them was captured on camera.

The result was a series of heartwarming, entertaining and emotional moments that Corey says he will cherish forever.

Corey recently married his wife Haylee, 27, at Governor Phillip Park at Palm Beach and enjoyed a reception at the Boathouse after nine years together.

Corey Dunlop, 28, was devastated when he thought his 92-year-old grandma Miriam Dunlop wouldn't be able to make it to his wedding - so when he found out she could, he was sure that every special moment between them was captured on camera

'Family is a big part of both our lives and we spend a lot of our time making memories with our loved ones. My nan is one of the key figures in my life and we try to commit as much time to her as we can,' Corey said

'Haylee and I met in high school, but didn't start dating until after high school had finished. We started dating when Haylee was 18 and I was 19 so we are pretty much each other's only serious relationship,' Corey, from the Sutherland Shire, told Daily Mail Australia.

These photos of my nan, I will cherish forever. They truly are priceless.

'It's been nine years of love and happiness and many adventures around the world. Luckily, we share the same sense of humour and zest for life which keeps us busy and keeps things interesting.

'The day had a relaxed, fun and carefree vibe with canape styled food on a deck over the water listening to the musical stylings of Marty Simpson. We wanted something relaxed so we subdued some of the formalities and added some over the top features for fun.

'I only have a really small family and with the loss of my mother a few years ago, the importance of my nan being at my wedding was paramount for me,' he said

'For example, me entering the wedding in budgy smugglers, our video message booth or our Geode Cake made by the talented Ivy and Stone Cake Design were a few things we wanted to focus on.'

Corey said that to have his grandma there with him on the day was an absolute highlight.

'Family is a big part of both our lives and we spend a lot of our time making memories with our loved ones. My nan is one of the key figures in my life and we try to commit as much time to her as we can,' he said.

'I only have a really small family and with the loss of my mother a few years ago, the importance of my nan being at my wedding was paramount for me. There was one stage in which she didn't think she would be able to come which was devastating.

'Nan has a cracking sense of humour and usually has all of the nurses at her retirement village in stitches. So it's no surprise that she had everyone in hysterics on the day and was up to mischief,' Corey said

'Having my nan there was such an overwhelming emotion which caused many tears of joy and heartfelt embraces, knowing how special this moment was,' Corey said

'However, we found a company that for a fee sends a registered nurse to drive and care for family members during important events like weddings and we enlisted their help to ensure she could be there.

It's no surprise that she had everyone in hysterics on the day and was up to mischief.

'Having my nan there was such an overwhelming emotion which caused many tears of joy and heartfelt embraces, knowing how special this moment was.'

But despite the many emotions, Miriam made sure she was the life of the party.

'Nan has a cracking sense of humour and usually has all of the nurses at her retirement village in stitches. So it's no surprise that she had everyone in hysterics on the day and was up to mischief,' Corey said.

'It was the icing on the cake to have James Day there to capture these moments for us.'

Corey said he and Haylee were both very particular about the photography and videography to ensure special moments were captured throughout the day.

'At the end of the day all you walk away with are your memories and if your lucky enough a wonderful story of the day told through photos and film,' Corey said

'We were very lucky to secure the amazing James Day as our photographer and the blokes from GoldBear Wedding films who create epic wedding films to capture our day,' Corey said.

'We set aside a nice slice of our wedding budget to afford to get our first choice in videography and photography and it was actually the first thing we booked.

'At the end of the day all you walk away with are your memories and if your lucky enough a wonderful story of the day told through photos and film. It's definitely worth investing in, especially when you think about your loved ones that you'd like to remember and honour once they're gone.

'These photos of my nan, I will cherish forever. They truly are priceless. '
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a working mother is frequently in need of a psychiatrist or a publican and, in my experience, often both.

Why else would white wine bottles come with screw tops? And as the hugely entertaining TV series Motherland brilliantly shows, the chances of keeping all your marbles while trying to 'have it all' are limited.

The new show, which stars harassed working mum-of-two Julia, has created a cult heroine for modern Britain, one which speaks to similarly-afflicted mums all over the country  normal mums battling with immaculately coiffed, yoga-sculpted, sharp-elbowed rivals determined to spend eye-watering amounts on a child's party.

It is already compulsive viewing, even though all six episodes were only put on to iPlayer last week.

Probably, those viewing figures were driven by women just like Julia  binge watching, flaked out on the sofa while eating their children's leftovers for supper. Much like me.

The Queen Bee: Impossibly polished Amanda (Lucy Punch) is a merciless, Boden-clad school gate shark who rules with a string of actively aggressive put-downs and the star of new BBC sitcom Motherland. But what about the real 'harassed;mothers, asks Sam Taylor

For as the working mother of a ten-year-old, my world is one of 'panic parenting' is every bit as colourful as Julia's life on screen.

Like me, Julia is so time poor she begins almost every sentence with the words: 'No pressure, but how long will this take?'

Her daily trials and tribulations perfectly capture the intensively competitive undercurrents and barely veiled chaos that define modern day motherhood.

With split hairs and snagged tights, her face fixed in a rictus grin, Julia is a woman on a mission to just get through the day without murdering someone, and most mothers know how that feels.

I know how that feels. My life is a patchwork of plasters applied over the gaping holes in our family's domestic set-up. Every day for Julia  and for me  presents a familiar set of guilt-laden moral dilemmas.

Will she be able to make it to the fun run? Probably not, I never can. Will the Yummy Mummies at the school gates notice that she has forgotten it's dress up as a bumble bee for charity day? Almost certainly yes, from my experience, at least.

Having friends as back-up helps. Julia has Liz, the single mother whose own parenting style is half-Roseanne and half-Patsy from Ab Fab.

Her tips on how to entertain young children at a party are priceless: 'Throw a pound coin in a room and when they run in after it, close the door.'

After all, can there be a more competitive arena for mothers than the children's party? My own attempts are woefully inadequate compared to those of the women who run the PTA.

They could be running the UN if they weren't putting so much energy into forward planning their children's annual events, which seem to be designed solely to make others howl with envy. Obviously this howling all takes place on the inside. Outside, we are all the 'best of friends'.

The single mum: Liz (Diane Morgan) brings a refreshingly honest wisdom as Julia's best friend. Used to work at the CAB 'until one of her calls was recorded for training purposes' and is loathed by the alphas for sleeping with one of their 'fat' husbands

One woman I know recently set the bar quite high when she treated herself to a headset microphone to set off the lycra bodysuit she wore on stage to orchestrate the dance routines for the children attending her son's ninth birthday celebration.

The routine took part in a ballroom, with professional dancers paid to partner the 30 precious little guests. The food was catered by celebrity chef Yotam Ottolenghi.

On another occasion, an invitation arrived for my primary school aged daughter to be taken to Paris for lunch. The invite came with a little handwritten note from the mum apologising that she was being a bit lazy this year and wasn't really up to organising much.

Really? Then there are the 'craft driven' parties that are equally as bonkers. We currently have an invite to a Halloumi Making Experience (why?), and a Weave A Rug party (again, why?).

I particularly warmed to the episode in which Julia attempts, but fails, to throw her ten-year-old a party. Last year my ten-year-old ended up with a hastily organised Christmas bash in the basement of the local pub.

The chaotic mum: Protagonist Julia (Anna Maxwell-Martin) is trying to hold down a high-powered job while trying to find someone - anyone - to look after her kids. Lives in a state of barely disguised panic as she tries to emulate the alpha mums

We hurriedly booked a DJ from Gumtree who turned up with a boot load of Gangnam records and an ice machine that wasn't 'allergy friendly'.

The pub threw in some pizzas, crisps, and some lurid orange squash full of E numbers that are definitely on the ban list in our corner of Islington.

The children loved it, of course, but I am now known as Pub Mum, which apparently is not a term of endearment.

I am also known as part of the group of women who just 'drop off'. Those of us who have jobs have long ago given up any pretence that we want to stand around chatting over the prosecco at the party while our children are entertained at someone else's expense.

It does mean that I don't always have the measure of my daughter's friends when I arrive to collect her, however.

Once, I was waiting with the dog outside a party when she came excitedly running out and introduced me to the birthday girl, who set about stroking our faithful old pet. 'Do you have a dog, darling?' I asked. 'No,' she replied. 'But we do have a Bentley.'

And this is one of the greatest problems for working mothers  the huge gaps in our knowledge about our children's everyday lives.

Occasionally I manage that rare treat; the school pick-up. There are lots of wonderful women (and men) to be found standing around at 3.15pm who are lovely to dilettantes like me.

But it has to be admitted that at every school gate there is also a strong cohort of scarily organised busty blonde Amanda in Motherland, all of whom deserve an A-plus for smugness.

I discovered this recently when I asked the identity of the woman talking to my daughter. 'She's her teacher,' came her drop-jawed reply. For the record, she was new.

When Julia arrives late for a parents' evening, taxi running outside, she says 'just give me the trailer highlights'.

I sympathise. I was so exhausted recently I found myself sitting in the wrong classroom in the wrong presentation, wondering why my daughter was gesturing frantically outside the door

I once dashed across town to join my daughter at a playdate only to turn up at the wrong house.

There ensued a very confusing conversation on the doorstep with a terrified looking woman who thought I was accusing her of stealing my child. Eventually I had to give up and go back to work, hoping that wherever she was, she was OK.

Cake sales are another minefield and I wish we could call time on them  who eats all those cakes?

One friend spent years battling the guilt of sending her children into school with a 'shop bought' cake until she came to a deal with a local baker to produce authentic 'handmade' looking Victoria sponges that are placed into an aged cake tin.

They've so far won her prizes and pats on the back for managing to be such a great multi-tasker. I've agreed not to name her here on the understanding that she gives me his number.

The husband of Julia is always somewhere else if needed. Of course, men cannot be blamed for all the woes faced by career women.

But let's face it  hiding behind every frazzle-faced female juggling too many balls is usually a man hoping not to be picked for the team.

My husband is a master at remaining unselected. He has an unbroken 15-year record at avoiding dressing up as Santa, or stuffing party bags full of toys.

Julia can at least call on her drippy friend Kevin, a stay at home dad fully versed in the latest parenting theories.

My husband on the other hand is an expert at avoiding becoming weighed down with any of the finer details of childcare.

So much so his 1950s parenting style, which is best described as a sort of benevolent neglect, is viewed with alarm by the liberal chattering classes that make up the backbone of our daughter's state primary in Islington.

We are still recovering from a morning last year when I was racing out of the door to a meeting and I noticed that our daughter still had the face paint on she'd got at a fete the previous day.

With no time to stop, I shouted at him to 'make sure she washes it off before school' and ran. He nodded, but as my mother was fond of saying, it was in one ear, and out the other.

It wasn't until they were one street away from the school gates that he suddenly noticed her face was covered in a lurid spider's web of purple and black.

Panicked, he pulled his handkerchief out and dipped it in a puddle of rain water and then proceeded to rub it all over her face, leaving her with a smeary mess.

I hear that, on arriving in class, there was a unified intake of breath from students and teachers alike.

It was about an hour later that the social worker called me at work to say she had been notified by the head that Georgie's father was displaying 'erratic behaviour'.

Why did I think he washed his child's face with a hanky dipped in puddle water? At the risk of stating the obvious, I replied that perhaps she might like to ask him instead.

Perhaps it is no surprise that Motherland is hilarious, as it is written by Sharon Horgan, who also wrote Channel 4's award-winning couples comedy, Catastrophe, and Graham Linehan who gave us Father Ted. But the real reason it is funny, is that it is true.

Ultimately, what the show teaches us is that Julia wants what we all want: our mothers to come along and take care of everything.

But the days of Watch With Mother are over  this is now Watching Mothers Fall Apart on prime-time television.

'I really want my children to be brought up like I was, by my mother,' Julia wails. But granny, like mummy, wants her own life now. And who can blame her?
For Claire Johnson-Creek, memories of the precious first few months spent with her baby should be filled with joy  but they are also marred by recollections of pain and tears of frustration.

Claires son Felix was diagnosed with a common mouth defect known as tongue tie minutes after his birth in January.

The condition, which affects up to one in ten infants, is caused by the strip of skin connecting the tongue to the floor of the mouth being shorter than usual, but it can be corrected in a painless ten-second procedure.

For Claire Johnson-Creek, memories of the precious first few months spent with her baby should be filled with joy  but they are also marred by recollections of pain and tears of frustration. She is pictured with her husband, Andrew Johnson-Creek, and baby Felix

However, Claire and her husband Andy were never told about the operation and, as a result, trying the breastfeed her newborn became an agonising experience for Claire. Felix could not latch on or move his tongue properly, and he constantly bit her.

The pain was awful, she recalls. Id be gritting my teeth to get through it and resented Felix for wanting to feed. It was a horrible feeling.

It was only after visiting a private clinic in February in desperation that Andy, a senior accounts manager and Conservative councillor, and Claire, an editor, were told about the corrective procedure, known as a frenotomy.

As Felixs tongue tie was so tight, it would very likely have caused a future speech impediment had it not been addressed.

After the 140 procedure, carried out without anaesthetic because there are few nerve endings in the area in babies, Felix was able to breastfeed almost immediately.

Having witnessed his wifes experience, Andy, 30, has now started a petition calling on the NHS to issue a national policy directive and provide a trained tongue-tie practitioner in every maternity unit, so that the condition can be corrected before parents and babies are discharged from hospitals.

The petition has attracted almost 100,000 signatures already.

The NHS allows trusts and hospitals to deal with ties as they see fit, says Andy. Some do it immediately, some by referral, some empower midwives and nurses to do it, others allow only specialist doctors.

We believe that because Felix was a normal weight, he was not deemed a priority, so we were never told about frenotomy.

Government statistics only record tongue ties that the NHS has corrected, but not all the people who went private. The numbers could be way higher than the Government claims, says Andy.

It was horrible watching my wife and baby going through avoidable trauma. I am angry that we were pressured to breastfeed by the NHS, but nothing was being done to make that easier.

'I was also astonished at how quick, easy and painless the corrective procedure is. Tongue tie is bad for the baby, awful for the mum and, in extreme cases, it can tip mums into post-natal depression.

While Claire and Andy believe all tongue-tied babies should be treated at birth, the subject is a controversial one.

It was only after visiting a private clinic in February in desperation that Andy, a senior accounts manager and Conservative councillor, and Claire, an editor, were told about the corrective procedure, known as a frenotomy

Sarah Oakley, breastfeeding consultant in Cambridgeshire and chairwoman of the Association of Tongue Tie Practitioners, explains: A large percentage of the medical profession deny that tongue ties exist or cause a problem. Even when a baby has a frenotomy and is able to feed better immediately afterwards, some paediatricians claim it is just a coincidence.

Retired consultant paediatric surgeon Mervyn Griffiths, formerly of Southampton General Hospital, says frenotomy has been practised for centuries. Midwives used to go round with sharpened thumbnails so they could cut tongue ties at birth. But the practice started to die out in the 1950s because medical opinion changed to encourage mothers to bottle-feed.

AT the same time, there was a drive to spare children from unnecessary operations. Mr Griffiths was the first paediatric surgeon in the UK to regularly perform frenotomies on newborns in the 1990s and his research, published in the journal Paediatrics And Child Health, showed the procedure was effective. NHS guidance now supports the use of frenotomy in infants.

But some doctors, including Professor Alistair Sutcliffe, a paediatrician at UCL Hospitals in London, continue to have concerns.

At the moment its an epidemic, with everyone saying, My baby is tongue-tied,  he says. But many Ive examined arent, and with support they go on to breastfeed well. People are too ready to diagnose it and to offer a frenotomy when its not indicated.

'Not all breastfeeding difficulties are caused by a tongue tie, and not all apparent tongue ties cause a problem. I am also concerned about how it is being carried out in the private sector, where there is a conflict of interest.

Prof Sutcliffe is calling for a large-scale trial to look at whether frenotomy is helpful for tongue-tied infants. There isnt currently strong evidence either way  too much is anecdotal, he says.

There are a number of issues here, including the support for breastfeeding mothers being inadequate and a human tendency to look for a quick fix.

Despite this, Andy is determined to change NHS policy. No mum and baby should have to go through the experience Claire and Felix went through, he says.

The pressure put on mums to breastfeed is immense, so if something affects the ability to feed, it needs to be sorted as soon as possible.
In his first interview since his second horror smash, Richard Hammond recalls how he lost control at 120mph, flew through the air and crashed in flames... to the horror of his long-suffering wife

'I remember thinking I had been in the air for a while and that could only be a bad sign, says Richard Hammond, wincing at the memory of the crash in an electric supercar that nearly killed him in June.

The Rimac Concept One left a Swiss mountain road at 120mph and the 47-year-old television star believed he was about to die. I thought, the longer I sail through the air upside down, the heavier the landing is likely to be. And it was heavy.

'I remember thinking I had been in the air for a while and that could only be a bad sign, says Richard Hammond, wincing at the memory of the crash

Hammond had been racing up a hill for the new series of his Amazon show The Grand Tour, competing against fellow presenters James May and Jeremy Clarkson, who thought he heard a bomb going off but then realised it was the biggest crash Ive seen and the most frightening.

Today Richard Hammond is back behind the wheel, driving his silver Lotus Esprit Sport 350 to meet up in west London and talk about the smash in detail for the first time  letting slip a couple of terrifying revelations. He says the 2m electric supercar caught fire while he was actually trapped inside, contrary to all previous reports.

The car was burning. Thats why I got out quick, he says.

Having blacked out as the Rimac came back to earth and rolled 100 metres down Hemburg Hill in Switzerland, Hammond woke up to find himself still strapped in, upside down, in a very tight space. I struggled, it was very difficult to move. I remember thinking, Someone will come and get me out, theyll be on their way by now. But then I realised, No, I really do need to get out actually, its important! And I managed to get the crash helmet off in the car, which meant I could wriggle around and open the door and drag myself out.

How soon did the fire start? Fairly quickly. I think I was still in it when it went up. Thats why I decided to get out. I could hear it. Thats when there was a sudden urgency, that my brain said, hmm, lets leave.

So he was only seconds from being burned to death? It probably was a bit close, yes.

The burned-out Rimac supercar after the crash in Switzerland earlier this year

Hammond had crashed horrifically before, in 2006 when he and the others were presenters of Top Gear in its prime. The jet-powered Vampire dragster he was driving left the runway at over 300mph. Hammond suffered serious head injuries and was in a coma for a fortnight. The rehabilitation process was long and scary. And Hammond reveals that when he crashed again, this time he was so frightened of brain damage that he began testing his own mind, frantically, even as he was lying in a spine board stretcher near the burning car.

The paramedics must have thought I had gone nuts because I was lying there saying, Right, Im Richard Hammond, Im driving a Rimac, Im in Switzerland, Im driving against Jeremy in a Lamborghini I was listing what we were doing to prove to myself that I hadnt hurt my head again, before calling for a tele-phone to call my wife Mindy. I needed to do that before they put me in a helicopter.

What on earth did he say to her? I said, Look, this will get out on social media, I have had a bit of a shunt. Dont worry, I havent hurt my head. I think Ive broken a leg and some ribs and things but nothing that wont fix. Dont worry about me. Ill call you from hospital.

They have been together since the Nineties, when they met at work for the same PR company, long before he became a global television star. How did she take the news? She was incredibly good. She knew that my having the presence of mind to call her signalled that I really was OK, because she was top of my priorities at the time.

Sounds as if Mindy was remarkably calm. Dont imagine she was pleased! Of course she wasnt.

Mindy has now threatened to ban him from The Grand Tour, saying: Three strikes and youre out. Youve had your two goes.

Hammond grins. Yeah, I have had my two strikes. I do have to be a bit more careful.

Hang on, didnt he promise much the same thing just a few weeks before this crash, after falling off a motorbike in Mozambique earlier in the summer?

Yes. I didnt lose consciousness. I was a bit woozy. That was not serious enough to count as a third strike, apparently.

Today Richard Hammond is back behind the wheel, driving his silver Lotus Esprit Sport 350 to meet up in west London and talk about the smash in detail

His first strike  the dragster crash just over a decade ago  was a big life experience that really shook him up. I have spoken a lot to head-injury patients. Thats incredibly useful. I hit my head crashing a car at 320 miles an hour, but to share the experience of the self-doubt, questioning, introspection, any time spent looking through a rain-streaked hospital window and questioning your own sanity and state of mind is incredibly grounding. It can be harrowing and revealing  its challenging.

Did he go through the same harrowing self-doubt in hospital this time? No, because my head was fine. He laughs. Im not gung-ho. Im really not a thrill-seeker. Genuinely. Im not an adrenaline junkie. I dont do extreme sports. I ride motorcycles in my spare time but I do so sensibly and carefully, while being aware that it carries danger and being respectful of that risk. Ive got far too much to throw away. It would be bloody rude of me, if nothing else [to die]. I met the love of my life, I have two beautiful daughters. It would be really out of order to risk throwing all that away just for a moment of exhilaration.

The death-defying stunts he has gone in for since starting on a revamped Top Gear in 2002, and now on The Grand Tour make that a bit hard to believe. Well, there is evidence to suggest otherwise, yes. I appreciate that, he says drily. We are all at our happiest when we are at our least happy because its genuinely uncomfortable, scary, dangerous, difficult, because we know that makes for better viewing.

Top Gear made millions for the BBC every year until 2015, when motormouth Jeremy Clarkson was sacked for punching a producer who couldnt get him a hot meal at the end of a days filming. The other two joined him in forming a new company with producer Andy Wilman and Amazon snapped them up for a brand new online series with a budget of 36 million.

Hammond had crashed horrifically before, in 2006. The jet-powered Vampire dragster he was driving left the runway at over 300mph

The four men are thought to have taken salaries of around 1.3 million each for the first series. Viewing figures are much lower than in the Top Gear days, at around two million an episode, but those are all subscribers and Amazon is apparently delighted.

Hammond seems relentlessly cheerful when we meet, even when a problem with the venue forces us to a busy cafe instead. He asks for a cappuccino, says thats unusual for him and laughs at my choice. I wouldnt know what a skinny flat white was. I wouldnt! I live in Wales.

He has star quality in his polished brogue boots, jeans and white shirt with a dapper waistcoat. They call him The Hamster, and he is very small but walks tall, albeit a little stiffly with what he now calls his rebuilt metal Swiss Army Knee. I ask if the others would have gone on without him if he had died in June and he laughs.

Yeah. Theyd have got a pet rat or something. You cant really stop. And he imagines Clarkson and May discussing his departure. Wheres Hammond, the lazy ***t?

Dead.

Oh, well carry on then!

It would have cut the wage bill down too. Exactly! Dont think that thought wouldnt have occurred to them.

Clarkson and Hammond building an artifical reef out of cars in Barbados

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May on The Grand Tour, their show on Amazon

They started The Grand Tour last year by putting two fingers up at the BBC with a lavish, cinematic opening sequence that had an armada of vehicles  from Mad Max contraptions to racing cars  tearing across the desert towards a rock stage on which the Hothouse Flowers were playing, with jets roaring in formation overhead.

They have the budget and licence to do whatever they want, although the shows were way too long and loose last series because there is no time limit on an Amazon episode and they could have done with the tighter editing that kept a rein on their self-indulgence at the BBC. Meanwhile, Chris Evans had a go at remaking Top Gear. Matt Le Blanc is now fronting another attempt with Rory Reid and Chris Harris, so what does Hammond make of that?

Its great. Im watching them reinvent  thats what I want to see. Theres room in the world for more than one car show. Look how many cooking shows there are. Good luck to them.

Making The Grand Tour is harder work, he insists. We run the company that makes the show and we spend a lot of time agonising over that. It feels good to be working hard, whether its in the office or up to our knees in mud somewhere in Africa feeling cold, uncomfortable, hungry and homesick.

Hammond on crutches with wife Mindy and their daughters, Willow and Isabella

The fans expect an element of danger, he says. Weve got a tremendously loyal following and we are grateful to them, they stuck with us and thats great. We kind of owe it to them. Theres almost a sense of relief when its difficult because we think it should be.

The viewers have to believe in the jeopardy they see on screen, though. Thats where the trio ran into problems in the first series, with a military adventure that felt too staged, too scripted and ultimately  for all the bullets flying and bombs going off  too safe. That show didnt work, did it?

Yeah, agreed, sighs Hammond, but he insists they have no regrets. We loved making it. Were craving the indulgence of the audience, yes of course we are. We are running our own show, were getting to play with stuff and it wouldnt throw a very good light on us if we didnt experiment. It would be bloody lazy just to plod on.

And the chemistry with Clarkson and May is real and hard won, he says. Its a very precious thing. Im not going to get that anywhere else. Im not going to stand on stage or in a muddy field or in a desert with another two blokes who have also stood with me in front of 52,000 people in a stadium in Poland, also been to the North Pole, sweltered our way through rainforests and seen how I respond and Ive seen how they respond. You cant falsify that.

For all their brotherly love they have been accused of homophobia in the past and its time to talk about what we might call ice cream gate. People were offended when Hammond made comments on The Grand Tour last year suggesting that any middle-aged man who ate ice cream in public was gay, as if that was a bad thing. It sounded scripted and he appears to regret delivering the lines.

Im not very good at trying to be offensive. It doesnt work. I cant do it. Its not my bag. People know me as the nice one. And I am!

Maybe, but hes part of a trio with a reputation for creating outrage on screen, from racist comments about lazy Mexicans to getting thrown out of Argentina for a number plate that appeared to celebrate British victory in the Falklands. If youre going to make something of a strong enough flavour for some people to really latch onto it, some people wont. But equally, it is only TV.

They do say these controversial things deliberately, then. Just to be clear, is he sorry that the gay rights campaigning group Stonewall, the campaigner Peter Tatchell and others were offended?

Yeah. I dont like causing offence. The other two always laugh because I dont like being in trouble, and they do.

OK, lets go back to safer ground: his near death. Will we see the crash in detail when the series returns next month?

Hammond in hospital after the Swiss accident. he says that this time he was lucky not to have the kind of head injuries he had in 2006

Yes. And no. It burned all the cameras. Theres not a lot of detail.

We may, however, see the chilling moment when the producer Phil Churchward asked him to race up the hill one more time for the cameras and Hammond protested, almost making a prophecy about his own doom.

Oh this is the worst thing Ive ever done in my life. I feel so terrible. I saw him on the starting line and said: You do realise this is the one Im going to crash on? Thats what happens. Its always on the extra run that you lose it. A minute later he sees black smoke and Im down, on fire.

Churchward came to see him that night in hospital. He looked worse than me. I was lying in bed and everything was all swollen and busted and my ribs were bruised but I was all right. I had some grapes. I was quite happy. And he slumped in, a broken man.

What about the car? Was the Croatian founder of Rimac furious about him writing off one of their prototype electric supercars, of which there were only eight in the world? I imagine so, but he hasnt got cross with me. Mate Rimac has been wonderful. He actually retrieved the watch that I was wearing, a Rolex. They found it when they were going through the wreckage of the car and he sent it to me in a presentation box. Its all charred and black and burnt. Today hes wearing a replacement, all silver and chunky.

Despite the crash, Hammond says the Rimac is amazing, incredible, and believes most cars will be electric in the future; but what about driverless cars? His answer is surprisingly enthusiastic. Those cars wont be with us for a long time because the moral decisions they will have to handle require artificial intelligence. But it will come and it may streamline the whole business of commuting. If I could swing down onto the M4, press a button and my car hooks up with all the other cars, downloading data from them so it has the experiences of all the others in terms of terrain, surface, conditions, events, then brilliant!

Hammond called his wife Mindy as he was being boarded onto a hospital helicopter after the crash. She was relieved but Hammond knows he has only one more strike left!

All this wont be the end of driving for fun, he says. I go out at weekends to drive a 1934 supercharged Lagonda tourer because I love it. It does something to me. There are others like me who will always want that itch scratched.

So hes in favour of driverless cars? If it clears the roads for me to go out in my 68 Mustang, yeah! Definitely.

I ask whether they will make another series of The Grand Tour? Yeah. I cant do anything else. Im not going to get a proper job, am I?

But he knows hed better be even more careful from now on, with the voice of his long-suffering wife Mindy whispering: One more strike and youre out.

The new series of The Grand Tour begins on Amazon Prime Video on December 8
For my wife, the words software update are something to be ignored entirely, or a cue to yell for the 24-hour, in-house IT department (me) and ask with disgust: Do I need to actually look at this?

For those who point-blank refuse to deal with the endless, dreary housekeeping that comes with Windows PCs (the slowing down, the viruses, defluffing the mouse), Googles cheap, simplified Chromebooks have become a good option.

The new Pixelbook, a Chromebook with very fancy hardware, aimed at people who actually want to work

If youre buying a laptop for anyone who just uses the internet, theyre great value: lightweight, simple laptops that offer a Chrome browser and little else, and dont trouble users with the endless, grinding admin of keeping a Windows machine running (something I half hate and half secretly love).

With many at 200, theyre a great choice for less techie types (and mean their loved ones are less likely to get those whiny phone calls saying: Its gone wrong again). But Google believes Chromebooks can actually take on the giants of the laptop world  hence its new Pixelbook, a Chromebook with very fancy hardware, aimed at people who actually want to work.

Its gorgeous. The machine feels positively thrilling, with an aluminium casing, slimline body and a frankly lickable swivelling screen. No prizes for guessing which high-tech company with a fruit-shaped logo this laptop is gunning for.

Previous Chromebooks (even the posh ones) lacked apps, and ways to (for instance) cut out images or do word processing. This offers the full Android app store and has a stylus that lets you draw and cut out on screen. In use, its fast, simple and feels like a decent halfway house between a phone and a laptop.

I was able to do a whole days work on it without yelling once, which is certainly progress from previous Chromebooks, where Id usually be so furious that my wife would be calling upstairs: Are you all right?

At present this is a one-of-a-kind machine (and pretty pricey for whats under the bonnet), but Google has staked out its territory here quite nicely.

If I were younger, and cared slightly more about what people thought of my laptop, I could even imagine myself buying one  once I get over the nagging feeling that I have a duty to be tinkering with some obscure menu in an ancient, grumpy Windows machine.

Mind you, Im still no wiser as to why the stylus costs 99 on its own.
The Vanity Fair Diaries: 1983-1992

Tina Brown W&N 25

Rating:

Halfway through these diaries, Harold Evans, the former editor of The Sunday Times and husband of Tina Brown, makes what Brown calls the cunning point that people believe what they see in print even if it happens to be in your own publication.

Lets hope, for her sake, that its true. In the introduction to her diaries, Brown offers a typically breathless resume of her career. During her time as editor of Tatler she had, she says, taken the circulation from ten thousand to one hundred thousand. In fact, she took it to somewhere in the low thirty thousands, but, as she might put it, hey  whos counting?

The dust jacket features a pre-publication quote from the historian Simon Schama, who has, over the years, been paid a small fortune for his services by Brown. Read the diaries and feel better about everything, he enthuses, adding, bizarrely: The word lives!

Brown made a name for herself as an editor in the Eighties and Nineties by delivering what she would probably call a kick up the pants to magazines that had grown a bit old and dusty

Hyperbole is obviously contagious. The word in these diaries does not so much live as hyperventilate, and then collapse from exhaustion. Most of the time, Brown writes like someone doing a wicked impersonation of a cocaine-fuelled American disc jockey from the Eighties.

New Yorks pace hots up to a burning crescendo this time of year, she writes one December. For Tina, Ronald Reagans arrival in the White House heralds the supersonic launch of another gilded age. Her husbands book about his time as an editor is an atom bomb. And guess who shes talking about in this sentence: Here was a strong, sexually driven woman who did everything she could to kick him up the ladder to the throne. Why, if it isnt HM the Queen Mother!

For those who may have forgotten, or never knew, Brown made a name for herself as an editor in the Eighties and Nineties by delivering what she would probably call a kick up the pants to magazines  Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker  that had grown a bit old and dusty.

Her prose becomes more wooden when she comes to write about her family life. Above: with husband Harold Evans receiving his knighthood at Buckingham Palace in 2004

Her diaries start at the moment she left the resurrected Tatler for America. Soon she is perching like a bird of prey in the offices of Vanity Fair, waiting for the elderly editor, Leo Lerman, who is about a hundred years old, to be given his marching orders.

Behind his back, she criticises him to their joint boss, saying that the magazine will be down the drain by the end of the year. At the same time she grumbles to her diary that Leo is cold-shouldering her. Leo doesnt ask me to features meetings, or, if he does, he rejects everything I suggest. Doesnt he understand I could save his job?

Before long, Leo  who now becomes poor Leo  has been sacked, and Tina has taken his place in the editors chair.

Brown with Jagger and Harvey Weinstein in 2000

Presently, her boss calls her in and asks her if she has a problem firing people. No, I replied. And I feel I should start firing a few who are making problems. She immediately goes downstairs and fires a female journalist. She writes well but her resentful politesse has been getting on my nerves, she explains. Later, on The New Yorker, she sacks 71 of her 120 staff.

She soon settles in. I love the feeling of being at the heart of the media and money capital of the world, she says. Its high-stakes and frightening, which is pretty sexy.

Sexy is one of her favourite words, others being turbocharged or supercharged, epic, hot, new and, inevitably, iconic. Though upon her arrival in the States she says that America is so wildly foreign, she is soon writing in turbocharged Americanese. Her diva looks radiated dangerous glamour is the way she describes even her own mum, and she is not, as far as one can tell, sending herself up.

The Vanity Fair Diaries chronicle her professional life as she soars higher and higher in the humid air of New York society. Above: with Anna Wintour and Nigel Dempster in 1989

When the English journalist James Fox attends a New York dinner party with Tina, he cant make head or tail of it. The next day James Fox called me up and said in his attenuated voice, I didnt understand a word of what anybody said last night. What is this New York chat all about? 

I suspect most British readers of these diaries may be similarly bemused. Seventy-five per cent of the characters, who were clearly big names in New York in the Eighties, will mean nothing at all to UK readers 30 years on. Just back from an amusing dinner at Dick and Shirley Charmans for The New York Times social writer Charlotte Curtis, reads a characteristic entry, and then, just in case we are none the wiser, she adds: Dick was chief of foreign correspondents at Time but is retired now, and Shirley works for Barbara Walters at ABC.

As the years roll by, Tinas success at Vanity Fair catapults her to grander and ever-grander tables. But British readers may still find themselves bemused, even though she has inserted job descriptions at the editing stage to help us out. Vanity Fairs success designated me a great seat at Alices table next to the aggressive takeover king, Carl Icahn, along with the creamy TV anchor Diane Sawyer, mag magnate Malcolm Forbes, the TV writer Norman Lear and the gossip columnist Aileen Mehle, aka Suzy.

When she encounters someone still famous on this side of the Atlantic, she can deliver a sharp and zippy pen-portrait. Above: with Donald Trump and Melania in 2002

Its all a bit like attempting a crossword puzzle while blindfolded, and sometimes, despite what her pal Simon Schama says, Browns use of language is similarly indecipherable, a weird mix of glossy-magazine twaddle and Eighties management speak. Clients want sizzle as much as they want adjacencies, she writes at one point. Come again? Perhaps the publishers might think of providing a glossary for the paperback edition.

The Vanity Fair Diaries chronicle her professional life as she soars higher and higher in the humid air of New York society. From time to time, when she encounters someone still famous on this side of the Atlantic  Warren Beatty, Mick Jagger, Nancy Reagan  she can deliver a sharp and zippy pen-portrait, with a finely tuned ear for comic dialogue. Do shut the kitchen door, Rowena. I hate to stare into a kitchen! barks Princess Michael of Kent to her assistant.

You know what? Donald Trump shouts to her over a dinner table. Went to the opening of the Met last night. Ring Cycle. Placido Domingo. Five hours. Dinner started at 12. Beat that. I said to Ivana, what, are you crazy? Never again.

Ambition for herself and her magazine overrides all other considerations. Above: Brown at Tatler in 2003

And she is illuminating, too, in her portrait of the enigmatic Jackie Kennedy. She has perfected a fascinated stare. Sitting finishing-school upright in a fuchsia Carolina Herrera jacket over a dark sheath, she looks into your face, not your eyes disjointed outbursts come like a rush of animation from a puppet. Its as if somebody jerks the strings, the body lurches into life, then she gradually sinks back into starey-eyed repose.

But her prose becomes more wooden when she comes to write about her own family life and her inner world. As she steps out of Vanity Fair society, the air goes out of the balloon. Every now and then she steps back to pay tribute to Harry Evans  my vivid, loving, courageous husband  in a manner that, however sincere it may be, sounds wooden and forced.

IT'S A FACT The best-selling Vanity Fair issue was the September 2005 edition, which featured former Friends star Jennifer Aniston on the cover. Advertisement

Ambition for herself and her magazine overrides all other considerations. We really need a hot cover for October is the sort of line that appears on every page; she is endlessly casting around for the next star to photograph, the next upmarket tragedy to turn into a six- page spread. Nothing excites her quite so much as the sudden death of someone wealthy or famous. Olivia Channon, the Guinness heiress and Oxford undergraduate, overdosed on heroin and died, and I am wondering whether I should get on a plane and try to re-create her story.

Her own home life rarely intrudes, though from time to time she chronicles, with touching anxiety, the early years of her two children. Sometimes she feels a burst of nostalgia for the calm of English life  my fascination with New York success is beginning to pall  but then, just as quickly, she changes her mind.

After one week of not being the editor of Vanity Fair, Id be a non-person. Reputations fade with stellar speed.

Once youre on the back of the tiger, dismounting is not an option.
Justice League Cert: 12A 2hrs 1min

Rating:

Remember how The Avengers assembled back in 2012? How Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and Thor came together for the very first time?

Thanks to a genuinely clever and witty script, director Joss Whedons confident grasp of comic-book fun, and some top-quality acting from its A-list cast, there was a proper sense of occasion. The so-called MCU  Marvel Cinematic Universe  had definitely arrived.

Now its the turn of Marvels historic rival, DC Comics, to do something similar with its own extended cast of characters.

The Avengers assembled in 2012; now its the turn of Marvels rival, DC Comics, to do something similar with its own cast of characters (Flash, Batman and Wonder Woman, above)

Theyve already dipped a tentative toe into the mash-up world with Batman V Superman and tried something almost too different for its own good with Suicide Squad, but for Justice League they are rolling out the big guns.

But watching Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman come together properly for the first time (I know they were all in Batman V Superman but WW turned up very late) I found myself wondering why they had bothered. Even compared to Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad, this is just so disappointing.

Its let down by almost everything  a poorly constructed script that rarely raises a smile, direction that slows the pace to a crawl at all the wrong moments, and the worst superhero villain since the Avengers awful Ultron.

But I found myself wondering why they had bothered and theres a distinct feeling of unpreparedness. Jason Momoa has the flowing locks but not the acting chops as Aquaman

Steppenwolf is an ancient alien demon made unconvincing flesh by blending visual effects with Ciaran Hindss voice. And no, a demonic army of red-eyed flying bugs doesnt help.

But there are problems with the component parts of DCs band of superhero goodies too.

For while the Avengers came together only after Robert Downey Jr had so brilliantly established the Iron Man franchise and the world had been promisingly introduced to both Captain America (Chris Evans) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth), theres a distinct feeling of unpreparedness to their DC counterparts.

Too much time is spent introducing characters who arent yet interesting and Ben Affleck is still finding his way as an older, grumpier Batman (above, Jeremy Irons as Alfred)

Henry Cavill has done a decent job of rebooting the Superman franchise but has hardly set the world alight. And, besides, as the new film gets under way, Superman is dead.

Ben Affleck is still finding his way as an older, grumpier and obviously middle-aged Batman. Only Gal Gadots Wonder Woman could claim to be at the top of her game after the phenomenal success of her standalone film this year, but, sadly, shes not quite on the same form here.

As for the secondary characters we meet for the first time here  Game Of Thrones star Jason Momoa has the flowing locks but not the acting chops as the Atlantis-dwelling Aquaman, and the little-known Ray Fisher struggles to convince as Cyborg (he was rebuilt after a laboratory accident).

As for Ezra Miller as the fast-moving Flash, not only has his character been thoroughly pre-empted by the X-Mens Quicksilver, his clunky performance fails to deliver the laughs that its clearly intended to, and which the film so badly needs.

The little-known Ray Fisher (above) struggles to convince as Cyborg and Ezra Miller as Flash fails to deliver the laughs that hes clearly intended to, and which the film so badly needs

The highly rated genre director Zach Snyder may have 300, Watchmen and Man Of Steel to his name, but from the moment a pre-opening credit video sequence about Superman falls flat, he seems to lose his way here.

Too much time is spent introducing characters who arent yet interesting, and Batmans move from the relatively real criminal world of Gotham City to the out-and-out fantasy of the superhero universe is a stretch both for us in the audience and the character himself.

What are your superpowers again? asks Barry, who hasnt yet pulled on his Flash suit.

Batmans move from the relatively real criminal world of Gotham City to the out-and-out fantasy of the superhero universe is a stretch (above, JK Simmons as Commissioner Gordon)

Im rich, growls Batman, which Im afraid is almost the funniest line in the film.

Its too early to write off the entire franchise, particularly after the success of the standalone Wonder Woman film and after a barely worth-waiting-for post-credit sequence makes it clear that a sequel is already on its way regardless.

But this is definitely a poor start, thanks to a derivative-feeling story that combines the disappointing Steppenwolf, three mother boxes and something all glowy and powerful called the unity, which sounds awfully like the Avengers tesseract and even the Transformers all-spark.

Youd expect better from a screenplay co-written by the franchise-hopping Whedon.

IT'S A FACT In the 1960 comic, the first enemy the Justice League faced was a giant starfish called Starro who fired miniature versions of himself at peoples faces. Advertisement

Even the visual effects underwhelm, with Wonder Woman particularly ill-served both by action sequences set on Amazon home territory Paradise Island and by another where she improbably saves the day in London.

As for the big climax, it not only takes too long coming but also feels like something weve seen done better elsewhere.

Its a shame to see actresses as good as Amy Adams and Diane Lane reduced to minor parts  they play Lois Lane and Clark Kents mother respectively  when the film is crying out for a little talent and charisma.

The jumpy Jesse Eisenberg, who played the villainous Lex Luther in Batman V Superman, is missed for similar reasons.

Im pretty sure we havent heard the last of him, or indeed of the DC superhero franchise. But, after this conspicuous misfire, someone is definitely going to have to summon up the cinematic superpowers to get the show back on track. Now there is a job for Superman.

SECOND SCREEN

Film Stars Dont Die In Liverpool (15)

Rating:

Ingrid Goes West (15)

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Good Time (15)

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Mudbound (15)

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Remember My Week With Marilyn, the 2011 drama about a young film student who befriended Marilyn Monroe when she was making The Prince And The Showgirl in London?

Well, Film Stars Dont Die In Liverpool, also based on a real story, is quite a lot like that, except that this time the star is Gloria Grahame, who was three years older than Monroe and actually had an Oscar to her name.

By the time Grahame arrived in London in 1979 to work in the theatre, those Hollywood glory days were long past.

The acting in Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool is wonderful, with Annette Bening outstanding as the vain, deluded and not always likeable Gloria Grahame (above with Jamie Bell)

That said, she was only in her mid-50s and could flirt her way into just about any mans affections. The young actor sharing her digs, Peter Turner (Jamie Bell), didnt stand a chance, despite a near 30-year age gap.

Two years later, however, and with their romance apparently run, Grahame collapses in her dressing room.

She rings Peters home in Liverpool, desperate not just to be reunited with her former love but, somewhat bizarrely, to be cared for by his mother, Bella (Julie Walters).

The acting is wonderful, with Annette Bening outstanding as the vain, deluded and not always likeable actress, and Bell at last finding a period and part that really suit him as an adult actor.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an Instagram star in need of followers is likely to attract nutcases.

Yes, if Jane Austen were alive today, she might well be writing screenplays such as Ingrid Goes West, a tale of the dangers of our social media era. A Single White Female for a new century, its as creepy as it is funny.

Former Twilight star Robert Pattinson gives his best performance for a while in Good Time. He plays a bungling bank robber who will do anything to rescue his mentally challenged brother from police custody. Getting the right man would be a start.

Mudbound is a well-intentioned but ponderous tale of Mississippi Delta misery and racism starring Jason Clarke and an impressive Carey Mulligan. It manages to be shocking and unsurprising at the same time.
Gang members are ruthlessly targeting the victims of car crashes in Delhi, and fooling police officers into giving them information, so they can fraudulently claim compensation from insurance companies.

The Mail Today has learned that the fraudsters obtain details about hit-and-runs by downloading the e-FIR that contains all the information about accidents.

They would 'become' eyewitnesses, drivers and owners of the vehicles supposedly involved in such crashes. Gang members would also convince a victim's family to support their fraudulent actions, by giving them part of the insurance cash.

Gang members target hit-and-run cases in the capital to defraud insurance companies

A car insurance company paid out `35,75,000 and `60 lakh to the beneficiaries in two cases

A source explained: 'The gang does a recce of the accident spot to know about the availability of CCTV cameras. They target only those cases that have a lack of evidence.

'Then one of the gang members will contact police and say that he has seen the accident taking place. The investigating officer then verified the details.

'As the gang member was already prepared, the details would match. The person then helped the cops by sharing the details of the vehicle that had killed the victim. In actual fact, the vehicle details were from his own gang.'

Upon receiving information about the registration number of the fake vehicle, the police would take out the details of the owner.

When the owner was called at the police station, he said at the time of the accident that his driver was at the wheel

Furthermore, the driver (who was also the gang member) was summoned to the police station. He then confessed to the crime (that was actually not committed).

Upon receiving information about the registration number of the fake vehicle, the police would take out the details of the owner (stock image)

After verification of all the verbal statements by the eyewitness, owner and the driver, the name of the accused used to be added in the FIR and then the arrest was made.

As it is a bailable offence, the driver was released immediately. The police then filed a charge sheet and the trial continued in the local court.

Meanwhile, the gang members would approach the victim's family and lured them to support their ruse, with the insurance claim worth lakhs of rupees.

As the vehicle was insured, they received a large sum of money against third party insurance and beneficiary claims

Sources said the gang used to give a percentage of their compensation to the victim's family, while they would keep the lion's share themselves.

As the vehicle was insured, they received a large sum of money against third party insurance and beneficiary claims.

However, in September, the gang's activity was noticed by the insurance company, which saw that fake claims were being raised in the detailed accident reports being filed by the investigating officers in collusion with certain people.

The gang does a recce of where the accident took place, to gauge whether CCTV is in the vicinity

The insurance company then submitted a criminal miscellaneous application with the High Court. As a result, Delhi Police were told to re-investigate all the cases specified by the insurance firm.

The majority of these were registered in Narela, Bawana, Kanjhawala, Begumpur, and Shahbad Dairy.

On Tuesday, a case under sections 420 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code was registered by the crime branch, and an investigation is being carried out.

A crime branch official said: 'During scrutiny of the case files, it was found that chargesheets have been filed in these matters and in almost all the cases have been decided from the trial courts.

'Later, during the investigation, the modus operandi was learned and teams have been formed to nab the accused people who have been identified.'

So far, the insurance company has released `35,75,000 and `60 lakh to the beneficiaries in two cases.
Lord Krishna has been hailed as the inspiration for a farmer who has walked without footwear for six years.

When members of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) recently emerged from Congress leader Ahmed Patel's residence in the high-profile Lutyen's Delhi area, one of them was barefoot.

Manoj Panara, a farmer, said with a smile on his face: 'I have not been wearing any footwear for the last six years.'

Manoj Panara is inspired by Lord Krishna

The farmer has a cowshed in his village, which houses 200 cows

Panara has walked all the way from Ahmedabad to Delhi barefoot.

A resident of Morbi, Panara says that he will walk shoe-free for one more year.

He said: 'Krishna has inspired me to dedicate my life for the larger human good.'

When asked whether walking in honour of the Lord had ever caused problems, the PAAS leader said that, because he was constantly barefoot, he has been turned away from several five-star hotels.

But, determined to walk on the path laid down by Krishna, he said he felt neither pain nor discomfort.

According to mythology, Lord Krishna also walked barefoot for days in order to serve people.

'I want to devote my life to the service of cows, just like Krishna. I have constructed a cowshed in my village, which is home to 200 cows,' said the PAAS leader.
The Indian Army is flexing its military muscles in areas previously regarded as peaceful, to counter the rising threat of Chinese troops advancing over the border.

In a bid to strengthen its position against the threat of Chinese troops carrying out incursions along the Line of Actual Control, the Indian Army has enhanced its presence in areas such as Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where new formations have been deployed.

Along with raising the Mountain Strike Corps in response to the increasing Chinese military presence along the borders, the Army has also deployed an additional two brigades (approximately 8,000 troops) in eastern Ladakh for better security.

The Indian Army has deployed about 8,000 troops in eastern Ladakh

People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers show self-defence skills at a base in China (stock image)

Indian Army's Para Special Forces

'In Himachal Pradesh, there was one sector which has now been converted into a new brigade in the area bordering the Chinese territory. Meanwhile, in Uttarakhand, a brigade has been sent from a rear position to Pithoragarh, in the Kumaon hills of the state,' sources told Mail Today.

During the Doklam crisis, senior officers from the directorate general of military operations visited the Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh borders near China to review the security situation.

During the last decade, incursions and transgressions from the Chinese People's Liberation Army into the Indian side have risen, due to differing opinions about the actual boundary line between the two sides.

The Indian Army is beefing up security

Indian and Chinese soldiers (stock image)

However, eastern Ladakh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh have been the most active in terms of transgressions committed by the Chinese Army.

During the Doklam crisis, when Indian and Chinese troops were in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation, a People's Liberation Army (PLA) border patrol crossed the Uttarakhand border and entered the Indian territory.

Crossing 200m into Barahoti, in Chamoli district, at about 9am on July 25, they asked cattle owners to leave the area.

However, the soldiers left a couple of hours later. Last year when a similar incident was reported from the region, the ITBP team, patrolling the area at the time, dealt with the incident and the Chinese soldiers returned after a meeting.

The Indian Army also patrols this area, but without uniform or weapons. The flat land is used by grazers from both India and China.

Chinese and Indian soldiers had been locked in a face-off on Doklam plateau at the tri-junction with Bhutan, where Beijing wanted to build a road up to Jhampiri. This would have allowed them to come close to the Indian 'chicken's neck area' in the Siliguri corridor.

The two sides disengaged from the area but have maintained their presence there ever since.

India's strong stance on the issue resulted in China backtracking from its hard stand, as publicised in its official media, which carried threats to wage a war, should India block its attempt to construct a road there.
A Current Affair reporter Ben McCormack is preparing for an uncertain future - ditching the Sydney apartment he once called home just days before he's due to be sentenced on child pornography charges.

The disgraced former Channel Nine journalist will front the District Court at Sydney's Downing Centre on Friday, November 24, to learn his fate after pleading guilty to two child pornography offences.

The charges relate to his online fantasies of sex with young boys, rather than pictures or video of kids being exploited.

Aware he is facing the prospect of up to 15 years in jail over the charges, McCormack this week put his two bedroom apartment at Alexandria, in Sydney's inner south, up for rent.

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A Current Affair reporter Ben McCormack (pictured) has put his Sydney apartment up for rent just days before he's due to be sentenced on child porn charges

The apartment (pictured), where McCormack has lived since buying it in 2013, features two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a private car space

The apartment, where McCormack has lived since buying it in 2013, features two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a private car space.

Located close to public transport in the trendy inner city suburb, it has an estimated sale price of close to $1 million.

He is asking prospective tenants to pay $800 per week in rent.

The apartment was put up for sale just seven months after it was raided by police in the hours after they arrested the journalist on the morning of Thursday, April 6.

McCormack, led the network's major investigation into paedophile Hey Dad! TV star Robert Hughes, years before he himself was charged with transmitting, publishing or promoting child pornography via a carriage service.

In Skype messages with a West Australian teacher revealed in a statement of court facts, McCormack described himself as a 'proud Ped' and 'boy lover'.

Under the username oz4skinboi, he confessed he would 'perve non-stop... at the beach, shopping centre and movie theatres' and would 'love' to 'play' with a boy.

McCormack, led the network's major investigation into paedophile Hey Dad! TV star Robert Hughes, years before he himself was charged with promoting child pornography

McCormack confessed he would 'perve non-stop... at the beach, shopping centre and movie theatres' and would 'love' to 'play' with a boy

The apartment was put up for sale just seven months after it was raided by police in the hours after they arrested the journalist on the morning of Thursday, April 6

'They are so beautiful. I want to make love to one so badly,' he said.

An agreed statement of facts said McCormack exchanged pictures with the man but investigators could not access the photos and there was 'no evidence' the photos showed children being exploited.

Outside court in October, McCormack's lawyer Sam Macedone said he had 'no idea' whether McCormack will go to jail.

Mr Macedone also said he was not reading into Judge Paul Conlon's comments the facts of the case 'were not typical of that particular charge.... quite different in fact'.

Outside court in October, McCormack's lawyer Sam Macedone said he had 'no idea' whether McCormack will go to jail

The unit is located inside a large apartment complex which features a balcony and a pool

The prominent tabloid reporter was initially suspended from his duties in April after he was pulled over by police in Moore Park, in Sydney's inner east, and charged.

Raids on A Current Affair's Willoughby offices as well as McCormack's then-home in Alexandria, saw computers and other electronic equipment seized.

Screenshots of his Grindr profile and details of his involvement in a bizarre film with a father-son incest plot also surfaced after his arrest.

Days after the charges were laid, McCormack was hospitalised and treated inside a mental health facility.
A man accidentally shot himself and his wife while giving a lecture about guns in places of worship following recent nationwide shootings.

The incident took place Thursday afternoon at the First United Methodist Church in Tellico Plains, Tennessee.

Police say two unnamed individuals, in their 80's, were immediately transported to the University of Tennessee Medical Center.

They suffered non-life threatening injuries after the gun lesson went horribly wrong.

A man accidentally shot himself and his wife at the First United Methodist Church (shown) in Tellico Plains, Tennessee Thursday

A man was shot in the hand and his wife in the abdomen after the man accidentally pulled the trigger during a lecture about guns at the church

It seems the elderly husband took out his '.380 caliber Ruger handgun, removed the magazine, cleared the chamber, and showed the gun to some of the men in the church' at the time, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Police Chief Russ Parks said when the man put the magazine back in, he loaded a round in the chamber without thinking twice.

When another person approached him to inquire about the gun, the man took it back out of its holster and said: 'With this loaded indicator, I can tell that it's not loaded', just before pulling the trigger.

The wife standing nearby was shot through her abdomen and the man, in the hand, according to the newspaper.

He 'evidently forgot that he re-chambered the weapon,' Parks said of the incident.

Police Chief Russ Parks (pictured above) said the unnamed man 'evidently forgot that he re-chambered the weapon' before pulling the trigger

The incident comes nearly two weeks after Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire into the congregation of the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, killing 26.

Just prior to the massacre, Kelley posted a photo of a AR-15 style gun to his Facebook page, while writing in a caption: 'She's a bad b***h.'

Some victims of the attack included eight members of one family, a pregnant mother and her three children, a toddler and the pastor's daughter.

Police said following the deadly attack there was likely 'no way' congregants would have escaped.

'He (Kelley) just walked down the center aisle, turned around and my understanding was shooting on his way back out,' said Wilson County Sheriff, Joe D. Tackitt Jr.

'It's unbelievable to see children, men and women, laying there. Defenseless people.'
This is the hilarious moment a newlywed gets a scare after opening her wedding day card and finding a fake butterfly.

Filmed in Rotherham, Sheffield, Glenice Rawson - who was working her way through her congratulation cards following her wedding to husband Dave - gets the fright of her laugh thanks to the prankster.

Reading her card out loud with a big smile on her face, things take a sudden turn when a 'live' butterfly flies out - causing her to scream.

Scroll down for video

This is the hilarious moment newlywed Glenice Rawson, of Rotherham, Sheffield gets a scare after opening her wedding day card and finding a fake butterfly inside

The cheeky prank was played by the couple's friend John Horn who couldn't help but giggle as he recorded his dastardly act.

Glenice and John had married the day before so were still on a high when their friend Dave decided to play his trick.

Speaking to MailOnline, Dave explained: 'I just put it in there to wind them up.

'The butterfly lays flat inside the card until it is opened and then flies out.'

The cheeky prank was played by the couple's friend John Horn who couldn't help but giggle as he recorded his dastardly act. Glenice and John had married the day before so were still on a high when their friend Dave decided to play his trick

Meanwhile, another bride was pranked in June when the groomsmen arranged for their four-tier wedding cake to be dropped by 'arguing' waiters.

Footage captures the moment a horrified newlywed, Laura Cox, 26, from Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, witnessed two bickering waiters drop her opulent four-tier wedding cake bang smack on the floor before her.

After storming off to confront staff at the Crathorne Hall venue in North Yorkshire, the bride is relieved to discover that the debacle was in fact an elaborate prank organised by her husband Joe, 27, a self-employed roofer.
School leavers celebrating their end-of-year freedom are opting to head overseas rather than party in Australia, new data suggests.

But while Bali and Thailand are renowned as hotspots for the 17 and 18-year-old 'schoolies', a new location has emerged as the destination of choice.

Europe has topped the list for international travel insurance quotes among the Year 12 graduates, with 27 per cent heading to the region, News.com.au reports.

School leavers celebrating their end-of-year freedom are opting to head overseas rather than party in Australia, new data suggests

While Bali and Thailand are renowned as hotspots for the 17 and 18-year-old 'schoolies', a new location has emerged as the destination of choice (Pictured are people celebrating)

The report, which comes from finder.com.au, found South East Asia a close second-favourite, with 24 per cent of school leavers looking to make their way there.

While the South Pacific region, which includes tropical nations such as Fiji and Vanuatu, was third with 11 per cent of travellers.

Looking at individual countries however, Indonesia was considered the top destination, followed by the United States and Australia.

Other countries on graduates list's were Japan, the UK, France, Thailand, The Philippines, Canada and New Zealand.

The report, which comes from finder.com.au, found Europe the top travel destination by way of insurance quotes purchased (Pictured are students enjoying the end of their school year)

Schoolies celebrations in Queensland kicked off early, with one class from Somerset College in Mudgeeraba getting in on the action Friday afternoon as they ran into the surf

Some schoolies were ready to jet off on the first day of celebrations, with a group of girls headed to the tropical paradise of Fiji

But the Gold Coast is still expected to be a favoured destination at home, with more than 20,000 students taking part in festivities there this year, according to the Gold Coast Bulletin.

One class from Somerset College in Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast got in on the action early Friday, running into the water at Burleigh Heads Beach.

Schoolies celebrations officially kick off in Queensland on Saturday, with similar events in NSW and Victoria beginning on November 25.

South-east Asia was close behind, with Indonesia leading the way as a top destination of choice among revellers (Pictured are teenagers attending a party a 2013 schoolies party in Bali)

France was listed as one of the top countries schoolies wanted to visit while other countries included Japan, the UK, The Philippines, Canada and New Zealand (stock image)

Western Australia will be hosting their 'Leavers' from November 20 to 23, with thousands expected to visit Dunsborough and Rottnest Island.

While South Australia's Schoolies Festival will see Victor Harbor awash with graduates between November 24 and 26.

Agencies such as the police, the dog squad, mounted police, Red Frogs Australia and State Emergency Services will all be on hand to help out and keep patrons safe across the events.

Last year there were 62 revellers arrested in the first week of Schoolies on the Gold Coast, with 37 in 2015 and 131 in 2014, ABC reports.
It has been twenty years since a Florida couple woke up to find their baby girl had been stolen from her crib while they slept.

Since that harrowing night, parents Marlene and Steve Aisenberg have gone through hell trying to find their daughter Sabrina Aisenberg.

The couple were even accused of perjury in 1999 - two years after their daughter disappeared - when cops investigating her kidnapping claimed they had a tape of them discussing the 'murder' of Sabrina.

But the charges were all dropped after two judges found the tapes were intelligible, while the Asienberg's lawyers insist the detectives were lying and had 'wanted to blame the mother and father for killing or selling that baby,' WTSP reports.

Marlene and Steve Aisenberg are appealing for anyone who recognizes their daughter Sabrina (left) to come forward after she was stolen from their crib 20 years ago. An age progression photo (right) shows what she would look like now

Parents Marlene and Steve Aisenberg (pictured) have gone through hell trying to find their daughter Sabrina

'When you've done nothing wrong, you know eventually the truth will come out,' said Steve.

Now, two decades after their five-month-old baby was ripped from their lives, Marlene and Steve are still focused on finding Sabrina.

After working with the center for missing and exploited children to create age progression pictures, they are appealing for anyone who recognizes their now 20-year-old daughter to come forward.

They have also registered with a DNA data website in the hopes Sabrina might one day check it and they could be reunited.

The parents say they will never give up hope of being reunited with Sabrina, and just hope for now, their daughter is 'in a place where she's been taken care of and loved.'

Sabrina (pictured) was taken from her crib at her home in Valrico, near Tampa, on November 24, 1997

The five-month-old's disappearance sparked a huge manhunt and a public outpouring of sympathy for the stricken parents

The Asienbergs (pictured as a whole family, with the couple's other two children and baby Savrina in 1997) said they heard no unusual noises and saw no sign of a break in when their daughter was abducte

Marlene (pictured with Sabrina) was hysterical when she called the cops to report her daughter missing

Sabrina (pictured as a baby) would be 20 years old today but the couple are still holding out hope for her return

Sabrina was taken from her crib at her home in Valrico, near Tampa, on November 24, 1997.

Her parents only discovered she was gone the next morning when they made a hysterical 911 call to report her missing. The Asienbergs heard no unusual noises that night and police found evidence of a break-in at the time.

The five-month-old's disappearance sparked a huge manhunt and a public outpouring of sympathy for the stricken parents.

But the sympathy later turned to suspicion and the pair were interviewed by police time after time, even under polygraph tests, but nothing was found to charge them.

Yet Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office remained suspicious and were granted warrant to bug their home. In 1999 a federal indictment charged them for allegedly lying and conspiracy, claiming they had a tape of the couple arguing about Steve killing their daughter while high on cocaine.

The couple were even accused of perjury in 1999 (pictured) - two years after their daughter disappeared - when cops investigating her kidnapping claimed they had a tape of them discussing the 'murder' of Sabrina

Marlene, who Maryland with her two children, William and Monica, now both adults, and Steve, to 'start over' after the trauma

But both Steve and Marlene remain hopeful that one day they will see their daughter again

That tape was later thrown out and all charges dropped after it appeared that only the investigators looking into the case could make out such a conversation.

The Aisenbergs later sued and in February 2004 an appeals court ordered the government to reimburse them almost $1.5 million for defense fees.

The last development in the case came in 2008 when a police informant reportedly said his cellmate had bought a boat from the Aisenbergs in a scheme to dispose of Sabrina's body in Tampa Bay.

'It's ridiculous to begin with,' Steve told ABC News. 'If police had done due diligence, they would have found that we didn't have a boat or any contact with this person.' All it did was 'rub salt into an already deep wound,' he said.

Despite the police's actions, Marlene says she hopes that the investigators are now on their side and 'want (Sabrina) home too'.

'We knew we had nothing to do with the disappearance, we knew our family was not involved... we knew we needed to start over,' added Marlene, who moved to Maryland with her two children, William and Monica, now both adults, and Steve, who is a realtor, as is his wife.

They may have moved home, but Sabrina is still with them, in pictures all over their home and in their hearts.

'She's a part of our everyday life,' they say. 'We believe she will get home to us.'
As he was driven back to his opulent palace in Harare on Tuesday, surrounded by bodyguards in military fatigues and wearing motorcycle helmets, Robert Mugabe had no reason to suspect that his 37-year rule was about to end.

Having been in power since 1980, Mugabe  not to mention Grace, his high-handed, grasping second wife  thought he was invincible. Just days earlier, he beamed with satisfaction at a ceremony to change the name of Zimbabwe's main airport to the Robert Mugabe International Airport.

He believed he would be president of the former British colony until he died, and had once proclaimed 'not even God' wanted his murderous reign to end. His wife, meanwhile, had called for a Mugabe family 'dynasty' to run the country for ever.

Slumbering: Mugabe, 93, at a graduation ceremony on Friday

But what neither knew that sunny afternoon was that Mugabe's loyal presidential guard had been swapped for military personnel who were in league with his enemies  the very generals who had previously been loyal to the despot since he came to power after the bush war against white rule.

The first sign of any trouble was when Mugabe's convoy arrived at his home in a suburb of the capital city, and the men accompanying him arrested the security officers on duty there.

The 93-year-old president was then hustled into the house and, a short time later, the man in charge of Zimbabwe's armed forces arrived to break some rather bad news to Mugabe.

A fearsome individual known for his volcanic temper, General Constantino Chiwenga is one of the so-called 'Dirty Half Dozen'  six sinister military and intelligence chiefs whose junta has kept Mugabe in office for decades, terrorising opponents and rigging elections.

Bluntly, Chiwenga told Mugabe he was under arrest. Without uttering a word, Mugabe promptly collapsed to the floor.

'He was in shock, and collapsed when he realised what was happening,' one coup plotter told me. 'He had to be resuscitated and revived. He could not believe what was happening at first.'

Grace  with whom the president had begun an affair after spotting her in his typing pool when he was still married to his first wife  was terrified. She was hysterical and burst into tears.

According to one who was told about the unfolding events: 'She's been in a mess ever since  in tears and mentally gone. She begged to be allowed to fly out to Malaysia [where she has millions in investments]. She thought she would be killed.'

After being revived  Mugabe has a history of fainting fits and falling asleep at Cabinet meetings  the president and the general began a tense discussion. By then, dozens of other senior army personnel had arrived at the presidential palace.

Beijing's billions flood Zimbabwe. This is what the money was spent on

Realising how perilous his position was, Mugabe made an astonishing bid to save his own political skin  and possibly his life.

Incredibly, he promised General Chiwenga he would anoint him the next president if he called off the coup and stood down as the head of the armed forces.

In a last desperate throw of the dice to cling to power, he told Chiwenga that he would immediately be appointed Mugabe's vice-president and that he would take over as Zimbabwe's leader when Mugabe eventually dies.

Even then, Mugabe, a sly old fox who has long played factions off each other to remain in power, had one condition: that Grace should have a prominent role in a future government. General Chiwenga flatly turned down the offer.

Apart from anything else, it was too late by then. More than 30 army personnel carriers and 21 tanks had earlier in the day moved into key strategic locations. Mugabe loyalists, in the police and military, had been ordered back to barracks 24 hours earlier and prevented from leaving.

Chinese own 40 per cent of Zimplats platinum mining

The truth is that Mugabe had sealed his own fate. His mistake was to bow to pressure from Grace  who wanted to take over as president after his death  to purge her rivals for the crown.

Those on her list of enemies in particular included a man called Emmerson Mnangagwa, a veteran of the bush war and the man who believed it was his destiny to take power.

Known as 'Ngwenya'  or The Crocodile  Mnangagwa was for decades one of Mugabe's closest allies, running his fearsome intelligence wing as well as being in charge of defence, before being appointed vice-president in 2014.

Grace believed Mnangagwa was her only rival for power  and made a decisive move against him last week, stripping him of his vice-presidency, and calling for her rival's demise.

'A snake is better dealt with by crushing the head,' Grace told a political rally less than two weeks ago. Mnangagwa's 'head must be crushed. I will personally make sure Mnangagwa is dealt with even if everyone else in the party is scared. I will not be intimidated.'

Mugabe and Grace also accused Mnangagwa of using 'witchcraft' against them.

A biodiesel production plant at its commissioning in Mount Hampden, northeast of the capital Harare

But Mrs Mugabe chose the wrong man to fight. An architect of the so-called Gukurahundi massacres in the Eighties, in which more than 20,000 from the Ndebele tribe were brutally slaughtered because of their allegiance to an opposition party, Mnangagwa commands huge support in the army and among war veterans.

After his summary sacking a few days ago, fearing he would be arrested or killed by Mugabe loyalists, The Crocodile tried to flee Zimbabwe.

He and his security detail were denied entry to Harare airport, so he could not fly out from there. Mnangagwa and his allies then tried to charter a private jet to arrive from South Africa to pick him up  but Mugabe's authorities denied the craft permission to enter Zimbabwean airspace.

So The Crocodile and his men were forced to drive east and cross into neighbouring Mozambique via old smuggling routes used by bush fighters. From there, he headed to South Africa.

In secret conversations with his army comrades, Mnangagwa decided to activate a plan they had mapped out to remove the ageing Mugabe from power.

The coup would be carried out in Zimbabwe  but it was made in China.

For I can reveal that, after secret telephone discussions with his ally General Chiwenga back in Zimbabwe, Mnangagwa boarded another aircraft  this time headed for Beijing. He was to be a guest of the Chinese government.

Around the same time, General Chiwenga informed Mugabe he had routine business in China, which has supported Mugabe's regime for years with cash and weapons in return for access to its lucrative diamond mines and other minerals.

He also flew out to Beijing.

So it was that Mnangagwa and Chiwenga discussed their plans with Chinese officials. It's instructive to learn that both men had been trained at China's Nanjing Military School.

The two Zimbabweans had also been the architects of many of the lucrative deals struck between China and Harare, including a multi-billion-pound diamond mining deal, which could have made the country rich, but instead was riddled with rampant corruption, with some 15 billion believed to have been pilfered in one year alone.

The Chinese built the Zimbabwe National Defense College

In truth, the Chinese do not really care who is in charge of Zimbabwe  as long as their business and strategic interests are taken care of.

It is part of China's African-wide strategy of propping up corrupt regimes in return for access to the minerals and oil the Chinese need to supply their vastly expanding economy.

Beijing had long feared that Mugabe's refusal to anoint his successor would mean there could be chaos once he died, threatening their investments which, significantly, include a 100 million new spy college in Harare for Zimbabwe's ruling party.

So began a global power play against Mugabe, known as 'the Old Man' throughout Zimbabwe. With the Chinese pledging to back the new regime after the coup, both American and Russian intelligence were also told of the plans.

Diplomatic sources claim the Americans were happy for Mugabe to be replaced as long as there was no bloodshed, and a smooth transition to the new regime. (Britain, scandalously, had helped prop up Mugabe for years over fears of instability if he was ousted, having helped to install him in 1980.)

With key global players in agreement, the secret strategy to deal with Mugabe  which The Crocodile was told must appear to the world not to be a coup  was activated. Military forces were recalled to barracks; a list of prominent Mugabe cronies and their whereabouts was produced.

Meanwhile, General Chiwenga flew back from China and held a meeting with Mugabe on Monday night  24 hours before the military action began. He warned the president that the 'purges' against his wife's rivals must end.

Not realising the scale of the threat, Grace, who was present at the meeting, was furious. She told the general that she and her husband would have him fired and replaced as head of the army by the leader of the presidential guard.

Chinese money built Zimbabwe's new 35million parliament

Once again, Grace's hectoring aggression only served to spur her enemies to action. So it was that tanks rolled through the streets of Harare this week.

While Mugabe and Grace were placed under house arrest, military units swooped and arrested key loyalists such as Jonathan Moyo, Mugabe's higher education minister, and Ignatius Chombo, his finance chief, who was discovered trying to pack $10 million in banknotes into bags when he was seized.

Along with police chiefs loyal to Mugabe, these men are now being held at secret military detention facilities around the country and face prosecution and long jail terms in some of Zimbabwe's most gruesome penal institutions.

Yet what none of the plotters were prepared for was Mugabe's refusal to step down.

The plan was that, having reinstated The Crocodile as his vice-president, he would be compelled to announce his resignation, leaving his rival to take over.

However, during hours of discussions with his captors this week, Mugabe has refused offers to be flown out of the country, or provided with state security and allowed to live quietly in Zimbabwe. But then he is deeply stubborn and still cannot imagine giving up his position or privileges.

Anxious to adhere to China's insistence that there should be no violence, and despite calls by some hardline opponents to kill the president and his wife, the generals have not harmed Mugabe, or Grace, who remains under house arrest with her husband in Harare, in spite of reports that she had fled to neighbouring Namibia.

'We cannot hold a gun to his head,' one military source told me. 'As the days have gone by, he has become more and more argumentative. He says what the generals are doing is against the constitution and that they are the ones causing instability. He is getting rather hot-headed.'

Honor guards wait for the arrival of President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe in front of the Parliament building in 2006

So what now for poor, benighted Zimbabwe, which has gone from being the breadbasket of Africa to an economic basketcase?

Supporters of The Crocodile, who returned to Zimbabwe on Thursday, remain confident they can persuade Mugabe to stand down in the coming days, particularly given the fragile mental state of his wife.

Then, if he does stand down, this will be presented as a smooth transition to a new government of national unity.

As for Mugabe, his one remaining hope is that other African cronies will step in to save him. Fearing military interventions against their own corrupt regimes, figures such as South Africa's Jacob Zuma and Uganda's Yoweri Museveni have described the coup as unconstitutional, with Zuma sending envoys to meet Mugabe and the 'coup leaders' on Thursday.

As part of a complicated, elaborate charade, The Crocodile and his generals even allowed Mugabe out to attend a university graduation ceremony in Harare yesterday  before he was returned to house arrest with Grace.

It appears Mugabe was allowed to attend the event to give the appearance at least that he is not the victim of a coup.

But by last night, all of the Zimbabwean provinces that once supported Mugabe had called for his resignation, meaning the former president can be recalled to government and compelled to stand down. 'The Croc trained as a lawyer,' one loyalist told me. 'He's smart and wants the military coup to be seen as a political coup.'

Kariba south power station zimbabwe which was built with Chinese money

For the first time in living memory, the new military leaders have given permission for a huge march planned for today in Harare, which is expected to be attended by tens of thousands calling for Mugabe to step down, signalling new freedoms.

Previous attempts at protest have been crushed by Mugabe's police. This is all intended to show the international community that the people of Zimbabwe want Mugabe gone.

Fearing outside military intervention, not to mention a fightback from Mugabe loyalists, the military leaders here have set up army road blocks around the country, with searches carried out of all vehicles for weapons or suspected enemies of the new regime.

As part of the attempts to make the coup not appear to be a coup, the military on the streets have been told to win hearts and minds. Whereas Mugabe's police were allowed to extract bribes from motorists, the soldiers I met at more than a dozen roadblocks this week were professional and polite.

After years of poverty and brutality under Mugabe's regime, most people here are celebrating his downfall, even though there are fears the new regime will be just as bad, albeit with a new leader.

'We have got rid of a snake and replaced it with a new snake,' said Gibson Lovemore, a street vendor.

'But we wanted rid of the old man and need change. This has gone on too long.'

As darkness fell on Zimbabwe last night, and thunder and lightning crackled around the capital, the future of the country hung in the balance. But one thing seems clear. The monstrous despot who has ruled with an iron fist for so long is still refusing to give up.
An aging bodyguard fights for life in hospital, the latest in a long line of John Ibrahim's family members and associates to be shot, stabbed or bashed.

Semi 'Tongan Sam' Ngata, 59, who first met Sydney nightclub identity more than a decade ago, was shot in the back outside John's mother's home on Friday night.

His shooting marks the most recent chapter in a saga of violence that began when John was stabbed as a teenager in Kings Cross.

An aging bodyguard fights for life in hospital, the latest in a long line of John Ibrahim's family members and associates to be shot, stabbed or bashed (pictured are Ibrahim brothers John, right, Michael, middle, and Sam, left)

Semi 'Tongan Sam' Ngata, 59, who first met Sydney nightclub identity more than a decade ago, was shot in the back outside John Ibrahim's (pictured, from the cover of John Ibrahim's book) mother's home on Friday night

Since then his three brothers Sam, Fadi and Michael have all been shot, the targets of drive-by shootings and attempted murders.

Others who have been shot, stabbed, bashed or targeted by gunfire include John's sister, nephew and cousin, and now his trusted bodyguard.

In his book Last King of the Cross John wrote he was 'ready to tear the Sydney underworld apart' after his younger brother Fadi was shot.

Fadi was in a Lamborghini when he was shot five times by an unknown gunman, but survived the near-fatal 2009 attack.

Sam Ibrahim walks out of Downing Centre Court after being sentenced to a minimum 5 months jail for the kidnap of a 15 year old boy

His shooting marks the most recent chapter in a saga of violence that began when John was stabbed as a teenager in Kings Cross (pictured are Fadi Ibrahim and wife Shayda)

Fadi (pictured) was in a Lamborghini when he was shot five times by an unknown gunman, but survived the near-fatal 2009 attack

Fadi's wife was also hit once in the ambush outside their Castle Cove home in Sydney's north in 2009.

No one has ever been charged over the attack.

In 2010 John's sister Armani Haddad was at home in Ryde when the property was hit with 25 bullets.

Sam Ibrahim (pictured) was hit twice in the leg while standing in the front yard of his mother's Merrylands home with Tongan Sam

John's older brother, former bikie boss Hassan 'Sam' Ibrahim (pictured), a convicted criminal who remains behind bars, was targeted by a shooting in 2011

John's older brother, former bikie boss Hassan 'Sam' Ibrahim, a convicted criminal who remains behind bars, was targeted by a shooting in 2011.

He was hit twice in the leg while standing in the front yard of his mother's Merrylands home with Tongan Sam.

The next month it was John's nephew's turn. The son of John's sister Maha, Hassan 'Sam' Sayour, then 19, was shot in Old Guildford in February 2011.

His 23-year-old cousin Jihad Hamid was also wounded in the attack.

The next month it was John's nephew's turn. The son of John's sister Maha (pictured), Hassan 'Sam' Haddad, then 19, was shot in Old Guildford in February 2011

Michael Ibrahim is a convicted killer who was shot in the shoulder on Macquarie Street in Sydney's CBD in 2015.

John claims he has been shot, bashed, and left for dead, on top of the 1987 stabbing.

'I've been stabbed, shot, bashed and threatened with every weapon and 'death scenario' hundreds of times. I've been imprisoned here and overseas,' he wrote in his book.

'I've been left for dead and put in a coma. I've been locked up and betrayed. So what I am saying is, I know pain.'

Pictured are Semi 'Tongan Sam' Ngata (second left) with John Ibrahim (second right)

The Merrylands home where Sam Ibrahim (pictured) and Tongan Sam were shot was searched by police during raids in August and a loaded 9mm handgun was seized from the property

Pictured are Sam Ibrahim (left) with Tongan Sam (centre) and lawyer Stephen Alexander (right)

The latest shooting comes just weeks after Ibrahim brothers Fadi and Michael were detained in a dramatic police sting in Dubai and extradited back to Australia over a drug and tobacco syndicate.

Fadi was released from jail on strict bail conditions after a $2.2million surety was put up.

The Merrylands home belonging to John's mother was searched by police during the raids, and a loaded 9mm handgun was seized from the property.

John's home was also raided as part of the investigation in August - but he was not arrested or charged with any offences.
Ben Emmerson QC near his North London home. He is accused of groping a junior female colleague

One thing is certain: they are holier than thou at Matrix Chambers, the influential firm of superstar human rights barristers which rarely misses an opportunity to trumpet its credentials as a bastion of high-minded political correctness.

Founded in 2000 by Cherie Blair and a dream team of 21 mostly Left-wing colleagues, the firm grew rich and famous cashing-in on the explosion of highly lucrative litigation spawned by the Blair governments controversial Human Rights Act.

Fearless, formidable, and always highly aggressive, its members proceeded to shape the modern human rights industry, in the words of an admiring QC, righting perceived wrongs, taking on authority, and seeking to advance the causes of equality and liberalism in some of the most important and contentious court cases of recent times.

Its now-95-strong cohort of brilliant (if occasionally pompous) lawyers occupy one of Londons great ivory towers: a Victorian former police station situated a short stroll from the Old Bailey and Royal Courts of Justice.

Here, no fewer than three Sirs, two lords and ten professors currently earn their shilling, including several members of the Left-wing establishment, from (Lord) Ken MacDonald, Director of Public Prosecutions during the Blair era, and (Sir) Paul Jenkins QC, who became the New Labour governments most senior legal official in 2006.

Among the other big beasts are Hugh Tomlinson QC, a friend of actor Hugh Grant and founder of the anti-Press lobby group Hacked Off, Lord Brennan QC, a Labour peer, and Philippe Sands QC, the Guardian contributor and high-profile campaigner against the Iraq War.

Working for Matrix is less a job, and more a noble calling  or so this lot would have you believe.

So it goes that, on the front page of its website, the firm trumpets its credentials as a forward-thinking institution that promotes equality where diversity and accessibility are widely championed and outdated practice is challenged.

Among the core values is a commitment to being dedicated to the promotion and advancement of women.

How unfortunate, therefore, and how humiliating, that this bastion of progressive metropolitan liberalism should be accused of cynically betraying those core values.

For Matrix Chambers was this week revealed to be in a state of virtual crisis over the flawed  and some might say deeply hypocritical  way it handled a high-profile and extremely serious claim of workplace sexual harassment that occurred on its own doorstep.

Amid the fallout, an array of senior female staff members have filed a written complaint alleging widespread sexual harassment by colleagues. It claims that inappropriate comments, innuendo, (and worse), are routinely directed at them by senior men on its payroll. Official reports looking at the issue have talked of institutional failings.

In a surreal twist, another internal email leaked this week accused women who had publicly voiced concerns about sexual harassment of being deeply unsisterly because they were damaging Matrixs reputation.

Ludicrously, it compared them to complaining farm animals, saying: Women must help empower other women, not lead them down the path bleating.

At the centre of this ugly controversy is one of the firms founders and most high-profile members of staff: Benjamin Emmerson QC, a goliath of his trade whos been an eminent human rights lawyers for over two decades.

Famed for his advocacy in a string of headline-grabbing cases, representing people such as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the widow of Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, whose death by poisoning in London was blamed on Vladimir Putin, the smart and charming Emmerson was once said to be the model for Bridget Joness dashing lawyer-lover, Mr Darcy.

His glamorous social set includes one-time colleague Amal Clooney and her husband, George.

The divorced father of fours recent ex-girlfriends include Hollywood siren Ellen Barkin, who was once married to Irish actor Gabriel Byrne.

Last September, however, Emmerson abruptly resigned as lead counsel to the Governments major child sex abuse inquiry, for which he was paid 1,700 a day from the taxpayer.

The departure was put down to unspecified concerns over his leadership. However it later emerged that the development had also followed an incident in which a female colleague claimed hed groped her in a lift, during working hours and against her will, at the inquirys headquarters in London.

Emmerson vigorously denied the charge, as did Matrix, which subsequently said an inquiry into the incident by a senior judge had established that he had not committed any act of sexual assault or sexual harassment.

However, this week it emerged that this statement from a legal firm which is bastion of equality had been  at best  very misleading indeed.

For the inquiry had, in truth, found as fact that Emmerson had attempted to either put his hand between his colleagues legs or down her trousers, and that she had pushed him away.

It had described this conduct as unwanted and of a sexual nature, but concluded that Emmerson (who has always protested his innocence) was not guilty of either harassment or assault, partly because he honestly believed the women would consent.

Furthermore, it emerged this week that the woman had complained to Matrix that he was harassing her nine months before the lift incident. However, nothing was done.

We shall look at these events in detail later.

In the meantime, female staff  many of whom campaign for women to speak out about workplace harassment  were further galled to receive an email from Matrix management instructing them not to talk about the harassment case, saying discussions of this sort may well prove highly corrosive.

Though the law firm boasts about having fought honourable court battles over free speech and Press freedom, it decided in the message (which was leaked) to tell Chambers staff they were required to respect the confidentiality of Emmerson by giving a no comment response to journalists who might ask them about the case.

We also ask that you let us know [of any media inquiries], so that we may properly and effectively manage the situation and our organisation, in the interests of all, it read. To many, this added to the suspicion of a cover-up.

British lawyers Amal Clooney, left, and Ben Emmerson talk ahead of a press conference with former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed in London

Its impossible to underestimate how angry people are, says a source close to the firm. What went on is outrageous. There has been no accountability, and no apology, and no heads have rolled.

This is the workplace of some of the most eminent equality lawyers in the world, but when a powerful man at the top of the organisation is accused of serious misconduct by a younger woman, its policies and procedures are in the Dark Ages.

Several female barristers at the firm are understood to now be helping launch a campaign called Behind The Gown, which says sexual harassment is endemic in our profession, and plans to use social media to share examples.

Not surprisingly, this saga has been greeted with glee in legal circles, where rival lawyers have long regarded Matrix as too smug for its own good. To say there is a degree of schadenfreude is an understatement, is how one human rights QC puts it.

Here we have the most preachy, right-on, pompous law firm, which has made small fortunes from discrimination lawsuits, failing to protect female employees in the most egregious way. The hypocrisy is extraordinary.

They are all the whingers about civil liberties and much of their work will be from complainants

To understand such anger, it is important to explain circumstances surrounding the formation of Matrix in 2000, when Cherie Blair and 21 colleagues founded the chambers as a potentially lucrative seam of new cases were expected after the Human Rights Act brought in by the government of her PM husband.

Despite, or perhaps because it was launched with a glamorous party attended by then-PM Tony, the legal media gave Matrix a lukewarm reception.

They have already been dubbed the complaining chambers, wrote one title. They are all the whingers about civil liberties and much of their work will be from complainants.

Other reports called it a champagne socialist chambers, Mammon chambers or whingers set. The Spectator magazine went further, saying they were leather jacket-wearing thought police.

Yet for all the sniping, Matrix was hugely successful. It expanded rapidly and took on many high-profile briefs, perhaps most famously that of a Luton schoolgirl who claimed her human rights were violated when her headmistress banned her from wearing a head-to-toe jilbab.

Represented by Mrs Blair, the girl lost her case at the High Court but the verdict was overturned by the Court of Appeal  only to then see the House of Lords rule in favour of her school.

By then, such cases (many publicly-funded) had turned Matrix into one of the UKs most well-remunerated chambers.

In 2006, its members were revealed to have appeared in 35 House of Lords hearings in the previous 12 months, more than double the number of any other firm. Average annual earnings for all Matrix barristers were then 225,000, though senior QCs were taking home more.

Cherie Blair was one of the higher earners, though her reputation was damaged by her husbands governments Iraq War, which was bitterly opposed by colleagues.

She left in 2014 to set up Omnia, an international law firm which has  how sweet the irony!  built lucrative connections with a number of foreign despots.

Matrix sailed on. Yet behind the scenes there were ugly rumours that the workplace conduct of some staff failed to live up to the high ideals of the organisation.

There were whispers (never confirmed) that one man had turned up to an office party accompanied by a prostitute. Another reputedly received an informal ban on working alone with juniors. Secretaries and receptionists are said to have been occasionally propositioned.

Then, last year, came the Emmerson case.

Details first emerged in January 2016 when a female Matrix worker, known in subsequent reports as Ms A, complained to the then chief executive, Lindsay Scott, that Emmerson had subjected her to sexual harassment.

She is understood to have asked for the matter to be dealt with informally. However, nine months later, matters escalated when an unwanted incident of a sexual nature took place in a lift at the headquarters of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, where Emmerson and the woman were working.

On September 28, the inquiry suspended Emmerson, expressing concern at aspects of his leadership of the counsel team.

The following day, he resigned, though continued to be paid his 1,700-a-day fee during a handover that lasted several weeks. Then, in October, details of the alleged lift incident were revealed for the first time during an investigation by BBC2s Newsnight.

Cherie Blair, with whom Emmerson helped establish the influential chambers

Matrix responded by ordering a secret inquiry. Its management committee hired David Calvert-Smith, a retired former Director of Public Prosecutions, to carry it out.

Calvert-Smith had no obvious specialist expertise in the field of workplace abuse or sexual harassment, and was not given details of Ms As previous complaints.

Perhaps more importantly, given the need for transparency, his report was never published, even in a redacted version, and was not shown to Matrix staff outside the management committee.

When that committee publicly announced that Emmerson had been cleared without hesitation, there was outrage.

A number of Matrix barristers, male and female, knew some details of the case, and took the view that the statement was at best misleading and at worst downright dishonest, says a source.

Since they knew the woman concerned, they also believed that Matrix was failing to properly deal with harassment claims.

As a result, several female barristers wrote to the management committee calling for a review, saying: We need to know that if something happened that required us to make a complaint, Matrix is equipped to handle it.

Stung by the criticism, a sub-committee of senior Matrix lawyers commissioned a second inquiry into the handling of the abuse claims.

This was carried out by Dame Laura Cox, a prominent expert on harassment and equality law. Published in July, and leaked in part this week, its conclusions are damning.

Dame Laura concluded the chambers made a series of egregious errors, including failing to protect Ms As well-being and ignoring her initial complaint, and said the actions of senior management were wholly inappropriate.

She was also hugely critical of the firms original public statement exonerating Emmerson.

Adding that institutional failings had caused Ms A severe anxiety and distress, Dame Laura said the terms of reference of Sir Davids inquiry were too narrow, and was highly critical of the decision to appoint him in the first place.

She concluded that hed been partly hired on the grounds that he would be charging considerably less than any other candidate.

She also pointed out that Matrix management took few steps to ensure he had expertise and experience in cases involving sexual harassment or in conducting sexual harassment investigations which require a particular sensitivity, understanding and approach.

Regarding allegations of sexual harassment in the lift, she noted that Sir David found as a fact that Ms A had pushed Ben [Emmerson] away when he tried to put his hand between her legs / down her trousers. The conduct was, on his own findings, unwanted and of a sexual nature.

Although Sir David decided this did not constitute harassment. Dame Laura said this took the wrong legal approach by failing to consider the Equality Acts protections for people in the workplace.

The management committees decision immediately to accept this report was therefore an error, she wrote. I consider that they ought to have realised that [Sir David] applied the wrong test and should have invited him to reconsider. Dame Lauras report was filed in July. Since then, from Matrix, there has been silence on the matter.

This report highlights serious, institutional failings at an organisation which is supposed to be dedicated to equality, says a source close to the Chambers.

They have failed abjectly. Yet no heads have rolled and no apologies have been made

The management contains some of the most eminent equality lawyers in the country. They have failed abjectly. Yet no heads have rolled and no apologies have been made.

Emmerson has not commented on recent developments. However, he is understood to deny being guilty of any misconduct, and supporters point out that the Cox report focused on procedure and did not include any examination of first-hand evidence, meaning its author was not in a position to pass judgement over whether there had been harassment.

They add that he was never formally accused by the woman of assault.

Matrix, for its part, is saying nothing. This week, a spokesman declared it does not intend to make any public comment on what are plainly confidential internal matters.

Perhaps its PR team have other priorities: not long ago, they circulated a press release stating that the British Legal Awards  the industrys Oscars  had decided to short-list them as Chambers of the Year. Apparently, theirs is an industry in which abject hypocrisy pays.
Labour is using a campaign to lower the voting age to harvest the contact details of thousands of young people.

Jeremy Corbyn and his hard-Left supporters have been bombarding youngsters with videos about enfranchising 16- and 17-year-olds. Posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, the short films have been viewed by more than 1.5million people.

They are being circulated across the internet with the help of activists at the pro-Corbyn grassroots group Momentum.

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Labour is using a campaign to lower the voting age to harvest the contact details of thousands of young people

In one 60-second clip that has been viewed at least 522,000 times on Facebook, Mr Corbyn warns: For too long the political establishment has excluded young people from our democratic process.

At 16 you can pay tax, even get married and join the Army. Yet young people are denied the right to vote and have their say on decisions that affect them.

We cannot allow this Conservative government to deny one-and-a-half million young people their full rights as citizens. In another, which has been viewed 438,000 times, viewers are told: It seems a bit weird that 1.5million 16- & 17-year-olds cant vote right? Well, that could all be about to change. We think its about time 16- & 17-year-olds had a vote. And we need you to spread the word.

When the issue was being discussed in the Commons this month, Mr Corbyn tweeted eight videos featuring Labour shadow ministers and MPs. Tory MPs who argued against lowering the voting age were accused in follow-up videos of sabotage.

In one film, seen 321,000 times on Facebook, Labours spokesman for young people Cat Smith said: The Tories once again have demonstrated to a generation of young people that they dont take your views seriously and that you should not have your say over your future.

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott wrongly claimed in her video that 16-year-olds can fight for their country. She said: I believe in votes at 16. If you are old enough to fight for your country you are old enough to vote. A teenager can sign up at the age of 16 but they would not be able to go into combat until they are 18, the Ministry of Defence says.

Jeremy Corbyn and his hard-Left supporters have been bombarding youngsters with videos about enfranchising 16- and 17-year-olds. Posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, the short films have been viewed by more than 1.5million people

Labour has been using the videos to direct viewers to a special party website where they are invited to sign an online petition, giving their names, email addresses and postcodes. It admits the party and its candidates may contact you using the details you provide. Signatories aged 16 and 17 will be able to vote by the time of the next scheduled election in 2022.

By harvesting their information, Labour will be able to contact them with election messages in the run-up to polling day.

Momentum has its own site to collect peoples personal information called 16andvoting.com.

It is the latest example of Labours ability to mobilise its supporters and reach far more people via social media than other political groups can. The Tories spent 1million on social media adverts during the election campaign, most of them attacking Mr Corbyn.

They are being circulated across the internet with the help of activists at the pro-Corbyn grassroots group Momentum

Despite this, it is believed that Labours messages  backed up by Momentum  had far more reach, even though the party had less money to spend.

Ahead of Junes election, Theresa May said that the Conservatives would not lower the voting age to 16 if they won.

You have to pick a point at which you think it is right for the voting age to be. I continue to think it is right for it to be 18, she said.

A private members bill to reduce the voting age was debated in the Commons earlier this month, but no vote was held. It will return to the Commons to be discussed further on December 1. Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said last night: Im not surprised that Labour want 16-year-olds to have the vote, they will not have any memory that a Labour government can do to the country and the economy.

It is trendy to be left wing when you are young and Labour probably thinks they are the sort of people who are gullible enough to vote for them. We know that the over-65s overwhelmingly vote Conservative, because they have got the wisdom of years.

A Labour spokesman said: Giving 16- and 17-year-olds the vote would strengthen our democracy. The response to our campaign has been fantastic  a sign of the enthusiasm from young people. We will continue to campaign with young people to ensure their voices are heard.

Youth surge 'cost May her majority'

Theresa May was denied a majority because of the rush of hundreds of thousands of young voters to join the electoral roll, analysis shows.

After the Prime Minister announced on April 18 there would be a snap general election, there were 2,834,000 online applications to register to vote.

According to a BBC analysis using data obtained under freedom of information laws, it was highly likely that without these additional voters the Tories would have won six seats they narrowly lost.

Theresa May was denied a majority because of the rush of hundreds of thousands of young voters to join the electoral roll, analysis shows

The constituencies  those where the Tories were under 200 votes short  were Kensington, Perth & North Perthshire, Dudley North, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Crewe & Nantwich and Canterbury. Labour won all these seats, with the exception of Perth & North Perthshire, which was clinched by the SNP. In two further seats held by Labour  Barrow & Furness and Keighley  it is reasonably likely the Tories would have been victorious too.

At the election, the Tories won 317 seats, putting them just five seats short of an effective majority. Government data shows that of the online applications to join the electoral roll, 71 per cent were made by voters under 35.

Some 1,051,000 were by those aged 18 to 24 and 973,000 aged 25 to 34. As younger voters were more likely to vote Labour than Conservative, the influx is likely to have swung the overall result.
Dunham has been vocal about her own experience with sexual assault, retelling her story during gala in 2015 of how she was raped

Aurora Perrineau says the alleged incident happened after meeting Miller at the Standard Hotel in Downtown LA when she was 17

Miller, 40, is best known for his work on the HBO dramedy 'Girls,' while also contributing as a writer for animated series 'King of the Hill' and 'American Dad'

Lena Dunham attends Lenny 2nd Anniversary Party at The Jane Hotel on September 15, 2017

Lena Dunham has come to the defense of one of her show's writers who is accused of raping a 17-year-old girl in 2012.

Dunham released a joint statement on Friday with her co-show runner Jenni Konner expressing support for Murray Miller, who is being accused by actress Aurora Perrineau of sexual assault five years ago.

'While our first instinct is to listen to every woman's story, our insider knowledge of Murray's situation makes us confident that sadly this accusation is one of the 3% of assault cases that are misreported every year,' Dunham and Konner wrote in a joint statement.

'It is a true shame to add to that number, as outside of Hollywood women still struggle to be believed. We stand by Murray and this is all we'll be saying about this issue.'

Miller vehemently denies the allegations and said that he has proof that the accusations are false

(L-R) Allison Williams, Lena Dunham, Zosia Mamet and Jemima Kirke - cast of HBO's 'Girls' at NYU Skirball Center on February 1, 2017 in New York City

Dunham has been vocal about her own experience with sexual assault, retelling her story during gala in 2015 of how she was raped.

Miller, 40, is best known for his work on Dunham's dramedy vehicle 'Girls.'

'I filed a police report today,' Perrineau told The Wrap earlier Friday. 'I cannot talk about the investigation that is happening currently.'

Miller vehemently denies the allegations, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Perrineau, 23, said that the two had met at the Standard Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles during a night out with friends.

Perrinea told The Wrap that she had 'consumed some alcoholic beverages' that evening, but added that she repeatedly told Miller that she was underage.

The 23-year-old 'Passengers' and 'Equals' star said that Murray had asked for a ride home at the end of the evening, admitting that 'he was drunk'.

Once she and her friends arrived at his house, she 'felt like I had to go along with everyone else,' according to her statement.

'At some point, I woke up in Murray's bed naked. He was on top of me having sexual intercourse with me. At no time did I consent to any sexual contact with Murray,' Perrineau's statement added.

Miller allegedly met Perrineau at The Standard Hotel (pictured) in Downtown LA when she and friends were having a night out

Miller (pictured), 40, is best known for his work on the HBO dramedy 'Girls,' and has produced a number of television projects

Miller has also contributed as a writer for animated series 'American Dad' and 'King of the Hill'

Soon after news of the allegations broke, creator and writer of Girls, Lena Dunham, sent out a cryptic tweet

Murray, who has also worked on animated series 'King of the Hill' and 'American Dad,' was 35 at the time of the alleged assault.

'Lost' star Harold Perrineau is Aurora's father.

'Lost' star Harold Perrineau (pictured right) is Aurora's father

Sgt. Salvador Rios with the LA Sheriff's Department confirmed that they received a complaint from Perrineau.

Although the report was filed at West Hollywood station, the LAPD will take the lead on the investigation, Rios added.

Before releasing her formal statement, Dunham sent out a cryptic tweet seemingly alluding to loyalty just hours after news broke of the allegations.

'I believe in a lot of things but the first tenet of my politics is to hold up the people who have held me up, who have filled my world with love,' Dunham wrote in the post.

At Variety's Power Of Women event two years ago, Dunham gave a speech that detailed her own brush with sexual assault while she was an undergraduate at Oberlin College.

'When I was raped, I felt powerless,' she told the star-studded audience.

Lena - who chronicled her sexual assault in her essay collection Not That Kind Of Girl - shared her rape occurrence upon accepting the honor for her work with GEMS, an organization created to serve and empower girls and young women of sexual assault.

Harold Perrineau is best known for his roles in the Matrix movies and staring in the hit ABC show 'Lost'

'Someone who sent me the message that my body was not my own and my choices were meaningless. It took years to recognize my worth was not tied to my assault, the voices telling me I deserved this were phantoms, they were liars,' she said during her speech.

In the wake of a Hollywood sex abuse scandal centering on disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, Dunham last month also posted a tweet recounting a previous experience with a sexual assailant.

'Can't sleep remembering that I cried because my rapist passed me in the library and i didn't say hi.'

Through his attorney, Miller called the allegations categorically false, adding that he has proof of his innocence and will cooperate fully with any police investigation.

'Mr. Miller categorically and vehemently denies Ms. Perrineau's outrageous claims,' attorney Don Walerstein said in a statement.

'After being contacted several weeks ago by lawyers whoon Ms. Perrineau's behalfsought substantial monetary damages from him, Mr. Miller's legal team gathered overwhelming evidence directly contradicting these false and offensive claims.

'Only after her demands for money were rebuffed did Ms. Perrineau go to the police. Mr. Miller looks forward to sharing all evidence and information with any and all authorities seeking the truth in this matter.'

Miller also has acted in small roles in 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' and 'The Five-Year Engagement.'

Dunham recently shared a tweet about being raped in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein accusations

Director/writer Jennifer Konner (L) and actress Lena Dunham attend The 2nd Anniversary Party for Lenny at The Jane Hotel on September 15, 2017 in New York City
Cambridge student Phoebe Pickering, 19, said young Tories were constantly the butt of jokes and branded immoral  causing many to censor themselves in their daily lives

A Conservative student at Cambridge has spoken out about the dirty looks and abuse she has had from her peers because of her political beliefs.

Phoebe Pickering, 19, said young Tories were constantly the butt of jokes and branded immoral  causing many to censor themselves in their daily lives.

She said she had learned to keep her mouth shut when asked about her political opinions by friends because she did not want to have to deal with the backlash.

Writing in the student newspaper Varsity, she warned that Tory students were being demonised for their views and branded bad people.

Miss Pickering wrote: Maybe that would explain how, despite being very interested in politics, whenever this topic of conversation comes up, I pray that nobody will ask my opinion, look to the floor and keep my mouth shut.

Maybe that would provide a better explanation as to why I feel it necessary if I have confessed my views to follow it up immediately with quick-fire justifications as to why Im not a bad person.

It really shouldnt be this way that people take such a dim view of humanity as to label most voters in the UK as bad people.

A phrase that comes to mind is: Look at a man like hes the Devil and youll never understand his motives.

It is so much easier to label someone as evil than to rebut their arguments. Miss Pickering achieved three A*s at A-level at Brighton College despite battling with cancer during her studies and having to take a year off school.

Her article comes amid growing fears that free speech is being stifled at universities by left-wingers who will not allow any opinions to be aired but their own. This risks creating echo chambers in which anyone with right-leaning views is made to feel unwelcome.

Miss Pickering, a first-year undergraduate from Brighton, said the problem was not confined to her university.

She wrote: I have learnt over the years that it is just not worth it to allow my political leanings to slip into conversation any more.

The Conservative student at Cambridge has spoken out about the dirty looks and abuse she has had from her peers because of her political beliefs

Ive been asked questions such as I know youre a nice person and all but how could you feel okay with yourself voting Conservative? and How do you sleep at night knowing that you voted for austerity? Ive had people shouting at me and throwing me dirty looks for supporting the Leave campaign.

The philosophy student at Corpus Christi College said she had heard that Conservative student campaigners were being given the cold shoulder by peers. One student canvasser faced real abuse and social ostracism in the runup to the general election this year for putting leaflets in pigeonholes.

That would never happen to a Labour campaigner in Cambridge, Miss Pickering said. To create this sort of censorial environment is to create a real danger of a stagnating and even declining society.
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Bodyguard Semi Ngata was gunned down outside John Ibrahim's mother's home just hours before a wedding was due to take place between a family member and Salim Mehajer's sister.

The feared enforcer, known as Tongan Sam, was shot in the back outside of the Merrylands home in Sydney's west on Friday evening at 10.25 after intruders came through the house or a side fence.

A wedding was due to take place at the property today between the former Auburn deputy mayor's sister Aisha and John's nephew Sam.

The names of the couple were etched on a pavement outside the Ibrahim's family home ahead of the ceremony on Saturday.

It is believed Sam is the son of Maha Ibrahim, who is John's sister.

Armed police scoured drains and nearby streets today as the 59-year-old Tongan Sam remained in a serious but stable condition at Westmead Hospital.

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Semi Ngata, known as Tongan Sam, (pictured centre back with Daniel and John Ibrahim) was shot in the back in Merrylands, in Sydney's west on Friday night, the day before a wedding due to take place between a nephew of John Ibrahim and a sister of disgraced former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer

The names of the couple were etched on a pavement outside John Ibrahim's mother's home ahead of the ceremony (pictured)

His wife has been keeping a bedside vigil and told reporters 'he was doing OK'.

NSW Police chief inspector Bradfield Peters said police were unable to speculate whether the upcoming wedding and the shooting were linked.

A wedding was due to take place at the property today between the former Auburn deputy mayor's sister Aisha (pictured) and John's nephew Sam

A heavy police presence is expected at the wedding on Saturday amid fears of revenge and retaliation.

He said: 'We've only just found out that there may have been a wedding planned for today.

'But whether there's any link to what occurred last night, I can't speculate.'

Chief inspector Peters say police believed the shooting took place in a backyard after intruders entered the home.

'If that's exactly what occurred then it is certainly brazen,' he said.

'We believe that it's certainly not random and that it was targeted.'

Officers said they were investigating whether more than one bullet had been used in the shooting on Price Street but couldn't say whether it was a drive-by attack.

They are also looking into whether a burnt-out car found on Rees Street in nearby Mays Hill is linked to the shooting.

A police spokeswoman said: 'We've got detectives canvassing the area and investigations are ongoing.

'We are looking at that as a line of inquiry but it's not been confirmed at this stage if it's linked.'

Tongan Sam has undergone surgery in hospital but has refused to cooperate with police. No arrests have been made.

He has worked as a bodyguard for nightclub boss John for more than a decade after the pair met in Kings Cross in the 1990s.

His loyalty to his boss was shown in 2014 when he was pictured wearing a T-shirt with John's face emblazoned across it.

The shooting comes just weeks after Ibrahim brothers Fadi and Michael were detained in a dramatic police sting in Dubai and extradited back to Australia over a drug and tobacco syndicate.

A heavy police presence is expected at the wedding on Saturday of Aiisha (pictured with her brother Salim) amid fears of revenge and retaliation

Despite the shooting on Friday evening friends and family gathered to lay out chairs ahead of the ceremony on Saturday

A wedding was due to take place at the property today between the former Auburn deputy mayor's sister Aisha and John's nephew Sam

People could be seen arriving at the home with boxes full of decorations, with a wedding due to take place later in the day

As police continued to investigate the shooting people began to arrive at the home with flowers and wedding decorations

Price Street in Merrylands was the scene of a shooting overnight, with a wedding between a members of the Ibrahim and Mehajer families due to take place on Saturday

Fadi was released from jail on strict bail conditions after a $2.2million surety was put up.

The Merrylands home belonging to John's mother was searched by police during the raids, and a loaded 9mm handgun was seized from the property.

John's home was also raided as part of the investigation in August - but he was not arrested or charged with any offences.

John and his three brothers - Sam, Michael and Fadi - have all been either shot or stabbed over recent years.

Michael - the most recent victim - was gunned down on Macquarie Street in Sydney's CBD in 2015, while Fadi was shot five times as he sat in his Lamborghini.

Sam was also hit in the legs in a 2011 drive-by shooting, and John was stabbed in Kings Cross while a teenager.

Armed police searched the streets outside John Ibrahim's mother's home (pictured) in Merrylands on Saturday morning

Media and neighbours gathered outside the Merrylands home (pictured) owned by John Ibrahim's mother on Saturday morning

Tongan Sam (left with Fadi Ibrahim and Salim Mehajer) was taken to Westmead Hospital, where he is in a serious condition

Police were seen combing the streets around the home of where the shooting took place on Friday evening

Police searched streets around the spot where John Ibrahim's bodyguard Tongan Sam was shot

After Tongan Sam was shot in the back on Friday night police set up a crime scene, continuing to search the area on Saturday morning (pictured)

Police (pictured)searched bins on the street near John Ibrahim's mother's home in Merrylands

Police walked down the streets of Merrylands in a line after the shooting of John Ibrahim's bodyguard Semi Ngata on Friday night

Officers are also looking into whether a burnt-out car (pictured) found nearby is linked to the shooting

Pictured is a loaded 9mm semi-automatic Beretta handgun seized from the home of John Ibrahim's mother during raids in August 2017.

Officers are also looking into whether a burnt-out car found nearby is linked to the shooting (pictured is Tongan Sam, centre, with Sam Ibrahim, left, and lawyer Stephen Alexander, right, outside court in 2009)
Royal Navy submarines could soon launch drones from beneath the waves to spy on Russian boats around the British coast.

Sailors on the UKs nuclear-armed submarines would be able to fire a canister that releases a drone once it hits the surface. In a new phase of robotic warfare, the 3.75 lb drones can then be operated from under the sea or made to act autonomously.

The Outrider drone, which is almost silent, feeds back images of enemy vessels to a high definition television so the submarine knows where to either avoid or target.

It can spy from the sky for two-and-a-half hours and travel at up to 57mph.

The Outrider drone, which is almost silent, feeds back images of enemy vessels to a high definition television so the submarine knows where to either avoid or target. It can spy from the sky for two-and-a-half hours and travel at up to 57mph

A Royal Navy source said: We could hunt down any adversary with this piece of kit.

Details of the drones development came after it emerged Russian submarine activity around Britain has increased tenfold in the past six years.

Numbers of subs sent by the Kremlin to UK waters are now similar to the levels seen in the Cold War.

The UK was forced to call upon its European allies for help to hunt down a suspected Russian submarine lurking off the west coast three weeks ago after our own patrol aircraft were axed.

The Outrider drone can be launched at the press of a button from a range of platforms, including submarines, ships or by Special Forces travelling in armoured vehicles.

Numbers of subs sent by the Kremlin to UK waters are now similar to the levels seen in the Cold War

It can be flown in fully autonomous mode, in which it will follow a pre-programmed flight plan mapped out by submariners.

Alternatively in remote pilot mode, the operator can control the drone using thumb-sticks built into a specially adapted handset, or by plugging the controller into a laptop.

Paul James, in charge of the drone project at Lockheed Martin, said: Drones play a key part in warfighting as they take the operator out of harms way.

In the case of the underwater environment, Outrider can be launched while the submarine remains submerged and at a safe stand-off distance.

The drone is deployed by firing a 39in long canister from the submarine into the water. Once it hits the air, the shell falls apart and the drone unfurls its wings.

Currently it is designed for spying and does not carry weapons. It can be used to detect surface ships, or survivors in the case of search and rescue missions. It would also be able to spot submarines near the surface.

The drones are currently not reusable, and cannot return to the submarine, but can be recovered if flown on to land.
Horrific video obtained by an animal activists group has shown the 'heartbreaking' conditions at an egg farm in New Zealand's north.

Direct Animal Action broke into the Zeagold Foods farm in Whangarei to record the hens earlier this month, with shocking footage showing cramped conditions and decomposing bodies.

The property is owned by Mainland Poultry, with a spokesperson for the company stating they were 'extremely concerned' about what was revealed, the NZ Herald reports.

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Horrific video obtained by an animal activists group has shown the 'heartbreaking' conditions at a Whangarei egg farm in New Zealand's north

In video, uploaded to DAA's Facebook page Friday, the birds can be seen with raw skin and missing feathers as they stand in the cages.

Mice can also been seen running through cages, with eggs from the chickens littering the ground beneath.

'The conditions that we've found are absolutely disgusting, it's totally heartbreaking seeing the hens kept like this,' one of the activists said.

While in the manure shoot area of the farm, the group record the grim discovery of at least six dead chickens.

'We found a cesspit inside the farm building where we saw a number of dead hens floating in what looked like a combination of manure and water,' DAA member Dee Sims told the NZ Herald.

Ms Sims added that it was among the worst conditions she had seen chickens living in and that it was 'pretty unhygienic'.

Direct Animal Action broke into the Zeagold Foods farm in Whangarei to record the hens earlier this month, with shocking footage showing birds in cramped conditions and with missing feathers

While they also discovered a 'cesspit' with at least six dead and decomposing chickens 'in what looked like a combination of manure and water'

In a statement, Mainland Poultry called the situation 'completely unacceptable' and not in line with their animal welfare practices or standards.

The spokesperson claimed that while the footage had been obtained illegally, they were grateful it had been brought to their attention.

A livestock management team was reportedly sent to the site Friday to begin an investigation, with 'immediate corrective action' issued.

The company is believed to produce a third of New Zealand's eggs through Zeagold Foods, which states on its website their 'laying birds are managed to the highest welfare standard'.
The Trump administration put the Palestinians on notice Friday that it will shutter their office in Washington unless they've entered serious peace talks with Israel, officials said.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has placed the Palestine Liberation Organization on notice after he determined they had violated a law which deters Palestinians from referring Israelis to the International Criminal Court.

A State Department official said that in September, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas crossed that line by calling on the ICC to investigate and prosecute Israelis.

Trump now has 90 days to consider whether the Palestinians are in 'direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel.' It's a move which potentially gives the president considerably more leverage as he seeks an elusive Mideast peace deal.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has placed the Palestine Liberation Organization on notice after he determined they had violated a law which deters Palestinians from referring Israelis to the International Criminal Court

If Trump determines they are, the Palestinians can keep the office. The official said it was unclear whether the U.S. might close the office before the 90-day period expires, but said the mission remains open at least for now.

Even if the office closes, the U.S. said it wasn't cutting off relations with the Palestinians and was still focused on 'a comprehensive peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians.' The State Department official said in an email that 'this measure should in no way be seen as a signal that the U.S. is backing off those efforts.' The official wasn't authorized to be identified by name and requested anonymity.

The PLO office and the Israeli Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Although the Israelis and Palestinians are not engaged in active, direct negotiations, Trump's administration has been working all year to broker a peace deal that would end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Led by Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a senior aide, White House officials have been preparing a peace proposal they intend to put forward at an unspecified time.

The Palestinians, though publicly supportive of the U.S. effort, have been skeptical because Trump's close ties to Israel suggest whatever deal he proposes might be unfavorable to them. The threat of losing their office in the U.S. capital could become another pressure point as the Trump administration seeks to persuade the Palestinians to come to the table.

Trump now has 90 days to consider whether the Palestinians are in 'direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel'

The Palestine Liberation Organization is the group that formally represents all Palestinians. Although the U.S. does not recognize Palestinian statehood, the PLO maintains a 'general delegation' office in Washington that facilitates Palestinian officials' interactions with the U.S. government.

The United States allowed the PLO to open a mission in Washington in 1994, a move that required then-President Bill Clinton to waive a law that said the Palestinians couldn't have an office. In 2011, under the Obama administration, the United States started letting the Palestinians fly their flag over the office, an upgrade to the status of their mission that the Palestinians hailed as historic.

Israel opposes any Palestinian membership in United Nations-related organizations until a peace deal has been reached.

The Trump administration has not revealed any details about its effort to bring about a peace deal that would ostensibly grant the Palestinians an independent state in exchange for an end to its conflict with the Israelis. But Kushner and other top Trump aides have been shuttling to the region to meet with Palestinians, Israelis and officials from neighboring Arab nations as it prepares to put forward a peace plan.

A State Department official said that in September, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas breached the law by calling on the ICC to investigate and prosecute Israelis

The requirement that the PLO office be closed if the Palestinians back an International Criminal Court move came in a little-noticed provision in U.S. law that says the United States can't allow the Palestinians to have a Washington office if they try to 'influence a determination by the ICC to initiate a judicially authorized investigation, or to actively support such an investigation, that subjects Israeli nationals to an investigation for alleged crimes against Palestinians.'

Abbas, the Palestinian leader, said in his speech at the U.N. General Assembly in September that the Palestinians had 'called on the International Criminal Court to open an investigation and to prosecute Israeli officials for their involvement in settlement activities and aggressions against our people.'

The U.S. law says that if the government determines the Palestinians have breached that requirement, it triggers a 90-day review period in which the president must decide whether to let the office stay open anyway. The president is allowed to waive the requirement only if he certifies to Congress 'that the Palestinians have entered into direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel.'

The provision doesn't explicitly define what would constitute direct or meaningful negotiations.
Philip Hammond will lay out plans to tax plastic bottles and coffee cups as part of next week's budget

The Chancellor will announce plans to tax plastic bottles, coffee cups and packaging in next week's Budget, sources said last night.

Philip Hammond will use his annual statement on the economy to detail plans for a review of new taxes and charges on 'single-use' plastic items.

The move is designed to stem the tide of plastic junk poisoning our seas and littering our streets and countryside.

The decision to push for a new tax on throwaway plastic follows the Daily Mail's long-running campaigns to highlight the menace caused by plastic bags, cups, bottles and microbeads.

Treasury sources last night said it was 'too early' to say how any new taxes on plastic would work, or at what level they will be set.

Mr Hammond will ask for scientists, manufacturers and retailers to submit evidence to the Treasury in the New Year. Detailed proposals are likely to take several months to draw up.

But sources said there was a determination in Government to act on an issue that has been highlighted most recently by the BBC's hit show Blue Planet II.

'This is building on what we have already done on plastic bags and microbeads,' a source said.

It is not yet clear how charging people for using throwaway coffee cups and plastic bottles will work, but detailed proposals are expected next year

'Shows like Blue Planet have highlighted the need to take this issue seriously and act on it.'

The Treasury drive will affect a wide range of throwaway plastics, including coffee cups, polystyrene packaging, bubble wrap, plastic cutlery and even drinking straws.

It will cover materials that can be easily recycled, such as milk bottles, and those which cannot, such as disposable coffee cups.

The Environment Department is already considering whether to introduce a deposit scheme for plastic bottles to discourage people from throwing them away.

But Treasury sources say Mr Hammond will also consider whether new taxes are needed to combat the problem.

In the UK alone, the amount of single-use plastic thrown away each year would fill the Albert Hall a thousand times over.

The Government claims it is serious about cracking down on waste after TV programmes like Blue Planet II highlighted the damage it is doing to the environment

An estimated 12 million tonnes of plastic waste is dumped in the oceans each year, creating 'floating continents' of junk. One in the Pacific is the size of France.

Environmentalists last night welcomed the move, but urged the Chancellor to act swiftly and decisively.

Mike Barrett, director of science and policy at WWF, said: 'Plastic is suffocating our seas. There is no greater example of the havoc we have on the natural world.

'Any action to tackle single-use plastic is a good thing, but we must ensure any action is truly ambitious if we want to make the real difference needed to help save the planet.'

Jeff Knott, of the RSPB, said leaving the EU would give Britain the opportunity to move further and faster on environmental protection.

'It is impossible not to be moved by the sight of an animal in distress or dying due to becoming entangled in or swallowing the plastics found in our seas,' he added.

Sources said last night: 'Shows like Blue Planet have highlighted the need to take this issue seriously and act on it'

'A tax on single-use plastics is a positive step for addressing this. Leaving the EU gives the UK an opportunity to build on the great progress already made.'

Tisha Brown, of Greenpeace UK, said plastic pollution was a 'global emergency', with particles turning up in the stomachs of whales, turtles and 90 per cent of sea birds.

But she struck a cautious note, saying: 'The Treasury's announcement is only a statement of intent, but it recognises the significance of the problem and the urgent need for a solution.

'There is a long way to go, but hopefully this is the beginning of the end for single-use plastic.' Behind the scenes, Mr Hammond has clashed repeatedly with Theresa May in the run-up to next week's Budget.

The Chancellor has been resisting pressure from Mrs May and Communities Secretary Sajid Javid to release billions for a new house building programme, but sources last night suggested he had relented and will unveil a significant package to address the crisis.
The wildly popular Toy Freaks YouTube channel featuring a single dad and his two daughters has been deleted, amid a broader crackdown on disturbing children's content on the video streaming platform.

Toy Freaks, founded two years ago by landscaper Greg Chism of Granite City, Illinois, had 8.53million subscribers and was among the 100 most-viewed YouTube channels before it was shutdown on Friday.

Though it's unclear what exact policy the channel violated, the videos showed the girls in unusual situations that often involved gross-out food play and simulated vomiting. The channel invented the 'bad baby' genre, and some videos showed the girls pretending to urinate on each other or fishing pacifiers out of the toilet.

Another series of videos showed the younger daughter Annabelle wiggling her loose teeth out while shrieking and spitting blood.

'He is profiting off of his children's pain and suffering,' one indignant Reddit user wrote about the channel last year. 'It's barf inducing and no mentally stable person or child should ever have to watch it.'

A YouTube spokesperson said in a statement: 'It's not always clear that the uploader of the content intends to break our rules, but we may still remove their videos to help protect viewers, uploaders and children. We've terminated the Toy Freaks channel for violation of our policies.

Toy Freaks, founded two years ago by landscaper Greg Chism (left) of Granite City, Illinois, had 8.53million subscribers before the Friday shut-down

Chism's channel, which features his daughters Annabelle and Victoria, appears to have been caught up in a broader purge targeting a wave of strange and inappropriate kids videos

Toy Freaks appears to have started out innocently enough, and evolved toward creepier fare through Chism's expert optimization and tweaking for views

'We take child safety extremely seriously and have clear policies against child endangerment. We recently tightened the enforcement of these policies to tackle content featuring minors where we receive signals that cause concern,' the statement said.

Chism's channel, which features his daughters Annabelle and Victoria, appears to have been caught up in a broader purge targeting a wave of strange and inappropriate videos aimed at young YouTube Viewers.

Videos in the broader genre, documented by blogger James Bridle last month, seem to intentionally weave disturbing or violent imagery into content that appears child-appropriate.

For example, many of the videos in the genre feature children's characters such as Spiderman and Elsa and involve injections, urination and other bizarre content.

The Toy Freaks channel, however, appears to have started out innocently enough, and evolved toward creepier fare through Chism's expert optimization and tweaking for views.

The Toy Freaks channel often focused on strange foods and gross-out eating scenes

Chism is seen with his two daughters Annabelle and Victoria in one of the Toy Freaks videos

Chism, who was a landscaper before finding fame and fortune through viral videos, got his start on YouTube with a 'fitness and lawn care' channel called Geek To Freak.

He was once called 'one of the most influential YouTubers in the landscaping and lawn care community'.

Toy Freaks began as a side project in early 2015, Chism once said in an interview with fellow landscaping YouTuber Stanley Genadek.

'It was just family videos, I take videos with my kids and post them up there, just like home stuff playing in the living room, playing with toys and stuff,' Chism explained of Toy Freaks origins.

His daughters were aged four and six at the time, in early 2015.

'I started to see a pattern, where some videos would get more views than others. So I focused on that, I analyzed each video, the description, the titles, the tags - everything involved in making that video and what made it a success, and I tried to repeat it. And I've had some good luck with that. One of them I retitled it and tagged it, and it's gone viral now,' Chism said.

Chism originally focused on lawn care videos, until Toy Freaks exploded in popularity

The Toy Freaks videos also sometimes included family friends and creepy masked characters

Toy Freaks most-viewed video was 'Bad Baby Real Food Fight Victoria vs Annabelle & Freak Daddy Toy Freaks Family,' which had 622million total views.

Over time, the Toy Freaks channel came to specialize in gross-out videos featuring strange food and simulated vomiting.

In one video, titled 'Crying baby Bad baby Alien Crushes Bad Baby Picnic Food with Lawn Mower Freak Family Annabelle', features Chism's two daughters with pacifiers gathering food in a basket.

The girls repeatedly slide down the stairs and have the food snatched from them by a man masked as the Night King, who then crushes the food with a lawn mower.

'It's fun, it's creative, it's rewarding - and it can be financially rewarding as well,' Chism explained in the 2015 interview.

Toy Freaks had the potential to earn upwards of $13million per year from ad revenue, according to analytics site Social Blade.

Calls to a phone number listed for Chism went answered Friday evening.
Andrew Corish, 60, walked free despite filming school girls while they were entering an exam hall

Three former convent schoolgirls want an urgent change in the law after their teacher escaped justice for filming up pupils skirts.

Assistant head Andrew Corish, 60, used a mobile phone to peer between the legs of children at the Catholic girls school while they queued to enter an exam hall.

But despite pleading guilty at a magistrates court to voyeurism, Corish walked free after a judge at Crown court rejected his plea when he appeared for sentencing.

Judge Warwick McKinnon said voyeurism must involve observing a private act for sexual gratification, but none of the victims were undertaking a private act.Prosecutors applied for indecent images charges to be added, but the judge said the images were not of an indecent nature.

Now Corishs former student Claudia Merlini, 22, and her friends, 21-year-old twins Holly and Kerry Brown, want lawmakers to act.

The countrys most senior police officer, MPs and more than 70,000 people who signed a national petition launched after a separate incident at a music festival have also called for changes to deal with upskirting.

Its completely outrageous, Miss Merlini said. It is a remarkable loophole in the law and some men are clearly benefiting from it.

'He admitted his actions were for his own sexual gratification. It should be illegal. He was not immediately banned from teaching and he will not appear on a sex offenders list.

Corish was suspended by Coloma Convent Girls School in Shirley near Croydon, south London, after an incident in June 2015. He was accused of filming up the skirt of a 14-year-old girl. In April 2016 Corish, who had since resigned, admitted a single count of voyeurism at Croydon Magistrates Court.

He walked free from Crown court weeks later. Miss Merlini and her friends, who dont believe they themselves were victims, only learned of his fate when their former teacher faced a professional disciplinary panel recently. The National College for Teaching and Leadership misconduct panel was told he admits all the allegations in a witness statement and he faces a ban.

Claudia Merlini, centre, with Holly (left) and Kerry Brown (right) who were all pupils of Andrew Corish

He said he used a phone to film up the skirt of one or more pupils and stored one or more inappropriate images taken up the skirts of pupils, including videos.

Miss Merlini, a filmmaker from Caterham, Surrey, said she fears other pupils may have been victims without realising it. Kerry Brown added: We want the law changed and changed fast. Justice Secretary David Lidington has said he is taking legal advice on whether upskirting can be added to the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

The school in Shirley, near Croydon, south London, where Corish filmed schoolgirls

The issue was thrust into the spotlight by Gina Martin, 25, who launched a petition after someone took a photo up her skirt at a Hyde Park festival. She claimed police told her there was nothing they could do as the man involved had done nothing illegal.

Labour MP Sarah Jones raised the issue at Parliament earlier this week with Scotland Yard Commissioner Cressida Dick who told MPs new laws are needed.

Miss Jones, the MP for Croydon Central, said: Of course upskirting should be illegal, it is undeniably a form of sexual abuse.

Corish, who lives with his wife in a 600,000 five-bedroom home in Caterham, declined to comment.

The school said it had strengthened its safeguarding procedures.
Chancellor Philip Hammond (pictured) is considering halving the VAT threshold from 85,000 to 43,000 as part of his budget proposals, according to Government sources

Philip Hammond was facing a backlash from small businesses last night over a rumoured Budget VAT raid that could raise 2billion for the Treasury.

The Chancellor is looking at slashing the tax's threshold as part of Budget moves to 'simplify' the system.

At present, traders have to charge VAT only if their turnover tops 85,000 a year.

A report by the Government's Office of Tax Simplification this month called for the 'exceptionally high' threshold to be cut.

It found the UK's rate was the highest in the EU, where the average is just 20,000.

Halving the threshold to 43,000  the level said to be favoured by Mr Hammond  would affect 500,000 small firms and raise up to 1.5 billion for the Treasury in extra VAT receipts.

Cutting the rate to 25,000 could yield up to 2 billion, but would drag 1.5 million small traders into the VAT system.

Small business groups last night cautioned the Chancellor against the move, warning it could cause cashflow problems that would push already precarious businesses over the edge.

Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: 'At a time of spiralling costs and persistent uncertainty, a lowering of the VAT threshold is the last thing our entrepreneurs need.'

Suren Thiru, of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: 'A cut in the VAT threshold would be a concern for us.

'The administrative burden of dealing with VAT is significant  we are talking about businesses that will often not have a finance director and will have to pay for external advice.

Halving the threshold to 43,000  the level said to be favoured by Mr Hammond (pictured)  would affect 500,000 small firms and raise up to 1.5 billion for the Treasury in extra VAT receipts

'A lot of these businesses will also have very tight cashflow, and this would put serious pressure on some of them. I would urge the Chancellor to tread very carefully indeed.'

Martin Blanche, head of indirect tax at PwC, said: 'Any move to reduce the threshold would be met with a backlash from the small business community both from the perspective of cost and the additional compliance burden it imposes. It could also further stretch HMRC's resources.'

The Treasury declined to comment on 'speculation' about the contents of the Budget ahead of next week.

But the Office of Tax Simplification report was unequivocal about the need for a reduction in the VAT threshold.

The study found evidence of firms 'bunching' just below the turnover threshold in order to avoid paying VAT.

It said the cut-off was acting as a 'significant disincentive to maximising the potential growth of some businesses'.

Speculation is mounting in Tory circles that Mr Hammond could face the sack if the Budget fails to impress.

His Budget in March unravelled within days after he launched a National Insurance raid on the self-employed that breached a Tory manifesto pledge.

Mr Hammond's gloomy warnings about Brexit have also infuriated Tory Eurosceptics, leading to fears in Downing Street that some MPs could try to pick holes in the Budget to undermine his position.
Nearly every person in the country has been hacked and had their details sold on the dark web, Britains police lead on cyber crime revealed yesterday.

Chief Constable Peter Goodman issued the stark warning on rampant computer hacking as he urged firms to come clean to customers when their security has been compromised.

The Derbyshire chief revealed he has been personally targeted three times by thieves who stole his name, date of birth, address and email.

Mr Goodman, who leads the National Police Chiefs Council on cyber crime, said Russia is the worst culprit, bombarding the UK with state-sponsored or state-permitted criminal attacks on a daily basis.

Just days after the Prime Minister accused the Kremlin of cyber espionage and meddling in European election, the UKs top policing experts on cyber crime said Russian groups were targeting not only our major infrastructure and financial institutions, but also small businesses like hairdressers and solicitors in its giant fishing net for data.

Chief Constable Peter Goodman issued the stark warning on rampant computer hacking as he urged firms to come clean to customers when their security has been compromised

The daily attacks are costing Britain billions a year, but Mr Goodman admitted police have been slow to respond and victims face a postcode lottery over whether crimes will be investigated.

Online fraud is now the most common crime in the country, with more than five and a half million cyber and fraud offences taking place each year, and nearly half of all UK businesses suffered a cyber breach or attack in the last year.

But there are only 100 police officers investigating across the UK and some forces will have to wait until 2019 for extra resources to tackle the problem.

Britain has been quite slow to pick up on this

Mr Goodman said police have previously only been able to go for low-hanging fruit, plumping for easy to solve crimes and not chasing the complex cases across borders.

Britain has been quite slow to pick up on this, he said.

Its a patchwork quilt, its a postcode lottery for victims.

The police chief told a media briefing: I can almost guarantee that every single one of you around this table has had a data breach against you and that some of your personal data is held somewhere on the dark web and is being sold, traded - are you happy with that? And you probably dont know about it.

Asked if he believed that almost every person in Britain had been a victim of such a data breach, he said: Yes.

There are certain websites you can go to where you can do a search and find out if your data has been stolen, he added.

But unless you actively look for it, then you never get told.

Am I happy if, for example, my data was stolen in the TalkTalk breach and nobody ever told me? I have not had the chance to think if Im happy with my security, do I need to change my password? Because I dont know.

The National Cyber Crime Unit and regional police units are working together to disrupt attacks and more than 200 people have been arrested in the last year including medium to high ranking players in Russian and Eastern European networks.

Mr Goodman added: We have Russians locked up but whether they are Russian state sponsored (attackers) is a moot point.

Oliver Gower, head of the National Cyber Crime Unit, said Russian speaking nations were the biggest enemy and there were increasingly blurred lines between state sponsored attacks and criminal activity.

For several years we have reported that Russian speaking nations are the number one cyber-crime threat to the UK.

The available intelligence is there is a cross-over between state and criminal cyber actors, he said.

When we talk about Russian speaking countries and Eastern Europe we are seeing an overlap between state and criminal groups, there is clearly some sort of mutual beneficial arrangement.

Mr Gower said Russia was looking to carry out surveillance, steal data and gain control of our major infrastructure for leverage so they could turn off the lights and heating in our homes or tap into the financial sector.

In its massive fishing net trawl for vulnerable networks, ordinary businesses and householders are being caught up and recently a UK radio station found that it couldnt play any music after its network was compromised.

He said cyber attacks are no longer being perpetrated just by loners in their bedroom.

Computer hacking has now become a highly profitable big business with offices set up around the world for professional hackers who send out malicious software around the clock targeting vulnerable organisations, corporations and individuals with outdated software and poor security.

This year the WannaCry cyber attack on the NHS led to thousands of operations and appointments being cancelled.

Mr Goodman said it shouldnt be up to customers to pay extra for better security

Mr Gower also warned the scale of fraud from stolen bank details was now so vast that banks will soon have to stop refunding affected customers because they can no longer tolerate the losses.

Yesterday police called for mandatory security on internet-enabled consumer goods such as televisions, fridges and even kettles so it isnt so easy for hackers to spy on us in our homes.

Mr Goodman said it shouldnt be up to customers to pay extra for better security, anything internet-enabled should have proper safeguards to stop organised criminals stealing your data and demanding a hefty ransom for it.

The increasing threat comes as the range of internet connected products available has exploded in recent years, providing an opportunity for hackers as many items such as laptop cameras, kettles and fridges are sold with standard passwords set by the manufacturer.

The technology needed to hack a network can be found with a simple google search and bought for as little as 30.

But the scale of the problem is under reported, as some victims might not feel it significant or fear their business will suffer reputational damage.
Those who walked past Colin Pitchfork in Bristol city centre recently are unlikely to have suspected that there was a notorious double child killer in their midst.

During three decades spent in jail for the rape and murder of two 15-year-old girls, the 56-year-old has lost much of his hair. His sullen features are partially masked by a thick white beard.

Casually dressed in a pale Adidas jacket, jeans and trainers as he browsed cookery books and visited a Jobcentre and three banks, the former baker certainly bears little resemblance to the grim black-and-white police mugshot taken of him when he was snared by Leicestershire police back in 1987.

For the families of Colin Pitchforks teenage victims, Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, images of the unaccompanied killer (pictured left) out on day release recently from an open prison are devastating indeed

But for the families of Pitchforks teenage victims, Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, these images of the unaccompanied killer out on day release recently from an open prison are devastating indeed.

Aside from stirring up agonising memories of how the father-of-two from Leicestershire brutally snuffed out the lives of both girls, three years apart, they provide the clearest evidence yet that Pitchfork  the first murderer in the world to be convicted thanks to DNA evidence  is being prepared for a life of freedom.

Lynda Manns mother, 69-year-old Kath Eastwood, says that the prospect of seeing her daughters killer released from prison is beyond comprehension.

I wake in the night traumatised by the thought of his release, she says. I have always hoped he would never come out but its as if the system protects criminals like him, not the victims and their families.

Dawn Ashworths mother, 71-year-old Barbara, is also distraught. A person like Pitchfork will never be safe for release, she told the Mail this week. Theres no justice in the world. Ive lived with this for 30 years. Dawns life was taken before it had really begun.

Two leading criminologists have also added their concerns to the escalating row about apparent plans to release the killer who was given a life sentence when he was jailed in January 1988.

Author and ex-police detective Joseph Wambaugh, whose book, The Blooding, is widely regarded as the definitive work on the case, told me that former baker Pitchfork is a psychopath and he will be a danger until hes too old to be and hes far from that.

And David Wilson, Emeritus Professor of Criminology at Birmingham City University, who has also studied the case in detail, describes Pitchforks crimes  and the way in which he evaded capture  as pathological.

Even as a penal reformer and someone who believes in rehabilitation, I would not release Colin Pitchfork, he says.

I have absolutely no doubt that if he was being sentenced today, hed get a whole life tariff and never be set free.

Certainly, a closer examination of the facts surrounding Pitchforks disturbing crimes raises serious questions about whether he should ever be released.

For the families of Colin Pitchforks teenage victims, Lynda Mann (right) and Dawn Ashworth (left), images of the unaccompanied killer out on day release recently from an open prison are devastating indeed

Both his victims lost their lives just yards from each other on dark, secluded footpaths near their homes in the villages of Narborough and Enderby in Leicestershire during brutal attacks committed nearly three years apart.

Pitchfork, who was already known to police as a serial flasher, raped and strangled Lynda Mann in November 1983 after dropping his wife off at an evening class and while his baby son slept in a carrycot in the back of his car.

Three years later, the son of a Leicestershire miner raped and killed Dawn Ashworth just a stones throw from the spot where Lyndas body was found.

Even when advances in DNA profiling enabled police to embark on a mass screening of 5,000 local men, Pitchfork came close to slipping the net again after persuading a colleague at the bakery where he worked to give a blood sample in his place. His trickery was later discovered when the man who stood in for him was overheard bragging about it in a pub.

It is exactly this deviousness, say his victims families and experts, that make Pitchfork so dangerous. Before he killed, he promised his social worker wife, whom he met while working as a volunteer for the childrens charity Barnados, that he had turned over a new leaf. In reality, he was unable to resist the sexual excitement that his crimes brought him.

Between the two murders, he sexually assaulted other young women in the Leicestershire area and took several lovers. One of them was pregnant at the time of Dawn Ashworths murder, although the baby was later stillborn.

Pitchfork may have physically changed over the past 30 years, but for Kath Eastwood, there is no mistaking the lifeless eyes of the man who took her daughter Lynda from her.

Two leading criminologists have also added their concerns to the escalating row about apparent plans to release the killer who was given a life sentence when he was jailed in January 1988

The last time she saw him was at Leicester Crown Court, moments after Pitchfork was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 30 years for the double killings of Lynda and Dawn.

His face never altered, she says. He showed no remorse. There was a complete lack of emotion. Hes not normal, not what we would think of as human. Seeing him again now is very scary. I feel total disbelief. I dont believe a man who did what he did to my daughter and Dawn can change.

It is 34 years this month since her daughters body was found in a copse beside a footpath. Kath and her then husband Eddie had gone out to a darts match that evening, leaving her eldest daughter, 17-year-old Susan, in charge of her youngest, two-year-old Rebecca.

Lynda was meant to be babysitting for neighbours but when the couple cancelled at the last minute, she went to visit a schoolfriend. Pitchfork raped and strangled her with her own scarf while she was taking a short-cut home along a path known locally as the Black Pad which cut between fields and the grounds of a psychiatric hospital leading to Lyndas home in Narborough.

When she realised her daughter was missing, Kath, who worked part-time at a hairdressers, contacted the police. She still recalls the agony of waiting up all night for news of her daughter and then, in the morning, being given the devastating news that her body had been found.

There are no words for how you feel at that point, she says. Beyond numb. The grief was overwhelming.

But despite a massive manhunt for Lyndas killer, no trace of him was found. Three years later in July 1986, Pitchfork struck again, murdering Dawn Ashworth on another stretch of the same footpath where Lynda had been killed.

At first, police arrested a 17-year-old with learning disabilities who worked at the neighbouring psychiatric hospital and had been spotted near the murder scene.

He appeared to know unreleased details about the murder scene and, after questioning, confessed to killing Dawn, but not Lynda.

Detectives turned for help to University of Leicester scientist Alec Jeffreys, who had been developing a ground-breaking genetic profiling technique while researching hereditary diseases.

He used the technique to prove that DNA in semen samples taken from both girls was identical and therefore from the same man, although that man was not the one the police had in custody.

It is 34 years this month since her daughters body was found in a copse beside a footpath. Kath and her then husband Eddie had gone out to a darts match that evening, leaving her eldest daughter, 17-year-old Susan, in charge of her youngest, two-year-old Rebecca

When Leicestershire Police announced that they were going to conduct the first ever mass DNA screening by taking blood from men in the area, Pitchfork became more devious than ever, asking several colleagues at Hampshires Bakery, where he worked, to give blood in his place before finding one prepared to do it.

He doctored his passport, which was required by police as proof of identity, using a scalpel to cut away the sealed photograph and inserting a photograph of the colleague in its place. He even cut his skin and stuck a plaster on his arm to trick his wife into thinking hed had the test.

It was eight months before his deception was discovered when a woman in a pub overheard the colleague describing what he had done. He said he had stepped in because Pitchfork claimed to have already given a sample as a favour for another friend with a minor criminal record who was worried he would get into trouble.

The suspicious woman went to the police and Pitchfork was arrested. Further tests revealed that his DNA matched the samples taken from the bodies of both girls, and Pitchfork immediately confessed to both killings and two other sex attacks.

When Pitchfork was jailed for life in 1988, he was handed a minimum 30-year tariff for his particularly sadistic crimes after the then Lord Chief Justice said that from the point of view of the safety of the public I doubt he should ever be released.

The impact of Pitchforks crimes, however, did not stop once he was behind bars.

Kath Eastwoods marriage to Lyndas stepfather, Eddie, ultimately fell apart under the pressure of their grief, and Barbara Ashwood and her scientific researcher husband Robin also divorced and moved from the area.

When Leicestershire Police announced that they were going to conduct the first ever mass DNA screening by taking blood from men in the area, Pitchfork became more devious than ever, asking several colleagues at Hampshires Bakery, where he worked, to give blood in his place before finding one prepared to do it

Since then, repeated attempts by Pitchfork to get out of prison have heaped further misery upon the families. In 2009, they received notification from police liaison officers that Pitchfork was seeking a cut in his excessive sentence.

His legal team argued that he had been educated to degree level, had become a specialist in the transcription of printed music into braille and had an exceptional record in jail.

It was an insult to us, says Rebecca Eastwood, 36, Lynda Manns sister. While Rebecca was only two at the time Lynda died, her entire life has been overshadowed by the murder.

My mum has tried to protect me from it but its always been there, she says. I dont ever want to see that man released. When you know the details of what he did, it is impossible to believe he could ever be reformed.

Kath Eastwood wrote to the court begging them not to accede to the request, but three Appeal Court judges agreed to reduce Pitchforks sentence to 28 years because of his exceptional progress in prison.

Then, in 2015, the families were notified that the killer had made an application to the Parole Board to be considered for release.

In a heart-rending letter to the board to protest against such a move, Kath Eastwood wrote: Theres always this void, this aching, empty space of what should have been, what my Lynda would have done with her life. All that life she missed. I can never quite accept that.

When Pitchfork was jailed for life in 1988, he was handed a minimum 30-year tariff for his particularly sadistic crimes after the then Lord Chief Justice said that from the point of view of the safety of the public I doubt he should ever be released

My life is split into three parts. The woman I was before November 21, 1983, the woman I was after it and the woman I fear I am going to be if, or when, Colin Pitchfork is released.

An online petition by the family to campaign for him to be kept behind bars received more than 20,000 signatures. A further 8,000 people signed a paper version.

Pitchfork was subsequently refused parole but recommended for transfer to an open prison in April 2016 by former Justice Secretary Michael Gove. He was moved to HM Prison Leyhill, a category D open prison in Gloucestershire, at the beginning of this year.

Last summer, the families were again sent letters by the Ministry of Justice notifying them that a series of unescorted ROTLs (release on temporary licence) will be happening in the near future.

Such outings, including Pitchforks solo visit to Bristol city centre, typically take place towards the end of a prisoners sentence as part of release preparations. As Kath Eastwood puts it: Im very fearful that these are his first steps to freedom. Its all happening so quickly. It feels unstoppable.

If Pitchfork is released, there is no question that he can return to his old life. He is banned from setting foot in Leicestershire or from contacting his victims families.

His parents and his sister have died since hes been in prison. His wife and two grown-up sons have changed their names.

Other members of the Pitchfork family have made it clear that he should never be released. One of his aunts told the Mail this week: The justice system is loopy. I wouldnt know if you can reform somebody like that. Its been difficult sharing the same surname because its so recognisable.

The victims families are expecting another hearing in January and are already preparing final statements pleading with officials not to release Pitchfork.

Lyndas sister Rebecca Eastwood, however, says that hope is fading fast.

I think theyve got it set in stone that theyre going to release him.

And according to Dawns mother Barbara: To anyone that passes him on the street he will just be another man, a normal person.

But he couldnt be further from that. I know what hes capable of and I know he hasnt changed inside.

Criminologist Professor David Wilson says: He hid his crimes from society and his family. He avoided the voluntary screening. He is very good at manipulating the cultures that surround him so as to give himself the best possible opportunities. Its very worrying to think he will be released.

And for many, Pitchforks heinous crimes are simply too much to forgive.

As Kath Eastwood says: Why should he gain his freedom when our loss goes on for ever? Lynda isnt here to breathe fresh air so why should he be able to?
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Serena Williams' stunning wedding dress has finally been revealed in a series of photos taken during and after her Thursday-night ceremony with Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian.

Photos of the event taken exclusively by Vogue magazine show Williams looking radiant in the flowing, lacy white Alexander McQueen dress, which was crafted by head designer Sarah Burton.

Williams then swapped that for a shorter, though no less beautiful, Versace number for the first dance, which saw the newlywed couple dancing to 'Tale As Old As Time' - a tune in line with the wedding's theme, Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

And on Friday, the tennis star showcased the stamina that's made her a 23-time Grand Slam Champ, partying for a second day straight.

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Beautiful: Serena Williams looks gorgeous these photos from Vogue. Here she's showing off her Alexander McQueen princess gown, along with new husband Alexis Ohanian, their daughter, family - and top-hat-wearing dog

Belles of the ball: Serena and Ohanian were almost outshone at the wedding by their daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. The wedding had a Beauty and the Beast theme, featuring music from the Disney classic

Star-studded audience: Kim Kardashian (far left), Kelly Rowland and Beyonce (center), LaLa Anthony (second from right) and Ciara were all in attendance at the wedding

Serena's wedding to Ohanian took place at the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans, with the pair surrounded by a bevy of friends, families and A-listers for the Beauty and the Beast-themed bash.

'Alexis really wanted to do New Orleans' Serena told Vogue in an exclusive interview. 'It's his favorite city besides Brooklyn. It's got a heavy European influence; it's fun and has amazing food. He just loves the vibe.'

She added that the decision to hold it at the Arts Center was 'a decision we both made. Painting and art is something I'm really passionate about, so it just felt natural and different to do it at a contemporary art museum.'

As well as the couple's two-month-old daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr, and Venus Williams - who wore a custom Galia Lahav bridesmaid's dress - was a who's who of the biggest names in American pop culture.

The Williams's older sister, Isha Price, was also spotted in a gorgeous green number.

Sadly, one family member who was there only in spirit was Ohanian's mother, who passed away nine years ago. The couple acknowledged her by holding the event on November 16 - her birthday.

'It is her birthday, and we wanted her to be represented at the wedding,' Serena said. 'Obviously, we wish that she could be here for this, but choosing her birthday as our wedding date was a nice way of making sure she's still involved and made us feel more connected to her on our day.'

The proposal - which came 18 months after the pair met by chance at a cafe in Rome - was just as thoughtfully organized.

'I came home one day to find my bags already packed for me, and I had absolutely no idea where I was going until I got on the flight,' Serena told Vogue.

'Alexis flew me out to Rome, back to the exact table where we'd met. We were both really nervous but also excited to take this huge step. It was such a beautiful moment.'

Of course, a perfect wedding needs a perfect dress - so Serena went to Alexander McQueen, knowing she wouldn't be let down.

Newlyweds: Williams and Ohanian share a kiss at the altar. The wedding was held at the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans on the birthday of Ohanian's mother, who passed away nine years ago

Happy together: The couple - who met just 18 months ago by chance in Rome - look delighted in this photograph posted on Ohanian's Instagram page

'I flew to London to meet with [head designer Sarah Burton] and ended up falling in love with the ball gown silhouette, which is completely the opposite of what I ever thought I would choose for myself,' she said.

'I loved the idea of doing a really spectacular ball gown, and it has turned out to be such an incredibly special piece.'

The bridesmaids looked almost as beautiful as the bride in Galia Lahav dresses. Val Vogt, Serena's best friend, explained: '[Serena] talked to all of us and just kind of let us have creative control as to what dress fit our personality. And then she approved it, of course!'

Vogt ultimately carried Serena's Yorkshire terrier, Chip, down the aisle. He was appropriately fitted out in his own top-hat-and-tux combo.

As Serena walked the final dress - a princess gown with Disney-appropriate cape, with $3.5 million of diamond jewelry to accompany it - down the aisle, she was watched by a celebrity-packed audience.

Kim Kardashian, Ciara, Beyonce - and Jay-Z, who flew in to pay his respects but then had to immediately fly out to North Carolina for a concert - and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour were all spotted sitting on sofas facing the aisle.

'I wanted the whole thing to be as nontraditional as possible,' Serena told Vogue. 'We did sofas instead of chairs, with everything facing the aisle instead of the altar.'

Each of the guests was gifted one of Williams' unique golden-trophy party favors; each table at the event had been named after one of 12 of Williams' grand slam titles, and her favors were recreations of the trophies she received for each corresponding title.

Grooming the groom: Ohanian gets a spot of help with his clothes from one of his groomsmen on his big day

Stunning: Serena Williams posted this photograph of her stunning wedding dress on Instagram Friday night, after dancing the day away with friends and family at a post-nupitals brunch

The couple wrote their own vows for the ceremony, with Alexis calling Serena his queen and promising to spend his life taking care of her and their 'princess', two-month-old Alexis Ohanian Jr.

''You are the greatest of all time, not just in sport,' he said. 'I'm talking about as a mother and as a wife. I am so excited to write so many more chapters of our fairy tale together.

'And my whole life I didn't even realize it, but I was waiting for this moment. And everything that I have done, everything that I am so proud of in my career, and in my life, for the last 34 years, pales in comparison to what we're doing today.

'And I am so grateful, and I am so in love.'

The band then played 'Be Our Guest' from Beauty and the Beast as the guests were led into the dining area.

'Serena wanted a ball, but she wanted a modern ball, not anything that was too stuffy,' Preston Bailey, the man behind the decor, told Vogue.

'For the flowers and overall aesthetic, she wanted something that was very different and unique.' Chandeliers encased in gold birdcages, trophy-style place cards, and the 'black lame' table linens achieved this goal.

'I've known Serena for so long and am so happy she's found her prince,' Kardashian said.'From the moment she told me she met Alexis in Rome, it was like... she's been so happy and has this light about her that is so special to see.

'You just know it is so real. He makes her so happy and that just makes her friends happy.'

Men at play: Ohanian and his groomsmen take a little time out to relac after the event in the art center

Brunch bunch: Serena (left) and Ohanian rented out several floors of New Orleans' fashionable Ace Hotel on Friday for a brunch party that ran from noon-6pm. Her sister, Venus Williams (right), was seen chatting afterwards

Celebration: Williams and Ohanian are seen here at the bunch celebration chatting with a guest. The intimate affair was only for family and close friends, and the couple sneaked away out of a rear exit after it was over

Before the guests ate, Serena changed into a second dress - this one having been made by Versace over the course of 1,500 hours - and afterwards she and Ohanian danced to Tale As Old As Time.

For their post-party bash, the new couple - called 'Alexena' by their pals - rented several floors of New Orleans' upscale, boutique Ace Hotel for a brunch bash with friends and family on Friday afternoon.

The shindig was intended to run from noon to 4pm, but the pair were seen dancing wildly until about 6pm, with Serena wearing a tight, short white dress as she grooved next to her sister, Venus.

After the event finally died down, Serena posted up as photograph of herself on Instagram in her stunning wedding dress.

The party included a buffet, Gatorade and a classic video game arcade with machines including Pac-Man and Super Mario Bros.

Ohanian, meanwhile, was spotted outside the shindig chatting with Williams' family members.

As the party wound down, the couple repeated their stealthy wedding departure, slipping out of the back doors and into a limousine that whisked them away to their airport.
Chancellor Philip Hammond (pictured) asked backbenchers to come up with ideas for next week's Budget. The third most common request was cutting UK foreign aid

Tory MPs have piled pressure on Philip Hammond to slash the amount Britain spends on foreign aid.

The Chancellor asked backbenchers to come up with ideas for next week's Budget  and received more than 220 written submissions from backbenchers.

The third most important request  behind housing and student finance  was for reductions in overseas aid.

Many Conservative backbenchers are angry that Britain is still meeting the controversial target to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on aid  currently around 13billion.

Now they have warned Mr Hammond this is wrong when frontline domestic services such as hospitals and the police are struggling.

The strength of feeling will put pressure on the Chancellor to announce some loosening of the target.

But Theresa May has repeatedly stated that she wants to see the 0.7 per cent target continue.

It comes just days after Labour's first aid minister Clare Short called for the 'destructive' foreign aid target to be dropped.

And Jack Straw, the former Foreign Secretary, said: 'I don't think protected budgets are an aid to good government.'

The Tories' move was welcomed by Jacob Rees-Mogg, MP for North East Somerset, who did not himself put the proposal in his submission.

Backbencher MPs want more money to be spent on the NHS and police (file picture)

He said: 'It is a view I share. When expenditure is squeezed in key areas such as health and defence, it is odd to ring-fence overseas aid.

'This is exacerbated by the lax controls over some of the spending to meet an arbitrary target.'

Fellow Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: 'One pound out of every 8 in aid comes from the UK, and we haven't seen other countries rushing to match our generosity.

'There are many other pressing needs for taxpayers' Treasury funds within the UK  from schools and hospitals to social care, the police and the armed forces.

'An arbitrary 0.7 per cent target can create the situation where if GDP is adjusted upwards at the end of the year, money is shovelled out of the door.

'That is never going to be efficient spending. Mis-spending taxpayers' money never aids anyone.'

In the summer a watchdog warned that aid cash was being sent overseas in a desperate last-minute attempt to hit the target.

The National Audit Office (NAO) said departments were dishing out as much as 98 per cent of their budgets in the final three months of the year.

Keeping the target in line with economic growth means ministers have to find new ways of spending ever greater sums.

In a major review, the NAO said Ministers were failing to ensure officials could cope with the extra expenditure.

It raised concerns over accountability and whether the success or failure of schemes was being assessed properly.

The watchdog found there were problems with officials splurging cash shortly before end-of-year deadlines  with five Government departments using half or more of their overseas development budget in the last three months.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, pictured, said it was 'odd' to ring-fence overseas aid when there was a 'squeeze' on expenditure

Mr Straw told Prospect magazine last week that protected budgets led to 'sloppy' decision-making.

'Those departments don't have to argue their corner and they get sloppy,' he said.

'It leads to officials in DfID searching for projects to spend money. An awful lot of money goes to spend on jobs for middle-class whites.'

Miss Short, who was the UK's first international development secretary, said the money could be better spent in a different way.

She added: 'I am afraid the department has lost capacity and that 0.7 [per cent] has ended up being destructive. Money is useful if it is well spent, not in itself.'

The ex-minister said that while the target was a 'good idea' it had gone wrong in practice, and there needed to be a 'serious debate about what has gone wrong and how to put it right.

It would be great to keep 0.7 and refocus, but this may not be possible.'

A DFID spokesperson said: 'Our aid commitment increases Britains global influence and alongside our world class defence and diplomacy helps the UK to create opportunity, peace and prosperity.

'UK aid is saving lives: immunising 80 children a minute against polio, getting food to people fleeing violence in Burma, taking on the scourge of modern slavery and giving Syrian children the chance to go to school and learn.

'DFID has introduced tough new reforms of its aid spending to deliver value for money, including clamping down on the risk of unethical practices by suppliers, holding aid organisations to account by tying funding to performance, closing programmes which fail to meet development objectives, and increasing efficiency savings.'
The UK's most married man dumped by his girlfriend earlier this week has revealed he isn't giving up on love just yet after being 'inundated' with marriage requests.

Ron Sheppard, 69, was left heartbroken when 28-year-old Cristel Lalec packed her bags and told him she was returning to the Philippines.

His previous eight marriages had all failed but he believed Miss Lalec was his 'forever wife' because he 'loved her with all his heart'.

He proposed to the call centre worker on New Year's Eve in 2015 after spending Christmas with her family in the Philippines

Ron Sheppard was set to get married for the ninth time, to 28-year-old Cristel Lalec (pictured), but she ran off

But it seems he may not be on his own for too long as the great-grandfather has revealed already women from Ghana, Vietnam and the USA have been in touch ready to console him.

The father told The Mirror: 'I would expect wife number nine shortly at this rate. 'I just can't fathom what they see in me. Perhaps it's all part and parcel of being internationally notorious.'

He said at least 10 women have been in touch looking for love since he declared himself back on the market.

Speaking from his council house on Friday, he said he phone wouldn't stop ringing with messages and alerts from admirers all over the world.

Mr Sheppard said: 'It's amazing  I have an avalanche of messages. Just wait until they see my Tinder. As soon as Cristel left I couldn't move for messages of love from places like Ghana.

Mr Sheppard and Miss Lalec first met more than ten years ago, while Mr Sheppard was married to Wan (pictured), wife number seven

Wife number eight: Weng Platino (pictured left, on their wedding day and right, on their 10th anniversary) married Mr Sheppard in 2004

He added: 'Of course there is only so much Ron to go around and I am not getting any younger so maybe I need to be a bit more discerning this time round. Wife number nine has to be the one  even I couldn't face a tenth.'

Opening up about his disagreements with his previous partner, he revealed the Filipino national Miss Lalec was not a fan of his impressions, particularly his take on comic Sir Norman Wisdom.

Mr Sheppard said: 'She hated that impression but I have so much more to give  I can do Frankie Howerd and Elvis. I can't change who I am and that is the key to any relationship.'

The Lothario first got married in 1966, to Margaret. The couple, who had three children, divorced after two years. The longest of Ron's eight marriages lasted 13 years and the shortest was 10 months.

The retired Butlins entertainer, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, flew in Cristel from the Philippines last year.

But after 12 months together in the market town of Somerton, Somerset, until she walked out.

Mr Sheppard believes she may have met someone else already.
A brave California mother who was shot while shielding her son during a Northern California rampage at her son's school was ignored by several people while begging for help.

Tiffany Phommathep, 31, was dropping off three of her kids at an elementary school in rural Tehama County when a maniacal gunman opened fire Tuesday morning.

Using her body as a shield, the mother of three flung herself over her 10-year-old son while rounds were being pumped into her car. She was shot five times, bleeding and losing consciousness while being able to drive away.

Phommathep says she pulled up to a woman to ask for help. 'Found some more strength to open my window, my door and I hopped out to her and asked her, 'Can you help? I'm shot, I'm dying, and my kids are in the car,' Phommathep told local KCRA.

Tiffany Phommathep, 31, pictured with her husband Johnny Phommathep, was shot five times in the Tuesday morning shooting at her children's school in rural Tehama County

While shielding her son from gunfire, Phommathep was shot four times in the back and once in the hip

Phommathep family: Tiffany and her husband Johnny with their son John Jr., 10, Jake, 6, and 2-year-old Nikos, with a fellow older family member

'She said she couldn't help me because she only had a two-seater and she was late for work.'

'That hurt my heart a lot to hear her say that,' she added.

She said while she was getting shot at- she was scared she could't take another bullet wound.

'I just kept on praying that he'd go away because I can't take another bullet,' Phommathep said. 'I knew I wouldn't make it.'

Phommathep's children were also hurt, either shot or struck by glass, but their mother took the brunt of the bullets.

The young family is still recovering- and will be for some time, their mother still has a bullet lodged in her stomach days after the shootings

The bleeding and dying mother asked four people who refused to help her until she finally found a deputy sheriff.

'I think they just didn't want to get involved in case I was being, like, chased by some lunatic that was trying to gun me down,' Phommathep said.

'She crawled out, bleeding,' her husband Johnny Phommathep said. 'If it wasn't for him [deputy sheriff] my wife wouldn't be here.'

Kevin Janson Neal (pictured), 43, has been named as the killer who shot dead four people and injured at least 10 more in a spree that climaxed with him firing 100 rounds into a school

Her son John Jr., the 10-year-old in the front seat, was shot twice in the calf.

She suffered four gunshots to her back and one to her hip.

Jake, 6, was shot in the foot while sitting in the backseat on the passenger's side. And 2-year-old Nikos, who was sitting next to Jake, was cut by glass and nearly struck by a bullet that pierced the door beside him, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Tiffany's husband said they lived near the gunman and knew him to be dangerous.

'We're not mad, we're not angry,' Johnny Phommathep told KCRA.

'We just feel like things could have been prevented, but that's out of our control.'

Three days after the shooting, Tiffany Phommathep still had a bullet lodged in her stomach.

Neal performed a series drive-bys in this stolen truck (seen with police investigators) before smashing into school gates in it and firing through windows and walls

The family has a GoFundMe page to help with the soaring medical bills.

Johnny says they are just lucky their family survived.

'We're one of the fortunate ones,' he said. 'We can go home.'

The gunman killed at least four people and hospitalized 10 more - including two children as parents took their children to school is Kevin Janson Neal, 43.

Neal, who sometimes used the name Smith, was identified as the shooter after his Tuesday rampage, which climaxed with him smashing into a school's gates and firing into its walls and windows.

Family say he was addicted to drugs and was awaiting trial for stabbing a neighbor in a feud.

He began his rampage near his home on Bobcat Lane in the Rancho Tehama Reserve at 7.52am, shooting people at random before stealing a truck and performing drive-bys on homes, pedestrians and other drivers.

Neal eventually arrived at the Rancho Tehama Elementary School and smashed through its gates before firing as many as 100 bullets through windows and walls, hitting one child, and trying to enter classrooms. He then fled, and was shot dead by police near the property.

Neal was arrested in January for shooting at two neighbors and stabbing one of them, at the climax of a long-running dispute. It's not clear if they were among his Tuesday victims

'I thought there was a car accident,' Stephanie Turner, who was dropping off her children, aged six and seven, at the time, told the Sacramento Bee of Neal's assault on the school gates.

'I pulled into the school and heard gunshots. I told my kids to get down onto the floor. Then I saw a guy in the back of the school with a rifle. As soon as he saw us, he started shooting at us. I just took off.'

The shooting appears to have come after a long period of instability from Neal, including stabbing one of his neighbors.

Tehama County District Attorney Gregg Cohen told ChicoER that on January 31, a long-standing dispute between Neal and two female neighbors came to a head when he shot at them and attacked one with a knife.

He said Neal opened fire on the neighbors as they walked along a wooden fence.

He reportedly then jumped the fence, stabbed one of them and stole the other's cellphone.

Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston told Fox News that one of the victims was the woman he shot in January, although it's not clear if she was fatally wounded.

Police are still working out the exact motive for the shooting.

Police evidence tags lie in the abandoned playground at Rancho Tehama Elementary School where Neal opened fire after a miles-long drive-by spree on Tuesday, injuring children
Preparations are in full swing for the wedding between John Ibrahim's nephew and Salim Mehajer's sister, Aisha.

The wedding is going ahead despite the Kings Cross identity's bodyguard being gunned down in the backyard of the Merrylands home just hours earlier.

While police scoured drains and rubbish bins nearby, decorations began to arrive at the house on Price Street late on Saturday morning.

Guests were seen arriving later this afternoon with wedding gifts aplenty

And no expense is being spared! Guests roll up to the wedding venue

The wedding is going ahead despite the Kings Cross identity's bodyguard being gunned down in the backyard of the Merrylands home just hours earlier

While police scoured drains and rubbish bins nearby, decorations began to arrive at the house on Price Street late on Saturday morning

Preparations (pictured, left) are in full swing for the wedding between John Ibrahim's nephew and Salim Mehajer's sister, Aisha (pictured, right)

Trucks bearing walls of white flowers pulled up outside, as a pavilion decked out with red roses was put up.

Visitors arrived carrying boxes and burly men helped carry equipment towed to the property in trailers.

Semi 'Tongan Sam' Ngata was shot in the back on Friday night and treated at the scene before being rushed to Westmead Hospital.

He remains in a serious but stable condition and has so far refused to cooperate with police.

Semi 'Tongan Sam' Ngata (pictured, left with Fadi Ibrahim, second left, and Salim Mehajer, second right) was shot in the back on Friday night and treated at the scene before being rushed to Westmead Hospital

Semi 'Tongan Sam' Ngata was shot in the back on Friday night and treated at the scene before being rushed to Westmead Hospital (pictured are Aisha Mehajer, and brother Salim Mehajer)

The names of the couple were etched on a pavement outside the Ibrahim's family home ahead of the ceremony on Saturday

Men arrived at the property to help set up the wedding, only hours after police searched the home

Police formed a search line and scoured drains and rubbish bins outside John Ibrahim's mother's house

Police believe he was shot in the backyard, and the attacker may have gained entry through a side fence.

They plan to closely monitor the wedding amid fears of revenge or retaliation in order to keep the community safe.

No arrests have been made.

Trucks bearing walls of white flowers pulled up outside, as a pavilion decked out with red roses was put up

Preparations for the wedding ceremony were in full swing by early afternoon on Saturday

Trailers arrived at Price Street Merrylands carrying huge flower walls, only hours after a shooting there

Visitors streamed to the property to help with wedding preparations as the gunshot victim fought for life in hospital
It's hard to beat the moment when you finally scratch that pesky itch that you haven't been able to reach - and a Cradle Mountain wombat has finally learned how good it feels.

Gorgeous footage from Cradle Mountain captured this inventive wombat finding a great alternative use for the boardwalk tracks, using the edges to rub up and down his back.

Some tourists spent a sunny afternoon snapping pics of little fella as he made himself comfortable beneath the wooden planks, even doing what looked like a little twerk for the cameras.

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Tourists have captured footage of a wombat using the wooden boardwalk as a scratching post

The creative creature has discovered he can rub his back with the underside of the wood track

The Cradle Mountain visitors centre regularly plays host to Wilma the wombat, who has been ambling in and out at her leisure for years.

Wilma is also a regular at the Canyons Shop in the area, usually nosing around for an affectionate pat before going on her way.

Wilma the Wombat is a regular at Cradle Mountain visitors centre and shops on the mountain

These funny, furry little creatures have endeared themselves to the public and everyone hopes to catch a glimpse of one running across the button-grass plains.

It's common for tourists to buy apples and potatoes to feed the friendly creatures that frequent the shops and campsites all over the mountain.

It is also a regular sight to see people pulling up on the side of the road and getting out to play with the wombats living in the nearby bushes.

Ms Judge shared video footage of a wombat enjoying a quick scratch in the mountain bush

Ms Neverov posted a picture of one of the wombats she saw on the mountain earlier this year

A lot of wombats are very tame, and enjoy relaxing in one spot for hours as tourists line up to to pat and take selfies with them before wandering back into the bush.

They can often be seen either running into or reversing out of their little hidey holes from the boardwalk at Ronnies Creek and the various tracks around Dove Lake.

Additionally, wombats mate in winter, which means there are usually plenty of baby wombats wombling around Cradle Mountain National Park in the summer months.

Wombats mate in winter, meaning that by summer, Cradle Mountain in summer is full of babies
Three months after detectives became suspicious that NSW sheep farmer Mathew Dunbar had been murdered his widow has been taken to Tamworth police station.

Natasha Beth Crossman, 42, was arrested about 9.30am at the pair's Walcha property, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Mr Dunbar, 42, was allegedly found connected to a helium gas tank, with Ms Crossman claiming her partner had committed suicide.

Three months after detectives became suspicious that NSW sheep farmer Mathew Dunbar had been murdered his widow Natasha Crossman (both pictured) has been taken to Tamworth police station

'I was there  I know he killed himself. But I mean (the police) have to investigate,' Ms Crossman told News Corp this week.

'I'm dealing with post-traumatic stress because I was the one that found him.'

Detectives arrived on the farm in three cars Saturday morning, with Ms Crossman taken to Tamworth Police station, 100km away.

Her ex-husband Colin Crossman, who is believed to have been one of the first paramedics on the scene following Mr Dunbar's death, arrived shortly after.

Natasha Beth Crossman, 42, was arrested about 9.30am at the pair's Walcha property, The Daily Telegraph reports, having previously claimed Mr Dunbar committed suicide

Detectives arrived on the farm in three cars Saturday morning, with Ms Crossman (left) taken to Tamworth Police station, while her former husband Colin Crossman (right) was seen leaving the property with her three children

Mr Crossman was then seen leaving the property in a red Pajero with Ms Crossman's children, with the driveway sealed off with blue and white tape.

Ms Crossman previously claimed Mr Dunbar had been upset about a limp from a leg infection and had been 'depressed' at not being able to run the farm.

Mr Dunbar was found dead at the homestead on August 2 after police and ambulance officers were called to the scene.

'A 42-year-old woman is assisting police at Tamworth police station,' a NSW Police spokeswoman told AAP on Saturday.
A pair of the world's most stubborn drivers have battled it out on the streets, leaving the internet divided.

A green sedan and a white electrician's van fought for control of a lane while merging on Ngauranga Gorge Road, Wellington, New Zealand.

Neither motorist was prepared to give way as they drove perilously close to one another, driving side-by-side squeezed into the same lane.

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A pair of the world's most stubborn drivers (pictured) have battled it out on the streets, leaving the internet divided

After a brief tussle the sedan was forced behind the van, which moved ahead and drove close behind the vehicle in front.

Not prepared to give up, the driver of the sedan turned on their indicator and tried to cut in front of the van.

The van driver stubbornly refused to let the sedan in, and the two briefly shared the lane again before the sedan fell back.

A green sedan and a white electrician's van (pictured) fought for control of a lane while merging on Ngauranga Gorge Road, Wellington, New Zealand

Reaction to the stubborn display of driving has divided the internet, polarising opinions on Facebook

The video ended with the sedan driving close behind the van, while the driver of the larger vehicle gestured out the window.

Reaction to the stubborn display of driving has divided the internet, polarising opinions on Facebook.

Poll Who was in the wrong? The van driver The sedan driver Both drivers Who was in the wrong? The van driver 746 votes

The sedan driver 303 votes

Both drivers 423 votes Now share your opinion





Some believed the van driver was at fault, writing: 'If you know the area the van is actually in the wrong because he actually came from the left which is an off ramp to a suburb'.

'Looks more like the blue car should have dropped back for the van,' said another user.

Others took the sedan's side, saying: 'Who's in the wrong here? I'm picking the van'.

'Dude in the car should have jumped out and caved van man's head in,' wrote someone else.

Many social media users were not impressed with either driver, saying both were at fault, and complaining they see similar behavior far too often on Wellington's roads.
An intense manhunt is underway in western Pennsylvania for the man suspected of fatally shooting of a police officer.

The shooting happened shortly after 8pm Friday in New Kensington, about 18 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, when a routine traffic stop turned into a foot pursuit.

At some point during the chase shots were fired, and the officer, identified as 25-year-old patrolman Brian Shaw, was hit. Officers haven't said if Shaw returned fire, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Officer Shaw was rushed to Allgheny Valley Hospital where he died from his wounds.

Officer Brian Shaw was shot dead on Friday night in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, when a routine traffic stop turned into a foot pursuit

An intense manhunt has now been launched to search for the suspect in that shooting. Pictured are SWAT team members prepare to search the neighborhood where Shaw was shot

New Kensington police chief Jim Klein said in a late night press conference that Shaw had been with the department for less than a year.

Police found Shaw when they responded to a 'shots fired' call after he'd initially radioed in to say he was stopping a suspect.

Early Saturday officers from neighboring towns were called up to scour the area for the suspect.

A SWAT team and a crew from the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined the search, along with at least eight K-9 units.

A Pittsburgh SWAT team and a crew from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Police have recovered a brown, older model Jeep Grand Cherokee wanted in connection with the shooting.

It isn't clear what other information the force has about the suspect.

Early Saturday officers from neighboring towns were called up to scour the area for the suspect. SWAT teams and police dogs were called in to assist

New Kensington police chief Jim Klein said in a late night press conference that Shaw had been with the department for less than a year. He has implored anyone with information to come forward

Chief Klein has implored anyone who might have information about the shooter to come forward and assist in the manhunt.

'I'm asking anybody with any information, as minute as they think it might be, please, please give us a call. We need to find the person who did this,' he said during the press conference.

Residents in the western Pennsylvania neighborhood where the shooting happened said there has been friction in the community recently.

One resident told the Post-Gazette that a drug bust happened just last week at a methamphetamine lab just down the street.

Though Shaw was only a part of the force for a short period, people throughout the community said he had a significant impact

Shaw's friend Allie Willhelm told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review that he had always wanted to become a police officer

Though Shaw was only a part of the force for a short period, people throughout the community said he had a significant impact.

In a photo shared by WTAE reporter David Kaplan, Shaw can be seen chatting with a young boy. The boy had just gotten a pair of handcuffs and wanted to show them to a real police officer.

Shaw then spent several minutes chatting with the boy, showing him his 'real cuffs,' Kaplan said in the Tweet.

Shaw's friend Allie Willhelm told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review that he had always wanted to become a police officer.

Willhelm said it was all Shaw talked about since he was a teenager, and that he'd told her on a number of occasions 'it's my calling.'
An investigation is ongoing but no charges have been laid in relation to the party

Police has to call in extra police officers and the dog squad to disperse the crowd

Neighbours called authorities at 9pm with reports of street drinking and fighting

The 17-year-old birthday girl hosted more than 250 guests aged from 12-20 years

An unsupervised birthday bash has ended with police being called to Caversham

Police were called to an out-of-control party in Perth's east on Friday night when an unsupervised eighteenth birthday bash spilled out onto the street.

A police spokesman said police attended the party on Bennett Street in Caversham at about 9pm after reports of street drinking and fighting.

Officers were called by neighbours concerned about 'anti-social and disorderly behaviour involving large groups of youths', the spokesperson told WA Today.

More than 250 guests aged between 12 and 20 attended an out-of-control 18th birthday bash

Police attended the scene after neighbours reported incidences of street drinking and fighting

The party host was a 17 year old girl, with no responsible adult in attendance and an entrance fee being charged to guests, aged 12 to 20 years.

The party was swiftly declared an 'out of control gathering' by the police, who were forced to call in extra police officers and the dog squad were called in to disperse the crowd.

'Officers from the Regional Operations Group and Canine Section assisted by dispersing the crowd from the area to restore order,' the spokesman said.

Police are continuing investigations and no charges have been laid so far.

The party was thrown at a house on Bennett Street in Caversham with no adult supervision

Police were forced to call in extra police officers and the dog squad to disperse the crowds

This is the second incident in the space of week - a Perth house party thrown by a teen was shut down by the authorities on Saturday November 11.

Last Saturday night, riot police shut down a teenager's party in on Meadowview Drive in Perth's Ballajura, after it got out of control with more than 200 people in attendance.

WA Police said fights broke out and bottles were thrown at officers who arrived to break up the party and stop people drinking on the street shortly after 10pm.

Riot police shut down a teen's party in Perth after it got out of control with 200+ people there

Officers were called to the home in Meadowview Drive, Ballajura, at about 9pm on Saturday

Some people also kicked street signs and bins as the police declared the party an 'out of control gathering' and tried to send people home.

Two 17-year-old were issues infringement notices for disorderly conduct.

Rachel Dweh said her son was the party's host, but had only invited 30 or 40 children.

She said he began to shut it down when police arrived, and she doesn't believe 200 people had made it inside the house since it's still clean.

'The group were on the street, I didn't know them,' she told 7News, adding that he son won't be throwing any more parties in the near future.

Rachel Dweh said her son was the party's host, but had only invited about 30 or 40 children
When AFL WAG Annie Nolan first saw her twin daughters she thought they more closely resembled little pink jelly beans than the babies she had expected  after arriving 13 weeks early.

The young girls, Cheska and Delphi, are now a popular part of their blogger mum's online presence  often snapped posing for the camera, covered in glitter and wearing broad smiles.

But the mother has revealed the first few weeks of their life were far less carefree  as she works to raise awareness for premature births.

Annie Nolan's two twin daughters (far left and far right) who were born 13 weeks early

Cheska, two weeks old, with her mother's engagement ring half way up her arm (pictured)

Delphi's (pictured) mother revealed the first few weeks of their life was far less carefree  as she works to raise awareness for premature births

Now alongside Cheska (right) and Delphi (left), Nolan works hard raising awareness for premature births

The mother spoke to the Herald Sun about those emotional few weeks in hospital and the terrifying moment she knew her babies were coming early.

'I remember thinking, 'I'm not meant to see this. They're not supposed to be out yet',' she said. 'It was like opening the pouch of a kangaroo and looking in at the pink jelly beans.'

Ms Nolan was at home with her one-year-old son when she started feeling the early contractions. Her partner Western Bulldogs utility Liam Picken was interstate  so she called out to a neighbour for help.

'My body was trying to go into labour,' Nolan says.

Stacks away! Nolan wasn't allowed to hold Cheska until she was three-weeks-old and Delphi until she was six-weeks-old

'It was like opening the pouch of a kangaroo and looking in at the pink jelly beans,' Nolan said

Delphi was born first and weighed in at 900grams her sister had to be delivered by an emergency c-section and weighed just 700grams

'They gave me steroid injections to help the babies' lungs mature and I was put on bed rest. By bed rest I mean I had to pee in a bed pan. They wouldn't let me move.'

The twins stayed inside for a week  growing bigger and stronger every day.

Delphi was born first and weighed in at 900grams her sister had to be delivered by an emergency c-section and weighed just 700grams.

They didn't cry, instead they were raced into the Neonatal intensive care unit where they could be watched by doctors around the clock.'

'You just have to trust that they're in safe hands. You just have to hope that you'll be the lucky ones,' Nolan said

'They didn't cry, instead they were raced into the Neonatal intensive care unit where they could be watched by doctors around the clock,' Nolan said

The mother was not allowed to hold her babies for weeks  with Cheska's first cuddle coming three weeks after she was born. Her sister had to wait twice as long.

'You can't do much. You just have to trust that they're in safe hands. You just have to hope that you'll be the lucky ones,' Picken said.

More than 300 babies are born at 27 weeks in Australia and New Zealand each year.

The mother will be participating in this year's pram jam  where they will be raising awareness for the plight of premature babies and their families.

The mother (centre) will be participating in this year's pram jam  where they will be raising awareness for the plight of premature babies and their families
Clinton also answered questions about her husband's owned checkered past

Franken admitted on Thursday of inappropriate sexual contact with a woman

In an interview Friday, Clinton came to the defense of Senator Al Franken

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton blasts President Trump and Roy Moore

Hillary Clinton has come to the defense of embattled Minnesota Senator Al Franken on Friday just days after sexual misconduct allegations emerged against him.

During an interview with WABC Radio, the former Democratic presidential nominee praised Franken for immediately admitting that he acted inappropriately, telling listeners that the real predators are in the GOP.

'Look at the contrast between Al Franken, accepting responsibility, apologizing, and Roy Moore and Donald Trump who have done neither,' Clinton said.

Forrmer Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (pictured 2017) blasts President Trump and Roy Moore

Clinton came to the defense of embattled Senator Al Franken (pictured July 2017) after it emerged he inappropriately touched a woman in 2006

'[That] is the kind of accountability I'm talking about. I don't hear that from Roy Moore or Donald Trump.'

Leeann Tweeden (pictured 2007) was groped by Franken while on a USO tour in 2006

Former Playboy playmate and radio news anchor Leeann Tweeden accused the former Saturday Night Live writer of groping her while they were on a USO tour together in 2006.

Franken admitted to the offense and offered his 'sincerest apologies' to Tweeden on Thursday.

Moore is running for Alabama Senator in the US Senate after Attorney General Jeff Sessions relinquished the seat in January to join the Trump administration.

Moore has been tied to a rash of sexual misconduct allegations over the past several days, including touching a 14-year-old girl inappropriately nearly 40 years ago.

The President, meanwhile, has had at least 16 different women come out on the record to level sexual misconduct allegations against him.

Both men vehemently deny any and all of the allegations.

Both Judge Roy Moore and Donald Trump have repeatedly denied sexual assault allegations against them from a rash of different women

Franken admitted on Thursday of inappropriate sexual contact with Tweeden and apologized

Clinton, however, was also pressed about her husband's owned checkered past, including allegations of sexual assault made over the years against Bill Clinton.

Rita Cosby (pictured Nov. 2017) interviewed Clinton on WABC radio

'Every situation has to be judged on its own merit,' Clinton explained to WABC radio host Rita Cosby.

'I don't know that we can rewrite and revise history,' Clinton added. 'I don't exactly know what [New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand] was trying to say.'

Gillibrand, a Democrat, said on Thursday that she believes President Clinton should have resigned from office amid the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

The conversation was quickly refocused against Moore and Trump, with the former Secretary of State taking more shots at the two Republicans.

'[Trump] has disgraced the office... I didn't think he'd be as bad as he turned out to be,' Clinton said.
Two young boys who were killed following a deadly car crash involving a police vehicle in LA have been revealed.

Luis Hernandez told the Los Angeles Times that the victims were his brothers, seven-year-old Jose Luis and nine-year-old Marcos.

The seven-year-old died at the scene Thursday, and the older boy died at a hospital, relatives told the paper.

Luis Hernandez told the Los Angeles Times that the victims were his brothers, seven-year-old Jose Luis (left) and nine-year-old Marcos

Their mother, whose identity has yet to be released, is in critical condition at a nearby hospital

'I got the call and I didn't believe it,' Hernandez said tearfully Friday at a makeshift memorial of flowers, stuffed animals and candles at the intersection. 'I just didn't believe it.'

Their mother was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

Surveillance video captures the horrific crash Thursday which left the boys dead and their mother injured near downtown Los Angeles.

Two other people in a crosswalk were injured in the Thursday night crash as deputies responded to a report of a gunshot victim, Los Angeles police Capt. Alfonso Lopez said.

he incident occurred about 7:30 p.m. Thursday near the intersection of Whittier Boulevard and Indiana Street

Investigators were still trying to determine whether the patrol vehicle was using its emergency lights and siren at the time.

'We extend our deepest condolences to the families and all those affected by this tragic accident,' a sheriff's department statement said.

The eight-second film shows a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy vehicle careening onto the sidewalk after it hit the pedestrians.

The mangled car is seen driving as it drags a trash can along. A few moments later, the body of what appears to be a woman is seen rolling onto the sidewalk.

The video, first obtained by the Los Angeles Times, was shot by surveillance cameras installed above the parking lot right next to Green Mill Liquor Store in the Boyle Heights section of LA.

Surveillance video captures the horrific crash Thursday which left two boys ages 7 and 9 dead and their mother injured near downtown Los Angeles

The three were run into after a chain collision involving a Los Angeles Sheriff's deputy car and two other vehicles on Thursday

The eight-second film shows a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy vehicle careening onto the sidewalk after it hit the pedestrians

The mangled car is seen driving as it drags a trash can along. A few moments later, the body of what appears to be a woman is seen rolling onto the sidewalk

A Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy vehicle crashed into another car and was sent hurtling toward a pedestrian sidewalk near downtown LA.

The second car involved in the collision then hit a third car, 'causing injury to two additional adult pedestrians in the crosswalk,' a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson said.

Just after 7:20pm, the accident took place near the intersection of Indiana Street and Whittier Boulevard, according to the LAPD.

The deputies were responding to an emergency call of a reported gunshot victim when the three-car collision took place, KTLA-TV reported.

The LAPD is handling the investigation.

The impact of the collision thrust the sheriff's vehicle onto the sidewalk, where the three pedestrians were struck, authorities told the Los Angeles Times.

Two children were killed and three other pedestrians were injured when a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy vehicle struck them while responding to a reported shooting near downtown LA on Thursday evening

Just after 7:20pm, the vehicle was driving through the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles when it collided into the pedestrians near the intersection of Indiana Street and Whittier Boulevard, according to the LAPD

The deputies were responding to an emergency call of a reported gunshot victim when the three-car collision took place, the LAPD said

One of the victims was pronounced dead at the scene. Another was taken to hospital and later pronounced dead

One of the victims was pronounced dead at the scene. Another was taken to hospital and later pronounced dead.

Authorities have yet to reveal the names of the victims prior to notifying next of kin.

The LAPD says a total of seven people were transported to the hospital for treatment - two deputies, three pedestrians, and two others from one of the other vehicles involved in the accident.

One of the injured pedestrians is their mother, who was rushed to hospital in critical condition, according to CBS Los Angeles.

Authorities have also not announced the extent of the pedestrians' injuries.

The sheriff's deputies involved in the collision suffered injuries and were reported in stable condition.

They are expected to be released from the hospital soon.

The other two drivers involved in the collision were not injured. Both remained at the scene of the crash.

'I was inside in my home and I heard the crash. Within seconds, I was outside and just a few feet from the incident,' an eyewitness, Paulette de la Cruz, told KABC-TV.

'When I got there I saw a little boy with a white blanket over him. Another one across, I'm not sure if he was conscious or not, but it didn't look like he was.'

Authorities are encouraging anyone with information to call the East Los Angeles Sheriff's Station at 323-264-4151 or the LAPD Hollenbeck Community Police Station at 323-342-4100.

Anonymous tips can also be left by calling 877-527-3247.
The family of a 5-year-old boy whose skull was crushed in the rotating wall of a hotel restaurant has sued the Atlanta hotel, accusing it of negligence in his death.

Attorney Joseph Fried filed suit Wednesday for Rebecca and Michael Holt of Charlotte, North Carolina, whose son Charlie died April 14.

'What started out as the best family trip, turned into the worst nightmare,' Rebecca Holt said in a statement emailed by Fried.

They had chosen the Sun Dial restaurant 'because it was recommended as a fun place for families with kids to see the Atlanta skyline and enjoy a meal,' Charlie's father, Michael Holt, said in the statement.

Charlie Holt, 5, was killed at the rotating restaurant Sun Dial at the Westin Atlanta, in April when his head became trapped between a table and a wall

The Holt family were reportedly the last customers in the restaurant when the boy wandered away from his parents to see the view of the Atlanta skyline

Marriott International, the hotel's owner, didn't immediately respond to an email and phone call requesting comment.

Police had said the boy wandered away from his family's window table at the restaurant atop the Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel and got his head stuck between tables. They also said the rotating floor shut off automatically when he was struck.

The lawsuit disagrees with police statements.

It said the family left along a path that various members had used without problems to go to and from the bathroom. But this time, it said, a booth rotating near a stationary wall blocked their path.

Charlie Holt was visiting with his family from Charlotte, North Carolina, and they stopped to have lunch at the Sun Dial Restaurant located on the 72nd floor of the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel

Charlie, a few steps ahead of his parents, 'was too short to see past the booth and did not appreciate the danger until it was too late,' and was trapped in the 'pinch point' between booth and wall, according to the lawsuit.

'To Michael's and Rebecca's horror, the rotation did not automatically stop when Charlie got trapped,' the lawsuit states, and there was no emergency button to stop it.

Rebecca Holt tried to pull her son free and Michael Holt 'threw his body against the booth,' but both actions were futile, it said.

It said Michael Holt heard his son's skull crack before someone finally stopped the rotation.

'The family has filed this law suit to set the record straight about what happened and to make sure, to the best of their abilities, that no other family ever has to suffer the same fate,' Fried's statement said.

Defendants include Marriott, as well as the chain that previously owned the Peachtree before Marriott bought the chain. Also named are other former owners and operators, and the architects, interior designer and contractor in charge of renovations to the restaurant in 2012 and 2013.

The hotel reopened the restaurant in June.

'After Charlie's death, Marriott has said that it won't allow the restaurant to revolve again until it has addressed the dangerous pinch points,' Fried's statement said. 'Marriott should not have waited for this tragedy before acting to correct this hazard, especially while it held itself out as a safe place for kids.'

Charlie suffered the severe head injury in April when he got stuck between the table, which was rotating, and the wall at the Sun Dial restaurant on the 72nd floor of the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel.

Charlie was visiting with his family from Charlotte, North Carolina, when they stopped to have lunch at the venue which offers spectacular views from the top floor.

The Sun Dial spins slowly to offer 360 degree views of the city's skyline and surrounding countryside and the youngster became lodged between a fixed wall and a table that was moving.

The restaurant spins to offer 360 degree views of the city's skyline, and the boy reportedly became lodged in the five inches of space between the wall and a rotating table

The statement issued by a family spokesperson read: 'The family asks for prayers and privacy right now to come to terms with this tragedy.

'No words can express their loss. If you have a loved one, please give them an extra hug today.'

The family were the last customers in the restaurant when the boy wandered away from his parents to have a look at the views for himself, WSBTV reported.

The hotel's security staff and employees scrambled to pull the boy out after realizing he was stuck in the narrow five inches of space between the wall and table.

'His whole body was caught in between maybe 4 or 5 inches of space and his head took the brunt of the injury,' police said to, WXIA. 'It crushed his little small body.'

'The amount of people who were helping was amazing,' Atlanta Police Department spokesperson Warren Pickard said. 'They were moving furniture, they were pulling chairs  chairs that were bolted to the floor  they were pulling them up to try to get the child out.'

They were eventually able to free him, but unfortunately it was too late.

Although the moving floor immediately stopped, Charlie suffered severe head trauma.

He was taken to Grady Hospital after the incident around 3.30pm, and was later pronounced dead.

'There was a tragic accident at the hotel involving a young boy,' Westin Peachtree Plaza Manager George Reed said.

'Words cannot express the depths of our sorrow. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.'
School leavers have descended on the Gold Coast on Saturday in preparation for night one of Schoolies 2017.

More than 20,000 Year 12 graduates are expected to turn up at the festivities this year, which is set to go for a week.

Plenty of young adults were farewelled at airports today and hotels today, as parents helped set them up with the essentials.

Cartons of drinks were the number one item on the list it seemed, with parents helping to cart the beverages.

Over 20,000 school leavers are expected to hit the Gold Coast for Schoolies 2017, with parents on hand to farewell their kids on Saturday

These friends gave a quick kiss at the hotel, with toilet paper in hand, before the party begins

Year 12 graduates and festival goers were seen checking in to the event, carrying their official passes

Cartons of drinks were the number one item on the list it seemed, with parents helping to cart the beverages

Food and toilet paper were next, as the week-long celebrations may be the first time away from home for many of the teenagers.

Mums and dads were spotted helping their soon-to-be adult children carry their luggage into hotels and through airports.

While the weather on Surfers Paradise appeared cloudy during the day, there will be no stopping the party atmosphere once the sun goes down.

One class from Somerset College in Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast got in on the graduation action early on Friday, running into the water at Burleigh Heads Beach.

Thanks Dad! Parents were spotted helping their kids stock up on all the essentials, such as beer and mixers

Carrying their luggage through the event, these two young adults look set for a Schoolies 2017

The week-long celebrations may be the first time away from home for many of the teenagers

While the weather appeared dreary in both Sydney and the Gold Coast, this trio looked packed and ready to go

Schoolies celebrations in Queensland kicked off early, with one class from Somerset College in Mudgeeraba getting in on the action Friday afternoon as they ran into the surf

Year 12 graduates and festival goers were seen checking in to the event, carrying their official passes.

Many stopped to chat to the dozens of volunteers on hand at Schoolies, to ensure the safety of the young adults.

Agencies such as the police, the dog squad, mounted police, Red Frogs Australia and State Emergency Services will all be on hand to help out and keep patrons safe across the events.

Last year there were 62 revellers arrested in the first week of Schoolies on the Gold Coast, with 37 in 2015 and 131 in 2014, ABC reports.

Mums and dads were spotted helping their soon-to-be adult children carry their luggage into hotels and through airports

Agencies such as the police, the dog squad, mounted police, Red Frogs Australia and State Emergency Services will all be on hand to help out

All packed and ready to go, this group of friends make their way to their accommodation for Schoolies 2017

Schoolies celebrations officially kick off in Queensland on Saturday, with similar events in NSW and Victoria beginning on November 25.

While plenty of party goers will keep the Schoolies tradition alive in Queensland, many graduates are opting for overseas travel.

While Bali and Thailand have long been an overseas alternative, Europe has topped the list for international travel insurance quotes among Year 12 graduates.

Around 27 per cent of graduates are heading to the region, News.com.au reports.

The report found South East Asia a close second-favourite, with 24 per cent of school leavers looking to make their way there.

Schoolies celebrations officially kick off in Queensland on Saturday, as event volunteers help school leavers get set up for the festivities

While the weather may have dampened clothes, it is sure to do nothing to the party atmosphere

Some school leavers celebrating their end-of-year freedom are opting to head overseas rather than party in Australia

While Bali and Thailand are renowned as hotspots for the 17 and 18-year-old 'schoolies', a new location has emerged as the destination of choice (Pictured are people celebrating)

While the South Pacific region, which includes tropical nations such as Fiji and Vanuatu, was third with 11 per cent of travellers.

Looking at individual countries however, Indonesia was considered the top destination, followed by the United States and Australia.

Other countries on graduates list's were Japan, the UK, France, Thailand, The Philippines, Canada and New Zealand.

Western Australia will be hosting their 'Leavers' from November 20 to 23, with thousands expected to visit Dunsborough and Rottnest Island.

While South Australia's Schoolies Festival will see Victor Harbor awash with graduates between November 24 and 26.
A heavily-tattooed bikie enforcer has been kicked out of Bali and Australia and deported back to New Zealand after his connections to an outlaw motorcycle club became known.

Jesse Johnston, who has been living on the NSW Central Coast until recently, was allegedly visiting Indonesia on a gang holiday before he was refused entry into the country, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

After being sent back to Sydney he reportedly got off his flight only to be met by more authorities who were aware of his bikie links.

Jesse Johnston, who has been living on the NSW Central Coast until recently, was allegedly visiting Indonesia on a gang holiday before he was refused entry into the country

After being sent back to Sydney he reportedly got off his flight only to be met by more authorities who were aware of his bikie links

Despite claiming he wasn't a member of the notorious Finks group authorities found evidence to the contrary, including clothing that sported the iconic 'rat' emblem sported by loyal followers.

According to SMH, Johnston is already a sergeant-at-arms of the gang's Newcastle chapter.

His Facebook account, which is under the name 'Alphonse Fink', shares photographs of the 22-year-old wearing Finks-labelled clothing and surrounded by club members.

A spokesperson from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection could not give Daily Mail Australia the precise reasoning behind his exile, but did release a statement in relation to the government's policy on bikie gangs.

According to SMH, Johnston is already a sergeant-at-arms of the gang's Newcastle chapter

A spokesperson from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection could not give Daily Mail Australia the precise reasoning behind his exile

'The government remains committed to protecting the Australian community from those involved with outlaw motorcycle gangs.' it read.

'General visa cancellation provisions under the Migration Act 1958 allow for visa cancellation on a number of grounds including non-compliance with visa conditions, or where the presence of the visa holder in Australia is or may be a risk to the health, safety or good order of the Australian community.

'Non-citizens who do not hold a valid visa will be liable for removal from Australia.'

Since his deportation, Johnston has posted a photo with the caption 'I love all my brothers Fink pride worldwide.'
Magistrates heard that Cpl Sian Kerry Galvin (pictured) was so drunk that she was unable to produce her pass at RAF Coningsby

A poster girl for the RAF who tried driving four times over the alcohol limit onto one of the UK's tightest military bases has walked free from court.

Magistrates were told mechanical engineer Sian Kerry Galvin, 36, would lose her job if she was jailed.

Boston Magistrates' Court, in Lincolnshire, heard that she was so drunk that she was not capable of producing her pass at RAF Coningsby  home to Britain's fleet of Typhoon fighters.

Military Police called civilian police officers who arrested Cpl Galvin after she failed a breath test.

In 2015 an RAF recruitment feature appeared on Twitter and Facebook featuring Cpl Galvin.

The 36-year-old also appeared in military brochure.

She was quoted as saying: 'I would say the RAF has made me far more independent and now I have friends all over the world.'

Daven Naghen, defending, told the court was told that alcohol abuse had been 'creeping up on her' for five years and that a string of personal issues had caused this year to be particularly difficult.

In 2015 the 36-year-old appeared in an RAF recruitment feature on Facebook and Twitter as well as in a military brochure

The court was told that alcohol abuse had been creeping up on Galvin for five years and that this year had been a particularly difficult one for her

Galvin has not drunk alcohol since her arrest.

Galvin, of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, admitted drink driving and was fined 1,000.

She was given a 29-month ban from driving which can be reduced to 29 weeks through a rehabilitation course.

The court was told Galvin will face additional punishment for bringing the RAF into disrepute.
The mother of a 12-year-old boy removed from class and put into 'isolation' for a Peaky Blinders-style haircut has hit out at school authorities.

Helen James, who is recovering from a stroke, said her son James Hiles' 'shaved back and sides' was a result of an accident with some clippers.

And she is furious that staff at Marple Hall School , in Stockport , were not more understanding despite knowing about her health problems and how upset James had been about them.

A spokesman for the school said they stood by their 'high standards' for students' uniform and appearance.

Helen, 39, said she had been cutting James's hair on Tuesday night when the plastic guard on the clippers slipped off.

James Hiles, 12, was put into 'isolation' at school for a Peaky Blinders-style haircut

Actor Cillian Murphy who stars in hit TV series Peaky Blinders, an epic gangster drama set in the lawless streets of 1920s Birmingham which airs on BBC2

'It took a chunk out of the back so I had to level it up,' she said.

'He went to school on Wednesday, it was a non-uniform day for Children in Need, but they took him out of class straight away and put him in isolation.

'He also had a detention that afternoon.

'He explained to the teacher what had happened but they told him it was not good enough.'

The mum-of-two said a member of staff phoned around 1pm on Wednesday to inform them that her son had been excluded from class and to discuss his haircut.

But when she called back she was unable to speak to the teacher concerned.

Helen added: 'They knew James had been upset about me having a stroke.

'He was up all night on Wednesday, not able to sleep, and didn't go into school on Thursday.

'His dad rang them that morning and left a message to say that James wouldn't be going in, but they didn't ring him back.'

But his mum Helen James is furious that staff at Marple Hall School in Stockport were so strict with him because she said that the haircut was an accident after the clippers she used slipped

Helen said that she suffered a stroke six weeks ago and spent a week in hospital receiving treatment.She was initially paralysed down her left side, although sensation has started to return, and it has affected her speech, sight and memory

Helen said that she suffered a stroke six weeks ago and spent a week in hospital receiving treatment.

She was initially paralysed down her left side, although sensation has started to return, and it has affected her speech, sight and memory.

'James was so upset he fainted in school,' she added. 'He lost his grandparents and he was worried he was going to lose everyone.'

Helen said that people on social media had commented that James's new hairstyle was similar to the ones in BBC TV hit show Peaky Blinders, starring Cillian Murphy, which started a new series this week and was filmed in locations including the Northern Quarter and the Old Granada Studios.

James's dad Ian Hiles, 35, a call centre manager, said: 'The school said the haircut was not in line with their policy, but I explained it was an accident and not James's fault.

'Helen is just out of hospital and the school are aware of that.

'James has been very upset and I just think it could have been handled better.'

A spokesman for the school said: 'Marple Hall School sets high standards in terms of the uniform and appearance of students.

'Where there are issues which cannot be resolved at the time, students are supervised in an internal exclusion room led by an experienced member of staff to ensure that there is no break in learning.

'The vast majority of students meet our expectations on a daily basis and those who do not are treated calmly and fairly until the issue is resolved.'
Two-time Olympic equestrian gold medallist Gillian Rolton has died of cancer at the age of 61.

The iconic rider from Adelaide has been battling endometrial cancer for two years and had stopped chemotherapy in September.

She won gold at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games and repeated the feat four years later in Atlanta, before being inducted in 2000 into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

She won gold at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games and repeated the feat four years later in Atlanta, before being inducted in 2000 into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame

The Atlanta win was special because of the tremendous courage Ms Rolton conveyed during the battle for first place (pictured)

The Atlanta win was special because of the tremendous courage Ms Rolton conveyed during the battle for first place.

She fell off her horse Peppermint Grove mid-way through the competition, breaking her collarbone and ribs, only to get back onto the steed and finish to give Australia back-to-back gold.

Despite her outstanding achievements, Ms Rolton never let cancer take away her positivity - and said she just wanted to live long enough to see her dog deliver its litter of puppies.

'It's been a long term battle with things but you always give yourself goals to work to and that's what I'm doing,' Ms Rolton told The Advertiser.

'It's been a long term battle with things but you always give yourself goals to work to and that's what I'm doing,' Ms Rolton told The Advertiser

Those puppies were delivered a month ago and were able to visit the Olympian in hospital before she died (pictured)

'You can't give up, you can't just roll up in a ball and feel sorry for yourself - you've got to keep focused on the positives.

'It's about surrounding yourself with positive people and having positive goals that keep you going through all of this.'

Those puppies were delivered a month ago and were able to visit the Olympian in hospital before she died.
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson is planning to go to war with Chancellor Philip Hammond to halt plans to reduce the number of Royal Marine Commandos by 1,000.

The Treasury is insisting the Ministry of Defence slashes costs in other areas in order to pay for two new aircraft carriers and the F-35 B jets to operate from them.

Among the plans being considered are the decommissioning of the Royal Navy's two amphibious landing ships, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark.

New Defence Secretary, pictured alongside Captain Jerry Kyd, left, on board HMS Queen Elizabeth is planning to veto planned attempts to cut 1,000 Royal Marines

The Treasury wanted the MoD to slash costs across the forces to equip HMS Queen Elizabeth and her sister ship HMS Prince of Wales with a fleet of F-35 B fighter aircraft

Former Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon was believed to be in favour of making the cuts, however his replacement wants to commit more spending to the military.

A senior military source told the Sun: 'The chiefs were sceptical of Gavin Williamson at first because he's young and clearly inexperienced.

'But if the government is going to preach Global Britain, at some stage they actually have to be able to deliver on it.

'He has understood that very quickly, and is going to take on the Treasury instead.'

The cuts were part of the ongoing defence review.

Earlier this week, the 41-year-old former chief whip landed on HMS Queen Elizabeth ahead of next week's crunch budget.

The current defence review comes at a time when former senior US and British military leaders have expressed concerns about the impact of the planned cuts.

Speaking on board the new aircraft carrier, Mr Williamson said: 'I am taking the time to listen to lots of people, I always value people sharing their views and their experience with me.

Mr Williamson said: 'I am going to do everything I can to deliver what these service personnel, in the Navy, the Army and the Air Force, need, in order to do their most effective job'

Among the proposed cuts, the defence review is considering decommissioning HMS Bulwark

'I am going to do everything I can to deliver what these service personnel, in the Navy, the Army and the Air Force, need, in order to do their most effective job.

'I always value people's opinions, and I've got an amazing team of senior officers that are doing a wonderful job.'

On Tuesday General Sir Richard Barrons told the Defence Committee that more money needed to be ploughed into the military, with armed forces 'close to breaking'.

Mr Williamson said he wanted to keep British defence spending above 2 per cent.

He continued: 'I am taking the opportunities to look at all the arguments, all the information, so that we can make the strongest arguments to make sure our armed services have the right resources they need in order to do their job.'

As part of the review, cost-cutting suggestions ahead of any formal announcement have reportedly included the axing of amphibious assault ships HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, alongside the loss of 1,000 Royal Marines.

According to reports, the move would save money and free up crew for the two new aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.

Pressed for the reassurance he would offer to those who may be directly affected by a decision of that nature, Mr Williamson said there was 'so much speculation going around;.

'I am a brand new Defence Secretary, I don't feel bound or tied up in the narrative that has maybe been there in the past.

'I just want to sit down with the people who are doing an amazing job for our country, talk to them, listen to them, learn from them, and try and do the very best by them.

'No decisions have been made, and there's more speculation than is probably always healthy, but we have to recognise there are some great challenges ahead.'

He said the armed forces 'constantly evolve' and that a different approach to thinking should be welcomed, noting that with big challenges come 'great opportunities too'.

'What makes our armed forces the best in the world is that they constantly innovate. They're the greatest innovators in the world and in government,' he added.
US Navy chiefs have grounded a fighter jet aircrew after they used their supersonic F/A-18 to paint a giant penis over Washington State.

The twin-engine Boeing was over Okanogan on Thursday when the pilot created his anatomically accurate representation of a male's reproductive organs.

According to the US Navy, the jet 'left a condensed air trail resembling an obscene image to observers on the ground'.

The US Navy has grounded the flight crew of an F/A-18 jet, similar to this, after they used the $48m warplane to paint a giant penis in the sky over the town of Okanogan, Washington state

The Navy said the jet's pilot left behind a 'condensed air trail' featuring the obscene image

Many of those posting the image on social media thought the prank was amusing

Lieutenant Commander Leslie Hubbell, spokeswoman for the Naval Air Station on Whidbey Island confirmed the incident was being probed: 'The actions of this aircrew were wholly unacceptable and antithetical to Navy core values.

'We have grounded the aircrew and are conducting a thorough investigation - and we will hold those responsible accountable for their actions.

'The Navy apologizes for this irresponsible and immature act.'

Many onlookers on the ground posted images of the drawing on social media and appeared amused by the stunt.

Ramon Duran told The Spokesman-Review that he was running errands when he noticed the jet drawing the male genitalia.

He said: 'After it made the circles at the bottom, I knew what it was and started laughing.

'It was pretty funny to see that. You dont expect to see something like that.'
A former MP who insisted that he and George Best's widow were 'just good friends' has been caught out after accidentally sending raunchy pictures to his ex.

One-time Liberal Democrat member Lembit Opik, 52, was pictured getting up close and personal with former wag, Alex Best, while the pair were holidaying in Marrakech, in August last year.

The intimate snaps, which Mr Opik sent accidentally to his ex, Sabina Vankova, shows hum nuzzling Alex's breasts as she lies on a sunlounger.

Ms Vankova, a 33-year-old lawyer, received the pictures just days after he returned from the getaway.

Lembit Opik and ex-girlfriend Sabina Vankova (left, the couple in 2016) broke up after he spent a night at the pub with Alex Best (right, the pair together)

At the time, Ms Vankova and Mr Opik were trying for baby Angelina, while he had grown closer to to Ms Best after both competed on TV's I'm A Celebrity.

Ms Vankova, who is originally from Bulgaria, told The Sun: 'I couldn't believe it when I got the pictures. He's always claimed they were just friends but I have had my suspicions. This picture shows their friendship has crossed a line.'

Sabina Vankova tweeted: 'The woman with whom he spent Monday night can have him now all for herself'

Mr Opik has previously dated weather presenter Sian Lloyd (left) and Cheeky girl singer Gabriela Irimia (right)

Lembit Opik with his former flame Sian Lloyd and Chris Tarrant on Who Wants to be a Millionaire

Sport Relief Does The Apprentice, 2008: Opik appeared alongside Lisa Snowdon, Louise Redknapp, Clare Balding, Jackie Gold, Kirstie Allsop, Hardeep Singh Kohli, Phil Tufnell, Nick Hancock and Kelvin MacKenzie

Debbie McGee, Iain Lee, Lembit Opik and Jodie Marsh on Channel 4's Come Dine With Me

The former politician alongside Paul Merton on Have I Got News For You in 2003

Opik underwent major surgery in 2016 to straighten his wonky jaw - which was caused by a paragliding accident 19 years ago

She added: 'I confronted him and he told me they'd been with another couple messing about on the loungers. He claims that other people had had similar pictures with Alex, but I just don't believe that.

'He said someone took the photo on his camera but couldn't say who. I was heartbroken. I'm not in love with him any more and don't want to be with him.'

Ms Vankiva said her ex booked the holiday after they split last year, but that they got back with each other in June.

Neither he nor Ms Best have commented on the pictures.
A hunter who was mutilated by a grizzly bear in a gruesome battle which resembled scenes from film The Revenant has had his face rebuilt over the last year thanks to pioneering surgeons.

Lee Brooke, 60, was approaching an elk he had shot last year while hunting in the mountains of Wyoming when a 420lbs female bear attacked him from behind, ripping off half his face and knocking him unconscious.

He woke to feel her sniffing at his cheek. 'I could feel the whiskers,' he told Fox31 Denver.

Blinded by blood soaking his eyes, Lee managed to grab a steak knife from his pocket and stab the bear in the head, just inches from her deadly jaws.

She retreated which gave Lee the chance to escape.

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Lee Brooke was approaching an elk he had shot while hunting in the mountains of Wyoming when a 420lbs female bear attacked him from behind, ripping off half his face

He was rushed to hospital where he was put in a medically induced coma for one month at the Swedish Burn and Reconstructive Unit in Colorado

Badly mutilated and bleeding heavily, he screamed into the woods for help.

He said that he did not know if he would survive the attack, but was determined to live to see his wife Martha again.

He had been separated from his hunting party, but hearing his cries, his brother-in-law George Neal found him.

He also retrieved his severed nose and upper lip before helping him down the mountain where they could find phone reception and called for help.

He was rushed to hospital where he was put in a medically induced coma for one month at the Swedish Burn and Reconstructive Unit in Colorado.

Hours of surgery kept him alive and preserved part of his nose.

Blood from Lee's arm now feeds his nose and doctors may one day use what's left of his nose to reconstruct a new one on his face.

'Then I'll be a new Lee,' he said.

Hours of surgery kept him alive and preserved part of his nose. Blood from Lee's arm now feeds his nose and doctors may one day use what's left of his nose to reconstruct a new one on his face

Lifesaving: The Swedish Medical Centre where Lee was treated. He said staff there saved him

He spent three months having long, complicated surgeries, including one which lasted for 24 hours.

Much of Lee's current face was produced through delicate procedures using skin grafts from his right leg.

Bones in Lee's face were partially constructed with leg bone and he has many metal plates and screws in his head.

Much of Lee's current face was produced through delicate procedures using skin grafts from his right leg. Bones in Lee's face were partially constructed with leg bone and he has many metal plates and screws in his head

It took a dedicated team of pioneering doctors in Colorado three months of long, complicated surgeries, including one which lasted for 24 hours, to save Lee

Lee then spent two months in rehab exercising, learning how to eat again and overcoming physiological trauma. 'We didn't just fix his body, we really wanted to make sure that he recovered mentally,' surgeon Lily Daniali told Fox

Lee then spent two months in rehab exercising, learning how to eat again and overcoming physiological trauma.

'We didn't just fix his body, we really wanted to make sure that he recovered mentally,' surgeon Lily Daniali told Fox.

Brooke can no longer control tears. A good portion of his face is gone. He depends on a tracheal tube to tell his story.

'I should've bled to death right there,' he told friends who've helped pay for his medical bills.

'I should've drowned on my blood.'
The first night of Schoolies celebrations have kicked off on the Gold Coast, as 20,000 year 12 graduates get ready to party.

Rainfall and cold temperatures threatened to spoil the festivities but the teenagers appeared unfazed by the gloomy weather in Queensland.

Revealing crop tops, tight singlets and denim miniskirts were all popular with the teenagers as they spilled out onto the streets ready to let their hair down.

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Night one of Schoolies 2017 has begun on Saturday, with many teenagers dressed in short skirts and crop tops despite the cloudy weather

Tight singlets and bodycon dresses were a favourite fashion choice among the girls at Schoolies 2017

Two girls snapped a cheeky picture of their behinds as they sat in their daringly cut swimsuits

Tight singlets and bodycon dresses were a favourite among the girls, as party goers posed in the hotels before the night began.

Two girls snapped a cheeky picture of their behinds as they sat in their daringly cut swimsuits.

Plenty of selfies were snapped before revelers descended on the beach side festivities.

Two girls pose with drinks in hand as night one of Schoolies 2017 kicks off on the Gold Coast

Nude and denim appear to be a favourite fashion choice for Schoolies this year

Plenty of selfies were snapped before revelers descended on the beach side festivities

The gloomy weather didn't stop party-goers dressing down in shorts and crop tops

More than 20,000 Year 12 graduates are expected to turn up at the festivities this year, which is set to go for a week.

Plenty of young adults were farewelled at airports today and hotels today, as parents helped set them up with the essentials.

Cartons of drinks were the number one item on the list it seemed, with parents helping to cart the beverages.

Over 20,000 school leavers are expected to hit the Gold Coast for Schoolies 2017, with parents on hand to farewell their kids on Saturday

These friends gave a quick kiss at the hotel, with toilet paper in hand, before the party begins

Year 12 graduates and festival goers were seen checking in to the event, carrying their official passes

Cartons of drinks were the number one item on the list it seemed, with parents helping to cart the beverages

Food and toilet paper were next, as the week-long celebrations may be the first time away from home for many of the teenagers.

Mums and dads were spotted helping their soon-to-be adult children carry their luggage into hotels and through airports.

While the weather on Surfers Paradise appeared cloudy during the day, there will be no stopping the party atmosphere once the sun goes down.

Thanks Dad! Parents were spotted helping their kids stock up on all the essentials, such as beer and mixers

Carrying their luggage through the event, these two young adults look set for a Schoolies 2017

The week-long celebrations may be the first time away from home for many of the teenagers

While the weather appeared dreary in both Sydney and the Gold Coast, this trio looked packed and ready to go

Year 12 graduates and festival goers were seen checking in to the event, carrying their official passes.

Many stopped to chat to the dozens of volunteers on hand at Schoolies, to ensure the safety of the young adults.

Agencies such as the police, the dog squad, mounted police, Red Frogs Australia and State Emergency Services will all be on hand to help out and keep patrons safe across the events.

Last year there were 62 revellers arrested in the first week of Schoolies on the Gold Coast, with 37 in 2015 and 131 in 2014, ABC reports.

Mums and dads were spotted helping their soon-to-be adult children carry their luggage into hotels and through airports

Agencies such as the police, the dog squad, mounted police, Red Frogs Australia and State Emergency Services will all be on hand to help out

All packed and ready to go, this group of friends make their way to their accommodation for Schoolies 2017

Schoolies celebrations officially kick off in Queensland on Saturday, with similar events in NSW and Victoria beginning on November 25.

While plenty of party goers will keep the Schoolies tradition alive in Queensland, many graduates are opting for overseas travel.

While Bali and Thailand have long been an overseas alternative, Europe has topped the list for international travel insurance quotes among Year 12 graduates.

Around 27 per cent of graduates are heading to the region, News.com.au reports.

Schoolies celebrations officially kick off in Queensland on Saturday, as event volunteers help school leavers get set up for the festivities

While the weather may have dampened clothes, it is sure to do nothing to the party atmosphere
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Salim Mehajer's sister Aisha and John Ibrahim's nephew Sam have wed at the same home where Ibrahim's loyal bodyguard 'Tongan Sam' was shot in the back in a 'brazen and targeted' attack only hours earlier.

A photo of the happy couple smiling adoringly has been released by the former Auburn deputy mayor's sister Kat Sakalaki, as Aisha and Sam sign their marriage certificate.

Aisha, dressed in an off-the-shoulder lace midi length gown, sits on a golden throne next to her beau in ripped trousers and a sky blue jacket.

The table in front of them is lined with expensive jewels, including two wedding rings and a gold bracelet. A flower wall visible behind them sets the scene for a Kim Kardashian inspired ceremony.

While the inside of Ibrahim's mother's house where the wedding was set is awash with congratulations, outside police with flashlights are checking parked cars for any clues into the brazen shooting that happened in the backyard of the home less than 24 hours ago.

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A photo of the happy couple smiling adoringly has been released by the former Auburn deputy mayor's sister Kat Sakalaki, as Aisha and Sam sign their marriage certificate (pictured)

Outside police with flashlights are checking parked cars for any clues into the brazen shooting that happened their hours earlier (pictured)

On Instagram Ms Sakalaki wrote: 'I can't believe my baby sister is getting married today! I love you so much Aishy #feelingemotional'

The authorities can hardly be seen in the dead of night as they scan the selection of wedding cars lining Price Street in Merrylands.

Police are reportedly out in numbers - driving up and down surrounding streets in marked and unmarked cars - in case of a 'retaliation attack', 7 News reported.

Chief Inspector Bradfield Peters said the shooting was a 'brazen' attack and certainly not 'random'.

'A number of police will be deployed tonight to ensure that the community is safe.'

Meanwhile guests have been arriving all afternoon, some laden with gifts, to celebrate the young couple's nuptials.

On Instagram Ms Sakalaki wrote: 'I can't believe my baby sister is getting married today! I love you so much Aishy #feelingemotional.'

The authorities can hardly be seen in the dead of night as they scan the selection of wedding cars lining Price Street in Merrylands

Guests were seen around the house all afternoon as they helped organise the impending wedding

The wedding comes just hours after bodyguard Semi Ngata was gunned down outside John Ibrahim's mother's home

The names of the couple were etched on a pavement outside the Ibrahim's family home ahead of the ceremony on Saturday

The overcast skies made for a perfect indoor wedding as guests arrived dressed in coats

Guests walk into the premises as the sun goes down and police scour cars for any evidence

Did someone say gifts? This guest of the wedding was seen carrying a David Jones bag into the house

The wedding comes just hours after bodyguard Semi Ngata was gunned down outside John Ibrahim's mother's home.

The feared enforcer, known as Tongan Sam, was shot in the back outside of the Merrylands home in Sydney's west on Friday evening at 10.25 after intruders came through the house or a side fence.

The names of the couple were etched on a pavement outside the Ibrahim's family home ahead of the ceremony on Saturday.

It is believed Sam is the son of Maha Ibrahim, who is John's sister.

Armed police scoured drains and nearby streets today as 59-year-old Tongan Sam remained in a serious but stable condition at Westmead Hospital.

Semi Ngata, known as Tongan Sam, (pictured centre back with Daniel and John Ibrahim) was shot in the back in Merrylands, in Sydney's west on Friday night, the day before a wedding due to take place between a nephew of John Ibrahim and a sister of disgraced former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer

The names of the couple were etched on a pavement outside John Ibrahim's mother's home ahead of the ceremony (pictured)

His wife has been keeping a bedside vigil and told reporters 'he was doing OK'.

NSW Police chief inspector Bradfield Peters said police were unable to speculate whether the upcoming wedding and the shooting were linked.

A wedding was due to take place at the property today between the former Auburn deputy mayor's sister Aisha (pictured) and John's nephew Sam

A heavy police presence is expected at the wedding on Saturday amid fears of revenge and retaliation.

He said: 'We've only just found out that there may have been a wedding planned for today.

'But whether there's any link to what occurred last night, I can't speculate.'

Chief inspector Peters say police believed the shooting took place in a backyard after intruders entered the home.

'If that's exactly what occurred then it is certainly brazen,' he said.

'We believe that it's certainly not random and that it was targeted.'

Officers said they were investigating whether more than one bullet had been used in the shooting on Price Street but couldn't say whether it was a drive-by attack.

They are also looking into whether a burnt-out car found on Rees Street in nearby Mays Hill is linked to the shooting.

A police spokeswoman said: 'We've got detectives canvassing the area and investigations are ongoing.

'We are looking at that as a line of inquiry but it's not been confirmed at this stage if it's linked.'

Tongan Sam has undergone surgery in hospital but has refused to cooperate with police. No arrests have been made.

He has worked as a bodyguard for nightclub boss John for more than a decade after the pair met in Kings Cross in the 1990s.

His loyalty to his boss was shown in 2014 when he was pictured wearing a T-shirt with John's face emblazoned across it.

The shooting comes just weeks after Ibrahim brothers Fadi and Michael were detained in a dramatic police sting in Dubai and extradited back to Australia over a drug and tobacco syndicate.

A heavy police presence is expected at the wedding on Saturday of Aiisha (pictured with her brother Salim) amid fears of revenge and retaliation

Despite the shooting on Friday evening friends and family gathered to lay out chairs ahead of the ceremony on Saturday

A wedding was due to take place at the property today between the former Auburn deputy mayor's sister Aisha and John's nephew Sam

People could be seen arriving at the home with boxes full of decorations, with a wedding due to take place later in the day

As police continued to investigate the shooting people began to arrive at the home with flowers and wedding decorations

Price Street in Merrylands was the scene of a shooting overnight, with a wedding between a members of the Ibrahim and Mehajer families due to take place on Saturday

Guests shake hands with each other outside the Ibrahim residence in Merrylands

Two thumbs up! This jolly guest was all smiles as he arrived for the impending nuptials

The presiding priest walks into the house in preparation for the wedding

Fadi was released from jail on strict bail conditions after a $2.2million surety was put up.

The Merrylands home belonging to John's mother was searched by police during the raids, and a loaded 9mm handgun was seized from the property.

John's home was also raided as part of the investigation in August - but he was not arrested or charged with any offences.

John and his three brothers - Sam, Michael and Fadi - have all been either shot or stabbed over recent years.

Michael - the most recent victim - was gunned down on Macquarie Street in Sydney's CBD in 2015, while Fadi was shot five times as he sat in his Lamborghini.

Sam was also hit in the legs in a 2011 drive-by shooting, and John was stabbed in Kings Cross while a teenager.

Armed police searched the streets outside John Ibrahim's mother's home (pictured) in Merrylands on Saturday morning

Media and neighbours gathered outside the Merrylands home (pictured) owned by John Ibrahim's mother on Saturday morning

Tongan Sam (left with Fadi Ibrahim and Salim Mehajer) was taken to Westmead Hospital, where he is in a serious condition

Police were seen combing the streets around the home of where the shooting took place on Friday evening

Police searched streets around the spot where John Ibrahim's bodyguard Tongan Sam was shot

After Tongan Sam was shot in the back on Friday night police set up a crime scene, continuing to search the area on Saturday morning (pictured)

Police (pictured)searched bins on the street near John Ibrahim's mother's home in Merrylands

Police walked down the streets of Merrylands in a line after the shooting of John Ibrahim's bodyguard Semi Ngata on Friday night

Officers are also looking into whether a burnt-out car (pictured) found nearby is linked to the shooting

Pictured is a loaded 9mm semi-automatic Beretta handgun seized from the home of John Ibrahim's mother during raids in August 2017.

Officers are also looking into whether a burnt-out car found nearby is linked to the shooting (pictured is Tongan Sam, centre, with Sam Ibrahim, left, and lawyer Stephen Alexander, right, outside court in 2009)
A teenager has been stabbed in the neck as he was on his way to Schoolies celebrations at the Gold Coast on Saturday.

The 17-year-old teenager was reportedly stabbed while he was waiting for a friend to buy him alcohol at a nearby bottle shop Saturday morning.

The teenager is in a serious condition at Princess Alexandria Hospital but doctors expect him to make a full recovery, according to 9 News.

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A teenager has been stabbed in the neck as he was on his way to Schoolies celebrations at the Gold Coast on Saturday

The 17-year-old teenager was reportedly stabbed while he was waiting for a friend to buy him alcohol at a nearby bottle shop Saturday morning

Police charged a 33-year-old man for the 'unprovoked attack' who allegedly assaulted the teenager after a brief conversation.

'There is some indication that he may have been heading to the Gold Coast but that will form part of our inquiry,' Acting Inspector Steve Watterson told 9 News.

Police told 7 News the 33-year-old pulled a knife and stabbed a boy without any warning.

Police believe the 17-year-old was from Queensland and was taken to hospital with a stab wound to his neck and a punctured lung.

Police believe the 17-year-old was from Queensland and was taken to hospital with a stab wound to his neck and a punctured lung
A surrogate mother who decided to keep the baby she was carrying has lost custody of the child after a court ruled the infant should live with their gay intended parents.

In a ruling published on Friday, Court of Appeal judges said the identity needs of the 18-month-old, who was conceived using sperm from one of the men and an egg from a Spanish donor, 'would be best met by living with a genetic parent'.

The woman, who cannot be identified, entered into a surrogacy arrangement with the same-sex couple in August 2015 after meeting them online.

A surrogate mother who decided to keep the baby she was carrying has lost custody of the child after a court ruled the infant should live with their gay intended parents

She then travelled to Cyprus in September 2015 for the transfer of the embryo, the court heard.

But the day before the child's birth in late April, the solicitor for the surrogate parents wrote to the same-sex couple informing them that they were not prepared to follow through with their surrogacy agreement.

The same-sex parents appealed the decision and last year the High Court ordered that the child should live with them full-time.

As part of the decision, the surrogate was allowed limited contact with the child six times a year, The Telegraph reported.

Concluding, Mr Justice McFarlane said: 'This case is another example of the complex consequences that can arise from entering into this type of arrangement'

The birth parents appealed the decision, which was upheld by Court of Appeal judges on October 12.

In the ruling, Lord Justice McFarlane said the judge at the original hearing 'was critical of [the birth parents] for the way in which they had behaved in the later stages of the pregnancy and immediately after H's birth.

'She described them as having embarked on a deliberate and calculated course of conduct and as having continued to put obstacles in the way of [the gay couple] in seeking to establish a relationship with H.

'She referred to them as being rigid, taking a position and sticking to it, and as having little or no capacity to resolve disputes or negotiate their way through difficulties.'

This contrasted with the way the gay couple tried to mend fences through social media, albeit in an ill-advised way, he said.

He accepted the recommendation that the child should see its birth parents six times a year, but said any higher frequency 'risks further undermining of [the gay couple's] ability to care for H.'

'There should be discussions between the parties after this judgement regarding any arrangements for Skype or indirect contact between contacts,' he added.

Concluding, the judge said: 'This case is another example of the complex consequences that can arise from entering into this type of arrangement.

'Even though [the surrogate] was an experienced surrogate, this case demonstrates the risks involved when parties reach agreement to conceive a child which, if it goes wrong, can cause huge distress to all concerned.

'For all the adults involved, who all clearly love H, the one thing I know they will agree is that their dispute and this contested litigation has been a harrowing experience for them all.

'This case is another example of the consequences of not having a properly supported and regulated framework to underpin arrangements of this kind.'
Thugs filmed themselves smashing up a cop car - while officers paid tribute to war heroes.

Shocking footage reveals the moment the masked vandals smashed up a police car as the cops attended a Remembrance Sunday event in Erdington, Birmingham.

The masked 'coward' can be heard laughing whilst using a hammer to rain blows on the windscreen, doors and side windows of the West Midlands Police vehicle.

He then flees on a moped, driven by an accomplice, after shouting 'HA HA' and obscenities about police.

The car had been parked up by officers taking part with the community in a Remembrance parade at Brookvale Park, Erdington, on Sunday, November 12.

The moped was spotted driving off towards Brookvale village.

West Midlands Police said they were aware of the footage, which has appeared online, and renewed their appeal for anyone with information to contact them.

Chief Superintendent Kenny Bell from Birmingham East Police said: 'It is absolutely disgusting how these individuals took advantage of a time when my officers were marching shoulder to shoulder with members of the community during Remembrance parades.

'I would urge anyone with information to get in touch so that we can bring those who committed this cowardly crime to justice.'

Concealed identities: Shocking footage reveals the moment the masked vandals smashed up a police car as the cops attended a Remembrance Sunday event in Erdington, Birmingham

Stockland Green police tweeted a photo of the damaged patrol car after the attack: 'Marked police vehicle attacked by two males on a scooter in park.

'People were paying their respects to those who have fallen while serving Queen and Country when mindless cowards carried out the damage.

'Vehicle will be repaired and remembrance will take place next year..'

Breaking bad: The car had been parked up by officers taking part with the community in a Remembrance parade at Brookvale Park, Erdington, Birmingham when it was targetted

The vandalism sparked a wave of revulsion on social media, with senior officers joining the appealing for information.

West Midlands Police Chief Constable David Thompson tweeted: 'News on these idiots welcome to us or @CrimestoppersWM.'

Chief Supt Bas Javid said: 'They have failed themselves more than anything else. Shameful.'
Natasha Beth Crossman, the widow of NSW sheep farmer Mathew Dunbar, has been charged with his murder.

Ms Crossman, 42, was arrested about 9.30am at the couple's Walcha property, a police report read.

She has been refused bail and is set to appear in Tamworth Local Court on Sunday.

She was taken into custody three months after detectives became suspicious that Mr Dunbar had been murdered by his partner.

Mr Dunbar, 42, was allegedly found connected to a helium gas tank, as Ms Crossman claimed her partner had committed suicide.

Natasha Beth Crossman (right), the widow of NSW sheep farmer Mathew Dunbar (left) has been charged with his murder

'I was there  I know he killed himself. But I mean (the police) have to investigate,' Ms Crossman told News Corp this week.

'I'm dealing with post-traumatic stress because I was the one that found him.'

Detectives arrived on the farm in three cars Saturday morning, with Ms Crossman taken to Tamworth Police station, 100km away.

Her ex-husband Colin Crossman, who is believed to have been one of the first paramedics on the scene following Mr Dunbar's death, arrived shortly after.

Natasha Beth Crossman, 42, was arrested about 9.30am at the pair's Walcha property, having previously claimed Mr Dunbar committed suicide

Police on the scene at the couple's Walcha property on Saturday, as Ms Crossman was charged

Detectives arrived on the farm in three cars Saturday morning, with Ms Crossman (left) taken to Tamworth Police station, while her former husband Colin Crossman (right) was seen leaving the property with her three children

Mr Crossman was then seen leaving the property in a red Pajero with Ms Crossman's children, with the driveway sealed off with blue and white tape.

Ms Crossman previously claimed Mr Dunbar had been upset about a limp from a leg infection and had been 'depressed' at not being able to run the farm.

Mr Dunbar was found dead at the homestead on August 2 after police and ambulance officers were called to the scene.

'A 42-year-old woman is assisting police at Tamworth police station,' a NSW Police spokeswoman told AAP on Saturday.
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The world's longest aircraft dubbed the 'Flying Bum' was seriously damaged on Saturday after it slipped its moorings and crashed into a field.

Pictures have emerged of the 20-tonne Airlander 10's canopy completely collapsed after the prototype plummeted to the ground.

Its manufacturers Hybrid Air Vehicles had carried out test flights on Friday before police were called to a site close to its hangars in Cardington, Bedfordshire, today.

No one was on board. However, HAV said a woman member of its staff suffered minor injuries in the incident and she was taken to hospital as a 'precaution' before being discharged.

The world's longest aircraft dubbed the 'Flying Bum' was seriously damaged today after it slipped its moorings and crashed into a field

The 20-tonne Airlander 10's canopy completely collapsed after the prototype plummeted to the ground

Its manufacturers Hybrid Air Vehicles had carried out test flights on Friday before police were called to a site close to its hangars in Cardington, Bedfordshire, today

No one was on board. However, HAV said a woman member of its staff suffered minor injuries in the incident and she was taken to hospital as a 'precaution' before being discharged

The Airlander is affectionately known as the 'Flying Bum' due to its shape. Beds, Cambs & Herts Roads Policing Unit at 10.12am tweeted pictures of the crash and said: 'Officers attending collision involving the Airlander'

Later the company behind Airlander 10, Hybrid Air Vehicles Limited, issued a statement saying: 'Today there was an incident with the Airlander aircraft at Cardington airfield.

'The aircraft was not flying at the time of the incident. Our initial assessment is that the aircraft broke free from its mooring mast for reasons that will be investigated.

'The aircraft has a safety system which operates automatically in circumstances of the aircraft breaking free of its mast, and is designed to rip open the hull and deflate the aircraft.

Hundreds of people gathered around the airfield after a local group of 'blimp spotters' also used the weather conditions to predict the test flight

'This is a safety feature to ensure our aircraft minimises any potential damage to its surroundings in these circumstances.

'The aircraft is now deflated and secure on the edge of the airfield. The fuel and helium inside the Airlander have been made safe.

'A member of HAV staff sustained minor injuries and was taken to hospital for assessment as a precaution. She has since been discharged. A separate member of staff also sustained minor injuries while dealing with the aftermath of the incident.

'A number of local roads and a local footpath were temporarily closed off by Bedfordshire Police and we apologise for any inconvenience this has caused local residents.

'We are testing a brand new type of aircraft and incidents of this nature can occur during this phase of development. We will assess the cause of the incident and the extent of repairs needed to the aircraft in the next few weeks.'

The Airlander is affectionately known as the 'Flying Bum' due to its shape.

The 92 metre-long airship cost 100m to get into the air before it crashed in only its second ever UK flight when its mooring lines got tangled with power lines in August 24 last year

Beds, Cambs & Herts Roads Policing Unit at 10.12am tweeted pictures of the crash and said: 'Officers attending collision involving the Airlander.'

A spokesman previously said the company hoped the Airlander - which can carry 10 tonnes and up to 60 passengers - will be used for luxury commercial flights over the world's greatest sights from 2019.

Passers-by spotted the 38,000 cubic-metre prototype preparing for take-off in Cardington Airfield earlier this year.

Hundreds of people gathered around the airfield after a local group of 'blimp spotters' also used the weather conditions to predict the test flight.

The 92 metre-long airship cost 100m to get into the air before it crashed in only its second ever UK flight when its mooring lines got tangled with power lines in August 24 last year.

A spokesman previously said the company hoped the Airlander - which can carry 10 tonnes and up to 60 passengers - will be used for luxury commercial flights over the world's greatest sights from 2019

A spokesman previously said the company hoped the Airlander - which can carry 10 tonnes and up to 60 passengers - will be used for luxury commercial flights over the world's greatest sights from 2019

Passers-by spotted the 38,000 cubic-metre prototype preparing for take-off in Cardington Airfield earlier this year. Hundreds of people gathered around the airfield after a local group of 'blimp spotters' also used the weather conditions to predict the test flight
A British holidaymaker jailed in Egypt on drug smuggling charges is to go on trial on Christmas Day.

Laura Plummer, who has already spent more than six weeks behind bars after being arrested in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada, was told she will face a judge on the holiday date.

As a Muslim country, Egypt does not celebrate Christmas Day and it is considered a normal working day.

The 33-year-old shop workers family have been told about the court date by her Hurghada based lawyer.

British tourist Laura Plummer (pictured left, and right with husband Omar Caboo) who is facing the death penalty after being accused of trying to smuggle 290 powerful painkillers into Egypt

From left: Sister Jayne, brother Kirk and mum Roberta are the family of Laura, 33, of Hull, who is being held in an Egyptian prison. They are pictured on 10 November

Plummer was arrested on October 9th when almost 300 Tramadol painkiller pills were found in her luggage.

She claimed they were for her husband Omar Caboo to help him cope with a back injury he suffered in a car crash two years ago.

Tramadol is a banned drug in Egypt and Laura was held on drug smuggling charges.

Despite pleading her innocence prosecutors persuaded a court in Hurghada to send her for trial.

Laura will appear before a judge at the main criminal court in Safaga.

While drug smuggling carries a death sentence in Egypt it is more likely she could be jailed for seven years if convicted.

Ms Plummer faces the very real possibility of standing trial over taking the painkillers into Egypt on Christmas Day this year

Her lawyer Mohamed Osman has warned that family that even if she is cleared of drug smuggling she could still get two years in jail for being in possession of a banned substance.

Lawyer Rasha Abdo Shokry confirmed to Mail Online that Laura will go on trial on Christmas Day.

Her legal team are to put in a bail application that could see Laura freed from the detention centre where she has been since October 9th.

The shop girl, 33, has been locked up for more than a month after being arrested at Hurghada International Airport

Her mum Roberta, sister Jayne and brother Kirk have visited her in jail and able to bring her food to supplement the rice and meat she receives each mealtime.

A family member told Mail Online:  We knew Laura was going to go on trial but on Christmas Day is just awful.

It is the holidays and they could not have chosen a worst possible day. The family will want to be out there to support her.

Laura's family, pictured here on This Morning, have been desperately trying to raise awareness of her plight

The Plummer family have hopes that her 33-year-old husband Omar will be able to help clear her name.

After going into hiding when she was arrested and abandoning her, he came forward to produce X-rays and hospital documents that show he has a back injury.

He insists he did not ask Laura to bring in the painkillers, which are so powerful they are used by junkies in Egypt as a heroin substitute.

Mohamed Osman, Laura Plummer's Lawyer, has told the family that the case had been transferred to a court in the town of Safaga where she will stand trial

The Tramadol tablets were given to Laura by a workmate in Hull, East Yorks.

The 51-year-old woman, who obtained the pills on prescription, has refused to come forward and help the family clear Lauras name.

Laura was suspected of being a drug smuggler when she was questioned by customs officer and was unable to supply her husbands address and full name.

After Caboo fled from Hurghada back to his hometown near Luxor Laura had no one to support her story.

The trial in the coastal town of Safaga could last for several weeks as the Egyptian justice system moves a much slower pace than in the UK.

Since her arrested Laura has been sharing a 15x15ft cell with 20 other women.

Her family say she considered suicide but on their last visit said her spirits were quite high.
ELKOOne year ago, four people lost their lives when an American Medflight plane crashed in the Barrick parking lot off Mountain City Highway.

Since then, the victims  patient Edward Clohesey, pilot Yuji Irie, paramedic Jake Shepherd and flight nurse Tiffany Urresti  have been memorialized and honored by their family, friends and colleagues.

The fence near the site of the crash has become a memorial to the victims, with flowers, crosses, teddy bears, t-shirts and banners from Barrick and the Carlin Volunteer Fire Department.

A candlelight vigil held in Angel Park three days later was attended by hundreds, with tributes to the victims continuing to pour in over the next several months.

Irie, Shepherd and Urresti were honored May 20 at the National EMS Memorial Service in Washington, D.C. The weekend included a memorial bike ride by the Muddy Angels where 28 cyclists wore dog tags bearing the name of the honoree. The three victims were honored again with two more EMS memorial rides in Colorado and from Reno to San Francisco.

Edward Clohesey

Edward Clohesey, 67, of Spring Creek was a heavy equipment operator for 11 years, working for Kinross Bald Mountain, and was preparing for his retirement at the time of his death.

Clohesey was a dedicated and kind equipment operator in our mine operations department, said Randy Burggraff, general manager. Ed was known for sharing his positive and happy attitude with anyone he encountered.

Born in Seattle, Clohesey was a U.S. Army veteran who served in Germany. He later lived and worked in Washington and Alaska and was an avid hunter.

Clohesey enjoyed riding motorcycles and was a member of the Wild Bunch Motorcycle Club, riding alongside Kevin Sur, club president. Sur said even a year since the crash Cloheseys death was a real shock.

On Oct. 14, the Wild Bunch honored Clohesey and other late members at their 10th annual memorial poker run.

Yuji Irie

Capt.Yuji Irie, 63, was an immigrant from Japan based in Ely and was praised by John Burruel, American Medflights president and CEO, as having the best work ethic Ive ever seen.

Local authorities said at the time, Iries actions in avoiding businesses and homes and crashing into the empty parking lot may have saved lives. No one on the ground was injured.

Irie held an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate and a First Class Medical Certificate and was reported by Renos News4 to be someone who was ready to go and save a life and always found a way to safely transport his patients and medical crew regardless of the challenges he faced.

Noted for his skill and flight experience, Irie had flown for charter companies from Las Vegas to the Mariana Islands in the South Pacific.

His love of aviation was matched by his [care] for people with endless energy and compassion, Burruel said.

The aircraft Irie built to one day fly across the Pacific Ocean to Japan now sits in his sons garage in Las Vegas.

Jacob Shepherd

Paramedic Jacob Shepherd, 24, lived in Logan, Utah, was married with three children and was based at the Mountain West Medical Center in Tooele County.

A friend said that he died doing what he loved, being a flight paramedic for American Medflight.

Shepherd was described by ambulance director Joe Carnell as having a big heart and he was dedicated to his community, he was dedicated to the public.

Carnell also remembered Shepherd had the ability to make everyone smile [and] laugh. Youd show up on shift with him and you were laughing for the next two days.

Shepherds family attended the May 20 National EMS Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Tiffany Urresti

Flight nurse Tiffany Urresti, 29, started working for American Medflight six weeks before the crash. An Elko native, she was a firefighter and earned two degrees in nursing from Great Basin College.

In the past year, Urresti has been remembered by the Elko Basque Club, GBCs Student Nurses Organization, and through three scholarships.

Were very honored for the support that weve gotten. It has been very overwhelming, said Debi Urresti, Tiffanys mother, explaining that the past year has been difficult for all four of the families.

Her daughters future plans included furthering her education, possibly teaching in GBCs nursing program, and marrying her fiance, Jim Foster, said Debi Urresti.

She was excited about getting married; marrying the love of her life, Debi Urresti said, adding that the day of the National EMS Memorial would have been her wedding day with Foster. The memorial was attended by family, most of the wedding party and Foster, who accepted a flag in her honor.
Web sleuths have stumbled across an enormous trove of US Military surveillance files that were sitting wide open on the internet.

The three AWS S3 buckets contain billions of social media posts, web and forum comments and were gathered by officials working for the US Central Command in Tampa, Florida, and at Pacom, the US Pacific Command in Hawaii, over the last eight years.

They include posts about Donald Trump, ISIS and foreign politicians.

While many were not written in English or composed in the US, the files do contain some posts that were made by American citizens.

They were found by UpGuard's Chris Vickery on September 6, 2017.

Billions of files including Facebook posts and web comments from around the world which were gathered by US Military surveillance teams have been viewed and downloaded online. Some of the files are pictured above in folders called 'scraped' and 'outpost'

They were stored by CentCom, the US Central Command, under folders titled 'Centcom Archive' and 'Centcom backup'

UpGuard is a cyber security company firm which previously uncovered another stash of DoD files online. They contained the resumes and work details of thousands of military personnel.

The new files were stored on an Amazon cloud-based storage bucket and were only made available to the public because an internal security glitch known as misconfiguration.

It meant that any Amazon Web Services S3 user could download them.

UpGuard estimates that misconfigurations are among the riskiest cyber security dangers and account for up to 90 percent of breaches, far outweighing the realistic risks of hackers or viruses.

The three buckets found in September were named 'centcom-backup,''centcom-archive,' and 'pacom-archive.'

CENTCOM implemented additional security measures to prevent unauthorized access US Central Command

In one folder, titled 'scraped, there were posts from the Canadian forum Connect2Edmonton which included comments such as 'President Donald Trump what now?' and 'Anyone think a trade war developing along US boarders (sic) because of Trump is going to happen?'

In the 'centcom archive' folder, at least 1.8million posts and messages were stored.

The majority were harvested from Central Asia and the Middle East, Vickery said.

Some anti-ISIS comments written in groups for Iraqi anti-jihadi groups were discovered along with Pashto comments written on Pakistani politician Imran Khan's Facebook page.

Pacom's stash contained similar content but it was harvested from Southeast and East Asia.

Some included references to Donald Trump, trade wars and possible coups in Turkey

Another referred to 'the freeman of America'. All were gathered by troops monitoring the Middle East and Asia

Poker ads and messages from other forums referencing the boycott of Trump's companies were also stored

The DoD is tight-lipped about programmes it uses to harvest information to hone in on persons of interest.

Vickery, after compiling the data, asked in a post on UpGuard's website: 'Why, for instance, were each of these posts collected?

'What triggered their inclusion in these repositories?' He contacted the DoD after discovering the materials last month.

The DoD would not comment on the breach on Saturday morning and instead directed all questions to Centcom.

Its officials told DailyMail.com that none of the information was 'sensitive' and appeared to play down the breach, saying none was used for official intelligence and that it had been merely given to them by an unnamed 'contractor' which harvested it using an 'off the shelf program'.

'It is not collected nor processed for any intelligence purposes.

'All of the information is readily available public information related to our activities and obtained through commercial off-the-shelf programs in accordance with U.S. Code and Department of Defense policy in a consistent manner,' they said.

The official added that it was obtained to 'support public information gathering, measurement and engagement of our online programs' but would not go into more detail over why the military wanted to have it.

Centcom, the US Central Command HQ in Tampa, Florida, said none of the information was sensitive

Others were stored by the US Pacific Command whose headquarters are in Hawaii

'U.S. Central Command has used commercial off-the-shelf and web-based programs to support public information gathering, measurement and engagement activities of our online programs on public sites.

Cyber security expert Chris Vickery discovered the files and shared details of them online

'The information is widely available to anyone who conducts similar online activities.

'The data is raw data that was provided to us by a contractor,' they said.

Since discovering it their Amazon cloud-based storage unit was breached, they said they have taken 'additional measures' to prevent any other 'unauthorized access'.

Last month, it was revealed that thousands of files containing sensitive information about US military personnel had also been breached.

They were discovered by UpGuard in the same way as the new ones were.
The horrifying moment a thief wielding a 25cm knife threatens a 70-year-old customer has been caught on camera as the shop owner admits 'I really thought he would stab him'.

Darren Collier has owned a newsagency in Mitcham, Victoria, for over 25 years but had yet to witness something quite as terrifying as being robbed at knife point by a 'drug-affected' man, Nine News reports.

The father-of-two was serving his loyal customer Frank, who had only popped in to top up his Myki travel card, when the thief rushed in at 7.30am.

Wearing a light-grey hoodie, reflective sunglasses and a balaclava, the thug brandished the knife against Frank's throat (pictured)

Wearing a light-grey hoodie, reflective sunglasses and a balaclava, the thug brandished the knife against Frank's throat and 'kept repeating "give me the money c***".'

'It was a frightening moment in time really. We all knew comply, don't argue. It was a frightening moment, Mr Collier said.

The newsagent owner handed over $500 worth of notes but the thief wasn't pleased with what was on offer. He appears to make stabbing motions in the air with the kitchen blade, asking for more.

Mr Collier obliges with a bag of coins from the till.

The crime only lasted 50 seconds but it wasn't enough to frighten the men into hiding

'You could just tell he was, you know, he was ready for anything. It just felt like we needed to get him out of here, give him the money, get rid of him,' he said.

The crime only lasted 50 seconds but it wasn't enough to frighten the men into hiding.

'We've got to move on. If we let 'em beat us you know, they win,' Mr Collier said.

The thief is described as being Caucasian, aged in his twenties, and around 188 centimetres tall. He also spoke with a strong Australian accent.
President Donald Trump hit out early Saturday at 'crooked' Hillary Clinton, his defeated election opponent.

Trump called Clinton 'the worst (and biggest' loser of all time' for saying that his election victory has 'lots of questions about its legitimacy.'

'She just can't stop, which is so good for the Republican Party,' Trump tweeted on Saturday.

'Hillary, get on with your life and give another try in three years!'

Trump reacted Saturday to an interview Clinton gave to Mother Jones.

Clinton said that Trump's election victory was tainted because of voter suppression and alleged interference by Russia.

President Donald Trump hit out early Saturday at 'crooked' Hillary Clinton, his defeated election opponent. Trump called Clinton 'the worst (and biggest' loser of all time' for saying that his election victory has 'lots of questions about its legitimacy'

The former secretary of state and Democratic nominee said in the interview Friday that the outcome of the election was impacted by a 'very successful disinformation campaign' mounted by the Russians.

American intelligence agencies are unanimous in their conclusion that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his government to undermine Clinton's campaign and help Trump get elected.

Russia has denied interfering in the election, and Trump's campaign rejects claims that it received help from Moscow.

The Russians used 'weaponized false information' that 'wasn't just influencing voters  it was determining the outcome,' Clinton told Mother Jones.

Clinton also alleged that voter suppression in Wisconsin, a key swing state that Trump won by less than 23,000 votes, deterred African-Americans from going to the ballot box.

Clinton (seen above giving her concession speech in New York on November 9, 2016) said that Trump's election victory was tainted because of voter suppression and alleged interference by Russia

She said that voter ID laws created obstacles for Democratic-leaning citizens to register to vote.

Although Clinton won the popular vote by over 3 million voters, the election was decided by Trump's electoral college victory in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin by a total of 78,000 votes.

'In a couple of places, most notably Wisconsin, I think it had a dramatic impact on the outcome,' Clinton said of voter suppression.

A voter ID law passed in Wisconsin five years ago requires voters to present a driver's license, state ID, passport, military ID, naturalization papers, or tribal ID to vote.

Civil liberties groups say the law is aimed at discriminating against poor minorities, while Republicans say it is necessary to combat voter fraud.

A study by the University of Wisconsin found that 45,000 people across the state were not allowed to vote because of the law.

Half of those voters came from Milwaukee and Madison, two cities that lean heavily toward the Democrats.

'It seems likely that it cost me the election [in Wisconsin] because of the tens of thousands of people who were turned away and the margin being so small,' Clinton said.

Clinton said that Trump (seen above in Washington on Thursday) won the election thanks to interference from Russia as well as voter suppression laws that deterred her supporters from going to the ballot box in key swing states like Wisconsin

The former secretary of state also noted that the 2016 elections were the first to be held in 50 years without the protection of key provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

In 2013, the Supreme Court gutted a core part of the landmark legislation that required nine states, most of them in the South, to get federal approval for voting rule changes affecting blacks and other minorities.

The ruling upended legal protections for minority voters that were a key achievement of the US civil rights movement of the 1960s led by Martin Luther King Jr.

The Voting Rights Act as a whole was enacted to broadly prohibit poll taxes, literacy tests and other measures common in states with a history of slavery that prevented black people from voting.

'So many places have really tried to make it as difficult as they possibly could for young people, for African Americans, the elderly, to vote,' Clinton told Mother Jones.

Clinton conceded that the US political system does not have the mechanism to gauge the legitimacy of elections.

'We don't have a method for contesting that in our system,' she said.

'That's why I've long advocated for an independent commission to get to the bottom of what happened.'
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Teenagers leaving the first night of Schoolies celebrations on the Gold Coast appeared a little worse for wear as Saturday night came to a close.

Thousands of school leavers descended on the Surfers Paradise party strip to party, celebrating the end of their school years.

And it seemed the high school graduates made the most out of the night, with many running into the surf and laying on the sand in the early hours of the morning.

Scroll down for video

Two friends cuddle up and pose for a beachside photo during the first night of their Schoolies celebrations on the Gold Coast

Team of police were on hand all night to ensure party goers were kept safe, seen here checking in with one happy young girl

Plenty of revelers were spotted leaning on the shoulders of support workers and volunteers from the Schoolies Support Team

Shoes came off as party goers ditched the festivities for a late night swim, despite the earlier rain and cold temperatures.

Other partygoers were spotted leaning on the shoulders of support workers and volunteers helping to keep the teenagers safe.

Agencies such as the police, the dog squad, mounted police, Red Frogs Australia and State Emergency Services were all on hand to help out.

While many of the teens were dressed in shorts, singlets and crop tops, two young men opted to wear mankini's instead.

While many of the teens were dressed in shorts, singlets and crop tops, two young men opted to green wear mankinis instead

Night one of Schoolies celebrations appeared too much for one teenager, who took a quick nap on the sand by the water

Thousands of teens flocked to the festivities to celebrate the end of their schooling years by dancing and singing with friends

Anywhere is a good spot for a nap for this group of friends, including a bench and the ground outside a Starbucks coffee shop

Thousands packed into the event to celebrate their final school year with music and dancing.

Rainfall and cold temperatures threatened to spoil the festivities but the teenagers appeared unfazed by the gloomy weather.

Revealing crop tops, tight singlets and denim miniskirts were all popular with the teens as they spilled out onto the streets ready to let their hair down.

One party goer braved the chilly water while still fully dressed and with phone in hand as the Schoolies celebrations wore on

Shoes came off as party goers ditched the festivities for a late night ocean swim, despite the rain and lowering temperatures

Over 20,000 teenagers hit Surfers Paradise for a week of celebrations - the most popular schoolies location in Queensland

Delighted at having completed their final school year, the laughing happy crowd sang along and cheered at a live music event

Tight singlets and bodycon dresses were a favourite among the girls, as party goers posed in the hotels before the night began.

Two girls snapped a cheeky picture of their behinds as they sat in their daringly cut swimsuits.

Plenty of selfies were snapped before revelers descended on the beach side festivities.

Crop tops, singlets and miniskirts were all popular with the teens, who descended on the Gold Coast for the upcoming week

Tight singlets, min-shorts, skirts and bodycon dresses were a favourite fashion choice among the girls at Schoolies in 2017

Two girls snapped a cheeky picture of their behinds as they sat in their daringly cut swimsuits with a stunning view of the bay

Two girls pose with drinks in hand before they headed out to party as night one of Schoolies 2017 kicked off on the Gold Coast

Hundreds of selfies were snapped before revelers descended on the beach side festivities including parties and live music

More than 20,000 Year 12 graduates are expected to turn up at the festivities this year, which is set to go for a week.

Earlier in the day, plenty of teenagers were farewelled at airports and hotels, as parents helped set them up with the essentials.

Cartons of drinks were the number one item on the list it seemed, with parents helping to cart the beverages.

Over 20,000 school leavers are expected to hit the Gold Coast for Schoolies 2017, with parents on hand to farewell their kids

These friends gave a quick kiss at the hotel, with toilet paper and plenty of groceries in hand, before the party officially began

Year 12 graduates and festival goers were seen checking into the event, carrying their official passes and smiling for a picture

Food and toilet paper were next, as the week-long celebrations may be the first time away from home for many of the teenagers.

Mums and dads were spotted helping their soon-to-be adult children carry their luggage into hotels and through airports.

While the weather on Surfers Paradise appeared cloudy during the day, there was no stopping the party atmosphere once the sun went down.

Mums and dads were spotted helping their soon-to-be adult children carry their luggage into the hotels and through airports

Thanks Dad! Parents were spotted helping their kids stock up on all the Schoolies week essentials, such as beer and mixers

While the weather appeared dreary in both Sydney and the Gold Coast, this trio looked packed and ready to hit the coast

Year 12 graduates and festival goers were seen checking in to the event, carrying their official passes.

Many stopped to chat to the dozens of volunteers on hand at Schoolies, to ensure the safety of the young adults.

Last year there were 62 revellers arrested in the first week of Schoolies on the Gold Coast, with 37 in 2015 and 131 in 2014, ABC reports.
Police have shot a man who sparked a terror alert near Spains border with France by shouting Allahu Akbar at a checkpoint.

Officers opened fire on the man, believed to be a Frenchman of north African origin, after he began to shout in Arabic when the vehicle he was travelling in was intercepted at a motorway toll near La Jonquera on the Spanish side of the border.

He was hit in the leg and rushed to a nearby hospital.

He has undergone an operation at the hospital - the Doctor Josep Trueta University Hospital in Girona - and his life is not said to be in any danger.

The incident happened at La Jonquera on the Spanish side of the border with France

The vehicle he was travelling in was intercepted at a motorway toll near La Jonquera (pictured)

Civil Guard officers called for reinforcements from regional Mossos dEsquadra force

Local reports said officers ordered him out of the car he was in after searching the woman driver - and became suspicious after seeing he had a suspicious object by his waist.

Civil Guard officers called for reinforcements from regional Mossos dEsquadra police after he reportedly began shouting in Arabic, yelling the words Allahu Akbar, before getting back into the vehicle.

He is said to have been shot twice after and slumped to the ground after leaving the car - which had been surrounded by police - some 30 minutes later with an unidentified object in his hand.

He was arrested after managing to return to the vehicle a second time and throwing his clothes out of the window.

An investigation into the incident, which happened just after midnight is now underway.

Sources close to the inquiry said they were not probing it as a terror incident and believed the unidentified man may have been acting under the influence of drugs.

Two other people - a man and a woman - were in the vehicle with him.

The injured man, who has been arrested, is expected to be quizzed by police when he is well enough.
The violent shooting which saw John Ibrahim's loyal bodyguard 'Tongan Sam' take a bullet to the back may have been an attempt to halt a wedding which saw the Ibrahim and Mehajer family's merge on Saturday evening.

The feared enforcer, whose real name is Semi Ngata, was shot outside of the Ibrahim family's home in Sydney's west on Friday evening at 10.25 after intruders allegedly aimed over the back fence.

Bride-to-be Aisha Mehajer was reportedly with another woman in the backyard to help set up her wedding to John Ibrahim's nephew Sam, the Daily Telegraph writes.

Family friends told the paper Ngata was shot when he moved to shield the bride-to-be.

The impending nuptials, which ultimately went ahead, were due to commence just 24 hours after the shooting.

Police are investigating whether a 'falling-out' between the two extended high-profile families played any part in the shooting, the Daily Telegraph reports.

A spokesman for disgraced former deputy mayor of Auburn, Salim Mehajer, has denied any suggestion of a dispute between his family and the Ibrahims, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting any of the Mehajer or Ibrahim family had any involvement in the shooting.

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A photo of the happy couple smiling adoringly has been released by the former Auburn deputy mayor's sister Kat Sakalaki, as Aisha and Sam sign their marriage certificate (pictured)

Outside police with flashlights are checking parked cars for any clues into the brazen shooting that happened their hours earlier (pictured)

On Instagram Ms Sakalaki wrote: 'I can't believe my baby sister is getting married today! I love you so much Aishy #feelingemotional'

On Saturday night a small selection of guests attended the Ibrahim and Mehajer wedding, as was originally planned.

A photo of the happy couple smiling adoringly was released by Salim Mehajer's sister Kat Sakalaki, as Aisha and Sam can be seen signing their marriage certificate.

Aisha, dressed in an off-the-shoulder lace midi length gown, sat on a golden throne next to her beau in ripped trousers and a sky blue jacket.

The table in front of them was lined with expensive jewels, including two wedding rings and a gold bracelet. A flower wall visible behind them set the scene for a Kim Kardashian inspired ceremony.

While the inside of Ibrahim's mother's house where the wedding was set was awash with congratulations, outside police with flashlights were checking parked cars for any clues into the brazen shooting.

The authorities could hardly be seen in the dead of night as they scanned the selection of wedding cars lining Price Street in Merrylands.

The authorities can hardly be seen in the dead of night as they scan the selection of wedding cars lining Price Street in Merrylands

Guests were seen around the house all afternoon as they helped organise the impending wedding

The wedding comes just hours after bodyguard Semi Ngata was gunned down outside John Ibrahim's mother's home

The names of the couple were etched on a pavement outside the Ibrahim's family home ahead of the ceremony on Saturday

The overcast skies made for a perfect indoor wedding as guests arrived dressed in coats

Guests walk into the premises as the sun goes down and police scour cars for any evidence

Did someone say gifts? This guest of the wedding was seen carrying a David Jones bag into the house

Police were reportedly out in numbers - driving up and down surrounding streets in marked and unmarked cars - in case of any 'retaliation attack', 7 News reported.

Chief Inspector Bradfield Peters said the shooting was a 'brazen' attack and certainly not 'random'.

'A number of police will be deployed tonight to ensure that the community is safe.'

Meanwhile guests could be seen arriving all afternoon, some laden with gifts, to celebrate the young couple's nuptials.

On Instagram Ms Sakalaki wrote: 'I can't believe my baby sister is getting married today! I love you so much Aishy #feelingemotional.'

The wedding came less than a day after bodyguard Semi Ngata was gunned down outside John Ibrahim's mother's home.

The names of the couple were etched on a pavement outside the Ibrahim's family home ahead of the ceremony on Saturday.

It is believed Sam is the son of Maha Ibrahim, who is John's sister.

Semi Ngata, known as Tongan Sam, (pictured centre back with Daniel and John Ibrahim) was shot in the back in Merrylands, in Sydney's west on Friday night, the day before a wedding due to take place between a nephew of John Ibrahim and a sister of disgraced former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer

The names of the couple were etched on a pavement outside John Ibrahim's mother's home ahead of the ceremony (pictured)

Armed police scoured drains and nearby streets on Saturday as 59-year-old Tongan Sam remained in a serious but stable condition at Westmead Hospital.

His wife has been keeping a bedside vigil and told reporters 'he was doing OK'.

A wedding was due to take place at the property today between the former Auburn deputy mayor's sister Aisha (pictured) and John's nephew Sam

NSW Police chief inspector Bradfield Peters previously said police were unable to speculate whether the wedding and shooting were linked.

He said: 'We've only just found out that there may have been a wedding planned for today.

'But whether there's any link to what occurred last night, I can't speculate.'

Chief inspector Peters say police believed the shooting took place in a backyard after intruders entered the home.

'If that's exactly what occurred then it is certainly brazen,' he said.

'We believe that it's certainly not random and that it was targeted.'

Officers said they were investigating whether more than one bullet had been used in the shooting on Price Street but couldn't say whether it was a drive-by attack.

They are also looking into whether a burnt-out car found on Rees Street in nearby Mays Hill is linked to the shooting.

A police spokeswoman said: 'We've got detectives canvassing the area and investigations are ongoing.

'We are looking at that as a line of inquiry but it's not been confirmed at this stage if it's linked.'

Tongan Sam has undergone surgery in hospital but has refused to cooperate with police. No arrests have been made.

He has worked as a bodyguard for nightclub boss John for more than a decade after the pair met in Kings Cross in the 1990s.

His loyalty to his boss was shown in 2014 when he was pictured wearing a T-shirt with John's face emblazoned across it.

The shooting comes just weeks after Ibrahim brothers Fadi and Michael were detained in a dramatic police sting in Dubai and extradited back to Australia over a drug and tobacco syndicate.

A heavy police presence is expected at the wedding on Saturday of Aiisha (pictured with her brother Salim) amid fears of revenge and retaliation

Despite the shooting on Friday evening friends and family gathered to lay out chairs ahead of the ceremony on Saturday

A wedding was due to take place at the property today between the former Auburn deputy mayor's sister Aisha and John's nephew Sam

People could be seen arriving at the home with boxes full of decorations, with a wedding due to take place later in the day

As police continued to investigate the shooting people began to arrive at the home with flowers and wedding decorations

Price Street in Merrylands was the scene of a shooting overnight, with a wedding between a members of the Ibrahim and Mehajer families due to take place on Saturday

Guests shake hands with each other outside the Ibrahim residence in Merrylands

Two thumbs up! This jolly guest was all smiles as he arrived for the impending nuptials

The presiding priest walks into the house in preparation for the wedding

Fadi was released from jail on strict bail conditions after a $2.2million surety was put up.

The Merrylands home belonging to John's mother was searched by police during the raids, and a loaded 9mm handgun was seized from the property.

John's home was also raided as part of the investigation in August - but he was not arrested or charged with any offences.

John and his three brothers - Sam, Michael and Fadi - have all been either shot or stabbed over recent years.

Michael - the most recent victim - was gunned down on Macquarie Street in Sydney's CBD in 2015, while Fadi was shot five times as he sat in his Lamborghini.

Sam was also hit in the legs in a 2011 drive-by shooting, and John was stabbed in Kings Cross while a teenager.

Armed police searched the streets outside John Ibrahim's mother's home (pictured) in Merrylands on Saturday morning

Media and neighbours gathered outside the Merrylands home (pictured) owned by John Ibrahim's mother on Saturday morning

Tongan Sam (left with Fadi Ibrahim and Salim Mehajer) was taken to Westmead Hospital, where he is in a serious condition

Police were seen combing the streets around the home of where the shooting took place on Friday evening

Police searched streets around the spot where John Ibrahim's bodyguard Tongan Sam was shot

After Tongan Sam was shot in the back on Friday night police set up a crime scene, continuing to search the area on Saturday morning (pictured)

Police (pictured)searched bins on the street near John Ibrahim's mother's home in Merrylands

Police walked down the streets of Merrylands in a line after the shooting of John Ibrahim's bodyguard Semi Ngata on Friday night

Officers are also looking into whether a burnt-out car (pictured) found nearby is linked to the shooting

Pictured is a loaded 9mm semi-automatic Beretta handgun seized from the home of John Ibrahim's mother during raids in August 2017

Officers are also looking into whether a burnt-out car found nearby is linked to the shooting (pictured is Tongan Sam, centre, with Sam Ibrahim, left, and lawyer Stephen Alexander, right, outside court in 2009)
Lee and Patricia Sepanek have meticulously decorated their Arizona home with holiday lights for more than 30 years, but this year is different.

The Phoenix, Arizona, couple haven't put up a single light after they were approached by city staff in October for multiple complaints received about the display.

'That would defeat my whole purpose,' Lee Sepanek said to USA Today. 'This is my protest.'

Lee and Patricia Sepanek have meticulously decorated their Phoenix, Arizona, home with holiday lights for more than 30 years, but don't plan to this year

During the meeting in October, the City of Pheonix tried to strategize a way to effectively reduce the amount of complaints they were receiving about the spectacle. Lee, 66, came from the meeting dejected, he decided to cancel the 250,000 light spectacle, altogether

During the meeting in October, the city tried to strategize a way to effectively reduce the amount of complaints they were receiving.

And Lee, 66, came from the meeting dejected, he decided to cancel the 250,000 light spectacle, altogether.

He added: 'I'm sad. I'm going to be sad when these people show up with their sad faces. They're going to come around the corner and it's a black house.'

Every year, the family starts putting up the lights so that they can be ready by Thanksgiving, even getting a small manlift so that they can light on a 100ft eucalyptus tree.

He added: 'I'm sad. I'm going to be sad when these people show up with their sad faces. They're going to come around the corner and it's a black house'

Every year, the family starts putting up the lights so that they can be ready by Thanksgiving, even getting a small manlift so that they can light on a 100ft eucalyptus tree

Lee claims that they spend approximately nine to 10 hours a day for three months assembling the lights, cleaning the neighborhood, sitting outside selling treats to visitors who sometimes come on buses and trolleys.

But this year, none of that will be happening.

According to city spokeswoman Tamera Ingersoll, complaints were received regarding the family's selling of food and drink - illegal without a license from the city - and about noise and increased traffic in their neighborhood.

'A pre-emptive meeting to see if we could alleviate some complaints in neighborhood' was set up by the Neighborhood Services and Street Transportation departments claims Ingersoll.

Lee claims that they spend approximately nine to 10 hours a day for three months assembling the lights, cleaning the neighborhood, sitting outside selling treats to visitors who sometimes come on buses and trolleys

According to city spokeswoman Tamera Ingersoll, complaints were received regarding the family's selling of food and drink - illegal without a license from the city - and about noise and increased traffic in their neighborhood

The personnel asked if a nearby lot could be utilized so that tour buses could park there and not on the street but Lee said that the tour companies don't ask to visit his home.

According to Lee, staff also told him that they couldn't give away treats for free, to hire five to six people and that 'no parking' signs in front of other houses would not work.

But Ingersoll claims that the city staff said none of that.

'He could get a notice of violation that he has (15 to 30) days to fix something, and if he chose not to fix that, he could receive a fine if he went through a court proceeding,' said Ingersoll about if they had had any more complaints about the home.

The personnel asked if a nearby lot could be utilized so that tour buses could park there and not on the street but Lee said that the tour companies don't ask to visit his home

According to Lee, staff also told him that they couldn't give away treats for free, to hire five to six people and that 'no parking' signs in front of other houses would not work

No notices of violation were issued during the meeting but Sepanek was fed up.

'I got disheartened. I walked in my house told my wife, "We're not going to light up this year." Because I got no encouragement from them this year,' he said.

He added that he's aware of a handful of neighbors who have complained before and 'theyre going to complain (again). ... Theyre going to shut me down, so why would I put in the energy?'

Ingersoll asserts that the city has no control to 'shut down' displays and that they never told the Sepaneks that they couldn't put their lights up.

'He could get a notice of violation that he has (15 to 30) days to fix something, and if he chose not to fix that, he could receive a fine if he went through a court proceeding,' said Ingersoll about if they had had any more complaints about the home

'I got disheartened. I walked in my house told my wife, "We're not going to light up this year." Because I got no encouragement from them this year,' Lee said

'The lights were never in question,' she said. They could only really be given a notice for selling food, she continued.

'This was a good-neighbor meeting to try to calm the discord between neighbors, traffic and the amount of calls to police. Thats all this ever was. It was a suggestion conversation,' Ingersoll said.

Phoenix Police Department spokesman Sgt. Vince Lewis said that two complaints have been received in the last five years and there were 'no outstanding safety concerns' for the display.

Lee has said that he planned on scaling back on the display due to physical restraints but didn't expect things to end so abruptly.

'The lights were never in question,' Ingersoll said. They could only really be given a notice for selling food, she continued

He has been meeting with Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio to help find a resolution so lights can be put up next year.

The councilman released a statement saying that his office was working to clarify the problems but Lee asserts its too late.

The patriarch claims that he realized a few years back that he spends roughly $10,000 a year on lights, decorations, storage and electricity.

Since he no longer can sell food or drinks to help cover the expenses, he has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help offset the cost. In less than a week more than $2,450 has been raised.

He added: 'This is my hobby. I have nothing else. I plan all year to do Christmas.

'I dont even know what Im going to do with the free time. For 30 years, Ive not had nothing to do Thanksgiving to New Year's but Christmas lights and sit outside and talk to people.'

Lee stated that he was never approached by neighbors and the confrontation with the city 'depressed' him.

'If they (neighbors) would have come to me before all this started I would have been glad to discuss it,' Sepanek said.

'I wasnt given that opportunity.'
20-year-old Nicolas Cristescu from Cleveland has been charged with misdemeanor voyeurism, sexual battery and rape after having sex with an unconscious woman and recording it

A Miami University student in Ohio allegedly had sex with an unconscious woman and recorded it.

Nicolas Cristescu, 20, from Cleveland has been charged with misdemeanor voyeurism, sexual battery and rape.

The age of the victim is unknown as prosecutors refused to release the age of the woman, but they did reveal she is an adult.

The charges against the college student first arose on October 25, however they were dismissed by a prosecutor.

A grand jury then heard the evidence against Cristescu and decided upon a 13-count indictment.

Miami University Police said: 'On Thursday, October 19, 2017, a female student reported to the Miami University police that she was sexually assaulted by a male subject known to her.'

'The incident is reported to have occurred in the early morning hours of Thursday, October 12, 2017, in a residence hall room at Heritage Commons,' WLWT5 reported.

A student revealed: 'I heard the campus crime alert, and then our RD also sent out an email specifically to all of us talking about it, and resources and on campus and in the dorm in general that we could go to if that happened to us,' Emily Brady said.

Another student, J'quaan Wait, added: 'I love going to school here, but whenever I hear stuff like that, it just angers me because it's not stuff you want going on at all, anywhere really.'

Cristescu, who pleaded guilty last month to a drug charge, is pictured here in his LinkedIn profile photo

'But when it happens this close to being in the same building and everything, it just really hits a nerve with, honestly,' she said.

The police also said that on October 13 'Cristescu was was found to be in possession of obscene images involving a female minor,' according to CBS.

'The female minor was 16 years old when the images were created and originally received by Cristescu from the female minor in 2014.'

Cristescu also pleaded guilty last month to a drug charge and disseminating material harmful to a juvenile.

These pictures of Cristescu, who pleaded guilty last month to disseminating material harmful to a juvenile, are from his Facebook page (left and right)

Pictured here is Harrison Hall on Miami University where 20-year-old Nicolas Cristescu attends

The Journal-News newspaper said police inspected Cristescu's phone, which ultimately led to his rape and voyeurism charges.

A judge set Cristescu's bail at $75,000 and he is expected back in court for his rape and voyeurism charges on November 27.

His other charges are scheduled to be sentenced in December.
Jack Ruby made comments on the morning of President John F Kennedy's assassination to an FBI informant that suggested he knew what was about to take place, according to new records released Friday.

Ruby, who was eventually charged with killing Lee Harvey Oswald, asked an FBI informant if he would like to 'watch the fireworks' with him as Kennedy's motorcade drove through downtown Dallas just hours before the assassination took place.

The records are part of the JFK Files, which have been released incrementally over the past few months by the National Archives after being sealed for 25 years.

Oswald shot and killed JFK on November 22, 1963, in Dallas.

Just two days later Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald as he was being transferred from city to county jail.

Jack Ruby made comments on the morning of President John F Kennedy's assassination to an FBI informant that suggested he knew what was about to take place, according to new records released Friday. JFK and Jackie Kennedy are pictured just moments before he was shot

Ruby (pictured right corner with his arm outstretched), who was eventually charged with killing Lee Harvey Oswald (pictured center), asked an FBI informant if he would like to 'watch the fireworks' with him as Kennedy's motorcade drove through downtown Dallas just hours before the assassination took place

Oswald shot and killed JFK on November 22, 1963, in Dallas. Just two days later Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald as he was being transferred from city to county jail. Oswald is pictured left just before he was shot, and right as he was being transferred to the hospital after Ruby shot him

The interaction on the morning of the president's murder wasn't relayed to the FBI until March 1977, despite being told to an FBI informant 14 years prior. The informant was named as Bob Vanderslice, from Dallas.

'The informant stated that on the morning of the assassination, Ruby contacted him and asked if he would like to "watch the fireworks,' an FBI record from April 6, 1977, says. That record was first highlighted by University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato, according to CBS.

'He was with Jack Ruby and standing at the corner of the Postal Annex Building facing the Texas School Book Depository Building at the time of the shooting.

'Immediately after the shooting, Ruby left and headed toward the area of the Dallas Morning News building.'

In 1977 Vanderslice told the FBI that Ruby didn't say anything to him immediately following the assassination.

However, after her was arrested for killing Oswald, Ruby was also arrested on an unrelated charge. Vanderslice got to know Ruby better when he was in the Dallas County Jail.

Ruby, who had mob connections, died while he was in prison, sparking the idea that he may be part of a conspiracy to kill the 35th president.

Ruby, who had mob connections and owned a Dallas nightclub, died while he was in prison, sparking the idea that he may be part of a conspiracy to kill the 35th president

The JFK Files are being released in batches by the National Archives. On Friday 10,744 records were released online in the fifth mass disclosure of information this year

The JFK assassination Files are being released in batches by the National Archives, per President Donald Trump's orders. On Friday 10,744 records were released online in the fifth mass disclosure of information this year.

All of the records were supposed to be released at once on October 26 - per a 1922 law that gives federal agencies 25 years to analyze them before they have to be released.

Intelligence agencies, specifically the FBI and CIA, have objected to the release based on concerns that information could be revealed about sources who are still alive.

But Trump gave a six-month timeline, from November through April, during which all of the files must be released.
Britain is being faced with having its final 4billion rebate payment kept back by Europe over the Brexit bill.

Negotiations have still not settled whether the UK will receive the payment as part of a final settlement when it leaves the European Union.

The EU has set the bill at 53.6billion (60billion).

A senior British sourced told The Daily Telegraph: 'There is a problem here, and the issue over whether the EU will pay us the 2018 rebate has not been resolved.

Donald Tusk yesterday abandoned the EU's two-week deadline for the UK to offer more money for the Brexit divorce bill after sitting down with Theresa May in Sweden (pictured)

The right to a rebate was won by Margaret Thatcher in 1984 and has become a key sticking point between the UK and EU, as they push to move onto trade talks in December.

Britain's EU rebate, which is paid a year in arrears, was designed to offset unfair distribution of of EU farm subsidies  the final payment for 2018 would not be paid until after the UK's departure.

However, British negotiators say that they is no legal basis for the EU to refuse the final payment.

The issue of the rebate is understood to have been brought up in the opening round of Brexit bill discussions in summer 2016.

The EU side is still to provide clarity, and is understood not to see it aspart of the Brexit bill calculation.

Theresa May appeared to be struggling with her translation earpiece as the summit got under way in Sweden today

Britain is arguing, however, that the 4billion rebate should be 'netted off the final bill'.

It is also not know whether the UK will receive any rebates over a 2019 - 2020 transition period.

It comes after Donald Tusk yesterday extended the EU's two-week deadline for the UK to offer more money for the Brexit divorce bill.

After talks with Theresa May in Sweden, the EU Council President said he still wanted concessions on cash and the Irish border before triggering trade talks next month.

But he kicked a deadline down the road to early December after Britain rejected a two-week warning issued EU negotiator Michel Barnier at the last round of talks.

Following the talks today Mrs May admitted there was still 'more work to be done' ahead of the next full summit next month.

On the sidelines of a meeting in Sweden today she has met Mr Tusk, French President Emmanuel Macron and Irish premier Leo Varadkar.

Donald Tusk, pictured centre with EU premiers in Sweden today, had a tough message for Theresa May in talks today

Mrs May grabbed a chat with French President Emmanuel Macron between sessions at the summit today

Mr Tusk said: Discussed with PM Theresa May the calendar of Brexit talks.

'Only if UK makes progress by early December will I be ready to propose new guidelines on transition and future relations at December European Council.

In today's talks, Mr Tusk and Mr Macron made clear they had not yet seen enough progress to move on to the next phase of talks.

In another rebuke, Mr Macron insisted that 'more progress' had to be achieved in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Irish PM Leo Varadkar held his own showdown with Mrs May, complaining that Britain has not 'thought through' its plans for the border with the Republic.

The warnings come amid signs of a bitter row within government over how far to bow to Brussels' demands for more cash.

Mrs May has already pledged to pay 20billion into EU coffers during a two-year transition period. But Cabinet Brexiteers Boris Johnson and Michael Gove are said to be resisting upping the offer without commitments from Brussels over a trade deal.

In other developments today Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is in Ireland for bilateral talks. He is pictured on a visit to Trinity College, Dublin

At a joint press conference with foreign minister Simon Coveney (pictured) Mr Johnson dismissed Irish claims the Brexit transition should last up to five years

LABOUR VOWS TO PUT SINGLE MARKET BACK ON THE TABLE Labour would 'reset' Brexit talks and put the single market back on the table if it wins power before March 2019, shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said today. Speaking at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London also suggested the UK could still be subject to the jurdisdiction of the European Court of Justice in some instances. He said: 'We have an incredibly weak government. I can't think of a period in time when a government has been this weak so early in the parliamentary 5 year cycle. 'Labour has to stand ready to take over and if that were to happen we would reset the negotiations.' He added: 'Labour would start the negotiations with options back on the table, including remaining within a customs union, subject of course to the negotiation, including a changed relationship with the single market, including a new role for the European court of justice or an independent court to oversee future EU/UK relationships.' Advertisement

Brexit Secretary David Davis said today that so far the UK was making most of the 'compromises' and European countries had to do their part.

Arriving at a summit in Gothenburg this morning, Mrs May said she hoped the European Union would respond 'positively' to her approach to Brexit.

She repeated her promise that the UK will 'honour our commitments' amid speculation she is prepared to increase the amount she is prepared to pay in the divorce settlement with the EU.

But after her talks with Mr Tusk Downing Street said they had acknowledged there is 'more work to be done'.

'Prime Minister May and President Tusk agreed that there is more work to be done and discussed how to take further steps forward together in advance of the European Council in December,' a spokesman said.

Mrs May and Mr Macron were said to have had 'constructive' discussions but No10 said the leaders 'looked forward to further progress being made' before the summit.

A Brussels source said earlier: 'Mr Tusk will inform Mrs May that such a positive scenario is not a given, it will require more work and that time is short.

'And he will ask Mrs May how the UK plans to progress on the three key issues for phase one.'

Mrs May enjoyed a joke with irish PM Leo Varadkar (left) about his socks - but the pair clashed over how close the sides were to a deal on the post-Brexit border

BORIS DISMISSES CALL FOR FIVE YEAR TRANSITION DEAL Boris Johnson held a press conference with Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney today Boris Johnson was forced to dismiss calls for a five-year Brexit transition today after his Irish counterpart surprised him with the idea at a joint press conference. Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said his Government's top priority was giving business certainty and claimed this meant a much longer transition to Brexit. Theresa May set out plans for a strictly limited implementation period of around two years at her Florence speech and Mr Johnson scrambled to defend the UK policy. The dramatic press conference took place in Dublin this morning following bilateral talks between the two foreign ministers. 'I think the appropriate timetable is closer to four or five years than it is to two,' Mr Coveney said. Appearing surprised by the claim, Mr Johnson insisted: 'Everybody want to have the maximum possible reassurance. 'I think it is possible to do that within a much shorter time scale.' Advertisement

The three issues where 'sufficient progress' must be made include the financial settlement, citizens' rights and the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Speaking to the BBC in Berlin this morning, Mr Davis insisted many EU countries 'want to move on'.

'They see it as very important to them. Countries like Denmark, countries like Holland, countries like Italy and Spain, countries like Poland can see the big, big benefits in the future deal we are talking about.

'They have all got things to benefit from that. This is not a one-way street, this is not something for nothing, this is something that benefits everybody.'

But Irish PM Mr Varadkar again sounded a hard line, suggesting that the UK had not 'thought through' the difficulties Brexit would cause.

'I think it's certainly possible that we can come to conclusions in December allowing phase two talks to begin, but if we have to wait until the New Year, if we have to wait for further concessions, so be it,' the Taoiseach told reporters.

'But I think it would be in all of our interests that we proceed to phase two if we can in December.

'It's 18 months since the referendum, it's 10 years since people who wanted a referendum started agitating for one.

'Sometimes it doesn't seem like they have thought all this through.'

He added: 'Britain having unilaterally taken the customs union and single market off the table, before we move to phase two talks on trade we want taken off the table any suggestion that there will be a physical border, a hard border, new barriers to trade on the island of Ireland.'

Theresa May urged the EU to 'move forward' in Brexit negotiations as she arrived at a summit in Sweden today

Brexit Secretary David Davis, pictured in Berlin last night, said today that so far the UK was making most of the 'compromises' and European countries had to do their part

Theresa May, pictured speaking to Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven last night, has already pledged to pay 20billion into EU coffers during a two-year transition period

After the UK and Irish leaders met, Downing Street said they had a 'constructive' discussion.

But an Irish source described the meeting as a 'solid exchange of views' and said Mr Varadkar was 'optimistic but slightly frustrated in terms of we are so close but so far, really'.

DAVIS WARNS EU NOT TO PUT 'POLITICS ABOVE PROSPERITY' David Davis has urged Germany not to put 'politics above prosperity' in the Brexit talks as he laid out his vision for close trade links after we leave. The Brexit Secretary said he is 'under no illusions' that the negotiations are tough but said real progress has been made. And he said Britain wants to continue to work closely with the bloc on trade and security after the UK leaves in March 2019. Addressing German business leaders in Berlin last night, he warned it is 'never a smart choice' to put politics above the wealth and prosperity of your country. And he said said the two countries do a lot of lucrative trade with each other, with one in three of every cars sold in the UK made in Germany, and this must not be thrown away in Brexit talks. Advertisement

The source said: 'We just want a clear commitment, a clear form of words that points to a solution with regards to the Irish situation that would allow us to move on to phase two.' Ireland 'cannot make a leap in the dark', the source added.

A British Government source said there was 'work to do' on the issue and 'everyone's very honest about that'.

The PM also held talks with Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven last night.

He said the UK needs to clarify what the financial settlement would cover, and it was 'very difficult to say' whether trade talks would be given the go-ahead in December.

If leaders do not agree to move to the second phase at the summit in Brussels on December 14-15, the next opportunity for progress will not be until the European Council meets again in March.

That would add to business uncertainty and increase the potential for the UK to leave without a Brexit deal.

The Gothenburg social summit brings together political leaders and other key players to discuss a new European Pillar of Social Rights for workers' rights.

Mrs May will take part in a working session on fair employment and working conditions and is expected to highlight the findings of the Taylor report published in July which examined the treatment of workers in the so-called gig economy.
My ears perked up when, in recent weeks, I heard Donald Trump and Ivan Pavlov mentioned twice in connection with each other. After all, Im an experimental psychologist who journeyed to Russia to conduct conditioning research with Pavlovs last living student.

First, political provocateur Bill OReilly wrote online that

Donald Trump is kind of like the Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov rang his bell and dogs salivated; Trumps voice rings out and leftists everywhere froth at the mouth.

Then, political commentators Abe Greenwald and Noah Rothman observed in their lively back-and-forth that

It is such a huge master switch that [Trump] can throw to watch both sides and the media completely respond to what he wants in the way he wants. And, so he is Pavlov and we are all the dogs. Right?

Each remark contains a profound truth: Extremely strong associations can indeed be formed between events. Remember, Pavlovs own breakthrough was discovering that dogs could learn to associate the dinner bell with the meal itself and so begin to drool when the bell rang in advance of when the feeding bowl was actually placed within reach.

But, these commentators cast such learned associations in a decidedly negative light. People were reduced to canines and their reactions downgraded to mechanical reflexes. Nothing in these pejorative remarks hints at how associative learning contributes to performing responses that help us survive and thrive.

When one thing gets linked to another

Associative learning was recognized and appreciated long before Pavlov initiated his pioneering scientific studies. British philosophers including John Locke, David Hume and David Hartley had, based on their own keen observations and introspections, outlined basic associative laws by which one event comes to suggest another.

Pavlovs great scientific achievement was to objectively and experimentally investigate these laws. Critically, Pavlov did not study salivation in dogs because he believed associative learning to be an inherently primitive process applicable only to mechanical reactions in animals. Rather, he saw the potential for such learning to be part of a broad range of adaptive human actions. Pavlov simply studied the response system he knew best; indeed, he earned the Nobel Prize in 1904 for his work in digestive physiology.

After more than a century of scientific study, we now understand that basic associative learning  sometimes called Pavlovian or classical conditioning  is the essential process responsible for our anticipating one event from the occurrence of another: as when the flash of lightning portends the clap of thunder, when the peaceful ending of the symphonys third movement cues the raucous opening of the fourth movement and when the chime of the doorbell heralds the arrival of the first dinner guest. These signals enable us to respond appropriately: to seek shelter from the impending storm, to lower the volume of the audio system and to head to the front door.

Such clearly adaptive actions tell a very different tale about associative learning than is popularly portrayed: Forewarned is most assuredly forearmed.

Beyond overt responses to emotional reactions

Such forewarning not only encourages beneficial overt action; it also triggers the kinds of emotional responses that the above political commentators stressed. Associative learning lies at the heart of our many emotional  or, as psychologists call them, affective  reactions.

Our likes and dislikes, our mercies and prejudices  whether or not we are consciously aware of them  are also learned through the basic mechanisms of Pavlovian conditioning. What kind of music do you detest? With which other nationality of people do you choose to affiliate? What is your favorite brand of peanut butter? These are surely not inborn preferences, but arise from your own highly personal experiences. Were you embarrassed when learning to square dance to the sound of country music? Was your best friend in kindergarten from India? Did your loving mother always purchase Skippy peanut butter?

These and other affective responses are often acquired at an early age and they can be remarkably resistant to change  however much we might want to do so. Yet, our emotional reactions also have adaptive significance: They may heighten arousal, which serves to spur effective actions. Particularly in the case of defensive reactions  fleeing, fighting and freezing  the motivating role of fear can mean the difference between life and death.

Of course, strong emotional reactions can also be exploited by politicians to entice voters into choosing them over their opponents in hotly contested elections. Catchy nicknames like crooked Hillary and Don the con associatively link political rivals with negative feelings. Doing so can thereby hijack the learning process and prevent voters from more carefully considering all of the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates personal qualities and policy positions. So too can connecting candidates with reviled and revered personalities in the familiar political practices of guilt by association and celebrity endorsement.

Beyond political campaigning, its an inescapable truth that the learning process Pavlov investigated is basic to human experience in both our public behaviors and private emotional reactions. It is also vital to a wide variety of therapies which researchers have devised to relieve human suffering  from phobias and addictions. Important advances in human health and well-being have thus derived from scientists efforts to understand this basic behavioral process.

The science of learning has more fully developed the nature and function of Pavlovian conditioning than the facile characterization so often posed in the media. So, be wary of those who would dismiss many human behaviors and emotions as merely Pavlovian reflexes. Those responses are vital to our daily lives.

Of course, strong emotional reactions can also be exploited by politicians to entice voters into choosing them over their opponents in hotly contested elections.
Radhika Jones, who was just announced as the next Editor-in-Chief of Vanity Fair, has been criticized by her colleagues for her choice of clothing, according to a report.

The former Time magazine editor wore a navy shirtdress and a pair of leggings with cartoon foxes on them during a meeting in Manhattan.

Despite her new acclaimed position at the magazine, apparently her co-workers weren't so thrilled with her outfit.

Pictured left is Radhika Jones, who was just announced as the next Editor-in-Chief of Vanity Fair, and right is a picture of tights with cartoon foxes, similar to a pair she wore to a Conde Nast meeting in Manhattan

According to WWD the staffers at Conde Nast were 'aghast,' with her look.

'The outfit was interesting,' one Conde fashionista said to a fellow worker, whilst another described it as 'iffy.'

Anna Wintour, Conde Nasts artistic director and editor of Vogue, apparently 'fixed one of her trademark stoic glares upon Jones hosiery throughout the duration of the staff meeting.'

Anna Wintour, Conde Nasts artistic director and editor of Vogue pictured above, apparently 'fixed one of her trademark stoic glares upon Jones hosiery throughout the duration of the staff meeting'

A fashion editor at Conde Nast sneered: 'Im not sure if I should include a new pair of tights in her welcome basket.'

The staffers at the magazine were chastised by over 500 people who posted several comments on the article blasting it as childish 'high school' behavior.

One user wrote: 'The biggest problem for women in the workplace is......WOMEN! Nasty, condescending, mean, haughty, judgmental.'

Another angry person commented: 'Maybe the snobs will quit out of sheer uppity nose-out-of-joint medical condition. What rotten people.'

Zara Rahim, director of communications at Vogue, berated the article for 'pitting women against women.'

Zara Rahim, director of communications at Vogue, berated the article for 'pitting women against women,' her tweet pictured above

In several other tweets Rahim praised Radhika Jones (above) on her appointment as Editor in Chief of Vanity Fair

In response to someone's tweet regarding the article she said 'why do y'all love pitting women against women so much ugh.'

In other tweets Rahim praised Radhika Jones on her appointment as Editor in Chief of Vanity Fair.

She said: 'The historical significance of Radhika Jones' appointment at Vanity Fair should not be lost.'

'First person of color to be named EIC at VF in their history, first Indian-American woman to be named EIC of a major magazine publication in history. Wow.'

Zara Rahim, director of communications at Vogue, posted several tweets congratulating Radhika Jones (above) on her new appointment

Jodi Kantor expressed her frustration on Twitter with regards to the article

She added: 'This moment is important to young brown people -- especially young brown women, everywhere. We are rarely seen or appreciated outside of the realm of medicine/engineering.'

Jodi Kantor, Alli Maloney and Aaron Sankin were also furious with the article.

Jones is expected to begin her new role as Editor in Chief on December 11.

Aaron Sankin was also annoyed with the contents of the article, his tweet above

Alli Maloney slammed the article for discussing her clothing as opposed to her job
Four Albanian commandos who vanished from a training mission in Britain are feared to be in hiding.

The soldiers' disappearance last month was kept under raps while police and the Ministry of Defence launched their hunt.

However the men are thought to be keeping their head down in the close-knit Albanian community.

They have been identified as Reni Ajazi, Ylber Kotri, Aleksander Shkulaku and Klevis Lamkaj.

The soldiers' disappearance last month was kept under raps while police and the Ministry of Defence launched their hunt. Stock image

When caught, they face up to five years imprisonment for deserting.

The four commandos were among a group of 11 Albanians on a Nato exercise in mid-Wales.

Their flights and accommodation - including a final night in London - were paid for by the Ministry Of Defence, The Sun reports.

'They were supposed to return to barracks and fly back the next day,' a source told the newspaper.

'The exercise was being run by the Brecon-based 160th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Wales.

It saw 139 teams from all over the world compete in challenges, including a 37-mile march over the Black Mountains.

A military source in the capital of Albanian capital Tirana added: 'Top brass are fuming. The families of the missing men have been questioned and the investigation is proceeding in Britain and Albania.'

It saw 139 teams from all over the world compete in challenges, including a 37-mile march over the Black Mountains. Stock image

The missing commandos, who are veterans of conflict in Afghanistan, earned 220 a month.

Dritan Demiraj, the former head of the Albanian Special Forces, blasted the deserters on Facebook.

He wrote: 'I consider their behaviour unacceptable. I know they are not paid well and work in difficult circumstances but what they did was totally unjustified.

'They travelled to Britain to represent Albania in a military exercise and I ask them to return to their country as soon as possible.'
The top US nuclear commander has said that if President Trump ordered a nuclear attack that he disagreed with he would refuse.

Air Force General John Hyten on Saturday told an audience at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that he's thought a lot about what he will do if Trump orders a strike he considers illegal.

'I think some people think we're stupid,' Hyten said, responding to a question about the scenario, according to CBS News. He is the commander of the US Strategic Command, or STRATCOM.

'We're not stupid people. We think about these things a lot. When you have this responsibility, how do you not think about it?'

Hyten said though that if the 'illegal' command did come, they would go through a process to find a better solution.

Air Force General John Hyten on Saturday told an audience at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that if President Trump ordered a nuclear attack that was 'illegal' he would refuse. Hyten is pictured in April during a hearing on Capitol Hill

Hyten said though that if the 'illegal' command did come, they would go through a process and work with President Trump to find a better solution. Trump is pictured on Friday after meeting with House Republicans about tax reform

'I provide advice to the president, he will tell me what to do,' Hyten explained.

But, he said, if the command was 'illegal' he would tell him so, and said that together they would come up with other options.

'We'll come up with options, with a mix of capabilities to respond to whatever the situation is and that's the way it works,' he explained.

'It's not that complicated.'

Hyten has trained every year for multiple decades on the law of armed conflict, he told the audience.

The law of armed conflict takes into account certain factors to determine if attacks are legal, including necessity, distinction, proportionality, and unnecessary suffering, among others.

He said that thinking about how to respond in the event of an illegal order is standard, and that he wouldn't execute an unlawful order because of the consequences.

'If you execute an unlawful order, you will go to jail. You could go to jail for the rest of your life,' he explained.

These comments come following Trump's most recent flagrant comments about North Korea. He is pictured during a joint press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae In on November 7

On November 11, Trump tweeted: 'Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me "old," when I would NEVER call him "short and fat?" Oh well, I try to hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!'

These comments come following Trump's most recent flagrant comments about North Korea.

On November 11, Trump tweeted: 'Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me "old," when I would NEVER call him "short and fat?" Oh well, I try to hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!'

The comment was received poorly by the North Korean leader, who later announced that Trump deserved the death penalty for such remarks.

Trump has also, on numerous occasions, pledged to unleash 'fire and fury' and to 'totally destroy' North Korea if he deems fit.

Trump has also, on numerous occasions, pledged to unleash 'fire and fury' and to 'totally destroy' North Korea if he deems fit

Congress is also currently re-examining the authorization of the use of military force and power to launch a nuclear strike.

Hyten said the military is on constant alert - ready at any time to respond to a nuclear threat by North Korea.

'We are ready every minute of every day to respond to any event that comes out of North Korea,' he said on Saturday.

He also explained that handling such a delicate and unpredictable situation - like Kim Jong Un's leadership - needs to be an international effort.

Trump has continued to put pressure on China to help manage its communist neighbor, and tweeted after returning that things were looking up.

'China is sending an Envoy and Delegation to North Korea - A big move, we'll see what happens,' he tweeted on Thursday.
A man in his twenties suffered serious injuries after falling 60ft off a multi-storey car park to the horror of passers-by.

He was rushed to hospital with 'multiple injuries' after being found near Bootle New Strand shopping centre car park in Merseyside at 12.30pm today.

The main entrance to the car park was cordoned off by police vehicles, stopping shoppers from entering while an initial investigation got underway.

People were allowed to collect their cars but kept away from the spot where the man was found.

A man in his twenties was rushed to hospital with 'multiple injuries' after being found near Bootle New Strand shopping centre car park (pictured) in Merseyside at 12.30pm today

A Merseyside Police spokesman said: 'Merseyside Police can confirm officers were in attendance on Washington Parade/Vermont Way, Bootle, this afternoon, Saturday, November 18, 2017, following reports of an incident.

'Officers were called at around 12.30pm following reports the male had fallen from the multi-storey car park.

'The male, who is in his 20s, was taken to hospital with multiple injuries.

'An investigation is underway and CCTV enquiries are ongoing in the local area.'

A pile of clothes and litter were seen lying on the car park ramp while officers assessed the scene.

Horrified shoppers took to social media to express their shock at what had happened.

Jenny Haydon wrote on Facebook: 'We saw this I hope the poor lad is ok! Was a horrible thing to see!'

Steph Taberner said: 'We saw first response attending just as we were coming out of the carpark. Absolutely awful.'

Unfortunately this is not the first time someone has been seriously injured after falling from the Bootle car park.

In 2012 a man in his 70s fell from the top floor and later died in hospital.
A two Michelin star restaurant is accused of ruining the tranquility of a peaceful hamlet by installing a 'monstrous' extractor fan and organising early morning deliveries.

The Raby Hunt in Summerhouse, near Darlington, County Durham, prides itself on it's 'highly original, simple, yet visually stunning food'.

But the exclusive eatery is at loggerheads with its neighbours over a 'monstrous' extractor fan they claim was 'illegally' installed there in May and can be heard by every surrounding resident.

There are further claims that the restaurant, run by celebrated chef James Close, arranges noisy collections and deliveries as early as 5.30am that are waking residents up.

Neighbours believe the owners have made unlawful changes to the Grade II-listed former drovers' in.

The Raby Hunt (pictured) in Summerhouse, near Darlington, County Durham, prides itself on it's 'highly original, simple, yet visually stunning food'. But exclusive eatery is at loggerheads with its neighbours over a 'monstrous' extractor fan they claim was 'illegally' installed there in May and can be heard by every surrounding resident

As part of their campaign, they wrote objection letters to Darlington Borough Council while the restaurant was undergoing a 400,000 refurbishment.

Planning permission was granted for the renovations by the council's planning committee, but the residents remain defiant it shouldn't have been.

A letter signed 'Y Stonehouse, ' a resident whose home is next to the restaurant, wrot: 'The village of Summerhouse has suffered with the extraction system that was unlawfully placed on the side of the building with the noise which could be heard over the far side of the green and right up West Side road.

'The noise commenced 8.00 in the morning right onto 11.30 at night which was unbearable when the staff forgot to reduce the power and was on full power most of the time since it was installed at the end of May 2017.'

The letter continues: 'We also have taken account of the noise and light pollution of cars leaving at 1.30 in the morning, wagons, deliveries and rubbish collection at 5.30 in the morning.

'Of paramount important is the severe implications imposed on security on our property which is now totally vulnerable to all and sundry from the main road.'

The neighbour also objected to the lowering of a boundary wall between the two properties.

David Coates, Darlington's principal planning officer, said the extractor fan was an 'inappropriate addition to a listed building' and the 'monstrosity' should be removed.

But residents appear to be most concerned by the lowering of the restaurant's stone boundary wall, which happened while work was being done on the kitchen earlier this year.

They claim the reduction in height had 'affected their security' and had seen a rise in visual and noise pollution.

One neighbour wrote: 'When the wall was knocked down, we were told it would be replaced.

The Raby Hunt got planning permission for its 400,000 renovation, but neighbours are defiant the extractor fan and wall alterations are 'ruining' their peace and quiet. Pictured is Darlington Town Hall, home of Darlington Borough Council, where the decision was made

'I have had to put security lights on my garage, remove the lights off my trees because people are attracted to them, and I am in the process of buying security cameras.

'We moved here for peace and quiet  we did not move for deliveries at 5.30am.

'We want the place to be successful, but there has to be consideration given for the village.'

Councillor Gerald Lee said he had never known deliveries to any restaurant at 5.30am 'in all his years on the council'.

Restaurant owner Russell Close said he had only ever had once complaint about early morning noise, and that was due to rubbish collection.

He said: 'When we took this project on, we promised to look after this Grade II-listed building. There has to be a certain amount of noise for a business of this nature.'

Cllr Paul Baldwin, chair of the meeting, said he would raise the concerns with the council's environmental health team.

The 26 cover Raby Hunt, which secured its first star in 2012, was the only one to receive a second star in the 2017 edition of the Michelin Guide.

James Close said at the time: 'To get two Michelin stars puts you in a category that's the elite.

'The Raby Hunt is a small restaurant in the North East, but it shows what you can do if you put your mind to it.'

On its website, the restaurant describes itself as follows: 'Set in the heart of the rural hamlet of Summerhouse, near Darlington, in beautiful County Durham, The Raby Hunt is North East Englands first and only two Michelin star restaurant.

'Owned and run by one of Britains most exciting and innovative young chefs, James Close, he is known for his highly original, simple, yet visually stunning food.

'Theatre, presentation and seasonality are to the fore, with The Raby Hunt offering just the one 12/15-course tasting menu.

'Housed in a 200-year-old Grade 2 listed former drovers inn, The Raby Hunt has recently been extensively refurbished, with the kitchen now on view to allow diners a glimpse of the drama and excitement of a busy two Michelin star restaurant in full-swing.'

MailOnline has contacted Raby Hunt for further comment.
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An Indian medical student has been crowned Miss World following a glamorous event in China today, making her country the joint-most successful nation in the pageant's history along with Venezuela.

Manushi Chhillar became India's sixth winner of the prestigious beauty show, following in the footsteps of successful Bollywood actresses Priyanka Chopra and Aishwarya Rai.

Chhillar's win means that India and Venezuela have both won the competition a record six times each over the course of its 67 year history.

The 20-year-old beauty winner is a trained Indian classical dancer who enjoys painting. The Miss World website also says that she hopes to open a chain of non-profit hospitals in rural areas.

Miss India Manushi Chhilar wins the 67th Miss World contest final in Sanya, on the tropical Chinese island of Hainan on November 18, 2017

Contestants hold hands and pose during the 67th Miss World contest final in Sanya, Chinese on Saturday

During the competition, the contestants perform and try to wow the judges in the hope of being crowned the winner

Following her success, she tweeted: 'Thank you, everyone, for your constant love, support. This one's for India.'

She has retweeted a number of different articles relating to success and has become a trending topic on the social media site Twitter.

Among those to come out and congratulate her include Manohar Lal Khattar - the minister of her home state of Haryana.

She was crowed the winner by last year's winner, Stephanie del Valle of Puerto Rico, at the ceremony in the Chinese coastal city of Sanya.

Britain's Stephanie Hill and Mexico's Andrea Meza completed the other podium place finishes.

Miss India Manushi Chhilar poses during the 67th Miss World contest (left) while Miss Mexico lma Andrea Meza Carmona walks on stage during and tries to impress the judges

Miss World 2016 Stephanie Del Valle, from Puerto Rico (top) puts the crown on Miss India Manushi Chhilar (bottom) during the crowning ceremony in China

Contestants dance during the 67th Miss World contest final in Sanya, on the tropical Chinese island of Hainan

It was the fifth time in 10 years China has held the prestigious competition. At the previous time the compeition was held in Sanya, controversy erupted after officials in Hong Kong stopped Miss Canada, Anastasia Lin, from boarding a plane bound China's Hainan Island, saying she would not recieve a visa.

And last year, Lin was reportedly told not to speak by pageant bosses not to speak out about human rights abuses in China.

She did not compete in this year's event, with China represented by high school student Cynthia Menard.
Tim Earlys life hangs desperately in the balance. The brave seven-year-old, who was born with his bowel outside his body, is battling with life-threatening sepsis, a condition known as the silent killer.

He is sedated and in danger of suffering multi-organ failure if the infection is not contained locally and instead sweeps through the body.

Once the deadly cascade of toxins are released, a patient can easily die. Tims favourite brown bear sits beside him on the pillow, waiting for his owner to get better.

Serious chest infections are common at this time of year and one-week-old Oliver Bessant is battling a case of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Oliver, who was born with a genetic muscle- weakening disease, is helped here at the head of the bed by Dr Ashley Towers, a senior trainee consultant in paediatric intensive care

Its 8.30am on the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Southampton Childrens Hospital and Dr Michael Griksaitis must now make a crucial call  the first of many during his gruelling 12-hour shift.

The Mail on Sunday has been given unprecedented access to one of Britains biggest and busiest paediatric intensive care units, one which has the enviable record of having the lowest mortality rate in the country.

For all the hardships that the Health Service currently faces, this an uplifting and, at times, emotional insight into the life-and-death struggles that occupy dedicated professionals such as Dr Griksaitis  and the daily miracles that they perform.

For the moment, however, Tims parents can only pray. Dr Griksaitis knows that his patient might not survive if he delays.

Sepsis, caused when the response to infection goes wrong and the body starts attacking its own organs, is a growing and devastating problem.

After examining Tim, Dr Griksaitis decides that unless there is a rapid response to antibiotics, his patients life can be saved only by removing an infected feeding tube that had been placed into a major artery near his heart. For the moment, they must wait.

Dr Abigail Sharpe a trainee paediatric intensive care consultant, performs an echocardiogram on patient Tim Early, seven, who is battling a sepsis infection

The next decision is not so straightforward. The Southampton team are shown the medical notes of another patient and they are mystified. They know that the child is terrifyingly close to death but not why. More tests are ordered. Her parents are in shock.

The 16-bed unit is one of 29 run by the NHS across England, Wales and Scotland to deal with the sickest children.

Highly trained consultants and nursing staff work tirelessly to perform near-miracles on a daily basis.

They do so in astonishingly difficult circumstances because, as most specialists agree, the system is at breaking point.

Today, like most days, all of the beds at Southampton are occupied and there is a desperate need to free up space.

Sick children are often transported hundreds of miles when a bed becomes available  there are only 296 such beds in the country, and the Paediatric Intensive Care Society is pleading for more to meet the demand.

Southamptons patch is huge. It ranges from Plymouth in the west to Sussex in the east and Milton Keynes in the north, taking in a population of about seven million.

At 9.30am, the team are informed that their nearest PICUs, in Cardiff and Bristol, are full. It is a perilous situation, and means accommodating the sickest children in the country is increasingly becoming a national, rather than a local, juggling act.

And with winter coming, the situation is set to worsen. Last year, the whole system was running at full capacity, yet 85 per cent capacity is widely regarded as the maximum to deliver safe and efficient care.

Many of the cases staff see are heartbreaking  babies born with serious, life-threatening abnormalities, children battling severe infections, and those requiring life-support following serious accidents.

Remarkably, of more than 1,000 desperately ill children treated at Southampton last year, only 30 died. At 11.30am, paediatric intensive care consultant Iain Macintosh, the units director, confirms that today there are just 20 beds free nationally.

Thats not a lot of wriggle room, he admits. There are days when there are none on the screen. We are victims of our own success. Twenty-five years ago, PICUs hardly existed.

Tim later made a remarkable recovery and is pictured giving the thumbs-up sign after his consultant, Dr Michael Griksaitis, ordered the removal of an infected tube

'Our service is the envy of the world but we are not spending enough to cope with demand. Now we are established, other doctors know where to find us. We do need more beds. They are expensive to staff but we have to have more slack in the system.

Its 12.30pm and 16-month-old Oliver Bessant is causing concern. He has a respiratory infection, RSV, and lives with a genetic muscle-weakening disease, similar to muscular dystrophy, and is unable to hold his head up straight.

He is on oxygen but breathing independently. His heart rate, breathing and temperature are being monitored, and he is being fed through an intravenous drip.

Like all families of children on the unit, Olivers parents, Stephanie, 30, and Ashley, 31, from Southampton, have nothing but praise for the doctors and nurses. Most parents remark on their dedication, and how most will go the extra mile for their vulnerable young patients.

One such doctor is paediatric consultant Dr Kim Sykes, who has already completed a punishing 12-hour overnight shift but has decided to stay for the day shift because the unit is under pressure.

By 1pm, she has been promising her colleagues for several hours she will go home. But shes still busy.

Emotions are running high because the team have now been informed they will almost certainly lose the fight to save the patient with the mystery condition. Doctors are conducting difficult conversations with her devastated parents.

Two hospitals have indicated they have children they want to send to Southampton and Dr Griksaitis is looking for youngsters on his ward who are now well enough to be moved to a high-dependency unit  a slight step down from intensive care  or even a normal paediatric ward.

He says: The plain fact is that doctors are able to offer more life-saving treatments than ever before, so the demand for beds goes up. We never keep a child longer on PICU than is necessary, but we also dont throw them off if they still need us.

At 3pm, Tim Earlys feeding tube is removed. The team carry out a minor operation to take it out. His parents are nearby, holding hands and murmuring words as if in prayer. Refitting a clean tube will be hard but Dr Griksaitis says its the only way he will survive.

At 3.30pm the units dedicated 24/7 retrieval ambulance, a mini mobile PICU with state-of-the-art life-support equipment, is preparing to collect 17-month-old Orlando Harrage. He is feverish and covered in a rash which could either be life-threatening meningitis or a serious bacterial skin infection.

Consultant Vanessa Stanley has been told his local hospital had tried to get intravenous lines in to deliver pain relief and antibiotics, without success. The round-trip to collect him takes two hours.

He is in pain and the hospital is losing the plot, she says. They might have coped but getting lines into babies can be difficult, so I have some sympathy.

When Orlando arrives at 5.30pm, there is still concern it could be meningitis  his body is covered in raised red or purple blotches. However, Dr Stanley becomes increasingly confident it is not meningitis and instead diagnoses a nasty bacterial skin infection.

Orlando was sedated for the journey, so Dr Stanley is able to get intravenous lines into him without a struggle. She uses ultrasound as an aid to locate a vein and administers treatment. She is confident a nights TLC on intensive care can turn the situation around.

The next day Orlando is transferred back to his local hospital to complete his recovery. Sometimes we take children when we didnt need to, but wed rather be safe than sorry, says Dr Stanley.

At 6pm, trainee consultant Abigail Sharpe is checking over Dillon Lewis, one of two heart-surgery patients on PICU. Southampton is one of the UKs top centres for child heart surgery and regularly sees the most desperately ill. Dillon is 17 weeks old and has been operated on for a major heart defect.

Mum Emily is full of praise for the team. Nothing is too much for the staff, she says. Brilliant, fantastic people. Dillons doing well and we hope to go to a ward in a few days.

Little Tim has also recovered. His infection is receding, his life no longer in danger.

By now its coming towards the end of the shift. At 7.15pm, tiny Isabell Patryarcha, just five days old, has come back from nine hours in theatre. She needed an urgent procedure to correct a congenital heart defect that saw her prioritised for surgery over another sick child. There are no more PICU beds, so that childs surgery was cancelled.

Oliver Bessant, aged 17 months, is treated by Dr Ashley Towers ( light blue) working with two staff nurses

Isabells operation has gone well but she has 12 tubes connected to her body to deliver drugs and take vital signs. Her mum Ewa, 35, from Reading, said: I just want everyone to know what a wonderful place this is. I love the NHS. Isabells care has been fantastic.

It is now 7.30pm and Dr Sykes is finally going home  23 hours after starting her shift. A little later Dr Macintosh is on his way home to his school-age children. He is feeling philosophical about the beds crisis. I knew it would be a busy day, but its like this most days, he says. Its tough but somehow we cope.

Just like the parents of the desperately ill children on this ward, the doctors, too, must have hope.

Tim is awake the next morning and talking to Dr Stanley. He is likely to remain in hospital until Christmas while gastric specialists work to get a feeding line back into his chest.

Mum Arlien, 28, who was in tears the day before, is beaming at his transformation. We trusted Dr Griksaitis to make the right decision, she says.

For them, just like countless other children, this specialist unit has truly been a hospital of hope.

Some details have been changed to respect the confidentiality of the patients. friendsofpicu.org.uk
A high school principal is fearing for his life after an explosion damaged a truck parked in front of his Massachusetts home.

Police were called to the home of Lucas Giguere, principal of Bellingham High School, around 6.16pm in Blackstone, Massachusetts on Thursday to see the vandalized Jeep.

No one was injured.

'I'm telling you, he is like one of the saviors of the high school,' neighbor Phyllis Calvey said to WCVB. 'I just I can't imagine anyone would target that man.'

Police were called to the home of Lucas Giguere (pictured), principal of Bellingham High School, around 6.16pm in Blackstone, Massachusetts to see the vandalized Jeep

A pipe bomb had been place in the grill of his Jeep truck on Thursday evening

Neighbors and local authorities believe the principal was targeted but his father - who lives right next door - can't figure out the reasoning.

'I don't know about that because he's a good guy. We get along very good and he's good with everybody,' said Oliver Giguere, the man's father.

Additional police presence was at the high school on Friday morning, according to the school district's Facebook page.

But the police asserted that Giguere was safe and so was the community.

Neighbors and local authorities believe the principal was targeted but his father - who lives right next door - can't figure out the reasoning

Increased police were at the high school to both escort the principal and monitor the school

'I want to stress first and foremost that we do not believe that there is any danger to the community and that this does not appear to have been a random act,' Chief Ross A. Atstupenas said.

Police from Bellingham, Woonsocket, Rhode Island and the Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have all joined in to help

'He's a little shaky,' Oliver Giguere added of his son.

'But he's going pretty good. He's trying to handle it.'
Lisa Sudale (pictured) said she and her boyfriend Junior Laing were enjoying a romantic afternoon together when he was accused of robbing a jewellers in Atherstone, Warwickshire in 2015

A gangster's moll who told police they were having a bath together while he was actually carrying out an armed robbery has been jailed after judges decided her suspended sentence was 'unduly lenient'.

Lisa Sudale, 35, said she and her boyfriend Junior Laing were enjoying a romantic afternoon together when he was accused of robbing a jewellers in September 2014.

But she was rumbled when phone records showed she rang him from 16 miles away around the time of the heist and was convicted of perverting the course of justice earlier this year.

While Laing, then 28, was jailed for 16 years for conspiracy to commit robbery and having an imitation firearm, the courts ruled Sudale 'would not cope' behind bars.

Chilling CCTV captured Laing pointing a shotgun at jeweller Alan Carter, 70, while he raided his shop in Atherstone, Warwickshire on September 4, 2014.

He and his unknown male accomplice hit Mr Carter in the jaw with the end of the gun before making off with 39,000 worth of watches and jewellery.

The thug was jailed in May 2015 at Birmingham Crown Court, while his getaway driver Charlotte Caines, 31, of Atherstone, Warwickshire was sentenced to eight years.

But she was rumbled when phone records showed the 35-year-old rang Junior Laing (pictured) from 16 miles away around the time of the heist

Chilling CCTV (pictured) captured Laing pointing a shotgun at jeweller Alan Carter, 70, while he raided his shop in Atherstone, Warwickshire on September 4, 2014. He was jailed but she was given a suspended sentence over claims 'she would not cope behind bars'

Although spiritual healer Sudale was originally allowed to walk free, yesterday the courts changed their mind saying she should be locked up with immediate effect.

It came after the Crown Prosecution Service asked the Attorney General to scrap the 'unduly lenient' sentence imposed in September.

Judges at the Court of Appeal in London, Lord Justice Simon, sitting with Mr Justice Goss and Judge Karen Walden-Smith, agreed.

Pictures is Alan Carter the victim of Laing's armed robbery in 2014

Overturning the suspended sentence handed out by Recorder Jacqueline Carey, Lord Justice Simon imposed an immediate 18-month prison sentence.

Lord Justice Simon said: 'This was a case in which she voluntarily chose to pervert the course of justice, out of a misplaced sense of loyalty.

'The strongest indication she could have given of her prospect of rehabilitation would have been a guilty plea.

'In our view, there were no exceptional circumstances.

'On the facts of this case, we consider that an immediate term of imprisonment should have been imposed and that the sentence that was passed was not only lenient, but unduly so.'

During her trial, the court heard Laing burst into Gold and Silver Investments jewellery shop in Atherstone with an accomplice.

Laing smashed Mr Carter in the face and grabbed jewellery and watches before fleeing in a getaway car driven by Caines.

Prosecutor Ian Windridge said Sudale tried to cover for Laing by providing police with a written statement claiming she was with him at the time of the robbery.

He said: 'Miss Sudale was Laing's significant other, girlfriend, call it what you will, and this case is about what she did in April 2015.

Yesterday Sudale's sentenced was overturned and she was locked up with immediate effect. Pictured is Gold and Silver Investments in Atherstone, Warwickshire, which was targeted in the raid

'On April 5 she made a written statement to the police in which she said Laing was at her home in Swadlincote all day on the day of the robbery, which took place at 2.30 that afternoon.

'She went into great detail about what they did that day up until she left for an appointment at 4pm.

'Her statement, if it had been correct, would have given Mr Laing a complete defence.

'If he was at her home in Swadlincote, he could not have been in a jewellery shop in Atherstone.'

Heidi Kubik, defending, suggested Sudale had allowed 'her desperate wishful thinking about Laing's innocence to become a fixed idea,' and argued that she would be 'particularly vulnerable' in custody.

Laing smashed Mr Carter in the face and grabbed valuable items from the shop (pictured) before fleeing in a getaway car

Sparing her jail, Recorder Jacqueline Carey had said: 'I don't begin to accept your evidence about your state of confusion or your poor memory.

'This was a deliberate lie. Armed robbery is at the top of the scale.

'There was a degree of persistence by you. You attended court on Mr Laing's behalf.

'You were not called to give evidence, but you were prepared to do so and to continue with your lies.

'But I do have concerns about your ability to cope with a prison sentence.

'In the light of the age of the offence and what I have read about you, I am prepared to suspend the sentence.'

After the Court of Appeal judges overturned her sentence Solicitor General Robert Buckland QC commented: 'Perverting the course of justice undercuts public confidence in our courts and damages trust in the system.

'A prison term sends a clear message that we will act to protect the judicial process from those who seek to undermine it.'
People were quick to reprimand President Donald Trump after he tweeted Thursday about the sexual harassment allegations made against Democratic politician Al Franken, despite the numerous sexual allegations women have made against him.

The recent accusations of sexual misconduct against a long list of powerful men in Hollywood as well as Mr Trump ignited a #MeToo movement, in hopes to renew their push for Constitutional protections against sexual discrimination.

Trump's tweet marks the first time he has acknowledged the global allegations of sexual misconduct that have arisen in recent weeks following the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

President Donald Trump (above) tweeted on Thursday 'The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps?' despite keeping quiet about the Roy Moore sexual scandal

Franken publicly apologized to Leeann Tweeden, a Los Angeles-based news anchor, for behaving inappropriately towards her during a tour of the Middle East to entertain US troops in 2006.

Trump tweeted Thursday: 'The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps?'

He tweeted immediately after: 'And to think that just last week he was lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women. Lesley Stahl tape?'

Roy Moore (left) and Al Franken have both been accused of sexual misconduct and harassment

The lawmaker issued a third apology to former Playboy model Tweeden on Friday afternoon just before she appeared on The View, a sign that he may feel support slipping among advocates who want him to weather the storm and refuse to resign.

On the show she revealed she 'had to endure being with him for almost two weeks' after 'he stuck his tongue in my mouth' as Franken mocked her with one passive-aggressive gesture after another.

Franken groped Tweeden while she slept on a military transport plane (pictured) and forcibly kissed her backstage during a 2006 USO goodwill tour; she now says this photo was meant to send her a message that he had power over her

Pictured above is former Playboy model Leeann Tweeden. She appeared on The View where she revealed she 'had to endure being with him for almost two weeks' after 'he stuck his tongue in my mouth' as Franken mocked her with one passive-aggressive gesture after another

Franken groped Tweeden while she slept on a military transport plane (pictured) and forcibly kissed her backstage during a 2006 USO goodwill tour; she now says this photo was meant to send her a message that he had power over her

Twitter went into a frenzy after Trump's tweets with David French writing: 'This is exactly the last person we need to hear from on this subject.'

Philip Klein said: 'This is why Trump supporters love him. He doesn't care that he looks like a hypocrite given he's on video boasting of groping women & has been silent on Roy Moore. He's just focusing fire on a disgraced Democrat.'

BBC anchor Katty Kay also chimed in saying: 'From the man caught on tape boasting about grabbing pussy, this is quite something.'

It's no surprise the President has received massive backlash as everyone appeared to reference his infamous scandal with Billy Bush in 2005.

On October 7, 2016 a video was released where then presidential candidate Trump and television host Billy Bush were engaging in a very lewd conversation about women.

In the video Trump said: 'I did try and f*** her. She was married. I moved on her very heavily. I moved on her like a b****. But I couldnt get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, shes now got the big phony t*** and everything. Shes totally changed her look.'

'I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know, Im automatically attracted to beautiful  I just start kissing them. Its like a magnet. Just kiss. I dont even wait. And when youre a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.'

Trumps tweet received huge backlash as people then turned on him reminding him of his lwed conversation with Billy Bush in 2005

People started quoting the President's own words back to him, from the video that was released of him and Bush talking

Twitter went into a frenzy after Trump's tweets with David French, Philip Klein, Katty Kay and Josh Greenman all weighing in with their opinion

The most famous line from their crude conversation was when Trump said: 'Grab em by the p****. You can do anything.'

In response to Trump's tweet regarding Franken Heather Whaley responded: 'You realize that your admission of sexual assault in grab em by the pussy is what has spurred this on, right? You raped a 13 year old girl, didnt you? Keep it coming dirt bag.'

Another social media user commented: 'You seem to have some expertise in this arena. Maybe give Al a tic-tac and show him how to grab a woman. Maybe you can be his mentor?'

However, interestingly enough, Trump was quick to condemn Franken, who is a member of the labor party, however he has kept quiet with regards to the allegations surrounding Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.

Twitter users didn't hold back in the backlash against Trump

Ivanka Trump told the Associated Press there's 'a special place in hell for people who prey on children,' as she reveals she believes the women accusing Moore

However, filmmaker Rob Reiner blasted the businesswoman and Presidential advisor for being hypocritical (his tweet pictured above)

Moore faces allegations he sexually assaulted teenage girls decades ago, yet Trump has declined to comment on the matter himself.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday that Trump finds the accusations against Moore 'very troubling' but thinks 'the people of Alabama should make the decision on who their next senator should be,' according to NBC News.

Trump has noticeably ignored questions regarding Moore since returning from his trip to Asia.

Amy Schumer posted a photo on instagram urging her fans to not forget about Trump's words

She captioned her Instagram photo: 'Awful things are coming out right now. And we are all so upset and triggered. With the outrage we feel for all these offenders. Dont forget this one,' with regards to Trump

Despite Trump remaining quiet on the matter, his daughter Ivanka Trump told the Associated Press there's 'a special place in hell for people who prey on children,' as she reveals she believes the women accusing Moore.

'Ive yet to see a valid explanation and I have no reason to doubt the victims accounts,' she continued.

However, filmmaker Rob Reiner blasted the businesswoman and Presidential advisor for being hypocritical by tweeting: 'Ivanka believes Roy Moore's accusers. But the more than 12 women who accuse her father of sexual abuse are all liars. The difference is....?'

Kellyanne Conway, who is currently serving as Counselor to the President, defended Trump has she said the only reason he didn't tweet about the Moore incident is because it was 'eight days old.'

In light of the scandals coming forth right now - Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K., Jeremy Piven, George Takei, James Toback, Ed Westwick, to name a few - Amy Schumer made sure to refresh people's memories with regards to Trump.

She posted a photo on Instagram on Friday of a black image with white writing that showed Trump's lewd comments in the infamous 2005 conversation with Billy Bush.

She captioned the photo: 'Awful things are coming out right now. And we are all so upset and triggered. With the outrage we feel for all these offenders. Dont forget this one.'
Arizona Senator Jeff Flake has been caught badmouthing Donald Trump and Roy Moore to a Republican mayor who responded by calling the president an 'idiot'.

At a tax reform event in Arizona on Friday, Flake appeared to forget that he was still wearing his mic when he told Mesa mayor John Giles: 'If we become the party of Roy Moore and Donald Trump, we are toast.'

Giles replied by urging him to run for president himself, saying: 'I'm not throwing smoke at you but you're the guy that could... just for fun.

'Think how much fun it would be just to be the foil and point out what an idiot this guy is.'

The pair had just finished answering questions on the subject and had not yet taken off their microphones.

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Sen. Jeff Flake was speaking to Mesa Mayor John Giles when he made the comments on Friday night. They were picked up by a local ABC affiliate which was covering the event

Giles, who is also a Republica, replied by urging Flake to run for president and appeared to call the president 'an idiot'

Senator Jeff Flake had just finished speaking the event and had not yet taken off his mic

Sen. Flake's comment was in reference to the growing accusations against Alabama Judge Moore who is running for a seat in the senate.

Nine women have now come forward to accuse Moore of sexual misconduct.

President Trump, who has fought off accusations of his own in the past, has said nothing of the allegations against Moore but has enthusiastically condemned Dem. Sen.

Al Franken over a photograph which showed him groping a female model while she slept. Franken had apologized repeatedly for the image by the time Trump tweeted about him.

A video of Flake and Giles' exchange was captured by ABC News affiliate KNXV.

Moore is running for the seat left by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and has vowed to carry on his campaign despite the growing accusations against him.

Roy Moore, 70, is running for the seat left vacant by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in Alabama. He denies the accusations against him and is being supported by his wife Kayla

President Trump has criticized Dem. Sen. Al Franken, who was also exposed for sexual harassment this week, but has said nothing of the accusations against Moore

His wife Kayla is standing by him and spoke in his defense at a campaign event in Montgomery on Friday where she labeled him a 'gentleman'.

Flake is a vocal critic of the president.

Last month, he announced to the Senate floor that he would not seek reelection because of the state of the party.

He laid the blame for it squarely with Trump who he said was at fault for creating an 'alarming' and 'dangerous' state of affairs.

Sen. Flake has been merciless in his criticism of Moore since nine women emerged to accuse him of sexual misconduct over the last week

He has reserved the same harsh tone for Dem. Sen. Al Franken who this week apologized to a woman who he groped and allegedly forcibly kissed in 2006

Since the accusations against Moore emerged last week, he has been vociferous in his criticism of him and said he would rush to vote for a Democrat instead of him.

'Just be clear, if the choice is between Roy Moore and a Democrat, I would run to the polling place to vote for the Democrat,' he said this week.

He has also been vocal in his criticism of Franken whose behavior he said 'disgusted' him.

The lesser-known Giles has stood against some of the president's proposed policies in the past.

In August, he joined a larger group of mayors who urged Trump not to do away with Obama's DACA 'Dreamers' program. Giles has been the mayor of Mesa since 2014.

Neither politician has commented on the hot-mic remarks.
David Cassidy is in a coma and is suffering from multiple organ failure, according to reports.

The 67-year-old Partridge Family star and singer was rushed to hospital in Florida three days ago.

A source told TMZ that his condition was 'grim'. He is believed to have been in failing health for the last two months.

Doctors believe he could die if he doesn't get an urgent kidney or liver transplant.

His family have been told to prepare for the worst. The gossip site says they have gathered at his bedside.

A source told The Blast he is 'in and out of consciousness' and his condition is being monitored very closely.

Cassidy is widely known for his starring role as Keith Partridge on the 1970s series The Partridge Family.

In February, the star revealed he was battling dementia after he fell on stage during a concert in Los Angeles. His mother, actress Evelyn Ward, and his grandfather also had the condition.

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David Cassidy is in a coma and is suffering from multiple organ failure, according to reports. He is pictured here in 2016

The 67-year-old Partridge Family star and singer was rushed to hospital in Florida three days ago and his condition is said to be 'grim'. He is pictured in March

Cassidy is widely known for his starring role as Keith Partridge (far right) on the 1970s series The Partridge Family

The star was rushed to hospital in Florida three days ago. The actor is pictured above as Keith Partridge in the mid-1970s

Fans were concerned for his well-being when he struggled through the gig in February.

He stumbled on stage and forgot some of his words, prompting fears he had started drinking again.

He told People magazine after the gig: 'I was in denial, but a part of me always knew this was coming.'

His mother the actress Evelyn Ward struggled with dementia until her death at 89 in 2012.

'In the end, the only way I knew she recognized me is with one single tear that would drop from her eye every time I walked into the room.  I feared I would end up that way,' Cassidy said.

Fans were concerned for his well-being when he struggled through the gig in February (above)

Fans were concerned for his well-being when he struggled through the gig in February

In February, the actor revealed he was battling dementia. His mother and his grandfather also had the condition. He is pictured during one of his last stage performances in March

Cassidy (top right) is pictured with the rest of the cast of the Partridge Family in 1970

'I want to focus on what I am, who I am and how I've been without any distractions,' he added. 'I want to love. I want to enjoy life.'

Video emerged of the one-time teen heartthrob over the that showed him slurring, taking long breaks, telling rambling stories and even falling over at one point.

He told the audience he will no longer be touring.

While he vowed to make the show his last, he struggled to stay on his feet and play the guitar.

Issues in Cassidy's personal life have been well-documented over the last few years.

He has filed for bankruptcy, divorced from third wife Sue Shifrin, has had multiple arrests, eye surgeries and went through a stint in rehab.

At the end of February, he sat down with Dr. Phil to discuss his diagnosis.

Dr. Phil told the singer that it appeared as though 'there were times' that Cassidy was 'losing' his place during the concert, to which Cassidy agreed.

'And then you said at one point "I can tell youre not gonna listen so, Im just gonna leave," and you did slip off the stage at one point,' Dr. Phil said.

Cassidy replied, 'Not really slipped. No.'

But Dr. Phil told the singer, 'well, you slipped on the stage'.

'If you noticed Im one of the few people who still have monitors in front,' Cassidy stated, before Dr. Phil said the monitors are in place of using an ear piece.

The musician added: 'And when you have spotlight in your eyes and you have five eyes surgeries as Ive had... And Ive talked a lot about it. Youll see me there, I tripped on that.

'But I certainly wasn't intoxicated and it has nothing to do with why I'm leaving.

'certainly my dementia has a, has contributed to the reason why I don't want to go out and I don't want to hear, "Well, he looked like he was drunk or he looked like he was" - I, I wasn't.'

As a singer, Cassidy (pictured circa 1970) has sold more than 25million albums

Cassidy (pictured in London in 1972) rose to fame on television, but quickly became a worldwide sex symbol

LEADING UP TO CASSIDY'S DEMENTIA REVELATION Cassidy's comments followed videos taken by fans of the singer struggling to remember words to some of his old hits at small venue concerts in southern California earlier this month. At one point, he appeared to fall off the side of a small stage before climbing back up. Cassidy, whose hits Cherish and I Think I Love You had teenage girls swooning in the 1970s, has struggled with drinking and financial troubles in recent years. In 2015, he had to auction his Florida home after a bankruptcy filing. He was arrested three times for drunken driving between 2010 and 2014, and was ordered to rehab as part of his sentence in 2014. Cassidy appeared in several stage shows after his career as a solo singer declined. He played an aging former teen heartthrob in the short-lived 2009 TV comedy 'Ruby & the Rockits' and was a member of the 'Celebrity Apprentice' reality TV show in 2011. Cassidy has now said he is struggling with the memory loss disease and revealed his mother and his grandfather also had the condition. Advertisement

Cassidy shared what he told his son, 26-year-old Beau Cassidy, about not wanting to succumb to the disease as his mother did.

'I want you to promise me you'll find a way to let me go and don't let me live like that,' the entertainer told Dr. Phil of what he said to Beau.

The singer, who has sold over 25 million albums, also shared the moment he realized he needed to see a doctor due to him experiencing his first symptoms of the brain disease.

When friends of yours or family members begin to say to you, "remember I just told you this two days ago" and there's no memory of it that's when I began to be very concerned,' Cassidy tearfully said.

Dr. Phil then asked if that's what caused him to go and get checked out by a doctor.

'Oh my God, yes,' Cassidy replied. The actor said he was diagnosed about two-and-a-half years ago.

During the interview set to air Wednesday, Cassidy also discusses his current relationship with his family and his fear of being a burden to them.

His mother, the actress Evelyn Ward, struggled with dementia until her death at 89 in 2012.
Roy Moore repeated his demand on Saturday for powerhouse attorney Gloria Allred to release a yearbook she says proves her clients claim that the Alabama Republican sought a relationship with her when she was underage.

Day 4 of New York attorney Gloria Allred's refusal to turn over her fake yearbook for third party examination, Moore tweeted.

Allred is representing Beverly Young Nelson, a woman who came forward on Monday with allegations that Moore tried to force her to perform oral sex when she was just 16 years old.

'I can tell you without hesitation this is absolutely false. I never did what she said I did. I don't even know the woman,' Moore said - even though he allegedly signed her yearbook.

Roy Moore repeated his demand on Saturday for powerhouse attorney Gloria Allred to release a yearbook she says proves her clients claim that the Alabama Republican sought a relationship with her when she was underage

Day 4 of New York attorney Gloria Allred's refusal to turn over her fake yearbook for third party examination, Moore tweeted

Allred is representing Beverly Young Nelson, a woman who came forward on Monday with allegations that Moore tried to force her to perform oral sex when she was just 16 years old

At a news conference in New York on Monday, Nelson showed a high school yearbook that she says bears the signature of Moore

Moore's vintage signature in an accuser's yearbook had become the most visual proof that the sex abuse allegations against the Alabama Senate candidate from multiple women are true.

So his attorney, Phillip Jauregui, called its authenticity into question on Wednesday.

At a Birmingham press conference Wednesday afternoon, Jauregui floated a theory of how Nelson could have faked the signature, which is supposed to be from December 1977.

Jauregui first noted that Nelson was wrong when she said she had no further contact with Moore after the incident, which she alleged happened several weeks after the signing of her high school year book, when she was 16 and the candidate was in his 30s.

In 1999, Moore's lawyer noted that Nelson had filed a divorce action against her husband.

'Guess who that case was before?' Jauregui said. 'It was filed in Etowah County and the judge who signed it was Roy S. Moore, circuit judge of Etowah County.'

'There was contact,' he noted.

Allred appeared Thursday on MSNBC with host Katy Tur, who asked why she was opposed to submitting the yearbook for independent analysis. Allred has called for Moore to testify before the Senate to answer for the allegations

As for the yearbook, Jauregui asked the journalists on hand, and the greater American audience, to look more closely at the signature, suggesting a difference in how the '7's were written, along with the line 'Old Hickery House,' which Nelson said Moore wrote, as it was her place of employment at the time.

'Judge Moore says there's no way in the world that's his handwriting,' his lawyer protested.

At the end of the yearbook John Hancock, there are the initials 'D.A,' which accuser Nelson and her attorney Gloria Allred say stand for 'district attorney,' Moore's position at the time.

'Well he wasn't, he was the assistant district attorney,' Jauregui first said.

'Judge Moore says he can't ever remember ever signing his name with D.A. after it, but he had seen it before,' the lawyer went on. 'You know where he had seen it?'

Jauregui explained that Moore's assistant in the late 90s had the initials 'D.A.' and would sign his initials alongside legal documents he would stamp with Moore's signature.

'That's exactly how the signature appears on the divorce decree that Judge Moore signed dismissing the divorce action with Miss Nelson,' Jauregui said.

He then called out Nelson and Allred.

'Do you still hold that everything written in that yearbook was written by Judge Moore or was it written by somebody else?' he asked. 'That's not an allegation, it's a question.'

Roy Moore's lawyer Phillip Jauregui spoke to reporters Wednesday afternoon and called into question the authenticity of the signature found in the yearbook, tying the Alabama Senate hopeful to the victim

Moore's attorney said the only way to settle this dispute is to allow the yearbook to go into the hands of a 'neutral custodian' and have experts take a look.

Jauregui suggested those handwriting experts would be able to date the ink used.

'Is it 40 years old or is it a week old?' he asked. 'Release the yearbook,' he demanded.

Allred appeared Thursday on MSNBC with host Katy Tur, who asked why she was opposed to submitting the yearbook for independent analysis.

Allred has called for Moore to testify before the Senate to answer for the allegations.

When Allred was asked how she was able to authenticate the signature, she told Tur: 'Well, were not going comment on that except to say that we have offered to have an independent expert examine the yearbook and that signature and the remainder of his writing in addition to his signature, in the event that the Senate Select Committee on Ethics or the Senate Judiciary Committee, Katy, agrees to have the hearing we requested.'

Allred labeled Moore's attorney's mention of the divorce proceedings 'another attempt to distract,' refusing to answer whether her client was aware that Moore had been her judge.

Allred told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that these questions would all be answered if either the Senate Judiciary Committee or the Senate Select Committee on Ethics held a hearing on the matter before the December 12 special election, which features Moore on the ballot.

At that time, 'We would agree to have the original yearbook examined by an independent expert or experts,' Allred said.

'We think that this should be done in a professional setting and this is what we have proposed and we're not going to be distracted  is he or is he not going to stand up, take the oath and tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help his God before the United States Senate and before the public,' Allred said.

'Not only in Alabama, but before the nation.'
The body of mafia boss who was believed to have ordered the killings of more than 150 people has been transported out of prison and has undergone an autopsy.

Mafia 'Boss of bosses' Salvatore 'Toto' Riina died in an Italian prison on Wednesday at the age of 87, while serving 26 life sentences for his brutal crimes.

The Sicilian, nicknamed 'The Beast', succumbed to his battle with cancer at a prison hospital in Parma shortly after being put in medically-induced coma.

Riina's widow Ninetta Bagarella, their son Salvatore Giuseppe and their daughter Maria Concetta were all in attendance at the hospital in Parma where his autopsy was scheduled to take place.

Dozens of media crews lined the streets outside the hospital in the hope of hearing from the bereaved family.

'God have mercy on him, as we won't,' an association for victims told the Fatto Quotidiano daily.

The most high-profile murders he ordered were those in 1992 of anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, who had worked fearlessly to bring more than 300 mobsters to trial in 1987.

A van believed to be carrying Toto Riina's body leaves Parma hospital where his autopsy was scheduled, in Parma, Italy, 18 November 2017

Toto Riina's widow Ninetta Bagarella (C) with her son Salvatore Giuseppe (R) leave Parma hospital, where the autopsy of her husband was scheduled

Salvator 'Toto' Riina's son Salvatore Giuseppe Riina leaves the Parma hospital after the autopsy of his father

Mafia boss Salvatore 'Toto' Riina's daughter, Maria Concetta (left) is accompanied by her lawyer Luca Cianferoni as she arrives at Parma's hospital

Riina was serving 26 life sentences and is believed to have ordered the killing of more that 150 men

Toto Riina's daughter Maria Concetta talks to the media outside a hospital in Parma

Toto Riina's daughter, Maria Concetta (centre), accompanied by her lawyer Luca Cianferoni (right), arrives at the Parma hospital as media crews try to get a comment from the family

Giuseppe Di Matteo who was kidnapped was strangled and his body dissolved in acid in a bid to stop his father from spilling Mafia secrets

Riina ordered the killings of fearless anti-Mafia judges Giovanni Falcone (left) and Paolo Borsellino

The aftermath of the bomb which killed Judge Borsellino in 1992. Riina is believed to have first murdered aged 19

Judge Falcone was also killed by a car bomb, in Palermo, Sicily, in 1992. Riina becamea foot soldier for volatile and vain boss Luciano Leggio, before taking over from him

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano looks at the remains of a police car destroyed during of the assassination of top judge Giovanni Falcone during a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the murder

His reign of terror continued from behind bars and he also famously ordered the brutal murder of a 13-year old boy Giuseppe Di Matteo who was kidnapped was strangled and his body dissolved in acid in a bid to stop his father from spilling Mafia secrets.

The boys father Santino Di Matteo made a desperate trip to Sicily to try to negotiate his son's release but on January 11, 1996 after 779 days, the boy, who by now had also become physically ill due to mistreatment, was finally strangled.

The body was subsequently dissolved in a barrel of acid to prevent the family holding a proper funeral at which they could mourn and to destroy evidence, a practice known as the 'lupara bianca'.

One of his life sentences was for ordering the hit, known as the 'Lazio Street Massacre', in which five people were gunned down in Palermo shootout.

Riina also planned a hit on Rudolph Giuliani, when the former mayor of New York was a state prosecutor in the 1980s.

Giuliani, a second generation Italian immigrant, went on to become the city's mayor and a national hero for his work combatting organised crime.

Riina, who was also dubbed 'U Curtu' ('Shorty') due to his 5-foot-2-inch (1.58) height, for years denied all links to the Mafia, nicknamed 'the octopus' for its tentacled reach into all areas of society.

Salvatore Riina when he was arrested for the death of Judge Giovanni Falcone

Salvatore 'Toto' Riina in court during a preliminary hearing in Palermo, Sicily, Italy in 1993

Italy's high court caused outrage earlier this year when they ruled that Riina 'deserved to die with dignity' in his own home as he fought terminal cancer

In 2009 he broke the Mafia code of 'omerta' - a vow of silence - and surprised those who thought he would take his secrets to the grave by admitting his link to the mob.

He was caught on a wiretap earlier this year saying he 'regrets nothing' and 'they'll never break me, even if they give me 3,000 years' in jail.

He is believed to have first murdered for the Mafia aged 19 and followed that a year later by killing a man during an argument - landing him behind bars for a six-year manslaughter stretch.

Once out, he became a foot soldier for volatile and vain boss Luciano Leggio, eventually taking over from him at the end of the 1970s when the cigar-puffing fugitive was caught and jailed.

Riina went on the run himself in 1969, but continued to lead the Corleonesi clan from hiding, increasing his influence by bumping off rivals such as Filippo Marchese, a hitman who garroted his victims in a 'room of death'.

The mobster would elude police efforts to snare him for almost a quarter of a century - without ever leaving Sicily - and took charge of Cosa Nostra's key businesses, from drug trafficking to kidnapping and racketeering.

Rudolph Giuliani pictured in 1987 with his prosecutors (from left to right) John Savarese, Michael Chertoff and Gil Childers in New York

His bloody victory in the Mafia War of the 1980s was to prove his undoing however, as mobsters from defeated rival families began turning state witness against him, and police tracked him to a house in Palermo.

The justice ministry had allowed his family a bedside visit at a hospital in Parma shortly before his death.

Earlier this year, Italy's highest court ruled that due to Riina's terminal illness, he had a right to 'die with dignity' under house arrest like any other terminally ill prisoner.

The decision drew fierce criticism from across the Italy's political spectrum and wider society.

The decision was left with a parole board in the northern city of Bologna, near Parma, where Riina was being held, but failed to make a ruling before his death on Wednesday.

The mobster was married to Antonietta Bagarella, a teacher from a mafioso family. He was father to four children, one of whom is behind bars for four murders.

'You're not Toto Riina to me, you're just my dad. And I wish you happy birthday dad on this sad but important day, I love you,' one son, Salvo, wrote on Facebook on Thursday.

Giuseppe Salvatore Riina, the son of the late mafia boss, waves as he leaves his mother's house in Corleone, southern Italy (left) and is pictured (right) leaving prison in 2008

Giovanni, Riina's eldest son, followed in his father's footsteps and is now serving a life sentence in jail.

His other son, also a mobster, last year sparked outrage in Italy by giving an interview in which he described his childhood as 'nice' and refused to denounce the mob.

Salvo has written a book about growing up as the son of Italy's most wanted man, Salvatore 'Toto' Riina, and appeared on RAI's premier talkshow to promote it.

But not once during the interview did Riina criticise his father, and he refused to acknowledge the existence of the mafia, saying cryptically: 'It could be everything or it could be nothing'.

'The Beast's' other son, Giuseppe, is confined by law to the city of Padua.

Riina, due to his famed secrecy, is an enigmatic figure in Italian society. That has not stopped film makers from trying to dramatize his life on the silver screen.

In 1999, HBO produced the television film 'Excellent Cadavers' staring Victor Cavallo as Riina.

In 2007, Italian film makers produced a six-part miniseries on Riina based on his life and crimes.
A British couple have had to cancel their dream Greek wedding because a priest has banned foreigners after seeing a 'disgusting' sex act photo.

Emma Coupland and Stephen Wilson from Wakefield have been told by travel operator TUI to move their wedding from St Paul's Bay on the island of Rhodes.

The priest is refusing to marry foreigners after a lewd photo of British couple Matthew and Carly Lunn posing after their wedding there went viral.

Emma Coupland and Stephen Wilson from Wakefield have been told by travel operator TUI to move their wedding from St Paul's Bay on the island of Rhodes

The priest is refusing to marry foreigners after a photo of British couple Matthew and Carly Lunn posing after their wedding there went viral

The picture showed her kneeling in a white dress as her husband punched the air with his trousers and boxer shorts around his ankles.

Miss Coupland's May wedding has now been moved to a busier spot about an hour away, which has ruined her dream of marrying in a 'little white chapel on the beach' and disrupted family and friends' travel plans.

She told The Sun: 'They contacted me last week, telling me that it was officially cancelled. I was devastated.'

She added: 'This morning I got a phone call from my partner's best man, who can no longer attend.

Miss Coupland's May wedding has now been moved to a busier spot about an hour away

'They had put a deposit down on flights but lost it and they can't come now because they can't afford to rebook it.'

A TUI UK spokesman said: 'Following a recent decision by the senior bishop for the island of Rhodes in regard to weddings at St Paul's Bay, we are contacting affected couples directly to discuss their options.

'While the situation is beyond our control, we understand how important and distressing this is to our customers with weddings already booked.

'We would like to thank them for their understanding and patience as we assist them to make alternative plans.'

Matthew Lunn, 27, and his wife Carly, 34, from Birmingham, got married in one of the holiest sites in Greece, on the island of Rhodes

But now the island's top bishop, Kyrillos of Rhodes, has decided to ban all foreign weddings at the monastery of St Paul (pictured) - forcing hundreds of British couples to cancel their dream days

Mr Lunn said of his photograph at the time it went viral: 'It's been blown out of proportion.

'We were just pretending and having a laugh. The Greeks have completely over-reacted.

'We don't think we did anything wrong but we regret it and wish we hadn't bothered.'

The Lunns, from Birmingham, said they posed for the cheeky snap to show their unique sense of humour in their wedding album.

But Mr Lunn's grandfather has failed to the see the funny side, telling MailOnline: 'I'm disgusted.'

His sister Kimberley added: 'The picture was just a joke. It should never been in the papers. I can't say anymore than that at the moment.'

Near the harbour, the bride knelt in front of her new husband - who works for his father's car recovery firm - and appeared to perform a sex act on him in her wedding dress, while he had his trousers and boxers down to his ankles.

The picture, which was taken by one of Matthew's family members, was posted on Facebook and immediately went viral. Pictured is Matthew (left) and Carly on their wedding day

The picture, which was taken by one of Matthew's family members, was posted on Facebook and immediately went viral.

But the island's top bishop, Kyrillos of Rhodes, decided to ban all foreign weddings at the monastery of St Paul - forcing hundreds of British couples to cancel their dream days.

Giorgos Eleftheriou, president of the local Lindos community in Rhodes, told The Times: 'We are Greek and we cherish our traditions and the sanctity of our religious sites. We cannot allow this disgusting behaviour to prevail.'

'I have hundreds of soon-to-be brides from Britain and all over the world calling me today in tears because of this decision.

'Shame on those two for the damage they have done. Would they have done the same in their homeland; in front of a British chapel, a Jewish temple, a Muslim mosque? They would have been beheaded by Muslims!'

Following their wedding on September 25, Carly said they had always planned to do the photo

The island's top bishop, Kyrillos of Rhodes, has decided to ban all foreign weddings at the monastery of St Paul (to the right of the picture) - forcing hundreds of British couples to cancel their dream days

Following their wedding on September 25, Carly said they had always planned to do the photo.

After it went it viral, she said: 'It was something we said we'd do for a joke.

'We expected a lot of laughs and jokes from people but didn't expect it to be as popular as it was.

'People back in England were commenting on it, the whole thing went mad.'

Hundreds of British couples vented their fury at the couple.

Suzanne Sparkles, 33, from Chorley in Lancashire, planned to get married to fiance Steve Arnold, 38, at St Paul's chapel in Rhodes next May - costing around 40,000.

The couple, who have been together for three-and-a-half years, booked their big day on the Greek Isle two years ago.

Pictured is Lindos town in the Greek island of Rhodes - a very popular wedding location for British couples

Suzanne Sparkles, 33, from Chorley in Lancashire, planned to get married to fiance Steve Arnold, 38, at St Paul's chapel in Rhodes next May

The mother-of-two told MailOnline: 'I'm absolutely devastated that these idiots have spoilt my dream wedding. We have 52 guests coming from the UK for it and have booked to stay for a week.

'We have spent around 40,000 on this wedding. It was booked two years ago, when we got engaged two-and-a-half years ago.

'We were originally thinking of getting married in Cyprus but then when I saw the chapel I knew I wanted it there. I've been to Rhodes a few times so I know how nice it is there.'

The mayor of Rhodes is due to make a final decision on the ban in the next couple of weeks.

The mother-of-two told MailOnline: 'I'm absolutely devastated that these idiots have spoilt my dream wedding'
Millions of children across Britain will be hoping for a visit from Santa this Christmas.

But it appears that not quite everyone is as excited to see him  as the National Trust appear to have phased out the use of the name.

The trust has insisted to its stately homes that they should refer to Santa Claus as Father Christmas because the name is more British.

Despite millions of children across Britain knowing him as 'Santa Claus', the National Trust appear to have phased out the popular alias in favour of the more middle class 'Father Christmas'

The name Santa Claus has become increasingly popular in recent years but experts have sided with the trust describing the term as an Americanism.

It is thought that around 120 of the trusts properties will be hosting meet Father Christmas events next month.

While the trust said that it was not banning Santa, it did instruct all of its shops and literature to refer to him as Father Christmas, although one of its websites was reportedly still referring to Santas grotto last night.

A National Trust spokesman told The Daily Telegraph: Contrary to any speculation, the National Trust is not looking to ban Santa, Saint Nick or Santa Claus.

We recognise the gift-giving, jolly man with the beard goes by many names all over the world, but we try to stick to one, and for many years that has been Father Christmas.

The source explained that Father Christmas was perceived as the more traditional British name, certainly in England and Wales.

In response to the Santas grotto listed online, the source said: In this case Santas grotto is seen as more common usage than Father Christmass grotto.

The trust has insisted to its stately homes that they should refer to Santa Claus as Father Christmas because the name is more British. The name Santa Claus has become popular in recent years but experts have sided with the trust describing the term as an Americanism

William Hanson, a leading etiquette expert, said that using the term Father Christmas was the preserve of the middle classes and it was lower class to call him Santa.

Those from a middle to upper middle and beyond background will usually all invariably be visited by Father Christmas.

Earlier this year the trust also drew controversy over the naming of one of its main events - after the word Easter vanished from its traditional egg hunt.

The move was criticised by the Prime Minister, the Archbishop of York and Jeremy Corbyn.

Mrs May, who is a member of the trust, took time out of a visit to Saudi Arabia to intervene, saying: I dont know what they are thinking about, frankly.
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It is a portrait of historic stability and enduring affection.

On the eve of their 70th wedding anniversary, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are celebrating the most successful marriage in British Royal history by releasing a series of glorious official images.

The portraits  dignified yet clearly affectionate  mark an astonishing milestone in Her Majestys record-breaking lifetime of service with the unwavering support of Prince Philip by her side.

They were taken in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle earlier this month by British photographer Matt Holyoak, and show the Monarch with a smile playing on her lips.

Dignified and affectionate: One of the official platinum wedding anniversary portraits of the Queen and Prince Philip

The Queen, 91, wears a cream day dress by Angela Kelly which she also wore at the service marking her diamond wedding anniversary at Westminster Abbey a decade ago.

In a touching tribute to Prince Philip, 96, she has pinned to her left shoulder the brooch in yellow gold, carved ruby and diamond, designed by Andrew Grima, which the Duke gave her as a personal gift in 1966.

Behind her, the Duke wears a dashing light tweed jacket and sharply creased grey flannel trousers. He appears relaxed and healthy after his retirement from official duties in the autumn.

The Queen is said to be keen to mark her platinum wedding anniversary privately, welcoming her closest family and friends to a private dinner party in the State Apartments at Windsor Castle tomorrow evening.

It will be in sharp contrast to their wedding at Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947  which was celebrated around the world.

Wedding day: The happy couple in Buckingham Palace, 70 years ago

... framed by first royal George and Charlotte Just out of shot in the official image above are two portraits that hold a special significance. For as the Queen and Prince Philip celebrate the longest marriage in British Royal history by a comfortable margin, looking down on them from either side are the couple who previously held that honour. These elegant oil portraits of King George III and Queen Charlotte, by English painter Thomas Gainsborough, were commissioned by the King in 1781 and marked 20 years since his coronation King George III, the Queens great-great-great-great grandfather, was married to Queen Charlotte for 57 years until her death in 1818. Their elegant oil portraits, by English painter Thomas Gainsborough, were commissioned by the King in 1781 and marked 20 years since his coronation. The couple only met on their wedding day and George ascended to the Throne just two weeks later. Advertisement

In 2007, the royal couple revisited Broadlands, in Hampshire, where 60 years earlier they spent their wedding night
Gerry Adams has announced he will step down as president of Sinn Fein in 2018.

The Irish Republican, who has campaigned during his political career for a united Ireland, announced his intention to relinquish his role at the Dublin's RDS conference.

His announcement signals the end of a 34-year political career. He said he will not seek election to the Irish parliament, the Dail Eirean.

Gerry Adams has announced he will step down as president of Sinn Fein in 2018

The 69-year-old, who has been the party's president since 1983, announced there would be a special meeting next year to help elect a successor.

The TD for Co Louth said at the annual conference: 'Leadership means knowing when it is time for change and that time is now.'

During his speech, Gerry Adams said his former long-time colleague and Martin McGuinness, had made plans to step away from the party.

He said: 'Ten years after entering government with Ian Paisley, Martin's intention was to step down as deputy first minister on May 8. Then life punched us in the face with Martin's passing.

He added: 'Martin was a leading member of our leadership team. I have been enormously privileged to be part of an amazing and evolving collective leadership.'

Adams also added his own imminent resignation from the party was part of a formulated plan to help with the progression of Sinn Fein. Part of that transition has seen Michelle O'Neill, 40, take over the reigns as the party's leader at Stormont.

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams raises his fist after delivering his speech during the 2017 Sinn Fein Ard Fheis

Martin McGuiness (left) and Gerry Adams (right), at the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis, November 2 1985

Gerry Adams looks solemn after delivering his speech at the Sinn Fein conference

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams attends the funeral of an IRA volunteer, as officers of the Garda look on

Since 1983, Adams has gone before the Ard Fheis to seek re-election and he was duly anointed again by the party faithful.

But upon announcing his decision to not stand for the role next year, he said: 'I want to thank everyone who has welcomed me into their homes and communities and have made me part of countless campaigns, countless elections and countless negotiations.'

He received rapturous applause from the audience, adding: 'We are going to continue to go forward.'
A 27-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder following an alleged shooting in Queensland.

The victim, 25, was found in the carpark of Fitzy's Tavern, Waterford West around 5.50pm Saturday, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

After driving to the hotel the injured man alerted members of the public to call for help, before emergency services attended the scene.

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A 27-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder following an alleged shooting of a man, 25, (pictured) in Queensland on Saturday

He is alleged to have received as many as six wounds to his stomach and legs, and was taken to Princess Alexandria Hospital.

The victim - who is known to police - is said to remain there in a serious but stable condition.

Two crime scenes were established following the incident at the car park and a nearby boat ramp, according to Nine News.

A Woodridge man was later charged with one count each of attempted murder and unlawful possession of a weapon.

He is scheduled to appear in Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Monday.

The victim was found in the carpark of Fitzy's Tavern, Waterford West around 5.50pm, allegedly suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to his stomach and legs
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Jake Paul may have took his neighbor's noise complaints to heart as the new home he bough has a lot more room and a little more privacy.

Pictured is the 15,000 square-ft mansion in Calabasas, California that the Vine turned YouTube star, 20, bought a for a hefty $6.925million.

Back in July, his buffoonery in the Beverly Grove neighborhood made him a sour topic with his neighbors. They were even considering filing a class-action public nuisance lawsuit against Paul.

Pictured is the 15,000 square-ft mansion in Calabasas, California that the YouTube star Jake Paul, 20, bought a for a hefty $6.925million

Back in July, his buffoonery in the Beverly Grove neighborhood made him a sour topic with his neighbors. They were even considering filing a class-action public nuisance lawsuit against Paul

The front door is made out of iron and glass, opening up to the inside of the magnificent three-story home.Leading upstairs is a spiral staircase that compliments the Italian tile and hardwood on the floor

Nested at the end of a gated driveway, the viral star's new home is located on 3.5 acres of land.

The front door is made out of iron and glass, opening up to the inside of the magnificent three-story home.

Leading upstairs is a spiral staircase that compliments the Italian tile and hardwood on the floor.

The cozy living room includes a fireplace and floor-to-ceiling windows.

The kitchen is found through arched doorways and is stacked with four ovens and a large center island. Close by is the living room.

The kitchen is found through arched doorways and is stacked with four ovens and a large center island

One of the spacious dining rooms can be seen through the doorway in the kitchen

Another grand dining room looks out over the canyon and is decorated with ornate lights

A beautiful master bedroom, with wood accents, is just one of eight bedrooms in the grand mansion

A beautiful master bedroom, with wood accents, is just one of eight bedrooms in the grand mansion. It also features a balcony, two walk-in closets and a retreat.

It is paired with a loaded bathroom, complete with steam, aromatherapy and Bluetooth capabilities.

The large home is set with an office, gym, theater and wet bar.

It is paired with a loaded bathroom, complete with steam, aromatherapy and Bluetooth capabilities

Breathtaking views surround the house making way for dazzling windows in the most calming of spaces

Included in the home is a decorative office space and darker ambience than the rest of the house

Outside is a pool and spa that is complimented with two waterfalls. There are also multiple patios looking over the canyon and two grills on the premises.

And for company purposes, Paul's new home is capable of housing four cars in the garage and has space for 12 cars or more in the motor court.

The property had been listed in June for $7.385million.

Listing agents for the estate were Marc and Roy Shevin of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services and Josh and Matt Altman of douglas Elliman were representing the buyer.

The cozy living room includes a fireplace and floor-to-ceiling windows

The large home is set with an office, gym, theater and wet bar

Ample gym space allow for many different types of physical activity to take place in the home

The actor's brother, Logan, also just bought a home in Encino for a similar price of $6.55million.

The change in space comes after Paul was accused by West Hollywood residents back in July of turning their once peaceful neighborhood into a 'war zone' when he rented a home on their street.

Residents revealed at the time details of his 'crazy' pranks which included throwing a Harley Davidson in his backyard pool and setting furniture on fire.

Outside is a pool and spa that is complimented with two waterfalls. There are also multiple patios looking over the canyon and two grills on the premises

And for company purposes, Paul's new home is capable of housing four cars in the garage and has space for 12 cars or more in the motor court

Listing agents for the estate were Marc and Roy Shevin of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services and Josh and Matt Altman of douglas Elliman were representing the buyer

The property had been listed in June for $7.385million so the price was a steal for the actor

He and his 'squad' also loved to throw rowdy parties, while he often publicized his address which allowed hoards of his young fans - he calls 'Paulers' - to show up outside his home.

While his roughly 11 million young followers may have been impressed with his antics, his neighbors were not.

The change in space comes after Paul was accused by West Hollywood residents back in July of turning their once peaceful neighborhood into a 'war zone' when he rented a home on their street

Families in Paul's old LA neighborhood had accused Paul of turning their lives into a 'living hell'.

Paul seemed amused by the misery he is imposing on those around him.

'The neighbors hate me,' he told KTLA back in July, laughing.

When the reporter told him that locals fear he has turned the neighborhood into a 'circus' with his non-stop parties and dangerous stunts, Paul replied: 'But, I mean, people like going to circuses.'

Paul was then seen running and skipping through the streets before climbing on top of the KTLA van - ignoring the pleas of staffers to stop.

Eventually, Paul, who appears to be challenged in the attention span department, returned to the interview, where he was able to compose himself for a second to say: 'It's terrible, it's a bad situation and I feel bad for them, but there's nothing we can do.

'Jake Paulers are the strongest army out there.

'Dab,' he added, pulling the 2016 cliched dance move, before pointing at the reporter's shoes, and screeching, 'What are those?' before running away with his friends.
Pulled from the tangled wreckage of a plane crash in a remote Northamptonshire field, his face swollen and bloody, his spine chipped and ribs broken, things could hardly have been worse for Nigel Farage.

It would later emerge that the then leader of Ukip had escaped death by a matter of inches.

Thanks to a now notorious publicity stunt on polling day of the 2010 General Election, Farage crashed to earth suspended upside down in the shattered cockpit, his head almost scraping the ground.

If that was a miraculous escape, however, Mr Farage's problems were by no means over.

Because as The Mail on Sunday can today reveal, he would shortly face the arrival of not one but three determined women, all clamouring for his affections and a place by his hospital bedside.

After Nigel Farage's horror plane crash in a field in Northamptonshire in 2010, there was not just one but three women rushing to his aid, explains one of them Annabelle Fuller (pictured)

One of them  as she explains today  was Farage's long-term lover and former political aide Annabelle Fuller, who last week sensationally disclosed she had spent more than a decade as his mistress, before parting company with Ukip amid mental health problems and suicide attempts.

Accusing him of brazen hypocrisy, not just for lying but for breaking his marriage vows despite the party's strong family values stance, she claimed Farage had instructed her to remain silent about their sexual relationship for the sake of protecting the Ukip cause and Brexit.

Despite her long relationship with a man she came to regard as her mentor, Ms Fuller was by no means the only woman romantically linked to 53-year-old Farage.

Ms Fuller, 36, said that after Farage was taken to hospital, aides were dispatched to ensure he did not come into contact with his German-born wife Kirsten (pictured), or French former waitress Laure Ferrari

And, as she explains, party workers and officials were all-too-well aware of the fact as they battled to ensure that his illicit encounters did not come to light.

Today, describing the true extent of Farage's tangled emotional life, Ms Fuller, 36, describes how Farage's well-briefed aides were even dispatched to the entrance doors of the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, where he was recovering after the light aircraft crash, to ensure she did not come into contact with his German-born wife Kirsten, or French former waitress Laure Ferrari, another woman close to him who has since become his partner.

Not that such rivalries were on Ms Fuller's mind when, in May 2010, she received a disturbing phone call.

'Even though our affair was waning, we were still close and I wanted to see him elected,' she said.

'A friend rang to tell me about the crash, followed immediately by a party official who said that I should make my way to the hospital as no one else was there.

'I was shaking with worry by the time I got there. I didn't even make it inside before a woman who said she was his local aide barred my way.

'We had never met but she must have been waiting at the entrance because she suddenly rushed out and said: 'You can't be here  Kirsten is here. You've got to go.'

Pictured is Farage's mistress French waitress Laure Ferrari near her 4million London home

'I was taken aback and told her I wanted to see him; to check he was okay for myself.

'I was clearly very upset but she was a big lady and stood her ground.

'I'm not a confrontational person and there were several TV cameras present, so I didn't want to make a fuss. I turned around and went home.'

Farage, she says, later called her from hospital and apologised for how she had been treated.

'I told him I wanted to come and see him and hold his hand but he said it was awkward. I just assumed Kirsten had ordered my ban.'

Some weeks later, Ms Fuller discovered it was rather more complicated and that she had in fact been prevented from entering because Ms Ferrari was inside, crying uncontrollably.

It would later emerge that Farage and Ms Ferrari had met some years previously in a bar in Strasbourg where she was working as a waitress.

She had subsequently found a job in the European Parliament. Now, it appeared, their relationship was more intense.

'She must have been already nearby to have arrived at the hospital first,' says Ms Fuller.

'I'm told that Ukip members were trying to calm her down and move her out before Kirsten got there. They definitely didn't want me to meet Laure either.'

Nigel Farage emerges from the tangled wreckage of a plane crash in a remote Northamptonshire field, his face swollen and bloody, his spine chipped and ribs broken

Despite the subterfuge, Ms Fuller maintains Mrs Farage had known about and tolerated her affair with her husband for years.

At one stage, she says, there was something of a truce in their understandably embattled relationship.

Kirsten even took Ms Fuller into her confidence, explaining she had considered moving to Germany with the couple's two daughters.

The peace did not last. Amid the euphoria of Ukip's historic gains in the 2014 European elections, where it won more seats than Labour or the Tories, Kirsten humiliated Ms Fuller by having her ejected from Ukip's celebration party.

In the months that followed, Ms Fuller's fragile mental health deteriorated, she attempted to commit suicide and she finally decided to leave Ukip.

In September of that year, Kirsten sent a series of damaging text messages to a senior Ukip official  texts, referring to Ms Fuller 'as a nutter'.

In one, she jokes in response to claims that Ms Fuller plans to write a 'reveal-all' book that Ms Fuller knows too much and needs to be 'killed'.

Farage's former mistress Annabelle Fuller sensationally revealed last week they were together for 10 years

The Ukip official, obviously shocked, responded by warning her not to put things in writing. There was, Ms Fuller insists, no plans to write a book about the affair.

But the strain on the Farages' 18-year marriage had taken its toll and, earlier this year, the couple announced their split.

The news came amid reports that Ms Ferrari had moved into the politician's 4 million Georgian home in West London.

Farage later confirmed the relationship. Ms Ferrari is believed to have accompanied him to President Trump's inauguration in Washington in January.

Today, Ms Fuller feels used and humiliated, saying that, having devoted herself to Farage and Ukip, she has been left with nothing.

But then, she says, she is not the only woman in politics, whether in Westminster or Brussels, who feels the dice are loaded against them.

She is also by no means the first to be drawn into a shady sexual relationship with an older, charismatic man.

'Whether it is in Westminster or the EU, you have a cause you believe in, a goal to achieve and live off the adrenaline of the roller-coaster ride,' she says.

'There is nothing much to do in either Brussels or Strasbourg except eat, drink and fornicate,' she says.

'You have got to be very, very ugly, impotent or have some kind of nasty affliction not to have an affair.'

Farage is pictured on the campaign trail for the General Election in 2015 when he ran to be Thanet South's MP for Ukip

Her relationship with the former Ukip leader flourished in this environment because everyone  even those without the conventional good looks and healthy bank balances  was doing the same, she said.

'What MEPs do have is a killer pension, expense accounts and a budget to hire staff.

Add the heady perfume of political power, chauffeured cars, plush hotels and business class air fares on foreign trips and they become like gods.'

She claims, in fact, that European politics is a hotbed of taxpayer-funded impropriety.

Although her relationship with Farage was consensual, she feels that the conditions are ripe for harassment, with women feared being labelled 'troublemakers' if they complain.

Ms Fuller first moved to Brussels in 2004, aged 23, with a long-term boyfriend whom other women would openly flirt with.

Many women sought career opportunities or a well-connected husband. But the men, she concluded, just wanted sex.

'The casting couch still exists in politics. After work, there were always drinks receptions and parties with bad, warm white wine, and very little food, where older men and young women ended up flirting or in compromised positions,' she says.

'Sexual harassment was a natural by-product. It was endemic. Politicians and their male staffers prowled, groped, stalked and harassed with impunity.

They treated women like meat.' One young secretary, who had been groped by a male MEP, was too afraid to make a complaint, fearing she would be labelled a troublemaker.

'The men behaving badly do so because they know they will get away with it.

'It was common knowledge who were the gropers and who were the serial sh*****s, but in the past, those who complained were accused of lying and frozen out.

'I am not surprised by the sexual harassment complaints coming out of the UK Parliament, just that there have not been more.'

Ms Fuller knows that, without her help, Mr Farage would never have earned his place in history today as a major political player.

'I created brand Nigel, man of the people,' she insists. 'He relied on me, but I feel he kicked me to the kerb when I became a problem.

'Being a mistress was the worst decision I ever made. It belittled me. It dehumanised me.

'Teflon Nigel just earned a reputation for being a ladies man  nudge, nudge, wink, wink.'
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Teenagers are waking up after the first night of Schoolies celebrations looking a little worse for wear as the sun rose over the Gold Coast on Sunday morning.

Thousands of school leavers descended on the Surfers Paradise party strip to party, celebrating the end of their school years and finishing the dreaded HSC.

And it seemed the high school graduates made the most out of the night, with many swimming and partying well into the early hours - and some even falling asleep on the beach.

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Too tired to make it home, one teen boy simply lay down on the beach and slept off a huge night of partying beside the ocean

Night one of Schoolies celebrations appeared too much for a few teenagers, who decided to have a quick sleep on the sand

Six amused boys returned to the beach on Sunday morning to snap photographs of their friend, who is still asleep in the sand

Anywhere is a good spot for a nap for this group of friends, including a bench and the ground outside a Starbucks coffee shop

Two friends cuddle up and pose for a beachside photograph during the first night of Schoolies celebrations on the Gold Coast

Plenty of revelers were spotted leaning on the shoulders of support workers and volunteers from the Schoolies Support Team

One reveller looked particularly disgruntled as he returned to the beach the next morning in his bathrobe and Mexican hat

Shoes came off as party goers ditched the festivities for a late night swim, despite the earlier rain and cold temperatures.

Other partygoers were spotted leaning on the shoulders of support workers and volunteers helping to keep the teenagers safe.

Agencies such as the police, the dog squad, mounted police, Red Frogs Australia and State Emergency Services were all on hand to help out.

While many of the teens were dressed in shorts, singlets and crop tops, two young men opted to wear mankinis instead.

Team of police were on hand all night to ensure party goers were kept safe, seen here checking in with one happy young girl

While many of the teens were dressed in shorts, singlets and crop tops, two young men opted to wear 'Borat' mankinis instead

A brief downpour didn't dampen the spirits of the partying teeangers, who staying out well into the night despite the deluge

Thousands of teens flocked to the festivities to celebrate the end of their schooling years by dancing and singing with friends

Thousands packed into the event to celebrate their final school year with music and dancing.

Rainfall and cold temperatures threatened to spoil the festivities but the teenagers appeared unfazed by the gloomy weather.

Revealing crop tops, tight singlets and denim miniskirts were all popular with the teens as they spilled out onto the streets ready to let their hair down.

One party goer braved the chilly water while still fully dressed and with phone in hand as the Schoolies celebrations wore on

Shoes came off as party goers ditched the festivities for a late night ocean swim, despite the rain and lowering temperatures

Over 20,000 teenagers hit Surfers Paradise for a week of celebrations - the most popular schoolies location in Queensland

Delighted at having completed their final school year, the laughing happy crowd sang along and cheered at a live music event

Tight singlets and bodycon dresses were a favourite among the girls, as party goers posed in the hotels before the night began.

Two girls snapped a cheeky picture of their behinds as they sat in their daringly cut swimsuits.

Plenty of selfies were snapped before revelers descended on the beach side festivities.

Crop tops, singlets and miniskirts were all popular with the teens, who descended on the Gold Coast for the upcoming week

Tight singlets, min-shorts, skirts and bodycon dresses were a favourite fashion choice among the girls at Schoolies in 2017

Two girls snapped a cheeky picture of their behinds as they sat in their daringly cut swimsuits with a stunning view of the bay

Two girls pose with drinks in hand before they headed out to party as night one of Schoolies 2017 kicked off on the Gold Coast

Hundreds of selfies were snapped before revelers descended on the beach side festivities including parties and live music

More than 20,000 Year 12 graduates are expected to turn up at the festivities this year, which is set to go for a week.

Earlier in the day, plenty of teenagers were farewelled at airports and hotels, as parents helped set them up with the essentials.

Cartons of drinks were the number one item on the list it seemed, with parents helping to cart the beverages.

Over 20,000 school leavers are expected to hit the Gold Coast for Schoolies 2017, with parents on hand to farewell their kids

These friends gave a quick kiss at the hotel, with toilet paper and plenty of groceries in hand, before the party officially began

Year 12 graduates and festival goers were seen checking into the event, carrying their official passes and smiling for a picture

Food and toilet paper were next, as the week-long celebrations may be the first time away from home for many of the teenagers.

Mums and dads were spotted helping their soon-to-be adult children carry their luggage into hotels and through airports.

While the weather on Surfers Paradise appeared cloudy during the day, there was no stopping the party atmosphere once the sun went down.

Mums and dads were spotted helping their soon-to-be adult children carry their luggage into the hotels and through airports

Thanks Dad! Parents were spotted helping their kids stock up on all the Schoolies week essentials, such as beer and mixers

While the weather appeared dreary in both Sydney and the Gold Coast, this trio looked packed and ready to hit the coast

Year 12 graduates and festival goers were seen checking into the event, carrying their official passes.

Many stopped to chat to the dozens of volunteers on hand at Schoolies, to ensure the safety of the young adults.

Last year there were 62 revellers arrested in the first week of Schoolies on the Gold Coast, with 37 in 2015 and 131 in 2014, ABC reports.

Revellers were seen celebrating on the beach all night long and into the morning, with one boy doing a celebratory handstand
Sophia Wilansky, 22, was protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline when she nearly had her arm blown off

A woman who protested the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline nearly had her arm blown off during the 10-month standoff.

Sophia Wilansky told the New York Post she was standing on a bridge just outside the DAPL encampment when she was knocked over by a deafening explosion.

The 22-year-old said she thought her hand had been blown off in the attack - and would not look down at it for fear of what she might see.

She still doesn't know if it the metal shrapnel that ripped her forearm apart was from a police officer's concussion grenade or a protesters propane-tank bomb, she told the Post.

Wilansky is still under FBI suspicion for her part in the 10-month standoff, and has decided to come forward now that it is nearly the anniversary of one of the scariest moments of her life.

At 4am on November 21, 2016, the theater graduate was on guard duty at the Backwater Bridge near Cannon Ball, North Dakota after volunteering to hold the ground.

Wilansky is still under FBI suspicion for her part in the 10-month standoff, and has decided to come forward now that it is nearly the anniversary of one of the scariest moments of her life

At 4am on November 21, 2016, the theater graduate was on guard duty at the Backwater Bridge near Cannon Ball, North Dakota after volunteering to hold the ground when she said she overheard a cop yell 'Get away!' and then suddenly heard and felt an explosion

They had cleared the area of police and pipeline company barriers earlier in the day, and so she was overseeing it when she overheard a cop on the loudspeaker shouting 'Get away!'

But they didn't give her time to do that, she claims, and immediately she said she was hit by rubber bullets in her left arm, chest and groin. She told the Post she attempted to pick up her plastic shield, which she'd placed on the ground in front of her, but didn't couldn't.

Suddenly, she said, she heard a loud blast and was knocked to the ground.

'I was in complete shock,' she explained.

The explosion ripped out the radius bone, muscle, nerves and arteries in her left arm. Her hand was left hanging by just a few bits of skin, she told the Post.

Her friends quickly picked her up and drove her about 30 minutes away to an ambulance, which was waiting at a nearby casino.

'It was the most painful thing I ever felt, but it didn't make sense in that situation to freak out,' she told the Post.

'I just kept thinking about how I would soon be in a hospital with pain meds.'

The explosion ripped out the radius bone, muscle, nerves and arteries in her left arm. Her hand was left hanging by just a few bits of skin, she told the Post. She had to have four different surgeries, but can no longer use her left hand and has almost no feeling in that arm.

Able to remain calm, she used that 30 minutes to text friends and write a Facebook post, which has since been taken down, with her free hands.

She ended up undergoing four different surgeries, but can no longer use her left hand and has almost no feeling in that arm.

Wilansky has said she will continue to protest climate change and the rights of indigenous people.

In the spring the FBI received a warrant to search her Facebook account - looking for evidence of Wilansky's potential connection to homemade explosives used in the attack that day, court documents reveal.

Her lawyer says the probe into her social media is baseless. She hasn't been charged.

'It was intended to scare her and other [protesters] from speaking out about that incident,' Lauren Regan, head of the Civil Liberties Defense Center, told the Post.

Wilansky has decided to sue so she can get the shrapnel and clothing removed from her body by surgeons on that day. It was collected by federal agents, but she would like to use that in legal actions against the police officers she believed hurt her that day.

The Morton County Sheriff's Office claims it did not use any explosive devices that day. The department's spokeswoman, Maxine Herr, claims it doesn't even have those 'lethal devices' in its inventory.

Herr told the Post police used sponge and bean-bag rounds in their guns that day, and that they used one stinger ball, launching dozens of tiny rubber balls and gas.

Police have said that Wilansky and three others refused direct orders to emerge from behind their shield, and said they saw someone roll metal cylinders toward protesters. Three propane canisters were found where the explosion happened, Herr told the Post.

Wilansky's injury was the most severe to come out of the protests staged by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. They feared the oil pipeline would pollute their drinking water and intrude on sacred grounds.

The Obama administration halted the project, but President Trump overturned that and it was finished in June.
Republican state Representative Wes Goodman

A married Ohio state lawmaker who has said he believes in a 'natural marriage' between a man and a woman allegedly sent salacious and lewd text messages to gay men, propositioned other young men for sex when he worked in Washington, DC, and tried to convince a fellow conservative to join him and his wife for threesomes.

Republican state Representative Wes Goodman, who resigned Wednesday amid allegations of inappropriate behavior with another man in his office, led a double life, it is claimed.

'Wes Goodman, who was just caught having sex with a man in his office, begged me to have sex with him and/or his wife on several occasions while I went to school in Ohio,' Caleb Hull, a conservative journalist, alleged on his Twitter account on Saturday.

In public, he was a family values conservative - a far cry from the behavior he allegedly displayed in private, according to Cleveland.com.

The website interviewed three people who say they knew Goodman during the time he worked in the capital.

Before being elected to the Ohio state legislature to represent Cardington, Goodman worked in Washington as an aide to Rep. Jim Jordan, one of the most conservative politicians in the country.

Goodman also worked for the Conservative Action Project, an organization made up of economic, social and national security conservatives.

'Wes Goodman, who was just caught having sex with a man in his office, begged me to have sex with him and/or his wife (Bethany Goodman, seen right) on several occasions while I went to school in Ohio,' Caleb Hull (left), a conservative journalist, alleged on his Twitter account on Saturday

He served as managing director of the organization, leading 'the fight for conservative principles like balanced budget, lower taxes, repealing Obamacare, life, and religious liberty,' his site says.

His website also clearly outlines his belief that marriage is only between a man and a woman, and he has relied on these conservative values to bolster his political message and relate to voters.

'The ideals of a loving father and mother, a committed natural marriage, and a caring community are well worth pursuing and protecting,' the site says.

Cleveland.com spoke to Johnny Hadlock, who was working as an aide to another Republican congressman on Capitol Hill.

Hadlock said he met Goodman in 2010.

During their conversations, Hadlock revealed to Goodman that he was a closeted homosexual,.

He told Cleveland.com that soon afterward he and Goodman began exchanging explicit text messages that included sexting and gay banter.

Their conversations even escalated to phone sex, according to Hadlock.

Throughout their relationship, Hadlock insisted Goodman did nothing inappropriate.

'Wes never sexually harassed me - we both knew what we were doing and we were both fine doing it,' Hadlock said.

An anonymous individual who describes himself as a 'conservative with ties to Ohio' alleged that Goodman engaged in predatory behavior toward younger men after he finished working for Ohio Rep Jim Jordan (above) in Washington, DC

In 2012, Hadlock went to work for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. He says he is currently employed at a Washington, DC non-profit organization.

Hadlock and Goodman last communicated with each other in 2014.

In Facebook chats, Goodman would allegedly reveal to Hadlock that he was in his underwear and would also ask Hadlock if he was aroused.

Hadlock says the relationship never got physical.

An anonymous individual who describes himself as a 'conservative with ties to Ohio' alleged that Goodman engaged in predatory behavior toward younger men after he worked for Jordan.

He said Goodman would send lewd messages through Facebook and text in which he would proposition college-age men for sex.

This was corroborated by Hull, who tweeted: 'He did this to dozens of college political activists in Ohio that I know as well.

'He was with us at a bar during a Turning Point USA conference and left early, but forgot to pay his bill.

Goodman would allegedly send lewd messages through Facebook and text in which he would proposition college-age men for sex

'One of the people in our group texting him asking what his room number was to charge it to his room and he told him the number.

'Then my friend told him that he had charged his room.

'And then he replied with something like "oh I thought you were coming up to have some fun with me and my wife. She's asleep but I'm horny".'

Those who received Goodman's alleged messages were scared to report him for fear that it would damage career prospects.

They also viewed Goodman as a mentor-like figure who could help them find jobs after college.

A former co-worker shared screen shots of text messages allegedly sent by Goodman. He said they were similar to those that led to the demise of former Congressman Anthony Weiner.

'It was suggestive "I am here in my underwear" kinds of stuff,' the co-worker said.

Goodman was considered well-connected in conservative circles, making it that much more difficult for anyone to complain about him.

'People never really wanted to come forward against someone in power,' the anonymous individual said.

In 2015, Goodman allegedly invited the teenage son of a prominent Republican donor to his room at the Ritz Carlton hotel.

Goodman resigned Wednesday amid allegations of inappropriate behavior with another man in his office. The 33-year-old is pictured with his wife, Bethany Goodman

According to The Washington Post, Goodman allegedly unzipped the 18-year-old's pants and began to fondle him, prompting the boy to bolt from the room at about 4am.

The terrified teen told his parents, who then demanded that the head of a conservative organization which was hosting a conference at the time remove Goodman.

That led to Goodman's departure from the Council for National Policy.

Cleveland.com also quoted Chris Donnelly, who said that in 2008 he and Goodman had sex after Goodman responded to a classified ad on Craigslist.

Donnelly used an alias on Craigslist and described himself as 'straight/curious' who needed to be discreet.

'Maybe we can hang and see what's up, no expectations really,' Goodman's alleged response read.

'But your post seemed cool so let me know bro.'

Donnelly said that Goodman was 'all over Craigslist.'

'It became a running joke between me and my gay friends on Capitol Hill,' Donnelly said.

It was known by the small clique of gay conservatives in Washington that Goodman would allegedly often have trysts with men he met on Craigslist. He is pictured above with his wife Bethany

'It's not like it was some one-off thing.'

Both Hadlock and Donnelly said they voluntarily spoke to Cleveland.com because they were disappointed that while Goodman pursued sex with men, he was politically promoting legislation that the LGBT community had opposed.

In 2009, Goodman was a staunch supporter of Jordan's Defense of Marriage Act, which sought to overturn a local law allowing same-sex marriage.

In May 2016, Goodman won a seat in the Ohio State House of Representatives.

Though there were rumors of his secret life, top Republicans felt that without a specific allegation there wasn't any action they could take.

Hadlock said he didn't believe Goodman deserved privacy given the positions he has taken in his political career as it relates to gay rights.

'My hope for Wes is that he can now pursue an authentic life and be happy, whatever that means,' Hadlock said.

Goodman resigned his seat this week after he was caught in his government-provided office engaging in 'inappropriate behavior' with an individual who was not employed by the government.

The only existing details about the behavior are that it included a male in a consensual situation, and took place several weeks ago in his state-provided office.

No harassment complaints have been filed against the 33-year-old.

Goodman confirmed the initial allegations in a statement on Wednesday.

'We all bring our own struggles and our own trials into public life,' he said.

'That has been true for me, and I sincerely regret that my actions and choices have kept me from serving my constituents and our state in a way that reflects the best ideals of public service. For those whom I have let down, I'm sorry.'

Republican House Speaker Clifford Rosenberger said he learned Tuesday that Goodman had engaged in 'inappropriate behavior related to his state office.'

'I met with him later in the day where he acknowledged and confirmed the allegations,' Rosenberger said in a statement.

'It became clear that his resignation was the most appropriate course of action for him, his family, the constituents of the 87th House District and this institution.'

A message seeking comment was left with Goodman. He has requested privacy moving forward.

While Goodman allegedly privately pursued men sexually, in public he was a staunch supporter of anti-LGBT legislation

He was the second Ohio lawmaker to resign this month for allegations of inappropriate behavior, and his is the latest to hit the state's legislature since sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein surfaced.

Those allegations prompted a national wave of similar alleged misconducts by entertainers, politicians and others.

Veteran Ohio Sen. Clifford Hite, a Republican from Findlay, resigned October 16 after a sexual harassment complaint was filed against him.

According to an investigative memo, Hite had inappropriate conversations and physical contact with a female legislative staff member for two months and repeatedly propositioned her for sex.

The Ohio House subsequently released a cache of documents requested by reporters that showed three state representatives had been disciplined and a staff aide had been fired following harassment claims in recent years.

Then on Monday, Senate Democrats' chief of staff, Michael Premo, resigned abruptly over unspecified allegations of inappropriate conduct. His single-sentence resignation email provided no details.

State Republican Party Chairman Jane Timken, the first woman to head Ohio's GOP, issued a statement Wednesday supporting Goodman's decision to step aside.

'I believe Speaker Rosenberger said it best; his resignation was the most appropriate course of action for him, his family, the constituents of the 87th House District and the House,' she said.
Constance Hall has been taken to the Supreme Court by her former business partner and friend over unpaid royalties from her best-selling book.

The 34-year-old author and blogger has been fighting a 15-month battle with Perth journalist Kristen Watts after she claims she hasn't receive payments from Hall's memoir Like A Queen, which has sold more than 150,000 copies.

Watts has argued to court that Hall broke their contract by not paying her a percentage of the book's earnings and has accused her of 'oppressive conduct'.

Watts lodged a writ to the Western Australia Supreme Court on Friday, saying she is owed 30 per cent of the earnings from the book.

'In the circumstances, the conduct of Ms Hall and Like A Queen is oppressive or un-fairly prejudicial to or unfairly discriminatory against Ms Watts as a shareholder of Like A Queen,' the writ states.

Constance Hall has been taken to the Supreme Court by her former business partner and friend over unpaid royalties from her best-selling book

The 34-year-old author and blogger has been fighting a 15-month battle with Perth journalist Kristen Watts after she claims she hasn't receive payments from Hall's memoir Like A Queen

Her lawyers argued Hall has broken 'written publishing facilitator agreement' and their client has experienced 'loss and damage'.

They claim Watts was ostracised from Like A Queen Pty Ltd, a company she and Hall have equals shares in, since September last year in an attempt to block her from accessing financial records on the books sales.

She received a royalty payment of $109,150 that same month, but her lawyers are arguing that figure is lower than what she is owed.

They claim Hall has made no contact with Watts since the payment, and has purposely prevented her from accessing the book's records.

Watts terminated their contract in June and demanded unpaid royalties and data be released to her, which she claims was rejected by Hall's lawyers.

It is believed their relationship broke down during her book tour mid-way through last year.

They claim Watts was ostracised from Like A Queen Pty Ltd, a company she and Hall have equals shares in, since September last year in an attempt to block her from accessing financial records on the books sales

The mother-of-four revealed last month she was pregnant with her fifth child, posting to her 1.1 million followers on Facebook

The mother-of-four revealed last month she was pregnant with her fifth child, posting to her 1.1 million followers on Facebook.

'Guys...The commune is welcoming another baby,' the post began.

'We have no idea how it slipped through. We tried everything, on and off bouts of the pill (until it flared my colitis too much), withdrawal, morning after pills.'

'We actually have no idea how this baby slipped through. But it did.'

The 34-year-old mentioned that they are yet to 'go to the doctor or anything' but she thinks she's about eight weeks along.

'We are not ready for this and I am petrified, babies terrify me,' the caption continued.

'But are we happy? Pigs in sh**. Well... I'm hormonal, I considered having an abortion this morning because Densy slept in.'
A hot-air balloon pilot whose clients included Bill Gates and actress Emma Watson has been prosecuted for flying without a licence after he was banned for being too fat.

Mike Jennings, 49, who has flown balloons commercially for 12 years, failed a medical test but was granted a licence on condition he showed evidence of continued weight loss.

Despite numerous prompts, the Civil Aviation Authority says he failed to provide any proof to an aeromedical examiner (AME) that he had shed the pounds, but continued to take passengers in his balloon.

Mr Jenningss offences came to light when he tried to renew his medical certificate with a different AME and it emerged he was still flying commercially.

Up, up and a-weigh: Pilot Mike Jennings (with a young Emma Watson in Kenya) has been prosecuted for flying without a licence after he was banned for being too fat

In 2014, Mr Jennings set up Cotswold Balloon Safaris, which charges up to 155 for a flight

Appearing at Swindon Magistrates Court last month, Mr Jennings admitted two counts of acting as a pilot of a hot-air balloon without being the holder of an appropriate licence.

He was fined 1,500 and ordered to pay CAA costs of 350 for the offences, which date back to the period between April and July 2015 when he failed to show proof he had lost weight.

Mr Jennings  who spent seven years in the British Army and also ran a private detective business  spent much of his ballooning career flying over the Masai Mara national reserve in Kenya.

He earned 7,000 a month as a freelance pilot and enjoyed the luxury of a chauffeur and private assistant, as well as taking celebrities including Mr Gates and Miss Watson on flights.

In 2014, he returned to the West Country and with a 120,000 loan set up Cotswold Balloon Safaris, which charges up to 155 for a flight.

Mr Jennings  who spent seven years in the British Army and also ran a private detective business  spent much of his ballooning career flying over the Masai Mara national reserve in Kenya

The pilot failed a medical test but was granted a licence on condition he showed evidence of continued weight loss. Despite numerous prompts, the Civil Aviation Authority says he failed to provide any proof to an aeromedical examiner that he had shed the pounds, but continued to take passengers in his balloon

It is a very highly regulated industry in the UK, he told The Times newspaper last year.

Im no longer the carefree pilot with a driver and [assistant] to look after me and do my laundry.

Now I have to do all the paperwork as well as try and run the business and make some money.

Last night, Mr Jennings, who has since had his licence renewed, said the ban came about after a string of clerical and paperwork errors.

A spokesman for the CAA said: It is a legal requirement for all licensed pilots to have an up-to-date aviation medical certificate'

This was just a series of mistakes that left me crushed by the system, he said. And unfortunately, theres no legal aid for these kinds of cases so Ive been left significantly out of pocket.

I passed my medical test but the examiner said she wanted to see some progress in my weight loss. I did lose weight and had regular check-ups with my GP, who recorded that I had lost weight but failed to send the information to the AME.

The AME then sent a letter to me saying she was going to strip me of my licence. Unfortunately, that was sent to an old address. Thats my fault and I have to hold my hands up and accept responsibility.

I set this business up by myself and were a very small outfit. So this kind of financial penalty is massive for us. I just want to forget about the whole thing and move on.

A spokesman for the CAA said: It is a legal requirement for all licensed pilots to have an up-to-date aviation medical certificate.

The CAA will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure aviation safety laws are fully complied with, and this includes prosecution.
Friends of Brexit Secretary David Davis fear he is on the brink of resigning over the bombshell Brexit letter sent by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove to Theresa May.

The letter setting out their blueprint for a post-EU Britain was kept secret from the rest of the Cabinet  including Mr Davis  until it was revealed in last weeks Mail on Sunday.

Now we can disclose that the missive effectively calls for Mr Davis to be sidelined by a new, non-elected Brexit Tsar. Mr Daviss allies say he is deeply frustrated by the way Mr Johnson and Mr Gove went behind his back to hand-deliver the letter to the Prime Ministers chief of staff Gavin Barwell. Last night, No 10 added to his humiliation by failing to deny that the Brexit Secretary had still not seen a copy of the letter.

Friends of Brexit Secretary David Davis fear he is on the brink of resigning over the bombshell Brexit letter sent by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove to Theresa May

In the full letter, Foreign Secretary Mr Johnson and Environment Secretary Mr Gove lend weight to claims that some Brexiteers want Mrs May to turn the UK into the Singapore of Europe by slashing tax and red tape.

And they say she must prepare for crashing out of the EU after a total breakdown in Brexit talks.

The rebel pair flex their muscles by saying she should force all Cabinet Ministers to submit to a process to prove they are enforcing a hard Brexit blueprint  including recruiting thousands of extra customs and immigration officers. The 2,500-word letter portrays Mrs May as an enfeebled PM forced to take orders from the two men who brought down her predecessor David Cameron.

In addition to sidelining Mr Davis, they also take aim at Chancellor Philip Hammond, whose supporters were furious when we revealed how Mr Johnson and Mr Gove accused him of failing to show sufficient energy to prepare for a no-deal outcome with the EU.

The new disclosures come as Mr Davis enters the final stages of crunch talks with the EU over the size of our divorce bill  and before another week of Commons clashes over the EU Withdrawal Bill, with 20 Tory MPs threatening to rebel over Mrs Mays plans to fix in law the date of Britains departure.

Former Chancellor Kenneth Clarke claimed last week that the fixed date move was a sop to Mr Johnson and Mr Gove in the wake of their letter, which told the PM to announce a date for the end of the UKs transition out of the EU.

The letter will revive the debate over whether Britain could use Brexit to become a low-tax, low- regulation Singapore-style economy. It says: We may choose to remain identical to the EU  or we may embrace a vision more aligned with pro-competitive regulation. Other countries must know this choice is in our hands  and they must know it on day one.

An overhaul of science and technology rules will give the UK big advantages over EU members, they argue. Our tax system is hugely complex after the long years of Labour government. There will be huge savings from reducing the burden of compliance.

The letter setting out their blueprint for a post-EU Britain was kept secret from the rest of the Cabinet  including Mr Davis (pictured)  until it was revealed in last weeks Mail on Sunday

Supporters of the idea say it would create an economic boom  but critics say it would undermine workers rights.

The Ministers attempt to address this criticism by saying that it is not about deregulating but about regulating better, with a vision more aligned with pro-competitive regulation.

The authors tell Mrs May to crack down on Ministers who refuse to support the proposal and identify individual Cabinet Ministers and submit them to a process that produces action.

They say Mrs May should seek a Free Trade Agreement with the EU: they do not specify which model they prefer, though they reject the so-called Norway model, supported by Mr Hammond, under which the UK would retain access to the single market while still being bound by its regulations.

The authors tell Mrs May to crack down on Ministers who refuse to support the proposal and identify individual Cabinet Ministers and submit them to a process that produces action

The letter also spells out the risk of the Brexit talks collapsing before Britain leaves in 2019  and says there may be no trade deal even by the time the so-called transition period, scheduled to end in 2021, is over.

We may not be able to reach agreement on the final deal during the implementation period or even know by March 2019 if an agreement is going to be possible or not, write Mr Johnson and Mr Gove.

The worst case is a total breakdown in March 2019, but even if we avoid that we may still have a no-deal outcome at the end of the transition period.

They fear chaos at ports and airports. We are most concerned about customs rules where the UK must be in a position to charge import duties and conduct checks on EU goods. This will require upgrading facilities at ports and recruiting thousands of customs officers. Similarly, we must arrange to implement immigration controls in the event of no deal.

The letter also spells out the risk of the Brexit talks collapsing before Britain leaves in 2019  and says there may be no trade deal even by the time the so-called transition period, scheduled to end in 2021, is over

They claim mandarins are incapable of implementing a hard Brexit and must be replaced by Ministers backed by strong political apparatchiks and the urgent appointment of a new, non-elected Brexit Tsar in charge of an Implementation Task Force (ITF).

The ITF leader should have direct authority to mobilise Whitehall on Brexit preparation issues and brief the Cabinet.

This newspaper has been told Tory Brexit leaders want Matthew Elliott, former chief executive of Vote Leave, and now a senior fellow with pro-Brexit think-tank the Legatum Institute, to be the tsar.

The letter states that Mrs May must not allow the European Court of Justice to have jurisdiction over new EU rules in the UK during the transition.

They write: There should be no question of the UK implementing new EU rules during this period  or ECJ jurisdiction on any new rules. Clarifying that in the minds of colleagues who have not yet internalised that logic would help.

This newspaper has been told Tory Brexit leaders want Matthew Elliott, former chief executive of Vote Leave, and now a senior fellow with pro-Brexit think-tank the Legatum Institute, to be the tsar

This is at odds with Mr Davis, who said on Friday that Britain will remain within the jurisdiction of the EUs Court of Justice immediately after Brexit in March 2019, and it would not be phased out until the end of the two-year transition period.

This angered the influential hard Brexit Tory pundit Charles Moore, who yesterday accused Mr Davis of letting EU negotiator Michel Barnier run rings round him  and he also took a swipe at recent claims about Mr Daviss drinking.

Mr Moore wrote: It is time to get annoyed with Mr Davis. For ages now, he has been flying from meeting to meeting, speaking at dinner after dinner, staying late at party after party, encouraging his bonhomous reassurance to be favourably contrasted with Mrs Mays anxious gloom.

Michel Barnier has the right idea  a grave expression, a guardedly polite manner and the tenacious pursuit of what he wants. Unfortunately, hes on the other side.

A spokesman for Mr Davis said: It is completely wrong that he is considering resigning and anyone pushing this nonsense in order to undermine Brexit is going to be sorely disappointed.

Downing Street refused to comment.
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Many people turned to exploring local nature paths for their daily exercise when lockdown closed gyms and group sports took a hiatus amid the pandemic.

Amateur photographers who captured stunning images of animals in their natural habitat were quick to submit their snaps to Weekend magazine's annual Wildlife Photography Challenge in the hopes of winning a package worth over 1,000.

The entrants were split into five categories - Birds; Mammals; Insects; Under-18s; and Reptiles, Fish, Amphibians & Molluscs.

While each category winner received a Nikon mirrorless digital camera kit and a year's subscription to Nikon Owner magazine, the overall winner also received a trip to the Camargue with wildlife photographer Simon Stafford, courtesy of Create Away, for a four-night masterclass in photographing the region's wild horses, flamingos and bulls.

Judges David Suchet, Clare Balding, Lucy Cooke, Steve Brown, Kelly Brook and Michael Eleftheriades were impressed with Lee O'dwyer, 67, a retired engineer from Lancashire, who was awarded the overall winner for his shot of a long-tailed tit.

These runner-up snaps taken by talented amateur photographers prove choosing an overall winner was a tough decision...

BIRDS

PUFFIN: Taken by Joseph Bristow, 23, a retail supervisor from Llantwit Major. 'Arriving at 3am and queueing for the 6am ticket office to open. First in line I caught the boat over to Skomer Island. With only a few hours permitted on the island I had no time to waste. Surrounded by the Puffins was an amazing spectacle and allowed me to capture some amazing photos. I found this one puffin who seemed very tame and loved posing for the camera. As he stared down the barrel of my lens I took my shot and was pleased with the result. I found the black background really provides a provocative and striking image highlight the vibrant colour of the Puffins.'

KESTREL CHICKS: Taken by Jayne Kirkby, 20, from Braintree, Essex. 'Beautiful pair of Kestrel chicks, taken at Wrabness on 20th June 2020.'

KINGFISHER: Tim Clifton, a 59-year-old from, St Leonards on Sea, snapped this captivating photo of a kingfisher hunting for small fish

MALLARD: William Watson, 64, a semi retired HGV driver from East Dunbartonshire. 'Taken on the Forth & Clyde canal (December '19') Bishopbriggs, As I went to take this photo of this female Mallard it stretched creating a nice reflection....'

INSECTS

BUTTERFLY: Adam Lane, a 27-year-old host at Legoland, from Slough, captured a butterfly perched on a purple flower in specular detail

WASP: Shelia Moth took this captivating photo of a wasp on a thistle, capturing the insect and plant in immense detail

SPIDER: Taken by Geoffrey Wells, 67, a maintenance caretaker from North Yorkshire. 'This picture was taken in my back garden during the recent lockdown.'

REPTILES

MATING FROGS: Taken by Steve Jellett, 64, from Essex, who is retired. 'Taken in small garden pond when 21 frogs descended to mate.'

MAMMALS

ROE DEER: Tim Cliffton, a 75-year-old from St Leonards on sea, took a photograph of two roe deer spotted in a field

MOUSE: Taken by Cameron Parfitt, 20, a student at the University of Brighton, from Worthing. 'I would love to highlight that even in your back garden there are images to be had. This image is of a cheeky wood mouse that keeps stealing food from what we have now dubbed the mouse feeder. It's not unheard of for this little guy to be found inside the feeder without a care in the world stuffing himself with the bird seed.'

JUNIORS

FOX CUB: Billy Evans-Freke, 15, a secondary school student from East Sussex. 'It wasn't a long wait in the hide before the first fox cub woke up from its nap and came out into the open. It was soon followed by another cub. At first they stayed in the shadows of the bushes near the den. But once they gained their confidence they started coming closer. This cub in particular was very curious and came very close to the hide.'
Benedict Allen touches down after his jungle rescue

The helicopter pilot who airlifted Benedict Allen from the jungle of Papua New Guinea has played down the explorer's ordeal, saying: 'He didn't really need rescuing.'

Craig Rose, who has flown in the country's mountainous central highlands for 12 years, said the TV adventurer had been well cared for by tribespeople and appeared to be in no danger when he was found.

To the surprise of the helicopter crew, Allen filmed himself and the helicopter as it circled a remote mountain airstrip where he was waiting to be picked up on Friday. The crew waited for an hour as the explorer posed for pictures with villagers before his evacuation. 'He was lapping it up,' said Rose.

Yesterday, as Allen was in hospital in Papua New Guinea where he is understood to be undergoing malaria treatment, the pilot said the flight was a commercial arrangement rather than a rescue.

'We don't go in and rescue people,' he said. 'It wasn't as if he was in mortal danger. It was just that his travel plans were stuck He wouldn't have been starving. There was water. He was looked after.'

The Mail on Sunday has seen emails from the British High Commission sent on Thursday, when Allen's precise location was known, seeking costings from commercial helicopter operators rather than requesting an urgent evacuation.

The pilot's comments follow speculation that the disappearance was a PR stunt, which Allen's agent has strongly denied. Allen has faced questions over his exploits before. In 1985 the Royal Geographical Society cancelled a lecture he was due to give over doubts about his account of an Amazon expedition.

Father-of-three Allen, whose broadcasting and writing career has been punctuated by derring-do and no less than nine near-death experiences, pictured in Siberia

Father-of-three Allen, whose broadcasting and writing career has been punctuated by derring-do and no less than nine near-death experiences, tweeted before setting off in October: 'Don't try to rescue me please  where I'm going in PNG you won't ever find me.'

He began at an abandoned mission station and trekked into the wilds with no satellite phone, GPS or other means of communication.

His agent raised the alarm last Sunday after he failed to turn up in Port Moresby for a flight to Hong Kong where he was to give a talk.

Pilot Craig Rose

As his disappearance made headlines, Allen was traced on Thursday after tribespeople caring for him trekked for two hours to send the message that he wanted to be airlifted to safety. In an account published yesterday, Allen described being struck down with malaria and unable to leave the village because of fierce tribal fighting.

Describing the moment Allen was spotted, 55-year-old Australian Rose said: 'We saw a backpack on the airstrip I circled once and when I circled a second time, he appeared with his arms up. He had a video camera. As soon as I saw him, I thought 'Yep, he's a film-maker'. I have no idea how he kept the batteries going all that time out there.'

Pilot John Russack, 46, who was also at the airlift, said Allen told him he had been waving to helicopters overhead for days but had not been spotted.

They talked about whether he should have put an SOS sign on the airstrip, but 'He didn't want to because it wasn't truly that he was in great danger'.

Allen went to great lengths to thank the pilots, Russack added. 'He was thrilled to be rescued and he's a genuine man.'

Last night a spokesman for Mr Allen said: 'By the time the helicopter arrived he was quite ill with a renewed bout of malaria. So actually he did need rescuing, and I'm very glad he was.'
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As the plane drops violently in the turbulence I grab the side of my pod and my heart leaps.

Im flying upper class with Virgin Atlantic from Johannesburg to London on a Dreamliner. But turning left doesnt mean that turbulence is turned off. It just means the quality of the drinks being spilled is much higher.

The jolt is so severe that the captain is motivated to apologise to those on board shortly afterwards. Sorry about that ladies and gentlemen, he says smoothly. We just caught the edge of a storm back there. I do apologise.

MailOnline's Ted Thornhill flew upper class from London to Johannesburg and back

There are 31 'espresso leather' seats in the Virgin Atlantic upper class cabin, arranged in a 1-1-1 formation

I relax and sip my stonkingly good Churton pinot noir, from New Zealand  chosen for the upper class wine list by elite London wine merchants Berry Bros & Rudd - and gaze around.

My espresso leather seat is one of 31 arranged in a 1-1-1 formation and is supremely comfortably with lots of support. Plus, it has a little footrest that doubles as a seat for a friend, which even has its own seatbelt.

I feel nicely cocooned with leather-trimmed arched dividers on either side preventing those next to me from spying which guilty-pleasure movie Im watching (OK, fine, its Transformers!).

The screen is 11 inches across, which isnt industry leading, but a definite step-up from an economy screen. Its manoeuvrable, too  it can be tilted up and down and pushed back and forth with ease.

The seat is highly manoeuvrable as well, with buttons to my right that alter the recline angle.

Back I go while I lap up the Virgin Atlantic service.

The airline has a good reputation in this area and the crew on the trip out to Johannesburg and on this return leg dont disappoint  theyre friendly, chatty, upbeat and efficient (it takes a matter of seconds to be offered champagne upon boarding).

The food served in upper class is excellent, with choices on Ted's journey including fillet steak in a caramelised garlic sauce with dauphinoise potatoes and mozzarella carpaccio. And the restaurant-standard tablecloth is a nice touch

The salt and pepper pots are very cool and highly coveted - they are stamped with the message 'pinched from Virgin Atlantic'

Illuminating: Upper class seats can be reclined at the touch of a button (left). But passengers must stand up and fold the seat over before using the lie-flat switch (right)

The bar is surely the piece de resistance of the upper class experience. Ted highly recommends gathering here for a few snifters with one's travelling companions

And the fodder and food they bring to my seat is pretty gourmet.

On the way out I tuck into a tender fillet steak in a caramelised garlic sauce with dauphinoise potatoes with a refreshing tomato and mozzarella carpaccio for starters. Tonight I opt for a mushroom risotto and a panna cotta for dessert.

Notable nod-of-approval touches include two very cool salt and pepper pots shaped like little propeller planes with the message pinched from Virgin Atlantic on the bottom and a proper linen table cloth.

Dinner over, its time for a drink at the bar, surely the piece de resistance of the cabin.

Its while having a chinwag around this with my travelling companions and a few cheeky snifters that the upper class experience really takes off.

But it isnt perfection.

I like the feeling of being cocooned in Virgins pods  but Ive experienced business class seats with more storage space  on Finnairs A330, for instance.

And while the seat folds down at the touch of a button into a very comfy flatbed, it has to be done in two stages. To go from reclining club-style seat to bed you need to stand up, fold the seat over, then hold down a button to flatten it.

A seat that flattens in one movement would be ideal.

And peculiarly, on the return journey, my duvet emerges from its bag feeling cold and damp. Clean, but wet.

A stewardess informs me that one other person has flagged a similar issue.

My guess is that it hasnt been dried properly by the laundry team.

It doesnt put too much of a dampener on things, though. Ive got a (dry) pillow and mattress and once the Virgin Atlantic pyjamas are on (yes, they hand them out mid-flight) I get a solid four or five hours sleep under some blankets fetched by the stewardess.

And I wake up to a tasty full English with a croissant and coffee.

The upper class experience isnt over yet though.

I head to the stylish revivals lounge at Heathrow for a pick-me-up coffee and a banana.

Virgin Atlantic has a good reputation for service - and Ted couldn't fault the staff on both legs of his long-haul journey

The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at Heathrow is rightly a legend among lounges. It features a 14-metre cocktail bar, a spa and the staff distribute decent champagne without hesitation

Ted was allowed to sit in the captain's seat at Heathrow before take-off. Here the captain reassured him that 'yes, I do know what all the buttons do'

The lounge offers a lot more though  showers, full breakfasts and even a shirt pressing service, so that anyone going straight to work can arrive looking pin sharp.

Its impressive, but not as impressive as the Virgin Clubhouse we hang out in before our outward flight from Heathrow. This is so good it poses a threat to boarding the aircraft on time.

It boasts a 14-metre cocktail bar, power showers and a spa that offers everything from haircuts to manicures.

No wonder it's a legend among lounges.

And I arrive there having been chauffeured in a flash Merc to a private check-in area by Virgins limo service. There Im in a queue of zero and a member of staff even takes my bag from the boot of the car to the luggage conveyor belt for me, before I negotiate the private security area.

Here one other solitary traveller has the effrontery to delay me by a handful of seconds.

Virgin Atlantic upper class? The odd damp duvet aside, its sheer class.
He's the self-proclaimed 'healthy Paleo chef' who's always looking after himself.

But Pete Evans showed he wasn't so invincible on Friday when he was spotted at a northern NSW chiropractor alongside his model wife Nicola Robinson.

In a video posted to her Instagram, Nicola filmed the 44-year-old swearing and wincing in pain as his suspected shoulder injury is treated.

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Youch! Pete Evans' rarely seen wife Nicola Robinson accompanied the MKR judge to a chiropractor to treat a painful-looking shoulder injury on Friday

Pete was dressed in loose-fitting clothes for the occasion, attempting not to aggravate his wound as he turned to the camera and professed his approval of the specialist's method.

'That's a good spot,' he said, while wincing and slightly smirking.

Although the My Kitchen Rules judge looked to be in pain during the session, shrieking 'what's that!' and 'f**k' as he held his right arm outwards, the specialist continued to put more pressure in between his shoulder blades.

The chiropractor even revealed that Pete had sustained a number of stresses in his back as he pushed the celebrity chef's neck downwards and to the side.

'That's a good spot': While Pete looked to be in pain at one point in the session, he professed his approval of the specialist's physiotherapy techniques

'Pete has a shoulder injury!' Nicole speculated on what could have caused Pete's injury, claiming that it could have been sustained while teaching her to surf

While Pete laid down on his back and lifted his arm in the air, Nicola speculated on how his injury may have occurred.

'Pete has a shoulder injury! Possibly from us girls getting him to push us on to waves,' she captioned.

Ouch! Pete is an avid surfer, and suffered a horrific wound earlier this year after falling off his surfboard and crashing into a reef

Pete is an avid surfer, and suffered a horrific wound earlier this year when he fell off his surfboard and crashed into a reef.

It's not known if the incident is related to the chef having to undergo physiotherapy at this current time.

Pete and Nicola married last year in an intimate farmyard ceremony after meeting in Adelaide in 2012.
His 2010/11 stand-up comedy tour was officially inaugurated into the Guinness World Records as the most successful of all time.

And Peter Kay is taking to the stage again, in his first tour in eight years; but has told Jonathan Ross that he doesn't actually like doing it and that this will likely be his last.

'I dont like it!' he told the ITV chat show host. 'I do like it, but its terrifying standing on a stage in front of 14,000 people trying to make them laugh. Just because you can do something, doesnt mean you should.

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'It's terrifying!' Peter Kay announces his first stage show in eight years but says it will probably be his last... as he reveals he 'doesn't like touring'

Success: His 2010/11 stand-up comedy tour was officially inaugurated into the Guinness World Records as the most successful of all time

'I like it, but once in a blue moon. I should have called the tour that, Once In a Blue Moon. I dont think Ill do another after this, Im getting on now.'

Peter, 44, joined the show - which will be aired on Saturday evening - in spectacular fashion, taking over the stage, climbing on the set, rearranging the famous skyline and causing mayhem.

Speaking about touring again, the funny man said: 'Its ideal for the old mum and dad, nan and grandad, very clean. I do a family show.

'If my mum or my wife says that something isnt funny, I know Ive struck gold. They said the monkey wasnt funny in Car Share, they said "You cant do that"... They just said it was stupid and would never happen.

Cheeky: Peter Kay is taking to the stage again, in his first tour in eight years; but has told Jonathan Ross that he doesn't actually like doing it and that this will likely be his last

'They had to train this monkey for three weeks to wear sunglasses and eat Werther's Originals.'

This isn't the first time he has taken a lengthy break from stand-up - his The Tour That Didn't Tour tour in 2010 came after a seven year break.

His new tour, Peter Kay Live: Have Gags, Will Travel will begin touring in 2018, with its first stop arriving at the Birmingham Genting Arena in April before touring to Glasgow SSE Hydro, Manchester Arena, 02 Arena, Leeds Arena, Belfast Arena, Nottingham Arena, 3Arena, Newcastle Metro Radio Arena, Sheffield Arena, Liverpool Echo Arena.

Disruptive: Peter, 44, joined the show - which will be aired on Saturday evening - in spectacular fashion, taking over the stage, climbing on the set, rearranging the famous skyline and causing mayhem

Line-up: Also on the show on Saturday is Sheridan Smith, Luke Evans and Iain Stirling

On his famous phrases, Peter admitted: 'I still get that, people shouting Garlic Bread at me. Whod have thought that a food would be a catchphrase. It wasnt even a catchphrase, its a food!

'I couldnt get it in the supermarket the other week. I couldnt find it and I couldnt ask for it because I was mortified to say Garlic Bread because they all would have [shouted it back at me.]'

The comedian has written, produced, and acted in several award-winning television and film projects, authored three books and in 2016 won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Male Comedy Performance, the BAFTA TV Award for Best Scripted Comedy and the National Television Award for Best Comedy for Peter Kay's Car Share.

First time in eight years: Peter is hitting the road for the first time since 2011 [pictured in Manchester, December 2011]

Family friendly: Speaking about touring again, the funny man said 'Its ideal for the old mum and dad, nan and grandad, very clean. I do a family show'

Peter told Jonathan that he had offered the host as a raffle prize a recent Christmas Fayre: 'I basically offered you as a meet and greet. Theyre here.'

Competition Winners Mary, Anne and Philip joined the sofa to meet Jonathan and also made their way into the Guest Green Room to meet the other stars and get photographs.

Also on the show on Saturday is Sheridan Smith, Luke Evans and Iain Stirling.

The Jonathan Ross Show airs on Saturday 18th November at 9:40pm on ITV.
As a renowned supermodel she never fails to disappoint in the glamour stakes.

And Arizona Muse ensured she would have all eyes on her as she attended the Chain Of Hope gala at Grosvenor House in London on Friday.

Clad in a glamorous gown with exquisite caped detailing, the 29-year-old blonde bombshell was a vision of beauty on the night.

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Supermodel style: Arizona Muse ensured she would have all eyes on her as she attended the Chain Of Hope gala at Grosvenor House in London on Friday

Drawing attention to her perky bust, the mother-of-one's gown featured a daring velvet bodice with a low-cut neckline that showed off her cleavage.

Cinching in at her slender waist, the garment then flared out to full length with his colourful skirt, with the ethereal material also used in the dramatic cape.

Complementing the Gothic colours of the gown, Arizona lined her hazel coloured peepers with a dramatic sweep of teal eye shadow, whilst she lined her plump pout with a coral gloss.

Exquisite: Clad in a glamorous gown with exquisite caped detailing, the 29-year-old blonde bombshell was a vision of beauty on the night

Arizona is an industry icon who has appeared on countless international Vogue covers and even landed the much-coveted September issue of US Vogue in 2014 alongside Cara Delevingne, Karlie Kloss and Joan Smalls while also fronting campaigns for the likes of Fendi, Yves St. Laurent, Louis Vuitton and David Yurman.

In addition, she is one of the rare few in the business to land a multi-million dollar beauty contract, which she did when she joined the Estee Lauder family back in 2012.

Elsewhere, Arizona is mother to eight-year-old Nikko, with ex partner Manuel Quintana.

Taking the plunge! Drawing attention to her perky bust, the mother-of-one's gown featured a daring velvet bodice with a low-cut neckline that showed off her cleavage

Dazzling: Complementing the Gothic colours of the gown, Arizona lined her hazel coloured peepers with a dramatic sweep of teal eye shadow, whilst she lined her plump pout with gloss

The pair had a tumultuous relationship since they first met in New Mexico when Quintana was 21 and Muse was just a teenager still in high school before her career took off.

In June, Arizona announced she had tied the knot with her new man, Boniface Verney-Carron.

In a gushing Instagram post, she wrote: 'My husband, I loved every single second of marrying you yesterday. It was as I had been told it would be, the happiest day of my life.'
Glenn Close believes Christopher Reeve could have helped stop Robin Williams from committing suicide.

The 70-year-old Damages actress got quite emotional at A Magical Evening on Thursday, the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation's biggest fundraiser.

According to E!, upon taking the stage, Close, clad in a geometric pattern jacket, teared up while talking about her two old friends.

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Sensitive: Actress Glenn Close, 70, gave an emotional speech at A Magical Evening on Thursday, the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation's biggest fundraiser

Emotional: The actress teared up when she said that she believes Christopher Reeve, who passed away in 2004, could have helped stop pal Robin Williams from committing suicide

'Their friendship, their connection, is the stuff of legend. It not only endured, but became a life-giving force sustaining them both,' she remembered, before claiming 'I am convinced that if Chris were still with us, Robin would be too.'

Robin Williams took his own life back in 2014, while Chris died of heart failure in 2004. They first met as roommates at the famed Juilliard School in New York back in the 1970s.

She then shared an anecdote about the close companions.

'My first connection to Christopher Reeve was through Robin Williams, when we were shooting The World According to Garp. On Friday evenings, Chris would literally swoop in, piloting his own plane, scoop Robin up, and away they would fly for the weekend. On Sunday, late afternoon, Chris would swoop back in and deliver Robin backI have to say a little worse for wear.'

'I am convinced that if Chris were still with us, Robin would be too.' Glenn said of the duo who became friends while living together while studying at Juilliard School in New York back in the 1970s. They are pictured in 1979

Stylish: The Fatal Attraction actress donned a geometric pattern coat for the engagement

'Those were the heady days for them both,' she said, before explaining 'they were on top of the world. They were living the kind of fast and crazy life that our business can hand to you if you become a wildly famous phenomenon, practically overnight.'

Close then got quite personal while remembering Reeve, and gushed over his character.

'I miss Chris. He was a great man. He had more...he had more moral and mental fortitude than anyone I will ever know. It moved me to the core and there were times when it even took my breath away. And he was courageous. Against the odds, he had the courage to hope for his dream, which is now our dreama world of empty wheelchairs.'

Best buddies: 'Their friendship, their connection, is the stuff of legend. It not only endured, but became a life-giving force sustaining them both,' remembered Close (duo seen here in 2004)

Meanwhile, will Reeve, the youngest son of Superman actor Christopher Reeve, also attended the annual fundraising gala for the nonprofit established in his parents' names on Thursday.

And Will, 25, bore a striking resemblance to his famous father with the same chiseled jawline and dark hair.

Christopher Reeve died in 2004 at the age of 52 after spending the last nine of his years paralyzed from the neck down as the result of a horse-riding accident.

His father's son: Will Reeve, the youngest son of Superman actor Christopher Reeve, bore a striking resemblance to his famous dad as he attended a fundraising gala on Thursday

Before he passed away, the Hollywood star established the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation to support the search for treatment and ultimately a cure for spinal cord injury.

Following the lung cancer death of his wife, and Will's mother, Dana in 2006 at the age of 44, the charity was renamed the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.

A Magical Evening, held in New York Thursday, is the foundation's biggest fundraiser and this year it was hosted by actor Jerry O'Connell with guests including Glenn Close.

Also joining Will at the event was his older half-brother Matthew Reeve, 37. Matthew and his sister Alexandra are the children of Christopher and his longtime partner Gae Exton.

Hollywood star: Christopher, pictured in 1982, was catapulted to international stardom after starring as Clark Kent in 1978's Superman, a role he reprised in three sequels

Keeping the memory alive: Will, 25, was only 11 when his dad died. He is a college graduate and dabbled in acting before focusing on a career in sports broadcasting

Christopher died in 2004 at the age of 52 after spending the last nine of his years paralyzed from the neck down as the result of a horse-riding accident. His wife Dana, Will's mother, passed away from lung cancer two years later at the age of 44. The three are pictured in 1997

According to the nonprofit's website , the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation 'is dedicated to curing spinal cord injury by funding innovative research and improving the quality of life for people living with paralysis through grants, information and advocacy.'

In addition, 'The Paralysis Resource Center (PRC) is the support side of the Reeve Foundation and offers a free, comprehensive, national source of informational support for individuals living with paralysis and their caregivers.'

Raising money: Joining Will at the A Magical Evening fundraiser for the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation was his older half-brother Matthew Reeve and actress Glenn Close

Emcee: The event was hosted by actor Jerry McConnell who looked dapper in a dark blue suit with a white shirt and a blue, black and white tie
She's a perfectly coiffed pop-star, who always seems to nail her outfits on the Strictly Come Dancing floor every week.

But Mollie King couldn't protect her blonde tresses from the windy Blackpool coast, as she exited the Tower Ballroom on Friday.

The 30-year-old songstress joined the rest of the cast leaving rehearsals ahead of Saturdays special, when the nine remaining couples will take to the floor for a sensational night of dance.

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Blown away: Mollie King, 30, struggled to control her blonde tresses as she exited Strictly Come Dancing rehearsals on Friday

Mollie was all bundled up in a grey floor-length coat as she headed home after a final night of practice before tomorrow's big performance.

She was joined by a slew of Strictly stars leaving the venue who were all similarly bundled up as they stopped to sign autographs for fans.

Mollie will be hoping to wow again on Saturday with partner AJ Pritchard for a slapstick-tastic Charleston to Little Mix's Wings.

Still gorgeous: The singer was all bundled up in a grey floor-length coat as she headed back to her hotel before Saturday's live show

Under pressure: Mollie will join the other eight remaining couples to perform in the iconic Tower Ballroom

Partners in (dance) time: Mollie was joined by her partner AJ Pritchard as they headed home from practice together

Natural quiff: Strictly pro Nadiya Bychkova was similarly blown away as she headed out of practice

Vixen: The Ukranian beauty was rocking all-black, with a cheeky biscuit treat peeping out of her bag!

Also feeling the breeze was pro Nadiya Bychkova, who had her blonde tresses blasted back as she exited the Tower Ballroom.

The Ukranian beauty, who is partnered with Eastenders hunk Davood Ghadami, was wrapped up in an all-black ensemble as she headed home to get a well nights rest before Saturday's performance.

Her and Davood will perform a dramatic Paso Doble to Live and Let Die, after delivering a stunning Charleston last week.

Good to go! Jovial pro Aljaz Skorjanec gave a thumbs up as he left rehearsals

Sporty chic: Katya Jones rocked a multi-coloured hoodie as she headed to rehearsals

Dynamic duo: Alexandra Burke and Gorka Marquez put on a united front as they exited training together

Also seen leaving practice were favourites Alexandra Burke and Gorka Marquez, who were in good spirits as they stopped to sign autographs for waiting fans.

The pair will go old-Broadway for their performance this week performing a Quickstep to The Gold Diggers' Song from 42nd Street.

Comedian Susan Calman bundled up in a puffa coat and hat as she stopped to sign autographs from waiting fans, along with Diane Buswell, who seemed to have indulged in a spot of retail therapy.

Sign mine! Gorka rocked a standout mustard hat as he stopped to sign autographs

Stylish: Alexandra rocked a chic ensemble as she headed home after rehearsals

It's almost time! Susan Calman rocked a multicoloured puff jacket as she left practice

Superstar: Susan also stopped to sign autographs for fans

Indulgent? Pro Diane Buswell seemed to enjoy a spot of retail therapy ahead of rehearsals

Later in the evening, judge Bruno Tonioli was spotted arriving in Blackpool after spending the week in Los Angeles to film Dancing with the Stars.

The 61-year-old dance mogul was seen puffing on a cigarette as he arrived at the seaside after a long flight, just hours before Saturday's live show.

Bruno has split his time between the two shows throughout Strictly's run, though conflicting schedules caused the star to miss his first show in 15 years in October.

The outlandish Italian screen star was all bundled up as he arrived back in blighty, clearly feeling the chill after being in sunny California.

Smoke break: Judge Bruno Tonioli was also spotted toucning down in Blackpool after spending the week in LA to film Dancing with the Stars

Just in time: The 61-year-old dance mogul puffed on a cigarette as he arrived at the seaside, just hours before Saturday's live show

Low profile: Bruno tried to go unnoticed as he arrived in Blackpool

Casual: Bruno rocked a relaxed ensemble as he touched back down in blighty

Good to go? Bruno appeared to give the thumbs up to someone

Punctual: Bruno juggles hosting two dancing shows on different sides of the Atlantic, and missed his first show due to conflicting schedules in October

Done? Bruno will join fellow judges Craig Revel-Horwood, Darcy Bussell and Shirley Ballas

Fresh-faced pro Oti Mabuse flashed her stunning smile to the cameras as she finished her practice with partner Jonnie Peacock.

The pair will be hoping to really stun the panel and the viewers this weekend after surviving the dance-off on Sunday.

Still rocking her stylish black pea coat was host Claudia Winkleman, after being seen arriving at rehearsals earlier in the day.

She will join co-host Tess Daly to lead proceedings on Saturday, with another couple sadly being eliminated in Sunday's results show.

Strictly Come Dancing: The Blackpool Special airs Saturday 18 November at 6:45pm on BBC One.

Stunning: Fresh-faced Oti Mabuse was spotted leaving training with partner Jonnie Peacock

Keep smiling: Favourite Debbie McGee jumped into her taxi with a beaming grin on Friday

Stand-in: Gethin Jones was also spotted leaving the Tower Ballroom after filling in for Zoe Ball on It Takes Two

Still cosy: Claudia Winkleman still rocked her black pea coat after arriving in the same ensemble earlier in the day
He was recently caught with cocaine as he attempted to enter America.

But Charlie Heaton seemed to be moving on from the scandal as he greeted fans at a train station in Madrid on Friday.

The Stranger Things star, 23, seemed in great spirits on the outing as he happily posed with the horde for selfies.

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Mobbed: He was recently caught with cocaine as he attempted to enter America. But Charlie Heaton seemed to be moving on from the scandal as he greeted fans in Madrid on Friday

Charlie - who dates his Stranger Things co-star Natalia Dyer - looked dapper in grey tweed trousers and a tailored black coat on the outing.

Charlie has seen some troubles recently, which involved his situation at the airport last month, where cocaine was detected on him.

The refusal to enter the States caused Charlie to miss the eagerly-anticipated premiere for the second season of Netflix 's breakout hit Stranger Things.

With series three of the show being confirmed, it is unclear whether Charlie will be allowed to return to the States for future filming endeavours.

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Charlie for further comment.

Suave: Charlie - who dates his Stranger Things co-star Natalia Dyer - looked dapper in grey tweed trousers and a tailored black coat on the outing

In a carefully worded statement, Heaton said he was working to 'rectify' the situation, which is said to have occurred after sniffer dogs detected the cocaine on his person.

'My planned travel to the U.S. last week was affected by an issue at U.S. immigration, and I am working to rectify it as soon as possible,' the 23-year-old told People magazine.

'I do want to clarify that I was not arrested or charged with a crime, and cooperated fully with the U.S. officials at LAX.'

Following the drug's detection, Charlie was questioned before being sent back to England on a return flight, and was unable to attend the premiere for the second season of Stranger Things.

On-screen partners: Charlie dates his Stranger Things co-star Natalia Dyer

Heaton's mother and sister previously said a small amount of cocaine found its way on to his wallet at a party two weeks earlier, or at a bar or at a shop without his knowledge.

Family of the actor, who plays Jonathan Byers in the Netflix supernatural drama series, say he has never done drugs in the past and was not under the influence at the time he was stopped at LA airport.

Heaton has since undergone tests, including a hair and urine sample, which have come back all clear, according to his family.

They are now hoping the 'misunderstanding' blows over 'sooner rather than later' to allow the British star and continue filming for Stranger Things.

But they have criticised how Charlie was treated by US officials, claiming he was interrogated for three hours and wasn't allowed to call anyone or ask for a lawyer.
She set tongues wagging when she was spotted kissing Ewan McGregor during a dinner date last month - before he announced his split from wife Eve Mavrakis.

But Mary Elizabeth Winstead appeared relaxed and content as she partook in the decidedly un-glamorous task of taking the bins out in Los Angeles on Friday.

The actress, 32, put on a chic display as she stepped into the sunshine, clad in a white, blue and maroon coloured jumper worn underneath a navy bomber jacket while her Hollywood beau was seen out on his motorcycle.

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Leggy: Mary Elizabeth Winstead appeared relaxed and content as she partook in the decidedly un-glamorous task of taking the bins out in Los Angeles on Friday

On his bike! Her beau Ewan McGregor was spotted taking his motorcycle out for a spin in Los Angeles

Highlighting her slender, endless legs, the star donned black skinny jeans, adding a pop of colour with jade and black ankle boots.

Her chestnut bob was styled in loose, tousled waves and she appeared to go make-up free for the occasion.

She covered her sparkling eyes with dark shades and carried two bags, one powder blue and the other maroon.

The sighting came shortly after Ewan was pictured enjoying a ride on his motorcycle around the City of Angels and after he was seen moving his belongings into his new Los Angeles bachelor pad, following his separation from his long-time wife.

Moving: Her outing came just days after her beau Ewan McGregor was spotted moving possessions out of the family home, following his separation from wife Eve Mavrakis

Chic: The actress, 32, put on a chic display as she stepped into the sunshine, clad in a white, blue and maroon coloured jumper worn underneath a navy bomber jacket

Laidback: Highlighting her slender, endless legs, the star donned black skinny jeans, adding a pop of colour with jade and black ankle boots

New couple: Ewan and Mary Elizabeth met on the set of TV series Fargo and have been spotted packing on the PDA in recent weeks

Ewan appeared to be saving his most prized possessions until last, as the actor was pictured removing his expensive artworks from the LA home he shared with his ex and their four children.

The 46-year-old star required the assistance of his retro Volkswagen Camper Van as he loaded the vehicle with a series of large paintings.

Ewan's emergence at the family home came the same day as it was reported Eve had finally spoken out about their split, which is believed to have happened in May.

Eve, 51, responded to a savage comment about her estranged husband's new girlfriend, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who stars alongside the actor in TV series Fargo.

Furious: A friend of the Eve penned a brutal comment about Mary Elizabeth under an Instagram photo, leading Eve to address the split for the first time

Former couple: Ewan and Eve married in 1995 and share four daughters together

Clearly angered by their recent separation, a friend of the French beauty penned underneath: 'I cant believe Ewan would end things with u for that cheap w**re! U are so much better than him!!!! Take him for every penny u can!!!!'

To which a distraught Eve, simply replied: 'What can I do?'

Ewan had commented on another photo posted by Eve in May 2016 from his verified Instagram account, proving her page to be genuine.

Before moving his paintings on Thursday, the Scottish star was pictured moving into a new bachelor pad marking a fresh start for the actor, who has been spending most of his time at his London property.

Ewan has been spotted with Mary Elizabeth on multiple occasions in the British capital.

Solo: Before moving his paintings on Thursday, the Scottish star was pictured moving into a new bachelor pad marking a fresh start for the actor, who has been spending most of his time at his London property

Their romance came as a shock to fans - as pictures of the pair kissing on a dinner date surfaced before the actor had announced his split from his wife.

In the wake of the images, it was revealed that Ewan and Eve had split in May - the same month Mary Elizabeth announced her separation from her husband Riley Stearns.

However, Eve had shared a photo of the Moulin Rouge star on Instagram in June, captioned: 'My love plays the blues in Montreal'.
She was in London for a few days for work - without boyfriend Scott Disick, 34.

And on Friday, Sofia Richie was spotted arriving to Los Angeles airport after her long flight back to the states.

The 19-year-old star flashed her toned abs in a black crop top with white track bottoms while heading out of LAX.

Effortless: Sofia Richie was spotted arriving to Los Angeles airport after her long flight back to the states on Friday

The teenager paired the neutral top and baggy bottoms with olive sneakers; she carried her jacket in her hand, adding a designer backpack.

Sofia styled her short platinum dyed tresses loose with a deep side part, opting for a slight wave.

The five-foot-six-inch model wore edgy sunglasses, adding just a touch of makeup.

While in London, her boyfriend Scott was filming scenes for Keeping Up With Kardashians in the LA area with Kris Jenner's boyfriend, Corey Gamble.

Abs for days: The 19-year-old star flashed her toned abs in a black crop top with white track bottoms while heading out of LAX

Putting her best foot forward: The teenager paired the neutral top and baggy bottoms with olive sneakers; she carried her jacket in her hand, adding a designer backpack

Scott has three children with his ex partner Kourtney Kardashian.

The father of three is reportedly 'in love with' Sofia, who is the daughter of Lionel Richie, according to US Weekly.

According to the magazine's insider, the duo 'are still going strong,' and Sofia seems to share the same sentiment for Scott, with the source claiming she is 'so into him' and 'has been for a while.'

Cool girl: The five foot six inch model wore edgy sunglasses, adding just a touch of makeup

Heading home: While in London, her boyfriend Scott was filming scenes for Keeping Up With Kardashians in the LA area with Kris Jenner's boyfriend, Corey Gamble

Last week, Sofia spoke to E! News about her dad Lionel's thoughts on her relationship: 'He's good. He's been very nice. He's been very cool. He's very supportive, whatever that means.'

Her comments comes one month after Lionel told US Weekly that he's in 'shock' about the relationship.

In the swing of things: Later on in the night Sofia was spotted leaving Nobu in Los Angeles with Scott Disick

Chill: The two rocked their best casual looks

Loved up: They shared a laugh together while leaving the eatery

He said to the magazine: 'I'm the dad, come on. I'm scared to death, are you kidding me?'

Scott and Sofia made their relationship public in September while enjoying a holiday in Miami, Florida.

Earlier this month, they were seen relaxing in Los Cabos, Mexico; just weeks earlier they had a romantic trip together to Venice and Milan, Italy.

They also spent time in Puerto Vallarta for a couples getaway in early October.

Scott and Sofia made their relationship public in September while enjoying a holiday in Miami, Florida.
They are the two best friends who're known for flaunting her enviable physiques in racy swimwear on social media.

And like clockwork, Tash Oakley and Devin Brugman left little to the imagination once again this Saturday.

Taking to Instagram, Devin was seen flaunting her pert derriere in a G-string bikini whilst taking a photo of her naked best friend.

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Best friend duties: On Saturday, Tash Oakley and Devin Brugman were seen posing close to naked in their latest racy photo shoot

'Instagram wife,' captioned Devin tagging in Tash.

While Tash retained her modesty by draping a white towel around herself, Devin showcased her peachy posterior.

And it wasn't the first time the star put her toned behind on display.

Beach babe: Taken in Bali where the friends are enjoying a luxurious vacation, Devin opted to keep her face out of the photo to ensure her derriere was the focal point

Very close: Tash and Devin launched their swimwear empire in 2012 and have previously admitted to sharing a bed in the early days

Taking to the social media on Friday, Devin posted a side-on shot.

'Beach bum,' she captioned tagging her Bikini A Day account.

Taken in Bali where the friends are enjoying a luxurious vacation, Devin opted to keep her face out of the photo to ensure her derriere was the focal point.

Business only: Recently speaking to Collective Hub magazine, they revealed their business model has nothing to do with 'selling sex', adding 'the majority of (their) audience is female'

Tash and Devin launched their swimwear empire in 2012 and have previously admitted to sharing a bed in the early days.

Recently speaking to Collective Hub magazine, they revealed their business model has nothing to do with 'selling sex', adding 'the majority of (their) audience is female'.

Sydney-born entrepreneur Tash said: 'They look to us because we are both relatable and aspirational. We're happy, healthy girls who try to make the most out of life.'

'Swimwear naturally has a strong presence on our accounts, however the focus is definitely on the lifestyle,' she concluded.
Tyrese was granted 50/50 joint custody of his daughter Shayla by a Los Angeles court on Friday, with the judge nixing his ex-wife Norma Gibson's attempt at receiving a permanent restraining order against him.

The Los Angeles native, 38, will be able to see his daughter over the holiday season, TMZ reported, prior to Friday's custody arrangement becoming official in January.

The Fast & Furious actor took to Instagram Friday with a message to celebrate the judge's ruling amid the latest chapter in the contentious custody battle.

The dispute included a probe from the Los Angeles County of Department of Children and Family Services after Norma claimed he beat their daughter at least a dozen times. He said he only spanked the child once.

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Holding firm: Tyrese, 38, was granted 50/50 joint custody of his daughter Shayla by a Los Angeles court on Friday, with the judge nixing his ex-wife Norma Gibson's attempt at receiving a permanent restraining order against him

'Today is the first day of my life,' he wrote, adding that he was 100 percent 'exonerated of claims and accusations that [have] followed [him] for the last 10 years.'

He took a jab at his ex-wife, asking, '[Norma] ask yourself since you hate SO much why are you still holding onto my last name?

'Youre NOT a Gibson your name is NORMA MITCHELL,' he wrote, adding that the only people who have rightful claim to the last name are him, Shayla and his 'real wife Samantha Lee Gibson.'

Tyrese said he was looking to the future feeling 'better, stronger and blessed,' adding that 'this was a rough season, but these seasons dont last forever.

'At the end of every storm comes a rainbow you just have to look UP for your blessings and go get it!!!!!!'

Reunion: The father and daughter, pictured in 2015 in LA, will spend time with one another this holiday season per a court arrangement, according to TMZ

Next up: The actor, pictured with Shayla in 2015, said he's saved up material for a project set to 'be bigger than Avatar,' focusing on his experience in the family court system

The Baby Boy actor said he was prepared to focus his efforts on using his custody battle as a test case to improve conditions for fathers mired in the family court system.

He wrote: '[Michael] Moore, Netflix, Tim [Cook] of Apple........ I got over 400 hours of logged and captured footage,' vowing that his project 'will be bigger than Avatar cause "Fathers" and the lack of support in the courts is a universal issue.'

The actor, also a regular in the Transformers film series, has been vocal on social media throughout his tough times, raising eyebrows with instances such as a teary clip in which he bemoaned his family problems. He later blamed the emotional outburst on an adverse reaction to a depression drug he began taking.

Swagger: The entertainer was snapped in a tuxedo at the BET Awards this past June
He's one of Strictly Come Dancing's original pros, having appeared on the BBC dance series since its debut in 2004.

But Brendan Cole has sent fans into a panic over the possibility of him leaving the show, after he reflected on his time on the show in an emotional look-back video.

The 41-year-old New Zealand dancer said that his time on the show was 'euphoric' as he recalled some of his favourite partners from the 15 series he had been involved in.

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Farewell? Strictly Come Dancing pro Brendan Cole appeared to hint at an exit on Friday in a Strictly CV segment on It Takes

During a Strictly CV segment on the series, Brendan got nostalgic as he talked about his former partners, including his first ever celebrity pair-up with Natasha Kaplinsky.

Not only did Natasha and Brendan perform the first every dance on Strictly, they went on to win the glitterball trophy.

Also discussing partners Victoria Pendleton and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Brendan appeared to hint that his Strictly stint may be coming to an end.

He said: '15 series of Strictly Come Dancing, it's been euphoric, it's been tough, it is my life and I'm very, very proud to have been a part of every single second of it.'

Dancing partner: Brendan was most recently partnered with Charlotte Hawkins

Big debut: Brendan reflected on his first series on the show with newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky, who delivered the shows first ever performance in 2004

Amazing: Brendan went on to win the glitterball trophy with Natasha

Champions! Brendan's win on the series made him one of the series' two original pros that are still in the show

Fans took to Twitter in panic over the segment, saying that it felt like a 'goodbye video', after Brendan had previously hinted he may not return next series.

One fan wrote: 'Brendan still talking as if this is his last series?'

Another added: 'Sounds like a goodbye speech, Brendan!'

A third emotionally tweeted: 'That sounded like a goodbye to me. We want another 15 years!'

Wasn't to be: Brendan reflected on his time on the show with the model Kelly Brook, which was cut short when Kelly pulled out due to the death of her father

Challenge: Partnered with Olympic medallist Victoria Pendleton in 2012, Brendan revealed that he learned a lot about being a coach and a friend during that series

Electric: Brendan said that he loved his series with Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Calm down! Brendan's video sent fans into a panic at the possibility of him leaving

Brendan has hinted on more than one occasion of a possible exit after this series, particularly after his elimination with partner Charlotte Hawkins.

He wrote in a Best magazine column: 'It was quite amusing that people took my comments when Charlotte and I were voted off as some kind of 'swansong'.

'I was obviously very emotional that night, but all I said was 'I've had one of the best years on this show in 15 years!

'And it's true. As for quitting Strictly next year or not, that's my decision - one which I will come to when I'm ready.

'I didn't allude to anything, or say anything one way or another,'
On Friday, she unfortunately suffered her first flat tyre.

But later in the evening, Kiralee 'Kiki' Morris managed to inflate the desires of her many admirers as she stripped down to her lingerie.

The busty Bachelor star left little to imagination as she posed as a raunchy Playboy bunny in a sexy snap of which the late Hugh Hefner would no doubt approve.

Busty bunny! On Friday night, The Bachelor's Kiralee 'Kiki' Morris left little to imagination as she posed as a raunchy Playboy bunny in a sexy snap

Kiki took to Instagram to treat admirers to an image of herself in the lingerie bodysuit, which was cut low to reveal her eye-popping cleavage.

The garment featured a sheer midsection, giving a glimpse of the reality star's taut torso.

She teamed the racy black bodysuit with a pair of thigh high stockings and a cheeky pair of rabbit's ears as she pouted for the camera.

Resilient: Making the most of a bad situation, Kiki took a sultry selfie after suffering a flat tyre on her car

It seemed resilient Kiki made a remarkable recovery after suffering flat tyre on her car just hours earlier.

'So I got a flat tyre today, my first ever and it was in the rain what a mother f*****!,' the star revealed in a separate social media post made earlier in the day.

'Based on my headwear I clearly should have stuck to driving trains,' she noted, drawing attention to the black conductor hat she was wearing.

Popular: She's the Bachelor star who has amassed a strong following on social media

The glamour model pouted her full lips and showed her frustration as she looked away from the camera for the shot.

The brunette stunner competed for Richie Strahan's heart on The Bachelor last year, ultimately losing out to Alex Nation.

She has since carved out a successful social media career, frequently promoting various fashion and cosmetic brands.
She rose to reality fame as the 'villain' vying for love on Richie Strahan's season of The Bachelor last year.

And, ready for her second shot at romance, Keira Maguire has been spotted on her way to Fiji to appear on Bachelor In Paradise.

Sporting a pair of remarkably plump lips, the the 31-year-old cosmetic surgery enthusiast was seen dragging three suitcases behind her as she waited for her flight last Wednesday.

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Ready for romance! Ready for her second shot at romance, Keira Maguire was spotted on her way to Fiji to appear on Bachelor In Paradise this Wednesday

The controversial socialite kept a low profile in a black over-sized T-shirt and matching leggings as she queued for her boarding pass.

Keira also obscured her facade from onlookers with a blue New York Yankees cap.

Keira appeared to go without makeup for the low-key outing, while sweeping her peroxide-blonde locks into a low ponytail.

These lips were made for kissing! Sporting a pair of remarkably plump lips, the the 31-year-old cosmetic surgery enthusiast was seen dragging three suitcases

Anything to declare? The controversial socialite kept a low profile in a black over-sized T-shirt and matching leggings as she queued for her boarding pass

Headwear: Keira donned a blue New York Yankees cap in the indoor terminal

Keira has made no secret of her penchant for lip fillers in the past.

Taking to Instagram earlier in the month, Keira revealed she had touched up her lip fillers ahead of the show.

'I finally after 2 years got a top up in my lips & couldn't be HAPPIER,' captioned Kiera in a sultry selfie.

Prepared for anything: Although she is slated to be filming the show over a few weeks, Keira decided to bring three huge suitcases with her

Set to lock some lips? Taking to Instagram earlier in the month, the trouble-maker revealed she had touched up her lip fillers

Going to cause havac: Speaking at Ten's Upfronts earlier in the month, comedian Julia Morris said the blonde bombshell was set to bring the drama

And ensuring she's in tip-top filming condition, the star also confirmed she had got her hair done and had had some fractional lazer ahead to the show.

Speaking at Ten's Upfronts earlier in the month, comedian Julia Morris said the blonde bombshell was set to bring the drama.

'Let me tell you, there's gonna be a bit of Keira action,' she said excitedly.

Other confirmed starlets include fan favourite Tara Pavlovic, Davey Lloyd, Michael Turnbull, Apollo Jackson and Laurina Fleure.

The series which is set to also star Sam Cochrane, Blake Colman, Florence Alexandra Sophia and Elora Murger will air on Ten early next year.

Bringing the drama: 'Let me tell you, there's gonna be a bit of Keira action'
Has Dame Vivienne Westwood decided the label of tax avoider is not a good look?

I can reveal the free-spirited fashion designer, 76, has ended a controversial financial arrangement that saw her branded a hypocrite for allegedly not paying her share of taxes. Dame Viviennes main UK business previously paid up to 2 million a year to an offshore company based in Luxembourg, for the right to use her name on her own label.

The arrangement was similar to one used by coffee chain Starbucks, and critics calculated it could have cheated the Treasury out of around 500,000 a year.

This has to be tax avoidance, fumed a tax expert when the scandal emerged in 2015. Why else would you make these payments to a company in Luxembourg?

Now the designer credited with creating punk has decided to cut her cloth in more conventional fashion.

Has Dame Vivienne Westwood decided the label of tax avoider is not a good look?

According to documents published this week, Dame Viviennes international fashion empire transferred the rights to her trademarks back from her Luxembourg-based parent company to the UK business at the start of the year.

The 2016 accounts for her UK business say: The economic ownership of Vivienne Westwoods trademarks will be transferred from 1 January 2017 from the parent company Latimo SA to Vivienne Westwood Limited.

Perhaps the move will rebuild bridges with the Green Party.

Dame Vivienne was accused of tax avoidance just two months later, hard on the heels of the Greens pledge to crack down heavily on tax havens and tax avoidance

Dame Vivienne donated 300,000 to the party in the run-up to the 2015 election. But she was accused of tax avoidance just two months later, hard on the heels of the Greens pledge to crack down heavily on tax havens and tax avoidance. It makes the Green Party hypocrites for taking her money and Westwood a hypocrite for backing a party with policies she does not appear to endorse, said a critic.

A spokesman for Dame Vivienne declined to comment on the decision to close her controversial licence fees arrangement in Luxembourg, which was put in place in 2002.

The UK company paid 1.8 million to Latimo for licence fees in 2016, following 1.4million in 2015, 1.6million in 2014 and 2.0million in 2013.

The designer has previously denied tax avoidance at her firm, saying it pays all the required taxes.

Novelist Sebastian Faulks has been recalling his student days  or those he can remember, anyway. In Cambridge Universitys alumni magazine Cam he recounts a relaxed approach to academia. Rising at lunchtime, he would spend the early afternoon at the cinema, followed by tea. After some light work he would drink red or white Martini. For solids he ate pork pies from the smoke-filled college bar, which served Double Diamond. Yet now he is a fine, upstanding member of the Establishment. There is hope for Nigel Farage yet.

Now Mary Berry flogs her 20k dining table

After declaring the death of the dining room, Mary Berry has decided her furniture is past its sell-by date, too.

The former Bake Off judge has put her antique dining table and chairs up for auction at Sothebys, as part of a decluttering drive as she and husband Paul Hunnings downsize to a smaller home.

The former Bake Off judge has put her antique dining table and chairs up for auction at Sothebys

The multimillionaire presenter, 82, could receive a 20,000 windfall from selling her elegant oval table and eight matching chairs. Theres no point in being sentimental, she says.

Last month, Berry shocked traditionalists by announcing she is ditching her dining room because she only uses it at Christmas.

Shes moving from a 4 million home in Penn, Buckinghamshire, to a 2.6 million house in Henley, Oxfordshire, and plans to install a fabulous new kitchen.

Most of us live in the kitchen, she adds.
That's no way for a lady to behave! After enjoying a very late night out in London this week, Princess Dianas high-spirited niece, Lady Kitty Spencer, looked worse for wear as she walked out of Mayfair private members club, Loulous, at 3am.

It was a rare departure from her usual polished self, left, as the 26-year-old charity ambassador tried to hide her face and ensured she was covered up as she wrapped her stylish beige coat about her.

Having separated from her long-term boyfriend, property tycoon Niccolo Barattieri, 45, earlier this year, at least she isnt lacking male company. Kitty was supported by a mystery man who placed his arm on her back and carried her handbag.

Princess Dianas high-spirited niece, Lady Kitty Spencer, looked worse for wear as she walked out of Mayfair private members club, Loulous, at 3am

The 26-year-old charity ambassador tried to hide her face and ensured she was covered up

Kirstie's TOOTH blown out by toy gun

Bubbly tv presenter Kirstie Allsopp is feeling a bit down in the mouth after her nine-year-old son accidentally shot her in the face with a toy gun  and knocked one of her teeth out.

It was such a shock and incredibly painful, she tells me. Ive been so busy Ive only just been able to get to the dentist today so unfortunately I wont have the new one until December 5.

Kirstie Allsopp is feeling a bit down in the mouth after her nine-year-old son accidentally shot her in the face with a toy gun

Mother-of-two Kirstie, 46, had a two-hour dental appointment to repair the damage.

I had two horrible powerful jabs today in both sides of my face and it is still frozen.

Im worried people might think Ive had Botox! The truth is Oscar shot me.

Oscar, Kirsties younger son with her long-term partner Ben Andersen, was playing with a childrens plastic Nerf blaster toy which fires foam bullets when the accident happened.

Eye hospital Moorfields recently issued public warnings about the Nerf guns being dangerous and said they could cause irreversible eye damage.What was left was half a tooth  its been very irritating, says Kirstie.

Oh my God it hurts now! But I dont think anybody has noticed because its not at the front.

Phil Collins' girl recalls another day in paradise

Phil Collins film star daughter Lily has spoken openly of her difficult childhood, claiming her fathers divorce from her mother Jill Tavelman at the age of five left her emotionally scarred.

Phil Collins' daughter says her fathers divorce from her mother Jill Tavelman at the age of five left her emotionally scarred

Happily, the 28-year-old brunette is keen to prove that not all her memories are bad ones.

Sharing this photo of herself as a child on social media, in which she is believed to be around seven years old, she captions it: Sunny Southern California kid. No place like home where you can be sipping a smoothie poolside all year long!

The Mirror Mirror star moved to California with her mother following the divorce. Earlier this year she publicly forgave her father for abandoning her in her youth.

Earlier this year she publicly forgave her father, singer Phil Collins, for abandoning her in her youth

Billionaire Bernie Ecclestones daughter Petra wont be lonely this Christmas, following her acrimonious divorce from James Stunt last month. The 28-year-old, who has three children with Stunt, will be taken in by her older sister Tamara for the festivities. Im going to be with my sister and my husband and the kids. Im excited that were all going to be together, Tamara, 33, tells me at the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland launch night. Petras been through a hard time so its important we stick together. Just dont ask Tamara to get her hands dirty at her 70 million Kensington home. My cooking expertise doesnt really stretch to a Christmas meal, she adds.
Stephanie Shepherd has been Kim Kardashian's assistant since 2013.

And according to US Weekly, the duo 'are no longer working together.'

The magazine's insider noted that 'there's no bad blood' between Kim and Stephanie, simply that 'they just agreed their working relationship was no longer working.'

US Weekly reports that Kim Kardashian and her assistant Stephanie Shepherd are 'no longer working together;' pictured in June at the KKW Beauty launch in LA

This year Kim promoted Stephanie from executive assistant to COO of Kim Kardashians Brands.

US Weekly reports that they went their separate ways just a few weeks ago.

Their source said that while they don't work together professional, she attended Kim's birthday dinner in October and Kendall's 22nd birthday party this month.

She however wasn't seen at Kim's baby shower, which took place last week.

US Weekly claims that 'it's been a downward spiral' since May, after Stephanie was interviewed by Refinery29 about her job and working for Kim; she also divulged about the Paris robbery.

Pals: This year Kim promoted Stephanie from executive assistant to COO of the Kim Kardashians Brands; Stephanie in the front with Kim and Kourtney in the back while in Cuba

Uh oh: The magazines's insiders noted that there's no bad blood between Kim (c) and Stephanie (r), simply that 'they just agreed their working relationship was no longer working'

While it's not the only thing that caused the split, 'other stuff happened on top of that left a bad taste in Kim's mouth,' US Weekly reported.

During an October episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Kourtney spoke to Kim about Stephanie after the assistant revealed she felt unfulfilled with her career.

Kourtney told Kim she wanted to give her a heads up about the situation: 'She feels, like, maybe shes in a place in life where shes unfulfilled, job-wise.'

Kourtney and Stephanie are often seen going out, exercising or just spending time together; they call each other 'wifey' on social media.

Still close: Their source said that while they don't work together professional, she attended Kim's birthday dinner in October and Kendall's 22nd birthday party this month; (from l to r) Jen Atkin, Stephanie, Kendall and a friend

Blast from the past: Stephanie Shepherd has been Kim Kardashian's assistant since 2013; Kim and Stephanie pictured together

Happier times: While it's not the only thing that caused the split, 'other stuff happened on top of that left a bad taste in Kim's mouth'

Kim didn't take to kindly to that, and told Kourtney she thought it was 'inappropriate' Stephanie said that.

The KKW Fragrance founder said during the KUWTK episode: 'I do think its, like, inappropriate for her to talk to you and not to me.'

She added: 'I mean, dont you think thats just, like, a little bit unprofessional? Thats like a convo she should have with me.'

She also questioned her relationship with Stephanie.

Kim asked Kourtney: 'Do you find it weird that youre like "wifey" with my assistant?'

Pals: Kourtney and Stephanie are often seen going out, exercising or just spending time together; they call each other 'wifey' on social media

Drama: During an October episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Kourtney spoke to Kim about Stephanie - who revealed she felt unfulfilled with her career

Candid: Kourtney told Kim she wanted to give her a heads up on the situation: 'She feels, like, maybe shes in a place in life where shes unfulfilled, job-wise'
She's the New Zealand supermodel gearing up to walk in next week's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

And on Saturday, Georgia Fowler took to social media to document her final workout before fittings and rehearsals.

Flaunting her incredibly toned physique, the 25-year-old was joined by fellow stunner Bella Hadid, 21, in the black-and-white image.

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They're ready! On Saturday, Georgia Fowler took to Instagram to share her final workout with Bella Hadid ahead of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

'Flexing straight off the plane,' captioned Georgia the sassy shot.

The girls both sported matching two-toned crop tops and teamed them with full length leggings.

Flaunting her bulging biceps, Georgia was seen holding onto a kettlebell while Bella threw her hands up in the air with two dumbbells.

Stunners: The girls both sported matching black and white crop tops and teamed them with full length leggings

And according to the stunner's Instagram Stories, it wasn't all work and no play.

While they enjoyed their workout with trainer Joe Holder, the pair were also treated to karaoke session, as shown in one post.

After holding her posterior raise where she channeled her inner Beyonce, Georgia was next seen completing a set of ball slams while Bella cheered her on.

Having fun while they trained: According to the Georgia's Instagram Stories, it wasn't all work and no play

Loving their session: Enjoying their workout with trainer Joe Holder, there was karaoke sessions during butt lifts and endless amounts of laughter

Last minute workout: In their final stages of training, the annual internationally acclaimed show is scheduled to take place in Shanghai on Monday 20th November but will air on CBS Tuesday 28th

In another clip, the New Zealand native was trying to run with a green resistance band strapped around her mid-section whilst the younger Hadid sister tried to hold her back.

In their final stages of training, the annual internationally acclaimed show is scheduled to take place in Shanghai on Monday 20th November but will air on CBS Tuesday 28th.

Making things uncomfortable, Georgia's ex-boyfriend Harry Styles is rumoured to be one of this year's special guests.
She's the successful Australian rap artist known for her tiny waist and large posterior.

And on Friday, Iggy Azalea was at it again, shaking her booty and wowing crowds at the Best Buddies Miami Gala.

Taking to the stage, the 27-year-old flaunted her recognisable physique in a monochrome figure-hugging ensemble with daisy duke shorts.

Giving the fans what they came for! On Friday, Iggy Azalea (pictured) was at it again, shaking her booty and wowing crowds at the Best Buddies Miami Gala

Iggy donned a white long-sleeve turtle neck top for the show.

She paired her top with button-up shorts that saw her butt cheeks hang out.

Retaining her modesty, she paired the bold look with fishnet stockings.

Booty-ful! The rapper showed off her pert posterior in cheeky button-up shorts

Flaunting her assets: Taking to the stage, the 27-year-old flaunted her recognisable physique in a monochrome figure-hugging ensemble with daisy duke shorts

Chic: Keeping her outfit consistent, she paired the look with thigh-high boots of the same material as her shorts

Keeping her outfit consistent, she paired the look with thigh-high boots of the same material as her shorts.

Iggy kept her signature blonde locks out for the Gala while she belted out the hits.

Crimping her hair, the Fancy songstress sported a centre part as her strands effortlessly draped over her shoulders.

Star! Iggy kept her signature blonde locks out for the Gala while she belted out the hits

Glam: The star was seen with a fresh and bronze complexion for the gig

Letting her skimpy ensemble take centre stage, Iggy sported a minimal glam.

The star was seen with a fresh and bronze complexion for the gig.

Adding a soft smokey eye and a pink lip, she drew attention to her deep-set brown eyes.

Made her name: She's the successful Australian rap artist known for her tiny waist and large posterior

Tell-all: After much speculation surrounding her sizable asset, Iggy put the surgical enhancement rumours to rest in July

After much speculation surrounding her sizable asset Iggy put the surgical enhancement rumours to rest in July.

Talking to Brisbane's Stav, Abby & Matt with Osher on Hit105, the star said her peachy posterior was natural.

'No, I don't have bum implants! They aren't my real boobs, but it is my real bum,' she said.
Daddy's Home, starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, was so well received by audiences the first time around in 2015 that a sequel was ordered.

And with the imminent release of Daddy's Home 2, their co-star John Lithgow, 72, has spilled on how his father-son kiss with the former Saturday Night Live comedian went down

'We just sort of mashed our faces together like medicine balls,' John jokingly explained in an interview with The Fix on Saturday.

'We just sort of mashed our faces together like medicine balls': John Lithgow, 72, has spilled on how his father-son kiss with the Will Ferrell went down

John was quick to admit that his co-star's lip-locking skills didn't impress him, describing Will as 'not particularly' a good kisser.

In the film, the Third Rock From The Sun actor plays Don Whitaker, the father of Will's character Brad, who has a very close bond with his adult son.

When asked if their scene was improvised, he explained it was scripted.

The Emmy Award winning revealed it was scripted, 'We knew perfectly well this was a gangbusters comedy moment, and we just went for it without the slightest self-consciousness,' John added

'Even reading it in the script I thought, "Wow, this is going to define this whole movie,"' John said.

The Emmy Award-winning actor praised Will for the effort he put into going all out for the movie.

'We knew perfectly well this was a gangbusters comedy moment, and we just went for it without the slightest self-consciousness,' he added.

Star-studded cast: The sequel stars Mel Gibson, Mark Wahlberg, Will Ferrell and John Lithgow

Veteran actors: Tensions arise when Mel Gibson and John Lithgow's characters arrive to spend Christmas with their blended family

The sequel continues the relationship between Brad (Will Ferrell) and Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) who first came to blows after Brad began dating Dusty's ex-partner and mother of his children.

Tensions arise when the men's respective dads played by Mel Gibson and John Lithow arrive to spend Christmas with the blended family

Daddy's Home 2 will opening in cinemas Australia wide on November 23.
Additional Bachelor In Paradise cast members have seemingly been caught red-handed at the airport.

Alongside previously confirmed stars including Keira Maguire and Sam Cochrane, several previously unknown contestants were spotted en-route to Fiji.

Based on sightings and insider information, that brings the current list of all-but-confirmed names to 17: 10 men and seven women.

Confirmed! An almost unrecognisable Blake Colman (R) and Eden Scwencke (L) were among the huge cast of Bachelor In Paradise stars spotted flying to Fiji this month

Then there were 17! Based on sightings and insider information, that brings the current list of all-but-confirmed names to 17: 10 men and seven women

Perhaps most shocking was the appearance of a beardless, slimmed-down Blake Colman, looking like a brand-new man as he approached his airport shuttle.

Staff and crew at Warner Brothers productions were also on-hand to direct the selection of fan favourites, 'villains' and rejects.

By day's end, Bachelorette 2017's Eden Schwencke, Luke McLeod, Mackane Reid, Sam Cochrane and Blake Colman had all been witnessed leaving the airport.

While there was still no sign of rumoured A-listers Sasha Mielczarek and Richie Strahan, fellow 2016 stars Davey Lloyd and Michael Turnbull were both spotted.

Changed man? Perhaps most shocking was the appearance of a beardless, slimmed-down Blake Colman, looking like a brand-new man as he approached his airport shuttle

All aboard! Sporting a pink tall tee and carrying two large luggage bags, Blake kept his eyes trained on the pavement as he headed towards a shuttle bus

Florence Alexandra Sophia was the lone representative from Matty J's 2017 Bachelor, while 2016 villain Keira Maguire rounded out the list.

Pictured following a Fiji airlines staffer to their destination was a beaming Eden, who casually strolled in front of an almost unrecognisable, clean-shaven Blake.

Sporting a pink tall tee and carrying two large luggage bags, Blake kept his eyes trained on the pavement as he headed towards a shuttle bus.

Checking in! Elsewhere, Luke McLeod (pictured) was seen hauling luggage into a hire cars

Look out Fiji! Bachelorette 2017 fan favourite Luke looked set for the long haul as he wrangled several pieces of luggage

Ahh Mackane, you've done it again! Even 2017 reject Mackane Reid (pictured) looks to have scored himself a second chance at love

Too cool for school! Cutting a relaxed figure in thick sunglasses, white t-shirt and skinny jeans, Michael exited the airport through sliding doors

Hungry for love? He snacked on a packet of chips as he walked

Elsewhere, Luke and Mackane were seen hauling luggage into their respective hire cars.

Cutting a relaxed figure in thick sunglasses, white t-shirt and skinny jeans, Michael snacked on a packet of chips as he exited the airport through sliding doors.

Is Blake Garvey hidden in that bag? Loveable prankster Davey Lloyd (pictured) was spotted with a huge luggage bag in tow

Last chance! Inside, Florence cashed in on one of her last opportunities to update her social media accounts

Inside, Florence cashed in on one of her last opportunities to update her social media accounts.

The blonde beauty was seen standing near her belongings, wearing a t-shirt that read: 'Gosh being a princess is exhausting.'

A total of 17 Bachelor In Paradise cast members have now been all-but-confirmed.
For her role as 'Poker Princess' Molly Bloom, she is often seen in revealing outfits.

But on Friday, Jessica Chastain, looked lovely in a classic, modest jumpsuit.

The stunning Sonoma, California native attended the MoMA's Contenders screening of her new film, Molly's Game, in New York City.

Chic: On Friday, Jessica Chastain, looked lovely in a classic, modest jumpsuit

The flame-haired beauty elongated her frame with a set of high heels.

Jessica accessorized minimally with a watch, her wedding ring and tiny hoop earrings.

The Zero Dark Thirty star wore her long locks to one side and in waves. For make-up, Jessica chose plum shadow, dark liner and pink lip.

Soft look: The Zero Dark Thirty star wore her long locks to one side and in waves

Making a statement: For make-up, Jessica chose plum shadow, dark liner and mauve pink lip

Talented group: Also attending the screening was writer and director (left) Aaron Sorkin, 56, and actors Brian d'Arcy James, 49, and Jeremy Strong, 38

Also attending the screening was writer Aaron Sorkin.

Aaron made his directorial debut with the based-on-a-true story drama, which tells the story of Molly Bloom, a woman who ran a high-stakes poker game for the rich and famous.

The 56-year-old Manhattan native looked sharp in a blue plaid jacket, khakis and suede shoes.

Big deal: Aaron made his directorial debut with the based-on-a-true story drama, which tells the story of Molly Bloom, a woman who ran a high-stakes poker game for the rich and famous

Keeping it light: During the Q&A, Jessica had a laugh during

Not burning bridges: Many of the characters in the film were based on real-life celebrities and very wealthy men. Their identities were kept hidden from the movie

In addition to star Jessica and the film's writer/director, Brian d'Arcy James, 49, and Jeremy Strong, 38, also came out.

As for Jeremy, he played Dean Keith, a financially-strapped producer who introduced Molly to the underground, high-stakes poker game.

Brian plays Bad Brad, a terrible poker player who was later busted for a ponzi scheme. His real identity, like many of the celebrities and wealthy businessmen in the film, were kept hidden from the movie.

Molly's Game hits theaters in limited release on Christmas Day, followed by wide release on January 5.
She became a household name after starring in a Carl's Jr ad that aired during the Super Bowl in 2015.

And over two years later, Charlotte McKinney turned heads once more, this time rocking a leather mini.

The 24-year-old model showed off her legs in the one-shoulder dress for the Best Buddies Miami Gala.

Fancy: Charlotte McKinney turned heads once more, this time rocking a leather mini

The blonde beauty put her toned legs on full display in the skintight frock, which had only one long sleeve.

Charlotte paired the look with classic black heels, opting for just a touch of makeup.

She rocked pointed earrings, which added a pop of sparkle.

The pretty blonde styled her long locks back into a low bun to finish off her look.

Stunning: The 24-year-old model showed off her legs in the one-shoulder dress for the Best Buddies Miami Gala

Wow factor: The blonde beauty put her tone legs on full display in the skintight frock, which had only one long sleeve

One day earlier, Charlotte was spotted heading to dinner in West Hollywood.

The golden haired cover girl flashed her flat midriff in a white crop for a meal at celebrity hot spot Craig's.

She sported a bold red leather jacket and matching pointed boots.

Chic: Charlotte paired the look with classic black heels, opting for just a touch of makeup

Having a blast: She rocked pointed earrings, which added a pop of sparkle; seen with fellow guests at the Best Buddies Gala

Giddy: The pretty blonde styled her long locks back into a low bun to finish off her look

Charlotte covered up her sculpted legs in black flared trousers, adding a matching clutch.

Earlier this year, the stunner put her curvy figure on display for a cameo in the summer film Baywatch.

One of the film's stars - Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson - shared a Instagram picture while posing with Charlotte, Izabel Goulart and Belinda Peregrin.

Looking good: One day earlier, Charlotte was spotted heading to dinner in West Hollywood

Gorgeous: The golden haired cover girl flashed her flat midriff in a white crop for a meal at celebrity hot spot Craig's; seen on Thursday
They are three of the most sought after lingerie models.

And Martha Hunt, Lily Aldridge, and Elsa Hosk proved their worth as they posed together in Shanghai on Friday.

The elite beauties showcased their enviable figures in tight denim and white tees as they prepare for the Victoria's Secret Fashion event on Monday.

Martha, 28, put her gorgeous legs on center stage as her denim leggings wrapped her body tightly. She left her trademark blonde tresses long and loose as they cascaded over her petite shoulders.

Lily, 32, was a showstopper in a black satin bomber jacket that covered her ample assets in an alluring way. One of the few brunette Victoria's Secret Angels, Lily dared to impress with her signature locks.

Elsa - who hails from Sweden - pulled up the rear as she rocked the denim look while using the fan as a sensual accent. The 29-year-old will also be wearing the Swarovski Crystal Anniversary bra which will feature 275,000 multicolored crystals.

Elsa will be following the footsteps of Josephine Skriver who wore the statement piece in 2016.

From above: Martha Hunt, 28, Lily Aldridge, 32, and Elsa Hosk , 29, proved their worth as they posed together in Shanghai on Friday

Model behavior: Martha put her gorgeous gams on center stage as her denim leggings wrapped her body tightly

Hair today: She left her trademark blonde tresses long and loose as they cascaded over her petite shoulders

Fan it out: Lily was a showstopper in a black satin bomber jacket that covered her ample assets in an alluring way

Brunette's have more fun: One of the few brunette Victoria's Secret Angels, Lily dared to impress with her signature locks

Surprise: Elsa - who hails from Sweden - pulled up the rear as she rocked the denim look while using the fan as a sensual accent

Post it: Martha took to social media to post glamorous shots

Stunning: A face that could launch a thousand ships

The Stockholm-born beauty told WWD: 'When I found out I was wearing the Swarovski look I was so excited as Ive always wanted to wear it. I cant wait to walk down the runway in it.'

Meanwhile, 22-year-old Gigi Hadid - who was slated to walk the runway with her sister Bella - took to Twitter on Thursday morning to say that she won't be traveling to China to do the show.

'Im so bummed I wont be able to make it to China this year,' she wrote. 'Love my VS family, and will be with all my girls in spirit!! Can't wait to tune in with everyone to see the beautiful show I know it will be, and already can't wait for next year!'

Gang's all here: The ladies united on stage ahead of the sexiest catwalk show on earth

Girls night out: Just having a blast, the group- were playing around in their matching outfits

Air kisses: Leading the way was Alessandra who looked stunning

In September, furious Chinese people warned the supermodel not to attend this year's show after Chinese web users left thousands of angry comments to boycott Gigi for her eye-slant joke. She had to issue an apology on a Chinese social media platform to make amends.

Gigi did not reveal why she pulled out of the show, although it was recently reported that some models were having trouble getting their Chinese visas approved.

Fashionista reported on Tuesday that four models, Julia Belyakova, Kate Grigorieva and Irina Sharipova from Russia and Dasha Khlystun from Ukraine, had allegedly been denied visas, according to Instagram fan accounts.

Addicted: Martha kept posting on her accounts

Secrets: Martha wowed as she placed a hand on her lips in the sizzling ensemble

Gripping: Her Instagram story was enthralling as she posed up a storm

Although there was no mention of Gigi having issues with her visa, Chinese fans have been demanding that she be denied entry into the country because of her 'racist' video.

This comes as it's been reported that fans in China are getting scammed into buying fake tickets to the fashion show.

According to TMZ: 'The Chinese equivalent to eBay is now littered with offers to purchase tickets ... we found the rock-bottom price was $7,000 and the highest was a staggering $35,000 which supposedly got you a seat in the first 5 rows. And get this for audacious ... the $35k includes a phantom afterparty.'

Not enough pictures: Karlie Kloss felt compelled to take more snaps

Literate: Taylor Hill, who wowed in a pair of leath Ash boots, knows how to sign her name

Just kickin' it: Candace Swanpoel also knows how to spell her name

The show is not open to the public and is invitation only.

Meanwhile, Elsa and Martha weren't the only models to show off her excitement for the upcoming lingerie show; Romee Strijd and Jasmine Tookes both shared a photo as soon as they touched down in China

The 21-year-old model Taylor Hill, who modeled a pair of stylish Ash ankle boots, also shared her excitement with multiple Instagram stories.

Hearts alive: The girls made hearts with their arms

How do they do it: They made more heart signage

Who me? No one wanted to take the blame for their hilarious hijinks

Air kisses again: They pulled out all the stops for the sizzling promo shots

Taylor recorded herself in her Shanghai hotel room, and gave her followers a quick look of her amazing city skyline view.

Another model who was excited about traveling to Shanghai was Karlie Kloss.

The 25-year-old Victoria's Secret Angel-who took two years off from the brand- wished her long-time friend Lily Aldridge a happy birthday.

Karlie wrote: 'Wishing a very happy birthday to this angel @lilyaldridge. Love you with all my heart...and cant wait to celebrate in Shanghai!'

It seems like Lily will be having an eventful 32nd birthday, as she will be celebrating with all her model friends.

Wait! More hearts! See... They are getting good at the heart hand thing

Sex appeal: She gave it her all posing outside among her fellow lingerie model pals
She was a vision when she stepped out at the Chain Of Hope Gala at Grosvenor House in London on Friday evening.

Later, Kimberley Garner, 27, grappled with her extravagant ballgown as she struggled to fit the sweeping train into her taxi on the way home from the star-studded event.

Perched in the waiting vehicle, the former Made In Chelsea star tugged at the billowing skirt of her Fishtail garment as she attempted to bundle it into the car.

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Way to Garner attention! Kimberley grappled with her extravagant ballgown as she struggled to fit sweeping train into taxi after the Chain Of Hope Gala Ball in London on Friday

Careful not to tear her excessive garment, it is no surprise the reality star also struggled to get through the revolving door into the glamorous venue.

At the gala, the London beauty looked magnificent in her lavish dress which featured a dazzling striped pattern that highlighted her phenomenal figure.

Accentuating Kimberley's petite waist, the impressive ballgown was brought in with a form-fitting bodice which clung to her envy-inducing curves.

That'll Garner attention: Perched in the waiting vehicle, the former Made In Chelsea star tugged at the billowing skirt of her Fishtail garment as she attempted to bundle it into the car

That'll Garner looks: Careful not to tear her excessive garment, it is no surprise the reality star also struggled to get through the revolving door into the glamorous venue

Famed for her brief stint on Made In Chelsea from March 2012 until the November of the same year, the swimwear designer knew how to catch the eye at the gala.

Letting her golden locks down for the night's festivities, Kimberley didn't detract attention away from her dress as she opted for a minimal dusting of make-up.

The blonde bombshell perfectly showcased her sun-kissed skin in her strapless attire  after she lapped up the sun's sizzling rays on her recent Miami getaway.

Impressive: The London beauty looked magnificent in her lavish dress which featured a dazzling striped pattern that highlighted her phenomenal figure

What a figure! Accentuating Kimberley's petite waist, the impressive ballgown was brought in with a form-fitting bodice which clung to her envy-inducing curves

She's a star: Famed for her brief stint on Made In Chelsea from March 2012 until the November of the same year, the swimwear designer knew how to catch the eye at the gala

The stunning model is fresh from her autumnal girls' trip to Miami where she mixed business with pleasure.

'I am over in Miami on a girls holiday,' she told MailOnline. 'It's been really fun and the first time I have been to Miami. I will be staying a little longer over here for work on Kimberley London Swimwear, but London is definitely still home.'

Kimberley has fully thrown herself into herself into swimwear design sphere in recent years, designing several lines since leaving Made in Chelsea.

She's a natural beauty: Letting her golden locks down for the night's festivities, Kimberley didn't detract attention away from her dress as she opted for a minimal dusting of make-up

Dazzling: Kimberley wore a simple bracelet to inject further sparkle into her enchanting appearance at Grosvenor House in London

She explained to MailOnline: 'I have some really cool new designs coming out over the next few months which I am excited about.

'They are still all made in London, which is really important to me. I love being a young female running a start up.

'Learning every section of what it take to run a company has been amazing and challenging but am really excited to see it grow and can't wait for next year's collections.'
In April, Sylvia Jeffreys tied the knot with her journalist partner Peter Stefanovic in a lavish Kangaroo Valley ceremony.

And on Friday, the Today star seemed to be keeping the romance with her husband alive as the couple headed to lunch together in Sydney's Double Bay.

For the outing, the 31-year-old sported a billowing black dress which concealed her figure.

Going with the flow! On Friday, Sylvia Jeffreys (pictured) stepped out in Sydney's Double Bay sporting a loose-fitting mini-dress as she headed to lunch with her husband Peter Stefanovic

Sylvia kept things simple in the flowy frock as the couple walked side by side in the exclusive Sydney suburb.

The charcoal ensemble featured short sleeves and studded detailing up top.

Sporting an expressionless demeanor as she walked, the Channel Nine talent provided a glimpse of her toned pins with her dress' thigh-skimming hemline.

Keeping the romance alive! Sylvia and Peter walked side by side as they headed for a bite

Casual chic: The Today star kept things simple in the flowy black frock

Relaxed style: Both Sylvia and Peter opted for dressed down attire for the outing

Accentuating her casual chic look, Sylvia tied a handful of her blonde locks back in a nonchalant style.

The journalist matched the outfit with a black clutch and stylish sunglasses.

Meanwhile, partner Peter was similarly dressed down for the occasion, wearing a basic T-shirt teamed with dark grey shorts.

He added a cap and shielded his eyes with a pair of sunglasses but gave away no signs of his mood with his facial expression.

Looking good: Sylvia sported an expressionless demeanor as she walked with Peter

Dressed down: Peter donned a basic T-shirt teamed with dark grey shorts while his partner rocked the all-black ensemble

Out and about! The couple, who tied the knot in April, who photographed on their way to lunch

Thigh's the limit: The TV star provided a glimpse of her toned pins with her dress' hemline

The blonde beauty is considered a frontrunner to take over Lisa Wilkinson's now-empty spot on the Today show.

But speaking to Daily Mail Australia at the Cosmopolitan Woman of the Year Awards last month, the 31-year-old was coy when talking about her potential new gig.

Asked whether she was about to nab the coveted role, Sylvia laughed: 'You'd have to ask my boss that question if you like!'

The TV personality refused to confirm whether she'd say yes if offered the role.

Skirting around the question, she answered: 'I umm.. I'm very much focused on getting to work at 4 o'clock as I always am and doing my job.'

New gig? The blonde beauty is considered a frontrunner to take over Lisa Wilkinson's now-empty spot on the Today show
She is easily one of the most glamorous stars among this year's Strictly Come Dancing line-up.

But Debbie McGee looked to have taken her love of pampering a little too far as she was spotted suffering a serious fake tan fail when arriving at Blackpool's iconic Tower Ballroom on Saturday morning.

Waving for the cameras as she headed into the venue ahead of tonight's show, the 59-year-old star's hand was coated with lashings of patchy dark product, though her celebrity counterpart Gemma Atkinson also looked as though she may have overdone it.

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Dancing the tango? Debbie McGee looked to have taken her love of pampering a little too far as she was spotted with a serious fake tan fail when arriving at Blackpool's iconic Tower Ballroom on Saturday morning

Seemingly forgetting about the uneven tan on her hand, the widow of the late magician Paul Daniels shot an animated wave at photographers as she beamed broadly.

Her deep tan wasn't helped by her all black ensemble, which only emphasised her glow as she sauntered into the venue with a carrier bag emblazoned with the words: 'I love Blackpool'.

But Debbie wasn't the only one who might have gone a few shades too dark on the tan-o-meter, as Gemma, 33, looked a tad terracotta as she made her way into the venue.

Oh, dear! Waving for the cameras as she headed into the venue ahead of tonight's show, the 59-year-old star's hand was coated with lashings of patchy dark product

Glow no! Gemma Atkinson also looked to have gone a shade too dark on the tan-o-meter

Whoops! Debbie's deep tan wasn't helped by her all black ensemble, which only emphasised her glow

The gorgeous soap star appeared in high spirits ahead of her last minute rehearsals, clad in a nonchalant woolly jumper and jeans combination.

It comes after Gemma - who has been linked to dance Gorka Marquez throughout the series - hinted that a romance could soon be on the cards.

Addressing the pair's close relationship the Emmerdale star insisted that nothing is going on 'right now' between the duo, but did hint that her position could change 'once the series is over'.

Working it anyway! Seemingly forgetting about the uneven tan on her hand, the widow of the late magician Paul Daniels shot an animated wave at photographers as she beamed broadly

Could she be our winner? Debbie - who is partnered with show heartthrob Giovanni Pernice - has been one to watch on this year's show

Keeping it casual: The gorgeous soap star appeared in high spirits ahead of her last minute rehearsals, clad in a nonchalant woolly jumper and jeans combination

Heating up: Gemma [pictured with dance partner Aljaz Skorjanec] recently hinted at a romance with show professional Gorka Marquez

Of their Strictly romance, Gemma told The Sun: 'Maybe once the series is over, but not right now well see what happens.'

She continued: 'I know people want to see a Strictly romance but Im not going to be giving you any Im afraid, because Im so focused on my dancing.'

Meanwhile, Mollie King and her dance partner AJ Pritchard - who have also brushed off their fair share of romance speculation - looked fresh-faced ahead of their rehearsal session.

Ready to go! Mollie King and her dance partner AJ Pritchard - who have also brushed off their fair share of romance speculation - looked fresh-faced ahead of their rehearsal session

Say cheese! [From left] Joe McFadden, Gorka Marquez, Alexandra Burke, Mollie, AJ and Katya Jones stopped to smile for photos with fans

Some like it hot! Mollie clutched at a cup of coffee, which was no doubt a welcome source of warmth on the cold morning

Stylish: Alexandra Burke put an edgy spin on her dance gear by slipping into graphic leggings

Sprightly: Susan Calman was typically animated as she strolled into Blackpool's iconic Tower Ballroom

Natural beauty: Alexandra went make-up free for her final dance run through

The stylish Saturdays star wrapped up in a gold padded jacket as she signed autographs for fans who were up at the crack of dawn to catch a glimpse of the stars ahead of tonight's show.

Seemingly reveling in the perks of being a judge on the show, Bruno Tonioli was pictured making a later exit from his hotel, as was Craig Revel Horwood.

Professional dancer Brendan Cole was also pictured arriving at the venue, just a short while after he hinted that this series will be his last.

The star sent fans into a panic over the possibility of him leaving the show, after he reflected on his time on the show in an emotional look-back video on spin-off It Takes Two.

Sartorial prowess: Claudia Winkleman looked typically stylish in a billowing roll neck jumper and skinny jeans

Fancy footwear: The TV presenter clutched at a pair of sparkly stilettos

Stripped back: Tess Daly appeared to forgo make-up ahead of her ride to the Tower Ballroom

Pared-down: Tess - who always leads the glamorous displays during the Strictly shows - looked chic in a tailored jacket, skinny jeans and heeled boots

Mr Popular: Giovanni Pernice was greeted by his many admirers when he left his hotel room early this morning

Offbeat look: The Italian hunk stepped out in a very jazzy pair of trousers

The 41-year-old New Zealand dancer said that his time on the show was 'euphoric' as he recalled some of his favourite partners from the 15 series he had been involved in.

Fans took to Twitter in panic over the segment, saying that it felt like a 'goodbye video', after Brendan had previously hinted he may not return next series.

One fan wrote: 'Brendan still talking as if this is his last series?' before another added: 'Sounds like a goodbye speech, Brendan!'

Animated: Brendan Cole looked happy to be back in Blackpool as he beamed for the cameras

Bidding goodbye? His appearance came after fans feared this season would be his last on Strictly

Nice lie in? Seemingly reveling in the perks of being a judge on the show, Craig Revel Horwood [L] and Bruno Tonioli [R] were pictured making later exits from the cast and crew's hotel

Brr-uno! Despite his many layers, Bruno still looked to be having a hard time getting accustomed to the cold weather

Need a hand? Bruno looked to be having a hard time holding onto his travel bag as he departed the hotel

He'll have the girls Strictly Come Glancing! Dancer Neil Jones was a sight for sore eyes as he arrived at the venue

Fur-ry nice! Dancer Nadiya Bychkova banished the chill in a glamorous fur coat as she hopped into a taxi

Meanwhile, the judges appear to be having a whale of a time in the northern seaside town, as they were pictured making late exits from their hotel.

And their lie ins certainly seemed to give them a spring in their step when they were filming a segment for the show on the streets of Blackpool.

Craig was spotted dancing around in a sparkly navy suit, while Bruno gave him a run for his money in a pink cowgirl hat that was emblazoned with the term: 'Kiss me quick.'

Unlike their energetic counterparts, Darcy Bussel and Shirley Ballas opted to stand back and spectate their antics, though Shirley and Bruno later played up to the cameras.

The pair pretended to flirt up a storm as the Italian dancer went in for a hug, with Shirley flashing a cheeky smirk.

Their time to shine! The judges were later pictured entertaining the masses as they performed on the streets of Blackpool

He's still got it! Craig danced up a storm as the BBC filmed a playful segment for the show

Standing out from the crowd! Craig gave Bruno a run for his money in a pink cowgirl hat that was emblazoned with the term: 'Kiss me quick'

Reserved: Unlike their energetic counterparts, Darcy Bussel and Shirley Ballas opted to stand back and spectate their antics, though Shirley and Bruno later played up to the cameras

Bring it in! The pair pretended to flirt up a storm as the Italian dancer went in for a hug, with Shirley flashing a cheeky smirk

Feeling good! Darcy's lie in looked to give her a spring in her step as she flashed an enthusiastic wave

Strike a pose! The judges also made sure to snap some selfies while larking around between takes

Show them how it's done! Strictly judge Craig is every inch the showman when he pulled out all the stops on his moves outside the Blackpool Tower ahead of the BBC live show
She put on a show-stopping display at last week's EMAs, when she trod the red carpet in a dressing gown and dripping jewels.

Yet Rita Ora proved she can keep things low-key as well as super glamorous as she headed into Melbourne Airport on Saturday while cutting an extremely casual figure yet in true Rita style she kept things edgy.

The 26-year-old Hot Right Now hitmaker rocked loose-fitting jeans with turned up ankles while sharpening up the look with a tuxedo jacket while rocking a white T-shirt and a plaid cap - all while paired with a pair of over-sized sunglasses.

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Strutting her stuff: Rita Ora proved she can also keep things low-key as well as super glamorous as she headed into Melbourne Airport on Saturday while cutting an extremely casual figure yet in true Rita style she kept things edgy

Rita's trip to Melbourne came a week at the awards ceremony in which she dazzled in a whopping 13 outfits before continuing her promo tour for her second album.

Touching down in Oz, she looked cutting edge in her over-sized black jeans which boasted a mom-cut and a turned up ankle which exposed her white socks.

Adding to the androgynous feel to the look, she pulled a long-line, velvet tuxedo jacket over the top of a simple crew-neck white T-shirt.

Despite her long-time collaboration with Adidas, she was seen sporting what appeared to be a pair of Reebok classic all black trainers.

Off we go: The 26-year-old Hot Right Now hitmaker rocked loose-fitting jeans with turned up ankles while sharpening up the look with a tuxedo jacket while rocking a white T-shirt and a plaid cap - all while paired with a pair of over-sized sunglasses

Rita pulled a plaid cap over her bouncy blonde tresses while giving a splash of colour with her mustard colour jumper draped across her slender frame.

She executed the perfect performance on stage, and didn't manage to break a sweat as she expertly slipped back into hosting duties.

And the R.I.P hitmaker proved she was the woman for the job, as her hosting abilities were praised by satisfied fans on Twitter: 'Slick hosting skills from tonight Fun and authentic. You go girl #MTVEMA.

Wow! Rita's trip to Melbourne came a week at the awards ceremony in which she dazzled in a whopping 13 outfits before continuing her promo tour for her second album

'Your amazing Rita your doing brilliantly tonight HOSTING EMA 2017 !!!!!!!! @RitaOra... RitaOra on point with her Hosting : #MtvEMA...

'@RitaOra looks stunning! I love her even more for hosting this year's #MTVEMA! Today she blessed my Snapchat, my Twitter, and basically my life. @RitaOra is doing a fab job hosting & performing on the #EMAs...

'Rita Ora is on fire and she's doing so good job hosting the show #MTVEMA... I love @RitaOra hosting and her new songs! Go on girl! Doing a great job! #MTVEMA.'

'Loving's hosting at the#MTVEMA, natural, easy going, chilled.'
He's the Australia's Next Top Model judge who has a soft spot for watching the Real Housewives franchise.

And speaking to Stellar magazine on Sunday, Alex Perry revealed he thought his late friend Charlotte Dawson would have been perfect for the show.

In the interview, the fashion designer said her funny personality would have made her worth a watch on the popular franchise.

'She would have been the housewife from hell': Speaking to Stellar on Sunday, Alex Perry (right) claimed his late friend Charlotte Dawson (left) would have made 'the ultimate' Real Housewives star

'Her humour... its the thing I miss most,' Alex told the publication.

He added: 'Yeah, she would have been the housewife from hell  the ultimate!'

Alex, who hosts the reunion specials of Real Housewives of Melbourne and Real Housewives of Sydney, admitted the series is a guilty pleasure of his.

'I know its car crash television, but it makes me laugh': Alex added the Real Housewives franchise is his guilty pleasure

'I know its car crash television, but it makes me laugh,' he explained.

In February 2014, Charlotte Dawson tragically passed away after battling depression.

Before her untimely death, the TV personality was a close friend of Alex and starred alongside one another on Australia's Next Top Model.

'I think of her all the time.. It's a waste she's not here': In a candid interview for The Truth About Us in 2015, Alex opened up about how much he was mourning his friend

In a candid interview for The Truth About Us in 2015, Alex opened up about how much he was mourning his friend.

'I think of her all the time.. It's a waste she's not here,' he said.

In a heartbreaking confession he added that in the initial stages of grief, he struggled to accept her death.

'I had one of the most vivid dreams that Ive had in a very, very long time. And she was basically saying to me, it didnt really happen, Im still here,' Alex explained.

'It was so vivid and I was thinking to myself, is she pulling my leg? Is she actually still here?

'But I Id seen her, you know, laid out on her funeral day. It took me a minute to sort of come to terms with that.'

If you or a loved one needs support, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
She is no stranger to flaunting her incredibly gym-honed physique in a number of scanty ensembles.

And Saturday proved to be no exception for Charlotte Crosby, who kick-started her morning by teasing a look at her svelte abs on Instagram while posing in just her underwear.

The reality star, 27, was seen taking a mirror selfie in just a pair of red lace briefs while lifting up her top to reveal her washboard stomach underneath.

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Teasing: Charlotte Crosby, 27, was seen taking a mirror selfie in just a pair of red lace briefs while lifting up her top to reveal her washboard stomach underneath

Proudly flaunting her figure, Charlotte gave fans a good look at her teeny waist and slender legs, with her lingerie revealing the huge rose tattoo she has etched onto the side of her upper thigh.

The former Geordie Shore star appeared to forgo her make-up for the early morning snap and showcased her natural beauty, while wearing her dark brunette tresses down in a tousled style.

Alongside her photo, Charlotte penned: 'Morning sleepy heads.'

She was inundated with compliments from fans, who were quick to credit the beauty on how 'amazing' she looks.

Charlotte had hit the headlines recently after splitting with her ex-boyfriend Stephen Bear following a tumultuous few months that brought their 11-month romance to and end.

Speculation: Fans are convinced that Charlotte and her ex Bear are back together after the tattooed hunk shared a shot of himself looking out over a city's skyline from a hotel balcony

But instead of her snap being a case of showing her ex what he is missing, Charlotte has found herself at the centre of speculation she and her beau - who were pictured embroiled in a blazing row, as well as kissing, at an MTV EMA after-party recently - have rekindled their relationship.

Fans were left convinced that the duo are now back together, after the tattooed hunk shared a shot of himself looking out over a city's skyline from a hotel balcony while wearing a white bathrobe.

Taking to social media, the 27-year-old reality star set tongues-wagging with many of his 1.3million Instagram followers weighing in on the candid shot.

'That looks like the place you and char used to be in together,' stated another eagle-eyed user underneath the shot, which was snapped as the sun set. 'Time out with your soulmate. I love you my psychos'.

A fan shared: 'Love the background and big fan of you and Charlotte Crosby'.

'I hope you and Charlotte back together,' another wrote. 'This is the same hotel that you both always went to together, lets hope I'm right and you's are happy with each other again'.

MailOnline have contacted Charlotte Crosby and Stephen Bear's reps for comment.

Fanning the flames: The pair have fuelled speculation over their relationship status

Having their say: Taking to social media, the 27-year-old reality star set tongues-wagging with many of his 1.3million Instagram followers weighing in on the candid shot

It comes after Charlotte's rollercoaster romance with Stephen seemingly came to a screeching halt last month, with the star claiming she was 'very single' at the MTV EMAs on Sunday.

However, it has since been reported that Charlotte is back together with her former flame, with the pair reportedly spending a secret night together on Saturday, before being spotted 'kissing' at the awards after-party, according to The Sun.

The pair's reunion reportedly got off to quite the bumpy start, as Charlotte and Bear were seen getting into two 'screaming matches' while joining revellers at the EMA's after-party, held at London's Wembley Park Theatre.

An onlooker told The Sun: 'Charlotte and Bear were all over the place. One second they were kissing, cuddling and laughing, and the next they were having screaming matches.

Back on: It has been claimed that Charlotte Crosby is back together with Stephen Bear with the pair reportedly spending a secret night together on Saturday, before being spotted 'kissing' at the awards after-party, reports The Sun

The vex factor: Charlotte Crosby and Stephen Bear are reported to have got into two blazing rows at the MTV EMAs after-party in London on Sunday night

'Not long after arriving, Charlotte stormed off and Bear was rushing after her saying, "Babe, babe," but she wasnt having any of it and walked away. She was clearly angry. But ten minutes later they were kissing again.

'But later on they really went for each other and had a massive screaming match outside the toilets. They seemed oblivious to everyone else around them and were really angry. She stormed off and he looked very frustrated by it all.'

The report comes after it was claimed that Stephen turned up at Sophie Kasaei's birthday party in Chigwel, Essex, to 'beg' to speak with former Geordie Shore star Charlotte in a bid to rekindle their romance.

Charlotte then reportedly ditched the It Girls and MTV EMA Correspondents Dinner a day before the star-studded awards bash to meet up with her hunky ex.

Reunited? Charlotte then reportedly ditched the It Girls and MTV EMA Correspondents Dinner on Saturday with meet up with her hunky ex

A source told the website: 'Sophie was miffed because Charlotte left her party to go off with Bear. They spent a night together in a hotel and then met up again at the EMAs.'

MailOnline had contacted Charlotte and Stephen's representatives for comment at the time.

OK! Magazine claimed the exes were kissing and 'laughing at each other's jokes' at the after-party.

A guest told the magazine: 'Charlotte and Bear full-on snogged on the dance-floor.' They couldn't keep their hands off each other. They were laughing and joking around, and looked as though they were having a lot of fun together.'

Charlotte had also liked a hunky Instagram shot of Stephen posing in a red silk suit at the awards.

Smooching rumours: OK! Magazine also claimed the exes were kissing and 'laughing at each other's jokes' at the after-party
She is taking Hollywood by storm after becoming a social media sensation with more than 40,000,000 Instagram followers and conquering the modelling sphere.

But Cara Delevingne, 25, shed her trademark sexy image when she made a low-key arrival in bundles of layers at Heathrow Airport in London on Friday.

Famed for her striking good looks and petite figure, the actress was unrecognisable as she covered up her model frame in green Adidas sweatpants and a baggy top.

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Unrecognisable: Cara Delevingne, 25, looked dramatically different in sweatpants as she made a low-key return to the UK when she touched down in Heathrow airport

Stunning Cara concealed her buzz cut with her navy and white striped beanie, covering her now brunette tresses after her decision to ditch her platinum locks.

Ditching her red carpet make-up look, the Tulip Fever star looked fresh faced highlighting her youthful features.

Model-turn-actress Cara prepared for the winter chill in the British capital by layering up with her mid-length thick coat and patterned scarf.

Dramatically different: Famed for her striking good looks and petite figure (R), the actress was unrecognisable as she covered up her model frame in green addidas sweatpants (L)

The Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets star was fresh from her trip to Los Angeles where she enjoyed a Noel Gallagher gig.

Moving away from the modelling spheres, the catwalk queen has landed a series of envy-inducing roles in movies and television series.

Cara's latest project, eight-part fantasy series Carnival Row, takes the star to film in the fairytale city of Prague.

Daring! Moving away from the modelling spheres, the catwalk queen has landed a series of envy-inducing roles in movies and television series (pictured in Mexico, August 2017)

Carnival Row follows a murder investigation after a string of unexplained killings in a neo-Victorian city where mythical creatures live, in which Cara takes on the role of a 'fairy fleeing persecution' Vignette Stonemoss.

Orlando Bloom, David Gyasi (Interstellar), Karla Crome (Misfits), Indira Varma (Game of Thrones), and Tamzin Merchant (Salem) also will appear in the Amazon series.

In a statement that followed the show's announcement, head of comedy at Amazon Joe Lewis said: 'There has never been a series like Carnival Row before.

Fashionista: Cara's latest project, eight-part fantasy series Carnival Row, takes the star to film in the fairytale city of Prague (pictured in London, September 2017)

'The scope of the storytelling combined with the uniqueness of the world, themes and aesthetics haven't been on TV before.

'A simple police investigation will lead us down a remarkable journey in a world where humans and creatures co-exist.

'We're so excited about what Rene, Travis and Paul are creating and we can't wait to bring it to customers.'

Wow: Cara, who boasts of 40,000,000 followers on Instagram, is taking Hollywood by storm after conquering the modelling spheres

The Model of the Year 2012 revealed she embarked on a career in modelling to run away from her emotional issues but she has since found more comfort in acting where she can express and reflect on her feelings.

'Modelling came at a time in my life where I wanted to please people,' she told Stellar magazine.

'I was just doing things to run away from my own problems. I wasn't dealing with things that were going on emotionally. That's why I ended up being unhappy.'

'Being an actor helped me reflect on my own emotions, be able to express them more, be in the moment.'
They play father and son on the Showtime series Shameless.

And William H. Macy had some words of wisdom for his 18-year-old co-star Ethan Cutkosky, who was arrested earlier this month for driving under the influence.

The 67-year-old actor told People magazine that Ethan is 'a great kid' despite his actions.

Father figure: William H. Macy had some words of wisdom for his 18-year-old co-star Ethan Cutkosky, who was arrested earlier this month for driving under the influence

'People make mistakes': The 67-year-old actor told People magazine that Ethan is 'a great kid' despite his actions

The Fargo star also revealed that he was there when Ethan bought the orange BMW he was driving during the DUI.

William said: 'Im gonna kick him in the butt when I see him, because I was there when he was trying to pick out which car to get, because I like cars and he likes cars. So we talked cars until I was tired of talking cars.'

William even warned him that driving a nicer car would attract more cops.

'I did tell him, "Dont get a hot car because trust me, its hard to keep your foot off the accelerator, and youre young and dumb and the cops are looking for you."

Shameless: The Fargo star also revealed that he was there when Ethan bought the orange BMW he was driving during the DUI

Ethan's TV dad added: 'I lectured him about all that stuff, but people make mistakes, and nobody got hurt.'

The actor sympathizes with Ethan and said it's hard to grow up in the spotlight.

William ended: 'I still find it a challenge myself.'

Ethan was stopped by cops in Burbank, California.

A source told TMZ that the 18-year-old allegedly admitted to smoking marijuana that night.

Cutkosky was charged with a misdemeanor and let out on $5,000 bail, according to the publication.

In Character: Ethan's TV dad added, 'I lectured him about all that stuff, but people make mistakes, and nobody got hurt'

He understands: The actor sympathizes with Ethan and said it's hard to grow up in the spotlight

William's onscreen son wasn't the only thing he has been commenting about.

The 67-year-old has also spoke out about his TV daughter Emmy Rossum.

Emmy has been in a long-time contract battle with Showtime due to not receiving the same amount as her male co-stars, such as William H. Macy.

But William told People: 'Its a no-brainer, its just sort of obvious. Emmy is in most of the scenes, she works harder than anybody else, shes a brilliant actress. Shes the glue of the cast.'

The award-winning actor also mentions that the Shameless cast looks out for one an other like a real family.
Victoria's Secret has broken its silence since Gigi Hadid and Katy Perry were reportedly banned from the Shanghai Fashion Show.

Unfortunately, not much was said.

Executive producer Ed Razek told People that news reports on the show have been 'inaccurate'  but failed to confirm or deny either woman had been refused visas to enter the country.

Gigi was scheduled to walk in the show wile Perry was set to perform, but both pulled out just days before Monday's illustrious show.

Not there: Victoria's Secret  has sort  of broken its silence since Gigi Hadid and Katy Perry were reportedly banned from the Shanghai Fashion Show

Reports claimed Gigi was banned because of a 'racist' video she posted back in February of her pulling a face in a lighthearted imitation of a Buddha cookie.

Perry meanwhile was supposedly banned because she wore a Taiwanese flag during a 2015 concert in Taipei.

During the gig she also donned a sunflower gown - supposedly symbolic of the Sunflower Student Movement, which protested a Chinese trade agreement in 2014.

But according to Razek, everything is going swimmingly.

Touchy subject: Perry meanwhile was supposedly banned because she wore a Taiwanese flag during a 2015 concert in Taipei

That's how the cookie crumbles: Gigi meanwhile was reportedly because of a 'racist' video she posted back in February of her pulling a face in a lighthearted imitation of a Buddha cookie.

Mystery: Gigi revealed on Twitter just days before the show she wouldn't be taking park  but failed to specify a reason

'The news reports Ive been reading from the US here in Shanghai regarding this years Victorias Secret Fashion Show are not an accurate reflection of what Im seeing and experiencing on site,' he said somewhat confusingly, since Gigi and Katy are definitely not there.

'The Chinese have been wonderful and enthusiastic hosts and partners,' he continued from the communist country, famed for its heavy media censorship.

'From granting more than 700 visas, collaborating with us on every detail and introducing us to local experts who have helped us elevate our event in this renowned fashion city. We appreciate their efforts and all they have done to make this event a success.'

He claimed the show would be the 'biggest fashion event in history' and VS most ambitious by far, with 55 models representing 17 countries, and four world class entertainers.

However he offered no specifics on the models and entertainers who were not there.
She delighted viewers with her turn on the Children In Need's Strictly Come Dancing special this weekend.

And Konnie Huq continued to amaze as she attended the Global Gift Gala at the Corinthia Hotel in London on Saturday in an eye-catching mint co-ord.

The former Blue Peter presenter, 42, looked sensational as she took to the red carpet before beginning her hosting duties on the evening.

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Glamorous: Konnie Huq continued to amaze as she attended the Global Gift Gala at the Corinthia Hotel in London on Saturday in an eye-catching mint co-ord

Flashing a glimpse of her toned abs, Konnie - who is married to comedian Charlie Brooker - oozed glamour in a mint cropped top with stylish floral embellishment.

She teamed the garment with an equally stylish matching skirt that flared out into a full train and swept along the gown as she walked the carpet.

Adding to the glamour, the brunette beauty wore her glossy locks in a side ponytail, whilst she accessorised with diamond drop earrings and bore a slick of red lipstick.

Konnie was tasked with hosting the eighth annual Global Gift Gala London, with honorary chair Eva Longoria Baston.

Working it: The former Blue Peter presenter, 42, looked sensational as she took to the red carpet before beginning her hosting duties on the evening

Eva is one of many stars to show their support as an acting ambassador of the Global Gift Foundation - a charity that works to raise funds for foundations, charities and organisations that share its vision and aims.

Through events such as the various galas and fundraisers the charity funds several projects, including The Eva Longoria Foundation.

The charity, founded in 2012, aims to help Latinas build better futures through education and entrepreneurship, and confront the issue of poverty in their culture.

The London event will raise funds for The Eva Longoria Foundation, Great Ormond Street Hospital and Global Gift Foundation.

Gorgeous in green: Flashing a glimpse of her toned abs, Konnie - who is married to comedian Charlie Brooker - oozed glamour in a mint cropped top with stylish floral embellishment

Konnie was no doubt keen to talk about her appearance on the Strictly Come Dancing the day before.

The star was partnered with Neil Jones in the Blue Peter special of the event.

The pair competed against Radzi Chinyanganya and Chloe Hewitt; Tim Vincent who was paired with Dianne Buswell; Diane-Louise Jordan and Pasha Kovalev, as well as Mark Curry, who landed the Pudsey Glitterball Trophy Award with Amy Dowden.

But while Konnie and professional dance partner Neil Jones, with whom she has been paired, are both happily married, the TV presenter previously admitted she can sympathise with those who succumb to the notorious Strictly curse.

Chic: Adding to the glamour, the brunette beauty wore her glossy locks in a side ponytail, whilst she accessorised with diamond drop earrings and bore a slick of red lipstick

She told The Mirror: I know Strictly celebs are renowned for going off with their dancers and you can see why that happens. The training involves long days and, call me prudish, but some of the moves are quite intimate.

If you dont cling on very tightly to your partner youre going to fall on the floor, so I can see it can feel like youre crossing the line.

She added: I was doing a jive, a fast dance, but some of the more intense dances I can see would feel awkward.
Hilarie Burton - who called out Ben Affleck for inappropriately groping her during a TRL segment in 2003 - revealed earlier this week that she was also sexually assaulted by her One Tree Hill showrunner Mark Schwahn.

It started back in 2006.

And on Saturday the 35-year-old actress told Variety more details about what allegedly transpired: 'Things took a turn in season three. Thats when Mark decided that I was his muse.'

Speaking out: Hilarie Burton has revealed that she was also sexually assaulted by her One Tree Hill showrunner Mark Schwahn, starting back in 2006; here she is seen earlier this week showing off her pregnancy bump

The actress told the publication the first time the showrunner forced himself on her was in a limo.

Mark invited Hilarie to listen in on a phone call with CW's president.

Burton said: 'Im leaning in listening, and when its Dawn Ostroffs turn to talk, he just leans over and starts kissing me.

'I push him off, but I cant say anything, because hes on the phone fighting for our show to stay on the air. Im just in this position where Im thinking, "Youve got to take it, Hil. Just laugh it off."'

Before his fall: The 35-year-old actress said, 'Things took a turn in season three. Thats when Mark decided that I was his muse'

Cast members and crew, including stars Bush, Burton, and Bethany Joy Lenz, wrote that they 'have chosen this forum to stand together in support of Audrey Wauchope and one another' Cast (l-r)James Lafferty, Bethany Lenz, Hilarie Burton, Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray

A couple months after the phone call in the limo, Burton remembers a more public assault that happened at a party.

She said: 'Im at the bar waiting to get drinks for the hairdresser and me, and he leans over and he kisses me in front of everybody. Right on the mouth.'

Hilarie added: 'It was something I had to get out of. It wasnt a peck. It wasnt "Hey, sis, hows your day?" It was a boyfriend kiss.'

He was married! The 35-year-old claims Schwahn even inappropriately touched her in his wife's presence

The 35-year-old claims Schwahn even inappropriately touched her in his wife's presence.

The former One Tree Hill star goes into detail saying that Schwahn put his hands down her pants while grabbing his spouse's waist.

Hilarie ended up leaving the One Tree Hill cast after season six, even though she was asked to return and given a raise.

She admits she didn't tell network about Schwahn because she didn't want Warner Bros. to view her as a 'problem' and shes adds, ' they had been so supportive.'

She ended: 'The fear of being forced into another one of these situations was crippling. I never wanted to be the lead female on any show ever, ever, ever again.'

Only cast members Burton, Bush and Lenz signed the letter of support for Wauchope. Pictured cast members (l-r) Burton, Murray, Bush, Lafferty and Lenz

Ofcourse, Burton was not the only woman to accuse Mark Schwahn of sexual assault.

One Tree Hill cast members - including Sophia Bush and Bethany Joy Lenz- have written a letter accusing former showrunner of sexual harassment.

Audrey Wauchope, a former writer on the series, took to Twitter on Saturday accusing a showrunner, believed to be Schwahn, 51, of harassment, although she never mentioned his name.

On Monday, 18 women who worked on the hit show that ran from 2003-2012, wrote a letter of support for Wauchope and claimed they were 'manipulated psychologically and emotionally' while working on the series, according to Variety.

Audrey Wauchope a former writer on the series, took to Twitter on Saturday accusing Schwahn of harassment without mentioning his name

In a series of tweets, Wauchope said she and other women who worked on One Tree Hill, were often times subject to unwanted touching

'More than one of us is still in treatment for post-traumatic stress. Many of us were put in uncomfortable positions and had to swiftly learn to fight back, sometimes physically, because it was made clear to us that the supervisors in the room were not the protectors they were supposed to be,' the letter read.

'Many of us were spoken to in ways that ran the spectrum from deeply upsetting, to traumatizing, to downright illegal. And a few of us were put in positions where we felt physically unsafe. '

In a series of tweets, Wauchope said she and other women who worked on One Tree Hill, were often times subject to unwanted touching.

'To say we left that job demoralized and confused is also an understatement. One of the 1st things we were told was that the showrunner hired female writers on the basis of their looks. That's why you're here - he wants to f**k you,' she tweeted.

She also talked about how Schwahn would allegedly show naked pictures of actresses he'd slept with to male staffers without the actress' knowledge.

'Men on staff were shown naked photos of on an actress he was having an affair with. Naked photos she didn't know were being passed around.

'Naked photos they didn't want to see. This is such a violation, both to the actress and to the men forced to look and participate,' she wrote.

Wauchope also recalled a time when her writing partner was getting ready to leave for her wedding and Schwahn 'closed the door of his office and asked her if she really wanted to go through with it'.

'Maybe he could have a shot? Hahahaha we said. That's crazy. He's crazy. NO. He's abusive,' she tweeted.

In the series of tweets Wauchope wrote: 'I'm furious and sad and everything else for the women who have sat on that couch next to that man.

'And I'm furious and sad and everything else that years later I don't feel safe to be able to do anything real about this and that it seems to be happening all over this town.'

One Tree Hill aired from 2003-2012 and followed the lives of a group of young men and women growing up in North Carolina. Schwahn wrote and directed the series and worked as the showrunner for its eight-season run

The cast and crew members - including Bush (left) and Burton (right) - who wrote the letter supporting Wauchope said they are all 'deeply grateful for Audrey's courage'

One Tree Hill aired from 2003-2012 and followed the lives of a group of young men and women growing up in North Carolina.

Schwahn wrote and directed the series and worked as the showrunner for its eight-season run.

The cast and crew members who wrote the letter supporting Wauchope said they are all 'deeply grateful for Audrey's courage'.

'For one another. And for every male cast mate and crew member who has reached out to our group of women to offer their support these last few days. They echo the greater rallying cry that must lead us to change: Believe Women. We are all in this together.

Cast members Bush, Burton, Lenz, Danneel Harris, Michaela McManus, Kate Voegele, Daphne Zuniga, India DeBeaufort, Bevin Prince, Jana Kramer, Shantel Van Santen, and Allison Munn all signed the letter.

Crew members, Audrey Wauchope, Rachel Specter, Jane Beck, Tarin Squillante, Cristy Koebley and JoJo Stephens also signed the letter.
Emily Ratajkowski has posted her hottest swimwear shot yet, and it's not even of her.

The 26-year-old showed off where she got those flawless genes on Saturday by sharing a bikini pic of her mom.

The throwback snap shows a young Kathleen Balgley, standing waist deep in the sea, rocking a cute black and white two-piece.

Hot mama: Emily Ratajkowski showed off where she got those flawless genes on Saturday by sharing a bikini pic of her mom

Her eventual daughters long brunette hair and sculpted figure are all clearly evident.

However not even the Blurred Lines star can compare to her mammy's super-toned tum and defined abs.

'Forever muse, Mama,' the model captioned the pic.

Emily joined the family quite late: her mom was 39 and her dad, artist John David 'JD' Ratajkowski, was 45 when they had their first and only child.

Almost: Not even the Blurred Lines star could compare to her mammy's super-toned tum and defined abs

Born in London, she traveled around Europe a lot as a child before the family settled in San Diego.

However she returned to Ireland where both her grandmothers were from to spend many of her summers in Co Cork.

Even decades later, Emily's mom is still in perfect nick, as side by side bikini shots posted by the model last year prove.

Seemingly spending the vast amount of her time in bikinis anyway, Emily recently decided to go pro, launching her own swimwear line, Inamorata.

The site went live on Thursday, selling pieces ranging from $75 to $160.
"We are ready to exchange experience with the moderate Arab countries and exchange intelligence information to face Iran," Lieutenant General Gadi Eisenkot was quoted as saying

Israel's military chief of staff said in an interview Thursday that his country was prepared to cooperate with Saudi Arabia to face Iran's plans "to control the Middle East."

His comments were the latest sign that behind-the-scenes links between Israel and Gulf countries may be occurring due to Iran, their shared enemy, even though they do not have formal diplomatic ties.

"We are ready to exchange experience with the moderate Arab countries and exchange intelligence information to face Iran," Lieutenant General Gadi Eisenkot was quoted as saying by Elaph, a news website run by a Saudi businessman.

Asked whether any information had been shared recently with Saudi Arabia, he said "we are ready to share information if necessary. There are many common interests between us and them."

Israel's army confirmed the contents of the rare interview with Arabic-language media.

According to Israel's army, it was the first interview of its kind since 2005.

Sunni Muslim powerhouse Saudi Arabia has long been at loggerheads with Shiite, non-Arab Iran but friction has spiralled recently.

Earlier this month, Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri announced from Saudi capital Riyadh that he was quitting, citing Iran's "grip" on his country.

The leader of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite group supported by Iran, has accused Saudi Arabia of pressing Israel to launch attacks against it.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made similar allegations this week.

Israel and Hezbollah fought a devastating war in 2006.

Eisenkot said in the interview that "we have no intention of initiating a conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon and reaching a war, but we cannot accept strategic threats to Israel there.

"I am very happy with the calm on both sides of the border, which has lasted 11 years. On the other hand, we see Iranian attempts to escalate."

Israel and Arab countries are also concerned with Iran's influence in Syria, where Tehran and Hezbollah are backing President Bashar al-Assad's regime in his country's civil war.

Gulf Arab countries are also worried about the Islamic republic's support for Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen.

- 'New international alliance' -

Eisenkot referred to US President Donald Trump's attempt to find a path to Israeli-Palestinian peace by drawing in regional countries.

Trump's first trip abroad as president included stops in Saudi Arabia and Israel.

His son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner has reportedly formed a bond with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

"With President Donald Trump, there is a chance for a new international alliance in the region and a major strategic plan to stop the Iranian threat," Eisenkot said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been promoting the idea that his country's ties with Arab nations are improving, and some experts have said there are signs that shared concerns over Iran are indeed nudging them closer.

Formal ties do not seem likely due to Israel's continuing occupation of Palestinian territory and the lack of progress in peace efforts, but behind-the-scenes cooperation has opened up in various areas, a number of experts and officials have said.

Netanyahu has described relations with the Arab world as the "best ever", though without providing any details.

Leaders of Arab countries have not publicly made similar comments, however that does not necessarily mean they dispute Netanyahu's claim.

They face sensitivities within their own countries, where the Jewish state is often viewed with intense hostility.

Only two Arab countries -- Egypt and Jordan -- have peace treaties with Israel.
Under NAFTA, exports to Canada and Mexico of food produced in the United States have jumped to $39 billion this year from $ 8.7 billion in 1992, while imports have surged to $44.5 billion last year from $6.5 billion

With the fifth round of talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement underway, Florida fruit and vegetable growers are pressing for changes.

They complain that subsidies in Mexico have flooded the US market with cheap competition under the landmark 1994 trade pact and want it amended -- unlike some corn growers and ranchers, who have benefited from the deal and prefer it to remain as it is.

All sides are trying to make their voices heard as negotiators from the United States, Canada and Mexico gather in Mexico City to continue the US-initiated effort to revamp the deal.

Under NAFTA, exports to Canada and Mexico of food produced in the United States have jumped to $39 billion this year from $8.7 billion in 1992. Imports of Mexican and Canadian agricultural products also have surged to $44.5 billion last year from $6.5 billion in 1992.

The lowering of tariff barriers made it easier for US corn producers to sell their crop to new markets.

"Our exports of corn have grown tremendously. We worked hard to build domestic and export markets," said Mark Recker, president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, who favors remaining in the trade agreement.

"If we pull out of NAFTA, tariffs suddenly go up, and then we can't compete," he warns. "Mexico is already looking to South America or other sources for their corn."

- Blueberries, watermelons, eggplant -

But blueberries and broccoli in Georgia, watermelons in Texas, grapes and asparagus in California, and strawberries, peppers, tomatoes, squash and eggplants in Florida have all seen production fall.

"Since NAFTA's passage in the 1990s, there has been a steady decline in both the acreage and production value in regions around the United States," said Lisa Lochridge of the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association.

And "The pace of that decline has increased significantly over the past five to 10 years as the Mexican government has provided subsidies for its farmers to grow produce for the US marketplace," she said.

Fruit and vegetable growers are pushing for a clause in the trade deal that makes it easier to launch a lawsuit against subsidies or dumping in another country.

But Paul Mastronardi, president of produce company Sunset Grown, warns that those concerns do not represent the majority of farmers and the strategy is problematic.

"If we start to choose small subsections of each industry for different rules and standards, then we are exposed to retaliation from the NAFTA partners."

- Disagreements among ranchers -

US cattle ranchers disagree on whether NAFTA has helped or hurt their sector

Hope Pjesky, who raises cattle in Oklahoma, said at a time when agricultural commodity prices are particularly low, US farmers cannot afford to lose customers.

For example, while beef tongue does not appeal to many American cooks, it is widely used in Mexico, and that can add "between $250 and $300 in value to each calf at the end of his life," she said.

But the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA), the largest federation of cattle producers in the country, says NAFTA is mostly detrimental to American ranchers.

"Under NAFTA, US ranchers are forced to absorb Canada and Mexico's overproduction" and that is "driving down domestic cattle prices even when global US exports are growing," the group said.

- Remove barriers -

Like the ranchers, the farming organizations are not on the same page.

The American Farm Bureau Federation is clear: "Any renegotiation must protect the gains achieved in agricultural trade and work to remove remaining barriers to trade with Canada and Mexico."

But the National Farmers Union, which represents 200,000 farmers, is in favor of the renegotiation "to restore the United States' sovereignty over farm and food policy."

Juliette Majot, director of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), these positions reflect different visions of agriculture.

Defenders of the NAFTA promote a system where "the only way to keep your head above water is to get big, to consolidate your land and to do more intense farming," she said.

According to the institute, from 1992 to 2012, the United States lost 22 percent of its small farmers -- those with less than $350,000 in annual gross farm income -- while the number of those earning more than $1 million a year doubled.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, pictured in April 2017, has been placed under house arrest by generals and is facing increasing pressure from within his own party to step down in addition to street protests

Eight of the 10 regional branches of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party called for him to resign on Friday, state TV reported.

"The province resolved unanimously to recall the president... from being the president of the party and the government," said Cornelius Mupereri, a spokesman for the party's Midlands region.

He was one of several branch officials to appear on ZBC's nightly news to call for the 93-year-old leader to go in what appeared to be a coordinated effort, with the officials reading almost identical statements.

Their declarations add to the already considerable pressure on Mugabe to go which has been mounting since generals seized power on Tuesday night and placed him under house arrest.

The army's intervention came after Mugabe last week fired his vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa who was thought to be the military's favoured candidate to replace Mugabe if he died or resigned.

The sacking cleared the way for First Lady Grace Mugabe, who is 41 years younger than the president, to succeed him -- a situation that is believed to have irked many senior military officers.

As well as the increasingly vocal opposition from within his own party, Mugabe will face street protests on Saturday organised by veterans of the country's independence war and supported by long-standing opponents of the president.
Tensions over North Korea's rogue nuclear programme have roiled relations between allies Beijing and Pyongyang, as China backed UN sanctions on the North

A top Chinese envoy landed in North Korea on Friday in a trip hailed as a "big move" by US President Donald Trump, who has urged Beijing to pile pressure on its nuclear-armed ally.

Diplomat Song Tao is visiting the North on behalf of President Xi Jinping to brief officials on the recent Chinese Communist Party congress and other "issues of mutual interest", foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

He is the first major Chinese envoy to visit Pyongyang in more than a year with ties severely strained between the two countries.

Analysts expect Song to address the nuclear standoff, which has roiled relations between the two Cold War-era allies as China has backed United Nations sanctions on North Korea over its missile tests and sixth nuclear blast.

Trump, who warned Xi during his trip to Beijing last week that time was "quickly running out" to solve the nuclear crisis, took to Twitter on Thursday to hail the mission as "a big move, we'll see what happens!".

A brief report from North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency Saturday morning confirmed Song had landed and met with Choe Ryong-Hae, a senior Pyongyang official and a close aide of leader Kim Jong-Un.

The report said Song told his hosts China wanted to "develop the traditional friendly relations between the two parties and countries" but contained no further details of what was discussed.

Washington wants China, which accounts for 90 percent of North Korea's foreign trade, to put more economic pressure on the reclusive regime.

But experts doubt Song's visit will yield major breakthroughs.

"China has virtually no political influence on North Korea. Its influence is derived from economic leverage," Bonnie Glaser, China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told AFP.

"Relations are extremely stressed. Perhaps the lowest point since the Korean War," she said. "Perhaps (the mission) will put a floor under China-North Korea relations, preventing further deterioration."

- Ties at 'lowest point' -

China has imposed its own banking restrictions on North Koreans in addition to enacting a series of UN measures that include bans on imports of coal, iron ore and seafood from the North.

But Beijing fears that squeezing Pyongyang too hard would cause its collapse.

Song is the first Chinese envoy to make an official trip to North Korea since October 2016, when vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin visited.

Geng gave scant details about the trip, saying he did not know who he would meet or what topics he would discuss.

China's relations with North Korea are currently at "the lowest point they've been in history", leaving the North diplomatically at its most isolated, said Lu Chao, director of the North Korea Research Centre at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences.

As a high-level diplomat, Song would likely meet directly with North Korea's top leaders, he said.

"As far as North Korea is concerned, China's opinion is still an important one and will certainly arouse their full attention," Lu said.

- 'Freeze for freeze' -

As nuclear tensions have soared, Xi has pushed for negotiations and a "dual track approach" in which the United States would freeze its military drills in the region while North Korea halts its weapons programmes.

Trump claimed this week that Xi had agreed to drop his plan during their talks last week, but Beijing stood by its policy.

"We believe that at the moment, this is the most realistic, feasible, fair and reasonable plan," Geng told a regular news briefing.

Yuan Jingdong, a specialist in Asia-Pacific security issues at the University of Sydney, expects little from Song's mission.

"We can expect some face-saving, assuring but very general and abstract commitments with no substance changes in North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes," Yuan said.

The visit is "more about warning North Korea against going to extremes than forcing it to give up the nukes" because China's top priority remains maintaining regional stability, he said.

Song would likely "assure Kim that if he behaves within a reasonable bound he can expect Beijing to continue providing some assistance and resist broadening the sanctions."
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, whose image is on a poster here, issued a statement on television there on November 4 that he was stepping down because he feared for his life

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Saturday left Saudi Arabia for France, a television channel owned by his family said, two weeks after his shock resignation.

"Mr Hariri left Riyadh airport on his private jet with his wife and is headed for Le Bourget airport", north-east of Paris, announced Future TV around 1:20 am (2320 GMT).

A source close to Hariri confirmed the departure of the former prime minister to AFP, adding that the flight would take six and a half hours.

Earlier Hariri had tweeted he was on his way to the airport in the Saudi capital, refuting the suggestion he had been not allowed to leave the country.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun had accused Saudi authorities of "detaining" Hariri and refused to accept his resignation from abroad.

Hariri, a dual Saudi citizen, has been in Riyadh since issuing a statement on television there on November 4 that he was stepping down because he feared for his life while also accusing Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of destabilising his nation.

Macron will meet Hariri at noon (1100 GMT) on Saturday, the French leader's office said Friday.

Hariri's resignation was quickly perceived as the latest round in a tug of war between Saudi Arabia, his longtime sponsor, and its regional arch-rival Iran.

It has raised deep concerns about the stability of Lebanon, which has long been riven by disagreements between Hariri's bloc and that of his chief rival, the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.

Hariri's resignation announcement -- which reportedly took even some of his closest aides by surprise -- and his subsequent failure to return home to officially quit in person, fuelled speculation that he was acting under orders from his Saudi patrons.

Future TV did not specify if Hariri and his wife were accompanied by their children, two of whom were with them in Riyadh. The eldest had left in the summer to study abroad.
The vast majority of DR Congo's more than 70 million residents do not have access to 'improved' toilets

From crouching over a small hole with a sheet for privacy to defecating in the open air, for millions of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo going to the toilet is a daily act of misery.

The UN has estimated more than 2.4 billion people worldwide are in a similar situation, with Sunday's World Toilet Day planned to raise awareness.

The vast majority of DR Congo's more than 70 million residents do not have access to "improved" toilets -- latrines, sewerage or cesspits that hygienically separate human waste from human contact, according to the United Nations children's agency Unicef.

The problem has become even more pressing this year as the huge African country wrestles with a resurgence of cholera.

Known as a "dirty hands disease" for the way in which faecal germs are transmitted, there have been more than 44,000 suspected cases of cholera and nearly 900 deaths so far this year, compared with 29,000 cases in 2016, according to World Health Organization (WHO) figures.

In the capital Kinshasa, the quality of toilets varies greatly depending on social status -- islands of wealth thrive in the city of 10 million amid an ocean of poverty.

Known as a 'dirty hands disease' for the way in which faecal germs are transmitted, there have been more than 44,000 suspected cases of cholera and nearly 900 deaths so far this year

Running water and clean toilets are the norm in Gombe, a wealthy district home to the presidential palace, embassies, ministries, business headquarters, expats and the city's wealthiest citizens.

But it is a very different story in the other 25 districts of "Kin-la-Belle" (Kin the Beautiful), as Kinshasa was once known -- and which some locals now derisively call "Kin-la-Poubelle" (Kin the Rubbish Bin).

In the district of Matete, Junior, 25, does not complain much about the toilet block built in the yard, away from the family house.

There is no running water, but it does have a tap and a bucket to clean the toilet, as well as an adjoining shower with white tile walls and an only slightly blackened ceramic floor.

Wastewater and excrement are collected under a concrete slab in a pit, which is emptied by a service every two or three years.

"It's not luxury, but it's a bit clean," said Junior.

- 'We suffer here' -

Conditions are very different for neighbours living on the edge of a rubbish dump just a few streets away -- and several rungs down DRC's implacable social ladder.

Here, a clean, decent flushing toilet only exists in dreams.

"We suffer here. If it rains, it floods the slab. The toilets overflow. The waste floods into the house," said an angry young father in front of his toilet block. The contents of the latrine can be seen through the concrete slab.

In the Congolese capital Kinshasa, the quality of toilets varies greatly depending on social status

Another toilet, next to an outdoor place of worship, is a simple hole dug in the ground, protected from view by some corrugated iron and a sheet.

According to residents, the sewage runs into a river that flows between Matete and a military camp. On both sides of the water is a mountain of rubbish.

"Sooner or later, there will be people who get cholera. For the moment we suffer from typhoid," says theology student Nadine Bondo.

In rural areas of DR Congo, where 60 percent of the population lives, the situation is even worse.

Open-air defecation remains a cause of disease, according to Unicef, which started a programme for sanitation in schools and villages, such as Kisthini, 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Kinshasa.

"Before, we were cleaning our toilets in an outdated way. We dug small holes. Now, the notions of sanitation and hygiene are ingrained in the students," says the deputy head of the school in Kisthini.
The new Canadian highway is expected to open up tourism to the remote Arctic region -- bringing new jobs

Life can be tough in Tuktoyaktuk, a Canadian hamlet on the Arctic Ocean where one in three are jobless.

But things are looking up thanks to a new highway linking the tiny community to the rest of the country and bringing with it the promise of tourism and jobs.

Long hoped for but widely seen as a far-fetched idea, the highway was feted this week at a ribbon-cutting ceremony where fireworks lit up the faces of locals and dignitaries -- tightly wrapped in hats and scarves to brave the extreme sub-freezing temperatures.

"It's really overwhelming today. We're happy and people are excited," said Tuktoyaktuk resident Ella Jean Nogasak, her red anorak visible from afar against the snow.

The 72-year-old has waited a long, long time for year-round road access to her community, which lies well north of the Arctic Circle.

After years of procrastination, Canada's former Conservative government in 2014 finally gave a green light for what was dubbed a "road of resources," intended as a conduit for firms wanting to tap oil and gas riches believed to be hidden beneath the Beaufort Sea.

That prospect dimmed a year ago when, with construction already underway, the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau imposed a five-year moratorium on drilling in the Arctic.

But residents of the isolated hamlet still welcome the 138-kilometer (85-mile) gravel road from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk, which they hope will end their winter reliance on costly air transport for food, supplies, equipment and travel.

It is also expected to bring tourists to the far north.

In Tuktoyaktuk, the unemployment rate is more than 30 percent, and living conditions for the 930 inhabitants are difficult.

Local carver Jonathan C. Elias sells his wares during celebrations for the opening of the new highway to Tuktoyaktuk

"You see, we don't have a hotel, we have limited stores, and limited opportunities within the community," said Tianna Gordon-Ruben, who hopes the road will bring down food prices and help create jobs in the community.

- 'Our doors are open' -

About 10 meters (30 feet) wide, the continent's northernmost route consists in some places of a four-meter high embankment atop the permafrost -- a thick subsurface layer of soil that remains frozen throughout the year.

Project manager Dean Ahmet describes building the Can$300 million (US$235 million) road through a region pocked by lakes and rivers as no less than a feat of engineering.

The permafrost was too soft in summer to support heavy construction equipment, so most of the construction -- involving just over 600 workers -- had to be done during the seven or eight winter months.

"It was a challenge because we were working in very extreme temperatures ranging from -15 to -57 (Celsius, 5 to -70 Fahrenheit), 24 hours a day," he told AFP.

At the opening ceremony, Bob McLeod, premier of the Northwest Territories, paid tribute to the crews who worked day and night to complete the project.

In the frozen tundra, a speed limit of 70 kilometers per hour has been set to keep drivers from slipping into a snowy ditch.

The new highway makes the Arctic Ocean community of Tuktoyaktuk accessible by road all year round

Darrel Nasogaluak, the mayor of Tuktoyaktuk, touted this new lifeline to the south with speeches, handshakes, a few words for everyone, hoping it will lead to a better quality of life for northern residents.

To celebrate, there was a community feast consisting of traditional Inuit game and seafood including caribou and muktuk (beluga whale skin and blubber).

"You know, we're going to have better access to health care, better access to healthier (and) fresher foods," Nasogaluak told shoppers at the only grocery store in Tuktoyaktuk, where a liter of milk costs almost twice as much as in Vancouver, 3,800 kilometers to the south.

With a bright sun forecast in a few months, will the tourists flock to Tuktoyaktuk? Nasogaluak hopes so.

"I'd just like to invite everybody in Canada, southern Canada and all over the world to come share our rich culture and incredible scenery.

"Our doors are open, you know, we're willing to share."
Shortly after the model's death, her agency ESEE reproduced a medical report from Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai that gave the cause of death as septicaemia

Shanghai police have ruled out foul play and cast doubt on allegations that overwork contributed to the death of a 14-year-old Russian model after she took part in Shanghai Fashion Week last month.

The death of Vlada Dzyuba in a Shanghai hospital on October 27 threw a spotlight on the murky world of foreign models in China -- many from the former Soviet Union -- and raised questions over why a minor was working abroad without a proper guardian.

A Shanghai police statement released late Friday said Dzyuba died of multiple organ failure stemming from a suspected central nervous system infection, possibly meningitis.

"A forensic examination found no violent injuries on the surface of the body, routine blood tests were negative, and no abnormalities were found," the statement said.

English-language newspaper The Siberian Times had alleged that Dzyuba, from the city of Perm, died of meningitis compounded by exhaustion following "a gruelling fashion show in Shanghai".

But the Chinese agency representing Dzyuba, ESEE Model Management, has vehemently denied the claim.

Shortly after her death, ESEE reproduced a medical report from Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai that gave the cause of death as septicaemia, a type of bacterial blood poisoning.

The teen, who despite her youth was allowed to model under Chinese law, died without her family at her side because her mother could not travel to China in time.

Her body was returned to Russia on November 11, Shanghai police said.

Shortly after Dzyuba's death, Russian investigators in Perm opened a probe into whether her death was caused by negligence, TASS state news agency reported, citing regional investigators.
Ghassan Salame, who is leading UN peace efforts in Libya, is betting that building state institutions is the key to changing the course of the fractious country

Five months after he was appointed to lead UN peace efforts in Libya, Ghassan Salame says he is focused on building institutions as a way to unite the country.

The 66-year-old Lebanese-born academic told AFP in an interview that if state institutions can begin to work, Libya will finally change course after years of chaos since the fall of Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

"The key to my approach is institutions," Salame said. "If in a year or two, we can began to reunite, revive and liberate institutions, then the country will be on a different path."

A UN-mediated political deal in 2015 was supposed to unite Libya, but the country remains divided between a government in Tripoli that enjoys UN support and a rival authority based in Tobruk in the east.

Salame said shoring up Libya's institutions means stepping away from "the basic competition between individuals, who tell you they represent big tribes until you discover that they represent very little."

Under Kadhafi's four decades of authoritarian rule, Libya was devoid of functioning state institutions as the leader "cemented his power by systematically destroying institutions."

In his action plan, the UN envoy hopes to set a course to elections, by beginning voter registration in December and convening a national conference in February to draw a consensus about elections.

- No fourth government -

It remains unclear whether Libya will hold presidential, legislative and local elections at the same time and no timetable has been set for the polls.

"I haven't decided yet," said Salame. "The country is not ready for any election. For elections to be held, there are technical, political and security conditions that have to be met. None of these are currently there."

A referendum on a new constitution is also planned, said the former Lebanese culture minister.

Salame insists that elections in Libya must not deepen divisions.

"The thing that leaves me panicked is the idea that we could hold elections that would create a third parliament and the same result for the government," he said.

"In Libya there must be a recognition that elections are to replace Mister X with Mister Y and not add Mister Y to Mister X," he said.

On Libya's many divisions, Salame said there are currently "two governments that are holding on from previous periods" and a third formed from the 2015 political deal.

"I don't want a fourth government" in Libya, he said.

Elections can be held if the "main actors make a commitment that whoever is elected will replace what currently exists, and will not be added on to what currently exists."
This picture taken on November 17, 2017 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency shows Song Tao attending a meeting with Choe Ryong-Hae (2nd R)

A senior Chinese envoy discussed regional concerns with officials in Pyongyang on Saturday, North Korean state media said, as the US presses China to help ease the standoff over the North's nuclear weapons.

The visit by Song Tao, described by Pyongyang as a special envoy of President Xi Jinping, is the first by a senior Chinese envoy for more than a year.

Relations are severely stressed over Pyongyang's nuclear sabre-rattling and Beijing's support for tough UN sanctions on its neighbour.

"The two sides exchanged their views on such matters of mutual concern as the situation of the Korean peninsula and region and bilateral relations," the official KCNA news agency said in describing Song's talks with Ri Su-Yong, a senior ruling party leader, and other officials.

Relations between the two communist neighbours, once said by Mao Zedong to be "as close as lips and teeth", are at their worst in decades over North Korea's actions, and Beijing faces pressure from US President Donald Trump to pile pressure on Pyongyang.

Song, who arrived on Friday, met that day with Choe Ryong-Hae, another senior official in North Korea's ruling party and a close aide to leader Kim Jong-Un.

Each side's account of the meeting with Choe mentioned that both sides stressed the importance of their longstanding ties.

- 'Common treasure' -

A Chinese Communist Party report on the Choe-Song talks said they agreed that mutual ties were "the common treasure of the two peoples" and that both sides "should make concerted efforts" to maintain them.

The United States wants China, which accounts for 90 percent of North Korea's foreign trade, to apply more economic pressure.

Trump, who warned Xi during his trip to Beijing this month that time was "quickly running out" to solve the nuclear crisis, took to Twitter on Thursday to hail Song's mission as "a big move, we'll see what happens!"

But experts have expressed doubt it will yield breakthroughs, saying Beijing has far less political influence on Kim than is thought despite the economic ties.

"Relations are extremely stressed. Perhaps the lowest point since the Korean War. Perhaps (the mission) will put a floor under China-North Korea relations, preventing further deterioration," said Bonnie Glaser, China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

China has imposed its own banking restrictions on North Koreans in addition to enforcing a series of UN measures that include bans on imports of coal, iron ore and seafood from the North.

But Beijing fears that squeezing Pyongyang too hard would cause its collapse. Analysts say Song's trip is probably aimed more at urging Kim's regime not to escalate tensions rather than applying real pressure for disarmament.

As nuclear tensions have soared, Xi has pushed for negotiations and a "dual track approach" in which the United States would freeze its military drills in South Korea while North Korea halts its weapons programmes.

Trump claimed this week that Xi had agreed during their talks last week to drop that approach, but Beijing subsequently stood by the policy.
Muslims account for about 10 percent of Sri Lanka's 21 million people and are the second largest minority group after Tamils

Sri Lanka deployed troops and ordered a night-time curfew in a southern town to end violent clashes between two ethnic communities, the government said Saturday.

Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayaka said the situation in Gintota in Galle province was under control, two days after a brawl degenerated into street violence between two groups -- one Sinhalese, the country's mainly Buddhist majority, the other from the Muslim minority.

"Additional police battalions, the police Special Task Force, the anti-riot squad and the military were called in last night to bring the situation under control," the minister said in a statement.

Six people injured in the clashes were admitted to hospital in Galle city, 115 kilometres (72 miles) south of the capital Colombo, according to local police who arrested 19 people.

It was not clear what triggered the clashes, with accounts varying between a road accident and a land dispute.

The government relaxed the curfew Saturday morning with a warning that police would arrest any instigators.

Ratnayaka blamed local politicians for attempting to exploit the unrest.

"Some political groups are now on a desperate mission to turn this minor brawl into a Sinhala-Muslim clash. I urge the public not to be misled by their false propaganda," the minister said.

Muslims account for about 10 percent of Sri Lanka's 21 million people and are the second largest minority group after Tamils. Sinhalese make up over 70 percent of the population.

Authorities said they were keen to avoid a repeat of violence seen in June 2014 when four people were killed and several injured in clashes between the two communities in the same region.

That unrest was blamed on a radical Buddhist extremist group whose leaders are currently facing several court cases for instigating inter-faith violence.
A supporter of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party paints over the party logo at its headquarters after the party was banned

Two Cambodian journalists were charged on Saturday with spying over news reports they allegedly filed to US-based Radio Free Asia, amid a sweeping government crackdown on dissent that has tipped the country's democracy into crisis.

The reporters were detained on Tuesday night, days before Cambodia's main opposition party was dissolved over accusations it conspired with the US in a treason plot.

That case was blasted by Washington as baseless and decried by rights groups as hastening the country's descent into a de facto one-party state led by authoritarian premier Hun Sen.

The ruling capped a protracted clampdown aimed at silencing Hun Sen's political rivals, outspoken NGOS and independent media before an election in 2018. Radio Free Asia was forced to shut its bureau in September after 20 years due to a series of legal threats.

The former RFA journalists -- Oun Chhin and Yeang Sothearin -- now face up to 15 years in jail for allegedly running an illegal media studio from a guesthouse in the capital, according to police.

After seeing "enough grounds, the prosecutor at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court decided to charge them with providing a foreign state information that is destructive to the national defence", said court spokesman Ly Sophana.

The US-funded RFA, a crucial source of independent Khmer-language broadcasting, slammed the arrests as part of Hun Sen's "cynical campaign of persecution".

Spokesman Rohit Mahajan said the reporters have not had any relationship with RFA since the station closed its Phnom Penh bureau in September.

"Therefore the charges brought in court today have absolutely no basis in reality," he told AFP by email.

Hun Sen, a firebrand ultra-nationalist in power since 1985, has been leaning heavily on anti-American rhetoric to justify the unprecedented clampdown.

That has rattled relations with Washington, which on Friday demanded the immediate reversal of the ruling against the opposition party -- saying it had stripped the 2018 poll of any legitimacy.

A spokesman for Hun Sen's ruling party said the country would be fine without American backing.

The widening rift is the latest chapter in a complex history between the two nations.

After pounding Cambodia with bombs during the Vietnam War, the US went on to become one of its biggest donors as the kingdom rebuilt from the ashes of the brutal Khmer Rouge era of 1975-79.

But America's influence has waned significantly in recent years as China muscles into Southeast Asia, propping up authoritarian leaders like Hun Sen with aid and investment free of pressure on human rights.

Critics say Beijing's backing has given Hun Sen the confidence to drop even the facade of respecting a free press and other democratic institutions.
Pakistani police on guard in Balochistan: the province is home to several insurgencies

The bullet-riddled bodies of five Pakistani migrants believed headed for Europe via Iran were found on Saturday in southwest Pakistan, in the same area where 15 bodies were discovered three days earlier, officials said.

The five migrants whose corpses were found in the district of Ketch in Balochistan province near the Iranian border had been killed two days ago, said provincial government spokesman Anwaar ul Haq.

As with the previous 15 they were ethnic Punjabis who were illegally travelling to Iran, he said.

Senior administration official Akbar Harifal said the killings seemed to be the work of separatist groups. The army said a separatist leader believed to have murdered the 15 had been killed.

Baloch separatists have regularly targeted ethnic Punjabi workers, accusing them of exploiting the province.

People-traffickers use the Balochistan route to smuggle workers from Punjab province to European countries via Iran. Some die on the way due to harsh conditions or attacks by Baloch separatists.

The army said troops on Friday killed a Baloch militant commander, Younas Taukali, 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of the area where the bodies of the migrant workers were recovered.

"Terrorist Younas was involved in killing 15 innocent people belonging to Punjab on Nov 15," an army statement said, adding he had also ambushed security force convoys and killed many civilians.

Balochistan, which borders both Iran and Afghanistan, is afflicted by Islamist militancy and sectarian violence as well as the separatist insurgency.
Supporters of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri hold up placards demanding his return home after his shock resignation announcement from Saudi Arabia

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who has not returned to Beirut since his surprise resignation two weeks ago, will be home for Independence Day on Wednesday, the president's office said.

Hariri telephoned President Michel Aoun after arriving in France from Saudi Arabia on Saturday morning, the presidency said in a statement.

"PM Hariri told the president that he would be in Lebanon to take part in Independence Day celebrations, especially the military parade marking the occasion, on Wednesday," it said.

Hariri flew to Paris at the invitation of France's President Emmanuel Macron, who is attempting to broker a solution to a political crisis that has raised fears for Lebanon's fragile democracy.

Hariri, a dual Saudi citizen who has previously enjoyed Riyadh's backing, announced his resignation on November 4 in a televised address from the kingdom.

He said he feared for his life and accused Iran and its powerful Lebanese ally Hezbollah of destabilising the country.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri (L) joins other officials at Independence Day celebrations in Beirut on November 22, 2016 shortly after his nomination

The shock announcement sparked fears that Lebanon was being caught up in rising tensions between regional arch rivals, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Hariri's failure to return from Saudi Arabia only added to the concerns, prompting claims he was being held hostage.

Aoun has refused to accept Hariri's resignation from abroad, insisting he return home to confirm it or withdraw it.
Members of the Iraqi forces cheer as they carry an upside-down flag of the Islamic State (IS) group in Mosul on July 2, 2017

Its "caliphate" has imploded, its de facto capitals in Iraq and Syria have fallen, and hundreds of its fighters have either surrendered or fled.

The Islamic State jihadist group may not be dead yet but its dream of statehood has already been buried, analysts say.

No one in IS "will now think of imposing 'the territory of the caliphate'," said Hisham al-Hashemi, an Iraqi specialist on extremist movements.

In 2014, self-proclaimed IS "caliph" Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ruled over seven million people in a territory as large as Italy encompassing large parts of Syria and nearly a third of Iraq.

Retreat of the Islamic State group

This new "territory of Islam" -- Dar al-Islam in Arabic -- attracted thousands of jihadists from around the world, many accompanied by their wives and children.

The city of Raqa became the de facto Syrian capital, while Baghdadi made his only public appearance in a mosque in Mosul, Iraq's second largest city and once a major Middle East trading hub.

In all of the cities the jihadist group controlled, the black banner of IS flew above the buildings of a new administration.

Courts, hospitals and other official bodies even issued birth or marriage certificates or verdicts and other decrees on IS letterhead.

But less than four years after its sweeping offensive stunned the world, IS has lost almost all of the territory it controlled along with the precious income from oilfields that funded its activities.

Islamic State group chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only known public appearance as "caliph" at a mosque in Mosul in 2014

"In the course of recent battles, especially Mosul, a huge number of jihadis have died," said Kirk Sowell, publisher of Inside Iraqi Politics.

"Subsequent to that defeat, many others have surrendered or simply fled the country or are trying to melt into the population."

According to the US-led coalition fighting IS, the jihadists have lost 95 percent of the cross-border caliphate they declared in 2014.

- Ever-tightening noose -

Hashemi said that after suffering such heavy losses, "even what might remain of IS would not think of returning" to the idea of military and administrative control of territory.

A member of the Iraqi forces carries a machine gun in a pickup truck during an operation to retake the town of Rawa from the Islamic State group on November 17, 2017

And the routed group has been confined in Iraq to "four percent of the territory: wadis, oases and desert areas" without any population, along the porous border with Syria where it has also been cornered into an ever-tightening noose.

In addition to the Syrian and Iraqi armies, the remaining jihadists face myriad forces backed by Russia, the United States or Iran, often at odds with each other over their differing regional interests.

"The caliphate project ran up against geopolitical realities," according to Karim Bitar of the Paris-based Institute of International and Strategic Affairs.

As a result, "the international jihadi galaxy is likely to revert to its previous strategy of de-territorialisation and revert to strikes against the 'distant enemy' in the West or Russia to show it must still be reckoned with," he added.

There is already a figurehead waiting in the wings.

IS was born of the ashes of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Al-Qaeda before it, and Hashemi said that despite the "caliphate" going down in flames, a new organisation is beginning to emerge.

"Most veterans of IS and Al-Qaeda in Iraq are now regrouping in Syria" where jihadist groups still occupy many areas, he said.

These fighters -- "the most indoctrinated and most disciplined" -- have since September been forming the "Ansar al-Furqan group, led by Hamza bin Laden", the son and would-be heir of Osama bin Laden.

The younger bin Laden has become active as an Al-Qaeda propagandist since his father's death at the hands of US special forces in 2011 in Pakistan.

In January, the United States added Hamza bin Laden to its terrorist blacklist.

His father may be dead, but the bin Laden name continues to attract recruits, Hashemi said.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, the former political prisoner turned guerrilla leader, swept to power in 1980

Zimbabwe's veteran leader Robert Mugabe once quipped that he'd rule his country until he turned 100.

But the 93-year-old's decades-long grip on power appears to be slipping with the streets filled with protesters calling for his removal and top party leaders abandoning him in droves.

First heralded as a liberator who rid the former British colony Rhodesia of white minority rule, Robert Gabriel Mugabe was soon cast in the role of a despot who crushed political dissent and ruined the national economy.

After years behind bars as a political prisoner, Mugabe then led a bloody liberation war, which coupled with sanctions, forced the Rhodesian government to the negotiating table, with the country finally winning independence as Zimbabwe in 1980.

In elections that year, Mugabe swept to power as prime minister, initially winning international plaudits for his policy of racial reconciliation and for extending improved education and health services to the black majority.

But his lustre faded quickly.

- Stamping out dissent -

After his release from prison in 1974, Mugabe had taken over as head of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) which joined forces in the liberation struggle with Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU).

Nkomo was one of the early casualties of Mugabe's crackdown on dissent.

In 1982, he was dismissed from government, where he held the home affairs portfolio, after the discovery of an arms cache in his Matabeleland stronghold.

Mugabe, whose party drew most of its support from the ethnic Shona majority, then unleashed his North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade on Nkomo's Ndebele people in a campaign that left an estimated 20,000 people dead.

It was the seizure of white-owned farms nearly two decades later that would complete Mugabe's transformation from darling of the West into international pariah -- though his status as a liberation hero still resonates in many parts of Africa.

Aimed largely at placating angry war veterans who threatened to destabilise his rule, the land reform policy wrecked the crucial agricultural sector, caused foreign investors to flee and helped plunge the country into economic misery.

At the same time, critics say, Mugabe clung to power through increased repression of human rights and by rigging elections.

- 'A reptilian quality' -

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II with President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and his wife, Grace, sfter visiting Buckingham Palace in 1997

"He was a great leader whose leadership degenerated to a level where he really brought Zimbabwe to its knees," said University of South Africa professor Shadrack Gutto.

Britain's former foreign secretary Peter Carrington knew Mugabe well, having mediated the Lancaster House talks that paved the way for Zimbabwe's independence.

"Mugabe wasn't human at all," Carrington told biographer Heidi Holland.

"There was a sort of reptilian quality about him.

"You could admire his skills and intellect... but he was an awfully slippery sort of person."

In the final decades of his rule, Mugabe -- one of the world's most recognisable leaders with his thin stripe of moustache and thick-rimmed spectacles -- has embraced his new role as the antagonist of the West.

He used blistering rhetoric to blame his country's downward spiral on Western sanctions, though they were targeted personally at Mugabe and his henchmen rather than at Zimbabwe's economy.

- Pre-dawn workouts? -

"If people say you are dictator... you know they are saying this merely to tarnish and demean your status, then you don't pay much attention," he said in a 2013 documentary.

After decades in which the subject of succession was virtually taboo, a vicious struggle to take over after his death became apparent among the party elite as he reached his 90s and became visibly frail.

He had been rumoured for years to have prostate cancer, but according to the official account, his frequent trips to Singapore were related to his treatment for cataracts.

Mugabe's second wife Grace -- his former secretary who is 41 years his junior and has been seen as a potential successor -- boasted that even in his 80s he would rise before dawn to work out.

"It's true I was dead. I resurrected as I always do once I get back to my country. I am real again," he joked in 2016 after returning from a foreign trip, mocking rumours that he had died.

But in his later years, he has stumbled and fallen more than once and delivered the wrong speech at the opening of parliament last year.

- The Catholic Marxist -

School children hold an image of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe during the country's 37th Independence Day celebrations at the National Sports Stadium in Harare in April 2017

Born on February 21, 1924 into a Catholic family at Kutama Mission northwest of Harare, Mugabe was described as a loner, and a studious child known to carry a book even while tending cattle in the bush.

After his carpenter father walked out on the family when he was 10, the young Mugabe concentrated on his studies, qualifying as a schoolteacher at the age of 17.

An intellectual who initially embraced Marxism, he enrolled at Fort Hare University in South Africa, meeting many of southern Africa's future black nationalist leaders.

After teaching in Ghana, where he was influenced by founder president Kwame Nkrumah, Mugabe returned to Rhodesia where he was detained for his nationalist activities in 1964 and spent the next 10 years in prison camps or jail.

During his incarceration, he gained three degrees through correspondence, but the years in prison left their mark.

His four-year-old son by his first wife, Ghanaian-born Sally Francesca Hayfron, died while he was behind bars. Rhodesian leader Ian Smith denied him leave to attend the funeral.

Years later, Mugabe had two sons and a daughter by second wife Grace.

The ambition of the First Lady, who had been viewed as a front-runner to replace her husband, is widely seen by analysts as the catalyst for the military takeover as the army refused to accept her as Mugabe's successor.

"His real obsession was not with personal wealth but with power," said biographer Martin Meredith.

"Year after year Mugabe sustained his rule through violence and repression -- crushing political opponents, violating the courts, trampling on property rights, suppressing the independent press and rigging elections."

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French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris

Prime Minister Saad Hariri said he will return to Lebanon for Wednesday's Independence Day celebrations and explain his situation, after his shock resignation announcement in Saudi Arabia sparked political turmoil.

Speaking after talks in Paris on Saturday with French President Emmanuel Macron, who is seeking to broker a way out of the crisis, Hariri said he would "make known my position" once back in Beirut.

"As you know I have resigned, and we will discuss that in Lebanon," he told reporters, saying he needed to meet with President Michel Aoun before taking further steps.

The news follows two weeks of deep uncertainty after Hariri's surprise announcement to step down on November 4.

His failure to return to Lebanon since sparked rumours that he was being held in Riyadh against his will, which both he and Saudi officials denied.

"To say that I am held up in Saudi Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie," he said in a Twitter post just before flying to Paris overnight.

Hariri's wife and eldest son Houssam joined him for lunch with Macron at the Elysee Palace, but their two younger children, who live in Saudi Arabia, have remained there "for their school exams", a source close to the premier said.

After the meeting, Macron's office said the president will "continue to take all necessary initiatives for Lebanon's stability."

"We are helping to ease tensions in the region," the Elysee Palace added.

Hariri's mysterious decision to step down -- which president Aoun has refused to accept while Hariri remains abroad -- has raised fears over Lebanon's fragile democracy.

Hariri's camp has sought to allay the concerns, with a source saying the premier had a "fruitful and constructive" meeting with the powerful Saudi crown prince.

Saad Hariri's shock resignation has triggered a political crisis which has raised fears over Lebanon's fragile democracy

Hariri -- whose father, ex-prime minister Rafiq Hariri, was killed in a 2005 car bombing blamed on Hezbollah -- took over last year as head of a shaky national unity government which includes the powerful Shiite movement.

A dual Saudi citizen who has previously enjoyed Riyadh's backing, he resigned saying he feared for his life.

He accused Saudi Arabia's arch-rival Iran and its powerful Lebanese ally Hezbollah of destabilising his country.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir meanwhile insisted from Madrid on Friday that "unless Hezbollah disarms and becomes a political party, Lebanon will be held hostage by Hezbollah and, by extension, Iran".

- Battle for influence -

Saad Hariri

Hariri's resignation was widely seen as an escalation of the battle for influence between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, which back opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

His attempt to step down also coincides with a purge of more than 200 Saudi princes, ministers and businessmen.

Riyadh on Saturday recalled its ambassador to Berlin in protest at comments by Germany's Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel which were interpreted as a suggestion that Hariri acted under Saudi orders.

Without mentioning Saudi Arabia directly, Gabriel had said Thursday that he shared concerns about the threat of instability and bloodshed in Lebanon and warned against "adventurism".

"Lebanon has earned the right to decide on its fate by itself and not become a pinball of Syria or Saudi Arabia or other national interests," he had said earlier in the week.

Germany's foreign ministry had yet to comment on the row, but in a statement it welcomed Hariri's "imminent return to Lebanon".

- 'Start of a solution' -

Supporters Saad Hariri hold placards demanding his return from Saudi Arabia on the starting line of Beirut's annual marathon

France's intervention was the latest in a string of European efforts to defuse tensions over Lebanon, where divisions between Hariri's Sunni bloc and Shiite Hezbollah have long been a focal point in a broader struggle between Riyadh and Tehran.

Paris, which held mandate power over Lebanon for the first half of the 20th century, plans to bring together international support for Lebanon, depending on how the situation develops.

The French president has also telephoned his counterparts in the US and Egypt, Donald Trump and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, as well as the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss "the situation in the Middle East".

He and Trump "agreed on the need to work with allies to counter Hizballah's and Iran's destabilizing activities in the region", according to a White House statement Saturday.

However, Macron told reporters Friday that France wanted "dialogue" with Iran and aimed to "build peace... not to choose one side over another".

Ahead of Hariri's departure, Aoun -- an ally of Hezbollah -- welcomed the trip to Paris, expressing hope that it was the "start of a solution".

"If Mr Hariri speaks from France, I would consider that he speaks freely," Aoun said.

"But his resignation must be presented in Lebanon, and he will have to remain there until the formation of the new government."
Indian paramilitary troopers after a gunfight in Kashmir in October: there have been clashes for decades in the disputed region

Six suspected rebels and an air force commando were killed Saturday in a fierce gunfight in Indian-administered Kashmir which also injured another soldier, the Indian army said.

The shootout began when soldiers cordoned off a neighbourhood in the northern area of Hajin after a tip-off that armed militants were hiding there, said army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia.

"Six terrorists have been killed in the encounter," Kalia told AFP.

"One IAF (India Air Force) soldier was martyred and another army soldier was injured."

On Friday a militant and a police officer were killed in the outskirts of the main city of Srinagar during a brief shootout.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Both claim the former Himalayan kingdom in full.

Rebel groups have for decades fought Indian soldiers and paramilitaries deployed in the disputed region, demanding independence or a merger of the territory with Pakistan.

The fighting has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead.

India accuses Pakistan of sending fighters across their de facto border in Kashmir to launch attacks on its forces.

Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only provides moral and diplomatic support for the Kashmiri struggle for the right to self-determination.
Miss India Manushi Chhilar wins the 67th Miss World contest final in Sanya, on the tropical Chinese island of Hainan

An Indian medical student was crowned Miss World at a glitzy event in a Chinese resort on Saturday, making her country the joint-most successful in the beauty pageant's history.

Manushi Chhillar is the sixth Indian winner of the long-running contest, following in the footsteps of Bollywood actresses Priyanka Chopra and Aishwarya Rai.

Her win brings India level with Venezuela as the countries with most victories in the history of the pageant, now in its 67th edition.

Chhillar, 20, is a trained Indian classical dancer who also enjoys painting and hopes to open a chain of non-profit hospitals in rural areas, according to the Miss World website.

Miss World 2016 Stephanie Del Valle crowns Miss India Manushi Chhilar after she wins the 67th Miss World contest final in Sanya, on the tropical Chinese island of Hainan

"Thank you, everyone, for your constant love, support," and prayers she wrote on Twitter. "This one's for India."

Chhillar's victory rapidly became a top trending topic on the social media platform in India after the announcement, with Manohar Lal Khattar -- the minister of her home state of Haryana -- among the first to offer congratulations.

Chhillar was handed the crown by last year's winner, Stephanie del Valle of Puerto Rico, at the ceremony in the Chinese coastal city of Sanya on Saturday night.

Stephanie Hill of England and Andrea Meza of Mexico finished as runners-up.

Saturday marked the Miss World pageant's return to Sanya, on southern China's Hainan Island, for a seventh time, where the event was last held in 2015.

At the previous occasion two years ago, controversy erupted as officials in Hong Kong stopped Miss Canada, Anastasia Lin, from boarding a plane bound for Sanya, telling her she would not receive a visa.

Miss World 2016 Stephanie Del Valle congratulates Miss India Manushi Chhilar after she wins the 67th Miss World contest final

The 25-year old actress claimed the decision was due to her stance on China's human rights record, including its persecution of Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual group of which she is a practitioner.

At last year's event in the United States, Lin was again embroiled in controversy when pageant officials reportedly warned her against speaking to the press for three weeks about human rights abuses in China.

Miss Lin did not participate in this year's event, with Canada represented instead by Cynthia Menard, a high school student.

burs-amz/dcr
Israeli soldiers stand guard near the Israeli-Syrian border next to the town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan Heights on November 4, 2017, a day after an attack in the Syrian Druze village of Hader

An Israeli tank fired a warning shot on Saturday at a Syrian military position in the demilitarised zone in the northern Golan Heights following construction work there, the army said.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli army told AFP that the Syrian army work "violated the 1974 ceasefire agreement" which "prohibits the entry of heavy construction tools or military vehicles into the demilitarised zone".

"In response, the IDF complained to UNDOF (the UN Disengagement Observer Force) and fired a warning shot towards the area using a tank," the spokeswoman said.

She would not confirm reports that the incident took place near the Syrian government-controlled Druze village of Hader, which was targeted by rebel forces two weeks ago.

The attack on Hader, which began with a suicide bomber blowing up a car and killing nine people, raised concern among Golan Druze for the fate of their co-religionists at the hands of Sunni extremists of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group.

The incident had prompted the Israeli army to issue a rare statement pledging to "prevent Hader from being harmed or occupied".

On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signalled that Israel would take military action in Syria when it sees fit as it seeks to ensure Iran-backed forces stay away from its territory.

"I have made it clear to our friends, first of all in Washington and also to our friends in Moscow, that Israel will act in Syria -- including in southern Syria -- according to our understanding and according to our security needs," he said.

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres (460 square miles) of the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.
Rohingya refugees walk through water at Bangladesh's Thankhali refugee camp

China has offered to help defuse the Rohingya crisis, Bangladesh said Saturday, following meetings with Beijing's top diplomat that Dhaka hopes will apply pressure on Myanmar take back hundreds of thousands of refugees.

More than 600,000 Rohingya are languishing in Bangladeshi refugee camps after fleeing a brutal Myanmar army campaign launched in late August.

The UN says the scorched-earth operation, which has left hundreds of villages burned to ash in northern Rakhine state, amounts to ethnic cleansing.

Bangladesh, which already hosted some 250,000 Rohingya before the current exodus, wants the latest arrivals to return swiftly and is keen to enlist help from China, a staunch ally of Myanmar.

Foreign Minister A. H. Mahmood Ali held talks in Dhaka on Saturday with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi over the issue.

"When the issue of exodus of displaced Myanmar nationals was raised, the Chinese Foreign Minister stated that as a friend China will help resolve the issue and will not be partial to any side," Bangladesh foreign ministry said in a statement after the talks.

The statement added Wang stressed the "importance of continued consultations and dialogue between Bangladesh and Myanmar on the issue."

No details were given on what concrete steps Beijing might take.

Myanmar has faced growing international anger over its treatment of the Rohingya but China has helped shield the country from censure.

Earlier this month the UN Security Council dropped plans to adopt a resolution demanding an end to the violence in Myanmar in the face of strong opposition from China.

According to Bangladesh's private news agency UNB, Wang held a briefing for a small number of local media at China's embassy in Dhaka where he said Beijing supports "a proper solution of the problems through bilateral channels".

But he warned against further moves at the UN to criticise or punish Myanmar.

Wang is the first of a host of foreign ministers from Asia and Europe who are visiting Bangladesh for talks on a refugee crisis that has left the impoverished nation reeling.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Ali will take his counterparts from Germany, Sweden and Japan, together with the European Union's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini, to the border town of Cox's Bazar on Sunday to see the camps.

Refugees are penned inside vast, squalid camps, and UNICEF estimates that 25,000 children are suffering from severe malnutrition that could easily become a major killer.

The ministers will also meet Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed in principle to begin repatriation of the Rohingya but are still tussling over the details.

Yet on Thursday Myanmar's powerful army chief distanced himself from any suggestion of a quick return. The Rohingya, he said, could only return if Buddhist citizens accepted them -- a highly unlikely scenario given that the minority are so widely loathed and ostracised inside Myanmar.
A Syrian Sukhoi Su-22 over the rebel-held besieged town of Arbin in the Eastern Ghouta region on November 18, 2017

At least 14 civilians including a young girl were killed by Syrian regime bombardment of the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus on Saturday, a monitor said.

Ten of the victims were killed by air strikes and another four died in rocket fire, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

It said another 40 people were wounded and the death toll was likely to rise.

At a medical centre near the town of Hazza, an AFP photographer saw wounded children and a child's body wrapped in plastic.

A wounded child on a bed at a makeshift hospital in the Eastern Ghouta town of Kafr Batna on November 18, 2017

Saturday's government raids come after an attack on Tuesday by the Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham on a military base near the town of Harasta.

On Friday, regime bombardments killed at least 19 people, including six children, mostly in the city of Douma.

The deaths came amid an escalation in tit-for-tat attacks between regime forces and rebels holding the enclave on the capital's eastern outskirts.

Retaliatory shelling of Damascus on Thursday and Friday by rebels killed nine people.

The official SANA news agency said on Saturday rebel shelling of the city killed one person and wounded 20.

Eastern Ghouta is supposed to be part of a "de-escalation zone" under a deal between Russia, Iran and Turkey aimed at reducing the level of violence.

President Bashar al-Assad's forces have besieged Eastern Ghouta since 2013, and humanitarian conditions in the area, where some 400,000 people live, are dire.

More than 330,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the Syrian war, which began in 2011 as the regime brutally crushed anti-government protests. Millions have been displaced.
The number of people arriving by sea in Spain has nearly tripled over the last year to 17,687

Around 600 African migrants were rescued off the coast of Spain in 24 hours, a sea rescue patrol said Saturday.

The Guardia Civil and Salvamento Maritimo rescue service added that operations to recover further migrants were still under way.

Spain is the third busiest gateway for migrants arriving in Europe, but far behind Italy and Greece. However, the number of people arriving by sea in Spain has nearly tripled over the last year to 17,687.

Many Africans undertaking the long route to Europe are choosing to avoid crossing danger-ridden Libya to get to Italy along the so-called central Mediterranean route, and choosing instead to get there via Morocco and Spain.

On Saturday, most of the migrants arrived in the south-eastern region of Murcia, where 431 people aboard 41 makeshift boats were discovered.

Patrols found more than 110 people in the Alboran Sea, between Morocco and Spain's Andalusian coast.

Operations were also conducted in the Strait of Gibraltar, recovering 48 people on four makeshift boats.

The rescues were carried out by the Navy, the Guardia Civil police and Salvamento Maritimo.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) close to 160,000 people have made the dangerous crossing to Europe this year and almost 3,000 more died or went missing while trying.
President of the Democratic Republic of Congo Joseph Kabila (L) was scheduled to have stepped down in December 2016 after a constitutional maximum of two terms in office

Police in DR Congo Saturday fired on an opposition rally, injuring six protesters denouncing the extended rule of President Joseph Kabila, a lawmaker said.

"The police fired on our militants, injuring six of them, even though we had permission to hold our meeting," said Delly Sesanga MP, president of Envol, a member of the opposition coalition.

He claimed that he himself had been "assaulted and kidnapped for more than three hours" during the incident in Kenge, east of the capital.

However, according to a statement by the national police, only one protester was wounded in the head, and that was caused by stones thrown by other demonstrators.

The police "fired in the air to disperse a crowd that had not been approved by Kenge City Hall", said Emery Kaputa Vita, deputy governor of Kwango Province, where Kenge, some 270 kilometres (170 miles) from Kinshasa, said.

The opposition coalition and other citizens' movements are against the vote schedule published by the electoral commission in the DR Congo.

It predicts that the presidential election will be held on December 23, 2018, extending Joseph Kabila's term as head of the country by a year.

Kabila was scheduled to have stepped down in December 2016 after a constitutional maximum of two terms in office.

Those against President Kabila's stay in power are mobilising force his departure by 31 December, 2017 at the latest.

On Thursday, the European Union, the United States, Switzerland and Canada expressed "concern" at the state of freedoms of expression and assembly in the DR Congo, following a day of protest and a crackdown by security forces.

The opposition are considering a "peaceful demonstration" in Kinshasa on November 28, according to a letter seen by AFP.
BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraqi forces backed by the U.S.-led coalition retook on Friday the last town in the country that was held by the Islamic State group, more than three years after the militants stormed nearly a third of Iraqi territory, the Defense Ministry's spokesman said.

At dawn, Iraqi military units and local tribal fighters pushed into the western neighborhoods of Rawah in western Anbar province and after just five hours of fighting they retook the town, according to Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool.

Rawah, 175 miles (275 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, lies along the Euphrates River Valley near the border town of Qaim that Iraqi forces retook from IS earlier this month.

FILE - In thisFILE - In this Tuesday, July 22, 2014, file photo, a sign is posted at a checkpoint belonging to the Islamic State group, captured from the Iraqi Army, at the main entrance of Rawah, 175 miles (281 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq. Arabic reads, "Islamic State, the Emirate of Anbar, City of Rawah." Iraq's Defense Ministry said Friday, Nov. 17, 2017 Iraqi forces have retaken the last IS-held town in the country, more than three years after the militant group stormed nearly a third of Iraqi territory.(AP Photo, File)

U.S.-led coalition forces supported the operations to retake Rawah and Qaim with intelligence, airstrikes and advisers, coalition spokesman Ryan Dillon said.

IS blitzed across Iraq's north and west in the summer of 2014, capturing Iraq's second-largest city of Mosul and advancing to the edges of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Later that year the United States began a campaign of airstrikes against the militants that fueled Iraqi territorial gains, allowing the military to retake Mosul in July this year.

All that now remains of IS-held Iraq are patches of rural territory in the country's vast western desert along the border with Syria.

IS has steadily been losing ground across the border in Syria as well where its so-called "caliphate" has basically crumbled with the loss of the city of Raqqa, the former Islamic State group's capital, which fell to the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in October.

Both the U.S. and Russia have embedded special forces with their respective partners and are supporting their advances with airstrikes. Russia backs Syrian government forces of President Bashar Assad.

The last urban areas controlled by the militants in Syria are the border town of Boukamal and a patch of territory near the capital, Damascus, and in central Hama province.

Syrian government forces, backed by Russian troops and Iranian-backed militias, originally pushed IS out of Boukamal earlier this month, but the militants retook a large part of the town, mostly its northern neighborhoods days later. Since then, IS has repelled government forces trying to push back into the town.

Meanwhile, U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces are also approaching Boukamal from the eastern side of the Euphrates.

Despite IS' significant territorial losses, the group's media arm remains intact, allowing it to still recruit supporters and inspire new attacks. Iraqi and American officials say IS militants are expected to continue carrying out insurgent-style attacks in Syria, Iraq and beyond.

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Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report.
CLEVELAND (AP) - A convicted sex offender has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after being caught trying to record people taking showers at an Ohio state campground east of Cleveland.

Cleveland.com reports 60-year-old James Sullivan was sentenced Thursday in Youngstown after pleading guilty in May to attempted production of child pornography and access with intent to view child pornography.

Sullivan was arrested in August 2015 after it was reported that someone was trying to record people taking showers at Geneva State Park. State troopers found a blanket, lotion and body fluids matched by DNA to Sullivan in an attic space above the showers.

Sullivan had previously served time in state prison for sexually assaulting girls.

His attorney says Sullivan's sexual proclivities have been an obstacle for him leading a normal life.

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Information from: cleveland.com, http://www.cleveland.com
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The wife of former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge says he's in the early stages of recovery from a heart attack, a day after undergoing an emergency heart procedure.

The 72-year-old Ridge remained hospitalized in critically stable condition Friday in Austin, Texas, where he had been attending a Republican Governors Association conference.

Michele Ridge says it's going to be "day-to-day." He was at his hotel when he called for help Thursday morning. She says first responders worked heroically to get her husband to the trauma center.

FILE - In this Jan. 3, 2012, file photo, former Pennsylvania Gov. and former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge introduces Republican presidential candidate former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman during a campaign event, in Peterborough, N.H. Ridge was in critical condition Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017, after undergoing an emergency heart procedure at a hospital in Austin. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

He underwent a cardiac catheterization and is now resting comfortably and responding to doctors

Ridge, a Republican, also was a two-term Pennsylvania governor from 1995 to 2001. He was the first homeland security secretary, serving under President George W. Bush until 2005.
PARIS (AP) - Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Saturday he will return home in the coming days from where he will declare a political stance for the first time since making a strange resignation announcement from Saudi Arabia that unleashed fears of a crisis in Lebanon.

Hariri and his family met Saturday with French President Emmanuel Macron, who invited the Lebanese leader to Paris to dispel fears that he was being held in Saudi Arabia against his will. Macron is seeking to calm tensions and avert a proxy conflict between Saudi-backed and Iranian-backed camps in Lebanon.

Hariri's appearance in Paris - looking relaxed and posing with his wife and older son on the steps of the Elysee Palace with the French presidential couple in front of a large crowd of journalists - contrasted with his limited-access, carefully choreographed appearances from Saudi Arabia.

French President Emmanuel Macron, second left, and his wife Brigitte, centre left, greet Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri, left, his wife Lara, center center and their son Hussam, right, upon their arrival at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Hariri arrived in France on Saturday from Saudi Arabia and may be back in Beirut next week, seeking to dispel fears that he had been held against his will and forced to resign by Saudi authorities.(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Hariri told Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Saturday that he will take part in Independence Day celebrations in Beirut on Wednesday, according to Macron's office.

After his meeting with Macron, Hariri told reporters: "God willing, I will attend Independence Day in Lebanon and will declare my political stance from Lebanon and after meeting President Michel Aoun."

"As you know I have resigned and we will talk about this matter in Lebanon," Hariri said after thanking Macron, who he added "expressed pure friendship toward me that I will never forget."

The independence day ceremony is usually headed by the president, prime minister and parliament speaker, and Hariri's presence could help calm uncertainties that have escalated since his strange and surprising resignation announcement on Nov. 4 from Saudi Arabia.

However, Hariri's political status is murky. Lebanon's president refused to accept Hariri's resignation, accusing the Saudis of holding him against his will.

A high official in Macron's office said Hariri's place is first in Beirut, "which is the only place where he can hand his resignation to the Lebanese head of state."

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with French presidential policy, found it normal that Hariri would keep any announcement about his political stance for his fellow citizens.

Before leaving Riyadh, Hariri dismissed as "rumors" reports about his alleged detention in the kingdom.

In his Nov. 4 televised resignation announcement, Hariri had cited Iran and Hezbollah for meddling in Arab countries, particularly Saudi Arabia. He also said he was afraid for his life.

Saudi Arabia on Saturday asked its citizens for the second time in less than two weeks to leave Lebanon "as soon as possible" given the "circumstances" there. That raised fears of more punitive actions to come.

The French presidential official said it is essential that Lebanon be protected from "negative" foreign influences because the country needs stability and a strong state. The official didn't name any specific nations but said Lebanon should be protected from the "dangers that regional crises can pose to it."

The Arab League is due to hold a meeting on Sunday in Cairo at Saudi Arabia's urging where the Lebanon crisis and Iran's role in the region are expected to be discussed.

Just before leaving Saudi Arabia, Hariri met with the Saudi Crown Prince and other senior officials, according to a member of Hariri's political party and two Lebanese television stations.

Hariri landed before dawn Saturday at an airport used for private jets in Le Bourget north of Paris, and came in a convoy to his Paris residence in a high-end neighborhood, where police stood guard. Hariri frequently stays in France thanks to decades-old family ties here.

Hariri held private talks with Macron and then they were joined by Hariri's wife Lara al-Azm and elder son Hussam and Macron's wife Brigitte for lunch.

Hariri's two younger son and daughter, Abdul-Aziz and Loulwa, remained in Saudi Arabia because they have school on Sunday, said Okab Saqr, a member of Hariri's parliamentary bloc.

The official with the French presidency said France is not worried that Hariri left two of his children in Saudi Arabia.

"We have no reason to be concerned about this," the French official said, answering questions about whether, as some have suggested, Saudi Arabia could use the children's whereabouts to maintain pressure on Hariri.

Hariri's exact next steps after his planned visit to Lebanon are unclear. A French official said Saturday that France is offering Hariri the necessary support during this time of political turmoil in his country. The official was not authorized to be publicly named.

Macron said he received Hariri "with the honors due a prime minister," even though he has announced his resignation, since Lebanon hasn't yet recognized it.

While Macron insists that he's not offering "exile," Hariri's return could be complicated by Lebanon's internal tensions.

During a phone call on Saturday morning, Macron and Aoun spoke about a return of Hariri to Lebanon that could help make Lebanese institutions "function normally again," the French presidential official said.

It's part of a broader Macron strategy to reassert French influence in the region, while the United States under President Donald Trump is increasingly seen as unpredictable or disengaged. Macron's office says France's strategy is to talk to all powers in the region and not to appear as choosing a camp.

___

Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Angela Charlton and Patrick Hermansen in Paris and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

French President Emmanuel Macron, center right, and his wife Brigitte, right, greet Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri, second left, his wife Lara, center left and their son Hussam upon their arrival at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Hariri arrived in France on Saturday from Saudi Arabia and may be back in Beirut next week, seeking to dispel fears that he had been held against his will and forced to resign by Saudi authorities.(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

French President Emmanuel Macron, center right, and his wife Brigitte, right, greet Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri, second left, his wife Lara, center left and their son Hussam upon their arrival at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Hariri arrived in France on Saturday from Saudi Arabia and may be back in Beirut next week, seeking to dispel fears that he had been held against his will and forced to resign by Saudi authorities.(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

French President Emmanuel Macron, center right, and his wife Brigitte, right, greet Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri, second left, his wife Lara, center left and their son Hussam upon their arrival at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Hariri arrived in France on Saturday from Saudi Arabia and may be back in Beirut next week, seeking to dispel fears that he had been held against his will and forced to resign by Saudi authorities.(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

French President Emmanuel Macron, right, greets Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri upon his arrival at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Hariri arrived in France on Saturday from Saudi Arabia and may be back in Beirut next week, seeking to dispel fears that he had been held against his will and forced to resign by Saudi authorities.(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

French President Emmanuel Macron, right, poses for photographers with Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri prior to their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Hariri arrived in France on Saturday from Saudi Arabia and may be back in Beirut next week, seeking to dispel fears that he had been held against his will and forced to resign by Saudi authorities.(AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, greets Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri upon his arrival at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Hariri arrived in France on Saturday from Saudi Arabia and may be back in Beirut next week, seeking to dispel fears that he had been held against his will and forced to resign by Saudi authorities.(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

French President Emmanuel Macron, right, greets Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri upon his arrival at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Hariri arrived in France on Saturday from Saudi Arabia and may be back in Beirut next week, seeking to dispel fears that he had been held against his will and forced to resign by Saudi authorities.(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

French President Emmanuel Macron, right, poses for photographers with Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri prior to their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Hariri arrived in France on Saturday from Saudi Arabia and may be back in Beirut next week, seeking to dispel fears that he had been held against his will and forced to resign by Saudi authorities.(AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

French President Emmanuel Macron, right, poses for photographers with Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri prior to their meetingl at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Hariri arrived in France on Saturday from Saudi Arabia and may be back in Beirut next week, seeking to dispel fears that he had been held against his will and forced to resign by Saudi authorities.(AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

French President Emmanuel Macron, right, greets Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri upon his arrival at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Hariri arrived in France on Saturday from Saudi Arabia and may be back in Beirut next week, seeking to dispel fears that he had been held against his will and forced to resign by Saudi authorities.(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, greets Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri upon his arrival at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Hariri arrived in France on Saturday from Saudi Arabia and may be back in Beirut next week, seeking to dispel fears that he had been held against his will and forced to resign by Saudi authorities.(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Two Cambodian journalists who worked for U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia were charged with espionage on Saturday, the latest targets in an intensifying crackdown on perceived opponents of the country's authoritarian prime minister.

The pair - Uon Chhin and Yeang Socheameta - were arrested Tuesday and are suspected of supplying information to a foreign state, a spokesman for the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, Ly Sophana, said.

The government of Prime Minister Hun Sen and its allies in the judiciary have been clamping down hard on critics in recent months, shutting down more than a dozen radio stations and dissolving the main opposition party this week.

In September, Radio Free Asia's Phnom Penh bureau closed its office in the Southeast Asian nation after operating for 20 years, citing government intimidation of the media, which it said had reached an "unprecedented level."

The same month, the independent English-language newspaper The Cambodia Daily was forced to shut down after being accused of not paying a huge tax bill - a charge it said was politically motivated.

The crackdown is seen as part of the Hun Sen government effort to neutralize political opponents ahead of elections next year.

Hun Sen has been in office since 1985 and has held a tight grip on power since ousting a co-prime minister in a bloody 1997 coup. Although Cambodia, ravaged by the murderous Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s, is now nominally a democratic state, its institutions remain fragile and the rule of law weak.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Giddy with joy and finally free to speak out, vast throngs of demonstrators turned Zimbabwe's capital into a carnival ground on Saturday in a peaceful outpouring of disdain for President Robert Mugabe and calls for him to quit immediately. Still clinging to his now-powerless post, the longtime leader was scheduled on Sunday to discuss his expected exit with the military command that put him under house arrest.

People in Harare clambered onto tanks and other military vehicles moving slowly through the crowds, danced around soldiers walking in city streets and surged in the thousands toward the building where Mugabe held official functions, a symbol of the rule of the 93-year-old man who took power after independence from white minority rule in 1980. There, in a situation that could have become tense, the protesters instead showed deference to the small number of soldiers blocking their way and eventually dispersed.

It was a historic day when the old Zimbabwe, a once-promising African nation with a disintegrating economy and a mood of fear about the consequences of challenging Mugabe, became something new, with a population united, at least temporarily, in its fervor for change and a joyful openness that would have seemed fanciful even a few days ago.

An army armored personnel carrier drives slowly through the gathered crowd of thousands demanding President Robert Mugabe stand down, on the road leading to State House in Harare, Zimbabwe Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. In a euphoric gathering that just days ago would have drawn a police crackdown, crowds marched through Zimbabwe's capital on Saturday to demand the departure of President Robert Mugabe, one of Africa's last remaining liberation leaders, after nearly four decades in power. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

The euphoria, however, will eventually subside, and much depends on the behind-the-scenes maneuvering to get Mugabe to officially resign, jumpstart a new leadership that could seek to be inclusive and reduce perceptions that the military staged a coup against Mugabe. The president was to meet military commanders on Sunday in a second round of talks, state broadcaster ZBC reported.

"The common enemy is Robert Mugabe. That's for starters," said 37-year-old Talent Mudzamiri, an opposition supporter who was born soon after Zimbabwe's independence.

He had a warning for whoever takes over Zimbabwe: "If the next leader does the same, we are going to come out again."

Many Zimbabweans believe the most likely candidate will be Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former vice president with close military ties whose dismissal by Mugabe triggered the intervention of the armed forces, which sent troops and tanks into the streets this week, effectively taking over the country. The increasing presidential ambitions of Mugabe's wife Grace, a polarizing figure who denounced Mnangagwa amid a factional battle within the ruling ZANU-PF party, alarmed those who feared a dynastic succession.

"Leadership is not sexually transmitted," read a poster at the Harare rallies. Other signs denounced "Gucci Grace," a reference to the first lady's record of high-end shopping expeditions outside Zimbabwe, which suffered hyperinflation in the past and is currently struggling with a cash shortage and massive unemployment.

The discussions over Mugabe's fate come ahead of a key ruling party congress next month, as well as scheduled elections next year.

The president, who is believed to be staying at his private home in Harare, a well-guarded compound known as the Blue Roof, is reported to have asked for more time in office. He has been deserted by most of his allies, with others arrested. The ruling party has turned on him, asking for a Central Committee meeting this weekend to recall both him and his wife, who heads the women's league of the party. Impeachment is also a possibility when Parliament resumes Tuesday.

Even as concerns remained about who next would be in charge and what freedoms might be available if the military lingers in power - or if Mugabe's recently fired deputy leads a new government - people reveled Saturday in the rare chance to express themselves freely.

In Harare, people ran through intersections, raising their arms in triumph. Young men shouted, laughed and embraced. Others danced on top of moving buses. One man stripped to his underwear and danced on a car roof.

Some marchers had posters with an image of the military commander who swept in to take control, with the slogan: "Go, go, our general!!!" Marchers handed flags to soldiers, who accepted and waved.

"It's like Christmas," said one marcher, Fred Mubay, who said Zimbabweans have been suffering for a long time.

Veterans of the long war against white minority rule, once close allies of Mugabe, took part in the demonstration, along with opposition activists who long have faced police crackdowns by the Mugabe government. Thousands gathered for speeches at the Zimbabwe Grounds, where Zimbabweans assembled to cheer Mugabe's return from exile in 1980 after the liberation war.

Elizabeth Sithole, 60, said her husband died in 2004, she lives with her children in a 2-room apartment and her business selling vegetables has collapsed. On Saturday, though, she had a big smile while standing near soldiers in downtown Harare.

"I'm very happy," she said.

___

Follow Christopher Torchia on Twitter at www.twitter.com/torchiachris

Protesters gather at a demonstration of tens of thousands at Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare, Zimbabwe Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Opponents of Mugabe are demonstrating for the ouster of the 93-year-old leader who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Crowds march on the streets of Harare, demanding the departure of President Robert Mugabe, Saturday Nov. 18, 2017. Opponents of Mugabe are demonstrating for the ouster of the 93-year-old leader who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

A happy protester pulls a face as he and others stand under a large national flag, at a demonstration of tens of thousands at Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare, Zimbabwe Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Opponents of Mugabe are demonstrating for the ouster of the 93-year-old leader who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

People gather to demonstrate for the ouster of 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies, in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Zimbabwe's generals, including Constantino Chiwenga, on poster, have placed Mugabe under house arrest and have allowed him limited movement while talks on his exit from office unfold. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Protesters demanding that President Robert Mugabe stands down, break through a cordon and run towards State House, before being stopped by another army cordon, on the road leading to State House in Harare, Zimbabwe Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. In a euphoric gathering that just days ago would have drawn a police crackdown, crowds marched through Zimbabwe's capital on Saturday to demand the departure of President Robert Mugabe, one of Africa's last remaining liberation leaders, after nearly four decades in power. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

A man holds a street sign as hundreds gather in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017 to demand the departure of President Robert Mugabe after nearly four decades in power. (AP Photo/Lucky Tshuma)

A protester holds a banner referring to President Mugabe as "grandfather", at a demonstration at Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare, Zimbabwe Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Opponents of Mugabe are demonstrating for the ouster of the 93-year-old leader who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Hundreds gather in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017 to demand the departure of President Robert Mugabe after nearly four decades in power. (AP Photo/Lucky Tshuma)

Hundreds gather in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017 to demand the departure of President Robert Mugabe after nearly four decades in power. (AP Photo/Lucky Tshuma)

People cheer from the roof of a vehicle as euphoric crowds of several thousand people gathered in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017 to demand the departure of President Robert Mugabe after nearly four decades in power. The 93-year-old Mugabe, the world's oldest head of state, is said to be asking for more time amid negotiations with regional leaders that seek his exit with a veneer of dignity. (AP Photo)

A woman cheers on a soldier as hundreds gather in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017 to demand the departure of President Robert Mugabe after nearly four decades in power. (AP Photo?Tawanda Mudimu)

A man holds a Zimbabwe flag up as hundreds gather in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017 to demand the departure of President Robert Mugabe after nearly four decades in power. (AP Photo/Lucky Tshuma)

A crowd of thousands of protesters demanding President Robert Mugabe stands down gather behind an army cordon on the road leading to State House in Harare, Zimbabwe Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. In a euphoric gathering that just days ago would have drawn a police crackdown, crowds marched through Zimbabwe's capital on Saturday to demand the departure of President Robert Mugabe, one of Africa's last remaining liberation leaders, after nearly four decades in power. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

People gather to demonstrate for the ouster of 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies, in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Protesters climb trees to view the crowd at a demonstration at Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Opponents of Mugabe are demonstrating for the ouster of the 93-year-old leader who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Euphoric marchers pose for pictures with armed soldiers outside State House in Harare as Zimbabweans marched demanding the departure of President Robert Mugabe, Saturday Nov, 18, 2017. Zimbabweans giddy with joy raced through intersections, raising their arms in triumph(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Euphoric marchers pose for pictures with armed soldiers outside State House in Harare as Zimbabweans marched demanding the departure of President Robert Mugabe, Saturday Nov, 18, 2017. Zimbabweans giddy with joy raced through intersections, raising their arms in triumph(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Crowds march on the streets of Harare, demanding the departure of President Robert Mugabe, Saturday Nov, 18, 2017. Opponents of Mugabe are demonstrating for the ouster of the 93-year-old leader who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Protesters wear t-shirts calling for Robert Mugabe to step down, at a demonstration at Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Opponents of Mugabe are demonstrating for the ouster of the 93-year-old leader who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Euphoric crowds march on the streets of Harare, demanding the departure of President Robert Mugabe, Saturday Nov, 18, 2017. Zimbabweans giddy with joy raced through intersections, raising their arms in triumph. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

A protester wears a beret at a demonstration at Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare, Zimbabwe Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Opponents of Mugabe are demonstrating for the ouster of the 93-year-old leader who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Zimbabwean soldiers bump fists with joyful protesters thanking them near Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare, Zimbabwe Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Opponents of Mugabe are demonstrating for the ouster of the 93-year-old leader who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies. Writing in Shona on poster refers to Mugabe in a respectful way saying "Go and rest now". (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Protesters raise their fists under a large national flag, at a demonstration of tens of thousands at Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare, Zimbabwe Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Opponents of Mugabe are demonstrating for the ouster of the 93-year-old leader who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Zimbabwean soldiers bump fists with joyful protesters thanking them near Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare, Zimbabwe Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Opponents of Mugabe are demonstrating for the ouster of the 93-year-old leader who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies. Writing in Shona on poster refers to Mugabe in a respectful way saying "Go and rest now". (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Euphoric crowds greet armed soldiers while marching on the streets of Harare, demanding the departure of President Robert Mugabe, Saturday Nov, 18, 2017. Zimbabweans giddy with joy raced through intersections, raising their arms in triumph. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Euphoric crowds march and dance on the streets of Harare, demanding the departure of President Robert Mugabe, Saturday Nov, 18, 2017. The military, which put Mugabe under house arrest this week, has approved the demonstration that includes people from across the political spectrum. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Euphoric crowds march on the streets of Harare, demanding the departure of President Robert Mugabe, Saturday Nov, 18, 2017. The military, which put Mugabe under house arrest this week, has approved the demonstration that includes people from across the political spectrum. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Armed soldiers control traffic as euphoric crowds march on the streets Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017, in Harare, Zimbabwe, demanding the departure of President Robert Mugabe. Zimbabweans giddy with joy raced through intersections, raising their arms in triumph. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Euphoric crowds march on the streets of Harare, demanding the departure of President Robert Mugabe, Saturday Nov, 18, 2017. The military, which put Mugabe under house arrest this week, has approved the demonstration that includes people from across the political spectrum. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Marchers make a point as euphoric crowds march on the streets Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017, in Harare, Zimbabwe, demanding the departure of President Robert Mugabe. Zimbabweans giddy with joy raced through intersections, raising their arms in triumph. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Euphoric crowds march and chant on the streets of Harare, next to an APC, demanding the departure of President Robert Mugabe, Saturday Nov, 18, 2017. The military, which put Mugabe under house arrest this week, has approved the demonstration that includes people from across the political spectrum. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

A marcher makes a point as euphoric crowds march on the streets Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017, in Harare, Zimbabwe, demanding the departure of President Robert Mugabe. Zimbabweans giddy with joy raced through intersections, raising their arms in triumph. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Euphoric crowds march and dance on the streets of Harare, demanding the departure of President Robert Mugabe, Saturday Nov, 18, 2017. The military, which put Mugabe under house arrest this week, has approved the demonstration that includes people from across the political spectrum. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Soldiers control traffic as euphoric crowds march on the streets Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017, in Harare, Zimbabwe, demanding the departure of President Robert Mugabe. Zimbabweans giddy with joy raced through interesections, raising their arms in triumph. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Protesters ride in a car with the name of the ruling party, calling for Mugabe to step down at a demonstration at Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare, Zimbabwe Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Opponents of Mugabe are demonstrating for the ouster of the 93-year-old leader who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies. Writing in Shona on poster refers to Mugabe in a respectful way saying "Go and rest now." (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Protesters hold posters asking President Mugabe to step down at a demonstration at Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare, Zimbabwe Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Opponents of Mugabe are demonstrating for the ouster of the 93-year-old leader who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies. Writing in Shona on poster refers to Mugabe in a respectful way saying "Go and rest now." (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

People hold their messages in Harare to demonstrate for the ouster of President Robert Mugabe who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Zimbabwe's generals, including Constantino Chiwenga, on poster left, have placed Mugabe under house arrest and have allowed him limited movement while talks on his exit from office unfold. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Protesters dance and sing, one holding a poster asking President Mugabe to step down, at a demonstration at Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare, Zimbabwe Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Opponents of President Robert Mugabe are demonstrating for the ouster of the 93-year-old leader who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

People begin to gather in Harare Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017, to demonstrate for the ouster of 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies. Zimbabwe's generals, have placed Mugabe under house arrest and have allowed him limited movement while talks on his exit from office unfold. (AP Photo/Christopher Torchia)
MADRID (AP) - The ousted mayor of Caracas pledged to spread his protest against Venezuela's socialist government across the world as he arrived in Spain on Saturday, a day after escaping from house arrest and slipping past Venezuelan security forces into Colombia.

Antonio Ledezma's flight from Bogota landed at Barajas airport in Spain's capital, Madrid. With a Venezuelan flag draped over his shoulder, he hugged his wife and two daughters and said he would fight Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from exile

"I am going to dedicate myself to traveling the world, to spread the hope of all Venezuelans to escape this regime, this dictatorship," Ledezma said. "Venezuela isn't on the verge of an abyss, it has fallen into the abyss."

Former Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma, left, sits with Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy during a meeting at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. The ousted mayor of Caracas pledged to spread his protest against Venezuela's socialist government across the world as he arrived in Spain on Saturday, a day after escaping from house arrest and slipping past security forces into Colombia. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Maduro, for his part, called Ledezma a "vampire flying around the world."

Ledezma started his global tour by meeting Saturday with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy at the presidential palace hours after his arrival. Neither politician spoke publicly after the meeting. Ledezma has not said what other countries he plans to visit.

Ledezma, 62, was removed as mayor of Caracas and detained in 2015 on charges of plotting to oust Maduro. He was one of the leaders of anti-government protests that rocked Venezuela in 2014 and led to the jailing of other prominent opponents.

Besides his family, he was greeted in Madrid by the former president of Colombia, Andres Pastrana, and the former Venezuelan ambassador, Fernando Gerbasi.

"Venezuela is completely collapsing. We can't wait any longer," Ledezma said. "We don't have any resources left, only our morale."

Ledezma told The Associated Press on Friday that his decision to flee was driven by threats intended to force the opposition to resume negotiations with Maduro's government. Fellow opposition leader and former cellmate Leopoldo Lopez remains under house arrest in Venezuela.

After slipping past intelligence police officers stationed outside his residence 24 hours a day, he passed through several police checkpoints in a long journey by car to Colombia. Colombian immigration authorities said Ledezma entered the country legally across the Simon Bolivar Bridge.

Ledezma thanked both Spanish and Colombian authorities for what he described as warm welcomes.

"I've lived out a James Bond movie," he said, appearing elated. "I made this route of more than 24 hours, passing 29 control points, checkpoints, crossing paths, accepting all the risks, and in every moment I always thought about the value of freedom."

Holding a national Venezuelan flag, ousted Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma waves from inside El Dorado international airport, as he prepares for departure, in Bogota, Colombia, Friday, Nov. 17, 2017. Ledezma, one of Venezuela's most prominent opposition leaders, said he plans to take his fight against Venezuela's socialist government to Europe after he escaped house arrest in Caracas, and fled to Colombia on Friday. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Ousted Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma greets a journalist before boarding a plane at El Dorado airport in Bogota, Colombia, Friday, Nov. 17, 2017. Ledezma, who was removed as mayor of Caracas and detained in 2015 on charges of plotting to oust President Nicolas Maduro, escaped house arrest and fled to Colombia. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Ousted Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma greets a journalist at El Dorado international airport, as he walks to his gate for departure, in Bogota, Colombia, Friday, Nov. 17, 2017. Ledezma, one of Venezuela's most prominent opposition leaders, said he plans to take his fight against Venezuela's socialist government to Europe after he escaped house arrest in Caracas, and fled to Colombia on Friday. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

FILE - In this Oct. 27, 2009 file photo, Caracas' Mayor Antonio Ledezma attends a Senate meeting, in Brasilia, Brazil. The former mayor has escaped house arrest in Caracas and arrived in Colombia, Friday, Nov. 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - A smiling Roy Moore stood shoulder to shoulder with his fiercest religious allies.

Flanked by a huge sign for Moore's Senate campaign, one supporter railed against the "LGBT mafia" and "homosexualist gay terrorism." Another warned that "homosexual sodomy" destroys those who participate in it and the nations that allow it. And still another described same-sex marriage as "a mirage" because "it's phony and fake."

Thursday's news conference was designed to send a powerful message to the political world that religious conservatives across America remain committed to Moore, a Christian conservative and former judge whose Alabama Senate campaign has been rocked by mounting allegations of sexual misconduct. The event also revealed an aggressive strain of homophobia rarely seen in mainstream politics - in recent years, at least.

In this Nov. 16, 2017, photo, former Alabama Chief Justice and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore speaks at a news conference in Birmingham, Ala., with his wife Kayla Moore, right. A sex scandal has relegated Moore's hard-line positions on LGBT issues to the background in Alabama's turbulent Senate race even as religious activists blame the "LGBT mafia" and "homosexualist gay terrorism" for his precarious political plight. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

In the days since, religious liberals have stepped forward to express their opposition to Moore. More than 50 Alabama pastors signed a letter saying Moore has demonstrated "extremist values" incompatible with traditional Christianity and is unfit to serve in the Senate. And an anti-Moore rally at a Birmingham church on Saturday drew more than 100 people, some of whom carried signs decrying his opposition to gay rights.

But in a Senate campaign suddenly hyper focused on Moore's relationships with teenage girls decades ago, Moore's hardline stance on gay rights and other LGBT issues has become little more than an afterthought for many voters as Election Day approaches.

Moore first caught the attention of many in the LGBT community after describing homosexual conduct as "an inherent evil against which children must be protected" in a 2002 child custody case involving a lesbian mother. In a 2005 television interview, Moore said "homosexual conduct should be illegal." He also said there's no difference between gay sex and sex with a cow, horse or dog.

Moore's stand - combined with the fiery comments from his supporters - unnerved some in Birmingham's relatively small LGBT community.

"It made me extremely angry," said Mackenzie Gray, a 37-year-old who came out as transgender in 2010. She says most people in her life don't know she was born a man.

"My fear with the religious leaders and the hateful rhetoric we're hearing is that it's going to start escalating into something even larger," Gray said. "It's dangerous."

Indeed, other LGBT activists suggested this week that open acceptance of Moore's anti-gay rhetoric harkens to a dark and violent time in Alabama history.

Moore's Democratic challenger, Doug Jones, is known best, perhaps, for prosecuting the men who bombed Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church - a prosecution that came nearly 40 years after the 1963 crime that killed four black girls. Racial tensions have lingered in the state, even as the violence lessened. In 2000, Alabama became the last state in the country to overturn its ban on interracial marriage.

The state has been slow to embrace gay rights as well: 81 percent of voters supported a ban on same-sex marriage in 2006. Only neighboring Mississippi, with 86 percent, scored higher.

Patricia Todd, the state's first openly gay state representative, says she has faced at least four death threats in recent years. One woman called Todd's cell phone and vowed to kill her and her family, she said, noting that local LGBT leaders meet quarterly at the FBI office in Birmingham to help identify potential hate crimes.

"It's been brutal, but it's gotten to the point where I just laugh at them," Todd said Friday.

She's not laughing at Moore.

"It's awful because he says the most hateful things," she said.

In contrast to many conservative politicians with national ambitions, Moore has made little attempt to change his tone on LGBT issues as equal rights for the gay community has earned increasing acceptance among mainstream America.

Moore's hero status among many Christian conservatives was cemented in 2016 when, as the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, he refused to comply with a Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. He was later suspended, the second time he was forcibly removed from the state Supreme Court.

Earlier this month, Moore said, "The transgenders don't have rights," during a news conference, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.

Moore's unapologetic positions - and his repeated promises to take them to the U.S. Senate if elected on Dec. 12 - were celebrated at Thursday's news conference by the religious leaders who traveled from as far as Colorado, Ohio and Texas to stand at his side.

Rabbi Noson Leiter, who once called Hurricane Sandy's destruction "divine justice" for same-sex marriage, lashed out at "homosexualist gay terrorism."

"We need Judge Moore to stand up to the LGBT transgender mafia," Leiter said. He added, "We need someone with a proven record of facing off against the gay terrorists."

Another Moore supporter, Texas Christian activist Steven Hotze, warned in 2015 that children would be "encouraged to practice sodomy in kindergarten" as a result of same-sex marriage. On Thursday, Hotze refused to describe the union of two gay people as marriage: "It's 'mirage' because it's just like a mirage - it's phony and it's fake."

North Carolina-based Christian activist Flip Benham last year warned in a Charlotte City Council meeting that the policies that protect the civil rights of transgender people would trigger "bloodshed coursing down the corners of our streets."

"We're praising everything that God says is wrong and will destroy you," he said Thursday. "Homosexual sodomy destroys those who participate in that behavior and nations that approve of it."

He offered a pointed message to Moore's critics: God "doesn't send anyone to hell. It's a place you choose to go."

Benham then turned to Moore, who was sitting a few feet away with his wife. "You got the applause of heaven."

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Link to 2005 video: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4682986/roy-moore-2005-bill-press

Link to 2002 court case: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/al-supreme-court/1303306.html
WASHINGTON (AP) - Earlier this year, a Russian-American lobbyist and another businessman discussed over coffee in Moscow an extraordinary meeting they had attended 12 months earlier: a gathering at Trump Tower with President Donald Trump's son, his son-in-law and his then-campaign chairman.

The Moscow meeting in June, which has not been previously disclosed, is now under scrutiny by investigators who want to know why the two men met in the first place and whether there was some effort to get their stories straight about the Trump Tower meeting just weeks before it would become public, The Associated Press has learned.

Congressional investigators have questioned both men - lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin and Ike Kaveladze, a business associate of a Moscow-based developer and former Trump business partner - and obtained their text message communications, people familiar with the investigation told the AP.

FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2017, file photo, Ike Kaveladze, right, who was among those at a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with President Donald Trump's son, leaves the Capitol after being interviewed by the House Intelligence Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Two Russian-American's, lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin and Kaveladze, met in June 2017 over coffee in Moscow where they discussed a meeting they had participated in a year before: a gathering at Trump Tower with President Donald Trump's son, his son-in-law and his then-campaign chairman. The Moscow meeting, which has not been previously disclosed, is now under scrutiny by investigators who want to know why the two men met in the first place and whether there was some effort to get their stories straight about the Trump Tower meeting just weeks before it would become public, The Associated Press has learned. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Special counsel Robert Mueller's team also has been investigating the 2016 Trump Tower meeting, which occurred weeks after Trump had clinched the Republican presidential nomination and which his son attended with the expectation of receiving damaging information about Democrat Hillary Clinton. A grand jury has already heard testimony about the meeting, which in addition to Donald Trump Jr., also included Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, and his then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

The focus of the congressional investigators was confirmed by three people familiar with their probe, including two who demanded anonymity to discuss the sensitive inquiry.

One of those people said Akhmetshin told congressional investigators that he asked for the Moscow meeting with Kaveladze to argue that they should go public with the details of the Trump Tower meeting before they were caught up in a media maelstrom. Akhmetshin also told the investigators that Kaveladze said people in Trump's orbit were asking about Akhmetshin's background, the person said.

Akhmetshin's lawyer, Michael Tremonte, declined to comment.

Scott Balber, a lawyer for Kaveladze, confirmed that his client and Akhmetshin met over coffee and that the Trump Tower meeting a year earlier was "obviously discussed." But Balber denied his client had been contacted by associates of Trump before he took the meeting with Akhmetshin, or had been aware of plans to disclose the Trump Tower gathering to the U.S. government.

Balber said the men did not discuss strategy or how to line up their stories, and did not meet in anticipation of the Trump Tower meeting becoming public and attracting a barrage of news media attention.

He said Akhmetshin did convey during coffee the possibility that his name could come out in connection with the Trump Tower meeting and cause additional, unwanted scrutiny given that he had been linked in earlier news reports to Russian military intelligence, coverage that Akhmetshin considered unfair. Akhmetshin has denied ongoing ties with Russian intelligence, but acknowledged that he served in the Soviet military in the late 1980s as part of a counterintelligence unit.

"That was the impetus," Balber said of the men's get-together. "It had absolutely nothing to do with anticipation of the meeting coming out in the press."

The meeting in Moscow occurred during a tumultuous time for the administration. Mueller had been appointed as special counsel weeks earlier following the firing in May of FBI Director James Comey, and associates of Trump were under pressure to disclose any contacts they had with Russians during the campaign.

The June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower first became public on July 8 in a report in The New York Times.

The White House initially said the meeting, which also involved a Russian lawyer who for years has advocated against U.S. sanctions of Russia, was primarily about an adoption program, but days after the story was published, Trump Jr. released emails showing he took the meeting after being told he would receive damaging information on Clinton as part of a Russian government effort to aide his father's candidacy.

Mueller's investigation has included scrutiny of the White House's drafting of the initial incomplete statement.

As part of their inquiry, congressional investigators are reviewing copies of the text messages between the two men that were turned over, Balber said. He declined to say what the text messages showed. One person familiar with the messages said they reflect the logistics of the meeting during a trip by Akhmetshin to Moscow.

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Associated Press writer Chad Day contributed to this report.

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Follow Desmond Butler, Mary Clare Jalonick and Eric Tucker on Twitter: https://twitter.com/desmondbutler and http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP and https://twitter.com/mcjalonick
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - When a panel of U.N. judges hands down a verdict next week in the trial of former Bosnian Serb military chief Gen. Ratko Mladic, it will mark the end of a ground-breaking era in international law. Yet a new age of international justice is already underway, with other temporary courts and tribunals springing up around the world to prosecute atrocities.

Mladic's trial is the last at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which was set up in 1993 to prosecute crimes committed in the Balkan wars of the early 1990s.

Over 24 years, it has sent dozens of war criminals to jail - from lowly soldiers and prison camp guards to former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic - and it developed key jurisprudence in prosecuting atrocities.

A view of the Thaingkhali refugee camp for Rohingya Muslims in Ukhiya, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed alarm over the plight of Rohingya Muslims in remarks before Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders from a Southeast Asian bloc that has refused to criticize her government over the crisis. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)

Mladic, who insists he is innocent, faces a maximum life sentence if convicted Wednesday of crimes including genocide.

What the Yugoslav court hasn't done, however, is stop such crimes from happening.

Allegations of mass murders and persecutions from the past and present are mounting around the world - from Sri Lanka's bloody civil war to the carnage in Syria to abuses seen against Rohingya Muslims who fled by the hundreds of thousands as their towns and villages were torched in Myanmar.

This means the list of locations for future temporary courts is growing ever longer.

Just this week, a report by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the advocacy group Fortify Rights found there is "mounting evidence" of genocide against the Rohingya. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. was deeply concerned by "credible reports" of atrocities committed by Myanmar's security forces and called for an independent investigation.

David Schwendiman, an American prosecutor investigating allegations of organ trafficking and other crimes during Kosovo's independence struggle, believes the U.N. tribunal trying Mladic is unlikely to be exactly replicated in the future because of its size and cost. Still, he says the age of impunity for mass atrocities is over.

"The international community has decided ... there is going to be criminal accountability for people in the world for people who ... do the kind of things that are happening in Myanmar and (are) doing the kinds of things that are happening in Syria," Schwendiman said. "That's a given now."

The court where Schwendiman aims to bring prosecutions - known as the Kosovo Specialist Chambers - could be an example of how war crimes cases will be handled in the future. Based in The Hague and staffed by international judges, the court is part of Kosovo's legal system set up specifically to preside over trials arising from a Council of Europe report into organ trafficking allegations and other crimes.

"That could be a model for other ways of dealing with things like Syria, like Myanmar, like other places where regional institutions might step up and internationalize a court or a tribunal," he said.

The Hague also is home to the International Criminal Court, but the world's first permanent tribunal for prosecuting crimes like genocide and crimes against humanity is meant as a last resort to be used when other institutions are unwilling or unable to step in. It so far has had only limited success in bringing to justice senior political and military leaders and is sometimes hamstrung by geopolitical interests beyond its control.

"I think people now see that the ICC cannot be the answer for everything," said Alex Whiting, a professor at Harvard Law School. "Both because of capacity and resources but also because of institutional fit. I think there will be ad hoc tribunals again. They may be designed differently, a stronger tilt toward hybrid tribunals."

Syria is an example of how the ICC cannot always act even in the face of overwhelming evidence of atrocities. Russia has vetoed a move to refer crimes in Syria to the ICC. Now, a U.N. commission of inquiry is gathering evidence that could be used in some kind of court or tribunal in the future.

"I could see that happening for Syria," Whiting said. "Because some of the big players are not part of the ICC, they would want a hybrid court. The ICC couldn't handle all the cases from Syria that are likely to come one day. So for all those reasons, I think either in Syria or in other places, there are likely to be new courts that spring up."

There are already hybrid courts in existence or in the pipeline. In a converted gymnasium at the former headquarters of a Dutch intelligence agency, a mixture of Lebanese and international judges are presiding over the trial in absentia of suspects in the 2005 truck bomb assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The same courtroom hosted the trial of Charles Taylor, the one-time president of Liberia who was convicted in 2012 by a temporary international court of involvement in crimes in Sierra Leone's bloody civil war and sentenced to 50 years in prison.

A court set up by the African Union and Senegal also convicted former Chad dictator Hissene Habre and sentenced him to life imprisonment for crimes committed during his presidency from 1982-1990.

For the future, a hybrid court is being established in Central African Republic and there are calls for something similar in South Sudan and in Sri Lanka, where a U.N. report says there are strong indications both government soldiers and Tamil Tiger rebels committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the conflict that ended in 2009. Sri Lankan authorities are resisting calls for an international tribunal.

Meanwhile, the eyes of the world will be on the Yugoslav court as proclaims judgment in Mladic's trial.

"It's a beacon of what can be done," said Whiting, who worked at the court from 2002-2007. "It's a source of inspiration for all the future efforts."
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Palestinians threatened on Saturday to suspend all communication with the United States if the Trump administration follows through with plans to close their diplomatic office in Washington. The potential rupture in relations threatens to undermine President Donald Trump's bid for Mideast peace - a mission he has handed his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the U.S. decision was "very unfortunate and unacceptable," and accused Washington of bowing to pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government "at a time when we are trying to cooperate to achieve the ultimate deal."

In a video statement on social media, Erekat said: "We will put on hold all our communications with this American administration."

This Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017 photo shows the Washington office of the Palestine Liberation Organization. On Saturday, Palestinians threatened to suspend all communication with the United States if the Trump administration follows through with plans to close their diplomatic office in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

There was no immediate reaction from the Trump administration. Netanyahu's office said the closure was "a matter of U.S. law."

U.S. officials had insisted before Erekat's statement that the move wasn't aimed at increasing leverage over the Palestinians, but merely the unavoidable consequence of U.S. law.

Cutting off ties would carry great risks for the Palestinians. It could antagonize an administration they already suspect is biased toward Israel and cut put millions of dollars of critical U.S. aid in jeopardy.

However, unresponsive Palestinians would deal an embarrassing blow to the Trump administration ahead of an expected peace initiative and potentially prevent it from getting off the ground. Their stance could also complicate U.S. efforts to promote a regionwide approach by bringing together Israel with Saudi Arabia and other moderate Arab allies in a joint effort against Iran. Arab countries might be reluctant to get too close to Israel in the absence of serious progress on the Palestinian issue.

The administration announced late Friday that the Palestinians had run afoul of a legal provision that says the Palestine Liberation Organization cannot operate a Washington office if the Palestinians try to get the International Criminal Court to prosecute Israelis for crimes against Palestinians.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson determined that the Palestinians crossed that line in September, when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the court to investigate and prosecute Israelis, according to State Department officials. They weren't authorized to publicly discuss the situation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

It wasn't clear when the office would close or whether the Palestinians would have to clear out of the building entirely or just close it to the public. Riad Malki, the Palestinian foreign minister, said he was told by the Americans that U.S. and State Department legal teams would meet Monday to decide how the new situation would affect the office, the functioning of diplomats and contacts with the Palestinians.

"We will wait to hear back from them," Malki said. After that, the Palestinians will decide how to react.

Under the law, Trump now has 90 days to consider whether the Palestinians are in "direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel." If Trump determines they are, then the mission can reopen, officials said.

PLO official Hanan Ashrawi said the U.S. was "disqualifying itself as a peace broker in the region" by refusing to extend a waiver from the law.

"Conditioning the renewal of the waiver on the Palestinians' sticking to 'direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel' is actually superfluous since negotiations are nonexistent, and the current U.S. administration has yet to present any kind of peace initiative," she said in a statement.

The U.S. said it wasn't cutting off relations with the Palestinians and remained focused on a comprehensive peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. One of the U.S. officials said in an email that "this measure should in no way be seen as a signal that the U.S. is backing off those efforts."

The Palestinians quickly dismissed that argument, with Malki telling Palestine Radio that the Palestinian leadership "will not accept any extortion or pressure." Erekat contended the move was the result of "the pressure being exerted on this administration by the Netanyahu government."

In response, the Israeli prime minister's office said, "We respect the decision and look forward to continuing to work with the U.S. to advance peace and security in the region."

The Israelis and Palestinians are not engaged in active, direct negotiations. But Trump's team, led by Kushner in his role as senior White House adviser, is working to broker a deal aimed at settling the intractable conflict.

The Palestinians, publicly supportive of the U.S. effort, are nonetheless skeptical because Trump's close ties to Israel suggest whatever deal he proposes might be unfavorable to them. The threat of losing their office in the American capital could become one more pressure point as the Trump administration tries to persuade the Palestinians to come to the table.

The PLO is the group that formally represents all Palestinians. Although the U.S. does not recognize Palestinian statehood, the PLO maintains a "general delegation" office in Washington that facilitates Palestinian officials' interactions with the U.S. government.

The United States allowed the PLO to open a mission in Washington in 1994. That required President Bill Clinton to waive a law that said the Palestinians couldn't have an office. In 2011, under the Obama administration, the U.S. started letting the Palestinians fly their flag over the office, an upgrade to the status of their mission that the Palestinians hailed as historic.

Israel opposes any Palestinian membership in U.N.-related organizations until a peace deal has been reached.

The Trump administration has not disclosed details about its effort to achieve an agreement that ostensibly would grant the Palestinians an independent state in exchange for an end to its conflict with the Israelis. Kushner and other top Trump aides have been shuttling to the region to meet with Palestinians, Israelis and officials from Arab nations.

The requirement about the mission closing stems from a little-noticed provision in U.S. law that says the U.S. cannot allow the Palestinians to have a Washington office if they back the international court's move to investigate or prosecute Israeli nationals for alleged crimes against Palestinians.

Abbas said at the United Nations in September that the Palestinians had "called on the International Criminal Court to open an investigation and to prosecute Israeli officials for their involvement in settlement activities and aggressions against our people."

The U.S. president can let the Palestinians keep the office despite the violation, only if certifying to Congress "that the Palestinians have entered into direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel." The provision doesn't explicitly define what would constitute direct or meaningful negotiations.

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Associated Press writers Josef Federman and Aron Heller in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

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Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP and Matthew Lee at http://twitter.com/APDiploWriter

This Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017 photo shows the Washington office of the Palestine Liberation Organization. On Saturday, Palestinians threatened to suspend all communication with the United States if the Trump administration follows through with plans to close their diplomatic office in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) - Gaza's border crossing into Egypt ran Saturday under the Palestinian Authority's control for the first time in a decade, in a step forward for the Western-backed leadership's resuming of its functions in the Gaza Strip.

Egypt opened the Rafah crossing point for three days on a humanitarian basis for the first time since the militant Hamas group ceded control of Gaza's crossings with Israel and Egypt to the West Bank-based PA. In 2007, Hamas wrested control of Gaza by force after winning legislative elections a year earlier, provoking an Israeli-Egyptian blockade that severely restricted the movement of most of Gaza's 2 million inhabitants.

Hamas has wielded absolute power in Gaza since, driving its humanitarian conditions to near-total collapse. On Nov. 1, it withdrew from the crossings to implement the first step of an Egyptian-brokered deal to end the rift with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party. Talks are to resume in Cairo this month to discuss the PA's expansion of its rule in Gaza and broader national issues.

The three-day opening was aimed toward reducing the number of people stranded on both sides, nearly 80 days since Gaza's prime crossing was last open. No agreement has been reached to run the crossing on a regular basis. The PA wants to reactivate a 2005 U.S.-backed protocol stipulating that PA forces and EU monitors run the crossing. Hamas rejects the deal since it also gives Israel partial control via video cameras.

Hamas says 30,000 people have been waiting for a chance to travel. Thus far, Rafah has opened for people exiting Gaza only 17 days this year.

Rania Arada, 21, came to visit her family in Gaza a year ago when she was pregnant, hoping to stay for a month. Today, her daughter is eight months and has yet to see her Egyptian father. "Her father is very sad. I'm also sad that he was not by my side when I gave birth," she said, waiting for a bus Saturday.

Another woman, 19-year-old Suhad Rizek, said she hoped she could get through to attend the Egyptian university she had enrolled in to study medicine. "School has started and I'm almost losing this term," she said.
ISTANBUL (AP) - Turkish prosecutors launched an investigation Saturday of two United States prosecutors involved in putting a Turkish-Iranian businessman on trial for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, according to Turkey's official news agency.

The Istanbul prosecutor's office said it is investigating Preet Bharara, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Bharara's successor, Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim.

A statement from the Istanbul prosecutor's office claimed that the sources of the documents and wiretaps being used as evidence in the U.S. case against gold trader Reza Zarrab were unknown and violated international and domestic laws.

In this Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013 photo, Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, who is charged currently in the U.S. for evading sanctions on Iran, is surrounded by the media members as he arrives at a courthouse in Istanbul, in a separate case against him. Turkish prosecutors on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017, launched an investigation into two U.S. prosecutors involved in trying Zarrab, according to the country's official news agency. The case against gold trader Zarrab, 34, is built on work initially performed by Turkish investigators who targeted him in 2013 in a sweeping corruption scandal that led high up to Turkish government officials.(Depo Photos via AP)

Turkey's official Anadolu Agency published the statement Saturday. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.

Zarrab, 34, has been charged in the U.S. for allegedly evading sanctions on Iran. An executive of Turkey's state-owned bank, Halkbank, also faces charges and is due to appear in court in New York on Nov. 27.

Former Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan is also among the nine defendants indicted in the case.

Turkish officials allege the case is politically motivated. They have accused Bharara, the former U.S. attorney, of links to a Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, whom the Turkish government blames for a failed July 2016 military coup.

Bharara has vehemently rejected the allegation. Gulen denies involvement in the coup attempt.

The U.S. case was built on work initially performed by Turkish investigators who targeted Zarrab in 2013 in a sweeping corruption scandal that allegedly led to Turkish government officials.

Turkish prosecutors and police involved in the investigation were removed from duty, and charges that resulted from their probe were later dropped.

Since the July 2016 coup attempt, Turkey has arrested more than 50,000 people and fired over 100,000 state workers for alleged links to Gulen's network.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Over the past week, President Donald Trump told a made-up story about his predecessor and revived a distorted claim about NATO that's been gathering dust for some months.

On those occasions and more, his purpose was to illustrate "tremendous success" on his Asia trip, an extended journey that actually produced little visible or immediate change. He also reached back to earlier travels to make his case.

A sampling of his statements toward that goal:

In this Nov. 15, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump speaks about his trip to Asia in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington. Over the past week, Trump told a made-up story about his predecessor and revived a distorted claim about NATO that's been gathering dust for some months. On those occasions and more, his purpose was to illustrate "tremendous success" on his Asia trip, an extended journey that actually produced little visible or immediate change. He also reached back to earlier travels to make his case. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

TRUMP, recapping a trip in May: "In Brussels, I urged our NATO allies to do more to strengthen our crucial alliance and set the stage for significant increases in member contributions. Billions and billions of dollars are pouring in because of that initiative. NATO, believe me, is very happy with Donald Trump and what I did."

THE FACTS: No, billions are not pouring into the organization because of Trump. It's not even an issue of financing NATO as an organization. The issue is how much countries in the alliance spend on their own military budgets. That appears to be creeping up, but even so it is hard to find Trump's fingerprints on what is happening.

A campaign to increase military spending began in 2014, before Trump was president, when NATO members agreed to stop cutting their military budgets and set a goal of moving "toward" spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on their own defense by 2024. It was not a commitment and Trump had nothing to do with it. Only five of the 29 members - the U.S., Britain, Estonia, Greece and Poland - meet or exceed 2 percent. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he expects Romania to reach the target this year, with Lithuania and Latvia likely to reach it next year.

Trump has put pressure on members with lagging spending to do more. It's not clear that pressure has made them "very happy with Donald Trump." He frequently made such claims about NATO in his first months in office.

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TRUMP, claiming a turnaround in relations with the Philippines because of his visit: "The relationship with the past administration was horrible, to use a nice word. I would say horrible is putting it mildly. You know what happened. Many of you were there, and you never got to land. The plane came close but it didn't land." - before getting on Air Force One on Tuesday to come home.

THE FACTS: This didn't happen. Air Force One was not denied landing rights when President Barack Obama flew there.

Obama last visited November 2015, arriving in Manila after an overnight flight from Turkey. He used the visit to announce the U.S. was transferring two ships to the Philippine Navy.

Trump might have been referring to Obama's aborted meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte in Laos in September 2016. If so, he's also wrong.

Obama abruptly canceled a meeting with the new Philippines leader in Laos after Duterte called him an obscene name. Duterte was warning Obama not to speak with him about the brutality of his crackdown on the illegal drug trade. Obama went ahead with his Laos trip, meeting other leaders.

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TRUMP, claiming common ground with China's leader, Xi Jinping, on North Korea: "President Xi recognizes that a nuclear North Korea is a grave threat to China, and we agreed that we would not accept a so-called freeze for freeze agreement, like those that have consistently failed in the past." - comments to reporters Wednesday.

THE FACTS: The two sides did not agree on that point, China said.

Beijing said it has not changed its position that North Korea should gain concessions under an agreement that would see two things happen: North Korea would freeze its nuclear weapons program and the U.S. and South Korea would freeze their major joint military exercises.

"We believe that the freeze-for-freeze initiative is the most viable and reasonable plan against the current backdrop," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang Geng said after Trump's remark. The U.S. has long dismissed the proposal, saying North Korea must unilaterally cease its program before negotiations can begin.

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TRUMP: "In China, we also announced $250 billion worth in trade, investment deals that will create jobs in the United States." - statement Wednesday.

THE FACTS: The announcement, also heralded a week earlier by Chinese and U.S. officials, represents previously struck deals, tentative investments, statements of intent and extensions of business with existing Chinese customers, with some new orders. They do not point to a turnaround in deep-seated trade tensions between China and the U.S. For example, the initiative provides for the Chinese purchase of 300 Boeing jetliners that have a list price totaling $37 billion. That deal is known to be a mix of old and new orders and appears to fit in the normal order of business. As well, airlines get deep discounts from the list price.

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Associated Press writers Josh Lederman and Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.

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Find AP Fact Checks at https://apnews.com/tag/APFactCheck
NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania residents who came to the aid of a rookie police officer who was fatally shot and killed during a traffic stop say he was "gasping for air" and not responsive when they arrived at the scene.

Brian Shaw was shot in the chest around 8:15 p.m. Friday in New Kensington, about 18 miles (29 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh. The shooting occurred during a foot chase that began shortly after the traffic stop took place.

Police later recovered an older model of an unoccupied brown Jeep Grand Cherokee, wanted in connection with the shooting. State police said Saturday that investigators know why the suspected shooter was pulled over but would not provide further details, citing the ongoing investigation.

SWAT team members prepare to search the neighborhood where a police officer was fatally shot Friday, Nov. 17, 2017, in New Kensington, Pa. Authorities in Pennsylvania say a police officer was shot and killed while making a traffic stop and a search is underway for the gunman. (Rebecca Droke/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

A description of the suspect has not been released.

Shaw had served as a part-time officer in three other towns before joining the New Kensington police force full time in June. He was taken to a hospital after the shooting but was pronounced dead there a short time later, according to authorities.

Nicole Drum, whose family lives directly across from the shooting scene, told The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that she was on a couch in her living room when she heard six or seven shots, including one that hit her house. She looked outside and saw Shaw fall. She was the first person to reach him.

"I was trying to talk to him," she said Saturday. "He wasn't responding."

Brad Larocca, who lives next door to the Drums, also heard the shots, which he said came rapidly. He said Shaw tried to sit up before collapsing.

"I don't know if he was trying to talk," said Laroccoa, who also tried to help the officer. "He was gasping for air."

Larocca said he didn't know if Shaw also fired his weapon.

"Whichever one was shooting knew how to use a gun. It was quick," Laroccoa said.

Drum said her home was hit twice - once under the front porch, and again on the second floor - but neither shot went inside the house. Her father, Wayne Drum, who was not home when the shooting occurred, said police recovered the bullet that hit the porch on Saturday morning. He was told it was a .40 caliber slug.

The Drum home has a surveillance camera mounted under the second-story eave. Wayne Drum said it had captured everything, but the video was fuzzy since it was taken at night. He said police took his hard drive, telling him they would be able to enhance it.

Police officers from neighboring towns continued to scour the area for the suspect Saturday. SWAT teams and police dogs assisted.

Authorities were offering a $40,000 reward for information on the shooting. The FBI has contributed $25,000 to the reward, while the U.S. Marshals Service offered $5,000 and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will contribute up to $10,000.

A wake for Shaw will be held Monday and Tuesday, followed by a funeral service Wednesday morning.

Police officers walk away from the scene of shooting where a police officer was fatally shot Friday, Nov. 17, 2017, in New Kensington, Pa. Authorities in Pennsylvania say a police officer was shot and killed while making a traffic stop and a search is underway for the gunman. Police officers from neighboring towns, some carrying rifles, are scouring the area for the suspect. (Rebecca Droke/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

A SWAT team walks along a street in the neighborhood where a police officer was fatally shot Friday, Nov. 17, 2017, in New Kensington, Pa. Authorities in Pennsylvania say a police officer was shot and killed while making a traffic stop and a search is underway for the gunman. (Rebecca Droke/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)
BOSTON (AP) - A Boston zoo is holding a farewell party for a beloved gorilla that's heading to another zoo in New Orleans to start his own family.

Officials at the Franklin Park Zoo on Saturday will be celebrating Okpara, a 24-year-old male Western lowland gorilla affectionately called "Okie." He will soon be heading to the Audubon Zoo in Louisiana.

The Boston zoo is inviting patrons to sign a farewell card, enjoy free cake and learn about gorilla conservation.

Okie's move is part of the zoo's participation in the national Gorilla Species Survival Plan, an inter-zoo program meant to ensure survival of the species.

Western lowland gorillas are considered critically endangered in the wild. They're found in Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Congo, Angola, Central African Republic and Nigeria.
SAO PAULO (AP) - A court has convicted the Brazilian mining tycoon who founded a massive outdoor art park of money laundering and sentenced him to more than nine years in prison.

Prosecutors alleged that in 2007 and 2008, $98.5 million in donations and loans meant for the Inhotim art park were rerouted to pay expenses at mining and steel companies owned by Bernardo Paz. In 2010, Paz sold his Itaminas conglomerate, which included 29 companies.

Since its founding it more than 10 years ago, the Inhotim park in Minas Gerais state has become one of the most important art centers in Latin America. Sprawled over 400 wooded acres, the park displays the work of many internationally known artists like Chris Burden, Adriana Varejao and Cildo Meireles.

A judge issued the conviction earlier this year but prosecutors only publicized it in a statement released Thursday. After the conviction became public, the park said in a statement that it had no connection to Paz's companies. Paz's sister, Virginia de Mello Paz, was also convicted.

Marcelo Leonardo, a lawyer for Paz, told the Brazilian press that he has already filed an appeal. Leonardo said Paz and his sister were innocent, saying all the cited financial transactions were legal and normal.
HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) - Two students at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut have been charged with setting fires in a dormitory.

Hamden police say Bernhard Wright, of Oslo, Norway, and Carmelo Fazzolari, of Manalapan, New Jersey, were charged with arson and other offenses in the early Friday fires.

Police allege the men set the fires in The Commons dormitory, which houses nearly 500 students. Several students witnessed the fires and reported them.

Investigators determined the fires were intentionally set in two trash cans and several bathroom stalls. Authorities say a student was burned while trying to move a burning trash can.

The school says the students have been suspended pending a "conduct meeting."

Wright and Fazzolari are free on $1,000 bail. It's unclear whether either defendant has an attorney who can comment.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump said he's delaying a new policy allowing trophies of African elephants shot for sport to be imported until he can review "all conservation facts."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday it would allow such importation, arguing that encouraging wealthy big-game hunters to kill the threatened species would help raise money for conservation programs.

Animal rights advocates and environmental groups criticized the decision. California Rep. Ed Royce, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged the administration to reverse the policy, calling it the "wrong move at the wrong time."

In this file photo taken Tuesday, March 9, 2010, elephants use their trunks to smell for possible danger in the Tsavo East national park, Kenya. The Trump administration is lifting a federal ban on the importation of body parts from African elephants shot for sport. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo, File)

Trump tweeted Friday that the policy had been "under study for years." He said he would put the decision "on hold" and review it with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Zinke issued a statement later Friday saying: "President Trump and I have talked and both believe that conservation and healthy herds are critical. As a result, in a manner compliant with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, the issuing of permits is being put on hold as the decision is being reviewed."

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican who co-chairs the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, on Saturday said Trump's delay was a "step in the right direction," but more needs to be done to protect the species from extinction. In his statement, Buchanan called the sport hunting of African elephants "shameful" and said the U.S. should support a permanent ban.

Royce questioned the action because of concerns not only about African wildlife but U.S. national security, citing the political upheaval in Zimbabwe, where the longtime president was placed under house arrest this week by the military.

"The administration should withdraw this decision until Zimbabwe stabilizes," the committee chairman said in a statement. "Elephants and other big game in Africa are blood currency for terrorist organizations, and they are being killed at an alarming rate. Stopping poaching isn't just about saving the world's most majestic animals for the future - it's about our national security."

The Fish and Wildlife Service said in a written notice issued Thursday that permitting parts of elephants from Zimbabwe and Zambia to be brought back as trophies will raise money for conservation programs. The change marks a shift in efforts to stop the importation of elephant tusks and hides, overriding a 2014 ban imposed by the Obama administration. The new policy applies to the remains of African elephants killed between January 2016 and December 2018.

"Legal, well-regulated sport hunting as part of a sound management program can benefit certain species by providing incentives to local communities to conserve those species and by putting much-needed revenue back into conservation," the agency said in a statement.

Royce said that when carefully regulated, conservation hunts could help the wildlife population, but "that said, this is the wrong move at the wrong time."

He described the perilous situation in Zimbabwe, where the U.S. Embassy has advised Americans to limit their travel outdoors.

"In this moment of turmoil, I have zero confidence that the regime - which for years has promoted corruption at the highest levels - is properly managing and regulating conservation programs," Royce said. "Furthermore, I am not convinced that elephant populations in the area warrant overconcentration measures."

The world's largest land mammal, the African elephant has been classified as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act since 1979.

Illicit demand for elephant ivory has led to devastating losses from illegal poaching as the natural habitat available for the animals to roam has also dwindled by more than half. As a result, the number of African elephants has shrunk from about 5 million a century ago to about 400,000 remaining. And that number continues to decline each year.

Two other lawmakers, Reps. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., co-chairs of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, assailed the administration's decision.

"We should not encourage the hunting and slaughter of these magnificent creatures," Buchanan said. "We don't get a second chance once a species becomes extinct."

One group that advocates for endangered species called for more action after Trump's Friday night tweet. "It's great that public outrage has forced Trump to reconsider this despicable decision, but it takes more than a tweet to stop trophy hunters from slaughtering elephants and lions," said Tanya Sanerib, senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. "We need immediate federal action to reverse these policies and protect these amazing animals."

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Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
CAIRO (AP) - A rights lawyer says an Egyptian court has ordered a prominent activist to remain in custody pending trial on charges of participating in an illegal protest against the government's transfer of two strategic Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

Taher Aboelnasr says Mahinour el-Masry, a rights lawyer herself and notable activist from the country's 2011 uprising, and another defendant attended Saturday's trial in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. The court ordered that they remain detained until reconvenes on Dec. 30.

He said el-Masry and four other activists are on trial over charges of protesting illegally in June against the surrender of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia. The presidency has since ratified the islands' transfer.

All unauthorized demonstrations in Egypt are illegal under a law adopted in late 2013.
CARDIFF, Wales (AP) - A second-string Wales side barely survived another tier two team when it edged Georgia 13-6 in their maiden rugby test on Saturday.

Georgia, which had the better of a dull second half, put severe pressure on Wales for a tying seven-pointer in a drama-filled injury time.

Wales replacement prop Tomas Francis was sin-binned two minutes in, and Georgia wanted to utilize its dominant scrum. But Wales, needing a tighthead replacement, said the already-replaced Nicky Smith and Leon Brown weren't fit to return. When Wales was allowed to have an uncontested scrum, Georgia opted for an attacking lineout.

Wales' Hallam Amos, right, is tackled by Georgia's Giorgi Koshadze during their international rugby union match at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. (David Davies/PA via AP)

That was smartly taken, and the forwards pounded the try-line for 10 more phases until flanker Lasha Lomidze was ruled off his feet in front of the Wales posts.

The let-off gave victory to a Welsh side with 14 changes from that which lost to Australia last week. They haven't beaten a tier two team in the autumn by more than 10 points in nine years.

Coach Warren Gatland said they were not manipulating the laws. He said Brown had cramps, and Smith had an ice bag on a calf but the loosehead would not have been allowed to play tighthead, anyway.

"I can promise you there wasn't anything from our point of view in terms of trying to manipulate the laws or anything like that," Gatland said. "If Leon had have been fit, he definitely would have gone back on the field."

Georgia counterpart Milton Haig said he wasn't interested in taking the issue any further.

"That is not what I am about," Haig said.

"We were obviously disappointed we couldn't have a scrum. There was an opportunity for us to be able to at least get the draw, so I am a little bit disappointed about that."

Georgia believed it could finally beat a tier one team for the first time in 18 attempts. Wales was vulnerable but the Lelos didn't have a sharp edge to complement their forward power. A pack with more than 300 test caps, three times as many as Wales, pushed around the home side. But when it mattered, their scrum flopped.

With 10 minutes to go, Georgia had a scrum in front of the Wales posts. Tighthead prop Francis conceded two scrum penalties, and Georgia elected for another scrum each time. But on the next one, the Welsh got a big shove on, received a penalty, and cleared.

Wales looked like having the match well in hand after a vigorous first half it finished up 10-3, which flattered Georgia.

Winger Alex Cuthbert was held up over the line by Georgia scrumhalf Vasil Lobzhanidze, who two years ago became the youngest player to appear in a Rugby World Cup, at 18. But the inevitable try came from lineout ball, flyhalf Rhys Priestland doubled round center Scott Williams and put in left wing Hallam Amos. Priestland converted.

Amos went over untouched again minutes later, but the 80-meter counterattack was ruled out because when Smith ripped the ball from Georgia hooker Jaba Bregvadze, the ball went forward.

Then a 17-phase play by Wales was wasted when fullback Liam Williams was penalized for holding on to the ball too long.

It all looked promising for Wales under the closed roof at halftime, but in a stop-start second half the Welsh lapsed into error and Georgia's spread defense had them well contained. On the other hand, the Georgians didn't show anything to worry the Wales defense.

Next Saturday, Wales plays New Zealand, and Georgia is at home facing the United States.

Wales' Rhys Webb, center, is tackled by Georgia's Viktor Kolelishvili and Merab Sharikadze during their international rugby union match at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. (David Davies/PA via AP)

Wales' Rhys Webb, center, is tackled by Georgia's Merab Sharikadze during their international rugby union match at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. (David Davies/PA via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the status of the Palestinians' office in Washington (all times local):

1:05 p.m.

The Palestinians are threatening to cut off all communication with the Trump administration if it goes through with plans to shutter the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat (sah-EEB' EHR'-ih-kaht) says the U.S. administration's decision is - in his words - "very unfortunate and unacceptable."

He's accusing the U.S. of bowing to pressure from the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo), just as he says the Palestinians are "trying to cooperate to achieve the ultimate deal."

Erekat says the Palestinians have conveyed their intention to cut off talks if the office is closed in a letter to the Trump administration. The threat comes as the U.S. is trying to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

Netanyahu's office says the closure is a "matter of U.S. law."

___

12:30 p.m.

The State Department says the Palestine Liberation Organization's office in Washington will close.

Officials say the Palestinians have ran afoul of a U.S. law by calling for Israelis to be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court.

Only a day earlier, department officials had said the office could stay open if President Donald Trump determined that the Palestinians were in serious peace negotiations with Israel.

But now, those same officials are saying the office must close regardless - at least for some time. It could reopen in the future, if the Palestinians are in talks with Israelis

It's unclear when the office will close. And it's not clear whether the Palestinians must evacuate or simply close the office to the public.

The officials weren't authorized to publicly discuss the situation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

-Associated Press writer Josh Lederman.

___

5:10 a.m.

The Palestinian foreign minister says the Palestinians won't give in to what he calls "extortion" after a U.S. threat to close their diplomatic mission in Washington.

Riad Malki tells Palestine Radio that the Palestinians are waiting for further communication from the U.S. government. He says "the ball is now in the American court."

U.S. officials - citing an American law - say the Trump administration has put the Palestinians on notice that it'll close their office in Washington unless they've entered serious peace talks with Israel. President Donald Trump has 90 days to make a decision.

Malki says the U.S. move may be aimed at putting pressure on the Palestinians. But he says "the Palestinian leadership will not accept any extortion or pressure."
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) - Mohamed Salah's skillful performance inspired Liverpool to a 3-0 victory over Southampton on Saturday, with two goals sending the Egyptian to the top of the Premier League scoring standings.

Both first-half goals from the former Chelsea and Roma winger had a touch of class and his constant threat had visitors backpedalling for 80 minutes before his departure to a standing ovation - by which time Philippe Coutinho had added the third goal. Liverpool is fifth in the standings, a point behind Tottenham.

The 25-year-old Salah has now scored nine goals in his first 12 Premier League matches, breaking the club's previous best held by Robbie Fowler.

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, right, scores his side's second goal of the game during the English Premier League soccer match Liverpool versus Southampton at Anfield, Liverpool, England, Saturday Nov. 18, 2017. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

Salah's overall statistics are equally impressive with 14 goals, all from open play, in 18 matches and three assists. Last season Coutinho was the club's leading scorer with 14.

And this from a winger whose finishing has, at times this season, still been criticized.

Salah, who had already volleyed wastefully wide, ended his club's 459-minute goal drought against Southampton with a superb curling effort from Georginio Wijnaldum's lay-off in the 31st minute.

Salah's second 10 minutes later was just as brilliant. Liverpool target Virgil van Dijk inexplicably stepped forward with Coutinho on the ball and the Brazil international's outside-of-the-foot pass allowed Salah to run in behind and clip past Fraser Forster.

Salah continued to torment after the break with one scintillating counterattack messed up by Alberto Moreno's clumsiness in the penalty area.

Coutinho stabbed wide a good chance before making amends by smashing home Roberto Firmino's parried shot in the 68th minute.

Southampton rarely looked like preventing Liverpool keeping a fifth clean sheet in six home league matches.

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More AP Premier League coverage: www.apnews.com/tag/PremierLeague

Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster dives as Liverpool's Mohamed Salah scores his side's first goal of the game during the English Premier League soccer match Liverpool versus Southampton at Anfield, Liverpool, England, Saturday Nov. 18, 2017. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster dives as Liverpool's Mohamed Salah scores his side's first goal of the game during the English Premier League soccer match Liverpool versus Southampton at Anfield, Liverpool, England, Saturday Nov. 18, 2017. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, right, scores his side's second goal of the game during the English Premier League soccer match Liverpool versus Southampton at Anfield, Liverpool, England, Saturday Nov. 18, 2017. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. (AP) - The Latest on the fatal shooting of a police officer in New Kensington, Pennsylvania (all times local):

2:30 p.m.

Pennsylvania state police say investigators say they know why a rookie officer initiated a traffic stop that ultimately led to his shooting death.

SWAT team members prepare to search the neighborhood where a police officer was fatally shot Friday, Nov. 17, 2017, in New Kensington, Pa. Authorities in Pennsylvania say a police officer was shot and killed while making a traffic stop and a search is underway for the gunman. (Rebecca Droke/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

But they declined to provide those details or further information Saturday on the death of New Kensington officer Brian Shaw, citing the ongoing investigation.

Authorities say Shaw was shot in the chest Friday night during a foot pursuit that stemmed from the traffic stop in New Kensington, which is about 18 miles (29 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh

A brown, older model Jeep Grand Cherokee wanted in connection with the shooting was recovered later Friday. But the shooting suspect remained at large Saturday afternoon.

____

7 a.m.

An intense search is underway in western Pennsylvania for a suspect in the fatal shooting of a police officer.

The shooting happened shortly after 8 p.m. Friday in New Kensington, about 18 miles (29 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh. Authorities say Officer Brian Shaw was shot after a traffic stop led to him chasing someone on foot.

Police officers from neighboring towns were scouring the area for the suspect early Saturday. SWAT teams and police dogs assisted.

Police have recovered a brown, older model Jeep Grand Cherokee wanted in connection with the shooting.

___

12:15 a.m.

Authorities in Pennsylvania say a police officer was shot and killed while making a traffic stop and a search is underway for the gunman.

The fatal shooting happened shortly after 8 p.m. Friday in New Kensington, about 18 miles (29 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh. The officer has not been identified.

Police officers from neighboring towns, some carrying rifles, are scouring the area for the suspect. Police dogs also are being used in the search.

Police recovered a brown, older model Jeep Grand Cherokee wanted in connection with the shooting at about 11 p.m.

Police officers walk away from the scene of shooting where a police officer was fatally shot Friday, Nov. 17, 2017, in New Kensington, Pa. Authorities in Pennsylvania say a police officer was shot and killed while making a traffic stop and a search is underway for the gunman. Police officers from neighboring towns, some carrying rifles, are scouring the area for the suspect. (Rebecca Droke/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

A SWAT team walks along a street in the neighborhood where a police officer was fatally shot Friday, Nov. 17, 2017, in New Kensington, Pa. Authorities in Pennsylvania say a police officer was shot and killed while making a traffic stop and a search is underway for the gunman. (Rebecca Droke/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)
MANCHESTER, England (AP) - Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned from a seven-month injury layoff in Manchester United's 4-1 victory over Newcastle in the English Premier League, and so did the striker's bravado.

"I feel special," Ibrahimovic said. "Different day, same quality. I am not worried at all because I know what I can do."

Asked if he feared the knee ligament damage was career-ending, the 36-year-old Swede replied: "Lions, they don't recover like humans."

Manchester United's Anthony Martial, left, is substituted off the pitch for Zlatan Ibrahimovic during their English Premier League soccer match against Newcastle United at Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

United also welcomed back Paul Pogba from a shorter layoff with a hamstring injury. On his first appearance in two months, Pogba scored and set up another goal as he restored fluidity and dynamism to the team.

"The most important thing is Zlatan came back, I came back," Pogba said. "We were more effective."

United overturned Dwight Gayle's early strike for Newcastle to remain eight points behind league leader Manchester City.

Pogba created the equalizer for Anthony Martial before Chris Smalling put the hosts ahead. Pogba then increased the advantage and Romelu Lukaku made victory certain by ending his seven-game goal drought.

Manchester United's Paul Pogba, centre, scores his side's third goal of the game during their English Premier League soccer match against Newcastle United at Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The attorney for a former state senator charged with producing and transporting child pornography says his client will plead guilty to one count of child sex trafficking in exchange for U.S. prosecutors dropping three other child pornography charges against him.

Ex-state Sen. Ralph Shortey's attorney Ed Blau confirmed the details of the plea agreement to The Oklahoman on Friday. Blau told the newspaper Shortey wants to put the "painful and humiliating ordeal behind him."

The 35-year-old married father of four resigned in March after being charged in state court with child prostitution after police say they found him in a hotel with a 17-year-old boy.

Shortey still faces between 10 years and life in prison if convicted of child sex trafficking.

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Information from: The Oklahoman, http://www.newsok.com
BOSTON (AP) - Boston University says it has found evidence that a geology professor sexually harassed a graduate student on a research trip in Antarctica more than 10 years ago.

BU Provost Jean Morrison says in a letter sent Friday to faculty the findings follow a 13-month investigation into the former student's allegations against David Marchant, which date to 1999.

Morrison says interviews or statements from dozens of witnesses and a review of over 1,000 pages of records led investigators to conclude the tenured professor engaged in sexual harassment in violation of the school's policies.

The letter says investigators found the harassment created a hostile working and living environment.

Marchant's attorney tells The Boston Globe he plans to appeal the investigation's finding. If unsuccessful, BU says Marchant could be terminated.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The city of Des Moines is expected to pay $225,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of an unarmed man killed by police in 2015.

The Des Moines Register reports that the City Council is scheduled to approve the settlement agreement on Monday.

Last month, the city acknowledged that a former police officer falsely told investigators she warned Ryan Bolinger as he approached her patrol car before she fatally shot him.

Video and audio recordings of Vanessa Miller's patrol car show she didn't warn the 28-year-old West Des Moines man before she shot. Miller has said the look on Bolinger's face indicated he intended to harm her.

A Des Moines Police Department review committee cleared Miller of any policy violations. She resigned from the department in July 2016.

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Information from: The Des Moines Register, http://www.desmoinesregister.com
CLEVELAND (AP) - The Latest on Ohio Supreme Court Justice William O'Neill's Facebook posts. (all times local):

6:15 p.m.

Ohio Supreme Court Justice and Democratic gubernatorial candidate William O'Neill says he apologizes if his Facebook post discussing his sexual history with women has offended anyone, particularly "the wonderful women in my life."

O'Neill's latest post on Saturday afternoon comes a day after he deleted the original post. He tells The Associated Press he removed it after a commenter on his Facebook page criticized him for being insensitive for including details that could identify some of the women.

O'Neill continues to defend Democratic Sen. Al Franken in his latest post, saying that comparing an allegation of groping made against Franken by a woman during a USO tour in 2006 to allegations that Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore sexually assaulted teenage girls decades ago "trivializes the serious subject at hand."

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12:24 p.m.

An Ohio Supreme Court justice and Democratic gubernatorial candidate says he deleted a Facebook post outlining his sexual history after being criticized in part for potentially identifying some of the women.

Justice William O'Neill tells The Associated Press on Saturday he agreed with a commenter who said he was being "insensitive."

He initially edited the post Friday to remove details about the women before deleting it altogether. He tells people to "lighten up" in a new post.

The initial post caused a furor, leading to condemnation by members of both parties and the court's chief justice.

O'Neill's post said he was speaking out while "the dogs of war" were calling for Democratic U.S. Sen. Al Franken to resign after groping accusations.

Social media commenters say he was trivializing sexual assault.
Britain could remain under European Court of Justice jurisdiction after the Brexit date of March 2019, but move to a new arbitration mechanism during the planned two-year transition, David Davis has suggested.

The Brexit Secretary risked angering Conservative supporters of a hard Brexit in a speech in Berlin on Thursday.

He said the implementation period proposed by Theresa May would involve keeping both the rights of a European Union member and the obligations of one, such as the role of the European Court of Justice.

But speaking to the BBC on Friday, he suggested the ECJs role could be phased out before the end of the transition in 2021.

Well start under the regulations as they are now, and then ideally well end up with a circumstance where we have another arbitration mechanism, a dispute resolution mechanism, he said.

Thats for negotiation.

In his speech to German business leaders, he urged EU nations not to put politics above prosperity in their negotiation of a future relationship with the UK.

David Davis is in Berlin tonight speaking about the strong trade relationship between the UK and Germany and how we want to strengthen it even further in the years to come pic.twitter.com/8DVY95Ep66  Department for Exiting the EU (@DExEUgov) November 16, 2017

Asked whether Berlin and Paris were combining to hold up a deal, Mr Davis said: Oh no. To be clear, Germany and France  are the most powerful players on the European continent, of course they are.

So what they believe is very influential, sometimes decisively so. But its a whole-of-Europe decision, a 27-country decision.

Mr Davis indicated Britain is seeking compromise from the EU side to break the deadlock which has prevented discussion of anything but the divorce issues of the UKs exit bill, citizens rights and the Irish border.

In any negotiation you want the other side to compromise, he said.

After we leave the EU, the UK will remain a great place to do business pic.twitter.com/QB6fkTRcYa  Department for Exiting the EU (@DExEUgov) November 16, 2017

I want them to compromise. Surprise, surprise, nothing comes for nothing in this world.

But so far in this negotiation, weve made quite a lot of compromises. On the citizens rights front, weve made all the running.

He also indicated that compromise might be in the offing in Westminster with rebels who object to Government plans to enshrine the date of Brexit in law.

Mr Davis said putting the date in the EU Withdrawal Bill was a good idea, but added: How its done and what the form of it is is being debated in the House. Im not going to pre-empt that.

The whole of this Bill is going to be debated through the House  the whole of it  and there are parts of it that will change as it goes through.

500 days to Brexit: Key events

A Downing Street spokesman said Mr Davis was simply reiterating Mrs Mays position on the ECJ.

During that implementation period, it may mean we start off with the ECJ still governing the rules we are part of for that period, said the spokesman.

We are also clear that we can bring forward discussions and agreements on issues such as a dispute resolution mechanism. If we can bring that forward at an earlier stage we would wish to do so.

Asked whether the UK Government was committed not to put politics above prosperity, as Mr Davis suggested other EU countries should be, the spokesman said: What David Davis was speaking about was the close economic ties between the UK and Germany and emphasising that preserving jobs and prosperity must be at the forefront of negotiations.
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero has declared himself fit for Saturdays Premier League match at Leicester.

The 29-year-old was taken to hospital on Tuesday after experiencing a dizzy spell at half-time of the 4-2 defeat to Nigeria in Russia.

After being discharged and rejoining the team Aguero returned to Manchester where he was assessed by Citys medical staff.

Sergio Aguero has some problems on Argentina duty

Following their evaluation Aguero announced he had been passed fit to play at the weekend.

Todos los estudios que me hicieron por precaucion salieron bien asi que listo y preparado para el partido del sabado. Vamos City!!//All the tests they run on me  just for caution  turn out well, so I'm set to go for Saturday's match. C'mon, City!!  Sergio Kun Aguero (@aguerosergiokun) November 16, 2017

All the tests they run on me  just for caution - turn out well, so Im set to go for Saturdays match. Cmon, City! he tweeted.

City were always optimistic Aguero would be fine for the return of the Premier League after stressing earlier in the week that the player never lost consciousness despite suggestions he had fainted.

The clubs all-time leading goalscorer has only recently returned to action after he sustaining a rib injury in a car crash in Amsterdam in September when the taxi he was in collided with a lamp post.
Mauricio Pochettino would not swap the progress made at Tottenham over the last three years for Arsenals two FA Cups.

Spurs head into Saturdays north London derby as the stronger force after two successive title challenges and finishing above Arsenal last season for the first time since 1995.

Tottenham have also beaten Real Madrid to seal progress to this seasons Champions League last 16 as Arsenal have been rubbing shoulders with the likes of BATE Borisov and Red Star Belgrade in the Europa League.

Spurs are yet to win a trophy since Pochettino took charge while Arsenal lifted the FA Cup both last season and in 2015, but the Spurs boss insists he would not trade places.

No, because Tottenham is Tottenham and Arsenal are in another stage of their project, Pochettino said.

I dont care where they are. After three-and-a-half years we achieve a lot. I would like to achieve more  to be first and not second and win cups but we are in different process of our project.

And then there was none...



Here's how the 2016/17 top 6 looks pic.twitter.com/A9K9HzxSRE  Premier League (@premierleague) May 21, 2017

I admire what Arsene Wenger did at Arsenal but we are at a different stage in the project.

The pressure to win only cups is not useful for us. If we can win the FA Cup, Carabao Cup, fantastic, but the principal option is to win the Premier League and put Tottenham in a position to win the Champions League.

Spurs hunt for silverware may not end soon. They are out of the Carabao Cup and already trail the formidable Manchester City by eight points in the Premier League.

2-0 down at Wembley. Wait for it... pic.twitter.com/bcPcYbMJLp  West Ham United (@WestHam) October 26, 2017

Arsenal have cashed in on the domestic competitions in recent seasons, having lifted the FA Cup three times in the last four years. But Pochettino believes the Premier League and Champions League are the only prizes really worth winning.

You arrive at a big club and you play a final and win, that happens at Liverpool, Arsenal, Man United, Man City, Chelsea, Pochettino said.

They try to use the whole squad, then you arrive in the draw and you can win, but the Premier League and Champions League is the massive challenge for big clubs. This type of trophy are the real trophies.

Arsenal's FA Cup successes do not impress Mauricio Pochettino (Adam Davy/PA)

Wenger was once renowned for spotting Europes unseen gems but now it is Pochettino, and Tottenham, heralded for bringing through the best young talent.

Pochettino said as many as eight 16-year-olds were training with the first team on Wednesday while former Spurs stars Steve Perryman, Graham Roberts and Glenn Hoddle came in to meet the clubs academy players.

I try to show respect for our legends and share ideas for the club, Pochettino said. We want to build something special but keep identity. Who better than them to translate how Tottenham was, is and can be?
Lebanons prime minister Saad Hariri has said he is returning to the country and confirmed he is resigning amid political tensions.

He told reporters in Paris: As you know I have resigned and we will speak about this matter there (Lebanon).

Mr Hariri, who flew to France from Saudi Arabia, where he first made his shock resignation announcement, said he will go back to Lebanon in the coming days to take part in Independence Day celebrations.

Emmanuel Macron, centre right, and his wife Brigitte, right, greet Saad Hariri, second left, his wife Lara and their son Hussam upon their arrival at the Elysee Palace in Paris (Christophe Ena/AP)

Mr Hariri spoke to reporters on Saturday after a meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron during which he thanked France for the positive political role it is playing in the Middle East.

He was joined for lunch at the Elysee Palace by his wife and older son along with Mr Macron and his wife.

Lebanese president Michel Aoun refused to accept the resignation that was made through a TV broadcast in Saudi Arabia, and accused the kingdom of holding Mr Hariri against his will.
The Prince of Wales has seen the hurricane-damaged British Virgin Islands  as its most famous resident Sir Richard Branson said the disaster had pulled the islanders together.

Charles was taken to see battered and crushed high school buildings on the main island of Tortola during a day spent witnessing for himself the destructive power of Hurricane Irma in the region.

His motorcade stopped at Elmore Stoutt High School, the main secondary school on the island, which has been left to the elements after being badly damaged in September by the category 5 storm.

The Prince met @richardbranson at a reception hosted at Government House for individuals, volunteers and organisations who were part of the relief efforts after the hurricanes. #RoyalVisitBVI @DFID_UK pic.twitter.com/r6BycPRRlc  Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) November 18, 2017

Billionaire Virgin boss Sir Richard met Charles on Tortola at a reception for organisations and individuals who played their part in helping during the aftermath of the natural disaster.

He told the Press Association: As far as the British Virgin Islands (BVI) are concerned the people were magnificent in the way they pulled together, everybodys helping everybody.

People have lost their homes and others are putting them up, everybodys helping trying to get water back and electricity back on, and its been tremendous.

Sir Richard decided to remain on Necker, his private Caribbean island in the BVI, and brave the storm with his staff when it struck in September.

Later a Virgin Atlantic Antigua flight was loaded with essential items to help the recovery effort, including blankets and bottled water.

Following the hurricane, the businessman called for a Disaster Recovery Marshall Plan  the US initiative that helped with the rebuilding of western Europe following the Second World War.

Sir Branson added: Strangely I sometimes think that in these crisis situations the community comes out even stronger after, then before.

In times of trouble people pull together like never before, its been like a war situation.

The Prince of Wales was also shown the destruction inflicted by the Hurricanes on The Holy Trinity School. Prince Harry visited the same school in 2016. pic.twitter.com/6viN5TlV4b  Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) November 18, 2017

Earlier Charles visited Barbuda and witnessed similar scenes of homes with their roofs blown off and houses standing at weird angles after being ripped from their foundations.
Fashion designer Azzedine Alaia, whose clingy dresses marked the 1980s and who dressed famous women from Hollywood to the White House, has died aged 77.

The French Haute Couture Federation announced Tunisian-born Alaias death on Saturday without providing details.

Twitter tributes to his influence on fashion poured in from around the world.

Azzedine Alaia arrives at Christian Dior's Spring/Summer 2015 ready-to-wear fashion collection presented in Paris in 2014

This picture was taken last week, in his kitchen at legendary 7, rue de Moussy .he was cracking jokes and in good spirits, I promised him hot peppers from the south of Egypt next time , but I did not know there would be no  next time .how fragile we are#Alaia #azzedinealaia pic.twitter.com/aRpPtFR3Up  Hend Sabry -   (@HendSabry) November 18, 2017

Secretive and known as a fashion rebel, Alaia was based in Paris for decades but did not take part in the French capitals seasonal catwalk frenzy or flashy ad campaigns. Instead, he showed privately on his own schedule.

Alaia was sometimes dubbed the king of cling for the form-fitting designs he first made popular during the 1980s and updated over the decades.

Naomi Campbell was a favoured model, and Michelle Obama wore his designs as first lady.

His houses website described him as the little man in eternal Chinese pyjamas who built a legend, that of a rebel designer who worked against the system and its trends.

What a beautiful gift you were...thank you for all of the wonderful memories.. RIP #azzedinealaia #loved pic.twitter.com/cJA3PF3yTv  Kris Jenner (@KrisJenner) November 18, 2017

Multiple museums have held retrospectives of Alaias work, including the Guggenheim in New York and Paris Palais Galliera, which put on a show in 2013 that highlighted his way of slowing down time.

Hommage a Azzedine Alaia, un genie tissant les liens entre mode, architecture, arts plastiques, sculptant ses creations pour magnifier le corps des femmes. Un homme libre et genereux, aime et admire  Audrey Azoulay (@AAzoulay) November 18, 2017

Tributes were led by former French culture minister Audrey Azoulay, who recently became director of the United Nations cultural agency Unesco.

He said: A genius who weaved connections among fashion, architecture and fine arts, sculpting creations to magnify womens bodies.

A free and generous man, loved and admired.
Jack Cork helped heap the pressure on his former manager, Paul Clement, as Burnley swept aside Swansea 2-0 at Turf Moor.

Cork was handed his England debut against Germany last week and continued making memories by nodding home the first goal against his former club, underlining Clements increasingly curious decision to let him go in the summer.

Ashley Barnes followed up with a rocket of a strike that caught everyone by surprise, handing the upwardly mobile Clarets their third win in a row and plunging Swansea into the kind of relegation trough that leaves managers looking nervously over their shoulder.

Picture

Sean Dyche, meanwhile, has now overseen his clubs first hat-trick of top-flight wins since 1975 and can expect links with the vacant Everton job to linger.

While Corks form highlights Dyches canny knack of invigorating low-key personnel, Swanseas woes were embodied by Renato Sanches. Once one of Europes hottest teenage properties, he is now something of a lost soul.

The Bayern Munich loanee is not even a guaranteed starter at the Welsh strugglers and his efforts here can only have steered him closer to the bench.

Burnley record a third successive top-flight victory for the first time since 1974/75.   Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) November 18, 2017

His set-piece delivery was dreadful, he dallied in possession and, when a woeful shot disappeared over the bar he raised both hands in apology to his team-mates. Quite how Euro 2016s breakout star has come to this is anyones guess.

Burnleys biggest moment of concern came from one of their own in the eighth minute, Matt Lowton launching a volleyed clearance just wide after Jordan Ayew chased down a lost cause.

The rest of the first half belonged to Burnley, who attacked with a frantic quality that unnerved the visitors and settled the result by the interval.

One passage saw three chances open up in a matter of seconds  Alfie Mawson stealing one of Barnes toes, Lukasz Fabianski beating away Steven Defours subsequent drive and Sam Clucas smothering another attempt from Jeff Hendrick.

PIC: Ashley Barnes rifles home Burnley's second goal against @SwansOfficial pic.twitter.com/cE6xPLegoi  Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) November 18, 2017

When corner floated towards the far post moments later, only a sprawling save from Fabianski spared Martin Olsson an own-goal.

The Polish keeper was doing all the heavy lifting for his side, rising to the occasion again when Barnes met Lowtons cross at the far post and produced a powerful header.

His resistance was broken on the half-hour as Cork ferried the ball 20 yards upfield before laying it off to Barnes and heading for the six-yard box. By the time he got there, unmarked, Robbie Brady had provided the kind of cross which demands to be planted into the corner, as Cork happily did. It will not be lost on Swans fans that he scored just twice for them in two and a half years.

FULL-TIME Burnley 2-0 Swansea



The hosts make it three #PL wins in a row thanks to two first-half goals#BURSWA pic.twitter.com/rBvPKaWD5y  Premier League (@premierleague) November 18, 2017

Barnes brilliant strike made it two five minutes before the break, the forward gathered Hendricks pass with a neat touch before rifling a thunderous drive inside the near post.

Swansea sent on Wilfried Bony at the break but, like Sanches, he is a man shorn of form and fulfillment.

He snatched at his first chance, lashing wide from an inviting position, and was robbed by a sliding Lowton just as he shaped to shoot in the 75th minute.

Swanseas bad luck caught up with Tammy Abraham next. The striker made his England bow along with Cork at Wembley but while the latter left Turf Moor beaming in celebration, Abraham departed on a stretcher having battled an apparent back problem for several minutes.

What they said

"We have really got to find a way to break this cycle we are in.



The boss gives his thoughts on todays defeat to @BurnleyOfficial:https://t.co/0jvZmbDOJ4  Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) November 18, 2017

Burnley manager Sean Dyche: Corkywhat a couple of weeks hes had. He deserved his goal, it was brilliant to see. I love to see my midfielders driving into the box. Like Bryan Robson, flying into the box and heading it in, you dont see that so often now and its great to see.

Swansea manager Paul Clement: Clearly he [majority shareholder Steve Kaplan] is not going to be happy with the performance or the results, which Im not, the technical staff are not and the players are not. Concerned? Yeah, of course. Id be stupid if I wasnt. Im concerned about the level of performance, concerned about our position in the table, about how many goals weve scored or havent scored.
Tony Pulis position at West Brom looks increasingly under threat after Chelsea inflicted the joint-heaviest defeat of his near three-year reign at The Hawthorns.

A brace from Eden Hazard and efforts from Alvaro Morata and Marcos Alonso saw the Blues coast to a 4-0 success, their fourth successive triumph in the Premier League, at the venue where they clinched the title six months ago.

Pulis had said on Friday he would understand if he was axed following a run of poor recent results and this defeat, which took them to 11 games without a victory, was witnessed by Chinese owner Guochuan Lai and a home crowd that delivered their verdict with a loud chorus of Pulis out at the end.

What they said

The big thing is, this is not about me, the chairman, the owners or anything like that, its about the football club and what is the right decision for the football club.

Dont forget now we have another problem because we are going to play at Qarabag on Wednesday and then we go back to London at five, six oclock, but we have another great game against Liverpool on Saturday. Is it normal, this? I dont think.

Tweet of the match

That belgium wizard  i tought him everything ahahah  Michy Batshuayi (@mbatshuayi) November 18, 2017

Injured Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi (@mbatshuayi) shows his appreciation for two-goal star Hazard.

Star man  Eden Hazard

Cesc Fabregas and Morata were both brilliant but Chelseas difference maker is their Belgian wizard. When he is in the mood  and he certainly was after receiving little sympathy from the support when injured early on  he is unplayable.

Pulis pens his farewell?

Pulis had defended his record at The Hawthorns in his programme notes but this performance hardly showed the clubs owner he is capable of turning things around. It is now 11 games without a win for the Baggies and this felt like the end of an era.

The champions are coming

What a way to mark Antonio Conte's 50th Premier League game in charge of the Blues!  #WBACHE pic.twitter.com/VK0F2xT72Q  Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) November 18, 2017

Blues boss Antonio Conte had said on Friday his team may need to win every single Premier League game to catch Manchester City. They made it four consecutive wins in the division at the venue where they clinched the title last season. City may not slip up, but on this evidence Chelsea, seven points behind them, will be their biggest challengers.

Player ratings

Ben Foster: 6, Matt Phillips: 7, Gareth McAuley: 5, Ahmed Hegazi: 5, Jonny Evans: 6, Kieran Gibbs: 6, Jake Livermore: 6, Grzegorz Krychowiak: 4, Gareth Barry 7, Jay Rodriguez: 6, Salomon Rondon: 5.Claudio Yacob (on for Krychowiak, 46): 6, Oliver Burke (on for Rodriguez, 70): 6, James McClean (on for Phillips, 84): 6.

Thibaut Courtois: 6, Davide Zappacosta: 7, Gary Cahill: 7, Andreas Christensen: 6, Cesar Azpilicueta: 7, Marcos Alonso: 7, Ngolo Kante: 7, Tiemoue Bakayoko: 6, Cesc Fabregas: 8, Eden Hazard: 9, Alvaro Morata: 8.Danny Drinkwater (on for Fabregas, 67): 6, Pedro (on for Hazard, 71): 6, Willian (on for Kante, 77): 6.

Whos up next?

Spurs beat West Brom 4-0 the last time they met in January with Harry Kane scoring a hat-trick

Tottenham v West Brom (Premier League, November 25)

Qarabag v Chelsea (Champions League, November 22)
Gerry Adams has announced his intention to step down as Sinn Fein president in 2018.

The 69-year-old republican veteran told the annual Sinn Fein Ard Fheis in Dublin it would be his last as leader, and a special meeting of the party would be called next year to elect a successor.

The TD for Co Louth, who has been party president since 1983, also told delegates he would not run in the next election in the Irish Republic.

.@GerryAdamsSF Presidential Address at the 2017 Sinn Fein Ard Fheis #SFAF17 pic.twitter.com/92nEcU9Ana  Sinn Fein (@sinnfeinireland) November 18, 2017

Leadership means knowing when it is time for change and that time is now, he told the annual conference in the RDS arena in Dublin.

Mr Adams said the move was part of the ongoing process of leadership transition within the party.

The plan, formulated along with Martin McGuinness before his death earlier this year, has already seen Michelle ONeill, 40, take the role of Sinn Feins leader at Stormont.

.@GerryAdamsSF finishes his Presidential Address "Mile buiochas a chairde

An Phoblacht Abu.

Leanfaidh muid ar aghaigh.

Le cheile." pic.twitter.com/mGoKMNP57K  Sinn Fein (@sinnfeinireland) November 18, 2017

Mr Adams has gone before the Ard Fheis to seek re-election every year since 1983 and that formality was repeated on Saturday night.

But in his leaders speech, he told republican faithful it would be the last time he would put himself forward for the role.

I want to thank everyone who has welcomed me into their homes and communities and have made me part of countless campaigns, countless elections and countless negotiations, he said.

Amid rapturous applause and a standing ovation, Mr Adams told delegates: We are going to continue to go forward.

He paid special tribute to his wife Collette and son Gearoid.

.@GerryAdamsSF pays tribute to his wife Colette at the #SFAF17 "Finally, my thanks to Colette.

I have been very lucky.

We are now married 27 years.

There have been ups and downs.

But love has prevailed over everything life has thrown at us. pic.twitter.com/PWuWXFmyT0  Sinn Fein (@sinnfeinireland) November 18, 2017

The long-standing MP for west Belfast switched his focus to the Dublin parliament in 2011, becoming a TD for Co Louth.

Sinn Fein has made steady gains in the Irish Republic in recent polls but many believe the prospects of further growth is limited due to the presence of Troubles era figures.

Current deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald, 48, will be a clear favourite to succeed Mr Adams.

The Ard Fheis also saw the party faithful debate its position on abortion.

Delegates voted to partially liberalise the partys stance, setting its position ahead of next years referendum in the Irish Republic on the clause of the states constitution that frames its strict laws on terminations.

The conference was also the first since Mr McGuinness died in March. His widow Bernie attended as tributes were paid to the former IRA commander turned Stormont deputy first minister.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh smile as they stand side by side in the first of a new series of portraits to mark their 70th wedding anniversary.

The photographs, taken by British photographer Matt Holyoak, show Elizabeth II and Prince Philip standing in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle in early November.

The 91-year-old monarch opted to wear the cream day dress by Angela Kelly that she also wore at the Diamond Wedding Anniversary thanksgiving service, along with a yellow gold, ruby and diamond Scarab brooch, designed by Andrew Grima and gifted to the couple in 1966.

Her Majesty and His Royal Highness will celebrate their Wedding Anniverary on Monday, 20th November 2017.

The portraits, by British photographer Matt Holyoak of Camera Press, were taken in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle in early November.  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) November 18, 2017

They are framed by Thomas Gainsboroughs 1781 portraits of George III and Queen Charlotte, who were married for 57 years, and the Queen holds her hands clasped in front of her, while Prince Philip stands upright with his hands behind his back.

Mr Holyoak has worked with a host of British and Hollywood celebrities and his photos have regularly been splashed on the covers of magazine such as Harpers Bazaar, Shortlist and Dazed and Confused.

The photographs were taken for Camera Press, which also celebrates its anniversary 70 years after the agency distributed the royal pairs official wedding photos as its first assignment.

The marriage of the then Princess Elizabeth to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten took place at Westminster Abbey on 20th November 1947.

Find out about The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh's wedding day here: https://t.co/z9GpTg9jPZ  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) November 18, 2017

Elizabeth II, who married he consort at Westminster Abbey on November 20 1947, is the first British monarch to celebrate a platinum wedding anniversary.

Their enduring relationship has lasted the longest of any British sovereign, and Philip has been at the Queens side throughout the decades, supporting her as she devotes herself to her duties as head of state.

The monarch, who was a 21-year-old princess when she walked up the aisle, is the nations longest reigning sovereign, having overtaken the record set by Queen Victoria.

The 96-year-old newly retired Duke, who was 26 and fresh from serving for the Royal Navy in the Second World War when he wed, is the longest serving consort in British history.

(PA)

Together they have celebrated the Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees of the Queens reigns, and faced ups and downs over the years including the breakdown of three of their four childrens marriages, and the backlash which followed the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

With their family growing year by year, the Queen and Philip are preparing to welcome their sixth great-grandchild in April  a third child for the the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

They already have five great-grandchildren  Savannah and Isla Phillips, Mia Tindall, Prince George and Princess Charlotte  as well as eight grandchildren  Peter and Zara Phillips, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince Harry, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor and Viscount Severn  and their own four children the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex.
LJUBLJANA, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Slovenian generic drugs producer Krka made group net profit of 110.1 million euros ($129.72 million) in the first nine months of 2017 versus 80.3 million in the same period of 2016.

It said sales reached 928.3 million euros versus 852.4 million euros a year ago. The company said it expected 2017 net profit to amount to 140 million euros.

Krka is Slovenia's largest listed company with a market capitalisation of around 1.8 billion euros.

($1 = 0.8488 euros) (Reporting by Marja Novak; Editing by Ivana Sekularac and Mark Potter)
Nov 17 (Reuters) - U.S. civil rights activist Jesse Jackson announced on Friday that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, an ailment that constrains movement and gets progressively worse with time.

In a statement issued by the Chicago-based Rainbow Push Coalition which he founded, the 76-year-old minister said he reluctantly sought medical attention after his ability to move and perform routine tasks became increasingly difficult over a three-year period.

"Recognition of the effects of this disease on me has been painful, and I have been slow to grasp the gravity of it," he said. "For me, a Parkinson's diagnosis is not a stop sign but rather a signal that I must make lifestyle changes and dedicate myself to physical therapy in hopes of slowing the disease's progression."

Jackson has been a leader of the U.S. civil rights movement since the mid-1960s and was with Martin Luther King when he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.

He twice sought the Democratic presidential nomination and has acted as an emissary to secure the release of Americans held abroad.

Parkinson's disease occurs when certain nerve cells break down and reduce the amount of the chemical, dopamine, that sends signals to the part of the brain that controls movement, according to Webmd.com. But the disease progresses slowly, and treatments can slow it down even more, it said.

Jackson said he planned to advocate to find a cure for the disease, which he said "bested my father," strikes 60,000 Americans a year and afflicts 7 to 10 million people worldwide. He also said he is writing his memoir.

"I will continue to try to instill hope in the hopeless, expand our democracy to the disenfranchised and free innocent prisoners around the world," he said. (Reporting by Peter Szekely in New York)
CARACAS, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose top political allies have been accused by Washington of dealing in illegal narcotics, on Friday offered to help U.S. President Donald Trump in fighting the drug trade.

Top Venezuelan officials including Vice President Tareck El Aissami and Interior Minister Nestor Reverol have been blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury on allegations they have helped move drugs from neighboring Colombia into North America.

Maduro calls those charges a smear campaign, and insists that the United States must do more to reduce drug consumption.

"President Trump, if you really want to fight drug trafficking that has destroyed U.S. youth and filled the country with drugs from Colombia, you have an ally in me," Maduro said in a televised broadcast.

"Come find out about our experience, we can join forces."

He did not provide further details.

Maduro has repeatedly excoriated Trump for sanctions against Venezuela, which range from restrictions on U.S. banks buying newly issued debt to barring American citizens from having any dealings with specific individuals in his government.

The Trump administration slammed Maduro's decision to create an all-powerful legislature called the Constituent Assembly in August. The opposition and the international community decried that move as the consolidation of a dictatorship.

Maduro, who is himself under U.S. sanction, has in the past requested meetings with Trump. The White House responded to one such entreaty this year by saying it will meet with Venezuela's president when the country returns to democracy. (Reporting by Deisy Buitrago; Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by James Dalgleish)
GAZA, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The Egypt-Gaza border opened under control of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority for the first time since 2007 on Saturday, raising residents' hopes for easier passage in and out of the impoverished enclave.

An Egyptian-brokered reconciliation deal last month formally restored Palestinian President Abbas's administrative control of Gaza, including its border crossings with Israel and Egypt, after a 10-year schism with Islamist Hamas.

Palestinians hope the pact will ease Gaza's economic woes and help them present a united front in their drive for statehood, although the details of implementation of the deal have yet to be worked out fully.

Citing security concerns, Egypt and Israel maintain tight restrictions at their Gaza borders. Hamas, regarded by the West as a terrorist group, seized the enclave in 2007 after fighting forces loyal to Abbas.

Hamas quit positions at three Gaza crossings and handed them over to Palestinian Authority employees on Nov. 1, in a step seen as vital to encouraging Israel and Egypt to ease their restrictions on the movement of goods and people.

Witnesses said at least five buses loaded with passengers crossed over to the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing on Saturday. Hamas-appointed policemen had checked travellers' documents in a separate hall outside Rafah.

Egypt has not yet signalled any change to its present policy under which it opens the border crossing three times a week.

Palestinians are hoping the crossing will operate full-time, as it had been doing until 2007. About 30,000 Gazans have applied for entry to Egypt in the past few months, according to the Palestinian Interior Ministry.

Egypt will host further talks with Hamas, Fatah and other factions next week on Nov. 21 to discuss major reconciliation issues, including security arrangements and a possible date for Palestinian presidential and parliamentary elections.

Responsibility for security remains an open issue in Gaza, where Hamas, which still polices the territory, has what analysts say are at least 25,000 well-equipped fighters. The group refuses to disarm, as demanded by Israel and the United States. (Writing by Nidal Almughrabi; Editing by Maayan Lubell and Hugh Lawson)
WARSAW, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Ukraine has summoned the Polish ambassador in Kiev after Poland denied entry to a Ukrainian official in an escalation of a diplomatic spat over the two neighbours' troubled past.

Poland's decision to refused entry on Saturday to the head of Ukraine's commemoration commission, Svyatoslav Sheremet, was in response to a ban imposed earlier this year by Kiev on the exhumation of Poles killed in Ukraine during World War Two, Polish state news agency PAP reported.

"The Ukrainian side has complained that Mr Sheremet was not allowed into Poland," Poland's ambassador to Kiev Jan Pieklo told PAP after the meeting with Ukrainian authorities.

"I have been also informed that this is a problem that concerns the restarting of exhumations because Sheremet is the person responsible for this," Pieklo said, adding that both sides had agreed that the exhumations should be restarted.

In an apparent effort to mend ties, representatives of the Polish and Ukrainian presidents said on Friday that they "reconfirmed their commitment to strengthening the strategic partnership".

"The parties agreed that the ban on the search and exhumation works in Ukraine should be lifted," the statement published on Friday said.

The denial of entry to Sheremet came after the Polish foreign minister said earlier in November that Poland would bar Ukrainians with "anti-Polish views".

Poland last year passed a resolution that declared the World War Two-era killing of about 100,000 Polish men, women and children by units in the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) "genocide".

Ukraine rejects that label, saying the killings were a result of bilateral hostilities. (Reporting by Marcin Goettig; Additional reporting by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
By Conor Humphries

DUBLIN, Nov 18 (Reuters) - As the public face of the Irish Republican Army during its bombing campaigns, then peacemaker and mainstream politician, Gerry Adams has been a defining figure of Northern Ireland's 50-year journey from sectarian torment to relative stability.

Adams announced his intention to step down as leader of the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party on Saturday with his ultimate goal of a united Ireland still elusive.

But the party he leaves is not only the dominant Irish nationalist force in the British-ruled province, but also strong enough across the border in the Irish Republic to have a chance of entering government there, too.

During the 1970s and 80s, at the height of an IRA bombing campaign to end British rule over Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein operated as the IRA's political wing. As its leader from 1983 onwards, Adams thus became, for many in Britain and Northern Ireland, the face of the IRA.

As a result, he was loathed by pro-British unionists and the British government, but lionised in equal measure by Irish nationalists.

Yet when the prospect of political progress arose, he showed himself ready to compromise, working with late former IRA commander Martin McGuinness to swing the IRA and the province's Roman Catholic minority behind a 1998 deal with the pro-British Protestant majority.

The Good Friday agreement gave the province's Catholics a share of power and largely ended a conflict in which some 3,600 people had been killed, many at the hands of Irish republican groups such as the IRA, and others by pro-British unionist paramilitaries and British security forces.

Since then, Adams has helped to build Sinn Fein into the dominant Irish nationalist party in Northern Ireland, overseeing its agreement in 2007 to share power with its bitter rival, the Democratic Unionist Party and, in recent months, its efforts to restore power-sharing after it collapsed in January.

Adams also announced on Saturday that he would not stand for re-election to the Dublin parliament, where he has sat since 2011, moving Sinn Fein from the fringes to become the Irish Republic's third party and its main left-wing force.

REPUBLICAN HERITAGE

Adams was born into a Belfast family steeped in revolutionary politics, several of his relatives having been involved in armed republicanism.

At 20, he left his job as a barman to help defend fellow Catholics from what they saw as a hostile British state, and to fight for Northern Ireland to split from the United Kingdom and unite with the Irish Republic.

Like his father, Adams was interned - held without trial - on suspicion of being a senior IRA commander.

He has always denied membership of the IRA, although accusations from former IRA fighters that he was involved in its campaign of killings have dogged him throughout his career.

Between 1988 and 1994, Adams was banned from speaking on British airwaves. While his oversized glasses and red-tinged beard were instantly recognisable, his voice was unknown as broadcasters had actors dub his words.

Former British conservative prime minister John Major, one of the architects of peace in Northern Ireland, once said the thought of sitting down to talk with Adams had "turned my stomach".

But Adams was at the time walking a political tightrope - between IRA "hawks" who argued that only a continuation of violence would chase Britain from the island, and "doves" who said that negotiations were the route to a united Ireland.

He emerged from the political cold in October 1997 when he shook hands with the new Labour prime minister, Tony Blair, at their first meeting. Sinn Fein had polled 17 percent in Northern Ireland's elections and returned Adams to the British parliament, although he refused to take his seat.

Within a year, Adams and McGuinness had helped to broker a peace deal that largely ended the violence in the province.

Since that deal, his role as statesman has grown, and he has made several visits to the White House.

He was arrested in 2014 as part of an investigation into one of the province's most controversial murders, but no charges were brought.

Latterly he has used social media to create a grandfatherly image in the Irish Republic, with posts about his dog and his taste in cartoons. (Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
A home and home battle flared up in Parliament yesterday with regard to the filing of petitions against the delimitation gazette notification.

It began when Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera accused Deputy Minister Ajith P Perera of cslinging mud at the SLFP. "We are working on an agreement signed between the UNP and the SLFP and therefore we don't have underhand deals," he said.

The minister said Rajapaksa Kumara who is among six petitioners is a close associate of a former deputy minister. "I have agreed to field Rajapaksa as a candidate for the local government elections following many requests made by the party machinery," he said. "I managed to get the contact number of this person from CaFFE Chief Keerthi Tennnekoon and asked him why he signed the petition. He informed me that the former deputy minister asked him to sign it."

The deputy minister in response said he asked the question on the petitions after the statement made by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the House on Thursday. "Mr Rajapaksa said the government was trying to postpone the elections through various tactics. I was only responding to the allegation made by the former president and challenged the joint opposition to name those who are behind the filing of petitions. There was no under hand deals involved," he said. (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)
There is no one person behind the bond issue but apparently carried out by a network of corrupt persons including some MPs, Chief Opposition Whip Anura Kumara Dissanayake said in Parliament yesterday.

He said there are other MPs other than the COPE members whose names had been disclosed.

"I agree with MP Karu Paranawithana who said there are others who had dealt with PTL owner Arjun Aloysius because a network comprising Central Bank officials, members of the business community and politicians. Information on this corrupt network will be disclosed soon," Mr Dissanayake said.

He said it was those who had dealings with Mr. Aloysius who created havoc at the COPE meetings and claimed that some COPE members had even threatened the Auditor General.

Mr. Dissanayake said the punishment meted out to those found guilty in this instance would be an example of how the government dealt with people involved in other financial frauds. "The Presidential Commission investigating into serious frauds has completed inquiries on 17 cases such as the fraud at the ITN, the opening ceremony of the Hambantota Port and the Avant Garde, but one wonders what the outcome will be," he said. (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)
The US recently said it was concerned by reports of abuses by members of the security forces and by reports of increased violence against religious minorities in Sri Lanka.

In its remarks at the third Universal Periodic Review of Sri Lanka in Geneva on Wednesday, the US commended Sri Lanka's commitment to promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights.

Meanwhile, the UK said it welcomed the progress on human rights and reconciliation in Sri Lanka including UN Human Rights Council engagement and the establishment of an Office of Missing Persons.

We encourage Sri Lanka to complete its work to enact human-rights compliant counter-terrorism legislation and to continue with police reform and ongoing work on reconciliation, it said.
Usually, the scales of justice are balanced on police investigations and prosecutorial strategy. But sometimes, citizens lead the charge.

Citizen-sworn arrest warrants seem like a relic of the past, but in Virginia, anyone with enough evidence can seek charges against someone else.

In the weeks and months after white supremacists stormed through downtown Charlottesville, leaving a trail of violence, city police have received dozens and dozens of reports. But other citizens who were injured at the rally chose a different route.

As a citizen, seeking an arrest warrant is not that hard, with enough preliminary evidence.

On Oct. 9, Harold Ray Crews, who attended the failed United the Right rally, sought a warrant for felony unlawful wounding against DeAndre Harris, a young man beaten bloody in the Market Street Parking Garage after police broke up the event.

Crews went before a magistrate and swore out the warrant as a private citizen.

In his complaint, Crews wrote, Deandre Harris, hereinafter Harris, did on 8-12-17 on Market Street strike me to the left cheek with a blunt weapon without provocation either to himself or any companions.

As a result of this attack I have been permanently scarred, he wrote.

Warrants for felony charges require that a police officer or a commonwealths attorneys office authorize the charge and sign the warrant, said Charlottesville Commonwealth Attorney Dave Chapman  who would not speak specifically about Harris case.

If its a felony matter, a magistrate cannot issue an arrest warrant without the commonwealths attorney or law enforcement officer signing it, Chapman said.

In this case, Charlottesville police Officer R.A. Oberholzer signed the warrant, authorizing it and Harris subsequent arrest. Magistrate Merlyn Goeschl then signed off on it.

The warrants were served to Harris on Oct. 13, and he was released from custody on an unsecured $5,000 bond.

***

While there are benefits to the citizen warrant system, there can also be obvious repercussions, said Josh Bowers, a professor of criminal law at the University of Virginia and a former public defender.

Historically, Bowers said, criminal justice was pursued and administered by private citizens, which included constables and magistrates. Though the system no longer operates quite in that way, he said there is some benefit of lay people playing a role in the criminal justice system  such as citizen-sworn arrest warrants.

It helps to make sure the criminal justice system doesnt become too detached from the community, Bowers said. There are times when police and prosecutors fall down on the job. A classic example is the failure of police and prosecutors in the South during the Jim Crow era, with white violence against black citizens.

However, both Bowers and Chapman said the system allows people to use it as an opportunity to manipulate the criminal justice system to their own ends. Most notably, it can be used as a form of retaliation or expression of biases.

Private citizens may exercise their own biases to the detriment of someone who doesnt deserve to be arrested or prosecuted, or who was a victim  as might be the case with Harris, Bowers said. From videos Ive seen, he seems like the victim.

With the right magistrate asking the right questions, you may have the right kind of check, but I dont think we saw that here, he added. I think they were entirely too quick to ignore the context in which it was sought and to issue the warrant where risk of race-based vindictiveness was intolerably high.

From time to time, Chapman said, it is necessary to bring perjury charges against individuals who are found to have lied under oath in order to seek an arrest warrant against someone. Sometimes, the issue is handled with a lesser offense of making a false statement.

Its a solemn act, said Chapman. The person is making a sworn statement under penalty of perjury. The law intends that it not lightly be undertaken and that the person be obviously truthful.

Other states  including North and South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, Idaho and New Hampshire  also allow private citizens to initiate criminal charges, to an extent. In South Carolina, for example, a citizen can approach a magistrate with a criminal complaint, but the magistrate cannot issue an arrest warrant, only a courtesy summons, according to section 22-5-110 of its state code.

In 2011, Virginia changed its law to require that citizens write out their complaint.

***

On Aug. 11, Emily Gorcenski, who uses they/their pronouns, went to UVas Rotunda to film the surge of white supremacists marching across Grounds the night before the Unite the Right rally was scheduled to take place. Gorcenski said they were pepper sprayed, while people screamed derogatory remarks at them.

The next morning, armed with a photo of the man they suspected of causing their injury, Gorcenski filed a police report with the UVa police department. After they gave the officer their statement, he suggested that they go before a magistrate and swear out an arrest warrant against the suspect  identified as Christopher Cantwell, a man who has risen to prominence in the white nationalist movement through his podcast, Radical Agenda.

Putting their statement down on paper, Gorcenski said they made a formal complaint in front of the magistrate and testified to the evidence they had that gave enough probable cause to suspect Cantwell was the perpetrator. Because the charges they sought are felonies  illegal use of gas and unlawful injury  the UVa police officer also testified and signed off on the warrants.

At the time, the only thing I had was the photograph; I didnt have video evidence, Gorcenski said, describing footage that appears to show Cantwell deploying a substance near the Thomas Jefferson statue. In fact, it was a month before I even looked at any of that video because it was just too difficult to watch.

That was enough for probable cause to issue an arrest warrant, they said.

Gorcenski said its not as simple as walking in and asking for an arrest warrant. They had to identify Cantwell; report where he lived in order to serve the warrant; and offer enough evidence to show a crime was committed.

It is a very low bar for that evidence; the magistrates are not lawyers or judges, they said. But they do have a duty to determine whether they think theres probable cause.

Last week, the charge of unlawful bodily injury was dismissed against Cantwell at his preliminary hearing because a judge decided there was not enough evidence to show he directly targeted Gorcenski. But Gorcenski said that they never sought that charge in particular because they never accused Cantwell of directly spraying them.

I was actually surprised that they assigned two charges to me, said Gorcenski. I didnt expect that. My accusation was never that Christopher Cantwell approached me directly with deliberate intent to injure me.

My accusation was that he used it in a public space and that I was affected by it, they said. I didnt actually need to know that charge. The police were able to work with the magistrate to look up what the appropriate charge was, based on [the officers] testimony and my testimony.

In October, Gorcenski also sought a warrant against Jason Kessler, the man who organized the Unite the Right rally. They accused Kessler of publishing their home address online with the intent to harass. As a misdemeanor charge, it was a little easier for Gorcenski to seek this warrant because they did not need a police officer or commonwealths attorney to sign off on it.

I provided evidence  I had to provide quite a bit of evidence in this case  to show there was a crime committed because the statute I have it on, the internet harassment, is with intent to harass, Gorcenski said. The law doesnt just say you cant post somebodys address. The law says you cant do it with the intent to harass or intimidate.

Gorcenski also had to provide evidence showing Kessler had direct control over the account that published their address. They showed the magistrate evidence that linked the account to Kesslers personal domain and email, and that his personal Twitter advertised the account as belonging to him.

Right after it happened, Gorcenski said they were not going to do anything about it, except report the tweet to Twitter, which declined to delete the post. But five days later, Charlottesville police swarmed their home after someone called in an anonymous report that there was a disorder involving a firearm.

Police responded as a priority one call, meaning someones life was reported to be in imminent danger. As a gun owner, Gorcenski said the incident could have ended badly.

Im a gun owner and Im under threat regularly because of all this nonsense, Gorcenski said. I answer the door sometimes with a gun if I dont know who it is.

So, I could have been shot dead, had I been home.

While it will be difficult to prove who made the call, Gorcenski said there is an open investigation and they have their suspicions of who it was.

In terms of the process of swearing out warrants, Gorcenski said there are both benefits and downsides. But, they said, they will continue to use it as long as it can be used to get justice for the people who need it.

I think the process itself is kind of ridiculous, Gorcenski said. Weve seen it with the very fraudulent evidence used to swear out a warrant for DeAndre Harris.

But while its here, Im going to use whatever avenues I can to find justice, they said. This system needs to start serving marginalized people or it needs to be taken down. Im not sure which.
Addressing the ASEAN-EU Dialogue on Sustainable Development in Bangkok, Thailand, on November 17th, Dung stressed the need to optimise the effectiveness of existing mechanisms between the two sides, especially missions of EU countries in ASEAN, in order to speed up cooperation, consultations and the implementation of joint projects.

The Deputy Minister pointed to the need to build a specific policy to implement UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with focus placed on the people.

Especially, it is crucial to pay greater attention to educational, scientific and technological development as a new momentum for growth and innovation, aiming to equip the youth with capacity and skills, he said.

Source: http://thailand.prd.go.th



At the dialogue, the first of its kind held at Thailands proposal, participants recognised the great potentials of bilateral and multilateral cooperation between ASEAN and EU in global issues and sustainable growth.

They acknowledge EUs significant contribution of EUR170 million to the Fund for Development Cooperation in the 2014-2020 period to support ASEANs integration activities, along with a EUR2 billion aid through bilateral channels.

They lauded the launching of three new joint cooperation programmes worth EUR85 million, including a EUR20 programme on enhanced regional EU-ASEAN dialogue instrument, a EUR40 million ASEAN Regional Integration Support, and a EUR25 million programme on promoting the rights and female migrant workers in ASEAN.

They also sought traditional and renovated partnership methods between the two sides, including tripartite affiliation and South-South partnership, while discussing the possibility of forming an ASEAN centre for promoting research and dialogue on sustainable development.

The delegates agreed to hold the second dialogue in 2019, while promoting the mechanism through the building of a roadmap for development cooperation between ASEAN and EU basing on the bilateral plan of action for the 2018-2022 period./.
Like millions of Americans, we were shocked and sickened by recent events in Charlottesville. On Aug. 12, our community saw violence and chaos on our streets and we now seek answers. Law enforcement and first responders deserve gratitude for their extraordinary service that weekend. Nothing can diminish the service and sacrifice of those who risked  and those who gave  their lives to avert additional violence.

Nonetheless, it is undeniable that the intelligence, planning, command, control, and implementation of law enforcements response to these events were flawed. Tim Heaphy, a lawyer at a private firm and a former U.S. Attorney, was among the first to solicit a role in assessing these events. However, in our opinion, any attorney representing the city of Charlottesville, a central actor in  and named civil party to  what took place is not equipped to provide the credible and independent investigation to which our community and country are entitled.

Put simply, private attorneys are ethically bound to represent the interests of their clients, not the public. Private attorneys owe clients broad and far-reaching duties of loyalty, confidentiality, and zealous representation. It is plainly unreasonable to expect a lawyer representing a client that planned and coordinated the response to the events of August to publicly deliver an independent assessment of those events. Moreover, any report will be reviewed by a city manager and council unlikely to waive confidentiality if doing so casts them or the Charlottesville in a negative light.

In addition, the state has denied access to key information, attaching priority to its own investigation. Law enforcement agencies have had no obligation to cooperate, and other parties are unlikely to voluntarily disclose adverse information. Other actors have even sought to establish investigative bodies of their own. This piecemeal approach is not only unhelpful, it frustrates objective assessment and the public accountability that comes with it.

The poignancy of August will not diminish over time, but the clarity of these events inevitably will. To ensure transparency and timely accountability, Virginias governor and General Assembly should authorize a balanced panel of respected, bipartisan professionals to assess the official preparation and response to these events. Panel members should be free of professional bias, personal interest, and future political aspiration.

Of crucial importance, the panel should be vested with legal authority and compulsory process, including subpoena power, access to information, compelling witness statements under oath, and other tools essential to rendering a comprehensive and credible report to the public. The composition of the 911 Commission  and the quality of its findings  may serve as a potential model for a Virginia panel.

We must never allow ourselves to be defined by those whose beliefs are anathema to who we are. What the world saw this summer was neither Charlottesville nor Virginia. And it was not America. America is about faith, freedom, equality, unity, and justice. Few tasks can more urgently uphold our values, and honor the memory of those who died in our city, than the creation of a truly independent bipartisan panel to find out what went wrong  and why. Charlottesville, and America, deserve no less.

Robert Tracci is the Albemarle County commonwealths attorney. He previously served as special assistant U.S. attorney, deputy assistant attorney general and chief legislative counsel and parliamentarian to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee.

The Rev. Alvin Edwards is pastor at Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church in Charlottesville. He established the Charlottesville Clergy Collective, whose mission is to establish, develop and promote racial unity within the faith leadership of the Charlottesville-Albemarle region. Edwards is a former Charlottesville city councilor and former member of the Charlottesville School Board. He served as Charlottesvilles mayor from 1990 to 1992.

Like millions of Americans, we were shocked and sickened by recent events in Charlottesville. On Aug. 12, our community saw violence and chaos on our streets and we now seek answers. Law enforcement and first responders deserve gratitude for their extraordinary service that weekend. Nothing can diminish the service and sacrifice of those who risked  and those who gave  their lives to avert additional violence.

Nonetheless, it is undeniable that the intelligence, planning, command, control, and implementation of law enforcements response to these events were flawed. Tim Heaphy, a lawyer at a private firm and a former U.S. Attorney, was among the first to solicit a role in assessing these events. However, in our opinion, any attorney representing the city of Charlottesville, a central actor in  and named civil party to  what took place is not equipped to provide the credible and independent investigation to which our community and country are entitled.

Put simply, private attorneys are ethically bound to represent the interests of their clients, not the public. Private attorneys owe clients broad and far-reaching duties of loyalty, confidentiality, and zealous representation. It is plainly unreasonable to expect a lawyer representing a client that planned and coordinated the response to the events of August to publicly deliver an independent assessment of those events. Moreover, any report will be reviewed by a city manager and council unlikely to waive confidentiality if doing so casts them or the Charlottesville in a negative light.

In addition, the state has denied access to key information, attaching priority to its own investigation. Law enforcement agencies have had no obligation to cooperate, and other parties are unlikely to voluntarily disclose adverse information. Other actors have even sought to establish investigative bodies of their own. This piecemeal approach is not only unhelpful, it frustrates objective assessment and the public accountability that comes with it.

The poignancy of August will not diminish over time, but the clarity of these events inevitably will. To ensure transparency and timely accountability, Virginias governor and General Assembly should authorize a balanced panel of respected, bipartisan professionals to assess the official preparation and response to these events. Panel members should be free of professional bias, personal interest, and future political aspiration.

Of crucial importance, the panel should be vested with legal authority and compulsory process, including subpoena power, access to information, compelling witness statements under oath, and other tools essential to rendering a comprehensive and credible report to the public. The composition of the 911 Commission  and the quality of its findings  may serve as a potential model for a Virginia panel.

We must never allow ourselves to be defined by those whose beliefs are anathema to who we are. What the world saw this summer was neither Charlottesville nor Virginia. And it was not America. America is about faith, freedom, equality, unity, and justice. Few tasks can more urgently uphold our values, and honor the memory of those who died in our city, than the creation of a truly independent bipartisan panel to find out what went wrong  and why. Charlottesville, and America, deserve no less.

Robert Tracci is the Albemarle County commonwealths attorney. He previously served as special assistant U.S. attorney, deputy assistant attorney general and chief legislative counsel and parliamentarian to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee.

The Rev. Alvin Edwards is pastor at Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church in Charlottesville. He established the Charlottesville Clergy Collective, whose mission is to establish, develop and promote racial unity within the faith leadership of the Charlottesville-Albemarle region. Edwards is a former Charlottesville city councilor and former member of the Charlottesville School Board. He served as Charlottesvilles mayor from 1990 to 1992.
SAN FRANCISCO  Evidence that when Democrats rule taxes are never high enough can be found at any gas station in this once politically competitive state. Last month, the California gas tax was raised 12 cents a gallon. Regular gas at some stations is again approaching, and in some cities exceeding, $4 a gallon, a level not seen since natural disasters temporarily curtailed refinery production and Gulf States manipulated prices.

Republicans plan to put the gas tax issue on the 2018 ballot; hoping voters will roll back the increases.

Some are not waiting for the next election, but are voting with their feet. One couple I know recently moved from San Diego to Arizona solely because of high taxes on their income and regulations on their small business. They are not alone.

Because of high taxation and the increasing cost of living in big cities, California, once a magnet for new arrivals, has now reversed polarity.

Taxes are only part of the reason for the exodus. According to Chief Executive Magazine's annual survey of the best and worst states for business, California has ranked last six years in a row. Texas, by contrast, has ranked first.

Add to this the recurring earth tremors, even earthquakes  there was another on Nov. 6 in Monterey County that registered 4.7  and expectations of a "big one," which continues to be talked about in scientific circles. Floods and forest fires destroy homes and lives.

One-party rule also serves as an irritant for many people of a different political persuasion.

Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed legislation declaring California a "sanctuary state" for illegal immigrants. The law forbids state and local police from providing any information to the federal government about illegal aliens that isn't already publicly available.

Then there is the annoying traffic. USA Today recently declared Los Angeles as having the worst traffic, not just in the country, but the world. San Francisco is not far behind.

The state legislature is flirting with a single-payer health insurance system, similar to Canada's. But with many Canadians coming to the U.S. for serious medical treatment, why would legislators want to replicate their less-than-ideal health care system? It again raises a question I have asked many times before and have yet to get a satisfactory answer: Why do so many turn to government as a first resource when government has proved its inability to achieve so many things competently and cost efficiently?

In this city by the bay, housing prices are so ridiculous The Guardian newspaper found a high-tech employee paying $1,400 a month to live in a "private room," which resembles a closet. "One Apple employee," it said, "was recently living in a Santa Cruz garage, using a compost bucket as a toilet. Another tech worker, enrolled in a coding boot camp, described how he lived with 12 other engineers in a two-bedroom apartment rented via Airbnb. 'It was $1,100 for a ... bunk bed and five people in the same room.'"

Salaries in Silicon Valley are high compared to other parts of the country, but the inflated housing costs dilute whatever buying power someone with that level of income would enjoy in most other states.

California is still a mostly beautiful state, especially along the coast, but its beauty is more superficial than substantive. According to the Orange County Register, "In 2016, some 26,000 more people left the Bay Area than arrived. San Francisco net migration went from a high of 16,000 positive in 2013 to 12,000 negative three years later.

"Similar patterns have occurred across the state. Between 2010 and 2015, California had cut its average annual migration losses annually from 160,000 to 50,000, but that number surged last year to nearly 110,000. Losses in the Los Angeles-Orange County area have gone from 42,000 in 2011 to 88,000 this year. San Diego, where domestic migration turned positive in 2011 and 2012, is now losing around 8,000 net migrants annually."

Given the policies of state government, don't look for those numbers to improve.

Cal Thomas is a columnist syndicated by the Tribune Content Agency. Email him at tcaeditors@tribpub.com.

References:
Never mind Trump wines.

Now its the Trump cheeseburger thats getting attention. At least, in Japan it is.

During President Trumps recent visit, the Japanese Foreign Ministry invited Munch's Burger Shack, a tiny eatery in Tokyo, to pack up its equipment and ingredients and transport them to a country club where Mr. Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe were to dine.

There, owner/chef Yutaka Yanagisawa prepared burgers for the two leaders and their entourage. The president wanted his well-done, so both men were given the same to avoid a serving mix-up, which would have been a disaster.

Mr. Yanagisawa says he has no idea why he was chosen, but was honored to help.

Plus, his little restaurant has gotten a big publicity boost. He now offers the "President Trump Set," a 100 percent Angus burger with Colby Jack cheese, lettuce and tomato, accompanied by sides of fries and coleslaw. And customers are coming from all over Japan to try it.

Japanese diners already have a taste for American foods, The Associated Press reports. And in Tokyo, eating out is increasingly viewed as an experience that produces fun stories to share on social media, according to food consultant Jotaro Fujii.

Being able to eat the same type of burger as the U.S. president apparently is an experience par excellence. Lunchtime lines of diners now are spilling out the door onto the street at Munch's Burger Shack.

Yes, Yutaka Yanagisawa is getting a yuge boost. (Sorry. Couldnt resist.)
It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the
The GSTN will launch a facility for businesses to edit their August and September GSTR-3B return forms from November 20. (File Photo)

Bengaluru: The GST Network will launch a facility for businesses to make changes to their August and September GSTR-3B return forms beginning November 20, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi said on Saturday.

The Modi-led Group of Ministers (GoM), set up to look into GSTN glitches, also met Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani. Nilekani assured them that GSTN will work smoothly, Modi said after the fourth meeting of the GoM here on Saturday.

He said Infosys has added 100 engineers for the project in the last one month. Now, 621 Infosys IT engineers are working on GSTN.

Besides, the technology major has deployed 30 resident engineers all over the country to coordinate between state commissionerates and GSTN.

The GoM has tasked GSTN, the company handling the IT backbone for the new indirect tax regime, to develop taxpayer friendly utilities so that they are interactive in nature.

Every utility should have the option for preview, edit, validation, pop-ups, specific error message and print and the GSTN along with Infosys will develop it, Modi said.

The initial sales return in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime is filed by businesses in form GSTR-3B. While taxpayers were allowed to make changes in July GSTR-3B return form, the facility was not available for subsequent months.

About 2 lakh return filers were stuck because of this non-availability.

It has been decided that by November 20 the editing facility for GSTR-3B returns for August and September will be launched by GSTN, Modi said.

He said after the last GST Council meeting in Guwahati, about 80 per cent of the issues relating to rates have been resolved. Now, simplification of processes and procedures needs to be done which GSTN will do in collaboration with Infosys, Modi added.
The Centre has hiked import duty on edible oils to curb cheaper shipments and boost local prices for supporting farmers and refiners. (Photo: Pixabay)

New Delhi: The Centre has raised import duty on crude palm oil to 30 per cent from 15 per cent and on refined oil to 40 per cent from 20 per cent in a bid to curb cheaper shipments and boost local prices for supporting farmers and refiners, according to a notification.

Import duty on soyabean oil, sunflower oils, canola/mustard oils -- both crude and refined format -- has been raised, the notification released by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) late last night said.

Import duty on soyabean has also been increased.

An inter-ministerial group headed by Union minister Nitin Gadkari and the Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister (EAC-PM) had examined the local price situation and suggested raising the import duties on edible oils and some oilseeds.

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said import duty of crude palm oil has been doubled to 30 per cent, while the refined crude palm oil been increased to 40 per cent from 25 per cent.

Import duty on crude soyabean oil has been increased to 30 per cent from 17.5 per cent, while refined soyabean oil has been raised to 35 per cent from the current 20 per cent.

Similarly, import duty on crude sunflower oil has been increased to 25 per cent from 12.5 per cent, while that on refined sunflower oil has been increased to 35 per cent from 20 per cent.

Also, import duty on crude canola/rapeseed/mustard oils has been increased to 25 per cent from 12.5 per cent, while the tax on refined crude canola/rapeseed/mustard oils increased to 35 per cent from 20 per cent.

That apart, import duty on soyabean has been increased to 45 per cent from 30 per cent, the notification said.

Welcoming the move, industry body Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA) said, "As the prices of all oilseeds fell below the MSP and a sense of deep distress and despondency was setting in the minds of farmers, the government finally saw the logic in our demand."

India, the world's leading cooking oil buyer, imported 154.50 lakh tonnes of both edible and non-edible oils in 2016 -17 marketing year (November-October), up by 4.75 per cent from 147.38 lakh tonnes in the previous year.

India imports palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia and a small quantity of crude soft oil, including soyabean oil from Latin America. Sunflower oil is imported from Ukraine and Russia.
Consul general of republic of South Korea for south India Kim Hyung Tae said that he first time saw lot of varieties in the red chilli and stated that quality of Guntur chilli is very great and tasty.

Guntur: The team of South Korea delegates visited Asias biggest chilli yard at Guntur on Friday and announced starting of importing of chillies from chilli yard Guntur by South Korea. They further invited a team of chilli growers and traders to visit South Korea to know the trading system of their country. Chilli Yard chairman M Subba Rao informed that chilli is exported to 15 countries from Guntur Chilli Yard and explained varieties in red chillies to the Korean team. He said that Guntur is the ideal place to start chili allied products industries and stated that their government is promoting exporters who indulged in red chilli exports.

Consul general of republic of South Korea for south India Kim Hyung Tae said that he first time saw lot of varieties in the red chilli and stated that quality of Guntur chilli is very great and tasty. He congratulated Guntur chilli growers for cultivating international quality red chillies. He said that South Korea is ready to assist the farmers by providing agriculture technology including micro irrigation technology which can be used for cultivation with less water resources.

Mr Tae invited Guntur chilli farmers and traders to visit South Korea to know the chilli business and trading system. Honorary consul of republic of Korea to Telangana State Mr Chukkapalli Suresh has explained about the procurement and marketing of red chillies and about the Guntur chilli yard which is the biggest chilli yard of Asian continent. Chilli exporters association representative Arun Kumar, chilli yard secretary N Srinivas Rao and others participated in the programme.
Vijayawada: SMSA (Social Media Summit & Awards) will hold its first ceremony at Amaravati Convention Centre. Head of YouTube Satyaraghavan and star celebrity Deepika Padukone will attend the ceremony. A summit will be organised on Saturday by VIBRE Media attended by representatives from Google India/YouTube, Facebook India, Twitter India and eminent movie personalities who effectively use social media who are also key partners. An awards presentation ceremony will be held at the Siddhardha Public School, Vijayawada on Sunday.

SMSA is a national event connecting people, content and conversations around emerging trends in media, now delivered through a network of creative conference experience and streamed online through social media on various face book, Twitter, instagram and LinkedIn official channels of SMSA. On Sunday, Indian idol L.V. Revanth Kumar Sharma and Shraddha Sharma would perform with teams from Indias got Talent.
Mumbai: Veteran actor Shabana Azmi today said the film industry should boycott the International Film Festival of India to mark its protest against threats to filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and his Padmavati star Deepika Padukone.

Calling the situation cultural annihilation, Azmi criticised Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani for her silence on the issue.

Smriti Irani is preparing IFFI dats possible only bcoz the Indian Film Industry brings such acclaim to it but keeps quiet about Padmavati!

"This is exactly like HKL Bhagat and Congress celebrating IFFI in Delhi after the murder of Safdar Hashmi in 1989. Cultural Annihilation," she tweeted.

Smriti Irani is preparing IFFI dats possible only bcoz the Indian Film Industry brings such acclaim to it but keeps quiet about Padmavati!  Azmi Shabana (@AzmiShabana) November 18, 2017

This is exactly like HKL Bhagat and Congress celebrating IFFI in Delhi after the murder of Safdar Hashmi in 1989.Cultural Annihilation  Azmi Shabana (@AzmiShabana) November 18, 2017

The actor, who put out a series of tweets on the issue, added that the film industry should come together to support the movie.

"The entire film industry should boycott IFFI in protest against the threats to @deepikapadukone SLB and #Padmavati," she said in another tweet.

The entire film industry should boycott IFFI in protest against the threats to @deepikapadukone SLB and #Padmavati https://t.co/VckVB5yRJp  Azmi Shabana (@AzmiShabana) November 18, 2017

'Padmavati,' which is facing protests by several Rajput groups and others, has been sent back to makers by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) as the application for the certification was incomplete.

A leader of the Shri Rajput Karni Sena cited Ramayana's Surpanakha nose-chopping incident and warned Deepika against 'inciting' sentiments. Following this, the Mumbai Police tightened Deepika's security.

Police have also beefed up security at Bhansali's residence in Versova.

The 48th edition of IFFI is being held in Goa from November 20-28.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A film society activist in the state, T. P. Ramakrishnan, has written to Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi urging him to pull out his film, Beyond the Clouds, from the IFFI as a show of dissent against the Centre's move to keep out two films - Sanal Kumar Sasidharan's S Durga and Ravi Jadhav's Nude - from the IFFI. Beyond the Clouds is the inaugural film of IFFI, which begins on November 20.

Mr Ramakrishnan, in his missive to Majidi, said that the removal of the two films against norms reflected the intolerance of the powers that be to certain ideas and ways of living. "It has been quite a while since the politics of hate of a certain section of people who have no qualms about silencing, or even exterminating, contrarian voices has been put into practice in the country," the letter said. He said it was the continuation of the gunning down of intellectuals and journalists like Dabholkar, Pansare, Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh, and the beating to death of those belonging to a particular community alleging they were in possession of cow's meat.

"You had spoken in glowing terms about the idea of India. If we are to preserve this land just the way you had thought of it, we will have to stymie the designs of these power-crazy forces. Your dissent will give our efforts a big push," Mr Ramakrishnan said. He cited the example of Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki who boycotted the New York Film Festival in protest against the US Government's decision to deny visa to attend the festival.

He also reminded Mr Majidi of the Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi who had rejected the Chicago festival award when he was denied a visa. "If not for all these, consider that you yourself had pulled out The Willow Tree from Denmark's biggest film festival, the Natfilm Festival, in protest against the publication of cartoons demeaning Prophet Muhammed in a Denmark Paper," the letter said.
New Delhi: Union Information and Broadcasting ministry is seemingly unhappy with the producers of controversial film Padmavati over their attempts to undermine the authority of the Central Board of Film Certification by securing extra constitutional approval for the movie by organising a special screening of the film for senior journalists and opinion makers.

The reaction of the government came after the producers of Padmavati organised special screening of the movie in Mumbai where several top journalists and opinion makers were invited. After watching the film several of them have tweeted about the movie which has drawn the ire of the ministry.

CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi also criticised the filmmakers decision. Mr Joshi said he was disappointed that it was being screened for the media and getting reviewed on national channels without CBFC having seen or certified it. This compromises the role of systems that are part of a functioning industry. Its myopic to treat the certification process haphazardly to suit convenience, he said.

On one hand, holding the CBFC responsible and pressurising to accelerate the process and on the other, attempt to subvert the same, sets an opportunistic precedent, he said.
Though Sanjay Leela Bhansalis magnum opus Padmavati is embroiled in controversy, the lead actors are leaving no stone turned in promoting the film. Actor Ranveer Singh, who is playing Alauddin Khilji, took to Instagram on Saturday to share a photo, where his character is photoshopped along with Heath Ledgers Joker from The Dark Knight and Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange.

However, this comparison did not go down well with Heath Ledger fans. Several of them bashed Ranveer for comparing himself with two of the most iconic villains in Hollywood. One fan wrote, On what basis are you comparing yourself with a legend! Have you gone nuts? You have won yourself a huge crowd of haters (sic). Another fan added, Oh hes a great actor, no doubt about that, but Heath is a legend. Long way to go! (sic)
Everyone has a dream but how many spend years consistently working towards that dream and waiting for it to turn into reality. Truth be said  not many. But for those who have huge reserves of patience, the wait will finally bring rich dividends. Kishore Mathew is one such person who waited not one, not two, but fifteen years for a lead role in films. The name may not be familiar but his face is well-known. Nothing surprising there considering that he had acted in 99 ads including 15 national campaigns. He has been the face of some well-known brands.

Kishore has always nursed an active interest in films since his school days but somehow could not pursue it because of various factors. It is not that Kishore has not acted at all  his first role was in the film Mumbai Police where he acted as Jayasuryas brother and after that came Vegam and She Taxi. He has also acted in the Hindi film Baaghi, in which he played a police officer. He says, All these were small roles where I appeared in one or two sequences. Right now, he has his hopes pinned high on the film Chakkara Maavin Kombathu, where at long last he plays the lead opposite Meera Vasudevan.

Kishore explains, The offer came through the producer of the film Tony Chittettukalam and I know Tony for some time now. I had been a part of Tonys ad campaign for a social cause, which is how our friendship began. The film will see Kishore playing the role of a doctor and he elaborates, I play doctor Thomas Mathew, whose wife is played by Meera Vasudevan. I love nature and want to settle in a rural landscape whereas Meera loves the city. We have a son but cannot spend too much time with him since we are busy with the practice in our own hospital. The film explores how the child forges a friendship with other children.

The film has the theme of friendship at its core and Kishore says it is a sentimental, family film. Speaking of his co-star Meera, he says she is a very supportive actor who played her part effortlessly. There is also another actor who is returning to Mollywood after a while  Harisree Ashokan  who plays a family man in the film. Kishore, who was working, has now quit his job to give his attention to films and ends by saying he has another film in the pipeline.
Actor Vishal is joining the likes of Pawan Kalyan and Balakrishna in the Sankranti race with his upcoming film Abhimanyudu.

A dubbed version of the Tamil film Irumbu Thirai, Abhimanyudu is releasing in both Tamil and Telugu simultaneously during Sankranti. Directed by Mithran, the movie stars Samantha as the female lead. Senior actor Arjun is playing a negative role. Yes, we are releasing the film for Sankranti, confirms Vishal.

Initially, Arya was cast for the negative role, but after a few scenes, he left the film and Arjun stepped in. Interestingly, both Arya and Vishal are good friends.

Arya was doing another film and it was very difficult for him to manage two looks. In one, he had to grow a beard, while for our film, he had to remove it. Also, he is successful as a lead actor and didnt want to play a negative role at this time in his career. I respect his decision, says Vishal about why Arya walked out of the film. He adds that both are good friends and that their friendship will continue.
The teaser of the Naga Shaurya and Rashmika Mandanna-starrer, Chalo, which was released on Saturday, has opened to good reviews. Directed by Venky Kudumula, who has worked with Trivikram Srinivas in the past, the film has already set high expectations, especially when it comes to the dialogues and filmmaking style. The story of Chalo revolves around two villages on the border of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Another interesting thing is that Nara Rohit has given a voice-over for the romantic drama as he is good friends with Naga Shaurya, who has already proved his mettle as an actor. However, Shaurya needs a good commercial hit at this point in his career and feels this film could be the one. The actors parents are producing the film, which is slated for a December 29 release.
BENGALURU: Israeli bilingual poet Gili Haimovich is known for her techniques in using poetry and other arts towards Expressive Arts Therapy for her work in mental health centres, hostels and other places.

In a chat with DC, the Hebrew-English poet described how poetry is being used as a vehicle which encourages people to express themselves in ways they would not have done otherwise.

The only intention when I started using poetry for therapeutic purpose was to remind holocaust survivors (those who survived the concentration camps set up by Nazi Germany to exterminate the Jews) of the fact that they were human and still had a chance to move on, remembers Ms Haimovich from her practical work done at a mental health centre, while at college, which later made her realise her affinity towards practicing it further in more perspectives.

Also a translator, Haimovich has won national and international laurels and has been nominated by the Ministry of Absorption, Israel as an outstanding artist in 2015. She defines poetry as an individualised way of using the language. Poetry is not about writing a best-seller, much attention is given to preciseness and to keep things closer to their primary form and hence accuracy is emphasised, she said. The ability of poems to provide different meanings to different individuals helping each to connect in different ways is something that can be tackled in different ways, she felt.

Earlier the day, she interacted with the students of Counselling Psychology and Theatre & Performing Arts at Christ University in the city. After two separate reading and appreciation sessions, Haimovich felt that Indian students need to be encouraged to be outspoken for which she is known for.

Youngsters, especially women, should be encouraged to fight against gender suppressions making their way towards safety in any environment, she said.

Haimovich, who is also a teacher, alluded that depicting an example of something creates more impact than teaching the younger generations how to go about a particular subject or a situation.
Scientists say they're close to producing super varieties of wheat that will resist a virulent fungus which leaves behind fields of withered black stems.

University of California, Davis, researchers identified a gene that enables resistance to a new devastating strain of stem rust, a fungal disease that is hampering wheat production throughout Africa and Asia and threatening food security worldwide.

The discovery by wheat geneticist Jorge Dubcovsky and his team will help breeders more quickly develop varieties that can fend off the deadly pathogens and halt a worldwide wheat epidemic.

Wheat and stem rust have been in an evolutionary arms race for more than 10,000 years. In the 1950s, a major epidemic of the disease spread through North America and destroyed up to 40 percent of the wheat crop, the world's second most important grain next to rice.

Since then, scientists have developed rust-resistant varieties to boost wheat's immunity to stem rust. But the pathogens are making a comeback. A new strain of the stem rust, called Ug99 after it was discovered in Uganda in 1999, is spreading throughout the region. About 90 percent of the wheat varieties grown worldwide are susceptible to Ug99.

Dubcovsky noted that Ug99, which has expanded to most of the wheat-growing regions in Africa and has crossed the Red Sea to Yemen and Iran, is now at the door of the Punjab region - the bread basket of Asia, and identification and deployment of effective resistance genes are critical to mitigate this threat.

Dubcovsky and his team identified three different resistance forms of Sr13, a gene from pasta wheat that is effective against Ug99 and another group of virulent stem-rust strains from Yemen and Ethiopia. In 2013, Dubcovsky and fellow researchers discovered another gene called Sr35 that also provides resistance to Ug99. The team is close to identifying a third gene that confers protection from the virulent strain.

To develop better varieties, breeders cross plants with desired traits and select the best offspring over multiple generations. Once stem-rust resistant genes have been identified, breeders can use molecular markers (specific regions of DNA) to select for the genes at the seed or seedling stage. This accelerates the crop-improvement process.

These molecular markers allow breeders to pyramid multiple stem-rust-resistant genes in the same plant to extend the durability of resistance.

The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study further elaborates that many of them are turning to drink and drugs in order to cope and in the long run have a lower level of overall happiness. (Photo: Pixabay)

A new study warns that sexual harassment at work is a 'chronic problem' for women and is causing lasting mental illness.

According to researchers, women are suffering anxiety, depression, eating disorders and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after being victimized at their work places.

The study further elaborates that many of them are turning to drink and drugs in order to cope and in the long run have a lower level of overall happiness.

The researchers further found that male victims do not find their experiences as anxiety-provoking, nor do they see it as bothersome, stressful or upsetting as females.

The findings come in the wake of recent sex scandals that have rocked Hollywood and the Houses of Parliament.

According to study author Professor James Campbell Quick from the University of Texas, evidence continues to suggest women may experience negative mood, eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse as well as work turnover intentions, long term anxiety, job stress and or burnout.

He added that sexual harassment is a continuing, chronic occupational health problem in organisations and work environments.'

Professor Quick further says that an interesting find was that the percentage of charges filed by males increased 15.3 per cent; yet, women continue to file the majority of complaints.

Organisational climate is a strong predictor of workplace sexual harassment and can include situations where men outnumber women, supervisors are predominantly male and employees believe complaints will not be taken seriously.

The study, published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, said research has shown hierarchical power dynamics are at the root of sexual harassment.
Hyderabad: Twelve classes of bacteria have become antibiotic resistant and are posing a major health threat. This makes it difficult for clinicians, according to a review of the increasing cases of antibiotic resistance, carried out by the Indian Medical Association. Dr K. K. Aggarwal, president of the IMA, explained, At the clinical level, resistance is being recorded in urinary tract infections, gonorrhoea, typhoid, tuberculosis, e-coli infections and other secondary infections where the load of the bacteria in the body is too high and combating it with medicines is not working.

The 12 classes of bacteria have been further classified into critical, medium, and low level to ensure that the physicians at the critical care level are aware of the increasing resistance and are able to use the second and third generation of antibiotics to deal with the illness. A senior doctor, on condition of anonymity, said, The second and third generation drugs are expensive and increase the cost of treatment. These drugs are also less effective and have more side-effects. There is increased hospital stay, probability of adverse drug reactions and also risk of therapeutic failure. Hence the best way to deal with the problem is to curb the prescription of antibiotics for viral infections, common cold and fevers.

It is also necessary to create awareness about antibiotics among the public who tend to demand it for early and immediate relief. Dr G. Srinivas Rao, senior general physician, says those who want a long list of medications from doctors must understand that there is only one tablet for the disease and the rest are vitamins and other supplements. Doctors are under pressure to prescribe more medications but this trend has to change. Antibiotics have to be strongly curtailed from the ground level clinical practice to tackle the resistance. This means doctors, quacks, and also pharmacists who give over the counter drugs, must not be allowed to prescribe so freely, says Dr Rao.

Antibiotics given to cattle manifest in the meat we eat and its use must be curtailed. Hence the awareness requires human, animal and environmental control of antibiotics to ensure the bacteria do not become stronger.
According to the China giant panda breeding technology committee, the population of captive giant pandas has reached 520 worldwide. (Photo: Pixabay)

Chinese researchers plan to release two captive-bred giant pandas into the wild later this month under a programme to rebuild the population of the vulnerable species, state media reported today.

The China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda in southwest Chinas Sichuan Province said the captive- bred pair received two years of training in Wolong to survive in the wild.

Ba Xi, the male panda, was born on July 26, 2015, while Ying Xue is just 14 days older to him.

Researchers at a meeting organised by the State

Forestry Bureau earlier this month had agreed that the pair was in good health and has developed the ability to live in the wild independently, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

They will be the second panda pair to be released into the wild.

In October last year, three-year-old Hua Yan and two- year-old Zhang Meng, bred in captivity, were released in the Liziping Nature Reserve in Sichuan.

Researchers have decided that the second pair will also be released in the Liziping Nature Reserve, it said.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature reclassified the giant panda species as "vulnerable" rather than "endangered" last year.

According to the China giant panda breeding technology committee, the population of captive giant pandas has reached 520 worldwide.

However, the captive stock lacks genetic diversity.

China has planned to improve the wild panda population by creating giant panda national parks, releasing more pandas into the wild and furthering scientific research, the report said.
A study carried out by researchers in Seattle claim that a females eggs are able to select sperm with the best genes to ensure the healthiest offspring possible. (Representational Image)

A new research says that eggs are not as passive as one has been thinking this long.

A study carried out by researchers in Seattle claim that a females eggs are able to select sperm with the best genes to ensure the healthiest offspring possible.

This is in sharp contrast to what scientists have been portraying for decades, sperm as active fighters battling their way towards a passive egg.

On the contrary, semen does not appear to have the same ability to detect bad genes, researchers found.

Interestingly, the research is in sharp contrast to Mendels Law that suggests fertilization in random and shows how scientists have long projected traditional gender roles onto their work, leading to the portrayal of eggs as passive and sperm as active.

In an article that appeared in Quanta Magazine, Joe Nadeau, principal scientist at the Pacific Northwest Research Institute outlined why he believes eggs are an active player in reproduction.

There is no evidence of how the eggs and sperm might do this but Dr Nadeau believes there are two possibilities.

One is that the rate of metabolism of B vitamin, such folic acid - which is an important signalling molecule - is different in sperm and eggs.

Research has revealed that these molecules play an important role in fertilisation.

Changes in these signals may impact how much sperm and egg are attracted to one another.

Another hypothesis suggests sperm are in the female reproductive tracts before the egg is fully-formed.

The presence of the sperm influences how these cells divide so that its genes can be as well-suited to the sperm as possible.

Dr Nadeau further adds that scientists have been blinded by their preconceptions. It's a different way to think about fertilization with very different implications about the process of fertilization, said Dr Nadeau.

Another scientists working on a similar area, Andrea Pilastro, found that sperm from different males compete for the same egg, which indicates an opportunity for eggs to have a choice.'

The research found that when sperm from multiple males arrived at an egg concurrently, eggs were able to choose the sperm whose recognition proteins are best suited for healthy fertilization.

This selection process can spur the evolution of new recognition proteins, eventually resulting in reproductive isolation and, in some cases, the creation of new species altogether.
BENGALURU: At the age of fifteen, city girl Nikhiya Shamser is already at the top realm of social entrepreneurs in the country running a registered NGO and spearheading various campaigns. This has contributed to her achievements being recognised by the nation, honouring the youngster with the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement 2017.

The award was presented to her by President Ram Nath Kovind in a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday.

A campaigner for providing equal opportunities for her counterparts to learn, build a career and live a life with basic necessities, Nikhiya believes that the national recognition would help her reach out to a wider audience.

The best way to predict the future is to create it. While the worlds population of 7 billion is considered a burden by some, I see it as a huge opportunity and a statistical advantage If we can get 10 percent more students into technological fields, that leads to more solutions to bugger problems like climate changes, scarce resources and conflicts that plague us today, said Nikhiya.

Bags, Books and Blessings, one of her initiatives helped distribute basic school supplies such as uniforms, pens, paints, crayons , and school bags to over 7,700 students in various schools across the state.

Yearn to Learn, another initiative spearheaded by the youngster led to the opening of free science and mathematics labs in institutions that lacked basic infrastructure to do so.

A class 10 student at Greenwood High, sh e also launched an e-commerce website named knicnacs.com in order to raise funds to sustain her social initiatives.

Nikhariya was recommended by the Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Karnataka for the national award which won her a cash prize of Rs 10,000, book vouchers worth Rs 3,000, a silver medal, certificate and a citation from the President.

Swasthik Padma, a student from Dakshina Kannada district was the other award winner from the state for his contributions in the field of innovation in scientific experiment. The youngster has also won several other laurels at the state and national level for his participation and representation in various international science competitions.

The National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement was instituted in 1996 by the central government to recognise and encourage children between ages 5 and 18 with exceptional abilities and outstanding status in various fields including innovation in designs, academics, sports, arts, culture, social service, music and the like.
Bengaluru: Police have nabbed a five-member gang that had robbed a precious gemstone from an agent of on November 11, after pepper-spraying him.

The accused had come to the agent Shashikants house in Malleshwaram police station limits, posing as buyers of the precious Alexander gemstone, worth Rs 15 lakh.

The accused have been identified as Bhaskar (26), a resident of Magadi road, Ranjith Shetty (25), Nagaraj (40) and Murugesh (38) of Basaveshwar Nagar, and Ullas (25) of Prakash Nagar.

According to police, the gemstone belonged to one Jayateertha, a native of Koppal. He was in need of money and gave it to his agent-friend Sashikant to find a buyer and carry out the sale.

The accused got to know about the gemstone and contacted Shashikant. On November 11 Shashikant told them to come to his house to finalise the deal.

Police said the accused went to Shashikants house and requested him to show the gemstone. They claimed that one of them was a jeweler, and he wanted to check its genuineness.

Shashikant obliged and brought the stone he had kept in the almirah. The accused examined it for nearly 30 minutes and then one of them pepper-sprayed Shashikants face and they fled with the stone. Shashikant did catch hold of one of the accused, but he stabbed him and fled. Shashikant sustained minor injuries.

Later he lodged a complaint with the Malleswaram police, who arrested the accused and recovered the stone.
BENGALURU: A day after he brutally hacked his sister-in-law to death with a machete at her residence in Ayyappa Nagar in KR Puram police station limits, the police arrested the accused on Thursday not before a high drama of a suicide attempt by him in the middle of the road.

The accused, Vinayaka Reddy, killed his younger brother Mohan Reddys wife Sumati (29) and was absconding. Before he was arrested, Vinayaka consumed a pesticide. But the police rushed him to a hospital, where he is being treated.

Vinayaka confessed to killing Sumati for refusing to have sex with him. He told the police that he and Sumati were in an illicit relationship over the last few years and he had left his wife for Sumati. The two started their relationship when they were staying in their hometown in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. When Mohan moved to Bengaluru for employment, Sumati and Vinayaka tried to stop him by insisting that he work at his hometown. But Mohan, who had no idea about his wifes relationship with his brother, did not budge. Vinayaka had also lent Rs 4 lakh to Mohan at Sumatis insistence.

Mohan and Sumati moved to Bengaluru eight months ago and rented a house in Ayyappa Nagar. Mohan started working at a private company, while Sumati stayed at the house. Vinayaka visited Monahs house frequently when he was at work and demanded sex from Sumati in return for the money he had lent her husband. But of late, Sumati started repenting her relationship with Vinayaka and avoided him. She refused to have sex with him over the last few months, the police said.

On Wednesday, Vinayaka came to Sumatis house after Mohan left for work and again demanded that she has sex with him. The two started arguing which ended in the murder.

The neighbours saw Vinayaka running out of the house after killing Sumati and filed a complaint with the K.R. Puram police, who arrested him before he could leave the city.

Iliicit affair

Vinayaka confessed to killing Sumati for refusing to have sex with him. He told the police that he and Sumati were in an illicit relationship over the last few years and he had left his wife for Sumati. The two started their relationship when they were staying in their hometown in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.


Hyderabad: A weapon-wielding unidentified snatcher targeted an elderly couple in Keesara on Friday evening followed by a four hour long operation by the Rachakonda police to nab the suspect. When the suspect approached the couple, the woman raised alarm forcing him to flee from the spot, leaving behind his bike and country-made firearm. Police suspect the same offender was involved in a snatching incident on Thursday. According to sources, Dasarath, 65, and his wife Balanjali, 60, residents of Yanampet in Ghatkesar mandal, were on their way home from Kondapur on their bike.

When they reached the rice mill in Karimguda village in Keesara mandal, an unknown person riding a Pulsar bike intercepted their bike. He got down from his bike, approached the elderly couple and threatened the woma to give away her gold jewellery. Shocked seeing a firearm, the couple raised alarm and a few persons at the rice mill rushed to their aid. The suspect took to heels, leaving behind his bike and the firearm. Cops rushed to the spot and also launched a hunt to nab the suspect.

After combing the surroundings for over two hours, they traced the suspect and apprehended him. Meanwhile, a woman had lost her gold chain to a snatcher in Rampalli village under the Keesara police station limit on Thursday. In this incident also, the snatcher was seen moving on a red Pulsar bike. The cases are still under investigation, said a senior official from Rachakonda.
Mumbai: A Mumbai-based former model, Rashmi Shahbazker, 37, has accused her Muslim husband of torturing her and forcing her to convert to Islam.

However, when Ms Shahbazkar refused, her husband Asif tried to kill her, she has claimed in the complaint registered at Bandra police station. Ms Shahbazkar said that Asif assaulted her after he married another Hindu girl a few months ago. The Bandra police have registered a case against two people under various sections and further investigations are underway.

Shahbazker, who married her husband Asif 12 years ago, was a Hindu by birth. She was very clear that she would not convert to Islam after marriage. But a few months ago when Asif married a woman half his age, he started physically abusing her, asking her to convert to Islam or leave him. When the complainant protested, Asif tried to kill her, alleged Shahbazker.

Speaking to this newspaper, Pandit Nivrutti Thackeray, senior police inspector of Bandra police station said, We have registered a case of domestic violence against the accused person, and are confirming the allegations that have been put forth by the complainant.
Hyderabad: An 18-year-old woman who had been living in a state-run home at Allwyn Colony, died under suspicious conditions on Saturday night. Police said she was being treated for tuberculosis. A case of suspicious death has been registered at Jagathgirigutta police station. The young woman had been living in the state home after she was raped at the age of 14. She had given birth to a child as a result.

Balala Hakkula Sangham, the child rights group, has demanded a proper inquiry into the death and alleged that the women and child welfare department had handed over the girl to a trust instead of taking care of her themselves. The victim, who was an orphan, originally from Delhi, was employed in a hotel whose owner raped her. She was then taken to the state-run home in Allwyn Colony. Her child lived with her.

A few months ago she was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was undergoing treatment. A week ago she was admitted to Gandhi Hospital, where she underwent a surgery also. She was discharged from the hospital on Thursday and shifted back to the home. On Saturday morning, the staff of the home found her dead in her room and alerted the police.

Based on a complaint from the superintendent of the home, a case of suspicious death has been registered. Prima facie, she died of illness. Based on the autopsy report, we will proceed with the investigation, said Inspector P. Srinivas, of the Jagathgirigutta police. The little girl, who is less than three years old, will be shifted to the Shishu Griha, the police said. Balala Hakkula Sangham has demanded a high-level inquiry into the deaths at government-run homes for women and the way they are run.
Around 50 marches were held across Maharashtra by the Maratha comunity after the Kopardi rape in 2016.

Mumbai: A sessions court in Ahmednagar convicted the three accused in the Kopardi rape case of July 2016.

The court found the trio guilty of brutally raping and then murdering a 15-year-old girl who belonged to the Maratha community. The trial saw the deposition of various witnesses, which included the family of the girl and residents of the village where the gruesome incident took place. The court will hold the hearing for quantum of punishment on November 21 and 22 and is expected to announce the same on November 22.

According to special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, during the trial the court was informed that while Jitendra alias Pappu Shinde (25) was the one who accosted and raped the girl, his accomplices Nitin Bhailume and Santosh Bhaval later joined him in raping the girl and then murdering her.
Jaipur: Deepika Padukone should stay away from Rajasthan. No, she need not be afraid of the young Rajput leader, Mahipal Singh Makrana, who had threatened to chop off her nose if the movie Padmavati was not banned. She should be afraid that statistically women between the age group 18 and 44 are not safe in the state.

In 2015, Rajasthan stood third in the total number of rape cases reported in the country. In the age groups of 18 and 29 and 30 and 44, Rajasthan reported the highest number of rape cases of 2018 and 789.

Not just strangers but the girls are not safe within the homes as the number of incest rape, at 98, was also highest in the country.

Everyone remembers December 16 rape case that shook the nation, but just three months before that a 15-year old girl in Sikar was raped to the extent that she had to undergo 20 operations in Jaipur and AIIMA, Delhi. Yet, there was not a whimper of protest from men and women who have taken to street for the honour of a queen whose existence is based on a 16th century poets work of fiction.

Female infanticide is rampant in the state. On Friday, an Army man in Sikar killed his newborn daughter because he already had a daughter. Two months ago, a mother strangulated her 11 day-old daughter.

Those who survive are abandoned by the parents. Around 77 newborn babies, including 47 girl children, who were abandoned just after their birth were saved between March 2016 and October 2017, Devendra Agarwal, state advisor to the government of Rajasthan for Aashray Paalna Sthal Yojana, said.

Many of those fortunate enough to survive dont escape discrimination whether it is in access to food, education or health facilities. The desert state also has the worst percentage of girls going to school in the 15 and 17 age group. Boys are sent to private school while girls go to government schools. Mortality rate is higher among girls than boys.

Contrary to coming out in the open to protest against Padmavati by brandishing swords, most Rajasthani women still live in purdah.

Yes, we are concerned about these issues as well, said state president of Rajput Karni Sena, Ajit Singh Mamdoli. He said, the organisation is involved in various activities for upliftment women but lamented that the media pays attention only when an agitation of this nature is launched.
Vijayawada: As a follow-up to the proposal placed in the last meeting, officials discussed that very soon, there will be at least three flights per week between Singapore and Vijayawada. The Chief Minister wants high connectivity between the two places, to increase the engagement between the two governments for different development programmes.

The District Cooling system which is in place in Singapore, will be set up in Amaravati too, as per the instructions of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. Mr Jimmy Khoo, managing director of Singapore District Cooling, said that this system was the first of its kind in the world, and it saves almost 40 per cent of the power consumption along with reducing the citys average temperature.

The Chief Minister also asked them to implement cooling systems in bus stops, using solar power, in the different cities of Andhra Pradesh. The CM has been invited to attend the Industrial Partnership Summit in July 2018 to be held in Singapore. The CM suggested to the Singapore government officials that this convention should be conducted once in Andhra Pradesh too.

Ambassador Gopinath Pillai presented the book, States of India, which is authored by him, and proposed that Amaravati buildings should be included as a chapter. It was also confirmed that the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, will be the chief guest at Indias Republic Day celebrations.

The Chief Minister said that he would visit the capital city during his visit as well.

Meanwhile, Mr Eswaran, minister of Singapore got a grand welcome on Friday at the Gannavaram Airport. Mr N.Chandrababu Naidu was present at the airport and personally welcomed and garlanded him. Later Mr Naidu showed Mr Eswaran models of the buildings of Assembly and Secretariat.

You are rushing towards development with great acceleration, we are trying to follow and catch you, thank you very much for being a partner in the development of Capital Amaravati, Chief Minister Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu told Mr Eswaran, minister for commercial and industries.
Counting will be held on December 18 along with that of Himachal Pradesh. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday released the second list with 36 candidates for the two-phase poll in Gujarat on December 9 and 14.

With this, the party has announced 106 candidates for elections to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly.

In the list, there are 13 ST candidates and two SC candidates.

On Friday, the party had announced 70 candidates, including Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and state party chief Jitu Vaghani.

Read: Gujarat poll: BJP releases list of 70 candidates, Rupani to contest from Rajkot

Of the 70, 15 are Patels, 18 OBCs, three SCs and 11 STs.

Counting will be held on December 18 along with that of Himachal Pradesh.

While the first phase will be held in 89 of 182 seats, the notification for the second phase will be issued on November 20 for the other 93 seats in 14 districts.
The 10th round of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was held in Beijing. (Photo: File)

New Delhi/Beijing: India and China on Friday held their first meeting on the border consultation and coordination mechanism at Beijing after the Doklam standoff and reviewed the situation in all the sectors of their border and exchanged views on enhancing CBMs and military contacts.

The 10th round of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was held in Beijing, a press release from the Indian Embassy in Beijing said.

The WMCC was established in 2012 as an institutional mechanism for consultation and coordination for the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas.

It was established to deal with the tensions over recurring border incursions as well as to exchange views on strengthening communication and cooperation, including between the border security personnel.

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488 km long Line of Actual Control (LAC). While China claims Arunachal Pradesh as Southern Tibet, India asserts that the dispute covered Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during the 1962 war.

Today's (Friday) talks were held in a constructive and forward-looking manner, the release said.

Both sides reviewed the situation in all sectors of India-China border and agreed that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas is an important prerequisite for sustained growth of bilateral relations, it said.

The two sides also exchanged views on further confidence building measures (CBMs) and strengthening of military-to-military contacts, it said.

The talks between the delegations headed by Pranay Verma, Joint Secretary (East Asia), Ministry of External Affairs and Xiao Qian, Director General, Department of Asian Affairs, were the first such dialogue between the two countries after the 72-day-long standoff at Doklam in the Sikkim section.

The standoff which began in mid-June ended on August 28 after Chinese troops stopped building a key road close to India's Chicken Neck corridor. India objected to the construction highlighting its security concerns. The road was being built by the Chinese troops in the area also claimed by Bhutan.

This is the first round of talks between the two countries after Chinese President Xi Jinping began his second five-year term as the chief of the ruling Communist Party of China in October.

Friday's talks took place ahead of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's planned to visit to India to take part in the Russia, India and China (RIC) Foreign Ministers meeting expected to be held in New Delhi in December.

Chinese officials earlier said Wang is expected to meet his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj as well as top Indian leaders.

The contentious issues bedevilling both the countries, including the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as well as Bejing's veto blocking UN listing of JeM leader Masood Azhar as a global terrorist are expected to be discussed during Wang's talks with Indian leaders.

Ahead of the talks, Chinese officials have expressed optimism that differences over the listing of Azhar by China in the 1267 Committee of the UN Security Council may be resolved soon. China has blocked India's application in 2016 and vetoed a similar resolution sponsored by the US, the UK and France twice in 2017.

Also the 20th round of India-China border talks headed by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi, who are the designated Special Representatives, are expected to be held in New Delhi in December.

The dates for both RIC and border talks are yet to be announced.

The Special Representatives were also mandated to discuss all issues related to India-China relations.

The delegations at Friday's talks comprised of diplomatic and military officials from each side.

The two sides agreed to hold the next meeting of the WMCC at a mutually convenient time, the release said.
Visakhapatnam: In pursuance of Indias Act East policy and demonstration of Indias commitment to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific Region, Naval ships Satpura and Kadmatt entered Port Laem Chabang in Thailand on Friday. During the five-day visit, both ships will represent India in the International fleet review (IFR) being organised at Pattaya Bay to comemorate the 50th anniversary of ASEAN.

This year, India also celebrates the 25th anniversary of partnering ASEAN and 70 years of diplomatic relations with Thailand. The Indian delegation is being led by Vice Admiral Karambir Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command. The Admiral will call on the Chief of the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) and other high ranking government officials in Thailand and engage with leaders from other countries during his stay there.

The Royal Thai Navy is hosting the IFR, wherein over 40 warships from ASEAN and partner nations are expected to participate. In addition to various operational and technological demonstrations, numerous cultural events are also scheduled in conjunction with the fleet review. These include an air race, a traditional swan boats cup and a Navies city parade at Pattaya Beach.

India shares a special bond with Thailand and this is reflected in the cooperation between the two Navys. Both Navys have regularly conducted Coordinated Patrols (CORPAT) in the Andaman Sea twice a year since 2005 and so far, 23 CORPATs have been conducted. India has also been at the forefront of all initiatives by the ASEAN, since inception.

Indias Look East and Act East policies have been a perfect conjugate to ASEANS endeavours. Ships of the Indian Navy are deployed every year to ASEAN countries and symbolise Indias commitment to her partners. Bilateral exercises with these countries enhance interoperability and forge shared perceptions.
Security forces cordoned off and launched a search operation in Chandergeer village in Hajin area of the district after receiving specific intelligence input about the presence of militants in the area, a police official said. (Representational Image)

Srinagar: 6 Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists including 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi's nephew Owaid were gunned down in an encounter in Hajin area of Jammu and Kashmir's northern Bandipore district on Saturday.

A Garud commando of the Indian Air Force was also killed and another Army jawan was injured in the gun battle.

Among the slain militants is Owaid, a son of Zakir Rehman Maki and nephew of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhavi, the mastermind of Mumbai blasts, said Jammu and Kashmirs Director General of Police, Shesh Paul Vaid.

Lakhvi is a top leader of the LeT and currently serves as its supreme commander of operations in Jammu and Kashmir. He figures in the National Investigating Agency (NIA)s most wanted list.

The police chief identified two more slain men as the LeT commanders Zargam and Mehmood and said, All the terrorists neutralised today were Pakistanis.

In a tweet, he also said, The encounter is now finished and was a success. Total of 6 LeT terrorists eliminated. Weapons and ammunition recovered.

The DGP termed the killing of the militants as great success for the security forces including the Armys 13 Rashtriya Rifles, the J&K polices counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) and 45th Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

They had together launched a cordon-and-search-operation after specific inputs about presence of militants in Hajins Chandergeer area earlier during the day.

The fighting broke out soon after the security forces laid siege to the area, 36-km north of summer capital Srinagar, on learning about the presence of militants there, a police spokesman here said.

It is the same area where two IAF commandos Sergeant K Milind Kishor, 33, and Cpl (airman) Nilest Kumar Nayan, 31, and two militants including a Pakistani national were killed and two Army jawans injured in a similar clash on October 11.

Like them, the Garud commando who laid down his life during the fighting on Saturday was part of the counterinsurgency operation for operational experiences and training. the officials said.

Defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said, The name of the IAF martyr will be disclosed to media only after his family is informed about him being no more to follow the practice.

The police officials said that the LeT militants had tried to escape from the security cordon while firing their guns but the security forces foiled it and killed all the six of them one by one.

The clash took place on a day when the security forces in riot gear were enforcing a security lockdown in major parts of Srinagar to hold back protests and possible violence amid heightened tensions over the killing of a militant commander Mugees Ahmed Mir in a shootout in Gulab Bagh area on the peripheries of the capital city.

The incident which took place on Friday evening had also claimed the life of Sub-Inspector Imran Tak of the J&K police besides leaving a Special Police Officer injured.

Thousands of mourners participated in the funeral of the slain militant in Srinagars Parimpora area. Later angry crowds of the youth clashed with the security forces, the witnesses said. The security forces fired teargas canisters to quell stone-throwing mobs.

The authorities had earlier ordered closure of all educational institutions in the Srinagar district for the day. Train services were suspended and internet services were partially withdrawn.

Separatist leaders were either placed under house arrest or detained in police stations as a precautionary measure.
Thiruvananthapuram: Setting up of a Tourism Regulatory Authority to to free the sector of all forms of exploitation is the most radical measure outlined in the State Tourism Policy 2017. Also, in what is seen as an oblique admission that liquor availability is not a major requirement for tourism growth, the Policy states that the modern tourist comes to the state not to wallow in luxury but to get a feel of the place. "The fundamental thrust of the new policy is to improve the quality of tourism experience," tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran said, after unveiling the Tourism Policy here on Friday. The policy, which gives emphasis on sustainable tourism, states that a carrying capacity study of all major tourism destinations in the state would be conducted "on an emergency basis".

There will be curbs on granting sanctions to new constructions, and also houseboat licenses. Mr Surendran said that the Authority would be formed soon, though its composition would be decided only after exhaustive consultations. The Policy grants sweeping powers to the Authority. The Authority will function as the highest body that has the power to supervise all segments of the sector, the policy states. It will have the power to strictly enforce the guidelines issued by the Tourism Department. The Authority will also function as a quasi-judicial body, offering timely relief to victims of host high-handedness or misbehaviour.

The Authority has been given the blanket power to intervene wherever condemnable tourism practices are reported, the policy states. Further, the Authority will have under its command special action teams that will be formed in each tourism destination to take on human trafficking, child abuse, and narcotics use. The Policy has set a target of increasing the number of domestic tourists by 50 percent, and foreign tourists by 100 percent, in the next five years. The policy states that Responsible Tourism would be used as a tool to improve local employment. The tourism minister identified inadequate infrastructure as a major challenge.
CHENNAI: In a major setback to M. Natarajan, husband of jailed AIADMK leader V.K. Sasikala, the Madras high court on Friday has confirmed a trial court verdict sentencing him to two years in prison in connection with illegal import of a luxury car from the United Kingdom over two decades ago. Legal experts said Natarajan has time till Saturday afternoon to surrender before the lower court and thereafter seek bail on health grounds. Besides Natarajan, the high court also confirmed the sentencing of his nephew V. Bhaskaran Yogesh Balakrishnan, a resident of London, and Sujaritha Sundararajan, manager of Indian Bank, Abhiramapuram Branch, Chennai.

A trial court had in 2010 sentenced Natarajan and others to undergo rigorous imprisonment for two years and imposed a fine of Rs. 40,000 on Yogesh Balakrishnan and Rs 20,000 each on Natarajan, Bhaskaran and Sundararajan. When the appeal of the accused came up for hearing, Justice G. Jayachandran said there was ample evidence placed before the court by the prosecution to show that these accused have involved in cheating the government by producing forged documents.

The Lexus car with engine capacity of 3000 cc, which is not in compliance with the residence transfer provision, has been imported with fabricated documents. The provision clearly restricts the import of car above 1600 cc by Indian nationals or foreign nationals of Indian origin coming to India for permanent settlement, Unless the importer has stayed abroad continuously for a period of at least two years and had used the car at least for one year before the date of import, the judge said on Friday.

According to the prosecution, a Toyota Lexus car was imported in 1994 declaring by Natarajan declaring it as used vehicle of 1993 model evading tax to the tune of `1.06 crore. The CBI and enforcement directorate registered separate cases against Natarajan, V. Bhaskaran, Yogesh Bala Krishnan and Sujaritha Sundararajan  who substituted the original sale invoice with a photocopy of an invoice fabricated by changing the vehicle's manufacturing date to July 1993.

It is unfortunate that senior customs officers who were the members of the conspiracy were not prosecuted, since the prosecuting agency was refused sanction by competent authority. This cannot be the reason to allow the other conspirators to go scot-free. This court opines that this is high time to revisit law mandating sanction under Prevention of Corruption Act, and subject it to judicial scrutiny, the judge said.

The judge further said refusal to accord sanction should also be subject to judicial scrutiny so that improper exercise of power by unscrupulous person shielding his subordinate shall be averted. Dismissing the appeal, the judge has directed the trial court to secure the accused and remand to judicial custody to undergo remaining period of sentence if any.
Last month, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had lashed out at the Modi government, calling the GST - 'Gabbar Singh Tax', meant to extort money from people.(Photo: File)

Bhopal: In a retort to Rahul Gandhi's jibe terming the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as 'Gabbar Singh Tax', Union minister Giriraj Singh on Friday said the body language of the Congress leader resembled that of Gabbar Singh, the tobacco-chewing dacoit made famous by actor Amjad Khan in film 'Sholay'.

Last month, Rahul Gandhi had lashed out at the Modi government, calling the GST - 'Gabbar Singh Tax', meant to extort money from people.

"Some people are making a hue and cry. The prince (Rahul) is saying that this is 'Gabbar Singh GST'. This is not Gabbar Singh tax. You are making a mistake. Your language resembles that of Gabbar Singh. Your body language resembles that of Gabbar Singh," Singh said.

The Union Minister of State (independent charge) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) was addressing a convention of small and medium entrepreneurs at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.

"Behind closed doors, your finance ministers (of Congress ruled states) extend support to the GST, but outside, you term it as Gabbar Singh Tax. These are double standards," he said.

Also Read : GST is 'Gabbar Singh Tax', says Rahul; BJP calls Cong 'Dramebaaz' party no 1

Singh said the concerns of the business community were being addressed by the government.

In a tweet last week, Gandhi stated, "We will not allow BJP to impose a Gabbar Singh Tax on India. They cannot break the back of the small and medium businesses, crush the informal sector and destroy millions of jobs."

The Congress vice president repeated his jibe at election rallies in Gujarat.

Also Read : Gujarat polls: GST is Gabbar Singh tax, says Rahul Gandhi

Singh claimed that MSME sector provided jobs to around 10 crore youth. 80 per cent of jobs, he said, were provided by the small and medium businesses with only 20 per cent of total investment, while 80 per cent money was invested in big businesses that employed only 20 per cent of the industrial work force.

Singh defended demonetisation, and said despite facing problems people's faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained unshaken.

"(BR) Ambedkar had also suggested that currency should be demonetised every 10 years. But Indira Gandhi (former prime minister) could not dare to demonetise the currency," he added.

In his address, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the US adopted talent from across the world and that led to its success.

"If there were no Indian doctors, half the US would remain ill," he said.

At the convention, Chouhan announced sops for the state's MSMEs, including 40 per cent subsidy on the machinery required for setting up small-scale industries as the previous subsidy regime ended upon introduction of the GST.

He also said that the small-size plots would be provided to the MSMEs as per their need, besides simplification of other rules.

A large number of small and medium-size entrepreneurs are attending the two-day convention.
Guntur Agriculture Market yard Chairman M. Subba Rao shows Guntur Tej Mirchi yield to Myung Tae Kim, Consulate General of Republic of South Korea during his visit to Agriculture Market Yard in Guntur city on Friday.

Guntur: A team of South Korea delegates visited Asias biggest chlli yard at Guntur on Friday and announced their plan to start import of chillies from Guntur chilli yard.

The team members invited chilli growers and traders to visit South Korea to see the trading system of their country. Chilli Yard chairman M. Subba Rao said chilli is exported to 15 countries from Guntur chilli yard and explained the varieties in red chillies to the Korean team.

He said that Guntur is the ideal place to start chili allied products industries and stated that their government is promoting exporters who handle red chilli exports.

Consul general of the Republic of South Korea for south India Kim Hyung Tae said that it was the first time he was seeing so many varieties in red chilli and stated that quality of Guntur chilli is very great and tasty. He congratulated Guntur chilli growers for cultivating international quality red chillies. He said that South Korea is ready to assist the farmers by providing agriculture technology including micro irrigation technology which can be used for cultivation with less water resources. Mr Tae invited Guntur chilli farmers and traders to visit South Korea to see the chilli business and trading system.
Hyderabad: The Telangana Transport Workers Federation on Friday held a rally as a part of the Chalo Assembly programme seeking the governments intervention on bringing petrol and diesel under the ambit of the Goods and Service Tax (GST).

All India Trade Union Congress president S. Babu and general secretary B. Venkatesam after a meeting launched a rally to the Assembly. The main road from Narayanguda to Liberty was blocked with activists, causing a traffic jam during the morning peak hour.

Police stopped the rally near Himayatnagar Y-junction and arrested the leaders and workers.

Earlier, Mr Babu and Mr Venkatesam told the media that when the price of crude oil was more than $100, the governments increased the price of fuel but did not revise it downwards when the price of crude oil fell to $45 per barrel. If the governments include petrol and diesel in GST, the price will come down rapidly. It will benefit transporters and passengers in the form of lower fares, they said.
Hyderabad: Dog squads from various commissionerates and police units will be deputed to assist security agencies in ensuring a fool-proof security for the GES.

Considering the security needs and current global scenario, the Cyberabad police has requ-ested other police units to depute their dog units. Apart from the regular canine units comprising sniffers, att-ack, tracker dogs from the Intelligence Security Wing (ISW) dogs from neighbouring district and central forces are expected to be deputed.

The dog squad from the Hyderabad police has about 28 dogs. Mounted police will also be patrolling the IT corridor as part of the security for the GES.

The Cyberabad police has a mounted police unit comprising 10 horses deployed at events and festivals to manage the mob.

It will give a sense of confidence in people, an official of Cyberabad police said.

Armed police parties also will be deployed for the security of the summit and the venue.
Hyderabad: The United States Secret Service will be bringing its own team of sniffer dogs for security checks at various venues, where the US Presidents daughter Ivanka Trump will be visiting or staying when in the city for Global Entrepreneurs Summit this month.

The dogs are designated as dog officers of the rank of sergeant, major, and lieutenant, and are mainly used for anti-sabotage checks like detection of explosives and landmines and to intercept and pin down intruders.

Generally, this dog unit conducts checks hours before the programme starts and is assisted by the local police who help them understand the venue. They sanitise the venue, vehicles, and route taken by the VIP they are guarding.

At least 12 dogs will be brought to the city in the next few days and will be lodged in the building where the secret service officers stay. Everything, including food for the dogs, will be brought from the US.

Not to be outdone, the Special Protection Force (SPG) that protects the Indian Prime Minister will be bringing its own elite dog unit for the protection of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois and Labradors are in the Indian dog squad. Some dogs were recently imported from Israel where they were trained.
Hyderabad: The United States Secret Service will be bringing its own team of sniffer dogs for security checks at various venues, where the US Presidents daughter Ivanka Trump will be visiting or staying when in the city for Global Entrepreneurs Summit this month.

The K-9 dog squad, mainly comprising the Malinois, a Belgian breed similar to the German Shepherd, is part of the security apparatus of the Secret Service and visits countries across the globe prior to a visit by those guarded by the Secret Service.
Srinagar: Six Lashkar-e-Tayyaba militants and a Garud commando of the Indian Air Force were killed and an Army soldier injured in a gun battle in Hajin area of Jammu and Kashmirs northern Bandipore district on Saturday. They had together launched a cordon-and-search-operation after specific inputs about presence of militants earlier during the day on Saturday.

The fighting broke out soon after the security forces laid siege to the area, 36-km north of Srinagar, on learning about the presence of militants there, a police spokesman said.

It is the same area where two IAF commandos Sergeant K. Milind Kishor, 33, and Corporal Nilesh Kumar Nayan, 31, and two militants were killed. Like them, the Garud commando Nirala who laid down his life during the fighting was part of the counter-insurgency operation.

The police said the LeT militants had tried to flee from the cordon while firing but the security forces foiled it and killed all the six of them.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has sought the response of the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India on a PIL seeking to regulate the flow of Bitcoin (crypto money) and to ensure that the same be made accountable to exchequer.

Bitcoin is a digital currency that allows people to buy goods and services and exchange money without involving banks, credit card issuers or other third parties.

A three-judge bench issued notice on the petition filed by activist, Dwaipayan Bhowmick highlighting the dangers of the use of Bitcoin without any regulation. He said in recent cyber-attacks, Ransomware hackers held victims hostage by encrypting their data and demanding them to send payments in bitcoins to regain access to their computers. He said despite the RBIs call for caution against the use of virtual currencies, domestic Bitcoin exchange have been adding over 2,500 users a day and had reached five lakh downloads.
Hyderabad: Public toilets are turning out to be a waste of space because of the poor maintenance, say citizens of Telangana. Although the number of public toilets has increased in the city, their use has been limited. Srinivas Rao, the deputy commissioner of Khairatabad, admitted, We have five toilets in our circle, however, it is disappointing that they are not being used. We are renovating the toilets as they have not been maintained for long. We plan to hire a superintendent who can ensure that the surrounding areas are kept clean and that there is 24/7 power connection and water supply.

Most citizens complain about the unbearable stench, erratic water and power supply. Meenakshi Sinha, a techie from Secunderabad, says, Most public toilets do not have even lights switched on at night which is why people think that they are not functioning. The same goes for water. There needs to be round the clock maintenance for these washrooms which is the only way more people will start using them.

However, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporations officers say that even the toilets that are functioning are not used by the public in the right way. Citizens should clean up after themselves and also take care to not waste water. Many a time we have had cleaners telling us that people have left the taps running. Although the pay-and-use method was implemented to ensure that people are more careful, it seems to have made no difference, rues sanitation officer Ravi Kiran.

While GHMC plans to open She toilets and Smart toilets across the city, its officials say citizens must maintain cleanliness. We hope that as new toilets are opened and the existing ones are upgraded, people begin using them responsibly. The GHMC commissioner has recently instructed all officials to keep public toilets in their jurisdiction neat to discourage open defecation, says Srinivas Rao.
The highlights of the proposed legislation titled Kerala Exploitation by Superstition (Prevention) Act, were three to seven years imprisonment for causing physical or mental injuries and loss of property to any person by way of supernatural or black magic acts. Representational image.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as neighbouring Karnataka unanimously passed an anti-superstition law the other day, a similar initiative in Kerala several year back is still gathering dust. Despite several incidents of superstitions even leading to deaths, the lawmakers in the state has not taken any interest in introducing the law. The law mooted by the state police warranted stringent punishment ranging from three years to capital punishment for superstitions. It was true that a draft bill on an anti-superstition law was initiated in the state couple of years back. However, it is still in the cold storage as there was no directives from the political leadership to take it forward, a senior law department official said.

It was following three deaths caused by superstitions in the state in 2014 that a demand for a stringent legislation to curb it was introduced. As instructed by government, the then ADGP Intelligence A. Hema-chandran drafted the bill after reviewing a similar law in Maharashtra and the proposals in Karnataka. It was submitted to the government in August, 2014. Neither the then UDF government nor the LDF that succeeded had so far not shown any interest in pursuing it further. Though health minister K.K. Shylaja reportedly told the Assembly last year that the government would consider bringing in a legislation to curb superstitions and unscientific medical practices, the draft bill is still gathering dust, said a government official.

The highlights of the proposed legislation titled Kerala Exploitation by Superstition (Prevention) Act, were three to seven years imprisonment for causing physical or mental injuries and loss of property to any person by way of supernatural or black magic acts, five years imprisonment to life term in case of sexual exploitation committed under the cover of superstition or black magic and capital punishment or life term for death following superstition or black magic.
Union minister for shipping, road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari takes a look at the replica of the international ship repair facility (ISRF) to be set up by Cochin Shipyard Ltd during the ground breaking ceremony in Kochi in the presence of Mayor Soumini Jain, Hibi Eden, MLA, Cochin Shipyard chairman and MD Madhu S. Nair, Prof. K.V Thomas, MP and minister A.C. Moideen. (Photo: SUNOJ NINAN MATHEW)

Kochi: The Rs 970-crore ISRF facility is coming up at Willingdon Island on a 40-acre land given on lease by the Cochin Port Trust to CSL. The project is scheduled to be completed in two years. The ship repair facility of global standards is being designed to cater to the needs of ships from across the world, said Cochin Shipyard chairman and managing director Madhu S. Nair. On completion within two years, Kochi will be a major ship repair hub in India generating an additional employment of around 1,500 personnel, he said.

Later, inaugurating a food market at Kizhakkambalam on the outskirts of Kochi, Mr Gadkari also promised central funding for the development of Kizhakkambalam-Per-umbavoor, Vazhakkulam-Karukulam and Thadiyittaparambu-Vadukode roads in the region. The funding will be allocated based on the request made by the Kizhakkambalam panchayat ruled by the 20-20 movement, he said.

Highway to link Palani, Sabari

Union minister for surface transport Nitin Gad-kari on Friday said that a new National Highway will be constructed to connect Palani and Sabarimala. The minister said that the preliminary works needed for starting the construction of the 370 kilometre long National Highway will be started immediately.

Union transport minister inaugurating the renovation of Munnar-Bodimettu highway in Munnar on Friday.  By arrangement

The Union minister was inaugurating the renovation of the Munnar- Bodimettu road included in the NH 85. He also said that the 135 km road included in NH 85 from Cochin to Munnar will be made four lane path.
Kochi: The NIA recorded statements of Hadiya on Thursday and Friday ahead of her appearance before the Supreme Court on November 27. Her father K. M. Ashokan believes reports of girls trapped by dubious Romeos may have had an impact on his daughter during her days in solitude. According to Mr Ashokan, his daughter still follows Islam, which he appreciates as her choice. But he would never be happy to see her go back to Shefin Jahan, who had been involved in criminal cases as a PFI activist.

Sources close to Mr Ashokan said he would provide the best of care to daughter. But he felt that the latest instance of a Malayali girl escaping from the clutches of her husbands family in Saudi Arabia and seeking refuge in the Indian mission might have its impact on Hadiya, who had embraced Islam with best of intentions. He also referred to intercepted messages of women and children hailing from north Kerala stranded in Syria and their travails following the "martyrdom" of their husbands.

Mr Ashokan hoped to get more clarity in the case when she appears before the apex court, on the petition filed by Mr Jahan, seeking to quash the May 24 Kerala High Court annulment of their marriage. Sources said he declined permission an official of the State Womens Commission to visit Hadiya three days ago because he believed there was no honest attempt to ascertain her situation after keeping off for months.

Mr Ashokan said: We are fully cooperating with the investigation. She would be presented before the court." Meanwhile, Mr Jahan approached the DGP seeking protection for the girl and requesting that she be taken on the flight to New Delhi. Mr Ashokan said he was confident of the security being given by the State police and he would supplement her safety during the travel, for which he did not require Mr Jahans assistance.

The NIA took over the investigation in August. According to Mr Ashokan, his daughter Akhila, studying for a BHMS course at Salem in Tamil Nadu, was trapped by Islamists and forced to embrace the religion and forced into the marriage. Hadiya, however, refuted the allegation and said that she embraced the new faith in her own free will and decided to marry a person of her choice.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Saturday that there was no going back on the government decision to reserve 10 per cent jobs in Devaswom boards for the economically poor among the forward communities. At a meeting in Agali, the Chief Minister said the apprehensions over 10 per cent reservation were misplaced. He expressed surprise over the opposition to government decision from some quarters. Mr Vijayan said along with provision for 10 per cent reservation for poor among the forward communities, the government had increased the quota of the backward communities in Devaswom jobs. There will be no impact on SC/ST reservation because of quota for forward communities.

In last Cabinet, the government had increased Ezhava community's quota from existing 14 per cent to 17 per cent, SC/ST communities from 10 per cent to 12 per cent and non-Ezhava OBC communities from 3per cent to 6 per cent. The government has come under sharp attack from SNDP Yogam and the Muslim League for setting aside 10 per cent for the poor among the forward communities. The Yogam has demanded the rollback of decision which it described as unconstitutional.

The SNDP has decided to take legal recourse against the government decision. The Yogam leadership claims that already 90 per cent posts in Devawom boards are occupied by forward community members. According to Muslim League, the government decision was aimed at appeasing the Sangh Parivar. The state government's decision will only help the Centre to pursue their anti-reservation policy vigorously. Kerala Congress (B) leader R. Balakrishna Pillai hailed the decision to reserve 10 per cent jobs in Devaswom boards for poor among forward communities.
New Delhi: The BJP on Friday released its first list of candidates for the coming assembly elections in Gujarat where 182 constituencies will go to polls next month. The 70 names, which were released included 45 candidates, whose constituency will go to polls in the first phase on December 9 and the remaining on December 14, the second phase of polling. Results will be declared on December 18.

Among the prominent names that were announced today included that of chief minister Vijay Rupani who has been renominated from Rajkot West, his deputy Nitin Patel from Mehsana, party president Jitubhai Vaghani from Bhavnagar West and former Superintendent of Police(SP) Chhota Udepur, P.C. Baranda, who had resigned just two days back. He has been fielded from Bhiloda assembly constituency. Of the total 89 constituencies that will go to polls in the first phase, the BJP leadership has so far released 31 names.

The BJP has also fielded five former Congress leaders, who had joined the saffron fold recently. These included  Raghavji Patel from Jamnahgar Rural, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Jamnagar North, Ramsinh Parmar from Thasra, Mansinh Chauhan from Balasinor and CK Raulji from Godhra assembly seat.

In all, the BJP had renominated 49 candidates and fielded 15 new candidates. There are also four women women in the party list.

Of the total names, 17 are Patels, 18 OBCs, three SCs and 11 STs. A majority of OBC candidates are Thakores followed by Kolis.

The names were finalised by BJPs Central Election Committee, which met on Wednesday and was chaired by party president Amit Shah. It was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, chief minister Vijay Rupani, his deputy Nitin Patel among other party leaders.

Ahead of Guj poll, Nitish wins battle for control of JD(U)

The JD(U) faction, led by Nitish Kumar, on Friday managed to keep the arrow symbol of the party with the Election Commission ruling that the group led by the Bihar chief minister has demonstrated overwhelming majority support in the legislature.

The group led by Nitish Kumar is hereby recognised as the Janata Dal (United)... Consequently, the group led by Nitish Kumar is entitled to use the reserved symbol Arrow of the party as a recognised state party in Bihar, the EC said in its order.

The EC ruling comes as a setback for the party's faction led by senior leader Sharad Yadav who is fighting the coming Assembly polls in Gujarat in an alliance with the Congress.

Sources said that Mr Yadav-backed candidates, headed by tribal leader Chotubhai Vasava, will now be contesting the December 9 and 14 Assembly polls as independents or under the Congress symbol. The JD(U), which is a recognised state party in Bihar, had split when Mr Kumar had decided to walk out of the Grand Alliance in Bihar in which the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress were partners.

Mr Kumar has already decided to field around 12 candidates in the tribal belt of Gujarat where the JD(U) has traditionally been strong.

While senior lawyer and Congress leader Kapil Sibal argued for the Sharad Yadav camp, Rakesh Dwivedi appeared on behalf of the Nitish Kumar group in the hearing before the EC.
There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, that Narendra Modi, when preparing for the bid to be Prime Minister, had a choice to model himself on one of two of Indias leading politicians, one from his own party, the BJP, and the other from the party he wanted to defeat. The choice was between Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Indira Gandhi. Unhesitatingly, he chose Indira Gandhi. Like her, he wanted to be seen as decisive, authoritative, resolute, determined, focused, strong, and unemotional in dealing with opponents. Today, on her centennial birthday, it is interesting to ruminate on why Indias only female Prime Minister still occupies so much of the mind-space of the Indian people. It is equally plausible to argue that, a leader who imposed the dreaded Emergency in (1975-77), should be remembered only for this direct assault on Indian democracy. But, Indira Gandhi, returned triumphantly to power in 1980, and even today, is remembered more for her remarkable political acumen than for the  brief but undeniable  authoritarian streak in her. Legendary leaders become part mythology part history. With the passage of time, their aberrations diminish and their achievements amplify, or vice versa. In the case of Indira, people remember her more for her persona, an elegant woman who never accepted defeat, had her hand on the pulse of the people, was shrewder than the shrewdest of politicians, dealt with opponents ruthlessly, had an unmistakable aesthetic sensibility, took decisions firmly when required, and died a martyr. What people also find fascinating is the manner in which she transformed as a person.

An insecure child with an unsettled childhood, overshadowed by the towering image of her father Jawaharlal Nehru, trapped in a less-than-happy marriage with Feroze, diffident, reclusive and withdrawn, transformed in the space of a few years, from the gungi gudiya (dumb doll) her opponents derisively called her, to a leader who was like a fish in the treacherous waters of Indian politics. Her great moment of glory came when she successfully dismembered Pakistan during the 1971 war. Then, even the leader of Opposition, the ever magnanimous Atal Behari Vajpayee, hailed her as Durga in action. As a politician her real test came after she lifted the Emergency, and in the elections in 1977, was decisively defeated. This was the time when, in a period of great adversity, her adroit political skills stood out in stark contrast to the bungling shenanigans of the motley Janata Dal coalition that came to power. When Charan Singh, the home minister, sent the police to arrest her, she took her time to get ready  and in that period alerted the entire media and her party workers  and then, when the time came to leave for jail, refused to go without being handcuffed. The police were not carrying handcuffs, and what is worse, did not even have clear instructions where to incarcerate her! She spent one night in jail and was unconditionally released the very next day. In December 1978, she was arrested again. There is an incident of this time which illustrates her political acumen. Charan Singhs birthday on December 23 was being celebrated with great fanfare at the Ramlila grounds in Delhi. From the jail, Indira gave meticulous instructions to a senior Congressman. He was asked to take a taxi to a specific florist on Janpath, and purchase a large bouquet. Then, he was told to go to Ramlila grounds, and seek to reach the podium. She warned him that he would be stopped by security, but since he was a known face as a former minister, he must find a police officer who recognises him and manage to reach the podium.

Once on the podium he was to ensure that the bouquet is presented to Charan Singh on her behalf, not anonymously, but publicly. There must be, she instructed, a public announcement that the flowers had been sent by Indira Gandhi. The Congress leader managed to implement these precise instructions. Charan Singh, in fact, himself announced with glee that Indira Gandhi herself has felicitated him. Three days later, Indira was out from jail. Next year, Charan Singh ditched his own partners to become PM with Congress support, only to have the Congress withdraw support within days. Fresh elections were called and Indira stormed back to power with a huge majority in 1980. The enduring image of her on an elephant reaching Belchhi is also a tribute to her political instincts. In May 1977, nine Dalits were burnt alive by an upper caste mob in Belchhi, Bihar. No prominent leader of the Janata Dal went to express solidarity with the victims. Indira decided to do so. She landed in Patna by plane; from there she drove in a car; after a point the road became so bad that she moved to a jeep; a little later even the jeep failed, so she sat on a tractor; when the tractor could not make headway, she climbed onto an elephant and reached Belchhi. That photograph was on the front page of every paper the next day.

No great leader is without her faults, or infallible. Indira trusted few, over centralized power, had little compunction in diluting the autonomy of democratic institutions, was excessively tolerant to the willfulness of her younger son, Sanjay, remained unacceptably vulnerable to mediocre sycophants, and made fatal mistakes by tolerating people like Bhindranwale for too long. But, she had great redeeming features too, including a private, aspect, where, as a woman and an aesthete with a fine sense of taste and an enduring commitment to the great legacy of Indias arts and crafts, she was the natural inheritor of the cerebral refinements of her father. If anyone is in doubt in this regard, I would urge them to read the book, Two Alone, Two Together, which is a fairly bulky compilation of the letters between her and Jawaharlal Nehru. What will surprise readers is not the erudition of Nehru  for that is known  but the intellectual, insightful, informed and thoughtful responses of Indira.
The spread of communal politics, with the hate that it brings as an intrinsic aspect, has just taken on a dangerous hue in Uttar Pradesh where a BJP leader, whose wife is contesting the local bodies election in Barabanki, near Lucknow, threateningly told the Muslim community earlier this week to vote in favour of his wife or face unpleasant consequences. This irresponsible politician went on to explicate what kasht (pain) the Muslims may expect. He said the problems that might visit them if they did not fall in line in the election will go beyond municipal matters such as fixing drains or roads. Murder and mayhem is being promised if Muslims do not vote for BJP. Yogi Adityanaths ministers were present when this threat was being given from a public platform, but no one bothered to restrain the speaker and contradict him.

Intimidation is crossing all bounds under the Yogis rule because he himself has been a loud proponent of threats against the minority community before becoming chief minister. In the past, BJP leaders have not bothered to campaign in Muslim-dominated areas. Quite often, the BJP does not nominate Muslim candidates on its symbol, though under certain BJP leaders this trend changed somewhat. Former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee received the endorsement of the Muslim community. But the graph has changed since then, and it is now coming down to threats to vote in BJPs support. It is not clear if this will in any way influence the goings-on in Gujarat, where the BJP is locked in a difficult contest against the Congress.
On October 5, the New York Times published a report on the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinsteins sexual misbehaviour. The paper quoted the actresses who said that they had been harassed or assaulted by Weinstein, who is one of the most powerful individuals in the film industry, and has produced Oscar-winning movies like The Kings Speech. After the report, more women came out with their stories of abuse from Weinstein (by the end of October, the list of accusers had over 80 women), and a couple of days later, he was sacked from his own company by the board of directors. Over the month, more women, many of them famous, began to tell their stories openly, and the focus turned to other powerful men. These included director James Toback (accused by over 238 women), actors Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Spacey, Steven Seagal and Ben Affleck, standup comedian Louis CK, political analyst Mark Halperin and former US president George H.W. Bush. Similar accusations have threatened the Senate campaign of a one-time favourite Republican candidate and ex-judge Roy Moore and the sitting Democratic Senator Al Franken.

Many of these men have apologised for their behaviour, including President Bush, and it is now clear that the womens courage had uncovered an epidemic. It seems something has changed in America, even though this is not the first time that a wealthy and influential man has been exposed. Only in 2014, one of Americas most famous comedians, Bill Cosby, was accused of drugging and assaulting by scores of women. Most of the cases here were outside the statute of limitations (depending on the state, the crime cannot be prosecuted if it is reported between three and 30 years after it took place). However, one case against Cosby is in court and it is likely to be decided next year. While Cosbys case was widely publicised, it did not produce the sort of response that the Weinstein case did, and now every day we have a report or two of a famous man who has been exposed.

A campaign on Twitter began to take what was essentially an international American moment. So what has been the reaction in India? It began with a list of academicians, professors and teachers, who were accused of harassment. The accusers were anonymous but were apparently known to the individual who made the list public, a student in America named Raya Sarkar. One of the individuals on the list, the director of the Madras Music Academy has resigned, it was reported on November 16, after his name was published, though it was unclear if he had quit because of the allegation. While the list has been attacked for being anonymous, for obvious reasons, it is not surprising that it is anonymous, given the history of sexual violence in India. Government data says that 99 per cent victims of sexual violence in India do not report the crime to the police.

Even in the United States, only about a third or so of victims report because this is a crime that is a personal attack and the victim does not feel comfortable recounting the details. In India, we have several other factors that are at work. One is a social and cultural landscape where women are often blamed for sexual violence committed on them. Ours is a society that unfairly loads ideas of honour on girls/women. Further, no powerful man is likely to be punished for his wrong deeds. In Bollywood, the power is disproportionately lodged in the hands of a few men, be they actors, producers or directors. A woman who makes an allegation against these men is humiliated and ignored. The men can get away with almost everything. In politics, things are worse. Justice is impossible against a powerful politician who is a predator. And political parties show absolutely no qualms in violating the privacy of individuals.

Given all of this, it would be wonderful if this becomes the moment when things change. If they feel encouraged by the climate, Indian victims and survivors of such harassment and violence can choose to go public and bring about the same sort of focus on the crimes as the victims in the United States have managed to do. It is cruel to put the burden of this on them, and the only real solution for ending harassment or minimising it is to ensure that the law acts swiftly and punishes offenders. Other places have already failed their women. In response to the Weinstein story, Chinas state media has said that harassment of women was less common in China because Chinese men are taught to be protective of their women. Behaving inappropriately toward women, including harassing them sexually, contradicts the very Chinese traditional value and custom. This, of course, is rubbish.
With the Indo-Pacific region becoming a critical hub, a new formation called the Quadrilateral is taking shape. In this interview, eminent defence analyst and director, Society for Policy Studies, C. Uday Bhaskar tells Sridhar Kumaraswami why the stakes are so high for all players in this region.

What is the genesis of the quad and what sparked the current Japanese proposal for a meeting of Quadrilateral nations comprising itself along with India, Australia and the US in the Indo-Pacific region?



The origin of the quad goes back to late December 2004 and the destructive tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean region. India was the first to respond when naval units reached Sri Lanka and Indonesia to provide relief and were later joined by the USA and other nations. Subsequently, US President George W. Bush mooted the idea of a four-nation coalition (USA, India, Japan and Australia) to coordinate the relief effort  and these four were to later become the quad. This quad came into geo-political focus in mid-2007 when the bilateral India-US Malabar naval exercise was expanded to include Japan and Australia  but this remained nascent as Beijing issued a demarche. The current Japanese proposal for quad officials to meet on the sidelines of the Manila EAS Summit was made by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during US President Donald Trumps visit to Tokyo in early November.

China has said the Quad should not be directed against it. How do you think the Chinese will respond?

Beijing has already expressed its ire over the idea of a quad taking shape  again. China sees this as a form of containment by a democratic grouping. This is not valid but points to the deep anxiety in Beijing over a maritime partnership forming in the Indo-Pacific region. The common objective for the four nations is an emphasis on respecting international law and customary practice at sea  in short, maintaining good order at sea in a consensual manner and as derived from the UNCLOS. The US is not a signatory to the convention but adheres to its principles. China which is a signatory is being encouraged to do the same  to respect the spirit of equitable consensus  and the test case is the South China Sea dispute.

Should India head right into the Quad or should there be some reserve to avoid becoming a mere tool of US policy in the region?

The quad is currently a consultative body and has not acquired any operational profile. India to my mind ought to remain engaged with the debate over how the maritime domain  the global commons as it is called  is managed. The safety of the sea lines of communication in the Indo-Pacific is a shared responsibility and India is the principal stakeholder in the Indian Ocean region. Other major powers have a similar stake and by partnering with the US and like-minded nations, the collective security effort is prioritised. India is very unlikely to become a mere tool of US policy in the region. How the quad should evolve is an important issue and Delhi ought to be shaping this contour, keeping all regional considerations in mind.

Why is there such an emphasis by the US on semantics as seen in the preference for the term Indo-Pacific compared to the earlier Asia-Pacific?



Semantic choice is an important indicator in security discourse. Word shapes thought  in an ontological sense. The introduction of Asia-Pacific in the mid 1990s was a semantic exclusion of India. So we had an odd pairing  as it were  a continent and an ocean. Asia was envisioned as being restricted to the dynamic East Asian region. In the early 2000, I recall that at the IDSA we tried to introduce the Indo-Pacific concept and the relevance of the rise of China for India. At the political level, the then defence minister George Fernandes encouraged this formulation and we had a major international conference on this issue in early 2005. But the phrase was not really endorsed in the dominant strategic discourse of the period within the USA and it is only recently that the semantic shift has taken place. It ought to be welcomed  not because the word Indo denotes or foregrounds India; but because Indo-Pacific offers a more valid and seamless strategic construct that refers to a natural maritime continuum  the confluence of the two oceans that has a resonance and validity going back by a few thousand years! The Indian and Chinese civilizations have been nurtured by this confluence and related maritime connectivity since ancient times.

Officials of the four proposed Quad countries met in Manila and held discussions. How do you see the contours of the Quad developing and in what form?

A tentative, low visibility contour is developing at this stage. Recall that there was no substantive joint statement or reference to the quad at Manila. The four nations will have to work on their domestic dependency factor in relation to China  trade/investment/security-strategic strands  and arrive at a determination about how much to appease Chinese assertiveness; and where and how to resist Beijings belligerence and duplicity. This is critical for India apropos issues like terrorism and WMD rectitude.

What is the role of ASEAN in all of this? Vietnam, perhaps the closest to India geo-strategically, has already indicated it does not want to join any multilateral bloc. Even the Philippines, under President Duterte, has improved its ties phenomenally with China.

ASEAN has a central role for Indias act-east policy and is the primary region where the bi-lateral with China is unspooling. Yes, many ASEAN states have made their bargain with Beijing and their ruling elite have benefited  in the short-term. But India ought to remain invested in the region and infuse greater resolve and urgency into being a beneficial partner for ASEAN  collectively and individually  in an equitable and transparent manner. The latter are not Chinese traits. Delhi must avoid the trap of the binary choice  meaning empathise with the ASEAN states (and South Asian neighbours) as they navigate their ties with both behemoths, and do not seek an either/or choice.

Do you share the view that the US, under the Trump Presidency, could be the weakest link in the Quad, especially since it is now looking more inward and focused on aspects like job-creation rather than containing China?

I do not think the US is the weakest link in the quad. It is the most powerful military nation globally and recall the US aircraft carriers operating in the western Pacific during the Manila deliberations. Yes, it is going through domestic despondency in relation to the mercurial Mr Trump and his less than elegant (coarse?) public conduct but that is a matter for the American people. However inward looking the US is  it goes through these phases  I cannot accept the suggestion that the Beltway will abdicate the Indo-Pacific to Beijing. Sitting atop the global baboon pack is addictive and the US is hooked!
Buenos Aires: An Argentine submarine with 44 crew on board was missing in the South Atlantic two days after its last communication, prompting the navy to step up its search efforts late on Friday in difficult, stormy conditions.

The ARA San Juan was in the southern Argentine sea 432 km (268 miles) from the Patagonian coast when it sent its last signal on Wednesday, naval spokesman Enrique Balbi said.

The emergency operation was formally upgraded to a search-and-rescue procedure on Friday evening after no visual or radar contact was made with the submarine, Balbi said.

Detection has been difficult despite the quantity of boats and aircraft involved in the search, Balbi said, noting that heavy winds and high waves were complicating efforts.

Obviously, the number of hours that have passed - two days in which there has been no communication - is of note.

The navy believes the submarine, which left Ushuaia en route to the coastal city of Mar del Plata in Buenos Aires province, had communication difficulties that may have been caused by an electrical outage, Balbi said. Navy protocol would call for the submarine to come to the surface once communication was lost.

We expect that it is on the surface, Balbi said.

The German-built submarine, which uses diesel-electric propulsion, was inaugurated in 1983, making it the newest of the three submarines in the navys fleet, according to the navy.

President Mauricio Macri said the government was in contact with the crews families.

We share their concern and that of all Argentines, he wrote on Twitter. We are committed to using all national and international resources necessary to find the ARA San Juan submarine as soon as possible.

Argentina accepted an offer from the United States for a NASA P-3 explorer aircraft, which had been stationed in the southern city of Ushuaia and was preparing to depart to Antarctica, to fly over the search area, Balbi said.

A Hercules C-130 from the Argentine Air Force was also flying over the operational area. Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Britain and South Africa had also formally offered assistance.
Washington: The US Congress on Friday passed a nearly $700 billion defence budget for 2018 which imposes tougher conditions on Pakistan for military and security assistance while seeking advancement in military cooperation with major defence partner India.

The 2018 National Defence Authorisation Act sailed through both the chambers of the Congress House of Representatives and the Senate by a voice vote.

It now heads to the White House for President Donald Trump to sign it into law, which he is expected to do before the Thanksgiving holidays. The budget also accommodates the last minute additional White Houses financial request implementing its new South Asia strategy.

The NDAA-2018 asked the secretary of state and the defence secretary to come out with a common definition that recognises Indias status as a Major Defence Partner.

Welcoming the move, top Republican Senator Ted Cruz said only a few few partnerships in the 21st century carried more strategic significance than the US-India partnership.

Mr Cruz said that the current bilateral cooperation and joint development need to be more closely aligned with the shared interests of maritime domain awareness and anti- submarine warfare. During the legislative process, Mr Cruz secured an amendment that calls on the Department of Defence to reassess its approach to partnering with India and to appoint an individual to oversee this process.

The NDAA-2018 also asks the Pentagon to develop a forward-looking strategy for defence ties with India that would build upon current objectives and goals, underlining a mutual desire to develop an enduring defence relationship with India.

The NDAA-2018 also makes $350 million available to Pakistan under coalition support fund contingent upon certification that Pakistan is taking demonstrable steps against the Haqqani Network.

An accompanying conference report passed by the House and the Senate note that action on the part of Pakistan against LeT, as well as other terrorist groups operating within the borders of Pakistan, remains a priority for the US.

It urged the Department of Defense to closely monitor US security assistance to Pakistan, to ensure that Pakistan is not using such assistance to support terrorist groups.
Hariri announced his resignation Nov. 4 in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia, throwing Lebanon into a serious political crisis. (Photo: AFP)

Paris: Lebanons Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrived in France on Saturday from Saudi Arabia, seeking to dismiss fears that he had been held against his will and forced to resign by Saudi authorities.

Hariri is scheduled to meet at midday with French President Emmanuel Macron, who is trying to mediate in the region to avert a proxy conflict in Lebanon between Iranian-backed and Saudi-backed camps.

An Associated Press journalist saw Hariri emerge from a convoy that arrived Saturday morning at his Paris residence, where police stood guard. Hariri walked out of his car and moved straight into the building without speaking to journalists.

Lebanese television showed the prime minister accompanied by his wife Lara al-Azm, but none of his three children appeared.

A French diplomat confirmed Hariris arrival but would not comment on his plans beyond meeting Macron. Its unclear when Hariri might return to Lebanon.

Before leaving Riyadh, Hariri dismissed as rumours reports about his alleged detention in the kingdom. In a tweet, he insisted his stay in Saudi Arabia was to consult with officials there on the future of Lebanon and its relations with its Arab neighbours.

Hariri announced his resignation Nov. 4 in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia, throwing Lebanon into a serious political crisis.

Read: Shiite movement leader blames Saudi for detaining Lebanese PM

Lebanese President Michel Aoun refused to accept it, accusing the Saudis of holding him against his will. Many Lebanese saw it as a sign the Sunni kingdom  the prime ministers chief ally  had decided to drag tiny Lebanon into its feud with the regions other powerhouse, the predominantly Shiite Iran.

In his televised announcement, Hariri cited Iran and Hezbollah for meddling in Arab countries, particularly Saudi Arabia. He also said he was afraid for his life.

Shortly before he left Riyadh, Saudi Arabia asked its citizens for the second time in less than two weeks to leave Lebanon as soon as possible given the circumstances there. That raised fears of more punitive actions to come.

Macron said Hariri will be received with the honours due a prime minister, even though he has announced his resignation, since Lebanon hasnt yet recognized it.

Hariris family is expected to have lunch at the French presidential palace. Macron said he thinks Hariri intends to return to Lebanon in the coming days and weeks.

The Hariris have long-standing ties to France, Lebanons onetime colonial ruler.
Pakistan has repeatedly denied India consular access to Jadhav on the ground that it was not applicable in cases related to spies. (Photo: AP/File)

Islamabad: Pakistan on Saturday said it is"considering" India's request to let Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother meet him, apart from his wife who has already received permission to visit the Indian death row prisoner.

Last week, Pakistan said it had offered to arrange a meeting between 46-year-old Jadhav and his wife, months after India had requested it to grant a visa to his mother on humanitarian grounds.

Foreign Office (FO) sources here said India in response has again asked Pakistan to issue a visa to Jadhav's mother so she can also visit her detained son.

FO spokesman Mohammad Faisal confirmed that India has responded to Pakistan's offer.

"Indian reply to Pakistan's humanitarian offer for Commander Jadhav received & is being considered," he tweeted.

Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April on charges of espionage and terrorism. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May halted his execution on India's appeal.

Pakistan has repeatedly denied India consular access to Jadhav on the ground that it was not applicable in cases related to spies.

Some media reports have linked Pakistan's latest offer to quiet efforts by the US. Pakistan, however, insisted that its offer was made purely on humanitarian grounds.

Jadhav has filed an appeal with Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa to seek clemency, which is still pending.

Last month, the Pakistan Army had said it is close to a decision on the mercy petition of Jadhav.

Pakistan claims its security forces arrested him from restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered the country from Iran.

However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.

Jadhav's sentencing had evoked a sharp reaction in India. After India approached the ICJ, a 10-member bench on May 18 restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case.

The ICJ has asked Pakistan to submit its response or memorial by December 13 before the court could start further proceedings in the case.
Three cases were registered by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on September 8 against Sharif, his children and son-in-law in the Accountability Court Islamabad, following the July verdict by the Supreme Court. (Photo: File)

Islamabad: Ousted premier Nawaz Sharif and four of his family members can soon be barred from leaving Pakistan in connection with the Panama Papers case as the countrys anti-graft watchdog has initiated a process to place their names on the Exit Control List, a media report said on Saturday.

Sharif, 67, and some of his family members are facing charges relating to their ownership of properties in London.

He resigned as prime minister in July after the countrys Supreme Court disqualified him over undeclared income.

Three cases were registered by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on September 8 against Sharif, his children and son-in-law in the Accountability Court Islamabad, following the July verdict by the Supreme Court.

Dawn reported that the NAB Lahore office Friday initiated the process to place the names of Sharif, his sons Hussain and Hassan, daughter Maryam and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar on Exit Control List (ECL).

According to the NAB Islamabad spokesperson, the members of the family may face travel restriction if listed on the ECL.

An accountability court had earlier declared Hussain and Hassan proclaimed offenders for skipping court proceedings in connection with the case.

On Thursday, the NAB had requested the ministry of interior to put finance minister Ishaq Dars name on the ECL after an accountability court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for him.

Dar, like Sharifs sons, has continuously been absent from court proceedings in a case against him for owning assets beyond known sources of income.

A senior official told the paper on condition of anonymity that the NAB Lahore had written to its Islamabad headquarters requesting that Hussain and Hassans names be placed on the ECL.

The NAB spokesman in Islamabad confirmed the other three names  Sharif, Maryam and Safdar  that had been recommended by the anti-graft watchdog Lahore to be placed on the ECL.

The official in the NAB Lahore said according to the procedure, they would first place names of Hussain and Hassan, who live in the UK, on the ECL and if they still did not appear before the accountability court, then NAB would request cancellation of their passports.

Sharifs family has been shuttling between Islamabad and London in recent days due to his wife Kulsoom, who is battling throat cancer.

The three cases against the Sharifs are related to the Flagship Investment Ltd, the Avenfield (London) properties and Jeddah-based Al-Azizia Company and Hill Metal Establishment.

The political future of Sharif, who leads the countrys most powerful political family and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, has been hanging in balance since his disqualification. If convicted, Sharif could be jailed.

Sharifs family alleges that the cases are politically motivated.
It was not clear what triggered the clashes, with accounts varying between a road accident and a land dispute. (Photo: AP/Representational)

Colombo: Sri Lanka deployed troops and ordered a night-time curfew in a southern town to end violent clashes between two ethnic communities, the government said Saturday.

Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayaka said the situation in Gintota in Galle province was under control, two days after a brawl degenerated into street violence between two groups - one Sinhalese, the country's mainly Buddhist majority, the other from the Muslim minority.

"Additional police battalions, the police Special Task Force, the anti-riot squad and the military were called in last night to bring the situation under control," the minister said in a statement.

Six people injured in the clashes were admitted to hospital in Galle city, 115 kilometres (72 miles) south of the capital Colombo, according to local police who arrested 19 people.

It was not clear what triggered the clashes, with accounts varying between a road accident and a land dispute.

The government relaxed the curfew Saturday morning with a warning that police would arrest any instigators.

Ratnayaka blamed local politicians for attempting to exploit the unrest.

"Some political groups are now on a desperate mission to turn this minor brawl into a Sinhala-Muslim clash. I urge the public not to be misled by their false propaganda," the minister said.

Muslims account for about 10 percent of Sri Lanka's 21 million people and are the second largest minority group after Tamils. Sinhalese make up over 70 percent of the population.

Authorities said they were keen to avoid a repeat of violence seen in June 2014 when four people were killed and several injured in clashes between the two communities in the same region.

That unrest was blamed on a radical Buddhist extremist group whose leaders are currently facing several court cases for instigating inter-faith violence.
Amid the raging controversy over Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Padmavati', Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday slammed fellow party leader Shashi Tharoor's criticism of the country's "so-called valorous maharajas."

"I think he should study history. I am Jyotiraditya Scindia and I am proud of my past," Scindia, who belongs to the Gwalior royal family, said.

After Scindia's criticism and outbursts from others against him on Twitter, Tharoor clarified: "Some blind followers of the BJP are spreading false propaganda that I have commented on Rajput honour. While speaking against the British rule, I discussed those royals that stood by the side of our colonisers."

On Thursday, Tharoor had claimed that India's erstwhile kings were "less concerned about their honour when the British were trampling all over it," adding that they are going after "a Mumbai filmmaker because their honour is at stake."

Tharoor had said, "In fact, every single one of these so-called valorous maharajas, who today are after a Mumbai filmmaker because their honour is at stake, they were less concerned about their honour when the British were trampling all over it. They scurried to accommodate themselves. So let's face it, there is no question, that we were complicit."

After Scindia criticised him, Tharoor said, "Keeping our cultural diversity in mind, I fearlessly say that it is our duty to respect the sentiments of the Rajput community. Their valour is a part of our history that can't be questioned. The BJP and the Censor Board should respect this."

Earlier, Union Minister Smriti Irani had also questioned Tharoor and even mocked some of the Congress leaders who have a royal lineage.

"Did all Maharajas bend down before the British? What do the likes of Jyotiraditya Scindia, Capt Amarinder Singh and Digvijaya Singh have to say?" she had asked.
Under pressure from striking doctors, the state government on Friday agreed to water down the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments (KPME) Bill.



The revised bill will drop jail for doctors and exclude clinical complaints from the purview of the district redress committees.

Doctors, as a result, called off their five-day-old strike. Earlier in the day, the high court had expressed shock at the continued shutdown of outpatient services in the districts. Terming the right to life fundamental, it pulled up doctors for not heeding its request to restore services.

Doubts cleared: CM

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced the truce.

"The doctors had fears, doubts and a sense of terror. These have been clarified and we have agreed to make some changes," he told a press conference after meeting doctors here.

Narayana Health founder Dr Devi Shetty and Manipal Hospitals chairman Dr H Sudarshan Ballal were among those who represented private medical establishments at the meeting.

A revised bill will be tabled in the Assembly on November 20, Siddaramaiah said.

"We have convinced doctors and at the same time, we have safeguarded the interests of the common man," he told reporters.

All imprisonment clauses will be dropped, except for those running medical establishments without registration.

"It was agreed upon that clinical complaints will be handled by competent bodies such as the Karnataka Medical Council or the Medical Council of India," Dr Ballal said.
Union minister Smriti Irani took a jibe at Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for his reported 'maharaja' comments amidst a row over period drama 'Padmavati'.



Tharoor, on Thursday, reportedly said the "so called valourous maharajas" had scurried to accommodate themselves when the British "trampled" over their honour and were now after a filmmaker, claiming that prestige was at stake.

Reacting to Tharoor's remarks, Irani yesterday tweeted, "Did all the Maharajas (kings) kneel in front of the British? What will Jyotiraditya Scindia, Diggi Raja (Digvijaya Singh) and Amarinder Singh say on Shashi Tharoor's comments?"

Congress leaders --Scindia, Digvijay Singh and Amarinder Singh-- hail from royal families.

However, Tharoor on Thursday had tweeted, "I'm dismayed that some BJP supporters are claiming I attacked Rajput honour...I spoke about the Maharajahs who made their accommodations w/the (with the) British. I have never made a communal comment in my life."

As for specific concerns of the Rajput community, he said people's sentiments must be respected in the interest of India's diversity and harmony.

"Rajput valour is part of our history and is not in question. BJP and its censors should take these concerns into account," Tharoor said.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's movie 'Padmavati' is witnessing protests with some groups alleging that it tampered with historical facts.
A fast track court in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra on Saturday held three accused guilty of raping and murdering a 15-year-old girl in Kopardi village in the district.



The court will pronounce the quantum of punishment next week. The accused were booked and tried under provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO).

The victim, who belonged to the Maratha community, was brutally gang-raped between 7.35 pm and 8.15 pm on July 13, 2016, and was later throttled to death.

Three persons - Jitendra alias Pappu Babulal Shinde (26), Santosh Gorkha Bhawal (30) and Nitin Gopinath Bhailume (28) - were accused in the case.

The incident, had triggered widespread protests in the state, with various political parties and Maratha organisations rooting for capital punishment to the accused.

During the trial, which began before a special court in Ahmednagar sistrict, sessions judge Suvarna Keole on December 20 , 2016, the prosecution, examined 31 witnesses, while defence lawyer Vijayalaxmi Khopade - representing one of the three accused in the case examined one witness.

Charges were framed on November 9, 2016.

The prime accused Jitendra Shinde had raped and throttled the girl to death, while the two other accused had conspired with the prime accused in the commission of the heinous act. The group had also eve-teased the girl on earlier occasions.
In the first government funding of the startups, Karnataka government will be giving away grants worth Rs 20.03 crore to 87 startups under Elevate 100 programme.



After a two-month-long contest, consisting of four different rounds 100 startups were shortlisted for the Elevate 100. Out of the selected, 13 startups opted for mentoring alone.

While, 38 IT/ITES startups will be sanctioned a grant of Rs 5.50 crore, 27 MedTech startups will be sanctioned Rs 4.30 crore, 17 ESDM startups will be allotted Rs 3.6 crore, 12 BT startups will get Rs 2.80 crore, Rs 1.33 crore are earmarked for six AVGC startups, four agriculture startups were sanctioned Rs 1 crore, Rs 40 lakh for three CleanTech startups and four startups working in the field of Aerospace & Aviation startups will get Rs 1.10Crore.

"The efforts of Karnataka government don't stop at elevating these chosen 100. We see ELEVATE 100 as a continuing process where the best ideas from the state gets the support and guidance it deserves," Priyank Kharge, Karnataka minister for IT, BT & Tourism said.

Elevate 100 programme, an initiative of the Department of Information Technology and Biotechnology, Government of Karnataka, traversed the length and breadth of the state in a rigorous hunt to pick the top 100 startups and help them turn their ideas into successful businesses. The pitching sessions were held in Mysuru, Kalaburagi, Mangaluru, Hubballi and Bengaluru, where around 1,700 startups pitched to elevate their ideas to successful ventures. The initiative also attracted 350 women entrepreneurs and 400 applicants from the rural areas.

The selected startups will have access to Karnataka government's Rs 400 crore start-up fund besides access to Government VC funds, pilots, private VC funds, world class accelerators and mentors.

The US tech giants, Google and Amazon are also collaborating with the Karnataka government on the programme.



While Google will provide $3000 (approximately Rs 2 lakh) worth of cloud credits for startups registered with Startup Cell, PricewaterhouseCoopers will provide mentorship and consulting services for sustainable growth of registered startups.

Amazon Activate will also provide $3000 worth of cloud credits for startups registered with Startup Cell and Indian Law Practices will provide legal consultancy services for the identified startups. Digital Ocean will also provide a $100 one-time credit for all startups registered with Startup Cell and a $1000 one-time credit for startups which are being funded under Karnataka Startup Cell.

Zoho will provide the startups an unprecedented 35+ integrated applications on one account with complete administrative control and complementary mobile apps.

Earlier in the day, the government also signed MoU with the US multinational conglomerate, 3M.



Under the partnership, all the 4,500 startups registered with Karnataka government will get mentoring services by 3M, along with access to their innovation centres.
A senior Chinese envoy has met an aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in Pyongyang, the two sides said on Saturday, stressing longstanding ties despite deep divisions over the North's nuclear activities.



Song Tao is visiting on behalf of President Xi Jinping, ostensibly to brief the North's officials on the recent Chinese Communist Party Congress and other "issues of mutual interest".

The two Communist neighbours, once said by Mao Zedong to be "as close as lips and teeth", are at odds over the nuclear standoff and US President Donald Trump is urging Beijing to pile pressure on Pyongyang.

Song, the first senior Chinese envoy to visit in more than a year, had been widely expected to raise the impasse over North Korea's missile and nuclear tests in his Friday meeting with Choe Ryong-Hae, a top official in North Korea's ruling party.

But a Chinese Communist Party report of the meeting made no mention of those issues, focusing instead on platitudes about the long relationship.

A party statement said Song and Choe agreed that mutual ties were "the common treasure of the two peoples".

"Both parties should make concerted efforts to promote the development of the relations between the two parties and the two countries and let them benefit the two peoples," the statement paraphrased them as saying.

A brief report by North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency said Song told his hosts that China wanted to "develop the traditional friendly relations between the two parties and countries", but gave no further details.

Trump, who warned Xi during his trip to Beijing last week that time was "quickly running out" to solve the nuclear crisis, took to Twitter on Thursday to hail Song's mission as "a big move, we'll see what happens"

The United States wants China, which accounts for 90% of North Korea's foreign trade, to apply more economic pressure.

But experts doubt Song's visit will yield breakthroughs, saying Beijing has far less political influence on Kim than is thought despite the economic ties.

"Relations are extremely stressed. Perhaps the lowest point since the Korean War. Perhaps (the mission) will put a floor under China-North Korea relations, preventing further deterioration," said Bonnie Glaser, China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

China has imposed its own banking restrictions on North Koreans in addition to enacting a series of UN measures that include bans on imports of coal, iron ore and seafood from the North.

But Beijing fears that squeezing Pyongyang too hard would cause its collapse. Analysts say Song's trip is probably aimed more at urging Kim's regime not to escalate tensions rather than applying real pressure for disarmament.
Ousted premier Nawaz Sharif and four of his family members can soon be barred from leaving Pakistan in connection with the Panama Papers case as the country's anti-graft watchdog has initiated a process to place their names on the Exit Control List, a media report said on Saturday.



Sharif, 67, and some of his family members are facing charges relating to their ownership of properties in London.

He resigned as prime minister in July after the country's Supreme Court disqualified him over undeclared income.

Three cases were registered by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on September 8 against Sharif, his children and son-in-law in the Accountability Court Islamabad, following the July verdict by the Supreme Court.

Dawn reported that the NAB Lahore office yesterday initiated the process to place the names of Sharif, his sons Hussain and Hassan, daughter Maryam and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar on Exit Control List (ECL).

According to the NAB Islamabad spokesman the members of the family may face travel restriction if listed on the ECL.

An accountability court had earlier declared Hussain and Hassan proclaimed offenders for skipping court proceedings in connection with the case.

On Thursday, the NAB had requested the ministry of interior to put Finance Minister Ishaq Dar's name on the ECL after an accountability court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for him.

Dar, like Sharif's sons, has continuously been absent from court proceedings in a case against him for owning assets beyond known sources of income.

A senior official told the paper on condition of anonymity that the NAB Lahore had written to its Islamabad headquarters requesting that Hussain and Hassan's names be placed on the ECL.

The NAB spokesman in Islamabad confirmed the other three names Sharif, Maryam and Safdar that had been recommended by the anti-graft watchdog Lahore to be placed on the ECL.

The official in the NAB Lahore said according to the procedure, they would first place names of Hussain and Hassan, who live in the UK, on the ECL and if they still did not appear before the accountability court, then NAB would request cancellation of their passports.

Sharif's family has been shuttling between Islamabad and London in recent days due to his wife Kulsoom, who is battling throat cancer.

The three cases against the Sharifs are related to the Flagship Investment Ltd, the Avenfield (London) properties and Jeddah-based Al-Azizia Company and Hill Metal Establishment.

The political future of Sharif, who leads the country's most powerful political family and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, has been hanging in balance since his disqualification. If convicted, Sharif could be jailed.

Sharif's family alleges that the cases are politically motivated.
The Thlaghattapura police have arrested three persons, including a former home guard, for robbing people on NICE Road and surrounding areas, posing themselves as police officers of anti-rowdy squad.

The arrested are Raghu (34), a resident of Kanakapura, Doddayya (48) of Anekal, and Harish (31), a native of Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu.

The police said, Raghu had earlier worked as a home guard and was a driver to an RTO in Ramanagaram. Doddayya used to work for Muthoot Finance in Shivamogga and got arrested there in a POCSO case. He became unwell and was shifted to Parappana Agarahara central prison where he met Raghu. Both became friends and went about craftily planning the crimes in jail, the police added.

After the duo were let out on bail, Raghu bought a brand new Bolero, police uniforms, a toy pistol and a board to make his vehicle look like a police vehicle. Doddayya drove an Innova of Raghu's relative and stitched himself Safari suits to pose himself as crime staff. He had a licensed gun which he carried always, the police said.

Both Raghu and Doddayya, along with their associate Harish, used to travel on NICE road and surrounding areas and search for vulnerable couples in cars and bikes especially during weekends. They claimed that they were from an anti-rowdy squad. The trio then involve in some moral policing and threaten the woman that her parents will be informed about their relationship. They then rob them of their jewels, valuables, and cash and flee the spot, the police said.

The Thalaghattapura police received a complaint from a woman and her boyfriend that a few men in the guise of policemen robbed them off their phone and Rs 5000 in cash. The police on a tip-off, intercepted the gang of three, and arrested them.

A total of 14 cases of robberies were solved and the police have recovered 500 gm gold ornaments Rs 4 lakh in cash and two four-wheelers from them.

Investigations revealed the trio had committed crimes in Thalaghattapura, Kengeri, RR Nagar, Electronic City, Kaggalipura, Harohalli, Bidadi, Kumbalgodu, Taverekere, Girinagar, and Hulimavu.
In move that went counterproductive, over 11 rescued camels perished due to starvation and ill health during the last 48 hours at a farm near Abdullahpurmet here. These were among the 97 camels rescued by the police on 16 November from Shaheen Nagar.

These docile animals were illegally shifted from Rajasthan in overloaded trucks and kept in very unhygienic conditions. Two persons were arrested for the illegal slaughter and sale of camel meat.

Initially, the police shifted the camels to a goshala at Pedda Amberpet and were planning to send them back to Rajasthan with the help of animal welfare groups. However, 20 camels died at the Goshala in a fortnight. Balapur sub-inspector Vishnu Vardhan Reddy said that the all the rescued camels will be sent to Rajasthan once the treatment is completed.

However, the veterinary department of the animal husbandry wing, GHMC, which was supposed to look after the camels, till the court proceedings were complete, did not bother to provide them the food and medicine out in the open. While 11 camels died at the Abdullahpurmet site, two died in the past two days. With the animal rights activists demanding action, the GHMC on Saturday removed the carcasses of the dead animals with the help of bulldozers and sent a vet team to provide treatment to the sick animals.

"Camels are suited to the drought conditions and can withstand heat. But these animals were inhumanly treated. They were transported in lorries from far off Rajasthan without proper nutrition. Many were severely injured. They need human touch," Dattu of People For Animals (PFA) said. He demanded the authorities to take urgent measures to save the remaining camels.
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Saad Hariri for talks on Saturday, hours after the Lebanese premier arrived from Saudi Arabia in the midst of a political crisis.



Hariri, who made a shock resignation announcement on November 4 and has since fended off claims he was being held in Saudi Arabia against his will, was also due to have lunch with Macron.

The Lebanese leader's wife and elder son were to join them for the meal after the talks, but the couple's two younger children remain in Riyadh "for their school exams", a source close to Hariri said.

"Hariri does not want to mix his children up in this affair," the source said.

Macron has been attempting to help broker a solution to a political crisis that has raised fears over Lebanon's fragile democracy.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun has refused to accept Hariri's resignation while he remains abroad, and Macron said ahead of the talks that he would be welcomed "with the honours due to a prime minister".
NEW DELHI: The Sharad Yadav-led faction of the JD(U) will contest in six to seven under the 'autorickshaw' symbol.



While an announcement about the seat sharing arrangement is likely to made by the Congress soon, a source said the candidates will contest mainly in the tribal-dominated constituencies where sitting MLA and Yadav-faction president Chotubhai Vasava has considerable clout.

The Nitish Kumar-led party, which the Election Commission on Friday recognised as "the real" JD(U), is contesting around 12 seats in the state and will fight against the BJP, its alliance partner in Bihar.

It will be a show of strength by both factions as the JD(U) has fielded candidates in tribal areas where Vasava, who voted in favour of the Congress's Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha polls ignoring Nitish's directions, has a considerable following.

Nitish and Yadav had parted ways after the Bihar chief minister decided to join hands with the BJP in July.

While the Yadav faction does not see any impact of Nitish's candidates, it could lead to a splitting of votes in the socialist bloc.

Another source said the Congress has also reached an understanding with Sharad Pawar's NCP and they would get a couple of seats.

The Congress is still upset with the NCP over its MLA voting against Patel and may not accede to all its demands.

Senior Congress leaders and Vasava were holding discussions for the past several days.

"Autorickshaw is our symbol. We will not fight on the Congress's symbol...We held talks with the Congress. They will now announce the seat-sharing arrangements," Yadav told reporters.

Yadav also said that the BJP will bite the dust in Gujarat and the party is trying to mislead people using reports by credit agencies like Moody's which does not understand the pains of the people.
At least five militants and and India Air Force (IAF) personnel were killed in an ongoing encounter between ultras and security forces in Hajin area of north Kashmir's Bandipora district on Saturday.



Defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said that five militants were killed in the ongoing gunfight.





"One IAF Guard was also martyred and one army soldier injured in the operation which continues," he said.



Sources said the encounter broke out in Chandergair village of Hajin after a joint team of Army's 13-Rashtriya Rifles, special operations group (SOG) of J&K police and 45 Battalion of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) launched a cordon-and-search-operation after specific inputs about presence of group of around 8-10 militants.



"As the search approached the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired upon them, which was retaliated, triggering an encounter. Exchange of fire is going on as three to five more militants might be hiding in the area," they said.



Unconfirmed reports said one of the slain militants is son of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.





The slain militants belong to Lashker-e-Toiba and some of them could be from Jaish-e-Mohammad. "It seems that LeT and Jaish militants were having a meeting in the area when the forces got a tip off," sources said.
The Darul Uloom at Deoband has rejected a proposal to meet Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravishankar to find a solution to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.

According to reports, the Islamic seminary was contacted by the Prime Minister's Office to find out if it supported the efforts by Ravishankar to resolve the dispute through negotiations.

But the seminary, located in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district, made it clear that it was with the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on this issue.

A senior cleric of the seminary said that no purpose would be solved by meeting Ravishankar as the stand of the seminary on the Ayodhya issue was the same as that of the AIMPLB.

"A meeting with Ravishankar at this juncture may send a wrong message and create unnecessary confusion," the cleric added.

The AIMPLB has already made it clear that it would wait for the Supreme Court verdict, where the matter was currently pending, rather than trying to find an out of court settlement.

Though Ravishankar had met AIMPLB member and senior Sunni cleric Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangimahali in Lucknow on Friday, there was no agreement on the issue.

Earlier, Ravishankar was snubbed by both Hindu and Muslim parties to the dispute during his visit to Ayodhya.

In fact, none of the representatives of the warring sides met Ravishankar.

The Art of Living founder admitted that it was a very complex issue and that it would take time to resolve the matter.

Ravishankar had also said that he did not have any proposal for resolving the issue.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Saturday that the state budget would be presented in February.

He was speaking to reporters at Channagiri in the district. The chief minister said it was natural for the budget to be termed an election budget, as the polls are scheduled in April or May.

Siddaramaiah said no major changes had been made to the KPME bill. The chief minister said doctors were under the impression that there was a provision to jail them for medical negligence. But there is no such thing in the bill, he said.



He said the government would consider providing compensation to the families of patients who died due to non-availability of treatment in private hospitals during the doctors' strike, if the families come forward and lodge a complaint.

Speaking on the sidelines of a programme at Channagiri, Siddaramaiah said the Congress leadership would finalise the party candidates for the elections by January-end.

The chief minister said, "The BJP is facing problems in finding right candidates for the elections. Several BJP leaders have expressed their keenness to join the Congress. Many of them are in touch with me."

Siddaramaiah said he would quit politics if corruption charges made against him during his four-and-a-half year rule were proven.

He said, "The doctors have given their consent for the implementation of the universal health scheme. The government will fix the rates for the procedures conducted under the scheme."

On the World Kannada convention, the chief minister said, "The convention was planned in Davangere in December. Since the All India Kannada Sahitya Sammelana is being organised in Mysuru in November last week, the world Kannada convention will be delayed. A date will be fixed during the Sahitya Sammelana in Mysuru."
Congress Vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday targeted Defence Minister Nirmala Seetharaman on Rafale deal, saying it is "shameful" that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is silencing her on revealing details.



Through twitter, Gandhi posed three questions to Nirmala, who on Friday described Congress' claims against the deal as shameful.

"Dear RM, what's shameful is your boss silencing you. Please tell us: 1. Final price of each Rafale jet? 2. Did PM take CCS permission before announcing purchase in Paris? 3. Why PM bypassed experienced HAL & gave the deal to AA rated businessman with no defence experience?" Gandhi tweeted.

In his posers to the Defence Minister, Rahul asked, the final price of Rafale jets as well as whether the deal was cleared by the Cabinet Committee of Security (CCS).

He also asked the media why it was not posing questions to Modi, whom he accused of changing the Rafale deal to the "benefit one businessman."

Rahul has been raising questions on the Rafale deal inked by the government to buy 38 fighter planes with no technology transfer; ignoring the deal signed by the UPA government to procure 126 planes.

On Friday, Congress had countered Nirmala saying, there are repeated attempts to cover up the irregularities in the deal and it raises serious questions on 'national interests' and security.

It also found fault with Nirmala claiming defence preparedness cannot be a subject matter of politicising nor can the sacrosanct premises of defence ministry be used for political mudslinging as is being done by the government and its defence minister.
A day after the BJP announced its first list of 70 candidates, several voices of resentment are emanating from across the state.



Supporters of I K Jadeja, senior party leader and former minister with a strong political base in Wadhwan and Dhrangadhra constituencies in Saurashtra, gathered at BJP headquarters Kamalam in Gandhinagar and raised slogans. They were angry that Jadeja, a kshatriya leader, was denied candidacy from Wadhwan constituency in Surendranagar district.

The BJP had on Friday announced the name of industrialist Dhanji Patel as its candidate from Wadhwan. Interestingly, Dhanji comes from the same sub-caste as Patel quota stir leader Hardik Patel and the move is seen as BJP's attempt to make a dent in Hardik's support base.

"All the workers of Wadhwan had expressed their desire to see me fielded by the party. So had the people of Dhrangadhra. However, when it comes to fielding a person from outside the constituency, the workers perhaps lose patience," I K Jadeja told mediapersons. He, however, said that he was very much in the party and would remain so.

Jadeja's supporters now want the party to consider his name for the nearby Dhrangadhra constituency.

Jethabhai Solanki, another senior leader from Saurashtra, also quit the party, perhaps believing that he would be denied a ticket. The sitting legislator from Kodinar is a prominent dalit face of the party and had won the 2012 elections by a margin of over 63,300 votes. Jethabhai reached Kamalam and submitted his resignation after meeting senior party leadership there. "I have decided to resign from the party as I do not want to go out there again and campaign for the BJP. I have resigned from all my posts," he told reporters.

Reports of resignations and protests by several local leaders from Vadodara, the tribal belt of south Gujarat, Navsari, Bharuch, Mahuva, Jasdan and Amreli in Saurashtra have been trickling in since the BJP announced its first list. Many of them have threatened to field independent candidates against the BJP's.

The pressure on the party has been such that national president Amit Shah remained stationed at Kamalam till late on Friday night and Saturday to meet several leaders and do damage control.

The BJP, that has set a target of winning over 150 seats in the state, is yet to announce names of 112 candidates for the 182-seat Assembly.
The group of ministers (GoM), established to address issues in Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN), has prioritised 38 issues within GSTN to address.

According to an official, 10 glitches engulfing GSTN were emancipating out of GSTR 2, whose matching has been delayed owing to the mismatches with GSTR 1. Lot of traders and state governments had complained to the GST Council on the issue.

The addressing of these 10 issues has been delayed. Out of remaining 38 issues, 27 of them have been addressed and are being continuously monitored. Although head of GoM and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister, Sushil Kumar Modi didn't commit on the deadline to sort out the remaining issues, it is learnt that GoM has told Infosys to sort out 12 issues by December end.

One of the issues that has resurfaced is regarding unlocking and editing of the summary GSTR 3B forms. The issue has impacted close to 2 lakh traders till now. The GoM has asked Infosys to address the issue immediately and the same is expected to be sorted by November 21, 2017.

Earlier, for July, there were about 4 lakh traders who had filed their returns wrongly and were unable to edit them.

The GoM is understood to have asked Infosys to ensure they make the editing, downloading and previewing of the forms on the GSTN, which has been missing in vast number of the cases.

The GSTN has also escalated the issue with Infosys, as GoM met Infosys co-founder and Chairman Nandan Nilekani on the issues. "Since Nilekani is in the city, we thought of meeting him and discuss the issues with him," Modi said.

Meanwhile, the government, which had pegged taxes to grow by 14% in the current fiscal is likely to miss the target. Last year the government had collected Rs 8.8 lakh crore from all the taxes that have come under the umbrella of GST now. The government was hoping to take the number to Rs 11 lakh crore this year, or Rs 96,000 crore every month.

However, since the roll out of GST on July 1, the government has been missing on the target. Although there has been a rise in the GST revenue for September to Rs 95,131 crore, yet it is below the Rs 96,000 crore-mark for the third consecutive month.
A day after Chirag Patel - one of the founder-members and one-time close confidante of Hardik Patel - joined the BJP, three other key members of the Patidaar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) joined the party on Saturday.



Ketan Patel, Amrish Patel and Shweta Patel were welcomed into the party by Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya. The three accused Hardik of making money in the name of quota stir.

There has been a steady trickle of young PAAS members into the saffron party, which began last month with Varun Patel and Reshma Patel - prominent faces of Patel quota stir in the state and close aides of Hardik.

Ketan, who, like Hardik and Chirag, has been facing sedition charges for his role in the quota stir, said that Hardik had become a sex maniac and that reservation was no longer on his agenda. "Even on the issue of CDs, though Hardik is talking of right to privacy, he has not denied his actions," he said.

He also alleged that Dinesh Bhambaniya, another associate of Hardik, was responsible for the violence on GMDC ground on August 26, 2015, which spiralled into state-wide turbulence that resulted in the death of 14 people. "It was Dinesh who phoned Patel activists from the stage and asked them to spread violence, even burn down a police station," Ketan charged.

Shweta Patel said she was switching to BJP as the quota stir had become a fundraiser.
At least six Lashkar-e-Toiba militants, including the nephew of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, and an IAF commando were killed in an encounter in Hajin area of north Kashmir's Bandipora district on Saturday.



Defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said six militants, including LeT commander Mahmood Bhai, were killed in the gunfight. An Indian Air Force Garud was also killed and one army soldier injured in the operation, he said. The Garud Commando is the special forces unit of the IAF.

Sources said the encounter broke out in Chandergair village of Hajin, 32 km from here, after a joint team of Army's 13-Rashtriya Rifles, special operations group (SOG) of J&K police and 45 Battalion of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) launched a cordon-and-search-operation following specific inputs about the presence of a group of heavily-armed militants.

"As the search approached the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired upon them, which was retaliated, triggering an encounter," they said.

J&K Police chief Shesh Pal Vaid confirmed that six militants, including Lakhvi's nephew, were gunned down. "Weapons and ammunition recovered. One of the terrorists named Owaid is son of Zakir Rehman Maki and nephew of Zakir Rehman Lakhvi," he tweeted.

In another tweet, Vaid said LeT commanders Zargam and Mehmood were also killed in the operation. He said all the six slain militants were Pakistani nationals.

Encounter hotbed

Hajin has witnessed several encounters between militants and security forces in the last one year. On October 11, two IAF commandos and an equal number of militants were killed while six security personnel were injured in a similar encounter in Hajin.

A senior police officer told DH that it was a group of nine LeT militants led by Mehmood Bhai which had made Hajin their basin for almost two years. "Mehmood took over when Musaib (another close relative of Lakhvi) was killed by the forces in Hajin in January," he said.

Mehmood Bhai is the third man from the Lakhvi family to be killed in Kashmir. In 2007, Lakhvi's 20-year-old son Mohammad Qasim was killed in an encounter with the army and J&K police. Lakhvi is among the three globally prosecuted terrorists named by India (Hafiz Saeed and Dawood Ibrahim being the other two) and the European Union in their joint statement to combat terrorism.

"The killing of Mehmood Bhai is a big jolt to LeT and we are hopeful that after this operation, security forces will gain upper hand in Hajin and its adjoining areas again," the officer said.
The Centre has raised import duty on crude palm oil to 30% from 15% and on refined oil to 40% from 25 (rpt) 25% in a bid to curb cheaper shipments and boost local prices for supporting farmers and refiners, according to a notification.



Import duty on soyabean oil, sunflower oils, canola/mustard oils - both crude and refined format - has been raised, the notification released by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) late Friday night said.

An inter-ministerial group headed by Union minister Nitin Gadkari and the Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister (EAC-PM) had examined the local price situation and suggested raising the import duties on edible oils and some oilseeds.

CBEC said import duty of crude palm oil has been doubled to 30%, while the refined crude palm oil been increased to 40% from 25%.

Import duty on crude soyabean oil has been increased to 30% from 17.5%, while refined soyabean oil has been raised to 35% from the current 20%.

Similarly, import duty on crude sunflower oil has been increased to 25% from 12.5%, while that on refined sunflower oil has been increased to 35% from 20%.

Also, import duty on crude canola/rapeseed/mustard oils has been increased to 25% from 12.5%, while the tax on refined crude canola/rapeseed/mustard oils increased to 35% from 20%.

That apart, import duty on soyabean has been increased to 45% from 30%, the notification said.

Welcoming the move, industry body Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA) said, "As the prices of all oilseeds fell below the MSP and a sense of deep distress and despondency was setting in the minds of farmers, the government finally saw the logic in our demand."

India, the world's leading cooking oil buyer, imported 154.50 lakh tonne of both edible and non-edible oils in 2016a17 marketing year (November-October), up by 4.75% from 147.38 lakh tonne in the previous year. India imports palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia and a small quantity of crude soft oil, including soyabean oil from Latin America.

Sunflower oil is imported from Ukraine and Russia.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) will meet on Monday to finalise the dates for elevating Rahul Gandhi as party's president. The election could happen even before Gujarat Assembly polls.



Party president Sonia Gandhi has called the meeting of the CWC, the highest decision-making body of the Congress, at 10.30 am on Monday.

"The dates for election of the Congress president will be finalised on Monday. If only one nomination is filed, the results will be announced on the date of withdrawal of nominations," AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said.

The CWC will approve the election schedule for party president's post. Speculation is rife that the 47-year-old's elevation would happen even before the first vote is polled in Gujarat on December 9.

While the filing of nominations could end on November 24, the last date of withdrawal could be December 1. However, if only Rahul is filing nominations, the party election authority can announce the results on the day the scrutiny of papers happens. If there is a contest, the polling can happen on December 8 and counting of votes, three days later.

The elevation of Rahul as party chief was in the offing for some time and several dates had been speculated upon. There was one version that it would happen only after the Gujarat elections as Rahul is spearheading party campaign there.

Once elected, Rahul will succeed his mother Sonia, who became the longest serving president of the Congress. She had said last month that Rahul would succeed her to the top post soon.

Rahul's election as Congress president will have to be ratified at a plenary session of the AICC. The plenary is also expected to witness the election to the CWC, the party's top decision-making body.
Amidst increasing protests against the controversial film Padmavati, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Saturday wrote to Union Minister Smriti Irani requesting a bar on the film's release till "necessary" changes are made in the movie.



In the letter to the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Raje wrote, "The reason behind the request is to ensure that the sentiments of any community are not hurt".

The letter comes after representatives of a social group from Mewar met the Chief Minister in Jaipur. Raje also requested Irani that a commiteee be constituted with representation to famous historians , film personalities and people from the 'Victim' community.

The chief minister mentioned in the letter that before the censor board clears the film it should take into consideration all the probable outcomes .

Raje said, "Film directors have the right to direct movies based on their own understanding of a subject but in a case where the sentiments of citizens are hurt, then even film directors should consider the situation."

The letter from Raje comes a day after the Rajput community stopped the entry of visitors to Chittorgarh Fort which houses the famous Padmini Palace. The Shri Rajput Karni Sena has already called a nationwide bandh on December 1, the scheduled date of release of the movie.




Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called upon people to unite against casteism, terrorism, black money, corruption, communalism and other social ailments.



"It is a strange environment We must hold each other's hand and move ahead I am confident that if 125 crore Indians join in and take the pledge to free society of all these ailments, no one can stop India from moving ahead," Modi said. "After having borne the responsibility for the last three and a half years, I can say that the country has great potential."

The prime minister said this while speaking to the followers of Rang Avadhoot Maharaj, a saint poet from Gujarat, via video conferencing. Modi addressed the followers on the 50th nirvan anniversary of Rang Avdhoot Maharaj, credited with the expansion of Datta-panth in Gujarat.

This is the second religious function being addressed by the prime minister in November in his poll-bound home state. Earlier this month, Modi had attended the silver jubilee celebrations of Akshardham temple of the Swaminarayan sect in Gandhinagar.

During his one-hour speech, Modi, in his inimitable style, avoided speaking anything overtly political. He narrated his personal experiences of visiting areas of central Gujarat where the sect has influence, and went on to name a few people in the audience who would take him along on their two-wheelers much before he entered politics.
Life can be tough in Tuktoyaktuk, a Canadian hamlet on the Arctic Ocean where one in three are jobless. But things are looking up thanks to a new highway linking the tiny community to the rest of the country and bringing with it the promise of tourism and jobs.



Long hoped for but widely seen as a far-fetched idea, the highway was feted this week at a ribbon-cutting ceremony where fireworks lit up the faces of locals and dignitaries -- tightly wrapped in hats and scarves to brave the extreme sub-freezing temperatures.

"It's really overwhelming today. We're happy and people are excited," said Tuktoyaktuk resident Ella Jean Nogasak.

The 72-year-old has waited a long, long time for year-round road access to her community, which lies well north of the Arctic Circle.

After years of procrastination, Canada's former Conservative government in 2014 finally gave a green signal for what was dubbed a "road of resources," intended as a conduit for firms wanting to tap oil and gas riches believed to be hidden beneath the Beaufort Sea.

That prospect dimmed a year ago when, with construction already underway, the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau imposed a five-year moratorium on drilling in the Arctic.

But residents of the isolated hamlet still welcome the 138-km gravel road from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk, which they hope will end their winter reliance on costly air transport for food, supplies, equipment and travel. It is also expected to bring tourists to the far north.

In Tuktoyaktuk, the unemployment rate is more than 30%, and living conditions for the 930 inhabitants are difficult. "You see, we don't have a hotel, we have limited stores, and limited opportunities within the community," said Tianna Gordon-Ruben, who hopes the road will bring down food prices and help create jobs in the community.

About 10m wide, the continent's northernmost route consists of some places of a four-meter high embankment atop the permafrost -- a thick subsurface layer of soil that remains frozen throughout the year.

Project manager Dean Ahmet describes building the road through a region pocked by lakes and rivers as no less than a feat of engineering. The permafrost was too soft in summer to support heavy construction equipment, so most of the construction -- involving just over 600 workers -- had to be done during the seven or eight winter months.

"It was a challenge because we were working in very extreme temperatures ranging from -15 to -57 Celsius, 24 hours a day," he said.

In the frozen tundra, a speed limit of 70 kmph has been set to keep drivers from slipping into a snowy ditch.
Fissures in the ruling alliance in Uttar Pradesh came to the fore after Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), an alliance partner of the BJP, decided to chart a separate course in the ongoing local body polls and put up its nominees against the saffron party at many places.



The SBSP has fielded six mayoral candidates along with hundreds of nominees for the posts of municipality chairpersons and corporators across the state despite being warned by the BJP.

According to sources, the BJP has taken a very strong view of the SBSP's decision to contest against its official candidates and was considering severing ties with the latter.

UP minister for Home Guards Anil Rajbhar, a senior BJP leader, accused the SBSP president and state minister Om Prakash Rajbhar of ''selling'' tickets of his party.

Om Prakash Rajbhar rejected the allegations and said that the BJP could, if it so desired, break the alliance. ''We are not bothered....the posts do not matter to us,'' Om Prakash said.

Sources said that Om Prakash, whose outfit banked heavily on the support of the 'Rajbhar' community, who were mainly concentrated in the eastern districts of Varanasi, Azamgarh, Mau, Ballia and Ghazipur, had demanded six mayoral seats from the BJP along with over 100 other seats in the municipalities but the saffron party did not oblige.

Decision on ties soon

BJP sources said that a decision on severing ties with the SBSP would be taken soon after the local body polls.

Earlier, Om Prakash had embarrassed his own government. A few months back he had threatened to embark on a 'dharna' against the government demanding immediate removal of Ghazipur district magistrate.

A few days back, the minister had said that the state government had failed to crackdown on corrupt elements in the bureaucracy.

SBSP had contested eight seats in the 2017 UP assembly polls in alliance with the BJP and won four.
Enveloped by a thick layer of smog for days, Delhi has had its air pollution levels skyrocket, scream out a warning loud and clear. But is it loud enough to alert Bengaluru, trapped in massive, unprecedented vehicular pollution? Just round the corner, the winter will only make it worse, warn the city's pollution watchers in all graveness.



Fumes billowing out of an estimated 67 lakh vehicles contribute a staggering 42% of the pollutants in the Bengaluru air. The low temperature, low pressure, high mist wintry air will keep these pollutants trapped at a level much lower than in summer. Be prepared, this 'inversion effect' will prevail till January end or even beyond.

Winter risks

Here's a scientific explanation from the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB): The mixing height (layer between the earth's surface and the point where the free atmosphere starts) is generally about 1 km. During winter, this is halved, increasing the concentration of pollutants.

Beyond the toxic vehicular emissions, road dust contributes 20% of the pollutants. The constant motion of vehicles keeps these dust particles suspended in low air. Directly exposed to these micro and nano-sized pollutants are motorcyclists and pedestrians in their teeming lakhs.

Industrial pollutants

Industrial pollutants and construction activities contribute 14% each, while DG sets operated by commercial establishments and apartments make up another 7% of the pollutants. Only three per cent of the pollutants are from domestic households, as KSPCB data indicates. In all, 54.4 tons of dust particles are generated from different sources, every single day.

But what is of immediate concern is the alarming rise in the proportion of Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM 2.5) in the air. These are tiny, fine particles or droplets in the air that are two and half microns or less in width. Particles of this size can travel deep into the human respiratory tract, reaching the lungs.

Medical research has clearly established that exposure to these fine particle pollutants can cause eye, nose, throat and lung irritation; coughing, sneezing, runny nose and shortness of breath. It can also affect lung function and worsen medical conditions such as asthma and heart disease.

PM 2.5 particles

So, where do Bengaluru stand in PM 2.5? A KSPCB official says the levels have far exceeded the permissible limit of 40.0 micrograms / cubic metre at many traffic junctions. At the Central Silk Board, where vehicles are stuck in jams for hours, the PM 2.5 level stands at 58.0. At TERI, Dolur, it is only marginally better at 55.4 micrograms/cubic metres.

To tide over the capital crisis, the Delhi government had decided to reintroduce its controversial odd-even rule, before withdrawing it on reservations raised by the National Greens Tribunal (NGT). But the rule had the state government here thinking. Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy even declared that Bengaluru too will try out the odd-even vehicle rationing scheme if it works in Delhi.

But experts warn that unless some ways are found to reduce the explosive vehicle numbers in Bengaluru, the pollution levels will continue to soar. Reddy talked about widening roads to decongest roads. How will that help, wonder mobility analysts. The wider the roads, the more you incentivize vehicle-owners.

Continuous air quality monitoring

To keep track of the pollution, the Delhi government has now set up 43 continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations. But KSPCB has none of these. Instead, it relies on 21 air quality monitoring centres. For real-time data on Air Quality Index, the only data available is from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) portal (www.cpcb.nic.in), monitored from five centres.

But this will change, informs KSPCB chairman, Lakshman. The Board has decided to switch from manual ambient air quality monitoring stations to continuous ambient air quality monitoring systems (CAAQMS). Analyzers will be installed to capture real-time data of the pollutants in a phased manner. "All the monitored data on ambient air quality of respective places will be connected to the CPCB server and Board server for the use of general public."

These CAAQMS are proposed to be installed at Central Silk Board, NIMHANS, Veterinary College, Kavika on Mysuru Road, Jayanagar 5th Block. Trial run is currently under progress.



To guage the impact of vehicular emission on the ambient air quality, the Board has also procured 12 mobile vans. These are equipped with smoke density meters for diesel vehicles and gas analysers to measure carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons for petrol vehicles. Six of these vans are now in Bengaluru city and the rest in different parts of the State.

Weather factor

The severity of weather conditions has a direct impact on pollution. The Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) director Srinivasa Reddy says Delhi and Bengaluru might seem different climatically now. But if conditions change during winter, the symptoms of extreme pollution could change here too, he points out.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has asked the Indian Ambassador in the Philippines to initiate steps to exhume the body of a person with a life jacket that has a marking of the Emerald Star, the cargo ship which sank off Okinawa over a month ago, for identification.



MV Emerald Star, that had 26 Indians on board, sank on October 13, 2017. While 16 Indians were rescued, the remaining 10 could not be found.

In a series of tweets, Sushma said the Coast Guard of Philippines has informed India that an unidentified decomposed body of a person with a life jacket with a marking of Emerald Star was found on October 28 in the island city of Banua.

"Since the body was decomposed, it was buried there," Sushma said, adding that she has asked the Indian Ambassador in Manila that the body be exhumed and brought to Manila for identification through DNA testing.

She said the search operation for missing Indians was going on.
Bengaluru: In view of continued shortage in supply of coal, the Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL) on Saturday alerted the government that it is downgrading its power supply by 500 MW per day with immediate effect.



This resulted in Chief Minister Siddaramaiah convening an emergency high-level meeting, where Energy Minister D K Shivakumar conceded that additional purchase of power had become inevitable to avoid load shedding. Citing that the power purchase might burden the exchequer further, he pointed out that the outages would dent the ruling party's prospects during the 2018 Assembly polls.

KPCL managing director Kumar Naik told DH that Karnataka continues to reel under coal crisis as both the Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL) and Singareni Colleries Company Ltd had failed to meet the commitment made earlier this year.

"As this has resulted in hand-to-mouth existence, we have downgraded our generation capacity by 500 MW," he added.

KPCL had written to the Karnataka Regulatory Electricity Commission (KERC) in October stating that it would supply 1,100 MW from November to January 2018; 1,250 MW from February to March; and 1,470 MW in April and May, 2018 from Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS). Likewise, from Bellary Thermal Power Station (BTPS), it had committed 1,100 MW from November to December; 1,410 MW from January to May, 2018.

But, it has now written to the State Load Dispatch Centre that it will supply only 850 MW from BTPS from December to March, 2018. Jawaid Akhtar, Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (KPTCL) said that all measures will be taken not to effect load shedding. "We will meet the gap by purchasing power from the exchange. We will also float another tender for additional purchase of power," he added. Presently, the state is purchasing 900 MW at Rs 4.08 per unit.

Akhtar, however, said that KPTCL was awaiting a report from the SLDC stipulating the gap and the additional power required. "It will be difficult to comment on the power requirement and the financial burden at this juncture," he added. On November 17, the demand stood at 202 MU, which is said to be the highest in the month of November. Of the 202 MU, the KPCL has supplied only 74 MU (38 MU from thermal); while the rest was procured from the central grid and independent power producers.

The Energy department is already making arrangements to import 1 million tonnes of coal. This too is said to be insufficient, according to the KPCL. Shivakumar has also appealed to Siddaramaiah to reach out to the Centre again to help resolve the coal problem.
Three men, including a former home guard, ganged up to rob young couples, posing as policemen of the "anti-rowdy squad".



The arrest of the three men has solved 14 robberies and led to the recovery of 500 grams of gold jewellery, Rs 4 lakh in cash and two cars, police said.

The police identified the suspects as Raghu (34) of Kanakapura, Doddayya (48) of Anekal, and Harish (31), a resident of Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu.

Raghu is a former home guard. He also chauffeured a Regional Transport Officer in Ramanagaram. Doddayya worked for Muthoot Finance in Shivamogga and was jailed there on charges of child sex abuse. Doddayya, however, took ill and was shifted to the Central Prison at Parappana Agarahara. In jail, he met Raghu. They decided to take to robbery after getting bail.

After they were released, Raghu bought a new Mahindra Bolero, police uniforms, a toy pistol and a nameplate. He wanted to pass off the SUV as a police vehicle. Doddayya got to drive a Toyota Innova, which belonged to one of Raghu's relatives, and bought safari suits to pose as a detective. He also carried a licensed gun.

Raghu and Doddayya, along with their accomplice Harish, would drive around NICE Road and the surrounding areas in southern Bengaluru looking out for young couples in cars and two-wheelers, especially on the weekends.

Anti-rowdy squad

Claiming to be officers of the anti-rowdy squad, they would waylay the victims and indulge in moral policing. They would also threaten to inform the women's families. Taking advantage of their helplessness, the culprits would snatch their jewellery, cash and other valuables.

The Thalaghattapura police went after the gang following a complaint from a woman and her boyfriend that a few men, in the guise of policemen, had taken away their mobile phone and Rs 5,000 in cash.

Acting on a tip-off, the police caught the three men.

Investigation has revealed that the suspects had committed crimes in several areas such as Thalaghattapura, Kengeri, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Electronics City, Kaggalipura, Harohalli, Bidadi, Kumbalgodu, Taverekere, Girinagar and Hulimavu.
An Indian medical student was crowned Miss World at a glitzy event in a Chinese resort on Saturday, making her country the joint-most successful in the beauty pageant's history.



Manushi Chhillar is the sixth Indian winner of the long-running contest, following in the footsteps of Bollywood actors Priyanka Chopra and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Her win brings India on level with Venezuela as the countries with the most victories in the history of the pageant, now in its 67th edition.

Manushi (20) is a trained Indian classical dancer, who also enjoys painting and hopes to open a chain of non-profit hospitals in rural areas, according to the Miss World website.

"Thank you, everyone, for your constant love, support and prayers," she wrote on Twitter. "This one's for India."

Manushi's victory rapidly became a top-trending topic on the social media platform in India after the announcement, with Manohar Lal Khattar - the chief minister of her home state of Haryana - among the first to offer congratulations.

Manushi was handed the crown by last year's winner, Stephanie del Valle of Puerto Rico, at the ceremony in the Chinese coastal city of Sanya on Saturday night.

Stephanie Hill of England and Andrea Meza of Mexico finished as runners-up.

Saturday marked the Miss World pageant's return to Sanya, on southern China's Hainan Island, for the seventh time, where the event was last held in 2015.

2015 controversy

At the previous occasion two years ago, controversy erupted as officials in Hong Kong stopped Miss Canada, Anastasia Lin, from boarding a plane bound for Sanya, saying she would not receive a visa.

The 25-year old actor claimed the decision was due to her stance on China's human rights record, including its persecution of Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual group of which she is a practitioner.

At last year's event in the United States, Anastasia was again embroiled in controversy when pageant officials reportedly warned her against speaking to the press for three weeks about human rights abuses in China.

Anastasia did not participate in this year's event, with Canada represented instead by Cynthia Menard, a high school student.
A techie fell prey to online fraud and lost Rs 4.70 lakh recently.



M Ramesh, a resident of Nelamangala, lodged a complaint with the Ashok Nagar police after he was duped by a nurse, Rachana Karam Vaidya, who claimed to be based in the US.

Ramesh, an engineer with a private firm in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, received a friend request on Facebook from Rachana. They exchanged mobile phone numbers and started talking to each other, the police said.

According to the police, Rachana told Ramesh that she would be visiting Karnataka soon and was interested in seeing historical places, and asked him to arrange a house for rent during her stay in Bengaluru. When Ramesh told her about his financial constraints, Rachana promised to send her gold ornaments and money to pay for the house.

"On October 2, I received a call from a woman posing as an official of the customs department at the international airport in New Delhi. She asked me to pay Rs 38,000 to claim a parcel that had arrived for me from the US. She requested me to deposit money into the account of airport officer, Suman Devi. I trusted her and deposited the money on October 3," the techie stated in his complaint.

Ramesh received another call from a woman on October 10, asking him to deposit Rs 1.62 lakh for service clearance. Then, he got a call, seeking Rs 2.70 lakh towards tax code due to the weight of the parcel. He deposited the money on both occasions.

"On October 25, a man claiming to be Saurabh Joshi, general manager, regional office, RBI, Bengaluru, called me. He told me that the money I had sent to the various accounts wasn't deposited. He wanted me to deposit Rs 4.70 lakh again. He disconnected my call when I expressed anger," the complaint stated.

When contacted, RBI authorities told Ramesh that Joshi was not one of their employees in Bengaluru.

Rachana deleted her Facebook account on October 26 and the numbers she used to call Ramesh were switched off, the police said.

The Ashok Nagar police have approached cyber crime experts to trace the suspects.
Controversial movie Padmavati on Saturday waded into another row after Censor Board chairman Prasoon Joshi objected to its screening before select media houses before its certification.



This is seen in some quarters as a strategy to build a consensus over its content.

The Deepika Padukone-Ranvir Singh-starrer film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali ran into trouble after a section of the Rajput community claimed that the movie portrayed Padmavati, a Rajput queen, as having a relationship with Allaudin Khilji. The fate of the movie's release also hangs in balance as the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) returned the movie citing improper documentation.

Joshi said it was "disappointing" that the film was being screened for the media and getting reviewed on national channels without the CBFC having seen or certified it.

"This compromises the role of systems and balances that are part of a functioning industry. It's myopic to treat the certification process haphazardly to suit one's convenience. Holding (the) CBFC responsible and pressuring it to accelerate the process on the one hand and attempting to subvert the very process on the other, sets an opportunistic precedent," he said.

India TV editor-in-chief Rajat Sharma said, "After seeing the film, I can say with full authority that there is not a single scene, not a single sequence and not a single dialogue that hurts Rajput pride. On the contrary, I can say that all Rajputs will feel utmost pride in seeing the entire film that has been made after exhaustive research by Bhansali."

CNN-News18 deputy executive editor Zakka Jacob wrote, "There's not a single slight against the character of Queen Padmini...there's no dream sequence of her with Alauddin Khilji; indeed, they don't even share screen space at any point during the film. Having just come out of a special screening of Padmavati, I can safely say that all the objections of the Karni Sena and other protesting groups are misplaced."

Actress Shabana Azmi said the film industry should boycott the International Film Festival of India to mark its protest against threats to Bhansali and Deepika.
Blizzards have hit the French Mediterranean coast amid warnings of up to 20 inches of snow in Northern Spain on Tuesday. Nimes and Perpignan were among the cities hit by the bad weather near the coast in France. See Also...
Madras man cited for failing to follow import restrictions to keep Oregon CWD-free

Carcass of first free-ranging Montana deer to test positive for CWD brought to Oregon Tweet November 17, 2017 SALEM, Ore.Last week, Montana reported its first case of a free-ranging deer testing positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). The deer was harvested by a Montana hunter and its carcass was brought to Oregon by the hunters relative, who lives in Madras. The parties involved failed to follow regulations that prohibit certain parts of deer, elk and moose that contain central nervous system tissue (where the prion that causes CWD is most concentrated) from being brought into Oregon. People hunting in states with CWD who harvest a deer, elk or moose may only bring back parts without spinal cord or brain tissue (e.g. antlers on a clean skullcap). See page 29 of the Oregon Big Game Regulations under Parts Ban for more information. ODFW and OSP contacted the relative late last week after learning from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks that the deer had tested positive for CWD. They discovered that prohibited parts containing neurological tissue had been brought into Oregon and had been disposed of in the local area following butchering. ODFW and OSP immediately retrieved these deer parts for safe disposal. Some parts of the deer also went to a landfill. ODFW was unable to locate and retrieve these parts, as too much time had passed since their disposal. However, the parts are deeply buried and will not come into contact with deer or elk, so are considered a low risk to free-ranging wildlife. Following investigation, OSP Fish & Wildlife Division Troopers criminally cited the relative for Unlawful Import of Cervid Parts from a CWD State. Troopers also recovered packaged deer meat as well as additional parts of the infected deer which will be safely disposed of by ODFW Staff. Enforcing the regulations established to protect Oregons fish, wildlife and other natural resources is the Divisions top priority. The cooperation with the individual who imported the unlawful parts, as well as the close coordination with ODFW, was paramount and really aided us in completing a thorough investigation said Tim Schwartz, OSP Fish & Wildlife Division Lieutenant. Without this cooperation and coordination, this couldve turned out much worse. Chronic Wasting Disease is caused by a protein prion that damages the brain of infected animals, causing progressive neurological disease and loss of body condition. Its untreatable and always fatal. It spreads through nose-to-nose contact between infected animals and through the animals bodily fluids. The prions that cause CWD can also last a long time in the environment, infecting new animals for decades, which is why Oregon has had a parts ban in place for 15 years. CWD is considered one of the most devastating wildlife diseases on the American landscape today, said Colin Gillin, ODFW State Wildlife Veterinarian. Once CWD enters a State and infects free-ranging deer and elk, it has been nearly impossible to eradicate with present day tools. So we want to do all we can to keep Oregon CWD-free. Oregon is still a CWD-free state. The disease has never been detected in a captive or free-ranging deer, elk or moose in Oregon. ODFW has been monitoring the states wildlife for the disease for years and is increasing its surveillance this year. For example, ODFW is asking hunters interested in having their deer or elk tested for CWD to contact their local office to set up an appointment. ODFW is most interested in deer and elk that are at least two-years-old (e.g. not spikes). To get an animal CWD tested, hunters will need to bring in the animals head, which should be kept cool prior to sampling if possible. ODFW will also take a tooth for aging and hunters should receive a postcard several months later with information about the animals age. Anyone who sees or harvests a sick deer or elk should also report it to the ODFW Wildlife Health Lab number at 866-968-2600 or by email to Wildlife.Health@state.or.us. CWD spreads most quickly through movement of live animals, although it can also spread by transport of carcasses by hunters or through infected migrating deer and elk. In addition to Montana, documented cases of CWD have occurred in Alberta, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Saskatchewan. ### Contact: Michelle Dennehy, ODFW, Michelle.N.Dennehy@state.or.us, (503) 931-2748

Captain Bill Fugate, OSP, OSPPIO@state.or.us
Country

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United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
India and China on Friday agreed that maintenance of peace and tranquillity on their common borders was vital for the growth of bilateral ties, an Indian foreign ministry statement said, almost two-and-a-half months after the Asian giants ended a tense military standoff on the Doklam plateau at the tri-junction with Bhutan. Officials from the two sides discussed border issues at the 10th round of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs in Beijing. "The talks were held in a constructive and forward-looking manner," India's external affairs ministry said in a statement. "Both sides reviewed the situation in all sectors of India-China border and agreed that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas is an important prerequisite for sustained growth of bilateral relations," it stated. "In this regard, the two sides also exchanged views on further confidence-building measures and strengthening of military-to-military contacts" along their almost 4,000-kilometer-long undemarcated border. The meeting comes after Indian and Chinese troops were locked in an over two-month-long standoff at the Doklam plateau in Bhutan. The crisis, which erupted in June over Chinese moves to build a road in an area claimed by Bhutan, ended in August, with both sides deciding to "disengage" from the face-off point. Earlier this month, Beijing protested defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman's visit to Arunachal Pradesh but New Delhi reasserted that the northeastern state was an integral part of India. The Indian delegation was led by Pranay Verma, joint secretary (East Asia), in the ministry of external affairs, while the Chinese side was led by Xiao Qian, Director General, department of Asian affairs, in the ministry of foreign affairs The two delegations comprised diplomatic and military officials from each side, according to the ministry statement. The WMCC was established in 2012 as an institutional mechanism for consultation and coordination for the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas. It was established to deal with the tensions over recurring border incursions as well as to exchange views on strengthening communication and cooperation, including between the border security personnel. The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488 km long Line of Actual Control (LAC). While China claims Arunachal Pradesh as Southern Tibet, India asserts that the dispute cover the Aksai Chin area which has been occupied by China since the 1962 war. The talks were held in a constructive and forward-looking manner, the release said. The two sides also exchanged views on further confidence-building measures (CBMs) and strengthening of military-to-military contacts, it said. The Doklam standoff in mid-June and ended on 28 August after Chinese troops stopped building a key road close to India's Chicken Neck corridor. India objected to the construction highlighting security concerns in the area also claimed by Bhutan. This is the first round of talks between the two countries after Chinese President Xi Jinping began his second five-year term as the chief of the ruling Communist Party of China last month. The talks took place ahead of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's planned to visit to India to take part in the Russia, India and China (RIC) foreign ministers' meeting expected to be held in New Delhi next month. Chinese officials earlier said Wang is expected to meet his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj as well as top Indian leaders. The contentious issues between the two countries, including the $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Bejing's veto blocking UN the listing of JeM leader Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, are expected to be discussed during Wang's talks with Indian leaders.








Norway's $1-trn sovereign fund mulls divesting oil, gas stocks

Norway's $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund is considering divesting its holdings in international petroleum companies, a sign that the future of oil does not inspire confidence even in Norway, Europe's largest oil producer.

The recommendation on Thursday by the Norwegian Central Bank, which manages the fund, has struck the biggest blow so far for a global fossil-fuel divestment campaign, promoted on college campuses and by environmental activists.

According to commentators, it could also be a setback for the proposed IPO of the Saudi national oil company,Aramco, since the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, would be a potentially large investor.

The public offering depends on high oil prices, even as the Norwegian bank's move points to uncertainty about future demand for oil.

''It's very significant symbolically because it sends a signal that even the people who make money from oil and gas are coming up with divestment plans,'' The New York Times quoted Michael Webber, deputy director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. ''The Norwegian view is that oil has had a good run and will have a good run for a couple of decades but it's not the only future that is out there.''

The recommendation by Norway's central bank pulled down shares in European oil companies, with Europe's index of oil and gas shares hitting its lowest level since mid-October on the news and was trading down 0.39 per cent by late afternoon.

''The return on oil and gas stocks has been significantly lower than in the broad equity market in periods of falling oil prices,'' the bank explained in a statement.

''Therefore, it is the bank's assessment that the government's wealth can be made less vulnerable to a permanent drop in oil prices if the GPFG [sovereign wealth fund] is not invested in oil and gas stocks.''
Democratic Senate hopeful Doug Jones focused on kitchen table issues during a visit to Dothan on Friday and only indirectly addressed the controversy surrounding his Republican opponent Roy Moore.

Jones visited Hunts Restaurant in Dothan on Friday, where he spoke in front of a packed house. During his visit, Jones declined to directly attack Moore over accusations of sexual assault and misconduct, but said the broader issue of sexual harassment was an important one being addressed throughout the country. Jones also said that Democratic Senator Al Franken needs to be held accountable regarding an accusation he groped a woman in 2006.

He needs to answer for that, Jones said.

Jones stuck mostly to issues of education, health care, and the economy during his visit and urged his supporters to engage their friends and neighbors in discussions about the upcoming Dec. 12 election.

Were staying in our lane, he said. Do not get distracted by other things going on.

Jones said if elected, he would work with legislators from all parties to find bipartisan solutions for issues like health care, education, and providing opportunity. Jones said work needs to be done to strengthen the health care system, including programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Jones said a Moore win would be a step backwards for Alabama.

It is not the face of Alabama we need to put forward going into the 21st century, he said.

In an interview after his meeting with voters, Jones spoke further about the race.

The issue of abortion may keep many evangelical voters in Alabama for voting for Jones, who holds pro-choice views, no matter how uneasy they may be with Moore.

Jones said he respects the beliefs of pro-life voters and hopes to work with them to find common ground to reduce the number of abortions, including providing support to pregnant women and streamlining adoption procedures.

Jones said its too early to declare opposition to a tax reform bill winding its way through Congress because a final version of it has yet to come up for a vote. So far, he has many problems with the bill, Jones said, adding that the bill favors cutting corporate taxes versus taxes for individual taxpayers too much.

We need to flip that a good bit, he said.

Local attorney Harry Hall, who had organized Wiregrass for Doug Jones, a Facebook group supporting Jones, said attendees at the event represented a broad cross-section of Dothan.

This is not a group of Democrats, he said. Its a group of Democrats, Republicans, and a lot of independents who have made the choice to have a better type of candidate. 

Kenneth Glasgow, a local pastor and activist, said, This is what a united front looks like.

Audri Scott Williams, a Democratic candidate for the 2nd District U.S. House seat in the upcoming 2018 election said, a Jones win could be a beachhead for Alabama Democrats seeking to revive their partys fortunes.

Doug Jones is the gateway for the rest of us coming through, she said.
The Dundalk Railway Heritage Society will fulfil a long held ambition of unveiling a plaque to the memory of Sir John Macneill of Ballymascanlon, one of Ireland's greatest railway engineers and a man who was responsible for bringing many engineering skills and employment to the Dundalk area during a time of great change. The date of the ceremony has been fixed for Saturday December 9 at Jocelyn Street and it is expected that there will be a good turn out for the event which will be held at 11 am.

The event has the support of the Louth County Council and other local bodies and will record an era of the coming of the railways which has made the town of Dundalk what it is today. The plaque will be placed on the front wall of the old Masonic Hall at Jocelyn Place which is a fitting spot as it faces the Presbyterian Church and School where Sir John, possibly, received his early education from Reverend William Neilson, responsible for a non-denominational school that provided training for many others, such as inventor Nicholas Callan.

A man of mystery

Much has been written about Sir John Macneill but he still remains, to some extent, a man of mystery. Born at the place that is now known as Mount Oliver House in 1793, he was involved in much controversy during his long and eventful life but there can be no denying that he left a great legacy to the North Louth area. One of the things about him which I had not known previously was that he had received some of his early civil engineering training with Alexander Nimmo when he was working for the Government on the reclamation of Irish Bogs in the early part of the nineteenth century. The name Nimmo might not mean much to the people of this area but he did come to the attention of Irish television audiences with the screening of the excellent documentary about his sketches of Irish landscapes of nearly 200 years ago. These scenes might have been lost forever but for the skill and artistry of Nimmo and, perhaps, Macneill learned a lot which he applied to his later work on Irish railways, especially in building bridges.

Another aspect of Nimmo's work that may have impressed itself on the young engineer Macneill was in the construction of the Navvy Bank at Dundalk Harbour Estuary in the 1840s. The work was designed by Sir John Macneill at the request of the Dundalk Harbour Commissioners to build an embankment from Soldiers Point to the Steampacket Quay. It cost about 22,000, a lot of money in those far off days, was completed in 1840 and did much to improve Dundalk Port over the next century.

It is also now one of Dundalk best amenities areas, thanks, mainly, to Sir. John's inspirational work. The whole area must have been in sight of John when he was growing up at his father, Torquil P. Macneill's, house across the Castletown and Ballymascanlon estuaries. He may well, as a boy, pondered upon the beauty of the seascape and wonder what he could so to preserve it for the future. Proof of this is the fact that he named his eldest son Torquil Nimmo Macneill which otherwise might seem a strange selection of Christian names.
To build the largest and most complete Amateur Radio community site on the Internet - a "portal" that hams think of as the first place to go for information, to exchange ideas, and be part of whats happening with ham radio on the Internet. eHam.net provides recognition and enjoyment to the people who use, contribute, and build the site. This project involves a management team of volunteers who each take a topic of interest and manage it with passion. The site will stand above all other ham radio sites by employing the latest technology and professional design/programming standards, developed by a team of community programmers who contribute their skills to the effort. The site will be something of which everyone involved can be proud to say they were a part. We welcome your comments. The eHam.net Team, Revision 07/2020.
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The smog in New Delhi is an annual phenomenon; so is the hysteria around it. It is an emergency, we are told. While Delhi blames Haryana and Punjab, the latter blame Delhi and all blame the central government. Meanwhile, the wretched denizens of Indias most cosseted city gasp their way through days where the idea of ever breathing clean air is a distant dream. For the poor, the very young and the elderly, the choice is between breathing to remain alive or breathing and dying. Dramatic as that might sound, this ugly reality is supported by innumerable studies by reputed organisations, the latest being by the British journal Lancet that concluded that there were 25 lakh premature deaths in India in 2015 due to air pollution.

The smog might have descended on Delhi this year on 7 November, but it was in the making for many months, if not years. Ever since 2002, when Anil Agarwal and the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) rang the alarm bell about the quality of air in the capital and fought for the substitution of diesel with compressed natural gas (CNG) in all public transport, the crisis was evident. Yet, little more was done after that as Delhi hurtled towards the disaster zone it is today. Although a metro rail was built, the citys wide roads were progressively jammed with vehicular traffic. Diesel-burning trucks continued to cut through the city; solid waste was managed by open burning; industrial clusters were not monitored for pollution; thermal power plants in the vicinity of the city continued to spew out sulphur dioxide and fly ash; and hundreds of diesel generators added to the mess. Together they enveloped the city in poisonous air throughout the year, not just during the winter when it was visible as smog.
hi fellow members,

I have some questions for my brother who wants to apply for the citizenship soon.

He came first on a visitor visa on Feb-2014 for 3 months and he extended for another 3 months till Aug-14 , then he met his current wife and they decided to get married, he lodged his partner visa application before his visitor visa expires and got bridging visa. his temporary partner visa granted 3 months later on Nov-14. he got his PR in Mar-2017. and he intending to apply for citizenship next year.

the question is; will his stay as visitor counted toward citizenship residence eligibility ? .. and is bridging visa period counted or not? ..

and will he be able to apply before propesed changes next july?

thanks a lot for ur help...

such appreciated
1) Head over to the US embassy and change your name in your US passport first, but do it soon as it takes time for the passport to be issued (I think it is sent back 'stateside, but I'm not sure).2) Once your passport has been changed to your married name, apply to have your status adjusted by applying for an FLR(M). If you choose not to get a same day "premium" appointment at any one of the 7 offices across the UK (it's like rush service and you can usually get a decision that same day... surcharge over and above the application fee and IHS applies), then you must get the application into the mail by 13 March 2017 (if you do mail it, be sure that the date of posting is legible as the Home Office uses that date to determine if you've applied on time or not (for posting dates up to and including 13 March '18, you're safe; anything after that and you'll be considered out of time)If you want to apply for your FLR(M) sooner, you can but you must apply by the 13 March '18.* * * * * * * * * *Alternatively, if you don't want to go to the added time and expense of having to rush and get your passport changed and are happy to use your maiden name for the next 2.5 years (the duration of validity of the FLR(M)), then you can just continue to use the passport that you have (i.e. maiden name) and use it and your marriage certificate if you want to use your married name to register for things like a bank account, GP etc.Once you're ready to renew your FLR(M) in 2.5 years, simply change your name on your passport no more than 90 days before you intend to apply to renew and then use the new passport in the application... the Home Office allows for up to 90 days grace for people to advise of a change of address before they consider fining for failure to report... by changing your passport within 90 days of applying to renew your FLR(M), you don't have to bother with the time and expense of reporting the change (you would have to pay to have a new BRP issued) and can just proceed as intended.I know that this sounds bizarre, but it's totally acceptable. For the first 2 years of my married life in the UK, a good chunk of my life was registered as "Miss West Coast Canadian Girl" (like you, I came over on a Fiancee Visa and got married) and the rest as "Mrs Canadian Girl in the UK" and nobody really questioned the difference (I had to book travel in my maiden name as that's what my passport stated but I got my driving license in my married name). I had just renewed my passport in February of the year that my Fiancee Visa was approved and I was unwilling to pay the (extortionate) overseas application fee to get a replacement one issued at the Canadian High Commission so soon after having just got the darn thing in the first place.When I applied for permanent residency (ILR) in year 2 (you won't be at this point until you've been here for 5 years as the rules changed 5 years ago and non-EU/EEA Spouses must wait 5 years to qualify for ILR instead of just 2) I got the name in my passport changed in late July and lodged my application in early October and again, nobody asked any questions as to why I waited to "officially" change the name in my passport..
Below is a list of all PNPs (Provincial Nomination Programme) and whether they have a job offer as a requirement:



- Alberta(AB): Job offer required

- British Columbia(BC): Job offer required

- Manitoba(MB): Job offer not required

- New Brunswick(NB): Job offer required

- Newfoundland and Labrador(NL): Job offer required

- Northwest Territories(NT): Job offer required

- Nova Scotia(NS): Job offer not required

- Nunavut(NU): Job offer required

- Ontario(ON): Job offer not required

- Prince Edward Island(PE): Job offer required

- Quebec(QC): Job offer not required

- Saskatchewan(SK): Job offer not required
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Texas could lose essentially all federal funding for public schools  about $6 billion in the past academic year  if state leaders cancel standardized tests in response to the disruption caused by Hurricane Harvey, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath warned.

Some parents and advocates have argued that the tests shouldnt be administered because students are more likely to perform poorly after missing class time and suffering trauma from the hurricane and subsequent flooding. Classes were canceled across the Houston and Gulf Coast region after Harvey, with several districts missing two weeks of instruction. A change.org petition asking state leaders to drop the tests this year has collected about 240,000 signatures.

But Morath told state lawmakers this week that unless the state secures a waiver, skipping the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, would put Texas in violation of federal law. That would threaten funding from Washington, which accounts for about 10 percent of the states school funding.

We dont think a waiver could be or would be granted, Morath said. Theres no precedent for that in federal history.

The comments by Morath and local school leaders reinforce the widespread belief that Texas students will take the states standardized tests this school year.

State and federal officials have given no indication that they plan to cancel the tests.

During a visit to the Houston area Wednesday, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said shed heard some conversation about Texas canceling its standardized tests but that the department hadnt received a request. Leaders of the Texas House Public Education Committee asked Morath this week to inquire about the possibility of receiving a federal waiver for testing, though none voiced support for skipping the STAAR.

If the STAAR is administered, two major questions are: Will the Texas Education Agency change the date of the exams? And how will school districts be graded  and in some cases, punished  based on students scores?

Morath said his agency will likely have answers before the end of the month. About two-thirds of school leaders surveyed by the TEA expressed support for keeping the current test schedule in place, he said.

But many Houston-area school superintendents and administrators have advocated changing how campuses and districts are graded based on the scores.

Several told legislators this week that schools and districts affected by the storm should receive grades of not rated. In 2009, after Hurricane Ike, state officials gave storm-affected districts a not rated grade if they performed worse than the prior year or were deemed academically unacceptable.

Because of a new state law, districts are expected to start getting letter grades  A, B, C, D or F  in 2018 based on various performance factors, including student scores on the STAAR. Campuses are expected to receive letter grades in 2019. A small decline in test scores wouldnt significantly affect most schools, but a lower letter grade could influence the public perception of a campus or drop schools into improvement-required territory.

A one-time break in school accountability grades would benefit the Houston Independent School District, which faces school closures or a state takeover of its board of trustees if 10 chronically low-performing campuses dont improve this year. If those 10 receive not rated scores, Morath said, that essentially gives the district an extra year, a mulligan, as it were.

Aldine ISD Superintendent Wanda Bamberg recommended issuing a not rated grade to storm-affected districts. She said her districts homeless student population has more than doubled  from about 500 last year to 1,146 after Hurricane Harvey  and that nearly 300 instructional staff members lost everything in the flooding.

Taking the test is not the issue. Its what we do with (the results), Bamberg said.

Alief ISD Superintendent H.D. Chambers echoed that sentiment. He said school leaders are witnessing the storms effect on behavior  with teachers and students occasionally getting into expletive-laden shouting matches.

The trauma Im seeing in schools and classrooms, Ive never seen this in my 31 years, Chambers said. I think theres a reasonable, rational way of (administering STAAR) that takes the pressure off of the teachers and doesnt negatively impact the children.
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AUSTIN  The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will spend $5 billion in Texas to help rebuild damaged homes, businesses and other infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Harvey.

The funding, announced Friday, comes from HUDs Community Development Block Grant program, which received $7.4 billion for disaster relief in September. The remainder of the money will go to other disaster-affected areas, such as Florida and Puerto Rico.

This is to meet the unmet housing needs here  and to help Texans that have been displaced from their homes to rebuild their lives, HUD Deputy Secretary Pamela Hughes Patenaude said at a news conference with Gov. Greg Abbott. We stand ready at HUD to help cut the red tape.

Abbott said the funding is exactly what is needed to help families rebuild. He commended Sen. John Cornyn for helping secure the funding. Cornyn, who was in Austin on Friday, said he wants to ensure that the federal government provides the funding Texas needs to recover.

Earlier this month, Abbott traveled to Washington seeking $61 billion in additional funding. But Congress is facing multiple recovery efforts. Florida was battered by Hurricane Irma. Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, and California sustained significant damage from widespread wildfires.

Texas has one of the largest delegations in the country, and we see it as our responsibility to do what we need to do in order to make sure the federal government lives up to its complete responsibility when it comes to Hurricane Harvey recovery, Cornyn said.

HUD will develop criteria for how to distribute the block grant money. Abbott expects that will take about two weeks. The money will then go to the state to be divided among local governments following a public comment period.

That means it will likely take months for the money to reach affected areas.

Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, who is overseeing the housing recovery efforts, said the $5 billion will help rebuild 1.2 million homes.

We are now tasked with the largest housing recovery in American history, a role that we take very seriously, Bush said.
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Afghan troops sent to the United States for training have disappeared from Joint Base San Antonio in higher numbers than from any other military installation in the country, a federal watchdog agency has found.

Sixty of the 152 Afghan personnel who went absent without leave in the U.S. between 2005 and March of this year fled from Lackland AFB or Fort Sam Houston, according to a recent report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

Afghan trainees deserted at an overall rate of about one a month and accounted for almost half of the 320 foreign military personnel who slipped away from two-dozen bases across the country. Some 6 percent of all Afghans enrolled in training programs later absconded, compared with a collective .07 percent of those from Iraq, Turkey, Yemen and other countries.

Nearly all of the 2,500 Afghan personnel who traveled to the U.S. for training first stopped in San Antonio for English language courses at Lackland. The SIGAR report showed that the percentage of Afghan trainees who escaped more than doubled last year amid rising troop casualties and territorial gains by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The figures suggest the precarious state of the countrys military and a deepening gloom within its ranks about a war that began when U.S. forces invaded 16 years ago last month to oust the Taliban government.

I dont think its a stalemate anymore, said Jonathan Schroden, director of the special operations program at the Center for Naval Analyses in Arlington, Virginia, and an expert on Afghanistan who has traveled throughout the country.

That may have been true a year or two ago, but now the momentum is pretty clearly with the Taliban. And the increase in Afghans who went AWOL last year tracks pretty closely with the rapid decline were seeing in the security situation there.

The Taliban have carried out a series of large-scale attacks against Afghan troops this year, including an ambush on a military base in northern Afghanistan in April that killed more than 140 soldiers. Another 43 troops died when militants overran a base last month in southern Afghanistan, and a wave of attacks on police outposts and security checkpoints in recent weeks claimed at least 70 officers.

The U.S. has spent $70 billion to train and equip the Afghan military, and under President Donald Trump, the Pentagon has boosted troop levels in Afghanistan from 8,400 to 14,000 this year.

But in the view of Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, a nonprofit research group based in Kabul, the AWOL cases illuminate the prevailing pessimism within a nation strangled by war since the Soviet Union breached its borders in 1979.

The Afghan soldiers and officers live in a country that has been facing violent conflict for almost four decades, he said. So its no surprise some use the chance to escape when theyre invited abroad.

A bit ridiculous

The SIGAR investigation revealed that 70 of the 152 Afghan men and women who fled training programs left the U.S.; the whereabouts of 13 others remain unknown. Among the rest, 39 gained legal status, 27 were arrested or removed from the country and three returned to their training programs.

The 56 trainees who walked away from Lackland were more than the combined total of the five military installations with the next highest number of AWOL cases. In addition to Lackland and Fort Sam, where four Afghans went AWOL, two other bases in Texas lost track of trainees. Five escaped from Fort Bliss and one from Sheppard AFB.

The special inspector general found that none of the missing Afghan personnel had committed acts of terrorism or similarly serious acts.

The State Departments response to the report deemed the rate of AWOL cases unacceptably high. Yet agency officials dismissed SIGARs recommendations to strengthen the vetting of Afghan trainees by requiring them to provide more details about their background and families and to complete an in-person interview before receiving a travel visa.

The Afghan defense and interior ministries choose candidates for training programs based on standards established by U.S. officials in Kabul. Matt Dove, SIGARs director of special projects, called the State Departments unwillingness to reinforce the screening process a bit ridiculous.

Its fair to say theyre doing everything thats required but not everything they can to evaluate trainees, he said.

SIGARs report concluded that the pattern of Afghans vanishing from U.S. bases will persist in light of the growing instability in Afghanistan and the lack of consequences for AWOL trainees beyond a possible return home.

Given the history of problems with the training program, Dove said, Both the Department of Defense and the State Department bear a fair degree of responsibility to plug the gaps.

Officials with the Air Education and Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio refused to answer questions from the Express-News about the investigation. In a brief emailed statement, a spokesman replied that the command intended to coordinate closely with the Department of Defense, Department of State and other relevant agencies on ways to minimize the number of absconders at our training locations.

The SIGAR report sidesteps the question of how Afghan troops escaped. Dove told the Express-News that most appeared to flee to Canada through New York or Washington.

Investigators interviewed dozens of Afghans who were training at Lackland and a handful who received asylum after going AWOL. Both groups described threats by the Taliban as the primary reason that Afghan trainees seek refuge in the U.S. or elsewhere.

One Afghan soldier revealed that militants attacked his family in Afghanistan after hearing he had departed for training in the U.S. Others feared their lives would be in danger after arriving home.

Several Afghan trainees raised concerns about losing their military positions while abroad. They shared stories of senior defense officials and unit commanders forcing soldiers who had returned from training to pay bribes to regain their old jobs.

In an interview with the Express-News, Gen. Mohammad Radmanish, a spokesman for the Afghan defense ministry in Kabul, denied the bribery allegations and insisted that Afghan troops who went AWOL in the U.S. soon regretted the decision.

They think that they can make a lot of money and foreign countries are like heaven, but that is not the reality, he said. Those who came back have apologized and want to continue their jobs, so we keep them as a lesson to others.

Illusion of progress

Almost two-thirds of the Afghan personnel who went missing in the U.S. carried the rank of lieutenant or higher. Their desire to start a new life outside Afghanistan reflects a broader brain drain that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has sought to reverse by launching a national jobs program.

Youre not losing the bottom of the barrel, Dove said. Youre losing your lieutenants, your captains, your pilots, your special operations forces. Youre losing the folks who are supposed to be tomorrows leaders.

Most training of Afghan troops by American forces occurs in Afghanistan. The need to bring select personnel to the U.S. arises from a shortage of equipment and a surplus of violence there.

The military in Afghanistan offers one of the few reliable career paths in a country with poverty and unemployment rates above 35 percent. But the high risk of death and the prospect of a war without end diminish the appeal.

The number of Afghan troops killed in combat climbed from 4,600 in 2014 to 6,700 last year, and in the first four months of this year alone, more than 2,500 died. By comparison, 2,406 U.S. troops have been killed in the country since 2001.

The doubling of AWOL cases last year mirrored spikes in 2015 and 2009, years when government agencies and human rights groups documented a similar surge of bloodshed in Afghanistan. The special inspector general found that the disappearance of Afghan trainees while in the U.S. damages the readiness and morale of their home units.

Capt. Mohammad Shakir, whose company has battled Taliban and Islamic State militants in a restive expanse of eastern Afghanistan, criticized soldiers who desert.

It hurts the reputation of the Afghan army when they try to escape, Shakir told the Express-News from a military outpost in Kunar province, near the Pakistan border. They should not use the opportunity of going to the U.S. for personal matters.

SIGAR reported last month that the Taliban controls or influences 54 of the countrys 407 districts, an increase of 21 districts since last year. Some 3.7 million Afghans live in areas where the Islamic groups power exceeds or equals that of government forces, and through September, the United Nations had recorded 2,640 civilian deaths in 2017.

Anthony Cordesman, an Afghanistan expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., regards the unabated violence and absence of economic growth as evidence that the U.S. reconstruction effort has unspooled.

Weve tried to create an illusion of progress in Afghanistan, but most of that is just plain nonsense, he said, adding that chronic corruption among Afghan political and military leaders has further stunted reforms. This is a country thats substantially less developed than Bangladesh.

Under the circumstances, for Afghan trainees setting foot in America, the AWOL gamble may offer their best and perhaps only chance at a different future. They weigh the uncertainty of the unknown against the familiar, exhausting chaos of home.

Schroden, of the Center for Naval Analyses, expects that the temptation to flee will endure as long as the war.

The ones who disappear are making their own calculations about the security situation and whether to go back, he said. You can kind of see why some decide they have nothing to lose.

mkuz@express-news.net | Twitter: @MartinKuz | Zubair Babakarkhail contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  The White House sent Congress a $44 billion disaster request Friday, falling far short of the aid officials in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico have sought to recover from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.

Though administration officials said they plan to provide additional relief in the coming months as full cost estimates come in, Gov. Greg Abbott and several Texas lawmakers expressed mounting frustration that their requests continue to be reduced or pushed back.

Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, the Senate's No. 2 Republican, called the funding package wholly inadequate, and vowed to work with lawmakers from other affected areas who feel shortchanged by the administration.

Frankly, after the outpouring of sympathy and the expressions of concern that we've heard from the highest levels here in Washington, D.C., we have continually been told to wait, wait, wait, Cornyn said Thursday night in anticipation of the latest White House request.

At a press conference in Austin, Abbott noted that President Donald Trump, who toured the Texas storm damage twice, committed to ensuring the Harvey recovery process is the best recovery from a disaster ever. The latest funding package, Abbott said, does not meet the mark.

In order to live up to the President's goal... to have the biggest and best response ever, it's going to necessitate both more funding and better strategies, Abbott said.

The White House proposal represents the third round of storm funding since Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas coast on Aug. 25, flooding much of Houston and causing an estimated $180 billion in damage along the Gulf Coast, making it one of the costliest disasters in U.S. history.

Abbott brought a $61 billion request to Congress at the end of October, accompanied by a list of storm recovery and flood-control projects specifically for Texas. That visit came shortly after he accused the Texas congressional delegation of getting rolled in an earlier $35.8 billion general aid package for disaster recovery in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Abbott's personal request for $61 billion came after he and the Texas delegation had also worked jointly on an $18 billion special aid package for Texas, which Congress and the administration put off.

In response, Cornyn placed a hold on Trump nominee Russell Vought to be deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), a parliamentary move designed to pressure the White House to secure hurricane relief.

All told, Congress has approved more than $50 billion for storm relief, including a $15.25 billion emergency Harvey aid package that passed in September as part of a measure increasing the debt ceiling but making no offsetting spending cuts.

The latest disaster request would bring to nearly $100 billion the amount the federal government has laid out for the summer's series of Atlantic storms and California wildfires.

Much of the controversy surrounding the storm recovery efforts in Congress has centered on deficit spending, particularly in the National Flood Insurance Program, which is nearly $30 billion in debt.

Unlike the earlier funding requests, the White House has proposed that the new disaster aid be offset by spending cuts, mainly by extending previously-passed automatic cuts in non-defense spending for future years.

Altogether, OMB director Mick Mulvaney, in a letter to Congress Friday, suggested nearly $60 billion in budget cuts, including funds previously allocated to a number of conservation, highway, student financial aid and child nutrition programs.

Many of the same cuts were included in his 2018 budget request.

The new storm aid plan comes as Congress confronts a massive year-end spending package, as well as a new effort to raise the debt limit and pass a major tax reform bill. The press of legislative business has heightened concerns among Cornyn and others that future storm aid could either get short-shrift, or get caught up in potential spending impasses.

The new request includes $25.2 billion for disaster relief under the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration. It also includes $12 billion for the Community Development Block Grant disaster recovery program, $4.6 billion to repair damaged federal property, $1.2 billion to help displaced students, and $1 billion for emergency agricultural assistance.

Separately, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a $5 billion award Friday to help hard-hit areas of Texas recover from Harvey.

Houston Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee said the funding package does not come close to restoring Houston, and she accused the Trump administration of having turned its back on Texas.

Six Houston-area Republican members of Congress, joined by U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold of Corpus Christi, issued a statement calling the proposal insufficient and unacceptable.

Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, noted that despite the Trump administration's repeated assurances to provide Texas with the recovery money it needs, in the end the onus will be on Congress.

The constitutional responsibility to appropriate funding resides with Congress, Cruz said, and I will continue to work closely with the entire Texas delegation to ensure our great state has the resources it needs to rebuild and come back stronger than ever.

Alejandra Matos and John Gravois contributed to this report from Austin.
These days, theres major cognitive dissonance in watching sexual misconduct allegations ruin the reputations of powerful men on a near daily basis, while President Donald Trump continues to enjoy a position of impunity despite having faced similar accusations from more than a dozen women during his campaign.

Why does the president seem to float above the moment?

In fact, Trump is more entwined with the ongoing reckoning than he may know. His serial behavior as a sexual predator  and his utter lack of accountability for any of it  likely triggered the intensity of the #MeToo tsunami, and sooner or later it will come crashing back on the president.

Trumps election last year was a shock, coming weeks after America heard him boasting of committing sexual assault. Between the release of the infamous Access Hollywood tape and Election Day, 20 women went on the record to describe his sexual misconduct, 12 of them claiming hed physically violated them.

One was Natasha Stoynoff, a writer for People who described Trump pushing her against a wall and forcibly kissing her in 2005, the same year he bragged to Billy Bush, You know, Im automatically attracted to beautiful  I just start kissing them. Its like a magnet. Just kiss. I dont even wait.

A year later, its not difficult to imagine the consequences that would envelop a politician facing accusations that he forced himself on a woman and that are supported by self-incriminating evidence: It just happened to Sen. Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota. Despite an apology, enemies and allies alike have roundly denounced him.

Last year, Trump dodged accountability by issuing denials, calling the allegations of his accusers 100 percent fabricated and outright lies.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders echoed this defense last month, accusing all of the women of lying. Asked again on Friday about the allegations against Trump, she said, I think that this was covered pretty extensively during the campaign. We addressed it then. The American people, I think, spoke very loud and clear when they elected this president.

Trumps election, though, did not discredit his pattern of sexual assault. He was elected because it was overlooked  not only by his supporters, but also by those who failed to take his behavior seriously enough to vote for Hillary Clinton simply from a sense of outrage.

These days, outrage is all the rage. Trump isnt immune to it. He triggered it. Now that the shock of his election has worn off, the reckoning picking off celebrities and politicians left and right is nothing less than a delayed reaction and an awakening: America is better than this.

And the outrage is coming back for Trump at the ballot box, beginning in 2018.

Ethical issues

Considering the coming Democratic wave, anyone running next year as a Republican in Bexar County should be commended at least for their bravery. The wave will certainly make it difficult to knock off Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood, should he survive the Democratic primary.

Tylden Shaeffer, a local defense attorney running for DA as a Republican, is appropriately concerned.

You take everything seriously, he told me on Friday. I didnt enter into this race lightly. I entered in the race because I think its something that had to be done.

Shaeffer, who served as a prosecutor for nine years, is running due to a lack of effective leadership and some very serious ethical issues in that office from the top, he said.

In particular, Shaeffer is concerned about LaHoods denial under oath that he threatened to destroy the legal practices of two defense lawyers (one of whom, Joe Gonzales, is challenging LaHood in the primary.) Shaeffer is also troubled by the story of Richard Thum, an investor in an alleged Ponzi scheme who came to LaHoods office in 2015 to complain that the company, FourWinds Logistics, had swindled him out of more than $1 million.

LaHood failed to tell Thum that a year earlier he had lobbied FourWinds to hire a consulting company of which he was a co-chairman.

We have a DA who has a private audience with a member of the community complaining about fraud and fails to tell that citizen, By the way, I have an interest or a fiduciary duty or something with the corporation of people about which youre complaining. And never told him.

bchasnoff@express-news.net
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader and former presidential candidate, announced Friday that he has Parkinsons disease.

Jackson, 76, said he had found it increasingly difficult to perform routine tasks and get around in recent years. After initially resisting due to his work, Jackson said, he relented and sought medical testing.

Recognition of the effects of this disease on me has been painful, and I have been slow to grasp the gravity of it, Jackson said in a statement released through the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, his social change group. For me, a Parkinsons diagnosis is not a stop sign but rather a signal that I must make lifestyle changes and dedicate myself to physical therapy in hopes of slowing the diseases progression.

Jackson remains an active presence in American life and politics. Last year, he shuttled across the country speaking and registering people to vote, saying that people are very motivated when we are inspired.

He is one of the best-known and influential activists of the civil rights era, extending the movement into national politics with his presidential campaigns in the 1980s that have since been viewed as paving the way for former president Barack Obamas election as the first black president in 2008. Jacksons efforts added millions of African Americans to the voter rolls and increased the influence of black political leaders and strategists in the Democratic Party.

In 1988, during his second bid for the Democratic nomination, Jackson finished second to Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis. Ron Brown, who led Jacksons team at the Democratic National Convention in 1988, later became the partys first African-American chairman. Former president Bill Clinton appointed Brown as the first black secretary of the Commerce Department. He was killed in a plane while in office.

Jackson surprised many political observers that he was able to get support from some working-class whites with an economic message not unlike the one that the insurgent campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., in last years Democratic presidential primary.

During an appearance in late summer on HBOs Real Time, Jackson reiterated that message when host Bill Maher noted that a significant number of Trumps white working-class supporters feel that they are victims of racial discrimination. Seventy-eight percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck; 51 percent of Americans make $30,000 a year or less, he said, adding that many had been left behind in the fast-changing global economy. As a result, Jackson said, some of those working-class whites have a deep sense of anxiety . . . they feel locked out and they start scapegoating. He said that politicians like Trump exploit their fears but there is tremendous economic anxiety that must not be ignored.

Donna Brazile, who launched her career in national politics as Jacksons field director in 1984, later called Jacksons legacy a transformative one for the Democratic Party. He made it possible not just for blacks to sit at the black desk, but to sit at every desk in American politics, Brazile told The Washington Post in 2008. She was manager of Al Gores 2000 presidential bid, the first African American woman to run a major partys presidential campaign.

In a brief interview Friday, Brazil said she was praying for her friend and longtime mentor.

If there is anyone who can beat the odds and rise above the challenges, its Rev. Jackson, she said, adding that she had seen him a few months ago and she asked about his health he said he felt fine. Hes a strong man, hes a determined man, a man of faith and a powerful, powerful force for good.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who once worked for Jackson, said Friday he had spent recent days in New York with the man he described as his mentor, and he praised Jacksons work and legacy on civil rights issues and in electoral politics.

He changed the nation, Sharpton said in a video statement. He served in ways he never got credit [for]. No one in our lifetime served longer and stronger. We pray for him because hes given his life for us.

In his announcement Friday, Jackson described Parkinsons as a disease that bested my father and pledged to use his platform and voice to seek a cure for the illness. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Parkinsons is the second-most-common neurodegenerative disorder, trailing only Alzheimers disease.

I will continue to try to instill hope in the hopeless, expand our democracy to the disenfranchised and free innocent prisoners around the world, Jackson wrote, adding that he would also work on a memoir. I steadfastly affirm that I would rather wear out than rust out.
Its a system both praised and bemoaned by locals, but few would deny that traversing San Antonio would be nearly impossible without its vast freeway network. In many ways, San Antonio, like many American cities, is defined by the spokes and loops of its highways.

It all started without fanfare in 1949 with the opening of a short stretch of todays Interstate 10, running from what was then Culebra Avenue north to the Woodlawn Avenue/Fredericksburg Road intersection. While this section provided virtually no connectivity, it was the first piece of a larger plan to relieve congestion on downtown thoroughfares that city leaders had started working on even before World War II ended. City maps from the time show a three-legged network of interstate highways for post-war construction that today make up the Downtown Y of I-10 and Interstate 35.

Work to extend that first segment into downtown San Antonio was completed by the next year, followed within a few years by disjointed sections of U.S. 81 (now I-35) north and south of there. In 1956, plans to build an elevated superhighway to complete the U.S. 81 expressway promised that drivers would ride in the air over the downtown area and permit 50 MPH traffic to speed through the heart of a metropolitan city.

With strong public support and bountiful federal funding, highway construction continued at a brisk pace through the 50s. San Antonio was generally considered to be ahead of the pack. In 1956, the Express-News reported that San Antonio was outdoing all other Texas cities who, despite their boasting, have been unable to get an expressway into their major business and shopping areas. Plans for a vast system of multiple spokes and two loops were soon revealed.

But the rapid expansion of the network in the 50s and early 60s was soon to meet formidable challenges as the winds of change in the national political and social climates of the new decade blew into San Antonio.

By the mid 60s, opposition to urban freeway projects across the country had mushroomed as activists lambasted the environmental and socioeconomic damage they often caused. San Antonio would soon join the fray, with one battle eventually becoming a landmark case going all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. That project was the North Expressway, now known as McAllister Freeway (U.S. 281).

Planning for the North Expressway had begun in the mid 50s with routes along San Pedro, McCullough and Broadway initially considered but ultimately nixed for a variety of factors including land acquisition costs and airport access. This left one viable corridor through Brackenridge Park and the Olmos Basin.

This route stirred immediate dissent. The San Antonio Conservation Society, fresh off their defeat of planned parking garages beneath downtown parks, led an effort that resulted in the narrow defeat of a city expressway bond issue in 1960.

Not to be deterred, city leaders put the measure back on the ballot the following January. This time, they included a provision to purchase additional parkland to offset that taken for the North Expressway. The measure won overwhelmingly.

The preferred route for the expressway would have sent it into Olmos Park, whose leaders would not agree to any route through their city. This led planners to shift the proposed route to the east, aiming it right through the middle of the Incarnate Word campus. The Conservation Society joined the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word in filing a lawsuit to block the project. Although they initially prevailed at trial, subsequent appeals reversed the ruling. Conservation Society leaders then promised to throw themselves in front of the bulldozers should the highway be built.

The Texas Highway Department finally settled on a route in 1963 and the federal government approved it the following year. Right-of-way acquisition began and the Incarnate Word parcel was finally acquired in 1966 after a secret meeting between the Sisters of Charity and Mayor Walter McAllister that included a promise to build a pedestrian overpass connecting the severed halves of the campus.

Then, in 1966, Congress passed legislation sponsored by Sen. Ralph Yarborough, D-Texas, prohibiting federal approval of any project that encroached on public parkland. The Conservation Society cited this policy in a new petition challenging the original federal approval of the route.

In an attempt at a compromise, the federal government in 1969 approved the uncontested northern and southern ends contingent on the state conducting a new route study for the middle segment. After initially balking, the state finally agreed to a new study in mid-1970 and work began shortly thereafter on the approved sections.

The Conservation Society pressed on with its legal challenge. After losing in the district and circuit courts, they appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which, in early 1971, upheld those lower court rulings and authorized construction.

In the meantime, an expressway in Memphis, Tennessee, which also was proposed to pass through parkland, was challenged and ultimately defeated. The Conservation Society used that ruling as precedent to again challenge the North Expressways approvals. In June 1971, they finally prevailed and the project suddenly appeared to be dead.

However, in 1973, Texas Sens. Lloyd Bentsen and John Tower sponsored a provision to remove federal funding from the project and allow the city and state to go it alone. Again, the Conservation Society sued, but the legislation was ultimately ruled to be legal, thus removing all roadblocks for the project.

Work on the southern and northern segments resumed within 24 hours, only to be stopped by one last-ditch lawsuit. That case was dismissed in late 1974 and construction resumed once more, with the freeway finally opening to traffic on Feb. 7, 1978. In 1981, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials named it one of the three most beautiful urban freeways in the United States.

But that wasnt to be the only freeway controversy in San Antonio.

While the bitter North Expressway war was winding down, a new battle was brewing, this time over the proposed Bandera Expressway, intended to relieve growing congestion on the Northwest Side and provide access to the planned San Antonio Ranch new town development near Helotes. The proposed route for this highway started at Interstate 37 and todays Cesar Chavez Boulevard, traveling west to I-35, then cutting a path west and northwest across the near West Side, paralleling Bandera Road before veering to meet Texas 16 outside Loop 410.

Besides displacing thousands of residents, the highways path, along with that of a planned downtown reliever route for I-10, ran through the heart of San Antonios Model Cities neighborhood, an area designated to receive federal funds as part of President Lyndon B. Johnsons antipoverty program. The highway plans put that federal funding in jeopardy.

At the urging of Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez, the City Council demanded the Highway Department study alternate routes outside of the Model Cities area. Consequently, a new corridor along Culebra Road from I-10 to Loop 1604 was proposed.

That plan also drew resistance, notably from a young city councilman named Henry Cisneros as well as the nascent West Side advocacy group Communities Organized for Public Service. This formidable opposition eventually led to the projects demise, leaving an arguably significant gap in todays otherwise complete system.
By Alexander Panetta  The Canadian Press



It involves a U.S. idea deemed so hideous by the other parties that they refused to even look at it in the previous negotiating round. But with a significant facelift, the other countries say, the U.S. proposal could be turned into something a little more palatable, or at least worthy of discussion.

That controversial U.S. idea: a five-year sunset clause.



Speculation is rife in all three capitals about whether the White House wants a deal

Also referred to as a termination clause, the proposal would end NAFTA after five years unless all three countries agree to extend it. Proposed by the Trump administration at the last negotiating round, the demand was derided by the other countries, business groups, and American lawmakers as a recipe for permanent uncertainty, contrary to the spirit of a trade agreement that is supposed to provide investor confidence.

But as the latest round of talks kicks off in Mexico City, the other countries are revealing a willingness to discuss modifying the idea. They say the termination clause could be turned into a review clause, meaning the agreement would still undergo assessments at regular intervals  without creating a climate of constant uncertainty, in which the deal could be cancelled by default.

The Mexican government has publicly and explicitly acknowledged its willingness to discuss this revised version. Now Canadian officials are saying similar things privately.

We are going with a counter-proposal: Lets put more force into evaluations, but lets not establish an automatic phase-out mechanism, Mexicos economy minister, Ildefonso Guajardo, said this week. Lets establish a commitment that every five years we will evaluate what is happening, an analysis, what effects the agreement is having. And based on those results, each country can decide what to do in the future.

Thats compatible with the Canadian position.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland have frequently spoken about the value of reviewing trade agreements, but have not publicly discussed the idea of embedding such a practice in a formal clause of NAFTA.

Yet one Canadian official speaking on the condition that he not be identified opened the door on Thursday to discussing the idea.

He said the notion of periodic NAFTA performance reviews is not new in trade agreements, nor is it something Canada would be unhappy to discuss should other countries wish to.

But he said the original proposal of a so-called sunset clause remains out of bounds. He said it would make for permanent uncertainty, and is unnecessary as NAFTA already has a six-month termination clause that can be invoked at any time by an unhappy signatory.

The apparent willingness to engage comes after an acrimonious round in Washington last month, where countries swatted aside each others major demands. At the end of the round, all three lead NAFTA ministers publicly scolded each others attitudes from the news conference stage.

Those politicians, Freeland, Robert Lighthizer, and Guajardo, have announced they will not attend the current round. There are also reports they might miss the next round too, as the politicians retreat from the foreground to give negotiators space to work without all the discord in public view.

This hint of willingness to compromise on a review-type clause raises the possibility that there might be some softer stances as the talks approach their hoped-for finish date of next March.

That being said, Canada, Mexico and the U.S. business community remain unnerved by some American proposals and wonder what the Trump administration actually wants. Speculation is rife in all three capitals about whether the White House wants a deal, or whether it is attempting to sabotage the talks and set the stage for the announcement of a U.S. withdrawal from NAFTA.

More than six-dozen U.S. lawmakers wrote to Trumps trade czar this week expressing concern about the handling of the NAFTA file.

A trade consultant attending this weeks talks says this idea of a regular assessment could be a worthwhile discussion point, as long as it doesnt come with a termination-by-default portion.

He said regular reviews would not be so revolutionary. He pointed out that the current agreements Chapter 20 establishes a NAFTA Commission and gives it the power to consider new matters that might affect the operation of the agreement.

It is in fact rather normal to have periodic reviews to determine if the deal is working and can work better. It is not normally tied to killing the deal, said Peter Clark, an Ottawa consultant.

Laura Dawson of Washingtons Wilson Center agreed that some watered-down version of the initial U.S. demand might work.

She said it might resemble the World Trade Organizations policy-review mechanism, which requires all members to conduct a self-assessment and assessment by a panel of others every two, four or six years, although the WTO version doesnt require countries to act in response to findings.

The review mechanism is probably reasonable, Dawson said.

Source: Meatbusiness
Quentin Tarantino will work with Sony Pictures on his next film.

Quentin Tarantino

The studio has confirmed it has won the worldwide rights for the 54-year-old filmmakers next movie, the first of Tarantino's career not to be worked on by Miramax or The Weinstein Company after the allegations made against producer Harvey Weinstein.

Tom Rothman, Chairman of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, wrote in an email to colleagues: "I am pleased to report that late last night, Sony did indeed succeed in securing the worldwide rights in all media to Quentin Tarantino's next epic film ...

"Bottom line: Quentin chose Sony over many other competitors. And he did this because of all of YOU! He remembers well the outstanding job the company did on Django, and was particularly impressed last week by the presentation of our marketing and distribution capabilities, both domestically and internationally. I'm grateful to all who worked to make this happen and confident that we will do a great job for him on this film and others to come. It's a real credit to the studio and to each of you. Congrats. (sic)"

Tarantino has been a long time friend of Weinstein - who has been accused of sexual misconduct by a number of women - and the director had previously admitted he was aware of "a couple" of the alleged offences and regrets not doing more to prevent it.

He said: "I knew enough to do more than I did. There was more to it than just the normal rumours, the normal gossip. It wasn't secondhand. I knew he did a couple of these things. I wish I had taken responsibility for what I heard. If I had done the work I should have done then, I would have had to not work with him."

Tarantino is responsible for the iconic 'Pulp Fiction' as well as hit movies including 'The Hateful Eight', 'Kill Bill' and 'Django Unchained'
Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas celebrate their 17th wedding anniversary today so we reflect on their time together as husband and wife.

Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones (Credit: Famous)

1. Jones met Douglas at the Deauville Film Festival in August 1998 after Danny De Vito introduced them.

2. The couple, who share the same birthday (25th September), just 25 years apart, began seeing each other in March 1999.

3. They got engaged not long after on 31st December 1999 in Apsen, Colorado.

4. Jones and Douglas finally married in the Plaza hotel in New York City in 18th November 2000, only a few weeks after Douglas' divorce was finalised.

5. Due to Zeta Jones' routes, they had a Welsh choir at their wedding and Welsh gold rings with a Celtic motif that they bought from Aberystwyth.

6. The BBC called it 'the wedding of the year' and it reportedly cost around 1.5 million.

7. The couple signed a 1 million deal with OK! magazine to release pictures of the event, and the rest of the press were not permitted to enter.

8. People magazine announced in August 2013 that the couple had been living apart since May 2013 allegedly to cope with the stress of separate illnesses, however no legal proceedings had taken place to begin their divorce.

7. On November 1st it was found that Jones had moved back in with Douglas into their New York apartment. Douglas stated that they were "stronger than ever". (Wikipedia)

9. The couple have two children together; Dylan Michael (8th August 2000) and Carys Zeta (20th April 2003).

10. The family lived in Bermuda until 2009, and since 2016 they've lived in rural New York State.

Happy Anniversary Michael and Catherine!

by Lucy Moore for www.femalefirst.co.uk

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Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes would have celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary today so we reflect on their time together as husband and wife with some things you might not know about the couple.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes (Credit:Famous)

1. Holmes admitted to a magazine that she had a childhood crush on her husband to be-"I think every little girl dreams of her wedding. I used to think I was going to marry Tom Cruise" (IMDB)

2. The pair first began dating in April 2005.

3. By April 27th they had already been given the name 'TomKat' by the press when they made their first public appearance in Rome.

4. The media was allegedly sceptical that the relationship was a publicity stunt, however Cruise was firm in denying this; 'It's amusing at first. It's funny. But then you sit back and realize how sad it is that there are people who can't even imagine feeling like this. But my friends are happy for me. The people who know me are happy. My mom is happy. My family is happy.' (IMDB)

5. Cruise proposed to Holmes on 17th June 2005 on the Eifel Tower in Paris.

6. In May, the actor was unforgettable on The Oprah Winfrey Show, declaring his love for Holmes, by energetically jumping up and down on her couch.

7. Holmes was brought up to be Roman Catholic, however studied scientology not long after they began dating as Cruise is a follower.

8. In October 2005, they told the media that they were expecting their first child and Suri was born in April 2006.

9. Holmes was also the stepmother of Cruise's adopted children Isabella and Connor.

10. The couple were married on the 18th November 2006 in a 15th century Odesalchi Castle in Italy.

11. They wed in a scientology ceremony that was attended by many famous faces including Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, Brooke Sheilds and Chris Henchy, Richard Gere, Victoria and David Beckham, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy, John Travolta and Kelly Preston, Jenna Elfman and Bodhi Elfman and Leah Remini.

12. The marriage was made official in Los Angeles the day before.

13. They both wore Armani on their wedding day and went on their honeymoon to the Maldives.

14. On 29th June 2012, Holmes filed for divorce after being together for five and a half years, citing 'personal and private' reasons as the cause.

Source: Wikipedia and IMDB.

by Lucy Moore for www.femalefirst.co.uk

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The Association of Ghana Apparel Manufacturers (AGAM), a business network and advocacy organization for the Ghanaian apparel business, was launched in Accra recently by trade and industry minister John K Alan Kyerematen. AGAM president Gregory Kankoh said the association will help members network and build partnerships to enhance their businesses.AGAM exports more than $12 million worth of clothes each year and employs over 2,000 workers with the potential of expanding this workforce to 20,000 employees by December 2018, according to media reports in Ghana.

The Association of Ghana Apparel Manufacturers (AGAM), a business network and advocacy organization for the Ghanaian apparel business, was launched in Accra recently by trade and industry minister John K Alan Kyerematen. AGAM president Gregory Kankoh said the association will help members network and build partnerships to enhance their businesses.#

The association, launched on November 16, will also ensure members adopt global best practices and innovations in the industry to make Ghana the preferred apparel manufacturing hub in Africa for major global brands. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said two more leather industrial estates will be set up in Rajshahi and Chittagong divisions to boost the sector and expand it beyond Dhaka. She hopes to bag $5 billion from export of leather, leather goods and footwear out of the total export earnings of $60 billion as per the governments vision till 2021.The countrys leather industry has been shifted recently to a newly-developed zone in Savar after its growth inside Dhaka citys Hazaribagh.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said two more leather industrial estates will be set up in Rajshahi and Chittagong divisions to boost the sector and expand it beyond Dhaka. She hopes to bag $5 billion from export of leather, leather goods and footwear out of the total export earnings of $60 billion as per the government's vision till 2021.#

While inaugurating the recent three-day Bangladesh Leather Footwear and Leathergoods International Sourcing Show (BLLISS)-2017 in Dhaka via a videoconference from her official residence on November 16, she urged foreign investors and buyers to invest more in the countrys leather sector and buy more Bangladeshi leather products.The government plans to continue the 15 per cent cash incentive for leather exports for the next five years, she said.The event was organised by the commerce ministry and the Leathergoods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association of Bangladesh (LFMEAB) to attract more investment in the sector, according to media reports in the country.Fifteen countries, including China, India, Vietnam and Thailand, are participating in the event. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
The Confederation of International Footwear Associations (CIFA), a global platform of footwear makers, has rejected Myanmars application to be a member of the body citing ethnic cleansing of the Rohingyas by the Myanmarese government as the reason. All 16 CIFA member nations took the call at the 36th International Footwear Conference held in Dhaka recently.We refused to accept the application of Myanmar due to the ongoing ethnic cleansing by the Myanmar government, a newspaper in Bangladesh quoted CIFA chairperson Saiful Islam, who is also president of Leathergoods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association of Bangladesh, as saying.

The Confederation of International Footwear Associations (CIFA), a global platform of footwear makers, has rejected Myanmar's application to be a member of the body citing ethnic cleansing of the Rohingyas by the Myanmarese government as the reason. All 16 CIFA member nations took the call at the 36th International Footwear Conference held in Dhaka recently.#

CIFA aims at building up a friendly platform for the global shoe and allied industries, for exchanging business information among members and discussing possibility of business collaborations. CIFA members include China, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Sri Lankas apparel exports from January to September 2017 has increased by 11.3 per cent to $1.67 billion due to the European Union's tariff concession Generalized System of Preferences plus (GSP+), according to industries and commerce minister Rishad Bathiudeen. He termed it as GSP+s most prominent success for Sri Lankan exports till now since its reinstatement.Minister Bathiudeen was addressing the launch of the third edition of Intex South Asia 2017 in Colombo on November 15. Apparel exports to EU had increased by only 2 per cent from January to September 2016 in comparison to the same period in 2015.

Sri Lanka's apparel exports from January to September 2017 has increased by 11.3 per cent to $1.67 billion due to the European Union's tariff concession Generalized System of Preferences plus (GSP+), said industries and commerce minister Rishad Bathiudeen. He termed it as GSP+'s most prominent success for Sri Lankan exports till now since its reinstatement.#

A strong presence of Chinese, Indian and Hong Kong participants was seen at the three-day expo, according to Sri Lankan media reports.Though US market is not connected to EU GSP, the countrys apparel exports to the United States too has increased this year by 12 per cent to $1.8 billion between January to September.Sri Lankas overall apparel exports during the same period this year increased by 13.4 per cent to $3.97 billion in comparison to $3.5 billion during the same period last year.In 2016, Sri Lanka's apparel exports were pegged at $4.86 billion, about 43 per cent of the total Sri Lankan exports basket. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Hong Kong recently signed the ASEAN-Hong Kong-China Free Trade Agreement (AHKFTA) and the ASEAN-Hong Kong Investment Agreement (AHKIA) at the 31st ASEAN-Hong Kong summit in Manila to strengthen economic cooperation and stimulate development in the region. AHKFTA is ASEANs sixth free trade agreement.The agreements will create opportunities for micro, small and medium enterprises in the ASEAN countries to increase their presence in Hong Hong, a news agency report quoted Philippine trade and industry secretary Ramon Lopez as saying.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Hong Kong recently signed the ASEAN-Hong Kong-China Free Trade Agreement (AHKFTA) and the ASEAN-Hong Kong Investment Agreement (AHKIA) at the 31st ASEAN-Hong Kong summit in Manila to strengthen economic cooperation and stimulate development in the region. AHKFTA is ASEAN's sixth free trade agreement.#

While AHKFTA comprises 14 chapters covering broad areas of market access liberalisation, trade facilitation, rules to promote confidence in trade, and co-operation aimed at facilitating trade in goods and services in the region, AHKIA complements the former by covering the protection, promotion and facilitation of investment.ASEAN already has free trade agreements with China, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Fiji's Ambassador to the European Union and COP23 Climate Ambassador, Deo Saran, called for more awareness on the decline in the health of the oceans and its impacts on small islands developing states including Pacific island nations.



Speaking at an oceans side event that was organised by the Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union of Germany, Ambassador Saran linked the role of oceans to the survival of Pacific island countries.



"Coming from the Pacific, we all know that there is a strong link between healthy oceans, healthy livelihoods and a healthy climate. Our people rely on the Oceans for feeding their families. Oceans are important both for mitigation and adaptation. In the Pacific, but also in many other parts of the world, the rapid destruction and bleaching of coral reefs is depriving us from coastal life and fish", Ambassador Saran told participants.



As the event focused on how climate change affects the oceans and their biodiversity, Ambassador Saran said that "in the Pacific, but also in many other parts of the world, the rapid destruction and bleaching of coral reefs is depriving us from coastal life and fish.



Our Oceans are also the natural coolers and stabilizers of our global climate. We see the melting of the Arctic ice, sea level rise and the warming of the Oceans temperature - this natural balance is being challenged."



Ambassador Saran was joined by the former President of Kiribati His Excellency Anote Tong and Jochen Flasbarth - State Secretary, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), Germany. The event was organised as part of a series of side events that are taking place at COP23 in Bonn, Germany.


HON PM BAINIMARAMA AND COP23 PRESIDENT'S CLOSING STATEMENT AT COP23





Excellencies,Distinguished delegates,We should all be very pleased that COP23 has been a success.We have done the job we were given to do, which is to advance the implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement and prepare for more ambitious action through the Talanoa Dialogue of 2018.There has been positive momentum in a number of areas. And Fiji is especially gratified by how much the global community has embraced our concept of a Grand Coalition for greater ambition linking national governments with states and cities, civil society, the private sector and ordinary men and women around the world.We all leave Bonn having notched up some notable achievements, including our Ocean Pathway, the historic agreement on agriculture, an action plan on gender and a decision that benefits local communities and indigenous peoples. We have also secured more funding for climate adaptation and I am pleased to note that we have taken the important next step to ensure that the Adaptation Fund shall serve the Paris Agreement. We have also launched a global partnership to provide millions of climate-vulnerable people the world over with affordable access to insurance.Friends, COP23 has brought together power in many different forms. Power at all levels of government. Power in corporate boardrooms. Power in international institutions and civil society. Power in the hands of educators, investors and creative artists. The organisational power of our youth. And the power we derive as decision-makers from our people to fully implement the Paris Agreement. We need all this power to solve the greatest challenge of our age.Right from the start, Fiji has endeavoured to use the power of the COP Presidency that you invested in us to put people first. We wanted to make a connection between these complex negotiations and the real, everyday concerns and aspirations of people the world over.That is why we brought so many of our own people with us to Bonn who are not experts on climate change negotiations but live with climate change every day of their lives.We also brought our Fijian Bula Spirit to COP and its wonderful how people have responded. I especially want to warmly thank our hosts, the German Government and the UNFCCC, as well as the people of Bonn. And of course, all of you  the Parties. I draw my power from you and thank you sincerely for the opportunity to serve.I especially want to thank Morocco for leaving me with this process in good order. And I pledge to do everything in my power to do the same for our Polish friends next year. And last but by no means least, I thank all the members of the Fijian team, and especially our Chief Negotiator, our Climate Champion and our Climate Ambassador, who have been by my side.Friends, we had a competition back home in Fiji to select a young person to represent our people and the winner was a boy by the name of Timoci Naulusala. Im sure youll all agree that he spoke beautifully. Im told that the Bonn Zone went quiet and people gathered around the screens. And he made such an impact that President Macron has invited him to Paris. Another young Fijian, Shalvi Shakshi, also struck a chord with visitors to the Bonn Zone.Timoci and Shalvi reminded us of the human cost of climate change. And of our ultimate responsibility  the interests and welfare of our children. Every culture and faith has this as a first principle and it must be ours as well.As Ive said all along, the whole world is in the same canoe - and we put a Fijian Drua outside this hall to remind everyone of the fact. At this COP, we have put our canoe on an excellent course. So lets all leave Bonn rededicating ourselves to completing this journey together.I asked you all to conclude the proceedings on time. I didnt mean Fiji time. But I guess thats all part of the Bula Spirit.I thank you all once again and wish you a safe journey home.Vinaka vakalevu. Thank you.
Toronto, Ontario,--(Newsfile Corp. - November 17, 2017) - Advantagewon Oil Corp. (CSE: AOC) (OTC Pink: ANTGF) (the "Corporation", "Advantagewon", "AOC") announced today that it has conducted, and that it has closed, a non- brokered private placement raise where Four Hundred and Thirty Thousand Dollars ("$430,000.00") CDN was raised by issuing Two Million Eight Hundred and Sixty-Six Thousand Six Hundred and Sixty-Seven ("2,866,667") Units at a price of Fifteen Cents ("$0.15") CDN per Unit. Each unit is comprised of one common share of the Corporation, and one common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to acquire one common share of the Corporation for Twenty-Five Cents ("$0.25") CDN for a period of 36 months from the closing date. All common shares issued in connection with this placement will be subject to a four month plus one day hold period under applicable Canadian securities laws. In connection with the closing of this private placement offering, Advantagewon Oil Corp., paid finder's fees totaling Thirty-Four Thousand, Four Hundred Dollars ("$34,400.00") CDN in connection with certain subscriptions for the Corporation's Units. Proceeds of the placement will be used for both acquisitions and for working capital purposes.

The Corporation also announced today that it has entered into a debt settlement agreement with two creditors. The Corporation will transfer Two Million Five Hundred Thousand ("2,500,000") common shares that it currently owns and holds in Gunpowder Capital Corp., equally to the two creditors. The creditors have agreed that once the share transfer is completed a combined Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ("$200,000.00") CDN worth of debt owed to the creditors will be settled.

The Corporation has entered into a debt settlement agreement where the Corporation will issue Two Hundred Thousand ("216,300") common shares at a deemed price of Ten Cents ("$0.10") CDN per common share to settle Twenty-One Thousand Six Hundred and Thirty Dollars ("$21,630.00") CDN of debt to certain creditors, one of which is a Director of the Corporation. All shares issued in the debt settlement agreements will be subject to a four month plus one day hold period under applicable Canadian securities laws.

About Advantagewon Oil Corp.

Advantagewon is focused on building consistent cash flow from low cost, low risk oil wells in the State of Texas. AOC applies specialized expertise to increase oil recovery from 10-15% to up to 75% for each well. Once the enhanced recovery strategy is successfully applied, AOC will repeat the process throughout the oil pool to maximize output and minimize cost and risk. For more information please visit www.aoc-oil.com.

For further information please contact:

Mr. Paul Haber

CEO & Director

Advantagewon Oil Corp.

T: (416) 318-6501

E: paul.haber@aoc-oil.com

W: www.aoc-oil.com

Mr. Frank Kordy

Secretary & Director

Advantagewon Oil Corp.

T: (647) 466-4037

E: frank.kordy@aoc-oil.com

W: www.aoc-oil.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements included in this document are made as of the date of this document and the Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation. Although Management believes that the expectations represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such. Neither CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

- 30 -
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 17, 2017) - TNR Gold Corp. (TSXV: TNR) ("TNR" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed the previously announced non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $360,000. The private placement consists of 7,200,000 units at a price of $0.05 per unit (a "Unit"). Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company and a warrant to purchase one common share at $0.05 per share for five years.

Of the 7,200,000 warrants issued, 2,400,000 warrants will include an acceleration clause such that if TNR common shares trade at a price over $0.08 for 30 consecutive days before July 1, 2018, the Company will have the right to accelerate the exercise of the 2,400,000 warrants at the $0.05 exercise price. In this case, the warrant holders must exercise the 2,400,000 warrants within 30 days after notice is provided by the Company.

The securities issued pursuant to the private placement are subject to a hold period of four months plus one day from the date of issuance.

Maurice Brooks, Greg Johnson, Kirill Klip, Ross Thompson and John Wisbey, directors of the Company, were subscribers in the private placement. Mr. Brooks acquired 120,000 Units, Mr. Johnson acquired 110,000 Units, Mr. Klip acquired 870,000 Units, Mr. Thompson acquired 100,000 Units and Mr. Wisbey acquired 6,000,000 Units. The issuance of private placement securities to non-arms' length parties constitutes a related-party transaction under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Because the Company's shares trade only on the TSX Venture Exchange, the issuance of securities is exempt from the formal valuation requirements of Section 5.4 of MI 61-101 pursuant to Subsection 5.5(b) of MI 61-101 and exempt from the minority approval requirements of Section 5.6 of MI 61-101 pursuant to Section 5.7(b). The post-closing ownership in TNR by John Wisbey, before warrant exercise, is 15,390,000 shares, equivalent to approximately 9.8% of the outstanding common shares of the Company. Should all of the warrants held by Mr. Wisbey be exercised, his holdings would be 21,390,000 shares, equivalent to approximately 13% of the issued common shares (reflecting exercise of all of the warrants in this financing). Should all of the warrants held by Mr. Klip be exercised, his holdings would be 29,995,000 shares, equivalent to approximately 18% of the issued common shares. The Company did not file a material change report 21 days prior to the closing of the private placement as the details of the participation of insiders of the Company had not been confirmed at that time.

ABOUT TNR GOLD CORP.

TNR Gold Corp. is working to become an energy metals royalty company. Over the past twenty-two years, TNR, through its lead generator business model, has been successful in generating high quality exploration projects around the globe. With the Company's expertise, resources and industry network, it identified the potential of the Los Azules copper project in Argentina and now holds a 0.36% NSR royalty on the prospect.

TNR is also a major shareholder of International Lithium Corp. ("ILC"), with current holdings of approximately 10.5% of the outstanding shares of ILC. ILC holds interests in lithium projects in Argentina, Ireland and Canada.

TNR retains a 1.8% NSR royalty on the Mariana Lithium property in Argentina. ILC maintains a right to repurchase 1.0% of the NSR royalty on the Mariana Lithium property of which 0.9% relates to the Company's NSR interest. The Company would receive $900,000 on execution of the repurchase. The project is currently being advanced in a joint venture between ILC and Ganfeng Lithium International Co. Ltd.

At its core, TNR provides significant exposure to gold, copper and lithium through its holdings in Alaska (the Shotgun gold porphyry project) and Argentina, and is committed to continued generation of in-demand projects, while diversifying its markets and building shareholder value.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Kirill Klip

Executive Chairman

www.tnrgoldcorp.com

For further information concerning this news release please contact +1 604-700-8912.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "will", "could" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "could" occur, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Specifically, forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements made in relation to: TNR's corporate objectives, changes in share capital, market conditions for energy commodities, the results of McEwan Mining's PEA, and improvements in the financial performance of the Company. Such forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those discussed in the sections entitled "Risks" and "Forward-Looking Statements" in the Company's interim and annual Management's Discussion and Analysis which are available under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com. While management believes that the assumptions made and reflected in this news release are reasonable, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking information. In particular, there can be no assurance that: TNR will be repay its loans or complete any further royalty acquisitions or sales; debt or other financing will be available to TNR; or that TNR will be able to achieve any of its corporate objectives. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements included herein are not guarantees of future performance, and such forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied on.

In formulating the forward-looking statements contained herein, management has assumed that business and economic conditions affecting TNR and its royalty partners, McEwen Mining Inc. and International Lithium Corp. or its joint venture partner, Ganfeng Lithium will continue substantially in the ordinary course, including without limitation with respect to general industry conditions, general levels of economic activity and regulations. These assumptions, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect.

Forward-looking information herein and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES
DUBLIN, November 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The "Global Medical Tourism Market 2017-2021" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering.

The global medical tourism market to grow at a CAGR of 12.55% during the period 2017-2021.

Global Medical Tourism 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.

One trend in the market is rise in international accreditation and assistance by hospitals. International accreditation of hospitals is one of the major trends in the global medical tourism market. The US has appointed an affiliate agency, the JCI, that provides accreditations to hospitals. Hospitals need to follow a set of rigorous standards to obtain the accreditation.

According to the report, one driver in the market is leveraging internet to create awareness. The emergence of internet allows for budding consumer to glance and request from a range of service offered by vendors through their online websites and portals. It makes the user experience of patients easier and aids in brand retention and visibility. The capacity of the vendors to showcase their services online allows for capturing larger share of the market and higher revenue generation. Moreover, the increasing penetration of internet will enable the vendors to provide a broad range of services such as dentistry, orthopedics, cardiovascular treatments, cancer treatments to reach new potential customers and increase the customer base for these services.

Further, the report states that one challenge in the market is lack of reimbursements. Reforms in the reimbursement structure as well as rates worldwide distress consumer demand leading to market fluctuations. Despite reforms for pharmaceuticals and medical devices, developed countries such as Germany, France, the US, the UK, and Japan do not have proper reimbursement policies for these surgeries. Most of the medical insurance offered across the US do not cover the cost of these procedures barring a few Managed care organizations (MCOs) depending on the plans opted by patients. Also for the patients travelling to other nations for treatment are also hindered by the limited reimbursement options.

Key Market Trends



Rise in international accreditation and assistance by hospitals

Transition from invasive to non-invasive procedures

Growth of strategic initiatives for fertility treatments

Key vendors

Apollo Hospitals

Asklepios Kliniken Verwaltungsgesellschaft

Bangkok Hospital

Bumrungrad International Hospital

Fortis Healthcare

Other prominent vendors

Asian Heart Institute

Medanta The Medicity

Min-Sheng General Hospital

Parkway Holdings

Wooridul Hospital

Anadolu Medical Center

Prince Court Medical Center

Raffles Medical Group

Samitivej Sukhumvit

Spire Healthcare

Key Topics Covered:



Part 01: Executive Summary



Part 02: Scope Of The Report



Part 03: Research Methodology



Part 04: Market Landscape



Part 05: Market Segmentation By Treatment Type



Part 06: Regional Landscape



Part 07: Decision Framework



Part 08: Drivers And Challenges



Part 09: Market Trends



Part 10: Vendor Landscape



Part 11: Key Vendor Analysis



Part 12: Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2fmr6r/global_medical



Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



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SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN and OAKVILLE, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 11/17/17 -- Editors Note: A photo for this release is available on the Canadian Press picture wire via Marketwired.

Transaction Highlights

-- Combining the leading medical brand and a high profile recreational brand to create a premier global cannabis company -- Well positioned to offer innovative, high quality products with two top tier distinct brands uniquely positioned to address key product trends and emerging drivers of growth in both market segments -- CanniMed and Up Cannabis will leverage infrastructure and expertise across both platforms to drive strong synergistic value while focusing on being leaders in their distinct markets, with best-in-class production and marketing practices -- Expected to be accretive (before synergies) on key metrics by 2019 -- The Tragically Hip remain intimately involved as shareholders and active participants in the creation and support of the Up Cannabis brand -- Significantly improves operational scale with a targeted 45,000 kg of capacity by 2019 and market breadth -- Improved capital markets presence with a pro-forma capitalization exceeding $500mm -- Newstrike shareholders to receive 33.0 CanniMed shares for each 1,000 shares of Newstrike

CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. (TSX: CMED) ("CanniMed") and Newstrike Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: HIP) ("Newstrike") are pleased to announce that they have reached a definitive agreement (the "Arrangement Agreement") pursuant to which CanniMed will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Newstrike (the "Arrangement"), parent company of Up Cannabis Inc. ("Up Cannabis"), a licensed producer of cannabis under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR).

"This is a transformational strategic acquisition for our company, which will position CanniMed and Up Cannabis together as premium players in the emerging recreational cannabis marketplace, while equally staying true to our mandate to provide the best treatment and care to medical patients," said Brent Zettl, President and CEO, CanniMed. "Together, we recognize the importance of brand loyalty and will continue to build products, programs and resources to showcase our leadership in the cannabis arena."

Jay Wilgar, President and CEO of Up Cannabis, stated: "This is a watershed moment for Up Cannabis as we prepare for the opening of the recreational cannabis market opportunity in 2018. This business combination with CanniMed positions our collective team as a clear market leader, and we will work tirelessly to ensure that we keep building a brand and product offering that resonates unequivocally with the market."

The Arrangement will be by way of a plan of arrangement pursuant to which each Newstrike shareholder will receive 0.033 CanniMed shares in exchange for each Newstrike share held. Subsequent to closing of the Arrangement, the current CanniMed shareholders will own in aggregate approximately 65 per cent of the combined entity and the Newstrike shareholders will in aggregate own approximately 35 per cent of the combined entity.

Completion of the Arrangement is subject to the approval of shareholders of both companies at special meetings of the shareholders of each company. Newstrike will require the approval of 66 2/3 per cent of the shareholders that vote, by person or in proxy at the meeting, as well as a simple majority of the shareholders that vote, by person or in proxy, at the meeting, excluding certain insiders. CanniMed will require the approval of a simple majority of the shareholders that vote, by person or in proxy, at the meeting. Both companies will be communicating the timing and conduct of those meetings which are expected to be scheduled for early January 2018. Closing of the transaction is anticipated to occur in January 2018.

Arrangement Summary

The Arrangement Agreement provides that Newstrike shareholders will be entitled to receive 0.033 common shares of CanniMed for each Newstrike common share held, representing consideration of approximately C$0.505 per Newstrike common share based on the closing price of CanniMed common shares on November 14, 2017. Upon closing of the Arrangement, Newstrike will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of CanniMed.

The Arrangement Agreement provides that both parties are subject to non-solicitation provisions and provides that the board of both companies may, under certain circumstances, terminate the Arrangement in favour of an unsolicited superior proposal, subject to the payment of a termination fee of C$5 million by Newstrike to CannMed or C$9.5 million by CanniMed to Newstrike, as the case may be. In addition, the Arrangement Agreement includes provisions providing for expense reimbursement of up to $600,000 from one party to the other in the event that the agreement is terminated under certain circumstances.

The Arrangement Agreement provides that on closing of the Arrangement, the board of directors of the combined entity will include two persons who will be nominated by Newstrike. In addition, certain shareholders of Newstrike will be entitled to nominate two persons to the CanniMed board of directors at its 2018 annual shareholders' meeting and will have a right to nominate one person to the board at each annual meeting for so long as they hold at least 10 per cent of the outstanding CanniMed shares.

Under applicable TSX rules, the transaction requires the approval of CanniMed shareholders by a majority vote, as the number of CanniMed common shares to be issued exceeds 25 per cent of the total number of outstanding CanniMed common shares.

Closing remains subject to approval of the shareholders of both CanniMed and Newstrike, court approval, the approval of the TSX, applicable regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of certain other closing conditions customary in transactions of this nature.

The Arrangement Agreement contains other customary representations, warranties, covenants and conditions to closing. Additional details of the Arrangement is expected to be provided to Newstrike and CanniMed shareholders in respective information circulars to be mailed in late 2017.

Board Recommendations

The definitive agreement has been approved by the Board of Directors of each of CanniMed and Newstrike and the Boards each recommend that their respective shareholders vote in favour of the Arrangement.

Financial and Legal Advisors

AltaCorp Capital Inc. is acting as financial advisor to CanniMed and has provided a fairness opinion to the CanniMed Board of Directors with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP acting as legal advisor to CanniMed. Cormark Securities Inc. has provided a fairness opinion to the CanniMed Board of Directors.

The Aurora Proposal

On November 15, 2017, CanniMed issued a press release responding to a press release from Aurora Cannabis Inc. ("Aurora") regarding its intention to make an unsolicited offer for all of CanniMed's shares. Since the date of that press release, Aurora has not made a formal offer for CanniMed's shares.

As no formal offer has been made, CanniMed continues to advise shareholders to take NO action with respect to the unsolicited proposal.

In making its recommendation to shareholders to vote in favour of the Arrangement, the Board of Directors of CanniMed considered, among other things, the following:

(i) the Newstrike acquisition is accretive and is a highly strategic entry into the recreational cannabis market; (ii) the terms of any Aurora offer are unknown, whereas the transaction with Newstrike has been fully negotiated and contains only reasonable conditions to closing.

CanniMed will respond to the Aurora proposal if a formal offer is made.

Conference Call Information

CanniMed and Newstrike will host a conference call and a webcast accompanied by slides to discuss the transaction on Monday, November 20, 2017 at 10:00 AM EST. Analysts, investors and media are invited and welcome to participate. Advisory with contact information will follow Monday pre-market.

About CanniMed Therapeutics Inc.

CanniMed is a Canadian-based, international plant biopharmaceutical company and a leader in the Canadian medical cannabis industry, with 16 years of pharmaceutical cannabis cultivation experience, state-of-the-art, GMP-compliant production process and world class research and development platforms with a wide range of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis products. In addition, the Company has an active plant biotechnology research and product development program focused on the production of plant-based materials for pharmaceutical, agricultural and environmental applications.

CanniMed, through its subsidiaries, was the first producer to be licensed under the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations, the predecessor to the current Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations. It was the sole supplier to Health Canada under the former medical cannabis system for 13 years, and has been producing safe and consistent medical cannabis for thousands of Canadian patients, with no incident of product diversion or recalls.

For more information, please visit our websites: www.cannimed.ca (patients) and www.cannimedtherapeutics.com (investors).

About Newstrike and Up Cannabis

Newstrike is the parent company of Up Cannabis, a licensed producer of cannabis that received its cultivation license on December 19, 2016. Newstrike, together with its strategic partners, is developing a diverse network of high quality cannabis brands. For more information visit www.up.ca or www.newstrike.ca.

Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of CanniMed and Newstrike to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to our expectations with respect to: the timing and outcome of the proposed acquisition of all the issued and outstanding common shares of Newstrike; the terms of any formal offer by Aurora; the anticipated benefits of the transaction to the parties and their respective security holders; impact of the transaction and enhanced infrastructure on production capabilities; and the anticipated timing of the meeting of CanniMed and Newstrike shareholders to consider the transaction and for the closing of the transaction. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. In respect of the forward-looking statements and information concerning the anticipated benefits and completion of the proposed transaction and the anticipated timing for completion of the transaction, CanniMed and Newstrike have provided such statements and information in reliance on certain assumptions that they believe are reasonable at this time, including assumptions as to the time required to prepare and mail security holder meeting materials; the ability of the parties to receive, in a timely manner and on satisfactory terms, the necessary regulatory, court and shareholders approvals; the ability of the parties to satisfy, in a timely manner, the other conditions to the closing of the transaction; and other expectations and assumptions concerning the transaction. There can be no assurance that the proposed transaction will occur, or that it will occur on the terms and conditions contemplated in this news release. The proposed transaction could be modified, restructured or terminated. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release.

Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Additional information on other factors that could affect the operations or financial results of the parties are included in reports on file with applicable securities regulatory authorities.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. CanniMed and Newstrike do not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf, except as required by applicable law.

None of the Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange and their Regulation Services Providers accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Completion of the Arrangement is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, TSXV and TSX acceptance and if applicable, disinterested shareholder approval. Where applicable, the Arrangement cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the Arrangement will be completed as proposed or at all.

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular to be prepared in connection with the Arrangement, any information released or received with respect to the Arrangement may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of Newstrike and CanniMed should be considered highly speculative.

The TSX Venture Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

To view the photo associated with this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/CPiUpCannabis1117.jpg

Contacts:

Media Contact: CanniMed Therapeutics Inc.

Dara Willis

416-836-9272

dhw@cannimed.com



CanniMed Therapeutics Inc.

Investor Relations

invest@cannimed.com



Media Contact: Up Cannabis

PM Rendon

416-301-2391

pm@newstrike.ca



Up Cannabis

Investor Relations

IR@newstrike.ca




The doors of NATO are opened for Ukraine, although the decision to allow Ukraine to join the Alliance will be taken by all 29 members, NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg has said at the Halifax International Security Forum (HISF).

He said that the NATO doors are opened, and the best proof of this is that since the end of the Cold War to the present day, the number of NATO members has nearly doubled. Secondly, this year we also received a new member. Montenegro joined us in spring and NATO now has 29 members. Consequently, NATO's doors are open. Of course, in order to become a member of NATO it is necessary to fulfill the requirements of the Alliance and to reform. Both Georgia and Ukraine are now focused on reforms, on modernizing defense institutions, fighting corruption and strengthening democratic institutions, according to a posting on the Radio Liberty website, referring to Stoltenberg.

Asked about the Alliance's attitude to the issue of Ukraine and Georgia's membership, he said that NATO, Canada, other allies are helping both Ukraine and Georgia with the implementation of reforms. In the end, the decision to accept or reject new members will be taken by 29 NATO member countries, no one else has the right to intervene and veto this process, he said. Each sovereign country has the right to determine its own way and NATO will decide whether we will expand or not, Stoltenberg added.

Defense Minister of Canada Harjit Singh Sajjan backed Ukraine's NATO membership.

Ukraine has no stronger support than it receives from Canada, he said. Canada has more than a million citizens of Ukrainian origin, and the country is very sensitive to what is happening in Ukraine right now - before the illegal annexation of the Crimea, the events in the Donbas. First, these problems should be solved and work on reforms in the Armed Forces of Ukraine should continue so that the country eventually not only joined NATO, but became self-sufficient, he said.

Sajjan also confirmed that if these problems are settled, Canada will support Ukraine's full NATO membership.

Canada cannot forget about Ukraine, he said. Some 200 of Canadian military servicemen are staying there. Canada's efforts in Ukraine are not isolated, they are part of a broader effort, a collective signal of deterrence, which is addressed to Russia, Sajjan said, answering a question about the overseas security of Canada's missions.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - First Horizon National Corp. (FHN) and Capital Bank Financial Corp. (CBF) announced that, in connection with their proposed merger, Capital Bank Corp. will sell two branches in Greene County, totaling about $34 million in deposits and $2.5 million in loans, to Apex Bank, a Tennessee banking corporation. Apex Bank's purchase includes both branches slated for divestiture under First Horizon's agreement with the United States Department of Justice and commitments to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, which were entered into in connection with a customary review of First Horizon's pending merger with Capital Bank Financial. Apex Bank has $517 million in assets and currently operates 11 branches in Tennessee, including two branches in Greene County. Apex Bank expects to retain all current branch employees when the purchase closes. Barclays Capital Inc. served as financial advisor and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP served as legal counsel to First Horizon. Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz served as legal counsel to Capital Bank Financial. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.


WOLFSBURG (dpa-AFX) - Volkswagen AG (VKW.L, VLKAF.PK, VOW.BE) announced Saturday that the core brand of the Volkswagen Group will be investing about 22.8 billion euros throughout the world from 2018 to 2022, a day after it announced a spending programme aimed at bolstering its position as a maker of electric cars.



Volkswagen said that around 14 billion euros will be spent in Germany, adding that one of the key measures included a 1 billion euros injection to transform the carmaker's Zwickau plant into a pure e-mobility facility.



Herbert Diess, CEO of the Volkswagen brand, said, 'The investment package which has now been adopted will give a decisive boost to the largest product and technology offensive in the history of the brand'.



On Friday, the company announced that it will invest more than 34 billion euros for the development of electric mobility, autonomous driving, new mobility services and digitalization until 2022.



The decision was made following the conclusion of consultations on the Wolfsburg-based firm's board over how to respond to the challenge of technological change in the automotive industry.



CEO Matthias Muller said, 'We are reinventing the car. To achieve that, we are making targeted investments to provide the necessary funds from our own resources.'



The company also announced that the Volkswagen brand is on track for success with the pact for the future. This is the interim assessment given by the Board of Management and the General Works Council 12 months following the signature of the agreement.



To date, 1.9 billion of efficiency savings have already been achieved, corresponding to 96 percent of the target set for 2017. As regards partial early retirement, Volkswagen is also on the right track, having already reached 94 percent of the target for 2020.



The company said that the pact for the future provides for savings and efficiency improvements in all areas and at all locations, with an annual positive impact on earnings of 3.7 billion euros from 2020 onwards, including 3 billion euros in Germany.



It also said that it plans to cut some 23,000 jobs at its own-brand unit in Germany with the creation of 9,000 future-oriented jobs.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Banks and finance companies are integral to the Indian economy. Today, especially, they don a bigger role in funding innovative ideas across industries, and supporting major commercial and economic activities in the country.

With the staggering growth of the financial services sector and loftier demands from customers, leaders at finance companies are keen on investing in cutting-edge solutions that offer value and address business requirements. Moreover, the digital India initiative, which is making mighty strides in the country, has given birth to a host of innovative solutions.

Given its widespread acceptance and resounding success across the world, digitisation is embraced by the BFSI sector as well. However, theres still scope for finance enterprises to experience all the advantages of digitisation. Moreover, with the ever-increasing customer needs, finance corporations have to serve their customers quickly otherwise they risk losing them.

As per a study by Ernst and Young, by 2020, the average age of India will be 29 years and this young consumer base is internet savvy and wants real time online information. This is exactly where fintech companies can step in and play a significant role.

Digital technology offered by fintech companies can help banks and any other finance company to automate transactions and introduce a whole new level of efficiency, which is currently missing with archaic processes. This includes automation of all aspects of card management such as card issuance, card activation/ deactivation.

With automation, banks no longer have to depend on third parties to complete card activation that ultimately leads to a faster and foolproof process. Similarly, microfinance companies can automate the issuance of credit cards for farmers. This is a much-needed breakthrough that can boost efficiency in lending funds to millions of farmers in rural areas.

Through digitisation, banks and finance companies can save resource time and costs, and achieve high accuracy by negating several time-consuming manual processes. Additionally, with immediate card activation and prompt servicing, banks can improve the overall customer experience. Moreover, fintech companies are mandated to offer digital solutions that are secure. And today, fintech companies offer advanced security features too to ensure safe transactions.

The engine of digitisation powers many more advantages. Finance companies can expand their product portfolio with innovative digital solutions that fintech companies offer. For instance, banks can offer digitised employee benefits that serve employees routine needs and also help save tax. This includes e-meal vouchers and paperless claims for medical, fuel, LTA, communications etc.

One of the key benefits that banks gain is to expand their customer base by offering new and relevant products and thereby increase customer loyalty. Moreover, since these benefits can be offered via current accounts, banks dont have to pay interest and can increase revenue. Ultimately, banks can prioritise on sales with automation and outsourcing of back-end work to fintech companies.

(The author is CTO & Co-Founder at Zeta- a digital payments platform)
Washington: US president Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, who is also a top White House advisor, will be leading the American contingent at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India later this month, the State Department has announced.

The Summit in Hyderabad, to be attended by 1,500 entrepreneurs from 170 countries, will be co-hosted by India and the US. The theme for the mega event will be 'Women First, Prosperity for All' and on supporting women entrepreneurs and fostering economic growth globally.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the White House in June had invited Ivanka Trump, 36, to visit India.

During the Summit, following closely on the heels of the Global Entrepreneurship Week, the attendees will participate interactive discussions and workshops, spread over three days, with accomplished entrepreneurs and investors who will share their knowledge and experience on how to start and scale a business.

The State Department said on Friday in a statement that it is working with selected partners through the SPARK Global Entrepreneurship Private Sector Coalition, led by the Global Entrepreneurship Network.

In addition to the Global Entrepreneurship Network, several US companies such as Amazon, Amway, CNBC, Cognizant, Dell, Google, Intel, Kauffman Foundation, Salesforce, Silicon Valley Bank and Walmart are supporting the GES 2017.

"The financial and in-kind support from the GES partners opens opportunities for more entrepreneurs to participate from around the world.

"Partners also enhance the overall experience at the Summit, including through the creation of networking lounges and a Global Launch Lounge to encourage new commitments toward global entrepreneurship," the State Department said.

"Partners will also provide direct services for the entrepreneurs including live streaming sessions, global media coverage and programs to help entrepreneurs continue to grow and scale after the summit," it added.
Kochi: The NDA government should not be "lured into false belief" that the economy is out of the woods, former prime minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday, reacting to the Moody's upgradation of India's sovereign credit rating.

The US-based agency upped India's rating to Baa2 from Baa3 and changed its rating outlook to 'stable' from 'positive', saying the reforms will help stabilise rising

levels of debt.

"I am glad that Moody's has done what they have done but we must not be, I think, lured into false belief that we are out of the woods," he said, reacting to a query on Moody's rating, in Kochi.

The economy needed strong purposeful guidance to move forward at the rate which the government itself says they want the country to move eight to 10 per cent, Singh said on the sidelines of a national seminar on 'Macro Economic Developments in India: Policy Perspectives' organised by the Economics Department of St Teresa's College, Ernakulam.



His comments came in the wake of finance minister Arun Jaitley terming the Moody's upgrading India's sovereign rating after 13 years as "belated recognition" of reforms undertaken.

Singh also cautioned that the soaring prices of the crude oil could "hurt the fiscal system" of the country.

"Now the crude oil prices are $62-64 whereas few months ago, they were about 40-45. So it can hurt balance of payment. It can also hurt the fiscal system as well," Singh said.

Asked how different he would have implemented the GST, Singh said there was "undue haste" in implementing the new taxation system and blamed the bureaucracy for its lack of preparedness.

"Both in administration and implementation, I think there is much to be desired and the very fact that the council has met so many times, they have now reduced rates of 211 items."



That showed that there was undue haste in implementation and the bureaucracy had not done its homework, he said.
Mumbai: Mocking at government's elation over the sovereign rating upgrade by Moody's, ex-finance minister P Chidambaram said only a few months ago the regime had flayed the rating methodology.

"Just some months ago, the government had said the Moody's methodology was all wrong...A long letter was written by Shaktikanta Das (ex-economic affairs secretary) questioning Moody's rating methodology, saying they've to revise their methodology as it's all wonky," he told the Tata Literature Live on Saturday.

Moody's had on Friday upgraded the sovereign ratings by a notch to Baa2 with the stable outlook, citing the Modi government's various reform programme and higher growth prospectus. The last rating upgrade was in 2004.

Ridiculing the way the government has reacted to the upward rating revision, the senior Congress leader recalled that for the government "Moody's, whose methodology was all wrong circa 2016".

On higher growth, which was cited by the agency as one of the key reasons for the rating action, he said the same agency and government project growth at 6.7 percent for the current financial year.

"It was 8 percent in 2015-16, 7.1 percent in 2016-17 and will be 6.7 percent in 2017-18. Is that North or South, you conclude," he said.

According to him, there are three key indicators, gross fixed capital formation and within that private sector investment; credit growth, especially for small businesses, and jobs which are critical to assessing the health of an economy.

"But the dashboard is flashing red on all these three indicators," he lamented.

Reeling out numbers, Chidambaram said gross fixed capital formation is down 7-8 points from its peak and there's no sign of it recovering in the near future as well.

Further, he said private investment is at its lowest in the past seven-eight years. In addition, several projects are stalled on one hand and many companies are on the other being referred to the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code. All these would lead to closures and downsizing and loss of jobs.

Secondly, the former finance minister pointed out that credit growth has been the lowest in two decades. "It has crept up 6 percent year-on-year, but for medium industries, it has been negative credit growth...SMEs are struggling and have to find finances outside the formal lending system."

He also referred to the criticality of job creation saying, "government is unwilling to come up with reliable and authentic data...CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy), which is a quite credible agency, stated that between January and June 2017, as many as 19,60,000 jobs were lost."

The senior Congress leader also said over 90 percent of jobs are in the SME sector which requires an urgent push to boost the economy.
Mammootty fans rejoice! A sequel to the 2007 blockbuster film Big B (which starred Malayalam actor Mammootty in the lead) has been announced. The movie will be titled Bilal; named after the lead character in Big B. The sequel will (once again) be helmed by Amal Neerad, who made his directorial debut with Big B.

The news broke out when Dulquer Salmaan (Mammootty's son and actor) took to Twitter to share the development as well as unveil the first look of the upcoming film. Although the poster didn't divulge too many details, it seems to fit perfectly into the action-thriller genre which Bilal belongs to.

Salmaan himself has previously worked with Neerad in the anthology movie 5 Sundarikal and CIA - Comrade in America.

The news of the sequel sent Mammootty fans in a tizzy, with Bilal from Big B being one of the most memorable on-screen characters portrayed by the Malayalam star. A no-nonsense man  Bilal spoke less, packed heavy punches and was always ready for action. Big B was touted as an unofficial remake of the Hollywood film Four Brothers which starred Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin, and Garrett Hedlund in lead roles.

Besides being in the director's chair, Neerad will also be producing Bilal under his banner Amal Neerad Productions.

Apart from Bilal, Mammootty will be seen in the upcoming films Streetlights and Masterpiece. He also confirmed recently that he will play Kunjalumarakkar in a biopic directed by Santosh Sivan.

Bilal is expected to hit theater screens in 2018.
Actor, producer, filmmaker  the influence of V Shantaram over the Indian film industry is a long-standing and illustrious one. Not only did Shantaram (full name Shantaram Rajaram Vankrude) have a sterling career in the business, spanning six decades  years that were associated with cinema of a high standard, he was also one of the industry's pioneers. He made the first Technicolor film in India; he also produced and directed the first Marathi language film  Ayodhyache Raje  here.

And on what would have been his 116th birthday, a Google Doodle honours Shantaram's contributions and filmmaking legacy.

The Google Doodle features watercolour style paintings of some of Shantaram's best films, including Do Aankhein Baaraah Haath, Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje and Amar Bhoopali. All three films date from the 1950s.

V Shantaram's contributions to cinema cannot be measured in technical terms alone. He strongly believed in films as a medium of change and with that in mind, several of his movies had a social message of some kind. Do Aankhein Baaraah Haath, for instance, had reformation as its theme. Exposing social prejudices and ignorance was another objective Shantaram hoped to achieve through his films.

Shantaram married three times; Pandit Jasraj was his son-in-law.

V Shantaram was conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1985; and the Padma Vibhushan in 1992  two years after his death at the age of 88.
Kolkata: French celluloid venture Los Perros directed by Marcela Said won the award for the best film in the International Competition category of the 23rd Kolkata Internaitonal Film Festival (KIFF) on Friday, 17 November in Kolkata.

The 94-minute film won the Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for best film that comprised a purse of Rs 51 lakh and a trophy, the organisers announced at the media conference.

The Best Director award in the same category was bagged by Iceland's Asa Helga Hjorleifsdottir for the film The Swan. Hjorleifsdottir's representatives were handed thee Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award that included a cheque of Rs 21 lakh and a trophy.

Veteran actor Biswajit Chatterjee handed over the awards.

Iran's Kupal directed by Kazem Mollaie and Poland's Birds Are Singing in Kigali produced by Joanna Koskrauze and Krzysztof Krauze were jointly given The Jury Special Mention Award on Innovation in Moving Images section.

Nepalese creation Goodbye Kathmandu by Nabin Subba was adjudged the best film in the Asian Select (Netpack award).

The Hiralal Sen Memorial Award for the best director in the Indian language film section went to Bijukumar Damodaran for his film Sound of Silence. The Jury Special Mention Award in the same section was won by Pathumma directed by Panchakshari.

In the short films category, Chahat Ke Gubbare by Amritanshu got the award for best film. In the documentary section, the best short film award went to Mrityubhoj (the death feast) directed by by Akanksha Sood.

Delegates from over 20 countries attended the eight-day festival, where 143 films from India and abroad were screened.
Sanya (China): Seventeen years ago, in the year 2000, Priyanka Chopra was crowned Miss World along with Lara Dutta and Dia Mirza bagging the other two honours  Miss Universe and Miss Asia Pacific  respectively, in the same year. Now, it is Manushi Chhillar who has been named Miss World 2017 at the international pageant.

Haryana girl Manushi Chhillar was earlier crowned this year's Femina Miss India World 2017, which got her the ticket to the global competition.

Her winning shot at the competition came with her heartfelt response to the question posed by the judges  which profession in the world deserves the highest salary and why. Manushi replied: "My mother has been my biggest inspiration, so I have to say, a mother's job. It is not always about cash, but love and respect as well. A mother deserves that the most."

The 21-year-old medical student, who sacrificed one whole year of her education to participate in the Miss India competition, said she grew up idolising Reita Faria, the first Indian and Asian to win the Miss World crown in 1966.

Chhillar, born to doctor parents, studied in St. Thomas School in Delhi and Bhagat Phool Singh Government Medical College for Women in Sonepat.

At Miss Wold 2017, Chhillar was named one of the five winners of the Beauty with a Purpose award at Miss World 2017 on 18 November in Sanya City Arena, China. The other winners of the title are contestants from South Africa, Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines.

Ahead of the competition, she told PTI, "Though I was a medical student, I never had a plan B. I don't want to regret anything in life, so it was really important for me to win this competition. My aim has always been to win the Miss World title."

Former pageant winners like Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai and Priyanka Chopra have carved a career in Bollywood post their wins. When asked if she had similar plans and considered the Miss India title as the stepping stone to Bollywood, Chhillar said, "I disagree with the notion. I feel that Miss India is a stepping stone for anything you want to do, not just Bollywood."

Chhillar was inching closer to the Miss World crown as she had gone straight from top 40 to 15, during the course of the competition.

As many as 108 beauty queens from different parts of the world are participating in the prestigious beauty pageant.

Miss World 2016 winner Puerto Rico's Stephanie Del Valle passed on the coveted crown to Chhillar amid thundering applause and celebrations. Miss Mexico was the first runner up while Miss England was declared the second runner up.

(With inputs from agencies)
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's upcoming film Padmavati has been mired in controversy for almost a year now. The film  starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor  tells the story of Alauddin Khilji, the medieval-era Delhi ruler, who fell in love with Rajput queen Padmavati. But many fringe groups, including the Shri Rajput Karni Sena, an organisation of the Rajput community, claim the film has distorted historical facts and have opposed the film's release with threats and acts of hooliganism.

As the outrage for a film that people are yet to watch continues, let's look at all the problems and setbacks faced by Bhansali and co in the last year or so.

25 December, 2016: A painter, Mukesh Dakia, suffers a head injury on the sets of the film and is declared dead on arrival at Kokilaben Hospital, Mumbai.

27 December, 2016: Film Studio Setting and Allied Mazdoor Union demand compensation for the family issuing a notice to Bhansali.

4 January, 2017: The family of the deceased painter receives a compensation of Rs 23 lakh after a mutual understanding is reached with Bhansali.

27 January, 2017: Activists of a Rajput organisation, Shree Rajput Karni Sena, claim the director is "distorting" historical facts in the film, with the organisation's patron and founder Lokendra Singh Kalvi saying "In no book is it written that Alauddin Khilji fell in love with Padmavati or he was her lover." They protest and misbehave with the film's crew during a shoot in Jaigarh Fort. They assault Bhansali by slapping him and tearing up his shirt. They also damage some cameras and other equipment, forcing Bhansali to stop shooting. Bollywood celebrities including Priyanka Chopra, Mahesh Bhatt and Anurag Kashyap take to social media to express their anger and shock. The Film & Television Producers Guild of India Ltd urges the government to take action.

28 January, 2017: A day after the assault on the sets, Bhansali decides to cancel shooting in Jaipur. The director clarifies in a statement that there is no dream sequence or objectionable scene between the characters of Rani Padmavati and Allauddin Khilji.

31 January, 2017: Bhansali Productions reach a truce with Shree Rajput Sabha regarding the latter's objection to possible distortion of facts in Padmavati.

14 February, 2017: Shree Rajput Karni Sena say there is a need to create a 'pre-Censor Board' to monitor all period films and prevent any misrepresentation of history.

6 March, 2017: Shree Rajput Karni Sena enter the Padmini Mahal in Chittorgarh Fort in Jaipur and break the mirrors famously known to have reflected the image of Rajput queen Rani Padmavati for Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khilji's viewing.

15 March, 2017: Two dozen unidentified miscreants torch a huge outdoor set of the film in Kohlapur. Since the fire brigade could not reach the disaster site in time, villagers help douse the fire and move the people and animals, mostly horses, from the site to safety. Trunks full of detailed costumes and accessories for the film are reduced to ashes. Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Deepak V Kesarkar says Bhansali had declined night security for the film set in Kolhapur.

21 September, 2017: Lokendra Singh Kalvi reiterates that his organisation will oppose the film's screening if facts are "distorted".

23 September, 2017: A group of protesters from Shri Rajput Karni Sena gather in front of Rajmandir Cinema Hall in Jaipur and shout slogans against Bhansali and burn posters of the film.

9 October, 2017: The trailer for the film is released.

2 November, 2017: BJP write to the Election Commission seeking a ban on the release of Padmavati till after the Gujarat Assembly elections on 9 and 14 December claiming claimed the movie would hurt the sentiments of Kshatriya and Rajput communities for its "wrong depiction of history". Senior Congress leader and national spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil says if there is actually "distortion of history" in the movie then it should not be released at all.

3 November, 2017: Protest by the Karni Sena against the film picks up pace in Rajasthan with a complete bandh observed in Chittorgarh.

6 November, 2017: Brahmin organisation, Sarv Brahmin Mahasabha, oppose the film's release noting they will not tolerate "distortion" of historical facts at any cost.

7 November, 2017: T Raja Singh, a member of Telangana assembly, calls upon people to boycott the movie believing the filmmakers were trying to denigrate Rajput community. He threatens to burn down theatres during screening and even announces that he will bail out youth if they are arrested for setting afire the theatres. Film distributors in Rajasthan, meanwhile, are wary of releasing the film.

Diya Kumari, of the former royal family of Jaipur, says if the movie does not display authentic history or takes any liberties, it will not be allowed to be released. "Rajputs will not allow any distortion of the valiant history of Rajasthan and sacrifice of its people in fighting barbarians," she says.

8 November, 2017: Following widespread criticism against his yet-to-release film, Bhansali posts a video saying the film upholds the honour of Rajputs and does not depict anything that may hurt anyone's sentiments.

9 November, 2017: Baijiraj Trivikrama Kumari Jamwal, daughter of Mahendra Singh Mewar (the 76th Maharana of the Mewar dynasty), says the controversy is generating "free publicity" for the film. "Instead of making it clear that it is Bollywood masala, you're saying it is history and misleading and 'miseducating' the future generations," she adds.

10 November, 2017: BJP's Arjun Gupta urges in a letter, addressed to Home Minister Rajnath Singh, that Bhansali should be tried for treason for distorting history. The Rajasthan government plans to set up a committee to watch the film. The Supreme Court refuses a plea seeking to ban the release of the film. The apex court says it could not intervene since the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) was yet to decide about the certification of the film.

11 November, 2017: Maharajkumar Vishvaraj Singh, son of Mahendra Singh Mewar, pens a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Smriti Irani and censor board chairperson Prasoon Joshi, among others, urging them to withhold the certification and release of the film.

13 November, 2017: Members of Indian Film and Television Directors' Association (IFTDA), Cine and TV Artists Association (CINTAA), Western India Cinematographers Association (WICA), Screenwriters Association (SWA) and Association of Cine and Television Art Directors & Costume Designer appeal to Smriti Irani and Rajnath Singh to allow freedom for filmmakers in the wake of the controversy over the film. Meanwhile, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij joins the anti-Padmavati bandwagon and asks the censor board to stall its release.

14 November, 2017: Karni Sena activists vandalise a theatre in Kota, Rajasthan after reports that it was showing a trailer of Padmavati. The protestors pelt stones and break windowpanes, gates and the ticket counter and also damage some office furniture.

15 November, 2017: The Maharashtra government provides a precautionary security cover to Bhansali amidst increasing controversies and growing threats ahead of the Padmavati's release. Shri Rajput Karni Sena calls for a 'Bharat Bandh' on 1 December if the film releases on that date. Congress says if there are scenes that hurt the sentiments of a particular community, the same need to be reviewed. The Uttar Pradesh government writes to the Union Secretary of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting requesting them to ensure that the prospects of public outrage and unrest over the film are considered owing to twisting of historical facts before certification of the film by CBFC. CBFC chairperson Prasoon Joshi says he is yet to watch the film, contrary to reports.

16 November, 2017: Karni Sena leader Lokendra Singh Kalvi threatens to cut actress Deepika Padukone's nose amid a call for "Bharat Bandh". Sarv Brahmin Mahasabha, an organisation of the Brahmin community, organises a blood signature campaign to request the CBFC to ban the film. Thakur Abhishek Som of Sardhana Chaubisi, who claims affiliation to the Samajwadi Party, announces a bounty of Rs 5 crore on the heads of Bhansali and Padukone for "wrongfully portraying" queen Padmini.

Union Minister Uma Bharti hits out at Bhansali for not taking care of sentiments of the Rajput community.

17 November, 2017: Entry to the famous Chittorgarh Fort in Jaipur was closed in protest against the film. Tourists visiting the fort were requested to go back. In other parts of Rajasthan, including Jaipur and Ajmer, protests are held by the Karni Sena. In Ajmer in front of a picture hall, miscreants put up a poster saying that Padmavati will not be released.

Mumbai police has warned individuals and groups against taking the law into their hands while protesting.

18 November, 2017: The Gaurav Swabhiman Sabha in Gujarat declares a pledge to not let the film run in the theaters of Gujarat, as they feel that it has been mischievous on the part of Bhansali to depict Rajput women in "degrading fashion". Hundreds of supporters of various Rajput organisations in Bihar stage protests against Bhansali, demanding a ban on his film "Padmavati" in the state. Shouting slogans and chanting "Jai Shri Ram", the protestors, including women of Rajput Mahasabha, take out a protest march and demand banning of the movie. They also threaten to not allow its screening.

19 November, 2017: Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje writes to the Centre seeking "necessary changes" in the movie before its release, so that "sentiments of any community are not hurt". The release of the film is "voluntarily" deferred from its scheduled date of 1 December, a spokesperson for the film's producer and distributor Viacom18 Motion Pictures says.

20 November, 2017: Senior National Conference (NC) leader and MLA Devender Rana urges Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to ban the release. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan says the film will not be released in his state even if it clears the Censor Board, while his Punjab counterpart Amarinder Singh backs the Rajput community for objecting to the historical drama. The Supreme Court on Monday rejects a plea seeking to restrain the film's release, saying that it is premature and would amount to pre-judging the matter.

21 November, 2017: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urges the Haryana government to act against fringe elements threatening bodily harm against Deepika Padukone. Police personnel are posted outside the residence of Padukone's parents following threats over her role in the film. Haryana's chief media coordinator Kunwar Surajpal Singh Ammu is booked under Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code at Gurugram's Sector 29 police station on the complaint by a fan of Deepika and Bhansali. Singh had threatened to behead Bhansali and Padukone.

22 November, 2017: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani declares that his government will not allow the film's release. At least eight organisations under the banner of Akhil Bhartiya Shakti Samaj launch a signature campaign in Kolkata in protest against the film.

23 November, 2017: The British Board Of Film Classification (BBFC) clears Padmavati for release on 1 December but a source close to the film's makers say it won't release anywhere on that date.

24 November, 2017: A group of people stage a protest outside the Azadpur Metro station in New Delhi. The body of a 40-year-old man is found hanging from the outer walls of Nahargarh Fort in Jaipur with messages against the film "Padmavati" scribbled on rocks nearby.

25 November, 2017: The Indian Films and TV Directors' Association (IFTDA), along with 20 other bodies of the film and television industry, plan a 15-minute blackout in support of the film and "to protect the right to freedom of expression of creative individuals". Haryana BJP leader Suraj Pal Amu threatens West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that she will meet the same fate as "Surpanakha", a demoness from the Ramayana whose nose was cut off by Lakshman, a day after she says her state was ready to welcome the film and its crew.

26 November, 2017: The Congress' Kerala unit asks Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to ensure that the film is released in the state.

28 November, 2017: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar orders a ban on the film in the state. Expressing its solidarity with the cast and crew of Padmavati, the Bengali film fraternity observes a "15 minute black out" denouncing the protests against the film.

29 November, 2017: Haryana's BJP Chief Media Coordinator Kunwar Surajpal Singh Ammu, who announced a Rs 10 crore award to behead Bhansali and Padukone, sends his resignation to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state chief Subhash Barala through a WhatsApp message and urged his to accept it immediately.

A dance by Aparna Yadav, a daughter-in-law of Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, to the movie's song creates a political furore. Aparna Yadav danced to the Ghoomar song of the yet-to-be-released movie while celebrating her younger brother Aman Bisht's engagement ceremony at a five-star hotel in Lucknow, raising the hackles of elements opposed to the film.

With inputs from IANS
Mumbai: The makers of Padmavati have rued how the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is "looking the other way" due to which they are compelled to show the movie at other platforms.

"What an irony, those who are supposed to watch are looking the other way and we have to run around and show it at other forums to 'clear' it," tweeted Ajit Andhare, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Viacom18 Motion Pictures.

The banner has produced Padmavati, scheduled to release on 1 December, with Bhansali Productions and it will distribute the film in India. The censor board has reportedly sent back the film's application for certification, citing that it is incomplete.

Meanwhile, senior journalists Rajat Sharma and Arnab Goswami said on 17 November that they have watched the movie and didn't find anything that could hurt the sentiments of the Rajput community.

Andhare further wrote: "Can screen to responsible individuals who feel aggrieved. Please come, see it yourself, nothing to hide, put an end to this saga. Let's celebrate our heritage. We can do it tomorrow itself, we want them to stand with us support the film it celebrates Rajput pride. We have been saying from beginning. Film just finished few days back," he added in a series of posts on 17 November.

Padmavati is Bhansali's professed tribute to the valour and sacrifice of Rajput queen Rani Padmavati. Various Rajput organisations have demanded the movie's release be stalled and have threatened the director and the film's lead actress Deepika Padukone.

"We must appreciate that government has really gone out of the way to provide security to Sanjay and Deepika," Andhare tweeted thanking Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
09:31 (ist)

Mumbai police beef up Deepika Padukone's security in the city ahead of film's release

The Mumbai Police on Thursday beefed up the security of actor Deepika Padukone after Shri Rajput Karni Sena (SRKS) warned of physical harm incase she did not refrain from 'inciting public sentiments', a senior official said.



Karni Sena leader Mahipal Singh Makrana today invoked the nose chopping of 'Surpanakha' in the epic Ramayana and said if the Bollywood film "Padmavati" was not banned and Padukone does not refrain from fanning sentiments with her provocative language, the Rajputs will not lag behind in acting.



"The Mumbai Police have increased actor Deepika Padukone's security after the outfit issued the nose chopping threat," Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Deven Bharti told PTI.



We are providing her adequate security after the threat, he said. The police will also provide security at the actress's residence as well as office in Mumbai.



They have already provided protection to filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali after the Rajput community outfit protested outside his office in suburban Juhu last Saturday while accusing him of distorting historical facts in the history drama.



Police have beefed up security at Bhansali's residence in Versova in the city.



Organisations like the SRKS have been protesting against the release of the film, claiming that it distorts history and hurts sentiments.



The SRKS has called for a country-wide bandh on December 1, the day the film is slated to be released.



In January this year, the SRKS had attacked the sets of the movie in Jaipur and even slapped Bhansali.



Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Ranjit Patil told PTI the government was assessing Padukone's security in the wake of the threats.



"We have already provided security to Sanjay Leela Bhansali as he was found to be at risk. Now a security assessment of Deepika Padukone is being done. If she is found to be at risk, adequate steps will be taken. However, nobody's threat can be taken at the face value until the government assesses it," he said.



Padukone had on Tuesday hit out against those protesting the release of 'Padmavati' and reportedly said that "we've regressed as a nation".
If this film had been made in any language other than Malayalam, chances are it would have been mired in controversy, political and religious hotheads would have asked for it to be banned or chopped, and it might even have been denied a release. Punyalan Private Limited has faced no such protests, as it comes to theatres just weeks after the Tamil industry and public slammed the Tamil Nadu BJP for demanding cuts in the Vijay-starrer Mersal because, among other things, it derided the implementation of the Central Governments current pet project, the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The partys silence over Punyalan Private Limited, although it references multiple contentious issues including demonetisation, should serve as a moment of pride for the people of Kerala in particular and south India at large. It suggests that Malayalis and the denizens of the entire region have built a no-nonsense reputation for themselves as a result of which a nationally powerful political organisation that has just burnt its fingers in Tamil Nadu would rather avoid being made to look foolish once again, as is most likely to happen if it messes with the cine artists of Indias most literate state.

This is not to say that Punyalan Private Limited (PPL) is a great film  far from it. Writer-director Ranjith Sankars sequel to 2013s Punyalan Agarbathis has a weak screenplay that superficially skims over multiple social and political concerns. The protagonists actions are unconvincing and the events that turn him into an overnight media sensation feel contrived. Redemption comes in the form of its funny bone and its leading man Jayasurya who has such a likeable screen presence and such incredible comedic abilities, that sometimes all he needs to do is look at the camera to trigger off a laughing fit in a viewer.

If you weigh PPLs pluses and minuses then, it is an average film. When even the average fare produced by your relatively small industry (Mollywood) has the guts to take on a system while one of Indias largest film industries (Bollywood) has for decades bowed and scraped before the high and mighty, you truly have reason to be proud.

Sadly, valour alone doth not good cinema make.

PPL brings back to the big screen the hero of Punyalan Agarbathis, a young Thrissur-based entrepreneur called Joy Thakkolkkaran played by Jayasurya. When we meet Joy this time, he is recovering from a failed business. He then comes up with the idea of producing mineral water derived from elephant urine and to be sold in tetrapacks. This, for various reasons, causes him to clash with the bureaucracy, politicians and even the judiciary.

(Spoiler ahead) Through a series of events, Joy ends up spending a day with the Kerala chief minister (Vijayaraghavan). This is not quite what the hero was offered in the Tamil film Mudhalvan and its Hindi remake Nayak: they got to play chief minister for a day. Here, Joy gets a chance to shadow and observe the man. The netas goal in providing such an opportunity to this troublemaker is to convince him of the travails of wearing the crown. (Spoiler alert ends)

How this comes about is of little consequence in a screenplay that is short on detailing. We are expected to buy into the heros every move and the consequences of those moves. There is not enough substance in the arguments he throws at the chief minister, but the public applauds him and Shankar seems to expect us to follow suit.

PPL skates along on thin ice and on the strength of Jayasuryas comic timing. The star is further bolstered by his chemistry with the gifted actors who play his supportive friends and work associates  Dharmajan Bolgatty who is an absolute hoot here, Sreejith Ravi, Aju Varghese and Guinness Pakru. The result is that the film is peppered with laugh-out-loud moments.

While PPLs sense of humour is laudable, what is not are the racist jokes about Bengalis. Before you say, how else do you portray racist characters? the answer is that the objection here is not to the portrayal of a racist reality but to the normalisation of that reality by a film in which no countering voice is offered.

(Possible spoilers ahead)

Since the saffron brigade usually claims victimhood, know this: the films anger is not confined to the central governments policies and no party is mentioned by name. That PPL is taking on the political class at large is evident from the fact that Joy crosses swords with the two major parties in the state, and obviously, since this is Kerala, neither of them is BJP. Disdain is specifically directed at the states politicians. When a local man is taken hostage in another country, a Kerala neta is shown not wanting to help free the fellow, because if he succeeds then the credit would automatically go to the Union Minister for External Affairs who, we are pointedly told, is a woman. Hmm, now who might that be?

Further, while being dismissive of religious people who claim hurt sentiments at the drop of a hat in our country, the example used is of a couple of Christian conservatives who object to the use of the word punyalan (saint) in the name of a branded commercial product here, since that is a title used for canonised saints of the Catholic Church. Earlier this year, an RSS-affiliated TV channel had decried the dominance of Christian imagery in the highly acclaimed Angamaly Diaries. There has been no outcry on the church that is the centrepiece of PPLs visuals, either because majoritarians see no reason to criticise a film that criticises a minority communitys nutcases or  and this second possible explanation should again make Kerala proud  because the social media knocked sense into them while lampooning them for that last review and reminded them that such visuals are most natural in a state with such a large Christian population especially in a film in which the protagonist belongs to that faith.

(Spoiler alert ends)

PPL is an equal opportunity offender, aiming its wrath across ideological divides, across communities and institutions, at demonetisation, the compulsory playing of the national anthem in movie halls, politics over womens safety, poor roads, financial corruption and more. It is also often funny as hell. Now if only Ranjith Sankar had invested his courage, his liberalism and sense of humour in a script with some depth...
After dropping the first trailer for Season 2 of The Crown last week, Netflix has released two additional promos  titled 'Margaret' and 'Evolution of the Crown'  to fire our imagination. The show was one of the biggest hits for the streaming giant last year and received critical acclaim globally.

The new season will chronicle the reign of Queen Elizabeth II (Claire Foy) through the turbulent 60s.

'Evolution of the Crown' shows scenes from the upcoming season intercut with interview clips  of cast members, executive producers, the director and the creator Peter Morgan  explaining what's in store. "The second season really examines the journey for Prince Phillip (Matt Smith)," says Morgan. "It's big and bold. It reflects the shifting times," says executive producer Suzanne Mackie.

'Margaret' follows Princess Margaret (Vanessa Kirby), who was forbidden by her sister, the Queen, from marrying her fiance, Peter Townsend, in fear of the ensuing scandal in Season 1. With their relationship strained, Margaret begins her rebellion in expected fashion indulging in heavy drinking and partying. She then finds herself attracted to a forward looking photographer (Matthew Goode), who holds contempt for the 'royal' ways. No, not a guy her sister would approve of. Yes, plenty of drama.

Netflix has confirmed the second season of The Crown will launch on 8 December.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A key round of talks to update the NAFTA trade pact formally opened on Friday, but within hours Canada was complaining about inflexibility by the United States, which is demanding big changes, a union leader said. A NAFTA banner is seen during the fifth round of NAFTA talks involving the United States, Mexico and Canada, in Mexico City, Mexico November 17, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos JassoCanada and Mexico went into the talks prepared to address hard-line U.S. demands that they had previously dismissed as unworkable, officials said. But Canadian union leader Jerry Dias said Canadas chief negotiator Steve Verheul told him in a private meeting that the U.S. side was unwilling to budge. Steve Verheul in essence is saying the United States is not showing any flexibility, Dias told reporters when asked what Verheul told him. Dias repeated his long-standing prediction that the talks would end in failure. There is relatively little time left to thrash out a deal under the current schedule. Negotiators met in Mexico City for the fifth of seven planned rounds that are due to wrap up by the end of March to avoid affecting Mexicos presidential election. A spokesman for Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is in overall charge of the NAFTA negotiating process, declined to comment on the remarks by Dias. A spokeswoman for U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer also declined to comment. U.S. President Donald Trump, who says the North American Free Trade Agreement is a disaster, has frequently threatened to ditch the pact unless big changes are made. Were just getting started. Theres a long ways to go. Its a challenging negotiation, Verheul told reporters earlier in the day. Canadian and Mexican officials initially indicated they would simply not discuss contentious U.S. proposals such as a five-year sunset clause and boosting the North American content of autos to 85 percent from the current 62.5 percent. The focus in Mexico City would be on making arguments to the U.S. side as to why their proposals as written would not work, a Canadian government source said. Canada, the source added, was happy to discuss so-called rules of origin governing auto content but insisted the 85 percent figure was impossible. A security guard stands next to a NAFTA banner during the fifth round of NAFTA talks involving the United States, Mexico and Canada, in Mexico City, Mexico November 17, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos JassoCanadian sources said on Thursday they were open to a Mexican proposal to review NAFTA every five years rather than the U.S. plan to bring in a sunset clause that would automatically terminate the deal if it was not renegotiated. The Trump administration on Friday issued revised NAFTA negotiating objectives, largely to reflect demands that it has already made in the talks. These include new language in line with proposals to radically change dispute settlement systems, eliminate Canadian dairy tariffs and allow U.S. protections for seasonal produce growers hurt by Mexican imports. Unchanged is the U.S. goal that NAFTA be revised to shrink U.S. trade deficits with Mexico and Canada Canada and Mexico both send a large majority of their goods to the United States and prefer the treaty continue rather than deal with the economic disruption caused by a U.S. withdrawal. SENDING A MESSAGE But Mexico has also stepped up its efforts this year to find alternative markets. Mexicos Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Friday to emphasize openness to doing business with nations other than the United States. At the same time as we carry out this negotiation process, Mexico is expanding its commercial horizons, Videgaray told a news conference. A senior official in Mexicos foreign ministry said the remarks were intended to send a message to Washington that we dont depend on them. A Mexican official said the United States needed to make clear what it hoped to achieve with tougher rules of origin, given the difficulty of raising the threshold. Noting that 85 percent North American content was not feasible, the official said Mexico did not want a rupture to occur in the talks. Washington also wants NAFTA to set a 50 percent minimum U.S. content requirement for autos, which Canada and Mexico say cannot work. Once (the Americans) have explained all that, we can see about finding common ground, the Mexican official said.

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Raipur: Ten Naxals were arrested in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, police said.

The rebels were nabbed on Friday during search operations launched by security forces, a police official from Bastar told PTI over the phone.

Nine of them were arrested from Sukma district and one in Kanker district, the official said.

The Bastar region consists of half a dozen districts.

The ultras arrested in Sukma were facing criminal cases like murder, attempt to murder, attack on police teams and arson, in different police stations, the official said.

The police seized a rifle from the 25-year-old Naxal apprehended in Kanker, they added.

On 5 October, four Naxals, including a couple, were arrested and two firearms were recovered from them in Panidobir village in Koyalibeda area of Kanker.
New Delhi: Deputy chief minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia on Friday said the Delhi government would form "Mahila Suraksha Dals" (women protection groups) to curb crimes against women in the national capital.

"We will form women protection groups ... will make civil defence volunteers available to them and pilot projects will be run at two-three places first," Sisodia said.

He said these groups will provide information to the police.

The deputy chief minister added these teams would work in coordination with the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), adding that the excise department had been asked to conduct raids to check the illegal sale of liquor in the national capital.

"Illegal liquor shops running in many parts of Delhi is also a reason behind women being insecure on the streets of Delhi... Wherever liquor is being sold illegally, we will raid all those places," Sisodia said.

He also appealed to the people of Delhi to inform the government about any illegal liquor shops in their areas.

Sisodia added that the Women and Child Development Department of the Delhi government had been instructed to draft a proposal for the formation of the women's security teams, in close coordination with the DCW.

DCW chief Swati Maliwal, meanwhile, urged the central government and home minister Rajnath Singh to constitute a high level committee for women's security.
New Delhi: Farmers from all over India will participate in a two-day protest from 20 November under the banner of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) to demand for "better prices for their produce and complete freedom from debt".

According to the AIKSCC, members of around 180 farmer organisations are expected to participate in the protest.

"Our main demand will be full remunerative prices as a legal entitlement with correct cost estimations and at least a 50 percent profit margin over the cost of production," All India Kisan Sabha president Ashok Dhawale said.

"We will also demand freedom from debt, including an immediate comprehensive loan waiver, as well as statutory institutional mechanism to address farmers' debt on an ongoing basis," he said.

Dhawale said, "even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Lok Sabha poll campaign, had promised that if elected, farmers would get good prices for their crops and he would implement the Swaminathan Commission recommendations, nothing has been done so far".

According to the AIKSCC "steady rise in input costs, like fuel, pesticides and fertilisers and even water, and slashing of subsidies by the government" are some of the key factors behind cost versus income imbalance presently been faced by the farmers.

"This massive injustice in prices is pushing farmers into debt, to commit suicide and ignite repeated protests across the country. To address the plight of farmers we are congregating in large numbers in Delhi on 20 November in a 'Kisan Mukti Sansad'," an All India Kisan Sabha leader said.

The AIKSCC, an umbrella forum of farmers, will also organise 'Kisan Mukti Sansad' or farmer's parliament at the venue of their protest.

On 20 November, a draft 'bill' encompassing the two demands will be introduced and passed after debate by the farmers' parliament.
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association president BS Slathia on Saturday asked the government to file sedition charges against National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah for his recent remarks that PoK belongs to Pakistan.

He also demanded disqualification of Abdullah from the Lok Sabha and derecognition of his party by the Election Commission (EC).

Taking a serious exception to Abdullah's "divisive and unsetting statement that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is Pakistani's and India does not have the capacity to retrieve it", Slathia demanded immediate action against him under Section 124-A (sedition) of the Ranbir Penal Code and related provisions of law, so that a right message goes to everyone that no "anti-national statements will be accepted".

"It is shocking that Abdullah, who remained chief minister for a number of terms and served the Government of India as a Cabinet minister, had the audacity to challenge the Indian state which Pakistan comprehensively did in 1965, 1971 and 1999, and divided Pakistan into two countries," he said.

Slathia said what Abdullah said was an act of sedition which cannot be condoned under any circumstance.

He said India is not a banana republic where anyone can challenge the great institution of the Indian state and walk away free.

The association chief urged the speaker of the Lok Sabha and the EC to immediately disqualify him from its membership and derecognise his political party because he has subverted Article 1 of the Indian Constitution and Section 3 of the Jammu and Kashmir state Constitution.
Six militants were killed while an Indian Air Force Garud commando lost his life on Saturday during an encounter that broke out in north Kashmir's Bandipora district between the security forces and militants on Saturday.

#UPDATE: One IAF Garud personnel lost his life, 2 Army personnel injured in #Hajin encounter. Operation continues. #Bandipora  ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2017

According to media reports, the nephew of 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi was among the six terrorists gunned down. Security forces cordoned off and launched a search operation in Chandergeer village in Hajin area of the district after receiving specific intelligence input about the presence of militants in the area, a police official said. The search operation resulted in an encounter when the militants hiding there fired on the search party of the security forces, who retaliated. The gunfight was went on for hours before ending on Saturday evening.

#FLASH: #Hajin encounter ends, total 6 LeT terrorists gunned down, out of which one is Owaid, Abdul Rehman Makki's son & 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi's nephew. Arms & ammunition also recovered. pic.twitter.com/kASZlU842K  ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2017

According to News18 report, a joint team of army and Central Reserve Police Force and Jammu and Kashmir Police launched the search operation.

On Thursday, security forces had launched a Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) in Garoora village of Bandipora, following a tip-off about the presence of militants, news agency UNI had reported.

Security forces conducted house to house searches and identity cards of male members were properly checked, added the report.

On 29 October, two militants were shot down by security forces in an encounter in Mir Mohalla village in Hajin town of the district.

With inputs from PTI
A former model in Mumbai has alleged that her husband forced her to convert to Islam, according to several media reports.

A former model in #Mumbai, alleges that her Muslim husband forced her to follow his religion; says "I am a Hindu and didn't give into his pressures". #Bandra Police registered case against two people under sections 354,323, 324, 504, 506 and 34. Police investigation underway pic.twitter.com/ScojPxQa0j  ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2017

Rashmi Shahbazker, who is a Hindu, has accused her husband Asif Shahbazker and his family of forcibly converting her religion to Islam.

Speaking to reporters, Rashmi said,"I married Asif twelve years ago. I am a Hindu by birth. Asif is a Muslim, but at the time of marriage, he told me that I don't need to change my religion. But after marriage, I started facing pressure to convert my religion. However, I never agreed to do so. The issue aggravated after my son's birth, seven years ago. He started asking me to go and earn money and said that we need money to buy a new house. He would force me to ask my family for money. He would then slowly pester me to convert to Islam..."

According to ANI, the former model also claimed that her husband has married another Hindu girl who is half his age and converted her to Islam. She also accused her husband of torturing and physically assaulting her due to her refusal to convert to Islam.

Rashmi also stated that her husband thrashed her before she came to file the complaint with the Bandra police. After lodging the FIR the police rushed her to a hospital where is currently undergoing treatment, India Today reported.

The police have registered a case against two people under Sections 354,323, 324, 504, 506 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, ANI reported.
Umroi: Indian and Myanmar armies will conduct their maiden joint exercise in India's northeastern state of Meghalaya, an army official said on Saturday.

The five-day exercise slated to start on 20 November will be held at the newly-inaugurated state-of-the-art Joint Training Node at Umroi Cantonment, about 25 kilometres from Shillong, the state capital of Meghalaya.

Exercise "IMBAX-2017" is the first-ever military training exercise on United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO) between the two nations, being conducted on the Indian soil, according to Defence Spokesperson Lieutenant colonel Suneet Newton.

He said 15 officers from the Myanmar Army and 16 officers from the Indian Army shall jointly train for over a period of six days.

Newton said the aim of the bilateral training event is to train the Myanmar delegation for participation in the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations under the United Nations Flag.

"The Indian Army has a rich experience of serving in the UNPKO and during the IMBAX-2017, the focus will be on training the Myanmar Army delegation on the tactics, procedures, expertise, and methodology required by the contingent of the member nations for serving in UNPKO," the defence spokesperson said.

Indian and Bangladesh armies successfully conducted Exercise SAMPRITI at Umroi Joint Training Node on 11 November.
New Delhi: Indian Army's Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) on Saturday asked his Pakistani counterpart to take steps to ensure peace and tranquillity along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

During a telephonic conversation, Lieutenant General AK Bhatt told his Pakistani counterpart that there appeared to be a "disconnect" between the Pakistan Army's reiteration about the desire for peace and the action of its troops, official sources said.

Citing various incidents, Bhatt said that Pakistani troops resort to heavy firing without provocation, they said.

The telephonic conversation between the two DGMOs took place following a request by the Pakistani side.

Lieutenant General Bhatt impressed upon the Pakistan DGMO Major General Sahir Shamshad Mirza that there appeared to be a "disconnect between the intent at the Pakistani General Headquarters which reiterates its desire for peace and the actions of Pakistani troops along the Line of Control, who resort to heavy firing without provocation," a source said.

Bhatt further exhorted his Pakistani counterpart to resolve this "existent credibility gap" to ensure that peace and tranquillity is maintained along the LoC.

The Pakistan Army DGMO alleged that Indian security forces have resorted to unproved firing and targeted civilians along the LoC in the Pooch sector.

Bhatt, however, made it clear that the Indian Army always maintains impeccable standards of professionalism and does not target civilians in any manner.
Bengaluru: Private doctors across Karnataka were back to work on Saturday and began treating out-patients after they called off their five-day strike on Friday.

"All the private doctors across the state are back to their duties since morning after we called off the strike," Indian Medical Association's (IMA) Karnataka Chapter Secretary Dr B Veeranna told IANS Bengaluru.

"Doctors are treating patients in Out-Patient Departments (OPDs) as we'd assured the High Court on Friday."

The state government had incorporated penal provisions in the Amendment Bill to the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments (KPME) Act, 2007 to regulate the functioning of the private hospitals, including the treatment cost, Grievances Redressal Committees and imprisonment of doctors if a patient dies due to their medical negligence.

Nearly 50,000 doctors working at private hospitals, clinics and nursing homes were on a five-day strike with several doctors also on relay hunger strike at Belagavi, about 500 kilometre from Bengaluru, where the 10-day winter session of the state legislature began on Monday.

"Whatever our demands were, the state government has agreed to make the amendments and table the bill again on Monday," he said.

The state had agreed to the demands of the doctors at a two-hour long meeting between the state government and representatives of the private doctors at Belagavi on Friday, Veeranna said.

"As we demanded, the state government has agreed not to form Grievances Redressal Committees at the district level. Aggrieved patients can approach the District Health Officer (DHO) or the Karnataka Medical Council (KMC) under the existing provisions of the KPME Act," asserted Veeranna.

A division bench of the High Court comprising Acting Chief Justice HG Ramesh and Justice PS Dinesh Kumar had on Friday ordered the private doctors to withdraw their strike, as the state government had agreed to consider their demands on the amendment bill.

"Basic medical services are a right to life for every citizen," said the bench in the interim order on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by an advocate on Wednesday against the striking private doctors and private hospitals.

The four main demands of the private doctors regarding the bill were inclusion of government doctors under the KPME Act, no grievances redressal committees, no penalty on erring doctors or their imprisonment for the death of a patient due to medical negligence and ceiling on cost of treatment should be applicable to only government health schemes under which eligible patients are treated in private hospitals or clinics.

Of the registered 1.25 lakh doctors in the state, only about 10,000 of them work in the state-run hospitals, while over a lakh are employed in about 40,000 private hospitals, nursing homes and clinics across the state.
Chennai: The Madras High Court on Friday directed the Tamil Nadu government to constitute a special police team led by a deputy superintendent of police to investigate an incident of alleged firing on two fishermen by the Indian Cost Guard.

A bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar gave the order while admitting a PIL by 'Fisherman Care', an association of fishermen.

According to the petitioner, on 13 November, when five fishermen from the state were fishing at about four nautical miles from Olaikuda near Rameshwaram, a coast guard patrol ship opened fire at them at around 3.15 pm.

One person sustained injuries in the attack, the petition said.

The coast guard personnel also allegedly seized the vessel of the fishermen, the petitioner claimed.

"The Indian Coast Guard which was formed to protect Indian fishermen and assist them in distress has opened fire at the innocent fishermen while they were fishing in Indian waters and indulged in inhuman acts", the petitioner alleged.

The petitioner wanted the court to constitute a special investigation team or to direct an independent agency to probe the issue.

Two fishermen were injured after being hit by a stray bullet allegedly fired during a training exercise by the Coast Guard personnel in the sea off Rameswaram. The Coast Guard, however, denied the incident.
Kohima: The Nagaland legislators forum on Friday resolved to meet prime minister Narendra Modi to submit a memorandum, seeking resolution of Naga political issues before the state assembly elections next year.

The Naga parliamentarians met in the Nagaland Assembly Secretariat under the chairmanship of Imtiwapang Aier, who is also the Assembly Speaker.

The meeting which was also attended by chief minister TR Zeliang expressed its sincere desire to have Naga issues settled at the earliest.

Adopting a five-point resolution, the Forum endorsed the points made in the memorandum submitted by the Parliamentary Working Committee of Nagaland Legislators Forum on Naga political issues to the Prime Minister of India on 16 July, 2015.

The resolution signed by Aier and Zeliang appreciated the leadership and vision of Prime Minister Modi for the significant progress made in the negotiations for the final settlement of the Naga issues.

In view of Nagaland Assembly elections due in few months, it was agreed that the Chief Minister should convene an all political party meeting at the earliest.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged people to share their ideas for his November's Mann Ki Baat.

"What are your ideas for this month's Mann Ki Baat, which will be held on Sunday, 26th November? Share them with me on the Narendra Modi Mobile App".

"Dial 1800-11-7800 and record a message for Mann Ki Baat. You can also write on the MyGov open forum and share inputs for this month's Mann Ki Baat," the Prime Minister said in his tweet.

MyGov website also said: "As always, Modi looks forward to sharing his thoughts on themes and issues that matter to you.

"The Prime Minister invites you to share your ideas on topics he should address on the 38th Episode of Mann Ki Baat."

Send us your suggestions on the themes or issues you want the Prime Minister to speak about, it said.

"Record your message for the Prime Minister in either Hindi or English. Some of the recorded messages may become part of the broadcast," it said.

The website also asked people to give a missed call on 1922 and follow the link received in SMS to directly give their suggestions to the Prime Minister.

Mann Ki Baat is a radio programme hosted by Modi on the last Sunday of every month to addresses people of the nation on All India Radio, DD National and DD News.
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered a case to probe the killing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Ravinder Gosain in Ludhiana in Punjab, an official said on Friday.

The agency took over the case from Punjab Police following a home ministry order on Thursday, nearly a month after the state government decided to hand over the investigation to it.

Gosain, 60, was returning home after attending a morning drill (RSS Shakha) when he was attacked by two unidentified bike-borne assailants in Ludhiana last month. He died on the spot while the attackers fled.

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh had decided to hand over the probe to the NIA while announcing Rs 5 lakh compensation for the deceased's family and a government job for one of his progeny.

The NIA, in compliance of the ministry of home affairs order, has re-registered the case under sections 10, 12 and 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, sections 302 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and section 25 of the Arms Act at Jodhewal police station on Thursday, the spokesman said.

An NIA team from New Delhi has reached Ludhiana to take over the investigation.

On 17 October, two unidentified persons killed Gosain, chief of Raghunathnagar Shakha of the RSS in Ludhiana, when he was sitting outside his house.

Initially, a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by deputy Commissioner of Police Gagan Ajit Singh was formed by the state government to probe the case.

Gosain, who lost his wife to cancer some years ago, is survived by four children.

The killing of the RSS leader was the latest in a series of murderous attacks on right-wing and religious leaders in Punjab. This was the eighth such incident in the state since 2016.
New Delhi: Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury on Saturday said defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman's media statement on Rafale has raised more questions than answers, and asked why comparative prices between the earlier scrapped deal for 126 fighter jets and the present one for 36 aircraft had not been shared.

"The Defence Minister's press conference raises more questions than it answers about the Rafale deal. Why have comparative prices not been shared, as the Modi government claims it bought Rafales cheaper?" Yechury said in a tweet.

Defence Minister's press conference raises more questions than it answers about the Rafale deal. Why have comparative prices not being shared, as Modi govt claims it bought Rafales cheaper?  Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) November 17, 2017

Was there a CCS meeting held and approval given before Modi announced buying of 36 Rafale fighters in Paris on his own in April 2015?  Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) November 17, 2017

The CPI-M leader also questioned why there was no transfer of technology clause in the deal for 36 jets.

Modi boasts about Make in India but signs a deal with France which includes no transfer of technology. Is this his Make in India?  Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) November 17, 2017

Sitharaman in a press conference on Friday had dismissed the Congress' charge of irregularity in the deal for buying 36 Rafale fighter jets off-the-shelf from France, and claimed it was cheaper than what was negotiated under the previous multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) deal under which 126 fighter jets were to be bought.

The minister however did not give any figures comparing the prices.

Under the MMRCA deal, 18 Rafale fighters were to be bought off-the-shelf from Dassault, and 108 were to be manufactured in India under licensed production by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).

Sitharaman also said that no procedure was violated in the deal that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government signed, and that it was inked after clearance by the Cabinet Committee on Security. She also pointed out that the deal was signed only in September 2016, almost one and a half years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the announcement in Paris in April 2015.

The minister also said that transfer of technology in a deal for just 36 fighter jets was not viable.
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday favoured reservation in the private sector and called for a "meaningful" national debate on the introduction of a job quota in the non-governmental areas where the employment opportunities were growing fast.

"Employment opportunities are growing far more in the private sector. Therefore, it is essential to have a meaningful debate on introducing reservation in this sector," he said at a function.

"A job quota will provide an equal opportunity to the marginalised sections of the society," the JD(U) chief said, replying to a query while taking part in the "Rising Bihar 2017", a programme organised by a private television channel.

"A balanced growth of all sections of the society is an ideal enshrined in the Constitution. Reservation is one of the many ways through which we try to achieve that," Kumar, whose recent decision to introduce reservations in outsourced services has been widely talked about, said.

Replying to another query, Kumar who is running the Bihar government in alliance with the BJP, said he did not see the saffron party facing "any difficulty" in retaining power in Gujarat in next month's Assembly polls in that state.

"We must not forget that the prime minister hails from that state (Gujarat). It is a sentiment which will influence the voters' choice. We may even see the BJP winning a higher number of seats this time than it did in the 2012 Assembly

polls," he said.
Jaipur: Hundreds of locals led by the Rajput community on Saturday blocked the entry to Kumbhalgarh Fort in Rajsamand district, demanding a complete ban on Bollywood film Padmavati, a day after a similar protest at Chittorgarh Fort against the movie.

The situation in Chittorgarh is normal as on Saturday, SHO of Chittorgarh police station Omprakash said.

The Circle Officer of Kumbhalgarh, Chandan Singh, said, "The protest is going on and the entry to the Kumbhalgarh fort is blocked."

Elaborate security arrangements have been made, he said.

The majestic hill fort of Kumbhalgarh is the birthplace of legendary king Maharana Pratap and an UNESCO world heritage site.

According to the Chittorgarh police station SHO, Devendra Singh, who allegedly shot in the air during the protest at Chittorgarh Fort on Friday, has been booked under the Arms Act, but not arrested yet.

Rajasthan was rocked by protests against the film on Friday, with protesters blocking entry to the Chittorgarh Fort and burning effigies of the filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The entry to the fort remained blocked till 5 pm.

The Karni Sena had alleged distortion of historical facts in the period drama starring Padukone, Shahid Kapur and Ranveer Singh.

In March, the Chittorgarh Fort was vandalised by a group of men who broke mirrors installed at the Padmini Palace. Three mirrors installed at the Padmini Palace were damaged by four to five unidentified men.

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Itanagar: President Ram Nath Kovind will arrive in Itanagar on Sunday in the first leg of his four-day maiden tour to the North East after assuming office.

The President, will also visit Assam and Manipur besides Arunachal Pradesh and attend several programmes and meetings, official sources said.

On Sunday he will attend a function at Indira Gandhi Park to mark 40 years of Vivekananda Kendra, the sources said.

Later in the day, he will also dedicate the new assembly building of Arunachal Pradesh to the people and address the legislators at a special assembly session in the afternoon.

On 20 November, Kovind will attend the closing ceremony of Namami Barak festival at Silchar in Assam, the sources said.

The President will also attend a civic reception organised by Gauhati University.

He will visit Manipur on 21 November where he will inaugurate the North East Development Summit and the annual 10-day Sangai Festival in Imphal.

Before leaving for Delhi, the President will visit the INA war memorial at Moirang on 22 November, the sources added.
New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to move all juveniles, arrested for pelting stones and other unlawful activities, from jails to remand homes and review their cases sympathetically, officials said.

The decision is considered to be an attempt to reach out to the people of Jammu and Kashmir by the central government after the appointment of Dineshwar Sharma as the Centre's special representative to initiate talks with all stakeholders.

The issue was discussed in detail at Wednesday's meeting of the core group on Kashmir, chaired by the Union home minister and attended by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, where it was decided to ask the Jammu and Kashmir government to work on the cases of juveniles.

After the core group meeting, the Jammu and Kashmir government has been asked to shift all juveniles, who were arrested for pelting stones and other crimes, to remand homes and review their cases sympathetically, a home ministry, privy to the development, told PTI.

The state government is expected to take the initiative to shift the juveniles to remand homes and review their cases soon, the official said.

Top officials of ministries of home and defence, chiefs of intelligence agencies, besides Sharma also attended the meeting.

The Centre's special representative also briefed the union home minister and others about his first round of talks he had with various sections of the society there last week.

Sharma will again visit the state soon to continue his mission of holding a sustained dialogue process.

However, the anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir will go on even though the central government has appointed the special representative to initiate talks with all stakeholders in an effort to bring a lasting peace in Jammu and Kashmir with violence by Pakistan-based militants groups continuing unabated.

Director General of Police of Jammu and Kashmir SP Vaid had recently said that around 170 militants were gunned down by the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir in 2017.

Two army soldiers were killed and a CRPF jawan suffered injuries in an encounter in Pulwama district of the state on 2 November.

Three militants were gunned down in Pulwama in an encounter in which an Army jawan was also killed on 6 November.

Three militants, including Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar's nephew, were gunned down by security forces in Pulwama district on 7 November.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday granted the last opportunity to all state bar councils to complete the verification process of lawyers, initiated to weed out those advocates having fake degrees.

The apex court directed the Bar Council of India (BCI) to file a status report after receiving replies from all the state bar councils.

A bench of Justice RK Agrawal and Justice AM Sapre granted 15 days to the lawyers to submit their forms for verification of degrees by the BCI under the BCI (Certificate of Practice) Rules, 2015.

The court also directed the state bar councils to complete the verification process within a month after the lawyers submitted their forms.

It also said that the university authorities shall ensure verification of degrees awarded by them without any charge, within a month of its presentation.

The bench said the state bar councils will then have to prepare electoral rolls based on the verification and they will have to declare the schedule of elections after expiry of 75 days.

It directed the state bar councils to take necessary steps and conclude the proceedings by 31 December and send a reply to the BCI.

"The BCI is directed to request a retired judge of the Supreme Court in order to control and supervise the verification process and preparation of Electoral Rolls. We direct the BCI to take all steps in this regard immediately in order to do the needful," the bench said.

It also directed that all concerned should render full assistance and cooperation to the verification committee and listed the matter in the second week of January 2018.

The court was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the 2015 Rules making it mandatory for all lawyers to undergo verification drive to check professional credentials of practicing advocates. BCI, the apex bar body, has undertaken the verification drive to weed out law practitioners with fake law degrees.

BCI had in 2015 amended the rules for the verification process to filter out fake advocates among over 15 lakh practising lawyers in the country.

BCI Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules 2015 makes it mandatory for all lawyers to re-register in a new format where they have to compulsorily submit all their certificates, starting from class X board results.
United Nations: With nearly two-thirds of members of the UN General Assembly supporting India's Dalveer Bhandari in the election to the International Court of Justice, India has strongly quelled rumours about withdrawing from the race.

India has also ruled out any compromise asserting that the candidate who enjoys overwhelming support of the General Assembly members can be the only legitimate candidate to go through.

In the straight contest between the remaining two individual judges  Bhandari and Britain's Christopher Greenwood  Justice Bhandari, 70, has consistently received significantly more votes, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin said.

The gap between him and the other candidate has been growing and in the last round was 53 votes among the general membership, Akbaruddin told representatives from more than 160 countries at a reception hosted for Bhandari at the UN headquarters in New York.

"What happens in such circumstances? The precedent is clear. As is expected in the 21st century, the candidate who enjoys the overwhelming support of the General Assembly membership has always been selected as the only legitimate candidate to go through. As recently as three years ago, we had exactly the similar parallel...the pattern is exact.

"In fact, if someone looks at the voting, it shows the will of the General Assembly rightly prevail in the ICJ election," he added.

Observing that the General Assembly reflects the spirit of "we the people", the top Indian diplomat said all the contests in the past have ended by taking cognisance of the sentiment and spirit that the universal membership of the General Assembly has reflected.

"We see the election today at a tipping point. It is now no longer about an individual. It is also no longer about the representative or a nominee of a country. It is now about whether the outcome of the election to the world court  the International Court of Justice  reflects the sentiment of the peoples of the world. The only gauge of that is the General Assembly of the United Nations," he asserted.

"We have a choice of either acknowledging the spirit of our times and ending this process honourably or trying to stem the democratic drift of inclusivism. The choice we now have is about what shape do we want to give to the future direction of multilateralism, universalism or emphasis on opposition by a few," he told the representatives.

Akbaruddin said "some impression is being sought to be created" that India and the UK are in talks and Judge Bhandari may withdraw, as he may not be allowed to win.

"You can see that Judge Bhandari is here. We are here. We intend to stay here. The United Nations is our home. We will ensure that the will of the majority prevails. Times have changed," he said.

Since the establishment of the UN, this election process "provides us with a clear opportunity" for all the general membership to contribute to make the difference, he said.

"It's an opportunity that comes once in a lifetime for an individual. We did not plan for it. We did not ask for it. We are mere agents in the process. Our collective choice will make the difference on Monday," he said, with Bhandari standing by his side.

An impression is also sought to be created that India has agreed to a joint conference mechanism to break the deadlock.

"Let me tell you right now upfront that not one person has approached me with this proposal, certainly not the representative of the country whose candidate is being faced," Akbaruddin said.

"Yes, we have talked. Sure, we are diplomats, what else do we do? We talked, but never once was such a proposal made," he said. "If a proposal is made outside of us, I leave it to you what to think," he said.

"Everyone can see where the momentum lies. This is not the first such election where a decision has taken so long," he said referring to ICJ elections in 2014 and 2011.

"The joint mechanism has never been resorted to as perhaps it is too complicated to implement," he said.

He described this as a "toolkit" which has never been used in the history of the UN, and perhaps with valid reasons as it "opens a can of worms".

Akbaruddin asserted that the momentum lies with India.

"The situation is clear even at this stage. One candidate has failed to reach anywhere near the absolute majority mark in the General Assembly for numerous consecutive rounds  when he was in a group of six and when he is on a ballot with two names," he said.

This election is getting prolonged only because the clear support of 121 is being equated to the support of nine, he said referring to the last round of ICJ elections held at the UN General Assembly and Security Council early this week.

"The election to the world court cannot be decided by three or nine. It has to be decided on the floor of the house," he added.

"This election is to the 'world court' which decides upon issues brought to it by member states, without recourse to other bodies," he said, hoping that the results will reflect the sentiment that is prevailing in the universal membership.

In his remarks, the top Indian diplomat also ridiculed the logic being put forth by some countries that Britain as a permanent member of the UN Security Council needs to be present in the ICJ.

"More than seven decades since the establishment of the United Nations, the election provides an opportunity for all of the general membership to contribute to making a difference. It is not an opportunity that we had planned for but is also not an opportunity we should let go of. Such occasions come rarely. Our collective choice can make a difference," he said.

"For a long period, not all of the P-5 were represented in the ICJ," he said.

P-5 stands for the five permanent members of the UN Security Council  the US, Britain, China, Russia, and France.

Akbaruddin congratulated judges Antonio Augusto Cancado Trindade of Brazil, Ronny Abraham of France, Nawaf Salaam of Lebanon and Abdul Qawi Ahmed Yusuf of Somalia for their well-deserved election to the ICJ.

Based in The Hague, the ICJ has a bench of 15 judges, five of whom are elected every three years for a nine-year term.

Established in 1945, the role of the ICJ is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by states and to give advisory opinions on legal questions.
Kolkata: West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Friday blamed the West Bengal government of indulging in "cheap politics" over the outbreak of Dengue in the state.

He said instead of utilising the funds sent by the Centre to tackle the problem, the state is busy hushing up dengue cases .

"The state government is busy doing cheap politics over Dengue. They are not at all serious about tackling this menace, rather they are busy hushing up the Dengue deaths," Ghosh said.

On Thursday, the West Bengal government revised the Dengue toll in the state to 38 before the Calcutta High Court and claimed that the media was unnecessarily sensationalising the issue.

Ghosh also said the state government has miserably failed to tackle the outbreak of Dengue in the state.

"My question is why is the state government trying to hush up the matter, instead of providing better treatment facilities to patients", Ghosh said.

The Centre hadtold the Calcutta High Court that the West Bengal government had failed to utilise the funds provided to it for controlling vector-borne diseases, including Dengue, in the state.
There is something special about a sparsely populated morning at a festival. The coolness in the air, the proud faces of the ones who made it, the quietness of the venue. After a Shashi Tharoor-fueled opening day, the morning of day two at the Tata Literature Live! Mumbai LitFest was a picture of calm.

As a crowd slowly but surely occupied the seats at the Experimental Theatre, here at the NCPA, veteran journalist and author Mark Kurlansky took to the stage to deliver an intriguing lecture on paper. Yes, paper.

Kurlansky, who has dedicated entire books to topics ranging from salt to codfish, discussed parts from his latest, Paper: Paging Through History.

Tracing its origin in China and the subsequent spread across Asia and Europe, Kurlansky emphasised the role paper has played throughout history. From sustaining revolutions to preserving religious texts, Kurlanskys story of paper was the story of human progress, of bureaucracy and politics, of salvation and enlightenment.

There was something else too the 68-year-old author managed to do apart from delivering an inspired lecture  instill a level of comfort in his audience. As the time rolled in for the questions from the audience, barely a couple of hands went us as many grappled with the novelty of the research into such a basic commodity. But as Kurlansky patiently answered a few questions, more and more hands went up. By the end of it, he had answered close to a couple of dozen questions. A true veteran.

Talking of veterans, day two of the fest seemed to be dedicated to them.

The afternoon hosted the three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas L Friedman as he deep dived into his latest book Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations, in front of a mesmerised audience.

Starting with sharing a personal anecdote that led him to work on the book, Friedman went on to discuss the dramatic increase in the part technology had played (and continues to do so) in our lives over the past few years and the urgent need for us as a society to step back and evaluate where we are heading.

Friedman talked about Moore's law, which is at the crux of his thesis, and how according to it the acceleration in technological advancement has now exceeded in comparison to the human capacity to keep up with it, leading to some dangerous predicaments.

The optimist part of his book title came in the second half as he put forward ideas to bridge this ever-widening gap between the technology and our understanding. According to Friedman, one does not need to run away, but rather embrace technology in a manner which puts one in sync with the changing landscape. How technology, or artificial intelligence more specifically, can be designed to fill in the gaps. His solutions, he explained, comes from his keen observations of the natural world and how it reacts in various conditions.

Friedman concluded his lecture with an urge for people to instill core values in children and work on building healthy families and communities. The reason? According to him, the only thing that will save us in this time of absolute technological power at our disposal is our morals.

Next came perhaps the most awaited session of the day. With a palpable buzz around the venue, it was time for one of the most celebrated poet, lyricist and screenwriter of the country to take the stage for the launch of his new book.

Although Javed Akhtar was supposed to be joined by none other than Shabana Azmi, she had to pull out due to poor health. But this did nothing to dampen the high spirits as Akhtar took to the stage to belt out five Urdu poems to a tremendous response from his fans.

The reading was followed by the book launch (Talking Films: Conversations on Hindi Cinema), the inaugural copy of which the poet gifted to columnist Shobhaa De. Akhtar then sat down with Anil Dharker, the director of the festival, for a light-hearted conversation about his craft and Bollywood.

Akhtar remembered his time working in Bollywood with few anecdotes, discussing topics ranging from dialogue writing to our ability to trace the socio-political history of the country by observing the portrayals of villains in movies over the years.

There were cries from the audience for the session to go on forever, but things did come to an end following a brief interaction between the crowd and the poet. There was a sense of excitement in the air even after the show, many overwhelmed to see one of their idols in flesh. But it was time to move on, on to the next day.
Ahmedabad: AAP leader from Gujarat, Kanu Kalsaria, on Saturday announced that he will fight the next month's state assembly polls as an independent candidate from Mahuva constituency in Bhavnagar district against the "anti-farmer and anti-poor" BJP.

Kalsaria, who had joined the Arvind Kejriwal-led party in 2014, said that although he has not formally resigned from AAP, he will not work for it during the polls.

"I have not officially resigned from AAP. I have told the party leadership that I am contesting independently from Mahuva. They told me to do whatever I feel right. For now, I am not a member of AAP and I will not be working for it during this election," Kalsaria, a three-time BJP MLA, said. AAP has so far declared candidates for 20 seats.

Kalsaria's name did not figure in the list.

Kalsaria said he filed his nomination as an independent candidate on Friday and will fight the elections under the banner of Sadbhavna Manch, an outfit of Sadbhavna Charitable Trust.

Kalsaria had parted ways with the ruling BJP after successfully spearheading farmers' agitation against Nirma Group's proposed cement plant in Bhavnagar district in 2011.

In 2012, he contested the state elections as an independent candidate, but could not win. In 2014, Kalsaria joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

"People from this (Mahuva) constituency remember my work as an MLA. We built two charitable hospitals under our Sadbhavna Charitable Trust, and we also constructed water bodies. They were not happy that I had left this constituency, so on their insistence I have decided to again contest from here," Kalsaria said.

He said his fight was against the ruling BJP and not against AAP or Congress.

"I could have contested from AAP. I am not angry with BJP, Congress or AAP. There are good people in all the parties. But there are certain policies of the BJP that I oppose. I am against the BJP's policies for farmers and poor. My fight is against the anti-farmer and anti-poor policies of BJP," he said.

Kalsaria had recently met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi during one of his campaign tours in the state, raising speculations that he was likely to join the Congress.

Kalsaria said he had expressed his desire to contest as an independent candidate and had sought Congress' backing.

"I had requested Rahulji not to field any Congress candidate from Mahuva constituency. Congress is a big national party and is free to field its candidate from Mahuva," he said.

Congress is yet to announce its list of candidates for the elections for the 182-member Gujarat Assembly to be held on 9 and 14 December. The results will be out on 18 December.
Ahmedabad: In a jolt to the ruling BJP in poll-bound Gujarat, its MLA from Kodinar seat, Jetha Solanki, on Saturday quit the party and resigned from all posts, alleging that Dalits have been facing "atrocities" under its rule.

Solanki, who was one of the parliamentary secretaries appointed by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, resigned from the post. Parliamentary secretaries are considered equivalent to deputy ministers and are supposed to help the ministers.

The Dalit leader also said that he was "unhappy" after being told by the party that he will not get a ticket this time.

"I have resigned from the BJP, as an MLA and also as the parliamentary secretary. I have decided to quit as the party has stopped listening to my representations," he said.

Solanki said the party conveyed to him that he would not be given a ticket this time. "Yes, the party told me that it would not give a ticket to me this time," he said. "The party tried to convince me not to resign but I have decided not to take back my resignation," he said.

Referring to the Una Dalit atrocities case, Solanki said, "Under this BJP government, the Dalit community has faced numerous atrocities. The community is facing a difficult situation...During the Una incident, the Anandiben Patel government earlier took some steps, but after Vijay Rupani became the chief minister, his government has not taken any steps for the upliftment of Dalits," Solanki said.

He refused to answer whether he would fight the polls as an independent candidate or join any other party.

Nobody from the BJP commented on Solanki's resignation.

The BJP on Friday released its first list of 70 candidates for the Assembly elections in Gujarat next month. The BJP is yet to declare its candidate for the Kodinar seat, where elections will be held in the first phase on 9 December, and the last date of filing of nomination forms is 21 November.

Meanwhile, supporters of senior leader IK Jadeja created a ruckus at the state BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar as he was not given a ticket from Wadhwan seat.

"Workers of the Wadhwan constituency are angry as the party, instead of giving ticket to me, has brought in an outsider," Jadeja said.

The BJP has given ticket to Dhanjibhai Patel, from the Wadhwan constituency.
Gandhinagar/New Delhi: The Congress party on Friday held talks with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Sharad Yadav-led faction of JD-U over a possible alliance ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections.

Senior party leaders were also closeted with Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leaders and with recently-inducted OBC community leader Alpesh Thakore in Delhi.

Despite the discussions that went on till late evening, the party may take a couple of days more to announce the list of candidates for the 9 December and 14 December polls.

"Discussion on almost all the seats is over. Since we are also talking to JD-U (faction led by Sharad Yadav) and NCP, and the fact that they have also shown interest in an alliance, so the list will be released in a day or two," AICC general secretary in-charge of Gujarat Ashok Gehlot told reporters after Congress' central election committee meeting.

"Though we have held discussions on all 182 seats, since we are forming an alliance, we may have to leave some seats. JD-U is divided into two parts. We are talking to Sharad Yadav about Chotubhai Vasava (rebel JD-U leader).

"We are also taking to NCP, we will release the list when the talks are over," he added.

On Friday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) declared its list of 70 candidates for the Gujarat Assembly elections.

The last day for filing of nominations is 21 November for the first phase of the state assembly elections.

On Thursday, the Aam Aadmi Party announced its second list of candidates for the contest. The AAP has so far declared 20 candidates for the elections.

The Congress has been out of power in the state for more than two decades.

Last Friday, the Congress' Central Election Committee (CEC) had cleared the names of 70 candidates for the first phase of Gujarat polls in the meeting that was presided over by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, sources said.

Congress party's Rajya Sabha MP, Ahmed Patel, along with some senior party leaders, held a meeting with PAAS leaders who are seeking reservation status for the Patidar community.

The leader of the PAAS group, Hardik Patel, was not present, but Dinesh Bambhania, Lalit Vasoya, Manoj Panara, Kiritbhai Patel, convenors of the group, were in Delhi for the meeting.

The Other Backward Caste (OBC) leader Alpesh Thakore also attending the meeting, the sources said.

The Congress is believed to have agreed to let Alpesh Thakore have a say in candidate selection in the Thakore-dominated seats of north Gujarat and tickets for him and his father, the sources added.

Alpesh Thakore had joined the Congress after a grand show of strength in Gandhinagar last month, at which Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi welcomed him into the party.

Alpesh, with time has gained political maturity, and initially it was speculated that he will join the saffron party. But going on his word that he will do whatever his community decides, and after the decision he joined the grand old party, in a big boost for the Congress.

The PAAS group too has pledged that whatever happens irrespective of whether they support the Congress or not, they will be definitely opposing the BJP. Another community leader, Jignesh Mewani representing the Scheduled Caste community has also expressed his disapproval for the saffron party.
New Delhi: The much-awaited meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to approve the schedule of the party president's election will take place on Monday at Sonia Gandhi's residence, party sources said.

The meeting of the CWC, the highest decision-making body of the Congress, is scheduled to take place at 10:30 am at 10 Janpath, they said.

This would clear the decks for the elevation of party vice-president Rahul Gandhi to take over as the next chief.

He is expected to be the only candidate in the fray, the sources said.

Party leaders say though it is not necessary to convene a formal meeting of the CWC to approve the schedule of the presidential election, Sonia Gandhi has decided to get the approval of the party's highest decision-making body.
A scuffle between the BJP and the CPM erupted at a Thiruvananthapuram corporation council meeting on Saturday over the installation of high mast lights, injuring Mayor VK Prasanth, media reports said on Saturday.

The BJP, which is the principal Opposition party in the 100-member corporation, had presented a resolution demanding installation of high-mast lights in more areas under the corporation.

During a special sitting of the corporation to mark its second anniversary, the mayor replied to them saying that the lights had been installed in most areas and the corporation would examine if they were required to be installed in other places as well, reported CNN-News18.

After the meeting ended, the BJP activists blocked and manhandled Prasanth. The mayor fell on the staircase and sustained injuries on his head and legs. He has been admitted to Thiruvananthapuram Medical College.

#WATCH LDF & BJP councilors' scuffle at Trivandrum Corporation over high-mast lights, BJP alleges they weren't heard over it. Mayor injured. pic.twitter.com/vmRVRjG2SK  ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2017

Prasanth had written a letter to MPs and MLAs contending that the lights should not be installed in areas that are not important.

Speaking to The NewsMinute, Congress councillor Vimal Kumar KC said that when the BJP councillors blocked the mayor, CPM's IP Binu attacked BJP leader Giri Kumar which led to a clash. Binu claimed that the attack on the mayor was pre-planned, since it took place when the media left the council hall. However, BJP leader Pradeep Kumar A denied that the party attacked Prasanth, saying that they blocked the mayor when he refused to discuss the items of the agenda.

Meanwhile, Mathrubhumi reported that the CPM's opposition to the BJP's resolution resulted in the two parties indulging in a brawl.

Mathrubhumi further reported that the CPM alleged that BJP activists from outside, too, indulged in violence.

Four other councillors  three from the BJP and one of the CPM  were also injured in the incident.

In a press release, the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College said the mayor's condition was stable.

Thiruvananthapuram CPM district secretary Anavoor Nagappan said this sort of "hooliganism" was unheard of in the history of this corporation. "One might have differences of opinion, but manhandling is not what should take place," said Nagappan.

Meanwhile, PTI reported that the BJP councillors claimed that the attack was initiated by the mayor himself.

After the clash, angry CPM councillors and the party-backed corporation staff staged a sit-in protest against the BJP and soon, the BJP councillors also took their seat to protest against the way their members were manhandled.

With inputs from PTI
Jammu: Defending his assertion for internal autonomy to both parts of divided Kashmir without obliterating the Line of Control (LoC), National Conference (NC) President Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said if India wants to get Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PoK), let it move towards the LoC with guns.

"If India wants to liberate the PoK, let it move towards the LoC with guns," Abdullah told a party meeting in winter capital Jammu, adding that wars were no solution as these bring only death and destruction.

Abdullah also reiterated his demand for grant of regional autonomy to different regions in Jammu and Kashmir to assuage the aspirations of people.

"J&K is a unique state and needs special dispensation in terms of regional autonomy to satiate the urges of various regions," he said.

Without naming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he lambasted the alleged overt and covert attempts being made to weaken Article 370 and said demand of autonomy was within the framework of the Constitution.

He said the NC would not allow the attempts of repealing Article 35-A to succeed. He said its fallout would be more disastrous for Jammu than other two regions of the state.

"People will come here to take your land," he said accusing the BJP of raising the issue to make electoral gains and divide the people.

He questioned the ruling Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for advocating self-rule for Jammu and Kashmir, saying the PDP could not safeguard the state's special status and surrendered fiscal autonomy over GST.

"What could have been our own prerogative over tax structure rests with the central GST Council now," he said.

He also hit hard at the coalition government for abandoning the border residents, who stand exposed to harsher winter due to lack of shelter.

He referred to his recent visit to various parts of the LoC in north Kashmir including Teetwal and Machil and said the border dwellers were facing lots of problems due to failure of the government to provide better roads, communication and electricity facilities to them.

"The PDP-BJP alliance will have to pay for all its wrongs," he said, adding that the people were suffering due to non-governance, development deficit and lack of accountability.

He alleged that survivors, widows and the families of soldiers, who laid down their lives for the country, were being neglected in the state.

Abdullah referred to his visit to the bereaved family of Sohanlal Bhagat, the soldier killed in Manipur, and said the family was totally shattered and devastated.

He lamented that none of the ministers in Jammu and Kashmir Government had time to visit the family.

"This is how soldiers and their families are treated," he said and mentioned the state funeral accorded by Himachal Pradesh to the soldier killed along with Sohanlal Bhagat in Manipur.

He sought constitution of a commission to look into the plight of war widows and families of the killed soldiers.

"Army chief General Bipin Rawat must work for this and formulate a report on the condition of war widows to be tabled in Parliament," the NC chief said while assailing those indulging in war mongering.

Referring to over-reaction on his recent statement on PoK, Abdullah invoked then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee saying that the sanctity of LoC could not be trampled by crossing over during Kargil incursion.

He also referred to the return of the strategically crucial Haji Peer picket in north Kashmir to Pakistan after India conquered it in 1965.

"NC had not advocated this, but the Indian nation as such took this decision," he said.
Jammu: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Saturday asked the Centre to set up a commission to look into the condition of war widows and table a report in Parliament.

He also asked Army Chief General Bipin Rawat to look into the condition of these widows before talking about war.

Abdullah on Friday visited the residence of soldier Sohanlal Bhagat at Sarah Pargalta in Nagrota area in Jammu and extended condolences to his family.

Bhagat, of Assam Rifles, was martyred in an IED blast in Chandel district of Manipur on 13 November.

"I want to ask the Centre to constitute a commission to look into the condition of the widows of those soldiers who sacrifice their lives for the country," the former chief minister.

He demanded that a report of the commission be tabled in Parliament for necessary action.

"I know what is happening (with the families of the slain soldiers). When they get compensation, fight erupts within the house that this money does not go outside and attempts are being made to force the widow of the soldier to marry someone in the family or oppressed," Abdullah said.

He said it was the responsibility of the Army chief to know the welfare of the families of the fallen soldiers, being their "father".

"Rawat, I want to say to you because you are their father. Try to know what is going on with them, wherever they live in India, ask them and prepare a report and table it in Parliament. And then talk about the war, it is very easy to talk about a war, but try to know the conditions of the families of those who lost their lives in the war to ensure freedom in the country," he said.

Criticising the state government for failing to turn up at the funeral of Bhagat, he alleged that nobody from the state government visited his family.

"The whole Himachal Pradesh government turned up to pay tributes to another soldier who lost his life along with Bhagat in Manipur. But here, unfortunately, the ruling parties did not even attend the wreath-laying ceremony," he said.

Abdullah said his party would set up a commission on its own once it comes to power in the state to improve the living condition of the war widows.

"The NC will set up a commission to know the condition of war widows immediately after coming to power in the state. You have to strengthen my hands and we need to work together that we can give an honourable life to the families of the slain soldiers. They have left minor girls and we have to take care of their education to make their future safe," he said.
With a few weeks left for the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly polls, the ruling BJP has released the second list of candidates for 36 constituencies.

Second list of 36 BJP candidates for ensuing general election to the legislative assembly of Gujarat 2017 finalised by BJP Central Election Committee. pic.twitter.com/3obbEwqMrj  BJP (@BJP4India) November 18, 2017

While Gujarat water resources minister Babubhai Bokhiriya will fight for an Assembly seat from Porbandar, state home minister Pradipsinh Jadeja will contest from his constituency, Vatva.

Kesrisinh Solanki, who won the Matar seat with 59,576 votes in 2012, will fight from the same constituency in the upcoming polls. The list also mentioned Rameshbhai Bhurabhai Katara would contest from Fatepura constituency, where he emerged victorious in 2012.

On Friday, BJP released the named of 70 candidates, including Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and state party chief Jitu Vaghani. The party gave tickets to 49 sitting MLAs, including 16 ministers.

While Gujarat is all set to go to polls in two phases on 9 and 14 December, the stage is set for a high-stakes battle between the ruling BJP and the Congress and its ally NCP and possibly the Sharad Yadav-led JD(U).

The NCP announced its pre-poll alliance with the Congress on Saturday. Exuding confidence in the alliance, NCP general secretary Tariq Anwar said that the result of the Assembly polls will show people's feelings and perception about BJP's performance at the Centre.

"People of Gujarat are feeling disenchanted with the BJP government for the first time in 22 years and they want a change," he said.

The Sharad Yadav faction of JD(U), which lost the right to use 'arrow' symbol to Nitish Kumar, is yet to officially join hands with Congress. However, Yadav said on Saturday that he has held discussions with Congress and that his candidates would fight the Gujarat Assembly polls on "auto rickshaw" symbol.

Similar to the first list, no Muslim has found a place in the second list as well.

The last date of filing nominations for the first phase of the polls is 21 November.
In less than a months time, Gujarat will be electing its new 182-member Assembly. As has been the case since 1995, the battle is expected to be between the ruling BJP and the Congress party.

Nevertheless, two recent opinion polls  Times Now-VMR and India Today-Axis My India  predict a comfortable margin of victory for the ruling party.

Congress will be hoping for the opinion polls to be proven wrong on counting day (18 December). But if that does not happen, the party will face its seventh consecutive defeat since 1990.

Congress electoral fortunes have been on a downward spiral since 1990, when it was booted out of power by the Janata Dal-BJP alliance.

Interestingly, Congress' descent to the bottom came just after it reached the pinnacle of electoral glory.

In the 1985 elections, the Congress won 149 out of the 182 seats  an unbroken record. In the 1990 polls, the party won 33 seats  its lowest ever tally  despite a three-cornered fight with the Janata Dal and BJP.

Since then, the party has failed to win more than one-third of the seats in the Assembly, its best tally being 61 seats in the 2012 polls.

But numbers alone cannot give the full picture of Congress decline in state elections.

KHAM factor

To understand Congress electoral roller-coaster since the 1980s, one needs to understand the KHAM theory. KHAM stands for Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi and Muslims. Formulated by then Gujarat Congress chief Jinabhai Darji, KHAM intended to unite OBC communities, Dalits, Adivasis and Muslims as a formidable vote bank.

Congress wanted more people from the backward communities to enjoy the fruits of democracy. Darji was following the path of Devraj Urs, who came up with the idea of caste-based formulas in Karnataka, veteran political commentator Achyut Yagnik told Firstpost.

The KHAM theory helped the Congress win the 1980 and 1985 polls but alienated the Patidar community, which was electorally dominant until then. According to social scientist Ghanshyam Shah, the KHAM theory was an extension of the pro-poor programme of the Congress government.

Congress distributed tickets proportional to their (KHAM) population. Not only that but the pro-poor image of Darji and Madhavsinh Solanki also helped the Congress garner votes from the marginalised communities, he told Firstpost.

Both Yagnik and Shah believe that the KHAM theory was not explicitly anti-Patidar. But Shah added that the Patidars were already impacted by Congress idea to give more political representation to the backward communities. Patidars are a land-owning community.

However, due to Indira Gandhis pro-poor policies, the issue of land reforms loomed large. This adversely affected the interests of Patidar leaders, who remained with Congress(O) after splitting with Indira. After the Emergency, these leaders joined the Janata Party, Shah said.

Rise of Hindutva politics

While KHAM helped Congress win back-to-back elections in the 1980s, it also spelt doom for the party. In the 1980s, the Solanki government planned to introduced quota for the OBCs. However, this move was resisted by the Patidars and the upper castes. Anti-reservation riots took place across Gujarat in 1981 and 1985, when Solanki lost his chief ministership.

The 1985 riots in Ahmedabad are important in the context of BJPs rise to power. While it began on an anti-reservation plank, it quickly degenerated into a communal one because of the entry of the BJP, Yagnik said. Yagnik added that riots in the late 80s and in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition communally polarised the state, which helped the BJP win the 1995 Assembly election.

Shah said that the BJP too played the Harijan, Adivasi and OBC card in the 1980s without claiming to do so. The BJP gave more representation to Harijans and Adivasis, while smartly penetrating into the Kshatriya vote bank, Shah said.

The BJP used OBCs at the forefront for the Ayodhya movement. It also gave prominence to Dalit and Harijans during LK Advanis Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya. This helped BJP trump the KHAM factor, he added.

Hindutva helped BJP to increase its seat tally from nine in 1980 to 67 in 1990 and 121 in 1995.

Narendra Modi era

After Modi became the chief minister in October 2001, Congress has been struggling to find an equally strong match to counter him.

Under Modi, the BJP won three consecutive Assembly elections, a feat not achieved by any of the chief ministers in the past.

It is not the BJP which is winning any election. It is in fact Modi who was winning all this while. There is a huge leadership crisis in Gujarat Congress which helped Modi to grow stronger and stronger, Sanjay Kumar, director of Centre for the Study of Developing Societies told Firstpost.

Yagnik made light of the fact that Modi developed no second rung leadership during his tenure. When Modi was the chief minister, he was number one to ten. The next leader was number 11, he said.

The lack of heavyweight leaders negatively impacted the Congress, Shah said.

Vote share not converting into seats

To its credit, Congress has been able to maintain a steady vote share in the last three Assembly elections.

The party has marginally been able to improve its seats tally too. After the communally polarised 2002 Assembly elections, where it could win only 51 seats, the Congress won 59 and 61 seats in the 2007 and 2012 polls respectively.

The margin of difference in the vote shares of the two parties has generally hovered at around 10 to 11 percent in the last three elections. However, the BJP has won double the number of seats than the Congress.

In a bipolar contest, the leading party always has the chance to double its seat tally. Here, a 10 percent difference in vote share can be crucial, Kumar said, adding that the vote bank for the Congress has remained intact in the last two decades.

For the Congress to be able to convert its vote share into sizable number of seats, Shah said that it needs to focus on managing constituency better.

You cannot co-relate vote share and seat share. There were constituencies where Congress won by less than 5,000 votes too. The fight is expected to be neck-to-neck this time too, Yagnik said.

2017 elections and Congress

All three experts believe that the upcoming election may be the best opportunity for the Congress to try its luck.

Several media reports indicate that a Rahul Gandhi-led Congress is already giving the BJP a run for its money. The BJP seems to be on the backfoot for the first time since it came to power in 1995.

Anti-incumbency, ongoing caste-centric agitations, along with Congress strategy to highlight alleged economic mismanagement by the Centre may add to Gujarat BJPs re-election woes.

However, Kumar is doubtful about the disenchantment among the Patidar, Thakor and Dalit community converting into anti-BJP votes.

It is difficult to say. Around 20 percent of the votes can get converted into anti-BJP votes. But I am doubtful whether the Congress will be able to win the election. But it is certainly giving a tough fight to the BJP for the first time, Kumar said.

Yagnik said, Congress is in better position right now not because of its own hardwork but due to the problems created by the BJP government. The reservation agitations are a symptom of it. Gujarati youths are unhappy due to jobless growth in the state.

Shah said that the BJP has always been good at managing election campaigns and will invoke Gujarati Asmita and the fact that Modi is India's prime minister to tide over the Congress challenge.
Bharuch: Cruising on the smooth Mumbai highway from Ahmedabad, one road turns left near the chemical hub Ankleshwar in south Gujarat to suddenly hit the sharp contrast of a bumpy tribal terrain. The road snakes through to Maljipura, and cuts across thin interior roads to enter the sprawling compound of a mansion with several cars of all sizes parked inside.

There, in the backdrop of a mango orchard, under a wide tin-shed sat uncrowned tribal king Chhotu Vasava, the man who pulled Congress veteran Ahmed Patel from the jaws of defeat in the 8 August Rajya Sabha election with his sole vote.

I am myself the symbol, he smiled nonchalantly looking up and not at this author, when told that the Janata Dal-United symbol, on which he won the last elections, was in dispute after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumars alliance with the BJP.

Well, he is not wrong, for it is the partywhichever it isthat needs Chhotu Vasava, not the other way round. I have my own party, he puts his right hand on his chest, It is the Bharatiya Tribal Party, so the JD(U) symbol does not matter for me.

He goes on, In any case, the JD(U) is remote-controlled by Amit Shah. But I dont care, as my BTP has a mind-boggling eight lakh members together with the Bhilistan Tiger Sena.

Bhilistan Tiger Sena is an organization run by his son Mahesh Vasava that has been demanding separate statehood for the tribal belt.

So, now that he has become the acting president of the Sharad Yadav-led splinter Janata Dal-United and has also bailed out Ahmed Patel, Vasava wants to call the shots in the projected alliance with the Congress. He wants a lions share among the 27 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes, in which the Congress has 16 sitting MLAs, BJP 10 and one JD-U, that is Vasava himself. The seat share was similar in 2007 with Congress having 16, BJP 9 and Vasava one when there were 26 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.

We have demanded 25 seats. The influence of our Bhilistan Tiger Sena and our Bharatiya Tribal Party spreads across the entire belt of Gujarat. How long will parties run by Baniyas, Brahmins and Kshatriyas dictate the tribals?, he asserts.

With the director of an upcoming feature film on him and a music composer watching, Vasava says, In an ideal situation, seats reserved for tribals should be decided by tribals and only tribal parties should be allowed to field candidates there. Here, the people giving the mandate to tribal candidates are all non-adivasis.

Sources close to Chhotubhai say he feels the Congress has a good chance to win this time and so is flexing his muscles to have a larger share of the cake. He has actually asked for 19 seats and is adamant on nothing less than 15.

It is precisely for this reason that the Congress is in no mood to relent in a hurry. The tribal belt is our strongest base, while Chhotubhai has an influence over only a limited number of seats. We may give him those seats, but not 19 or even 15, a senior leader, who is part of the negotiations with Vasava told Firstpost.

Besides Chhotubhais own Jhagadia seat, we can at best leave four to five constituencies for him, he said.

He is not wrong. Besides Jhagadia, Chhotubhais influence is limited to the five odd seats of Mangrol and Mandvi in Surat district, Dediapada and Nandod in Narmada and to some extent in Dahod. And then, despite fielding more than 15 candidates during the 2012 elections, the JD(U) could win only one seat of Vasava.

A sizeable population of adivasis is a traditional Congress votebank. Through the RSS and the VHP, the BJP is making attempts to make inroads in the tribal belt, but that has met with limited success, says Ashok Gamit, who is a veteran journalist with the Sandesh Gujarati daily in Vyara, 65 km from Surat. He says if the Congress gives in to Vasavas demands and concedes more than four seats, it will anger its own ranks and this will prove counterproductive.
'Is this Gujarat or Uttar Pradesh?' asks Saleem bhai Patel, a senior Congress leader from constituency No. 159 in East Surat. He is talking about a bifurcation of the Gujarati voter into communities by the Congress. On one side, there is Hardik Patel who is bringing the Patidars into the Congress fold, on the other side there is Alpesh Thakor leading the OBCs and Jignesh Mevani, who has emerged as a voice of the Dalits. Along with the three shining beacons of yuva josh who were brought in to propel the grand old party closer to victory, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was seen visiting temples across the state; a parallel soft Hindutva approach has been adopted.

In a state that is being ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party for the last 22 years, the Muslim voter has looked at the Congress as its only support. Now, with the partys attention divided among other groups, insecurity is on the rise. South Gujarat falls in the first phase and goes to polls on 9 December and 21 November is the last date for filing nominations. In Saleems constituency (No. 159) out of 2.6 lakh voters, nearly 92,000 are Muslim. Some days ago, in the same area around the citys Muslim-dominated areas like Chowk Bazaar in Nanpura, some anti-Congress posters were put up. The message on the posters was a threat to the party in opposition that a lack of Muslim representation will result in a lack of Muslim votes.

The posters were removed at the insistence of local Congress leaders who pacified the people. But the mood is tense because the hazy speculation that the party might field a Muslim candidate from Surat West instead (home to nearly 5,000  10,000 Muslims) is now taking shape.

"This is the only place from where a Muslim can win. It is really necessary for us to keep the representation alive. The BJP denies that we (Muslims) exist. Nobody from their party shows up here, even when the roads fill up with drain water during the floods. The people here havent seen the face of the MLAs and MPs who are ruling Gujarat. The only hope for them is the Congress and if they are let down, there can be a backlash," fears Muqaddar Rangooni, who belongs to the area and has been working with the Congress for the last 10 years. To reach his home, one has to hop-skip-jump over gullies where stuff from furniture and tyre shops and kabaadi walas is displayed in the open; where grease, grime and poultry feathers lie strewn on the floors and goats sit around with a certain entitlement. Muqaddar isnt the only unhappy man in this neighbourhood.

Aside from the textbook demand of road-raasta-gutter, the people here want access to jobs. They allege that while low-level government jobs are given to Hindus, private employers reject them on the basis of their pin code. On the other end of a straight road live people from the Hindu Kahar samaaj. "In 2014, there were riots in the area and even at that time no senior leaders from the Congress or the BJP came forward to mend differences," says Muqaddar, who runs the Hindu-Muslim Ekta Samaaj in the slums of East Surat.

Another key issue that he points out is the changes in the municipal demarcation of areas that takes place every five to six years. Gopipura is a traditional BJP vote base, why was it merged with our area? To cut Muslim votes? he asks. He says areas without OBC, jhuggis and Muslims (the classic Congress vote bank) are joined up with his constituency to cut the Congress vote.

Noor Mohammad, a veteran who has seen both the Congress and the BJP rule Old Surat, says that the ruling dispensation has completely denied the existence of Muslims. Aapka vote nahi chahiye ('We don't need your vote') is the message they feel the BJP has conveyed to them in multiple ways. One of them is of course by not fielding a single Muslim candidate as yet. But a rejection of the voter doesnt translate into a denial of the vote base. The locals here allege that popular locals are bribed by the BJP to contest as independent candidates. Some are paid Rs 50,000, others are offered a lakh or two, and the rate is decided as per their popularity.

Hum toh abhi bhi Congress ko hee vote denge ('We will now only vote for the Congress') is the typical response of most residents here. They may feel upset and agitated but the lack of an alternative for the 42 percent Muslim voters in East Surat might still keep them loyal to the party they still have faith in.

Meanwhile, the BJP feels the communal halo has been placed around their head by the Congress. Sitting BJP-MLA from the area Ranjit bhai Gilitwala shared that the party has tried to reach out to Muslims but it hasnt worked. In Gujarat, the matkas that Hindu homes drink water from are made by Muslim hands. When it comes to business, people from both religions work in harmony. It is only during election time that the Congress propaganda tries to project the BJP as a communal party, he says, adding that this repeated projection damages the image of the party in Muslim voters.

The Financial Assistance Scheme (Gujarat Minority Finance and Development Corporation), which was established in 1997, has a fund of Rs 400 crore. This nodal agency offers financial assistance is up to Rs 3 lakh for small business and self-employment, Rs 7.5 lakh for higher education and vocational training in India and Rs 15 lakh for higher education in foreign countries. It also gives up to Rs 5 lakh for development of agriculture, Rs 5 lakh for purchase of vehicles for commercial purpose and up to Rs 3.5 lakh assistance to mentally-retarded persons. When asked about the steps the government has taken for minorities, MK Chisty, a Sufi saint who is the chairman of the Gujarat Government Minority Finance & Development Corporation talks about the Haj quota that has been increased from Rs 4,000 to Rs 15,000 in the last three years and the BJP Sadasyata Abhiyaan (national membership drive) that has increased the Muslim primary voter in the state to five lakh. He also adds that Gujarat has become curfew and violence-free and the literacy rate of Muslims which is nearly 80 percent. He points out that the BJP is doing actual work like getting Muslim women relief from triple talaq while Rahul Gandhi is only deploying soft-Hindutva tactics that are upsetting voters.

At the BJP headquarters opposite Jeevan Jyoti theatre, quite close to No. 159, the partys president from Surat Nitinbhai Thakar refused to comment on the anti-Congress posters that were put up by the local Muslims. He described this an internal issue between the party and the Muslims of the area. As a representative of the ruling party, shouldnt there be a little more curiosity about any manifestation of public resentment?

"The problem with East Surat is that we are voters first and people later," points out Muqaddar. "Ask the Surat Municipal Corporation how many Muslims have filled up the thousands of vacancies in low-level government jobs in the past years," he says. Locals talk about a pin code based rejection of job applications that has forced BCom and BA degree holders to work as sweepers and biscuit sellers, they also share stories of rejection of requests for landline telephones because officials told them they belong to the M class (M: Muslim).

The loyalty toward the Congress that was earlier emotional is now more desperate. The people here want anybody who can guarantee them both safety and development. While a vibe of betrayal with the sole party they trust is visible, theres also a segment that believes in Kaam karo aane vote le jaao ('Work and get the votes'); symbolic of the Gujarati mindset of getting the work done efficiently and peacefully. Mohammad Shadib, a 26-year-old advertising entrepreneur from the area, feels that the Congress wont ditch Muslims and Sufi Abdul, who retired from the zari industry, believes that a Hindu candidate might just be better idea because a Muslim face could further communalise the region when whats actually needed is anybody who is sensitive to the many needs of lower-middle-class Muslims here.
Gandhinagar: Ignoring denial of permission by the authorities, the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) is determined to go ahead with its mega rally in Mansa town in Gandhinagar on Saturday evening to demonstrate the community's support to young leader Hardik Patel, despite the 'sex CDs' on him, in a big worry for the ruling BJP.

PAAS leader Hardik Patel has said that in spite of the authorities denying them permission, they will be holding a massive 'prestige rally' in Mansa, showcasing the support the group has among the Patidar community.

Patel also claimed that they would "drop a bigger bomb" on the ruling BJP against the recent releases of CDs alleging a sex scandal against him.

The Gandhinagar police have denied PAAS permission for the Adhikar Sabha rally, but PAAS is adamant to hold the event with or without police permission.

Mansa, about 41 km away from Ahmedabad, is the hometown of BJP national president Amit Shah. It is also the place from where the Patidar reservation demand and agitation had started in 2015.

After two years of agitation and witnessing many ups and downs, the PAAS has seen recent attacks on Patel over the "sex CDs" which have gone viral on social media. The CDs show Hardik's lookalike or allegedly him with a woman in compromising situation.

Alleging that the CDs are doctored and are the handiwork of the BJP, Hardik Patel has threatened to "drop a bigger bomb" on the issue at the rally in Mansa town.

Through this rally he and the PAAS group also want to convey the message that the entire Patidar community is still with them in their demand for reservation for the Patidars.

The Congress has come out in support of Patel in the CD row. However, the talks between the party and the PAAS leaders in Delhi on Friday seemed to have suffered a setback with the group giving an ultimatum of 24 hours to resolve the reservation imbroglio.

Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, too, has extended support to Patel.

The rally in Mansa will be a big worry for the Gandhinagar district administration as they had earlier given permission for the rally.

PAAS leader Atul Patel claimed that permission was cancelled on "flimsy grounds". "The authorities told us that if the meeting is allowed at the location decided by the PAAS, it could create enmity among communities and so the venue should be changed. This is not possible for us," Atul said.

"Come what may, we are not going to change the rally location in Mansa," he added.

Gandhinagar District Superintendent of Police (DSP) Virendra Yadav said: "We have not granted them permission. They want to hold it on the main road. During the election period, we discourage even political parties from holding functions on the main roads, which can cause traffic problems. We have asked them to find another place. If they do so, we can consider their demand for permission," he said.

"If they carry on with the rally without permission, legal action will be initiated," the police officer added.
Chennai: Tamil Nadu fisheries minister D Jayakumar on Saturday blamed jailed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala and her family for the Income Tax (I-T) raids at late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's residence late on Friday night.

J Deepa, the niece of Jayalalithaa, also termed the raid a conspiracy of the Sasikala family. She said the I-T officials did not inform her about the raid. She is a legal heir of Jayalalithaa.

Speaking to reporters, minister Jayakumar said it is "painful" to note the I-T raids at Jayalalithaa's residence.

"It is the family of Sasikala and TTV Dhinakaran to be blamed for the I-T raid," Jayakumar said.

Jayakumar said Dhinakaran is blaming Chief Minister K Palaniswamy and deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam for political gains.

Responding to the media in Tuticorin (600kilometre from Chennai), Minister of State for Finance and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan said, "The raids were done on the basis of specific information and not for political vendetta."

On Friday night, I-T officials recovered a laptop, a desktop and four pen drives from two rooms used by Sasikala at Jayalalithaa's residence, said a senior official.

"We received an input that some important electronic storage devices are going to be clandestinely removed from two rooms used by Sasikala in Veda Nilayam (Jayalalithaa's residence)," the I-T official told IANS preferring anonymity on Friday.

According to him, it was a "limited mission". "We are not searching the entire premises," he had said.

The raid comes days after I-T officials carried out a massive search operation at the residences and premises of Sasikala's kin and their business associates and unearthed Rs 1,430 crore of tax evasion.

The Friday I-T search comes 21 years after an earlier search at Jayalalithaa's residence.
Kochi: Former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday praised Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for his "hard work" in the run-up to elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat and expressed the hope that the party would emerge victorious.

Politics, he added, was an "unpredictable profession" and one could only try.

He was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on "Macro Economic Developments in India: Policy Perspectives" at St Teresa's College, Ernakulam.

Responding to a question on the Congress' chances of winning Himachal Pradesh and BJP-ruled Gujarat, he said, "I think our vice-president Rahul Gandhi is doing very hard work and I hope his efforts will be crowned with success. But politics is an unpredictable profession... One doesn't know... one keeps trying."

Singh added that he was not a prophet to foresee whether the people's anger against the BJP-led Central government's decision to implement GST and demonetisation would be reflected in the election.

"Well I can only hope.. I am not a prophet," the former prime minister said.
New Delhi: Union minister Smriti Irani on Thursday took a jibe at Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for his reported 'maharaja' comments amidst a row over period drama Padmavati.

Tharoor had on Wednesday reportedly said the "so-called valourous maharajas" had scurried to accommodate themselves when the British "trampled" over their honour and were now after a filmmaker, claiming that prestige was at stake.

Reacting to Tharoor's remarks, Irani tweeted, "Did all the Maharajs (kings) kneel in front of the British? What will Jyotiraditya Scindia, Diggi Raja (Digvijaya Singh) and Amarinder Singh say on Shashi Tharoor's comments?"



Congress leaders  Scindia, Digvijay Singh and AmarinderSingh  hail from royal families.

However, on Wednesday, Tharoor had taken to Twitter to say, "I'm dismayed that some BJP supporters are claiming I attacked Rajput honour...I spoke about the Maharajahs who made their accommodations w/the (with the) British. I have never made a communal comment in my life."

As for specific concerns of the Rajput community, he said people's sentiments must be respected in the interest of India's diversity and harmony.

"Rajput valour is part of our history and is not in question. BJP and its censors should take these concerns into account," Tharoor said.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's movie Padmavati is witnessing protests with some groups alleging that it allegedly tampered with historical facts.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has said that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's boss is 'silencing' her, escalating the war of words between the Congress and the BJP over the Rafale deal.

Rahul Gandhi's comments come a day after Sitharaman said that the Congress' allegations on the procurement deal are 'shameful' and a 'disservice' to the armed forces. The Congress vice-president hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his response, and said, "Dear RM (Raksha Mantri), what is shameful is your boss silencing you."

Dear RM, whats shameful is your boss silencing you. Please tell us :

1. Final price of each Rafale jet?

2. Did PM take CCS permission before announcing purchase in Paris?

3. Why PM bypassed experienced HAL & gave the deal to AA rated businessman with no defence experience?  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) November 18, 2017

Gandhi sought to know why the Modi government 'bypassed' India's public sector undertaking Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and whether it took the permission of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) before announcing the purchase of the jets in Paris.

The Congress has accused the NDA government of changing the 'entire deal' to benefit a businessman. It has alleged that after Modi visited France in April 2015, the government cancelled the earlier UPA deal that made HAL a partner of Dassault Aviation, and signed a new $8.7 trillion dollar deal in September 2016, as reported by Hindustan Times.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, Sitharaman had said that the deal was finalised by following a 'transparent procedure.' She had asserted that the urgent requirement of the Indian Air Force was the reason why the deal was sealed.

The defence minister said that the deal was finalised after five rounds of lengthy discussions between Indian and French sides and approval by the Cabinet Committee on Security. She also claimed that no private party is involved in the acquisition of 36 Rafale aircrafts.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Friday had lunch with RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's younger son and former deputy chief minister of Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav, triggering speculations about a new political equation, according to media reports.

Tejashwi thanked Rahul on Twitter for taking him out for a "wonderful lunch" and posted some pictures of their meet.

Thank you @OfficeOfRG for taking me out for wonderful lunch. Feel appreciated and grateful. Again thanks for taking out time out of ur tight schedule. pic.twitter.com/wqIg8Ss3xm  Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) November 17, 2017

According to The Times of India, the two leaders talked on a number of issues, including prevailing political scenario, during the one-and-a-half hour luncheon at a plush Khan market restaurant in New Delhi.

Tejashwi told The Telegraph that Rahul asked him about the youth of Bihar and the present political mood in the state. "We share a very good chemistry and always meet whenever we get time. We discussed everything from politics to family," the RJD leader was quoted as saying in The Telegraph report.

Tejashwi, who has been in the national capital for the last five days, was on Monday grilled for over nine hours for the second time by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering probe in the railway hotels allotment corruption case. He was asked about three dozen questions in connection with the case. He was last questioned by the agency on 10 October.

The rift between Congress and RJD, according to The Asian Age, had widened in the recent past with some Congress legislators urging Rahul to snap ties with Lalu Yadav, who is facing corruption charges. The meet between two youth leaders seems to have put an end to speculations about differences between the two parties, the report said.

This comes just a day after Tejashwi took on Rahul's critics for calling the congress vice-president ''pappu", yuvraj and a "dynast". Tejashwi on Thursday while taking a dig at Rahul's adversaries said:

Just baselessly branding someone Illiterate,Corrupt,Yuvraj,Dynastic, Pappu etc won't raise ur stature, but wud expose ur cunning mind. Gappu can only dream to command respect from opposition like Vajpayee ji, because latter never made fun of other leaders & gave them due credit  Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) November 16, 2017

He even took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi by calling him "gappu" and praised Rahul as a "confident, knowledgeable and bright" person.

A leader shouldn't be judged by the tall promises he can make but the extent to which he can fulfill the promises made. Inability to prove your claims will reduce your persona to just being a "Gappu"!  Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) November 16, 2017

Just to take on Confident, Knowledgeable, Bright, Determinant, Dynamic, Resolute & Valiant @OfficeOfRG in Gujrat the entire Gappu Singh & Gang is spitting venom & spreading lies across the country  Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) November 16, 2017

With inputs from PTI
Reuters

Germanys telecoms regulator said on 17 November that it was banning the sale of smart watches that can be used by parents to check on their children, saying the devices violated Germanys strict surveillance laws.

The Federal Network Agency said it had already taken action against several firms that sell the watches online but did not name them. It urged parents to destroy the watches, which are widely available on the German market and target children between the ages of 5 to 12.

Via an app, parents can use such watches to secretly listen to a childs environment. They are to be seen as a prohibited transmitter, Jochen Homann, president of the agency, said in a statement. Our investigation has also shown that parents have used the watches to listen to teachers in the classroom.

The decision follows the agencys decision in February to ban distribution of a talking doll, saying its software could be hacked to reveal personal data. The agencys actions reflect growing concerns about the security and privacy risks associated with the exploding number of smart gadgets, often called the internet of things.

Surveillance is a particularly sensitive issue in Germany where East Germanys Stasi secret police and the Nazi era Gestapo kept a close watch on the population. The agency said the watches in question include a SIM card and offer a limited telephone function which can be controlled via an app, similar to baby monitoring devices.

By programming the watches to call a telephone number, they can be used to secretly listen to conversations, an act that is prohibited under German law, the agency said. It urged schools to be vigilant about the use of such smart watches.
PARIS (Reuters) - Saad al-Hariri, who resigned as Lebanons prime minister this month while in Saudi Arabia, said on Saturday he would clarify his position when he returns to Beirut next week. French President Emmanuel Macron and Saad al-Hariri, who announced his resignation as Lebanon's prime minister while on a visit to Saudi Arabia, embrace in the courtyard of the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, November 18, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit TessierHariris resignation on Nov. 4 threw Lebanon into political crisis and put it centre-stage in the Middle Easts overarching rivalry between Sunni Saudi Arabia and its allies and a bloc led by Shiite Iran. With regard to the political situation in Lebanon, I will go to Beirut in the coming days, I will participate in the independence celebrations, and it is there that I will make known my position on these subjects after meeting President (Michel) Aoun, Hariri said after holding talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. Hariri declined to take questions, but is set to return to Beirut by Wednesday when Lebanon celebrates its independence day. He thanked Macron, who has been mediating as part of French efforts to try to ease tensions across the region, for his help. Macron had leveraged Frances close relations with both Lebanon and Saudi Arabia to secure a deal that saw Hariri travel to Paris and open the door to a resolution of the crisis. Hariri, who arrived at his residence in Paris in the early hours of the morning, told Aoun in a phone call from Paris that he would be in Lebanon on Wednesday for the celebrations, the Lebanese president said on Twitter. Lebanon is being shaken so its important Hariri comes to Paris for us to work with him on the best way out of the crisis, said a senior French diplomat. Were trying to create the conditions for a de-escalation in the region. We want to avoid a proliferation of crises that could get out of control. Hariris abrupt resignation and continued stay in Saudi Arabia has caused fears for Lebanons stability. He visited France with his wife and one son, which is seen as part of a possible way out of the crisis, although two of his younger children remain in Saudi Arabia. Okab Saqr, a member of parliament for Hariris Future Movement, said after Hariris visit to France he would have a small Arab tour before travelling to Beirut. A French presidential source said Macron had reiterated that Paris wanted Hariri to return to Lebanon to ensure the countrys political system continued to function and that it was imperative it remained disassociated from regional crises. Workers are seen fixing a huge banner depicting Lebanese prime minister Saad al-Hariri, who resigned a fortnight ago during a visit to Saudi Arabia, in the southern city of Sidon, Lebanon, November 18, 2017. REUTERS/Ali HashishoThe source said Macron would continue to be active on the dossier in the coming days and that France was considering whether to host a meeting of the International Lebanon Support Group to discuss the political crisis. IRAN TAKES AIM AT MACRON The crisis has thrust Lebanon into the regional rivalry pitting Saudi Arabia and its allies against a bloc led by Iran, which includes the heavily armed Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah group. Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri presides a cabinet meeting at the governmental palace in Beirut, Lebanon September 29, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/FilesAoun has called Hariri a Saudi hostage and refused to accept his resignation unless he returns to Lebanon. Saudi Arabia and Hariri say his movements are not restricted. Lebanon maintains a delicate sectarian balance after Sunnis, Shiites, Christians and Druze fought a civil war between 1975 and 1990, with factions often backed by regional rivals. Hariri, a Sunni Muslim, is a long-time ally of Saudi Arabia. Aoun, a Christian, is a political ally of Hezbollah. Hariris government, a power-sharing coalition formed last year, includes Hezbollah. France, which controlled Lebanon between the world wars, has sought to play a key role in defusing tension with Macron personally getting involved and putting him at the heart of a regional power struggle that will test his diplomatic skills. That was evident since the outbreak of the Lebanese crisis over the last week with a surprise visit to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, followed by a flurry of calls, sending his foreign minister to Saudi Arabia and then the invitation to Hariri, which caught many diplomats unawares. While undoubtedly a diplomatic coup for Macron, some regional and French diplomats have cautioned that his strategy to try to appease all sides in the region may backfire. Paris has intensified its rhetoric over Irans regional activities. On Thursday, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking alongside his Saudi counterpart, denounced Tehrans hegemonic temptations. Iran responded by accusing France of taking sides and Macron on Friday said Iran should clarify its ballistic missile programme. That was met by a rebuke in Tehran. On Saturday, Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Irans supreme leader, said Macron should stay out of its affairs.

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Kathmandu: The Chinese Ambassador to Nepal has said that China has taken the request of Kathmandu for building a cross-border railway line seriously and has begun a feasibility study, the media reported.

In an interaction with the media in Kathmandu on Friday, Ambassador Yu Hong also said Beijing is working towards fostering a new type of international relations and to build a community with a shared future for mankind, the Kathmandu Post reported.

Ambassador Yu expressed happiness over Nepal's move to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and said the initiative has given wider opening for countries, including Nepal, to integrate the economy and people-to-people contact. Nepal signed up to Chinese President Xi Jinping's flagship BRI in May.

Yu added that Nepal and China are working on several fronts like cross-border railway connectivity, highways and construction of a dry port. "China has taken the request of Nepal government of building cross-border railway line seriously. A team has begun preliminary feasibility study," Yu said.

Laying emphasis on Nepal-China relations, Yu said the two countries in 2009 forged a "comprehensive partnership of cooperation featuring ever-lasting friendship".

Likewise, expansion of the Rasuwagadhi-Syafrubeshi road link, resumption of Araniko Highway and construction of dry ports in Tatopani, Rasuwa and Yaritoo are also on Beijing's priority list.

The Chinese Ambassador's interaction with the media in Kathmandu comes weeks after the conclusion of the Chinese Communist Party Congress in China, enshrining "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" into the party constitution.

China will deepen relations with its neighbours in accordance with the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness and the policy of forging friendship and partnership, she said.

"Not just the present, our future too is closely linked, which is why working together for a better tomorrow is a must," Yu said.
DHAKA (Reuters) - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday urged Bangladesh and Myanmar resolve the Rohingya crisis through bilateral negotiations instead of an international initiative. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi exits the podium after addressing the 72nd United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 21, 2017. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File PhotoThe international community should not complicate the situation, Wang said in a press briefing at the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka. Actions in the United Nations Security Council must help Bangladesh-Myanmar bilateral cooperation to resolve the problem peacefully, the minister told reporters. Wang arrived in Bangladesh on Saturday for a two-day visit and from there he will go to Myanmar to attend the Asia-Europe Meeting. (ASEM) China supports resolving the crisis peacefully, bilaterally with mutual consultation between Bangladesh and Myanmar, he said. More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since late August driven out by a military clearance operation in Buddhist majority Myanmars Rakhine State. It is a complex situation and needs a comprehensive solution. Economic development of Rakhine State is needed. China is ready to help, Wang said. Earlier in the day Wang also met with Bangladeshs Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence in Dhaka and assured her of Chinas support in solving the crisis. Myanmar will have to take back their nationals ensuring their safety, security and dignity for a durable solution to the crisis, Hasinas private secretary Ihsanul Karim quoted the prime minister as saying. We will not allow the land of Bangladesh to be used by any terrorist group to commit any act of insurgency in neighbouring countries, Hasina added, according to Karim. Bangladeshs Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali told Wang that Bangladesh is trying to resolve the issue both bilaterally and internationally as it could not afford the huge burden of the refugees. A statement from Bangladesh foreign ministry said that when the issue of displaced Myanmar nationals was raised, Wang stated that China would help resolve the issue and will not be partial to any side. He acknowledged that Bangladesh is facing the brunt of continuing influx of Rohingya refugees, the Bangladeshi foreign ministry statement said. A delegation of U.S. Congressmen is visiting Bangladesh to study the Rohingya crisis on Saturday. Swedens foreign minister Margot Wallstrom, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, Germanys foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kona will also visit Bangladesh this week.

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Bonn: Amidst the shadow of the US decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, nearly 200 nations on Saturday pledged to launch a process next year to start reviewing existing plans to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

Stepping up climate risk insurance, Germany pledged additional $125 million to support provision of insurance to 400 more million poor and vulnerable people by 2020 in addition to the climate adaptation fund Germany's further contribution of 50 million euros.

The common message from all sides at this conference has been that action to get on track towards the objectives of the Paris Agreement and to ultimately achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals is urgent, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat said on Saturday.

Pledging to continue with its commitments to minimise emissions, it said "Time is really running out and everyone simply must do much better together to drive climate action further and faster ahead now."

"Above all, this means rapidly raising the current global ambition to act on climate change that is captured in the full set of national climate action plans (NDCs) which sit at the heart of the Agreement."

The two-week negotiations were aimed to take a number of decisions necessary to bring the 2015 Paris Agreement to life, including meaningful progress on the agreement to implement guidelines to keep global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius with an aim to cut greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels.

Environmental groups told IANS the talks missed many prominent issues like financial support for developing nations for cutting emissions and climate adaptation.

Among the major announcements are funds to support the poorest and most vulnerable, whose plight has been brought into sharp perspective by this year's extreme weather, a UNFCCC spokesperson said.

In the InsuResilience Initiative, additional $125 million from Germany will support provision of insurance to an additional 400 million poor and vulnerable people by 2020.

According to recent estimates, only about 100 million people in developing countries and emerging economies are currently covered by climate risk insurance.

Likewise, the climate adaptation fund exceeded its target with Germany's contribution of 50 million euros and Italy's contribution of seven million euros, which means the fund has now surpassed its 2017 target by over $13 million and stands at the equivalent of $93.3 million dollars.

A Norway and Unilever $400 million fund is for public and private investment in more resilient socioeconomic development investing in business models that combine investments in high productivity agriculture, smallholder inclusion and forest protection.

Germany and Britain will provide a combined $153 million to expand programmess to fight climate change and deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.

The European Investment Bank also announced $75 million for a new $405 million investment programme by the Water Authority of Fiji.

The scheme will strengthen resilience of water distribution and wastewater treatment following Cyclone Winston, the world's second strongest storm ever recorded, which hit Fiji in February 2016.

At Bonn, India reiterated provisions for finance both for adaptation and mitigation, technology transfer for climate actions from the developed nations.

A day after a major victory for India and developing countries on climate action before 2020 that the developed world agreed to discuss in subsequent two years, India's minister of environment, forest and climate change Harsh Vardhan has said provisions for finance, technology transfer and capacity building support to developing nations are critical.

Stressing that this Conference of Parties (COP23) is crucial as it would set the stage for the 2018 Facilitative Dialogue, accelerate pre-2020 action and firm up the modalities for implementing the 2015 Paris Agreement, he said India has undertaken ambitious mitigation and adaptation action.

The action is in the fields of clean energy, especially renewable energy; enhancement of energy efficiency; development of less carbon-intensive and resilient urban centers; and promotion of waste-to-wealth and efforts to enhance carbon sink through creation of forest and tree cover.

On the demand of BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China), Fiji, which was presiding over the conference, has also been asked to send letters to all the countries which are yet to ratify the Doha amendments to the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 to do so "as soon as possible".

The developed countries have also been asked to give information by 1 May next year on the progress they have made on pre-2020 action that relates to their obligations under the Kyoto Protocol that includes reduction of emissions and transfer of technology and finance.

India had been demanding since the start of the climate summit on 6 November that pre-2020 climate action be included in the formal agenda of the negotiations.

The developed world, which had been initially resisting this, later agreed on demand of the BASIC countries.

The BASIC countries also emphasised the need for openness, transparency and the country-driven nature of negotiations at the annual summit.

In addition to the commitment to discuss how to scale-up climate action, countries made modest progress in developing a negotiating text for "the Paris Rulebook" comprising the guidelines needed for implementing the Paris Agreement.
Islamabad: National Security Adviser Nasser Khan Janjua on Friday accused India of creating a "two-front situation" for Pakistan, saying such a policy would be detrimental for regional peace and stability.

His statement came during his talks with visiting Special Representative of Germany for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Markus Potzel, who was accompanied by German Ambassador Martin Kobler in Islamabad.

According to a statement by the NSA office, the two sides discussed the regional security situation and the prevailing situation in Afghanistan.

Janjua said that Pakistan wants peace in Afghanistan but the same is under stress due to involvement of India which wants to create a "two front situation" for Pakistan.

"India is self-seeking a two front situation which does not auger well for the region. All major powers of the world need to play their role in keeping the region stable and balanced," he said.

He meant to say that Pakistan was being stretched to fight militants on the western front with Afghanistan and face Indian army on the eastern border with India.

The NSA also said that for "regional peace and stability, it is imperative for both the countries to engage with each and resolve their disputes".

He said Pakistan and India should resolve their disputes for the sake of better future.

Janjua also said Pakistan wanted peace in Afghanistan and urged for political settlement of the Afghan issue.

"To end miseries of Afghanistan and its people, warring sides should seek a political solution to the conflict as the perpetual war of last 16 years has given us nothing but human miseries and sufferings," Janjua added.
Islamabad: Ousted premier Nawaz Sharif and four of his family members can soon be barred from leaving Pakistan in connection with the Panama Papers case as the country's anti-graft watchdog has initiated a process to place their names on the Exit Control List (ECL), a media report said on Saturday.

Sharif, 67, and some of his family members are facing charges relating to their ownership of properties in London.

He resigned as prime minister in July after the country's Supreme Court disqualified him over undeclared income.

Three cases were registered by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on 8 September against Sharif, his children and son-in-law in the accountability court in Islamabad, following the July verdict by the Supreme Court.

Dawn reported that the NAB Lahore office on Friday initiated the process to place the names of Sharif, his sons Hussain and Hassan, daughter Maryam and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar on ECL.

According to the NAB Islamabad spokesman, the members of the family may face travel restriction if listed on the ECL.

An accountability court had earlier declared Hussain and Hassan proclaimed offenders for skipping court proceedings in connection with the case.

On Thursday, the NAB had requested the ministry of interior to put Finance Minister Ishaq Dar's name on the ECL after an accountability court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for him.

Dar, like Sharif's sons, has continuously been absent from court proceedings in a case against him for owning assets beyond known sources of income.

A senior official told the paper on condition of anonymity that the NAB Lahore had written to its Islamabad headquarters requesting that Hussain and Hassan's names be placed on the ECL.

The NAB spokesman in Islamabad confirmed the other three names  Sharif, Maryam and Safdar  that had been recommended by the anti-graft watchdog Lahore to be placed on the ECL.

The official in the NAB Lahore said according to the procedure, they would first place names of Hussain and Hassan, who live in the UK, on the ECL and if they still did not appear before the accountability court, then NAB would request cancellation of their passports.

Sharif's family has been shuttling between Islamabad and London in recent days due to his wife Kulsoom, who is battling throat cancer.

The three cases against the Sharifs are related to the Flagship Investment Ltd, the Avenfield (London) properties and Jeddah-based Al-Azizia Company and Hill Metal Establishment.

The political future of Sharif, who leads the country's most powerful political family and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, has been hanging in balance since his disqualification. If convicted, Sharif could be jailed.

Sharif's family alleges that the cases are politically motivated.
MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Saturday that the police would reassume their lead role in implementing his war on drugs if the narcotics problem worsens and that nobody could stop his campaign, not even U.S. President Donald Trump. President Rodrigo Duterte gestures during a bilateral meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at Malacanang Palace in metro Manila, Philippines November 15, 2017. REUTERS/Dondi TawataoThe firebrand leader ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) to withdraw from the campaign a few weeks ago amid unprecedented scrutiny of police conduct in the campaign, which has killed thousands of suspected drug users and peddlers. If human rights (advocates) are thinking that Trump or whoever the human rights (advocates believe) can stop me, Im sorry, Duterte said in a speech at a business event in his hometown Davao City. The drug problem, if it becomes worse again, the police has to enter the picture. I want it eradicated if possible, he said. The Philippines has drawn international criticism for the killing of 3,900 people in police anti-drugs operations over the past 15 months, but the police deny allegations by human rights advocates that many of the killings were executions. The police say they had to use deadly force in each case because the suspects were armed and had resisted arrest. Duterte has given the Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency (PDEA) the responsibility for all anti-narcotics operations. But PDEA chief Aaron Aquino said last month that without police participation the intensity of the war on drugs could lessen. Aquino said he had only a fraction of the personnel and budget of the police and hoped Dutertes decision to make his agency responsible for all operations would not be lasting. Trump, who was in Manila recently for a summit of Asian and Western nations, did not apply any pressure over the drugs war on Duterte, with whom he said he had a great relationship. But Duterte attacked Canadas Justin Trudeau at the end of the summit for raising questions about human rights and executions under the anti-narcotics campaign. In Davao, Duterte described the shabu or methamphetamine trade in the Philippines as an organized crime that involves a merchandise for the poor, explaining why most of those that were killed during police operations were from poor communities. Its an organized crime. The act of one is the act of all. The liability of one is the same liability for all, he said.

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia vetoed on Friday a Japanese-drafted U.N. Security Council resolution to extend by one month an international inquiry into who is to blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria, just a day after Moscow blocked a U.S. push to renew the investigation. A Syrian woman walks past damaged buildings in Douma, in the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta, Syria November 15, 2017. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh The mandate for the joint inquiry by the U.N. and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which was unanimously created by the 15-member Security Council in 2015, ends on Friday. Syrian ally Russia has now cast 11 vetoes on possible Security Council action on Syria since the countrys civil war began in 2011. The Japanese draft received 12 votes in favor, while China abstained and Bolivia joined Russia in voting no. A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Russia, Britain or China to be adopted. Russia is wasting our time, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the council. Russias actions today and in recent weeks have been designed to delay, to distract and ultimately to defeat the effort to secure accountability for chemical weapons attacks in Syria, Haley said. Swedens U.N. Ambassador Olof Skoog requested closed-door council consultations after the meeting on Friday evening to ensure we are absolutely convinced we have exhausted every avenue, every effort before the inquirys mandate expires. The U.N./OPCW investigation found the Syrian government used the banned nerve agent sarin in an April 4 attack and has also used chlorine as a weapon several times. It blamed Islamic State militants for using mustard gas. Russia vetoed on Thursday and on Oct. 24 U.S.-drafted resolutions to renew the inquiry, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM). The Security Council also voted on a Russian-drafted resolution on Thursday to renew the inquiry, but it failed after only garnering four votes in favor. During closed-door talks earlier on Friday, Russia told its council counterparts that it could not accept the Japanese draft, did not want the council to show false unity and did not want to waste everyones time, said council diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity. While Russia agreed to the 2015 creation of the inquiry, it has consistently questioned its findings and working methods. The April 4 sarin attack on Khan Sheikhoun that killed dozens of people prompted the United States to launch missiles on a Syrian air base. Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States.

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Paris: Prime Minister Saad Hariri said he will return to Lebanon for Wednesday's Independence Day celebrations and explain his situation, after his shock resignation announcement in Saudi Arabia sparked political turmoil.

Speaking after talks in Paris on Saturday with French President Emmanuel Macron, who is seeking to broker a way out of the crisis, Hariri said he would "make known my position" once back in Beirut.

"As you know I have resigned, and we will discuss that in Lebanon," he said told reporters, saying he needed to meet with President Michel Aoun before taking further steps.

Hariri's announcement follows two weeks of deep uncertainty after his surprise decision to step down on 4 November.

His failure to return to Lebanon since then sparked rumours that he was being held in Riyadh against his will, which both he and Saudi officials denied.

"To say that I am held up in Saudi Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie," he said in a Twitter post just before flying to Paris overnight.

Hariri's wife and eldest son Houssam joined him for lunch with Macron at the Elysee Palace, but their two younger children, who live in Saudi Arabia, have remained there "for their school exams", a source close to the premier said.

"Hariri does not want to mix his children up in this affair," the source said.

His mysterious decision to step down  which Aoun has refused to accept while Hariri remains abroad  has raised fears over Lebanon's fragile democracy.

Hariri's camp has sought to allay the concerns, with a source saying the premier had a "fruitful and constructive" meeting with the powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman before leaving.

Hariri, a dual Saudi citizen who has previously enjoyed Riyadh's backing, resigned saying he feared for his life.

He accused Saudi Arabia's arch-rival Iran and its powerful Lebanese ally Hezbollah of destabilising his country.

Battle for influence

Hariri's resignation was widely seen as an escalation of the battle for influence between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, which back opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

His attempt to step down also coincides with a purge of more than 200 Saudi princes, ministers and businessmen.

Hariri met French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Riyadh on Thursday as Paris, which held mandate power over Lebanon for the first half of the 20th century, seeks to ease the crisis.

In another development, Riyadh on Saturday recalled its ambassador to Berlin in protest at comments by Germany's Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel which were interpreted as a suggestion that Hariri acted under Saudi orders.

Without mentioning Saudi Arabia directly, Gabriel had said Thursday that he shared concerns about the threat of instability and bloodshed in Lebanon and warned against "adventurism".

"Lebanon has earned the right to decide on its fate by itself and not become a pinball of Syria or Saudi Arabia or other national interests," he had said earlier in the week.

Germany's foreign ministry had yet to comment on the row, but in a statement it welcomed Hariri's "imminent return to Lebanon".

'Start of a solution'

Ahead of Hariri's departure, Aoun  an ally of Hezbollah  welcomed the trip to Paris, expressing hope that it was the "start of a solution".

"If Mr Hariri speaks from France, I would consider that he speaks freely," Aoun said.

"But his resignation must be presented in Lebanon, and he will have to remain there until the formation of the new government."

France's intervention was the latest in a string of European efforts to defuse tensions over Lebanon, where divisions between Hariri's Sunni bloc and Shiite Hezbollah have long been a focal point in a broader struggle between Riyadh and Tehran.

Hariri  whose father, ex-prime minister Rafiq Hariri, was killed in a 2005 car bombing blamed on Hezbollah  took over last year as head of a shaky national unity government which includes the powerful Shiite movement.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir insisted from Madrid that "unless Hezbollah disarms and becomes a political party, Lebanon will be held hostage by Hezbollah and, by extension, Iran".

Hariri's resignation comes as the long-standing rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran intensifies and as Riyadh undergoes a major shake-up under the ambitious crown prince.
Paris: France under President Emmanuel Macron has played a leading role in trying to avert a fresh crisis in Lebanon following the surprise resignation of its prime minister Saad Hariri.

Hariri arrived in Paris on Saturday on Macron's invitation, after the premier once again dismissed rumours that he had been held against his will in Saudi Arabia since announcing his resignation there on 4 November.

As Macron holds talks with Hariri, AFP explains France's role in working to defuse the situation.

Why is France involved?

Links between France and multi-faith Lebanon go back at least to the 16th century, when King Francis I signed an agreement with the Ottoman Empire giving the French royals the status of protectors of Christians in the Middle East.

With the fall of the Ottomans in 1920, Lebanon emerged as a contemporary state but it was administered by France under a League of Nations mandate until 1943, when it gained independence.

Since then, France has maintained close ties with the unstable country.

Is this just about history?

No. Macron, a 39-year-old former investment banker, is also keen to make a mark in international relations after coming to power in May.

He flew to Riyadh to meet Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman himself last week and sent his Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian back on Wednesday for further talks.

Macron is trying to fill a void of Western power in the Middle East: the United States has retreated under Donald Trump, while Britain remains wrapped up in its Brexit negotiations.

This has led to a whirlwind of diplomacy from Macron with varying degrees of success, from efforts to find a solution in war-wracked Libya to a campaign in favour of maintaining the Iran nuclear deal.

Is a resolution in sight?

Lebanon's President Michel Aoun said that he had spoken with Hariri by telephone following his arrival in France and that the premier said he would be home for Independence Day celebrations on Wednesday.

Aoun, who had accused the Saudis of holding his prime minister "hostage"  a claim dismissed by both Hariri and Riyadh  had already backed the Paris trip as a step forward on Thursday.

"We hope that the crisis is over and Hariri's acceptance of the invitation to go to France is the start of a solution," tweeted Aoun, who has refused to accept the premier's resignation from abroad.

The French-language Lebanese newspaper L'Orient-Le Jour said France had "achieved the unexpected by inviting Hariri" to leave Riyadh, saying it had "lowered tensions a notch".

What are Hariri's ties to France?

Hariri's family has properties and long-standing links in France that go back to the early 1980s when Jacques Chirac, then the mayor of Paris, became close to Saad's father Rafiq.

Rafiq Hariri, a wealthy real estate developer who made his fortune in Saudi Arabia, made numerous investments in France and headquartered his construction group Oger International in a Parisian suburb.

This could now come back to bite his son  who inherited it  as it recently went bankrupt, leaving salaries and pensions worth millions of dollars unpaid around the world since 2015.

About 240 laid-off French employees are seeking nearly 20 million euros ($24 million) after the company collapsed under huge debts, as tumbling oil prices hit Saudi construction hard.

The elder Hariri's friendship with Chirac turned overtly political after 1992 when he became prime minister of Lebanon. Chirac was elected president three years later.

He was the only head of state to attend Hariri's funeral in Beirut in 2005 after he was killed in a bombing.

Chirac lived in a luxurious Paris apartment owned by the Hariri family for around eight years after he left office and retired in 2007.
The U.S. State Department approved a possible $10.5 billion sale of Raytheon Co's (NYSE:RTN) Patriot missile defense system to Poland, the Pentagon said on Friday.

NATO member Poland has sped up efforts to overhaul its military following Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014 and in response to Moscow's renewed military and political assertiveness in the region.

Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz said in March that Poland expected to sign a deal with Raytheon to buy the Patriot missile defense system by the end of the year.

Patriot missile defense interceptors are designed to detect, track and engage unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cruise missiles and short-range or tactical ballistic missiles.

The proposed sale includes 208 Patriot Advanced Capabilty-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement missiles, 16 M903 launching stations, four AN/MPQ-65 radars, four control stations, spares, software and associated equipment.

In addition, Poland is authorized to buy U.S. government and contractor technical, engineering and logistics support services as well as range and test programs for a total estimated potential program cost of up to $10.5 billion.

A Raytheon representative said "it is Raytheon's experience that the estimated cost notified could be larger than the final negotiated contract amount," signaling that the final price could be lower as negotiations on a final amount proceed. Raytheon added that is "will work closely with the U.S. and Polish governments to ensure Poland is able to procure Patriot at a mutually agreeable price."

The Pentagon said the sale will take place in two phases.

If a deal is finalized, it would allow Poland to conduct air and missile defense operations with NATO allies the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and Greece, which currently have the Patriot system, a U.S. State Department official said.

The contract still requires approval from the U.S. Congress, because it involves a purchase of advanced military technology for which special permission must be obtained.

Poland, which had said it was planning to spend around $7.6 billion on the whole project, said the negotiations are not over.

"This does not mean that this amount ($10.5 billion) is the final value of the LOA (Letter of Offer and Acceptance)," the Polish Defence Ministry said in a statement, adding it has a "good track record" in negotiating similar offers.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which implements foreign arms sales, said it had delivered notification to Congress on Tuesday.

U.S. lawmakers have 30 days to block the sale, but that rarely happens.

In addition to Raytheon, the prime contractors will be Lockheed Martin Corp and Northrop Grumman. (Writing by by Mike Stone; Additional reporting in Warsaw by Lidia Kelly; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Dan Grebler)
Many companies are testing out human-like robots to assist in traditional human activities from packaging and supply chain to policing and military drills.

Twenty-two countries have been lobbying the United Nations, demanding a ban on killer robots that can identify and destroy targets without human control.

Hotspot Shield cyber security expert Robert Siciliano warns that humans should without a doubt be concerned with these killer robots.

It wasnt too long ago that planes bombing required humans, now we have autonomous drones that essentially are doing the work for us. Whats it going to take for those same drones to determine the actual target and in some cases make mistakes? he asked during an interview on FBNs Risk & Reward.

As of May 2017, the Robotics Industries Association (RIA) estimates that 250,000 robots are now in use in the United States, the third-highest in the world behind Japan and China.

Im all about advancing technology and saving human lives. But there are some out there with nefarious mindsets who could use this for criminal hacking, social engineering and, of course, weapons of mass destruction, Siciliano said.
Take a moment to imagine retirement and picture your perfect setting. Maybe you're dreaming of moving to Florida? Arizona, perhaps?

How about Costa Rica?

Retiring abroad is becoming a more popular option for seniors. The Social Security Administration estimates nearly half a million Americans have retired abroad, and according to a report from the Associated Press, the number of retirees moving out of the U.S. has increased 17% from 2010 to 2015.

There are plenty of reasons why moving abroad may sound appealing. Maybe you're looking for a change of scenery. Perhaps you've been eager to travel the world and you're finally getting the chance to do it. But one of the biggest reasons retirees move is money.

Is retiring abroad right for you? It's a big decision that shouldn't be taken lightly, but here are three signs retiring in a new country may be a good choice.

1. Your retirement savings are a lot less than you'd hoped for

The median amount working-age American families aged 56 to 61 have saved for retirement is just $17,000, according to the Economic Policy Institute. So if you're like a lot of soon-to-be retirees, your retirement fund may be a little (or a lot) smaller than you'd hoped for.

You may think your only option is to continue working until you do have enough to retire -- or worse, risk running out of money during retiremente. However, you might be surprised how far your savings can go in a country with a lower cost of living.

In Quito, Ecuador's bustling capital city, the average 900-square-foot furnished apartment costs around $450 per month. You can even move to a tropical paradise in Cancun, Mexico, and find a 900-square-foot furnished apartment in an upscale part of town for less than $750 per month.

Before you start packing your bags, you'll still need to do your research and find out how far your retirement savings will go in certain countries. But choose the right country, and even meager retirement funds can last a lot longer than they would in the U.S.

2. You're anticipating high healthcare bills

Healthcare in the U.S. is incredibly expensive, even with Medicare helping to cover some of the costs. In fact, the average 65-year-old couple retiring today can expect to spend over $275,000 on healthcare costs during retirement.

In some other countries, though, healthcare is far more affordable. Mexico, for example, is a popular expat destination partly because of its healthcare system, and many hospitals in the country have American-standard facilities to appeal to expats and retirees. Also, once you become a resident, you can take part in the country's social security system and pay around $33 per month for health insurance.

Similarly, France was ranked No. 1 out of 191 countries for its healthcare by the World Health Organization, and expats are allowed to apply for public healthcare coverage once they establish residency by living in the country for at least 183 days per year. The average doctor's visit in France costs just $26, and 70% of that is reimbursed by the government.

3. You're willing to make sacrifices

Moving to a different country is a much bigger commitment than moving across town or to a new state. You'll have to seriously consider whether you're OK leaving friends and family behind, adapting to a new culture and way of life, and possibly learning a new language.

But if you're willing to make sacrifices, taking on a new adventure may be good for more than just your wallet. Traveling to a new country forces you outside your comfort zone, which can also be good for your brain. Things like learning a new language and navigating a new environment can strengthen your cognitive and social skills, according to a report by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies. Mental stimulation and socialization are especially important as you age.

Also, 86% of people in the study said their overall mood and outlook had improved as a result of travel during retirement, and 78% said their stress level had improved as well. So if you're willing to make the jump and move to a new country, you may thank yourself for it down the road.

There are many wonderful countries where you can live in comfort on a small (by American standards) budget, so don't limit yourself to the U.S.

The $275,000 retirement cost you can't afford to mess up If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. And it's a tough pill to swallow, but half of retirees will pay $275,000 or more for healthcare out of their own pocket.

Fortunately, our retirement experts have identified little-known tactics to reduce your costs while still getting the quality care you deserve.

Millions of Americans miss out on opportunities to pad their pockets by $5,628 $11,125 even $16,122! You dont want to be caught scrambling for cash to pay your retirement bills.
What is one to do in the small town of Fairfield, Calif., the halfway point between Sacramento and San Francisco? Schedule a tour of Anheuser-Busch InBev's (NYSE: BUD) Budweiser factory, of course. My short tour during a recent business trip left me with a new appreciation for the world's largest brewer, along with some insight on the company's strategy to remain relevant in the fast-changing alcohol industry.

1. A wide and deep beer moat

The tour began with a review and tasting of some of the many products A-B InBev has to capitalize on differing global tastes. After its combination with rival giant SABMiller, the company has over 500 beer names spanning every continent, including seven of the 10 most valuable beer brands in the world.

For most of those brands, it's all about brewing consistency so that loyal drinkers will keep coming back. Such is the case with Budweiser, the primary brew made at the Fairfield plant. Five ingredients are strictly controlled to make sure batches of Bud taste the same: (1) water, a leading contributor to taste differences, thus there's a strict filtration process across all factories; (2) barley malt; (3) yeast; (4) hops, the "spice" that flavors the beer; and (5) rice, a unique Bud ingredient that helps with consistency and a "clean" flavor.

For A-B InBev's sprawling operations, the consistency equation is also paired with cost control. Thus the company's vertical integration, or ownership of multiple stages of production from raw materials to distribution. For example, Budweiser owns and sources hops from Elk Mountain Farms -- the world's largest hop farm -- in the Idaho panhandle in tiny Bonner's Ferry.

2. Keeping up with demands

Beer is the third-most-popular beverage after water and tea, and A-B InBev makes the most of that fact (although it also has its fingers in tea, too, with a partnership with Starbucks involving America's largest ready-to-drink premium tea, Teavana). Huge factories around the globe have been dialed in for peak efficiency, producing about a third of all the beer consumed in the world. According to my tour, just the one factory in Fairfield -- the smallest of Budweiser's 12 in the U.S. -- can produce enough six packs in one production run for you to consume one a day for the next 250 or so years.

Having that kind of scale and brand diversity has been a competitive advantage. Worldwide beer demand has been stagnant for years, but the Budweiser parent keeps finding ways to get bigger. That implies it's growing by gulping down market share, a testament to a brand's ability to roll with changes and elevate its image above that of its peers. Compare that with results from struggling small American beer maker Boston Beer Company (NYSE: SAM), which reported third-quarter revenue down 2.5% year over year.

Through the first nine months of 2017, A-B InBev reported 4.1% year-over-year organic revenue growth, which measures in-house generated growth unaided by acquisitions of other businesses. The contributing factors to that number included overseas growth and "premiumization -- adding new brands and flavors that the company can charge more for -- in developed markets like the U.S.

3. "Crafting" to stay relevant

Global beer sales have slowed to a crawl and tastes within the overall market are changing. That is most evident in the U.S. with the craft beer movement. Craft beer sales volumes were up 6.2% in 2016, and the number of U.S. brewers has boomed from just over 1,500 a decade ago to over 5,300 at the end of 2016.

With U.S. consumers valuing variety and innovative product, A-B InBev has added 10 craft brewers to its arsenal in recent years. The moves have come under fire from critics. "Craft" is defined as less than 6 billion barrels of annual production and less than 25% owned or controlled by a non-craft company. Getting bought by the global giant effectively eliminates the brewers from this definition.

A-B InBev has nevertheless plugged its "craft" spoils into its own "high-end" portfolio, to great success. The beers have reportedly taken 0.3% more market share through the first half of 2017, helping offset Budweiser declines in the U.S. I was surprised, though, to see a Northwest favorite -- Seattle-based Elysian's Space Dust IPA -- on the production line during my tour in Fairfield. The company has been able to keep the label independent enough that demand for the brew is so strong that a bigger production facility than Space Dust's Seattle home was needed.

Regardless of your opinion of Budweiser or "corporate beer" in general, A-B InBev has muscled its way into the top spot in the world of brewing and is worthy of investment consideration. It has a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 23.5, reflecting short-term headwinds integrating SABMiller, and pays a 3.25% dividend yield.

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The White House has sent Congress a $44 billion disaster aid request that's already under attack from lawmakers from hurricane-hit regions as way too small.

The request issued Friday, President Donald Trump's third since hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria slammed the Gulf Coast and Caribbean, would bring the total appropriated for disaster relief this fall close to $100 billion  and that's before most of the money to rebuild Puerto Rico's devastated housing stock and electric grid is added in.

The new installment would add $24 billion to the government's chief disaster account and establish a new $12 billion grant program for flood risk mitigation projects. Smaller amounts would go to small business loans and to aid farmers suffering crop losses.

The request followed lobbying by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello, who pressed the White House for far more. There are sure to be attempts to add to the measure as it advances through the House and Senate.

"This request does not come close to what local officials say is needed," said New York Rep. Nita Lowey, top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

Even before the measure was delivered, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called it "wholly inadequate." Cornyn worked in September to nearly double Trump's initial request for Harvey aid and has been battling with the White House behind the scenes.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded, "I don't think $44 billion is a low amount and my guess is if you asked any average citizen across this country they wouldn't feel that it's low either."

She said Texas "should step up" and provide state money to the rebuilding efforts. But she said damage assessments in Puerto Rico hadn't been completed yet and additional requests were expected.

The measure arrives as lawmakers and the White House face numerous budget-related issues by year's end, including a deadline of Dec. 8 to avert a government shutdown. Top Capitol Hill leaders are also negotiating bipartisan spending increases for the Pentagon and domestic agencies in hopes of passing a catchall government funding bill. They are also seeking to renew a popular program that provides health care to children from low-income families.

And there's a tax bill that is Republicans' top priority. GOP leaders have appeared wary of tackling other budget-related issues while the tax legislation was taking shape but time is running low and coming weeks are likely to bring a burst of activity. Talks on increasing tight "caps" on agency budgets have centered on a GOP plan for a two-year, $182 billion increase that still falls short of demands by both defense hawks and Democrats seeking more for domestic programs.

Rossello has requested $94 billion, including $18 billion to rebuild the island's power grid and $31 billion for housing. The White House anticipates sending another request focused on the needs of the island territory but hasn't indicated when that would be.

"Because Hurricane Maria occurred more recently, damage assessments are ongoing," said White House budget director Mick Mulvaney.

Mulvaney also asked lawmakers to consider $59 billion in spending cuts to pay for the aid, including $44 billion from benefit programs by extending automatic cuts known as sequestration over the 2025-2027 budget window.

Texas and Florida officials also expressed disappointment. Abbott, the Texas governor, submitted a $61 billion request to Trump last month for Harvey-related damages, including ambitious requests for flood control and navigation projects. He called the White House request "completely inadequate."

The Florida congressional delegation asked for $27 billion. Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, said in a statement that the request "doesn't come close to providing what is needed. People are hurting and they desperately need our help, yet this request has no money to provide housing for evacuees and barely any money for Florida's citrus growers. That's unacceptable."

"Congress needs to pass a more robust disaster bill that actually provides the funding needed to help people recover," Nelson said.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Congress had "proven its commitment to aid those suffering from the natural disasters of the fall." Ryan said the House would "review the request and work with the administration and members from affected states to help the victims get the resources they need to recover and rebuild."

__

Associated Press writer Ken Thomas contributed to this report.
Ukraine's intelligence agency said Saturday it has detained a man wanted for the high-profile murder of an American journalist in Russia 13 years ago.

Paul Klebnikov, the U.S.-born editor of Forbes magazine's Russian edition, was gunned down outside his Moscow office in July 2004.

Many people believed the killing was connected to the 41-year-old Klebnikov's work investigating corruption in Russia and the country's shadowy business world.

Ukraine's State Security Service said in a statement Saturday that it has detained a Russian man who was wanted for several slayings, including Klebnikov's. The Ukrainian agency did not identify the suspect.

Three people were charged with the journalist's murder in 2006 and later acquitted. A higher court ordered a retrial for the main suspect, but he absconded before the proceedings could be held.

Prosecutors have alleged Klebnikov's killing was contracted by a Chechen warlord who was the subject of Klebnikov's 2003 book "Conversations With a Barbarian."

Klebnikov, a New Yorker of Russian descent, investigated corruption and sought to shed light on the closed, sometimes violent world of Russian business. His family said after the 2006 acquittals they were distressed that Klebnikov's killers remained at large.
As Venezuela faces the looming threat of a default following another major downgrade in its credit rating, some observers say that a default  while catastrophic for the South American nation  could benefit foreign investors looking to take full control of the worlds largest proven oil reserves.

While Venezuela has yet to fully default on the billions of dollars it owes to global creditors, two of the worlds most prominent credit ratings agencies almost simultaneously downgraded Venezuelas sovereign debt earlier this week.

If Venezuela goes into full default then investors and creditors will have the opportunity to take full control of the [oil] industry, Sonia Schott, the former Washington D.C., correspondent for Venezuelan news network Globovision, told Fox News. I have no doubt that that is their dream.

Fitch ratings agency has declared Venezuelas state-owned PDVSA oil company to be in restricted debt and Standard & Poor put Venezuela in selective default after the socialist nation failed to pay $200 million in coupon payments for bonds due 2019 and 2024 within the allowed 30-day grace period. S&P noted that "there is a one-in-two chance that Venezuela could default again within the next three months."

The specter of a full default has raised concerns that PDVSA could see its operations frozen and have its assets, inducing a Citgo refinery in Texas, seized.

Venezuela is in survival mode, Schott said. They are trying to buy time renegotiate their debts.

Schott added that if Venezuela is going to see a bailout or get any relief it will be from countries that have invested heavily there, such as Russia.

The Russian Finance Ministry on Wednesday announced that it had signed a deal with Venezuela that will allow the South American nation pay its $3.15 billion debt to Russia over 10 years. It noted that payments will be "minimal" during the first six years.

The ministry added that the debt restructuring agreement will allow Venezuela to allocate more funds for economic development.

Russia is trying to reach out to help Venezuela because they dont want to lose the investments they have in the country, Schott noted.

Venezuela had been an economic leader in the Western Hemisphere for decades and, despite a massive gap between rich and poor, was a major destination for neighboring Colombians and other Latin Americans fleeing their less prosperous and more troubled homelands.

But in 1999 with the rise to power of late leader Hugo Chavez  whose social and Marxist economic reforms initially endeared him to the poor but also set up an unsustainable system of state spending  Venezuelas economy began to creep toward a crisis.

The situation has been exacerbated by President Nicolas Maduro, Chavezs successor, who took power in 2013, and by a plunge in global oil prices in 2015. By late summer of 2017, Venezuela's oil-dependent economy had shrunk by about 35%  more than the U.S. economy did during the Great Depression.

A widespread protest movement in cities across the country against the Maduro regime continues and has so far claimed more than 120 lives amid a violent government crackdown. There are signs of a humanitarian crisis with reports of food and medicine shortages.

Its just a terrible situation, Cynthia Arnson, director of the Latin American program at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington D.C., told Fox News. In the short term the Maduro government is only going to try to consolidate its control and the million-dollar question is where the cracks will show in the government.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Senate Bill 54 was created in order to limit California law enforcement agencies from working with federal officials for immigration enforcement. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill, which is set to take effect in 2018.

Sheriff Margaret Mims on Friday said the sanctuary state law could negatively impact communication between federal and state law enforcement.

Now, unfortunately because of the passage of the Senate bill, we are prohibited from working with ICE for certain offenses, and in fact were prohibited from allowing ICE to use some of our databases like other law enforcement agencies do, she told FOX Business Liz MacDonald on Risk & Reward."

Mims explained how future communication between state and federal law enforcement could begin to diminish.

So Im very concerned about the precedent this sets. Because whats next? Are they going to prohibit us from talking to the DEA or the FBI? Law enforcement agencies at all levels need to be able to communicate, she said.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Mims had previously cooperated with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and reorganized release times of people so agents could pick them up after their sentences had been served.

It made sense to me that we cooperate with ICE so that they can do their jobs in a safe, controlled environment when people get booked into our jails, she said.

Mims clarified that she was not anti-immigration and supports hard-working immigrants.

My priority is to keep my community safe. Were not talking about immigrants that are here that are working hard, that arent committing crimes, that arent getting booked into the jail. Were talking about people that actually get arrested and booked and were prohibited from speaking to ICE about them. That just flies in the face of good public safety service, she said.
The Trump administration is cracking down on the violent street gang MS-13 by assisting the local police in arresting more than 200 of its alleged members.

The Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department conducted a 18-month two phase anti-gang investigation called Operation Raging Bull which netted a total of 267 arrests of people allegedly connected to the MS-13 gang.

Sheriffs around the country are ecstatic at this big step and citizens should be too because every MS gang member thats taken out of this country makes our streets a little bit safer, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana sheriff Greg Champagne told FOX Business Charles Payne.

Earlier Friday, President Trump took to social media to express his hard stance against the MS-13 gang.

Together, we're going to restore safety to our streets and peace to our communities, and we're going to destroy the vile criminal cartel, #MS13, and many other gangs....

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) puts the numbers of MS-13 members in the U.S. in the thousands.

They are primarily in the major cities, but we find them even out in suburban areas such as St. Charles Parish where I am the sheriff, Champagne said.

The first phase Operation Raging Bull involved 53 arrests in El Salvador in September. Law enforcement officials say the second phase included 214 additional arrests across the United States from Oct. 8 to Nov. 11.
Lena Dunham was slammed on social media for coming to the defense of a male writer and executive producer of her HBO series Girls who was accused of sexual assault.

Her remarks came despite her previous support of rape survivors.

Social media users referenced a tweet Dunham made in August in which she supported women who came forward with their rape allegations.

Things women do lie about: what they ate for lunch. Things women dont lie about: rape, Dunham tweeted on Aug. 4, 2017.

On Friday, Dunham and Girls co-creator Jenni Konner defended writer Murray Miller who was accused by Passengers actress Aurora Perrineau of raping her after a night out in Los Angeles in 2012.

LENA DUNHAM DEFENDS GIRLS WRITER-PRODUCER ACCUSED OF RAPING UNDERAGE ACTRESS

While our first instinct is to listen to every womans story, our insider knowledge of Murrays situation makes us confident that sadly this accusation is one of the 3% of assault cases that are misreported every year, the women said in a statement. It is a true shame to add to that number, as outside of Hollywood women still struggle to be believed. We stand by Murray and this is all well be saying about this issue.

Critics slammed the actress for her defense although Dunham considers herself a feminist.

Italian filmmaker Asia Argento, who said disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein raped her, tweeted: You wrote me an email of support a few weeks ago and now you defend a rapist? WTF Lena Dunham?

One Twitter user wrote: Apparently Lena Dunham is a huge supporter of women coming forward with sexual assault unless its someone she knows personally and has held her up and filled her world with love.

Can we please, please, PLEASE be done with lena dunham now, another person tweeted.

Who exactly decided that Lena Dunham is a feminist? another social media user wrote.

Lena Dunham in Aug 2017: women dont lie about rape. Lena Dunham in Nov 2017: unless theyre accusing a friend of mine, another person tweeted.

Dunham's last tweet read: I believe in a lot of things but the first tenet of my politics is to hold up the people who have held me up, who have filled my world with love.

Perrineau filed a police report alleging Miller sexually assaulted her in 2012 and claimed she told Miller repeatedly that she was 17.

LENA DUNHAMON LAS VEGAS SHOOTING: NO WAY NOT TO POLITICIZE THIS TRAGEDY

"I woke up in Murrays bed naked," Perrineau said in a statement for a polygraph test she took in September, The Wrap reported. "He was on top of me having sexual intercourse with me. At no time did I consent to any sexual contact with Murray."

Millers attorney accused Perrineau of trying to extort money from him.

"After being contacted several weeks ago by lawyers who  on Ms. Perrineaus behalf  sought substantial monetary damages from him, Mr. Millers legal team gathered overwhelming evidence directly contradicting these false and offensive claims," Don Walerstein told The Hollywood Reporter. "Only after her demands for money were rebuffed did Ms. Perrineau go to the police."

Miller was an executive producer or co-executive producer on 52 episodes of "Girls," which ran for six seasons on HBO before going off the air earlier this year. He's also worked on the animated shows "American Dad!" and "King of the Hill."

Fox News' Samuel Chamberlain contributed to this report.
When it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, there's nothing more important than the turkey.

For ambitious home chefs hoping to deep-fry a turkey, the National Fire Protection Association extends a word of caution. According to the nonprofit, Thanksgiving is "the peak day for home cooking fires," followed by Christmas, the day before Thanksgiving and, finally, Easter.

With a little preparation and patience, however, your turkey  and your home  will come out just fine. So before hunkering down with your favorite seasonings and a tub of oil, keep reading for five must-know tricks for safely deep-frying on Turkey Day.

UTAH, IN BREAK WITH STATES TIGHTENING CORONAVIRUS RESTRICTIONS AHEAD OF THANKSGIVING, RELAXES GATHERING LIMITS

Prepare a safe space

First and foremost, scout out a safe area at least 10 feet away from your home. Keep the fryer away from garages, decks and fences, and a safe distance away from trees, State Farm advises. Ensure that there will be no bystanders, children or pets nearby once you begin. In addition, having a working fire extinguisher on hand is wise, too.

You can't safely fry a turkey that isn't properly thawed, either. Frozen or wet turkeys can cause hot oil to splatter, potentially causing burns. For help on when and how to thaw, follow recommendations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Be careful around the oil

Once the oil gets hot, its easy for things to get messy. Don safety glasses, oven mitts and an apron to handle the fryer well before the oil starts to bubble. Make sure your fryer is on a flat, level space to carefully gauge the amount of oil needed. Dont use too much oil, either  Minnesota fire investigator Jamie Novak warns that using too much oil could cause the burner to ignite, if any of it spills out.

CDC UPDATES CORONAVIRUS THANKSGIVING GUIDANCE, URGES AGAINST TRAVEL

Get the temperature just right

When cooking turkey parts, the oil temperature should be at 325 degrees F, according to Nicole Johnson, Butterball Turkey Talk-Line expert. She adds that it may take four to five minutes per pound to reach the recommended temperatures, as dark meat should get up to an internal temperature of about 180 degrees F, and white meat to an internal temperature of about 170 degrees F.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

Monitor the turkey

Using temperature controls to monitor the blaze is must, according to LDR Construction. Also, take your time while frying the turkey. When raising or lowering the turkey from/into the oil, go slowly to minimize spills, and give your full attention to the process. Its wise to avoid alcohol, too, and it goes without saying that you should never leave the bird unattended.

Clean up cautiously

Congratulations, you've deep-fried a turkey! Be sure to remove the bird from the fryer slowly, turn off the heat, and clean up your frying space just as meticulously as you set it up. After all, youve come too far to suffer a mistake now.

And when it comes time to gather around the table, enjoy every compliment your savory dish receives.

CLICK HERE FOR FOX NEWS CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE
By this time of year, school bullies have separated their prey from the herd  nice kids, shy ones, the kids whose parents tragically tell them to turn the other cheek  and filled their child victims with fears of humiliation, isolation and threats.

Tragically, school bullying is far more widespread than many people realize. Studies show that about 28 percent of students age 12-18 report being bullied at school each year, and about 160,000 children a day skip school across the country to avoid bullying. These targets feel less than others, because that is what their bullies and supporters tell them.

The result is lethal. Far too many times, Ive talked with yet another grieving and weeping mother who has lost her child due to suicide caused by bullying  bullycide.

Like Jill Moore, who wept when she told me how her daughter, Alex, was so miserable at Jemison High School in Jemison, Alabama, that she hurled herself off an overpass and into morning rush-hour traffic, after years of ongoing bullying.

Like Maureen Molak, whose son, David, took his life due to brutal cyberbullying, even after transferring to a Christian school in San Antonio, Texas. She wept when telling me how David felt that God had abandoned him. Our family will never be the same. It feels like a life sentence for all of us.

Like the gentle and humble immigrant mother from Mexico, whose daughter tried to kill herself, or more accurately, tried to drain the pain drowning her tender spirit.

Panicked to the point of wheezing, her mother wept while telling me how her daughters head was bashed into a short concrete curb at school by a known female bully. The daughter was then punched multiple times by the same bully on the back of her head as she lay unconscious on the same skull-white concrete.

The girls frantic mother said in broken English that she makes her beautiful daughter sleep next to her every night, and drapes her right arm across her daughters body so she cannot slip her motherly grasp and try to take her life again.

Though a bullied child can be nine times more likely to consider or attempt suicide, most thankfully do not walk this desperate path. But something within them is still murdered  their vulnerable spirit.

Its happening at this hour and every hour. Parents across our country are seeing vitality and hope drain out of their precious children. They are seeing what Martin Luther King saw in the eyes of one of his daughters, the "ominous clouds of inferiority (in their) little mental sky.

That little light of theirs no longer shines, such as happened with a 9-year-old boy with hemophilia, whose mother pulled him from public school and put him in a Christian school. But hes still being bullied and is crying for help.

Hes being bullied verbally, emotionally and now physically by the majority of students, the boys mother said. He has no self-esteem and doesnt fight back. I constantly worry hell kill himself. I need someone to take this seriously. Its killing me to watch my son so miserable.

We adults must lead our children out of this complex bramble of disdain and hatred, and we have a long way to go, as revealed in the latest social experiment from Burger King. You may have seen the viral video where only 12 percent of adults helped a bullied child in a Burger King, yet 95 percent of the same adults complained about their inexpensive burger being mangled.

Its a whopper of a fail. Until we adults care more about the psychological and spiritual well-being of our children  worth far more than a cheap slab of pressed beef  more precious children will take their lives in a shortsighted and desperate act to just make their pain go away.

Mature, loving adults must lead the charge  in part by taking courage from those already fighting and winning. Like Maureen Molak, who is burning out the bad soil of suffering and maternal grief, and transforming it into a laser beam of love.

Molak helped create Davids Law in Texas, perhaps the most powerful anti-bullying legislation in America. And she spearheaded the DBM Project, which stands for David Bartlett Molak, but also stands for Dont Bully Me.

This project provides pro bono legal advocacy for targets of bullying and their families in Texas. The goal is not to gain money from the bullys family, but liberation for targets and their families.

Sometimes, just a letter from an attorney can make bullying stop, smashing the stubborn myth that bullies cant control themselves. They can. They just need a strong enough reason to stop.

May the DBM Project spread to every state in our great nation, and in the process, drape a loving arm across the shoulders of abused children and their families for generations to come.
In November 1621, the American holiday we now know as Thanksgiving began with an unprecedented cornucopia of food and fellowship marked by genuine . . . thanksgiving. And for good reason.

About 102 Pilgrims had endured a 66-day voyage from England across the Atlantic to Massachusetts aboard the Mayflower the year before. They were guided by a God-given appetite for unhindered religious freedom.

Roughly half the Pilgrims had died of disease and malnutrition by the time the survivors sat down for the meal to give thanksgiving with Native Americans. The gathering was more than unlikely. It was a genuine miracle  a miracle that Americans would benefit to remember on Thanksgiving this year and beyond.

Americas current course  marked by division, hatred and selfishness  is completely out of alignment with the brick and mortar set by the Pilgrims and Native Americans. Today we need a modern miracle  a miracle that requires the seemingly contradictory component of human intentionality.

The unlikely unity between the Native Americans and the Pilgrims seems sadly bizarre to so many of us today. But if we are willing, there are lessons here for us.

The Native Americans and Pilgrims had their share of huge challenges to overcome. But overcome them they did  setting an example for Americans today.

If these two groups were able to sit down together at a table  despite differences in language, culture, beliefs, appearance and even basic tastes in food  then we can certainly do the same today with friends and family, and with those who may have different beliefs than we do.

The unlikely unity between the Native Americans and the Pilgrims seems sadly bizarre to so many of us today. But if we are willing, there are lessons here for us.

The quest for freedom and fellowship is part of human DNA. A re-embracing of this truth with a commitment to celebrating it could be the very thing that truly makes America stronger together and great.

This Thanksgiving, we have a chance to resurrect the spirit of the first celebration, not just during the meal, but far beyond. The meal can be the symbolic launching pad for a perpetual repeat of the miracle that took place almost 400 years ago.

What if we did more on this Thanksgiving than merely thank God for the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and cranberries? What if we made this Thanksgiving a national reset and returned to the spirit of the first feast?

What if we each looked for ways to get America back on track, to restore her to her long-lost luster that emulated thankfulness, generosity and diversity? Why, wed have the kind of America that each of us, deep down, truly longs for. In the end, its also the only America that really works.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, says Proverbs 13:12. Regardless of your belief in the Bible, a soul would be hard-pressed to prove that our nation is whole and healthy. The hope for American unity, which is deferred at this juncture, has indeed weakened our national heart.

Each of us longs for the miraculous in the everyday grind of life. Its time to bring the miraculous back as Americas new normal. If that seems puzzling, think more deeply and the fog will lift.

This Thanksgiving is our chance. Its Americas chance to rediscover that strength is possible through diversity  if we each come to the table with a trait that seems so foreign to America these days, but is far from impossible to muster.

This was the trait that brought people of different ethnicities and backgrounds together for an unforgettable meal that did far more than fill bellies. It forged the fabric that became America.

The trait is humility, and its what brings people together. Its the essential ingredient that makes unity possible. If you dont believe this, you just may be among the many who think Thanksgiving is simply about eating until we have to unbuckle our belts.

What can you do to make the spirit of Thanksgiving a growing trait of your life every day of the year? You can start by considering this coming Thanksgiving as the re-launch of you. You can begin to look for common ground between you and others, rather than the differences

Look for things you can compliment rather than criticize. Recognize that there is a God-given reason why each of us has two ears and one mouth  to listen, at a heart level, twice as much as we speak.

Will listening make our differences go away? Of course not  but you just may find that all of life will begin to be more harmonious and enjoyable.

An attitude of gratitude, and some humility, goes a long, long way to making all of life much, much better. If you begin to incorporate these simple things into your life, this Thanksgiving will be the start of the miracle you've been searching for.

Red, yellow, black, brown and white, we are all precious in Gods sight. This Thanksgiving is a chance for each of us to be part of a fresh miracle  one that our nation needs, big time, and which each of us can fire up the spark. We really can sit down at a table, together  this Thanksgiving and beyond  if only we are humble enough to do so.
An attorney for Senior Adviser to the President Jared Kushner said Friday that his client encouraged members of the Trump campaign to decline meetings with foreigners who "go back home and claim they have special access to gain importance for themselves."

Abbe Lowell made that statement in a letter pushing back against claims by the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee that Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law, had not been fully forthcoming in its probe of Russian actions during last year's election campaign.

Committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., asked Kushner Thursday to provide additional documents to the committee, including one sent to him involving WikiLeaks and a "Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite."

The senators noted they have received documents from other campaign officials that were copied to or forwarded to Kushner, but which he did not produce. Those include "September 2016 email communications to Mr. Kushner concerning WikiLeaks." It was revealed this week that Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., corresponded with WikiLeaks that month and later sent an email to several Trump campaign advisers to tell them about it.

Lowell said the email from Donald Trump Jr. referring to his contact with WikiLeaks was forwarded to Kushner, but he did not respond.

Apparently referring to the email that the senators called a "Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite," Lowell said that was part of an email chain that included biographies of various individuals. Lowell wrote that "there is a reference to one of these people suggesting an idea that somewhere, sometime (before the words `Russia' or `Putin' were politically charged or relevant in the campaign), someone thought candidate Trump should visit Russia."

Lowell goes on to quote Kushner's response to that email: "Pass on this. A lot of people come claiming to carry messages. Very few we are able to verify. For now I think we decline such meetings. Most likely these people go home and claim they have special access to gain importance for themselves. Be careful."

The senators' request is part of the panel's probe into the Russian election meddling and whether the Trump campaign was involved.

The Judiciary committee is one of three congressional committees looking into the issue, along with the Senate and House intelligence panels. The committees have separately requested and received thousands of documents from people associated with the Trump campaign, and have interviewed dozens of individuals. Department of Justice special counsel Robert Mueller is also looking into the meddling.

In the letter to Kushner, the senators noted they had asked him to provide documents to, from, or copied to him "relating to" certain individuals of interest to investigators, but Kushner responded that no emails had been found in which those individuals were sent emails, received emails, or were copied on them.

Lowell replied that Kushner had provided the Judiciary panel with the same documents he had provided the intelligence panels, believing that would be enough to satisfy the Judiciary request.

The Senate and House intelligence committees interviewed Kushner in July. The Judiciary panel has also sought an interview with Kushner, but his lawyers offered to make the transcripts available from the other interviews instead, according to the letters. Grassley and Feinstein say those panels haven't provided them with those transcripts, and ask Lowell to secure that access.

"I do not understand why these committees would not provide the transcripts to you, but we do not have those transcripts," Lowell wrote, adding that it would be "duplicative" if the committees did not share their transcripts.

Fox News' John Roberts and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
It looks like President Trump is having a change of heart when it comes to his recent decision to lift the ban on importing elephant trophies from Africa.

In a tweet on Friday night, Trump said he decided to put the "big game trophy decision on hold. The comment comes less than 48 hours after it was first announced that the Trump administration would reverse a 2014 ban made under President Obama on permits for elephant trophies from Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke echoed Trump's comment in his own tweet, saying that he and the president had spoken and "both believe that conservation & healthy herds are critical...the issuing of permits is put on hold..."

It was not immediately clear why Trump made the announcement, but it came on the same day as the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee called on the Trump administration to reverse its newly announced policy, labeling it the "wrong move at the wrong time."

California Rep. Ed Royce on Friday questioned the action because of concerns not only about African wildlife but U.S. national security, citing the political upheaval in Zimbabwe, where the longtime president was placed under house arrest this week by the military.

"The administration should withdraw this decision until Zimbabwe stabilizes," the committee chairman said in a statement. "Elephants and other big game in Africa are blood currency for terrorist organizations, and they are being killed at an alarming rate. Stopping poaching isn't just about saving the world's most majestic animals for the future  it's about our national security."

Royce said that when carefully regulated, conservation hunts could help the wildlife population, but "that said, this is the wrong move at the wrong time."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a written notice issued Thursday that permitting elephants from Zimbabwe and Zambia to be brought back as trophies will raise money for conservation programs. The change marks a shift in efforts to stop the importation of elephant tusks and hides, overriding a 2014 ban imposed by the Obama administration. The newly announced policy applies to the remains of African elephants killed between January 2016 and December 2018.

"Legal, well-regulated sport hunting as part of a sound management program can benefit certain species by providing incentives to local communities to conserve those species and by putting much-needed revenue back into conservation," the agency said in a statement.

The illicit demand for elephant ivory has led to devastating losses from illegal poaching as the natural habitat available for the animals to roam has also dwindled by more than half. As a result, the number of African elephants has shrunk from about 5 million a century ago to about 400,000 remaining. And that number continues to decline each year.

Two other lawmakers, Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., co-chairs of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, assailed the administration's decision.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions showed Friday that all the speculation sparked by investigations into the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia hasn't affected his sense of humor.

Is Ambassador Kislyak in the room?, Sessions joked, as he began a speech at the Federalist Society's 2017 National Lawyers Convention in Washington.

Any Russians? he continued, drawing laughs from the audience. Umm ... anybody been to Russia? Got a cousin in Russia or something?

"Is Ambassador Kislyak in the room? Any Russians? Umm ... anybody been to Russia? Got a cousin in Russia or something?  U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions

The jokes, including his reference to Russian diplomat Sergey Kislyak, came just days after Sessions most recent testimony on Capitol Hill in connection with the Russia probe. In a long hearing Tuesday before with the House Judiciary Committee, panel members grilled Sessions on any past contact with the Russian government and poked around for potential inconsistencies from his earlier testimony.

JEFF SESSIONS INVOLVEMENT IN TRUMP CAMPAIGN, RUSSIA INVESTIGATION: A TIMELINE

Sessions' prior testimony came into question after the FBI revealed that former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to making false statements to the agency. And another former adviser, Carter Page, recently testified that Sessions, 70, knew about a trip Page took to Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Sessions defended his previous testimony, in which he said hed had no communications with the Russians during the campaign.

My response was according to the way I heard the question, Sessions said. I certainly didnt mean I had never met a Russian in the history of my life.
Alabama Democratic Senate nominee Doug Jones says its absurd for the campaign of GOP opponent Roy Moore to characterize him as an ultra-liberal.

Thats pretty absurd, Jones told Fox News Peter Doocy on Saturday at a fish fry in Birmingham. You know, thats their only hope. I mean look, theyre in desperation mode right now.

As Moore tries to move past the allegations of sexual misconduct that have crippled his campaign over the last week, his campaign is emphasizing Jones stances on cultural issues. Moores wife, Kayla Moore, took aim at Jones positions during a speech in Montgomery on Friday.

Our opponent -- who is an ultra-liberal, who was an Obama delegate, who is for full-term abortions, who is for more gun restrictions, who is for transgender bathrooms, who is for transgender [people] in the military -- is against everything we in Alabama believe and stand for, Kayla Moore said.

Jones on Saturday let out a loud laugh when asked to respond to that.

LIBERAL VIEWS OF ROY MOORES DEMOCRATIC RIVAL COULD POSE PITFALL AMID SCANDAL

If you look at the positions Ive got on health care, if you look at the positions I got on jobs, you should look at the support I have from the business community, I think Im pretty mainstream, Jones said. I want to reach across the aisleSo I dont really care what he says about me.

Alabama hasnt elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1992. But a Fox News poll taken in the wake of the Moore allegations and released Thursday shows Jones leading Moore 50 percent to 42 percent.

Jones and Moore are battling for the seat once held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was known for his tough stance on illegal immigration.

Asked if he supports the building of a wall on the border with Mexico, Jones said Saturday: No, I do not. I think its too expensive.

I dont think we need to be spending $20 billion dollars, Jones said, citing an estimate cost for the wall. I want to put it on healthcare, I want to get tax cuts for the middle class.

Fox News Peter Doocy contributed to this report.
Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill ONeill apologized Saturday after boasting, unprovoked, in a viral Facebook post this week that hes had sexual relationships with at least 50 women in his life.

"If I offended anyone, particularly the wonderful women in my life, I apologize," O'Neill wrote on Facebook.

Earlier, O'Neill's opponents for governor had called on him to resign from the state Supreme Court.

Sexual harassment, degrading and devaluing women is not a joke, tweeted Democratic candidate, Nan Whaley. Justice ONeill should resign.

"As an attorney I'm appalled at these remarks of @billforohio, a Justice, as a democrat I'm horrified he would belittle victims of sexual harassment/assault this way and as a woman I'm outraged he would equate sexual assault with indiscretion. He should resign immediately," former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, who is also running for governor, said Friday.

ONeills sexcapade diary was in response to the Al Franken scandal, and included a hayloft romp with a "gorgeous blonde" and a fling with a "red head from Cleveland."

Now that the dogs of war are calling for the head of Senator Al Franken I believe it is time to speak up on behalf of all heterosexual males, ONeill posted on Facebook. As a candidate for Governor let me save my opponents some research time.

ONeill went on to say: In the last fifty years I was sexually intimate with approximately 50 very attractive females. It ranged from a gorgeous blonde who was my first true love and we made passionate love in the hayloft of her parents barn and ended with a drop dead gorgeous red head from Cleveland.

According to Cleveland.com, the initial version of the post provided more specific information about the women in question.

The post was met with a cascade of stunned criticism, with users offering commentary ranging from "Mother of God" to "What did I just read" to "Dear god please tell me your facebook account was hacked."

The candidate apparently later deleted the more personal information about the women, responding to commenters: "Hey I do listen. I have deleted all references to the women involved. That was disrespectful."

But he defended his post in an interview with Cleveland.com, while also defending Franken and Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, who is facing claims of sexual misconduct from multiple women.

"Roy Moore apparently seems to be a challenged individual when it comes to morality," O'Neill reportedly said. "I think that's very, very clear. He's been convicted of nothing and he's never had the opportunity to defend himself and that violates due process in America. The media is about to determine the election of a United States Senate campaign."

But it was the groping allegations against Democratic Sen. Franken that apparently prompted the post, which the Ohio candidate concluded with a pivot back to legislative issues.

Now can we get back to discussing legalizing marijuana and opening the state hospital network to combat the opioid crisis. I am sooooo disappointed by this national feeding frenzy about sexual indiscretions decades ago, he wrote.

A spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party told Fox News that ONeills post added nothing to the important national conversation about sexual harassment.

Were having a serious national conversation about rape culture and sexual harassment, and its crucial for men to take time to listen to women and consider their experiences and insights, Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Kirstin Alvanitakis told Fox News. Unfortunately, Justice ONeills Facebook comments that dehumanize women add nothing to this important conversation, which is actually about harassment and abuse, not encounters between consenting adults.

ONeill is one candidate in a crowded Democratic primary field in the race to replace Republican Gov. John Kasich. There are currently five Democrats and four Republicans who have announced their gubernatorial bids.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., was caught on a hot mic Friday telling a Republican mayor that "if we become the party of Roy Moore and Donald Trump, we are toast."

Flake made the comment to Mesa, Ariz. Mayor John Giles following a town hall event at which Giles had asked Flake about the possibility of running for president in 2020.

"Can we start the presidential campaign today?" Giles asked Flake during the event, to scattered laughter from the audience.

Flake, who announced last month he would not run for re-election to the Senate in 2018, made the "toast" comment to Giles after the event had ended. It was picked up by his lapel mic and recorded by Phoenix TV station ABC15.

In response, Giles told Flake, "I am not throwing smoke at you but ... think how much fun it would be just to be the foil, you know, and to point out what an idiot this guy is," apparently referring to Trump.

"Anyway," Giles added, "hope you do it."

Flake, a longtime critic of the president, shrugged off the remark Saturday afternoon, tweeting "No news here. I've been saying this to anyone who will listen."

In a Senate floor speech announcing that he would not seek a second term, Flake criticized Trump for engaging in "reckless, outrageous, and undignified behavior." He also accused the Republican Party of having ""given in or given up on the core principles in favor of a more viscerally satisfying anger and resentment ... but anger and resentment are not a governing philosophy."

Flake has also been unsparing in his criticism of Moore, the Republican candidate in next month's Alabama Senate special election.

On Monday, after several women came forward to allege sexual misconduct by Moore, Flake said he would "run to the polling place" to support Democrat Doug Jones if he was an Alabama voter. Flake also said that he would vote to expel Moore from the Senate should the Republican candidate win the Dec. 12 election.

Flake has also criticized Moore in the past for stating that Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., should not be seated in Congress because Ellison is a Muslim.

"When a judge expressed his personal belief that a Muslim should not be a member of Congress because of his faith, it was wrong," Flake said last month. "That this same judge is now my partys nominee for the Senate should concern us all. Religious tests have no place in the United States Congress."

In response, Moore campaign adviser Brett Doster described Flake and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as "agents of destruction within the Republican Party.

"They assassinate conservatives like Roy Moore so they can work with the liberal elite to protect their big government trough," Doster told Fox News late Saturday. "The people are tired of being told they are ignorant for demanding reform, and thats why they will elect Roy Moore in 3 weeks."

Fox News' Dan Gallo contributed to this report.
The Palestinians on Saturday edged closer to a diplomatic standoff with the Trump administration, saying the U.S. is using extortion tactics by threatening to close their diplomatic mission in Washington.

The response follows the State Department saying Friday that the Palestine Liberation Organization's office in Washington will close because the Palestinians have run afoul of a U.S. law by calling for Israelis to be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki told Palestine Radio that his people won't cave to "extortion" and that they await further communication from the administration.

The ball is now in the American court," he said.

In addition, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said this weekend that the administration's decision is "very unfortunate and unacceptable."

Erekat also accused the administration of bowing to pressure from the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while the Palestinians are "trying to cooperate to achieve the ultimate deal."

Erekat said the Palestinians conveyed in a letter to the administration their intention to cut off talks if the office is closed.

Netanyahu's office says the closure is a "matter of U.S. law."

Trump has made brokering a long-sought Middle East peace deal a top priority, with senior White House adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner taking the lead.

The president has also sought to strengthen relations with Netanyahu, with whom former President Barack Obama had a weak relationship.

Still, Trump has also apparently tried to improve ties with Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the PLO and the Palestinian National Authority.

The president talked to Abbas in September at a United Nations meeting in New York.

The State Department could not be reached Saturday for comment.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has reportedly determined that the Palestinians ran afoul of an obscure provision in a U.S. law that states the PLOs mission must close if the Palestinians try to get the International Criminal Court to prosecute Israelis for crimes against Palestinians.

A State Department official said that Abbas crossed that line in September by calling on the ICC to investigate and prosecute Israelis.

However, the official also said the administration is not severing relations with the PLO or the Palestinian Authority and that the closing of the mission should not be interpreted as the administration backing away from trying to reach a peace agreement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Roy Moore on Saturday fought back against lawyer Gloria Allred for her refusal to release a high school year book that she says is evidence in the sexual misconduct allegations that threaten to derail Moores bid for an Alabama Senate seat.

Day 4 of New York attorney Gloria Allred's refusal to turn over her fake yearbook for third party examination, Moore tweeted.

Moore, a firebrand conservative and Republican candidate in the Alabama special election, has recently been accused by at least eight women of sexually inappropriate contact roughly 40 years ago -- when the former district attorney was in his thirties and the women were teenagers.

Allred, who specializes in high-profile, womens rights cases, earlier this week presented the yearbook -- from client and alleged victim Beverly Young Nelson -- that appears to show Moores signature.

Before the scandal, Moore led the special General Election race for the open Senate seat of Republican Jeff Sessions, now the U.S. attorney general, by as many as 6 percentage points.

However, a new Fox News poll shows he now trails Democratic nominee Doug Jones by 8 percentage points.

Election Day is Dec. 12. President Trump won Alabama last year by 28 percentage points, and the state has not elected a Democratic senator since 1992.

Allred on Wednesday said that she would give the book to the Senate Judiciary Committees handwriting expert if the GOP-led panel chooses to have hearings on the matter.

Does the Roy Moore campaign seriously contend that 40 years ago Ms. Nelson had someone sign her yearbook as Roy Moore District Attorney?, she also said. We have little doubt as to the outcome of that inquiry.
Heres to hoping that you made plans for an epic weekend, because it may be our last.

Conspiracy theorists are claiming that a rogue planet will disrupt Earths orbit this Sunday and bring about a series of catastrophic earthquakes that could decimate life as we know it.

Nibiru, also known as Planet X, was originally supposed to destroy our world on Sept. 23 according to a Christian "numerologist" who said it was to collide with Earth, according to a recent report by the Daily Mail.

But that day came and went without an apocalypse in sight. Now theorists say that Nibiru will come near our planet this weekend and throw off our gravitational forces and with it, bring hellfire and brimstone.

Nibiru is a hypothesized planet located on the outer edges of our solar system that allegedly completes one orbit around the sun every 3,600 years and theorists believe that its gravitational influence has disrupted the orbits of other planets in the solar system over hundreds of years ago and that Earths time is nigh.

Its also claimed that this alleged planet sends plasmatic energy particles through our solar system and that the flow of energy can disrupt the core flows of the earth and trigger drastic and dangerous changes in the climate.

The conspiracy theory has gained so much traction as of late that NASA officials were forced to comment on the improbability of Nibiru.

"There is no credible evidence whatever for the existence of Nibiru, Dr. David Morrison, a scientist with NASA, said to the U.K.s Daily Express. There are no pictures, no tracking, no astronomical observations.

Morrison adds that theres proof positive that Nibiru does not exist and is not a threat to Earth.

Firstly, if there was a planet headed into the inner solar system that was going to come close to the Earth, it would already be inside the orbit of Mars, it would be bright, it would be easily visible to the naked eye -- if it was up there it would be easy to see it, all of us could see it."

Even officials at FEMA were forced to release a statement in an attempt to quell any hysteria about the end of days, in which they say that they have us covered  just in case.

FEMA partners with NASA to develop guidance on preparing for any potential impacts to Earth from natural space objects, a FEMA spokesperson said to Newsweek. Upon notification from NASA of an impending impact threat to the United States, FEMA would take the lead to notify appropriate federal, state and local authorities and emergency response institutions.
Did you want to wow someone special in your life with a new Apple HomePod speaker for the holidays? You better come up with another gift, because HomePod won't be released in time.

The Siri-backed smart speaker, which Apple unveiled in June, was supposed to make its in December, but as we learned today, that will not be happening. Apple is pushing HomePod's release to 2018.

In a statement, Apple suggested production issues are to blame.

"We can't wait for people to experience HomePod, Apple's breakthrough wireless speaker for the home, but we need a little more time before it's ready for our customers," Cupertino said. "We'll start shipping in the US, UK, and Australia in early 2018."

If you actually were planning to buy a HomePod speaker for someone on your list, consider this a blessing for your wallet. From Amazon's new Echo lineup to Google Home and Google Home Mini , there's no shortage of more affordable smart speakers on the market, many of which will be discounted for Black Friday. A December HomePod ship date was already a significantly longer gap than most Apple products have between announcement and shipping, and that gap is widening even further.

HomePod is designed to work with an Apple Music subscription and iPhone 5s and above running iOS 11. It stands 7 inches tall and features six microphones, which will listen for your command to Siri. Apple claims HomePod and Siri can even handle advanced queries, like "Hey Siri, who's the drummer in this?" Under the hood, the HomePod runs an Apple A8 chip and features an upward-facing subwoofer.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.
A Florida professor sparked outrage after she transformed three American flags into Ku Klux Klan hoods.

The flags shaped like KKK hoods had the eyes burnt out with nothing but darkness behind them and sat on poles with bases shaped like Nazi swastikas. The artwork is part of the University of Miamis annual faculty art show, gallery director Milly Cardoso told the Miami New Times.

Billie Grace Lynn, a University of Miami associate professor of sculpture, calls it American Mask, a work, she writes on her personal site, that suggests bigotry and racism are hiding behind our flag.

This is disgusting. This is disrespectful, Patrick Young, a black employee who works in the same building as the UM art gallery, told WSVN. I cant see it being a positive message any way you put it.

The artwork, which will be on display until Nov. 12, has angered many who say it defaces the American flag and is outright offensive.

What can this actually help? Young said. Burning an American flag? I have no idea what this symbolizes, what this helps out. Who does this reach?

Lynn told the University of Miami News this was the intent of her piece  to strike up conversation.

She said she was talking to a construction worker who was angry about her artwork  and she was able to explain its meaning.

I asked him what he thought it meant and he said, Its racist. And I said, Well, it is racist, its about racism. Its about people hiding their racism behind the flag, behind their patriotism. Instantly all of his angry energy dissipated as he had this realization. This is what democracy is. Its messy business and it requires us to talk with each other.

The UM professor and artist said she was inspired to create the piece after watching people walking with American and Nazi flags during the protests in Charlottesville, Va.

I just thought, thats what needs to be protestedthat the American flag is positioned in between those two symbols of hatred and racism, she said. If there was ever a time to show this work, its now.

While the university said it supports artistic expression and freedom of speech, UM officials acknowledge that this is an off-campus gallery that wasnt pre-approved or reviewed by the administration.

UM hopes that conservations can happen in ways that are respectful of all points of view, UM wrote in a statement to Fox News. The university acknowledges that this installation will provoke a range of reactions, including offense at the use of the American Flag and use of the KKK and Nazi symbols. Art exhibits that provoke reaction and conversation are not new, nor the unique province of the University of Miami.

UNIVERSITIES ISSUE GUIDES, THREATS, AND COUNSELING FOR OFFENSIVE HALLOWEEN COSTUMES

Lynn told the Miami New Times she is from Louisiana, and the Klan is really strong there. I am from the place where these people live. I am these people in some way.

She finds her artwork offensive and hopes to awaken citizens to the danger of confusing bigotry with patriotism.

As a former Girl Scout, who was taught never to let the American flag touch the ground, Lynn told the university publication it wasnt easy for her to create the artwork.

It was very painful for me to cut the flag to make it into that shape. But I think thats whats happening, the country is in pain, she told UM News, adding, I dont want the American flag to be taken as a symbol for white supremacy, and I think that is whats happening and thats a dark path to go down.
Fairfax County is a wealthy suburb in Virginia dotted with McMansions, upscale shopping malls and quiet cul-de-sacs.

But it is dealing with an issue not typically seen in the suburbs  a vicious gang infiltrating its schools and neighborhoods.

At least two teenagers were savagely killed. The culprit, some believe: MS-13 gang members.

Away from urban areas that have seen a rise in gang-related activity, MS-13s brutality is turning up in small towns and communities across the country  places not always equipped or ready to deal with the growing and alarming threat.

In the last year or so, police say, the gang known for its execution-style shootings and machete-hacking deaths has cropped up in a tiny Colorado town, two Virginia suburbs and Annapolis, Md. In parts of Long Island, N.Y. MS-13 is terrorizing once-sleepy neighborhoods that are now experiencing a scourge of violent deaths.

The worst is being felt in suburban areas that lack the resources and money to fight back against an international and well-funded organization known for its extreme brutality.

When it comes to smaller departments and less populated areas, those areas generally have less resources, so it becomes much more important to approach [the problem] from a task force or inter-agency model, Patrick J. Lechleitner, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements homeland security investigations in Washington, D.C., told Fox News.

In multiple speeches over the past few months, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the federal government will use whatever laws we have to eradicate MS-13, noting that the group leaves misery, devastation and death in their wake. Those promises have yet to trickle down to the local level, experts say.

MS-13 was started by Central American immigrants, mainly from El Salvador, in Los Angeles in the 1980s.

But the gang has now expanded its reach, making inroads even in rural stretches of the country.

Angel Ramos, 36, was arrested by Colorado authorities on Friday after he allegedly stabbed a woman with screwdriver and ran over her leg. Ramos, a member of MS-13, was previously deported and was wanted for murder in El Salvador, according to investigators. The attack took place outside Hillrose, which has a population of roughly 264, according to the latest census.

WHAT IS MS-13?

The communities around Washington, D.C. have also become a hot bed of gang activity in recent years, and authorities there are struggling over how to deal with it.

Northern Virginia is affluent, has plenty of resources, police and money. In areas where there are less of those things, theres less money to combat any threat, Lechleitner said. When you see a transnational gang moving into an area, that can stress their resources.

A 16-year-old Prince William County teen who was found after allegedly being abducted by an MS-13 member recently went missing again. In a separate incident, police in Springfield, Virginia charged two adults and three 17-year-olds with murder in connection with the savage, brutal killing of 15-year-old Damaris Reyes Rivas. Although police have not yet identified the killers, Rivas mother believes it was MS-13.

On Long Island in October, the bodies of two 16-year-old boys and one 19-year-old were discovered in wooded areas and police believe MS-13 members were behind the killings. That discovery brings the total number of suspected MS-13 victims found on Long Island over the last two years to 25.

Law enforcement in those areas say they are doing all they can to fight back against MS-13, but they are hampered by funding cuts that threaten to undermine their efforts.

The Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force was established in 2003 to coordinate 13 different agencies in addressing the growing gang problem in the fast-growing suburbs surrounding the nations capital. The task force, a collaboration between police chiefs and lawmakers, received an initial budget of $3 million a year that was earmarked in congressional legislation.

SESSIONS: ALL BETS ARE OFF IN HUNT FOR MS-13 GANG

But in 2012, Congress eliminated earmarksprovisions inserted into general spending bills that direct money outside of the typical funds-allocation processso the task force, now mostly used for law enforcement activity, saw its budget shrink to $325,000.

And critical components of fighting gangs, including prevention and education programs for teenagers and parents, fell to the wayside, experts said.

The big challenge is always funding. Theres a lot of rhetoric, Jay Lanham, executive director of the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force, told Fox News. The problem is, were not seeing funding at the local level to combat this issue.

He noted, however, that its not just a law enforcement issue.

The police cant solve it alone, Lanham said. We need the intervention, education and prevention.
Swastikas have been scrawled on the walls of university buildings, drawn on dry eraser boards and taped to dorm room ceilings. Jewish students have reported being threatened with violence, while some professors have espoused conspiracy theories ranging from Jews controlling global money markets to carrying out ritualistic organ harvesting.

Jewish students and officials at Rutgers University in New Jersey say they have seen all this and more amid a disturbing rise of anti-Semitic sentiment on campus over the past few months.

This is a disturbing trend what were seeing here at Rutgers, which has one of the largest Jewish student populations in the country, Austin Altman, a sophomore at Rutgers and a member of the campus Hillel organization, told Fox News. Coming here to Rutgers you feel like youre at home because of the large Jewish presence here, and then having to face things like swastikas on buildings is definitely troubling.

While it is difficult to pinpoint exactly when the school first started to see a spike in anti-Semitism, many members of the schools Jewish community point to the controversial online postings of microbiology professor Michael Chikindas.

Chikindas over the last year has posted numerous anti-Zionist tirades along with a number of derogatory caricatures of Jews on his Facebook page. Numerous Jewish students have also expressed concerns to officials at Rutgers Hillel about being graded fairly by Chikindas if they were to take one of his classes.

What he posted on his Facebook page are some of the most vile anti-Semitic tropes there are, Andrew Getraer, executive director of Rutgers Hillel, told Fox News. He posted caricatures of hooked nose Jews that could be right out of Nazi propaganda.

Getraer added: I dont think there is place for a professor like that at a university molding young minds.

A petition started by students at Rutgers Hillel to have Chikindas suspended has so far garnered more than 5,000 signatures, but officials at the university have so far not taken action against the tenured professor.

In a statement last month, Rutgers University  a public institution -- said that all members of the Rutgers community, including faculty and staff, are free to express their viewpoints in public forums as private citizens. The school, however, called Chikindas comments antithetical to our universitys principles and values of respect for people of all backgrounds, including, among other groups, our large and vibrant Jewish community.

"Yet at Rutgers University we must also foster an environment free from discrimination, as articulated in our policy prohibiting discrimination," the statement noted. "The university is reviewing this matter to determine if actions taken in the context of his role as a faculty member at Rutgers may have violated that policy."

Chikindas did not respond to Fox News request for comment.

Chikindas is not the only the professor that has provoked Rutgers Jewish student population.

Jasbir Puar, a professor of womens and gender studies, is drawing heat for her forthcoming book that allegedly claims that Israel has a policy of shooting Palestinians to maim them, as part of a program to dominate them.

Then there is Mazen Adi, an adjunct professor who next semester will teach a political science class called International Criminal Law and Anti-Corruption. Before joining Rutgers, Adi spent 16 years as a diplomat the government of Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad.

It started with Chikindas, but has really escalated from there, David Ezrapour, another student and member of Rutgers Hillel, told Fox News.

Puar also did not respond to Fox News request for comment.

Along with the controversy over the professors at Rutgers, the school has also had to deal with a number of anti-Semitic incidents on campus. Students have reported minor incidents of harassment and seeing anti-Semitic flyers being circulated around campus, but what has garnered the most attention has been swastikas appearing on campus.

Last January, a Jewish student reported finding a huge swastika taped on the ceiling outside her bedroom and earlier this year another swastika was found drawn on a dry erase board in a campus residence hall.

The most recent incidents occurred in late October when two swastikas surrounded by a red circle with a red line through the symbol were found spray-painted on the outside walls of two university buildings. An investigation revealed that, at least one of the symbols, was drawn out by a student protesting Nazis and anti-Semitism. The university said in a statement to Fox News that the defacement of campus buildings is an act of criminal mischief and these incidents are being investigated.

Despite at least one of these incidents being carried out by someone protesting anti-Semitism, Jewish students and staff still say it marks a disturbing trend.

While this incident involved a very confused, but not seemingly anti-Semitic student, it is always disturbing to see a swastika anywhere, Getraer said.
Political organizations and veteran members of the civil rights movement have expressed concern over an FBI report noting the rise of black extremists, and fear it could lead to a return to a time when the agency unjustly spied on organizations which hadnt broken any laws.

The memo, released in August, said that violence against law enforcement has been on the rise from black identity extremists who acted in retaliation from perceived past police brutality incidents and noted its likely continuation.

It cited the deadly police shooting in Dallas in 2016, in which a sniper who was upset about police treatment of minorities killed five officers, and also a man in Baton Rouge, La., who killed three officers in 2016 after writing about the need to inflict violence on bad cops.

ARMY ACKNOWLEDGES FAILURS TO REPORT CRIME DATA TO FBI

The FBI said it doesnt target groups without cause and the report only serves to acknowledge what they believe are emerging trends, noting that a memo on white supremacists was also filed. Nonetheless, theyve drawn the ire of members of The Congressional Black Caucus, who said the report is mixing groups.

In a letter from the organization to FBI Director Christopher Wray, they said the report conflates black political activists with dangerous domestic terrorist organizations and would only further sever the ties between police and minority groups.

To further complicate the situation, Attorney General Jeff Sessions proved unable to answer questions about the report from Rep. Karen Bass, D-Ca., during a recent congressional hearing. Bass later said that the memo felt like a flashback to the past.

Sessions said he was aware of "groups that do have an extraordinary commitment to their racial identity, and some have transformed themselves even into violent activists." He struggled to answer the same question about white extremists.

Bass also said shed received complaints from members of Black Lives Matter, who claimed they were being monitored and harassed by police in her district. She said she worries the report will send a message to police that its okay to crack down on groups critical of law enforcement.

JEFF SESSIONS INVOLVEMENT IN TRUMP CAMPAIGN, RUSSIA INVESTIGATION: A TIMELINE

Additionally, some veterans of the black and Latino civil rights movement said the FBI assessment reminded them of the bureau's now-defunct COINTELPRO, a covert and often illegal operation under Director J. Edgar Hoover in the 1950s and 1960s. Agents were assigned to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, or otherwise neutralize the activities of black nationalists," Hoover said in a once-classified memo to field agents.

The issue of race has been an especially hot topic during President Trumps term following accusations that his administration was insensitive to racial issues, including his response to the violence in Charlottesville, Va., in August.

In a statement to the Associated Press, the FBI said it cannot and will not open an investigation based solely on a person's race or exercise of free speech rights.

"Our focus is not on membership in particular groups but on individuals who commit violence and other criminal acts," the FBI said. "Furthermore, the FBI does not and will not police ideology. When an individual takes violent action based on belief or ideology and breaks the law, the FBI will enforce the rule of law."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Otherwise normal folks suddenly running naked, screaming through the streets and breaking into homes?

That kind of bizarre and sometimes dangerous behavior has taken place in recent years in the South and Midwest  with the most recent headline-grabbing case in Missouri. Police trace it all to a synthetic substance related to bath salts that is known as flakka.

Flakka, whose chemical name is alpha-PVP, seemed to fall off the national radar last year after China, a key source of the substance, moved to ban its production and exportation under pressure from the United States.

But police and federal drug officials say those who manufacturer such substances eventually try to game the system by changing one aspect of the chemical composition so that it no longer violates a ban.

Former Missouri narcotics investigator Jason Grellner, now the safety and security manager at Mercy Hospital, says there's been a recent uptick in emergency room visits from people who appear to be under the influence of the substance.

'They're seeing dragons'

What we see in the emergency department at Mercy is people brought in by private ambulance or law enforcement who are having a full-blown episode, Grellner, a past president of the Missouri Narcotics Officers Association, told Fox News. Theyre seeing double, theyre seeing dragons. They believe wholeheartedly that its actually occurring.

Health and security officials in Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas -- other states where the Mercy hospital system operates facilities -- are also seeing flakka cases.

"The nursing and physician staffs are in danger from these patients," said Grellner, referring to the violent behavior of people who consume the substance. "There's no blood test or urine test, no way for physicians to know what the user has actually ingested. They have to treat the patient symptomatically and monitor them constantly for their mental and physical states."

"The nursing and physician staffs are in danger from these patients. ... There's ... no way for physicians to know what the user has actually ingested."  Retired Missouri narcotics investigator Jason Grellner

Earlier this month, four people in Sullivan, Mo., who overdosed on what police indicate was most likely flakka, took to the streets, barking and shedding their clothes, and broke into homes and businesses. Two were arrested and the others were taken to a hospital.

Just last month, police and health officials in a West Virginia county warned that flakka was being trafficked to the area.

"A new drug has hit Harrison County that has the capacity to cause rage and murderous tendencies in those who use it," Dr. Mark Povroznik, chief quality officer at United Hospital Center, told WDTV-TV, a local CBS station.

Added Bridgeport police Chief John Walker: There is nothing to try. It will destroy you.

Flakka catapulted into the headlines a few years ago, when it was was prevalent in areas of South Florida, and again a year ago, when it was suspected by police in a case in which a Florida State University student who consumed it fatally stabbed a couple he happened to see outside their home, then started to eat the mans face.

Toxicology results later showed that Austin Harrouff, the student, had no bath salts or flakka in his system, but then other accounts of people going out of control because of it attracted attention.

Turbulent effect

Bath salts were banned in the United States in 2012. Flakka usually comes as a pink or white crystal that can be injected, snorted or vaporized. The effect on the mind and body is turbulent, often sending body temperatures soaring to 105 degrees and causing paranoia and hallucinations. Some people have gone into cardiac arrest.

Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Wade Sparks told Fox News that flakka "fell off the map for a little while."

Sparks said those who manufacture and traffic the drug try to stay a step ahead of authorities, shipping the substance in packages that are mislabeled, and that say things such as "not for human consumption."

"It's to thwart the effort of law enforcement," he said, "We can still prosecute, we can still go after it."

The sheriff of Lewis County, Ky., recalls when flakka wreaked havoc in his area about a year and a half ago, and shudders to think it could make a comeback.

'Just crazy stuff'

Sheriff Johnny Bivens recalls getting calls at home in the middle of the night from residents who swore his deputies were hiding in their trees and in the attic.

We were getting calls about people acting irrational, just crazy stuff, Bivens told Fox News. We were arresting these people, but we werent sure what was going on. Finally someone told [us] it was flakka. That was new to us.

The sheriff said the use of force by his deputies rose up considerably.

"These people thought everybody was trying to hurt them, to kill them," he said. "They didn't know we were trying to help them, or just arrest them."

One law enforcement agency in Tennessee reached out to him, at its wit's end with flakka arrests. It had used its entire supply of taser cartridges.

Were a rural area, we have a small department. It exhausts all of your resources, Bivens said. Im not just talking about just your law enforcement resources. Im talking about emergency services, child protective services.

"Most of these people have kids, you have to remove the kids from the home. I dealt with one guy who it took 30 days for his head to get clear of the effects of flakka.
For the first time, the U.S. Defense Department has disclosed data on sexual assault cases reported at each of its bases worldwide.

The report, released Friday, covers the years 2013 to 2016. It shows where incidents were reported -- not necessarily where they took place, Reuters reported.

One of the features of the departments reporting program is that service members can report allegations of sexual assault at any time and at any place, Nate Galbreath, deputy director of the Pentagons Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, said in a statement. This kind of flexibility allows the department to better meet the departments goals to increase reporting of sexual assault and decrease the occurrence of the crime through prevention.

"Service members can report allegations of sexual assault at any time and at any place."  Nate Galbreath, deputy director, Pentagons Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office

The Pentagon defines sexual assault as anything from groping to rape. It adds that an estimated one-third of sexual assault cases involving service members go unreported, Reuters reported.

For fiscal year 2016, 270 such cases occurred at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia, while a total of 211 occurred at a combined group of U.S. facilities in South Korea, the data show.

In 2015, Norfolk had 291 cases.

Other major bases that processed a high volume of sexual assault reports included Fort Hood in Texas with 199, Naval Base in San Diego, Calif., with 187 and Camp Lejeune in North Carolina with 169, according to Reuters.

Click here for more from Reuters.
A manhunt was underway in western Pennsylvania early Saturday for a suspect in the fatal shooting of a rookie police officer Friday night in a town outside Pittsburgh.

The suspect is considered armed and dangerous, authorities said.

Officer Brian Shaw had been with the New Kensington, Pa., police department for less than a year, police Chief Jim Klein said at a news conference, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

"I'm asking anybody with any information, as minute as they think it might be, please, please give us a call. We need to find the person who did this," Klein said, Pittsburgh's WTAE-TV reported.

Meanwhile, authorities located a brown, older model Jeep Grand Cherokee that had been sought in connection with the slaying, police said.

Residents of the neighborhood where the shooting took place said theyd experienced some recent trouble in the community, with one resident telling the Post-Gazette about a methamphetamine lab bust that occurred last week just down the block.

Gileyla Jones, 17, told the Post-Gazette she knew something bad must have happened when multiple police cars sped past her on her way home.

'Cared about everyone'

Although Shaw was new to the force, his impact seemed to be felt throughout the community, as evident in WTAEs David Kaplans tweet.

Ciara Herbst, a former co-worker and friend of Shaw, described him as the most genuine guy who honestly cared about everyone, reported the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.

"He was a great family man and always thought about his community, and always wanted to help anyone he could," classmate David Fleck told the paper.

Allie Wilhelm, Shaws friend, told the Tribune Review that becoming a police officer was all he talked about since he was in his late teens, telling her, 'It's my calling.'"

Broad search for suspect

Police from different agencies came together overnight to help search for the suspected killer, and were standing with the fallen officer.

"You name the police department. We all rally for each other and that's what we're doing right now in New Kensington," Pennsylvania State Trooper Stephen Limani said during a news conference, WTAE-TV reported.

As the search continued, SWAT teams and police dogs assisted local authorities in scouring surrounding towns.

The shooting occurred shortly after 8 p.m. EST in New Kensington while the officer was conducting a traffic stop. That led to a foot pursuit and shots being fired, Klein told reporters.

Police did not say if Shaw returned fire.

Multiple police agencies responded to a shots fired call after the officer initially radioed that the stop was underway, the paper reported.

Shaw was taken to a nearby hospital and later pronounced dead.

This is developing story. Check back for updates.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Two Quinnipiac University students were charged Friday with setting fires to several trash cans in their dormitory bathrooms.

Hamden Police said Bernhard Wright, of Oslo, Norway, and Carmelo Fazzolari, of Manalapan, NJ, were charged with arson, reckless endangerment, reckless burning and criminal mischief, FOX61 reported.

KILLER OF 7 IN CONNECTICUT SENTENCE TO LIFE IN PRISON

The men allegedly set fires in The Commons dormitory at the Connecticut-based school, which houses nearly 500 students, police stated. Students who spotted the fires reported them to a Residential Life member, FOX61 reported.

Authorities said a student burned their hand while trying to move a burning trash can.

Investigators determined the fires were intentionally set in two trash cans and several bathroom stalls.

CONNECTICUT SCHOOL CANCELS MUSLIM SPEAKER AFTER THREATENING CALLS TO TEACHER

The university suspended the two students pending a conduct meeting.

Wright and Fazzolari posted the $1,000 bail. It was unclear whether either defendant has an attorney who can comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Boston University says it has found evidence that a geology professor sexually harassed a graduate student on a research trip in Antarctica more than 10 years ago.

BU Provost Jean Morrison said in a letter sent Friday to faculty in the school's Earth & Environment department that the findings follow a 13-month investigation into the former student's allegations against David Marchant, which date back to 1999.

Morrison said interviews or statements from more than 30 witnesses and a review of over 1,000 pages of records led investigators to conclude the tenured professor engaged in sexual harassment in violation of the school's policies.

Investigators found the harassment, which included derogatory sex-based slurs and sexual comments, created a hostile working and living environment for the woman at the camp in Antarctica, the letter said.

Morrison said the investigation didn't find credible evidence to support claims that Marchant physically attacked the woman and inflicted other types of psychological and physical abuse.

Marchant's attorney told The Boston Globe he plans to appeal the investigation's finding. If unsuccessful, the school said Marchant could be terminated.

"Dr. Marchant is extremely disappointed in the findings and continues to maintain that he did not engage in any sexually harassing behavior in 1999 or at another time," said attorney Jeffrey Sankey.

The newspaper reported that former students have defended Marchant since the allegations were made public, saying they never witnessed him treating woman inappropriately.
A Japanese tug lost propulsion and bumped into a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Pacific near Japan, according to statement from the U.S. Navys 7th Fleet, the latest in a series of mishaps in the region.

This time no sailors were injured on either side, according to the Navy.

USS Benfold, a guided-missile destroyer, sustained minimal damage during a towing exercise with the tug.

Benfold remains at sea under her own power, the statement said.

The Japanese vessel was being towed back to port in Japan.

The Japan-based 7th Fleet has seen a series of mishaps since late January when a U.S. warship ran aground in Tokyo Bay and spilled over 1,000 gallons of oil.

Over the summer, 17 sailors drowned in two separate collisions involving the guided-missile destroyers USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain.

A Navy investigation found the two warships at fault and the collisions preventable. The Navy has since called for more robust training of its officers and crew.

Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.
The U.S. Navy announced Friday it will deploy its P-8A Poseidon maritime aircraft to assist in the search for the ARA San Juan, a missing Argentine submarine with 44 crew members aboard.

The submarine was last heard from Wednesday from the southern Argentine sea, 268 miles from the Patagonian coast. It was headed to the coastal city of Mar del Plata in Buenos Aires province, Reuters reported.

Navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told Reuters the operation was officially upgraded to search-and-rescue status Friday. But poor weather conditions have made it difficult for the Navy to locate the missing vessel, Reuters reported.

The P-8A Poseidon is expected to aid in the search because its technology allows it to support a wide range of missions over large bodies of water, including sub-surface search-and-rescue operations, a Navy statement said.

The U.S. also has offered to fly the NASA P-3 explorer aircraft to help in the search, Reuters reported.

Other countries offering assistance include include Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Britain and South Africa.

"We share their concern and that of all Argentines," President Mauricio Macri tweeted, according to Reuters. "We are committed to using all national and international resources necessary to find the ARA San Juan submarine as soon as possible."
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United Nations soldiers will take over from African troops in conflict-scarred Mali from Monday, making up the organisation's third-largest peacekeeping force by the end of the year.

A 12,600-strong force will take over security duties from French troops who entered Mali in January to halt an Islamist advance and help the government re-establish its authority over the vast country.

France is winding down its deployment from its peak of nearly 4,500 but is to keep up to 1,000 troops in Mali and they will maintain responsibility for military strikes against the Islamists.

"Security conditions are satisfactory, no major attack has been recorded against the Malian and African forces, and most important, despite what certain people feared, the political process has experienced a very positive evolution," France's UN ambassador Gerard Araud said, welcoming the handover.

Rwandan General Jean-Bosco Kazura, formerly second in command of African Union troops in Sudan's western Darfur region, will lead the force.

The majority of his soldiers will be Africans already stationed in Mali but China has offered to supply more than 500 troops in what would be its biggest contribution to UN peacekeeping.

Sweden will send around 70 troops for a maximum of one year while Norway is to contribute 25 soldiers and police.

Bangladesh is thought to have offered the largest non-African contingent of up to 1,000 troops although no deal has yet been confirmed.

Araud said the French government would start reducing the 3,200 troops currently in Mali from the end of August.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon has raised fears that the peacekeepers could face guerrilla attacks and has highlighted the lack of equipment and training among the West African troops already in Mali.

Armed militias "retain the capability to pose a significant threat" and "still have support networks and recruitment structures in place", Ban said in a report published on June 9.

The UN mission is due to play a key role in presidential polls announced for July 28 but the election commission has raised doubts over its ability to stage a free and fair vote with such short notice.

The commission's president Mamadou Diamountani said this week it would be "extremely difficult" to get up to eight million voting cards to the electorate in a country where 500,000 people have been displaced by conflict.

He also highlighted the instability in the northeastern town of Kidal, which is occupied by Tuareg separatists and still has no army presence despite a ceasefire between the transitional government and the rebels.

Malian military officers staged a coup in March last year, but the weak army was overpowered by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), a Tuareg front which seized key northern cities before being sidelined by its Al Qaeda-linked allies.

The MNLA sided with a French-led military intervention which reclaimed most of the lost territory from the Islamists. But the Tuaregs have been reluctant to allow government troops into Kidal for the vote.

An accord signed in Burkina Faso envisages a cessation of hostilities between the Malian army and the MNLA during the election period, with peace talks planned for after the vote.

The UN has called on member states to contribute critical resources, including personnel and equipment, to ensure that it can support Mali in implementing the accord and preparing for the elections.

A Security Council briefing heard this week that the mission -- to be known as MINUSMA -- is seeking pledges for helicopters, intelligence and special forces.

"We count on the continued support of both our traditional and new troop-contributing countries to help us fill these critical shortfalls," said Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous.

Beyond the threat of armed insurgents, the "blue helmets" will also find the challenge of the harsh terrain in arid northern Mali, where the temperature regularly reaches 48C (120F) and where water is scarce.

"All information and communications technology, vehicles, refrigeration, and tentage that is ultimately used in Mali will be exposed to climatic conditions that accelerate their decay," Under-Secretary-General for Field Support Ameerah Haq told the council.

"We already know that certain technological options are out of the question. For example, we are unable to deploy our mobile communications system to Kidal because its sensitive components will melt."

Haq acknowledged the many risks faced by the force in "one of the most logistically challenging missions the United Nations has ever launched" but said planning was on track.

"In Mali, neither the challenges nor the risks at hand should be underestimated. Much is beyond our control," she said.

"But our efforts to date, and the results achieved by MINUSMA thus far suggest that, with commitment, vision and the continued support of member states, we just may be able to beat the odds."
Leaders of Zimbabwes ruling party, Zanu-PF, called for the resignation of the countrys president, Robert Mugabe, on Friday following the militarys takeover of the government, the Zimbabwe Herald reported.

All 10 of the ruling partys provincial branches agreed on the motion and have said theyre working to organize a special Central Committee meeting in the coming days to realign the revolutionary party with current political developments, the outlet reported.

They are also reportedly pushing for the former vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, to be restored to his government position. Following Mnangagwas ousting last week, army commander Constantino Chiwenga threatened to step in to calm tensions.

ZIMBABWE CRISIS: WHO ARE THE KEY PLAYERS?

Shortly after, Mugabe was taken into military custody and military officials took over the government, although they insisted it was not a coup. The president and his wife were placed under house arrest.

A protest in Harare, the citys capital, has been scheduled for Saturday by those opposing Mugabes continued rule and includes a plan to march to the State House.

Posters were circulated throughout the city calling to remove Mugabe from power.

ZIMBABWES MUGABE MAKES 1ST PUBLIC APPEARANCE SINCE MILITARY TAKEOVER

We cant have a 93-year-old person ruling more than 15 million people, the poster said.

The military released a statement lending its support to the rally and added that the militarys operation remains solid and Zimbabweans were urged to remain patient.

High-level supporters of the former vice president said they hope the rally will increase pressure on Mugabe to step aside. However, if it is unsuccessful, they said impeachment would be the next step when Parliament resumed Tuesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad says his stay in Saudi Arabia has been to consult with officials there on the future of Lebanon and its relations with its Arab neighbors.

He dismisse as "rumors" reports about his alleged detention in the kingdom.

Hariri's tweet on Friday came hours before he was expected in France two weeks after his surprise resignation in Saudi Arabia.

The office of French President Emmanuel Macron said Hariri was expected in Paris' presidential palace by midday Saturday. Macron said Hariri will be received "with the honors due a prime minister," even though he has announced his resignation, since Lebanon hasn't yet recognized it.
Lebanons prime minister said Saturday he will return in the coming days to Beirut and address his shocking resignation.

Saad Hariri quit two weeks ago during a visit to Saudi Arabia, but President Michel Aoun refused to accept the resignation, accusing the Saudis of holding him against his will.

Hariri denied being held in Riyadh against his will, amid speculation the Saudis had forced him to quit as part of a regional power struggle with Iran, the BBC reported Saturday.

"As you know I have resigned and we will talk about this matter in Lebanon, Hariri said after meeting French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris who he thanked Macron for his friendship.

"God willing, I will attend Independence Day in Lebanon and will declare my political stance from Lebanon and after meeting President Michel Aoun," he said. The event is Wednesday.

The Independence Day ceremony is usually headed by the president, prime minister and parliament speaker, and Hariri's presence could help calm uncertainties that have escalated since his strange and surprising Nov. 4 resignation announcement.

Before leaving Riyadh, Hariri said in a tweet that his stay in Saudi Arabia was to consult with officials there on the future of Lebanon and its relations with its Arab neighbors.

In his televised resignation announcement, Hariri had cited Iran and Hezbollah for meddling in Arab countries, particularly Saudi Arabia. He also said he was afraid for his life.

Saudi Arabia on Saturday asked its citizens for the second time in less than two weeks to leave Lebanon "as soon as possible" given the "circumstances" there. That raised fears of more punitive actions to come.

The Arab League is due to hold a meeting on Sunday in Cairo at Saudi Arabia's urging where the Lebanon crisis and Iran's role in the region are expected to be discussed.

Just before leaving Saudi Arabia, Hariri met with the Saudi Crown Prince and other senior officials, according to a member of Hariri's political party and two Lebanese television stations.

Hariri landed before dawn Saturday at an airport used for private jets in Le Bourget north of Paris, and came in a convoy to his Paris residence in a high-end neighborhood, where police stood guard. Hariri frequently stays in France thanks to decades-old family ties there.

Hariri held private talks with Macron and then they were joined by Hariri's wife Lara al-Azm and elder son Hussam and Macron's wife Brigitte for lunch.

A French official said Saturday that France is offering Hariri the necessary support during this time of political turmoil in his country.

Macron said he received Hariri "with the honors due a prime minister," even though he has announced his resignation, since Lebanon hasn't yet recognized it.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Gerry Adams has announced that he plans to step down as leader of Sinn Fein next year after heading the party for over 30 years.

Adams said in a speech at the party's annual conference in Dublin on Saturday that he will not stand for the next Irish parliamentary election.

The 69-year-old has been party president of Sinn Fein, Northern Ireland's second-largest party, since 1983.

A divisive figure, some have denounced Adams as a terrorist while others hail him as a peacemaker, known around the world as the face of Ireland's republican movement during its shift from violence to peace.

Adams has been accused of being a senior member of the Irish Republican Army, a claim he has long denied.

The party is expected to elect a successor next year.
Proposed ordinances to repeal the city's prohibition on University of Mary Washington student parking near the campus while expanding resident-permit parking zones in surrounding neighborhoods have riled UMW faculty.

The legislation, which City Council was poised to vote this Tuesday, was based on a plan developed by Walker Parking Consultants and the citys Parking Task Force. The consulting firm's report recommended that UMW develop strategies to "pull" its commuters to the campus's parking lots and garage, and that the city "push" them out of residential neighborhoods through the resident-permit parking program.

Yet the consulting firm's analysis didn't indicate a parking shortage in either neighborhood, Paul D. Fallon, a UMW assistant professor of linguistics, pointed out to council members. It had observed that only 47 percent of available parking spaces were occupied during peak demand in College Heights, and 51 percent in College Terrace.

"In short, I do not understand the need for drastic and expensive action when the outside consultants have documented that even at its worst, the current parking situation barely exceeds half of its capacity," he said.

Fallon was one of four UMW professors to speak against proposed parking regulations that the council is considering during the public comment section of the meeting. Afterward, council members decided not to vote on the ordinances.

Fallon said that he normally parks on Buckner Street, which is close to his office in Combs Hall. If no space is available there, as was the case when UMW hosted a police academy graduation recently, he has to drive 10 minutes to the universitys parking garage, find a space and then trek seven-tenths of a mile to Combs while carrying 20 to 30 pounds of books and papers.

"To give you an idea of the distance, imagine parking at the Alumni Executive Center on Hanover Street in order to attend this meeting at Council City Chambers. Or imagine having to park at Caroline and Herndon, almost at the Silk Mill, to walk back to City Council," he said. "Or walking from the old WalkerGrant to here and back at the end of a long day carrying two dozen pounds.

"This would add 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening. This is quite a burden on a university employee, of whom I am only one."

Fallon said that College Heights and College Terrace residents have been vocal in asking the city for "special privileges," but didn't think UMW had been as assertive.

"I hope you will reconsider this whole thing," he said.

Fallon was speaking as an individual, but Marcel Rotter, a UMW associate professor of German and chair of the staff advisory council, said that he was voicing "strong opposition" to the proposals for the entire university faculty and staff.

He said that more than half of the houses in College Heights and College Terrace have driveways, and the streets in those neighborhoods are almost empty on any Sunday, Thanksgiving Day or winter break, when no students are parking there. Even during weekdays when the university is in session, there are always empty spaces, he said.

"This is in large in large part because most College Heights streets are already designated as resident parking only," Rotter said. "It appears that most residents' cars are gone during work days. To implement a resident parking zone only Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 6 or 7 p.m. does not make much sense. Is a half empty suburban cul-de-sac what the neighborhood envisioned for downtown Fredericksburg?"

He suggested enforcing existing parking laws instead, specifically those governing abandoned vehicles. He said a rusty pickup has been parked on Brent Street since 2012, and a boat has been in front of a Sunken Road address long enough to be considered abandoned.

"The parking report is silent on these vehicles, which could be removed to free valuable parking spaces," said Rotter.

He also brought up another proposal in the city's parking plan, which is to eventually add parking meters along the UMW side of College Avenue. He said that such a measure would require students and faculty to run back to the meters up to three times a day, as well as saddle them with the additional expense of the fee. He suggested making the UMW side of College Avenue student parking only.

Rotter added that a quarter of UMW's 1,200 faculty and staff live in the city "and will remember your decision" at the next election.

Nabil Al-Tikriti, a UMW associate history professor, said that limiting on-street parking in the two-block stretch of Sunken Road between Monument Avenue and Cornell Street to residents would create a "drag strip" and possibly cause more accidents in that area.

"Ive been told that the issue of no UMW student parking is that its an illegal violation of equal protection," he said. "You cant discriminate against a class of people, but you can privilege a class of people. Privilege faculty and staff, if nothing else, just along that two-block stretch, which is currently seeing most of the parking along Sunken Road."

Roy Gratz, an adjunct chemistry professor at UMW, said that the plan's proposal to eventually add parking meters along College Avenue as well as parts of downtown would send a signal to UMW faculty, staff and students that they weren't wanted, and would discourage people from shopping and dining downtown. He also wanted to know how much it will cost to buy, install and maintain the meters.

"How much business will the city really clear if it sets fees low enough to keep from driving away too much business?" he said.

Councilman Tim Duffy, who served on the Parking Task Force, said that members used feedback from 15 public meetings and an online survey that received 725 responses to develop the parking plan. He added that UMW was included on the task force, but the information doesn't appear to have gotten to faculty, students and staff.

"Developing a plan that we can all live with is important," he said. "Many university staff felt that they are not valued, which is not the case. I appreciate the publics input. We will meet again very soon and will have new recommendations to council about what we can do to tweak the plans."
How do we count the cost of bitter conflict to the health and well-being of ourselves, our families, communities, our nation, and to the world? With trauma and fighting so prevalent, where and how can we seek a better way?

The Fauquier Friends Worship Group will lead a panel on the topic of Peacemaking on Sunday, from 1:30 to 3 p.m., at the Bealeton Library Depot building, 10877 Willow Drive North, Bealeton. Local Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) welcome the community of all beliefs to attend and share on ways to deepen peace in a divided world.

Quakers have historically advanced the testimony of peace and are the only religion to date to have been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. Yet, the surrounding evidence informs there is much work to be done, both individually and collectively, to bring hearts, minds and actions as living examples of the power of peacemaking. Peace is not just the absence of war and requires justice more than protest, communication more than complaint.

Email fauquierfriends@gmail.com for more information.
The saying What a difference a year makes really is true. The week before last Thanksgiving we got word that my husbands government contract was not being renewed leaving him without an income to support our family of six.

Soon after, he suffered a health scare that was partly brought on by the stress of our financial situation. I will never forget the terror I felt as I stood in my driveway not knowing if he was going to be OK as they took him away in the back of an ambulance.

Instead of bringing new beginnings, the new year brought new problems. It started with what seemed to be random prank calls in the middle of the night. It quickly became clear that the calls were anything but random as the unknown individual knew my name and had photos of my family.

I received lewd phone calls and texts that included photos of my children edited in a pornographic manner all hours of the day and night for the next week. I can honestly say I have never experienced such terror in all of my life.

My husband would not start work again until the end of May. Because of the kindness and generosity of friends and family, we were able to stay in our house and feed our children. During that time we struggled greatly and experienced numerous disappointments. We canceled many plans, including a trip to Walt Disney World.

It is exactly one year since my husband lost his job and all of our problems started. Thankfully, he received a clear bill of health and found a new contract in Tysons Corner, and while the commute stinks, he enjoys the work and it pays the bills.

The phone calls and text messages stopped after a week and even though we were never able to identify my harasser, we determined the origin which helped me to feel less fearful for my safety.

God provided me with a temporary job at my church that helped us pay off a large portion of the debt we had accumulated over the first six months of the year. And that Disney trip we had to cancel? Well, I am writing you from my hotel in Orlando, Fla., where I have spent an amazing week vacationing with my family. We even got picked from the crowd to be the Grand Marshals of the Festival of Fantasy Parade at the Magic Kingdom!

As I have reflected on the contrast between last year and now, I am reminded of Pauls words to the church in Corinth,

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For out light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

At the time, our troubles definitely did not seem light and momentary. We questioned God and wondered if our lives would ever be the same. We did our best to keep our hearts focused on Him, but it was much easier to focus on the troubles right before our eyes.

Looking back, I can see how the Lord renewed us day by day and how He used them to mold and shape us to be more like Him. All the time we spent worrying and fretting about the future, God knew the incredible blessings that were to come.

I once heard someone say that we are perpetually either heading into, in the middle of, or coming out of a crisis. I have definitely found that to be true in my life. And while Walt Disney World in no way compares to heaven, spending this magical week with my family after such a difficult season of life has reminded me that our troubles truly are temporary.

As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving next week, we can be thankful, no matter what season of life we find ourselves in because ultimately, all our troubles will pass away, whether it be on this side of heaven, or when we pass into eternity with the Lord.
Fortunately for James Kevin Thompson, Stafford County Sheriff's deputy Joshua Scott isn't left-handed.

If he had been, Scott testified Thursday in Stafford Circuit Court, Thompson would have been shot the night of Feb. 10 when Thompson drove on an entrance ramp leading from Warrenton Road to Interstate 95 with Scott hanging onto Thompson's vehicle for dear life.

Thompson didn't get away unscathed, however. He was ordered Thursday to serve four years in prison for the incident.

Judge Victoria Willis sentenced Thompson, 45, to 10 years in prison, with six years suspended. Thompson had previously pleaded guilty to attempted unlawful wounding and eluding.

According to prosecutor Ed Lustig, Scott saw Thompson's vehicle leaving a county motel that night and decided to follow it. After seeing objects dangling from a rear-view mirror, Scott made a traffic stop.

After learning Thompson's identity, Scott realized that Thompson was wanted in Stafford on a probation violation. Thompson has a lengthy criminal record in Stafford, including drug- and theft-related convictions.

When Thompson didn't turn off his vehicle as Scott instructed, the deputy reached in to do it himself. Thompson then accelerated toward the highway.

Scott ran along with the car for a short distance before lifting his feet and holding onto the driver and the steering wheel. Both Scott and a passenger in the vehicle implored Thompson to stop.

After about a quarter of a mile, Scott was able to put the car in neutral and guide it to the shoulder of the road. Scott said he was unable to reach for his gun because he was using his shooting hand to hold on during the short ride.

In a videotaped statement played in court, Thompson called the incident "the worst decision I ever made. Only by the grace of God was no one hurt or injured."

He told Scott that he wasn't trying to hurt him, he just didn't want to go to jail.

Lustig argued that Thompson's intention made the crime no less severe. "His motive may have been just to get away, but his actions put Deputy Scott in grave danger," Lustig said.

Thompson, who was represented by attorney Joshua Parrett, is facing more prison time when he sentenced for his latest conviction for a probation violation. The sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 4 in Stafford Circuit Court.
The King George County school system is looking for bus drivers and officials are hoping that offering up to $700 in both a finders fee and an incentive for the new employee will help fill the need.

The School Board approved the bus driver referral incentive program at its meeting Monday night after making revisions at previous meetings.

The incentive is available only to King George school system employees. In order for the school employee to qualify for an initial $100 incentive, the referred driver must meet all of the Department of Motor Vehicle requirements.

The employee is eligible to receive the additional $600 incentive once the referred applicant has been employed as a bus driver for the school system for a calendar year.

The referred drivers will also receive a one-time payment of $700 once they have completed driver training and a calendar year of service.

The program specifies a calendar year of service as full-time employment or service as a substitute bus driver for 180 days.

Current school employees cannot be referred as drivers under the incentive plan and administrators are not eligible for either incentive.

The program has already generated some interest from school employees as it has been discussed at previous meetings. Dashan Turner, director of administrative services, wrote in an email Tuesday that a few requests for more information have come in from staff. The system hopes to send out more information this week.

Recruiting candidates for route vacancies is a critical issue for the division, Turner said.

The driver shortage not only impacts transporting students to and from school, it could potentially impact extracurricular programs such as sporting events, field trips and other off-site learning opportunities, he said.

The school system is also using social media to try to recruit new drivers. Staffers put together a video featuring testimony from a current bus driver, cheerleaders chanting D-R-I-V-E Drive a Bus, and students asking, Will you drive me to school?

The video touts flexible hours and on-site training for a commercial drivers license.

In other news from Mondays meeting:

King George Education Foundation Board President Annie Cupka told the board that even though the FoxSmart Center is not officially up and running yet it does have a lot of school supplies available for students who need them. She said they received a truckload of supplies last month collected during Access Eye Centers school supply drive.

Superintendent Rob Benson presented the board with a list of energy-related projects that would use a $100,000 contingency fund that was established when the board signed an energy performance contract with Honeywell. The contingency fund was established to cover any unforeseen expenses during the construction phase of the contract but it was not needed. He said the change will need to be approved by the Board of Supervisors.

Mike Rose, an eight-year veteran of the board who did not seek re-election, gave his farewell comments. It was his last meeting since he will be traveling for work next month.

Rose pointed out the improvements that have been made in the past eight years, noting that only one school was accredited and the others were on improvement plans to bring them into compliance. Teacher pay was the lowest in the area and there was a lot of distrust between the Board of Supervisors and the School Board.

Now all schools are accredited, Potomac Elementary School has received the Virginia Board of Education Distinguished Achievement Award and the two boards have worked together to increase funding and improve teacher pay, he said.

It wasnt easy, but through two superintendents, an interim superintendent and 10 School Board members  we were able to make some positive changes to our school system, said Rose, who urged his fellow board members to continue to make King George schools one of the best school systems in the state.
Virginia has become the first state in the United States to adopt mandatory standards for computer science education.

The standards, approved unanimously, but reluctantly, by the state Board of Education on Thursday, are a framework for computer science education in the state. Other states have advisory standards, but Virginia became the first to have mandatory standards.

Board member Anne Holton voiced her concern with the grade level appropriateness of the standards before the vote.

The standards, they seem ambitious to me, she said. These are not meant as aspirational standards, they are meant as a mandate that our teachers need to be able to teach.

Were clearly leading the nation and that puts an extra burden on us to get it right.

Mark Saunders, the director of the Education Departments Office of Technology and Virtual Learning, led a presentation of the departments process in adopting the standards.

The presentation satisfied the board enough to vote on the standards rather than delay action until January.

A unanimous vote followed, adopting the standards jump-started in 2016 in the General Assembly with the approval of House Bill 831.

Now, computer science will be part of everyday curriculum.

Were going to be integrating it, said Chris Dovi, the executive director of CodeVA, a Richmond-based nonprofit that helped shape the legislation. It becomes part of the vernacular rather than a separate course.
In January, I will graduate from William & Mary Law School, having benefited from an opportunity that will enable me to better serve my fellow Virginians. However, my ability to serve will be significantly impaired unless Congress passes a bill like the DREAM Act.

I am 25, an undocumented immigrant, and a Dreamer.

I was born in England and am the daughter of Nigerian immigrants. In late 2012, I was granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status by the federal government. DACA confers legal presence on young undocumented immigrants who enter the country as minors.

My family arrived in this country legally on a visa when I was 1 year old. We fell out of status when my father succumbed to a degenerative condition that affects eyesight. Because of his health, he was unable to maintain his employment and, consequently, my familys immigration status.

Weve tried for years to regain our status, but have been unsuccessful due to bad lawyering. Its been an expensive and emotionally draining journey.

I didnt learn I was undocumented until I was a junior in college, however. My parents did everything they could to shield me from the weight of living as an undocumented immigrant.

I also never believed I was anything but legal because Id heard sound bites about the nefarious illegal and really struggled to reconcile the actual life I was livingstellar student and athlete, campus leader and community service volunteer, and friend and neighborwith what I was hearing on the news.

Despite all of this, I dedicated myself to my higher education, which has been fully funded by merit-based scholarships, private financial assistance and out-of-pocket coverage.

My father, a medical doctor who has healed Americans, and my mother, a teacher who has educated Americans, instilled in me the value of a good education. As a result, I graduated with honors from Wesleyan College in Georgia.

Now, Im in my final semester at William & Mary Law School and will become the first DACA recipient to graduate from law school in Virginiaand one of four to do so in the nation.

DACA acknowledges that because immigration enforcement resources are limited, current deportation regulations should prioritize violent criminals, not young people with good behavior and moral character, who are in school or the armed forces, and who are otherwise assets to the American economy and society.

This type of prosecutorial discretion is within the scope of the powers constitutionally enumerated to the executive, and all legal challenges to the original program have failed.

To be clear, every DACA recipient is still subject to deportationDACA just lessens this likelihoodbecause it was never meant to be a permanent solution. DACA was an opportunity for Dreamers like me to show just how valuable we are to America.

I recently traveled to Washington, D.C., with dozens of Dreamers to advocate for a permanent legislative solution that would give us and our nearly 800,000 fellow Dreamers the chance to stay.

Several different options have been introduced, including the bipartisan DREAM Act, as well as the Republican-led SUCCEED and Recognizing Americas Children acts. All three bills require that Dreamers pass a series of rigorous background checks and commit to working, studying or serving in the U.S. military.

Virginias nearly 13,500 Dreamers need our representatives in Washington, D.C.including Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Reps. Tom Garrett, Scott Taylor and Morgan Griffithto support legislation like the DREAM Act. When they do, Virginia Dreamers will be able to continue paying about $35 million in state taxes.

And Ill be able to walk across the graduation stage confident I may continue giving back to America, my country and home.

Gloria Oduyoye is a student at William & Mary Law School and a Dreamer who was granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status by the federal government in 2012. She may be contacted at gooduyoye@email.wm.edu. This column first appeared in the Richmond Times Dispatch.
NEXT WEEK, Thanksgiving will mark the beginning of the 2017 holiday season. Those of us who are fortunate enough to enjoy the traditional feast with a roof over our heads in the company of family and friends should be very thankful indeed. But not everyone is so blessed.

Though it may not seem so at times, America is the 13th richest country on Earth, with a per capita Gross Domestic Product ($57,293) six times larger on average than the rest of the world. Of course, an average is just that, and does not reflect the reality that too many Americans live in poverty or near-poverty, sometimes lacking even the basics that their more affluent neighbors take for granted.

A recent series of articles in the Free Lance-Star highlighted the plight of local residents classified as ALICEAsset Limited, Income Constrained, Employedwho despite having jobs are having a hard time making ends meet in this region. According to the Rappahannock United Way, anywhere between 29 percent and 44 percent of households in the Fredericksburg area fall into this category.

Then, theres the often hidden population of the long-term unemployed, elderly poor and disabled who are dependent on help from the government and charitable groups.

While we are acknowledging our blessings on Thanksgiving Day, its also the perfect time to sit down and write out a check to the local charity of your choice. The Free Lance-Star has published a master list of groups in the area that would gladly accept your donation and put it to good use: bit.ly/2mvDeoh.

The amount you donate will depend on your specific circumstances but please, dig deep and be as generous as you can. Give from the heart. Dont pass your responsibility to be your brothers and sisters keeper off on the government. Be that person who gives freely of what youve been given, expecting nothing in return.

When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed, poet Maya Angelou reminds us. True charity not only strengthens communities, it enriches both givers and receivers alike. You wont find a better return for your money than that.
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Russia on Friday vetoed a Japanese-drafted UN securiy council resolution on renewing a joint mechanism to investigate who is behind chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

Friday's vote was Russia's 11th veto on Security Council resolutions concerning Syria and the third concerning Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

The mandate of JIM, which the Security Council unanimously approved in 2015, expires on Friday.

Bolivia also voted against Friday's draft resolution. China abstained.

Russia on Thursday vetoed a U.S.-drafted resolution that would have extended JIM's mandate for a year.

Wu Haitao, the charge d'affaires at China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, said after Friday's vote that any Security Council action must focus on the overall political process in Syria, which faces important opportunities at the moment.

It is imperative for parties to keep calm and exercise restraint and find an appropriate solution acceptable to all through patient consultation, he said, noting that there are still significant differences among members over JIM.

"Given the differences among council members, forcing a vote does not contribute to the resolution of the issue of chemical weapons in Syria, or serve to safeguard the unity and authority of the Security Council, nor does it help to advance the political process in Syria," he said.
News

Port director search down to two finalists

GALVESTON

The Port of Galvestons governing board has culled the number of potential candidates vying for port director to two, officials said Friday.

The two finalists for the position left open when Michael Mierzwa retired last year are Rodger Rees, the deputy executive director and chief financial officer of Canaveral Port Authority, and Kristine Zortman, the vice president of neighborhood investment for Civic San Diego and a former principal of commercial assets at the Port of San Diego, said Anthony Brown, attorney for the Port of Galveston.

Rees oversaw Port Canaveral as it improved its bond rating without collecting taxes, managed several major financing deals, managed the fiscal aspects of a $100 million budget and rewrote the tariff schedule for the worlds second-largest cruise port, according to his application.

Zortman has negotiated several large lease agreements with Dole Fresh Fruit and Pasha Automotive Services, according to her application. Zortman also increased cruise calls at the Port of San Diego by 40 percent during her first year, according to her application.

Zortman worked as the principal of commercial assets for the Port of San Diego from 2008 to 2016, but worked for several different asset and land acquisition companies before that, according to her application.

The board as a whole was very impressed with the quality and geographic diversity of the candidates, Brown said. The Shey-Harding firm provided high-quality assistance to help us work through that list. The board will approach the final round of interviews looking forward to hiring someone high quality to lead the port into the future.

The wharves board culled the list down to two finalists after nearly 30 people applied for the position, including high-ranking maritime officials, City Marshal Michael Gray and longtime port employee John G. Peterlin III.

The naming of the two finalists comes after the board interviewed three candidates last week and another two candidates Tuesday.

The search for a permanent director to lead the port, which generates about $38.6 million in revenues yearly and has 102 full-time employees, has been the focus of much discussion since Mierzwas retirement.

Interim Port Director Peter Simons confirmed last week he had not applied for the post he stepped into when Mierzwa retired after four years as director.

After Mierzwa retired, the Wharves Board of Trustees, which governs the publicly owned port, appointed Simons interim director at an annual salary of $200,000.

Simons had been the deputy port director since Dec. 1, 2012. Before that, he was director of the nonprofit Port of Texas City Security Council.

Simons did not rule out staying at the island port, despite not applying for the permanent position.

The wharves board in August selected Shey-Harding Associates to lead the port director search and followed that on Sept. 11 by hiring John Manlove of John Manlove Marketing & Communications to develop a strategic plan.

The Port of Galveston is a landlord port, which generates much of its income from lease agreements with maritime tenants and fees related to ship calls. The publicly owned port is a utility of the city.
The new fish farm is part of a project that will bring 5,000 jobs in its first phase to one of the poorest areas in the country

Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi inaugurated on Saturday the Middle Easts largest fish farm in the countrys Kafr El-Sheikh governorate.

The fish farm project, located on state-owned land in Berkat Ghalioun, is carried out by the armed forces in cooperation with Chinas Evergreen Co following an agreement in July 2015.

The project is being constructed at a total cost of EGP 4 billion.

El-Sisi inaugurated the projects first stage, which covers an area of 4,000 feddans capable of producing 2,000 tonnes of shrimp, 3,000 tonnes of saltwater fish, and 1,600 tonnes of freshwater fish per cycle.

The first phase of the project has a yearly fish and shrimp production capacity of 3,000 and 2,000 tonnes respectively.

The areas industrial city also includes a fish feed factory with a capacity of 120,000 tonnes yearly, and shrimp feed at 60,000 tonnes.

A fish packing factory has also been built in the city.

Some 5,000 job opportunities will be provided in the projects first stage, according to the head of the National Company for Fish Resources Hamdy Badeen.

Badeen also added that job opportunities would help combat the villages problem with illegal migration.

The project also includes industrial and housing areas on 55 feddans.

Several roads have been constructed at a distance of 11 kilometres and a cost of EGP 112 million, according to Kafr El-Sheikh Governor El-Sayed Nasr.

The projects second phase will cover 9,000 feddans.

Upon completion, the project is expected to cover 70 percent of Egyptian fish production, a key goal in covering local consumption and export.

In December 2016, El-Sisi inaugurated a major fish farming project in the Canal Zone governorate of Ismailia.

The fish farming project in Ismailia would help narrow the gap between production and consumption.

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A Pinch of Salt: The election is over, I think, so what now?
Work has begun on a development that will add approximately 200 units of student housing and a parking garage to a parcel just east of the Oregon State University campus.

Heavy equipment was working Thursday to tear down the building that used to house the Densons Feed and Seed store on Southwest Seventh Street. Also scheduled for demolition are the adjacent Bashful Bobs Doors and Windows shop plus the Pacific Fruit warehouse on Southwest Washington.

To conform to the mixed use employment zoning that was approved for the property, commercial and industrial uses also must be part of any development.

The new zoning was approved for the Densons property in January 2016, with the Pacific Fruit parcel OKd in February 2017. The combined parcel is 4 acres.

Lyle Hutchens of Devco Engineering said that the developers are working on designs for the project that will be forwarded to the city for approval.

The project is moving forward, Hutchens said, and we see that as a good thing.

Although no firm timetables have been set, Hutchens said that the development group hopes that it will all come to fruition for an early spring start to construction.

Owners of new student housing complexes generally try to open in the late summer, just before OSU starts its fall term. Hutchens confirmed that that is the intent of the developers, but he had no solid information on which fall likely will be targeted for the projects opening.

When the new housing opens it will be the sixth major student housing complex to open in Corvallis in recent years, following 7th Street Station (2012, 308 bedrooms), Tyler Street Townhomes (2012, 215 bedrooms), the Union (2013, 221 bedrooms), The Retreat (2015, 1,016 bedrooms) and the apartments on the site of the old Gazette-Times building (2017, 112 bedrooms).

The city of Corvallis also has approved plans for a 900-tenant complex in the Witham Oaks area, but ground has not been broken. Plans for an 800-tenant project in the Timberhill area were withdrawn in 2015 amid strong community opposition and an unfavorable staff report from city planners.
The Corvallis Public Schools Foundation has been given a $144,000 grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust to fund kindergarten readiness programs in Corvallis for the next three years.

The Equitable Education grant will fund three-week-long kindergarten academies in August for incoming kindergartners located at Garfield, Lincoln, Adams, Mountain View and Wilson elementary schools.

Liv Gifford, executive director of the public schools foundation, said although the kindergarten preparation programs will not take place at all district elementary schools, students from across the district will be able to attend them. The program will have a goal of including around 100 kids each year, she said, and it aims at helping socialize students for school so they can feel comfortable and confident when classes begin.

She said the districts staff will reach out to families with children who could benefit from the academies. Particular populations being targeting for the program are children who have not attended preschool, are learning English as a second language, or are dealing with issues of poverty or homelessness.

The grant also includes funding for increasing parent engagement. Gifford said one program this could support would involve having teachers and another school staffer do home visits, at the request of parents.

She said the grant also would provide support for parent teacher organizations, so that the organizations could follow the example set by the parent organization at Garfield School, which has built diversity by alternating its meetings between English and Spanish.
North Albany Middle School is asking parents to work with their students on civility and responsible social media use following a series of fights Wednesday at the school.

Principal Marshall Jackson sent out an all-parent voice mail Wednesday evening describing the situation and asking parents for help.

Jackson told the Democrat-Herald the school dealt with four separate fights plus one incident of horseplay-turned-rough on Wednesday.

Some students were suspended and others are being referred for expulsion hearings, he said. Albany police led one student away in handcuffs.

Police logs indicate an Albany police officer responded to the school at 1205 North Albany Road shortly after noon Wednesday to investigate a report of a juvenile-on-juvenile assault. Further information was not immediately available from police, but Jackson said the altercation left a student with a cut over her eye from a pair of glasses.

"We had a student went out with handcuffs behind their back. The reality is kids saw it, parents are going to hear about it," he said. "It was unfortunate. Some kids made some decisions today that may have altered their lives forever."

Jackson said the incidents were not related to one another and just happened to occur on the same day, at different times.

He said after the fact, students reportedly were conversing via the online social media program Snapchat about having had "fight day" at the school. He stressed there is no evidence the fights were planned ahead of time, only discussed collectively afterward, but asked parents to be aware of their students' social media posts.

"Social media, technology; it's a huge issue and parents, in my opinion, should be monitoring what their students are doing," Jackson said.

If a parent sees a suspicious post like a comment about a "fight day," he suggested, "talk to them about it. Why are kids doing this? What are they hoping to get from it? It's parents being aware of whats going on in kids' lives, how they guide them to make good decisions in every case, not just this."

Along the same lines, Jackson said, he is encouraging parents to work with their children on being respectful to one another and handling situations "in an appropriate manner."

On the voice mail, he said: "We need our students to be a positive force by not ignoring or going along with things they know are wrong."
November 27, 1952  October 30, 2017

Dana Joyce Birch, age 64, died peacefully at home from leukemia with her beloved family by her side.

Dana was born November 27, 1952, to Emory Birch and Hazel Imogene Pelton in Martinez, California.

Dana grew up in the Monroe area graduating from Monroe Union High School in 1971.

She was a Minister in the Salvation Army for a number of years before moving on to other non-profit organizations.

She is survived by her brothers Michael Pelton (Robin), Neil Birch (Julie); nephews; a niece; and longtime friend Candace Gallaway, as well as many other family members and friends.

Please join us for a celebration of life from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday, November 26, 2017, in the Birch Room at the Salvation Army  Kroc Community Center, 1865 Bill Frey Drive NE, Salem.
The Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border has been opened for three days under the control of Palestinian Authority (PA) border guards on the Gaza side for the first time in a decade, Palestines envoy to Egypt Diab Al-Loh said in press statements on Saturday.

The switching of control of border security on the Palestinian side from Hamas to the Palestinian Authority is part of a reconciliation agreement reached in Cairo in October between Palestinian factions.

Al-Loh said that Egypt has decided to open the crossing for three days starting Saturday for students, Palestinians who hold residency in Egypt, and humanitarian cases.

According to Al-Loh, this is a preliminary step to opening the crossing permanently.

Al-Loh told Al-Ahram Arabic news website that the process of changing border security has moved smoothly in accordance with the Cairo-brokered agreement.

In October, the Fatah-backed Palestinian government and rival Hamas reached a political reconciliation agreement after two days of Egyptian-sponsored talks in Cairo.

The agreement came nearly a month after Hamas handed administrative powers in Gaza to Fatah and agreed to hold general elections in order to end the decade-long rift between the two groups.

Cairo has offered to host a meeting on 21 November between the Palestinian factions to discuss other major aspects of reconciliation.

The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Sinai is the only exit point for the 1.8 million Palestinians living in the strip, which has been under Israeli siege since 2006.

The border crossing, which has been closed most of the time since 2013 on security grounds, is periodically opened by Egypt to allow the passage of civilians with foreign passports, Palestinian students and humanitarian aid.

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February 1, 1926  November 3, 2017

Yvonne M. Isom, 91, passed away in Tigard, Oregon, on November 3, 2017.

Yvonne was born February 1, 1926, in Harrisburg, the firstborn of Bryan and Mildred Smith at the home of her paternal grandmother in Harrisburg. Yvonne was raised on the farm that was down along the Willamette River, west of the Wyatt school. Some of Yvonnes favorite memories of her youth were from summer church camps at Falls Creek and Turner.

As a young girl, Yvonne crossed paths with a certain Bob Isom at the Charity Grange gathering for May Day and eighth-grade graduation celebrations. High school is where Yvonne first dated Bob Isom in her sophomore year, when she asked him to go with her to a Valentine Day dinner that the Home Ec girls prepared.

World War II began during her junior year and she graduated in 1943 and went to the University of Oregon, but had to drop out of school after an extended bout of pneumonia in spring term.

Bob returned from Navy boot camp, and Bob and Yvonne were engaged to be married in March of 1944 and plans for a wedding began. In the fall, they got married in Oakland, California, on October 3, 1944. Bob shipped out and Yvonne went back home to the farm where she worked during the war. When Bob came home from the war they farmed for a couple of years near Harrisburg and then they homesteaded property near Tulelake, California. In 1952, the family sold the homestead and purchased a farm in the Millersburg area just north of Albany where they farmed for 38 years.

Yvonne was a homemaker/farm wife with all the work that entails and on top of that she raised five children, Russ, Dave, Steve, Debbie, and Kathy. She was also active as the bookkeeper for the local three-room school house at Millersburg and supported the children in 4-H, FFA, and all of their various sporting endeavors. On top of this she made sure that the family was at church for all three services every week at Southside Church of Christ. Yvonne was very committed and active in church and played the piano and organ for services plus singing with a ladies trio that sang at different events around the Northwest.

Yvonne is survived by her five children, Russ and wife Judy of Milwaukie, Dave and wife Barb of Sherwood, Steve and wife Corrine of Tigard, Debbie and husband Lenn McGarry of Medford, and Kathy Dresselhaus of Milwaukie; 12 grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by husband, Bob; brother, Harold, and son-in-law Greg Dresselhaus.

A private graveside service is planned at Willamette National Cemetery and a celebration of life service will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 25 at the Milwaukie Christian Church.

The family wishes to thank Housecall Providers for their loving and competent care for Yvonne in her final years.

Contributions in Yvonnes memory may be made to the Hippo Valley Christian Mission, designated to: Dine Medical Clinic, Yvonne Isom Memorial, PO Box 686 Grayson, KY 41143.

Huston-Jost Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
A roundup of some of the most popular, but completely untrue, headlines of the week. None of these stories are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked these out; here are the real facts:

NOT REAL: Second Roy Moore Accuser Works For Michelle Obama Right NOW

THE FACTS: The woman named as an accuser of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore in a story by the Last Line of Defense doesn't work for Michelle Obama. In fact, it's unclear that she's a real person. The article claims a woman named Fiona Dourif told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow last week that she was groped by Moore in 1957. No one by that named appeared on Maddow's show. An actress with the same name called out the story on Twitter , saying she has nothing to do with Moore. The story is linked to a photo of former Alabama U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance. An Obama family representative tells the AP the claim that the woman worked as a housekeeper for the Obamas is completely false.

NOT REAL: Trump Abruptly Shuts Down Dogs for Wounded Warriors Program, Leaving Vets High and Dry on Veteran's Day!

THE FACTS: Officials at Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, did issue a stop work order to an animal therapy group contracted with the hospital, but it came on Oct. 27, more than two weeks before Veteran's Day. The order to the Warrior Canine Project came from hospital officials, not the White House. Hospital spokeswoman Sandy Dean says it's looking to restructure its animal therapy contracts to improve patient care. She adds that therapy dogs continue to be available for patients at Walter Reed.

NOT REAL: British Intelligence Seizes Clinton Foundation Warehouse, $400 Million In Cash

THE FACTS: Several websites have posted a story claiming the Clinton Foundation was leasing a British warehouse owned by a man on the U.K.'s terrorist watch list, quoting an unnamed assistant to Chelsea Clinton stating that the facility was "rented through an agency." Foundation spokesman Brian Cookstra tells the AP the story is "totally false." He adds: "We don't rent a warehouse in the UK, the quote from 'Chelsea Clinton's assistant' is made up, and nothing in this story seems to be based in reality." A photo included with the story is a picture from Britain's The Sun newspaper that shows unrelated police activity in Kent, England.

NOT REAL: English actor Ian McKellen dies aged 78

THE FACTS: McKellen is alive and actively working despite a story from a website appearing to mimic Britain's Daily Mail reporting he died after a lengthy hospitalization for pneumonia. The story first published last year has recirculated in recent days. McKellen has starred in several projects on stage and screen this year alone, including the British sitcom "Vicious." The show's Twitter account posted a photo of McKellen and co-star Derek Jacobi Saturday with the note: "In case you were wondering, we're still alive."

NOT REAL: Iceland Mandates Mental Health Warnings On All Bibles

THE FACTS: No warnings are required to be put on Bibles sold in the island nation. A widely-shared hoax story from the website Patheos offers a clue to the joke by naming the prime minister of the country as Andrew Canard. Canard is a seldom used word that means a fabricated report. The actual prime minister of Iceland is Bjarni Benediktsson.

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This is part of The Associated Press' ongoing effort to fact-check misinformation that is shared widely online, including work with Facebook to identify and reduce the circulation of false stories on the platform.
This past Election Day had bright spots. Wilmot Collins was elected the mayor of Helena, Montana  the state capital. Hes the first black mayor elected in that state, defeating the incumbent.

Collins came to the United States in the 1990s as a refugee from Liberia. Some years ago, pathetic loser(s) spray painted the so trite, predictable KKK on the side of Collins home. His white neighbors got together and removed it  in a display of civility, counteracting the repulsive behavior conducted by limited, cowardly characters.

In Virginia, Danica Roem defeated Bob Marshall (self-described as The State Homophobe) in a race for the state Legislature. Roem is the first openly transgender person to win elected office in Virginia. Marshall ran a campaign focused on homophobic rhetoric, while Roem focused hers on transportation.

Marshall was of the old guard, with too many terms behind him and so painfully, obviously on the WRONG side of history. Seems to me the lions share of the voters in Virginia were wisely more concerned about road and traffic conditions than a candidates gender.

Sounds like some good grass-roots election fightback going on around the country. Perhaps some folks got a rude awakening after the last presidential election. Im not an optimist, but its good to see at least a little bit of bite going on! For most, its too overwhelming to think about tackling federal-level sized problems. But theres lots to be gained with local-level political efforts. Fight on!

Dale Holiday

Corvallis (Nov. 8)
President Trump is eagerly undoing efforts to avert climate disaster. Reacting to inaction by Congress, President Obama signed the Paris Climate Accord and implemented the Clean Power Plan, both inadequate responses to the growing catastrophe. Instead of moving to stronger and faster action to avert global warming, Donald Trump is intent on helping his cronies accelerate climate change through rapid exploitation of oil, natural gas and coal. These resources need to stay in the ground, if we hope to have a planet that can support human civilization beyond the next century.

The weirding of global climate resulted this year in over $500 billion damage as hurricanes hit Houston, Puerto Rico, the Florida Keys and coast and drought and wildfires raged on the West Coast. You can think of this as an indirect tax on each U.S. citizen of approximately $1,300. We can expect bigger and more expensive natural disasters each year as oceans warm, rise and acidify, storms intensify and drought spreads.

A price on carbon is necessary to start moving our culture and economy away from fossil fuel dependence. A carbon fee and dividend, as proposed by Citizens' Climate Lobby, is a fair and effective means of convincing consumers and producers to start the necessary transition to a post-carbon world.

The fate of our nation and humanity depends on Congress accepting its constitutional responsibility and providing leadership.

Mike Beilstein

Corvallis (Nov. 9)
Egypts share of the Nile's water is a "a matter of life or death for the nation," Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Saturday in his first comments on the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD) since negotiations between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia stalled over the project last week.

In televised comments during the inauguration of the Middle East's largest fish farm in Kafr El-Sheikh, El-Sisi said Egyptians should "rest assured " since no one can touch Egypts share of [Nile] water.

"We've talked to our brothers in Sudan and Ethiopia from the very beginning about three points, including not touching the water [of Egypt's share]," he said.

The president added that he understands the developmental goals behind the GERD, but that development for Ethiopia in this case is a "matter of life and death" for Egypt.

Last week, negotiations between the three countries broke down over how to conduct technical studies of the dam's potential impact on downstream countries.

Egyptian officials have expressed concern over repeated delays, especially given that construction of the dam is already well underway.

Next month, President El-Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn are scheduled to meet in Cairo to discuss the deadlock.

The dam, situated near Ethiopia's border with Sudan, is slated for completion this year and expected to generate 6,000 megawatts of electricity.

Ethiopia hopes to be able to export electricity generated by the dam, which will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa.

Egypt, however, has expressed concerns that the dam might reduce its share of Nile water.

Ethiopia maintains that the dam will not have any negative impact on Egypt or Sudan.

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The mass shooting at a small church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Nov. 5 claimed 26 lives  and left churches and their parishioners nationwide wondering what they could do to protect themselves from a similar attack.

As it turns out, talk of security at a house of worship is a tough subject to tackle.

The Rev. Larry Campbell, co-pastor at Bibleway Cathedral in Danville, said the church has improved its security measures, but would not explain what those measures entailed.

 I dont want to respond to that, Campbell said. Its a touchy subject  but I do feel the church needs to be secure.

The Rev. Jonathan Goetz, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Danville, said the church had conducted fundraising to bring in a security consultant for both the church and the school.

He acknowledged thinking about security is uncomfortable, since churches are supposed to welcome newcomers.

 Were looking to see what options are available, Goetz said. If we restrict access to the church, it loses the point of being a church. We cant narrow access down to a select few.

The school connected to the church is another story, though, he said. Security there will be much tighter than at the church.

Goetz said he is not interested in any kind of armed security  It would be like the Wild West, with multiple people drawing weapons  but does want people trained to be aware of threats, to see people or things that look out of place and alert the congregation about problems before they escalate.

 Were looking for the right balance, he said. We dont want anyone to make people uncomfortable  or give people headaches.

The Rev. Kathy Dunagan, interim rector at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany in Danville, also said she is not interested in seeing guns at the church, and is not aware of any parishioners who carry guns to church services.

 I do think we need to be careful, but not armed, in our churches, Dunagan said.

Dunagan said she agrees with a 2016 resolutions from the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia entitled No Guns in Gods House.

The resolution reads, in part,  no firearms of any kind or other dangerous weapons shall be permitted during worship services or meetings for religious purposes in the facilities of any church of diocesan institution in the Diocese of Virginia except for law enforcement purposes, humane animal control, and other circumstances as determined by lay and ordained leaders.

While Virginia law does list where people can and cant carry guns, and what type of licenses they must have, it is a bit ambiguous about whether guns can be carried into places of worship.

 If any person carry any gun, pistol, bowie knife, dagger or other dangerous weapons, without good and sufficient reason, to a place of worship while a meeting for religious purposes is being held at such place he shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor, states Section 18.2-283 of Virginia Code.

People questioned what constituted good and sufficient reason, and in 2011, then-Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued a legal opinion that said carrying a firearm into a church for personal safety was sufficient reason, though he did note that places of worship are private property and its owners can bar people from bringing guns on the property.

Cpl. T.B. Scearce, a crime prevention specialist with the Danville Police Department, said he has received calls from some local churches asking what they can do to improve security without making the church seem unwelcoming.

He is in the process of setting up meetings with those churches, and has also been in touch the state Fusion Center  a consortium of law enforcement agencies formed after 9/11 to help combat terrorism and crime.

 They provide training on basic security, Scearce said.

Over the next few months, he hopes to schedule two-hour introductory classes to open the discussion on security, which will be followed by an eight-hour, more in-depth class. The classes will be open to the public, but they might be able to arrange classes for large groups, such as churches.

The Danville Police Department has information on its website aimed directly at improving security at churches. The link to that information is http://www.danville-va.gov/1912/Security-Tips-for-Houses-of-Worship.

People are also welcome to contact Scearce through the crime prevention office at (434) 797-8898.
The Ruby B. Archie Memorial Danville Public Library. That is the proposed new name for the Danville Public Library as informally agreed upon by the Danville City Council Memorial Commission during its meeting Friday afternoon.

But the applicant for the name change, Renita Townes, is not happy that the city will not pay to have a name added to the sign. Instead, she must raise money for the effort herself.

 I am a citizen of Danville, I vote, I pay my taxes, Townes said during an interview after the meeting Friday afternoon at the Municipal Building. This is a woman who has served the city of Danville.

It seems like the city would want to pay for it, she added.

Archie, who died in 2010 at 76, was a former mayor, local educator and regional director for Alpha Kappa Alpha, a sorority founded by a group of African-American women at Howard University in Washington in 1908.

But city policy requires the person applying to name a building after someone to raise additional cost not normally borne by the City of Danville associated with the placement, design and construction of a monument and/or sign to honor an individual 

The ordinance has been in place since 2001, said City Manager Ken Larking, who serves on the commission appointed by mayor for the proposed name change.

Commission Chair and City Councilman Lee Vogler said there will be lots of citizens willing to provide money for the project. It will be more impactful and meaningful when the community comes together to chip in for the addition of Archies name, he said.

Also, the city cannot make an exception and pay for it because it could cause problems for future cases, Vogler said.

 We have to be consistent in the way we do this, he said.

Commission members do not know what the cost would be to add Archies name to the sign. They voted unanimously to have Larking get an estimate for the project.

Parks and Recreation Director Bill Sgrinia said the current sign at the library cost about $5,000 to $7,000.

Townes said she plans to go before Danville City Council and request a change to the ordinance. Still, she said she would raise the money for the project, however.

 Im going to do whats necessary, she said. This is a fitting memorial.

Archie  who headed the English departments at Langston and George Washington high schools - was loved by her students, she added.

Vogler said the librarys new name needed to retain the citys name to avoid difficulty for those unfamiliar with the library searching for it.

Commission member and former mayor John Hamlin said there should also be a plaque and photograph inside the library recognizing Archie for what she did. Doris Wilson pointed out the scope of Archies work for Alpha Kappa Alpha, which included traveling to other states and serving students through scholarships.

 She traveled up and down the East Coast, Hamlin said. She took with her, also, Danville.

City Councilman Gary Miller spoke to the commission and recalled Archies positive outlook while undergoing health issues.

 When she was facing open-heart surgery, she had a smile on her face, said Miller, a cardiologist who treated her.

Commission members also humorously recalled their days as students under Archie, who did not tolerate unruly behavior.

 She did not play, said both City Councilman and commission member Larry Campbell Jr.

Pittsylvania County resident Tammy Warren, who advocated on social media for naming the library after Archie, recalled her as a mother figure.

 She was not only my godmother, but a second mother to me, Warren told commission members.

Warren told the commission she appreciated their support and could not wait to see the building named after Archie.

Vogler said if enough money is raised for the name change, there could be much more to the project than a sign, plaque and photograph.

 If we get a massive fundraising, we could have a whole room, Vogler said.

Harold Garrison, a commission member who also serves on the Danville Planning Commission, supports the name change but expressed reservations.

 I have a problem with naming a building after anybody, given the present political situation, Garrison said, referring to the recent removal of statues and building name changes across the country.

The sign will have to comply with zoning regulations and be approved by the River District Design Commission since it would be in the River District.

It would then have to go to City Council for approval.
The first law aims to bar public youth clubs and centres from exercising political or partisan activities, the second bans the use of drones, and the third aims at regulating the formation of trade unions

Egypts parliament will begin holding plenary meetings on Sunday and is set to take a final vote on three controversial laws, including the Youth Institutions Law, which aims to ban members of public youth clubs and centres from engaging in political activity.

The 47-article Youth Institutions Law was provisionally approved by the House in a plenary session on 24 October.

Parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Aal decided that the final vote will be postponed if a full quorum of a two-thirds majority is not realised. Parliament's schedule of debates said the final vote will be taken on Sunday.

According to the first article of the legislation, members of youth centres are to be barred from exercising political or partisan activities or turning these centres into forums for propagating ideas that serve political or religious agendas.

Abdel-Aal said that "the exercising of political activities should be confined to licensed political parties only."

"In accordance with the constitution, youth centres cannot be forums for raising political issues," said Abdel-Aal, arguing that "there is a difference between politics as a science and political indoctrination as an activity."

"Politics as a science includes many ideas that we study in schools and universities, but politics as an exercise aimed at indoctrinating young people to be politically active cannot be practiced at public entities such as youth clubs, which should not discriminate among its members on political and religious grounds," said Abdel-Aal.

MP Ayman Abu El-Ela, a member of the liberal Free Egyptians Party, agreed that youth clubs should not be used as a magnet for disseminating certain political or religious agendas.

"Talking politics should be confined to political parties, parliaments and civil society organisations only," Abu El-Ela said.

Article 31 of the law also bans smoking, gambling, serving alcohol at youth centres. It also states that youth centres cannot be allowed to be engaged in financial speculation activities.

Ban on drones

The second law, which was provisionally approved on 7 November, bans the use of remotely operated aircraft  commonly known as drones  that might be used in terrorist attacks. The six-article law stipulates heavy fines and hard prison terms for violators.

Abdel-Aal said in a plenary meeting that the final vote on the law would be postponed until it has been revised by the State Council in legislative and constitutional terms and in line with the constitution.

The law  officially titled "the Regulation of the Use of Electronically and Wirelessly Operated Aircraft and the Handling and Trading in it"  was quickly approved by MPs two weeks ago.

The law bans drones capable of carrying explosives or weapons systems that could pose a danger to the countrys national security and that can be operated by a remote-control system. Article one states that the Ministry of Defence will be the only institution authorised to license the use of such aircraft.

Article 2 states that local administration units, such as public ministries, local councils, public institutions, companies and individuals, will be banned from the import, manufacturing, assembling, handling, possession and trading in drones. They would need prior approval from the Ministry of Defence for any such activities.

Article 3 states that violators of Articles 1 and 2 could face prison terms ranging from one to seven years, as well as fines ranging from EGP 5,000 to EGP 50,000.

Violators could also face the death penalty if they use drones in committing terrorist acts. The Article gives the Ministry of Defence the right of sequestering any technologies of this sort that could be used in launching terrorist attacks.

However, Army Major General Mamdouh Shahin, deputy defence minister for constitutional affairs and military justice, told parliament in a plenary session on Tuesday that the law does not impose a total ban on the use of drones.

It allows the use of such drones only with prior and exclusive approval from the Ministry of Defence, said Shaheen.

A final vote on the law is also expected to take place on Sunday.

Trade union law

The third law  titled "the Trade Union Organisations and the Protection of the Right of Forming a Trade Union"  was also provisionally approved on 7 November.

Parliament speaker Abdel-Aal said the final vote will be postponed until a quorum of a two-thirds majority is attained and more debates are held on some of the most contentious articles.

Mohamed Abdel-Fattah, a member of parliament's Manpower Committee, told MPs that the 83-article law strives to adhere to Egypt's 2014 constitution.

Article 76 of the constitution states that "workers should be free to form trade unions in a democratic way and that these unions can only be dissolved by a final judicial ruling."

"The new law also strives to conform to international labour and trade union conventions to which Egypt is a signatory," said Abdel-Fattah, adding that "the law sounds the death knell of the old socialist policy that brought trade unions under the umbrella of a single government-controlled entity."

Article 12 stipulates that a quorum of 250 workers in any industrial plant or economic establishment is sufficient to form a trade union committee to safeguard the rights of all workers.



Article 13 stipulates that no less than 20 trade union committees comprising at least 30,000 workers are needed to form a fully-fledged trade union.

Abdel-Aal voiced concern that the draft law still includes socialist articles such as giving trade unions privileges such as exemption from taxes and custom tariffs.

"This is unconstitutional because this article violates the principle of equality among public institutions," said Abdel-Aal.

Parliament decided to cut exemptions granted by the law to trade union organisations from 12 items to just five, leaving unions exempt from paying taxes on offices, contracts, celebrations, and from paying public notary fees and stamp taxes.

A final vote on the above law is also expected to be taken on Sunday.

In its debates this week, parliament is also expected to discuss a new law aimed at forming a syndicate for workers in the area of antiquities.

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(TNS)  The scaffolding does not lie.The city issued a record 88,838 construction permits over the last six months, eclipsing the previous high set in the spring and summer of 2016, according to new Department of Buildings data.Its not your imagination: construction is at a record high in New York City, Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler said in a statement.The department published a new interactive feature Wednesday, called the NYC Construction Dashboard , which includes graphics and maps showing how many permits for new buildings, demolitions and alterations have been issued in various communities.Chandler said this dashboard is part of the departments larger modernization efforts, intended to help the city deploy inspectors based on which areas or contractors may be having the most issues or injuries, with several construction workers having died on the job in recent years.Outside City Hall, the data has reaffirmed for some that their griping about noise and overdevelopment concerns is warranted.The data shows the part of midtown below Central Park has seen the most construction activity, with 13,098 permits issued so far this year.That came to no surprise to some locals facing an influx of supertall residential skyscrapers.We see there is construction on every block, said Layla Law-Gisiko, the chair of Manhattan Community Board 5s Landmarks Committee and the Central Park Sunshine Task Force.Law-Gisiko was pleased to see the city sharing permitting data. She said the stats show most projects simply need to abide by current provisions to get a permit and very few require approval from the city government, which typically makes applicants come before community boards and listen to local feedback.There is a discrepancy between the pace of our building environment and the way it is changing and the opportunity for the public to be involved, Law-Gisiko said.The city issued the second highest number of permits  6,832  on the Upper East Side.The areas councilman, Ben Kallos, said he fields complaints daily about overdevelopment and is worried the city is not ready to absorb the population boom it is experiencing.They dont have the school seats we need for the people living here and moving here, he said. The Second Avenue Subway is already surpassing ridership goals and they are adding more and more trains.Meanwhile, the number of demolition permits was highest in Midtown East, Bushwick and Gowanus in 2016. The Department of Buildings noted that demolition work typically occurs to make room for new development and precedes further construction activity.Discussions are underway about rezoning Bushwick and Gowanus to allow for more residential buildings.But in Gowanus, many property owners seem to be converting spaces back to manufacturing facilities because they have grown tired of waiting to see if a rezoning will pass, according to Paul Basile, president of the Gowanus Alliance, which promotes the local industrial and manufacturing sector.Some of these properties were warehoused for a decade, Basile said. Those demolitions and alterations are now being used to reinvest in manufacturing.The city pointed out that all the development has led to a record 43,258 construction jobs in 2016.But Chandler said the department is also aware of noise and other disturbances associated with construction work. He said the department does its best to suss out whether the complaints stem for construction work, rather than ambient noise, and then tries to improve the situation.Although the Department of Buildings does not steer planning and development decisions, Chandler said his team shares this sort of data with city planners to help guide larger discussions about land use decisions.
(TNS)  WINTER PARK  Employees taking up spaces along Park Avenue and inefficient enforcement of time limits for those spots are two key reasons why parking is a problem in the popular shopping district, a new report has found.But elected officials balked at adding enforcement staff for fear of becoming a city of tickets. Instead, they decided Monday to outfit their lone parking enforcement officer with new technology to speed up his patrol.I want to spend money on providing better parking experiences for our residents and our guests, Vice Mayor Pete Weldon said. I dont want to spend money on penalizing people, and I dont want to spend money on people that are hired to penalize people.The city earmarked $100,000 from its Community Redevelopment Agency toward buying a vehicle-mounted license plate reader, as well as updating its parking code to encourage new developments to come with increased parking.At the Spice and Tea Exchange on Park Avenue, employees are often a few minutes late and blame it on them trolling available spaces, which quickly fill up during busy hours.Joshua Gant, the stores sales manager, said although most employees on the avenue have hangtags allowing them to park in off-street lots, they face stiff competition from shoppers even in those lots.Along Park Avenue drivers can parallel park for free in spaces with a three-hour time limit. Spots on several surrounding streets and lots have four-hour limits.On some days, Gant said hes parked on the busy street and decided to pay the inevitable $25 ticket.There have been times where Ive just had to own up to it if Im tired of circling and Im already late, said Gant, 24. If somebody walks in a few minutes late, I dont even have to ask why.The problem is widespread, according to the report from Kimley-Horn, the citys parking consultant.The report found Park Avenue employees resort to parking along the Avenue in hopes of dodging enforcement officer Derek Tooley, the citys only full-time parking enforcer.Tooley, a 12-year veteran unsworn officer, wrote about 2,200 parking tickets throughout the city last year, with most coming in the downtown area.He said he usually directs circling drivers to the 4th and 5th floors of a Canton Avenue parking garage or a surface lot by the citys train station where shoppers and employees alike can park.But we still get a lot of people in loading zones, Tooley said.Each day he walks the avenue and other busy streets with a handheld scanner searching for delinquent parkers. The scanner logs tag numbers, and then he returns later to see which vehicles have violated the time limit.Once the city gets the plate reader, the report said it could allow him to complete his route in his car in less than half of the time he does on foot, increasing the likelihood he would nab downtown employees trying to skirt the rules.Its unclear when the city will purchase the technology, which costs about $30,000, but planning director Dori Stone said it can at any time.The report states the city has enough spaces to meet demand most of the year but notes the frustrations of the community. It recommends that officials should look at a "comprehensive strategy to address the problem.Commissioners in August were briefed on potential locations for parking garages, but so far havent moved forward on that idea, Stone said.Sarah Stevens loves to bring her three young children down from Sanford to play in Central Park or to attend the weekly farmers market.Parking has gotten easier for her since the city opened Parking Lot A  the train station lot  but she also has learned to avoid Park Avenue during busy times.But there are still times where Ive circled over 15 minutes, Stevens said.
For many of us, news about the latest disaster comes to us through social media. We check in on friends and family in an affected area. We check the latest storm track or fire map. We see pictures and we click boxes to give.We want to help those affected as the event unfolds. But the digital community that has been built around disasters is more than that. It is a tool that can help us build back faster and meet needs that governments simply cannot accommodate.I was the first FEMA administrator to have a Twitter handle, and I did that because I believed that social media was creating a community that we could activate. Disasters affect all of us from coast to coast, and simply arent local anymore. At FEMA, I set our social media team with the task to build an app that would allow people to get assistance quicker and to notify people about how they could get help. But I knew that wasnt enough.As we have seen with Maria, Harvey, and other disasters, it truly takes the entire community to make the survivors of a disaster whole. It might be a mattress store in Houston or a world class chef flying his team to Puerto Rico to feed thousands, but the message is the same: It takes all of us to help people get on their feet and take control of their lives.But we underestimate the power of the digital community to help with this. Over the past few years, weve seen the way of giving evolve toward one that is more online-based, more socially conscious, and one that creates a sense of community and value among those giving.The largest social giving platform, GoFundMe, has raised more than $4 billion since its inception more than seven years ago. Theyve tapped into something we all feel: we want to help people we can see. We want to get to know them. But I believe were missing an opportunity as an emergency management community. We need to turn GoFundMe into a partner, not just a like-minded feel-good tool for people to help each other.When I served as the emergency manager for Florida, I remember the times when checks would come to the state from well-meaning people who wanted to help. We didnt know what to do with them. Government bureaucracy got in the way. When money comes their way, states have the onerous task of setting up systems to deal with these funds, determine where they go, verify needs, and ensure that the funds are given to the individuals and organizations that need them. State and local governments capacity is always stretched in times of emergency, so this work becomes an extra challenge.This is where GoFundMe comes in. First the facts: Hundreds of millions have been raised for campaigns that have been started on the site in the wake of an emergency or a disaster. They have a team that prevents fraud, and they'll refund donors if campaigns are misused.The Trust and Safety team inside GoFundMe works with key stakeholders, including government officials, to ensure that funds raised on the platform are verified and that they go to the cause for which the money is being raised. Its also important to remember this isnt just for the headline-grabbing moments. Some of the most successful campaigns have been around local events and ones where our volunteer organization partners simply dont have a large presence, like a shooting or a fire.Right now, all of this is happening outside of any coordination with city or state government. Money is being raised  and the rates are only growing. The GoFundMe team securely gets money to the people they help faster than many of our existing systems can accomplish.They are meeting needs that federal and state funds simply cannot accommodate: that may be money to pay the staff of a local coffee shop the tip wages they would have made or making sure that a community event happens as scheduled. These are critical elements to recovery, but often fall outside of government control.What if the emergency management community looked to GoFundMe and other companies as a partner? What if we took the time to tap into those tools  get money directly to survivorsand fast  that we cant always accomplish? And why not take advantage of a company whose reputation is based on a proven trust that money is getting where it needs to go? Why wouldnt emergency managers want to connect with that and give them our insights of how best they can help?We have to change the way we deal with crowdfunding companies, but changing our approach also allows emergency managers to evolve how we address unsolicited funds. The old model is too slow. It doesnt necessarily meet the immediate needs of survivors in local communities. It doesnt meet the needs of a mayor or governor who wants to get that coffee shop open.We have to acknowledge a reality that online giving in the wake of a disaster is here to stay. Right now, it happens outside of our recovery plans and on a timeline that is far faster than the systems we have in place. We work best when we embrace what each member of the community brings to the table. If GoFundMe can get it there fast and can verify the need, why not enlist them as a partner and help them best direct those funds to the campaigns that will help a community be a community again?As emergency managers, we spend months preparing for the moments we dont see coming, but when it comes to some of our most powerful tools  and the tools that will resonate most with the public  we dont know where to turn. Its time to change that and enlist GoFundMe to help us build back our communities.
(TNS)  MIDDLETOWN  The New York State Public Service Commission on Thursday approved Orange & Rockland's plan to install smart electric meters and gas modules for every O&R electric service and gas customer in Orange and Sullivan counties beginning in 2018.There are about 60 million wireless smart meters being used across the nation. O&R plans to install approximately 230,000 electric smart meters in its New York service area. It will install the communications infrastructure in Orange and Sullivan counties beginning in January 2018, while the new meters will go in during March.O&R will replace roughly 113,000 electric meters and 42,500 gas modules over a three-year period in Orange and Sullivan counties.More than 23,000 smart meters have already been installed in Rockland County, where the program began in June. O&R will replace approximately 116,500 electric meters in Rockland and 92,000 gas modules. The smart meters can report the exact location of individual electric service outages to O&R, eliminating the need for customer calls.The smart meters also will greatly reduce the need for monthly meter readings at customers' premises, meter readers, their vehicles and some of the bills they generate. And customers will be able to see where and why their energy consumption fluctuates to more easily take action to reduce their bills.Company spokesman Mike Donovan declined to say how many meter readers will lose their jobs. But, in a statement, he did say the company will still need some, though "not the meter reading workforce we have had, which surprisingly is not very many for the amount of work they do." The meter reader job is the entry level position at the company, and it experiences substantial turnover as employees move up.
An Alexandria court ordered on Saturday the detention of activist and human rights lawyer Mahinour El-Masry and rights lawyer Moatasem Medhat pending trial over illegal protesting against the Egyptian-Saudi maritime border demarcation deal in June.



El-Masry, Medhat and three others are accused of "assembly, protesting, show of force, and insulting the president," El-Masrys lawyer Taher Abu El-Nasr told Ahram Online.

In June, lawyers in Egypt's second-biggest city organised a demonstration in front of an Alexandria court to protest a parliament debate over the border demarcation agreement, which places the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir under Saudi control.

The court is set to issue its verdict on the protest case on 30 December, Abu El-Nasr added.

El-Masry, who served 15 months in prison in 2015 and 2016 for "storming" an Alexandria police station in 2013, attended Saturday's court session along with her colleague Medhat, according to Abu El-Nasr.

El-Masry, a well-known activist, served four months of a six-month sentence in 2014 for illegal protesting during the Khaled Said murder retrial in December 2013.

El-Masry and Medhat have been transferred to Alexandria's Security Directorate , while the three other defendants are not in custody.

Hundreds of protesters have been tried for demonstrating against the Tiran and Sanafir deal, which was signed during a visit to Cairo by Saudi King Salman in April 2016.

Many have since been released after paying fines.

The deal has faced a number of legal challenges from opponents, but was finally ratified by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi at the end of June after the parliament voted to approve it.

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Lebanon's Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said on Friday a crisis triggered by the resignation of its prime minister was part of an "attempt to create chaos in the region", local television stations reported.

Saad al-Hariri quit as prime minister in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia two weeks ago, saying he feared assassination and criticising the Saudis' regional arch-rival Iran along with its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

Hariri has yet to return to Beirut and is expected to leave Saudi Arabia this weekend for France, where he will meet with President Emmanuel Macron.

Bassil is touring European and other capitals seeking diplomatic help to end the crisis.

"We will respond and we have the full capacities to do so, but we hope it doesn't get to that," Bassil was quoted as saying from Moscow by Lebanese broadcasters al-Jadeed, al-Manar and LBC.

French officials said they did not know how long Hariri would stay before returning to Beirut, but hoped his visit would help ease the crisis by demonstrating he was not being held in Saudi Arabia.

*This story is edited by Ahram Online



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Nov. 18, 1978

U.S. Rep. Leo J. Ryan (D-Calif.) and four others were killed in Jonestown, Guyana, by members of the Peoples Temple, a cult headed by American Jim Jones. The killings were followed by a night of mass murder and suicide by more than 900 cult members, a third of them children. Jones followers had willingly or been forced to drink a punch laced with poison. Jones had established the Christian fellowship in Indianapolis in the 1950s. The church moved to California and came under financial scrutiny. Jones invited his congregation to help set up a new society in the jungles of Guyana. Concerned relatives of cult members had asked Ryan to go investigate Jonestown.
A Winston-Salem man wanted in the 2015 shooting death of another man was charged with murder Friday after police arrested him following a brief chase in the citys northern section, authorities said.

Devonte Roderick Francis, 22, of Avera Avenue was taken into custody after he attempted to elude officers by driving away from them in a 2006 Lexus GS300, Winston-Salem police said.

As police chased his vehicle on North Patterson Avenue, Francis lost control of his car and collided with a 2008 Cadillac Escalade in the intersection of Patterson Avenue and Germanton Road, police said.

We received intelligence that a wanted individual was in town in our jurisdiction and attempted to take him into custody, said police Capt. Mike Weaver. It was a very short chase that ended in a small collision.

About 15 police cars and a fire truck responded to the incident.

They were chasing the gray car and it smacked into the black van hard, said Stacy Flynn, who was standing by the intersection when it happened. It was like an earthquake. Im sure you could hear it for miles.

Francis suffered a small bump on the head and was taken to a local hospital for treatment, Weaver said. No other injuries were reported.

Francis has been charged with murder in the death of Kendrick Maurice Smith, 22, formerly of East 22nd Street in Winston-Salem, police said.

Officers found Smith dead in front of a house at 1017 E. Devonshire St. on Aug. 9, 2015, police said. Officers also found Wayne Warren II, who was 30 at the time, with a gunshot wound to his leg.

Francis also was charged with felony fleeing to elude arrest, careless and reckless driving, speeding, driving while his license was revoked and possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana, police said. Francis is accused of driving 70 mph in a 45-mph zone on Germanton Road and possessing about one ounce of marijuana, according to arrest warrants.

The U.S. Marshals assisted Winston-Salem police in Francis capture, police said.

Detectives are continuing to investigate Smiths death, but they are not looking for any additional suspects, police said.

Francis was being held Friday in the Forsyth County jail with no bond allowed, according to court records. He is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 7.

Anyone with information about this case can call Winston-Salem police at 336-773-7700 or Crime Stoppers at 336-727-2800.
Both sides gave wildly different takes Friday on a court-appointed consultants initial attempt at fixing the North Carolina General Assemblys problem with racial gerrymandering.

The responses were polar opposites, with lawyers for 31 aggrieved voters from across the state taking a generally positive view of the plan and offering constructive criticism of new state House and Senate voting maps proposed by special master Nathaniel Persily.

But an attorney for the North Carolina General Assemblys Republican leadership castigated Persilys draft that included sweeping changes to Guilford Countys legislative landscape, calling it the result of an irregular and inappropriate process.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina appointed Persily special master  an expert consultant  to suggest new maps for state House and Senate voting districts to fix lingering problems with their racial demographics.

The lawsuit filed in 2015 argued that across the state a total of 28 districts in both GOP-controlled chambers had been racially gerrymandered so as to dilute the impact of black residents Democrat-prone voting patterns.

Under court order, the General Assembly redistricted once again this summer, but failed to fix problems to the courts satisfaction in two Guilford County districts and two others elsewhere in the state.

Persily submitted draft plans Monday aimed at correcting those shortcomings as well as repairing state constitutional issues with five House and Senate districts in Mecklenburg, Wake and other counties.

Persily, a nationally known expert in election law, directed that both sides in the case  the voters and the General Assembly  submit by Friday any objections to his draft plans and suggestions for improvement.

Persily is working on a tight schedule because the three-judge panel has instructed him to submit a finished plan by Dec. 1.

The voters lawyers responded to his draft proposals with supportive comments, concluding that the plan does remedy the constitutional flaws in the legislatures 2017 plan. They also offered some suggestions to unpair incumbents and a few other slight revisions.

For instance, in Guilford, they suggested adding all or part of the voting precinct where state Rep. Amos Quick (D-Greensboro) resides to the redrawn District 58  the district that he now represents in its current form  so that he could continue running for that office.

The voters lawyers said they could not find similar ways to fix problems in two other Guilford County districts that Persily revised. Those districts are:

Draft state House District 61, where current state Reps. John Blust (R-Greensboro) and Pricey Harrison (D-Greensbroro) would be paired.

And Persilys new version of Senate District 27, where state Sens. Gladys Robinson (D-Greensboro) and Trudy Wade (R-Greensboro) both reside.

But a lawyer representing the legislative defendants had no constructive criticism of the specifics in Persilys plan, just criticism in general.

Raleigh lawyer Phillip Strach said on behalf of the Republican leadership that the court, and therefore the special master, lack jurisdiction over the districts enacted by the legislature on Aug. 31, 2017 .... because the legislature fully complied with this courts judgment and the case is now moot.

The process under which the special master is proceeding is irregular and inappropriate, Strach wrote in a formal objection. It defies precedent, ignores state sovereignty and imposes race-based redistricting on the state against its will.
On a fall evening two years ago, donors gathered during a conference at a Ritz-Carlton hotel near Washington to raise funds for a 31-year-old candidate for the Ohio legislature who was a rising star in evangelical politics.

Hours later, upstairs in a hotel guest room, an 18-year-old college student who had come to the event with his parents said the candidate unzipped his pants and fondled him in the middle of the night. The frightened teenager fled the room and told his mother and stepfather, who demanded action from the head of the organization hosting the conference.

"If we endorse these types of individuals, then it would seem our whole weekend together was nothing more than a charade," the stepfather wrote to Tony Perkins, president of the Council for National Policy.

"Trust me . . . this will not be ignored nor swept aside," replied Perkins, who also heads the Family Research Council, a prominent evangelical activist group. "It will be dealt with swiftly, but with prudence."

The incident, described in emails and documents obtained by The Washington Post, never became public, nor did unspecified prior "similar incidents" Perkins referred to in a letter to candidate Wesley Goodman. The correspondence shows Perkins privately asked Goodman to drop out of the race and suspended him from the council, but Goodman continued his campaign and went on to defeat two fellow Republicans in a hotly contested primary before winning his seat last November.

Goodman, 33, abruptly resigned this week after state legislative leaders learned of what the House speaker called "inappropriate behavior related to his state office." Local media outlets have reported the behavior involved a consensual sexual encounter with a male visitor in his legislative office.

Emails and documents show a small circle of people discussed the complaints about Goodman before he went on to later misconduct at the statehouse.

In Ohio, supporters of Goodman's campaign wondered why they were not alerted to his past behavior.

"We are so sick of people knowing and doing nothing. If someone knew, they had an obligation to say something. That's what you do. That's how you hold society together," said Thomas Zawistowski, president of Ohio Citizens PAC, a conservative group that endorsed Goodman.

Perkins did not respond to emails, phone calls or a message left at the office of the Family Research Council. Goodman declined to comment as did the stepfather, a member of the council who referred questions about the incident to Perkins. The Post does not identify victims of sexual assault without their consent.

The Oct. 18, 2015 incident involving Goodman was discreetly handled by Perkins, the council's president and a prominent leader on the religious right. Goodman at the time was campaigning for office after an impressive run in Washington as a congressional aide who rose to managing director of a conservative coalition Perkins oversees.He worked for the Perkins-run network from February 2013 to March 2015.

Perkins' CNP raised money for Goodman at an Oct. 18 event that brought in donations from GOP stalwarts like former attorney general Edwin Meese and Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the antiabortion Susan B. Anthony List, according to Goodman's campaign finance reports.

Both liberals and conservatives are wrestling with how to deal with sexual harassment and abuse allegations within their ranks. On Capitol Hill, a coalition of women lawmakers have pushed to reform a system heavily weighted toward protecting members accused of harassment, and the effort gained more steam this week with a new allegation against Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. The GOP is facing allegations against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, now accused of inappropriate advances on teenage women when he was in his 30s.

Perkins told Goodman in late 2015 he should not run for office until he addressed his behavior.

"Going forward so soon, without some distance from your past behavior and a track record of recovery, carries great risk for you and for those who are supporting you," he wrote on Dec. 18, 2015.

Perkins also said he was "obligated" to disclose the situation to CNP members who had supported Goodman's campaign. It is unclear if he took such action.

The Post reached out to six CNP donors who contributed to Goodman's campaign on or around the date of the Ritz-Carlton event. None responded to requests for comment.

Goodman was close to the CNP as managing director of the Conservative Action Project, a group formed by CNP to counter President Barack Obama's agenda, including the Affordable Care Act.

As president of the Family Research Council, which opposes same-sex marriage and abortion and calls homosexuality "unnatural," Perkins supports traditional values in U.S. politics and wields considerable clout in his political endorsements. His endorsement of Trump in July 2016 helped evangelicals overcome doubts about the GOP nominee.

The CNP is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 group founded in the early 1980s, and its membership has included prominent figures in the conservative movement such as Breitbart News chairman and former White House adviser Stephen Bannon, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and embattled Senate candidate Moore.

The young man involved in the 2015 hotel room episode said Goodman first approached him outside a Ritz-Carlton ballroom while urging young people to come to a party on Capitol Hill.

"One of the young guys didn't want to go, and Wes really made fun of him and told him he 'had a vagina' and made sarcastic remarks about him being like a woman," the young man wrote in a statement sent to Perkins on Oct. 25.

When the group eventually returned to the Ritz Carlton, "Wes pushed me to come to his room," and offered to let him share his bed, he wrote.

In his written statement, the young man said he awoke in the middle of the night to find Goodman's hand "pulling down my zipper." His pants had been unbuttoned and his zipper was down. He darted from the room at about 4 a.m. "I was shaken, dazed, confused and very upset," he wrote.

Goodman gave a statement to Perkins saying he woke up at 8 a.m. and found the young man gone.

This account was rejected by some members of CNP's inner circle.

In email correspondence, J. Keet Lewis, a member of CNP's executive committee, expressed frustration with Goodman and asked that his campaign donation be refunded. Lewis referred questions about his comments to Perkins.

CNP Executive Director Bob McEwen, a former Ohio congressman who was included on the email chain, promised the stepfather on Oct. 22, 2015"strong action is about to take place." McEwen did not return emails or telephone calls seeking comment.

Eight weeks later, Perkins officially suspended Goodman from the CNP, expressing "disappointment" he had declared his candidacy for the statehouse.

The letter suggests Goodman had admitted to inappropriate behavior and was receiving counseling. Perkins cautioned him against pursuing a political career without addressing his previous actions.

"You have only begun the process of restoration," Perkins wrote.

Goodman abruptly resigned from his seat in the Ohio House of Representatives several days after The Post contacted him about the Ritz-Carlton incident. Ohio House Speaker Clifford Rosenberger, R, said in a statement Goodman had confirmed allegations of "inappropriate behavior" in his office.

"I sincerely regret that my actions and choices have kept me from serving my constituents and our state in a way that reflects the best ideals of public service," Goodman said in a statement Wednesday morning.

The Washington Post's Robert Costa contributed to this report.

Washington Post News Service (DC)
Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrived in France on Saturday from Saudi Arabia, seeking to dismiss fears that he had been held against his will and forced to resign by Saudi authorities.

Hariri is scheduled to meet at midday with French President Emmanuel Macron.

An Associated Press journalist saw Hariri emerge from a convoy that arrived Saturday morning at his Paris residence, where police stood guard. Hariri walked out of his car and moved straight into the building without speaking to journalists.

Lebanese television showed the prime minister accompanied by his wife Lara al-Azm, but none of his three children appeared.

A French diplomat confirmed Hariri's arrival but would not comment on his plans beyond meeting Macron. It's unclear when Hariri might return to Lebanon.

Before leaving Riyadh, Hariri dismissed as "rumors" reports about his alleged detention in the kingdom. In a tweet, he insisted his stay in Saudi Arabia was to consult with officials there on the future of Lebanon and its relations with its Arab neighbors.

Hariri announced his resignation Nov. 4 in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia, throwing Lebanon into a serious political crisis.

Macron said Hariri will be received "with the honors due a prime minister," even though he has announced his resignation, since Lebanon hasn't yet recognized it.

Hariri's family is expected to have lunch at the French presidential palace.

Macron said he thinks Hariri intends to return to Lebanon "in the coming days and weeks."

The Hariris have long-standing ties to France, Lebanon's onetime colonial ruler.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online

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Ted Kennedy Jr. said thanks, but no thanks.

Ditto for State Comptroller Kevin Lembo and now Lt Gov. Nancy Wyman, leaving Connecticut Democrats with a void of headliners willing to step forward to run for governor in 2018.

But the party in power appears poised to have its wish granted for a candidate with a household name  for better or worse. His name is Joe Ganim.

The mayor of the states largest city, Bridgeport, said Wymans decision to rule out a run puts him on the cusp of entering the wide open race. Since April, Ganim has been exploring statewide office, touting his efforts to bring jobs and development to his city while owning up to his 2003 corruption conviction that cost him the mayors office and his freedom for seven years.

You should know that it does in fact move me closer toward ultimately making decision that could be a exploratory to a full announcement, Ganim told Hearst Connecticut Media. You said January and I didnt disagree with you.

What Republicans wanted to be a referendum on the direction of the state under Wyman and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who is not seeking re-election after two terms, is evolving into a competition among mayors.

And the early indications are that its about to get more crowded, with Hartfords Mayor Luke Bronin eyeing a race that already includes his mayoral counterparts from Danbury (Mark Boughton), Shelton (Mark Lauretti), Middletown (Dan Drew) and Trumbulls first selectman (Tim Herbst).

Its not something I had been planning to do, but Ive heard from a lot of people over the past few days and Im giving it serious thought, said Bronin, a Democrat who previously served as Malloys general counsel.

Easy target

The GOP field isnt entirely settled yet, either, with many gubernatorial hopefuls waiting to see if House GOP Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, who said she wants to take the Thanksgiving holiday to deliberate after four months of budget deliberations.

Im still trying to figure out where I can best serve the state of Connecticut, said Klarides, the first woman to lead her caucus.

While Republicans had been champing at the bit to go up against Wyman, some welcomed the prospect of a matchup with Ganim and Bronin, saying that both Bridgeport and Hartford arent shining cities on hill.

This isnt their A bench, said Danburys longtime GOP mayor, Mark Boughton, who is exploring his third run for governor. Listen, Joe Ganim, I think has a similar challenge as Luke. Hes got work to do there.

Ganim said hes become an easy target for Republicans since he started testing the waters.

Theyve tried to tarnish me, Ganim said. Im sure they see me as a threat.

Ganim said that none of his potential GOP foes has had to grapple with the challenges he has faced since voters returned him to office in 2015, from balancing the citys budget to combatting crime.

You can lollygag in some of these other towns and have a nice title like mayor or first selectman, Ganim said.

Later this month, Ganim will return to court to try to overturn a state law prohibiting those convicted of public corruption from receiving public campaign funds under Connecticut clean-elections program. The mayor maintains that by making him forfeit $1.6 million for a primary a $6.5 million for the general election is unconstitutional.

Ganims gubernatorial ambitions arent exactly a secret.

I was under the impression he was already in the race, Klarides said.

GOP ambitions

Boughton said it would be a heavy lift for Bronin to run for governor after the capital city recently avoided bankruptcy.

Look, I like Luke. I have respect for him. (But) how can you possibly run for governor of the state of Connecticut when youre running a city thats teetering on the brink of bankruptcy? Boughton said. Look, you want to compare Danburys finances against Hartfords finances? Ill do that all day long. Now if turns around Hartford, hes got a story to tell.

Bronin said theres no comparison between Hartford and Danbury.

With all respect to Mark Boughton, he inherited a fiscally healthy town and yet hes raised taxes, year after year, Bronin said. In Hartford, I took over a city in full-blown fiscal crisis, refused to raise taxes or kick the can, demanded that our unions be part of the solution, built partnerships around the state and re-engaged our business community.

Herbst said Wymans decision doesnt change his strategy.

While Nancy might have been the co-pilot on the Titanic for the last eight years, the iceberg was made larger and more deadly for Connecticut by horrible policy and can kicking from Democrats in the legislature, Herbst said.

Drew, the first Democrat to declare his candidacy for governor, said Republicans were sending a mixed message by saying that they wanted to run against Wyman and that the remaining Democrats in the race arent on her level.

Thats a contradiction. Its preposterous, Drew said. The simple fact of the matter is the Connecticut Republican Party, the national Republican Party and this crop of Republican candidates have never been focused on middle class economics. Theyre focused on the needs of the wealthy.

Westport businessman and GOP candidate Steve Obsitnik said hes tired of all the sniping.

Thats what politicians do, he said. They talk about each other. Lets talk about the people of Connecticut being hurt and get to work solving their problems.

Dave Walker, the former U.S. comptroller general and GOP candidate from Bridgeport, said Wyman made the right choice.

I didnt care who the Democrats put up, he said.

Mark Lauretti, Sheltons 26-year mayor and Fairfield Countys longest serving municipal leader, scoffed at the prospect of Ganim and Bronin jumping into the race.

These people you talk about have relatively little experience, Lauretti said. We need people who are tested. Here again, I think its pretty telling that some of the top Democratic candidates have opted out, which is untypical of what they do.
Fairfield University had no sooner opened a new nursing school in the fall than it was cutting the ribbon on a new student dining hall.

Its also full speed ahead on a new residence hall and ground is set to be broken next spring on a new business school building.

If the pace of new construction on the sprawling suburban campus seems faster than usual, dont just thank a robust capital campaign. The GOP tax plan proposal  which this week passed the House and next month is expected to be taken up in the Senate  deserves some of the credit.

We are accelerating the pace of construction, said Kevin Lawlor, the universitys executive vice president and chief operating officer. We were in the market last year for $50 million in bonds.

There is worry over provisions in the tax reform plan  at least the House version of it  that would eliminate a universitys ability to have access to tax-exempt private activity bonds to finance construction projects and add millions to the cost of construction.

Thats not all. Both the House and the Senate version of the plan include provisions for a new 1.4 percent tax on endowment income of private, nonprofit universities over a certain threshold.

The House plan would also eliminate the ability to deduct student loan interest and would make reduced tuition benefits offered to graduate students and families of college employees taxable. It would also double the standardized deduction and, in the process, could shift as many as 30 million Americans from itemizers of such things as charitable donations to non-itemizers.

More Information The tax reform legislation that passed in the House on Thursday by a vote of 227-205 would, among other things: Repeal tax code provisions that allow tuition to be waived for graduate students. Tax the value of tuition discounts offered by universities to employees and their families. Create a 1.4 percent excise tax on college endowments valued at $250,000 per student. No longer allow interest paid on student loans as a deduction. Eliminate a university's ability to access tax-exempt private activity bonds to finance construction projects. Eliminate state and local tax deductions that critics warn will lead to lower state support to colleges. 2106 ENDOWMENTS Yale University - $25.4 billion Wesleyan University - $802.2 million Trinity College - $524 million Quinnipiac University - $388 million Fairfield University - $310 million Connecticut College - $273.6 Sacred Heart University - $141.4 million University of Bridgeport - $34.1 million Albertus Magnus College - $6.9 million See More Collapse

Would the lack of a deduction keep University of Connecticut alumni from donating to their alma maters foundation?

Joshua Newton, president of the UConn Foundation, worries it might.

I think it would have an impact, said Newton. The number one reason people donate is not for the deduction. Donors say that. But then they all itemize ... Without the additional benefit, it would impact behaviors.

Targets?

There are so many parts of the proposed Republican tax reform effort that impacts higher education that some view it as intentional.

There is most definitely an attack on higher education, particularly in the House tax bill, said Karin Johns, director of tax policy for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

For reasons known only to the bill writers, Johns said, private colleges and their students have gone from being encouraged and supported through a variety of tax benefits to being viewed as universally wealthy, elite and  instead of nonprofit  non-tax paying.

Congress has long complained about the skyrocketing cost of higher education. But instead of reigning in costs, provisions of the GOP tax reform effort, Johns said, will hurt students and weaken colleges.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, agreed, calling both the House and Senate versions of the plan disastrous.

It would roll back any progress we have made in efforts to help students with the crushing burden of student debt, Blumenthal said.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, also D-Connecticut, said students in Connecticut should be worried if the bill ever becomes law.

Making students pay more for student loans and threatening local education funding is the exact opposite of what we should be doing. Im going to fight as hard as I can against this awful bill, he said.

Public and private

John Petillo, president of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, said the House bill that passed on Thursday singles out higher education with a series of proposals that will hurt students and their families and cause tuition to rise.

It represents a shift in how the federal government treats nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations that provide a public good, Petillo said. Endowments are critical to sustaining quality and excellence in American private higher education.

Sacred Hearts endowment isnt large enough to be affected by the plan, but Petillo is concerned about the provision that would tax the tuition benefits faculty, staff and their dependents receive by treating it as regular income.

Our employees, who are generally paid less than they could make in the private sector, work at SHU because of benefits like this, Petillo said. Eliminating this benefit would hurt the lowest-paid college employees the most.

Maribel La Luz, director of communications for the Connecticut State University and College system, said there are a slew of troubling proposals in the Republican tax plan for public colleges as well.

These bills would eliminate the student loan interest deduction, tax employer-provided education assistance and tax tuition waivers, La Luz said. All of these changes would make higher education more expensive and less accessible for our students here in Connecticut.

At the University of Bridgeport, where 96 percent of students receive financial aid, University President Neil Salonen also worries about the impact.

It becomes a slippery slope for higher education, puts stressors on paying costs and that ultimately affects our students, Salonen said.

Endowments

Jennifer Widness, executive director of the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges, said the bill will definitely impact Yale University  which has a $25 billion endowment  and potentially Wesleyan in Middletown and Trinity in Hartford, as well.

The bill would tax endowment investment returns based on their size and the number of students at a university.

It is a moving target, Widness said. Wesleyan and Trinity are both on the cusp.

Combined, Yale, Wesleyan and Trinity College awarded more than $438 million in institutional aid in 2016, Widness pointed out.

Thomas Conroy, a Yale spokesman, said the tax bill would impose a permanent tax on Yales resources that funds student aid, teaching, research and community service.

It is disappointing that the legislation relies so heavily on colleges and universities, and especially the universities with some of the strongest records on financial aid, to raise revenue to enable tax cuts, Conroy said.

At Fairfield, where the endowment is just over $300 million, Lawlor said it seems as though politicians view endowments as savings accounts when, he said, they really are vital to the overall financial stability of a university.

It is very important to limiting increases in tuition, Lawlor said, adding a tax on those earnings would be very detrimental.

Lawlor said he is all in favor of tax reform that will help stimulate the economy. He doubts this will do the job and worries what it will do to Connecticut residents who can no longer deduct state income tax and high wealth residents who are counted on for their philanthropy.

Blumenthal predicts it would cripple Connecticuts ability to invest in higher education.

He said he expects Senate Republicans will push to take up its plan in two to three weeks.

They dont have the votes in the Senate right now, Blumenthal said. The key to defeating this, however, will be the advocacy and activism of key groups like engaged and enraged students.
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The Palestinian foreign minister says the Palestinians will not give in to "extortion" after a US threat to close their diplomatic mission in Washington.

In an interview on Palestine Radio on Saturday, Riad Malki said the Palestinians are waiting for further communication from the US government. "The ball is now in the American court," he said.

US officials, citing US law, said Friday that the Trump administration has put the Palestinians on notice that it will shutter their office in Washington unless they have entered serious peace talks with Israel. President Donald Trump has 90 days to make a decision.

Malki said the US move may be aimed at putting pressure on the Palestinians. "The Palestinian leadership will not accept any extortion or pressure," he said.



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An Israeli tank fired a warning shot on Saturday at a Syrian military position in the demilitarised zone in the northern Golan Heights following construction work there, the army said.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli army told AFP that the Syrian army work "violated the 1974 ceasefire agreement" which "prohibits the entry of heavy construction tools or military vehicles into the demilitarised zone".

"In response, the IDF complained to UNDOF (the UN Disengagement Observer Force) and fired a warning shot towards the area using a tank," the spokeswoman said.

She would not confirm reports that the incident took place near the Syrian government-controlled Druze village of Hader, which was targeted by rebel forces two weeks ago.

The attack on Hader, which began with a suicide bomber blowing up a car and killing nine people, raised concern among Golan Druze for the fate of their co-religionists at the hands of Sunni extremists of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group.

The incident had prompted the Israeli army to issue a rare statement pledging to "prevent Hader from being harmed or occupied".

On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signalled that Israel would take military action in Syria when it sees fit as it seeks to ensure Iran-backed forces stay away from its territory.

"I have made it clear to our friends, first of all in Washington and also to our friends in Moscow, that Israel will act in Syria -- including in southern Syria -- according to our understanding and according to our security needs," he said.

Israel occupied 1,200 square kilometres (460 square miles) of the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.

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Haiti - Politics : The development of Les Cayes goes through opening to foreign capital dixit Mayor Fortune





Last weekend, the Mayor of Les Cayes Jean Gabriel Fortune took part in several working sessions in the Dominican Republic. According to Mayor Fortune, these working sessions made it possible to explore ways to consider cooperation between certain Dominican municipalities and the city of Les Cayes. In this perspective, he took the opportunity to sign documents related to the process of twinning with two Dominican cities (Mayaguate and San Cristobal) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22718-haiti-politic-twinning-between-les-cayes-and-2-dominican-cities.html



He took the opportunity to invite Dominican businessmen to come explore the investment opportunities offered by the South of the country. During the month of December, a first group of entrepreneurs will meet their counterparts in Les Cayes to lay the foundations for this partnership that Mayor Fortune is trying to build.



For the Mayor, "The development of Les Cayes goes through opening to foreign capital". Dominican investments in the future will, among other things, allow universities and vocational schools in the department to align with Caribbean standards, as is the case in the neighboring Republic.



The implementation of this cooperation reinforces the requirement of upgrading from a qualitative point of view of local political institutions. The institutional constraints, social problems and economic challenges facing the city of Les Cayes and its periphery require an exceptional and inclusive mechanism of ownership and treatment. Also, the Estates General of the commune of Les Cayes, which will be held from December 23, 2017 to January 6, 2018 will allow the municipality to demonstrate its leadership in relation to development issues at the regional level.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22718-haiti-politic-twinning-between-les-cayes-and-2-dominican-cities.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2017/11/17 | Source

Advertisement

Korean actor Kang Ha-neul is officially a member of the Republic of Korea Military Police.

On November 15th, the actor completed military police training at the Army General Administration School at Yeongdong County, North Chungcheong Province. The three-week training commenced right after he finished basic military training at the Nonsan Korean Army Training Center on October 24th.

Private Kim Ha-neul wears the military police shoulder cords and helmet labelled with  or "heon-byeong", which means "military police".

Following the successful military police training, Kang Ha-neul and his fellow soldiers were spotted on November 16th at the Jochiwon train station. The actor must be on his way to the next training centre to learn the necessary skills and knowledge required to efficiently function as member of the military police motorcycle (MC) unit. Could he be headed to the Capital Defense Command in Seoul? We will soon find out!

Meanwhile, Kang Ha-neul's movie, "Forgotten" is slated to open in theaters across South Korea on November 29th. He stars as Jin Seok, a younger brother who tries to unravel the mystery behind the lost memories and strange behaviour of his older brother Yoo Seok (played by Kim Mu-yeol), upon his return from a 19-day ordeal with kidnappers. The mystery thriller movie was penned and helmed by acclaimed director, Jang Hang-jun. International release via Netflix will follow in early 2018.

"Forgotten" was Kang Ha-neul's final movie prior to military enlistment on September 11th. He is expected to be discharged on June 10, 2019.

By riversky

Photos by DCinside and gmltjs28
Published on 2017/11/18 | Source

Added final episode 12 captures for the Korean drama "Avengers' Social Club" (2017)

Advertisement

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, Jang Yong, Choi Byung-mo,...

12 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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As the first glimmer of dawn appeared across the Rhine River, delegates stumbled out of an all-night negotiating session at this year's global climate talks, expressing satisfaction Saturday at the progress made toward creating a comprehensive rule book for fighting global warming.

The two-week meeting in Bonn, Germany, was billed as a "blue-collar" event designed to hammer out the technical details of the 2015 Paris climate accord.

But fears had loomed large beforehand that the administration of US President Donald Trump, who rejects the Paris agreement, would seek to block any advances seen as counter to American interests.

In the end, most agreed that US diplomats had engaged constructively, while delegations from several American states, cities and businesses were praised for committing themselves to the goals of the Paris agreement.

The role of spoiler almost fell to Saudi Arabia, which held up a final agreement for several hours over objections to a phrase it feared might allow for future levies on fossil fuels like oil.

"There has been positive momentum all around us," said Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who presided over the meeting and swung the gavel to close it about 7 a.m.

"We leave Bonn having notched up some notable achievements," Bainimarama said, citing agreements on agriculture, ocean protection, indigenous people's rights and the launch of a new system to help people in poor countries get insurance against the effects of climate change.

Many countries are already feeling the heat that is enveloping the globe, with dramatic floods, hurricanes and droughts across the world in recent months adding a sense of urgency to the talks.

Environmental groups expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the negotiations, while noting there's much still to do and little time left to ensure the Paris accord's goal of keeping global warming significantly below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) is met.

Experts say worldwide average temperatures have already risen 1 degree Celsius since pre-industrial times, largely due to carbon emissions from the United States and Europe over the past century.

"The conference gets a grade of 'meets expectations,'" said Andrew Deutz of The Nature Conservancy, an Arlington-based environmental group. "We are still headed in the right direction, but since the US took its foot off the accelerator, the risk of global climate action slowing down has increased."

US diplomat Judith Garber, speaking at the talks Thursday, reiterated Trump's position that the United States will leave the Paris accord but added that "we remain open to the possibility of rejoining at a later date under terms more favorable to the American people."

Garber, the acting assistant secretary of state for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs, said Washington remains "committed to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through, among other things, increased innovation on sustainable energy and energy efficiency, and working toward low greenhouse gas emissions energy systems."

The conciliatory tone coming from US diplomats was at odds with the more combative position taken by Banks, who raised eyebrows by hosting a pro-coal event during the talks.

"Having already abandoned its leadership role on climate, the Trump administration appears to be living in an alternate universe with its focus on fossil fuels," said Paula Caballero, who heads the climate program of the Washington-based World Resources Institute.

Caballero noted that the leaders of U.S. states, cities and businesses  who came to Bonn separately from the White House and State Department delegations  earned widespread approval for pledging to honor the Paris accord.

Germany, which hosted the meeting, received mixed reviews. While many praised the country's negotiators for brokering deals between opposing groups at the talks, there was also disappointment that German Chancellor Angela Merkel failed to join other rich countries in announcing a firm deadline for phasing out the use of coal-fired power plants.

Merkel is currently locked in coalition talks with the environmentalist Green party and the pro-business Free Democrats, who disagree about the use of coal.

The Bonn meeting was a stepping stone toward next year's talks in Katowice, Poland , where key decisions will have to be made, including on finalizing the Paris rulebook and raising countries' national ambitions for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

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In celebration of the many achievements of Egyptian and Arab women over the years, Ahram Online republishes this article as part of a nine-day special series of gratitude and pride for women's achievements  from 8 March, which is International Womens day, to 16 March, which is Egyptian Womens Day. The series aims to refresh the collective memory of our nation of the many, and often forgotten, women who excelled against all odds. While Egyptian women in the 21st century are still lobbying for basic human rights, these republished stories serve as a reminder to society that Egyptian and Arab women fought for and enjoyed similar rights as men across many decades. From the first woman doctor in the world, to the first woman to fly in Egypt and the Middle East, these women's stories are interweaved, and all deserve to be shared with a younger generation that needs to learn the truth about the accomplishments of their grandmothers and great grandmothers.At the premises of Cairo Library, the hall was crowded with ancient Egyptian women  those who reigned, those who worked, and those who became the first doctors in history.

----------

"Women of Ancient Egypt" was part of a series of lectures given by the talented tour guide, Egyptologist, and researcher in the science of museums and heritage management, Maissa Mustafa.

"The idea was born after the 25 January Revolution, where Amr El-Shoubashy wanted to create a documentary on Egyptian women and asked me to research women in Ancient Egypt. Unfortunately, the film was never created, but the idea grew with me and in 2014 I started my first lecture on women in Ancient Egypt," recalled Mustafa.

Mustafa's themed lectures grew in popularity as she talked about the first workers strike in Ancient Egypt, education in Ancient Egypt, and the numberless who were behind the achievements of the times.

'Equality came naturally'

"Ancient Egypt believed equality between men and women came naturally, because belief came from studying nature, and geographically speaking, the Nile floods the land with prosperity, hence the god was a good god. And so whatever god created is holy and has a specific role in nature, and hence the equality between men and women in the same species," Mustafa explained to Ahram Online.

'Wahawi ya wahawi Eiaha'

Ancient Egypt believed a woman was the goddess of creation, since the first dynasty; she was also a queen, a guardian to the throne, like queen Meri-net in the first dynasty, Sobik-net, Hatshepsut, and Queen Eiah Hotep, whose name is still sung in folk songs related to the moon and festivity, always in the holy month of Ramadan: Wahawi ya Wahawi, Eiaha."

Eiah Hotep was a queen whose husband and son were martyred and she led the country while her other son, King Ahmous was fighting the Hyksous. In praise of her courage and wisdom, her son, the victor, granted her the medal of courage and engraved her a mural at Al-Karnak Temple. Famous quotes documenting her merits were as follows:

"Praise the lady of Egyptians, known in all foreign countries, the one who plans for people, the wife of a king, the daughter of a king and the mother of a king, the noble, the one with deep knowledge who guards Egyptians, the one who reunited the army, under her sovereignty, who brought back the immigrants, caught those who ran away, calmed the south, its revolutionaries, eternity is hers," Queen Eiah Hoteb, mother of Ahmous.

The first woman doctor in history, judge, and businesswomen

Beiset is the first woman doctor in history; she was the head of doctors specialised in gynecology, as written in the medical school of Sais, in the Western Delta, 2,400BC.

On a parallel note, during the reign of King Pipi, Lady Merit was a judge, a minister and was named the king's "right hand."

The era of the Middle Kingdom, meanwhile, witnessed Lady Tshat, the head of the stamps department. "Emiret Khetmet," and from it the word khetm (stamp in Arabic), found its way to the Arabic language. As for Lady Ninfer, she was a businesswoman who owned the import and export trade during the reign of Tuhotmus III, 1,500BC.

Women priests and artists were also prevalent in Ancient Egypt. There were certain posts in the temple dedicated to women: the purifiers, the music players, the dancers, the supervisors and the highest priest.

Love and marriage

"Women in Ancient Egypt had a great freedom to express their love, could choose their own husbands, and had the equal right to divorce," explained Mustafa, while reciting an extract of a love poem written by a woman, from The Words that Brings Joy to the Heart, the book by Hassan Saber. "He does not realise my yearning to hug him, come to me so I see your beauty, my father and mother will be happy to meet you "

In the Torino papyrus, the marriage contract explains that in case of a divorce the wife gets a "list" of all the things she bought in the house, and one third of their wealth, since they were married. Their children get to inherit everything equally. Another interesting example is the marriage contract found in Deir Al-Madina:

"By the grace of Amun, and the king, if I ever thought of excluding or humiliating your daughter, I deserve to be hit 100 times, and I would give her willingly all of my belongings and money that we've earnt together."

"The unique", "the loved," "the one who is like no other," "the most beautiful in the world"  titles that are indeed worthy of the Egyptian women, ancient and modern.

*This article was first published on 18 November 18, 2017.

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How to Pack a Shoebox

 Start with an average size cardboard or plastic shoebox.

 To wrap it, cover the lid and box separately.

 Decide if the box is for a boy or girl. Age categories are 24, 59 or 1014. Labels and other instructions are available online at www.samaritanspurse.org.

 Select a quality wow toy, such as a doll, deflated soccer ball with pump or stuffed animal.

 Fill the box with other toys, hygiene items and school supplies.

 Include a personal note and photo, if desired.

 Include a $9 donation to cover shipping and other project costs. Donate online and receive a tracking label and discover the destination of your shoebox gift. Donations also can be included in the boxes.

 Area residents can take their filled boxes to Abingdon Baptist Church at 361 West Main St., Abingdon, where National Collection Week is in progress. Remaining dates are today through Nov. 20. For more information, call the church at 276-628-8126.

 Do not pack: candy; toothpaste; used or damaged items; war-related items such as toy guns, knives or military figures; chocolate or food; seeds; fruit rolls or other fruit snacks; drink mixes, powdered or liquid; liquids or lotions; medications or vitamins; breakable items such as snow globes or glass containers; and aerosol cans.
BRISTOL, Va.  The Bristol Virginia School Board is going on a field trip today in search of a site for its proposed new elementary school.

Board members are scheduled to convene at the board office at 9 a.m., then board a bus to visit a dozen city sites containing at least 10 acres  the minimum needed for a building, parking, access roads and playground. Other school administrators and central office personnel are also scheduled to participate with Superintendent Keith Perrigan serving as tour guide.

Weve identified 12 properties that meet the size specifications that would be required to build a new elementary school. Some are available and some are not, Perrigan said. Because the city has such a limited amount of properties that are 10 acres or more, were looking at all properties whether theyre available or not.

Since 2011, school division leaders have promoted a plan to shutter the citys three oldest, smallest elementary schools  Highland View, Stonewall Jackson and Washington-Lee  and construct one large, consolidated school. Currently, the city operates four elementary schools but claims closing three outdated, inefficient buildings could generate savings to help pay for the new building while providing a better learning environment.

The plan has found little traction in the wake of the citys well-known economic woes, but Perrigan is exploring a potential solution. In August, he briefed City Council about potential funding available through the Virginia Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002.

Under the program, localities can secure private funding or construction sources without relying on traditional bond issuance. The act allows private entities to invest in public or nonprofit projects, and private firms can build the structures while the public entity pays back the cost.

The city has nearly reached its debt capacity and wouldnt be able to borrow the roughly $20 million such a school is expected to cost.

Perrigan said the city could receive an unsolicited proposal as early as January.

Weve got to get the property question decided  or at least narrowed down  before we can consider a proposal, the superintendent said.

School officials will be equipped with information to help with their selection.

Weve provided some maps that show where all our elementary students live in relation to the sites with a one-mile, three-mile and five-mile radius circled around them, Perrigan said. Weve got topographic maps, aerial views and tax maps. Were just going to go around and look at each of those 12 properties.  One map really shows what we might think is a central location in the city is not the same from a student standpoint as it is from a geography standpoint.

Board members and senior staff will be asked to rank each site based on factors, including safety, affordability, site availability, central location based on where students live and transportation time to and from the site.

We have at least one board member who cant be there and a couple of principals and central office staff. What I hope to do is get those [rankings] in and discuss the rankings at our December board meeting, he said.
ABINGDON, Va.  Four people have been found guilty on drug charges following a seven-day in U.S. District Court in Abingdon.

Richard Kayian, 55, of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Tracy Callihan, 48, of Glade Spring, Virginia, were both convicted of one count of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and oxycodone and to use a communication facility to facilitate a drug trafficking offense, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office.

John Williams, 50, of Glade Spring, Virginia, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to use a communication facility to facilitate a drug trafficking offense, the release states. Rebecca Williams, 51, of Abingdon, Virginia, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, oxycodone, and buprenorphine, and to use a communication facility to facilitate a drug trafficking offense.

In 2016, law enforcement agencies, led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and assisted by agencies from across southwest Virginia and Nevada, charged 32 individuals with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, oxycodone and buprenorphine, the release states. Investigators said individuals trafficked drugs from Las Vegas into Southwest Virginia.

Kayian sent large quantities of methamphetamine and oxycodone via UPS and Federal Express to numerous locations in Abingdon, Virginia and Glade Spring, Virginia, the release states. The drugs were then distributed throughout the area by Callihan and Rebecca Williams and John Williams, formerly employed as a delivery driver for UPS, assisted the organization.

Prosecutors said more than $1 million in proceeds from drug sales in the Abingdon area were sent via wire transfers and bank deposits to Kayian.

Sentencing hearings for Kayian and Callihan have been set for Feb. 27, 2018. They faces up to life in prison, the release states. A hearing for Rebecca Williams, who faces up to 20 years in prison, is set for Feb. 28, 2018. A hearing for John Williams, who faces up to four years, is set for Feb. 12, 2018.

Prosecutors said 30 of the 32 charged have been convicted of federal drug conspiracy and money laundering. Of those, 23 have been sentenced and more than $60,000 has been forfeited, the release states.
ABINGDON, Va.  Four people have been found guilty on drug charges following a seven-day trial in U.S. District Court in Abingdon.

Richard Kayian, 55, of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Tracy Callihan, 48, of Glade Spring, Virginia, were both convicted of one count of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and oxycodone and using a communication facility to facilitate a drug trafficking offense, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office.

John Williams, 50, of Glade Spring, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to use a communication facility to facilitate a drug trafficking offense, the release states. Rebecca Williams, 51, of Abingdon, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to distribute meth, oxycodone and buprenorphine, and using a communication facility to facilitate a drug trafficking offense.

In 2016, law enforcement agencies led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and assisted by agencies from across Southwest Virginia and Nevada, charged 32 individuals with conspiring to distribute meth, oxycodone and buprenorphine, the release states. Investigators said individuals trafficked drugs from Las Vegas into Southwest Virginia.

Kayian sent large quantities of meth and oxycodone via UPS and Federal Express to numerous locations in Abingdon and Glade Spring, the release states. The drugs were then distributed throughout the area by Callihan, and Rebecca Williams and John Williams, formerly employed as a delivery driver for UPS, assisted the organization.

Prosecutors said more than $1 million in proceeds from drug sales in the Abingdon area were sent via wire transfers and bank deposits to Kayian.

Sentencing hearings for Kayian and Callihan have been set for Feb. 27. They face up to life in prison, the release states. A hearing for Rebecca Williams, who faces up to 20 years in prison, is set for Feb. 28, while a hearing for John Williams, who faces up to four years, is set for Feb. 12.

Prosecutors said 30 of the 32 charged have been convicted of federal drug conspiracy and money laundering. Of those, 23 have been sentenced and more than $60,000 has been forfeited, the release states.
Several Egyptian films are being screened during the ongoing New York Arab Cinema Week, with Sheikh Jackson and Photocopy featured at the opening and closing nights respectively

Egyptian films are a highlight of the New York Arab Cinema Week, an event that runs between 17 and 23 November at New York City's Cinema Village.

The festival opened with Amr Salama's Sheikh Jackson and will close with yet another Egyptian film, Photocopy, directed by Tamer Ashry.

In between Sheikh Jackson and Photocopy, four other films by Egyptian directors will be screened: Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim directed by Sherif El-Bendary, A Present from the Past by Kawthar Younis, Mawlana by Magdy Ahmed Ali and A Man Wanted, by Mohamed Ali.

The Egyptian films will be screened within a total of 20 other films from the Arab world, featuring works by directors from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Algeria and the UAE, among others, as well as films from European countries that focus on the Arab World.

The opening film, Sheikh Jackson, is directed by Amr Salama and stars Ahmed El-Fishawy, Ahmed Malek, Maged El-Kedwany and Amina Khalil.

Sheikh Jackson is set on the day of Michael Jacksons death in 2009, and centres on a sheikh who was dubbed "Jackson" by his friends during his schooldays. The story goes on to explore the emotions stirred by the popstar's death, sparking a series of existential questions within the sheikh.

Sheikh Jackson was nominated to represent Egypt in the foreign films section at the next Oscars in 2018. The final nominations for the Oscar's Foreign Language Films will be announced on 23 January 2018, and the 90th Academy Awards ceremony will take place 4 March 2018.

The Arab Cinema Week's closing film, Photocopy, is directed by Tamer Ashry and features stars such as Mahmood Hemaidah, Sherine Reda and Farah Youssef, among others.

Acording to IMDb, the film focuses on a retired man in Cairo who begins to learn about the extinction of dinosaurs. This sets off a series of events that will give his life renewed meaning.

A romantic comedy, A Man Wanted is about a career woman (Shams) in the late thirties, wanting to have a child. She opts for a Facebook call; a hefty sum in return of a sperm donor who meets her terms and conditions. Directed by Mohamed Ali, the film stars Nelly Karim and Mohamed Mamdouh.

The debut feature for director Sherif El-Bendary, Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim made its world premiere at the 13th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), earning Egyptian actor Ali Sobhy the Muhr Feature Award for his performance in the film. The film's screenplay was written by Ahmed Amer and is based on a story by Ibrahim El-Batout, and stars Ahmed Magdy, Salwa Mohamed Ali and Nahed El-Sebaee.

The film centres on a man who believes that his dead girlfriend has been reincarnated as a goat, which he names Nada. At the healers clinic, Ali meets Ibrahim, and they are both diagnosed as being cursed.

A Present from the Past is the first feature-length documentary by young Egyptian filmmaker Kawthar Younis. The protagonist of the film is Younis father, who receives a present from his daughter to travel to Italy in search of his former love.

The filmmaker shot her film on hidden cameras, of which her father was unaware, including her mobile phone.

Directed by Magdy Ahmed Ali, the film Mawlana (The Preacher) is an adaptation of the 2012 novel of the same title by Ibrahim Eissa, who co-wrote the films script with Ali.

The film follows Sheikh Hatem El-Shennawi, a new rising star among Egyptian preachers, having thousands of followers, notably among the youth. He gains the interest of the media, as well as the state security apparatus and those in power.

Embodied by Amr Saad, Sheikh Hatem El-Shennawi strays from cliches and stereotypes as a populist preacher, allowing the director to create an eloquent portrayal of the characters dilemmas after his quick rise to fame.

Launched in 2016, the Arab Cinema Week is New York's first festival dedicated to Arab cinema with daily screenings of movies from across the Arab world, and panels with celebrity actors and directors.

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Estuardo Rivera, 54, was arrested and charged with 12 counts of unlawful photographing in violation of privacy, a class A misdemeanor, according to a news release from the Sullivan County Sheriffs Office. Investigators had been called to the school in reference to inappropriate photos being taken by an employee, the release states.
KINGSPORT, Tenn.  The 75th anniversary of the Santa Train is packed with nearly as many surprises as Christmas morning.

While the route and the timing will mirror past years  with the train slated to make 14 stops Saturday along its 110-mile journey from the rail yard at Shelby, Kentucky, across Southwest Virginia to downtown Kingsport  the arrival celebration is dramatically different.

The Santa Train is a joint project of CSX, the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce, Food City and new sponsors Appalachian Power and Souls4Soles. It was established in 1943 by Kingsport merchants as a way to thank customers from across the Mountain Empire and has operated each year since.

The Santa Train is special every year, but recognizing 75 years of continuous connections with these communities is a unique event, Tori Kaplan, CSX vice president of communications and field support, said in a statement. Some of these families have been coming out to the Santa Train for decades and this anniversary is a great time to celebrate tradition.

The train is scheduled to make three stops in Kentucky before crossing into Virginia for a 7:45 a.m. stop at Toms Bottom. Other Virginia stops include Haysi, Clinchco, Fremont, Dante, St. Paul, Dungannon, Ft. Blackmore and Kermit before a 2:20 p.m. stop straddling the Virginia-Tennessee line at Waycross.

Families continue to come out. As their families grow, it becomes part of a tradition for them. You will see grandfathers, fathers, mothers, grandchildren  sometimes three generations all have different memories of their experiences with the Santa Train. When it becomes the most magical is when you focus on that experience of Santa, seeing the celebrity rider and seeing the train come through your hometown, the chambers Amy McColl said.

Longtime Santa Train volunteer Don Royston said tossing plush toys from the rear car during stops is a bit of an art form.

Sometimes, the adults get a little overzealous trying to grab things that are thrown. Its warm and fuzzy to see some of them actually trying to help somebody who cant get to the platform, to have them hand it to them. I look for those helping hands that want to share and not just take it all home, he said.

We dont throw anything but soft toys off the back now but scores of individuals work the crowds, Royston said. We send trucks up along the way. We have three 18-foot trucks that leap frog down the train route, back up to the crowds to distribute toys and gifts, fresh fruit  apples and oranges  that help everyone in these tough times were having.

To mark the anniversary celebration, this years train is being pulled by two historic locomotives linked to CSX predecessor, the Clinchfield Railroad. CSX partnered with the Southern Appalachia Railroad Museum in Oak Ridge, Tennessee to restore the locomotives for this weekend, according to CSX.

Locomotive CRR 800, which was built in 1948 as an F5 model, was upgraded to an F7 model with newer motors. After more than 40 years of freight and passenger service, it was retired in 1993. It was restored this year at the CSX locomotive shop in Huntington, West Virginia.

Locomotive CRR 3632 was built in 1971 for the Seaboard Coast Line, another CSX predecessor. This SD45 model locomotive is one of the few remaining locomotives with an operating 20-cylinder prime mover, according to CSX. It hauled freight across the U.S., including service to the Clinchfield.

Royston predicted more railroad aficionados will photograph this years train than possibly ever before.

CSX is also hosting an online photo contest. Participants are urged to share their favorite Santa Train photo  past or current  on social media, according to the written statement. Participants should tag the Santa Train, Facebook: Facebook.com/santatrain, Instagram: @teamsantatrain] and use the #SantaTrainIs75 hashtag to enter the contest.

The winner will receive a special 75th Santa Train gift including a CSX train set and a signed item from Ricky Skaggs.

Kingsports annual Christmas parade has been rescheduled to Dec. 2, so Saturday will include special events at a new event Santas Depot, at Centennial Park, 245 Main St., near the railroad tracks.

Celebrating Kingsports centennial and the 75th Santa Train we do have some changes in store and were really excited about those changes, McColl said. We have a new event called Santas Depot and we created it to enhance the Santa Train experience. From 1 to 4 p.m., well have all types of activities for the kids as they wait for the Santa Train to come in.

Santas Depot will include activities, an appearance by the Jolly Old Elf, live reindeer and a concert by country/bluegrass music star Ricky Skaggs, who is this years celebrity rider. Activities are scheduled Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m., with the train and its special guests scheduled to arrive about 3 p.m.

Sponsored booths include cookie decorating, marshmallow fun with Professor Photon, magical wishes paper garland, coloring activities and more, McColl said. It also includes inflatables, a kids-size train ride and holiday airbrush tattoos  all at no charge.

Children are also invited to write their letters to Santa on site, place them in a large red mailbox to be retrieved by Santa after he arrives.

There will also be food trucks.

Adding to the nostalgic railroad theme, visitors to downtown can also catch a glimpse of Clinchfield 100, a 106-year-old former dining car that was once used on the Santa Train. It was purchased by Clinchfield Railroad in 1951 and converted to an office car. It served as part of the Santa Train from 1953 until 1982. It is now owned by the Watauga Valley Railroad Historical Society and Museum and will be on display at CSX 233 Main St. Due to safety regulations, no tours will be given.

Centennial Park will be the site of Bristol, Tennessee, artist Val Lyles new sculpture, called Spirit of Generosity. The life-size bronze Santa statue is to be formally unveiled today at 3 p.m.
Ten films from around the world have been chosen to receive the World Cinema Fund

At the 27th jury session of the World Cinema Fund (WCF), jurors recommended contributing to the funding of 10 film projects, including You Will Die at Twenty, a feature film directed by Amjad Abu Alala (Sudan) and co-produced by Transit Films (Egypt) and Die Gesellschafft DGS (Germany).

The fund comes as part of the Berlinale's WCF Africa, which grants funding for projects from Sub-Saharan Africa, an initiative that was launched in 2016 thanks to additional funding from the German Federal Foreign Office, the Berlinale's official press release states.

The funding amounts to 49,000 euros.

According to the Berlinale press release, "Since its establishment in October 2004, the WCF has awarded production and distribution funding to a total of 183 projects chosen from 3,241 submissions from Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Central and Southeast Asia, the Caucasus, as well as from the countries Mongolia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka."



"All WCF-funded films produced to date have screened in cinemas and/or the programmes of renowned international film festivals, and are evidence of the initiatives worldwide success.

"The jury members are film scholar and curator Viola Shafik (Germany / Egypt), documentary producer Marta Andreu (Spain), distributor and producer Jan De Clercq (Belgium), and WCF project manager Vincenzo Bugno. For WCF Africa, they are joined by the additional jurors Jahman Oladejo Anikulapo (Nigeria), a journalist, film critic, author and actor; and Dorothee Wenner (Germany), the Berlinale delegate to Sub-Saharan Africa."

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French President Emmanuel Macron (R) and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri leave after their meeting at the Elysee Presidential Palace on November 18, 2017 in Paris AFP

Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri, centre, his wife Lara, left, leave after a lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and his wife Brigitte, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017 AP

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri (C), his wife Lara Bachir El-Alzm (R) and their son Houssam (L) pose upon their arrival at the Elysee Presidential Palace on November 18, 2017 in Paris.Hariri AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte (C Rear) host a lunch with Saad al-Hariri (2ndR), who announced his resignation as Lebanon's prime minister while on a visit to Saudi Arabia, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, November 18, 2017 Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron, Saad al-Hariri, who announced his resignation as Lebanon's prime minister while on a visit to Saudi Arabia, his wife Lara and their son Hussan are pictured at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, November 18, 2017 Reuters

Saad al-Hariri, who resigned as Lebanon's prime minister this month while in Saudi Arabia, said on Saturday he would clarify his position when he returns to Beirut next week.

Hariri's resignation on Nov. 4 threw Lebanon into political crisis and put it centre-stage in the Middle East's overarching rivalry between Sunni Saudi Arabia and its allies and a bloc led by Shi'ite Iran.

"With regard to the political situation in Lebanon, I will go to Beirut in the coming days, I will participate in the independence celebrations, and it is there that I will make known my position on these subjects after meeting President (Michel) Aoun," Hariri said after holding talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
A Benarasi wedding saree that is passed on as a gift from mother to daughter, an old Sikh granth (scripture) rescued from the ritual of Antim Sanskaar of birdh beerha or funeral of revered/religious books, an heirloom paan-dibbi (a box to store paan) and ittar-daan (a container for attar)...these are some of the objects whose stories are documented in the Museum of Material Memory.

The virtual museum, which launched in September this year, is the brainchild of Aanchal Malhotra, an artist and oral historian, and Navdha Malhotra, a ceramic artist who works in the field of digital communication.

One of the objectives of the museum is to unfold the history and generational narratives about the diverse traditions, habits, language and geography of the subcontinent while tracing family histories through objects. We hope this museum will stand for an ethnographic archive and research tool of articles of everyday use, says Navdha.

The idea came to Aanchal when she was researching objects that migrated across the border during Partition on both sides (India and Pakistan) for her book. People began writing in to know whether I would be willing to visit them to see the objects. Most times, it was not possible for me, says Aanchal. She hit upon an idea to ask people to submit stories online about the objects that have existed in their families for generations. Navdha further suggested that they widen the time span till the 1970s to ensure a diverse range of objects.

The museum currently features 15 objects (a new one is added every week), and the curators are constantly looking for additions. The exhibits are sourced from family, friends, colleagues, and via social media.

Each object narrates a story that is at once contemporary and rooted in a bygone era  an antique typewriter that gives a new sense of purpose to a mother, letters that stand as testament to a cross-border friendship, a Pothi or a family register holding up to hundreds of years of history. The exhibits not only unravel something unique about a persons history, but also allow us to look at the habits and traditions we share as people of the subcontinent, says Navdha.

One of the important processes before displaying an object is to verify their authenticity. It can be a tricky process since people rely on their memories of objects which may not always be accurate. We do as much research as possible when it comes to the tangible object, by referencing books, online and offline archives and pre-existing museum collections. The materials and processes with which its made, if there has been any modernisation of the same, the time period, geographic locations, evidences of wear and weather, its usage and importance in society and history  these are the things we try to provide information about.

Unlike most other museums, the Museum of Material Memory is not limited to a particular site, and doesnt require an acquisition of objects.  A lot of the objects hold an emotional attachment for people, they are part of their history, and where they come from. We dont want to take that away, says Navdha. The duo are, however, keen to do pop-up exhibits in the near future where people will get to interact with the objects.

While the project is self-funded at the moment, Aanchal and Navdha are seeking funding to gather a team to collect stories and give a token amount to people who travel to research objects.

Every one of us should be empowered keepers of our own histories, whether they were oral or material based. We hope that this website will encourage people to explore their histories further, says Aanchal.

To share a memory of an object or view more exhibits, visit museumofmaterialmemory.com.

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Rajya Sabha MP Sharad Yadav on Saturday said his faction of the JD(U) will fight the Gujarat assembly elections on autorickshaw symbol and in alliance with the Congress.

A day after the Election Commission rejected his claims over the partys name and election symbol, Yadav termed as not in conformity with justice its decision to recognise the group led by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar as the real Janata Dal (United) or the JD(U) and allow his faction to use arrow symbol.

Kumar and Yadav parted ways after the former decided to join hands with the BJP in July, triggering a battle for the control of the party.

The EC, in its order issued on Friday, said the group led by Kumar has demonstrated overwhelming majority support in the legislature wing as well as the majority in the national council of the party, which is the apex organisational body of the JD(U).

A senior party leader said the order will be studied in detail by the lawyers and senior leaders, after which the Yadav-faction could consider to approach the high court against the commissions decision.

We dont have dearth of symbols. We keep ourselves prepared for the fight. There have been talks with the Congress about seats (sharing) for the Gujarat elections. It will be announced by the Congress party, Yadav told a press conference in New Delhi.

Asked about the new symbol his faction was going to adopt for fighting in the Gujarat Assembly elections, he said, it is autorickshaw.

He, however, did not announce the name of his new party.

Yadav also raised doubts over the Moodys upgrading Indias sovereign credit rating when the Indian economy is in a bad shape and economists are endorsing the economic crisis in the country.

The government patting its back on Moodys report is a joke on the people of this country. It is ridiculous that our own economists, including Manmohan Singh, are not being relied upon and the government is relying on the outside agency in measuring our economic situation, he said.

Yadav also criticised the government for allegedly making it mandatory to link Aadhar card to avail ration by the poor under the National Food Security Act. Rations were earlier being supplied to the beneficiaries without Aadhar card, but now the government has linked it to Aadhar card and put lakhs of people into misery, he said.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Madhya Pradeshs deputy inspector general of police (DIG) Sudhir Laad has held five policemen accountable for the inordinate delay in filing an FIR on the gangrape report in Bhopal on the night of October 31.

DIG Laad submitted the report to his superior ADG Aruna Mohan Rao, who in turn has handed it over to the director general of police (DGP) Rishi Kumar Shukla on Friday, sources said.

While three station house officers (SHOs) and two sub-inspectors held accountable in the report have already been suspended, the city superintendent of police (SP) and GRP SP have been shifted to other postings on other counts.

On night of October 31, a civil service aspirant had been waylaid by four men near the Habibganj railway station, who raped her for over three hours, after which they tried to strangulate her.

According to sources, the role of each cops and the mistakes they committed have been mentioned in detail in the report.

The victim and her family had first approached the MP Nagar police station at 8 am on November 1 and it was 12 hours later at 8.18 pm that the case was finally registered at the Habibganj GRP, and in between the hapless girls and her parents were made to go from one police station to another as they fought over jurisdiction.

Read more: Bhopal gang rape: Womens panel wants registration of docs behind botched medical report cancelled

In between the victim with her help of her parents, both of whom are also police personnel, nabbed one of the accused and handed him over to the police.

The first person the victim reached out to was the sub-inspector of MP Nagar police station Ramnath Tekam, who took her to the spot, instead of immediately registering the FIR. After seeing the spot he said it did not fall in their jurisdiction.

Habibganj police station in-charge Ravi Yadav who helped the family but did not register a zero FIR which he should have.

The Habibganj GRP sub-inspector B P Uike went to the spot and created confusion over jurisdiction which delayed registering of FIR. The Habibganj GRP in-charge Mohit Saxana reportedly misbehaved with the complainant and delayed in registering the FIR, while the SP GRP Anita Malviya talked about the rape in a very casual manner.

The MP Nagar police station in-charge Sanjay Singh Bains has been blamed for not having control over his staff. He should have been informed of the victim approaching the police station immediately. The area city superintendent of police (CSP) Kulwant Singh has also been blamed for not getting timely information from his subordinates showing lack of control.

Even after registering the case, the GRP goofed up in arresting the accused. While three of the accused they arrested were involved in the rape, the fourth man they arrested was not one of the accused and the GRP had to release him. The fourth accused was finally arrested after five days.

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What are you working on at present? This, says the writer, with a wry smile, referring to our interaction. Giving interviews, attending literary festivals.

Literature serves two purposes: it allows us to live other lives and break free of the everyday existence

The low-profile and unassuming Perumal Murugan has seen his quiet life as a writer and professor of Tamil become a tumult since 2014, when his novel, Madhorubagan, became the subject of controversy when various groups protested against its portrayal of traditions practised at the Ardhanareeswarar Temple in Tiruchengode, Murugans home town.

Embittered and possibly defeated by the vitriolic nature of the objections, Murugan declared in a Facebook post in early 2015 that Perumal Murugan the writer is dead even as the matter was in court. In July last year, the Madras High Court said in its ruling that The author Perumal Murugan should not be under fear. He should be able to write and advance the canvas of his writings.

Murugan had once described his state during his non-writing phase as that of a walking corpse. But now he wishes not to look back at that painful episode. I prefer not to think about it or speak of it, he says.

Writings return

He is happy, though, to discuss the first writing that signaled his return to his metier. It was a poem titled Aayiramaayiram, that later became part of a collection called Kozhayin Paadalgal or A Cowards Songs. As poet and novelist, Murugan relishes both the spontaneity of the former and the discipline that the latter demands. A poem is sparked off by a word, an image or a single thought, he says, And must be penned down immediately or you could lose the moment, it cannot be planned. A novel, in contrast, requires a definite plan and structure, besides time and physical effort.

Isnt all writing a transmigration of sorts, a process of inhabiting another body and mind?

Other than six novels, including the controversial Madhorubagan (translated into English as the award-winning One Part Woman), Nizhal Mutram (Current Show) and Koolamadari (Seasons of the Palm), Murugan has also written four collections of short stories. A collection of 10 stories, translated by N Kalyan Raman, is being published by Juggernaut.

It began as an initiative to have my stories available on an app. I guess the response was encouraging enough for them to be brought out as a book, says the writer. He works closely with his translators, helping them understand the nuances contained in his stories that are rooted in his beloved Thiruchengode and which contain the smell of the earth, the flavour of Kongunad cooking and the figures of speech that make regional literature so captivating for the reader.

Caste no bar

Murugan is looking forward also to the publication of the English translation of a collection of essays he compiled. Well-known writer and researcher Ambai is translating the anthology to be called Caste and I. The works sprang from an informal monthly literary forum, Koodu, which Murugan hosted on the terrace of his Namakkal home.

My students, visiting writers, anyone who was interested in reading and writing could attend. We reviewed books, shared new writing and had lively discussions about all things literary, Murugan says. After 50 meetings of Koodu, it was decided to mark the milestone with a publication. The theme they chose was caste.

The man always has and continues to have a wider space in which to function, the woman is constantly constrained. 

Contributors had to share in an honest, no-holds-barred fashion their experiences of caste dynamics, as victims, perpetrators or mere observers. It is a phenomenon that permeates the most important realms of our lives, from birth and death to love and marriage, and even the seemingly less significant aspects like where we can rent a home, for instance.

Coming from the small village of Kootapalli in Tiruchengode, Murugan has been a keen observer of the social system in this region as also the individuals response to these dynamics. Reviewers praised his etching of Ponna, the central character in Madhorubagan. She is a woman stigmatised for being unable to bear a child who attends a temple festival where childless women could pair with a stranger and get pregnant. His empathy and understanding of Ponnas position in society and in her marriage was much lauded, stemming as it did from a male perspective.

Literature serves two purposes.It allows us to live other lives and break free of the everyday existence.The other reason why we read is to gain other perspectives, to appreciate other ways of living, of thinking, other credos

Isnt all writing a transmigration of sorts, a process of inhabiting another body and mind? asks Murugan, using the Tamil term koodu vittu koodu paaidhal. I have been seeing what a burden childlessness places on couples, particularly women, in our society. So much so, its now become big business. That is where Madhorubagan emerged from. The temple ritual simply served as a key for me to take the story of Ponna and her husband Kali forward.

Through the travails of this couple, Murugan also explores the condition of marriage. It is not a democratic institution, he says. The man always has and continues to have a wider space in which to function, the woman is constantly constrained. As a writer I feel the compulsion to dwell on these issues with the optimism that something will give, slowly, but eventually.

Beyond the everyday

Perumal Murugan has been writing for 30-plus years now. His first literary effort was as a little boy when he sent a poem titled Poonam Nalla Poonai to the Tiruchirappalli radio station and it was accepted for broadcast.

Radio was the only window to the literary world then, he says. His first published work as a mature writer was a short story that appeared in the highly respected

Kanayaazhi magazine in 1988. He has been writing his poems, short stories and novels steadily since then. He reads constantly, too: Tamil writers and the Tamil translations of writing in other Indian languages.

Literature serves two purposes, he says. It allows us to live other lives and break free of the everyday existence. I think even travel doesnt quite allow us that. The other reason why we read is to gain other perspectives, to appreciate other ways of living, of thinking, other credos. Without that we are narrow-minded, seeing things in black and white.

I often dream of quitting teaching to devote all my time to writing. But the reality is that its nearly impossible to meet your commitments being a full-time writer

It is the experience of those on the fringes, those who dare to break convention that becomes a good story, he believes. There is always room for the unconventional and its something we must accept, he says.

With the bitter controversy behind him Murugan has many more stories to tell. To bring them to fruition, he has to find time in-between his full-time career as a professor at the Government Arts College in Aathur.

I often dream of quitting teaching to devote all my time to writing, he says, wistfully. But the reality is that its nearly impossible to meet your commitments being a full-time writer. If his dream materialises, Indian literature will be richer.

Author Bio: The author is a Bengaluru-based senior writer who specialises in food, travel and lifestyle writing. She has edited several major mainstream publications in the past.

From HT Brunch, November 19, 2017

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Dogs exasperate when they chew your shoes or bark all night, but at all other times, theyre boosting your health. Data from 69 empirical research studies on human-animal interaction show that pets improve human social attention and behaviour, interpersonal interactions, mood, heart rate, blood pressure, fear and anxiety levels, mental and physical health and heart function, with findings on the benefits on immunity, pain management and aggression being inconsistent.

The intensity, duration and type of interaction determines the health outcomes, reported a multi-centric study from Europe published in the journal, Frontiers of Psychology.

Such studies have inherent biases, such as people owning a dog tend to be more active, social and in overall better health before they even take a pet home, but the findings are consistent in their conclusion that dogs keep both postmen and doctors away.

Heart disease

Those who own dogs are less likely to die of heart disease than people without pets, reported researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden on Friday, in the journal, Scientific Reports. The study of a database of 3.4 million people found that protection was greatest in persons living alone, with single dog owners having a 33% lower risk of death and 11% reduced risk of heart attack over a 12-year follow-up than single people with no pets.

The American Heart Association underlines the heart-protective qualities of pets, saying pet ownership modestly lowers unhealthy blood fats such as cholesterol and triglycerides and increases survival after heart attacks, but emphasises that people should not adopt a pet solely to reduce their risk of heart disease.

Anxiety

Pet owners have higher self-esteem, are more physically fit, conscientious and extroverted, and less lonely, fearful or preoccupied, says the American Psychological Association.

It also found that having a pet dog or cat in the house lowered social anxiety in children and made them more outgoing.

Previous studies have shown that living with dogs raised the levels of oxytocin (the feel-good hormone that increases bonding) and lowered the stress hormone cortisol to reduce the bodys stress response, bringing down anxiety, blood pressure and heart rate.

Along with increasing activity levels and improving physical health, walking the dog also brings social benefits of interacting with other people, which lowers depression and stress associated with loneliness.

Blood pressure

Petting or talking to a dog lowers blood pressure more than talking to another person, found a US study. Blood pressure was lowest during dog petting, higher while talking to the dog, and highest while talking to a person, while heart rates were lower while talking to or touching the dog and higher while both touching and talking to the dog. The scientists concluded that interacting through touch was key to the health boost, with cognitive factors contributing to a lesser degree.

Physical activity

Critics argue that healthier people are more likely to get a pet than someone who is sick, but there is clear evidence that those with dogs are more active than does who dont have pets.

A large study of older adults in Japan found that those who have a pet dog are 1.5 times more likely to meet the recommended 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day, reported a study in Human Kinetics.

Older people with pets have better functional fitness, such as the ability to climb stairs; bend, kneel, or stoop; take medicines regularly; cook, bathe and dress themselves, most likely because the role of caring for a pet gave them a sense of responsibility and purpose that added to their overall well-being.

Allergies

The jury is still out on whether pets  both cats and dogs  fuel or protect against allergies. Exposure to the microbes associated with pets in the first few months of life substantially lowers risk of allergies and asthma, an effect that lasts at least till age 18, but some studies have found that sensitisation to furry pets is a risk factor for new-onset asthma later in life.

The new understanding is that pet exposures consist of not only allergen exposures but also pet microbial exposures, so whether your pet triggers or protect you from allergies will depend on how your gut microbes reacts and adapt to the exposure.

Better recovery

Pet owners are less likely to die within one year of having a heart attack than those who do not have pets (1% versus 7%, respectively). Patients with dogs also visit doctors less often than similar patients without pets, but that could also be because pet owners have less time or are less fussy about their own health, especially if the ailment is minor.

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Protestors led by Shri Rajput Karni Sena and members of Rajput community Saturday blocked entry to the Kumbhalgarh Fort in Rajsamand district for some time demanding a ban on the upcoming film Padmavati, a day after a similar protest at Chittorgarh Fort against the movie.

The entry was blocked for some time due to the protest and it resumed after the protest was over. Elaborate security arrangements were made in view of the protest, which ended peacefully, Kumbhalgarh Circle Officer Chandan Singh said.

The majestic hill fort of Kumbhalgarh is the birthplace of legendary king Maharana Pratap and a Unesco world heritage site.

The Karni Sena workers on Friday had blocked entry of tourists to Chittorgarh fort, but the situation was normal on Saturday. According to the Chittorgarh police, a person who allegedly fired in the air during the protest at Chittorgarh Fort, has been booked under the Arms Act, but he was not yet arrested.

Meanwhile, in Kota, nearly 200 Congress party workers demonstrated against the Sanjay Leela Bhansali-directed film. They hanged an effigy of the filmmaker at a square in the city. The protesters termed the Censor Boards decision to return the film without certification a political stunt amid the proposed state assembly elections in Gujarat, a charge that was later negated by Central Board of Film Certification chief Prasoon Joshi who said that the application for certification for the film was incomplete and thus was sent back.

In a separate statement, Congress leader and former Kota MP Ijyaraj Singh said sentiments of the Rajput community regarding Rani Padmini should be respected. Singh, who belongs to the erstwhile royal family of Kota, said the objectionable scenes from the film should be removed.

In Jaipur, Congress workers burnt effigies of Union information and broadcasting minister Smriti Irani and Bhansali demanding a ban on screening the movie.

Party leader Vikram Singh Shekhawat said the film has distorted history and has hurt sentiments of all communities. Accusing the ruling party in state and at the Centre of double speak, he said that while BJP leaders were opposing the movie, the Union ministers were saying that there will be no problem in releasing the movie.
Police have busted a sex racket being run under the guise of a spa at a hotel on Kichha road in Udham Singh Nagar district.

Four women, including a Thai national, and two hotel employees were caught in the racket, said Sadanand Date, senior superintendent of police (SSP), US Nagar.

Giving details of the incident, Date said that on a tip-off that a sex racket was being run from a hotel on Kichha road, a police team, led by circle officer Swantantra Kumar, raided the hotel on Friday night.

The police caught four women and recovered 1.31 lakh cash and some objectionable items. The police also arrested the hotel manager, Heera Singh, and spa section manager, Raju Badal. No customer was found at the hotel at the time of the raid.

One of the women caught in the racket is a Thai national, Date said.

The Thai national is on a tourist visa and had been staying in the hotel for the last three months, while one from woman from Nagaland and two from Meghalaya had been staying there for the last four months, he added.

A report about the Thai woman was being sent to the Thai embassy in Delhi, he further added.

All the women will be sent to Nari Niketan or the government-run shelter home, Date said.
The air was at its cleanest in a month and people in Delhi-NCR woke up to the brightest morning in a while on Saturday after spells of drizzle in some neighbourhoods helped settle the dangerous levels of pollution.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhis 24-hour average air quality index (AQI)  a number based on the readings of particulate matter and toxic gases  stood at 298, classified as poor on Saturday.

Poor was an improvement over the very poor classification for the index when it is between 301-400. The last time the AQI was below 300 was on October 16.

Between then and Thursday, pollution hit unprecedented levels and entered the severe levels in the high 400s. A thick toxic haze enveloped the region, and much of north India, triggering a week-long school shutdown, ban on construction and heavy trucks. Senior doctors in Delhi urged people to stay indoors and minimise activity outdoors, as politicians traded blame over who was responsible.

On Saturday, Noida, Gurgaon and Faridabad clocked 288, 310 and 305 AQI. In NCR, Ghaziabad was the dirtiest with an AQI of 364. Pollution levels started to dip from Friday evening after traces of rain hit some parts of the region.

The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research, Indias official pollution forecasting system under the ministry of earth sciences, on Saturday said pollution levels will remain the same for the next two days, after which it might go up a bit.

On Sunday, expect a pleasant day with mainly clear sky. In the morning, mist or shallow fog is expected, a MeT department official said.

Isolated parts of Delhi received traces of rain on Friday and Saturday morning. There was no more rain till 5.30pm but the adjoining areas got rain, said an official of the meteorological department.

On Friday, PM10 levels had dropped to moderate category and PM2.5 levels were still in the very poor category. On Saturday, things got better. Had it rained a bit more then the air quality would have cleaned more. Already a lot of accumulated pollution have been washed away because of the little rain, said Dipankar Saha, head of the air quality monitoring laboratory at CPCB.

According to him, the air quality might improve further in the next couple of days.

Apart from the rain in Delhi and surrounding areas, northern winds are also helping the citys air quality. A depression in Bay of Bengal has also cleared. Thereby wind activity from both North and South are helping the city, Saha said.

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A Patna-bound GoAir plane carrying 174 passengers was forced to return to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Saturday morning following a bird-strike soon after take-off. The passengers were later accommodated in another aircraft to Patna.

The flight G8-140 from Delhi to Patna had a bird-hit as the aircraft was climbing after take-off. As a precautionary measure, the pilot decided to return the aircraft to Delhi for an inspection. All passengers were immediately accommodated in another aircraft to Patna, a statement from the aircraft carrier said.

The plane was hit by a bird within minutes of its take-off from the runway at 11.18am. The airport operation control centre was informed and the aircraft landed again at the airport at 11.52am. In the process, the airline crew informed passengers about its return to Delhi due to the bird-strike.

The flight that was scheduled to leave Delhi at 10.25am finally left at 12.50pm and landed in Patna at 2.41pm.

On June 22 this year, airline regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation de-rostered two pilots and initiated an inquiry against them over allegations that they continued to fly the Delhi-Mumbai GoAir plane despite a bird-hit soon after taking off. The flight, carrying 155 passengers, returned to the airport 45 minutes after the take off.
The governing body of Dyal Singh Evening college renamed the institution as Vande Mataram College and on Saturday passed a resolution to make it a regular shift college. The move came amid opposition by a section of teachers and students over turning the college into day shift.

Earlier this year, the college had decided to turn Dyal Singh Evening into a regular shift college. Some of the teachers and students had been dissatisfied with the proposal that the new regular shift college would continue to function in the same campus, thereby cutting into resources and creating infrastructural constraints.

The General Body passed the decision on making the evening shift as regular college. It has been renamed as Vande Mataram College. This step will help all the students in the evening shift, Amitabh Singh, chairman of the general body told Hindustan Times.

However, a section of teachers and students were unhappy with the decision.

The only agenda that was discussed was the name proposed for the new college, which was Vande Mataram. I opposed this, as we first needed to decide where the college would function, before we start naming it, said Viraj Kafle, one of the teacher representatives in the general body of the two colleges.

Dismissing the opposition, the chairman said only a handful of people were opposed to the move.

We have already built 28 extra rooms even though we only needed 22 for running the classes as of now. We are also constructing new floors in the building so there is no question of lack of infrastructure, he said.

Dyal Singh (morning) teachers had, on July 20, protested against the decision to change Dyal Singh Evening college into a day college without allocating it a separate campus. A group of teachers and students had allegedly tried to disrupt a governing body meeting to be held that day.

A section of teachers have been protesting against the move on the ground that there is not enough space in the college to accommodate the students from the evening college during day shift.
Delhi Police Special Cell on Saturday arrested two alleged arms suppliers and seized over 1,300 live cartridges from them, the biggest ammunition seizure in 2017.

Police said the pilferage of government-manufactured bullets was traced to an arms shop in Aligarh whose owner allegedly rigged the registers to show illegal sales as legitimate.

The arrested men were identified as Mahipal and Sanjdeep Yadav. Sandeeps brother Sanjeev is the owner of Yadav Gun Shop in Aligarh from where the bullets  used in 315 and .32 bore firearms  were allegedly smuggled out of. Sanjeev has been asked to join the investigation as officials are probing his role in other cases as well.

DCP Special Cell P S Kushwah said they received information about large quantity of ammunitions being smuggled into Delhi for a prominent gangster and several other clients.

Mahipal was arrested on Thursday when he came to deliver a consignment near Wazirabad. On checking, we found that he was carrying 360 live cartridges. He told us that his task was to supply the cartridges to gangsters in Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh after sourcing it from one Sandeep, said Kushwah.

Based on information from Mahipal, Sandeep was arrested from Aligarh on Friday with 950 live cartridges.

The combined seizure of 1,310 bullets is the biggest haul of bullets seized by Delhi Police in a single operation this year. Unlike past cases, where multiplicity of involved channels prevented us from knowing from which shop the cartridges were smuggled out of, this time we have zeroed in on a single shop, said Kushwah.

Unlike firearms, which are manufactured in illegal factories across Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, bullets are only manufactured in government-owned ordinance factories in different parts of the country. The supply to licensed shops such as Yadav Gun Shop is rationed by the government and bullets are issued according to a client register the shopkeepers maintain.

Since the process is manual, it is easy to manipulate records and sell these bullets to criminals. Normally priced between 150 to 200, these bullets go for five times as much in the black market, said another officer.
A young man allegedly assaulted and tried to rob a 62-year-old lawyer, who was one of the defence counsels for the December 16 gang rape convicts, in central Delhis Ranjeet Nagar early on Saturday.

The 18-year-old accused Pirag alias Priyag was later nabbed, police said.

Lawyer VK Anand, who was the counsel for accused Mukesh during the trial of the 2012 gang rape and murder case, told police he was outside his office when the alleged assailant struck.

Anands son, Vibhor, told Hindustan Times that the attack happened when his father was waiting for his assistant Pawan before heading back home from office around 1am.

My father had sent Pawan to collect something from the office, and while waiting he felt someone grabbing his neck from behind. We think he was trying to snatch something from my father, said Vibhor.

He said that his father was rescued as Pawan

spotted the accused and rushed to the spot.

On seeing Pawan, the boy panicked and tried to run. But he was caught by a passersby who then called police, said Vibhor.

DCP central MS Randhawa initially said the attacker was found to be a minor and prima facie, the offence appears to be an attempt to robbery.

However, later it emerged that the person was an adult and a case of attempt to robbery was registered against him and he was arrested.

We have arrested the accused and booked him under sections of attempt to robbery under Section 393 of the Indian Penal Code, a senior police officer said.

Asked if they suspected the attack to be linked to the December 16 case, Vibhor said it was unlikely.
Teachers of Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya, formerly Dyal Singh (evening) College, on Saturday said they were not against the renaming of the college but their objection was over lack of infrastructure.

On Friday, the governing body of Dyal Singh (evening) college renamed the institution as Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya and passed the resolution to make it a regular shift college.

A member of the joint action committee (JAC) against bifurcation of Dyal Singh College said the teachers have no objections over renaming of the college as it is the prerogative of the governing body to finalise a name.

A section of teachers and students have been dissatisfied with the proposal that the new regular shift college would continue to function in the same campus, thereby cutting into resources and creating infrastructure constraints.

The concern of joint action committee members and the majority of the 6,000 strong institution is about the compromise in terms of infrastructure, student-land ratio, extra curricular amenities, said Sachin N, who is also member of DUs Academic Council.

He said that attempts by the chairman to reduce the problem to a one-point matter about just the name is another falsity and untruth.

Amitabh Sinha, the chairman of the governing body said there were some teachers from the morning college who had raised objection to the new name of the college earlier. There shouldnt be any objection to this name. And now if the teachers are saying they have no objection to it then I welcome it, he said.

Viraj Kafle, teachers representative in the colleges governing body, said his opposition was not over name changing but over running two colleges using the same infrastructure. The new college can have any name the governing body finds suitable but at least it should get its own building. There is no infrastructure to accommodate two colleges in same campus, he said.

Meanwhile, Congresss National Students Union of India (NSUI) too alleged the college doesnt have enough infrastructure to accommodate students from the evening shift and said that first focus should he on improving infrastructure.

The RSSs Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) said there can be no objection to the new name as it is the national song.
Police on Saturday arrested two men, who were allegedly involved in three snatching incidents reported from south Delhi, after a gunbattle in Hapur.

The arrests came hours after four motorcycle-borne snatchers targeted three men within a span of 30 minutes in a south Delhi neighbourhood.

Officers in Delhis south district confirmed the incident, adding that the two men were arrested by local police of the Uttar Pradesh district, while two others managed to escape.

The arrested men have been identified as Furkan and Rahul, said DCP, south, Ishwar Singh.

The two accused suffered bullet injuries in the gun battle, Singh added.

The police, after the back-to-back snatchings, had said that the same gang was involved in all the three crimes.

The first incident took place near a jewellers showroom in South Extension. The snatchers then made away a mans gold chain. Within five minutes, the snatchers struck again, 100 metres from the spot. The officer said the snatchers, possibly the same ones, pulled off the gold chain of another person in Kotla Mubarakpur.
The overwhelming focus on engineering and medicine in India as career options has contributed to reliance on rote learning and led to increasing competition for limited seats. While it is a given fact that all students cannot opt for engineering or medicine, the system of rote learning has a negative impact on the quality of education in the country.

A huge supply of largely young and educated population of working age is often cited as the bedrock of Indias demographic dividend. When most of the global economies are saddled with a limited supply of young people to replace the ageing workforce, India is blessed with a young demographic to power its growth agenda and is perfectly poised to become the global supplier of workforce.

However, the current state of affairs in the system will not allow India to leverage this demographic dividend positively. We are grappling with unemployment on the one hand while on the other corporate houses and industries are facing a shortage of suitable candidates to fill available vacancies. Moreover there are reports suggesting that a majority of graduating students from the country are just not employable.

While there may be various viable solutions to problems related both to the education system and employability of graduates, focusing on delivering quality vocational education to students can go a long way in addressing both the stated concerns and help students carve out a career for themselves.

Let us list out some of the most popular as well as relatively unknown yet promising vocational courses for students.

Commerce based courses

1.Office secretaryship

2.Stenography and computer applications

3.Accountancy and auditing

4.Marketing and salesmanship

5.Banking

6.Retail

7.Financial market management

8.Business administration

These commerce based vocational courses help one develop professional skills and proficiency to work in modern day offices. Accountancy and auditing for example are specialised courses that will help students develop capabilities in identifying business opportunities, risk assessment, and familiarise them with business processes. These courses will enable students to gain meaningful employment not only in offices, banks and retail set-ups, but will also equip them with the necessary knowledge to start their own enterprises.

Engineering based courses

9.Electrical technology

10.Automobile technology

11.Civil engineering

12.Air conditioning and refrigeration technology

13.Electronics technology

14.Geospatial technology

15.Foundry

16.IT application

Engineering based vocational courses offer relevant, appropriate, and adequate technical knowledge together with professional skills and competencies to students. While these courses are quite self-sufficient in terms of knowledge and skill proficiency for jobs in related fields they can also be stepping stones to further specialisation in selected fields.

Heath and paramedical based courses

17.Ophthalmic techniques

18.Medical laboratory techniques

19.Auxiliary nursing and midwifery

20.X-ray technician

21.Health care sciences

22.Health and beauty studies

23.Medical diagnostics

Health delivery systems rely on a host of supporting services and vocational courses equip students with the skills to work as technicians in laboratories and diagnostic centres or to perform other critical tasks in the health care system.

Home science based courses

24.Fashion design and clothing construction

25.Textile design

26.Design fundamental

27.Music technical production

28.Beauty services

A course in fashion and textiles, music and beauty services is ideal for enterprising students who wish to set up their own operations. These are niche skills for which there is great demand in the relevant industry.

Hospitality and tourism based courses

29.Food production

30.Food and beverage services

31.Mass media studies and media production

32.Bakery and confectionery

33.Front office

34.Travel and tourism

Students can choose from a course as per their interest area or chosen career field. The skills and competencies acquired through any of these vocational courses will set students on the path of gainful employment in hotels, confectioners, and bakeries in the formal sector or they can utilise their skills to strike out on their own.

Besides the listed vocational courses, there are a host of other courses such as in transportation and logistics management, library sciences, horticulture and animal husbandry etc that impart practical and relevant skills that make one employable.

The author is MD of the MBD group
The government on Saturday finally declared that the 10 Indians who went missing after a merchant ship sank off the coast of Japan last month could not be found.

MV Emerald Star with 26 Indians sank on October 13, 2017, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted.

While 16 Indians were rescued, remaining 10 could not be found. There was extensive search by Japan and Philippines which was joined by Indian Navy, she said.

Those missing included Captain Nair Rajesh Ramachandran, Second Officer Rahul Kumar, Third Officer Subramaniam Giridhar Kumar, Chief Engineer Rajput Shyam Singh, Fourth Engineer Subbiah Suresh Kumar, Junior Engineer Chauhan Ashok Kumar, Perumalsamy Gurumurthy, Malavaranan Silambarasan, Murugan Gowtham and Bevin Thomas.

Japans 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters based in Naha, Okinawa, on October 13 said it had received an emergency call from the 33,205-tonne ship around 2 a.m. local time (5 p.m. GMT, October 12).

The Japan Coast Guard said it had dispatched patrol boats and aircraft to rescue the missing crew, but the operations were hampered by a raging typhoon.

Following this, Swaraj said 11 crew members were rescued by the ship Densa Cobra, registered in Xiamen, China, and five more by Samarinda, registered in the Philippines.

In her tweets, Sushma Swaraj said that India continued search for the missing Indians on nearby islands.

Philippine Coast Guard have now informed us that an unidentified decomposed body of with a life jacket marking Emerald Star was found on October 28 on the island city of Banua, she said. Since the body was decomposed, it was buried there.

The external affairs minister said she has asked Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Jaideep Mazumdar that the body be exhumed and brought to Manila for identification by DNA.
It was back in 2006 at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the worlds largest trade fair for books, that a lot of Indian publishers first heard about an e-reader, picking up on the buzz around the newly-launched Sony E-Reader, one of the first to use the famous E-Ink technology. It seemed like reading was at the brink of changing at a very fundamental level.

Ananth Padmanabhan, the CEO of HarperCollins India (HCI), was there too. My then colleague from the US had the device, recounts Padmanabham. I very vividly remember seeing the first ebook download onto it. The sheer convenience it was revolutionary!

A year later, and exactly ten years ago from today, Amazons Kindle launched in the US, both beginning, and spearheading the ebook movement. Soon, other e-readers like Barnes & Nobles Nook and the Kobo eReader would follow, launching in 2009 and 2010 respectively (the iPad was launched at the start of 2010 as well).

In 2009, on an editors trip organised by the German Book Office, I was taking a train from Munich to Berlin with Ravi DeeCee (managing partner of DC Books), who had a Kindle with him. That was the first time Id handled one, recalls Arpita Das, the co-founder of Yoda Press. I was blown away by the fact that I could flip a book! I kept flipping and flipping the book for so many minutes that Ravi took it away from me for the fear that I might do it some damage.

But as it is with almost every new technology, the e-reader had its share of critics, and not everyone was quite as impressed. The most common question was  Why would we read on this? A publisher I spoke to remembers how, when confronted by the e-reader, panel discussions across the country emphasised on the tactility of the book  the touch, the smell and the pleasure of turning the page. Would a device that offered you a reading experience devoid of all these aspects really work? There were doubts.

And yet, the idea caught on, and before long, India had launched its own set of e-readers. Infibeams Pi hit the market in the early 2010 and EC Medias Wink was launched later that same year. Neither could really make their mark though, and with the gradual rise of smartphones and tablets, both exited the market before 2012 rolled around.

And then, in the August of 2012, Amazon first made the Kindle available in India, at the starting price of Rs. 6,999. Before that, Indians looking to own a Kindle had to have the device internationally shipped and sometimes pay up to $80 in shipping and import fee deposits alone. The Kindles entry in the Indian market meant that the movement had well and truly reached us. By November Flipkart too started selling its own ebooks.

Of course, with this movement came both the concerns and the challenges associated with it. Would ebooks cannibalise the space and sale of physical books? Interestingly, despite ebooks posing a threat to brick and mortar bookstores, Indian publishers largely thought of the format as just another platform to capture their tech-savvy young readers. Perhaps this was how theyd get back the readers they were losing to the screen.

Indian publishers predicted that over the next few years ebooks would contribute to between 15-20 per cent of their total revenue, tracing the path that publishers had seen internationally. And gradually, the ebooks market did grow. Content became accessible on more platforms, including smartphones and tablets, especially with the increase in their screen sizes. The self-publishing market grew as budding authors could now easily upload their works on platforms like Scribd, Wattpad, Smashwords and Amazons Digital Text Platform.

The 2015 Nielsen India Book Market Report said that 70 per cent publishers had digitised their content. Amazon, after launching Kindle Unlimited in September of 2015 in the country, reported later that year that it had tripled its Kindle India business and was looking at a 200% year-on-year growth. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The first hitch in the largely positive predictions came in 2015, when, the American Association of Publishers (AAP) and UKs Publishers Association reported a dip in the sale of ebooks. With no equivalent of the AAP or UKs Publishers Association in India (Nielsen only tracks the sale of physical books), the dip in the numbers was projected for the Indian market too. But Amazon, one of the largest platforms for ebooks, in its annual report, recorded an increase in both their revenue and the numbers of ebooks they sold that year.

And then, earlier this year in February, AAP once again reported that the sale of ebooks in the US had dropped by 18.7 per cent in the first nine months of 2016. Fans of the physical book rejoiced. There was a sense of joy, especially among the purists, that readers still took pleasure in the traditional form of reading.

But while considering the surveys conducted by these associations, it is important to remember a few aspects that might be affecting the figures. For example, both AAP and the UKs Publishers Association do not consider subscription based platforms such as Scribd and Kindle Unlimited, which were launched in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Additionally, trends like the adult colouring book gave rise to physical sales last year.

Even then, it is clear that the two most common and early predictions about the ebook did not come to pass  neither did they cannibalise the physical book, nor did the ebook market grow at the rate that Indian publishers had predicted they would. What seems to have happened, though, is that ebooks managed to find their own comfortable space in the market - despite the rampant piracy prevailing in the country.

And there is no data to support that they are on the decline. In fact, quite the contrary.

Over the years, digital platforms have significantly improved and offered a wide range of accessibility to their readers. Kindle for example, from the time it was first introduced, has got rid of its bulky body and its clunky keyboard and has designed for itself a much more user-friendly and stylish interface, introducing advanced ergonomic design

The 2015 Nielsen India Book Market Report said that 70 per cent publishers had digitised their content. Amazon, after launching Kindle Unlimited in September of 2015 in the country, reported later that year that it had tripled its Kindle India business and was looking at a 200% year-on-year growth. The year also saw a rise in digital publishing for regional language publishers such as Dailyhunt, Pratilipi and Matrubharti.

In the September of 2016, Juggernaut, Indias first phone publisher, was founded by Chiki Sarkar and Durga Raghunath. Juggernaut entered the market as a digital publisher that aimed to sell books via its mobile app and target the countrys vast pool of smartphone readers.

Last year Amazon further expanded its reach by launching ebooks in five regional languages - Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Gujarati, and Malayalam and later that year, reported 80 per cent growth in sales due to this, adding that ebooks had outstripped physical books for Amazon.

As far as the numbers for the current Indian ebook market go, they seem to vary depending on who you ask. Over the last few years weve seen ebooks growing at a steady higher double digit growth - directly attributed to the increase in device sales, says Padmanabhan, adding that ebooks contribute 8 per cent to the overall sales at HCI and that the overall market seems to be at 7-8 per cent. Multiple publishers confirm this figure, while a few others seem surprised by it.

Yogesh Sharma, vice-president, sales and marketing, Bloomsbury India, told me that they have seen significant growth in ebooks in the last years. From nothing to them contributing 2.5-3 per cent of their overall revenue. Last year we grew by approximately 30 per cent, adding that the overall Indian market seems to be 2-3 per cent as well.

Rukun Kaul, the digital head at Penguin Random House India (PRHI), says that the growth in ebooks has been incremental for the company. Not just for PRHI, but for the industry in general, she adds, but keeps from divulging any numbers.

Anish Chandy, the business development and sales head at Juggernaut tells me, that ebook growth has been exponential for them in the last year. But for a publisher whose primary target are smartphone users, the company still publishes some physical books and that is where it gets most of its revenue from.

Over the years, digital platforms have significantly improved and offered a wide range of accessibility to their readers. Kindle for example, from the time it was first introduced, has got rid of its bulky body and its clunky keyboard and has designed for itself a much more user-friendly and stylish interface, introducing advanced ergonomic design. Adding facility for wifi and 3G along the way, to the breakthrough of adding backlight in 1st Generation Kindle Paperwhite (2012) to the latest sleek 2nd Generation Kindle Oasis with water resistancy, so that you can actually read inside your shower if you want.

Access to the Kindle bookstore also means that now, readers have access to books from across the world, and at more or less uniform prices; not to mention the classics, which are available for free. The device also lets you change fonts, increase text size (a feature especially useful for older readers), and carry your entire library with you, no matter where you go. In fact, you dont even have to buy a Kindle any more. Now, you have several apps available on your smartphone that allow you access to ebooks  from the official Kindle app to Google Books, Juggernaut and Scribd.

Despite all this, there are various factors that affect the growth of ebooks to their full potential, not just in our country but worldwide. People still enjoy reading a physical book, points out Chandy. It is perceived to be an escape from being constantly connected. A form of digital detox, bringing with it a sense of being unplugged.

Moreover, the physical quality of books has also improved appreciably in the last decade. Readers havent failed to notice that publishers are now paying more attention to aesthetics.

On Instagram one can find millions of pictures with the hashtag #bookstagram dedicated to good-looking books. A popular Indian run account @thebooksatchel by book blogger Resh Susan has a following of over 25k and one cant help but covet the books in the beautiful photographs Resh uploads.

Even readers who do read ebooks on a regular basis still prefer some books in their physical form  graphic novels and comics being the obvious ones, as their experience is not replicated well across e-versions.

One can find a few pictures of Kindles in her posts as well. When I ask her to compare the two, she admits that she prefers to read books in the physical form. But adds that when travelling, she only carries the Kindle. It can especially be a life-saver, she says, when the physical book is expensive and/or is a door-stopper. It helps me cheat myself into thinking the book isnt that large since I cannot physically view the size.

Like Resh, several people have discovered a new joy in reading through this technology, but there are still many who find it hard to read on a screen. After all, there are still a large number of readers that have known a world without social media and a screen in every pocket.

And even readers who do read ebooks on a regular basis still prefer some books in their physical form  graphic novels and comics being the obvious ones, as their experience is not replicated well across e-versions.

Apart from the usual bestsellers, ebooks tend to do slightly better with genres such as self-help and romance. Chandy tells me that the genres that do well for Juggernaut includes non-fiction thats trending, classics and erotica. He also adds that the new literary fiction sells the least.

To especially target e-readers, publishers are releasing micro content. We have an e-imprint called Penguin Petite for our short form content, says Kaul. The books in the e-imprint are priced at Rs. 15. Juggernaut too has books under 30 pages and a list categorised under Love Shorts. Another example is Westlands Short Reads comprising of short essays and extracts. Some publishers are also looking at releasing chapters in a serialised form, reminiscent of the origin of the novel itself, going all the way back to Charles Dickens.

Meanwhile, free online reading communities such as Wattpad, where people can readily upload their written work and read those by others, are changing our perception of what publishing can be. Juggernaut too offers writers a platform to upload their work and feature it alongside other published writers, and offers to give them author contracts once they receive a certain number of views and positive reviews.

Though by far one of the largest untapped markets still remains regional language publishing. With Kindles introduction to regional languages, things have started to change for some. Manjul Publishing House, which publishes international bestseller translations in about 10 different Indian languages, is one such example. Around 15% of our sales are from ebooks these days, their editorial director Manoj Kulkarni informs me.

Of course, this isnt the case with every regional publisher. Some are yet to make use of the opportunities this format offers. One of the biggest Gujarati language publishers, Navbharat Sahitya Mandir, for example, hasnt yet started selling ebooks. There is still no awareness about ebooks here, explains Ronak Shah, their head of marketing, adding that one of the biggest problem for regional languages readers is that that they cannot search using the script of their own language online.

So, almost a decade and some revised predictions later, what does the future of ebooks in India look like? When I ask publishers, almost every one of them talks unanimously about better reach, accessibility, affordability and greater convenience. As for whether the format itself will change, it seems harder to predict. Opinions vary, but most believe that it wont.

For now, the ebook still remains a format that tries to mirror the physical book, trying to replicate feel and the turn of the page digitally  a sure sign that we are still early in its evolution, and still thinking of it as an offshoot or extension of the physical book, giving ourselves a box to think inside.

But we know that with time, technology tends to break the limits we set for it. I agree with Das when she explains that there were centuries in between the time that the Guttenberg printing press was invented and the time we first got paperbacks book. The ebook, too, is going to take some time to find a different shape.

And while the physical book still dominates the Indian book market, its safe to say that given the rapid rise in the use of technology, ebooks will only rise in this country. Albeit, at its own pace.
Actor Rahul Roy joined the BJP on Saturday in presence of Union minister Vijay Goel at the party headquarters in Delhi.

He said it was a significant day for him and thanked the party. He, however, clarified that he will continue with his acting career.

Roy, 49, made his Bollywood debut at the age of 22 in the 1990 blockbuster Aashiqui. He acted in movies like Junoon and Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee.

He also won the first season of the popular TV reality show Bigg Boss.

The actor said he wants to contribute towards Indias development and is ready to take up any task entrusted to him by the party.

The way Narendra Modi ji and Amit Shah ji have been taking the country forward and the way the perspective of the world towards India has changed in the past two years is remarkable. I am elated to have taken this decision to join the party, Roy told reporters.

Asked to comment on a row surrounding Sanjay Leela Bhansali-directed movie Padmavati, he said as audience and as artist he believes in freedom of expression, but, he added, he believes in respecting feelings and history of the country he belongs to.

I do not support violence and threat but respecting the history is equally important. I believe a fine solution will come up. He (Bansali) is a sensible filmmaker and the BJP is looking at the broader picture that there should be peace and calm.

I would request all those who are objecting that they watch the film and then decide, he said.

The lavishly mounted period film, which centres around the Rajput queen Padmavati, is scheduled to be released on December 1.

Various Rajput groups have been protesting across the country against the film, alleging it distorts history and hurts sentiments of people.
A sessions court in Ahmednagar on Saturday convicted three men for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl in Kopardi last year. The court is likely to pronounce quantum of sentence on November 22.

District and Sessions judge Suvarna Kevale found concrete evidence against the three accused - Jitendra Shinde, Santosh G. Bhaval and Nitin G. Bhailume - and convicted them on the charges rape, murder and conspiracy.

On July 13, 2016, minor belonging to Maratha community from Kopardi village in Ahmednagar district was raped and murdered by three, triggering massive protests across the state. Kopardi is 120 km from Pune.

The victim was returning home in the evening from the grandfathers house when the trio grabbed her at an isolated location and committed crime, according to the 350-page chargesheet in the case.

The protest galvanized Marathas against Dalits as the accused were Dalits. While the agitation was largely peaceful, Dalits came under attack at a few places in Nashik .

The protest forced government to appoint Ujjwal Nikam as special public prosecutor and fast track the case. According to prosecution, there were total 24 circumstantial evidences produced before the court during the course of trial.

We thank public prosecutor, chief minister and the entire Maratha community for their efforts in bringing the accused to books. We expect the convicts to be awarded capital punishment, said the mother of the victim after court verdict.

According to Nikam, the entire case was based on circumstantial evidence as there was no eye-witness available. The forensic tests proved that the blood stains of victim were found on the clothes of convict. The court also accepted this and held the three accused guilty, said Nikam.

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A family court in Bihars Bhagalpur district recently granted the legal custody of a three-year-old girl to her father and imposed an exemplary cost of Rs 1 crore on the petitioner, the childs maternal grandmother, for indulging in frivolous and vexatious litigation.

The court of principal judge SG Mishra ordered Geeta Devi to deposit Rs 1 crore for a fixed term in the name of the child, Bhavita, and handover the receipt to her father Ramesh G Murty, a resident of Ghaziabad in the national capital region (NCR).

The judge felt that if Devi and her immediate family members were left unpunished for misleading the court, it would amount to encouraging wrongdoers.

The court passed the order on October 17, 2017, but the certified copy of the verdict was made available only this week.

Devi had filed the petition seeking custody of the child under provisions of Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, on September 9, 2014. In her petition, she said her daughter Mridula Lata had married Murty in 2004. Mridula died during child birth at a Noida hospital in NCR in May 2014 as she was not properly taken care of by her son-in-law, Devi said

She further claimed there was no female member in the family of Murty and therefore I readily accepted my son-in-laws proposal of bringing up the child. Devi said, adding that after she brought the child with her to Bhagalpur, Murty neither visited them to see his daughter nor met the expenses incurred on her upbringing.

Murtys lawyer Ram Kumar Mishra said the allegations against his client were found to be false by the court. The court was satisfied with documents that showed Murthy was very much concerned about the health of his wife during pregnancy, he said. The documents also proved that Devi had brought the child without Murtys consent, the lawyer said, adding that his client had registered a case of kidnapping against Devi and her family members at Indrapuram police station in Ghaziabad.

During the course of the hearing in the case, the family court had ordered interim custody of the child to her father but Devi and her family members had managed to escape with the child, Ram Kumar Mishra added.

Subsequently Murty moved the Patna high court over non-compliance of the family courts order. The high court, however, said it would hear the matter after the final verdict of the family court, Ram Kumar Mishra said.

The lawyer said Bhavita had been handed over to her father after court verdict.

Senior advocate Abhay Kant Jha, who represented the petitioner, said the verdict would be challenged in the Patna high court soon. While seeking the custody of the child, Devi had claimed that she could provide love, affection and all facilities for her proper upbringing, Jha added.

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In a room on the second floor of the College Street Coffee House, the still-sturdy Kolkata institution, the evening light rests on a row of books that line a shelf facing a window. These are by MN Roy, the Indian nationalist revolutionary who turned communist in America and who, on Lenins invitation, presented his colonial thesis. Roy differed with the great Soviet leader at the Second Congress of the Comintern (Communist International) in Moscow, 1920.

Lenin believed that Indian communists must work with nationalists, even if the latter were bourgeois, so as to strengthen the liberation movement as communists in India then were few in number. Roy felt the main task was to build peasant-and-worker parties and organise a revolution from below. What decisively links the history of the Russian revolution to the Indian subcontinent is what took place nearly two weeks after the revolution.

On November 20, 1917, the Council of Peoples Commissars in Russia appealed to all working classes among the Muslims of the East to rally to Bolshevism to help all oppressed people and secure freedom. This laid the ground for what was eventually to become the crucial Colonial Question that amounted to the Soviet regime unambiguously standing with the peoples of the colonies and giving them material and moral support for their struggles for national independence.

It had an electrifying effect around the world. And certainly in India, says political scientist Sobhanlal Datta Gupta, who, together with historian Hari Vasudevan, is among the few Indian experts on the Russian revolution to have accessed the Moscow-based archives of the Comintern in the 1990s. Datta Gupta in his book, Comintern and the Destiny of Communism in India: 1919-1943, has laid bare the relationship between Soviet Russia and all shades of Indias revolutionaries and the shifting lines in that relationship.

Roy may have been one of the first Indian revolutionaries in whom a post-revolutionary Russia took keen interest. But he was not the only one, or the last.

MN Roy (fourth from left, back row) with his Soviet comrades in Moscow, 1922 (Photo: Samir Jana)

In his memoirs, Roy recalls Lenin overriding his objection to the passivity of Gandhis non-violent tactics and his social conservatism with this one question: Is Gandhi opposing British imperialism or not? If the answer is yes, you have to work with him.

Popular-Front politics, in which differences and conflicts among various social classes are overlooked in favour of joining ranks against a common foe, is a Leninist idea that Stalin built on during World War II while forging an alliance against the Nazis and Fascism. Indias political leaders have adopted it at various times to build a common platform, says Datta Gupta.

Vijay Prashad, academic and editor, Leftword, who is also a CPI(M) member, agrees that many political currents in the country join hands with the communist parties of India at various fora. We are a large tent movement, not only with many communist and left parties trying to act in unity, but with others outside our movement with whom we have close ties and with whom we are often on the streets. I believe that Ambedkar, Periyar and Nehru, the gamut of socialists and liberals in the Indian national movement, took inspiration from the fact that the October Revolution took place in a peasant society that was like India.

Nehru in the Soviet Union in 1961. (Photo: Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Truck with the mainstream

Broadly three kinds of Indian revolutionaries were motoring down the road to Moscow via Central Asia, between the 20s and the 40s; or getting off ships in the capitals of Europe with Moscow as the final destination. Some of them were the Khilafists who were heading towards Turkey to shore up the Caliphate but ended up being recruited by the Soviets in Afghan territory where the latter were active; some were revolution junkies who wanted to see Lenin and thought he was going to be a Russian Garibaldi; some were going with the commitment to join The Communist University of the Toilers of the East, a training college for cadres from the colonies, or simply to offer themselves as recruits to a revolutionary state in order to bring back ideas to implement at home.

Jawaharlal Nehru, the rising star of the Congress, visited the Soviet Union in 1927 on the 10th anniversary of the revolution, a time of transition and turmoil that marked the beginning of Stalins rise that followed Lenins death in 1924. By then Nehru was also a member of the League Against Imperialism, whose roots lay in the Second Congress of the Comintern. In the backdrop of the Great Depression (1929-39), which had the US on its knees, he was impressed with the Soviet Unions growth phenomenon; as was Dravidian leader EVR Periyar, who visited the USSR in the 30s.

If you want to know the impact of the Russian revolution on Periyar, the proof of that is what Karunanidhi (Karunanidhi draws from the Periyarist political heritage) named his son  Stalin, says veteran Congressman Mani Shankar Aiyar with a smile.

Dravidian leader EVR Periyar visited the USSR in the 30s drawn to its ideas of class and social justice. (HT Photo)

Aiyar says Nehru returning to India brought the message of the Soviet Union but not its example. (Soviet watchers also point out that after Tagores visit to the USSR, two years after Nehrus, he commended it for its strides in industry and education but issued a word of caution for its lack of personal freedom. Tagores nephew, Saumyendranath, who was a communist, had facilitated the visit.).

Subhash Chandra Bose, too, adds Datta Gupta, was not opposed to Soviet Russia even though much has been made of his alliance with fascists. We all know he landed in Germany but few know that his real destination was the Soviet Union. The first embassy he knocked in Kabul where he had escaped to from Calcutta before he landed in Berlin was the Soviet embassy. In fact, even after the Battle of Kohima when Bose tried to enter India with Japanese help, he had plans to make a second attempt to go to Moscow to seek Soviet help. In Berlin he had even told the Nazis that the Indian Legion he commanded would not join the Nazis in their fight against the Soviets.

Subhash Chandra Bose had told the Nazis that the Indian legion would not be used in their war with the Soviets. (Photo: Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

The promise of a socialist revolution also influenced the Congress back home. A Congress Socialist ginger group was formed in 1930. Jayaprakash Narayan was an important member of this group. JP was drawn equally to Gandhi and Marx and that led to his confusions, says Aiyar. Nehru did not make communism and socialism synonymous. In the Nehruvian economic model there would be a role for the state in promoting heavy industries and infrastructure but industrialists were always going to have a big role, he adds.

Red on red

In line with the Cominterns policy to spread communism all across the world by breaking down the imperialist system everywhere, Roy set up the first Communist Party of India in Tashkent in 1921; on Indian soil, it was set up in Kanpur in 1925. In 1923, a Madras journalist and communist, Singaravelu Chettiar, organised the first May Day celebration in India. This was likely the first deliberative use of the red flag, says Vijay Prasad.

Communist literature from the Soviet Union continued to enter India through underground channels until 1930 when Roy himself returned to India after having fallen out with Stalin. In the Soviet Union, he had worked in the Russian Foreign office. In India, he was arrested. After jail, he interacted with the Congress and the arch internationalist turned nationalist, and then in another U-turn, Radical Humanist. This was not a going against Marx but a move towards a new interpretation of him, says Abdus Samad Gayen, who teaches political science at Presidency University, Kolkata.

Political scientist Sobhanlal Datta Gupta, is among the few Indian experts on the Russian Revolution to have accessed the archives of the Comintern in the 1990s. (Samir Jana/HT PHOTO)

Roys case typifies the Indian communists dilemma since their brush with Soviet communism, of trying to be consistent on both points  being a good nationalist and a good internationalist all at once. The assertion of internationalism by the undivided CPI in 1942 through its opposition to Gandhis call for Quit India may have sullied the Indian communists public image and given a handle to the Right, says Hari Vasudevan, but they felt that the need of the hour was that Britain be joined in the fight against fascismas by the 40s, the communists had no clear idea what shape an independent Indian nation-state would take. It was better, in such a scenario, to join the war on the side of the USSR. Right through the 40s, the communists were putting pressure on the nationalists to move India towards a socialist state. PC Joshi was for a moderate transformation; BT Ranadive pushed a more radical line.

The bourgeois national democrats strive for the establishment of a free national state, Roy had said, whereas the masses of workers and poor are revolting. Roys thesis that Indian society had two contradictory forces and both could not develop together, was borne out in the run-up to Indias independence. Says Vasudevan: In 1948, both the communist-led peoples movement of Telangana, and the government of independent India wanted the Nizam out but not for the same reason. The communists wanted land re-distribution, end of forced labour, and a re-arranging of the socio-economic order. The army sent to get the Nizam to sign the accession letter was also used to crush the communist movement.

The Soviet example continued to influence Indias communist governments in West Bengal and Kerala, but differently. Not just land reforms, what Kerala did was weaken the police apparatus and have the party and local bodies influence the executive apparatus, adds Vasudevan. There was a greater diffusion of power in Kerala. The Bengal communists also effected land and panchayat reforms, but they have been more anxious about whether they are following the early [Soviet] doctrine, with the result that not much headway was made in creating an Indian doctrine.  How much of the colour red has faded in this part of the world? That may just be the question to ask in this month of the 100th anniversary of the Russian revolution.

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Ignoring denial of permission by the authorities, the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) is determined to go ahead with its mega rally in Mansa town on Saturday evening to demonstrate the communitys support to young leader Hardik Patel, despite the sex CDs on him, - in a big worry for the ruling BJP.

PAAS leader Hardik Patel has said that in spite of the authorities denying them permission, they will be holding a massive prestige rally in Mansa, showcasing the support the group has among the Patidar community.

Patel also claimed that they would drop a bigger bomb on the ruling BJP against the recent releases of CDs alleging a sex scandal against him.

The Gandhinagar police have denied PAAS permission for the Adhikar Sabha rally, but PAAS is adamant to hold the event with or without police permission.

Mansa, about 41 km away from Ahmedabad, is the hometown of BJP national president Amit Shah. It is also the place from where the Patidar reservation demand and agitation had started in 2015.

After two years of agitation and witnessing many ups and downs, the PAAS has seen recent attacks on Patel over the sex CDs which have gone viral on social media. The CDs show Hardiks lookalike or allegedly him with a woman in compromising situation.

Alleging that the CDs are doctored and are the handiwork of the BJP, Hardik Patel has threatened to drop a bigger bomb on the issue at the rally in Mansa town.

Through this rally he and the PAAS group also want to convey the message that the entire Patidar community is still with them in their demand for reservation for the Patidars.

The Congress has come out in support of Patel in the CD row. However, the talks between the party and the PAAS leaders in Delhi on Friday seemed to have suffered a setback with the group giving an ultimatum of 24 hours to resolve the reservation imbroglio.

Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, too, has extended support to Patel.

The rally in Mansa will be a big worry for the Gandhinagar district administration as they had earlier given permission for the rally.

PAAS leader Atul Patel claimed that permission was cancelled on flimsy grounds. The authorities told us that if the meeting is allowed at the location decided by the PAAS, it could create enmity among communities and so the venue should be changed. This is not possible for us, Atul said.

Come what may, we are not going to change the rally location in Mansa, he added.

Gandhinagar District Superintendent of Police (DSP) Virendra Yadav said: We have not granted them permission. They want to hold it on the main road. During the election period, we discourage even political parties from holding functions on the main roads, which can cause traffic problems. We have asked them to find another place. If they do so, we can consider their demand for permission, he said.

If they carry on with the rally without permission, legal action will be initiated, the police officer added.
In 1913 Dadasaheb Phalke created history by directing Raja Harishchandra, the countrys first feature film. However, he was not the first Indian to make movies.

That credit belongs to Hiralal Sen (1866-1917), who worked out of Calcutta (as Kolkata was then known). Son of a lawyer, Sen was a pioneer who made movies  documentaries and product commercials  but has remained unknown to most even in his own state.

Born in Bogjuri (now in Bangladesh), Sen not only experimented with the new medium, but also made fundamental contributions to it.

In 1904 he captured on film a public rally opposing Lord Curzons plan to divide Bengal. To record the immensity of the rally, he placed the camera on top of the treasury building so that he could film the speakers including Surendranath Banerjee against the backdrop of a huge crowd that extended almost two miles, said Sanjoy Mukhopadhyay, film historian and former professor of film studies of Jadavpur University. The camera placement was novel in those days.

Many consider the film on proposed Bengal partition to be the first political documentary in the country.

Sen also shot two product commercials that were way ahead of his time. There was no concept of creating sets in those years, and he chose lavish villas beside the Hooghly river to use as locations for the commercials. The products were Jabakusum hair oil and Edwards anti-malaria drug.

The high point of Hiralal Sens career was the movie he made when George V came to India. The other was the film on the Bengal partition, said Mukhopadhyay.

 ailing from cancer of the throat and standing on the verge of insolvency, he stood in competition with no less than four of the best cameramen from England working for the Government of India and beat them in their own game by being the first to release the Visit Film of Delhi Durbar with a wider coverage Kaushik Majumdar, a researcher on silent films wrote last year in The Silent Film Quarterly, a magazine published from Hollywood.

Hiralal Sens body of work was destroyed in a fire at a godown in Kolkata in 1917 where he had stored his films. (HT Photo)

To highlight his contribution, critics point out to the time when Sen worked. On December 28, 1895 the worlds first movie was shown in Paris. In India, the first show was held at Watson Hotel in Bombay on July 7, 1896. Hiralal Sens challenges were far more than merely those any medium faces in its nascent stages. He lived in a colony that was far removed from Europe (where the action was taking place) and had no access to either technology or infrastructure. When he showed his films, the city had electric supply in only two areas (Howrah Bridge and the Maidans), and he had to make elaborate arrangements to screen movies.

Bioscopes needed electric arc lamps, or in their absence, lime light. Sen had to procure elaborate apparatus to produce lime light. He burnt lime in a bath with oxygen that was stored in a bladder. It produced a bright light that would light up the screen. The process was fraught with risks and could have involved minor explosions, said Debiprasad Ghosh, Kolkata-based film researcher who has edited a book on Hiralal Sen that is awaiting publication.

They were beholden to Father E J Laffont, a teacher of St Xaviers College in Calcutta. He fixed the light generating apparatus and continuously offered them advice on how to handle the machines, said Majumdar. Laffont used magic lantern and phonograph in his lectures on public science.

Unfortunately, Sen only lives in a few books and notes of researchers and academics. There is not even a proper biography on him. A careless, if not reckless man, he made little effort to preserve his work. On October 24, 1917, a fire in a godown in north Kolkata where all his films were stored destroyed his complete works. Sen died two days later at the age of 51.

Sen is indeed the pioneer of movies. Nothing can be more unfortunate that he did not get the recognition, said Anjan Bose, whose grandfather Anadi Nath Bose purchased two cameras used by Sen.

In 1898, Star Theatre in Kolkata began screening movies and Sen and his brother Motilal were captivated by a show. The brothers realised that movies are going to be a medium of the future.

Sens biggest drawback was he lacked business acumen that could have helped him to find commercial success with the medium he was passionate about. Towards the closing years, he fell on such hard times that he had to sell off his favourite camera to a usurer.

His father Chandranath Sen, a successful lawyer, funded his dreams. Sen spent a princely sum of Rs 5,000 to buy a cinematograph machine. The entire apparatus including projection equipment had to be purchased from England.

Along with his brother Motilal, Sen set up The Royal Bioscope Company in 1898, which was Indias first movie company. In the beginning, they used to purchase films made by companies in England and showed them at parties and weddings of the rich. These were mainly films shot by Englishmen on the daily life on streets of Calcutta and India.

File photo of writer Shirshendu Mukhopaghyay, flm director Rituparno Ghosh, actor Koushik Sen and poet Srijato during a film adda session at Hiralal Sen Mancha on November 15, 2012 in Kolkata. (HT Photo)

Sen also purchased films from Pathe Frere company and held shows at parties and weddings of rich families such as the one of Raja Rajendra Mullick (1818-1897) who built the famous Marble Palace at Jorasanko. He started travelling movie shows in Bengal, but did not hold bioscope shows at Calcutta Maidans like Jamshedji Framji Madan, who moved from Karachi to Calcutta in 1883. His company attracted the attention of the Britishers when he hired Dalhousie Institute and held shows at the turn of the 20th century.

But he was not satisfied by just making money showing films made by others. He wanted to shoot them too. In 1903 he filmed the popular Alibaba and Forty Thieves.

Sen had a fruitful association with Amarendranath Dutta and Kusum Kumari, stars who used to act in theatres at Start Theatre. Sen collaborated with him and filmed some of his plays that were produced by Classic Theatre. Initially, these were shown during intervals of the stage shows.

However, he fell out with Dutta and the association ended before it could spin big money for the Royal Bioscope Company. Poor at managing relations, his ties with brother Motilal, his partner in Royal Bioscope Company, also snapped towards the end. In 1913, he quit the company he set up with his brother and joined London Bioscope owned by Kumarshankar Gupta, ironically, a former employee of Royal Bioscope Company.

Sen did not marry. Movies were a natural progression for him.

He was a pioneer. If a fire destroyed his works, we are guilty of almost erasing his contribution and memory, rued Dipankar Bhattacharya, secretary of Uttarpara Cine Club.

If his films were not destroyed, he would have got as much prominence as Dadasaheb Phalke, remarked Shyamal Karmakar, head of editing at Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute.

Thats not an exaggerated lament. There is not even an alley in his name, forget an award. He is hardly known outside his state. A visit to Blacquire Square in north Kolkata where the fire in the godown destroyed his entire films reveals that Sen is largely unknown.

I have never heard of Hiralal Sen, or that a godown here caught fire, said Haradhan Ghosh, 81, who was born 19 years after the fire and lives a few buildings away from 18 Blacquire Square.

In 2012, the year after Trinamool Congress government assumed power, an open platform was set up by the Kolkata International Film Festival authorities to screen silent era films in the way they were screened at the turn of the 20th century. They called the platform Hiralal Sen mancha. That was the biggest recognition the pioneer got.

The land of his birth was more generous. On October 26, the Federation of Film Societies of Bangladesh in association with Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy organised a programme in Dhaka to commemorate the death centenary of the first filmmaker of the sub-continent. They also published a book on him.

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Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Saturday reiterated that PoK belongs to Pakistan, and asked, How many more Pakistans will you create?

His remark, an apparent dig at the BJP, is the latest in a series of controversial comments the veteran leader made in the recent past.

Addressing NC workers in Jammu Abdullah said that Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) was with Pakistan for the past 70 years and India and Pakistan have fought four wars, reiterating his earlier remarks on the issue that sparked controversy.

What did I say? When did National Conference stop anyone from taking back PoK? Go and take it. They (Pakistan) are not wearing bangles. They also have atom bombs. Even PM (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) talked about maintaining sanctity along the Line of Control (LoC). Today, we are being intimidated by them. And, when did the NC ask for Azadi. We always asked for autonomy, which is within the purview of the Indian Constitution, he said.

He also claimed the BJP government at the Centre was hell-bent on creating a Hindu-Muslim divide.

Ye Hindustan tumhare baap ka nahi (This country does not belongs to your father). This country belongs to everyone, be it Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian. They can choose their candidate, its their right, he said and added that people of the country cant be threatened to garner votes.

In this context, he went on to allege that some BJP leaders in Uttar Pradesh threatened Muslims of dire consequences if they dont vote for them.

If you think you will continue with your intimidating ways, do remember that this is how you made one Pakistan. Aur kitne Pakistan banaoge (How many Pakistans will you create). How many more pieces will you cut India into, Abdullah said.

Last week he had courted controversy by saying PoK belonged to Pakistan and this wont change no matter how many wars India and Pakistan fight.

The NC leader also asked Army chief General Bipin Rawat to look into the pitiable condition of widows of soldiers before indulging into alleged muscle flexing and war-posturing.

Being their father, it is your (Generals) responsibility to look after the welfare of the families of the fallen soldiers. Sounding bugle and leaving them to their fate wont work. Try to know what is going on with them. I ask them to prepare a report, table it in the parliament and then talk about war, he said.

He said it was very easy to talk about a war, but try to know the conditions of the families, who have lost their lives in the war to ensure freedom in the country.

He also lashed out at the PDP-BJP government, which was conspicuous by its absence at the funeral of Sohan Lal Bhagat, a soldier who died in Manipur in an IED blast recently.

Once we come to power we shall constitute a commission to improve the lives of war widows, he asserted.

He also asked the party cadre to gear up for the ensuing Panchayat elections.

He also painted a scary picture if Article 35-A that guarantees special status to the state was revoked, saying, Jammu will be the first to bear the maximum brunt of it.

The Supreme Court is hearing petitions seeking scrapping of the article. The petitions claimed the constitutional provision violates the fundamental rights including the right to equality.

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India has accepted Pakistans offer to arrange a meeting between Kulbhushan Jadhav, sentenced to death by a military court for alleged involvement in spying, and his wife, and requested that his mother too should be included in the meeting.

New Delhi responded to Islamabads offer, made on November 10, through diplomatic channels earlier this week. Details of Indias response have not been made public by officials but sources said India had asked that Jadhavs mother and a consular official should be allowed to join the meeting.

In a tweet, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said: Indian reply to Pakistans humanitarian offer for Commander Jadhav received & is being considered. He too did not give details.

Sources in Islamabad too said India had asked for Jadhavs mother, Avantika Jadhav, to be allowed to join the meeting as she has a long-standing request to see her son.

The sources added that both sides were handling the matter with caution as they did not want any misstep to lead to a further deterioration of ties, which are already at an all-time low.

Earlier this month, Pakistan had offered to arrange the meeting between Jadhav, who was captured by security forces in March last year, and his wife in Pakistan, purely on humanitarian grounds.

There has been speculation that the move could be an effort by Pakistan to mend ties with India. Officials in Islamabad had privately hinted that the meeting could take place in December.

The Pakistan government has so far not responded to a request made in April by Avantika Jadhav to meet her son. There has also been no response to her petition to grant clemency to her son.

The Pakistan Army chief is currently considering a Jadhavs mercy petition after his request for clemency was turned down by a military appellate court.

Pakistan refers to Jadhav as a serving naval commander and claims he was working for the RAW spy agency. It has said he was apprehended after he illegally crossed over into the country.

India has denied that Jadhav is a serving navy personnel and also rejected Pakistans claim that he was a spy. New Delhi has said Jadhav was kidnapped from the Iranian port of Chabahar. It has also said that if Islamabad goes ahead with Jadhavs execution, it will be regarded as a case of premeditated murder.

Jadhavs execution was stayed after India took the matter to the International Court of Justice, which said he should not be executed till it gives a final ruling in the case. The ICJ is set to resume hearing Jadhavs case next month, when it will consider memorials or written submissions from both countries.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to arrive in India for a three-day visit on January 14 as the two countries work towards a free trade agreement.

The two countries are also working on a proposal for the Heron TP, medium-altitude, long-endurance, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to meet multiple mission needs of the Indian armed forces.

Upon his arrival, Netanyahu will be received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad, like he did Chinas Xi Jinping and Japans Shinzo Abe.

Netanyahu will be in India till January 16, 2018 and from Gujarat he will travel to New Delhi. Agra is another proposed stopover for Netanyahu, the second Israeli Prime Minister to

visit India after Ariel Sharon in 2003.

Indian officials preparing for the Israeli Prime Ministers visit said the two countries will likely focus on innovation, agriculture, water management and agriculture, apart from trade.

The bilateral trade between the countries, excluding defence is around $5 billion.

The trade is below potential between the two sides. Both have identified promoting business ties and investments as a key focus, said one of the officials on the condition of anonymity.

The Heron TP systems include maritime patrol radar, electronic support measures, electronic and communications intelligence and can also be installed with M-19HD multi-sensor electro-optical

payload.

The real-time imagery and telemetry data collected by the payloads are transmitted to the ground control station using line-of-sight propagation and satellite communications (SATCOM).

The UAV allows for simultaneous operation of different payloads for multi-mission requirements. We are working on this proposal, said an official. India officially recognised Israel on September 17, 1950 but the two sides started full diplomatic ties in 1992 under the Congress-government led by PV Narasimha Rao.
Web portals and web-based apps offering legal services, consultations with lawyers, and hosting their profiles on the internet are now under the law ministrys scanner for surrogate advertising in violation of the current law that governs the legal profession.

In the absence of clear guidelines regulating them, internet law startups and web-based apps are stretching the boundaries of the legal profession in the country. They offer a range of services, including hosting profiles of advocates, social media marketing and campaigns through emails for them.

The BCI (Bar Council of India) rules clearly ban this sort of surrogate advertising. It is unauthorised and illegal, said Lalit Bhasin, president of the Society of Indian Law Firms. The industry body has sought a ban on such websites and action against lawyers who engage their services.

The Advocates Act, 1961, bars lawyers from advertising, publicising their achievements, or soliciting clients in any form. The act empowers the BCI, whose members are elected by advocates, to regulate the legal profession, which it does through a set of rules that were last amended in 2009 before most legal services websites and apps were launched.

Ministry officials say the matter is sensitive because the law allows the bar to regulate itself.

The act also empowers the government to act if the provisions are not complied with. We are studying the matter and will take a decision after consultations with the stakeholders, an official said. The ministry could come up with guidelines for such sites. The BCI has assured action but nothing has happened so far, Bhasin said.

BCI officials did not respond to calls for comments.

In the United States and the United Kingdom, members of the bar are free to advertise and publicise their work but not yet in India. Though the government is working on a plan to liberalise the legal profession, the reform is stuck in lack of consensus between the government and the bar.

On their part, the websites claim that the expansion of the sector on to the web is only making seeking legal help cheaper and more competitive.

Most people are too scared to meet a lawyer because of the expenses involved. Now you can get your first legal consultation for as low as 500, said Shant Berwal, CEO of Legal Resolved, a startup that calls itself a certified aggregator platform for legal service delivery. Several such platforms offer free pre-legal services.

I cannot advertise if I am a lawyer but this law does not apply to us because we are an aggregator, Berwal said.

Lawyers allege that not regulating such services is providing an undue advantage to those who flout the laid-down rules. There should be a level playing field for every lawyer in the profession. The rules, till they exist, should apply to all, said Bharatvir Singh, partner, Saikrishna and Associates, an IPR law firm.

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Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be conferred the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2017.

The award jury, which chose the 85-year-old economist and politician for the award, was chaired by former President Pranab Mukherjee.

The Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust said in a statement that Singh was chosen for his leadership of the country and its achievements during the momentous ten years from 2004 to 2014.

The trust said Singh got the prize for his contribution to the cause of economic and social development, for improving Indias stature in the world and its relationship with its neighbours and the leading nations, and for his dedication to the security and well being of ordinary citizens regardless of their faith, caste, religion or language.

An internationally renowned economist, Singh entered politics as finance minister in the PV Narsimha Rao government, where he piloted the 1991 economic liberalisation programme. He was leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha between 1998 and 2004, and became Prime Minister when the United Progressive Alliance formed the government in 2004.

As Prime Minister, he was responsible for significant initiatives, including the nuclear deal with the US and the Copenhagen climate change accord. The ten years of his prime ministership were not only period of rapid economic and social change, they witnessed the lowest terrorist violence, prolonged communal harmony, peace on the countrys borders and a globally acknowledged rise in Indias standing in the global community of nations, the statement said.

Born in Gah (now in Pakistan), Singh is only the third Indian Prime Minister to complete two full terms.

He obtained a doctorate from Oxford University and worked with the United Nations in the 1960s before joining the Indian government as an adviser in the ministry of commerce.

Singh handled several roles during his career such as chief economic adviser, the governor of Reserve Bank of India and deputy chairman of the Planning Commission. He was also Secretary General of the South Commission based in Geneva.
The governments pointsmen in Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, is likely to meet the Valleys students as part of his mission to start peace talks in the state ravaged by decades-long insurgency, a senior home ministry official told HT on Friday.

Sharma, a former Intelligence Bureau chief, is likely to visit the state in the next couple of weeks for his second visit since he was appointed the Centres special representative to Jammu and Kashmir last month.

When contacted, Sharma told HT that he will comment only if something concrete comes out of the meetings.

However, Sharma briefed Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday about his plans. Sharmas focus is also in line with Singhs emphasis on engaging the Kashmiri youth to wean them away from militancy.

There is a great chance that a visit to universities and colleges might take place. In case that doesnt happen, student delegations will be invited, said the home ministry official who did not wish to be named.

Kashmir does not have an umbrella students body like in many states but there are groups in some of the Valleys main higher education centres such as Kashmir University, Central University Of Kashmir and Islamic University of Science and Technology.

However, leaders of the most prominent group, the Kashmir University Students Union (KUSU), is virtually underground with many of them facing a crackdown for alleged anti-India activities including organising and participating in protest demonstrations.

The KUSUs office was dismantled by the varsity administration in May 2010 and authorities do not have an idea of the number of its members.

HT contacted a few student leaders who denied being official members of the union but said they shared its ideology.

If and when he (Sharma) decides to visit KU a decision will be arrived at after reaching a mutual consensus among the students, one of them said in a text message.

Since the interlocutor has already presumed that the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) is not a stakeholder to the dialogue process, we have no reason to project ourselves as false stakeholders like many small groups have done on Mr Interlocutors first visit, the student said.

The Hurriyat is an umbrella body of political groups fighting mostly for Kashmirs secession from India.

Though Sharma is mandated to meet all stakeholders in the valley, the Hurriyat has said no dialogue is possible unless the Centre accepts the Kashmir dispute as a political issue.

A former KUSU activist also did not view Sharmas visit with optimism.

On one side, security forces have launched Operation All Out and on the other the National Investigation Agency is conducting raids and making arrests, he said.

He added that many people who were detained during last years unrest were being held repeatedly under the Public Safety Act, described by many in Kashmir as a tool to put dissenters behind bars.

There are at least one dozen cordon-and-search operations going every day, the former student added.

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NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Friday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was alarmed at the transformed image of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi due to which the BJP was raking up old issues such as Bofors to defame the Gandhi family.

He claimed the BJP governments at Centre and Gujarat was rattled by the massive response the Congress was getting in poll-bound Gujarat.

Modi and the BJP are scared of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhis emerging image. Fearing the transforming image of Rahul during the Gujarat election campaign, the BJP is now raking up issues such as Bofors against the Gandhi clan to defame them, Pawar said.

Attacking the Modi government, Pawar said that the claim of Union finance minister Arun Jaitley about stability of the economy was a farce. Forget new job creation, big companies were retrenching employees across the country. In textile sector, over 20,000 employees were retrenched recently, he said in Yavatmal in the course of a four-day Vidarbha tour.

Pawar also ruled out an electoral alliance with either the BJP or the Shiv Sena and made it amply clear that the Congress is his party of choice for an alliance in the next elections in 2019.

We want that there should be an alliance with the Congress. Our party is ready to join hands with the Congress in the ensuing elections, he said.

Read more: NCP to start agitation against BJP government in Maharashtra

Both the Congress and the NCP suffered humiliating defeats in 2014 state elections when they fought the elections separately which largely contributed to the BJP emerging as the largest party in the assembly.

Pawar also ruled out backing the BJP in Maharashtra if the Shiv Sena pulls out of the alliance government in the state. The BJP has 122 seats in the 288-member House while the Shiv Sena has 63 seats. The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance has come under severe strain with the latter taking regular pot shots at its senior partner.

During his Yavatmal tour, the NCP leader met cotton growers at Mangladevi village whose crops have been affected by pink bollworm -affected cotton growers. The sudden attack of pink bollworms, first in the region, ruined the cotton crop in Vidarbha and the losses are pegged at a massive Rs 10,000 crore.

The pest has overcome the resistance of Bt cotton seed bollgard II. It is feeding on the present crop and is there to stay for years if serious measures are not taken immediately, Pawar observed and assured the farmers that he would discuss the issue with the concerned ministers and the officials of Nagpur-based Central Institute for Cotton Research for a solution.

Pawar also met the family members of Devidas Madavi of Kalamb in the district who died of pesticide poisoning in August this year. Madavi (57), a landless labourer, had taken up the job of spraying pesticides on the cotton field for the first time. He assured the family to help them to overcome the present crisis.

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Hyderabad is set to become the latest Indian city to have a metro railway system with Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to inaugurate the elevated Hyderabad metro rail project on November 28.

Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) sources said Modi will unveil a pylon at Miyapur metro rail station, the first point on the Mumbai-Hyderabad national highway, to mark the inauguration of the first phase of the project covering a distance of 30 km in two corridors.

The entire metro rail project stretches for 72 km in three corridors.

Later, the prime minister will watch a presentation of digital images of the evolution of the railway system in Hyderabad from the days of the Nizam State Railways to the elevated Metro Rail project. He is expected to travel in the metro train for a distance of 13 km along with state governor ESL Narasimhan, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and other officials.

The project will be thrown open to the public two hours after the formal inauguration, sources said.

We are all ready with all the arrangements for the inauguration. We are just awaiting the final itinerary of the Prime Minister, a top official of the HMRL said.

Modi will be in the city to inaugurate the three-day Global Entrepreneurship Summit being organised by the US government in collaboration with Niti Ayog, at Hyderabad International Convention Centre in the evening.

One of the biggest metro rail projects in public-private participation (PPP) mode, the 72-km long metro rail project commenced in April 2012 at an initial estimated cost of Rs 14,000 crore. As per the latest estimates, the cost has gone up to over Rs 18,500 crore. The project is being executed by Larsen and Toubro.

Telangana IT minister K T Rama Rao said the state government had sanctioned Rs 3,000 crore to the Hyderabad Metro rail project of which Rs 2,240 crore had been spent so far. The Centre was providing Viability Gap Funding of Rs 1,458 crore and had so far released an amount of Rs 958 crore.

The minister said the State government was also considering taking up Phase II of HMR. The exercise for preparing detail project report for the same would commence shortly.

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A month after the Narendra Modi government formed a committee to divide the Other Backwards Class into sub-groups, the panel has asked state governments to provide a caste-wise break-ups of government recruitments and admissions in higher education institutions for the last three years.

Sub-categorisation is crucial since it could identify the most deprived of the castes among the thousands that fall under the OBC umbrella, which can then be split up in a manner that the most powerful are not able to corner the most of the quota benefits.

OBCs currently get 27% reservation in government jobs and admissions to state-run colleges.

In October, President Ram Nath Kovind appointed a five-member Commission headed by Delhi High Courts former chief justice G Rohini to examine sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes under Article 340 of the Constitution.

The letter, signed by commission secretary U Venkataswarulu, seeking caste details of recruitments and admissions was sent to all state governments, an official of the Odisha government said, requesting anonymity.

It also sought to know the number of OBC certificates issued, again broken up by caste.

The panel has also asked the state to give a list of caste names according to the 1931 census and a list of names that are currently in the states OBC list.

The government must also inform the panel of the population of each of the castes/classes listed in the OBC list and disaggregated up to the district level. The commission also wants to know if the state made any efforts to sub-categorise OBCs, according to the letter.

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Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said on Saturday that the Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress were working towards an alliance to stop Prime Minister Narendra Modis vikas ka rath (chariot of development).

He also claimed that there was a wave in favour of the BJP and it was larger than the one in the 2014 Lok Sabha and 2017 state assembly polls.

The SP, BSP and Congress are preparing to enter into an alliance for checking the development chariot of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but it will have no impact, Maurya said.

The deputy chief minister was speaking at a public meeting for the local body polls.

Ask anyone who is the leader of the poor and all will tell, Narendra Modi, who is the leader of farmers, labourers and working for the safety of women and welfare of youths. The Narendra Modi government and the Yogi Adityanath government are working for development, he said.

Talking to reporters later, Maurya took a dig at SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, who will be staying away from the campaigning for the local body polls.

Akhilesh is under tremendous pressure over the local body elections... he knows that if he goes out to campaign , people will not come to hear him and he is not taking part in the campaigning because of this, he said.
Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday that she was proud to have a leader of Prime Minister Narendra Modis stature.

Modi ji is a person with qualities like discipline and sympathy for the poor, who came to public life and is now a great leader. I am proud to have a leader of such stature, she said.

She was speaking at an event in Chennai after releasing Sindhanai Kalanjiyam, the Tamil translation of poems written originally in Gujarati by Modi.

Speaking in Tamil, Sitharaman said she was happy to see Modi in a new light, as a poet.

The defence minister said Modi, contrary to the general perception that he was autocratic, was a person who did what was required for the people.

Noted Tamil poet Vairamuthu praised Modi, saying his talent as a poet needs appreciation. He also hailed Modi for his gesture when he called on the ailing DMK leader, M Karunanidhi, during his visit to the city on November 6.

The collection of poems has been translated into Tamil by Rajalakshmi Srinivasan, a Sanskrit professor.

Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan and Tamil Nadu BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan were among those present at the event.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the Rafale deal and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of bypassing procedure in finalising the purchase of 36 fighter jets with the French.

In a tweet, the Congress leader posed three questions to Sitharaman who on Friday defended the Rs 59,000-crore deal and described as shameful that the previous government, led by the Congress, failed to serve the militarys interests and was now bickering over the price.

Referring to Sitharaman as RM, short for Raksha Mantri (defence minister), Gandhi tweeted, Dear RM, whats shameful is your boss silencing you.

Please tell us: 1. Final price of each Rafale jet? 2. Did PM take CCS permission before announcing purchase in Paris? 3. Why PM bypassed experienced HAL & gave the deal to AA rated businessman with no defence experience?

The opposition party says the deal, announced during Modis visit to France in 2015 and signed a year later, is overpriced, violates procedures and is tailored to help an industrialist.

The party has also said each fighter would cost Rs 1,570 crore compared to Rs 526 crore under the older deal.

The per unit cost of a jet was absolutely and undoubtedly lesser than what the UPA regime was negotiating, Sitharaman said.

Due process of clearance from the cabinet committee on security was followed with active participation of then defence minister Manohar Parrikar, she had said, adding the Congress charges were politically motivated.

India floated a global tender in August 2007 to buy 126 planes but it stood cancelled after Modi declared in April 2015 India would buy 36 Rafales from France under a government-to-government deal.

Indian Air Force chief BS Dhanoa , too, has denied that the jets were overpriced. Technology may not be going to the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) but it is coming to the Defence Research and Development Organisation and then to a lot of Indians, the air chief marshal said on Thursday.

The Congress has sought to link the Rafale agreement with Dassault to a partnership between the French company and Reliance Defence Limited (RDL). RDL has dismissed the charges as baseless and unfounded and threatened to take legal action against any party disseminating defamatory allegations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday saints and seers had worked hard to preserve Indian culture over the centuries.

He said one such great saint was Shri Rang Avadhoot Maharaj whose life was a mix of patriotism and spirituality.

The prime minister was addressing the 50th Nirvan anniversary of Avadhoot Maharaj held at Nareshwar, some 265 km from Ahmedabad, through video conferencing.

The programme marked the beginning of the year-long celebrations of the anniversary.

We are blessed that time and again saints and seers take birth in our country and work hard to protect Indian culture and traditions, Modi said.

Rang Avadhoot Maharaj was one of such saints of modern India who worked hard for our culture. His life was a blend of patriotism and spirituality, Modi said.

Avadhoot Maharaj also took part in the freedom struggle, he said.

He was a freedom fighter and worked under Mahatma Gandhi. He later became a monk, he said.

Highlighting the religious leaders contributions, Modi said, He distributed spiritual knowledge, he gave to the society his books, clothes to the poor, food to the hungry and medicines to those who were unhealthy.

Modi said when he was Gujarat chief minister, he had named a bridge after Avadhoot Maharaj as a mark of tribute.

The revered saint has committed followers even after 50 years of his death. This showed he had not died but was living inside us, the prime minister said.
As soon as Manushi Chhillar was crowned the Miss World-2017 title in the Chinese city of Sanya on Saturday, her uncles house in Rohtak was abuzz with celebrations. She is the first Indian woman to bag the title after Priyanka Chopra won the pageant in 2000.

She is gifted. Since childhood she liked playing with dolls and dress herself. But she also wanted to serve the people. Even though she has become Miss World she will go on to complete her medical studies, Manushis aunt Dr Usha Chhillar and her professor of dermatology at the BPS Medical College.

The family members said she is a good poet, painter and Kuchipudi dancer. She is working on her project on menstrual hygiene as well.

Manushi, who originally belongs to Bamnoli village in Haryanas Jhajjar district and is a third-year MBBS student at BPS Medical College for Women, Khanpur Kalan, in Sonepat, wants to be a cardiac surgeon.

Celebrations at the house of Manushi Chhilars uncle in Rohtak. (HT Photo)

Manushi comes from a family of doctors. Her father, Dr Mitrabasu Chhillar, is an endocrinologist at the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), Delhi, and mother, Dr Neelam Chhillar, is a doctor at the Institute of Human Behavior and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), Delhi. Both her parents are presently with Manushi in China.

Manushi did her schooling from Bengaluru and Delhi. She scored 96% in Class 12 boards and topped the CBSE in English examination.

Her uncle, Dr Dinesh Chillar, who is posted at the Gohana civil hospital, said she has taken a break from studies for one year and will continue with her third year in next batch. Her college is extremely supportive and celebrated all her achievements, he said.

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Union minister Smriti Irani took a jibe at Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for his reported maharaja comments amidst a row over period drama Padmavati.

Tharoor reportedly said on Thursday the so called valourous maharajas had scurried to accommodate themselves when the British trampled over their honour and were now after a filmmaker, claiming that prestige was at stake.

Reacting to Tharoors remarks, Irani tweeted, Did all the Maharajs (kings) kneel in front of the British? What will Jyotiraditya Scindia, Diggi Raja (Digvijaya Singh) and Amarinder Singh say on Shashi Tharoors comments?

Tharoor on Thursday had tweeted, Im dismayed that some BJP supporters are claiming I attacked Rajput honour...I spoke about the Maharajahs who made their accommodations w/the (with the) British. I have never made a communal comment in my life.

Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday lashed out at Tharoor over the maharaja comment. Scindia was quoted as saying, I think he (Shashi Tharoor) should study history, I am Jyotiraditya Scindia and I am proud of my past.

Tharoor said peoples sentiments must be respected in the interest of Indias diversity and harmony. Rajput valour is part of our history and is not in question. BJP and its censors should take these concerns into account, he said.

Sanjay Leela Bhansalis movie Padmavati is witnessing protests with some groups alleging that it tampered with historical facts.
It was due on Friday but the rain had other plans. As the sun got out of bed and stretched itself on Saturday --- rising slightly late perhaps because it is the weekend --- Cheteshwar Pujara reached his 16th Test half-century on Day 3 of the first Test match between India and Sri Lanka in Kolkata on Saturday. (LIVE BLOG)

Fittingly it was off a boundary, his 10th and the first off a spinner. Rangana Herath was introduced from the Club House end and Cheteshwar Pujara swept his fifth ball to the fine-leg fence to complete a well-deserved half century. It was an important personal milestone but more importantly it was one that India desperately needed to ensure that the first innings got a shade of respectability. (LIVE SCORECARD)

Eight of Pujaras boundaries have been on the off-side but when Dimuth Karunarathna strayed in line on Friday, he was pulled. Ditto when Herath drifted on to the middle and leg.

However, Pujara was unable to build on his fifty as Lahiru Gamage produced an absolute peach of a delivery to dismiss him for 52. The ball nipped back in sharply off the deck and when Pujara went for the drive, past the gap to flatten off his stumps.

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Bharatpur A 12-year-old girl has approached the government-run One Stop Centre (OSC) to stop her upcoming marriage and has sought legal action against her parents who are pressuring her to agree for the wedding.

The incident has been reported from Machhriya village of Rajasthans Dholpur district  considered as home turf of chief minister Vasundhara Raje, who is married to the Dholpur royal family and is fondly called Maharani by the people.

The girl, a student of Class 8 at a government senior secondary school, got her complaint registered with the OSC in Dholpur on November 16 over phone. The girl had secured the OSCs telephone number from the State Womens Commissions website. She had got to know about the OSC during an awareness session held at her school.

In her complaint, the girl alleged that her parents have fixed her marriage with a 19-year-old boy from Harlal Ka Nagla village in the district. The wedding is scheduled on December 4 and she said her parents have also started sending out the invitation cards for the function.

The girl alleged that her parents beat her up when she protested against getting married at such young age. She said she doesnt want to get married and wants to continue with her education.

The service provider at the Dholpur OSC, Sanjeev Chauhan, confirmed having received the complaint.

She informed us over phone about her upcoming wedding and sought help for stopping it. We forwarded her complaint to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and the district collector for legal action against her parents who are forcing the minor to get married, Chauhan said.

Chairman, CWC, Dholpur, Vrijendra Parmar said, We have told the police officials to stop the marriage.

Circle officer, Maniya, Bachan Singh said the station house officer of Dihauli police station was directed to stop the marriage. The police team has restricted the parents from going ahead with the minors marriage. They have also taken in writing from the parents that they will not get the girl married before she turns 18 and in case they do, legal action will be taken against them.

Parmar added that they have also the directed the would-be grooms parents not to get him married before he turns 21, the legal age of marriage for males.

The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development has set up the One Stop Centres across country to provide an integrated range of services including medical, legal, and psychological support to women affected by violence. Funded through Nirbhaya Fund, the OSCs are integrated with 181 and several other existing helplines. Of the total 150 OSCs set up in country, 15 are in Rajasthan.

India is home to more than 23 million child brides with one out of every five marriages violating the laws prohibiting child marriage.

In October, the Supreme Court criminalized sex between man and his wife who is below 18 years of age. The court had ruled that the exception in the rape law that allowed a man to have sex with his minor wife aged between 15 and 18 was arbitrary and violated the Constitution. It also ruled that the Exception 2 in Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code was contrary to the philosophy of other statutes and violated the bodily integrity of a girl child.
Mother-teacher meetings were organised for the first time in about 14,000 government schools of Rajasthan on Saturday, a move aimed at making mothers stakeholders in their childrens education.

A child spends maximum time with his/her mother, and its important to sensitise the mother towards kids education, secondary education director Nathmal Didel said, explaining the idea behind the move.

We discussed with the mothers today how important education is and how they can monitor their childrens progress. From the feedback we got, it appears that they were very concerned, said Didel. Most of them wanted their kids to become qualified enough for a job. Some also expressed concerns regarding security of their children.

He said the attendance of mothers or female guardians was roughly 50%, whereas in the parent-teacher meetings, its usually 70-80%. The turnout is still encouraging, and well work hard to have a better turnout next time.

On the pattern of private schools, the education department introduced this year parent-teacher meetings in government schools.

The schools have to hold four parent-teacher meetings in a year and the third meeting, slated for Saturday, was turned into one exclusively for mothers. The two previous parent-teacher meetings of this year were held in May and September.

The mother-teacher meet is being organised so that mother power gets adequate representation in the academic and co-curricular activities of the child, school education minister Vasudev Devnani said in a press note on Friday.

An order from the department said the mothers (or female guardians) link with the childs learning progress is crucial for overall academic development of the child. The order gives the example of Maratha ruler Shivaji and his mother Jija Bai, under whose tutelage he grew up.

The schools were earlier instructed to invite the mothers (or female guardians) 10 days ahead of the meeting. They were also told to publicise the meet and go door-to-door encouraging the mothers to attend it.

The decision to hold parent-teacher meeting in government schools is one of the many reforms steered by Devnani. The others include school mergers, staff rationalisation, roping in philanthropists and creation of Adarsh schools.

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The education department recently asked government schools in Jaipur to take students to a fair organised by the Hindu Spirituality and Service Foundation (HSSF), prompting critics to call it another move by the government to saffronise education.

A stall of the Bajrang Dal in the fair had manuals for girls on how to protect themselves from love jihad, an alleged conspiracy theory that Muslims woo Hindu girls to convert them to Islam. The manual specified the ways through which Muslim youths trap Hindu girls.

The HSSF works to promote human and family values, ecological causes, and patriotism, said Dinesh Peetaliya, treasurer of the Foundation. The objective of the five-day fair that kicked off on Thursday is to give a platform to all Hindu organisations to come together and showcase their work to common people, he added.

Ramkrishna Mission, Patanjali, Shankhnaad Foundation, and Subhadra Gau Utpad were some of the organisations that had put up their stalls in the fair. The treasurer said the fair was apolitical, neutral and for all the communities.

Jaipur district education officer Ratan Singh said government schools had been asked to take school kids to the fair but the visit was not made mandatory. Whenever such programmes are organised, where we feel students will learn something or get exposure, we ask the schools to take the kids, said Singh.

Condemning the move, activist Komal Srivastava said the government was trying to poison the minds of students. The governments idea is to catch them young and further their binary narrative (us-them divide). They also want to curb the freedom of girls by using the love jihad propaganda as a pretext, said Srivastava, president of Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti that works for science popularisation, education and rights of women.

Earlier this month, the Rajasthan government organised a mass Vande Mataram recital programme in collaboration with the HSSF and told students to attend the programme. The state government has on earlier occasions drawn flak for glorifying Hindutva icons in schoolbooks and pushing to sidelines the role of Gandhi and Nehru in the Indian independence movement.
Three women contract workers were killed and another was critically injured after a special holiday train knocked them down between Goregaon and Malad stations on Saturday. The 35-year-old injured woman, Sunita Gajanan Bhoryalay, was admitted to Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivli.

The other three women were identified as Anita Bhaiyyalal Shinde, 32; Jaya Raju Khatawase, 35; and Shivani Gajanan Bhoryalay, 18. All four woman are natives of Madhya Pradesh.

According to the Government Railway Police (GRP), the women were contract workers for Railways. Purushottam Karad, deputy commissioner of police (GRP), western region, said the incident took place at 12.20pm when the women were trespassing on railway tracks. They were walking towards Malad station after completing their work.

Karad said that the special train left Bandra station and was bound for Indore. The Bandra-Indore train halted at the spot for about 15 minutes, said the spokesperson of Western Railway. The GRP have registered a case of accidental death.

An average of eight people were killed daily on railway tracks in 2016. As many as 3,202 passengers died and 3,363 were injured on the suburban railway network. More than 50 % of the total fatalities occurred due to trespassing.
Air Indias aircraft maintenance engineers and service engineers, who have opposed plans to privatise the national carrier, met Derek OBrien, Member of Parliament and chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on tourism and culture, on Wednesday.

The All India Aircraft Engineers Association (AIAEA), All India Service Engineers Association (AISEA) and Air India Employees Guild (AIEG) submitted a letter voicing their concerns to OBrien. The unions said that OBrien agreed to arrange a meeting of the engineers with the parliamentary committee.

The letter, which was also sent to the ministry of civil aviation and the civil aviation minister, stated Many parliamentarians and past CMDs (chairman and managing director)of Air India have commented that the strategic decisions at the ministry level have caused huge debts, like unplanned fleet acquisitions, merger of two different entities Indian Airlines and Air India . The letter also stated that privatisation of the national carrier and its subsidiaries should be avoided, and an effective revival plan should be formulated instead, with participation of the employees. The unions also sought an immediate appointment with the standing committee to present their idea.

A senior AIEG member said, Its been six months, but none of the employees are clear about the happenings of their own company. We tried our level best to fix a meeting with the management, but there has been no response from them. Hence, we want a meeting with the standing committee.

The unions said that if the airline is privatised, other private airlines would come together to dictate pricing.
A day after a student was caught with a copy of a Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) paper on her mobile phone, University of Mumbai (MU) said that the decision to conduct a re-examination will be taken after the police enquiry and the universitys internal probe.

Speaking to HT, Arjun Ghatule, in-charge director, board of examination and evaluation at MU, said that the university is awaiting the results of an enquiry by the city police. Meanwhile, a committee appointed by the university is also investigating the incident.

"We will soon receive the reports from police as well as our own committees. Once the timing of the papers being posted on social media is ascertained, it will be clear whether it was a 'leak' or not. Based on that, we will decide whether to conduct a re-examination," he said. He added that if a college is found to be responsible for the leak, action will be taken against it.

A university official, however, suggested that there wont be a re-examination as the paper didn't seem to have reached many students.

READ: Mumbai University exam paper leak: Computer technician, nine others arrested

On Thursday, MVM College in Andheri caught a student from a Vile Parle college carrying a mobile phone during Marketing: E-commerce & Digital Marketing paper of BMS fifth semester examination, 45 minutes after the paper started at 11am. The phone had a copy of the paper on it. The college filed a complaint against the student at Amboli police station.

A day earlier HT had reported that several fifth semester BMS papers, held between Monday and Wednesday, were 'leaked' on a social media platform more than an hour before the examination.

The university sends the papers to exam centres online through its Digital Exam Paper Delivery System (DEPDS), which was introduced in 2013 in the wake of several paper leak incidents. The colleges receive a password to download the question papers from an MU portal, usually one and half hours before the paper starts. The papers are then printed by the college and distributed among the students.

Ghatule said that MU's online paper delivery method is a foolproof system with many in-built security features. "There's no problem in the technology. The leaks occur when humans get involved. But one will have to trust humans," he said.

Last year, a BMS paper was similarly leaked on social media 30-40 minutes before the examination. No culprit of the incident was identified.

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If all goes according to Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackerays plan, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) may soon start using confiscated plastic bags and straws for road construction and other public amenities.

Plastic bags thinner than 50 microns are banned in Maharashtra. The state government recently announced a a blanket ban on plastic bags from March next year.

Thackerays request comes amid BMCs ongoing drive against plastic bags in municipal markets. It has urged vendors to shun plastic bags.

He has asked the BMC to check if it is feasible to use plastic with other material to build roads. In a series of tweets, Thackeray on Saturday said, Along with plastic ban across the state, the BMC will also make its markets plastic free. I request the municipal commissioner to conduct a feasibility study whether confiscated plastic can be used to make roads. Many restaurants and cafes have already committed to not using plastic straws and bags.

Civic officials have visited several municipal fish, vegetable, and fruit markets in prominent areas such as Dadar and Vile Parle for the past one week.

Meanwhile, it is not just the civic body which has been conducting awareness drives. A citizens group from Juhu  Team ForWard69  held a anti-plastic rally between Chandan Cinema and Juhu Church on Saturday morning. Teh citizens along with local corporator Renu Hansraj visited municipal markets and urged vendors to give up plastic bags. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Hansraj said, We have even provided phone number of cloth bags and news paper bags distributors to these vendors, and held several workshops describing the hazards of plastic.

Roadmap for green future

Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday asked state transport minister Diwakar Raote to consider rolling out electric buses for various routes, including Mumbai-Pune and Pune-Kolhapur, to cut carbon emissions

After meeting Raote, Thackeray tweeted, Seeing the benefit of the electric buses (rolled out by BEST), I requested the minister to encourage electric buses on the Mumbai- Pune, Pune-Nagar and Pune-Kolhapur routes to promote emission-free transport in Maha

In the intra-city public transport... electric bikes and cycles must be promoted by the government to reduce pollution. We must keep our world green.
Kamli  an adulterated form of brown sugar marketed decades ago by a woman after whom it was named  has returned to Mumbais streets after a lengthy hiatus.

What has the citys drug enforcement agencies worried is the drugs molecular formulation, which subverts clinical tests required to bring the contraband under the list of banned drugs and book its peddlers.

Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Shivdeep Lande said the police were on alert and the crackdown against narcotics would continue.

Top sources in the anti-narcotics cell (ANC) said the locally improvised contraband was thought to have disappeared from the market a decade ago, following Kamlis forced sabbatical on account of poor health. She died a few years ago.

However, recent seizures have led ANC sleuths to suspect that the same drug is being circulated once more.

Little is known about Kamlis personal life. Her foray into the narcotics trade came at a time when the D Company facilitated the inflow of synthetic opioids from Pakistan and south-east Asia into the city in the 1980s. The deadly drug  mostly brown sugar  was called smack or skag and peddled in the streets. Its customers? Celebrities and children from across socio-economic strata.

At that point of time, Kamli, a migrant who had settled in Tardeo slums, held sway over the drug trade in south Mumbai through a trusted network of peddlers. It was said that the market for her drug was the dark alleys of Ballard Estate. After the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, the police initiated an all-out crackdown on the drug syndicate. After a few run-ins with the law, Kamli shut shop temporarily as the supply chain had dried up.

Taking advantage of the lack of drugs available on the market, Kamli resumed operations once more in the late 1990s as the prices of contraband soared. By this time, she had found a way to bypass the law  through a newfound chemical spray that altered the molecular composition of the drug while retaining its effectiveness.

She began peddling Kamli, which became an instant hit among the poor and lower middle-class as it cost a fraction of what pure heroin did, said sources. Its composition also meant that users and peddlers could get away in case of arrest under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

Old ANC records suggest that Kamlis men were caught peddling the drug several times. However, the police had to let them ago after forensic tests to detect brown sugar came back negative.

Now, ANC sources suspect that a new cartel has resumed the production of Kamli using the old modus operandi.

Cartels procure high-grade heroin at a street price of Rs2.5 crore a kg. Later, harmless additives such as baking soda or monosodium glutamate is added to increase the quantity and bring down the retail cost. For every kg of pure heroin, 4kg of additives are added. Each kg is sold to small distributers at Rs1 crore a kg.

Retailers convert the adulterated drug into Kamli by spraying it with a certain chemical. Sources said they suspect that the operation is carried out at rented flats on the outskirts of Navi Mumbai.

While a pouch containing 1g Kamli is sold at Rs250 to Rs300 on the street, pure drugs of the same volume cost around Rs5,000.

Noted anti-drug campaigner Dr Yusuf Merchant said it was difficult to alter the molecular composition of the drug by adding another chemical to it. I am unaware of this particular drug. It is possible that another method could have been used to alter it, he said.

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With the sessions court convicting all three suspects of the rape and murder of a minor girl in Kopardi, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said he hoped that the guilty received the strictest punishment. He added that the verdict could be seen as a kind of justice for the girl and her family. Political leaders and organisers of Maratha silent rallies have also demanded that the convicts be given the death sentence.

The Kopardi incident is a blot on the progressive image of Maharashtra. It also shows the mentality of the accused. We hope that the accused receive the maximum punishment so such incidents are not repeated, said Ashok Chavan, state Congress president and Member of Parliament (MP) from Nanded.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) state chief Sunil Tatkare also demanded the death sentence for the convicts.To curb such incidents in the state, all three convicts should be hanged to death.

Nanasaheb Kute Patil, one of the organisers of the Maratha rallies, said the verdict strengthened the peoples trust in Indias judicial system. However, the case will become a lesson for others only if the convicts are sent to gallows, Patil told HT.

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A 26-year-old madrassa teacher was on Friday arrested for allegedly raping his five-year-old student at Mumbra on Friday.

The accused, Mohammed Sirtaj Latiul Rehman Shaikh, 26, joined the madrassa where the child used to learn Arabic, a month ago. The police said he sexually assaulted the child several times last week.

Vidhya Patil, inspector, Mumbra police station, said, The incident came to light on Thursday after the child complained of pain in her private parts. She told her parents that the accused touched her inappropriately and threatened to take revenge and stop teaching her if she told anyone about it.

After the complaint, the accused fled to Nerul. The police laid a trap and arrested him in Mumbra.

He has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and The Prevention Of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 (POCSO). Shaikh has been involved in several crimes in the past couple of months. He was about to escape to his native place, said Patil.

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Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray will address a public meeting in Thane on Saturday evening, expected to be an aggressive show of strength by his party, which has taken on a violent, confrontational stand on the anti-hawkers, anti-migrants issue.

The venue, Thane, is significant as it is here that on October 21, the MNS started its anti-hawkers campaign, with party workers ransacking stalls and driving away hawkers in the vicinity of Thane railway station. MNS workers had gone on a rampage, claiming that the 15-day deadline Thackeray had issued to railway authorities during his October 5 protest march, following the Elphinstone Road station stampede, had lapsed, and that they were doing what the authorities should have done. Thackeray had warned that either the Railways evict hawkers, or his party workers would do it.

Speaking of Saturdays rally, MNS secretary Sachin More said he expects it to be successful as there is a lot of enthusiasm, especially among train commuters. Thane was the place where the whole anti-hawkers agitation started, and today, most railway stations are free of hawkers. Now , commuters can walk easily and even buses have a smooth ride, More said.

Since October 21, the MNS has been actively targeting hawkers, ransacking their wares and evicting them forcefully. Last month, MNS leader Sushant Malavade was injured after a group of hawkers allegedly attacked him with iron rods close to Malad police station, for his role in their eviction.

Most people squarely blame the Railways for the tragedy, which they believe occurred because of a blatant neglect of rail infrastructure and indifference towards commuters issues, one of which was illegal hawkers occupying space on already overcrowded rail premises such as foot over-bridges. Since the incident, the MNS has taken an aggressive anti-hawkers stand .

The party has been trying to get back in the limelight and regain its popularity and relevance in Maharashtra ever since its abysmal performance in the 2014 elections where it won seats in single digits in both the state Assembly and the Mumbai civic body besides losing hold of the Nashik municipal body. Thackeray is trying to exploit the hawkers issue and has even threatened to file contempt proceedings against ward officers and railway officials if hawkers are spotted in areas prohibited by the court. He is expected to focus more on the agitations at the rally.

Political analysts, however, dont believe that such rallies will boost the partys prospects. MNS agitations are episodic, and there is no consistency in the party. Just giving speeches has no effect unless the party has strong grassroot-level support, which the MNS lacks, said political commentator Prakash Bal.

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Three people have been detained from rural Maharashtra on Friday in connection with the bank heist at Sanpada.

As many as 30 lockers in Bank of Barodas Sanpada branch were looted on November 10 and 11 after the robbers dug a 30-feet-long tunnel from a nearby shop.

The police formed 10 teams and sent them to various locations in the country to nab the culprits. The police however did not reveal anything about the investigation or these people fearing it could hamper their investigations.

The investigation saw some major developments on Friday. Our teams are still working on it, but we are not in a position to share the developments. This was a well-planned and well-organised crime, which was executed after waiting for the right moment. We may be able to say something about the developments on Saturday, said a police officer while requesting anonymity.

The police are still examining the CCTV footage of the building and scanning the call data records of the main suspect Gena Bachchan Parasd. Some people are creating their own stories for a media hype that is hampering the investigation. We request them to refrain from doing so, said Navi Mumbai police commissioner Hemant Nagrale.

A letter issued by R Babu Ravi Shankar, deputy regional manager, Mumbai Metro East Region, Bank of Baroda, said, The bank is cooperating with the police. The branch will remain open for all services except locker operations till further notice. As per RBI guidelines and Banks rules and regulations, Bank will take 30 locker customers responsibility and interest in mind and act accordingly.

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After the Railways, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has now trained his guns on banks. He now wants them to conduct their transactions in Marathi.

Addressing a rally in Thane on Saturday, Thackeray reiterated that he would intensify his crackdown against illegal hawkers. He criticised banks for ignoring the Marathi language despite guidelines from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on using the local language. From tomorrow, our workers will go to banks and check if transactions are being done in Marathi. If not, we will force them to do so. We are not breaking any law but just enforcing RBIs guidelines, said Thackeray.

He recently initiated a drive against hawkers after the Elphinstone Road station stampede in September to revive his partys fortunes after his party was beaten in the local elections.

He alleged that government officials and politicians were hobnobbing with hawkers. Every year, a minimum Rs 2,000 crore is given as bribe to government officials and political parties. Therefore they are more concerned about hawkers rather than lakhs of commuters, the MNS chief said.

He said Indian Muslims residing for more than 50 years in the state have never caused any riot.

In his last address to party workers held in the first week November, he had praised Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar for his foresight to keep enemies at bay.

Thackeray said the Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway, a pet project of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, would be welcomed if it benefitted the state. But it should not be a ploy to form a separate state, he cautioned.

Shivaji had his roots in Vidarbha. If the state builds the expressway for progress of Vidarbha and separates it from Maharashtra, we will destroy the road, Thackeray said.

On the Gujarat elections, Thackeray said Patidar community leader Hardik Patel is entitled to his privacy and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should respect that. The MNS had published a blue print during the Maharashtra assembly elections, while BJP has published a blue film to win Gujarat assembly elections. Hardik Patel is entitled to his privacy and the BJP should refrain from playing peeping Toms, the MNS chief said, adding the BJP calls Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi Pappu but are scared of him as the entire team of senior BJP leaders was stationed in Gujarat to defeat him.

He urged people to maintain communal harmony and brotherhood.

For years Marathi, Jain and Gujarati communities have stayed together. No one was offended by the smell of meat. However, suddenly in the last three-four years, the smell is intolerable. The government is trying to create disharmony between the communities. The Marathi community has also started talking about caste as the government has also created a rift between various groups. The division of Maharashtra will only benefit Gujaratis and other communities, he said.

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Vehicle pile-ups on Swami Vivekananda Road in the western suburbs during peak hours may soon be a thing of the past, as the civic body has started to widen the road.

The widening and improvement of road and sidewalks along the road will be completed by April next year, said civic officials.

According to the Andheri (West) ward office, the 1.5km stretch from Vallabhbhai Patel Road to Milan subway will be widened by 120ft. Motorists on this road need respite, said assistant municipal commissioner Prashant Gaikwad.

While the road work has already begun at some spots like outside Nanavati Hospital, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has sent notices to 12 property owners, including the airport authority, for land acquisition.

Umesh Bodkhe, assistant engineer of the civic maintenance department, said, We are waiting for a response from the airport authority. Once we get that, the demolition work will start within a week.

A policy focusing on rehabilitation and resettlement for road widening projects to avoid shifting tenants or owners to far-away locations was formulated by the BMC earlier this year.

The Irla junction is another spot where the road will be widened by 30ft. Twenty-six structures will be affected at the junction, said officials.

While residents welcome the road-widening move, they want more comprehensive plan.

Anil Desai of Juhu Citizens Welfare Group said, Irla junction is a bottleneck, but illegal parking is also an issue on this road. We need proper parking spaces and regular clearing of encroachments.

Architect PK Das said, The congestion will only resume as the overhead metro line on SV road will take up a lanes space again.

MLA Ameet Satam said separate lanes would be made for autorickshaws and other vehicles outside Andheri station. We have made separate lanes for bus, auto and four-wheelers, but there is no discipline among citizens, said Gaikwad.
The University of Mumbai (MU) has scheduled exams of three-year and five-year LLB (law) courses on the same dates as the Company Secretary (CS) examinations, making it impossible for CS aspirants to take both the tests.

The university had recently postponed 13 law examinations by a few days, after students demanded that the repeat exams  for students who did not clear a subject earlier  be held only after all the re-evaluation results of old exams are out. The move, however, resulted in some of the papers clashing with CS exam. CS aspirants, who are also pursuing law, have now written a letter to the university, requesting the authorities to reschedule the tests again, in order to avoid the overlapping of papers.

The students had demanded the postponement of the repeat examinations, but the university changed the schedule of several regular exams as well. This decision was uncalled for, said Srushti, a fourth-year BLS LLB (a five-year law course) student at a city college. The revised timetables have added to the students agony, said Sachin Pawar, president, Students Law Council, a city-based students group.

The revised timetables of second and seventh semester exams of BLS LLB and third and fifth semester exams of three-year LLB are overlapping with CS exams, which will be held between December 21 and 30. While the exact number of CS aspirants in law courses couldnt be estimated, the students said they received complaints from around 200 students in the city.

Clashing of the university exams and other competitive tests has become a recurring issue. Last month, the university had to change the dates of BCom and law exams to allow students to take the Chartered Accountancy (CA) test. An official from the university said that being an autonomous body, the university often doesnt consider other competitive tests while planning its examination. He also said that while The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, which conducts CA exam, intimates the university about its exam schedule, the varsity doesnt receive such information from The Institute of Company Secretaries of India, which conducts CS exam.

The official said that the university will likely further postpone the examination. We are considering the request made by the students. A decision will be taken shortly, he said.

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In their speeches in the election rally held in Ghaziabad on Saturday, BJP leaders, including CM Yogi Adityanath, spoke about development, crime and employment, but did not mention the killing of BJP leader Shiv Kumar two days ago.

On November 16, Kumar and his two aides were gunned down by assailants who open fired at their SUV near Tigri crossing adjacent to NH-24. The incident shocked residents as a 15-year-old girl of Behrampur lost her life after she was overrun by the victims SUV after the injured driver lost control of the vehicle.

Yogi in his speech mentioned another slain BJP leader, Gajendra Bhati, and his wife Reena, who is now contesting the election from Khoda nagar palika as BJPs chairperson candidate. Bhati was gunned down in Khoda on September 2.

Shiv Kumars grieving family was expecting that the CM will mention the hard work of Kumar. My brother had gone to Lucknow and met Yogi. For several years, he was making untiring efforts to brighten the prospects of the party in the elections. If the party forgets him, what else do we say about it, said Yogesh Yadav, Shiv Kumars cousin. After the incident, we have not been provided any security by the police, he said.

Although nothing was spoken about the Greater Noida killings at the rally, sources say Adityanath sought details from SSP Love Kumar when he was in Delhi on Friday. Following the incident, Shiv Kumars family had named four persons from a rival group as suspects. The victims family members claimed they saw the four at the crime scene.

The CM discussed the case with me and we apprised him of the investigation. The four persons named by the victims family are still under probe. We are verifying more details and are questioning them. We are taking care of the security issues of the victims family, the SSP said.

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In his speech at the election rally at Ramlila Ground in Ghaziabad, CM Yogi Adityanath tried to woo voters by promising them metro extensions, employment opportunities, drainage systems, industrial development and other civic amenities.

Yogi explained the need to vote for BJP candidates during the upcoming local body elections. Our party has given you able candidates and you must help them win. There will be all-round development as BJP has a government at the Centre and in the state. We may send funds, but it is up to the elected members in local bodies to decide on how to utilise the funds. That is why proper candidates need to be elected, Yogi said.

He said the city should make it to the smart city project of the Centre as it will bring in development and employment.

Lauding the benefits of the central government schemes, he promised free electricity connections and said the state government has provided nearly 20 lakh connections across the state.

He also promised free connections to masses in Khoda, which is the partys major voter base as a majority of people there are from Purvanchal. He said the state government has sent funds for Khodas development.

Ghaziabad MP general (retd) VK Singh also said people should remember that goddess Lakshmi sits on the lotus  the BJPs symbol. BJP state president Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey slammed former urban development minister Azam Khan and said he put hurdles in the development the 12 BJP-led municipal corporations during the previous SP regime. He added that western UP was marred with appeasement politics earlier, but now things have changed.

The Congress and Samajwadi Party on Saturday said they too will bring in star campaigners. We have written to the high command to send leaders such as Raj Babbar, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Harish Rawat and Nagma to campaign in Ghaziabad. The BJP workers are disheartened and that is why the party brought in CM Yogi for campaigning. Our campaigners will also arrive soon, said Narendra Bhardwaj, city president, Congress.

SP leaders said that former CM Akhilesh Yadav will not campaign this elections. However, our other state leaders are engaged in door-to-door campaigning. There will be no major rally but we are focusing on people-to-people contact, said SPs officiating city president, JP Kashyap.

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Homebuyers staged a protest outside the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) headquarters in New Delhi on Saturday and demanded action against builders who have delayed delivery of flats inordinately to allottees in Greater Noida.

On Saturday morning, scores of homebuyers who have invested in housing projects in Greater Noida, under the banner of Noida Extension Flat Owners Welfare Association (Nefowa), marched towards the BJPs head office at 11, Ashoka Road in New Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised every Indian his/her own house by 2022. Even the top leaders of BJP had promised that if the party comes to power in Uttar Pradesh, they will solve the grievances of homebuyers. However, the situation has remained the same for homebuyers, who are slowly losing patience, said Shweta Bharati, general secretary, Nefowa.

Agitated homebuyers took out a rally and also protested against the party.

We started our rally from Patel Chowk Metro station and walked towards the BJP headquarters on Ashoka Road. Men, women and even children took part in the rally. The police detained many protesters at Patel Chowk and outside the BJP headquarters. We have submitted a memorandum addressed to both PM Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, said Bharati.

The group of protesters comprised homebuyers in projects of Amrapali, Earth, Jaypee and Supertech, among others, she said.

Before the UP state polls, BJP had promised an end to homebuyers woes. This was among their major promises that swayed the elections in their favour, a homebuyer said.

All housing projects that are pending must be completed at the earliest at the behest of any government agency or a trusted builders group. Complaints against builders lodged with the Noida authority must be looked into and strict action must be taken against those found guilty. Similarly, the police are hesitant in lodging complaints against the builders so, they must be told to register any complaint made against builders, at the earliest, said Yogesh Tyagi, a homebuyer.

Homebuyers also demanded that the equated monthly instalments (EMIs) being collected by banks against home loans must be stopped.

There are many housing projects in which work has not been resumed for many years. Homebuyers must not pay the EMI in such cases and the government should make provisions for the same, said Bharati.

Reacting to the protest, Gautam Budh Nagar MP, Mahesh Sharma, said,We fully sympathize with the cause of homebuyers and we understand their situation. Our state government has constituted a three-minister committee to resolve their issues but there are some nuances in housing projects that complicate the issue. Past governments have taken their share of bribes and left the people stranded.

Noida member of legislative assembly (MLA) Pankaj Singh said that the state government is taking all steps to ensure that the homebuyers woes end at the earliest.

It is a long battle that we all have to fight to get justice for homebuyers. Due to previous governments, the buyers have suffered a lot. As soon as I was elected MLA from Noida, I met CM Yogi with representatives of housing projects and called for immediate action. I had also met minister Suresh Khanna recently and told him that strict action must be taken against builders who defy the directives of CM Yogi, said Singh.

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A stroke of fortune took me into the prime ministers secretariat where I was to remain for a few years. This was Indira Gandhis office and to work there was a great privilege. Serving any PM at close quarters is a source of pride for a civil servant but serving a person like Indira Gandhi was something particularly special. She was at her peak when I was inducted, in full command, a resplendent personality, the cynosure of admiring attention at home and abroad. She was known to set uncompromisingly high standards and anyone who joined her staff had to be alert and careful in trying to measure up.

As I soon discovered for myself, the secretariat was like no other office of the government of India. Its procedures and ways were particular to itself, its sole task being to ascertain the PMs wishes on the numerous items of government business that required her attention and to convey her decisions onward to the agencies concerned. It was intended to be a lean, swift process, without long-winded notings and confabulations. A good part of the work was done orally, for Indira Gandhi was approachable to her staff, as long as you were not wasting her time.

As someone deputed from the ministry of external affairs (MEA), I was expected to be in regular contact with my parent ministry and be a conduit for its regular business. Indira Gandhi herself had much experience of the diplomatic world and enjoyed meeting her peers from different parts of the world, and sometimes her diplomatic good sense achieved better results than could be attained by her advisors, as for instance through the good understanding she established with President Ronald Reagan at a conference in Acapulco at a time when India-US ties were in a trough.

In her office my MEA-related duties were largely in the sphere of protocol. She was a meticulous hostess and required her staff to maintain very high standards of courtesy and decorum. She herself, even after many years of supreme authority, never lost the attributes of a great and gracious lady. No one could take any sort of liberty but she treated people around her with thoughtfulness, and all of us on her staff enjoyed many signs of her consideration.

I was invariably part of her entourage when she travelled abroad, which gave me many opportunities to see her at work. The first oil crisis came up at that time and placed the country in serious difficulty; the price of oil had shot up overnight and, more problematic was the fact that some of the traditional suppliers were wavering about future supplies. Matters were serious enough for Indira Gandhi to intervene personally, and she responded bravely. Only the countrys dire need could have driven her to visit traditional suppliers in the Gulf in search of assured oil supplies, for it was not in her nature to look for favours. Nevertheless, in the pressing circumstances of the time, she felt it necessary to visit Iraq, where she was warmly received by Saddam Hussein who was the Iraqi leader at the time, and who did not hesitate to meet Indias needs. I recall the state banquet where to my surprise I was suddenly summoned to the small conference room where the two Heads of State were in private conclave, there to do nothing much for the next several minutes while they conversed. Later I understood that I had been summoned because Saddam Hussein, unlike Indira Gandhi, had an aide with him and she wanted an equal match: nothing was just given away!

In the same period and on the same quest she went to Tehran where the Shah gave her an equally cordial welcome. Here, too, the PMs personal diplomacy was rounded off by a generous agreement on the supply of oil.

In Indira Gandhis small secretariat, various incumbents were required to undertake a variety of tasks, some of them outside their normal area of activity. There was no specialist for education for instance, or for cultural affairs, matters in which she was deeply versed and took particular interest. It fell to my lot to do some of the required staff work for regular contact between the secretariat and cultural institutions of interest to her. One of the most prominent of these was Rabindranath Tagores university Viswa Bharati whose annual convocation was an important annual fixture on her calendar. She kept in touch with scholars and artists from India and elsewhere and took obvious delight in meeting them, so that creative people were drawn to her as a kindred spirit.

A particular area in which she took special interest was the environment and wildlife. In this, she was well ahead of her time, for conventional wisdom regarded the bounty of nature as something to be exploited for the benefit of humankind, not as something to be cherished in its own right and conserved for future generations. One of my most pleasing tasks within the secretariat was to keep in touch with the growing tribe of conservationists and take them on occasion to meet Indira Gandhi. She never baulked at it and her personal commitment was an irreplaceable asset to the movement for the conservation of nature.

She was no less supportive of efforts to conserve the countrys built heritage and those who were trying to stem the decay of historic monuments could count on her support. She once learnt that the Taj Mahal could be affected by an oil refinery being set up at Mathura, which is some distance away but still within possible range of chemical pollution that could damage the marble. I was sent to Agra to find out what I could. She was too canny to order drastic measures like shutting down or relocating the refinery on the evidence available at the time, but her interest in the matter was sufficient to persuade polluting agencies like the coal burning railways to modify their habits. She was no less zealous in providing protection to the world famous bird sanctuary at Bharatpur. In fact, it was her deep interest spurred by the great Indian birdman Salim Ali that gave Bharatpur an assured future.

All this was undertaken by Indira Gandhi or at her bidding at a time when she was deeply absorbed in leading a highly complex and often unruly country. Her compelling statesmanship and bold response to the challenges she faced made her one of the most admired and successful leaders of her time. As I have tried to present, she was distinguished not by the virtues of a political leader alone but also by her human sensitivity and sophistication. She touched the nations life at many points, cared deeply and left an incomparable legacy.

Salman Haidar has been Indias foreign secretary. He was also director in the prime ministers secretariat during Indira Gandhis tenure.

The views expressed are personal.
In remote tribal villages atop hills in southwest Bihars Kaimur district, trees keep people connected to the outer world.

People sitting on tree branches and talking on cellphones is a common sight outside hilly villages in Adhaura block, 54 km south of district headquarters Bhabua and 250 km southwest of state capital Patna.

In our village, virtually inapproachable by any motor vehicle, we get mobile connectivity only after climbing trees, said Saheb Kharwar and Ram Dayal Kharwar, who claims to be a former mukhiya of Barwan panchayat.

About 45,000 people in 108 villages of Adhaura and 50 others in hilly terrain of Rampur, Chainpur and Chand blocks depend on the lone BSNL tower for telecommunication connectivity.

More mobile towers and electricity poles have not been installed in the area due to objections by the forest department as it falls under the Kaimur wildlife sanctuary.

The ordeal of the tribals will end soon. The Union home ministry has agreed to the proposal for installing 82 solar mobile towers in the area and the BSNL has been assigned to complete the work. We have identified the locations and hope that the work will be start from March next year, Kaimur district magistrate Rajeshwar Prasad Singh said.

The eco-friendly towers would also help in better monitoring of government welfare schemes as well as facilitate effective operations by security forces against Maoists without causing any harm to forests and wildlife, Singh added.
The three accused in the rape and murder case of a 14-year-old girl from Kopardi were pronounced guilty on Saturday by Sessions court in Ahmednagar. The court is likely pronounce the quantum of sentence on November 22.

District and Sessions court judge Suvarna Kevale found concrete evidence against the three accused; Jitendra Shinde, Santosh G Bhaval and Nitin G Bhailume; and convicted them on charges of rape, murder and conspiracy.

On July 13, 2016, a minor belonging to the Maratha community from Kopardi village in Ahmednagar district was raped and murdered by the three, triggering massive protests across the state.

The victim was returning home in the evening from the grandfathers house when the trio grabbed her at an isolated location and committed the crime, according to the 350-page chargesheet in the case.

While the protest later fizzled out due to the overriding ambitions of the organisers, the Kopardi victim and her family got justice within 16 months through a fast-track hearing of the case.

The protest galvanised Marathas against dalits as the convicts were from the dalit community. While the agitation was largely peaceful, incidents of violence were reported from Nashik where dalits came under attack.

The protest forced the government to appoint Ujjwal Nikam as the special public prosecutor and fast track the case. According to prosecution, there were a total of 24 circumstantial evidences produced before the court during the course of trial.

We thank the public prosecutor, the chief minister and the entire Maratha community for their efforts in bringing the accused to books. We expect the convicts to be awarded with the capital punishment, said the victims mother after hearing the court verdict.

According to Nikam, the entire case was based on circumstantial evidence as there were no eye-witnesses available. The forensic tests proved that blood stains of victims were found on the clothes of the convict. The court also accepted this and held the three accused guilty, said Nikam.

TIMELINE

July 13, 2016: A 14-year-old girl belonging to Maratha community was allegedly raped and murdered by three suspects

July 15, 2016: Police arrested the first accused. Two days later, other two accused were also arrested

October 7, 2016: Prosecution files the charge sheet

October 17, 2016: Charges were framed

May 24, 2017: Prosecution close evidence by examining 31 witnesses

November 18, 2018: Sessions court in Ahmednagar held the three accused guilty of raping and murdering the victim.

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In a grim reminder of a call centre employees gangrape last year, another 21-year-old woman was allegedly raped by an auto-rickshaw driver and two other men in a jungle area in Sector 53 here on Friday.

The victim, who hails from Dehradun, had boarded the shared auto in the evening, after attending her first class of stenography in Sector 37. There were two men already sitting in the three-wheeler.

However, instead of taking the woman to Mohali, where she is staying as a paying guest, the auto driver moved towards Sector 42, claiming that he had to refuel his vehicle.

After refuelling the auto, the accused took her to the jungle area opposite the Sector-42 filling station, said police.

There the auto driver along with two other men raped the woman before leaving her there.

Two men on a motorcycle spotted the woman, who was crying. She told them about the crime, following which they informed the police around 9pm.

A police vehicle rushed the woman to the Government Multi Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, where she is stated to be still in trauma.

Doctors were carrying out her medical examination till the filing of this report.

Meanwhile, police have sealed the area and are looking for the accused.

According to the preliminary investigation, the girl was gangraped, said UT senior superintendent of police (SSP) Nilambari Vijay Jagdale. Efforts are on to nab the accused.

According to the victim, the auto had a temporary number. The police department has directed all its officials to check all auto-rickshaws thoroughly throughout the city.

According to the preliminary investigation, the girl was gangraped. Efforts are on to nab the accused.

WATCH VIDEO: How Chandigarh women feel about their safety
A day after a 21-year-old woman was gangraped along a service road on National Highway-21 in Sector 53, Chandigarh, police are yet to arrest the accused.

The victim, who hails from Dehradun, was returning from stenography classes in Sector 37 to her paying guest accommodation in Mohali at 7.45pm on Friday when she was taken to a secluded spot and gangraped by the autorickshaw driver and two passengers.

Two motorcyclists passing by the spot saw her sobbing on the roadside at 9pm and informed the police.

We have a few leads. The accused went to a petrol station before committing the crime. They ran out of fuel and pushed the three-wheeler to the pump in Sector 42. We have the CCTV footage, said Chandigarh police chief Nilambari Vijay Jagdale. We have sought help from the Mohali police, she said as the area borders the district in Punjab.

The victim told the police that she took the shared autorickshaw to go to her paying guest accommodation in Phase 3B1, Mohali. There were two men in the three-wheeler when she boarded it. She was on the phone when she boarded the autorickshaw.

The driver turned towards desolate stretch on Sector 42 on the pretext of filling fuel. When the autorickshaw ran out of fuel, the two passengers got down and pushed it for a few metres to the filling station.

After leaving the petrol station, the accused drove towards a jungle on the opposite side of the highway in Sector 53, where they took turns to rape her.

They took away her mobile phone while fleeing.

Around 9pm, the woman was spotted by two men on a motorcycle while she sat crying on the roadside. She narrated the incident after which they called the police.

The police took her to Government Multi Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16. Doctors confirmed gangrape and said the woman was in trauma.

Apart from checking autorickshaws, the police gathered records of mobile phones operational in the area to track down the accused.

Police sources said the woman, who lost her father recently, did not want her family, comprising her mother and brother, to be told about the gangrape.

(The story has been updated)

WATCH VIDEO: How Chandigarh women feel about their safety
Arrested for snatching chains, the brothers from Jalandhar, Shubham Sehgal (26), and Naman Sehgal (22), used to steal chains and exchange them to get drugs from a Khanna-based drug supplier Gurdeep Singh alias Kala (27). They used to strike deals on WhatsApp to dodge police.

The crime branch of Chandigarh police nabbed Shubham and Naman, along with drug supplier Gurdeep Singh, hailing from Mandi Gobindgarh, from Sector 20 on Wednesday. The accused used to exchange snatched gold chains for drugs.

Shubham and Naman, Class-12 pass, had got addicted to drugs and to fund this the duo started snatching and lifting vehicles.

The two had come to city looking for job in a Call Centre in Sector 34, but had gone there only for a day or two, said Pawan Kumar, DSP (crime), Chandigarh.

Got drug suppliers contact in Kapurthala jail

It was during their stay in Kapurthala jail after they were arrested with smack in 2013 that the brothers had got the contact of drug peddler Gurdeep Singh from another drug peddler Amrik Singh, who was lodged in the jail.

After coming out on bail, Shubham and Naman got in touch with Gurdeep and used to take drugs in exchange of the gold chains they snatched in Jalandhar and now for the past two months in Chandigarh, said DSP.

Used to steal motorcycles, then target women

Shubham and Naman used to move around on a stolen motorcycle and target women walking in the streets or outside their houses. They usually snatched chains during the day time. Moreover, they had stolen four motorcycles, now recovered, which they used for snatching. After snatching chains, they used to go to Mandi Gobindgarh and buy narcotics from Gurdeep Singh.

A chain and stolen motorcycles were also recovered from Gurdeep Singh. He was first arrested in 2015 and charged under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

WhatsApp helped in striking deal, dodge police

As per the police, after snatching gold chain, the accused Shubham and Naman used to send the picture of the chain to Gurdeep Singh on WhatsApp. Gurdeep used to come to Chandigarh to collect the chain and then get it verified by the jeweller. After the stolen item was verified, he used to call the brothers to Mandi Gobindgarh for the delivery of contraband.

Police investigations have pointed out that Gurdeep used to procure drugs from a Nigerain national in Uttam Nagar, New Delhi. The accused used to strike deals through WhatsApp to dodge the cops, said police.

Lapses in tenant verification

Naman and Shubham had shifted to Chandigarh about two months back and were staying as paying guests in Sector 20. They had shifted only after they were identified by the Jalandhar police in a mobile theft case, were facing eight cases in Jalandhar, and had jumped bail. Their arrest points out to the lapses in tenant verification process.

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Acting tough against drug smugglers, the Punjab cabinet on Friday gave green signal to a draft legislation enabling the authorities to attach, seize and forfeit properties of offenders booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

The decision to approve the draft of Punjab Forfeiture of Illegally Acquired Property (PFIAP) Act, 2017 was taken in the cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh here.

According to the draft legislation prepared in consultation with director general of police (DGP) Punjab Suresh Arora, the property of an accused will be attached following the registration of a case under the NDPS Act, while its confiscation or forfeiture will take place only after the final conviction.

However, the property older than six years at the time of the registration of the case will not be attached.

The PFIAP Act applies to every person who has been convicted of an offence punishable under the NDPS Act, with imprisonment for a term of ten years or more, and to every person in respect of whom an order of detention has been made under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988.

This will not apply in cases wherein order of detention has been revoked on the report of the advisory board constituted under the said Act or such order has been set aside by a court of competent jurisdiction.

SOG TO KEEP VIGIL ON MILITANT THREATS

The cabinet has also approved the creation of a Special Operation Group (SOG), which will keep a vigil on militant threats, with non-fiscal incentives for the personnel who will join the new force.

The SOG will contain, counter and neutralise militant threats such as fidayeen attacks, hostage situations and armed infiltration to save precious lives and properties.

The SOG, comprising a team with world-class training and the highest degree of commitment, would help respond effectively, adequately and in the least possible time to neutralise armed aggressors.

It will also minimise collateral damage in the form of loss of civilian lives and damage to the strategic assets of the country.

PUNJAB DISTILLERY RULES AMENDED

In another decision aimed at streamlining production at distilleries, the cabinet accepted a proposal for amending the Punjab Distillery Rules 1932, requiring the licensee to install flow meters at a location specified by the excise commissioner for the purpose of monitoring the production and dispatch of extra neutral alcohol/rectified spirit (RS).

Flow meters in the production line would help streamline the production and stem any leakage from the distilleries so that the entire production is captured.

OTHER KEY DECISIONS

The cabinet okayed The Punjab Victim or their Dependents Compensation Scheme, 2017 to compensate victims of acid attack with a minimum compensation of Rs 3 lakh each. While the Centre will provide one-time assistance of Rs 4.01 crore to crime victims and their dependents, the state will make budgetary provisions for the same.

It also decided to amend its Premature Release Policy to allow early release of mentally incapacitated or terminally ill life convicts, in line with the directives of the Punjab and Haryana high court.

The cabinet also approved the Connect with Your Roots (CYR) programme to reach out to youngsters of Punjabi origin settled in other countries. The programme, aimed at young boys and girls of Punjabi origin whose parents, grandparents or great-grandparents are settled abroad in various countries across the globe, will seek to connect them with their ancestral roots and glorious cultural heritage of Punjab.

Giving a boost to the governments crop diversification efforts, it decided to bring guava, banana and vineyard growers at par with orchard farmers in the matter of the maximum land size they are permitted to own or hold.
The inaugural Military Literature Festival, Chandigarh, kicked off with a polo match at Patiala on November 11 and a two-day military art and photography exhibition on November 18. Conceived by the Punjab governor and chief minister, the event is being organised by the Punjab government, Chandigarh administration and the Armys Western Command. The aim is not only to showcase military writing and history but also foster debate on vital issues of national security.

A whole lot of events have been planned as part of the festival. November 28-29 will see the tricity veterans being provided with a platform to articulate their views. The organisers objective is to involve as many people with military experience in the discussions.

On December 3, a motorbike ride around the city with over a hundred participants will pay homage to our military starting with laying wreaths at the Chandigarh war memorial. Thereafter, audio-visual shows, a band display, an equitation tattoo, a motorcycle and paramotor display will keep the citys population enthralled. Two days of panel discussions on books and subjects of military interest will be the finale.

The organisers are getting the finest minds and speakers from India and abroad to participate. Not just military men but civilian experts and analysts too. Personally, as one of the organisers, Ive been most gratified by peoples enthusiastic response and contribution.

The Swifts golden jubilee

Number 22 Squadron (The Swifts) drew first blood for the IAF in 1971. On November 22, four Gnats operating from Dum Dum attacked four Pakistani Sabres engaged in strafing troops of 9 Division in the Boyra salient, shooting down two and badly damaging a third. Thereafter, the unit flew extensive ground support missions attacking the Barisal and Ishurdi airfields and targets at Jessore. 22 Squadron provided escorts for bombers striking deep inside East Pakistan and to transports carrying paratroopers to be dropped at Tangail. The attempted retreat towards the Dhaka bowl by units of the Pakistan Army was prevented by 22 Squadron and other units through effective anti-shipping operations. The squadron has continued to guard the skies of the North-East since the war and currently flies the Mig-27 ML Bahadur variable-geometry ground-attack aircraft. Some of the most iconic commanders in the IAFs top leadership have led the squadron.

Raised in 1966, the Swifts are celebrating their golden jubilee with a series of functions at Hashimara in West Bengal. Sadly, the commemorations will coincide with their impending number-plating, i.e being put into suspended animation. Weakening of our frontline combat strength is a worrying factor in view of the increasing threat perception.

Standard presentation at Adampur

223 Squadron and 117 Helicopter Unit received the Presidents Standards at Adampur airbase on the 16th. 223 Squadron (Tridents) is equipped with the Mig-29 UPG air-superiority fighter to which it converted from the Mig-23 MF variable-geometry fighter in 1990. The squadron is tasked with the air defence of a considerable section of Punjab as well as offensive operations over Northern and Central Pakistan.

117 Helicopter Unit (Himalayan Dragons) flies the indigenous HAL Dhruv helicopter. Earlier it was equipped with Mi-8 medium-lift helicopters. Based at Sarsawa in UP with 30 Wing the unit is tasked with a wide variety of roles. Its motto Apatsu Mitram (A Friend in Time of Need) best describes its role  ferrying supplies to remote outposts, evacuating casualties and disaster relief.

(Please write in with your narratives of war and military life to msbajwa@gmail.com or call/WhatsApp on 093161-35343)
Nazriya Nazims comeback is finally happening as the actor has begun shooting for her film with co-star Prithviraj. A few pictures from the sets of the film have surfaced on Twitter and we cant keep calm. She is looking out of a window of a parked van as Prithviraj is seen walking away from her.

Nazriya will be making a comeback to the film industry after three years. She tied the knot with her Bangalore Days co-star Fahadh Faasil in 2014 and has been on a break since then. It has to be noted that Nazriya has decided to make her comeback with the same director who gave her one of the most special roles as Divya Prakash in Bangalore Days.

Director Anjali Menons second film also has a lot of expectations pinned to it as her debut film happened to be a landmark film in Malayalam industry. Audiences fell in love with Divya, Arjun and Kuttan - the cousins around whom the film revolved, and it is speculated that her upcoming film will be another slice-of-life drama.

Parvathy, who was also a part of Bangalore Days and played the role of Sarah opposite Dulquer Salmans Arjun, will also be a part of this film. The cast and crew began shooting on November 1 after the customary pooja.

Prithviraj is also working on My Story, Vimaanam and more. He will also be making his directorial debut with Mohanlal cast in the lead role.

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Poets have long thought of creating and living in perfect harmony: ideal communities devoid of Earthly evils such as poverty, classism and violence. That idea is what motivated Russian scientist Igor Ashurbeyl to set about creating a space nation called Asgardia in 2016.

The kingdom marked its beginning earlier this week by launching a nano satellite, Asgardia-1, which is barely the size of a loaf of bread.

I promised there would be a launch, Ashurbeyl told CNN, We selected NASA as a reliable partner because we have to meet the commitments that I made 13 months ago.

The nanosat -- which was aboard NASAs cargo vessel OA-8 Antares-Cygnus headed to the International Space Station (ISS) -- is carrying 0.5 TB data from 18,000 Asgardian citizens who sent their families photographs along with the nations flag, constitution and coat of arms, said CNN.

From ISS, Asgardia-1 will be pushed into low-orbit space where it will stay for months before burning out.

Citizenship and ambitions

Asgardia, inspired from a mythological city Asgard or the country of Gods that people might recognise from Marvel series Thor, is open for citizenship to anyone above 18. Even convicts cleared of their charges.

Its main aim, it says on its website, is to create a mirror of humanity in space but without Earthly division into states, religions and nations.

The United States has the largest number of Asgardians, with over 19,000 members. Among 134,806 citizens, Indians make up about 7,000.

A member, Rayven Sin, was quoted as saying by CNN she signed up to become an Asgardian because she wanted to be able to see if human beings are able to have more opportunity to express their opinions.

The society we live in now -- everything seems to be either capitalism or communism -- theres a lot of conflict. As a human being, I would hope if we could have other ways. For a better life, and for more options.

The space nations has also planned to be recognised as a country by the United Nations. For this, the nation is working on a constitution, government, currency and territory. Asgardias Constitution has already been accepted; its cryptocurrency, the Solar, is registered at the European Union Intellectual Property Office; and the government formation is underway.

It has perhaps established a territory by launching the satellite.

Asgardias team eventually wants to create habitable platforms in low-Earth orbits, located 161-321km from space, where the International Space Station is.

Without its plans materialising, Asgardia would remain just a utopia.
Christmas is that time of the year where the air is filled with love and magic. While Christmas is becoming increasingly commercialised in many countries, Switzerland has managed to stay loyal to its tradition. The Swiss Christmas typically lasts from the beginning of Advent (December 3, 2017) to the end of Epiphany (January 6, 2018). Several Christmas markets are seen during this period which makes this festive season even more delightful for visitors who come from different parts of the world.

Christmas markets are scattered throughout Switzerland in almost every town and village and offer a wide variety of arts and crafts. They include decorations for the Christmas tree, candles, glass, porcelain, ceramics, and earthenware, Advent wreaths, wooden toys, and crib figures. Lets check out the top five famous Christmas Markets to indulge in this winter:

Zurich boasts of a massive Christmas tree which is adorned with more than 7,000 Swarovski crystal ornaments. (Shutterstock)

* Zurich

Come December, Switzerlands largest city  Zurich  transforms from a financial hub into an enchanting winter wonderland filled with lights and music. Zurich plays host to quite a few Christmas markets every year like the Christmas market in the Old Town, the one by the Zurich Opera House, the Romantic Rapperswill market and the Einsiedeln markets. But the one that attracts visitors the most is the Christmas market from the main train station as it is one of the largest indoor Christmas markets in Europe. The pride and joy of the market is the massive Christmas tree which is adorned with more than 7,000 Swarovski crystal ornaments.

* Montreux

Montreux has a complete fairy-tale ambience and is one of the most beautiful Christmas markets. Situated on Lake Geneva, this town is nestled between steep hills and the lakeside, and has a magnificent view of the snow-capped Alps. More than half a million visitors flock there each year and for a variety of Christmas souvenirs and delicacies. The main attraction for children is Santas House which can be visited on Rochers-de-Naye  a special cog-wheel train that goes from Montreux to the top of the Alpine peak overlooking Lac Leman.

Rochers-de-Naye in Montreux where a special cog-wheel train goes to the top of the Alpine peak overlooking Lac Leman. (Shutterstock )

* Basel

Basel is proud to be known as the largest and most beautiful Christmas City in Switzerland. Buildings and bridges are magically lit up during this festive period and numerous pine trees are decorated on Europes longest Christmas Street. The two main Christmas markets in Basel can be found in Barfusserplatz and Munsterplatz, in the centre of the city. Over 180 traders and artisans offer their goods for sale in small, rustic wooden chalets along with an array of delicious snacks such as waffles and sausages and of course, a warm glass of mulled wine to enjoy the festive atmosphere. Basel also offers a variety of interesting events during this festive period including Salvation Army concerts, a Christmas exhibition at the Toy Museum, a special performance at the Puppet Theatre, and a musical Advent door opened each day the Basel Theatre.

* Lucerne

The Lucerne Christmas market is a charming affair with a canopy of twinkling Christmas stars and the fragrance of gingerbread, toffees, spices, punch and mulled wine. Every year, craftsmen, performers and chefs do a great job of entertaining and feeding visitors from around the world. Dozens of Christmas stalls offer handmade Christmas gifts right from traditional wooden toys and nativity scenes, to cosy knitted hats and scarves and also jewellery to delightful candles. To add to the festive ambience, a huge advent wreath is placed across the fountain which serves as a striking centrepiece, with hundreds of pretty lights and candles.

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Comedian-actor Sarah Silverman broke her silence on long-time friend Louis C Ks sexual misconduct in a moving monologue before the latest episode of her Hulu talk show, I Love You, America.

This recent calling out of sexual assault has been a long time coming. It good. Its like cutting out tumours: its messy, and its complicated, and it is going to hurt, but its necessary and well all be healthier for it. And it sucks. And some of our heroes will be taken down and we will discover bad things about people we like, or in some cases, people we love, Silverman said and added, Lets just say it: Im talking about Louis.

C K and Silvermans friendship has spanned more than 25 years, with the latter playing a fictionalised version of herself on the formers FX series, Louie.

Silverman was clearly emotional as she spoke, appearing to fight back tears multiple times as she went on to describe C Ks behaviour. One of my best friends of over 25 years, Louis C K, masturbated in front of women. He wielded his power with women in f****d up ways, sometimes to the point where they left comedy entirely. I could couch this with heartwarming stories of our friendship and what a great dad he is, but thats totally irrelevant, isnt it?

Yes, it is. Its a real mindf***, because I love Louis. But Louis did these things. Both of those statements are true. So I just keep asking myself, Can you love someone who did bad things? Can you still love them? I can mull that over later certainly, because the only people that matter right now are the victims, she said.

The New York Times published a piece last week alleging that C K had repeatedly asked women he encountered in work- related environments to watch him masturbate.

These stories are true, C K said in a statement after the story was released.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday urged Bangladesh and Myanmar resolve the Rohingya crisis through bilateral negotiations instead of an international initiative.

The international community should not complicate the situation, Wang said in a press briefing at the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka.

Actions in the United Nations Security Council must help Bangladesh-Myanmar bilateral cooperation to resolve the problem peacefully, the minister told reporters.

Wang arrived in Bangladesh on Saturday for a two-day visit and from there he will go to Myanmar to attend the Asia-Europe Meeting. (ASEM)

China supports resolving the crisis peacefully, bilaterally with mutual consultation between Bangladesh and Myanmar, he said.

More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since late August driven out by a military clearance operation in Buddhist majority Myanmars Rakhine State.

It is a complex situation and needs a comprehensive solution. Economic development of Rakhine State is needed. China is ready to help, Wang said.

Bangladeshs Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali told Wang that Bangladesh is trying to resolve the issue both bilaterally and internationally as it could not afford the huge burden of the refugees.

A statement from Bangladesh foreign ministry said that when the issue of displaced Myanmar nationals was raised, Wang stated that China would help resolve the issue and will not be partial to any side.

He acknowledged that Bangladesh is facing the brunt of continuing influx of Rohingya refugees, the Bangladeshi foreign ministry statement said.

Foreign Minister Mahmood Ali said that Bangladesh remains engaged bilaterally with Myanmar to solve the problem and will look forward to Chinas support for the early return of the Rohingyas to Myanmar with dignity and safety.

A delegation of US Congressmen is visiting Bangladesh to study the Rohingya crisis on Saturday.

Swedens foreign minister Margot Wallstrom, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, Germanys foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kona will also visit Bangladesh this week.
President Donald Trump said Friday he will uphold a ban on importing trophies of elephants hunted and killed in Zimbabwe, pending further review, reversing his own administrations decision from just a day earlier after a public outcry.

Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts. Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you! Trump tweeted, referring to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Just hours before, Trumps spokeswoman Sarah Sanders had defended the US Fish and Wildlife Services move to end the 2014 ban initiated under Trumps predecessor Barack Obama.

The service said Thursday that it would begin issuing permits to import sport-hunted trophies from elephants hunted in Zimbabwe between January 21, 2016 and December 31, 2018. Zambia would also have been covered under the revised rule.

The move was met with a barrage of criticism from animal rights groups and activists.

It also came on the same day that the US State Department presented to Congress its first annual report on wildlife trafficking which, it said, remains a serious transnational crime.

French screen legend and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot added her voice to the growing chorus of criticism, slamming Trump as unfit for office after his administrations shameful actions.

No despot in the world can take responsibility for killing off an age-old species that is part of the world heritage of humanity, Bardot said in a letter to Trump, released through Fondation Brigitte Bardot.

The move is a cruel decision backed by Zimbabwes crazy dictator and it confirms the sick and deadly power you assert over the entire plant and animal kingdom, the 83-year-old actress added.

Your shameful actions confirm the rumors that you are unfit for office.

According to the Great Elephant Census project, African savannah elephant populations fell by 30 percent between 2007 and 2014, while Zimbabwe saw a drop of six percent.

Despite an overall fall in poaching, Africas elephant population has declined in part because of continued illegal killing, said a report this year by CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

African ivory, in particular, is highly sought in China where it is a status symbol.

The US decision takes advantage of a provision in the Endangered Species Act, which says the import of such trophies can be legal if accompanied by proof that the hunting benefits broader conservation of the species.
Saad al-Hariri, who resigned as Lebanons prime minister this month while in Saudi Arabia, said on Saturday he would clarify his position when he returns to Beirut next week.

Hariris resignation on Nov. 4 threw Lebanon into political crisis and put it centre-stage in the Middle Easts overarching rivalry between Sunni Saudi Arabia and its allies and a bloc led by Shiite Iran.

With regard to the political situation in Lebanon, I will go to Beirut in the coming days, I will participate in the independence celebrations, and it is there that I will make known my position on these subjects after meeting President (Michel) Aoun, Hariri said after holding talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.

Hariri declined to take questions, but is set to return to Beirut by Wednesday when Lebanon celebrates its independence day. He thanked Macron, who has been mediating as part of French efforts to try to ease tensions across the region, for his help.

Macron had leveraged Frances close relations with both Lebanon and Saudi Arabia to secure a deal that saw Hariri travel to Paris and open the door to a resolution of the crisis.

Hariri, who arrived at his residence in Paris in the early hours of the morning, told Aoun in a phone call from Paris that he would be in Lebanon on Wednesday for the celebrations, the Lebanese president said on Twitter.

Lebanon is being shaken so its important Hariri comes to Paris for us to work with him on the best way out of the crisis, said a senior French diplomat.

Were trying to create the conditions for a de-escalation in the region. We want to avoid a proliferation of crises that could get out of control.

Hariris abrupt resignation and continued stay in Saudi Arabia has caused fears for Lebanons stability. His visit to France with his family is seen as part of a possible way out of the crisis.

Okab Saqr, a member of parliament for Hariris Future Movement, said after Hariris visit to France he would have a small Arab tour before travelling to Beirut.

IRAN TAKES AIM AT MACRON

The crisis has thrust Lebanon into the regional rivalry pitting Saudi Arabia and its allies against a bloc led by Iran, which includes the heavily armed Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah group.

Aoun has called Hariri a Saudi hostage and refused to accept his resignation unless he returns to Lebanon. Saudi Arabia and Hariri say his movements are not restricted.

Lebanon maintains a delicate sectarian balance after Sunnis, Shiites, Christians and Druze fought a civil war between 1975 and 1990, with factions often backed by regional rivals.

Hariri, a Sunni Muslim, is a long-time ally of Saudi Arabia. Aoun, a Christian, is a political ally of Hezbollah. Hariris government, a power-sharing coalition formed last year, includes Hezbollah.

France, which controlled Lebanon between the world wars, has sought to play a key role in defusing tension with Macron personally getting involved and putting him at the heart of a regional power struggle that will test his diplomatic skills.

That was evident since the outbreak of the Lebanese crisis over the last week with a surprise visit to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, followed by a flurry of calls, sending his foreign minister to Saudi Arabia and then the invitation to Hariri, which caught many diplomats unawares.

While undoubtedly a diplomatic coup for Macron, some regional and French diplomats have cautioned that his strategy to try to appease all sides in the region may backfire.

Paris has intensified its rhetoric over Irans regional activities. On Thursday, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking alongside his Saudi counterpart, denounced Tehrans hegemonic temptations. Iran responded by accusing France of taking sides and Macron on Friday said Iran should clarify its ballistic missile programme. That was met by a rebuke in Tehran.

On Saturday, Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Irans supreme leader, said Macron should stay out of its affairs.
An Irish Catholic priest has called for Christians to stop using the word Christmas because it has been hijacked by Santa and reindeer, the media reported on Saturday.

Father Desmond ODonnell said Christians of any denomination need to accept Christmas now has no sacred meaning, reports the Guardian.

ODonnells comments follow calls from a right-wing pressure group for a boycott of Greggs bakery in the UK after the company replaced baby Jesus with a sausage roll in a nativity scene.

Weve lost Christmas, just like we lost Easter, and should abandon the word completely, ODonnell said.

We need to let it go, its already been hijacked and we just need to recognise and accept that.

ODonnell said he was not seeking to disparage non-believers. I am simply asking that space be preserved for believers for whom Christmas has nothing to do with Santa and reindeer.

My religious experience of true Christmas, like so many others, is very deep and real  like the air I breathe. But non-believers deserve and need their celebration too, its an essential human dynamic and we all need that in the toughness of life.

A registered psychologist and author, ODonnell said the meaning of Christmas had eroded over time and become commercialised.
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Saturday left Saudi Arabia for France, in a move aimed at defusing political turmoil sparked by his shock resignation in Riyadh.

The Lebanese premier and his wife were due to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris after allegations from Hariris political rivals in Lebanon that he was essentially being held hostage by the Saudi authorities.

Mr Hariri left Riyadh airport on his private jet with his wife and is headed for Le Bourget airport, north-east of Paris, announced Future TV, a television channel owned by Hariris family, without specifying if the couple were accompanied by their children.

They are expected to arrive around 7:00 am, the flight schedule said according to a source close to Hariri.

The departure of Hariri, 47, came after he met French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Riyadh Thursday as Lebanons former colonial power Paris tries to ease a crisis that has driven up tensions between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia.

In a further escalation of the situation, Saudi state media said Saturday the country had recalled its ambassador to Berlin in protest over comments made by the German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel perceived as suggesting Hariri had been held against his will in Riyadh.

Hariri, a dual Saudi citizen, has been in the Saudi capital since his televised announcement there on November 4 that he was stepping down because he feared for his life, accusing Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of destabilising his country.

The announcement -- which reportedly took even some of Hariris closest aides by surprise -- and his subsequent failure to return home to quit officially in person, fuelled claims that he was acting under orders from his Saudi patrons.

But shortly before leaving Riyadh for Paris, Hariri said in a tweet addressed to Gabriel that it was untrue he was being held in Saudi.

To say that I am held up in Saudi Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie. I am on the way to the airport, Hariri tweeted.

Gabriel on Thursday said he shared the concern about the threat of instability and bloodshed in Lebanon and, without mentioning Saudi Arabia directly, warned against the adventurism behind the Lebanon crisis.

Earlier in the week Gabriel had said: Lebanon has earned the right to decide on its fate by itself and not become a pinball of Syria or Saudi Arabia or other national interests.

- Start of a solution -

Prior to Hariris departure, Lebanese President Michel Aoun -- a Hezbollah ally who had accused Saudi Arabia of detaining the prime minister and refused to accept his resignation from abroad -- welcomed the announcement of the trip to Paris.

We hope that the crisis is over and Hariris acceptance of the invitation to go to France is the start of a solution, he said Thursday on the official presidential Twitter account.

If Mr. Hariri speaks from France, I would consider that he speaks freely, but his resignation must be presented in Lebanon, and he will have to remain there until the formation of the new government, Aoun said later in a statement issued by his office.

Macron said he will host Hariri with the honours due to a prime minister when they meet at noon on Saturday, with his family set to join them later for lunch.

There is no indication what Hariri plans to do after visiting Macron, but the French leader has insisted he would then be free to return to Lebanon to either formally resign or rethink his decision.

Frances intervention was the latest in a string of European efforts to defuse tensions over Lebanon, where divisions between Sunni Hariris bloc and Shiite Hezbollah have long been a focal point in a broader struggle between Riyadh and Tehran.

Hariri -- whose father, ex-prime minister Rafik Hariri, was killed in a 2005 car bombing blamed on Hezbollah -- became head of a shaky compromise government including the group last year.

Lebanons Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, from a rival bloc to Hariris, on Friday during a visit to Moscow blasted unnamed groups for seeking to dislodge the Lebanese head of state.

Saudi Arabias Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir insisted from Madrid that unless Hezbollah disarms and becomes a political party, Lebanon will be held hostage by Hezbollah and by extension Iran.

Hariris resignation comes amid a sharp escalation in the long-standing rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, as Riyadh undergoes a major shake-up under ambitious Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

Riyadh and Tehran back opposing sides in the protracted wars in Yemen and Syria -- entangling them in a complex web of proxy conflicts.
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Saad Hariri for talks Saturday, an AFP reporter said, hours after the Lebanese premier arrived from Saudi Arabia in the midst of a political crisis.

Hariri, who made a shock resignation announcement on November 4 and has since fended off claims he was being held in Saudi Arabia against his will, was also due to have lunch with Macron.

The Lebanese leaders wife and elder son were to join them for the meal after the talks, but the couples two younger children remain in Riyadh for their school exams, a source close to Hariri said.

Hariri does not want to mix his children up in this affair, the source said.

Macron has been attempting to help broker a solution to a political crisis that has raised fears over Lebanons fragile democracy.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun has refused to accept Hariris resignation while he remains abroad, and Macron said ahead of the talks that he would be welcomed with the honours due to a prime minister.

Aoun said on Saturday that he had spoken by telephone to the premier after his arrival in Paris, and that Hariri said he would be back in Lebanon for Independence Day celebrations on Wednesday.
Euphoric crowds have gathered in Zimbabwes capital to demand the departure of President Robert Mugabe after nearly four decades in power.

In a colourful gathering that even days ago would have drawn an immediate police crackdown, Zimbabweans giddy with joy raced through intersections, raising their arms in triumph. Young men shouted, laughed and embraced.

Some had posters with an image of the military commander who swept in earlier this week and put Mugabe under house arrest, with the slogan: Go, go, our general!!! Marchers handed flags to soldiers, who accepted and waved.

On Friday, Mugabe, who had been confined to his luxurious residence in the upscale Harare neighbourhood of Borrowdale since the military takeover, attended a university graduation ceremony on the outskirts of the capital city.

Protesters hold posters asking President Mugabe to step down at a demonstration at Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare. (AP Photo)

A man poses with a sign reading "Mugabe, you have to deal with war vets and their children" during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Zimbabwe's president. (AFP Photo)

People wave flags and shout slogans during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Zimbabwe's president. (AFP Photo)

People hold their messages in Harare to demonstrate for the ouster of President Robert Mugabe who is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies. (AP Photo)

A man sells newspapers as people take part in a demonstration demanding the resignation of Zimbabwe's president on November 18, 2017 in Harare. (AFP Photo)

Protesters dance and sing, one holding a poster asking President Mugabe to step down, at a demonstration at Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare. (AP Photo)
Ousted premier Nawaz Sharif and four of his family members can soon be barred from leaving Pakistan in connection with the Panama Papers case as the countrys anti-graft watchdog has initiated a process to place their names on the Exit Control List, a media report said on Saturday.

Sharif, 67, and some of his family members are facing charges relating to their ownership of properties in London.

He resigned as prime minister in July after the countrys Supreme Court disqualified him over undeclared income.

Three cases were registered by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on September 8 against Sharif, his children and son-in-law in the Accountability Court Islamabad, following the July verdict by the Supreme Court.

Dawn reported that the NAB Lahore office Friday initiated the process to place the names of Sharif, his sons Hussain and Hassan, daughter Maryam and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar on Exit Control List (ECL).

According to the NAB Islamabad spokesperson, the members of the family may face travel restriction if listed on the ECL.

An accountability court had earlier declared Hussain and Hassan proclaimed offenders for skipping court proceedings in connection with the case.

On Thursday, the NAB had requested the ministry of interior to put finance minister Ishaq Dars name on the ECL after an accountability court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for him.

Dar, like Sharifs sons, has continuously been absent from court proceedings in a case against him for owning assets beyond known sources of income.

A senior official told the paper on condition of anonymity that the NAB Lahore had written to its Islamabad headquarters requesting that Hussain and Hassans names be placed on the ECL.

The NAB spokesman in Islamabad confirmed the other three names  Sharif, Maryam and Safdar  that had been recommended by the anti-graft watchdog Lahore to be placed on the ECL.

The official in the NAB Lahore said according to the procedure, they would first place names of Hussain and Hassan, who live in the UK, on the ECL and if they still did not appear before the accountability court, then NAB would request cancellation of their passports.

Sharifs family has been shuttling between Islamabad and London in recent days due to his wife Kulsoom, who is battling throat cancer.

The three cases against the Sharifs are related to the Flagship Investment Ltd, the Avenfield (London) properties and Jeddah-based Al-Azizia Company and Hill Metal Establishment.

The political future of Sharif, who leads the countrys most powerful political family and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, has been hanging in balance since his disqualification. If convicted, Sharif could be jailed.

Sharifs family alleges that the cases are politically motivated.
Authorities have initiated a move to bar ousted premier Nawaz Sharif and other members of his family from leaving Pakistan even as finance minister Ishaq Dar, who is facing a graft case, has relinquished control of his ministry.

The developments will add to the woes of ruling PML-N party and the Sharif family ahead of crucial parliamentary elections scheduled to be held next year. Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court on July 28 in connection with revelations in the Panama Papers and is facing several corruption cases.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the countrys anti-corruption watchdog, has begun the process to place Sharif, his sons Hassan and Hussain, daughter Maryam Nawaz and her husband Muhammad Safdar on the interior ministrys Exit Control List (ECL), effectively barring them from leaving Pakistan.

An accountability or anti-corruption court last month declared Hassan and Hussain, who live outside Pakistan, proclaimed offenders or fugitives for skipping several hearings of three corruption cases filed against the Sharif family. The court has also issued non-bailable arrest warrants for them.

Hassan and Hussain have contended that the summons and warrants do not apply to them as they are British nationals.

On Saturday, TV news channels reported that embattled finance minister Ishaq Dar, who is related to Sharif, had resigned.

File photo of Pakistan's finance minister Ishaq Dar. (Reuters)

The PML-N denied these reports but Prime Ministers House spokesperson Musadik Malik told the media the finance portfolio was under the control of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as Dar, 67, is undergoing treatment in London for a heart condition.

An accountability court hearing the case against Dar had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant when he failed to appear for the fourth time on November 14.

Acting on the Supreme Courts July 28 judgment in the Panama Papers case, NAB filed a case against Dar pertaining to allegations that he owns assets worth Rs 831.7 million that are disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Dar has been accused of owning property worth millions of dollars in Pakistan, the UAE and the US which he had not declared to tax authorities. He continued to serve as finance minister despite being indicted by the accountability court indicted on September 27, drawing criticism from the opposition.

The Dawn newspaper reported the government has decided to replace Dar after getting the nod from Sharif, and several leaders were being considered for the post, including former finance minister Shaukat Tarin, former State Bank of Pakistan governor Ishrat Husain and interior minister Ahsan Iqbal.
The Twitter account and Facebook page of Pakistan Defence Forum, one of the longest running forums devoted to Pakistans armed forces, were suspended on Saturday shortly after it posted fake news involving Kulbhushan Jadhav and a morphed image of a Delhi University activist.

Over the years, Pakistan Defence Forum, which describes itself as a one stop resource for Pakistan defence, strategic affairs, security issues, world defence and military affairs and is better known by its website url of defence.pk, has been repeatedly accused of putting out anti-India propaganda.

Though retired and serving Pakistani military personnel are among the forums members, it is not an official website of the armed forces.

Searches for the forums Twitter handle, which was verified, and Facebook page turned up messages that they had both been suspended.

The message showing that Pakistan Defence Forums Facebook page has been suspended. (Facebook)

On Saturday, numerous Indian Twitter users complained about Pakistan Defence Forums Twitter handle when it posted a doctored image of Kawalpreet Kaur, a student activist of Delhi University that purported to show her standing in front of Delhis Jama Masjid with a poster that read: I am an Indian but I hate India

The poster used by Kaur in an image that she had herself posted on Twitter on June 27 this year had read: I am a citizen of India and I stand with secular values of our Constitution. At the time, Kaur had said she was asking Indians to change their profile images to protest mob lynching.

Other than running malicious campaigns against several Pakistani journalists/activists, defencepk was also morphing photos to further its propaganda: pic.twitter.com/qK7ZLQM29G  Naila Inayat (@nailainayat) November 18, 2017

The issue of Kaurs photo being doctored by flagged by Shehla Rashid, the former vice president of JNU Students Union, who contended that forum should not use such images in the name of the Kashmir issue.

I hope this is not official defence page of Pakistan otherwise there is a real security concern if you use morphed pictures just to spread hate across nations. Please put it down.  Kawalpreet Kaur (@kawalpreetdu) November 18, 2017

Also on Saturday, Pakistan Defence Forum had tweeted that India had refused to avail the generous offer made by #Pakistan to facilitate a meeting between Kulbhushan Jadhav, sentenced to death by a military court for alleged involvement in espionage, and his wife.

The tweet posted by Pakistan Defence Forum about India purportedly refusing Pakistans offer to arrange a meeting between Kulbhushan Jadhav and his wife. (Twitter screengrab)

The reality was that India had accepted the offer and asked for Jadhavs mother to be included in the meeting. Pakistans Foreign Office spokesman had even acknowledged, in a tweet, that India had sent in a reply to the offer to facilitate the meeting.

Indian Reply to Pakistan's Humanitarian offer for Commander Jadhav received & is being considered  Dr Mohammad Faisal (@ForeignOfficePk) November 18, 2017

Following the suspension of the Twitter handle and Facebook pages, a thread on Pakistan Defence Forum was devoted to discussing the matter and numerous members hurled abuse at India and Indian nationals.

The various threads in Pakistan Defence Forum are devoted to discussing issues such as Pakistans politics, operations against terrorists, and also problems faced by Muslims around the world. The threads are also replete with the conspiracy theories that often find space in mainstream Pakistani media and discussions about Indias domestic politics.

In the past, Pakistan Defence Forum has also been accused of running malicious campaigns against Pakistani journalists, commentators and activists who have been critical of the powerful military and intelligence agencies.

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Pakistan's embattled finance minister Ishaq Dar, who was under a cloud following allegations of living beyond his means, has stepped down and Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is now handling the portfolio and considering various options for choosing a replacement.

An official of the Prime Minister's House confirmed to the media on Saturday that Dar had stepped down.

Earlier, an accountability or anti-graft court hearing a corruption case against Dar  who is in London for treatment of a heart condition  issued a non-bailable arrest warrant when he failed to appear in court for the fourth time on November 14. Dar is a close aide of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

The country's corruption watchdog, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), has filed a case pertaining to allegations that Dar owns assets disproportionate to his known sources of income in line with the Supreme Court's July 28 judgment in the Panama Papers case.

Dar has been accused of owning property worth millions of dollars in Pakistan, the UAE and the US which he had not declared to tax authorities.

Geo News channel reported on Saturday that Dar had sent in his resignation to Prime Minister Abbasi earlier this week and a formal confirmation came from Prime Ministers House spokesperson Musadik Malik, who said that in light of Dar's health and his treatment abroad, the finance portfolio had already come under the prime minister's control in line with cabinet rules.

Malik added that the prime minister was taking regular briefings on matters related to finance and managing the portfolio.

Dars resignation at this stage will add to the woes of the ruling PML-N party and the Sharif family. Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz, widely seen as his political heir, are embroiled in several corruption cases and the former premier has been disqualified from politics by the Supreme Court.

These developments could affect the PML-Ns campaign for crucial parliamentary elections to be held next year.
A Saudi-led military coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen is threatening the peace, security and stability of the country by blocking humanitarian aid, United Nations sanctions monitors told the Security Council in a confidential report.

The independent monitors also called on the coalition to provide evidence backing Riyadhs claim that Iran was supplying missiles to the Houthi rebels, warning that a failure to do so would violate a February 2017 council resolution.

The coalition said on Nov. 6 it had closed all air, land and sea ports in Yemen to stem the flow of arms to the Houthis from Iran, after Saudi Arabia intercepted a missile fired towards its capital Riyadh. It has since said that aid can go through liberated ports but not the key Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah.

The United Nations has appealed for the blockade to be lifted, saying it could spark the largest famine the world has seen in decades. Some seven million people are on the brink of famine and nearly 900,000 have been infected with cholera.

Saudi Arabia-led coalition restrictions to the delivery of humanitarian assistance fall under resolution 2216 (2015) as an obstruction to the delivery of humanitarian assistance, the U.N. monitors wrote in the executive summary of their report, seen by Reuters on Friday.

That resolution, adopted by the U.N. Security Council in April 2015 shortly after the Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen, states that obstructing aid access and delivery is an act that threatens the peace, security and stability of the country.

The U.N. monitors also questioned the coalition claims that Iran was supplying missiles to the Houthis.

In a Nov. 7 letter to the U.N. Security Council, Saudi U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi said Riyadh had examined the debris of missiles fired by the Houthis into Saudi Arabia on July 22 and Nov. 4 and confirmed the role of the Iranian regime in manufacturing these missiles.

Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said Irans supply of rockets to militias in Yemen is an act of direct military aggression that could be an act of war.

The U.N. monitors said they had seen no evidence to support claims of SRBM (short-range ballistic missiles) having been transferred to the Houthi-Saleh alliance from external sources. The Houthis are allied with forces loyal to Yemens ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The monitors said the coalition reported in public briefings and statements that the July 22 missile was a Qiam-1 short-range ballistic missile made and supplied by Iran.

The supporting evidence provided in these briefings is far below that required to attribute this attack to a Qiam-1 SRBM, the monitors wrote, adding that the coalition had not yet said what type of missile was fired on Nov. 4.

The United States last week accused Iran of supplying the missile fired into Saudi Arabia in July and called for the United Nations to hold Tehran accountable for violating two U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The U.N. monitors called for Saudi Arabia and other countries to provide them with any more evidence they may have.
A visit to China by the Zimbabwe Army chief days before the military seized control and placed President Robert Mugabe under house arrest has raised eyebrows and even led to speculation that Gen Constantino Chiwenga may have sought Beijings tacit approval for his move.

China is Zimbabwes largest foreign investor and has had a presence in the southern African country since the 1970s, when it secretly supplied ammunition and funds to Mugabes guerrilla force during the war of independence.

Chiwenga, seen as an ally of ousted vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa who was sacked by Mugabe to strengthen the hands of his wife Grace Mugabe, held meetings in Beijing last week with two of the most senior members of the Chinese armed forces, including Li Zuocheng, chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Peoples Liberation Army, and defence minister Gen Chang Wanquan.

According to a defence ministry report, Li told Chiwenga: China and Zimbabwe are all-weather friends. Chiwenga said Zimbabwe was willing to deepen exchanges and cooperation in all field to promote bilateral state and military relations.

Cobus Van Staden, senior researcher on foreign policy at the South African Institute of International Affairs, told CNN that the issue of whether China knew in advance of the military takeover in Zimbabwe was a billion dollar question.

Some experts have contended that Chiwenga may have wanted to ensure that political changes in Zimbabwe would not affect bilateral ties because of Chinas long-standing support for Mugabe.

As Mugabes relations with the West deteriorated in the past decade, he increasingly turned to China for political and financial support. When Mugabe met Xi Jinping in Beijing on January 9 this year, the Chinese President told him: China will never forget its old friend, and the Chinese people cherish the profound friendship with the Zimbabwean people.

Observers, however, acknowledged there was no way of knowing whether China had any role in the apparent coup or had received advance warning from Chiwenga.

"The fact there were these kind of visits to Beijing right before (the takeover) certainly seems indicative of something, but who knows what that was?" Van Staden told CNN.

As with several other African countries, China has pumped billions of dollars into Zimbabwe in exchange for unfettered access to natural resources such as diamonds and agricultural products such as tobacco. In 2015 alone, China pumped in over $450 million in investments in Zimbabwe, more than half of the total foreign investments. It is also the second largest trading partner and has invested in 128 projects in Zimbabwe during 2000-12.

The military-to-military ties between the two countries are also very strong. Chinese state-run firms have helped build the $100-million Zimbabwe National Defence College and leaked US diplomatic cables showed the Zimbabwean government had purchased military hardware such as aircraft, armaments and air defence radars from China since 1980.

China also sends technical military advisers to work in Zimbabwe and Emmerson Mnangagwa was among the first Zimbabwean Zanu Party guerilla fighters to go to China for military training in the 1960s.

Chinas foreign ministry has played downed the significance of Chiwengas visit, saying it was part of the normal military-to-military exchanges. Asked about Chiwengas visit during a news briefing at the foreign ministry this week, spokesperson Geng Shuang said: As for the details of his visit, I have little to shareSince the defence ministry hosted him, I dont have other details.

A statement issued by the Chinese foreign ministry after the military takeover focussed on stability rather than a possible change of regime in Harare. We sincerely hope that the situation will remain stable in Zimbabwe and relevant affairs can be handled in a peaceful and proper way," the statement read.

We will continue to develop friendly cooperation with Zimbabwe following the principle of equal and mutually beneficial cooperation with win-win results, it added.
In the 1950s, Algerian rebels fought the French for independence, losing nearly every battle, but winning the war.

Glasses tinkled and voices rose and fell with laughter at the Milk-Bar, a soda shop in the European section of Algiers, the capital of the French departement of Algeria. As families crowded inside, a few eyes roved over a beautiful young Muslim woman, fashionably dressed, her hair lightened to make her look European, sipping a drink. The woman knew that the French armys 10th Region headquarters was across the street, and vivid in her memory was a bomb, planted by European terrorists, that had recently demolished a Muslim neighborhood and killed 70 people, including women and children. Discreetly, she slipped her bag under the table and left. Moments later there was a blinding white-yellow flash as the bomb inside her bag ripped through the place, killing 3 and wounding 50. Almost simultaneously, a second bomb destroyed another cafe and took more lives. It was September 30, 1956, and a grim new stage in the Algerian war of independence had begun.

Cruel and protracted, the Algerian Revolution was a wrenching event in 20th-century history. Beginning in 1954 and lasting eight years, it turned from a colonial revolt against French rule into a political revolution inside France. A prototype for modern insurgency and counterinsurgency, and a cauldron of the terrorism, torture, and asymmetric warfare prevalent throughout the world today, the war has become a model for those seeking to break free from oppressive regimesand those attempting to thwart them.

The Algerian Revolution was unique in its ferocity because Algeria was unique to France. Seizing this strategic outpost from the Ottoman Empire in 1830, the French allowed Spanish, French, Jewish, Maltese, Corsican, and Italian settlers to occupy Algerias verdant Mediterranean coast in the north. Known as colons (colonialists) or pieds-noirs (black feet)a pejorative variously meaning those who shoveled coal, wore soldiers boots, or were white men in black Africathese hardy people built Frances largest colony, and one, unlike many others, with parliamentary representation. By 1954 there were 984,000 colons, 80 percent of whom had been born on Algerian soil.

But away from the cool sea breezes, in the blistering Sahara to the south, the scene was radically different. Seventy percent of the native Arab and Berber population was forced to live there, barely subsisting on arid lands and largely divorced from the rich political, economic, and social life on the European-dominated coast. These Muslims existed with no future and in humiliation, said Nobel Prizewinning author Albert Camus, himself a pied-noir. Yet by the mid-1950s, thanks largely to improvements in health care, the Muslim population had exploded to eight times the number of colons, half under the age of 20.

Although they occasionally challenged French rule, Muslims fought bravely in the world wars for France and its cherished notions of liberty and equality. Their duty and sacrifices, however, piqued their own desire for self-rule.

On May 8, 1945, at a victory parade for the Allies in the town of Setif, a Muslim demonstration for independence turned violent, and protesters murdered 103 Europeans. The French army and enraged colons responded in brutal fashion, systematically killing some 6,000 Muslims. Several Algerian nationalists, including Ahmed Ben Bella, a highly decorated Muslim sergeant, responded by forming secret groups to agitate for independenceby any means necessary.

Over the next decade, election fraud and infighting among these nationalists left the pieds-noirs firmly in control, but Frances struggles in Indochina helped reignite aspirations for independence. In May 1954, the French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu, one of the first times in modern history a colonized people had destroyed a colonizers army. Meeting secretly in Berne, Switzerland, one day after the French surrender, Ben Bella and 21 other Algerians founded what became the National Liberation Front (known as the FLN, the acronym for its French name, Front de Liberation Nationale), and a date was fixed to begin their own revolution: November 1, 1954.

The Liberation Front opened the war desperately short of guns, mortars, and artillery. Most of its weaponry consisted of World War IIera rifles and MG 34, Lewis, and Bren machine guns; bombs were largely handmade. Though the number of rebel fighters and part-time guerrillas would eventually reach between 30,000 and 40,000, the FLN initially had only about 500 soldiers and 1,200 auxiliaries women and men who carried bombs, operated safe houses, or otherwise supported the cause.

France had 60,000 French troops and tens of thousands of loyalist Muslim troops stationed in Algeria under General Paul Cherriere, commander of the 10th Military Region. French forces were technologically advanced, their columns bristling with motorized units and M4 Sherman and M24 Chaffee tanks. Troops could radio in air support from P-47 Thunderbolts, B- 26 Invaders, and later, A-1 Skyraiders and T-28 Trojans.

Knowing they were outmatched, FLN leaders crafted a deft two-prong strategy. Outside Algeria, they used world opinion to pressure the French to abandon their colony. Ben Bella, the leader of this effortand later the Algerian Republics first presidenttraveled to Egypt to try to enlist the support of its nationalist leader Gamal Abdel Nasser. Within Algeria, Liberation Front commanders established strongholds in the northeast in the beautifully rugged Aures Mountains and Kabylia massifs. They divided Algeria into six wilayas, autonomous politico-military zones where leaders recruited and trained fighters. From these commands the FLN would spread terror and mayhem by launching armed attacks and propaganda campaigns. The decentralized command structure attracted talented leaders but also bandits, and revolutionary commitment and fighting ability was to vary accordingly.

In the early morning of November 1, 1954as the French prepared to celebrate All Saints DayFLN operatives fanned out across Algeria, shooting up police and military facilities, killing collaborators, and destroying colon private property. Leaders instructed fighters not to target women and children and to popularize the movement. The plan was to cut off the Aures region from the rest of Algeria and ignite an uprising that would form the heart of the rebellion.

The fighting ranged across the Aures and Kabylia, which are punctured by deep caves, slashed by narrow canyons and jagged gorges, and dotted with remote villages perched on steep cliffs. Additional small-scale battles unfolded in the graceful cities on the coast, each containing a casbah (old city), a medieval network of alleys and white cascading stairways with flat-topped houses so densely packed that one could jump from rooftop to rooftop. Within these serpentine strongholds, Liberation Front leaders planned their attacks and directed operations.

Amateurishly carried out, the FLNs opening strikes delivered little of the hoped-for havoc or property damage; many were aborted. French officials described them as isolated events. The colons, however, demanded reprisals. Police rounded up Muslims indiscriminately, instantly converting many outraged bystanders into rebels.

To help crush the incipient rebellion, the 25th Parachute Division was ordered in and General Cherriere deployed tanks and troops to the Aures on punitive sweeps, supported by air strikes that featured napalm and high explosives. Though lacking firepower, the tough, ingenious Algerians knew and loved their land. They would not give up. Before the rebellion, remembered a French soldier, the Arabs eyes showed little emotion. Now, he said, hatred flashed there, like fire.

A miserable hit-and-run war unfolded as French troops sloshed through the winter mud after the guerrillas, who would slip into army camps at night to murder Muslims loyal to the French. From the start, the fighting was merciless. We dont take prisoners, a French sergeant told his troops. These men [the Algerians] are not soldiers. Besides they dont take any either.

Vietnam veteran Colonel Paul Ducournau, commander of the 25th Division, planned to smash the revolution with a few fierce blows. But it wasnt going to be that simple. Toward the end of November rebels ambushed a detachment of paratroopersknown as paras in a ravine, killing four and wounding seven. Still, Ducournaus men rapidly encircled the FLN fighters and killed 23. Ducournau kept the pressure on throughout the winter of 19541955; the number of guerrillas in the Aures dropped to about 350.

The Liberation Front simply adjusted its tactics, avoiding large-scale battles and striking in small, flexible units of 15 to 50 fighters who would vanish into caves, swamps, or ravines when confronted. On May 24, 1955, one of these units destroyed a convoy of 30 supply vehicles, capturing much-needed arms and transports. The FLN also hit soft targetsanyone working for the government, along with Muslims loyal to the French. It banned wine and tobacco to break the power of those industries, which were controlled by the pieds-noirs. Violators had their lips slashed off; repeat offenders were found with their throats slit, their bodies mutilated.

Early in the conflict, Algerias governor-general, Jacques Soustelle, had introduced a reform program to address Muslim concerns. Appalled by the poverty in Muslim areas and the armys unrestrained use of force, he had established the Specialized Administrative Section, composed of units of Arabic-speaking officers that negotiated directly with Muslims. Now, however, Soustelle realized that his campaign to win hearts was not working. It was time to go to war. Ten fresh battalions were sent to Algeria, increasing the number of French troops to 100,000. Soustelle ordered Sikorsky H-21 Flying Banana and other helicopters from the United States. General Cherriere was relieved of duty, and a state of emergency was declared in the Aures.

In one of Cherrieres last orders, he declared that Algerians regardless of their political sympathiesmust be punished collectively for the actions of the guerrillas. A village damaged by an FLN raid, for example, was forced to pay for repairs. The villages young men were also held accountable: They were rounded up and placed in what would later be called regroupment centers. Similarly, if a single French soldier was killed, the army often responded by destroying an entire village.

Such disproportionate responses, according to writer Yves Courriere, who interviewed FLN leaders, handed the revolution one of its principal psychological trump cards, as droves of recruits joined the Liberation Front.

Meanwhile, outside Algeria, the revolutionaries brilliantly played the world stage. In April 1955, FLN leaders went to Indonesia to attend the historic Bandung Conference, where 29 emerging African and Asian nations met to protest colonialism. Algerias struggle became a symbol for universal freedom and self-determinationa powerful moral and public-relations victory.

Yet the wars ferocity increased. In August 1955, rebels massacred 71 Europeans and 52 Algeriansmen, women, and childrennear Philippeville, a port on the Mediterranean. Limbs were hacked off, heads stove in, mothers disemboweled. The elite 18th Parachute Regiment was dispatched, arriving to find bodies everywhere. Our company commanders, recalled one para, gave us the order to shoot down every Arab we met. You should have seen the result.There were so many of them that they had to be buried with bulldozers. The paras were joined by colon vigilantes. When their work was done, as many as 12,000 Muslims had been slaughtered, according to some estimates. Extreme as the atrocities were on both sides, they made everything crystal clear: This was total war, to the end.

In France, however, the public began to grow restless over the increasingly heavy hand of French commanders in Algeria, which contradicted the ideals of a modern democracy. The depredations of the Nazis during Frances occupation were fresh; the incommensurate reprisals and tales of French forces torturing Algerian prisoners began to shift the political winds against retaining the rebellious departement at all costs.

After raucous general elections, yet another government came to power in France, and as 1956 dawned, Soustelle was recalled and eventually replaced by Frances former minister of economic affairs, Robert Lacoste, who supported a push to substantially increase French forces. In March, the Liberation Front received a crucial boost when France granted independence to its protectorates Tunisia and Morocco. Neither had been considered as integral a part of France as Algeria, but now the rebels could use the newly freed territories to set up training camps, create a regular army, and establish supply lines. Meanwhile, Ben Bella and his team secured support from Nasser and Egyptthis on the heels of a United Nations vote to discuss the crisis, yet another political victory for the revolutionaries.

Now nearly two years into its revolt, the Liberation Front was becoming a hardened, disciplined organization. It conducted ruthless purges of the disloyal. Kill any person attempting to deflect the militants, Ben Bella had ordered his operatives. So far, the Front had terrorized its own people more than the colons, killing 6,352 Muslims and 1,035 Europeans.

In September, the rebels targeted Algiers. Is it preferable for our cause, asked Ramdane Abbane, FLNs ideological chief, to kill ten enemies in some riverbed in Telergma, which no one will talk about, or rather a single one in Algiers, which the American press will report the next day? Led by the charismatic Saadi Yacef [see The Rebels Bold Bomber-in-Chief, page 86], the Liberation Front wreaked havoc in the pieds-noirs stronghold, led by modern young Muslim women toting purses filled with deadly explosives.

Many in France concluded that it was time to strike a deal. Lacoste began secret negotiations with the FLN to reach a settlement. But on October 22, as Ben Bella and other rebel leaders flew to peace talks with French representatives, their DC-3 was hijacked on orders from Colonel Ducournau, the parachute division commander. This sabotaged the talks and landed the FLN leaders in prison for the next five and a half yearsa major instance, writes historian Alistair Horne, of the French military actingin disregard of the civil authorities.

Universally chastised for the hijacking, France was again condemned when, in November 1956, a combined French, Israeli, and British force failed in its attempt to invade Egypt, recapture the Suez Canal, and topple Nasser, who had been elected president in June. FLN popularity, meanwhile, soared. In the wake of these debacles, France once again responded not with a consistent, practical policy but by shaking up its military command in the colony. General Raoul Salan, then Frances most decorated soldier, became commander in chief in Algeria.

Working from their base in the winding, narrow streets of the casbah, Yacef and his operatives carried out 100 bombings and assassinations in Algiers in January 1957 and simultaneously launched nearly 4,000 support attacks nationwide. In a sophisticated strategy, FLN representatives asked the United Nations to broker negotiations on Algerian independence while instructing Yacef to prepare a general strike to demonstrate that all the people are behind us and obey our orders to the letter.

French officials responded by giving the 10th Parachute Division, led by Brigadier General Jacques Massu, a free hand. Massus division boasted outstanding officers, including the flamboyant Lieutenant Colonel Marcel Bigeard, whose crack 3rd Regiment of Colonial Parachutists was one of the most effective [units] in the Western world, according to historian Horne. [See The Battle of Algiers, Torture, and Marcel Bigeard, next page.] The paras arrested an astounding 30 to 40 percent of the casbahs men, hanging many and subjecting others to water and electricity torture. Coldly indifferent to the fate of the victimsand to the outcry in France against torture and other hard-line tacticsMassu broke down the terrorist cells. Within two months, he had decisively won the Battle of Algiers.

Total French forces in Algeria now numbered about 400,000. They constructed the Morice Line a 286-mile web of barbed wire, electrified fence, and minefields sealing off the Tunisian frontier. Patrolled from the air and defended by 12,900 soldiers, it was designed to prevent the Fronts exterior troops from entering Algeria. The Moroccan border was closed in the same manner and guarded by 9,500 troops. The rebels repeatedly tried to break through these fortifications in some of the bloodiest fighting of the war. Increasingly, however, the battlefields were the world media, university campuses, and the United Nations. Heavyweight intellectuals such as Franz Fanon and JeanPaul Sartre contributed powerful arguments about the struggle for freedom and the immorality of torture. Unbeatable militarily, France was losing the war on moral grounds.

Sensing this shift, on May 13, 1958, crowds of pieds-noirs chanting Algerie francaise! (French Algeria!) stormed government buildings and demanded that former prime minister Charles de Gaulle, hero of World War II, take power in Paris. General Massu declared what amounted to martial law. Once returned to power via what historians call a legal coup, de Gaulle visited Algeria, where he told the ecstatic mob, I have understood you. The new leader, however, envisioned a France liberated from its colonial holdings. He announced a Peace of the Brave, including an amnesty, prisoner release, and a cessation of executions. It was designed to coax the FLN to the negotiating table, although the rebels, with political momentum on their side, remained wary. The colons and many soldiers, meanwhile, felt utterly betrayed by the man they had thought would be their savior.

In December, de Gaulle became president of France. He sacked General Salan, whom he distrusted, and placed General Maurice Challe in command in Algeria. Challe relentlessly pursued the rebels in the spring and summer of 1959 while simultaneously courting Muslims with new schools and other enticements. But once again the whip hand negated these goodwill gestures, as more than a million Muslims were dragged from their homes and placed in regroupment camps.

The rebels continued sabotage operations, but on a small scale. De Gaulle now spoke of self-determination for Algeria. The FLN, perceiving a massive political victory at hand, astutely played a waiting game while rebuilding its shattered forces.

But the colons made one final, bloody attempt to hold on to Algeria. In January 1960, they rose in open revolt, barricading streets and firing on police. During what became known as Barricades Week, paras arrived to restore calm but refused to fight the pieds-noirs, with whom they sympathized. In November, de Gaulle began to talk of an Algerian Algeria. A month later, the United Nations ruled that Algeria had the right to self-determination. Alarmed, conservative European extremists in Algeria known as ultras, including disgruntled soldiers and right-wing colons, founded the Secret Army Organization (OAS, Organisation de lArmee Secrete) and launched a campaign of terror against anyone considered a threat to French Algeria. On April 2122, 1961, retired general Challe and others, supported by some para units, led a coup detat in Algiers, causing panic in France; there were rumors of air force units preparing to bomb Paris. After de Gaulle made an emotional appeal on behalf of the French people, Challe surrendered. Other elements of the OAS, however, went underground and continued their bombings and shootings. De Gaulle himself was the target of as many as 30 assassination attempts. In this heated atmosphere, peace talks started at Evian, France, in May 1961 and continued until the summer, amid savage OAS murders.

On July 3, 1962, France finally recognized the Republic of Algeria. In the first year of independence, at least 800,000 colons and roughly 15,000 French-supporting Muslims left for France. Ironically, such a rapid exodus belied the claim that Algeria had ever truly been an integral part of France. Todays fiery riots in France by North Africans demanding jobs and respect have their roots in this unfulfilled promise.

With the war concluded, de Gaulle realized his vision of France as a modern power; the era of empire was over. He developed its nuclear capability and pulled out of NATO, putting strains on the Atlantic Alliance during the Cold War a radical reordering of international relations directly linked to the Algerian conflict.

Meanwhile, Algeria began the painful recovery from a vicious war. Exact figures are impossible to calculate, but according to French sources about 153,000 Algerian fighters were killed, plus more than 66,000 Muslim civiliansmany liquidated by the FLN. As many as 12,000 Liberation Front members died in internal purges. An estimated 18,348 French soldiers perished as well as roughly 10,000 European civilians, including those killed by the OAS. Thousands more died when the Liberation Front took power in 1962 and carried out vengeance killings. In addition, about 1.8 million Muslims were relocated from their homes.

The Algerian Revolution was hugely influential militarily and politically. It is studied as the harbinger of fourth generation warfare, which pits conventional armies against loose networks of insurgents. The goal of such campaigns, explains one expert in strategic warfare, is to attack the minds of the enemy decision-makers to destroy the enemys political will. It is typically accompanied by insurgent use of the media and world forums and a struggle to differentiate civilians from combatants.

The war in Algeria raised questions of how victory and defeat are measured. How small are small wars? Can they be contained and won by counterinsurgency tactics? And which is more effective in the long term: destroying enemy forces or gaining the allegiance of a states citizens? The conflict also spurred a debatestill ragingabout the wisdom of torture.

Finally, the Algerian Revolution is a stark reminder that while wars are easy to begin, the social, economic, and political forces they unleash, like the currents of a powerful river, are virtually impossible to direct, and their consequences are difficult to foresee. They sweep over land and people, leaving both forever changed. In the end, this war illustrated how a subjugated peoplemarginalized, tortured, and beaten by a foe wielding immense technological mightcan summon enormous reserves of strength and, through great sacrifice and feats of endurance, wrest their fate away from their oppressors and take their destiny into their own hands. Was this a clean and clear-cut conflict? No. Was there any other way to obtain liberty? For the vast majority of Algerians the answer is obvious: Total war was the only way to achieve total independence.

Originally published in the Summer 2011 issue of Military History Quarterly. To subscribe, click here.
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NAPA, Calif. - A month after deadly wildfires swept through California's famed wine country, hot-air balloons are floating again over Napa Valley vineyards splashed with fall colors. On the heels of the disaster, a new winery is opening, keeping the name it chose some time ago: Ashes and Diamonds.

The fires had only a minimal effect on the area's wineries, according to the Wine Institute, an advocacy and policy group. Of the 1,200 wineries in Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino, about 10 were destroyed or heavily damaged, and 90 percent of this year's harvest already was complete, the institute said.

Most vineyards were spared due to their high moisture content, and some even helped save surrounding structures by acting as fire breaks.

But many operators are now grappling with other long-term effects from the fires that killed 43 people and wiped out 8,900 buildings: making up for losses from being closed at the busiest time of year, assessing the impact of smoke and other environmental damage on this year's vintage, and persuading tourists to return after weeks of news coverage of the fires' devastation.

One of the most graphic scenes of destruction to emerge was that of the Signorello Estate winery engulfed in flames. Lost in the fire was the Napa winery's signature stone hospitality building. A kitchen, corporate offices, a wine lab and owner Ray Signorello Jr.'s home also were destroyed.

"We lost all our servers, systems, computers, the things we used to do business," Signorello said. But he plans to rebuild and says he's "trying to get people back to work."

At Cardinale Winery in Oakville, where just one Cabernet Sauvignon vintage is made from prized mountain appellations each year, winemaker Chris Carpenter is eyeing the grapes cautiously. He was a rare winemaker willing to say the fires' effects would be felt for years, noting there also will be environmental issues to contend with.

Only 50 percent of Cardinale's harvest was finished when the fires erupted, and he's worried about smoke tainting what remains.

"All the questions are unknown right now, and we hope to have a handle on that after fermentation," Carpenter said.

Carpenter said he had a chance to try some smoke-tainted wines in 2008, and they were not very pleasant - like a bacon-flavored wine.

"If we sense any of that, we won't bottle," he said.

Things already appeared to be returning to normal for guests at Sonoma's Gundlach Bundschu winery, where dozens of tourists soaked up the sun outside the tasting room a few weeks after the fires. Nearby blackened hills were the only visible reminder of what recently occurred.

The winery celebrated its reopening with a community party that raised $16,000 for a fund to help fire victims, said sixth-generation vintner Katie Bundschu, who oversees marketing and sales.

"It was a place to come and give each other hugs," said Bundschu, whose own family has been dealing with the loss of her parents' home.

Now the push is on to lure visitors back to the three counties, which together saw more than $3.7 billion in tourism spending in 2016.

Wineries are filling the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle with ads. "We are open and welcome you back to Napa!" read one. Some are donating their tasting room fees to wildfire relief charities.

The state's tourism commission, Visit California, is spending $2 million on an advertising campaign to encourage visitors to return.

"Tourism is the wine country's lifeblood," said president and CEO Caroline Beteta. If the groups hosting fundraisers spread their goodwill across the region, she said, "I think they will be back and running and be able to host the world as they were before."

Once people understand everything is not burned down, tourism will return within a few months, said Eric Luse, the winemaker and owner of Eric Ross Winery in Glen Ellen.

Standing outside his empty tasting room and looking at passing cars, he mused, "If you're not optimistic, you are in the wrong business."
Michael Ciaglo/Staff

The oil industry has begun a slow recovery from a bust that sent more than 300 North American energy companies into bankruptcy court. This year, the number of oil-related bankruptcy cases has plunged.

Twenty North American oil producers have gone bankrupt so far this year, less than a third of the number that went under last year, as have 43 energy service companies, down from 71 last year, according to Haynes and Boone, a Dallas law firm that has tracked the oil industry's flurry of bankruptcies since early 2015.
Global steel pipe giant Tenaris has commenced full operations at its new $1.8 billion mill southwest of Houston, churning out piping for shale oil and gas wells in Texas, Oklahoma and beyond.

The state-of-the-art mill in Bay City is designed to compete with Asian imports by bringing pipe manufacturing closer to oil and gas wells. Tenaris, an Argentinian company with roots in Italy, opted to build its most modern and highly automated mill in Texas to serve the shale drilling boom in West Texas' Permian Basin and other regions.

U.S. shale and other onshore fields represent 35 percent of the global demand for such piping, Tenaris officials said. The resurgence of drilling in the United States is the biggest reason global pipe demand for onshore wells was expected to grow nearly 40 percent this year.

"Tenaris is the architect of a new business model in the steel pipe sector," said German Cura, Tenaris' president for North America. "The heart of this transformation is in Bay City, with the most advanced pipe manufacturing facility in the world."

More Information Piped in Tenaris recently opened its Bay City plant. Here are some facts: Cost: $1.8 billion Size: 1.2 million square feet Employment: 600 See More Collapse

Tenaris was virtually unheard of in Texas until a decade ago, when it bought St. Louis-based Maverick Tube Corp. and Houston-based Hydril Co. for a combined $5 billion. In short order, Tenaris grew from about 50 Houston employees to more than 2,000.

Tenaris touts its "Rig Direct" system, a just-on-time model that supplies pipe to match the exact needs of its customers just when the products are required in the field, lowering storage, maintenance and inspection costs. Despite the heavy use of robotics to move the steel from station to station to manufacture the finished piping, the mill employs about 600 workers.

The 1.2-million-square-foot mill will produce 600,000 tons of steel pipe a year. The specialized piping includes drill pipe used for drilling and creating wells; casing pipe that's cemented into place to line the walls of the well and give it structural stability; and tubing pipe inserted into the well through which the oil and gas travels.

Tenaris began building the mill near Houston when oil prices were booming and then opted to press ahead during the bust. Tenaris had hoped to open the mill early this year as the oil recovery picked up speed. Drilling has slowed in recent weeks, but the delayed November opening still coincides with a resurgence in onshore oil and gas activity in Texas and Oklahoma, which have led the U.S. rebound.

The rig count in Texas has climbed more than 60 percent over the past year, climbing to nearly 450 from 276, according to Baker Hughes. In Oklahoma, the rig count has climbed more than 50 percent for a year ago, to 122 from 79.

Domestic piping manufacturers are hoping the U.S. government increases duties on Asian steel imports, arguing that some Asian countries are unfairly dumping their steel in the U.S. at uneconomically low prices just to gain market share. In the early years of the shale boom, the Commerce Department slapped high tariffs on Chinese manufacturers, which were accused of dumping steel and pipe.
This month we will debate tax reform and upcoming tax cuts, and a logical follow-up thought to the tax reform debate is "why does the federal government cost so much to run?"

Each of us will answer that question differently - possibly depending on our political persuasion - but there's overwhelming bipartisan agreement on the need to reduce "waste, fraud and abuse."

Which is why we should all applaud the work of internal government groups like the Special Inspector General For Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, dedicated to reporting on waste, fraud and abuse in our nation's longest war. SIGAR makes quarterly reports to Congress on where our money went and conducts investigations on fraud and enforcement on the Afghanistan conflict, which began in 2001.

If you think like me, you might have this vague gnawing sense that pursuing a perpetual war against a shadowy non-state enemy with no end in sight is the surest way to blow our nation's budget. When you read a SIGAR report, that vague gnawing becomes very specific, with cold hard numbers attached to it.

Here's just one example of $70 billion in waste. A recent report by SIGAR studied the cost of building up the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, or ANDSF. The money appears mostly wasted.

In 2005, officials estimated a $7.2 billion price tag for building up the ANDSF. Bolstering internal police and security forces is an important and logical step toward reducing the U.S. military presence there. As the SIGAR report describes in excruciating detail, 15 years and $70 billion later, our efforts at capacity-building have utterly failed. Afghanistan cannot keep its own peace, and the local security forces are wholly dependent on U.S. support, both financially and militarily.

The devil of this failure is in the details of the report, but the waste, fraud, and abuse is nothing short of mind-boggling.

There's the obvious, like the $500 million spent on secondhand Italian transport planes that couldn't operate in Afghanistan's harsh conditions.

Or like the unspecified cost of what are believed to be thousands of "ghost" soldiers on the payroll of the Afghan army, basically paid for by us. One estimate in 2015 put that cost at $300 million in phantom payments.

The Afghan Ministry of Defense Headquarters, originally budgeted at $48.7 million, ended up costing $154.7 million and took five more years to build than expected.

Oddly, given the amount of money we spent, the history of training the Afghan forces is often one of equipment shortages. In the early years of U.S. rebuilding efforts, Afghan units would attempt to seize Taliban weapons caches because they were better quality than what they could get from us.

Afghanis preferred former Soviet-era weapons because they broke down less easily than the higher-tech U.S. weaponry. We provided high-tech solutions, but we built the wrong level of military and security technology for local conditions.

An estimated 70 percent of Afghanistan's population is illiterate. What that means is that after we deliver state-of-the art military electronics equipment, and then something goes wrong, the equipment can't be fixed using local expertise. So the U.S. military ends up resuming control of the abandoned high-tech equipment. According to SIGAR, Afghan soldiers remain totally dependent on our high-tech close air support and reconnaissance technology to be effective.

This mismatched technology problem is, in fact, both a cause and a giant metaphor for wasted expenditures in Afghanistan. We continue to build expensive high-tech solutions unsustainable in the Afghan context.

SIGAR estimated in July 2017 that the U.S. has spent $714 billion on the war effort so far. An academic study by Professor Neta Crawford of Boston University, a specialist in tallying war costs, estimates an even higher cost to the Afghanistan war, at $877 billion.

That cost can only increase from here, because the ongoing problem is that we can't seem to walk away financially, without the country's finances collapsing. The Afghanistan government, according to SIGAR's July 2017 quarterly report, is on total financial life-support from the U.S. government.

How do we know about this dependency? Here are the numbers: The Afghanistan government raised $2.1 billion in total revenue in 2016. It costs around $7.3 billion a year to run the government with an estimated $4.9 billion spent on the Afghan forces alone. Who pays the difference of roughly $5 billion each year? That would be you and me, with some help from international donors.

It's as if we built a $50,000 Habitat-For-Humanity house for someone who badly needed a home, but then burdened the house with technology, utilities and taxes appropriate for a $2 million mansion. The "lucky" recipient now has an unsustainably expensive albatross of a house. He can't afford to live there. The Afghanistan people cannot afford the armed forces, and government, that we've built for them.

There's no foreseeable path to fiscal sustainability for the Afghanistan government. So, we're stuck there.

There's very little to celebrate over the blown $70 billion in rebuilding Afghan security forces, or even the between $714 billion and $877 billion spent to conduct the war since 2001.

If you're worried about the rising cost of our government, check out SIGAR's reports and the progress made in our perpetual war, with ill-defined goals, against a shadowy enemy that can't be defeated.
Leading researchers have castigated a federal plan that would use artificial intelligence methods to scrutinize immigrants and visa applicants, saying it is unworkable as written and likely to be "inaccurate and biased" if deployed.

The experts, a group of more than 50 computer and data scientists, mathematicians and other specialists in automated decision-making, urged the Department of Homeland Security to abandon the project, dubbed the "Extreme Vetting Initiative."

That plan has its roots in President Donald Trump's repeated pledge during the 2016 campaign to subject immigrants seeking admission to the United States to more intense ideological scrutiny - or, as he put it, "extreme vetting ."

Over the summer, DHS published a "statement of objectives" for a system that would use computer algorithms to scan social media and other material in order to automatically flag undesirable entrants - and to continuously scan the activities of those allowed into the U.S.

The goal, that document stated, was to let computers help determine whether an immigrant "intends to commit criminal or terrorist acts," as well as their likelihood of becoming a "positively contributing member of society."

In a joint letter to DHS this past week, the dissenting researchers called that approach "neither appropriate nor feasible."

Background of the plan

In the document, the office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it was seeking a contractor to automate background checks of foreigners seeking temporary or permanent entry to the U.S.

It outlined plans for mining Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, academic websites and other publicly-available internet data, then using AI techniques to analyze it and to keep monitoring those sources.

This contractor would be expected to generate at least 10,000 investigative leads a year that would be forwarded to federal agents, according to the document.

ICE's public presentations to interested vendors haven't been updated since August, raising the possibility that the agency might have scrapped or significantly altered the plan since then.

ICE played down the significance of its summer outreach to contractors in a statement, saying it was "an opportunity to gather information from industry professionals and other government agencies on current technological capabilities."

But there's been pressure from the White House to implement strict measures quickly.

Hours after the deadly Oct. 31 truck attack in New York City, Trump said on Twitter that he "ordered Homeland Security to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program. Being politically correct is fine, but not for this!"

Trump also called for Congress to repeal the diversity visa lottery program that the suspected attacker, an immigrant from Uzbekistan named Sayfullo Saipov, used to enter the country in 2010.

Trump has made repeated attempts to restrict entry into the U.S. through several iterations of a travel ban, all of which have received a tough reception in the courts.

The technology experts, who hail from both academia and big tech firms such as Google and Microsoft, warned that current AI methods aren't capable of evaluating the traits that the government seeks to measure.

"Neither the federal government nor anyone else has defined, much less attempted to quantify, these characteristics," the technologists wrote. "Algorithms designed to predict these undefined qualities could be used to arbitrarily flag groups of immigrants under a veneer of objectivity."

Among the problems is that unlike algorithms that mine the traditional criminal justice system, where there's no shortage of cases, the pool of data that could help predict terrorist leanings is tiny.

"In the national security context it's much harder to investigate the problem because you have a couple cases a year," said UC Berkeley postdoctoral researcher Joshua Kroll, who signed the letter.

One contracting-firm employee who attended an informational ICE meeting in July said the proposed system would simply expand data-management work that private vendors already undertake to help the government vet visa applicants.

It wouldn't give contractors any legal authority to approve or deny immigration benefits, said Bill Carney, who manages federal programs for consulting firm McManis & Monsalve Associates.

But Jacob Shapiro, a Princeton University politics professor who attended one of the meetings as president of investigative analytics firm Giant Oak, said the effectiveness of the vetting system would depend on how it's crafted.

"There are many ways one could meet that statement of objectives, some of which would make the system fairer, more equitable and faster for those seeking to immigrate," Shapiro said. "But some of which could be biased and unfair, as any algorithm can be."

Lobbying contractors

Advocates who coordinated both the technologists' protest letter and a second letter from civic society groups have also privately lobbied potential vendors such as IBM not to participate in the initiative. IBM said this week that its attendance at the government's summer meeting was routine and not a sign that it's planning to make a bid.

"As there is no active project being proposed, it is premature to say whether there is even an opportunity that IBM would consider pursuing," said IBM spokesman Ian Colley.

David Robinson, a Georgetown University law professor and co-founder of Upturn, a newly formed group that looks at the civil rights implications of new technology, said the extreme vetting project doesn't make sense and doesn't comport with any reasonable set of values.

"This isn't something that anyone should be willing to build," said Robinson, who signed the technologists' letter. "Whatever you think about what the immigration rules ought to be, this is just nuts. And it's nuts dressed up as science."
Seeing Dean Gladden cry in front of a stage of theater patrons was like watching a father, or president, cry. It was seeing something that sounds trivial but is in fact astonishing. It was seeing a grown man engaged in what so many have forgotten how to do - shed tears in the company of others.

This happened a couple of weeks after Hurricane Harvey hit but mere minutes before the Alley Theatre premiered "Describe the Night" at the University of Houston, after its home in downtown's Theater District was damaged by floodwaters.

As the Alley prepares to open its building on Friday with its production of "A Christmas Carol," I can't stop thinking about that image from months ago. And it's not the only instance. Last week, Stanton Welch of the Houston Ballet shed his tears in front of an audience as he talked the ballet's recovery from Harvey.

Seeing these leaders break into tears in front of full audiences was realizing that Hurricane Harvey was never just about financial loss, nor was the recovery just about financial gain. It was never about losing props, computers or drywall and then figuring out whom to ask for money to buy replacements. Watching the unexpected burst of humanity by Gladden, like Gladden, the Alley's managing director and Texas' most powerful theater administrator, I was reminded that Harvey was about how, when people are truly tested, they show themselves for who they are.

There he was, standing alone, inside UH's black-box theater, at the front of the hastily yet beautifully built stage for Rajiv Joseph's play on an early September night that was quieter and calmer than you'd imagine for a post-disaster opening.

More Information Alley Theatre reopens its doors Friday with its production of "A Christmas Carol," running on its main stage through Dec. 30. See More Collapse

"We did it," Gladden said.

The audience cheered, and when it stopped Gladden went on with how incredible, and incredibly taxing, the past weeks had been. He spoke genuinely and professionally. And I do not remember a single sentence he said.

What I do remember was when Gladden choked on his words, and that when the words finally came out, so did tears. Eyes red, he stammered out the rest of the curtain speech, his sentences composed and intact even if their rhythm was not. When he left the stage, you could tell by his quick, modest gait that he felt a bit embarrassed, or at least uncomfortable, with taking up that space.

The structure of prestigious nonprofit art, with all its trappings of newsletters, fundraising campaigns and media relations, has eliminated emotional honesty in the public space. People in the arts industry do not speak in public unless they're politely pushing an agenda, be it to persuade an audience member to see a show or a patron to support a new festival. People shake my hand and smile at me often during theater outings. They say, "Thank you for being here," a sentence that has no actual meaning without context, yet whose context is never truly known.

And they do not cry.

There is nothing wrong with this. We all accept the fact that public life is not the same as private life. But that mind-set doesn't work very well when privacy becomes a memory and a pre-disaster luxury after a home or theater has been flooded so badly that it emits toxic fumes of bacteria and rot. During Harvey, when the buildings that gave us physical and emotional structure were destroyed, we were forced to reveal our anger, remorse, shock and desperation in the company of strangers. That's too much vulnerability for the average person, and certainly too much for the average adult male. And yet, protocol has no use in the face of the unexpected and inconceivable. Going off-protocol - and everything was off-protocol until recently - meant making choices that said more than any verbal or written public statement.

The Houston Symphony made its first two weekends of performances at Rice University free.

That said something.

The Houston Grand Opera, kicked out of its Wortham Theater Center home for an entire season, decided to drape up the George R. Brown Convention Center and keep opera going.

That said something.

And the Alley Theatre decided to open "Describe the Night" on the day it was supposed to if Harvey hadn't happened, despite everything. And at the end, Dean Gladden cried.

That said something. And the Alley is back with "A Christmas Carol," on schedule and already selling well as usual. That says something.

This man was not lobbying. I refuse to consider it. Even the most jaded view about the problems we have with our public leaders and gatekeepers cannot refute the fact that a grown man crying in public is rare. And, because crying is seen as a sign of weakness, it is also extraordinary.

When asked about that moment, Gladden struggled to remain "professional" - meaning to follow the protocol of burying his emotions - while recalling that memory. It wasn't self-pity, nor was it doubt, he said. It was pride. Normally I'd have scoffed at yet another administrator speaking in broad, positive terms about his own organization. Not this time.

"To have accomplished all of that amid the disaster, they had to redesign the set, shop space, with the actors rehearsing at every place from the Alley to the Four Seasons to the 1100 Louisiana building - all of that, and we got that show up," Gladden said, taking a breath. "We overcame."
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Vail Ennis was a complicated character, to say the least. And though we'll never know for sure, he didn't seem much like a conflicted one.

The hard-line sheriff of Beeville, a small town between Corpus Christi and San Antonio, Ennis employed peacekeeping efforts that were divisive in a town he began serving in 1945. Some today swear he was a hero who kept their town safe. Others thought maybe a few too many citizens died in his custody.

"I am hellbent to keep Beeville cleaned up," he once said, "so a lady can go up the street day or night."

That's the beginning of a film right there.

Until then, we have author James McCollom's new book, which takes a deep dive into Ennis' life and times. "The Last Sheriff in Texas: A True Tale of Violence and the Vote" was released last week. It's a gripping read, historical but with contemporary resonance.

McCollom is a Beeville native. And he identified a narrative with resonance well beyond seekers of Texas history. "The Last Sheriff in Texas" would be an amazing allegory for our times - were it fiction. Instead, the book suggests cultural trenches that we view as new that were actually dug decades ago. And they're all evident in Beeville, a town of about 13,000 today.

In Ennis' day, the divisions were raw and obvious: a population that didn't welcome new residents from Mexico; debates about the use of deadly force; the use and misuse of media for the purposes of electoral politics; the mythology of the Old West.

More Information 'The Last Sheriff in Texas: A True Tale of Violence and the Vote' By James McCollom Counterpoint, 272 pages See More Collapse

And at the heart of the story is a sheriff who made Time magazine for a gas-station shootout in which he failed to frisk a suspect he'd apprehended. That suspect shot Ennis four times, which only served to anger the lawman. He never fell, and emptied his gun - twice - into the two men he'd arrested.

The filling-station attendant told the local paper the whole thing happened "quicker than the time it takes to tell about it."

Ennis' account: "I was determined that if those bandits killed me, they were not going to live to tell the story."

He also once arrested author William S. Burroughs for drunkenness.

But his legacy also includes more dubious conflict. He responded to a custody dispute in 1945 and mowed down three Mexican men with a Tommy Gun. Ennis was indicted and acquitted.

Ennis' name resurfaced recently in Houston with the restoration of a decades-old mural on Canal. Leo Tanguma painted "The Rebirth of Our Nationality" on the facade of a factory in the city's East End in the early 1970s.

Though the mural has nothing to do with Ennis, Tanguma's activism can be traced to his youth in Beeville. He told the Chronicle's Molly Glentzer his first mural was done in chalk in the 1950s, depicting a scene in which a mob exacted vengeance on the sheriff who prompted fear and hatred among the Mexican-American community in the town.

In 1952, Ennis arrested Fred Gutierrez, who was fatally shot after his apprehension. Gutierrez's widow and four children were pictured in an ad urging Beeville citizens not to vote for Ennis.

"Was it really necessary for you to kill and take our daddy away from us?" it read.

Ennis' opponent, J.L. Duffy, won the election.

In 1972, Ennis died of prostate cancer at 69.

His spirit has drifted through fictional characters in literature and film, possibly inspiring Jim Thompson's 1952 novel "The Killer Inside Me" and a character in John Sayles' 1996 film "Lone Star."

Today in Beeville, he's both celebrated and reviled. McCollom's book is the most in-depth telling of his story to date. And it offers insight about his life and times, as well as ours.
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When I was a little kid, Thanksgiving was a trip to Galveston, a turkey picnic on the beach, a stop for hot chocolate on the way home.

Seemingly simple.

Only as an adult did I realize how complicated American holidays could be in my family. My mom, Lore Feldman, was a German Jew who came to the United States in 1937. She was 14 as she watched SS agents stand over her mother while she packed for their one-way journey to America.

In the years leading up to that terrible scene, Mom and her Jewish friends were kicked out of public school in their hometown of Ulm and banned from swimming in local pools. Non-Jewish friends - close friends - joined Hitler youth groups.

When my brother, sister and I were searching for seashells in Galveston on Thanksgiving Day, we didn't know that Mom still nursed gaping wounds from those old days; she kept them hidden. As much as our family liked to talk, we didn't discuss the Holocaust. Neither did we understand why some holidays were "in" at our house or why some were definitely "out."

The Fourth of July, for example, was a no. The flag-waving and parades just triggered horrible memories of Nazi Germany. Christmas was something of a minefield, too. In pre-Hitler Germany, even Jewish families celebrated the winter holiday. In the United States, it felt both commercialized and politicized. Mom wasn't keen on Mother's Day, Father's Day or Valentine's Day, either.

"Hallmark holidays," she said dismissively.

But Thanksgiving, based on the story about a harvest feast shared by Plymouth colonists and native Americans, felt genuine to Mom and, as a bonus, wonderfully free of religion, politics, commercialism or fake sentiment. Who couldn't love a day rich in food, friends and family?

Soon the Galveston picnics were kaput, and we graduated to more elaborate Thanksgiving dinners at home. The parties started simply, with relatives. Then we added single friends happy for a seat at the table.

By the time I was grown and working, Thanksgiving was by far our biggest celebration of the year. My dad, Lou Feldman, would get things started in mid-October by unearthing a special yellow legal pad. With great ceremony he would write down the names of invited guests, a process dictated by two simple rules. Everybody invited the year before - or the year before that - was invited again. Anybody who might not have plans for the big day was welcome, too.

In the early '80s, there were 30-plus people at dinner - so many that Mom and Dad rented tables, chairs and table cloths, and we ate on paper plates.

Unfortunately, that was about the time the festivities got too much for Mom. After heart surgery, she developed memory problems, and she cried when she realized that all the dinners were running together in her mind.

We tried to say that was normal, that the celebrations were running together in our memory banks, too. But she could not be consoled. Each year, we tried to do more to make dinner go smoothly, to relieve the pressure she felt. Instead, the parties seemed to cause her more and more pain.

As the years passed, she could barely lift the turkey, then she couldn't lift it at all. She obsessed about the calories a Thanksgiving feast involved. She told guests to bring vegetables, ones without extra fat or calories, and she groaned at the thought of pie.

Right before her death at 92 - but long after Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving turkeys had moved to our house - Mom began experiencing the past and the present as a giant mashup.

She told us one of her caregivers was really an SS agent. I think she thought there was more than one - that SS agents were creeping around the house like giant roaches.

And she continued to obsess about Thanksgiving and the turkey.

"Don't worry," she told us one Sunday morning. "I went to the store and bought one."

That was mid-September, 2015. She could barely stand without falling. She often spilled her coffee because the weight of a mug or even a cup was too much for her.

Just in case, we peeked in the fridge.

No turkey.

Dad was already gone by then and by the end of the month, Mom was gone, too.

We had Thanksgiving that year, just as they would have wanted us to, but it was rough. Maybe we finally understood that holidays are complicated.

And ever-changing.

Thursday's dinner will be small by our old standards but solid. The company is going to be great, and the food is going to be great, too. My new sister-in-law makes awesome apple pie. A friend is bringing what she says are epic, Thanksgiving-level Brussels sprouts.

I'm checking myself. I am my mother's daughter. I'd say I'm mildly worried about the turkey but not obsessing.

Claudia Feldman is a freelance writer in Houston.
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COTTS, Mich. - Did they know how many rounds a gunman fired into First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs?

Did they know how many little boys and girls he killed?

Did they know there was a second violent church attack that same day in Fresno, Calif.?

Barry Young's voice rose as he led an "intruder awareness and response training" for church personnel on Nov. 11 at Prairie Baptist Church in Scotts, Mich.

"What happened in Texas isn't new. It's just larger than normal," said Young, vice president of church security ministries at Strategos International, a Christian company based in Missouri that teaches people at schools, churches and other institutions how to deal with a violent, armed intruder.

"We've got to get church leaders' heads out of the sand."

It was the weekend after the deadliest church shooting in American history, after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton urged viewers on Fox News, "We need people in church - professional security or at least arming some of the parishioners or congregation - so they can respond when something like this happens again."

As church leaders across the country considered how to respond - to comfort their congregations but also to make them feel safe - nearly 80 people from churches across Michigan, Indiana and Illinois gathered at Prairie Baptist for the training presented by Strategos, the largest church security training ministry in the world, Young said.

Strategos, which is affiliated with Abundant Life Church in Lee's Summit, Mo., southeast of Kansas City, has trained more than 20,000 church leaders since 2007. But since the most recent Texas church shooting, Young said he's been overwhelmed with requests and is filling up his schedule so quickly that one Boston church will have to wait a year for its training.

Saturday's training was peppered with horrific details from the Texas church shooting, alarming statistics and Bible verses delivered in a call-and-response cadence familiar to many churchgoers.

"I wish it was 1950  but it's 2017, and the American church has to change," Young said.

His voice jumped another decibel: "I said the American church has to change. How many people have to die before the American church changes?"

Church has security team

Prairie Baptist Church planned the event at least six months ago to boost the skills of its security team and to help other churches in the area do the same, Associate Pastor John Woullard said. When it came to the timing - a week after the Texas church shooting - Woullard said, "God just had that all worked out."

Prairie Baptist, housed in a long, low building covered in tan siding, sees about 200 people on a Sunday morning, the associate pastor said. That's about the average size for a church in the United States, according to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.

The church has had a security team for about three years, after Woullard went to a similar training session and, he said, "my eyes were opened to how much is going on in the world and how little we know what's going on in our building during a service."

"It made my eyebrows go up."

Prairie Baptist's security team has about 10 members who rotate serving on a Sunday, he said. One person is positioned to greet people at the front door, which is kept locked. Someone is in every part of the building every few minutes to check on Sunday school classes and to make sure everyone is safe.

Several are armed.

Churches are considered "gun-free zones" in Michigan, but gun owners can carry their weapons with a pastor's permission, Woullard said. And a Michigan Senate committee approved bills last week that would give blanket permission to carry concealed weapons in churches and other gun-free zones.

"The Bible says, 'Redeeming the time for the days are evil.' We have to be diligent and understand the times we live in," Woullard said.

The associate pastor pointed to the biblical Book of Nehemiah, in which the people carried a tool in one hand and a sword in the other as they rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem. He offered as an example the Founding Fathers, who could not have won the Revolutionary War without weapons.

And he pointed to the shooting the weekend before at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, , which ended when a neighbor fired back at the attacker with his own gun.

In his opening prayer on Nov. 11, Wise made clear they weren't just there to talk about guns.

"When we talk about church security, it's not talking about packing a gun or carrying a gun," he prayed. "It's about being prepared for every possible thing that we can think of, Lord. It's just protecting the flock - it's protecting what you have blessed us with in the ministry."

Inside the church, decorated with Bible verses, patriotic sentiments and a portrait of George Washington, Young shared a number of statistics on deadly force collected by church security consultant Carl Chinn: Since 1999, there have been more than 1,500 violent church attacks in America, and church violence has gone up 2,380 percent, Young said.

Protecting the flock

Chinn's statistics, however, have been called into question and include the many violent deaths on church property that are suicides.

Last year alone, there were 246 violent church attacks, Young said. On Nov. 5, there were two. He poked the media for failing to report the story.

"The media sometimes doesn't tell the truth," Young said to laughs, "and so most people don't know that there was a violent church attack last Sunday at the exact same time" as the shooting in Texas.

In addition to the shooting in Sutherland Springs, which killed more than two dozen people, Manuel Garcia fatally shot his estranged wife, Martha Garcia, and her new boyfriend outside St. Alphonsus Church in Fresno, Calif., before killing himself later that day at his home, according to The Washington Post, one of several news outlets that reported the crime.

And yet, while airports, public schools and other institutions have changed how they handle security in this era of mass shootings, the church has not, he said.

Because it can take police several minutes to respond to a call for help, he said, "We want to give you a comprehensive plan from the parking lot to the pulpit that includes Band-Aids to bullets to close the four- to nine-minute window."

Young advocated for three layers of church security: a parking lot team, greeters and ushers and a security team. He shared three foundations of church security - "look out," "get out" and "take out." He walked attendees through a lockdown, confronting somebody coming down the aisle at a church, and using a tactical pen - a writing instrument and weapon in one - for self-defense.

As he demonstrated how to shoot beneath a vehicle and described what direction vehicles should be parked in relation to a building, a white-tailed deer bobbed across one of the surrounding fields.

Marc Anderson of Kalamazoo, Mich., and his sister-in-law Anneliese Langs, a police officer who lives in Climax, Mich., came to the training at the suggestion of their pastor at Fellowship Baptist Church in Battle Creek, Mich. Their pastor also happens to be Langs' father. She began discussing the idea of a security team with him after a church shooting earlier this year outside Nashville, Tenn., she said.

Fellowship Baptist averages about 60 people each Sunday, and Anderson, who works for an aviation company in Battle Creek, already was thinking how he could scale what he'd learned for a smaller church and who might be interested in joining a security team.

He's encountered pushback to the idea, especially the idea of guns in church, including from his dad, who also is a pastor.

"It doesn't seem to make much sense," he said. "As a pastor, you're responsible for the people that come.  I don't think there's anything wrong with protecting the people that go there. You want them to feel safe."
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Ashley Dunn was in the first grade when she forced herself to throw up food for the first time.

She doesn't remember where she learned to stick her finger down her throat, but she knows she wanted to feel thin.

Dunn's childhood in Dallas was filled with incessant teasing and bullying over her weight and complexion, so bulimia became a way of coping.

The 34-year-old Houston-based fashion stylist with 20,000 Instagram followers, an enviable figure and a rich, mocha complexion is speaking publicly about her ordeal for the first time.

"I learned to hide it. I would sneak behind buildings or hide in the bushes by trees. I even kept a container by my bed to throw up in, but it only felt good for that moment," she said, choking back her tears.

"I had to see myself differently, and until I saw myself differently, nothing would stop it."

Because she was a popular cheerleader in high school, Dunn was able to keep her bulimia a secret. It would remain one for years.

She went on to study communications and fashion merchandising at Prairie View A&M University, graduating in 2006, and work as a stylist at Anthropologie. But fashion didn't pay the bills, so Dunn took a job in marketing at a health-insurance company for six years.

During that time, she met and married Darryl Dunn, a truck driver from New Orleans who had moved to Houston after Hurricane Katrina. He supported her dream of a career in fashion. He also knew about her bulimia.

"In 2010, no one knew what a stylist did, but he jumped in with me and my dream," she said.

The next year, though, Dunn was still purging to the point that she once passed out and was rushed to the hospital. It was a wake-up call.

"That's when I started to tap into my faith in God. My husband supported me. He never wavered, and from that moment I haven't done it (purged) again. God had been trying to get me to that point. When this happened, things started to change. I started to value myself more."

A couple of years later she left her corporate job to start her own business, shopping for and styling clients for meetings and special events. Her business grew steadily by word of mouth. Today, she has a full roster of clients from celebrities to professional women. She even created her own fashion line and tried out for ABC's "Shark Tank," but she realized she preferred styling.

Dunn is also a style ambassador for Beehive boutique in Rice Village, as well as Verizon and Banana Republic.

Scrolling through her Instagram feed, @iamashleydunn, is a lot like flipping through the pages of a fashion magazine.

There's Dunn in a multicolored, striped sweater dress with strappy sandals. Then she appears wearing an off-the-shoulder, seafoam-green top standing against a turquoise wall.

Her modellike poses are endless, and so is her style, from fun, casual looks to ones that are more haughty and sophisticated.

Dunn is using her story to inspire others. She recently hosted her second annual "Women in Style Empowerment Brunch" at 51fifteen at Saks Fifth Avenue Galleria. Proceeds benefited Girls with Gifts, a nonprofit group that aims to encourage girls ages 12 to 18.

"Why wasn't there 'Black Girl Magic' when I was growing up?" Dunn said, referring to the social media movement to empower African American girls. "But you know, I feel really good in my skin now. I feel unapologetically fine with Ashley, the direction I'm going, and that's all that matters."

Home: Medical Center area

Style heroes: Diana Ross, Princess Diana, Bianca Jagger, Solange

Pairs of shoes: 20

Should toss but can't: Blazers and shoes

Trend you'll never wear: Anything plastic, tops, dress, skirts or pants

On bedside table: Jewelry, "The Career Code," by Hillary Kerr and my Girl Boss award I received in 2016

Most regrettable purchase: An expensive, sheer dress from Marc Jacobs store in New York that wasn't functional

Must-have beauty products: CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser, Bobbi Brown BB Cream, NARS red lip pencil, lashes

First car: Black Nissan Maxima

Most hated household chore: Cleaning the bathroom

Favorite food: Mexican, french fries

Favorite movie: "Poetic Justice" (1993)

Favorite cocktail: Vodka and club soda

Best advice you have ever received: From husband Darryl, "What God has for you is for you."

Backup career: Actress

Worst job ever: A server at Cheddars

Theme song: "Feeling Good" by Nina Simone
SUTHERLAND SPRINGS - Like most Texans who don't live in Wilson County, I had never heard of this little town east of San Antonio until horrific tragedy struck Sunday morning a week ago. Finishing up at the Texas Book Festival in Austin that afternoon, an old reporter's instinct diverted me south on Interstate 35 instead of heading home to Houston.

It was dark when I arrived. Knots of people loomed out of the darkness. Huge satellite trucks and police vehicles lined the highway. Rubberneckers clogged the intersection of Highway 87 and FM 539, where the town's one blinking yellow light is supposed to slow traffic. The small white-washed Baptist church, the site a few hours earlier of the worst mass shooting in Texas history, was bathed in lights brighter than day.

In a vacant lot across the street from the church, I encountered a prayer vigil conducted by a middle-aged Hispanic man dressed in black. He was surrounded by dozens of men, women and children holding candles and by an outer ring of reporters, most with cameras protruding into the circle. Angling for a better view, I was careful not to step in front of a gray-haired man in a blue polo shirt and khakis sitting in a wheelchair beside me, his candle lifted high. It took me a second to realize I was standing beside Gov. Greg Abbott.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder, and I instinctively stepped aside, thinking it was a cameraman angling for a better view of the governor. It turned out to be my son Pete, a reporter for The Washington Post. In Texas for the weekend to attend a family reunion in Kerrville, he had been at the family gathering for all of 10 minutes when he got the call from the Post to head to a place called Sutherland Springs.

Thus did Pete and I, along with hundreds of journalists from around the world, descend on this unassuming little town at a time when residents were trying to cope with almost unimaginable horror in their midst. I'd been in similar situations - covering a mass shooting in a Fort Worth church 20 years ago, in West after the 2013 fertilizer-plant explosion - but to intrude on people's grief and sorrow in an effort to tell their story never gets easy.

I went back a few days ago to find out more about the little town smack in the middle of what one CNN reporter described as "Texas fly-over country." What I discovered was a semirural village with a colorful past and perhaps, as residents sought to assure me, a resilient future.

"It's always been the water," Tambria Read told me as we sat with several of her neighbors inside the former auto-repair shop that's now the Sutherland Springs Historical Museum. Read, a visual fine arts teacher at nearby Floresville High School and a Sutherland Springs native, was referring to various Native American tribes who, since before recorded history, relied on the bountiful springs that feed nearby Cibolo Creek.

Kept finding water

She could have been referring to her own family. Her great-grandfather was Pattillo "Bud" Higgins, the Beaumont eccentric who believed the oil beneath Spindletop would transform Texas, if not the world; her grandfather, Pattillo "Pat" Higgins, Jr., was a would-be oilman who kept finding water every time he drilled in Wilson County. Water and good soil made the younger Higgins the self-proclaimed "grass king of the Southwest," the developer of a variety of forage grass favored by the King Ranch that was called Higgins Blue Buffel.

Centuries earlier, Cibolo Valley attracted Canary Island immigrants from San Antonio. Among the first Anglo settlers was Joseph Henry Polley, who came to Texas with Moses Austin in 1820 and whose cattle herds eventually would be among the largest in the state. Whitehall, the handsome two-story house he and his wife Mary built out of native sandstone in 1848, still stands just north of town.

Polley participated in the Texas Revolution, as did Dr. John Sutherland, Jr., who in December 1835 signed on to tend to Texian medical needs inside the Alamo garrison. Injured when he fell off his horse, he was in no condition to fight Gen. Santa Anna's minions, so Col. William Barret Travis sent him to seek help from Gonzales. He returned with a contingent of men only to see smoke from funeral pyres rising over San Antonio.

After the war, Sutherland settled along Cibolo Creek and established a stage line from Indianola and Victoria and on to Chihuahua, Mexico. His house, a regular stop on the line, came to be called Sutherland Springs.

Sutherland also boarded patients who came to "take the waters" and gained a reputation for curing cholera and other maladies with a regimen of plants, herbs and steam. The, shall we say, distinctive odor of the sulfur water still pervades Sutherland Springs kitchens and bathrooms, although retired postmistress Beulah Wilson, 88, told me she's convinced from personal experience that the odiferous water combats cancer - and mosquitoes.

"From the beginning their idea was to make a resort," Fred Anderson told me. A Sutherland Springs native who became an executive with 7Eleven and UToteEm in Houston, Anderson helped clear up my confusion about Old and New Sutherland Springs. Old Town, as residents call it, is west of Cibolo Creek and looks relatively new; the Valero gas station, the Baptist church, a Dollar General store and a residential area are in Old Town.

New Town, as I learned on a driving tour with Anderson and other history-minded residents, was an ambitious project of the Sutherland Springs Development Corporation more than a century ago. The idea was to create on the east side of the creek the "Saratoga of the South." In 1910, the 52-room luxury Hotel Sutherland opened, along with a sanitarium, a movie theater, a boarding house, a spacious pool and a 100-acre park shaded by venerable live oaks. Wealthy tourists from up north took the train to San Antonio, switched to a Sutherland Springs trunk line and luxuriated in the healing waters.

The resort's heyday was brief. A 1913 flood destroyed the pool and bathing pavilions, and the Hotel Sutherland closed in 1923, the sanitarium in the '40s. Anderson, 81, remembers his grandfather's grocery store and a handful of other New Town businesses, but most migrated back across the creek to Old Town. Except for a few residences, New Town today is No Town.

Temporary memorial

It was dark by the time we finished our history tour. Before heading home, I stepped inside the First Baptist Church, its sanctuary painted stark white as a temporary memorial. I simply could not comprehend what had happened in the horribly violated space.

"It will make us stronger," Read had assured me earlier.

She and her neighbors will never forget those who lost their lives, she explained by phone Thursday evening, but she hopes the little town that nobody knew will someday be known for something more than tragedy. Water and a rich past, grace and charity in response to great pain, the comfort of a close-knit community - those are attributes worth commemorating too.
Q: This is a true story. In the 1950s, my grandmother was taking a "heart pill" her doctor had prescribed. The older doctor retired, and Granny went to see the new doctor to get her heart pill refilled. The young doctor told her: "Mrs. G., this is nothing but aspirin. There is nothing wrong with your heart."

He refused to refill her heart pill. Three weeks later she died of a heart attack. That was in the 1950s, before any research had been done on the effects of aspirin and the heart.

A: It took decades for the medical profession to recognize how useful aspirin could be in preventing heart attacks. A recent Swedish study discovered that people who discontinued low-dose aspirin were 37 percent more likely to have a hospitalization, heart attack or stroke (Circulation, online, Sept. 26, 2017).

The investigators suggest that there may be rebound blood clotting when aspirin is stopped suddenly. Other research also has shown a link between aspirin discontinuation and serious cardiovascular events. If people need to stop aspirin prior to surgery or because of side effects, they should do so under careful medical supervision.

Q: I have been taking metformin for Type 2 diabetes. It gives me gas and a bellyache. As a result, I also have been taking omeprazole for a long time.

When I realized that these drugs could deplete vitamin B-12, I began taking a supplement. The tingling and nerve pain have improved a lot.

I wonder how many people know that metformin can affect nerves through its impact on vitamin B-12. They may be going through life with more pain than need be. My own doctor never mentioned that my medications could reduce vitamin B-12, and I was never tested.

A: The diabetes drug metformin and all the proton pump inhibitors, such as omeprazole (Prilosec), esomeprazole (Nexium), lansoprazole (Prevacid) and pantoprazole (Protonix), can interfere with vitamin B-12 absorption.

When levels of this crucial vitamin drop too low, the symptoms may include numbness and tingling in the hands and feet as well as weakness, fatigue, constipation and loss of appetite. People with too little vitamin B-12 also may feel depressed, confused or unsteady. In some cases, memory deteriorates to the point that they might be misdiagnosed with dementia.

We commend you for being alert to the potential side effects of your medications.

Q: My wife heard that milk of magnesia might help rosacea and suggested I try it. I've had mild but persistent redness and itching on my face for about six years.

I splashed some milk of magnesia on my face, and the results were immediate. The rosacea is gone. Prior to this, the best luck I'd had was with hydrocortisone cream.

A: We've seen no research to support using milk of magnesia topically to treat rosacea. However, we have heard from many readers that this treatment may be helpful.
The U.S. State Department often misses its deadline to release a list of the world's worst violators of religious freedom - or doesn't release a list at all. This year, Congress had hoped to break it of the habit.

In December, lawmakers passed a law mandating that the department name those "Countries of Particular Concern" within 90 days of releasing its International Religious Freedom report.

That report came out Aug. 15, making Monday the deadline for the State Department. But there is still no list of CPCs, even though Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said religious freedom is a "human rights priority" for the Trump administration.

The delay bothers some religious freedom watchdogs, including members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent, bipartisan body set up by Congress in 1998 to monitor the issue.

The Countries of Particular Concern are a list of nations that violate religious freedom in a "systematic, ongoing, and egregious" way, according to USCIRF.

USCIRF must provide its own list of recommended CPCs to the State Department by May 1, according to the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. The department does not always include all of the commission's recommendations on its list.

In April, USCIRF recommended 16 countries as Countries of Particular Concern, including North Korea, China and, for the first time in the history of the list, Russia. The commission noted in its report that in 2016, Russia has passed a new law "effectively criminalizing all private religious speech not sanctioned by the state," all but banned Jehovah's Witnesses and tried Muslims "on fabricated charges of terrorism and extremism."
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SUTHERLAND SPRINGS - When the memorial to the 26 victims of the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs shootings was unveiled last Sunday, many were surprised that a scene of such carnage could so quickly and thoroughly be converted into a serene space for mourning, contemplation and remembrance.

Some said the stark all-white sanctuary, with 26 white chairs each carrying the name of a victim and one rose, was a heavenly vision. Others said it looked like an art installation carrying an ethereal yet powerful message honoring the dead.

Many wondered who was behind the transformation that started on the Tuesday after the shootings and took only a few days to complete in time for the unveiling one week later.

This is the story of how it happened.

Nov. 7

Pastor Mark Collins had never had a vision from God. But then, two days after a gunman opened fire on the church, he woke up at 4 a.m.

"When the vision came, it felt like I was drinking from a fire hose," said Collins, who served as Sutherland Springs' associate pastor for eight years before becoming senior pastor at the First Baptist Church of Yorktown, a town south of Sutherland Springs. "I knew what we had to do."

Later that day, he explained his idea to friend and colleague Frank Pomeroy, the pastor at Sutherland Springs whose 14-year-old daughter, Annabelle, was among those killed.

"What do you think?" Collins asked when he'd finished talking.

"Let's do it," Pomeroy said.

Also that day, Brad Beldon, CEO of San Antonio-based Beldon construction company, had decided he wanted to do something to help. So he and company President Danny Mendez drove down to a feed store near the church to make a donation. The store credit card reader wasn't working, so he drove over to the church and started handing out business cards to law enforcement officials.

"I'd tell them, 'Let us know what we can do to help,' " he said, hoping one of the cards would make its way to whomever was in charge.

That night, he got a call from Collins, who explained his concept for the memorial chairs and flowers.

"Consider it done," Beldon responded.

Nov. 8

Jeremy Willingham of J&K Painting in New Braunfels had never met or done business with Dallas-based C4 General Contractor. But when C4's Mark A. Westbrook called, apparently after doing a web search for a painting company near Sutherland Springs, and asked if he'd be willing to help construct the memorial, Willingham said, "We have a lot going on, but I'll drop everything to help them rebuild."

Meanwhile, Beldon was finding that getting the proper chairs was easier said than done.

"We didn't have any guidelines, other than they wanted something simple," he recalled. "So we went from store to store looking and looking, but we couldn't find anything we liked that fit that bill."

Finally, Armando Romero, a Beldon employee, drove to the Ikea in Round Rock and purchased 26 white Terje folding chairs.

"We saw the chair online and knew it would be perfect for what we needed," Beldon said.

Later that evening, San Antonio calligrapher Tracy Bellion received a call from a woman who identified herself as Emily Kustoff. Without offering any details, Kustoff asked if Bellion would be able to paint 26 names on 26 chairs.

"I knew immediately what she was talking about," Bellion said. "It was Sutherland Springs."

According to Collins' vision, each white chair would carry the name of one of the shooting victims on the front and a red cross on the back. His idea was that, viewed from the main doors at the back of the church and against the planned white backdrop of the building interior, the crosses would look like they were floating in air.

Nov. 9

Willingham; his father, Kevin; and another worker, Anidal Bernal, arrived at the church early, ready to work, shortly before Texas law enforcement officials retreated from the church. The crime scene became a construction site.

According to those who were there, the wood-shingled building was riddled with hundreds of bullet holes, many of which had pierced the walls completely.

Although the bodies had been removed, the inside was still "horrific," according to Willingham. The pews, carpeting and walls were bullet-ridden and stained with blood. The front doors to the church were so shot up they'd eventually have to be replaced.

"My first thought was 'how did this man shoot so many bullets?' " Willingham said.

Some, including Collins, saw signs of hope in the fact that a large wooden cross that stood to the side of the altar and a family Bible once owned by Dr. John Sutherland Jr., who originally settled the area, were both unscathed during what officials estimate was an 11-minute shooting spree.

While a biohazard firm cleaned the sanctuary, the workers put their collective heads together to make a plan.

"The first thing we realized we needed to do was to patch the holes," Willingham said. "We didn't want the community to see that."

They used a joint compound mix to fill the holes in the outside wall and put a new coat of white paint on the entire building. Inside, workers removed the carpeting, changed out damaged ceiling tiles and replaced broken colored window panes with translucent vinyl tiles made to replicate those that were unscathed.

At its largest, the construction crew at the site numbered about 30, according to Collins, with the Red Cross on hand serving them food and drinks.

Back in San Antonio, the Ikea chairs were delivered to Bellion's home at about 9 that evening. With help from her daughter-in-law Tiffany Johnson, who painted the red crosses on the chairs, Bellion began painting a victim's name on each one. She didn't finish until about 4:30 the next morning.

"It was the most emotional, the most meaningful, project I've ever done," she said. "If I never paint another project in my life I'll be fulfilled."

Bellion was so moved by what she was doing, she searched each name online to learn as much as she could about the person before painting their name. She also kept the family groups together, finishing chairs for all members of the Holcombe family who died by gunfire, for example, before moving on to the next person.

While Bellion praised Collins' "beautiful vision" for the memorial, she did make a minor change. Collins initially suggested the names be painted in an off-white color.

"But on the white chairs that wouldn't didn't show up very well,' she said. Instead, she painted the names in a pale gold so they'd subtly pop.

Nov. 10

After finishing the painting of the outside of the building the day before, Willingham and his team turned their attention to the inside. The bottom half of the inside walls was covered with wood paneling that was so bullet-riddled, they decided to rip it out and replace it.

They also painted the walls and floor a stark glossy white.

"We've had a lot of people tell us it looks the way they imagine heaven looks like," Collins said.

Nov. 11

Once the painted names and crosses had dried, the memorial chairs were delivered to the church. But because the floor was still drying, they were stored overnight elsewhere on the church campus.

Collins brought John Holcombe to see the church, showing him the newly painted sanctuary and several of the chairs.

"Does this honor God and the people who died, John?" he asked. "Is there anything you think needs to be changed?"

According to Collins, Holcombe simply shook his head no.

Nov. 12

Willingham, his team and others came by one last time Sunday morning before the memorial was unveiled to do some final painting touch-ups. With information supplied by law enforcement, they also placed each chair in the location where the victim had been sitting when the gunman opened fire.

One red rose supplied by San Antonio-based Uptown Flowers also was placed on each chair, with a pink one for the unborn child of John Holcombe and his wife, Crystal, who died in the shooting.

The memorial is open to the public from 10 a.m. to about 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, depending on crowds, according to Collins, although it's occasionally been closed to accommodate special groups.

There will be plenty of decisions to be made by the congregation in the coming weeks, according to Collins.

"Some may want the church building to be torn down because the memory is too painful," he said. In addition, Beldon decided to launch a Go Fund Me campaign to raise $2.5 million to either rebuild or repair the church building. He budgeted for an 8,000-square-foot church costing $300 per square foot.

"It'll be up to the church members to decide how they're going to use the money, but I can build a really nice church for them at that price," he said.
Aiding refugees

Regarding "A strong America lives up to its ideals of justice, freedom" (Page A15, Nov. 10), the authors present a much-needed corrective to misinformation about welcoming refugees to this country. There are more than 22.5 million refugees in the world at present; 1.2 million of them in vulnerable circumstances. Refugee resettlement is not only a humanitarian obligation but contributes to global stability.

The United States has historically led by moral example in this arena. If we back away from leadership on this issue, other countries will likely follow suit, leading to greater instability. Far from presenting a threat to national security, only those most at risk are admitted and only after rigorous vetting. An estimated 72 percent of those who came here in 2016 were women and children.

As one who has the honor of serving on the board of directors of Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston, a major program of which is Refugee Resettlement, I want to testify that refugees to this country come because they are fleeing for their lives, seeking liberty and safety for themselves and their children. Despite being ravaged by fear and grief, despite having lost everything they know, despite crippling hardships and long waiting times, the vetting process can take up to 18 months on top of what is often years in refugee camps. Despite all this, they come eager to begin a new life and become participating members of their new communities.

More than 90 percent of the refugees that Interfaith Ministries assists are self-sufficient within just six months. We should all be so industrious and persevering. Rather than being a threat to national security or America's economic well-being, refugees to this country are a bulwark of freedom and compassion that enrich us all. And their gratitude for their host country and city is staggeringly humbling. Knowing some of their stories gives me renewed hope in humanity's goodness, courage and strength.

Becky Edmiston-Lange, senior minister, Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church, Houston

Dubious verdict?

Regarding "Pilot turned pimp avoids prison time" (Page A1, Friday), the reason this guy got less jail time is simple and has nothing to do with the color of his skin. It has to do with 1) not forcing anyone into prostitution, 2) not assaulting the prostitutes or having underage prostitutes and 3) not having a previous criminal history unlike most other pimps who get longer sentences. It really is simple, but go ahead and pretend it's a privilege thing. The quality of his attorneys does not matter, as he pleaded guilty.

Glenn Hitchcock, posted via HoustonChronicle.com
The connection between domestic violence and mass shootings has reared its ugly head yet again. Nov. 5 marked another violent act, a gruesome bloodbath inside a house of worship, where men, women and children assumed they were safest. The Sutherland Springs tragedy is a stark reminder that violence happens not only behind closed doors; it often bursts forth to devastate entire communities.

Enough is enough. Americans need more than thoughts and prayers after the fact. We need guns out of the hands of abusers. What happened in Sutherland Springs is not just regrettable - it could have been prevented.

According to Everytown for Gun Safety, which has been tracking U.S. mass shootings since 2009, the perpetrator in more than half of 156 mass shootings had a connection to family or domestic violence. In at least 42 percent of those cases, the shooter exhibited warning signs in the form of abuse or violations of protective orders.

In the case of the Sutherland Springs shooter, the U.S. Air Force court-martialed and convicted him of assaulting his wife and child in 2012. Federal and Texas laws prohibit convicted abusers from owning firearms, but this abuser slipped through the cracks because the Air Force failed to enter his conviction in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Records show he was able to purchase four guns in 2014 because of the error.

This sort of clerical failure is the tip of the iceberg. While the law may be crystal clear that convicted abusers can't possess guns, what's unclear is who makes sure that happens. Local courts can tell abusers about this provision - and studies show they often don't - but who is checking to see if guns are being taken away or where those guns are going?

It's time we demand common sense solutions. The enforcement of gun surrender laws already in place can and will save lives. In the small community outside San Antonio earlier this month, 26 men, women and children lost their lives so senselessly. Our lawmakers, along with our courts and law enforcement, must jointly take action to prevent more of these tragedies.

We insist on stringent gun-surrender policies and enforcement. In Dallas, convicted perpetrators turn their guns over to a friend or relative. It's time for that to happen in Houston. This would be a good start.

Finally, let's not treat mass shootings as a mental health issue. We know that most mass shooters aren't lone wolves, but abusers. Treat this as what it is: a domestic violence problem made worse by abusers' access to firearms.

The Texas Council on Family Violence reports 1 in 3 Texans will experience domestic violence in their lifetime, meaning many of us already have been affected by domestic violence or know someone who has. Community silence around intimate partner violence allows abusers to escape accountability. It's time we all speak out.

We at the Houston Area Women's Center grieve with the families in Sutherland Springs, whose lives have been shattered by horrific gun violence. And we stand in unison with those in our community committed to keeping guns out of the hands of perpetrators.

In 2016, 146 women in Texas were killed by an intimate partner. In nearly half of those cases, the victims had left the abuser or were in the process of leaving when they were murdered. In nearly two-thirds of those incidents, their death came by gunfire.

Far too often, our clients at HAWC seeking help in situations of domestic violence tell us about guns in their home. We give them information about how to stay safe and ask questions: Do you know where the gun is? Is it registered? Has the abuser threatened you with the gun? Can you get it out of the home safely and secretly? Clients find these questions unnerving. For many, they spark the shocking realization of the lethal power of the gun if it were to be used against them and their children.

What if no firearm were accessible? With every incident in which we refuse to acknowledge the warning signs and fail to implement stronger, enforceable policies against known abusers possessing guns, we allow violence to prevail. With mass shootings a recurring reality, we increasingly put ourselves at risk when we look the other way. If we don't enact and then strictly enforce gun surrender laws, then we all stand in grave danger.

Corrales is chief program officer and Nguyen is chief marketing officer of the Houston Area Women's Center.
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David Davis surely produced one of the most memorable one-liners of the Brexit saga when he told an audience in Berlin on 16 November:

"Putting politics above prosperity was never a smart move".

Commentators pounced on the delicious irony that this pearl of wisdom came from the representative of a country engaged on doing serious damage to its prosperity in pursuit of a tangled web of political objectives.

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For me, it also laid bare a fundamental misunderstanding at the heart of Britain's negotiating strategy. I think Davis was really making a plea that the EU's commercial interests in trade with the UK should drive their negotiating position.

In other words, the old Brexiteer reasoning that, because the continentals sell us a lot of cars and prosecco, indeed have a trade surplus with us, they will fall over themselves to fix us a Free Trade Agreement giving the benefits of being in the single market without the disciplines.

Sure enough, Davis briefed his bemused listeners on the scale of German automotive and other exports to the UK, and the fact that the single market meant that a car only had to undergo one set of approvals, in one country, to meet the required standards across the EU. Then he reminded them of all that Britain had been doing to expand cross-border trade in services, and how it was in our mutual interests that all these good things should continue after Brexit.

I think I detected, not far below the surface of this curious speech, a cry of frustration, of bafflement, that the Germans wouldn't see their evident self-interest. Why were they being so difficult in the first phase negotiations, especially over the money? Didn't the script say that Mrs Merkel should be riding to our rescue at this point?

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That's the misunderstanding. For the Germans, the French and the other founder members, the central purpose of the European project has never been primarily about commerce. From the outset it was about peace and reconciliation, about values and justice. About politics, if you like. Economic integration was and is an important tool, but was not and is not the objective.

I constantly found, when I was Ambassador in Paris, that French people were capable of being very angry about the latest idiocy from the Commission or the European Court, and at the same time firmly persuaded that a strong European Union was in France's interests.

Seen from the other side of the Channel, Brexit looks like an incomprehensible decision to walk out of an institution which other members of the EU still regard as central to their future. It is not that they are putting politics before prosperity. They are putting other priorities ahead of Brexit: consolidating the signs of improvement in the European economy and dealing with the issues that really worry public opinion like migration and terrorism. On Brexit, their aim is to put it behind them as soon as possible, while avoiding damage to the integrity of the EU. Hence the hard line on money and on not allowing Britain to have their cake and eat it over the single market and the customs union. They have no interest in a bespoke deal which could encourage others to cherry-pick among the obligations of EU membership.
Imperial Valley News Center

Licensing Authorities Release Emergency Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulations

Sacramento, California - Californias three state cannabis licensing authorities announced yesterday that proposed emergency licensing regulations for commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis have been posted online and are available to the public for review.

The Department of Consumer Affairs Bureau of Cannabis Control, Department of Public Healths Manufactured Cannabis Safety Branch, and Department of Food and Agricultures CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing Division each developed the new regulations to reflect the law defined in Californias Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA).

The regulations and their summaries can be viewed by clicking the following links:

Bureau of Cannabis Control:

www.bcc.ca.gov/law_regs/bcc_prop_text_reg.pdf

www.bcc.ca.gov/law_regs/bcc_fact_sheet.pdf

CA Department of Food and Agriculture:

www.bcc.ca.gov/law_regs/cdfa_prop_text_emerg_reg.pdf

www.bcc.ca.gov/law_regs/cdfa_fact_sheet.pdf

CA Department of Public Health:

http://www.bcc.ca.gov/law_regs/cdph_prop_text_emerg_reg.pdf

http://www.bcc.ca.gov/law_regs/cdph_sum_emerg_reg.pdf

On June 27, 2017, the Governor signed MAUCRSA, which creates one regulatory system for both medicinal and adult-use cannabis. Prior to that laws passage, state licensing authorities had released proposed regulations to govern the implementation of the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act. The public hearings and comments from a broad cross section of stakeholders that were informing that regulatory process have also been taken into consideration in the drafting of these proposed emergency regulations.

The licensing authorities expect the emergency regulations to be effective in December 2017. The implementation date for the issuance of the state commercial cannabis licenses remains the same: January 1, 2018. However, California will only be able to license those businesses that are in compliance will all local laws.

In addition, the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency will hold a workshop with state-chartered banks and credit unions next month to discuss regulatory and compliance issues, as well as potential approaches to banking cannabis-related businesses.

For information on all three licensing authorities, please visit the states cannabis web portal cannabis.ca.gov. Follow the Bureau on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for daily news and updates.
Imperial Valley News Center

Critically Endangered Jamaican Iguanas Hatch at San Diego Zoo Safari Park

Escondido, California - The population of critically endangered Jamaican iguanas is on the rise, thanks in part to the efforts of researchers at the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Researchs Kenneth and Anne Griffin Reptile Conservation Centeran off-exhibit breeding facility at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Since September, four Jamaican iguanas have hatched here from eggs of two different pairs of adult iguanas. One egg from the first clutch hatched Sept. 4 and three eggs from the second clutch hatched Oct. 6, 7 and 11. With the addition of these four new animals, a total of 11 Jamaican iguanas now reside at the Parks Reptile Conservation Center.

The baby iguanas now have a much lighter gray color overall, with more pronounced striping than they will have when they become adults. As they grow, their body will become dark gray and rust-colored, with greenish-blue highlights. Jamaican iguanas continue to grow over their entire lifetime, and they can eventually reach up to 3 feet in length and weigh up to 15 pounds.

San Diego Zoo Global first received a group of Jamaican iguanas in 1996three males and three females. The first successful hatching of this critically endangered lizard occurred in 2013, with the birth of a female that still lives at the Reptile Conservation Center. She will become part of the centers breeding program when a suitable mate can be found for her.

"I'm very pleased with the results of our work this year, said Jeff Lemm, conservation program specialist at the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research. Our job is to help make the animals successful at reproducing through the husbandry we provide, and it's fantastic that we are starting to achieve these goals."

Jamaican iguanas are found only in the tropical dry forests of the Hellshire Hills outside of Kingston, Jamaica. They are the largest native animal in Jamaica. The Jamaican iguana was believed to be extinct in the 1940s; however, in 1990, a pig hunters dog found a Jamaican iguana, which was then brought to the Hope Zoo in Kingston, Jamaica. That same year, a survey of the Hellshire Hills found a small population of fewer than 100 Jamaican iguanas, and researchers began a large-scale program to try to save this iguana from extinction. Due to deforestation and threats from non-native animalsincluding mongooses, cats, dogs and pigsthe Jamaican iguana is currently listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

San Diego Zoo Global is one of several organizations in North America working to produce a self-sustaining population of Jamaican iguanas in managed care, to ensure genetic diversity and eventually help increase the species numbers in its native habitats. The Species Survival Plan (SSP) program for Jamaican iguanas is managed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)and combines the expertise of 10 U.S. zoos that have breeding programs for the Jamaican iguanato help provide an assurance population for the species.

Bringing species back from the brink of extinction is the goal of San Diego Zoo Global. As a leader in conservation, the work of San Diego Zoo Global includes on-site wildlife conservation efforts (representing both plants and animals) at the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, as well as international field programs on six continents. The work of these entities is inspiring children through the San Diego Zoo Kids network, reaching out through the internet and in childrens hospitals nationwide. The work of San Diego Zoo Global is made possible by the by the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy and is supported in part by the Foundation of San Diego Zoo Global.
Governor Brown Announces Appointments

Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:

Mark Ibele, 62, of Davis, has been appointed director of the California Office of Tax Appeals. Ibele has served as staff director of the California State Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review since 2013, where he served as deputy staff director from 2012 to 2013. He was principal consultant for the California State Assembly Committee on Budget from 2010 to 2012, staff director and special assistant on financial research for the Commission on the 21st Century Economy at the California Department of Finance from 2008 to 2010 and a professional advisor at the State Board of Equalization from 2006 to 2008. Ibele was principal fiscal and policy analyst at the Legislative Analysts Office from 1998 to 2006 and senior research analyst at the Service Employees International Union from 1993 to 1994. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in public policy and finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of California, Berkeley. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $190,296. Ibele is a Democrat.

Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez, 35, of Sacramento, has been appointed chief deputy director of policy at the California Department of Finance, where she has served as director of legislation since 2015. Wong-Hernandez was principal consultant at the California State Senate Appropriations Committee from 2008 to 2015 and a capital fellow in the California State Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee from 2007 to 2008. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $181,332. Wong-Hernandez is registered without party preference.

Bruce Delgado, 55, of Marina, has been reappointed to the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, where he has served since 2011. Delgado has been mayor of the City of Marina since 2008 and a botanist for the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management since 1988. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. Delgado is registered Green Party.

Jeffrey Young, 63, of Santa Barbara, has been reappointed to the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, where he has served since 2000. Young has been an attorney at the Law Offices of Jeffrey Young since 1997. He was general counsel at the California Aquaculture Association from 1995 to 2000 and an associate at the Law Offices of Raymond J. Pulverman from 1994 to 1997. He was owner and operator at Pacific Seafood Industries from 1983 to 1992. Young earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Santa Barbara College of Law and a Master of Science degree in marine fisheries from Humboldt State University. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. Young is a Democrat.

Karl Longley, 80, of Fresno, has been reappointed to the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, where he has served since 1999 and served from 1989 to 1997. Longley has been environmental engineer and program manager at the California State University, Fresno California Water Institute since 2005. He has served in several positions at the California State University, Fresno College of Engineering since 1982, including professor, department chair, dean and dean emeritus. Longley was a partner and consulting engineer at Hanna Longley and Associates from 1983 to 1985 and a civil engineer at Strauss and Roberts Consulting Civil Engineers Inc. from 1981 to 1982. He served as a lieutenant colonel and environmental engineer in the U.S. Army from 1960 to 1981. Longley earned a Doctor of Science degree in environmental health engineering and a Master of Science degree in water resources and sanitary engineering from Johns Hopkins University. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. Longley is registered without party preference.

Carmen Ramirez, 41, of Atwater, has been reappointed to the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, where she has served since 2011. Ramirez has been a partner at the Law Offices of Kelsey and Ramirez since 2014. She was an attorney at the Law Offices of Carmen Ramirez from 2011 to 2014. Ramirez held several positions at Fagalde Albertoni and Flores LLP from 2007 to 2010, including counsel, associate and law clerk, and was a redevelopment associate at the City of Merced Office of Economic Development from 2003 to 2007. Ramirez earned a Juris Doctor degree from the San Joaquin College of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. Ramirez is a Democrat.

Nancy Wright, 67, of Whitewater, has been reappointed to the Colorado River Basin Regional Water Quality Control Board, where she has served since 2012 and served from 2000 to 2007. Wright has been co-owner at Peter Wright General Contractor since 1977. Wright is a member and past president of the Mission Springs Water District Board of Directors, where she has served since 1988. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. Wright is a Republican.

Eric Sandel, 76, of Truckee, has been reappointed to the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, where he has served since 1992. Sandel has held several positions at S.A. Engineering since 1978, including principal and engineer. He is a licensed professional engineer. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. Sandel is a Democrat.

Charles Stringer, 54, of Los Angeles, has been reappointed to the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, where he has served since 2010. Stringer has been principal and general counsel at the Renewable Resources Group since 2006. He was founder and owner at the Law Offices of C. M. Stringer from 2001 to 2006 and was senior legal and policy advisor at the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission from 1999 to 2001. Stringer was senior assistant tribal attorney for the White Mountain Apache Tribe from 1996 to 1998 and assistant regional counsel at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10 from 1992 to 1996. He was an associate at Short Cressman and Burgess from 1989 to 1992. Stringer earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Minnesota Law School. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. Stringer is a Democrat.

Lawrence Yee, 69, of Ojai, has been reappointed to the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, where he has served since 2012. He was president and coordinating director at the national Food Commons from 2010 to 2015, a national program leader for food marketing systems innovations at the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 2003 to 2004 and served in several positions at the University of California Cooperative Extension from 1975 to 2008, including director of the University of California Cooperative Extension, Ventura County and director of the University of California Hansen Trust. He earned a Master of Business Administration degree in agribusiness from Santa Clara University. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. Yee is registered without party preference.

Gregory Giusti, 62, of Kelseyville, has been reappointed to the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, where he has served since 2013. Giusti has been an advisor and director emeritus of forest and wildlands ecology at the University of California Cooperative Extension since 2017, where he was an advisor and director of forest and wildlands ecology from 1985 to 2017. He was an agricultural biologist at the San Mateo County Department of Agriculture from 1981 to 1985 and chief biologist at the Marine Ecological Institute from 1979 to 1981. He earned a Master of Arts degree in ecology and population biology from San Francisco State University. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. Giusti is registered without party preference.

Valerie Quinto, 33, of Petaluma, has been reappointed to the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, where she has served since 2014. Quinto has been executive director at the Sonoma Resource Conservation District since 2017, where she has held several positions since 2008, including program director, conservation project manager and project coordinator. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. Quinto is a Democrat.

Lana Peterson, 37, of Orange, has been reappointed to the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, where she has served since 2016. Peterson has been director of public affairs at the Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center since 2017, where she has held several positions since 2010, including senior public affairs representative and senior communications specialist. She held several positions at Cox Communications from 2004 to 2010, including senior communications specialist, communications specialist and public relations coordinator. She earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Chapman University. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. Peterson is registered without party preference.

Daniel Selmi, 67, of Newport Beach, has been reappointed to the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, where he has served since 2016. Selmi has been a professor of law at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles since 1983. He was a deputy attorney general in the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General from 1976 to 1983 and a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Manuel L. Real at the U.S. District Court, Central District of California from 1975 to 1976. Selmi earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government and a Juris Doctor degree from the Santa Clara University School of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. Selmi is a Democrat.

Betty Olson, 70, of Trabuco Canyon, has been reappointed to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, where she has served since 2014. Olson has served as a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Irvine School of Engineering since 2006. She was a professor in the Department of Environmental Health, Science and Policy at the University of California, Irvine School of Social Ecology from 1974 to 2006. Olson earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree and a Master of Science degree in environmental health science from the University of California, Berkeley. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. Olson is registered without party preference.

Stefanie Warren, 39, of San Diego, has been reappointed to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, where she has served since 2013. Warren has been an attorney at Dentons since 2006. She was a law clerk for the Honorable Irma E. Gonzalez at the U.S. District Court, Southern District of California from 2005 to 2006. Warren earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Emory University School of Law. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. Warren is a Democrat.

Newsha Ajami, 42, of San Francisco, has been reappointed to the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, where she has served since 2013. Ajami has been director of urban water policy at Stanford Universitys Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment since 2012. She was senior research associate at the Pacific Institute from 2011 to 2012, a California Council on Science and Technology policy fellow at the California State Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee from 2010 to 2011 and a research consultant at Berkeley Economic Consulting Inc. from 2007 to 2010. Ajami was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley from 2005 to 2009. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of California, Irvine and a Master of Science degree in hydrology and water resources from the University of Arizona. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. Ajami is a Democrat

James McGrath, 68, of Berkeley, has been reappointed to the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, where he has served since 2007. He was manager of the Port of Oakland Environmental Department from 1990 to 2005, a coastal protection analyst at the California Coastal Commission from 1976 to 1990 and an environmental protection specialist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 1971 to 1976. McGrath earned a Master of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. McGrath is a Democrat.
Consider Making Permanent the Animal Massage Therapy Exemption from The Practice of Veterinary Medicine

Washington, DC - Federal Trade Commission staff submitted comments to the Tennessee General Assembly in support of a state law exemption that allows non-veterinarians to practice animal massage therapy in Tennessee. FTC staff recommend that the exemption, which is set to expire next year, be made permanent, because greater competition in the markets for professional services typically benefits consumers.

Unless the Tennessee legislature takes action, the provision exempting animal massage from the definition of the practice of veterinary medicine in Tennessee is set to expire on July 1, 2018, after which the Tennessee Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners may once again determine that the practice requires a veterinary license or veterinary supervision.

In response to a request by Tennessee State Senator Kerry Roberts, staff of the FTCs Office of Policy Planning, Bureau of Competition, and Bureau of Economics submitted the comments, explaining that competition benefits consumers through improved access to services, lower prices, and improved service quality, and that competition can spur innovation in how services are delivered. FTC staff generally encourages legislatures to maintain only the level of occupational regulation necessary to address well-evidenced public policy concerns . . . [as] competition in professional services marketplaces typically benefits consumers, while excessive regulation can leave consumers worse off. Unless supported by a legitimate policy justification to protect consumers, the loss of competition can prevent such benefits from reaching consumers.

With respect to the proposed legislation, FTC staff noted that certification in animal massage is offered by schools in Tennessee to animal trainers, animal handlers, and others who can legally provide certain animal care services without the supervision of a licensed veterinarian. Staff explained that not only would letting the exemption expire appears inconsistent with current animal health training protocols, but doing so erects barriers to entry in a profession, which means it can significantly raise prices for consumers and prevent otherwise qualified individuals from using their skills to earn a living. Because staff is not aware of evidence of a credible policy justification that requires this licensing, FTC staff strongly encourage the Tennessee legislature to consider making the 2017 exemption permanent [.]

The Commission vote to issue the staff comment was 2-0. It was sent to Tennessee State Senator Kerry Roberts on November 15, 2017. (FTC File No. V170007; the staff contacts are Ellen Connelly, Office of Policy Planning, 202-326-2532, and Connor Shively, Northwest Regional Office, 206-220-4487.
President Pahor's re-election as President of the Republic of Slovenia

Washington, DC - The United States congratulates President Pahor on his re-election as President of the Republic of Slovenia. Slovenia is a close U.S. partner and NATO Ally, and we value the contributions Slovenia makes to regional and global peace and stability.

We appreciate President Pahors work to strengthen the U.S.-Slovenian relationship and, during his second term, look forward to deepening our already close cooperation on security, economic, and people-to-people ties between our two countries.
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John Boyega has confirmed that Prince William and Prince Harry play Stormtroopers in the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Boyega spilled the beans in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter where he confirmed rumours that the royals would have cameos in the movie.

He said it was "weird" to see them in costume and it made for "a strange contrast of a weird family".

John Boyega as Finn in a promotional image for Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Despite their presence, Boyega added it was more "fun" than intimidating and said it was a "great experience.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Show all 46 1 /46 Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Here we are, the new Star Wars trailer! Kicking things off is Kylo Ren looking over something being built by the First Order. Look closely and you can just about spot some AT-STs lurking around. Over the top we hear Snoke: When I found you Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Some of the new-look AT-ATs, now known as AT-M6. Seeing as the original initials stood for All Terrain Armoured Transport, these new beasts known as the All Terrain MegaCaliber Six. Not quite as catchy but sure to sell a few more toys. Above them is Kylos Upsilon-class command shuttle. Anyway, were on Crait, a mineral planet which once housed the Rebel Alliance base during the Galactic Civil War. We later see Leia here, the General having decided to bring the Resistance to the planet. Were sure to see a large battle here, perhaps like the opening of Empire Strikes Back? Snoke, who we presume is talking about Kylo, continues: I saw raw Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Untamed power. Snokes grizzled voice echoes out as Kylo marches into battle. Thanks to the red, we presume the villain is still on Crait. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown  and beyond that Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown something truly special Where exactly this shot fits into the timeline remains unclear. Were also not sure where this ominous red-room is. Twin Peaks? More likely Snokes throne room, considering there are two of his Elite Praetorian Guards behind the lightsaber. Seeing as Snokes talking about why he chose Kylo as an apprentice, could this be a flashback? Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Just as Snoke finishes saying special we suddenly cut to Rey on Ahch-To, wielding Lukes weapon. Could Snoke have actually been speaking to her? Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown The handing of the baton. Turns out Luke did take the lightsaber at the end of The Force Awakens! Rey says: Something inside of me has always been there Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Lukes in unhappy shock. Angry? Annoyed? What Luke?!?! Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Rey approaches a haunted looking tree. Now, weve actually seen this before, but not on film. During Marvels tie-in comic called Shattered Empire  which takes place moments after Return of the Jedi  we see Poe Damerons mother rescue a Force-sensitive tree. She takes one part of the tree while Luke takes the other. Turns out, that tree has something of a big part to play. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown but not its awake. The Force has truly awoken inside of Rey, after being hidden there for some time. Inside the tree, we see a book, possibly the Journal of the Whills. Originally created by George Lucas as a plot device, the journal was intended to contain all of the Jedi adventures. Come the novelisation of The Force Awakens and the journal was made canon. The question is, whats Luke doing with it? Learning about the ways of the Jedi? Has Luke decided their should be no Jedi because whenever the Jedi exist, so do the Sith? Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Some stunning shots of Rey trailing on Ahch-To. Rey continues:  and I need help. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Cinematographer Steve Yedlin, who previously worked with Rian Johnson on Looper, has done a amazing job. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Luke looks highly concerned as Rey begins tearing apart the island with the Force. Again, another similarity to Empire: were seeing Luke fulfil the Yoda role, training Rey. However, this time, theres fear in Lukes heart. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Another great shot, previously seen in the first trailer, showing off Reys strength. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Ive seen this raw strength only once before Luke is completely shaken by Reys strength. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown It didnt scare me enough then An extended version of the flashback seen during The Force Awakens when Rey touches the lightsaber for the first time. Lukes seen Kylo Ren, then Ben Solo, destroy an entire Jedi order before. Seeing someone with those abilities once more can only mean something bads going to happen. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown It does now. Another scene from the flashback. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Just to make sure we know who Lukes referring to, a shot of Kylo Ren looking very Darth Vader. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown A new look at Kylos scare, caused by Rey during Episode VIIs final battle. Let the past diem the messed up young man says while smashing a wall. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Kylos flying off into battle. Could he be aiming to literally kill the past off and murder another parent? Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown The kid obviously has his grandfathers piloting skills. Hes driving the newly tweaked TIE silencer towards Leias main ship. Has the battle on Crait already happened and theyve had to leave? Or have they landed on the planet because of the aerial attack? We hear Kylo say Kill it if you have to, aimed at his mother? Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown A few shots of the late Carrie Fisher as Leia. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown From the intertwining shots of Leia and Kylo, theres a connection between the two, perhaps even some sort of communication? Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Thats the only way you will become what you meant to be, says Kylo as his ship locks onto, then fires, at Leia. The General cant die, surely? They wouldnt spoil that in the trailer? The question here, really, is who is Kylo talking to? Presumably, considering the final moments of the trailer, Rey. By saying kill the past, can we assume Kylos telling Rey to kill her new mentor and join the Dark side? Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Here comes the Millenium Falcon. Are we on Crait once more? Has Chewy gone to help the Resistance? Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Ah, the Porgs. The most GIFable moment from the trailer. Toy shops are stocking up now as these are bound to become best sellers. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Poe Damerons back and under fire. He looks almost surprised at the attack. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown We have to assume hes heading out to meet Kylo and defend General Leia from the oncoming attack. We have a spark, that will light the fire, that will burn the First Order down, says Poe. Whats the spark, though? Defeating someone in battle? Finding Luke? Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Meanwhile, Captain Phasmas also back Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown And battling Finn. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown These shots are amazing. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Wow. Hopefully Phasma will actually have something interesting to do this time around. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown BB-8! But the guy has been hit. Poor BB-8. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Luke looks terrified once more, as if struck down by someone. Has Rey turned on the mentor? Or has Kylo arrived and beaten Luke? Were still on Ach-To, so can we presume Kylo finds a way to find the Skywalker(s)? This is not going to go the way you think, the fallen Jedi says. Referring to Rey or Kylo? Likely the latter, who turned to the dark side, but who knows. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Another new creature, sure to sell a few toys. Back on Criat again. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Big door, mysterious character. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Its Leia, looking remarkably sad. Has Kylo finally come for her? She looks like an upset mother, for sure. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Reys let her hair down, styling her new Jedi look. She seems to be chasing Luke as he runs away. Or perhaps just more training. Or running away from Kylo? We have a lot of questions Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown A shot of Finn, captured by the First Order. What fate awaits the former Storm Trooper? Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Another look at the First Order, looking ready to great a powerful figure, likely Snoke. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown The battle of Crait will surely be another brilliant Star Wars set piece. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Now, heres something really interesting: a first look at Supreme Leader Snoke, who is nether a giant nor a hologram. The character is even wearing a golden outfit. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Whats this! Hes torturing Rey! Has she been captured by Kylo?! Does that mean Luke has fallen?! Fulfil your destiny, the Dark Lord says, likely trying to persuade Rey to accept her fate as a powerful warrior for evil, rather than good. Will she turn to the Dark side?! Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Rey: I need someone to show me my place in all this. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown Kylo. Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer - shot-by-shot breakdown An outstretched hand. Kylo asking Rey to join the evil cause? Are we going to see Rey turn evil? Or perhaps become the first Grey Jedi, one who balances good and evil? Whatever the case, were hugely excited for the film, which touches down 15 December.

So Prince William and Harry will appear (sort of) alongside Peaky Blinders star Tom Hardy and Take That frontman Gary Barlow.

Stormtrooper cameos have become something of a gimmick for the franchise, with James Bond actor Daniel Craig enjoying his own cameo in The Force Awakens.

You're a child. There's a new planet every day and a new scene to play, Boyega said of starring in the films. It makes you feel like you're a part of history in a sense.

Director Rian Johnson recently said that the upcoming film is "not an homage" and will push the franchise further.

"Telling a story that brings new things and pushes everything forward in an interesting way, that is in this world that we all recognise, theres something very powerful about that," he told SciFiNow.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens in cinemas on 15 December 2017.
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Friends, family and fans are remembering legendary guitarist Malcolm Young after his death aged 64.

The AC/DC co-founder died surrounded by family after a long battle with dementia.

Leading the tributes was his brother and bandmate Angus Young, who said in a statement: "As his brother it is hard to express in words what he has meant to me during my life, the bond we had was unique and very special. He leaves behind an enormous legacy that will live on forever. Malcolm, job well done."

A statement from American punk band Dropkick Murphys posted on Twitter said: We are deeply saddened to have heard the news of the passing of Malcolm Young from AC/DC.

Malcolm was the heart and soul of AC/DC and as fine an example as any to rhythm guitarists everywhere. Rock In Peace, Malcolm. Hope we see you up there. Love Dropkick Murphys .

Scottish rock band Biffy Clyro wrote: Rest in peace Malcolm Young x.

 Malcolm Young dies aged 64

Pulled Apart By Horses tweeted: Gone, but he'll never be forgotten. RIP Malcolm Young xx.

Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale wrote: Our Thoughts & Prayers Are With His Family, Friends & Fans...Great Guy ...A Pleasure To Know...Truly Missed, Malcolm...XX

Guitarist Robert Caggiano added: You wrote the best riffs in the best band and you changed the world. legend.

Born 6 January 1953 in Glasgow, Scotland before emigrating with his family to Australia in 1963, Young was best know for being the driving force behind the band he co-founded with his younger brother Angus in 1973.

He wrote the band's material and came up with many of their biggest and best guitar riffs. AC/DC would go on to become one of the biggest rock bands in history, racking up hits including Back In Black, Highway to Hell, You Shook Me All Night Long, and many more. The brothers were credited as co-writers on every song they recorded, from their 1975 debut High Voltage to 2014's Rock or Bust.
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Lena Dunham has caused uproar after speaking out in support of a writer and producer accused of rape by actress Aurora Perrineau.

Murray Miller, whose production credits include King of the Hill and American Dad, is accused of assaulting Perrineau in 2012, when she was 17.

Millers attorney, Matthew Walerstein, said he categorically and vehemently denies Ms. Perrineaus outrageous claims and said his legal team had gathered overwhelming evidence directly contradicting these false and offensive claims.

Walerstein also accused her of seeking monetary damages from him [Miller[ and accused her of going to police after those demands were rebuffed.

Aurora Perrineau claims she was raped by writer and producer Murray Miller when she was 17. Miller 'categorically denies' the accusation (Getty)

Her mother Brittany Perrieau vehemently denied anyone from her legal team or family asked for monetary damages.

There was never a demand for money ever made from anyone on behalf of Aurora or our family, she said.

Aurora Perrineau told The Wrap: I filed a police report today. I cannot talk about the investigation that is happening currently.

She said in her statement for a polygraph test that she met Miller while out with some friends at a hotel, where she consumed some alcoholic beverages.

He was flirting with me. I told him repeatedly that I was 17 years old, she said in the statement.

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Perrineau and her friends allegedly accompanied Miller, who was 35 at the time, to his home because he was drunk and needed a ride.

At some point, I woke up in Murrays bed naked. He was on top of me having sexual intercourse with me. At no time did I consent to any sexual contact with Murray, she said in the statement.

Recommended Angelina Jolie addresses Hollywood sexual abuse in powerful UN speech

Girls showrunners Dunham and Jenni Konner - Miller's former bosses - issued a statement to the Hollywood Reporter after the allegations emerged where they declared the importance of women speaking out over sexual assault, yet assigned Perrineau's claim to the 3 percent of assault cases that are misreported every year.

During the windfall of deeply necessary accusations over the last few months in Hollywood, we have been thrilled to see so many womens voices heard and dark experiences in this industry justified, they said in the joint statement.

Its a hugely important time of change and, like every feminist in Hollywood and beyond, we celebrate. But during every time of change there are also incidences of the culture, in its enthusiasm and zeal, taking down the wrong targets.

We believe, having worked closely with him for more than half a decade, that this is the case with Murray Miller. While our first instinct is to listen to every womans story, our insider knowledge of Murrays situation makes us confident that sadly this accusation is one of the 3 percent of assault cases that are misreported every year. It is a true shame to add to that number, as outside of Hollywood women still struggle to be believed. We stand by Murray and this is all well be saying about this issue.

Their statement has prompted a huge backlash due to Dunham's previous statements on the importance of believing women who speak out over alleged rape and sexual assault.

Dunham, who tweeted as recently as August: Things women don't lie about: rape penned an op ed for the New York Times in October about the ongoing sexual abuse scandal in Hollywood where she wrote: Last year, I was sexually harassed by a director of a show, not my own, and not on a set, and the response by the powers that be was to defend him, question the women ferociously and take ages before letting him go from the network.

It was a move based less on his skill than on some ancient loyalty. Its that kind of behaviour that normalises this abuse of power.

Perrineau, the daughter of prolific actor Harold Perrineau, who starred in Lost and films including The Matrix, reported the alleged rape to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, according to The Wrap.

A West Hollywood Sheriffs office spokesman confirmed the office took the report Friday and said it would be referred to the LAPD.
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The UK is set to see snow fall this weekend as temperatures plunge, as one weather expert has predicted that Britain will experience its whitest winter in 27 years.

Snow is expected to reach northern Scotland later this weekend, with temperatures expected to dip below 0C, the Met Office told The Independent.

Starting Sunday evening, when the rain starts to push in, snow will be falling above a few hundred metres, said forecaster Helen Roberts.

Recommended Google to create its own neighbourhood with weather management systems

Sunday is expected to see a chilly start to the day, as clouds and patchy rain spread north-eastwards turning to snow over the hills of Scotland later on in the morning.

But, Ms Roberts warned: The main risk is going to be into Monday, when we see a band of rain pushing in from the west and bumping up against cold air already in situ. That will be north of the Central Belt.

What that means for Monday mornings commute is that there could be a bit of disruption.

Further into the week, the weather is expected to bring milder conditions, with outbreaks of rain spreading across the northeast early in the week.

Londoners enjoy the sunshine ahead of patches of rain and light winds on the way (Rex)

The Met Office said residents of central and southern parts of the UK can expect wet and windy conditions.

Into next week, it does turn quite changeable, with a good deal of cloud around, outbreaks of rain at times, but generally speaking, it should be a little less cold, Ms Roberts said.

Snow will become less of an issue, but there will be rain and cold temperatures.

The forecaster also suggested bundling up Thursday morning, with that day looking to be a particularly wet and windy one.

Retired Metropolitan Police constable and amateur climatologist David King told the Evening Standard he believes the UK will see more snow this season than it has in almost three decades.

In the next couple of months there will be some snow in northern parts of the UK, but certainly below Birmingham and Norwich there will be no snow, or no snow of any consequence, through until after Christmas, he said.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 16 November 2022 Emma Woolf, great niece of British author Virginia Woolf, and her son Ludovic sit next to a new bronze statue of Woolf, unveiled in Richmond, London Reuters UK news in pictures 15 November 2022 Lesley Sutcliffe shelters from the rain next to a life-sized replica of the innermost coffin of King Tutankhamun by artist Amanda Stoner as it goes on display inside a traditional red telephone box which has been converted into a museum, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire PA 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

The start of the New Year will be a different ball game. It is going to be very cold, there will be a lot of snow and there will be travel problems. In the south it will get down to -5C.

Mr King uses traditional methods, including thousand-year-old moon charts and the study of plants and animal behaviour, to forecast the weather.

Insistinh his predictions are nearly always accurate, he said: Last September, I said it would be the earliest and warmest spring for years, the summer warm and damp and the autumn storm, damp and very mild. So far so good.

The Met Office is expecting mixed weather conditions to settle down in coming weeks, with a period of drier, brighter and colder conditions possible by the start of December.

Little snow is forecast, with only some snowfall expected in northern parts of the country.
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Tunisian-born fashion designer Azzedine Alaia, an iconoclast who dressed famous women from Hollywood to the White House, has died aged 77.

Tributes to his influence on fashion poured in from around the world after the French Haute Couture Federation announced Alaias death on Saturday.

Known as a secretive fashion rebel, Alaia was based in Paris for decades but did not take part in the French capitals seasonal fashion frenzy or flashy ad campaigns. Instead, he showed privately on his own schedule.

He was dubbed the king of cling for the form-fitting designs he first popularised during the 1980s and updated over the decades.

Naomi Campbell was a favoured model, and Michelle Obama wore his designs while first lady.

Azzedine Alaia was a true visionary, and a remarkable man, said Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful. He will be deeply missed by all of those who knew and loved him, as well as by the women around the world who wore his clothes.

The generosity of his spirit and genius of his designs will never be forgotten.

Nina Garcia, editor of Elle magazine and a judge on fashion design reality TV programme Project Runway, described Alaia as a legend and true original.

We will miss this creative genius, she added.

The French Haute Couture Federation gave no details on the cause of Alaias death.

Born to wheat farmers in Tunis in 1940, Alaia said his love of couture was inspired by his glamorous twin sister. He read Vogue in his youth and later lied about his age to win a place studying sculpture and the human form at the Tunisian capitals Institut Superieur des Beaux Arts.

When I realised I couldnt be an amazing sculptor, I changed direction, he told The Independent in 2015.

He segued into fashion, assisting a dressmaker, before moving to Paris in 1957 where he landed a job as a tailor for Christian Dior, just as the Algerian war intensified. Fresh off the boat, he was dismissed five days later for having incorrect immigration papers.

Alaia then worked for Guy Laroche for two seasons, taking up residence with the first of a series of high-society patrons, the Comtesse de Blegiers, who offered him a temporary home in exchange for services as dressmaker and occasional babysitter.

Alaia later said: From two seasons at Guy Laroche I learned how. From the last elegant women in the world, I learned what.

Alaia dressed the demanding clients of French haute couture  Picassos, Rothschilds, Mitterands  as well as Hollywood stars such as Greta Garbo.

His first ready-to-wear collection in 1980 was a commercial smash hit and his business would grow to an annual turnover of 40m a year.

But he did not consider himself a part of the fashion industry and rejected the idea of seasons.

I always feel free  I feel really free, he said. When I dont want something, I dont make it. Even if theres finance behind it, if I dont feel it, I dont do it. I always feel free, this is my strength. Truly, I dont need much to live.
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Maple-glazed Brussels sprouts with bacon

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves 8

455g bacon (streaky), cut into 2.5cm pieces

910g Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved lengthwise

60ml pure maple syrup

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Recommended Three Iranian recipes from Persepolis

In a large frying pan, cook the bacon over medium-high heat until crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon, leaving the bacon fat in the pan.

Add the Brussels sprouts and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sprouts are golden brown and barely tender, about 15 minutes. Add the maple syrup and cook for another 5 minutes. Add in the bacon and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Coca-cola glazed ham

Coca-Cola, the major beverage brand born in Georgia, now serves almost two billion drinks worldwide daily. Its global headquarters are in downtown Atlanta, and some people use the fizzy drink in cooking.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 4 hours

Serves 12-16

4.5-5.4kg bone-in cured ham

95g packed light brown sugar

80ml Dijon mustard

1 large orange, washed and cut into 8 wedges (optional)

355 ml Coca-Cola

Position a rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat to 160C/Gas Mark 3. Trim any excess skin and/or fat from the ham. Using a sharp knife, score the ham in a diamond pattern, making 6mm-deep cuts spaced 2.5cm apart. Place on the rack of a roasting pan.

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and mustard. Rub the mixture all over the ham. Place the orange wedges on the roasting rack, around the edges of the ham. Pour the Coca-Cola into the bottom of the roasting pan (not over the ham). Cover the pan tightly with foil, wrapping it around the edges of the pan to seal. Using a small, sharp knife, make three small slits in the top of the foil.

Food and drink news Show all 35 1 /35 Food and drink news Food and drink news Healthy living makes us more inclined to binge, research suggests Gluten-free breads, dairy-free milks and other plant-based products have been some of the most favoured foods in British supermarkets this year. However, while were busy filling our shopping trolleys with gluten-free goodness, were also jamming it with junk food and alcohol, new research suggests Getty/iStock Food and drink news Growing list of Vegan celebs Making the switch to veganism is a major lifestyle choice, one that many claim can improve energy levels, lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and clear up any skin issues. Beyonce, Natalie Portman and Jessica Chastain are among the growing list of Hollywood stars who have eschewed animal products from their diets in recent years. Theres also been an increasing number of professional athletes who have gone vegan, such as boxing champions Mike Tyson and David Haye, thus debunking the myth that following a plant-based diet will leave you feeling weak and malnourished. AFP/Getty/NARAS/iHeartMedia Food and drink news McDonald's has announced the launch of a new vegan burger on its menu in Germany This will mark the first time the German franchise of the fast food chain has offered a vegan burger to its customers. The Big Vegan TS burger consists of a patty made from soy and wheat. It is served in a classic sesame seed bun, and contains salad, tomato, pickles and red onion. McDonald's Germany Food and drink news Drinking too many protein shakes could lead to an increased risk of obesity and a reduced lifespan, a new study has claimed Researchers from the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre carried out an investigation to determine the impact excessive consumption of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) has on the body. BCAA supplements are often consumed in the form of powder, which is then added to water to make a shake. Published in journal Nature Metabolism, the study found that while BCAAs help to build muscle, they can also negatively impact an individual's temperament, cause weight gain and lead to a shortened lifespan Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Britain consumes more chocolate than any other country Most people love chocolate but it turns out no one does more than the Brits  with the average Brit found to have consumed 8.4 kg of chocolate in 2017, according to new data. Chocolate consumption around the world is on the rise, according to Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), which found that in the past year alone, Easter chocolate production has risen by 23 per cent Food and drink news 'Easter eggs should be banned for children under four' Dr Becky Spelman, chief psychologist at Harley Streets Private Therapy Clinic, is calling for Easter eggs to be banned for consumption for children under the age of four, claiming that giving them the opportunity to binge on chocolate so young will give them an unhealthy relationship with food later on. "This is a nightmare situation for parents of this generation as they have no idea how to teach their children to delay their response to cravings, she said, explaining that too many young kids binge on these chocolates because their parents dont know how to stop them. "Once a child starts overeating behaviour at a young age its very hard to turn things around for them in terms of food and their eating habits moving forward, leading to obesity from at very young age," she added PA Food and drink news Pineapple overtakes avocado as the UK's fastest-selling fruit According to Tesco, pineapple has overtaken avocado as the UKs fastest-selling fruit, with sales increasing by 15 per cent in 2017. In comparison, avocado sales rose by just under 10 per cent last year. The popular supermarket says the surge in popularity comes as shoppers buying the versatile fruit are beginning to use it as a main ingredient in everything from curries and barbecues, to juices and cocktails Getty Food and drink news Marks & Spencers launches stoneless avocados Rather than the result of genetic modification, the avocados are formed by an unpollinated avocado blossom. The fruit develops without a seed which in turns stops the growth, creating a small, seedless fruit. Whats more, the skin is actually edible, unlike a regular avocado. The flesh is much like that of a normal avocado - smooth and creamy, pale in colour and rich in flavour M&S Food and drink news Office teabags contain 17 times more germs than a toilet seat, reveals study The average bacterial reading of an office teabag was 3,785, in comparison to only 220 for a toilet seat. Other pieces of kitchen equipment also stacked up highly in their findings, with the bacterial readings averaging at 2,483 on kettle handles, 1,746 on the rim of a used mug and 1,592 on a fridge door handle Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New study shows drinking more coffee leads to a longer life There is good news and a final hope for coffee addicts and lovers. You will now be able to drink coffee for longer as new study shows its can lead to a prolonged life. Scientists showed that those who drank between two and four cups of coffee a day had 18% lower risk of death compared to non-coffee drinkers. PA Food and drink news Coke Zero is replaced with Coke Zero Sugar Coca-Cola is pulling the plug on its Coke Zero. The much loved drink will be replaced with a new improved taste. The move, backed with a 10 million campaign, is said to come from Coca-Cola supporting people to reduce their sugar intake. Coca-Cola want people make this move while not sacrificing sugary taste of Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola Food and drink news Starbucks introduce new avocado spread The avocado craze has grown from hipster brunch restaurants to Starbucks. Starbucks have introduced their new avocado spread earlier this year and it has the internet in debate. Some argue that it not a spread but guacamole while others question if there is any avocado in there at all. When buying the new spread you can also buy an optional toasted bagel. It is a must try for all avocado connoisseurs. Starbucks Food and drink news New Mars chocolate bar The iconic British chocolate bar is about to get its partner in crime. The new bar, named Goodness Knows, will replace the gooey caramel goodness of the mars bar with oats. It is said to be more like a Florentine biscuit with a thin dark chocolate bottom. While being moderately healthy Mars says that is has good intentions. One pack has 154 calories and will sell for about 90p. Mars Food and drink news Wine prices could increase because of Brexit Wine lovers across the UK might soon have to shell out close to a quarter more for their favourite tipple after Brexit, as a weaker pound and sluggish economy takes its toll, a new study shows Rex Food and drink news Chocolate may be good for the heart A new study, published in the British Medical Journal: Heart, found that moderate chocolate intake can be positively associated with lessening the risk of the heart arrhythmia condition Atrial Fibrillation Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Brits throw away 1.4 million bananas each year British families are throwing away 1.4 million bananas that are perfectly good to eat every day at cost of 80m a year, new figures have shown PA/Armin Weigel Food and drink news Rosemary sales spike over exam time There has been a surge a surge in sales of the herb rosemary after a recent study found it helps improve memory. According to high street health food chain Holland & Barrett, sales of the herb have increased by 187 per cent compared to the same time last year Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Gluten-free diets 'not recommended' for people without coeliac disease Avoiding wheat, barley and rye in the belief that a gluten-free diet brings health benefits may do more harm than good, according to a team of US nutrition and medicine experts Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Starbucks launches two new coffee-based drinks Starbucks is launching two new coffee-based drinks in the UK, as it strives to tap into consumers growing appetite for healthy beverages. The Cold Brew Vanilla sweet cream and the Cappuccino Freddo, will both be available in stores throughout the UK from the start of May Twitter/@SbuxCountyHall Food and drink news Cadburys Dairy Milk Tiffin is making a permanent comeback after 80 years The Cadbury Dairy Milk Tiffin, first produced in 1937, is making a permanent comeback to the UK. The raisin and biscuit-filled chocolate bar is being launched after a successful trial last summer saw 3 million chocolate treats  at the cost of 1.49 for each 95g bar- purchased by nostalgic customers Cadburys Food and drink news Pizza restaurant makes worlds cheesiest 'Scottie's Pizza Parlor' in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Facebook/Scottie's Pizza Parlor Food and drink news A pizza joint in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Why not eating before a workout could be better for your health A study published in the American Journal of Physiology by researchers at the University of Bath found you might be likely to burn more fat if you have not eaten first Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New York restaurant named best in the world A New York restaurant where an average meal for two will cost $700 has been named the best in the world. Eleven Madison Park won the accolade for the first time after debuting on the list at number 50 in 2010. The restaurant was praised for a fun sense of fine-dining, blurring the line between the kitchen and the dining room Getty Images Food and drink news Why you crave bad food when youre tired Researchers at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University in Chicago recently presented their results of a study looking into the effects of sleep deprivation upon high-calorific food consumption. Researchers found that those who were sleep-deprived had specifically enhanced brain activity to the food smells compared to when they had a good nights sleep Shutterstock Food and drink news Drinking wine engages more of your brain than solving maths problems Drinking wine is the ideal workout for your brain, engaging more parts of our grey matter than any other human behaviour, according to a leading neuroscientist. Dr Gordon Shepherd, from the Yale School of Medicine, said sniffing and analysing a wine before drinking it requires exquisite control of one of the biggest muscles in the body Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news British dessert eating surges after people ditch healthy eating in February : In heartening news for anyone feeling guilty about quitting their New Year diet, it seems lots of us have given in to our sweet tooths once again. New data from nationwide food-delivery service Deliveroo reveals there was a surge in Brits ordering desserts in February compared to the first month of 2017 Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news US congress debates definition of milk alternatives A new bill has been created that seeks to ban dairy alternatives from using the term milk. Titled the DAIRY PRIDE Act, the name is a tenuous acronym for defending against imitations and replacements of yogurt, milk, and cheese to promote regular intake of dairy every day. It argues that the dairy industry is struggling as a result of all the dairy-free alternatives on the market and the public are being duped too Getty Images Food and drink news Cadburys launches two new chocolate bars UK confectionary giant Cadbury has launched two new chocolate bars, hoping to lure those with a sweet tooth and perhaps help combat some of the challenges it faces from rising commodity prices and a post-Brexit slump in the value of the pound.The companys new products will be peanut butter and mint flavoured. They will be available in most major super markets as 120g bars, priced at 1.49, according to the company Cadburys Food and drink news You can now get a job as a professional chocolate eater The company responsible for some of your favourite chocolate brands  think Cadbury, Milks, Prince and Oreo  have officially announced an opening to join their team as a professional chocolate taster. The successful candidate will help them to test, perfect and launch new products all over the world. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news MSG additive used in Chinese food is actually good for you, scientist claims For years, weve been told MSG (the sodium salt of glutamic acid) - often associated with cheap Chinese takeaways - is awful for our health and to be avoided at all costs. But one scientist argues it should be used as a supersalt and encourages adding it to food. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Lettuce prices are rising Not only are lettuces becoming an increasingly rare commodity in supermarkets, but prices for the leafy vegetables seem to be rising too. According to the weekly report from the Governments Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, a pair of Little Gem lettuces had an average market price of 0.86 in the week that ended on Friday, up from an average of 0.56 in the previous week  thats an almost 54 per cent increase. Getty Images Food and drink news Do-It-Yourself restaurant To encourage more people to cook and eat together, IKEA has launched The Dining Club in Shoreditch  a fully immersive Do-It-Yourself restaurant . Members of the public can book to host a brunch, lunch or dinner party for up to 20 friends and family. Supported by their very own sous chef and maitre de, the host and their guests will orchestrate an intimate dining experience where cooking together is celebrated and eating together is inspirational Mikael Buck / IKEA Food and drink news Ping Pong menu with a twist Gatwick Airport has teamed up with London dim sum restaurant Ping Pong to create a limited edition menu with a distinctly British twist; including a Full English Bao and Beef Wellington Puff, to celebrate the launch of the airports new route to Hong Kong Food and drink news Zizzi unveil the Maamgharita Unique pizza art has been created by Zizzi in celebration of the Queens 90th birthday. The pizza features the queen in an iconic pose illustrated with fresh and tasty Italian ingredients on a backdrop of the Union Jack Food and drink news Blue potatoes make a comeback Blue potatoes, once a staple part of British potato crops, are back on the menu thanks to a Cambridge scientist turned-organic farmer and Farmdrop, an online marketplace that lets people buy direct from local farms. Cambridge PhD graduate-turned farmer, Adrian Izzard has used traditional growing techniques at Wild Country Organics to produce the colourful spuds, packed with healthy cell-protecting anthocyanin, which had previously disappeared from UK plates when post-war farmers were pushed towards higher-yielding varieties

Roast until the internal temperature reads 74C  33 hours. After the first hour, baste with the pan juices every 30 minutes.

Cover the ham with foil and let the ham rest in the pan for 30 minutes. Baste once more with the Coke mixture at the bottom of the roasting pan, then transfer to a carving board and slice.

Green chilli cornbread

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Serves 8-10

3 Sandia green chilies roasted and peeled

2 Big Jim green chilies, roasted and peeled

115g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

180g cornmeal mix (self-raising cornmeal)

130g all-purpose (plain) flour

 tsp baking powder

50g packed light brown sugar

590ml buttermilk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Cut the roasted chilies into 1.25 cm pieces. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 220C/Gas Mark 7. Place 4 tablespoons of melted butter in a 23 cm cast-iron skillet and place in the oven for 4 minutes, until the butter is foamy and golden.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal mix, flour, baking powder, and brown sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and remaining 4 tablespoons of melted butter. Stir in the chopped green chilies. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients, and stir just until moistened. Pour the batter into the hot skillet with melted butter.

Bake until golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a cutting board and serve.

America: The Cookbook by Gabrielle Langholtz is published by Phaidon, 29.95
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It was around this time last year that the concept of hygge enraptured the nation in its coddling blanket of Valencia-filtered bliss.

Not just a pretentious-sounding buzzword, hygge (which loosely translates to cosiness in Danish) quickly became a global phenomenon, largely thanks to Meik Wiking's book: The Little Book of hygge.

One small step for the Danish language; one giant leap for disillusioned saps plagued by the inertia of their once hygge-less lives.

12 months later and it's time for yet another kitschy lifestyle trend: enter lykke, which is the Danish word for happiness, naturally.

Wiking's Little Book of Lykke defines itself as a practical guide to what makes us happy, using Denmark as an example.

That's right, the very same gentleman who successfully fetishised and commercialised the concept of comfort has set his sights on conquering joy itself - and it's working, the book is already a bestseller on Amazon.

But before you embark on yet another expedition into a fictionalised Scandinavian idyll, you might want to check you can pronounce it first.

For those not in the know, hygge is pronounced like hoo-gah, whereas lykke should sound like lick-uh.

Maybe their lexical ambivalence is all part of the fun.

The buzzwords don't stop there either, theres also lagom, which means sufficiency and gokotta, which describes the art of rising early to hear the birds sing - yes, theres really a word for that.

Scandi countries always rank highly in the World Happiness Report (Norway and Denmark took first and second place this year), but according to Andy Cope, the UKs first (and probably only) official "Doctor of Happiness", these league tables are less about happiness per se and more about measuring overall wellbeing.

Scandinavian happiness is more akin to contentedness, bordering on smugness, he told The Independent.

Cope believes one of the reasons why the Scandis are such a smiley bunch, while we Brits seldom make it into the top 20, is down to basic societal distinctions.

The challenge is to stick a Dane on the London underground during peak commuting hours and see if they can conjure any hygge, said Cope.

Or make a Swedish middle manager work an 18 hour day then wake him early and see if he wants to listen to the dawn chorus.

Thats not to say its all sunshine and rainbows for the perennially-chipper Swedes.

Recent data from the Swedish Crime Survey shows that there's been a significant rise in the number of reported rapes in recent years.

Plus, in a report published in June 2017, the Swedish Police Authority identified 61 areas in the country that are frequently subjected to crime.

The real danger of creating buzzwords for feelings as fundamental as comfort and happiness, is that it perpetuates a problematic flavour of the month ideology, explains Cope.

Finding something that works for you, and sticking with it until it becomes a habit, thats where the real happiness action is at, he argues.

This gradually rewires your brain and makes you more predisposed to be happy in the long term.

"Flitting from one buzzword to the next gives you a short term but unsustainable happiness hit.

Not to mention the fact that abiding by hygge all-winter-long would severely compromise your social life.

Who has time to nip to the pub when youre hand-pouring candles and slow-cooking a vegan roast while your tea leaves soak in unicorn tears?

It is probably just as likely to limit creativity or innovation, argues social psychologist Dr Brock Bastian, whose book The Other Side of Happiness explains why the pursuit of pleasure is making us miserable.

While the ancient concept of hygge might have derived from an intention to help Scandis get through brutal winters, Bastian explains that it has since been widely taken out of context and is now understood as a wonder medicine for happiness which can put immense pressures on aspiring hygge-ers, adding that the same probably goes for hopeful lykke-ers.

Seeking comfort all of the time is unlikely to produce much happiness if it is not contrasted with discomfort of some kind, he told The Independent.

When we rush out to buy a cosy sheepskin throw, a blond wood table and a set of candles for drinking our tea, we might just as easily be disappointed that we did not feel as happy as we expected to feel," he says.

Fetishising different approaches to happiness, or even just happiness itself, tends to produce ironic outcomes.

So, where does this leave us on our route to living a more joyful, hygge/lykke-filled life?

Happiness can only ever come from one place  your thinking, Cope explains.

After studying happy Brits for 12 years, the conclusion is that they have developed mental habits that allow them to see, hear and feel the world differently, thus maximising their happiness potential.

Stop copying Denmark and look around at the happiest people in your life. Who are they, why are they so happy? My advice is to do more of what theyre doing.
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Its November, so on planet retail that means its Christmas time.

ITVs ad revenues have been dismal through most of the year, but the company says theyre picking up as shops push the boat out with lavishly funded campaigns in a bid to tempt shoppers.

Chances are they'll do the trick despite the continuing fall in living standards. If advertising didn't work, companies wouldn't spend so much on it.

With living standards falling, people are inevitably going to resort to their flexible friends to cover the cost, and worry about paying for it later.

Banks have been doing their utmost to facilitate this. They've been merrily raising people's card limits without first bothering to ask, or checking if they can afford any extra borrowing.

According to Citizens Advice a staggering 8.4m people, more than one in four card holders, received raises in the last 12 months. Less than one of four of those people actually asked for them. The rest were initiated by their lenders.

Having commissioned ComRes to conduct a survey of 2033 adults, the charity says its concerned that borrowers who arent confident that they can pay their current debts appear more likely to have been given yet more credit (32 per cent) than those that are (23 per cent).

Its intervention with the poll data is well timed as we approach the annual festive blow out. An awful lot of people are going to enter the New Year facing a far more painful financial hangover than anything they will have experienced through the over use of alcohol during the holiday period.

Bigger credit limits mean bigger bills, and at a time when pay packets are shrinking in real terms, that equals pain.

The Financial Conduct Authority has, its true, has been looking at the issue. What has emerged is a code of conduct. Under it, new card customers will be asked for consent before limits are raised. After that they will be given the option of receiving uninvited increases if they want them. As for existing customers, they will be given the option of asking their lender to require their consent.

Citizens Advice, by contrast, argues for something simpler: A blanket ban on all unsolicited increases so that people have to approach their banks to ask for extra.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled  leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

The likely result of such a policy, which is a lot tidier than the FCA's code, is that people would end up borrowing less because a lot of those who today get their credit limits unilaterally increased, and borrow on them purely because the money is there, wouldn't ask.

The banks are none too keen on the idea because they profit handsomely from people being in debt. But it would result in fewer desperate people calling on Citizens Advice for help when their debts spiral out of control.

The charity is at the sharp end when people borrow too much and things go wrong. Its people see the misery that is caused. So perhaps the regulator, and Chancellor Philiip Hammond for that matter, should pay heed to what it is saying.
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Smacking makes childrens behaviour worse not better, according to a new study.

US researchers found that the practice makes youngsters "more aggressive".

The study, which follows less than a month after Scotland joined the list of countries to ban smacking children altogether, adds to a growing case against the use of corporal punishment.

Dr Elizabeth Gershoff of the University of Texas at Austin, who led the study, has conducted extensive research into the use of smacking on children and has concluded that it is making them more aggressive and more antisocial.

Past studies have also linked corporal punishment in children to the onset of depression, anxiety and drugs and alcohol abuse.

Nurture groups: Can they prevent bad behaviour in the classroom? Show all 2 1 /2 Nurture groups: Can they prevent bad behaviour in the classroom? Nurture groups: Can they prevent bad behaviour in the classroom? 8647.bin Nurture groups: Can they prevent bad behaviour in the classroom? 2518.bin

In the latest study, published in Psychological Science, Dr Gershoff and her collaborators recorded the behaviour of children whose parents did not smack them and those that did, as reported by their teachers.

Their findings showed a clear distinction between the groups, with an increase in behavioural problems from the age of five to eight.

It affected how often they argue with other children, fight, act impulsively and disturb activities in the classroom, said Dr Gershoff.

Conducting a controlled experiment to find the effects of smacking on children is unethical, as it would involve telling parents to smack their children.

However, by dividing the 12,112 participating children into smacked and non-smacked groups, and then pairing them according to various characteristics, the researchers were able to approximate an experimental setup.

Dr Gershoff says one of the main links between smacking and bad behaviour is that children dont have to learn self-control.

What smacking teaches them is that when the parent is around, they should behave, otherwise they will be hit, she said. The child does not learn how to manage themselves when the parent is not around.

As it stands, 53 nations currently have a total ban on smacking children.

Many have taken the view that banning physical assault of children is merely providing children with the same protection from violence that is afforded to adults.

Nevertheless, there are voices opposing bans on corporal punishment. The campaign group Be Reasonable Scotland is calling for the current laws in the country to remain unchanged on the ground that parents should decide whether to smack their children, not the Government.

However, Dr Gershoff said that a key message of her work is that corporal punishment simply doesnt work.

All of us get frustrated when things dont go our way. Our job as parents is to teach children how to handle that, said Dr Gershoff.

Smacking isnt teaching those things.
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A baby boy death has prompted a debate among doctors after it was claimed that he died of a marijuana overdose.

After suffering from a seizure, the 11-month-old died from heart failure in 2015 in Colorado hospital.

Doctors subsequently produced a report linking his death to marijuana.

We just wanted to make sure that were not going to call this a marijuana-related fatality if there was something else that we could point at, Dr. Christopher Hoyte of Colorado's Rocky Mountain Poison & Drug Center told the KUSA news channel. And we looked and couldn'tt find it.

Dr Hoyte has been on duty as a poison control officer when he treated the child and found his urine and blood tested positive for marijuana .

He said: Just one thing led to another and the kid ended up with a heart stopped. And the kid stopped breathing and died."

The report concluded: As of this writing, this is the first reported paediatric death associated with cannabis.

Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry Show all 8 1 /8 Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry 5591453.jpg Sam Adams Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry 5591446.jpg Sam Adams Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry 5591448.jpg Sam Adams Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry 5591452.jpg Sam Adams Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry 5591449.jpg Sam Adams Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry 5591450.jpg Sam Adams Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry 5591451.jpg Sam Adams Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry 5591454.jpg Sam Adams

However, Dr Thomas Nappe who co-authored the report, told the The Washington Post: "We are absolutely not saying that marijuana killed that child.

He argued that the word associated should not be interpreted as indicating a cause and effect

Officially, the baby boy died from myocarditis, inflammation on the heart and is worse in newborns and young infants. Most cases are caused by a virus reaching the heart muscle but doctors ruled out viral infection as the cause.
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A helicopter pilot who was among four people killed in a mid-air collision with an aircraft has been named, as investigators continue to scour the crash site in Buckinghamshire.

Friends and former students have paid tribute to Captain Mike Green, who had more than 30 years of experience.

Mr Green was senior instructor at Helicopter Services, a company based at Wycombe Air Park, and is thought to been on a training flight with a young student when the crash happened near the Waddesdon Estate, Aylesbury, on Friday.

Recommended Four dead after helicopter and plane collide over Buckinghamshire

The Cessna 152 light aircraft that collided with the helicopter is also believed to have been on a training flight when the collision took place, killing an instructor and a student reported to be 18-year-old Saavan Mundae, from west London.

Friend Phil Croucher said the death of Mr Green, thought to have been aged in his 60s, was a "sad loss".

The head of training at the Caledonian Advanced Pilot Training Ground School added he believed the crash was an accident and no negligence was involved.

Police and air accident investigators were searching the site close to the estate, which is the former country seat of the Rothschild banking dynasty.

Officials have yet to officially release any details of the victims but police said all four people killed were male. Families of three of the victims visited the crash site on Saturday.

Mr Croucher, 65, who served in the Army with Mr Green, said: "We have lost somebody with a vast amount of experience that could have been passed on to younger people, apart from him being a nice guy generally.

"I used to see him, I popped in on Wednesday when I was passing and had a cup of tea. He was always there before anybody else.

"All of a sudden he's not there. He's gone through no fault of his own and everyone's lost a good friend and mentor."

 Helicopter and aircraft in mid-air collision - map locator

Mr Croucher said claims on a pilot forum by an air traffic controller suggested the two had collided accidentally.

The controller said the helicopter had been flying a straight path and the aircraft was descending, meaning pilot would have been unable to see due to "blind spots" below and behind.

"From the available evidence, it's as near to a proper accident as you are likely to see  no negligence, absolutely none," said Mr Croucher.

"That airspace was free airspace," he added, although he admitted the claims were "conjecture".

Superintendent Rebecca Mears of Thames Valley Police said air crash investigators and police were expected to be at the scene until at least Monday.

She said it was "too early to tell" what might have caused the crash.

The collision occurred at 12.06pm and both aircraft, carrying two passengers each, are believed to have come from the Wycombe Air Park about 20 miles away.

Mr Green was a senior instructor with Helicopter Services, based at the airfield.

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2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red 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A spokesman for the company, which offers training, charter flights and gift experiences, declined to comment.

A former trainee pilot who knew Mr Green described him as "kind and cheerful man".

"I will never forget him sitting by me on my first flights and my exams in three types," he wrote on Facebook. "His loss will be missed by so many military and civilian pilots all over the world and the helicopter industry world-wide has lost a valuable contributor for safety in the helicopter industry."

He added: "Such a kind and cheerful man, with an infectious smile whilst very serious about flying helicopters."

The Cessna 152 involved was built in 1982 and owned by Airways Aero Associations, based at the Wycombe Air Park.

It had flown almost 14,000 hours as of May and had previously suffered substantial damage to its landing gear, propeller and engine following a crash at a Cornish airfield in 1993.

An archived report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) shows the pilot admitted the 1993 accident was caused by his "misjudgment and lack of experience".

AAIB investigators could be seen carrying what appeared to be wreckage debris in clear plastic bags from the scene of Friday's crash.

Fire investigators and police were also at the site. Police tape marked the inner cordon which could be seen through the thick bushes that surround the area.

Waddesdon Manor said in a statement: "Lord Rothschild and his family extend their condolences to the families of all affected, and their thanks to the emergency services for their swift response and professionalism."
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The Government is considering a tax on single-use plastics such as takeaway boxes and other packaging, in a bid to reduce waste.

Chancellor Philip Hammond is expected to announce a call for evidence on how taxes could help to tackle the issue.

However, last month the vice president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, ruled out a similar tax for the European Union, saying it would not be sustainable.

Around eight million tons of plastic makes its way into oceans each year, where it gets eaten by fish or birds. More than a million sea birds and 100,000 sea mammals die annually from getting caught in or swallowing the waste.

The proposed tax would make up part of the Governments 25-year environment strategy, and comes after the levy on plastic bags.

In July, the Environment Department announced that nine billion fewer plastic bags have been used since the Government introduced the 5p charge.

Responding to the proposed tax, Tisha Brown, oceans campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said: Ocean plastic pollution is a global emergency, it is everywhere from the Arctic Ocean at top of the world, to the Marianas Trench at the bottom of the Pacific.

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winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty

Its in whales, turtles and 90 per cent of sea birds, and its been found in our salt, our tap water and even our beer.

The Treasurys announcement is only a statement of intent, but it recognises the significance of the problem and the urgent need for a solution. There is a long way to go, but hopefully this is the beginning of the end for single-use plastic.

Dr Mike Barrett, World Wildlife Foundations director of science and policy, said: Too often birds, fish, turtles and whales are found dead having eaten plastic. Plastic is suffocating our seas. There is no greater example of the havoc we have on the natural world. Any action to tackle single-use plastic is a good thing, but we must ensure any action is truly ambitious if we want to make the real difference needed to help save the planet.
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The Chancellor is poised to spark a desperately needed revival of council housebuilding in next weeks Budget, by finally lifting the strict borrowing caps imposed on local authorities.

Philip Hammond is expected to bow to pressure by giving some councils more headroom to borrow money, accepting it is essential to provide the homes Britain needs.

Town-hall chiefs and experts have long demanded the move, partly to weaken the grip of big private developers over the pace of housebuilding  but the Treasury has resisted.

Those developers are driven by commercial self-interest and with little incentive to build any quicker, an inquiry by MPs found, with housing associations unable to plug the gap alone.

Meanwhile, housebuilding by local authorities was reduced under restrictions brought in by Margaret Thatcher and retained by Labour. Just 1,890 homes were constructed in 2015-16.

Waiting lists for a council home have ballooned as a consequence, to around 1.2 million families.

Recommended Philip Hammond must use the Budget for a complete housing rethink

Now Mr Hammond is set to agree new freedoms, but will lift the cap only in certain areas, such as where ambitious councils agree housing deals with Whitehall.

Ministers have already been in talks with Leeds, Newcastle and Stoke-on-Trent about such deals.

The move is certain to be seen as a response to Labours pre-election pledge to build 500,000 extra council properties over five years, half of the new homes planned overall.

Sajid Javid, the Communities Secretary, hinted at next weeks shift in a speech in Bristol on Thursday.

In areas where the supply and demand are most badly mismatched, where most homes are most unaffordable to most people, I want to give local authorities the tools that they need to build more and that includes financial headroom, he said.

However, the Chancellor has faced down calls, including from the Local Government Association, to allow all councils to borrow freely to stimulate council housebuilding.

Instead, the change would see an easing of the restrictions long imposed through the housing revenue account (HRA).

Mr Hammond is thought to be ready to go ahead with the policy, but negotiations will continue with Mr Javids department until the eve of Budget day, next Wednesday.

A government aide said the measure had been discussed with the Treasury this week, adding: The Chancellor is seriously considering it for the Budget.

The pressure on Mr Hammond to deliver could not be greater, after Theresa May vowed to make solving Britains housing crisis her personal mission.

Despite the best figures for a decade released this week  showing 217,000 new homes were added in 2016-17  she accepted many tens of thousands more are needed to keep up with demand.

Tens of billions of pounds of housing associations debt will be taken off the books to stimulate more building by those not-for profit bodies, it was announced.

However, the Prime Ministers last housing announcement for councils fell flat, at the Conservative Party conference in October, when she failed to budge on borrowing restrictions.

Instead, her aides acknowledged a 2bn cash injection would fund only 5,000 extra homes a year overall, between 2016 and 2021.

Housebuilding hit an annual low of 124,720 new homes in 2012-13 under the coalition government headed by David Cameron.

But, although the bounce back to 217,000 is significant, only around 41,000 so-called affordable homes were built in 2016-17, the overwhelming majority by housing associations.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 15 November 2022 Lesley Sutcliffe shelters from the rain next to a life-sized replica of the innermost coffin of King Tutankhamun by artist Amanda Stoner as it goes on display inside a traditional red telephone box which has been converted into a museum, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire PA 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

A report by the Commons Communities and Local Government Committee, earlier this year, laid bare the need to get local authorities building.

It pointed out that they built 135,700 homes in 1969-70, but this had plummeted to an astonishing figure of just 60 by 1999-2000.

The committee blamed the borrowing limits, leaving the housing sector over-reliant on an alarmingly small number of high volume developers, looking to their own balance sheets.

Local authorities have a key role to play but have not been given the tools they need to make an effective contribution to solving this crisis, its report said.

Separately, Mr Hammond is also set to announce plans to overhaul the community infrastructure levy, which sees developers pay towards wider local needs.

Developers agree Section 106 agreements with councils to build infrastructure  such as affordable homes or roundabouts or schools  on their sites, but could be forced to pay more.

A package of Budget housing measures could also include a stamp duty cut for first-time buyers and changes to loosen planning rules.

However, it is likely to stop far short of Mr Javids initial plea to the Treasury for 50bn of extra borrowing for new housing infrastructure.
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More than three million low-paid workers could be 5,000 worse off under the National Living Wage than originally expected by 2020 due to slow economic growth, Jeremy Corbyn is set to claim.

In his pre-Budget speech on Saturday, the Labour leader will also make a string of demands to Philip Hammond, including pausing the rollout of universal credit and the termination of the Governments austerity policies.

Citing a new Labour analysis, Mr Corbyn will say that due to slower economic growth the National Living Wage could see it reach 8.25 an hour by the end of the decade  rather than the 9.30 an hour originally anticipated when the policy was unveiled by George Osborne in 2015.

Earlier this year the Office for Budget Responsibility  the Governments fiscal watchdog  said the NLW could fall to 8.75.

The Tories rebranded minimum wage was supposed to overtake 9 an hour by 2020, Mr Corbyn will say. But our analysis shows that because of their mishandling of the economy and their failure to protect most peoples pay, it could actually fall as low as 8.25 an hour.

Mr Corbyn, who committed to introduce a real living wage at the last election of at least 10 per hour by 2020, will add: That could mean that an estimated 3.3m people will loose 5,000 compared to what they were promised. Thats a loss of 5,000 for the lowest paid in our society. It is completely unacceptable.

But Tory MP Steve Barclay, the economic secretary to the Treasury, said: Labour should look at the Governments record  by introducing the National Living Wage weve given the lowest earners their biggest pay rise in 20 years.

Labours tax rises would mean people have less money in their pocket and they would end up punishing businesses, meaning fewer jobs and lower wages. Only the Conservatives are building a Britain fit for the future.

Recommended Corbyn quotes Boris Johnson tweets to attack emergency services cuts

Addressing next weeks Budget, Mr Corbyn will demand the Chancellor reduces the wait for the initial payment for those claiming universal credit, ending the public sector pay cap, more money for schools and the NHS, a new housebuilding programme, and investment in infrastructure.

The British people have suffered seven years of austerity. It has failed on its own terms, and enough is enough. Austerity has held down the wages of the many and driven up the profits of the few, he will say.

And with pay falling and the cost of living rising, personal debt has too often plugging the gap. Of course, bankers may benefit from this unfair and economically dangerous situation. But increased personal debt is an economic and political failure.

It isnt only Labour and the millions facing crippling debts who are worried. The Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority and the IMF have all warned against rising debt now that over 8.3 million people are over-indebted.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 16 November 2022 Emma Woolf, great niece of British author Virginia Woolf, and her son Ludovic sit next to a new bronze statue of Woolf, unveiled in Richmond, London Reuters UK news in pictures 15 November 2022 Lesley Sutcliffe shelters from the rain next to a life-sized replica of the innermost coffin of King Tutankhamun by artist Amanda Stoner as it goes on display inside a traditional red telephone box which has been converted into a museum, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire PA 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

People arent borrowing to invest, they are borrowing to survive.

If the Prime Minister and the Chancellor are serious about ending the longest decline in living standards since the 19th century, they must borrow to invest in our economy, services and people. And with the Budget on Wednesday, they must change course. Austerity doesnt work.

Mr Corbyn will also insist at a gathering in Huntingdon that the divide on Europe in politics is between a Labour version of Brexit or a Tory one.

He will say: The choice facing the country now is not Leave or Remain, but a Labour Brexit or a Tory Brexit.

The Tories want to use Brexit to reinforce our existing system's inequalities and insecurities - and put them on steroids.

They want to drive through more deregulation, lower taxes on the richest banks and big corporations, even more privatisation and further cuts in pay and conditions in a calculated race to the bottom."
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Senior Tories are demanding cross-party action to tackle the social care crisis, one protesting that Theresa May has kicked the issue into the long grass.

Former cabinet ministers are among 90 MPs of all parties that have written to the Prime Minister, calling on her to set up a joint convention, arguing the Government has laid bare its inability to act alone.

The move comes after ministers broke a promise to outline reform plans by the end of this year, shelving a consultation until next summer.

Social care policy has been frozen since Ms May was forced to axe her election plans to make homeowners pay more for their care, after they were dubbed a dementia tax.

Now the letter from MPs urges her to work with all parties, the public and health and care staff to find a solution, warning: The need for action is greater now than ever.

One-third of the MPs who have signed the letter are Conservative, including former cabinet ministers Nicky Morgan and Andrew Mitchell and Sarah Wollaston, chairwoman of the Health Select Committee.

Ms Wollaston said the immediate aim was a down payment of 4bn in next Wednesdays Budget, warning it would be disastrous if the sector had to fund higher pay from within its existing funds.

The Chancellor must listen to the clear warnings about the consequences for patients if we do not provide an immediate uplift in this Budget, she said.

After that, it was vital that ministers stop planning for health and social care in separate silos as this approach is setting us up for failure.

Current plans to kick social care into the long grass again, and to separate planning for young and older adults, create even further fragmentation, the MP warned.

The simple reality of hung parliament means that all our constituents will be failed if long-term plans for NHS and care funding do not command cross-party support, so better to take a joint approach to planning from the outset and actually deliver.

Labour MPs who have signed the letter include Liz Kendall, Chuka Umunna, Hilary Benn, Frank Field and Caroline Flint.

Among the Liberal Democrats backing it are party leader Vince Cable, Sir Ed Davey, Tim Farron and Norman Lamb, the Lib Dem health spokesman.

On Thursday, Damian Green, the First Secretary of State, quietly released a statement deferring the publication of a social care green paper until summer 2018.

Chancellor Philip Hammond had promised the move by the end of 2017  before the election U-turn over the dementia tax intervened.

Meanwhile, council leaders have highlighted the ticking timebomb of a 2.3bn annual funding gap by 2020.

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents healthcare organisations, also said promises to reform funding were being kicked down the road.

But the Government insisted a cross-party convention was not needed, because MPs would be consulted on social care next year.

A spokesman said: We have announced a cross-government green paper on care and support for older people with input from a group of independent experts.

We recognise that there is broad agreement across Parliament that reform for social care is a priority and look forward to hearing a range of views.
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Thousands of low-paid people on universal credit will receive reduced payments or none at all over Christmas, in a fresh controversy about the new benefit.

The claimants will be hit because they are paid weekly and their income will likely go over the universal credit limit, officials say.

They will be able to reapply in January  but, it is feared, will be left without a payment from the Government over the Christmas and New Year period.

Recommended Ministers ordered to fix universal credit after embarrassing defeat

The same problem will re-occur in other months which, like December, have five paydays, because universal credit is calculated on a monthly basis.

It sounds like nonsense doesnt it? A script from a political farce. But no, its actually whats happening, said one worried claimant on the Mumsnet website.

The controversy comes just two days before a Government minister faces being hauled back to the Commons after MPs ordered a cut to separate long delays to universal credit payments.

Meanwhile, some Conservatives are calling for tax cuts for the better off to be shelved to ease the plight of claimants set to lose thousands of pounds.

Around 250,000 people receiving universal credit are in low-paid work, of which around 67,000 are paid weekly.

The Department for Work and Pensions said not all those paid weekly would see a reduction in December as it depends on the payment date, and that funds balance out because claimants entitled to more would receive it in the following month.

A spokesperson said: Universal credit adjusts automatically to peoples earnings so they have a guaranteed stable monthly income, and to make work pay.

Employed people are managing the UC payment structure well and to suggest otherwise is misleading. Last year there were around 400,000 people on universal credit and their UC payments were made without issue.

"The vast majority of people in work continue to get universal credit in a five-week month and when peoples earnings take them over the UC threshold they can continue to have universal credit the following month.

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Their earnings are topped up by the benefit, which is gradually being introduced around the country, merging six existing working-age benefits.

Official guidance states: If youre paid weekly by your employer, you will get either four or five payments of earnings within a universal credit assessment period.

When you have five weekly earnings payments within an assessment period, your income may be too high to qualify for universal credit in that month.

You can re-apply the following month as you should only get four wage payments in your assessment period then.

Claimants are advised to budget for a potential change, but critics argue this ignores the reality facing many lower-paid people used to receiving payments weekly.

They will have to sign back onto universal credit online, which is not always easy for those without ready access to the internet over the festive period.

On Thursday, MPs voted unanimously to slash the wait for a first payment from six weeks to four, after the Government refused to contest the controversy  knowing defeat was inevitable.

Conservative MPs joined with the opposition parties in pleading for an urgent rethink, amid the evidence of mounting problems.

Food bank organisers have ordered an extra 2,000 tonnes of food, to prepare for more people going hungry after moving onto universal credit, the Government was told.

There were also protests over cuts to the work allowance  the amount of earnings kept before claimants lose benefits  which has swiped more than 1,200 a year from many families.

An angry Frank Field, the Labour chairman of the Work and Pensions Committee, demanded that ministers explain, on Monday, how they intend to abide by the will of the Commons.

The whole House has unanimously asked the Government to move. Thats what I want the Secretary of State to address on Monday, Mr Field added.

A climbdown is widely expected before next Wednesdays Budget, but only a cut to a five-week wait  which would not satisfy the motion passed.

Update: An earlier version of the story stated that 100,000 universal credit claimants are paid weekly but the DWP has subsequently confirmed the figure is around 67,000.
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Robert Mugabes reign as one of Africas longest-serving heads of state appears to be nearing an end, with a massive crowd laying siege to his home in Zimbabwes capital and strong indications that his party is poised to dismiss him.

The hierarchy of the ruling Zanu-PF are due to meet as early as Sunday morning, it is believed, to begin the process of formally removing Mr Mugabe from office and reinstating Emmerson Mnangagwa, the recently sacked Vice President who has returned from exile in South Africa following the military coup six days ago.

The meeting of Zanu-PF central committee is also due to fire Grace Mugabe, the Presidents wife and a deeply divisive figure who has faced scathing criticism for her lavish lifestyle in this deeply impoverished country, from her post as the head of the partys womens league. Mrs Mugabe is widely believed to have instigated the sacking of Mr Mnangagwa, which was the catalyst of the current crisis and army takeover.

Mr Mugabe will still remain titular President under the countrys constitution even after his partys move against him. But his ability to govern has ended with the military coup, and the projected action by Zanu-PF leaves him without a power base and totally isolated. He is due to meet General Constantino Chiwenga, the head of the Zimbabwean military who had led the putsch, on Sunday with a senior official insisting that a solution to the problem was imminent.

Branch after branch of the party had voted for motions of no confidence in Mr Mugabe in the last 24 hours, triggering the numbers needed to begin impeachment proceedings by MPs. On Friday evening, it has emerged, the 93-year-old President made a desperate attempt to cling on by seeking to suspend parliament. But National Assembly speaker Jacob Mudenda refused the Presidents demands and, according to officials, senior Zanu-PF figures began talks with opposition parties to agree on a course of action.

 Robert Mugabe makes first public appearance since Zimbabwe military takeover

The outpouring of protest against the Mugabes in Harare on Saturday, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets, was a sign for Zanu-PF to move at speed, calling an extraordinary meeting of the central committee at 10.30am on Sunday. General Chiwenga is said to have given his backing as Mr Mnangagwa prepared himself for inauguration.

A motorcade left State House, the presidential residence in Harare, in the afternoon. It is not known whether Mr Mugabe and his wife were being escorted out. Their fate remains unclear and there have been demands that Mrs Mugabe, nicknamed "Gucci Grace and DisGrace by her many enemies, should face trial on charges of corruption and abuse of power. But the more likely scenario would be for them both to go into exile when he steps down from office.

There were cheers and car horns began to sound as news began to filter out that Mr Mugabes 37-year rule may be coming to an end. Is this really true? I am glad I am alive to see this take place, exclaimed 68-year-old Mercy Zikhali. This news would have been impossible even a few weeks ago, so it is difficult to accept it. We had so much hope after independence, but Mugabe and his people ruined the country. I hope that I will see a big improvement for us in my remaining years, and at least my children and grandchildren have a good future.

Zimbabwe Crisis: Army block main road to government offices Show all 9 1 /9 Zimbabwe Crisis: Army block main road to government offices Zimbabwe Crisis: Army block main road to government offices An armoured personnel carrier stations by an intersection as Zimbabwean soldiers regulate traffic in Harare AFP/Getty Images Zimbabwe Crisis: Army block main road to government offices An armed soldier patrols the street as members of the public cross the road AP Zimbabwe Crisis: Army block main road to government offices Soldiers stand on the streets in Harare REUTERS Zimbabwe Crisis: Army block main road to government offices A military tank with armed soldiers on the road leading to President Robert Mugabe's office in Harare AP Zimbabwe Crisis: Army block main road to government offices Armed soldiers search a vehicle AP Zimbabwe Crisis: Army block main road to government offices A military tank blocks the road leading to President Robert Mugabes office in Harare AP Zimbabwe Crisis: Army block main road to government offices Zimbabwean soldiers regulate civilian traffic in Harare AFP/Getty Images Zimbabwe Crisis: Army block main road to government offices An army tank blocks the main road REUTERS Zimbabwe Crisis: Army block main road to government offices Military vehicles and soldiers patrol the streets in Harare REUTERS

The rally was called by the association of veterans of the war against white rule. The original plan had been for demonstrators to gather at the citys Freedom Square, but soldiers asked them to go on to Harare stadium at the outskirts of the city. It was a far bigger venue, but also symbolic. This was the place where another huge crowd had gathered 37 years ago to welcome Mr Mugabe on his return from exile following independence.

Mrs Zikhalis nephew, Washington Chando, remembered being taken to the stadium that day, at the age of 10, by his parents. Everyone thought he was a hero. I remember that day people were crying, but everything began to get worse after a while. I havent been able to find any permanent work for the last nine years, we have all had a very negative experience while people like Mrs Mugabe have got richer and richer.

Christopher Mutsvangwa, the head of the veterans organisation, claimed that the President had been warned by the army during the height of the rally that they may not be willing to protect him and his family.

The army gave the dictator a message earlier today  either he steps down or they will let the people into his mansion to take him, Mr Mutsvangwa stated. The army is threatening to unleash the people and let Mugabe be lynched. The generals said they will not shoot the people for him. Instead, they will abandon their posts and leave him to his fate.

But the troops did stop the crowd when it reached State House in the afternoon, leading to remonstrations and a sit-in protest. Last night the property was being heavily guarded although it was far from clear how much longer there will be anyone left to protect those inside.
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Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans have gathered in the capital Harare to call for the resignation of President Robert Mugabe, after 37 years in power.

Crowds flooded into the streets, marching alongside military tanks, as motorists honked their horns and others sang in celebration of the militarys efforts to remove the long time leader.

Some held up signs saying: Enough is enough. Mugabe must go.

I've been waiting all my life for this day, one protester, Frank Mutsindikwa, told Reuters, holding up a Zimbabwean flag. Free at last. We are free at last.

The demonstration is expected to head straight to Mr Mugabes home, where protesters say they will wait until they have received notice of the Presidents resignation.

The southern African nations generals placed the 93-year-old leader under house arrest earlier this week, allowing him limited movement while talks on his exit from office continue.

He was allowed to speak at a graduation ceremony and he has insisted he remains in charge but looks almost certain to be forced from office if he refuses to step down, with his ruling Zanu-PF party stating there is no going back.

Many of Mr Mugabes opponents are growing impatient and want to see him ousted from office immediately.

Protesters are hoping a strong turnout will help bring the Presidents rule to an official end.

Robert Mugabe attended a university graduation ceremony in Harare while under house arrest (Reuters) (REUTERS)

Negotiations have been underway between military commanders to find a new leader after the countrys army forced the President and his family to go under house arrest in a bid to seize power.

It is thought that the countrys former vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, could take power. Mr Mugabe sparked the crisis by firing the veteran politician, known as the the crocodile, in an apparent bid to allow his wife Grace Mugabe to take the role.

Despite the house arrest and dozens of taken and army personnel being placed in Harare, the military has insisted that the move is not a coup detat.

Reports on the ground suggest that the move to oust Mr Mugabe has received widespread support from the population.

The President, who has led Zimbabwe since it declared independence from Britain in 1980, has long been blamed for the collapse of the countrys economy.

Once one of Africas wealthiest nations, the countrys economy has been on a downward spiral since 2000, with widespread poverty and unemployment now running at nearly 90 per cent.

The collapse was triggered by the seizure of white-owned commercial farms across the country.

Protesters call on Zimbabwes now largely powerless President to resign (AP)

The Zimbabwe African National Union  Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF), the ruling party in the country, has called for Mr Mugabe to resign, according to Zimbabwes main state newspaper, The Herald.

The newspaper said that Zanu-PF branches in all 10 provinces had met and also called for the Presidents wife, Grace Mugabe, to resign from the party.

It was Ms Mugabes own ambitions to succeed her husband as Zimbabwes leader that triggered the political crisis.

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A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. 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 senior member of Zanu-PF had also said that they wanted the pair out of the party.

If he becomes stubborn, we will arrange for him to be fired on Sunday, they said. When that is done, its impeachment on Tuesday.

The Herald has reported that Zanu-PF has planned to hold a special Central Committee meeting on Sunday to realign the revolutionary party with current political developments.

Additional reporting by PA
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Donald Trump has challenged the "worst and biggest loser of all time" Hillary Clinton to run against him again in the 2020 US presidential election.

Taking to Twitter, the President said: She just cant stop, which is so good for the Republican Party. Hillary, get on with your life and give it another try in three years!

His comments come after Ms Clinton, who won the popular vote in the 2016 election, questioned the legitimacy of the billionaires win.

During an interview with US news website Mother Jones, the Democrat said Russian interference was one of the major contributors to the outcome of the election.

She also claimed that Republican measures such as laws requiring voters to have ID cards contributed to the outcome as they were an effort to make it harder for Democrat supporters to cast their ballot.

According to a study by the University of Wisconsin, African American voters, who overwhelmingly supported Ms Clinton, were three times less likely as whites to vote due to the law.

Asked if she still supported her claim last year during a presidential debate that if elected Mr Trump would be Russian president Vladimir Putins puppet, the 70-year-old said she did.

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

I dont know how the president of the United States, with all of the concerns about the integrity of our elections, could meet with Putin just recently and basically say, Well, you know, he told me again he didnt do it, she said.

I cant believe that hes so naive. I think that he hopes or expects the rest of us to be naive, or at least the people who support him to be naive. But this is a serious cyberattack on America.
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A search is underway for a submarine and 44 crew who have been missing for two days.

Argentine naval officials said they had lost contact with the vessel off its southern coast - but insisted it was not yet considered lost.

Communication was last established with the German-built diesel-electric submarine on Wednesday and nothing has been heard from the crew since.

The Argentine Navy said ships and aircraft are searching near the last known location of the sub off the province of Chubut.

It also said officials are scanning all possible radio transmission frequencies for a sign of the San Juan.

Navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told the Todo Noticias channel there was no indication of problems from the submarine and said it could not yet be termed as lost.

"It's not that it's lost, because to be lost, you have to look for it and not find it," he said.

Admiral Gabriel Gonzalez, chief of the Mar del Plata base that was the submarine's destination, said the submarine had sufficient food and oxygen.

"We have a loss of communications, we are not talking of an emergency," he said.

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

Relatives of some of the crew members are at the base awaiting word of the search.

"We are praying to God and asking that all Argentines help us to pray that they keep navigating and that they can be found," said Claudio Rodriguez, brother of one of the crew members.

"We have faith that it's only a loss of communications."

Mr Balbi said the sub was headed from the naval base at Ushuaia in the country's extreme south to Mar del Plata, about 250 miles south of Buenos Aires.

The UK has offered to assist with a military aircraft on standby.

Additional reporting by PA
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A US Republican congressman misled police over his assault on a journalist a day before he was elected, according to documents released by investigators.

Greg Gianforte told an officer that Guardian newspaper reporter Ben Jacobs had grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him to the floor of his campaign office after interrogating him, according to notes from a Gallatin County sheriffs officer who interviewed the politician after the incident unfolded.

He also claimed that the liberal media was trying to make a story out of the altercation that took place just a day before his victory in a 25 May special election.

Recommended Republicans quietly introduce tax break for private jet owners

Multiple witnesses came forward to contradict Gianfortes account, however, and the politician has since pleaded guilty to misdemeanour assault.

More than 100 pages of documents, photos and audio gathered over the course of the investigation were released under a court order after requests from a number of news organisations.

The documents include interviews with members of a Fox News crew who were in the room when the attack unfolded. They said Gianforte had been angry over what he perceived as biased coverage and body-slammed Mr Jacobs onto the ground before punching him.

One of the congressmans staffers, Josh Elle, who worked as Gianfortes driver, told officers that he had been in an adjacent room when he heard a commotion.

Reporter Ben Jacobs was portrayed by the congressman as the instigator of the incident (AP)

When he peered into the other room, he said he was Gianforte striking the journalist with closed fists before someone else in the room closed the door.

Another worker said Gianforte and others involved with the campaign had been complaining earlier on in the day about duplicitous coverage by the Guardian and Buzzfeed.

In his initial description of the altercation, Gianforte had told Sergeant Scott Secor that Mr Jacobs had approached him while he was preparing for an interview with Fox News and started interrogating in a very intensive way.

I probably shouldnt do it, but I reached out for his phone, Gianforte said. He grabbed my wrist, he spun and we ended up on the floor ... so he pulled me down on top of him, the sergeant quoted the politician as saying.

Hours after the assault, Gianfortes campaign spokesman, Shane Scanlon, also issued a statement that blamed the attack on the reporter, claiming Mr Jacobs had grabbed the candidates wrist.

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

Gianforte has issued a public apology to Mr Jacobs and told supporters he wasnt proud of his actions.

His spokesman, Travis Hall, insisted on Friday that the documents revealed nothing new.

No one was misled, and anyone who says otherwise is mistaken.

Greg took responsibility for his actions and is focused on serving the people of Montana, he said in a statement emailed to AP.

Since pleading guilty to the assault, Gianforte has been forced to pay a $385 fine and complete 40 hours of community service, as well as 20 hours of anger management counselling.

He has also donated $50,000 (44,000) to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Gallatin County Attorney Marty Lambert said that while he was aware of the Republicans comments to investigators, additional charges, such as obstruction of justice, were not considered as authorities were focused specifically on the assault allegation.

When the police are investigating a case, suspects of crimes will say misleading things, and apparently thats exactly what happened here on the part of both Mr Gianforte and his campaign, Mr Lambert said.

It is not a crime per se to lie to the cops, he continued. The main thing here is he was charged with assaulting Ben Jacobs and pled guilty to that.

The politician is up for re-election next year and has filed an official bid to run, with six Democrats entering the race to challenge him.

Additional reporting by AP
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New York City subway announcers will no longer address ladies and gentlemen, opting instead for gender-neutral nouns.

A bulletin sent out to Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) employees counsels them to opt instead for words like passengers or riders, according to multiple reports.

MTA officials said the change was part of a wider effort to be more responsive to passengers, including encouraging conductors to offer real-time updates to riders about delays.

It all goes to this fundamental need to make sure we're getting people the information they need, spokesman Jon Weinstein told the Associated Press.

The change marks the latest effort to accommodate non-gender-conforming people in public spaces, an effort that has also seen multiple pushes to allow people to use the bathroom matching their gender identity.

For example, California law now requires all single-stall public toilets to be gender neutral.

Lonely road: Why school is hell for transgender pupils Show all 2 1 /2 Lonely road: Why school is hell for transgender pupils Lonely road: Why school is hell for transgender pupils 25255.bin Lonely road: Why school is hell for transgender pupils 25256.bin

Even as more liberal localities have embraced more inclusive measures, the Trump administration has moved in the opposite direction.

The Department of Justice rescinded Obama-era guidance directing schools to give students access to the bathrooms matching their gender identities and has pivoted to say that civil rights law does not bar discrimination against transgender people. Donald Trump has also pushed to reinstate a ban on transgender people openly serving in the military.
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Pamela Anderson has said she thinks her naivety protected her from harassment in Hollywood, after revealing a confrontation with Harvey Weinstein.

In an interview with the Times magazine, the 50-year-old actress and model described her reaction when someone asked her to do something she wasn't comfortable with. "I would be like, 'You want me to do what?' Then I'd say, 'Oh my God, you're the worst thing that people say about this industry and I'm going back to Canada.' I would storm off and shout, 'I believe in love!' And slam the door."

Ms Anderson said she had a confrontation with Weinstein that was not sexual."He told me I'd never work in this town again, because I refused to work with a dog," she said.

"He wanted me to play Invisible Girl on Superhero Movie. But they wanted me to work with an actual dog. I said, 'I won't work with animals in a film.' And he said, 'We're just going to put the dog there. What's the problem?' And I said, 'No. Put an X on the floor. I am talking to an invisible dog. Why do we need an actual dog?'

"And he was so mean. He called me back and shouted, 'You're Pamela Anderson; you're lucky I'm even putting you in a f***ing film. You're never going to work in this f***ing industry again, you son of a f***ing bitch.' "He's so intense. I've never been talked to that way by anybody. Not even by a boyfriend. He was really intimidating. And I did it. But I did it without the dog."

The actress also expressed confusion after being told photographer Terry Richardson has been banned from working for Conde Nast because of allegations of harassment against him. "Terry Richardson! The photographer? Oh, no. But I liked working with him. He was so nice when I met him. He's gay, right?" the Times says she responded.

 Kate Winslet did not thank Harvey Weinstein on purpose when she won an Oscar

Ms Anderson, who was a victim of domestic violence during her marriage to Tommy Lee, has also previously spoken about sexual abuse she experienced growing up on Vancouver Island.

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 2014 speech at a Pamela Anderson Foundation event, she said she was assaulted by a female babysitter from the age of six; by a man in his twenties when she was 12; and by a boyfriend and his friends at the age of 14.

In the Times interview, she said she wasn't willing to speak about what was a "difficult" time, but wanted to tell women sharing is a good thing. "Don't blame yourself," she added.

Ms Anderson has described domestic abuse as "an epidemic". She was involved in setting up and funding the US-based National Domestic Violence Hotline, and she's answered phones there herself.

 Harvey Weinstein: The celebrities who have accused him of sexual misconduct so far

"You think, 'I'm in this, and this has happened and I'm embarrassed to tell anybody that this happened.' But the first time you notice any strangeness, tell your girlfriends, get advice," she urged.

The actress said she wanted to make sure her two sons exhibited none of the same behaviour. "I say to my sons, 'If you disrespect any woman, you disrespect me.' And they're like, 'Woo. Got it.' They're not going to do that."
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Police in Philadelphia are investigating whether the fatal shooting of a transgender woman was a hate crime.

Local media reported that 22-year-old Kiesha Jenkins was assaulted and then shot dead by a group of males in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The decedent had just gotten out of a vehicle at that location, was assaulted by five or six unidentified males, Philadelphia Police Captain James Clark told CBS.

Transgender rights campaigners have talked of an epidemic of violence directed at transgender people - with most of the victims being black or hispanic - in the US. They are unsure whether the rise in violence is directly linked to the increasing awareness of transgender people and the publicity created by people such as Caitlyn Jenner.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that 21 transgender or gender nonconforming people have been killed in the United States this year, according to statistics gathered by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programmes.

We'll talk to more people, and then well get to the bottom of it. When the autopsy results come back, different things, and we'll put everything together and then from that we'll see if its classified as a hate crime or not, said Mr Clark.

Detectives are now looking for the five to six people they believe are responsible for the fatal assault.
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A Texas woman who displayed a large F*** Trump sticker on her vehicle says she was later arrested on an unrelated charge becasue of the sheriffs political leanings.

Kate Fonseca was arrested by the Fort Bend County Sheriff outside of Houston, Texas on an outstanding fraud warrant, but Sheriff Troy Nehls almost brought her up on charges of disorderly conduct for the large decal on the window of her pickup truck.

The Sheriffs office has not provided details about the fraud warrant, but said police had gotten a tip on where to find Ms Fonseca.

Her husband, Mike Fonseca, told a local ABC affiliate that his wife was arrested at their home in front of their six-year-old daughter.

I think it's the sticker, he said, explaining the reason for Ms Fonsecas arrest.

She also told reporters she thought it was because of Mr Nehls found the sticker as offensive to US President Donald Trump. She was released on a bond of $1,500 later the same day.

 Woman ejected from Jeff Sessions confirmation hearing after laughing

The Fort Bend County Sheriffs Facebook page had posted an image of Ms Fonsecas truck, but has since deleted the post.

The caption of the now-deleted post read: "I have received numerous calls regarding the offensive display on this truck as it is often seen along FM 359. If you know who owns this truck or it is yours, I would like to discuss it with you."

FM 359 refers to a local highway.

During a press conference, Mr Nehls addressed the Facebook post and said it accomplished its objective and now we know who owns the truck, adding that he does not regret writing it.

However, District Attorney John Healey indicated that though he found the use of profanity in public offensive, he would not take the case because the placement of the decal on her personal vehicle does not constitute a crime.

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

Ms Fonseca has said she has no plans to remove the decal that she placed on her truck 11 months ago.

"It makes people happy. They smile. They stop you. They want to shake your hand, she told the news station.

Ms Fonseca reportedly disagrees with Mr Trump most vehemently about the proposed US-Mexico border wall.

"It's not to cause hate or animosity," Ms Fonseca told the Houston Chronicle, adding that "it's just our freedom of speech and we're exercising it."

Mr Nehls said he supports freedom of speech but worried that profane messages could incite others and lead to confrontations that would disturb the peace he has pledged to keep.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas (ACLU) responded to Mr Nehls now-deleted Facebook post: Constitutional Law 101: You cant ban speech just because it has f@ck in it, with an invitation for Ms Fonseca to contact them if needed.

The organisation also noted a 1971 US Supreme Court case that overturned the conviction of a man for disturbing the peace for wearing a jacket with an expletive as part of an effort to protest the military draft and the Vietnam War.

A woman who raised her middle finger in October to Mr Trump's motorcade as it passed her riding her bicycle in Virginia was fired from a government contracting firm for violating the "code of conduct policy."

Desiree Fairooz was was about to face a second trial after being arrested for laughing at Attorney General Jeff Sessions and her conducted while being taken away from the room during his Senate confirmation hearing, but the Department of Justice decided to dismiss the charges.
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The highest-level Chinese envoy to visit North Korea in two years arrived in the countrys capital on Friday to try to improve relations that have soured over Beijings tightening of sanctions and expressions of support for US President Donald Trumps calls for more pressure on the North to abandon its nuclear weapons programme.

Song Taos official mission is to brief North Korean officials on the outcome of Chinas ruling Communist Party congress held last month. He is visiting as President Xi Jinpings special envoy, according to Chinese and North Korean state media, but no other details about his itinerary or whether he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have been announced.

After arriving, Mr Song met with Choe Ryong-hae, a vice chairman of the ruling party and one of the most senior leaders after Mr Kim.

Recommended North Korea says US aircraft carriers raise threat of nuclear war

The visit is seen as an effort by Mr Xi to explore a new approach in relations and likely also reflects Mr Xis desire to head off further pressure from Washington.

Chinas relations with North Korea have deteriorated under Mr Kim, who has ignored Beijings calls to end the Norths nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests and return to disarmament talks.

North Korea staged its sixth nuclear test on 3 September, detonating what it said was a hydrogen bomb, and most recently launched a ballistic missile on 15 September, firing it over the Japanese island of Hokkaido into the Pacific Ocean.

China, North Koreas largest trading partner, says its influence with Mr Kims government is often exaggerated by the US and others. Beijing is opposed to measures that could bring down Mr Kims regime and lead to a refugee crisis along its border, and while enforcing harsh new UN sanctions targeting North Koreas sources of foreign currency it has called for steps to renew dialogue.

The visit comes as Joseph Yun, the US envoy for North Korea, met Friday with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Do-hoon, on the resort island of Jeju in South Korea.

China, of course, has a big role to play on Northeast Asia security issues, Mr Yun was quoted by South Koreas Yonhap news agency as saying, adding that he hopes China regards the denuclearisation as a critical goal. We do hope that special envoy will forward that goal.

Mr Songs visit to North Korea also comes as China and South Korea are repairing their relations that soured over Seouls deployment of a US anti-missile system.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is to visit China next month for talks with Mr Xi.

Mr Song is the first ministerial-level Chinese official to visit North Korea since October 2015, when Politburo Standing Committee member Liu Yunshan delivered a letter to Mr Kim from Mr Xi expressing hopes for a strong relationship, although the respite in frosty ties proved short-lived. Vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin visited Pyongyang in October last year.

Mr Song heads the Communist Partys International Department.

AP
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A father who ran through flames to rescue his two young sons said the "world will never be the same again" after his eldest boy's life support machine was turned off.

Nathan Perry, 24, was asleep at home in Weranga, a town in Queensland, Australia, when he woke to find smoke filling his house and his sons' room on fire, earlier this week.

Jeremy, three, and Blake, four, were pulled to safety by their father, who suffered burns to his face, legs and arms after he dived into the blaze.

Recommended Huge fire breaks out in New York apartment block

But despite doctors' best efforts, they were unable to save Blake and the decision was taken to turn off his life support machine.

I knew it was a fire straight away," Mr Perry told Nine News. "I guess I made a mistake by opening the door and letting the air in and that's when it went berserk.

I had to run through the flames and drag the children out. I did what I could. I feel like I failed with Blake because he didn't make it.

Jeremy, 3, and Blake, 4, were pulled to safety by their father (Nine News)

He added: "It was the scariest thing I have ever seen in my life. I don't even want to think about it. It's going to haunt me forever."

My little mate, he was my best friend. He was everything to me. I'm heartbroken. The world is never going to be the same again.

Tamika Frid, the children's mother, also spoke about the ordeal (Nine News)

Tamika Frid, the childrens mother, told the news channel: I wish everything was just a dream and we can just wake up and everything can be just better again.

She added: Always tell your kids you love them and give them as many hugs as you can because you don't know what will happen the next day.

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

Jeremy has suffered 90 per cent burns to his body and is fighting for his life in hospital in an induced coma.

Investigations are underway to determine what triggered the fire.
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Pacific Island nations could lose as much as 80 per cent of their fish by the end of the century, as climate change causes species to go extinct, a new study warned.

The region is "projected to become warmer, less oxygenated, more acidic, and have lower production of plankton that form the base of oceanic food webs," said lead author Rebecca Asch, an assistant professor at East Carolina University.

Together with other academics at the Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program - a global initiative which investigates sustainability in the world's oceans - she studied more than a thousand species to see how they were reacting to changes in the ocean.

She added: "We found that local extinction of marine species exceeded 50 per cent of current biodiversity levels across many regions and at times reached levels over 80 per cent."

The study was published in the Marine Policy journal.

The study's authors warned of the consequences of the extinction of so many fish, pointing out that Pacific Islanders rely on them for protein and economic opportunities. The ocean around them is already the warmest on earth.

This change is not inevitable "but instead depend(s) on the immediate actions of all countries to materialise their commitment to limit greenhouse gas emissions," said the study's co-author William Cheung, director of science at the Nereus Program.

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 findings come after Pope Francis met a delegation of Pacific leaders in the Vatican and told them he shares their concerns about rising sea levels and increasingly intense weather systems that are threatening their small islands.

While there are several causes at fault, the pontiff warned, "sadly, many of them are due to short-sighted human activity connected with certain ways of exploiting natural and human resources, the impact of which ultimately reaches the ocean bed itself."

Additional reporting by agencies.
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Police uncovered a huge haul of cocaine in the hull of a yacht in New South Wales, Australia, which they valued at 245 million.

The vessel contained 700kg of the Class A drug when it was intercepted at Toronto near Lake Macquarie, following a multi-agency investigation into drug trafficking by sea.

The force tweeted photos of the drug bust, commenting it wont be a white Christmas in NSW this year.

Three men have been arrested and charged with importing the drugs. They were refused bail at Newcastle Local Court.

Police arrested a 68-year-old man was arrested on board the vessel, while a 47-year-old man was arrested at a hotel. A 63-year-old man was arrested at a home nearby.

Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Neil Gaughan said the drug-filled vessel had passed through Tahiti in Hawaii, before making its way to Australia.

It is no surprise that criminal syndicates undertake sophisticated attempts that go to great lengths  even crossing oceans in relatively small craft  to import narcotics," he said.

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. 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This is nothing more than an attempt to flood our streets with dangerous narcotics to make a profit, with police, health professionals and the community picking up the bill for all the peripheral damage they will cause.

NSW Police Force state crime commander Mal Lanyon added: With every seizure we make, a syndicate is taken down, but the demand remains high, and another organised criminal syndicate is willing to flip the coin and risk it all to try and exploit that demand for profit,
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For a long time, it has seemed that the only person unsure he will run in the presidential elections next March is Vladimir Putin.

The people expect it, his opponents are sure of it, his entourage is convinced of it. But Russias President is delaying.

When Mr Putin chooses to run, he will win, and handsomely. The President remains popular with his base and possesses a well-oiled political machine that, as dependable as the rotation of the sun and the movements of the tide, will deliver a result between 60 per cent and 70 per cent in his favour.

But behind the scenes things are less predictable. From interviews with academics, government and near-government players, some anonymous, The Independent can reveal a picture of intense uncertainty at the heart of power.

It is a picture that shows the Presidents grip on the Kremlin to be as strong as ever  but only because it needs to be.

Vladimir Putin is, sources say, tired. And he is reluctant to engage in a major national election  again. The campaign will be reduced to a bare minimum; there will be no repeat of the exhausting test of the 2011-2012 elections, when Mr Putin declared his candidacy six months early.

His decision to swap jobs with Dmitry Medvedev provoked an unexpected wave of protest. By the time of election day, the result was not in question. But Mr Putin invested a lot in winning  emotionally and psychologically.

The absolute deadline for registration depends on whether Mr Putin runs as an independent or on a party platform. But most expect a declaration no earlier than mid-December.

A short campaign brings with it other benefits. It will offer a sense of drama to what otherwise promises to be a sterile contest. Likewise, opponents will also have the shortest time possible in which to challenge him.

The opposition, unable even to agree on a unity candidate, is of course unlikely to make a breakthrough. The controversial candidacy of TV personality Ksenia Sobchak has split the anti-Kremlin vote. Whether she will be allowed to participate is still, sources say, under discussion. The technocratic head of Putins administration, Sergei Kiriyenko believes her presence would add sparkle; others are less convinced.

 Nemtsov and Navalny opposition parties join forces against Putin in Russia

Authorities will also almost certainly bar leading Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny from registering his candidacy. Russias Election Commission says that an embezzlement conviction makes him ineligible  its a conviction that has been ruled provisionally unfair by the European Court of Human Rights.

Mr Navalny has surprised the Kremlin with his persistence this year. From declaring presidential ambitions in December, he has consistently outflanked the government. His YouTube expose of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedevs alleged corruption  which Mr Medvedev denies  was watched by tens of millions. His call to the streets in March saw the largest protests Russia has seen since 2012. Mr Navalny has captured the language of a new, young protest demographic; the Kremlin, to some extent, is still playing catch-up.

Mr Putins people believe the battle for Mr Navalnys youth will be won not on the streets, but on screens. There will be no repeat of Nashi-style pro-Kremlin mass youth movements of the past. Instead, insiders report a beefed-up internet department inside the presidential administration. There are expanded news-making desks thinking up sexy digital narratives  like Mr Putins demonstrative visit to Russias search engine giant Yandex. Other desks concentrate on using bots, trolls and other creatures of the Russian digital space to form a new, positive youth agenda.

The aim is clear and unambiguous: Mr Putin offers opportunity; he continues to be the future.

Squaring the digital narrative with the analogue reality of an ageing leader is where things get difficult. The recession may be over, but most Russians have experienced four years of declining real terms income. There has been a fundamental shift in public mood that, according to polls, favours change over stability.

The Kremlin has not been able to agree on a serious programme of reform in response, says Valery Solovei, a professor of the Moscow State Institute for International Relations. Indeed, the election offer has already been scaled back. Rather than projecting a confident future, the promise is now on improving productivity and efficiency.

There is a growing sense that this election is less about the future, as it is about the end, said Mr Solovei.

Gleb Pavlovsky, a former Kremlin advisor and head of the Effective Politics Foundation, told The Independent that the regime was entering a terminal phase. Whichever way you play it, this campaign is about transitioning to a post-Putin Russia, he said.

Already, a battle is under way over who will head government following the March elections. This, according to the constitution at least, is the second most important position in Russian politics.

In October, Bloomberg suggested the current Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, would become a necessary sacrifice. Bloodied by Mr Navalnys assault, the Prime Minister was considered a spent political force. Names such as the Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, head of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina and industry minister Denis Manturov were mentioned as possible replacements.

Monuments of Lenin 100 years after Russian Revolution Show all 16 1 /16 Monuments of Lenin 100 years after Russian Revolution Monuments of Lenin 100 years after Russian Revolution A damaged monument to Lenin lies at a private abandoned courtyard outside Tbilisi, Georgia REUTERS Monuments of Lenin 100 years after Russian Revolution A ruined ship with the hammer and sickle symbol lies on a salinated part of the Aral Sea coastline REUTERS Monuments of Lenin 100 years after Russian Revolution Lenin is seen on an abandoned building at the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the abandoned village of Orevichi REUTERS Monuments of Lenin 100 years after Russian Revolution A monument to the Soviet state founder stands at a park in the Siberian town of Uzhur REUTERS Monuments of Lenin 100 years after Russian Revolution A coat of arms of the Soviet Lithuania is seen at the Grutas Soviet heritage park in Druskinikai REUTERS Monuments of Lenin 100 years after Russian Revolution A monument to Lenin stands in a park in Yevpatoriya, Crimea REUTERS Monuments of Lenin 100 years after Russian Revolution Monuments of Lenin stand at the Museum of Social Realism in Frumushika Nova, Ukraine REUTERS Monuments of Lenin 100 years after Russian Revolution The Russian state flag flies in front of a monument to Lenin in Bakhchysarai REUTERS Monuments of Lenin 100 years after Russian Revolution A Soviet-era wall decoration is seen on a residential building in Yevpatoriya, Crimea REUTERS Monuments of Lenin 100 years after Russian Revolution The hand of a Lenin monument is seen in the settlement of Ordzhonikidze, near Feodosia REUTERS Monuments of Lenin 100 years after Russian Revolution A Soviet-era monument stands in Simferopol, Crimea REUTERS Monuments of Lenin 100 years after Russian Revolution Russian servicemen run-up a navy flag as they stand on deck of the cruiser Aurora in St Petersburg. The cruiser which fired the shot that announced the start of Russias 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, now serves as a museum REUTERS Monuments of Lenin 100 years after Russian Revolution A monument to Lenin stands in the settlement of Kovylnoye in the Razdolnensky district of Crimea REUTERS Monuments of Lenin 100 years after Russian Revolution The USSR coat of arms was found at the dome base of the Cosmos Pavilion behind false panels during restoration works Reuters Monuments of Lenin 100 years after Russian Revolution A nameplate with Vladimir Lenin on is seen on the wall of a house in the town of Vetka, Belarus REUTERS Monuments of Lenin 100 years after Russian Revolution A cobalt glass mosaic panel with a portrait of Lenin is seen at the Krasnoyarsk hydro-electric power station, second largest in Russia, located on the Yenisei River outside the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk REUTERS

But, say sources, the Prime Minister has recuperated psychologically since then and may well stay in position. The dismissal of Medvedev would need to be seen as a strong move, says political commentator Konstantin Gaaze. At the moment, it would not resolve much.

One high-level source told The Independent that Putin was likely to stay with what he knew best. The President was a conservative man when it came to appointments, and would try not to change things if he doesnt have to. Besides, if something looks obvious from the outside, it wont happen: Mr Putin likes the unexpected; and when he makes changes, he will confer with no one.

The sense of a man out on his own, trusting no one, was repeated several times in interviews. Mr Putin has not made his intentions clear even to his closest colleagues, said Mr Pavlovsky: Hes a tragic character, someone who is forced to organise his own special operation.

Mr Putins inner circle  not so much a cabinet, but a Tsarist court  is notoriously protective of their man. It does not want to let him go.

They need Putin much more than he needs them, says Mr Pavlovsky. The first day they are left without him, the questions will begin. Wheres the money come from? And who are they exactly?

Guarantees about what will happen come March have not been forthcoming from the President, says Mr Gaaze. This has created enormous tensions at the heart of government, he says: Even if Putin manages to delay announcing until December, you will see the beginning of a huge turf war, with compromising material being flung between various parts of the government; its already beginning, in fact.

 Theresa May: "I have a simple message for Russia: We know what you are doing. And you will not succeed."

Three separate sources told The Independent that Mr Putin apparently considered leaving the presidency in autumn last year. He instructed his administration to draw up possible scenarios for his exit.

One of the ideas was a snap presidential election in December. Other possibilities included constitutional reform  from instituting a new vice-presidential position to transferring executive power to a more collegiate body, akin to the Soviet Politburo. The plan was to steal a march on the expected hardline Russia policy that a Clinton presidency would have brought with it.

Donald Trumps unexpected victory changed the calculus somewhat. But more fundamentally, there was no obvious person to hand the baton to. One figure touted at the time was Alexei Dyumin, a career officer and currently governor of Tula Oblast. His main credentials for the job, one source said, were that Putin trusts him.

Others suggested Mr Dyumin was being used to sow unrest among the Tsars out-of-control boyars. Dyumin isnt from the inner circle, so his very appearance is frightening to them, said Mr Pavlovsky.

The competing groups are unlikely to agree on a successor. Vladimir Putin has carved out a unique role over nearly two decades, and sits at the top of a balanced, highly personalised system. His exit, when it comes, will be profound.

Recommended Russia vetoes UN chemical weapon resolutions in Syria for second time

There can be no second Putin. When the man goes, the system goes, says Mr Solovei. All the informal communications, the glue that holds things together, that will go too.

The appointment of inexperienced technocrats to governor positions nationwide could exacerbate the pressures, he says: Theres no money, so there may come a point where you cant resolve local problems, then the strikes start, then Moscow gets involved. Protest, mass actions  you cant predict any of this.

A majority of the interviewees suggested that Russia was on the verge of a major political crisis  the system has exhausted itself, and was teetering at the edge of an era.

The last time I felt like this was at the end of the Soviet Union, says Mr Solovei. And, worryingly, people who were around at the time are telling me they feel exactly the same.
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Russia vetoed a UN resolution that would have extended an investigation into the use of chemical weapons in Syria for the second time in 24 hours.

It is third time the country has blocked the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) - a joint investigative body by the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) - in a month.

Created in 2015, JIM is responsible for identifying who is responsible for chemical attacks in Syria.

The resolution was brought forward by Japan and would have extended JIM's mandate for 30 days. It was supported by 12 of the 15 council members with Bolivia joining Russia and China abstaining.

The veto also provides an indicator of the continuing decline of US and Russian relations as this is the first Russian veto on a US sponsored bill reflecting the deterioration in US and Russias relations.

Britain's UN Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told the council: "We will keep going, not only to bring justice to those who have suffered from the use of these despicable weapons, but also to deter those who might think of doing so in the future."

Russia claims that JIM is biased and has argued that major changes need to be made in order for it to continue while other countries remain adamant that JIMs independence is paramount.

Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Show all 12 1 /12 Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War A man crosses a street in Aleppo, December 12, 2009 Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War A vendor sits inside an antique shop in al-Jdeideh neighbourhood, in the Old City of Aleppo, December 12, 2009 Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War A view shows part of Aleppo's historic citadel, overlooking Aleppo city, Syria Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War A view shows part of Aleppo's historic citadel, Syria Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Visitors walk inside Aleppo's Umayyad mosque, Syria Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War People walk inside the Khan al-Shounah market, in the Old City of Aleppo, Syria Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War A man walks past shops in al-Jdeideh neighbourhood, in the Old City of Aleppo, Syria Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War People walk along an alley in al-Jdeideh neighbourhood, in the Old City of Aleppo, Syria Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Visitors tour Aleppo's historic citadel, Syria December 11, 2009 Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War A general view shows the Old City of Aleppo as seen from Aleppo's historic citadel, Syria December 11, 2009 Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War People walk near Aleppo's Bab al-Faraj Clock Tower, Syria October 6, 2010 Reuters Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War Aleppo before the Syrian Civil War A man stands inside Aleppo's historic citadel, overlooking Aleppo city, Syria December 11, 2009 Reuters

Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia retorted that the JIM for two years "has rubber-stamped baseless accusations against Syria," stressing that the failure to eradicate its "fundamental flaws" brought about its downfall.

He added: "What is taking place here is akin to a bad theatre production."

US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the council after the vote the veto "shows us that Russia has no interest in finding common ground with the rest of this council to save the JIM."

She added: "Russia will not agree to any mechanism that might shine a spotlight on the use of chemical weapons by its ally, the Syrian regime," she said. "It's as simple and sinful as that."
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Twitter has announced it will be monitoring its users behaviour on and off the social media platform, in a bid to tackle hate speech.

Anyone affiliated with extremist organisations will be suspended according to the new policy, which will come into force on 18 December.

The new rules state: You also may not affiliate with organisations that - whether by their own statements or activity both on and off the platform - use or promote violence against civilians to further their causes.

Twitter users will also be banned from using hateful images or symbols in their profile images of headers.

You also may not use your username, display name, or profile bio to engage in abusive behaviour, such as targeted harassment or expressing hate towards a person, group, or protected category, the rules state.

You may not engage in the targeted harassment of someone, or incite other people to do so. We consider abusive behaviour an attempt to harass, intimidate, or silence someone elses voice.

You may not direct abuse at someone by sending unwanted sexual content, objectifying them in a sexually explicit manner, or otherwise engaging in sexual misconduct.

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

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British Airways passengers paying the lowest fares on European flights will be kept back at the departure gate until everyone else has boarded the plane.

On 12 December, the carrier will introduce a group boarding system on all its flights.

When the passenger checks in, whether online or at the airport, they will be assigned a group numbered between one and five. This number will then be displayed prominently on the boarding pass, printed or mobile, says British Airways in an internal newsletter.

The lower the number, the earlier the passenger will be allowed to board. The highest priority will be assigned to Gold members of the British Airways Executive Club, as well as First Class passengers on long-haul flights and short-haul travellers on BAs business class, Club Europe.

Next are Silver members and Club World passengers on long-haul flights.

Group three will comprise Bronze Executive Club members and passengers in World Traveller Plus, BAs premium economy.

Economy passengers with no special status will be in group 4, with group 5 on European flights comprising those travelling on the cheapest, hand-baggage only fares. These fares were introduced in 2013 as BA sought to compete with easyJet.

Passengers with mobility issues or who are travelling with young children will still be able to board ahead of everyone else. Travellers who have frequent-flyer status with BAs Oneworld alliance partners will also get priority.

In its internal document, British Airways says: This method has been used all around the world by many airlines and aligns BA with partners American Airlines and Iberia.

Group boarding simplifies the process, making it easier for customers to understand the boarding sequence at the gate.

The move follows the introduction of basic economy on US airlines as they seek to compete with low-cost carriers.

A spokesperson for British Airways said: We are always looking at ways to improve the airport experience for our customers. Earlier this year we were the first UK airline to introduce automated biometric technology, with the launch of self-service boarding gates, and we also installed self-service bag drop points at Heathrow and Gatwick giving our customers an even quicker check-in experience.

Next month we are looking at introducing new boarding procedures to further improve the customer journey by creating a number of groups to speed up the process. This method has been used by airlines around the world for a number of years, including by our partners American Airlines, Iberia and Qatar.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters

One BA passenger who is a member of the lowest Executive Club tier, Blue, said: In a society which were trying to make more equal, British Airways is doing the opposite. Its very Kardashian, being ostentatious about wealth and status. Everyone will know how much money youve got based on where you are in the line.

And in practical terms, the very people who need to board first are those in economy travelling with hand baggage only, so it could delay departures, she said.

Ben Schlappig, who writes the One Mile At A Time frequent-flyer blog, said of the BA move: Ultimately the success of such a system largely comes down to the clarity of announcements and the enforcement of the boarding area.

The way I see it this would definitely simplify things, so Id welcome it.

But one response to his post questioned BAs move to align with its sister airline, Iberia: My first and hopefully last experience with Iberias zoned boarding was lining up all of the zones and then releasing them all at the same time Mad Max-style to fight to get on the plane, wrote Ocop.

And on FlyerTalk, Karfa proposes their own boarding system: 1. Me. 2. Everyone else.
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Its winter, the days are short but Washington DC is ablaze with a brand new sex scandal reaching the highest levels of the Democratic Party. The rest of the world watches in bafflement. Look at the United States, founded by the Puritans from England, once again getting itself all in a lather about matters of the flesh. When will the country ever grow up?

This could be now. Democrats are indeed in a spin thanks to allegations made by a radio personality in Los Angeles that she was sexually abused while on a tour entertaining troops overseas in 2006 by Al Franken. He was a comedian then, but now, in his second term as a senator from Minnesota, he has become one of the partys most effective policy cheerleaders.

But I am talking about twenty years ago when then President Bill Clinton was confronting allegations that he had once conducted a sexual relationship with a 22-year-old former intern in the White House named Monica Lewinsky and lying about it under oath. He eventually got impeached for it by the House of Representatives but survived an ensuing trial in the US Senate.

The Lewinsky uproar was widely seen abroad as further evidence that America was still altogether too queasy about sex. We in the media do love an easy stereotype. A God-fearing and moralising nation that still hadnt shaken its puritan heritage. Foreign commentators  so much more sophisticated, of course  doused America in a torrent of mocking condescension.

Wanting to know everything about a man is an essentially totalitarian practice, declared an editorial at the time in the French daily Sud-Ouest. It is this puritan tyranny which sometimes imbues the beautiful American democracy with an unfortunate resemblance to police states.

Well, the country has grown up, but not in the way those who tut-tutted the investigators of Clinton, notably independent counsel Kenneth Starr, back then would have imagined. Never have attitudes changed more rapidly, of course, than in the past few weeks as women have come forward, one after another, publicly to accuse men, often men in power, of having sexually abused or humiliated them. First to face such allegations was Harvey Weinstein, then came Louis CK, and then Kevin Spacey. Now its Senator Franken and, in Alabama, Senate candidate, Roy Moore.

Looking back from the perspective of today, its clear that America did not overreact to the carnal sins of Clinton. The Democrat hierarchy, in the US Senate in particular, successfully circled the wagons around him. Protecting Bill and keeping the White House in Democrat control was their first and only concern. Tremendous energies have been expended over the years since, to polish away the smudges on Clintons reputation. His presidency was one of prosperity and global calm, remember. What scandals?

 Democratic Senator Al Franken: We don't know what the Russians have over Trump

The message to women was clear: if youve been groped, mauled or worse by a man, especially those with money and position, youd be better off not speaking about it, because they will win in the end  an unfortunate message indeed for any political organisation to deliver and certainly for Democrats who fancy themselves the defenders of fairness and social enlightenment.

Both parties in America must now examine their consciences. The allegations by multiple women against Moore in Alabama, mostly concerning unwanted advances on them when they were in their teens and he in his thirties, has split the Republican Party in two, as leaders in Washington DC demand he withdraw from the special US Senate race set for mid-December while he and leaders of the party in Alabama itself are telling them to drop dead.

Last year, Republicans squirmed as a leaked videotape showed their candidate for president, Donald Trump, precisely boasting how his celebrity status made preying on women so easy. I dont even wait, he said. And when youre a star, they let you do it, you can do anything... grab them by the pussy. Party leaders expressed their horror, but that was it. Trump wasnt forced to withdraw; his campaign rolled on to victory regardless.

The Lewinsky Scandal In Pictures Show all 13 1 /13 The Lewinsky Scandal In Pictures The Lewinsky Scandal In Pictures Holding hands at Christmas: Monica Lewinsky in 1997. The Lewinsky Scandal In Pictures Greeting guests: Monica Lewinsky in 1997. The Lewinsky Scandal In Pictures Lewinsky attends a White House function with Clinton in 1997. The Lewinsky Scandal In Pictures The now infamous blue dress, among other gifts given to Lewinsky by Clinton that would be used as evidence in his impeachment trial. The Lewinsky Scandal In Pictures Lewinsky leaves court on 20 August, 1998, after testifying before a grand jury investigating Clinton. The Lewinsky Scandal In Pictures A handwritten note to Clinton by Lewinsky that would be later counted on as evidence in his 21-day Senate trial. The Lewinsky Scandal In Pictures Marcia Lewis, the mother of Monica Lewinsky, prepares to meet reporters on February 10, 1998, outside of the US District Courthouse in Washington. The Lewinsky Scandal In Pictures Another note from Lewinksy to Clinton, also used as evidence in his trial. The Lewinsky Scandal In Pictures Clinton's lawyer, Robert Bennett, addresses the press outside the courtroom on March 5, 1998. The Lewinsky Scandal In Pictures Lewinsky is escorted by police officers, federal investigators and her attorney, William Ginsburg, as she leaves the Federal Building May 28, 1998. The Lewinsky Scandal In Pictures The impeachment hearing in progress in November 1998. The Lewinsky Scandal In Pictures Clinton apologises to the nation for lying to them over his affair with Monica Lewinsky in December 1998 The Lewinsky Scandal In Pictures Monica Lewinsky escorted to her hotel in New York, ahead of her video taped deposition to Republican prosecutors.

Democrats now have their own crisis in the form of Franken. He has admitted to the allegations leveled against him. There is photographic evidence of some of it, specifically his posing with his hands on the breasts of the accuser while she slept on a military plane between appearances on their troop-entertainment tour. But now the party is also being asked to rethink how it responded two full decades ago to Clinton and Lewinsky.

It should. In spite of all the years of reputation repair, the scandal actually hasnt been forgotten by many Americans. When I tried last year to understand why so many Trump supporters  including female supporters  seemed willing to discount what hed said on the tapes, the answer I got repeatedly was this: Trump was just talking about doing bad stuff to women. Clinton actually did it. And he did it in the Oval Office.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat, began the process, asserting last week that Clinton should have stepped down. I think that is the appropriate response, she said, a startling comment from the holder of the US Senate from New York that was previously Hillary Clintons. In 1998 it would have been unthinkable for someone as prominent in the Presidents own party to have said such a thing.

But, as Gillibrand herself, went on to comment, things have changed today. Indeed they have. The country has done some growing up, especially since the first Weinstein revelations broke in October. But growing up has not meant taking matters of sexual impropriety and abuse less seriously. It has meant taking them more seriously.
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Next weeks Budget is seen by many Conservative MPs as the May Governments last chance to set out a coherent vision and mission statement. No pressure on Philip Hammond then, even though he has little money to play with and no Commons majority to force through bold measures that prove controversial.

So the MPs demanding a more radical approach from the man they call Fiscal Phil will probably be disappointed. There will be no easy escape from the public crisis of confidence the Tories have suffered since the June election.

They are having an identity crisis too: their MPs wonder what their party is for now that voters have turned against austerity and capitalism, and the tide of ideas flows in Jeremy Corbyns direction. Some whisper that the Tories might even need a spell in opposition to renew themselves.

Renewal is always harder in government. There is a vacuum in Downing Street, where the dark cloud of Brexit eclipses domestic policy initiatives. Although housing will be the Budgets centrepiece, the Chancellor admits there is no silver bullet. Other big issues  student funding, social care, the ticking demographic timebomb, technological change  disappear into the long grass. A paralysed government devotes what energy it has to crisis management and staying alive.

The lack of fresh thinking at the top has persuaded a new generation of Tory MPs to take matters into their own hands by launching a do-it-yourself policy review. The battle of ideas has been joined by right-leaning think tanks. The aim is to reinvent conservatism for a new age  a recognition that aping Labour will not work, as the public will vote for the real thing.

 Hammond: Money spent on a no deal Brexit is money "we cant spend on the NHS or social care"

In such a rudderless party, it might be a good idea to send for a Rudd. Amber Rudd has joined forces with the Centre for Policy Studies, co-founded by Margaret Thatcher in 1974, in a New Generation project to showcase ideas from Tory MPs first elected in 2015 and 2017.

The Home Secretary told its first event this week that the party needs to change the principles and ideas that make us Conservative to fit the modern challenges we face. This intriguing alliance between the pro-European, moderate Rudd and the keepers of the Thatcherite flame might serve her well in a future Tory leadership contest.

Nick Boles, who co-founded the Policy Exchange think tank before becoming an MP, is asking the newbie Tories to contribute ideas to his book Square Deal, which will call for investment instead of austerity and curbs on the excesses of business. He favours a ring-fenced health and care tax based on national insurance.

George Freeman, who chairs the Conservative Policy Forum, staged a Big Tent Ideas Festival which was inevitably mocked as a Tory Glastonbury but his party needs plain speakers like him who recognise the need for fresh thinking. This week he warned bluntly that the UK could become an old peoples home that cant pay for itself after a bad Brexit, and in a letter to May, he cautioned that the Tories risk being defined as a narrow party of nostalgia, hard Brexit, public sector austerity and lazy privilege and need to move fast to win the new battle of ideas which is reshaping 21st century politics. His Capital Ideas Foundation will look at housing, tuition fees, opening up utility markets to new entrants and technology to empower consumers and give millennials a stake in the capitalist system.

The new MP for the previous Labour bastion of Mansfield, Ben Bradley, has set up a group of 19 Tories who aim to appeal to young voters. He said after lobbying Hammond and Downing Street: Austerity is grating on people and I think we need to move on from that. You can cut too far and I feel like now we need to start to invest again.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 16 November 2022 Emma Woolf, great niece of British author Virginia Woolf, and her son Ludovic sit next to a new bronze statue of Woolf, unveiled in Richmond, London Reuters UK news in pictures 15 November 2022 Lesley Sutcliffe shelters from the rain next to a life-sized replica of the innermost coffin of King Tutankhamun by artist Amanda Stoner as it goes on display inside a traditional red telephone box which has been converted into a museum, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire PA 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

Another bright spark, Neil OBrien, a former aide to Theresa May and George Osborne, will launch an outreach programme in the new year to generate big policy answers to new challenges such as the internet giants, artificial intelligence and the pressure on wages created by technological change and globalisation. He believes the Tories must extend their appeal to both the working class left behind and young, racially diverse metropolitans who are socially liberal.

This hive of activity, which is hardly a vote of confidence in May, has so far been strong on analysis and weak on policy solutions. But it is early days and at least the Young Tory Turks are thinking about the post-Brexit era. They know that attacking socialism as a thing of the past did not work in June, since it seemed new to younger voters. They recognise that elections are a battle about the future not the past. Time may yet be on their side, as the Tories will do everything they can to avoid another election until 2022.

It might be the case that an unstoppable sea change is already under way and will carry Corbyn to Downing Street. But Labour cannot take for granted that a manifesto which won broad appeal in 2017 will prove as popular in 2022. Labour, too, will need to come up with fresh ideas to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.
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Last week, while 22,000 people were tracking in slow motion every move of Priti Patels return flight from Kenya to resign, I joined Rohingya refugees at the Kutupalong Camp near Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, to see the scale of the crisis first hand, hear directly from those affected, and understand the reality on the ground.

The situation is hard to convey in words. The International Organisation for Migration estimates that 823,805 Rohingya people now need urgent support. Some 611,000 have crossed into Bangladesh from Myanmar since the end of August  a mass exodus that represents one of the largest population movements in living memory, anywhere. It is, as the UN Refugee Agency told me, like establishing a city the size of Manchester overnight  but one with no infrastructure, housing, water, sanitation or tools for survival.

The numbers are frightening. But it is the details that are most devastating. The recently reopened school I visited, supposed to be a rare source of hope, falls short of demand, meaning children can learn only in shifts. Two whole families, who I saw on the way out, live together under a single piece of tarpaulin. I met a community leader who was born in the same camp a generation ago  living his entire life without a permanent home.

There was the 25-year-old man I met who, more than anything, wants citizenship, residency, and the chance to make a new life; the long queues everywhere for food, shelter, and clothing packages; the sea of makeshift shelters, stretching as far as the eye can see. It was simply heart-wrenching.

 Rohingya crisis: Muslim village burnt to the ground

But amid the desperation, there is also hope. The response of the humanitarian community and the care shown by aid workers on the front line stands in stark contrast to the Rohingyas traumatic experience at the hands of the military in Myanmar.

Aid workers rarely seek recognition, but their incredible efforts in these hardest of circumstances must be truly celebrated. There was real hope too in the agency, energy, and resilience of the Rohingya refugees I met, all of whom had fought hard for their own survival, and won.

Recommended What one volunteer witnessed from the frontline of the Rohingya crisis

There is much that needs to happen. In the camp itself, more physical space is urgently needed as the humanitarian operation enters the next phase. Bangladesh, Myanmar and the international community must quickly work for a solution to give the Rohingya the full citizenship they deserve.

Like Jordan or Uganda, the country of Bangladesh has taken in close to a million refugees in a short period of time, putting incredible stress on its limited resources. If Bangladesh is to deliver a progressive refugee policy under such strain, the international community must step up its support. The UK must play its part, by continuing to pledge generously and building international political will.

Rohingya refugees  in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Rohingya refugees  in pictures Rohingya refugees  in pictures A young girl and a baby wade through mud after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh from Burma on 10 September Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees  in pictures Rohingya refugees walk through a camp in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh after arriving from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees  in pictures A young Rohingya refugee gathers firewood after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees  in pictures Rohingya refugees wait for sacks of rice to be distributed in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees  in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees arrive on a boat in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh after crossing from Burma on 8 September Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees  in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees react after being re-united with each other after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh on a boat from Burma Getty Rohingya refugees  in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees walk along the remains of a road after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh on a boat from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees  in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees wade through water after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh by boat from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees  in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees wade through water after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh by boat from Myanmar Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees  in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees stand in the rain after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh by boat from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees  in pictures Indian children hold placards and shout slogans during a protest against the alleged persecution of the Rohingya Muslims in Burma EPA/Raminder Pal Singh Rohingya refugees  in pictures Supporters of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC), an Islamic organisation, listen to their leaders' speeches against Burma's persecution of Rohingya Muslims, during a demonstration in Karachi Reuters/Akhtar Soomro Rohingya refugees  in pictures Hundreds of Iranians take part in a protest against violence in Myanmar after weekly Friday prayers, in Tehran EPA/Abedin Taherkenareh Rohingya refugees  in pictures Indonesian Muslim activists hold placards and shout slogans during a protest against the alleged persecution of the Rohingya minority in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia EPA/Ali Lutfi Rohingya refugees  in pictures Members of an Islamic organisation shout slogans against the Burma government during a protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh EPA

There will be no quick or easy solutions. But the UK  with a very significant footprint in Bangladesh through the Department for International Development  has a key role to play in navigating the complex solutions that are needed over the coming weeks.

To do that, parliamentarians, the media and the new Secretary of State for International Development all need to keep our eye firmly on the ball in Bangladesh, rather than on Patels self-inflicted distraction in Whitehall. It is time for the spotlight to shine not on the disgraced politician, but on the Rohingya crisis.

Roberta Blackman-Woods is a Labour MP for the City of Durham and Shadow Minister for International Development
The Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Adama Iyayi-Lamikanra, has granted pardon to 76 inmates, due to prison congestion.

The beneficiaries of the judicial pardon included inmates at Degema prisons in Degema Local Government Area and Port Harcourt Maximum Security Prisons.

The 76 persons, who were released by the Chief Justice during a visit to the two rehabilitation facilities, were on awaiting trial for several alleged crimes they had committed within the state.

Southern City News gathered that the inmates had been on awaiting trial and have spent 10 years and above in the prison custody without being properly charged to court.

Some have not been formally charged to court by the Director of Public Prosecution and have stayed three years and above in the prison custody.

Others are under-aged inmates, those who were under serious health condition and those that committed minor offences and have overstayed their punishment if convicted by the court.

Iyayi-Lamikanra, while presiding over a special court session at the Degema prisons had granted pardon to 21 inmates and discharged 55 inmates at the Port Harcourt Maximum Prison on Thursday.

He had made reference to the Rivers State Administrative Criminal Justice Law of 2015, which empowered the CJ of the state to discharge and acquit prisoners awaiting trial.

The Chief Justice, who said that the exercise was meant to hold quarterly or annually, regretted that for over ten years such exercise had not been carried out, adding that the prisons were over crowded.

She said advised the beneficiaries to appreciate their freedom by abstaining from crime and acts that would bring them back to the prison.

Meanwhile, the State Comptroller of Prison, Mr. Amaliri Ifeanyi, had earlier told the court that the prison was over congested, accommodating over 4167 inmates.

Commending the CJ for the move to decongest the prisons, Ifeanyi said, The reduction of inmates from the prisons will make the prison be calm, stable and inmates will never breakout of the prison.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper)
Openly gay Bisi Alimi, has come for comedians Bovi and Akpororo over their sick homophobic jokes during a comedy show.

Bovi was called out on social media today for using his kids as subjects during a homophobic joke, a joke that did not sit well with many in and outside the country, with one of them being Nigerian gay rights activist, Bisi Alimi.

Bisi, took to IG to share a video of himself slamming the comedians captioning his video;

So the so called @officialbovi (I actually cant find anything official about him) and sad face Akpororo have a video making round of their comedy. I had to put comedy in quote because to be honest the video I saw of them is of a tragedy. It is so bad and sad the audience forgot to laugh and if these people have comedy on their cv I think its time they look for another job. These two sad souls uses death and hyper sexualisation to drive home their bigotry and hatred of LGBT people. If you think being a bully is cool and funny, I wish you get bully. And Akpororo, wishing anal cancer on people is the lowest you can go. I hope you remember that at the centre of your jokes are human beings like you, it is so sad you hate yourself so much to hate other people. And Bovi, sexualising your kids and forcing them to say pussy and dick is not funny, it is actually an act of abuse. It is lame, stupid and sad. I am happy to help you guys write better comedy next time.

Source: Naijaloaded
It is a happy moment for the Imo State Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere and his wife following the birth of their newborn baby girl.

The Deputy Governor of Imo State, Prince Eze Madumere has shared his joy after welcoming a bouncing baby girl with his beautiful wife Princess Chioma Rosemary Madumere. The baby girl has been named Princess Oluebubechukwueze Zinachidi Madumere.

Writing on Facebook, Madumere wrote: BEHOLD! OUR LITTLE ANGEL IS HERE

My lovely wife, Princess Chioma Rosemary Madumere was delivered of an angel, a bundle of joy  a lovely baby girl named Princess Oluebubechukwueze Zinachidi Madumere.

I chose to to christen her Oluebubechukwueze (meaning the miraculous work of God the King) and Zinachidi (meaning show the world that there is God), because she is special and couldnt have come at any other better time than now. Her coming has brought unquantifiable joy in my heart and to my family.

For my Princess, she deserved all the commendation for drawing strength from The Lord Jesus and for her bravery to go through the pains of labour. I love you even much more.

Friends, share with us in this unfathomable joy that can only come from The Lord Jesus Christ.
An official of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has been nabbed by men of the Nigeria Police Force after being found with counterfeit election materials.

An INEC official was arrested for possessing fake ballot pappers and photocopied result sheets according to reports available on social media.

The INEC team in charge of Awa ward was escorted to the Ajali police station due to some incriminating materials found in the possession of an electoral official.

The report is still developing.
Worlds first human head transplant is successfully carried out on a corpse and now all he needs to do is try it on a live person.

The worlds first human head transplant has been carried out on a corpse in China, according to Italian professor Sergio Canavero, Dailymail reports.

During an 18-hour operation, experts demonstrated that it is possible to successfully reconnect the spine, nerves and blood vessels of a severed head.

A similar operation on a live human will take place imminently, the controversial professor claims.

Professor Canavero, director of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group, made the announcement at a press conference in Vienna this morning.

The procedure was carried out by a team led by Dr Xiaoping Ren, who last year grafted a head onto the body of a monkey.

A full report of the Harbin Medical University teams procedure and a timeframe for the live transplant are expected within the next few days.

Speaking at the press conference, Professor Canavero said: For too long nature has dictated her rules to us.

Were born, we grow, we age and we die. For millions of years humans has evolved and 110 billion humans have died in the process.

Thats genocide on a mass scale.

We have entered an age where we will take our destiny back in our hands.

It will change everything. It will change you at every level.

The first human head transplant, in the human mode, has been realised.

The surgery lasted 18 hours. The paper will be released in a few days.

Everyone said it was impossible, but the surgery was successful.

Professor Canavero added that the teams next step is to perform a full head swap between brain dead organ donors.

And that is the final step for the formal head transplant for a medical condition which is imminent, he said

It will be for a medical, neurological condition, not for life-extension.

Asked whether the eventual plans for live procedures would go worldwide after initial tests in China, Professor Canavero said: Given the amount of mean criticism we recieved I dont think we should go international.

This is a medical condition for people who are suffering awfully so it isnt a joke.

Response from the medical community to news of the procedure has been wholly critical.

Many professionals have branded the experiment as having negligible scientific or medical and have questioned Professor Canaveros ethics.

Dr James Fildes, NHS principal research scientist at the University Hospital of South Manchesters Transplant Centre, said: Unless Canavero or Ren provide real evidence that they can perform a head, or more appropriately, a whole body transplant on a large animal that recovers sufficient function to improve quality of life, this entire project is morally wrong.
Economic hardship in Kwara State, Nigeria has been forcing people to take their own lives with a former lecturer at the state university towing that line.

A former lecturer with the Kwara State University, Malete, Dr. Oluremi Osunlola, has reportedly committed suicide.

A correspondent in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital gathered on Friday that the late Osunlola was a Lecturer 1 in the Department of Crop Production, College of Agriculture of the institution.

It was gathered that his wife had died about three months ago. It was further gathered that KWASU management had written to notify him of his conversion from his full time appointment to a contract appointment.

Sources said after the conversion, the deceased started exhibiting strange behaviour. They also said an unnamed colleague of his even pledged to offer him another job at Landmark University, Omu-Aran.

Osunlola was said to have refused to submit his resume to his colleague who was willing to assist him get a new job. The development, it was learnt, made some people to suspect why he rejected the assistance, while insinuation was rife that his doctorate certificate may not be genuine.

Sources said Osunlola was depressed after getting his full time appointment converted to a contract status.

He was said to have been taken by one of his friends to an unnamed cleric who counselled him. The sources added that after the counseling, his friend escorted him to his family at their residence in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

His family, it was learnt, was surprised when he was still locked up in his room long after daybreak. The worried family members were said to have forced the door open after knocking repeatedly without any response. They were shocked to notice that he had committed suicide. The family members were said to have been devastated over the tragedy.

The Director, Public Relations, KWASU, Dr. Isiaka Aliagan confirmed Osunlolas death.

He said, The Management of KWASU, Malete, would like to clarify that the late Dr. Oluremi Solomon Osunlola, was a Lecturer 1 in the Department of Crop Production, College of Agriculture. He joined the services of the institution on a full-time appointment in 2010.

However, during staff verification, it was discovered that the late Osunlola had already retired from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Kwara Office, before taking up a full-time appointment with KWASU.

Despite the fact that the deceased violated the rule of his engagement, the university, in August, 2017, converted his appointment to contract, on compassionate grounds. This is all we can say about the late Osunlola.

It could be recalled that a hunter in Idera community in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, identified simply as Lanre had reportedly shot himself to death less than a month ago.

Also a driver, Mr. Biodun Bashir, popularly called Legal, and who was said to be a staff of Universal Basic Education Commission at Oyun Local Government in Kwara State, had on October 28, also committed suicide.
A US-based Nigerian businessman was dazed in Lagos, when land agents led him to the lagoon after the part-payment for 150 plots offered for N787.5 million.

Kennedy Chukwuemeka Nwabuoku told detectives led by DCP Abutu Yaro, at the Force Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Department (FCIID), Alagbon, how he had paid N577, 590, 792 in installments among other charges, plus another N18million for bush clearing in February, and how the agents were sending him pictures and videos of caterpillars in action at the purported site at Ifedele Agunbiade Village, Sangotedo, in Eti-Osa area of Lagos.

Nwabuoku told the police that he bought the unseen land with a foreign partner and had paid in fiduciary trust, sending monies on different occasions through his company, KenBouk Global Investment Ltd.

Identified as Emeka Okoronkwo and Michael Owolabi Alonge, the agents, according to Nwabuoku, had offered the land for sale at N5, 250, 000 per plot with Certificate of Occupancy (C of O).

NewsmakersNG learnt that members of Nwabuokus family in Nigeria who wanted to see the site were told that the land was in an area bought by prominent Nigerians like former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Oba Riliwanu Akiolu, and it was cordoned off so that ordinary citizens could not gain access.

When he became suspicious, Nwabuoku sent the C of O to a friend to verify, and the friend found that no such land or location described in the document existed.

He decided to visit Nigeria and inspect the land for which he had paid the property agent, Okoronkwo, who was identified as owner of Kings Court Realtors at Plot 321A, Akin Ogunlewe Street, Victoria Island.

When he was quizzed by the police on November 8, 2017, Okoronkwo allegedly admitted that he collected N603, 000, 000 for 100 plots, agency fees and legal fees through transfers to Kings Court Realtors accounts in two banks.

Detectives found that Nwabuoku transferred the monies in the following order over a period: N229, 000, 000, N86, 000, 000, N120, 000, 000, N41, 300, 000, N11, 291, 000, and N90, 000, 000.

They also found that the C of O given to Nwabuoku is a fake one, and that Alonge who introduced him to Okoronkwo masterminded the fraud.

According to the detectives, fictitious persons were listed in the Deed of Assignment that the suspected fraudsters also gave to Nwabuoku.

When Nwabuoku arrived and insisted he must see the site before further payments, Alonge allegedly took him to a location far inside a wooded area that led to the lagoon with canoes going back and forth.

Mr Michael Owolabi Alonge started pointing around and towards the lagoon, as if he was not sure where the land is anymore, Nwabuoku stated in his petition to the police.

When Nwabuoku, who had been given no receipt, asked for a refund, he said that the suspects had threatened to kill him if he fails to keep quiet on the transaction.

Detectives have completed their investigation and the matter has been charged to court with Sgt Morufu Animashaun as police lawyer.

NewsmakersNG learnt that Alonge is on the run.

There was an arrest warrant for Okoronkwo who allegedly received the payments, and he will appear in court on December 5.

The case is pending before Chief Magistrate (Mrs) Abimbola Komolafe of Magistrate Court 3, Igbosere, in Lagos.

Culled from NewsmakersNG
The camp of former President Goodluck Jonathan has hit back at the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, after he alleged that there was grand corruption during the immediate past administration.

Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, had on Thursday attacked the former PDP government at a book presentation held at the State House Conference Center, Abuja, accusing the former President of having institutionalized corruption during his administration.

He further stressed that the Jonathan administration won gold medal in corruption and that if the administration had remained in power, Boko Haram would have taken more territory and devoured more people, while the nation would surely have been divided.

So much money grew feet and ran away faster than Usain Bolt ever could. That which could have been spent on national development was squandered in ways that would cause the devil to blush. One minister and her rogues gallery picked the pocket of this nation for billions of dollars. While poor at governance, these people could give a master thief lessons in the sleight of hand. In governance, they earned a red card but in corruption, they won the gold medal, he had said.

However, Jonathans former special assistant on New Media, Reno Omokri, disagreed with the APC national leader, recalling that Jonathan received good ratings on anti-corruption from renowned internal bodies.

In a statement, he said Nigeria moved from 144 to 136 in Transparency Internationals annual Corruption Perception Index In 2014 under the Jonathan administration.

The statement read; It is a fact that Nigeria made her most improvement in Transparency Internationals annual Corruption Perception Index In 2014 under President Jonathan when we moved from 144 to 136 representing an improvement of 8 points. Transparency International observed the Jonathan administrations fight against the corruption in Nigerias fertilizer procurement regime, the use of technology to remove 50,000 Federal ghost workers and the speed at which the then President fired ministers accused of corruption or conflict of interests. From that time till today, Nigeria has not made any improvements and has remained at 136 where Jonathan left us because Transparency International deals with facts, not opinions or media trial. Other than media sensationalism, there have been no convictions of financial misappropriation stemming from the Jonathan era. However, we do know that it is a fact that the allegedly corrupt pension thief, Abdulrasheed Maina, was dismissed and declared wanted by the Jonathan administration. We also now know that it is a fact that the present Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, met with Maina in Dubai. We know that Mainas family revealed in a press conference that Maina was invited back to Nigeria by the present government. It is also a fact that Maina was recalled, reinstated and given double promotion by the current administration. Moreover, we know from the Head of Services leaked memo that President Muhammadu Buhari was aware of this entire saga. Perhaps Asiwaju Bola Tinubu mistook the Usain Bolt speed at which Maina was smuggled back into the country and reinstated for the unproven claims of corruption under Jonathan. We also know that it is a fact that $25 billion worth of contracts were awarded at the NNPC without due process. It is also a fact that this is the highest ever such amount involved in Nigerias history. Again, perhaps it is this amount that Tinubu meant when he said So much money grew feet and ran away faster than Usain Bolt ever could. Or perhaps he was referring to Babachir Lawal. Nigerians should note that on the 7th of March 2014, then President Jonathan said I am loyal to Nigerias economy. I dont have accounts or property abroad. Till date, nobody has been able to contradict that statement because it is true. Can Bola Tinubu or anybody in the APC leadership make a similar claim? On the issue of Boko Haram and terrorism, it is a fact that there is only one global body recognized to monitor terrorism and that is the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) which releases the annual Global Terrorism Index. It is a fact that between 2013 and 2014, Nigeria under President Jonathan was unfortunately listed as the fourth most terrorized nation in the world. However, in the latest Global Terrorism Index released yesterday (November 15, 2017) by the Institute for Economics and Peace, Nigeria has deteriorated from where Jonathan left it and is now the third most terrorized nation. In 2015, President Jonathan ensured that elections held in every local government in Borno states, but last month, the United Nations declared that they could no longer operate in certain local governments of Borno state. So who is fooling who? So if according to Transparency International, Nigeria was less corrupt under Jonathan than it is today and according to the Institute for Economics and Peace, Nigeria is more terrorized today than it was under Jonathan, it becomes clear that Bola Tinubu has no factual basis to make the claims he made

Source  360nobs
A journalist who was working with the Anambra Broadcasting Service, identified as Mr. Ikechukwu Onubogu, was found dead in his home town, Obosi in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, four days after he was declared missing.

The cause of his death was unknown as of the time of filing the report on Friday, Southern City News gathered that the late Onubogu, a cameraman, who was at home with his wife, was said to have received a phone call in the afternoon of November 12 to cover an event.

A source, who pleaded anonymity, said the deceased, after answering the call, took his camera and left his home, near Aroma Junction in Awka but never returned.

His remains had been deposited at the Amaku Teaching Hospital in Awka.

The deceaseds remains were reportedly discovered by men of the Nigerian Police Force at Obosi, near Onitsha.

In a statement on Friday, the Managing Director of ABS, Mr. Uche Nworah, described the late Onubogu as a peace loving man that you would never expect that anybody would want to harm him.

Nworah said, The horrific death of our beloved and hardworking staff, Onuhogu, has thrown the entire ABS family into mourning.

He was dedicated to his job and would do anything to capture images that will help viewers to make meaning of every developing story.

We will sorely miss him. We cannot speculate at this time the circumstances leading to his death as the police is already working hard to unravel what happened. Our thoughts remain with his family, particularly his wife, who recently gave birth.

The ABS MD said Onubogus death was a reminder of the dangers journalists face in Africa, in the course of discharging this professional responsibilities.

The managing director urged friends, colleagues and associates of the late Onubogu to remember the family in their prayers in this difficult time.

Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Nkeiru Nwode, while commiserating with the family, assured the public that the police would uncover Onobogus killers.

Nwode said, The police have commenced investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death; we assure the public that no stone would be left unturned, until the perpetrators are brought to justice.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
Two months after shading Nigerian musicians on a Capital Xtra interview, Mr Eazi releases his first official single titled Pour Me Water. This is the lead single in his Who Is Mr Eazi remix project slated for a March 2018 release.

Take a listen and rate the song.

source: Thenet.ng
Heartbroken Yomi Gold Alore shared a video of himself weeping over the loss of one of his friends named Tope pictured with him below.

According to Yomis post, Tope had an operation here in Nigeria and died in the process. Yomi is blaming the rot in the Healthcare system in Nigeria for the death of his friend.

He appealed to everyone to go abroad for an operation if they have the means to do so. Yomi in his post wrote

Am sorry this might get to some professional doctors but who knows who that is real professional when it comes to visiting those hospitals in Nigeria.. my friend is gone bcus he decided to have his operation done in Nigeria. Too young to depart from us???? Tope this is sad. I pray God should give his families a great strength to hold this down. I love u ore mi atata.

Watch the video of him weeping below

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbmjVLjl0mT/

Source  Lailasblog
Billioanire Kidnapper Evans has cried out in court about the way he is treated in detention. According to Sahara Reporters, the kidnap kingpin complained at the Lagos state high court in Ikeja on Friday, November 17 that he is not properly fed.

He complained to the judge that the last time he ate was five days before and begged the court to allow him access to food. Other defendants are: Uche Amadi, Ogechi Uchechukwu, Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu, Chilaka Ifeanyi and Victor Chukwunonso Aduba. As soon as he appeared in court, Evans began agitating on the treatment he and others were receiving from prison warders.

He said:

This is unfair, I have not been given food and change of clothes. I was not given the opportunity to bathe since Wednesday. I am seriously hungry now. They locked us in one place, no food and no water to bathe. The last we were fed was when a wife of one of us brought food Hakeem Oshodi who is the presiding judge ordered an investigation into the allegation.

Source  Sahara Reporters
Paramedics have had to break down a wall in order to secure the release of a woman, so obese that she could barely walk.

Isabella Amaral is one of the worlds heaviest women who had to be rescued from her house by paramedics who broke down a wall to get her out.

According to Daily Star UK, Isabella Amaral, who now weighs 77 stone, had to be evacuated from a house specially built for her to house her weight.

At only 30-years-old, Isabella has remained bedridden for six months as her weight continues to spiral.

Hospital management director Adrian Chaplet said: Isabella is permanently treated and monitored, we have her last controls, there is no emergency situation in her health.

He added that Isabellas family claim that she can no longer be treated in her home.

The hospital is now planning to fit Isabella with a gastric band to bring her weight down.

But Isabella, from Rosario, Argentina, must lose 31 stone naturally before she can be operated on.

In the meantime, she has been sent home to try and lose the weight.

Isabella also has a lipoma growing in one of her legs, which has made her weight struggle worse.

Her lawyer has hit out at medical authorities for their latest decision.

Marcos Cella said: They abandoned her again.
The Kebbi State Police Command have arrested 10 suspects in connection with the recent violent clash between farmers and herdsmen in Bakoshi Community of Suru Local Government Area of the state.

The Commissioner of Police, Kabir Ibrahim, who accompanied Governor Atiku Bagudu to the scene of the clash on Friday, said more suspects were being tracked down.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that he clash led to the destruction of foodstuff and livestock, with one person dead.

The commissioner said that the discovery of the corpse of a farmer, Shehu Bakoshi, 30, close to the settlement of the herdsmen resulted in the reprisal attack by farmers.

The District Head of Bakuwai, Jagwadeji Tukur, commended the police for their quick intervention by arresting identified persons who attacked herdsmen in the community.

The governor directed the immediate resettlement of the dispersed herdsmen with a promise to provide basic amenities to the new settlement.

He blamed rumour mongers for the escalation of the clash and warned that perpetrators would be penalised.

The chairman of the local government, Umaru Miagandi, said the council would provide assistance to the victims.

Mr. Miagandi also said that awareness campaign would be embarked upon to educate the people on the need to avoid violent resolution of disputes.

Source : (NAN)
Former Vice President of Nigeria , Atiku Abubakar, has received support from a group identified as the Concerned Citizens for Atiku to run for president in 2019.

Although Mr. Abubakar is yet to formally declare his intention, the group asked him to do so, saying it would mobilise Nigerians on his behalf.

Members of the group led by Adebowale Jante stated these during a courtesy visit to the media office of Mr. Abubakar in Jabi, Abuja.

According to a statement by Mr. Jante, the group was received by the head of Mr. Abubakars Media Office, Paul Ibe.

Mr. Ibe while receiving the group noted that Nigeria is in dreadful need of a competent leader like Mr. Abubakar. He said the visit by CC4A was one of hope, especially in the light of Nigerias current level of poor governance.

He commended the group for its make-up, saying it was a step in the right direction for young Nigerians to be actively involved in politics at all levels.

The CC4Atiku visit and its intentions are in tandem with the #NotTooYoungToRun campaign, Mr. Ibe said while encouraging members not to relent in their efforts.

The beauty of this group is its constitution of young people who are not sitting back and expecting things to be handed to them.

Your visit has given us hope, hope that indeed our situation isnt irredeemable, and for that we thank you.

Your visit and intentions lend much credence to the #NotTooYoungToRun campaign. If you must run, you must be able to rally together and that is what you have done today, and Im truly impressed with you, Mr. Ibe added.

In his reaction, Mr. Jante said his group believes that Nigeria is in dire need of Mr. Abubakars service to urgently rescue the economy of the nation.

Your Excellency, it is an honour and privilege to stand before you not just as a group of patriotic young people of like minds, but also as citizens under the umbrella of Concerned Citizens for Atiku (CC4Atiku) whose common interest is not limited to the total reversal of the unfortunate under-development of Nigeria, but also ensuring her speedy climb, up the ladder of economic growth and prosperity, as well as the wellbeing of its citizens irrespective of all sentiments.

The formation of this progressive pressure group, which has Coordinators in the 36 States of the Federation as well as in the diaspora, was borne out of the need to create a platform for sustained dialogue towards finding better alternatives for resolving many of the multi-faceted challenges facing our beloved country, Nigeria.

No doubt, our country is at a crossroads and urgently needs rescue. Nigeria is in dire need of a leader with a track-record of credibility and empathy, a leader with vast political and administrative experience, a focused and detribalised leader with friends across our geopolitical borders, a leader with memorable antecedents and a man of unquestionable character, he added.

Mr. Jante provided more reasons why his group believes Mr. Abubakar should be Nigerias next president.

For us in this group, having decided that you are the only man who can rescue this nation, our involvement has gone beyond appealing to your good self. We see this project as a mission of compulsion, a commitment to dragging you into the 2019 presidential race as an urgent and necessary step to save this country from an imminent catastrophe, he said.

Mr. Abubakar served as vice president under President Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 to 2007, on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. He is currently a leader of Nigerias ruling party but has complained of being side-lined in the governance of the country.

Source: ( Premium Times)
Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has been urged by the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring to retrain the over 21,000 teachers he planned to sack for failing a competency test.

The union said that the workers deficiency was not a crime, noting that Nigerian leaders equally needed to be subjected to competency tests to determine their tenure in office.

General Secretary of the organisation, Issa Aremu, said this during the commemoration of Africa Industrialisation Day in Abuja on Friday.

He stated that workers must be partisan, adding that the payment of salaries and other social parameters should henceforth be used to determine the tenure of governors.

He said, To be deficient for a worker is not a crime, but every employer must know that you need to train and retrain workers. He who comes into equity must come with clean hands. The real competency must start from the President to other leaders.

Workers must be political and partisan; any governor who does not observe workers rights does not deserve our votes. In fact, any governor that fails to pay workers salaries should be recalled. Governors should be held accountable and their re-election should be determined by how they treat workers.

Speaking on African industrialisation, Aremu noted that African countries must digitalise their economies, stressing that workers needed education and skills to compete in the current economy.

Resident Representative of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Nigeria, Ulrich Thum, who also spoke at the event, stressed the need for workers to look ahead and have a long-term plan.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
Customer service is a topic that has filled books, lecture halls and training manuals since the dawn of retail. While the concept is fairly simple, its taken on an almost Herculean life of its own.

What customer-service formula should you follow for your self-storage business? Whose cute acronym will make your operation the most successful? I like to keep my business as simple as possible. In fact, I would go so far as to say stupid-simple, as in the KISS theory: Keep it simple, stupid. Here are four tricks for keeping your service model stupid-simple.

Stupid-Simple Trick 1: Infusive Service

Self-storage is unique. Were trusted with customers most valued possessions, but we only see most of these people for about 15 minutes, during the rental process. Then they move out a year later, and we see them for a few minutes again. The whole exchange can seem cold and unfriendly.

Since we dont see our customers often, I like to use infusive service. Infusive means inspiring or influencing. Your goal is help customers see the awesomeness of your facility. Have you ever had a tenant compliment you on the cleanliness of your property? Thats a result of infusive service. From a passive act, youve inspired your customer.

Infusive service is essential in self-storage. While you might only see your customers two or three times during their stay, they might visit their unit dozens of times, so everything little thing you do can have a huge impact.

How do you increase infusive service? Look at everything the customer touchesfiguratively and literallyand ask how you can improve that experience. Word your signage so you communicate your messaging in an entertaining way. E-mail tenants a few times before assessing a late fee. Pipe music into your loading areas. Spend $4 every Saturday and give away cold bottles of water. By doing little things over time and paying attention to details, youll build a store brand that will inspire customers. This infusive service is the essence of operating a finely tuned facility.

Stupid-Simple Trick 2: Interaction

The second trick deals with direct customer interaction. Its typically what we imagine customer service to be.

When I took a college statistics class I learned two things: One, I hated college statistics; and two, the bell curve is widely applicable to the world. Imagine we had a bell curve to represent the self-storage customer base. On one side of the bell, you have the customers who love us no matter what we do. We could dump rats into their units and they would say, Well, I was thinking about getting some pets. On the other side of the curve are the people for which we cant do anything right. They want a reduction in rent because their 10-by-10 unit is really 9 feet, 11 inches on a side. Guess what? These are also the people who are most likely to leave a bad online review. Yikes!

Your sweet spot is the people in the middle of the curve. Fortunately, this is also your majority. These are the customers who need the most attention. When they feel special and appreciated, theyll post positive reviews, refer your property to others and be loyal tenants.

Stupid-Simple Trick 3: The Right Staff

The third trick for providing the ultimate customer service is to put the right employees in place. In my short storage career, Ive seen the change in industry professionalism. I tend to hire a more energetic employee, even if hes inexperienced, while other operators might prefer a more sedate but seasoned crew. Theres no wrong way, but hire for personality and attitude.

At times, hiring is difficult and there may be occasions when youre under the gun. Nevertheless, take as much time as you need to find the right people. Teaching someone how to use the computer and operate the store is the easy part. Teaching them how to deal with customers is the hard part. If you want someone to treat your customers right, hire someone whos friendly!

Stupid-Simple Trick 4: Guiding Principles

The fourth stupid-simple customer-service trick is to teach your employees guiding principles and give them the power to self-manage. Every company needs rules, but I cringe at that term. It stifles creativity and encourages people to look at things in only one way.

The worst work culture you can create is one governed by fear, where employees are afraid to fix a customer-service situation because of an angry boss. Empower your staff to solve problems as they arise. Heres an example.

One day I was working the desk when a customer entered the store. He wanted a late fee waived because his wife had been getting the e-mails. As it was our policy to charge the fee, I informed him it was his responsibility to keep his e-mail address up-to-date, and I wasnt going to waive the fee. He then told me his wife was sick and hadnt told him the rent was due. Still, I said the fee would stand. He decided it was a matter of principle to get this fee waived, and even threatened to move out. Then, after 10 minutes of arguing, I had a realization. This wasnt who I was and not how I wanted to do business. I stopped and sincerely apologized to the customer. I waived the $15, and two-plus years later, hes still paying $400 per month for his unit.

Guiding principles are in place to help you make good decisions. Once in a while, it makes sense to break the rules to provide the best service you can.

Dealing with customers is rewarding and exhausting. However, were in the business of helping people in need. At times, they need you to be on your A-game. I urge you to post the following customer-service quote from Mahatma Gandhi somewhere so you can see it on a regular basis. Its one of my favorites:

A customer is the most important visitor on our premises; he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.

Rick Beal is the district manager and part owner of Cubes Self Storage in Salt Lake City. His goal is to help a historically slow-changing industry embrace new, innovative ideas. His professional motto is Storage is a business of inches not miles. He can be reached at [email protected] Connect with him on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/storagerick.
Lloyds Corporation is the latest in a string of top insurance firms to cast-off coal-heavy businesses amid concerns about climate change The Corporation has announced that its implementing a coal exclusion policy as part of its responsible investment strategy for the Central Fund.The Lloyds coal exclusion policy will come into effect in April next year and it will apply to assets held in segregated portfolios. These account for around 75% of Central Fund investments.A precise definition of what constitutes a coal company will be set by Lloyds over the next few months, as will the companys criteria for divestment and exclusion.Lloyds Corporation joins the likes of Zurich Insurance, AXA and Allianz in the divestment of coal-related investment. Swiss Re is also expected to release an action plan regarding coal.According to the Unfriend Coal campaign, 15 insurers with a total of over US$4 trillion (CA$5.1 trillion) in assets covered by coal divestment decisions are planning to change their coal-related policies in the near future. The industry has already pulled out a total of US$20 billion (CA$25.6 billion) in the past two years.Peter Bosshard, coordinator of Unfriend Coal, commented: Coal needs to become uninsurable. If insurers cease to cover the numerous natural, technical, commercial and political risks of coal projects, new coal mines and power plants cannot be built and existing operations will have to shut down.The environmental call-to-arms came several months after Greenpeace called on several major insurers to take action on fossil fuels.
The German Federal Fiscal Court issued a judgment on the VAT treatment of competitive warnings on December 21 2016 (Case No. XI R 27/14), which was published this year. The case raises debate over whether a warning, regardless of its nature, can be considered as providing a service in VAT terms.

Facts of the case

In this case, the Federal Fiscal Court assumed a taxable supply from the admonisher to the competitor, based on the following facts.

The plaintiff worked, inter alia, in the hardware and software trading field. In the relevant years, she warned various competitors and subsequently claimed injunctive relief against them based on wrongful terms and conditions pursuant to the Act Against Unfair Competition. The plaintiff engaged a lawyer to assist her in this process. The competitors, against whom the injunctive relief was sought, ultimately refunded the plaintiffs legal fees, exclusive of VAT. The amount of the fees was directly transferred from the competitors to the plaintiffs lawyers account. The VAT amount was duly paid by the plaintiff to the lawyer and later deducted by the plaintiff.

After a special VAT audit, the tax office considered that the plaintiff had provided a taxable supply to the respective competitors by issuing them with a warning pursuant to the Act. The Fiscal Court Munster allowed the plaintiffs appeal (judgment of April 3 2014, 5 K 2386/11 U). The court found that there was no supply of services. However, the Federal Fiscal Court disagreed with the Fiscal Court Munster and consequently dismissed the appeal.

Reasons for the decision

The Federal Fiscal Court found that each individual warning did indeed constitute a taxable supply, which the plaintiff provided to the respective warned competitors in exchange for payment. It stressed that the content of such a service is the opportunity to avoid any further dispute. The remuneration for this service is the amount of the reimbursement that the admonisher pays.

Prior to an entrepreneur taking action against a competitor for unfair competition, he shall first admonish him on the basis of section 12, paragraph 1, sentence 1 of the Act Against Unfair Competition. This involves the entrepreneur communicating a cease and desist declaration to the competitor thereby affording the competitor an opportunity to settle the dispute. The entrepreneur is entitled to demand reimbursement of any necessary expenses that he has incurred in complying with this legislative requirement.

According to the case law of the civil courts, the issuance of a warning usually serves in the best interests of both parties. It is intended to terminate the dispute in a simple, cost-effective manner prior to any proceedings being instituted, thereby avoiding a formal legal dispute.

By issuing the warnings, the plaintiff provided a concrete advantage to her competitors, the avoidance of a legal dispute, and, as a result, a service was supplied by the entrepreneur to her competitors, within the meaning of the VAT law.

Case review

Although the German Federal Fiscal Court found that there was a supply of services, it seems questionable whether a warning would actually constitute an economic advantage for the party being admonished.

Looking at it from the average consumers point of view, it is unlikely that any person would feel enriched with an advantage in these circumstances. Moreover, a reminder, which reminds you to pay your invoices, is not classified as a taxable supply (see section 1.3, paragraph 6, sentence 2 of the VAT Circular). However, a reminder that an invoice is due also ultimately serves to avoid further legal dispute. It would have been interesting to know the European Court of Justice's view on this issue. Nevertheless, entrepreneurs will need to take into account the Federal Fiscal Courts case law regarding warnings made pursuant to the Act Against Unfair Competition.

Whether this case law could be transferred to other areas, such as, for example, trademark or copyright law, is questionable and doubtful. Entrepreneurs who issue warnings in these areas do so with the intention of warding off any intervention by the party admonished as regards to their intellectual property. They certainly do not intend to give the infringer any advantage.

It remains to be seen how the courts will deal with these types of cases. With regard to the field of copyright law, there is a case currently pending in the German Federal Fiscal Court (XI R 1/17). A decision is expected in the coming months.

This article was written by Thomas Streit, lawyer at KUFFNER MAUNZ LANGER ZUGMAIER in Munich and Dusseldorf.
Update 9.38pm: The emergency services have rescued around 20 people from a ferris wheel that got stuck at the Galway Christmas market.

The wheel stopped turning at around 6pm this evening and the passengers were brought to safety about three hours later in Eyre Square.

Gardai say everyone is now down safely, and despite some of the passengers feeling cold, there were no injuries.

Galway City Councillor Padraig Conneely, is calling for a full investigation.

He said: "I was down there and there is a major problem with it and I am very disappointed because I understand there was to be a certificate with that big wheel.

"There are health and safety issues, the fire brigade are there trying to take people off and are having difficulty doing so.

"So I would be calling for a full investigation."

Earlier: The big wheel at Galway's Christmas market has stopped turning, leaving a number of trapped on it this evening.

It happened just minutes after the market was officially opened when the festive lights were switched on.

The emergency services were called and they are trying to free the passengers who are stuck in cabins.

The local fire services have been using cherry pickers to reach a number of people and bring them down to safety in Eyre Square.

Traffic is being diverted around the square and a large crowd has gathered to watch the rescue efforts.
Update 2.30pm: The Taoiseach has suggested the British government hasn't thought Brexit through.

Ahead of his talks with Mrs May, Mr Varadkar said: "It's 18 months since the referendum, it's 10 years since people who wanted a referendum started agitating for one.

"Sometimes it doesn't seem like they have thought all this through."

"Sometimes it seems that they haven't thought all this through." Leo Varadkar calls for clarity on border. | More: https://t.co/0QKWPT8tT4 pic.twitter.com/MqwzoHRcam  RTE News (@rtenews) November 17, 2017

His comments came after what was described as 'a fresh clash with Theresa May over Brexit' in which he demanded a commitment that there will be no return to a "hard border" between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Attending a European summit in Sweden, the Taoiseach made clear the Brexit negotiations could not move on to the second phase until the future status of the border was clear.

Mrs May is anxious to secure the agreement of EU leaders to open discussions on Britain's future relations with the bloc - including a free trade deal - when they meet next month in Brussels.

However Mr Varadkar, who met Mrs May in the margins of the gathering in Gothenburg, said that would require further "concessions" from the UK.

"Before we move to phase two talks on trade, we want taken off the table any suggestion that there will be a physical border, a hard border, new barriers to trade on the island of Ireland," he told reporters.

"If we have to wait until the New Year, if we have to wait for further concessions, so be it."

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, left, speaks with British Prime Minister Theresa May, right, during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Goteborg, Sweden. Pic: AP Photo/Virginia Mayo

Update 11.30am: Leo Varadkar and Theresa May have clashed over one of the key sticking points in the Brexit process.

The Taoiseach suggested that the British Prime Minister and Tory Brexiteers had not thought through their approach to the Irish border issue.

Mr Varadkar called for commitment that there will not be a hard border on the island of Ireland after the UK leaves the European Union.

And he indicated that a form of words would need to be found for that guarantee before Brexit talks could be allowed to move on to phase two, discussing a possible trade deal.

The three issues where "sufficient progress" must be made before the EU will agree to move on to trade talks include the financial settlement, citizens' rights and the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Ahead of the face-to-face talks with Ms May on the margins of a European summit in Gothenburg, Mr Varadkar said: "It's 18 months since the referendum, it's 10 years since people who wanted a referendum started agitating for one.

"Sometimes it doesn't seem like they have thought all this through."

He told reporters: "Britain having unilaterally taken the customs union and single market off the table, before we move to phase two talks on trade we want taken off the table any suggestion that there will be a physical border, a hard border, new barriers to trade on the island of Ireland."

Varadkar shows his decorative socks to Theresa May during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Goteborg, Sweden. Pic: AP Photo/Virginia Mayo

The Taoiseach said it was "certainly possible" that trade talks could be given the go-ahead next month "but if we have to wait until the New Year, if we have to wait for further concessions, so be it".

Downing Street said the talks between Mr Varadkar and Ms May on Brexit had been "constructive".

But a source described the meeting as a "solid exchange of views" and said Mr Varadkar was "optimistic but slightly frustrated in terms of we are so close but so far, really".

The source said: "We just want a clear commitment, a clear form of words that points to a solution with regards to the Irish situation that would allow us to move on to phase two."

Ireland "cannot make a leap in the dark", the source added.

A British Government source said there was "work to do" on the issue and "everyone's very honest about that".

European Council president Donald Tusk will also deliver a tough message to Ms May when they hold talks in the margins of a summit in Gothenburg, telling her that progress on to the next phase of Brexit talks cannot be taken for granted.

The Prime Minister said she hoped the European Union would respond "positively" to her efforts to secure progress ahead of December's European Council meeting, where leaders will consider the UK's call for trade talks to begin.

A Brussels source said: "Mr Tusk will inform Ms May that such a positive scenario is not a given, it will require more work and that time is short.

"And he will ask Ms May how the UK plans to progress on the three key issues for phase one."

Ms May repeated her promise that the UK will "honour our commitments" amid speculation she is prepared to increase the amount she is prepared to pay in the divorce settlement with the EU.

She said: "We look forward to the December European Council. We are continuing to look through the issues.

"I was clear in my speech in Florence that we will honour our commitments.

"But of course we want to move forward together, talking about the trade issues and trade partnership for the future.

"I have set out a vision for that economic partnership, I look forward to the European Union responding positively to that so we can move forward together and ensure that we can get the best possible arrangements for the future that will be good for people in the United Kingdom and across the remaining EU27."

The Prime Minister held talks with her Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven on Thursday night. He said the UK needs to clarify what the financial settlement would cover, and it was "very difficult to say" whether trade talks would be given the go-ahead in December.

If leaders do not agree to move to the second phase at the summit in Brussels on December 14-15, then it could mean no progress until the next scheduled European Council in March.

That would add to business uncertainty and increase the potential for the UK to leave without a Brexit deal. Britain's Brexit Secretary David Davis said many EU nations were now keen to move on to trade talks, but notably omitted Germany and France from his list.

Speaking to the BBC in Berlin this morning, Mr Davis said: "Many of them do want to move on.

"They see it as very important to them. Countries like Denmark, countries like Holland, countries like Italy and Spain, countries like Poland can see the big, big benefits in the future deal we are talking about."

The Gothenburg social summit brings together political leaders and other key players to discuss a new European Pillar of Social Rights for workers' rights.

Update: 6.30am: Brexit will top the agenda, when the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister Theresa May hold a face to face meeting in Sweden today.

Leo Varadkar is expected to tell Theresa May that he wont accept a hard border under any circumstances.

It will be the first time the pair have met since a document emerged from Europe suggesting the North stay in the EU after Brexit.

Sinn Fein MEP Liadh Ni Riada says its crucial Ireland stands firm in talks.

"I think its high time that the Irish government has to have key people at that negotiation table. They cannot afford to be commentators or spectators on something that is so key to Irelands future," Ms Ni Riada said.

The meeting today takes place ahead of the Social Summit 2017 in Gothenburg.
The European Union is reportedly threatening to hold back Britain's fina l5.6bn rebate payment from Brussels as part of negotiations over the so-called Brexit "divorce" bill.

European Council president Donald Tusk has set a deadline of the start of December for Britain to make further movement on the financial settlement in order to unlock trade talks.

But according to reports, Brussels negotiators have not provided clarity on the final rebate payment for 2018, which is due to come a year in arrears after Britain's scheduled exit from the EU on March 29 2019.

The newspaper quotes "British officials" who think the rebate, first secured by Margaret Thatcher in 1984, should be "netted off" the final divorce bill.

Both the UK government and the EU did not comment on the report last night.

Reports, dismissed as speculation by Downing Street, have suggested Mrs May could be prepared to offer a further 22.4bn in payments, which would bring to around 42.6bn the total sum Britain is prepared to pay to settle its liabilities - well short of the 60bn sought by Brussels.

After talks with the UK Prime Minister in Sweden, Mr Tusk said the EU has completed the internal work necessary to give the green light for talks on trade and transition to begin at the next European Council summit in Brussels on December 14-15.

But he said that "much more progress" was needed from the UK on the divorce bill and Northern Irish border, two of the three key issues in withdrawal talks, in order to break the deadlock which has prevented the move to the second phase of negotiations which the UK is seeking.

He said he had told Mrs May that "this progress needs to happen at the beginning of December at the latest".

Mrs May told reporters as she left Gothenburg: "We are agreed that good progress has been made but there is more to be done, that we should move forwards together towards that point where sufficient progress can be declared and we can look ahead to what I have already said I want to see as a deep and comprehensive and special partnership between the UK and the remaining 27 members of the EU."

Mrs May is anxious to secure the agreement of EU leaders to open discussions on Britain's future relations with the bloc - including a free trade deal - when they meet next month in Brussels.

In meetings at the summit with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Mr Tusk, Swedish PM Stefan Lofven, French president Emmanuel Macron and Italian premier Paolo Gentiloni, Mrs May came under pressure to spell out how much the UK will pay Brussels in a so-called divorce bill in order to secure progress on trade talks.

Mr Varadkar made clear that Ireland is ready to delay the start of trade talks beyond the start of next year unless the UK offers further concessions on the Northern Irish border.

After meeting Mrs May in the margins of the summit, he told reporters: "Before we move to phase two talks on trade, we want taken off the table any suggestion that there will be a physical border, a hard border, new barriers to trade on the island of Ireland.

"If we have to wait until the new year, if we have to wait for further concessions, so be it."

Brexit Secretary David Davis suggested that he wanted to see compromise from Brussels, warning EU leaders that they will get "nothing ... for nothing".

"In any negotiation you want the other side to compromise," Mr Davis told the BBC. "I want them to compromise. Surprise, surprise, nothing comes for nothing in this world.

"But so far in this negotiation, we've made quite a lot of compromises. On the citizens' rights front, we've made all the running."

Asked about the Brexit Secretary's claim that the UK had made all the concessions so far in the negotiations, Mr Tusk said: "I can say only that I appreciate Mr Davis's English sense of humour."

If leaders do not agree to move to the second phase at the summit in Brussels on December 14-15, then it could mean no progress until the next scheduled European Council in March.

That would add to business uncertainty and increase the potential for the UK to leave without a Brexit deal.
Nato's secretary-general has apologised to Turkey over military exercises in Norway during which Turkey's founding leader, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and the current president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, were reportedly depicted as "enemies".

Mr Erdogan said Turkey withdrew 40 of its soldiers participating in the drills at Nato's Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger, Norway, in protest at the incident and criticised the alliance.

"There can be no such unity, no such alliance," he said in an address to his ruling party's provincial leaders.

Details of the incident were sketchy but Mr Erdogan said Mr Ataturk's picture and his own name were featured on an "enemy chart" during the drills.

The individual who posted the material was described as a Norwegian civil contractor seconded by Norway, and not a Nato employee.

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg issued a statement saying: "I apologise for the offense caused."

He said the incident was the result of an "individual's actions" and did not reflect the views of the alliance.

He added that the individual was removed from the exercise and an investigation was under way.

"It will be for the Norwegian authorities to decide on any disciplinary action," Mr Stoltenberg added. "Turkey is a valued Nato ally, which makes important contributions to allied security."

Mr Stoltenberg apologised again at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada. He said he has already spoken with the Turkish defence chief and that it "won't create any lasting problems, and I think it's already behind us".

Norwegian defence minister Frank Bakke-Jensen apologised for the incident as well.

"The message does not reflect Norway's views or policies and I apologise for the content of the message," Mr Bakke-Jensen said. "Turkey is an important ally in Nato, and we value our good cooperation."

AP
Former supporters of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe have demanded that he resign after nearly four decades in power.

In an extraordinary evening broadcast, state broadcaster ZBC - for decades, a mouthpiece for the Mugabe government - reported on the mounting campaign for his resignation.

Mugabe had earlier emerged for the first time from military-imposed house arrest, presiding at a university graduation ceremony.

Clad in a blue gown, the 93-year-old joined academics on a red carpet and sat in a high-backed chair in front of several thousand students and guests, a routine he has conducted for many years as the official chancellor of Zimbabwe's universities.

This time, however, the spectacle was jarring because the authority of the world's oldest head of state, once seen as impregnable, is evaporating daily.

That Mugabe was permitted to go to the Zimbabwe Open University event possibly reflected a degree of respect by the military for the president, a former rebel leader who took power after independence from white minority rule in 1980.

The armed forces are in a delicate position, sending tanks and troops into Harare's streets this week to effectively end the Mugabe era, while refraining from more heavy-handed measures that would heighten accusations that they staged a coup and violated the constitution.

Meanwhile, the ruling Zanu-PF party signalled impatience with Mugabe amid negotiations on his exit.

Party branches passed no-confidence votes in all 10 Zimbabwean provinces, and the state-run Zimbabwe Herald newspaper said all had called for the resignation of Mugabe and his wife. They are seeking a special meeting within two days of the party's Central Committee.

Demonstrations were called for Saturday in Harare to support the military's move against Mugabe, who drew applause from the graduating students on the outskirts of the capital only when he made brief, perfunctory remarks, usually to bestow degrees on delighted graduates.

The military said it supports plans for a march, as long as the demonstration is orderly and peaceful.

Discontent with Mugabe has been growing because of the dire state of the economy, concerns about corruption and mismanagement, a sense that he is no longer physically capable of leading the country due to advanced age and the ambitions of his wife, Grace Mugabe, to succeed him.

The military stepped into the factional battles of the ruling party on Wednesday after the firing of Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is close to the armed forces and was heavily criticised by both Mugabes.

Mr Mnangagwa, who fled Zimbabwe after his dismissal, will return only after the process to remove Mugabe is complete, high-level supporters said.

In Washington, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called for a return to civilian rule in Zimbabwe, urged any new leader to respect democracy and human rights, and said the country has a chance to put itself on a "new path".

China said it hopes Zimbabwe's political situation can be resolved "under the legal framework" and that stability can be restored.

Questions have been raised about China's possible role in Zimbabwe's affairs because Zimbabwe's army commander was in Beijing last week. China said the visit by General Constantino Chiwenga was a "normal military exchange".

As Mugabe tries to hang on in negotiations over his departure from office, he has asked for "a few more days, a few more months", the chairman of the influential war veterans' association in Zimbabwe told reporters.

Chris Mutsvangwa, a Mnangagwa ally, said there is little tolerance for Mugabe to extend his presidency.

Several ruling party figures linked to Grace Mugabe - Jonathan Moyo, the higher education minister; Saviour Kasukuwere, the local government minister; and Ignatious Chombo, the finance minister - were detained during military operations, according to Mr Mutsvangwa.

Mr Moyo was not at the graduation ceremony, even though he had been scheduled to attend.

The military said "significant progress has been made in their operation to weed out criminals around President Mugabe," saying they had committed "crimes that were causing social and economic suffering in Zimbabwe".

AP
A reporter who covered the horrific King's Cross fire in the UK has recalled the "shocking" and "appalling" story recounted by a heroic police officer who risked his life to save others from the inferno.

Former Press Association journalist Ray Massey was the first to interview British Transport Police officer and Falklands War veteran Stephen Hanson as he lay badly injured in hospital.

Mr Hanson had agreed to speak to just one reporter following the tragedy, which claimed the lives of 31 people and left 100 more injured.

He would later go on to earn the Queen's Gallantry Medal for his heroic actions, which included battling in vain to save a young boy trapped under his mother's lifeless body.

As Mr Massey walked into the bedroom at London's University College Hospital, he was confronted by a scene that epitomised the horror of Britain's worst ever London Underground fire.

Mr Hanson lay with his incinerated hands held aloft in thickly padded protective cladding, his burned and raw face recovering from the skilled work of plastic surgeons after he faced down a fireball.

Remembering being given a five-minute deadline to finish the interview, Mr Massey said: "There was nothing clever about my opening gambit: 'Please start at the beginning and talk me through it, step by step'.

"He did. It was shocking, appalling, and riveting."

For Mr Massey, a stand-out moment of the interview - which he says remains etched in his mind - was when the police officer described standing at the top of the escalator, looking down into the abyss and seeing the massive fireball heading up the tunnel towards him.

"He described in detail what went through his mind in that fraction of a second before it reached him," said Mr Massey. "He thought it was all over. He said his goodbyes to his loved ones and prepared to meet his maker."

Despite being badly burned, Mr Hanson survived - and immediately began helping those around him.

He would go on to become a pivotal witness to the tragedy, which started when years of dust and detritus underneath the ancient wooden escalators on the Piccadilly Line at King's Cross ignited from a discarded and smouldering match or cigarette.
Dublin Bay South TD Kate OConnell told the Irish Examiner last night she is glad he respected the Taoiseach and the party by stepping down  despite Mr Walsh claiming he is the victim of trial by media.

In a letter to Fine Gael general secretary Tom Curran at 3.15pm yesterday, hours after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar publicly said Mr Walsh should resign, Mr Walsh said he was resigning from the national executive council immediately.

The 32-year-old, who was former Young Fine Gael president and director of elections for Education Minister Richard Bruton in last years general election, said he has resigned out of respect for the partys members and Mr Varadkar, and in order to prevent any further distraction.

However, despite saying I deeply regret the tone and language used in some of my tweets, Mr Walsh also lashed out at media coverage of the controversy, saying he has been subjected to trial by media and is leaving without prejudice to any disciplinary investigation.

Mr Walsh stepped down after Ms OConnell circulated a series of Twitter messages from him at Fine Gaels parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday night, four days after the pair clashed during a party Eighth Amendment debate.

Among the dozens of messages were derogatory references to Ms OConnell, Sinn Fein TDs Mary Lou McDonald and Louise OReilly, Social Democrats TD Roisin Shortall, British Labour party MP Diane Abbott, and others as bitches.

Mr Walsh also told comedian Tara Flynn who had an abortion  that she had it [the foetus] killed because she couldnt be bothered having a baby, remarks Mr Walsh said in his resignation letter were political jousting.

Ms OConnell told the Irish Examiner: I am glad he respected the Taoiseach and the party, by accepting his wrongdoing and apologising for it. It is unfortunate Mr Walsh put himself in this position of public scrutiny and I hope going forward others can learn and grow from this experience.

Mr Walshs resignation came hours after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar publicly called for him to step aside, telling reporters in Gothenburg, Sweden, a day after downplaying the controversy, that it would be for the best.

The Fine Gael national executive council is due to discuss potential disciplinary action at its next meeting in late November.

Mr Walshs employer, A&L Goodbody, opened an investigation into the abuse.
The warning was made after police there arrested eight people, including three Irish nationals, as part of a large-scale drug investigation targeting the Kinahan crime cartel.

In an operation in Amsterdam with the gardai, Dutch police confiscated 175kg of drugs, a computer generating bitcoin, and two vacuum-packed bags of cash. Police suspect the criminals were using a bitcoin mine, or bitcoin farm, to pay for drugs with the digital currency.

The items were found in two apartments in the city, one of them protected with a reinforced metal door with 13 bolts.

Four Dutch nationals and a Belgian were also arrested and are suspected of being involved in supplying the drugs to the Irish criminals.

Gardai were in the Netherlands for the operation, led by assistant commissioner John ODriscoll of Special Crime Operations.

Dutch police said the arrests and searches were the result of a legal assistance request from Ireland under EU laws.

In a statement, police in Amsterdam said that, on the basis of the request, they began their operation.

The criminal investigation department conducted an investigation which led to arrests in various parts of the city on Wednesday.

The co-operation with Irish colleagues is very good, said Pim Jansonius of the Dutch police.

Our signal to foreign criminals is very emphatic  Amsterdam is not the place to be.

The person who does not understand this message is tracked down and handed over to the Irish authorities.

Video footage emerged showing the moment three men were arrested by elite police units in Amsterdam as part of the operation targeting the Kinahan cartel.

Dutch police carried out a controlled stop of a vehicle the men were travelling in.

Armed officers masked, handcuffed, and blindfolded the men before taking them away in separate police vehicles for questioning.

The three Irish men include one in his 50s from Dublins south inner city, considered an importer and money man for the cartel.

The other two are from Limerick, one of whom is a serious drug supplier and who has been previously hit by the Criminal Assets Bureau.

The three are understood to have been brought to court by Dutch police yesterday evening and remanded for two weeks to allow for further investigation.

It was part of an Irish-Dutch operation which resulted in seizures in Ireland and the arrest of five people.

This included more than 300kg of cannabis herb, worth around 6m, which was seized by the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau near Ashbourne, Co Meath.

In Dublins south inner city, local detectives seized around 3.5kg of drugs, 6,000 in cash, and four improvised firearms.
From Australia to Arizona, horse programmes are credited with a drop in inmate reoffending rates.

Prisoners will be taught horsemanship skills such as grooming, feeding, and stable management, but the training is also expected to have a therapeutic effect.

Charity founder Jonathan Irwin who has worked in racing for decades, has determinedly pursued his mission to get horses into Irish prisons ever since he visited an equine prison programme in New York 30 years ago.

I was at the yearling sales in a town, in north New York, called Saratoga, and while I was there, one of my American friends brought me to see an equine centre in a prison, said Mr Irwin, founder of the Jack and Jill foundation.

I was very impressed with what I saw. They spoke to me about the prisoners lack of reoffending. There are more of these prisons in America now, and in Australia, where it has been unbelievably successful.

The only problem there is they want to take the horse home with them. Its a way back for the inmates to get back on the treadmill of life. Its the first such project in Europe. What country is more suitable for this than Ireland?

After 30 years of campaigning, he got the go-ahead from Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald to build the equine block in the medium-security prison in Roscommon if he could fundraise 100,000 for the building work.

Hopefully, the building will begin in Castlerea Prison in the spring, Mr Irwin said.

He has raised half the funds from members of the Turf Club to build 10 stables, a tack room, and turn-out paddock at Castlerea from members of the Turf Club.

I got 50,000 in the first week, said Mr Irwin. The Turf Club sent out a letter, about 10 days ago, under my signature, to all the members of the Turf Club. The response was extraordinary.

The deal is: I have to raise 100,000 for the capital cost of the facilities and the yearly management will be borne by the prison service. Im very hopeful well hit the target before Christmas.
The transfer of local authority workers to the utility was scheduled to happen by 2025, but Irish Water management now wants it substantially completed by 2021. It intends to work out the details of the takeover next year and commencing the process in 2019.

Around 1,000 jobs will be lost in the process, in addition to the 700 already shed, and while Irish Water says there will be no compulsory redundancies, union representatives say the existing arrangements should be honoured.

Niall Shanahan, spokesman for the Impact trade union, said it was awaiting a formal proposal from the company on talks about the changes.

Its very clear what our negotiating position will be, he said. We have agreements in place that we expect to be honoured and they go up to 2025. We feel there is a certain amount of scaremongering going on but we expect consultations will take place and well be making our position clear.

Irish Water has individual service-level agreements with all the local authorities setting out how they work in partnership with local authority staff to provide drinking water and wastewater services.

While Irish Water owns the infrastructure, local authorities are continuing to provide much of the manpower. Those agreements run to 2025, at which time it was intended those workers would become directly employed by Irish Water.

In the meantime, any vacancies arising from retirements or resignations among the local authority workers would not be filled. Irish Water said yesterday that that remained the plan and only the timeline had changed.

In line with the business plan, the number of staff working in water services in Ireland has already been reduced from approximately 5,000 in 2014 to approximately 4,300 by the end of 2017 and this number will continue to see a gradual reduction over the coming four to five years to 3,300, it said.

Staff terms and conditions are protected by legislation, and the reduction in staff numbers will take place through mechanisms such as retirement and natural attrition. There will be no compulsory redundancies.

Irish Water is working with local authority management, staff, unions and other key stakeholders to agree a framework to progress the transformation.

Irish Water said the reduction in payroll would help towards a target saving in operating costs of 1.1bn between 2014 and 2021.
YOU can just see them now.

Ever since Kate OConnell, the Fine Gael TD, outed her party colleague Barry Walsh on Wednesday for his online comments about women on social media, the main political parties are frantically trying to convince us that they have robust policies about how to behave online.

Behind the scenes, party officials have no doubt been busily beavering away trying to draft such documents for fear of a repeat of the Walsh episode.

Before OConnell delivered Walsh a knockout punch that Floyd Mayweather would have been proud of, very few of us had heard of or known who Barry Walsh was.

She waited until the end of the weekly Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting, a private affair for TDs and senators, and let fly.

Armed with a five-page document which included screen grabs of the offending posts, she passed them around to her colleagues, which quickly found their way into the hands of the media, including Juno McEnroe of this parish.

OConnell also wrote a formal letter of complaint to the Fine Gaels general secretary, Tom Curran.

He, it appears, used to work for Lucinda Creighton and is a former Young Fine Gael activist and has risen through the ranks of the party to his current position on the partys national executive.

The Taoiseach yesterday called on Walsh to resign from that role over his vile language but the question has to be asked.

Just how did Walsh survive so long when, as Regina Doherty put it on the radio on Thursday, he has form?

Ms Doherty said: This young man has serious issues. He is one of the angriest young men I have come across.

The answer is that politics, in general, has allowed this sort of language to become acceptable online, whereas it would never be acceptable if carried in a paper, or said in person.

There can be little surprise that politicians are subjected to highly personalised attacks when the political system as a whole refuses to address it.

Its part and parcel of the job, it comes with the territory, what can we do? are the constant refrains we hear back when it happens.

In OConnells case, she was absolutely right to call Walsh out on his online comments which were offensive and totally unbecoming for someone who holds a high office in the Fine Gael party.

To give a flavour of what drew OConnells ire, this is some of what Walsh has written:

From what [actress] Tara Flynn says, she was pregnant and just couldnt be bothered having a baby. So she had it killed. Why is she a feminist hero?

Ms Flynn tweeted in response: Id like to meet Barry Walsh. I dont expect an apology, but Id like him to sit across from me and say whatever he has to say.

In earlier tweets, Mr Walsh had described Mary Lou McDonald of Sinn Fein as a stupid bitch. He also described Social Democrats co-leader Roisin Shortall as a bitch.

Explaining her reason to complain to Tom Curran, OConnell said that as an elected member of the executive council, she would have thought he would uphold higher standards of ethics and behaviour on social media than an ordinary member of the party.

It was and is unacceptable that a person with decision-making powers would act in this fashion, she said.

But the sort of commentary cited by OConnell and others is nothing new.

When she was a senator for the Labour Party, Lorraine Higgins published a bill seeking to bring sanctions for online bullies after she received death threats.

She was called a poxy, traitorous, two-faced, money-grabbing, bimbo bitch.

The message sender then threatened to rip your head from your shoulders amid various other violent obscenities.

It then called her a dumb blonde before restating the threat to rip her head off. Such was the level of abuse, gardai had to perform a sweep on her parents home in Galway.

As for her bill, it went nowhere but the Law Reform Commission has taken elements of it.

Most politicians are over 30 and really dont have a clue about this sort of stuff, so there is no surprise so little has been done, Higgins said.

And it is not just politicians who are subjected to it.

This McConnell moron...McConnell is piss poor...load of bullshit Daniel McConnell...Heres Daniel McConnell on #TV3. Hes annoying me before hes even spoken.

The above is a sample of just some of the comments that have come my way on Twittter and they are mild in comparison to what many others are subjected to.

The proliferation of abuse that has come my way, particularly because of my writings on water charges and criticisms I have voiced over the Jobstown protest in 2014, has been at times outrageous.

Much of it from anonymous cowards who spew their bile while hiding away from any chance of being held accountable for their utterances.

So why now has this become a thing?

Of course, there is change afoot given the global discussion about sexual harassment sparked by the revelations about Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and actor Kevin Spacey.

Barry Walsh

But the manner in which OConnell raised this issue on Wednesday; and Dohertys very strong comments on Sean ORourkes show on Thursday morning means Fine Gael and Leo Varadkar have to act.

While Walsh is to face an internal disciplinary process, if he ignores the calls to resign this risks becoming a major headache for Varadkar as leader.

Now, I am a passionate advocate for freedom of speech and a fierce opponent of censorship but such freedom has to be treated responsibly.

Yes, people have a right to criticise me or any politician they disagree with, but the sort of personal attacks which are par for the course on the online sewers of Twitter and Facebook, go way beyond what is acceptable.

That was what was a little disappointing about what the Taoiseach said in Gothenburg yesterday.

It would be for the best if he resigned and stepped down as a member of the Fine Gael executive council pending a disciplinary procedure which is now under way. The Taoiseach said, Mr Walsh is below the standard of what Id expect of a Fine Gael officer.

There are lots of trolls and nasty people on Twitter but I expect Fine Gael officers to set a higher standard, he added.

But what Mr Varadkar did not appear to address was the wider issue.

Fine to deal with Walsh the individual but what about new standards for politics and those who operate within it?

Much easier to cast out one bad egg than confront the wider problem.

Walsh finally broke cover yesterday announcing his resignation.

He said he was stepping down in the hope that it may bring an end to the trial by media which has occurred in the last 48 hours and placed intolerable pressure on my family and friends.

He added: I deeply regret the tone and language I used in some of my tweets. I realise that some of my remarks have caused serious offence to many people and I apologise unreservedly for that.

Walshs resignation, while inevitable, does not address the wider issue and until that it is addressed, this is certain to happen again.
The North Korean remains unconscious in intensive care and relies on life support, but doctors said he is showing signs of progress considering his blood pressure and the decreased amount of blood in his urine.

But doctors said he remains highly vulnerable to secondary infections due to the large number of parasites found in his intestines, reflecting the poor health and nutrition of the North. The surgery was conducted by Dr. Lee Kook-jong at Ajou University Hospital, and lasted more than three hours.

A North Korean soldier who suffered critical bullet wounds when he fled across the border to South Korea this week was in stable condition on Wednesday following a second round of surgery.

Lee told reporters after the surgery, "We excised damaged tissue and also removed a remaining bullet in his abdomen." Lee said fecal matter and parasites in the soldier's abdominal area led to serious infections. Worms measuring up to 27 cm were found in his small intestine, which made surgery very difficult.

"We discovered parasites that are simply not found in people in this country," Lee said. "I haven't seen them in my 20 years as a doctor except in textbooks."

"In South Korea, no matter how poor you are, preventive measures are offered so that no such parasites can exist," he added.

Lee said he removed the parasites, but infections from them could still prove fatal. Lee explained that the soldier is not in a condition to take deworming tablet and doctors are trying to figure out how to deal with the problem.

Believed to be in his 20s, the man is 170 cm tall and weighs just 60 kg. The malnourished solider lost 1.5 liters of blood and endured a long period of shock, which makes him more vulnerable to complications later. "There are many bad factors at play, and we'll be able to determine his prognosis in about a week," Lee added.

The man, who defected through the Joint Security Area in the border truce village of Panmunjom on Monday, was shot five times by fellow North Korean soldiers.


According to Statistics Korea on Thursday, 6,054 Vietnamese women married Korean men in 2016, compared to 5,838 Chinese. They accounted for 27.9 percent of mixed marriages, up from 20.9 percent in 2014. But the proportion of Chinese women, often ethnic Koreans, fell from 38.6 percent in 2008 to 26.9 percent.

Vietnamese women made up the biggest proportion of foreign brides in Korea last year, overtaking Chinese women for the first time.

The trend is apparently helped by the popularity of K-pop and Korean soaps in Southeast Asia. "Favorable impressions of Korea lead to Vietnamese women applying for jobs in Korean companies and coming to study in Korea," Statistics Korea said.

A staffer at Lotte Mart, which has 13 stores in Vietnam, said, "Vietnamese women in their 20s and 30s buy Korean products they see in the soaps. We sell more Korean food products in Vietnam than in China."

Samsung, LG and other Korean businesses that have moved manufacture to Vietnam are contributing to the positive views Vietnamese have of the country. Samsung now makes 40 percent of its total smartphone output in Vietnam and employs 100,000 people there.

"A lot of our Vietnamese staff want to learn Korean and experience Korean culture," a Samsung staffer said. "Korean is as popular as English and has almost become a second language here."

Twenty universities in Vietnam have Korean language departments, and 120,000 Korean expats, the biggest number in Southeast Asia, serve as bridges connecting the two countries.

Marriage brokers say the strong Confucian tradition in Vietnam make women popular among Korean men. One marriage broker here said, "These days, eight or nine out of every 10 phone calls we get ask about Vietnamese brides. Vietnamese women are popular because they're hard-working and willing to support their parents-in-law."

Choi Yun-jeong at the Korean Women's Development Institute said, "Strengthened regulations since 2010 have led to a decline in international marriages, but the number of Vietnamese brides is increasing."

Vietnamese wives of Koreans often introduce family members or relatives to other Korean men. Meanwhile, increasing working opportunities and the improving Chinese economy make Korea less attractive for women there.

"There used to be a lot of ethnic Korean women from China who married Korean men to gain employment, but recently the visa requirements have been relaxed, so there are opportunities to work here even if they don't get married," said Lee Duk-ryong at the Justice Ministry.

One staffer at a marriage brokerage firm said the mail-order bride market in China is "dead" because of the rapid growth of the economy.
A Belgian judge did not rule Friday on a European arrest warrant issued by Spain against ousted Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, instead setting December 4th for the next hearing.

During a closed-door hearing, prosecutors had asked the judge to extradite Puigdemont and four members of his cabinet to Spain, where they would face charges of rebellion and sedition for their roles in the region's independence drive.

Madrid issued the warrant for Puigdemont and the four ex-ministers after they fled to Brussels last month and ignored a summons to appear before a Spanish judge, claiming they would not get a fair trial.


GLOSSOPHOBICS are facing up to their fear of public speaking with Toastmasters International.

The company oversees a series of speakers' clubs around the world, helping people to become effective presenters.

Bromley Speakers' Club is one of six run by the company in Kent and Surrey.

It offers members a structured programme designed to increase people's confidence and ability to communicate in a clear and concise way.

It meets in the Change of Horses, Farnborough Village, at 7.15pm on the first and third Thursdays of each month.

For further information, call area governor June McCullough on 020 8549 7660.

September 17, 2001 15:36
LEXINGTON  Two men have been arrested in connection with an armed robbery of a State Employees Credit Union on Thursday.

Two more have been identified and are wanted, according to a Lexington police news release.

Jason McIntyre, 20, of Lexington has been charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery, breaking and entering and three counts of larceny of a firearm. He is being held in the Davidson County Jail with bail set at $500,000.

Zackary Mauldin, 20, of Lexington was charged with aid and abet robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery. He is jailed with bail set at $500,000.

Dante Dalton, 21, is wanted on charges of robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Darian Shellman, 27, is wanted on charges of robbery with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery, breaking and entering and three counts of larceny of a firearm.

Police said two armed men entered the credit union at 404 Piedmont Drive about 10:45 a.m. Thursday and demanded money via a note. No employees were injured.

The robbers fled the scene on foot. A witness near Tyler Drive reported seeing three males fitting the description get into a white Mercury Grand Marquis or Ford Crown Victoria. Information received during the investigation led officers to an address on Hankins Drive where the suspect vehicle was located and seized as evidence.

One suspect was taken into custody on Hankins Drive and further leads led to an address on Federal Street where a second suspect was taken into custody. Both were taken into custody without incident.

Police seized several guns, some stolen during a breaking and entering at a residence on Bridge Street.
It was never a question whether Ivan Jonathan Prudente-Anorve was guilty of causing the deaths of two men when he drove through a flashing red light at an intersection and plowed into another car.

A Forsyth County jury had to decide whether Prudente-Anorve was guilty of second-degree murder or involuntary manslaughter. The jury of six men and six women took only about 30 minutes Friday to decide that it was murder when Prudente-Anorves actions in the early morning hours of Oct. 1, 2016, led to the deaths of Cameron Marc Francis, 21, and Marquice Gaines, 22. The verdict came after a week-long trial that started with jury selection on Monday.

Francis and Gaines died just days from their birthdays. Francis would have turned 22 on Oct. 4, 2016, and Gaines died Oct. 8, 2016, five days from his 23rd birthday.

Judge David Hall of Forsyth Superior Court gave Prudente-Anorve two consecutive sentences for each count of second-degree murder. The sentences came to a total of 33 years and four months to 42 years in prison.

Prudente-Anorve apologized to the families of Gaines and Francis before he was sentenced.

Im sorry and only God knows how sorry I am, he said, tears running down his face. I lay in my bed, crying over this ... I wish it happened to me, not to them.

Hall said he didnt question Prudente-Anorves sincerity in his apology, but he also noted that when Prudente-Anorve climbed out of his Chevrolet Trailblazer that had overturned in the crash, he didnt ask about Gaines and Francis or the two other passengers in the Toyota Corolla that he hit  Regan Thomas Starkie and Jude Zappa Donadio.

Call my girl, Hall said, referring to what Prudente-Anorve told Vannoi Jefferson, who had helped pull him out of his vehicle. Hall said Prudente-Anorves first priority was himself, not helping the people in the other vehicle, including Gaines and Francis.

I didnt hear, Is anyone hurt? he said.

5,000-pound missile

According to testimony from the trial, the crash happened at 2:30 a.m. Oct. 1, 2016, at the intersection of Vargrave and Waughtown streets.

Officer Stephen Everhart, who conducted the accident reconstruction, testified that Prudente-Anorve was traveling north on Vargrave Street. Francis was driving west on Waughtown Street.

Based on data collected from Prudente-Anorves car, Prudente-Anorve was the driver and he kept his foot on the gas pedal up to one second before the crash. Everhart said Prudente-Anorve never applied his brakes.

Prudente-Anorves vehicle T-boned Francis car, with the impact being on Francis drivers side. Francis car ended up by a guardrail, and Francis was pinned inside the car. Winston-Salem police officers and other emergency personnel had to get Francis out of the car.

Francis had fractures in his head, chest and pelvic area and other injuries. He died of multiple injuries, according to Dr. Patrick Lantz, a Forsyth County medical examiner. Gaines died from blunt-force injuries and had multiple areas of bleeding on the brain that resulted from his head banging against the car during the crash, Dr. Jerri McLemore, a Forsyth County medical examiner, testified.

Assistant District Attorney Aaron Berlin said in closing arguments that Prudente-Anorve had a duty to stop at a flashing red light. Francis didnt do anything wrong.

They did not know that the defendant would be driving a 5,000-pound missile drunkenly, plowing into the drivers side, Berlin said.

Assistant District Attorney Matt Breeding said Prudente-Anorve acted with malice. Prosecutors had presented evidence that Prudente-Anorve had gotten numerous notices over the years from the N.C. Department of Motor Vehicles that his drivers license was suspended or revoked. He also had been cited for driving while license revoked.

In January 2012, a police officer stopped Prudente-Anorve for running the same flashing red light on Vargrave Street that he was accused of running through in the Oct. 1, 2016, fatal crash, prosecutors said.

Clark Fischer, Prudente-Anorves attorney, said in closing arguments that prosecutors did not prove that Prudente-Anorve acted with malice. He agreed that Prudente-Anorve should not have been drinking and driving and that he should have stopped at the flashing red light.

He messed up, Fischer said.

Breeding said Prudente-Anorve should have known better.

He didnt care about the consequences of his conduct, Breeding said. He didnt care about the consequences for the community.

Lives lost

Nicole DePriest, Francis sister, could barely get through her statement. Her husband, Billy DePriest, stood beside her and offered comfort.

I want him to be aware of everything he took away, she said, her voice breaking. He was my baby brother. He had a heart of gold.

DePriest described Francis as the one who would give hugs to his friends and family and remind them of how much he loved them. When their father had a stroke, Francis was the one who became the caretaker, making sure his father took his medication and ate while their mother worked, she said.

DePriest said a week after Francis death, their mother found their father lying on the floor after suffering a seizure.

LaJunne Gaines Tatum, Gaines mother, said Gaines was her first-born son. Gaines worked to do whatever he imagined.

He loved to play guitar and as he got older, he and the skateboard became one, she said.

After the families spoke, Breeding didnt have anything to add.

I dont know what else I can say that hasnt been said, he said.
Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao had said Thushar was behind an alleged BJP bid to poach TRS MLAs.
Nebraska soybeans are heading to Bulgaria.

The Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) has signed letters of intent with nine soybean processing companies in Bulgaria. The agreement will promote Nebraska soybeans and soybean products in their facilities.

This is a great opportunity, which is growing demand for Nebraska soybeans, said Gov. Pete Ricketts. Bulgaria is a country with a high demand for quality protein and is a relatively untapped market.

Ricketts said promoting Nebraska for quality agricultural commodities supports farmers and ranchers.

He said it increases our global market share, and continue to grow Nebraskas No. 1 industry.

The companies want to maximize their output and are looking to source Nebraska and U.S. soybeans. They use about 2 million metric tons of soybeans per year. They have a total production capacity of 2.7 million metric tons.

The Bulgarian companies visited Nebraska this year to learn more about soybean production.

NDA used federal Emerging Markets Program grant funds to pay for the visit. A market research study was done to promote soybean sales in eastern Europe.

They visited a soybean farm in Geneva, the Aurora Cooperative and the grain storage and trading operations of Gavilon and Scoular in Omaha. They also visited a shipping container/loading facility in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and the ADM soybean processing facility and power plant in Lincoln.

They talked with members of the Nebraska Soybean Board as well.

Good personal relationships with the owners and executives of several soybean processing facilities in Bulgaria are a tremendous asset for the future, said NDA Interim Director Mat Habrock. We share similar appreciation for people, culture and agriculture.

Bulgaria has been a member of the European Union since 2007. The EU was Nebraskas third-largest export market of soybeans and soybean products in 2015.

Trade is important to Nebraska agriculture. On Friday, the USDA reported that agricultural exports totaled $140.5 billion in FY 2017. Thats $10.9 billion more than the previous year and the third-highest level on record.

U.S. agriculture had a trade surplus of $21.3 billion. That was up 30 percent from the previous years $16.6 billion.

China was the U.S.s largest export customer at $22 billion. Canada was second at $20.4 billion. U.S. agricultural exports to Mexico totaled $18.6 billion. Thats a 6 percent gain from last year. Japans total increased by 12 percent to $11.8 billion.

The other top 10 markets were the European Union ($11.6 billion), South Korea ($6.9 billion), Hong Kong ($4 billion), Taiwan ($3.4 billion), Indonesia ($3 billion) and the Philippines ($2.6 billion).

U.S. bulk commodity exports set a volume record at 159 million metric tons. That was up 11 percent from FY 2016, while their value increased by 16 percent to $51.4 billion. Soybean exports reached a record 60 million metric tons, valued at $24 billion.

Corn, wheat, and cotton exports also grew. Wheat exports were up 21 percent to $6.2 billion. Corn exports were up 6 percent to $9.7 billion.

U.S. dairy exports increased by 17 percent to $5.3 billion and beef exports were up 16 percent to $7.1 billion. Pork exports increased by 14 percent to $6.4 billion. Horticultural product exports increased by 3 percent to $33.9 billion. Exports of tree nuts reached $8.1 billion, the second-highest total on record. Processed food and beverage exports increased by 2 percent to $39.2 billion.

Exports are responsible for 20 percent of U.S. farm income, according to the USDA.
KEARNEY  Whether hes starting a fire or putting it out, to say Cody Miller likes fire is an understatement.

I like to burn, said Miller, the supervisory wild land firefighter for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Rainwater Basin at Funk. Hes been on the job since April, and has a lot of plans for the basins 21-county area in south-central Nebraska.

A native of Ardmore, Okla., Miller, 39, is in charge of prescribed burns in the Rainwater Basin. Prescribed burning is used to remove old vegetative growth, release nutrients back to the soil, decrease woody and other invasive and undesirable plant species, increase warm season grasses and forbs, and reduce the amount of organic matter on the soil surface.

Fire has been used as a tool for land management for centuries, Miller said, allowing for the eradication of invasive plants and give native plants a chance to survive.

Miller was in college at Oklahoma State University taking a prescribed fire management class when he was bit by the fire bug.

The first time I burned off a section, I was like, Whoa, thats really cool, he said. Thats something I could do.

And hes loved the work ever since.

Its one of those things that you can do, and at the end of the day you can see what you did, and thats pretty fulfilling, he said. That was the first bug, when I got a drip torch in my hand.

After college Miller moved to Maryland, working for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources forestry division, and the Maryland Fire Service where he started earning wild land fire qualifications. In 2007, he moved to northwest Arkansas to work for the National Park Service.

The job took him all over the United States, including the Rainwater Basin at Funk, conducting prescribed burns and helping with wildfires, and emergency management relief. Its the burning that drew him to south-central Nebraska.

I got to burn in almost every state in the U.S. he said. Theres a challenge here, and I want to see if I can do it.

In April, Miller moved to Kearney and started working at the Rainwater Basin.

Im the fire guy, he said smiling.

With 12 fire qualifications ranging from engine or crew boss to helicopter crew member, Miller is often assigned to help extinguish wildfires throughout the country. His name goes into a database, and based on his experience and the nature of the wildfire, he could be dispatched to a fire at a moments notice.

In late July, Miller was assigned to wildfires at the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Montana where he was assigned as an engine boss. He worked four fires in 21 days, then was assigned to the Meyers Fire, near Philipsburg, Mont., for another 21 days as a task force leader.

Its pretty primitive. Youre sleeping in a tent the whole time, he said.

Firefighters can work 16 hours a day for a standard 14 days in a row on wildfires before theyre required to take a mandatory two days off. Miller must also pass the basic physical test of walking three miles carrying 45 pounds on his back in less than 45 minutes.

In February, weather permitting, Miller wants to start prescribed burns in the Rainwater Basin and at Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge in Kansas. Eventually, he wants to burn as many as 5,000 acres by late spring.

If everything goes right in my head the Rainwater Basin can be a shining standard for the fish and wildlife. Thats my hope, he said.

A drawback to his job, besides the long hours, weeks away from home, and last-minute calls to unheard of regions is that Miller doesnt get much of a personal life.

I dont have a personal life like regular people do. Ive been married to the job for a while. But its so much fun, he said.

@HubChic
LINCOLN  Hub Territory high school seniors Hal Moomey of Kearney and Wyatt Hubbard of Elm Creek will travel to Taiwan next week to represent the Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute as part of a student exchange program.

They are the sons of Travis and Dori Moomey, and Neal and Tracy Hubbard.

For the past 14 years, students from an ag high school in Taiwan have attended the Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute, a weeklong summer program coordinated by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture.

In return, NDA chooses two NAYI delegates to go to Taiwan to learn about its ag industry and the benefits of Nebraska ag exports there.

Hal and Wyatt will stay at the Taichung Senior High School of Agriculture and Technology, and visit local farms and Taiwan ag research institutes.

The trip is coordinated by NDA and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Denver, and sponsored by Nebraska Farm Bureau and TECO.
Best management practices are keys to addressing many ag production and environmental challenges, including control of herbicide-resistant weeds.

Resistant palmer amaranth became a major concern for many farmers in the 2016 growing season. In response, many soybean and corn producers used new, labeled herbicides containing dicamba in their 2017 post-emerge weed control programs to target palmer amaranth.

The new products provided good palmer amaranth control overall, especially in cornfields.

However, Nebraska Department of Agriculture officials have received a record number of official complaints about dicamba drift or volatilization. Plant injury occurred when dicamba moved from applied fields to neighboring fields that were not planted to dicamba-resistant crops, windbreaks and other landscapes.

According to Nebraska Extension Emeritus Weed Specialist Robert Klein, volatilization appeared to be the biggest problem in the first year these new dicamba products were used in Nebraska.

High temperatures during application and the days following application, without doubt, contributed to the injury to conventional and non-Xend soybeans, as well as other vegetation, Klein said.

Dicamba applicators are urged to adopt best management practices to reduce drift and volatilization issues for the 2018 growing season.

Some new strategies will be recommended and others will be required.

For example, NDA likely will require online training certification for anyone applying dicamba products to Nebraska fields in 2018, with details provided in the coming months.

Read, follow labels

Herbicide product labels always are the best reference for management practices because the label is the law.

Applicators should read and follow the latest labels published on the internet to check the new provisions. Many newer dicamba products have revised labels.

Herbicide practice recommendations were presented at a Nebraska Extension Dicamba Sprayer Clinic in Curtis that focused on reducing dicamba movement from applied fields and increasing herbicide performance.

Correct mix critical

Read herbicide labels to check the additives approved for dicamba tank mixes. Active dicamba concentrations vary from product to product, which means additive application rates also vary.

The most important label difference is that ammonium sulfate (AMS) cannot be used with new dicamba herbicide formulations such as Enlist Duo (Dow), XtendiMax (Monsanto), Engenia (BASF) and FeXapan (DuPont).

AMS has been used for decades in glyphosate tank mixes to neutralize hard water ions and improve glyphosate performance. However, AMS may uncouple the volatility safener in dicamba formulations, resulting in higher dicamba volatility.

The same volatilization principle may be true for new corn products such as DiFlexx Duo, Status, Valor and other dicamba-containing herbicides.

When cornfields near soybeans that are not dicamba resistant or other dicamba sensitive crops will be sprayed with dicamba, it may be best to use AMS alternative strategies to overcome hard water and glyphosate effectiveness issues.

One strategy may be to increase glyphosate rates to label maximum, such as 32-45 ounces per acre.

Alternative water conditioners also may be used.

North Dakota State University research suggests that Dipotassium phosphate (DPP) or water adjuvant products containing DPP may be the best alternative. Other potential options may be EDTA, citric acid and some acidic AMS replacements.

More tips

Temperature inversion conditions are key factors for herbicide volatilization.

To reduce this risk, apply herbicides only when wind speeds at boom height are at 3-10 mph and before sunset or after sunrise to avoid times when cooler air still may be below hotter air.

To improve weed control:

- Spray weeds before they are 4 inches high.

- Keep sprayer ground speeds at less than 15 mph in the field and less than 5 mph around field edges.

- Use the correct label-approved nozzle sizes and pressures.

- Seek to maintain a 2-foot boom height.

- Thoroughly clean sprayers to prevent cross contamination.

For more herbicide information, contact a local Extension office or visit the website at http://cropwatch.unl.edu.

Todd Whitney is a University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension educator for Phelps, Gosper, Harlan and Furnas counties.
BROKEN BOW  6 Nebraska presentations of the Assisting the Beef Cow at Calving program will be held December 11-13.

The Broken Bow session will be from 1-3:30 p.m. Dec. 12 in the 4-H Building at the Custer County Fairgrounds and the Kearney session will be from 1-3:30 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Buffalo County Extension office.

Presenter Robert Mortimer is a nationally known veterinarian from Colorado State University who will discuss handling calving difficulties, including the hows and whys of techniques to provide assistance.

The $20 per person cost can be paid at the door, but preregistrations are needed two days in advance to ensure there will be enough program materials.

To preregister, contact Custer County Extension Educator Troy Walz at 308-372-6821 or twalz1@unl.edu or Buffalo County Extension Educator Brent Plugge at 308-236-1235 or brent.plugge@unl.edu.

The other program sites are Bridgeport and the Gudmundsen Sandhills Lab near Whitman, Dec. 11; ONeill, Dec. 12; and West Central Research and Extension Center near North Platte, Dec. 13.

Beef Quality Assurance training by state BQA Director Rob Eirich will follow the Dec. 13 program at the Kearney site only.

Producers can be BQA certified or recertified for three years at a cost of $20. Contact Plugge for more details.
LINCOLN  A major pharmaceutical company demanded in a letter a month ago that the State of Nebraska return any lethal injection drugs it might have that were manufactured by the company or its affiliate.

Pfizer adopted a policy in 2016 banning the use of its products in an execution as a misuse of drugs intended to save lives.

Pfizer makes its products to enhance and save the lives of the patients we serve. Consistent with these values, Pfizer strongly objects to the use of its products as lethal injections for capital punishment, stated the Oct. 4 letter, signed by Robert Jones, a public relations director at Pfizer.

Officials with the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services and the office of Gov. Pete Ricketts declined to say Thursday if the state had obtained any Pfizer drugs.

We are not disclosing the identity of the supplier at this time, said Corrections spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith.

But Smith said the state spent $10,500 on the four lethal injection drugs purchased last month.

This comes two years after Nebraska spent $54,000 on similar drugs that it never received.

A week ago, the state informed a death row inmate that it had obtained the substances it planned to use in carrying out the inmates death sentence.

Three of the drugs are on Pfizers list of substances it prohibits for use in executions.

If Nebraska obtained drugs made by Pfizer, it risks a lawsuit from the company or one of its distributors claiming that it violated the companys ban on using drugs on its list of restricted products for a lethal injection, according to a national authority on the death penalty.

The question is: Is there someone who is violating their contract with Pfizer? asked Robert Dunham of the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center on Thursday. Or is a distributor being misled about the use of the drug?

Dunham said Pfizer typically doesnt send such demand letters unless it suspects that a state has obtained drugs manufactured by it.

The Pfizer letter was among several documents released by Corrections this week in response to public records requests from The World-Herald and the ACLU of Nebraska. The newspaper and the civil rights group each independently requested information about the states efforts to obtain lethal injection drugs.

The records show that the state on Sept. 19 received federal approval, if necessary, to import controlled substances. On Oct. 12, records indicated that four lethal injection drugs were being stored at a prison in Lincoln.

The documents also list expiration dates for the drugs. Two of the drugs expire in July and August 2018.

That raises doubts about whether Nebraska could set an execution date before the drugs expire, according to a leading death penalty opponent, State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha.

While the state has declined to identify the source of the four drugs, Smith, the Corrections spokeswoman, said last week that they came from a source in the U.S.

Dunham said the information released so far seems to indicate two possible sources: either a private compounding pharmacy or a distributor that handles Pfizer products.

The records released by the state indicated that at least two of the drugs had been sent to a laboratory in Minnesota for testing. Such testing is required by state law before the drugs can be used in an execution, Smith said.

The four drugs that the state obtained included three on Pfizers list of 13 restricted products the company has said cannot be used in lethal injections.

The three are diazepam, fentanyl citrate and potassium chloride. A fourth drug obtained by the state, cisatracurium besylate, is not manufactured by Pfizer, a company spokesman said Thursday.

The Pfizer letter said the company would reimburse the state for any drugs it returned that were made by Pfizer or Hospira, a Pfizer company. A company spokesman declined to say if Nebraska had returned any drugs, referring questions to state officials.

Nebraska, as well as several other states, have scrambled to obtain lethal injection drugs in recent years, in part because companies like Pfizer have banned their use for executions.

Some documents released to the ACLU illustrated that. Included were pleas from officials in Nevada and Mississippi who were seeking help to obtain lethal injection drugs for their states.

Danielle Conrad, who heads the ACLU of Nebraska, said Thursday that the information released to the ACLU raises more questions than it answers.

Every attempt to tinker with the machinery of death doesnt bring us any closer to an execution, Conrad said. It just raises a new set of questions.

Almost half of the records request by the group produced a state response that no records exist. Conrad, a former state senator, said the ACLU is reviewing whether its request was fully complied with, adding that she expects more to be released next week.

Nebraska has yet to seek an execution warrant for the inmate, Jose Sandoval, who was sentenced to die for his role in the murders of five people inside a Norfolk bank in 2002. Last weeks notice was a required step before an execution date is requested.

There has not been an execution in Nebraska for 20 years, since the electric chair was in use. Electrocution was ruled unconstitutional as cruel and unusual punishment by the Nebraska Supreme Court, so the state switched to lethal injection.

But the state has stumbled in past attempts to obtain the drugs.

In 2011, a Swiss manufacturer demanded the return of a lethal injection drug purchased through a broker in India, saying it had been improperly obtained by the broker. Two years ago, Nebraska spent $54,000 through the same broker, Chris Harris, for drugs it never received. That shipment was blocked by federal authorities.
KEARNEY  Bret Stubbs, Buffalo County weed superintendent, recently attended the Nebraska Weed Control Association Fall Training Nov. 8-9 at the Ramada Inn in Kearney. The theme was Year In Review.

Presentations included: Harlan Reservoirs Invasive Weed Control Story, Tom Zikmund, Army Corps; Twin Valley Weed Management Area Update, Merle Illian, TVWMA coordinator; Winterizing Equipment, Sara Sivits, Dawson County Extension educator; Factors to Build and Maintain Ecological Resilience, Chris Helzer, The Nature Conservancy; 2017 Year in Review Panel, Charles Brooks, Phelps County weed superintendent; Region IV, Mark Goebel, Franklin County; and Region VI, Ridge Horky, Custer County.

NWCA Fall Training was the third opportunity of 2017 to obtain required continuing education, as defined in the Nebraska Noxious Weed Act. The final for 2017 is the Nebraska Association of County Officials Conference Dec. 13-14 in Kearney.
Overseas corporations that import Nebraska ag products want to know the people theyre doing business with, Axtell farmer Steve Nelsen told members of the Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation in the Oct. 27 newsletter. As Farm Bureau president, Nelson had just returned from a Nebraska trade mission to Japan, and wrote, One of the things I find true, no matter where you go in the world ... is that personal relationships are very, very important. International buyers want to see who they are dealing with.

Thats the human side of trade, and it seems to be missing from President Donald Trumps treatment of agricultural trade. By withdrawing from negotiations for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and in threatening to withdraw the United States from the North American Free Trade Agreement, Trump shows he needs to know more about the farmers and ranchers hes harming with reckless trade strategies. Ag trade is important to farm states, and also the nation.

This year, the United States could ring up a trade deficit exceeding $400 billion. Pledging to put America first, Trump believes the way to end the imbalance is to abandon multiple-nation agreements in favor of negotiating one-on-one, but so far the global reaction has been negative. The U.S. could be left on its own if Trump follows through.

The president should abandon his my way or the highway tactics and instead take a cue from Nelson. Relationships matter, especially here at home, where people in farm states like Nebraska voted Trump into the White House. Farmers deserve Trumps attention. He could start by deepening his knowledge of trade and how farm country relies on it.

Foreign demand boosts prices for livestock and grain and chips away at the U.S. trade imbalance. If Trump examined the statistics, he would discover that  almost without exception  ag products produced in states like Nebraska create surpluses that help counter deficits from importing products manufactured overseas.

Trump needs to keep his hands off NAFTA or he risks undermining U.S. trade surpluses such as: meat, $5.2 billion; dairy and eggs, $1.3 billion; cereals, $12 billion; feed, $6 billion; and miscellaneous edible products, $3.2 billion. The export of hides, oil seeds, wood pulp, animal oils and vegetable fats also created surpluses, according to federal data from 2016.

The Farm Bureaus Nelson wrote that withdrawing from the TPP negotiations likely cost Nebraska farmers $378 million. What will the damage be if Trump does away with NAFTA?

Stakes are high, Nelson said. When it comes to trade, we need to be in the drivers seat, not just along for the ride.
Kelowna RCMP are seeking help to track down a stolen ring, similar to the one shown here, which was taken after a teenager was assaulted in a downtown Kelowna alley.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

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The Rev. William J. Barber speaks at a rally in opposition to Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore at a church in Birmingham, Ala., on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Barber and other speakers criticized Moore over allegations he made improper sexual advances toward teenage girls decades ago. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)
In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, rescuers look at a road blocked by fallen rocks in Paizhen town in Mainling county of Nyingchi city in southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. A strong earthquake has shaken China's Tibet region. The U.S. Geological Survey says the 6.3 magnitude quake hit at a depth of about 6 miles (10 kilometers) about 36 miles (58 kilometers) northeast of Nyingchi. (Liu Pengchao/Xinhua via AP)
Choe Ryong Hae, second from right, vice chairman of the Central Committee of North Korea's ruling party holds a talk with Song Tao, second from left, the head of China's ruling Communist Party's International Liaison Department, at the Mansudae Assembly Hall, in Pyongyang, Friday, Nov. 17, 2017. The highest-level Chinese envoy to North Korea in two years arrived in the countryAos capital on Friday to try to improve relations that have soured over BeijingAos tightening of sanctions and expressions of support for U.S. President Donald TrumpAos calls for more pressure on the North to abandon its nuclear weapons program. (Kyodo News via AP)
More than 450 Kenosha area residents had extra reason to give thanks Saturday as they took home free turkeys for their Thanksgiving dinners.

In the course of two hours, people lined up for turkey giveaways at Fellowship Baptist Church, 1700 89th St., and the Shalom Center, 4314 39th Ave.

Fellowship Baptist

At the church, families and individuals began lining up as early at 6 a.m. for the 10 a.m. giveaway, according to church deacon Joe Paura.

The 16th annual turkey giveaway offered up 213 turkeys along with a grocery bag of sides and meal fixings.

Held in the parish hall, the event also featured a sit-down meal of sloppy joes, rice and homemade desserts. Down the hall, free coats and other winter wear were available to those in need.

The $3,500 for the turkeys and groceries was raised by the 100-member congregation; about 40 members helped host the event.

Lenard Tavernelli, church pastor, said that as the number of turkeys has increased, so has demand.

We never have any turkeys left, he said.

We do this because we realize how much has been given to us and see in Scripture that we are supposed to care for the needy and less fortunate, said volunteer and church member Hannah Yarbrough.

Jordan Schraeder, 10, was enthusiastic about the event.

I like it, and Im thankful for the turkey, the Bible and the bracelet we got.

His mother, Shannon, said she heard about the event through social media.

It helps out our family, she said.

Avanti Cuff, who was there with her infant son, Jermaine, heard about the event through her mother who had participated in the turkey giveaway when she was young.

Its amazing what they can do for the community. I was going to go to a friends house for Thanksgiving, but now maybe Ill make the meal myself.

We know we cant fix anything long term, but its a blessing that one day a year people can come and sit and have a meal together, Paura said.

Shalom Center

Across town in the parking lot of the Shalom Center, 250 more free turkeys went to those in need.

The 10-pound frozen turkeys were a gift from Melvins Foundation, established by Melvin Gordon, running back for the Los Angeles Chargers.

Although Gordon was not present for the giveaway, his mother, Carmen, noted that the foundation donated the turkeys plus some cash for the Shalom Center.

It was a small donation, but now well plan to make a yearly thing, she said. Im impressed with the Shalom Center; what its become compared to 20 years ago.

Working through a cold rain mixed with snow, Shalom Center staff and residents and Girl Scout Troop 9178 directed traffic, made hot chocolate and gave out turkeys.

This place is awesome, said resident and volunteer Joey, who declined to give his last name. It makes me feel like giving back for what theyve given me.

Its worth it; seeing the smiles of peoples faces is a blessing, said Tamarra Coleman, director of programs and operations manager of the Shalom Center.

Im very thankful; this is a great thing for them to do, said Teresa White as she accepted her turkey.

Coleman noted Gordons generosity.

Things have come full circle, she said. The community has blessed (the Shalom Center), and now, Melvin, a hometown man, is blessing us to give back to the community.
Since the 2013-14 academic year, full-time University of Wisconsin-Parkside enrollment has held relatively steady.

The number of full-time undergraduates has dropped a slight 1.7 percent within the five-year period through 2017-18.

However, during the same period part-time undergraduate enrollment declined by 23 percent, falling from 1,157 students in 2013-14 to 893 in 2017-18.

If you look at the overall numbers, we mostly serve full-time students, Provost Robert Ducoffe said, while acknowledging that on the part-time side, the numbers have dropped a little bit.

Boosting overall enrollment and focusing particularly on raising part-time student numbers has led to adding more online opportunities, including programs leading to bachelors degrees.

Part-time students tend to be adult students who value convenience more, like online programs, for example, so they dont have to come to campus one or two or three times a week. They typically work full time and have families. So, theyre tending to migrate toward online courses, Ducoffe said.

I think that (part-time enrollment) number could also be reflective of the employment opportunities and the demand for workers being on the upswing, John Mielke, director of strategic communications, said.

Said Ducoffe: We love that our economy is good and people are employed. The part we can control is to modify our programs to account for and take advantage of that.

Toward that end, Parkside started complete, online undergraduate degree programs in business and liberal studies last year. In May, an MBA program will be launched online, followed in August by a degree program in professional studies.

Were looking at, as those programs come online, part-time numbers will increase. The adult market is a growing market for us, Ducoffe said.

That market comprises people in the 25-and-older population who need to complete a degree theyve already started, as well as those seeking post-graduate degrees.

Like their Gateway Technical Collge and Carthage College counterparts, Ducoffe and Mielke cited decreasing birth rates the past 10 years not only in southeast Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois but also nationally. That corresponds with statistics showing declines in the number of high school graduates, shrinking the pool where all colleges cast their lures.

Ducoffe said that explains, at least in part, why enrollment of traditional undergraduates, that is, those aged 18 to 24, has been barely flat, even slightly decreasing, within the universitys primary Kenosha-Racine and northeast Illinois recruitment areas.

Still, Ducoffe chooses to look on the bright side, calculating about a 22 percent increase in the number of UW-Parkside students earning degrees annually. Official statistics show the number has risen from 648 in 2013-14 to 788 last year, the most in the universitys history.

If I could write the headline, I would base it on (that) data, Ducoffe said. At the end of the day, our purpose is to turn out students with degrees. Thats a bottom line of the university providing well-educated graduates to the local economies.

At the same time, he added, we need to replace the growing number of graduates with undergraduates entering the school. Were focusing on bringing in new first-time freshmen to UW-Parkside, which has seen a 15 percent increase in the category.

This semester, the university enrolled 1,057 new freshmen and transfer students, the largest incoming class in the past five years.

White enrollment still accounts for just over 67 percent of the student body but, at the same time, has dipped the most significantly. Black enrollment has declined slightly and represents just over 9 percent of the total.

The area of greatest growth has been among Hispanic/Latino students, with enrollment increasing 28 percent since 2013-14 and now comprising just under 16 percent of the total.

Recruiting efforts include programs for high school students, hosting campus visits to introduce them to what college looks like and majors they may want to pursue.

The more students who come to campus, the more theyre likely to apply, Ducoffe said. Its done with the cooperation of our deans and faculty in our four different colleges. So, parents and prospective students can learn about the opportunities available to them at Parkside.
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Now you can book your Uber from laptop



Uber on Friday launched a light web-based version of Uber - m.uber.com - in India that will help people book their rides from computers or tablets. So if you are at a place with no access to a smartphone, you can book your Uber from your laptop. The lighter web-version became available in India from Friday. "As part of our efforts to enable global access to Uber, we're focusing on two key areas for riders - building solutions for those who don't have access to the Uber app and enabling our existing rider app to work better in emerging markets," Daniel Graf, Vice President and Head of Product at Uber, said in a statement.



The company also introduced three new app features - offline search, request for a guest and call to ride. Offline search is for the riders using the app in limited network areas. With this feature, Uber is enabling offline search by caching the top points of interest in the city so that riders can enter their destinations in the app without having to wait for the connection, the company said.



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By Marcelo Teixeira

SAO PAULO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Norway's Yara International ASA , a global producer and distributor of fertilizers, has reached an agreement to buy Vale SA's fertilizer complex in Cubatao, Brazil, for $255 million in cash, the company said on Friday.

The deal, which Yara expects to be completed by the second half of next year, will give the Norwegian company the ability to produce in Brazil nitrogen-based fertilizers such as ammonium nitrate, largely used in sugar cane cultivation. Brazil is the world's largest cane producer and processor.

The agreement also marks another step for mining giant Vale, the world's largest iron ore exporter, in its divestiture program that aims to concentrate investment in its core areas and raise cash to reduce debt.

"It is a deal that makes sense for both companies," Lair Hanzen, head of Yara's Brazil unit, told reporters in a conference call.

Hanzen said the acquisition will allow Yara to double its fertilizer production capacity in Brazil to 3 million tonnes per year.

Yara plans to spend $80 million more in the complex in the next three years to upgrade equipment and systems.

The Norwegian company has a string of acquisitions in the Brazilian fertilizer sector. Since it entered the country in 2000 buying Adubos Trevo, it has expanded by acquiring Fertibras in 2006, Bunge's fertilizer unit in 2013 and by agreeing to a joint venture with Galvani in 2014.

Hanzen said the latest deal shows the company's strategy looking at the prospect of ever-higher agricultural production in Brazil and the need to reduce the country's dependence on fertilizer imports.

Brazil currently buys abroad around 70 percent of fertilizer it uses and it is considered one of few places in the world capable to still increase areas for agriculture.

Hanzen said the company will continue to look at opportunities in Brazil, but stressed that Yara has its "hands full" after recent acquisitions and new projects such as the Serra do Salitre, in the Minas Gerais state, that should produce 1.2 million tonnes of fertilizers per year.

Yara's acquisition of Vale's complex in Cubatao is subject to approval from Brazilian regulators. The cash payment to Vale is expected to come after the approval, Yara said.

(Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Will Dunham)
By Serajul Quadir

DHAKA, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Bangladesh aims to raise its export earnings from the information and communications technology (ICT) sector to $5 billion in 2021, said Zunaid Ahmed Palak, Junior Minister for ICT division of the Ministry of Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology.

He told Reuters the country earned $800 million from the sector last year and that this will reach $1 billion for the fiscal year ending next June.

European countries, the United States, Canada, Russia and India are among the main buyers for the sector, he said.

To showcase the sector to other countries, the ministry is organizing a four-day exposition and conference from Dec. 6. He said 162 organizations from around the world would be involved.

"To develop the sector along with the policy support, the government is also providing a 10 percent cash incentive and 100 percent tax exemption facility," the minister said.

He said that to achieve the target the ministry is working to develop human resources and has been carrying out training for young people and collaborating with academic institutions.

"We have also focused on better production and developing infrastructure," he said.

He said that in view of the country's rapid economic growth the ministry was also working to train up cyber security experts.

"The size of the economy is $246 billion, the growth of economy is more than 7 percent for the last couple of years, so we need to focus on cyber security," he said.

(Reporting By Serajul Quadir; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
KCDC executive Sean Gilbert earns prestigious national award





Sean Gilbert, senior vice president of housing fo KCDC . Image courtesy of KCDC



KNOXVILLE -- Sean Gilbert, senior vice president of housing for Knoxvilles Community Development Corporation (KCDC), has been selected as the 2017 Emerging Leader by the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO).



Gilbert received the prestigious award at NAHROs national conference held Oct. 27-29 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The organization is the leading housing and community development advocate for adequate and affordable housing, and its members administer federal programs for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The 2017 conference title was Building Bridges to the Future.



This award reflects the important work that Sean has done and continues to do at KCDC as well as with NAHRO and other organizations, KCDC Executive Director and CEO Ben Bentley said. We congratulate Sean on this honor and for his commitment and dedication to service and leadership.



The Emerging Leaders Award is presented by NAHRO to professionals in housing and community development who immerse themselves in the industry through mentorship, training and conferences. One winner is announced per year.



An award like this may be given to just one person, but the credit also goes to everyone at KCDC, Gilbert said. While I am honored to have been nominated and humbled to be selected as the winner, this award reflects the commitment of KCDC and its leadership to serve the community and put its employees in a position to have a local, regional and national voice.



Gilberts award nomination stated that he encourages teamwork and brings unity to his employees. He has been involved with NAHRO since the late 1990s. He participated in the first 40 under 40 leadership class for the South Eastern Regional Council of NAHRO (SERC-NAHRO) and then went on to serve in multiple leadership roles. Gilbert became the SERC-NAHRO president for the 2017-19 term on Oct. 1 and is the first 40 under 40 graduate to move into that position.



We are glad to have this opportunity to recognize Seans commitment, both to NAHRO and to the affordable housing and community development industry in general, said Adrianne Todman, CEO of NAHRO. We thank him for his service to the association and applaud his continued growth as both a local and national leader. Gilbert joined KCDC in 2014 after serving as executive director of Housing Authority of Pikeville in Kentucky, a position he assumed in 1995. He resides in Alcoa with wife Lora and son Trevor.



Since 1936, KCDC has been dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for the citizens of Knoxville. KCDCs mission is to improve and transform neighborhoods and communities by providing high-quality affordable housing, advancing development initiatives and fostering self-sufficiency. For more information on KCDC, visit



KNOXVILLE -- Sean Gilbert, senior vice president of housing for Knoxvilles Community Development Corporation (KCDC), has been selected as the 2017 Emerging Leader by the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO).Gilbert received the prestigious award at NAHROs national conference held Oct. 27-29 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The organization is the leading housing and community development advocate for adequate and affordable housing, and its members administer federal programs for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The 2017 conference title was Building Bridges to the Future.This award reflects the important work that Sean has done and continues to do at KCDC as well as with NAHRO and other organizations, KCDC Executive Director and CEO Ben Bentley said. We congratulate Sean on this honor and for his commitment and dedication to service and leadership.The Emerging Leaders Award is presented by NAHRO to professionals in housing and community development who immerse themselves in the industry through mentorship, training and conferences. One winner is announced per year.An award like this may be given to just one person, but the credit also goes to everyone at KCDC, Gilbert said. While I am honored to have been nominated and humbled to be selected as the winner, this award reflects the commitment of KCDC and its leadership to serve the community and put its employees in a position to have a local, regional and national voice.Gilberts award nomination stated that he encourages teamwork and brings unity to his employees. He has been involved with NAHRO since the late 1990s. He participated in the first 40 under 40 leadership class for the South Eastern Regional Council of NAHRO (SERC-NAHRO) and then went on to serve in multiple leadership roles. Gilbert became the SERC-NAHRO president for the 2017-19 term on Oct. 1 and is the first 40 under 40 graduate to move into that position.We are glad to have this opportunity to recognize Seans commitment, both to NAHRO and to the affordable housing and community development industry in general, said Adrianne Todman, CEO of NAHRO. We thank him for his service to the association and applaud his continued growth as both a local and national leader. Gilbert joined KCDC in 2014 after serving as executive director of Housing Authority of Pikeville in Kentucky, a position he assumed in 1995. He resides in Alcoa with wife Lora and son Trevor.Since 1936, KCDC has been dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for the citizens of Knoxville. KCDCs mission is to improve and transform neighborhoods and communities by providing high-quality affordable housing, advancing development initiatives and fostering self-sufficiency. For more information on KCDC, visit www.kcdc.org Published November 17, 2017










Families of five missing victims of the 2014 ferry sinking held a joint memorial service on Saturday after their bodies could not be recovered despite months-long search.



The ceremony for the missing victims including two high school students and a teacher was held at a port in Mokpo, some 410 kilometer south of Seoul, where the hull of the suken Sewol ferry sits after being retrieved from the sea earlier this year.



The 6,800-ton Sewol ferry that sank on April 16, 2014, in waters off the country's southwest coast claimed the lives of 304 people, most of them teenage students on a school trip.



A team of rescue workers had sought to find nine missing victims since early April when the hull was raised from the bottom of the sea and put into a dry dock at the port. But only the bodies of four victims were found.



A funeral car carrying items left by the victims went around the hull, according to participants.



The service was attended by a group of families of the ferry incident, Oceans Minister Kim Young-choon and others.



The country's ruling and opposition parties expressed their condolence to the missing victims, saying that such a disaster should not occur again.



"It is very regrettable that the five victims could not come to the arms of their families," Rep. Je Youn-kyung, a spokesperson at the ruling Minjoo Party. "It is also regrettable that the truth behind the sinking has not come out for long."



She called on opposition parties to approve the passage of a special law aimed at investigating the disaster which will be put on the table for vote.



Jun Hee-kyung, a spokesperson at the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, said that her party will make efforts to prevent such a tragic incident from occurring in the country. (Yonhap)




The two-story hall displays relics, personal articles and photos lefy by deceased "comfort women." / Yonhap



A memorial and exhibition hall for Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese troops during World War II opened near Seoul on Saturday after nearly two years of construction, officials said.

The two-story hall with a space of 1,300 square meters has been built on the compound of the House of Sharing, a shelter for sexual slavery victims, euphemistically called "comfort women," in Gwangju, about 40 km southeast of Seoul.

The memorial hall was built in the traditional Korean style, called hanok, with financial support from central and provincial governments and supporters of comfort women, said the officials.

Construction began in February 2016.

On the first floor, relics, personal articles and records left by deceased victims and paintings drawn by comfort women are on display. A special exhibition section is also located on the same floor.

The second floor features a list and photos of sexual slavery victims at home and abroad. Photos of 105 victims, including 22 foreigners, are put up on the center wall, along with Korean and English names of other 280 victims whose photos are not available.

Hand and footprints of the victims are also on display.

The memorial hall will be formally open to the public in January next year after additional landscaping work, according to the officials.

Saturday's opening ceremony was attended by government officials, lawmakers, families of victims and volunteers, including 40-odd activists from Japan.

"History is said to be a mirror of future. I expect this memorial hall will serve as a venue to reflect on our painful history and cherish the memory (of victims). In particular, I wish young people will be able to learn about women's wartime human rights," Chung Hyun-back, minister of Gender Equality and Family, said in an address at the opening ceremony. (Yonhap)




PRESS RELEASE

Dunford, German Foreign Intelligence Chief Say Russia Is a Threat

Nov. 17, 2017 (EIRNS)This week, both the top military officer in the U.S. and the head of Germanys intelligence service, the BND, have delivered remarks painting Russia as a major threat to the West. These remarks were debunked to a certain extent, however, by a Finnish expert on Russia who has found, so far, that the Russian Zapad 2017 exercise, last September, was exactly what the Russians said it was.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, in a speech at Tufts Universitys Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, said that while the U.S. military has certain global advantages, those advantages are being eroded by Russia and China. The U.S. global advantages include its network of allies and the U.S. militarys ability to project power anywhere in the world. In the last 10 or 15 years, Dunford said, "that competitive advantage has eroded, and its no longer as decisive as it was some years ago." Dunford said that both Russia and China have invested heavily in key capabilities that have

"the express purpose of keeping us from projecting power into the Pacific, or into Europe as the case may be, in meeting our alliance commitments."

Dunford acknowledges that Russia has no desire to fight a conventional war with the United States and NATO, but:

"What Russia has done over time now is theyve combined political influence, economic coercion, information operations, cyber operations and military posture to advance their interests,"

he said, referring to the dynamic as "adversarial competition." He admitted though that such "competition" falls short of war.

Bruno Kahl, the head of Germanys BND intelligence agency, goes further, calling Russia a direct military threat to Europe. Kahl, during a speech on Nov. 14, said the BND had observed "unsettling" modernization and troop distribution on the part of Russias army during the recent Zapad training exercises along the borders of the Baltic EU member countries, reports Deutschewelle.

"In the entire military region in the west, but also in the south and the north, the scope of the [Russian] armed forces has reached new heights,"

he said.

"To say it clearly: Instead of a partner for European security we have in Russia a potential danger. The world political actor Russia is back and it will be an uncomfortable neighbor."

In Helsinki, however, a Finnish military expert has come to a conclusion that probably wont be welcomed at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Juhani Pihlajamaa, a Russian military specialist at Finlands National Defence University, told Finlands YLE broadcaster that the Zapad 2017 exercise was precisely what the Russians said it wasan anti-terrorism exercise and not a message to NATO. He said the drill was actually less aggressive than it could have been, saying that they did not include testing of the Iskander short range missile system in Kaliningrad this year, as they did a year ago. He otherwise buys the narrative of an agressive Russia, but he contends that he doesnt think Zapad was meant to be a threat to Finland, saying that the focus of the drills was elsewhere.
PRESS RELEASE

Global Times Responds to U.S. Congressional Attack on China

Nov. 17, 2017 (EIRNS)The Global Times editorial today denounced the scurrilous attack on China issued this week by the bipartisan U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. They note that the neocon outfit always peddles anti-China diatribes in their annual reports, and "This year is no exception."

They note:

"From Chinas perspective, the commission is one of the most hostile U.S. organizations.... But from the very beginning, the commission has opposed China-U.S. exchanges and those who draft its report obviously hold fixed prejudices against China.... The most anti-China views percolate out of the U.S. Congress."

They contrast the report to President Trumps just-concluded visit to China, which had
PRESS RELEASE

Panama Officially Joins the Belt and Road Initiative

Nov. 17, 2017 (EIRNS)In state visit to China, Panamas President Juan Carlos Varela has officially embraced the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Today, Panamas Foreign Ministry issued a press release stating that

"reinforcing the role of the Isthmus as the great connection, Panama adheres to the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, in which our country plays a key role thanks to the Panama Canal, our logistical and financial platform, and our neutrality."

It adds that in this role, Panama "opens the doors to consolidating us as Chinas entry point into Latin America."

This morning, following an official welcome ceremony, President Varela met with President Xi Jinping, who underscored that the two nations had entered a "new era," and praised Varelas "strategic vision." Establishing ties with China was, he said, "an act of heroism" which will "go down in history." Varela told Xi that his government supports the BRI and that China and Panama can work together to advance this great project in Ibero-America and the Caribbean to improve world connectivity. Key to this will be cooperation in maritime affairs, port development, railways and logistics, he said.

After their private meeting, the two presided over the signing of 19 cooperation accords, many of which are directly linked to the BRI, spanning economics and trade, agriculture, infrastructure investment, transportation, science, and technology and maritime matters. They also laid the groundwork for signing a Free Trade Agreement, which will reinforce Chinas role as the second largest client of the Panama Canal after the United States, and the number-one supplier of goods to the Colon Free Trade Zone.

In commenting on the presidents meeting, Zhao Bentang, head of the Foreign Ministrys Department of Ibero-American and Caribbean Affairs, underscored Panamas importance for China, particularly as it relates to expansion of the Belt and Road, and especially the Maritime Silk Road. "Panama," he said,
PRESS RELEASE

U.S. Has Begun Work on Ground-Launched Cruise Missiles Which Violate the INF Treaty

Nov. 17, 2017 (EIRNS)The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the Pentagon is already laying the basis for the development of a ground-based missile that would be in violation of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The U.S. militarys preliminary research and development, previously undisclosed, is aimed at potentially reviving an arsenal of prohibited ground-based, intermediate-range missiles if Moscow "continues violating" the pact, unnamed officials told the Journal. This seems to suggest that the program has already been underway for some time, although the conference report on the defense authorization bill only passed this week.

The United States told Russia of its research project in recent weeks, according to these U.S. officials, but said the United States is ready to abandon it if Russia returns to compliance. "The idea here is we need to send a message to the Russians that they will pay a military price for violation of this treaty," one U.S. official said. "We are posturing ourselves to live in a post-INF world if that is the world the Russians want." Russia has fully rejected the accusation that they have violated the INF treaty.

The 2018 National Defense Authorization bill, now headed to the desk of President Trump, includes $58 million for a number of measures to "counter" Russias supposed violations of the INF Treaty, including to initiate a program of record for the development of a new ground-launched cruise missile with a range of between 500 and 5,000 kilometers, the range prohibited by the INF Treaty. This is justified by the finding that "the actions undertaken by the Russian Federation in violation of the INF Treaty constitute a material breach of the treaty," which requires the United States to respond.
President Trumps top trade official has issued new objectives for renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement  including some likely to irk Canada and Mexico, as well as the U.S. recording industry and other major business interests, as talks continue this weekend.

There are few surprises in the 17-page document, given recent revelations and sharp words from NAFTA negotiators. But the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, or USTR, made some notable additions and changes to the blueprint it initially outlined in July, a month before talks began, adding a fresh degree of uncertainty to the talks.

Besides affirming that the Trump administration wants to rewrite key portions of the 23-year-old pact, including access to federal government contracts and minimum local-sourcing requirements, to name two of the more controversial ones, the USTR made clear it wants to pry open Canadas protected dairy market and eviscerate a process in which foreign firms can sue governments for discrimination or expropriation.

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The amended summary was released quietly late Friday and came after Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and civil society groups had criticized the USTR for failing to update the public on NAFTA renegotiations as required by law. Wyden had held up confirmation of two deputy USTR nominees as a result.

Among the updated goals is new language that the U.S. would seek to limit liability for Internet giants like Google, Facebook and Comcast that host or transmit online content  a move that will be bitterly opposed by the U.S. music and recording industry, whose sales have been battered by piracy.

In a September letter to the trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, associations for musicians and record labels argued that inserting safe harbors in NAFTA for online firms would amount to an open invitation to Americas trading partners to act as havens for piracy and refuges for those who illegally infringe American creative content.

The internet was in its infancy when NAFTA was signed in 1993, but just who in the online world and to what degree they will be shielded from spreading unauthorized copyrighted content, or even fake or biased news, remain unsettled.

Thats why this is a big deal, said Nate Olson, a trade expert at the nonpartisan Stimson Center think tank, reacting to the new USTR objective.

Cross-border data flows are the Wild West of the global economy, he said. Sorting it out will come down in no small part to the rules that govern these online platforms.

As far as NAFTA negotiators are concerned, they have mostly found common ground on digital trade, and the three parties also have made significant progress on issues related to competition policy, customs, telecommunications and state-owned enterprises.

But the latest USTR summary identified several U.S. aims for which compromise will be hard to achieve.

U.S. officials explicitly stated, for example, that it would work to eliminate unjustified measures limiting U.S. dairy products access to Canadian markets. And, for apparent emphasis, the USTR inserted that one of its major goals  along with reducing the trade deficit with NAFTA countries  would be addressing import and export monopolies that distort trade.

Canada controls imports of milk and other dairy products in this politically sensitive industry through a government supply-management system. Trump personally has railed against the Canadian practice, warning earlier this year that the U.S. would not stand for this.

Canadian officials deny their policies are harming U.S. businesses, and insist that the U.S. similarly protects its dairy farmers. The U.S. is also taking aim at Canadian exports of softwood lumber.

In addition, the USTR indicated that it would press for fundamental changes to a NAFTA provision that allows investors who believe they have been treated unfairly by foreign governments to take their case to a special panel of arbiters whose ruling is final.

The latest summary does not say that the U.S. intends to eliminate the so-called investor-state dispute settlement element in NAFTA, but newly inserted language suggests that rulings by the tribunal would be subject to U.S. government review and possible overrule. The change will be as much hated by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has insisted that such investor protections are necessary, as Canada or Mexico.

As in the initial set of negotiating objectives, the latest document outlines several top objectives only in vague terms, making it difficult to evaluate the chances of striking a compromise.

Among the most contentious is a U.S. proposal that would allow NAFTA to expire after five years unless all three countries agree to renew it. Mexico and Canada, as well as U.S. businesses, say such a sunset clause would inject uncertainty and undermine the value of the pact. In the summary, the USTR merely states that it wants a mechanism to assess the benefits of the agreement on a periodic basis.

Nor did the USTR specify how much it wants to strengthen the rules or origin for trade in autos, that is, the minimum percentage of a vehicles production that must originate in North America  and specifically the U.S.  before it can enter duty-free in any of the three NAFTA countries. Auto manufacturing is highly integrated in North America, and significant changes in sourcing requirements could be highly disruptive and costly.

The talks in Mexico City this weekend are the fifth round of negotiations and will last through Tuesday. The three sides had originally hoped to wrap up by years end, to avoid the political complications from Mexicos presidential elections next summer, but there are such wide differences that the talks have been extended to as late as March.

The tone of the negotiations turned decidedly frosty during the fourth round last month in Arlington, Va., where the U.S. pushed its most controversial demands across the table. That raised the specter of a stalemate that could prompt Trump to give a required six months notice before a U.S. withdrawal from NAFTA. The president has repeatedly threatened to pull out of the trade pact, and more recently has suggested that a notice of withdrawal may be needed before the U.S. could win concessions from Mexico.

It was unclear whether U.S. officials, in this fifth round, would put forward additional proposals such as new labor standards, or how Canada and Mexico would respond after earlier signals that some of the U.S. demands were simply unacceptable and nonstarters.

Analysts lowered expectations for any breakthroughs in Mexico City after it was announced that Lighthizer and his counterparts from Canada and Mexico planned not to attend the latest round.

If the ministers dont show up, it means the difficult, contentious issues wont be taken up and resolved, said William Reinsch, a longtime trade specialist and senior adviser at the law firm Kelley Drye & Warren in Washington.

don.lee@latimes.com

Follow me at @dleelatimes
Here are the 2018 SAG Awards nominees reactions to their nods

The on-camera talent recognized during the 24th Screen Actors Guild Award nominations on Wednesday shared their excitement and gratitude for the special honor bestowed upon them by the acting community.

The SAG Awards serve up laurels for actors and ensemble casts working in television and film as voted by their peers. The awards show, hosted by The Good Place star Kristen Bell, will take place on Jan. 21.

LIST: The 2018 SAG Award nominees

In statements to the Los Angeles Times, several nominees repeatedly thanked their drama families, particularly the casts and crews of their respective projects. Heres what some of them had to say about the recognition:

Alison Brie. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Alison Brie, GLOW

It is such a great honor to be recognized by my fellow actors with this nomination. I am so proud to be part of a show that celebrates the craft of acting, with all its pitfalls and glories, and to be able to work with such a diverse group of insanely talented women. GLOW has meant the world to me and Im deeply thankful for this recognition for me and the cast. Thank you SAG-AFTRA!!

Millie Bobby Brown. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things

Screen Actors Guild! Thank you SO much for recognizing me and our cast for the second year in a row! This means the world coming from you, our peers. I am so lucky and honored to have the privilege of playing Eleven  a strong, powerful, badass, strange, wonderful character! Cant wait to celebrate with my Stranger Things family!

Timothee Chalamet. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Timothee Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name

What an incredible morning! This nomination is very close to my heart because its from the actor. When we made Call Me By Your Name, we had no idea what it would turn into. The experience in making the film with Armie [Hammer] was so special, and yet, we just didnt know. Simply put, Ive been blown away by the response this film has received. And, to be included in ensemble along with my Lady Bird family (congrats, Saoirse [Ronan]!) makes this recognition that much more special.

David Harbour. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

David Harbour, Stranger Things

If it isnt wildly apparent by now, Ill say it directly  I love actors! To be recognized by my peers in such distinguished company gives me a special joy. And Millie [Bobby Brown] and the show! Beyond.

When I act, when I create, I feel alive, full to bursting, and I feel of service to the mysterious goodness that firmly exists in this world. I have been rewarded with a life that indulges in the primacy of self, but at its core and at its purest and its best, it is a life of service. A service to audiences. To prod and poke when necessary, to comfort and entertain when times seem dark, to ever expand the human experience, to offer a reason to live, to celebrate to the gods the great gift and scourge that is consciousness. Sometimes it means expressing iron intellect and rigorous truth that bonds us all in the achingly profound wisdom of no escape. Sometimes it means revealing the intimate moments of endurance, of unexpected kindness, unasked for love. And sometimes it simply means making a fierce and joyful noise, to spin, to twirl, to throw your hands up with the relentless dips and climb aboard this roller coaster of life. Ya know, to dance. *insert Hopper dancing gif*

Thank you for recognizing me, as it might mean itll be easier to get more jobs doing it.

Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water

I am beyond thrilled to have received the honor of this nomination. And to receive it from fellow colleagues is huge to me. Guillermo [del Toro], this film and the entire cast and crew hold a very special place in my heart and always will. Each and every one of them made me better. I am truly delighted more than I can really express in words but my heart is fit to burst with pride for us all. Thank you dearest SAG members. Thank you for your embrace.

Sean Hayes. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Sean Hayes, Will & Grace

I am so honored to be recognized in this category with these extraordinary actors. I love acting because I love actors. I also like to bake sometimes.

Richard Jenkins. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water

I am thrilled and humbled to be nominated by my peers for a SAG Award. This union is very close to my heart. Well, the SAG card is in my wallet, so its a little further south.

Zoe Kazan. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Zoe Kazan, The Big Sick

Thank you to SAG for honoring The Big Sick ensemble with a nomination. It means so much to us, especially from our acting peers. I am deeply proud to be a part of this film and to have brought Kumail [Nanjiani] and Emily [V. Gordon]s story into the world, especially at this time. We are particularly moved to have been recognized as an ensemble, as this was such an extraordinary collaborative experience Im excited to be reunited once more with my movie family, and to share this with Kumail, Holly [Hunter], Ray [Romano], Zenobia [Shroff], Anupam [Kher], and Adeel [Akhtar] and everyone else who helped bring The Big Sick to life.

Nicole Kidman. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies

What an amazing morning! Thank you to SAG-AFTRA for recognizing Big Little Lies in such a significant way. Ive been acting since I was 14 and have dedicated an enormous amount of my life to my craft so to be acknowledged by my acting family is the most incredible honor.

Jason Bateman and Laura Linney. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Laura Linney, Ozark

I am so proud to be included in a list of such wonderful actresses who have raised the bar so high. What an amazing year for women in television. And I am especially proud to be representing Ozark with my TV spouse, the ever deserving Jason Bateman! Thank you SAG-AFTRA!

Marc Maron. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Marc Maron, GLOW

I am stunned and excited to be recognized by other actors in this way. I really never thought this was possible in my life. It helps to be surrounded by amazing actors and to have such a defined and well written character as Sam Sylvia and to be on a show as unique as GLOW. I am just a small part. So, thanks SAG for recognizing me and the mind-blowing ensemble that is GLOW.

Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, The Big Sick

We are so lucky to have been graced with the enormous talents of every single member of our cast. They each put a piece of themselves into our story and we are thrilled at being recognized. Thank you. And a special shout out to Holly Hunters individual nomination!

Now we have to go tell our real parents that they arent actually nominated.

Bob Odenkirk. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

I am thrilled to get this nomination from my fellow actors! At Better Call Saul I am surrounded by an ensemble of excellence  Michael McKean, Rhea Seehorn, Jonathan Banks, everybody raises my game. Thank you to SAG-AFTRA.

Gary Oldman. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Gary Oldman, The Darkest Hour

No actor could ever deny the special satisfaction that comes from being recognized by your fellow artists  we all share the same challenges, insecurities, and uncertainties, chief among them, the question am I any good? this nomination, and in the wonderful company of the other nominees, is so very satisfying.

Margot Robbie. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Margot Robbie, I, Tonya

Im so incredibly moved and excited to be nominated by my fellow actors. I feel very fortunate to be able to have had the opportunity to bring Tonyas story to the big screen. Thank you to Steven [Rogers] for his brilliant and unique script, to Allison [Janney] and Sebastian [Stan] for being such incredible screen partners and to Craig [Gillespie] for his amazing direction and perfectly capturing the tone and essence of the film. Im so honored to be recognized among the truly powerful and wonderful women in the category. I cant wait to celebrate with everyone.

Sam Rockwell. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

It is such an honor to be nominated by your fellow actors, I have been a proud member of the Screen Actors Guild for as long as I can remember. To share it with this wonderful ensemble whom I have had the pleasure to work with over the years and others I got to collaborate with for the first time is truly special. I want to thank Martin McDonagh, our director and writer, for crafting these characters, as well as Woody [Harrelson], Fran [McDormand] and the rest of the cast who brought the town of Ebbing to life on screen. I am thrilled.

Ray Romano. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Ray Romano, The Big Sick

This is awesome but I wont believe it till the recount.
A Los Angeles man suspected of being the so-called Diaper Bandit was charged Friday with stealing diapers from stores in the Long Beach area and leading police on a pursuit that ended with a crash that severely injured a 6-year-old child.

Darrion Tyrone Parker, 23, pleaded not guilty to six felony counts of second-degree robbery and one felony count each of fleeing a pursuing peace officers motor vehicle causing serious bodily injury and resisting an executive officer.

Parker stole diapers with the threat of force from several supermarkets and retail stores in the Long Beach area between December 2016 and this month, prosecutors said.

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On Wednesday, a store employee reportedly confronted him in a parking lot about stealing merchandise before Parker fled, according to the L.A. County district attorneys office. Police began chasing Parker, who crashed his vehicle into another car, severely injuring a 6-year-old passenger, the district attorneys office said.

He tried to escape on foot but was eventually taken into custody, prosecutors said.

Parker is due back in a Long Beach courtroom Nov. 29.
David Cunningham Jr., who succeeded Tom Bradley on the Los Angeles City Council in 1973 and emerged as a forceful voice at City Hall for African Americans, has died.

Cunningham, 82, died Wednesday at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center following a battle with cancer, said his son David Cunningham III.

Cunningham, who served on the council until 1986, was a pro-business politician who championed social justice and civil rights issues. He pushed for new affordable housing, led a campaign for the city to divest its holdings in apartheid-era South Africa, and encouraged the hiring of minorities and women.

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His tenure on the council was one chapter of a colorful career that included working in Nigeria, running a consulting company and appearing in a Chris Rock movie. An avid jazz musician who played bass in a band, Cunningham was a man for all seasons, his son said.

He was born June 24, 1935, in Chicago. His father, David S. Cunningham Sr., a Christian Methodist Episcopal Pastor, was a leader in the civil rights movement.

He attended the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, where he caught the political bug after hearing John Kennedys acceptance speech and moved to the city shortly afterward, his son said.

Cunningham earned a bachelors degree in political science and economics from UC Riverside and a masters degree in urban planning from Occidental College. He worked briefly for Democratic Assemblyman Charles Warren, then entered the private sector, working as the West African regional manager for an electronics company and helped run a consulting firm in Los Angeles.

At the urging of friends, he launched a successful campaign for the council seat opened up by Bradleys historic election as L.A.s first black mayor. Cunningham faced a field of challengers that included Star Trek actor George Takei.

Bradley endorsed Cunningham, and would remain his close ally.

Overseeing a district that included Pico-Union, Koreatown, Fairfax and West Adams, Cunningham pushed for funding for low- and moderate-income housing and created the 10th District Womens Steering Committee, which is still active.

As chairman of a committee focused on housing and community development, Cunningham called on federal housing officials to put thousands of boarded-up homes owned by the government back into use.

He also used his committee role to encourage minority hiring at investment banks that sought work with the city. When Cunningham traveled to New York to meet with bank executives, he would tell them, I dont see anyone working for you that looks like me,  said Gregg Irish, a family friend.

Cunningham opposed a citywide push for rent control, believing it would be an impediment to the construction of affordable housing.

The 6-foot-3 Cunningham was affable and had an easygoing manner. But friends and family members said that on issues he cared deeply about, his temper could flare. He once nearly came to blows in the council chambers with fellow Councilman Art Snyder.

In the early 1980s, he was a key ally in Councilman Zev Yaroslavskys crusade to shut down the Los Angeles Police Departments infamous Public Disorder Intelligence Division, which kept files on civil rights organizations and other activist and civic groups.

Cunningham knew how to sway his colleagues on issues, but was always forthright on his own position, Yaroslavsky said.

When he gave you his word, he was rock solid, Yaroslavsky said. And when he wasnt with you on an issue, hed tell you so.

According to Irish, Cunninghams wide circle of friends included Ernie Green, one of the members of Little Rock Nine. The group integrated a Little Rock, Ark., high school in 1957, a key step in the civil rights movement.

As a councilman, Cunningham hired John Carlos, a U.S. track star who raised a black-gloved fist on the medal stand at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

Ostracized because of his protest, Carlos couldnt find work, so Cunningham hired him as an aide.

David thought that wasnt right and everyone should get a job, Irish said.

Cunningham unexpectedly stepped down from the council in 1986 and took a job at Cranston Securities, an investment banking firm.

In his resignation letter to the council, he wrote that someone once said it is better to leave too soon than to stay too late, but I truly believe it is better to leave beloved as opposed to belated.

In the early 1990s he joined an acting troupe. That led to appearances in the movie CB4 with Rock and Ice Cube, and the NBC sitcom 227.

Married three times, Cunningham is survived by his wife, Sylvia, and six children: David, Leslie, Robyn, Amber, Sean and Brian.

Funeral services are planned at First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles on Monday at 10 a.m.

dakota.smith@latimes.com

Twitter: @dakotacdsmith


The West Hollywood apartment of a prominent Democratic donor where a 26-year-old man was found dead of an overdose this summer was littered with drug paraphernalia, according to the mans autopsy report.

The Los Angeles County coroners report, which was obtained by the Los Angeles Times on Friday, says that Gemmel Moore died from an accidental methamphetamine overdose July 27 in the Laurel Avenue home of Ed Buck. The drug was injected into his body.

Paramedics found Moore naked on a mattress in the living room with a male pornography movie playing on the television, the report states.

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Coroners officials ruled Moores death an accident, and an initial review by sheriffs deputies found nothing suspicious. In August, Los Angeles County sheriffs homicide detectives launched a new investigation after Moores mother and friends questioned whether the drugs that killed him were self-administered.

Capt. Chris Bergner of the sheriffs homicide bureau said witnesses are still being interviewed and that it remains an active investigation.

No charges have been filed.

Moores mother, LaTisha Nixon of Texas, has questioned whether Bucks ties to elected officials and differences in race and class influenced the investigation.

Buck, who is 63 and white, is a longtime political donor, one-time West Hollywood City Council candidate and a well-known figure in LGBTQ political circles. Moore, who was black, had been homeless and had worked as an escort.

Bucks attorney, Seymour Amster, says his client was a friend of Moores who did nothing wrong and that the methamphetamine was self-administered. After reviewing the autopsy report, Amster said he maintained his position that Buck did not witness it being injected.

I think its time to bring this tragedy to a conclusion, Amster said. This was an accidental death. This was an unfortunate death  but that doesnt mean we can make spurious accusations and spin something out of control.

Moore had flown from Houston to Los Angeles the day he died, according to coroners investigators. His mother has told The Times that Buck bought his airplane ticket.

A notebook found in his property indicated using drugs in the past with someone whose name is redacted in the coroners report. The Times has reviewed pages of a journal that authorities said was found among Moores possessions. In it, Moore purportedly wrote last year about using crystal methamphetamine.

Ed Buck is the one to thank, Moore appears to have written. He gave me my first injection of chrystal [sic] meth.

The Times interviewed a man who said he reported complaints about Buck  similar to those made in the journal  to the sheriffs West Hollywood station on July 4. The man, who asked to remain anonymous, described himself as an escort. The Sheriffs Department was looking into whether he filed a report.

The coroners report says that, about 6:45 p.m., Moore was visiting his friends residence and was witnessed by his friend becoming warm and unresponsive after using methamphetamine injected about 5 p.m. The male friends name is redacted.

The friend alerted a neighbor who has medical knowledge and attempted CPR until a paramedic arrived. The report says Buck called 911.

The coroners report says police found sex toys, syringes and clear plastic bags with suspected methamphetamine in a tool box roll-cabinet in the living room.

Police indicated that someone at the scene is suspected to be known to exchange drugs for sex, the report states. The name is redacted.

The report says that coroners investigators interviewed a woman, whose name is redacted, who said Moore told her that someone whose name is also redacted tied him up over a year ago and held him against his will at the residence in West Hollywood.

The report indicates that an investigator spoke with Moores mother.

According to the report, a coroners investigator found the following items in Bucks two-bedroom apartment: 24 syringes with brown residue, five glass pipes with white residue and burn marks, a plastic straw with possible white residue, clear plastic bags with white powdery residue and a clear plastic bag with a piece of crystal-like substance.

Bergner said potential witnesses have been given some immunity from prosecution from other possible crimes in order to provide statements to his detectives. Investigators have spoken to several witnesses and are working to corroborate their statements, which takes time, he said.

Bergner cautioned that though medical evidence in a coroners report is conclusive, the investigative narrative is based on initial information and can change as a more thorough investigation is conducted.

Amster said the coroners ruling of Moores death as accidental should have settled the matter.

I think this concludes it, he said of the autopsy. The manner of death is accident. This whole thing is about how did Gemmel Moore die? It was a tragedy. It certainly is a strong statement to say no to drugs.

hailey.branson@latimes.com

Twitter: @haileybranson

richard.winton@latimes.com

Twitter: @lacrimes

Times staff writer Maya Lau contributed to this report.

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Officials are investigating the death of an inmate at Mule Creek State Prison in Northern California as a homicide, authorities said.

Inmate Wayne Bradley, 50, was found unresponsive in his cell about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Everett McCoy, 35, Bradleys cellmate, was named as a suspect in his death, officials said. McCoy, who entered prison in 1999, was serving a sentence of 28 years to life for first-degree murder and second-degree robbery.

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Bradley, who entered prison in 2009, was serving a 25-year sentence for robbery.

Officials did not say how Bradley died.

Mule Creek State Prison, in Amador County, houses about 3,700 inmates. Movement of the inmates has been limited as the investigation into Bradleys death continues.

carlos.lozano@latimes.com
Small crowds of anti-sharia and anti-fascist demonstrators faced off Saturday at the site of the 2015 San Bernardino terrorist massacre.

The two groups, totaling no more than 100, gathered near the Inland Regional Center, a nonprofit that serves people with developmental disabilities, where a Pakistani American couple fatally shot 14 people nearly two years ago.

Counter-demonstrators carrying anti-fascist banners arrived first, taking up positions along Waterman Avenue and Orange Show Road. A leader said they had learned on social media that the anti-sharia group Act for America had planned a gathering.

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Demonstrators waving American flags and Donald Trump banners showed up around 11 a.m. and took up positions across the street.

A few members of each group carrying cameras to record the encounter came face-to-face on the sidewalk and exchanged excited words. A police officer warned that he would intervene if he saw any sign of a violent escalation.

The messages of the two groups were not totally clear.

The Rev. Felicia Parazaider, who described herself as an interfaith minister, said she was representing Revolution for Love.

She said she came out to show that the violence thats been happening in the country and how this hate has been emboldened by the administration is not going to win. Love is whats left standing in the wind at the end of the day.

Denise Zamora said she organized the demonstration to show remembrance for the 14 victims of the Dec. 2, 2015, attack.

Today we are just standing out here and representing America and saying we dont want Sharia in America, Zamora said.

She said she was not representing Act for America and accused opponents of falsely characterizing them as white supremacists, which we are not.

Sharia encompasses a set of moral principles and general religious law that can influence the legal systems of Muslim-majority countries.

A similar demonstration in June in San Bernardino ended in a scuffle as anti-sharia protesters smashed in the rear window of one vehicle as the driver pulled away, then hit a second as it drove off. Three pro-Trump demonstrators were arrested on suspicion of vandalism after the fight.

Anti-Sharia demonstrators wave Trump banners at the site of the 2015 San Bernardino attack. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times )

A group of anti-fascist demonstrators counter a small group of anti-Sharia demonstrators at the site of the 2015 terrorist massacre in San Bernardino. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times )

doug.smith@latimes.com

@LATDoug
A gunmans attack on an elementary school during a deadly rampage in Northern California this week was not a random act as authorities initially thought, prosecutors said Friday.

Kevin Janson Neal, 44, smashed a stolen Ford F-150 through the front gates of Rancho Tehama Elementary School on Tuesday morning, drove into the center of the quad, got out and shot into classrooms as he tried to get into the buildings, authorities said.

The Tehama County Sheriffs Office initially said Neals actions were random, but Dist. Atty. Gregg Cohen said that does not appear to be the case. Neal had an ongoing feud with his neighbors and had threatened them and a young relative who was a student at the school in the months leading up to Tuesdays shooting, he said.

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Mr. Cohen stated that his opinion/belief was that Neal didnt pick the school randomly based on his belief that Neal knew that one of his neighbor victims grandsons attended the elementary school and also some hearsay that Neal was upset at someone who worked at the school, Cohens office said in an email.

Neals attack on the school failed because a vigilant employee had quickly placed the campus on lockdown after hearing Neals gunshots down the street.

Neals visit to the school was near the conclusion of a crosstown massacre that started the night before when he killed his wife and hid her body under the floor. On Tuesday morning, Neal fatally shot three of his neighbors before heading to the elementary school.

Neal killed one more person after he left the school and was then fatally shot by sheriffs deputies.

The boy Neal was possibly targeting was uninjured, but his father and grandmother were killed.

joseph.serna@latimes.com

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter.
As Orange County officials clear out homeless encampments along the Santa Ana River, they are making some unexpected discoveries.

In one area, they found an underground bunker accessible from a wooden hatch camouflaged with dirt.

In another, more than 1,000 bicycles tucked in a separate tunnel were found.

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The county began clearing more than 150 homeless people from the area between Warner and Edinger avenues on Nov. 7 after months of complaints from nearby condominium residents about unsanitary conditions and other nuisances at the encampment.

Lt. Jeff Puckett said the Sheriffs Department has made more than 260 arrests in the past several months in various encampments along the river trail in connection with crimes such as robbery, assault and trespassing.

However, homeless advocates have contended the county is criminalizing homelessness and shuffling the camps population around instead of solving the growing problem.

When public works crews arrived to clean up trash two weeks ago, they discovered more than 1,000 bicycles tucked into a tunnel along the concrete river bed in Santa Ana, just south of the rivers Fairview Street overpass.

Ive been doing this job for 20 years, and even I was stunned by that one, Puckett said.

Workers dragged out the bikes and hauled them to a storage yard.

Puckett said the department likely will allow the public to look at the bikes at some point in an effort to reunite people with lost or stolen property.

Authorities said there were indications that someone was living in the area where the bikes were found, but they havent identified the person or how and why the bikes were obtained.

Authorities said they dont know how many of the bikes might have been stolen.

Common sense would usually dictate if you have 1,000 bikes in a tunnel, some of them could be stolen, Puckett said.

On Thursday, county officials found a man-made bunker six feet underground along the trail. A plywood trap door opened to wooden steps, which led to a 10-by-10-foot living space reinforced with wood beams. The room was tall enough for an adult to stand in, authorities said.

Puckett said the bunker was empty when authorities stumbled upon it.

Kris Gillan, who lives in the New Chase condominiums near the river trail in Fountain Valley, said that of all the items found, she was most surprised to hear about the bunker.

Nothing like guns, trash and needles would shock me, but the fact that someone had a whole downstairs living arrangement  its weird that they built it without us knowing, she said.

Gillan said she cant believe it took officials months to begin clearing the area.

Its like, Shame on you, county. Look what was going on,  she said. We tried to tell you.

The county plans to permanently close the west side of the flood-control channel between 17th Street in Santa Ana and Adams Avenue in Huntington Beach as it prepares to start maintenance of Orange County Flood Control District property along the trail, officials have said.

Before maintenance begins, Orange County Public Works officials have been tasked with cleaning debris and trash from the former encampment in Fountain Valley.

Puckett said officials found a .357 magnum containing three empty shell casings  indicating to authorities that it had been fired  near the camp. The Sheriffs Department is investigating where the gun came from.

The trail was deserted Friday afternoon. Orange bags filled with trash were lined up waiting to be hauled away.

Nearby residents said most of the homeless people who had set up camp there packed up and left within three days of the countys enforcement effort.

Gillan said the area is quiet and getting cleaner every day.

County officials hope to keep it that way. The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to pay California Panther Security $450,000 annually over the next two years to have unarmed security guards open and close gates along the trail and report trespassers to the Sheriffs Department, according to a county staff report.
Alarmed by President Trumps bellicose statements and impulsive governing style, two congressional Democrats have introduced legislation that would prohibit the president  any president  from launching a nuclear first strike without a declaration of war by Congress explicitly endorsing such an attack.

We too are dismayed by Trumps rhetoric, including his threat to rain fire and fury on North Korea. We shudder to think about the human consequences of any use of nuclear weapons, even in self-defense, which is why we support arms-control agreements and efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation. We also believe that, as a general matter, Congress needs to be more assertive in exercising oversight over the use of military force.

But we cant support the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017 proposed by Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Rep. Ted Lieu of Torrance.

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Congress shouldnt attempt to legislate a drastic change in the presidents authority to defend the nation.

In seeking to restrict the presidents authority to launch a first strike, the bill cites Congress authority under the Constitution to declare war. The legislation says that the framers of the Constitution understood that the monumental decision to go to war . . . must be made by the representatives of the people and not by a single person.

The problem is that Congress authority to declare war has always been in tension with the Constitutions designation of the president as commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, a role that sometimes requires the president to act swiftly to defend the nation. The nuclear age further complicated the relationship between the two branches because decisions about launching a nuclear attack may have to be made under severe time pressure.

Our principal concern about this bill is that it would make it harder for a president not just to use nuclear weapons, but also to deter aggression by leaving adversaries in doubt about whether and when such weapons might be used.

This ambiguity is part of the paradoxical policy of nuclear deterrence that traces back to the Cold War era, in which Soviet military planners contemplating ways to overrun NATO countries defenses with tanks and troops had to reckon with the possibility that the U.S. might respond with nuclear weapons. But it still has some relevance today, which is why the U.S. hasnt committed to no first use.

The Obama administration considered, but eventually decided against, making such a commitment. Instead, that administration adopted a policy stating that the U.S, would consider use of nuclear weapons only in certain extreme circumstances. It also promised to strengthen conventional capabilities with the goal of making deterrence of nuclear attack on the United States or our allies and partners the sole purpose of U.S. nuclear weapons.

In testimony before the Foreign Relations Committee last week, Brian P. McKeon, a Pentagon official in the Obama administration, said that the Trump administration is continuing to follow the Obama policy while it develops its own approach to nukes.

That would be consistent with Trumps comments about first use during last years campaign. In a debate with Hillary Clinton he said: I would certainly not do first strike. I think that once the nuclear alternative happens, its over. At the same time, we have to be prepared. I cant take anything off the table.

Of course, many members of Congress  not all of them Democrats  worry that this sort of cautious formulation might give way to a heedless reaction if the mercurial Trump felt provoked.

At the Foreign Relations Committee session, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said he and others were concerned that the president of the United States is so unstable, is so volatile, has a decision-making process that is so quixotic, that he might order a nuclear weapons strike that is wildly out of step with U.S. national security interests. Even Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the committee who at least for now opposes legislation to restrict the president in this area, told the New York Times last month that he worried that we could be heading toward World War III with the kinds of comments that [Trump is] making. (In the same interview, Corker added that I dont believe he is a warmonger.)

We understand the concerns about Trumps temperament. Indeed, we share them. But, despite his Twitter rants, the president has deferred to the advice of his national security team, including on nuclear strategy. So long as that is the case, Congress shouldnt attempt to legislate a drastic change in the presidents authority to defend the nation.

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Its been a year since Californian banned most stores from handing out flimsy, single-use plastic bags to customers. It was the first, and remains the only, U.S. state to do so. But guess what? In the end, this momentous change was not a big deal. Shoppers did not revolt or launch recall campaigns against state lawmakers. Food still gets to peoples houses. Reusable bags did not spark an epidemic of food-borne illnesses, as some critics suggested they would. Consumers didnt go broke paying 10 cents apiece for the thicker, reusable plastic bags stores are allowed to distribute instead.

For the most part, Californians took in stride the sudden absence of some 13 billion bags that in previous years were handed out at grocery checkout counters and by other retailers of all sorts. Maybe a few grumbled at first about the inconvenience. But most adjusted quickly, perhaps because they intuited that something was not right about all those plastic bags hanging from trees, caught up in storm drains, clumped by the sides of freeways and floating in the ocean.

Although local bans already had cut down considerably on the plastic bag litter on beaches, the figure dropped further this year after passage of the statewide ban, preliminary data show. Plastic bags (both the banned and the legal variety) accounted for 3.1% of the litter collected from the states beaches during the 2017 Coastal Cleanup Day, down from to 7.4% in 2010.

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The first year of the single-use plastic bag ban unfolded pretty much the way proponents had predicted. Thats an important lesson for next time.

So much for all the terrible things plastic-bag makers warned would happen during their multimillion campaign to persuade voters to reject the ban last November. In fact, this first year unfolded pretty much the way proponents had predicted. Thats an important lesson for next time.

And there must be a next time. Because although it took several years and a fierce political fight to accomplish, banning disposable plastic grocery bags (known as T-shirt bags because of their design) was just the first salvo in the battle to reduce disposable plastic waste. There is still far too much single-use plastic tossed out every day  heaps of beverage cups and lids, snack wrappings, potato chip bags, water bottles and take-out food containers.

Plastic litter isnt just ugly to look at, it is a threat to the environment. As studies continue to show, plastic is accumulating rapidly in every corner of the natural environment. Plastic doesnt biodegrade like paper. It breaks into smaller and smaller bits that are showing up in increasing numbers in oceans and lakes and are being eaten by sea birds and fish. Theres evidence that microplastics are creeping into our own food chain; it can contain toxins like Bisphenol A, an endocrine disrupter.

Thats reason enough to act quickly and decisively (though maybe not as extremely as Kenya, which has made trafficking in plastic bags a crime punishable by jail time). Encouraging people to recycle and not to litter can help, of course. But thats not the ultimate answer to the plastic problem. Global plastic production has been increasing steadily and explosively since 1950, much of it in the form of things used once and then thrown away. Straws and drink stirrers alone accounted for 2.6% of the trash picked up on beaches this year.

Some disposable plastic is recycled at high rates, such as beverage bottles (though that has more to do with the fact that they are redeemable under the states bottle bill). Even then, theres no guarantee that recyclables properly disposed of will actually be recycled. Then there are plastics that are non-recyclable or hard to recycle, such as polystyrene.

The California Legislature failed to pass a ban on polystyrene take-out containers last year  polystyrene includes hard plastic and plastic foam products  but the proposal got far enough to raise hopes that it will be reintroduced. No doubt it will be another tough political fight, but we hope that when faced with opposition from the lobbyists hired by plastics companies, lawmakers will remember that nothing bad happened when they banned plastic bags.

Happily, the march of local plastic bag bans continues across other cities and states  in Avon, Colo., Oak Park, Ill., and Coral Gables, Fla., to name just a few. Its tough fighting an industry willing to drop millions of dollars to protect its interests, but Californias experience indicates that if the public understands whats at stake, it will support the legislators brave enough to make the hard decisions.

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To the editor: As an ex-U.S. Air Force pilot on airborne nuclear alert during the Cold War, I was baffled by retired Air Force Gen. C. Robert Kehlers response to a question on limiting the presidents authority to launch a nuclear strike. He said legislative changes are unnecessary, and that the military can do a better job training its personnel on safeguards.

What could that possibly mean to the personnel at the launch stations at the instant they receive a launch command? (Is there anything stopping Trump from launching a nuclear strike? Nope, Opinion, Nov. 15)

In an interview with MSNBCs Brian Williams, retired Army. Gen. Barry McCaffrey noted that all military personnel involved with nuclear weapons are required to comply with the stringent Personnel Reliability Program, or PRP. He said, Theres a good question that should be asked: To what extent would President Trump be eligible to be an Air Force captain launch officer in the PRP?

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Larry Hazard, Huntington Beach

..

To the editor: Suppose Trump orders a surprise nuclear attack on North Korea and within 30 minutes wipes out its leadership. His followers will cheer.

But in a few days the nuclear fallout will arrive over the United States, and America will be responsible for the deaths of millions of North Koreans and the losses suffered by millions more in South Korea, Japan, China and Russia. Having seen the United States break the nuclear taboo on the whim of its leader, how long would the other nuclear-armed nations keep their fingers off their buttons?

No thinking president would contemplate such an attack. Therein lies the problem. Congress must act.

Peter Langenberg, South Pasadena

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook.
Petition drive to repeal California gas tax increase temporarily slows down By Patrick McGreevy A motorist prepares to gas up her vehicle in San Rafael, Calif., in 2015. ( (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)) Paid signature-gatherers for a ballot measure that would repeal gas tax increases may be hard to find on the streets of California this week. Organizers say its not a money issue, adding that they needed to briefly halt paid signature-gathering to catch up on collecting petitions from volunteers. The petition drive has so far collected more than 327,800 verified signatures of the 587,407 needed to qualify the measure for the November ballot, according to Dave Gilliard, the political strategist behind the drive. We knew it was popular but the incredible pace is even faster than we expected so we outran the capacity of our verification operation over the Christmas holiday and told our crew managers to slow down so we could catch up, Gilliard said. We will be back up to speed by the end of this week. The gas tax and vehicle fee increases signed by Gov. Jerry Brown are expected to raise $5.2 billion annually for road and bridge repairs and expanded mass transit. The gas tax jumped from 18 cents to 30 cents per gallon on Nov. 1, and vehicle fees of at least $25 kicked in Jan. 1. The gas tax repeal petition is breaking records for both paid and volunteer signatures and were using the next two weeks to catch up on validation of signatures already received, said Carl DeMaio, a former San Diego City Councilman and conservative radio talk-show host. As a grass-roots-funded effort we are also continuously raising funds and volunteer support. We are highly confident well qualify this Initiative for the November 2018 ballot. Facebook

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State pot bureau ready to enforce Californias new marijuana laws as license applications flood in By Patrick McGreevy The state has issued 104 licenses for retail stores to sell marijuana for recreational use in California and 239 other applications for those permits are pending, officials said Tuesday. An official with the state Bureau of Cannabis Control added that the agency is prepared to begin taking enforcement action against pot shops that are not properly licensed. The bureaus enforcement team is ready to respond to any complaints it receives and start doing compliance checks and site visits at any time, said Alex Traverso, a spokesman for the bureau. Selling marijuana without a license is a crime punishable by up to six months in county jail and a fine of up to $500. Those convicted of engaging in any marijuana business activity without a license will also be subject to a civil penalty of up to three times the amount of the license fee for each violation. A new report issued Tuesday indicated the bureau has issued 478 temporary licenses to firms to test, distribute and sell medical and recreational marijuana, which began Jan. 1 after voters approved a legalization initiative, Proposition 64, in 2016. Businesses have received 153 licenses to sell marijuana for medical use. Another 1,458 firms have applied for licenses that are still being processed. The state Department of Food and Agriculture has separately issued 207 licenses to marijuana growers. Facebook

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Two possible instances of discrimination reported after California issues drivers licenses to immigrants here illegally By Jazmine Ulloa The California Research Bureau on Tuesday released its first report on incidents of discrimination under a 2015 state law that has provided drivers licenses for hundreds of thousands of immigrants here illegally. Researchers found no complaints have been made against government agencies tasked with enforcing anti-discrimination laws. But two possible instances of discrimination were reported in focus group interviews conducted by Drive California, a coalition of advocates studying the impact of the new law. In one case, a woman in Fresno was told her license was not a valid form of identification at a retail store, though it was unclear whether the incident reflected intentional discrimination or simple ignorance of the license marking, the report states. A MoneyGram clerk in another case denied a license holder the ability to cash a check. The same person was later rejected again at a bank. The state Department of Motor Vehicles has issued 960,000 AB 60 drivers licenses as of Nov. 30. The state research bureau produced the report for the Legislature as part of the new law, which declares discrimination against an AB 60 license holder a violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act. Facebook

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California lawmaker proposes requiring panic buttons for hotel workers in response to widespread sexual harassment By Patrick McGreevy More than half of hotel workers surveyed report being sexually harassed at some point. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times) Alarmed by a survey indicating sexual harassment of hotel housekeepers is widespread, a California state lawmaker on Tuesday proposed requiring employers to provide panic button devices to their employees so they can summon help if abused by a guest. The bill to be introduced Wednesday by Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) would also require individual hotels to impose a three-year ban on guests who engage in harassment on the property. We want to protect our most vulnerable women workers, hotel maids who are going into rooms alone, from sexual harassment, said Muratsuchi, who co-authored the bill with Assemblyman Bill Quirk (D-Hayward). The legislation signals that concerns over sexual harassment that dominated the state Legislature last year will continue to be an issue for lawmakers as they begin the new legislative year Wednesday. Harassment allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, comedian Louis C.K. and other high-profile men have involved sexual misconduct in hotel rooms. A survey in July by Unite Here Local 1 found that 49% of female hotel workers in Chicago had experienced a guest answering the door naked or exposing himself. The report titled Hands Off, Pants On, found 58% of hotel workers said they had been sexually harassed by a guest. Californias Unite Here Local 11 has been calling for the action proposed in the legislation. It is the intent of this measure to protect hotel employees from violent assault, including sexual assault, and sexual harassment, and to enable those employees to speak out when they experience harassment on the job, said the introduction to the legislation introduced by Muratsuchi. In addition to requiring hotels to provide panic buttons to employees who work alone in rooms, the bill requires hotels to take written complaints from employees and keep them for five years. Any complaint backed by evidence including a statement given under penalty of perjury would result in a guest being banned from a hotel for three years. Hotels would also be required to post a notice on the inside of hotel room doors warning guests about the consequences of sexual harassment. Updated at 4:10 pm to include comment from Assemblyman Muratsuchi. Facebook

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Money, Republican malaise and Tom Steyer: These are the things to watch for in Californias 2018 statewide elections By Seema Mehta Get ready, California. What had been a behind-the-scenes dash for cash closely watched by few other than political observers is about to burst into public view. Voters this year will decide who will succeed Democrat Jerry Brown as the next governor and whether they will send Sen. Dianne Feinstein back to Washington. Before the June 5 primary, candidates will ramp up their campaigns with messages on television and stuffed into mailboxes. Heres a primer on the states two marquee races. Read More Facebook

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Fickle L.A. County is pivotal in the race for California governor By Phil Willon Home to a quarter of Californias 5.2 million registered voters, Los Angeles County is the biggest prize in Californias 2018 race for governor. For two hometown Democratic candidates especially  former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Treasurer John Chiang of Torrance  doing well in L.A. County is essential if they hope to best the front-runner, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. Yet this overwhelmingly Democratic stronghold continually bedevils even the most adept campaigns. Read More Facebook

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A renewed brawl over single-payer healthcare in California is on deck for 2018 By Melanie Mason Carolyn Angela Chen, a registered nurse, gives a free hepatitis A vaccination to Glenn Gardner, 52, at Joshua House Clinic (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) California officials are bracing for healthcare battles in Washington to have a major impact on the states budget and programs. Activists and politicians are planning a showdown over whether or not to establish a single-payer healthcare system in the state. And prescription drug manufacturers are the target of a number of bills meant to target the rising costs of medication. Sound familiar? Turns out the brewing healthcare battles in California in 2018 arent all that different from those from 2017. Heres a primer on the upcoming healthcare agenda in California: Read More Facebook

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How California lawmakers plan to protect the online privacy of consumers in 2018 By Jazmine Ulloa (Elise Amendola / Associated Press) With federal regulation rollbacks and a rise in data breaches, California lawmakers this year are looking for ways to protect consumers and their personal information. Some legislation under consideration could give people more notice and control over what data is collected, without having to pay for privacy or better services. Other bills could provide free credit freezes for consumers and require new privacy features for products that connect to the internet. Read More Facebook

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2018 will see California motorists pay more to the state to repair roads and bridges By Patrick McGreevy The new year brings with it new vehicle fees in California ranging from $25 to $175 depending on the value of your car, but Republican lawmakers are hoping to qualify a ballot measure in November to repeal the higher charges. The fees and a 12-cent increase in Californias gas tax last year are part of a plan by Democrats to raise more than $5.2 billion annually to deal with a backlog of road and bridge repairs. Petitions to qualify a repeal initiative are circulating now. Read More Facebook

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A rent control battle tops the list of California housing issues to watch in 2018 By Liam Dillon A new-home community in Anaheim in 2016 (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times) California lawmakers arent wasting any time in tackling one of the most contentious issues in state housing politics this year. On Jan. 11, the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee is set to hold a hearing on legislation that could lead to a dramatic expansion of rent control policies across the state. The debate over rent control could spill over onto the 2018 ballot, where Californians also could see proposals to expand or curtail the property tax restrictions ushered in 40 years ago by Proposition 13. Lawmakers will have to wrestle with how to follow up a package of housing bills that passed last year. The measures provided new funding and regulations designed to encourage homebuilding, but are unlikely to make an appreciable difference in housing costs. Read More Facebook

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Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas is resigning By John Myers Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas abruptly announced his resignation from the California Legislature on Wednesday, citing health reasons. Ridley-Thomas, a Democrat from Los Angeles, informed Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) Tuesday night. The reason for this difficult decision is that I am facing persistent health issues, Ridley-Thomas, 30, said in a written statement on Wednesday. On December 18th, I underwent surgery for the fifth time this year. Although I expect a full recovery, my physicians advise that I will need an extended period of time to recuperate. Earlier this year, Ridley-Thomas was absent from work for more than two weeks. Staff members initially said the absence was a personal leave, then said the time off was due to unspecified medical reasons. His resignation letter on Wednesday offered no additional details. When I resume public life, I intend to remain active in civic affairs, where my passion lies, he said in the statement released by his office. Ridley-Thomas was first elected to the Assembly in a 2013 special election. He is the son of Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. Before winning elected office at age 26, the younger Ridley-Thomas worked as an aide for Los Angeles City Councilman Curren Price and managed a 2012 Assembly campaign in San Bernardino County. In a statement about his sons decision, Mark Ridley-Thomas said he and his wife more than anyone, have seen him struggle with health challenges this year, and we fully support his decision to step down from the state Legislature so that he can recuperate with complete rest, in accordance with his doctors orders. His solidly Democratic district includes the west Los Angeles neighborhoods of Westwood, Culver City, Crenshaw and Baldwin Hills. He is chairman of the influential Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee, which oversees all tax-related legislation. Ridley-Thomas is a proponent of changes in the operation of the state Board of Equalization, though his plan would have allowed the agency to ultimately retain many of its duties. A more substantial shake-up was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in June. Ridley-Thomas was the author of a bill signed into law in October giving the Los Angeles Unified School District the power to preserve some of its existing single-gender schools. He was unsuccessful, though, in an effort to stop local governments from imposing taxes on streaming video services like Netflix and Hulu. Ridley-Thomas departure will require a special election in 2018. He is the fourth Southern California legislator to leave office this year. The election of Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles) to Congress also required a special election. The other two lawmakers Assemblymen Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima) and Matt Dababneh (D-Woodland Hills)  stepped down in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct, which both men have denied. A special election to fill Bocanegras seat will be held on April 3, with a potential runoff on June 5. A special election date has not yet been set for Dababnehs seat. My colleagues and I wish Assemblymember Sebastian Ridley-Thomas all the best going forward as he deals with his health challenges, Rendon said in a statement. The Assembly will continue to assist the residents of the 54th Assembly District until a new assemblymember is seated. This post was updated with comment from Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, as well as more information about special elections. It was originally published at 11:10 a.m. Facebook

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California Senate Democrats are considering some ideas to counter the GOP tax plan By Liam Dillon Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Democrats in the California Senate are planning to write legislation to lessen the effects of the elimination of popular tax breaks in the GOPs overhaul of the federal tax system. To finance broad-based corporate tax cuts and reductions in individual tax rates, the GOP plan caps the deductibility of state and local income and property taxes  a benefit used often in suburban areas of California. The Republican tax scam disproportionately harms California taxpayers, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) said in a statement. Our hard-earned tax dollars should not be subject to double-taxation, especially not to line the pockets of the Trump family, hedge fund managers and private jet owners. De Leon, who also is running for U.S. Senate, said the state Senate is working with law professors at UCLA, UC Davis and the University of Chicago to develop the legislation. Ideas being considered, according to a de Leon spokesman, include: Reducing state personal income taxes through a tax credit program and offsetting that amount through payroll taxes.

Allowing individuals to make voluntary gifts to the state of California, which would be deductible as a charitable donation under federal law. The deduction for the donated amount would replace the state and local tax deduction. Lawmakers return to Sacramento in January.

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L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti admits considering a 2020 bid: I am thinking about this By Seema Mehta Eric Garcetti (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Its no secret Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is interested in running for president. When reporters ask about his intentions, he has used all sorts of ways to deflect, typically by saying hes focused on his day job  for the moment. But speaking in Spanish to a Univision reporter this week, Garcetti edged ever closer to the telltale admission hes actually considering it. I am thinking about this, said Garcetti, who is partly of Mexican heritage but learned Spanish attending private school. The majority of time goes to my work as mayor of Los Angeles, but every [citizen] should think about what our role is in these difficult times, in these dangerous times. Garcetti added that he expects many mayors to run for president, and noted New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recently visited Iowa, which holds the first presidential nominating contest. Garcetti has long been rumored to be flirting with a White House bid, and he has fueled such speculation by traveling out of state to places such as the early presidential primary state of New Hampshire to campaign for a mayoral candidate. Facebook

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Gov. Brown makes judicial appointments, including attorney who helps train Legislature on anti-sexual-harassment policies .@JerryBrownGov makes two court of appeal and 33 superior court appointments including Lauri Damrell in Sacramento. Damrell, an attorney at Orrick, testified at the Assemblys recent hearing on sexual harassment, outlining the assemblys current prevention efforts.  Liam Dillon (@dillonliam) December 22, 2017 Facebook

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Californias former top cop forms marijuana distribution firm in new age of legalization By Patrick McGreevy Former California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer is going from enforcing laws against marijuana to legally distributing the drug under the states new rules that allow the sale and possession of pot for recreational use. With state-licensed sales of marijuana starting Jan. 1, Lockyer has co-founded a firm, C4 Distro, that will distribute packaged marijuana concentrates and edibles to stores in Los Angeles. He says Californias new regulated system has a chance to be a model for the rest of the country. For me as somebody who was on the law enforcement side for so many years, I saw the inadequacies of the effort to regulate something just by calling it illegal, Lockyer said. I think legalizing will help stabilize and help legitimize this industry and result in better consumer protection and other public benefits. Lockyer, a Democrat who served in the state Assembly and was leader of the state Senate, has co-founded the firm with Eric Spitz, who was chairman and president of the former parent company of the Orange County Register. The businessmen aim to get their products to pot shops in L.A. in late January or early February, Spitz said. Asked if he uses marijuana himself, Lockyer, 76, said, Not in any recent times, but there were college years. He said he sees his involvement in the marijuana industry as a mixture of helping to pay for his kids college tuition and public service to help the new regulations work. This whole industry has to come from the dark side to the light, he said. By focusing on delivery to as many as 700 stores that might open in Los Angeles, C4 Distro hopes to capture a targeted market while other firms distribute statewide. The business has a warehouse in southeast Los Angeles County and is close to applying for a distributors license from the state, Lockyer said. Lockyer served a quarter century in the state Legislature before he was elected as state attorney general in 1999. He left that office in 2007 when he was elected as state treasurer, serving until his retirement from politics in 2015. Before co-leading a group that bought the Register newspaper in 2012, Spitz served as chief financial officer at Narragansett Brewing Company. Spitz left the Registers Freedom Communications in 2016. 2 p.m.: An earlier version of this article mistakenly said Spitz left Freedom Communications in 2015. Facebook

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House passes disaster aid bill with wildfire funding, 18 Californians vote no By Sarah D. Wire (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Eighteen of Californias 53 House members voted no on an $81-billion disaster aid package Thursday, which includes funds for Californias recent wildfires. The 17 Democrats and one Republican voted no on the bill, which passed the House by a 251 to 169 vote. The Senate is not expected to take up the bill until January, when Congress returns from its holiday break. The entire California delegation had recently signed onto a letter asking for the disaster aid. In a speech on the House floor before the vote, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) pleaded with colleagues not to take a political stance on a disaster aid bill. Dont play politics on a vote to give aid to the people of Texas, to the people of Puerto Rico and to the Virgin Islands, to the people of Florida, and to the people of California that are still fighting the fires. Dont play politics on a bill where you hope to maybe stop another. That would be the worst of any politics Ive seen played here, McCarthy said. Here and now, right before Christmas, dont vote against aid for Americans who just lost everything. Several of the Democrats who voted no also voted against the spending bill Thursday, and said that they felt they could not support either because the bills did not include Democratic priorities for the end of the year, including protections for people brought to the country illegally as children. Others said the aid bill doesnt provide enough money for California and doesnt treat Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands fairly in terms of competing for the funds. The 18 representatives voting no were: Nanette Barragan (D-San Pedro)

Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles)

Tony Cardenas (D-Los Angeles)

Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park)

Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana)

Anna Eshoo (D-Menlo Park)

Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles)

Ro Khanna (D-Fremont)

Barbara Lee (D-Oakland)

Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose)

Tom McClintock (R-Elk Grove)

Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco)

Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Downey)

Linda Sanchez (D-Whittier)

Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough)

Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin)

Norma Torres (D-Pomona)

Juan Vargas (D-San Diego) Facebook

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Three California House members cross party lines on spending bill to keep government open By Sarah D. Wire Three California House members crossed party lines Thursday on a vote to pass a spending bill that will keep the government open until mid-January. Democratic Reps. Jim Costa of Fresno and Raul Ruiz of Palm Desert joined the majority of Republicans to vote for the bill. Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter of Alpine joined Democrats to vote against it. The bill, which funds the government through Jan. 19, passed the House 231 to 188, right before representatives left for the holidays. Costa said in a statement that he voted yes because keeping the government open is Congress job, but he called the vote a continuation of the dysfunction in Washington. It further illustrates the damage that results from partisan politics and irresponsible leadership. It is unacceptable that we have to resort to funding the government for weeks at a time because we cannot sit down together  Democrats and Republicans  and negotiate a real budget bill, Costa said. Hunters staff said the congressman was concerned that military spending in the bill was extended for only a short period. He had wanted the spending to be extended until September. Facebook

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Poll points to all-Democrat runoffs in California races for governor and senator By Seema Mehta Californians could see two Democrat-on-Democrat contests in the states premier races in 2018, according to a new poll released Thursday. In the gubernatorial race, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom remains the front-runner with the support of 26% of likely voters in a Berkeley IGS poll. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa came in second with the backing of 17%. The poll found notable demographic differences in the two mens bases of support. Newsom had strong leads in the Bay Area, where he once served as the mayor of San Francisco, as well as among white voters, liberals and the wealthy. Villaraigosa saw strong backing in Los Angeles County, among Latino voters and among those who earned less than $40,000. Republicans splintered in the race, placing businessman John Cox and Assemblyman Travis Allen in a tie for third place with 9% each. Two other Democrats, state Treasurer John Chiang and former state schools chief Delaine Eastin, each won the support of 5% of likely voters. If Republicans fail to consolidate behind a candidate in the June primary, voters will for the first time see no GOP candidate on the November ballot for governor. Its a repeat of what occurred in the 2016 U.S. Senate race, and what is likely to occur again in the 2018 U.S. Senate race if the field does not grow. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has the support of 41% of likely voters in her reelection bid, but her rival, fellow Democrat Kevin de Leon, won the support of 27%, according to the poll. There is no GOP candidate in the race. Feinstein, who has served in the Senate for a quarter-century, has enormous advantages in fundraising, name recognition and support among powerful political groups. However, the poll found that nearly one-third of likely voters said they are undecided or would like to support another candidate. Facebook

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California legislator wants to curb sexual harassment in Hollywood and eating disorders for models By Melanie Mason Fashion models show off the BCBG MAX AZRIA Spring 2016 collection during New York Fashion Week. (Richard Drew / AP) A new proposal by a California assemblyman is taking aim at two of the more criticized phenomena in the entertainment industry: sexual harassment and unhealthy body standards for fashion models. The legislation, by Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael), would require the states Occupational Safety and Health Standards to adopt guidelines for fashion models in an attempt to combat the prevalence of eating disorders and excessive thinness in the industry. This is the second time Levine has tried to take on the fashion industry. His similar bill to impose standards on models sputtered in 2016. This time, Levine also is trying to address the prevalence of sexual harassment in the entertainment industry by requiring that talent agencies  which represent actors, performers and other artists  provide training on sexual harassment and how to identify and prevent inappropriate behavior. I believed women who told me their stories of abuse when I introduced legislation to provide workplace protections in the fashion industry in 2016 just like I believe them now, Levine said in a statement. Its time that law reflects societys rejection of sexual harassment in all workplaces, including Hollywood. My bill aims to address the problem before it starts, but also empowers survivors with the tools to report these cases. Facebook

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Local Indivisible group picks Democrat to endorse against Rep. Duncan Hunter By Christine Mai-Duc Ammar Campa-Najjar, 28, is running against Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine). (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) With an already crowded field of contenders hoping to unseat Rep. Duncan Hunter and months to go before the candidate filing deadline, one local activist group has made an early endorsement in the race. Indivisible CA50, made up of activists mostly in San Diego County, announced Thursday that its endorsing Ammar Campa-Najjar, a Democrat and public affairs consultant whos challenging Hunter. The endorsement comes as liberal activists and interest groups all over the state are grappling with whether  and how  to winnow down the dozens of candidates vying for 10 GOP-held seats in California. The group held more than half a dozen endorsement meetings to allow members throughout Hunters district to vote on their preferred candidate. One of the candidates, Pierre Beauregard, dropped out of the race recently and endorsed Campa-Najjar. In a statement Campa-Najjar said in a statement that the nod represents the enthusiasm of hundreds of progressive grassroots activists. Indivisibles national political director Maria Urbina said the endorsement was the first made by any California chapter in the 2018 midterms. Aside from Campa-Najjar, two other Democrats are running for Hunters seat: Josh Butner, a school board trustee and former Navy SEAL, and realtor Patrick Malloy, who ran last year and lost to Hunter by nearly 27 percentage points. Hunter will also face at least two GOP challengers: Shamus Sayed and Andrew Zelt. Hunter is not considered to be particularly vulnerable in next years election, but an investigation into his alleged misuse of campaign funds has caused at least one election handicapper to move his race from solid Republican to the likely Republican column. Facebook

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San Francisco is getting a new mayor and creating a political star. Who will it be? By Mark Z. Barabak San Francisco is the city everyone loves, even if they hate it. The stately Victorians, like a gingerbread dream come to life. The majestic Golden Gate Bridge, standing like heavens portal above the fog. The plucky cable cars, scrabbling up its impossible hillsides. It can almost make you forget the bands of ravaged homeless, the paralyzing traffic, the scent of human waste wafting from sidewalks outside the citys posh eateries and palatial tech headquarters. San Francisco is getting a new mayor, owing to the sudden death of incumbent Ed Lee. All of the grandeur, and all of the grit, accompany the position. To say the race is wide open  Lee having died just about a week ago  is an understatement. Read More Facebook

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein is under pressure over a fix for Dreamers By Sarah D. Wire California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is under pressure from activists and fellow Democrats to withhold support for a spending bill that would avert a government shutdown in exchange for protections for people brought to the country illegally as children. Feinstein said in October that protections for so-called Dreamers are the most important thing we can get done, but the senator known for her moderate bent said this week that she wont try to block the end-of-the-year spending bill over it, and has not offered an explanation. Dreamers this week flooded Feinsteins five California offices and her office on Capitol Hill. Two UCLA students refused to leave her Capitol Hill office after three hours Tuesday and were briefly detained by police. On Wednesday, about a dozen students and parents returned and were asked to leave after about 30 minutes of shouting in her office lobby. Read More Facebook

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The GOP tax plan passed. Now Democrats have another big issue to use in the midterms By Sarah D. Wire As GOP leaders in Congress met behind closed doors to hash out the details of their massive tax overhaul, a group of UC Irvine graduate students met in Rep. Mimi Walters district, fretting about how the plan could cost them money. About 20 miles north, dozens of activists in top hats stood outside Rep. Ed Royces Brea office as they chanted, Shame on you! And up in the Central Valley, protesters gathered outside Rep. Jeff Denhams Modesto office to sing Protest ye dreary congressman  Remember that he voted to take healthcare away. To save himself from taxes now, so you will have to pay. Read More Facebook

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Kevin de Leon to Feinstein: Dont come back to California without forcing a government shutdown over Dream Act By Jazmine Ulloa State Senate leader Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), left, and Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), right. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press) Taking direct criticism to the woman he is attempting to unseat in next years U.S. Senate race, California Senate leader Kevin de Leon on Wednesday urged Democrats to block a year-end spending bill as leverage to pass a Dream Act  clean of GOP demands for increased border security. At a news conference in downtown Los Angeles, De Leon commended Sen. Kamala Harris for pledging to block the measure, saying he could not understand why her colleague Sen. Dianne Feinstein had failed to take a similar stance in pushing for legislation to protect the so-called Dreamers, immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. Dreamers make up hundreds of thousands of Sen. Feinsteins constituents, and while talking a good game on Dreamers, when it comes to standing up and supporting them, she is AWOL, said De Leon (D-Los Angeles), who has attempted to position himself to Feinsteins left as he campaigns for her seat. His statements follow days of demonstrations by young protesters at legislators offices in Washington and California. The coalitions of activists have been calling on Democrats to hold up the spending bill, a move that could force a government shutdown. They want to pass Dream Act legislation that would provide protections and a path to citizenship to young people without legal residency in the U.S. At least two young protesters were arrested Tuesday outside of Feinsteins Capitol Hill office, and more demonstrations took place at her offices in Washington and San Francisco on Wednesday. Feinstein, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) have sponsored Dream Act legislation but have not pledged to hold up the spending deal. A separate bipartisan group of senators is advocating punting the issue to January. President Trump has asked Congress to come up with a solution by March. Standing next to De Leon and immigrant rights advocates on Wednesday, state Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) said advocates had to double down the shame on any Democrat who thinks its time to wait on the issue. De Leon said they had made that message clear to Schumer, saying, It is time to find your spine, sir. To Pelosi and Feinstein, he said: Dont come back to California if you havent demonstrated your leadership and your courage to stand up for these young men and women. I can tell you this, De Leon said. If the Republicans were on the other side, they wouldnt hesitate for a nanosecond to shut down the government to move forward what they believe in. Facebook

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12 California Republicans vote to support tax overhaul for a second time; Rohrabacher and Issa say no By Sarah D. Wire The House gave final approval for the GOP tax bill Wednesday, with 12 Republicans in the state delegation again voting in favor of the bill. Reps. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa and Darrell Issa of Vista voted no. The House and Senate both passed the bill Tuesday, but, because Democrats raised procedural objections that forced the bill to be changed in the Senate, the House had to vote on the bill again Wednesday before sending it to President Trump for his signature. Though many California taxpayers are expected to see an initial income tax cut under the plan, a significant number probably will have higher taxes because of the lost deductions. Analysts also expect the biggest cuts to flow to corporations and the states wealthiest residents. Republicans are expected to head to the White House later Wednesday for a celebration with Trump. No House Democrats, including the 39 from California, supported the bill. Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Norwalk) was not present for the second vote, but she voted no on Tuesday. See the Republican votes here: Facebook

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Californias Democratic senators vote no on GOP tax bill Californias @SenKamalaHarris and @SenFeinstein join rest of Democrats in the Senate in voting no on the GOP tax bill, which passed 51-48 along party lines. Sanders, who is an Independent, voted with Democrats.  Sarah D. Wire (@sarahdwire) December 20, 2017 "At a time when wages have stagnated and working Americans are trying to do more with less, this tax plan pulls the rug out from the middle class to give billions to those who already have so much. This is an attack on our values, and Americans deserve better," Harris said.  Sarah D. Wire (@sarahdwire) December 20, 2017 "Californians will be hit especially hard by the cap on the state and local tax deduction, making it more difficult for communities to pay for services that our families rely on, Its no wonder a bill that primarily benefits the wealthy is so unpopular..." Feinstein said  Sarah D. Wire (@sarahdwire) December 20, 2017 Facebook

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GOP tax overhaul passes House with help from a dozen California Republicans By Sarah D. Wire Despite weeks of consternation from some California House Republicans, a dozen of them joined their colleagues to pass an overhaul of the U.S. tax code Tuesday. Two  Reps. Darrell Issa and Dana Rohrabacher  voted against the plan. In the weeks before the vote, Republican Reps. Mimi Walters of Irvine and Steve Knight of Palmdale cited new caps on popular deductions as reasons they were uncertain about whether to vote for the bill. Both worked behind the scenes on changes and ultimately supported the bill, which passed the House on a near party line vote 227-203. Knight said hes satisfied the changes are enough to to turn what would have been a tax increase into a tax cut for his constituents. Read More Facebook

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More than half of Californians oppose GOP tax bill, according to new poll By Sarah D. Wire House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) arrives for a news conference about the tax plan. (Win McNamee / Getty Images) More than half of Californians oppose the GOP tax bill expected to be approved by Congress today, and just 20% believe it will have a positive affect on their families, according to a poll released Monday. Just over half of California voters, 51%, oppose the tax bill, and 30% support it, according to the newest IGS Poll, a survey by the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley. And the belief falls largely along party lines, with Democrats opposing the bill by a more than 4-to-1 (67% to 15%) margin and Republicans supporting it 3 to 1 (60% to 21%). The House and Senate are expected to vote on the tax bill Tuesday. Californias Republican members of Congress largely support the bill despite some concerns about how cuts to the state and local tax deduction and mortgage interest deduction might affect Californians. Democrats in the delegation oppose it and have said they will use the vote against vulnerable Republicans in the 2018 midterm elections. When asked about the impact they think the bill will have on themselves and their families, just 20% of the polls respondents said they think it will benefit them directly, while 40% foresee a negative impact. About 27% do not expect much of an impact, and 13% said they dont know if theyll be affected. The poll of a random sample of 1,000 registered voters was completed by telephone in English and Spanish from Dec. 7 to 16. Facebook

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A quick look at some of the biggest tax changes for Californians By Sarah D. Wire (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press) Congressional Republicans are framing their tax cut bill as a Christmas gift that will give Americans an average tax cut of $2,059. For Californians, especially in the wealthier areas along the coast, the situation isnt as clear-cut. When the measure comes up for a vote in the House on Tuesday morning, its expected to pass along party lines. At least two Republicans say they will join Democrats in the California delegation to oppose the plan because they fear it will hurt their constituents bottom line. Take a quick look at what some of the biggest changes in the tax bill might mean for average Californians. Read More Facebook

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Lawmakers, pot growers say Californias marijuana cultivation rules favor big corporate farms By Patrick McGreevy Californias new rules allowing marijuana cultivation favor large corporate farms despite a promise in Proposition 64 that small growers would be protected, according to a group of state lawmakers and marijuana industry leaders who called Monday for the policy to be changed. The California Department of Food and Agriculture issued emergency rules last month that allow for small and medium-sized farms of up to a quarter acre and one acre, respectively, to get licenses for the first five years. That five-year head start for small farms was promised in Proposition 64, the initiative approved last year by voters that legalized growing and selling marijuana for recreational use. Individuals and businesses can get only one license for a medium-sized farm, but the new rules do not set a limit on how many small-farm licenses can be obtained by one person or business. That could allow a corporation to assemble a 20-acre farm by obtaining 80 licenses for a quarter-acre each, opponents worry. Democratic state Sens. Scott Wiener of San Francisco and Mike McGuire of Healdsburg, Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) and the California Growers Assn. asked for swift action by the state agricultural department to change the rule. This is clearly a broken promise, McGuire said. For two years, every discussion has included a cap on cannabis grows and the Department of Food and Agriculture needs to fix this massive loophole they have created. This last-minute revision rolls out the red carpet for large corporations to crush the livelihood of small family farmers. With cultivation licenses set to take effect next month, the lawmakers also promised legislative hearings on why the rules were drafted to disadvantage small, mom-and-pop farms. California only has one chance to get this right, and it is already on the wrong path with this last-minute change that flies in the face of what the backers of Prop. 64 promised, said Hezekiah Allen, executive director of the California Growers Assn. This single decision will hand over the California marketplace to multinational corporations and a wealthy few at the expense of thousands of growers who are ready to play by the rules and provide economic opportunity in communities that until recently were criminalized or  at the very least  marginalized. The industry estimates there are about 3,500 independent growers on track to get a state license in the first half of 2018. Allens group estimates that number could grow to as many as 10,000 or 15,000 by the end of 2020, but not if large corporate farms are allowed in early. The agricultural agency issued a response later: A one-acre canopy limit has not been in proposed regulations at any point and was not included in the emergency regulations due to the fact that Proposition 64, the law guiding the process, did not provide authority to include it. However, local jurisdictions may impose that limitation on their own if it meets the needs of their constituents. Updated at 5:10 pm to include comment from agricultural agency. Facebook

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Final tax bill dramatically softens blow to mortgage interest deductions in California By Christine Mai-Duc Last-minute changes to the Republican-led tax overhaul seem to be tailor-made to entice support from California GOP lawmakers, several of whom voted against a previous version passed in the House last month. The House version, passed with the support of all but three California Republicans, had proposed capping the mortgage interest deduction at loans of $500,000 or less. Republicans in high-tax, expensive states had voiced concerns the bill would have major effects in their districts. But the final version of the bill dramatically slashed the percentage of new mortgages that would be affected if the package becomes law. *New mortgages over $500,000 include data through Sept. 2017. New mortgages over $750,000 include data through Oct. 2017. Source: Times analysis of data provided by CoreLogic The particulars of the mortgage interest provision and other popular deductions were major sticking points as House and Senate negotiators hammered out a compromise between the two versions. A previous Times analysis showed that more than half of new mortgages this year in Rep. Dana Rohrabachers coastal Orange County district exceeded the $500,000 cap laid out in the House version. Text of the new bill released Friday outlined a cap of $750,000, which would apply to just under a quarter of new mortgages there through October 2017. Rohrabacher was one of three California Republicans, along with Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) and Tom McClintock (R-Elk Grove) who previously voted against the measure. Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Irvine) said she supported the House version after receiving assurances from leaders that the bill would be changed to account for the loss of deductions, The percentage of new mortgages over the cap dropped from 48% to 14%. Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), whose district had 1% of mortgages exceeding the $500,000 cap proposed previously, saw that share drop almost to zero; 27 of 7,515 mortgages in his congressional district this year have been for more than $750,000. The House is expected to vote on the final tax bill Tuesday. Facebook

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A major change to Proposition 13 takes its first step toward the 2018 ballot By Liam Dillon A commercial property in San Bernardino County that could face higher property taxes under a proposed ballot measure (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times) Proponents of making a dramatic change to Californias landmark Proposition 13 property tax restrictions took their first step to getting a measure on the November 2018 statewide ballot Friday. The change would allow the state to receive more tax dollars from commercial and industrial properties by assessing them at their current market value, an effort known as split roll because existing tax protections on homes would remain in place. Advocates of the measure, including the League of Women Voters of California and community organizing nonprofits California Calls and PICO Network said the change could raise billions of dollars that could be spent on public schools and community colleges. I think the cumulative effects of the unfair tax system have gotten to the point where its created crippling economic impacts on the state, said Melissa Breach, executive director of the League of Women Voters of California. Backers filed their proposed initiative Friday. The attorney generals office will prepare an official title and summary for the measure and it will receive a financial analysis. From there, advocates will decide if they will collect signatures to put the measure on the ballot. Proposition 13 passed in 1978 amid concerns that rising property taxes could force people out of their homes. The ballot measure limited property taxes to 1% of a propertys value at the time of purchase and ensures that the assessed value on which taxes are based can only increase by a maximum of 2% a year  no matter how much a propertys market value goes up. Split-roll measures have been long debated in state politics, but business groups and anti-tax groups have expressed substantial opposition to the idea, arguing that it would cause major harm to the states business climate. Breach said she expected an avalanche of big money against the measure should it go forward, but said that her organization wouldnt get involved without believing it could raise sufficient funding.S For the record 1 p.m., Dec. 18: An earlier version of this post said the split roll ballot measure would allow California to charge higher tax rates on commercial and industrial properties. It would allow the state to assess those properties at current market value, not charge higher rates. Facebook

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Three more women accuse California assemblyman of sexual misconduct By Melanie Mason Assemblyman Matt Dababneh (D-Woodland Hills) (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) A Los Angeles woman has filed a police report alleging Democratic Assemblyman Matt Dababneh had sex with her without consent four years ago, adding new allegations of sexual misconduct to those that led the politician to announce his resignation last week. He says her claims are false. Nancy Miret, 26, told The Times that when she was 22 and a recent college graduate, she spent time with Dababneh over two months in late 2013, primarily at his Encino apartment. At the time, Dababneh was running for Assembly to represent the western San Fernando Valley. They had consensual sex on one occasion, but after that, Miret said she had multiple nonconsensual sexual encounters with Dababneh that left her traumatized. Miret, who now works in commercial real estate, is one of three women interviewed by The Times who have made new allegations concerning Dababnehs behavior. These allegations are false and Im confident that when all the facts are in, it will clearly show that these claims are not true, Dababneh told The Times. Read More Facebook

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San Diego business is first in California to be issued license to sell marijuana for recreational use By Patrick McGreevy A San Diego medical marijuana business is the first firm to be issued a license by the state of California to sell marijuana for recreational use, officials said Thursday. Torrey Holistics received two of the first 20 licenses granted by the state Bureau of Cannabis Control this week to sell or distribute marijuana, although the licenses do not take effect until Jan. 1, according to bureau chief Lori Ajax. An additional 180 firms have applied for licenses but they are being processed. Last week, we officially launched our online licensing system, and today were pleased to issue the first group of temporary licenses to cannabis businesses that fall under the Bureaus jurisdiction, Ajax said in a statement. We plan to issue many more before January 1. The bureau is issuing temporary, four-month licenses to firms initially, but will eventually require firms to undergo background checks and pay a $1,000 application fee for yearlong permits. Tony Hall left a chemical distribution business two years ago to start Torrey Holistics with a friend and classmate at San Diego State. He said he was ecstatic to have the first recreational permit in California. He also obtained a new license to continue selling marijuana for medical uses. We feel fricking great about it, he said Thursday. Its just exciting. This is a once in a multi-generational event, he added, likening it to the end of prohibition. Added Ruthie Edelson, the firms marketing director, We will be open at 7 a.m. on Jan. 1. Last year, voters approved Proposition 64, which makes California one of eight states that allow the growing and sale of marijuana for recreational uses. Facebook

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Conservative activist group files a lawsuit over Los Angeles County inactive voter list By John Myers A Washington-based conservative-leaning activist group filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday alleging Los Angeles County officials are refusing to cancel the registrations of voters who are ineligible to cast a ballot. The legal action by Judicial Watch comes four months after the organization first accused elections officials across the state of maintaining registration lists that are larger than their voting-age population. The lawsuit also names Secretary of State Alex Padilla as a defendant and alleges the voter lists violate the National Voter Registration Act, or NVRA. They dont care about removing ineligible registration, said Robert Popper of Judicial Watch. I think we have a very strong lawsuit. The lawsuit names four Los Angeles County voters as co-plaintiffs and asserts that a countys two lists of voters  the file of active voters and those whose registration has been placed on inactive status  should be combined into a single total. The inactive list includes people who havent cast ballots in recent elections and havent responded to inquiries from elections officials. Though the names on that list are considered voters, they are not counted in official registration reports and are not mailed election material. Popper led an effort earlier this year to estimate the size of each countys voting-age population using the Census Bureaus American Community Survey. He said the surveys five-year average of county populations was then adjusted by focusing just on the estimate of those over the age of 18, and then comparing that with the combined active and inactive voter lists. Popper dismissed any concern that the resulting number might be skewed by the different standards used by counties for the inactive list, which could include names of voters who moved or died and thus be an imperfect guide. I believe that a court is going to accept our numbers, he said. Dean Logan, the registrar of voters in Los Angeles County, said his staffs practices are consistent with federal law. This lawsuit appears to fundamentally interpret the requirements of the NVRA in a manner inconsistent with ensuring voter enfranchisement and appropriate list maintenance, he said. The lawsuit also alleges that Los Angeles elections officials failed to provide Judicial Watch with requested data about the size of the inactive list, and accuses Padilla of failing to address the groups concerns about California not following NVRA rules. In a statement on Thursday, Padilla said county inactive-voter files are not out of compliance with the law. He criticized Judicial Watch for its baseless assertions, bad math, and flawed methodology. Local elections officials have said very few inactive voters show up on election day, and that any who do would be asked to cast a provisional ballot  one that isnt counted unless the voters eligibility is confirmed through additional review. Popper insisted that if the list is never used, theres no reason to keep it. Judicial Watch, which sued for access to Hillary Clintons emails in 2016, alleged that its calculations show 11 California counties with questionable voter registration totals. Facebook

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Voters in California GOP districts may get calls asking them to thank their member of Congress for tax plan By Sarah D. Wire Voters in four key Republican-held congressional districts could get a robocall starting Friday urging them to call and thank their member of Congress for supporting the tax bill. Its a last minute effort by American Action Network, a politically active nonprofit connected with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) that has spent millions to shore up Republican support for the bill. The robocalls include the members office number. The four California members being targeted are Reps. Jeff Denham of Turlock, David Valadao of Hanford, Steve Knight of Palmdale and Mimi Walters of Irvine. All four represent districts that backed Hillary Clinton for president in 2016 and are Democratic targets in 2018. Knight and Walters had been particularly vocal about their concerns with the plan, saying it might raise taxes for their constituents. The final text of the bill is set to be released Friday, with a vote expected early next week. In total, American Action Network plans to place 1 million robocalls in 29 districts nationwide. Facebook

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Merry Christmas Republicans in Congress: Funny or Die video goes after California lawmakers over DACA By Christine Mai-Duc As members of Congress try to pass a controversial tax bill and a measure to keep the federal government funded, the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus is hitting Republicans hard over another unresolved issue: the legal status of hundreds of thousands of people brought to the country illegally as children who could face deportation if lawmakers dont act. Amid negotiations over a long-term spending bill, Democratic leaders have been pushing their GOP colleagues to include a fix for those who were granted temporary protection under President Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA. President Trump announced an end to the program earlier this year and gave Congress a March deadline to address it. Funny or Die and BOLD PAC released a video Friday featuring comedians skewering GOP members, including two in California, for their inaction. In the video, Oscar Nunez, best known for his role on The Office, calls out Reps. Steve Knight (Palmdale), Ed Royce (Fullerton), Carlos Curbelo (Florida) and John Culberson (Texas), who get to go ahead and celebrate as thousands of Dreamers are banished from the only country theyve ever called home. How many broken promises can fit in a stocking? Nunez asks later. Im asking for a congressman. The political action committee says its spending six figures on the weeklong buy, which will go out nationwide across Funny Or Dies social media channels. They are known for blasting out irreverent, often viral parodies that play to young audiences. The video will also be targeted to constituents in each of the four congressional districts. A separate video released by the ACLU last week also urged members of Congress to strike a deal on DACA. Many California Republicans have remained mum on the issue, particularly those facing tough races in 2018. So far, only Reps. David Valadao (Hanford), Jeff Denham (Turlock) and Mimi Walters (Irvine) have pressured fellow Republicans to come up with a solution before Congress breaks for Christmas. Following Trumps decision, Knight said the issue should receive attention by Congress. Royce, who has taken hard-line stances on immigration in the past, urged his colleagues to provide a permanent, legislative solution that gives certainty to these kids. Neither elaborated on what that solution should be. Facebook

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For a prominent California consumer group and savvy political consultants, documents reveal a close financial relationship By John Myers If theres a clear mantra for Consumer Watchdog, one of Californias most visible and vocal advocacy groups, its that hidden financial relationships shouldnt shape politics and public policy. The Santa Monica-based nonprofit has spent more than three decades reprimanding politicians and interest groups for doing the bidding of those who give them money. Its official motto is expose, confront, change. We are loud, and we speak more of a populist truth than the way people usually talk to each other in Sacramento, said Jamie Court, Consumer Watchdogs president. Read More Facebook

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Regional director resigns from California Democratic Party amid sexual misconduct claims By Jazmine Ulloa A regional director with the California Democratic Party submitted his resignation on Thursday, nearly two weeks after a 23-year-old woman reported that he sexually assaulted her last year, spurring party leaders to seek his ouster. Craig Cheslog served as Region 2 director spanning the East Bay, Napa, Sonoma and the Clearlake areas. In a statement, his lawyer, Mary P. Carey, said she and her client were confident that a full and fair exploration of this matter, undertaken in an appropriate, fact-governed venue, would exonerate Mr. Cheslog. We are prepared, if necessary, to put forward the facts of this matter in just such a venue, she said. Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman and other officials initially called for Cheslogs removal in a Nov. 29 letter to state party secretary Jenny Bach. They said he was seen acting in an inappropriate and sexually aggressive manner toward a member of the party in a public area of the Westin San Francisco Airport Hotel, following a Nov. 18 executive board meeting. The level to which this activity advanced made a number of those in attendance uncomfortable, the letter stated. It added that another member reported that Mr. Cheslog raped her at a CDP executive board meeting the previous year. Party officers said the incident occurred during a weekend where the prevention of sexual harassment of women in politics was a dominant theme in the wake of the #metoo movement. Before the meetings conclusion on Sunday, the California Womens Caucus approved a resolution making clear that sexual harassment, bullying and other forms of abuse are grounds to lose endorsements and be stripped of party membership. Maddy Dean, who was not named in the letter, spoke at the meeting about her experiences of sexual harassment in the movie industry, and told the Times that she reported Cheslog. She said she could not provide further details about her allegation as she explores possible legal paths moving forward. This was about protecting other women and in particular other young women, she said of reporting the assault. In his own letter to Bach on Thursday, Cheslog did not acknowledge any wrongdoing. He said he was stepping down to prevent any personal misconduct allegations from creating a distraction with the party at a critical moment in national and state politics. I am confident of the results that would be forthcoming in a fair, fact-based exploration of this matter, he said. Since the report, Cheslog has been fired from his job at Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization that helps families navigate media and technology. He also has stepped down from his position on the Acalanes Union High School District Board of Trustees. The conduct represented a serious violation of both company policy and the way in which our employees are expected to conduct themselves in the community at large, Common Sense spokeswoman Corbie Kiernan said in a statement. We immediately suspended Mr. Cheslog and conducted an investigation. As a result of the investigation, Mr. Cheslogs employment with Common Sense was terminated. 4:05 p.m.: This post was updated with Cheslogs resignation from the school board. Facebook

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Sen. Bob Hertzberg will cooperate with investigation into unwanted hugs By Patrick McGreevy State Sen. Bob Hertzberg works at his Senate Chambers desk. He faces an investigation into unwanted hugging (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) State Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Los Angeles) said Thursday he will cooperate with a state investigation into complaints from a former legislator that she was uncomfortable with his repeated hugs after she asked him not to touch her. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon said Thursday that a team of outside attorneys will investigate a complaint by former Assemblywoman Linda Halderman that Hertzberg has made her uncomfortable with hugs that were too close and lasted too long. Hertzberg, well-known for hugging other lawmakers, said he supports having any allegations investigated by the two outside law firms. I just learned of the investigation, and will fully cooperate, he said. The use of an independent third party investigator is essential to improving transparency and trust in the system. Halderman said Thursday she was encouraged that her concerns will be investigated, but said it was disturbing  that attorneys for one of the law firms selected, Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, contributed more than $90,000 in campaign funds to sitting legislators including Hertzberg. Halderman, a surgeon, served in the state Assembly from 2010 through 2012 and said Hertzberg hugged her multiple times even after she asked him to stop because she was uncomfortable. The last incident occurred in a hallway of the Capitol, she claimed. I told him I dont care to be hugged. Dont touch me,  Halderman recalled. He then grabbed me and pinned my arms to my side and used his hands to press my lower back into his groin and he essentially pinned me so I couldnt push off of him to get away the way I ended previous hugs. It was certainly so over the line, she added. Halderman said a current female senator and assemblywoman also have complained about inappropriate hugs from Hertzberg. However, Sen. Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton) defended Hertzberg, saying she has known him for many years and he has always acted as a gentleman. I have never felt uncomfortable with him, and have always felt his hugs were a display of affection - which I appreciate, she said. I consider him a dear friend. Updated at 5:30 pm to include comment from Sen. Galgiani. Facebook

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Rep. Maxine Waters asks Justice Department to investigate fake letter tweeted by Republican opponent By Sarah D. Wire (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Rep. Maxine Waters is asking the Justice Department to look into a fake letter posted to Twitter by her Republican challenger that falsely indicated the congresswoman wants to resettle tens of thousand of refugees in her Los Angeles district. The GOP candidate, Omar Navarro, posted the letter on what looks like official House of Representatives letterhead to Twitter on Monday. The letter, which purports to be from the congresswoman, says the congresswoman wants to bring refugees to her congressional district after the 2018 election and perhaps even once I have secured the Speaker of the House position. Navarro accompanied the tweeted letter with a message: According to this document, Maxine Waters wants more terrorists, like the one who bombed NYC, in Californias 43rd District. As Congressman of CAs 43rd District, I will oppose such policies. Its been retweeted more than 680 times. But the letter is a forgery and a fake, her chief of staff, Twaun Samuel, said in a news release. The letter, dated June of this year, also contains several inaccuracies. It references multiple committees and subcommittees Waters does not serve on, and lists an address for a district office that has been closed for nearly a decade. Waters filed a complaint about the tweeted letter with the House general counsel, who forwarded the complaint to the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California and the fraud section of the Criminal Division for the United States Department of Justice. The complaint states that Waters has not communicated with the letters purported addressee  Teri Williams, who is president and chief operating officer of the Los Angeles-based OneUnited Bank, about any refugee resettlement program. Impersonating a federal official and misusing a federal seal are federal crimes. Navarro, who is backed by big name far-right conservatives, said Thursday that the letter was sent to his campaign through Facebook by a person he didnt know. He said neither the Justice Department or Waters staff has asked him about the letter. I dont know if its real or not, so I put it out there, Navarro said, adding that he believed his followers would help him determine if it is real. It doesnt say that I know. Its according to this document  what, am I supposed to send it to her and get an email back from Maxine? According to this document, Maxine Waters wants more terrorists, like the one who bombed NYC, in Californias 43rd District.

As Congressman of CAs 43rd District, I will oppose such policies. #VoteNavarro2018https://t.co/vO8YUsyPp3 pic.twitter.com/k7ef0H20if  Omar Navarro (@RealOmarNavarro) December 11, 2017 Facebook

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Sen. Tony Mendoza refuses to take a leave of absence amid harassment probe By Patrick McGreevy Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia), left, talks earlier this year about a pending bill with Sen. Ted Gaines (R-El Dorado Hills). (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Defying pressure from legislative leadership, state Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) refused Thursday to take a leave of absence until an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against him is concluded early next year. Mendoza has denied allegations by former employees that he treated three female aides inappropriately, inviting them to hotel stays and asking one to visit his home to work on her resume. I am very disappointed that certain Senate Rules Committee members are apparently asking me to take a leave of absence or resign before any investigation has even begun and without giving me an opportunity to defend myself, Mendoza said in a statement. This is contrary to the very concept of due process, which is a pillar of our American system of fairness and judicial prudence. These actions bypass any process in a rush to judgment. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) earlier Thursday called on Mendoza to take a leave of absence. Mendoza had previously been stripped of his leadership positions, including chairmanship of the Senates committee on banking and insurance. Mendoza questioned statements urging him to step down, saying they leave him concerned about the fairness of the investigation. He also said he has been disappointed that he has been told he cannot publicly address allegations. I was not appointed to the position I hold, but was elected by the voters in my district, he said. I am grateful to the voters in my district and thank them for their trust and their continued support. The Senate owes them an opportunity to hear the truth. I assure them that I will vigorously defend myself to clear my name. Facebook

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State Senate leader asks Sen. Tony Mendoza to take leave of absence amid sexual harassment investigation By Patrick McGreevy (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) State Senate leader Kevin de Leon said Thursday he has strongly suggested that Sen. Tony Mendoza take a leave of absence until the completion of an investigation by outside attorneys into allegations that Mendoza sexually harassed three former aides. Given the severity of the allegations against Senator Mendoza I do not believe he can perform the duties in Sacramento right now while the investigation is being conducted, De Leon told a packed news conference in his Capitol office. I believe Its the right thing to do, its the fair thing to do, to take a leave, he said. The Senate leader also said the outside attorneys have been asked to investigate complaints by former Assemblywoman Linda Halderman that Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Los Angeles) inappropriately hugged her on multiple occasions in a way that made her uncomfortable, even after she asked him to stop. De Leon also announced the hiring of two law firms to handle the Mendoza and Hertzberg investigations, and all future probes of harassment and abuse involving Senate employees. Mendoza, a Democrat from Artesia, did not immediately respond to the request to step aside. De Leon, a Democrat from Los Angeles who had been Mendozas roommate before the allegations were made public, said he made the suggestion to Mendoza in a meeting Thursday morning. If Mendoza refuses to take a leave, the Senate has the power to suspend him without pay, but De Leon said that is not currently under discussion. There is an effort underway to force his expulsion in January when the Legislature returns to Sacramento. Former Mendoza employees have claimed that he gave inappropriate attention to a female fellow and intern, inviting one to his home and hotel and giving the other alcohol in a hotel even though she was underage. Another former female aide told the Sacramento Bee that Mendoza invited her to one-on-one dinners and a weekend at Pebble Beach. Mendoza has denied the allegations. The Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher and Van Dermyden Maddux law firms have been retained for two years, according to Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), who participated in their selection. Have you experienced sexual harassment in government or politics? Tell us your story   In addition, the state is contracting with Weave, a Sacramento crisis-intervention organization for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, to provide counseling and to establish a hotline for Senate employees who are victims of sexual assault. The hotline number is 1-800-729-1443. America is finally reckoning with entrenched inequities in our personal and professional relationships and in workplaces of every type, De Leon said. Nowhere is this reckoning more important than in the halls of power  our political institutions. Facebook

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Watch live: California Senate leader addresses sexual misconduct at state Capitol Facebook

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California state senator pledges to bring back net neutrality rules just as FCC votes to repeal them By Jazmine Ulloa Demonstrators rally in support of net neutrality outside a Verizon store in New York on Dec. 7. (Mary Altaffer / Associated Press) Moments after the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday voted to roll back net neutrality regulations, a state senator pledged to introduce legislation that would preserve open internet protections for consumers in California. Net neutrality is essential to our 21st century democracy, and we need to be sure that people can access websites and information freely and fairly, Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) said in a statement. If the FCC is going to destroy net neutrality and create a system that favors certain websites just because they can pay more money, California must step in and ensure open internet access. The announcement of the proposal came shortly after the FCC voted to repeal net neutrality in an expected 3-2 party-line vote, with Republicans calling for an end to the utility-like oversight of internet service providers. The Obama-era rules put in February 2015 barred broadband and wireless companies, such at AT&T Inc., Charter Communications Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. from selling faster delivery of certain data, slowing speeds for certain video streams and other content, and discriminating against legal material online. Before the vote, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai argued loosening the regulations would allow the online economy to flourish. FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, one of the the two Democrats on the commission, said the rollback would inhibit the openness that has made the U.S. internet the envy of the world. Supporters of net neutrality are expected to file suit to try to halt the repeal plan. Weiners attempt to institute net neutrality rules in California could have challenges. The FCC order states that allowing state and local governments to adopt their own separate requirements, which could impose a heavier burden on companies, could disrupt the balance between state and federal regulations. The preemption of state and local net neutrality measures is something that could be challenged in court. Amid such legal battles state legislation could face heavy lobbying efforts from internet providers arguing against uneven regulations. A bill by Assemblyman Ed Chau (D-Monterey Park) was shelved last legislative session over similar disputes. It would have enshrined in state law other FCC regulations that were rolled back this year by President Trump and Congress. The Internet privacy rules limited what broadband providers can do with their customers data. The bills defeat capped a behind-the-scenes battle that pitted telecom companies against state internet service providers and brought other bills to a halt in the state Senate as negotiations unfolded over legislation that would have had national significance. UPDATES 7:57 a.m.: This post was updated with additional information about the potential legal case. LA Times reporter Jim Puzzanghera contributed to this report. Facebook

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L.A. County sheriffs office failed to follow policy for issuing concealed weapon permits, audit says By Patrick McGreevy Handguns are displayed at the Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas in 2016. ( (John Locher / Associated Press)) The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department has repeatedly failed to follow its own rules for issuing concealed weapon permits, the state auditor concluded in a report released Thursday. L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell disputed some of the key findings of the audit, saying state officials misinterpreted the policy. The department policy requires applicants to provide convincing evidence of a clear and present danger to life or of great bodily harm to get a license, but the audit found the department issued 24 licenses during the last few years without sufficient evidence. Most of the 197 active licenses in L.A. County as of August went to current or former law enforcement officers, judges and prosecutors, the audit found. The lieutenant in charge of reviewing applications told auditors that people in law enforcement satisfy the departments requirements by the nature of their jobs. However, making that decision based solely on the applicants profession both directly contradicts Los Angeless written policy  which specifically states that no position or job classification in itself shall constitute good cause for issuance  and has led the department to treat applicants inequitably based on their occupations, the audit says. McDonnell said the audit identified some legitimate issues, and the department has added a checklist to the application process in order to show requirements have been met. But he disagreed on the reports sweeping conclusion that the department consistently failed to follow its own policies. The LASD policy simply requires that the applicant provide convincing evidence that his or her life or physical safety is threatened, the sheriff said. He said the policy does not require additional documentation of that evidence if sufficient information is provided in the application. Auditors also concluded that Sacramento County issued some licenses without proper documentation and that San Diego Countys renewal process led it to inappropriately renew some licenses. Facebook

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Anti-Issa effort discloses donors: Leo DiCaprio, Jane Fonda, Ted Danson and more By Joshua Stewart A political group that has brought professional political organizers into the campaign against Rep. Darrell Issa has received its most significant contributions to date  from actress Jane Fonda and other celebrities. Fonda gave $100,000 to Flip the 49th! Neighbors in Action, which recently registered as a political committee to get Issa, R-Vista, out of office. Comedian Bill Maher gave $15,000 to the group, a rebuke of a politician who has twice appeared on his talk show. Former California Sen. Barbara Boxer gave $2,500, as did Academy Award recipient Leonardo DiCaprio. Actor Ted Danson gave $1,500. Flip the 49th gave the The San Diego Union-Tribune a list of donors more than a month before its required to disclose them to the Federal Election Commission. Read More Facebook

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California Senate GOP leader: Release Capitol whistleblowers from non-disclosure agreements By Melanie Mason California Senate Republican leader Patricia Bates is wading into the sexual harassment debate that has swept up the Capitol and is calling on her Democratic colleagues to allow whistleblowers to speak out by releasing them from non-disclosure agreements. Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) wrote in a letter to the Democratic legislative leaders  Senate Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount)  that Senate Republicans are calling for the Legislature to allow victims or witnesses who may have signed such agreements to share their experiences publicly. This release from NDAs would empower victims of sexual harassment, create a new atmosphere for resolving sexual harassment or discrimination concerns, increase public awareness and transparency, and ensure that both the Senate and the Assembly fulfill their obligations to the public and their employees for providing a safe and welcoming workplace environment, Bates wrote in the letter, dated Dec. 12. The Republican senator also laid out suggestions to improve the Legislatures handling of sexual harassment complaints, such as jointly convening both houses rules committees  which act as the chambers human resources departments  to have a comprehensive, bicameral and bipartisan review. Bates wrote that the Joint Rules Committee should consider the assigning of an outside entity for assuming responsibility for all issues regarding sexual harassment. She said the California Highway Patrol or an inspector general could serve that function. Bates is currently serving on a panel designated by the Senate Rules Committee to select an outside law firm to investigate sexual harassment complaints. De Leon, in a statement, said he agreed with Bates that sexual harassment is a bipartisan, bicameral problem that requires bipartisan, bicameral solutions. Many of these recommendations we are already pursuing and evaluating in some form and we look forward to working in collaboration with Senator Bates  as we did with the independent selection panel  on additional reforms in the weeks to come, De Leon said. With regard to non-disclosure agreements, De Leon spokesman Jonathan Underland said the Senate is discussing with attorneys and anti-harassment experts about what options are available without violating the privacy rights of past victims. John Casey, a spokesman for Rendon, said the Assembly does not ask for NDAs in settlement agreements. The Speaker agrees with both the Legislative Womens Caucus and the Rules Committee chair that any sexual harassment policy should be both bicameral and bipartisan, Casey said. Facebook

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California plans to send out licenses for pot sales this month  but they wont be effective until Jan. 1 By Patrick McGreevy Patrons shop at Bud and Bloom, a Santa Ana marijuana dispensary, last year. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) California officials said Wednesday they plan to use email before the new year to send out some licenses to sell marijuana to speed up the transition to a regulated market. The licenses will not go into effect until Jan. 1. Proposition 64, which legalized the sale of marijuana for recreational use, required the state to begin issuing licenses by Jan. 1. Because that date is a state holiday, the bureau originally planned to begin sending them out on Jan. 2. That has changed. Much of the date discussion  Jan. 1 versus Jan. 2  was based on whether or not wed be able to be open on a state holiday, said Alex Traverso, a bureau spokesman. The solution to that issue was to issue licenses with an effective date of Jan. 1 since licenses will be issued electronically. That eliminates the need to have the office open on Jan. 1. He said that, as of Wednesday, the bureau has not yet sent out any emails with licenses approved to begin operating Jan. 1. Facebook

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Californias budget director makes last ditch effort to urge GOP members to vote against tax plan By Sarah D. Wire House Republicans hold a news conference after the House passed the GOP tax bill. (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press) As closed-door negotiations over the final tax bill come to an end, the head of the California Department of Finance is making a last-ditch effort to convince Republicans in the states congressional delegation to vote against the plan. In a letter to the entire delegation Wednesday, Finance Department Director Michael Cohen detailed 10 issues in the current tax proposals about which the state is worried. Some of Cohens concerns may be addressed in the deal that House and Senate leaders said they reached Wednesday morning. Details of the agreement are not yet public. Cohens concerns range from potentially billions less in federal funding available to California to offset the $1.4 trillion the plan is expected to add to the federal deficit, to the environmental effect of ending green energy tax credits. Californias 39 Democratic representatives are expected to oppose the final tax bill, which could come before both chambers of Congress by early next week. Three California Republicans  Reps. Darrell Issa of Vista, Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa and Tom McClintock of Elk Grove  voted against the original House version, and several other California Republicans have indicated they might be willing to vote against the final plan. Cohen specifically pointed to issues that have been raised by the uncertain House members, including the proposal to lower the cap on the mortgage interest deduction, the plan to limit state and local tax deductions and the elimination of a deduction for uninsured personal property damaged in natural disasters such as fires. Facebook

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California lawmakers have fought sexual misconduct on military bases, farms and college campuses. Will they police their own house? By Jazmine Ulloa Over the past decade, California lawmakers have worked to help curb sexual violence in the workplace and other spheres of public life. They have pushed college campuses to keep better track of incident reports, created whistleblower protections for military officers who file claims and established sexual harassment training for farmworkers and janitors. Now, as more than 140 women have come forward in an open letter to denounce a pervasive culture of sexual harassment in the California Legislature, activists and employment lawyers say lawmakers have not held colleagues and staffers to the same standards demanded of those in other fields. Members [of the state Assembly and Senate] are quick at pointing the finger at other folks, said Fiona Ma, a former Democratic assemblywoman from San Francisco who is now running for state treasurer. But they dont want to look inside and fix their own house, air their own dark, dirty laundry. Read More Facebook

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Californias cap-and-trade climate program could generate more than $8 billion by 2027, report says By John Myers Gov. Jerry Brown signs an extension of Californias cap-and-trade program in July. (Eric Risberg / Associated Press) Although Californias cap-and-trade program was designed to combat climate change, a new analysis predicts it could also provide significant cash  as much as $8 billion in a decades time  for state and regional programs. The report issued Tuesday by the independent Legislative Analysts Office projects a wide range of revenue generated by the sale of permits for companies to emit greenhouse gases beyond a state-ordered emissions cap. The most recent auction of those emission permits brought in more than $800 million. The analysis warns that annual cap-and-trade revenue beyond 2020 is highly uncertain, and offers a possible range from $2 billion in 2018 to almost $7 billion in 2030  the final year of the program under legislation Gov. Jerry Brown signed in July. The estimate of $8.3 billion in 2027 is the high-water mark for any year in the report. Researchers cite a number of factors that make a specific prediction impossible, including future technology that allows industries to cut greenhouse gas emissions easily and thus pass on purchasing emission allowances. While it is clear that there will be additional revenues to the state beyond 2020, the amount that will be generated annually is highly uncertain, the report reads. Money collected from the sale of pollution permits is required to be spent on programs combating climate change. A portion of the money also is earmarked for the states high-speed rail program. The report urges lawmakers to provide oversight for future decisions made by the California Air Resources Board, the agency that has taken the lead on climate change efforts. In particular, the analysts warn that allowing businesses to stockpile too many permits  ones bought at current low prices  could lead to excessive greenhouse gas emissions in future years, potentially even causing the state to miss its annual benchmark as soon as 2024. Facebook

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Vice President Pence meets with California lawmakers about massive fires By Sarah D. Wire Briefed bipartisan group of California reps on the fed response to #CAwildfires. @POTUS approved an emergency declaration last Friday & @forestservice is providing air & ground assets including 1,000 personnel. Together, we will help the people of CA restore, rebuild & recover. pic.twitter.com/zn7QdbCZOQ  Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) December 12, 2017 A handful of California representatives discussed the federal response to their states wildfires Tuesday with Vice President Mike Pence. Attending the West Wing meeting were House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and Reps. Ken Calvert (R-Corona), Darrell Issa (R-Vista), Julia Brownley (D-Westlake Village), Steve Knight (R-Palmdale) and Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara). It was a very bipartisan-spirited meeting. He clearly understood the significance of the fires and the impacts, Brownley said after the meeting. She said Pence offered federal assistance and recognized that recovery was going to be very important and that we want to work together to make sure that we can get the resources needed. President Trump signed an emergency declaration for the Southern California fires last week. Pence visited California this fall to view fire damage in Northern California. He stayed engaged and specifically wanted to make sure that FEMA and the other organizations were continuing to meet or exceed all expectations, Issa said after the meeting. We mostly thanked him for the fact that hes taken a personal interest and his team has been at the heart of the domestic coordination. There was no discussion about reinstating a federal tax deduction for uninsured damage repairs that would end up in the House and Senate tax bills, Brownley said. If you cant deduct uninsured property loss, its devastating. It would be devastating, Brownley said. Facebook

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We must talk about the health aspects of climate change, Schwarzenegger says in Paris By Kim Willsher (Thibault Camus / Associated Press) He showed up at Paris City Hall on Monday on a green bicycle and wearing a green tie to talk climate change with the mayor. But Arnold Schwarzenegger almost didnt make the trip from Los Angeles. One of the wildfires scorching Southern California was threatening his home. Luckily we have extraordinary firefighters, he told a group of officials and journalists. The actor and former governor of California was speaking in Paris as the founder of R20, a nonprofit based in Geneva that aims to help regional, state and local governments reduce their carbon emissions by developing clean energy sources. Read More Facebook

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A special recall election for state Sen. Josh Newman would cost a lot more than waiting for the June primary, state says By Patrick McGreevy State Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) faces a recall campaign (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)) State finance officials said Monday it would cost about $2.67 million for a special election on the recall of state Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), but only $931,000 to put his potential recall on the regular June primary ballot, which will also feature races for governor and congressional seats. The savings  and the time it took to complete the financial assessment  could give ammunition to Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown to put the recall measure on the primary ballot, possibly improving Newmans chance of staying in office. The higher turnout expected in the primary might benefit Newman as he tries to fend off the Republican recall drive. The financial analysis was a new requirement of a law approved this year by the Democrat-controlled Legislature that has slowed the Newman recall. Brown and legislators now have 30 days to review the election cost report. The deadline for calling a special election was last week, 180 days before the June 5 primary, although state officials have been known to extend such deadlines. In this case, that is unlikely. Carl Demaio, a former San Diego City councilman who is leading the Republican-funded recall, denounced the lengthy new process Monday, but said it will not save Newmans political career. This is about a shameful tactic by Sacramento politicians to keep politicians who break public trust and engage in misconduct in office for as long as possible, he said. Republicans launched the recall after Newman voted with the majority of le
President Trump has steadfastly refused to answer questions about Roy Moore, the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama accused of molesting a teenage girl and making advances on others decades ago. Yet mere hours after a radio broadcaster accused Minnesota Sen. Al Franken, a Democrat, of groping her during a 2006 USO tour, Trump targeted him with a pair of damning tweets.

The president was taking a gamble, as he often does, reflecting the lesson he learned last November: He can write his own political rules.

Trump withstood multiple sexual harassment allegations and the release of the vulgar Access Hollywood recording to win election. Now he is betting that in this highly partisan environment, he is free to weigh in on controversies involving other men  particularly if theyre Democrats like Franken and the now-deposed movie producer Harvey Weinstein, the party donor whose actions spurred the national discussion of sexual harassment.

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Trumps reactions fit within his broader political instincts: stay on the attack, always, even in cases where he is vulnerable himself.

They also serve a distinct political purpose: expanding the focus from alleged sexual actions by a Republican candidate to Democrats as well, effectively making the topic of sexual harassment a bipartisan liability.

When the Access Hollywood recording was released a month before the election, and Trump was heard bragging that he could kiss women and grab their genitals against their will, many Republicans abandoned him and urged contrition.

Trump went on television and flatly read an apology for his words, then zealously shifted into offense. At the second presidential debate, days after the tape was released, he appeared with several women who had accused Bill Clinton of sexual misdeeds decades ago. Later, when more than a dozen women accused him of sexual misconduct, including unwanted physical contact, he threatened to sue his accusers.

He failed to follow through, but continues to contend that all of the women who have accused him are liars, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said last month.

Sanders brushed past the presidents own history with a novel strategy  blaming Franken because the senator had apologized for a physical assault while absolving Trump because he hadnt.

Sen. Franken has admitted wrongdoing and the president hasnt; thats a very clear distinction, Sanders said Friday when asked why Frankens single accuser should be believed and Trumps multiple accusers should not.

She bluntly turned down a suggestion that Trumps actions be examined, as Frankens will be by the Senate Ethics Committee.

The American people, I think, spoke loud and clear when they elected this president, Sanders said.

Implicit in the Trump approach is his and his aides confidence that he has absorbed the political damage from his own past, while Democrats, who depend heavily on women voters, may have more to lose now.

Even before the president weighed in, folks were already trying to attack him over Moore and his own history, said a political ally in regular contact with the White House who requested anonymity to speak candidly about political strategy.

In Franken, the president basically had a free shot on goal to remind people that Democrats have some serious problems on their end, the ally said.

Yet Trump also seemed to be relying on pure gut when he started tweeting about Franken, just after 10 p.m. Thursday, less than 48 hours after returning from an exhausting five-country trip through Asia.

The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps? Trump tweeted, misspelling Frankenstein.

Ten minutes later, he added: And to think that just last week he was lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women. Lesley Stahl tape?

The first tweet referred to a photograph of Franken putting his hands near the breasts of a sleeping Leeann Tweeden, a Los Angeles radio news anchor who accused Franken of groping her and of an aggressive kiss during a rehearsal for a skit he had written.

The second appeared to refer to a skit Franken had discussed while working on Saturday Night Live that involved drugging and raping CBS reporter Lesley Stahl. The reference was included in a 1995 New York magazine article.

Franken, who joined the Senate in 2009, apologized to Tweeden on Thursday in two statements and said he would fully cooperate with an ethics investigation. Tweeden said in a CNN interview that she accepted the apology.

Trump said during his Asia trip that he would have more to say about Moore when he returned home. But he has ignored repeated questions from reporters since then and left it to Sanders to offer bare-bones comments.

Sanders said Trump believed Moore should step aside if the allegations are true, but she would not say what the president would take as proof. Other Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have been more forceful, calling Moore unfit for the Senate, urging him out of the race and raising the specter of possible expulsion if he is elected.

While Trump sees an opening to make life more difficult for Democrats, it is also true that Republicans internal politics make his delving further into the Moore race complicated.

Trump did not endorse Moore in the primary, spurning the desires of some of his anti-establishment supporters. McConnell, Moores establishment nemesis, is a subject of disdain to conservative media outlets such as Breitbart and Trumps most fervent backers, giving Trump reason to stay out of their fray.

Marc Short, Trumps director of legislative affairs, was eager to move on from the subject while appearing on CNN on Friday. Time after time, he said Trump needed to say nothing more and said the solution rested on the voters who would decide Moores fate.

The people of Alabama are smart enough to make a decision for themselves, Short said.

noah.bierman@latimes.com

Twitter: @noahbierman

ALSO

Kayla Moore, wife of Roy Moore, defends husband as he fights sexual assault allegations

Democratic candidate for Ohio governor defends Sen. Al Franken  then brags about his own sexual history
Wait  did the president really say, Mission Accomplished? By Marc Olson Some are recalling the last time a president declared Mission accomplished, in May 2003 when George W. Bush was talking about Iraq. (Stephen Jaffe / AFP/Getty Images) President Trump on Saturday morning thanked his allies in a tweet that declared the airstrikes on Syria perfectly executed, but he might have wished hed stopped there. Instead, he ended his message with the phrase, Mission Accomplished! Thats a line that might have a previous president shaking his head. On May 1, 2003, President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq under a Mission Accomplished banner aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. That war, which began in March 2003, grew into a prolonged conflict that didnt end until 2011. In 2008, the White House said it had paid a price for the backdrop. A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 14, 2018 Facebook

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Auditor says Pentagon is censoring key data on the war in Afghanistan By Shashank Bengali The Pentagon is blocking the release of data showing how much of Afghanistans territory lies outside government control, censoring a key metric used to gauge progress in the 16-year war, a watchdog agency said Tuesday. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, an auditing agency established by Congress, said in its latest report that the Pentagon instructed it not to release unclassified data on how many districts and people are controlled or influenced by insurgent groups. This is the first time SIGAR has been specifically instructed not to release information marked unclassified to the American taxpayer, the head of the agency, John F. Sopko, wrote in a letter. Sopko also said the U.S.-led military coalition, for the first time since 2009, classified information about the size and attrition rates of the Afghan security forces, important indicators of progress in building up army and police forces on which the U.S. already has spent $70 billion since 2002. The decision to withhold more information from congressional oversight and the public comes amid growing violence in Afghanistan and an intensifying combat mission involving a greater number of American troops. Following a series of bombings in Kabul that left at least 136 people dead in 10 days, President Trump signaled on Monday that he was focused on trying to win the conflict militarily, saying, We dont want to talk with the Taliban. But data released by SIGAR since 2015 have shown how the insurgents have gained ground against Afghan security forces. In its previous quarterly report, the watchdog said that only 57% of Afghanistans 407 districts were under Afghan government control or influence as of August 2017, the lowest level of control since it began tracking the statistic in December 2015. The steady decline in government control should cause even more concern about its disappearance from public disclosure and discussion, Sopko wrote. The watchdog also accused the Pentagon of overstating the impact of its efforts to combat drug cultivation and trafficking, among the Talibans main sources of revenue. The Pentagon touted airstrikes that destroyed 25 drug labs in November and December, saying it eliminated nearly $100 million of Taliban revenue. The labs being destroyed are cheap and easy to replace, SIGAR said. According to some estimates, they only take three or four days to replace. Facebook

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Women journalists shunted to rear for Pences visit to Western Wall By Noga Tarnopolsky The view from the womens section. (Noga Tarnopolsky / Los Angeles Times) Vice-President Mike Pences 48-hour visit to Israel stumbled into a public storm Tuesday when female reporters covering his final stop at Jerusalems Western Wall were penned behind four rows of their male colleagues. White House officials told stunned journalists that the arrangement emanated from a request made by the Western Wall rabbi, Shmuel Rabinowitz, and followed Western Wall rules. Some women journalists said they could not recall such treatment in the past. In a statement to Israels Channel 10 news, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation said it was exactly as it was during the visit of the U.S. president to the Western Wall last May. Later in the day, in a statement to the newspaper Haaretz, the foundation blamed the United States embassy in Tel Aviv and Israeli security officials for the segregation, and announced they would reexamine the way they handle such events. Women who covered previous VIP visits said the Pence arrangements were significantly more onerous than previous visits, when male and female journalists were separated but not offered substantially different work conditions. LIVE coverage of our male colleagues granted access to cover VP at Western Wall as we are penned into #PenceFence pic.twitter.com/k3svkxfQsa  Noga Tarnopolsky (@NTarnopolsky) January 23, 2018 The arrangement reflected procedures at the Western Wall, Judaisms holiest site, where on regular days, men have access to two thirds of the area available for prayer. Tal Schneider, the diplomatic analyst for Globes, a financial newspaper, protested that the separation of men and women may be valid for the requirements of Orthodox prayer, but no one is praying here. We are here to work. I dont appreciate being restricted in my ability to work because I am a woman, she said. The discriminatory attitude towards women is infuriating and is unbefitting of a modern country. Yael Freidson, the Jerusalem affairs correspondent for Yediot Ahronot, Israels widest circulation newspaper, said she worried that her editors could choose male colleagues for the next assignment, knowing they would have better access. Before Pence arrived, journalists were herded onto a specially constructed platform in the middle of the Western Walls esplanade, with women guided to the right behind a white fence, and men, many carrying cameras, directed to the left, where they had more than double the space. Towards the end of the vice presidents 10-minute visit, male journalists were permitted into the VIP tent where he received a gift from Rabinowitz, while the women remained in their enclosure. None of the men publicly protested the treatment of their female colleagues. Israels Association of Women Journalists filed a formal complaint with Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, herself a woman. Facebook

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Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, after his pardon from Trump, says hell run for Senate in Arizona By Kurtis Lee (Mary Altaffer / Associated Press) (Mary Altaffer / Associated Press) Former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who last year was pardoned by President Trump in a case stemming from his enforcement tactics aimed at immigrants, announced Tuesday he will run for the open Senate seat in his home state. I am running for the U.S. Senate from the Great State of Arizona, for one unwavering reason: to support the agenda and policies of President Donald Trump in his mission to Make America Great Again, Arpaio, 85, said on Twitter. Hell enter a Republican primary for the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Jeff Flake. Last summer, Trump pardoned Arpaio, who was convicted in July of criminal contempt for violating a federal court order to stop racially profiling Latinos. It was Arpaios roughly quarter-century as sheriff that gave him a national reputation for his tough treatment of people suspected of being in the country illegally. Repeated court rulings against his office for civil rights violations cost local taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. In the early 1990s, Arpaio directed construction of a tent city for immigration detainees, a measure he said was intended both to alleviate overcrowding and to underscore his aggressive enforcement measures. But it was open to the burning Arizona sun, and drew widespread criticism. After Trump entered the presidential race in July 2015, Arpaio invited him to Phoenix to talk about a crackdown on illegal immigration. He endorsed Trump just before the first votes in the Iowa caucuses in 2016 and frequently spoke out on behalf of Trumps campaign. Facebook

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President Trump ends controversial voter fraud commission By Kurtis Lee President Trump signed an executive order late Wednesday ending the voter fraud commission he launched last year as the panel faces a flurry of lawsuits and criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike. Trump signed the order disbanding the commission rather than engage in endless legal battles at taxpayer expense, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, created by executive order in May with the stated goal of restoring confidence and integrity in the electoral process, has faced a barrage of lawsuits in recent months over privacy concerns, as the commission sought personal data on voters across the country. Read More Facebook

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Congress returns to work with slimmer GOP majority to accomplish Trumps agenda By Lisa Mascaro Congress returns to work this week with unfinished business on spending, immigration and other crucial issues, but with an even narrower GOP majority that will make it tougher to move on President Trumps agenda. The House and Senate will convene Wednesday, swearing in the newly elected Democratic senator from Alabama, Doug Jones, and Minnesotas Tina Smith to replace a fellow Democrat, Sen. Al Franken, who is resigning as the latest high-profile public figure sidelined by allegations of sexual misconduct. The change gives Republicans only a one-seat margin in the Senate. Trump, fresh off passage of the GOP tax cuts bill, is pushing lawmakers to pivot quickly on his new year priorities of infrastructure investment and immigration, as well as his foreign policy agenda. But another legislative victory seems far off. Republicans have struggled to hold their majority together and Congress first must tackle critical stalled agenda items that leaders punted to 2018. Read More Facebook

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Trump threatens to cut off U.S. aid to Palestinians By Tracy Wilkinson President Trump on Tuesday angrily threatened to cut off U.S. aid to Palestinians as punishment for what he called their failure to show appreciation or respect to the United States. Writing on Twitter, the president compared the Palestinians to Pakistan, a nuclear-armed ally that abruptly drew his ire this week and a similar threat to drastically curtail aid. He accused the Palestinians of recalcitrance in what he described as their refusal to negotiate a peace deal with Israel. Palestinian officials have said they can no longer use Washington as a broker to restart peace talks with Israel following Trumps Dec. 6 decision to overturn decades of U.S. policy and recognize the disputed city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and ultimately to move the U.S. Embassy there. The Palestinians also claim part of Jerusalem as the capital of an eventual independent state. Until now, the United States and most of the world agreed the citys political status was a matter to settle in final peace talks. The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly condemned any effort to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the Palestinian leadership said it would not meet with Vice President Mike Pence, who had planned a trip to the region. That trip is on hold. [W]e pay the Palestinians HUNDRED [sic] OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect, Trump wrote on Twitter. [W]ith the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them? In response to Trumps tweet, Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official, issued a statement saying: Palestinian rights are not for sale. By recognizing Occupied Jerusalem as Israels capital Donald Trump has not only violated international law, but he has also singlehandedly destroyed the very foundations of peace and condoned Israels illegal annexation of the city. We will not be blackmailed, she said. President Trump has sabotaged our search for peace, freedom and justice. Now he dares to blame the Palestinians for the consequences of his own irresponsible actions! The United States does not pay large amounts of money directly to the Palestinian Authority, the government that rules over parts of the Palestinian West Bank. Instead, most money goes to the U.N., refugee or aid agencies and even Israel to pay for roads, welfare, schools, security and other Palestinian projects. The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, said Tuesday that the administration was planning to cut off one of those organizations, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, until the Palestinians return to the negotiating table. UNRWA, which receives around $300 million annually from the U.S., for years has been the lifeline to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It was not clear if Haley was threatening to cut all U.S. support for the agency. Special correspondent Noga Tarnopolsky in Jerusalem contributed to this report. Facebook

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The White House stops short of calling for government overthrow in Iran By Brian Bennett President Trump wants Iran to give its citizens basic human rights and stop being a state sponsor of terror, his top spokeswoman said, but the White House stopped short of calling for a change of government in Tehran. If they want to do that through current leadership, if thats possible, OK, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters. Sanders praised the organic popular uprising, which she said the widespread protests in Iran represented. The protests grew out of years of years of mismanagement, corruption, and foreign adventurism have eroded the Iranian peoples trust in their leaders, she said. Earlier Tuesday, Trump called Irans government brutal and corrupt and wrote in a tweet: The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights. The U.S. is watching! Trump also blamed President Obama for foolishly giving Iran money that he said went to fund terrorism. The money he referred to were funds belonging to Iran that had been frozen by the U.S. and were released as part of the deal in 2015, which blocked Irans development of nuclear weapons. 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 Facebook

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Retirement of Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch clears the way for a Mitt Romney revival By David Lauter The retirement of Utahs senior senator, Orrin G. Hatch, opens the way for a widely expected Senate bid by Mitt Romney, the Republicans 2012 presidential nominee and a frequent critic of President Trump. Although Romney previously served for two terms as governor of Massachusetts (and was raised in Michigan, where his father was governor and his mother ran for the Senate), he comes from a prominent Mormon family with strong ties to Utah. He also served as chief executive of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Hes viewed as a strong candidate for the Senate seat. Romneys criticisms of Trump, however, could prompt a challenge in a Republican primary. Trump was widely reported to have tried to convince Hatch to run for a seventh term, in part to head off a Romney candidacy. Last month, Romney and Trump were on opposite sides of one of the biggest political fights of the fall  the battle over the Senate seat from Alabama. The president strongly supported Roy Moore, the Republican candidate who had been accused of sexual misconduct by several women. Romney called Moore a stain on the GOP. Roy Moore in the US Senate would be a stain on the GOP and on the nation. Leigh Corfman and other victims are courageous heroes. No vote, no majority is worth losing our honor, our integrity.  Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) December 4, 2017 On Tuesday, Romney tweeted praise for Hatch, but did not immediately reveal his own plans. I join the people of Utah in thanking my friend, Senator Orrin Hatch for his more than forty years of service to our great state and nation. Read my full statement: https://t.co/YwjUpjez5y  Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) January 2, 2018 Facebook

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U.S. calls on Iran to unblock social media sites amid protests By The Associated Press The Trump administration is calling on Irans government to stop blocking Instagram and other popular social media sites as Iranians are demonstrating in the streets. Undersecretary of State Steve Goldstein says the U.S. wants Iran to open these sites. He says Instagram, Telegram and other platforms are legitimate avenues for communication. The United States is encouraging Iranians to use virtual private networks, known as VPNs. Those services create encrypted links between computers and can be used to access blocked websites. Goldstein says the U.S. is still communicating with Iranians in Persian through State Department accounts on Facebook, Twitter and other platforms. He says the U.S. wants to encourage the protesters to continue to fight for whats right. Goldstein says the U.S. has an obligation not to stand by. Read More Facebook

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Trump blasts Democrats in advance of immigration meeting By Brian Bennett The day before a meeting of administration officials and congressional leaders on outstanding legislative business, President Trump accused Democrats of doing nothing to hammer out an immigration deal to protect from deportation people brought to the country illegally as children. Democrats are doing nothing for DACA  just interested in politics, Trump wrote in a Tweet on Tuesday morning, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program by its acronym. 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 House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer along with the Republican leaders, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, are scheduled to meet on Wednesday at the Capitol with Trumps legislative director, Marc Short, and budget director, Mick Mulvaney. The White House on Tuesday said the meeting is to discuss separate spending caps on military and domestic programs. Yet the Democrats insist the discussion also must include a variety of legislative issues that Trump and Congress punted into the new year  on immigration, the budget, healthcare and more. That stance reflects Democrats leverage: Republicans need Democratic votes to pass a government-funding bill and avert a federal shutdown when the current funding expires Jan. 19. Democrats especially want separate legislation replacing the Obama-era DACA program; Trump in September ordered a phase-out of the program, beginning March 6, and called on Congress to act before then on an alternative way to address the plight of the group. However, Trump has demanded that any alternative must be part of a package including both money for a border wall and immigration limits. Democrats are opposed. Facebook

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Pakistan hits back after Trump accuses its leaders of lies and deceit By Aoun Sahi Pakistan lashed out Monday after President Trump accused its leaders of lies and deceit and suggested the United States would withdraw financial assistance to the nuclear-armed nation it once saw as a key ally against terrorism. 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, according to two foreign office officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Pakistans prime minister, Shahid Abbasi, called a Cabinet meeting for Tuesday and a meeting of the National Security Committee on Wednesday to discuss Trumps New Years Day tweet. 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. Read More Facebook

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Trump again cheers on Iran protests 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 The presidents earlier hailing of the protests drew condemnation from Irans government. A Foreign Ministry spokesman called his comments deceitful and opportunistic. Following an overnight report of the first two fatalities stemming from the protests, Trump raised some eyebrows by expressing concern over human rights violations as authorities move to crack down on the demonstrations. During his first year in office, the president has shown scant inclination to press foreign governments to respect the fundamental rights of their citizens. The USA is watching closely for human rights violations! Trump said in his tweet Sunday. Some domestic critics have pointed to the presidents inclusion of Iranian nationals in his travel ban, suggesting he was more interested in bashing the Tehran government than in supporting freedom of speech in Iran. Even some of the presidents allies said that supporting the protesters on social media did not amount to making policy. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he had urged Trump to give a national address laying out his Iran strategy. President Trump is tweeting very sympathetically to the Iranian people, Graham said on CBS Face the Nation. But you just cant tweet here. You have to lay out a plan. Facebook

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Australian diplomats tip a factor in FBIs Russia inquiry By Associated Press Australian High Commissioner Alexander Downer. (Alastair Grant / Associated Press) An Australian diplomats tip appears to have helped persuade the FBI to investigate Russian meddling in the U.S. election and possible coordination with the Trump campaign, the New York Times reported Saturday. Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos told the diplomat, Alexander Downer, during a meeting in London in May 2016 that Russia had thousands of emails that would embarrass Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, the report said. Downer, a former foreign minister, is Australias top diplomat in Britain. Australia passed the information on to the FBI after the Democratic emails were leaked, according to the Times, which cited four current and former U.S. and foreign officials with direct knowledge of the Australians role. The hacking and the revelation that a member of the Trump campaign may have had inside information about it were driving factors that led the FBI to open an investigation in July 2016, the newspaper said. White House lawyer Ty Cobb declined to comment, saying in a statement that the administration is continuing to cooperate with the investigation now led by special counsel Robert Mueller to help complete their inquiry expeditiously. Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and is a cooperating witness. Court documents unsealed two months ago show he met in April 2016 with Joseph Mifsud, a professor in London who told him about Russias cache of emails. This was before the Democratic National Committee became aware of the scope of the intrusion into its email systems by hackers later linked to the Russian government. The Times said Papadopoulos shared this information with Downer, but it was unclear whether he also shared it with anyone in the Trump campaign. Facebook

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Trump offers fresh support for protesters in Iran as demonstrations continue By Lisa Mascaro Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever, and the day will come when the Iranian people will face a choice. The world is watching! pic.twitter.com/kvv1uAqcZ9  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 30, 2017 President Trump again offered support Saturday for anti-government protesters in Iran, where a third day of demonstrations, the largest in years, spilled across the country amid fears of a crackdown. Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever, and the day will come when the Iranian people will face a choice. The world is watching! Trump wrote on Twitter. Trump took a break from playing golf near his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to tweet clips from his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in September when he called for Iranian democratic reforms. Iranian authorities warned of potential violence as the street demonstrations, which began over economic conditions, swelled into frustrations with the theocratic rule of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump has maintained a hawkish stance toward Iran, sharply criticizing the landmark nuclear disarmament accord that Tehran reached with then-President Obama and five other nations in 2015. In October, Trump declined to certify the accord to Congress although the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency says Iran is complying with it. Several conservative GOP senators signaled their support for Trumps position and backed the protesters in Iran. Others in Congress did not immediately respond, however, amid conflicting reports over who had organized the demonstrations. Even after the billions in sanctions relief they secured through the nuclear deal, the ayatollahs still cant provide for the basic needs of their own people, said Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a Trump ally and opponent of the nuclear deal. We should support the Iranian people who are willing to risk their lives to speak out against it, he added. Trump initially tweeted his support on Friday night. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement at that time as protests spread. There are many reports of peaceful protests by Iranian citizens fed up with the regimes corruption and its squandering of the nations wealth to fund terrorism abroad, Sanders said. The Iranian government should respect their peoples rights, including their right to express themselves. The world is watching. Facebook

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When it comes to U.S.-Russia relations, it takes two to tango, Kremlin says By Sabra Ayres The deteriorating relationship between the United States and Russia is one of the biggest disappointments of 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putins spokesman told reporters today. Russia would like to rebuild relations between the two adversaries, but it takes two to tango, Dmitry Peskov said today during a conference call with the press. We want and are looking for good mutually beneficial relations based on mutual respect, mutual trust with all countries, primarily with European ones, including the United States, but it is necessary to dance tango, as they say. Peskov blamed the ongoing anti-Russian Russophobia in Washington for playing a major role in blocking the two countries from moving forward in their relationship. U.S. investigations into the Trump presidential campaigns alleged collusion with the Kremlin during the 2016 U.S. election and accusations that the Kremlin tried to interfere with the electoral process continue to cast a dark shadow over the relationship, he said. Peskov told reporters that Moscow was perplexed by the investigations. The Kremlin has continued to deny having any involvement with the Trump campaign or doing anything to interfere with the American election. This is definitely a U.S. domestic affair, but in this case it naturally hurts our bilateral relations, which is regrettable, Peskov said. Relations between the U.S. and Russia have been categorized as the worst theyve been since the end of the Cold War. This year, Washington and Moscow have engaged in a diplomatic tit-for-tat in which both sides have been forced to reduce diplomatic staff, embassy properties have been repossessed by the hosting countries and visa services have been interrupted. The U.S. diplomatic mission to Russia shrank from 1,200 personnel, including some Russian local staff, to just over 450 across all its three consulates and embassy in Moscow. In the U.S., Russia was forced to vacate its San Francisco consulate. Moscow has also blamed anti-Russian sentiments on the recent decision by the International Olympic Committee to ban Russian teams from wearing their tricolor uniforms or flags during the upcoming games in South Korea. The international body accused some of the Russian national teams of doping. Facebook

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U.S. and Turkey resume reciprocal issuing of visas but frictions remain By Tracy Wilkinson The United States and Turkey began issuing reciprocal visas again on Thursday, more than two months after normal visa service was suspended in a dispute over the arrest of two U.S. diplomatic staffers in Istanbul  the latest friction between the two nominal allies. The State Department said it was lifting the visa restrictions after it was assured by the Turkish government that U.S. Embassy employees would not be arrested when performing their official duties. But the Turkish Embassy in Washington denied assurances were offered concerning the ongoing judicial processes, and suggested that the arrests were legal and justified. It is inappropriate to misinform the Turkish and American public that such assurances were provided, the embassy said in a statement. The dispute has aggravated the already tense relationship between the United States and Turkey, which is a member of the NATO military alliance. The two countries have clashed over U.S. support for Kurdish rebels in Syria and over Turkeys demands that the U.S. extradite a Turkish cleric who lives in rural Pennsylvania. After a failed coup attempt killed more than 250 people in July 2016, Turkeys autocratic president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, launched a harsh crackdown on his political opponents, arresting or firing tens of thousands of teachers, police, journalists, military officers and others. Erdogan accused Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic educator and former political ally, of orchestrating the coup. Gulen, who has lived in a compound in the Pocono Mountains, has denied any involvement. The Justice Department has so far denied Turkeys repeated demands to extradite Gulen. Erdogan raised the issue again at the White House in May, but his visit ended in a public relations disaster when his security guards brutally beat peaceful protesters outside the Turkish ambassadors residence. Two Turkish employees of the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul were arrested this fall for alleged ties to the 2016 coup attempt. The U.S. responded by suspending most visa services at its missions in Turkey in October. The Turkish government reciprocated in November. State Department officials said they have repeatedly demanded more information about any formal charges against the two employees. They reiterated on Thursday that serious concerns about the allegations remained. Facebook

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Trump: China caught RED HANDED allowing oil to reach North Korea By Brian Bennett (Andrew Harnik / Associated Press) President Trump isnt taking a holiday vacation from Twitter. In one of three tweets early on Thursday from his West Palm Beach golf club, he charged that China was caught RED HANDED allowing oil shipments to reach North Korean ports. Pronouncing himself very disappointed, Trump in effect was acknowledging the failure of his months-long effort to convince China to clamp down further on energy shipments going to the isolated country, which relies heavily on Beijing, as a way to pressure North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Caught RED HANDED - very disappointed that China is allowing oil to go into North Korea. There will never be a friendly solution to the North Korea problem if this continues to happen!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2017 Trumps tweet came after a South Korean newspaper published what it said were U.S. spy satellite images of Chinese ships selling oil to North Korean ships. The United Nations Security Council, which includes China, has voted repeatedly to restrict fuel shipments to North Korea. Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping in November to cut off North Koreas oil supply entirely, the American ambassador to the U.N., Nikki R. Haley, said at the time. It is unclear if Trumps admonishment of China was based on news reports or classified information he received from U.S. intelligence officials. There was no daily intelligence briefing on Trumps public schedule Thursday. He is expected to return to Washington next week after spending the Christmas holiday and New Years Eve at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla. Facebook

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President Trump again falsely claims hes signed more bills than any president By Brian Bennett President Trump visits a firehouse in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Wednesday. (Nicholas Kamm / AFP) After another morning at his Florida golf club, President Trump visited firefighters and paramedics at a West Palm Beach firehouse and praised his own performance as president, including with a false boast. Trump touted his administrations work to roll back government regulations and cut taxes and claimed credit for the stock market hitting record highs. He also said hes signed more bills into law than any other president, which isnt true. We have signed more legislation than anybody, Trump said, standing in front of a rescue vehicle inside the fire station. We have more legislation passed, including  the record was Harry Truman a long time ago, and we broke that record, so we got a lot done, Trump said. An analysis by GovTrack, a website that tracks bills in Congress, shows that Trump has signed the fewest bills into law at this point than any president in more than 60 years, back to Dwight D. Eisenhower. Facebook

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Trump administration urges Russia to reinstate monitors in Ukraine, lower violence By Tracy Wilkinson Sergei Lavrov (AFP/Getty Images) Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asked Russia on Wednesday to reinstate its military personnel at a monitoring station in eastern Ukraine intended to quell escalating bloodshed. In a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, Tillerson also urged Russia to lower the level of violence and underscored the Trump administrations concern over increased fighting in Ukraine, the State Department said in a statement. Russia last week withdrew its monitors from the Joint Center on Coordination and Control, which is tasked with verifying a much-violated ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists. Moscow cited what it called restrictions and provocations from Ukrainian authorities that made it impossible for the observers to do their jobs. Washington has accused the pro-Russia forces of being responsible for many of the truce violations. Late last week, the State Department also announced plans to provide Ukraine with lethal defensive weapons, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, a decision that angered Moscow. The State Department statement did not say whether the weapons deal came up in Tillersons conversation with Lavrov. The two also discussed North Korea, its destabilizing nuclear program and the need for a diplomatic solution to achieve a denuclearized Korean peninsula, the statement said. Russia has offered to serve as a mediator between Washington and Pyongyang, but direct talks do not seem likely at this point. Facebook

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U.S. sanctions two more North Korean officials for ballistic missile program By Tracy Wilkinson The Trump administration announced sanctions Tuesday against two more North Korean officials for their alleged role in Pyongyangs expanding ballistic missiles program. The Treasury Department is targeting leaders of North Koreas ballistic missile programs, as part of our maximum pressure campaign to isolate [North Korea] and achieve a fully denuclearized Korean Peninsula, Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said in a statement. The nuclear-armed country tested an intercontinental ballistic missile last month that U.S. officials said appeared capable of reaching New York or Washington, a significant milestone in the countrys growing arsenal. The Treasury Department identified the two North Korean officials as Kim Jong Sik, who reportedly is a key figure in the ballistic missile program and led efforts to switch missiles from liquid to solid fuel (which makes them easier to hide before launch), and Ri Pyong Chol, who was reported to be a key official in the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles. The sanctions block banks, companies and individuals from doing any business with the targeted officials. It also allows the U.S. government to freeze any American assets owned by the officials. On Friday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted to add more sanctions on North Korea, its third round this year. The new measures order North Koreans working abroad to return home within two years, and ban nearly 90% of refined petroleum exports to the country. In a statement published Sunday by North Koreas state-run KCNA news agency, the foreign ministry denounced the new U.N. sanctions as an act of war. We define this sanctions resolution rigged up by the US and its followers as a grave infringement upon the sovereignty of our Republic, as an act of war violating peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and the region and categorically reject the resolution, it said. Facebook

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Salt Lake Tribune calls on Sen. Orrin Hatch to not seek reelection in scathing editorial Perhaps the most significant move of Hatchs career is the one that should, if there is any justice, end it. The last time the senator was up for reelection, in 2012, he promised that it would be his last campaign. That was enough for many likely successors, of both parties, to stand down, to let the elder statesman have his victory tour and to prepare to run for an open seat in 2018. Clearly, it was a lie. Read the editorial>> Facebook

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Christmas Eve, Trump on Twitter: New attacks on FBI official, decrying Fake News By Laura King President Trump launched a Christmas Eve attack on FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, whom he accuses of favoritism toward his former opponent, Hillary Clinton, and also returned to a longtime favored theme, excoriating the news media for failing to sufficiently extol his accomplishments. .@FoxNews-FBIs Andrew McCabe, in addition to his wife getting all of this money from M (Clinton Puppet), he was using, allegedly, his FBI Official Email Account to promote her campaign. You obviously cannot do this. These were the people who were investigating Hillary Clinton.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2017 Thank you President TRUMP!! pic.twitter.com/LKdkT0FL99  oregon4TRUMP (@shawgerald4) December 23, 2017 The Fake News refuses to talk about how Big and how Strong our BASE is. They show Fake Polls just like they report Fake News. Despite only negative reporting, we are doing well - nobody is going to beat us. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2017 Trump, who is spending the holidays at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, also sent Christmas greetings to deployed military personnel, praising them for success in the fight against terrorism. The early-morning swipe at McCabe followed a flurry of tweets attacking the deputy FBI chief on Saturday. McCabe, who has been a lightning rod for Republican attacks on the FBI, is expected to retire early in the new year. How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wifes campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017 FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go?!!!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017 Critics say the president and his allies are in the midst of a systematic campaign to denigrate the FBI and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is looking into potential collusion by the Trump campaign in Russias attempts to sway the 2016 presidential election. In a pair of statements on Twitter, Trump again expressed scorn regarding news coverage of his administration. For months, the president has been particularly critical of reports regarding the Russia investigation and more recently has repeatedly complained he does not receive enough credit for a booming stock market. In his video conference message to troops overseas, the president made apparent reference to the fight against the militants of Islamic State, who over the last year have lost most of the territory they previously controlled in Iraq and Syria, including former strongholds in Mosul and Raqqah. Were winning, Trump told military personnel deployed in Qatar, Kuwait, Guantanamo Bay and aboard the guided missile destroyer Sampson. Reporters traveling with the president heard his address, but were ushered from the room before he took questions from the troops. The president often breaks with longtime custom and makes politically charged statements at events in which he addresses military personnel. Facebook

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Trumps Wells Fargo tweet cited in court hearing as reason to remove Mulvaney as CFPB acting chief By Jim Puzzanghera A recent tweet by President Trump about possible penalties against Wells Fargo & Co. was cited during a court hearing Friday as a reason for removing White House official Mick Mulvaney as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The attorney for Leandra English  the bureaus deputy director who has said she is the rightful acting head  said Trumps tweet showed he was trying to exercise improper influence over the independent consumer watchdog. I think that [tweet] shows you this isnt just some hypothetical concern, the attorney, Deepak Gupta, told Judge Timothy J. Kelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia during a nearly two-hour hearing. Read More Facebook

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Trump administration recognizes Honduran presidents reelection By Tracy Wilkinson The Trump administration on Friday formally recognized the incumbent president of Honduras, conservative Juan Orlando Hernandez, as the winner of a bitterly contested presidential election held last month. In a statement, the State Department congratulated Hernandez while also acknowledging widespread irregularities in the Nov. 26 vote and calling for a robust national dialogue to overcome political discord in the Central American country, a close ally of the administration. The Organization of American States, which monitored the election, said it was so flawed that only a new round of voting could establish a fair and transparent outcome. But the U.S. rejected that determination. Uproar over the contest led to demonstrations in Honduras that left numerous civilians dead after state security forces opened fire on the protests. Activists and others voiced criticism Friday of the administrations decision. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), a leading Democratic voice on Central American issues, said he was angry and deeply disturbed by the State Department decision. The recent elections in Honduras were deeply flawed, chaotic and marred by numerous irregularities, McGovern said. U.S.-Honduran cooperation on matters such as drug-trafficking, violence and immigration requires a credible, legitimate government that has the support of its people, in Honduras, McGovern said. Hernandezs victory also was controversial because it was the first time a sitting president was allowed to run for re-election, barred until now by the Honduran Constitution. Facebook

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Senate Leader Mitch McConnell says fixing DACA is no emergency until March By Lisa Mascaro Amanda Bayer, left with banner, and Marisol Maqueda, right, join a rally in support of so-called Dreamers outside the White House. (Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday hes committed to allowing a vote on a bill for so-called Dreamers in January, but sees no rush to resolve the deportation threat posed by President Trumps decision to end a program protecting immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. There isnt that much of an emergency there, he said. There is no emergency until March. Well keep talking about it. Trump called for phasing out by March the Obama-era program that allows the young immigrants, many of them longtime residents, to get two-year deferrals of any deportation threat so they can legally attend school or work. Beneficiaries must be vetted for security purposes. Trump told Congress to come up with a legislative alternative for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which President Obama created by executive order, to protect those currently eligible. A bipartisan Senate group has been working with the White House, but talks stalled this week amid administration demands for curbs on legal immigration flows in exchange for protecting the DACA recipients. Meanwhile, Dreamers and immigrant advocates stormed the Capitol in recent days pressing for the help promised by Trump and Democratic congressional leaders that failed to materialize in the years final legislation. Advocacy groups say more than 120 immigrants each day are falling out of compliance without DACA renewals, putting them at risk of deportation. The number that is projected to swell to more than 1,000 a day in March. Weve been gridlocked on this issue for years, McConnell said. We want to have a signature. We dont just want to spin our wheels and have nothing to show for it. Facebook

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President Trump signs tax bill By Noah Bierman (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) President Trump on Friday morning signed a sweeping tax-cut measure  his first major legislative achievement  before heading off for a Christmas vacation at his Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Fla. The president also privately signed a short-term spending bill to fund government operations through Jan. 19. Congress approved it Thursday, after Republican leaders were unable to bridge differences in their own party as well as with Democrats to get agreement on funding for the full fiscal year. The stopgap bill punts fights on immigration and other issues to January. The tax bill, approved earlier this week in Congress in largely party-line votes, slashes corporate tax rates from 35% to 21% and also includes a host of other provisions for individuals, all intended to boost the economy. Critics point to nonpartisan analyses showing that the package, including changes greatly reducing the number of estates subject to taxes, steers the bulk of tax benefits to top earners and the wealthy, including Trump, despite his repeated claims that hell take a hit. Trump signed the bill quietly Friday, but held a public ceremony with Republican lawmakers on Wednesday after the bills passage; he also tweeted about the measure extensively. He is expected to hold another public ceremony after the New Years holiday. Facebook

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Pelosi urges Ryan to prevent Republicans from curtailing Houses Russia probe By Chris Megerian House Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin greets House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Friday urging him to ensure the Houses investigation into Russian interference with last years presidential campaign is not cut short. The American people deserve a comprehensive and fair investigation into Russias attacks, wrote Pelosi, of San Francisco, in her letter. Political haste must not cut short valid investigatory threads. The House Intelligence Committee has been probing the issue since March 1, and Democrats have repeatedly warned that Republicans are trying to wrap up its work prematurely. Pelosi said Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, should take urgent action to ensure this investigation can continue. AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan, said Pelosi simply wants to see this investigation go on forever in order to suit her political agenda. Whether it concludes next month, next year, or in three years, she will say it is too soon, Strong said in a statement. She added, The investigation will conclude when the committee has reached a conclusion. The committees work is led by Rep. K. Michael Conaway (R-Texas). His spokeswoman, Emily Hytha, said he remains committed to conducting this investigation as thoroughly and expeditiously as possible. With more interviews scheduled, the investigation shows signs of extending into next year, Bloomberg reported Friday. BREAKING: Steve Bannon and former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski have been sent letters requesting they testify to House Intel panel in early January, per @HouseInSession  Laura Litvan (@LauraLitvan) December 22, 2017 Facebook

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Congress votes to avert government shutdown, but Senate fails to pass disaster aid package By Lisa Mascaro ( (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)) Congress approved a temporary spending bill to prevent a government shutdown, but failed to complete work on an $81-billion disaster aid package to help California, Gulf Coast states and Puerto Rico recover from wildfires and hurricanes, as lawmakers scrambled Thursday to wrap up business before a Christmas break. The stopgap measure continues federal operations for a few more weeks, setting up another deadline for Jan. 19. But it left undone a long list of priorities that members of both parties had hoped to finish this year. Read More Facebook

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Wells Fargo says raises were not linked to tax bill passage  then backtracks By James Rufus Koren Wells Fargo & Co.s move to raise its minimum pay to $15 an hour was part of a long-term plan and not related to the passage of the Republican tax overhaul as the company implied, said a bank spokesman, who later backtracked and stated the hikes were a result of the bills approval. The bank was among several large corporations to publicly announce pay raises or new investments immediately following the final House vote in an apparent public relations offensive to boost the popularity of the tax bill The San Francisco bank had implied the direct linkage to the tax legislation in a news release Wednesday, shortly after Congress passed the tax overhaul, which slashes the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35% starting Jan. 1. Read More Facebook

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Obamacare signups beat expectations, despite Trump administrations opposition By Noam N. Levey President Trump with Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) Despite Trump administration efforts to discourage people from signing up, the number of people enrolling for Affordable Care Act coverage nearly hit last years level, the government revealed Thursday. Exchange open enrollment for 2018 coverage ended w/ approx 8.8M people enrolling in coverage. Great job to the @CMSGov team for the work you did to make this the smoothest experience for consumers to date. We take pride in providing great customer service.  Administrator Seema Verma (@SeemaCMS) December 21, 2017 The 8.8 million people who enrolled in the 36 states that use the federal governments healthcare.gov system significantly exceeded most forecasts. The Trump administration stopped most outreach and other efforts this year aimed at getting people to sign up. The president also repeatedly said publicly that Obamacare was dead. Open enrollment continues in California and several other states that run their own healthcare marketplaces. The figures from the federal government indicate that when those states wrap up for the year, the number of people covered by Obamacare will be nearly the same as in 2017. Read More Facebook

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U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly condemns U.S. policy change on Jerusalem despite Trumps threats By Tracy Wilkinson The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted Thursday to condemn President Trumps decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, despite Trumps threats to punish countries that voted against the U.S. position. The resolution passed in an emergency session at U.N. headquarters in New York with 128 in favor, nine opposed and 35 abstentions. The nonbinding resolution demands that Washington rescind its declaration, which included a plan to transfer the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in coming years. The resolution value is mostly symbolic, showing how isolated the U.S. is in the move. Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., warned this week that she would be taking names of countries that opposed the U.S., and Trump on Wednesday suggested he might cut U.S. aid to governments that voted in favor of the resolution. Let them vote against us, Trump said. Well save a lot. We dont care. The U.S. recognition of Jerusalem reversed decades of international consensus on the political status of the divided city. Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as their capital in a future independent state. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said the U.N. was facing an unprecedented test and that history would remember those who stand by what is right. Facebook

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Democrats defend Robert Mueller, saying Russia investigation must be allowed to continue By Chris Megerian Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) speaking during a committee hearing earlier this year. (Molly Riley / Associated Press) House Democrats said they will fight Republican attempts to discredit and undermine the work of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is investigating whether President Trumps associates helped Russian meddling in last years election. There is an organized effort by Republicans, in concert with Fox News, to spin a false narrative and conjure up outrageous scenarios to accuse special counsel Mueller of being biased, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) said. Trump has said he has no plan to fire Mueller, but Democrats are alarmed by escalating criticism of the special counsels work. Why is the president afraid of the facts and the truth? Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) said. He added, No matter what the facts are, were satisfied if the investigation is complete. A letter of support signed by 171 Democratic members of Congress will be sent to Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller, a former FBI director, and oversees his investigation. Rosenstein has defended Mueller in the face of Republican criticisms. Facebook

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U.S. blacklists Myanmar army general who it says oversaw atrocities against Rohingya Muslims By Shashank Bengali The Trump administration on Thursday blacklisted a Myanmar army general who it said oversaw human rights abuses committed by security forces against Rohingya Muslims. Imposing economic sanctions against the general, Maung Maung Soe, was the toughest action the United States has taken in response to a brutal army offensive that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has described as ethnic cleansing. In a statement, the Treasury Department said it had examined credible evidence of Maung Maung Soes activities, including allegations against Burmese security forces of extrajudicial killings, sexual violence and arbitrary arrest as well as the widespread burning of villages. The Rohingya are an ethnic and religious minority of about 1 million people in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, also known as Burma. The United Nations says that more than 640,000 Rohingya have fled the country since August, after the army launched clearance operations in response to attacks carried out by a Rohingya insurgent group against security forces. Rohingya refugees in crowded camps in neighboring Bangladesh have described horrific violence by Myanmar forces, including mass rapes, summary executions and children being burned alive. The aid group Doctors Without Borders estimates that 6,700 people were killed in the first month of the operation. Myanmar authorities deny committing atrocities and say that only a few hundred fighters were killed. Maung Maung Soe was chief of the armys Western Command, which carried out the offensive. He was transferred from his position last month, according to news reports. He was one of 13 individuals worldwide who were blacklisted Thursday under a new U.S. law that gives the Treasury Department authority to target officials for human rights abuses and corruption. Others included former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh; Gulnara Karimova, daughter of the late Uzbekistan dictator Islam Karimov; and Artem Chaika, son of Russias prosecutor-general. Today, the United States is taking a strong stand against human rights abuse and corruption globally by shutting these bad actors out of the U.S. financial system, said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. The sanctions freeze any assets Maung Maung Soe holds in the United States and bars Americans from doing business with him. It is also a sign of how quickly U.S. relations with Myanmar have soured. Under the Obama administration, the United States forged closer ties with the former military dictatorship and eased economic and political sanctions as the country began implementing democratic reforms. But Myanmar, which does not regard the Rohingya as citizens, has lashed out at the international community over the current crisis. It has jailed journalists, blocked access to affected areas in the western state of Rakhine and this week barred a U.N. human rights investigator from entering the country. Rohingya activists said the U.S. action would not have much effect on a country that survived under economic sanctions for years. It is the whole military institution that has a policy to persecute these people, said Nay San Lwin, a Rohingya activist and blogger in Germany. According to the U.S.s own definition, the army is carrying out ethnic cleansing. They have a responsibility to protect these people. Sanctions on one person are really not enough. Facebook

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Dreamers will have to wait until next year for Congress long-promised protections By Lisa Mascaro Amanda Bayer, left with banner, and Marisol Maqueda, right, join a rally in support of so-called Dreamers outside the White House. (Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press)) A promised year-end deal to protect the young immigrants known as Dreamers from deportation collapsed Wednesday as Republicans in Congress  fresh off passage of their tax plan  prepared to punt nearly all remaining must-do agenda items into the new year. Congressional leaders still hope that before leaving town this week they can pass an $81-billion disaster relief package with recovery funds for California wildfires and Gulf Coast states hit during the devastating hurricane season. But passage even of that relatively popular measure remained in doubt as conservatives balked at the price tag. Rather than finish the year wrapping up the legislative agenda, the GOP majorities in the House and Senate struggled over their next steps. Read More Facebook

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Chants of protest drown out any caroling this holiday season at the Capitol By Lisa Mascaro U.S. Capitol Police arrest a man wearing a Santa Claus hat during a protest against the Republican tax bill. (Alex Edelman / AFP/Getty Image) Outside the U.S. Capitol, the lights on a towering Christmas tree are flipped on each evening, giving the Engelmann spruce a festive twinkle; inside the marble halls, wreaths and garlands decorate doorways and alcoves ahead of the holidays. But the spirit of the season has been punctuated by other sights: a Jumbotron parked across from the Capitol reflecting pool broadcasts images of young immigrants who face deportation; Little Lobbyists, children with complex medical needs, were featured in a recent news conference; protesters filed into the visitor galleries to shout against the Republican tax plan. While its beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Capitol, its also shaping up to be a holiday season of protest. Read More Facebook

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Tax bill simplifies filing for some but complicates it for others  and dont count on that postcard By Jim Puzzanghera A priority of the Republicans tax overhaul was simplification, and they drove home the point this fall with an omnipresent prop: a red-white-and-blue postcard. Were making things so simple that you can do your taxes on a form the size of a postcard, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) said last month, pulling one from his jacket pocket as he and Republican leaders unveiled their bill. They gave a couple of the cards to President Trump at a White House meeting a few hours later and flashed them often during news conferences and TV interviews in the coming days. Read More Facebook

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Top U.N. human rights official reportedly wont seek reelection The top United Nations official for human rights, who has frequently criticized the Trump administration, has reportedly decided not to seek a second term, saying his work had become untenable. Zeid Raad Hussein, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, notified his staff in an email that was obtained by several news outlets, including Agence France-Presse. Staying when his four-year term is up for renewal at the end of August might involve bending a knee in supplication, AFP quoted Husseins email as saying. Hussein is a Jordanian prince who has criticized, among other things, President Trumps attempts to ban visitors or refugees from six predominantly Muslim countries. The news comes a day before the U.N. General Assembly is expected to vote on a nonbinding resolution condemning the Trump administrations formal declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a decision that went against international consensus. Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., has warned she will be taking names of those who vote against the United States on Thursday. Trump echoed that sentiment Wednesday, voiced support for Haley and implying to reporters that he would consider cutting off U.S. aid to countries that vote against the U.S. Well, were watching those votes, Trump said. Let them vote against us. Well save a lot. We dont care. On Monday, the United States lost a Security Council vote 14-1 on a binding resolution that would have required Washington to rescind its declaration. Haley then vetoed the resolution. Facebook

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Top Democrat warns Trump not to fire Mueller or interfere with his investigation By Chris Megerian Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, one of the top Democrats involved in the congressional inquiries into Russian interference in last years election, said Wednesday that any attempt by President Trump to interfere with the separate criminal investigation would be a gross abuse of power. Warner, who is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, delivered his warning from the Senate floor as Republicans escalate their criticism of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and his team of prosecutors and FBI agents. Some Democrats believe Trump is laying the groundwork to fire Mueller even though the president has publicly denied it. Mueller was appointed in May after Trump fired FBI Director James B. Comey. In the United States of America, no one, no one is above the law, not even the president, Warner said. Congress must make clear to the president that firing the special counsel or interfering with his investigation by issuing pardons of essential witnesses is unacceptable and would have immediate and significant consequences. Some Democrats say the White House may try to in effect short-circuit the Mueller investigation by replacing Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein, who is the only official empowered to fire Mueller. Rosenstein recently told Congress that the special counsel is acting appropriately and that he would not dismiss Mueller without just cause. Facebook

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We have essentially repealed Obamacare, Trump says after tax bill passes By Brian Bennett President Trump at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday at the White House. (Chris Kleponis / Getty Images) President Trump is celebrating Republicans passage of the tax overhaul bill as a two-fer: On Wednesday, in addition to tax cuts, he checked off his promise to repeal Obamacare, pointing to a provision in the bill to end the penalty on Americans who dont get health insurance. We have essentially repealed Obamacare, Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. Other provisions of the 2010 Affordable Care Act are still in place, and Trump and congressional Republicans failed completely on the replace half of their vow to repeal and replace the program. In Trumps view, however, stripping away the laws individual mandate to get insurance or else pay a tax penalty amounts to repeal of the whole law. Congressional analysts have said that millions of people would lose insurance as a result, either by choice or because they cannot afford it without subsidies, and that premiums would increase for others as younger, healthy people drop coverage. We will come up with something much better, Trump said, adding that block grants to states could be one approach. By his comments, Trump tacitly acknowledged that repeal of the mandate is likely the best he can do following Republicans failure this year to agree on a repeal-and-replace bill. Looking back on his first year, Trump also boasted of his administrations efforts against the Islamic State and increased immigration enforcement. He said he had not given up on funding a border wall or tightening immigration law to limit citizens ability to resettle foreign relatives in the country. He said he would very shortly visit the border with Mexico near San Diego to see wall prototypes that have been built. He didnt answer a reporters shouted question about how he would personally benefit from the tax bill. Facebook

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House gives final OK to GOP tax plan, sending it to Trump By Lisa Mascaro Congress gave final approval to the GOP tax plan Wednesday, 224-201, after the House took an unusual do-over vote to clear up differences with the Senate-passed bill. The $1.5-trillion package now heads to President Trump, who plans to sign it into law. The House had approved the tax bill on Tuesday but was forced to take another vote Wednesday because a couple of provisions in the version it approved were found to be in violation of Senate procedures. Those provisions were dropped before the Senate gave its approval early Wednesday. Critics complained the Republicans rushed to pass the sweeping tax plan to deliver Trump a year-end legislative victory, but supporters shrugged off the problems as minor. The tax plan dramatically cuts corporate rates and provides some individual rate reductions, overhauling the tax code for the first time in 30 years. Facebook

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Trump administration effort to block immigrant from having an abortion fails By David Savage Scott Lloyd is director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images) President Trumps lawyers rushed to the Supreme Court and U.S. appeals court in Washington on Monday evening to file emergency appeals seeking to prevent an immigrant in detention, dubbed Jane Roe in court, from having an abortion. That set the stage for a legal showdown on whether the administration can block pregnant minors in custody from choosing to have an abortion. But the legal clash, which the administration has seemed eager to have, fizzled out Tuesday when the governments lawyers admitted the 17-year-old unaccompanied minor in their custody was actually 19. They said they had obtained her birth certificate and realized she was not a minor after all. As a result, Roe, who is 10 weeks pregnant, will no longer be held in a detention center for immigrant minors, and will not be subject to an administration policy that tries to prevent minors in immigration detention from having abortions. Administration lawyers told appeals court judges Tuesday night that Roe was being sent to a facility for adults and likely would be released until her immigration status can be resolved. In a brief order, the D.C. Circuit Court agreed to put the case on hold, but told government attorneys to confirm that she will be permitted to obtain an abortion. The administration had earlier tried to delay another young woman, referred to in court as Jane Poe, from having an abortion, but officials relented on Monday because she was 22 weeks pregnant and nearing the time limit for a legal abortion. Facebook

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Senate panel rejects Trumps pick to lead Export-Import Bank, a leader in the effort to shut it down By Jim Puzzanghera A Senate committee on Tuesday rejected President Trumps nominee to lead the Export-Import Bank, extending the chaos at the embattled agency whose job is to help U.S. companies sell their goods abroad. Two Republicans joined all Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee in voting against former Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) to be the banks president. Garrett had been a vocal critic of the Ex-Im Bank and a leader of a conservative effort that shut the bank down for five months in 2015 by blocking its congressional authorization. He and other bank opponents branded the banks aid as crony capitalism. Read More Facebook

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Congress proposes $81-billion disaster aid package, including funds for California wildfires By Lisa Mascaro Congress is set to consider an $81-billion disaster aid package that includes wildfire recovery money for California and other Western states as well as hurricane relief with a price tag reflecting a year of record-setting natural calamities. The legislation, the text of which was released late Monday, would provide almost twice as much as the $44 billion the White House sought last month to cover relief efforts along the Gulf Coast and in the Caribbean. Republican congressional leaders added more money after California lawmakers objected that the administration had failed to include help for areas damaged by wildfires and Democrats protested that the overall amount President Trump asked for was insufficient. Read More Facebook

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White House blames North Korea for worldwide WannaCry cyber attack By Noah Bierman The Royal London Hospital, a victim of the unprecedented global cyberattack in May. (Niklas Hallen / AFP/Getty Images) The White House officially blamed North Korea on Tuesday for the cyberattack in May known as WannaCry that infected hundreds of thousands of computers in 150 countries, affecting healthcare, financial services and vital infrastructure. Thomas P. Bossert, assistant to the president for homeland security and counter-terrorism, noted in a briefing with reporters that the consequences were beyond economic. He warned that North Koreas malicious behavior is growing more egregious. Bossert did not specify what evidence American officials have to blame North Korea, citing security issues, but he cited the countrys prior attacks as revealing hallmarks of how Pyongyang and its network of hackers operates. He said other allied countries had joined the United States in making the determination. The administration did not announce any penalties on the regime, which is already subject to severe sanctions over its nuclear program. They want to hold the entire world at risk, Bossert said of North Koreas rulers, referring to the nations nuclear and missile provocations as well as its alleged cyberattack. Given its isolation and international sanctions, North Korea is desperate for funds. Bossert said the country did not appear to make much money on the ransom attack, as word spread that paying a ransom did not result in getting computers unlocked. Its primary goal, he said, was spreading chaos. Bossert and Jeanette Manfra, assistant secretary of homeland security for cybersecurity and communication, said the United States, through a combination of preparation and luck, escaped the worst of the attack, as a patch to the malware was found before U.S. companies and other interests were severely crippled. However, Manfra said, We cannot be complacent. Bossert added, Next time were not going to get so lucky. Manfra praised Microsoft and Facebook for their efforts to combat WannaCry and to block more recent attempts to hack U.S. systems. She and Bossert urged more cooperation and information-sharing from American and multinational companies, arguing a united front is vital to protecting against bad actors who do not differentiate between government and business. Bossert rejected criticism that the the Trump administration has more aggressively called out North Korean cyberattacks than it has Russias meddling in the 2016 election. He said the administration has continued the national emergency initiated by President Obama. Facebook

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GOP lures some mountain bike groups in its push to roll back protections for public land By Evan Halper When their vision of creating a scenic cycling trail through a protected alpine backcountry hit a snag, San Diego area mountain bikers turned to an unlikely ally: congressional Republicans aiming to dilute conservation laws. The frustrations of the San Diego cycling group and a handful of similar organizations are providing tailwind to the GOP movement to lift restrictions on the countrys most ecologically fragile and pristine landscapes, officially designated wilderness. Resentment of these cyclists over the longstanding ban on mechanized transportation in that fraction of the nations public lands presents a political opportunity for Republicans eager to drill fissures in the broad coalition of conservation-minded groups united against the GOP environmental agenda. Read More Facebook

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Vice president postpones Israel trip a second time in case his vote is needed to pass tax cut bill By Noah Bierman (Ethan Miller / Getty Images) Vice President Mike Pence is delaying his trip to Egypt and Israel for a second time in case he is needed to break a tie in the Senate for the tax bill that is expected to pass narrowly this week. Two White House officials confirmed the changed schedule, which they say is unrelated to to protests in the region over the administrations decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital. Pence had initially been scheduled to leave last Saturday. Late last week, the White House moved the trip back a few days to Tuesday night, in case Pence was needed to break a Senate tie. But Monday, they decided to postpone the trip further, to January, given the possibility of a late Senate vote and the coming holidays. He wants to see it through the finish line, said a White House official, referring to the tax measure that is a centerpiece of the Republican legislative agenda. We dont want to leave anything to chance. The mid-January dates will allow Pence more breathing room to merge schedules with embassies and hotels, the official said. Trump still plans to address the Israeli Knesset, a high-profile venue to discuss the Jerusalem decision where it is most popular. Facebook

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Trump judicial pick who drew ridicule at hearing withdraws By Associated Press A White House official says the Trump judicial nominee whose qualifications were questioned by a Republican senator has withdrawn his nomination. Matthew Petersen, who was nominated by President Trump to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, has been the subject of widespread ridicule since he was unable to define basic legal terms during his confirmation hearing Wednesday. A White House official says Petersen has withdrawn his nomination and that Trump has accepted the withdrawal. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the development publicly. Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy pressed Petersen, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, who testified he had never tried a case, on his qualifications to the bench. Facebook

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Trump says McCain will return to Washington if needed for tax vote By Laura King President Trump said Sunday that Sen. John McCain, who is battling an aggressive form of brain cancer, was returning home to Arizona for the holidays but would come back to Washington if needed to cast a vote on the Republicans tax overhaul bill. The Arizona Republicans office announced last week that McCain was receiving treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington for complications from his cancer treatment. McCains daughter Meghan tweeted earlier Sunday that her 81-year-old father would be spending Christmas in Arizona. The Senate is expected to vote early this week on the tax cut legislation, but the GOP appeared to have secured sufficient support without McCains vote. John will come back if we need his vote, Trump told reporters as he returned from a weekend at the presidential retreat at Camp David. Hes going through a very tough time. Facebook

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Putin calls Trump to thank him for U.S. help foiling terrorist strike By Laura King Vladimir Putin phoned President Trump to thank him for what the Russian president said was CIA help in foiling a terrorist attack, the Kremlin said on Sunday. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed the two leaders conversation to reporters. It was the second time that the two leaders had talked in four days; Trump called Putin on Thursday to thank the Russian leader for lauding the U.S. economy. Putin, in his annual year-end news conference, had praised Trump for a strong performance by the U.S. stock market. Perhaps ironically, given his credit to the CIAs recent help, Putin at that news event dismissed as hysteria the consensus among American intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential campaign. In reporting Putins call to Trump on Sunday, the official Russian news agency Tass said Putin thanked his American counterpart for information shared by the US Central Intelligence Agency that had helped break up a plot to set off explosives in St. Petersburgs landmark Kazan Cathedral and elsewhere in the city, which is Russias second-largest. Russian authorities last week had credited their countrys counter-intelligence service, the FSB, for foiling the attacks. They reported that seven people affiliated with Islamic State had been detained in St. Petersburg in connection with the plot. The FSB, the successor organization to the KGB, announced Friday that the group had planned to carry out the attacks on Saturday, and that one of those in custody had confessed to the cathedral bomb plot. Facebook

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Mnuchin: Government shutdown unlikely but could happen By Laura King Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said on Sunday that a government shutdown this week was unlikely but possible. A two-week stopgap spending bill passed by Congress earlier this month provided enough funding to keep the government running through Friday. A deadlock on another temporary funding measure would open the door to a possible shutdown. I cant rule it out, but I cant imagine it occurring, Mnuchin said on Fox News Sunday, suggesting everyone had an interest in avoiding the government grinding to a halt and federal workers going unpaid, especially in the holiday season. I would expect that both the House and Senate, Republicans and Democrats, understand if they cant agree on this, they need to have another short-term extension to move this to January, the Treasury secretary said. We cant have a government shutdown in front of Christmas. In May, irate over concessions made to Democrats in hammering out a spending measure, President Trump tweeted that a good shutdown might help matters. While both parties agree that a government shutdown involves a degree of disruption that is not beneficial to either side, shutdowns in 1995-96 and in 2013 mainly caused a backlash against Republicans. The latest funding measure is to be taken up after a vote on a massive GOP tax overhaul, expected by midweek. Facebook

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Trump transition team says sensitive emails should not have been shared with Robert Mueller By Chris Megerian (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) President Trumps transition team is crying foul over how special counsel Robert S. Mueller III obtained emails for his investigation into Russian meddling in last years campaign and possible Trump campaign complicity. Kory Langhofer, a lawyer for the transition team, sent a letter to Congress on Saturday saying there was an unauthorized disclosure of emails. While the Trump transition is long over, the transition team remains a nonprofit organization. Its emails were hosted by the General Services Administration, a federal agency. Mueller reportedly obtained the emails directly from the agency. There are attorney-client communications, Langhofer said in an interview. There are executive-privileged communications. He added, What were asking Congress to do is to take some legislative action to make sure this never happens again. Peter Carr, a spokesman for the special counsels office, defended the process for obtaining emails. When we have obtained emails in the course of our ongoing criminal investigation, we have secured either the account owners consent or appropriate criminal process, he said. The letter was first reported by Fox News. A request for comment from the General Services Administration was not immediately answered. This story has been updated with a comment from the special counsels office. Facebook

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Virginia house arrest is ending for Paul Manafort By Chris Megerian (Mark Wilson / Getty Images) A federal judge agreed Friday to end Paul Manaforts house arrest in Virginia, allowing President Trumps former campaign manager to return to Florida while awaiting trial. The decision followed a dispute between Manaforts legal team and prosecutors working for special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who accused Manafort of violating a court order restricting public statements about the case. Under the terms of the judges order, Manafort will be allowed to live at his home in Florida as long as he stays within Palm Beach and Broward counties and obeys a curfew from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. If he misses a court appearance, he would forfeit four properties valued at $10 million total. The deal, which includes GPS monitoring, is not as permissive as Manafort originally sought. He had asked to be able to travel freely among Florida, New York, Virginia and Washington. Manafort faces criminal charges of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. He has pleaded not guilty. Facebook

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GOP negotiators enhance child tax credit to win over Sen. Rubio By Lisa Mascaro Republican negotiators slightly increased the refundable portion of the expanded child tax credit in their tax plan, raising it to $1,400 in hopes of winning back Sen. Marco Rubios (R-Fla.) support ahead of next weeks vote. Rubio announced Thursday he was withholding support after negotiators ignored his push to make the expanded tax credit, which increases from the current $1,000 to $2,000 in the proposed bill, fully refundable for lower- and moderate-income filers. The refundable portion in the original bill was $1,100. The Florida senator argued that was not enough to help working-class Americans, many of whom already view the GOP plan as tilted toward the wealthy. Rubios office was waiting to see the final text before commenting on whether the change was enough to win him over. We have not seen the bill text, and until we see if the percentage of the refundable credit is significantly higher, then our position remains the same, Rubios spokeswoman said. Negotiators meeting Friday before unveiling the bill said they thought they had the support they needed from Rubio and other holdouts. Im confident both chambers will pass it next week, said Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). Facebook

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Sen. Marco Rubio opposes GOP tax bill, depriving leaders of crucial support By Lisa Mascaro 20.94% Corp. rate to pay for tax cut for working family making $40k was anti-growth but 21% to cut tax for couples making $1million is fine?  Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 12, 2017 Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) says he is currently opposed to the GOP tax plan because it fails to include his proposed enhancements to the child tax credit, leaving leaders without crucial support ahead of next weeks expected vote. Republicans can only lose two GOP senators from their slim 52-48 majority as they push the plan forward under special budget rules to prevent a Democratic filibuster. Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday altered his planned Israel trip so he could be on hand, if needed, to cast a tie-breaking vote. Rubio, and GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, have fought to increase the child tax credit, doubling it to $2,000 in the GOP plan, but they also want to increase its refundability. They argue it will lower taxes on middle-income families at a time when the tax plan is being criticized as tilted to the wealthy. Sen. Rubio has consistently communicated to the Senate tax negotiators that his vote on final passage would depend on whether the refundability of the Child Tax Credit was increased in a meaningful way, Rubios spokeswoman said. Lee stopped short of opposing the bill, but his spokesman said Wednesday he is undecided. GOP leaders, though, have said they believe they have the support for passage. Facebook

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White House gives Roy Moore a unsubtle shove: Time to concede By David Lauter (Alex Wong / Getty Images) The White House sent a clear signal Thursday to the defeated Republican candidate for Senate in Alabama: Its time to concede. Roy Moore refused to concede the race on Tuesday night when Doug Jones, the Democrat, was declared the winner. Election night results show Jones winning by about 1.5 percentage points, three times more than the states standard for a recount. Although a few absentee and provisional ballots remain to be counted, theres no indication they would change the result. On Wednesday, Moore notably did not call to congratulate Jones  even as President Trump and other leading Republicans did. Instead, he released a video declaring the battle rages on. Asked at the daily news briefing whether the White House thinks Moore should concede today, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, It probably sounds like it maybe should have already taken place. Sanders also dismissed the idea, pushed by some Moore supporters, that Jones victory was tainted in some fashion. Asked if the Democrat had won fair and square, she said, I think the numbers reflect that. The states Republican senator, Richard Shelby, offered a similar comment in an interview with MSNBC in which he said he was willing to work with Jones. If I was 25,000 votes behind, its not going to change much, Shelby said. Facebook

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House Speaker Paul Ryan says hes not leaving anytime soon By Lisa Mascaro House Speaker Paul D. Ryan shot down suggestions Thursday that he might soon be retiring. Stories often circulate that party leaders, especially the House speaker, are stepping aside. Ryans tenure has been as rocky as that of his predecessor, Rep. John Boehner, who abruptly resigned in 2015 amid GOP infighting. Asked Thursday if he would be leaving, Ryan answered a simple no, as he left his weekly press conference in the Capitol. Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who reluctantly took over the speakers gavel after Boehners departure, had just finished talking up the GOP tax plan, which leaders hope to pass next week. He also outlined his sweeping agenda for his longtime goal of entitlement reform of welfare benefits next year. Two stories published Thursday suggested Ryan may soon be out. This is pure speculation, said spokeswoman AshLee Strong. As the speaker himself said today, hes not going anywhere anytime soon. Facebook

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GOP leaders reach tax deal, cutting corporate rate to 21% and top individual rate to 37% By Lisa Mascaro Republican leaders on Wednesday agreed on a revised plan to cut taxes that would lower the corporate rate from 35% to 21% and drop the top individual rate for the richest Americans to 37%, according to GOP senators and others briefed on the deal. The tentative accord marked a significant step in the Republican push to have a tax bill on President Trumps desk by Christmas. Leaders did not release details of the compromise or the text of a final bill as negotiations continued. Its critically important for Congress to quickly pass these historic tax cuts, Trump said Wednesday, promising that Americans could begin to reap the benefits of the plan as early as February, if passed. Critics, however, said the latest changes  particularly the lowering of the top individual rate from the current 39.6%  only reaffirmed several independent analyses that show the bulk of the savings from the Republican plan would go to businesses and the wealthy. Read More Facebook

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Farenthold to retire from House amid harassment accusations By Associated Press Texas Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold wont seek reelection next year, two Republicans said Thursday, adding his name to the list of lawmakers leaving Congress amid sexual harassment allegations that have cost powerful men their jobs in politics, the arts and other fields. The accusations against Farenthold surfaced in 2014, when a former aide sued him alleging sexually suggestive comments and behavior and said shed been fired after she complained. The lawmaker said he engaged in no wrongdoing and the case was settled in 2015. But the House Ethics Committee said last week that it would investigate Farenthold after congressional sources said hed paid an $84,000 settlement using taxpayers money. Though Farenthold said hed reimburse the Treasury Department, such payments have drawn public criticism from people saying lawmakers should use their own money for such settlements. A House official said Farenthold spoke twice Wednesday to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), while another official said the congressman spoke once with Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) who heads the GOPs House campaign committee. Those discussions suggested that Farenthold may have come under pressure from leaders to step aside. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. Last week, three lawmakers facing accusations of sexual harassment announced their resignations. Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) have already left Congress while Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) has said he will step aside soon. Mike Bergsma, Republican county chairman in Farentholds home county of Nueces, Texas, said Fare
Local nonprofits and pet stores are hoping to find more than five dozen cats and dogs displaced by Hurricane Harvey new homes in Southern California.

The Lucy Pet Foundation, a Westlake Village-based nonprofit best known for its free mobile spay and neuter clinics, flew in 63 animals from Houston, Texas, to Hollywood Burbank Airport on Thursday and distributed them to several nonprofits and pet stores to be put up for adoption.

More than a dozen volunteers from the various groups gathered on the airfield tarmac next to Atlantic Aviations hangar on Sherman Way and started off-loading small and large plastic kennels with cats and dogs of various ages inside.

Pet handlers from all around Southern California help unload a plane filled with pets in crates, arriving from Houston, Texas, at Atlantic Aviation in Burbank on Thursday, November 16, 2017. (Tim Berger / Burbank Leader )

As soon as each animal was accounted for, they were quickly placed into the backs of SUVs and vans to be taken to pet stores and foster locations.

Every pet needs a home, said Dani Caouette, owner of Shelter Hope Pet Shop in Santa Clarita. We saw them abandoned in Texas, and we know that theyre suffering, so were bringing them into our stores to help them find a new home.

A crate with kittens is unloaded from a plane filled with pets flown from Houston, TX at Atlantic Aviation in Burbank on Thursday, November 16, 2017. (Tim Berger / Burbank Leader )

Jim Edwards, who works for Theresas Country Feed & Pet in Simi Valley, said it is important that animal nonprofits and stores help homeless Texas pets in their time of need.

We cant have these animals put down, Edwards said. We need these animals to go to homes where people will love them and make them feel safe for as long as they live on this planet.

Joey Herrick, founder of the Lucy Pet Foundation, said there have been hundreds of animals held the past three months in an abandoned supermarket in Houston that was converted into a temporary animal shelter. However, the facility is scheduled to close on Dec. 7 and could result in those animals being euthanized.

An Akita, in a crate, is unloaded from a plane loaded with other pets rescued by Lucy Pets at Atlantic Aviation in Burbank on Thursday, November 16, 2017. (Tim Berger / Burbank Leader )

The pet delivery in Burbank was the fourth drop-off of animals from Houston that Lucy Pet has made in the United States. Herrick said his organization has previously transferred cats and dogs to Oregon, Rhode Island and New York.

Herrick said he has been amazed at the generosity and support that other nonprofits and businesses across the country have given his organization to give the hundreds of animals affected by Hurricane Harvey another chance.

Many rescue groups have gotten together to make this happen, Herrick said.

anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio
Mark Davidson sat before the piano in his living room, his fingers creating a mad dance of improvised jazz.

He was going after his own ideas, spontaneously creating fresh melodies with musician John Ferraro, who sculpted a swinging groove with brushes on a practice snare drum.

When you hear it with a full drum set, you hear even more, Davidson said. Were just messing around.

Their impromptu jam was days before their upcoming concert Nov. 19 at the Rec Room in Huntington Beach where the Mark Davidson Trio  featuring Davidson, Ferraro, guitarist Ron Eschete and bassist Baba Elefante  will showcase new ways in performing familiar songs.

For A Night in Tunisia, Davidson and Eschete will begin the musical composition written by jazz great Dizzy Gillespie with a quiet, romantic opening, but the piece will kick up once the other players join in on the song.

Maybe itll end quietly with the guitar, maybe not. Whatever the outcome, itll be created in the moment, and thats what keeps the performance exciting, Davidson said.

Davidson, a Santa Ana resident, has been playing jazz piano around Newport Beach since 1960, when his trio appeared at the Sea Shanty, which is now the Bluewater Grill on Lido Peninsula.

He started playing in church; his father was an Assemblies of God minister. But his first paying job was playing Blueberry Hill for a stripper named Shirley Lane in East L.A.

Though hes the leader of the band, Davidson said its his duty to highlight the other talented musicians.

Davidson met Ferraro through musical acquaintances about three years ago. He said he was particularly impressed when he heard Ferraro play out of character.

It really was a wonderful thing because it was, Ive got something to say here that youve never heard, Davidson said.

You have to have your antenna up, Ferraro said, reflecting on how jazz is freedom. You can be creative and theres a variety of rhythmic style and dynamic range. Its kind of like a conversation where youre listening and responding.

Ferraro, a Newport Beach resident and Newport Harbor High School graduate, studied at Orange Coast College and Cal State Long Beach where he was a member of the jazz ensemble and earned top honors as an instrumentalist.

He toured domestically and internationally for Barry Manilows world tour and has worked with artists such as Boz Skaggs, George Benson, Debby Boone, Linda Ronstadt and Eddie Van Halen, among several others over the course of 20 years.

He is a regular drummer for Burt Bacharach, and he also was featured on Rod Stewarts standards album.

Ferraro and Davidson said an audience is made up of all ages, ranging from college students who are studying music to a generation of people who grew up listening to jazz in concert or on the radio.

The show is an opportunity for people to experience something new and get lost in the moment, Ferraro said, adding the encounter is a different kind of energy.

We want to get a certain amount of people who have never heard of what were doing, Davidson said. Some wont like it at all and some people will come back.The music itself connects people. I hope they walk out with a thrill, thinking, How good was that?

If You Go

What: The Mark Davidson Trio

When: 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday Nov. 19

Where: The Rec Room, 7227 Edinger Ave., Huntington Beach

Cost: $10 to $20

Information: (949) 533-2158

kathleen.luppi@latimes.com

Twitter: @KathleenLuppi
The Karl Strauss restaurant and brewpub in Costa Mesa has reopened after a full remodel.

The restaurant at 901 S. Coast Drive first opened in 2002. The new layout includes a redesigned bar with 24 taps, a more-open floor plan and a new patio.

The additional taps will allow a wider variety of rotating, small-batch beers, according to a news release.

Old World to host Swedish fair

Old World Village in Huntington Beach is hosting a Swedish Christmas Fair from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The event is presented by the Swedish Womens Educational Assn. of Orange County. It will include gifts, ornaments, food and drinks.

Tickets are $7 or $3 for children ages 6 to 12. Children under 5 are free.

Pelican Hill starts gingerbread village construction

The Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Coast plans to start construction of its 300-pound, 7-foot-tall gingerbread village Monday morning. Pastry chef Jeff Lehude will lead the effort, which is expected to be finished by Monday evening, in the hotels lobby.

Karma opens new center in Newport

Irvine-based Karma Automotive is opening a new sales center at 950 W. Coast Hwy. in Newport Beach.

The 2,000-square-foot facility shares some space with the adjacent Ferrari dealership. A soft opening is planned for Monday.

Karma makes the Revero, a hybrid, $130,000 luxury sedan.

Country Club names two positions

Nicholas Biglari has been named vice president of operations for the Country Club, a new restaurant and bar scheduled to open in Costa Mesa on Dec. 5.

Biglari last worked at the Hillstone Restaurant Group. He has 18 years of industry experience.

The Country Club has also hired Zachary Scherer as executive chef. The Le Cordon Bleu graduate has worked at Georges at the Cove in La Jolla and Haven Gastropub in Orange.

Oyster house to host fundraiser benefit dog rescues

Ways and Means Oyster House in Huntington Beachs Pacific City is having a fundraiser Dec. 9.

The Barks of Love Bash goes from 3 to 5 p.m. and will feature dog-friendly activities. Proceeds benefit Barks of Love, a dog rescue group.

Tickets are $20, sold at the door. Admission includes drinks and appetizers.

Eschle named to sales position at Westin

Tricia Eschle has been named director of sales and marketing at the Westin South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, according to a news release.

Eschle has worked for The Inn at Laguna Beach and Laguna Beach House. She also worked for the Westin as its business travel sales manager and business travel account director.

Mothers Market expands with two new stores

Mothers Market and Kitchen, a Costa Mesa-based foods retailer founded in 1978, is adding two new stores in Signal Hill and Manhattan Beach.

The Signal Hill store, at 2475 Cherry Ave., is expected to open in early 2018. The Manhattan Beach location, at 1700 Rosecrans Ave., is scheduled to open in summer 2018.
A man using a Huntington Beach postal box has submitted a statewide ballot proposal calling for California residents without children in public schools to be exempt from paying school-related taxes.

In his Aug. 30 proposal, Lee Olson, chairman of the Committee to End Slavery, asserts that California schools are leaving pupils unprepared for college, forcing parents to seek other options.

Parents pursuing alternative education are penalized unfairly by having to not only pay for their childrens education but also by being forced to pay for the education of other children , Olson writes in his proposal, the California Education Tax Relief Act.

He argues that such taxation is happening at gunpoint and compares it to theft. Olson, who submitted an identically named proposal in 2009, needs 585,407 signatures for his amendment to quality for the 2018 general election ballot.

A report from the state Legislative Analysts Office said Olsons proposal could cause governments to lose as much as $30 billion annually.

In response, governments would have to take actions to bring their budgets into balance by reducing spending and/or raising revenues, the report said.

Olson also submitted two other proposals this year. One would allow parents to have absolute and sole control over their childrens education, free of government threats or coercion.

The second would exempt California residents from paying most taxes after their 55th birthday. The Legislative Analysts Office estimated that such a law would reduce state and local government revenue by roughly $60 billion annually.

bradley.zint@latimes.com

Twitter: @BradleyZint
A coalition of environmental groups has filed a lawsuit in Sacramento County Superior Court challenging a state panels approval of the proposed Poseidon ocean desalination plant in Huntington Beach.

The groups, including Costa Mesa-based Orange County Coastkeeper and the California Coastal Protection Network, allege the State Lands Commission violated state law when it gave approval Oct. 19 to amendments to a 2010 environmental impact report on Poseidon Waters $1-billion project, planned for Pacific Coast Highway and Newland Street. They argue it should have conducted a more thorough environmental analysis.

The three-member commission approved some additions to the plant that its developer and commission staff believe will make it compliant with the California Ocean Plan, passed in 2015.

The community has spoken loudly and clearly that they dont want this project, and its been demonstrated that they dont need the water, Sean Bothwell, policy director for the California Coastkeeper Alliance, said in a news release Friday. The State Lands Commission approval of this project without reviewing whether it was needed and without considering how the water would be distributed is a clear violation of the law, and  absent intervention  could doom this community to pay for high-priced water for decades.

Several Orange County politicians and water agencies have commended the project, saying it would create a much-needed local water supply.

Poseidons plant, which is designed to provide 50 million gallons of drinkable water a day, still awaits consideration by the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board and the California Coastal Commission before it can be built.

bradley.zint@latimes.com

Twitter: @BradleyZint
During elections nine years ago, Zimbabwe ruling party thugs banged on Nonoza Ncubes door at 2 a.m., took her to a temporary military-style base and beat her on her back and legs with batons.

Yet when she heard that ruling party ZANU-PF war veterans were staging a mass rally in Harare, the nations capital, to support the removal of President Robert Mugabe, she just had to come.

In scenes of wild jubilation that many said reminded them of Zimbabwes independence day ending white minority rule in 1980, the streets of Harare and a nearby stadium Saturday overflowed with joyous crowds.

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We are free! We are free! beamed Milkah Naraha, 62, who supports the opposition.

Thirty-seven years after the joy that exploded with Mugabe assuming Zimbabwes leadership as a liberation hero, Zimbabweans celebrated his expected departure.

It was an extraordinary moment in a nation where dissent is repressed, opposition activists have been beaten, arrested and disappeared, and anti-government protests have met a heavy handed response.

Saturdays rally was called to thank Zimbabwes military for its role in taking control of the country to convince Mugabe to step down, pressure he has so far resisted. Instead, he may be impeached in parliament in the coming week. Parliament convenes on Tuesday.

The march of tens of thousands of people is Zimbabwes first real show of people power calling for Mugabes departure. Broadcast on state-owned television, the rally sent a strong message to Mugabe that his time is up. Eight of the 10 ZANU-PF provinces have passed no-confidence votes, calling on him to quit.

People clung to vehicles, waved flags, danced, sang and punched their hands in the air rejoicing about a new Zimbabwe. Some draped themselves in flags or wore them as capes, another small freedom after the Mugabe government banned people from doing so because of an activist group #ThisFlag that is critical of the government and Mugabe.

Saturdays rally also sent a strong message to other African leaders clinging to power for decades that a military intervention or a coup is possible, even for the likes of Mugabe. Some analysts believe his determination to stay on has encouraged leaders in the region like Rwandas Paul Kagame, Burundis Pierre Nkurunziza and Democratic Republic of Congos Joseph Kabila to ditch or avoid a two-term limit on power.

Ncube, an activist with the main opposition party, the MDC, came to Saturdays rally because she wanted to drive Mugabe from power. A woman from ZANU-PF had the same motive. The difference was that the opposition supporters were willing to be quoted by name while most ZANU-PF supporters were still afraid of repercussions from their party.

Ncubes arrest and assault happened during the 2008 elections, the countrys most violent election in post independence history. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the first round of a presidential election, provoking a storm of violence orchestrated by the military against opposition activists.

Opponents of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe at a demonstration in Harare on Nov. 18 also targeted his wife, Grace, who had been angling to succeed him. (Zingyange Auntony / AFP/Getty Images )

She said police and ZANU-PF youth worked together at the time harassing opposition activists, arresting them and beating them. She was also beaten during 2013 elections.

Ive got a very painful leg from being beaten by the police when I was demonstrating against Mugabe in 2013 during the elections, said Ncube, a widow with three children who relies on a nongovernmental organization for the schooling of her children. She scrapes out enough to survive by selling vegetables, a common occupation for women in an economy with 90% unemployment.

I came here because I am celebrating the end of Mugabe. But I want elections, she said. For today, we are celebrating. Then tomorrow we have to go on registering to vote in elections.

Ncube feared that with the military controlling events, a government similar to the one led by Mugabe might emerge. But she did not believe a ZANU-PF figure such as sacked Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has the support of the military, could win election. Mnangagwas dismissal by Mugabe helped trigger the military intervention.

Thats why I want elections  because these people have worked together for a very long time and theyre the same, she said referring to the military, Mugabe and ZANU-PF. We must follow the constitution. If Mnangagwa runs as president, he wont win if its a free and fair election.

A ZANU-PF member at the rally said she had to sell 12 cows to enable her daughter to finish university. But then, because of the lack of opportunities in Zimbabwe, her daughter had to go to South Africa to find work and ended up a domestic worker.

I want her to come back to Zimbabwe and work for our country, said the woman, who declined to give her name.

Nearby, an elderly woman held a hand-painted sign reading, An old man must go to the country and rest. In Zimbabwe and other African countries, people working in cities often leave them when they retire and return to the rural villages where they grew up or have relatives.

I want to get rid of Mugabe, said the woman, also a ZANU-PF member. Her daughter left Zimbabwe and lives in the United Kingdom and sends cash regularly. But because of a currency shortage in Zimbabwe, the woman is unable to withdraw enough money to cover her expenses. She often sleeps overnight outside banks to try to be among the first in line to draw on the limited funds made available each day.

Naraha, an MDC supporter with six children, came to the rally to celebrate because Mugabe is gone.

We want a new Zimbabwe. We want our children to be happy. We want food on our tables. We want jobs. Free education. Free health. Yes! she said.

According to Reuters, Mugabes nephew Patrick Zhuwao said that his uncle and his wife were ready to die for what is correct and would not step down because it would legitimize a military coup.

The military insists it is not a coup because Mugabe remains in place as president. However, he has been stripped of executive powers and confined to his residence.

Mugabes domestic and regional support has evaporated and he remains isolated with no realistic means of clinging to power.

Zhuwao said Mugabe had slept little since the military took control of the country but his health was otherwise fine, according to Reuters.

robyn.dixon@latimes.com

Twitter: @RobynDixon_LAT
The Trump administration is threatening to shutter the Palestinian Authoritys representative office in Washington based on a provision of a U.S. law that has not been previously enforced.

The State Department recently informed the Palestinian Authority that if it does not reenter peace negotiations with Israel, its delegation to the United States could be closed within months, though it did not specify a timeline.



For the record: Husam Zomlot, identified in this article as the Palestinian Authority ambassador, is the chief representative of the Palestinian delegation to the U.S.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson informed the Palestinians that the decision was made following statements by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who called on the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel for war crimes.

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The State Department told the Associated Press that Abbas statements violate a law under which action taken by the Palestinians against Israel at the ICC could lead to the closure of their mission.

This is a matter of U.S. law, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. We respect the decision and look forward to continuing to work with the U.S. to advance peace and security in the region.

Reached in Washington, Palestinian Authority Ambassador to the United States Husam Zomlot said, I have no comment. No comment at all.

In September, Zomlot posted a video to his Twitter feed in which he said that Netanyahus attempts to close down the Palestinian delegation were absurd and that the delegations presence in Washington reflected the will of the American people.

The Israeli television channel KAN reported in September on a plan hatched by the Israeli government and Republican lawmakers in the U.S. to punish the Palestinians for their recent diplomatic advances, including their successful bid to join Interpol, the worlds largest police organization, and their ongoing efforts to have Israeli leaders tried at the International Criminal Court.

The latest warning shot does not bode well for the much-heralded but as-yet unveiled Trump peace plan, which is expected to be presented to Israel and the Palestinian Authority some time in December or January.

It is a puzzling position of the administration, Abbas aide Nabil abu Rudaineh said, underscoring the precariousness of the situation. The Palestinian side has not received any document or idea from the United States for many months, despite the fact that many meetings had taken place with the administration.

Speaking to Israeli media, Abu Rudaineh said the threat leads Palestinians to conclude that the United States is losing its position as a negotiator and is withdrawing from its role as a sponsor of the diplomatic process for peace as promised by President Trump.

A State Department official told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, We are not cutting off relations with the PLO [delegation], nor do we intend to stop working with the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestine Liberation Organization delegation, a precursor to the Palestinian Authoritys official mission, has had offices in Washington since 1994.

Our relations with the PLO and PA extend well beyond contacts with the PLO office in Washington, the State Department official said, according to Haaretz. We remain focused on a comprehensive peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians that will resolve core issues between the parties. This measure should in no way be seen as a signal that the U.S. is backing off those efforts. Nor should it be exploited by those who seek to act as spoilers to distract from the imperative of reaching a peace agreement.

On Saturday, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad Maliki said Washingtons threats amounted to extortion, and were part of a U.S. effort to sow uncertainty in the Palestinian leadership.

The White House and the Israeli government declined to comment.

The State Department told Haaretz that the latest warning was based on a technicality.

In December 2015, Congress introduced a new condition concerning certain Palestinian actions related to the International Criminal Court. The most recent certification period ended in November. We were unable to make a new certification, and have notified the PLO accordingly. The secretary concluded that the factual record, in particular certain statements made by Palestinian leaders about the ICC, did not permit him to make the factual certification required by the statute, the department said, according to the newspaper.

Late in the day Palestinian sources told the AP that they would suspend all communication with the Trump administration if the U.S. closes the PLO office in Washington.

The State Department official clarified that the same statute allows for a waiver of restrictions on the PLO in the U.S., including operation of its Washington office, if after 90 days the president determines the Palestinians have entered into direct, meaningful negotiations with Israel. We are hopeful that this closure will be short-lived.

UPDATES:

1:40 p.m.: This article was updated with statements from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Nabil Abu Rudeineh, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

This article was originally published at 10:50 a.m.
The Trump administration is threatening to shutter the Palestinian Authoritys representative office in Washington based on a provision of a U.S. law that has not been previously enforced.

The State Department recently informed the Palestinian Authority that if it does not reenter peace negotiations with Israel, its delegation to the United States could be closed within months, though it did not specify a timeline.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson informed the Palestinians that the decision was made following statements by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who called on the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel for war crimes.

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The State Department told the Associated Press that Abbas statements violate a law under which action taken by the Palestinians against Israel at the ICC could lead to the closure of their mission.

This is a matter of U.S. law, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. We respect the decision and look forward to continuing to work with the U.S. to advance peace and security in the region.

Reached in Washington, Palestinian Ambassador to the United States Husam Zomlot said, I have no comment. No comment at all.

In September, Zomlot posted a video to his Twitter feed in which he said that Netanyahus attempts to close down the Palestinian delegation were absurd and that the delegations presence in Washington reflected the will of the American people.

Last September, the Israeli television channel KAN reported on a plan hatched by the Israeli government and Republican lawmakers in the U.S. to punish the Palestinians for their recent diplomatic advances, including their successful bid to join Interpol, the worlds largest police organization, and their ongoing efforts to have Israeli leaders tried at the International Criminal Court.

The latest warning shot does not bode well for the much-heralded but as-yet unveiled Trump peace plan, which is expected to be presented to Israel and the Palestinian Authority some time in December or January 2018.

It is a puzzling position of the administration, Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rudeineh said, underscoring the precariousness of the situation. The Palestinian side has not received any document or idea from the United States for many months, despite the fact that many meetings had taken place with the administration.

Speaking to Israeli media, Rudeineh said the threat leads Palestinians to conclude that the United States is losing its position as a negotiator and is withdrawing from its role as a sponsor of the diplomatic process for peace as promised by President Trump.

A State Department official told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, We are not cutting off relations with the PLO [Delegation], nor do we intend to stop working with the Palestinian Authority.

The PLO Delegation, a precursor to the Palestinian Authoritys official mission, has had offices in Washington since 1994.

Our relations with the PLO and PA extend well beyond contacts with the PLO office in Washington, the State Department official said, according to Haaretz. We remain focused on a comprehensive peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians that will resolve core issues between the parties. This measure should in no way be seen as a signal that the U.S. is backing off those efforts. Nor should it be exploited by those who seek to act as spoilers to distract from the imperative of reaching a peace agreement.

On Saturday, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad Maliki said Washingtons threats amounted to extortion, and were part of a U.S. effort to sow uncertainty in the Palestinian leadership.

The White House and the Israeli government declined to comment.

The State Department told Haaretz that the latest warning was based on a technicality.

In December 2015, Congress introduced a new condition concerning certain Palestinian actions related to the International Criminal Court. The most recent certification period ended in November. We were unable to make a new certification, and have notified the PLO accordingly. The Secretary concluded that the factual record, in particular certain statements made by Palestinian leaders about the ICC, did not permit him to make the factual certification required by the statute, the department said, according to the newspaper.

Late in the day Palestinian sources told the AP that they would suspend all communication with the Trump administration if the U.S. closes the PLO office in Washington.

The State Department official clarified that the same statute allows for a waiver of restrictions on the PLO in the U.S., including operation of its Washington office, if after 90 days the president determines the Palestinians have entered into direct, meaningful negotiations with Israel. We are hopeful that this closure will be short-lived.

UPDATES:

1:40 p.m.: This article was updated with statements from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Nabil Abu Rudeineh, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

This article was originally published at 10:50 a.m.
Mayor Bob Donchez wants New Street in South Bethlehem to act as a gateway into Lehigh University's campus

The city learned Wednesday it was awarded $1 million state grant to redesign and refresh South New Street from the Fahy Bridge to Lehigh's Farrington Square.

It marks the latest cash infusion for a corridor undergoing a major transformation. The Bethlehem Parking Authority just opened a new 626-space parking garage and developer Dennis Benner is in the final stages of building a six-story office building anchored by St. Luke's and Lehigh.

Donchez said he wants to make streetscape and sidewalk improvements better linking the city with the university campus. He hopes the improvements draw students and staff off of Lehigh's campus into the South Side business district.

"The improvements made to the South New Street corridor in South Bethlehem will provide for needed safety improvements for pedestrians and cyclists," state Sen. Lisa Boscola said in a news release. "This area of Bethlehem is growing dynamically and being close to the Greenway and the D and L Trail, we need to make sure pedestrians and cyclists feel welcome."

Bethlehem is partnering with Lehigh University on the project, which is helping the city come up with the required 30 percent match.

"South New Street is an important gateway into South Side Bethlehem and to Lehigh University's main campus," Lehigh spokeswoman Lauren Stralo said in a statement. "In partnership with the city and other stakeholders, our aim is to help make the area more pedestrian friendly and encourage people to walk more to take advantage of all that the South Side has to offer."

Next, there will be a community engagement and input process to discuss the improvements, Stralo said.

Money for the project comes from the state's Multimodal Transportation Fund and was approved by the Commonwealth Financing Authority. The authority also approved four other Lehigh Valley projects.

"I am pleased that state dollars will be used toward projects that will enhance pedestrian safety and improve the quality of life in our communities," Boscola said.

Other Lehigh Valley communities were awarded grants as well. College Hill in Easton received $1.4 million; Hellertown got $155,000 to make improvements to Dimmick Park; Bethlehem Township was awarded $45,000 for Comer Park and the Easton Connections project got $50,000.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Controversial journalist Kevin Myers has claimed the punishment for writing the Sunday Times column that led to his sacking last July was similar to what would be reserved for a paedophile, a rapist or an unrepentant terrorist. He has also attacked Taoiseach Leo Varadkar for applauding his dismissal.

In a wide-ranging address to the James Fintan Lalor Autumn School in Portlaoise today, the writer criticised Mr Varadkar, The Sunday Times, RTE, BBC, The Irish Times, Irish Independent, most journalists, social media, JK Rowling and Chelsea Clinton.

Mr Myers said he had been severely punished by political correctness and claimed his right to freedom of expression died when he was dropped by The Sunday Times just hours after it published a column on gender pay gaps which was was heavily criticised for being anti-Semitic. He subsequently apologised to BBC presenters Vanessa Feltz and Claudia Winkleman.

Speaking at the event at the Midlands Park Hotel in Portlaoise, which was supported by the Leinster Express as media partner, Mr Myers said: "In my particular case my freedom of speech died on the morning of Sunday, July 31 on the foot of an admittedly poor column that I had submitted to the Sunday Times.

He said that at 12.20am that morning the article was accessed online in London and "systematically misrepresented". "It was immediately labelled in the twitosphere as toxic anti-Semetic rant. That went around the world in an hour or two and by 3.30am in the morning my career as a journalist was over while I slept and you slept.

"At 4am in the morning the editor of The Sunday Times was woken up and took down my column online and that pretty much was that. Anybody who knows me, such as the Jews of Ireland, knows that I am not anti-Semitic and I am and remain a firm friend of Israel.

"That made no difference to the two newsrooms - the RTE newsroom who know me and the BBC newsroom who don't know me. But I was the number one item on the news that day in Ireland and Britain. RTE made no attempt to contact me to find out what I thought about what was going on.

"They were content to repeat the lies that I was an anti-Semite. Across the world that day I was the number one news story, even though North Korea had fired a missile the night before. My admittedly poor column became an excuse to destroy me.

Mr Myers said the attacks went global after some famous people seized on his comments.

"That day, JK Rowling, who has 15 million followers in America, joined in the internet lynch mob. One of her followers was Chelsea Clinton. She too has millions of followers. We have an exponentially growing campaign against me describing me as what I am not.

"At midday I was told I was fired by The Sunday Times. The editor of The Sunday Times made a statement to the press. Not only was I being fired but I would never ever be employed by The Sunday Times again.

"This is the kind of punishment you reserve for a paedophile, for a rapist, for an unrepentant terrorist. There was, of course, no process, no due process, no enquiry, no phone conversation, nothing. I was fired for all time.

"This naturally was picked up by the newspapers of Ireland and the vilification and false creation of an entirely mythical Kevin Myers was reinforced by the toxic lies on the internet.

Mr Myers said he agreed to be interviewed on RTE because he did not wish to stay silent: "Now when there is a lynch mob abroad you can either stay silent or choose one platform to speak on. By this time a lot of people were asking me to speak on radio or television. I chose Sean O'Rourke [the RTE Radio 1 presenter].

I appeared and thought I didn't do a bad job and the Jews of Ireland, the Jewish Representative Council, came out in my support. I thought the combination of the support of the Jews and my appearance on Sean O'Rourke might help. Not at all.

"Fintan O'Toole, who attacked me in The Irish Times one day, responded to the Sean O'Rourke interview with another vicious attack on me.

"But perhaps the worst damage, came from the Taoiseach [Leo Varadkar] and Tanaiste [Frances Fitzgerald]. When I thought I was steadying the ship, the Taoiseach not merely applauded my dismissal but by extension, he applauded my being banned for the rest of my life by the Sunday Times without any due process, consultation and without even a single phone call.

"There is no recovery from this kind of behaviour. There is no freedom of speech when, as Eoghan Harris pointed out the following Sunday [in the Sunday Independent], if the Jews of Ireland do not think I am an anti-Semite, who is anyone else to say I am an anti-Semite? But that didn't prevent the anti-Semitism thing from going around the world," he said.

The 70-year-old author went on to argue that another attack was mounted against him which, he believed, was motivated by a bigger agenda.

"There wasn't enough strength in the entirely false anti-Semitic allegation to sustain campaign against me. So what do we next? We go for the anti-women thing, the misogynist line. This is part and parcel of the current non-debate where you are in conflict with political correctness.

"There is no evidence against you - that is fine. You call somebody a misogynist, or an Islamophobe or Xenophobe or a bigot or a racist. No evidence is required. Those words alone, uttered with sufficient vehemence and frequency on the internet, will destroy your reputation - and that is what happened to me.

"I was getting emails from around the world saying what on earth is this Kevin Myers that they've never heard of. This anti-Semite," he said.

Mr Myers also told his Portlaoise audience about the support he received following his removal as a columnist: I can tell that the first words of support that I got were from women. One woman I had met twice on my life sent me a cheque for 1,000 to pay for a legal action which she thought was inevitable against The Sunday Times and which I thought was inevitable against The Sunday Times, because I had been traduced by this lifetime ban broadcast across the United Kingdom. Number one item in the news that day and the next day.

"Once the Taoiseach and the Tanaiste were seen on television denouncing me and applauding my lifetime ban, my legal advice was that I had no recourse to legal action. I was silenced for all time, not just as a journalist but also as a litigant," he said.

Mr Myers said he was amazed by criticism of him from fellow journalists. "The most spectacular thing, the most amazing thing, the most wondrous thing of all was the enthusiasm with which fellow journalists pursued and executed the destruction, not merely with the person that I am but of the life that I have left. It was retrospective.

"On the internet, using a certain search engine, LexisNexis, people combined sentences from the 1980s with the 1990s with the noughties to compile a composite picture of me which was entirely false but which they could draw on documentary proof as to the truth.

"For example, I have said of Travellers - I had said in an opening paragraph of a column that I had written in 1999 in The Irish Times - that Travellers were dirty, disreputable, unkempt, addicted to alcohol.

"My next paragraph was, You didn't like that, did you? You're not meant to like it. This is what [Friedrich] Engels said about the Irish working class in the 1860s. What he said about the working class Irish is that they were living in such conditions, because they had been oppressed by bad government, by landlords.

"And I said of the Travellers was that they too had been a victim of bad government and injustice and discrimination. That was the second paragraph. The second paragraph did not appear in the internet version, only the truncated first paragraph, so it made me look like an anti-Traveller bigot," he said.

Mr Myers also claimed that the Newstalk broadcaster George Hook was duly destroyed by the politically correct brigade who had targeted himself. He claimed journalists who wanted to destroy him were destroying freedoms.

"There isn't a newspaper who didn't want to destroy me. There is not one newspaper with which I could comfortably work. I can name a couple of journalists who stood by me, but, for the most part, most journalists want to destroy the thing that makes their trade possible and that is freedom of the press, freedom of expression, freedom to offend people, freedom to be wrong, freedom to be be in error. If you live in a terrible era you will never say anything.

Mr Myers also claimed that journalists are now afraid of political correctness: "The world you live in now is a world where journalists are scared to break free of the straitjacket of political correctness. If they do their careers could be ended by the quangos and political correct mobs that are employed by the State.

"All these councils and quangos are paid for by the State. The National Women's Council, the Rape Crisis Centre all have individual good functions to do but they extend their brief to make sure there is no departure from their norms.

"What journalist would risk enduring the fate that I have endured? What journalist would ever sensibly look at George Hook and say that'll take risk on this issue of sexual violence? Nobody will. The outcome is destruction of the very freedom that makes journalism, interesting, viable and useful.

"Mainstream media are terrified of the power of the internet by people tweeting, by JK Rowling or Chelsea Clinton and their vast followers. In a tweet you cannot convey a complex message. All you can convey is a headline.

"You use words like toxic anti-Semitic rant. At that point all reason is gone. You don't need to have an explanation of what a toxic anti-Semetic rant actually consists of. The toxic anti-Semitic rant in itself is sufficient to break anyone picking up that baton," he said.

Mr Myers said he believes Ireland has gone back in time, with a new voice replacing that of the Catholic Church.

"We are back to the 1950s. One voice is allowed in Ireland. It is not the voice of the Catholic Church any more; it is the voice of political correctness, braying most loudly and most of all in the pages of The Irish Times, but also braying in the Irish Independent, frantically trying to catch up with what The Irish Times is doing.

"Between them, and in their terror of the internet, they are destroying the freedom of speech and in my case freedom of speech died at about 12.20am on the morning of July 31st, 2017."

Frank Fitzgibbon, editor of The Sunday Times in Ireland, declined to comment on Mr Myers claims.
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For months on end my mother in law, Nanny Chambers, told us to go away together. When she said together, she meant just myself and Daddy Chambers. We always wanted to take advantage of her offer but felt a bit guilty about doing so. Shes 70 after all and Aidan and Sarah are a real handful. They make us exhausted so I can only imagine how she must feels after she looks after them.

She never gave up saying it, though. Anytime we spoke to her she always mentioned it. So we finally went for it. We finally booked something just for us. The weekend before the one just past, myself and Daddy Chambers went away to London for a whole two days without the kids. Uncle Chambers and his lovely wife happen to live in London so off we went for a visit.

Aidan and Sarah were happy out at home with Nanny, and even happier knowing that they were going to get a present back from mammy and daddys holidays.

When the taxi pulled up in the driveway, we showered the kids with kisses and hopped into it like two children ourselves. It was the first time ever that we were going to be away from the kids for two full nights. Even sitting at the bus stop waiting for the green bus on our own was a treat!

In the airport we re-lived our youth; our child-free days; and headed straight to the bar. I was giddy with the excitement! The last time we were in the airport we were herding the kids to the departure gate and away from all the breakables in The Loop!

More alcoholic beverages were had on our short flight to Heathrow. I felt so irresponsible because, when my sister-in-law picked us up, I was terrified that her one-year-old daughter would be drunk from the fumes off us!

Said sister-in-law popped open a bottle of wine as soon as we settled in her apartment and we didnt say no! As soon as Uncle Chambers returned from work, us girls found ourselves in a taxi, heading for some spa treatments and a spot of shopping. After the beverages and a facial I threw a shed load of caution to the wind, produced the credit card and spent money I didnt have on lotions and potions for the wrinkles on my face!

Back at the apartment, we sampled the delights of a Japanese takeaway for the first time. Japanese if you dont mind! Theres none of that in Newbridge.

It was then that I began to grapple with the thoughts in my head. Do I go to bed early and make the most of the child free night? Capitalise on the fact that I wouldnt be woke in the night by small humans or be forced to get up out of bed at 6am? Of course that would have been the sensible thing to do. Sense isnt my strong point though. Nor Daddy Chambers either. Perhaps thats why we clicked all those years back!

So to cut a long story short, we done the dog on it. Drank the heads off ourselves and stayed up talking s**t all night. Actually all night and most of the morning. It was 4am when we dragged ourselves into the leaba but we consoled ourselves with the fact that we didnt have to be up early.

Except, we kind of did. The sister-in-law had an itinerary for the weekend. The first part of it was to drive the whole way across London to drop the one-year-old off to her sister for the day and night. I jumped out of the bed, hopped into the shower and attempted to make myself look human. I felt anything but. My mouth was dry, my head was pounding and my eyes were bloodshot but I soldiered on.

Once the niece was packed off, we drove all the way back into London and our first stop was the Electric Cinema in Notting Hill. I urge anyone who is visiting London to go to this place. Unreal. Its an old theatre with big, comfortable leather seats and footrests and cashmere blankets. Even better was the table service from the bar and the stodgy food. It was the perfect way to spend an afternoon with a hangover. Two beers later and half of the movie The Orient Express, I conked it and recharged the batteries.

Thereafter we were whisked off to Soho for dinner in a Russian restaurant. None of that in Newbridge either! The food was only lovely but better was the wine and the gin and tonics! Even the sorbet at desert had vodka over it! Sure what else would you expect in a Russian eatery!

And boom, just like that, we were all in party mood yet again. The gin and tonics were flowing in the bars of Soho and even when we tried to be sensible and head home, we stopped on route for more gin. Theres no closing time at home though and this was our biggest problem!

Once again it was the early hours of the morning before we all retired. Or fell into bed! On the Sunday I woke up yet again with my tongue welded to the roof of my mouth only to realise we hadnt picked up presents for Aidan and Sarah.

What worse than a horrid hangover in London? Having a horrid hangover and having to go shopping in London! Horrendous! The crowds were epic. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me. We eventually found a Lego store, grabbed the first two things we saw, ran around and got Nanny Chambers a thank you gift and got the hell out of the shops.

Soon after we found ourselves on route back to Heathrow. Sick. Wounded. And sorry. Oh so very sorry.

I wish Nanny Chambers had never mentioned us taking a break. It was anything but a break! Did we enjoy it? Hell yes. A little too much though. We returned to Newbridge four times more tired than when we left. Thats the constant battle parents have with themselves though. Go away, relax, be sensible and have early nights? Or go away and do all the stuff you wouldnt dare dream of in real life. I think myself and Daddy Chambers need to look up the meaning of middle ground!

Im home over a week now and only feeling human now! I wont say never again though, because Ive been there way too many times before!

You can contact me on ruth@itsjustaphase.ie; Twitter - @_itsjustaphase_; Instagram - @itsjustaphaseblog, or youll find more of my musings at www.itsjustaphase.ie.
At last Mondays meeting of Carrick-on-Shannon Municipal District Cllr Finola Armstrong-McGuire raised the issue of toilet facilities along the Blueway.

In her motion Cllr Armstrong-McGuire stated, I ask that Leitrim County Council take steps to improve facilities at the Leitrim to Drumshanbo Blueway by opening and operating toilet facilities all year round.

Addressing the monthly meeting Cllr Armstrong-McGuire elaborated on the importance of having these facilities available to the public.

The Blueway is a hugely used facility, we have to provide some facilities. They are there, built. It is an employment opportunity for someone.

Backing the motion Cllr Sinead Guckian expressed the view that the Blueway will become busy all year round saying, I think it is going to be a popular walkway.

Cllr Sean McGowan also offered his support saying, Its not a lot to ask for. The Blueway is absolutely fantastic.

Cllr Des Guckian said this was an issue he raised some time back saying, I said to the then County Manager that there was a need for proper facilities.

Cllr Guckian expressed the view that the Blueway will not attract the same volume of walkers during the months asking, Would rudimentary facilities be ok for emergencies?

Reiterating her point that the provision of better facilities could also lead to employment opportunities Cllr Armstrong-McGuire added, Its two part time jobs I am looking for. It is not reasonable to expect people to walk for miles and there are no toilets at the end.

The meeting heard the matter raised is a matter for Waterways Ireland and it will be brought to their attention.
ROADBRIDGE has won the overall award for business at the year at the Limerick Chamber Regional Business Awards.

The Limerick-based building contractors specialising in roads, civil engineering and water waste management has been announced as the overall winner at the Limerick Chamber Presidents Dinner in the Strand Hotel this Friday night.

The annual awards dinner, sponsored by LIT  of which the Limerick Leader is a media partner  is being attended by over 400 of the regions top business leaders and government officials and featured a keynote address by Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland.

In addition to the other 11 business awards given out for special achievements at the dinner, a special Presidents award was presented by President Ken Johnson to former finance minister Michael Noonan.

Former Finance Minister and long serving #Limerick TD Michael Noonan wins the @LimerickChamber president's award for 2017. #LimerickBizAwards pic.twitter.com/DfJzHJWKOs  Nick Rabbitts (@Nick468official) November 17, 2017

Limerick Chamber CEO, James Ring, said: The competition extremely high this year, so every company that made the shortlist should be proud of its achievements. This years winners are a great example of the vibrant growing business community and excellent talent in our region.

Presenting the award to Roadbridge, Limerick Chamber President Ken Johnson praised Roadbridge for its innovative approach and continuous investment in its staff and services.

Roadbridge is a forward-looking company that has achieved significant growth through completing major projects in the transport, renewables and energy, utilities, commercial, industrial waste management and leisure sectors, he said.

The full list of the 2017 Limerick Chamber Regional Business Awards winners is as follows:

2017 Best Start-Up, sponsored by Limerick Institute of Technology: CloudCards

2017 Best Innovation (RD&I), sponsored by Innovate Limerick: ON Semiconductor

2017 Best SME of the Year, sponsored by Bank of Ireland: Conack Construction

2017 Best Large Business Award, Sponsored by HOMS Solicitors: Roadbridge

2017 Best Family Business, sponsored by AIB: Flannerys Bar

2017 CSR: Best Contribution to the Community Award, sponsored by Deloitte: Kirby Group

2017 Best Business Services Provider, sponsored by Action Point: H &MV Eng

2017 Best Retail or Food Service Award, sponsored by BDO, Tuscany Bistro

2017 Best Culture, Hospitality and Tourism Award, sponsored by Northern Trust: Hunt Museum

2017 Best Community & Voluntary Sector Organisation, sponsored by Limerick City & County Council: Limerick Suicide Watch

2017 Best Employer: Talent Development & Workplace Wellness Award, sponsored by VHI: HOMS

2017 Best Overall Business of the Year Award, sponsored by LIT: Roadbridge

2017 Limerick Chamber Presidents Award: Mr Michael Noonan
Seeing India Ten under-40, home-grown photographers tell us what inspires them and how they see India today. From fashion and wildlife to haunting portraits of grief and loss, their frames tell stories of our many contemporary realities /news/talking-point/seeing-india-111646919352343.html 111646919352343 story

A good photograph has the ability to elicit awe. It can make us notice details we may have overlooked, emotions we may not have tapped into, and, at its very best, give us a completely new perspective. While writers are the rulers of the worlds they create, photographers must make do with the world they inhabit. They must observe it patiently, waiting for that fleeting momentthat split second when everything comes together in visual coherence.

Some use the medium to document the ordinary in the extraordinary, like Showkat Nanda, 34, with his haunting images of the widows of Kashmir (featured on page 1). Others use it to comment on the erasure of natural habitats, like Asmita Parelkar, a documentary-wildlife photographer whose series on animal trafficking helped create awareness of the urgency of the problem.

We list young photographers with different areas of focusdocumentary, street, wildlife, fashion and interior-architecturedelving into their practice and seeking to offer insights into their visual thinking.

To curate this list, we reached out to galleries and senior photographers. While we couldnt include many deserving names, we hope this gives you a glimpse. They come from different regionsKolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabadbut their photographs transcend the boundaries of time, space and geography. Each photographer has a compelling story to tellof that decisive moment" which prompted them to pick up the camera

Showkat Nandas self-portrait.

Showkat Nanda

Best known for: documentary photography

Showkat Nandas childhood memories of Kashmir are singed with the strife of the 1990s. A reticent child, he dreamt of becoming a surgeon. As violence tore through the state, however, Nandas dream crumbled. I began to believe that I would never live to grow into a young man. Survival became the topmost priority," he says. He lost his 17-year-old brother and 16-year-old cousin to the conflict. But while many children his age would go on to pick up stones, Nanda picked up the camera.

Throwing stones at the Indian forces was a natural, human response to the situation one witnessed every day," he says. But I wanted to tell stories of my people. The desire to show the world the reality of a conflict that has devastated thousands of lives turned me towards photography." He borrowed his first camera, a Cosina C1 SLR, from his friends brother in 1997; he was 14 years old.

I wanted to tell stories of my people [in Kashmir]. The desire to show the world the reality of a conflict that has devastated thousands of lives turned me towards photography.-

In 2009, Nanda would shoot an image which would leave an indelible mark on him. I shot the image of a 12-year-old boy throwing stones at an armoured vehicle of the Indian forces, moments after his schoolmate died in my arms," Nanda says. It was a defining moment since he, a photojournalist, was compelled to play his role of a silent observer, while his instinct told him to pick up stones. He didnt rebel.

Haleema, whose husband was arrested in 1998, on her way to a sit-in.

Nandas photographs offer the insiders view of Kashmir. Perhaps one of his most bone-chilling works is The Endless Wait. It features Kashmiri women and children, often in isolation, waiting, silently, for the return of their husbands, brothers, sons and fathers (who disappeared mysteriously" during the conflict). A womans face was the most prominent symbol of suffering in Kashmir," explains Nanda. In the early 1990s, during the crackdown, many men left their homes in fear of being arrested, spending days in forests. The only people left behind were elderly men, women and children." Nanda goes beyond the archetypal front-page images of women protesting and delves into their personal tragedies through quiet, yet haunting frames of longing and loneliness.

Today, the 34-year-old has won recognition for his work: He has been a recipient of the Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund grant (2016), won the National Press Photo Award (2011), and a Fulbright fellow (2012). He has done his postgraduation in photojournalism from the University of Missouri, US, and in mass communication, from the University of Kashmir. Nanda is currently busy teaching visual storytelling to young photographers in Kashmir.

Deepshikas self-portrait.

Deepshikha Jain

Best known for: architecture photography

For architecture photographer Deepshikha Jain, the process of looking at a building for hours and observing its intricate detailing is akin to reading a novel. One has to know and learn every part of it. Jain belongs to a group of young photographers who believe it is important to document the architectural facades that define an urban landscape. Architectural photography in India, as a niche or a specialization, didnt exist (until) almost eight years ago," she says.

Jains two series, BOMbai and Urban Postcards, capture the different facets of the city, from modern skyscrapers to buildings caged in scaffolding. It is an attempt, perhaps, to immortalize the city through black and white stills.-

Her interest in the visual arts led her to pursue a masters in architectural photography from the Speos International Photography School, Paris (2009-10). While many of her batchmates chose the field of fashion photography, Jain chose to shoot archaic arches and modern symmetrical squares. She was invariably drawn to mansions falling into disrepair, as well as modernist masterpieces. I love architecture that is rooted, that has a story, that is raw and minimalist, and is all about the form which complements the function," she says.

From the series Urban Postcards.

Her first assignment was photographing some buildings designed by award-winning architect Anupama Kundoo in Auroville, in 2010. Jain has since worked for architects such as Annkur Khosla, Riyaz Tayyibji, and the architecture firm Morphogenesis, and shot for various publications, including Architectural Digest, Harpers Bazaar and Vogue.

I think Bombay has influenced my sense of storytelling. I find urban stories very compelling," says the Mumbai-based 31-year-old.

Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier, Paris, France (built from 1928-31).

Her two series, Bombai and Urban Postcards, capture the different facets of the city, from modern skyscrapers to buildings caged in scaffolding. It is an attempt, perhaps, to immortalize the city through black and white stills.

Bombay as we knew it has been disappearing. Matunga and Dadar were different from Bandra; Andheri was different from Borivali. But as the old structures are being erased and newer ones are built, my attempt is to document that change."

Asmitas self-portrait.

Asmita Parelkar

Best known for: wildlife photography

Mumbai-based Asmita Parelkars favourite image is from 1989. Its a photograph by Michael Nichols of primatologist Jane Goodall, with strands of her hair, backlit by the sun, seeming to fall delicately into the palm of a chimpanzee. It was the tenderness shared between two species that resonated with me," she says. At a broader level though, that tenderness is absent between humans and animals."

Parelkar, 34, refers to another photograph, by Biplab Hazra, who won the Sanctuary Wildlife Photographer of the Year award earlier this month. The image, shot in West Bengal, shows a baby elephant on fire as it flees a mob with its mother. We dont respect animals or their habitat at all. Wild habitats are burnt down in the name of urbanization." That angst informs Parelkars photographic direction. Stories related to wildlife conservation and endangered species form the backbone of her work.

From the series Illegal Wildlife Trade.

Her series Illegal Wildlife Trade puts the spotlight on the brutality behind the slaughter and trafficking of animals. Parelkar was allowed access by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (which regulates the import and export of flora and fauna in the US) for it. They have a lab in Long Island, which works as a repository for the animals that are confiscated at harbours and airports. I made two-three trips and managed to photograph the animals," she says.

As humans, weve pushed animals out of their natural habitat. While zoos exist under the pretext of protecting these animals, they ironically serve to entertain us.-

While studying photojournalism at the International Center of Photography, New York (2010-11), Parelkar worked on a series that featured animals in captivity, particularly those living in zoos. As humans, weve pushed animals out of their natural habitat. While zoos exist under the pretext of protecting these animals, they ironically serve to entertain us," she says. Parelkar shot the series in five zoos across New York and its boroughs. In comparison to the zoos in India," she observes, these man-made habitats in New York were pristine. The dioramas replicated the natural habitat of the animals really well. But if you think about it, the paintings on the walls were fake. They have been done for our eyes. These animals were still in a confined space."

From the series Giraffe Behind The Door.

This project Giraffe Behind The Door, still ongoing, was published in The New York Times in 2011.

Parelkar, who also designs photobooks, is part of the BIND collective, a platform that curates visual book exhibitions. This year, she has helped the collective put together Travelling Library, a pop-up photobook exhibition at the GoaPhoto festival (23-26 November).

Saumya Khandelwals portrait by Reuben Singh.

Saumya Khandelwal

Best known for: documentary photography

Saumya Khandelwal uses her camera as a truth-telling instrument, taking us on a cross-country ride to the peripheries, and making us look at social anomalies we would rather hide under the carpet. Her ongoing series, Child Brides Of Shravasti, shot over a period of three years, is a peephole view into the lives of young girls from a small town in Uttar Pradesh who are prematurely pushed into adulthood. There is an incomparable beauty in her imagesthey are piercingly intimate and poignant. My approach to making photos is always to reveal something more about the people I am photographing than just the information of whats happening," says Khandelwal. Instead of objectifying them, I would like to make it subjective, where the viewer can put a context to the lives of these people."

Khandelwals ongoing series, Child Brides of Shravasti, is a peephole view into the lives of young girls from a small town in Uttar Pradesh who are prematurely pushed into adulthood.-

From Alex Webb to Raghubir Singh, Khandelwals visual language has been influenced by their phenomenal oeuvres. Having been mentored by senior photographer Amit Mehra since 2012, she has gone on to assist Delhi Photo Festivals co-founder Prashant Panjiar, and VII photo agency photographers Jessica Dimmock and Stephanie Sinclair. The 27-year-old is also the recipient of the Getty Images Instagram Grant (2017), National Foundation of India Award (2017) and the Neel Dongre Photography Grant (2014 and 2015).

Images from the series Child Brides Of Shravasti.

Currently an in-house photographer at Thomson Reuters in New Delhi, Khandelwal also works on personal projects. They are reflective of her meditative documentary skills, where she immerses herself into the milieu, slowly unravelling its layers, one photograph at a time. Her first serious" project was WaterThe Dying Lifeline (2013), which documented the devastating conditions of Indias existing water bodies. The series proved to be a turning point, convincing her to consider photography as a profession.

Images from the series Child Brides Of Shravasti.

When she was working in an Indian publication, she was the only woman photographer in the team. I hadnt looked at my profession through the lens of gender before," she says. I would get stories that involved women with the expectation that the subjects will be more comfortable in my presence," she says. So it was an opportunity to work on good stories." To make a mark in the field as a woman is challenging. But Khandelwal used it to her advantage. With an approach that is steeped in ethnography and visual journalism, Khandelwal is a photographer to reckon with.

Ronny Sens portrait by Shreya Dev Dube.

Ronny Sen

Best known for: documentary/street photography

Ronny Sen is self-effacing as he tries to recall the first image that left an impact on him. It was a black and white image by Pablo Bartholomew in 1975, of Poohperhaps one of Bartholomews most unforgettable subjectslying on a bed, looking directly at the camera. There was something very special about the photograph," says Sen. Its a memory of an infatuation that grew into something incomprehensibly more. When I look at this photograph, it almost makes me touch that time. Thats the power of this medium."

Sen received the prestigious Getty Images Instagram Grant last year for his powerful documentary work on Jharkhands Jharia coal town that has had, for decades, an intense, uncontrolled fire burning underground. He also has a string of accolades to his name, including being the recipient of artist residencies in Japan (2012) and Poland (2015). The 30-year-old, who began his journey in photography in Salt Lake, Kolkata, in 2006, began shooting in monochrome. His visual language has been heavily influenced by the works of the Japanese photographers Daido Moriyama and Eikoh Hosoe, as well as Bengali film-maker Ritwik Ghatak.

Untitled from the series Dont Breathe.

A large part of Sens pictorial record is marked by compositions of barely recognizable figures shot in low light, often accompanied by grains and blurs. There is a jarring, almost unsettling theme that pulsates through his work: shattered windows, deliberately blackened faces, an anonymous arm here, an unrecognizable torso there. Sens photographs are hypnotic, be it his first, dark, quasi-surreal photobook Khmer Din (2013), which depicts the grim underbelly of Siem Reap, Cambodia, or the palpably raucous atmosphere depicted in Dont Breathe (a series that began in 2008 and was first exhibited in 2011), which conveys the experience of travelling in unreserved train compartments.

Growing up in the late 1990s was pretty chaotic. We were surviving one day at a time. It was the fear of death that got me closer to photography.-

To an untrained eye, however, his frames may seem imprecise and flawed. Many of his works carry macabre overtonesreminiscent of a difficult past. Sen grew up on the streets of Kolkata, where many of his friends were addicted to brown sugar. Growing up in the late 1990s was pretty chaotic," he says. We were surviving one day at a time. Staying alive was a big deal. It was the fear of death that got me closer to photography," says Sen. To give some meaning to my life, art became extremely important."

Untitled from the series Khmer Din.

His series New World Chronicles Of An Old World Colour (2015), which he created while at an art residency at the Gdansk City Gallery in Poland, was a departure from his black and white photography. Polish film-maker Krzysztof Kieslowskis Three Colours trilogy served as inspiration, with Sen depicting the melancholic Polish winter, while looking for traces of red, where solidarity had once emerged and how capitalism had finally taken over today". He is currently working on his first feature film, titled Cat Sticks (slated for release in early 2018)the screenplay has been co-written with Soumyak Kanti DeBiswas. He is also working on a project commissioned by Royal Enfield (in association with the India Foundation for the Arts) to travel and photograph his journeys for a possible book.

Swarat Ghoshs self-portrait.

Swarat Ghosh

Best known for: street photography

Across the canvas of sky, an outstretched arm, an umbrella thrown in the air and a plane taking flight. In another time, in one of Hyderabads oldest wrestling precincts in Yakutpura, a young boy catapults against a wall with the help of a rope, his head coveringalmost merging withthat of another boy standing next to him. There is a certain charm, a nuanced idiosyncrasy in Swarat Ghoshs images.

His images, never static, are often characterized by levity. Ghoshs angles are peculiar; there are figures that seem to appear" by chance; and others that seem to merge. Each element in the composition, though, falls into an unexpected coherence.

Ghoshs angles are peculiar; there are figures that seem to appear by chance; and others that seem to merge. Each element in the composition, though, falls into an unexpected coherence.-

It was in 2012 that Ghoshs wife gifted him his first camera, a Nikon D3000, for Durga Puja. I had never shot a single image before that, so I dont know what made her give me a camera," Ghosh says, laughing, over the phone. The gift kindled his interest in photography. Based in Hyderabad, Ghosh had a demanding 12-hour job as a graphic designer, but in his spare time, he enrolled in photography clubs, and explored different parts of the city with his group.

Photographed near Mumbai airport, from the series Beyond Street.

As an aspiring street photographer, the 37-year-old spent nights poring over booksfrom Robert Franks exquisite visual book, The Americans, which captured the lives of people in the 1950s, to Raghu Rais revolutionary documentation of Kolkata locals, Calcutta. In addition, the collective works of veteran photographers Kaushal Parikh and Prashant Godbole influenced him too.

He has been a finalist in the reputed LensCulture Street Photography competition (2017), won the Neel Dongre Awards for Excellence in Photography (2016-17) and has been featured in one of the most sought after international photography publications, BURN magazine, as well as the National Geographic Traveller magazine. His works have been exhibited in Paris, London, Glasgow and Istanbul, as well as Mumbai and Hyderabad, among other cities.

Young wrestlers at Yakutpura, Old Hyderabad, from the series Beyond Street.

While his ongoing series, Beyond Street, emerged on the edit table when he realized that certain patterns and repetitions emerged while placing the images together", another series that he has been working on features his family. I think it is our personal stories that are the real stories which need to be preserved in memory and in physical form," he says.

Nisha Purushothamans self-portrait.

Nisha Purushothaman

Best known for: wildlife photography

Wildlife photography is defined by two demanding prerequisitessolitude as an occupational trait and invisibility as a skill to master. A large part of Nisha Purushothamans life involves living away from the city, meandering through sprawling, open grasslands, and turning wildlife photography into her own branch of animal anthropology. From a group of cheetahs that appear to have broken away from a serious discussion, to capturing a rhinoceros crowned by birds as the sun setsPurushothamans images capture the interiority of the animal empire, making the unseen seen.

We have to ensure that our work is used effectively to comment on issues as diverse as mountaintop removal mining and deforestation, or the very real impact of oil spills on marine life.-

Purushothaman was born in Paravur, a small coastal village in Kollam, Kerala. Paddy fields and the Polachira wetlands" were a 10-minute walk away from home. Becoming a person who loved nature, therefore, was not difficult," she says. It was only years later though, in 2008, when Purushothaman shifted to Dubai to work as a project manager at an advertising firm, that her interest in wildlife photography surfaced. It all started with a weekend photography trip" during which she spotted over 150 species. I fell in love with birds. Slowly, instead of weekends, I started to shoot every day, at least an hour before I headed to work. And the more time I spent shooting, the more I became motivated to become a nature photographer."

Cheetahs in Maasai Mara, Kenya.

Since then, Purushothaman has travelled to some of the most forbidding terrain across India, Kenya, Tanzania, Alaska and Russia. She has photographed over 200 birds, as well as tigers, leopards and lions. As a practice, Purushothaman visits sanctuaries near her home in Dubai at least two-four times a week. I start from home around 4.30am and shoot till 10am. Nothing comes easy. As a wildlife photographer, you need to be fit in order to carry equipment, which can be as heavy as 10kg. Sometimes you even have to trek long distances," she says.

An elephant in Amboseli National Park, Kenya.

In 2004, Purushothaman, along with her friend Hermis Haridas, established Paws Trails Explorers, a global platform for wildlife conservation, travel and photography. Using photographs to protect animals is immensely important to her. We have to ensure that our work is used effectively to comment on issues as diverse as mountaintop removal mining and deforestation, or the very real impact of oil spills on marine life." In 2016-17, Purushothaman became a finalist for the Hamdan International Photography Award. A TEDx speaker, she has hosted over 30 photography workshops around the world.

Hashim Badanis self-portrait.

Hashim Badani

Best known for: fashion photography

A model struts across a blur of crayon-ish greens and neon. In an Irani cafe, a woman leans back in a chair. Atop an old cement terrace in Kolkata, a scarf swirls in the air, lending anonymity to its owner as it veils her face.

Hashim Badanis fashion photographs involve a bit of tasteful drama. They seem to be scenes plucked from a Wim Wenders or Wong Kar-wai film.

A large portion of my work involves working with Bombay, whether its my personal work, editorials for fashion magazines, or otherwise. I am drawn to everything about the city.-

Cities, particularly Mumbai, where he lives, often appear as characters in his compositionswhether it is Kolkatas Howrah bridge, which served as a misty backdrop for a Harpers Bazaar shoot celebrating the salwar kameez", or Mumbais old Irani cafes, which are practically historical landmarks. A large portion of my work involves working with Bombay, whether its my personal work, editorials for fashion magazines, or otherwise," admits Badani. I am drawn to everything about the city." He is currently working on a book on the citys Irani cafes with Simin Patel, founder of Bombaywalla (an organization that celebrates the citys history), which will be published by Roli Books.

Badani began his career as an in-house photographer for Time Out Mumbai in 2010, and then moved to Lonely Planet Magazine India, where he is still a consulting photographer. He ventured into commercial fashion photography in early 2016 to explore his ability to shoot differently. His fashion shoots developed an idiosyncratic identity, involving a blend of orchestrated and real people/life situations".

An Irani cafe fashion shoot for Vogue India.

Badanis process of conjuring up images is akin to film-making. I try to build a narrative in my head. There is a loose script and the models are characters in that story. I assign a mood, a personality and situation to them, and it makes the process a lot more fun," he says. In fact, as an ode to Wong Kar-wai, Badani collaborated with Mumbai-based fashion brand Obataimu to weave in the theme of Chungking Express into a shoot for the brands Wabi Sabi line.

Having shot for Vogue India, Rolling Stone India, Lonely Planet Magazine India and National Geographic Traveller India, Badanis work is not confined to fashion photography. He is currently collaborating with writer Zeenat Nagree on a story on Myanmars Rohingyas. Were trying to document the challenges they face in their daily life, their culture, and what the future holds for them, keeping in mind the current government stand," he says.

Anshika Varmas portrait by Adil Hasan.

Anshika Varma

Best known for: interiors/documentary photography

Photographing interiors is a tough task. Attention to detail is of prime importance, of course, but its the ability to convey the intimacy of a luxurious restaurant, the quaintness of a cafe, or the charm of a newly opened retail store, that marks out a good photographer. It involves the craft of making a three-dimensional space look visually appealing in the format of an uncompromisingly flat, often rectangular frame.

Anshika Varmas initiation into photography happened when she was a student of social communications media at Sophia Polytechnic in Mumbai. I felt that images could transport people to different worlds. It was perhaps the multiplicity of different realities that got me hooked to photography," she says. Her first camera, a borrowed one, was a Nikon F65 SLR film camera. I had asked my mother to lend me her camera and some film so that I could walk around Bombay with it. I still have the camera up in my studio although I dont use it any more."

Detail from a space designed by Adil Ahmad, Mumbai.

From images of interior spaces that are suffused with dense, contrasting colours, to framing objects that come together in a seamless symmetry, Varma has the ability to balance the incongruous. Symmetry becomes primary for me while working with interiors. Whether the aesthetic of design is minimal or ostentatious, its important for the eye to not get lost in clutter," she says.

Symmetry becomes primary for me while working with interiors. Whether the aesthetic of design is minimal or ostentatious, its important for the eye to not get lost in clutter.-

In fact, Varma has explored myriad facets of photographyfrom documentary (dealing with themes of identity, memory and objects) to curating exhibitionsshe was co-curator of A Million Mutinies Later: India At 70, which was shown at Ffotogallery in Cardiff, Wales, in July. It looked into the everyday revolutions that are slowly and steadily transforming the social, cultural and political fabric of the nation," she writes on her website. Varmas work has appeared in Conde Nast Traveller, Motherland and People magazines, among other publications. She has also worked for independent brands like restaurants DIVA, Qla and Mainland China, and fashion brands like Shantanu & Nikhil.

Prarthna Singh.

Prarthna Singh

Best known for: fashion photography

Couched in minimalism, Prarthna Singhs fashion photography veers away from the theatricalthere arent any extravagant backdrops or carnival-esque props. The women inhabiting her images often carry a soulful lookat times pensive, at times looking directly at the camera. They appear to be everyday, ordinary women rather than models, shot in natural light. In Singhs pictures, the clothing is the hero.

Singhs photography journey began at the age of 19 when she bought her first cameraa second-hand Nikon FM2. She would spend hours in the darkroom drenched in the dull red glow, watching pictures come to life. She found it therapeutic.

Couched in minimalism, Prarthna Singhs fashion photography veers away from the theatricalthere arent any extravagant backdrops or carnival-esque props.-

She studied photography at Rhode Island School of Design, US, and says that gave her exposure to myriad experiences, prodding her to become a thinker within and beyond a particular artistic medium".

Her visual languageone that is unadulterated by the superfluoustakes cues from the world of August Sanders Citizens Of The Twentieth Century, a monumental collection of 431 frames featuring individuals from different strata of German society between 1892 and 1952. My early introduction to portraiture was through Sanders work," says Singh. What I admire most about his powerful, yet subtly composed, imagery is the honesty in both thought and approach," she says. Even today, when I am looking for inspiration, I revisit it, and it affirms my belief that a compelling portrait is an invitation to envision."

An image from Neighbourhood Watch, a personal body of work.

In the past two years, Singh has consciously steered away from fashion photography to focus on personal projects that are driven by reportage and deal with socially relevant themes. The Wrestlers, for instance, features female wrestlers who have struggled hard to upend the feminine stereotype and transcend social norms in India. The series offers an insight not only into Singhs versatility as an artist, but is a reflection on her awareness as an observer on gender in a patriarchal set-up. The Wrestlers was part of Photographing The Female, which was exhibited at the FOCUS Photography Festival in Mumbai in March. For me the wrestlers are symbolic," wrote Singh in her introduction to the series. Each of their stories speaks of overcoming innumerable hardships, fighting family pressure and most importantly, living gender differently."

An image for fashion label Bodice.

In 2017, Singh was one of the 29 finalists at the FCBarcelona Photo Awards, and was handpicked by Focas Scotland (an international platform that invites conversations on identity and culture) to exhibit her work at Street Level Photoworks in Glasgow. As an independent photographer, her images have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Elle India and Vogue India, among other publications. She has worked on numerous lookbooks for fashion labels, including Bodice, Sanjay Garg and Nor Black Nor White. And last year, Phaidon Press published Sar: The Essence Of Indian Designan encyclopaedia of sorts on Indian design," says Singhwhich featured of her work.

The writer tweets at @radhika_iy
Sexual crimes: men, according to men Some indecent thoughts of decent men; why men harass, why men don't harass /news/talking-point/sexual-crimes-men-according-to-men-111646919531921.html 111646919531921 story

One afternoon, about three years ago, the human resources (HR) director of a giant corporation bonded with me over the rights of men. Workplace sexual harassment was in the news and he was alarmed. These men are not forcing themselves on the women," he said. What is happening is, a man is trying to get a woman. A man can have one chance to try. If she says no, he should not try again. If

he tries a second time, only then it is harassment."

I asked what according to him would happen to a woman in any organization if she rebuffed the one chance" her boss took. The HR director looked as though he had not considered the matter in this light before but he quickly understood the practical reasons why a man in power should not put his subordinate in such a situation, but then he reasoned that all affairs, by their very nature, begin in inappropriate ways, and that advances are inappropriate only when they fail. A successful misconduct is called office romance. Women expect men to make the move, he said, so men must be given one chance".

Corporate sexual villains in India are usually men with a degree of power, but they also appear to be sexually starved middle-aged men who resort to high-risk behaviour. The circumstances and actions of the American film producer Harvey Weinstein and other American celebrities, whom The New York Times series on sexual harassment has exposed, appear to be qualitatively different. Weinstein, who, according to an article in The New Yorker, has been thanked at the annual Oscar ceremonies, more than almost anyone else in movie history, ranking just after Steven Spielberg and right before God", is in general perception a man with immense sexual prospects. Yet, the method of sexual gratification he chose was disrespect. He called actresses to his office and surprised them with his nudity. Some of them have accused him of rape. Louis C.K., another one in the long list of famous men who have recently been accused of sexual crimes or misconduct, is among the most admired comedians in the world. Like Weinstein, he appears to be a man with vast sexual prospects. Yet, the sexual advance he chose was to flash his penis to his peers, who did not wish to see it.

Why did these men act in this manner when they did not have to be unethical or criminal to receive sex? We have heard or read versions of some common explanations. When sex is too easy, some or most men will want to raise the stakes. If there is such a thing as sexual Marxism, it would state that it is not sex alone that men seek but the conflict before it. Also, in some men, sexual misconduct is a kink. And in some who are very powerful, the joy of power lies in its abuse.

What we usually do not hear is the matter of humility. Humility, in its most popular form, might be about faking ordinariness, but in reality it is nothing as easy. It is the practised ability to treat the self as subordinate to more important things. Some successful men, it appears, are too arrogant to seek the affection of women. For any man with vast sexual prospects, it takes much humility to woo a woman.

What does the recent spotlight on sexual harassment say about men who do not harass women? Do they discreetly wish to be feted? At the peak of the #MeToo campaign, there was so much hatred for men that I thought some righteous man would start a Me-Too" campaign for men who have never harassed a woman. That did not happen but I did sense a need among seemingly fine men to be acknowledged. The fact is, some of them never really had the power to harass. Some were decent for the most common reason men are goodthey are afraid of being perceived as bad. Some had actually forgotten that as young men they were molesterssome very respectable family men today once used to travel in public buses to feel up college girls, and they assaulted their neighbours on Holi on the pretext of smearing colour. Some of the men who wished to be patted for their decency, surely, were probably always virtuous.

Both fear-induced decency and the more organic, wise decency are creations of the modern age, of training, of many factors coming together. And the current portrayal of the sexual misconduct of powerful men and their lame responses will contribute to the training of a new generation of men. Also, the severity and swiftness of capitalisms response has raised the stakes. It is now clear that sexual misconduct can be extremely expensive for the perpetrators. The most important anomaly in some harmful men is the gift of shamelessness, and men who are not scared of shame can be persuaded to be scared of destruction.

But then their professional destruction is not exactly punishment for sexual crime, it is merely punishment for getting caught. Will the studios now investigate every rumour, can they even do that? And what do we do with the dead? What do we do with the works of Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando, who have been accused of rape? They may not be spared either. They will be more defamed in the future than they are now. But yes, the dead do get away to a large extent.

But why are corporations meting out justice when they are not courts, they are not the State? They are, actually. They are empires that need to appease their vast populations of consumers. As long as women have immense commercial power as consumers, capitalism will scramble its fat cats to assure them justice has been done.

But then where is the sense of proportion? The difference between a civilized society and a barbarian state is entirely in a punishment being proportionate to the crime. And what if, in the middle of all this, some innocent men are falsely framed? Its all right," is a response I have heard from women several times over the past few weeks. I heard this at the Bangalore Literature Festival too from a group of women, all of whom were writers. One of them told me, So much shit has happened to women, some collateral damage is OK."

What if the guy kills himself?"

She thought for a moment and said, Its all right."

They do not wish such a misfortune on an individual, a man with a face, but when they consider men as a collective, some collateral damage is all right".



Manu Joseph is a journalist and a novelist, most recently of Miss Laila, Armed And Dangerous.

He tweets @manujosephsan
SACRAMENTO  Leaders in the California Senate will vote this month on whether to strip a fellow senator of his coveted committee chairmanship after a third woman stepped forward with allegations of sexual misconduct.

The move by Senate President Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, to oust Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia (Los Angeles County), from his appointed positions came after a third woman told the Sacramento Bee on Thursday that she was sexually harassed by Mendoza while working in his office. The move also comes a week after de Leon, who is trying to unseat U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2018, moved out of the Sacramento home he shared with Mendoza.

Im deeply troubled by the quantity and specificity of accusations against Senator Mendoza  and have therefore determined that Senator Mendoza should be suspended from chairmanships, boards and commissions until the independent investigation into his conduct is complete, de Leon said in a statement Friday.

On Sunday, de Leon announced a new rule to send sexual harassment complaints to an outside law firm for investigation so that senators wont review complaints against themselves or their staff. De Leon said Friday that he appointed a panel to interview and select that law firm, with a decision expected by mid-December.

His office said the firm will not have a prior professional or political relationship with the state Senate or individual senators. The panel will include Sens. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, Connie Leyva, D-Chino (San Bernardino County), and Bill Monning, D-Carmel, Governmental Advocate Christy Bouma, Legislative Counsel of California Diane Boyer Vine, and Secretary of the Senate Daniel Alvarez.

In the meantime, the Senate is asking anyone who wants to report sexual harassment to do so with the Senates outside legal counsel Amy Oppenheimer.

The Senates investigation of Mendoza, which was opened last month amid allegations that the senator inappropriately and repeatedly invited a Sacramento State University fellow in his office to his home, will be transferred to the independent firm. That fellow declined interview requests from The Chronicle. The decision on whether to suspend Mendoza from committees and boards will be made by the Senate Rules Committee in an emergency meeting this month.

De Leon appointed Mendoza chairman of the powerful Insurance, Banking and Financial Institutions Committee a year ago.

After dodging questions on why the Legislature has repeatedly and for years killed a Republican bill to extend whistle-blower protections to legislative employees who say they fear for their jobs when they report misconduct, de Leon took a firm stance Friday.

I believe we must create a two-house process and that we should immediately pass reforms when the Legislature is next in session, including a bill to protect legislative employees from retaliation, he said in a statement.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez
Texas hiring rebounded significantly in October from a Hurricane Harvey-induced employment drop in September as state unemployment reached a record low, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported Friday.

Texas added a whopping 63,400 jobs in October, largely due to a 22,900 job gain in the Houston area and continued strong employment growth along the Interstate 35 corridor from San Antonio to Dallas/Fort Worth.

The Texas unemployment rate dipped to 3.9 percent, a record low. The states unemployment rate had never been below 4 percent since the start of the Federal Reserves statewide records in January 1976.

The San Antonio area, meanwhile, continued its pattern of slightly faster hiring by adding 3,000 jobs in October, staying on track for 3 percent job growth for 2017, compared to the states forecast of 2.6 growth this year. Texas jobs grew only 1.2 percent in 2016, but so far this year has seen jobs grow at a 2.7 percent rate.

The strong job market has made hiring a challenge for San Antonio area employers.

Finding qualified talent remains our biggest challenge. All of the skilled people are in high demand, said Kandace Hawkins, CEO and president of staffing agency Tri-Starr Personnel in San Antonio.

We are having to go to other cities in Texas and outside of Texas to find qualified people in information technology, especially in the software development space, Hawkins said.

Tri-Starr Personnel concentrates in the information technology and technology fields, along with helping staff call centers, Hawkins said. They seek personnel for contract work, usually tied to employer projects, and temporary-to-hire services.

The customer service business is growing quite well, Hawkins said. We are having a difficult time finding qualified people to hire for accounting positions, she added.

Plenty of people are seeking jobs and submitting applications. We have plenty of people on the job boards, but we have to cull through them to find what our clients are looking for, Hawkins said.

We will face this imbalance until we close the skills gap with more education, she said.

The Dallas Fed revised its report of 4,400 jobs losses in Texas during September, now saying only 1,400 jobs were lost that month after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas on Aug. 25, flooding the coastal area.

Texas is back on path. The Gulf Coast is rebounding, too, said Dallas Fed Senior Economist Keith Phillips in San Antonio.

Despite all of Hurricane Harveys disruption and destruction, the story remains the same for Texas, with the state resuming its 2017 job growth forecast.

There was a loss of wealth in the flooding among homeowners, but in terms of job growth, the state has now bounced back as expected, Phillips said.

The construction and leisure-and-hospitality sector accounted for the most growth in hiring in October after visitors steered clear of Houston in September. Some repair workers in October in Houston stayed in hotels and dined out more than usual, Phillips pointed out.

Houston added 10,600 construction jobs in October after losing 8,400 in September, according to Dallas Fed data.

Texas largest cities all saw drops in their unemployment rates during October. San Antonios jobless rate fell from 3.9 percent in September to 3.6 percent in October, the lowest rate for the San Antonio area since 3.4 percent in December.

Austins unemployment rate was 2.6 percent, Dallas was 3.2 percent, Fort Worth was 3.8 percent and Houston was 4.5 percent.

It validates what weve been hearing from Texas employers in the last year, that it is more difficult to find workers. I believe (the low unemployment rates) will constrain job growth in the future. But Texas attracts workers into the state from net migration, and the state will continue to see job growth, Phillips said.

Like Houston, San Antonio had a construction-job surge in October, adding 1,700 positions.

Construction has been growing well in San Antonio all year, but the increase in October could be crews of San Antonio construction companies rebuilding on the Gulf Coast, Phillips said.

The leisure-and-hospitality sector grew by 4,200 positions in October in San Antonio, while education and health care added 400 jobs.

Phillips said the health care and government hiring sectors have been the strongest sectors year to date in San Antonio. Retail has been among the weakest, especially earlier in 2017 when the Mexican peso had its lowest purchasing power.

In San Antonio, the retail sector added only 60 jobs, but the total number of retail jobs year to date is down 2.2 percent.

Retail also is weak statewide and nationally. The big-box retailers are adjusting to online shopping, Phillips said.

Staffing firm Robert Half is seeing the pace of hiring pick up in certain industries.

Its been a great year. New roles are emerging all the time, said Scott Steele, Robert Half vice president and San Antonio branch manager.

In the accounting and finance sectors, demand is high for staff and senior accountants, financial and business analysts and internal auditors, Steele said.

Were looking for well-rounded skills in those areas. Theres also an uptick at legal firms for paralegals, especially with three years of experience, in litigation, commercial law and real estate law, Steele said.

Steele cited a recent survey among San Antonio area law firms. Four out of 10 law firms in San Antonio plan to spend more money next year for cybersecurity. That is great for San Antonios cybersecurity industry. Its in high demand, Steele said

dhendricks@express-news.net
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Some Laredoans who were pulled over Friday by Laredo police for a traffic violation were in for a pleasant surprise.

Instead of giving them citations, officers handed them a written warning and a Thanksgiving turkey.

READ MORE: Woman arrested for aggravated assault after man found with knife wounds to arms, face

"The reactions were varied in the sense that the unsuspecting citizens could not believe they were getting turkeys instead of citations," the Laredo Police Department said in a news release. "Many of the citizens wept and thanked the officers for their turkeys."

The effort was part of Operation Peacemaker, a nonprofit created by Laredo police officers who raise money and provide financial assistance to officers and their families who are facing financial difficulties.

"Humanity in the performance of one's duty as an officer is first in foremost," said LPD Chief Claudio Trevino. "The officers came up with the idea and that commitment to the betterment and service to our community is what makes me proudest to be the head of such a dedicated and compassionate group of officers."

MORE ON LMTOnline.com: 48-year-old man dies after crashing into central Laredo building

The turkeys were donated by a local business who asked not to be recognized. A total of 25 turkeys were handed out Friday.
Guilderland board selects Simpson

GUILDERLAND  The Guilderland Board of Education appointed Allan Simpson on Tuesday to fill a board seat previously held by Christopher McManus, who recently resigned.

The appointment will be until May 15, 2018.

Six community members expressed an interest in filling the vacancy. Simpson is currently the director of accounting operations at the New York State Insurance Fund.

Amsterdam hosts hurricane benefit

AMSTERDAM  A benefit for hurricane victims in Puerto Rico will take place from 5 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30, at Amsterdam High School, 140 Saratoga Ave.

A Taste of the Mohawk Valley, showcasing food from the region, will be 5 to 7 p.m. followed by a hurricane relief concert, featuring artists Skeeter Creek, Bronte Roman, Flame and others.

Tickets for the Taste event and the concert are $25, each event on its own is $15. See Liveaid.eventbrite.com for details.

Jeff Smith to enter race for sheriff

FONDA  Undersheriff Jeff Smith will announce his candidacy for Montgomery County sheriff at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Old Montgomery County Courthouse, 9 Park St.

In a statement, Smith cited his 29-year background of service including being a correction officer, police officer/deputy sheriff, K-9 deputy, patrol sergeant, patrol lieutenant and an 11-year undersheriff as giving him the skill set for the job.

 Staff reports
On this date in ...

1917: John "Jack" Johnson, a former Albany boxer, was arrested for defaming the U.S. flag the night before. Edward Morrison of Albany said Johnson had torn down a flag in front of a saloon on the corner of Rensselaer and Green streets and hit him in the face with it, before throwing it to the ground. While the case was being heard, Matthew Bader of South Pearl Street, a companion of Johnson's who had been with him the night before, said that prior to the alleged incident both men had been in the saloon and served drinks by Morrison, who was working as a bartender. Morrison was promptly charged with selling intoxicants on a Sunday.

1967: Imitation milk was being sold in the Capital Region and other parts of the state and leaders in the milk industry were urging dairy farmers to "reach the minds of the consumers and convince them there is no substitute for real milk and dairy products." James D. Lee, economist of the New England Milk Producers' Association, said imitation milk was skim milk to which three percent coconut oil, emulsifiers and stabilizers had been added. He said fluid milk stood in relation to imitation milk as butter did to oleo years ago.

1992: The American Heart Association was collecting what it hoped would be thousands of letters from members urging President Bush to break the deadlock over new labels for food. The Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture had been battling over the labeling regulations. The FDA was under orders from Congress to devise labels that would tell people more about the food they ate. The heart association and two consumer groups had threatened to sue the government if the nutritional labels for foods weren't approved by today.

Want to read more about the Capital Region's past? Have any memories or thoughts about how our history relates to today's events? See http://blog.timesunion.com/history/
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SAN YGNACIO  On Thursday morning heavy trucks groaned by the justice of the peace office in San Ygnacio, masking for a few seconds the voice of a young woman wearing an Astros shirt, who was singing the national anthem into a microphone.

But this traffic was the occasion for the celebration.

Residents of this small town, current and former Zapata County commissioners, a few Laredoans and Houstonians, TxDOT officials and Texas Rep. Tracy King all coalesced in rows of metal folding chairs to mark the expansion of the major artery that runs through their community  U.S. Highway 83.

About $7 million was spent along this stretch of highway to bump up the number of lanes from two to four, and to add drainage structures, guard rails and other safety features, according to Eduardo Garcia, TxDOT area engineer for Zapata County.

He said the Texas Department of Transportation has spent $100 million in Zapata County, from its northern border to its southern border, to expand U.S. 83 to four lanes.

RELATED: San Ygnacio resident, journalist Meg Guerra profiled

This project is more than 10 years in the making, and it almost didn't happen for San Ygnacio.

Angel Garza, a former Zapata County commissioner, said TxDOT initially wanted to build this expanded highway around this town rather than through it. This would have diverted the abundant commuters, ranchers and truckers away from San Ygnacio and its businesses.

Garza said Texas Sen. Judith Zaffirini was instrumental in making sure this didn't happen to this little border town. Zaffirini was not in attendance Thursday, but issued a statement to LMT.

"Were the highway to have bypassed San Ygnacio, local businesses would have suffered, and fewer travelers would have accessed the community's beautiful historical district," she said. "Accordingly, I strongly agreed with San Ygnacio residents that the new Highway 83 should not bypass the community, and I am glad that it ultimately did not."

However, the plan to build a loop around the town is actually still in place, Eduardo Garcia said.

TxDOT ended up running low on funds leading up to this project, so Garcia said they decided to make the best of what they had, and simply expanded the highway already running through San Ygnacio.

But there are significant curves in the road going into and out of town, which slows traffic, he said.

"If you build a four-lane divided highway approaching San Ygnacio, and then you keep it like it is here, it's going to bottleneck," Garica said.

To improve the flow of traffic, they need to increase speed limits, and in order to safely increase speed limits, they need to flatten out these curves, Garcia said.

So even as they celebrate this highway expansion, TxDOT is looking forward to the next round of road work, which could begin as soon as 2020, Garcia said.

He anticipates that still another $100 million will be spent on U.S. 83 in Zapata County. This could mean purchasing land along the road in San Ygnacio to expand it further, or even constructing an overpass.

The plan for the loop is still being reviewed, Garcia noted, and they'll host another round of public meetings to gauge how locals feel about the diversion. Although it's pretty clear that everyone wants to keep the highway where it is, he admits.

Alma Gonzalez is the poet laureate of San Ygnacio. When residents first heard about the expansion of the highway, they thought it would be the death of their town, she remembers.

She is thankful to the elected officials who ensured that the road stayed, but expressed concern about the speed limit along the curves, where houses hug the road.

"You never know when somebody's sleep-deprived or had one too many. They could pile into somebody's house," Gonzalez said.

The irony of this important highway is that its travelers miss out on the heart of San Ygnacio, a tiny, beautiful town along the Rio Grande with some of the most well-preserved examples of Mexican vernacular architecture in the country.

MORE ON LMTOnline.com: Zapata man drowns in Falcon Lake after rescuing teenage daughter

San Ygnacio truly believes in its history and it fights for it, Rep. Tracy King said Thursday, and the people driving by on U.S. 83 need to pull off and take a drive through the town.

"It's truly a treasure," King said.

Alice Olson, an 80-year-old from South Dakota, moved to San Ygnacio a couple of years ago for this reason.

She brought her own lawn chair to Thursday's ceremony. She lounged behind the crowd in her dark sunglasses, black cowboy boots, black cowboy hat and black long-sleeved shirt embossed with glittery sunflowers.

Olson owns a red brick house in San Ygnacio, where she spends nine months out of the year. She says she loves the town, and feels welcomed by the community here.

She rides her three-wheeled bike all over town, and feels safe doing so, Olson said. And she eats lunch every day at the Nutrition Center, which is provided by Zapata County.

She walked away from the event Thursday holding the hand of her friend, who swears that the gas station down the road has the best pizza in Texas.

Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com
Border Patrol agents recently seized 296 pounds of marijuana after responding to a report of suspicious activity near Riverside Drive in Laredo.

On Nov. 11, as the agents approached the area they discovered four abandoned bundles of marijuana near the riverbanks of the Rio Grande. The marijuana had an estimated value of $237,120. No arrests were made in this case and the marijuana was turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
A question as to whether the office of Precinct 1 Commissioner should be on the ballot has been answered and the door shut for opportunity in the March 6, 2018, primaries.

"The Precinct 1 office is not considered vacant under the election laws," said County Attorney Matthew Poston who has spoken to the Secretary of State regarding the question.

He explained that a final order of removal must exist for it to be considered vacant. "We have an order of removal that has been stayed on appeal," Poston said, "so until that happens, there can be no movement."

In addition, there is a temporary order of suspension and commissioners court doesn't have the grounds yet to declare a vacancy.

"A vacancy must be declared 74 days prior to the election," Poston confirmed to the Dayton News late Wednesday.

The scenario is playing out following Pct. 1 Commissioner Mike McCarty's conviction on April 21 this year on two counts of abuse of official capacity. Among the accusations against him, he was found guilty of using a county employee who worked for him at Road and Bridge Pct. 1 to perform work on his ranch while on the taxpayer's dime.

McCarty's lawyers appealed the judgment the same day and the judge over the case allowed the commissioner to remain in his elected position until his appeal had been determined.

Just 10 days later, Poston filed a petition with the Liberty County District Clerk's office seeking the immediate removal of McCarty from office. The county attorney cited incompetency and official misconduct, including at least one additional case of misconduct outside of the original conviction assessed McCarty earlier that he alleges rose to the level of an additional Class B misdemeanor.

The appeal in the criminal case is still in limbo and his civil case has yet to be tried.

Poston doubted that there would be a vacancy declared before the March primary, but a vacancy could occur before the November election.

By rule, a candidate must win the March primary to be placed on the November election ballot.

"There is a procedure where the vacancy is declared between the March and November elections. In that case, the executive committees of the two parties would nominate on their own without having to go through a primary election, the candidate that will ultimately be on the ballot," Poston said.

Independent and write-in candidates would also be able to be on the ballot as well.

"The civil removal case has been abated until the criminal appeal comes back," the county attorney said.

"Everyone recognizes it's a huge expenditure of resources when it's months away," he said.

Poston said if the judgement is upheld, there would be no need for him to proceed. At that point, the removal would become final.

"If the appeal is lost, I can certainly proceed with the civil case because there are additional grounds in the case," Poston said.

Attorney Neal Davis, who is handling McCarty's appeal said their briefs for the criminal appeal are due in December.

"We feel we have some strong points. I've always strongly believed in Mike McCarty," he said.

He said he was looking forward to being in front of the appellate court to present their case.

Davis said he didn't expect the appeal process to be resolved until six months at the earliest and could stretch out to a year from now.

The defense will present their briefs in December and then the state must present their briefs 30 days later and then the Court of Appeals will have as long as it needs to rule on the case.

Should the ruling be against McCarty, Davis said they were prepared to go to the highest court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

The regular election for that position doesn't come up until 2020 provided there is no vacancy before then.
Submitted

Being recognized as one of the largest property and casualty insurance companies in the nation is prompting The Woodlands Financial Group to update its web sites and other materials.

President and CEO of TWFG, Gordy Bunch, says he's updating his firm's web sites and materials after the Insurance Journal, considered the most read national property and casualty publication for independent insurance agents, ranked TWFG as No. 28 in terms of revenues in its "Top 100" list of the 38,000 agencies in the country.
BRENT, Ala. - Embattled Senate candidate Roy Moore is pinning his hopes for victory on Alabama's long-held tradition of sharp defiance to perceived threats from forces outside the state.

That rebellious spirit, which dates to long before the state's segregationist Gov. George Wallace became a national figure in the 1960s by railing against the "central government" in Washington, has been apparent in recent days as top state GOP officials have closed ranks around Moore amid a stream of allegations of sexual misconduct against the Republican and calls by national party leaders for him to step aside.

Moore's campaign has taken to repeating Alabama's motto, written in Latin on the state coat of arms in 1923 and translated to "We dare defend our rights," while Moore backers have repeatedly argued that their state has the right to decide its own fate in the Dec. 12 special election.

"Alabamians will be the ultimate jury in this election, not the media or those from afar," said state party chairwoman Terry Lathan.

Gov. Kay Ivey, R, said Friday she would vote for Moore despite being bothered by the accusations against him because, "I believe in the Republican Party, what we stand for, and most important, we need to have a Republican in the United States Senate to vote on things like the Supreme Court justices."

Similar sentiments are coming from local-level Republicans such as Steve Morgan, the vice chairman of the Bibb County GOP in rural central Alabama, who says he doesn't know what to make of the allegations against Moore but is frustrated by the involvement of those who live outside of Alabama - starting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other national leaders who have abandoned Moore.

"The people in Alabama don't like to be told what to do," said Morgan, 69, who did not support Moore in the GOP primary.

"I never liked Roy Moore," he continued. "But guess what? I'm voting for Roy Moore because I hate the stupidity that has invaded the Republican Party."

Political tensions here have mounted over the past week as Moore's candidacy has made Alabama the epicenter of a national debate about sexual assault, the future of the U.S. Senate, the fate of President Donald Trump's agenda and the direction of the Republican Party,

The Senate seat had widely been expected to remain in Republican hands when it was vacated by Jeff Sessions, who became attorney general. A GOP victory was expected even after Moore defeated the incumbent who had been appointed to replace Sessions, Sen. Luther Strange, who had the backing of Trump and other national party leaders.

Republican voters will have a decisive say in who wins. Nearly two-thirds of Alabama voters typically vote Republican, which means Democrats don't have enough people to win statewide without Republicans either crossing over or staying home in protest.

But Moore faces a well-financed Democratic opponent, former prosecutor Doug Jones, who has tried to reach out to white Republicans with his own twist on the politics of defiance - including a television ad called "Honor" in which he narrates a Civil War battle involving a Confederate general from Alabama.

Jones, meanwhile, has largely avoided discussing the sexual-assault allegations against Moore, although one of his most recent television ads features a Republican who makes an oblique reference. "You read the story, and it just shakes you," she says.

A Fox News poll completed after the allegations surfaced found that Jones had taken the lead with 50 percent of likely voters, compared with 42 percent for Moore. Other polls have shown the race tied or with Moore still holding on to a lead.

The Washington Post first reported Nov. 9 on four women who said Moore pursued them as teenagers, including one who said she was 14 and Moore was 32 when he touched her sexually. Two other women have since told The Post that Moore pursued them around the same time when they worked as teenagers at the mall in Gadsden, Alabama. Another woman, represented by attorney Gloria Allred, says Moore assaulted her in a parked car when she was 16. AL.com has reported on two other women, one who says Moore groped her bottom in 1991, when she was 28 years old, and a second who says Moore asked her out in 1982, when she was a 17-year-old waitress at the Red Lobster restaurant in Gadsden.

Moore, 70, has consistently denied any sexual misconduct and has alleged that the women are part of a politically motivated plot against him. In an interview with conservative radio host Sean Hannity, Moore did not rule out the possibility that he dated teenagers older than 16, the legal age of consent, when he was in his 30s. He told Hannity he did not approve of such relationships now. "If I did, I'm not going to dispute these things, but I don't remember anything like that," Moore said.

The Moore campaign, which has always been anchored in his opposition to the Republican political establishment, has attempted to turn the debate over the accusations into a referendum on state independence, even though the accusers are all local women. At a rally Friday, Kayla Moore, the candidate's wife, said that the local feedback she has heard about the allegations has been supportive of her husband. "Most of the negative has been from out of state," she said. "The people of Alabama know what is going on here."

She was echoing her husband, who tweeted Thursday what has become the core of the campaign's message: "This is an effort by Mitch McConnell and his cronies to steal this election from the people of Alabama and they will not stand for it!"

Moore and his surrogates regularly attack the national media and Republican leaders, arguing that there is a conspiracy to take away the rights of voters. "This is a usurpation by Mitch McConnell of the 17th Amendment that gives voters the right who we want to choose who we want in the government," declared Ann Eubank, the leader of the Alabama Legislative Watchdogs, at a Moore campaign event in Montgomery on Friday.

Many Republicans, at least so far, are embracing that view.

In interviews with nearly two dozen Republican voters across the state, only a handful said they knew people who said they would abandon Moore altogether. Some have burrowed into the details of the accusations, denials and counterclaims like detectives, trying to suss out the truth amid a sea of online misinformation.

Josh Lambert, 23, a software developer from Centreville, spent the primary volunteering to distribute Moore signs around the county, but after the accusations surfaced, he stopped volunteering. He said he won't vote for a Democrat who supports abortion rights, but he was unsure about his vote for Moore. "Please hold a press conference, an actual press conference, and take questions," he said when asked whether he had a message for Moore. "It would help me as a voter."

Others have made clear that, like the governor's, their loyalty to the GOP and the prospect of another Senate vote for an antiabortion Supreme Court justice are more important, as long as any doubt remains.

At a Republican Party breakfast in Huntsville on Saturday, party leaders argued that voters should focus more on the political implications of the race than the allegations. "Doug Jones is going to vote wrong, and Roy Moore is going to vote right," said Republican U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, Ala., who ran against Moore in the GOP primary.

Brooks also seemed to jokingly downplay the significance of allegations of Moore's behavior 40 years ago. "Just remember, he was a Democrat back then," Brooks said. "He has been converted into a Republican now."

David Pinkleton, a young Republican activist in the Huntsville area who lost his part-time job organizing for Moore when the Republican National Committee pulled from the race, said he was struggling with his decision to continue supporting Moore. "I don't envy my fellow Republicans and Alabamians, because everybody is trying to rationalize," said Pinkleton, who has worked to support victims of sex trafficking in the state. "I do want a culture where victims can be heard and believed."

Some, such as Julia Cooper, 75, a semiretired nurse from Montgomery, said they were continuing to support Moore because of the spiritual battle he was waging. She said that when she was a high school student in Camden, Alabama, a man in his 20s or 30s came to her house to date her but she resisted his requests. "Even at the age of 14, you could have walked away" she said of the accusers. "If you want to get out, you can get out."

A few said privately that they will no longer support Moore, although they are wary of announcing the decision publicly, given a party rule that bars people who want to run for office from supporting a Democratic nominee.

Jones strategists say they need three things to happen to win: Some moderate Republicans in the suburbs, especially women, have to cross party line; black turnout needs to be high; and other Republicans who would never vote for a Democrat need to stay home.

Jones, who is white, has been carefully spreading different messages to win his target voters. On R&B radio, he is running an ad in which he recounts his closing arguments as the lead prosecutor in the case against two Ku Klux Klan members responsible for the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham that killed four black schoolgirls.

At the same time on television, Jones has been trying to reach out to white Republicans directly, in part by tapping into the deep history of animosity from Alabama to Washington leaders. The signature ad of the race is the spot in which he narrates the Civil War battle, a tale from Gettysburg in which an Alabama general leads a failed charge on Union troops from Maryland.

Jones calls both generals brave men, but he says that "those times have passed" and it is time to change the approach. "I want to go to Washington and meet the representatives from Maryland and those from every other state, not on the battlefield, but to find common ground," he says, positioning himself as an heir to Alabama's fighting legacy.

Giles Perkins, the chairman of Jones campaign, says the state's strong political identity cannot be ignored by either campaign. "We Alabama voters have a lot of pride in our state and like to make our own decisions," he said.

Some Republicans here suggested that the polls showing a tightening race may undercount Moore's support. "It's kind of like George Wallace," said Joe Fuller, a longtime state party official, who says he is voting for Moore despite the allegations because he always votes his party's ticket. "You either loved George Wallace or you didn't like him. Years ago, I never found anybody who voted for George Wallace, but he always won."

Neal Cook, a Winston County Republican who supported Strange in the primary, said he was still undecided on his vote. "One day he will stand before the ultimate judge, and the truth will be revealed," Cook said of Moore.

Others have been inspired by the allegations to redouble their commitment in an effort to fight back against Moore's foes.

During the primary, the Moore campaign erected an eight-foot sign for the candidate on the property of the Wilson Garage Door Company on Dan Tibbs Road in Huntsville, which came down after the primary and was expected to go back up after Thanksgiving.

After the allegations broke, Daniel Burns, a volunteer for the Moore campaign, got a text message from the grandson of the company's owner. "My granddad said the sign can go back up whenever you have a chance," Burns said the message read. "He's tired of this nonsense on the news."
Below is the number of U.S. military deaths since October 2014 and the names of U.S. troops killed recently in the fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, as announced by the Pentagon:

Fatalities: 49 (13 in hostile actions)
It's a measure of how tumultuous 2017 has been that Texans are not completely preoccupied with President Donald Trump. This year, the state has endured a mass shooting, a bathroom-bill debate, wildfires and historic floods. Recovery from Hurricane Harvey, in particular, will take years. And with the fifth round of North American Free Trade Agreement talks off to an inauspicious start in Mexico City, there's no need to belabor this point: Uncertainty abounds. While the United States is focused on many other issues as well, it's worth paying attention to what's happening in Texas, because the events that have sent the state reeling may have momentous consequences for everyone. Here are several misconceptions worth extinguishing.

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Myth No. 1: Texans love guns

In 2014, Texas led the nation in background-check requests to purchase firearms, with more than 1 million requests filed. "It goes with our history of Texas being a state where people love their guns," Nicole Strong, a spokeswoman for the Houston office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said at the time. Anyone who follows the state's politics can confirm this reputation: Republicans have been in power here for a generation, and they have never been accused of pandering to the gun-control crowd. Gov. Greg Abbott, who was elected in 2014, campaigned on expanding gun rights and pursued open-carry and campus-carry laws the following year. His predecessor, Rick Perry, once shot a coyote while out for a jog.

But Texans, collectively, have the same views on guns as other Americans do: Most think the government has a rightful role in restricting access to them under certain circumstances. According to a June survey from the Pew Research Center, 52 percentof Americans believe that gun laws should be more strict; an October survey from the University of Texas/Texas Tribune found that 52 percentof Texans do, too. And although data on gun ownership is notoriously imprecise, there's no evidence that Texans are armed at a wildly disproportionate rate. In 2012, the General Social Survey reported that 34 percentof Americans have a gun in their home. In Texas, the figure is about 36 percent,according to a 2015study.

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Myth No. 2: Texas is part of the Bible Belt

As Princeton's Robert Wuthnow put it in a 2014book about the state's historical religious landscape, Texas is "America's most powerful Bible-Belt state." A recent history of Texas prohibitionists was called "Making the Bible Belt." Some 31 percent of Texans are evangelical Protestants (across a range of denominations), according to the Pew Research Center, compared with25 percent of Americans as a whole. Evangelicals' strength here explains the suspicions raised by a 2015 joke from a state Supreme Court justice, who tweeted, amid a national debate over same-sex marriage, that "I could support recognizing a constitutional right to marry bacon."

Yes, large-scale migration from the United States to the territory in the early 1800s coincided with the Second Great Awakening, so Baptists and Methodists have always played an outsize role in civic life, as Wuthnow's book explains. (Texas is home to one of Trump's favorite evangelicals, Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Dallas; the church's musical tribute to Trump, "Make America Great Again," will alarm you - and get stuck in your head.)

But Texas is not the beating heart of evangelical America. The largest single religious group here is Catholics; 23 percent of Texans identify as such - and since more than 70 percentof Texas Catholics are Latino, that share will continue to rise as this group grows. Beyond that, the state's faith communities are as heterogeneous as the population itself. Joe Straus, the speaker of the House, is Jewish. Some 422,000 Texans are Muslim, the largest population in any state, according to the 2010 U.S. Religious Census.

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Myth No. 3: Texas needs to crack down on illegal immigration

Trump began his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination by assailing Mexican immigrants. His signature policy proposal is a border wall, and he insists that a porous border enables illegal immigrants to wreak havoc on the United States, and Texas in particular. His supporters have, needless to say, been happy to vouch for such claims. "Fifty percent of murders in Texas have been linked to illegal aliens," Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnessaid in 2015, a statement debunked by PolitiFact.

It's all ridiculous, and Texas Republicans knew it - until quite recently. Republican governors such as Perry and George W. Bush were comparatively temperate on the issues of illegal immigration and border security. Their successors, Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, have been more hawkish; this year's legislative session produced a draconian crackdown on "sanctuary city" policies that protect undocumented immigrants, a group that is roughly 1.65 million strong in Texas, according to the Pew Research Center.

Unauthorized immigration to Texas is primarily a labor force phenomenon. The "criminals" and "rapists" Trump warns about are, for the most part, workers from a culturally familiar country, living in a state with a skeletal safety net and ongoing economic growth. That's not really a problem from a public safety perspective. In fact, Texas's biggest problem with unauthorized immigration is that it has plateaued: In the wake of Harvey, Houston is facing a labor shortfall as it tries to rebuild, since many of the construction jobs have historically been filled by workers from neighboring Mexico.

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Myth No. 4: Shiftin demographics are turning Texas blue

"Texas has emerged as a prime target for partisan realignment," Thomas B. Edsall wrote in 2013. This is a plausible myth, given the state's rapidly changing demographics - the state demographer's office projects that Latinos, a traditionally Democratic constituency, will outnumber Anglos by 2020 and will be a majority of the population by 2042. And George Will warned last year that Republican vote totals are shrinking. "With its size and diversity, our state should be a place where all elections - from local elections all the way up to the President of United States - are hotly contested,"Battleground Texas says on its website.

But this hoped-for transition is nowhere close to reality. Putting too much faith in this trend enticed the state's Democrats, and their national cheerleaders, to doom in 2014. Battleground Texas, established in 2013, helped contest the 2014 midterms so hotly that Democratic candidates for statewide office, led by gubernatorial hopeful Wendy Davis, lost by at least 20 points. It's true that Texas is a "majority-minority" state, a young state and an urbanized state. But all those things were true 10 years ago, too, and Democrats have not won statewide since 1994.

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Myth No. 5: Texas depends on oil

In December 2014 Michael Feroli, the chief U.S. economist for JPMorgan Chase, issued a warning: "We think Texas will, at least, have a rough 2015 ahead, and is at risk of slipping into a regional recession." His premise, that low oil prices would drag down the entire state, was widely shared. Paul Krugman argued in 2011 that the Great Recession was slow to hit Texas "mainly because the state's still energy-heavy economy was buoyed by high oil prices through the first half of 2008." And it's true that the Texas economy has done surprisingly well this year in part because the energy industry is rebounding.

But Texas no longer rises and falls on the strength of oil, as it did in the 1980s. The economy has diversified (into manufacturing, services, trade, tech), and it now depends on the globalized economic order that Trump campaigned against. In 2015, Michael Plante, an economist with the Dallas Fed, offered the following not-particularly-terrifying assessment of how the collapse in oil prices over the previous six months would affect the state: "The effects by themselves are not expected to halt job creation in Texas in 2015, but will, nonetheless, be felt in areas heavily dependent on oil production and employment related to the sector." In 2017, we can say that he, rather than Feroli, was right.

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Grieder is a metro columnist at the Houston Chronicle, is the author of "Big, Hot, Cheap and Right: What America Can Learn From the Strange Genius of Texas."

Five myths is a weekly feature challenging everything you think you know. You can check out previous myths, read more from Outlook or follow our updates on Facebook and Twitter.
BEIRUT - Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Saturday said he will return to Lebanon to clarify his political position after abruptly resigning from Saudi Arabia two weeks ago, setting off fears of wider instability and raising questions about whether he had willingly quit.

Hariri spoke from Paris where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron after arriving on a plane from Riyadh early Saturday.

Lebanese officials had accused Saudi authorities of holding Hariri, a onetime political ally, hostage as part of an attempt to destabilize Lebanon. Macron quickly stepped in to mediate the crisis, inviting the embattled premier to France for an official visit and paving the way for his exit from Saudi Arabia.

Hariri plans to travel to Beirut next week for independence day celebrations and meetings with Lebanese President Michel Aoun.

"I will be going to Beirut in the next few days. I will participate in the celebration of our independence day. From there, I will announce my position on all matters after meeting with President Aoun," he said from the French presidential palace in Paris.

"You know that I submitted my resignation, and we will talk about this issue in Lebanon," he said.

The trip would mark an end to his mysterious self-exile since he suddenly stepped down Nov. 4, citing Iranian influence and the military power of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite political movement and his partner in government. Hariri is a Sunni Muslim.

Lebanon was shocked by his resignation and pointed to the harsh language of his statement as evidence he only stepped down under pressure.

Saudi officials are keen to squeeze Hezbollah as Iran's most powerful proxy in the region. Saudi Arabia's Sunni monarchy and Shiite-majority Iran are in a battle for influence across a battered Middle East - a rivalry that has helped kill tens of thousands in places such as Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

Many Lebanese feared their tiny but diverse nation - which boasts Sunnis, Shiites, Christians and other sects - could easily be plunged into political or sectarian turmoil. The government is run on a national power-sharing pact that divides political authority among Lebanon's three major religious groups. The agreement - made after the Lebanese civil war from 1975-1990 - calls for a Sunni prime minister, a Christian president and a Shiite speaker of parliament.

So far, Lebanon has managed to largely shield itself from the conflicts raging around it. And the coalition government formed last year was welcomed by many Lebanese. Even opponents of Hariri - including Hezbollah's secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah - united to call for his return.

The move "caused anger among all the Lebanese people against Saudi Arabia," said Elias Farhat, a retired general in the Lebanese army. "We want good relations with Saudi Arabia, but now you abduct the prime minister?"

It also appeared to turn many in the Lebanese Sunni community against Saudi Arabia, who some here believe humiliated not only their leader but the country's prime minister.

Saudi Arabia "didn't count on the fact that some things changed in Lebanon" with the coalition government, and that the Lebanese people had rallied around it, said Mohammed Obeid, a political analyst with ties to Hezbollah.

Aoun, the president, "preserved national unity," Obeid said. "And he succeeded in making this crisis a national crisis and not just about Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah."

Hariri, who is a dual Saudi-Lebanese citizen with financial ties to Riyadh, has insisted that he was not detained in the Saudi capital, and that he had been there of his own free will. But a series of visits from European diplomats and a curious television interview Hariri gave Nov. 12, in which he choked up before going to commercial break, just added to the speculation that Saudi officials had orchestrated his resignation - and that his stay in Riyadh was not voluntarily.

It was only through Macron's aggressive diplomacy, including a last-minute trip by the French president to Saudi Arabia in the midst of the crisis, that led to Hariri's departure. Macron has sought to position himself and France as an interlocutor on the world stage, and Hariri's ties to Paris - and France's colonial history in Lebanon - facilitated his role as regional mediator.

After meeting Macron on Saturday, Hariri tweeted his praise of France's "great role in the world and in the region," adding that Macron is committed to Lebanon's stability.

Hariri's two younger children stayed behind in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, raising questions about his possible return.

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McAuley reported from Paris. Suzan Haidamous contributed to this report from Beirut.
The iconic 15th century Inca citadel Machu Picchu attracts more than a million visitors a year to the cloud forests of southern Peru. Sixty kilometers away, another mountaintop refuge built by the Incas 50 years later has languished in obscurity, with barely a dozen visitors a day. The government wants that to change.

The South American nation plans to open up Choquequirao -- known as Machu Picchu's Sacred Sister -- to the tourist mainstream with roads connecting the site to its world famous predecessor, and a cable car to elevate visitors to 3,000 meters (9,843 feet) above sea level, said Roger Valencia, deputy tourism minister. The excursion is currently a five-day, 60-kilometer round trip on foot, traversing a canyon and crossing the raging Apurimac River.

"The hike is exceptionally beautiful, but it's tough," said Valencia, a former tour operator and guide who's made the trek more than 20 times. "We'll put in the roads and the cable cars to make it accessible."

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is promoting Choquequirao as part of his goal to double the number of tourist arrivals to 7 million by 2021 to ease the economy's dependence on industries such as mining, which creates few jobs. Tourism accounts for 3.9 percent of Peru's gross domestic product, the highest contribution among major Latin American economies after Mexico, and is expected to rise to 4.6 percent in the next decade, according to the London-based World Travel & Tourism Council.

Kuczynski flew over Choquequirao on Aug. 31 and pledged 200 million soles ($62 million) of investment to develop infrastructure for accessing the citadel, which has yet to be fully excavated. The investments starting next year will allow visitors to explore its giant stairway, terraces, plazas, fountains and temples in a day trip from Machu Picchu.

Choquequirao -- cradle of gold in the Quechua language -- was built by the Incas around the turn of the 16th century, before they fled into the jungle beyond Cuzco to escape the invading Spanish Conquistadors. It was visited by American explorer Hiram Bingham in 1910, a year before he introduced the more spectacular and accessible Machu Picchu to the outside world.

Once the cable car service starts, the government sees Choquequirao receiving about 150,000 visitors in the first year, up from 5,800 a year now. In the medium term, it forecasts at least half a million visitors a year.

The government is already cashing in on other less known archaeological sites. Peru inaugurated its first cable car system earlier this year to ferry tourists to Kuelap, a fortress city built in the forests of north Peru. It expects more than 100,000 visitors there in 2017, twice last year's total.

Peru, cradle of the first civilization in the Americas 5,000 years ago, is leveraging its archaeological heritage to boost its appeal to tourists starting to take notice of a country that was for years off limits because of guerrilla warfare and economic collapse. Seven people were killed during the bombing of a tourist train bound for Machu Picchu in 1986.

The Andean nation has doubled the number of tourists arrivals in the last decade to 3.7 million last year after it signed free-trade agreements, attracted international hotel chains and upgraded infrastructure.

Valencia said Choquequirao will be the final destination in a tourist circuit traversing Cuzco, which was the political center of the Inca Empire that reached beyond Quito in the north and to Santiago in the south.

The government is also designing new walking routes to Machu Picchu and plans to allow visitors to explore more of the mountain after which the citadel was named. The complex received 1.4 million visitors last year and could potentially receive 50 percent more per year by optimizing management of the site, according to a study by Peru's Culture Ministry.

Peru's tourist industry generated $7.6 billion in sales last year and earnings from foreign visitors are expected to grow 8.5 percent a year over the next decade, the fastest pace after Egypt, according to WTTC forecasts.

Squeezing more dollars out of Machu Picchu isn't without its risks, not least being the threat increased tourist traffic would pose to the site. The United Nations, which declared it a World Heritage site in 1983, this year warned Peru that increasing visitor capacity may not be compatible with the site's conservation needs and heritage value.

A fire at an archaeological complex in northwest Peru on Nov. 12 highlights another threat to the country's cultural heritage -- the government isn't investing enough to preserve its lesser known sites. The fire started by workers burning nearby sugarcane engulfed the Ventarron complex, which dates from about 2,000 years B.C., destroying what local archaeologists say is the oldest mural in the Americas, Peru's state news agency Andina reported Monday.

The government is taking steps to squeeze as much additional capacity from existing airports in the next five years to meet its goals for doubling tourist arrivals, after delays to airport projects in Lima and Chinchero. That will require changes including allowing international flights direct to Cuzco and other local airports, to ease congestion in Lima, Valencia said.

The WTTC doesn't see Peru getting close to 7 million tourists until 2027, six years later than Kuczynski is targeting.

That is overly pessimistic, Valencia says. After all, the country has a treasure trove of historical and scenic sites to attract visitors.
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In years past, the Mar-a-Lago Club's White and Gold Ballroom hosted some of the finest events of Palm Beach's gilded winter season. $750-a-plate charity luncheons. Quartets playing Mozart. Ambassadors in white tie and tails at the Red Cross Ball.

In years past.

Last week - as a new season began at the private club in Florida owned by President Donald Trump - a speaker on the ballroom stage was talking up far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

"I'm watching Alex Jones non-stop!" Joy Villa said, according to a video she posted of the event.

Villa - a pro-Trump Internet celebrity - was speaking to a group of Young Republicans. "We are populist. We are nationalist," she said, as waiters served brunch. "We put America first and we're not afraid!"

This week, Trump returns to Mar-a-Lago for the first time since April. He will confront a changed social scene.

During the summer, 19 charities that had events scheduled this season at Mar-a-Lago abruptly quit after Trump defended participants in a violent rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, organized by white supremacists.

In their place, the club is turning to a different kind of customer.

Republican groups. Televangelist Pat Robertson, who started a gala in order to hold it at Mar-a-Lago. And a group called "Trumpettes USA," which is planning a dinner in January that costs $300 per person. They intend for Mar-a-Lago to keep most - or all - of the money they take in.

Once a retreat from the divisive business of politics, the Palm Beach, Florida, landmark is now a place defined by those divisions - a dynamic the club is monetizing by booking events with Trump's political allies.

Mar-a-Lago is still hosting weddings and members for meals on the dining terrace. But the center of Palm Beach's traditional social scene has shifted to The Breakers, a club that Trump once mocked for getting his "leftovers."

"People will still put on their dancing shoes, and pay big money for their tickets, and go out of the night. [But] instead of going to Mar-a-Lago, they'll be going to The Breakers," said Shannon Donnelly, the society editor for the Palm Beach Daily News.

Before now, Donnelly said, Mar-a-Lago "wasn't political."

"Now," she said, "Donald is political."

Officials with Mar-a-Lago and the Trump Organization did not respond to questions about the new season. Last month, the club's general manager told the Palm Beach Post, "we are really doing fine. It will be a good season."

The Washington Post asked the White House if Trump himself had any contact with those now flocking to hold events at Mar-a-Lago.

"We have nothing to do with coordinating events. The idea that the President has time for event planning at [Mar-a-Lago] is insulting," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders wrote in an email.

Trump has given up day-to-day control of his real estate and hotelbusinesses. But he still owns them, including Mar-a-Lago - an old estate that Trump transformed into a private club in the 1990s. Back then, Mar-a-Lago was Palm Beach's progressive club. It was open to Jewish members.

This year, in Trump's words, it became the "winter White House."

For a few months this spring, it was a splendid sort of bubble. The glamour of the presidency flowed in, but the country's curdled politics did not.

Trump visited seven times. Initiation fees doubled, according to a CNBC report. Charities held galas and couples held weddings, and Trump dropped in on both. He mixed his new job with his old job - the table-hopping host of Palm Beach's elite.

"Big night, Shannon. Big night," Trump said one evening in April, when he stopped by Donnelly's table to chat.

Donnelly didn't understand. She only knew it was Prime Rib night. Later, she learned Trump was talking about launching cruise-missile strikes against Syria.

There were some warnings this winter season could be disrupted by the presidency. Earlier this year, seven charities decided to move their events, some blaming the security delays that came with a party in the president's house.

But there were still 25 big events on the schedule.

Then: Charlottesville, and the president's comments that there were "very fine people" in the crowd. In Palm Beach and around the country, his remarks roused a backlash.

Suddenly, Trump's charity clients found themselves under pressure from donors and strangers alike. Online, anti-Trump groups asked their members to contact charities and urge them to move. Even local Palm Beach officials jumped into the fray.

"Can you honestly say having an event at Mar-a-Lago, given all that has transpired, is the best stewardship of your efforts?" Laurel Baker, executive director of the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce, said in August. "The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis." [Days later, another chamber official apologized to Mar-a-Lago for her remarks].

Some members of Mar-a-Lago found that their friends didn't want to be invited to galas there anymore.

"'If it's at Mar-a-Lago, then we're not going," one former Mar-a-Lago member said he was recently told by a friend. The member quit recently, and asked that his name not be used, to protect his friendships in Palm Beach. "It's not the charity that matters anymore. It's the venue."

Mar-a-Lago's 25 previously identified bookings fell to six, according to a Post survey of town-issued permits, public social calendars and interviews with charities. One of the groups that stuck with Trump was the Palm Beach County GOP, which has held its Lincoln Day dinner at Mar-a-Lago since 2013. Before this year, it appeared to be the club's only overtly partisan gala.

Among those that left: the Red Cross, which canceled its Palm Beach gala outright, ending a 60-year tradition.

Another charity, Leaders in Furthering Education, switched to a new date at the Breakers resort, and wound up in a fight with crooner Paul Anka, who couldn't make the new day and wouldn't return their $75,000 deposit.

"They need to eat it," Anka, who sang the 1959 hit "Put Your Head on My Shoulder," told the New York Post.

The news was better for the Bethesda Hospital Foundation, which moved its Nov. 9 luncheon to a club in Boca Raton and had room for 100 more guests than it could fit at Mar-a-Lago. The lunch raised enough to buy a new physician-training tool: the Victoria S2200, a $60,000 robot woman who gives birth to a robot baby.

At the same time, Mar-a-Lago's calendar has also begun to refill.

The Republican Attorneys General Association booked Mar-a-Lago's Teahouse dining room last weekend, for a dinner where some state attorneys general dined with top donors.

How did they choose the president's club, out of all the dining rooms in south Florida?

"It is a historic venue very close to where the AGs were staying," said spokesman Zack Roday. He said the group did not get a discount for being Republicans.

The Young Republican National Federation, which hosted Villa in the White and Gold Ballroom, had never held an event at Mar-a-Lago before. Why now? "He's the leader of the Republican Party," said Matthew Thomas Oberly, press secretary for the Young Republican National Federation.

The Christian Broadcasting Network - whose chairman is Pat Robertson, a strong supporter of Trump - decided earlier this year to hold its first Palm Beach fundraiser gala for its charity Orphan's Promise.

And not just anywhere in Palm Beach.

This event was meant for Trump's club.

"Secure event date at private, exclusive Palm Beach 'winter White House,' " the charity instructed its event planner, according to documents filed with the town of Palm Beach. This event will be one of the biggest of any season at Mar-a-Lago: The town was told to expect 700 people.

The network said "a group of major donors" chose Mar-a-Lago as a venue. Through a spokesman, Robertson declined to be interviewed.

In two other cases, individual Trump supporters have come up with their own new events for Mar-a-Lago, with an aim of benefiting Trump.

Florida conservative activist Steven M. Alembik, for instance, is planning a 700-person "Truth About Israel Gala" at Mar-a-Lago in February. He plans to charge $600 a seat. He expects Mar-a-Lago will keep most of it, and that's fine.

"We're supporting our president, who supports Israel," Alembik said.

The "Trumpettes USA" - they add the "USA" because "Trumpette" is a brand of baby socks - are led by Toni Holt Kramer, a Mar-a-Lago member who has turned part of her home into a sort of shrine to Trump.

She has planned a dinner for Jan. 18. First, it was 700 people. Now, it's 800, she says. Two ballrooms. $300 per seat.

If there's money left over, Kramer says, it will go to a police charity. But she doesn't expect to have money left over, after paying Mar-a-Lago for the room and the food. And that's fine.

"I don't think any president has ever had such a rough nine months," Kramer said. She said event, called "A Red, White, and Blue Celebration for We the People," is drawing Trump fans from around the country and the world. When they sold out the first ballroom, she posted a photo of herself hugging the group's mascot: her poodle, Caviar Deux.

In recent days, Mar-a-Lago got another bit of good news.

Big Dog Ranch Rescue - an animal charity that had canceled its Mar-a-Lago booking in August - decided to come back to the venue. One of the co-chairs of the event is Lara Trump, Eric Trump's wife.

To explain its reversal, the charity published a letter in the Palm Beach Daily News. It detailed how the politicization of Mar-a-Lago had torn its members apart.

The letter was written in the voice of a dog.

"My furry companions loved . . . The Mar-a-Lago Club and said they would only support us if we returned to our favorite yard," the fake dog wrote.

The fake dog called for a return to more tranquil times at Mar-a-Lago, when charities that did business with Trump's club didn't have to answer for Trump's politics.

"Arrffturall," the fake dog wrote, "charity and politics should never be mixed."

- - -

Fahrenthold and Harwell reported from Washington and Rozsa reported from Palm Beach, Fla. The Washington Post's Zane Anthony and Kathryn Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.
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The new outpatient HIV clinic on the East Side will be providing services that are a vast improvement over the care Carlos Carmona first received 20 years ago.

Carmona joined more than a dozen visitors to view the facility where the San Antonio AIDS Foundation will be offering care to low-income HIV-positive men, women and transgender individuals. The 6,500-square-foot clinic is located at the nonprofits headquarters, at 818 E. Grayson St.

The more places we have like this, the more people we can get linked to care and the less the disease is transmitted, said Carmona, one of the nonprofits clients who now will be getting care through the clinic.

The nonprofits CEO, Cynthia Nelson, called the clinic a one-stop shop that offers a range of services to meet the needs of HIV patients in the 21st century. Nelson pointed out that as fewer people die of AIDS, more HIV patients are living longer, productive lives. The new clinic, which replaces the hospice facility, will increase the services that the nonprofit can offer to help them manage the chronic disease.

Just beyond the reception office is the Astoria Pharmacy, a 1,500-square-foot, full-service dispensary that offers consultations, refill reminders and confidential deliveries.

Further down the hall, at the client services department, staff can help patients find help with co-pays and apply for FDA-approved medications for people living with HIV who have limited or no health coverage. The clinic also has a mental health services office.

The clinic also pays homage to the nonprofits founder. A painting of the late Robert Papa Bear Edwards hangs on a wall near the dining hall. Edwards, who was a local bar owner, founded the nonprofit in 1986, a time when many were scared to address the disease.

The clinic is open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for patients who are eligible for the federally funded Ryan White HIV/AIDS program. In 1984, Ryan White contracted AIDS after a blood transfusion at age 13. He gained national attention for fighting against HIV/AIDS discrimination. Ryan lived five years longer than doctors predicted.

The clinic accepts Medicaid, Medicare and other major insurance plans.

According to a report from the city of San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, 5,400 people had been diagnosed with HIV in Bexar County in 2014. Of those people, 60 percent were Hispanic and 85 percent were males. Fifty-two percent were 45 or older, while 47 percent fell between 20 and 44.

Dr. Waridibo Allison heads the clinic through an arrangement with UT Health San Antonio, where she serves as an attending physician at University Hospital for the inpatient infectious disease service. Allison said currently 125 patients are enrolled at the clinic.

Everyone should be getting tested for HIV just like you get tested for your cholesterol as part of your regular health maintenance, she said. If you do get diagnosed, dont be afraid. Get into care, start taking your medication. If you take medication regularly every day, you can live a normal life.

Its important people know that if they take their HIV medication and the virus is suppressed, you cant pass the virus on to someone else, she said. We have the science to support that.

At the center of the clinic is an altar erected for Dia de los Muertos in honor of past patients. Flower-shrouded candles covered a table set in front of a desk adorned with a large penciled portrait, photographs and funeral programs with the words In Loving Memory printed on the covers.

Its a beautiful way to remember why were here and those we serve, Janeli Saucedo-Castrejana, director of development, said of the altar, which will remain up through Dec. 1, World AIDS Day. Im hoping it will become a tradition every year that honors everyone that we lost in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

Margaret Adjei, pharmacy manager, said they serve the HIV community with anything concerning HIV and hepatitis C. She said they try to take away any barriers to patients taking their medications, helping them with early refills and overnight and home deliveries.

Our goal is to get them comfortable where theyre taking their medications, (staying) healthy, she said, and the clinic is addressing any medical issues they have.

vtdavis@express-news.net
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Navy officials acknowledged that one of its air crews was responsible for skywriting a penis over a rural Northern Washington county Thursday.

Local media began receiving reports of the phallic symbol above the skies in Okanogan County Thursday afternoon.

"After it made the circles at the bottom, I knew what it was and started laughing," Okanogan's Ramone Duran told The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review. "It was pretty funny to see that. You don't expect to see something like that."

Officials at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island later confirmed to KREM-TV in Spokane that one of its aircraft was responsible.

Now Playing: Semin ?zturk flew through the glass ceiling. Video: Vocativ

"The Navy holds its aircrew to the highest standards and we find this absolutely unacceptable, of zero training value and we are holding the crew accountable," Navy officials said in a statement.

(It's a good thing they clarified there was no training value.)

A Federal Aviation Administration official told KREM there was nothing the FAA could do about the drawing since it posed no safety risk, adding the FAA "cannot police morality."

Seattlepi.com reporter Stephen Cohen can be reached at 206-448-8313 or stephencohen@seattlepi.com. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @scohenPI.
A 22-year-old Oklahoma teacher was recently arrested by police after investigators used a student's phone to confirm a meeting with the instructor, reports News 9.

Canadian County Police began to look into Hunter Day after parents allegedly found nude photos of her on their son's phone.
Mass shootings are just something we will all have to live and die with.

Thats how Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sees it. Maybe, with more guns, fewer people will be killed next time.

Thats what Paxton told Fox News in the immediate aftermath of the Sutherland Springs mass shooting.

The only thing I know, because you cant necessarily keep guns out of the hands of people who are going to violate the law, if someone is willing to kill someone, they are also going to be willing to violate a gun law, Paxton said. And all I can say is, you know, in Texas, at least, we have the opportunity to have concealed carry. And so if its a place where somebody has the ability to carry, theres always the opportunity that gunman will be taken out before he has the opportunity to kill very many people.

Just curious, but what is the acceptable threshold of death? If we all agree that 26 people killed in a church is too many, what number would be OK? At what point would we say, wow, only 13 people were killed? If a shooter manages to just kill five, would that qualify as not very many people?

As the media move on from this shooting (and onto a shooting in California and then whatever comes next), and Sutherland Springs is left to grieve in solitude, Paxtons comments should be burned into our minds. We cannot just accept mass shootings as part of American existence. It is a moral failing to say we cant do anything other than hope that next time not very many people will get killed.

We dont keep all drunks from driving, but we also dont just accept it. We try to reduce drunken driving and save lives.

In this case, like so many other killings, we didnt even try.

We know the shooter should not have been able to legally purchase weapons  and yet he did. We know he was convicted of domestic violence in 2012 while serving in the Air Force, but that conviction was never entered into the National Criminal Information Center database.

This raises the obvious question of how many others have not had their convictions entered into the NCIC database. But it also ignores another bit of obviousness. Even if the shooters conviction had been entered, he could have avoided a background check through a gun show or private sale.

This seems to be Paxtons point: We cant stop bad people from getting guns.

But again, we could try.

Despite our strong divides on gun control  Republican and Democrat, rural and urban, gun owner and non-gun owner  there are some points of agreement.

The biggest one is preventing the mentally ill from purchasing guns. Nearly 90 percent of American adults have this view, the Pew Research Center reported this summer.

The next highest point of agreement? Background checks. About 84 percent of American adults support background checks at gun shows and private sales, Pew found.

Its about the same  83 percent  for banning gun purchases for people on no-fly lists.

These arent perfect ideas. There are innocent people on no-fly lists. The vast majority of people with serious mental illness are nonviolent, and many shooters dont have diagnosed mental health histories. But these are areas of high agreement and potential starting points for action.

From there, the divisions begin to take hold. Gun owners and non-gun owners are increasingly divided over banning assault weapons and creating a federal database to track sales  although most adults support these ideas, Pew found.

The divide is even sharper over allowing more concealed carry and letting teachers carry guns in schools  most adults are against these ideas.

And, yes, the Second Amendment allows for some regulation. Just as the First Amendment allows for some regulation of speech (mostly concerning when something can be said, not the content).

On this point, Missouri is a sad example. In 2007, the state repealed a law that required a permit, contingent on a background check, to purchase a gun. The murder and suicide rates surged.

Maybe that law didnt stop every shooting in Missouri, but it obviously stopped some. That sounds a whole lot better than just hoping a good guy with a gun intervenes before very many people are killed.

jbrodesky@express-news.net
The launch of several community outreach programs at Texas A&M University-San Antonio are expanding its presence beyond its campus and have the potential of improving student success dramatically.

Fledgling universities all have growing pains as they recruit students and faculty, and expand campus facilities to accommodate growth.

But at schools such as A&M-San Antonio  where the student body is 67 percent Hispanic, 74 percent are the first in their families to go to college, and the vast majority are low income  things can get complicated.

University President Cynthia Teniente-Matsons insight into the needs of the low-performing K-12 schools feeding into her university and acknowledgment of the income segregation in the community are leading to a unique role for the public four-year institution.

It can become a laboratory of best practices, given the schools demographics and that of the community surrounding it. The entire state should be watching.

The university is using a $50,000 grant from the San Antonio Area Foundation to pair students from Stewart Elementary School in the San Antonio Independent School District with teacher candidates in the universitys College of Education and Human Development.

The goal is to improve student academic achievement so Stewart Elementary, a chronic low performer on state accountability testing  and categorized as an improvement required campus  can avoid intervention by the Texas Education Agency.

The innovative program will provide invaluable training for the future teachers while providing much-needed support for students identified as at risk for dropping out.

A&M-San Antonios outreach to students families is also commendable. Families of first-generation students have no college experience to draw on as their students begin their higher education.

We try to impart that this a job, Teniente-Matson said. Its not the 13th grade.

A&M-San Antonio is holding classes once a week for nine weeks this fall to get students families acquainted with college life, the universitys expectations of its students, and the role family can play in their success.

Many members of low-income families come from a mindset that they dont belong on a college campus, that students dont need to spend much time on schoolwork outside of class, and they should be able to shoulder the care of siblings and elder family members because they are only taking a few courses, Teniente-Matson said.

The family classes do not require the same members presence each week. Parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents or other family members can tag-team on attendance. The goal is simply to get the information to the family.

Anything that helps level the playing field for students is helpful. When it comes to higher education, one size does not fit all, and it is good to see A&M-San Antonio addressing issues unique to its student population as it defines its role as a public university.

Getting students to enroll in higher education is often the easy part. Ensuring student success and their continued enrollment until a degree is earned is the hard part.

College readiness is crucial. Helping students achieve their potential in the early grades is much better than trying to prepare them later through remedial education.

Providing guidance for students and their families during the first few semesters of college life could be a game-changer. Other universities with low graduation rates should pay attention to see if it works.
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Open eir is delighted to announce that nominations are open for people in Longford to enter the 2018 open eir Silver Surfer Awards. This is the second year the company will sponsor these awards, which are run in conjunction with Age Action.

The awards recognise the online achievements of older people using technology as well as the volunteers who teach these skills to thousands of older people across Ireland.

Recent CSO figures show that almost half of Irish people aged over 60 have never used the internet, a disturbing statistic in an increasingly online society. Open eir and Age Action are working to change this and to open up the online world for older people in Ireland.

The overall aim of the open eir Silver Surfer Awards is to raise awareness among older people of the benefits of getting online and to encourage those who are not online to give it a try by celebrating those older people already showing the way. These awards also highlight the positive impact being online makes to everyday life  whether thats learning new skills, running a business, staying in touch with family and friends or getting to grips with social media.

The six categories for the 2018 open eir Silver Surfer Awards are:

* The Getting Started IT Award  An older person who is new to technology and has overcome challenges to become an IT user.



* Hobbies on the Net Award  An older person who uses the internet to pursue their passion or hobby, or who uses IT for communication and social networking.



* Golden IT Award  An individual over the age of 80 who uses technology to enhance their life.



* Community Champion IT Award  An older person who uses the internet to benefit their community locally or nationally



* The IT Enthusiast Award  The Give it a Go older person who embraces the internet or technology with a sense of fun and adventure.



* IT Tutor(s) of the Year Award  An individual or group of any age who provide voluntary support to older learners.



Nominations for the awards are open from today. The closing date for entries is Wednesday, February 21, 2018. Nominations can be made through the Age Action website (www.ageaction.ie). The awards ceremony takes place in eirs Head Office, 1HSQ, on Tuesday, April 17, 2018.

Speaking about the awards Michelle Toner, Head of CSR, eir said We are delighted to partner with Age Action once again for these Awards. Having witnessed, first-hand, the amazing and inspiring things that last years entrants were doing online in their everyday lives, we are even more excited for the 2018 Awards. Our mission is to get communities in Longford and across Ireland connected and to maximise the benefits of high speed broadband. The Awards recognise and celebrate the amazing activities Silver Surfers are doing online, demonstrating the positive difference it can make. Its great to see so many older people getting online. I would encourage everyone who is eligible to apply for the awards to do so, that way their efforts can be recognised and celebrated.

Commenting further, John Church, CEO, Age Action spoke about the benefits going online can have for older people; The open eir Silver Surfer Awards are all about driving home the benefit of being online to older people with the aim of getting more people in Longford to give it a go! The awards are also a platform to celebrate older people embracing the digital world and reminds us that learning is a lifelong process. Age should never be a barrier. It is hard to believe but almost one in five adults have never used the internet  that is more than 550,000 people in Ireland and older people are the least likely to be online! Were delighted to have open eir on board for the awards again this year. Open eir is working hard to bring broadband to communities across Ireland and supporting the Age Action team in ensuring our Silver Surfers get the most of the exciting opportunities available online.

Age Action promotes the awards through its website, social media sites, and its Ageing Matters magazine. The awards are also promoted in secondary schools, libraries, nursing homes and in parish newsletters across the country.
It is a fair indication of the popularity of John McDwyers comedy (with a few serious bits) Turning Mammy that it is currently on its fourth national tour and it closes this final tour with a performance in The Hill, Newtowncashel on Saturday, November 18 at 9pm.

This will be the 38th performance of what has become a huge hit for Beezneez.



Turning Mammy has won the hearts of audiences all over Ireland with its mix of madness and melancholy as we follow the lives of sisters, Mary and Martha and their lovelorn neighbour, Ambrose, as they all seek love and contentment while none search in the right place.



Featuring Eileen Murphy, Valerie Traynor and Peadar Conway and directed by the author, Turning Mammy has had audiences laughing and crying for over two years and is an evening of joyous theatre which should not be missed.



Newtowncashel will fondly remember the last Beezneez visit to The Hill when Gerry Farrells interpretation of John McDwyers An Ordinary Man was a sensational night of pure theatre.



Turning Mammy promises to press all the right buttons and this is positively the last opportunity to catch this play as Beezneez go into immediate rehearsal for their spring tour of The Drawer Boy.

Patrons are asked to note the later start time of 9pm and booking is open now at 086 252 1536.

You may also like to read:

Beezneez bring 'An Ordinary Man' to county Longford venues

PICTURES: Newtowncashel School reunion celebration at Kilbeggan Races
A woman who appeared before Longford District Court last week charged under the Theft & Fraud Offences Act was sentenced to six months in prison following a hearing into the matter.

Patricia McDonnell, College Park, Longford appeared before Judge Seamus Hughes charged with driving without insurance at Lisnamuck, Longford on September 13, 2016.



She was also further charged with stealing perfume and aftershave to the value of 617 from OHanlons Pharmacy, Ballymahon on December 7 last; stealing 503 worth of aftershave and perfume from the same pharmacy on November 27, 2016; stealing food from Finns Filling Station, Athlone Road, Ballymahon, Co Longford on January 31, 2017 and stealing 20 worth of clothes from the Enable Ireland store at Grafton Court, Longford on September 1, 2017.



Outlining the evidence to the court, Inspector Blathin Moran said that on September 1 last at approximately 4:20pm, the defendant entered Enable Irelands charity shop in Longford town and stole 20 worth of clothes from the premises.



She left the store without paying for the items, added the Inspector, before pointing out to the court that the defendant was on bail at the time of the offence.



Meanwhile, Inspector Moran continued with her evidence.



She told Judge Hughes that on January 26, 2017, gardai received a report of an incident at Finns Centra on the Athlone Road in Ballymahon,

The Gardai were told that a red car had entered the forecourt with Mrs McDonnell and four of her children in it, the Inspector continued.



They entered the store where Mrs McDonnell ordered food from the Deli; she then placed some of the items in her bag.



The court then heard how on November 23, 2016 the defendant entered OHanlons Pharmacy in Ballymahon with where daughter.



There she place a number of items, valued at 500, into the childs hands and the pair left the store without paying for the goods.



Gardai viewed CCTV footage in respect of this matter and observed the defendant placing the goods in her daughters hands and then leaving the pharmacy, added Inspector Moran.



The court was then told that the defendant entered the same store a second time and this time she proceeded to steal 600 worth of goods from the premises.



Gardai viewed CCTV footage and Mrs McDonnell was observed removing the items from the shelves, said Inspector Moran.



Meanwhile, the court heard the defendant had 81 previous convictions, 52 of which were under the Theft & Fraud Offences Act.



In mitigation, the defendants solicitor, John Quinn said that his client had brought 150 to court in an effort to provide compensation to the injured parties in the case.



She is hopeful that she can return with more money in respect of what is owed, added Mr Quinn.



The court is very familiar with the family problems here; at the time of these incidents she was down on her luck and her husband was in prison.

He got out then and had a very bad car accident.



Yes, I know this, fumed Judge Hughes, before reminding Mr Quinn that the defendants husband had been disqualified from driving at the time he crashed his car.



Mr Quinn also pointed out to the court that Mrs McDonnell received 625 per week in social welfare payments and was stuck for money at the time of the thefts.



She was in a very bad place at the time, Judge.



During his deliberations on the matter Judge Hughes said that Mrs McDonnells 625 per week in social welfare payments was more money than a lot of people had these days.



And its not even enough for you Mrs McDonnell, so you go around then and steal if from other peoples mouths.



Why do you think you can go around stealing aftershave and perfume from local businesses?, the Judge fumed.



This is absolutely unacceptable behaviour.

Meanwhile, Mr Quinn continued with his mitigation.



This woman has a very large family and there are serious problems, he added.

She is trying to do her best.



I am looking at the havoc caused to other families around here by Mrs McDonnell and her children and I can tell you now, Mr Quinn, the day of soft, soft approach is over, Judge Hughes fumed.



As the mother of a large family her best should be to set a good example for her children, yet she goes off stealing from shops, and this is the example she is setting for her large family.



The Judge subsequently sentenced Mrs McDonnell to six months in prison for the theft at OHanlons Pharmacy on December 7, 2016.



She was also disqualified from driving for 15 years after the Judge convicted her in respect of the road traffic matter before the court.



The court was then told that the defendant would appeal the sentence to Longford Circuit Court.
Cllr Seamus Butler (FF) was invited by the Irish Bishops Conference to participate in a discussion on the EU at a catholic bishops conference in Rome at the end of October.

The Pope took part in the gathering which was promoted by the Commission of EU Bishops Conferences (Comece) and the Holy See to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome.



Cllr Butler and his wife Marie met Pope Francis during proceedings, which were entitled Rethinking Europe and were also provided with an opportunity to attend Sunday Mass at the Irish College in the city.



The local area representative in Longford town was also one of just 12 Irish delegates that were in attendance and he said it was a great honour to be there.



The Conference wasnt religious by any means and in fact it was quite a secular event, Cllr Butler told the Leader, before pointing out that those present were broken up in small groups enabling them to discuss domestic issues more openly.



There were around 300 delegates in attendance from all over Europe comprising journalists, MEPs, businessmen and women, etc.



The Treaty of Rome was established to encourage economic cooperation and closer integration between European member states so that another world war could be avoided, said Cllr Butler before pointing to the fact that despite that many domestic issues that the EU has including Catalonian independence and BREXIT, Ireland has enjoyed a relative stable democracy since the foundation of the State.

I contributed about rural Europe during the Conference and was interested to learn that right across the members States young people are choosing more and more to live in cities and leave their rural communities.

The Conference got people thinking and made me realise that a lot of domestic problems are the same right across the EU.



We have a lot more in common with each other than we realised.

Cllr Butler, meanwhile said he was very honoured to be present at such a prestigious European event.



All of need to look outwards now, we can all learn so much from each other, he concluded.

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Retail Excellence has announced the winners of its 2017 Awards, in association with Barclaycard, with Fabiani of Longford scooping the coveted Top5 Store of the Year title.

The 2017 Awards drew more finalists than ever before, with the third ever Lifetime Achievement Award being presented to Rachel Doyle of Arboretum.



The Awards celebrated the best of every facet of Irish retail across stores, people, managers and team members, ecommerce and suppliers.



Fabiani is a contemporary lifestyle and clothing boutique with an in-house coffee bar, 'Mudshot', as well as an in store brow and lash bar, UB Brows. Yoga Classes are held in store three days a week.



We are delighted to recognise and award Fabiani for being one of the very best in Irish retail, CEO of Retail Excellence David Fitzsimons said.



They have shown an unquestionable commitment to meeting and exceeding customer expectations as well as innovation in store and in-service delivery.



We are particularly pleased that across all of our categories of awards Irish retailers, both big and small, urban and rural competed to deliver that exceptional standard of service to customers regardless of their size.

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The launch of Longford Historical Societys Journal Teathbha took place at Longford Library to much acclaim last week.

with the Societys 50th anniversary and was officially carried out by Co Longford Historical Society stalwart, Jimmy Donoghue.

He spoke about the quality of the people who were involved with the Society back when he first joined up in 1969, and their passion and love for the county.

He also alluded to the richness of the content within the Journals covers.

There are so many great stories in this and it is a fabulous book, Mr Donoghue said, before pointing to the fact that all the articles within were written by members of Longford Historical Society.



There is one article in particular that I would like to draw attention to and that is the piece written by Margo Gearty entitled Mick and Kit - A Granard Love Story.

A Granard Love Story, but surely it is one of Granards greatest love stories, if not the greatest!



He then spoke about the people involved in the Society over the years.

They were great people, added Mr Donoghue.

Probably one of the highlights for the Society was in 1991 with the opening of the museum and I remember when we decided to get the museum going, Sylvia Dawson indicated that she would get the President of Ireland, Mary Robinson to come..and she did!



Meanwhile, he encouraged everyone to go out and buy a copy of Teathbha - a book Mr Donoghue added would make a wonderful Christmas present.

Its a wonderful book and I want to congratulate everyone involved; I hope you all enjoy it, the well known Granard man concluded.

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A man who appeared before Longford District Court last week charged in connection with a robbery in Newtownforbes back in August was sentenced to six months in prison following a hearing into the matter.

Wayne Coffey, 47 Michael Collins Park, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 appeared before Judge Seamus Hughes charged with burglary at Bells shop & Post Office, Main Street, Newtownforbes on August 2, 2017.



Outlining the evidence to the court, Inspector Blathin Moran said the case centered around a theft at a store in Newtownforbes on the date in question.



Four males drove to Bells Food Store and Post Office in Newtownforbes, Inspector Moran said, before pointing out that two of the men then left the car and entered the property.

The defendant was a rear seat passenger in the vehicle which later left the scene and went to another area.



Meanwhile, the defendant addressed Judge Hughes directly and said he had been keeping bad company for some time now and was endeavouring to address a drug addiction.



I was hanging around with a bad crowd and I am addicted to cocaine and benzos, he added.



Defence solicitor, Brid Mimnagh then told the court that her client had been at home on the night of the incident when the men involved invited him to go and smoke a joint with them.

They ended up going for a spin.

He never left the car that night, she added, before pointing out to the court that the defendant was a 24-year-old man who came from a decent family in Clondalkin.



You dont go to smoke a joint in Dublin and then end up in Newtownforbes, fumed Judge Hughes addressing the defendant.

Nobody put a gun to your head - you did that yourself.



During his deliberations on the matter, Judge Hughes said that the defendant struck him as an intelligent, articulate young man.

I also notice, the Judge added, that your brain hasnt been ravaged by drugs yet either.

There is something about you that impresses me.

The Judge subsequently handed down a six month jail term which he backdated to August when the defendant first entered custody.
At last weeks sitting of Carrick-on-Shannon Circuit Court James Woods was awarded 65,000 damages plus legal costs after he brought a defamation case against Colm Mulvey, 36 Hillcrest Grove, Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim.



Barrister for the plaintiff, Keith OGrady said the case was brought following a publication on the Facebook page Darts in Ireland by the defendant on August 22, 2016.



Giving background to the case Mr OGrady explained, The plaintiff (Mr Woods who is originally from Boyle and now living in Gurteen) is a former National Darts executive member and former Secretary of Roscommon County Darts. At the time of the offence he was the secretary of the Sligo League.



Mr OGrady added, Having become aware of what was said about him, he contacted his solicitor.



Mr OGrady said, Mr Mulvey has not appeared in court this morning for the call over of the list or at any time in court. There was a phone call today explaining his father-in-law was unwell and he couldnt be in court.



The court heard Mr Mulvey accepted he had defamed Mr Woods in October 2016.



Under questioning from Mr OGrady, Mr Woods was asked about the message that was written about him in relation to money that had gone missing in the 1980s and 90s.



The message written by Mr Mulvey stated You should look closer to home in the 80s and 90s when someone from Boyle was the Chairman.



When asked if he knew who that message referred to, Mr Woods replied, No, I was involved from the late 90s.



Mr Woods was then asked about the missing money to which he replied, I dont know a whole pile. I know money had disappeared from an account. I dont know who did it. I went into work and colleagues asked me what was going on. They asked me how much I had stolen. Management were asking me if there was a criminal investigation as I wouldnt be able to work in the hospital. It nearly destroyed me.



Mr Woods added, I relinquished my position in Sligo because people were looking down their nose and saying where is the money gone. I can categorically say I dont know anything.



Mr Woods was asked if he felt having the details of this case published would help him to which he replied, I want to clear my name primarily.



Mr Woods referred to an apology he received explaining, He (Mr Mulvey) sent my solicitor an apology. He was given x amount of days to publish it on that (Facebook) site and he didnt.



The court heard when the time elapsed and Mr Mulvey had not published the apology on Facebook, Mr Woods received the go-ahead from his solicitor to publish the apology himself.



Later in the court, details of the apology were read in which Mr Mulvey said he was totally ashamed, and could only imagine the devastation caused. The apology also saw Mr Mulvey acknowledge he had no personal grievances or gripe, and offered his deepest apologies.



Explaining his reason for wanting the apology to be made public, Mr Woods said, I travel to darts events all over the country. I didnt want people thinking I was responsible for money going missing.



Outlining some of the fundraising events he has been involved in Mr Woods noted, Down the years I have raised a hell of a lot for charity through darts. My dad died in 2015 and I tried to raise as much as I could for the Mayo/Roscommon Hospice. In 2016 I had nearly 100 throwers, after this came out it was down to 48 throwers in 2017.



When asked if he felt the reduction in competitors was as a result of the comments made about him, Mr Woods replied, Very much so.



When asked if there had been a negative impact on his involvement in darts or his social life Mr Woods answered, I dont have a social life or a darts life any more. They ring me when they are very stuck.



Evidence in the case was also given by John Forde, President of the South Sligo Darts League who said he has known Mr Woods for 18-20 years.



When asked about the allegations made about Mr Woods, Mr Forde replied, I saw it on the internet.



He was asked if he was aware of what happened the missing money. Mr Forde answered, I was in England, I dont know.

When asked how he reacted having read the Facebook post Mr Forde replied, I questioned him and he said he had nothing to do with it. People questioned me is it true and I said dont be daft.



When asked if he believed Mr Woods reputation had been damaged Mr Forde replied, It has, Im certain. Id say by the way they were talking a lot of them did believe it. He wouldnt touch a halfpenny.



Having heard the evidence in the case Judge John Aylmer remarked, It is clear from the words published on Facebook in August 2016 that the plaintiff is or was a thief. That the plaintiff had ulterior motives, had committed a criminal offence and is a person that should not be allowed to hold office.



Judge Aylmer referred to the letter of apology and took note of the fact that the plaintiff had to publish the apology himself saying, It is understandable he felt people were talking about him. It is understandable this had a devastating emotional effect on him.



Awarding damages of 65,000 plus legal costs Judge Aylmer added, It was a particularly nasty defamation of Mr Woods with pretty devastating effects for him.
RICHMOND  Few formal complaints about sexual harassment have been made to officials in Virginias legislature, staff members say.

The House of Delegates has received two complaints in the past six years, House Human Resources Director Anna Hanback said in an email: one in 2012 and another in 2015.

No complaints about sexual harassment have been made by Senate employees since 1990, said Senate Clerk Susan Clarke Schaar.

The House had the authority to investigate only the 2012 complaint, Hanback said, as it was made about a House employee. The 2015 complaint was made about a person who was not employed by the House and was referred to the proper party for investigation, she said.

Hanback declined to provide more information about the complaints, citing the states personnel records disclosure policy.

Sexual harassment scandals are hitting states including Florida, California and Illinois, The New York Times reported Sunday, amid the Harvey Weinstein scandal and allegations made against Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore and Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn.

Sara Wilson, director of the Virginia Department of Virginia Department of Human Resource Management, said there have been four complaints of sexual harassment in Virginia state agencies in fiscal 2017. She did not specify which agencies.

Hanback said by email that a policy on workplace harassment that applies to all state employees  including lawmakers and their staffs  is on the House of Delegates intranet and is given to new members every two years.

The policy says the commonwealth strictly forbids harassment based on race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, veteran status, political affiliation or disability, and forbids retaliation against anyone who complains about harassment.

The policy explains how employees and third parties can report harassment.

The Senate also has a policy on harassment. Both policies define sexual harassment in similar terms.

The House policy defines it as an unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favors, or verbal, written or physical conduct of a sexual nature by a manager, supervisor, co-workers or third party.

House Majority Leader Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, issued an open letter to the Capitol Hill community on Friday in which he reminded people of the states policies against sexual harassment, and said the House has zero tolerance for such behavior.

He said women are more often victims of harassment and sexual abuse, and that maintaining a respectful workplace can empower women and encourage their continued involvement in government.
SPRINGFIELD - Most people are familiar with blues guitar, whether in the form of Robert Johnson's Great Depression-era fingerpicking, B.B. King's sparse, lyrical phrasing or Stevie Ray Vaughan's Texas howl.

On Friday night, concertgoers at Symphony Hall were treated to a solid two-hour blues (and rock) showcase courtesy of guitarist Joe Bonamassa, widely considered one of the genre's torchbearers and most prolific live performers.

For those unfamiliar with Bonamassa's take on the blues, the guitarist combines a number of familiar themes and motifs into a slick, well-produced package that tends to polarize musicians.

Fans of 1960s British-based blues acts such as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Rory Gallagher may view the guitarist's hard-edged music as a logical step forward for a genre that, aside from the likes of Gary Clark Jr. and Derek Trucks, currently finds itself facing a dire shortage of guitar heroes with enough crossover appeal to capture the attention of mainstream audiences.

But those who grew up with Muddy Waters, B.B. King and the Mississippi Delta's best - or particularly astute individuals who noticed the Interstate 91 billboards, radio advertisements, PBS specials and seemingly endless array of signature guitars, amplifiers and pedals appearing on music websites - might view Bonamassa's take on the "blues" as watered-down, mass-produced and lacking the conviction that originally spawned the genre itself.

From the beginning of show opener "This Train," an uptempo blues number, the guitarist came out firing on all cylinders with pitch-perfect string bends, surprisingly gritty vocals and mesmerizing flourishes of speed and dexterity matched by very few guitarists.

Song after song, from Bonamassa's psychedelic-flavored "Blues of Desperation" to early favorite "Slow Train," the guitarist and vocalist proved himself as a musician possessing a wide vocabulary paying respect to the genre's best.

In fact, in a live setting where improvisation is expected by concertgoers and musicians alike, Bonamassa's playing effortlessly channeled the likes of Clapton and Green at their very best, effortlessly shifting between different dynamics - loud to quiet, quiet to loud, shuffle to straight - without missing a beat.

Contextually speaking, there's no comparison between Bonamassa's own "Blues of Desperation" and the night's best tune, a cover of Albert King's "Angel of Mercy."

That's because it's hard to believe that Bonamassa - mentored by guitar legend Danny Gatton at 11 and opening for B.B. King at age 12 - could sing or play with the conviction of King, a musician born on a cotton plantation in Indianola, Mississippi who made his first guitar out of a cigar box.

However, given Bonamassa's song selection for the night, the guitarist managed to inject his playing with real emotion from both sides of the pond, making the most of his famously bloated gear collection - the occasional Fender Stratocaster and Telecaster, a handful of Gibson Les Paul's and a Gibson Flying V - sing with a flashy, aggressive and instantly-recognizable style.

Ending the night most notably with a mash-up between Led Zeppelin's "How Many More Times" and Albert King's "The Hunter," Bonamassa's tone, phrasing and style served as a reminder that blues music is, at its core, open to interpretation - and that roughly 100 years after Charley Patton, Robert Johnson and Eddie "Son" House descended upon Mississippi's Dockery Farms Plantation and laid the foundation for a genre beloved by many, some guitar heroes are better than none.
CHICOPEE- In an attempt to slow down drivers who speed past the library, three schools, and an elderly housing complex on Front Street, the City Council has voted to reduce the speed and install raised crosswalks on the street.

The Council voted 11-1 to set the speed limit at 20 mph in October. That was followed last week by a 12-0 vote to install raised crosswalks on the busy street.

The order to install the raised sidewalks will now go to the Department of Public Works and Mayor Richard J. Kos to be implemented.

The decision to lower the speed limit to 20 mph will now be referred to the city engineer, who must do a speed study before reducing the limit. It will also be reviewed by the Law Department after Councilors raised questions about the proposal.

City Councilor James K. Tillotson, who proposed the change in the speed limit, said the city engineer has supported the idea.

A new state law allows cities and towns across Massachusetts to adopt a reduced speed limit of 25 mph on residential streets, targeting thickly settled areas and business districts, which Chicopee adopted over the summer. It also allows communities to create safety zones, where the speed limit is 20 mph, in areas which have schools, parks and other places which attract a lot of children or older people.

Front Street is a poster child for a continuous safety zone since it includes the main library, a health center, Szot Park, senior housing and three schools - St. Stanislaus, Dupont Middle and Chicopee High - all within seven-tenths of a mile, Tillotson said.

Although the lower speed limit passed overwhelmingly, some councilors questioned if 20 mph on a long stretch of a major road was a good idea.

"I understand something has to be done but 20 mph is too low," City Councilor Gerard Roy said. "We are going to put a heavy burden on the citizens."

While he agreed safety of children was important, Roy called 20 mph "unreasonable" and said he doesn't think it will work.

But Tillotson disagreed saying there are a lot of children on the street and people are driving 30 and 40 mph. Children are also walking between cars to cross the street, especially when parents are picking them up, he said.

"Can we split it up between day and night?" Councilor Gary Labrie asked. "Twenty is needed during the day but I don't see it at 7 or 8 in the evening."

Councilor Robert Zygarowski said the only way the low speed limit will work is if police are diligent about enforcing it. He supported the speed limit saying people drive too fast on Front Street.

"I would like to see this happen because I think this is something that needs to be done," Tillotson said. "We have been trying to control the speed on this road for 30 years."

Councilor William Zaskey, whose ward is in Front Street, agreed he has been fighting the speeding problem on Front Street for years. Along with lowering the speed limit, he asked the council to support his proposal to raise the crosswalks along the street a couple of inches.

Amherst has raised crosswalks on streets in the downtown and it does work without causing major harm on a car, he said.

"We discussed speed zones on Front Street. No cars are going 20 mph," he said. "I think Front Street really is a race track, we really should do something."

The raised crosswalks are not speed bumps but people can't drive 40 over them either, Zaskey said.

Councilors asked if raised crosswalks could hamper snowplowing, but Councilor Shane Brooks said he has seen them in other communities and they have a slightly rounded edge so plows can go over them without a problem.
A former Lawrence police officer was sentenced Friday to serve 18 months in federal prison after he admitted extorting cocaine from a drug dealer.

John R. Desantis Jr., 45, of Methuen, was sentenced in Boston by U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to serve 18 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised released.

Desantis entered guilty pleas in an August hearing to single counts of "extortion and attempted extortion under color of official right and through the use of threatened force and fear," according to a Department of Justice press release.

Prosecutors said Desantis was buying cocaine from a dealer several times a week for 10 to 12 months. At no time during that period did Disantis tell the dealer he was a police officer.

On May 16, 2016, during a drug purchase at his home, Desantis showed the dealer his badge, drew his weapon and seized all the cocaine the dealer was carrying. Desantis told the dealer that if he did not continue to supply Desantis with drugs, he would be arrested.

Desantis reinforced his threats by text message, telling the dealer repeatedly that he would not be arrested "if you do as I tell you," the DOJ said.
HOLYOKE - Holyoke police have charged a Holyoke man with 15 counts of animal cruelty in connection with a Thursday raid on a Newton Street apartment by animal control officials. Fourteen emaciated, dehydrated dogs were removed from the apartment. One dog was deceased when officials arrived.

Holyoke Police Lt. James Albert said Julio Rivera, 49, of 81 Newton St., was arrested Friday afternoon and charged with one count of animal cruelty for each of the canines involved.

The 14 remaining animals were taken to the Thomas J. O'Conner Animal Shelter in Springfield where they were being treated.

Rivera will be arraigned in Holyoke District Court Monday.
SPRINGFIELD -- Jovanny Cartagena had faced 10 charges, including several that alleged he had fired shots into a house.

On Friday he pleaded guilty to reckless driving and three illegal firearms charges, with charges relating to the shooting allegation dropped.

Assistant District Attorney Lee Baker told Hampden Superior Court Judge Michael Callan that gunshot residue tests on Cartagena's hands and his car were negative.

Callan accepted the joint recommendation of prosecution and defense and sentenced Cartagena to two years in the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow, with one year to be served and the rest suspended with two years probation.

Cartagena, 27, of South Hadley, has credit for 393 days in jail awaiting trial, more than the amount he was sentenced to serve.

He pleaded guilty to reckless operation of a motor vehicle, possession of a firearm without a license, possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number and illegal possession of ammunition.

Cartagena admitted he threw a gun out of the car he was driving as he fled from police at high speed.

The charges dropped against Cartagena, who was represented by Nikolas Andreopoulos, were: failure to stop for police, malicious destruction of property, attempted assault and battery with a firearm, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon.

Baker said that on Oct. 20, 2016, Springfield police got a report of four to five gunshots and were told a white vehicle was seen leaving the area. Police found the car and followed it, starting a chase that went from Springfield to Enfield, Connecticut, Baker said.

Baker said the plea agreement took into account Cartagena's minor record and the fact there were "some evidentiary issues" in the case.

Cartagena's wife, Tesandra Marie Cartagena, faced seven charges as a co-defendant. She was in the car with her husband during the chase. All charges against her were dismissed Friday.

Although a Springfield District Court prosecutor had said Jovanny Cartagena snorted cocaine during the chase, he was not indicted on any drug charges.
SPRINGFIELD -- With a major sewer repair project on the east bank of the Connecticut River complete, a long-closed section of the city's riverside walk and bikeway will reopen in early December.

Some bikeway enthusiasts said this week they are very happy to hear the Connecticut River Walk and Bikeway will finally reopen after being partially blocked for two years.

"Wow," said Sheila McElwaine, a fan of the 3.7-mile paved path. "Having the riverwalk passable from end to end is something all of us can be thankful for."

A section of the 3.7-mile path between Liberty Street to Riverfront Park has been closed since November 2015.

Springfield Water and Sewer Commission officials said the bikeway should reopen sometime between Dec. 1 and Dec. 15. With the sewer repairs done, the contractors still must restore the slope and some bike path areas, a spokeswoman said.

Joshua Schimmel, the commission's executive director, said it was a very complex, but rewarding project. The riverbank work was one segment of a $24 million, federally mandated project to reduce combined sewer overflows to protect the river from contaminants.

"We certainly understand peoples' disappointment in not being able to ride the full bikeway these past three summers," Schimmel said. "But we are relieved and proud as this ... remediation project nears completion, especially considering the many complexities we had to work through to get to this point."

The work at the site of the riverwalk included rehabilitating two large combined sewer outfalls, said Jaimye Bartak, a commission spokeswoman. The two structures at the riverfront at the end of Worthington and Bridge Streets were installed between 70 and 100 years ago. Erosion undermined the foundations, she said.

The contractor for the sewer project is P Gioiso and Sons inc. of Hyde Park, Massachusetts.

The work was expected to be done by April 2016. But multiple factors delayed the project, including bad weather and river conditions, as well as environmental permitting issues and restrictions, the commission said.

Betsy Johnson, another bikeway enthusiast, had a cautious reaction to news about the reopening.

"I'll believe it when it happens," Johnson said. "There have already been so many times we've heard that it was going to be opened by such and such date, and then because of a variety of reasons, it did not happen."

Ben Quick is executive director of the Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club.

"After the sudden 10-foot rise in river level on Oct. 30th, I was bracing for news of further delays on this project's completion, so this is fantastic news," he said.

The rise of the river, however, caused significant damage to the club's dock. It will need extensive repairs, Quick said.

Johnson said she anticipates a grand reopening celebration of the riverwalk in the spring. She hopes the Water and Sewer Commission will help underwrite the cost of that event, as has been discussed. She said perhaps the celebration could be timed with Bay State Bike Week celebrations, or in conjunction with the start of the downtown Springfield bike share program.

Bartok said the remediation project was complicated due to its location on the riverbank and near railroad tracks.

"Not only is the site vulnerable do river flooding, which shut down work progress, but rain also activated the pipe and periodically flooded the project area," Bartok said. "In addition, historical shifts in the river's course made subsurface soil composition diffiuclt to predict."

Other factors complicating the project included a need to change foundation piles due to the soils being less supportive than anticipated, and the site being adjacent to a habbitat for two threatenned mussel species and one threatened fish species, Bartok said.

"And of course, the bikeway also runs directly over the outfall pipes, requiring its closure," she said.
SPRINGFIELD - A Ludlow woman with two drunken driving convictions is being held without right to bail following her arrest on a third charge.

Tiffany Nugent, 33, pleaded not guilty Friday in Springfield District Court to operating under the influence of liquor (subsequent offense), reckless operation of a motor vehicle, resisting arrest and giving a false name.

She was arrested Thursday night after a Springfield police officer spotted her making an illegal U-turn on Boston Road, according to a report filed by Officer Edwin Torres.

Nugent drove into a curb after being ordered to pull over and then ignored orders to remain in her car, the report said.

Holding her keys in her hand, she approached the cruiser and "began asking me to forgive her ... not arrest her and to please not tow her vehicle," Torres wrote, adding that she was unsteady on her feet, smelled of alcohol and "very talkative."

Nugent was too impaired to take a field sobriety test, according to the officer, who said he struggled to handcuff her and place her in a cruiser. A passenger in Nugent's vehicle said she had "two glasses of vodka" earlier in the day, the report said.

At police headquarters, Nugent refused to take a blood alcohol test and was released after posting bail.

At the request of Assistant District Attorney Frederick Burns, Nugent was ordered held without right to bail for a so-called dangerousness hearing Tuesday. At the hearing, a judge will decide whether Nugent poses too great a threat to be released before trial.
NORWOOD -- The suspect in a reported Norwood stabbing is in custody thanks to the work of a Massachusetts State Police dog, officials said Saturday.

K9 Unit Trooper Robert Bohn responded to the Norwood Police Department's request to help locate a suspect in the Thursday night stabbing, in which a person reportedly sustained a wound to the head, according to state police.

Bohn, with assistance from Trooper Paul Rego, deployed K9 Ranger to track from the suspect's last known location, police said.

K9 Ranger Locates Stabbing Suspect in Norwood On Thursday November 16th around 9:30 p.m., Norwood officers responded to... Posted by Massachusetts State Police on Saturday, November 18, 2017

Ranger acquired the suspect's scent in a backyard and tracked the smell onto a side street and over two more streets before Rego observed a person matching the suspect's description, state police reported on Facebook.

Police identified the suspect, who reportedly had a knife, and took the individual into custody without incident, state police said.
SPRINGFIELD -- As a kid growing up in the Springfield's North End, Hector Zavala liked to carry a brief case and pretend to be a lawyer.

"I was always in awe of the law - and dreamed of being an attorney," Zavala said during a ceremony Friday in Springfield District Court attended by judges, elected and court officials and Zavala's many friends.

"Other kids played cops and robbers; I wanted to play courtroom," he said.

By the end of the ceremony, Zavala - a former assistant district attorney, lawyer for the district court's legal service center and chairman of the city's Community Policing Hearing Board - had achieved another milestone in his real-life legal career.

He was sworn in as the first Hispanic assistant clerk-magistrate in Springfield District Court, the busiest district court in the state.

The appointment comes as the Massachusetts Trial Court moves to make courts more fair and accessible by reflecting the racial, gender and ethnic diversity of communities they serve.

In his new post, Zavala will bring "advocacy, empathy - and style," said Judge William Boyle, the district court's presiding judge, who said the appointment marks the dawning of "Zavala time" in the courthouse.

He congratulated "the kid from the North End" before adding, in Spanish, "It's a great day for Puerto Ricans."

Judge Charles W. Groce III, one of Zavala's professors at the Western New England University School of Law, offered a quick overview of his former student's resume.

"He put himself through college and law school. He's been a social worker, a victim-witness advocate, an attorney, an assistant district attorney," Groce said, citing some of the positions Zavala has held since law school.

"How old is he?" the judge asked, drawing laughter from the audience. "Nobody really knows." (For the record, Zavala is 34.)

The judge also praised Zavala's parents, who attended the ceremony along with his grandmother, nephew and other relatives.

"He's had the benefit and blessings of coming from good people - and he didn't mess it up," Groce said. "This is a great day," he added.

During his remarks, Zavala thanked more than a dozen people, from Clerk-Magistrate John Gay, who hired him, to State Rep. Carlos Gonzalez, D-Springfield, and his former colleagues in the district attorney's office.

Two people, however, were singled out for gratitude.

"My amazing parents -- they encouraged me and never doubted me even when I doubted myself. When I though about quitting, they'd say you have to pursue this," Zavala said.

More than anyone else, they helped turn his childhood career fantasies into "an attainable dream," Zavalda said.

"I've been blessed," he added.
"Edison and Tesla both did great things. Edisons issue was that he was a dick. Teslas issue is that he went crazy and started talking to pigeons."

By Neil Strauss

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/elon-musk-tesla-mars-twitter-twitter-dreams-morality-w512131
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday voted to begin scaling back a program designed to help low-income Americans access the internet.

The federal Lifeline program, established in 1985, provides discounted phone and internet service in poorer communities. The FCC expanded the program to include broadband last year, and has given participating households a $9.25 per month credit to use for internet access.

Thursdays 3-2 party line vote means one piece of the program will change immediately, and lays the ground work to alter or kill other pieces.

http://www.kbzk.com/story/36874715/fcc-scales-back-broadband-program-for-low-income-americans
Can the blockchain, a distributed ledger technology that underpins cryptocurrencies such as the Bitcoin, be used to help millions of poor people gain access to financial services? Recent announcements by companies such as IBM and MasterCard suggest that it can, writes social venture capitalist Mir Haque in this opinion piece.

Haque is the CEO of Aphaea Capital, a blockchain and cryptocurrency venture fund. Previously, he worked at McKinsey & Co., Deutsche Bank and Google. Haque also recently moderated the conference panel, How Blockchain Can Advance Social and Economic Justice, at the 2017 Blockchain Economic Forum in New York.
The Microsoft billionaire and philanthropist donated $50 million this week to fight Alzheimers. Together with company co-founder Paul Allen, the two remind us how devastating a hobbled brain is to anyone touched by the disease.

Jerry Large

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/bill-gates-just-gave-us-50-million-ways-to-re-think-the-human-brain/
Les membres du gouvernement ont pris note de la presentation de lOccupational Safety and Health (Amendment) Bill au parlement, de la prochaine ecriture du National Computer Board Act, la promulgation du Building Control (Accessibility and Gender Compliance in Buildings) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 ainsi que celui du Consumer Protection (Control of Imports) (Amendment No. 5) Regulations 2022, Registration Duty (Derogation from Liability to Duty) Regulations 2022, Bus Modernisation Scheme, la desserte de Rodrigues une fois par semaine par Air Austral entre autres.

1. Cabinet has agreed to the introduction of the Occupational Safety and Health (Amendment) Bill into the National Assembly. The main object of the Bill is to address new and emerging occupational and health risks due to major changes in the world of work. The Bill makes provision, inter alia, to:

(a) ensure conformity with the fundamental conventions on occupational safety and health of the International Labour Organization;

(b) set up the National Occupational Safety and Health Department to better manage occupational safety and health at national level; and

(c) cater for changes associated with computerisation of the services of the National Occupational Safety and Health Department of the Ministry of Labour, Human Resource Development and Training.

2. Cabinet has agreed to drafting instructions being conveyed to the Attorney Generals Office with a view to repealing the existing National Computer Board Act and coming up with a new legislation for the setting up of a revamped institution with a new mission, vision and strategy, and which would become one of the pivotal organisations in Governments endeavour to transform Mauritius into a well-connected and knowledge-based society through a culture of technology and innovation. The proposed mission of the new institution would be as follows:

(a) to be an innovator and leader in pushing Mauritius towards a world class digital economy;

(b) to lead and drive the ICT skills, knowledge and talent pool; and

(c) to make technology widely accessible to everyone.

3. Cabinet has agreed to the promulgation of the Building Control (Accessibility and Gender Compliance in Buildings) (Amendment) Regulations 2022. The salient amendments concern, inter alia, the inclusion of requirements for tactile pathway and accessibility/gender signage, technical specifications with respect to Braille characters and assistive listening or amplification devices in respect of new buildings and those under major renovations.

The Regulations would come into operation on 01 January 2023.

4. Cabinet has agreed to the promulgation of the Consumer Protection (Control of Imports) (Amendment No. 5) Regulations 2022, whereby the moratorium period previously allowed in the Consumer Protection (Control of Imports) Regulations 2017 would be annulled such that the items Rolling machine, other than rolling machines of industrial types, used to manufacture cigarettes and Roll Your Own Cigarette papers would, henceforth, be prohibited goods, irrespective of their date of order or import.

5. Cabinet has taken note that the Registration Duty (Derogation from Liability to Duty) Regulations 2022 would be promulgated to clarify that a property in co-ownership, referred to in two sections of the Registration Duty Act where the first-time buyer exemption is provided, excludes a property owned jointly by a couple married under the regime of legal community of goods. This would ensure that each spouse benefits from the first-time buyer exemption once, as intended.

6. Cabinet has agreed to the sum of Rs70 million earmarked under the Bus Modernisation Scheme, for financial year 2022/2023, being used exceptionally to subsidise the acquisition of semi-low floor diesel buses, instead of electric buses only, as announced in Budget Speech 2022/2023. However, this would be subject to the semi low-floor diesel buses reaching Mauritius not later than 31 May 2023. The extension of the Bus Modernisation Scheme to conventional diesel buses would, therefore, provide bus operators with an adequate timeframe to plan for the electrification of their fleet.

7. Cabinet has agreed to the enlistment of a project management consultant for the AYUSH Centre of Excellence Project at Cote dOr.

8. Cabinet has taken note that Mauritius has applied to become a Participant Member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions (OECD WGB). The purpose of the Participant status is to facilitate accession to the OECD Anti-Corruption Convention by Non-Members. As a member of the OECD WGB, Mauritius would benefit from the immense experience of the OECD in fighting bribery.

9. Cabinet has taken note of an updated situational analysis of the tourism sector. Mauritius welcomed 753,243 tourists from 01 January to 31 October 2022. For the month of October 2022, the recovery rates registered in the main markets have been positive, with United Kingdom, Germany and South Africa registering growth over October 2019 figures. The Maurice sans Passeport scheme for tourists from Reunion Island has kick-started as from 19 September 2022, and an incremental growth in tourist arrivals from this market is expected.

10. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the meeting of the First Session of the Joint Commission Mauritius  Reunion held in Reunion Island on 04 November 2022. The meeting was preceded by a Senior Officials meeting and a Private Sector meeting on 03 November 2022. The Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade co-chaired the meeting with the Prefet de la Reunion in the presence of the Presidente du Conseil Regional and the President du Conseil Departementale and HE the Ambassador of France to Mauritius.

Discussions were held on themes of common interest such as mobilite et tourisme, securite alimentaire, jeunesse et sport, culture et patrimoine, transition energetique and formation, education et enseignement.

11. Cabinet has taken note of the nomination of senior officials who would hold specific responsibilities during the meetings of the G20 under the Indian Presidency which would start on 01 December 2022 and end on 30 November 2023.

12. Cabinet has taken note of the various activities that would be organised to mark the 30 years of existence of the Global Business Sector. The celebration would provide a unique opportunity to ventilate the Mauritius International Financial Centre (IFC) and the attractiveness of the country for global businesses.

Whilst the activities would span over a year, starting on 28 November 2022, the celebration would kick start, inter alia, with the following:

(a) a teaser video announcing the 30 years celebration;

(b) the launching of a commemorative logo for the 30 years of the Mauritius IFC;

(c) broadcasting of a commemorative video on the 30 years of the Mauritius IFC on the national carrier, Air Mauritius, from January to March 2023;

(d) an awareness campaign on the financial services sector throughout the island; and

(e) a local and international digital communication campaign together with the Financial Services Fund and Mauritius Finance.

13. Cabinet has taken note that experts from the World Health Organization would be in Mauritius from 21 to 25 November 2022 to enable the elaboration of the National Action Plan on Health Security (NAPHS). The purpose of the NAPHS is to ensure that the recommendations of the Joint External Evaluation of International Health Regulations are translated into actions.

The NAPHS reflects national priorities for health security, coordinates a multisectoral response, identifies partners and allocates resources for health security capacity development. The NAPHS would aim at reducing morbidity, mortality, disability and socio-economic disruptions due to public health threats and would contribute to the Sustainable Development Goal: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

14. Cabinet has taken note of the storage level in our main reservoirs as at 10 November 2022. The total storage as at 10 November 2022 was 54.62 million cubic meters equivalent to 59.2% of the total capacity. The average groundwater levels for period ending 09 November 2022 show a declining trend and are close to average.

According to the Mauritius Meteorological Services, rainfall during winter 2022 has been slightly below normal, at 562mm. October is the driest month. Rainfall is expected to be below normal in November 2022.

15. Cabinet had taken note that Air Austral has been authorised to operate one weekly scheduled passenger flight on Wednesdays between Reunion Island and Rodrigues for the period 02 November 2022 to 22 March 2023.

In view of the above, Cabinet has also taken note of the implementation of a Protocol in Rodrigues to protect against Avian Flu, with the assistance of the Livestock and Veterinary Division of the Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security. Disinfection measures have been put in place at Plaine Corail Airport. Farmers have been sensitised on the need to reinforce biosecurity measures at their farms. Appropriate NOTAM would be issued to inform that passengers are not allowed to carry poultry and poultry products in their luggage. Increased surveillance would be exercised in high-risk zones.

16. Cabinet has taken note of the capacity building programme on Enhancing the Quality of Industrial Policies (EQuIP) conducted by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for officers of the Ministry of Industrial Development, SMEs and Cooperatives and related support institutions which was held recently in Mauritius. Two policy trainings were offered by UNIDO, namely on Digitalisation and Evidence-based Policymaking for Structural Transformation.

The main objective of the training programme on Digitalisation was to, inter alia, appraise a countrys readiness to tackle the opportunities and challenges stemming from digitalisation in the manufacturing sector whilst the training on Evidence-based Policymaking for Structural Transformation covered tools related to productivity and structural change, international trade, diversification and upgrading as well as global value chains.

17. Cabinet has taken note that the University of Mauritius would organise the 4th edition of the International Conference on Emerging Trends in Electrical, Electronic and Communications Engineering (ELECOM 2022) from 22 to 24 November 2022. The ELECOM 2022 would be organised in collaboration with the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Mauritius Section and delivered in hybrid mode.

The Conference would address new developments on theory and practice in the fields of electrical, electronic, communications engineering and computing. The objective of the Conference is to bring together industry professionals, academics and a wider community of scientists from around the world for networking and promoting research. Some 45 professionals, academics and industry experts including 12 international delegates are expected to participate in the Conference.

18. Cabinet has taken note that the Universite des Mascareignes, in close partnership with the University of Limoges, Northumbria University, University of Aberdeen, Glasgow Caledonian University, Universite Polytechnique Hauts-de-France and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, would organise the 7th International Conference on Environment Friendly Energies and Applications, to be held in hybrid mode from 14 to 16 December 2022.

The objective of the Conference is to provide a platform for local and international academics from private and public universities, scientists, engineers and professionals from the industry to discuss recent developments in the field of environmental-friendly energies and their applications. Discussions would focus on themes such as renewable and sustainable energy systems, hybrid transportation systems, energy transition, energy security, hydropower and marine energy, and renewable energy technologies, amongst others. Some 100 participants, including 35 local and 65 international academics, researchers and industry experts, are expected to attend the Conference.

19. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of a Workshop on Role and Responsibilities of the Resident Engineer in the FIDIC Contracts, organised recently by the Construction Industry Development Board, in line with its mandate in promoting the development and improvement of the construction industry. Discussions were focused on the role and responsibilities of the Resident Engineer at three stages of project implementation, namely:

(a) prior to Start of Work;

(b) during Execution of Work; and

(c) during Defects Notification Period and Beyond.

20. Cabinet has taken note of the activities being organised by the Ministry of Blue Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping, in collaboration with the Fishermen Welfare Fund, to celebrate the World Fisheries Day 2022, observed on 21 November. The following activities would be organised on Monday 21 November 2022 at 1130 hours at Le Morne Village Public Beach, where a monument has been erected in memory of fishermen who disappeared at sea during performance of their duty:

(a) inter-religious prayers;

(b) a wreath laying ceremony;

(c) speeches by eminent personalities; and

(d) a parade by the National Coast Guard followed by the Last Post.

21. Cabinet has taken note of the traffic diversion schemes along A1 (Port-Louis-St Jean) Road at Grand Riviere that would be implemented in connection with major excavation works to be undertaken by the Wastewater Management Authority in the context of the Pailles Guibies Sewerage Project Phase 2. The traffic schemes would be implemented in four phases and would be in place from 18 November till 23 December 2022. A sensitisation campaign would be conducted to inform and guide road users and the public in general on the different phases and on the upcoming traffic schemes that would be set up for that particular phase.

22. Cabinet has taken note that a new traffic scheme would be implemented across Motorway M1, at about 100 metres to the north of Nouvelle France roundabout, from Friday 18 November to Monday 21 November 2022, in the context of drain construction works being undertaken in the region.

The Traffic scheme would be as follows:

(i) the right-hand side lane of the Northbound Carriageway of Motorway M1 would be closed to traffic as from 1000 hours on Friday 18 November 2022 until 0400 hours on Monday 21 November 2022; and

(ii) the width of both lanes along the Southbound Carriageway would be reduced to 3.1 metres when approaching the works area and would return to normal beyond that point.

Traffic signs would be set up to inform and guide road users.

23. Cabinet has taken note of the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic prevailing in Mauritius. As at 09 November 2022, there were 81 active cases of COVID-19, out of which 30 were admitted at the New ENT Hospital. Over the period 03 to 09 November 2022, no death was attributed to COVID-19.

Cabinet also noted that as from 12 November 2022, the sanitary protocol regarding the mandatory wearing of face masks in public transport, including the Metro Express and taxis, as well as in passenger terminals at the port and the airport, would be lifted. The wearing of face masks in those places would be recommended but would not be mandatory. However, the wearing of face masks would remain mandatory in health institutions, pharmacies, nursing homes, care homes and disability care facilities.

Cabinet has further taken note that there is no suspected case of Monkeypox in Mauritius.

24. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the recent participation of the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, as co-chair, in the 8th High Level Meeting of the Governing Board of the OECD Development Centre, held in Paris in the context of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Centre.

The theme of the discussions was Putting Development Back on Track. The interventions were focused on, inter alia, the following:

(a) most promising pathways for achieving more global collaboration in the face of mounting economic challenges to development;

(b) supporting the design of solutions at both international and national levels to avoid a development reversal and accelerate sustainable development; and

(c) creating sustainable solutions for managing global debt and development finance needs.

25. Cabinet has taken note of the main outcomes of the Extra-Ordinary Meeting of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Council of Ministers responsible for Trade held recently in Gabon and which was attended by the Minister of Industrial Development, SMEs and Cooperatives. The meeting deliberated on several issues, including:

(a) the ongoing negotiations on the AfCFTA Phase II Instruments, which cover the Protocol on Investment, Protocol on Competition Policy and Protocol on Intellectual Property Rights, which were to be concluded according to the deadline set by the 35th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union held in February 2022;

(b) Trade in Services;

(c) the agenda and draft decisions of the upcoming Extra-Ordinary Assembly of Heads of State and Government on the AfCFTA to be held in Niamey, Niger on 25 November 2022; and

(d) the Draft Concept Note on the African Union Theme of the Year 2023  Acceleration of AfCFTA Implementation.

26. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the recent mission of the Minister of Financial Services and Good Governance to South Africa where he attended two conferences in Johannesburg and Cape Town, respectively on Sustainable Investment with Impact in Africa, at the invitation of Vistra (Mauritius) Limited, a leading global fund administrator and corporate service provider.

The Minister intervened at both conferences on the theme Mauritius Framework for Environmental, Social, and Governance and Impact Investments, whereby he, inter alia, showcased Mauritius position as the leading international financial centre in Africa for doing business, which is built on the countrys vision for incorporating sustainable development into its financial strategies.

27. Cabinet has taken note of the reconstitution of the Board of Trustees of La Clinique Mauricienne for the year 2023.

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#FIFA World Cup Captain Son Heung-min willing to risk health for fans It would be too risky for any athlete to return to competition less than a month after suffering facial fractures. But Son Heung-min, the beloved captain of the South Korean men's ...
After major medical events conclude and patients arrive home, they may still be reeling from what they have just experienced.

Fortunately for Pat and I, a very nice thing occurred. Our doctors had ordered Home Health Care. It arrived from McClaren Home Care out of Bay City. We had a great nurse who was so thorough, cheerful and encouraging - we just had to begin healing. She brought a big ray of sunshine with her each time she visited.

The system used by Home Care is sophisticated and completely digital. Our doctors had a full report minutes after we were examined. In addition, if we had any questions regarding our health status, the answer was just a click away. It was an easy transition to begin to feel better with the guidance we received. Our nurse soon became a family friend and we all looked forward to seeing her.

After a few weeks, we were ready for the next step: Cardiac rehab at Scheurer Hospital.

Some patients who are referred to the rehab program decline thinking they can do it on their own. Some probably don't want to spend the time, traveling to the hospital and participating. We had an hour's roundtrip travel time but knew it was going to be a benefit and looked forward to participating. We each met with one of the people at the hospital for an interview to review the doctor's orders and set up a schedule. Our doctors had emphasized the importance of rebuilding stamina so we were set up for three days a week.

I was really impressed when I arrived for my first session. There were numerous types of equipment that offered exercise for various muscles and stimulation of the heart. Before beginning, one of the team members wired me up with a heart monitor that would record my vitals as I moved from machine to machine. After doing a list of warm up exercises, I was invited to use any type of equipment that appealed to me.

When I began my first session a timer was set for five minutes at each of the three different machines I chose. The time was increased as I progressed until it reached a maximum of 15 minutes on each one. Halfway through the time period on each machine, one of the staff would visit me with a rolling blood pressure cart and record my vitals. She would call them out to the person who was manning the computer and gathering all the participants' data. Each patient's advancement was being compiled so their doctors could receive a progress report at any time.

Although it seemed difficult at first, very soon I became comfortable with the routine and the hour of rehab passed quickly. My team of three specialists -- RN, exercise physiologist and respiratory therapist -- were so easy and enjoyable to work with. I noted many of the patients would stick around after their work outs just to chat with each other and the team members. Some days it was tiring but as the session numbers increased, I found myself becoming stronger. I was working and loosening muscles up that I had not used for a long time.

Another benefit of the three days a week attendance is just getting going to do something you know will improve your health and well-being.

I may sound like a commercial for the program but once a person gets involved and committed to it, they become a fan. As I see it, a statement in the pamphlet I received about the program is true. "Cardiac Rehab can be the missing puzzle piece to getting your heart back to great health."

Speaking of great health - turkey day is fast approaching and it's the day we look the other way and enjoy all the wonderful food that surrounds the big bird. It's also a day of thankfulness for all of our blessings which begin with family. I sincerely hope all of my readers will be surrounded by them this Thanksgiving.

I was fortunate to see many of my family before I headed south. We all gave thanks for the recovery Pat and I have made. They gave us a great send off as we headed south to enjoy the annual feast in my temporary home with my daughter in Florida.

Capt. Fred Davis is a retired charter captain and nationally published author of boating articles. His "As I See It" columns appear Saturday in the Huron Daily Tribune.
Huron County has been abuzz about mosquito abatement after a rough summer of fighting the pests, especially in the Sebewaing area.

Neighboring Tuscola County previously put the issue on the ballot and now has a popular county-wide mosquito abatement program.

So, Huron County commissioners looked into doing the same.

Then, Corporate Counsel Stephen Allen advised commissioners that it's not actually legal to follow Tuscola's steps.

After hearing Allen's opinion, the county sought counsel from the Michigan Attorney General's Office on the matter. That opinion was revealed this week. Attorney General Bill Schuette's office said it would be allowable for Huron County commissioners to put it on the ballot.

But some commissioners believe Allen's opinion -- and Allen thinks the AG's opinion is strained.

Some are calling this a political, rather than legal, opinion. With next year's gubernatorial election, in which Schuette is a candidate, the AG's office would not want to infer that mosquito abatement ballot issues in counties like Tuscola were illegal.

However, if a court were to overturn the legality of the ballot questions, the AG's opinion would be invalid, and the county could land itself in legal trouble.

Meanwhile, Sebewaing Township approved a ballot measure this month for mosquito abatement, which will cost taxpayers $60 to $70 annually per household. And, the Village of Sebewaing will make a choice about funding mosquito abatement in May.

This presents another problem for Huron County.

If voters were to pass county-wide mosquito abatement, the issue of taxing Sebewaing Township, and possibly the Village of Sebewaing, twice for the same service would have to be addressed.

Also, there's a geographical issue to consider. The center of the county does not have nearly the problem with mosquitos that communities along the shore experience.

The question then is: Why should communities that are not as bugged by mosquitos have to pay for a problem along the shore?

We believe the decision about instituting mosquito abatement should be made by local municipalities. That way it won't cost the county in terms of funding and possible liability issues down the road, and the solution would be limited to municipalities that want to pay for it.
Update at 11:17 a.m.: Officials with Hard Rock International said the stolen Eddie Van Halen guitar has been safely returned to the restaurant. They are now working with local authorities investigating the incident.

Original story: A thief walked into the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown San Antonio Friday morning, grabbed an iconic Eddie Van Halen guitar off the wall and then walked out.
LONDON, Nov. 17 -- Four people were killed on Friday in a mid-air collision between a helicopter and a light aircraft in Britain.

Four killed in helicopter, light plane mid-air collision in Britain.[Photo/Xinhua]

Local police said two people were killed in each aircraft, but haven't given any details of the identity or the genders of the victims.

Police and the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said they have launched a joint investigation to establish the cause of the collision.

Wreckage from both aircraft was discovered near the estate grounds of historic Waddesdon Manor near Winchendon, Buckinghamshire.

Witnesses said they heard a loud bang over woodland shortly after midday before realizing there was a mid-air collision. Both aircraft involved, which were flying at low altitude, had taken off from Wycombe Air Park, about 25 km to the southeast of the estate.
A Marine Corps howitzer mission to target Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria has seen great success against the enemy and has reinvigorated the artillery community, the commanding officer of 2nd Marine Division said Thursday.

Speaking at a Marine Corps Association and Foundation event near Washington, D.C., Maj. Gen. John Love said 1st Battalion, 10th Marines -- which deployed with M777 155mm howitzers from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in late September -- has distinguished itself in the ground fight against ISIS.

"We think that battery has killed more ISIS than anybody else out there right now, including special operations forces," he said.

Love did not specify where the battery is operating in the Middle East. However, defense officials have lately spoken highly of the Marine artillery detachment in Syria that provided support to local forces as they assaulted Raqqa.

Army Sgt.Maj. John Troxell, the senior enlisted adviser to Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon earlier this month that Marines had fired so many artillery rounds in rapid succession that they burned out the barrels of two M777 howitzers -- a far from easy feat.

Marine artillery has been part of the ISIS fight since early 2016, when a small contingent of Marines departed the deployed 26th MEU to set up a fire base in Northern Iraq, near Mosul. That unit eventually redeployed and was replaced by an Army unit.

In February 2017, a detachment of Marines, including elements of multiple artillery batteries, was dispatched from the deployed 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit to support the Raqqa assault in Syria. Unlike the Iraq fire base, the position in Syria was mobile, and repositioned multiple times to keep pressure on the enemy.

The deployment of 1st Battalion, 10th Marines, which represented the first time a Marine artillery battery had been dispatched from stateside to support the ISIS ground fight, came about seven months after the first artillery deployment to Syria.

Love told Military.com that the Corps expects to continue providing artillery support to the fight against ISIS in rotational deployments going forward.

"There's a long-term rotation plan," he said. "But I can't tell you who's next or how long or where they're going."

The Marines' 155mm cannons had been so effective against ISIS, he said, because of the firepower they brought, a devastating effect heightened by coordination with ongoing airstrikes.

The prospect of a new long-term artillery combat mission, he said, had driven new purpose into a community that for several years prior had deployed only for training or deterrence.

"It has enlivened the artillery community in the last two years," he said. "Ever since the very first Marine expeditionary unit went ashore and they've had sustained artillery ashore, it gives them a real sense of purpose ... this has put a new spark into that community."

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.
More than 20,300 allegations of sexual assaults at military installations worldwide have been reported over the last four years, the Defense Department said Friday.

In a report listing the bases for each service, DoD's Sexual Assault and Prevention Office (SAPRO) said that Army installations received a total of 8,284 allegations of sexual assault from fiscal 2013 through fiscal 2016; the Navy, 4,788; the Marine Corps ,3,400; and the Air Force, 3,876.

The Army post with the most reports of sexual assaults in fiscal 2016 was Fort Hood, Texas, with 199; the most in the Navy in fiscal 2016 was Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, with 270; and the most in the Marine Corps that year was 169 at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

In the Air Force, the installation with the most allegations of sexual assault in fiscal 2016 was the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, with 44 reports.

In fiscal 2016, there were 24 reports of sexual assault at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and 24 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, SAPRO said.

The total of 20,348 reports of sexual assaults for the four years included both "restricted" and "unrestricted" allegations, SAPRO said.

An unrestricted report is one of a sex-related allegation made by an individual against one or more individuals that is referred for investigation to a Military Criminal Investigative Organization (MCIO) or civilian law enforcement with jurisdiction.

A restricted report is one made confidentially by a victim who may be seeking "advocacy, support services, medical care, and mental health counseling" and is not referred to criminal investigation, SAPRO said.

In a statement accompanying the report, SAPRO said it was releasing the data on sexual assaults at individual bases worldwide in response to Freedom of Information requests for the statistics from news organizations.

SAPRO also said that assaults listed for a particular base did not necessarily mean that the alleged offenses occurred there.

"One of the features of the department's reporting program is that service members can report allegations of sexual assault at any time and at any place," said Dr. Nate Galbreath, the deputy director of SAPRO.

"As a result, the number of reports listed for an installation doesn't necessarily mean that the alleged incident occurred there. A report could involve allegations for an incident that occurred while on deployment, while away on leave, or even prior to entering the military," he said.

The flexibility in reporting allegations was made to encourage victims to come forward and "to increase reporting of sexual assault and decrease the occurrence of the crime through prevention," Galbreath said.

Since 2012, SAPRO's annual reports on sexual assault in the military have shown regular declines in the rates, although the statistics have been disputed by advocacy groups and several members of Congress.

In 2016, the most recent data the department has on the prevalence rates of sexual assault showed a decrease from 6.1% of active-duty women in 2012 to 4.3% in 2016, and from 1.2% of active-duty men in 2012 to 0.6% in 2016, SAPRO said.

In the report released Friday, SAPRO estimated that in fiscal 2016 about 32 percent of service members who experience sexual assault now report it, up from 25 percent in fiscal years 2014 and 2015.

The overall numbers released Friday reflect previous reports by SAPRO. The new information is on assaults at particular bases and can be seen here.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
In the wake of an appellate court decision that overturned a Marine scout sniper's high-profile conviction and sent shock waves through the military justice community, a number of lawyers are working feverishly to determine what the implications are for other Marines who were punished.

One of those attorneys has another client: the president of the United States.

On Nov. 8, the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals handed down a decision overturning the conviction of then-Staff Sgt. Joe Chamblin, who was demoted and ultimately discharged for involvement in a 2011 incident in which a number of scout snipers urinated on Taliban corpses during a combat deployment to Afghanistan, and then posted a video of the act to YouTube.

The court found that actions taken by Gen. Jim Amos, then-commandant of the Marine Corps, created the appearance of unlawful command influence in the conviction, creating a taint on proceedings that was never adequately addressed or alleviated.

According to sworn testimony cited in the opinion, Amos told the general originally in charge of the sniper cases, Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, that he wanted the Marines "crushed" for their activities.

Waldhauser, who had told Amos he didn't plan to send all the cases to general court-martial, was shortly thereafter removed as the oversight authority and replaced, a move Amos said was designed to remove any possibility of his own comments interfering with Waldhauser's discretion to act in the cases.

The court called Amos' "crushed" comment "an unusually flagrant example of [unlawful command influence]."

'It Was So Powerful'

The same day that opinion came out, John Dowd sprang into action. Dowd, then with the law firm Akin Gump, represented Capt. James Clement, one of two officers who faced punishment in connection with the sniper scandal. He now works for himself, and became part of President Donald Trump's legal team in June.

"We're going to put together a petition on behalf of everyone, all the defendants, to have them all corrected," Dowd told Military.com on Thursday. " ... The court's opinion was unbelievable. It was so powerful."

Dowd helped Clement, accused of failing to supervise snipers on a patrol during which he was manning a radio, to secure an administrative board of inquiry hearing in lieu of a court-martial.

Among those who testified in Clement's defense was Gen. John Kelly, then-commander of U.S. Southern Command. During the 2013 proceeding, Kelly said Clement should not have been held accountable for a unit whose leaders had become lax in discipline.

Kelly, who retired from the Corps in 2016, is now the White House chief of staff.

Dowd said he shared the news about the Chamblin appellate decision with Kelly while the two stood in the Oval Office. The White House hasn't taken a stance on the sniper case or publicly discussed it.

Kelly, who had no direct involvement with the sniper cases while in uniform, nonetheless followed them closely. In 2014, after the untimely death of one of the snipers, retired Sgt. Rob Richards, he contacted the Marine veteran's family to express his sympathies.

"[Kelly] just hated the way the Marines were treated," Dowd said.

Despite the testimony in his defense, the board of inquiry voted to discharge Clement from the service.

Dowd has enlisted a former Marine Corps attorney, retired Lt. Col. James Weirick, to investigate how to appeal Clement's discharge.

Weirick went public in 2013 with allegations of unlawful command influence against Amos and his legal team. He is cited in the appellate decision as the source of affidavits alleging Amos' attorneys improperly classified evidence in the sniper cases and withheld evidence from the defense.

"I haven't gotten down to the nuts and bolts of how you clean that up," Dowd said of Clement's discharge. "But I think if there's any evidence of command influence, it's discharging someone that you found the facts for."

In all, nine Marines faced varying levels of punishment, from special court-martial to letters of reprimand in relation to the urination video and other videos that were shot on the same deployment.

'An Unlevel Playing Field'

Although five years have passed and none of the Marines remains in uniform, the symbolic gesture of restoring rank and vacating convictions is important to see through, multiple attorneys said.

"It was an unlevel playing field," Florida-based attorney Ken Martin said of the sniper cases. Martin said he is representing one of the nine Marines, but declined to publicly identify him because of the stigma attached to the case.

"We're going to try to use that decision to get these guys, their records corrected," Martin said. "The ones that went to [nonjudicial punishment] might get their rank back. It's not going to restore them, but it's the best that can be done years later."

Perhaps the most famous of the sniper prosecutions was that of Richards, a sniper who had been severely wounded on a prior deployment and had been recognized for heroism during the 2011 deployment to Afghanistan, receiving a recommendation for a Bronze Star.

Richards pleaded guilty at a summary court-martial proceeding at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in August 2013, receiving a demotion and securing a medical retirement from the Marine Corps with full benefits.

He died tragically at age 28 in August 2014 after what was believed to be a negative reaction to one of his prescription medications.

'We'd Like to See It Corrected Now'

Guy Womack, a Texas-based attorney who represented Richards during his prosecution, told Military.com that he is still working to secure Richards' Bronze Star on behalf of Raechel Richards, his widow.

"The Bronze Star that he so richly deserved, they always wanted that, and he did too," Womack said. "We'd like to see it corrected now."

The process of renewing a recommendation for the valor award is complicated. Col. Christopher Dixon, the former commander of 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, who originally submitted the recommendation, must renew the paperwork, Womack said, and he has been difficult to reach.

Also unclear for Womack is the proper way forward to review Richards' summary court-martial; he is examining the possibility of appealing to the Judge Advocate General of the Navy for an evaluation of Richards' case in light of the recent Chamblin decision.

"We're looking into it and figuring out what we're going to do," Womack said. "We fully intend to file something."

All the attorneys involved with the sniper cases said they are eager to find out whether the government intends to appeal the recent decision to the next-highest court, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

If CAAF reverses the lower court's findings, hopes of overturning more convictions may be short-lived.

A spokeswoman for the office of the Navy Judge Advocate General, Patricia Babb, told Military.com the government has 30 days from the decision date to request that the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Appeals reconsider its decision. The Judge Advocate General can opt to certify the case to CAAF within 60 days of the decision or, if NMCCA reconsideration is denied, within 30 days of that denial.

Babb declined to say whether the government had made a decision.

"Given that this is a matter in litigation, it would be inappropriate to comment on any potential future actions," she said.

If efforts to correct the snipers' service records do move forward, Weirick told Military.com he suspects the high profile of some of those now interested in the cases may result in a prompter evaluation and decision by the Board for Correction of Naval Records.

"They can move very fast to correct things if they want to," he said.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.
Officials say the device was known as an "unexploded ordnance," or an explosive weapon that did not explode and still posed a...
A top Chinese envoy landed in North Korea today in a trip hailed as a "big move" by US President Donald Trump, who has urged Beijing to pile pressure on its nuclear-armed ally.

Diplomat Song Tao is visiting the North on behalf of President Xi Jinping to brief officials on the recent Chinese Communist Party congress and other "issues of mutual interest", foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

He is the first major Chinese envoy to visit Pyongyang in more than a year with ties severely strained between the two countries.

Analysts expect Song to address the nuclear standoff, which has roiled relations between the two Cold War-era allies as China has backed United Nations sanctions on North Korea over its missile tests and sixth nuclear blast.

Trump, who warned Xi during his trip to Beijing last week that time was "quickly running out" to solve the nuclear crisis, took to Twitter on Thursday to hail the mission as "a big move, we'll see what happens!".

A brief report from North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency this morning confirmed Song had landed and met with Choe Ryong-Hae, a senior Pyongyang official and a close aide of leader Kim Jong-Un.

The report said Song told his hosts China wanted to "develop the traditional friendly relations between the two parties and countries" but contained no further details of what was discussed.

Washington wants China, which accounts for 90 per cent of North Korea's foreign trade, to put more economic pressure on the reclusive regime.

But experts doubt Song's visit will yield major breakthroughs.

"China has virtually no political influence on North Korea. Its influence is derived from economic leverage," Bonnie Glaser, China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told AFP.

"Relations are extremely stressed. Perhaps the lowest point since the Korean War," she said. "Perhaps (the mission) will put a floor under China-North Korea relations, preventing further deterioration."

China has imposed its own banking restrictions on North Koreans in addition to enacting a series of UN measures that include bans on imports of coal, iron ore and seafood from the North.

But Beijing fears that squeezing Pyongyang too hard would cause its collapse.

Song is the first Chinese envoy to make an official trip to North Korea since October 2016, when vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin visited.

Geng gave scant details about the trip, saying he did not know who he would meet or what topics he would discuss.

China's relations with North Korea are currently at "the lowest point they've been in history", leaving the North diplomatically at its most isolated, said Lu Chao, director of the North Korea Research Centre at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences.

As a high-level diplomat, Song would likely meet directly with North Korea's top leaders, he said.

"As far as North Korea is concerned, China's opinion is still an important one and will certainly arouse their full attention," Lu said.

As nuclear tensions have soared, Xi has pushed for negotiations and a "dual track approach" in which the United States would freeze its military drills in the region while North Korea halts its weapons programmes.

Trump claimed this week that Xi had agreed to drop his plan during their talks last week, but Beijing stood by its policy.

"We believe that at the moment, this is the most realistic, feasible, fair and reasonable plan," Geng told a regular news briefing.

Yuan Jingdong, a specialist in Asia-Pacific security issues at the University of Sydney, expects little from Song's mission.

"We can expect some face-saving, assuring but very general and abstract commitments with no substance changes in North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes," Yuan said.

The visit is "more about warning North Korea against going to extremes than forcing it to give up the nukes" because China's top priority remains maintaining regional stability, he said.

Song would likely "assure Kim that if he behaves within a reasonable bound he can expect Beijing to continue providing some assistance and resist broadening the sanctions.
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Banking sector this week started off with a shocking robbery that took place at a Bank of Baroda branch in Mumbai. From deliberations over the last weekend between bankers and the finance ministry to State Bank of India (SBI) reducing its employee base and Bank of Baroda chief singing melody, the week perked up to end with the big bank announcement of Moodys upgrading Indias sovereign rating and also some of the public sector companies.

Here's a recap.

SBI cuts employee base

People queue to deposit or exchange their old high denomination banknotes outside State Bank of India on the outskirts of Agartala, India, November 16, 2016. REUTERS/Jayanta Dey - D1BEUNDRSUAA

SBI, countrys largest bank, has reduced its total employee strength by 10,584 in the six months period after its merger. This is further expected to go down by 4,876 people by the end of the year closing March 2018, as targeted by the bank.

Bank of Baroda robbery

Over Rs 1 crore worth of jewellery and valuables were stolen from a Bank of Baroda branch in Navi Mumbai by robbers who dug a 25-feet tunnel from an adjacent shop.

Security of safes and safety deposit lockers at banks is now under question and Bank of Baroda CEO and other experts suggested an upgradation of security and alarm systems, fresh guidelines and safety procedures to battle evolving techniques of robbers and criminals.

Related: Dos and Don'ts while using a safety locker facility

Amidst the robbery news, Bank of Baroda reported a 36 percent drop in net profit at Rs 355 crore, even as its asset quality improved in quarter ended September 2017.

Singing to the old classic by Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar, "Jo waada kiya woh nibhaana padega", CEO P.S. Jayakumar hoped to live up to the promise of controlling NPAs as the challenges still continue.

In some good news...

Banking sector also witnessed Moodys upgrade for long-term ratings of four financial institutions including SBI and HDFC Bank.

Bankers also gave a thumbs-up to the sovereign rating upgrade saying it was an endorsement of the economic prudence and reforms in the country.

Weekend bankers manthan

After the weekend PSB Manthan with public sector banks (PSBs), the Department of Financial Services (DFS) will soon lay out an action plan for banks on differentiated lending to improve loan growth and look at improvements in the insolvency process to push resolution of non-performing assets (NPAs).

Busy with referring large corporate stressed loans to the insolvency courts and not finding buyers offering the right price, bankers sold about Rs 6,000 crore or just about 20 percent of proposed stock of bad loans to asset reconstruction companies.

RBI on interest rates and P2P guidelines

People walk past the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) head office in Mumbai, India, November 9, 2016. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui - RTX2SPC4

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which is examining a study groups recommendation on external benchmarking of loan rates, will take a considered view at an appropriate time, factoring in the transition cost of moving to the new system, said Viral Acharya, deputy governor of RBI.

Further, the central bank is soon likely to issue clarifications on the guidelines for peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms relating to the lending limits, trusteeship and other operational norms.

Private credit card offer by ICICI Bank?

In other news, digital payment player Paytm has partnered with ICICI Bank , countrys largest private sector bank, to jointly launch Paytm-ICICI Bank Postpaid, offering interest-free short-term digital loans up to Rs 20,000 for a maximum of 45 days.
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"Real talk: Daniel Rubin has a great little piece up wherein he chats with The Field Negro, the Philly-based blogger who sharply ponders all things black on a daily basis. (Seriously, if youve never checked in with TFN, you should: Its author, Wayne Bennett, is a fantastic read who can cut through bullshit like a hot knife through butter, which is a far grosser analogy than I wanted to make, but there you have it.)"

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"To white people, Bennett's musings are like kitchen-table talk from a kitchen they may otherwise never set foot in. To African Americans, he is part of a growing army of black Internet amateurs who have taken up the work once reserved for ministers and professional activists: the work of setting a black agenda, shaping black opinion and calling attention to the state of the nation's racial affairs."



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411 On The Field field negro Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Raised in the house, but field certified. Jamaica is the land of my birth, but I consider myself a citizen of the world. I currently practice law in the city of "brotherly love". View my complete profile



"Half a century after Little Rock, the Montgomery bus boycott and the tumultuous dawn of the modern civil rights era, the new face of the movement is Facebook, MySpace and some 150 black blogs united in an Internet alliance they call the

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Older, familiar leaders such as Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton and NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, are under challenge by a younger generation of bloggers known by such provocative screen names as Field Negro, thefreeslave

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Cement

Believe it or not, people living in Vijoynagar town of Arunachal Pradesh pay Rs 8,000 for one bag of cement, that too if it is available.

Vijoynagar, a sub-divisional town under Changlang district with just 1500 residents, has no proper surface communication. People have to walk for five days from the nearest thoroughfare in Miao to reach the town.

Though there is a weekly helicopter service for transporting supplies but that is largely subjected to weather condition.

"The Chakmas, who travel long distances on foot to transport cement, charge Rs 8,000 for one bag. A WC pan comes for Rs 2,000," Public Health Engineering department junior engineer Jumli Ado told PTI.

The PHE department is undertaking construction of Individual Household Latrine (IHHL) in the town, a project partially funded by Centre - Rs 10,800 from the central government and Rs 9,200 by the state for one IHHL.

"All materials are transported to Vijoynagar, at the India-China-Myanmar tri-junction, through Namdapha National Park by Chakmas. They charge Rs 8,000 per bag of cement (Rs 150 per kg)," Ado disclosed.

They carry the materials on their back and walk down 156 km for five days to reach the destination, Ado said, adding one could imagine the challenges this hilly state faces in achieving the open defecation free (ODF) status by December.

Ado, while taking part in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan - Gramin (SBA-gramin) awareness programme at Namphainong village of the district on November 4, had said despite numerous challenges IHHL project is moving at a fast pace.

State Civil Supply Minister Kamlung Mossang, who represents Miao assembly constituency, said the state government has approved a road construction project for the area.

Bordumsa village (headman) Shekhep and ODF consultant Nyabon Pongtey added that journey to Vijoynagar by foot is a herculean task. Development naturally moves at a snail's speed in this part of the state, they said.

"Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju had announced in Itanagar in July 2014 a central government proposal to populate nearly 100 villages situated along the border. Though Arunachal shares international boundary of 1,680 km with Bhutan, China and Myanmar, the project has not seen the light of the day," Shekhep lamented.

Development is still a mirage in this sensitive border state for lack of connectivity even after three decades of establishment. Many of the inhabited villages in far-flung areas are inaccessible and deprived of essential commodities.

The North Eastern Frontier Agency (NEFA), largest among seven NE states, was created in 1954. It became a union territory and was renamed Arunachal Pradesh on January 20, 1972 and finally statehood on February 20, 1987.

The Central Purchase Organization (CPO) with base at Mohanbari in Assam's Dibrugarh district, now known as the public distribution system (PDS), was very effective in the 80s when essential items were airdropped in many remote areas.

With the PDS proving ineffective, today salt which costs Rs 20 per kg in state capital is about Rs 250 in many border areas, including Vijoynagar.

"People living in the border areas are forced to migrate to urban places for lack of basic amenities. These ghost towns along the border are one of the reasons why China is entering the territory," former finance minister Late Kalikho Pul had told a tribal ministers' conference in New Delhi on October 28, 2014.
A plea was made in the Supreme Court for giving a specific date for hearing the petition in the politically sensitive Rs 64-crore Bofors pay-off case.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra did not pass any order when a mention was made for giving a early date of hearing on the appeal filed by an advocate-cum-politician Ajay Agrawal.

The apex court on September 1 had posted for hearing in the week beginning October 30 the 12-year-old appeal filed by Agarwal, who had contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 from Rai Bareli against Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

However, the matter did not come up for hearing as the CJI was heading a Constitution bench in the week that followed.

The apex court had on October 18, 2005 admitted Agarwal's petition which was filed after the CBI failed to approach the top court with the appeal within the 90-day deadline following the May 31, 2005 Delhi High Court verdict quashing charges against the Europe-based industrialists, the Hinduja brothers.

Meanwhile, citing media reports that the CBI had sought Attorney General K K Venuopal's opinion on the issue of filing a separate appeal in the case, the BJP leader has shot off a letter to the top law officer requesting that the probe agency should be asked to respond to his criminal appeal and clarify its stand through an affidavit in the top court.

He had earlier written a letter addressed to CBI Director Alok Verma that instead of filing an appeal against the high court judgement, the agency should clarify its stand through an affidavit in the top court.

He has said that filing of a fresh appeal by the CBI would delay the matter which is coming up for hearing.

Justice R S Sodhi of the Delhi High Court, since retired, had on May 31, 2005 quashed all charges against the three Hinduja brothers -- Srichand, Gopichand and Prakashchand -- and the Bofors company and had castigated the CBI for its handling of the case, saying it had cost the exchequer about Rs 250 crore.

There has been demand in Parliament by ruling BJP MPs for reopening the probe into the Bofors kickback scandal after media reports quoting Swedish chief investigator Sten Lindstrom suggested alleged bribery at the top level.

Before the 2005 verdict of Justice Sodhi, another judge of the Delhi High Court, Justice J D Kapoor (since retired), on February 4, 2004 had exonerated late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in the case and directed the framing of the charge of forgery under section 465 of the IPC against the Bofors company.

The Rs 1,437-crore deal between India and Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors for the supply of 400 155mm Howitzer guns for the Indian Army was entered into on March 24, 1986. Swedish Radio on April 16, 1987, had claimed that the company had paid bribes to top Indian politicians and defence personnel.

The CBI on January 22, 1990 had registered the FIR for alleged offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery under the Indian Penal Code and other sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Martin Ardbo, the then President of AB Bofors, alleged middleman Win Chadda and the Hinduja brothers.

It had alleged that certain public servants and private persons in India and abroad had entered into a criminal conspiracy between 1982 and 1987 in pursuance of which the offences of bribery, corruption, cheating and forgery were committed.

The first charge sheet in the case was filed on October 22, 1999, against Chadda, Ottavio Quattrocchi, then defence secretary S K Bhatnagar, Ardbo and the Bofors company. A supplementary charge sheet was filed against the Hinduja brothers on October 9, 2000.

A special CBI court in Delhi on March 4, 2011, had discharged Quattrocchi from the case saying the country could not afford to spend hard-earned money on his extradition which had already cost Rs 250 crore.

Quattrocchi, who fled from here on July 29-30, 1993, never appeared before any court in India to face prosecution. He passed away on July 13, 2013. The other accused persons who have died are Bhatnagar, Chadda and Ardbo.
Ruchi Infrastructure | In the last four months, the stock price has risen 628 percent to Rs 14.55 per share from Rs 2.00 per share on March 27, 2020.

India doubled the import tax on crude palm oil to 30 percent, while the duty on refined palm oil has been raised to 40 percent from 25 percent earlier, the government said in an order late on Friday, as it tries to support local farmers.

The world's biggest importer of edible oils also raised the import tax on crude soyoil to 30 percent from 17.5 percent earlier. It raised the import tax on refined soyoil to 35 percent from 20 percent earlier, it said.

India imports palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia and soyoil from Argentina and Brazil.
The rally driven by surprised Moody's India rating upgrade and positive global cues in last two consecutive sessions helped the market offset initial losses (due to rising crude oil prices and widening trade deficit) in the passing week. The Nifty shed 0.37 percent and the Sensex ended flat. Some profit booking was seen in late trade on Friday, otherwise it would have been a positive close for the market.

Now the market digested rating upgrade, September quarter earnings season that was stable-to-better-than-expected, and crude prices that eased after hitting 2-1/2 years high. Even the GST shocks are behind as the government has been trying hard to solve each and every problem and make it simpler for everyone.

"The recently concluded Q2FY18 earnings season sets the tone for the future. After some initial hiccups in July post the implementation of GST, majority of businesses in the listed space appear to be gradually stabilising. The trend in numbers reported by consumer companies was encouraging. This together with the Governments thrust on rural spend augurs well for a possibility of recovery in rural demand," Shibani Kurian, Senior Vice President and Head of Equity Research, Kotak Mutual Fund said.

"We remain hopeful of further improvement corporate earnings especially once the impact of GST implementation fades."

Experts feel crude oil prices is the risk to India that everyone knows, but the next key thing to watch out for would be Gujarat Assembly Elections (1st phase on December 9 and 2nd on December 14 and results on December 18), apart from RBI monetary policy (December 5-6) and Federal Reserve meet (December 12-13).

Till then, they feel, the market is expected to be rangebound and the stock specific action would be seen but the sharp correction is unlikely.

The domestic inflow is very strong and that is likely to continue, and second half of FY18 earnings are expected to be better than first half, they reasoned while saying we are in bull run.

Morgan Stanley remains optimistic on India as the macros are on a solid footing, the economic growth is turning around and earnings picture is certainly looking lot healthier.

"One-time effect of demonetisation and the GST implementation are largely behind us. And the growth is likely to surprise on the upside over next one year," Ridham Desai of Morgan Stanley said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

According to experts, if major correction happens then that could be because of any global cues or any disappointment from Modi government. But that correction should be bought into, they advise.

Kurian said Indias fiscal situation, pace of resolution of banking sector stress and monetary policy outlook would be some of the key data points to monitor going forward.

In the near term market sentiment would also be driven by the outcome of some of the state elections as well as the trajectory of GDP growth, he added.

The movement of global oil prices and any geo political developments would be some of the key external risks which one should be mindful of, according to him.

Here are 10 key things to watch out for next week:-

After Moody's, other rating agencies' move will be watched

India's sovereign credit rating upgrade by Moodys to 'Baa2' from 'Baa3' for first time since 2004 and change in its outlook on the rating to stable from positive, citing continued progress in economic and institutional reforms on Friday cheered the markets.

Now the market will watch that the move of other rating agencies.

Currently Standard and Poor's has a BBB- rating on India since 2007 and stable outlook. It had upgraded India's sovereign rating to stable from negative in 2014, especially after Modi government came in power.

Fitch has kept its BBB- rating unchanged for 11 years on India, and retained stable outlook since 2013.

BBB- is one notch above Junk.

Bond Yield

The 10-year government bond yield reacted positively to Moody's upgrading India's sovereign rating, opening at 6.94 percent (12 basis points higher than previous year) on Friday but wiped out gains in last part of the session to close flat at 7.05 percent.

Experts expect the bond yield to hover around 7 percent in short term before it starts moving downwards to 6.6 percent.

In the coming quarter, yields may not see a major sell-off but could consolidate at higher levels in the range of 6.80-7.15 percent, Motilal Oswal feels while Kotak expects the benchmark 10-year yield to range from 6.9-7.1 percent for the remainder of Q3FY18.

"From foreign flows perspective in G-Sec debt segment, there is currently limited room as the G-Sec limits are mostly utilised. However, positive sentiments may help in utilisation of open SDL (state development loans) limits (Rs 25,200 crore) and the remaining general category limits in G-Sec (Rs 3,100 crore) and corporate bonds (Rs 4,000 crore). But we need to note that continued FPI equity inflows will keep alive the risks of further open market operations sales, implying higher supply pressure on bonds in the near term," Kotak reasoned.

However, the research house expects some respite to come in Q4FY18 as FPI limits in G-Sec bonds open up (around Rs 1,500 crore), helping the benchmark paper to move towards 6.8-7.0 percent.

"We do note that possible fiscal prudence with government sticking to FY2018 GFD/GDP at 3.2 percent (Kotak: 3.5 percent) and FY2019 at 3.0 percent could turn the tide further in favour of bonds. Alongside, a technical adjustment due to the introduction of a new benchmark 10-year paper could move the lower end of the range towards 6.6 percent in Q4FY18," Kotak said.

Macro Data

Consumer price index for rural and farm labourers for October will be released on November 20. Crude, refinery output for October and Mobile subscriber data for October will be announced during November 20-24.

Foreign exchange reserves for the week ended November 17 and bank loan growth & deposits growth for the week ended November 10 will be announced on Friday.

Stocks in Focus

Airline stocks - Jet Airways, SpiceJet and IndiGo (part of InterGlobe Aviation) - will be in focus on coming Monday, after the highest number of passengers carried in October for 2017.

For the first time, air travel volume breached the 1-crore mark in October, showing a healthy 20.52 percent growth over same month a year ago.

The carriers flew as much as 1.045 crore passengers in October 2017 against 86.72 lakh in October 2016, according to the data released by the regulator DGCA on Friday.

IndiGo retained its leadership position with 39.5 percent market share, followed by SpiceJet (13.1 percent) and Jet Airways (15.2 percent) while SpiceJet remained the leader in passenger load factor at 93.7 percent, followed by IndiGo (87.3 percent) and Jet Airways (80.5 percent).

Larsen & Toubro is expected to react positively on Monday as its subsidiary has bagged order worth Rs 8,650 crore to build Mumbai Trans Harbour link.

Reliance Communications will be in focus as Moody's has withdrawn its Ca Corporate Family rating & its negative outloo, and also the Ca rating on senior secured notes on Friday.

Logistics stocks (Allcargo Logistics, Patel Integrated, Snowman Logistics, Gati, Transport Corporation) will also be in focus on Monday as sources told CNBC-Awaaz that the sector will get infrastructure status. Finance Ministry has given the nod to give the logistics sector infrastructure status, which eases investment regulations in the logistics sector.

Three pharma stocks Divis Laboratories, Eris Life and Strides Shasun may trade higher on Monday.

Divis Laboratories has received an establishment inspection report from the US FDA for its unit-II at Visakhapatnam, with six observations.

Eris Lifesciences has entered into a definitive agreement to buy India branded generics business of Strides Shasun for an aggregate cash consideration of Rs 500 crore.

Private sector lenders IndusInd Bank and Yes Bank will be in focus as both will be added in BSE Sensex 30 on December 18 while drug makers Cipla and Lupin will be excluded from the index.

Buying may also be seen in Federal Bank, Grasim Industries, Vakrangee and Bajaj Holdings & Investment as these stocks will be added in BSE-100.

Earnings

Corporate Action

Technical Outlook

Experts said the Nifty did not break its support level of 10,100 in recent correction, so traders should not worry about the trend.

"The pattern clearly indicates that until the time Nifty does not break 10,100 one must not doubt the trend and buy at every opportunity. Let the fear of heights not get in the way," Kunal Saraogi, CEO at Equityrush.com said.

Arpit Jain, AVP at Arihant Capital Markets said the current price action on weekly chart has formed a candlestick pattern that resembles a bullish hammer. This suggests that momentum on the upside is likely to continue.

In coming week if Nifty trades and close above 10,336 level then it is likely to test 10,40910,481-10,566 levels. However, if Nifty trades and closes below 10,231 level then it can test 10,15810,085-10,000 levels, he feels.

Broadly, the undertone in the market has turned positive and any pull back in the range of 10,25510,20410,123 should be used to go long, with a stop loss of 10,066 for a target 10,400-10,600 levels in couple of weeks.

FIIs & DIIs flow and F&O Data

Foreign institutional investors bought nearly Rs 6,000 crore worth of shares and DIIs purchased Rs 3,451 crore worth of equities in the week gone by, due to stable September quarter earnings and Moody's India rating upgrade.

On Friday, maximum Call open interest (OI) of 59.98 lakh contracts was seen at strike price 10,500, which will act as a crucial resistance level for the index in the November series, followed by 10,400, which now holds 51.68 lakh contracts in open interest, and 10,600, which has accumulated 42.81 lakh contracts in OI.

Maximum Put OI of 48.77 lakh contracts was seen at strike price 10,000 which will act as a crucial base for the index in November series, followed by 10,200, which has accumulated 47.69 lakh contracts in open interest, and 10,300, which now holds 46.23 lakh contracts in open interest.

Crude Oil

The market will closely watch the movement in crude oil prices as India imports more than 80 percent of oil requirement.

Benchmark Brent crude oil futures settled at USD 62.72 a barrel, up nearly 2 percent, recovering ground after five sessions of losses while US light crude ended up 2.6 percent at USD 56.55 a barrel.

Investors majorly worried about the crude impact on fiscal deficit of the country.

Global Cues

Japanese trade balance data (imports and exports) will be announced on Monday.

US existing home sales data will be released on Tuesday while US durable goods orders, US unemployment claims, US crude oil inventories and US FOMC meeting minutes will be announced on Wednesday.

Europe's Manufacturing and Services PMI, and ECB Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes will be unveiled on Thursday.

Japan's Manufacturing PMI, and US Manufacturing and Services PMI data will be released on Friday.

US and Japanese markets will remain shut on Thursday for Thanksgiving Day.
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Benchmark indices are inching toward the record high made earlier this month. Sensex could get past 34,000 by December end on the back of stable earnings and the sovereign ratings upgrade by Moody's, which will turn FIIs positive on the Indian markets.

On Friday, the index started on a bullish note after a surprise move by ratings agency Moodys, which upgraded Indian government bond rating to Baa2 from Baa3 with outlook revised to stable from positive.

Pharma companies posted mix earnings in the quarter ended September 2017 on the back pricing pressure and increased competition.

In the week ended November 17, the Nifty Pharma index was down 0.83 percent and in last 1-year it was slipped 14.8 percent closed at 9,161.80.

There are top five pharma stocks where brokerages have maintain positive stance post Q2 results which can give up to 30 percent upside in the next one year time.

Sun Pharma | Brokerage: Credit Suisse | Rating: Outperform | Target: Rs 595 | Return: 15%

According to Credit Suisse the results during the previous quarter were weak impacted by deferred US sales. It believes that the margins is likely to improve in the second half, expecting the company to beat margin guidance of 20- 22 percent.

The company does not yet received the Halol inspection dates but expects it to be in the current quarter, it added.

The firm has but earnings per share by 3 percent for the current financial year, which is driven by weak US sales. The demerger of part of Global FZE could sustain lower tax rate, it added.

Cadila Healthcare | Brokerage: Prabhudas Lilladher | Rating: Accumulate | Target: Rs 519 | Return: 16%

Prabhudas Lilladher said the US and India traction lead to previous quarter surpassing estimates, while sustainability is going to drive the valuation of the company.

It believes that the key launches to drive the US generic growth in the second half and the next financial year. Also expecting benefits of exclusive launches to significantly improve headline margins.

Marksans Pharma | Brokerage: IDFC Securities | Rating: Outperformer | Target: Rs 51| Return: 25%

In the second quarter the weak gross margins offset strong revenue growth, while there are higher revenues in Europe/US, said IDFC Securities.

The pace of recovery to be muted on account of pricing pressures in the US market.

The key triggers include continues improvement in UK, ability to increase client penetration in the US and securing new softgel ANDA approvals, said IDFC Securities.

Dr Lal PathLabs | Brokerage: Citi | Rating: Buy | Target: Raised to Rs 1,110 from Rs 1,020 | Return: 23%

According to the research house the September quarter was a solid quarter with margins holding up despite Goods and Services Tax.

The growth and margin outlook is encouraging and expecting strong, multiyear growth in revenues and profits over the long term, it added.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals | Brokerage: CLSA | Rating: Buy | Target: Cut to Rs 1,640 from Rs 1,660 | Return: 30%

According to CLSA the acquisition valuation of Unichems domestic business is in-line with past deals. The said acquisition to be earnings per share accretive by March 2021 which hinges on its ability to accelerate the sales growth of key Unichem brands.

In the quarter ended September the India and Europe business were strong, while the Brazil, US and CRAMS were weak. The target is cut to factor lower US and Brazil sales.
Ashwani Gujral of ashwanigujral.com told CNBC-TV18, "In Bombay Burmah, people are not so sure if it is a holding company, trading company, etc. That keeps moving up. So I would think this is still a pretty good stock, probably keep a stoploss closer to Rs 1,350 thereabouts. And once the rally restarts, we should get back towards Rs 1,700-1,750."

On Friday, Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation ended at Rs 1,458.65, down Rs 37.95, or 2.54 percent.

The share touched its 52-week high Rs 1,735.35 and 52-week low Rs 452.80 on 18 October, 2017 and 22 November, 2016, respectively.

Currently, it is trading 15.94 percent below its 52-week high and 222.14 percent above its 52-week low.
Ashwani Gujral of ashwanigujral.com told CNBC-TV18, "Housing finance seems to have bottomed out. So Can Fin Homes is a buy with a stoploss of Rs 470, target of Rs 495."

"Pidilite Industries is a buy with a stoploss of Rs 825, target of Rs 860. Reliance Industries is a buy with a stoploss of Rs 895, target of Rs 940."

"Since rupee has fallen back towards 65 per dollar, IT will also come back and this entire rally was led by Reliance, banks and IT. Next week onwards IT will also show better participation on the upside. So Reliance Industries is still a fairly decent buy here," he added.

: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.
Auto

The electric vehicle bandwagon is picking pace in India now that two of the most dominant Japanese players have joined hands to make electric cars in the country. That, and a couple of key launches made headlines this week. Here is a wrap of all such developments from the auto world.

Suzuki, Toyota sign MoU to make EVs in India

Toyota Motor Corporation, the worlds biggest automaker and Suzuki Motor Corporation, parent company of Maruti Suzuki concluded a memorandum of understanding to develop electric vehicles (EV) in India in around 2020.

Suzuki will make the EVs, and supply some to Toyota, while Toyota will provide technical support. Additionally, Toyota and Suzuki will conduct a comprehensive study of activities for the widespread acceptance and popular use of EVs in India. These will include establishment of charging stations, training for after-service technicians employed throughout sales networks, and systems for the appropriate treatment of end-of-life batteries.

Toyota, Andhra Pradesh ink pact to introduce EVs

Government of Andhra Pradesh and Japanese auto giant Toyota have inked a an MoU under which Toyota would launch electric vehicles in Amravati, the states upcoming capital.

The state government is keen to promote electrification of mobility in Amravati which is on the lines of a similar objective of the central government. Toyota executed a feasibility study on the introduction of the Prius PHEV and a small EV commuter.

Lexus rolls out NX 300h

Toyota-owned luxury brand Lexus unveiled yet another hybrid in India, NX 300h, which it intends to launch commercially in January. Price and other product details will be unveiled at the time of its launch.

However, company officials said the SUV, which is the smallest in its line-up, will likely be priced around Rs 60 lakh. The compact Lexus will compete against Mercedes-Benc GLC, BMW 3 Series, Audi Q5 to name a few. However, none of these rivals possess a hybrid powertrain.

BS-VI fuel roll out in Delhi

The Ministry of Petroleum with support from oil marketing companies such as Bharat Petroleum, Indian Oil and Hindustan Petroleum will start retailing Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) grade auto fuel in National Capital Territory of Delhi from April 1, 2018, two years ahead of its earlier announced date.

This is done in the light of rising pollution levels in the national capital. BS-VI fuel can be used in BS-IV vehicles, which estimates say, can lead to reduction in vehicular emission. The government, however, has not tinkered with the deadline for the auto industry for roll out BS-VI vehicles in from April 1, 2020.

Jaguar reduces F-Pace price

Tata Motors-owned British luxury brand Jaguar has slashed the price of the F-Pace, a crossover which was launched in India last year, by over Rs 8 lakh. The cut is a result of commencement of local manufacturing of the car from Chakan, Pune.

The crossover SUV is now priced competitively at Rs 60 lakh (ex-showroom) against similar models of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi. This is the sixth model from Jaguar Land Rover to start assembly operations from India.

Mahindra launches Scorpio with a facelift

Utility vehicle-specialist Mahindra & Mahindra launched the long awaited facelifted Scorpio with prices starting at Rs 9.97 lakh for the new base model S3. The top of the line S11 variant will cost Rs 16.01 (ex-showroom, Delhi). The current generation Scorpio was launched in 2014.

The SUV now comes with 6-inch touchscreen infotainment system, GPS navigation in 10 languages, steering mounted audio and cruise control. The base variant comes with the older m2DI engine while the remaining variants get the mHawk engine.

Eicher Q2 results

Eicher Motors, which owns Royal Enfield, announced a 23 percent rise in net profit for the quarter ended September 30, 2017 to Rs 486 crore, as compared to Rs 396 crore posted in the same quarter a year ago.

Net profit growth for Eicher was a result of jump in demand for its leisure bikes and price increase. The company, however, saw a slight contraction in market share in its commercial vehicle business following reluctance to participate in heavy discounting.

Kawasaki Ninja 650 KRT

Performance bike brand Kawasaki launched the variant, called the KRT Edition, of the 2017 Ninja 650 in India at Rs 5.49 lakh (ex-showroom). The KRT tag is an abbreviation for Kawasaki Racing Team.

The bike features two new decals a prominent 650 in yellow on the flanks and a Kawasaki Racing Team decal on the underbelly fairing. The engine remains unchanged, a twin cylinder, 649cc, liquid-cooled unit that generates peak power of 67.3 bhp.
November 18, 2017

Is Satire "Fakenews"? - How Fact-Checkers Peddle Snake-Oil

Since the issues of alleged "fake news" and "Russian influence" have cropped up, several media institutions highlight their public fact-checkers. Social media companies hire them to filter "fake news" from their content.

Traditional fact-checkers within a newsroom considered the veracity of the pieces their own reporters wrote up. They corrected factual mistakes before those were printed or aired. The new crop of fact-checker is testing the veracity of claims made by other media outlets and public entities.

The Tampa Bay Times's PolitiFact is one of the oldest and biggest of these organizations. It was founded in 2007 and has offices in several states. Like all such entities it has a certain political flavor. Thus the supposedly neutral fact-checking site PolitiFact gets fact check by a site named PolitiFact Bias.

Last week Amy Sherman wrote an important piece for PolitiFact. Facebook users had pointed her to this month old report about a military court case:

FORT BRAGG, N.C.  Bowe Bergdahl, the Army sergeant facing charges of desertion, walked out of a military courtroom during a pre-trial hearing Monday and has not been seen since approximately 10:35 AM, prompting a statewide manhunt for the missing soldier. Sources inside the courtroom say that Bergdahl took only a half-full Camelbak and a long hunting knife with him as he calmly made his way to the exit during his own lawyers remarks to the judge regarding a possible plea deal.

...

Pentagon leadership is offering an unusual reward for information on Bergdahls whereabouts: $25,000 or seven Guantanamo detainees, depending on the credibility of the information.

The fact-checker applied the best of her abilities to debunk the assertions of the above piece:

"Bowe Bergdahl wanders off during court-martial," said the October headline in Duffel Blog.

...

Facebook users flagged the post as being potentially fabricated, as part of the social networks efforts to combat fake news. This story is fake.

...

We rate this headline Pants on Fire.

...

Multiple news outlets including the AP reported that Bergdahl entered a plea of guilty during the Oct. 16 hearing at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He didnt wander off during his hearing. "I understand that leaving was against the law," Bergdahl testified.

(Liar Liar) "Pants on Fire" is the worst rating on PolitiFact's truthiness scale.

But something is wrong with "fact-checking" when such rating is applied to satirical content. For those brain-dead folks who do not recognize satire in the hilarious screwiness of its content the Duffel Blog's About page provides it in very clear words:

Everything on this website is satirical and the content of this site is a parody of a news organization.

Each and every story the well known Duffel Blog ever published is "fake news". It is the essence of its existence. Satire is "fake news" and the anti-thesis that we need to synthesize with the thesis of "real news" to then develop new insight. It increases our knowledge and understanding. It is also fun.

One may laugh about a fact-checker rating satire as "fake news" but such ratings have serious consequences. PolitiFact is working with Facebook to flag "fake news" on its (a)social network.

When PolitiFact ratings influence the way Facebook displays or handles information, then satirical news will be ranked out of view of most Facebook users. Indeed user may be blocked or kicked off the network for spreading "fake news" when they post links to Duffel Blog pieces. Facebook and others automate such processes. When PolitiFacts labels something as "fake news" the consequences can be serious and may hit immediately.

How does satire fit into such the very confined concept of "fake news"? And what about "conspiracy theories"? Are they"fake news"? Here is a list of 58 historic cases of alleged "false flag" attacks. In most of these cases the "conspiracy theorists" turned out to be right. Governments committed the attacks under a false flag, blamed them on their enemies and used them to influence the public. People who were doubtful when these government assertions were made were labeled "conspiracy theorists". But what was really "fake news" - the governments' claims or the opinions of those who did not believe them? How would PolitiFact have judged them?

What is "fake news" when a UN report asserts that the Syrian government used Sarin in Khan Sheikhun but can not explain why - according the same report - 47 of the casualties were hospitalized before the alleged incident happened?

To label something "fake news" is a subjective judgement. Fact-checkers claim they can discern whether something is true or not. Schrodinger's cat can explain why that might be a problem.

Fact-checking does not provide truth. It claims objective judgement but can not provide such. At most it compares sources and assigns a higher credibility to some of them over others. The choice of the preferred source is subjective. Moreover fact-checking limits speech and thought. Fact-checking provides censorship.

The fact-checking by PolitiFact and other such outlets is a manipulation tool in the hands of those who finance and promote such sites. Truth is rarely absolute. What is regarded as truth can change over time. A year on today's real news may turn out to have been fake all along. The "fake news" conspiracy theory of today may be proven correct by tomorrow. Satire, parody and sarcasm are "fake news" by their definitions. They may still carry real news within them.

No society should give any authority or regards to sites like PolitiFact. They are snake-oil salesmen. They peddle absolute truth when, thankfully, none exists.

Posted by b on November 18, 2017 at 18:46 UTC | Permalink

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A Hickory man could serve eight years in prison for having a stolen weapon.

David Lorenza Young II, 28, of South Fork Avenue, pleaded guilty to the crime and admitted to being a habitual felon during Burke County Superior Court on Tuesday, according to a press release from the District Attorneys Office.

Investigators with the Burke County Sheriffs Office received a tip in December 2016 that Young might have illegal guns and drugs in his home. Officers searched the home after getting a search warrant, the release said.

During the search, investigators found drugs and a .380 handgun, which officers determined Young was in possession of, the release said.

Young was charged in February with one felony count each of possessing stolen goods, weapon possession by a felon and selling or delivering narcotics, according to an arrest report. All of the charges had a warrant date of Dec. 20, 2016.

Officers placed Young in a local jail, where he was held under a $50,000 secured bond, the report said.

Judge Jeffrey Hunt sentenced Young to serve six to eight years in prison for pleading guilty to possessing a stolen weapon, the release said. The sentence was enhanced because of his previous felony convictions, according to the release.

The previous convictions include possession of stolen goods in Burke County in 2006, possession of heroin in Catawba County in October 2013 and larceny in Alexander County in November 2014, according to the release.
Controversy has followed discussion and decisions on a new county jail.

Now, the county and city of Morganton are at odds over who should supply power to the facility.

The city of Morganton says it should supply the power to the new jail on Government Drive because it is in the city limits but the county says Duke Energy will get its business at the site.

Grading for a new 256-bed county jail currently is going on at the site. Two old buildings also were demolished on the property and a retention pond will be constructed during the grading work, said Burke County Manager Bryan Steen.

The city of Morganton supplied electric service to the two buildings that have been demolished and it also services the Burke-Catawba District Confinement Facility and Sheriffs Office on Government Drive.

Morganton says because it is the primary electric supplier in the city, it should service the new jail. City officials argue its not a matter of customer choice.

In a letter to Steen, Morganton City Attorney Louis Vinay said according to state law on territorial issues in electric service, the city must be the electric provider for the jail unless it consents otherwise.

This is not a situation of customer choice, Vinay said in the letter dated Aug. 25.

Vinay said the city is aware Duke has a feeder line that runs across the property where the new jail will be located that goes from a Broughton Hospital substation to the J. Iverson Riddle Development Center.

However, under the (state) statutes, Duke does not qualify as a secondary supplier which would entitle the County to customer choice, Vinay said.

But county officials contend they have the right to choose which electric provider it wants at the jail site and Duke Energy, of which Morganton is a wholesale customer, can offer cheaper rates. The city is a member of ElectriCities, a nonprofit management services organization for public power communities, according to its description.

State law governs primary and secondary electric service providers to a site.

The law says if a site is within 300 feet of both the primary and secondary electric providers lines, its up to the consumer to decide which one will supply electricity, according to state law.

The city says the jail site is more than 300 feet from Duke Energys transmission line.

But the county plans to construct an electric sign on Government Drive for the property, Steen said. That would put the new jail within the 300-foot requirement to have a choice of electric providers.

This is a business decision, Steen said. Thats all this is.

The decision to go with Duke is about making every taxpayer dollar count, he said.

The city and Duke Energy both provided estimates of how much the countys electric bill for the jail could be based on the criteria of 200 Kw (kilowatt) demand and 100,000 Kw hours per month.

In an email to Steen on Sept. 27, Craig Argo with Duke Energy said the estimated yearly cost using those numbers would be $79,507.04.

The rate breakdown the city supplied to the county says its yearly charge, based on the same usage, would be $103,226.80. But the city would give the county its economic development rate because the jail is a new facility.

The economic development rate would save the county $20,645.36 the first year, $15,454.02 the second year, $10,322.68 the third year and $5,161.34 the fourth year, according to the information. The countys total savings over a four-year period would be $51,613.40, the information from the city says.

But even with the economic development rate, county officials believe more money will be saved by going with Duke as the electric supplier.

Jeff Brittain, chairman of the Burke County Board of Commissioners and an engineer and vice president with Rutherford Electric Corporation, said having Duke provide power to the jail will save the county about $20,000 a year.

The decision was just dollars and cents, really, Brittain said.

But there is a caveat if the county doesn't choose Duke as its electric provider.

Not choosing them would mean having to pay Duke up to $30,000 to move its lines, Steen said.

In an email to Steen on Sept. 26, Argo said Duke Energy has a three-phase overhead power line that dissects the jail property that would need to be relocated. He said if Duke is not chosen to serve the new jail, the county would be charged for Duke relocating the power line, which would cost between $20,000 and $30,000.

In addition to what he believes will be a cheaper rate with Duke, Brittain said the county will be able to take advantage of energy-efficiencies.

Duke has a Smart Save Incentive Program that involves energy efficient rebates on certain types of lighting, HVAC equipment, cooking and refrigeration equipment, Argo said in his email to Steen.

Steen said the county is obligated to maximize tax dollars.

The obligation to taxpayers is to try to provide services at the lowest possible cost, Steen said.

Morganton City Manager Sally Sandy said the city is seeking legal advice from ElectriCities about electric territory issues, which is part of the service as a member of ElectriCities.

Construction on the jail is expected to start around April, Steen said. The projected completion date of the new jail is August 2019.

Duke currently supplies power to the North Carolina Cooperative Extension agriculture building on Ammons Drive and the county 911 call center on Kirksey Drive.

Sharon McBrayer is a staff writer and can be reached at smcbrayer@morganton.com or at 828-432-8946.
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Stephen Bittel, a millionaire Miami real estate developer and major Democratic donor, resigned as chairman of the Florida Democratic Party Friday, hours after six anonymous women he had worked with accused him of inappropriate behavior.

Bittel resigns as chairman after reports of sexual misconduct

Six anonymos women came forward in online news piece

Bittel's successor will be chosen Dec. 9

The allegations were detailed in an online news piece. The women, who had served as party staffers and consultants, said Bittel made sexually suggestive comments, invaded their personal space and invited them to his house when his wife was out of town.

They also took offense to breast-shaped stress balls he kept on his desk, which he maintained were gag gifts from a former female associate.

While the women denied that Bittel ever sexually assaulted them, the revelations  coming amid an expanding public focus on the dalliances of some of Tallahassee's power players  proved too damning for Democrats to ignore.

Roughly 12 hours after the news broke, all four of the party's 2018 gubernatorial candidates had called on Bittel to step down.

"When my personal situation becomes distracting to our core mission of electing Democrats and making Florida better, it is time for me to step aside," Bittel wrote in a statement posted on the FDP's Twitter account.

"I am proud of what we have built as a party and the wins we have had for Florida families, but I apologize for all who have felt uncomfortable during my tenure at the Democratic Party," he said.

Bittel assumed the state party's top post earlier this year, winning a hard-fought contest, pitting the party's moneyed elite against its grassroots contingent.

Fundraising on his watch has been brisk, and his sudden departure and the search for a replacement will almost certainly impede the party's preparations for Florida's critical 2018 elections.

Speaking with reporters Friday afternoon, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum  one of the Democratic candidates for governor  acknowledged the potential fallout, but argued the party was taking the high road, especially as Republicans have put forward a relatively muted response to sexual harassment allegations against GOP state Sen. Jack Latvala.

"It's a small price to pay for curing our party of any individuals and any environment that treats women as if they are objects, treats women in a less than respectful manner. Gillum said. It's a small price to pay."

Bittel's successor will be chosen Dec. 9 at a meeting of the state party's executive committee.
Big game hunters won't be able to ship their elephant body part trophies from Africa just yet.

This week the Trump administration announced it would lift President Obama's ban on body parts from African elephants shot for sport.

But President Trump tweeted Friday evening that he would put that decision on hold:

Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts. Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2017

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday that allowing elephants from Zimbabwe and Zambia to be brought back as trophies would raise money for conservation programs.

Legal, well-regulated sport hunting as part of a sound management program can benefit certain species by providing incentives to local communities to conserve those species and by putting much-needed revenue back into conservation, the agency said in a statement.

But the decision has caused a furor among animal rights activists.

What kind of message does it send to say to the world that poor Africans who are struggling to survive cannot kill elephants in order to use or sell their parts to make a living, but that its just fine for rich Americans to slay the beasts for their tusks to keep as trophies? asked Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States.

Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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In the days before prominent San Antonio developer Michael Wibrachts company appeared before the city seeking the final round of approvals on its controversial apartment complex near Mission Concepcion, he said he feared for his life.

The president of 210 Development Group asked a Bexar County district court judge for a temporary restraining order against his ex-wife Laura Wibracht, accusing her in an August court document of engaging in threats and physical and mortal violence. He also said she disparaged him online and posted false and notorious discourse on social media to harm him both personally and professionally.

His company was in the midst of seeking city approval for the 228-unit apartment complex, and Michael was worried that she could hurt the project, he said.

Her false and inflammatory actions constitute both a distraction to the project and undermine the publics trust in (his) integrity and commitment to the communitys interest he has carefully served and protected, he told the court.

Michael obtained a temporary restraining order from the court on Aug. 4, three days before the citys Board of Adjustment approved the apartment project by a vote of 9-2  the minimum number of votes required.

The apartments have sparked some controversy because four of the buildings will exceed by up to 11 feet the height limits of the Mission Protection Overlay, a buffer zone the city created in 2014 to control growth around San Antonios missions.

Neither Michael nor 210 Development spokeswoman Holly Thoman would say what triggered his court filing.

This is a personal matter regarding the private proceedings of one of our partners, Thoman said in an email Friday.  As such, the parties attorneys are following the proper process for an amicable resolution of the matter.

Later, Michael gave his own statement.

I am first and foremost a father to my four incredible children, and I do not feel it is appropriate to comment on private family matters that include their mother, he said. As my ex-wife and I work through this, I sincerely ask that privacy for my children, myself, and my family be respected.

Miguel Ortiz, Lauras lawyer, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Laura did not respond to an email.

Michael and Laura Wibracht married in 2007. He filed for divorce in May 2015. A month later, she filed a counter-petition that said he was guilty of cruel treatment. She also charged that he squandered the couples assets by making grossly excessive gifts to his family members and his paramour.

Their divorce was finalized in June 2016. The day before, Laura entered into an 8-year employment agreement with 210 Development. Her base compensation was set at $7,000 a month, according to her employment agreement that was filed with the divorce.

In his TRO application, Michael said Laura was hired to serve as a Goodwill Ambassador for the company. Her duties included assisting the Company President with personal family matters as requested.

Relations between the two seemed cordial as recently as July, right after 210 Development won approval for the apartment project from the citys Historic and Design Review Commission.

Laura sent an email to her ex-husband the following day with the subject line Thanks babe!! It referenced a news article on the commission giving its approval.

The kids and I are super excited!!! she wrote. So are the 20 different people who sent the article to me. Are we using the architect from California??? Have an amazing day!!

Three weeks later, though, Michael was asking for a TRO against his ex-wife. In an apparent attempt to avoid any unwanted attention, his TRO application was filed using his and his ex-wifes initials instead of their names on the original filing.

The court filing doesnt elaborate on the acts Laura allegedly committed and Michael declined to address them.

Details of what happened are apparently included in video/audio recordings filed an exhibit to the application. But the court file only shows a photocopy of a disk. A district court employee said the disk itself isnt on file with the court.

State District Judge Laura Salinas granted the TRO, which bars Laura from engaging in threats, physical violence and contact with her ex-husband. Laura also is barred from interacting with Michaels business partners, investors and employees, as well as his fiancee. She also is prohibited from disparaging or maligning him.

State District Judge Rose Alvarado extended the TRO on Aug. 18 after Laura announced in court that she was not ready for a hearing, the order shows. The injunction hearing has never been held; so the TRO remains in place.

In an Oct. 27 court filing in the divorce case, Laura alleged Michael had terminated her employee contract in violation of the terms of their divorce. She wants him held in contempt or jailed. In the alternative, shes asking for a court judgment granting the salary she said shes still owed  more than $500,000.

Michaels TRO application says Laura breached her employment agreement. Any breaches are supposed to be arbitrated before former state District Judge Victor H. Negron Jr. Breaches are subject to a penalty of up to $7,000 for each occurrence.

pdanner@express-news.net
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Playboy is stepping out of its comfort zone by featuring Molly Constable, a plus-sized model.

The men's magazine teased Constable's photo shoot with photographer Heather Hazzan on Instagram with the caption, "@mollyconstable revisits her roots in the beautiful upstate New York countryside.

RIP HEFNER: Founder of Playboy magazine dies at 91

@mollyconstable revisits her roots in the beautiful upstate New York countryside. by @heatherhazzan Stylist: @calvy.click Hairstylist: @thisisclay A post shared by Playboy (@playboy) on Nov 7, 2017 at 7:47pm PST

Constable told Harper's Bazaar in February that she was discovered on Instagram. The social media platform has paid off for Constable, where she has over 27,700 followers. Fans have showered her with praise from the photos she's shared so far from her Playboy shoot.

4 PLAYBOY BY @HEATHERHAZZAN @CALVY.CLICK @THISISCLAY A post shared by Molly Constable (@mollyconstable) on Nov 7, 2017 at 9:17am PST

Constable told the Daily Mail that the fashion industry needs more diversity. "Your weight is not important. It's how you act toward people and feel on the inside," Constable said.

Now Playing: Hunter S. Thompsons widow, Anita, posted a photo with a heartfelt letter about a time the publisher helped her after the Thompsons suicide left her with very little money. Jose Sepulveda(@josesepulvedatv) has more. Video: Buzz60

Playboy made headlines in October when the magazine featured its first transgender Playmate.

Scroll through the gallery above to see celebrity Playboy models who have graced the magazine's cover.

Will Axford is a digital reporter for Chron.com. Read more of his stories here and follow him on Twitter.
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, R, said Friday that she plans to vote for embattled GOP nominee Roy Moore for Senate, even as she said she has "no reason to disbelieve" the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.

Ivey made her comments on the same day that Moore's wife Kayla Moore said that her husband would not bow out of the contest, despite Senate Republican leaders vigorously urging him to do so.

By day's end, it appeared increasingly that the effort by Senate GOP leaders to force Moore out of the race or rally the party behind an alternative contender was gaining little, if any, traction.

"I will cast my ballot on December the 12," Ivey told reporters. "And I do believe that the nominee of the party is the one I will vote for."

She attributed her decision to a desire to preserve the advantage Republicans hold over Democrats in the Senate, which has enabled them to advance key judicial nominations and other elements of the GOP agenda.

"We need to have a Republican in the United States Senate to vote on the things like Supreme Court justices," Ivey said.

Republicans hold a 52-48 Senate. majority.

Ivey said she saw "no reason" to move the date of the election, a possibility some have raised as a last-gasp try by party leaders to prevent Moore from being elected.

The Republican became governor this year following the resignation of Robert Bentley, also a Republican. Ivey faces an election of her own in 2018.

Moore has been accused by two women of initiating unwanted sexual encounters when he was in his 30s and they were 14 and 16. Moore has denied the allegations. Other women have said he pursued them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s.

Asked about the allegations, Ivey responded, "I certainly have no reason to disbelieve any of them." But, she questioned the timing of them, calling it: "a little curious."

On the whole, prominent Alabama Republican officials and organizations, including the state party, have stood by Moore. The rare exception: The Greater Birmingham Young Republicans. who have pulled their support.

Speaking on the steps of the state Capitol here before several dozen women, and after several previous speakers, Kayla Moore definitively said her husband would not bow out of the contest.

"He will not step down. He will not stop fighting for the people of Alabama," she said.

Kayla Moore thanked backers for their support. And she apologized for not being able to reply to all the well-wishers.

"Most of the negative has been from out of state . . . The people of Alabama know what is going on here," she said.

Democratic nominee Doug Jones, who campaigned in the southeastern part of the state on Friday, criticized Ivey's justification for supporting Moore.

"I think it's pretty sad that anybody would put partisan politics over the good of the state and the good of the country," said Jones.

Some public and private polls released this week have shown Jones with a lead.

- - -

Sullivan reported from Dotham, Alabama.
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As St. Marys University announced a $130 million capital campaign Friday night, it already had $105 million in the kitty, including $1 million or more from each of 24 alumni.

Its the largest such campaign in the schools history, part of the universitys bid to become one of the pre-eminent private institutions in the region. The money will go toward everything from constructing new buildings to bolstering student financial aid packages.

University President Thomas Mengler publicly announced the fundraising, dubbed the Defining Moment Comprehensive Campaign, on Friday at the Marriott Rivercenter.

This is a big moment for St. Marys University, Mengler said in an interview. This is a really gigantic step for us.

St. Marys graduates are avid contributors.

I am proud to have received my degree from St. Marys because in addition to an outstanding education, the Marianist brothers instilled in me the work ethic and dedication that helped me achieve a successful career, NuStar Energy Chairman Bill Greehey said in a statement. A 1960 alumnus, he is the business schools namesake. But more importantly, they also taught me that you are never truly a success unless you share your success with others.

Founded in 1852, St. Marys is the oldest college in San Antonio. The Catholic and Marianist private school currently enrolls around 2,300 undergraduate students and more than 3,600 graduate students.

Mengler, who was reappointed as president in September, said St. Marys will likely blow by its fundraising goal, considering how much progress it has already made. The funds will affect most operations at the university and go toward three main areas, Mengler said: people, programs and facilities.

Among the campaigns initiatives is about $40 million devoted to student scholarships, of which St. Marys has raised about $28 million to date. University officials said they want to retain affordability for St. Marys students, more than half of whom are first-generation college students and half of whom are from San Antonio. Other funds will go toward endowing dean and faculty positions.

Another major component of the campaign involves improving facilities on campus. St. Marys plans to construct a new STEM education building and has already begun renovating the labs in its three existing science buildings. Additionally, the university intends to build a performing arts center, bringing a theater to campus that will benefit students as well as the West Side. Reinbolt Hall will be renovated to house a soon-to-be-opened Center for Catholic Studies.

Furthermore, the campaign aims to benefit student programs and resources. St. Marys plans to open centers devoted to veterans and international students and expand career services and student development opportunities. The School of Laws Law Success Program, which helps prepare law students for the bar and careers as attorneys, would get a boost from the campaign.

In all, the campaign is intended to promote a bigger, bolder vision for the university, Mengler said.

The campaign announcement comes on the heels of significant donations by university alumni in recent months, including an anonymous gift last week of $1.5 million. In September, the university announced that it had received enough funding to endow a director for the Center for Catholic Studies, thanks to a $1 million donation by alumnus Martin Beirne and his wife.

Earlier this year, the university received a $2 million donation from alumni Tom and Leti Contreras to benefit the Greehey School of Business risk management program and $1 million from alumni Mary Anne Bramblett and Coll Bramblett for the Law Success Program.

I, probably like many attorneys who have gone through St. Marys, have to look back and say I would not have been an attorney if it had not been for St. Marys University, said Coll Bramblett, who earned his law degree in 1980. Theyre the ones who took a chance on me and allowed me to go to law school there. The things that I have accomplished in my life as a professional are due 100 percent to the St. Marys law school.

lcaruba@express-news.net | Twitter: @LaurenCaruba
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Three Texas men have pleaded guilty to criminal charges after they each poached a trophy whitetail buck, in three separate incidents, with a combined Boone & Crockett (B&C) score of over 535 inches.

A press release by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) said the men  John Walker Drinnon, 34, Timothy Kane Sweet, 37, Brian Eugene Culp, 47,  killed two 19-point bucks and a 10-point buck respectively and ended up having to pay civil restitution worth well over $34,000.

STARTING EARLY: Texas kids show off their hunting skills

According to the TPWD, the deer were killed in Grayson County, where the only legal means of hunting whitetail deer is with archery and crossbow equipment.

Now Playing: This buck is enjoying his lazy day in the countryside of Colorado, USA. The buck dozes in and out of sleep, adorably hitting his antlers off the wire behind him! Credit: James B via Storyful Video: Storyful

After first denying his action, Drinnon confessed to killing his buck  which scored 202 B&C  "in Grayson County from a public roadway with a rifle," according to TPWD. He was charged with hunting without a license, hunting from the public roadway and illegal means and methods among other things.

Simmilar to Drinnon, Sweet first denied claims that he'd shot the buck in Grayson County. However, his buck  which scored 177 B&C  has a unique rack which had been seen on game cameras in the county. He admitted to having "shot it five or six times illegally at night with a pistol," and also faced illegal means and methods charges, along with charges for hunting out of season.

HEARTWARMING: Texas non-profit helps vets reintegrate back into society through hunting

Culp's case was a little different. Instead of lying about where he shot his buck  which scored 157 B&C  or hunting out of season, the 47-year-old killed his whitetail in season, but tried to take advantage of hunting license benefits reserved for disabled veterans."

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According to TPWD, the "Super Combo" license is available at no cost for disabled veterans, and Culp was not qualified to have one. He was charged with hunting without a valid license.

"These cases exemplify the hard work and dedication state game wardens deliver day in and day out to enforce Texas game laws," said Col. Grahame Jones, TWPD Law Enforcement Division Director in the press release. "I want to extend special recognition and gratitude to Grayson County game wardens Michael Hummert [the lead investigator] and Daron Blackerby for a job well done."

Take a look through the gallery at the top to see photos of the bucks that were poached.

Daniela Sternitzky-Di Napoli is a digital producer at Chron.com. You can read more of her stories here and follow her on twitter at @Dani_DiNapoli.
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A man who allegedly assaulted the mother of his child because he didn't get the food he ordered has been found in Hays County, according to a release from the Bexar County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies say 42-year-old Jerry Ruiz Moncada assaulted his ex-common-law wife at her apartment in western Bexar County on Oct. 29. He's accused of continuous violence against family, a third-degree felony.
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As someone who grew up on the South Side of San Antonio, Sgt. Earl Tovar knows how common drag racing is in the city.

After receiving several calls and complaints about drag racing along Military Drive on the South East side, Tovar led a task force initiative to get in front of it. On Oct. 29, after weeks of staking out the area, they arrested 15 people.

RELATED: Closures of Loop 410, I-35 and I-10 may irk weekend drivers

"Let's put it this way," Tovar said. "If I had more officers, I would have had more arrests. We ran out of officers."

Through their investigation, officers learned the racers would meet up on Sunday night in a parking lot in the 2500 block of Southeast Military Drive.

The cars tend to rev their engines, do donuts in the parking lot, and peel out of there onto to the street to race.

"We noticed right away how dragging makes a lot of noise," Tovar said. "I was standing several blocks away and it was vibrating my windows. It's annoying and it's disturbing."

Skids could be seen all over the parking lot they met at Friday, when police announced the results of the initiative.

Of the 15 arrested, 10 were charged for drag racing, 3 were charged with reckless driving, and 2 were arrested for driving while intoxicated. Their names and mugshots were not immediately available.

Aside from the nuisance, drag racing can be dangerous.

On Sept. 3, a teenage driver killed one man and seriously injured another woman near the same area where police executed their initiative.

RELATED: Teen driver charged in SE side street racing crash that killed 23-year-old man

Camron Sanchez Vasquez, 19, allegedly lost control of his car and flipped it into a lake.

Though the police considered the initiative a success, they warned drag racers they weren't going to let up on enforcement.

"I'm not going to say when, but we are going to hit this area again."

Fares Sabawi covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here. | fsabawi@mysa.com | Twitter: @FaresInSA
To the editor,

There is a lot of talk about fake news these days. It is a shame, however, to see the Stamford Advocate creating it.

Im referring to the headline Sex assaults rise at state hospitals which appeared on Thursdays print and digital front pages with a file photograph of Stamford Hospital. Inside, statistics about all adverse events were juxtaposed with other Stamford Hospital photos and the headline to create an unmistakable impression that sexual assaults are common at Stamfords own local hospital.

The truth is that zero sexual assault adverse events occurred at Stamford Hospital this year. Zero last year. In fact, zero sexual assault adverse events have occurred at Stamford Hospital in nearly 10 years.

The Advocates carelessness and sensationalism has done real damage not only to the hospital, but to the dedicated physicians, staff, and volunteers who work tirelessly to provide the communities we serve with safe, quality health care. The real news here? Just last week Stamford Hospital was recognized with the top Hospital Safety Score of A from the respected Leapfrog Group. That places our hospital among only seven in Connecticut to receive that outstanding rating.

Patients and visitors can be confident that Stamford Hospital offers safe, high-quality care. The Advocate owes an apology and a full retraction to the community, the hospital, and the supremely safety-conscious staff, physicians, and volunteers of our workforce.

Andrew Merrill

Chairman

Stamford Health Board of Directors
When you think about China, what comes to mind? A country that is backward, lawless and bent on copying others technology, even resorting to stealing intellectual property (for instance, trade secrets) from others?

Or a country whose vibrant economy is fast-moving, driven by creativity and innovations?

This past summer, I spent five weeks in China while directing the St. Marys University School of Laws Institute on Chinese Law and Business, a study abroad program conducted on the campus of Beihang University in Beijing.

I lived there along with some of my colleagues and a group of St. Marys law students who studied intellectual property law and other courses, and interned at Chinese law firms, gaining a firsthand experience of legal and cultural education. Wherever I went, I saw indications, big and small, of a people and a nation with a renewed spirit of creativity and innovation everywhere.

Some examples:

A clicker for food

Chinese people, like Americans, love to dine out. Theyve invented a device to simplify ordering food at the restaurant. In Beijing and other cities, when you sit at a restaurant table, a member of the wait staff brings a hand-held clicker to take your order instead of a notepad and pen. As you give your order, the server punches a few keys on the clicker, and as soon as you finish, she immediately reads out your order and the price from the device; with a push of a button, she prints out a slip of the order to leave on the table.

The ordering takes little time and is so easy.

Pay by phone

Apple Pay has some competition. In Beijing and elsewhere, I see people flashing their cellphones to pay for cabs, and purchases in shops, grocery stores, restaurants, ticket offices and other businesses. When they are ready to check out, they just take out their cellphone and show the sales associate the QR code on the phone; the sales associate snaps a picture of the code for payment, and off they go. The ease and speed of paying is amazing.

By some research estimates, 480 million Chinese consumers shop and pay by phone.

Mobike for sharing

On the Beihang campus and the streets of Beijing and other cities, I saw brightly painted bicycles, called Mobikes, parked everywhere. These bicycles are for public sharing (i.e., renting), a trend of the shared economy in China. Whenever and wherever you need a bicycle, you just grab one from the street and use your phone to scan the QR code attached to the bike (the scan gives consent to rent and for payment), and off you go.

When you are finished, you can drop it anywhere you happen to be  at a bus stop, coffee shop or your house. Theres no hassle and no worry about loss or theft because each bike is electronically tracked. It is handy and cheap  the cost is about $1 per hour, plus an advance deposit with the company. This phenomenon is strikingly widespread in Beijing and other cities. Just a few days ago, I saw a newspaper photo showing a Mobike on a street in Washington, D.C. The photos caption said that the Chinese company is exploring entering the U.S. market.

Buy online with fast delivery

Watch out, Amazon.com. While I was teaching in Beijing, my family stayed behind in San Antonio. Taking advantage of lower prices in China, my wife shopped online through the Chinese online store Taobao and ordered books for our son. As soon as the order was processed, I received a text message with a pass code and lockbox number from the seller telling me that the books were to be delivered to a distribution center near me, which was open 24/7.

When I reached the distribution center, I punched in the pass code on a nearby computer, the lockbox popped open, and there were my books.

Bullet train

I took a few trips across China by the bullet train. The 200 mph ride is thrilling, and the train itself is stylish, clean and comfortable. From Beijing to Zhengzhou, my hometown, the train takes about 2 hours to cover a distance of 500 miles.

I recall that in the 1980s, I would ride the train for 11 hours to travel the same route to my college. Although China is not the first country in the world to operate a bullet train, the Chinese train technology is leading the world. China has not only built a network of high-speed trains, it is now exporting bullet train technology to Africa, Mexico and California.

In the past few years, the spirit of innovation in China has taken hold. China leads the world in terms of patent applications and grants. The government has adopted policies and enacted laws to promote innovation and protect intellectual property rights.

For illustration, the Chinese use an Innovation Index to assess and promote creativity and innovations in their enterprises, industries and entire cities. The ancient innovations that made Chinese people proud  papermaking, printing, gunpowder and the compass, have been replaced by new innovations  mobile pay, bullet trains, e-commerce and Mobike.

China is also working on cutting-edge technologies that are more often associated with Silicon Valley, such as driverless cars, green energies, artificial intelligence and facial recognition technology, just to name a few.

Chinas recent innovative achievements are noticed by Westerners. When Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm Inc., a prominent technology company based in the U.S., was asked to describe modern China in three words, he responded with innovative, collaborative and green.

I cant agree more.

Born in China, Bob Hu is a law professor at the St. Marys University School of Law and co-director of the Institute on Chinese Law and Business. He can be reached by email at rhu@stmarytx.edu.
An attempt more than 17 years ago by the San Antonio Housing Authority to allow low-income families to buy into the American dream of homeownership on the citys West Side failed miserably.

Millions of dollars were wasted due to poor management and lack of oversight. Instead of a thriving residential area with owner-occupied homes, the community was left with a slew of boarded-up homes.

SAHA recently demolished 39 of those abandoned residences in the Mirasol Homes development and is attempting a redo. The tough lessons learned during the first Mirasol housing venture need to be kept in mind as the new home-construction project proceeds.

The West Side has been in dire need of affordable housing for decades. There was much excitement among low-income families who qualified for the lease-to-own home program when it was announced in 2000.

Most of them could not afford to purchase a home in the open market and were eager to participate in the program. That excitement quickly faded.

Shortly after moving in, the new homeowners faced countless problems far more serious than the minor headaches that are inevitable with new construction.

The dream homes turned into nightmares. They had been shoddily built and quickly became money pits.

In 2003, a consultant hired to review conditions of the 247 single-family homes built through a $48 million federal HOPE VI revitalization program grant declared the project a management fiasco and maintenance nightmare.

The chaos prompted then-Mayor Ed Garza to ask the entire SAHA board to step down and resulted in expensive litigation.

During the course of the long legal battle, it was discovered contractors had not followed the custom-built designs outlined in the contracts and in many cases used lower quality materials.

In 2010, SAHA tore down two of the problem homes to the studs and analyzed the construction. Inspectors found basic structure flaws in the foundations, frames, roofs and water barriers inside the walls.

Untreated wood frames that were improperly anchored to foundations, loose cabinets and shaky fixtures were also documented.

In 2011, the lawsuit against the the companies that built the homes, the subcontractor and project manager was settled for $20 million. By that time, many of the residents had sold their homes back to the housing authority. Those who remained in their homes were awarded $8 million.

The remainder of the funds from the settlement went to SAHA and was earmarked for demolition or renovation of 80 houses in four Mirasol neighborhoods. Demolition finally begin in 2016 after it was cleared by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

While the houses were awaiting demolition, they attracted homeless people, and were subjected to vandalism and graffiti, creating a slumlike atmosphere. The new construction should help turn things around in that community.

SAHA has hired San Antonio contractor Metrobuilt Homes to build the first 40 new homes in Mirasol. The first five homes of the $6.5 million project are expected to be completed in December, and they should be ready for occupancy by early 2019, according to SAHA officials.

The average price of new homes in San Antonio is about $250,000. The new Mirasol three-bedroom houses will start around $125,00, and five-bedroom homes will have a starting price of about $155,000.

Residents of the West Side have been waiting for affordable, new, single-family houses for a long time. The community cannot afford a repeat of what happened last time.
Two of my favorite movies are Mr. Smith goes to Washington and Citizen Kane. Both portray the power of the press to suppress voter information and swing support for the rich and powerful. Fortunately in both, the good guys win and the villains get what they deserve.

It is beyond belief seeing these fictional portraits become real life for Roy Moore. The National Republican Senatorial Committee spent millions attempting to defeat Moore in the primary. Now there is a smear campaign waged by the Washington Post to eliminate support for Moore. I hope this episode has a similar ending to the movies.

It is shocking and shameful to see a Christian man, in the public eye for over 40 years, suddenly accused of sexual misconduct involving teenage girls. If these allegations were true, wouldnt they have come out long before? And the timing  four weeks from the Alabama special election  is mere coincidence?

Moore will prove that the millions spent against him and the nationwide smear campaign will not defeat him or the anti-Washington establishment, true conservative movement.

David Gay

Nicely done

Re: Day of death also a time of heroism; But tiny Sutherland Springs has been forever changed, front page, Sunday:

I would like to commend your Staff Writers John Tedesco, Vincent T. Davis, Jasper Scherer and Guillermo Contreras for their excellent piece. It was an engaging and informative review of the tragic events at Sutherland Springs. It merits national publication.

Peter McGregor, Melbourne, Australia

Blame the people

Re: What if Sutherland Springs hero didnt have a gun? Rich Lowry, Other Views, Sunday:

I am encouraged by this column. Rich Lowry expressed a sentiment I totally agree with.

Our Founding Fathers gave us the right to bear arms. I have read that Chicago has among the strictest gun laws in America, and it has not stopped the killing. I also have read that around 90 percent of the citizens have guns in Switzerland, which has a very low crime rate.

Guns do not kill without someone wielding them. It is always the person holding the weapon that kills. I hope more people learn that point, soon.

Ramona R. Jones
DANBURY - Jon Slater, who was killed this week in an accident on Interstate 684, was remembered Friday as a kind and hardworking man who loved telling stories to his family and friends.

Slater, 54, was heading home from work early Thursday when a commercial dump truck entered the highway from the median, police said. Slater rear-ended the truck, then veered into another lane, where he collided with a third vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

It obviously came as quite a shock to our entire family, said his brother, Ted Slater.

Jon Slater, who grew up in Westport along with four brothers, moved to Danbury about four years ago. He had worked in a family business that involved theater tickets and hospitality work before entering the security field.

Slater began working last year with Elite Investigations, a national firm with offices in New York City.

Kevin McCarthy, the regional manager covering Connecticut for the company, said he had talked to Slater shortly before his death. He said Slater had some vacation time coming and was looking forward to an upcoming family trip to Florida.

He was a hard-working individual and everyone at the company is really devastated by his loss, McCarthy said. He was the kind of guy who would always jump in and help when asked and he always had a positive attitude. All of his co-workers speak very highly of him.

Ted Slater said his brother often enjoyed telling stories, and family members loved listening to them.

He had a very quirky sense of humor that everyone enjoyed, he said.

Slater, who has three daughters, said his brother was always close to his nieces and would make sure they were included in family activities.

He was their favorite uncle, he said. Having to sit down with them last night and tell them what happened was probably the hardest thing Ive ever had to do.

Family members are flying into the area from all over the country to attend memorial services, Slater said.

Police said the accident remains under investigation. Two lanes of the interstate were closed for several hours after the accident while detectives examined the area of the crash.
Zimbabwe will never be the same again as Government is addressing all challenges facing the nation with renewed effort and vigour, President Mnangagwa has said.

Addressing Zimbabweans resident here after meeting his Namibian counterpart, President Hage Geingob on the third leg of his regional tour to apprise fellow Sadc leaders on developments in Zimbabwe that culminated in his ascension to the Presidency, Cde Mnangagwa revealed that his call for the return of externalised funds was being heeded and substantial millions had since been returned.

The President revealed that he had given all Cabinet ministers targets to meet within their first 100 days in office, and some opposition parties were already claiming that he had stolen their manifestos, saying as long as the ideas fell within the purview of the national interest, he was duty-bound to attend to them.

He explained amendments made to the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act as well as the vast opportunities presented by the new dispensation across all sectors.

Let me assure you that Zimbabwe is not the same again and will not be the same again, he said.

My administration focuses on the following issues, one  unity, unity, unity. Love, love, love. Work, work and work. All Zimbabweans we get united under our national flag and national anthem. We accept that we may have different views about how to run the country and that again, we accept it. So, we dont need violence at all whether with the family or the community or the country. If people differ, differ peacefully. It must be an intellectual difference in terms of approach. That should not be developed into violence. We must accept each other as sisters and brothers determined to develop our country. I think we have more than 27 opposition parties in the country but with my focused administration, I hardly see whether they will find ground left behind which I am not taking care of. I said so back home and the response is that, Cde Mnangagwa has taken over our various manifestos. No! My administration addresses the national interests of our country and where the ideas of any opposition party coincides with national interests, that I take on board and it becomes mine and not theirs. Secondly, as a party, which is Zanu-PF, we are determined to walk the talk.

President Mnangagwa explained the opportunities available for investment in areas such as mining, agriculture, education, tourism and infrastructure development among others.

With regards to mining, the President said Government had removed the 51 percent local shareholding requirement and restricted that to diamonds and platinum only.

He said in the agriculture sector, Zimbabwe had managed to restore its breadbasket status after successfully implementing the Command Agriculture programme last year.

Said President Mnangagwa: We have to look at our educational institutions. During our time, when we went to school a long time ago, we were educated in order to look for jobs to be a clerk or nurse or a driver but we are saying, our tertiary institutions should have curriculums that talk to the industry so that what industry requires, the institutions must produce products who can work in the industry meeting the requirements of the industry. There should be this inter-marriage between the needs of industry and the institutions producing graduates from our institutions. That time is now over where universities pride themselves for producing many graduates. They must produce graduates who can fit our economic times  the technology of today and not all of them should be products who look of employment. They must also be creators of employment.

President Mnangagwa said Government had set aside a fund to assist young people keen to start businesses that create employment.

On his visit to Namibia, President Mnangagwa was accompanied by Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Lt General (Retired) Sibusiso Moyo and Presidential spokesperson Mr George Charamba.

Meanwhile President Mnangagwa returned back home last night and he was received at the Robert Mugabe International Airport by his two deputies General Constantino Guveya Dominic Nyikadzino Chiwenga (Retired) and Cde Kembo Mohadi among other Government officials.

 Herald

Breaking News via Email
THE Government has released civil servants pay dates for this month with all the sectors expected to receive their salaries by January 30.

Civil servants yesterday hailed the Government for proposing to pay all the civil servants their salaries within the same month of work but called on their employer to release the 2017 bonus dates to enable workers to plan.

Those in the Zimbabwe National Army, Airforce and the health sector are receiving their salaries today while the Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Services and the Zimbabwe Republic Police will receive their salaries on Friday January 19, 2018.

Those in the education sector will receive their salaries on January 23, 2018 while the rest of the civil servants will be paid on January 26, 2018.

Pensioners and grant-aided institutions will be the last group to receive their salaries on January 30, 2018.

Apex Council president Mrs Cecilia Alexander applauded Government for paying civil servants on time, saying this is what they have been advocating for.

Its important for workers to be paid within the same month of work.

This is what weve been clamouring for and were grateful to the Government for making an effort to pay its workers on time.

Were hoping that payment dates for 2017 bonuses will also be announced soon so that civil servants can be able to plan for their 13th cheques, said Mrs Alexander.

She commended civil servants for being patient and committing themselves to their work during difficult times.

Mrs Alexander said as a union, they were now focusing on engagements with Government on housing projects, other non-monetary benefits and working conditions.

Payment of civil servants has been improving lately despite the financial challenges that the Government is facing.

Presenting the 2018 national budget last month, Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa assured civil servants that they will be paid their 2017 bonuses early this year.

He said a total of $176 million was set aside for the civil servants 13th cheques and other national programmes.

He, however, said the bonus payments will be staggered.

Although Minister Chinamasa did not announce the dates for the payments, the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare recently indicated that they will be paid within a short period.

Government workers received their 2016 bonuses last year in batches between April and August.

 Chronicle

Breaking News via Email
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FORMER President Robert Mugabe is set to appear before Parliament to expand on the allegations he made in 2016 that $15 billion worth of diamond revenue went missing.

The issue came out yesterday in Parliament during a sitting of the Mines and Energy Portfolio Committee chaired by Norton MP Temba Mliswa.

Mliswa said Home Affairs minister Obert Mpofu, a former Mines minister, and his successor, Walter Chidakwa, would also be summoned for grilling over the disappearance of the diamond revenue during their tenure.

The Norton legislator told Mines minister Winston Chitando, who had appeared before the committee with Mines secretary Munesu Munodawafa, Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) and Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) officials, that several key players in diamond mining would also appear before Parliament to give evidence, as the committee embarks on thorough investigations pertaining to leakages in diamond mining.

There are no sacred cows in terms of the oversight role of Parliament, and there is nothing that even stops us from calling Mugabe, who first mentioned the issue of the $15 billion, from appearing before Parliament and asking him how he came to know about that, Mliswa said, without specifically mentioning when Mugabe would be summoned.

As a new minister, Chitando might not have an answer now on the issue of the $15 billion, but, as Parliament, we have a right to call anyone who is responsible for oral evidence, including Mugabe, Chidakwa and Mpofu, who were Mines ministers when the diamonds were said to have disappeared, Mliswa said.

He said several players would be questioned, including institutions that benefited from mining concessions in Chiadzwa, among them the army and the police.

The Privileges, Immunities and Powers of Parliament Act and Parliament Standing Rules and Orders allow Parliament to summon anyone for oral evidence, except the sitting President, meaning Mugabe can be called to appear before Parliament.

In a birthday interview in 2016, Mugabe claimed $15 billion worth of diamond revenue was unaccounted for, a claim that continues to dominate political discussions on accountability.

Musikavanhu MP Prosper Mutseyami (MDC-T) raised the issue of the missing $15 billion with Chitando, demanding that the new minister gives the committee records of diamonds sold, the amount diverted through illicit financial flows and smuggling.

Mutseyami said diamond smuggling was prevalent in Chiadzwa, with foreigners camped in Mutare buying the mineral illegally.

He claimed some diamonds were being kept at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) instead of the MMCZ, which was against the MMCZ Act.

But Mliswa said the issue was too big to handle for Chitando, who is new in the ministry, adding that it would require thorough investigations.

The only figures of diamond mining revenue, which Chitando revealed to Parliament, were that in 2016 ZCDC, a subsidiary of ZMDC, produced 961 000 carats, which doubled to 1,8 million in 2017, adding that this year, the company was expected to produce at least three million carats.

Chitando told the committee that capacity utilisation across the mining sector was low in most minerals except platinum, although he did not get into specific details.

It was also revealed that there were several legacy issues bedevilling the mining sector, including mines that were operating illegally.

ZCDC chief executive officer Morris Mpofu said selling of diamonds was done through the Kimberly Process, which has the figures of Zimbabwes 2006 to 2014 sales on their website.

Mpofu said to date, ZCDC had compiled a list of 10 people alleged to have been involved in illicit diamond trade in Mutare and the names would be handed over to the Home Affairs ministry for possible investigation.

Masvingo Urban MP Daniel Shumba (Zanu PF) then quizzed MMCZ to explain allegations that the countrys diamonds were at RBZ vaults and not at the corporations vaults as required by the law.

Acting MMCZ managing director Masimba Chandavengerwa said all ZCDC diamonds were at MMCZ.

There was an attempt for them to end up at RBZ, but that did not happen. As we speak, they are being evaluated at MMCZ, he said.

The involvement of the RBZ was that diamonds must be at MMCZ, but the RBZ has security interests in the diamonds so that when they are sold whatever is owed is paid.

MPs were also told by Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) board chairman David Murangari that the ZMDC board was not consulted when ZCDC was formed and made one of its subsidiaries.

Murangari also shocked MPs when he said 75% shareholding of asbestos mining company Shabanie Mashaba Mines (SMM) was under ZMDC, but he said he did not know who owns the remaining 25% shares of the comatose mine.

The issue opened a Pandoras box over different legacy and corporate governance issues that Chitando will have to deal with, and several questions over several mines under the ZMDC which were operating illegally.

We only got to know of our being ZCDCs shareholder by copy of a letter, which unfortunately was sent to our corporate secretary and was not addressed to the board chairperson, and I then spoke to former Mines secretary Francis Gudyanga to operationalise it so that the board could move forward with that role.

There was no board consultation and ZMDC was only informed last year and the papers to form ZCDC were done without our knowledge to the extent that I surprisingly found my name on the papers without my knowledge, Murangari said.

 NewsDay

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A MUTARE man is in trouble for bashing his wife for allegedly having an affair with a prophet.

Precious Mukonza (45) yesterday appeared before Mutare magistrate Tendai Mahwe, facing a domestic violence charge and was remanded out of custody to January 31 as he denied the charge.

According to prosecutor Fletcher Karombe, on January 13 this year during the night the complainant, Rosemary Mukonza (42), went to buy goods at a nearby tuckshop. At the tuckshop she met her church prophet (not named in the State papers) and had a chat.

Mukonza saw them talking and approached them, disrupting their conversation alleging that they were having an affair.

A misunderstanding ensued which led to Mukonza hitting the complainant on the face with open fists.

Rosemary reported the matter at Sakubva Police Station, leading to Mukonzas arrest.

 NewsDay

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A carbon tax on agriculture cannot be considered, South Tipperary IFA Chairman Simon Ryan says.

Introducing a second carbon tax on farming cannot be seriously considered. This proposal by retired Professor Alan Matthews, which was endorsed by the Citizens Assembly at the weekend, would be costly, impractical and unlikely to make any real environmental difference, according to the local IFA leader.

He says this is demonstrated by the fact that since the current carbon tax was introduced, overall national greenhouse gas emissions have actually increased by 4%. This is because emissions from the transport sector are out of control, growing by 130% since 1990.

The proposal ignores the economic and social implications of imposing a further cost on farmers and the agri-food sector. A sector that has reduced emissions by 6% since 1990. It also ignores the sustainability credentials of Irelands agriculture sector; we are the only country in the world that monitors, measures and manages carbon from farm to fork. We are the most carbon efficient milk producers in the world and the fifth most efficient beef producers in Europe.

If a carbon tax were to be introduced in Ireland, where our grass-based production methods allow us to produce carbon efficiently, and where our policy focus on reducing emissions is having a real impact, it would actually lead to increased international greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

At a time of increasing demand for dairy and beef, carbon efficient food produced in Ireland would be displaced by less environmentally sustainable food produced in regions such as the former Amazonian rainforests areas of South America.

It make no practical sense to impose a tax on a sector that is already playing its part in addressing the climate challenge.

It is clear that what is needed is not a punitive approach, but one that considers the broader context and is based on incentivising positive action.

Future approaches to addressing climate change in the agriculture sector must involve a stimulus package. IFA is seeking:

The announcement of an indigenous biomass development programme, which would displace electricity generated from peat and coal. This would eliminate 64% of greenhouse gasses created when generating electricity.

The re-opening of the GLAS Scheme. This would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an additional 65,000 tonnes each year.

The announcement of a zero carbon electricity tariff for community based and roof-top renewable projects. This should be used over time to displace electricity production from gas, which accounts for 35% of greenhouse gasses emitted when generating electricity.

The scaling up of on-farm emission reduction programmes identified in the National Mitigation Plan, such as Smart Farming, Origin Green and the Carbon Navigator.

A full review by the Department of Agricultures Forest Services division of the new forestry programme and a commitment to remove all barriers, as planting is down 14% year on year.

Farmers can and will do more. However this will not be at the expense of our national herd or the competitiveness of the agri-food sector. It is much better to work with farmers to continue on our path of sustainability through programmes such as Smart Farming, BETTER Farm and Origin Green and credible farm scale renewables measures rather than imposing additional cost burdens, with no environmental benefits.
Moving from Slovenia to an English-speaking country to pursue my studies seemed easy, writes LIT Clonmel student Teja Solar in South Tipp Today.

I mean, I know the language well, or so I thought until people started talking to me with a heavy accent. I learnt that I don't actually need to respond to people greeting me with Well, how are ya?. Pretty sure the Penny's cashier doesn't care about my well-being.

Experiencing all four seasons in a day is often a rule rather a weather phenomenon. You may catch yourself being dangerously optimistic in the morning, spotting a speck of sun and deciding a skirt is a good idea. Dont be fooled, take those jeans with you or you will find yourself standing in a cold puddle of misery by the end of the afternoon. I also learnt 20 degrees Celsius is considered roastin. Being used to 35 degrees Celsius or more during summer, I find it a bit chilly and suitable for a thin cardigan, but its not worth having an argument over.

Just like driving - Im sorry but you lovely people drive on the wrong side of the road! My near fatal accidents remind me of that every day when I'm crossing one-way roads and always looking the wrong way. Even though I have a driver's licence, I'll do everyone a favour and stick to walking. I would rather be late to class than cause a pile up.

Being on time is not a thing anyways. Oh, your bus leaves in five minutes? Its grand, you have at least 10 extra minutes, have a Tayto sandwich. My body says no, but my heart screams yes and thats all that matters.

Everything is always grand. You spilt your juice? It's grand don't worry. You forgot your glasses? It's grand, take mine. You set the fire alarm off inside the entire apartment complex building because you burnt your cookies in the oven? Ah its grand dear, are you alright? Did you get hurt?. At this point I'm not sure if you're all super nice or just don't care.

I think its a mixture of both. Irish people seem to be just the right amount of minding their own business while still showing care and concern, always accompanied by humour and heavy sarcasm. And thats grand!
Biden: Deadly missile that hit Poland 'unlikely' to have come from Russia
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Snow this evening will taper off and give way to cloudy skies late. Low 24F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 90%..

Tonight

Snow this evening will taper off and give way to cloudy skies late. Low 24F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 90%.
Bengaluru: The revenue collected under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in October was Rs 95,131 crore and average revenue shortfall of states has come down to 17.6 percent, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi said on Saturday.

The government had collected Rs 93,141 crore revenue under the GST in September.

Modi, who heads the Group of Ministers (GoM) on GST Network, said the average revenue shortfall of all states for August was 28.4 percent and it has come down to 17.6 percent in October.

"This is a good indication. It shows the system is slowly stabilising," he told reporters here after a meeting of the GoM.

In rupee terms, the revenue shortfall of all states has come down from Rs 12,208 crore in August to Rs 7,560 crore in October, he said.
Gone are the days when you looked up and saw love messages floating in the sky painted by skilled pilots.

Residents of the town of Omak in Okanogan County, Washington, got the shock of their lives when they saw the F-18 jet drawing a giant penis in the sky on Thursday.

Needless to say, the US Navy was left red-faced at the sight of an enormous outline of a penis in the sky drawn by one of their pilots using the condensation trails from his multi-million-dollar warplane.

Navy officials acknowledged one of their crews was behind the stunt, saying the aircraft "left a condensed air trail resembling an obscene image to observers on the ground."

The most monumental thing to happen in omak. A penis in the sky pic.twitter.com/SM8k1tNYaj Anahi Torres (@anahi_torres_) November 16, 2017

"The actions of this aircrew were wholly unacceptable and antithetical to Navy core values," Lieutenant Commander Leslie Hubbell, a spokeswoman for the Naval Air Station on Whidbey Island, said in a statement.

Lets draw a dick in the sky above Omak today... #chemtrails #dicksout #wtf A post shared by Philly (@kphilly55) on Nov 16, 2017 at 12:57pm PST

"We have grounded the aircrew and are conducting a thorough investigation -- and we will hold those responsible accountable for their actions.

"The Navy apologizes for this irresponsible and immature act," she added.

Some pilots at NAS Whidbey did some sky writing today. https://t.co/9IsYvkX1za pic.twitter.com/Lm7kpMhKpY Adam Gessaman (@adamrg) November 17, 2017

Many onlookers on the ground posted images of the drawing on social media and appeared amused by the stunt.

Gotta love Omak, WA A post shared by Russell Reed (@rreed.69) on Nov 17, 2017 at 6:25am PST

Ramon Duran told The Spokesman-Review that he was running errands when he noticed the jet drawing the male genitalia.

"After it made the circles at the bottom, I knew what it was and started laughing," Duran said.

"It was pretty funny to see that. You dont expect to see something like that."

Of course, fascinated Internet users had something to say on this.

Using an expensive machine built for war to draw a giant penis in the sky is a little too on the nose for This Year In Symbolism. erin mccann (@mccanner) November 17, 2017

If a navy pilot drawing a penis in the sky doesnt describe military shenanigans I dont know what will. Shaffer (@AlexanderShaffr) November 17, 2017

The Navy pilot that drew a penis in the sky is my new hero. Kinser Sebastian (@TheHorse34) November 18, 2017

(With AFP inputs)
Itanagar: Believe it or not, people living in Vijoynagar town of Arunachal Pradesh pay Rs 8,000 for one bag of cement, that too if it is available.

Vijoynagar, a sub-divisional town under Changlang district with just 1500 residents, has no proper surface communication. People have to walk for five days from the nearest thoroughfare in Miao to reach the town.

Though there is a weekly helicopter service for transporting supplies that are largely subjected to weather condition.

"People in this town, mostly inhabited by Chakmas and Hajongs, charge Rs 8,000 for a bag of cement and flat Rs 2,000 for WC pan," Public Health Engineering department junior engineer Jumli Ado told PTI.

The PHE department is undertaking construction of Individual Household Latrine (IHHL) in the town, a project partially funded by Centre - Rs 10,800 from the central government and Rs 9,200 by the state for one IHHL.

"All materials are transported to Vijoynagar, at the India-China-Myanmar tri-junction, through Namdapha National Park by Chakmas. They charge Rs 8,000 per bag of cement (Rs 150 per kg)," Ado disclosed.

They carry those materials physically and walk down 156 km for five days to reach the destination, Ado said, adding one could imagine the challenges this hilly state faces in achieving the open defecation free (ODF) status by December.

Ado, while taking part in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan - Gramin (SBA-gramin) awareness programme at Namphainong village of the district on November 4, had said despite numerous challenges IHHL project is moving at a fast pace.

State Civil Supply Minister Kamlung Mossang, who represents Miao assembly constituency, said the state government has approved a road construction project for the area.

Bordumsa village (headman) Shekhep and ODF consultant Nyabon Pongtey added that journey to Vijoynagar by foot is a herculean task. Development naturally moves at a snail's speed in this part of the state, they said.

"Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju had announced in Itanagar in July 2014 a central government proposal to populate nearly 100 villages situated along the border. Though Arunachal shares an international boundary of 1,680 km with Bhutan, China and Myanmar, the project has not seen the light of the day," Shekhep lamented.

Development is still a mirage in this sensitive border state for lack of connectivity even after three decades of an establishment. Many of the inhabited villages in far-flung areas are inaccessible and deprived of essential commodities.

The North Eastern Frontier Agency (NEFA), largest among seven NE states, was created in 1954. It became a union territory and was renamed Arunachal Pradesh on January 20, 1972 and finally statehood on February 20, 1987.

The Central Purchase Organization (CPO) with a base at Mohanbari in Assam's Dibrugarh district, now known as the public distribution system (PDS), was very effective in the 80s when essential items were airdropped in many remote areas.

With the PDS proving ineffective, today salt which costs Rs 20 per kg in the state capital is about Rs 250 in many border areas, including Vijoynagar.

"People living in the border areas are forced to migrate to urban places for lack of basic amenities. These ghost towns along the border are one of the reasons why China is entering the territory," former finance minister Late Kalikho Pul had told a tribal ministers' conference in New Delhi on October 28, 2014.
Islamabad: Pakistan on Saturday said it is "considering" India's request to let Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother meet him, apart from his wife who has already received permission to visit the Indian death row prisoner.

Last week, Pakistan said it had offered to arrange a meeting between 46-year-old Jadhav and his wife, months after India had requested it to grant a visa to his mother on humanitarian grounds.

Foreign Office (FO) sources here said India in response has again asked Pakistan to issue a visa to Jadhav's mother so she can also visit her detained son.

FO spokesman Mohammad Faisal confirmed that India has responded to Pakistan's offer. "Indian reply to Pakistan's humanitarian offer for Commander Jadhav received & is being considered," he tweeted.

Indian Reply to Pakistan's Humanitarian offer for Commander Jadhav received & is being considered Dr Mohammad Faisal (@ForeignOfficePk) November 18, 2017

Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April on charges of espionage and terrorism. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May halted his execution on India's appeal.

Pakistan has repeatedly denied India consular access to Jadhav on the ground that it was not applicable in cases related to spies.

Some media reports have linked Pakistan's latest offer to quiet efforts by the US. Pakistan, however, insisted that its offer was made purely on humanitarian grounds.

Jadhav has filed an appeal with Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa to seek clemency, which is still pending. Last month, the Pakistan Army had said it is close to a decision on the mercy petition of Jadhav.

Pakistan claims its security forces arrested him from restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered the country from Iran.

However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy.

Jadhav's sentencing had evoked a sharp reaction in India. After India approached the ICJ, a 10-member bench on May 18 restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case.

The ICJ has asked Pakistan to submit its response or memorial by December 13 before the court could start further proceedings in the case.
New Delhi: The governing body of Delhi Universitys Dyal Singh College has decided to rename its evening college as Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya.

The notification in this regard was issued on Friday, which was issued after it was decided to turn Dyal Singh (evening) college into a full-fledged day college. They had to come up with a new and inspiring name, said the governing bodys chairperson, Amitabh Sinha.

The National Students' Union of India (NSUI) has come out strongly against the move and said, "The governing body has renamed the evening college in a hasty manner to distract the students from actual questions of education governance. They are also disgracing the legacy of Punjab's first freedom fighter  Sardar Dyal Singh Manjithia."

Earlier on September 21, Dyal Singh (Evening) College principal Pawan K Sharma had received a notification that the Executive Council has given approval to the evening college becoming a full-fledged day college.
New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday released its second list of 36 candidates for the Gujarat assembly polls next month. With this, the party has announced 106 candidates for elections to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly to be held in two phases on December 9 and 14.

There are as many as 19 new faces in it while the rest, including those defeated in the 2012 elections, have been repeated. Nirmala Wadhwani, the only woman minister in the state, has been dropped from this list. She was an MLA from Naroda. Balram Khubchand Thavani has been nominated from the seat.

While 18 of the candidates will contest in the first phase of the polls, the rest will contest in the second phase. There are 13 Scheduled Tribe candidates and two Scheduled Caste candidates.

Among those who found their names in the list were heavyweights like Gujarat home minister Pradeepsinh Jadeja, who contests from Vatva. The BJP will also repeat Babu Bokhiria, who holds Fisheries and Animal Husbandry portfolio, from Porbandar seat. Mayur Bhatt, son of former BJP member Ashok Bhatt has been repeated from Khadia Jamalpur constituency in Ahmedabad.

On Friday, the party had announced 70 candidates, including Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and state party chief Jitu Vaghani. Of the 70, 15 are Patels, 18 OBCs, three SCs and 11 STs. Rupani will contest from Rajkot (West), and his deputy, Nitin Patel, from Mehsana.

In the first list, the state's ruling party gave tickets to 49 sitting MLAs, including 16 ministers. Patidar and OBC leaders figured heavily in the list.

Meanwhile, the Congress list is likely to be announced on Sunday. Top Congress leaders had discussed possible candidates for all the 182 Assembly seats at a meeting of its Central Election Committee chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi but refrained from announcing any names.

The NCP also announced its pre-poll alliance with the Congress on Saturday. Exuding confidence, the partys general secretary Tariq Anwar said the result of the polls will show people's feelings and perception about BJP performance.

Here is the complete list:
Beijing: India and China today held their first meeting on the border consultation and coordination mechanism after the Doklam standoff and reviewed the situation in all the sectors of their border and exchanged views on enhancing CBMs and military contacts.

The 10th round of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was held in Beijing, a press release from the Indian Embassy said.

The WMCC was established in 2012 as an institutional mechanism for consultation and coordination for the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas.

It was established to deal with the tensions over recurring border incursions as well as to exchange views on strengthening communication and cooperation, including between the border security personnel.

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488 km long Line of Actual Control (LAC). While China claims Arunachal Pradesh as Southern Tibet, India asserts that the dispute covered Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during the 1962 war.

Friday's talks were held in a constructive and forward-looking manner, the release said.

Both sides reviewed the situation in all sectors of India-China border and agreed that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas is an important prerequisite for the sustained growth of bilateral relations, it said.

The two sides also exchanged views on further confidence-building measures (CBMs) and strengthening of military-to-military contacts, it said.

The talks between the delegations headed by Pranay Verma, Joint Secretary (East Asia), Ministry of External Affairs and Xiao Qian, Director General, Department of Asian Affairs, were the first such dialogue between the two countries after the 72-day-long standoff at Doklam in the Sikkim section.

The standoff which began in mid-June ended on August 28 after Chinese troops stopped building a key road close to Indias Chicken Neck corridor. India objected to the construction highlighting its security concerns. The road was being built by the Chinese troops in the area also claimed by Bhutan.

This is the first round of talks between the two countries after Chinese President Xi Jinping began his second five-year term as the chief of the ruling Communist Party of China last month.

Today's talks took place ahead of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yis planned to visit India to take part in the Russia, India and China (RIC) Foreign Ministers meeting expected to be held in New Delhi next month.

Chinese officials earlier said Wang is expected to meet his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj as well as top Indian leaders.

The contentious issues bedevilling both the countries, including the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as well as Beijing veto blocking UN listing of JEM leader Masood Azhar as a global terrorist are expected to be discussed during Wangs talks with Indian leaders.

Ahead of the talks, Chinese officials have expressed optimism that differences over the listing of Azhar by China in the 1267 Committee of the UN Security Council may be resolved soon. China has blocked India's application last year and vetoed a similar resolution sponsored by the US, the UK and France twice this year.

Also, the 20th round of India-China border talks headed by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi, who are the designated Special Representatives, are expected to be held in New Delhi next month.

The dates for both RIC and border talks are yet to be announced.

The Special Representatives were also mandated to discuss all issues related to India-China relations.

The delegations at today's talks comprised of diplomatic and military officials from each side.

The two sides agreed to hold the next meeting of the WMCC at a mutually convenient time, the release said.
Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the only world statesman to have stood up to China's Belt and Road Initiative even though the US has been silent on the ambitious project till recently, a top American expert on China said.

During a Congressional hearing, Michael Pillsbury, Director of Center on Chinese Strategy at the prestigious think-tank Hudson Institute, told lawmakers that Modi and his team have been quite outspoken against Chinese President Xi Jinping's ambitious project.

"The only statesman in the world who stood up to it yet, is Prime Minister Modi. He and his team have been quite outspoken, partly because the Belt and Road Initiative includes violation of Indian sovereign claims," Pillsbury said.

"But the US government, until now and this is a five-year-old initiative if you count the early part of it, has been silent," he said.

Praising the Trump administration for its new Indo-Pacific strategy, the former Pentagon official said in recent days, people have heard more than 50 times by members of the Trump administration including the president himself mentioning a "free and open" Indo-Pacific region.

"The Chinese have already attacked this. They don't like it," said Pillsbury, who is considered an authority on China-related issues.

"The Indians, fairly recently, were joking about we want to make the Indian Ocean the Indian Ocean, by which they meant the purchase of several billion dollars worth of American PA aircraft, which have weapon systems in the back that can sink ships, frankly, and other improvements including maritime situational awareness and a big new center in Delhi where the Indians can keep track of both blue holes and grey holes going through the Indian Ocean," he said.

"The Chinese are very angry about this. They have criticised the Obama administration for its effort to, as they say, boost India, to a higher rank order in comprehensive power than the Chinese believe India deserves," the top American expert on China said in response to a question.

Senator Ed Markey said China's signature Belt and Road Initiative that aims to position China as the uncontested leading power in Asia "may further coerce" its neighbours through loans they cannot repay.

The BRI aimed at building a vast network of infrastructure projects expanding China's expertise and capital to different parts of the world includes USD 50 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) over which India has protested as it traversed through Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK).

India boycotted the Belt and Road Forum+ (BRF) organised by China in May this year to highlight its concerns over Beijing pushing projects through the the PoK.

He said the US companies face the threat of intellectual property theft with reports that China has been stealing cutting-edge research as well as sensitive trade secrets from the US.

And that includes companies working in the clean energy sector who cannot compete with state-backed firms, he alleged.

Pillsbury said Chinese are offering low interest loans to countries that cannot afford it.

"We're already saw the example of Sri Lanka, which fell behind in its payments and then was the subject of coercion that if you transfer the main port here in Sri Lanka to Chinese control, we will forgive the debt. The Sri Lankans did it," he said.

There were concerns of debt burden brought in by the BRI projects after Sri Lanka opted for long-term lease of its Hambantota port for USD 1.12 billion debt swap.

"...So we are beginning to see, just through the media, what the Belt and Road Initiative may mean," Pillsbury told the lawmakers.

Senator Markey said China is challenging the very underpinnings of the global order that has brought peace and prosperity.
New Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit back at Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the multi-crore Rafale deal, claiming it was "shameful" that her boss was "silencing" her.

He also asked her whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken permission from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) before announcing the purchase of the Rafale fighter aircraft in Paris.

Gandhi's retort comes a day after Sitharaman alleged that it was shameful on part of the Congress to raise objections on the deal.

The Congress had accused the government of compromising national interest and security while promoting "crony capitalism" and causing a loss to the public exchequer.

Dear RM (Raksha Mantri), what's shameful is your boss silencing you. Please tell us: 1. Final price of each Rafale jet? 2. Did PM take CCS permission before announcing purchase in Paris? 3. Why PM bypassed experienced HAL and gave the deal to AA rated businessman with no defence experience?" Gandhi tweeted.

Dear RM, whats shameful is your boss silencing you. Please tell us : 1. Final price of each Rafale jet? 2. Did PM take CCS permission before announcing purchase in Paris? 3. Why PM bypassed experienced HAL & gave the deal to AA rated businessman with no defence experience? Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) November 18, 2017

The Congress and the BJP have exchanged barbs over the multi-crore Rafale fighter aircraft deal.

While the Congress was alleging that a scam was brewing in the deal, the BJP claimed that the renegotiated deal was transparent and better than the deal negotiated by the previous UPA government.

India had inked an inter-governmental agreement with France in September last year for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs 58,000 crore, nearly one- and-half years after the prime minister announced the proposal during a visit to Paris.
Washington: UN General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak has held several rounds of consultations at the UN headquarters in New York ahead of next week's crucial election to break the deadlock between India and the UK for the last seat at the International Court of Justice.

India's nominee Dalveer Bhandari and Britain's Christopher Greenwood, who are seeking re-election at the Hague-based ICJ, are locked in a major battle as 11 rounds of elections held in both the UN General Assembly and UN Security Council have failed to yield results.

The UNGA and the UNSC are scheduled to meet Monday afternoon for the 12th round of voting. The meeting will be presided over by Lajcak.

Under the election procedures, the balloting would be held simultaneously by the Assembly and the Council.

In the successive rounds of elections spread over two days in the last two weeks, Bhandari, 70, enjoyed nearly two-third majority in the 193-member Assembly.

Greenwood, 62, received nine votes as against five by Bhandari in the Security Council. As per ICJ rules, the candidates need to gain majority in both the General assembly and Security Council to be declared elected.

The Hague-based ICJ has 15 judges on its bench. Elections for one-third of its judges are held every three years.

While four of the ICJ judges were elected early this month when they received the required majority of votes in both the General Assembly (193 members) and the 15-membered Security Council.

Earlier on Saturday, Lajcak's spokesperson Brenden Varma told reporters about the meetings.

"The president will meet today with the president of the Security Council, Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi of Italy, as well as the UN Office of Legal Affairs and the UN Department for General Assembly and Conference Management," he told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.

Asked to elaborate on the presidents consultations and the nature of the current impasse, Varma responded that the General Assembly was planning to meet on Monday to resume the elections, and no deadlines had been missed at this stage.

"In that regard, it is premature to speak about any sort of impasse," he said.

"It would be good to wait until Monday to see how the meeting goes," the spokesperson added.

Regarding the consultations, Varma said the president would be discussing the continuation of the elections.

"Because the candidates need to secure majorities in both the General Assembly and Security Council, coordination between the two organs, including with respect to the timing of the elections, is helpful," he said.

"The president is a big proponent of dialogue, which includes talking to various interlocutors about issues and ensuring that everyone is on the same page," he said.

The consultations could be seen in that context, Varma said.

Meanwhile, the US refused to respond to questions on ICJ elections in New York.

"We do not preview our votes at the UN," a State Department Spokesperson told PTI.

The US is not only a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, but also it has significant influence over the members of the body.

Its stand on the issue is not known publicly. India is aiming at getting two-thirds of the votes in the UN General Assembly on Monday.

Senior Congress leader and former UN official Shashi Tharoor has called on the Security Council "to respect the mandate of the General Assembly".

A day earlier, Varma said there were additional procedures that could be followed in New York if the Monday's meeting remained inconclusive.

For example, a joint conference could be formed, consisting of six members (three appointed by the General Assembly and three by the Security Council).
The news of Manushi Chhillar being crowned as Miss World 2017 feels like rain after a spell of drought lasting over 16 years post Priyanka Chopra's big win at the beauty pageant. Held in Sanya City Arena, in China, Chhillar made it to the title through a total of 118 contestants.

The 21-year-old, who had won Femina Miss India 2017 earlier this year, also bagged the Beauty With Purpose award.

Supermodel Alesia Raut, who is also the official ramp walk trainer of Femina Miss India and Miss India Universe pageants, and trained Chhillar for a brief duration, is exhilarated with the news. "I'm actually speechless- I feel like it's a return gift to me," she says while speaking to News18.com.

Having trained all the candidates, Raut shares that Chhillar was always the calmest one. "Manushi was the one who was always very calm and composed. Whatever was going within her, whatever volcanoes were going on within her- she never showed it to us."

She adds, "She always had this pleasant smile on her face. We just had to work on her energy- getting the energy while she was walking- she managed to achieve that on the final day."

According to Raut, the team of trainers makes sure that they divide an equal amount of energy on all candidates. "Every year we expect that we should win. This year also, we kept it like that, so that we could focus the equal amount of energy on all the candidates and give our best," she said.

On being asked about the time gap between the last victory and this one, Raut says that the changed format of contestants selection has proven lucky in a way.

"I think change is always needed and when you bring about a change, you get a good result and that's what has happened this year."

She further notes, "The format that they changed this year became a lot lucky for us because we managed to get the best of the lot. So, the time span of over 6 months that they spent in getting contestants from all over India really helped. I think they'll stick to this format now."

Interestingly, when Chhillar made it to top five and was asked which profession deserves the highest salary and why, it was her answer that won over the jury. She has been quoted as saying, "I think a mother is of highest respect. I don't think it's just about cash but love and respect she gives to someone. She is the biggest inspiration in my life. Mother should get the highest respect."

The likes of Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai besides Priyanka have paved their way to Bollywood post their big wins and it'll be interesting to see how Chhillar carves her graph.
There is a strange masochistic pleasure in going to review what you know will be a really bad. The couple of hours or so of cinematic aggravation are more than compensated for by the subsequent thrill of crafting a particularly caustic critique. And then sometimes, films get their own back at you.

After cringing through the trailers of Aksar 2, going to review it seemed like another one of those sadomasochistic sojourns that keep you on your toes. Alas, Ananth Mahadevan, the director, had other plans. If not for its embarrassingly juvenile "erotic aesthetic" (air quotes completely implied), Aksar 2 would actually have been a fairly competent exercise in filmmaking. Also the object of everyone's (ok, of two characters') lust is slightly more inanimate than a wax figurine, and far less emotive. But we'll get that later.

Patrick Sharma aka Pat (Gautam Rode), as you can probably guess from his name, is a typically entitled rhymes-with-duckboy from his sculpted pectoral to his carefully messy hair to his dual passions for get laid and getting paid. He's the personal investment banker to the fabulously wealthy and elderly Mrs Khambata, a formidable but ailing spinster.

Mrs Khambatta (Lillete Dubey) lives a secluded, if not reclusive, life in her gilded penthouse, keeping a sharp eye on her finances even as she's attended to by her coterie of stock characters: a sinister, dead-eyed manservant (Mohit Madaan), middle-aged 'governess', and an estate lawyer so oily that he seems to have just climbed out of a vat of baby lotion - the last due to either the hitherto unexpected acting prowess of Sreesanth or an inability to dissimulate his natural personality.

The middle-aged governess is run over in the first scene, poor thing, leading Mrs Khambatta to instruct Pat to find a replacement. Pat, always the perfect chauvinist, hires the young dolled up Sheena (Zareen Khan) after first objectifying her, insisting she has dinner with him, and demanding favors, in far less subtle terms than these. But it turns out Sheena has ulterior motives to getting the job of governess (sorry to break the fourth wall here, but really? Governess? Dorothy Khambatta is a sharp old lady in 2017, not an oafish four year-old in pre-war England). She's involved in a plot with Ricky (Abhinav Shukla), the pair of them madly in love, as shown in some dreadful lovemaking song sequences. As it turns out, every one is a member, willing or not, of a plot set around a sick old lady with no heirs to her ridiculously large fortune. And for all the cliches and tropes, the film still manages to be engaging for the most part, if not for two big things.

The actors are largely invested in their roles. Lillete Dubey is luminescent, as always, while Gautam Rode is the very embodiment of the ambitious corporate 'bro', and lascivious to boot. Abhinav Shukla's Ricky is a conflicted character (or an impetuous idiot), but Shukla makes it work, as does Mohan Madaan with the deliciously named manservant and resident psychopath, Bachchan Singh. And that brings us to the elephants in the room.

Zareen Khan is, to put it mildly, terrible; it isn't so much that she's somehow wooden and mechanical at the same time as it is that she's seemingly also made of plastic. It's not fantastic. Granted that there's not much fun in being grossly sexualized by practically every character in the film or being thrown around and bent and twisted like a toy but that's barely for 10 minutes out of two hours. The rest of the film involves Sheena as an integral cog in the machinations of a constantly changing conspiracy. Central to the film, the role required a lot of investment from its actor, but Khan doesn't drop so much as a penny into that fountain. It's probably not a good sign if the audience of your erotic thriller is wishing that your female lead would go off screen and do her pouting exercises so that the plot can continue.

Secondly, there was no need for the erotic angle to this film; and if the makers were really that keen to have one, they shouldn't have gotten a overexcited 14-year old to choreograph the three "sexy songs" -- including one involving dubious consent and literally called Aaj Zid -- that make up the entirety of the film's terrible, terrible adult content. Everybody involved is uncomfortable to the point it gets ludicrous. For instance, ever so often Sheena is lifted off the ground like a trophy; given that her proportions are more Matroshka-like than marionette, it looks more like an instructional on strength training rather than a sensuous visual.

So it's a shame really. Because, with a different female lead and without the disconcerting songs, this would have been a pretty decent film. It's almost noire, with its crisp air of cynicism and the fact that there's not a single redeemable character in the film. Seriously, they are all horrible people. Indeed, coupled with the fact that despite being set in Mauritius there is not a single non-Indian in the film, you can't help wonder whether that island is sinking under the weight of its sinners.

The plot could also have used some tuning. The alternating of the conspirators between calculated planning and impulsive foolishness could have been done away with and the product placement could perhaps have been a little more subtle. Almost every second scene has a digital banking or e-wallet company logo. There's even a throw-away line which should become a classic: "Pat, ek lakh cash le aana, aur kuch paise PayTM e transfer kar dena." That's digital India right there, baby.

Rating: 2.5/5
Jaipur: Entry to the famous Chittorgarh fort in Rajasthan was closed on Friday as a few thousand people sat on dharna outside the main gate to protest Sanjay Leela Bhansali's upcoming movie Padmavati, which many claim distorts historical facts.

Tourists visiting the Unesco World Heritage site fort were requested to go back.

The fort is visited by around 3,000-4,000 tourists from October, as the tourist season picks up.

"We closed the first gate known as Padan Pol since 8 a.m. We did not allow anyone to enter the fort. It was a peaceful protest and continued till 6pm," member of Sarv Samaj Protest Committee Ranjit Singh told IANS.

"Around 5,000-6,000 persons sat on dharna outside the gate. We will continue the dharna till our demand on ban on the film is not met. We have decided to review the situation next Friday," said Mangal Singh, joint secretary, Chittorgarh, Mewar Shatriya Mahasabha, which supported the protest.

Over 500-1,000 women also participated in the protest, Singh claimed.

However, the police said the protesters numbered around 1,000.

The protesters demanded that the movie, based on the life of Rani Padmini or Padmavati, who was queen of Chittorgarh, should not be released.

"It is for the first time since Independence that the entry to the fort has been blocked," claimed another member of Sarv Samaj Protest committee.

There were some moments of panic when someone reportedly fired gunshots in the air as the protesters were sitting on dharna.

Protesters also "hanged" the effigies of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, actress Deepika Padukone and actor Salman Khan at the protest site.

There was a heavy police presence to deal with any untoward incident. Barricades were put up outside the fort.

"The protest went on peacefully. We have identified the person who fired shots in the air and further investigations are going on," a police official told IANS.

In other parts of Rajasthan, including Jaipur and Ajmer, there were reports of protests held by the Karni Sena. In Ajmer in front of a picture hall, some miscreants put up a poster saying that Padmavati will not be released.

A Karni Sena leader on Thursday threatened actress Deepika Padukone, who plays the lead in the movie, with physical harm over her "provocative statements".

Earlier this week in an interview to IANS, Deepika said: "The only people we are answerable to is the censor board, and I know and I believe that nothing can stop the release of this film."

As part of protests, a Brahmin group on Thursday conducted a signature campaign in blood demanding a ban on the film. The Dargha Diwan of Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti Dargah in Ajmer also issued a statement asking for a ban.

Activists of the Karni Sena had on Tuesday vandalised a theatre in Kota, Rajasthan, over reports that it was showing a trailer of "Padmavati".

Chittorgarh, also called Chittaur, from the 7th century to the 16th, was the capital of Mewar under the Rajputs.
Hollywood actor Ruby Rose has today come out in support of Deepika Padukone in the wake of the ongoing controversy surrounding her film Padmavati and said she is in absolute awe of the actress' strength and courage.

Rose, who worked with Deepika in her Hollywood debut xXx: Return of Xander Cage, took to Twitter to show solidarity with the Bajirao Mastani star and wrote, "I am in shock at reading what my dear friend is going through but in absolute awe of her strength and courage. Deepika you are one of the strongest women I know."

I am in shock at reading what my dear friend is going through but in absolute awe of her strength and courage. Deepika you are one of the strongest women I know. https://t.co/wrEaO9WZA0 Ruby Rose (@RubyRose) November 18, 2017

The Sanjay Leela Bhansali-directed magnum opus, which is slated to release on December 1, is embroiled in controversy as some Hindu groups and political parties, claim that the film distorts history and portrays Rajput queen Padmavati in a questionable light. Bhansali has repeatedly rebuffed the rumors about an alleged dream sequence between Padmavati and Khilji and even released a video saying that the film honours the valor of Rajputs and the queen.
Should a film based on a historical character be a work of fiction? Thats the debate that has been giving sleepless nights to the crew of Padmavati, while a number of people of a group that was unheard of till recently are up in arms to defend a long-dead woman who a long-dead man may have seen in a mirror.

While the Karni Sena leaders are probably busy sharpening their knives to cut off actor Deepika Padukones nose because she dared to defend a film she acted in, we are left wondering if the country should just stop making films on historical characters. Because, who cares about different versions of history anymore? If you are a filmmaker, you need to listen to the men with knives.

We are not sure where the Karni Sena men were in the last two decades, but we sure are thankful. If the likes of them existed back in the day, we would have missed out on a lot of movies.

Heres a list, thanking our stars, or the non-existence of men with knives.

Mughal-E-Azam

Mughal-e-Azam, the mother of all period films, is as loosely or closely based on history as Odisha's claim to the Bengali rosogolla. Yet, the film is celebrated even after nearly 60 years. While historians say, in real life, Salim, played by Dilip Kumar, was a heavy consumer of alcohol and opiumthe film showed quite a different picture. When the film's Salim returns from his time in the military, he is depicted as a gentle and romantic hero. In contrast, the real Salim was said to have been quite brutal. He castrated one servant, beat another to death, and flayed a writer while he watched because he wrote nasty things about Salim.

If Mughal-E-Azam was to be released in 2017, there would an army of leaders probably threatening to break director K Asifs bones for painting a glorious picture of a Muslim emperor, who was known to be violent.

Asoka

Shah Rukh Khan as Asoka is a lover boy running and hiding behind trees, singing songs for his romantic interest Kaurwaki. History says it wasnt anything like that. Asoka wasnt quite a man with heart before he came to be known as Dharmasok.

Kaurwaki, played by Kareena Kapoor is portrayed as the princess of Kalinga. She was no princes. She was a fisherwoman who was reportedly abducted by King Asoka.

If history is to be believed, doesnt Asoka sound somewhat like the Karni Senas version of Alauddin Khilji? Well, back then, the protectors of history didnt quite mind the entire fantasy between the ruler and a fisherwoman he had abducted.

Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love story

If this was historical drama was to be released in 2017, we know what its fate would have been. First, a lot many people would try to rename it 'Tejo Mahalay. Then, another group of people would start a petition asking CBFC, better known as the Censor Board to ensure an eternal love story is dropped from its name. And most likely, the film wouldnt see the light of the day.

Only last month, BJP MLA Sangeet Som announced that he opposes the Mughals who built the Taj Mahal and how they've been portrayed in history. "If such people are still considered a part of (India's) glorious history, I can tell you with full confidence we will change that history," he had proudly declared.

Not sure how much Som can change history, but director Akbar Khan should be glad that the film was released in 2005, not 2017.

Amrapali

In Lekh Tandons Amrapali (1966), starring Vyjayanthimala and Sunil Dutt, Ajathasatru falls in love with Amrapali. If it was to be released in 2017, the film crew would have got into some serious trouble. As per Buddhist texts, the emperor who fell for Amrapali was not Ajathasatru, but his father Bimbisara.

The story begins with Ajathasatru, the emperor of Magadha, declaring a war on the Republic of Vaishali. Defeated and wounded in the war, he runs into the dwelling of Amrapali who nurses him back to health. She doesnt realize that he is the emperor of Magadha whose effigy she has burnt in the post-victory celebrations. Eventually, Ajathasatru and Amrapali fall in love with each other.

The movie could give Game Of Thrones a run for its money if it came to incestuous relationships. Was the father in love with Amrapali? Was the son in love with Amrapali? Were both of them in love with her?

Who cares, it was a beautifully shot film which was also Indias official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 39th Academy Awards. But we know, in 2017, the film sure wouldnt get this love, at least not from the apparent protectors of history.

If theres one thing thats overrated in the current times, its rationality. Maybe all these Karni Sena members and such like should be sent to Baba Ramdevs camp to learn some Pranayama. Or maybe, they should be made to sit through all these movies so that they have a lot more reasons to be angry about.
Mumbai: The makers of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati have rubbished reports that the film, which is facing protest from several Rajput groups, has been postponed to January next year.

There have been reports saying that the makers plan to postpone the release of Padmavati to January 12, following political pressure.

When contacted Ajit Andhare, Chief Operating Officer, Viacom18 Motion Pictures, told PTI, " (It's a) complete rumour."

He also shared a statement on Twitter.

"Rumours of postponement of Padmavati are baseless," he tweeted.

The period drama has been courting controversies as several fringes including Rajput Karni Sena are protesting against the film and Bhansali for distorting historical facts.

The film starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh is set to release on December 1.
Cast: Vidya Balan, Manav Kaul, Neha Dhupia, Vijay Maurya, Malishka Mendonsa

Director: Suresh Triveni

Delivering a knockout performance as a middle-class housewife whose life changes when she becomes the host of a late night radio show, Vidya Balan is the beating heart of Tumhari Sulu.

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Sulu is a force of nature in a cotton sari, a happy-go-lucky homemaker with a can-do spirit; the sort of woman whos determined to grab more from life. Unwilling to be weighed down by her domestic duties, or shamed for the fact that shes a 12th class fail, Sulu will take a shot at anything. Main kar sakti hai, she says and charges full steam ahead, coming in second in a lemon-and-spoon race for school parents, winningin random contests, and dreaming up ambitious business plans that shes convinced she can make a success of.

Vidya imbues Sulu with innocence, naivete, vulnerability, and an infectious optimism. Sulu loves being a mother and a wife, but that look on her face each time she spots her airhostess neighbors is telling of her dreams and ambitions. Shes complemented nicely by Manav Kaul who plays her loving husband Ashok, himself stuck in a dead-end job, but consistently supportive of her need to fly. It is her unshakable confidence that drives her to badger a radio station boss (Neha Dhupia) into giving her a late night call-in show.

Its a winning premise, and the films writer-director, ad-man Suresh Triveni, creates a world that is instantly recognizable, giving us characters and scenarios that feel authentic. Some of the best scenes involve Sulus disapproving older twin sisters who constantly berate her for flitting from one hobby to another, while stressing that they hold respectable bank jobs themselves. Just watch how they react in horror to the news that she chats with lonely callers in the night in the name of a job.

Triveni astutely captures the beats of middle-class life in suburban Mumbai through little scenes between Sulu and Ashok. In a lovely throwaway moment she complains that he never puts on the air-conditioning in their car.

Post intermission, however, the script begins to flounder. The conflicts feel forced and manufactured, particularly a subplot involving their son and his troubles at school. There is potential to dig deeper and ask prickly but important questions about patriarchy, ego, equality in a marriage, and male pride. But the makers have little interest in exploring uncomfortable territory, preferring instead to resolve conflicts quickly and painlessly. As a result, Tumhari Sulu is warm, and light, and funny, but its missing heft.

The supporting cast  including Neha Dhupia, and particularly Vijay Maurya as Sulu's producer Pankaj  is in good form. Manav Kaul is especially strong, bringing so many shades to his role as an inherently decent man and encouraging spouse who finds himself in a conflicting situation.

But Tumhari Sulu belongs to its leading lady, and Vidya Balan is so good in it, she glosses over many of the script problems and gives us a protagonist so compelling its hard not to succumb to her charm.

Im going with three out of five.

Rating: 3 / 5

What's your reaction to Tumhari Sulu?

Write your review of Tumhari Sulu
New Delhi: Congress is likely to announce its decision on the Patidar reservation in the next 24 hours. Senior party leader Kapil Sibal on Saturday assured the key functionaries of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) that they would find a solution on the quota issue "within the constitutional framework".

Sibal arrived in Vadodara on Saturday afternoon for final round of talks with PAAS members.

Sibal's assurance came after PAAS had issued an ultimatum to the Congress to clear its stand on the issue within 24 hours or face protests from Patidars.

PAAS convener Dinesh Bambhaniya said, "Congress called us to Delhi and made us wait for a very long time. This is like a joke being played on us. The Gujarat Congress president does not even receive our phone calls. If Congress does not agree to our demands, we have other options available to us as well. Congress will have to face protests all across Gujarat."

While Sibal reacted quickly to Bambhaniya's statement, sources indicate that PAAS is just trying to build pressure on the Congress. Sources said PAAS leaders are trying to arm twist the Congress into alloting eight tickets in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections. OBC leader Alpesh Thakor has already joined the Congress and is expected to contest elections on the party's ticket this year.

Patidar leader Hardik Patel on Monday held a press conference and announced that the PAAS had reviewed the alternative proposal from Sibal and they found the Congress proposal "acceptable".

Speaking to the reporters, 24-year-old Patel said, "After the PAAS Core Committee meeting, I want to announce that the proposal on Patidar reservation given by Kapil Sibal and the Congress party is correct and is acceptable to us. We will discuss it with other social outfits in Gujarat. Our aim is that Patidars should get reservations under the guidelines laid down by the Constitution and different Commissions in the country. If one follows the Congresss formula for reservations, this will give benefits to other communities along with the Patidars. The Congress is also likely to add this to their election manifesto for the Gujarat Assembly polls."
Ahmedabad: Voices of dissent surfaced within hours of the BJP announcing its list of candidates for the first phase of the Gujarat assembly election despite party leaders claiming that the choices made were unanimous.

A spate of resignations have taken place from the BJP since Friday afternoon. Vijaysinh Patel, a member of the Bharuch district panchayat, quit the party, protesting against the Ankleshwar assembly seat being given to Ishwarsinh Patel, the sitting MLA from the seat. Vijaysinh and Ishwarsinh are brothers.

In Saurashtra, where the BJP is already facing the prospect of losing a section of Patidar votes, opposition was seen in the Mahuva, Jasdan and Amreli seats. Mahuva councillor Bipin Sanghvi quit the after the party decided to go with Raghavjibhai Makwana from the seat once again.

I have been seeking a ticket for the past four terms. I have helped build the BJP in this constituency. I have resigned because I have lost faith in the party now, Sanghvi said.

In neighbouring Jasdan constituency, Gajendra Ramani quit after he did not find his name as BJP candidate for the seat. This seat is held by the Congress and the BJP decided to field Bharat Boghra instead of Ramani, who was prompt in telling the media that he will join the Congress.

In central Gujarat, Kamlesh Parmar, leader of opposition in the Congress-ruled Vadodara district panchayat, too, quit and has threatened to contest as an independent from the Padra assembly seat in Vadodara after Dinesh Patel was given the seat. Patel has been MLA from the seat in the last two terms.

In South Gujarats tribal pockets, the Adivasi Ekta Manch, a front supported by the BJP, has threatened to field as many as ten candidates in tribal dominated seats of south Gujarat. The Manch said that its leaders have not been given enough representation by the BJP in the list of candidates announced.
BlackBerry Chief Operating Officer Marty Beard has resigned from the Canadian software company, effective Dec. 1, to help family members deal with health issues, a person familiar with the plans told Reuters on Friday. His resignation follows the departure of several other key BlackBerry managers over the past year, including executives who ran the company's acquisition team and oversaw efforts to generate revenue by licensing its portfolio of more than 40,000 patents.

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Beard, 54, played a major role in helping company Chief Executive John Chen develop a strategy for turning the company around after the collapse of its smartphone business, helping expand its line of software products for large companies and government agencies. He oversaw marketing, strategic partnerships, developer outreach and other areas.

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"That's a big loss" said Nick McQuire, vice president of enterprise research at CCS Insight, a technology consultancy. "He was very influential in BlackBerry." Beard, whose departure was disclosed to BlackBerry staff in an internal company memo on Friday, does not intend to look for another job, said the person, who did not want to be identified because the matter is private.

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BlackBerry's stock ended the session down 0.7 percent at C$13.16 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, hitting its low for the day at C$13.08 soon after Reuters reported Beard's departure. The source did not say whether Chen intended to name a new COO. Representatives with BlackBerry did not respond to requests for comment. McQuire said he hoped BlackBerry quickly names a successor to supervise those key functions at a time when it is looking at multiple markets in its bid to return to growth.

He said that BlackBerry should consider hiring a senior marketing executive whose role would be separate from operations. "He had a lot on his plate, maybe they'll have to rethink the areas that Marty owned and perhaps have multiple people doing those jobs," he said. Beard joined BlackBerry in 2014 from startup LiveOps. He previously worked for Chen at Sybase Inc, a publicly held software maker that was acquired by Germany's SAP AG.

Also Watch: Apple iPhone X Review | Should You Pay Rs 1,02,000 For It?
Global ride-hailing platform Uber on Friday launched a light web-based version of Uber -- m.uber.com -- in India that will help people book their rides from computers or tablets. So if you are at a place with no access to a smartphone, you can book your Uber from your laptop. The lighter web-version became available in India from Friday. "As part of our efforts to enable global access to Uber, we're focusing on two key areas for riders -- building solutions for those who don't have access to the Uber app and enabling our existing rider app to work better in emerging markets," Daniel Graf, Vice President and Head of Product at Uber, said in a statement.

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The company also introduced three new app features -- offline search, request for a guest and call to ride. Offline search is for the riders using the app in limited network areas. With this feature, Uber is enabling offline search by caching the top points of interest in the city so that riders can enter their destinations in the app without having to wait for the connection, the company said.

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Another feature, request for a guest, will help riders to book an Uber for anyone from their Uber app no matter where the rider or guest is located. To use this feature, the person requesting the ride for a guest can simply tap "Where to?", then choose who is riding above their pickup location. The rider will receive trip information in an SMS text message -- including ETA, car type and driver contact information, enabling them to coordinate with the driver directly.

The driver will see the rider's name, and be able to contact that person too (through a masked number, for privacy on both sides). The ride will be charged to the requestor's card on file unless the requestor selects cash as the payment. The rollout of both the features will begin in next few weeks, the company added. Through a call to ride, riders can call a single phone number and enter a numeric code displayed on signage to help Uber identify their location. Once the ride is confirmed, the rider will also be sent a text message with information on the car and driver partner.

Currently, the company is piloting this feature only in Pune. "We believe these features will help us better serve our rider needs and are very excited about the rollout," Graf added.

Also Watch: Apple iPhone X Review | Should You Pay Rs 1,02,000 For It?
New Delhi: A visit to Beijing last week by Zimbabwean army chief General Constantino Chiwenga has come under the scanner as the African nation grapples with political uncertainty in the wake of a military takeover against President Robert Mugabe.

In a November 10 posting on its microblog, the Chinese Defense Ministry showed Chiwenga smiling and shaking hands with Defense Minister Chang Wanquan at the ministry in central Beijing. A separate photo showed the two seated with their delegations at a conference table.

Chiwengas meeting with Wanquan and other senior Chinese military leaders, and the subsequent military takeover has set off speculation that Beijing had prior knowledge of the coup and had perhaps given the army commander a go-ahead to seize power.

China and Zimbabwe have a close diplomatic and economic relationship and Beijing has stood with Mugabe's government in the face of Western economic sanctions, investing in auto, diamond, tobacco and power-station projects. Military ties between the sides date from Chinese support for Zimbabwe's armed struggle against white minority rule in the 1970s.

"The fact there were these kind of visits to Beijing right before (the coup) certainly seems indicative of something, but who knows what that was?" CNN quoted Cobus Van Staden, senior researcher on Foreign Policy at the South African Institute of International Affairs, as saying.

Wang Xinsong, associate professor at Beijing Normal University School of Social Development and Public Policy, said China would be very reluctant to see Zimbabwe fall into a period of social instability and political turmoil.

China has described General Chiwengas meeting with the Chinese defence minister as "normal military exchange."

Asked whether Chiwenga briefed Chinese officials on any plans for a military takeover in Zimbabwe, spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters that the Defense Ministry had handled arrangements for the visit and he was "not aware of the details."

"What I can tell you is that his visit was a normal military exchange as agreed by the two countries," Geng said at a regularly scheduled news conference.

Mugabe and his family are known to have close ties to the Chinese special administrative region of Hong Kong, where they were involved in a legal case involving a luxury property and his daughter Bona was a university student.

Mugabe's wife Grace was also accused by a photographer of assaulting him during a shopping excursion in the city in 2009. Mugabe left the territory without being charged.
New portrait marks Queen and Prince Philip's 70th anniversary

18 November 2017BBC NewsA new portrait of the Queen and Prince Philip has been released to mark their 70th wedding anniversary.The royal couple will mark Monday's platinum anniversary with a private dinner with family and friends at Windsor Castle.The bells of Westminster Abbey, where they married in 1947, will toll to mark the occasion.Royal Mail has issued a set of six commemorative stamps, featuring the couple's engagement and wedding.The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are the first royal couple to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary.When they married, the then Princess Elizabeth was 21-years-old while her groom, Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, was 26.The new image, by celebrity photographer Matt Holyoak, shows the pair flanked by Thomas Gainsborough's paintings of George III and Queen Charlotte from 1781.In the photograph, the Queen is wearing a cream day dress designed by Angela Kelly, her personal assistant and dressmaker since 2002.She also wears a "Scarab" brooch in yellow gold, carved ruby and diamond, designed by Andrew Grima and given to the Queen as a gift in 1966.
Shanghai: A senior Chinese envoy has met an aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in Pyongyang, the two sides said Saturday, stressing longstanding ties despite deep divisions over the North's nuclear activities.

Song Tao is visiting on behalf of President Xi Jinping, ostensibly to brief the North's officials on the recent Chinese Communist Party Congress and other "issues of mutual interest".

The two communist neighbours, once said by Mao Zedong to be "as close as lips and teeth", are at odds over the nuclear standoff and US President Donald Trump is urging Beijing to pile pressure on Pyongyang.

Song, the first senior Chinese envoy to visit in more than a year, had been widely expected to raise the impasse over North Korea's missile and nuclear tests in his Friday meeting with Choe Ryong-Hae, a top official in North Korea's ruling party.

But a Chinese Communist Party report of the meeting made no mention of those issues, focusing instead on platitudes about the long relationship.

A party statement said Song and Choe agreed that mutual ties were "the common treasure of the two peoples".

"Both parties should make concerted efforts to promote the development of the relations between the two parties and the two countries and let them benefit the two peoples," the statement paraphrased them as saying.

A brief report by North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency said Song told his hosts that China wanted to "develop the traditional friendly relations between the two parties and countries", but gave no further details.

Trump, who warned Xi during his trip to Beijing last week that time was "quickly running out" to solve the nuclear crisis, took to Twitter on Thursday to hail Song's mission as "a big move, we'll see what happens!"

The United States wants China, which accounts for 90 per cent of North Korea's foreign trade, to apply more economic pressure.

But experts doubt Song's visit will yield breakthroughs, saying Beijing has a far less political influence on Kim than is thought despite the economic ties.

"Relations are extremely stressed. Perhaps the lowest point since the Korean War. Perhaps (the mission) will put a floor under China-North Korea relations, preventing further deterioration," said Bonnie Glaser, China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

China has imposed its own banking restrictions on North Koreans in addition to enacting a series of UN measures that include bans on imports of coal, iron ore and seafood from the North.
Washington: US President Donald Trump said in a tweet on Friday he is putting a decision to allow imports of elephant trophies on hold after a torrent of criticism from conservation advocates and across social media.

Trump's reversal came hours after his administration released a rule on Friday to allow hunters who kill elephants in Zimbabwe to bring their trophies back to the United States, which had been banned by the Obama administration.

"Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts. Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you!" Trump wrote.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement that he had spoken with Trump and "both believe that conservation and healthy herds are critical." He said the "issuing of permits is being put on hold as the decision is being reviewed."

Early word of the planned change had drawn protests from conservationists, who said it could deplete already at-risk elephant populations. It also caused a social media firestorm, with opponents posting photos of President Donald Trump's sons Donald Jr. and Eric, avid hunters, posing with dead wild animals.

Tanya Sanerib, senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said on Friday in a statement: "It's great that public outrage has forced Trump to reconsider this despicable decision, but it takes more than a tweet to stop trophy hunters from slaughtering elephants and lions. We need immediate federal action to reverse these policies."

Amid the backlash to reports that the move would apply to two southern African countries -- Zimbabwe and neighbouring Zambia -- White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said it was due to a review by career officials at the US Fish and Wildlife Service which began back in 2014 under the previous administration of Democratic President Barack Obama.

"This review established that both Zambia and Zimbabwe had met new standards, strict, international conservation standards, that allowed Americans to resume hunting in those countries," Sanders told reporters.

In an official notice published on Friday in the Federal Register, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it had concluded that the killing of African elephants in Zimbabwe as trophies, between the dates of Jan. 21, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2018, "will enhance the survival of the African elephant."

The agency had said earlier on Friday before Trump's tweet that "legal managed hunting" can help provide incentives to conserve wildlife and habitat and provide revenue to help conservation.

The move was disclosed by Fish and Wildlife Service officials attending a meeting in Tanzania this week that was organized by a pro-trophy hunting group.

The officials had said Zambia would also be covered by the change, but only Zimbabwe was mentioned in Friday's notice. Zambia was mentioned in a news release issued by the government.

The international affairs section of the official US Fish and Wildlife Service webpage shows the agency has already begun accepting permits for imports of trophies from the hunting of lions in Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Wildlife advocates said that move contradicts the agency's decision last year to extend Endangered Species Act protections to African lions. But US hunting groups and the National Rifle Association praised the recent decision on lion trophies, which they said the Trump administration issued on Oct. 20.

Africa's elephant population plunged by about a fifth between 2006 and 2015 because of increased poaching for ivory, a coveted commodity used in carving and ornamental accessories in China and other parts of Asia, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said last year.

Wildlife activists argue that corruption is endemic in impoverished Zimbabwe, and that money generated by big game hunting and meant for conservation has been diverted into the pockets of crooks and poachers.

Supporters say money made from well-regulated hunts has been used for costly wildlife conservation in cash-starved African countries battling to diminish chronic poverty.

The Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee, Representative Ed Royce, slammed the administration's decision to allow the imports, saying economic and political turmoil in Zimbabwe gave him "zero confidence" the authorities there were properly managing conservation programs.

"Elephants and other big game in Africa are blood currency for terrorist organizations, and they are being killed at an alarming rate," Royce said in a statement. "Stopping poaching isn't just about saving the world's most majestic animals for the future -- it's about our national security."

Zimbabwe was thrown into chaos this week when the army took charge, appearing to signal the end of long-serving President Robert Mugabe's reign, despite the 93-year-old's insistence that he remains in charge.
Washington: Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has slammed Donald Trump and Republican Senate nominee Ray Moore for being unapologetic over the sexual misconduct allegations, saying the US President has "disgraced the office".

Hillary, 70, the former Democratic presidential nominee who last year lost the White House race to Trump, 71, said that Democratic Senator Al Franken has apologised for his reported sexual misconduct and his willingness for a probe "is the kind of accountability I'm talking about".

"I don't hear that from Roy Moore or Donald Trump... Look at the contrast between Al Franken, accepting responsibility, apologising, and Roy Moore and Donald Trump who have done neither," she told New York's WABC radio station. Hillary also said that the President has "disgraced the office".

Asked if she admired anything about Trump, she quickly responded in the negative.

"No. The answer is absolutely no... I didn't think he'd be as bad as he turned out to be," she said of Trump. When asked about Moore, who has been accused by five women of sexual misconduct, Hillary said he does not appear to be someone who will bring respect and honour to the state of Alabama.

Moore, a former judge and the Republican nominee for a vacant Senate seat in Alabama, has denied all charges. When asked about the past behaviour of Bill Clinton, her husband and a former US president, and if she should have been more supportive of his female accusers versus reports that she attacked their credibility, Hillary said, "Every situation has to be judged on its own merit."

She further said those allegations were investigated and recent comments by others about her husband are not relevant. "I don't know that we can rewrite and revise history," Hillary said.

Of specifically Senator Gillibrand's recent comments about Bill Clinton that he should have resigned after his affair with Monica Lewinsky, she said, "I don't exactly know what she (Gillibrand) was trying to say."

Hillary is currently on a tour for her new book 'What Happened' -- a memoir and election postmortem published by Simon & Schuster.
Paris: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrived in France Saturday from Saudi Arabia, where his resignation announcement two weeks ago sparked accusations that he was being held there against his will.

Hariri is in Paris at the invitation of France's President Emmanuel Macron, who is attempting to help broker a solution to a political crisis that has raised fears over Lebanon's fragile democracy.

Hariri and his wife Lara, who landed at Le Bourget airport outside the French capital at 7:00 am (0600 GMT) after flying in from Riyadh overnight, were due to meet Macron at noon.

The couple were whisked to their Paris residence in a seven-car convoy under tight security.

"To say that I am held up in Saudi Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie," Hariri had tweeted just before his departure, adding to repeated denials of the rumours from Saudi officials.

A source close to Hariri said the premier had held an "excellent, fruitful and constructive" meeting with powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman before he left.

Hariri, a dual Saudi citizen who has previously enjoyed Riyadh's backing, made the shock resignation announcement on November 4.

He said he feared for his life, accusing Iran and its powerful Lebanese ally Hezbollah of destabilising his country.

Escalating battle for influence

But Hariri's failure to return from Saudi Arabia prompted claims he was essentially being held hostage there, including from Lebanese President Michel Aoun who refused to accept his resignation from abroad.

Hariri's resignation was widely seen as an escalation of the battle for influence between regional arch-rivals Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, which back opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

His attempt to step down also coincides with a purge of more than 200 Saudi princes, ministers and businessmen.

Hariri met French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Riyadh on Thursday as Paris, which held mandate power over Lebanon for the first half of the 20th century, seeks to ease the crisis.

In a related development, Riyadh on Saturday recalled its ambassador to Berlin in protest after Germany's Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel made comments interpreted as a suggestion that Hariri had acted under Saudi orders.

Without mentioning Saudi Arabia directly, Gabriel had on Thursday said he shared concerns about the threat of instability and bloodshed in Lebanon and warned against "adventurism".

"Lebanon has earned the right to decide on its fate by itself and not become a pinball of Syria or Saudi Arabia or other national interests," he had said earlier in the week.

'Start of a solution'

Prior to Hariri's departure, the Lebanese president -- an ally of Hezbollah -- welcomed the announcement of the trip to Paris, expressing hope that it was the "start of a solution".

"If Mr. Hariri speaks from France, I would consider that he speaks freely," Aoun said in a statement.

"But his resignation must be presented in Lebanon, and he will have to remain there until the formation of the new government."

There is no indication what Hariri plans to do after visiting Macron, but the French leader has insisted he would then be free to return to Lebanon to either formally resign or rethink his decision.

France's intervention was the latest in a string of European efforts to defuse tensions over Lebanon, where divisions between Sunni Hariri's bloc and Shiite Hezbollah have long been a focal point in a broader struggle between Riyadh and Tehran.

Hariri -- whose father, ex-prime minister Rafik Hariri, was killed in a 2005 car bombing blamed on Hezbollah -- took over as head of a shaky compromise government last year, which includes the powerful Shiite movement.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir insisted from Madrid that "unless Hezbollah disarms and becomes a political party, Lebanon will be held hostage by Hezbollah and by extension Iran".

Hariri's resignation comes as the long-standing rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran intensifies and as Riyadh undergoes a major shake-up under the ambitious crown prince.
Beirut: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who is expected to fly to Paris, said on day he was on his way to the airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh where he has been since his shock resignation.

"To say that I am held up in Saudi Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie. I am on the way to the airport," Hariri tweeted.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun had accused Saudi authorities of "detaining" Hariri and refused to accept his resignation from abroad.

Hariri, a dual Saudi citizen, has been in Riyadh since issuing a statement on television there on November 4 that he was stepping down because he feared for his life while also accusing Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of destabilising his nation.

Just before Hariri's tweet on Friday, a source close to him said he was on the point of leaving Riyadh and had met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

French President Emmanuel Macron has invited Hariri to Paris with his family for a "few days".

Macron will meet Hariri at noon (1100 GMT) on Friday as he arrives in the midst of a major political crisis, the French leader's office said on Friday.

Hariri's resignation was quickly perceived as the latest round in a tug of war between Saudi Arabia, his longtime sponsor, and its regional arch-rival Iran.

It has raised deep concerns about the stability of Lebanon, which has long been riven by disagreements between Hariri's bloc and that of his chief rival, the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.

Hariri's resignation announcement -- which reportedly took even some of his closest aides by surprise -- and his subsequent failure to return home to officially quit in person, fuelled speculation that he was acting under orders from his Saudi patrons.

In his Tweet Hariri specifically mentioned German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, without going into any more details.

Gabriel on Thursday said he shared the concern about the threat of instability and bloodshed in Lebanon and, without mentioning Saudi Arabia directly, warned against the "adventurism" behind the Lebanon crisis.

Earlier in the week Gabriel had said: "Lebanon has earned the right to decide on its fate by itself and not become a pinball of Syria or Saudi Arabia or other national interests".
Cairo: Saudi Arabia has summoned its ambassador in Germany home for consultations over comments by German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel about the political crisis in Lebanon.

The Saudi foreign ministry said the government would deliver a protest note to Germany's ambassador in Riyadh over what it said were "outrageous and unjustified" comments Gabriel made after a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart.

After a meeting in Berlin with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Gabriel told reporters that Europe "could not tolerate the adventurism that has spread there". It was not clear from a Reuters television recording that the remark was targeted at Saudi Arabia.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri resigned while in Saudi Arabia on November 4.

"Such remarks provoke the surprise and disapproval of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which considers them as aimless and based on false information that would not help bring about stability in the region," the Saudi ministry said.

Hariri's abrupt resignation has raised concern over Lebanon's stability. He was due to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Saturday. Lebanon's President Michel Aoun said on Twitter Hariri had told him in a phone call from Paris he would be in Lebanon on Wednesday for Independence Day celebrations.

The German foreign ministry welcomed Hariri's departure from Saudi Arabia for Paris and impending return to Lebanon.

"We are very concerned about regional stability and call on sides to reduce tensions," the statement read. "We aim this message at all actors in the region."
Beijing: A top Chinese envoy landed in North Korea on Friday in a trip hailed as a "big move" by US President Donald Trump, who has urged Beijing to pile pressure on its nuclear-armed ally.

Diplomat Song Tao is visiting the North on behalf of President Xi Jinping to brief officials on the recent Chinese Communist Party congress and other "issues of mutual interest", foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

He is the first major Chinese envoy to visit Pyongyang in more than a year with ties severely strained between the two countries.

Analysts expect Song to address the nuclear standoff, which has roiled relations between the two Cold War-era allies as China has backed United Nations sanctions on North Korea over its missile tests and sixth nuclear blast.

Trump, who warned Xi during his trip to Beijing last week that time was "quickly running out" to solve the nuclear crisis, took to Twitter on Thursday to hail the mission as "a big move, we'll see what happens!".

A brief report from North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency Saturday morning confirmed Song had landed and met with Choe Ryong-Hae, a senior Pyongyang official and a close aide of leader Kim Jong-Un.

The report said Song told his hosts China wanted to "develop the traditional friendly relations between the two parties and countries" but contained no further details of what was discussed.

Washington wants China, which accounts for 90 percent of North Korea's foreign trade, to put more economic pressure on the reclusive regime.

But experts doubt Song's visit will yield major breakthroughs.

"China has virtually no political influence on North Korea. Its influence is derived from economic leverage," Bonnie Glaser, China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told AFP.

"Relations are extremely stressed. Perhaps the lowest point since the Korean War," she said. "Perhaps (the mission) will put a floor under China-North Korea relations, preventing further deterioration."

Ties at 'lowest point'

China has imposed its own banking restrictions on North Koreans in addition to enacting a series of UN measures that include bans on imports of coal, iron ore and seafood from the North.

But Beijing fears that squeezing Pyongyang too hard would cause its collapse.

Song is the first Chinese envoy to make an official trip to North Korea since October 2016, when vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin visited.

Geng gave scant details about the trip, saying he did not know who he would meet or what topics he would discuss.

China's relations with North Korea are currently at "the lowest point they've been in history", leaving the North diplomatically at its most isolated, said Lu Chao, director of the North Korea Research Centre at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences.

As a high-level diplomat, Song would likely meet directly with North Korea's top leaders, he said.

"As far as North Korea is concerned, China's opinion is still an important one and will certainly arouse their full attention," Lu said.

'Freeze for freeze'

As nuclear tensions have soared, Xi has pushed for negotiations and a "dual track approach" in which the United States would freeze its military drills in the region while North Korea halts its weapons programmes.

Trump claimed this week that Xi had agreed to drop his plan during their talks last week, but Beijing stood by its policy.

"We believe that at the moment, this is the most realistic, feasible, fair and reasonable plan," Geng told a regular news briefing.

Yuan Jingdong, a specialist in Asia-Pacific security issues at the University of Sydney, expects little from Song's mission.

"We can expect some face-saving, assuring but very general and abstract commitments with no substance changes in North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes," Yuan said.

The visit is "more about warning North Korea against going to extremes than forcing it to give up the nukes" because China's top priority remains maintaining regional stability, he said.

Song would likely "assure Kim that if he behaves within a reasonable bound he can expect Beijing to continue providing some assistance and resist broadening the sanctions."
Each year a group of area high school students get hands on experience learning about various industries and organizations in Fremont through the Youth Leadership Academy.

The Youth Leadership Academy is a nine month program that gets high school juniors out into the community to experience what it is like to work in healthcare, education, city government, economic development, agriculture, and other industries throughout the community.

It is designed to inspire and train the next generation of community leaders all under the tutelage of some of our community professionals, so they get to know different aspects of our community, Laura Daugard, director of business services at the Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce, said.

The academy is a program of the Fremont Chamber of Commerce Foundation, presented by First State Bank & Trust Co., and this year 29 area students are participating.

The students meet once a month, over the course of nine months, where they tour various businesses and complete projects along with Mayor Scott Getzschman before graduating in May.

This years group has already completed an Education Day where they toured Midland University, Metropolitan Community College in Fremont, as well as the Fremont Public Schools Sensory Courtyard. The group also completed a Social Service Day in September.

Next week on November 22nd, the students will be embarking on their next session, where they will learn about health and wellness related fields in the community.

They will be going to Nye Legacy and they will have a session with Jodi Langhorst on the generational populations of our community, Daugard said. They will also go to Fremont Health where they will have some hands on learning with the helicopter services, new nursing unit, as well as rehab and radiology there.

Throughout the course of the program students also work with Mayor Getzschman on community projects.

Students meet with the Mayor and city representatives, providing dialogue and perspective to elected officials on youth issues, Daugard said. They participate in a service learning project and present those projects at a mock city council meeting and at the leadership banquet in May.

This year the students have been broken up into eight group, and will complete eight different projects that involve business and industry recruitment, downtown Fremont, brain drain, trails, housing development, Parks & Recreation programs and facilities, utilities alternatives to electric generation, and the Fremont City Auditorium.

Along with experiencing different local industries, and working alongside Mayor Getzschman on community projects, the students also learn about leadership through Dale Carnegie Training.

We hope that this also gives them good skills to become leaders, so they can feel more confident about who to contact when they want to do things in the community, how things work, how to make the right contacts to make good community decisions and become involved, Daugard said.

The program is offered to area high school juniors and costs $295 for the entirety of the course. Area students who will be high school juniors next year are invited to apply. Parents of this years sophomore classes at Fremont High School, Archbishop Bergan, North Bend Central, and Arlington High will receive letters and brochures at the end of the school year. Students will be directed to pick up applications from the guidance office, or they will be able to download them from the Chamber website.

We do have a cap on how many students are in the program and last year we had a lot of applicants, Daugard said. So it is a program that is in demand, and it is kind of prestigious to get in because they have to present themselves well, write well as well as complete an interview process.
Every holiday season as area residents go out to get groceries, or get the mail, the sights and sounds of the Salvation Armys Red Kettle Campaign are ever present.

Individuals stand next to red kettles at the entrances of area businesses, ringing bells, and collecting donations to raise funds for the Salvation Armys various programs.

One local resident who can be found ringing bells next to a red kettle, is retiree Jim Keeler, who has been volunteering with Salvation Army for over 65 years.

At least that, if not longer, Keeler said as he rang his bell outside of Hy-Vee on Friday afternoon. Caring is sharing and the world need a lot of caring right now, especially this time of year there are a lot of people really needing a lot of help.

For Keeler, volunteering as a bell ringer for the Red Kettle Campaign is a way for him to give back to the organization that helped him and his family when he was a boy.

I grew up in the Salvation Army and sometimes if it wasnt for them we wouldnt have had anything at all, he said. We wouldnt have had much of a Christmas if it wasnt for them, so its just giving back.

Along with Keeler, many other residents will be out ringing bells to raise money for Salvation Army as they hold this years Red Kettle Campaign through Christmas Eve.

This years campaign was kicked off with a Kettle Kick Off Coffee event on Tuesday where Captain Stephen Hansen announced that the locally the Salvation Army Hopes to raise $45,000 through the red kettles and a total of $164,000 through all of their Christmas campaign.

We hope to do this through a number of different ways, he said. Through kettles, direct mail, people stopping by, and through the Adopt-a-Family that First National Bank does for us every year.

Contributions to the Red Kettle Campaign help the Salvation Army bring the spirit of Christmas to the aged and lonely, ill, poor and disadvantaged, inmates of jails and other institutions, and people otherwise forgotten.

The funds raised go towards the Salvation Army food pantry, rent and utilities assistance and maintaining numerous programs, including the Summer Lunch Program.

It helps us provide the Christmas food boxes and toys, as well as the assistance we do all year around, Hansen said. It supports everything we do in the community, the Summer Lunch Program and all the things we do to reach out. One of the key things we are working on here is hunger in our community, and between our food pantry, food boxes, and the summer lunch program we are trying to meet most of that need here.

Kettles are located around Fremont at Walmart, Hy-Vee, Hobby Lobby, Bakers Foods, Walgreens, and the post office.

Hundreds of Fremont residents will donate their time ringing bells and collecting money for the Salvation Army this holiday season and people are urged to volunteer for an hour-long time slot by calling the Salvation Army at 402-721-0930, or by visiting www.ringbells.org.

None of us can raise all the funds without the help of each other, Hansen said. I love being out there and I think it brings a lot of joy to the community. We all have an hour here or there that we can volunteer and if we all do that we will fill up every single hour that we have available.

While volunteering as a bell ringer is needed and appreciated. anybody who simply puts in some change into the kettle is making a difference.

We used to have these signs that said Put in Change, and Expect Change, Hansen said. What it basically meant was that no one could really raise the total by themselves, but every penny, dime or nickel helps us reach our goal so we can assist people in the community who need help.

This story has been updated with the correct website address.
The political route, combined with the negotiated exit, must be pursued in parallel. The nuclear option must remain on the table, because when all else fails, it must still remain an option. What the generals in particular, and Zimbabweans in general cannot afford to do is to miss this opportunity to acquire change. It has been long known that the factional fighting in ZANU PF is a powder keg. Though many were surprised at the sudden turn of events, few Zimbabweans would actually claim that they were shocked by it. We all watched the series as it played on episode after another. This cant be another opportunity to miss an opportunity. The country needs to progress and achieve its full potential and we cannot be held back by the selfish ego, whims and caprices of an individual whose life is in its sunset anyway.
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The revelation earlier this year that a Colorado man had buried his estranged wife's body under the grave of a World War II veteran in 1995 grabbed headlines. What was less mentioned about the case of Kristina Tournai-Sandoval is that the nonprofit NecroSearch is the one that confirmed the location of her body. At 5280.com , Robert Sanchez uses that case to launch into a feature on the esteemed group of volunteers, who excel at finding and identifying human remains. "Body hunting is a strange business," as Sanchez puts it: It's expensive and painstaking work, and leads can often be little more than dead-ends. But the Colorado-based NecroSearch is so well-regarded that even the dead-ends have meaning, per a prosecutor: If "those people dont find it, that means a body probably isnt there."

In its three decades of work, NecroSearch has played a role in 300 cases at the request of law enforcement or district attorneys' offices, in all but 10 states and on all but 3 continents. It counts among its 40-plus members a geophysicist; botanists who use pollen as location-based clues; one of America's few landfill-search experts; and Diane France, 63, "one of around 100 certified forensic pathologists worldwide" and the group's current president. Says fellow member Clark Davenport, "Diane's seen more awful things than all of us combined." As Sanchez notes, four current or former members have died in recent years, and that has the 75-year-old Davenport wondering "what comes next. ... How do we get smart, younger people to volunteer when they're building their own careers? How do you tell someone they're going to invest huge amounts of time and emotion and their own money into something that will never pay them financially? I don't know that any of us have the answers." Read Sanchez's fascinating story here. (Read more Longform stories.)
The durian is a notoriously smelly fruit, as well as a reported superfood with numerous health benefits, but might it also have the ability to turn men into good sex-havers? That's the question the Malaysian government is apparently setting out to answer. Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek told Parliament on Thursday that "a friend" told him about studies showing durians "have aphrodisiac value and are said to be good for men," the Straits Times reports. He said he would be asking for further research into the durian as an aphrodisiac. The Los Angeles Times explains that the durian is a spike-covered and "notoriously fragrant" fruit that is described as smelling like "rotting meat or hot garbage." Its smell is so foul that it's actually illegal to carry it on public transportation in some parts of Asia.

While answering questions in front of Malaysia's Parliament on Thursday, Ahmad Shabery cited studies from Thailand, China, and elsewhere that found durian is high in antioxidants, reduces cholesterol, has antibiotic properties, can lower high blood pressure, and has anti-aging properties. "According to these experts, it is really true that the durian is the key to our happiness," he said. As for its supposed romantic properties, the Daily Meal included the durian on a list of bizarre aphrodisiacs after an Indian scientist claimed mice who ate the fruit showed an increased libido and sperm count. A world of stinky-fruit-loving lovers awaits further confirmation out of Malaysia. (And, for no particular reason, here's a video of 100 people trying durian.)
Fourteen people were killed Thursday when an ISIS-aligned suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest outside a hall in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday. But many more would have died were it not for Afghan Police Lt. Sayed Basam Pacha. Pacha suspected the man was a bomber and told him to stop; when the man started running, Pacha ran to him and gave him what the New York Times refers to as a "bear hug." The man detonated the bomb, killing Pacha and the others and wounding 18 more. Pacha is "a hero, he saved many lives" by blunting the force of the explosion, police spokesperson Basir Mujahed tells the Times.

"My son sacrificed himself to save other people," Pacha's father, Gen. Sayed Nizam Agha, said through tears. Pacha was guarding a political meeting at the hall at the time; high-profile political figures were in attendance. At one point he was inside the hall drinking tea with guests, but he made sure to go back to the gate as people started exiting the event. "Just think if that suicide attacker got past the gate, what would have happened," Mujahed says. "You cannot even imagine." TOLO News reports that since the attack, Pacha's image has been circulating on social media, with government officials and other Afghans calling him a hero. (Read more suicide bombing stories.)
Its a chance to provide some hope.

This year marks the 14th Annual Festival of Hope  an event designed to raise funds for The Bridge, while offering shoppers a chance to buy some unique holiday items.

Area residents are invited to participate in the fundraiser, planned from Nov. 25 through Dec. 3.

The Bridge, at 141 S. Union St., in Fremont offers emergency and temporary shelter for survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault and many other services.

With the Festival of Hope, area residents donate decorated Christmas trees, wreaths, centerpieces and other holiday items for a silent auction.

Representatives from businesses and organizations along with area individuals may to drop off their items on Tuesday at Abe Krasnes Home Furnishings, 450 N. Main St., in Fremont.

Items will be placed throughout Krasnes and across the street at Casual Lifestyles, 447 N. Main St., said Linda Schlapfer, outreach coordinator.

Bidding sheets will be placed at both locations. Would-be buyers can go into the stores and place their bids on the sheets.

Bids start at $25 with $5 increments. The highest bidders will be called on Dec. 3 to pick up their items on Dec. 4.

Krasnes hours are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays. The store also is open until 8 p.m. Thursdays; from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 1-5 p.m. Sundays.

The money directly supports The Bridge services, Schlapfer said.

The Bridge provides confidential services for individuals and families who experience domestic abuse, dating violence and sexual assault. The agency serves people in five counties, Burt, Cuming, Dodge, Saunders and Washington.

It offers other services including: a 24-hour crisis line (1-888-721-4340 or 1-402-727-7777); safety planning; crisis intervention counseling; emergency/temporary shelter; support groups for adults and children whove experienced domestic and sexual abuse; accompaniment and medical support; criminal and civil justice support.

Other services include: prevention programming for youth (from preschool through college) and the community; a batters intervention program and community education.

All victim services are free, confidential and available in English and Spanish.

Last year, staff and volunteers at The Bridge responded to 4,092 calls for help on the agencys 24-hour crisis line; 838 individuals with 752 children received face-to-face crisis intervention and support services, said Suzanne Smith, executive director.

The Bridge also provided 567 youth prevention presentations to almost 7,000 people. Educators worked with youth in 84 different classrooms throughout the service area.

Smith also noted that every nine seconds in the United States, a woman is battered and by the end of this year, almost 4 million children will have witnessed domestic violence.

She said one in four women and one in seven men experience severe physical violence in their lifetime.
A state Supreme Court justice running for Ohio governor volunteered candid details of his sexual past on Facebook, saying Friday that he was taking a swipe at the "media frenzy" over sexual misconduct, the AP reports. Democrat William O'Neill's post was immediately attacked as inappropriate and led to calls for his ouster. In it, he wrote that he has been "sexually intimate with approximately 50 very attractive females." He wrote that the women included "a gorgeous blonde" with whom he "made passionate love" in a hay loft and a "drop dead gorgeous red head" from Cleveland. After posting the message, he edited it to remove some identifying information about the women. O'Neill, 70, told the AP that the details provided were true and that he was trying to make a point.

"It's a matter of parody suggesting that, as a governor candidate, I assume I am the next target of the media frenzy," he said. Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, the first woman to lead the state's high court, immediately condemned the post. "No words can convey my shock," she said in a statement. "This gross disrespect for women shakes the public's confidence in the integrity of the judiciary." All other Democrats seeking the governorship called for O'Neill to resign, saying he was trivializing the issue. Others to condemn the post included Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, a GOP candidate for governor; state Democratic Chairman David Pepper; and the Republican National Committee. O'Neill's campaign spokesman also resigned over it Friday. O'Neill said the Facebook post grew out of frustration over Democrats' calls to remove Al Franken from the US Senate over sexual misconduct allegations.

(Read more sexual harassment stories.)
Chile, Britain, and even NASA have joined the search for a submarine that disappeared two days ago with at least 44 people on board. The submarinewhich the Guardian notes is one of three in the Argentinian navywas traveling from the south of Argentina to its base hundreds of miles to the north. CNN reports it was last heard from Wednesday while in the San Jorge Gulf, about 268 miles off the east coast of Argentina in the Atlantic Ocean. Officials are denying an emergency or that the submarine is lost. The latest official and reliable information is that the submarine has not yet been found," navy spokesperson Enrique Balbi says. "Its not that its lost: to be lost youd have to look for itand not find it." The submarine has not activated its emergency beacon.

Balbi says the submarine is likely to continue its journey in the event of a communication problem, Reuters reports. He adds: "The submarine knows that if it does not have communication with land for this long, it has to surface." So far a search from both air and sea has been fruitless. NASA has committed a P-3 Orion aircraft, which a spokesperson says was "already in Argentina on a scientific mission," to the search. The Argentinian navy denies reports of a fire on board the submarine, which was bought from Germany in 1985, and says it has plenty of food and oxygen. We are praying to God and asking that all Argentinians help us to pray ... that they can be found, the brother of one crew member says. The submarine's crew includes Argentina's first female submarine officer. (Read more Argentina stories.)
President Trump said Friday he's delaying a new policy allowing the body parts of African elephants shot for sport to be imported until he can review "all conservation facts." The US Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday it would allow such importation from Zimbabwe and Zambia, arguing that encouraging wealthy big-game hunters to kill the threatened species would help raise money for conservation programs. Animal rights advocates and environmental groups criticized the decision. California Rep. Ed Royce, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged the administration to reverse the policy, calling it the "wrong move at the wrong time." Trump tweeted Friday that the policy had been "under study for years." He said he would put the decision "on hold" and review it with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

The AP reports Zinke issued a statement later Friday saying: "President Trump and I have talked and both believe that conservation and healthy herds are critical. As a result, in a manner compliant with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, the issuing of permits is being put on hold as the decision is being reviewed." Royce questioned the action because of concerns not only about African wildlife but US national security, citing the political upheaval in Zimbabwe, where the longtime president was placed under house arrest this week by the military. The move would override a 2014 ban imposed by the Obama administration and would apply to the remains of African elephants killed between January 2016 and December 2018.

(Read more elephant stories.)
Researchers say they've found the "obvious candidate" for the source of a mysterious radiation cloud that hovered over much of Europe last month before dispersing, NPR reports. More than 40 countries detected a radioactive isotope called ruthenium-106 in the atmosphere. Ruthenium is not found in nature, and Danish researcher Sven Poul Nielsen says the detection of it last month was "strange" because it's the first time it has ever been found without being accompanied by other types of radiation. Typically if ruthenium is in the atmosphere, something very bad has happened. For example, its detection was one of the first signs of the infamous 1986 meltdown at Chernobyl. But this time no country has announced an accident involving ruthenium-106.

Regardless, scientists now believe they know the source: the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors in Dimitrovgrad, Russia. French and German analysis of weather patterns and ruthenium detection point to the Dimitrovgrad region. Also, one process that produces ruthenium as a byproduct is the creation of a popular medical isotope. RIAR is one of the few places that makes it. Scientists admit there are other possible sources of the ruthenium cloud, but RIAR makes the most sense. A spokesperson at RIAR says the facility hasn't produced any ruthenium in the past six months. And Russia is continuing to deny responsibility. "None of the enterprise of the Russian nuclear industry has recorded radiation levels that exceed the norm," the New York Times quotes Russian officials as saying. (Read more radiation stories.)
Embattled Alabama senate candidate Roy Moore again repeated his demand for one of his accusers to release a 1977 yearbook she says shows he pursued a sexual relationship with her when she was 16 and he was 30. "Day 4 of New York attorney Gloria Allred's refusal to turn over her fake yearbook for third party examination," Fox News quotes Moore as tweeting Saturday. Allred is representing Beverly Young Nelson. An inscription in Nelson's yearbook reads, "To a sweeter more beautiful girl I could not say 'Merry Christmas,'" and is signed with love by Moore. Moore claims the inscription is a forgery and demands a handwriting expert be allowed to examine it. Allred says she'll hand the yearbook over to the Senate Judiciary Committee if it holds hearings on the allegations against Moore.

Even if Moore gets his wish, a handwriting analysis of the yearbook inscription is unlikely to prove anything, FiveThirtyEight reports. While handwriting analysis is still widely admissible in court, a forensic science expert says "there are few, if any, well-designed studies that show how well handwriting analysts can identify a forgery." And a forensic handwriting expert says it's "highly subjective" and "vulnerable to context effects such as expectation and suggestion." Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey says she will vote for Moore despite having "no reason to disbelieve" his accusers because we need to have a Republican ... to vote on the things like Supreme Court justices." Two women say they had unwanted sexual encounters with Moore when they were 14 and 16 and he was in his 30s. Others say he pursued them while they were teens. (Read more Roy Moore stories.)
The (potentially) former prime minister of Lebanon's mysterious two-week stay in Saudi Arabia has come to an end, as Saad Hariri arrived in France on Saturday morning and met with French President Emmanuel Macron, the New York Times reports. Hariri was in Saudi Arabia on Nov. 4 when he suddenly and shockingly resigned as prime minister. Since then, Lebanese President Michel Aoun has refused to accept his resignation among widespread speculation Hariri was being held in Saudi Arabia against his will, according to the AP. Early Saturday, Hariri tweeted that it was a "lie" that Saudi Arabia was detaining him. However, speculation of Saudi leverage continues as Hariri was joined by his wife and eldest son in France while his younger childrenattending school in Saudi Arabiawere notably absent.

Aoun says Hariri will return to Lebanon in time for its Independence Day holiday on Wednesday, and it's unclear if Hariri will go ahead with his resignation or take it back upon his return. Hariri told reporters in France that he will "declare my political stance" after meeting with Aoun. He has not publicly discussed what happened during his time in Saudi Arabia. Hariri's resignation and lengthy absence started a political crisis in Lebanon that goes beyond the organization of the government. There is speculation that Saudi Arabia forced him to resign as part of a power struggle with Iran, which Hariri denounced during his resignation, the BBC reports. There is fear of a looming war between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which only increased Saturday when Saudi Arabia asked its citizens to leave Lebanon for the second time in two weeks. (Read more Saad al-Hariri stories.)
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Larry Klahn, Dodge County Weed Superintendent, recently attended the Nebraska Weed Control Association Fall Training, held at the Ramada Inn, Kearney. It was held Nov. 8-9 with the theme Year In Review.

NWCA Fall Training was the third opportunity of 2017 to obtain required continuing education, as defined in the Nebraska Noxious Weed Act. Each superintendent must answer roll call twice a day, complete and pass the exam at the end of each day to receive his or her 10 hours of continuing education credit.
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Airport Advisory Committee members were updated on pending improvements and the status of hangar lease agreements when they met Friday morning.

David Goedeken, City of Fremont director of public works, said the Federal Aviation Administration and the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics are reviewing a master plan. The plan calls for a new terminal and other improvements at Fremont Municipal Airport.

Goedeken said hes working with the department of aeronautics on an environmental document. This involves a categorical exclusion which examines whether there are wetlands, historic buildings or endangered species at the site and how construction would affect the environment.

He said plans are to have concrete work take place on a parking apron during the next construction season in 2018. If all goes as planned, work on a new airport terminal would take place in 2019.

The parking apron is expected to cost between $750,000 and $1 million. Goedeken said any funds leftover from that project should be able to be applied toward terminal construction.

Goedeken told the Tribune that funds for the parking apron will come from the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics, which receives them from the FAA.

Money for the terminal will come from the citys general fund.

We will attempt to capture some state or federal funds, but theres no guarantees on that. Nothing has been committed on it, he said.

The city has $2 million budgeted for the entire airport project. At this point, there is not a definitive cost for the terminal.

In September, the Fremont City Council approved a resolution accepting recommendations of the Airport Terminal Plan.

The current terminal at Fremont Municipal Airport was built in 1964. The facility needs new heating and air conditioning systems and other upgrades. The current aircraft parking apron lacks space.

Robert Crain, project manager of aviation services for Burns McDonnell in Kansas City, Missouri, told the council that 58 aircraft, two of which are jets, are based at the airport.

Each year, Fremonts airport has 22,300 operations (aircraft take-offs or landings), according to statistics from FlightAware, a company that tracks pilots flight plans.

Crain shared a list of 18 businesses with local plants, stores and offices that use the airport on a regular basis. Listed businesses include: Hormel Foods Corp.; HyVee Food Store; Walmart; Mendards; Taylor & Martin: ADM; 3M, Fremont Beef; and Oil Gear.

It seems theres quite a few companies that use your airport that employ quite a bit of the local population, Crain said.

Crain told the Tribune there essentially is no usable parking area on the current apron. He also said the apron isnt consistent with FAA design standards.

He said the FAA would like to see the apron in place before a new terminal is constructed.

In other business, Goedeken told the advisory committee that on Tuesday night the city council approved the hangar lease agreement and adopted the Fremont airports rules and regulations.

Letters will go out next week to tenants, asking if they want to renew their leases for city-owned airport hangars. Current leases expire Dec. 31. Leases would extend for five years with tenants having the option to renew after that time.

Rent for a T hangar will increase from $165 per month to $181.50 and for bulk hangars from $330 to $363. Lease rates were last adjusted in 2012.

In a report to the council, Goedeken said the increase in rates will generate an additional $12,672 of total rent per year at full hangar capacity.

The rules and regulations, in part, state that all hangars must be used for airworthy aircraft. Lessees may store equipment used for aeronautical purposes. And provided that the hangar primarily is used for aeronautical purposes, the lessee may store non-aeronautical items as long as theyre not blocking the aircraft.

Other rules include:

Tenants must have an adequate fire extinguisher, current with National Fire Protection Association standards, in each hangar.

Hangars cant be used as a residence. No overnight sleeping will be allowed inside the hangar.

No one under age 18 is allowed on airport grounds unless accompanied by an adult.

No more than 5 gallons of flammable liquids are allowed in the hangar and the fluids must be in Department of Transportation approved containers.

Hangar inspections may be announced and conducted from time to time by airport staff and/or the fire marshal to assure compliance with the hangar lease agreement. Staff shall endeavor to provide tenants with at least 48 hours notice of such scheduled inspections, the rules state.

No one shall enter the airport with any animal without permission of airport management except dogs or other animals which are restrained by a leash or properly confined and under the supervision of an adult.

In regard to maintenance at the airport, Goedeken said repairs will be made to an entry gate for vehicles thats on the south side of 23rd Street. The projects estimated cost is $3,800.

Goedeken told the Tribune that the gate, which is about 20 feet wide, has a key punch pad. Hangar tenants have their own password and can drive in. The gates gear box and rollers will be replaced. Electric eyes  that can detect an obstruction  will be installed.
New Delhi:

Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said his party will contest a few seats in Gujarat polls. He said he has urged people to vote for his party and Congress also.

aWe will go for campaign there as well,a he said.

Samajwadi party had already contested Uttar Pradesh polls with Congress and the party would continue its support in Gujarat too.

On Tuesday, Akhilesh appealed to people to decide whether they want to carry forward the "development" initiated by his party during its rule or promote the "anti-development" policies of the BJP.

We are contesting on very few seats in #Gujarat, will go and campaign there as well. Have appealed to ppl to support us and Congress also: Akhilesh Yadav pic.twitter.com/XsW49EQ4Vv a ANI (@ANI) November 15, 2017

Yadav also accused the ruling BJP of "spreading hatred" in the state instead of initiating any development works.
New Delhi :

First education then agriculture, Microsoft's Bill Gates seems to have the right solutions to some of the raging issues that stare at India's economy.

Gates who is on a trip to India first visited the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and met CM Yogi Adityanath on Friday and discussed ways to intensify the immunisation programme against Japanese Encephalities (JE).

Bill Gates had earlier expressed his dissatisfaction over the current system of education in the country in an interview with The Times of India. While delivering valedictory address at the AP AgTech Summit-2017, Gates said,"Transforming agriculture into an "efficient and profitable business" could be the "key recipe" for transforming the Indian economy."

"Everyone shares the goal of a prosperous India. And so, we must also share an interest in the process of agriculturaltransformation. "When I say transformation, I'm referring to a shift from agriculture based merely on subsistence to agriculture that isrun like a business to be efficient and profitable and that meets the needs of producers and consumers," he said.

"More than half of India's population works in agriculture. In rural India, three-quarters of working women make a living in agriculture. Just under half of India's population suffers from malnutrition.

The government's vision of doubling farmer income by 2022 will need help from advances in science and technology tobecome a reality," said the founder of the world's top software firm.

Both education and agriculture forms the pillar of Indian economy.

(With PTI inputs)

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New Delhi:

A former Mumbai-based model has made serious allegations of forceful conversion against her Muslim husband.

The victim, who is a Hindu by religion also alleged that she was physically tortured and even threatened to be killed by her husbandA if she doesnat convert to Islam.

The former model also alleged that her husband recently got married to another Hindu girl of half his age and asked her to leave his house.

According to the victim, she was married to the accused some 12 years ago and has a child as well. She alleged her husband started torturing her after she got pregnant and had relations with other girls.

A former model in #Mumbai, alleges that her Muslim husband forced her to follow his religion; says "I am a Hindu and didn't give into his pressures". #Bandra Police registered case against two people under sections 354,323, 324, 504, 506 and 34. Police investigation underway pic.twitter.com/ScojPxQa0j a ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2017

A case has been registered in Mumbaias Bandra station under section 354, 323, 324, 504, 506 of Indian Penal Code and the police is investigating the entire matter.
New Delhi:

It's been a while that Sanjay Leela Bhansali's upcoming movie Padmavati has been mired with controversies. The movie has been witnessing several protests over its release from various groups who are demanding a ban on the release of the movie. It has been alleged that Bhansali has distorted historical facts in Padmavati.



And while the controversy aroung Bhansali's period drama continues to get rife, Ranveer Singh has finally opened up on the row and stated that he stands with the filmmaker and the movie.



Talking about the same, Ranveer said, "It's undoubtedly a very tough situation. I am most concerned about Sanjay sir. At this point, for him to go through all of this is extremely difficult considering the amount this man has suffered, sacrificed and [the way he] fought to make this film."



Interestingly, Ranveer is also an integral part of Padmavati, and will be seen playing the role of Allauddin Khilji in Padmavati and this is the first time the actor will bee seen in a negative character.



He added, "I am 200 per cent with the film and I stand by it as well as Sanjay Leela Bhansali. I also stand by his vision for the film... Vis-a-vis the film, I can just request the audience and everybody else who have concerns about it to wait and watch the film. One shouldn't doubt Sanjay sir; he is a magnificent film-maker and has tremendous respect for Indian culture and an enormous respect for Indian heritage and he will never intentionally hurt sentiments or do anything wrong. He is a good man with good intentions."



The 'Befikre' actor also stated that he feels bad for Bhansali who is adversely affected by the entire controversy despite have good intentions behind making Padmavati.



"He wanted to make a film that the entire country can be proud of... I feel bad for a man whose efforts and good intentions have been kept aside. I just want to meet him and give him a hug," said Ranveer.



Earlier, Deepika has also voiced similar opinion on the ongoing Padmavati controversy and stated "It's appalling, it's absolutely appalling. What have we gotten ourselves into? And where have we reached as a nation? We have regressed. The only people we are answerable to is the censor board, and I know and I believe that nothing can stop the release of this film."



The lady has also been facing the brunt of the protest groups along with Sanjay Leela Bhansali.



Padmavati also stars Shahid Kapoor and Aditi Rao Hydari in key roles and is expected to release on December 1.



Given the ongoing controversies, we wonder if the movie will hit the screens on time.

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New Delhi :

Amid the ongoing controversy and threats received by the Padmavati team, Deepika Padukone, who is playing the titular role in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali-directed film, has received support and adulation both from very unlikely quarters.A A A



Ruby Rose, the Hollywood actor has come out in support of Deepika who has received threats from Rajput Karni Sena.A



"I am in shock at reading what my dear friend is going through but in absolute awe of her strength and courage.



"Deepika you are one of the strongest women I know," Rose, who appeared alongside Deepika in the "xXx: Return of Xander Cage", tweeted.



Following the threats, the Mumbai Police has tightened Deepika's security.



Meanwhile, the film has been sent back to the makers by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) as the application for the certification was "incomplete".A

I am in shock at reading what my dear friend is going through but in absolute awe of her strength and courage. Deepika you are one of the strongest women I know. https://t.co/wrEaO9WZA0 a Ruby Rose (@RubyRose) November 18, 2017

(With PTI inputs)

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

The dates for election of Congress president to be fixed on Monday, party General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi said on Saturday.



"If only one nomination is filed it'll be announced on date of withdrawal of nominations that he is the President since there is no other nomination," Dwivedi told reporters on a question being asked if Rahul Gandhi will be named Congress President.



The much-awaited meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to approve the schedule of the party president's election will take place on Monday at Sonia Gandhi's residence, party sources said.

Dates for election of Congress President to be fixed on Monday. If only one nomination is filed it'll be announced on date of withdrawal of nominations that he is the President since there is no other nomination: Janardhan Dwivedi on if Rahul Gandhi will be named Congress Pres pic.twitter.com/xkcFe6Tu2Z  ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2017



The meeting of the CWC, the highest decision-making body of the Congress, is scheduled to take place at 10:30 AM at 10 Janpath, they said.



This would clear the decks for the elevation of party vice president Rahul Gandhi to take over as the next chief.



He is expected to be the only candidate in the fray, the sources said.



(With PTI inputs)

ALSO READ: Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar takes a jibe at Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, says only mother or son can become next prez

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New Delhi:

The BJP on Saturday released its second list of 36 candidates for the upcoming Gujarat assembly polls. With this, the party has announced 106 candidates for elections to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly to be held in two phases on December 9 and 14.

In the list, there are 13 ST candidates and two SC candidates. On Friday, the party had released its first list of 70 candidates to be held in two phases on December 9 and 14.

The party has named Chief Minister Vijaybhai Rupani as its candidate from Rajkot West. Deputy Chief Minister Nitinbhai Patel will contest from Mahesana and state party president Jitubhai Vaghani from Bhavnagar West.

Of the 70, 15 are Patels, 18 OBCs, three SCs and 11 STs. The names were finalised by BJP's Central Election Committee, which met on Wednesday.

The meeting, chaired by BJP president Amit Shah, was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, HomeA Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj among others, party leaders said.A

In pictures: BJP Central Election Committee meeting for Gujarat assembly elections at BJP HQ, New Delhi. pic.twitter.com/mHwXEp0CUS a BJP (@BJP4India) November 15, 2017

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New Delhi:

The row over Sanjay Leela Bhansali's upcoming period drama 'Padmavati' has the countrys warrior clan, more famously known as Rajputs on the streets baying for Bhansali's blood. But now the heat has unexpectedly engulfed Congress with its stalwarts like Sahshi Tharoor, Jyotiraoaditya Scindia locking horns over former's "valorious maharaja" remark.

Shashi Tharoor speaking at an event, taunted the Rajputs' valorous maharajas, who are protesting against the release of Padmavati.

Tharoor had said that every single one of these so called valorous maharajas, who today are after a Mumbai filmmaker because their honour is at stake, they were less concerned about their honour when the British were trampling all over it. They scurried to accommodate themselves.

Replying to his remark, Scindia said that Tharoor should "read history" and he was proud of his past.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, a Congress MP from Gwalior, belongs to the prominent Scindia-Maratha clan which ruled Malwa region for decades while Shashi Tharoor, a former Cabinet minister, is hailed as one of the most intellectual politician of the country.

While Scindia has a lot at stake being the heir to one of the well-known Kshatriya clans, Tharoor has always envasgaed a vibrant and dynamic India.

Be it a fight for prestige for Scindia or right to intellectual freedom for Tharoor, the Padmavati row has exposed the ideological difference present inside a party which claims to be liberal, at least publically.

It was not just Scindia with whom Tharoor's remark didn't go down well. Another senior Congress leader and Himachal CM Virbhadra Singh, who also belongs to a royal family jumped into the controversy and expressed his displeasure over fellow party member's comment.

He said, We did not accept our defeat. East India Company sent their forces twice to occupy nation. They said they need more force and added, Meanwhile, Queen Victoria finished the company and became Empress of India.

The Karni Sena, a right wing organisation of Rajputs is opposing the release of Padmavati and has openly threatened to cause terrible harm to the star cast and director of the movie.

The movie is based on a legendry Rajput queen Padmavati, who some believe was a fictional character but considered motherly figure by the community.

They are alleging the movie 'Padmavati' which was slated to release on December 1 (which is highly unlikely after Censor board sent the film back to makers), demeans their queen and distorts historic facts.

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New Delhi:

For the first time after Doklam Standoff, India and China on Friday held 10th round of WMCC talks on border affairs and discussed several issues including enhancement of CBMs and military contacts.

The 10th round of Working Mechanism on Consultation & Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs held on 17 November in Beijing, Indian Embassy in China tweeted after the meeting.

Both sides reviewed the situation in all sectors of India-China border and agreed that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas is an important prerequisite for sustained growth of bilateral relations, Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release.

The delegations of both countries comprised of diplomatic and military officials from each side. The Indian delegation was led by Shri Pranay Verma, Joint Secretary (East Asia), Ministry of External Affairs.

The WMCC was established in 2012 as an institutional mechanism for consultation and coordination for the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas.

It was established to deal with the tensions over recurring border incursions as well as to exchange views on strengthening communication and cooperation, including between the border security personnel.

The 10th round of talks of Working Mechanism was the first after the recent 73-day long Doklam standoff at Sikkim sector.

The standoff which began in mid-June ended on August 28 after Chinese troops stopped building a key road close to Indias Chicken Neck corridor. India objected to the construction highlighting its security concerns. The road was being built by the Chinese troops in the area also claimed by Bhutan.

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488 km long Line of Actual Control (LAC). While China claims Arunachal Pradesh as Southern Tibet, India asserts that the dispute covered Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during the 1962 war.

(With PTI inputs)

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New Delhi:

The higher mountainous ranges of Pir Panjal region have received heavy snowfall on Saturday morning forcing authorities to close traffic on Mughal Road.

The fresh snowfall in the higher region on Saturday has brought down the temperature across Jammu and Kashmir and people have been seen wearing warm clothes yet again.

Night temperatures at most of the places in Kashmir division stayed above the freezing point last night.

"Jammu and Kashmir: Pir Panjal Range experienced heavy snowfall this morning, Mughal road closed," news agency ANI tweeted a couple of minutes back.

The visuals of rooftops and roads covered in snow have added to the scenic beauty of the valley.

However, the traffic movement along several areas came to a temporary halt after heavy snowfall blocked the roads.

Also Read | Pew Survey: Military force in Jammu and Kashmir finds massive support

Jammu and Kashmir: Pir Panjal Range experienced heavy snowfall this morning, Mughal road closed pic.twitter.com/090IhDpcPV a ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2017

A bunch of vehicles lined up on the route as rescue workers removed the vehicle and cleared the way for the traffic. The electric and water supply services have also been disrupted due to the blockage. However, no injury has been reported in the incident till the time.

The MeT Department forecasts heavy snowfall atA higher mountainous ranges till November 18.

#WATCH: Pir Panjal Range in Jammu & Kashmir experienced heavy snowfall this morning, Mughal road closed pic.twitter.com/RKVTLMGvgq a ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2017

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New Delhi:

One IAF Garud personnel lost his life whereas 2 Army personnel have been injured in an ongoing encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Hajin. Further, security forces have gunned down 6 terrorists including 26/11 mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi's nephew.

Updates

# Pakistan stands completely exposed. Some nations aren't exerting pressure on it due to their vested interests. However, everyone knows that every terrorist activity can be traced back to Pak. It's on verge of destroying itself but wants to harm India: J&K Deputy CM on Hajin encounter

Pak stands completely exposed. Some nations aren't exerting pressure on it due to their vested interests. However, everyone knows that every terrorist activity can be traced back to Pak. It's on verge of destroying itself but wants to harm India: J&K Deputy CM on #Hajin encounter pic.twitter.com/z4l3XLqfVi  ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2017

# Hajin encounter ends, total 6 LeT terrorists gunned down, out of which one is Owaid, Abdul Rehman Makki's son & 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi's nephew. Arms & ammunition also recovered.

#FLASH: #Hajin encounter ends, total 6 LeT terrorists gunned down, out of which one is Owaid, Abdul Rehman Makki's son & 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi's nephew. Arms & ammunition also recovered. pic.twitter.com/kASZlU842K  ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2017

# Authorities have ordered suspension of data services, including 2G, 3G & 4G services, in J&K's Bandipora in view of the ongoing encounter in Hajin

#UPDATE: Authorities have ordered suspension of data services, including 2G, 3G & 4G services, in J&K's Bandipora in view of the ongoing encounter in Hajin.  ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2017

# One IAF Garud personnel lost his life whereas 2 Army personnel have been injured in the Hajin encounter. Operation continues

# J&K: Security forces gun down 5 terrorists during encounter in Bandipora's Hajin. Operation continues

#FLASH J&K: Security forces gun down 5 terrorists during encounter in Bandipora's Hajin. Operation continues. pic.twitter.com/AEZqYHFl5y  ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2017

# Jammu and Kashmir: An encounter began in Hajin's Chandergeer where 2 terrorists are trapped. Security forces cordoned off and launched a searchoperation in Chandergeer village in Hajin area of the districtafter receiving specific intelligence input about the presenceof militants in the area, a police official said.

The search operation resulted in an encounter when themilitants hiding there fired on the search party of thesecurity forces, who retaliated.

J&K: An encounter started in Hajin's Chandergeer. 2 terrorists trapped. More details awaited.  ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2017

Militancy is a raging issue in J&K and on Wednesday two militants were arrested from the Kulgam district.

ALSO READ: J&K: Two terrorists killed, one security personnel injured in Handwara

Further, an Army jawan and a militant were killed in the encounter. The police claimed to have arrested another militant during naka checking in the district.

READ: J&K: Militants attack police patrolling party in Anantnag, one injured

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New Delhi:

The family members of a BJP leader Shiva Kumar who was shot dead at Tigri village in Greater Noida on Thursday demanded a CBI probe into the killing and the immediate arrest of the perpetrators.

Former village head and BJP leader Shiv Kumar Yadav and his driver were killed by unidentified assailants in Bisrakh area when they were going to Ghaziabad in a car. Superintendent of Police Arun Kumar Singh said Yadav's family members and area residents protested at the Noida Sector 71 crossing against the killing.

"They demanded a CBI probe into the incident and immediate arrests. The Noida police Special Task Force has been deployed to crack the case and arrest the killers," he said, adding that it was suspected that four people were involved in the crime.

An FIR has been registered against four people and the police has detained some people for questioning. The family suspect that Yadav was killed due to an enmity related to his election.

According to the police, a CCTV video of the incident showed the assailants firing bullets on Yadav's car. But as the footage was not clear, it was difficult to identify the assailants, the police said.

SP (rural) Suniti said that six teams have been formed to arrest the accused. Police personnel have deployed at Yadav's village, Behlolpur, to maintain law and order.

The incident took place when he was going to Ghaziabad from Haibatpur. Yadav and his driver Bali Nath died on the spot while his security guard Raees died during treatment last night, he said The police officer said that a woman, who was injured after Yadav's car rammed into a vehicle, succumbed at a hospital here.

BJP Noida district president Rakesh Sharma said Yadav was an active worker of the party and condemned the incident. Senior Superintendent of Police Love Kumar said the initial investigation suggested that shooters were hired to kill Yadav, whose father and brother were murdered 25 years ago.

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New Delhi:

Controversies over Sanjay Leela Bhansalis period drama 'Padmavati' are not dying down yet and now the Chairman of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Prasoon Joshi has criticised the producers of the movie for holding a screening for media persons without Censor boards certificate.

Joshi termed the screening as disappointing and an irresponsible way of pressurising the board.

Disappointing that the film Padmavati is being screened for the media and getting reviewed on national channels without CBFC having seen or certified the Film. This compromises the role of systems and balances that are part of a functioning industry. Its myopic to treat the certification process haphazardly to suit convenience, a news channel quoted Joshi as saying.

On one hand, holding the CBFC responsible and pressurising to accelerate the process and on the other hand, attempt to subvert the very process, sets an opportunistic precedent. In this specific, case, the films application came up this week only for review. The makers know and admit that the paper work is not complete  the very disclaimer whether the film is work of fiction or a historical was left blank and not stated  and on simply and legitimately being asked to provide important documents, target the CBFC for looking the other way and delay. This truly is surprising, infuriated Joshi added.

Earlier, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has sent the movie back to the makers. CBFC CEO Anurag Srivastava claimed that the film has been sent back due to technical issues.

The row over Sanjay Leela Bhansali's upcoming period drama 'Padmavati' has the countrys warrior clan, more famously known as Rajputs out on streets baying for Bhansalis blood.

The Karni Sena, a right wing organisation of Rajputs is opposing the release of Padmavati and has openly threatened to cause terrible harm to the star cast and director of the movie.

The movie is based on a legendry Rajput queen Padmavati, who some believe was a fictional character but considered motherly figure by the community.

They are alleging the movie 'Padmavati' which was slated to release on December 1 (which is highly unlikely after Censor board sent the film back to makers), demeans their queen and distorts historic facts.

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New Delhi:

Sri Lankan Navy on Saturday apprehended four Tamil Nadu fishermen and seized one boat near Delft Island. They have been taken to Kankesanthurai naval camp by Sri Lankan naval personnel.

Earlier, on Friday, Ten Tamil Nadu fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on the charge of fishing in the island's waters.

The 10 fishermen, including a juvenile, from Thideer Kuppam village in Nagapattinam district, were held on charges of poaching fish near Neduntheevu, Assistant Director of Fisheries Gangadharan said.

Read more: BSF arrests three Pakistani fishermen, seize five boats in Gujarat

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New Delhi:

Economic activities in Gilgit Baltistan came to a halt after the entire region observed massive protest against illegal taxation. All small and big businesses on Saturday shut down indefinitely against unfair and unjust taxes imposed on them by Pakistan.

Business community in Gilgit Baltistan are strongly of the opinion that Pakistan is imposing unfair and undue taxes on the poor citizens and traders of the occupied territory.

Addressing a gathering in Skardu city, an angry protester asked, "Will you pay taxes to Pakistan on chickens kept in your households? Will you pay taxes on cow kept at your house for milk?"

On the taxation system, he said, "Taxes are imposed on additional family members, if you have more than five family members, an additional tax needs to be paid."

"We will not pay taxes," the agitating traders declared. "I urge people of Gilgit Baltistan living in Karachi, Quetta, Lahore and other parts of Pakistan be prepared, we are going to take on Islamabad head on," the protester added.

Heavy taxes are being imposed on traders here time and again without providing basic fundamental rights, subsidy or constitutional status to the region. Taxes collected by the authorities were never spent on the development and welfare of Gilgit Baltistan, they alleged.

"Pakistan government through ordinance is imposing new taxes illegally," said a local businessman, adding, "Until Pakistan withdraws notification of taxes we will carry on protests with same force and zeal."

"There is a principle in Islam, no rights no taxes, we have no representation so why pay taxes," said another. The business community had alleged that when Pakistan's Supreme Court has declared the region as disputed territory, then Islamabad has no right to impose taxes and any kind of imposition of taxes is termed illegal and unacceptable.

Massive non-cooperation movement has been launched across the length and breadth of Gilgit Baltistan. Scores of people are on the streets venting out anger against illegal tax regime imposed by Islamabad

Local traders sitting on indefinite strike pledged not to give any taxes to Pakistan saying they won't pay 'over the roof taxes' to be spend on maintaining lavish lifestyles and luxuries of Pakistani politicians.

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New Delhi:

In a pot calling the kettle black situation, Pakistan national security advisor Nasser Khan Janjua on Friday accused India against creating a two-front situation for his country.

NSA Janjua warned India that such a policy would be detrimental for the peace and tranquillity in the region.

"India is self-seeking a two front situation which does not auger well for the region. All major powers of the world need to play their role in keeping the region stable and balanced," he said.

With two-front situation Janjua meant increasing militant activities near Afghanistan border and while Indian army on the eastern border.

Pakistan has long been accusing India of supporting militancy in Pakistan through Afghanistan border, a charge India deny.

Janjuas statement came during his talks with German ambassador Martin Kobler and special representative of Germany for Afghanistan and Pakistan Markus Potzel.

During their talks, Pakistan NSA office said, the two sides discussed regional security issues including increasing tensions in Afghanistan.

Janjua said, Pakistan wanted a political settlement of the Afghanistan issue and peace in the region.

"To end miseries of Afghanistan and its people, warring sides should seek a political solution to the conflict as the perpetual war of last 16 years has given us nothing but human miseries and sufferings," Janjua added.

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New Delhi:

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Friday failed to adopt a resolution on the mandate of an international panel investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime.



This happened consecutively for the third time in two days, due to a negative vote by Russia.



Ever since Russia vetoed the UN resolution, it has become difficult to attribute the deaths of hundreds of civilians to any particular party privy to the civil war that has been going on for almost seven years and arrive to a conducive conclusion for all the concerned parties.



The mandate of the Joint Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-UN panel, the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) expires on November 18. However, had the Japanese resolution been adopted, the mandate of the JIM would have been renewed for a period of 30 days to allow time for negotiations on a wider compromise.



The JIM was established by the Council, unanimously, in 2015 to identify to the greatest extent feasible individuals, entities, groups, or governments perpetrating, organizing, sponsoring or otherwise involved in the use of chemical weapons in Syria.



It is the 11th time that Russia has used its veto power to stop council action targeting its ally Syria. After the vote, Nikki Haley, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations told the council: "Russia has no interest in saving the JIM. It will not agree to any mechanism that might shine a spotlight on the use of chemical weapons by its ally, the Syrian regime."



"It is as simple and shameful as that," she said.



In addition to Russia, Boliviaanother permanent member, also voted against the draft. A negative vote  or veto  from one of the Council's five permanent members (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States) means a resolution cannot be adopted.

(With PTI inputs)

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United Nations:

A UN General Assembly committee has unanimously passed a Pakistan-sponsored draft resolution over the right to self-determination for people who are subject to colonial domination and foreign occupation.



The draft resolution, which now moves the General Assembly for passage next month, calls on countries to cease immediately their military intervention in and occupation of foreign countries and territories, and all acts of repression, discrimination, exploitation and maltreatment.



It was co-sponsored by 75 countries.



However, the US was quick to point out that the draft resolution contains many misstatements of international law and is inconsistent with current state practice.



Introducing the resolution, the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi said the right to self-determination "forms the bedrock" of the most important human rights conventions - the covenant of civil and political rights and the covenant of economic social and cultural rights.



"The latter categorically states 'All people have the right of self-determination by virtue of their right to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic social and cultural development'. The right to self-determination has also been reaffirmed and upheld time and again repeatedly by all major UN, NAM, OIC and other summits as well other numerous resolutions and declarations," she said.

ALSO READ | Of fake photos, selfies and nonexistent countries: Is UNGA really a joke?



Of late, Pakistan has itself been facing demands for right to self-determination in various parts of the country, including in Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan.



'Free Balochistan' posters and banners have appeared in various parts of the world including Switzerland and the UK.



Altaf Hussain of the Muhajir Quami Movement (MQM) in recent months has also started demanding right to self-determination alleging that Muhajirs have been subject to brutal repression by Pakistani security forces.



Lodhi told members of Third Committee of the General Assembly that the "draft resolution before the committee reaffirms the universal significance of the right to self-determination" and declares firm opposition to all acts of foreign occupation, military intervention and domination, which resulted in the suppression of this fundamental human right and gives rise to chaos and insecurity in the world.



The resolution, she said, sends a strong signal of support from the international community to peoples everywhere in the world who still find themselves "subjugated and oppressed and struggling against foreign occupation".



After the unanimous passage of the vote, the Spanish representative told the committee that the colonial situation in Gibraltar affected the territorial integrity of his country.



Spain had asked for decades for a dialogue-based solution and had proposed co-sovereignty as a way to address the socio-economic well-being of the territory.



Asserting that this means that the right to self-determination is not fully enjoyed, Spain alleged that the UN Charter is being used to uphold the interests of colonising powers.



Spain has been calling for "shared sovereignty" on Gibraltar. The US representative said that the country considers the right of self-determination of peoples to be important and therefore joins a consensus on this resolution.



"We note however as has frequently been stated by the United States and other delegations that this resolution contains many misstatements of international law and is inconsistent with current state practice," he said in the committee after the passage of the draft resolution.



Exercising its right to reply, Britain recalled its sovereignty over Gibraltar, saying the people of Gibraltar had enjoyed the right of self-determination.



The constitution endorsed by the people of Gibraltar had provided for a modern relationship, and the UK reiterated its commitment to the people of Gibraltar.



The British representative said Britain would not enter into sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar was not content. She expressed regret that Spain had withdrawn from talks in 2012.

ALSO READ | Sushma Swaraj's UNGA speech arrogant but there is terrorism in Pakistan: Chinese media

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Its funny how you can spend your whole life thinking youre an expert in something and then-bam!-find out youre wrong.

For example, Im a Catholic born and bred, and can recite most prayers backward, forward and in Latin, but I had no idea until this past week that the Virgin Mary met St. Joseph in a mall in Nazareth and they started dating while she was still a teenager. You never got those details in the Bible, but fortunately for me, some helpful fellow from Alabama filled in the blank parts of the nativity tale. Im awfully glad about that, since we are entering the Christmas season and Id hate to spend another year believing the narrative of St. Luke (Fake News!), who clearly didnt do his research.

According to Alabama State Auditor Jim Ziegler, an ardent Roy Moore supporter, Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenterThey became the parents of Jesus. Ziegler made these comments after noting that Roy Moore, GOP candidate for Senate and another adult who seems to have had a lot of experience with wood, hung out with teenagers as a 32 year old District Attorney in Etowah County, many years ago. I almost expected Ziegler to suggest that all four of them double-dated, way back when.

I suppose we cant blame Moore for every crackpot that comes out in support of his candidacy. I honestly believe that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump privately cringed when they saw the type of extremists who stumped for them (and yes, a plague on both their houses because the only thing Hil and Don had in common was the fact that they both tended to bring out the worst in their supporters.)

But the fact remains that an elected official who embraces Moore compared his hound dog hero to one of the most revered saints in the Catholic canon in an attempt to justify his predilection for young girls. Its laughable, offensive, anti-Catholic and also inaccurate since, as every parochial school child knows, Jesus was the Virgin Birth. This is self-explanatory to anyone whos actually read the Bible and understands the big words.

If the tone of this column sounds flippant, I apologize. I needed to try and bring some levity to this subject so I wouldnt have a stroke. The now obvious fact is that Roy Moore is a skeevy little lounge lizard who trolled for girls who smelled like Clearasil and Loves Lemon Fresh, while he himself was old enough to be a grandfather (in Appalachia.) I reserve judgment on whether he actually assaulted any of the women, because he hasnt admitted it and I am leery of assuming criminal behavior without solid proof. Nonetheless, he has all but said that he liked them young. Thats okay if you are 25 and she is 19, or if you are 55 and she is 30, or if you are Rupert Murdoch and she is breathing, but it is not okay if you are a District Attorney and your love interest has a curfew.

He owned a home on which he did work, she had homework.

He earned a salary, she got an allowance.

He filed taxes, she filed her nails.

Ew.

I know that there are many conservatives who are angry that the focus is on one of our own, when there are so many liberal men who have played fast and loose with their libidos since before Mary and Joseph went on that first date. I agree. I also agree that the timing here is highly suspect. Moore has been in the public eye for years, but the media is only now noticing his peccadilloes. They take great joy in destroying public figures on the right while generally yawning at the immorality on the left. The Harvey Weinstein explosion is the exception that proves the rule, and its a very troubling exception because it has led to a witch hunt of sorts as Ive noted in other columns.

But despite what his supporters think, Roy Moore is not a victim. Hes a man who had an unhealthy attraction to teenagers, and while that might not be illegal, its definitely a character flaw.

I know Ill get some blowback from men who dated younger women, and women who married older men. But as someone who has handled asylum cases from the Middle East, Africa and South Asia where young girls have been traded as economic currency by their families to much older men, I really dont give a damn. Ive railed against other cultures that think its fine when old geezers turn their wizened eyes to sweet young things. I called out Chris Christie on national TV when Beach Boy vetoed a bill that would ban child marriage in New Jersey.

And I wont let Moores people normalize the abnormal, especially when they trash talk a Nazarene teen.
New Delhi :

93 year old Robert Mugabe does not seem to resign from the post of President as talks with army leadership has failled which is aparent from his public appearence at a pre- planned graduation ceremony in Harare on Friday.

This incident has triggered questions as to the level of talks that is in process with General Constantino Chiwenga, who led the operation of power grab.

Independence war veterans and activists of ruling party leaders called publicly for President Mugabe to be forced from office.

Robert Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980 (37 years) and is currently under house arrest in a turnaround of events where army generals seized power.

Some of his party members took to state televison and called for Mugabe's ouster. Demonstrators had begun to arrive in the area by midnight local time.

The US embassy in Harare warned its citizens to avoid another protest thought to be a pro-Mugabe counter-demonstration expected to take place in Robert MugabeSquare in the centre of the capital. Other demonstrations are expected elsewhere in the country today.

(With PTI inputs)

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MASON CITY | A 106-room hotel south of Southbridge Mall must be completed by Dec. 31, 2019, according to a final development agreement the City Council will consider Tuesday night.

The agreement, between the city of Mason City and Gatehouse Mason City, LLC, culminates three years of planning and negotiating involving two different developers, three potential franchises and two different sites.

The current plan calls for Gatehouse to build a Hyatt Place hotel in the south parking lot of the mall, connect to The Music Man Square via a skywalk and remodel The Music Man Square to include a ballroom/conference center and move the museum part of it to a separate, adjacent building.

In a memo to the council, Interim City Administrator Kevin Jacobson outlined major points of the agreement. They include:

- Gatehouse's commitment to build the hotel.

- Gatehouse's commitment to secure a memorandum of understanding with the Mason City Foundation to operate The Music Man Square Conference Center.

- The city's commitment to provide a $4.2 "mezzanine loan" toward the hotel financing. Before any of the loan can be disbursed, the city must receive final approval from the state for funding from the Iowa Reinvestment Act. The city has applied for $10 million to help leverage a $38 million downtown project of which the hotel is a key part, as it satisfies private funding requirements.

- The city's commitment to reimburse Gatehouse up to $750,000 for pre-development costs, such as design, engineering, hotel brand requirements and title. Up to $30,000 a month -- for four months -- will be paid to Gatehouse for those costs, subject to review of the costs incurred. The $750,000 will be part of the mezzanine loan.

- Gatehouse's commitment to securing a senior lender who will be the primary source of private funds. No payments are due to Gatehouse until there is proof a senior lender has been secured.

- Gatehouse's commitment to providing the city and the senior lender with proof of incurred hotel construction costs. Partial reimbursement for those costs will come from the mezzanine loan.

- Gatehouse's commitment to entering into a minimum assessment agreement, with the value of the hotel determined to be no less than $9 million. Should the hotel's value fall to less than $9 million, the taxes due on the building will be based on a value of $9 million.

- Gatehouse must, at all times, be in compliance with applicable local, state and federal laws and requirements.

- Upon meeting all of the conditions, the city will transfer the land to Gatehouse for $1.

- Gatehouse commits to a hotel completion date of Dec. 31, 2019. The city agrees to construct a skywalk by that date.

A public hearing will precede the council deliberations and vote.

The council meets at 7 p.m. in the Mason City Room of the public library.
DANBURY - The downtown business booster group CityCenter is running its holiday decoration contest for merchants, with a few changes from last years inaugural event.

Merchants and landlords are once again encouraged to decorate their doorways and display windows with festive designs that will be judged in mid-December by a three-member panel.

Four prizes will be awarded, including a $500 first prize and a $250 peoples choice prize.

Winners from last years decoration challenge may use the same design as last year, but to be eligible to win a prize, they must change their design, the rules state.

Decorations should be ready for viewing by Dec. 1 and should be visible from the sidewalk. Last year, at least one business in the running for a prize had decorations on the inside of the building and could not be considered, judges said.

Judging will be done on Dec. 13 by Mayor Mark Boughton, I95 Rock radio host Lou Milano, and Jacqueline Smith, the editorial page editor of The News-Times.

Registration is due by Nov. 24 at http://citycenterdanbury.com/2017-holiday-decorating-contest.

Last years winner was Danbury Hackerspace, with an inventive display of two snowpeople sledding down a hill of man-made snow.

Second-place went to Nicos Pizza and Pasta on Main Street for a window display of Santa with one elf twirling pasta and another shaking cheese over meatballs.

Third place was a tie to Danbury Grassroots Academy, for a Christmas tree made of snowflakes, and to Tailoring and Alterations by Irene Rocha, for a light display with elegant lines.
Call me Ishmael from Moby-Dick gets all the attention as one of the most memorable opening lines in literature, but just a few lines later Herman Melville gives us an unbearably powerful image: a damp, drizzly November in my soul. It seems strangely appropriate that Ishmael singles out November. December would, in some ways, make more sense  it would add to the consonance of damp and drizzly, and, later, we learn that it is, in fact, December when the novel opens.

But for an American who looks at his country and finds something painful to behold, November is where our dreams of democracy seem to go to die. Melville looked at the 1850 passage of the Fugitive Slave Act and saw a country that had lost its way. Similarly, we might look at any number of modern day equivalents of the Fugitive Slave Act (hmmmtravel bans?) and see a country that is desperately afraid of its own democratic ideals.

In America today both major political parties fear election month. Republicans fear that people will vote while Democrats fear that people will be kept from voting. As a result, America suffers notoriously in comparison to other industrialized nations when counting the number of citizens who actually bother to cast a ballot.

Low voter turnout is merely a symptom of a more serious malady. Many of our voting practices  the electoral college, gerrymandering, voter ID laws, and voter intimidation and disenfranchisement masquerading as anti-fraud measures  illustrate our fear of true democracy. Some of these practices were put in place to shield the republic from too much democracy, from mob rule. The rule of unintended consequences assures that the inevitable outcome of a fear of mob rule is mob rule. Instead of true democracy we have a tyranny of the intensely passionate.

The state of democracy in our own state is mixed. Connecticut is one of 16 states that does not have no-excuse early voting, but we do have automatic voter registration. On the other hand, in order to cast an absentee ballot, you need to have a good excuse, and I dont want to go out in the November drizzle is not a good excuse.

For those who see more voters as potential opponents, the status quo that limits democracy is a fine and good thing. For those who truly care about hearing the voice of the people, nothing short of a complete rethinking of our voting practices is required. The solutions are straightforward, but unlikely: make registration easy and universal; make voting day a national holiday; online voting (I pay my taxes online, so why not vote online?); eliminate the archaic and antidemocratic electoral college.

The cost to our democracy has already begun to come due. Without the voices of the true and varied multitude of America, we find ourselves, like Ishmael, at the mercy of an Ahab. The only difference is that the ship of state is being steered by captain not focused on destroying a white whale but on destroying the legacy of a black president.

However, the latest off-year election dramatically illustrated the perils of true democracy for those who oppose it. In Connecticut, as in many other states, voter turnout was unusually high, with many voters energized by their opposition to the bigotry and assaults on basic human decency they see coming from every branch of government.

Voters defied the common narrative about their apathy and made sure their voices were heard loudly, clearly shouting for a more just country. Its enough to make me put on my raincoat and smile in Novembers damp drizzle.

Rick Magee is a California native who has lived in the Northeast since 1995. A Bethel resident, he is a professor of English. His column appears monthly in The News-Times. Write to him at r.m.magee.writer@gmail.com.
Gobbling, clucking, foraging in open fields and woods, stopping traffic when flocks tread carefully across the asphalt, wild turkeys are unmistakable and wonderful.

Its the bird the European colonists found when they arrived  Thanksgiving and all that. But the same colonists and their descendants rendered turkeys extinct in Connecticut by the start of the 19th century.

Now the birds are back, found in every town in the state.

We estimate the state flock to have 30,000 to 40,000 birds, said Mike Gregonis, a wildlife biologist at the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

We actually hear them more than we see them  turkey noises, said Diane Swanson, director of the Pratt Nature Center in New Milford. We can see where theyre been scratching up the ground and feeding.

We have them at the feeders at our Bird Craft sanctuary in Fairfield, which is densely suburban, said Patrick Comins, executive director of Connecticut Audubon.

We could call this place Turkey Pond Farm, said Cathy Hagadorn, director of the Connecticut Audubon Societys Deer Pond Farm nature center in Sherman.

So allow the turkeys to strut their stuff. Theyre part of one of the great wildlife conservation success stories in the states history.

I cant think of one thats better, Comins said.

Turkeys are North American natives, at home here long before humans showed up. The type found in Connecticut  Meleagris gallopavo silvestris  is the most widely spread, breeding throughout the eastern United States and eastern Canada.

They get their name from Mediterranean traders who brought either guinea fowl or domesticated versions of our bird to Europe.

In England, those traders were called Turks. Hence, the birds they sold were called Turkey cocks, then, just turkeys. When the first Europeans arrived in Jamestown and Plymouth, they used the same name for the big birds they found here.

The birds roost in trees at night, spending their days scavenging for any food they can find. Theyre omnivores  and anything but picky eaters.

I dissected one and found its stomach full of vegetation, insects, worms, caterpillars and moths, the DEEPs Gregonis said. Its crop was full of nuts.

Turkeys are birds of woods and open spaces. Native Americans, who burned forest plots to create openings in the woodland, created great turkey habitat.

The European colonists completely changed all that, cutting down most of the states forest to make farm fields.

The state went from 90 percent forest to 30 percent, Gregonis said.

Turkeys, needing woodland habitat, retreated to the few pockets of forest left in the state. The settlers followed them into the woods and shot them for food. By 1813, they were gone from the state.

But Connecticut land, left alone, returns to forest. When its farmers moved away  to work in greener Midwest pastures or to take city jobs  the landscape began to revert to forest.

In 1975, the DEEP biologists imported a flock of 25 turkeys to the 6,000-acre Great Mountain Forests in Norfolk. As that flock prospered and grew, the DEEP captured some of its members and moved them to other spots in the state.

We also had birds migrating into Connecticut from Rhode Island and Massachusetts and New York, Gregonis said.

By the early 1990s, they were considered fully restored to the state. Hunters now harvest 1,500 to 2,000 birds a year, Gregonis said.

The other predators turkeys face are coyotes, bobcat and automobiles. Comins of Connecticut Audubon said a great horned owl can pin a turkey to the ground, kill it and feed on it in place.

Young turkeys  poults  are vulnerable to a larger list of predators that can include hawks. Egg-stealing raccoons and skunks also take their toll.

But the turkey tribe increases. The big flocks we see are mostly hens and their poults who gather in summer and forage together until the following spring, when mating season begins and they disperse. Males can be solitary, but they can gather into their own flocks as well.

Theyre very gregarious birds, Gregonis said.

Hagadorn of Deer Pond Farm said we should see the return of wild turkeys as a double triumph  a return of both the birds and the woods.

People pay more attention to songbirds, to raptors and maybe not as much to woodland birds, she said. But they wouldnt be there without the habitat.

Contact Robert Miller at eathmattersrgm@gmail.com
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Paint, new wheels and a variety of techniques are the tools used by imaginative vehicle owners to modify vehicles to reflect their personal taste.

As many as 115 examples of modified cars will be exhibited at the 60th annual San Francisco Chronicle International Show, which opens Nov. 18 at the Moscone Convention Center.

Starting in 2010, I wanted to supplement the new production cars in the show with the after-market and modified cars, said Scott Diamond, assistant show manager. But I quickly learned it was a tight-knit community and it was hard to get a foot in the door.

He found the key when he contacted John Liwanag, a Southern California transplant to the Bay Area, who had modified his 1997 Honda when he was only 19.

He was well connected with the people who had the cars that we wanted in the show, Diamond said. John is credited by many for importing what is known as the VIP style from Japan. It put him on the map of car modification.

However, the publicity-shy Liwanag claims he just created an online haven for the style.

John had some reservations in the beginning about getting involved with the car show, but still agreed to help us out, Diamond said.

Modified cars were first exhibited at the auto show in what was called the After-Market Alley.

Liwanag provided four modified vehicles that year, along with some race cars and a mixed bag of other vehicles. He brought in more vehicles for each of the next two years.

By that time, I wanted a bigger after-market space that would appeal to a younger demographic, Diamond said.

The plan was to give adventuresome vehicle owners something they would relate to and to introduce vehicles that differed from the manufacturers production vehicles to a wider audience, according to Diamond.

John asked me if he could make a proposal, Diamond said. I was kind of surprised, but excited that he wanted to get involved.

The modified car exhibit was moved five years ago to the Esplanade Ballroom. There is one little roadblock. The ballroom is on an upper level of the center. Cars must be transported to the ballroom one-by-one in the freight elevator. Liwanag directs traffic.

Dubbed the San Francisco Auto Salon, the larger exhibit space is an opportunity for Liwanag to create the kind of modified-car show of which he had always dreamed: An exhibit of the specialized cars that would reach folks that might not go to an after-market-only show.

It is not about winning trophies or getting publicity, Liwanag said. The show is an avenue for our cars to be seen outside our normal avenues and by a much larger audience. I am not surprised it became popular.

His own orange VIP was displayed in the 2016 show.

What surprises me is how it became almost prestigious for modified vehicle owners to display their cars, Liwanag said. The show became the place to be. People are coming and asking to be in it.

The biggest thing for them is the diversity of the cars and diversity of owners that may not see each other for months. Liang said. They get to interact and talk about cars.

This year Liwanag expects to get 60 modified imported cars for the exhibit and 40 domestics.

Sixty years ago, this was the Import Car Show, then the American vehicles joined us, said show Director Kevin Diamond. The Salons modified cars add a different dimension to the experience of the folks who come to the show.

The San Francisco Chronicle 60th annual International Auto Show

Pick up a copy of the International Auto Show guide in The Chronicle on Sunday.

Adult tickets are $10. Children 12-years and under are free when accompanied by an adult. For more information or to order tickets, visit www.sfautoshow.com.
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Once again, The San Francisco Chronicle 60th annual International Auto Show will provide attendees with the opportunity to test drive the newest models from a variety of manufacturers.

The show features test drives with Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jaguar, Jeep, Kia, Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Ram, Smart and Toyota.
NEW HAVEN  Orchestra New Englands 38th Colonial Concert not only celebrates history; it represents a chunk of New Haven musical history.

Maestro James Sinclair gathered musicians for what would become the orchestra during the latter days of the Nixon administration; he has conducted hundreds of ONE concerts and is a Charles Ives scholar. Organist Walden Moore, who will play in his seventh Colonial Concert, has spent nearly 35 years as choir director of Trinity Church on the Green.
MASON CITY | A Mason City man has been sentenced to a year in jail for possessing and selling stolen jewelry.

Police in June said Jonathan Earl Rieman, 45, possessed $15,530 in jewelry taken from a residence in the 1800 block of 12th Street Northeast.

He was accused of selling the items to two jewelers in Mason City, according to a Mason City Police Department criminal complaint.

Rieman was initially charged with felony first-degree theft.

In October, he entered a written plea of guilty in Cerro Gordo County District Court to an amended, lesser charge, misdemeanor fourth-degree theft.

In addition to the jail time, Judge Karen Salic sentenced Rieman to one year probation and ordered him to pay a $315 fine.

 Ashley Miller
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NEW HAVEN  A police detective who is an Army veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder is alleging the city is discriminating against him over the use of a service dog used to treat his condition.

New Haven police Detective Ryan McFarland has filed a Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities complaint against the city of New Haven alleging the city is denying reasonable accommodation for his PTSD treatment, which includes the use of a trained dog.

Despite receiving an opinion from city Disability Services Executive Director Michelle Duprey dated Aug.24 that McFarland could use his dog on a trialbasis, he was placed on administrative leave pending a fitness evaluation by Police Chief Anthony Campbell on Aug. 25.

East Haven attorney Patricia Cofrancesco, representing McFarland, said the detective remains on paid leave  despite having completed the evaluation.

The CHRO complaint was signed by McFarland on Oct. 24. According to a copy of Dupreys memo, McFarland made his Americans with Disabilities Act request on July 5. She said in her Aug. 24 memo she had determined the dog qualified as a service dog under ADA for public services.

Now nearing three months on administrative leave, McFarland said the leave has cost him a substantial amount of overtime earnings.

Through his attorney, McFarland declined to comment. City spokesman Laurence Grotheer said Wednesday the city would not comment on pending complaints. Duprey said in a voicemail that she also would not comment due to complaints pending status. Campbell did not return a call for comment.

According to the CHRO complaint, McFarland was diagnosed with PTSD in 2009 after serving in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Baghdad, Iraq. Cofrancesco said McFarland served in Cuba between 2002 to 2003 and in Baghdad between 2008 and 2009. He was in the military between 2001 and 2009, while also working as a police officer.

McFarland has worked with the police department since 2004 and currently works as the departments drug coordinator, a job he does by himself involving handling drug evidence. According to the complaint, McFarland applied for a service dog through an organization called Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans and after a significant wait, he received a 20-month-old Golden Retriever named Hobbs.

The department had raised concerns over McFarlands handling of evidence while Hobbs was assisting him, according to Dupreys memo. The memo included several stipulations, including keeping Hobbs 5 feetaway from all drug evidence and directing the canine to wait outside the room while McFarland retrieved drug evidence.

The need to preserve the integrity of the evidence is of utmost concern to the department and in considering this accommodation, Duprey wrote in her memo.

But Cofrancesco said McFarlands solitary work environment lends itself to having a dog around without possible interference.

I think its really sad that a guy who not once but twice left this country to serve this country with distinction would come back to his job with the after effects of having served in two war zones and having met with resistance like this, Cofrancesco said.

According to Dupreys memo, the dog is trained to relieve McFarlands anxiety, turn on lights when entering rooms, help maintain focus and retrieve items. The trial period was supposed to start Sept. 5.

McFarland said in the complaint he underwent and passed the Fitness for Duty Evaluation but the department refused to allow him to return to work. Per Campbells order, the evaluation was completed by Behavioral Health Care.

In the complaint, McFarland additionally alleges he was discriminated against because of his race (which he lists as Caucasian). The detective alleges other officers in the department with PTSD who were non-white were not required to pass a fitness for duty evaluation.

Reach Esteban L. Hernandez at 203-680-9901 or esteban.hernandez@hearstmediact.com.
Bob Savage sat alongside his five friends in a support group for people with dementia and, reading from a script, told the audience: My memory isnt so good. Ive become self-conscious about it. I wonder if people understand whats been happening to me.

He added, If I could just get across to them  my family, my friends, the people I live with, the people who try to help me  if I could just let them know what its like to be me these days.

This was the introduction to a poignant performance at Quinnipiac Universitys Center for Medicine, Nursing and Health Services last Tuesday night. There were about 100 people in the auditorium, most of them students majoring in the health care field. Many more people of all ages should have attended. There is so much to learn.

Savage and the others in his group were there to share their stories about what its like to start losing your memory, to go through all the tests leading to a diagnosis of dementia and how to carry on day by day from there.

These six began meeting last June. Under supervision by Dan Belonick, director of counseling services for LiveWell (formerly the Alzheimers Resource Center) in Plantsville, they wrote a 38-page script describing what is happening to them and what they would appreciate as they interact with the public.

Their first show was at the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington last August. Erica DeFrancesco, clinical assistant professor of occupational therapy at Quinnipiac, who organized last weeks event, told the audience before the presentation: I saw this done several months ago and it certainly changed my perspective. This evening will change your perspective.

She was right. We spent more than an hour walking in the shoes of six brave, passionate people.

The show, originally conceived by Maureen Matthews, who has worked with memory-impaired people for more than 30 years, is called To Whom I May Concern. The word I is not a typo. As Savage explained in his introduction, the group was writing an open letter to people who care about them. This letter is not about an It, a nameless, faceless object. This letter is about an I, and that is me. Im writing to let you know what its like to be me these days.

Savage, who has moved to a residence in LiveWell, noted, Most people keep quiet about this. You see, I have been diagnosed with a dementia. Sounds bad, right? Actually, its a terrible word: to lose ones mind. But you can see that I havent lost my mind. I have some problems, yes, but Im still living my life, one day at a time.

Savage said living with dementia presents many challenges but that doesnt mean my life is terrible. And it doesnt mean I dont want to feel connected and valued. I still feel I have much to offer.

All of us in the audience were given a workbook provided by Dementia Friends Connecticut (www.dementiafriendsct.org). It explained: Dementia is not a specific disease. Its an overall term that describes a wide range of symptoms associated with a decline in memory or other thinking skills severe enough to reduce a persons ability to perform everyday activities. Alzheimers disease is the most common type of dementia and accounts for 60 to 80 percent of cases.

DeFrancesco notes Alzheimers is an irreversible, progressive brain disease. It affects an estimated 5.4 million Americans and is the fifth-leading cause of death for those aged 65 or older.

Before the show began, Belonick asked us to write down five words that come to our minds when we hear the word dementia. I wrote elderly and incurable but then tried to be more positive: challenging, courage and friends.

Some of the open letters in the performance were addressed to co-workers. Peter Robertson of West Hartford told his former co-workers: I defined myself with my work. I was good at it. We were cruising down the highway. Then we hit the manhole: Alzheimers. I know I was having trouble keeping up with my messages but you should have said something. Instead, you told my boss I wasnt working hard enough.

Roger Rasch of Prospect told his former co-workers: We used to be friends! Then all of a sudden one day, it was like I was there but not there. You moved on without me but Im moving on too.

Rasch added, as a scientist, I want to figure things out.

Lori Castellani of Newington addressed her letter to her former boss: We had a great relationship. We were friends. Then Alzheimers came. One day working, the next day home. No explanation! My brain stopped counting numbers like before. You never think it will be you. I loved my job and all I wanted was a chance. I may have trouble counting but I still count!

Sometimes the letters began Dear Alzheimers. Tricia Pearce of West Hartford did so as she wrote: When you knocked on my door, I had to ask myself, What am I going to do, just sit around, talk and listen to music? No way! I know I have a chance to do something really good in my life. Im doing that right now!

In his letter to Alzheimers, Savage wrote, We worked together to show the power of creativity, the power of the present moment, the finding of a new spirituality and the power of purpose.

Savage continued: The dark cloud is still there, I still have nightmares, you are still coming like a train down the tracks. But now Im skating above it. I have purpose; it makes me whole. What a blessing!

Pat Murphy of Torrington wrote, I worry about people treating me differently. There is a lot of stigma. My real friends Ive told but people in my new community, Im not sure I want them to know because then I feel they may treat me differently.

All six of them understand that stigma. Savage wrote, My full purpose now is to work as hard as I can to help reduce the level of our stigmatization that society has so heavily placed on us. Thats why I am here. Thats why we are all here tonight.

Castellani started a letter: Dear fitted bedsheet. She wrote: Who created you? Not someone living with Alzheimers! I can tell you that! I seem to remember that you arent so easy for others either. Im living with Alzheimers. I am what I am and Im happy. But I still cant make my bed.

In the scripts epilogue, Pearce said, We must be seen, known and understood. And Robertson said, We must be honored, included and valued as full members of our communities.

After the group received a standing ovation, Stephani Shivers, LiveWells vice president of community initiatives, noted the courageous performers had sometimes struggled to get out the words. She asked us to write down five new words about dementia after having seen the show. I came up with fear and worry but also hope, thinking and love.

Some audience members stood to share the words they had written before and after the performance. A young man said his first list included darkness, void, fear, absent. But his second list was: hope, inclusion, fight, together, voice.

A somewhat older man stood up and identified himself as a family member of somebody with early onset. He said, After listening to these stories, this gives me hope and my family hope.

But Castellani got choked up as she talked about the death of her husband, who had supported her with daily tasks.

Shivers asked Castellani about her belief many people addressing those with dementia are dismissive and condescending. Castellani nodded. Its hard to get the words out. Theyre there but you cant get them. I want to say things and I just cant get it out.

And yet, Pearce smiled often during the evening. I want to be happy all of my life with my family, she told us. So I just keep coming. You can do it. You just have to take it and embrace it and smile and go ahead and talk.

Contact Randall Beach at 203-680-9345 or randall.beach@hearstmediact.com
The voter holds up the pair of slippers he was bribed with

One of the major political parties in Nigeria has been indicted in a bribery scheme during the highly contested Anambra election in the South-eastern part of Nigeria. A voter in the ongoing Anambra governorship election has said he voted for the candidate of his choice despite attempts by some party agents to persuade him otherwise.

The voter, identified simply as Onyemaechi, voted in Njikoka Local Government Area.

He told The PUNCH that he was approached with promises of N1,000 and a pair of slippers if he voted for the agents governorship candidate.

Onyemaechi said he pretended to have voted for the agents candidate and got the N1,000 and the pair of slippers.

He said, I voted for a candidate of my choice despite the attempt to force me not to do so.





The man who gave me the slippers and N1,000 thought I voted for his party.
Ray Moore, Al Franken, Mark Halperin....

The list is disturbingly long and seems to be growing every day.

Anthony Weiner, Harvey Weinstein, Roger Ailes...

Many of the allegations of sexual misconduct are from incidents that occurred 30 and 40 years ago and have been disputed. Some are "he said...she said" situations. Others are "he said...she said, she said, she said" episodes.

Bill Clinton, Bill O'Reilly, Bill Cosby, Donald Trump...

I suspect that all over the country, men who are 50 and older are thinking back to their younger days, trying to remember if they ever did anything that seemed like harmless fun at the time.

The question, of course is, harmless fun to whom?

My family includes a wife, three grown daughters and a granddaughter, so I have a bit of a personal perspective on all of this.

The daughters tell me about circumstances that I can't possibly relate to -- because I am a man.

They tell me that every woman alive has been sexually harassed at one time or another, some in subtle ways.

They tell me that a man has never experienced the feeling of walking into a room and being visually examined from head to toe, and often instantly evaluated on the basis of that -- but every woman has.

One of my daughters had a management position with a company in the Pacific Northwest. Her new boss, a man, held a managers meeting in which he laid down the law as to how he wanted things done. My daughter was the only woman in the room. When the boss ended his diatribe, he looked at her and said, "You're not going to cry, are you?" He didn't ask that question of anyone else in the room and, justifiably, she felt harassed. Soon after that, she found employment elsewhere.

I have seen examples of harassment -- or lack of respect for women -- in many of my travels throughout North Iowa on assignments for the Globe Gazette.

In the president's office at one company, there was a sign on the wall for all to see that said, "Sexual Harassment Graded Here." It was intended to be cute or funny, but how did the women who worked there feel about it?

In a North Iowa factory, where a long row of workers sat in front of machinery they operated every day, I noticed that at almost every work station, there were photos cut out of magazines of scantily clad women. One of the work stations, in the middle of all the others, had no such artwork. The person guiding me through the factory said, "Oh, that's where the woman works."

What seemed so casual years ago doesn't seem casual any more. And maybe, at long last, that's a lesson learned from all of the recent revelations.

One more observation, not as serious as the others, but telling, nonetheless, in its stereotype: Whenever you hear a "dumb blonde" joke, it's never about a man.
As the people of Anambra State decide who occupies the position of the state governor today (Saturday), there is palpable fear that the election could be marred by violence. This is happening amid fears of bomb blast in Onitsha.

Some residents of the state were seen gathered in different groups to discuss, in trepidation, what the outcome of the election might be.

It was also observed that security had been beefed up at public places with units of armed policemen stationed at strategic locations.

Some other Anambra residents, who spoke with Saturday PUNCH, expressed their readiness to vote while many others pointed out that they had their reasons to be afraid that the exercise could be marred by violence.

A resident of the state, Ifeanyi Ogockukwu, from Ihiala Local Government Area and a computer operator, said, I will remain indoors tomorrow (today) until I notice that everywhere is calm because I do not know what it will look like.

But I will come out and vote when everywhere is calm. I advise others to also come out and vote for the candidate of their choice. They should not sell their votes for anything.

The Nigeria Union of Journalists, Anambra State Council, in an emergency congress, also expressed fear that something untoward might befall the state in the poll.

Its communique, read partly, That the Council views with concern the unusually heavy presence of security operatives in the state in the build-up to the election, noting that such could lead to unnecessary tension and may jeopardise peaceful conduct of the poll and possibly dissuade voters from coming out to exercise their franchise.

The tension in the state was further exacerbated by the pro-secessionist group, Indigenous People of Biafra, which issued what seemed to be a fresh threat and prediction that the Anambra governorship election would be bloody.

IPOB had warned the people of the state to stay indoors to avoid being victims of bomb blast that could occur during the election.

This is just as the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Operations, Mr. Joshak Habila, dismissed the threat by IPOB, insisting that the voters should come out and exercise their franchise without fear.

A statement by the proscribed group signed by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, indicated that all might not be well with the exercise.

Powerful said IPOB had uncovered a plot by Nigerian security agencies to link it to series of bomb blasts that would occur during Saturdays governorship election in the state.

The spokesman for the pro-Biafra group claimed that the security agencies, particularly the army, police and the Department of State Services, had planted explosive devices at strategic places in the state, waiting to set them off during the election.

Powerful explained that IPOB would be blamed for the explosions, adding that the alleged plot was meant to justify the Federal Governments claim that the group was a terrorist organisation.

The IPOB spokesman said, We gather(ed) that the Nigerian military is now planting explosive devices in all strategic places in Anambra State to justify their evil plan against the people of Biafra.





The Nigerian Government and her security operatives especially, the Nigerian army and police, including the DSS, have lost the bid to label IPOB a terrorist organisation among the civilised nations. So, they have resorted to crude evidence-planting as they did with their so-called imported double-barrelled hunting guns at Apapa Wharf.





Chief of Army Staff, General Buratai and his military hierarchy are desperately using every and any available strategy to justify their actions against IPOB family members in Biafraland particularly in Anambra State because of our boycott threat.





We are warning every indigenous person of Biafra to be wary of tomorrows election in Anambra State. Every man, woman and child should remain indoors because Nigerian security operatives have planted military-grade explosives at key locations in Anambra State to kill and maim as many people as possible.





Stay in your homes with your doors locked because tomorrow will be very bloody for anyone that ventures outside, Powerful stressed while insisting that the IPOB was not a terror organisation.

He added, IPOB, under the command and leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, remains a non-violent and peaceful freedom fighting organisation, irrespective of the continued attack on us by the Nigerian Government and her security operatives, especially the army, police and the DSS.

But, dismissing IPOBs statement, Habila said, There is no cause to fear. (In) virtually everywhere, space, you will find police officers and other security agents prepared. I want to assure those who are getting scared; do not believe that something is pursuing you when nothing is pursuing you.





We guarantee your safety and ask that you come out tomorrow (today) and vote so that you can choose the man you want to be at the helm of affairs. There is no cause to fear.

Describing the threat by IPOB as a failed move, the DIG added, I am of the opinion that the threat, which was put through, was just a dummy; it was just a script written and rehearsed. But I think that it has failed because it has not been played.

It was never played during the campaign. I do not think that anybody will go and dust those things and play them anymore. If there is anyone, then it is unfortunate.





But I want to assure you that they were just antics; and that is why I say, vote and live, but not vote and die.





Bomb scare ahead of Anambra governorship poll

There was a bomb scare in Onitsha on Friday ahead of Saturdays governorship election in Anambra State.

Saturday PUNCH gathered that two high calibre improvised explosive devices were discovered near the Onitsha North Local Government Area Police Station.

However, acorrespondents learnt that the police anti-bomb squad averted the explosion by demobilising the IEDs.

But the development created tension in Onitsha ahead of Saturdays (today) election amid palpable fear in different parts of the state that the election could be marred by violence.

Use of policemen as guards by VIPs banned

Further assuring the people of the state of security, Habila warned that the police would not permit the use of security personnel as guards by very important personalities at polling units during the governorship election.

Habila told Saturday PUNCH at the Independent National Electoral Commissions office in Awka that the restriction of movement would be binding on all persons except groups and individuals accredited to monitor voting.

Tell all VIPs that they cannot be accompanied by uniform personnel because that also will intimidate others. People are expected to walk a short distance, cast their votes and go back home.





No VIP, no government official, no individual should put onto themselves the responsibility of monitoring, except the press and accredited observers. International and national observers will be given an opportunity, he noted.

Speaking on the security arrangement for the exercise, he explained that with the massive deployment of additional 21,000 police personnel to join the existing 6,000 operatives in the state, five policemen were expected to man each polling unit.

He further disclosed that while 300 Hilux vehicles had been positioned in areas prone to violence, 15 gunboats would be used to cover the riverine areas.

The DIG also said that three helicopters would hover around the three senatorial districts of the state to provide aerial view during the election.

Well not dictate to INEC  Police

Ahead of todays governorship election in Anambra State, the police also said that contrary to speculations in some quarters, they had no intention to dictate to the Independent National Electoral Commission on the conduct of the poll.

The Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Operations stated that the police would only be involved in the area of ensuring the security of lives and property.

We are not dictating to INEC. The police are only interested in security. Why would the police tell INEC what to do? So, you think I would go and tell INEC what they should do about the election; has it ever happened?





Do you believe that one? Do you know who these people (INEC heads) are? Some of them are professors and technocrats. Then you would dictate to them; it is not possible. Is it with a gun?





Ours is to ensure security and not to dictate to INEC. This is one of the dummies they (politicians) want to sell. That is a very cheap propaganda intending to discourage people from exercising their franchise and defending their votes. Like I said earlier, it can never happen and it is not possible, Habila stressed.

Were not compromised, says INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission has denied the speculation that some of its personnel have been compromised by politicians to interfere with the credibility of the governorship election in Anambra State.

There had been speculation that the commission deployed additional ad hoc workers to certain locations in order to give an advantage to a particular political party.

But the state Head of Voter Education and Publicity, Mr. Leo Nkedife, said, INEC is not in any way compromised. The issue is that we do not have enough corps members in Anambra State. So, that necessitated us to go to neighbouring states to source for corps members to complement.





At the stakeholders forum, that issue was raised. They said that corps members from outside should not go to a particular local government area and we have effected that. So, INEC is not in any way compromised. It is totally false.

He, however, stated that the commission had not received any complaint from its workers bothering on security threats.

According to him, INEC has provided enough incentives for the welfare of the ad hoc personnel, including transport allowances during their training, feeding allowances and the main honorarium.

We have even made provisions for their feeding at the RAC (Registration Area Centres). So, I think their welfare is well taken care of and we have warned them not to compromise their positions, Nkedife added.

PDP demands free poll in Anambra

The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party has demanded a free and fair governorship election on Saturday.

National Publicity Secretary of the party, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, in a statement in Abuja on Friday, said, The PDP is prepared and ready for the Saturdays governorship election in Anambra State, and we are charging the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission and security agencies deployed in the election to be neutral in the conduct of the election.

The Anambra State governorship election is a litmus test for INEC and another opportunity for the Ruling All Progressives Congress to redeem itself from the culture of impunity, inconclusive elections and rigging as exhibited in previous elections in Edo, Ondo and other by-elections in the country.

Adeyeye also condemned the recent withdrawal of the personal security of the Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, by the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris.

Notwithstanding that President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the reinstatement of governors security aides, this recent action by the Police is a clear signal that the Force is working to favour some individuals in the state or destabilise the governorship election in Anambra State.

Adeyeye warned that the PDP would not accept any manipulation of the result of the election in the state.

The INEC and all security agencies deployed for the election must remain neutral and unbiased before, during and after the election, he added.

He called on the people of Anambra State to protect their Permanent Voters Card and come out en masse to vote.
Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), yesterday said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government lacks the political will needed to rid Nigeria of corruption.Falana also faulted the National Assembly for approving $5.5bn loan request by the President.Speaking on Restructuring, Pros and Cons: The place of the Nigerian youth, at the 78th International Students Day, organised by the Ogun State Government in Abeokuta, the state capital, Falana argued that the fight against corruption embarked upon by the federal government remains a tip of an iceberg.He stated: I am sure you are following the anti-corruption war being prosecuted by the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration. Men and women are involved, Christians and Muslims are involved and those who believe in traditional religions are involved.The point I am making is that if our looters are not divided on the table of ethnicity, nothing will happen. The government still lacks the political will. The war now is just a tip of the real iceberg; there are still money to be recovered.While lamented the poor state and standard of education in the Southwest, Falana regretted that the zone was not doing well in education, saying this was glaring in the recently released West Africa Examination Council (WASC) results, where the zone performed woefully.Falana urged the youth not to join those calling for the breakup of the country, who he said are only fighting for their selfish interest.Governor Ibikunle Amosun, in his brief remark, appealled to the youth to do whatever they could do to equip themselves for leadership positions.He urged them to show high commitment in the nation building, saying: Dont allow anybody to use you for wrong reasons; you just have to restructure your thinking to positive things.Amosun, represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr. Tolu Odebiyi, lamented that the gap between Nigeria and other developed countries, in terms of development, is still wide, stressing that the country must do more to improve on it.A member of the House of Representatives, Abdul Kabir Akinlade, pledged that the House would continue to give the necessary backup for the youth to be good leaders, urging them to prepare themselves to play leadership roles.Special Assistant to the Governor on Student Matters, Mr. Olusegun Clement, explained that the event was organised to celebrate the students in the state and promote unity among them.
Watch a clip from the protest below

Today, Zimbabweans are not smiling. Anti-Mugabe protest in progress. All the very best, people, especially with the rebuilding efforts to follow pic.twitter.com/MzqLdrAucE  'Gbenga Sesan (@gbengasesan) November 18, 2017

Going by the mammoth crowd that came out in protest today, it appears Zimbabweans were already tired of Robert Mugabe's government and wanted him out.They came out en-masse today to publicly declare they do not want him as their leader anymore. See more photos from the protest below
Some statues as seen in Imo State

After unveiling the statues of two African presidents, Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Ellen Sirleaf Johnson of Liberia, Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha is set to unveil 10 more statues.

Even though his actions had generated lots of controversies, Saturday PUNCH learnt on Friday that the governor would soon unveil more statues.

A correspondent visited the Ikemba Ojukwu Centre in Owerri, Imo State capital, where the statues were erected, but security men didnt allow him to enter.

However, a top Government House official told a correspondent that Okorocha was set to unveil statues of former President Olusegun Obasanjo; a former Vice-President, Alex Ekwueme; a former Senate President, late Evans Enwerem; and the first civilian Imo State Governor, Sam Mbakwe.

According to the source, others whose statues would soon be unveiled are those of the first Nigerian President, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe; former Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa; late sage, Obafemi Awolowo; and Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo.

The source said that of Akufo-Addo would be unveiled at a ceremony when he visits the state soon.

The government official said the idea of unveiling the statues was to celebrate leaders, who had through selfless efforts contributed to the development of the state, Nigeria and the African continent.

The source said, The governor is interested in celebrating those who have contributed to the development of mankind, especially on the African continent. In the years to come, these leaders will be no more but their statues will keep them evergreen in the minds of the people.





With the statues, they have been inducted into the Imo Hall of Fame and have received the highest award in the state called the Imo Merits Award.

When asked how much each statue cost the state government, the official said they were not as expensive as people were exaggerating.

It is not as costly as people had exaggerated. Though I dont know the exact amount, the government cannot use about N500m to erect one statue. It is not possible. The governor is a prudent manager of resources, he said.

Meanwhile, a former governor of the state, Ikedi Ohakim, has criticised Okorocha for spending state resources on building statues.

Ohakim, who handed power over to Okorocha in 2011, said that his successor had impoverished the people and failed comprehensively in terms of leadership and development.

He said, Should I praise Okorocha because civil servants now receive half of their salaries instead of 100 per cent? Should I praise his government for owing pensioners for over 30 months and recently issuing dud cheques to them? What exactly are those good works for which I was supposed to be showering praises on the governor?





The fact is that no right-thinking Nigerian can praise Rochas. Our biggest industry, education, is in a free fall. Youth unemployment has risen to an unprecedented height. Executive promises are discarded like used napkins like the promise of conducting local government area election, which has been made eight times but discarded eight times.





Quality and due process have been relegated to the background, leading to an unmitigated infrastructural disaster like roads collapsing within 90 days. There is also a deliberate strategy to destroy our judicial system.





Court orders are hardly obeyed, judicial quarters are bulldozed with recklessness and as of today, judicial officers are being owed 11 months salaries, while monuments costing hundreds of millions of naira are being mounted for foreign dignitaries and whereas our children are killed in their countries.

Similarly, a group called the Igbo National Council said it was a show of shame by the Okorocha administration to have erected Zumas statue in the state.

INC also said that the naming of a street in Owerri after Zuma was unfortunate. INC President, Chilos Godsent, told Saturday PUNCH that South Africa, in recent times, had recorded the wanton killing of many Igbo youths who are doing business or working in South Africa in the name of xenophobia.

He said, Zuma cannot be said to be a Nigerian or an Igbo patriot; he has not contributed in any capacity to the well-being of Imo State indigenes or the Igbo.

INC said the INC was, therefore, calling on Okorocha to immediately reverse the naming of a street in Owerri after Zuma and dismantle his statue.
Read his article below... First of all, let me seek the permission of my readers to invent a new word. The word certificateless does ...

Read his article below...





First of all, let me seek the permission of my readers to invent a new word. The word certificateless does not exist on the English dictionary. I invented it due to the peculiar situation we find ourselves in in Nigeria.

The word is created to be a noun which simply means the absence of a certificate in a situation where a certificate is required. For instance, both President Muhammadu Buhari and the 20,000 Kaduna state teachers in the midst of Nasir El-Rufais brouhaha are certificateless.





I will state this saga with a true story.





In Edo history, there existed a particular Oba who lived for a very long time. Now his edaiken (first son and heir apparent) was growing tired of waiting for the throne, so he sent his father a calabash with ash in it. His father got the message and sent back the calabash but this time, he mixed the ash with honey, indicating to his son that life was still sweet ave he was not ready to quit the scene.





I am a deep political animal. I do not believe that local Kaduna issues are all that has led to the brouhaha of El-Rufais threat to sack 20,000 teachers that failed a primary four test and are thus certificateless.





I think that El-Rufai, who has styled himself as magajin Buhari sees himself as something like an edaiken.





You may ask, what type of subliminal message is Nasir El-Rufai passing to Muhammadu Buhari by threatening to sack 20,000 teachers without CERTIFICATES?





Think about it! If a teacher cannot teach without certificate, is it a President that can preside without certificate?





The threat is El-Rufais calabash of ash to Buhari and Nigerians in the know are waiting for Buharis response.





Be that as it may, The 13 SANs defending President Buhari in his certificate issue should be prevailed upon to also defend the 20,000 Kaduna teachers facing sack. After all, their cases are the same!





And on Monday the 13th of November 2017, the Presidency released a statement declaring that President Buhari supports El-Rufais plans to sack the certificateless teachers.





The only difference between President Buhari and the 20,000 Kaduna teachers whose sack he endorsed is that the Kaduna teachers dont have the money to hire 13 SANs. What is the difference between Buhari and those teachers? Who has a certificate between them? Do these people have any shame at all?





How can Nigeria progress when we sack teachers for not having certificates and install Presidents who dont have certificates?





It is rather like a company saying a messenger without WASSCE is unqualified meanwhile its MD is in the same boat. How will the company be profitable? You cannot fight certificatelessness in primary school teachers and promote certificatelessness for a second term. Make up your mind. It is either you are fine with certificatelessness or you are not!





Certificateless teachers teach kaduna children and you are not surprised when they fail. Certificateless President runs your economy and you are surprised when it fails? Can zero plus zero ever equal more than zero?





And the Presidents certificatelessness has reverberated beyond Nigeria. He is not considered as someone to be reckoned with in Nigeria by his peers on the continent.





African leaders even respect Rochas Okorocha more than President Muhammadu Buhari. They fly into Nigeria, go straight to Imo to see Rochas and check out without ever going to Abuja. Could such a thing have happened under Presidents Obasanjo, YarAdua or Jonathan? That is how irrelevant President Buhari has become even in his own country.





And why will they not think that the President is a joke? A man without certificate who is so backward in his thinking that after former President Jonathan opened the floodgates for women combatants to join the Nigerian Army, this Stone Age despot that we fall a President unilaterally overturned the policy ostensibly because Northern Muslim leaders are opposed to women serving in the military.





Can we be surprised about this action from a man who believes women belong in the other room?





And that rightly named Lai Mohammed had the guts to say that President Buhari is cleaning up the Peoples Democratic Partys Augean Stable. Really?





Which mess PDP is President Buhari cleaning exactly?





* Cleaning ?87 fuel for ?145 fuel

* Cleaning ?199 to 1$ for ?375 for $1

* Cleaning ?8k bag of rice for ?18k bag

* Cleaning ?1 bag of cement for ?4k bag of cement

* Cleaning women combatants from army?





I mean the facts speak for themselves.





And in the midst of the economic chaos that President Muhammadu Buhari has unleashed on Nigeria, his number one priority is not finding out why the United Nations has projected that Nigeria will have more people in extreme poverty than India by February of 2018 even though India has eight times our population.





The President is in re-election mode and has shifted focus from governance (not that he was ever focused on that account).





His latest re-election gimmick is to visit a Southeast that he had never once visited before as President. But the President is making a big miscalculation if he thinks he can buy the support of the Igbos for his re-election.





What the Igbos need is not a Presidential visit. They need to be included in government. There isnt a single Igbo man heading any of the military or paramilitary forces in Nigeria. They are all headed by Northern Muslim men, except one (Navy) headed by a SouthSoutherner.





The Army, Air Force, Police, Customs, Immigration and Prisons are led by Northern Muslim men. Only the Navy is led by a Southerner. That is why the policy allowing women combatants was almost scrapped by Armed Forces Council but for the mass protest it prompted, because the North opposes it and the South, which supports it, is underrepresented.





The Buhari administration is a thoroughly discredited government whose focus should be to help the President pack his load and move back to Daura to tend to his cows that never increase in number rather than this focus on his re-election.





This is why I was rather surprised at the surprise of the Ikoyi whistleblower that he had not been paid.





That Ikoyi whistleblower should have known better than to expect the Buhari administration to keep their promise to him. Have they kept their promise to Nigerians? If they cant keep that one is it his they will keep?





In fact, some of the mad people you see on the streets may just be whistleblowers who blew the whistle for the EFCC. You never know. You just never know!





Now I understand why The Buhari administration has refused to fulfill its campaign promises. It is not their fault. Just like the Ikoyi whistleblower, they do not want us to get mad if we see too many fulfilled promises. For example, PDP fulfilled too many promises and we got mad and voted for APC! President Buhari is preparing for re-election and does not want that type of madness again!





And as the 75 year old President Buhari surreptitiously kicks off his re-election campaign, he should not test the Nigerian people, who have borne the weight of his unprecedented misrule, too much.





What we want from him, even if he intends to run in 2019, is a free and fair election.





Already, we are seeing the business interests of likely rivals being dealt a massive blow. If their contracts with the Federal Government are not being illegally canceled then expatriate quotas are being revoked. This in a country screaming that it wants foreign investments.





Saudi Arabia has a 32 year old Crown Prince who is fighting corruption, growing the economy and has now allowed women to drive while Nigeria has a 75 year old (allegedly) President who has ruined the economy while pretending to fight corruption and has no single youth in his cabinet! Different strokes for different folks!





Renos Nuggets

When European Christian missionaries came to Africa, they built schools that our parents and grandparents attended for free. When todays churches build schools, even their own church members, whose offerings built the schools, cant afford to send their children there. My own father, who was not a Catholic, was educated by Irish Catholic priests FOR FREE at their school. Come on people. Let us get back to that old time Christianity that was first about service to God and humanity. Church schools may not be free, but they should be affordable for believers #RenosNuggets





One Other Thing
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that it will remain vigilant in collation of results until the announcement...

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that it will remain vigilant in collation of results until the announcement of the final result and winner of the Anambra governorship election .INEC Director of Publicity and Voter Education, Mr Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi disclosed this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja.Osaze-Uzzi said that the commission would continue to ensure that all the processes of the election went down well. Election can be manipulated at any stage, so we have to be vigilant until the final result is collated and the winner is announced by the commission. The collation of result from the units to the state level is on going.Until the final result is announced INEC remains vigilant to ensure that the peoples votes count. So we are still vigilant at every stage, Osaze-Uzzi said. He assured that all votes cast would be properly recorded, transmitted and collated at the end of the day.On the general assessment of the election, Osaze-Uzzi said the voting process was generally peaceful and was in accordance with plan, except for the late commencement of poll in some few units. He added that the commission was, however, investigating the cause of such late commencement of voting in affected polling units.Generally the election has been peaceful and we are very happy. The turnout look to me better than the last two previous governorship elections. On the allegation that there was no election at Okpoko in Ogbaru and Umudim in Nnewi North council areas, Osaze-Uzzi said the matter was also being investigated by the commission with a view to find appropriate solution to the problem.It is being investigated and I think it has to do with late arrival or shortage of materials. The matter was resolved but a bit late.The community was saying we should reschedule the election in the affected unit to tomorrow, but we are looking at the best option, he added. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Oseloka Obaze, had complained that poll did not take place in Okpoko in Ogbaru and Umudim in Nnewi North council areas of the state.(NAN)
The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has hailed the people of Anambra State for reportedly boycotting the ongoing governorship election i...

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has hailed the people of Anambra State for reportedly boycotting the ongoing governorship election in the state.

Speaking on the alleged low turnout that greeted the elections, spokesperson of the group, Emma Powerful, in a statement attributed the development to their directive.





IPOB wants to use this opportunity to congratulate Biafrans particularly the people of Anambra State for obeying the order of IPOB and our leader Mazi Nnamdi who has been abducted since 14th September 2017 in todays election.





The people of Anambra State have shown the whole world that they are the are the first sons of Biafraland and no doubt about that, there is no election in Anambra State, everywhere is empty both the polling booths and streets are totally deserted.




There was a bomb scare in Onitsha on Friday ahead of Saturdays governorship election in Anambra State.

There was a bomb scare in Onitsha on Friday ahead of Saturdays governorship election in Anambra State.It was gathered that two high calibre improvised explosive devices were discovered near the Onitsha North Local Government Area Police Station.However, our correspondents learnt that the police anti-bomb squad averted the explosion by demobilising the IEDs.But the development created tension in Onitsha ahead of Saturdays (today) election amid palpable fear in different parts of the state that the election could be marred by violence.Use of policemen as guards by VIPs bannedFurther assuring the people of the state of security, Habila warned that the police would not permit the use of security personnel as guards by very important personalities at polling units during the governorship election.Habila told newsmen at the Independent National Electoral Commissions office in Awka that the restriction of movement would be binding on all persons except groups and individuals accredited to monitor voting.Tell all VIPs that they cannot be accompanied by uniform personnel because that also will intimidate others. People are expected to walk a short distance, cast their votes and go back home.No VIP, no government official, no individual should put onto themselves the responsibility of monitoring, except the press and accredited observers. International and national observers will be given an opportunity, he noted.Speaking on the security arrangement for the exercise, he explained that with the massive deployment of additional 21,000 police personnel to join the existing 6,000 operatives in the state, five policemen were expected to man each polling unit.He further disclosed that while 300 Hilux vehicles had been positioned in areas prone to violence, 15 gunboats would be used to cover the riverine areas.The DIG also said that three helicopters would hover around the three senatorial districts of the state to provide aerial view during the election.Ahead of todays governorship election in Anambra State, the police also said that contrary to speculations in some quarters, they had no intention to dictate to the Independent National Electoral Commission on the conduct of the poll.The Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Operations stated that the police would only be involved in the area of ensuring the security of lives and property.We are not dictating to INEC. The police are only interested in security. Why would the police tell INEC what to do? So, you think I would go and tell INEC what they should do about the election; has it ever happened?Do you believe that one? Do you know who these people (INEC heads) are? Some of them are professors and technocrats. Then you would dictate to them; it is not possible. Is it with a gun?Ours is to ensure security and not to dictate to INEC. This is one of the dummies they (politicians) want to sell. That is a very cheap propaganda intending to discourage people from exercising their franchise and defending their votes. Like I said earlier, it can never happen and it is not possible, Habila stressed.The Independent National Electoral Commission has denied the speculation that some of its personnel have been compromised by politicians to interfere with the credibility of the governorship election in Anambra State.There had been speculation that the commission deployed additional ad hoc workers to certain locations in order to give an advantage to a particular political party.But the state Head of Voter Education and Publicity, Mr. Leo Nkedife, said, INEC is not in any way compromised. The issue is that we do not have enough corps members in Anambra State. So, that necessitated us to go to neighbouring states to source for corps members to complement.At the stakeholders forum, that issue was raised. They said that corps members from outside should not go to a particular local government area and we have effected that. So, INEC is not in any way compromised. It is totally false.He, however, stated that the commission had not received any complaint from its workers bothering on security threats.According to him, INEC has provided enough incentives for the welfare of the ad hoc personnel, including transport allowances during their training, feeding allowances and the main honorarium.We have even made provisions for their feeding at the RAC (Registration Area Centres). So, I think their welfare is well taken care of and we have warned them not to compromise their positions, Nkedife added.
The Borno State Police Command has on Saturday confirmed deadly suicide attacks at the outskirt of Maiduguri metropolis, which it said, ...

The Borno State Police Command has on Saturday confirmed deadly suicide attacks at the outskirt of Maiduguri metropolis, which it said, two suicide bombers and a teenage boy were killed while four others seriously injured.According to the Police Public Relations Officer, Victor Isuku, in a Press statement said, In the wee hours of today 18/11/2017, two female suicide bombers detonated their IED vest in the outskirt of Alakaramti village in Jere LGA, killing themselves alone. Then at about 0650hrs, two other teenage female suicide bombers infiltrated Alakaramti village.One of them hurriedly detonated her IED vest killing herself, her partner and an innocent boy. While four others, including the mother of the innocent boy, sustained injuries.The corpses and the injured have been evacuated to University of Maiduguri teaching hospital. The police Explosive Ordinance Department (EOD) team promptly rendered safe the unexploded Improvised Explosive Devices, IED vests and sanitized the area. Normalcy has since been restored to the area. Isuku stated.
Nigerias presidency on Friday spoke on President Muhammadu Buharis visit to Ebonyi and Anambra states on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Nigerias presidency on Friday spoke on President Muhammadu Buharis visit to Ebonyi and Anambra states on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It said the visit has clearly proven those insisting that Buhari hates Igbo wrong.





Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, in an article titled, Wise men still come from the East, said the trip was one visit that has torpedoed the negative narrative deliberately conjured by some mischief makers over the years, that President Buhari does not like people from the East, and neither do the people like him.





He noted that assertion is fiction, pure apocryphal, conjured and concocted by some people to serve narrow political ends.





Adesina further quipped, In his first shot at the presidency in 2003, who was Buharis running mate? Dr Chuba Okadigbo. Where did he come from? Ogbunike, town of the famous cave, in the South-east.





And in 2007, candidate Buhari looked towards the East again. He picked Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Second Republic, as running mate.





And in 2011, I remember very clearly. Buhari was on the march again, and needed a running mate. Socio-political leadership of the South-east forbade any of its sons from being running mate to anyone.





Their candidate, they said, was Goodluck Jonathan, who then was completing the term of Umaru YarAdua. So, Buhari looked westward, and picked the cleric, Tunde Bakare. But did he demonstrate any animus towards the East? Not at all.





He recalled that in 2015, Buhari, whom he described as the most colourful politician, greatest crowd puller of this season in Nigeria, threw his hat into the ring again.





He said but the East was still in bed with Jonathan, completely besotted, vowing to swim or sink with their brother, Ebele Azikiwe.

Buhari looked westward again, picked Professor Yemi Osinbajo, as running mate. A large part of the East was dug in, not minding to play what may be called poor politics in the process. When the dust of the elections settled, Jonathan was holding the shorter end of the stick.




VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 17, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Micron Waste Technologies Inc. (the Company) (CSE:MWM) (OTC:MICWF) (Frankfurt:7FM2), a leading developer of proprietary digester solutions for the treatment of food and other organic waste, is pleased to announce that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with T&T Supermarkets Inc. (T&T), whereby both parties will work together to explore additional installations of the Micron Organic Waste Digester at T&T Supermarkets. T&T Supermarkets is the largest chain of specialist Asian supermarkets in Canada, and is rapidly expanding.



In 2016, Micron commenced with a demonstration project with T&T, in which Micron successfully operated an on-site digester system to treat the organic waste generated by the supermarket. Previously, the supermarket relied on daily disposal to landfill, a very costly solution, in part due to the high frequency of service required and associated landfill costs.

The project was successfully completed, proving the ease of use, efficiency and cost saving potential in a real-life setting of Microns solution. The Company's technology enables the complete digestion of organic waste. The remaining effluent is clean and meets all standards for subsequent discharge into the municipal sewage system, resulting in significant cost savings.

Micron and T&T have now signed an MoU, pursuant to which both parties will work together review additional locations for installing and operating the commercial version of the Micron Organic Waste Digester in British Columbia. Commercial terms for the Micron Organic Waste Digester will include a monthly lease, charge for quantity of waste handled and servicing fees. The Companies anticipate completing additional store installation agreements in the coming months.

This is an extremely exciting moment in our development, said Rav Mlait, CEO of Micron. This MOU represents very significant growth potential for Micron. Furthermore, having validated the operational benefits of our technology, we are now in a very strong position to accelerate discussions with multiple supermarket chains. Beyond that, we intend to expand into other sectors looking to improve the operational and cost efficiencies of their organic matter disposal, such as the cannabis and quick-serve food markets.

Herman Poon, Senior Administration Manager at T&T in Richmond, BC added, When we saw the potential of the configurable effluent processor we agreed to have the first demonstration unit of the Micron Waste Digester Operating at our Richmond headquarters. The system went online in December 2016 and we are very pleased with its ability to turn our organic waste on-site into an environmentally friendly liquid form. This certainly gives us a strong case for rolling out additional units in the future.

Current commercial food waste digesters have a waste digestion efficiency of 60  65% which means that 35  40% of food waste remains undigested and is discharged into grey-water, requiring further treatment. Micron has developed a patent-pending technology to manage food waste on-site, converting it into clean water. The Company`s food digester has micro-oxygen cubicles (MOC) technology to enhance aerobic digestion up to 95%. The remaining 5% of undigested food particles are further treated by Micron`s patented technology, resulting in clean water.

Operational Infrastructure Expansion

Additionally, Micron announces that the Company has entered into a lease agreement for a facility located in the Tilbury area of Delta, BC for manufacturing, warehousing and distribution for its Micron Organic Waste Digester system.

About Micron Waste Technologies Inc.

Micron Waste Technologies Inc is a well funded technology company. The Companys food and other organic waste system is designed to manage food and other organic waste on-site, converting it into clean water. The Companys aerobic digester has MOC technology to enhance the digestion efficiency of microorganisms by up to 95%, with the remaining 5% of undigested particles undergoing further treatment, resulting in clean water effluent that meets municipal effluent discharge standards. Microns technology is an ideal solution to handle food and other organic waste on-site in view of the drive for further cost efficiencies, as well as ever stricter legislation being implemented to prohibit food and other organic waste from entering landfill sites around the world. Please visit our website at www.micronwaste.com for further information. Micron is a public company with listings on the CSE: MWM, OTC: MICWF, and in Frankfurt: 7FM2.

About T&T Supermarkets

T&T Supermarkets is the largest Asian supermarket chain in Canada, operating stores in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. T&T Supermarkets was founded in Vancouver in 1993 and is headquartered in Richmond, BC, with offices in Toronto. T&T is part of Loblaw Companies Ltd, which purchased T&T in July 2009.

On Behalf of The Board

Rav Mlait

Chief Executive Officer and Director

For further information contact:

Investor Relations

+1.844.318.8216

info@micronwaste.com

www.micronwaste.com

The Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS:

The forward-looking information contained in this press release is made as of the date of this press release and, except as required by applicable law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. By its very nature, such forward-looking information requires the Company to make assumptions that may not materialize or that may not be accurate. This forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, levels of activity and achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such information.
The Ekiti State Commissioner for Education, Mr. Jide Egunjobi and the permanent secretary in the same ministry, Mrs Adekunbi obaise were ...

The Ekiti State Commissioner for Education, Mr. Jide Egunjobi and the permanent secretary in the same ministry, Mrs Adekunbi obaise were on Friday suspended by Governor Ayodele Fayose for alleged dereliction of duty.The State governor had immediately ordered the suspension of the duo to be made public through the State owned media and it was being aired intermittently . It was reliably gathered that the governor had visited the Ministry located within the State Secretariat along Saliu Adeoti House of Assembly Way and didnt find the two officials in their respective offices.The source said: The governor s visit was so sudden and unexpected. And when he got there and couldnt find them, he was so angry and he dropped a hint at that moment that they will be punished.The governor was said to immediately contacted the Deputy Governor, Prof Kola Olusola, who supervises the ministry and was said to have found it difficult to rationalize the commissioners absence on his desk. Also, the State Head of Service, Dr Olugbenga Faseluka was said to have no valid reasons about the whereabouts of the Permanent Secretary. When it was apparent though all these investigations that the two officials didnt take permissions from the expected officials, the governor immediately suspended them.Another source in the ministry, however, disclosed that Mrs Obaise travelled to Ibadan for his PhD graduation ceremony which was on Friday, this he said prevented her from reporting in the office. Mrs Obaise went for his PhD graduation ceremony in Ibadan. Even, she was supposed to have proceeded on annual leave long before now. So, I think the Commissioner must have gone to Ibadan to celebrate with her, because his own family too is in Ibadan, maybe he used the opportunity to see his wife and children, he recounted.The two suspended officials have received accolades from Fayose in recent time for cooperating with Prof Olusola for Ekiti to come first in National Examinations Council(NECO) in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Recalled that Governor Fayose, had during the early stage of his tenure dramatically suspended the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Modupe Alade, for alleged incompetence. The States Scribe was later re-absorbed into the system through the intervention of powerful individuals within the state and beyond.
After unveiling the statues of two African presidents, Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Ellen Sirleaf Johnson of Liberia, Imo State Govern...

After unveiling the statues of two African presidents, Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Ellen Sirleaf Johnson of Liberia, Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha is set to unveil 10 more statues.Even though his actions had generated lots of controversies, the governor would soon unveil more statues.Our correspondent visited the Ikemba Ojukwu Centre in Owerri, Imo State capital, where the statues were erected, but security men didnt allow him to enter.However, a top Government House official told our correspondent that Okorocha was set to unveil statues of former President Olusegun Obasanjo; a former Vice-President, Alex Ekwueme; a former Senate President, late Evans Enwerem; and the first civilian Imo State Governor, Sam Mbakwe.According to the source, others whose statues would soon be unveiled are those of the first Nigerian President, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe; former Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa; late sage, Obafemi Awolowo; and Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo.The source said that of Akufo-Addo would be unveiled at a ceremony when he visits the state soon.The government official said the idea of unveiling the statues was to celebrate leaders, who had through selfless efforts contributed to the development of the state, Nigeria and the African continent.The source said, The governor is interested in celebrating those who have contributed to the development of mankind, especially on the African continent. In the years to come, these leaders will be no more but their statues will keep them evergreen in the minds of the people.With the statues, they have been inducted into the Imo Hall of Fame and have received the highest award in the state called the Imo Merits Award.When asked how much each statue cost the state government, the official said they were not as expensive as people were exaggerating.It is not as costly as people had exaggerated. Though I dont know the exact amount, the government cannot use about N500m to erect one statue. It is not possible. The governor is a prudent manager of resources, he said.Meanwhile, a former governor of the state, Ikedi Ohakim, has criticised Okorocha for spending state resources on building statues.Ohakim, who handed power over to Okorocha in 2011, said that his successor had impoverished the people and failed comprehensively in terms of leadership and development.He said, Should I praise Okorocha because civil servants now receive half of their salaries instead of 100 per cent? Should I praise his government for owing pensioners for over 30 months and recently issuing dud cheques to them? What exactly are those good works for which I was supposed to be showering praises on the governor?The fact is that no right-thinking Nigerian can praise Rochas. Our biggest industry, education, is in a free fall. Youth unemployment has risen to an unprecedented height. Executive promises are discarded like used napkins like the promise of conducting local government area election, which has been made eight times but discarded eight times.Quality and due process have been relegated to the background, leading to an unmitigated infrastructural disaster like roads collapsing within 90 days. There is also a deliberate strategy to destroy our judicial system.Court orders are hardly obeyed, judicial quarters are bulldozed with recklessness and as of today, judicial officers are being owed 11 months salaries, while monuments costing hundreds of millions of naira are being mounted for foreign dignitaries and whereas our children are killed in their countries.Similarly, a group called the Igbo National Council said it was a show of shame by the Okorocha administration to have erected Zumas statue in the state.INC also said that the naming of a street in Owerri after Zuma was unfortunate.INC President, Chilos Godsent, told newsmen that South Africa, in recent times, had recorded the wanton killing of many Igbo youths who are doing business or working in South Africa in the name of xenophobia.He said, Zuma cannot be said to be a Nigerian or an Igbo patriot; he has not contributed in any capacity to the well-being of Imo State indigenes or the Igbo.INC said the INC was, therefore, calling on Okorocha to immediately reverse the naming of a street in Owerri after Zuma and dismantle his statue.
SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 17, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sorenson Holdings, LLC (Sorenson Holdings) announced today that it is commencing a modified Dutch Auction cash tender offer (the Offer) for a portion of its and Sorenson Finance Corp.s outstanding Senior Unsecured PIK Toggle Notes due 2021 (the HoldCo Notes). A summary of the offer is outlined below:



CUSIPs / ISINs Title of Security Principal Amount

Outstanding Maximum Face

Amount Consideration

Acceptable

Range(1)(2) CUSIP Nos. 83583T AA5, U8358L AA9

ISIN Nos. US83583TAA51, USU8358LAA99 13.0% Senior

Unsecured PIK Toggle

Notes due 2021 $193,862,326



$95,000,000



$940 to $1,000





(1) Per $1,000 principal amount of Notes.

(2) Not including accrued and unpaid interest on the Notes accepted in the Offer up to, but not including, the Settlement Date, which will be paid in addition to the Consideration (as defined below).

Sorenson Holdings is offering to purchase, for cash, up to $95.0 million (the Maximum Face Amount) in aggregate principal amount of the HoldCo Notes in accordance with the modified Dutch Auction procedures, described below. As of November 9, 2017, the aggregate outstanding principal amount of the HoldCo Notes was $193,862,326.

The Offer will expire at 5:00 p.m. New York City time on December 18, 2017, unless extended or earlier terminated by Sorenson Holdings in its sole discretion (such date and time, as the same may be extended, the Expiration Date). Holders must validly tender and not validly withdraw their HoldCo Notes at or prior to the Expiration Date, in order to be eligible to receive the Consideration for their HoldCo Notes. The Consideration for each $1,000 principal amount of HoldCo Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) prior to the Expiration Date pursuant to the Offer (subject to proration) and accepted for purchase by Sorenson Holdings will be equal to the Clearing Price (as defined below).

The Offer is subject to the terms and conditions described in the offer to purchase dated November 17, 2017 (as it may be amended or supplemented from time to time, the Offer to Purchase) and related letter of transmittal (as it may be amended or supplemented from time to time, the Letter of Transmittal).

The Offer is being conducted as a modified Dutch Auction. This means that holders who elect to participate must specify the price they would be willing to receive in exchange for each $1,000 principal amount of HoldCo Notes they choose to tender in the Offer. The price that holders specify for each $1,000 principal amount of HoldCo Notes must be in increments of $10.00 per $1,000 principal amount, and must be within a range of $940 (the Minimum Offer Price) to $1,000 (the Maximum Offer Price) per $1,000 principal amount of HoldCo Notes. Holders who do not specify a price will be deemed to have specified a price equal to the Minimum Offer Price in respect of HoldCo Notes tendered and to accept the Clearing Price determined by Sorenson Holdings in accordance with the terms of the Offer. Tenders of HoldCo Notes for which a price is specified below the Minimum Offer Price or in excess of the Maximum Offer Price will not be accepted and will not be used for the purpose of determining the Clearing Price. Tenders of Notes not submitted with offer prices in whole increments of $10.00 per $1,000 principal amount will be rounded down to the nearest $10.00 increment.

Sorenson Holdings, if it accepts HoldCo Notes in the Offer, will accept Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) in the order of the lowest to the highest tender prices specified by tendering holders (in increments of $10.00 per $1,000 principal amount), and on or promptly following the Expiration Date will select the single lowest price (the Clearing Price) per $1,000 principal amount of HoldCo Notes that will enable Sorenson Holdings to purchase the principal amount of HoldCo Notes equal to the Maximum Face Amount, taking into account the Consideration and the proration described below (or, if HoldCo Notes in a principal amount less than the Maximum Face Amount are validly tendered, all HoldCo Notes so tendered). The price at which HoldCo Notes were validly tendered and not validly withdrawn on or prior to the Expiration Date will be used for the purpose of determining the Clearing Price and proration, as described below.

The Clearing Price will be calculated on or promptly following the Expiration Date. All HoldCo Notes not accepted on the Settlement Date, which will be promptly after the Expiration Date, as a result of proration and all HoldCo Notes tendered at prices in excess of the Clearing Price will be rejected from the Offer and will be returned to tendering holders at Sorenson Holdings expense promptly following the earlier of the Settlement Date or the date on which the Offer is terminated.

If, at the Expiration Date, the aggregate principal amount of the HoldCo Notes validly tendered at or below the Clearing Price (and not validly withdrawn) exceeds the Maximum Face Amount, then, on the Settlement Date, subject to the terms and conditions of the Offer, Sorenson Holdings, if it accepts the HoldCo Notes in the Offer, will accept for purchase, first, HoldCo Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) at prices (in increments of $10.00 per $1,000 principal amount) below the Clearing Price and, thereafter, HoldCo Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) at the Clearing Price on a prorated basis according to the principal amount of such HoldCo Notes. All HoldCo Notes not accepted on the Settlement Date as a result of proration and all Notes tendered at prices in excess of the Clearing Price will be rejected from the Offer and will be returned to tendering holders at Sorenson Holdings expense promptly following the earlier of the Settlement Date or the date on which the Offer is terminated. For the avoidance of doubt, all HoldCo Notes tendered at a price below the Clearing Price will be purchased at the Clearing Price rather than at their tender prices.

If the Offer is not fully subscribed as of the Expiration Date, all HoldCo Notes validly tendered at or prior to the Expiration Date may be accepted without proration and, in such case, the Clearing Price will be equal to the highest bid price at or below the Maximum Offer Price received for Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn), provided the conditions to the Offer are satisfied or waived by Sorenson Holdings.

Sorenson Holdings will make appropriate adjustments downward to the nearest $1.00 principal amount to avoid purchases of Notes in principal amounts other than integral multiples of $1.00. Holders whose HoldCo Notes are accepted by Sorenson Holdings for purchase pursuant to the Offer, will receive, in addition to the Consideration, a cash payment representing the accrued and unpaid interest on those HoldCo Notes from the last interest payment date for such HoldCo Notes preceding the Settlement Date to, but not including, the Settlement Date. Sorenson Holdings will announce the determination of the Clearing Price and the results of any proration, if applicable, by press release on or promptly following the Settlement Date.

Sorenson Holdings intends to finance the tender offer with the proceeds of an intercompany loan from Sorenson Holdings indirect wholly owned subsidiary, Sorenson Communications, LLC, a Utah limited liability company (OpCo). In addition, OpCo announced today that it entered into an amendment to its First Lien Credit and Guaranty Agreement to, among other things, permit OpCo to make the intercompany loan to Sorenson Holdings.

Sorenson Holdings consummation of the tender offer is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions, including, among other things, the receipt by Sorenson Holdings of an intercompany loan from OpCo. Subject to applicable law, Sorenson Holdings reserves the right to extend, terminate or amend the tender offer in its sole discretion. Full details of the terms and conditions of the tender offer are included in the Offer to Purchase.

Neither Sorenson Holdings nor any other person makes any recommendation as to whether holders should tender HoldCo Notes and no one has been authorized to make such a recommendation. Holders must make their own decisions as to whether to tender HoldCo Notes.

Any requests for copies of the Offer to Purchase and any inquiries regarding the tender offer may be directed to D.F. King & Co., Inc., the Information Agent and Tender Agent for the tender offer at (212) 269-5552 (collect) or (800) 581-3783 (toll free).

This announcement shall not constitute an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to sell the HoldCo Notes or any other securities. The tender offer is being made only through and subject to the terms and HoldCo Notes should carefully read these documents before making any decision with respect to the tender offer. The tender offer is not being made to holders in any jurisdiction in which the making or acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities, blue sky or other laws of such jurisdiction.

About Sorenson Communications

Sorenson Communications, LLC (www.sorenson.com) is a provider of industry-leading communications products and services for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing. The companys offerings include SVRS, the highest-quality video interpreting service; the ntouch VP and the ntouch VP2 videophones, designed especially for use by Deaf individuals; ntouch PC, software that connects users to SVRS by using a PC and webcam; ntouch for Mac, software that connects users to SVRS by using an Apple computer; and ntouch Mobile, an application empowering SVRS communication via tablet and mobile devices.

Disclaimer

If you choose Sorenson as your default provider, you can port your existing 10-digit number to Sorenson from another provider or Sorenson can provide you with one for the geographic area where you live or work. If you later change your default provider, you can port your number to that provider. When selecting Sorenson, you must provide to Sorenson the physical address (i.e., the Registered Location) from which you are placing the call, so that Sorenson can properly route any 911 calls you may make. If you move or change your location, you must notify Sorenson immediately. You can update your Registered Location from your Sorenson videophone by calling 800-659-4810 or by visiting www.svrs.com/moving. Sorenson will confirm receipt of your Registered Location information. Emergency calls made via internet-based TRS may not function the same as traditional E911 service. For example, you may not be able to dial 911 if there is an internet-service failure or if you lose electrical power, and your 911 call may not be routed correctly if you have not updated your Registered Location. For more information on the process of obtaining 10-digit numbers and the limitations and risks associated with using Sorensons VRS to place a 911 call, please visit Sorenson's website: www.sorenson.com/disclaimer. For information on toll-free numbering, please visit www.svrs.com/tollfree.

Forward Looking Statements

The statements included in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. federal securities laws. In addition to the assumptions specifically mentioned in the above paragraphs, there are a number of other factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, Sorenson Holdings ability to consummate the tender offer on the terms described in this news release or at all, Sorenson Holdings substantial debt and lease obligations, Video Relay Service and IP Captioned Telephone Service rates, future regulatory actions by the Federal Communications Commission, pending patent litigation and other factors detailed in risk factors and elsewhere in the Offer to Purchase. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize or the consequences of such a development worsen, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual outcomes may vary materially from those forecasted or expected. Sorenson disclaims any intention or obligation to update publicly or revise such statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Press Contact: D.F. King & Co., Inc., the Information Agent and Tender Agent for the tender offer at (212) 269-5552 (collect) or (800) 581-3783 (toll free)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 17, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RewardStream Solutions Inc. (RewardStream or the Company) (TSXV:REW) (Frankfurt:JL4L) (WKN Number A2APX1) announces that, effective immediately, Rana Vig, Martin Bernholtz and Juan Vegarra have resigned from the Board of Directors. Also effective immediately, Danilen Villanueva and Cam Paddock have joined the Board of Directors.



On behalf of the Company, I would like to thank Rana Vig, Martin Bernholtz and Juan Vegarra for their contribution to RewardStream and their participation on the Board. We wish them all the best in their future endeavors, stated Rob Goehring, Chief Executive Officer of RewardStream. We are pleased to welcome Danilen and Cam to our Board.

The Board has also resolved to consolidate the Companys issued and outstanding shares on the basis of one (1) new common share for every ten (10) old common shares. The Company current has a total of 49,831,244 issued and outstanding shares. Post consolidation the Company will have approximately 4,983,124 shares issued and outstanding, with the precise number of shares depending on how fractional shares will be handled based on each shareholders holdings. All outstanding stock options and warrants will be adjusted using the same 1:10 ratio.

The Company is not changing its name and is not changing its trading symbol. The consolidation is subject to regulatory approval.

About RewardStream Solutions Inc.

RewardStream specializes in the execution of automated referral marketing programs that help brands to acquire, engage, and retain their most valuable stakeholders  customers. By utilizing an innovative blend of marketing insight and proprietary technology, RewardStream turns an existing customer base into a powerful new sales channel for all our clients. RewardStream delivers a scalable, real-time technology platform as the foundation of our client's referral program. The platform provides customer acquisition programs that deliver new, highly loyal customers at very low cost per acquisition rates. Our award-winning marketing solutions have powered loyalty and referral marketing programs across 39 countries for brands including Boost Mobile, Envision Financial, W Concept, Koodo Mobile and more. For more information please visit www.rewardstream.com.

For more information contact:

RewardStream Solutions Inc.

Rob Goehring, CEO

Rob.goehring@rewardstream.com

(877) 692-0040

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information, which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. Important factors - including the availability of funds and the results of financing efforts - that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Companys expectations are disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time on SEDAR (see www.sedar.com). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, 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 the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
A shooting was reported Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017, in the 3900 block of Airline Drive in Metairie. (Map by Google)
URUMQI, XINJIANG, China, Nov. 17, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New Era Minerals Inc. (the Company) is pleased to provide shareholders with the following corporate updates.



Resignation of Director and Change of Officers

The Company announces that Mr. Lin Guang Ju has resigned as Chairman and a member of the board of directors of the Company (the Board). Mr. Sun Tian Xiang, the Chief Executive Officer of the Company and a director, will act as the Chairman of the Board. The resignation of Mr. Lin has been accepted by the Board and the appointment of Mr. Sun as Chairman has been approved by the Board.

The Company also announces that Mr. Shen (Samuel) Wei has resigned as Chief Financial Officer of the Company. The Company thanks Mr. Shen for his service to the Company. Ms. Zhao Fengmei, who has, since 2012, been the Finance Manager of the Companys 95%-owned subsidiary, Xinjiang Yongkun Mining Co. Ltd. (Yongkun), will be acting as interim Chief Financial Officer of the Company.

Extension of Exploration License

The Company announces that it has received an extension of the exploration license for the Suyekebei nickel property from the local Chinese government authority. The extension is valid until June 2, 2018. The prospecting area was reduced to 7.42 sq. km. but includes all areas where exploration work has been conducted by the Company. The Company is continuing its efforts to find financing to conduct exploration work and to conduct sample test work in 2018.

Private Placement

Subject to receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval, the Company has arranged a non-brokered private placement (the Private Placement) involving the sale of 3,881,836 common shares of the Company (the Shares) to a private investor at a subscription price of CAD$0.10 per Share for gross proceeds of CAD$388,183. Proceeds of the Private Placement has been used for the extension of the exploration license for the Suyekebei property and will be used for general corporate and working capital requirements.

About New Era Minerals Inc.



New Era Minerals Inc., through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Haijin International Group Limited, owns 95% of Yongkun. Yongkun's principal activities are the exploration, evaluation and development of mineral property interests in the PRC, including Yongkun's 100%-owned Suyekebei nickel property located in Tuoli County, Tacheng Area, Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region, PRC.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of

NEW ERA MINERALS INC.

Sun Tian Xiang

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact:

Vicky Gao

gaoweishan@nemnemnem.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking Information

This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation that are based on the belief of management and reflect the Companys current expectation. All statements in this release, other than the statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking information. Forward-looking information are generally, but not always, identified by the words expects, plans, could or should occur.

Forward-looking information in this news release includes, without limitation, all statements regarding the completion the Private Placement and the proposed use of proceeds to be raised pursuant to the Private Placement. By its nature, forward-looking information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among other things, the timeliness of receipt of regulatory approval to the Private Placement; fluctuations in the Canadian dollar-Renminbi exchange rate; and those factors disclosed in the Company's publicly filed documents. Forward-looking information is also based on a number of assumptions, including, but not limited to, that all required stock exchange and other regulatory approvals to the Private Placement will be obtained.

Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in such forward-looking information are based on reasonable assumptions, such forward-looking information are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information. The forward-looking information in this news release is provided as of the date of this news release, and Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
WASHINGTON  Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley has scheduled a hearing for two of President Donald Trumps circuit court nominees over lawmakers objections, making good on the GOPs promise to prevent individual senators from blocking the presidents court picks.

Grassleys, R-Iowa, announcement Thursday that David Stras and Kyle Duncan would face the committee Nov. 29 comes on the same day that Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn.  the main senator refusing to give his approval for Strass nomination  was accused of sexual assault, for which he now faces a formal ethics investigation.

Traditionally, senators representing states under the jurisdiction of a federal judgeship are asked to return a blue slip for nominees before the confirmation process commences. If an affected senator doesnt return a blue slip  named so because it is actually a blue slip of paper  the nominee doesnt receive a hearing.

Grassley argues that most Senate Judiciary Committee chairmen have not obeyed the blue slip process that strictly. And the GOPs position is that making circuit court nominees who preside over several states dependent on every last senator returning a blue slip is irrational because it gives Democrats an effective political veto.

Were going to honor the blue slip process, but there are always exceptions, Grassley said on the Senate floor Thursday. Im not going to allow senators to prevent a committee hearing for political or ideological reasons.

Grassley argued that Frankens reasons for attempting to block Stras were political. Franken has said that he withheld the blue slip because the White House did not sufficiently consult him about the nomination. Stras has been nominated to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit.

Democrats have also not returned blue slips for Ryan Bounds, who Trump nominated to sit on the 9th Circuit, and Michael Brennan, nominated for the 7th Circuit.

But the holdout senator in Duncans case is a Republican.

Sen. John Neely Kennedy, R-La., has not returned the blue slip for Duncan, nominated to the 5th Circuit. He has offered no details as to why.

But Grassley drew a distinction between Kennedy withholding a blue slip and Franken doing so, noting that Kennedy had not objected to a hearing for Duncan.

This is the correct distinction a senator should make when deciding whether to return a blue slip, Grassley said. The blue slip is not meant to signify the senators ultimate support or opposition to the nominee.

In this political environment, however, it is sometimes a senators only chance to mount a viable objection. Votes on judicial nominees are no longer subject to a procedural filibuster, which would require supporters to come up with 60 votes to confirm a nominee. Senate Democrats changed the rules when they held the Senate majority in 2013; Grassley surmised Thursday that Democrats probably regret that decision.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Veritas Pharma Inc. (CSE:VRT) (OTC:VRTHF) (Frankfurt:2VP), (Veritas or the Company), an emerging-stage pharmaceutical and IP development company, is pleased to announce that it has signed a Binding Letter of Intent with 906474 Alberta Ltd. (906474) subject to regulatory authority to acquire 100% ownership of Sechelt Organic Marijuana Corp. (SOM), free and clear of all liens, charges and encumbrances in exchange for $800,000 payable in shares of Veritas (Veritas Shares) priced at the last trading day immediately preceding the Closing (the Purchase Price). Veritas is also issuing to 906474 Special Warrant Shares which would entitle 906474 to additional shares of Veritas equal to $800,000 less the current market price of the Veritas Shares times the market price on the last trading day immediately following the 4 month holding period.



SOM, currently owns a secure commercial facility and land located in Sechelt, British Columbia, Canada and, since July 4, 2014, has had an application with Health Canada to become a licensed producer under the ACMPR.

Dr. Lui Franciosi, CEO, Veritas Pharma comments, This is a win-win scenario for Veritas and its shareholders. We believe this transaction is both tactical and value driven. Further and most importantly, it is representative of the steps we will take to secure and maximize our position along the medical marijuana supply chain. We are making great strides advancing our investment in R&D through Cannevert Therapeutics, targeting pain, nauseas and PTSD solutions. This strategic acquisition will bring together our valuable IP surrounding our disease specific medical marijuana strains.

Dr. Franciosi continues, "With this acquisition, Veritas will control and have ownership of the entire process from developing our patented strains through Cannevert, to cultivation, thereby ensuring that the medical marijuana product is backed by scientific data, and that it is ready for market.

For more information, please visit our website: About Veritas Pharma Inc.

Veritas Pharma Inc. is an emerging discovery and IP development company, advancing the science behind medical cannabis. The company's current R&D efforts are to develop the most effective cannabis strains (cultivars) specific to pain, nausea, epilepsy and PTSD, solving the critical need for real science to support medical marijuana claims.

Our unique value proposition employs a whole plant methodology, using a low cost research and development model to help drive shareholder value and speed-to-market. Veritas is led by strong management, bringing together veteran academic pharmacologists, anesthetists & chemists. The company's commercial mission is to patent protect its IP (cultivars/strains) and sell or license to cancer clinics, insurance industry and pharma, targeting multi-billion dollar global markets.

Veritas Pharma Inc. is a publicly traded company which trades in three countries including Canada, on the Canadian Stock Exchange under the ticker VRT; in the United States, on the OTC under the ticker VRTHF; and in Germany, on the Frankfurt exchange under the ticker 2VP.

veritaspharmainc.com

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Veritas Pharma Inc.

"Dr. Lui Franciosi"

Dr. Lui Franciosi

Chief Executive Officer

Further information about the Company is available on our website at www.veritaspharmainc.com or under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the CSE website at www.thecse.com.

Investor and Public Relations Contact

Veritas Pharma Inc.

Dr. Lui Franciosi

Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: +1.778.968.6260

Email: lui@veritaspharmainc.com

Website: www.veritaspharmainc.com

The CSE has not reviewed, nor approved or disapproved the content of this press release.
Editors note: Area ministers who would like to be part of this feature can contact Joan von Kampen at 308-535-4707 or joan.vonkampen@nptelegraph.com. Submissions may be edited for length or to conform to newspaper style.

Light amid the darkness

1 Thessalonians 5:3-6

But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to overtake you like a thief. For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness.

Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober.

The days are getting shorter and darkness comes earlier each day now. It is particularly significant when we think of the changing of times and seasons as preparing ourselves for the coming of the Lord Jesus. Traditionally we would understand this coming in both history and mystery.

The days get shorter and darker the closer we get to Christmas and the celebration of the great historical event of the birth of Christ, the fulfillment of the promise that God would send a savior to Israel. Once Christmas arrives, the days get longer and brighter as the Son shines in our lives. The coming in mystery, then, is the final coming, when the Lord will come to judge the living and the dead and we will receive, please God, the reward for a good life. The reward is to live forever in His light radiating the beauty of the eternal banquet in heaven around the altar of the Lamb.

So this reminder of the shorter and darker days is that we need to consciously make an effort to remain in the light, to stay awake and sober. How can we do this? How can we stay alert and ready for the coming of the Lord? We keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. We daily make time for His light to enter our hearts and dispel the darkness and doubt. When the world gets caught up in materialism and purchasing more and more stuff to fill their lives, we fill our lives with His love and light. We prepare for the celebration of the historical coming of Jesus by making room for Him in the inn of our hearts, in the messiness of the stable of our minds, and in the darkness that tries to creep in by the worldly allurements.

For all of you are children of the light and children of the day.

May the light of Christs coming dispel the darkness and guide you to everlasting light! Amen!

The Rev. Joshua Brown

St. Patrick Catholic Church

North Platte
I have so many things to be thankful for in November that its difficult to know where to begin.

Two major life-changing events happened to me this month. The first took place 23 years ago, when the former editor of the North Platte Telegraph offered me a job.

I had worked for him when I was 18 years old. After living and working in Canada and on the East Coast for many years, it was time to return home, where family and friends could lend a helping hand as my multiple sclerosis worsened.

First on my to-do list was call Keith Blackledge about a job at the paper. On Nov. 18, 1995, my byline appeared in the North Platte Telegraph. And the rest is history.

Writing Church News and Views has been such a blessing in my life that I still am overwhelmed and so thankful.

I never expected that my words would impact so many people. The letters, conversations and calls from my readers have been over the top.

The number of wonderful people I have been able to meet by writing about them surpassed my wildest dreams.

I was able to tell inspiring life stories to you, my readers, of God-loving, giving people and I got a front row seat. It doesnt get any better than that.

There were well-known people and there were ordinary people, and all of them had something worth sharing. I was honored to be the one to weave their words into my column.

It wasnt my idea to return home after living in major cities in Canada and the United States, but it was Gods idea. It didnt take long for me to realize what an important task he had given me. I have been thanking him ever since.

God placed another challenge in my life again in November. In 2010, I was transplanted again because of my MS.

After living in my home for 16 years on Buffalo Bill Avenue, the writing was on the wall to move into full-care facility. I was not ready for such a move and I would do so reluctantly.

Once more, it took me a while to come around to the fact  again, God knew what he was doing.

Seven years ago, on Nov. 17, I moved to Linden Court, and my life has gotten better and better. How many people can use nursing home and life is better and better in the same sentence? I can.

I can say that because God has my back. He knew that Linden Court would be the perfect place for me to continue writing my column and be surrounded by people who have become my family.

So, you see why November is my milestone month? These dates are on my perpetual calendar, but I dont ever need to be reminded how blessed I am.

I am blessed every day. Period.
The North Platte Habitat for Humanity presented the keys to its 50th house to its new resident on Friday.

Hillary Turner said she would be moving into the home at 820 S. Griffith Ave. that very day.

Turner is a North Platte transplant from England. When asked what brought her to Nebraska, she said she decided to move here after her daughter met and married a man from Brady. She came to visit them several times before making the decision to stay.

My family is here now, Turner said.

Habitat Executive Director Dalene Skates said work on this home began in May. It is the 50th house Habitat has built in North Platte. More than 112,000 volunteer hours have gone into building those 50 homes.

Turner said receiving a Habitat home is a unique experience.

People have pride in their home because theyve seen it grow from scratch, she said.

She also believes her home is a special one.

I think it will have good vibes, she said. The whole time while we were building it, there was always laughter. It was a big family group. A lot of love has gone into it.
Commission says it can only consider evidence presented during meetings

LINCOLN  Thursdays oil spill in South Dakota from the Keystone pipeline is not expected to influence Mondays decision by a Nebraska agency on a companion pipeline here.

The five members of the Nebraska Public Service Commission will vote Monday whether to approve or deny a route for the Keystone XL project across Nebraska.

Deb Collins, a commission spokeswoman, said Friday that the decision must be based solely on evidence presented to the PSC during public meetings held across the state and a four-day, formal public hearing in August.

That, she said, is according to the Major Oil Pipeline Siting Act, which was passed by the Nebraska Legislature in 2011.

Under the act, commissioners are precluded from considering pipeline safety or the possibility of leaks in their rulings. Federal law, lawmakers argued in 2011, pre-empts states from regulating pipeline safety.

Opponents of the pipeline, meanwhile, have maintained that the commission must consider the potential for spills and damage to natural resources as part of its responsibility in determining if the Keystone XL route is in the public interest of the state.

Also on Friday, a South Dakota official said there was roughly a five-hour lag between the discovery of the leak by Trans-

Canada and notification of state environmental officials.

Brian Walsh of the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources said the state will look into the notification gap.

A TransCanada official said Thursday that the gap of time was only one hour.

The company, which operates the 30-inch Keystone pipeline and would build the 36-inch Keystone XL, also reported Friday that 75 workers were making progress in cleaning up the South Dakota spill. Equipment on site, the company said, includes track hoes, earth movers, vacuum trucks and high-powered lighting to allow around-the-clock operations.

TransCanada has taken this incident very seriously and is working with federal and state regulatory agencies, spokesman Terry Cunha said.

He said company specialists say that the spill, located in a farming area, is being controlled and that there is no threat to public safety.
LaPORTE  A farm store chain with sites across the country has purchased the struggling Maple Lane Mall.

Rural King closed on the sale of the 221,000-square-foot center Oct. 27 for $4.1 million, according to public records on file with LaPorte County.

The listed seller of the mall, built in 1975, was a trust with the International Bank of Chicago. Mattoon, Illinois-based Rural King could not be reached for comment.

Steve Nicksic, a realtor with South Bend-based Bradley Co., hired by IBC trust to sell the property, said he believes Rural King will open a store in the spot once occupied by Kmart at the mall, which is located along Ind. 2 on the citys west side. Rural King has opened stores at old Kmart locations in Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia in recent years.

"Thats one of the reasons they were attracted here," Nicksic said.

Kmart shut its doors at the LaPorte mall in late March. Dunham Sports, Family Dollar and Advance Auto Parts, which occupies its own building on the mall property, still operate today.

Bert Cook, executive director of the Greater LaPorte Economic Development Corp., said its exciting to have new life breathed into the mall considering the potential for such large underutilized properties to become an eyesore.

"Its one of the larger parcels in the city," Cook said. "To see it at 100-percent capacity and being used at 100-percent I think would be a really good thing for us."

Nicksic said Kmart still has a year, possibly two, left on its lease, so breaking it would have to be agreed to before Rural King can occupy that space.

Founded in 1960, Rural King has more than 100 locations across Illinois, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Florida, according to the company website. Agriculture parts and equipment and livestock feed are among products its sells, along with other items including housewares, clothing and toys.
MICHIGAN CITY  South Shore Line riders and others interested in the progress of its trains will soon have a tool to monitor their progress in real time.

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District's Board of Trustees authorized the railroad Friday to enter into a contract with Florida-based ETA Transit to provide the platform for computer and mobile real-time monitoring.

The South Shore's trains will be tracked on a map, and the app will provide details on scheduled and expected arrival times.

The service would cost $58,500 per year, for up to five years.

South Shore officials expect it to be available to the public by the end of the year.

The ETA Transit purchase was one of several approved Friday.

The board also authorized the purchase of 38 crossing gate mechanisms to upgrade 19 rail crossings currently served only by flashing warning lights. The $168,074 purchase is part of a $1.3 million crossing safety project funded by the Indiana Department of Transportation.

The board also approved buying railroad ties for 2018 in the amount of $510,225. And, it approved the purchase of eight refurbished ballast cars at a price of $343,672.

The cars, which carry the ballast that supports railroad ties, will replace cars dating from the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Double Track and West Lake

The NICTD board authorized South Shore President Michael Noland to negotiate contracts with three property title firms for work that will be necessary to purchase properties for the Double Track and West Lake Corridor projects.

Meridian Title, Fidelity National Title and Community Title will be offered the opportunity to provide title and closing services. NICTD Attorney Charles Lukmann said the railroad will need services for 400 to 500 titles "on a much shorter time frame" than normal closings.

Property purchases could begin next year.

South Shore officials are also continuing negotiations with engineering firms to do the final engineering work for the Double Track project. A contract for that could be finalized by the end of the year.

South Bend realignment

The plan to move the railroad's South Bend station from the east to west side of the South Bend International Airport, and to reroute tracks through the area to shorten the route, remains on hold at the request of South Bend officials.

"The city asked us to pause while the city studies a number of different potential options," Noland said.

Those options include locating the station elsewhere, including downtown. South Bend has hired the engineering firm AECOM to study several alternatives. South Bend has pledged $25 million to the project, and is considering the best return it can get from the investment.

"The mayor and (city) council want to make sure they're getting the best bang for their buck," NICTD board member Mark Catanzarite, a St. Joseph county councilman, said.

The South Shore's goal is to reduce its South Bend-to-Chicago travel time to 90 minutes.

Retirements

South Shore leaders also marked the retirements of two long-time leaders. NICTD Police Chief Robert Byrd and Vice President for Planning and Marketing John Parsons are both retiring by the end of the year.

Byrd has been a full-time officer with NICTD for 28 years. Parsons has been with the railroad for 25 years.
Southlake County Reporter

Carmen is an award-winning journalist who has worked at The Times newspaper for 20 years. Before that she also had stints at The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., The Post-Tribune and The News Dispatch in Michigan City.
News

VIDEO: Chinese President admonishes Trudeau, Everything we discussed was leaked... This is not appropriate

This came in a video clip circulating from the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, where Xi Jinping said: Everything we talked about was leaked to the newspapers, which is not appropriate. That's not how negotiations work. If there is sincerity in dealing, we can talk with mutual respect, otherwise (waving his hands) it is difficult to say.
COLUMBUS, Ind.  School districts across Indiana are considering stocking up on a drug antidote amid the state's opioid epidemic.

While overdoses on public school property aren't common in the state, districts are still weighing having naloxone because of protections from a new law, The Indianapolis Star reported.

"You can potentially save a life," said Larry Perkins, student assistance coordinator for Bartholomew Consolidated Schools' property. "You can also save young people from that trauma of witnessing young people dying in front of them."

Bartholomew Schools employees have used naloxone twice. In the first instance, the person wasn't actually overdosing, but in the second, which occurred last fall, it saved a student's life.

Perkins said districts began discussing carrying naloxone two years ago amid the worsening opioid epidemic. Indiana emergency rooms average of more than 400 overdose visits per week, according to the state Department of Health. More than 600 residents died from opioid overdoses last year.

The epidemic has also led to law enforcement and emergency responders to carry injectable or nasal spray naloxone.

The antidote binds to opioid receptors in the brain, preventing the drugs from binding. It can temporarily reverse an overdose within minutes after being administered.

Under the law, which took effect in July, school districts are allowed to stock naloxone as an "emergency medication," the same category as albuterol for severe asthma and auto-injectable epinephrine for severe allergies.

The law requires additional training for school nurses and protects schools from some potential liabilities. Districts would have to report to the Department of Education when the drug is used on school property and would have to pay for the drug out of their own budgets.
HAMMOND  Local high school students took on a weighty topic Friday when they discussed immigration.

The discussion was part of the, "Rotary World Affairs Conference on Immigration: Social and Economic Impact," held at Purdue University Northwest. Some 300 students from 17 high schools from across Lake County participated in the conference.

The conference featured several PNW professors including Richard Rupp, an associate professor of political science and chief of staff to PNW Chancellor Thomas Keon, Rachel Clapp-Smith, associate professor of leadership in the College of Business and others.

President Donald Trump has made immigration a hot topic with tweets about a border wall and immigration overhaul legislation.

Rupp said professors want the students to appreciate that a public policy issue such as immigration is complicated and complex.

"It requires work and study," he said. "It requires the ability to think critically about an issue and be mindful that there are many facts at play, and they should not be ignored."

Rupp told students that most Americans don't base their opinion on facts but rather make decisions based on an ideological belief or because they are following some politician. He also told students that everyone in the United States comes from some place else, except native Americans.

Rupp explained to students that immigrants pay taxes and they contribute to the economy. However, he said because of some of the media coverage regarding immigrants, the number of international students enrolling in U.S. universities, including Purdue Northwest, declined this year.

"Our goal is that these students will see that all issues can, and ideally should be, tackled from a more sophisticated rigor. We think that if they approach it that way, they will become more informed and come to see that there are no simple answers. We'd like to think they will become more sensitive and a little kinder in trying to understand different perspectives," Rupp said during a break in the conference.

Rupp posed three questions to students: Why do individuals immigrate? Why is immigration so controversial? And, might you one day become an immigrant?

Clapp-Smith led students on a discussion of the perception of an immigrant versus that of an expatriate. One student said the term immigrant is used to refer to a person who is poor and uneducated while people use the term expatriate to refer to someone who is educated but simply living in another country. The student said Americans seem to have more respect for people who are expatriates.

Thea Bowman Leadership Academy senior Joseph Moore said some people in the United States unfairly fear immigrants.

"People come here to make a better living," he said. "They are trying to escape war and poverty in their own country and they want to get a job and make a better living. I believe it's controversial because some people think that immigrants are coming to harm us and take our jobs away, and that's not true. They are coming here to have a better life than the one they had in their own country."

Lake Central High School sophomore Morgran Lareau said she believes immigration is a good thing.

"It gives Americans an opportunity to experience different people and different cultures," she said. "These people have taken jobs in our country in the sciences and other areas and it's benefited the U.S."

Morton High School junior Delwyn Campbell said he is a transplant from California and several immigrants were his neighbors.

"Some of them were illegal but I believe it's pop culture and the news that doesn't view immigrants favorably. I believe that the way people think about immigrants is due to what they see in the news," he said.
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HOBART  Philanthropy provides scholarships that allow students enrolled at Indiana University Northwest to achieve their degrees and become leaders in the Region.

On Thursday evening, nearly 200 guests heard that message at the IU Northwest Chancellors Medallion Celebration at Avalon Manor.

Tonight, we are together to recognize and celebrate the importance of philanthropy in enhancing the vitality of our campus and the success of our students, said IUN Chancellor William J. Lowe.

Our students have many other roles and titles, including mom, stepdad, supervisor, or grandparent, Lowe said. They work hard, experience early mornings and late nights, and prioritize and re-prioritize, all because they know that, at the end of this academic journey, it will all be worth it.

In presenting the Chancellors Medallion, Lowe said the honorees, efforts and exemplary philanthropy have been instrumental in advancing IU Northwest, and, in particular, supporting our greatest asset, our students.

Those receiving this honor included John and Ann Barney, who met as undergraduates at Indiana University more than 50 years ago and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary earlier this year.

As chairman and CEO of Barney Enterprises, John Barney oversees the management of 11 Wendys restaurants, serves as a co-developer for student housing developments, an imaging center and co-operates a heating company. A Gary native, Ann Barney worked as an educator, and is an avid volunteer and philanthropist.

Educators William and Leslie Nelson have endowed three scholarships at IU Northwest in addition to making other financial contributions to the campus. A professor of finance at IUN for the past 35 years, Dr. Bill Nelson, believes that the education he received as an undergraduate was only made possible because of others generosity, Lowe said during his introduction of the couple.

The couple also established the William and Leslie Nelson Trading Floor, an interactive real-time trading floor within the IUN School of Business and Economics. Here students learn the workings of financial markets and trade stocks.

The third Medallion went to BP Corporation, represented by Tom Keilman, director of government and public affairs.

For more than 125 years, BPs Whiting Refinery has been an anchor for the Northwest Indiana economy, Lowe said, adding that last year, BP, made $3.9 million in charitable contributions in Indiana, with nearly $1.8 million made directly to Indiana University. IU Northwest is grateful for BPs enduring partnership, which primarily supports student scholarships.

IUN students continue to need the support of donors, said Jeri Pat Gabbert, vice chancellor for university advancement and external affairs.

Many are the first-in-their-family to attend college, she said. Many are employed, volunteer in their communities, and raise their families, all while working toward their college degree.
CROWN POINT  Laughter, tears and applause resounded Friday in the halls and courtrooms of the Lake County Juvenile Division as 38 children became part of forever families during the third annual Adoption Day.

This is the happiest day in our courtrooms, said Rehana Adat-Lopez, director of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate). One of the adoptions was private while the other children have been part of the Department of Child Services, she said.

Although the goal of the Department of Child Services is reunification with a childs original family, Lake County historically has had the most children adopted by relatives or foster parents, said Ellis Dumas, DCS Regional 1 manager.

We are working to get kids out of the system, he said.

Senior Judge Thomas Stefaniak joined Civil Court Judge Marissa McDermott, Magistrate Matthew Gruett and Magistrate Jeffrey Miller in presiding over the adoption proceedings.

Craft projects occupied many of the children while they and their adoptive families waited to be called to a courtroom.

Richard and Lea Jimenez, of Merrillville, greeted other adoptive parents, as well as case workers and therapists who have worked with them since sisters Alyssah and Serenity came to their home for emergency short-term placement.

It will be three years Dec. 1, Richard Jimenez recalled. They were 4 and 3. Now theyre 7 and 6 years old.

Lea Jimenez said the decision to become foster parents stemmed from her experiences as a second-grade teacher at Bailly Preparatory Academy in Gary.

I was seeing the need for children to have foster homes, she said.

There were some struggles, including a previous adoption proceeding being cancelled, Lea Jimenez said. Now I could not imagine my life without them.

Alyssah and Serenity shared hugs and kisses with their 8-year-old cousin Tessa Redden as they waited for their turn in Millers courtroom. All three were attired in identical outfits, from the flower headbands in their hair to the gold-colored high-top shoes on their feet.

The three consider themselves sisters, Lea Jimenez said.

Other family members joined in the celebration including Jackie Mayes, the sisters aunt and Serenitys godmother, and Leas sister-in-law Pat Deppe, who traveled from Georgia to be part of the special event.

Those who work with foster families also feel the heart-tugs when adoption creates forever homes for children. Arriving for the ceremony, caseworker Tinika Hubbard wiped tears from her eyes as she hugged the entire family.

They are my babies, and I just knew I was going to cry, Hubbard said.

Inside his courtroom, Miller asked a series of questions of the couple and attorneys. At 9:05 a.m., the magistrate declared, Youre now the proud parents of two beautiful girls.

And what would a celebration be without presents? All three girls received McDonalds gift cards and large striped gift bags chock full of goodies.

Im like Santa Claus, babies, Miller chuckled as he continued distributing presents.
PORTAGE  Metropolitan Community Church Illiana in Portage will be hosting a Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil at 7 p.m. Monday to recognize the 325 transgender people murdered this year around the world.

This annual international service offers communities a safe space to honor the transgender persons who were murdered. During the event, several transgender and gender-queer people will speak to their experiences of discrimination in Northwest Indiana and the names of the 325 transgender people murdered will be spoken.

So far this year, 25 transgender people have been murdered in the United States.

Among the names remembered this year we be 17-year-old Ally Steinfeld who was stabbed, mutilated and burned in Missouri and Tiara Richmond who was fatally shot in Chicago on the same street where two other transgender women were killed in 2012, according to a press release from Rev. Michael Cooper.

Transgender Day of Remembrance memorializes those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder in Boston, Massachusetts, kicked off the "Remembering Our Dead" web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999.

"While each year the list of names of those murdered grows longer," said Cooper, "We come together in solidarity with those who still face hate each moment of their lives at work, in our schools and in the places we congregate as community. We shine a light onto the violence, in the hope that we can change that hate into love."

MCC Illiana is a Christian Church in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities of NWI. The church is located at 5579 Clem Road and the event is free and open to the public. More information can be found at mccilliana.org.
The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP), Edward Ochom has said he's not competent enough to comment on the notorious activities of Abdallah Kitatta, the head of Boda Boda 2010.

According to Ochom who is the head of Directorate of Research, Planning & Development in police, he is less qualified to comment on the allegations leveled against Kitatta. Members of Boda Boda 2010 were recently seen attacking pupils on a school bus on their way to perform during the Police Week celebrations for allegedly wearing red bands, which are associated with those opposed to the proposed removal of presidential age limits.



The same group has also been seen in the past working alongside police to suppress opposition protests. While attending the Public Interest Law Clinic (PILAC) at St. Francis Students Centre at Makerere University on Friday, Ochom was tasked to explain the circumstances under which, Kitatta works with police to commit crime and always walk scot-free.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Edward Ochom says he not competent to comment on Boda Boda 2010

The participants also tasked Ochom to explain where Kitatta derives powers to order around police officers and the emerging criminal gangs collaborating with police; "I think on that issue I can say I am not competent enough to answer," said Ochom.



The response from the deputy IGP triggered more questions among the participants with some questioning whether they can still trust the police force. Elly Tumuheki, a student at Makerere University expressed concern about the competence of police to handle security affairs affecting citizens if they cannot account for individuals who work with them.



Tumuheki wondered who would help the ordinary Ugandan citizen if the whole deputy IGP could confidently tell the public that he was not competent to speak about Kitatta who has been accused for long of terrorising citizens.



"Ladies and gentlemen, Im worried if the AIGP is not competent to talk about Kitatta or anything else in this country because am wondering if I have an issue and any of the people below him can assist me. Perhaps I beg the police officers who are here, to tell us if there is anything we can do, now come to us and help us citizens. From the statement that Afande Ochom is saying that hes not competent to talk about this man who is actually terrorising everybody, citizens have the power. Do not harass us, come to us, talk to us, we [sort] Kitatta out", Tumuheki said.



Emmanuel Atibuni from the Centre for Constitutional Governance wondered why police continues to parade suspected criminals in the media in violation of their constitutional right of presumption of innocence until proven guilty.

"Im worried if the AIGP, most of the things are beyond his control where do our lives lie as civilians where the police is supposed to look after us. And again, Uganda Police Force being the fourth worst in the world, I think is not by mistake, is not by coincidence.

They have poor investigations in the police force which has led to police to resort to use of torture in order to get information. The police force in Uganda has gone ahead to parade suspects as criminals which is a breach of provision of presumption of innocence before the trial", Atibuni said.

Ochom later clarified that Kitatta isn't above the law.

"The question that I was not confident to talk about Kitatta [is because] I dont have facts and therefore I cannot commit myself. But all I know is that if Kitatta commits an offence like any other person, he can be arrested. You know this. Ministers have been arrested and taken to prison, MPs have ever been arrested and taken to prison. So Kitatta is no exception. If he commits an offence, I only encourage people whom he has committed offence against to report. Let it be on record", Ochom said.



Police spokesman, Emilian Kayima denied claims that police works with criminals arguing that Ugandans who comment with such thoughts need to be honest.



"We don't work with thugs. When you equate us with Kifesi [thugs], I think you are being dishonest," Kayima said.
Nebraska and Iowa are among the dozen states that would be hardest hit if the United States were to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement as President Donald Trump has threatened, a new U.S. Chamber of Commerce analysis says.

Nebraska and Iowa send more than 40 percent of their exports to customers in Canada and Mexico, accounting for $2.6 billion in revenue in Nebraska and $5.6 billion in Iowa. And many jobs are tied to NAFTA exports: 90,000 in Nebraska and 138,000 in Iowa, the chamber said.

Withdrawal from the free trade deal would cause Mexican tariffs on U.S. exports to spike, depressing sales, the chamber said. Tariffs would rise from zero to 10 percent on pork, 25 percent on beef, 75 percent on chicken and 75 percent on high fructose corn syrup.

The chamber has been an outspoken critic of withdrawing from the agreement, and pointed out that most of the states on its list voted to elect Trump.

Trump has said the deal is a bad one that siphons jobs from the U.S. under unfair terms with its North American trading partners.

The other states the chamber says would be hit hard: Michigan, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Texas, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Arizona, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
U.S. oil production reached an all-time record last week, with drillers pumping more than 9.6 million barrels per day. Domestic oil drilling has boomed during the past decade as new technologies have allowed for a sharp increase in production at lower cost. Oil fields once deemed too expensive to tap are now gushing oil, creating economic growth in a variety of states, including North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

This increase in production has outpaced domestic demand, and the United States is now exporting a record volume of crude oil  more than 2 million barrels per day.

Despite the increase in American production, global prices have been rising due to concerns about Middle Eastern stability and an agreement by OPEC to cut output. While this is good news for U.S. oil drillers, consumers are being squeezed by higher fuel prices, making the drive or flight to grandmothers house for Thanksgiving more expensive this year.

Sugar market extra sweet

Sugar rushed toward a six-month high on Friday, topping 15.4 cents per pound.

The market has sweetened as investors buy sugar on fears of a supply shortfall in Brazil, the worlds largest producer. Poor weather has slowed the sugarcane harvest in the South American country, and Brazil is increasingly using its sugar to produce ethanol fuel instead of food, reducing supplies available for export.

U.S. corn farmers may feel a pinch from the increased fuel production, as Brazil is the biggest buyer of U.S. corn-based ethanol. If Brazil can better meet its own needs, there will be less demand for U.S. ethanol and corn.

Although prices have climbed almost 20 percent in the past five months, sugar is still exceptionally cheap compared with its recent high of over 35 cents per pound reached in 2011, a realization that should bring cheer to bakers everywhere.

Walt and Alex Breitinger are commodity futures brokers in Silver Lake, Kansas. They can be reached at 800-411-3888 or www.paragoninvestments.com.
Uruguays winemakers target UK 'global shop window'

By Andrew Catchpole

As an Atlantic-cooled nation of just 3.4 million people, Uruguay and its winemakers are keenly aware of the need to differentiate its wine offer from that of the country's major South American rivals, viewing the UK as an unrivalled platform to achieve that aim.

Precisely how to achieve that goal, though, is a matter of debate, as Harpers discovered on a recent trip to the country. However, what most producers do agree is that Uruguay needs to collectively push a premium message, rooted in European-leaning styles and quality-focused, smaller scale wines  and broaden the message beyond Tannat.

With 7,000 ha under vine (a third of which is planted to flagship grape Tannat), the countrys production lags far behind the voluminous output of Argentina and Chile, comprising mainly of 20ha to 30ha family-run wineries, with Brazil and USA the leading export markets, along with a small but growing presence in European markets including the UK.

We need to differentiate between us and Argentina and Chile, said Santiago Deicus of Establecimiento Juanico, one of the leading producers in terms of fine wine volumes.

What works for us is to make the link between New and Old world, he continued, while adding that Uruguay should start with our flagship [Tannat], but let the export markets know about the diversity beyond that, focusing on the patchwork of differing terroirs and varieties that make up a majority of its production.



Export drive

The will for Uruguay to export has been accelerated by a severe decline in domestic consumption, falling from 50Lto 22L per head per annum in the past few decades.

However, during the same period - partially in response to greater exposure to feedback from export markets, along with a generation of winemakers that are better qualified and better travelled  there has been both a trend towards more restrained styles reflective of the Atlantic-influenced climate and also a host of varieties being championed beyond Tannat.

Overseas and domestic-backed investments in vineyards and wineries, ranging from well-established Narbona in Colonia and the more recent Vina Eden near the upmarket resort of Punta del Este, plus the billionaire-backed Bodega Garzon in Maldonado, have helped put new regions on the map and given a welcome boost to export muscle. (Argentine, Chilean and Brazilian investors are making their mark.)

Exports are up, but bulk wine forms a significant portion of that increase, which is something that Uruguays producers are now at pains to overturn, believing that this is an unsustainable area for a country comprised of typically small-scale producers.

Meanwhile, the growing roster of (again, often small production) alternative varieties to Tannat are seen as part of spearheading awareness of Uruguays diversity and quality focus. Varieties as diverse as Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Nero dAvola, Sangiovese, Marsanne, Petit Manseng, Riesling, and many others beside are all producing some very confident  and restrained  styles of wine.

England is awakening to Uruguay right now, said Fabiana Bracco, export manager at Narbona, whose wines are brought in through Hispamerchants in the UK and gaining listings at high-end on-trade outlets such as Caprice Holdings.

Asked whether the countrys exports to the UK and elsewhere had reached a tipping point in terms of recognition, Bracco added: I am worried that Uruguay is not reacting fast enough to [its gains], we need to focus on the top wines and winemakers  after the US, the UK should be a our top market, we need to focus more on our quality and be stronger in that aim.

The arrival of Bodega Garzon may well prove a game changer for Uruguay. Having raised a few eyebrows in the industry as the project took shape, the majority of producers now accept that such a well-financed estate, dedicated to quality production, and with good distribution channels into major export markets around the world, is a serious plus for building the image of Uruguayan wines.

Cristobal Urzua, marketing manager at Garzon, confirmed that exports from the winery had been growing fast in USA, Brazil and Europe, with healthy uptake in the UK on-trade in the year since its official launch in 2016.

Martin Lopez, who represents Uruguayan wines on behalf of government body INAVI, added: The UK remains a very important market for any country that wants to have its wines taken seriously in other markets around the world, especially in Asian countries, and we are committed to showing the diversity of Uruguay through the on-trade and independent merchants, where the styles and qualities of the wines can be best explained.

A fuller report on Uruguays wines and industry will appear in Harpers in the new year.
A 51-year-old Bellevue woman may have lain dead in her home for a week before family members found her Thursday afternoon.

Beverly Diane Bauermeisters boyfriend has been jailed in connection with her death at a Bellevue mobile home park.

Thursday night, police located Alan Stack, 56, and arrested him on suspicion of second-degree murder in the death of Bauermeister, 51. Her body showed signs of significant trauma, police said. Stack was being held at the Sarpy County Jail.

Stack, who lived at the residence with Bauermeister, was taken into custody after he was found in Bauermeisters vehicle. He was not inside the mobile home when Bauermeisters body was found, authorities said.

Officers were dispatched about 5:15 p.m. Thursday to the Washington Terrace mobile home park to check on the well-being of Bauermeister, who went by her middle name. Family members were at her residence and had found Bauermeisters body, police said.

Katarina Bauermeister, the slain womans niece, said relatives had gone to check on her after not hearing from her for days.

When no one heard from her for about a week, Katarina said, My dad and my cousin, Dianes daughter, went to her house. She was deceased on the living room floor.

Personnel from the Omaha police crime lab assisted Bellevue authorities in collecting evidence at the scene.

The mobile home park is at 3101 Washington St., just east of Offutt Air Force Base.

In 2010 Bauermeister applied for a protection order against Stack. She wrote that on Nov. 14 of that year, Stack entered her bedroom ranting and yelling at her. She said he then sucker-punched her in the back of her head and hit her in the stomach, arms and legs. She said officers took photos of bruises and told her to take more in the following days because more bruising would become visible.

A wheelchair ramp leads to the front door of Bauermeisters home. A neighbor, Donna Livingston, 71, said its likely for Bauermeisters 90-year-old mother, who has health problems and whom Bauermeister cared for.

Katarina Bauermeister said the family understands that the 90-year-old was home when Bauermeister was killed and then lay in bed for days afterward. The woman, Katarinas grandmother, was taken to a hospital, she said, and should be fine.

Stack and Bauermeister were recovering alcoholics, Livingston said, and Bauermeister had been sober since July.

She was doing really well, Livingston said.

She said Stack recently had spent time in a detox facility. His continued alcohol abuse may have led to problems between the two, Livingston said.

They argued a lot, she said. She told me that she wanted to get rid of him. She was tired of supporting him.

Livingston said Stack wasnt overly friendly.

Whenever I went into her home, Livingston said, Al would just stay in the bedroom.

Katarina Bauermeister said he always seemed to be an angry man.

She described her aunt as an energetic woman who made everybody in the family laugh.

I want everyone to know how selfless and amazing my aunt was, she said. Shes not just another homicide victim. Shes an aunt, a sister, a mother and a grandmother.
The skeletal remains of 10 Ponca Tribe members and about 300 funerary objects will be repatriated to the tribe Wednesday.

Many of the objects are glass beads that date to the 1700s and 1800s, as do the remains, the Nebraska State Historical Society said Friday. They were discovered during construction projects in Butler, Knox and Platte Counties.

Members of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska will prepare the remains for transfer and reburial in their homeland along the lower Niobrara River.

The transfer is being conducted by the Nebraska State Historical Societys archaeology office and the tribe.
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A Clackamas County judge on Friday sentenced a retired Portland Public Schools teacher to six months in jail and 60 months probation after he was found guilty of sexually touching six Oregon City middle school students on one day while substituting as their gym teacher in 2015.

"I know this is a very difficult day for everyone involved in this case," Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Jones said before announcing the sentence of Norman Scott, 66, of Oregon City.

After the judge announced his decision, Scott, dressed in a navy-blue suit, white shirt and dark-patterned tie, stood and placed his hands behind his back. A sheriff's deputy put handcuffs on Scott's wrists. Moments later, the deputy led Scott through a side courtroom door, one of the first steps toward the county jail where he would be processed and begin serving his sentence.

Jones rejected a defense motion that Scott, the father of four grown children, be allowed to begin serving his sentence after Thanksgiving, saying that if he did so, "I would be treating him differently than other people."

Jones on Oct. 20 found Scott guilty of third-degree sexual abuse and harassment at the end of a two-week trial. Jones heard testimony from girls who described how Scott touched their breasts, thighs, bottoms and other parts of their bodies while they were in seventh grade at Gardiner Middle School. Most were 12 at the time.

Scott waived his right to a jury trial and chose not to testify in his own defense. He was indicted in June 2016, arrested the next month and posted $100,000 bail the same day. Scott, who had no previous criminal record, has been out of jail custody since then.

Scott taught for 36 years as a health and physical education teacher with Portland Public Schools. He taught at Sellwood Middle School and later at Grant High School before retiring in June 2012.

The sentence also requires Scott to register as a sex offender, undergo and complete sex offender treatment and have no contact with people under the age of 18. It prevents him from contacting the victims. He must surrender his Oregon teaching license and is prohibited from visiting "any school property," the judge said.

"We're dealing with a breach of trust by a school teacher," Jones said before announcing his sentence. "We're dealing with a breach of trust involving seventh graders ... at school, where students should expect to be safe from sexual abuse."

Jones then recounted the testimony he heard, noting that "the defendant's behavior escalated as the day progressed."

Just before announcing the sentence, Jones said he hoped the terms would "act as a deterrent to others, so that a message is sent to other individuals who may be so inclined to engage in this kind of conduct and abuse." He then paused and added, "Criminal conduct."

On Thursday, Scott's attorneys told the judge Scott and his wife were the primary at-home caregivers for Scott's 93-year-old father, who has Alzheimer's disease. In his sentencing, Jones said up to a one-day release from jail could be granted to deal with end-of-life issues for Scott's father if that need arose during the jail sentence.

About 40 people were in the audience, most of them Scott's friends and family. There was no audible reaction to the judge's sentence.

At Scott's trial, defense attorney Jacob Houze said Scott was falsely accused, noting inconsistencies and contradictions in the students' statements. Houze also said Oregon City police didn't conduct a thorough investigation.

Jones delivered the sentence a day later than expected. On Thursday, he heard 31/2 hours of arguments about the sentence from Scott's Portland attorneys, Stephen Houze and Jacob Houze, and from Senior Deputy District Attorney Scott Healy.

Healy recommended a year in the county jail and 60 months' probation, noting that prosecutors pursued lesser charges against Scott rather than a felony changes. Had he been convicted of a felony, Scott could have been sentenced, under Measure 11 guidelines, up to 75 years in prison, Healy said.

Houze urged no jail term and instead recommended three years of probation and 500 hours of community service. If the judge deemed a more severe punishment was warranted, Houze said, then it should be home detention.

Regardless of sentence, Houze told the judge Thursday the guilty verdict would be appealed, saying there was not enough evidence for a conviction.

--Allan Brettman

503-294-5900

@allanbrettman
The Democrats lined up to challenge U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte are mutually panning the House Republican tax reform bill passed on party lines this week.

The six candidates vying to challenge Gianforte in November told The Gazette the tax reform package does little for the middle class and that cuts to Medicare and Medicaid will have to be made to pay for the legislation.

I certainly wouldnt have added $1.5 trillion to the national debt, said Kathleen Williams, one of two Democratic challengers from Bozeman, Gianfortes adopted hometown. There are tax issues we need to take care of. When I was vice chair of the state House tax Committee we always looked for solutions that were revenue neutral.

Several of the Democratic House candidates zeroed in on a Congressional Budget Office report that $25 billion in Medicare cuts would be required next year to pay for the tax breaks. The spending cut stems from a 2010 pay-go law requiring Congress to cut government at the same level that revenue is trimmed. The Medicare cuts are part of the equation. All told, $136 billion in government spending would have to be cut in 2018 to accommodate the tax reduction, the CBO concluded.

The pay-go rule could be waived if congressional Democrats played along.

The CBO also found that people making $10,000 to $30,000 a year would see tax increases beginning in 2021. Tax increases would follow in 2023 for people making less than $10,000 a year.

People in other income brackets would see decreases, though a Senate version would increase taxes on people making less than $75,000 starting in 2027.

Corporations under the Senate bill would see a permanent rate decrease to 20 percent, down from 35.

A dozen House Republicans voted against the bill because it proposed eliminating deductions for state income taxes, an issue for Montanans, also.

By Friday, many House Republicans were back at home for a week-long Thanksgiving break, telling constituents that the economic benefits of the cutting federal revenue by $1.5 trillion were worth the risk.

This tax reform is the best way to help hardworking folks keep more of the money they earn, Gianforte told listeners of the statewide Voices of Montana radio program Friday morning. The average family would see a $1,200 reduction in their taxes, Gianforte said.

House Speaker Paul Ryan delivered the same message to reporters after the Thursday's vote.

Earlier, Gianforte told The Gazette that the tax cuts would spur economic growth as consumers bought more items and businesses invested their savings in growth.

Missoula Democrat Grant Kier wasnt sold on corporations reinvesting their tax savings on new jobs. Corporate profits are already high, Kier said. Job growth hasnt followed suit.

Weve seen record profits for corporations, record stock markets. We should be seeing those benefits, Kier said. What I would focus on is a tax plan that grows the middle class and helps our people access the middle class.

The goal should be to make taxes so simple the most people need only to fill out a postcard-sized form.

This is the same line of crap theyve been selling us. This is why I just got out of a special session of the state Legislature, said Tom Woods, of Bozeman.

The Montana Legislature met last week to deal with a $227 million shortfall in state revenue. Woods and other Democrats blamed the tight revenue on income tax cuts dating back more than a decade. Those tax cuts were supposed to lead to economic growth and more spending, Woods said, similar to the promise now being made by congressional Republicans.

You cut taxes for the corporations and what are they going to do? They dont make jobs with the money, Woods said. They give it to their CEOs and their shareholders.

Candidate Jared Pettinato, of Whitefish, said there is a need for tax reform that benefits the middle class, and he is opposed to giving tax breaks to corporations and rich people. But even tax breaks for the middle class need to be reconsidered at some point and shouldnt be on the books forever, he said.

There are some tax loopholes we can always close, and there are some exceptions we can always look to sunset, Pettinato said.

Candidate Lynda Moss, a former state legislator from Billings, said the tax package passed by the House benefited millionaires the most. For that reason, Gianforte shouldnt have voted, Moss said.

Im very disappointed that our congressman didnt recuse himself from the vote, Moss said. He will benefit as the wealthiest person in Congress. I believe it is important to support working Montanans. To me theyre at the top of the list for tax reform.

Attorney John Heenan was in Washington, D.C., on Thursday as House Republicans passed their tax bill on party lines. The candidate said the $1.5 trillion in tax cuts should have focused on households earning less than $100,000 a year. Much of the money cut, should have been spent on programs to help people.

The House bill ends student loan interest deductions and medical expense deductions, hurting people Heenan said Congress should be helping.

We could do some amazing things with $1.5 trillion. We could bolster or infrastructure, which could put people to work, which President Trump supported when he was running for office, Heenan said. We could beef up our public education system and stop increasing the burden on our youth. We could use the money to expand Medicare  so many things we could do.
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BOZEMAN  Greg Gianforte misled investigators into his assault on a reporter by blaming his victim and claiming the incident was the fault of the liberal media, according to documents from the investigation.

Hes trying to create a story right now, Gianforte told a deputy of his victim, Ben Jacobs of the Guardian.

Audio of Gianfortes interview with a Gallatin County Sheriffs Office sergeant was released along with a slew of other documents requested by the Chronicle after Gianforte was cited for assaulting Jacobs on May 24.

The Chronicle requested the documents in June. After Gianforte, Jacobs and Gallatin County Attorney Marty Lambert did not object to the release, Gallatin County District Court Judge Holly Brown ruled this week that the documents could be released. The Chronicle received its copies Friday afternoon.

The audio of the interview with Gianforte comes from a recording made by Sgt. Scott Secor outside of Gianfortes Discovery Drive headquarters shortly after the 5:07 p.m. call Jacobs made to 911, a minute after he posted on Twitter, Greg Gianforte just body slammed me and broke my glasses.

Once at the scene, Secor initially spoke with Jacobs. This is the weirdest day, Jacobs told Secor. Jacobs then briefly relayed what happened.

Jacobs, who was in town from Washington, D.C., covering Montanas special election for the Guardian, said he approached Gianforte to ask the candidate a question about health care. Gianforte told Jacobs to talk to his communications person, Jacobs said, before Gianforte body slammed him and broke his glasses.

What do you mean body slammed you? Secor asked.

He picked me up, Jacobs said, pausing.

And he slammed you on the ground? Secor asked.

Yeah, Jacobs replied.

Jacobs then went on to play audio that he had recorded of the incident.

My elbows hurting like the dickens, Jacobs said. This is not normal.

Jacobs went on to get medical attention and was interviewed again after being discharged from Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital later that evening.

Secor was then approached by Jason Thielman, Republican Sen. Steve Daines chief of staff, who asked the deputy if he would like to speak to Gianforte.

Secor then spoke with Gianforte, who was sitting in the passenger seat of a Jeep in the parking lot in front of his campaign headquarters.

So tell me what happened, Secor said.

In the approximately four-minute conversation, Gianforte, however, said that it was Jacobs who grabbed his wrist after he tried snagging Jacobs recorder.

Gianforte told the sergeant that he was preparing for an interview with a crew from Fox News when this man broke into a private room in the back and stuck a microphone in my face and started asking me obnoxious questions.

Gianforte said he tried to explain to him that he was in the middle of an interview, but that Jacobs kept waving the microphone in his face.

I said, We really need to answer these questions, Gianforte said. He persisted.

After Jacobs stuck the microphone in my face again, Gianforte said thats when the struggle ensued.

I probably shouldnt do it, but I reached down for his phone, Gianforte said. He grabbed my wrist. ... He spun and we ended up on the floor. So he pulled me down on top of him, Gianforte said.

When asked who was in the room when the incident occurred, Gianforte said it was himself, the crew from Fox News, and the obnoxious journalist from the Guardian.

We work with the press as much as we can, Gianforte said. Honestly, the liberal media, theyre trying to make a story.

In addition to Jacobs and Gianforte, a team of investigators from the Gallatin County Sheriffs Office interviewed eight other witnesses. Multiple witnesses said that Gianforte was the aggressor and reported seeing him punch Jacobs.

Alicia Acuna, a reporter with Fox News, told a detective that she saw Gianforte slam Jacobs to the ground, jump on top of him and start punching him. Keith Railey, also with Fox News, said that Gianforte grabbed (Jacobs) by the neck and body slammed him down to the ground before throwing two punches.

Ive never seen anything in my years of covering politics, Faith Mangan of Fox News said. That blew my mind.

Two of Gianfortes employees told investigators that tensions had been brewing between Gianforte and reporters from the Guardian in the weeks leading up to the assault.

Joshua Elle, who had been Gianfortes driver for about three weeks at the time, said Gianforte had felt that the Guardians reporting wasnt accurate.

Theyd write stuff about like Russian investments and all this weird stuff that is just a total exaggeration, Elle told detectives.

Kerri Lin Seekins-Crowe, of Billings, who was Gianfortes scheduler, said the campaign had been having multiple problems with the Guardian due to duplicitous and very aggressive behavior. She said they generally would ask reporters to wait their turn and that they hadnt been honest in some of the things they had done.

Seekins-Crowe also said they have been aggressive in coming in and asking questions and demanding answers, a report read.

Medical records from Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital said that Jacobs left elbow was injured and bruised, but not fractured or dislocated. He was given a sling and an ice pack. Photos also showed a bruise on his cheek and a cut on his forehead.

In reports, Secor said he contacted the sheriffs office patrol commander, Capt. Jake Wagner, to say he believed there was probable cause to charge Gianforte with assault.

However, due to the number of statements and the significant public interest the case would garner, they asked for help from the detective division, which did follow-up interviews with the Fox News crew and Jacobs. Gianforte denied a request for another interview. Eight sheriffs office deputies and detectives assisted in the investigation.

After all the interviews, Gianforte was cited for misdemeanor assault, and his citation was issued to his attorney, a report said.

Shane Scanlon issued a statement shortly after the assault, outlining the same story Gianforte had told investigators, saying Jacobs had acted aggressively and was asking badgering questions.

Greg then attempted to grab the phone that was pushed in his face. Jacobs grabbed Gregs wrist, and spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground. Its unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ, Scanlon wrote in the statement.

The next day, after beating Democrat Rob Quist in the special election for Montanas open U.S. House seat, Gianforte apologized to Jacobs during his victory speech.

The next month, Gianforte pleaded guilty to the charge and received a six-month deferred sentence. He was also ordered to perform 40 hours of community service, complete 20 hours of anger management and pay a $385 fine.

Gianforte spokesman Travis Hall insisted the documents contained "nothing new."

"No one was misled, and anyone who says otherwise is mistaken. Greg took responsibility for his actions and is focused on serving the people of Montana," Hall said in an emailed statement.

Gallatin County Attorney Marty Lambert said he was aware of Gianforte's comments to investigators but did not consider additional charges such as obstruction of justice because authorities were focused on the assault allegation.

"When the police are investigating a case, suspects of crimes will say misleading things, and apparently that's exactly what happened here on the part of both Mr. Gianforte and his campaign," Lambert said.

"It is not a crime per se to lie to the cops," added Lambert, a Republican. "The main thing here is he was charged with assaulting Ben Jacobs and pled guilty to that."

The assault happened too late in the campaign to affect the outcome of the election to replace Ryan Zinke, who resigned to become President Donald Trump's Interior Department secretary.

Gianforte is up for re-election next year and has filed to run. Six Democrats have lined up to challenge him.

The congressman unsuccessfully fought a judge's order for him to be booked by law enforcement and photographed like other defendants. In October, Gallatin County District Judge Holly Brown ordered the release of Gianforte's mug shot, which is sure to be used as fodder by Democrats in the run-up to the election.
DECATUR  State officials on Friday said they couldnt immediately explain why a Decatur man convicted in a Sept. 4 fatal crash still had his drivers license when he was involved in a second deadly wreck two months later. Three people died in the incidents.

The license of Andrew J. Johnson, 29, would be revoked, Illinois secretary of state's office spokesman Henry Haupt said in a statement Friday. The Pantagraph and Decatur's Herald & Review first reported Thursday afternoon about Johnson's involvement in the two U.S. 51 crashes that killed three people.

"(Friday), we obtained the IDOT crash report and will now revoke the driver's license, including his privilege to drive any commercial motor vehicle," Haupt said. "Secretary (Jesse) White is outraged at the reckless behavior by Mr. Johnson that took the lives of three people."

Greg Fombelle, Johnson's attorney, declined to comment, citing pending criminal charges.

In both crashes, police said, Johnson, who was not injured in either, was attempting to cross U.S. 51 when he collided with the other vehicles.

Police say he was driving a grain-hauling semitrailer truck that collided with the vehicle of Tony and Karen Hable, both 57, of Clinton on Nov. 11 in DeWitt County.

Johnson was driving a pickup truck in the Sept. 4 crash in Macon that killed 80-year-old Phil Jacobs of Pana, who died from his injuries eight days later. Johnson was convicted Sept. 28 of failure to yield at an intersection in that case.

According to the Illinois Rules of the Road, the secretary of state will "immediately revoke the driving privileges of anyone who is convicted of a moving violation that caused a crash and resulted in the death of another person."

Haupt said that to revoke a license, the office must receive a report from the Illinois Department of Transportation that indicates the crash led to a fatality, which he said did not happen in Johnson's case until Friday.

"We needed the crash report, because otherwise (we) would just have the failure-to-yield conviction," Haupt said. "We can't act on that alone. People can receive a ticket in those situations, but it doesn't necessarily lead to a license being suspended."

In the crash near Macon, Johnson stopped on West Andrews Street Road and then tried to continue west through the intersection when his pickup collided with the southbound vehicle of Phil Jacobs and his wife, Norma Jean Jacobs. She was taken to Memorial Medical Center in Springfield and treated for several broken bones.

In the DeWitt County crash, Johnson was driving a semi that crossed northbound traffic and headed south on the highway, DeWitt County Coroner Randy Rice has said. The car carrying the Hables was traveling north and struck the truck's trailer.

It's unclear why the secretary of state's office did not receive the report for the Sept. 4 crash until Friday, more than a month after Johnson was convicted in Macon County Circuit Court. Haupt could not say how long the process usually takes.

IDOT spokeswoman Kelsea Gorski said the department could not immediately comment on the issue Friday afternoon.

Macon County Sheriff's Lt. Jon Butts said deputies are required to submit crash reports to IDOT after they are completed. Some are submitted electronically from squad cars, he said, while others are handwritten if the vehicle doesn't have the technology installed.

Butts said the report for the Sept. 4 fatal crash was approved by a commanding officer on Sept. 10 and submitted electronically to IDOT the next day.

Sometimes, Butts said, the sheriff's office's process of submitting crash reports to IDOT is delayed due to a need for further investigation. In the case of the crash that killed Jacobs, the sheriff's office needed to submit a followup report to IDOT noting that Jacobs died Sept. 12.

He could not immediately say on Friday when the follow-up was submitted.

Johnson's driving privileges will be revoked for an indefinite time, but he will be able to reapply for a license after a minimum of one year, according to Brenda Glahn, legal adviser for the secretary of state's office.

In cases similar to Johnson's, Glahn said people can appeal to the office for a shorter revocation period by proving extenuating circumstances, such as inclement weather or impaired visibility, led to the crashes.

"If (the secretary of state) says the appeal is good, then the person will pay a reinstatement fee, file for SR-22 insurance and go through the driver's testing process again," Glahn said.

Driving records and accident reports will be reviewed in the appeal process, she said.
FLANAGAN  Betsy Westergreen was inspired to be a teacher from a young age.

I grew up with both my parents in the education field. I noticed the excitement in the students eyes when they saw (my parents) in a restaurant or a store. I immediately became aware of the positive rapport they had with students, said Westergreen, a business and computer teacher at Flanagan-Cornell High School.

Westergreen was named Secondary Teacher of the Year by the Illinois Business Education Association at a conference last week in Springfield.

More than 100 business education professionals from high schools and colleges from across the state attended.

Its the most humbling moment I ever experienced in my career, said Westergreen, a teacher for nine years. Its not about the title and the spotlight that is important, though. I just (want to) use the platform Ive been given from this recognition to inspire other teachers around the state by sharing my teaching experiences and knowledge with them.

At the high school, she teaches introduction to computers, computer applications, advanced computers, digital media, introduction to business and accounting.

She said most of her class activities are student-driven.

I try to avoid spoon-feeding the curriculum to them because I want my students to practice their research, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills while learning new concepts, said Westergreen.

In addition to her parents, Westergreen credited administrators at Flanagan-Cornell Unit 74 for her teaching abilities.

I believe our administration does a great job supporting teachers desires to attend various professional development workshops and conferences. For me, that makes a big difference when trying to stay up-to-date in the classroom, she said.

Principal Brian Yoder said the district encourages teachers to better themselves through workshops.

Betsy does a good job of going to those things and implementing them in the classroom. We support our teachers in continuing their education to make them better in their fields and, in turn, benefit students, said Yoder.

One of her best qualities is her ability to relate to all students, he added. She gets respect from all of her kids and builds relationships with them. Shes a great reflection of our school and were glad to have her on staff.

Westergreen also is an adjunct professor at Heartland Community College. She is an Illinois State University graduate and lives in Pontiac.
ST. LOUIS, Mo.  Sister Antona Ebo, a Bloomington, Ill., native who fought for civil rights in Selma, Ala., was one of the first African-American women to join what was then the Sisters of St. Mary, now the Franciscan Sisters of Mary.

Sister Ebo died Nov. 11, 2017, at the Sarah Community, a retirement home in Bridgeton. She was 93.

Sister Ebo, a civil rights leader and hospital administrator during her life as a Franciscan nun, was recently honored at the Missouri History Museum for her civil rights activism.

She and more than 50 St. Louisans flew to Selma three days after the infamous Bloody Sunday when civil rights marchers were attacked on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Sister Ebo also led a prayer vigil for peace in Ferguson in 2015.

According to an article in the Archdiocese publication St. Louis Review, Elizabeth Louise Ebo was born April 10, 1924, in Bloomington, one of three children born to Daniel and Louise Teal Ebo. She was known as Betty when she was younger.

When she was 4, her mother died suddenly at age 29 during pregnancy. During the following two years in the height of the Depression, her father lost his job and their home.

At the age of 6, Betty and her older brother and sister were placed in the McLean County Home for Colored Children in Bloomington, where she lived 1930-42. She was baptized Catholic on Dec. 19, 1942.

Determined to attend a Catholic nursing school, she faced numerous rejections because of her race. She learned of St. Marys Infirmary School of Nursing in St. Louis, run by the Sisters of St. Mary, and she enrolled there in 1944.

On July 26, 1946, she became one of the first three African-American women to enter the Sisters of St. Mary. She received the name Sister Mary Antona, and she professed final vows on Feb. 11, 1954. (In 1987, the Sisters of St. Mary reunited with the Sisters of St. Francis of Maryville, Mo., as the Franciscan Sisters of Mary).

Sister Ebo served as a Franciscan Sister of Mary for 71 years.

Sister Ebo earned a bachelors degree in medical records in 1962 and a masters in hospital executive development in 1970, both through St. Louis University.

She earned a masters in theology of health care through Aquinas Institute of Theology and was certified as a chaplain through the National Association of Catholic Chaplains.

I am saddened to hear of the passing of renowned civil rights leader Sister Antona Ebo, Archbishop Robert J. Carlson said in a statement. We will miss her living example of working for justice in the context of our Catholic faith.

Sister Ebo is survived by her sister-in-law, Maxine Ebo of Rancho Cordova, Calif. A private burial will take place in Resurrection Cemetery.
BLOOMINGTON  The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning for McLean County and other areas until 3 p.m. Saturday. A wind advisory remains in effect until 9 p.m. for most Central Illinois counties.

In addition to McLean County, the flood warning area includes northern Menard County, northern Logan County, southeastern Tazewell County, and eastern Mason County.

Thunderstorms with heavy rainfall are expected to continue throughout much of Saturday. Almost 2.5 inches had fallen in McLean County by 9 a.m.

Motorists are reminded to avoid driving through flooded areas and to slow down. Homeowners are asked to clear debris from street drains.
Operating Engineers Union Local 150 is making good on its threat to back a Republican primary opponent against House Republican Leader Jim Durkin.

The union locals president, Jim Sweeney, told me he had about a dozen members in Durkins district passing nominating petitions for Burr Ridge Mayor Mickey Straub a couple of weekends ago. Straub is running against Durkin as a Republican. Sweeney said he expected to double that number the following weekend.

Challenging a legislative leader in a primary is just not done. But these are not normal times.

Local 150 led the fight against Bruce Rauner in the 2014 Republican primary and then backed a Libertarian Party candidate against him that fall.

The unions leadership has fumed as Rauner has pushed his anti-union agenda, and now wants some payback on Durkin for helping to kill their bill to ban the creation of right-to-work zones by local governments. The governor vetoed the bill and the union tried twice to override Rauner without success, mainly because Durkin was able to keep his caucus together.

Since the union blames Durkin theyll ally themselves with anybody, including Republican activist Dan Proft, if they have to. Proft is backing Straub against Durkin, but Proft is not exactly known for being a big union supporter.

In fact, according to the Daily Law Bulletin, Proft co-founded the Liberty Justice Center, which, irony of ironies, is representing Lincolnshire against a lawsuit backed by Local 150 over the villages creation of a local right-to-work zone  the very event that Local 150s vetoed bill tried to outlaw.

This fight is beyond ideology. Sweeney and Proft have a common cause, messing with Durkin, and theyre sticking with that.

Durkin, for his part, took the diplomatic high road, releasing a statement saying: Our caucus has worked with Local 150 in the past and will continue to work with them, where we can, in the future.

But you gotta figure Durkin had to be gritting his teeth when he approved that statement. A primary race is a lot like a family fight. And even though Local 150 has a ton of Republican members and has supported Republican candidates in the past, its involvement is undoubtedly seen as outside meddling.

The race is already starting to heat up. One of Profts newspapers, the West Cook News, published a story a few days ago about Durkins law practice, connecting the leaders bond work for the city of Berwyn to legislation allowing local governments to tie bond payments directly to revenue they receive from the state.

Critics contend the law, which Durkin voted for, will allow municipal governments to more easily go into ever-deeper debt and the paper ran a quote from someone calling Durkins vote a horrible conflict of interest.

Im thinking well see more stuff like that, and not just in obscure publications, but in mailers and other advertising. A fundraising email from September claims the Illinois Policy Institutes John Tillman, along with the Illinois Opportunity Projects Proft, Pat Hughes and Matt Besler had already raised $25 million toward a $30 million goal to elect a Reform Slate of candidates to run in House elections across the state to pick up the nine seats Republicans need to gain control of the House and depose Madigan once and for all. They havent yet reported receiving that cash, however.
100 years ago

Nov. 18, 1917: The YMCA is conducting a war camp fundraising campaign nationwide. McLean Countys share is $35,000. At BHS, the boys held a fifth hour meeting and pledged $800 in 45 minutes. All the money goes to the YMCA at Camp Grant near Rockford.

75 years ago

Nov. 18, 1942: The Illinois Supreme Court upheld Bloomingtons use of parking meters, which charge motorists a nickel to park their cars. Its not unfair taxation, the court ruled, but rather defrayment of the expenses incurred by the city to enforce parking laws.

50 years ago

Nov. 18, 1967: St. Claras Hospital in Lincoln closed a few years ago, and since then efforts have been underway to convert the defunct hospital to a skilled nursing facility. Fundraising has been in progress. As of Thursday about half the $150,000 goal had been raised.

25 years ago

Nov. 18, 1992: The Funk family of Bloomington donated $1 million toward the new agriculture library and alumni center at the University of Illinois. They are descended from some of the very first settlers of McLean County who became a major force in Illinois agriculture.
If you missed them, Part 1 of our Mega Guide is HERE and Part 2 is HERE.





An autonomous, flying swarm of drones is set to perform on the beach near the Faena Hotel from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. on December 6. The "sculpture" called "Franchise Freedom" is the work of Amsterdam-based duo Studio Drift (Ralph Nauta and Lonneke Gordjin). The work is hosted/sponsored by PACE Gallery , BMW and Faena Art. Date and time are subject to change due to weather. Confirm on Instagram @studio.drift.





nstallation view: Haroon Mirza: A C I D G E S T, Perez Art Museum Miami, 2017. Photo by Oriol Tarridas

The Perez Art Museum Miami, aka PAMM (1103 Biscayne Blvd., Miami) has an ongoing exhibition called "On the Horizon" that features works by Cuban artists from the Jorge M. Perez collection. It is being presented in three "chapters" with "Chapter 2: Abstracting History" on view during AB/MB. Also up during the week: "Dara Friedman: Perfect Stranger," "Steve McQueen: End Credits" and "Haroon Mirza: A C I D G E S T." The Friedman show is the Miami-based artist's largest exhibition to date and is her first career survey, featuring 17 major film and video works.





We're celebrating the opening of our latest exhibition "Reflections of the Americas." #univision #frostartmuseum

A post shared by Frost Art Museum (@frostartmuseum) on Oct 21, 2017 at 1:52pm PDT

A post shared by Frost Art Museum (@frostartmuseum) on Oct 21, 2017 at 1:52pm PDT





The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum FIU (10975 SW 17th Street, Miami) will showcase their latest acquisitions from Univision Communications Inc. in an exhibition called "Reflections of the Americas" featuring 57 works by 40 artists including Coqui Calderon, Wilfredo Lam, Humberto Calzada and Rafael Soriano. On view through January 3, 2018. Also up during AB/MB: "The Artist as Mystic," an exhibition organized by Boston's McMullen Museum of Art featuring the late Cuban painter Rafael Soriano; and "Continental Abstraction," featuring works from the collection of the Organization of American States Art Museum of the Americas in Washington, DC. The museum's annual "Breakfast in the Park"  this year honoring L.A.-based artist Daniel Joseph Martinez  is Sunday, December 10, 9:30 a.m. to noon. RSVP required.





Jeffrey Deitch and Larry Gagosian collab for a third year with a group show called "Abstract/Not Abstract" opening in the Moore Building (3841 NE 2nd Avenue, Miami) on December 6. Already included: Tauba Auerbach, Dan Colen, Sterling Ruby, Josh Smith and Christina Quarles.





Ashley BickertonCourtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong

Over half of the 24 galleries participating in AB/MB's KABINETT sector will feature work by female artists including Etel Adnan at Sfeir-Semier Gallery; recent paintings by Joan Snyder at Franklin Parrasch Gallery; and wall sculptures by Brigitte Kowanz at Galerie Krinzinger. Lehmann Maupin will have new works by Ashley Bickerton who is currently showing at Flag Art Foundation in New York. The 2017 "Conversations" series in the convention center includes artist talks with Yto Barrada, Daniel Knorr and Arthur Jafa; plus, writer Teju Cole moderates a panel called "Is Culture in the Americas in Big Trouble?" on December 7, 6 p.m.





Superfine! (56 NE 29th Street, Miami) will be up late at their "Midnight Vernisage" on Wednesday, December 6, 11:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Then the fair is open to the public Thursday through Sunday  with a queer-art film series called OUTshine" and "arTEA" party on Saturday evening. This year's third edition features over 150 solo and gallery-presented, young and innovative artists. Tickets are HERE.





Untitled Miami Beach 2017 is back on the beach at Ocean Drive and 12th Street from December 6 to10, with a VIP preview on December 5. For their sixth edition, they're presenting several artist projects including an up-dated version of Gordon Matta-Clarks "Garbage Wall" (1970) built from "urban debris;" a mobile museum by Carlos Cruz-Diez; and a "shanty dwelling" by Sergio Vega. Also returning: "Untitled, Radio" in a site-specific, architectural project; "Untitled, Posters" featuring 10 FREE limited-edition posters; and tote bags, this year by Annika Strom and Slavs & Tatars.





Spectrum Miami, Red Dot Miami and ArtSpot Miami are "under one roof" for a second year at 1700 NE 2nd Avenue, with one ticket granting admission to all three shows. They're open from December 7 to 10, with an opening night preview party on December 6 from 6 to 10 p.m.; and an "Art After Dark" party on Friday, December 8, 6 to 10 p.m. Spectrum will feature a stand-alone photo exhibition, "Foto Solo," spotlighting 10 global artists. Red Dot is a curated, gallery-only show and their theme for 2017 is "IMPACT."





Patricia Field's "ARTFASHION" is back for another go-round with a pop-up shop open all of December  plus special events during AB/MB  at 2245 NW 2nd Avenue in Wynwood.

The Freehand Miami (2727 Indian Creek Drive, Miami Beach) hosts a "New York Takeover" on Friday, December 8, with art installations by students from Bard College. The hotel will partner with Bard College on an artist-in-residence program called "Freehand Fellowship" at their upcoming Freehand New York, now scheduled to open near NYC's Gramercy Park in 2018. The Miami hotel's 27 Restaurant will also have a special menu by Matt Griffin, the chef at their NYC restaurant headed by Gabe Stulman of Jeffrey's Grocery, Fairfax, Fedora etc.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Knight Arts Challenge, the Perez Art Museum and the Frost Museum of Science will be FREE for everyone (with an rsvp to knight@culturalcounsel.com) on December 4, 7 to 10 p.m. Expect live music from Spam Allstars, Locos Por Juana and Afrobeat.

Brigitte Kowanz. Courtesy of the artist and the Galerie Krinzinger and ABMB.
Patna: Former Janata Dal  U President Sharad Yadav, who has essentially killed his own political career by going rogue against his own party in the aftermath of the collapse of the so-called Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, received yet another setback on Friday when the Election Commission sided with the Nitish faction of the party saying it was indeed the 'true' JD-U and hence, the election symbol of 'arrow' belonged to the party led by Nitish Kumar.

"The group led by Nitish Kumar has demonstrated majority support in the legislature wing as well as the majority in the National Council of Party. Consequently, the group led by Nitish Kumar is entitled to use the reserved symbol 'Arrow' of the party as a recognized state party in Bihar," the Election Commission said citing a Supreme Court verdict in the Sadiq Ali vs. Election Commission of India in AIR 1972 SC 187 case.

The EC's verdict comes as a final nail in the political coffin of Yadav who, despite having barebone support of a handful of disgruntled former JD-U leaders in Bihar, has maintained that he was the real JD-U while Nitish Kumar was an outsider who belonged to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

According to some political pundits in Bihar, with the unfavorable EC decision against him, Yadav has been left with no other choice than to either retire from active politics or join hands with his former foe and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.

With Nitish-led JD-U actively seeking removal of Sharad Yadav from the Rajya Sabha, retirement or joining the RJD could be the only option left for the man with very few support in Bihar.

"With RJD being run by a strong Yadav family, it would be a natural homecoming for Mr. Sharad Yadav," said an RJD leader.

Others in the RJD, however, did not feel the former JD-U President would be embraced so warmly as suggested by some.

"RJD is a party run by a strong Yadav family. Outsiders do not have much chance within the party. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Abdul Bari Siddiqui are prime examples of senior leaders who are still waiting to get a promotion above the post of senior spokesperson or the leader of the opposition in the state Assembly and Legislative Council. There hardly seems to be a place or an opening for Sharad Yadav," said an RJD insider adding the former JD-U President was also free to start a new political outfit in Bihar but with a very little support and base in the state, it may not work out as expected.
Patna: A day after Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) junior doctors went on strike following a clash with a patient's family, at least 16 patients were said to have died in the past 24 hours due to the lack of medical care in what once was known as the best hospital east of England.

{gallery}newsimages2017/nov/111717{/gallery}With more and more patients leaving the hospital for alternative medical facilities, the entire functioning of the hospital came to a screeching halt on Friday as junior doctors remained adamant on their demand for much tighter security in the campus despite appeal by the government to resume duty for the sake of sick people.

As reported earlier, a patient suffering from dengue who was brought to the hospital yesterday. The doctors declared him dead on arrival but the family members insisted the patient was alive when he was brought in and died later due to the negligence of the hospital staff.

This led to a clash between more than two dozen family members of the deceased, junior doctors and other hospital staff following which the junior doctors went on a lightning strike saying they won't return to their duties until complete, round-the-clock security was provided to them.

Leader of the Junior Doctors Association (JDA) Vinay Kumar said that such incidents were quite common at the hospital putting the lives of the doctors in extreme danger.

"Each time something like this happens, it is us who become the soft target for the perpetrators. We have repeatedly asked for security inside the hospital but our requests have been turned down each time. Now until we get full security in the hospital campus, we will not return to work," he said.

Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey, while siding with the junior doctors, has appealed to them to return to work in the name of humanity but so far there does not seem to be a breakthrough in the ongoing stalemate.
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Sen. Jon Tester and Gov. Steve Bullock took to the Capitol rotunda Friday to rally support for a federal program that funds health insurance for 1,083 kids in Helena and some 23,000 statewide.

Tester, a Democrat, said providing kids with health care is a no-brainer, which is why he recently introduced bipartisan legislation to keep the Children's Health Insurance Program funded for the next five years.

Congress has allowed the funding for CHIP to expire. Some 8.9 million children nationwide are currently enrolled in the program.

In Montana, CHIP and children's Medicaid both partially fund Healthy Montana Kids. Together, they provide health care coverage to one out of every three children in Montana.

If Congress doesnt act soon, the program right here in Montana runs out of money in the first quarter of 2018, Tester said.

That is unacceptable," he added.

Bullock, also a Democrat, followed Testers tack, calling attention to CHIPs impact on Montana families' ability to maintain health insurance for their children.

It doesnt matter if a parent works at Microsoft or McDonalds, Bullock said, no parent should wonder if their paycheck is large enough to care for a sick child.

This is not a partisan issue in Montana, Bullock said. Republicans in Congress are turning their backs on children.

Republican Sen. Steve Daines previously said CHIP is critical for Montana, and Republican Rep. Greg Gianforte said the program has enjoyed broad bipartisan support. Both Republicans said they expected Congress to reauthorize CHIP soon.

Bullock and Tester appeared Friday with Kelsey Whitby, a Montana State University graduate who lives in Whitefish with her husband and her 10-month-old son Otto.

Whitby was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2012, the same brain cancer John McCain was diagnosed with earlier this year. As she told her story and her first-hand experiences with nannying children who benefited from CHIP, her son, dressed in a suitcoat sans shoes, kept trying to grab the microphone, adding some levity to the event.

With CHIP, parents dont hesitate to call a pediatrician, Whitby said.

Children dont have a voice in their own health care, which is why parents and adults have to give them a voice, Whitby added.
Reza Zarrab, Man Accused In Iran Sanctions Case, Reported Working With U.S. Prosecutors

11/17/17

Source: RFE/RL

A Turkish-Iranian businessman accused of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions did not show up for a second court hearing on November 16, fueling speculation that he has made a deal to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors.

Reza Zarrab, whose trial for allegedly cheating U.S. sanctions is scheduled to begin in days, was secretly removed from a federal prison and may be working with prosecutors https://t.co/sUuTCUINkZ  The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) November 17, 2017

NBC News reported on November 16 that Reza Zarrab, a wealthy gold trader with ties to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, is now cooperating with U.S. prosecutors in a money- laundering case involving top Turkish officials.



The NBC report, which cited anonymous sources "with knowledge of the matter," said Zarrab is now out of the U.S. jail where he had been held since his arrest in March 2016 and is in the custody of U.S. prosecutors at an undisclosed location.



Bloomberg News, citing "two people familiar with the case," also reported on November 16 that Zarrab "remains in U.S. custody, but not in a federal jail. That sometimes happens when a defendant has agreed to serve as a government witness."



Zarrab and his lawyers failed to appear on November 16 for a hearing in the U.S. district court in Manhattan in preparation for his trial in the Iran sanctions case.



A lawyer for his co-defendant, Turkish bank executive Mehmet Akan Attila, said it was the second such pretrial hearing Zarrab has missed, and it appears Zarrab is no longer participating in the defense.



July selection for the Iran sanctions trial is scheduled to begin on November 20 and the trial is scheduled to begin on November 27.





Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab





NBC provided no details but suggested that Zarrab may be cooperating with authorities in connection with U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into whether Erdogan offered former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn up to $15 million to secure Zarrab's release, as well arrange the deportation of Erdogan's top political rival, Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who resides in the United States.



Ankara accuses Gulen of being behind a failed 2016 coup against Erdogan. And Turkey has repeatedly pressed the White House to intervene in Zarrab's case and release him.



The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment, as did Zarrab's lead defense attorney, Ben Brafman.



Zarrab's absence from court and speculation about his possible cooperation with prosecutors prompted the Turkish Foreign Ministry on November 15 to inquire about his whereabouts and health in a diplomatic note.



Turkish officials said the United States responded that his medical condition is good.



With reporting by AFP, Bloomberg News, NBC News, and Reuters
Senior Iranian official warns Macron against meddling in Iran's internal affairs

11/18/17

Source: Press TV

A senior Iranian official has advised French President Emmanuel Macron against meddling in Iran's internal affairs, including such strategic issues as the Iranian defense program. Ali Akbar Velayati, who advises Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on international affairs, made the remark in an interview with IRIB News after Macron said Iran's ballistic missile program had "to be curtailed."



Ali Akbar Velayati



Velayati said, "It is not in Mr. Macron and France's interest to interfere in the missile issue and the Islamic Republic's strategic affairs, on which we are very sensitive."



"Such interference will have no impact other than diminishing the French government's credibility in Iran's eye," Velayati said.



"How does the (missile) issue concern Mr. Macron? Who is he to interfere in the first place?" he said.



Velayati said Iran would ask no one for permission to have or not to have missiles or to assign what range to those missiles.

'Go de Gaulle's way'

He advised Macron, France's youngest leader since Napoleon, to follow in the footsteps of the late French ruler General Charles de Gaulle by adopting a stance of "semi-independence" in his foreign policy.



Velayati said Iran would say no to any proposal to enter into negotiations on its missile program.



"No country," he said, "would bargain over its national interests."



In a November 11 visit to Saudi Arabia, Macron had also said he was "very concerned" about Iran's ballistic missile program, adding, "There are negotiations we need to start on Iran's ballistic missiles."

Macron seeks to quell Iran furor, avoids taking sides with Saudi https://t.co/7pbA5oiu6O pic.twitter.com/iJd84cQWs2  Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) November 18, 2017

Trump 'cannot run US like a casino'

Elsewhere in his remarks, Velayati said US President Donald Trump "is used to racketeering, but running this country (America) is not like running a cabaret or a casino, where he would use shenanigans to accumulate money."



He referred to Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia earlier in the year, after which the US president boasted of having made a lot of money, apparently referring to America arms sales worth hundreds of billions of dollars to Riyadh.



Velayati said it showed that Trump viewed international relations as a means of making money.



He said Trump was "wrong" about Iran and would benefit from learning a salutary lesson from his predecessors and should "know that he is no match" for the Iranian nation and government.
The government says its review of all public-private agreements (PPAs) signed by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for conventional thermal power projects has saved the country from losing $7.217 billion.



Answering questions in Parliament yesterday, the Minister of Energy, Mr Boakye Agyarko, said a committee led by the Energy Commission reviewed 26 out of 30 PPAs the ECG had initiated.



He said the review noted that the projected capacity additions from the PPAs were far in excess of the required additions needed from 2018 to 2030.



Mr Agyarko said the excess would result in the payment of capacity charges for the undispatched plants.



He said the combined generation capacity of the 26 PPAs reviewed amounted to 7,298 megawatts (MW).



The Member of Parliament (MP) for Damongo, Mr Mutawakilu Adam, asked the minister whether the Ministry of Energy had reviewed any power purchase agreements, and if so whether there were any pay cost saving elements pursuant to the review.



Terminations and deferments



Mr Agyarko said the review recommended that four PPAs with a combined capacity of 1,810MW be deferred, while three PPAs with a combined capacity of 1,150MW be deferred beyond 2025.



Again, the review recommended that 11 PPAs with a combined capacity of 2,808 MW be terminated.



The minister said pursuant to the review exercise, the government would make significant savings from the deferment and termination.



"The estimated cost of the terminations is $402.39 million, compared to an average annual capacity of $586 million each year or a cumulative cost of $7.619 billion from 2018 to 2030. This yields an estimated saving of $7.217 billion over the 13-year period, he said.



Mr Agyarko said the other four PPAs were not reviewed by the committee, which was tasked by the ministry, because they were already operational.



Oil and gas supply



Mr Agyarko said oil and gas supply would be interrupted in 2018 with two shutdowns of three weeks each on January 18, 2018 and March 7, 2018 for repair works to be carried out on the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) Kwame Nkrumah.



Besides, he said, interruptions in gas supply during temporary shutdowns would be compensated by gas from the newly commissioned TEN Field.



"Offloading will continue to be by means of a shuttle tanker until 2019 when the offshore offloading system will be in place," he said.



Reverse flow project



Mr Agyarko said the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) reverse flow project was on course to be completed before the expected first gas from the Sankofa-Gye Nyame Field by the end of the second quarter of 2018.



He said all the parties involved (with the support of the World Bank) had shown maximum cooperation and commitment towards the execution of the project.



"The regulator of the pipeline, West African Gas Pipeline Authority (WAGPA), has also indicated its support for the project," he said.

Source: Daily Graphic









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An investigation is under way after the main parliament building in Cameroon's capital Yaounde was badly damaged by a fire which ripped through four floors.



Firefighters put out the blaze before it could reach the debating chamber. But the main opposition party's offices were destroyed.



There is no word on any casualties or on the cause of the blaze.



In this week's session, the national assembly had been discussing the budget.



Pictures and video posted on social media show the upper floors in flames, hours after it first took hold.



Communication Minister Issa Tchiroma said the fire was probably accidental, but an investigation would determine the cause.



The main opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) party said: "We have been in parliament for 22 years, and all documentation - soft or hard - has been consumed".

Source: BBC









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Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has expressed shock at the unfortunate demise of ace broadcaster, Kwadwo Asare Baffuor Acheampong also known as KABA.



In a Facebook post, the Vice President wrote "I have learnt with shock, the sudden demise of Joseph Kwadwo Asare-Baffuor Acheampong (KABA) of Asempa FM and the Multimedia Group. May God give his widow, family and the entire media fraternity, the fortitude to bear this painful loss".



KABA passed away on Saturday after he was rushed to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra following a short illness.



KABA has been with Asempa FM since 2008. Prior to joining the Multimedia Group, KABA had worked with Top Radio from 2004  2008.



Below is al statement from the Multimedia Group confirming his death:



A talented broadcaster with The Multimedia Group Limited, Kwadwo Asare Baffuor Acheampong has died.



KABA as he was popularly known, died in the early hours of Saturday, November 2017.



KABA until his sudden death, was the host of popular late afternoon political talk show, Ekosii Sen on Asempa 94.7 FM.



He was married to Valentina Ofori Afriyie who is also a broadcaster with Accra-based Class FM, having worked many years with Radio Gold and Spirit Fm in Kumasi.



He left behind a daughter.



Chief Executive Officer of The Multimedia Group, Kwasi Twum led management and staff of the Multimedia Group to his residence shortly news of his death.



Mr. Kwasi Twum expressed his condolence to the wife and family.



Funeral arrangements will be communicated in due course.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed shock over the news of Asempa FMs late afternoon show host Kwadwo Asare-Baffuor Acheampong popularly known as KABA.



In a Facebook post the President wrote Shocked by the news of KABAs death. Undoubtedly one of the most talented journalists of his generation. Condolences to his wife, family and Multimedia. #RIPKABA



The radio presenter was confirmed dead in the early hours of Saturday, November 18, 2017, at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.



Brief profile about KABA



KABA was host of Asempa FM's political talk show, 'Ekosii Sen'. Prior to joining the Multimedia Group, KABA had worked with Top Radio from 2004  2008.



He got married to radio presenter, Valentina Ofori Afriyie in 2016 at Santasi in Kumasi and has a seven month old daughter with her.



He had his second cycle education at the Techiman Senior High School in the Brong Ahafo Region and completed in 1999.



He pursued Advanced Broadcast Journalism - Print and Broadcast at the Ghana Institute of Journalism and completed in the year 2005 and further enrolled on an Educational course at the University of Cape Coast and completed in 2007.



As a strong anti-corruption campaigner, he used his show to campaign against corruption.



He recently won the Radio Talk Show Host of the Year award at the 2017 RTP Awards.

Source: ghanaweb









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The United States has laid claim to $300 million stashed abroad by Nigeria's late military dictator, Sani Abacha.



According to reports, America allegedly told a court in an unnamed foreign country that it had an interest in the loot because it was saved in its currency, the US dollar. Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami (SAN) and rights activist Mr Femi Falana (SAN) made the claims in Lagos.



Falana also accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) of failing to remit over $21.7 billion since 1999. He urged the Federal Government to extend efforts to recover looted funds to the few Nigerians who have been indicted in the Panama and Paradise papers. The EFCC and the Federal Inland Revenue Service should recover appropriate taxes from the offshore companies set up by such individuals, Falana said.



Falana, who accused the United States, Switzerland, the UK and other western nations of hypocritical behaviour in Nigerias quest to recover loot stashed in their banks, identified the US as the country concerned.



He said: Nigeria traced part of the Abacha loot (over $300m) to Jersey, an island in the United Kingdom. The Attorney-General filed a process to  by the way I was in that country when the person was convicted. The money left Nigeria through Kenya and landed in Jersey. It was from the late Abacha. Nigeria wanted to collect the remaining loot. But the United States filed an objection, saying the money could not be released to Nigeria. The court asked why; the US said if the money must be released, it should be released to the US government, so that we can manage it for Nigeria. The other one, $321 million, Switzerland, a notorious conduit for corruption, had the temerity to say that unless the World Bank is going to manage this money, we are not going to release this money.



Falana urged the Federal Government not to depend on the West in its loot recovery drive.

The United Nations Convention Against Corruption has made adequate provisions against corruption, mandating countries to assist each other but western countries have not been helping us. Our government should stop relying on the west.



He said he had advised, and the government was considering, suing foreign banks illegally holding onto funds stolen from Nigeria. He added: From five cycles of independent audit reports covering 1999-2012 the National Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative revealed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, some oil companies and certain agencies of the Federal Government have withheld $20.2 billion from the Federation Account.





Source: lindaikeji









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Felix Bamfo, a pastor of the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star Church at Adidogome in Togo, has been arrested at Miefe, Aflao, over alleged murder.



The arrest followed the discovery of the dismembered and decomposing body of one Evelyn Homawu, about 50 meters away from the pastors residence.



Nana Asomah Hinneh, Volta Regional Police Commander, told the media that on Tuesday, one Kwabena Wohoyi, husband of the deceased, reported to the Denu police that his wife had on Sunday, November 12, left their residence at Taifa, Burkina in the Greater Accra Region to visit Pastor Bamfo and had since not returned.



He said Wohoyi contacted Bamfo later in the evening on the whereabouts of his wife but he (Bamfo) said he had also not heard from the woman.



Nana Hinneh said later in the day, the police at Miefe discovered a body in an advanced state of decomposition in a jute bag with limbs, breasts and private parts chopped off and chest ripped open.



He said the police identified the body as that of the missing woman and arrested the pastor together with his wife and Kindness Mba, his 24-year-old son.



Nana Hinneh said the suspects are in police custody while the body of the deceased had been deposited at the Ketu South Municipal Hospital for preservation, and would later be transferred to the Police Hospital in Accra for autopsy.



He said the police were investigating the matter.

Source: GNA









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All ten Regional Chairmen of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), after their recent call on former President John Mahama to consider calls on him to contest as the partys presidential candidate for the 2020 polls are lacing boots to have a frank and man-to-man jaw-jaw session with the partys founder, Jerry John Rawlings on prospects for election 2020, THE PUBLISHER has gathered.



We have decided to visit Mr. Rawlings in his house and discuss issues regarding what can be done together to help the NDC to win the next elections.



We will not mince any words but rather we shall tell him whatever we think he should start doing in helping the NDC to win the elections, Tawiah Boateng, the Eastern Regional Chairman of the NDC said on Hello FM.



The meeting, THE PUBLISHER gathered would also be used to explain convincingly and justify why the Regional Chairmen called on Mr. Mahama to consider contesting the 2020 polls and also to get Jerry John Rawlings, the partys founder to sing to the John Mahama 2020 chorus.



Among other issues, THE PUBLISHER has been told the meeting with Jerry Rawlings would also touch on happenings within the ruling government and what ought to be done by the NDC to enable the party face the 2020 polls as united force.



Significantly, they would also discuss what Mr. Rawlings, who is very popular and charismatic, should do to help the NDC to snatch political power in 2020.



According to Mr. Tawiah Boateng, the 10 NDC Regional Chairmen believes that Mr. Rawlings can still play a crucial role in helping the NDC to oust the NPP administration.



Mr. Boateng defended the NDC Chairmens recent meeting with former President John Dramani Mahama, saying it was meant to help the party win the 2020 polls.



According to him, the NDC needs every party member onboard so they can snatch political power from the NPP during the next elections.



The statement from the Regional Chairmen, which sought to create an impression of a united NDC party rallying in unison behind a former president, rather backfired and created more division, acrimony and enmity than hitherto existed.



Other NDC big manes that has an eye on the flagbearer slot felt slighted by the open bias exhibited by the Regional Chairman, a group of leaders who ought to be unbiased.

Source: the publisher









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The weather shouldn't be much of an issue for Thanksgiving travelers next week in central Pennsylvania, according to forecasters with AccuWeather Service at State College.

Weather conditions are expected to be cold, but dry, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week, forecaster said.

No snow or rain is currently in the forecast for those days in the Harrisburg, Williamsport and State College areas.

About 51 million Americans are expected to travel more than 50 miles from home during the Thanksgiving holiday, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). The total represents a slight increase from 2016.

TUESDAY: Mostly sunny, with a high near 52. Low around 35.

WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny, with a high near 46. Low around 30.

THANKSGIVING: Mostly sunny, with a high near 42. Low around 30.

For the latest forecasts, visit PennLive's weather page.

You can see live weather updates via the National Weather Service and other Twitter sources below.

Tweet us at @pennlive with photos of inclement weather at your place, incidents you see on your commute or send a submission to submissions@pennlive.com.
NEW KENSINGTON -- An intense search is underway in western Pennsylvania for a suspect in the fatal shooting of a police officer.

The shooting happened shortly after 8 p.m. Friday in New Kensington, about 18 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

Authorities say Officer Brian Shaw was shot after a traffic stop led to him chasing someone on foot.

This happened 5 weeks ago. The boy in this picture had just gotten a pair of toy handcuffs and saw Brian Shaw eating dinner and wanted to show him his cuffs. Shaw spent time with the boy, showing him his "real" cuffs.



Mom who took this picture: "We need more Brians" pic.twitter.com/zpiGzWehYC  David Kaplan (@DKaplanWTAE) November 18, 2017

Police officers from neighboring towns were scouring the area for the suspect early Saturday. SWAT teams and police dogs assisted.

Police have recovered a brown, older model Jeep Grand Cherokee wanted in connection with the shooting.

TribLive.com reported that Shaw was shot in the chest. He was 25 and joined the New Kensington force in June, the website said, and considered police work his calling.
WILLIAMSPORT - A former longtime Penn State employee has settled out of court her lawsuit in which she accused the university of gender discrimination, sexual harassment, hostile work environment and retaliation.

Notice was filed Friday in U.S. Middle District Court the suit brought by Joane Stoneberg had been settled through mediation, but no terms were disclosed.

Stoneberg, who now lives in Reisterstown, Md., stated in her complaint she took early retirement in October 2014 because her supervisors failed to act on her complaints.

In her 30 years at Penn State she rose from a part-time transcript clerk to programs coordinator in the college of arts and architecture.

The civil rights suit accused Curt Marshall, coordinator of multicultural programs in the college of arts and architecture, with "infecting" her workplace with sexually offensive comments and conduct.

The complaint alleges that, beginning in November 2006 when they shared an office suite, Marshall made offensive and inappropriate sexual comments, forwarded her sexually inappropriate emails, propositioned her, commented on her looks and shared intimate details about his marital sex life.

When she advised Gary Kesler, then associate dean of that college, of her intention to pursue a sexual harassment complaint against Marshall, she claimed she was urged not to but rather let him handle it informally.

READ MORE: Tell us about your sexual harassment experience at work

Shortly after that discussion Marshall apologized, but Stoneberg accused him of resuming his offensive behavior in March 2014, including hugging her twice in front of co-workers when Kesler was off work due to illness.

She said she filed complaints against Marshall with Yvonne Guadelius, associate vice president and senior associate dean of undergraduate education, Kenneth Lehman III, vice provost for affirmative action.

At an April 14, 2014, meeting with Lehman, Stoneberg said she was told Marshall would no longer share office space with her.

Marshall never moved, so Stoneberg claimed she was forced to temporarily move to another building.

When she notified her supervisor she was considering leaving the university, a new position was created for her but it stripped her of her high-level responsibilities, the suit stated.

She claimed being forced to take the entry-level position providing academic advising to undergraduates and doing new student orientation in the summer was humiliating, embarrassing and demeaning to her.

As program coordinator Stoneberg said she chaired and co-chaired committees, participated in high-level admissions decisions, ran the new student orientation and organized academic advising.

Forcing her to change jobs was retaliation for her pursuing her sexual harassment complaint, she charged.

Were it not for the retaliation, Stoneberg said she would have remained at the university until July 1, 2015, her original planned retirement date.
PHILADELPHIA -- The nation's oldest historically black college will remain accredited after a state commission decided to work with the school, citing "significant progress" after a two-year probationary period.

Cheyney University has grappled with financial and administrative woes in recent years. In August, Pennsylvania's state-owned university system agreed to forgive $30 million in loans if the school maintained a balanced budget over the next four years.

Losing accreditation would likely have signaled the death knell for Cheyney, founded in 1837 as the Institute for Colored Youth.

READ MORE: Can the nation's oldest black university survive?

President Aaron A. Walton began his tenure in May. He said the following in a note Friday afternoon to Cheney staff and students: "The commission's decision comes after months and months of hard work by so many students, faculty, staff, trustees and others who have contributed to helping place our university on a stable path. While we all pause to recognize this important opportunity, we know that there is much work ahead in order to move the university from probationary status to regular status. That is our next goal, and I am convinced we will achieve it too."

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education said Cheyney is "making a good-faith effort to remedy existing deficiencies" in its letter Friday. The school must continue to make improvements and report back to the commission next September.

Board of Governors chair Cynthia Shapira issued the following statement: "The decision by Middle States affirms the extraordinary progress the university has made under the leadership of President Walton. At the same time, we know there is even more to be done. Significant challenges remain, and more difficult decisions will have to be made. The Board of Governors is committed to a strong, vibrant future for Cheyney, and we will continue to do everything within our power and authority to assist the university on behalf of the students of this historic institution. We all seek the same goal--a thriving and vital Cheyney University that will provide students the outstanding educational experience they need to be successful throughout their lives."

Added Walton to the Cheyney community: "It has taken many hands and many hearts to get us here today/. To our supporters and the community at large, let me say, 'thank you.' You have stood by this venerable institution for nearly two centuries - through times of trial and triumph. We ask that you continue to stand with us."

----

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
More than 6,000 people and 300 caregivers have signed-up to participate in Pennsylvania's medical marijuana program since Nov. 1, according to statement from Gov. Tom Wolf.

"These remarkable numbers are a clear confirmation of the need for medical marijuana to ease the pain and suffering of thousands of Pennsylvanians," Governor Wolf said in a statement.

The Medical Marijuana Program went into effect in May 2016, and will be fully implemented by 2018.

Patients with one of 17 "serious medical conditions" are eligible to participate in the program.

More than 400 physicians have also started the process of becoming an approved practitioner. To date, the department of health has approved more than 100 physicians to participate.
By Jim Wallis

Many traditions in the history of Christianity have attempted to combat and correct the worship of three things: money, sex and power. Catholic orders have for centuries required "poverty, chastity, and obedience" as disciplines to counter these three idols.

Jim Wallis (Washington Post photo)

Other traditions, especially among Anabaptists in the Reformation, Pentecostals and revival movements down through the years have spoken the language of simplicity in living, integrity in relationships and servanthood in leadership.

All of our church renewal traditions have tried to provide authentic and more life-giving alternatives to the worship of money, sex and power - which can be understood and used in healthy ways when they are not given primacy in one's life.

President Donald Trump is an ultimate and consummate worshiper of money, sex and power. American Christians have not really reckoned with the climate he has created in our country and the spiritual obligation we have to repair it. As a result, the soul of our nation and the integrity of the Christian faith are at risk.

As Abraham Lincoln, a politician with a deep knowledge of Christianity, stated in his first inaugural address, political action can, undertaken rightly, appeal to the "better angels of our nature." But political action undertaken badly, and reckless inaction, can mislead and dispirit us - and appeal to our worst demons, such as greed, fear, bigotry and resentment, which are never far below the surface.

Trump's adulation of money and his love for lavish ostentation (he covers everything in gold) are the literal worship of wealth by someone who believes that his possessions belong only to himself, instead of that everything belongs to God and we are its stewards. In 2011, before his foray into politics, Trump said, "Part of the beauty of me is that I'm very rich." And in his 2015 speech announcing his candidacy for president, he said: "I'm really rich. . . . And by the way, I'm not even saying that in a braggadocio - that's the kind of mind-set, that's the kind of thinking you need for this country." Later, during the campaign, Trump suggested that our country must "be wealthy in order to be great."

Lately, faith leaders have spoken out against the proposed Republican budgets and tax plans. The Circle of Protection, a group of leaders from all the major branches of Christianity, of which I am a part, said in a letter to Congress: "We care deeply about many issues facing our country and world, but ending persistent hunger and poverty is a top priority that we all share.

These are biblical and gospel issues for us, not just political or partisan concerns. In Matthew 25, Jesus identified himself with those who are immigrants, poor, sick, homeless and imprisoned, and challenged his followers to welcome and care for them as we would care for Jesus himself."

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, too, has rejected the tax plan, calling it "unacceptable as written," and "unconscionable in parts" as it would enrich the wealthy and shortchange the middle class and the poor. And yet, much Christian support for Trump and his administration continues.

Then there's sex. Before Trump, Republicans liked to suggest that theirs was a fairly Puritanical party of family values with high standards for its candidates (despite many embarrassing exceptions). But Trump's boastful treatment of women - including bragging in a video about grabbing their genitals - and his serial infidelity and adultery are clear evidence of his idolatrous worship of sex. And it no longer seems like his is a unique case.

Speaking of embarrassing situations, the polls showing that evangelical Christians in Alabama express the most support for Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore - even after women have accused him of unwanted advances when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s - may be the most damning testimony as to the politicized moral hypocrisy of white evangelicals. Or as Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore warned his fellow religionists this past week, "Christian, if you cannot say definitively, no matter what, that adults creeping on teenage girls is wrong, do not tell me how you stand against moral relativism." And yet, according to a new poll, 72 percent of evangelicals now say that "an elected official who commits an immoral act in their personal life can still behave ethically and fulfill their duties in their public and professional life," though only 30 percent thought so a mere six years ago.

Other responses to Roy Moore's alleged behavior have been even worse than silence. Take Alabama state Rep. Ed Henry, who was also Trump's Alabama campaign co-chairman, and who tried to discredit and deny the women's stories, saying: "You can't sit on something like this for 30-something years with a man as in the spotlight as Roy Moore and all of a sudden, three weeks before a senatorial primary, all of a sudden these three or four women are going to talk about something in 1979? I call bull." Some have tried to play down Moore's behavior, like Marion County, Alabama, GOP Chairman David Hall, who said: "I really don't see the relevance of it. . . . She's not saying that anything happened other than they kissed." Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler even used a biblical story to legitimize Moore's alleged offenses. "Take Joseph and Mary," he said. "Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus."

Trump, unsurprisingly, has been coy on the matter. He has not called for Moore to step aside, and the White House press secretary said the president "does not believe we can allow a mere allegation . . . from many years ago to destroy a person's life."

When it comes to worshiping power, Republican Christians most obviously stray from scripture in their attitudes on race. When 81 percent of white evangelicals voted for Trump despite his blatant and constant use of racial bigotry for his own political interest, it showed that the operative word in the phrase "white Christian" is "white" and not "Christian." When white Christians say they did not vote for Trump because of his bigotry but for other reasons, faith leaders of color answer with a damning question: His racial bigotry wasn't a deal-breaker for you?

Week after week, Trump reveals that his leadership is always and only about himself; not the people, the country or even his party - and certainly not about godliness.

During his recent whirlwind trip through Asia, for instance, he bragged constantly about his red carpet treatment, and seemed to thrive on the attention and flattery while putting precious little effort into diplomacy. ("They were all watching," Trump gushed of people who he said called him in droves to congratulate him on the splendor of his visit to China.

"Nothing you can see is so beautiful.") The conflicts between his money, power and governing are always resolved in the same way - by his selfishness; by whatever happens to appeal to him, and only him, in that moment.

Though he ran an anti-interventionist campaign, for instance, Trump reportedly decided to ramp up the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan this year after an adviser showed him a picture of Afghani women wearing miniskirts in the 1970s.

All leaders struggle with these temptations, and public figures must wrestle with them the most. Christians, rightly enough, have never expected perfect leaders - just those who can keep up their end of the moral struggle. But for Trump, there is no moral struggle. He is not immoral - knowing what is right and wrong, and choosing the wrong - he rather seems amoral: lacking any kind of moral compass for his personal or professional life. That's why the Christian compromise with Trump and his ilk has put faithful Americans at such serious risk.

Central to the health of our society is for American Christians to rescue an authentic, compassionate and justice-oriented faith from the clutches of partisan abuse, and from the idolatry of money, sex and power. The word "repentance" in Christian, Jewish and Islamic traditions means much more than feeling sorry about the past; it also means "turning around" to equity and healing personally, and systemically in our institutions of policing and criminal justice, education, economics, voting rights, immigration and refugees, racial geography, housing, and more. Making repentance practical is the spiritual task ahead.

Jim Wallis is president and founder of Sojourners. He is the author of "America's Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America." He wrote this piece for The Washington Post, where it first appeared.
WASHINGTON  Republicans have stretched closer to delivering the first big legislative victory for President Donald Trump and their party, whisking a $1.5 trillion overhaul of business and personal income taxes through the House. Thorny problems await in the Senate, though.

The House passage of the bill Thursday on a mostly party-line 227-205 vote also brought nearer the biggest revamp of the U.S. tax system in three decades.

But in the Senate, a similar measure received a politically awkward verdict from nonpartisan congressional analysts showing it would eventually produce higher taxes for low- and middle-income earners but deliver deep reductions for those better off.

The Senate bill was approved late Thursday by the Finance Committee and sent to the full Senate on a party-line 14-12 vote. Like the House measure, it would slash the corporate tax rate and reduce personal income tax rates for many.

But it adds a key feature not in the House version: repeal of the Affordable Care Act's requirement that everyone in the U.S. have health insurance. Elimination of the so-called individual mandate under the Obama health care law would add an estimated $338 billion in revenue over 10 years that the Senate tax-writers used for additional tax cuts.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has projected that repeal of the mandate would result in 13 million more uninsured people by 2027, making it a political risk for some lawmakers.

The Senate panel's vote came at the end of four days of often fierce partisan debate. It turned angrily personal for Chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, as he railed against Democrats' accusations that the legislation was crafted to favor big corporations and the wealthy.

"I come from the poor people. And I've been working my whole stinking career for people who don't have a chance," Hatch insisted.

After the panel's approval, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared, "For the millions of hard-working Americans who need more money in their pockets and the chance of a better future, help is on the way."

The analysts' problematic projections for the Senate bill came a day after Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson became the first GOP senator to state opposition to the measure, saying it didn't cut taxes enough for millions of partnerships and corporations. With at least five other Republican senators yet to declare support, the bill's fate is far from certain in a chamber the GOP controls by just 52-48.

Even so, Republicans are hoping to send a compromise bill for Trump to sign by Christmas.

"Now the ball is in the Senate's court," Vice President Mike Pence said after the House vote. Speaking at a conservative Tax Foundation dinner in Washington, Pence said, "The next few weeks are going to be vitally important and they're going to be a challenge."

A White House statement that "now is the time to deliver" also underscored the GOP's effort to maintain momentum and outrace critics. Those include the AARP lobby for older people, major medical organizations, realtors  and, in all likelihood, every Senate Democrat.

Despite controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House, the Republicans are still smarting from this summer's crash of their effort to dismantle President Barack Obama's health care law. They see a successful tax effort as the best way to avert major losses in next year's congressional elections. House Republicans concede they are watching the Senate warily.

"Political survival depends on us doing this," said Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. "One of the things that scares me a little bit is that they're going to screw up the bill to the point we can't pass it."

The House plan and the Senate Finance bill would deliver the bulk of their tax reductions to businesses.

Each would cut the 35 percent corporate tax rate to 20 percent, while reducing personal rates for many taxpayers and erasing or shrinking deductions. Projected federal deficits would grow by $1.5 trillion over 10 years.

As decades of Republicans have done before them, GOP lawmakers touted their tax cuts as a boon to families across all income lines and a boost for businesses, jobs and the entire country.

"Passing this bill is the single biggest thing we can do to grow the economy, to restore opportunity and help those middle-income families who are struggling," said House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.

Ryan also said he'd seek to add tax breaks to help Puerto Rico recover from recent hurricanes to a House-Senate compromise.

Democrats said the tax measure would give outsized benefits to the wealthy and saddle millions of moderate-income Americans with tax increases. Among other things, the House legislation would reduce and ultimately repeal the tax Americans pay on the largest inheritances, while the Senate would limit that levy to fewer estates.

The bill is "pillaging the middle class to pad the pockets of the wealthiest and hand tax breaks to corporations shipping jobs out of America," declared House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California.

Thirteen House Republicans  all but one from high-tax California, New York and New Jersey  voted "no" because the plan would erase tax deductions for state and local income and sales taxes and limit property tax deductions to $10,000. Defectors included House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., who said the measure would "hurt New Jersey families."

Besides Johnson, Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Jeff Flake and John McCain of Arizona, Bob Corker of Tennessee and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have yet to commit to backing the tax measure.

Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation estimated the Senate plan would mean higher taxes beginning in 2021 for many families earning under $30,000 annually. By 2027, families making less than $75,000 would face tax boosts while those making more would enjoy cuts.

Republicans attributed the new figures to two provisions: one ending the measure's personal tax cuts starting in 2026 and the other abolishing the "Obamacare" requirement that people buy health coverage or pay tax penalties.

Ending the personal tax cuts for individuals in 2026, derided as a gimmick by Democrats, is designed to pare the bill's long-term costs to the Treasury. Legislation cannot boost budget deficits after 10 years if it is to qualify for Senate procedures that bar bill-killing filibusters.

Other features:

Both chambers' bills would nearly double the standard deduction to around $12,000 for individuals and about $24,000 for married couples and dramatically boost the current $1,000 per-child tax credit.

Both would erase the current $4,050 personal exemption and reduce or cancel other tax breaks. The House would limit interest deductions to future home mortgages of up to $500,000, down from today's $1 million. The Senate would end deductions for moving expenses and tax preparation.
Tyrone Bonner who is the caretaker and the person responsible for the security of the restored Banksy mural, poses with the mural in an undisclosed warehouse in New Orleans, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017. Collages by jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, a billboard by Yoko Ono, a steam calliope that plays songs and sounds associated with African-American music, and a chunk of wall bearing a restored mural by the stencil graffiti artist known as Banksy are among hundreds works being displayed as part of or during a months-long, citywide exhibit called Prospect.4. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, greets Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri upon his arrival at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. Hariri arrived in France on Saturday from Saudi Arabia and may be back in Beirut next week, seeking to dispel fears that he had been held against his will and forced to resign by Saudi authorities.(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
On Nov. 18:

In 1883, the United States and Canada adopted a system of Standard Time zones.

In 1886, the 21st president of the United States, Chester A. Arthur, died in New York.

In 1916, the World War I Battle of the Somme pitting British and French forces against German troops ended inconclusively after 4 months of bloodshed.

In 1928, Walt Disney's first sound-synchronized animated cartoon, "Steamboat Willie" starring Mickey Mouse, premiered in New York.

In 1936, Germany and Italy recognized the Spanish government of Francisco Franco.

In 1959, "Ben-Hur," the Biblical-era spectacle starring Charlton Heston, had its world premiere in New York.

In 1966, U.S. Roman Catholic bishops issued a Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence, which did away with the rule against eating meat on Fridays outside of Lent.

In 1976, Spain's parliament approved a bill to establish a democracy after 37 years of dictatorship.

In 1978, U.S. Rep. Leo J. Ryan, D-Calif., and four others were killed in Jonestown, Guyana, by members of the Peoples Temple; the killings were followed by a night of mass murder and suicide by more than 900 cult members.

In 1987, the congressional Iran-Contra committees issued their final report, saying President Ronald Reagan bore "ultimate responsibility" for wrongdoing by his aides. A fire at London King's Cross railway station claimed 31 lives.

In 1991, Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon freed Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland, the American dean of agriculture at the American University of Beirut.

In 2000, actors Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones were married in an extravagant wedding at The Plaza hotel in New York City.

In 2007, Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's government dismissed a last-ditch U.S. call to end emergency rule, a day after a visit by Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte. A methane blast ripped through a coal mine in eastern Ukraine, killing 101 miners. Chris Daughtry's band won favorite pop-rock album for "Daughtry," as well as breakthrough artist and adult contemporary artist at the American Music Awards. MTV Arabia, an Arab version of the pop-culture channel, began broadcasting.

In 2012, in the deadliest single attack in Israel's offensive against Islamic militants, 12 people were killed when an Israeli missile ripped through a two-story home in a residential area of Gaza City. Justin Bieber dominated the American Music Awards in Los Angeles, winning three trophies, including artist of the year.

In 2016, President-elect Donald Trump signaled a sharp policy shift to the right by picking Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions as attorney general, Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo to head the CIA and Michael Flynn as his national security adviser.

Thought for Today:

"If an historian were to relate truthfully all the crimes, weaknesses and disorders of mankind, his readers would take his work for satire rather than for history."

 Pierre Bayle, French philosopher and critic (born this date in 1647, died 1706).
Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor leaves U.S. District Court in Phoenix in October, where he was arrested on charges of leading a nationwide conspiracy to bribe doctors and pharmacists to widely prescribe an opioid cancer drug for people who didnt need it. Kapoor was arraigned in the case Thursday in federal court in Boston. Read more

The New Jersey attorney general amended a consumer-fraud and false-claims lawsuit against Insys Therapeutics Inc. Friday to add the company's billionaire founder, John N. Kapoor, as a defendant.

Insys, based in Chandler, Ariz., and Kapoor are accused of illegally pushing the powerful opioid fentanyl drug Subsys, approved only to treat cancer pain, on patients with routine pain.

Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino said Kapoor and Insys put "hundreds" of lives in jeopardy and "led to the death of at least one New Jersey resident," a Camden County woman, 32, who was prescribed Subsys for fibromyalgia. The lawsuit says two New Jersey state employee health-benefits plans paid $10.3 million to reimburse Subsys prescriptions between 2012 and 2016, while the state Workers Compensation Program paid another $300,000.

Insys sold $74.2 million worth of Subsys in New Jersey between 2012 and third quarter 2016. The lawsuit says Insys, led by Kapoor, aggressively pushed "off-label" uses of the opioid painkiller, which is 80 times more powerful than morphine.

On Thursday, Kapoor pleaded not guilty in federal court in Boston to criminal charges that he bribed doctors to prescribe the fentanyl-based spray. Kapoor, 74, who lives in Phoenix, and his subordinates are accused of paying speaker fees and other bribes to doctors to prescribe Subsys and tricking insurers to approve payments by misleading them about patients' pain diagnoses.
By day, he was a clerk to a federal judge, a Harvard Law School graduate at the start of his career. By night, he was a ghost hunter and a devotee of the macabre.

Brett Talley is now President Trump's nominee for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench as a U.S. District Court judge in Alabama.

Few in memory have been nominated with credentials quite like those of Talley, 36, an Alabama native, a political speechwriter, an author of horror books and a fledgling lawyer who has never tried a case.

In 2009 and 2010, he was a member of the Tuscaloosa Paranormal Research Group, a volunteer operation that since the early 2000s has held all-night vigils and used infrared cameras, handheld sensors and other devices to search for spectral entities in plantation mansions, abandoned hospitals and other buildings.

"He was a real help. . . . He was quiet and real smart," David Higdon, the group's founder and leader, told the Washington Post. "We try to do everything scientific."

Talley did not respond to requests for an interview.

In 2014, when he was a speechwriter on Capitol Hill, Talley took a Post reporter ghost hunting in a District cemetery. As he paused at graves, Talley said he always maintained a level of skepticism during the paranormal outings.

"I tend to believe there's a good scientific explanation for the weird things people see and hear," Talley said at the time. "But I'm open to the idea, and it's fun."

Talley's nomination has been received with some skepticism.

In recent days, he has drawn heat from multiple Democrats in Congress for failing to disclose in a Senate questionnaire that his wife, Ann Donaldson, is chief of staff to the White House counsel. Critics said her position could present a conflict if issues related to the White House were to go before the district court.

Last week, an American Bar Association review committee gave him a rare "not qualified" rating because of his lack of legal experience. He is one of four Trump nominees to receive "not qualified" ratings this year, the first such ratings to be disclosed by the association in more than a decade.

In October, during a nomination hearing, some Democratic lawmakers questioned whether he could be an impartial judge, citing posts he made as a conservative blogger several years ago. One blog post he wrote after the Newtown, Conn., massacre was titled, "A Call to Arms: It's Time to Join the National Rifle Association."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) said at the hearing: "I have never seen anyone in 24 years before this committee with the strong statements that you have made on weapons. And when I think of what just happened in Las Vegas, it makes it very difficult for me."

Talley responded that he wrote the blog to stimulate discussion. "If I am fortunate enough to be confirmed, I will take an oath to set aside my own views and to do justice," Talley testified.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R., Iowa) recently praised Talley as a good choice, saying in a statement he "has a wide breadth of various legal experience that has helped to expose him to different aspects of federal law and the issues that would come before him."

Largely overlooked in the controversy is perhaps the most remarkable detail in the professional history he gave the committee  that he was a member of the Tuscaloosa Paranormal Research Group for two years.

Talley was born in Birmingham, Ala., in 1981. He attended the University of Alabama, where he earned top marks, and then went to Harvard Law, serving as an editor of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy.

He graduated in 2007 and, while clerking for U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler in Tuscaloosa two years later, asked Higdon whether he could join the paranormal group.

Higdon recalled Talley as a bright and charming guy with a budding interest in the supernatural. For all that, Higdon said he was a little wary with Talley, as he is with other volunteers. Higdon wanted to be sure Talley was joining in earnest. The group had about 15 members.

"I wouldn't have someone as a joke in my group. We do go out and have fun. But there's a time to get down to business," Higdon said. "The whole time, I don't think he was doing it as a joke."

The group went out once or twice a month to investigate old plantation mansions, abandoned prisons and other buildings they had heard might be haunted. Higdon said Talley joined them at least a dozen times.

The group does not try to banish ghosts, Higdon said, only to identify them.

"All we can do is say yea or nay  you have something, but we can't get rid of it," he said.

He said Talley helped carry and unpack cases filled with thermal sensors, infrared cameras, tripods and K2 meters, handheld electromagnetic field devices favored by paranormal investigators. Talley helped monitor the all-night "investigations," Higdon said.

Just as Talley's interest in the horrific was blossoming, he left the paranormal group behind. He went to work for Judge Joel Dubina of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, headquartered in Atlanta.

About the same time, Talley was writing horror fiction, including novels. In 2011 his novel That Which Should Not Be was published by JournalStone and was a semifinalist for the Horror Writers Association Bram Stoker Award.

In a Q&A with Talley at the Unlocked Diary website, an interviewer wrote that the book has "awesomestastic gooeyness oozing from every page to where you will be licking it off your fingers and savoring it for days to come."

The interviewer asked Talley for his advice about the best way to get into trouble on a Friday night.

"I love old, abandoned buildings. Factories, insane asylums, that sort of thing," Talley wrote in the exchange. "I am always trying to get people to go with me, but no one ever does. You have to watch out or you'll get arrested for trespassing."

In 2012, Talley and Higdon co-authored Haunted Tuscaloosa, a short book of stories about ghostly doings in Alabama. At the time, Talley was working as a speechwriter for Republican Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

Higdon said Talley wrote the book using Higdon's recollections and ideas. In the introduction, Talley raises questions about the line between personal experience and verifiable fact.

"In this book, there are children who died too early, professors who never left the classroom and even the spirit of a collie that still serves its master, long after his death," Talley wrote in the introduction.

"Some will criticize these stories, saying they are not real history," he wrote. "But that raises a question. What is real history? Sure, we know the dates and the major players, but the color, the heart of the matter  that we see through eyewitnesses."

Talley describes himself as a Christian in his Twitter profile.

"I personally believe in good and evil," he said in an online video interview about his books. "Sometimes good and evil are sort of shades of gray and they're all matters of perspective. And sometimes things that seem evil may be good."

From 2013 to 2015, Talley worked as a speechwriter for Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio). In a statement to the Post, Portman said, "Brett Talley is one of the smartest, most talented lawyers that I know, and I have no doubt he will be a terrific district court judge for Alabama."

Talley then took a job as deputy solicitor general in the office of the Alabama attorney general.

He and his wife, Ann, were married in 2015 in Tuscaloosa, where they met as undergraduates at the University of Alabama. She also attended Harvard Law School.

Talley came to Washington with the Trump administration in January, and he was named deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy.

In the recent hearing held by the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Flake (R., Ariz.) asked Talley about his background as a horror fiction writer.

"How does that come in?" Flake said, according to a video of the hearing. "That's an interesting background for a judge."

Talley grinned broadly and said he would try to draw on his horror background when writing legal opinions.

"Well, Senator, I would hope that would at least make for some interesting opinions," Talley said. "And I will try to sneak in some horror references if I am fortunate enough to be confirmed."

Not everyone is amused. A scientist and a historian of science told the Post that Talley's activities and writing raise subtle but powerful questions about his views on science and the value of verifiable facts. Robert Proctor, a historian at Stanford University, studies science and technology, and the cultural production of ignorance, which he has termed agnotology.

"I don't think it's a good sign that a judge would embrace the reality of ghosts. What other parts of modern science would he be willing to reject? Climate change? Darwin's theory of evolution?" Proctor said in an email. "The judge will presumably be ruling on 21st-century disputes, not questions from the Middle Ages."

Higdon said he understands the skepticism about Talley's interest in the supernatural. He said that no one can prove ghosts exist. But he recalled the intensity he felt on a night not long ago when he had an "oh-my-gosh moment" in an old hospital, when a "full-blown shadow person" crossed his path in a basement corridor.

He said that many respectable people have believed in ghosts and that people like him across the country remain hopeful.

"We hope one day we can prove it," Higdon said. "It's faith."
Sunday, Nov. 12

Couple dies in Clinton crash

Parishioners of St. Johns Church in Clinton on Sunday gathered to remember Tony and Karen Hable, a husband and wife killed Nov. 18 in a crash on U.S. 51.

The entire parish is so in mourning and in shock over this accident, said the Rev. Jim Henning.

Their car hit a truck crossing the highway at Autumn Road. The Herald & Review on Wednesday reported the driver of the truck, Andrew J. Johnson, 29, of Decatur, also was involved in a fatal wreck in Macon in September. In both instances, Johnson was attempting to cross the highway and struck vehicles traveling straight, police said.

Monday, Nov. 13

Lake Decatur combed for evidence

Dive teams and FBI agents searched Lake Decatur near Ivy Hill Park for evidence related to the Aug. 27 shooting death of Zachary Hubbartt, 22.

Authorities have said he was lured to an abandoned house in the 1200 block of East Condit Street in Decatur for a drug deal. His body was found inside.

Officials said they found evidence in the lake, but wouldnt identify what it is.

Autumn D. Billings, of Decatur, faces charges of obstructing justice in connection with the concealment and disposal of the missing evidence in the lake. She had pleaded not guilty.

Anyone with information in the case is asked to call Decatur police at (217) 424-2711.

Tuesday, Nov. 14

Wanted: Moweaqua police chief applicants

Moweaqua is accepting applications for police chief and will be served by Christian and Shelby county police departments, officials said.

Police Chief Rob Maynard resigned last month after being suspended for a week. The villages only full-time officer, Chad Lamb, also resigned.

Maynards suspension was because of failure to attend several public events, misrepresenting hours worked and not overlapping hours with Lamb, according to the village.

Maynard said officials had created a hostile work environment.

Wednesday, Nov. 15

Now boarding: SkyWest gets backing

The Decatur Park District board voted 3-2 for SkyWest to provide jet service from Decatur Airport to Chicago.

The board previously endorsed Cape Air to be the sole air carrier at the facility.

The local board recommends what airline should get federal funding to ensure air service in rural parts of the country.

Several business leaders appeared at the board meeting to encourage the change.

Thursday, Nov. 16

Buffett donation spree continues

Howard Buffett is providing $1 million to Decaturs neighborhood revitalization effort. The interim Macon County sheriff and wealthy philanthropist pledged the money to assist in the citys project to improve quality of life and housing stock.

Buffett also is contributing funding to hire a full-time Macon County prosecutor to handle opioid cases.

Buffett has funded numerous community projects, including Macon County Law Enforcement Center, Boys and Girls Club and various investments around Scovill Park.

Friday, Nov. 17

Accused Mattoon High shooter case advances

Records have been provided to a psychiatrist preparing the mental evaluation of a student accused of shooting a classmate in the Mattoon High School cafeteria on Sept. 20.

The boy is charged in juvenile court with aggravated battery with a firearm, a felony. He is held at a juvenile detention facility.

The boy's attorney, Ed Piraino of Champaign, told the judge at a hearing that he has received a hard drive containing police reports about the shooting.

The boy's next hearing is scheduled Jan. 11 to give the psychiatrist time to complete the evaluation.
After a five-month search, Pennsylvania Ballet has found its next executive director in Switzerland. Shelly Power, 61, artistic director and CEO of the Prix de Lausanne dance competition, will take over Philadelphia's dance company and school full-time on Feb. 12, but is phasing in sooner.

"I like to build things, I like to develop things, whether it's programs or strategic planning, and implementing and organizing strategically the path ahead," she said.

Power knows a few dancers at Pennsylvania Ballet, "and I am very excited to reunite with them"  and to reunite with a working dance company and school. "There is so much inspiration that comes from being around dancers that are not only so talented but also so dedicated and passionate about what they do. It makes going to work every day fabulous. It's part of what I miss in my current position. I've been around a ballet school for my whole life, it's my family, and I really look forward to re-engaging in that atmosphere."

A former dancer, Power spent a dozen years as the administrative and artistic director of the Houston Ballet Academy. She took over the annual international dance competition in Lausanne in September 2016 but worked for the organization six months earlier in an unofficial capacity.

Born in Tulsa, Power lived there until age 5, and then moved to Southbridge, Mass. She studied at the schools of Boston Ballet and Houston Ballet, and graduated from the University of Houston with a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies with specializations in psychology and business. She also studied non-profit management at Case Western University's Weatherhead School of Management.

In her first decade heading the Houston Ballet school, enrollment doubled to 600 year-round students, plus another 400 in summer, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Power will come into a company that experienced high turnover in the dancer ranks after the arrival of artistic director Angel Corella, and is now contemplating how to finish a North Broad Street facility that opened several years ago with studios and offices, but not enough of either.

"I certainly think the priority is to look at the funding sources and the funding potential as we go forward looking at planning the building," she said. "I think there is going to be a period of time, it shouldn't be too long, to assess what that [the potential] is and then we can step into the next phase in a reasonable and responsible way."

Establishing an endowment in the long-term is important, she said. "We have the campaign to get the building built, but I think you have to do it all together as one [along with endowment] so the stability of the company has a foundation financially."

One of the reasons she would like to see the building on North Broad completed is to get the artistic and administrative sides of the company together.

"For me that's an absolute priority," she said. "When you walk around and hear the music and see the dancers, you are reminded of why you do what you do and work so hard. As a dancer, when you see the hard work the staff does to make it possible for you to be on stage, there is an appreciation. I think that is going to be a really important game-changer for Pennsylvania Ballet."
WXPN general manager Roger LaMay stepped down from his position as board chairman of National Public Radio to focus on his duties at XPN. He denied a story indicating that he left the position because of a complaint regarding inappropriate behavior.

LaMay stepped down as chairman of NPR's board following the conclusion of his second term, effective Nov. 15. He did not resign as chairman of the board of directors; rather, he chose not to accept the board's nomination for a third term as chair. However, in a report from NPR, writers David Folkenflik and Merrit Kennedy cite a "knowledgeable source" who claims that LaMay is the subject of a complaint that alleges inappropriate behavior. In response to Folkenflik and Kennedy's story, LaMay said in a statement to NPR that he was not resigning because of "a third-party story about my personal life over a decade ago."

LaMay joined WXPN in 2003. Prior to that, he started the news division at Fox29.

"We take all reports and their consequences very seriously, it is important to respect the confidentiality of everyone involved," a statement from NPR reads. "The NPR Board will not comment about specific complaints or personnel matters. Nor will the Board confirm whether a complaint has been filed."

LaMay has since released a statement, through XPN, to Philly.com denying that an alleged complaint is behind his decision to step down, adding that the role "has taken a great deal of my time and attention" that otherwise would go to XPN. LaMay will remain GM of XPN:

At this week's NPR Board meeting, I informed the board that I would not accept their nomination for a 3rd term as Chair. It has been a privilege to lead this great institution but has taken a great deal of my time and attention away from WXPN. It is especially difficult to step away while NPR is dealing with multiple internal challenges right now. While I remain a member of the NPR Board, my focus needs to be at WXPN with so many great projects underway here.

LaMay also indicated that to his knowledge, no complaint against him has been filed:

A story ran on NPR and elsewhere that suggested that there may have been another reason for my decision. I was recently made aware of a concern expressed by a male NPR staffer about a secondhand story he heard about me that took place more than a decade ago. It is my understanding that no complaint has been filed.

LaMay did not offer details regarding the nature of the apparent complaint.

In their report, NPR said that the broadcasting company is currently in the midst of a rash of harassment claims. Most recently, NPR's news head Michael Oreskes left his position with the company because of a number of complaints that alleged inappropriate behavior dating back to his stint at the New York Times 20 years ago.
Natalie Szarak and Neil Deegan

September 16, 2017, in Avalon, N.J.

Hello there

In 2004, Neil was 13 and an avid member of Venturing, a leadership skills group affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America. Friend and fellow Venturer Stephen's mother was a group leader, and she sometimes brought Stephen's sister Natalie, then 10, on camping trips and other outings. Natalie officially joined the group at 14.

As the years passed, Neil and Natalie became friends. He graduated from Temple University and went to work on Allyson Schwartz's congressional campaign. When Natalie was home in Port Richmond on breaks from the University of South Carolina, they would usually meet for lunch. But on such a break in May 2011, Neil, who grew up in Northwood, had a different idea. He had just bought a place in Port Richmond and asked Natalie to accompany him to Ikea, where they picked out a houseful of furniture together.

In late 2012, Natalie returned to Pennsylvania and needed a place to live. "My mom knew Neil's old roommate moved out, and she said, 'Why don't you see if you can live with him for a while until you find another solution?' " Natalie said.

She became Neil's roommate in January 2013  a move she saw as temporary. "I was planning to move back to South Carolina eventually," Natalie said.

Then that February, Stephen  her brother and his friend  had a brain aneurysm. "I was in a very distraught place," she said. One dark day, Natalie needed the support of her friend. "I'm coming to cuddle," she told Neil. Their friendship deepened as they supported each other and Stephen, who lost the use of one side of his body but who has otherwise made a full recovery.

Neil and Natalie did just about everything together, delighting in each other's company.

Then that May, Natalie's beloved grandmother Alice died. "He came to the funeral with me, and everybody kept saying, 'He's great! You picked a great guy,' " Natalie said. "But we weren't dating."

Neil felt a confusing mixture of awkwardness and hopefulness.

When they were children, Natalie had a schoolgirl crush on her brother's buddy. When they were adults, Neil developed romantic feelings for her but never acted on them. "It was never the right time," he said. Her becoming his roommate seemed to seal their relationship as platonic, he said.

Yet here they were at her grandma's funeral, and people were introducing him as Natalie's boyfriend.

"I was unsure of what we were," Neil said.

On June 1, in their shared living room, Neil told Natalie he wanted to be more than friends and said he wondered if her family was right, and that they had already become more. Natalie told Neil she thought they had.

It was easy to fall in love with someone she had known most of her life, trusted, and liked so much. And she admired him, too. "He's very passionate about everything that he does. And he's just always so kind."

As their friendship had grown over the years, Neil found that Natalie could consistently make him laugh, that she was the one person who could make him forget about work for a while and get him to try new things. "She is exactly the kind of person you would want to spend the rest of your life with  she is certainly the exact person I wanted to."

Natalie, now 27, is a caretaker and is finishing her master's degree in psychology and counseling at Holy Family University. Neil, now 30, is managing partner at Rittenhouse Political Partners.

They still live in the Port Richmond house, with much of the Ikea furniture they picked out together, and their puppy, Harley, and cats Georgia and Carson.

Their engagement

Natalie loves Savannah, Ga., so much that the couple had already vacationed their several times, so in 2016, Neil figured he could propose a romantic Valentine's Day weekend there without raising suspicion that he would be proposing something else.

He told Natalie they were heading to Forsyth Park to catch an architecture tour. "I was not suspicious," Natalie said. "We both love buildings and real estate."

They walked around the whole park, ending at the fountain. That's where Neil knelt, told her he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He took the ring box from his blazer pocket, opened it so she could see, and asked, "Will you marry me?"

"Is this for real?" she asked. It was suddenly hard to breathe. "I need water."

He assured her it was real. Very.

"Yes!" she said. "But I still need some water." Neil took some out of his backpack.

A photographer took pictures. They took a horse-drawn carriage around Savannah and had a fancy Southern-style dinner at the Olde Pink House.

It was so them

The couple married on the beach in Avalon, N.J., at the Windrift Hotel. After years of hearing Marguerite Sexton, founder of Journeys of the Heart, give beautiful invocations at political events, Neil asked her to recommend an officiant for his wedding. Though officially retired, Marguerite said she'd do the honors herself and created a personalized ceremony embroidered with the story of how the couple's lives brought them to their wedding day.

Natalie and Neil chose a reading from Winnie the Pooh, and recognized those who couldn't be present: Natalie's grandmother, Neil's grandmother Betty, and Neil's father Richard, who died when Neil was 11.

It was all beautiful and sentimental, and yet the couple couldn't stop giggling. "Somebody was getting proposed to, and we had a plane with a banner fly by eight times during our ceremony," Natalie said.

Neil's brother and best man Michael nudged him. Pay attention to what's happening, not the plane, he urged. But it was so loud, and all 170 guests would look up in unison.

The reception was indoors, in a second-floor room with giant windows overlooking the ocean. "What I remember when we walked in was it was so beautiful and light in there, with flowers everywhere, and all of our family and friends," Natalie said.

There were a few short speeches, from the best man, vice best man, matron of honor, and father of the bride. The groom's uncle led a prayer.

And then: Charlie Rose.

Yes, the Charlie Rose. Neil and Natalie were delighted to discover they both adore his interviews. They joked that they should ask him to marry them. On a secret lark, Neil found Rose's assistant's email. And so, after the toasts, several TVs lit up with a video surprise for the bride: Rose himself, congratulating the couple and thanking them for watching him and paying attention to world events.

Post-Charlie, they danced.

Awestruck

Sitting together at their sweetheart table, seeing how the flowers, the lighting, and, most of all, the people they love had all come together, "was overwhelming," Natalie said. "They were all there to be part of our special moment," Neil agreed.

The budget crunch

A bargain: The couple loved Manic Botanic's work but had no budgetary space for the florist's first plan. The second one came back at half the price. "It was clear to us that we got so much more than what we paid for. They went completely over and above what we expected," Neil said.

The splurge: "We didn't know what we were looking for until we saw it," Neil said. JPG Photography's journalistic style was it. "We could have probably gone with something else that was not what we wanted for much less, but this was exactly what we were looking for."

Honeymooning

Somewhere in the Pacific, sometime in 2018.

Behind the scenes

Officiant: Marguerite Sexton, now-retired founder of Journeys of the Heart, Jenkintown.

Venue: Windrift Hotel, Avalon, N.J.

Food: Windrift Hotel and A Piece of Cake, Villas, N.J.

Music: Justin Byrne, Synergetic Sound, Bensalem.

Photography: Adam Nettleton, JPG Photography, Philadelphia.

Videography: Gustavo Garcia, JPG Photography, Philadelphia.

Flowers: Lillian Bashenko, Manic Botanic, Corbin City, N.J.

Dress: Designed by Stella Yorke, purchased at Rena Elle Couture, Maple Shade.

Hair/Makeup: The Studio, Villas, N.J.

Groom's attire: Generation Tux.
In this May 25, 2017, file photo, Republican Greg Gianforte speaks to supporters after winning Montana's open congressional seat. Read more

In newly released documents, Greg Gianforte, then the Republican candidate in Montana's special congressional election, told police that a reporter from the Guardian had grabbed his wrist during a physical altercation at his campaign headquarters in May.

His statements appear to contradict the apology he later issued, where he said the reporter Ben Jacobs "did not initiate any physical contact with me, and I had no right to assault you," raising questions about whether the now Congressman was truthful with authorities.

Gianforte won Montana's lone U.S. House seat 24 hours after the assault and in June, he pleaded guilty to charges that he assaulted Jacobs and was sentenced to 40 hours of community service, 20 hours of anger management classes and a $385 fine in court costs, according to the Associated Press.

The documents from Gallatin County law enforcement, made public for the first time Friday, provides more details about the incident at the politician's campaign headquarters on May 24, which was witnessed by other journalists, captured on audio and made national headlines.

Gianforte had been preparing for an interview with Fox News when Jacobs came into the room and, according to an audio recording of the incident published by the Guardian, asked Gianforte to responds to the Congressional Budget Office score of the Affordable Care Act.

Sounds of the ensuing physical altercation can be heard in the audio, where Jacobs also says that his glasses were broken.

"I'm sick and tired of you guys!" Gianforte says. "The last guy that came in here did the same thing. Get the hell out of here! Get the hell out of here! The last guy did the same thing. Are you with the Guardian?"

Jacobs soon tweeted: "Greg Gianforte just body slammed me and broke my glasses."

Gianforte's campaign initially denied Jacobs claim, and instead, placed the blame on Jacobs and said he had been the aggressor. The newly released documents shows that Gianforte also initially blamed Jacobs in the assault.

The police report details Gianforte's version of events, where he said Jacobs "stuck a microphone in my face" and "obnoxious questions."

Gianforte told police he asked Jacobs to leave, but he "stuck the microphone in my face again."

"I probably shouldn't do it but I reached out for his phone . . . he grabbed my wrist, he spun, and we ended up on the floor. .. so he pulled me down on top of him," the report quotes Gianforte saying.

Gianforte, according to the report, made the statement: "when he grabbed my arm . . . kind of. . . grabbed my wrist and pulled me into him . . . we spun, hit the table . . . "

The "liberal media  is trying to make a story," Gianforte told police, according to the report.

Soon after the incident, the Gianforte campaign released a statement that mirrored what we now know Gianforte had told police:

"Greg then attempted to grab the phone that was pushed in his face. Jacobs grabbed Greg's wrist, and spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground," the statement reads. "It's unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ."

In Gianforte's later apology to Jacobs, Gianforte took "full responsibility" for the incident, saying "you did not initiate any physical contact with me, and I had no right to assault you."

Calls to the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office for comment about Gianforte's initial statements to police were referred to the County Attorney's office and a representative could not be immediately reached. Travis Hall, a spokesperson for Gianforte, did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
SAN FRANCISCO  When Gretchen Carlson, a former Fox News anchor who now campaigns against sexual harassment, took the stage at a TED event this month, she described 2017 as a tipping point in the fight against workplace misconduct.

But behind the scenes, TED owner Chris Anderson and other senior officials had been grappling with accusations for much of the year that their own conferences, famed for turning short speeches by leading figures into viral videos, had not been a safe place for women  and that the atmosphere of predatory male behavior was getting worse.

At least five people, including a past main stage speaker, told TED officials that they were harassed or groped during the organization's flagship conference in Vancouver in April, according to interviews and email correspondence seen by the Washington Post.

The nonprofit's general counsel Nishat Ruiter said in an April email to TED's senior leadership that she, too, had been "touched inappropriately but let it go." She added she was finding it difficult to believe the issue was being "addressed by TED effectively. We are clearly not doing enough."

In a statement to the Post, TED acknowledged that several incidents had occurred at the Vancouver conference and said it had taken action.

"We did hear from a small number of women attendees at TED2017 about harassment. As a result, two men were immediately disinvited and won't be returning," TED said.

TED also said: "Creating a safe and welcoming environment is critical to the success of our conferences, and we have no tolerance for harassment of any kind. As soon as we heard there were issues at our conference in 2017 we took immediate action to address the specific allegations, then worked with leading experts to upgrade our code of conduct. Today we make the code of conduct extremely clear to all TED conference attendees, and encourage our community to report violations."

In the decades since TED's original owners got the idea of turning 18-minute talks by world leaders, chief executives, academics, artists and others into a business under the slogan "ideas worth spreading," the conferences and spinoff events have become known as a meeting place for the global elite, particularly leaders in the technology industry. The Sapling Foundation, Anderson's private foundation, acquired TED in 2001.

The gatherings are regarded as a place where the likes of former Microsoft chief executive Bill Gates, scientist Richard Dawkins and former vice president Al Gore could be encountered in the hallways, and the organization's talks have been watched online more than 1 billion times worldwide.

Most people pay $10,000 to attend and must apply for tickets.

The Post reviewed email exchanges among senior TED officials at the time of the April conference, sparked by a complaint by a longtime attendee, who complained of sexual harassment and being offered "every drug known to man." The problem was so bad that the woman decided to pack her bags and leave, telling Anderson that it would be her last TED conference.

Anderson forwarded the complaint to his leadership team, saying, "I don't want to overstate what's here (until we can find more) but I do think we'll need to think seriously about what more we can do."

Tom Rielly, the organization's director of partnerships whose satirical monologues are the traditional closing event of the conferences, wrote in response that harassment had occurred in past years.

"I'm afraid as difficult as it is to talk about, experiences like this have been going on for years, to varying degrees," Rielly wrote. "I agree this is absolutely heartbreaking and stomach turning." He also suggested that alcohol could be fueling the misconduct.

Ruiter, the general counsel, said that she had heard of more such incidents at this year's conference.

"I heard from so many women unprompted about the type of advances that were everywhere, and that felt 'different' from years past," Ruiter wrote. "This included a TED Prize winner and two TEDsters who spoke to me about this and more than one staff member."

Ruiter then quoted complaints she had heard from other women at the conference.

"I was literally jumped on, grabbed, and held," Ruiter wrote. "Guys are taking major liberties."

And it went on. "Don't say anything . . . but please change this," one woman pleaded with Ruiter, according to the email she sent to her colleagues.

TED did not make Anderson, Rielly or Ruiter available for interviews. The three did not respond to personal inquiries.

Nilofer Merchant, an author and former Apple executive whose 2013 TED talk received nearly 3 million views, said in an interview that sexual harassment is not a new problem for the TED conferences.

"The same thing was happening five years ago. It's still happening," she said. "What's different now is we're sharing our stories."

At the April conference, Merchant said, a longtime attendee pressed his erection against her at a bar. She recalls mouthing to her friend who was nearby: Help me.

"In this awkward moment, you're trying not to make it an issue," she said in an interview. "I'm trying to spend my time at TED, which I paid $10,000 to attend, talking to people about ideas and not worry about the guy with his boner pressed against me."

Merchant said she saw the same man approach two of her friends, who were talking to a TED newcomer in her early 20s, and say, "Oh, three black women together. What should I do with that?"

She reported the incidents to TED officials. She said she was only told Thursday that the man she had reported had been banned.

In their email exchanges, Anderson, Rielly and others discussed ways to address such problems, including whether to make an announcement from the stage about an anonymous hotline, created in November of 2016, that would forward complaints to TED leadership.

They discussed communicating a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment of attendees, creating clear guidelines and penalties for behaviors that constitute harassment, and coming up with a formal process to handle complaints.

The TED officials also expressed worries about the complaints becoming public.

"It seems 51 percent chance or more that there will be at least social media posts about the issue if not articles (What is our response)," Rielly wrote.

Still, Rielly also wrote that the first step to addressing the issue could be to "Admit we have a serious problem."

TED told the Post that in November 2016 it had inserted language to its code of conduct for attendees that specifically prohibited harassment "in any form" and added a reporting process for incidents. In the summer, TED included additional language that banned "sexual harassment of any kind, including unwelcome sexual attention and inappropriate physical contact." It also began to promote the policy actively to attendees, mentioning it from the stage.

Big corporate conferences, including TED, present a particular challenge in setting standards of appropriate behavior because of the blend of work and socializing and because attendees are not direct employees.

In Silicon Valley, such events are seen as crucial to cultivating relationships that could lead to business deals. TED says its conferences are for "high-level relationship building," and forbid direct sales pitches.

Jess Ladd, a TED fellow and founder of Callisto, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting sexual assault, said conferences often involve alcohol and off-site networking, which can open the door to improper interactions.

"If your boss harasses you, you know you can go to HR," she said. "But if it's a powerful investor or an academic in your field, it's really hard to know what to do and what your options are."

Conferences approach the problem in different ways. The World Economic Forum's annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, said it screens attendees who are not heads of state or chief executives, and revokes invitations if it learns of misconduct.

Some conferences have been updating their policies in light of recent high-profile sexual harassment scandals.

Summit, which attracts an elite technology industry crowd, updated its sexual harassment policy this year to include language that explicitly bans "unwelcome sexual attention," "inappropriate physical contact" and "sexual images in public spaces."

South by Southwest, the annual gathering in Austin, referred a reporter to its code of conduct, which does not specifically mention a ban on sexual harassment by attendees (it bans harassment of all kinds). On its website, DEF CON publishes a similar code of conduct. The Aspen Ideas Festival said it has no published harassment policy for attendees, but it encourages staff to report incidents.

Internally, TED also has faced sexual harassment complaints against its own managers.

Jordan Reeves, a former junior staffer, said in an interview that while he was working at the organization, he was harassed by Rielly in 2014. Rielly told him "incredibly" explicit jokes at work and told him that his "ass looked nice" in jeans.

"I was hearing from everybody, men and women alike, about misconduct," Reeves said. "It seemed so systemic that I was overwhelmed."

Reeves said he complained about the incidents to Anderson and another executive, telling them that "if things don't change systemically I'm going to leave."

Anderson replied that Rielly was only joking and asked Reeves to keep the conversation between them, according to Reeves.

Reeves, who said he cried during the meeting, gave notice about six months later.

TED said in its response: "There was indeed an unhappy staff departure in 2014, but it's not correct that the situation was not investigated. We believe it was dealt with appropriately."

In 2014, TED offered to settle a sexual harassment case with a young woman who worked on one of the organization's digital marketing teams for about $31,000, according to documents obtained by the Washington Post.

The woman's lawyer told Anderson that the woman's boss had repeatedly asked her about her sex life, according to a May 2014 complaint she filed to TED, which was obtained by the Post.

After she reported the misconduct, her boss took her off some accounts she had developed  a move she saw as retaliatory, according to the complaint. That document also alleges that TED had initially asked her to keep working under her boss.

TED did not comment on the settlement.

The accusations against TED come at a time when allegations of sexual harassment and abuse by powerful men are roiling Hollywood, Silicon Valley and Congress.

The heightened awareness of sexual misconduct in the workplace and other professional settings was sparked in part by Carlson, who reached a $20 million settlement with Fox in 2016 after suing her old boss Roger Ailes for sexual harassment.

"Right now is the tipping point," Carlson said at the TEDWomen conference in New Orleans this month, choking up at points throughout her 14-minute speech. "We are watching history happen. More and more women are coming forward and saying, 'Enough is enough.' "

The conversation between the leadership of TED in April was set off by an email from Brooke Hammerling, the founder of Brew Media Relations.

On April 27, as the annual conference was underway in Vancouver, she wrote an email to Anderson, saying she had felt "fearful as a female" at the event and had decided to leave a day early.

"This is my last TED," she wrote, according to the messages viewed by the Post.

"I was told by different people many married that for example I was hot, my figure was awesome, did I sleep with"  she named a technology celebrity  "and I was asked why I wasn't married because I was 'hot' so should be able to land a dude," Hammerling wrote. "I was offered every drug known to man . . . I was pushed. Literally pushed."

"Wow, this just about made me throw up," Anderson responded.

After Anderson told Rielly about Hammerling's complaint, Rielly told the TED leadership team that Brooke is a "great person" whom he knows has experienced unwanted attention in the past.

"If she left it must've been really bad," Rielly wrote.

In an interview Friday, Hammerling said: "I was really uncomfortable and disturbed by it, as were other women who were in the vicinity."

She praised the initial response by Anderson as "wonderful" and said she had been reimbursed for her attendance.

"He was upset about it and responded to me immediately," she said. "We got together on the phone, and I gave them my suggestions."

After that: "I never heard anything," she said.

"TED it is meant to be a different experience," Hammerling said. "It's meant to be a collective of thoughtful people who have taken time  at great expense  to learn and expand, to be part of something really beautiful. It's supposed to be a safe environment."
Timothy Stroye says he put his hands in the air as he was arrested in an incident that has led to hate crimes charges against former Bordentown Township Police Chief Frank Nucera Jr. Read more

In the FBI's stunningly detailed bias complaint this month against the former Bordentown Township police chief, the victim is "Civilian 1"  a young black man whose violent arrest a year ago led to the high-profile civil rights case.

According to the FBI, Chief Frank M. Nucera Jr., who later abruptly retired, slammed the head of Civilian 1 against a metal door jamb while the man was in handcuffs and later let loose a stream of N-words and other racial slurs, including saying that blacks were "like ISIS." The remarks alarmed one of his officers, who secretly recorded them.

On Friday, in his first interview, Civilian 1  Timothy Stroye, 19, of Trenton  described the incident at the Ramada hotel off Route 206 from his perspective, telling of a harrowing encounter in which he was at once fearful and defiant. The incident was the beginning of a painful series of events for him, he said, including months in jail and the sudden death of his father.

Whatever may have motivated Nucera, who is white, when he shoved Stroye's head into the door jamb, Stroye said he didn't hear the chief utter slurs.

Community leaders also have said they were surprised to learn Nucera harbored such hidden hatred.

The FBI said that after the attack on Stroye "on or about Sept. 1, 2016," Nucera told one of the officers who witnessed it that he and numerous other officers had responded to a call for backup because there were "six unruly [expletive N-words]" at the hotel.

Stroye said Nucera struck him at the top of a second-floor flight of stairs as he was being escorted to a cruiser by two officers.

"Things were blurry," he said. "I blacked out a while."

He said he reacted with "some disrespectful things"  he threatened to spit on Nucera.

The chief taunted him back: "Everyone is a tough guy when they're cuffed. I'll uncuff you, and then I'll see how tough you are."

Moments earlier, Stroye said, officers had put him down on the hallway floor, and he noticed four backup officers, including Nucera, coming toward him. Two had their hands on their guns, though neither drew his weapon.

"I thought they were going to shoot me," he said.

Stroye told the Inquirer and Daily News on Friday that authorities had informed him just the week before that he might be called to testify against the former chief. But he said he wasn't aware Nucera had been arrested on hate-crime charges and that this had made national headlines. He said the FBI had not interviewed him about the incident, which federal authorities say was a racially motivated assault.

Stroye's account of the encounter matched many of the allegations in the federal complaint, but he provided details.

"Justice needs to be served," Stroye said.

Stroye's public defender could not be reached for comment, and attempts to reach Nucera also were unsuccessful. He has not named a lawyer, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey.

Stroye said he had gone to the Ramada with his girlfriend, her aunt and uncle, and her three young cousins for a birthday getaway. The adults had paid for a two-bedroom suite so everyone could spend the night, but Stroye said that the next day the hotel clerk mistakenly thought he had stayed in a separate unit and had not paid the bill.

As he emerged from the hotel pool, with a towel draped over his shoulders but still dripping, Stroye said the clerk falsely accused him of "stealing a room which cost $60 a night" and called the police.

Ginny Singh, the general manager at the Ramada, said he was hired months after the incident and all of the files had been turned over to the FBI. A manager on duty Friday afternoon said she, too, had begun working at the hotel after the incident.

Stroye lives with his grandmother and works for a fast-food restaurant. The Inquirer and Daily News obtained his name through an open public records request.

He was 18 at the time of the incident and it marked his first time in jail as an adult, he said, adding that he had a juvenile record that includes shoplifting convictions.

He was charged with resisting arrest, assault on an officer, and theft in the Ramada melee. Unable to post $7,500 bail, he was held for three weeks in the Burlington County Jail. While in isolation there after a scuffle with a corrections officer, he learned that his father, also named Timothy, 43, had died of a massive heart attack.

"The last time I saw my dad, he was good," said Stroye. "My dad was healthy, joking around."

Falicia Stroye, an agency nurse, said that for her son, "the day his father died was the worst day of his life" and "he said the second worst day of his life was being abused" during the hotel incident.

The mother of three said that when her son was confronted by police, he "did fight back, but he was Maced and he was reacting to it."

According to Timothy Stroye, the dispute over the hotel bill escalated when his girlfriend, then 16, started shouting that one of the officers was grabbing her neck and he tried to go to her rescue. One officer "became overly aggressive," he said, spraying him at close range.

Stroye, who has asthma, said he began choking. He said he raised the towel to his face, but the officer continued to spray him. He shoved the towel into the officer's face and a scuffle ensued.

"I wasn't resisting. I was no threat to them," Stroye said.

The two officers initially dispatched to the hotel called for backup. Nucera and three others arrived.

Stroye said Nucera shoved him two other times as he was being removed from the hotel, knocking his head against a glass door at the bottom of the stairs and then against the top of the patrol car's door as he was placed inside. At the station, Stroye reported that his head hurt and he felt dizzy. He requested medical care but then decided against going to the hospital.

Acting Bordentown Township Police Chief Brian Pesce, who succeeded Nucera in February, declined to comment on Stroye's version, but called the federal allegations against Nucera "shocking and troubling."

Pesce told civil rights activists at a meeting last week that the department had made a "360-degree philosophical change." He rejected suggestions the department has a widespread and deep-seated problem with racism.

"This was not a systematic or cultural thing," said Pesce, a 19-year veteran of the department. "This was the action of one employee, one person."

Stroye agreed to a plea deal in which charges against him from the September 2016 incident were dropped, and he was sentenced to 180 days in jail and two years probation after pleading guilty to aggravated assault for his scuffle with the corrections officer. He was released in July after serving about four months. His former girlfriend, now 17, was placed in a pretrial program, he said.

Stroye said he hopes to obtain his GED and pursue a career as a music producer.

"If it took for me to be a victim to bring justice, then I can't say I regret it," Stroye said. "I just wish it had transpired differently."

Staff writer Mensah M. Dean contributed to this article.
Sen. Bob Menendez fights tears Thursday while speaking to reporters outside Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Courthouse after U.S. District Judge William H. Walls declared a mistrial. Read more

Sen. Bob Menendez is a free man, but not yet home free.

New Jersey's most powerful Democratic leaders quickly rallied around Menendez within hours of the mistrial in his federal corruption case Thursday, signaling he probably will be his party's nominee for the Senate again next year.

Yet the years-long ordeal of an investigation and trial took a severe toll on his public standing. He faces a review by the Senate ethics committee and a potential retrial, perhaps in the midst of a reelection campaign. And Democrats are left with a wounded incumbent who is nonetheless determined to seek vindication in the form of another six-year term.

"He's got himself a court of public opinion problem, not a legal problem," said Bill Caruso, a Democratic strategist and former chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews.

An October Quinnipiac University poll showed that 59 percent of likely voters don't think Menendez deserves reelection  against 19 percent who do.

Menendez will have to turn those figures around.

It was only 15 years ago when Democratic leaders turned on then-Sen. Robert Torricelli, forcing him to drop his reelection bid with just a month left in the race when it became clear he couldn't recover from his own ethics scandal, and might lose.

Yet despite Menendez conceding that he failed to disclose the luxurious gifts and free flights he accepted from a friend and donor, New Jersey's most powerful Democrats vocally backed him, limiting virtually any chance of a serious primary challenge next year.

Democrats rallied to support Menendez

Gov.-elect Phil Murphy  who had campaigned as an independent voice free from insider influence  announced his support for Menendez almost immediately, making it one of his first major statements since winning election this month. So did Senate President Steve Sweeney (D., Gloucester). George E. Norcross III, the leader of South Jersey's Democratic machine, cemented it, pledging his backing for the senator's reelection and calling Menendez "a great champion for New Jersey."

Norcross' brother, U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross, (D., N.J.) was seen as a potential successor had Menendez been convicted.

And in Washington, Democrats' Senate campaign arm said it would support Menendez, as it always does for its incumbents.

Even Torricelli, who openly coveted Menendez's seat, said he won't run. "It was important to be prepared in case there was a conviction," he said in an interview.

"I don't think there's a Democrat powerful enough in this state to take on the incredibly powerful and unified supporters of Senator Menendez," said Brigid Harrison, a political science professor at Montclair State University.

Menendez has forecast how he hopes to regain favor: For months he has aggressively highlighted his work for key constituencies, including Latinos, Jewish groups and New Jerseyans hit by Superstorm Sandy.

"All we have to do is rely on his history as a United States senator fighting for New Jersey," said Menendez political adviser Mike Soliman, who stopped just short of announcing a reelection campaign but predicted an announcement "within weeks."

The rapid swell of party support didn't sit well with everyone.

Jay Lassiter, a liberal activist from Cherry Hill, called it "disgusting and unfortunately all too predictable."

After all, Menendez admitted to going to bat for his friend and major donor, South Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen, who in a separate criminal case was convicted of bilking Medicare out of $105 million.

Even though Menendez wasn't convicted of a crime "it certainly stinks and I think voters may have an issue with it," said Chris Russell, a New Jersey Republican consultant who has advised U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur.

The GOP will almost certainly try to exploit the trial in next year's campaign.

However, Menendez has a deep reservoir of political support.

Along with the backing of New Jersey insiders, he is beloved in the Latino community, drawing support far from his home state, Harrison said.

He is also in good standing with Democrats in the Senate, where he is seen as an effective legislator and reliable ally. And sitting lawmakers are loathe to turn against fellow incumbents, unless they have to. Some Democrats privately note that, if Menendez can't recover politically, party bosses would have time to urge him to move aside for the sake of holding the seat.

Will he be tried again?

A key question may be whether the Justice Department decides to retry the case  and how quickly. Though Menendez has time to repair his image before the campaign begins in earnest, another trial could put the allegations back into the headlines.

But jurors cast significant doubts about the case. One told reporters that the jury favored acquittal on most charges by a 10-2 count.

Prosecutors' inability to convict Menendez on even a false statements charge "suggests that they were probably even less convinced of the actual corruption charges," said Andrew Levchuk, a former trial attorney in the Department of Justice's public corruption unit. That count, for failing to disclose gifts from Melgen as required by Senate ethics rules, was the most straightforward of allegations.

Levchuk, now at the firm Bulkley Richardson, said prosecutors' task is complicated by the Supreme Court's 2016 McDonnell decision, which raised the bar for bribery cases after the charges against Menendez had first been filed.

Some former prosecutors still think the government will try again.

The Department of Justice has had a chance to see which witnesses were effective and what arguments did, or did not, resonate with jurors, said Rebecca Monck Ricigliano, a former federal prosecutor who tried corruption cases in Manhattan.

"I would be very surprised if they didn't," retry the case, said Ricigliano, now a criminal defense attorney with Crowell & Moring LLP.

Friendly political climate

Given the Democratic backlash against President Trump, New Jersey voters might well opt for an ethically scarred senator over a GOP replacement who might back Trump. Menendez already won election to the Senate once, in 2006, while running under the cloud of a federal investigation. (He was never charged).

"I would find it really hard to believe that a Republican U.S. Senate candidate would win the state of New Jersey in 2018 with President Trump in the White House," Harrison said.

Jack Ciattarelli, a state assemblyman who unsuccessfully ran for the GOP nomination in this year's gubernatorial race, is seen as one potential Republican challenger.

While Menendez may not be found guilty of a crime, Ciattarelli said, "it's the worst kind of violation of public trust in terms of the type of indulgences in which he engaged."

New Jersey last elected a Republican senator in 1972.

Breaking that streak will require separating the race from Trump, Russell said, and instead making it "about who you want representing you."
President Trump's decision to mock Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., for groping a sleeping woman while posing for a photo has once again made him a central figure in the national discussion about sexual assault, harassment and misconduct  and has again brought attention to past accusations against the president himself.

As a growing number of prominent men have publicly faced accusations, Trump has been selective in responding, largely on the basis of whether the accused is an ally or foe and focusing relatively little on the alleged victims.

Trump called his own accusers "horrible, horrible liars" and threatened to sue them, while coming to the defense of friends such as political commentator Bill O'Reilly and former Fox News chief executive Roger Ailes, accused of harassment or assault. Trump has also been mostly silent on Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama, who has been accused of initiating a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was in his 30s, sexually assaulting a 16-year-old waitress and pursuing relationships with at least five other teenagers who were much younger than he.

Trump's responses have been notably different for some Democrats. Late Thursday night, the president tweeted about Franken, saying that a photograph of Franken appearing to grope a woman "is really bad, speaks a thousand words" and chastising the Minnesotan for "lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women." Trump has also said he was not surprised by accusations against film producer Harvey Weinstein, a major Democratic donor; released an ad during the presidential campaign calling former New York congressman Anthony Weiner a "pervert"; and hosted a campaign news conference with three women who had accused former president Bill Clinton of sexual assault or misconduct, calling those women "very courageous."

Liz Mair, a Republican communications consultant who has been critical of the president, said Friday that Trump appears to be trying to egg on Democrats to react and, in the process, muddy distinctions between allegations against him and others accused of wrongdoing.

"Even if he's totally loathed, as long as he's a little less loathed by comparison, he's good" with that, Mair said.

But White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Friday pushed back against the idea that Trump treats Democrats differently from Republicans, pointing to Trump's comments of concern over the Moore allegations. Sanders also said that there was a key difference between the accusations against Franken and those against Trump.

"Senator Franken has admitted wrongdoing, and the president hasn't," Sanders said. "I think that's a very clear distinction."

Last week, The Washington Post published allegations that Moore initiated a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl nearly four decades ago when he was in his early 30s and that he pursued three other girls around the same time who were between the ages of 16 and 18. On Monday, another woman held a news conference in New York to accuse Moore of sexually assaulting her in the late 1970s when she was 16 and he was in his 30s. And on Wednesday, The Post published the accounts of two additional women who say that Moore pursued them in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he was in his 30s and they were teenagers who worked at a mall. One of those women said that she went to a movie with Moore and that he aggressively kissed her without her permission.

During Trump's trip to Asia last week, Sanders told reporters that "like most Americans, the president does not believe we can allow a mere allegation, in this case one from many years ago, to destroy a person's life. However, the president also believes that if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside." On Saturday, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he was sticking with that same statement "for now, but I'll have further comment as we go down the road" after the trip.

Since returning late Tuesday, Trump has not mentioned Moore in any public comments or tweets, and he has ignored questions about Moore that reporters have shouted at him. Sanders said Thursday that Trump considers the allegations against Moore "extremely troubling" but does not plan to rescind his endorsement and thinks that Alabama voters should be the ones to pick their next senator.

The news about Franken broke Thursday morning when radio news anchor Leeann Tweeden, a former model who participated in USO shows in war zones, published an essay accusing the Democrat of aggressively kissing her without her permission and shared a photo that showed Franken appearing to grope her as she slept on a plane wearing a bulletproof vest.

Late Thursday night, Trump jumped into the fray. "The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps?" he wrote on Twitter, misspelling the nickname. "And to think that just last week he was lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women. Lesley Stahl tape?"

The latter remark appeared to be a reference to a 1995 New York magazine article in which Franken, then a writer on "Saturday Night Live," is described as advocating a joke about raping Stahl, a prominent CBS journalist.

Trump did not mention that Tweeden also accused Franken of kissing her against her will  the same thing that at least eight women have publicly accused Trump of doing. The accusations against Trump span from the early 1990s, when beauty pageant organizer Jill Harth alleged in a lawsuit that Trump had repeatedly kissed and groped her against her will, to November 2015, when NBC News reporter Katy Tur says that Trump gave her an unwelcome kiss on the cheek and then bragged about it on air.

Two of those women, along with at least four others, have accused Trump of groping their breasts or touching their genitals without their consent. Jessica Leeds alleges that as she sat next to Trump on a flight in the early 1980s, he touched her breasts and started putting his hand up her skirt.

Trump repeatedly denied the allegations during the campaign, calling his accusers liars and vowing to sue them, which he has not done. And referring to Leeds in October 2016, Trump said: "Believe me, she would not be my first choice. That I can tell you."

Several beauty pageant contestants also accused Trump of barging into their dressing rooms unexpectedly and seeing them when they were not fully dressed  something that Trump admitted to doing during a 2005 interview with shock jock Howard Stern.

In early October 2016, The Post published audio from an interview Trump did with "Access Hollywood" in 2005 in which he bragged about kissing women without waiting to see whether they wanted to be kissed and grabbing women by their genitals without asking permission. "And when you're a star, they let you do it," Trump said. "You can do anything."

Trump has defended those comments as being "locker room banter," although he also issued an apology in which he said the "words don't reflect who I am."

At the time, Franken criticized Trump for the remarks: "I've been in a lot of locker rooms. I belong to a health club in Minneapolis  you can tell. Our locker room banter is stuff like, 'Is Trump crazy?' "

In Alabama on Friday, Moore's opponent  Alabama Democratic Senate nominee Doug Jones  said the accusations against Franken are a "serious matter" and that he supports an ethics investigation. He declined to comment on whether the president should more forcefully address the allegations against Moore.

"You just ought to ask the president and his people that, not me," Jones said at a campaign stop at a seafood restaurant in Dothan, Alabama.

Robins Carothers, a Jones supporter who was at the event, said Trump was being "hypocritical" in his attack on Franken and relative silence on Moore.

"He's not the one to be calling Al Franken out on anything," said Carothers, 56, who works in the cattle industry, "in my opinion."
Kathleen A. McDonnell, 66, of Philadelphia, a career counselor for the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a former assistant district attorney, died Monday, Nov. 13, in her sleep at home, her family said.

In 2011, Ms. McDonnell joined the faculty at Penn Law and soon made her mark in the office of career planning and professionalism.

"Kathy was a breath of fresh air to all who knew her," said Ted Ruger, law school dean. "For a generation of Penn Law students interested in prosecutorial and other government positions, she has been guide, connector, and muse. Her positivity and zest infused all she did, making her an exceptional colleague and friend."

Before joining Penn Law, Ms. McDonnell spent 24 years in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, where she served at various times as chief of the legislation unit and as an assistant district attorney in the appeals unit.

One of her lasting contributions was as 20-year chairwoman of the hiring committee, recruiting a generation of assistant district attorneys. Another was successfully pressing legislators to update criminal laws in the commonwealth involving sexual assault, child abuse, domestic violence, elder abuse, and violent crime. She succeeded in lengthening the statute of limitations for prosecution of child predators, her colleagues said.

"She was a pit bull of a lobbyist in Harrisburg on behalf of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association," said her friend Common Pleas Court Judge Susan I. Schulman. "As chief of the legislation unit for the Philadelphia DA's Office, she could eviscerate opposition for the causes she championed with her keen intellect and wit, all the while finding the sweet spot of humor to build consensus."

But she also worked on behalf of defendants who appeared in the criminal courts with drug, alcohol, and mental-health problems, said Common Pleas Court Judge Charles A. Ehrlich. She collaborated with the legislature and district attorneys throughout the state to develop treatment courts.

"Kathy cared about people and went the extra mile so many times to help them, whether in or out of the DA's Office," Ehrlich said. "She had an enormous influence in helping people navigate life  all while doing it with great joy."

Prior to her service with the city, Ms. McDonnell practiced at the law firm of Fox, Rothschild, O'Brien & Frankel. After graduating from Temple University in 1976, and Temple Law School in 1980, she clerked for Common Pleas Court Judge Carolyn Engle Temin.

Born in Philadelphia, she was a 1969 graduate of St. Hubert Catholic High School for Girls in Holmesburg.

She married Don Van Winkle, who had played in one of the seminal Philly rock bands, the American Dream, and had been a fixture on the city's music scene for decades, said Stephen Fried, an author and former editor of Philadelphia Magazine.

"She was a dynamo, with an unmistakable Philly growl, an infectious laugh, and a loving sense of the absurd. She knew sports, she knew music, she knew the law, and she knew people and what they needed," Fried said.

The couple had a son, Major Van Winkle, also a musician. The family spent time in Philadelphia and at the Jersey Shore.

"To know Kathy was to know of her pride in her 'boys'  she would happily share with you Major's most recent production," her friends said.

Her hobbies were music and film, but most of all, giving advice to anyone in need of it.

"She had a black belt in internet shopping and gift-giving. Her wrapping alone was a thing of beauty," her husband said.

"She was a bright, angry, professional Buddha," her son said. "She was truly one of a kind."

Besides her husband and son, Ms. McDonnell is survived by two sisters and a nephew.

A visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 20, at Monti-Rago Funeral Home, 2531 S. Broad St., Philadelphia 19148. A funeral service will follow at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 21, at St. Rita's Church, 1166 S. Broad St. Burial is private.

Memorial donations may be made to the church at the address above.
If there's one bipartisan issue in politics, it's sexual harassment.

This week, two prominent politicians, Democratic Sen. Al Franken and Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, faced scrutiny over allegations of sexual misconduct that took place long before either eyed the United States Capitol as a possible workplace.

Franken quickly issued a lengthy apology to his accuser, radio host Leeann Tweeden, who claimed Franken forced her to kiss him in 2006 while they were on a USO tour overseas. Tweeden told CNN's Jake Tapper that she accepted Franken's apology, which she said was "heartfelt."

"I respect women. I don't respect men who don't," Franken wrote. "And the fact that my own actions have given people a good reason to doubt that makes me feel ashamed."

Moore, on the other hand, still denies the allegations coming from multiple women accusing him of varying desires of sexual misconduct, including sexual assault, when most were teenagers and he was in his 30s. According to Moore, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, is leading a vast conspiracy against him that includes the Washington Post, the Birmingham News and the Democratic Party.

"This is an effort from Mitch McConnell and his cronies to steal this election from the people of Alabama," Moore said on Thursday.

So what does President Trump think of all this? It's unclear, since he's remained largely silent (other than a couple of tweets about Franken) since the allegations against Moore first surfaced.

The nation's political cartoons haven't remained silent. Here's what seven of the top artists in the country, both conservative and liberal, thought of the allegations.

Our own Signe Wilkinson:

Steve Sack of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune / Cagle Cartoons

Pat Bagley of the Salt Lake Tribune / Cagle Cartoons

Rick McKee of the Augusta Chronicle / Cagle Cartoons

Adam Zyglis of the Buffalo News / Cagle Cartoons

Nate Beeler of the Columbus Dispatch / Cagle Cartoons

Daryl Cagle of Cagle Cartoons
DECATUR  In his seven-plus years in the U.S. Army, Douglas Luthy said he had the chance to travel across North and Central America.

Now, 25 years later and living at the mens shelter at the Salvation Army, Luthy has found himself in need of help.

Veterans down on their luck have, unfortunately, become an all-too-familiar story across the country. But for Luthy and others in the community, Friday offered them a chance to find assistance in one location as the Salvation Army held its 6th annual Veterans' Stand Down event at its community center in downtown Decatur.

Along with free haircuts and lunch being offered, various local agencies were on hand to offer information on topics ranging from job training, housing assistance and mental health services.

Having it all in one generalized area, as opposed to you having to go out and find all these agencies, it makes it very convenient, Luthy said. And some of these things I had never even heard of ... so its been very helpful.

The event, sponsored in part by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Coalition for Veterans Concerns, was coordinated by John Buckles, shelter operations manager at the Salvation Army. With a father and a brother who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, Buckles said he understands the sacrifices that veterans make when they enlist, as well as the struggle many face when they head home.

He jokes that he chose a different army than his family, but Buckles said it was a personally rewarding experience to help continue an event that helps those low-income and homeless veterans who are most in need.

Its an honor now to give back to them and to help them, he said.

An exact count of how many veterans attended Fridays event was not immediately available. Buckles said they looked to be on pace to match the 103 veterans who attend last years event.

As time has gone on, the demand for help has grown.

Last year alone, the Veteran's Assistance Commission of Macon County saw between 600 and 700 veterans, said Gregory Collins, a veterans service officer who was at Fridays event. Collins, as well as Commission Superintendent Kathie Powless, said Friday was a chance to reach out to veterans they either know are in need or meet new ones and learn what sort of help they need.

If we can help them, then we will, Powless said.

Veterans in attendance also received help from those such as Anthony Taylor, himself a veteran who has taken advantage of the services offered to low-income or homeless veterans.

Taylor, who served in the U.S. Army from 1976-1977, volunteers with the Salvation Army and Help 4 Heroes, a program with the Veterans Assistance Commission of Macon County which provides assistance for veterans that tend to fall through the cracks. Along with giving out food and bus cards, Taylor also helped point veterans to the right agencies to speak with. As a Decatur resident involved in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, Taylor said he understands that sometimes help is just what one needs.

Im just a guy here to help the veterans, as well as getting some help myself, Taylor said. Its just wonderful. Its a wonderful, wonderful day.

As he spoke with the agencies, Luthy said he was specifically interested in those that could help with housing and education. After brief chats, Luthy said he has already scheduled further meetings with the agencies for next week.

Along with moving out of the mens shelter, Luthy said he is looking forward to continuing classes at Richland Community College.

"It's been 20 years since I've been in college, and I'm back again," he said. Its been humbling, very humbling. Especially since the people in my class are half my age.
The hot real estate market contributes to rising rents and home prices that are pushing low-income and working-class people out of their old neighborhoods, and prevents them from finding housing in neighborhoods right for them. Read more

How many times in recent years has a national magazine or website touted Philly as a great place to live? After years of decline, new housing developments and apartments are rising in places that not long ago contained dilapidated structures or empty lots. With them has come an influx of new residents, some of them young people attracted to Philadelphia's new cachet, others returning from the suburbs to share in the delights of a big but walkable city.

But not all Philadelphians have benefited from this growth. In fact, the hot real estate market contributes to rising rents and home prices that are pushing low-income and working-class people out of their old neighborhoods, and preventing them from finding housing in neighborhoods right for them. For many, it is difficult to find affordable housing anywhere, and it will only get worse unless the city boosts the availability of affordable housing now.

That's why the Mixed Income Housing Program bill in City Council (No. 170678) is needed.

The bill  introduced in June by Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez, Council President Darrell L. Clarke, and Council members Kenyatta Johnson and Jannie Blackwell  would require developers of residential projects with 10 or more units to set aside 10 percent of those units for renters or buyers who earn below the city's Area Median Income (AMI).

This would make it possible for Philadelphians who work hard but earn low wages, similar to security guards, home health-care aides, retail workers, and child-care workers, secure safe, affordable homes in neighborhoods where development is booming.

Developers also could fulfill the law's requirements by making a payment to the Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund, which provides grants to nonprofit organizations that prevent homelessness, repair existing affordable homes, or build new affordable homes, all while serving Philadelphians who are extremely low-income.

To offset some of developers' added costs, the city would grant "density bonuses" on projects, allowing them to build more housing on the sites than currently is allowed.

Right now, more than 85,000 low-income Philadelphians pay more than half their incomes in rent. That's close to the economic edge; just one emergency can result in missed rent or mortgage payments, which in turn can lead to eviction or foreclosure.

From 2000 to 2014, the city lost 23,000 affordable ($750 a month or lower) rental units and is projected to lose thousands more in the future. For potential homebuyers, median housing prices have risen 25.9 percent in just the last three years. And consider this: At the $7.25 minimum wage, it would take 128 hours of work a week to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Philadelphia at market rates.

Where this is leading is not good: increased economic segregation and concentration, not only of poverty, but of wealthy areas where most Philadelphians can't afford to live near where they work. This would deepen the poverty and inequality that is entrenched in Philadelphia.

This isn't fair, especially because many of these same Philadelphians have helped subsidize the 10-year property tax abatement program that has increased developers' profits by thousands, even millions, of dollars  and benefited higher-income homebuyers. For example, with the abatement, the owners of a $527,000 house in South Philadelphia pay taxes on just $150,224 of that value, saving them $5,275 a year in property taxes for 10 years. Meanwhile, families desperate for safe, stable homes are turned away from affordable-housing programs because there are not enough resources. This is a policy of inequality.

A Mixed Income Housing Program would begin to give low-income renters and home buyers some benefit from the development boom they helped subsidize. While not the only solution to the problem, it would at least start to tilt the scales toward more equitable housing policies.

Hundreds of other cities around the country have similar programs, and research shows they have little to no negative effect on the development market. If Mixed Income Housing can work effectively elsewhere, we can design a policy that works for Philadelphia.

City Council is scheduled to hold hearings on the bill on Nov. 27 at 10 a.m. It deserves your support. Philadelphia's new prosperity should not have winners and losers.

Beth McConnell is policy director at Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations (PACDC). Rasheedah Phillips is managing attorney at Community Legal Services.
DECATUR  State officials on Friday said they couldnt immediately explain why a Decatur man convicted in a Sept. 4 deadly wreck still had his drivers license when he was involved in a second fatal accident two months later. Three people died in the incidents.

The Illinois Secretary of State's Office on Friday said the license of Andrew J. Johnson, 29, would be revoked, department spokesman Henry Haupt said in a statement. The Herald & Review first reported Thursday afternoon about Johnson's involvement in the two U.S. 51 crashes that killed three people.

"(Friday), we obtained the IDOT crash report and will now revoke the driver's license, including his privilege to drive any commercial motor vehicle," Haupt said. "Secretary (Jesse) White is outraged at the reckless behavior by Mr. Johnson that took the lives of three people."

Greg Fombelle, Johnson's attorney, declined to comment, citing pending criminal charges.

According to the Illinois Rules of the Road, the secretary of state will "immediately revoke the driving privileges of anyone who is convicted of a moving violation that caused a crash and resulted in the death of another person." Haupt said to revoke a license, the office must receive a report from the Illinois Department of Transportation that indicates the crash led to a fatality, which he said did not happen in Johnson's case until Friday.

"We needed the crash report, because otherwise (we) would just have the failure-to-yield conviction," Haupt said. "We can't act on that alone. People can receive a ticket in those situations, but it doesn't necessarily lead to a license being suspended."

In both cases, police say Johnson, who was unhurt, was attempting to cross the highway and was struck by the vehicles as they were traveling straight.

In the crash near Macon, Johnson was stopped on West Andrews Street Road, then tried to continue west through the intersection, police said. His pickup collided with the southbound vehicle of Phil Jacobs and his wife, Norma Jean Jacobs. She was taken to Memorial Medical Center in Springfield and treated for several broken bones.

Members of the Jacobs family filed a lawsuit last month alleging that Johnson was negligent and seeking damages.

In the DeWitt County crash, Johnson was driving a semitruck that crossed northbound traffic and headed south on the highway, DeWitt County Coroner Randy Rice has said. The car carrying the Hables, of Clinton, was traveling north and struck the truck's trailer. They were pronounced dead at the scene at 5:58 p.m., Rice said.

Johnson is due to appear in court on Dec. 13 in that case. In addition to failure to yield at an intersection, he faces a charge of failure to wear a seatbelt.

It's unclear why the Secretary of State's Office did not receive the report for the Sept. 4 crash until Friday, more than a month after Johnson was convicted in Macon County Circuit Court. Haupt could not say how long the process usually takes.

IDOT spokeswoman Kelsea Gorski said the department could not immediately comment on the issue Friday afternoon.

Macon County Sheriff's Lt. Jon Butts said deputies are required to submit crash reports to IDOT after they are completed. Some are submitted electronically from squad cars, he said, while others are handwritten if the vehicle doesn't have the technology installed.

Butts said the report for the Sept. 4 fatal crash was approved by a commanding officer on Sept. 10 and submitted electronically to IDOT the next day.

Sometimes, Butts said, the sheriff's office's process of submitting crash reports to IDOT is delayed due to a need for further investigation. In the case of the crash that killed Jacobs, the sheriff's office needed to submit a followup report to IDOT noting that Jacobs died Sept. 12. He could not immediately say on Friday when the follow-up was submitted.

Johnson's driving privileges will be revoked for an indefinite amount of time, but he will be able to reapply for a license after a minimum of one year, according to Brenda Glahn, legal adviser for the Secretary of State's Office.

In cases similar to Johnson's, Glahn said people can appeal to the Secretary of State's Office for a shorter revocation period by proving extenuating circumstances, such as inclement weather or impaired visibility, led to the crashes they were convicted in.

"If (the secretary of state) says the appeal is good, then the person will pay a reinstatement fee, file for SR-22 insurance and go through the driver's testing process again," Glahn said.
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Clear skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low near 40F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low near 40F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.
The Truth about Musang King Durian Rejected by China

For the past few days, there are rumours about Musang King durian rejected by China due to too high insecticide detected in the fruits. The Musang King is shipped back to Malaysia and is selling at durian stores and that is the main reason why it is so cheap now. Is this a real story or a fake story?

Thus, we decided to call our durian seller friends about this and also some common sense about our local durians too.

Since last month, there are a few articles stating that durian prices will be dropping as the harvest is good this time around. We wrote about it earlier this month as we went to check out some of the durian prices by some of our favourite durian stalls.









Let us share with you five reasons why the article about Musang King rejects from China doesnt makes sense at all.

The Overloading Stock

For the past year, the durian orchards didnt get many durian fruits due to bad weather and climate. The shortage of durians caused popular durians like Musang King sky rocketed to over RM 100 per kg from RM 30 per kg.

Since the durian orchards are expecting many durians during this time around, the prices of most durians dropped to the old prices. Musang King is expected to sell around RM 30++ per kg in the next couple of weeks. In fact, there are so many durians in the orchard right now so they dont need the rejects from China.

Malaysian Durians Shelf Life

Malaysian durians are not the same as Thai durians. We dont pluck our durians and we wait for the durians to fall once they are ripe. That is the reason why the shelf life of our durians is so short. Many sellers said their durians cant last for more than two days and it will spoil within a week. If you dont believe us, just buy a durian and see how long it can last?

Malaysian Durians exported to China is frozen

All the durians from Malaysia exported to China is frozen as whole or by the flesh. It will take around two weeks to ship to China. Frozen durians can last up to one year. Did you have any frozen durians in durian stalls lately?

The article claimed Raub and Bentong is RM 30 per kg

Please have some common sense if you want to sell rejected durians, will you pay to transport the durians back from China to Malaysia? Why you want to bring these rejected durians all the way up back to Raub and Bentong? Are there any shipping ports over there? You think shipping back to Malaysia no need money? And who are the geniuses will bring it back up to Bentong and Raub to sell it RM 30 per kg? Transportation no need to pay? Have some common sense.

Why durians are so cheap in Raub and Bentong?

For durian lovers, we all know the durian orchards are located in Raub and Bentong Pahang. Since the orchards are there, of course it is cheap. They just sell on their door steps like from warehouse.

Interested to read: Top 12 Durians in Malaysia.

We dont want to comment on the high insecticides because we are not expert for it. Most of the things we mentioned earlier is pure common sense.







We are not experts in durians but we have friends who owned durian orchards, durian stalls and export to China and other countries.

We all know our durian sellers, so do you think they want to spoil their long term reputation by selling rejected durians?

Just think of what we wrote and does it makes sense? Stop spreading fake news and rumours, just go enjoy the cheap durians this time around.







Wilson Ng A Father and traveler who enjoys to eat, shop, travel and taking pictures with Samsung S22 Ultra and Sony ZV-1. Im a full time blogger, youtuber and father for two. I used to travel around 17 International trips per year but now staying at home. Remember to follow us at www.instagram.com/placesandfoods and www.youtube.com/placesandfoods. For advertisements or features, contact me at [email protected] See author's posts
Baltimore Police Lt. Brian Rice was reinstated Friday, shortly after his acquittal on administrative charges that he neglected police procedures during the arrest of Freddie Gray. The verdict absolves Rice once and for all, reports the Baltimore Sun.

He simply wants to go home, hug his kids, kiss his wife, have a good holiday and really, honestly, try to get on with his life, his attorney, Michael Davey, said.

The ruling by a three-member panel of police officers comes more than two years after Gray was severely injured in the back of a police van. Rice supervised Grays arrest and was cleared last year of criminal charges including manslaughter.
Baltimore Police Detective Sean Suiter was shot and mortally wounded Wednesday night while investigating a murder. (Photo: Baltimore PD)

Several dozen officers congregated in West Baltimore on Friday morning where authorities continue to search for the gunman responsible for the death of Baltimore Police Detective Sean Suiter, shot on duty Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, the reward for information about the suspect has increased yet again, the Baltimore Sun reports.

Rewards totaling nearly $190,000 are being offered by authorities for information leading to the arrest of the suspect sought in the killing of the detective. Anne Arundel County added a $20,000 reward for information to the total that reached $169,000 on Thursday following a $100,000 commitment from Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.

In an email to Baltimore media Friday morning, department spokesman T.J. Smith wrote, in part: the crime scene near Bennett Place remains very active.
An off-duty Chicago police officer was stabbed while driving a car Friday morning on the South Side, causing her to hit a school bus, according to police.

The officer, 47, was stabbed in the head in a domestic attack and taken in serious condition to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she was stabilized, police said.

A child on the bus was taken to Jackson Park Hospital complaining of a headache, the Chicago Tribune reports.
A Charleston, WV, police officer was shot in the vest Thursday night around 11:00 p.m. responding to a residential burglary call, reports WSAZ.

Police say when Patrolman S. Johnson entered the home, he encountered gunfire from a man identified as Seth Hardwick. Patrolman Johnson was struck once in the torso, but was wearing his ballistic vest, which protected him. According to a criminal complaint, Johnson returned fire, killing Hardwick.

Another suspect was also shot inside the home by another officer who was responding to the scene, according to police.

Police say five men were involved in the incident. One waited in the vehicle, while Hardwick and the other three suspects exited the vehicle armed with handguns, according to police. They entered the home where they held the residents at gunpoint while demanding drugs and money.

The injured suspect remains in the hospital. All other surviving suspects have been charged.
A Houston SWAT team rescued three people, including a 4-year-old girl, from a southwest Houston apartment Thursday after a family member held them inside at gunpoint, police said.

Photo: Houston PD/Facebook

A man called police after he returned home Thursday morning and allegedly found his brother inside the apartment pointing a handgun at him, said Capt. Larry Baimbridge of the Houston Police Department. The man fled the apartment, then allegedly learned that the armed man was holding a man, a woman, and a 4-year-old girl inside, reports the Houston Chronicle.

Police believe the woman is the suspect's sister and the young girl is her daughter, Baimbridge said.

The SWAT team tried to negotiate with the armed man, but "he was very paranoid and made a lot of irrational comments," Baimbridge said. When they were unable to reason with the man, SWAT team members "decided to launch a rescue," Baimbridge said. They found the man inside, arrested him, and pulled the three people to safety.
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By Joel Schectman

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  Senate Republicans say their investigation of Hillary Clintons role in approving a deal to sell U.S. uranium mines to a Russian company hinges in part on the testimony of a secret informant in a bribery and extortion scheme inside the same company.

The Senate committee searching for Clintons alleged wrongdoing is keeping their witnesss name cloaked. However, William D. Campbell, a lobbyist, confirmed to Reuters he is the informant who will testify and provide documents to Congress about the Obama Administrations 2010 approval of the sale of Uranium One, a Canadian company with uranium mines in the United States, to Russias Rosatom.

At the time of the sale, Campbell was a confidential source for the FBI in a Maryland bribery and kickback investigation of the head of a U.S. unit of Rosatom, the Russian state-owned nuclear power company. Campbell was identified as an FBI informant by prosecutors in open court and by himself in a publicly available lawsuit he filed last year.

[Link to page from Campbell lawsuit http://tmsnrt.rs/2zZhZkM and full complaint http://tmsnrt.rs/2zXKMWD]

In a telephone interview, Campbell said he wanted to testify because of his concerns about Russias activities in the United States, but declined to comment further.

Campbells lawyer, Victoria Toensing, who has not previously identified her client, said despite Campbell telling the government how corrupt the company was, Rosatom still got permission to buy Uranium One. She did not say what Campbell would reveal regarding any alleged wrongdoing by Clinton.

Clinton has said the Senate probe is an attempt to shift attention away from special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russias alleged role in Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. As the heat from Muellers investigation has intensified, Trump has repeatedly called for an inquiry into Clinton and the Russian uranium deal.

This latest iteration is simply more of the Right doing Trumps bidding for him to distract from his own Russia problems, said Nick Merrill, a Clinton spokesman.

Some people who know Campbell are skeptical that he can shed much light on Uranium One. Two law enforcement officials with direct involvement in the Rosatom bribery case in which Campbell was an informant said they had no recollection or record of him mentioning the deal during their repeated interviews with him.

Also, although both Uranium One and the bribery cases involved Rosatom, the two cases involved different business units, executives and allegations, with little other apparent overlap, Reuters found in a review of the court records of the bribery case.

Campbell countered those who dismiss his knowledge of the Uranium One deal. I have worked with the Justice Department undercover for several years, and documentation relating to Uranium One and political influence does exist and I have it, Campbell said. He declined to give details of those documents.

Reuters was unable to learn when the closed-door testimony has been scheduled.

Trump asked that a Justice Department gag order on Campbell stemming from the bribery case be lifted so that he can testify to congressional investigators, White House officials said.

The Justice Department has partially lifted that gag order.

CAMPBELL TESTIMONY CRITICAL

Campbell potentially now has a larger starring role in the Washington drama after the Justice Department said in a letter to Congress on Monday that it was considering appointing a special prosecutor to launch an investigation into Republican allegations of wrongdoing by Clinton, Trumps former political rival, in the deal.

Under Clinton, the State Department was part of a nine-agency government Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States that approved the purchase of Uranium One. Her critics, including Trump, allege large donations by people connected to the Uranium One deal made to her familys foundation influenced the State Departments decision to approve it.

Reuters has no evidence that Clinton orchestrated the approval of Uranium One.

In an email, Rosatom said the company had made no donations to the Clinton Foundation and had not asked others to do so. The foundation stressed the State Department was only one member of the committee that approved the deal and said Clinton had no personal involvement in the decision.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley said in a letter to Toensing, Campbells lawyer, that her client appears to have information critical to the Committees oversight of the Justice Department and its ongoing inquiry into the manner in which the Uranium One sale was approved.

BRIBERY SCHEME

Campbell worked as an informant for federal authorities investigating Vadim Mikerin, a Russian official in charge of U.S. operations for Tenex, a unit of Rosatom. Authorities later accused Mikerin of taking bribes from a shipping company in exchange for contracts to transport Russian uranium into the United States. He pleaded guilty in federal court in Maryland and was sentenced to prison for four years.

The Justice Department had also initially charged Mikerin with extorting kickbacks from Campbell after hiring him as a $50,000-a-month lobbyist.

Prosecutors alleged Mikerin had demanded Campbell pay between one-third and half of that money back to him each month under threat of losing the contract and veiled warnings of violence from the Russians. The demand prompted Campbell to turn to the FBI in 2010, which gave its blessing for him to remain part of the scheme.

Federal prosecutors were ready to use Campbell as a star witness against Mikerin, but they backed away after defense attorneys raised questions about Campbells credibility and whether he was a victim or had entered into a business arrangement with eyes wide open, according to court records.

Before it was taken down last year, the website of Campbells company, Sigma Transnational, did not suggest his firm was a lobbying powerhouse. The website listed four other employees and advisers, although one had died years earlier. A second employee listed said in a court document that she never worked for the company but had agreed in 2014 to pay Campbell to list her as an employee and allow her to use the Sigma name in a business deal. Campbell declined to comment on the staffing or his lobbying contract with Tenex.

Prosecutors dropped the extortion charges against Mikerin and never mentioned Campbell again in any charging documents. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the case. Campbell also declined to comment on the issue.

Reuters has been unable to learn why Tenex chose Campbell as its lobbyist. He acknowledged in lawsuit he filed in 2016 that he was hired despite the fact he had no experience with nuclear fuel sales.

(Reporting by Joel Schectman; Editing by Damon Darlin and Ross Colvin)
Gagik Aghbalyan

Drivers looking for a place to park in Yerevan often encounter a variety of barriers placed on the street by local retail business owners, banks, and other organizations. Its as if they own not only the sidewalks, but curb space as well.

The parking barriers come in various forms; ranging from the aesthetic, to a chair, a pile of bricks, or whatever else is at hand.

Its an unwritten entitlement that has irked many seeking to park their cars in Yerevan.

A month ago, the Traffic Police of Armenia toured the countrys capital and recorded a video, asking businesses and others to remove illegally placed parking barriers.

Article 140 of the RA Code on Administrative Offenses envisages a fine of AMD 30,000 for creating obstacles for traffic. Offenders were warned theyd be fined if the barriers werent removed.

Hetq went out to check if anything has changed after the tour.

In some places, traffic hindering objects have been removed. However, though the Czech Embassy and Mellat Bank employees were warned a month ago, the parking barriers are still standing in front of their buildings to assure employees and staffers parking spots.

The Embassy of the Czech Republic is not the only foreign diplomatic mission violating the law.

A section of Melik-Adamyan Street is filled with parking barriers of the Embassy of Switzerland.

Neighbors of the Swiss Embassy, the Central Office of the Republican Party of Armenia and the Government Building, also reserve spaces in front of their buildings in Melik-Adamyan Street.

Other state bodies also prefer to dictate their own traffic rules. In front of the State Committee of Real Estate Cadastre office, the parking barriers are in place during most of the day, ensuring parking spaces for the board of directors.

The situation is the same near the State Cadastre Committee. Here, parking spaces are reserved for the Armenian-Russian Cossack Union and DOSAAF staff.

According to the RA Law on Local Taxes for Parking Vehicles, individuals and legal entities may apply to the community leader for having a parking space in the territory specified by the city council and pay monthly or annual fee.

The fee is calculated based on the number of parking spaces in the parking lot and the rate of one vehicle as set by the council.

Individuals and legal entities who pay for the entire parking area may limit the right of others to parking in the parking lot. For example, Mellat Bank has paid the local fee and has the right to reserve the parking lot for its own vehicles or bank visitors. However, they are not allowed to place parking barriers.

There are companies that also use parking barriers, but they do not pay for the parking space. By placing the barriers, they illegally deprive drivers, who have paid the local fee, of the right to use the paid parking space.

To find out whether the company blocking the parking lot pays the local fee, the presence of the appropriate sign should be checked in the parking lots.

ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, which is Armenias third largest taxpayer, is among the companies that do not pay any parking fees.

Another is Samvel Karapetyan's Tashir Group. It has seized several parking lots on Teryan Street, reserving the space for the rare visits of the companys top brass.
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By Karen Freifeld and Ginger Gibson

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  President Donald Trump has begun paying his own legal bills related to the Russia investigation and will no longer cover the costs using political donations to his reelection campaign or the Republican Party, his attorneys confirmed on Friday.

Trump defense lawyer John Dowd said that following payments by the Republican National Committee (RNC), the president began paying the bills and now wants to make the party even.

The expenses cover personal lawyers representing Trump before special prosecutor Robert Muellers probe of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in last years election, and whether Trump may have obstructed justice by firing Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, among other actions.

Moscow has denied meddling in the election, and Trump has denied any collusion or obstruction.

The RNC confirmed they are no longer paying Trumps legal bills have not done so since September.

The administration is also working with others to establish a fund for current and former staffers, Special White House counsel Ty Cobb said. Dowd said Don McGahn, the White House counsel, and campaign lawyer Ben Ginsberg of Jones Day are working to structure that fund, which would be subject to rules that prohibit staff from receiving gifts or pro bono legal service.

The president is exempt from those rules, Dowd said.

The geniuses are working on it, Dowd said. If it passes muster with the tax lawyers and accountants, then it has to pass muster with the Office of Government Ethics.

He added, The president is worried about staffers who have good lawyers and they cant afford them.

During former President Bill Clintons administration, private funds were raised to cover his legal expenses related to the Whitewater investigation. Under former President George W. Bush, a legal fund was set up to help former staffer Lewis Scooter Libby, only after he had left White House employment.

In August, Reuters first reported that the RNC was paying Trumps legal bills, which amounted to more than $230,000 that month.

The payments were made to Trumps outside legal team, which includes Dowd and Jay Sekulow.

Additionally, Trumps reelection campaign paid more than $300,000 this year in bills to lawyers representing his son Donald Trump Jr., according to public disclosures filed by the campaign. The campaign did not respond to a request for comment whether it will continue to pay for Trump Jrs legal expenses.

The U.S. Federal Election Commission allows use of private campaign funds to pay legal bills arising from being a candidate or elected official.

While previous presidential campaigns have used these funds to pay for routine legal matters such as ballot access disputes and compliance requirements, Trump was the first president in the modern campaign finance era to use such funds on the costs of responding to a criminal probe, said election law experts.

(Editing by David Gregorio)
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The White House has privately admitted that Trump is afraid to say anything publicly about Roy Moore because of the allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment that have been against him.

CNN reported, Sources close to the White House told CNN on Wednesday that Trump believes the allegations against Moore are bad for the partys brand, but is reluctant to come out forcefully against Moore because of sexual misconduct allegations he himself has faced. Trump was accused of sexual harassment or sexual assault by a dozen women in the final month of his campaign for president last year.

The country already knows that Trump is guilty of sexual assault. He bragged about sexually assaulting women on the Access Hollywood tape. The President is so worried that his own sexual assault allegations may be paid attention to by the media now that he is president that he wont say a single word about Roy Moore.

It was less than a year ago that the United States of America had a president who had the moral authority to speak out on the issues. Before Trump plunged the country into a vortex of perpetual scandal and shame, Barack Obama provided the nation with moral clarity and leadership.

Trump lacks the moral authority to lead the country.

Bill Clinton was impeached for a consensual affair between two adults. Donald Trump is accused of something much worse. The President Of The United States must stay silent on a Senate candidates sexual assault because if he speaks, he is afraid that he might be next.

The time cant come soon enough when voters will have the opportunity to restore honor and decency to the White House.
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GOP Sen. Jeff Flake, already one of the most outspoken critics of Donald Trump, said the Republican Party is toast if it continues to embrace the president and other extremist figures like Roy Moore.

Flakes remarks came after a tax reform event when he was talking with Mesa Mayor John Gile and wasnt aware they were still hooked up to a live mic.

The full report from ABC News:

During the exchange, Flake said, If we become the party of Roy Moore and Donald Trump, we are toast.

Mesa Mayor John Giles apparently agreed with the sentiment expressed by Flake, telling the Senator that he could be the guy to point out what an idiot [Trump] is.

Like Flake said, if the Republican Party continues to twist itself into a pretzel supporting amoral scam artists like Trump and Moore, it will have devastating consequences in the long term.

Sure, the strategy of embracing Trumpism could work in certain regions of the country in the short term  in Alabama, in particular  but it will likely hurt them in places that matter in future elections. Weve already started to see this play out in countless elections since Trump took office.

If the GOP wants to be a competitive party that appeals to an increasingly diverse country, it will have to abandon Donald Trump, Roy Moore and the politics of bigotry and division that the two have perfected. At the very least, Republicans will have to start holding men like this accountable.

But with moderate Republicans like Flake and Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker leaving the party, its hard to imagine that voices of reasons will be reclaiming the GOP anytime soon.

The embrace of Trumpism may play well to the base in the short term, but its a recipe for long-term disaster.
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Hillary Clinton called out Donald Trump on Friday for not taking accountability for his own history of sexual misconduct while criticizing others for theirs  and the man-sized child in the White House was not happy about it.

In a tweet Saturday morning, Trump told the 2016 popular vote winner to get on with your life but urged her to give it another try in three years.

Crooked Hillary Clinton is the worst (and biggest) loser of all time. She just cant stop, which is so good for the Republican Party. Hillary, get on with your life and give it another try in three years!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2017

The Twitter tantrum came after Clinton dropped a much-needed dose of truth on Trump, saying in an interview that the presidents attacks on Democratic Sen. Al Franken are hollow given his own past of sexual misconduct.

I dont hear that from Roy Moore or Donald Trump, Clinton said, referring to the two men not being accountable for their own actions, while Sen. Franken has admitted to and apologized for his.

She added: Look at the contrast between Al Franken, accepting responsibility, apologizing, and Roy Moore and Donald Trump who have done neither.

As a national reckoning appears to be underway and women in all industries and walks of life feel empowered to share their stories, its important to remember that the man currently holding the most powerful office in the world has isnt just on tape bragging about his own sexual assault, but a total of 16 women have accused him of assault, harassment, or other sexual misconduct.

If Donald Trump wants to refight the last election with Hillary Clinton  which he repeatedly shows he does  then he shouldnt be surprised when his unchecked sexual transgressions become part of the discussion.

If were lucky, this time hell actually be held accountable.
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In a truly bizarre set of retweets on Twitter Saturday, Donald Trump appears to be patting himself on the back for halting his own decision from earlier this week that would have allowed African elephant heads to be imported.

As I wrote earlier this week, the administration had unexpectedly and inexplicably decided to reverse former President Barack Obamas ban on the imports.

After facing widespread backlash and ridicule, especially given his sons creepy passion for big game hunting, Trump reversed his decision. Now hes taking credit for it in true Trumpian fashion.

Heres a set of posts the president retweeted on Saturday morning from two well-known media figures, Piers Morgan and Greta Van Susteren:

BOOM! Thank you, Mr President. Trophy-hunting is repellent. https://t.co/iEPfEQNX4t  Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) November 18, 2017

Thank you @realDonaldTrump  this is important to so many of us https://t.co/zJAfZByQKX  Greta Van Susteren (@greta) November 18, 2017

The response, at least from these two media figures, came after Trump tweeted on Friday that he was putting his decision to overturn Obamas ban on hold.

Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts. Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2017

First of all, no. Absolutely not. Trump deserves no credit, no round of applause, and no favorable news coverage for his move to reverse his initial move.

It took no political courage whatsoever to do this. In fact, without the swift backlash and widespread media coverage, Trump likely would have stuck to his initial decision. He doesnt care about the moral or humane aspect that caused the backlash  he only cares about political implications or, in particular, how he is perceived on cable news.

It would be one thing if the president was actually overturning his predecessors decision to allow the imports of African elephant heads. He wasnt. He was literally halting an unpopular decision he made just days ago.

The fact that Trump struggled to deal with something so simple is just the latest evidence that he lacks the judgment and fitness to be president.
Straight No Chaser is celebrating its silver anniversary with a three-month tour that would exact a physical toll on any performer  vocalists especially. Yet despite the grueling schedule (they are almost exactly in the middle of more than 60 performances), SNC performed an outstanding show Nov. 13 at the Charleston Gaillard Center. Read moreReview: Straight No Chaser delights young and old on a cappella tour
The new Berkeley County school board wasted no time in their first meeting to leave their mark on the district. Just after being sworn in, the board fired superintendent Deon Jackson and banned the teaching of critical race theory. Read moreNew Berkeley County school board fires superintendent, bans critical race theory in first meeting
State Circuit Judge DeAndrea Benjamin appears poised to join a powerful federal appeals court bench following a U.S. Senate hearing in which Republicans repeatedly questioned her handling of two cases out of thousands she'd handled in South Carolina over two decades. Read moreSC Judge Benjamin praised by Clyburn, questioned by Republicans during US Senate hearing
By Rimma Ananian

A traditional wedding sounds great, right? And what about a traditional wedding ina village designed solely for that purpose?

In many countries, the idea of having an entire village as a wedding setting is not new. In the past, people did not select the invitees from long lists of friends and family, then askthe chosen onesto RSVP via e-mail.

Instead, people invited all the inhabitants of their home village, and sometimes even of the surrounding villages, to the celebration. The families of the newlyweds threw feasts for 200-300 peopleminimum. Celebrations lasted for at least three days.

As crazy and cumbersome of a process as it sounds, this was usual for the villagers. They even had special traditional dishes, songs, and games in specific order,for such occasions.Notably, for many eastern countries, such as India or some Arab countries, it is still common to celebrate weddings several days long with a guest list exceeding a hundred.

Today, the idea of a wedding village has been transformed into justa fancy wedding destination. The famous ones in Europe are Los Castillejos in Spain, Titignano in Italy, and Castelnau des Fieumarcon in France. There is also one in Russia, called Krasnoe-na-Volge, located in Kostroma Oblast.

However, these did not inspire the founders of Tonir Wedding Village in Armenia; love for each other and forArmenian history did.

Tonir Wedding Village is a resourceful cultural startup, founded by a young Armenian couple  Hayk Yeranosyan and Sirarpi Leraneh Khojabaghyan who came up with the idea for their own marriage. Because thats what you do when you cant find the type of setting that you need: you create your own, and make it a long-term project, right?

Tonir is a venue for traditional Armenian weddings, which has a goal to preserve the culture of these weddings by carrying out the traditions of these weddings in the age of bridal bouquets with go-pro cameras and wedding cakes with light projections.

Tonirwon the first place at theCreative Armenia Business Challengeof 2017. At first, Hayk and Sirarpi were very skeptical of their chances of success because most startups that have won contests in Armenia were from the IT sector.

We liked our idea, but we were afraid that the public wouldnt. Even our parents told us we have to find some real business to get busy with, Hayk admits.

By the finale of the contest, people from other contestant startups approached us and said that they want us to win, Hayk recalls, laughing.

The victory gave them media coverage and AMD 500,000 AMD (approx. $1,046) for the future development of their startup. Sirarpi and Hayk have a long-term plan, which is to have one Tonir in every marz (province) of Armenia, so that Armenian couples from all around the world can celebrate their love with traditional weddings.

The intention to create a network is also the reason they did not call the startup by the name of the real village it will be situated in. Theychose Tonir because, when written in the Latin alphabet, it can be read both like the Armenian place to make lavash (Armenian bread), and like the imperative for the word celebrate, and thats what Toniris about.

The first Tonir will be located in Vaghatin village. Lost in the mountainous landscape of SyunikMarz, the most southern region of Armenia, Vaghatinis home to a little over 700 people, and to a picturesque tenth century monastery complex called Vorotnavank.

The couple chose this village because they both have roots there. Because of financial difficulties the founders face, Vaghatin is still the process of being transformed into the kind of village that the founders envision.

According to Hayk, none of the Armenian ministries has been active in supporting this innovative idea, although the couple contacted some of them even before their wedding. Hayk and Sirarpi hoped to get financial support from the government so that they could shoot a promotional video of their startup that they also want to make an official cultural program of Armenia. The plan was to do the promo video during their own wedding, so that they wouldnt have to spend extra money on staging an entire three-day-long feast with 300 people for the sole purpose of video recording.

For their wedding, Hayk and Sirarpi transformed three of Vaghatins uninhabited dwellings into those of grooms, brides, and qavors (godfathers) places. The wedding lasted three days  from August 25 to 27.

On the first day, all the unmarried women in the brides house did the aliurmagheq (the sifting of the flour). Each had their personal sieve. The girl to find a ring on the bottom of her sieve would be the next to get married.

Meanwhile, the men in the grooms house didthe yezmorteq (the ritual killing of a bullock).For hinadreq (painting the brides hands with henna), Sirarpi and the women moved to her real house, located close to the village.

The process of painting the hands of a bride-to-be with henna is actually an Armenian tradition, Hayk says proudly. Armenians, unlike, for example, Indians, did not do all the flowers and patterns, but instead paintedjust the brides palms toguarantee her fertility and happiness in the married life.Every action in both houses was accompanied with singing, dancing, and laughter.

The traditional Armenian costumes (taraz) that the participants wore suited the village setting ideally. The rituals were performed as if the participants knew and practiced them their entire life. This was due to Hayks and Sirarpis extensive research, done prior to their Big Day (or days, rather).

Three major events were divided between the remaining two days: the act of the groom coming to the brides house to take her to his house, the wedding in the church, and the feast.

These processes, too, are saturated with many games and rituals. Just to mention a few: to take the bride home, the groom has to move a big stone that stands on his way to the house of his beloved one, while the brides relatives have to be attentive not to let the grooms relatives steal the hens of the brides parents. To decide the godfather of the first child of the newlyweds, the makars, also called azabs (grooms unmarried male friends) have to hit an apple with an arrow, and the first one to succeed will be the qavor.

The newlyweds had to rent both the place and the tarazs, because although theydid a fundraising on Indiegogo,there were still not enough resources to redesign Vaghatin completely. With $4,000 as a target sum, they hoped that money would help them buy the costumes, create the decorations for the execution of all corresponding traditions, and make the promo video for their startup.

They were also going to contribute money to cleaning up the territory of the Vorotnavank church complex. However, the target was not hit, and so they ended up doing a lot of DIY, renting, and having their moviemaker friends do the shooting. Even so, they love the end result, and are not discouraged by the lack of money at all. They did what they wanted for their wedding: got married in Vorotnavank, had the feast in Vaghatin, and shot the video for their Facebook page.

Currently, Tonir Wedding Village has numerous orders. Although Vaghatin does not completely correspond to the vision of the founders, they are going there with the help of their parents, friends, and the villagers themselves.Government agencies are expected to respond soon, too.

The villagers are very enthusiastic about the project, because it will also contribute to the development of the region and solve the unemployment and poverty problems facedby locals.

Hayk and Sirarpi have also recently presented Tonir in the framework of the Armenia-Diaspora Conference. After my speech, many diasporans approached me to express their approval of our idea, Hayk says, smiling,

One young man from Austria even told me that he plans to get married next year, and that he is willing to organize the wedding in Tonir.

Hayk and Sirarpi plan to repair the houses of Vaghatin soon, and transform the abandoned ones into locations for wedding traditions. They also want to hire genealogists who would help the newlyweds trace their ancestry.

Wedding traditions of Armenians differ from region to region, and we want to be as accurate with the rituals and dresses as we can, Hayk says. Moreover, they are eager to have each wedding video recorded, so they hope to hire a movie crew.

For now, they have made another promotional video from what they had recorded during the weddings they had organized.

Rimma Ananian is a senior student at the American University of Armenia majoring in English and Communications. She describes herself as a 20-year-old aspiring politician, and a huge advocate for the development of her motherland.
It was building up to be the perfect opportunity to compare two tastes for art and maybe even settle  though unlikely  which is best.

Elise Pemberton, who had been a friend of my wife, Linda, and who was a member of the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, originally invited me to go to the opening of "Squid and I, an Art and Science Symbiosis" in early October.

During the month prior to that opening, we had a couple conversations on art, with her focus being the artwork humans do on canvas, and mine being the artwork nature produces, which can often be captured digitally. Now, with an exhibit on marine cephalopods, we might have a chance to view and compare nature vs. human artwork. The museum advertised "innovative and colorful drawings, paintings, sculptures, videos, and photographs" of squid, octopuses and cuttlefish in the exhibit.

Although I was disappointed we were unable to make the opening, we did squeeze in a visit to the museum last week and got additional bonuses with two other exhibits taking place, one a Mississippi River photo exhibition, and the other on the art of North Atlantic fishing. With both topics of interest to me, I was even more anxious to go.

The Minnesota Marine Art Museum opened in 2006, with an initial collection provided by Fastenal founder Bob Kierlin and his wife, Mary Burrichter. The museum's focus began with, and continues to be, on "marine and maritime art and artists' relationship with water." However, over the past decade, works by art names even I recognized, including Matisse, Picasso, Van Gogh, and Monet, have been acquired by the museum, along with many other famous artists, some of whom Elise was familiar with. During that time, the museum has also undergone three expansions to house its expanded collections.

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I did recall during a visit to the museum many years ago being impressed before even entering the building with its aptly prime location on the shore of the Mississippi River, and grounds landscaped in thousands of native prairie plants. My main recollection of that visit was of the Washington Crossing of the Delaware piece by Emanuel Leutze. One of two versions, it had been on display at the White House before being acquired by the marine museum.

I fully enjoyed this visit to the museum, especially seeing how excited Elise was to see some of the world-famous paintings, and to kindly explain to me why they were so important. It was also amazing to me to be able to get as close as we wanted to each painting, something she pointed out is not possible in most galleries.

I did admit to not fully understanding how some of the abstract or impressionist pieces could be so valuable. And, for the more realistic pieces, I found myself thinking, "I have viewed a natural scene similar to that," feeling that the real experience was better than seeing someone's version of it on canvas.

Given my leaning toward real scenes, I was naturally drawn to the roomful of Mississippi River photos submitted by photographers throughout the Midwest and beyond. I could identify with many of the scenes, and quickly realized that even though I have taken many river and river critter photos, my skill level and equipment could not have produced the quality of any of those on display.

Although Elise and I left without necessarily agreeing on which is better, human or nature-made art, we both enjoyed the visit. So now  hopefully before it freezes  would be a good time to take a drive along the river, perhaps stopping at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona, and then heading downriver to take in the thousands of tundra swans south of La Crescent near Brownsville.
For years, customers, employees and investors at Southwest Airlines have wondered aloud about when the nation's largest domestic carrier would finally launch flights to Hawaii, one of the country's most popular leisure destinations.

With the announcement last month that Southwest plans to begin flights to the Aloha State in late 2018 or possibly 2019, the question becomes what kind of waves the carrier can make when it lands in the hyper-competitive market.

Since its early days, Southwest has developed a reputation and a track record for shaking up the markets it enters, bringing its much-touted "Southwest Effect" and the lower fares it promises to cities in the U.S., and more recently, abroad.

For travelers eyeing a trip to Hawaii, Southwest's arrival will likely mean lower fares, at least in the near term, as added competition helps keep prices in check.

Fated foray?

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But it won't be all smooth sailing for the Dallas-based airline, as it attempts to establish a foothold in a market that's already served by five other U.S. carriers, a setting that prompted one Wall Street analyst to predict that Southwest would "bleed margins" before eventually scaling back or exiting Hawaii altogether.

Among the incumbents is Hawaiian Airlines, which has built a lucrative business on shuttling passengers to, from and between the islands.

"There is no carrier that is better positioned than we are and  it won't change when Southwest or any other carrier comes in," Hawaiian's CEO Mark Dunkerley said during an October interview with CNBC.

Southwest is still in the early stages of planning its Hawaii service. No routes have been announced, and the carrier is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to get regulatory approval for extended flights over open water, a process that could take up to a year.

'The high ground'

But executives are optimistic that Southwest's proven formula can lead to big success in Hawaii.

"With low fares and customers that love us, I think we have the high ground here," Andrew Watterson, Southwest executive vice president, said when announcing the routes.

As Southwest prepares to launch service to Hawaii, it's facing a market in the midst of a six-year growth spurt that so far has shown "no signs of slowing down," said Brad DiFiore, managing director at Ailevon Pacific Aviation Consulting.

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About 6 million passengers visited Hawaii from the U.S. mainland in 2016, according to figures from the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

That demand means Southwest will find plenty of travelers eager to fly to Hawaii, but its overall growth could be constrained by limited space at Hawaiian airports.

"In a world that's pretty tumultuous, Hawaii's been pretty stable," DiFiore said, although the market is subject to cyclical downturns common to the airline industry. "The market can absorb more capacity; we just don't know what the limit is."

More options

Southwest's prospects for Hawaii will become more clear over the next year as the carrier fills out more details about when and where it will fly.

Southwest's arrival is sure to make a splash and could even force rival airlines to alter or cut back their service. At the very least, it means more options for travelers looking for an island getaway, especially those with Rapid Rewards miles to burn.

"There are a lot of questions to be answered, 'when' being one of the major questions that we just don't have answers (to) yet," Southwest's CEO Gary Kelly told analysts last month. "It feels like first quarter we might be in a position where we're prepared to reveal details there."
ST. PAUL  People clutching pink signs stating "I believe her" gathered in the rotunda of the Minnesota Capitol on Friday to rally against sexual harassment.

About 100 people listened as speakers talked about the need to put an end to sexual harassment in the workplace. Former DFL state Rep. Betty Folliard repeatedly asked the crowd, "Who do you believe?" The audience replied, "I believe her." She told those rallying that sexual harassment cannot be tolerated.

"We say first of all to the predators of sexual harassment, we say your time is up. No one is indispensable, and if people lose their jobs, so be it," Folliard said.

The rally comes as sexual harassment allegations have been leveled at politicians at the state and federal level. Sen. Dan Schoen, DFL-Cottage Grove, and Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, both have been accused of sexually harassing women. Both have denied those allegations. Radio host Leeann Tweeden accused DFL Sen. Al Franken on Thursday of kissing her without her consent on a USO tour in 2006. She also shared a photo of the senator posing for a picture with his hands over her breasts while she was sleeping. Franken released a lengthy statement apologizing for his behavior. He has asked for a Senate ethics investigation and pledged to cooperate with it.

Rochester DFL Rep. Tina Liebling, who also is running for governor, told the crowd that while she has not been sexually harassed during her time at the Legislature, she has experienced it in the past. She added sexual harassment "is a tool of keeping women down  especially when we see it in the workplace. This is a way of saying to women you don't have as much power as I have."

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DFL State Auditor and gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Otto said there can be no tolerance for sexual harassment. She explained her decision to ask Franken to resign from office.

"It's hard. He's a friend. He's an ally. And he's very effective," Otto said. "But we cannot have a double standard when it comes to having a safe workplaces and not allowing for sexual harassment. This isn't a partisan issue. This is a right-versus-wrong issue, and this is a moral issue."
Members of CURE  Communities United for Rochester Empowerment  have been given a choice: picket Mayo Clinic on Monday or be part of a Housing Initiative Steering Committee meeting later this month.

Steve Borchardt, housing initiative director of Rochester Area Foundation , offered the choice last week during a meeting with CURE community organizer Marian Aanerud and Brandon Nessen, assistant organizing director of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, a union affiliated with CURE.

"In my view, it's not a helpful tactic to be picketing at this time," Borchardt said Friday.

CURE members announced on Nov. 8 that they planned to picket Monday if they could not get a face-to-face meeting with Dr. John Noseworthy, Mayo Clinic's CEO, to discuss the need for Mayo Clinic to support the creation of affordable housing in Rochester.

"We want to talk to Mayo ," Aanerud said. "They have shut us out in every way."

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Borchardt said Mayo Clinic isn't being silent on the issue but has joined the Rochester Area Foundation's steering committee on housing. It's that group that Noseworthy suggested CURE members contact in his response to their initial request for a meeting.

The steering committee, which includes representatives from a cross-section of groups working to address housing needs, has been brought together by Borchardt to discuss possible solutions. Borchardt said a CURE member had been invited to participate but having one group picketing another wouldn't be appropriate.

"We've had some vigorous debates, contentious debates, but it's always been with respect," he said of group meetings.

Borchardt said several pieces must come together so the right approach is found before money can be spent effectively.

"It's not as simple as one might think if you want to make sure that that money is targeted at the population that needs the units the most and is used in the most effective way to get the best return on investment," he said. "You put together an implementation strategy.  That's what we're working on."

At the same time, he said not having CURE at the steering committee meeting doesn't mean the group can't participate in other ways. Borchardt said he repeatedly has offered to meet with the CURE group to update members on what is happening and what challenges are being overcome.

Additionally, he said he's appreciated CURE's successful effort to put real faces on housing struggles in Rochester.

Aanerud said it's those faces organizers are hoping to get in front of Noseworthy or a high-level representative.

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In exchange for not picketing, the group offered two alternatives to a meeting with Noseworthy. Organizers said they would accept having Borchardt and Mayo Clinic's steering committee representative meet with CURE's organizing committee in early December or have 10 CURE members join a Nov. 29 steering committee meeting.

Borchardt said he didn't respond to the alternatives because he didn't want to negotiate, and he couldn't speak for Mayo Clinic's representative.

He said CURE is asking for unnecessary measures because Mayo Clinic already is working on plans aimed to help create affordable housing. He said it will just take time, and he doubts a meeting with Noseworthy will speed up the process.

"I haven't had a meeting with him," he said. "I don't need a meeting with him. I just need results."

Aanerud said the primary result CURE members want is a certainty that they have seats at the table when it comes to addressing a growing housing crisis and to keep putting faces on the crisis.

"Just me being there isn't enough," she said of the original invite to join an upcoming foundation meeting. "We wanted (the Mayo representative) to be able to talk to more than just me sitting at a table in a closed-door meeting. That's not what we've been asking for from the beginning."

She said the goal is not to disrupt the meeting but to ensure the process is transparent and keeps the community involved.

To make sure voices are heard, the group still plans to picket from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday at Mayo Clinic's Gonda building.

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WASHINGTON  Two Minnesota teachers who have been outspoken about student violence found an audience in top education officials during a meeting in Washington Friday.

Former Edina teacher Debbie York and former St. Paul teacher John Ekblad were among a group of Minnesota teachers and parents who met with officials from the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights and other departments, according to Thomas B. Fordham Institute president Michael Petrilli. The Fordham Institute helped coordinate the meeting.

Both teachers have been outspoken critics of school discipline policies they see as overly permissive.

York resigned her post after she says a student injured her. Ekblad sued the St. Paul school district last year after a student punched and choked him, leaving Ekblad with a concussion and traumatic brain injury.

Petrilli said York and Ekblad shared their stories at the meeting.

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School officials are watching to see how the Education Department under President Trump will deal with Obama-era guidance on school discipline from 2014. That guidance sparked debate with an assertion that school policies could be found in violation of federal civil rights law based on discriminatory effects, even if those policies are neutral on their face. Policies that have disproportionate impacts on students of color could be targeted, the guidance said.

Petrilli said he urged federal officials to rescind the guidance.

"A lot of us are concerned that, while it makes sense to reduce suspensions whenever possible, you got to worry about the law of unintended consequences in terms of schools becoming unsafe and disorderly. And so you got to figure out how to balance those two important values," Petrilli said.
Last Thursday evening, I served as master of ceremonies for a dinner at which several politicians and former politicians spoke. I introduced Norm Coleman as a man who, many believe, was twice elected to the United States Senate. Today the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports Colemans thoughts on Leeann Tweedens revelations about her encounters with Al Franken in 2006:

Former U.S. Sen. and St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman said he would have beaten Al Franken in the hotly contested 2008 Senate race if a photo of Franken appearing to grope a sleeping woman had come out. Following a statewide recount and court battle, Franken won the election by 312 votes, unseating Coleman. Youve got to believe that photo is worth more than 312 votes, Coleman said in comments first reported by TalkingPointsMemo.

Good point! Tweeden, of course, had no obligation to reveal what Franken did to her shortly before he began his run for the Senate. But if she had told her story promptly, Franken probably would not have gotten the nomination. And if it had come out during the election campaign, Coleman would have been re-elected easily.

Frankens tenure as a senator has been undistinguished, but his election was historic in this respect: when he finally took his seat after a recount was completed, he became the 60th vote for Obamacare. As it turned out, a great deal turned on Tweedens reticence.

If Minnesota had adequate voter integrity laws, none of this would have mattered. Long after the fact, it was demonstrated that at least 1,099 felons voted illegally in the Coleman-Franken election, no doubt the vast majority for Franken. Many other illegal votes were cast for Franken as well, e.g. by non-citizens. The role of voter fraud in electing Al Franken, and thereby passing Obamacare, helps to explain why Democrats hysterically oppose voter ID and all other measures intended to minimize election fraud.
The traditional criticism of Democrats is that they have no solution to any problem except money. Taxing and spending is their sole policy. That critique is valid.

The corresponding stereotype of Republicans is that they cant govern. Based on the experience of the last 10 months, that criticism is also valid. President Trump has done a very good job, but the Republican Congress has been a disaster, unable to deliver on any of its major promises to voters.

If that doesnt change soon, millions of Republican-leaning voters will stay home next Novemberwhy bother to vote for a Congress that cant get anything done?and the Democrats will take the House. I dont think they can capture the Senate on account of the disparity in the number of seats that are in play, but the Republicans will miss their opportunity to strengthen their tenuous hold on that body.

If the Democrats take the House, every one of them will vote to impeach President Trump, no matter how absurd the articles of impeachment (the first set of which have already been filed) may be. That will lead to an impeachment trial in the Senate. Of course the Democrats wont be able to get the two-thirds majority necessary to evict President Trump from office, but all or nearly all Democrats will vote for conviction. The last two years of Trumps administration will be consumed by impeachment drama, which will be enthusiastically cheered on by the liberal media.

The Trump administration will be unable to accomplish anything. Even Trumps power of appointment may effectively be lost. For example, if there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court, the Democrats will argue that it shouldnt be filled by a president who has been impeached and is under threat of removal from office.

The impeached President Trump probably wont run for a second term, and in 2020, the Democratic presidential nominee will waltz to victory. Who knows, it might even be Hillary if she is well enough, at that point, to make the effort.

That is how the future looks unless Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, Ron Johnson and every other Republican Senate and House member get their act together NOW and pass tax reform. From there, they need additional legislative accomplishments in order to stand a chance in 2018 and 2020. But tax reform is the initiative that may benefit the economy in time for the midterm election, if they pass it promptly. The alternative is grim.
KSTP has just posted the video of Tom Hausers report last night from Washington, D.C., on his search for Minnesota Senator Al Franken or someone to speak on his behalf. Hauser reports in his dry style, but the thing has a Wheres Waldo quality that any aficionado of comedy should appreciate. If youre following the story, you wont want to miss this.

The story was posted this morning at KSTPs site here.

Quotable quote: Franken spokesman Michael Dale-Stein texted 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, saying the senator is with his family, and, Ill let you know in the near future if we can set something up. He did not say if Sen. Franken is in Washington or Minnesota.
Tom Hauser covers Minnesota politics for KSTP, our local ABC affiliate. He flew out to Washington to land an interview with Al Franken or anyone on Frankens communications staff. KSTPs 6:00 p.m. news last night included video of Hauser in Frankens Senate office seeking Franken or anyone on his staff to speak on his behalf regarding his treatment of Leeannn Tweeden.

Hauser found no one willing to talk with him. Some time around the newscast, however, Hauser received a message from Franken press secretary Michael Dale-Stein asserting Frankens and his unavailability. Hauser read the message on camera; Dale-Stein apologized for his tardiness in getting back to Hauser. According to Dale-Stein, he was out of the office and Franken was otherwise unavailable with his family (his wife?). They would catch up with Hauser some time later.

Franken is following best scandal management practices. He is hiding out to ride it out.

With Franken in hiding, Hillary Clinton has spoken up on his behalf. Its just like old times!

Hillary has come to Frankens defense. Drawing on her personal experience in scandal management, she holds that Franken should be praised for his accountability and willingness to apologize. Look at the contrast between Al Franken, accepting responsibility, apologizing, and Roy Moore and Donald Trump who have done neither, Clinton said. [That] is the kind of accountability Im talking about. I dont hear that from Roy Moore or Donald Trump.

Reasonable observers might ask how Franken has been held accountable and what alternative a perpetrator has when his hands are caught in the cookie jar.

UPDATE: I have posted the KSTP video of Tom Hausers report here
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP  Hamilton Mall is having a sensory-sensitive Santa event for children on the autism spectrum this year for the first time, thanks to efforts by a Hammonton grandmother.

Judy Grasso, a retired school nurse and educator who has two grandsons on the spectrum, brought the special needs community to the attention of the Hamilton Mall. She was frustrated after her daughter told her sensory-sensitive Santas at malls in Cherry Hill and Moorestown were already sold out.

The only events they had were for one hour, one early morning, said Grasso of the Camden County malls. Its a shame. What we call neurotypical children have an entire season of getting to see Santa several hours a day.

Hamilton Mall had nothing scheduled for sensory-sensitive children, so she contacted staff there.

They responded immediately with an apology, said Grasso, adding the mall staff was not aware of the need. Once it was brought to their attention, they got to work setting up two special, two-hour sessions with a Santa who is specially trained.

Children on the autism spectrum are often upset by loud sounds, crowds, lights and other things that can overexcite their senses, so they need a special situation.

They try to do it before the mall opens. They dont want crowds that might upset the children, she said. It is lower key, with fewer kids, and they keep the children busy with activities while they are waiting.

Grassos daughter Amy Felsberg and her husband, Ted, of Hamilton Township, have two sons on the spectrum, Caleb, 4, and Gavin, 3.

I was just so excited. I put it on the FACES (Autism Support Network) website. The word got out in the Atlantic County community the second we put it on the website. The community is so excited.

Grasso said she is grateful for the Hamilton Malls willingness to provide our children with the same holiday experience as all of the other children of the community. Their kindness means so much to the families.

The sessions are 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. on two Sundays, Nov. 26 and Dec. 3.

Reservations are required, as space is limited. Visit or call mall customer service at 609-646-8326. Photo packages will be available for purchase.
Question: A few years ago, I purchased a three-piece set of blue childrens dishes  a plate, bowl and mug  at a thrift shop. Each is decorated with a white rabbit in its center. ANNA is printed on the border of each item and Her Plate, Her Bowl and Her Mug is printed on each corresponding piece. Although all are marked Paul Revere Pottery, the shops clerk said the set was made by a group called the Saturday Evening Girls. However, she was unable to tell me anything more, and I hope you can.  S.F., Ocean City

Answer: Your circa-1920s childs breakfast set was made by women who worked at Bostons Paul Revere Pottery. Originally known as the Saturday Evening Girls, most of the young ladies were daughters of Jewish or Italian parents newly arrived in America.

Founded during the 1890s by wealthy philanthropist Helen Osborne Storrow, librarian Edith Guerrier and artist Edith Brown, the club offered after-hours cultural and artistic activities for the women who labored long hours daily for little pay in Bostons sweatshops.

By 1909, the clubs founders had purchased a house near the Boston church where Paul Revere hung his signal lanterns. There, they installed a kiln and began teaching their students the art of creating pottery tableware and decorative objects that were sold to the public. Soon, Paul Revere Potterys innovative program was providing financially rewarding employment for the potters whose craftsmanship was honed daily.

In 1915, the shop was moved to a suburban location, where it operated until 1942. Today, a number of the objects created by the women at Paul Revere Pottery can be viewed at Bostons Museum of Fine Arts.

Recently, a Paul Revere Pottery breakfast set made for a small boy by the Saturday Evening Girls sold for $550.

Question: I own a group of Swarovski crystal animal figures collected by my late mother. My favorite is a tiny Dumbo elephant with blue eyes and frosted hat and tail. It is numbered 764ONR100001. Information you may be able to provide about Swarovski, the figures age and possible worth as a collectible will be appreciated.  E.L., Gloucester Township

Answer: Established in Austria in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski (1862-1956), the Swarovski glassworks company initially produced fine-cut glass objects at a leased factory, later replaced by a new Swarovski building.

From its early days, the company also made crystal items shipped worldwide, despite occasional factory closings required by two World Wars and the Great Depression.

During the 1950s, there was extensive demand for haute couture crystal jewelry, initiated by the exhibition of beautiful pieces made for leading ladies in motion pictures. When Swarovski crystal figurines debuted in 1987, the small, sparkling treasures prompted a worldwide collecting market and the creation of the Swarovski Crystal Society.

Your Dumbo figurine, representing the engaging hero of the 1941 Disney movie, is one of many copyrighted Disney characters sold at Disney parks that were created for Swarovski by Spanish glass artists, brothers Tomas and Alfonso Arribas.

Swarovskis Disney Dumbo, introduced in 1993, was retired in 1996. Prices paid for several boxed examples in perfect condition with all paperwork intact have ranged from $130 to $145 this year.
PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account.
Kimberly Lamberty-Torres, of Linwood, saw firsthand the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria to Puerto Rico.

From Oct. 6 to 12, Lamberty-Torres was on the island to deliver goods with the Puerto Rico Strong Campaign, spearheaded by Wanda Mora, of Marlton, Burlington County.

Lamberty-Torres was also there to bring her mother back to the mainland U.S.

The whole island was decimated. There was mass destruction, Lamberty-Torres said. The phones didnt work. The traffic lights were down. It was pitch black at night.

Besides Lamberty-Torres trip to Puerto Rico, she organized her own rally Sept. 29 in Philadelphia, which was attended by about 200 people.

Lamberty-Torres, who was born on the mainland U.S. but whose parents were born in Puerto Rico, has done about all she can do as an individual.

So from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Lamberty-Torres will join thousands of others in a Unity March for Puerto Rico on The National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The crowd will march against laws that do not serve the Puerto Rican people, including the Jones Act, which bars foreign vessels from shipping goods between U.S. coasts. Jones Act opponents say it hurts consumers on U.S. islands, including Puerto Rico, by adding shipping costs to imports of basic goods like fuel and food.

President Donald Trump temporarily waived the Jones Act at the end of September for Puerto Rico, but the waiver expired Oct. 7.

A permanent waiver to the Jones Act for Puerto Rico is being called for because it has been systemically oppressive and crippling to the people and the socioeconomic growth and sustainability of the island, march organizers have written.

Lamberty-Torres has been politically active throughout her life, especially when she lived in Philadelphia. She moved to South Jersey seven years ago.

It is taxation with representation. ... Our governor has no voting power in Congress. We only have an electoral vote, said Lamberty-Torres, who added Puerto Rico is treated more like a colony than as an equal American state. Imagine Florida or Texas without power for 66 days.

Lamberty-Torres considers Puerto Rico her second home even though she was not born there. Her parents and grandparents are from there. She has visited so many times she cant count.

Even though Lamberty-Torres brought her mother here at her request, Nereida Lamberty plans to return as soon as January even though her home needs a new roof. Nereida Lambertys husband was born and raised in Puerto Rico and refused to come to the mainland U.S. during the rescue mission.

Her town doesnt have running water or electricity, Lamberty-Torres said.

Lamberty-Torres and her husband of 21 years, Wellington Mendoza-Torres, 42, will attend the march on one of five buses out of Philadelphia.

Puerto Rican native Edgard Rivera, 28, of Northfield, said he also will attend the march, but he will drive down.

Rivera came to the mainland U.S. at age 2. He spent his summer vacations there from ages 4 to 16. He has been to Puerto Rico numerous times during the past couple of years.

Riveras father still lives there, and he heard from his dad two weeks ago for the first time in 40 days.

It was devastating, Rivera said of the footage of Puerto Rico after Maria hit. Besides my father, I have many family members down there. The only reports I was getting was through Facebook.

Rivera said his father lives in the mountains, and there are still a lot of families the Federal Emergency Management Agency has not helped. His father has not seen any U.S. government officials come through.

Rivera said he has never attended a political march. He said he is sure he will feel proud Sunday.

I will probably feel emotional, too. There are still many people who are suffering, Rivera said.
ATLANTIC CITY  The resorts gaming industry, which has been weakened by out-of-state competition during the last decade, should be spared during the next round of casino gaming expansion in Pennsylvania.

As part of the sweeping gaming expansion, casino-style gambling would be allowed at Pennsylvania truck stops, online portals and airports, and as many as 10 new mini-casinos would be permitted to open in a state that already has a dozen casinos operating.

But high tax rates and restrictions on where new the new mini-casinos could be built might lessen the impact the neighboring expansion could have on the citys gaming market.

Colin Mansfield, a director at Fitch Ratings and a lead analyst in the gaming, said the fact that Philadelphia suburbs are excluded from having the mini-casinos will benefit Atlantic Citys gaming market.

Honestly, its hard to lose the same revenue twice, Mansfield said.

Pennsylvania lawmakers hope to squeeze an additional $200 million per year or more from casino license fees and taxes on higher gambling losses. New gambling cash would also flow to decade-old property tax rebates and local government treasuries, institutions and development projects, often controlled by lawmakers.

The high operator fees and tax rate will scary away some casino owners from getting involved in online gaming, said Steve Norton, who runs a consulting company, Norton Management LLC.

Table game tax rates are very similar, but when considering that 90 percent of New Jerseys online gaming is from slots, Im not sure how many Pennsylvania online operators will be interested in applying for a license, Norton said.

A recent report by Moodys credit rating agency raised questions about the impact the expansion will have on the region. The report states expansions could take revenue from existing casinos in Pennsylvania. The report also takes issue with the 50 percent tax rate that was placed on internet gaming.

Despite concerns over the tax rate, the introduction of internet gaming in Pennsylvania could benefit online gamblers in New Jersey, said Steve Ruddock, PlayNJ.com lead analyst. Pennsylvania is now the fourth state to legalize internet gaming.

After Pennsylvanias online casinos go live, a total of 26 million U.S. residents will have access to legal, regulated online gaming sites, Ruddock said. That rising tide will positively affect every state where online gambling is legal.

New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada already have reached an agreement to share player pools for online poker and casino games, and now Pennsylvania could join that growing network. That would be a particular boom for online poker, vastly growing the pool of games available to players in participating states.

The interstate compact between Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey will serve to stabilize and grow the online poker market in all three states, Ruddock said. Throw Pennsylvania into the mix and the U.S. online poker market is poised to double in size by the end of 2018.
A.C. project includes residents in process

I am thrilled that some people still believe in Atlantic City and are willing to invest in it. The on-going Tennessee Avenue Renaissance Project is a sure sign of progress.

The developers who are heading this project remain honest in their intentions. They are not promising residents of Atlantic City the world, nor have they claimed to be their great saviors as other investors have. Rather, they have committed themselves to assisting in the stimulation of the economic and cultural development of Atlantic City within their means.

For the past 47 years the casinos have crippled the citys healthy growth. Most of the casino owners have no real ties to the local community and could care less about its well-being. So when they found the soil no longer rich here, they immediately chose to relocate. President Donald Trump is a perfect example of these profit-driven tycoons.

However, the leaders of the revitalization project, who are local residents, have a vested interest in seeing Atlantic City succeed in the long run. Unlike the casino owners, they are planting themselves in, keeping a pulse on how residents feel about what they are doing, and striving to deliver on their promise.

It is also laudable that they gained the trust of the community before venturing on the project.

They tailored their plan to include the residents in some capacity rather than just bullying their way in.

Deon Davis

Atlantic City

Pot claims unfounded

Regarding the Oct. 19 commentary by Donald Charles, Myths and money behind push for legal marijuana:

In his efforts to refute marijuana myths, Charles points to the corporate studies of opiates that have led us to the national nightmare of addiction and ignores that some pharmaceutical companies apparently decided that a profitable business model could include spreading addiction. They are drug dealers in lab coats and suits. I wish he could prosecute these pushers as well as the street peddler.

In Myth 1, he notes that eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational pot and claims that few if any are being incarcerated. What about the other 42 states? Drug laws have always been disproportionately enforced against outside groups. He offers no explanation for how prison populations would not decline, given that fewer people would be sent to prison.

Myth 3 is the dreaded gateway hypothesis. It all depends on how far one goes back. In many cases, before pot there was beer, or the parents liquor cabinet. Perhaps alcohol is the gateway that leads to heroin addiction? It could even be soda, for that matter. Just because B follows A, does not mean that A caused B. It is specious reasoning, at best, and has no place in setting laws and public policy.

The history of our marijuana laws and their proponent, Harry Anslinger, make for an interesting subject of study. These laws were enacted by a campaign of fear beset with racial stereotypes. The movie Reefer Madness was marketed as a documentary then, instead of the comedic fiction it is.

Robert Post

Absecon
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Kolkata, Nov 16 : A district-level Trinamool Congress leader and the BJP's West Bengal unit president have been caught on camera threatening to set houses on fire and break limbs of opposition leaders as also beat up the police.

Addressing a public meeting in Malda district on Thursday, state Bharatiya Janata party chief Dilip Ghosh warned that BJP workers would beat up Trinamool Congress workers and police if they came under attack and were not allowed to participate in political programmes.

"They are trying to stop us, they are beating us up, we are not being allowed to participate in political programmes.

"In the areas where they have muscle power, they (Trinamool) are using miscreants and cadres to stop us. In areas where they lack strength, and may get beaten up by us, they are deploying the police," said Ghosh.

"If need be, we will thrash Didi's (elder sister - as Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee is called) brothers, and also her police. If you mess with us, you will face the music."

"The only job of the police in the state is to photograph us, and extort money from the vehicles. They then deposit the money in Trinamool coffers.

"They (the police) have been given batons and camouflage dresses. As if by wearing the dress they will become commandos. The day they get beaten up, not a blow will be wasted," he added.

A day back, Birbhum district Trinamool chief Anubrata Mondal went ballistic after some villagers, protesting against a proposed government project near Shantiniketan in Bolpur, razed down a wall and beat up construction workers. They also clashed with some Trinamool Congress workers.

As Congress heavyweight and leader of the opposition in state assembly, Abdul Mannan, and CPI-M leader Bikash Bhattacharya went to meet the affected villagers, the Trinamool workers vandalised the stage and tore up the posters.

Despite that, the two leaders tried to go ahead with their programme, but were stopped by the police, who claimed their presence could trigger a law and order problem. The two argued and jostled with the police for over an hour, but finally returned to Kolkata.

Minutes after they left, Mondal arrived at the spot and, standing beside senior district police officers, threatened to break the limbs of the two opposition leaders if they dared to come back to the area. The incident was caught on camera.

He also gave the police a few hours to arrest the villagers and put them behind bars.

"Now it is 4.15 p.m. By 7 p.m. all of them should be arrested, and put behind bars by 9 p.m. Otherwise we will bulldoze in. Not even one house will stand intact. We will destroy everything.

"I won't hear your stories. After 9 p.m. I won't leave these houses intact, and set fire to them. Development work has been taken up here. Many people will get jobs and if they create trouble I don't care whether it is Abdul Mannan or Bikash Bhattacharya. I will thrash them and break their limbs."

Meanwhile, the Trinamool leadership dissociated itself from Mondal's remarks, but said it has to be seen in what context he uttered these words.

"We have to see the backdrop. We only see what Anubrata is saying. We don't see why he is saying this. But whatever he has said is not acceptable. We won't support such comments. I will talk to Anubrata," said Trinamool Secretary General Partha Chatterjee.
Mumbai, Nov 18 : The makers of "Padmavati" have rued how the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is "looking the other way" due to which they are compelled to show the movie at other platforms.

"What an irony, those who are supposed to watch are looking the other way and we have to run around and show it at other forums to 'clear' it," tweeted Ajit Andhare, Chief Operating Officer, Viacom18 Motion Pictures.

The banner has produced "Padmavati", scheduled to release on December 1, with Bhansali Productions and it will distribute the film in India.

The censor board has reportedly sent back the film's application for certification, citing that it is incomplete.

Meanwhile, senior journalists Rajat Sharma and Arnab Goswami said on Friday that they have watched the movie and didn't find anything that could hurt the sentiments of the Rajput community.

Andhare further wrote: "Can screen to responsible individuals who feel aggrieved. Please come, see it yourself, nothing to hide, put an end to this saga. Let's celebrate our heritage."

"We can do it tomorrow itself, we want them to stand with us support the film it celebrates Rajput pride. We have been saying from beginning... Film just finished few days back," he added in a series of posts late on Friday night.

"Padmavati" is Bhansali's professed tribute to the valour and sacrifice of Rajput queen Rani Padmavati. Various Rajput organisations have demanded the movie's release be stalled and have threatened the director and the film's lead actress Deepika Padukone.

"We must appreciate that government has really gone out of the way to provide security to Sanjay and Deepika," Andhare tweeted thanking Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Washington, Nov 18 : The US is looking forward to expanding its relationship with Africa in trade and investment and countering terrorism, said a top diplomat.

Africa is a growing market with vast potential and the current US administration will focus their bilateral economic relationship on trade and investment, Xinhua news agency quoted US State Secretary Rex Tillerson as saying while addressing a ministerial meeting with the African Union here.

Bilateral trade and investment between the US and African countries have been growing in the past years. US exports to Sub-Saharan Africa grew from 17 billion USD in 2010 to over 25 billion dollars in 2014, according to statistics from the US government.

The US direct investment in Africa jumped to a record high of 57.5 billion dollars last year.

"The United States sees even more opportunity ahead in the coming years," said Tillerson in the meeting with the 55-member Continental body.

The US will seek to strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation with African countries, including addressing "the root causes of violent extremism", he added.
Washington, Nov 18 : The US State Department has approved a possible sale of the Patriot Anti-Missile System to Poland at an estimated cost of $ 10.5 billion, said the Pentagon.

The proposed sale will increase the Polish military's defensive capabilities without altering the basic military balance in the region, Xinhua news agency quoted the Pentagon as saying in a statement on Friday.

The deal will also give Poland "greater flexibility to conduct air and missile defense operations" with the United States and other NATO members, said a US State Department official.

Currently, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Greece are among the NATO members who possess the Patriot system, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the missile defense systems in Eastern Europe a "great danger", saying Russia will enhance its own missile strike capability in response.

Putin said earlier the launch areas in Romania and Poland may be used for deployment of short and medium range missiles which not only presented additional threat to Russia, but also could be the prologue of breaching Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

Warning of a new arms race, Putin vowed that Moscow would not be dragged in but would take responsive measures to any national security threat.

The contract still requires approval from the US Congress.
Mexico City : Mexico City,, Nov 18 (IANS) Mexico faces daunting challenges in the fifth NAFTA renegotiation round, which got underway here amid fresh warnings from the US.

Just days before the talks scheduled to take place from November 17-21, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross warned Mexico and Canada of the consequences of not reaching a new agreement, Efe news reported.

The dissolution of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) would be "far more damaging to them than to us", Ross said at the Wall Street Journal's CEO Council Meeting on Tuesday.

"I would certainly prefer them to come to their senses and make a sensible deal."

Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal responded a day later, recalling that many areas of the US with strong trade relations with Mexico would be adversely affected if the trade deal is scrapped.

Mexico's Business Coordinating Council President Juan Pablo CastaAon said that his coalition of business groups was hopeful that final agreement can be reached on important chapters such as financial services, energy and e-commerce.

But he acknowledged there were issues with no apparent "room to maneuver".

One thorny issue is the US' insistence that a larger share of manufactured products, particularly in the automobile sector, be made in North America to qualify for duty-free status.

In the case of automobile rules of origin, the US says it wants the North American content of cars to climb to 85 per cent (up from 62.5 per cent at present).

It also wants a new rule stating that cars manufactured in Canada and Mexico must have 50 per cent American content to qualify for zero tariffs.

The US also wants a new agreement to contain a "sunset" clause that would require each of the three parties to re-approve the deal every five years.
Buenos Aires, Nov 18 : An Argentinean submarine has lost contact in the South Atlantic with 44 crew on board, military authorities said.

The ARA San Juan was carrying out a surveillance mission in Argentina's exclusive economic zone near Puerto Madryn, around 1,400 km south of Buenos Aires, Xinhua news agency reported.

Argentina's naval commander for the Atlantic, Gabriel Gonzalez, told the media on Friday that radioelectrical communication was lost with the submarine "48 hours ago".

The last communication with the craft happened on Wednesday.

Navy spokesman Enrique Balbi denied that it had been found.

Answering rumors about the submarine, Balbi said that news of a fire on board was "not official information".

"There may have been a technical fault, there is no communication yet."

The Foreign Ministry also issued a statement, saying "the governments of Chile, the United States and the United Kingdom have offered logistical support and exchange of information in this humanitarian search".

Three planes, four ships and one helicopter are searching the area for the missing submarine.

The ARA San Juan is a TR-1700 submarine made in Germany, which joined the Argentinean navy in 1985.
United Nations, Nov 18 : Russia has vetoed for the second time in 24 hours to block a UN Security Council resolution to re-authorise an investigation into the use of chemical weapons in Syria, media reports said on Saturday.

Friday night's development was the third veto of an extension for the chemical weapons investigators in the past month, reports CNN.

After Russia vetoed a compromise 30-day extension of the mission proposed by Japan, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said that Russia "saw fit to waste our time".

UK Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said he was "frankly astounded" that Russia would block a resolution to restructure how the mission operates to meet some of Moscow's concerns.

Swedish Ambassador Olof Skoog called for immediate additional private consultations.

The Security Council was holding those consultations Friday night, but no further vote was expected.

The mandate for the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) to inspect for chemical weapons ran out at midnight on Friday.

Russia vetoed the resolution along with Bolivia. China was the sole country to abstain.

Italian UN Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi, President of the Security Council, said the group "will continue to work in the coming hours and days to find a common position in light, of course, of this crucial non-proliferation issue that we have been debating for the last days".

On April 4, more than 80 people were killed in a sarin attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun -- an attack that prompted the US to launch 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase, CNN reported.

A joint report from the UN and international chemical weapons inspectors last month determined the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the attack.

Syria has repeatedly denied it had anything to do with the attack and rejects that it has any chemical weapons.

This is the 11th time that Russia, which supports Assad, has used its veto to stop a resolution on Syria, where some 500,000 people have died in a civil war that erupted in March 2011, reports Efe news.

The JIM was created in 2015 with the support of all five permanent members of the Security Council.

A Russian draft resolution to maintain the JIM with the changes sought by Moscow was defeated handily on Thursday, receiving only four votes.

Syria had handed over its chemical weapons arsenal to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons under a 2013 accord brokered by Washington and Moscow.
Washington, Nov 18 : White House senior adviser Jared Kushner told congressional investigators probing alleged Russian collusion in the 2016 presidential election, that he did not communicate with WikiLeaks during the campaign, the media reported.

In an interview on Friday, Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, accurately answered questions about his contact and also said that he did recall anyone else in the campaign who had communicated with WikiLeaks, an informed source told CNN.

In a statement on Friday night, Kushner attorney Abbe Lowell said the committee had asked "a classic gotcha question.

"Kushner was asked if he had contacts with Wikileaks, Guccifer or DC Leaks and said no. He also said he did not know of such contacts by the campaign. From all I have now seen, his statement was accurate then as it is now. In over six hours of voluntary testimony, Kushner answered all questions put to him and demonstrated that there had been no collusion between the campaign and Russia."

Kushner was asked in July during his closed-door congressional testimony if he had any contacts with WikiLeaks or its founder Julian Assange and he responded that he had not.

The campaign's communications with WikiLeaks were currently under scrutiny after a media report earlier this week said that Trump Jr. had corresponded with WikiLeaks over Twitter during the height of the 2016 presidential campaign, reports CNN.

Trump Jr. subsequently shared his messages with WikiLeaks on Twitter.

The same day he received the first Twitter direct message from WikiLeaks about an anti-Trump political action committee (PAC), Trump Jr. emailed Kushner and other senior officials on the campaign telling them WikiLeaks had made contact, according to the report.

Kushner forwarded that email to campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks, who is now White House communications director.

The contents of Trump's Jr.'s email to Kushner and others are not known.
Shillong, Nov 18 : The Congress-led Meghalaya United Alliance (MUA) government has announced new payscales for over 11 lakh employees, including school and college teachers, besides 23,000 pensioners.

Chief Minister Mukul Sangma announced the revision late on Friday after the cabinet deliberated on the Fifth Meghalaya Pay Commission recommendations.

The lowest grade staffer will now draw a basic pay of Rs 17,400 per month and the highest grade staffer Rs 83,900 per month. This will cause an additional financial burden of Rs 929 crore on the state exchequer for 2017-2018 alone.

Sangma said the government employees will start drawing revised salary from December, though the revision is with effect from January 1, 2017.

"The basic pay in the last pay revision for the lowest grade employees was Rs 6,500 per month which has now been hiked to Rs 17,400 per month and for the highest grade employees, the last pay revision was Rs 31,300 per month and now it has been increased to Rs 83,900 per month," the Chief Minister said.

He said the number used as a multiplier factor for the current pay revision is 2.68 and this is being applied uniformly to all existing pay scales of all levels of state government employees.

Sangma said that the number used as multiplier factor for the last pay revision was 2.66.

The last pay revision following the recommendations of the Meghalaya Fourth Pay Commission was implemented with effect from January 1, 2007.

"With the implementation of the pay revision, for the current fiscal year alone, there will be an additional financial burden of Rs 929 crore on the state exchequer which includes payment of arrears to both employees and pensioners," Sangma said.

He said that the arrears for the 11 months would be first disbursed at 40 per cent, and the rest 60 per cent would be staggered into two of 30 per cent each.
Bengaluru, Nov 18 : Private doctors across Karnataka were back to work on Saturday and began treating out-patients after they called off their five-day strike on Friday.

"All the private doctors across the state are back to their duties since morning after we called off the strike," Indian Medical Association's (IMA) Karnataka Chapter Secretary Dr B. Veeranna told IANS here.

"Doctors are treating patients in Out-Patient Departments (OPDs) as we'd assured the High Court on Friday."

The state government had incorporated penal provisions in the Amendment Bill to the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments (KPME) Act, 2007 to regulate the functioning of the private hospitals, including the treatment cost, Grievances Redressal Committees and imprisonment of doctors if a patient dies due to their medical negligence.

Nearly 50,000 doctors working at private hospitals, clinics and nursing homes were on a five-day strike with several doctors also on relay hunger strike at Belagavi, about 500km from here, where the 10-day winter session of the state legislature began on Monday.

"Whatever our demands were, the state government has agreed to make the amendments and table the bill again on Monday," he said.

The state had agreed to the demands of the doctors at a two-hour long meeting between the state government and representatives of the private doctors at Belagavi on Friday, Veeranna said.

"As we demanded, the state government has agreed not to form Grievances Redressal Committees at the district level. Aggrieved patients can approach the District Health Officer (DHO) or the Karnataka Medical Council (KMC) under the existing provisions of the KPME Act," asserted Veeranna.

A division bench of the High Court comprising Acting Chief Justice H.G. Ramesh and Justice P.S. Dinesh Kumar had on Friday ordered the private doctors to withdraw their strike, as the state government had agreed to consider their demands on the amendment bill.

"Basic medical services are a right to life for every citizen," said the bench in the interim order on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by an advocate on Wednesday against the striking private doctors and private hospitals.

The four main demands of the private doctors regarding the bill were inclusion of government doctors under the KPME Act, no grievances redressal committees, no penalty on erring doctors or their imprisonment for the death of a patient due to medical negligence and ceiling on cost of treatment should be applicable to only government health schemes under which eligible patients are treated in private hospitals or clinics.

Of the registered 1.25 lakh doctors in the state, only about 10,000 of them work in the state-run hospitals, while over a lakh are employed in about 40,000 private hospitals, nursing homes and clinics across the state.
New Delhi : At the root of the controversy over the release of the Hindi feature film "Padmavati" is, first, the saffron brotherhood's interpretation of history with a pronounced anti-Muslim bias and, secondly, the Bharatiya Janata Party's overt and covert attempts to whittle down institutional autonomy.

Even if the BJP's seemingly political use of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is a continuation of the practice of its predecessor which made the Supreme Court call the CBI a "caged parrot", the party can be said to have broken new ground by letting vandals of the Hindu Right vent their anger against Padmavati and, thereby, undermining the authority of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

In this case, too, there are precedents as when the Congress objected to the film, "Indu Sarkar," because of its focus on Indira Gandhi. But the saffron offensive against Padmavati is making a greater impact because of the clout which the Sangh Parivar affiliates enjoy in view of their proximity to power.

It is obvious that if they are not checked, not only will the authority of the CBFC be diminished, but also the board will be wary in future of clearing films dealing with history or issues which are close to the Parivar's heart. Politics will, therefore, virtually take over the board's functioning.

What is more, the filmmakers themselves will be dissuaded from touching subjects which may be deemed sensitive and deal instead with safe, insipid topics. Such a state of affairs will be unfortunate at a time when Bollywood has been breaking away from the earlier productions with their song-and-dance routine and predictable storylines which were far removed from reality, except in a few exceptional cases which came to be known as the parallel cinema.

Not long ago, it was expected that the directors and producers will be able to breathe easily after the previous censor board chief, Pahlaj Nihalani, was unceremoniously removed so that he could no longer run amok with his scissors in accordance with his saffron whims, as in the case of reducing the duration of a kiss in a James Bond film or ordering 89 cuts in "Udta Punjab" or not clearing "Lipstick Under My Burkha" at all.

But any hope that the new board will be allowed to exercise its judgement in peace with the support of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has been belied if only because the opponents of the idea of letting the artistes pursue their craft unhindered are far too influential politically.

The decision about what the audience will be allowed to see is being taken not only by the self-appointed guardians of culture but also the ministry which has banned two films -- "S Durga" and "Nude" -- from an international festival in Goa apparently because the letter "S" in "S Durga" stands for "sexy", which is too strong a word for bureaucratic ears, and "Nude" is out for obvious reasons.

While the rewriting of history books is proceeding apace with Rana Pratap winning the battle of Haldighati against Akbar on the pages of the textbooks printed in Rajasthan, the Hindutva storm-troopers are laying down the rules on how historical events are to be shown on the screen.

India has already seen the exiling of a reputed painter, M.F. Husain, who was hounded out of the country by saffron vigilantes who were displeased with his depiction of Hindu deities.

It will be a sad day if filmmakers, too, have to leave the country or shoot their films elsewhere, as in the case of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, which was shot in Sri Lanka.

The standard explanation for demanding cuts in the films is to ensure that the sentiments of the people are not hurt.

It was for this very same reason that Galileo had to disavow his thesis about the earth moving round the sun since such an assertion offended the feelings of the church and the laity in medieval Europe.

It took the church 350 years to apologise. There is unlikely to be anyone in the ruling dispensation or even in the opposition who will be courageous enough to say that the question of whether religious or cultural sensibilities are being hurt cannot be settled on the streets but should be left to the institutions to decide or, as a last resort, to the judiciary to determine with the assistance of scholars.

The saffron ire against "Padmavati" is apparently over the belief that the film will be unable to do justice to the heroic reputation of the queen of Mewar, a legendary beauty, who killed herself rather than be captured by the invading army of Alauddin Khalji.

Although no one, except the censors, has seen the film, the Hindu Right is patently unwilling to take the chance of an erroneous presentation. So the group has donned battle armour to save the fabled queen (real or fictional) 700 years after her death -- this time from filmmakers -- and is issuing blood-curdling threats against the director and the leading actress.

If accurately presented, the turbulent period of early 14th century Rajasthan can be the subject of a rivetting drama. But whether cinema-goers will be able to see the film is still uncertain.

(Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com)
Mumbai, Nov 18 : There is much consternation and panic among filmmakers lined up for censor certification. The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) rule that films must apply for certification 68 days in advance has driven the industry into a state of panic.

The axe has fallen on the dubbed Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions of the new Hollywood franchise "Justice League" which failed to procure censor certification on time.

A source from Warner Brothers revealed: "We somehow managed to get the original English version of 'Justice League' certified in time for release. But the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions fell prey to the 68-day rule. The dubbed versions could not be censored as the censor board has started following the 68-day timeline strictly from this week onwards."

Apparently the Warner Brothers representatives requested for an exemption to the rule just this once as their advance booking for Justice League in Hindi Tamil and Telugu had already opened.

"We requested the censor board to at least give this film an exemption from the 68-day timeline as we already had the censor certificate for the English version from before the rule was strictly implemented. Unfortunately they haven't yet obliged.

"Hopefully the CBFC would view at least the Hindi dubbed version of 'Justice League' today ,and we can still release the Hindi version later this week. But the Tamil and Telugu versions are unlikely to be released this week," said a source from Warner.

The sudden setback in release plans created a situation of panic in theatres across India, as advance booking for the Hindi Tamil and Telugu versions were already opened.

This problem is not going to end in the near future.

Says a leading producer: "It is unreasonable and absurd to expect us to submit our films 68 days in advance, and that too the complete and fully edited version.

"It is unreasonable and absurd to expect us to submit our films 68 days in advance, and that too the complete and fully edited version.

"Films are in post-production till days before release. How can they be given to the censor board so much in advance? I believe several films whose release dates are announced in the coming weeks won't get censor certification because of the 68-day rule. At least the the previous CBFC chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani would listen to us and try to help us. Prasoon Joshi is inaccessible," said a leading producer.

While Prasson Joshi remained inaccessible Pahlaj Nihlani's reaction to this comment was a classic: "It's like the elder bahu being seen as less evil by her mother-in-law when the younger bahu arrives."
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Bonn, Nov 18 : Amidst the shadow of the US decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, nearly 200 nations on Saturday pledged to launch a process next year to start reviewing existing plans to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

Stepping up climate risk insurance, Germany pledged additional $125 million to support provision of insurance to 400 more million poor and vulnerable people by 2020 in addition to the climate adaptation fund Germany's further contribution of 50 million euros.

The common message from all sides at this conference has been that action to get on track towards the objectives of the Paris Agreement and to ultimately achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals is urgent, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat said on Saturday.

Pledging to continue with its commitments to minimise emissions, it said: "Time is really running out and everyone simply must do much better together to drive climate action further and faster ahead now."

"Above all, this means rapidly raising the current global ambition to act on climate change that is captured in the full set of national climate action plans (NDCs) which sit at the heart of the Agreement."

The two-week negotiations were aimed to take a number of decisions necessary to bring the 2015 Paris Agreement to life, including meaningful progress on the agreement to implement guidelines to keep global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius with an aim to cut greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels.

Environmental groups told IANS the talks missed many prominent issues like financial support for developing nations for cutting emissions and climate adaptation.

Among the major announcements are funds to support the poorest and most vulnerable, whose plight has been brought into sharp perspective by this year's extreme weather, a UNFCCC spokesperson said.

In the InsuResilience Initiative, additional $125 million from Germany will support provision of insurance to an additional 400 million poor and vulnerable people by 2020.

According to recent estimates, only about 100 million people in developing countries and emerging economies are currently covered by climate risk insurance.

Likewise, the climate adaptation fund exceeded its target with Germany's contribution of 50 million euros and Italy's contribution of seven million euros, which means the fund has now surpassed its 2017 target by over $13 million and stands at the equivalent of $93.3 million dollars.

A Norway and Unilever $400 million fund is for public and private investment in more resilient socioeconomic development -- investing in business models that combine investments in high productivity agriculture, smallholder inclusion and forest protection.

Germany and Britain will provide a combined $153 million to expand programmess to fight climate change and deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.

The European Investment Bank also announced $75 million for a new $405 million investment programme by the Water Authority of Fiji.

The scheme will strengthen resilience of water distribution and wastewater treatment following Cyclone Winston, the world's second strongest storm ever recorded, which hit Fiji in February 2016.

At Bonn, India reiterated provisions for finance -- both for adaptation and mitigation, technology transfer for climate actions from the developed nations.

A day after a major victory for India and developing countries on climate action before 2020 that the developed world agreed to discuss in subsequent two years, India's Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Harsh Vardhan has said provisions for finance, technology transfer and capacity building support to developing nations are critical.

Stressing that this Conference of Parties (COP23) is crucial as it would set the stage for the 2018 Facilitative Dialogue, accelerate pre-2020 action and firm up the modalities for implementing the 2015 Paris Agreement, he said India has undertaken ambitious mitigation and adaptation action.

The action is in the fields of clean energy, especially renewable energy; enhancement of energy efficiency; development of less carbon-intensive and resilient urban centers; and promotion of waste-to-wealth and efforts to enhance carbon sink through creation of forest and tree cover.

On the demand of BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China), Fiji, which was presiding over the conference, has also been asked to send letters to all the countries which are yet to ratify the Doha amendments to the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 to do so "as soon as possible".

The developed countries have also been asked to give information by May 1 next year on the progress they have made on pre-2020 action that relates to their obligations under the Kyoto Protocol that includes reduction of emissions and transfer of technology and finance.

India had been demanding since the start of the climate summit on November 6 that pre-2020 climate action be included in the formal agenda of the negotiations.

The developed world, which had been initially resisting this, later agreed on demand of the BASIC countries.

The BASIC countries also emphasised the need for openness, transparency and the country-driven nature of negotiations at the annual summit.

In addition to the commitment to discuss how to scale-up climate action, countries made modest progress in developing a negotiating text for "the Paris Rulebook" comprising the guidelines needed for implementing the Paris Agreement.

(Vishal Gulati is in Bonn at the invitation of Global Editors Network to cover COP23. He can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
Mumbai, Nov 18 : Veteran actress Shabana Azmi on Saturday urged the Indian film industry to boycott the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa to protest against the threats to actress Deepika Padukone and filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali on their upcoming film "Padmavati".

"The entire film industry should boycott IFFI in protest against the threats to Deepika Padukone, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and 'Padmavati'," Shabana said in a tweet.

In a series of other posts on Twitter, Shabana lashed out at the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), which has reportedly sent back the film's application, allegedly citing it to be incomplete.

She wrote: "'Padmavati' application to CBFC has been sent back because of incomplete formalities! Really? Or to keep fires stoked for electoral gains?"

"Sabki dukaan chal rahi hai (Everybody is gaining) under the patronage not of the fringe but of the government in power. Film industry must stand as one with 'Padmavati'.

Later on, Shabana accused the film fraternity of remaining quiet on the "Padmavati" row.

"Smriti Irani is preparing IFFI that's possible only because the Indian film industry brings such acclaim to it, but keeps quiet about 'Padmavati'," she wrote.

"This is exactly like H.K.L Bhagat and Congress celebrating IFFI in Delhi after the murder of Safdar Hashmi in 1989. Cultural annihilation", she wrote.

"Padmavati" is Bhansali's professed tribute to the valour and sacrifice of Rajput queen Rani Padmavati. Various Rajput organisations have demanded that the movie's release be stalled.
Harare, Nov 18 : Thousands gathered in the centre of Harare on Saturday to demand the resignation of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

Euphoric crowds filled streets in the centre of the city and cars honked their horns. "It's like Christmas," said one marcher, adding Zimbabweans had been suffering for a long time and were now happy, reports the Guardian.

Many carried national flags. One had a poster with a message for the 93-year-old president: "Leave Zimbabwe now!!!" while a vendor at an intersection held up a newspaper with the headline: "Mugabe cornered".

The rally deemed as a "solidarity march", is supported by the military which staged a takeover on Wednesday after a power struggle over Muagabe's successor, reports the BBC.

Regional branches of the ruling Zanu-PF party as well as war veterans, who until now were loyal to the President, on Friday said Mugabe should quit within 48 hours.

By late Friday afternoon, all 10 of the country's provincial Zanu-PF branches had passed motions of no confidence in the President.

This could lead to Mugabe being stripped of his office of president of the party by Sunday, one official told the Guardian.

Earlier on Friday, Mugabe, who had been confined to his luxurious residence in the upscale Harare neighbourhood of Borrowdale since the military takeover, attended a university graduation ceremony on the outskirts of the capital city.

Clad in academic gown and hat, he walked slowly in a procession on a red carpet to a podium as a marching band played. He was applauded as he announced the opening of the ceremony.

On Friday morning an Army statement describing "significant progress" was broadcast on national television and published by state-run media.

Since the takeover, the military has arrested about a dozen senior officials and leading members of the G40, a faction of Zanu-PF who are loyal to First Lady Grace Mugabe who has not been seen since.

Sources told the Guardian she was in her husband's Harare residence when he was detained on Tuesday.

Mugabe sacked Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa last week, apparently to pave the way for the Fist Lady, who is four decades younger than him, to take over the presidency instead.

Mugabe has led Zimbabwe since it gained independence from Britain in 1980.
Chennai, Nov 18 : Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar on Saturday blamed jailed AIADMK leader V.K. Sasikala and her family for the Income Tax (IT) raids at late Chief Minister and her aunt J. Jayalalithaa's residence late on Friday night.

Speaking to reporters here Jayakumar said it is "painful" to note the IT raids at Jayalalithaa's residence.

"It is the family of Sasikala and T.T.V.Dinakaran to be blamed for the IT raid," Jayakumar said.

Jayakumar said Dinakaran is blaming Chief Minister K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam for political gains.

Responding to the media in Tuticorin (600km from here), Minister of State for Finance and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan said: "The raids were done on the basis of specific information and not for political vendetta."

On Friday night IT officials recovered a laptop, a desktop and four pen drives from two rooms used by Sasikala at Jayalalithaa's residence here, said a senior official.

"We received an input that some important electronic storage devices are going to be clandestinely removed from two rooms used by Sasikala in Veda Nilayam (Jayalalithaa's residence)," the IT official told IANS preferring anonymity on Friday.

According to him, it was a "limited mission". "We are not searching the entire premises," he had said.

The raid comes days after IT officials carried out a massive search operation at the residences and premises of Sasikala's kin and their business associates and unearthed Rs 1,430 crore of tax evasion.

The Friday IT search comes 21 years after an earlier search at Jayalalithaa's residence.
Chennai, Nov 18 : Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday urged the industry to chart out a plan for the next 50 years and work with the armed forces.

Speaking at an interactive meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here, Sitharaman said Tamil Nadu-based companies should plan ahead in meeting the demands of the defence forces.

The Defence Minister said the central government will remove the hurdles in domestic defence manufacturing.

Sitharaman said the Tamil Nadu Industry Minister M.C. Sampath had mooted the idea of creating aerospace cluster and defence parks.

Sitharaman said she has asked CII officials to hold discussions with the state government and chart out a plan.

Questioned about Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit visiting districts and meeting officials, Sitharaman said there was nothing wrong in that.

On the alleged firing at Indian fishermen by the Coast Guard recently, Sitharaman said the truth would come out on the completion of an inquiry.

Sitharaman said the talks for purchase of French Rafale fighter jets began in the year 2000 and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government did not take any concrete decisions after holding negotiations between 2004-2013.

She said it was only Prime Minister Narendra Modi who boldly decided to sign the deal to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets.
Srinagar, Nov 18 : A large number of people on Saturday defied curfew-like restrictions imposed by the authorities here to attend the funeral of slain militant Mugees Ahmad Mir.

Authorities had imposed restrictions in several areas in Srinagar to maintain law and order. However, people from different parts of the city reached Parimpora area where the slain militant's funeral was held.

Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik has been arrested and the authorities shifted him to Srinagar central jail on Saturday, in addition to placing Mirwaiz Umer Farooq under house arrest.

Mugees Ahmad Mir was killed on Friday in a shootout with the police in Zakura area of Srinagar. A sub-inspector of Jammu and Kashmir police, Imran Tak was also killed in the shootout.

Police said Mugees, who originally operated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), had lately joined the Al-Qaeda affiliated group, Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, headed by Zakir Musa.
Kathmandu, Nov 18 : The Chinese Ambassador to Nepal has said that China has taken the request of Kathmandu for building a cross-border railway line seriously and has begun a feasibility study, the media reported.

In an interaction with the media here on Friday, Ambassador Yu Hong also said Beijing is working towards fostering a new type of international relations and to build a community with a shared future for mankind, the Kathmandu Post reported.

Ambassador Yu expressed happiness over Nepal's move to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and said the initiative has given wider opening for countries, including Nepal, to integrate the economy and people-to-people contact. Nepal signed up to Chinese President Xi Jinping's flagship BRI in May.

Yu added that Nepal and China are working on several fronts like cross-border railway connectivity, highways and construction of a dry port. "China has taken the request of Nepal government of building cross-border railway line seriously. A team has begun preliminary feasibility study," Yu said.

Laying emphasis on Nepal-China relations, Yu said the two countries in 2009 forged a "comprehensive partnership of cooperation featuring ever-lasting friendship".

Likewise, expansion of the Rasuwagadhi-Syafrubeshi road link, resumption of Araniko Highway and construction of dry ports in Tatopani, Rasuwa and Yaritoo are also on Beijing's priority list.

The Chinese Ambassador's interaction with the media in Kathmandu comes weeks after the conclusion of the Chinese Communist Party Congress in China, enshrining "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" into the party constitution.

China will deepen relations with its neighbours in accordance with the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness and the policy of forging friendship and partnership, she said.

"Not just the present, our future too is closely linked, which is why working together for a better tomorrow is a must," Yu said.
New Delhi, Nov 18 : Human Ken Doll Rodrigo Alves says he will be seen as a Danish Prince in a Bollywood film.

The 34-year-old TV personality told dailymail.co.uk: "My trip started first in New Delhi where I filmed for three days. The main reason of my trip to India is the Bollywood movie that I am part of. It is a huge production with lots of people involved, and music and dancing."

"I play a Danish Prince who is one of the guests at a royal Indian wedding, which is very lavish and flamboyant. I feel very honoured to be given the chance to be part of such an amazing production and I shall look forward to seeing the end material on the big screens next year when the movie is out."

Of his role as a Danish royal, the Brazilian socialite added: "Growing up, my influences were Disney and I have always wanted to look like a Prince. And now I have the chance to be one and to look like one.

He also travelled to Agra, reports dailymail.co.uk.

"It has been now three days that I'm in Jaipur, the pink city. I see cows, pigs and elephants everywhere, this trip has been very cultural."

"I have been learning a few words in Hindi such as 'namaste'. The people are also very friendly and welcoming here. My fasting lasted for seven days and I have lost one stone now. I am fasting for 24 hours and then I eat, then 24 hours fasting again -- and I have been having body therapy to speed up my metabolism."

"Next week I'm back to my live one hour slot in Italy at Domenica Live with Barbara d'Urso where I shall be sharing photos and talking about my amazing experience in India."

Alves has shot to fame in recent years after spending a whopping 400,000 pounds on over 60 cosmetic procedures, earning himself the nickname 'The Human Ken Doll'.
New Delhi, Nov 18 : With the growth of antibiotic resistance already complicating treatments for several diseases in India including common urinary tract infections, the country appears to be in an advanced position to immerse itself in the ignominy of the fast-arriving post-antibiotic world in which even common infections would once again become incurable.

Antibiotic resistance, which is indeed a global threat to health and well-being of people, is part of a bigger problem called antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

AMR refers to the the ability of a microorganism (like bacteria, viruses, and some parasites) to stop an antimicrobial (such as antibiotics and antivirals) from working against it. As a result, standard treatments become ineffective, infections persist and may spread to others, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Each year, drug-resistant infections kill around 700,000 people worldwide, and by 2050, this figure could increase to 10 million, according to an estimate. A World Bank report analysing the economic threats of AMR also suggests a decline of 3.8 per cent of world's annual GDP by 2050.

In India, the problem of antibiotic resistance is even more crucial as the country bears a huge burden of of infectious diseases.

"The tropical wet and dry climate of India provides suitable conditions for proliferation of bacterial diseases. India therefore bears one of the highest burdens of bacterial infections," Rajeshwari Sinha of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a New Delhi-based research organisation, told IANS.

"This, along with largely unsanitary conditions, limited infection prevention and control, poor environmental regulations and practice, and inadequate health systems allow for the high prevalence of infectious diseases," Sinha added.

With easy availability of cheaply priced antibiotics over-the-counter (without prescription), there is growing antibiotic use and consumption to quickly tackle these infections and the result of such overuse, and often misuse, of the drugs is antibiotic resistance.

"'Bad bugs, no drugs' is no longer a mere slogan. The nightmare is turning into a reality. There is a surge in patients with multidrug resistant bacteria both on outpatient and inpatient basis," said Monica Mahajan, Associate Director, Internal Medicine, Max Healthcare.

Besides urinary tract infections, antibiotic resistance is making it difficult to treat ICU (intensive care unit) infections and central lung infections, according to Rajesh Chawla of Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in New Delhi.

Both therapeutic and non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in poultry and other animals are also contributing to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, according to the experts.

Giving low doses of antibiotics routinely to animals mostly though feed, to fatten it in less time and less feed is a common practice.

According to Supradip Ghosh of Fortis Escorts Hospital in Faridabad, Haryana, other factors driving antibiotic resistance in India include lack of awareness among both medical professionals and general public about the importance of preserving antibiotics.

"Just like clean water, clean air and clean energy our next generation deserves to get potent antibiotics," Ghosh said.

"Lack of sanitation and pharmaceutical industry pollution also contribute to AMR," Banwari Lal, Senior Director, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in New Delhi, pointed out.

A CSE study earlier this week revealed that while popular fast food multinationals made specific and time-bound commitments to eliminate antibiotic misuse in chicken supply chains in several developed countries including the US, they have not taken such steps in India.

The report accused these global giant of adopting "double standards".

With chicken-based food a big part of their menu, the growing fast food industry is possibly a big contributor to rising antimicrobial resistance, CSE said.

To arrest the growth of antibiotic resistance, the unnecessary and inappropriate use of antibiotics needs to stop, Ghosh said.

To address the issue, a Strategic National Action Plan (NAP) on AMR, led by the Ministry of Health and family Welfare and supported by the WHO, was released in April 2017.

"While the NAP is ambitious and comprehensive, its thorough implementation will be a challenge," Sinha said, adding that integrated surveillance system to monitor antibiotic resistance trends in humans, animals, food from animals and environment must be developed.

"The government should regulate the feed business which is currently unregulated. Antibiotics should not be allowed in feed and feed supplement and necessary standards need to be developed," Sinha suggested.

Even every individual can also contribute to this global fight against antibiotic resistance.

"At an individual level, we have to create awareness and stop self-medicating ourselves. Antibiotics can have side effects and drug interactions. The chemists has to dispense medication only after ensuring a proper prescription and then stamp the prescription mentioning the date and quantity dispensed. Increasing the costs to discourage use will not work, the mindset has to change," Mahajan said.

(Gokul Bhagabati can be contacted at gokul.b@ians.in)
Harare, Nov 18 : Tens of thousands of people gathered in the centre of Harare on Saturday to call for the resignation of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, as moves to force him to stand down gather pace after a military takeover in the southern African nation.

Jubilant scenes were unfolding on the streets of Harare as protests turned to a celebration of the Army's role in ending Mugabe's grip on power. "It's like Christmas," said one marcher, Fred Mubay.

He said Zimbabweans had been suffering for a long time and were now, finally, happy.

The rally, supported by the military, was deemed as a "solidarity march". Many carried national flags. One had a poster with a message for the 93-year-old President: "Leave Zimbabwe now!!!" while a vendor at an intersection held up a newspaper with the headline: "Mugabe cornered", the Guardian reported.

The Army staged a takeover on Wednesday but Mugabe has refused its demands to leave office. The military and senior officials within the ruling Zanu-PF party now appear set on forcing Mugabe out within 48 hours.

A man arriving at the rally said: "As Zimbabweans, we are saying to our Army: "Thank you very much for the peaceful intervention."

"And it's time for the masses of Zimbabwe to say: Mugabe must go and must go, like, yesterday. We can't wait to see his back. For us, it's about a new beginning."

"For us, it's about the end of authoritarian rule and we are going to take our Zimbabwe back," he said.

By late Friday afternoon, all 10 of the country's provincial Zanu-PF branches had passed motions of no-confidence in the President. This could lead to Mugabe being stripped of his office of President of the party by Sunday, one official told the Guardian.

Earlier on Friday, Mugabe, who had been confined to his luxurious residence in the upscale Harare neighbourhood of Borrowdale since the military takeover, attended a university graduation ceremony on the outskirts of the capital city.

His wife Grace Mugabe was not present. It had been thought she had left the country but it emerged later that she was in her husband's Harare residence.

Saturday's march was organised by the powerful associations representing veterans of the former British colony's liberation wars.

The military's intervention came after weeks of political turmoil in which Mugabe sacked his powerful Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, clearing the way for Mugabe's wife Grace to succeed him.

Mugabe has led Zimbabwe since it gained independence from Britain in 1980.
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 18 : City Mayor V.K. Prasanth, owing allegiance to CPI-M, suffered injuries in a scuffle that broke out between the CPI-M and BJP councillors during a special sitting of the Corporation to mark its second anniversary. An injured Prasanth had to be rushed to a local hospital.

In the 100-member Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the principal opposition party.

The trouble broke out with the BJP insisting for a discussion on the way the High Mast Lighting programme was being carried out in the city. But it was opposed by the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front.

After winding up the session, Prasanth was leaving from the Council hall to his room on the top floor when the scuffle started between the Left and the BJP councillors and in the melee, Prasanth fell down injuring himself.

Four other councillors -- three from the BJP and one of the CPI-M -- were also injured in the incident.

In a press release, the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College said the Mayor had injuries on his person but his condition was stable.

Thiruvananthapuram CPI-M district secretary Anavoor Nagappan said this sort of hooliganism was unheard of in the history of this Corporation.

"One might have differences of opinion, but manhandling is not what should take place," said Nagappan.

But the BJP councillors claimed that the attack was initiated by the Mayor himself.

After the incident, angry CPI-M councillors and the party-backed Corporation staff staged a sit-in protest against the BJP and soon, the BJP councillors also took their seat to protest against the way their members were manhandled.
Umroi (Meghalaya), Nov 18 : Indian and Myanmar armies will conduct their maiden joint exercise in India's northeastern state of Meghalaya, an army official said on Saturday.

The five-day exercise slated to start on November 20 will be held at the newly-inaugurated state-of-the-art Joint Training Node at Umroi Cantonment, about 25 km from Shillong, the state capital of Meghalaya.

Exercise "IMBAX-2017" is the first-ever military training exercise on United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO) between the two nations, being conducted on the Indian soil, according to Defence Spokesperson Lt. Col. Suneet Newton.

He said 15 officers from the Myanmar Army and 16 officers from the Indian Army shall jointly train for over a period of six days.

Newton said the aim of the bilateral training event is to train the Myanmar delegation for participation in the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations under the UN Flag.

"The Indian Army has a rich experience of serving in the UNPKO and during the IMBAX-2017, the focus will be on training the Myanmar Army delegation on the tactics, procedures, expertise and methodology required by the contingent of the member nations for serving in UNPKO," the defence spokesperson said.

Indian and Bangladesh armies successfully conducted Exercise SAMPRITI at Umroi Joint Training Node on November 11.
Islamabad, Nov 18 : Pakistan on Saturday said it has received India's reply to its offer to allow the wife of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death here, to meet his wife. According to sources, India has requested that Jadhav's mother be allowed to meet him first.

"India's reply to Pakistan's humanitarian offer for Commander Jadhav received and is being considered," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal tweeted.

According to a Foreign Office source, India has sought an additional visa for Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother, Avanti Jadhav, and permission for her to meet her son.

Jadhav's mother had filed a visa application with the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi earlier this year.

The source said that India has expressed reluctance in sending Jadhav's wife alone to Pakistan and insisted that his mother's application should also be processed.

India maintains that Jadhav's mother has a right to meet her son.

In a sudden move, Pakistan had last week informed India that it would be willing to allow a meeting between the "self-confessed spy" and his wife "on humanitarian grounds".

The meeting would take place on Pakistani soil, the Foreign Office spokesman had told reporters.

It is not clear what prompted Islamabad to allow Jadhav's wife to meet him in Pakistan.

There were rumours that the two countries discussed the issue at a recent meeting between Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the newly-appointed Pakistani High Commissioner to New Delhi Sohail Mahmood.

Islamabad, however, denied that the issue came under discussion.

Pakistan claims Jadhav is a serving Commander of the Indian Navy and was working for India's premier intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Islamabad says he was apprehended by law enforcement agencies on March 3, 2016 in Balochistan after he illegally crossed over into Pakistan. India has said Jadhav is a former navy officer and denied he was working for RAW.

Jadhav was sentenced to death earlier this year by a Pakistani military court. However, the International Court of Justice ordered a stay in his execution.

New Delhi has repeatedly sought consular access to Jadhav, but Islamabad has denied permission on the ground that such access in cases related to spies was not applicable.
New Delhi, Nov 18 : Congress party's highest decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee (CWC), will meet on Monday to chart out the schedule for the election of the Congress President, that will see the elevation of Vice President Rahul Gandhi to the party's top post.

The meeting will be held a day after the birth centenary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on November 19. The meeting will be held at 10.30 in the morning.

The CWC will decide on the schedule for the election of the Congress President, including the date for filing of nomination and the election.

On the last day of filing the nomination, if no other contestant files his/her nomination against Gandhi, then he will be declared President unopposed.

The party has time till December 31 to complete the entire organisational election process and submit the report to the Election Commission.

The Congress had earlier set a deadline to complete the organisational elections by October-end.
San Francisco, Nov 18 : Google has started rolling out visual search feature Google Lens in Assistant for the first batch of Pixel and Pixel 2 smartphones.

"The first users have spotted the visual search feature up and running on their Pixel and Pixel 2 phones," 9to5Google reported late on Friday.

Built into the Photos app, Google Lens can recognise things like addresses and books, among others.

In Photos, the feature can be activated when viewing any image or screenshot.

However, in Google Assistant, it is integrated right into the sheet that pops up after holding down on the home button.

"Lens was always intended for both Pixel 1 and 2 phones," Google had earlier said in a statement.

The app was announced by the tech giant during Google I/O 2017. It has been designed to bring up relevant information using visual analysis.
Dhaka, Nov 18 : Sri Lankan author Anuk Arudpragasam's "The Story of a Brief Marriage" -- a touching tale of a young man trapped on the frontlines between the Sri Lankan Army and the Tamil Tigers -- has bagged the $25,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2017. .

Related in meditative, nuanced and powerful prose, the shattering novel marks the arrival of an extraordinary new literary voice. Bangladesh Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith presented the award to Arudpragasam at the magnificent Bangla Academy here during the closing ceremony of the three-day long Dhaka Literature Festival on Saturday evening.

Arudpragasam announced he would donate one-third of the prize money to the organisations working in northeast Sri Lanka, to the cause of Rohingya Muslims and to those providing succour to Muslims in Kashmir.

"The jury met and discussed the shortlisted novels in detail. As all the shortlisted novels had considerable strengths and remarkable literary quality, deciding the winner was not an easy task. However, the jury agreed that Anuk Arudpragasam was the best possible choice for his outstanding novel, "The Story of a Brief Marriage". The novel is impressive for its intensity and rich detail and for exploring the tragic heart of war with such quiet eloquence. It is also a testament to the redemptive power of love, and to the human spirit's capacity for hope," jury chair Ritu Menon said.

Speaking to IANS soon after receiving the prize, Arudpragasam said that he now "hopes to become a full-time writer" and that it was a "great honour for him to be recognised by the best from the fraternity".

"I am young and currently pursuing my Ph.D. I hope to return to Sri Lanka and become a professor if I cannot become a full-time writer. I had a wonderful literary agent and I got lucky perhaps in publishing very easily. But I really hope more and more people read this novel to explore the depths of tragedy that people in Sri Lanka have gone through," Arudpragasam said.

Apart from Anuk Arudpragasam's "The Story of a Brief Marriage," the other four novels in the shortlist were Aravind Adiga's "Selection Day"; Anjali Joseph's "The Living"; Karan Mahajan's "The Association of Small Bombs"; and "In the Jungles of the Night" by Stephen Alter.

"This year the shortlisted novels were all equally exciting with diverse subjects which brought out the nuances and the changing dynamics in South Asian life in a unique and evocative way. It must have been a tough task for the jury members to choose from these five exceptional contenders and arrive at the eventual winner. We are honoured to be invited to give the award this year in Bangladesh. The DSC Prize has now completed seven successful years, and it remains focused on recognizing and showcasing the immense talent writing about the South Asian region and bringing it to a larger global audience," said Surina Narula, co-founder of the DSC Prize.

The DSC prize was founded in 2010 and over the past seven years has emerged as a major literary award. Apart from Menon, an eminent feminist writer; Valentine Cunningham, Professor Emeritus of English Language and Literature at Oxford University; Steven Bernstein; celebrated screenwriter, director, author, cinematographer and lecturer based out of Los Angeles; Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, revered radio and television broadcaster from London; and Senath Walter Perera, Senior Professor in English, University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka.

Past winners of the DSC Prize include H.M. Naqvi of Pakistan, Shehan Karunatilaka of Sri Lanka, Jeet Thayil and Cyrus Mistry from India. Jhumpa Lahiri won it in 2015 for "The Lowland". The winner last year was Anuradha Roy for "Sleeping on Jupiter".

(Saket Suman is in Dhaka at the invitation of the promoters of the DSC Prize. He can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in)
Chandigarh, Nov 18 : In a joint operation, Border Security Forces (BSF) troopers and the Punjab Police have recovered 22kg of heroin in Punjab's Ferozepur sector following exchange of fire with Pakistani smugglers near the international border, a BSF officer said on Saturday.

The encounter took place late on Friday following a tip-off that smugglers were trying to send heroin consignment into India.

At least one Pakistani smuggler was injured in the exchange of fire as blood stains were found during search of the area on Saturday, BSF officer D.S. Rajpurohit said.

The BSF recovered a pistol and one Pakistani Sim card.

The BSF also arrested three Indian smugglers who were waiting close to the border fence to collect the heroin consignment.

The smugglers were trying to smuggle the heroin consignment using a plastic pipe across the border fence.

The heroin is worth nearly Rs 110 crore in the international market.

The Ferozepur border is around 275 km from here.

Punjab shares a 553-km-long barbed-wire fenced international border with Pakistan.
Gandhinagar, Nov 18 : A day after the BJP announced its first list of 70 candidates for the Gujarat Assembly elections, resentment built up in the party here, leading to vocal protests as well as resignations by many, including some senior party members.

To voice their dissent, several supporters of I.K. Jadeja, a senior party leader and party spokesperson with a strong presence in Wadhwan and Dhrangadhra constituencies in Saurashtra, gathered at the BJP headquarters, 'Shree Kamalam' in Gandhinagar and raised slogans against the party, expressing anger against Jadeja being denied candidature from Wadhwan.

The BJP on Friday had announced the name of an industrialist, Dhanji Patel from Surendranagar district, as its candidate from Wadhwan constituency. Interestingly, Dhanjibhai comes from the same sub-caste as Patidar Anamat Anolan Samiti (PAAS) agitation leader Hardik Patel and the move is believed to be the BJP's attempt to make a dent in Hardik's support base.

"My supporting workers of BJP Wadhwan had expressed their desire for me to be fielded from the party for the constituency, including by the people from Dhrangadhra. However, the workers lost patience when an outsider was considered for the ticket," Jadeja told the media. He, however, maintained he was very much in the party and would remain so. However, the supporters of Jadeja now want the party to consider his name for nearby Dhrangadhra constituency.

On Saturday, senior BJP leader and sitting legislator of Kodinar constituency from Saurashtra, Jethabhai Solanki, put in his papers, apparently after being denied a ticket. Jethabhai Solanki is a prominent Dalit face of the party and had won the last elections in 2012 by a margin of over 63,300 votes.

Jethabhai reached 'Kamalam' and submitted his resignation after meeting the senior party leadership there. "I have decided to resign from the party from all of my posts as I do not want to go out there again and campaign for BJP," he told the media.

Resignations and protests by several local leaders from Vadodara, tribal belt of South Gujarat, Navsari, Bharuch, Mahuva, Jasdan and Amreli in Saurashtra have been trickling in since the BJP announced its first list. Many of these leaders have threatened to field independent candidates against the official BJP candidates in the Assembly elections.

This is what the party had feared could happen, which prompted the national president Amit Shah to remain stationed at Kamalam till late on Friday night and on Saturday to meet with several leaders in an effort at damage control.

The BJP has set up a target of winning over 150 seats for the 182-seat Assembly.
Bengaluru, Nov 18 : Software vendor Infosys would configure the editing facility in the GST Network by November 20 to enable traders to file their three-page summary return (3B), said the GST Group of Ministers (GoM) Chairman Sushil Kumar Modi on Saturday.

"Over 2 lakh tax payers were unable to file their summary returns (3B) in August and September due to the non-provision of the editing facility in the GST Network. By November 20, the editing facility will be operationalised by the GST Network," Modi told reporters after the GoM met for the fourth time here.

The GST Network (GSTN) is the backbone of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) on which the new indirect tax regime is operated in real-time, as all its functions are automated, he said.

The city-based IT major bagged the Rs 1,300-crore contract in 2015 to design, develop, maintain and operate the GSTN for three years across the country.

"All forms related to tax payers will have editing facility for previewing, downloading, printing and displaying specific error messages -- to make the portal more user-friendly," said Modi.

The GoM is also incorporating suggestions of states into the system to make the Network more user-friendly and interactive.

"As filing of returns is the 'atma' (soul) of the GST, everything is getting stabilised. We are trying to operationalise everything based on the timeline we had given to Infosys," claimed Modi, who is also the Deputy Chief Minister of the JD-U-BJP coalition government in Bihar.

The GST Network is also hiring people to analyse the data of the states.

"We have also asked Infosys to deploy more ingenious and qualified professionals," asserted Modi.

Infosys has hired 100 more engineers in the last one month, taking the total number of its employees working for the GSTN to 621, he shared.

"In the first meeting (September), as we told Infosys to deploy a resident engineer in every state, the company has deputed 30 of them in each of the 30 states across the country to address any issue related to the Network," he said.

Instead of tax payers writing e-mails and making calls for glitches, an engineer has been posted in every state capital.

In September, Rs 93,141 crore were received as indirect taxes, which increased to Rs 95,131 crore in October, shared the Deputy Chief Minister.

The average revenue shortfall of all the states for August was 28.4 per cent, which declined to 17.6 per cent in October, he said.

"The average revenue shortfall has declined from July to October, indicating that the system is stabilising. People are becoming in tune with the GST as the complaints are also coming down."

At least nine states have the least revenue shortfall with Delhi achieving a break-even point with its revenue turning to positive from negative, said Modi.

The GoM has also planned to meet Infosys co-founder and Chairman Nandan Nilekani to brief about the working of the GST Network, he added.

Besides Modi, other GoM members are Chattisgarh Minister for Commercial Taxes Amar Agarwal, Karnataka Agriculture Minister Krishna Byregowda, Kerala Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Issac and Telengana Finance Minister Etela Rajendar.

GSTN Chairman Ajay Bhushan Pandey and GSTN Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Prakash Kumar assist the GoM in addressing the technical glitches, which have marred filing of returns by the traders since the new indirect tax regime was launched on July 1.

Odisha Finance Minister Shashi Bhusan Behera, Modi, Pandey and Gowda were present at the fourth GoM meet held here on Saturday.

The decision to form the GoM was taken at the GST Council in Hyderabad on September 9 after several member states complained to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who heads the Council, that the glitches were causing problems for taxpayers in filing returns and making payments.
Beijing, Nov 18 : British rider Daniel Hegarty was on Saturday killed in a crash at the Macau GP, held in Macau, one of China's Special Administrative Regions.

Top Gun Racing's rider Hegarty crashed at Fisherman's Bend, sustaining serious injuries as he hit the barriers after losing his helmet, reports Efe.

"The Macau Grand Prix Organizing Committee extends its deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Daniel," the organizers said in a statement.

The statement added that Hegarty died while he was being transferred to hospital.

This is the second deadly accident at the Macau GP since 2012, after Luis Carreira of Portugal died on the same turn.

The Macau GP is the only track that features motorcycle and car races on the same urban circuit.

Hegarty became the 16th rider to die on the circuit in its 63-year history.
Calling his actions improper exercises of discretion, Fitchburg Mayor Jason Gonzalez apologized to the community leader he ejected from a public hearing Tuesday for voicing opposition to a plan to decrease funding to nonprofits.

Gonzalez  with Kaleem Caire by his side  said Friday that his defensive response to Caires criticism was inappropriate. Gonzalez kicked Caire out of Tuesdays City Council meeting for allegedly verbally attacking him and council members over their plan to reduce city money for nonprofits.

Ive come to the conclusion that my actions towards Mr. Kaleem Caire at our last council meeting, this past Tuesday, were not the most productive.  I would like to apologize to Mr. Caire, he said. I plan to use this to move forward  to move forward together.

While Gonzalez and Caire said theyre focused on looking for ways to heal divisions in the city after the incident, other community activists at the Friday afternoon news conference said theyre skeptical that the apology and promises to work with the community will lead to changes, saying theyll believe it when they see the city increase resources and services to the citys minorities and poor children.

Michael Johnson, CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County, angrily denounced Gonzalez during the news conference after originally saying he wouldnt attend.

Caire, the CEO of One City Learning Centers, accepted Gonzalezs apology, saying he believes that the mayor will work on solutions to help low-income children and families in Fitchburg.

Im choosing to believe, I really am, to believe that the mayor is sincere in his efforts, in his comments, he said. If you go back on that commitment, I cant help you.

The apology is the result of weeks of contention over Fitchburgs plan to reduce funding for nonprofits  from $100,000 to $50,000 next year  that community leaders say is needed for the low-income children in the city of about 30,000.

Fridays concession stemmed from conflict that happened during a public comment period just before the council voted on the 2018 budget Tuesday. Among the provisions council members considered was a plan to set aside $50,000 in grant money for nonprofits that provide services to three disadvantaged areas of the city, to be awarded in $10,000 grants.

Gonzalez has said the cuts were made because of a need to increase services for the rapidly growing city and a $650,000 cut in shared revenue from the state tied to higher-than-usual local spending in 2015.

Caire and Nathan Royko Maurer were kicked out of the meeting and called out of order when they sought to speak in opposition to the citys budget. The council approved the budget that night.

Had he listened to Caire, Gonzalez said, and tried to have a discussion with him, he would have realized that Caire only intended to help him become a better leader.

He said Caire reached out to him Thursday night. Caire said that the two men met for two hours that night and had a direct and open conversation.

Some of the loudest criticism of Fitchburgs move to reduce funding for nonprofits has come from Boys & Girls Club CEO Johnson.

The Boys & Girls Club had previously received $50,000 a year from Fitchburg, but under the citys 2018 budget  which has been signed by Gonzalez  it will have to compete with other nonprofits for a fraction of what it had been guaranteed in the past.

Although he said he didnt originally intend to come to Fridays news conference, Johnson said he came to say that he was skeptical that Gonzalezs actions would lead to any change.

Upset that Gonzalez didnt apologize to the children and families affected by the decision, he said the news conference was a joke and that he doesnt want to play nice anymore.

I was very reluctant to come here today. I am not optimistic that anything is going to be done, he said. Put your money where your mouth is  (and) lets put together an agenda thats gonna move kids forward.

After Johnson criticized Gonzalez for not apologizing to the children affected by the decision to cut funding, Gonzalez again apologized, this time to the Boys & Girls Club. Johnson accepted the apology.

Caire said he understands Johnsons frustration, but asked for patience while Fitchburg leaders try to make changes.

Its going to take some time, he said. I also want us to give this mayor an opportunity.
Harare, Nov 18 : Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans took to the streets of Harare on Saturday demanding the resignation of President Robert Mugabe, in what could spell the political end for the 93-year-old leader who has ruled the country for nearly four decades.

Waving placards with slogans like "Go, Go, Our General" and "No to Mugabe Dynasty", the atmosphere on the streets of the capital was electric, just days after the Army put Mugabe under house arrest and detained some of his key political allies.

Protests turned to a celebration of the Army's role in ending Mugabe's grip on power. "It's like Christmas," said one marcher, Fred Mubay. He said Zimbabweans had been suffering for a long time and were now, finally, happy.

The rally, supported by the military, was deemed as a "solidarity march". People waved Zimbabwean flags while others ran alongside Army tanks and hugged soldiers to show their gratitude, the Guardian reported.

One had a poster with a message for the President: "Leave Zimbabwe now!!!" while a vendor at an intersection held up a newspaper with the headline: "Mugabe cornered".

The Army staged a takeover on Wednesday but Mugabe was still refusing to step down on Saturday, an official with direct knowledge of the ongoing negotiations between the President and the military said.

Mugabe was meeting Army Chief General Constantino Chiwenga to discuss what happens next, reports said. Chiwenga is pushing for Mugabe to step down and an interim President to take over.

The military and senior officials within the ruling Zanu-PF party now appear set on forcing Mugabe out within 48 hours.

A man arriving at the rally said: "As Zimbabweans, we are saying to our Army: "Thank you very much for the peaceful intervention."

"For us, it's about the end of authoritarian rule and we are going to take our Zimbabwe back," he said. Protesters headed towards Mugabe's office, the State House, to urge him to step down.

Some people staged a sit-down protest at the State House in front of a line of troops while opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai addressed the crowd to cheers.

By late Friday afternoon, all 10 of the country's provincial Zanu-PF branches had passed motions of no-confidence in the President. This could lead to Mugabe being stripped of his office of President of the party by Sunday, one official told the Guardian.

The party branches were also calling for the resignation of the President's wife, Grace Mugabe, as the women's league leader.

Earlier on Friday, Mugabe, who had been confined to his luxurious residence in the upscale Harare neighbourhood of Borrowdale since the military takeover, attended a university graduation ceremony on the outskirts of the capital city.

His wife was not present. It had been thought she had left the country but it emerged later that she was in her husband's Harare residence.

Saturday's march was organised by the powerful associations representing veterans of the former British colony's liberation wars.

The military's intervention came after weeks of political turmoil in which Mugabe sacked his powerful Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, clearing the way for his wife to succeed him.

Mugabe has led Zimbabwe since it gained independence from Britain in 1980.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged a quick return to civilian rule, but said the crisis was an opportunity for Zimbabwe to set itself on a new path.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing was hoping for stability and a peaceful "appropriate" resolution to the situation.

UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson warned against a transition from "one unelected tyrant" to another.
Patna, Nov 18 : It was a celebration with a difference on Saturday when hundreds of students and teachers from 22 schools began harvesting of organic rice at Tarumitra (friends of trees) farm in the capital of Bihar.

With traditional sickles in their hands, students assisted by their teachers spent hours at the organic farm and harvested organic rice like millions of farmers across the state.

"It was a rare experience for us as students, thanks to the initiative by Tarumitra," Nandini, one of the students who joined others to harvest organic rice, said.

Another student said it was his first experience of harvesting in a farm. "Really, it was something different. I will not forget it and will spread the message of organic farming."

Most of the students in their respective colourful school uniforms gathered at Tarumitra, a student movement to protect and promote a healthy environment on earth, and joined harvesting of organic rice in the adjacent field.

Father Robert Athickal, the man behind Tarumitra, said students were involved and motivated to join us in harvesting of organic rice to make them understand agriculture, environment and impact of climate change.

"These students are future of the country. If they develop interest in organic farming, it will pave the way for a sustainable agriculture growth.

"Tarumitra has been promoting organic rice by cultivating in its organic farm and creating awareness for organic rice by engaging students, teachers and farmers in rural areas," he said.

Tarumitra got into organic farming seven years back to bring health back to the dining table, he added.

Athickal told IANS that Tarumitra had been cultivating organic rice varieties of Mirchaiya, Manipuri and Jhilli, and also near-extinct varieties of paddy were being cultivated through organic methods.

"We are not using any type of chemical fertilisers at all. Our cultivation of organic rice is real. It is fully based on organic substances prepared by the members of Tarumitra."

He said in a bid to avoid any use of pesticides, the Tarumitra members got dry branches of trees planted all over the field to attract Drongo birds which ate up many of the insects and thus controlled the pests.

"It is an old practice that we have been reviving for cultivation without pesticides."

Devopriya, one of the officials of Tarumitra, said students gathered for harvesting organic rice were upbeat and expressed happiness over learning many things related to agriculture and organic farming for the first time.

She said: "Excited to get an opportunity, nearly 250 students, including locals and from Delhi and abroad, participated in the Organic Rice Plantation Festival last July. They got into wet, slushy and muddy field and actually planted rice seedlings."

Three rare varieties of paddy were sown this year, namely Bauna Mansuri, Kunjunju and Kakshan.

Veteran organic farmer trained in Japan, Margaret Molomoo, who supervises the entire organic farming, said it was time to take a break from the pesticide-laden rice cultivation which was further enervated by the heavily expensive chemical fertilisers.

"Poison is flowing out of our farms. It is high time we shifted our focus to organic farming -- the only available option," she said.
Jaipur, Nov 18 : Protests over Sanjay Leela Bhansali's movie "Padmavati" continued to rock Rajasthan as protesters blocked entry to the Kumbhalgarh fort in Rajsamand on Saturday while protests were witnessed in some other towns and cities.

"Hundreds of protesters on Saturday blocked entry for a few hours to Kumbhalgarh Fort. It was a peaceful protest and no untoward incident was reported," SHO Kelwara Yogesh Chauhan told IANS on phone.

Protesters shouted slogans against Bhansali and in speech after speech demanded a ban on the movie. They said they will send memorandums to the President of India and Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting requesting a ban on "Padmavati".

Police had taken measures to deal with any untoward incident.

Kumbhalgarh fort, situated in Rajsamand district, is one of the prominent forts of Rajasthan. It is the birth place of famous Rajput king Maharana Pratap.

Reports of protests also came in from Sikar where women associated with the Karni Sena held swords in their hands as a mark of protest. They also shouted slogans against Bhansali and demanded ban on the film.

In Mundru town in Sikar district, Brahmins protested against the film while here in Jaipur a protest was organised by some people against the film.

A Karni Sena leader on Thursday threatened actress Deepika Padukone, who plays the lead in the movie, with physical harm over her "provocative statements".

Deepika, in an interview to IANS, had said: "The only people we are answerable to is the censor board, and I know and I believe that nothing can stop the release of this film."

A Brahmin group on Thursday conducted a signature campaign in blood demanding a ban on the film here.

Even the dargha diwan of Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti Dargah in Ajmer has issued a statement requesting a ban.

Activists of the Karni Sena had on Tuesday vandalised a theatre in Kota, Rajasthan, over reports that it was showing a trailer of "Padmavati".

In January, activists of the Karni Sena had manhandled the crew of "Padmavati" in Jaipur, claiming that Bhansali was "distorting" historical facts in the movie.

They had also damaged some cameras and other equipment. Bhansali had to stop shooting.

"They are trying to defame queen Padmavati by distorting historical facts. It is not acceptable," an activist of the Karni Sena said.

In March, some miscreants broke the mirrors at the Padmini Mahal in Chittorgarh Fort where Alauddin Khilji is alleged to have seen Rani Padmavati or Padmini's reflection.

The Karni Sena claims the mirror story was invented years later.
Bonn, Nov 18 : Amidst the shadow of the US decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, nearly 200 nations on Saturday pledged to launch a process next year to start reviewing existing plans to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

A set of decisions to accelerate actions to minimise emissions ahead of 2020 included allocation of finance by the developed world and adopting climate adaptation policies.

Stepping up climate risk insurance, Germany pledged additional $125 million to support provision of insurance to 400 more million poor and vulnerable people by 2020, in addition to the climate adaptation fund Germany's further contribution of 50 million euros.

Climate experts told IANS the design for the 'Talanoa Dialogue', a process to take stock and test options for enhanced ambition during 2018, was one of the major outcome at the two-week negotiations that saw assembly of 197 country delegates.

Talanoa is the Pacific tradition of decision-making based on respect and understanding to a negotiating process that has often lacked both.

The countries endorsed the 'Talanoa dialogue', which will help countries and non-state actors push new boundaries for enhancing climate action, said an expert.

"Countries also came together on urgent action, pre-2020 ambition. As impacts have intensified and low carbon opportunities have grown, the demand for climate action has deepened. Creating space for this important discussion has been a crucial trust building process and bodes well for securing robust Paris rules by COP24 next year," the expert added.

The common message from all sides at this conference has been that action to get on track towards the objectives of the Paris Agreement and to ultimately achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals is urgent, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat said.

Pledging to continue with its commitments to minimize emissions, it said: "Time is really running out and everyone simply must do much better together to drive climate action further and faster ahead now."

"Above all, this means rapidly raising the current global ambition to act on climate change that is captured in the full set of national climate action plans (NDCs) which sits at the heart of the Agreement."

The two-week negotiations were aimed to take a number of decisions necessary to bring the 2015 Paris Agreement to life, including meaningful progress on the agreement to implement guidelines to keep global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius with an aim to cut greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels.

According to an environmental advocacy, the decision to maintain the Adaptation Fund under the Paris Agreement speaks to the necessary balance that the Paris regime requires in pursuing efforts to adapt and build resilience to impacts whilst the planet warms as countries decarbonise.

"The outcome is testament to countries' unwavering commitment to the Paris Agreement following the announcement of the US government's intent to withdraw. US non-state actors rose to the occasion, as the 'We Are Still In' coalition of businesses, cities, states, etc. showed that many parts of the US society remain in Paris," it said.

The talks, however, missed many prominent issues like financial support for developing nations for cutting emissions and climate adaptation.

Among the major announcements are funds to support the poorest and most vulnerable, whose plight has been brought into sharp perspective by this year's extreme weather, a UNFCCC spokesperson said.

In the InsuResilience Initiative, additional $125 million from Germany will support provision of insurance to an additional 400 million poor and vulnerable people by 2020.

According to recent estimates, only about 100 million people in developing countries and emerging economies are currently covered by climate risk insurance.

Likewise, the climate adaptation fund exceeded its target with Germany's contribution of 50 million euros and Italy's contribution of seven million euros, which means the fund has now surpassed its 2017 target by over $13 million and stands at the equivalent of $93.3 million dollars.

At Bonn, India reiterated provisions for finance -- both for adaptation and mitigation, technology transfer for climate actions from the developed nations.

A day after a major victory for India and developing countries on climate action before 2020 that the developed world agreed to discuss in subsequent two years, India's Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Harsh Vardhan has said provisions for finance, technology transfer and capacity building support to developing nations are critical.

Stressing that this Conference of Parties (COP23) is crucial as it would set the stage for the 2018 Facilitative Dialogue, accelerate pre-2020 action and firm up the modalities for implementing the 2015 Paris Agreement, he said India has undertaken ambitious mitigation and adaptation action.

The action is in the fields of clean energy, especially renewable energy; enhancement of energy efficiency; development of less carbon-intensive and resilient urban centers; and promotion of waste-to-wealth and efforts to enhance carbon sink through creation of forest and tree cover.

On the demand of BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China), Fiji, which was presiding over the conference, has also been asked to send letters to all the countries which are yet to ratify the Doha amendments to the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 to do so "as soon as possible".

(Vishal Gulati is in Bonn at the invitation of Global Editors Network to cover COP23. He can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
Panaji, Nov 18 : A Special Court in Panaji, hearing an anticipatory bail petition filed by former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, on Saturday refused to grant him interim relief, even as an SIT of Goa Police raided his residence in Margao.

Kamat, who is one of the key accused in a multi-crore illegal mining case, had filed for anticipatory bail before a special anti-corruption court in Panaji on Saturday, the hearing for which has been posted for Monday.

"After the court refused to grant the former Chief Minister any interim relief today, we raided his residence in Margao, but he was not there. We are on the lookout for his whereabouts," a police official attached to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) said on the condition of anonymity.

Kamat, along with then Principal Secretary - Mines Rajiv Yaduvanshi and several other bureaucrats is accused of allowing mining companies to fraudulently avail of the 'condonation of delay' clause to renew their iron ore mining leases.

Yaduvanshi, who is currently the Health Secretary in the Delhi government, turned state approver on Saturday, which has added an edge to the police efforts to nab Kamat.

Kamat could not be contacted on phone for his comments.

The former Chief Minister, currently a sitting Congress MLA from the Margao assembly constituency, has also served as a minister in a BJP-led coalition government in the early 2000s.
Kolkata, Nov 18 : Eighty-seven students were rushed to hospital for a check-up after a dead lizard was found in one of the student's mid-day meal plate at a state-run primary school in West Bengal's Bankura district, an official said on Saturday.

The incident took place in Mandarmani Primary School in Bankura district's Onda on Friday afternoon.

According to district administration, none of the students fell ill and most of them were discharged from the hospital after primary check-up.

"There was panic among the students after a dead lizard was found in one of their classmates' food... The district administration and school authorities took them to the local hospital immediately for check-up, but none was found seriously ill," Monirul Islam, Block Medical Officer of Onda, told IANS.

"Most of the students were released immediately after check-up. Two or three of them were kept in the hospital overnight under observation. However, all of them were released today (Saturday)," Islam, also the Superintendent of Onda Super-specialty Hospital, said.

The local police also said they were notified about the incident and confirmed that none of the students fell seriously ill.
Jaipur, Nov 18 : Amidst growing protest over Sanjay Leela Bhansali's upcoming movie "Padmavati", Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Saturday wrote to the Centre seeking "necessary changes" in the movie before its release, so that "sentiments of any community are not hurt".

In a letter to Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani, the Chief Minister said: "A committee of eminent historians, film personalities and members from the aggrieved community should be formed, who would watch the film and discuss it in detail.

"After that, necessary changes should be made to the movie so that the sentiments of any community are not affected."

In the letter, she also requested that the Central Board of Film Certification should consider all possible outcomes and effects before certifying the film.
Sanya (China), Nov 18 : India's Manushi Chhillar on Saturday won the coveted "Miss World 2017" title at a glittering event here, ending 16 years of drought for India at the international pageant.

Manushi is the sixth Indian to win the title and the first since Priyanka Chopra won the crown in 2000.

"The feeling is still sinking in and I am very excited to make India proud too. I'm also looking forward to the year ahead," Manushi said in a statement after the win.

All of 21, Manushi was born to doctor parents in Haryana, which once ranked the worst among all states in sex ratio in India.

"My parents have always been my pillar of support and having them here tonight by my side has only brought me more strength and joy.

"My final answer also came to me by having them here with me in front of me," said Manushi, whose family members, including a brother and a sister, were present at the gala.

In the question-and-answer round after she was shortlisted among the top five, Manushi was asked: "Which profession deserves the highest salary and why?"

She said a mother deserves it most.

Manushi was ecstatic and emotional when she was announced the winner from among contestants from 108 countries. She was crowned by Miss World 2016 winner, Puerto Rico's Stephanie Del Valle.

Miss Mexico Andrea Meza was announced the first runner up, while Miss England Stephanie Hill was declared the second runner up at the event, held at Sanya City Area.

Apart from the main title, Manushi also won the "Beauty with Purpose" award.

Soon after, congratulatory messages poured in.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar congratulated Manushi, saying: "Manushi, 'the daughter of Haryana', has made the country and the state proud."

Priyanka was joyous about having a "successor".

"And we have a successor! Congratulations Manushi Chhillar on becoming Miss World 2017. Cherish and learn, and most importantly enjoy it. Bravo," she tweeted.

Former Miss World Sushmita Sen wrote: "India wins Miss World 2017! Congratulations Manushi Chhillar. Yipeeeee, about time! Super proud! Jai Hind."

Neha Dhupia, a former beauty queen and who mentored India's Miss India pageant contestants this year, tweeted: "Congratulations Manushi Chhillar. We knew you had all the qualities to conquer the world ever since we met you for the first time! You go girl!"

Manushi did her schooling in the national capital Delhi and became a student of medicine in Sonepat.

In an interview during her grooming, she said: "The only thing I believe is certain in life is uncertainty, and this is what is amazing about the pageant."

She was always confident about winning the crown.

The first Miss World crown was won for India by Reita Faria in 1943, followed which Aishwarya Rai (1994), Diana Hayden (1997), Yukta Mookhey (1999) and Priyanka Chopra (2000).
Kolkata, Nov 18 : Three days after he was caught on camera threatening to thrash and break limbs of opposition leaders, controversial Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mondal on Saturday was back in the news with his order to party workers to gouge out the eyes of opposition activists and replace those with artificial eyes.

Mondal, known for his inciting speeches, also asked his party workers to ensure the state's ruling Trinamool Congress won all seats in Birbhum district uncontested in the coming Panchayat polls.

"No one should panic. You know how to organise yourself during an election. In the Panchayat elections, Trinamool will win uncontested. There is no need to be afraid. If anybody shows you red eyes, gouge out his eyes, there won't be any problem. Instead, fit artificial eyes," Mondal, the party's Birbhum district president, said at a public meeting.

On November 15, Mondal had gone ballistic after some villagers protesting against a proposed government project near Shantiniketan in Bolpur, razed down a wall and beat up construction workers.

As Congress heavyweight and Leader of Opposition in state assembly Abdul Mannan and CPI-M leader Bikash Bhattacharya tried to reach the spot, the police forced them to return to Kolkata.

Soon after, Mondal dared them to return, and threatened to break their limbs if they dared to come back to the area.

Standing beside police officers, he gave them a few hours to arrest the villagers and put them behind bars.

"Otherwise, we will bulldoze in. Not even one house will stand intact. We will destroy everything. I won't hear your stories. After 9 p.m, I won't leave these houses intact, and set fire to them... If they create trouble I don't care whether it is Abdul Mannan or Bikash Bhattacharya. I will thrash them and break their limbs."

In the past, Mondal has time and again made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Five years ago, during the previous Panchayat polls, Mondal had asked party workers to bomb the police and set afire houses of opposition candidates.

Ahead of last year's state assembly elections, Mondal threatened that "not a single polling agent from the opposition will be visible" on the polling day in his fief Birbhum.

Mondal was reprimanded by the Election Commission, which also restricted his movements on the day of poll.
Cairo, Nov 19 : Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has said that Egypt's share of Nile water is "a matter of life or death" for his nation.

"No one can touch Egypt's share of Nile water," Xinhua news agency quoted Sisi as saying in a televised talk on Saturday during the inauguration of the Middle East's largest fish farm in Kafr El-Sheikh province Delta.

It is the President's first remarks on the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD) since negotiations between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over the project stalled last week.

Last week, Egypt's negotiations with Ethiopia and Sudan failed to approve an initial study on the effects of Ethiopia's new dam on the downstream states.

The irrigation ministers of Ethiopia and Sudan did not approve the consultant company's introductory report of the studies despite Egypt's initial approval, while asking for amendments that would affect the studies and make the report contentless.

Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn are scheduled to meet in Cairo next month to discuss the deadlock.

Sisi noted that he understands the developmental goals behind the GERD, adding that the development for Ethiopia in this case is a "matter of life and death" for Egypt.

Egypt is worried about its annual share of 55.5 billion cubic meters of the Nile River water amid the GERD's rapid construction.

Egypt's ties with Ethiopia have seen ups and downs since the latter started the dam project in April 2011 as Egypt has been suffering from turmoil following an uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.
The head of Wisconsin elections wants the Legislature to approve hiring three additional staff, with two focused on bolstering security following news that the states voting systems were targeted by Russian hackers.

A 28 percent reduction in staff since 2015 weakened the ability of elections workers to address voter safety and eroded fulfilling all other state and federal law requirements, Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Michael Haas said in a memo released Friday.

The agency for an extended period of time has been operating with less than optimal staffing, Haas said in an interview. We are falling behind with just our regular day-to-day responsibilities so we can be prepared for the 2018 election.

The staff reductions have led to numerous problems, Haas said, including:

Delays in development of electronic poll books.

Not addressing complaints against local election officials.

Delays in updating voter information and outreach plans for the 2018 election.

Suspending audits on how accessible polling stations were to voters with disabilities in the spring election.

In his memo, Haas told the commission that additional problems could include:

An inability to help candidates in a timely manner.

Not ensuring elections systems are as accurate and secure as possible.

Less robust training of local election officials, leading to errors.

Reducing the ability to provide voter information on a broad scale as well as diminishing the ability to provide accurate and reliable election data.

The commission is meeting Monday to vote on whether to ask the Legislature to pass a bill authorizing the hiring of three additional staff, along with hiring more temporary workers, at a cost of about $452,000 over the next two years.

Two of the staff the commission wants to hire would be focused on election security issues, while a third would work on educating voters about such things as Wisconsins voter identification requirement.

Positions removed

The call for more staff comes after Gov. Scott Walker signed a 2017-19 state budget in September that cut six Elections Commission positions. The Legislature had asked that five positions be funded, but Walker vetoed them. Since 2015, the commissions staff has been reduced from nearly 36 to nearly 26, a 28 percent cut.

Should the Legislature go along with Haass call to pay for three more staff, Walker would have to agree. His spokesman Tom Evenson on Friday did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Walker, when he vetoed the five positions, encouraged the commission to make greater use of temporary staff and contracted services. While Haas said the commission has had some success with temporary staff, he cautioned results using that approach have been uneven.

The commission cannot risk the possibility that temporary staff could give inaccurate information to a local election official or a voter with questions about photo ID requirements or their registration status, Haas said.

The vote on requesting more staff comes at the same meeting where the commission is to adopt a new election security plan in the wake of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security concluding Wisconsins elections system had been targeted by Russia.

There is no evidence the states elections systems were compromised, but the revelation that Wisconsin was targeted has led to officials bolstering its security plans.

The Wisconsin State Journal reported this month that two state elections commissioners say the states election IT infrastructure must be better secured before the 2018 election after the Russian targeting.

Commission chairman Mark Thomsen told the State Journal that the commission must train local election officials, who frequently use the WisVote system, to secure it and that the training will require resources that Thomsen is concerned the commission wont have because of Walkers veto.

The Wisconsin State Journal contributed to this report.
Washington, Nov 19 : US President Donald Trump has slammed Hillary Clinton -- his Democratic rival in the 2016 elections -- as the worst loser of all time after she accused him of failing to accept responsibility for sexual assault allegations.

"Crooked Hillary Clinton is the worst (and biggest) loser of all time. She just can't stop, which is so good for the Republican Party. Hillary, get on with your life and give it another try in three years!" Trump tweeted.

Trump has repeatedly urged Clinton to run for the White House once again in 2020, but the former Secretary of State has said her career as an active politician is over, Efe news reported.

The President's latest Twitter remarks came just hours after the ex-first lady said in an interview that Trump had failed to accept responsibility for sexual assault allegations made by several women.

Clinton told a New York radio station that in contrast with Al Franken, a Democratic senator from Minnesota, Trump and the Republican candidate in a special December 12 Senate election in Alabama, Roy Moore, had failed to own up to their misconduct.

"Look at the contrast between Al Franken, accepting responsibility, apologizing, and Roy Moore and Donald Trump who have done neither," she said.

Leann Tweeden, a female radio host and former model, on Thursday accused Franken of kissing her without her consent and groping her while they were working together during a 2006 United Service Organisations (USO) tour more than a decade ago.

Franken apologized for posing for a photo in which he appears to grope Tweeden's breasts while she is sleeping. But he said he had a different recollection than Tweeden about the kiss, which occurred while they were rehearsing a sketch.

Moore - a 70-year-old former judge who is running for the Alabama Senate seat formerly held by Jeff Sessions, now the US Attorney General - has been accused by five women of sexual misconduct when they were teenagers and he was in his early 30s.

Moore has denied the allegations.

In the case of Trump, numerous women came forward with sexual misconduct allegations after the Washington Post last October disseminated a 2005 video clip in which the real-estate mogul is heard describing a failed attempt to seduce a married woman and boasting that his celebrity status allowed him to grope women.

The accusations against Trump include groping and inappropriate kissing and touching.
Dhaka, Nov 19 : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi here, with both sides emphasizing their willingness to further deepen pragmatic cooperation, a media report said.

During the meeting on Saturday, Hasina congratulated the successful holding of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. She thanked the Chinese side for offering long-term support and aid to Bangladesh's development and construction, Xinhua news agency reported.

Chinese President Xi Jinping last year paid a historic visit to Bangladesh while establishing the strategic cooperative partnership between both countries, Hasina said, adding that Dhaka is willing to further deepen pragmatic cooperation with Beijing in all fields.

Wang said China is willing to work with Bangladesh to firmly support each other on issues of core interests and major concern, and deepen the strategic cooperative partnership.

He expressed hope that the two sides could speed up the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, and actively push forward the building of Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar-Economic Corridor.

Wang also suggested the two sides to explore new cooperation areas such as maritime cooperation. China will continue to encourage Chinese enterprises to invest in Bangladesh, he added.

Hasina and Wang also discussed the Rohingya issue. Wang said the issue should be resolved by Bangladesh and Myanmar through dialogue and consultation, and expected the two sides to sign an agreement as scheduled on the repatriation of the Rohingya people who have crossed into Bangladesh.

China is willing to continue to offer support for a proper settlement of the issue, he added.
Students from Hewlett-Woodmere School district along with Dr. David Rifkind, head of the Youth Leadership group There are so many unique issues and situations that people face because of structural/institutional racism in our community and experiencing this event gave me more perspective on my own district's problems.

What happens when you bring together nearly 70 of Long Island's brightest students to discuss leadership and racial inequities?

MAGIC

A diverse group of students from both Nassau and Suffolk County convened on Friday, November 10, 2017 at Nassau BOCES Joseph M. Barry Career & Technical Education Center for ERASE Racism's Student Voices Campaign: Long Island's Leaders of Tomorrow Conference. The Student Voices Campaign is ERASE Racism's program to uplift the voices of students; equipping them with resources that cultivate their leadership skills in advocacy and cross cultural relations.

The morning session of the conference delved into the history of Long Island, including the discriminatory federal government policies and local housing practices that famously created Levittown, the first mass-produced suburb. Levittown was designed to exclude non-white residents. Continuing widespread discriminatory housing practices has resulted in Long Island being one of the most racially segregated metropolitan regions in the United States, according to U.S. Census data. The session also addressed public school segregation in the region, resulting from housing segregation. Through an excerpt from the film, "Race: The Power of an Illusion", students were surprised to learn that race is a social construct and that science has turned up no genetic markers that distinguish one so-called race from another; yet the impact from discrimination based on race has very real and devastating consequences.

Education Equity Organizer Nyah Berg said, "My main goal when creating this conference, was to create a program that would leave students feeling empowered, confident and inspired to create positive change in their communities and schools." She continued, " Based on immediate feedback I believe we did that for those who attended. I am so excited about continuing this work in the upcoming new year with many of the students who attended!"

Feedback from students supported Bergs assumption. One student stated, "I enjoyed learning about the experiences of different people from across Long Island. There are so many unique issues and situations that people face because of structural/institutional racism in our community and experiencing this event gave me more perspective on my own district's problems."

In the afternoon, students learned about teen leaders such as literary activist Marley Dias and the civil rights legend Claudette Colvin. Students saw student leadership up close in the student created "Laundry City", a performance by the EPIC Theatre Ensemble that explored segregation in public education and housing. The event concluded with students using their newly polished leadership skills to create action plans for issues impacting their communities and schools. For example, Gabrielle Barnes, a high school student from Hewlett-Woodmere High School, brainstormed ways to advocate increased teacher diversity in her district with her group members.

Only 21 percent of Long Islands school districts mirror the ethnic composition of Long Island. Moreover, three-quarters of black students and two-thirds of Latinos attend segregated schools, further increasing the lack of cultural awareness between students of different backgrounds.

Were giving you information thats going to help you push back against the myths, stated Elaine Gross, president and founder of ERASE Racism.

About ERASE Racism: ERASE Racism is a regional organization that leads public policy advocacy campaigns and related programmatic initiatives to promote racial equity in areas such as housing and public school education. It engages in a variety of research, education, community organizing, and policy advocacy to identify and address institutional and structural racism, primarily on Long Island. ERASE Racism's goal is transformed, integrated communities in which no-one is limited by race or ethnicity.
Bram Cool, CEO of Ezwim: We are honored and proud to again be on this list. We thrive to bring value to our customers being both multinational enterprises, partners and telecom operators. With the growing need for enterprise mobility services we are not only able to provide the technical software

Ezwim is proud to announce that we are listed for the sixth year in a row in the Main Software 50. The Main Software 50 is an annual ranking of the fifty most successful Dutch software companies of that year.

This is according to Main Capital Partners; an experienced fund manager with a dedicated focus on the software industry (http://mainsoftware50.com/editie-2017/). Inclusion is awarded for outstanding revenue growth, quality and level of internationalization. Ezwim has been listed every year since the start of the award. This year Ezwim (http://www.ezwim.com) ranked 16th with a staggering score of 95,7 out of a 100. A score we are very pleased with as it is also our 16th birthday this year. Since 2001 Ezwim has satisfied its customers all over the world as the global leader in telecom management facilitating highly effective and straightforward SaaS-technology.

About Main Software 50

Main Software 50 is an annual ranking of the most successful independent Dutch software companies.

For the fifth year in a row, software investor Main Capital organizes the Main Software 50 to increase the visibility of the Dutch software sector, as a driver of growth and innovation. The interest from the media, business world and investors for the event gets bigger every year. This event is endorsed by Nederland ICT.

About Ezwim

The core of Ezwim lies within its highly effective SaaS solution, built completely in-house. Since 2001, this scalable platform has grown to provide bill presentment, intelligent analytics, asset management, and process automation to a variety of different customers. Rooted in Telecom Expense Management, Ezwim helps its range of customers to manage any type of invoice, asset or workflow.

Ezwims committed and competent people are vital to our success. Ezwim works with its customers to go beyond delivering a product. We help customers to eliminate waste in expenses and processes, maximize savings, introduce flexibility and enable efficient decision-making. Through expert consulting and business process outsourcing (BPO) services, Ezwim can flexibly adapt to any challenge a customer presents.
Cedrus Investments (Cedrus), a global boutique investment firm, hosted the second meeting of the life sciences luncheon series for this year on Monday, 13th November 2017 in Shanghai at the St. Regis Shanghai Jingan. Mr. Randy Hice, Cedrus Chief Technical Officer and Member of the Life Sciences Advisory Board, shared with institutional investors, venture capitalists, and company executives his insights on two crucial themes in biotechnology: New Frontiers in Immunology R&D and Increasing Laboratory Productivity and Meeting FDA Compliance through

Software.

Mr. Hice is recognized globally as a leading authority in laboratory informatics and the most published author in the world on topics of complex laboratory automation and workflow analysis. His recent positions included the CEO of Laboratory Expertise Center, Inc. and Manager of Global Strategy at Abbott Informatics, a division of Abbott Laboratories.

The event was well received, and elicited high-level discussion in the Q&A session following Mr. Hices speech. Investors thought that it was especially important to understand the very latest developments in the biotech industry, as well as the overseas regulatory environment in order to conform to international conventions. Those attended the luncheon included executives from Fountainvest Partners, Franklin Templeton Sealand, Qiming VC, and SAIF Partners.

Cedrus Chief Technical Officer, Mr. Randy Hice said, I am glad to be able to share the latest trends in immunology research and development with investors and companies, as well as providing some perspectives on how progressive scientific enterprises are utilizing the latest tools available to improve their data quality while achieving FDA compliance. The feedback from the events participants provided us with a better understanding of the active areas of interest from Chinese life sciences investors and companies, and that understanding will no doubt facilitate future cooperation regarding cross-border transactions and investment opportunities.

Cedrus Chairman, Mr. Rani Jarkas said, With its particular focus on the Greater China region, Cedrus has always positioned itself as a leader in fulfilling the needs of the investment community and companies around the world. Given our global network and expertise in the life sciences industry, we can serve as the platform for both investors and companies worldwide, facilitating both inbound and outbound investments for the Chinese and other geographical markets.

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About Cedrus Investments

Cedrus Investments is a global boutique investment firm that offers expertise in private wealth management, asset management and financial advisory services to a clientele of leading institutional investors, corporations, family offices and high net worth individuals around the world.

SOURCE Cedrus Investments

For further information about Cedrus Investments, please visit http://www.cedrusinvestments.com.

Media Enquiry:

Cedrus Investments Ltd.

Amy Sin

+852-3519-2828

information(at)cedrusinvestments(dot)com
Dental visits are stressful for patients and the Montclair Dental Spa wants to be able to help their anxious patients. Because of this, they are proud to bring this state-of-the-art technology, NuCalm to their practice.

NuCalm is a patented system that has revolutionized the patient experience by naturally relaxing the mind and body within minutes. It promotes a relaxed and comfortable dental experience for all patients. NuCalm uses biochemistry, physics and neurophysiology to rapidly and reliably relax brain and body functions - making it impossible for a person to have an anxious response during treatment.

Montclair Dental Spa utilizes their professional team to make smile dreams come true. They accomplish this by working with people from start to finish. Their office, located in Montclair, NJ, is one of the top locations for people to turn for a beautiful, radiant, and healthy smile.

The Montclair Dental Spa Team is always up-to-date on the most advanced technologies, helping people achieve the smile they have always desired.

To learn more about the Montclair Dental Spa please visit: https://njtopdocs.com/nj-dentists/josephmoussadds/ or call their office at 917-744-1527.

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About Us

NJ Top Docs a comprehensive, trusted and exclusive healthcare resource featuring reviewed and approved Top Doctors and Dentists in New Jersey online in an easy to use format. NJ Top Docs only reviews and approves providers based on merit after they have been extensively vetted.

NJ Top Docs is a division of USA Top Docs which allows patients to meet providers online before making their appointment.

For more information, please click here (https://njtopdocs.com/contact-us/) to contact us or visit http://www.NJTopDocs.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter
Forma Gym Celebrates 25th Anniversary Turkey Trot

Slogan: Huffin and Puffin for Turkey and Stuffin!

Walnut Creek, CA: Before this years Thanksgiving feast, thousands of runners and walkers will join their friends, family, and neighbors at the 25th Anniversary Forma Gym Turkey Trot in beautiful Downtown Walnut Creek. This race has become a tradition in the community, with last years event drawing over 6,500 participants, and includes something for everyone: a 5k, 10k, Kids Fun Runs, post-race festivities and a costume contest.

The event will kick off with scheduled speeches by Parys Haralson, a former linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers, and the Mayor of Walnut Creek, Rich Carlston. The event originally started as a fun way to encourage Forma Gyms health club members and their families to move their feet before they eat on Thanksgiving morning but has evolved into a tremendously successful charity event. This years race will benefit the Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano, Walnut Creek Education Foundation (WCEF), (PEAK), The Rollins Family Foundation, Forma Kids Foundation, and the Wellness City Challenge.

The event is held Thanksgiving morning, November 23rd from 8-11am.

The 5k and 10k begin and end at Civic Park (1375 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek, CA).

Awards will be presented to overall male and female finishers in the 5k, 10k, and to the top three finishers in each age division.

In partnership with our Forma Kids Foundation (formaturkeytrot.com/formakids), Forma Gym also sponsors an annual turkey giveaway, at which 1,000 turkeys are given away to low-income families in East Oakland. This years Turkey Giveaway will be held on Monday, November 20th at Feed My Sheep Food Pantry in Oakland, CA.

About Us: Forma Gyms mission is to improve the health and wellness of our community and our world, and to instill the values of physical activity, healthy nutritional habits, and giving back. In doing this, we fulfill our mission to changes lives. Learn more at http://formaturkeytrot.com.
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
Protesters sang songs, hugged soldiers, and waved banners and the national flag as Zimbabweans added their voices to the political changes this week.

On Wednesday, the military took over the country's state broadcaster and blocked access to the country's parliament and courts.

The military said it was determined to weed out "criminals" and wanted to "pacify a degenerating political, social, and economic situation."

The military added that it would only return power once it had achieved it's goal.

On Saturday, the military sanctioned a march in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. Here are some of the best photographs.

Tens of thousands of protestors took to the streets of Harare, according to The Guardian, as people began to march toward the home of president Robert Mugabe.

Demonstrators carried signs that said "Mugabe must go," waved the Zimbabwe flag, and stopped occasionally to embrace with soldiers.

Earlier this week it was reported in South Africa that Mugabe had been placed under house arrest. He made a public appearance at a graduation ceremony on Friday, but appeared to fall asleep in a chair.

The military took over the state broadcaster on Wednesday and sanctioned the march in Harare on Saturday.

Soldiers could be seen shaking the hands of protestors, some of whom were crying "tears of joy" as they felt "free at last," according to The Guardian.

The Washington Post called the march "the first public outpouring since the military put Mugabe under house arrest." One marcher said it felt "like Christmas."

One political analyst on state-run television said: "Its like independence day, multiple," according to The Washington Post.
EDGERTON  A Wisconsin businessman has created a fund that awards grants to nonprofits trying to move toward solar energy.

Cal Couillard created Solar for Good, which awards the grants with the help of the advocacy group RENEW Wisconsin, Milwaukee Public Radio reported.

Couillard is president of Componex. He had solar panels installed at the Edgerton-based manufacturer this year. Hes also contributed $125,000 to start the fund and plans to give more over the next few years.

I cant guarantee it forever, but Im hoping that I can continue to do that and stay at that level, he said. And Id like to see if maybe other people might like to do this, as well.

Couillard said the price of going solar has dropped, so it makes financial sense for organizations to turn to solar energy. He said transitioning to renewable energy is also good for the environment.

The idea is that if we can install on churches and other nonprofits, then all the people that are going there will also see this happening, he said. So basically I want to spread the message that solar is not just green for the environment, its green monetarily. You can actually save money doing it. It pays for itself. And I want to get that word out because I dont think a lot of people know it.

Ten nonprofits have applied for a grant and the first set of recipients will be announced soon. The next batch of applicants will be considered in the spring.
"I will not see Wizkid and be stunned, I rather want him to see me and be amazed because I dont see anything extraordinary about him, even though he claims to the best African artisteHe said on Kasapa FM.

His comments drew fury from Nigerians on social media who escalated the already bitter-sweet relationship between Ghana and Nigerian.

Commenting on the beef started by Shatta Wale, Moesha Budung described Shatta Wale as very a "controversial" figure, saying she is not surprised at the turn of events.

In a video posted on Sound City TV, she said Shatta Wale's beef with Wizkid will not affect his career in Nigeria, when she was asked about Shatta Wale's career in Nigeria.
READ MORE: Hiplife artiste drags Melcom to court

The court on Friday held that Melcom illegally used the rappers image when he had no contract with them.

Consequently, the court ordered Melcom to pay the musician a compensation of Ghc 300,000.

In 2016, Tic Tac dragged the shopping giant to an Accra Human Rights High Court for breach of contract.

According to him, the companys continuous use of his image after his two years contract with them ended in May 31, 2011.

In his statement of claim, the rapper asked the court for a declaration that the continuous use of his images on Melcoms billboard in the absence of a valid contract , violates the express terms of the contract executed on May 21, 2009.

He is also prayed the court for an order directed at Melcom to remove his images from any of their billboards across the country forthwith.

Tic Tac further stated in his writ of summons that he executed a two years contract with Melcom in May 2009 as their brand ambassador, adding that under the contract, latter was permitted to use his images for billboards, voice and personal appearances for advertising and promotional purposes.

He added that though the contract expired on May 31, 2011, Melcom was obliged to remove the images by November 30, however, four years after the end of the deal, there are billboards around with his images.
This is particularly concerning for patients with a suspected melanomathe third-leading cause of cancer death among women ages 25 to 39. Because fast-growing types of the skin cancer can turn deadly in just weeks, getting it diagnosed and removed ASAP can mean the difference between life and death.

For people of color, that pendulum swings closer to death: New research shows that nonwhites have longer delays for melanoma surgery than anyone else. Which is alarming, because theyre more likely to die from melanoma than white patients.

THE DOCTOR WONT SEE YOU NOW

The specifics: In one new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, published in the journal JAMA Dermatology, people of color had a 38 percent higher risk for delayslonger than the recommended six-week maxin getting their skin cancer removed, no matter what type of insurance they had. (After six weeks, theres a higher chance that melanoma can spread from the skin to other organs or the lymph nodes.)

Compounding this inequity are the findings of a study from Michigan State University, also published in JAMA Dermatology, which shows that black patients in particular had the lowest rates of survival from melanoma. White patients nationwide had the highest rates of survival, followed by Hispanics, then Asian Americans, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and finally black patients. One main reason? Patients of color are more likely than whites to be diagnosed with late-stage melanomaand when its progressed beyond the skin, it requires more complicated treatments and has a worse prognosis. To wit, a previous study found that patients of color are four times as likely as white patients to be diagnosed only after melanoma has spread to other parts of their body.

BIAS AT PLAY

Systematically, patients of color are getting worse dermatological care, says dermatologist Adewole Adamson, M.D., an assistant professor of dermatology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and coauthor of the UNC study. Thats because a nationwide pattern of patient discrimination is putting lives on the line. A look at the issues:

Inadequate Training for DoctorsNot okay: Fifty percent of dermatologists report that their medical schools didnt prepare them to spot the signs of skin cancer on people of color, and only one in 10 dermatology residencies include a rotation specific to treating patients of color. In African Americans and other people of color, more than half of melanomas show up on areas with less pigment, like the palms of the hands and soles of the feetplaces where white patients dont typically get melanoma so derms may overlook them, says dermatologist Macrene Alexiades, M.D., an associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale University School of Medicine. Hands and feet are also at the ends of the blood supply, which have less immunologic surveillance, so melanomas in those areas tend to be more deadly, as they are less likely to be slowed by those natural bodily defenses.

This lack of understanding plays out in other ways too. Many dermatologists give the same recommendations about skin-cancer prevention to their patients of color as to white patients, and it should be more nuanced than that, says Adamson. Rather than just being told to use adequate sunscreen, people of color should be advised to check the palms of their hands and bottoms of their feet to catch melanomas early.

The miseducation of both doctors and patients is widespread. Its true that people of color, who have more melanin in their skin, have lower rates of skin cancer than those with fair skin, which may make providers less vigilant about doing skin checks on themand dark-skinned patients think they dont have to worry about skin cancer. Because of this, people with lighter complexions are generally more aware of skin cancer and told to protect themselves from it. Dermatologists need to be made more aware that nonwhite patients are still at risk, and convey that to their patients, who may not even understand that people of color can get melanoma, says Alexiades.

Limited Access to CareFrom PCPs to nonphysician practitioners, many health-care pros can biopsy and diagnose a melanoma. But when a dermatologist does it, youre more likely to get expedient treatment (to be exact: youve got a 20 percent lower risk of surgical delay, according to Adamsons study). Studies keep finding evidence that when dermatologists are able to perform both the biopsy and excision, the risk of delay is significantly decreased. Unfortunately, we now know just how complicated it can be for some populations to get in to see a dermatologist in a timely fashion, Adamson says.

This is where derm deserts come back into play. A disproportionate percent of people of color live in poorer areas of the countrywhich have fewer dermatologists than wealthier enclaves. Many of these poor areas happen to be the derm deserts Womens Health covered in its investigation, and so people are having a difficult time finding a dermatologist near them or getting in for treatment within that safe window of time, says Adamson. Compounding this, a large percentage of people of color are on Medicaid, a government-subsidized insurance planand studies, including Adamsons, have shown that those who use Medicaid wait longer to see specialists. All of which may explain why nonwhites are more likely to be diagnosed by their family care physicians or nonphysician practitioners.

Racial DiscriminationIn a 2012 study of M.D.s of various specialties, every doctor surveyed said that all patients should be treated the same, but when they were shown photographs and asked to match them with words, they were quicker to pair pictures of black people with words like resistant and unpleasant instead of cooperative and willing. While this study didnt single out dermatologists, what is clear is that dermatology is an overwhelmingly white field. Out of all the residency categories that U.S. medical students applied to in 2015, dermatology ranked 35th out of 46 specialties in terms of attracting minority candidates. The real-world result? This year, only 3 percent of practicing dermatologists identify as African American. Only 4 percent are of Hispanic ancestry. Most are white.

This inequality could lead to situations in which dermatologists dont spend as much time with patients of color or listen to their concerns as thoroughly. Bias and racism in health care is something that is pervasive, and that can have devastating, sometimes even deadly, consequences, says Adamson. These are not topics that we as physicians have enough frank discussions about, either in medical school or in everyday care. Doctors arent taught to consider their internal biases, so they can go unexamined and be perpetuated.

HOPE FOR CHANGE

The medical community is beginning to mobilize to bring awareness toand solve the issues behindthe inadequate care that many people of color receive. In 2016, medical and dental students and faculty at Harvard University formed a coalition to call attention to the lack of diversity at Harvard Medical School (which is actually more diverse than most med schools), inspired by the national organization White Coats 4 Black Lives, formed in 2015. Last year, more than 3,500 physicians and medical students from over 80 medical schools joined the movement and signed a letter publicly stating that health professionals must confront the institutionalized racism that is contributing to the loss of black lives.

We all have to do our part to stop this pattern, says Alexiades, who is currently writing a two-volume dermatology textbookto be published next October and taught in medical schools nationwidethat will include information about skin cancer markers in different skin types, along with diverse photo examples. Beyond the book, Alexiades is calling for other improvements in doctor education: She recently gave a presentation at the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery annual meeting, in which she led six patient-dermatologist consultationsboth patients and doctors represented various skin types, and the derms shared their specialized knowledge. She will continue to stage these teaching presentations at future derm conferences. Patients of every skin type should be used for live demos in medical training for dermatologists, which is currently not usually done. Every time an educational session is presented, whether its in medical school or at a conference of dermatologists, it should be required that whats put forth are data for each skin type, encouraging diversity in the doctors who present and teach, as well as in patients, says Alexiades. Were just now starting to make this happen.
He is said to have died at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra when he rushed there after his blood sugar level shot up.

After hearing news of his death, many Ghanaians who are in shock and dismay have taken to various social media platforms to share their grief and extend their heartfelt condolences to his wife and family.

According to sources close to the radio journalist, KABA reported to work last week but complained of uneasiness due to an illness.

He was then told to return home due to his inability to work on that day.
In a Facebook post Saturday, the Vice President said he had learnt with shock the demise of the radio host.

He also asked God to give his widow, family and the media fraternity fortitude to bear his painful loss.

"I have learnt with shock, the sudden demise of Joseph Kwadwo Asare-Baffuor Acheampong (KABA) of Asempa FM and the Multimedia Group," he said.

He added: "May God give his widow, family and the entire media fraternity, the fortitude to bear this painful loss."

KABA died a year after he tied the knot with Radio Gold presenter, Valentina Ofori Afriyie.
He hosted the station's afternoon political show called 'Ekosi Sen' on Weekdays.

Sources say he died as a result of high sugar level.

Commenting on his death, the ex-President said: "A sad day for us all. Received the shocking news of the passing of KABA.

"My condolences to the family, MBG and the media fraternity."

KABA joined The Multimedia Group in August 2009 as a broadcast journalist. He was then the regular host of news bulletin 'Asempa Today' on Asempa FM, according to myjoyonline.com.

READ MORE: Bawumia reacts to death of radio presenter

He also hosted weekly current affairs programme 'Kukurantumi' on Saturday morning.
He hosted the station's afternoon political show called 'Ekosi Sen' on Weekdays.

READ MORE: Mahama expresses grief over death of radio presenter

The President in tweet Saturday described him as one of the most talented journalists in his generation.

"Shocked by the news of Kojokabas death. Undoubtedly one of the most talented journalists of his generation. Condolences to his wife, family and Multimedia. RIPKABA," he tweeted.

KABA died Saturday morning after he was rushed to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.

Sources say he died as a result of high sugar level.

He joined The Multimedia Group in August 2009 as a broadcast journalist. He was then the regular host of news bulletin 'Asempa Today' on Asempa FM, according to myjoyonline.com.

READ MORE: Bawumia reacts to death of radio presenter

He also hosted weekly current affairs programme 'Kukurantumi' on Saturday morning.
That case was blasted by Washington as baseless and decried by rights groups as hastening the country's descent into a de facto one-party state led by authoritarian premier Hun Sen.

The ruling capped a protracted clampdown aimed at silencing Hun Sen's political rivals, outspoken NGOS and independent media before an election in 2018. Radio Free Asia was forced to shut its bureau in September after 20 years due to a series of legal threats.

The former RFA journalists -- Oun Chhin and Yeang Sothearin -- now face up to 15 years in jail for allegedly running an illegal media studio from a guesthouse in the capital, according to police.

After seeing "enough grounds, the prosecutor at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court decided to charge them with providing a foreign state information that is destructive to the national defence", said court spokesman Ly Sophana.

The US-funded RFA, a crucial source of independent Khmer-language broadcasting, slammed the arrests as part of Hun Sen's "cynical campaign of persecution".

Spokesman Rohit Mahajan said the reporters have not had any relationship with RFA since the station closed its Phnom Penh bureau in September.

"Therefore the charges brought in court today have absolutely no basis in reality," he told AFP by email.

Hun Sen, a firebrand ultra-nationalist in power since 1985, has been leaning heavily on anti-American rhetoric to justify the unprecedented clampdown.

That has rattled relations with Washington, which on Friday demanded the immediate reversal of the ruling against the opposition party -- saying it had stripped the 2018 poll of any legitimacy.

A spokesman for Hun Sen's ruling party said the country would be fine without American backing.

The widening rift is the latest chapter in a complex history between the two nations.

After pounding Cambodia with bombs during the Vietnam War, the US went on to become one of its biggest donors as the kingdom rebuilt from the ashes of the brutal Khmer Rouge era of 1975-79.

But America's influence has waned significantly in recent years as China muscles into Southeast Asia, propping up authoritarian leaders like Hun Sen with aid and investment free of pressure on human rights.
Relations are severely stressed over Pyongyang's nuclear sabre-rattling and Beijing's support for tough UN sanctions on its neighbour.

"The two sides exchanged their views on such matters of mutual concern as the situation of the Korean peninsula and region and bilateral relations," the official KCNA news agency said in describing Song's talks with Ri Su-Yong, a senior ruling party leader, and other officials.

Relations between the two communist neighbours, once said by Mao Zedong to be "as close as lips and teeth", are at their worst in decades over North Korea's actions, and Beijing faces pressure from US President Donald Trump to pile pressure on Pyongyang.

Song, who arrived on Friday, met that day with Choe Ryong-Hae, another senior official in North Korea's ruling party and a close aide to leader Kim Jong-Un.

Each side's account of the meeting with Choe mentioned that both sides stressed the importance of their longstanding ties.

'Common treasure'

A Chinese Communist Party report on the Choe-Song talks said they agreed that mutual ties were "the common treasure of the two peoples" and that both sides "should make concerted efforts" to maintain them.

The United States wants China, which accounts for 90 percent of North Korea's foreign trade, to apply more economic pressure.

Trump, who warned Xi during his trip to Beijing this month that time was "quickly running out" to solve the nuclear crisis, took to Twitter on Thursday to hail Song's mission as "a big move, we'll see what happens!"

But experts have expressed doubt it will yield breakthroughs, saying Beijing has far less political influence on Kim than is thought despite the economic ties.

"Relations are extremely stressed. Perhaps the lowest point since the Korean War. Perhaps (the mission) will put a floor under China-North Korea relations, preventing further deterioration," said Bonnie Glaser, China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

China has imposed its own banking restrictions on North Koreans in addition to enforcing a series of UN measures that include bans on imports of coal, iron ore and seafood from the North.

But Beijing fears that squeezing Pyongyang too hard would cause its collapse. Analysts say Song's trip is probably aimed more at urging Kim's regime not to escalate tensions rather than applying real pressure for disarmament.

As nuclear tensions have soared, Xi has pushed for negotiations and a "dual track approach" in which the United States would freeze its military drills in South Korea while North Korea halts its weapons programmes.
Although, these activities are not legal nor sanctioned by the countrys constitution. But these locations have been stated to cater for the sexual needs of young boys and men on a daily basis.

In a study that was triggered by Aljazeeras documentary on the sex city in Bangladesh - the largest gathering of sex workers in the world, here are some of the popular brothel zones in Nigeria.

1. Empire, Lagos State

Empire of the most popular residential areas or zones populated by sex traders in Lagos. The place is between Surulere and Yaba.

It became is a regular place for sex peddling due to the booming activities of the late Afro-beat Legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, who took up residence there. As a result, the area became an enclave for all and allows for unregulated natural activities expect robbery which is deem unAfrican.

Till date, sex peddling activities are still going on in the area but at a slower pace.

2. Charo, Ogun State

Charo is one major spot in Abeokuta, Ogun state for open sex peddling. The area is close to Panseke, a commercial hub in the state, as such the congregate of the pleasure sellers adds more relaxing climate to bustling activity in the zone.

A mention of the place to commoners in the Abeokuta would trigger a suspicion on your aim of going to the area.

3. Obalende, Lagos

Another district in Lagos that is currently overrun with the influx of sex traders is Obalende on the Lagos Island. The stretch of buildings between the Mighty 'Dodan Barrack', Keffi Street or adjunct street has one or two units of room allocated for this activities.

At night, this location is noted as free for all for sex peddlers.

4. Kado-Kuchi Village, Abuja

In Abuja, Kado-Kuchi Village is popularly known as Sex Zone. In this location open prostitution takes is considered a norm.

According to a resident of Abuja, the patronizers of sex peddlers at this location range from members of the upper class to the lower class with the prices differentials.

5. Queen Cinema, Ibadan

To residents of the capital of the Western region, going to Queen Cinema at Adamasigba Stadium, close to Dugbe is sure to get a feel for young and fresh girls engaging in this activities.
Minnesotans were rightly horrified to find yet another of their elected officials, Democratic U.S. Sen. Al Franken, the latest on a rogues list of powerful men who stand credibly accused of sexual misconduct.

Radio host Leeann Tweeden came forward Thursday to accuse Franken of groping and forcibly kissing her when the two were on a 2006 USO Christmas tour in the Middle East.

Tweeden said that over her objections, Franken wanted to rehearse a kiss he had written into a skit. He came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth, she said.

When she rejected him, Franken retaliated with petty insults that culminated in a photo taken while she slept aboard a military transport that showed Franken leering into the camera with his hands over her breasts.

In apologizing, Franken said he didnt recall the rehearsal incident in the same way, though he declined to say exactly how he remembered it. He also used an increasingly tired dodge, saying the photo clearly was intended to be funny but wasnt.

Lets be clear: The photo was never intended to be funny. It was a mean attempt to humiliate and denigrate a fellow USO volunteer who had the temerity to reject his advances.

Weve heard the humor defense before. Frankens initial Senate run suffered over his history of profane and at times misogynistic humor, which included a 1995 proposed Saturday Night Live sketch on the comedic rape of CBS reporter Lesley Stahl. In apologizing to the DFL Party convention in 2008, Franken resorted to saying he had come to realize some of his jokes werent funny. The apologies are wearing thin.

This Minneapolis Star Tribune Editorial Board in recent days called for the resignations of state Sen. Dan Schoen, DFL-St. Paul Park, and state Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, for multiple accusations of ugly sexual misdeeds while in office. Franken, so far, is accused of one incident that occurred before he took office. That does not excuse or mitigate the gravity of his conduct, which was despicable, but the story was still developing as this editorial was being written.

Franken now faces what is sure to be a prolonged Senate Ethics Committee investigation led by Republicans as they try to salvage the candidacy of one Roy Moore, an Alabama Republican who stands credibly accused of sexually assaulting a string of young women, one as young as 14. Frankens scandal simultaneously provides cover for them and damages his ability to be an effective moral voice for Minnesotans  perhaps too much for him to continue in the Senate.

Minnesota DFL Party Chair Ken Martin commended Tweeden for courageously coming forward to share her story and said we are incredibly disappointed in Senator Franken.  There is no excuse for his actions, whether they occurred before he was in the U.S. Senate or not.

We share that disappointment.
That said, the entire process could happen in just a few short minutes. The following is a transcription of the animation.

It can take the US government just minutes to launch a nuclear weapon. Here's how it would work.

The president has the sole authority to call for a nuclear strike. Once the call is made, a series of critical steps follow.

The president first meets with top military advisers. The meeting would take place in the Situation Room. If the president is traveling, a call is made on a secure line.

If the president still wants to go through with the strike, the order is verified. To authenticate the order, a challenge code is read to the president. It's usually two phonetic letters like "Delta-Echo."

The president then receives the "biscuit", a laminated card that's always near the president. The biscuit has the matching response to the challenge code.

The Pentagon then broadcasts an encoded message to missile crews. The message is only about the length of a standard tweet.

It includes the war plan, "Sealed Authentication System" or (SAS) codes, and the actual missile launch codes. When the launch crews get the message they open lock safes to obtain the SAS codes. These codes are compared with the SAS codes included in the message.

If fired from a submarine the captain, executive officer, and two others authenticate the launch order. Fifteen minutes after receiving the order, the missiles could be ready to launch.

If fired from land, there are 50 missiles controlled by 5 launch crews in different locations. Each crew "votes" for the launch by turning their keys at the same time.
Yanis Varoufakis: My name is Yanis Varoufakis. I'm a failed finance minister of a failed state called Greece. I've written a book, "Adults in the Room."

Donald Trump is a symptom. He's a symptom of the failure of the establishment. Hes a symptom of the failure of liberal capitalism to deal with a crisis of its own making.

In the European Union, the Euro crisis, which was a comedy of errors. Every time the great and the good in Europe in the European Union Council and the Eurogroup met since 2008, 2009, they compiled one gross error upon the next. The result being that now there is absolutely no leadership in Europe.

Angela Merkel had a splendid opportunity to be the leader that unites Europe, that turns us into United States of Europe, because effectively the moment you start unifying different disparate economies by means of a common currency, that should be a first step towards federation. Instead we are having the opposite process of fragmentation.

The alt-right, both in the United States and in Europe, is a symptom. It's a symptom of our generation's 1929, which of course took place in 2008, and of the establishments spectacular, colossal failure to deal with the challenges by this, first the financial sector collapse and secondly, inability of our market societies to rise up to the occasion and to find ways of recovering a kind of equilibrium between savings and investment so as to create the prospects and the jobs  good quality jobs  that are the only real antidote to the rise of xenophobia populism.
The indictment special counsel Robert Mueller handed down earlier this month highlighted President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort's lobbying work on behalf of Russian-backed former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

After Yanukovych was ousted in 2014, Manafort remained active in Ukraine, and played an important role in organizing the main pro-Russia party in the country that exists today.

Manafort continued working for a pro-Russian party in Ukraine after he renamed it

Mueller's indictment of Manafort alleges that he laundered millions of dollars in payments from Yanukovych's party, the Party of Regions, through offshore bank accounts, companies in the Hamptons, and clothing stores for lobbying and consulting work he did in Ukraine, western Europe, and the United States.

The indictment also mentions Manafort's work with the Opposition Bloc, the party that emerged after Yanukovych's ouster to replace the Party of Regions as the main pro-Russian party in the country, and alleges that Manafort received payments from his work with the party through 2016.

After the fall of Yanukovych's government in 2014, Manafort reportedly took a leading role in creating a new organization from the remnants of the Party of Regions, and rallied Yanukovych allies to rebrand their pro-Russian party into a generally anti-Western voting coalition, according to The New York Times. It was Manafort himself who came up with the party's new name, the Opposition Bloc.

"He thought to gather the largest number of people opposed to the current government, you needed to avoid anything concrete, and just become a symbol of being opposed," Kiev-based political analyst Mikhail B. Pogrebinsky told The Times.

"It was a continuation of something that had existed," Herbst told Business Insider. "And Manafort, who had been the cancellieri of the Party of Regions, continued on as the cancellieri of the Opposition Bloc."

"He was the guy directing their political campaign while they were a campaign, and he helped them stay in power," Herbst said, speaking about Manafort's role in the Party of Regions.

A former US diplomat told Business Insider that Manafort performed the same duties for the Opposition Bloc, and that individuals in Ukraine had shown the source border documents indicating that Manafort was present in Ukraine during various periods between 2014 and 2016.

Manaforts work helped the Opposition Bloc win seats in Ukraines parliament

Although party officials thought the Opposition Bloc was unlikely to succeed, as a result of Manafort's work, the Bloc was able to keep seats in Ukraine's Parliament in the 2014 parliamentary elections.

A party official for the Bloc told Bloomberg that Manafort personally approved the list of 2014 candidates, and one of the Bloc's leaders Nestor Shufrych reportedly celebrated its relative success in the elections with a bottle of cognac in Manafort's office after paying him $1 million for his work with them, according to Bloomberg.

One of Manafort's closest confidants in his work with the Bloc was Russian-Ukrainian political operative Konstantin Kilimnik, with whom Manafort promoted the Opposition Bloc as the voice of Russians in eastern Ukraine. Kilimnik reportedly kept in touch with Manafort during the course of the 2016 campain, and the pair spoke about Trump and developments in Ukraine. Kilimnik also reportedly broached the possibility of dropping an anti-Russian stance on Ukraine from the Republican party platform in the summer of 2016, which the GOP eventually did.
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Evans said the last time he was fed by the Nigerian prison authority was five days before his appearance in court on Friday, November 17, 2017 during the continuation of his trial before Justice Hakeem Oshodi.

The other defendants are: Uche Amadi, Ogechi Uchechukwu, Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu, Chilaka Ifeanyi, and Victor Chukwunonso Aduba.

"This is unfair, I have not been given food and change of clothes. I was not given the opportunity to bathe since Wednesday. They locked us in one place, no food and no water to bathe. The last we were fed was when a wife of one of us brought food" he lamented.

Evans' counsel Olukoya Ogungbeje, and Aduba's lawyer, Emmanuel Ochai, also attested to the fact that their clients are being starved.

Ogungbeje said; "apart from being starved my lord, they are locked up in solitary confinement with no access to anybody. If this continues, they may not be in the right frame of mind to continue the trial".

Having listened to the reactions, the presiding judge ordered the prosecutor, Ms. Titilayo Shittay-Bey, to investigate the accusation.

ALSO READ:

"The Director of Public Prosecution should please investigate these allegations. A defendant is innocent until he is proven guilty by a competent court," he said.

The Lagos State Prosecutor, Shitta-Bey, in her response told the court that the prosecution would promptly investigate the allegations.
Speaking to journalists voting at his polling unit in Ochuche Omuodo, Ogbaru local government area,Oseloka says he's confident of clinching victory if the electoral process is not tampered with.

I ran hard for this campaign, I ran hard to win.

Im confident that if our people have voted and there is no tampering with the process and there are no illegalities in the balloting and collation, at the end of the day were confident of winning this election, he said.

Continuing, he said: You can explain low voter turnout in the city because people might have travelled to their villages to vote.

But in the villages I cant explain the low turnout.

By and large the feedback I get is that everything has been peaceful which is very gratifying.

I have always said federal agencies have a responsibility to meet their obligation. Im not questioning anybody yet.

I know the ruling party will be inclined to see that their candidate wins, but I cannot derogate the federal government to say they are biased.
Chidolue, who said this on Saturday when he was called by Greeting FM Abuja to talk about the ongoing election, also said there are some questionable incidents going on.

Well its an election, we expect it to be how it should be. Everyone is aware of the tension  the members of IPOBs threat. There are some questionable incidents going on, Chidolue said.

Continuing, he said: INEC is doing the best they can. On paper, they did the best they can. You can get perfection only in heaven. I have not seen any voter inducements going on. Im not saying its not going on but I have not seen it.

ALSO READ: 2 arrested in Nwoye's ward for disrupting peace

This is not a do or die affair. People are not putting their life on the line.
Last Tuesday, Obiana decried the withdrawal of his security detail during an election stakeholders meeting organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

I want my security detail returned immediately because I am going to start a fight from there, Obiano said.

I am the Governor of Anambra state and all the paraphernalia of my office must be there.

This is unacceptable and a sign of what will happen. Those behind this would be disappointed because we are very ready for the election.

IDRIS SPEAKS

Explaining why Obiano lost his security detail, IGP Idris said the police wanted to prevent a scenario where ADCs to Governors are used to ferry arms to thugs on voting day.

Idris also assured the Governor that hed have his security personnel restored after the vote.

We do not mean anything bad to Anambra Governor on this action; his ADC will be returned to him early Sunday morning after the governorship election on Saturday Nov.18.

We have equally withdrawn all the policemen attached to political appointees, local government chairmen and others in Anambra till after the election, said the police boss.

MOSHOOD'S TAKE

But police spokesperson, Moshood, offered a completely different reason for leaving Obiano bare.

Moshood said the Governors security personnel werent withdrawn. He said they only left Obiano to attend a lecture.

The true position of the matter is that the Aide-De-Camp or any other Police Officer attached to His Excellency, Chief Willie Obiano, Governor of Anambra State was not withdrawn.

On Tuesday, 14th November, 2017, the ADC and CSO to the Governor were called to the Police Command Headquarters in Awka to attend IGPs lecture with all other Police Personnel deployed for the election, which was also attended by the Heads of other Security and Safety Agencies participating in the security arrangement for the election under the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) in the State.

The ADC and CSO returned a few hours later after the lecture, same date, to their duty posts in Government House, Awka, Anambra State.

NOW WHAT?

One boss said the police operatives were withdrawn, the other said, nah, not really...the security detail only attended a lecture.

Didnt they compare notes before going public? Who do we believe?
From Bogota, he flew to the Spanish capital where he was met by his wife and his two daughters as well as former Colombian president Andres Pastrana.

A lawyer by profession, Ledezma was arrested and jailed in February 2015 over allegations he was plotting to overthrow the president, and had been under house arrest since August following surgery.

"Venezuela is not at the edge of an abyss, it's at the bottom of the abyss: it is collapsing," he said on arriving at Madrid's Barajas airport.

Ledezma said he plans to travel the world to demonstrate "the hope of all Venezuelans to finish with this regime, this dictatorship," and accused Maduro's government of "colluding with drug traffickers".

jpegMpeg4-1280x720He said Friday he had fled Caracas because Venezuelan military and intelligence officials had informed him of a "government plan" against him, though he provided no details.

Oil-rich but cash-poor Venezuela is facing a deepening political and economic crisis as Maduro has moved to marginalise opposition forces, which control the country's legislature, and stifle independent media.
But Russia's Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov told the council that Moscow "will not accept the Japanese draft," said a diplomat attending the closed session.

In Moscow, a senior foreign ministry official said the 30-day technical rollover was pointless and that there was no need to take urgent action on the fate of the panel.

"We don't see the point of a technical rollover,"Mikhail Ulyanov, head of the non-proliferation department at the foreign ministry, told RIA Novosti news agency.

"We can have consultations and if these turn out to be productive, then in some time, maybe not too far off, the Security Council can take a decision to renew the activities of the JIM," he said.

"For the time being there is absolutely no reason to rush."

The Japanese proposal came after a Russian veto -- Moscow's 10th on Syria -- while a separate Russian draft resolution failed to garner enough votes for adoption, leaving the JIM's fate in limbo.

"This is a way to avoid the death of the JIM, a way to give us time to think seriously about a lasting solution," French Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters on the Japanese proposal.

The meeting ended with no decision on the way forward and diplomats said talks would continue on whether the draft resolution would be put to a vote, despite Russia's renewed opposition.

Syria peace talks

Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko said he was not optimistic and that the panel "was already dead yesterday" when Russia vetoed the renewal.

Russia has strongly criticized the JIM after its latest report blamed the Syrian air force for a sarin gas attack on the opposition-held village of Khan Sheikhun that left scores dead.

The attack on April 4 triggered global outrage as images of dying children were shown worldwide, prompting the United States to launch missile strikes on a Syrian air base a few days later.

Syria has denied using chemical weapons, with backing from its main ally Russia.

After the Russian veto, US Ambassador Nikki Haley accused Moscow of dealing a "deep blow" to international efforts to deter chemical attacks and said it bodes ill for Russia's future role in Syrian peace efforts.

"How then can we trust Russia's supposed support for peace in Syria? How can anyone take Russia's proposal of political talks in Sochi seriously?" she said.

The United Nations is preparing a new round of peace talks to open on November 28 in Geneva, but Russia has proposed hosting negotiations in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The Japanese draft resolution would task UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres with submitting to the council in 20 days "proposals for the structure and methodology" of the panel.

The joint UN-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) panel was set up by Russia and the United States in 2015 and unanimously endorsed by the council, which renewed its mandate last year.
ROCK ISLAND  The Rock Island Preservation Society said a preliminary assessment of the county courthouse has determined it is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Preservation Society prepared documentation and requested a review of the 122-year-old building, an example of Spanish Renaissance architecture.

Preservation Society member Diane Oestreich received the notification from Andrew Heckenkamp, the survey and National Register coordinator with the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office.

Mr. Heckenkamp said the courthouse meets specific criteria for listing on the National Register for buildings that have made a significant contribution to history.

In his letter, Mr. Heckenkamp states, "The property appears to retain sufficient integrity, even though its exterior was heavily altered in the mid-20th century. The property would be eligible because of its significance to Rock Island County history as the physical site of county government operations for more than a century."

The assessment is the first step in applying for National Register status.
TOLOnews.com, July 2, 2017

A Badghis man has reportedly killed his daughter and her male friend after she allegedly ran away from home, local officials said Sunday.

Badghis provincial governors spokesman Zahir Bahand confirmed the incident and said a man in Kandalan area of Qala-e-Naw, the provincial capital, shot dead his 14-year-old daughter and her 18-year-old friend.

Bahand said that after killing his daughter, the father fled the area and joined an armed insurgent group.

Bahand also confirmed the suicide of another girl in Jawand district of Badghis.

He did not provide details on this incident.
Firstpost, July 15, 2017

Kabul: At least three persons were injured when a school was destroyed in an airstrike in Afghanistan's Kunduz province on Saturday, an official said.

A fighter pounded the Khawja Mashad area in Kunduz city, 250 km north of Kabul, also destroying a house in the morning, Xinhua quoted Education Department Director Janat Gul Nasiri as saying.

Three children in the nearby house were injured in the attack, he said.

The official said 13 shops close to the school were also damaged.

"Since it was early in the morning and there was no student in the school, hence there was no loss of life," Nasiri said.

He blamed the United States-led coalition forces for the attack.

Kunduz has been the scene of heavy fighting over the past several months as the Taliban militants have been attempting to overrun the city.
NPR, July 22, 2017

By Bill Chappell

Afghan officials say 16 members of the Afghan National Security Forces died in a U.S. airstrike Friday, during operations against Taliban fighters in southern Helmand province. The U.S. says it is investigating the circumstances that led to the mistake.

Afghan media report that 16 members of the security force died, citing local government officials. Although a U.S. statement acknowledging the strike did not specify the number of casualties, a Pentagon spokesman later put the figure at from 12-15 deaths.

The strike hit Afghans who were in a compound that local media describe as a security outpost in a village that had come under attack by the Taliban in the Gereshk district.

From Islamabad, NPR's Diaa Hadid reports, "The position had just been hit by airstrikes to repel Taliban fighters. An Afghan journalist in Kabul who covered the incident says local forces then rushed in and were hit by another NATO strike."

"The U.S. Marines guiding the strike Friday afternoon in Gereshk district, thought the men gathered in the compound were Taliban, not police," Jennifer Glasse reports from Kabul for NPR's Newscast unit. "The checkpoint they were inspecting had changed hands a number of times during days of fighting in the south. The son of the Taliban's leader Abdul Rahman Khalid helped launch the Taliban offensive Thursday, blowing himself up in a car bomb."

In a statement about the strike, U.S. Forces Afghanistan said, "We would like to express our deepest condolences to the families affected by this unfortunate incident."

Local media outlet Pajhwok News reports that two commanders were among the policemen killed.

"The strike comes during a period of already poor morale among Afghan forces fighting for the government," Diaa says. "But U.S. airpower is key to helping the Afghan government stay its ground. Afghan forces are struggling to hold areas that U.S.-led troops helped take from the Taliban."
RFE/RL, July 25, 2017

An Afghan media watchdog says at least 10 journalists were killed in Afghanistan in the first half of 2017, a 35 percent surge over last year.

The Afghan Journalists' Safety Committee (AJSC), an independent watchdog, said in a new report issued July 25 that the Taliban and the Islamic State (IS) extremist group were responsible for most of the "direct and indirect" attacks on media workers in Afghanistan.

"In the first six months of 2017, 73 cases of violence against journalists were recorded, including 10 cases of killings, 19 beatings, and 12 injured," the report said.

The report said the violence included killing, beating, inflicting injury and humiliation, intimidation, and detention of journalists.

"Insurgent groups in provinces threaten journalists to self-censorship by telling them to either broadcast what they want or shut down their stations," Najib Sharifi, the director of AJSC, told a press conference in Kabul on July 25.

Sharifi said Afghan government security forces or government-affiliated individuals accounted for 46 percent of violence against journalists.

2016 was the deadliest year for journalists in Afghanistan, with at least 13 media workers killed -- 10 by the Taliban  according to the AJSC.

Based on reporting by AFP and Tolo News
PAN (Translated by RAWA), August 15, 2017

By Hamid Tamkeen

Local officials in Jowzjan province reported that a man killed his 25-year-old sister in Shibirghan city, and fled from the scene.

Mohammad Reza Ghafoori, the governors spokesperson, said the woman killed by her brother was from Qowsh Tapa district of this province. He stated, She had eloped with a man ten years ago and lived in Shibirghan city after marrying him. The marriage had been against her familys will.

The governors spokesperson said that the brother had come to his sisters home the night before, and finding her alone with her small children, killed her and then fled. He added that the woman had been strangled with her scarf, and left behind four small children.

Maghfirat Samimi, head of the Human Rights Commission of Jowzjan, Sare Pul, and Faryab provinces said that some families put restrictions on their daughters which results in them running away from home. She said, If the family had not restricted this girl, this whole incident would not have occurred. The low level of awareness of families results in such incidents.

Samimi demanded that security and the judicial bodies should punish the perpetrators in such cases according to the laws of the country. She pointed out that awareness raising activities should be carried out in the society, especially for such families, and that this requires joint efforts by clerics, influential figures and officials.

From the beginning of this (solar) year, nine women have been killed in Jowzjan province, and one has committed suicide.
TOLOnews.com, August 21, 2017



TOLOnews.com: She said her daughter had complained to Baghlans human rights institutions over being subjected to torture and not receiving food by her husband. Her husband was an army soldier. My daughter did not have a brother and no one took care of her. He was arrested by government but was jailed for two days. Then he was freed and killed my daughter, said Bibi Naqli. She said her daughter had complained to Baghlans human rights institutions over being subjected to torture and not receiving food by her husband. Her husband was an army soldier. My daughter did not have a brother and no one took care of her. He was arrested by government but was jailed for two days. Then he was freed and killed my daughter, said Bibi Naqli.

Mother of a young woman who was allegedly killed by her husband in Nahrin district in Baghlan province has come to Kabul to seek justice.

Bibi Nuqli said her son-in-law married to another girl and killed her daughter 20 days ago.

She said her daughter had complained to Baghlans human rights institutions over being subjected to torture and not receiving food by her husband.

Her husband was an army soldier. My daughter did not have a brother and no one took care of her. He was arrested by government but was jailed for two days. Then he was freed and killed my daughter, said Bibi Naqli.

She said her daughter had six children.

Bibi Nuqli is in Kabul with her three children.

Baghlan security officials refused to comment in this regard despite repeated contacts by TOLOnews.

We urge judicial organizations to investigate the issue seriously and provide justice to us, said Khadija Yaqeen, head of Baghlan womens affairs department.

The Attorney Generals Office vowed to probe this case and similar case received from Baghlan last week.

In relation to this case, our colleagues in Baghlan appeal attorney have taken actions. Also the suspects arrest order was not only issued to security forces in Baghlan, but it was also shared with the interior ministry and border provinces to arrest the suspect, said Jamshid Rasuli, spokesman for the Attorney Generals Office.

Government figures show that six cases of violence against women have occurred in Baghlan in the past six months.
BBC Persian (Translated by RAWA), August 22, 2017

Local officials in north-eastern Badakhshan province have reported that a man and a woman had been killed by the Taliban for having illicit relations in Daraym district of the province.

Abdul Khaliq Aaqsaai, police chief of Badakhshan province, told BBC that the Taliban had killed the two people in Pamchyan village. According to him, the victims were both married. The woman was about 38-years-old while the man was about 25-years-old.

A local eye witness told BBC that religious clerics had requested the Taliban to investigate the matter, but the Taliban fighters had killed the detained woman and man without investigation or trial.

A Taliban spokesperson denied the report while speaking to BBCs reporter in Badakhshan, and said that the action had probably been done in an uprising of the people. But the police chief of Badakhshan denied this claim and stated that security forces of the government never act against the law.

Daraym district had been one of the peaceful districts of Badakhshan which has seen Taliban activity recently. Previously, reports of cutting of hands and nose by the Taliban had been received from the area.
Al Jazeera, August 26, 2017

A suicide bombing followed by gunfire as Shia Muslims gathered for Friday prayers at a mosque in Kabul killed at least 28 people, with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group claiming responsibility.

Mohammad Salim Rasouli, the chief of Kabul's hospitals, announced the new death toll on Saturday, as burials began. He said at least 50 people were injured.

Wailing mourners gathered at the mosque on Saturday to lay the bodies of the dead side by side in graves.



August 25, 2017: An Afghan man carries an injured woman who is screaming in pain in a blood-stained dress from the site of a suicide attack where 28 men were killed. (Photo: Reuters) August 25, 2017: An Afghan man carries an injured woman who is screaming in pain in a blood-stained dress from the site of a suicide attack where 28 men were killed. (Photo: Reuters)

"We used to attend ceremonies such as Ashura together in this mosque, but today I am burying their bodies here," Hussain Ali, who lost a friend in the attack, told the AFP news agency.

"This is not the first time, it keeps happening. The government has failed to provide us security. Even today in this ceremony people are worried lest something will happen," he added.

Four hours of gunfire, explosions

After the blast at the Imam Zaman mosque in Afghan capital's Qala-Najara neighbourhood, gunmen stormed in and began shooting.

Terrified worshippers endured about four harrowing hours of gunfire and explosions during the afternoon before the four attackers were killed.

The cleric who was performing the prayers was among the dead, said Mir Hussain Nasiri, a member of Afghanistan's Shia clerical council.

The mosque is large and can accomodate up to 1,000 people.

Policemen made an attempt to enter the mosque but withdrew after one of the attackers set off an explosion, said police official Mohammad Sadiq Muradi.

"The attackers are slaughtering people like sheep, but there's no one to go and rescue them," Murtaza, a young boy whose parents were trapped inside, said as the assault unfolded. "A lot of people are on the ground, and no one is trying to rescue them."

A sprawling cavernous prayer hall dominates the main floor. The second floor is where the women pray.

Nasiri said when police initially sought to get into the mosque, the attackers blocked the door leading to the second floor, which he said would mean they held the women hostage.

Al Jazeera's Jennifer Glasse, reporting from the scene, quoted eyewitnesses as saying the assailants had run out of ammunition and started stabbing worshippers with knives. Some of the victims included children and women.

"It was a busy time, in the middle of Friday prayer as the attack took place," said Glasse.

ISIL's affiliate in Afghanistan claimed responsibility. ISIL-linked Aamaq website said on Friday two of its fighters carried out the assault. It did not give further details.

The attack was the latest by ISIL to hit the Afghan capital. Last month it hit the Iraqi embassy in Kabul and afterwards issued a warning to all Shia in Afghanistan, saying its cadres would attack Shia places of worship.

Within days of the embassy attack, ISIL also took responsibility for a suicide assault on a Shia mosque in western Herat province that killed 32 people.
Reuters, August 29, 2017

By Mirwais Harooni

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a bank close to the heavily protected U.S. embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul on Tuesday, killing at least five people and wounding eight, the interior ministry said.

The bomber hit the entrance to a Kabul Bank branch in the well-off area of Kabul, close to the main diplomatic quarter, ministry spokesman Najib Danish said. He said at least five people had been killed and eight wounded.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which came as banks were busy with people taking out money ahead of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday at the end of the week, saying it had targeted soldiers and police withdrawing their salaries.

The latest in a long series of suicide attacks in Kabul highlight the danger in the city, where 209 civilians were killed and 777 injured in the first half of the year, according to U.N. figures.

The Taliban, fighting to restore Islamic law and drive out international forces backing the government in Kabul, have carried out many of the attacks. Other militant groups, including the affiliated Haqqani network and the local branch of Islamic State, have carried out others.

Attacks on banks where soldiers and police withdraw their salaries have become a regular tactic of the Taliban and the movements spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said several members of the security forces had been killed. There was no confirmation from the government.

President Ashraf Ghanis government, facing growing public anger over insecurity in Kabul, has started tightening checks around the center of the city, where many of the most deadly attacks have taken place.

Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi; writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Nick Macfie
Associated Press, September 27, 2017

The Taliban fired several rockets at the Kabul international airport on Wednesday in an attack the insurgents claimed targeted the plane of visiting US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis.

An Afghan woman was killed and 11 other civilians were wounded in the barrage. Afghan special forces managed to repel the attackers, killing four in an ensuing gun battle.

Najib Danish, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the Taliban fired up to about six projectiles at and near the airport, hitting both the international and the military sector of the sprawling hub and also two civilian houses nearby. The gunbattle with Afghan special forces left "four of the terrorists dead," he said.

Mattis was meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the time of the attack, along with visiting Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. It was not immediately known if Mattis' plane was damaged in the attack.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a tweet that the "military section of the Kabul airport was hit with missiles; target was plane of U.S. Defense Secretary Mattis" and that "losses (were) caused" in the attack.

Ghani said during a joint press conference with Mattis and Stoltenberg that Afghan special forces troops quickly brought the attack under control. Mattis called the attack "a crime" during the news conference, which was broadcast live.

Tumor Shah Hamedi, director of Kabul airport, said all flights were halted as a result of the attack.

At the presser, both Mattis and Stoltenberg pledged continued support for Afghanistan and vowed to do everything possible so the country "doesn't again become a safe haven for international terrorists."

Stoltenberg said Nato is aware of "the cost of staying in Afghanistan, but the cost of leaving would be even higher."

"If Nato forces leave too soon, there is a risk that Afghanistan may return to a state of chaos and once again become a safe haven for international terrorism," he said.

Stoltenberg also said Nato was committed to funding the Afghan security forces until at least 2020, and would continue to provide them almost a $1 billion each year.

Ghani said the Taliban can choose either to align with international terrorism or renounce violence and join a peace process with the government.

Mattis said Washington supports a negotiated settlement between the Taliban and Afghanistan. "The sooner the Taliban recognize they cannot win with bombs, the sooner the killing will end," he said.

In other violence, hundreds of Taliban insurgents attacked a security post in Afghanistan's western Farha province, killing at least 10 policemen and threatening to overrun the position.

Hakim Noori, the governor of the Pusht Rod district, said almost 300 Taliban fighters took part in the attack, which began on Tuesday night. He said the insurgents mined the area around the base to prevent authorities from sending in reinforcements.

Farid Bakhtawar, the head of the provincial council, confirmed the killing of the policemen and warned they would be overrun if reinforcements do not arrive soon.
Al Jazeera, September 28, 2017

When the Taliban unleashed a barrage of rockets at Kabul's airport on Wednesday, targeting the plane of visiting US Secretary of Defence James Mattis, streets in the area were devoid of life as residents remained indoors for several hours.

A woman was killed, and 11 civilians were wounded in the Taliban attack, according to Afghan officials.

In response, NATO's Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan said that US aircraft launched air raids to support Afghan security forces conducting search operations near the Hamid Karzai international airport.



A Kabul resident walks through a damaged house following a NATO air raid. (Photo: Wakil Kohsar/AFP) A Kabul resident walks through a damaged house following a NATO air raid. (Photo: Wakil Kohsar/AFP)

"Tragically, one of the missiles malfunctioned, causing several casualties," the mission said in a statement, giving no further details but expressing regret for having harmed civilians. It said an investigation into the incident was under way.

Local media quoting Afghan police said the US air raids had wounded at least six civilians.

"Afghanistan security forces are weak and that is why we are attacked by both the Taliban and the foreign forces," Kabul resident Mohammed Amin, 50, told Al Jazeera.

"US troops dropped bombs on a residential area. How can they say it was mistake? We understand one time, two times, but not forever! They kill us, civilians, and call it a mistake all the time."

It was not the first time a US bombing attack in Afghanistan had hit the wrong target.

An American air raid in 2015 destroyed a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) trauma centre in northern Kunduz province, killing more than 40 people.

In July, a US air raid killed 16 policemen in Helmand city. It came about five months after a US attack in Helmand province's Sangin district killed at least 18 civilians, mostly women and children.

According to a July UN report, the number of civilians killed and wounded in Afghanistan's violence reached a record high in the first six months of 2017, made worse by the Afghan air force carrying out its own air raids along with US forces.

"Air strikes carried out by international and Afghan air forces caused 590 civilian casualties (in 2016), nearly double that recorded in 2015," a separate UN report said, with women and children accounting for more than half of the victims.

'They target our house and kill our people'

Haji Rabbani was the one whose family, including four children, were wounded in Wednesday's US air raids, AFP news agency reported.

Two bombs struck Rabbani's home - several hundred metres from where the fighters were holed up - destroying an upstairs room, shattering windows and sending debris toppling into the courtyard.

"I just got out of the bathroom and came out to perform the ablution when the strike took place," Rabbani told AFP on Thursday.

Rabbani said he did not understand why foreign forces had targeted his family when he had no links to the Taliban fighters firing rockets near the airport.

While NATO has acknowledged its mistake, Rabbani's family wants compensation, not sympathy - and for the attacks on ordinary Afghans to stop.

"They do not target the enemies in front of their eyes - they target our house and kill our people," said Rabbani.

Continued support

Mattis was meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the time of the Taliban attack, along with visiting NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. Mattis' plane was not hit.

At a press conference on Wednesday, both Mattis and Stoltenberg pledged continued support for Afghanistan and vowed to do everything possible so the country "doesn't again become a safe haven for international terrorists".

Stoltenberg said NATO is aware of "the cost of staying in Afghanistan, but the cost of leaving would be even higher".

He added: "If NATO forces leave too soon, there is a risk that Afghanistan may return to a state of chaos and once again become a safe haven for international terrorism."

Stoltenberg also said NATO was committed to funding the Afghan security forces until at least 2020 and would continue to provide them with almost $1bn each year.

However, Kabul residents like Amin said they were still feeling unprotected.

US forces are "equally killing civilians, just like the Taliban", he said.

"If the US can't control the situation why they don't leave us alone?

"Our lives are not important to the US troops," he said.

Last month, US President Donald Trump hinted he would embrace the Pentagon's proposal to boost troop numbers by nearly 4,000.

The suggestion came shortly before the Pentagon revealed that the US troop strength in Afghanistan had reached about 11,000 soldiers, exceeding the previous official level of 8,400 US forces

If confirmed, the undetermined troop increase is to be added to the existing 11,000.
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Clinton Kelly had a bemused reaction to Stacy London blocking him on Twitter.

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The 48-year-old television personality responded online Wednesday following apparent tension with his former "What Not to Wear" co-host.

Kelly posted a screenshot for his 241,000 followers after London blocked him on Twitter. The photo showed how he is "blocked from following @stacylondon and viewing @stacylondon's Tweets."

"Alllll righty then," he wrote.

London, who has 194,000 followers, had recently responded to a fan comment about "What Not to Wear," but has yet to explain why she blocked Kelly.

Kelly and London co-hosted nine seasons of TLC's "What Not to Wear" series, which ended in 2013.

Kelly, who now hosts "The Chew," told fans Thursday his feud with London is "old."

"The tea is old. And I never spill tea unless I'm shook, which I'm not," he wrote.

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Kelly previously hinted at tension with London in his book "I Hate Everyone, Except You" which debuted in January.

He told the Austin American-Statesman at the time that he hadn't spoken to London in years.

"We spent so much time together for 10 years," the star explained.

"It was funny in the beginning when we completed each other's sentences. It got to be like, 'OK, we need a break from each other.'"
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'We aren't so unreasonable as to demand that he should have fully reversed Indira Gandhi's worst economic legacy, bank nationalisation.'

'But he could have made a beginning by selling off the two most stressed small public sector banks, and then announced that each year for the next 10, one government bank with the most messed-up balance sheet will be sold.'

'It would have electrified the markets, shocked his other banks into better behaviour, and marked his name among the great reformers,' argues Shekhar Gupta.



Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

In Joseph Heller's Catch-22, Lieutenant Milo Minderbinder earned his fame trading with himself in a way that everybody involved in the circular transaction made a profit, which, ultimately, came out of the government's pocket.

The reason he became an enduring brand ambassador of cynical capitalism is precisely because nothing mattered to him except profit for his company (called the Syndicate).

He always made a profit, usually buying up the entire supplies of some commodity: Eggs, tomatoes in a village, selling at a monopoly price to his own unit.

But once he slipped up when he bought the entire stock of Egyptian cotton in the world.

There were no buyers left, as even if somebody bought it from him, he sold it back to him.

In creative desperation, he even soaked balls of cotton in chocolate and tried selling them to his fellow soldiers' mess.

He had killed the Egyptian cotton market by becoming a monopoly trader -- with himself.

But the genius figured out a way: Why not sell it to his government?

Of course, as a pucca capitalist he believed the government had no business to be in business.

But the sarcastic words of former laissez faire American President Calvin Coolidge (one with a hundred quotable quotes) came in handy: It's the business of the government to be in 'business'!

Coolidge was, after all, a president, and what he said must be right, said Milo, the government's business is to be in business.

So why not sell the cotton to the United States government instead?

Now replace Milo Minderbinder with Bharat Sarkar, post-1969, and Egyptian cotton with India's banks. See that economics plays out now.

Indira Gandhi first nationalises all of India's major banks and creates a State monopoly in banking and finance, particularly as it also owns all insurance companies and developmental financial institutions (former IDBI, IFCI, etc).

Then it starts buying from itself: Getting banks to invest in its own bonds, lend for its own projects and public sector enterprises, its loan melas and then, ultimately, loan-waivers.

So effectively its banking monopoly also became its unbeatable vote-buying business.

In the process, the banks kept going bankrupt at regular intervals.

Now, since the banks were all State-owned, they couldn't be allowed to fail, and the government is too big to fail and it has the powers to tax and print money. So the government again buys its own banks (recapitalisation).

And if it has to be done through an off-budget method so as not to make the fisc look bad, you can have your banks issue bonds.

And that, in turn, you can get your other companies -- public sector undertakings holding spare cash -- to buy.

Now tell me, isn't our government an even sharper capitalist than Milo Minderbinder? It's even better, in fact.

If his economics was Catch-22, Bharat Sarkar's is one better, Catch-23.

If you are the googling type, you might be tempted to ask how all this Catch-23 sarcasm squares with my appreciation of the latest bank bailout plan.

It is a good plan because it is the only thing possible under the circumstances.

If your patient is asphyxiating in an extreme asthma attack, and you are the doctor, what do you do but pump the body with steroids, never mind the side-effects?

So, in a situation in which 70 per cent of the banking is State-owned, is near-bankrupt (bad loans generally exceeding their capital), and a collapse looms, what do you do?

Let one domino collapse and pick up the debris?

In a situation in which something had to be done, this bailout is decisive, bold and, if I may add in fairness, a little bit creative.

The idea of issuing bonds to raise the bulk of the funds is smart. But now the suggestion that other cash-rich PSUs, obviously mostly energy monopolies, would be 'nudged' to buy these, is disturbing.

There were bolder, more decisive, and reformist options.

Great leaders never waste a crisis, but Narendra Modi blew one here.

We aren't so unreasonable as to demand that he should have fully reversed Indira Gandhi's worst economic legacy, bank nationalisation. Toxic economic ideas have a very long half-life.

But he could have made a beginning by selling off just the two most stressed small public sector banks, and then announced that each year for the next 10, one government bank with the most messed-up balance sheet will be sold.

It would have electrified the markets, shocked his other banks into better behaviour, constrained the political class from writing more tax-payer cheques to buy votes, and marked his name among the great reformers.

But is that really what Modi wants -- to be remembered as an economic reformer?

Commitment to PSUs, or of the government being in business, may not be the only touch-stone of a reformer, but it is an important one.

No Indian leader -- not even Manmohan Singh, P V Narasimha Rao, and P Chidambaram -- has dared to sell off PSUs, especially profit-making ones. The only one to have that instinctive commitment was Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

He was thwarted by a Supreme Court order rooted in the 1970s political economy -- it barred any divestment without parliamentary sanction and prevented the sale of two oil giants, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation.

We would have expected Modi to pick up the thread from his own party's idol. What's he doing instead?

He is selling Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, but to his own Oil and Natural Gas Corporation -- once again Milo trading with Milo, with the State's money. Catch-23.

Modi's supporters have a point that unlike the period 1991 onwards, when much reform could be carried out by stealth, today everything is in the public eye and has political consequences.

But who is better equipped than Modi to mould public opinion?

The questions, therefore, are: Why is he not doing so? Does he even want to do so? And if not, what exactly does he want?

The answers lie in his politics.

Unlike Vajpayee, he is a committed swayamsevak, and unlike him again, instead of dismissively laughing at the juvenility of the old Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh socio-economics, he is a true believer in ideology.

Caught between his ingrained devotion to the idea of being a swayamsevak in the image of a Mohan Bhagwat and be remembered as a modernising reformer like Vajpayee, he ends up as another Indira Gandhi, another great Statist -- a great economic-nationalist running an expanding and increasingly control-freak government.

I would hazard to read his politico-economic mind as: There's nothing wrong with the State running the economy as long as you run the State wisely, and honestly.

The quest for the perfect State has never succeeded. It is unlikely to now.

Modi has spent his youth and middle age as a full-time swayamsevak and that conservative upbringing won't evaporate. But his exposure to the world now, meeting global leaders, watching how more successful economies and societies function, would also make him want to embrace the neo-liberal ideal.

The two forces, socio-religious conservatism and neoliberalism -- whatever their faults -- are contradictory. They can't coexist.

That's the politics where Modi's economics is trapped. What do we call his dilemma?

Let me suggest: Catch-24 Politics.

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Are retirement homes attractive options for the elderly?



Experts feel it is a good option to be able to live an independent and activity-filled life. But, dont buy it as an investment.





IMAGE: Celebrations underway at a special senior citizen conclave at Ashiana Housing in Delhi. Photograph: Courtesy: Ashiana Housing.

The proportion of elderly citizens within Indian society is growing. With it is the demand for specially designed residential complexes that cater to their needs.

According to a recent report on senior housing brought out by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the share of the elderly in India's population had risen from 5.6 per cent in 1961 to 8.6 per cent in 2011.

It is estimated to reach 10.7 per cent by 2021 and 23.6 per cent by 2050.

According to the same survey, developers estimated that the size of the sector is estimated to increase from US$ 1.26 billion in 2016 to US$ 7.7 billion by 2030.

IMAGE: "Nowadays seniors want their own space as much as young people do. All these factors are driving them to opt for retirement homes, says Shashank Paranjape, managing director, Paranjape Schemes Construction Ltd. Photograph: Courtesy Paranjape Schemes Construction Ltd.

With old taboos about sending parents to these complexes fading away, many senior citizens are now themselves opting to move to them. This decision, which is taken at an advanced age, is a significant one and needs to be arrived at after weighing the pros and cons carefully.



Why are senior citizens moving?

A major social change that is driving the demand for retirement homes is the breakup of the joint family system and the rise of nuclear families. Children often migrate to other cities or abroad for work.

Earlier, if someone did not have children or their children lived away from them, a close relative would step in to take care of the elderly. But with the pace of life becoming hectic, relatives don't want this additional burden. Nowadays seniors want their own space as much as young people do. All these factors are driving them to opt for retirement homes, says Shashank Paranjape, managing director, Paranjape Schemes Construction Ltd.



Senior citizens also find the prospect of living among people of the same age group attractive. It takes care of the loneliness they are often subject to in old age and allows them to spend quality time among like-minded peers.

We conduct a lot of activities within our complex for residents which they participate in together. This allows them to bond and develop new relationships, says Ankur Gupta, joint managing director, Ashiana Housing.

IMAGE: With advancing age, people may require access to assisted, memory and palliative care, says Sridharan, managing director, Covai Property Centre, while explaining the need for retirement communities. Photograph: Courtesy Covai.

Adds Amit Oberoi, national director, knowledge systems, Colliers International India: Growing affluence also allows senior citizens to go for these options.



Retirement homes also rid senior citizens of quotidian worries like cooking, maintenance, etc as most of these services are available.

Finally, as A Sridharan, managing director, Covai Property Centre, says: You get to live in a clean and green environment, amid beautiful landscaping, flowers, trees and water bodies, which allows you to be healthier and live longer.



Make the right choice: When purchasing a house in a senior citizens' complex, an important consideration is the developer's track record.

Put your money only on those developers who have a demonstrated track record of not just delivering such a project, but also of managing and maintaining such a community, says Paranjape. Unlike a regular residential complex, the quality of service is very important in such a complex.

A large support system has to be put in place for the residents of these complexes. Go with a developer who understands and has experience of this aspect, says Oberoi. The quality of assistance available at the complex should be a key consideration. With time, a spouse may pass away and a person's health may also deteriorate.

With advancing age, people may require access to assisted, memory and palliative care, says Sridharan. Make sure that such care is available. Also, check tie-ups with nearby hospitals and the level of medical assistance available within the complex.



Financial considerations: Before you move into a retirement home, decide whether to retain or sell your original house. The management of real estate becomes more difficult as one gets older, so selling it off would be attractive. But retaining would give you the option to move back in case you don't like living in the retirement community. You also need to check whether you can afford the retirement home without selling your original house.

One way to check this is to knock off the amount that you will spend on buying the retirement home from your net worth and then see if you have enough left to support all the expenses you are likely to have in old age, says Vishal Dhawan, chief financial planner, Plan Ahead Wealth Advisors.





IMAGE: We conduct a lot of activities within our complex for residents which they participate in together. This allows them to bond and develop new relationships, says Ankur Gupta, joint managing director, Ashiana Housing, of their senior communities. Photograph: Courtesy Ashiana Housing.

Financial planners also suggest that you should look at a retirement home more as a consumption item rather than as an investment. Usually you can only sell these houses to other senior citizens, which affects the capital appreciation, says Dhawan.



Another important financial decision to be made is whether to buy, lease or rent. Our research has shown that most senior citizens in India like to buy the property because they are mortally afraid of being thrown out by the owner in old age, says Paranjape. Renting initially would give you the flexibility to move out in case you don't like the project.

Another issue is how useful a retirement home will be to your children. While you can bequeath it to your heirs, they will not be able to live in it until they are of a certain age, say, 55 or 60. Their only option will be to rent, lease or sell the house. By the time they can move into it, the property could be around 30 years old and may not be as attractive as more recently-developed options. in that segment.
The Congresss new economy-centric focus is evident from the election discourse Gandhi is following in Gujarat, reports Aditi Phadnis.

Image: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi visits a cotton farm at Mera village in Surendranagar district, Gujarat, on November 13, 2017, during his election campaign. Photograph: PTI Photo.

Joblessness and unequal economic growth rather than mandir-masjid or caste will be at the core of Rahul Gandhis attack on the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government, going forward. Or: Its the economy, stupid.

This is the strong message foreign institutional investors (FIIs) get whenever they meet Gandhi.

The last such meeting was held on November 15.

We are getting, on average, one request for a meeting a week. The interest in what Gandhi has to say on the economy has increased exponentially after his US visit, said a party manager.

Big FIIs like the Capital group (Assets under management of $1.4 trillion in December 2016), Wellington ($620 billion) and GIC (the Singapore governments sovereign fund) have met Gandhi several times.

He (Gandhi) has successfully managed to shift the larger narrative from social issues to economic issues. Today, jobs and economic growth are mainstream issues, thanks to Rahul Gandhi, says economist Praveen Chakravarty, who has been part of several such meeting with Gandhi.

At the FII interaction on Wednesday, Gandhi was asked many questions about the Modi governments decision of recapitalisation of banks, and what he and his party would have done in such circumstances. Gandhi was reportedly clear: There wasnt enough information about the nature of the bonds that would recapitalise banks; and in any case, bank recapitalisation should be paid for via tax revenues, not the way this government had done by using money put in banks by depositors, post-demonetisation.

Gandhi has also let FIIs know that if the Congress comes to power, it will tweak the goods and services tax (GST) design to address the worries of small traders. It would raise the turnover-threshold of traders who are required to submit paperwork (invoices, etc) for the GST.

This comes among concerns in the investor community about whether as an Opposition the Congress could attempt to derail and even overturn the spirit of a reform the success of which hinges upon the cooperation of state governments.

The Congresss new economy-centric focus is evident from the election discourse Gandhi is following in Gujarat: That the Modi governments performance on job creation is abysmal; there is little made in India; and that while China creates 50,000 jobs every day, India creates 500.

Apart from FIIs, Gandhi is also meeting economists, microfinance companies and data-collection firms. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) flew down 50 of its researchers for a meeting with Gandhi last month after they got a call from his office.

"We got a call that Mr Gandhi wanted to understand the jobs, unemployment and well being of households in the country better, said Mahesh Vyas of CMIE.

The institute had produced data and a report on unemployment, demonetisation and the GST on the basis of surveys across 160,000 households across India. Gandhi wanted to meet surveyors to get a first hand account of what they saw and felt.

One of Gandhis questions to the surveyors was: If educated people find it difficult to get jobs, then do their households deny education to other children of the household?

Vyas said this question led to an interesting debate and anecdotes about household behaviour, which concluded that behaviour was a function of the income of the household.

The impact of the GST was discussed at length, especially the problems of small businesses, which were laying off people.

At one point, Gandhi asked whether households faced desperation or even starvation if there was so much pain. He was quickly informed that households borrow and survive in the face of loss of jobs and wages; they dont starve. The surveyors told him that when households were asked how they would repay, the response was that they had left it to God.

CMIEs data and analysis has been questioned by several ministers. But the meeting with Gandhi lasted two and a half hours.

When Gandhi met microfinance companies, especially from Andhra Pradesh, he listened quietly as they launched into a tirade against the Congress government, led by Y S Rajashekhar Reddy, which launched a campaign against them.

He also met CEOs of start-ups such as Snapdeal and Ola.

This new side of the Congress vice president is likely to be in evidence in Parliament as well.
'In her insecurity, she destroyed the institutions of democracy.'

'She packed Parliament with her supporters with loyalty being more important than ability; she superseded judges; she corrupted the civil service.'

'She knew how to use people against each other and was quite a master of that.'

'She would do this with calculated skill and in the bargain cause enmity between brothers, split up families.'

IMAGE: Indira Gandhi surrounded by folk dancers from Rajasthan at her home in New Delhi in 1967. Photograph: Express/Getty Images

Few journalists interacted with Indira Gandhi the way Khushwant Singh, doyen of Indian journalism, did.

As editor of the now defunct The Illustrated Weekly of India and later The Hindustan Times, he was witness to some of the most historic moments in Indira Gandhi's 16-year-long rule.

In 2004, Khushwant Singh took a journey down memory lane with Amberish Kathewad Diwanji.

Twenty years later, how do you look back on Indira Gandhi?

There are two aspects to Indira Gandhi: One as the politician and the other as a human being.

As a politician, it is common knowledge about her, but as a human being, very few know about her, such as her family and her staff. The rest is conjecture and make believe.

How did you get to know her?

I first met her when she was still unmarried and came to Lahore on her way to Kashmir, and she was staying with friends who had brought her over.

I have a photograph of her at our house. She was very shy and wouldn't talk much.

I next met her when she was president of the Congress. It was at a meeting over which she was presiding and I was speaking on Madame Cama, I think.

Then when she became information and broadcasting minister in (Lal Bahadur) Shastri's government, I was asked to do an article for The New York Times on the possibility of her becoming prime minister.

The article was an adverse account because I quoted people saying her leading the country was not possible.

India has never been led by a woman. We might have had a Razia Sultan, but that was it.

I also said she was not qualified except for being Nehru's daughter and the fact that she had no political base except for having become Congress president by her father.

But she did become prime minister...

The fact is after Shastri, people did not want Gulzarilal Nanda or Morarji Desai, and so she became prime minister, selected by a bunch who thought they could control her.

But this bunch had not reckoned with her innate political sense or that being prime minister has its own power.

She soon sidelined Morarji Desai and others like Kamaraj.

She really ruled a bit like a dictator. People would say the Cabinet has only one man (Indira Gandhi) and that the rest are all hijras (eunuchs), but the fact is she reduced them to that level.

How do you look back at her rule?

There is nothing spectacular about her rule.

She was incapable of tolerating any criticism and she picked up an aversion to some persons because she thought they were challenging her, among them Jayaprakash Narayan, a good, honest man.

She couldn't stand him because he was a challenge to her as the leader of the country, especially as people grew disillusioned with her rule.

There were problems, droughts, challenges and Jayaprakash Narayan had emerged as a leader.

During her reign, corruption increased to enormous levels. She was really very tolerant of corruption, which was another negative mark against her.

She knew perfectly well that some of her ministers were extremely corrupt, yet she took no steps against them till it suited her.

If she knew someone was corrupt, she tolerated him, but if it suited her, she used the same corruption charge to get rid of him.

She really had no strong views on corruption, which went sky high during her time.

Also, she felt uncomfortable with educated, sophisticated people. So you have the rise of people like Yashpal Kapoor, R K Dhawan, who was a stenographer who worked in her office, Mohammad Yunus, who just hung around her.

I believe this was because she had no real education.

She went to Santiniketan, then she went to Badminton School abroad, then to Oxford. Nowhere did she pass an exam or acquire a degree.

I think that bred a sort of inferiority complex of not being recognised as an educated person.

She would pretend to have read a lot of books. She spoke French, which she picked up when she accompanied her ailing mother Kamla to Switzerland, which went in her favour.

There were pros and cons, but there was this sense of insecurity when it came to highly intelligent people and people with clear records.

She felt more comfortable with second-rate people.

IMAGE: 'If she knew someone was corrupt, she tolerated him, but if it suited her, she used the same corruption charge to get rid of him.'

'Also, she felt uncomfortable with educated, sophisticated people.'

Photograph: Express Newspapers/Getty Images

How did her insecurities, about which much has been written, affect India?

In her insecurity, she destroyed the institutions of democracy.

She packed Parliament with her supporters with loyalty being more important than ability; she superseded judges; she corrupted the civil service.

Favouritism became a great sport with her.

She also knew how to use people against each other and was quite a master of that.

She would patronise somebody and when she thought he was getting too big, instead of appointing him to a senior post, she would appoint his close associate, knowing this would create a rift between them.

The best example is of V P Singh. It was his elder brother (Santa Bux Singh) who believed he would be made minister, but instead she picked V P Singh, the lesser qualified of the two brothers, which only created enmity between the brothers.

She would do this with calculated skill and in the bargain cause enmity between brothers, split up families.

In the long run, it was not good for the country to play such games as she did.

IMAGE: Indira Gandhi with, to her right, then army chief General S F J Maneckshaw, then President V V Giri and then vice-president G S Pathak.

What is her greatest achievement?

Her greatest moment, the triumph in her life, was the way she handled the Bangladesh crisis, where all her skills came together. She made a complete fool of the Pakistanis.

India faced a huge crisis with a flood of refugees entering the country. She tried to garner international support and went round the world telling them what was happening, but got no backing except from the Soviet Union, which any way was with us.

Then, when she realised the crisis had to reach a climax, she proved very astute.

For instance, an Indian Airlines plane was hijacked. Today we know that it was the Indians who manoeuvred to get the plane to land in Lahore.

Then, in Lahore, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (then Pakistan's foreign minister) proved stupid enough to have the plane blown up in his presence.

This gave India the excuse it needed to stop flights between West Pakistan and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) over India, something that gave India a clear edge as the war drew nearer.

Now, Pakistani planes had to fly all the way round India and refuel in Sri Lanka to communicate between the two wings.

I also think it was on her advice that the Indian Army built up the Mukti Bahini.

And by the time (then Pakistan president General) Yahya Khan realised what was happening and declared war, the Indian Army was, I think, well about 100 miles inside Bangladesh.

In less than a fortnight, the Pakistani army surrendered. The Pakistanis prepared to defend the towns, but the Indian troops just avoided the towns and headed straight for Dhaka.

It was by all accounts a master strategy and Indira Gandhi very deservedly got the Bharat Ratna.

IMAGE: Indira Gandhi with her son Sanjay Gandhi.

'Sanjay, his wife Maneka, his mother-in-law, Mohammad Yunus were running riot and anyone who said anything suddenly found himself in the lockup,' Khushwant Singh recalled about the Emergency.

But the problem of reaching a height is that you can only come down from there. And then we have the Emergency.

Yes, that is true.

But when it came to the Emergency, I think the Opposition too behaved very recklessly. There was no doubt that the country was fast sliding into chaos.

I recall schools not opening, colleges not opening, huge processions, riots.

I think Jayaprakash Narayan made a mammoth mistake when he led this huge rally in New Delhi where he told the people to gherao legislators, not allow them to attend office, like it was happening in Gujarat at that time (where the Navnirman agitation was going on and crowds had mobbed the Gujarat legislature).

He asked people to do the same to Parliament in New Delhi and not allow elected people to attend to their duties.

Worse, he asked the police and the Indian Army personnel to remove (the legislators).

Now, there are limits to protests in any democracy and this was exceeding the limits altogether.

There were the other leaders, you can name them all, who were thoroughly enjoying her discomfiture, thinking she would fall on her own.

I wrote a letter to Jayaprakash Narayan. I knew him and was very fond of him, but I wrote that he was transgressing the boundaries of limits in a democracy.

He wrote back a long letter, which I published in The Illustrated Weekly.

But before anything else could happen, the Allahabad high court judgment came through and she clamped the Emergency.

I believe she was right and there was no other choice.

Do you believe after all these years that the Emergency was justified?

I still believe that when she imposed the Emergency, she had every right then because leaders of the Opposition were behaving in a total reckless, irresponsible and anti-national manner, just enjoying the spectacle.

I recall very clearly that when the Emergency was imposed, there was a general sense of relief throughout the country. Schools reopened, colleges reopened, trains ran on time, and there was a sense of gratitude that the country was back to normal.

Of course, the freedom of the people had been taken away.

I called on her and told her she must not gag the press. I told her there were people like me who supported her, but that no one would believe us, saying you can't say anything else or she will lock you up.

But she didn't agree, saying you can't have (a state of)Emergency and freedom of the press because that would create problems.

I thought she'd lock me up, but she didn't, maybe because I had defended her and her son Sanjay long enough.

Anyway, she lifted the Emergency because she was totally misled by the CBI into believing that she was hugely popular and would win the election.

And when elections were held, she was surprised to learn that she had earned so much hatred throughout the country that she was defeated.

IMAGE: 'What Sanjay Gandhi had in mind was absolutely correct,' recalled Khushwant Singh.

'All the family planning propaganda was not working, so he made it the top priority.'

Then slum clearing. He said demolish the slums, but give them alternative arrangements that were done.'

'The family planning stories were vastly exaggerated.'

If I can step back a bit, you said when she imposed the Emergency, there was relief in the country, yet she lost the election? So what went wrong?

What went wrong was, I think, the misuse of power by some...

Sanjay Gandhi included...

When you say Sanjay, he had no legitimacy. He was only the prime minister's son.

What he had in mind was absolutely correct. All the family (planning) propaganda was not working, so he made it the top priority.

Then slum clearing. People took the cases to court and they went on for years.

He said demolish the slums, but give them alternative arrangements that were done.

The family planning stories were vastly exaggerated: People being picked up from cinema line queues, from villages, etc... only a tenth of them was true, but these stories spread like wildfire and she paid the price.

The Emergency was made into a monster.

But there must have been reasons for the Emergency to be demonised?

She had locked up so many people, including 85 year olds.

Anyone who said anything was locked up. But it wasn't her alone.

It was Sanjay, his wife Maneka, his mother-in-law, Mohammad Yunus, who were running riot and anyone who said anything suddenly found himself in the lockup.

But if you have the Emergency and draconian laws, such excesses are bound to occur...

True, but I don't think she realised it.

Perhaps the problem started from the fact that you had the Emergency in the first place, or that you had it for so long?

I think it could have been a short Emergency and she could have handled the situation better.

She could have put her foot down when she realised that people were misusing the Emergency, and there were far too many people around her who were misusing it.

Also, putting the maharanis of Jaipur, Gayatri Devi, and of Gwalior, Vijaya Raje Scindia, in jail with pickpockets and prostitutes simply revealed the vindictive nature of her character.

It also created a large number of enemies in very important places. That all together created hatred for the whole family.

Don't you think that when Justice Sinha passed the verdict against her, she should have stepped down?

It was a very dubious judgment: That she could sit in Parliament, but she could not vote.

(Nani) Palkhivala, who was her lawyer, told her that he would win the case for her in appeal. He said this verdict was a bit like locking up a person for a small traffic offence.

But by then, she had become very nervous and people like Siddhartha Shankar Ray and Sanjay Gandhi advised her to impose the Emergency.

But I think if she had not done what she did, then she would have been a bigger figure.

After she imposed the Emergency, Palkhivala refused to fight her case in court.

Then they (Indira Gandhi's cronies) harassed Palkhivala, he was removed from various Tata boards.

And that kind of vindictiveness followed, which only created more enemies all along the way, which they needn't have done.

But then she came back to power. Now was this because the Janata Party government was inept or was it also because the people said, 'Okay, we punished you, but now we want you back!' Or was it a combination of both?

Yeah, I think you are right. The anger and rancour against her had mitigated by then. Morarji Desai and Charan Singh proved totally inept in handling the situation and people said she was better than this lot.

IMAGE: Investigators examine the wreckage of Sanjay Gandhi's Pitts S-2A plane.

He had taken it for a joyride and lost control while doing aerobatics.

Sanjay lost his life in the ensuing crash on June 23, 1980.

But was not her next few years in power her worst? None of the strength of purpose that she had earlier seemed to be there.

I think that can be timed from Sanjay Gandhi's death (barely six months after she took office in January 1980). She lost her moorings when he died because he dominated her.

He was a very dominating figure and she was certainly building him up to be the prime minister, totally ignoring Rajiv who she thought was a buddhu (lacking in intelligence).

After Sanjay died, she dithered, she couldn't make up her mind, she became a nervous wreck...

She wouldn't sleep at nights, walking around the lawns of her residence, there was this permanent tick in her eyes, and I think it showed in the way she bungled over (Operation) Bluestar.

You believe she erred in Operation Bluestar?

I believe she was misled. I think her own judgement would have been right.

She had no prejudice at all, not against the Muslims, not against the Sikhs or anyone.

She consulted the people and got contrary advice from different people.

She didn't trust (President) Zail Singh because he was playing both sides, sometimes supporting (Jarnail Singh) Bhindranwale against Darbara Singh (the then Congress chief minister of Punjab).

So she turned to the army and I know for certain, despite what they (the army) say, that she was assured by people like General (Arun) Vaidya and (then Lieutenant General K S) Sundarji that once the army went in and surrounded the (Golden) Temple, no fight would be put up and Bhindranwale would surrender.

I think they even said the operation would be over in two hours. It was a total miscalculation.

Bhindranwale was a thug, a fanatic, and he fought like a fanatic and didn't give in.

The battle instead of two hours lasted two days and nights. And with a heavy toll.

I know that when she went to the Temple two or three days later, she was horrified because bodies were still floating in the Sarovar, there were bloodstains that were being cleaned up.

She turned to (then Major General K S) Brar and asked, 'What is all this?'

She had believed the army when it told her there would be no fighting.

This feature was first published on Rediff.com on October 27, 2004.
The Raksha Mantri was unable to address media queries about how much the Modi government was paying for 36 Rafales compared to what the UPA government had negotiated.

Ajai Shukla reports.

IMAGE: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lashed out at the Congress on Friday, November 17, saying the party was unable to conclude the purchase of Rafale fighters for an entire decade. Photograph: @DefenceMinIndia/Twitter

Underlining the Bharatiya Janata Party's unease at the Congress party's allegations of wrongdoing by the National Democratic Alliance government in the Rs 58,000 crore (Rs 580 billion) purchase last year of 36 Rafale fighters from the French company Dassault, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman led a counterattack on Friday.

Flanked by Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra and Indian Air Force procurement chief Air Marshal Rathunath Nambiar, Sitharaman lashed out at the Congress on five counts.

First, she stated, the previous BJP government had, as early as 2000, 'recognised the need to strengthen the IAF', leading to procurement being initiated for 126 medium multirole combat aircraft.

Yet, the Congress was unable to conclude the purchase of Rafale fighters 'for an entire decade between 2004 and 2014', she said.

That 'act of omission' had led to severe fighter shortages in the IAF, Sitharaman charged.

'This was the grim situation when this government came to power in 2014,' she said.

In fact, the MMRCA procurement was initiated only in 2007, with the issue of a Request for Proposals.

Over the next four years, the IAF evaluated six contending fighters -- Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Lockheed Martin's F-16IN Super Viper, RAC MiG's MiG-35, Saab's Gripen C, the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Rafale -- in what was hailed worldwide as 'the world's most professionally run fighter competition.'

In April 2011, the IAF ruled out four fighters, leaving only the Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale in the fray.

In January 2012, the Rafale was identified as the winner of the contest and negotiations began with Dassault over the cost.

Therefore, the UPA can, at worst, be accused of two years and three months of vacillation, until the BJP came to power in May 2014.

Sitharaman's second rebuttal related to the Congress accusation that Prime Minister Narendra D Modi had not followed due procedure, and not even consulted his defence minister before announcing during a State visit to France in April 2015 that India would buy 36 Rafale fighters in fly-away condition.

'When the prime minister went to Paris in 2015 and agreed (on the purchase of 36 Rafales), he followed the due process of getting it cleared through the Cabinet Committee on Security,' said Sitharaman.

'In September 2016, almost a year-and-a-half later, the Inter-Governmental Agreement for buying 36 Rafales was signed in the presence of the defence ministers of France and India,' she said.

While it is true that the Cabinet Committee on Security cleared the Rafale purchase after Modi returned from Paris, no CCS permission, or from any defence ministry procurement body, was obtained before Modi and then French president Francois Hollande announced the Rafale buy in April 2015.

IMAGE: While defending the purchase of the Rafale fighter jet, Sitharaman said the Modi government had able to purchase the 36 aircraft for a cost far lesser than the Manmohan Singh government. Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

Thirdly, Sitharaman countered the Congress's accusation that the NDA government had obtained the Rafale without transfer of technology, whilst the MMRCA contract the United Progressive Alliance government was negotiating involved full transfer of technology for building the Rafale in India.

"This is simple economics. When we are talking about building 126 aircraft (in India), ToT makes economic sense. But when you are buying 36 aircraft across-the-counter... it makes no economic sense for ToT to be added on," she correctly stated.

Fourthly, Sitharaman rejected the Congress's oblique allegation that Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence Ltd had benefited from his proximity to the PM to be unfairly picked as Dassault's Indian partner for discharging the 50 per cent offset clause that came with the Rafale deal.

"If two private firms come together, that doesn't require government's permission," said Sitharaman.

She argued the PM does not control the composition of his business delegation and it does not matter if it includes "a certain individual"

Finally, Sitharaman argued that "the price we have obtained (for the Rafale) is far less (than the UPA)."

However, she was unable to address media queries about how much the government was paying for 36 Rafales compared to what the UPA government had negotiated.

"We will give you the figures that you want," said Sitharaman, directing the query to the defence secretary. However, he did not have the figures either.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has written to Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani, urging her to ensure that 'Padmavati' is not released without necessary changes to the film.

Raje also said that the censor board should consider all possible results before certifying the film, a day after the board sent the film back to its makers because the application for the certification was "incomplete".

In the letter to Irani, she suggested that a committee of historians, film experts and members from the Rajput community be formed to look into the film's subject and necessary changes be made to it so that it does not hurt the sentiments of any community.

The letter is the first official communication from the Rajasthan chief minister on the controversy surrounding the epic drama directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh in lead roles.

Both Padukone and Bhansali have received threats.

The film is based on Rajput queen Padmavati and is scheduled to release on December 1.

Various Rajput groups have been protesting across the country, including in Rajasthan, against releasing the film, alleging it "distorts" history and hurts sentiments of people.

On Friday, the protesters blocked entry to the Chittorgarh Fort in Rajasthan.

On Saturday, a similar protest was held at the Kumbhalgarh Fort in Rajsamand district of the state.

The situation in Chittorgarh was normal, station house officer of Chittorgarh police station Omprakash said.

The majestic hill fort of Kumbhalgarh is the birthplace of legendary king Maharana Pratap and an Unesco world heritage site.

According to the Chittorgarh police station SHO, Devendra Singh, who allegedly shot in the air during the protest at Chittorgarh Fort on Friday, has been booked under the Arms Act, but not arrested yet.

Raje said a filmmaker has the right to make a film as per their understanding but provisions were also there in the Constitution to control such rights in case of hurt to public sentiments and law and order.

Therefore, she said, there should be a rethink on the release of the film, an official statement said.

A delegation from Mewar region, comprising the state's Urban Development Minister Shrichand Kriplani, MLA Chittorgarh Chandrabhan and others, met Raje at her residence and expressed gratitude for writing the letter to Irani.
On November 18, 1962, 114 soldiers of the 13th Kumaon fought till the last man, and last bullet, in sub-zero temperatures, to beat back the huge Chinese army.

We salute the Heroes of Rezang La.

IMAGE: An Indian soldier stands guard over makeshift forts which have been hastily built in Ladakh during the India-China war in 1962. Photograph: Radloff/Three Lions/Getty Images

India may have lost the 1962 war with China, but it was not completely a saga of defeat.

Hamstrung by an indecisive leadership and poor military equipment, the Indian Army put up a valiant resistance along the McMahon Line. It is another matter the political leadership of the day did not back them.

One such spot where our soldiers fought back, and repelled, the Chinese incursions was at Razang La near Chushul, in the Himalayan heights.

On November 18, 1962, 114 soldiers of the 13th Kumaon fought till the last man, and last bullet, in sub-zero temperatures, to beat back the huge Chinese army.

A grateful nation acknowledged their valour by posthumously conferring the Param Vir Chakra on Major Shaitan Singh.

Seven years ago, Tarun Vijay -- later a BJP member of Parliament -- undertook an emotional journey to Chushul and Rezang La, site of a memorial to commemorate the brave souls who died so we may live in peace and security.

On the 55th anniversary of the heroic counter-offensive by 13th Kumaon, we republish Tarun's feature.

'Sir, a national crisis has been created as a result of the Chinese attack on the northern border. China has expansionist designs, it has set its eyes like a vulture on 48,000 square miles of land belonging to India.

'On August 25, 1959, while speaking on the Kerala debates the prime minister (Jawaharlal Nehru) had stated that India would not remain India if per chance it becomes Communist. The same thing applies to China as well.

The defence minister (V K Krishna Menon) has a doubtful past and his present conduct is dubious. He has Communist leanings. In his message on the Territorial Army Day he said that India should not keep a large army because keeping a large army was not compatible with our morality.'

-- Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the Lok Sabha, December 22, 1959

The ironies of history take strange shapes.

In 1962, Nehru didn't listen to the warnings of the erstwhile Jana Sangh, believed 'the Chinese can never attack us' and lost face and land both to his 'bhai'-like friends.

Then the government arrested more than 400 top Communist leaders on charges of sedition and invited volunteers of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh to participate in the 1963 Republic Day Parade at Rajpath in New Delhi in full uniform, recognising its services during the war.

Can the nation forget the 1962 war? Who were those who fought and died? For who? And to what avail?

One of the stories India can never forget is the battle we fought in the Indus valley, near Chushul village.

The battle of Rezang La, fought at an altitude of 17,000 feet, is one of the most incredible sagas of valour and courage that Indian soldiers have showed.

That was November 18, 1962. They fought and died for Indian soil.

The question remains still unanswered: Why did we have to fight a war, and why was it that the brave 114 soldiers of the 13th Kumaon had to offer their supreme sacrifice fighting till the 'last man and last bullet' in sub-zero temperature (minus 15 degrees Celsius) at Rezang La on November 18, 1962?

What were the causes of that war and what happened afterwards?

Who remembers them except a few ex-soldiers and the patriotic crowd at Rewari (Haryana), hometown of most of the martyred Ahirs who had fought at Rezang La?

Why does no politician think it a matter of honour to send his children to join the army?

Why do we have an important road in Delhi named after Krishna Menon, the disgraced defence minister of the '62 war, and nothing significant to honour the men who gave their lives to save India in Chushul?

These were the thoughts in my mind when I set out for Chushul to get a feel of 'November in Rezang La' and pay my homage to the bravehearts.

The 1962 war with China is a sad story of a completely incapable leadership, favouritism at the top echelons of the army, and a disregard of the nation's security needs by those who were hailed by the people as their saviours.

Neville Maxwell, a British journalist, writes in his famous book India's China War: 'At the time of independence, (B M) Kaul appeared to be a failed officer, if not one disgraced. But his courtier wiles, irrelevant or damning until then, were to serve him brilliantly in the new order that independence brought, after he came to the notice of Nehru, a fellow Kashmiri Brahmin and, indeed, distant kinsman.'

Not only did he hold the key appointment of chief of general staff but the army commander, Thapar, was, in effect, his client.

Kaul had, of course, by then acquired a significant following, disparaged by the other side as 'Kaul boys', and his appointment as CGS opened a putsch in HQ, an eviction of the old guard, with his rivals, until then his superiors, being not only pushed out but often hounded thereafter with charges of disloyalty.'

Those who didn't know their men, their land and the risks involved called the shots, yet our bravehearts stood firm for the honour of their motherland.

The Rezang La battle saga is among the most inspiring stories of soldiers dying in the line of duty, yet our schools, which proudly prescribe the age-old narration of Romulus and Remus, find it unworthy to insert a lesson on how India was defended at Rezang La by Indian soldiers of the 13th Kumaon.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru addresses a public meeting in New Delhi during the 1962 war with China Photograph: Terry Fincher/Express/Getty Images

They were ill-equipped, ill-prepared and heavily outnumbered by the Chinese. All the 114 jawans died in action, not a single soul retreated and neither did they let the Chinese intrude.

For three months the government didn't know about them, about their extraordinary sacrifice, till in January-end in 1963, shepherds from Chushul found bodies of jawans scattered on the Rezang La, after the snow had melted.

The dead bodies of the Chinese were far more in number, about eight hundred on our side, and it was estimated that more than a thousand might have fallen to the bullets of Indian soldiers.

It was an unbelievable feat and the government decorated Major Shaitan Singh with a Param Vir Chakra, posthumously.

The Param Vir Chakra citation awarded to him reads: 'Major Shaitan Singh was commanding a company of an infantry battalion deployed at Rezang La in the Chushul sector at a height of about 17,000 feet.'

'The locality was isolated from the main defended sector and consisted of five platoon-defended position. On 18 November 1962, the Chinese forces subjected the company position to heavy artillery, mortar and small arms fire and attacked it in overwhelming strength in several successive waves.'

'Against heavy odds, our troops beat back successive waves of enemy attack. During the action, Major Shaitan Singh dominated the scene of operations and moved at great personal risk from one platoon post to another sustaining the morale of his hard-pressed platoon posts.'

'While doing so he was seriously wounded but continued to encourage and lead his men, who, following his brave example fought gallantly and inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy.'

'For every man lost to us, the enemy lost four or five.'

'When Major Shaitan Singh fell disabled by wounds in his arms and abdomen, his men tried to evacuate him but they came under heavy machine-gun fire. Major Shaitan Singh then ordered his men to leave him to his fate in order to save their lives.'

'Major Shaitan Singh's supreme courage, leadership and exemplary devotion to duty inspired his company to fight almost to the last man.'

The battle fired the imagination of young soldiers and Bollywood alike. A successful movie, Haqeeqat, based on the Chushul saga was made by Chetan Anand starring Dharmendra and Balraj Sahni.

I was on my way to visit the same area, the village called Chushul and the Rezang La memorial, in the month November, 46 years after the battle had taken place.

IMAGE: Civilian recruits enlisted to help Indian troops in Ladakh during the 1962 war with China. Photograph: Radloff/Three Lions/Getty Images

The journey to Rezang La was the most scintillating pilgrimage for me, like the Kailas Yatra.

Interestingly, the best route to Kailas also goes through Chushul and connects Demchhok (on the Line of Actual Control, within Indian territory) to Nyari province of Tibet, running alongside the Indus river.

There has been a long-standing demand from Ladakhis, supported by J&K leaders like Dr Farooq Abdullah, to have this route opened for the Kailas Yatra.

The 80-minute flight from Delhi to Leh is itself a memorable one, and passes over Manali, the Rohtang pass and snow-clad mountains before touching down at Kushok Bakula Rinpoche airport, Leh.

The outside temperature was minus eight degrees and I straightway drove to a friend's house for a couple of hours of acclimatisation. At an altitude of 11,000 feet, it's mandatory to acclimatise before moving to another destination, and any violation may prove fatal.

'No Gama in the land of Lama', says the Border Roads Organisation's roadside advisory, meaning don't show undue haste and bravado in this land of high mountains and Buddhist lifestyle.

It would be seven hours to Chushul, said my guide Dorjey while putting my rucksack into the Innova. We left Leh early morning and passed through Stakna, the summer palace, Thikse Gompa, Sindhu Darshan, Upshi, Hemis Gompa, Karu and negotiated the tough Chang La Baba pass at 17,800 feet, saying hello at Chemday monastery.

At Chang La jawans offer a cup of 'love tea' free to all travellers -- a kahva with cashew nuts and roasted almonds. It's really invigorating.

Next was Tsoltak, and Luking was a further 65 km and Chushul another 124 km away.

IMAGE: Pangong Tso lake. Photograph: Kind courtesy Sudhir Babu

Post Chang La, a continuous descent along the Tangtse took us to the breathtaking expanse of a mesmerising empire of salt water called Pangong Tso lake.

It's a magic God created for the gods. Tourists are allowed only up to this point, and all non-resident Indians need an Inner Line Permit issued by the district magistrate, Leh, to enter this area.

The lake is 134 km long and five km wide. Another 40 km, alongside this blue, turquoise green world of water, and we will be at Chushul.

The road is really a patchwork of scattered stones and pebbles, though a board announces that the Luking-Chushul road is under construction.

A little before dusk we finally arrived at Chushul, which looked every bit a sleepy, dreamy-eyed village. It has a population of 993 persons to be exact, as informed by its 'numberdar'.

The wind was getting wilder by the minute. It was chillingly cold outside and it seemed almost impossible to push the shutters of the camera with bare fingers, frozen and numbed they were.

At 4 pm the wind got ferocious and the waves it created in the lake were great fun to watch.

Chushul has hardly changed since 1962. There is no electricity, though solar power connection is given to the villagers with a dose of subsidies.

"But we can't run colour TVs on that low voltage connection," complained the villagers. Lights are off early, usually there is only one bulb lit in each home, for cooking, evening gupshup and studies for the kids.

So the usual schedule is to have a heavy peg of local rice brew, early supper and go to sleep. The dependable sources of news are transistors and B&W TVs, with Doordarshan's unchallenged monopoly. Though a few enterprising households have bought Dish TV receivers, and access other channels.

I had hardly taken the prescribed and mandatory rest at Leh, so the dreadful headache began at a deadly pace and soon the world turned colourless to me.

The wintry chill coupled with a lack of oxygen, and horrific wind, made my task truly 'adventurous'. I cursed myself at leaving the comforts of electioneering in Delhi and other states to reach a place that no one even thinks about in winter.

IMAGE: Pangong Tso lake, June 2016. Photograph: Divya Nair/Rediff.com

Suddenly 1962 flashed before my eyes.

It's 2008, we have better woollen jackets, comfortable sleeping bags, well-connected communication system, a strong political Opposition and an awakened and vocal leadership in the forces. But 1962 was different.

Ill-equipped jawans, bad communication system hardly worth its name, poor clothing; the Chinese attacked in this very month, in this chilly winter, in the wee hours of the day.

In a such sub-zero atmosphere I was unable to operate my camera, but they had to operate .303 guns, fire mortars and keep fighting! I was at a lower level in the village with comparatively warmer temperature.

They were at the top of Rezang La, facing Trishul, at 17,000 feet. They defeated death and kept the flag high, but New Delhi forgot them and sang in praise of the defeatists.

Do the inhabitants of Chushul remember that story, I asked with excitement and waited for a reply. No one could say yes or recount what perhaps was told by his father or grandfather.

There is hardly any remembrance of the battle the nation feels so proud of, in this village which once stood as the 'sword of the nation'. The army's valour has hardly been passed on to the villagers, to the new generation.

Like an unconcerned machine, some men in uniform come to the Rezang La memorial every year, perform rituals and go away. Without touching the lives of those locals who carry the burden of that great legacy.

It's a hundred percent Buddhist village and there is a permanent complaint that no one visits them from Delhi -- no politician, no minister has ever spoken to them about their lives and demands.

Sometimes a minister comes in an army helicopter, stays with the army officers and goes back immediately. An old village monk told me in the morning that his grandpa used to tell him stories about how they had brought the dead bodies of the Rezang La warriors from the mountaintop That's it. Nothing more.

Even the village doesn't celebrate November 18, Rezang La day.

"Sir," Sonam said, "before the Chinese attack in 1962 Chushul was the sub-divisional headquarters and the sub-divisional magistrate used to have his office here. He was shifted after the war, and it's causing great difficulty to the villagers."

The village depends solely on the army for everything; still the cordial touch is missing. It's too mechanised.

Do our soldiers at the mountaintop observation posts have heated bunkers to keep better watch on Chinese activities, I asked Sonam and the sarpanch. No one could answer. Perhaps I had asked a foolish question.

But the villagers had a lot to say. The Chinese look at them with contempt, and in flag meetings with their Indian counterparts they complain about how the Chushul villagers and shepherds often 'violate' the Line of Actual Control.

IMAGE: The Rezang La war memorial. Photograph: Divya Nair/Rediff.com

A dose of Paracetamol helped and the morning was a little comfortable. We set out for the Rezang La memorial at 6 am, bidding adieu to a hallowed village. I was thrilled and felt I should have taken some flowers to lay as a wreath at the memorial. But nothing was available.

Having taken the turn from Chushul, at every second mile I saw a board put up by the army showing the direction and miles to the memorial.

Dorjey indicated the beautiful Trishul mountains on my left, bathing in the first rays of a nascent sunrise. The fields are vast and grand, we were cruising in a sea of openness, roads are either invisible or it's a sporty challenge to you to create your own path!

Yet the danger looms large as the heights on our left are under Chinese control and they monitor our activities comfortably.

The Rezang La memorial is a simple marble pillar with names of all the 114 martyrs etched on two sides, in Hindi and in English. The third side has these inspiring words:

How can a Man die better than facing Fearful Odds,

For the Ashes of His Fathers and the Temples of His Gods,

To the sacred memory of the Heroes of Rezang La,

114 Martyrs of 13 Kumaon who fought to the Last Man,

Last Round, Against Hordes of Chinese on 18 November 1962.

Built by All Ranks 13th Battalion, The Kumaon Regiment.

This is a lightly edited version of the article first posted on Rediff.com in 2008.
As the trial proceeds, Peter is beginning to look more and more haggard while Indrani by contrast is blossoming.

Vaihayasi Pande Daniel reports from the Sheena Bora murder trial.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

Shyamvar Pinturam Rai had studied up till Class 10 in his tiny Danwa village school, nearly 170 km from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, before he came to Mumbai.

But Friday, November 17, it was discovered, at the Sheena Bora murder trial, that Indrani and Peter Mukerjea's former driver might not be much more than an angutha chaap (an illiterate who uses a thumb print to sign his name).

Ten odd years of education seemed to have not taught him the difference between his angutha (thumb) and his ungli (finger), the court learned.

Or else a few decades in Mumbai have taught him too much, in its School of Street Smarts.

Friday's hearing at CBI Special Judge Jayendra Chandrasen Jagdale's Courtroom 51, south Mumbai, like Wednesday, once again dwelled on Rai's dodgy right thumb.

This was the thumb that had been bitten by victim Sheena Bora when the driver was allegedly helping Indrani and former husband Sanjeev Khanna strangle her to death on April 24, 2012 in Bandra, north west Mumbai.

Sudeep Pasbola, Indrani's trial lawyer, while examining Rai's statement to the CBI, in a post-lunch court session, asked the driver what he told the CBI about his right thumb and wondered why he said he had been bitten on his unglee (finger) when it was his thumb.

Rai stuck out his now famous Right Thumb for the whole court to see, and quite cleverly, it seemed, replied: "Ha Sir, mein ne unglee bola! (Yes sir, I said my finger!)."

The room was momentarily dumbstruck.

Then CBI Special Prosecutor Kavita Patil dove in quickly to defend Rai and offered that the driver had indeed demonstrated what he meant -- that by saying unglee he actually meant his thumb.

Pasbola flew into a rage.

The lawyer railed, in his anger making some unintended puns in the bargain, "He is trying to show the thumb to the court. He can't take everyone for a ride! He can't give any damn reason. The court has to consider if it is plausible or not!"

The hearing began with Gunjan Mangla, also Indrani's advocate, taking over the cross examination, since the always super-busy Pasbola was held up at a case at the high court, a kilometre away.

The petite lawyer, wearing a black jacket, white shirt, a lawyer's white neck band, and trousers, in a crisp, brisk style, meticulously and smoothly continued the omissions and contradictions segment of the cross examination with Rai.

Friday it was comparing Rai's second statement, of September 6, 2015, (another 161 or confession before an officer under Section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code) to the Khar police station, north west Mumbai, with his court testimony.

Note: Rai had recorded several statements during the two-year course of the Sheena Bora murder investigation. Two successive ones to the Khar police, one to the CBI, one to the magistrate at the killa court at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj terminus, and then there was his testimony to Courtroom 51.

Everyone had their yellow pens and markers out, ready to mark the omissions, as Mangla began.

Indrani, in bright pink and grey, glowed from the accused box at the back. Khanna, wearing a black checked shirt, like a buffer, sat next to her and Peter next to him.

As a colleague mentioned, as the trial proceeds, Peter is beginning to look more and more haggard while Indrani by contrast is blossoming. Khanna appeared exhausted and more down and out than usual at this hearing.

Peter discontented with not being able to hear much of the long proceedings of Friday, made faces and turned away sideways.

Mangla, who has about seven years of legal experience under her belt, by standing in for Pasbola on Friday, caused an almost imperceptible change in the balance of power in the courtroom.

With her court voice a couple of decibel levels lower than Pasbola, Mangla nevertheless put on a strong show.

That didn't stop, one imagined, CBI Special Prosecutors Kavita Patil and Bharat Badami from scenting blood and attempting to capitalise on the situation, by objecting to nearly every omission Mangla highlighted.

Nor did Mangla resort to the Pasbola Special Dictionary of Phrases for the CBI Advocates -- 'Thamba, thamba' or 'Have patience!' -- to shush up the Patil and Badami non-stop insertions.

Towards the end of Mangla's portion of the hearing, on Friday, interestingly, it became a full-scale battle/quibble over language differences.

The 161, since it was recorded by the Mumbai police was in Marathi. And the court testimony was recorded in English.

At every omission raised, Patil was quick to point out that the sentence deemed missing was actually there in the statement to the police, but couched in different language, because it had been said in Marathi.

At points, Judge Jagdale agreed with Patil and Badami over the language issue and Mangla didn't argue with him, the way Pasbola would have.

Like when there was a disagreement over the three cups of coffee had by Rai, Sanjeev and Indrani the day after the alleged murder: Mangla suggested that parts of the account of that coffee outing by Rai were missing.

Badami read out the record to show it was there.

Judge Jagdale: "He's right," and beaming broadly added, "There is difference between English and Marathi. If you are going to translate English verbatim, it is going to be a disaster!"

Mangla brought up about 30 points of omission.

Of those, the most crucial -- apart from the long-festering Rai hand/finger versus Rai thumb issue -- were:

Rai neglected to tell the Khar police station, in his second statement to them, that when he said Indrani told him a man was coming from Kolkata (presumably Sanjeev Khanna) he didn't say they were coming to 'Murder Sheena and Mekhail (Indrani's son from her first marriage).' Indrani sent the driver, who became that year -- 2012 -- more of a Mukerjea messenger boy, from Rai's telling of it, on a mystery mission to Delhi.

On reaching the capital he was to wait for her call which never came.

When he contacted her, she told him to return to Mumbai urgently.

Rai told the court he returned on Jet Airways, but not the Khar police. When Mangla brought this up Badami grumbled: "Lal dabba se aayaa ya kaise aayaa (Came in a red box or however he came)..." that what did it matter.

Mangla ignored him. The car Rai hired, that was the "scene' of this broad daylight crime (An aside: Till date, in this court, no one has asked Rai how dark it was in the lane where Sheena was killed) and later also the vehicle used to ferry a corpse, stiff with rigor mortis, but wearing lipstick (as the court heard, astounded, earlier), some 95 odd km into Raigad district, didn't have darkened windows, till Rai apparently added it to his narrative much later.

Not surprisingly, as it was picturesquely put, 'having black glasses (no not sunglasses, a car with tinted windows)' is an omission in this statement too. Like earlier this week, the spot chosen to eventually burn Sheena's body at Gagode Budruk, in Pen tehsil, developed, strangely, not due to any recent glacier movement or any other geographical event, a hill, with the passage of time.

When Rai first described the spot to the Khar police he never mentioned a hill, but the said hill gradually walked into the scenery surrounding the spot, as per Rai's reckoning. Also missing from this statement too, like the last one, were parts of a conversation Indrani apparently had with Peter on her cell phone, on her way back to Mumbai, after doing a recce with Rai, near Pen, in Raigad district to find a place where they could get rid of Sheena's body.

These included the fact that the conversation was in English and that he heard her use the words 'good place' and 'well done'. 'Rahul noticed us all.'

Rahul, Peter's younger son from his first marriage to Shabnam Singh, noticing Sanjeev Khanna, Indrani and the driver in the Chevrolet, that Rai hired, on the day of the murder, when he came to drop Sheena, was a small but critical insertion, that came along later.

Rahul and Sheena were seeing each other till her death. The order in which Indrani and Sheena sat in the back of the car on the day of the murder -- April 24, 2012 -- is another repeated but key omission, that seemed to each time press the buttons of the CBI.

Patil popped up, on cue, like she did on Wednesday, and made her favourite comment, "It is not specifically mentioned," since the record said they sat in the back seat.

Mangla steadfastly hung onto that omission, even if she gently let a few go, when the judge also concurred with the CBI prosecutors. Another recent addition to Rai's narration of the events on the run up and the day of the murder was his recounting that after Sanjeev, Rai and Indrani picked up Sheena near National College, Bandra, and did a round of shopping, Indrani instructed him to take the car to 'one lane.'

Significantly the name of the lane or its appearance is unknown..

Could it be that the lack of identity of that fateful lane avoids its geographical verification via the mobile towers?

The existence of the word 'lane' came along later too and Mangla called attention to that as an omission.

To which Badami countered that they were in a car and therefore it would be a road/lane of some sort. A small controversy broke out over the matter of that yet unexplained letter Rai delivered for Indrani, after the alleged murder, to a person in Andheri.

Rai returned to the INX media office with 'its receipt.'

Mangla said he brought back a duplicate letter that had been signed and not a receipt.

Judge Jagdale intervened to first explain the concept of an acknowledgement letter to Mangla (who said she knew what it was) and then explained that receipt was just a loose way of saying acknowledgement letter.

Judge Jagdale: "You call it a receipt. This is Marathi. You are translating in English. That is the problem."

The sorting of omissions in Rai's second statement to the Khar police station ended with Mangla announcing, with suitable gravitas, to Judge Jagdale: "My lord, there is one contradiction."

Judge Jagdale, smiled in disbelief: "Contradiction?"

Omissions are chillar stuff (small change) compared to a contradiction. Contradictions by a witness are particularly noteworthy and don't help his/her reputation and reliability as a witness with respect to a case.

Mangla turned to Rai, with whom she had not spoken to till then, and asked politely, "Shyamvar, jab aap Khar police station ko statement diya, tab aap bole ki 20 litre ka can aapne phek diya? (When you were giving a statement to the Khar police station why did you tell them that you threw away the 20 litre can which was used to carry petrol to Pen in and burn Sheena's body?)"

Judge Jagdale looked towards Rai rather seriously, who answered with a feeble, same-old, same-old "Yaad nahin aa raha, Sir (I cannot recall , Sir)."

Given Pasbola's absence, Mangla was hoping to wrap up the hearing at 4-ish after the analysis of the second 161 had been completed.

That just left the examination of Rai's statement to the CBI for another day.

But Judge Jagdale was having nothing of it. He sternly asked Mangla, "Where is Pasbola? Tell him to come."

Mangla hurried out of the court room to call Pasbola on his cell.

After about 20 to 25 minutes, Pasbola, who was at the high court, two buildings away, looking as cool as a cucumber, came rushing up six flights of stairs, to start up the process of running Rai's last unexamined statement, which was to the CBI, through his Omissions and Contradictions Scanner.

Pasbola, ever suave, apologised to the judge for his absence and said he was grateful that Mangla has been there, for the first part of the proceedings.

He said he had not had time to make notations, marking the omissions and contradictions, in Rai's statement to the CBI and requested 5 to 10 minutes to do so.

The lawyer was now traversing quite familiar, seen-that-done-that ground, when it came to digging out the omissions apparent in the CBI statement, in Hindi, which Rai made to Investigating Officer K K Singh on October 9, 2015. Most of the usual omissions were in this statement too.

With Pasbola back in the saddle, a dose of adrenaline walked back in the room too as the lawyer went through his customary range of courtroom verbal technique/histrionics -- exhibitions of horror, little explosions of anger and/or outrage.

Some of the important omissions in Rai's statement to the CBI:

No mention of 'black glasses' in the Chevrolet Rai took from 'Faizal Bhai' at Worli, central Mumbai a few days before the murder, which was used in the murder.

No mention of some of the details of the chat Indrani allegedly had with Peter on her return from doing a recce in Raigad, for a place to burn Sheena's body after she was murdered, as per plan.

No mention that 'Indrani Madam' had told him that the man coming from Kolkata was going to 'murder' Sheena and Mekhail.

Pasbola: "Aadmi aayega (a man will come) is there."

Badami and Patil remonstrated with Pasbola, asking what more spelling out he needed.

"Murder," Pasbola said loudly, looking askance at the CBI duo.

Pasbola: "Aadmi aayega (a man will come) is there." Badami and Patil remonstrated with Pasbola, asking what more spelling out he needed. "Murder," Pasbola said loudly, looking askance at the CBI duo. No mention of the long and complicated instructions Indrani gave Rai after they parted for the last time, at a popular coffee outlet, in Bandra the day after the murder.

No mention of the cartridges, in places, when he spoke of the katta or country pistol he was trying to get rid of.

No mention of running away when he saw the police, while he was at Khar in August 2015, just prior to his arrest, trying to get rid of the country-made gun.

Badami objected, saying it said: "Tej chalne laga (Started walking fast)."

Pasbola gave Badami a withering look, "Tej chalna and bhagna mein farak nahin hai? (Is there no difference between walking fast and running?)?!"

The finale of Friday's hearing, were the contradictions that Pasbola put forth between Rai's statement to the CBI and his court testimony before Judge Jagdale, which included that peculiar affliction Rai's thumb and finger disease; the juiciest sample of which was his showing his thumb for all to see, while calling it his unglee.

Said Pasbola: "The contradiction is there between the thumb and the finger. Daina haath ka angootha (The thumb of the right hand)."

Judge Jagdale, confused: "Daine means right?"

Pasbola explained that Rai first said "Daine haath ke unglee (The finger of my right hand went into her mouth)."

Turning to Rai: "Yeh dekho, jab CBI puchh-tachh kiya to aapne bataya ki Sheena ke muh mein mera ungle gaya aur ungleee kata (Listen up, when the CBI questioned you, you told them that your finger went into Sheena's mouth and she bit it)."

Rai: "Yaad nahin aa raha."

Badami started muttering that those were small details.

Pasbola to Badami, loudly: 'Blood was oozing then from what part of the body!?"

Badami ever logical: "From where it was cut?"

Pasbola ignoring Badami: "Sir, a major contradiction."

Patil demurred, saying Rai had demonstrated which finger it was and went on to make a few more points on why Pasbola's contention was not relevant.

Pasbola, listened to Patil, began to grow his anger, finally turning apoplectic. "There is no difference between right and left hand? Doesn't know the difference between finger and thumb! What is going on?!"

Patil stood up to object.

Pasbola: "Don't take an objection for the sake of an objection!"

Badami: "It is an objection! You can raise your voice."

Pasbola: "Deny sampla (over)."

The defence lawyer moved to the next and final contradiction, which was vital, as he turned to Rai and asked him very quietly, if he had called Mekhail and told him that "Madam has bahut saara paisa. Aa jao, maja karenge (Madam has lots of money. Come to Mumbai and we can have fun) Where did you get Mekhail's number from?"

The judge carefully repeated the question to Rai.

Rai looking anxious: "Yaad nahin aa raha"

Pasbola: "Aapke paas Mekhail ka number pahile se tha (Did you have Mekhail's number from before)?"

Rai: "Yaad nahin."

Pasbola: "Aise toh nahin hua ki Madam se Mekhail ka number lena padha? (Did it happen that you had to take the number from Madam?)."

Rai: "Yaad nahin aa raha hai."

In the accused box at the rear of the court, Indrani was watchful, her eyes sparkled as she watched this exchange her hand over her mouth.

Patil got ready to interject with some objections.

Pasbola: "Please have patience! We are taking a contradiction."

Pasbola turning to Rai: "You told Khar police, 'Maine number Indrani Madam se liya aur Mekhail ko phone kiya. Dono statement mein likha hai ki mein madam se number liya (You told the Khar police that you took Mekhail's number from Indrani Madam and then called him. In both statements it says you took the number from Indrani Madam)."

Pasbola explained, his face now black with anger, that yet Rai told Courtroom 51 a few months ago that he didn't remember whether he called from Indrani's phone or the landline at Marlow.

The lawyer turned to Rai: "Aise CBI ko kyo likhaya? (Why did you make the CBI write this?)"

Rai, his eyes huge in his face said: "Bola hoga, toh likha (I may have said, so they wrote it)", ending with a nervous semi smile.

After hearing Rai's bola hoga response, the last of the day, Pasbola shut down the cross-examination, the omissions and contradictions wrapped up.

He asked Badami when they could expect the final round of call data records from Airtel.

Badami, with a mischievous smile, asked, "Earlier CDRs or yesterday's (requested) CDRs?" making a playful reference to the new request for CDRs -- this time Peter's, made by Indrani, when she put in her dramatic application on Wednesday suggesting the records were needed to assess Peter's role in the 'heinous' crime.

Peter's response to Indrani's application was also awaited.

Friday the courtroom was packed with more than its usual quota of lawyers and journalists, since it was thought that Peter's reply would come in.

But Anoop Mishra, one of Peter's lawyers, told the judge that the reply would be ready on the coming Tuesday.

Since the next hearing was set for November 23, it would be tabled then.

As Peter departed back to jail, he met up with his roomie from Barrack 12 at the Arthur Road jail on the ground floor of the Mumbai city civil and sessions Court.

Like last week the courtyard was packed with hordes of solemnly quiet relatives and followers, standing around, as former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who is seeking bail, finally made an appearance at the far end of the compound.

Bhujbal and Peter exchanged cordial greetings, that were extended to his sister and Bhujbal's family.

Bhujbal may have travelled in the same jail truck back to the Arthur Road jail with Peter, Sanjeev and Indrani. We wonder what interesting conversations Indrani could have had with Bhujbal before she got off at the Byculla jail.
Bobby Bank/Getty ImagesOne-time Partridge Family star and 1970s pop idol David Cassidy is currently hospitalized in Florida in critical condition with organ failure, his rep confirmed to ABC News.

The actor's rep added that Cassidy was in an induced coma but that "he is currently conscious and surrounded by family."

Cassidy, 67, is suffering from kidney and liver failure.

Earlier this year, the actor announced that he planned to retire from touring, and later revealed to People that he's battling dementia. Cassidy, whose grandfather and mother also were stricken with the memory-loss disease, told the magazine of his diagnosis, "I was in denial, but a part of me always knew this was coming."

Cassidy was one of the biggest pop stars in the world in the 1970s, selling around arenas around the globe, his success driven by his role as singing teen Keith Partridge on the TV series The Partridge Family. He's had a rocky time during the last several years, having been arrested for driving under the influence in 2010, 2013 and 2014, and filing for bankruptcy in 2015. That same year, he was charged in a hit-and-run accident.

Earlier this year, David made news when fan-shot video surfaced of him slurring his words and struggling to remember lyrics during a concert in Agoura Hills, California.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.




One of the most exciting initiatives we have undertaken this year is the Boston Federal Reserve Working Cities Challenge. The City of Torrington and the Chamber are the co-leads. It features a competition for three year grant funds in ten selected postindustrial cities in Connecticut. Five will be declared the winners. The model was created by the Federal Reserve and comprised public, private, philanthropic and nonprofit partners.

The core elements were collaborative leadership, community engagement and racial equity, systems change and learning orientation. A very strong steering committee was created late last fall. It included 60 partners from 39 agencies, businesses and nonprofit organizations that met at least twice per month and weekly as we prepare the application for the grant due November 30th.

Our charge was to determine a challenge that exists in our region, determine its root causes, develop a strategy to address root causes, implement this within one year and reach an outcome that addresses the problem. We realized the current demographic trends: declining number of millennials, falling public schools student enrollment, increasing number of senior citizens. These combine to threaten financial security and quality of life for Torrington (Connecticuts only micropolitan center with a population of 36,000 serving 180,000 citizens) and the towns economic viability.

We gathered community volunteers into 13 focus groups that met to discuss this challenge, its causes and potential strategies. Our goal is to retain and attract a younger workforce by increasing Torringtons economically, racially, ethnically diverse millennial population over the next 10 years.

Its a huge undertaking. Think positive thoughts because we are determined to make the final 5. If you want to help, please let us know. Thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving.

JoAnn Ryan, Chamber President & CEO



Promote Your Business in 2018

The Chamber is working on its 2018 calendar and has some available openings for the Business with Breakfast, Business After Hours and Restaurant in the Spotlight events. We invite any member who is interested in hosting one of these popular network building events to contact us at the office.

Business with Breakfast is traditionally held on the fourth Tuesday of the month at a members place of business at 8 a.m. Youll be given the opportunity to speak about your business or organization and/or provide a. We ask that you provide a light breakfast and coffee. Attendees are also given a couple of minutes to speak about their business. Business After Hours, our most popular network building event, is a wonderful opportunity for our host to highlight their business, facility, products and services. Scheduled at the convenience of our members from 5-7 p.m., hosts are asked to provide light refreshments to attendees. Door prizes are an attendee favorite.

Restaurant in the Spotlight is a monthly networking event which highlights the unique offerings of our restaurant community. Typically held during the first week of the month, the event runs from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Beverages are served on a cash basis and members are encouraged to stay for dinner after the program. Call us today at 860-482-6586 to be a part of the excitement.



C-Pace Financing Program

C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) & the Connecticut Green Bank offer an innovative and affordable way for businesses, manufacturers and non-profits to pay for green energy updates. Representatives from C-PACE will be at the Chamber on December 5th from 1-2:30 PM for a presentation on their services. C-PACE financing covers 100% of project costs with no money down and is repaid as a long-term assessment on the property. C-PACE not only makes green energy accessible, it allows owners to immediately increase cash flow and improve their buildings value. Through C-PACE financing, you can: take control of energy costs to save money and increase your bottom line; act with confidence knowing the Connecticut Green Bank is on your side; and, make your building more comfortable with upgrades that will make it more enjoyable and attractive for you, your employees, tenants and customers. For information, please visit cpace.com.

Check out our website at www.nwctchamberofcommerce.org for more Chamber happenings. *This institution is an equal opportunity provider*
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Whether you already drive an electric vehicle (EV) or youre thinking of acquiring one, you can learn more about EVs and charging at the PG&E exhibit at The San Francisco Chronicle 60th annual International Auto Show from Nov. 18-26 at Moscone Convention Center.

Save money and go green by driving an electric vehicle. At the show, learn about how you can:

Charge your EV on PG&Es special EV rate plans for the equivalent of $1 per gallon on one of the nations greenest power supplies with nearly 70 percent coming from carbon-free sources.

Apply for the $500 Clean Fuel Rebate for eligible PG&E customers.

Receive up to $10,000 on EV purchases with federal and state incentives.

Benefit from PG&Es new Charging Infrastructure Initiative.

At PG&Es 4,200-square-foot information and vehicle exhibit, you will have the opportunity to learn more about special utility EV charging rates, the EVs on the market, clean fuel and purchase rebates, charging stations and more.

PG&E will be exhibiting examples of PG&Es electric and plug-in electric hybrid fleet cars and heavy-duty service trucks.

Representatives from PG&E and the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project will be on hand to answer your questions about EV ownership, including how to apply for the new California State Clean Fuel rebate as well as federal and state rebates toward the purchase of an EV.

EV charging options

PG&E offers EV owners two different rate plans to charge their vehicles at home. Both offer $1 per gallon equivalent cost when you charge your vehicle during off-peak hours. Learn more at www.pge.com/EV.

The Clean Fuel Rebate

PG&E residential customers who own a plug-in electric vehicle are eligible to apply for the $500 Clean Fuel Rebate. The Clean Fuel Rebate is a one-time rebate available to PG&E residential customers who have adopted cleaner transportation methods by fueling their vehicles with electricity.

The Clean Fuel Rebate comes from the State of Californias Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) program. The goal of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard is to reduce transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging the adoption of cleaner fuels, like electricity.

EV Charge Network

This new PG&E initiative supports the installation of up to 7,500 EV charging stations at apartment, condominium complexes and workplaces. The network will significantly expand access to EV charging stations throughout Northern and Central California over the next three years.

By supporting adoption of EVs, the program extends efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the state.

Electric Vehicle Ride and Drive

PG&E is hosting its 4th annual Electric Vehicle Test Drive event at the International Auto Show on Monday, Nov. 20 and Tuesday, Nov. 21 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. A variety of the latest EVs is planned to be available, including Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, Mercedes Benz, Nissan, smart and Volkswagen (subject to change).

Participants can receive a free ticket to the auto show after completing the brief Best.Drive.EVer! campaign surveys before and after the test drive collecting peoples perceptions of EVs and what transportation options are currently being used. The surveying will take place at the test drive registration area.

Participants will also receive a free copy of Electric Car Insider magazines EV Buyers Guide, a comprehensive guide to plug-in electric vehicles. The 64-page full-color magazine contains independent reviews and detailed specifications of every production electric vehicle on the market. The EV Buyers Guide is the most comprehensive and detailed compilation of electric vehicle reviews available.

Dont miss bringing the kids by for a free PG&E hard hat while supplies last.
Mohammed al-Jabry wanted to save his cancer-stricken grandfather. That meant getting the 69-year-old out of one of the world's most overlooked war zones: Yemen.

It would require venturing through a country al-Jabry barely recognized after years of living abroad. Yemen has been decimated by the conflict pitting Saudi Arabia against rebels linked to Iran.

From his adopted home in Amman, Jordan, al-Jabry surveyed the grim options. People-smugglers ply the narrow sea route from Yemen to Djibouti in Africa. Those who are desperate enough sometimes risk a treacherous crossing of the heavily fortified land border with Saudi Arabia.

But there's really just one practical way: a coveted seat on Yemenia, the national carrier. Long after other airlines gave up, Yemenia's aging fleet is still -- intermittently -- flying. But "getting a reservation is sort of a mafia these days," al-Jabry said.

His odyssey casts light on a war that bears the signature of Saudi Arabia's young crown prince. Mohammed Bin Salman has grand plans: to diversify the kingdom's economy, reform its religion, and build a high-tech city from scratch in the desert. Yet after almost three years of bombing, he has little to show from his U.S.-backed campaign in the Arab world's poorest nation.

It's also a conflict that gets scant international attention. Unlike millions of displaced Syrians who have sought refuge in neighboring countries and Europe, Yemen's 28 million people -- more than the population of Australia or Taiwan -- are trapped by their geography. Only some 180,000 have left.

For those who can't, the toll is growing. In addition to at least 14,000 people killed or wounded, aid agencies are increasingly alarmed by the spread of malnutrition and risk of famine. Nearly 1 million people have contracted cholera, and 3 million are internally displaced.

Yemenis, even those in urgent need, have few options for medical help. So Yemenia flights often double up as an expensive ambulance service -- for those lucky enough to get seats.

Al-Jabry's story begins in Amman, where the 22-year-old had been studying since before the war, and now works at a shipping company. His parents joined him there, unintentionally, after the conflict broke out. They'd meant to make a brief visit to see their son during an Islamic holiday, but they got stranded when the airport in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, was closed to civilian traffic, blocking their return flight. Jordan is among the few regional countries where Yemenis can achieve official status as refugees via the United Nations.

Al-Jabry's grandfather was stuck back in the capital, Sanaa. The city of 1.9 million has come under heavy bombardment. Its airport is still closed (and was bombed by the Saudi-led coalition earlier this month). The nearest functioning one was a day's drive away, in Sayoun. Al-Jabry knew his grandfather wouldn't manage that journey alone, so he decided to go in and retrieve him -- ignoring pleas from his parents.

In August, he went to the Yemenia office in Amman, telling them he needed to travel urgently. He paid $630 for a one-way ticket, significantly more than a round-trip used to cost. But he was only given a seat for a flight in November, which was no use to him.

"Yemenia is now exploiting the situation -- that they're the only airline that's going," he said.

He's hardly alone in such feelings. Yemenia's Facebook page is a litany of customer complaints. "Epic fail" and "the worst airline administration on earth" are among recent, typical comments.

Yet the carrier is operating in extreme circumstances, of a kind that few airlines face. It's flying out of a war zone and can't use the country's main airport. (Right now, it can't fly at all; earlier this month, all flights were halted; the Saudis said Monday that some airports would soon reopen). It also needs to get a green light for each takeoff from the Saudi-led coalition. Sometimes, permission is withheld -- and then Yemenia posts a note of apology, triggering Facebook fury, though there are sympathetic responses too.

Yemenia's offices in Sanaa, Aden, Amman, Dubai and Cairo didn't answer repeated requests for comment.

Al-Jabry resorted to an acquaintance who had connections at the airline and was able to push his flight forward. His ticket appeared in the form of a photo, via WhatsApp, and he flew to Sayoun on Aug. 28. The plane was mostly full of students returning home, from Malaysia, Egypt and elsewhere, for the Eid religious holiday.

On arrival, al-Jabry hired a driver for the 21-hour journey to Sana'a. Their pickup truck passed through a slew of checkpoints manned by armed fighters -- alternately from the Saudi coalition and the Houthi rebels. The trip passed without any scares.

(That's not everyone's experience. Taha Yaseen, a student returning from Qatar, made the same trip in July. He said gunmen at one of the checkpoints hauled passengers off the bus for hours of questioning. Ilham, a single mother living in Jordan since February this year, had to get a bus from Sanaa to Aden, on the south coast, for her flight out. She described a terrifying day-long journey, repeatedly passing through firefights that left at least one passenger injured.)

In Sanaa, al-Jabry took his grandfather to the doctor to prepare for the road-trip back to the airport. But the doctor advised waiting a few days: The older man had a blood clot, and a long drive could worsen his condition. Al-Jabry, sensing urgency, said he then reached out to friends with United Nations connections -- in case his grandfather could get on a U.N. flight out of Sanaa.

It was too late.

"He died that night," al-Jabry said. "I spent around six hours with him. And then he died."

The family held a service two days later. Funeral receptions traditionally last about three days -- a hall is booked, and visitors flow in and out. But a lot more Yemenis are dying these days. Plus, a funeral hall was bombed by Saudi planes in October last year, killing more than 140 people -- one of the war's worst attacks on civilians.

Al-Jabry insisted on the full observance -- and won the argument with his relatives, who said no one does three-day funerals anymore because they're too expensive and dangerous.

It was one of many changes that shocked him. Sanaa -- an ancient city inhabited for more than 2,500 years -- was barely recognizable. The conflict has turned the capital's cultural relics to ruins, and left a hungry population plagued by armed gangs and militias. Al-Jabry wanted to get out fast.

"It was frustrating what I saw -- unlivable," he said. "You see your family and everyone's poor, everyone's fed up, they don't do anything, they don't work, they don't have salaries. They don't have anything to live for."

Still mourning his grandfather, al-Jabry called his contact at the Yemenia office in Amman, saying he needed a one-way ticket out. He was told he'd have to buy a roundtrip, even though he had a residence permit in Jordan. The contact said he would reserve a seat on a half-empty flight a few days later.

Yemenia couldn't get a permit from the Saudis that day, and the flight was canceled. The contact said he'd book al-Jabry on the following Friday -- then called back: "I'm going to be honest with you, I couldn't manage to get you a seat." Stand-by was a possibility; but with a 21-hour drive involved, al-Jabry didn't want to risk it.

He resorted to another connection -- a businessman in Amman who reserves Yemenia seats in bulk, then resells for a commission. "He has people in Sanaa," who showed up to collect the cash, al-Jabry said. "I was so desperate, I had to leave." And he did -- at a price: $630 for the ticket, $150 for the middleman's cut, 10,000 Yemeni riyals in airline penalties, another 200,000 riyals ($800) for a truck-driver back to Sayoun, and 12,000 riyals for a night at the Sayoun Plaza hotel, where he joined dozens of passengers waiting for the flight.

Al-Jabry's family is prosperous by Yemeni standards. "Financially, we are blessed," he said. "But there are people who are suffering" from the Sanaa airport closure, and who can't afford the alternatives. The average annual income is below $1,000.

Ilham, the single mother, sold jewelry to pay for tickets to Amman for herself and her daughter at $1,200 each. When she went to collect them at the Yemenia office, a full-scale brawl was in progress, as would-be passengers fought to get to the front of the line. They were all men -- so Ilham took advantage of the differential treatment that women sometimes get in conservative Muslim societies.

"Being a woman, I wouldn't get into such fights," she said. "I walked straight to the front."

The Sayoun airport was bustling with soldiers when al-Jabry got there. He brandished the WhatsApp photo of his ticket. His plane was full of people traveling to work in Jordan and Iraq; and families headed further afield, including to the U.S. (That journey's getting harder: Yemen is one of the countries included in President Donald Trump's travel ban.)

After takeoff, flight attendants announced that no food or drink would be allowed into Jordan, because of Yemen's cholera epidemic. Almost everyone seemed to have food with them -- likely intended as gifts -- so they shared it in an impromptu feast. "Three hours of eating," al-Jabry said.

When they arrived in Amman, the plane taxied far from the terminal, and passengers were decanted into three buses. In scorching summer heat, officials wearing gloves and face-masks inspected each vehicle for traces of food -- or cholera.

"Like we came from another planet," recalls al-Jabry, recounting the whole story in late September outside a kebab stall in Amman.

He has no plans to go back to his home country anytime soon. But the treasure-hunt for Yemenia tickets is still on -- and now al-Jabry, as someone who managed to get one, has become a recourse for others.

"Just two hours ago, a guy called me. He said, 'Remember the guy who booked you the tickets to Sayoun? I need three tickets for my father and his friends'," al-Jabry said. "To get a ticket, you need to know people."

---

Bloomberg's Mohammed Hatem and Jinan Warrayat contributed. Reporting for this article was supported by a media fellowship through the Center for the Study of Social Difference at Columbia University.
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WASHINGTON  The Glenholme School held its fourth annual 5K Run for Autism on Nov. 12. The proceeds support the schools offering to students through academic innovations and therapeutic program expansion, while helping raise awareness of autism.

Over 120 enthusiastic runners and walkers gathered for the fourth annual Glenholme 5K Run for Autism in Steep Rock Preserve in Washington. The event, which offers one of the few canine-friendly courses in the area, was renowned as a triumph for the school.
The leader of Myanmars Catholic Church spoke out on Friday against what he called unjust criticism of Nobel Peace laureate and de facto national leader Aung San Suu Kyi over the Myanmar militarys crackdown on the Muslim Rohingya ethnic group.



Speaking in an interview with the Associated Press (AP) ahead of a visit to Myanmar by Pope Francis beginning Nov. 27, Cardinal Charles Bo said that international criticism of Aung San Suu Kyi over her perceived indifference to the plight of the Rohingya has been very unfair.



Cardinal Bo noted that under the terms of Myanmars constitution, Aung San Suu Kyi has no political authority to criticize the countrys military, which enjoys a majority vote in parliament and controls important government departments.



However, the Nobel laureate has been working carefully behind the scenes to negotiate with Myanmars military, which formerly ruled the country directly for decades, Bo said in his interview, adding, Time will prove that she has her own agenda of moving the country toward democracy.



More than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled northern Rakhine to Bangladesh during a military crackdown in response to deadly attacks in late August on police outposts by a Muslim militant group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).



Speaking to rights groups and U.N. investigators in Bangladesh, Rohingya refugees have accused Myanmar troops of atrocities including killings, torture, arson, and rapecharges that Myanmar denies.



The Catholic Church in Myanmar has urged the Pope not to use the political and contested term Rohingya during his visit, as the term is widely rejected by Myanmars majority Buddhist population, Bo told the Associated Press.



Pope Francis has many times expressed concern over the plight of the Muslim ethnic group, which he has called a persecuted religious minority, and has urged the Myanmar government to grant the group full citizenship rights.



Many schools still closed



Inside the conflict zone, nearly 300 schools remain closed in Myanmars conflict-hit Rakhine state as authorities work to reopen facilities closed in the wake of attacks by ARSA and subsequent military security operations in late August, the governments Information Committee said on Thursday.



Around 130 schools have reopened though, government sources said.



Teachers are on standby to start at the schools, but we have found that some studentsespecially from Muslim villagesare not coming to the schools, Maungdaw District Education Officer U Ohn Myint said.



It will be impossible to open all the schools in Maungdaw district this year, but we are taking steps to open them in certain areas depending on the security situation.



Nearly 3,000 students who fled from Maungdaw and Buthidaung towns to the Rakhine capital Sittwe following ARSA attacks have been attending school in Sittwe with no interruption to their education, according to the Rakhine State Education Department.



Schools presently closed will reopen when all students return, Rakhine State Education Officer Aung Kyaw Tun said.



We cant open schools without students, Aung Kyaw Tun said. We will reopen them only when those who have fled come back and stability in the region is restored.



Speaking at a panel discussion on Friday in Myanmars commercial capital Yangon, former government spokesman Ye Htut meanwhile called talk of a final reconciliation between Rakhines Buddhist majority and the minority Rohingya a fantasy.



These two communities havent gotten along since 1942, Ye Htut said, referring to an earlier period of deadly communal violence and clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine.



But even though they dont like each other, we can at least make them live together in peace, he said.



Reported by Zarni Htun and Kyaw Zaw Win for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Richard Finney.
By PTI: Srinagar, Nov 18 (PTI) Seven swine flu-related deaths have taken place in Kashmir Valley this season, authorities said here today.

"As of date, the SKIMS has treated 24 positive cases of H1N1, out of which 12 have been discharged and five are under treatment," Director, Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), A G Ahangar said.

"Unfortunately, seven patients have expired because of other co-morbidities primarily like malignancies, leukemia, COPD, immune compromised states," he said.

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He said with seasonal variations in Jammu and Kashmir in general and Kashmir Valley in particular, the viral surges in the atmosphere, when temperature dips, leading to increased incidence of such infections.

"No part of the world and for that matter no population is immune to such epidemics, least the Kashmir Valley, which is unfortunately as of date, facing slightly increased surge in swine flu (H1N1) infections," the director said.

He said SKIMS was bearing the maximum brunt of patient population because of the tertiary care facilities available.

Ahangar said the staff members looking after H1N1 patients were provided Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) masks and other facilities for their protection as well as immunisation against H1N1.

He said the institute has purchased 250 vaccines for hospital staff and ordered 2000 more.

Advising people to maintain hand hygiene by washing with soap and water, Ahangar said there is no need to panic. PTI SSB AAR

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NEW YORK (AP)  Malcolm Young, the rhythm guitarist and guiding force behind the bawdy hard rock band AC/DC who helped create such head-banging anthems as "Highway to Hell," ''Hells Bells" and "Back in Black," has died. He was 64.

AC/DC announced the death Saturday on their official Facebook page and website Saturday. A representative for the band confirmed that the posts were true. The posts did not say when or where Young died, but said the performer had been suffering from dementia. He was diagnosed in 2014.

"It is with deepest sorrow that we inform you of the death of Malcolm Young, beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother. Malcolm had been suffering from Dementia for several years and passed away peacefully with his family by his bedside," one of the posts read.

The family put out a statement posted on the band's website calling Young a "visionary who inspired many."

While Young's younger brother, Angus, the group's school-uniform-wearing lead guitarist, was the public face of the band, Malcolm Young was its key writer and leader, the member the rest of the band watched for onstage changes and cutoffs.

AC/DC were remarkably consistent for over 40 years with its mix of driving hard rock, lusty lyrics and bluesy shuffles, selling over 200 million albums, surviving the loss of its first singer and creating one of the greatest rock records ever in "Back in Black," the world's second best-selling album behind Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

The Glasgow-born Young brothers  who moved to Sydney, Australia, with their parents, sister and five older brothers in 1963  formed the band in 1973. They were inspired to choose the high-energy name AC/DC from the back of a sewing machine owned by their sister, Margaret.

Angus experimented with several different stage costumes at first  including a gorilla suit and a Zorro outfit  but the school uniform was a natural, since he was only 16 at the time.

The Youngs went through several drummers and bass guitarists, finally settling on Phil Rudd on drums in 1974 and Englishman Cliff Williams on bass three years later. Their original singer was fired after a few months when they discovered Bon Scott, who was originally hired as the band's driver.

By 1980, the band was on a roll, known for its high energy performances and predictably hard-charging songs. Their album "Highway To Hell" was certified gold in America and made it into the top 25 Billboard album charts, and the single "Touch Too Much" became their first UK Top 30 hit. But on Feb. 18, 1980, everything changed  Scott died of asphyxiation after choking on his own vomit after an all-night drinking binge.

The band decided to keep going and hired English vocalist Brian Johnson at the helm. The newly reconfigured group channeled their grief into songwriting and put out 1980's "Back In Black," with the songs "You Shook Me All Night Long," ''Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" and "Hells Bells." The cover of the album was black, in honor of Scott's death.

The band continued with a studio or live album every few years , blending their huge guitar riffs with rebellious and often sophomoric lyrics  song titles include "Big Balls," ''Beating Around the Bush," ''Let Me Put My Love Into You" and "Stiff Upper Lip." AC/DC won only a single Grammy Award, for best hard rock performance in 2009 for "War Machine."

Rolling Stone said in 1980 that "the AC/DC sound is nothing more and nothing less than aggressively catchy song hooks brutalized by a revved-up boogie rhythm, Malcolm's jackhammer riffing, Angus' guitar histrionics and Johnson's bloodcurdling bawl."

In the book "The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC" by Jesse Fink, Angus Young said the formula worked. "We've got the basic thing kids want," he said. "They want to rock and that's it. They want to be part of the band as a mass. When you hit a guitar chord, a lot of the kids in the audience are hitting it with you. They're so much into the band they're going through all the motions with you. If you can get the mass to react as a whole, then that's the ideal thing. That's what a lot of bands lack, and why the critics are wrong."

AC/DC's infectious, driving sound stretched further than rock arenas. The song "Shoot to Thrill" was heard in the film "The Avengers," ''Back in Black" made it into "The Muppets," ''Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" was played in "Bridesmaids" and their songs were included in the "Iron Man" franchise. On TV, the band's music was heard in everything from "Top Gear," the "Hawaii Five-0" reboot, "Glee," ''CSI: Miami" and "The Voice."

Though the band championed good-natured hell-raising, it had to weather suggestions in the 1980s that they were a threat to the moral fabric of society. There were rumors the band's name stood for Anti-Christ/Devil's Children and many were shocked when it was learned that serial murderer and rapist Richard Ramirez identified himself as a fan and left an AC/DC baseball cap behind at a crime scene.

In 2014, the band released "Rock or Bust," the first AC/DC album without Malcom Young. Even so, he is very present on the record since the 11 songs are credited to the Young brothers (Angus said he built the album from guitar hooks the two had accumulated over the years).

Around the album's release, Angus Young told The Associated Press that Malcolm was doing fine, but that he couldn't perform anymore.

"It was progressing further, but he knew he couldn't do it," Angus Young said of his older brother's dementia. "He had continued as long as he could, still writing. But he said to me, 'Keep it going.'"
Majestys mother loved her four children hard before she was gone, often rising before dawn to cook hot plates of bacon and scrambled eggs on feet so swollen they hurt her youngest to see.

She fought the pain so we could eat, said Majesty, now 15. It doesnt matter if she was falling; she would still stand up.

She died in her sleep at 42 beside the love-worn purple and blue Bible that had seen her through Lupus and much more. Majesty had the book, then lost it in a move that separated her from her siblings after they entered the foster care system. Now two years without a mother, shes the only one left waiting for a forever home.

Of the roughly 315 children in the citys legal custody as of this month, 88, including Majesty, are eligible for adoption and waiting for a family. City officials celebrated the 33 adoptions of foster youth approved within the past year in a bustling ceremony Saturday at the Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on Oliver Hill Way.

The number of children in Richmonds foster care system is at a five-year high, state data show, after child welfare advocates say a period of turmoil saw the rate plunge too low.

Five years ago, the Richmond Department of Social Services was under fire from politicians and some within the agency armed with accounts of children left languishing in abusive households. Agency leaders overzealous in following state guidance to keep families together were leaving children in dangerous and unstable situations, a move that disqualified some from receiving critical organ transplants over concerns they wouldnt receive follow-up care, according to a third-party review.

At a low point in the 2013 fiscal year there were only 165 children in the citys foster care system. That number has nearly doubled in the five years since, to 315 on Nov. 1. During the past five years, the states load of foster children grew only 12.5 percent from 4,412 to 4,965.

The boost in Richmond reflects progress, said Shunda Giles, who in 2015 assumed leadership of a short-staffed agency still working to dig itself out from the era of former Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Human Services Carolyn N. Graham and its ensuing tumult.

The agency was not in a good place at that time, Giles said.

Graham defended her record this week in a phone interview from her nonprofit in North East Washington, D.C., saying she was only following policy guidance the state issued based on input from the nonprofit Annie E. Casey Foundation. The philosophy was to bring support into a home that would help keep families together instead of removing children, she said.

Its what most progressive organizations around the country still are trying to do, said Graham, who leads The Elizabeth Ministry. I guess I was just a little too radical in some areas to be there.

She said her ouster was politically motivated.

That is a gross misrepresentation of facts; thats complete baloney, said Charles Samuels, a lawyer and then-city councilman who was outspoken in calls for Grahams removal. She did an abysmal job.

***

Agency leaders, officials, child welfare advocates, and those in the system all described the citys Department of Social Services in interviews as an imperfect institution moving in a positive direction.

Jeanine Harper, executive director of Greater Richmond SCAN, a nonprofit dedicated to the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect, said the departments leadership changes yielded results.

It is our sense that we are on the right path forward, Harper said. I do think theyve worked in good faith to shift course.

Although no child should ever have to be separated from a family, she said, the reality is that situations demand intervention every day. Neglect, a childs own behavior, and physical abuse were the most common reasons given for removing Richmond youth from their homes during an eight-year period ending June 30, according to state data.

Harper said the challenge is to find the best outcome for children who often are leaving a traumatic situation for an imperfect one.

Majesty said she struggles sometimes to keep faith in the residential treatment facility that has been her home for the last seven months. She finds comfort in music  anything with a good beat  but she isnt free.

Still, Its better to smile than frown, she said. When you wake up with a frown on your face, theres a chance youll be frowning all day.

Some days are longer than others. She lives with post-traumatic stress and attention-deficit disorders, among others. She misses her siblings. But the thought of a Cook Out milkshake and an impromptu singalong to hip-hop artist Cardi B bring out a high-wattage smile. The Times-Dispatch agreed to withhold her last name to protect her privacy.

For every 1,000 children age 17 and under living in the city, nearly eight were in Richmonds foster care system as of the state count for 2017, which is based on a census for a given day and fluctuates throughout the year.

Its about two children more per 1,000 than a national average based on the most recent numbers available from the federal government and three times the state average of 2.6 children per 1,000.

That ranks Richmond 25th among the states 133 localities for the highest rate of children in the system, based on Weldon Cooper Center population estimates and information from the Virginia Department of Social Services.

The 22,400 children who age out of state foster care systems across the country annually without a permanent family face grim prospects: Research shows that within two years, about 1 in 4 wind up incarcerated, 1 in 5 become homeless, 4 in 10 drop out of high school, and 71 percent become parents by age 21.

Giles said she is focused on improving outcomes for teens in the citys care, who statistically are more likely to be placed in congregate facilities, such as a group home or residential treatment center, and less likely to be adopted. Of the 21 adoptive families who turned out to be honored Saturday, only one had taken in a child older than 13.

Nearly half of the citys foster youth are 14 or older. Of those, only 11 are currently eligible for adoption, officials said.

Majesty learned at her last court date that shed be moving to a foster home in the Richmond region next month that is zoned for the same high school her older brother attends.

She isnt sure that a new family is what she wants, but shes going to give it a try.

Its good to have someone who loves and cares about you instead of being on your own too fast, because if you try to be on your own too fast, you could end up homeless, she said. Its good to have a family. Its good to want to have a good family.

***

Good foster families are in short supply and high demand. The city has about 50 vetted families on its books and contracts with nonprofits for help placing children in other area homes. The department did not provide the ratio of children in homes to those in congregate care by the deadline for this report.

Foster families receive monthly payments per child that vary with age, according to the agency. An older child will come with about $666 in monthly support. Children with additional needs also may qualify for additional compensation.

Giles said her ultimate goal is to reunite children with their biological families.

If someones coming in to provide foster care, I dont want them thinking, Im going to get a child to be my adoptive child,  she said. We want you to bond, kids need that, but our goal is to foster, not adopt.

Local foster care parents Shaun and Rebekah Parsons steeled themselves three times to return the boy theyd received at 3 days old, and his sister, at a year old, to the siblings biological family. They packed the children up, but never had to say goodbye.

Its hard, because to do this right, you have to get attached. Every child who comes through this door, theyre our child until theyre not, Rebekah said. But I would rather my heart be broken a thousand times than theirs be broken even once.

Last year, the best news of their lives came in an mail: Emory, now 3, and Sabrina, now 4, were there to stay.

It was an anticlimactic end to a year of prayer and many more of longing, and not at all what Rebekah had envisioned after hours spent scrolling through a Facebook group of adoptive parents; some crying happy tears in photos of judicial ceremonies and after parties thrown to welcome children home.

We got the mail, and it was just there, Shaun said of the court paperwork. I couldnt believe it.

On Saturday, families like the Parsonses had their chance to smile, shed tears of joy and pose for photos with the judges who managed their cases.

Every child deserves a loving home, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney told the crowd, gathered in a sun-drenched hallway that too often serves as a waiting area for heart-wrenching court proceedings.

I feel like I would not be here today if it wasnt for my grandmothers sister, who adopted my mother years and years ago.

City Councilwoman Kimberly Gray, who has adopted two children and was among those being celebrated at the annual event in 2010, commended the families present on Saturday for putting in hard, worthy work. In an interview, she said she worried about the Social Services Departments 91 unfunded vacancies, an issue she plans to raise next budget cycle.

Ive seen improvements in the agency, but I worry about where we go from here, Gray said. The caseloads are too large for the workers, and I know some good ones who have left because it was all just too much.

***

Giles said high caseloads contribute to a perpetual drain of Richmond social workers to surrounding counties that pay more and typically handle fewer, less complicated cases.

In Richmond, those front-line employees deal with about 22 to 23 cases at any given time, about twice as many as agency officials would prefer.

The citys child welfare safety net is always strained by limited resources and seemingly bottomless needs.

Even Shaun and Rebekah Parsons swear they are pressing pause as they consider adopting another child after taking in 19 during a five- to six-year span in El Paso, Texas, and Richmond. But the phone will ring again, and they arent sure theyll be able to say no.

Theyve been at capacity before, about the time Shaun got the call from Rebekah during a shift at Lowes.

She said, Were getting a baby,  he said. Then she calls me back and says, He has a sibling. 

Flash forward several years and Sabrina and Emory are bickering on the downstairs couch about who touched the TV. The upstairs playroom  momentarily childless  is remarkably neat, with toy bins Rebekah found at Ikea and designed labels for at home. A sign reading, Family, competes for attention with pictures of smiling children on the walls.

Now in their mid-to-late 30s, it wasnt a path they envisioned as a younger couple living in Texas. Then, after years of fertility struggles, a man walked into the Lutheran church where Rebekah was working and asked whether the congregation would partner with the local social services department.

It was a sign, she said. There are children already out there who need and deserve love and we had it to give.

As eager as the couple were to give, they felt heartsick with every call that signaled the interruption of someones young life.

To get that call means something has happened, so its not a happy thing, Rebekah said. When you see that number on the phone your heart skips a beat.

It could be Majestys mother dying.

Majesty was in the hospital when she got the call.

It didnt feel real. Sometimes it still doesnt.
Six terrorists, including nephew of 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, have been killed by the security forces in north Kashmir's Bandipora district.

By India Today Web Desk: Six terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), including nephew of 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, have been killed by the security forces in north Kashmir's Bandipora district.

A Garud commando of the Indian Air Force (IAF) was also martyred in the operation and 2 Army soldiers injured.

The Garud Commando Force is the special forces unit of the IAF. The development comes as a big boost for the security forces in the Valley.

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Security forces cordoned off and launched a search operation in Chandergeer village in Hajin area of Bandipora district after receiving specific intelligence input about the presence of terrorists in the area, a police official said.

As search operations were going on, the terrorists hiding there fired at the security forces, who retaliated befittingly.

Apart from Lakhvi's nephew, two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commanders were also among the militants killed by the security forces, Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police (DGP), SP Vaid, said.

ALL 6 TERRORISTS WERE PAKISTANIS

"Six LeT terrorists have been eliminated in Bandipora encounter," Vaid said. He said all the six terrorists killed in the encounter were Pakistanis.

One of the terrorists named Owaid is the son of Zakir Rehman Maki and the nephew of Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, he said on Twitter.

Two LeT commanders - Zargam and Mehmood - were also eliminated in the operation today, the DGP said, adding that the operation was a "success". Six weapons were also recovered from the encounter site.

Authorities have ordered suspension of mobile internet, including 2G, 3G & 4G services, in Bandipora following the encounter. The Hajin encounter has now come to an end.

Meanwhile, reacting to the Bandipora encounter, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh said, "Pakistan stands completely exposed. Some nations aren't exerting pressure on it due to their vested interests. However, everyone knows that every terrorist activity can be traced back to Pakistan. It's on the verge of destroying itself, but wants to harm India."

Anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir have continued in the wake of violence by Pakistan-based militants.

170 TERRORISTS GUNNED DOWN IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR IN 2017

Vaid had recently said that around 170 terrorists were gunned down by the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir this year.

Two Army soldiers were killed and a CRPF jawan suffered injuries in an encounter in Pulwama district of the state on November 2. Three militants were gunned down in Pulwama in an encounter in which an Army jawan was also killed on November 6.

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Three militants, including Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar's nephew, were gunned down by security forces in Pulwama district on November 7.

An Army jawan and a militant were killed in an encounter in Kulgam district on November 14.

(WITH INPUTS FROM SHUJA-UL-HAQ AND PTI)

ALSO WATCH VIDEO | Mumbai attacks mastermind Lakhvi's nephew among 5 terrorists killed in Kashmir encounter

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By Ashby Bland Crowder

Almost everything written of late about Confederate monuments has focused attention on Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and J.E.B. Stuart, famous men who have been praised for many generations, only lately disparaged.

Let us now consider not those famous men but the common soldiers in the Confederate Army who have perished as though they had not lived. They have become as though they had not been born, according to Ecclesiasticus  but these were men who did their duty to their state and nation. And many of them suffered tremendously from the wounds of battle, mortal disease, and horrible deprivations.

A monument to these common soldiers  and sailors  towers atop Libby Hill, right at the turn in the James River that gives Richmond its name. This monument stands for thousands of real people.

I want to tell you about two of them, my great-grandfathers, who were common soldiers in the Confederate Army. One is John E. Jordan (pronounced JER-dn), private, 14th Virginia Infantry, Company I. The other is John J. Crowder, private and later ordnance sergeant, 3rd Virginia Cavalry, Company A.

Lee believed that the private soldiers  men who fought without the stimulus of rank, emolument, or individual renown  were the most meritorious class in the army, and that they deserved and should receive the utmost respect and consideration, according to a member of his staff. The Libby monument honors these men and should be kept.

***

Let me first tell you about Private Jordan, so that you might determine whether he deserves to be honored by a monument to the common soldiers.

Like most Virginians in 1861, he did not favor secession. And when the 14th Virginia Infantry was organized on May 23, 1861, he did not come forward. In fact, it was not until the military draft had been instituted on April 16, 1862 that he was joined to his home-county military company on Aug. 15 1862. He was 22 years old.

As reluctant as he was to leave his mother and sisters at home (his father was dead), he did his duty. Most of the time. Actually, he was AWOL nine times. It seems that he took every chance to go home to check on the welfare of his mother and sisters.

Doing ones duty sounds fairly perfunctory. He was not AWOL on July 3, 1863. Here is what duty meant that day: Company I was in Gen. George Picketts charge up Cemetery Ridge at the Battle of Gettysburg. As the soldiers got within 250 yards of the top, the Union defenders began firing canister rounds filled with small balls.

The artillery fire was so heavy that it set the green grass that the men of Company I had to cross on fire. Large swaths of men were cut down at once. The 14th Virginia Infantry lost half of its members. My college Civil War textbook says of this famous charge: As life poured out like water the flower of Southern manhood was sacrificed in a ghastly slaughter.

There were other bloody battles as well, but there was plenty of suffering for members of the 14th Virginia even when they were not fighting. Many endured the harsh winters of 1863 (the snow was a foot deep) and 1865 without boots or sufficient clothing.

It would be one of the little ironies of the war if my great-grandfather, the son of a shoemaker, were one of those shoeless soldiers. All suffered from insufficient nourishment: the bacon was rancid, and the small daily portion of cornmeal contained a high portion of pulverized cob.

Six days before Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865, my great-grandfather was captured by Union forces at Bermuda Hundred and sent to Harts Island, the prisoner of war camp in New York harbor.

He was not released until June 21, 1865, the date he made his oath of allegiance to the United States.

He went home to resume his job as a coal miner in Chesterfield County. He took care of his mother and when she died, he was eventually able to marry. My fathers mother, Bertha, born in 1888, was her fathers first child, when he was 48. When she married, her father came to her familys home, Ampthill house, when it was still at its original location, site now of the DuPont plant. He lived with my fathers family for the first 15 years of my fathers life. He said his grandfather never said a word about his adventures in the Civil War.

We should remember the likes of John E. Jordan because of what he wanted to forget. His small headstone at Maury Cemetery requires  and I believe deserves  the supplement of that tall monument on Libby Hill in Richmond.

It goes without saying that John Jordan had no slaves. Anyone who says he fought to preserve slavery really does not understand that he lived in a country, The Confederate States of America, and that country had expectations of its citizens.

As reluctant as he was, he fulfilled his duty as a citizen, and he conducted himself honorably. He deserves, however generic it might be, a monument to the service he rendered, along with hundreds of thousands of other simple men.

***

My other great-grandfather, John Crowder, was from a more prominent family, but he gave up the life he expected to live in Philadelphia to come home to stand by his native state.

He had received an M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania and was about to begin practicing medicine. When Virginia seceded from the union on April 15, 1861, he rushed home from Philadelphia, enlisting in the Boydton Cavalry, also called the Mecklenburg Dragoons, on May 14, together with his long-time friend William Pattillo. This unit became Company A of the 3rd Virginia Cavalry, under J.E.B. Stuart.

It is possible his family did own slaves, because in a Jan. 4, 1859, letter he asks his father to Tell all the servants howdy. Yet I do not believe that the preservation of slavery was in his mind at all when he enlisted.

This great-grandfather seems to have been eager to embrace war. I think William Humphrey, in his novel The Ordways, knows exactly why: He went for the comradeship and adventure ... and because he believed he would come through it unhurt. ... He fought not out of conviction but out of pride.

I know he was excited to put on his grey uniform and attend his units send-off dinner at the Boydton Hotel.

As the Boydton Cavalry passed through small towns, dignitaries made speeches, and crowds cheered the men as they rode by. My great-grandfather must have felt in his bones the excitement of his new military life, so different from years of classroom lectures in Philadelphia.

Before long he had the thrill of raiding Union supply trains, chasing fleeing Union soldiers after battle, engaging in reconnaissance behind enemy lines. But then the hard realities of what he was doing came to the fore: his friend William Pattillo died of typhoid, and other comrades were lost or wounded in hand-to-hand sabre fighting with the 1st Maine Cavalry on June 17, 1863.

As the Union cavalry improved, Confederate casualties increased. In the end, 27 percent of the men in Company A, 3rd Virginia Cavalry were either killed or wounded.

And when those men were not being killed or wounded, they endured long periods of just plain suffering from rain and sleet and bitter cold, with insufficient clothing. Neither man nor horse had enough to eat. The great adventure turned into a prolonged period of pain.

That his heedless youth drove him to join the Cause is beside the point. He served his state and country. He came home to a devastated Virginia.

He never practiced medicine, perhaps because he was appalled that war seemed to have turned doctors into butchers, sawing off legs and arms, or perhaps because there was no money to pay a doctor, and so to support his family he farmed. At least he could then feed them. His first son was my grandfather, born 10 years after the war.

***

The image of a Confederate soldier at the top of the monument on Libby Hill stands not only for the unwilling (like John E. Jordan) but for the all-too-willing common soldier (like John J. Crowder). It is a remembrance of the sacrifice that both of them made.
At a time when were about to gather with our families to give thanks, I invite you to peer into my medical clinic waiting room in East Durham, North Carolina:

The room is often filled with little Syrians, Somalis, Afghans, Iraqis, and Burmese  boys and girls who pack in next to families from Rwanda, Eritrea, Cuba, and the Congo  all waiting for their coveted 15 minutes with the doctora, daktare, tabiba.

And, relatively speaking, these young refugees are among the luckier ones. I have walked into waiting rooms elsewhere in the world that are much more crowded than mine, holding the millions who still seek asylum despite an indefinite wait.

These other refugee clinics hold horrors that are more freshly  and usually more deeply  felt. Some in Bangladesh are stocked with wasted Rohingya children, sick with cholera and without parents. Some see long queues of Sudanese girls, pregnant with their smugglers baby. Many families in flight simply have no health care, like those remaining stranded on the remote Manu Island, or the thousands blocked at Yemens borders, or the unlucky ones whose boats were intercepted and returned to Libya.

So numerous are these disasters that it seems easy to resign to amnesia or apathy. Looking and feeling requires courage, my patients tell me.

Never again and Kwibuka (remember in Kinyarwandan) are slogans spread in the wake of the Rwandan genocide of the early 1990s. Yet it seems we have already forgotten what Rwanda tried to warn us of. Several months ago, a U.N. human rights official described the Rohingya crisis in Burma as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.

Genocides cannot proceed without international cooperation or inaction  which signals indifference. As human rights abuses like those taking place in Burma continue, we must own that our silence equals our stamp of approval.

I sometimes wish I could forget Rwanda, and what I saw when I went there to rebuild a medical school still in shambles two decades after the genocide: families still so poor that babies were born too early and too small because mothers couldnt afford to eat. Children died from bloodstream infections because the hospital couldnt afford enough sterile gauze, or gloves. The transfusion center was always out of blood.

And if only I could erase the misery I found when I traveled to the outposts of Burma several years ago, when the country braced for its own imminent genocide. Even then, some children werent allowed to attend school and instead worked as laborers or were sold to traffickers. Others died from simple pneumonia because it took too long to reach a clinic, and too long for us to reach them.

I do sometimes wish I could be more silent, as I ask my boss for a few weeks off to work in a Rohingya camp in Bangladesh with an NGO called Medical Teams International. I realize my waiting room will get backed up while Im away, but when I tell my patients where I am going, they thank me.

I can say with some certainty that my patients, with their hodgepodge of histories and ethnicities, do not forget the atrocities taking place elsewhere  the wrongs we essentially enable. And they are keenly aware of the xenophobic rhetoric that now occupies their new home.

Yet, they also carry the brightness of possibility. Here, they see they actually have a chance at life  and they thrive. Their English skills proliferate, they boast about their soca team and their many new best friends, and all seem to want to be a daktare for kids when they grow up.

When I question myself about leaving my home, my husband, and my patients to dive back into the horrors of a humanitarian disaster, I cannot help but remember those other waiting rooms. I cannot help but act. How else do I give thanks for the abundance of resilience that fills my waiting room each day?
By Cyane Crump, Elizabeth Kostelny, and Andrew Clark

Typically, big legislative packages are chock-full of reform measures targeting those things that are most important to Americans, such as jobs and growth. The tax reform package under consideration in Washington right now is no different. But this time ... something is missing.

Have you dined in a restaurant on Grace Street near Dominion Center Stage? Or sipped a craft beverage at a cidery or brewery in Scotts Addition? Or seen a performance at the National Theater or the Altria Theater? All of these places share a common thread: These old buildings were given renewed life through the Historic Tax Credit Program.

In 1986, President Ronald Reagans pro-growth tax code reforms included making permanent the Federal Historic Tax Credit. President Reagan described the program as a major innovation that would send tax dollars back into communities. He said the program made economic good sense and would benefit big cities and rural communities.

Now both houses of Congress are considering new tax reform bills that would eliminate or substantially reduce this proven federal tax incentive program.

What are historic tax credits? In essence, they are a public-private partnership leveraging private investment to achieve the dual goals of economic development and historic preservation. Want the simple version? This incentive program brings investment to rehabbing old buildings when traditional financing is not available. The owner/developer is required by the program to own the building for a minimum of five years  making this a program for investors interested in the long-term health of our local economies, providing stability, and improving safety by reinventing uses for old and abandoned buildings. The program also allows small owner-run businesses to find secure financing for projects.

Across the nation and over the life of the program, the historic rehabilitation tax credit (HTC) has created more than 2.4 million jobs and leveraged $131.8 billion in private investment. For every $1 the federal government provides, the private sector invests $4 of its own money. In Virginia, according to a study by VCUs Center for Urban and Regional Analysis (CURA), between 1997 and 2014, 2,350 projects resulted in nearly $4 billion in private investment that revitalized neighborhoods in Staunton, Rocky Mount, Roanoke, Norfolk, Marion and just about every county and city in the commonwealth.

Almost half of those projects occurred in Richmond and had a real and meaningful economic impact by:

Creating jobs:

These are jobs for plumbers, electricians, roofers, masons and others in the building trades. These projects were particularly important during the financial downturn when the construction industry overall suffered significant declines, but historic rehab activity suffered only a moderate decline and provided a softer landing for the Richmond economy than the free fall experienced elsewhere in the country.

Generating local tax revenue:

Take the National Theater as one example: Historic Richmond sold the National for $1.6 million in 2006. After completion of that tax credit project in 2009, it was assessed at more than $11 million, producing a significant increase in Richmonds property tax revenue.

Playing a catalytic role:

Historic rehabilitation projects act as catalysts to attract additional investment, most of which is not tax credit investment. When a revitalization project is successfully completed, residents move in, other developers make business decisions to invest in the neighborhood, and businesses open up. These projects represent private investment drawn to historic districts because of the revitalization nearby.

Causing a ripple effect:

Two studies to be released later this year will articulate the lasting impact of the program. Preservation Virginia and the Home Builders Association of Virginia organized with Baker Tilly, a national accounting firm, to evaluate the long-term benefits that come after the rehabilitation process and when vacant buildings are transformed into affordable housing and new  usually locally owned  businesses. VCUs CURA has undertaken a similar analysis for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

Both studies will quantify what we know intuitively: Without these tax credits, the revitalization in process in Jackson Ward, Scotts Addition, Manchester, as well as Church Hill, Union Hill, Northside and other neighborhoods would stall. Without these tax credits, projects involving significant civic buildings will not happen. Think of a Richmond without the Maggie Walker Governors School, the Byrd Theatre, the Hippodrome, the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Quirk Hotel, or the Jefferson Hotel. Without these tax credits, projects involving smaller residential and commercial structures will not happen. Think of a Richmond without a quarter of the single-family homes in Jackson Ward, without Philip Johnsons WRVA/ChildSavers Building, or without historic Hull Street.

Something is missing from this tax reform package. Eliminating the historic preservation tax credit will hurt Richmonds and Virginias ability to support development projects that provide affordable housing, revitalize business districts, and save old buildings. Instead, the historic rehabilitation tax credit program should be retained as a key part of tax reform. Lets make sure we dont lose our historic buildings along with the jobs and growth they stimulate.
What is being lost as Republicans  the number dwindling every day  defend Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore from allegations of sexually assaulting teenage girls?

There is a cost to defending Moore. Dont kid yourselves that there is no cost to it.

And something is lost. So what is it?

With a corrupt establishment political center collapsing of its own rotten weight and the left pulling one way and the right pulling another, it seems that politics is everything to us now.

Yes, we have our tribes, our rhetorical weaponry, and our mantras that we tweet at each other, again and again, until the words themselves begin to lose meaning. But politics isnt everything.

For the record, I believe the women who have accused Moore. And I think it would be best for the nation, for the U.S. Senate, and for the state of Alabama if Roy Moore just walked away and disappeared somewhere.

But as long as he fights this, even as more women come out with their accounts of what happened years ago and reports surface about how Moore, in his 30s, trolled shopping malls for teenage girls, there is the temptation for some in the GOP to defend him.

Unfortunately, that means casting doubt on the memories and the pain of the women giving their accounts of what happened when they were girls, some as young as 14 and 16, when Moore allegedly put his hands on them.

He calls all this a lie, threatens to sue The Washington Post, and says hes the victim of the Democrats and the establishment Republicans. His answers seem incomplete and remarkably thin.

Many of those still defending him, from Moore diehards in Alabama to those in the Breitbart sphere, cant stand the Democratic Washington political establishment, and they detest, perhaps even more, the Republican establishment. I understand their concerns. They see giving any credence to the stories about Moore as capitulation to their enemies.

But that is politics.

The one thing we dont lose in all of this is our vast reserves of political hypocrisy. American politics is incapable of running a hypocrisy deficit.

Speaking of which, remember when Democrats rallied around their big dog, then-President Bill Clinton? Feminists and other Democrats trashed and ridiculed women who dared go public with their allegations against the most powerful man in the world.

If you drag a hundred-dollar bill through a trailer park, you never know what youll find, said James Carville, one of the lead Clinton defenders, about Paula Jones.

That was the beginning of team Clintons nuts-and-sluts strategy.

Did the president have a sexual relationship with this young lady? No, said then Clinton aide Rahm Emanuel on CNN, talking of White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Did the president ask this young lady to lie? No, Emanuel continued. Thats what matters in a media frenzy about rumor and gossip. (Youve) got to get back down with the facts.

The White House was in chaos then. And Emanuel climbed chaos as if it were a ladder. These days, as mayor of Chicago, hes a wealthy and powerful man. So he didnt lose much. Hes too silky to take any blame.

But when it comes to politics and sexual predators, we know some facts. We know that Clinton was a sexual predator. His defenders  including his wife  protected him. The nation suffered.

And now, some 30 years later, the left has discovered that character counts, and that there should be some kind of reckoning.

Democrats had their chance. And many were silent and many others were loud and public in their trashing of women to benefit Clinton. And it appears that Roy Moore is a sexual predator as well. So, 30 years from now, will the Republicans who defend him remind us that character counts?

What is lost in all this isnt mere political advantage.

What is lost isnt the hysterical rantings of tribal partisans using the Moore allegations to trash the GOP while conveniently and cynically ignoring the Clinton history and the Democrats trashing women.

That kind of selective raving can be read on almost every news site now. All that is about is winning and shaming the other side. It brings no light.

Republicans see this, and they dig their heels in; they take their swings and the Democrats take their swings, and it gets even worse.

So what is lost when partisans are sent out to conveniently lie, to trash a woman for telling us what happened to her at the hands of powerful men?

And what happens when, in our desire to win at politics, we grab eagerly at such silky partisan lies and devour them as if they were nourishment in our political fights?

What is lost is decency.

America has lost too much decency already. We cant afford to lose any more.

So go away, Roy Moore. Just go away.
Maurys deeds were

indeed monumental

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

It is time to hear more about the people behind the statues that grace Monument Avenue. A recent Commentary column, Why we should save the Maury monument, told only part of the story.

Two of the Monument Avenue statues stand out from the others. The Arthur Ashe statue honors that local heros contributions. As for that strange round ball celebrating Virginia-born Matthew Maury as the Pathfinder of the Seas:

Maurys many good works include helping to found the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Virginia Tech) and the U.S. Naval Academy. He collected geological information in his book, Physical Survey of Virginia, (1868), providing Virginia miners and farmers with knowledge that helped to rebuild the commonwealth in the post-war years.

His strong voice led to creating the U.S. Naval Observatory, which today is a heavyweight contributor to the extremely precise time-keeping system behind the internet-based Network Time Protocol and the satellite-based Global Positioning System. All of which make it possible, for example, to time-stamp financial transactions accurately and land airplanes safely.

Most extraordinary of all was his vision to transform our traditional way of navigating by sea. Instead of setting course from one landmark to another, which often involved indirect voyages through hazardous waters, we could map the worlds sea and air currents  what Maury called tracks in the seas  and use this knowledge to travel faster and more safely.

Maurys ideas upended centuries of traditional thinking. He was opposed at almost every turn and yet he persisted, persuading sea captains throughout the world to adopt his template and crowd-source the needed observations for interpretation by Maurys small team at the Naval Observatory. And as the secrets of sea and air currents were revealed, this knowledge was circulated widely so everyone benefited.

Extraordinary achievements all, recognized and acknowledged by that strange round ball statue on Monument Avenue in Richmond.

Cmdr. Carl H. Otto, USN (retired).
Ben and Susie Rawles live in an elegant, antebellum house that overlooks the James River in the Chatham Hills subdivision in Henrico County, just west of the city line. Before the trees matured on the hill below the property, the view down to the river must have been striking.

During its early years, though, the property wasnt merely about the view. The house was part of a large farm, one of a handful that lined the river along the present-day Cary Street and River roads corridor. And the water played a central role in the homeowners daily lives.

Take me to the river

Today, we can climb into a car and drive relatively easily wherever we want, with only traffic and the occasional pothole to complain about.

Back in the early to mid-1800s, though, when the Rawless house was built, travel around Richmond wasnt that simple. Unpaved and poorly maintained roads could be difficult to navigate, especially in bad weather. To supplement them, many residents who lived outside the citys boundaries relied on the river as well as canals, which offered smooth travel around the James Rivers rock-strewn fall line.

That was the transportation system, said Kim Chen, principal planner with Richmonds Division of Planning and Preservation. Cary Street Road  then known as the Westham Plank Road  was there, but it could easily be described as unreliable.

The Kanawha Canal was the most prominent man-made water transport west of the city, and it carried goods such as tobacco from the western counties. It also carried travelers, who could catch rides on the canal boats that moved in and out of the city.

The James and its canals were so central to everyday life that many antebellum houses built along the rivers edge faced the river, Chen said.

That was true of the Rawless house, the footprint of which Susie Rawles said dates back to the first half of the 19th century, based on her research in deeds, wills and transfer records.

A single road cut from the current River Road and ended with a bridge at the edge of the property over the canal to what is now Rock Bottom, Rawles said.

The Chatham Hills subdivision came much later, after the streetcar lines began attracting homebuyers to the citys rapidly expanding West End. In the course of a couple decades, the area transformed from farmland to suburbia.

Chatham Hills was a part of that early transition.

A neighborhood takes shape

On July 19, 1916, the Richmond Times-Dispatch recorded a property transfer of a 50-acre parcel opposite Country Club of Virginia between River Road and Kanawha Canal, from A. W. Patterson et. al. to Chatham Hills Inc. That same year, Charles Gillette, who had recently overseen the landscape work for the present-day University of Richmonds campus, created a plat for the subdivision that included 30 lots and a loop road to be called Bridgeway Road. The streets name referred to the road that originally ran through the farm and crossed over the canal, Rawles said. (Today, the eastern half of the loop is called Kanawha Road.)

In 1923, a Times-Dispatch story about the growing demand for new residential construction noted that the last lots in Chatham Hills had sold, and that a number of houses had already been built, with several more to follow in the near future.

A further subdividing of land in 1930 expanded the development to include more lots along its River Road boundary, and the developer added Chatham Road (present-day Huntley Road) to the east, below River Road, Chen said.

Today, Chatham Hills has 29 houses. The subdivisions architectural styles include Colonial Revival, Dutch Colonial, French Country, Cape and Contemporary, said Sarah Mumford, a real estate agent with Long & Foster. Sizes range from 2,700 to 9,000 square feet, with lots ranging from a one-half acre to nearly 5 acres.

Among the architectural standouts are the houses at 5 Kanawha Road and 14 Kanawha Road. Both houses were designed by W. Duncan Lee and built in the early 1920s. Lee, perhaps Richmonds most prominent architect, also designed the nearby Tuckahoe Apartments and several exceptional houses in the West End as well as in the Fan and Museum districts. He also designed his own house at 12 Stonehurst Green, near the Country Club of Virginia.

Want to live in Chatham Hills?

In recent years, a generational turnover has made buying a home in Chatham Hills relatively easy, with 13 sales taking place between 2012 and 2016, said Lee Mumford, a real estate agent with Long & Foster. The average price for those 13 sales was $1.9 million. However, the market in the subdivision has tightened up, and only two have sold in the past year, he said. One of them was a private, non-MLS sale.

Patient homebuyers will be rewarded, Mumford said.

Chatham Hills is a compact, cohesive neighborhood that enjoys a close-in location with lower Henrico County taxes, he said. There is a certain amount of panache and exclusivity that makes it attractive to upper-end buyers.

_______________
Thanksgiving is shaping up to be quiet and cool for Richmond and the Mid-Atlantic region.

Central Virginia is most likely to start Thursday with a low near freezing, then reach a chilly high near 50 degrees under a mostly sunny sky.

It ought to be cooler than last year, when Thanksgiving came with a 63-degree high and some afternoon sunshine between morning clouds and evening fog.

The temperature details are still sketchy for the rest of the upcoming holiday weekend, but it looks like we can go ahead and rule out short-sleeve weather or any heavy precipitation.

The second half of the week looks predominately dry and seasonably cool, but some rain showers might dash from Virginia to New England on Tuesday night and Wednesday, and we might see some more on Saturday.

There certainly wont be a major rainmaker (or snowmaker) affecting the Eastern Seaboard on the holiday itself.

A shot of noticeably colder air may arrive in the Nov. 26 to Nov. 28 time frame, possibly making for a blustery finish to the holiday weekend or start of the next workweek.

The start of climatological winter is two weeks away on Dec. 1, and it still looks like the weather patterns over the United States will be influenced by the La Nina pattern in the Pacific Ocean.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration outlook for the December-through-February period was updated on Thursday, and it continues to show a slight tilt toward a warmer and drier than average winter in the coastal Southeast, including eastern Virginia.

But the monthly outlook for December itself doesnt show any kind of persistent characteristic in this region, because the forecast tools still portray a mix of colder, warmer and neutral possibilities.

That doesnt mean it wont get interesting at some point.

Its been some time since December has been a truly wintry month around here. That was 2010 to be exact.

My newspaper weather counterpart at The Roanoke Times, Kevin Myatt, recently observed that Roanoke hasnt had more than 0.3 inches of snow in the past six Decembers combined, when the December monthly average there is 3.5 inches.

Even with that tiny total, the Star City has us beat. There hasnt been any measurable snow at Richmond International Airport during December since 2010, though 2013 brought a glaze of ice and a trace of flakes to the metro area. That easily makes this the longest stretch of snowstorm-free Decembers for Richmond since records began in the late 1800s.

To echo Myatts analysis, its not hard to imagine that we could finally enjoy (or endure) a more typical December this time.

Richmonds average December snowfall is 2.1 inches, based on the 1981 to 2010 climatology. Speaking of lulls, the last official snow accumulation here in November was in 1991.

There was a close call in November 1996 when a 1- to 4-inch coating came down between Shenandoah National Park and the northern suburbs, but that was still 21 years ago. Historically, November snow accumulation happens here about once or twice per decade, though its usually an inch or less.

Obviously, its unusual for us to see the ground coated in white before Thanksgiving, but you could argue that were overdue for that as well.
Read on to find out why a Bihar high school student needed RTI and the media's help to get the state education board to give him a corrected marksheet.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: When the results of this year's Class X exams were announced, Dhananjay Kumar learned he'd scored 96/100 in Mathematics, 80/100 in Science, and 79/100 in Sanskrit.

But in Hindi? 2/100.

Dhananjay knew that couldn't be right. So he applied for a re-evaluation.

A month later, when re-evaluation results came out, nothing had changed. His score was still 2/100.

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But the boy from Rohtas was so sure the score was incorrect that he decided to use RTI. And when the Bihar State Education Board (BSEB) made a photocopy of his Hindi paper available, he was able to confirm what he already knew: He had scored 79 marks.

He then asked officials at the board's office to correct the marksheet, but in vain. He ran from pillar to post, but he didn't get what he wanted.

After facing harassment from the board, Dhananjay approached the media.

Aftew a few local outlets reported the story, the board - finally - gave Dhananjay the amended marksheet.

Dhananjay went through all this just weeks after another student, Priyanka Singh from Saharsa, learned she'd scored 9 out of 100 in Sanskrit.

She challenged the score in the Patna High Court. In this case, too, the BSEB had made a blunder, and was asked to pay a fine of Rs 5 lakh.

--- ENDS ---
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
CHRISTIANSBURG  Town officials are launching another search to fill its top municipal post.

The town is contracting with Richmond-based recruitment firm Springsted/Waters for $19,500 to renew the search for a permanent town manager. The decision, which the Town Council announced last week, comes after a previous search earlier this year yielded five finalists  but no hire.

Councilman Steve Huppert said council and some of the candidates can share the blame for the position still being unoccupied. He said councils busy schedule and other responsibilities may have caused the governing body to lag on decisions, which he said could have been the reason for some prospects backing away.

And weve had some problems finding the type of person were looking for, he said. Being pretty choosy, maybe too choosy.

Assistant Town Manager Randy Wingfield has been in the job on an interim basis. Council asked Wingfield to fill in after former Town Manager Steve Biggs died in April. Biggs had been on the job for less than a year.

Wingfield, whose salary was raised from $113,000 to $130,000, had applied for the permanent job.

For the first search, the town received 46 applications from Virginia and other states. Some of the applicants came from as far as Arizona and California. There were also applicants from Washington, D.C., and states such as Tennessee, West Virginia and North Carolina. Biggs himself had spent years as the Clayton, North Carolina, town manager before Christiansburg council hired him in 2016.

Christiansburg used Springsteds services  paying the firm $6,000  during its previous search.

Town spokeswoman Melissa Demmitt said council engaged the firm to submit interview questions to semi-finalists and perform preliminary background checks. After council identified five finalists, Springsted set up the interview schedule.

Whether or not any offer was made is a personnel issue that would have only been discussed in closed meetings, Demmitt wrote in an email.

Councilman Henry Showalter said his colleagues still need to carefully pick the next town manager.

What it boils down to is each of us needs to feel comfortable about who we select, he said. I want to feel totally comfortable in the person we choose. And we do have leadership in town hall who can still provide excellent service. We need to make sure we hire the right person.

Showalter said he also thinks that Councilwoman-elect Merissa Sachs needs to be involved in the decision-making. Sachs will take office on Jan. 1.
By PTI: Cuttack, Nov 18 (PTI) Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra today called upon the law graduates to keep abreast of the legal consequences of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the digital revolution sweeping the World.

Delivering the Fourth Convocation address of National Law University of Odisha (NLUO) here, the CJI said a lawyer should not only be adept in the traditional practice and procedures of law, but must keep up-to-date with the new and specialised fields of law.

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Referring to the wide acceptance of digital modes of payments in the country now, he said the footprint of technology is expanding and virtually redefining our working and lifestyles.

"You all are going to enter the manifold streams where law is needed, when the country is rapidly pushing digitisation in almost every walk of life", the CJI said.

He was addressing the students in the presence of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Justice Amitav Roy of the Supreme Court, Orissa High Court Chief Justice Vineet Saran, who is also the Chancellor of the University and the vice chancellor of the University Srikrishna Deva Rao.

On the recent debate of allowing foreign law firms to enter the Indian market, the CJI told the law graduates that their role would become increasingly important and indispensable.

"With your calibre, you would stand firm guarding the interest of Indian lawyers and ensure that you can offer equally competitive legal services to Indian as well as foreign parties," he said.

"If there is indeed one profession which contributed the most in the fight for Independence and played the most significant part in bringing about national awakening and political consciousness, it has been the profession of law," he said.

Justice Misra said students must be pondering today which field of law (litigation, corporate or teaching) is more lucrative, and which direction would lead them to success.

"Do not think of lucrative in mere terms of material gain, and do not restrict your mind to think of success as a status symbol. The first step is to recognise where your passion lies.

"Do a soul search and decide where you can give your best in terms of betterment of the society and downtrodden--only that should be your path and destination! That should be your fundamental aim of a lawyer," he said.

Justice Misra said learning is a continuous process and it should not end on the graduation day.

He quoted educational reformer and philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurthy, "There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning."

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A total of 145 students were conferred with the degrees, out of which 114 received dual degrees of BA LLB and BBA LLB, 30 received LLM degrees and one scholar was awarded with PhD. PTI CORR SKN RG AAR

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) The Dean of Diplomatic Corps, who represents the voice of over 150 foreign missions in India, today conveyed concerns to the external affairs ministry over the citys air pollution and its adverse impact on health of the diplomats and their families.

Frank Hans Dannenberg Castellanos, the Dean, met senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), including Chief of Protocol Sanjay Verma, and told them that the air pollution is affecting daily operations at some of the missions.

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"The diplomatic community had asked me to share some of our concerns with officials of the Ministry of External Affairs, about air pollution in New Delhi, and how (it) is affecting the inflow of tourism from some of our countries and the daily operations of some of the missions," he said in a media release.

At the same time, Castellanos said the diplomatic community completely understands that this is an issue that affects 22 million people living in Delhi. He said it needs to be addressed for the better future of all people and not only the diplomatic community.

"We all breathe the same air," he said.

On his meeting with Verma, Castellanos said the Chief of Protocol has taken note of the concerns of the diplomats and their families.

"He said that these concerns are understandable and a challenge to all," said Castellanos.

Castellanos said he and Verma hoped that the outcome of the efforts of both Central and local governments will bring "rapid and positive results", not only for the diplomats but also for every citizen living in Delhi.

The release said Verma assured the Dean of Diplomatic Corps that the government was according the matter top priority, adding the conditions are historically not unique to India.

It said Verma conveyed the governments commitment to dealing with the issue, including learning from best practices from countries that have "traversed this experience".

The release quoted Verma as saying that the unusual deterioration in the quality of air is a product of multiple causes, most of which are indeed domestic, but have also been aggravated by a dust storm from a "distant geography".

He said the "simultaneous aggregation" of these cases has led to an environmental challenge, which the government is determined to "address and ameliorate".

Due to high pollution levels in the national capital, many diplomats have been forced to move out of Delhi. Some of the missions have taken a series of steps to deal with the situation including installing air purifiers.

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In a personal blog post, Ambassador of Costa Rica to India Mariela Cruz Alvarez said, "This past week the levels of pollution in Delhi reached impossible numbers. The consequences of breathing this air I had no idea--until I reached Bangalore and my system collapsed." PTI PYK/MPB SK

--- ENDS ---
Last year, too, soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the note ban, Thaler indicated that he didn't think the Rs 2,000 note was a great idea.

By India Today Web Desk: Nobel-winning economist Richard Thaler thinks the rollout of demonetisation was "deeply flawed," and that the the Rs 2,000 note "makes the motivation for the entire exercise puzzling."

That's what Thaler told a student, Swaraj Kumar, in an e-mail last month. The University of Chicago professor re-tweeted this screenshot of his message.

This is what @R_Thaler told @swarajkumar224 on demonetisation. Those sharing an old cherry picked tweet of Thalers do take note. pic.twitter.com/P2rNE6Um02- Rupa Subramanya (@rupasubramanya) October 15, 2017

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Last year, soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the note ban, Thaler hinted that he didn't think the Rs 2,000 note was a great idea.

In an initial tweet, he said the voiding of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes was "a first step towards cashless and a good start on reducing corruption."

But when he was told new high-denomination bills would be introduced, he tweeted, "Really? Damn."

WATCH | Arun Jaitley at India Today Conclave Next 2017: Every structural reform like demonetisation will have consequences

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Berlin, Nov 18 (PTI) Owning a dog is associated with a reduced risk for cardiovascular disease and death, a study claims.

Scientists looked at over 3.4 million individuals aged between 40 and 80 years to study the association between dog ownership and cardiovascular health during the 12-year follow-up.

The results showed that single dog owners had a 33 per cent reduction in risk of death and 11 per cent reduction in risk of cardiovascular disease compared to single non-owners, according to the study published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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"A very interesting finding in our study was that dog ownership was especially prominent as a protective factor in persons living alone, which is a group reported previously to be at higher risk of cardiovascular disease and death than those living in a multi-person household," said Mwenya Mubanga, from the Uppsala University in Sweden.

"Another interesting finding was that owners to dogs from breed groups originally bred for hunting were most protected," Mubanga said.

The study suggested that higher level of physical activity and increased well-being are some of the reasons why dog owners have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

"These kind of epidemiological studies look for associations in large populations but do not provide answers on whether and how dogs could protect from cardiovascular disease.

"We know that dog owners in general have a higher level of physical activity, which could be one explanation to the observed results. Other explanations include an increased well-being and social contacts or effects of the dog on the bacterial microbiome in the owner," said Tove Fall, from the Uppsala University. PTI SNE SNE

--- ENDS ---
Human Rights Ministry blames Saudi-led coalition for crimes in Aden





SANAA, Nov. 18 (Saba) - The Human Rights Ministry held Saudi-led aggression coalition states responsible for the crimes and violations they commit directly or through supporting terrorist groups in Aden province and in occupied provinces.



In a statement, which was issued on Wednesday, the ministry called the United Nations and all its various organizations to assume responsibility towards all crimes and violations committed against Yemeni people in general and against the people of Aden province and the southern provinces in particular.



The statement pointed out that terrorist groups perpetrated suicide bombings and assassinations in Aden and other provinces with encouragement and support of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and the last of which was the suicide attack against soldiers at the headquarters of Institutions Guarding in al-Mansoura district that killed six and injured 25 others.



Growing of terrorist and criminal acts under the Emirati occupation and the aggression coalition states in the southern and northern Yemeni provinces had led to losing all human rights therein, the ministry said.



The ministry urged representatives of the United Nations, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and international organizations operating in Yemen to pay field visits to get acquainted with the brutality of the crimes committed by the aggression coalition states and their mercenaries and armed terrorist groups.



It also called, in its statement, on the international community to stop supporting the armed groups and respect the sovereignty of Yemen in accordance with the rules and provisions of the United Nations Charter and international and regional conventions and charters.



The ministry renewed the call for the formation of an independent and impartial international commission to investigate all violations and crimes committed by the aggression against the people of Yemen.



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[18/November/2017]
The decision was taken to "remind our students of (the) freedom struggle, and the name does not cater to any specific communal ideology," the college's principal said.

By Pooja Shali: A controversial decision to rename Delhi University's Dyal Singh Evening College 'Vande Mataram Morning College' was taken "collectively and without pressure from any political individual," the college's principal said on Saturday.

It was taken "to remind our students of (the) freedom struggle," Pawan Kumar Sharma told India Today.

The name, he said, "does not cater to any specific communal ideology."

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"The change is not merely of name but the new college will also benefit with better infrastructure and new courses. We have been promised separate funds by the ministry (HRD)," he added.

"I hope students would understand the significance of this historic move."

The vice-chancellor is expected to approve the change next week, and college authorities are eager to make a fresh start.

UNANIMOUS SUPPORT

The college's students seem to be unanimous in their support for the move.

"We feel more placement agencies would now approach us and university will offer new courses. We do not mind the name change if we are provided more opportunities," said a student.

"We do not feel any nationalist narrative being imposed. We welcome the move, especially for girls, who wanted to shift to morning," said another.

"We have expressed support because we realize the struggle to change the college structure had been on for several years now and finally bore fruit," said Dr. Bhavna Pandey, a faculty member in the Department of Economics.

"This will provide better quality and infrastructure to our students and we shall not be at the mercy to seek permission each time from morning college administration."

Dayal Singh evening college, to change to Vande Mataram morning college. Interestingly, most students agree and support the proposal at Delhi University. pic.twitter.com/ThUg0QONch- Pooja Shali (@PoojaShali) November 18, 2017

DIVISION OF RESOURCES

Meanwhile, students of Dyal Singh Morning College are angry. But it's not so much the name change as the division of resources that has made them unhappy.

"All are resources will be snatched once the college premises is demarcated. Our library space will be reduced to minimal and (the) existing auditorium is also shifting to that side," said a second year student.

"Our objection is not to the name change but the removal of our resources."

"I am a sportsperson and our ground, already restricted, would be given away to (the) new college. Where do we practice? Where are we expected to practice or prepare for upcoming events?" asked Kasheesh, another student.

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Dyal Singh Morning College students are expected to organize protests on Monday against the proposed decision.

'PATRIOTIC' NAME CHANGE

Chairperson of the Governing body Amitabh Sinha, the BJP leader who spearheaded the campaign for the new name, announced the decision in an elaborate social media post. He said the name change was patriotic, and that a long struggle to provide the evening college with better amenities had borne fruit.

The National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the Congress' student wing, said the BJP was imposing nationalism on students.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the BJP was still stuck in the past, instead of making efforts to create a better future for the students.

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Mumbai, Nov 18 (PTI) A former model has alleged that her husband put pressure on her to convert to Islam and when she resisted he physically assaulted her and asked her to leave the house.

Police said it was investigating the angle of love jihad and a case was registered against her husband and his friend, whom she alleged had molested her.

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The 42-year-old woman, at a press conference in suburban Bandra yesterday, showed injury marks, which she claimed, were inflicted by her husband when she refused to change her religion.

A video in which she was crying and levelling allegations against her husband also went viral on the social media. It also contained the statement given to the police.

"My husband recently married a Hindu girl who is half his age. He is now trying to evict me from our home. Im a Hindu by birth and did not give into his pressure to convert to Islam," the victim is heard saying in the video.

The victim claimed she married the accused 12 years ago.

"At that time my husband told me there was no need to convert to Islam. But, he started building pressure so that I follow Islam, especially after I gave birth to a child," she alleged.

She claimed that her husband said if she did not change her religion, she would cease to be his wife. "My husband brainwashed my son and is not allowing me to even touch him. I want my child," she claimed.

The former model alleged her husband threatened to kill her if she sought the help of the police and added that "they speak about love jihad all the time".

She alleged that on November 17 her husband asked her to leave the house. When she asked the reason, he said "such things" would happen if she did not embrace Islam.

The woman, in a statement to the police, also claimed a friend of her husband molested her.

When contacted, a senior police official said the angle of love jihad was being investigated.

"The victim was assaulted by her husband and his friend. We have registered an offence of assault and molestation," he said.

"We are also investigating the love jihad angle. It is part of our investigation," Assistant Commissioner of Police (Bandra Division) Sanjay Kadam told PTI.

Love jihad is a term coined by some Hindu groups for alleged efforts to get non-Muslim girls to convert to Islam through love affairs.

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Following her complaint, a case under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code was lodged against her husband and his friend, police said.

A comment from her husband was not immediately available. PTI DC NRB RSY AAR

--- ENDS ---
Google on Saturday celebrated the 116th birth anniversary of renowned Indian filmmaker, actor and writer Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre, famed as 'V. Shantaram', alias Annasaeb.

A colourful doodle depicts Shantaram's pensive profile, with an iconic old movie camera of the early filmmaking era, stills from a Marathi film, and his two later blockbusters, "Do Aankhen Bara Haath" and "Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje".

Shantaram was born on November 18, 1901 in a Marathi Jain family in Kolhapur in Maharashtra.

He started acting at the age of 20 in a silent film -- barely seven years after the legendary Dhundiraj Govind Phalke alias Dadasaheb Phalke created Indian cinema history with his first feature film "Raja Harishchandra" (1913).

Later, the multifaceted Shantaram not only continued acting but also went into film-making, and made his mark in acting, producing-directing, scripting Marathi and later Hindi films.

Over the years, he acted in films like "Surekha Haran" (1921), "Sinhagad" (1923), "Savkari Pash" (1925), "Parchhain" (1952), "Stree" (1961), besides the globally-acclaimed "Do Aankhe Bara Haath" (1957) and "Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani" (1946) -- the latter considered a tribute to Indo-Chinese friendship.

Other major films included "Duniya Na Mane" (1937), "Padosi" (Marathi-Hindi, 1941), "Dahej" (1950), "Amar Bhopali" (1951), "Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje" (1955), "Pinjra" (Marathi-Hindi, 1972/1973) among others.

He was among the earliest to realise the power of the film medium to convey social messages effectively which he utilised to the hilt.

Shantaram made films woven around such powerful themes, interspersed with good acting and music, through the Prabhat Films which he founded in 1929 in Kolhapur, and later through the Rajkamal Kalamandir.

Accordingly, Shantaram's films tackled wide-ranging subjects like the rigid caste system, dowry menace, communal harmony, socio-economic divides, gaps between the rich-poor, etc., all of which are still relevant today.

At one time another legendary actor filmmaker Charlie Chaplin had described Shantaram's "Manoos" (1939) as one of the most interesting Indian classic films.

A 'formist-social drama', it told the story of an honest policeman's love for a prostitute and his attempt to reform and rehabilitate her by marrying her, but how society did not approve of the relationship which ultimately ended in misery.

In his sterling career spanning nearly six decades, Shantaram was involved with more than 55 films, several of them top blockbusters of that era and bagging some of the topmost honours and accolades.

He was conferred the coveted Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1985 and in 1992, the country's second highest civilian honour, Padma Vibhushan, posthumously.

Shantaram was married thrice including first to Vimla, and had three children - Prabhat, Saroj and Charusheela.

Later he married actress Jaishree Kamulkar through whom he had three children, including Marathi actor-filmmaker Kiran Shantaram, renowned Hindi film actress Rajshree and Tejashree.

His third wife was his former co-actress Vijaya Deshmukh alias Sandhya, his co-star in several films including "Jal Bin Machhli, Nritya Bin Bijlee" and "Do Aankhen Bara Haath".

Shantaram introduced his daughter Rajashree and a young boy Jeetendra (Kapoor) in "Geet Gaya Patharon Ne". Both went onto become legendary stars.

He passed away in Mumbai on October 30, 1990, aged 88.

Later, the central and state government instituted the 'V. Shantaram Award', besides other awards in his name by various organisations to honour people excelling in different branches of filmmaking.
By PTI: Mumbai, Nov 18 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and opposition leaders today hailed the verdict in the Kopardi rape and murder case and sought stringent punishment for the convicts.

A court in Ahmednagar in western Maharashtra, convicted three men for raping and murdering a 15-year-old girl in Kopardi village in 2016, which had sparked huge protests across the state, especially from the Maratha community.

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Fadnavis alleged that all possible attempts were made to derail and slowdown the pace of the Kopardi gang-rape case, and he hoped that stringent punishment is awarded to the convicts.

"Justice has been served today to the sister who was brutally assaulted and killed. We cannot bring our sister back, but after the culprits are awarded punishment, nobody in the future will dare to do such a thing and there will be fear of law among such people," he told reporters here.

"I hope the strictest possible punishment is awarded to the convicts. I thank our lawyer Ujjwal Nikam ji (the special public prosecutor in the case) because he ensured the case came to a conclusion as early as possible.

"The lawyer of the accused made all possible attempts to derail the case, but Ujjwal Nikam ji thwarted all such attempts," Fadnavis said.

Expressing satisfaction over the verdict, Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan said that the incident was a blot on the rich culture of the state.

"Looking at the gravity of the incident, the perpetrators should be given the most stringent punishment so that it serves as a lesson to others and such incidents are not repeated," Chavan said in a statement here.

State NCP chief Sunil Tatkare demanded capital punishment for all the three convicts.

"This incident was unfortunate and one that has tarnished the rich cultural heritage of the state. Hence, all the three should be awarded capital punishment," the former minister said.

The victim, who belonged to the Maratha community, was found killed after being raped on July 13, 2016. PTI MM RSY ANB

--- ENDS ---
The makers of "Padmavati" have rued how the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is "looking the other way" due to which they are compelled to show the movie at other platforms.

"What an irony, those who are supposed to watch are looking the other way and we have to run around and show it at other forums to 'clear' it," tweeted Ajit Andhare, Chief Operating Officer, Viacom18 Motion Pictures.

The banner has produced "Padmavati", scheduled to release on December 1, with Bhansali Productions and it will distribute the film in India.

The censor board has reportedly sent back the film's application for certification, citing that it is incomplete.

Meanwhile, senior journalists Rajat Sharma and Arnab Goswami said on Friday that they have watched the movie and didn't find anything that could hurt the sentiments of the Rajput community.

Andhare further wrote: "Can screen to responsible individuals who feel aggrieved. Please come, see it yourself, nothing to hide, put an end to this saga. Let's celebrate our heritage."

"We can do it tomorrow itself, we want them to stand with us support the film it celebrates Rajput pride. We have been saying from beginning... Film just finished few days back," he added in a series of posts late on Friday night.

"Padmavati" is Bhansali's professed tribute to the valour and sacrifice of Rajput queen Rani Padmavati. Various Rajput organisations have demanded the movie's release be stalled and have threatened the director and the film's lead actress Deepika Padukone.

"We must appreciate that government has really gone out of the way to provide security to Sanjay and Deepika," Andhare tweeted thanking Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leaders have given the Congress party a 24-hour deadline to declare their stand on the reservation status for the community.

As the Congress leaders are under pressure and busy over selection of candidates for the Gujarat Assembly elections, there seems to be trouble brewing as the PAAS convenors, who had been called to New Delhi for talks with senior leaders, are reportedly unhappy.

The PAAS leaders had flown to New Delhi on Friday to hold talks with Congress leaders regarding their demand of granting reservation status to the Patidar community.

However, it was unclear whether the deadlock was over the reservation issue or over PAAS' demand for seats.

Dinesh Bamania, convener of PAAS, claimed that Gujarat Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki initially had a brief meeting with them and told them that there would be a detailed meeting again after the Congress Central Election Committee's meeting got over.

"However, even after the CEC meeting got over, they have not met us and Solanki is not picking up our calls. This is an insult to us," he said.

After the waiting, Bamania, after speaking to PAAS leader Hardik Patel, has reportedly given an ultimatum to the Congress to declare its stand on the reservation status within 24 hours or else face opposition.

The PAAS group has earlier made known its opposed stance to the ruling BJP in Gujarat in the coming elections.
People of Samoa will continue to struggle if the government doesnt do anything to address the expensive cost of living.

This is the belief of Ioane Lelevaga, 62, from the Village of Vaitele-Uta.

Mr. Lelevaga is a father of five who believes the government is not considering the struggle the Samoan people are experiencing every day.

Mr. Lelevaga was on his way back to his plantation in Tanugamalala when the Village Voice team met him yesterday.

He said his family depended on their plantation in Tanugamalala.

My family depends on our plantation. We get some money from it and it is also our source of food, he said.

I am heading there now to do some work and my kids will be there after school and then we can come home together.

Mr. Lelevaga said the cost of transportation was also expensive.

This is ridiculous because everything is going up and it includes the cost of transportation with buses and taxis.

If you are planning to go anywhere, you have to make sure that your money will be enough because I am telling you it is hard to survive now because of the expensive cost of living.

He also mentioned the expensive cost of food in our local shops and supermarkets.

If we take a really good look at it, back then the bread was just $1 but now it is $2 and even the fish cans are getting expensive than the chicken.

Lucky now we have Chinese businesses that are making things affordable for us but the reality is that is it very expensive.

Mr. Lelevaga added the government should address the expensive cost of living because it is a cause of struggle in many homes nowadays.
By Ashish Pandey: Special Operations Team (SOT) sleuths of Rachakonda, Telangana busted a gang involved in an international credit card duplication scam and arrested five persons.

police have recovered 16 point-of-sale (POS) machines, a magnetic card reader and cash from their possession. They managed to swindle foreign banks of Rs 30 lakh by using POS machines with international transaction facility.

The suspects were identified as Ayyappan (30) from Tamil Nadu, P Raghavendra (32) from Ongole (Andhra Pradesh), Pallecherla Vamshi Krishna (25) from Kothapet (Hyderabad), Challa Bhaskar Rao (43) from Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), and Sidhula Bhaskar (45) from Vanasthalipuram (Rangareddy). The main accused, Ayyappan and Raghvendra, are IT engineers and are extremely tech-savvy.

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Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat told India Today that the gang only targeted foreigners and international credit cards so that they could avoid getting caught. They were involved in the scam for the past three months. However, their luck ran out when a merchant and owner of a POS machine complained about suspicious activity of the gang members. It was then that the SOT swung into action and nabbed the accused.

"This is the first time we have come across a racket where the gang targeted international credit cards without pin numbers. The two main accused are highly educated and tech-savvy. Raghavendra had even published some of his articles in a Delhi journal. They would purchase data of credit card holders from the Darknet and later created duplicate cards," Bhagwat said.

Ayyappan worked as a commission agent and became a member of ICQ app (an instant messaging app) where he joined various groups and became friends with various users. It was here that he learnt how to duplicate cards and managed to procure a cloning device (MSR606) off an e-commerce website.He would purchase data of international credit cards from various sources especially from USA, UK and Australia as well as through various internet sites and open sources. The same information was then shared via the ICQ app.

After receiving this data, he would then validate it on a BIN (bank identification number) checker app. The data would include information of cards such as the BIN type, bank, card type and the country of that card.

He would then send the details to Raghavendra via WhatsApp. Raghavendra would write all this information onto empty magnetic cards like promotional cards of Big Bazaar, Reliance Digital, Shoppers Stop, etc. by using the MSR 606 magnetic card writer.

--- ENDS ---
Every village has laws and regulations that villagers must abide by.

While they are largely there to keep the peace and maintain harmony in different villages, they also prepare people to be better in terms of representing the villages in the wider community.

Siaosi Muliaga, from Leauvaa village, shared this view yesterday.

He believes the existence of the Village Council and the laws they provide and monitor is a critical part of Samoan life.

He is afraid to imagine what life in Samoa would be like without matai leadership.

In Leauvaa, anybody who does not follow the law that has been laid down by the village council will face the consequences, he said.

He added Leauvaa, like any other village, strongly maintains its culture and way of life.

The 23-year-old believes this is one way to prevent chaos.

This has been a way to control the youths within our village, he said.

As we can see most of the youth nowadays, some of them are out of control and they lack respect for the elders and other people.

Siaosi stated that laws are in place to guide behaviour. This includes measures to prohibit drunken behaviour in public, making noise and dating a church ministers daughter.

He said if the village was in order then everything they do will reflect a better society in the future.

Siaosi says it is vital that we listen to each other because if we dont then there will be problems.

Despite the high cost of living, he said he would rather live in a peaceful environment than in one where life was affordable but had problems in the community.

Siaosi said only two of his family members were working to support them.
Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaois government has moved to amend the Constitution once more in relation to the position of the Head of State. But the change has given rise to suggestions that since anyone is now eligible to become the Head of State, is it not time to consider changing the title from Head of State to Governor General. What do you think? Ioana Tupai asked in todays Street Talk and this is what people said:

Asafo Keti, Salani Falealili

The government has made so many changes in relation to this role. I do not support calling our Head of State a Governor General.

Governor General is how the American Samoa people call their head of government but for us we should never use that term for our Head of State. Given the ranking of the position, we should respect it by continuing to appoint the Tama Aiga title holders to the role.

Michael Tamanikaiyoroi, Aleisa

I dont support the suggestion to use Governor General. I prefer the Head of State, it is more stately and demands more honour. Looking back at history, no one was eligible before unless you hold a tama aiga title. It should stay that way.

Talimalama Tenari, Salesatele Falealili

I do not understand why such changes have been made to the Head of States role. I dont mind calling it Governor General because that reflects there is no more honour given to the title. I dont understand why the government keeps changing things. It was okay before and there was no problem, why change it?

Lemanaia Simone, Luatuanuu

Looking at the number of changes they have made in relation to the Head of State, I agree they might as well call him Governor General. Im sad because the integrity of the role has been badly affected. Im of the belief that only Tama Aiga titleholders should qualify. Otherwise if they have changed, they should change it completely then.

Foutanu Maiai, Saoluafata

Its sad because in my view, there is no honour that comes with the Head of State and that is largely due to the many changes that have been done to it. It has become just another political appointment which is not how it was. The Head of State has always been above politics but now they are talking about limiting the terms, why dont they do the same for political positions then? I also agree that if they have changed the laws so much, they might as well call it a Governor General.

Aitasi Ugapo Aumua, Manunu

There is merit to the argument that the title should be changed. I listened on the radio, see on television and read in newspapers that a lot of the changes have been brought forward. So to me, if they have changed it to the point where the original Constitution can hardly be recognised anymore, they should change it completely then. Otherwise, I strong urge the government to go back to the beginning when only Tama Aiga title holders can qualify.

Ene Taliaoa, Vaitele-uta

We have just elected a new Head of State and now these changes? In my view, why dont we just change everything and not to use the Head of State title anymore but call it the Governor General. Before there was so much respect and honour for the role but now a lot of amendments have been made to the Constitution that has made the role barely recognizable. The foundation has been changed and its very sad. The question is, are these changes necessary? I guess time will tell.
Dear Editor,

O le alagaupu masani O le Alai le Pule o le Tautua o loo tumau pea ona laulauviviluai Samoa aemaise i lana aganuu o le tuu faasoloina o le pule e ala i suafa matai. Aepeitaiona o suiga o nisi o faigauaiaineii lea agaifanua, ua foliga mai ua ala ga tatau ona faaopoopo iai, pe suia foi, i le faaupuga faafeagai O le Alai le Tautua o le Pule. E iaini pine faamau e lagolagoina ai lea manatu ma suiga.

Note: To avoid the apparent ambiguities from the use of the word tautua  in the article, heres a guide on its different traditional connotations:

a. (n.) service/s rendered by the non-titleholder to the titleholder (pre-title/authority) or titleholder to the family (post-title/authority).

b. (n.) the person rendering the service/s.

c. (v.) the act of rendering the service/s.

The connotations will be noted parenthetically using the above (a,b,c) designations.

In the traditional succession to become a matai (chief/titleholder) in the Samoan culture, the process is best summed up by the maxim O le alai le pule o le tautua, (The path to authority/leadership is through service.) In other words, for one to become a matai, he/she needs to have tautua (c) (served) the incumbent matai for an unspecified amount of time. Only then will the tautua (b) be bequeathed a title or the title of the incumbent or previous matai. The system is closely akin to the vassal-lord relationship of the feudal system during the Middle Ages. For the Samoans, however, their validation is often drawn from the Bibles ...and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant, (Matt. 20:27; 23:11 - KJV). The verses are actually misinterpreted by the Samoans, but more on that later.

And so I now submit that the idea and belief in the traditional tautua (a), as the bona fide prerequisite for the bestowment of the pule (authority) by becoming a matai, is fading and eroding. Instead its the pule that is now prior, and which entitles and empowers one to tautua (c); hence the proposed maxim: The path to service is through authority,(O le alai le tautua o le pule). One only needs to observe and study the current trend of matai title bestowals to confirm this hypothesis. Though the principle in the new maxim has a universal nuance, the concept is treated, here, mostly within the context of Samoas matai system.

The proposed contravening version/maxim may be considered radical by some, deemed controversial, if not offensive by others or heretical and blasphemous by traditionalists. Proponents, on the other hand, if any, may understand the dichotomy but reluctant to agree for one reason or another. Still others understand and agree but maybe through a conditional or relative approach only. Notwithstanding, the newer maxim has its merits. It is a reflection of the evolution and changes within Samoas socio-political culture driven mainly by economic and other forces. The tautua (a/c) is now considered and valued more in the post-title/authority context and not the traditional pre-title/authority one.

The Traditional Tautua

During the pre-contact times, as well as the early post-contact years, matai succession - through the bequeathment of titles - was granted to the individual who was rendering the tautua (a). More often than not, it was a designated taulealea (non-titleholder). If more than one individual played a role in rendering the tautua (a), usually the most worthy and deserving was to become the next matai. The primogeniture factor was an exception, not necessarily the rule.

The traditional tautua (a) involved primarily the taking care of the matai. This meant that the tautua (b), had to make sure that the matai is well-fed, met his obligations to the village administration, as well as his dues to the church. The tautua (b) therefore is a person of agility, skill, hard work, dexterity, etc. In other words he should have the skills of a farmer, a fisherman, a craftsman and a cook. Incidentally, food preparation and culinary skills have become the standard metaphor for assessing ones traditional worthiness and fitness to become a matai. The main query - lighthearted yet oftentimes serious - used in the assessment was/is Uapusasauumu?(Have you cooked using the umu method?) It basically means, Have you performed the required traditional tautua?

The umu is the traditional earth oven method that uses heated rocks to cook the food. It is a daily chore and considered an arduous and strenuous task, especially because of the intense heat and smoke involved. Hence another companion expression and query used in the same evaluation, Ua mu oumata? (Have you had bloodshot eyes?) is an expression with direct reference to the effects of the heat and smoke from cooking using an open fire. Other responsibilities of an effective tautua (c) include fishing, planting, weaving, building and orating. Although a taulealea does not give chiefly speeches, he still orates the folafolaga (announcing) of any sua (food gifts) presented to the matai, as well as specific announcements during an ava ceremony. Most of these responsibilities of the taulealea are learned as an understudy and member of the aumaga (guild of untitled men in a village). The aumaga is an important phase of the taulealeas traditional progression to becoming a matai and its where he observes the chiefly protocols, listens and learns the art of traditional oratory.

In the eventual and successful completion of the traditional tautua (a), the taulealea/tautua (b) awaits his reward of being the rightful successor to the matai title. He has dutifully earned it and endorsed by the consensus of the aiga (extended family). Once he ascends to the position of being the matai, he assumes the role of a presider and administrator, or captain. The expression uasaoimatau (hes made it to the starboard side) is used to describe the saofai (title installation). In canoeing/boating, the starboard side is the right side of the canoe. It is the steering side. So when one becomes the matai, hes actually at the place where he becomes the one who steers his aiga. Faafotu o vaaalii (launching of the chiefs boat) often shortened to just faafotu is another idiom that describes the saofai, and also based on the nautical and seafaring traditions of the Samoans. It refers to the new matai who is about to be initiated and join the ranks of the alii (chiefs) or captains.

In some instances, a taulealea, having circumvented the traditional tautua, may still end up as the titleholder because of the so-called proxy tautua (c) claim by the members of his side of the aiga. These members - including parents, grandparents and others - will put forth a claim during title discussions and deliberations that their candidates tautua (c) has been rendered by them for years on his behalf and they want to cede the title to their son, daughter or other family member. Sometimes if not done civilly and mutually, some do it aggressively if not audaciously. Some such cases usually end up in the Land and Titles Court for settlement and resolution.

The New Trend

Within the last few decades, the newer and more popular trend has been the conferring of titles on those who have not, or even get close to having made a umu or had bloodshot eyes from the umu. Instead, these new or modern matai have largely been those wielding, as qualifications, a good education, hence a good-paying job and, naturally, a well-off socioeconomic status. These individuals have avoided and circumvented the traditional tautua - including the aumaga phase - either by having been raised outside the village (usually in town or abroad) or having spent most of their lives pursuing their educational and career goals. The common qualification for these nouveau matai, again, is relative wealth and thus being better off socioeconomically. It is therefore not uncommon for a lawyer, a CEO, or other professional to become the primary choice in an aigasmatai line of succession. Sometimes, the aiga would just petition or invite such a well-off individual to accept a title, or the main family title, even without any prior traditional tautua (a) or other form of it. He then becomes a non-traditional matai who lacks oratorical skills as well as the common traditional and social etiquette and upbringing.

For the aiga part in this new design, it basically looks to someone who can - according to the traditional motto - tausi ma tautua (c) le aiga (take care of, and serve, the family) but in the more modern context. The new matai who has the means and resources would then be expected to help during faalavelave (hardships) and other aiga or village obligations. For example, when the aiga takes a sii (traditional gift usually in the form of monies and fine mats) to a faalavelave, the aiga expects their new matai to shoulder much of the necessities for the sii, especially the monetary part. The aiga therefore seems to prefer the conferring of the pule first and thereafter let the new matai start rendering the tautua (a). In other words, its pule first, and tautua (c) after.

In another instance, I have heard of an aiga whose paramount title succession has been delayed and stalled because the aiga was still waiting and looking for an heir who has the means to rebuild the crumbling and dilapidated faletalimalo (guest house) at the matais main/official residence. By todays standards such a project can easily be in the thousands of dollars. Again its cases like these that the pule is given to one who is able to tautua (c). The path to tautua is through the pule. Simply put, once you have the authority, your duty is to serve. This is the more correct interpretation/meaning of the scripture: ...and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant, (Matt. 20:27; 23:11 - KJV). The context of the verses describes Christ as being the ideal - he was the greatest, the master and chief (The Matai), and yet he descended to the level of being a servant, serving others. The new trend therefore is more in line with the scriptures.

Motive and Incentive

What has engendered and inspired the so-called new trend? Modern economics, basically, is the obvious answer. The units and measure of wealth have shifted from being agrarian-based to strictly being capital/money-based; which in turn, ironically, have also shifted the role of the modern matai from being served to serving.

But perhaps the more obvious question now is, what is the motive and incentive for these new/modern matai in desiring - sometimes coveting - and holding these titles? The answer, of course, is to tautua (c) and tausi le aiga - to serve, essentially, though with suspect. This motive and mandate is often sanctioned and voiced by church ministers when they pronounce blessings on the new matai on the day of their saofai. Part of the prayer is an admonition and reminder to the new matai that the title gives him a mandate to, verbatimly, tausi le aiga. But to some observers, however, this enthusiasm and desire by the new matai to hold the family title may be honorable at best but surreptitious and opportunistic at worst. Some of these new matais see the opportunity - especially as holders of higher-ranking titles - more as a means to an end, mostly as a stepping stone to political ambitions starting with being a Member of Parliament (MP) whose main eligibility requirement is a matai title. It is the law. Certainly the attractive comprehensive compensation, perks and fringe benefits for government officials as well as the accompanied status of being one are also major lures and incentives for the new/modern matai.

For the rank and file titleholders, on the other hand, the motive is almost exclusively status and prestige. The tautua (c) gets to be their assigned lot, whether at home in the islands or from abroad (tautuaaitaumalele) hence supporting the proposed notion and concept. Theyve been given the authority, now go forth to serve. These rank and file titleholders have increased in numbers as a result of mass title installations - mainly through title splitting - which have become the norm for many families. This practice of title splitting, for appeasement purposes, is quite common today apparently because of the proverbial family tree having become bigger and branchy. Again, their main assignment is not so much to preside or administer, but to tautua (c) the aiga.

Matai titles are also viewed as badges of honor and respect. This is true of both high ranking titles and the rank and file ones. For the former, especially those in administrative and managerial positions in the public and private sectors, matai titles are necessary within the overall cultural establishment. It is not unusual therefore for CEOs, lawyers, doctors, etc. to hold one or multiple titles. Today, generally speaking, a CEO without a matai title is almost like a police officer without a badge. Indirectly the new/modern matai can also raise the aiga reputation, status and good name from their achievements, employment and status.

Another part of the overall new trend and its motives is that those with capital and wealth, from town or abroad, seek for these or any matai title in their village aiga just so that they can have rights and access to the aiga land, especially oceanfront property. These lands, mostly in the rural villages, are quite attractive and valuable assets to the new wealthy matai as a direct result of the rise of tourism. Hotels, beach fales and other ventures now dot the beachfront and coastal areas built by these new modern matai who are equipped with deep pockets, and now have access to customary land for commercial use through their titles. The aiga (especially in the village) view these ventures in a more positive, constructive and profitable light, if not as an altruistic and intrinsic part of the post-authority tautua of their wealthy matai.

Foreign Merchants Matai

Perhaps nowhere is the new proposition o le alai le tautua o le pule more evident than with perhaps yet another group of new matais. These are foreign merchants like some Chinese business people who have come to Samoa, set up their stores, supermarkets and other business ventures and then recompensed with matai titles. Without any prior traditional or other forms of tautua (a/c), these foreign matai enjoy an easy path to the titles which are conferred by the aiga or village (custodians of the titles) with hopes of being direct recipients and beneficiaries of their foreign matais wealth and as demonstration and implementation of the post-title/authority tautua (a).

There may be families who still adhere and conform to the traditional method of awarding and conferring their title/s to whomever has/have rendered the traditional tautua (a), hence to the motto: O le Alai le Pule o le Tautua. But the notion is becoming an exception not the rule. Today, O le Alai le Tautua o le Pule is more the norm, if not an irreversible trend. For the Samoans, who are reputed as being naturally Christians - albeit in name only, according to many - the new proposed maxim is now more in harmony with their Biblical endorsing references, correctly interpreted. More correctly applied now, as well, are those who hold the pule in both church and government and are aptly called tautua (b) or servants, namely Gods servants and public servants respectively. And the matai now also follow suit with their tautua (c) by virtue of their pule. Effectively, for the present-day matai, again, O le Alai le Tautua o le Pule.

LV Letalu

Utah and Lalomanu
Australian passengers are starting to feel the effect of the reality in reduced flights routes available for Australians travelling to Samoa.

Jo Mikarna, of Sydney, Australia, is one of them.

Back in October, the Australian appeared in Samoa Observers Dear Tourist column with the story titled: Jo Mikarna: Samoas most prolific tourist.

At the time the article was written, Ms. Mikarna was on her 12th trip to Samoa in three years and in that time bought with her many friends and relatives to share in a place that she calls her escape from the pressures of working life.

But plans for a 13th trip have hit a snag.

This week, she was shocked to find out that she was unable to book her usual return flight to Samoa as planned for November 26th  December 3rd.

Ms. Mikarna wrote to the Sunday Samoan in distress.

I thought it was just Virgin having a hissy but its not, he said. They said the government wont let them in. Samoa Airways fly from Sydney but they do not run every day and all flights are booked out.

I know it affects many but its killed me, I feel so sick that I cant return. I was looking at returning before Christmas November 26th to 3rd December. Ive been looking at Trip Advisor, Sky scanner, Flight Center, Virgin Airlines, Australia Airlines and Fiji Airways to try and get a flight.

The increased fare that all these airlines have offered (Im now looking at $4000 tala as opposed to $1600 tala) has changed my ability to return and now I am unable to go to Samoa when I have six days off from work because the flights are now looking at average of 20 hours when normally it has taken me eight hours previously.

When Ms. Mikarna was featured in Samoa Observers Dear Tourist Column, she described Samoa as a place she discovered at a time in her life when she needed to escape the stresses of a demanding job, which had taken a toll on her health.

Its nice to know that we have this island and with all the stresses and dangers of the world, its nice to come here and not have to worry about all that daunting other stuff, she told Dear tourist.

Finding out that there were going to be huge obstacles, logically and financially, in her being able to return to Samoa at the end of this month was causing her anxiety.

Not being able to return as often as I have been doing has placed a lot of pressure on my anxiety as I feel trapped not having the choices to return when I want to see my friends and to be part of the culture.

Its hard to explain how sad it is to not be able to return to people that you want to see of the lifestyle that I share over in Samoa. Constant messages from my friends back in Samoa requesting when I am returning and to be patient.

Im such a lucky person to have so many beautiful friends who want to spend time with me as I want to be with them. Samoa is more than a holiday for me it is an escape and a rest from my workplace.

Ms. Mikarna sent screen shots of the airfares available through multiple airlines which showed airfares close to A$2000 (T$3,881) and travel times exceeding 15 hours which she points out that at those prices and travel times, Australians could afford to travel to Europe over the Pacific.
Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi is keeping the progress of a government-ordered hunt for a blogger known as Ole Palemia close to his chest.

Asked if they are anywhere near identifying O.L.P. since an investigation was launched in April this year, Tuilaepa told the Sunday Samoan the investigation is continuing.

But I cannot tell you where it is at, he said.

That is an issue with the government where the investigation continues without seizing. Thats what governments that are alert do to protect those people who are suffering.

The Prime Minister also dismissed claims that his administrations move to reintroduce the Criminal Libel law, which was abolished by the government in 2013, is an affront to freedom of opinions and expression.

The (Samoa) Observers thinking is wrong, Tuilaepa responded. Sometimes theyre right but this time theyre wrong.

According to Tuilaepa, far too many people, especially online users, have resorted to use such a freedom to inflict irreparable damage on other people.

So the governments decision to revive these laws that had been revoked before is done with one intention, to protect people who are suffering, Tuilaepa said.

Some people have accused us of restricting freedom. This is wrong. The government is not restricting peoples freedom to express their opinions.

People are free to express their opinions but when they spread opinions that break the law, thats when they will be affected.

The Prime Minister reminded that such freedom comes with responsibility.

There is no law under sun where you can continue to hurt and defame someone with untruthful allegations. This is why the government is moving to do this to protect people the types who know that what they are doing is wrong but are driven by such bad motives, he said.

When it comes it to issues where the law is broken, the government cannot ignore it. The government tries to investigate them and when it comes the time to press charges, then we will go ahead and publicise it.

The Prime Minister added that anybody who has an opinion to publicise which is truthful, are free to do so.

Why should we prosecute them if its the truth? But only when they use that freedom to defame other people, now that becomes an offense.

Tuilaepa and his family are among many high profile public figures who have been the subject of personal attacks on O.L.P. and other blogs  including one out of New Zealand written by one Dennis A. Smith.

And now the government has had enough.

A statement issued by the government last month reads: The intention is not only to protect the privacy of the individuals and the general public from unsubstantiated, vicious and inciting allegations posted by ghost writers on the social media but to safeguard and ensure peace and harmony in the country remains intact, the statement issued last night reads.

The statement quoted Prime Minister Tuilaepa as saying that since the Criminal Libel law was abolished (from the Crimes Act of 2013) some have abused the freedom to express their views in particular the defamatory allegations posted on social media.

Some of these postings could lead to violent confrontation which may eventually cause misery to families and government will not stand by any longer, Tuilaepa said.

Subject to approval by Parliament, the Prime Minister the law will ensure that the ghost writers will be brought to justice to answer to their writings. And they could be liable to be prosecuted with offenses that will include imprisonment.

The H.R.P.P caucus is in full support, Tuilaepa said.

There are 4,500 hackers in Samoa. Some are children and even lawyers are among the best hackers in the country.

And to find the writers hiding behind anonymity by using their freedom of expression to vent their vile and demeaning allegations on social media will no longer be tolerated. They should be warned now that their days of mischiefs are numbered.

The hackers, added the Prime Minister Tuilaepa, will be used by government to track down the ghost writers.

Its like using a thief to catch a thief.
Church Ministers did not mince words when they expressed anger and disappointment at the governments decision to tax their incomes  and gratuities - starting on 01 January 2018.

Strong emotive language was used which led to one government official shedding tears in an attempt to appease unhappy members of the clergy.

But a number of Church Ministers who attended a seminar, called by the Ministry of Revenue to explain how the new tax laws will work, say the government had underestimated the impact of what they have done not just on the church but on all members of the public.

If this is Gods way to punish Pastors in Samoa then so be it, one Church Minister said. But if this is from mans creation, then I just want to remind you that someone (in the Bible) fell, broke their neck and his body parts strewn all over the place when he disrespected the will of God.

The dialogue was held at T.A.T.T.E building. The talk was a platform for church ministers and government officials of the Ministry of Revenue to interact and raise issues associated with the taxing of pastors.

For your information, peleti (pledge) is not a salary; its a divine portion from God to give straight to the pastor, he said. But you are now trying to reach out onto the altar.

One Rev. Leauma agrees.

A servant of God works in the spiritual life of people because its the fulfilment of Gods commandments, he said.

What the people give to church ministers is for God, not for pastors and what people give is sacred, meaning its untouchable.

He reminded the government that people perished because of the lack of knowledge.

Its not that if youre a Cabinet Minister then you know everything, Rev Leauma.

During the seminar, Ministry of Revenue officials said they would take note of the concerns expressed. They also revealed that a form would be given to churches for pastors or church secretaries to indicate how much money a pastor receives. This form should then be submitted to the Ministry of Revenue with the payment of the tax.

But another pastor who identified himself as Rev. Faraimo rejected it.

Its not our duty to bring this form to your office after every fortnight, he said.

For your understanding, if someone is given this task, it also takes money to come here to pay the pastors tax.

If thats so, then the Ministry should pay for the churchs secretary or any other person that will be doing this. I mean we should not be held liable for your responsibilities.

He stressed there are totally two different things between an employee in the government and a pastor.

A person who works for the government works from 9am - 5pm from Monday to Friday. As for a church minister, they dont just work during daytime, they work days and night, I mean 24/7.

Church Ministers also demanded that the Minister of Revenue, Tialavea Tionisio Hunt, should have been present. They said it was unfair for their criticisms to be directed at the staff when the decision making is done by the Minister.

The Minister is the best person that should have been here this morning.

Another Pastor said their wives should also be taxed.

Our wives also play an important role in the work of God; they are the ones that deal with other motherly duties in the church.

Another Pastor questioned the relevance of the seminar.

Are we the right people to attend the seminar? Are we? he asked. In my opinion, our church members should attend this seminar because they are the ones who give money to us for our alofa.

The general attitude from Pastors who attended is that they do not oppose the governments tax scheme.

But they want to ensure it is done for the right purpose and the right motives.

Do it with love and honesty, said another Pastor. For your information, what we get for the alofa we also give back when church members come asking for help.

In July, the former Head of State signed into law the Bill which legalised the taxing of church ministers and the Head of State. This is the first time this has been done since Samoa became independent 55 years ago.

Minister of Revenue, Tialavea Tionisio Hunt told Sunday Samoan that only a few did not support the Bill.

The biggest challenge was facing the church ministers, said Tialavea.

I had to face them. After all, the move to levy taxes against the church ministers and Head of State was my idea and not the governments.
Samoa has one more year left to meet its self-imposed deadline to complete the Paris Agreement Work Programme.

The assurance of continued work towards the goals set in the Paris Agreement by Samoa was given by Deputy Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mataafa at the High-Level Segment of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, C.O.P.23 in Bonn, Germany.

While the negotiations are very technical in nature, it is obvious that large political differences are making progress very difficult, particularly on how the differences of developing countries are accommodated, she said.

She noted the Paris Agreement entered into force in unparalleled fashion because it symbolized hope for the Samoan people and planet and the survival of sovereign nations some of which are low-lying islands.

Fiame also congratulated Fijis presidency for infusing a Blue Pacific essence in our annual climate change discourse and elevating and capturing the unique challenges of Small Island Developing States in our global agenda.

Now is the time for focused discussions in our joint search for implementable and durable solutions, a process long overdue. High ambition was the defining trademark of our agreement. Yet we are not on track to achieve our Paris Agreement goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Even the pre-2020 ambition, so critical to avoiding dangerous global warming, and important to the smooth transition to the Paris Agreement phase, is purposely being sidelined and for some non-constructive reasons, lost in the discussions.

According to Fiame, perhaps some of those in positions of world leadership are being selective and will conveniently assume such responsibilities when it suits their national and/or group agenda.

But a true world leader will always be one no matter the circumstances and the consequences.

We are heartened to once again hear that the beacon of hope burns on. As leaders therefore, we must treat climate change as the urgent inter-generational crisis it is.

Fiame also emphasized the need for Samoa to redouble its efforts to scale up climate solutions through the Marrakech Partnership and the technical examination because no country can continue to stay aloof and be unconcerned about the invasive reach and destructive impacts of climate change (Marrakech Partnership informs Parties about what has been achieved during the year).

Nationally determined contributions (N.D.C.) are the core of the Paris Agreement.

Their very credibility rests on all countries achieving such commitments.

Developing countries will require adequate means of implementation.

The Green Climate Fund has made strides to fill the climate finance gap, but more can be done to scale up climate finance.

The launch of the G.C.F. simplified approval process during C.O.P. 23 is a welcome development to assist resource and capacity-constrained developing countries to expedite their access to much needed climate funding.

She highlighted the essential of talanoa facilitated dialogue because it sets the stage for N.D.Cs showing much higher ambition in 2020.

We look forward to a rigorous process that is informed by the latest science, including the results of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [I.P.C.C.C.] Special Report on 1.5 degrees Celsius due in October 2018.

It should highlight the needs of implementation required for developing countries to achieve their mitigation objectives.

The Blue Pacific narrative adopted by the Pacific Forum Leaders at its 48th meeting is fit for purpose and placed to deliver facilitated dialogue for the collective good.

Fiame also spoke about climate adaptation and mitigation.

Each deserves equal treatment and priority attention by all parties. We cannot allow adaptation to take a backseat to mitigation.

The adaptation fund has proven to be a very important and innovative source of finance for small island developing countries.

In order for S.I.D.S. to continue to usefully benefit from the fund, we must agree that the adaptation fund will serve the Paris Agreement, and that a 5 percent share of proceeds from market mechanisms go to the fund.

The record breaking cyclones of this past year are further tragic evidence of the need for a strong loss and damage mechanism.

Rapid progress on the Warsaw International Mechanism (W.I.M.) on Loss and Damage is more important and urgent than ever.

We hope that the finely balanced decision to have Loss and damage addressed at each meeting of the subsidiary bodies until the review of the WIM in 2019 will enable the garnering and gathering of wider support for the W.I.M. to be operationalized ultimately as an integral part of the Paris Agreement Work Programme, she said.

Time is a premium. We have one year left to meet our self-imposed deadline to complete the Paris Agreement Work Programme.

While the negotiations are very technical in nature, it is obvious that large political differences are making progress very difficult particularly on how the differences of developing countries are accommodated.

Early political engagement on this issue next year would be useful.

Much greater clarity on the provision of climate finance will also be critical to unlocking these difficult discussions.

Let us focus on what unites and binds us.

Climate change is a global problem and only by working together in genuine partnerships where all N.D.C.s matter and every effort of support counts, can we realize the spirit of hope captured in the Paris Agreement.
A dead dog lying on the streets of Vailima near the Carmelites Monastery has become a health concern for residents around the area.

One of them told the Sunday Samoan the dead dog has been lying on the street for three days.

As of yesterday, it has become a health concern for people living nearby and passersby, especially students attending the nearby Vaiala Beach School.

Today (yesterday) is the third day and the dead dog has generated bad smell in the neighborhood, the resident said.

And especially when the dog is lying around the Carmelites Monastery compound and just near the residence of the Chinese Embassy.

I drove down this morning (yesterday) to buy breakfast at Lynn Supermarket and the smell was getting worse.

Mr. Rudnick was not sure who should clean up.

Whoever they are, he urged them to act immediately because the bad smell had become a health concern for residents nearby.
Samoa Stationery and Books (S.S.A.B.)created business history at the HP Awards in New Zealand this week.

The locally owned company was announced the winner of the HP Silver Partner of the year award during theglamorous and esteemed ceremony attended by top business men and women who do business with HP New Zealand.

In winning the award, S.S.A.B. who is the only authorised partner of HP in Samoa,overcame the challenge from four other prominent companies from New Zealand and the Pacific, includingDaltron Fiji, Aarque Graphics, IT360 and Computer Culture.

The Deputy Managing Director of HP New Zealand, Victoria Mahn, commended S.S.A.Bs C.E.O.,Fiti Leung Wai and her team for becoming the first HP Silver Partner from Samoa.

For the hardworking businesswoman and mother, she immediately recognised the source of her companys success.

I glorify our Heavenly Father for his favour upon me and my company, she said.At S.S.A.B. we do all good works to glorify his name. This is truly an emotional award as my team and I have worked hard for it as well as my supportive husband Aumua Ming Leung Wai.

The sleepless nights, determination and all the efforts have paid off.

Mrs. Leung Wai immediately dedicated the award to Samoa.

I feel that this award is not just for S.S.A.B. but for our nation as a whole, she said. S.S.A.B. was the representative of Samoa at the awards and I am humbled

We wish to acknowledge all our valued customers and supporters. We want to say that we have won this award together.

S.S.A.Bs nomination at the HP awards is a result of the companys outstanding performance in exceeding metric targets outlined by HP through promotions and campaigns such as the popular HP early birds promotion and biannual HP promotions.

HP New Zealand hosts their awards ceremony at the end of every year to recognise and acknowledge their authorised partners in NZ and the Pacific who have outstandingly contributed to the growth of HP.

This is the first time for any company from Samoa that sells electronics products as well as bringing in cutting-edge technology to be recognised on the international scale by a renowned brand like HP.

It has always been S.S.A.Bs goal to bring in newest technological products for Samoan people to access, we never want to leave behind our people in the world of technology, says Nancy Vito Alefosio, S.S.A.Bs Electronics Manager.
Whether youre an experienced or nervous air traveller, its all part of the travel experience to be greeted by the gracious and smiling flight attendants awaiting your entrance onboard the aircraft.

And we can appreciate their contribution to our wellbeing of feeling secure that our travel experience will be an enjoyable one.

But behind the glamorous painted smiles and perfectly coiffed hair of these sky hostesses is a carefully crafted image and hours/years of extensive training in the art of customer service and emergency defensive flying training.

All of this to ensure that the passenger has the best flying experience, which if basic commerce logic is applied  should convert to repeat business through customer loyalty.

The 20-member cabin crew of the recently launched Samoa Airways was introduced last Monday.

The flight attendants walked the runway so to speak showing off their puletasi uniforms designed by Tahianos Designers, Mataafa Hans Wesche and Alvis Augustine Meredith. On the official Samoa Airways inaugural flight to Auckland earlier this week, Samoa Observer had the chance to meet five of the flight attendants on duty.

Mary Pavitt Chan is one of them and she also happens to belong to the alumni of former Polynesian airlines flight attendants, starting her career with them in 1983. Returning to flying again but this time with the nations new national air carrier, MS Chan brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience,

"Once youre a flight attendant you dont want to do anything else, its like a calling, she said.

I left it after so many years and now Im back again. I was kind of reluctant at first because I was working for myself for some time. I chose to give it a go again and when I came into a staff of fresh young people - for a moment there I actually asked myself are you kidding yourself? but its something thats in me and I love it.

The crew is great because its all a mixture of people from here in Samoa and a few from overseas. Theres a different mixture of personalities and its great.

Coming on board as the most experienced flight attendant for Samoa Airways, it was only natural that newer recruits looked to Ms. Chan for guidance.

They look up to me for advice and all that, I give it my best. I just tell them what Ive been through, how I came through and to remember that this is a job because a lot of people think if youre a flight attendant that life is glamourous  yes the glam is there to some extent but there is a job youve got to do and you have to think about the safety of the people and that is paramount.

Grooming and etiquette standards are particularly high in this profession and for Ms. Chan these are principles that she lives by over and beyond her work. Its a belief that if one wants the business one must look the business and she encourages her new colleagues to develop a similar mindset.

Image is everything, people know who you are. Even on the aircraft especially, your grooming has to be everything because youve got all these people on the plane and you are the first person they see, they notice everything about you. Even when youre not in uniform, when youre in town, image is still very important and you still got to look smart. You can be casual but look smart  youve got to look good all the time.

Customer service is something Ms. Chan believes comes naturally to Samoans because of FaaSamoa and the way most Samoans are raised to serve our family and communities but she also notices a vast difference in modern times in attitudes towards customer care compared to when she first came into the industry.

Its our thing, customer service comes naturally because we are used to serving. Were used to serving our elders and we are used to doing feaus since we were little. Customer service back then in those days compared to now Ive noticed a big difference myself.

In my opinion I blame the Matai system because almost every day now everyone is a Matai. They dont like to be told what to do.

They sometimes dont want to serve someone they might recognize and if they do -theyll serve you but they will give you attitude. Things have changed so much from back in those days where it doesnt matter who you are, the job is a job and the faaaloalo is always there.

Back then it was great, on board and everything. We were still conservative because of the faaSamoa way and youve always got to be mindful of that and how you talk and approach people.

Following in Mary Pavitt Chans footsteps is Mina Godinet who has had previous experience in both the hospitality and aviation industry having flown with Quantas Airlines in Australia and recently working at Aggie Greys Sheraton when she moved to Samoa just a year ago. The timing of Samoa Airways launch was perfect according to Ms. Godinet.

It was fitting that Samoa Airways came up at the right time. I was really excited, I was more nervous because I heard there were a lot of applicants. Its the greatest honour because I never thought that Samoa would ever have their own airline again or let alone be good enough to be a part of Samoa Airways. The 20 of us are all so proud.

The 20-strong crew began training almost two months ago under the guidance of consultants from England and Italy who took the all Samoan crew through various trainings and Ms. Godinet admits that there were some difficult times because the crew had to persevere in spite of early harsh criticisms from the public.

Its quite disheartening to hear negative comments especially coming from our own people who are in Samoa and abroad, Miss Godinet said.

Its quite sad to see, youd expect them to be empowering us and our new airline by supporting us. I mean we are all quite sad about it but it just gives us more motivation to prove everybody wrong.

While the nascent Samoa Airways are experiencing some teething problems, the flight crew anticipated this would happen and they continue to remain upbeat and positive so when it is your turn to board our national airline, spare a thought for our poised and elegant flight attendants who have been taught to gracefully manoeuver the airplane in figure hugging uniforms during turbulence while serving you with a smile and ensuring your comfort and personal safety.
Addressing a poll rally in Ghaziabad, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that he wanted to turn the city into a smart city where crime would not be tolerated. He added that UP would become a developed state if people vote for the BJP.

By India Today Web Desk: Ahead of the Ghaziabad municipal council polls later this month, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Saturday that he wanted to turn the city into a smart city where crime would not be tolerated.

The Ghaziabad municipality will go to polls in the second phase of the local body elections in Uttar Pradesh on November 26.

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Adityanath was addressing a rally in Ghaziabad. The chief minister will hold rallies in Muzaffarnagar and Meerut too in the days to come.

The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh said that it was necessary to constitute municipal boards in tune with the state and central governments so that the agendas could be fulfilled without any hassle.

In Saturday's rally, Adityanath talked about encroachment and how big a problem it had become in the city.

Photo Courtesy: Anindya Banerjee

The chief minister also said that he was planning to replace all conventional tube lights with LEDs.

In the poll rally, Adityanath promised to provide clean water and better allocation of land to street vendors so that the city could be made encroachment-free.

The chief minister assured the residents of Ghaziabad that the industrial character of the city would be revived.

Adityanath also said that if the people vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) through local bodies, he would make Ghaziabad a smart city.

Elaborating on the government's agenda, Adityanath added that maintaining law and order was a priority. He said that this government had given 20 million people free-electricity connections.

Photo Courtesy: Anindya Banerjee

Talking about rest houses for pilgrims, he said, "Kailash Mansarovar House was inaugurated in this city. So it is our priority to work for the development of this place."

The chief minister said that Uttar Pradesh would be a progressive state from the point of view of development and in terms of treating religious places with respect.

Commenting on the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, he said that crime would not be tolerated.

In the rally Adityanath said, "A BJP worker was killed and we made sure that his wife became a candidate."

Ghaziabad MP and the Union Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh, Baghpat MP and Union Minister of State for HRD Satya Pal Singh, along with Uttar Pradesh BJP President Mahendra Nath Pandey, were also present in the rally.

(With inputs from Anindya Banerjee)

ALSO WATCH VIDEO | Adityanath visits Taj Mahal, says committed to conserve rich historical identity of Agra

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--- ENDS ---
It wasnt a fund-raising program, common among nonprofits, but a friend-raising event held by the North County Food Policy Council and called Hungry for Solutions.

The setting, a distillery in Vista, was casual last Thursday.

First-name name tags introduced people from varied interests, including school districts, city government, restaurants and farmers.

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A limited number of drinks was on the house.

The food wasnt the usual catered affair because its purpose, besides to feed people, was to show what can be done with leftover-like produce and products.

Baskets on the tables contained fruits and vegetables that may not have looked all that beautiful but were perfectly good to eat. They included three different types of eggplant that bore little resemblance to each other from long and skinny to bulb-like.

The programs emphasis on not wasting food, even if its not pretty, was similar to a program presented a little over a year ago at the El Corazon Senior Center in Oceanside.

The City of Oceanside and the Food Policy Council co-sponsored that event, which attracted about 100 people and highlighted the food-recovery kitchen being built on that site with a $800,000 city contribution.

But on Thursday, Colleen Foster, Oceansides zero-waste guru, said only one duplicate speaker was involved in both that and the more-recent program.

He was Chuck Samuelson, founder and president of Kitchens for Good.

One in five San Diegans does not know where their next meal is coming from,Samuelson said.

But, he said, they dont want charity. They want a job, and hes been offering some people just that  by teaching them culinary arts. That job training, he said, is taking a hundred people a year out of poverty.

Foster and Marylynn McCorkle, of the Alliance for Regional Solutions, co-chaired this event, attended by about three dozen people.

Shelly Parks of the San Diego Food Bank said a lot of food that is edible goes to waste.

The first panelist  on the Challenges and Potential for Local Farming- was Luke Girling of Cyclops Farms, growing organic vegetables on 2.5 acres with a 1965 Ford tractor in the heart of the tony Fire Mountain neighborhood in Oceanside.

His farm stand sells to local chefs and the general public, and he hosts periodic dinners on the property.

This is the best way to take back our farm system, Girling said.

Sam Chereskin of Misadventure & Co., a for-profit firm based in Vista, said it is keeping discarded bakery products out of landfills by making vodka from them.

Do you think Twinkies are good for people? Chereskin asked to an expected negative response. But, he said, it takes a lot of courage to make something else out of that Twinkie and make it into a good thing.

When our idea works, he said with a laugh, we are changing the world one shot at a time.

Nita Kurmins Gilson, co-founder of the nonprofit Produce Good, said we are a gleaning food recovery group helping to harvest residential orchards and fruit trees in back yards. She said its volunteers also collect unsold products from farmers markets and excess on farms themselves and operates a crop swap.

The produce, she said, goes to receiving agencies that could be anything from mental health institutions to homeless shelters. Folks who get this food are incredibly grateful and surprised, Gilson said.

In the past year, she said, 231,000 servings have been offered.

But in general, Gilson said, 40 percent of all food grown is wasted. And Foster noted that cities have some very specific state mandates to reduce that figure.

In the what can you do? section of the program, Foster suggested:

--Ordering small plates in restaurants.

--Planning specific meals rather than buying large amounts of groceries generically.

--Learning to cook .

--Planning to cook with someone else.

The whole idea, she said, is how do you feed people and not landfills?
Happy anniversary! No, not you!

Jethro Tull founder Ian Anderson is happy to go living in the past next year when he launches the North American Jethro Tull 50th Anniversary Tour.

Theres just one catch. Anderson will be the only Jethro Tull alum participating in the tour, which includes at least five California dates, although  so far  none in San Diego.

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Billed as Ian Anderson presents Jethro Tull 50th Anniversary Tour, the 2018 concert trek kicks off May 30 in Phoenix and concludes Sept. 11 in New York. All tour dates appear below for the tour.

I am not usually a birthday or anniversary kind of guy but, just for once, I wont be a party-pooper either, Anderson, 70, said in a statement.

I treasure the memories of the earlier years of Jethro Tull repertoire, associated as it is with the adventures of visiting so many countries for the first time to connect with new fans around the world. And this is a celebration of all the 33 band members who graced our ranks musicians who brought their talents, skills and styles to bear on the performances live and in the studio.

Make that a celebration of those 33 band members that doesnt actually include any of those 33 band members.

Or as Anderson puts it: Join me and the current band for a nostalgic evening of varied music, representative of my ever-changing songwriting as our careers progressed through the years.

Anderson will be accompanied on the 2018 anniversary tour by guitarist Florian Opahle, keyboardist John OHara, bassist David Goodier and drummer Scott Hammond.

Jethro Tull ceased to exist in 2011, when Anderson announced he would begin touring under his own name with a revamped band lineup.

That left guitarist Martin Barre out in the cold after 43 years in Jethro Tull. He now leads his own band.

Original Jethro Tull drummer Clive Bunker performed this summer in Barcelona at the 15th Spanish Jethro Tull Convention. The bands original guitarist, Mick Abrahams, had a stroke in 2009. He released a new album, Recovered, in 2015.

Anderson, meanwhile, has performed several times in San Diego, including a 2012 Balboa Theatre concert billed as Jethro Tulls Ian Anderson Plays Thick As A Brick 1 & 2.

In the liner notse to his 2014 solo album, Homo Erraticus, Anderson wrote: In my twilight years  I think I prefer ... to use my own name.

Andersons most recent U.S. tour took place earlier this year. It was billed as: Jethro Tull by Ian Anderson. That title was both factual and an allusion to how many fans still mistakenly refer to Jethro Tull as the name of the leader of the band, not simply the name of the band.

Ian Anderson presents Jethro Tull 50th Anniversary Tour 2018 dates

5/30 - Phoenix, AZ - Comerica Theatre

6/01 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre

6/02 - Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre

6/03 - Paso Robles, CA - Vina Robles Amphitheatre

6/05 - Visalia, CA - Visalia Fox Theatre

6/06 - Sacramento, CA - Sacramento Community Theater

6/08 - Bend, OR - Les Schwab Amphitheater

6/09 - Troutdale, OR - Edgefield

6/10 - Woodinville, WA - Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery

6/29 - St. Louis, MO - Fox Theatre

6/30 - New Buffalo, MI - Four Winds Casino Resort -

7/01 - Sterling Heights, MI - Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre

7/03 - Toronto, ON - Budweiser Stage

8/31 - Minneapolis, MN - State Theatre

9/01 - Kansas City, MO - Starlight Theatre

9/03 - Highland Park, IL - Ravinia Festival

9/05 - Huber Heights, OH - Rose Music Center at the Heights

9/07 - Vienna, VA - Wolf Trap

9/08 - Philadelphia, PA - Mann Center for the Performing Arts

9/09 - Boston, MA - Blue Hills Bank Pavilion

9/11 - New York, NY - Beacon Theatre

george.varga@sduniontribune.com

Twitter @georgevarga
Tehama County prosecutors were never told that the gunman who killed five people in a rampage this week had for months before regularly fired off weapons at his home despite a judges order that he turn in his weapons, the district attorney said Friday.

Neighbors of the gunman, Kevin Janson Neal, 44, said they complained to police for months about him firing guns and threatening them, with one resident even filing papers in court.

Tehama County Dist. Atty. Gregg Cohen said Friday that had prosecutors known about the complaints, his office could have filed a motion to increase Neals $160,000 bond or filed misdemeanor charges for violating the court order that barred him from having weapons.

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I wasnt aware of the fact that he was continuing to shoot, Cohen said. We would need some kind of report, some kind of proof that it was happening. Just someone saying he didnt turn in all his guns.

Cohen did not assign blame for the communication breakdown but said that the first he had heard of the neighbors complaints was Wednesday, a day after Neals rampage.

That is the first time, he said. I dont want to throw the sheriffs office under the bus.

Tehama County sheriffs officials have said they investigated the reports of gunfire but could never find Neal or catch him in the act, despite at least twice placing his trailer under surveillance.

The revelations come amid questions in the small town of Rancho Tehama about whether more could have been done about Neals behavior in the months before the killings.

On Tuesday, Neal took a semiautomatic rifle hed manufactured in his garage and two pistols that were registered to someone else and killed three of his neighbors and a woman on the street in a cross-town rampage that ended with deputies shooting him to death in a gun battle.

Neal had killed his wife the night before and hid her body under the floor. After killing his neighbors on Tuesday, he drove to a nearby elementary school where one of his neighbors children attended and shot into several buildings.

Before Kevin Neals shooting rampage through Rancho Tehama, authorities often received complaints of gunfire coming from his mobile home. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press )

Neals penchant for firing guns and threatening neighbors was well-known in this rural corner of Northern California.

In February and again in March, a local court had ordered him to turn in all of his weapons as part of a temporary restraining order granted to residents who claimed Neal was harassing them.

Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston said Wednesday that his department tried to deal with Neals gunfire.

Our officers would go up there and investigate those cases and could not come up with one shooting or a firearm, Johnston said in an interview Friday. We highly suspected he was, but we needed to see it to make an application for further action against this individual.

In the roughly one dozen shooting reports Johnston said were generated between Neals arrest in February and the shootings on Tuesday, none specifically cited seeing Neal with a gun. Deputies repeatedly pulled over Neal and neighbors and searched their cars for weapons, but never found any, he said.

Neal filed documents showing he had turned in a single pistol and claimed he had no more. Johnston said that was suspicious.

We were concerned. People lie to the court and lie to police all the time, he said.

One of the guns used in Tuesdays massacre was registered to Neals wife, Barbara Glisan, Johnston said.

The spouse is supposed to certify that they keep firearms locked away from the restrained party, Johnston said. Theres no authority in place to ensure that. I think it should be reviewed legislatively and see if we can tighten it up.

But, he said, a criminal element always finds a way.

Im very sad for our community. I honest to God wish there would be some way that we could prevent these things from happening in our country.

Court records show that neighbors continued to complain about gunfire and other problems with Neal for much of the year. Another judge issued the same weapons order in October.

Some experts said they believe more could have been done to enforce those orders.

Im always a little hesitant to second-guess law enforcement, but if they received credible reports that Neal was shooting on his property  then that seems as though they would have had probably cause mandating an arrest, said Kelly Behre, director of the Family Protection and Legal Assistance Clinic at UC Davis, in an email.

joseph.serna@latimes.com

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter.

ALSO

These are the victims of the Rancho Tehama shooting rampage

Why no children died during the Rancho Tehama school shooting

At Tehama vigil, tears, cheers and a reminder: Please, please report everybody who shoots

UPDATES:

8:30 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from the Tehama County assistant sheriff.

This article was originally published at 4:50 p.m.
Sixty people have been indicted in an eight-month undercover auto theft operation in San Diego County, during which authorities recovered not just stolen cars, but drugs, guns and body armor, local law enforcement officials announced Thursday.

The undertaking, dubbed Operation Kill Switch, turned up more than 70 stolen vehicles, including U-Haul trucks. The vehicles had a combined value of about $1.1 million.

From February to September, undercover officers bought stolen or illegal items from more than 90 people. A grand jury heard evidence and handed up indictments for 60 defendants, Dist. Atty. Summer Stephan said.

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These people made it their business to steal cars, she said.

Although the region had seen a drop in car thefts, they climbed back up over the last two years. According to authorities, 13,188 vehicles were reported stolen in the county in 2012. Two years later, that number was down to 10,383.

Last year, the number of cars reported stolen countywide climbed to 12,207.

The sting was handled by the Regional Auto Theft Task Force, made up of 16 local and state law enforcement officials. Federal agents also took part in the effort.

The cars recovered during Operation Kill Switch included high-end models  Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Tesla  as well as a 1992 Honda that the victim had relied on as her transportation to her job at a discount store.

This is the kind of harm thats caused, Stephan said, noting that the victim had done everything right, including locking her doors. This caused a hardship. And this is just one example of why we all take this very seriously.

Aside from cars, officers also were able to recover several U-Hauls that had been obtained by people using stolen identities.

That was a little different for us, said California Highway Patrol Capt. Don Goodbrand. Thats just not your typical Im gonna break into a car and steal it route.

Most of the vehicles recovered in the sting had been taken in San Diego County, although some had been swiped in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties.

As of Thursday, 38 of the 60 people named in the indictments were in custody. Depending on the charges and any prior convictions, potential sentences for the Operation Kill Switch defendants could range from probation to 10 years in custody.

Figueroa writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com
A man who was part of a crew that broke into a San Carlos home, triggering a scuffle and the fatal shooting of a resident, was sentenced Friday to more than 38 years to life in state prison.

Lawrence Johnson, 28, was convicted in August of first-degree murder, robbery and other counts in the death of 33-year-old Brent Adler on May 11 of last year.

Deputy District Attorney Amy Maund said Johnson, Toren Nieber, Elliott Grizzle and possibly others broke into the home in broad daylight, demanding money and marijuana.

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The intruders tied up, robbed and blindfolded two of Adlers roommates, then shot the victim when he arrived home after 2:30 p.m.

Authorities have said it is not clear which defendant got into the scuffle with Adler and shot him.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Laura Halgren imposed a prison term on Johnson of 25 years to life in prison on the murder charge and 13 years, 8 months for robbery of the roommates and evading police.

Grizzle was convicted in March of murder, robbery and burglary and was sentenced to 159 years to life behind bars. Nieber was convicted of the same charges and was sentenced to 90 years to life.
An appellate court on Thursday issued a ruling that finds the San Diego Association of Government must thoroughly address greenhouse gases in its long-range planning for the region.

The decision comes after a years-long battle that included a narrow ruling in July in the agencys favor by the California Supreme Court. While the high court found that SANDAG properly analyzed greenhouse gas impacts, it didnt explicitly take up whether the agency did enough to curb that pollution.

Thursdays ruling, issued by Judge Timothy B. Taylor of the 4th District Court of Appeal, ratchets up pressure on the agency as it prepares to update its multibillion-dollar blueprint for transportation in the region. The court found that the agency also needs to consider closely impacts to local air quality and agriculture.

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This ruling is very important to make them look at these transit oriented alternatives and these alternatives that will benefit the environment, said Rachel Hooper, an attorney with the San Francisco-based Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, which represented the lead plaintiff Cleveland National Forest Foundation.

SANDAG has said that it has already taken into account concerns about greenhouse gases in its more recent iteration of the plan, which was adopted in 2015. The revised ruling does not affect the current regional plan, which has not been legally challenged, the agency said in a press statement.

The regional transportation agency continues to be at odds with local environmental groups over whether its sufficiently investing in public transportation as opposed to freeways.

This local debate is not about which projects get built but in what order, with green groups arguing that SANDAG has unfairly pushed transit projects to the back of the queue. Nearly all large transportation projects administered by SANDAG are specifically outlined under a 2004 ballot initiative approved by voters that extended a half-cent sales tax.

Twitter: @jemersmith

Phone: (619) 293-2234

Email: joshua.smith@sduniontribune.com
With its total number of psychiatric beds on locked wards declining, Palomar Health is poised to double the size of a special unit that provides short-term care for those with mental health emergencies.

The inland North County hospital operator announced last week that it will partner with a private developer to create a new building next to the emergency department of Palomar Medical Center in west Escondido to house a crisis stabilization unit with enough room for 16 patients, replacing an eight-patient unit which opened in downtown Escondido in July 2016.

Sometimes called observation units, these facilities are a growing trend in American health care as medical providers struggle to meet the growing demand for mental health services. Often using recliners instead of beds, they provide a quiet space where patients can stay for up to 24 hours under the care of specially-trained social workers, nurses and psychiatrists.

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Locally, Rady Childrens Hospital in San Diego and Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside are among those who have created special crisis units.

Though statistics on how many patients the new unit has served so far were not available, Sheila Brown, Palomars vice president of continuum of care, said that only 16 percent of cases ended up needing to be admitted after spending time in a crisis unit recliner.

We know that being put in a restricted, locked unit was really not the best option for many of our patients, Brown said, adding that only about 10 percent of those seen in this less-intense setting ended up returning for additional care after theyre sent home or to another treatment or housing program in the community.

Dr. Rifaat El-Mallakh, a psychiatrist at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Louisville, Ky., who has studied short-term hospital psychiatric care, said creating a space where patients can be observed when they come into an emergency department for treatment definitely takes the pressure off other parts of a hospital. In many cases, he said, when emergency specialists encounter a patient, they err on the side of caution, admitting to locked wards more often than not.

In our facility, where we have a psychiatrist on duty 24 hours a day, we admit about 30 percent of our patients, El-Mallakh said. In facilities that dont have a psychiatrist available to do assessments, the literature shows that about 70 percent of patients get admitted.

He added that these units tend to work best for patients whose mental health needs are relatively transient. Those experiencing severe anxiety or unstable behavior caused by drug or alcohol abuse usually can wait out those effects in less than 24 hours and then be referred to a program outside the hospital.

But those with chronic mental health problems such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and severe depression often still need hospitalization when their symptoms become severe enough to generate an emergency department visit.

I think that these observation units are a good idea because they definitely reduce costs and we do have a problem with too many patients getting admitted to locked wards when they dont really need it, El-Mallakh said.

Palomar currently has a $3.6 million contract with San Diego Countys Behavioral Health Services Division to provide a crisis unit at its downtown Escondido campus. Palomar will cover the balance of the programs cost.

The public health care district, which operates hospitals in Escondido and Poway, plans to close its existing 25-bed locked psychiatric ward at the old downtown Palomar Medical Center building after a new addition to the Villa Pomerado skilled nursing facility opens. The new unit will be only 18 beds, reducing the inland health systems overall inpatient treatment capacity, which also includes 12 beds at Palomar Medical Center Poway, formerly called Pomerado Hospital.

With a net decrease of seven inpatient beds, some might wonder why Palomar does not add a psychiatric ward at Palomar Medical Center, which has had several empty floors since it opened on Citracado Parkway in 2012.

Brown said adding a stabilization unit has already decreased the demand for beds, and doubling its capacity should only intensify the effect.

I think we need to do an assessment after we have the new unit up and running to see how the need changes, she said.

Palomar plans to work with Florida-based RAD Technology Medical Systems, which will build a modular building near Palomar Medical Center. Palomar will lease space in the new building but will not own it outright.

Health Playlist On Now Video: Why aren't Americans getting flu shots? 0:37 On Now Video: Leaders urge public to help extinguish hepatitis outbreak On Now San Diego starts cleansing sidewalks, streets to combat hepatitis A On Now Video: Scripps to shutter its hospice service On Now Video: Scripps La Jolla hospitals nab top local spot in annual hospital rankings On Now Video: Does a parent's Alzheimer's doom their children? On Now Video: Vaccine can prevent human papillomavirus, which can cause cancer 0:31 On Now 23 local doctors have already faced state discipline in 2017 0:48 On Now EpiPen recall expands On Now Kids can add years to your life

paul.sisson@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1850

Twitter: @paulsisson
The deadly hepatitis A outbreak has put San Diegos difficulty in dealing with its growing homeless population in the national spotlight.

Other cities, including the big one just up the coast, have greater numbers of homeless, fewer shelter beds and also have seen a variety of diseases spread among people living on the street  though nothing that compares with the local hepatitis scourge.

Different cities have taken different approaches to the problem, with some sanctioning homeless encampments and others committing millions and even billions of dollars to create housing.

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Many have found themselves in the same position as San Diego, with people on the street far outnumbering shelter beds, prompting cities to turn to large industrial tents similar to the ones Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced Wednesday.

There were about 550,000 homeless people in the nation in 2016, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported after counts across the country. This years count found San Diego Countys 9,116 homeless people, including 5,621 who were unsheltered, was the fourth largest in the nation and a 5 percent increase from 2016. The increase among San Diegos unshetered was 14 percent.

The situation is much worse in Los Angeles, where this years count found 57,794 homeless people, including 42,828 who were unsheltered, a 23 percent jump from last year.

As a comparison, 62 percent of San Diego Countys homeless were unsheltered, while 74 percent are unsheltered in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles has responded to its homeless situation with one of the nations biggest financial commitments to increase housing.

Last November, city residents approved bond measure Proposition HHH to provide $1.2 billion to build permanent housing during the next decade. In March, county voters approved Measure H to increase sales tax 0.25 percent over 10 years and generate $3.5 billion for rent subsidies and services.

The combined amounts were far greater than any city had made to help the homeless, surpassing the $2.6 billion investment New York Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged in 2015 to create 15,000 supportive housing units over 15 years for the citys 73,500 homeless people.

In Orange County, this years count found 4,792 homeless people, with 2,584 unsheltered, or 54 percent. The number of homeless overall was up 7.6 percent from the last count in 2015.

Hundreds of homeless people in Orange County live in an encampment along the Santa Ana River. County officials have been unable to legally evacuate people from the land, so instead they have brought in portable showers twice a week. The county would not, however, allow a nonprofit to install portable toilets in the area.

In 2010, Orange County adopted its Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness, with goals that included creating a centralized intake facility, an expanded homeless information system, year-round emergency centers, more permanent housing and support services.

Last October, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California released a report that said the plan had fallen short, and homelessness had increased since 2010.

Things improved in May, when Orange County opened its first year-round shelter, a 200-bed facility in a converted warehouse. July saw the opening of HomeAid Orange County, which shelters 10 to 15 families a night.

In Santa Cruz County, the annual count found 2,249 homeless people, a 14.5 percent jump from the 2015 count. Of those, 1,799 were unsheltered, a staggering 80 percent.

The Santa Cruz City Council formed a subcommittee to study homelessness this year and made a series of recommendations that included creating a year-round emergency shelter and bringing in sanitary facilities and storage lockers downtown.

It was ripe in time to figure out what we could do, said Santa Cruz Deputy City Manager Scott Collins.

The city still is far short on shelters.

Santa Cruz also had a hepatitis A outbreak among its homeless community this year. Collins said there were no fatalities, but 70 people were infected. The city responded with vaccinations, hand-washing stations and portable toilets downtown and began power-washing sidewalks and public rights-of-way, similar to steps San Diego has taken recently with its more serious outbreak that has left 16 dead and about 400 hospitalized.

In 2012, Los Angeles began a similar street-washing program after meningitis was diagnosed in four homeless people.

The weekly cleaning began after the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health discovered human waste, injection needles, condoms and a rat infestation in a nine-block area.

Jonathan Herrera, Mayor Faulconers senior adviser on homeless coordination, said he and others in the city have been keeping tabs on what other cities are doing to address their homeless problems.

I think its imperative as we move forward that we dont reinvent the wheel and we learn from the failures and successes of folks in L.A. and Orange County, he said.

Herrera participates in a working group of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and on Monday he is leaving with a delegation for a Portland, Ore., conference held by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.

The conference will include site visits to homeless providers and information about working with state governments on homelessness and contributing factors of homelessness on the west coast.

Herrera also has visited a tiny house homeless community in Seattle with San Diego City Council members and toured homeless navigation centers in that city and San Francisco.

Herrera also has checked out San Franciscos Pit Stop program, a mobile restroom that serves the homeless, and has looked into Los Angeles plan to acquire nuisance motels for shelters, Albuquerques homeless work program and a sanctioned zone for homeless tent communities in Sacramento.

San Diegos latest effort to help the homeless was announced Wednesday by Faulconer, who said the city was bringing back large industrial tents that once had been used as shelters.

To try and turn the tide on the hepatitis A outbreak, San Diego has given vaccinations to some 20,000 people over several months, installed dozens of hand-washing stations across the city and opened up some public restrooms 24 hours a day, particularly in Balboa Park.

Saturday morning, the city announced it has installed the first of numerous portable public restrooms planned in the downtown area at First Avenue and C Street near City Hall. The facility will have full-time security and will be cleaned twice a day.

The tent plan isnt unique to San Diego.

Kurt Lundell, business development manager for Sprung Structures, said his company has provided tents to use as homeless shelters in Oceanside, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Orange County, Santa Clarita, San Bernardino, Santa Cruz,Santa Monica, Hawaii and Albuquerque.

The structures use for homeless people has become so common that the company markets the tents on its website as the ideal solution for homeless shelters.

While the large framed tents are faster to construct than actual buildings, Faulconer said Wednesday that the first of three tents planned for San Diego wont be up until December.

Local businessman Dan Shea, who has been pushing the the tent plan with Padres Managing Partner Peter Seidler, has been in contact with the company for months and explained that it takes about 60 days for Sprung Structures to manufacture and deliver a tent once its ordered, and another couple of weeks for it to be constructed.

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gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

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Will you be having a bit of marijuana with your bacon? Or a pinch of it in your coffee? Or a dab in the syrup youll pour on your pancakes?

The choice is yours.

To the joy and alarm of many, cannabis is being infused in virtually every type of food and drink, from ravioli and BBQ to juices and cider.

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Medical marijuana users have long consumed edibles to alleviate pain, fight insomnia and boost their appetites.

But edibles are also increasingly popular among recreational users, many of whom misuse the products and end up getting sick, sometimes violently so.

Edibles can be very dangerous if not used correctly, said Jay Frentsos, a budtender at the Bay Park outlet of Urbn Leaf, which sells medical marijuana in many forms.

The store is one of about 12 shops in San Diego that are preparing to sell even more edibles in January, when the state starts allowing licensed outlets to peddle recreational marijuana to people 21 and older. Such sales were sanctioned by Proposition 64, which was approved by voters in November 2016.

The sale of edibles is a source of concern to the state, which on Thursday issued new working rules that place sharper restrictions on such products. The changes include limits on the amount of THC that can be placed in edibles. THC is the principle mind-altering compound in marijuana plants.

The new rules, which may be adjusted, say that edibles cant have more than 10 mg of THC per serving, or more than 100 mg per package. The regulations add that other cannabis products, such as tinctures, capsules and topicals, are limited to a maximum of 1,000 mg per package for the adult-use market and 2,000 mg of THC per package for the medicinal-use market.

Some stores, including Urbn Leaf, have been selling products that contain up to 1,000 mg of THC.

The California Department of Public Health also issued guidelines that say that, Cannabis product packaging cannot resemble traditionally available food packages. 

Edible products cannot be shaped like a human, animal, insect, or fruit. Some potentially-hazardous foods, such as meat and seafood, and other products requiring refrigeration, are prohibited for sale as cannabis products.

The rules further stipulate that product labels not be attractive to individuals under age 21.

Regulators are concerned that some customers could mistake edible products with traditional foods. For example, some cannabis stores sell Weetos, a marijuana-infused product whose package greatly resembles Cheetos, a non-marijuana product.

Regulators are likely to give stores time to phase out their existing stock and replace it with products that meet the new restrictions.

To date, the use of edible marijuana doesnt represent a major public health problem.

In comparison to the number of people using it, (overdoses of edibles) are quite small, said Dr. Richard Clark, a professor of emergency medicine, and director of toxicology, at UC San Diego Health.

From a public health perspective, I have less concern about it than I have for alcohol.

But Clark also said theres likely to be an increase in overdoses or bad experiences when recreational cannabis sales start in January.

Theres going to be a temporary spike, Clark said. If you look at other states, like Colorado, there is a temporary spike as people get used to the whole idea of it being there, and more people getting comfortable using it.

Experts say that edible marijuana isnt inherently dangerous. The problem is that people metabolize it differently, so it isnt immediately apparent to users what dosage they can comfortably handle.

The high from edibles occurs approximately an hour after ingestion, so its harder for users, particularly inexperienced ones, to anticipate how they will be affected, said Dr. Thomas Marcotte, a UC San Diego psychiatrist who also does studies at the universitys Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research.

The high also tends to last much longer, and may actually be more intense, than when smoking, because THC gets metabolized into a different psychoactive form when it passes through the liver.

The effects can also be modified by the persons history of cannabis use, in that frequent users may experience less of a cognitive impact than occasional users.

Clark said, Weve had (patients) who ate (edibles) and said, Wow, this is a lot stronger than I usually get and they have an anxiety-type reaction. Theyre worried that somethings wrong. (Its) usually self-limiting  goes away after several hours.

There also are questions about quality control when it comes to the production of edible marijuana. Earlier this year, in a lengthy look at the field, the New Yorker magazine referred to Californias budding market as a nascent industry without dependable methods for cooking and dosing.

To cut down on bad experiences, Frentsos and other budtenders frequently tell customers to make sure they know what theyre eating, and to consume slowly. The mantra is: You can always eat more. You can never eat less.

Budtenders generally recommend that a person start with an edible product that has only 5 mg of THC, then wait 30 to 60 minutes to see how it affects them. Experts say 5 mg is roughly equal to one or two puffs off a joint.

This is an effective way for a person to find their personnel dosage level.

Even then, there can be problems. Notably, temptation.

Many edibles look and smell delicious, and are virtually indistinguishable from what a person could buy at a corner market. The milk chocolate blueberries sold at Urbn Leaf look like Milk Duds. The gummies resemble, well, gummies. And the Kiva chocolate bars could be mistaken for many high-end chocolates. Its easy to over-indulge.

The pretty packaging and tasty foods represent a specific attempt to appeal to people who want to consume marijuana more discreetly, without the use of bongs, pipes or vaporizers.

We want cannabis to be acceptable to someone who has never used it before, and this is an easy, social way to do it, said Leone Posod, who runs Treat Yourself with her business partner, Cindy Pinzon.

The Tustin company produces small tarts that are lightly-infused with marijuana. Their ad campaign sharply focuses on female consumers.

Cindy and I felt that women have been under-represented in the (marijuana) dispensaries, Posod said. There werent any products geared to women, and their interests in health. Our product is all about wellness.

Posod and Pinzon started their company 2.5 years ago. Early on, they were producing about 200 tarts per month. Now, theyre up to a few thousand. But theyre not sure whether the start of recreational sales in January is going to lead to explosive growth for edibles.

Pinzon said, Weve recently come to the realization that we have to be patient. Everyone has been pointing to January 1st as the start of all this. Thats just caused a lot of anxiety. Its going to take a while to figure out whats going to happen.

For us, its not about making a quick buck. Its about establishing a business for this. Were playing the long game.

ICYMI

What you need to know about buying recreational marijuana

Is it legal to smoke marijuana in your backyard? An attorney weighs in

Armored couriers might help state collect taxes from cash-only cannabis companies

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gary.robbins@sduniontribune.com
The buzz in political circles is this could be the saffron party's masterstroke to counter Hardik Patel's anti-BJP movement.

Deputy CM Nitin Patel is one of the BJP contenders for the Gujarat chief minister's post in the upcoming assembly election. Photo: Twitter.

By Jumana Shah: The BJP in Gujarat appears to be on backfoot with the young Patidar leaders rallying against the party and threatening that the entire community might vote against it.

If sources in the party are to be believed, BJP might announce a clear chief ministerial candidate in Gujarat, and this person could be a Patidar leader. Speculations are rife, it could be deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, senior state party leader Purshottam Rupala, state party president Jitu Vaghani or any other leader who has a standing in the community.

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At the moment, BJP President Amit Shah, has announced that the elections are being fought under the leadership of Nitin Patel and incumbent chief minister Vijay Rupani. It is therefore assumed that this leadership will be repeated if the party comes to power.

There is no categorical statement that Rupani or Patel will be the CM candidate.

If the party announces a Patidar face as a CM candidate, it would be a masterstroke to counter the agitation led by Hardik Patel since the last two years.

This would also be clinching because Congress cannot match this promise. For one, it doesn't have a towering Patidar leader who can legitimately lay claim to the top post. Besides, Congress's top leadership consists of Kshatriya leaders, who are infact seen as Patidars' nemesis.

Moreover, the Grand Old Party has maintained that it fights elections on party symbol and ideology, not personality cult.

In effect, the BJP's announcement could possibly topple the Congress's carefully built apple cart.

"We were expecting the name would be announced by mid-November. Infact, we are surprised it has been delayed. It is now expected Narendra Modi will announce it when he visits Gujarat around November 24," a senior leader from BJP confided.

Since the last two decades, the BJP has enjoyed electoral support of Patidars. The party has in return a noteworthy line up of Patidars as its top leadership to show for it.

Gujarat's chief ministers before and after Narendra Modi were Patidars - Keshubhai Patel and Anandiben Patel, respectively.

However, a year ago, when Anandiben Patel stepped down in October last year, it wasn't taken very kindly by the community. They blamed BJP for her ouster, though she had resigned of her own volition, without any apparent pressure from the party.

Following her resignation, Mehsana MLA Nitin Patel, who was then the finance minister, was expected to be the CM. He had infact even made an announcement and started celebrations, but this resulted in a big loss of face for him when Rupani's name was announced.

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Patidars are believed to make up about 18% of the electorate and have a sway over nearly 58 seats in the 182 seat Assembly. In Vijay Rupani's cabinet nearly 10 senior and junior ministers belonged to the community.

Hardik Patel has been leading a movement demanding reservation for the Patidar community under the OBC category. BJP has offered its inclusion for reservation under the Economically Backward Class (EBC), which would not be specific to the Patidars, but would include them.

This has so far been unacceptable to Hardik's team.

Congress on the other hand claims to have worked out a formula to give reservation to the party under the OBC. This formula is yet to be made public. If this actually works out, the Patidars may tilt towards the Congress in huge numbers.

In such a scenario, a Patidar CM candidate of the BJP would atleast split the votes in a community that is known to vote enmasse.

--- ENDS ---
Off of an uneven dirt road thats tough to pass without four-wheel drive, through sagebrush and manzanita, is the rugged East County canyon that Marc Halcon and Clark and Robin Williams call home.

In this rural stretch of San Diego County, households share an access road and a vista of a night sky thats filled with stars that shine brighter far away from city lights. While they have the natural beauty of this secluded pocket adjacent to the Cleveland National Forest, they dont have a good fence to separate their Alpine properties.

Halcons 160 acres, a military-style training compound called Covert Canyon, has for years been one of the most controversial land use cases in East County. But underneath bureaucratic wrangling by the neighbors, there have been restraining orders, at least one small brush fire, one property declared a junkyard by the county, and two jack-o-lanterns with bullet casings for eyes that one side believes were made in effigy.

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Restraining orders have required people to turn over guns to the Sheriffs Departments, and land use violations made them pay fines, clean up their properties and cease operations. There was a physical incident between two men in their 60s that, depending on whos explaining it, involved a chokehold or an innocent stumble.

Robin Williams has teared up at a government hearing, and Halcon isnt shy to say hes the type of guy who doesnt smile.

These run-ins are all the product of Halcon and the Williams family, two backcountry neighbors that do not get along.

 Feud in Covert Canyon

Theyre hoarders basically, Halcon says about the Willamses. At times, the county required them to clean up their land.

Halcon, Robin Williams has said, has turned their once-quiet refuge where she and her husband planned to retire into a danger zone riddled with the ongoing cacophony of gunfire. At times, the county has required Halcon to curtail shooting at his property.

My family, friends, animals, and I have lived in constant state of heightened awareness of being shot, burned, attacked and slandered, etcetera, she said at a December county Planning Commission hearing.

The Williamses didnt return a request for comment made through their attorney, San Diego environmental lawyer Marco Gonzalez. But in legal documents and testimony at hearings theyve relayed details of their relationship with their closest neighbor.

The feud started after Halcon, the owner of the American Shooting Center in Kearny Mesa, bought the property for $1.8 million in 2005. It was, by all accounts, a quiet place before Halcon took over.

He once had ambitious plans to build a tower, a mock ship, and other structures to give law enforcement officers high-intensity training courses not available at their departments training facilities. It would also give military units, including Navy SEALs, a convenient venue near San Diego where they can prepare for war.

The reason I bought this property was because it was the last place thats an unrestricted shooting area, he said.

Halcon has built dirt berms to catch bullets before they can soar off his property. He has one small classroom with folding tables and chairs and posters from weapon companies, reminders about firearm safety basics. There were also posted notices using military terms telling visitors about not letting classified information leave the property.

At first, Halcon said, he got along with his neighbors. They were on friendly terms, had lunch together once, and they seemed to support his business plan, he said.

They were fine in the beginning, Halcon said.

But it didnt last. In Jan. 5, 2007, the county, responding to a complaint, investigated their property, and gave an official warning and an order for unlawfully storing a trailer, an assortment of various junk, and other violations. County inspectors found seven cars on the property, including some from the 70s.

Complaints and citations followed for years, and theyve been fined three times, including once for $500, records show

Parts of government records about these citations were redacted so its not clear if Halcon filed these particular complaints, but he said he has alerted the county to issues hes seen at the Williams property.

Still, Halcon says some problems on his neighbors property have been over looked as the government shut down his Covert Canyon operation, which was the subject of several hearings.

I feel like, frankly, Im being held to a higher standard, he said.

This January Halcon was in his propertys classroom was showing pictures of the Williams property on a laptop in the classroom. One shows a flatbed truck carrying fuel cans, another shows several gasoline containers sitting near some brush.

More pictures show a small fire, a stack of tires, a satellite dish lying on its side atop a heap of wood, and various items covered with tarps.

You can see all the junk Im talking about, Halcon said.

But Halcon said the first citation changed things.

This whole thing didnt start until the county cited, Halcon said.

Months after the county warned the Williams family the first time, to get rid of the old cars and clean up the property, Halcon got into trouble, too. In May, 2007 the county told him to immediately cease operating a training facility. That meant no more shooting, firearms training, combat training, use of explosives, helicopter landings, and other tactical drills.

He was also fined $100 in December 2007 for using his property for military-style training, and another $1,000 in May 2011 for a similar violation, and once again for $2,000 in June of that year.

Theyve accused each other of physical altercations. Gonzalez, the Williams lawyer, wrote in an appeal to the county Planning Commission that Halcon pepper-sprayed Clark Williams as he sat in his car, with Halcon claiming it was self-defense.

Halcons ranch hand decided to mock up a couple of pumpkins as Robin and Clark at Halloween, and puts bullets in for the eyes as he sets them on fence posts where Robin and Clark will see them on the way to work each morning,cq Gonzalez wrote. The message being sent is clear. The same ranch hand gets drunk and screams at them from the propertys edge. They do not engage, as the ranch hand is typically armed.

As the Williamses and Halcon relied on the countys land use division to referee their disagreements, they also relied restraining orders.

In September 2009 Halcon sought and obtained a restraining order against Clark Williams. The circumstances of the request were not included in court records, but documents show that Clark Williams responded by getting his own restraining order against Halcon. Not only did the court require the men to keep away from each other, they had to get rid of their firearms. An exception was made for Halcon, the owner of a gun shop and indoor firing range, to have weapons while at his business.

Eventually, they resolved this matter out of court, but additional restraining orders followed.

In November, Robin Williams obtained one against Charles Robinson, one of Halcons employees at Covert Canyon.

Charles Robinson follows me home, parks outside my house when Clark may/may not be home, blows kisses at me when I drive by and has told my husband that he (Robinson) is having an affair with me (Robin W.), Robin Williams wrote in a request for a restraining order.

Clark Williams had his own issues with Robinson and another employee, Gary Orr.

They have stolen my tools, photographed me photographing them, they have trailed my attorney and myself touring my property, they have used leaf blowers to blow sand and dirt on me and my truck, effectively stopping and preventing me from driving on on (sic) my easement to my home, Clark Williams wrote in his restraining order request.Charlie frequently parks his truck, day and night, outside my house within the 100 foot fire buffer,cq trying to intimidate, challenge and bait me to come out and fight him.

Williams also wrote that Robinson grabbed him by an ankle as he was standing on the rear bumper of his truck, causing him to drop his camera packed with photos of Covert Canyon. Robinson took the camera, Williams said, and it has not been returned.

Williams received the restraining order, and Robinson had to keep his distance and surrendered to the Sheriffs Department five firearms. The case, court records show, is still pending. Robinsons attorney declined to comment.

Orr, the other Covert Canyon employee, has obtain his own restraining order against Clark.

He has a history of following people and I dont want him to know where I live, Orr wrote in his complaint. He also said he was concerned that Robin Williams, a former accountant with the FBI, would look up secret information about him and his wife.

Clark Williams grabbed me from behind by the neck and tried to throw me down, Orr wrote in his restraining order paperwork.

Williams said in court records that he was being badgered by the two men, accidentally fell forward, was accused of assault, and then backed away after he determined the incident was a set-up.

In May 2014 the restraining order was granted to Orr, and Clark Williams surrendered his Winchester pump-action shotgun to the county sheriff.

While the legal and personal battles continue, Halcon has plans for Covert Canyon. In October the county said he can host law enforcement officers and military personnel at his facility, effectively ending an old policy that only allowed invited guests to come to the range and shoot.

Halcon sees an opportunity in his future. He said hes in discussions with groups that want to use his land to train federal agents., but wont say which ones. While he has plans for his business, he never mentions any intention to build a fence.
Three people were rescued after their boat sank off the coast of La Jolla Saturday morning.

Boaters aboard the 32-foot recreational vessel contacted the Coast Guard in San Diego about 8 a.m. reporting their boat was taking on water about 40 miles off the coast, authorities said.

The Coast Guard issued an emergency broadcast urging nearby boats to respond. A Coast Guard helicopter and the cutter Petrel also headed that way, Coast Guard officials said.

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A Navy boat operating in the area got to the boaters first and rescued them. All three were wearing life jackets and not injured. The boaters were transferred to the Petrel and taken to Dana Point.

The disabled boat sank completely. There was no information on why the boat sank. The name of the vessel was not released.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis
A 35-year-old man was arrested Friday on suspicion of fatally shooting another man in Imperial Beach earlier this week.

Homicide detectives and a county fugitive task force took Osvaldo Lopez into custody on Towne Center Drive in the University City neighborhood of San Diego, not far from his workplace, sheriffs Lt. Rich Williams said.

Lopez was booked into jail on one count of first-degree murder in the death of Ricardo Sales, 30.

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Sales, a father of three children, was shot several times on Donax Street near the Imperial Beach Plaza Shopping Center about 6:20 p.m. Tuesday. The National City resident died before he could be taken to a hospital.

Williams would not say how homicide detectives identified Lopez as the suspect.

The lieutenant said investigators dont believe the shooting was gang-related.

Lopez was being held without bail, according to jail records.

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Fake social media accounts criticizing opponents of El Cajon City Councilman Bessmon Ben Kalasho were accessed almost 200 times from inside the elected officials home, newly filed court papers allege.

The court declaration also alleges that doctored nude photos of a former Miss Middle East USA were posted from an internet account at the Los Angeles area home of a close Kalasho family friend on the same weekend Kalashos wife was visiting the residence.

Kalasho runs the Miss Middle East beauty pageant and is being accused by contestants in a lawsuit of sexual harassment, fraud and defamation, among other accusations. He has denied the allegations in a counter-lawsuit.

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Plaintiffs have been able to secure overwhelming evidence from Facebook, Instagram, Cox Communications, AT&T, JotForm and Charter Communications establishing that many of serious allegations against the Kalashos relating to alias Facebook accounts, fabricated poll results, defamatory statements and falsified nude photographs are indisputably true, the plaintiffs new filing says.

The plaintiffs, including a lawyer and owners of a Mexican restaurant, accuse Kalasho of creating false social-media accounts to disparage them. In their latest filing, the plaintiffs are asking the judge to dismiss Kalashos countersuit based on the electronic data.

The councilman told U-T Watchdog that internet protocol information from telecommunications companies does not establish that he or his wife were involved in the alleged fraud or defamation.

IP addresses on open networks dont prove anything, he wrote in an email. Different individuals can use an IP address at different times.

Kalasho said the disputed social-media comments could have been uploaded by someone who hacked into his home internet network from nearby his house.

All this can be done by just parking outside my home, he said. All the plaintiffs know where I live and work, we have footage of them parked outside my home.

The original lawsuit was filed May 31 by the owners of the 3 Brothers Taco Shop, former Miss Middle East USA Zhala Tawfiq, San Diego attorney Lina Charry and one-time pageant participant Paris Kargar.

According to the complaint, the restaurant declined to allow the Kalasho campaign to hang a sign in business weeks before the 2016 council election and then, days later, the for-profit chamber of commerce set up an online poll asking voters to rank the best Mexican food in the Cajon Valley. In addition to being rated the worst Mexican restaurant in the area, two commenters posted stories alleging they were sickened by the food served at the taco shop, the lawsuit alleges.

Records subpoenaed by plaintiffs lawyer Jimmie Parker show the poll received only one vote despite a claim by the chamber that hundreds of people cast ballots, the court declaration said. Also, the posts from people claiming they got sick from the food were made from a computer inside the Kalasho home, the declaration said.

San Diego attorney Lina Charry joined the original suit after social media posts appeared online criticizing her professional expertise. She has since separated from the case and is proceeding independently.

Parkers declaration indicates the posts critical of Charry also originated from Kalashos house.

The defamation and fraud lawsuit also involves the two beauty pageant contestants. Tawfiq alleges in the lawsuit that she was supposed to receive $2,000 in prize money after winning the Miss Middle East USA crown in 2016 but she never received full payment. The lawsuit alleges that, after a dispute with Kalasho and his wife, someone put her face onto nude pictures of another women and posted the images on Instagram.

According to Parkers declaration, telecom records show the posts were made at the Cerritos home of Kalasho family friend and former Miss Middle East USA Stephanie Malouf. Jessica Kalasho testified in a deposition that she was in Cerritos visiting Malouf that weekend, his declaration states.

In his cross-complaint against the original plaintiffs, Kalasho rejected each of the allegations asserted by the plaintiffs.

He said no other businesses reported problems after declining to post Kalasho campaign signs on the premises. He denied ever offering to arrange for Kargar to win the beauty title if she slept with him and said Charry has an obsessive fixation with the councilman.

A trial is scheduled for August 2018.

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A San Diego judge ordered Mark Arabo, the longtime leader of the Neighborhood Market Association and prominent activist for Middle Eastern Christians, to pay back $248,000 in bonus and expense payments that the judge said he should not have been given by the associations board.

The ruling Thursday afternoon by San Diego Superior Court Judge Richard E.L Strauss capped a five-week trial in a lawsuit filed by current and former members of the NMA, who alleged the payments were part of a larger pattern of mismanagement by Arabo and the board.

Strauss, a highly respected judge who has been on the court for more than two decades, was blunt in his assessment of the defense.

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This is one of the most unusual cases Ive had in my 22 years on the bench, he said just after closing arguments concluded Thursday. Ive never heard so much fiction under oath. Its really unbelievable.

He went on to say that he believed Arabo misled the board in 2014 when it voted to pay him a $210,000 bonus related to the sale of the organizations building.

Strauss said that false representations were made to the board portraying Arabo as an integral player in getting a higher sales price for the building than originally offered.

They were not properly informed as to what happened, Strauss said, according to a transcript of his remarks. And I think  Mr. Arabo, I think you knew that at the time. I think you participated in that, and I think you took that money knowing  maybe you werent in the room when the board decided to give you the $210,000  but you knew what was happening and you knew the basis they were being told.

Arabo is the longtime leader of the NMA and also an advocate for persecuted Iraqi Christians, appearing regularly on Fox News representing the Minority Humanitarian Foundation.

Arabo testified during the trial for hours, but Strauss said that he found parts of his testimony incredible.

At one point Arabo was asked to verify if the handwriting on a document was indeed his, but he declined to concede it was. When lawyers for the plaintiffs said they were prepared to get a handwriting expert for analysis, Arabo later agreed it was his writing.

And to try to say you cant recognize your own handwriting is very difficult for me to believe, Strauss said. And I dont believe.

In a statement Arabo did not directly address Strausss comments.

I respect the decision of Judge Strauss and I look forward to my continued standing with the NMA as an operator of the organization, he said.

The decision will be appealed, the associations chairman, Amad Attisha said in an emailed statement.

The judge concluded that the board inappropriately gave Mark a bonus, Attisha said. We obviously think that this premise is a bit of a reach, as we all understood the votes we made prior to us casting them. We respect the judges decision, but the entire board is in disagreement over his final conclusion. Our association looks forward to the appeal process.

The judge declined to order Arabo to pay another $225,000 in what the plaintiffs said was excessive compensation. He said there was not enough evidence to prove that claim.

Strauss also took aim at the NMA board, which the plaintiffs said was allied with Arabo and not sufficiently independent. He ordered that an outside receiver be appointed to oversee the organization.

This organization should not be run by the people who are running it now in terms of administering it, the judge said.

The exact duties of that individual have yet to be spelled out but will be in the coming weeks, said Paul Jonna, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs.

Strauss also ordered that membership elections for new board members be held and that they be overseen by an independent election observer.

The suit was filed after some members of the association sought information about the payments to Arabo, as well as membership lists and other records. They were repeatedly rebuffed and went to court.

In addition to the bonus, Arabo received $38,000 for expenses that the plaintiffs said he had already been paid for and were not association business to being with. Strauss ordered that money to be repaid.

In the lawsuit the plaintiffs contended the organization has been losing membership and money over the past several years. Arabo stepped down as board president in 2015, just before the suit was filed, though his management company has a contract paying $42,000 per month to run the day-to-day operations of the association.

Jonna said that its unknown what his role and that of the board will be during the time the receiver is running the group. The money that Arabo is to pay will go to the association and not the plainitffs.

However the NMA will still be on the hook for the legal fees for the plaintiffs, which Charles LiMandri, who tried the case for the plaintiffs, said during the trial approach $1 million.

Twitter: @gregmoran

greg.moran@sduniontribune.com
Service crews from San Diego Gas & Electric worked overtime this week responding to thousands of calls from customers who smelled gas in their homes  and most of them were right.

Utility officials said Friday that an unnamed supplier added a disproportionate amount of odorant to the natural gas reserves, setting off concerns for customers across the service territory.

We have had a significant number of customers reporting a strong smell of gas, and since Tuesday we have inspected more than 2,300 homes and businesses to ensure they are safe, spokeswoman Colleen Windsor said in an email.

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SDG&E typically receives about 100 calls a day related to suspected gas leaks, Windsor said.

We inspect every one of these homes or businesses to confirm they dont have an unsafe situation, and if we do find a problem, we fix it, she wrote.

Natural gas is odorless and colorless so utilities add substances to the fuel so consumers can know if a pipeline is leaking.

The company declined to say how many of the services calls were diagnosed as actual leaks. The incident was reported to the California Public Utilities Commission but SDG&E did not provide a copy of the report to U-T Watchdog.

Commission spokeswoman Terrie Prosper did not immediately respond to a request for a copy of the SDG&E notice.

Talmadge resident John Harper said he smelled gas in his garage Wednesday, and it took SDG&E more than 24 hours to inspect the water heater. He said a repairman found a leak near the control panel and fixed it quickly.

He was very tired, said Harper, a retired salesman. I dont know if he had worked all night, he may have.  A needle-sized leak is how he described it.

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jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonald
A severely disabled boy was sexually assaulted at his high school by another disabled student, and authorities failed to prevent or properly report it, according to two new claims against the San Diego Unified School District and the City of San Diego.

The claims, both filed Thursday by the mother of the alleged victim, say school staff and police mishandled the alleged sexual assault in August 2016 at Lincoln High School in Lincoln Park.

The claims say the boys mother, who had not been made aware of important information during the initial investigation, sought an attorney after she heard from sources outside law enforcement the true nature of the facts and circumstances of what happened to her son.

The claims do not identify the alleged assailant. The San Diego Union-Tribune is not naming the alleged victim because the newspaper does not identify victims of sexual assault.

San Diego attorney Dan Gilleon, who is representing the alleged victims family, said Friday that authorities should have done more to protect the family.

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Both the San Diego Police Department and the school district declined to comment because the claims are pending.

Michael Marquez, the school districts police chief, issued a statement saying, The safety of students is our top priority. Our department follows all protocols when it comes to any allegations of wrongdoing. We conducted a preliminary investigation and forwarded our findings to SDPD, which is handling any follow-up investigation. All inquiries about this matter should be directed to SDPD.

The alleged sexual assault at Lincoln High School happened while the victim was attending a summer program there, the complaint said. He was allowed to use the restroom at the same time as another disabled student. The complaint alleges that school staff knew the other student had a history of inappropriate sexual behavior and violence towards others.

A staff member went into the bathroom to check on the boys and found the victim standing at the urinal with the other student apparently sodomizing him, according to the claims.

The suspect later admitted to sexually assaulting the victim, the claims said.

The school staff member who witnessed the incident told the acting school principal, the claims said. No one reported the incident to school police or the victims mother until the next day, the claims allege.

A school police officer investigated but didnt tell the victims mother important information, such as the true facts of what was witnessed in the restroom, that the suspect had admitted to sexually assaulting the victim and the suspects known history of inappropriate sexual behavior and violence, according to the claims.

San Diego police also investigated the case, the claims said.

The victims mother made choices for her son  including declining an invasive rape kit examination  based on incomplete information that had been provided to her, the claims said, and she agreed to sign a letter ending investigation without prosecution.

At some point, the victims mother went in person to the San Diego Police Department to request a copy of all police reports regarding the sexual assault, the claims said. She was denied the reports, as well as the recording of her own statements to detectives, the claims state.

The claim against the San Diego Unified School District accuses officials of failing to supervise and protect the student from sexual assault, failing to adequately investigate and advise the victims mother of material facts, and failing to report the incident to the appropriate welfare agency.

The claim against the San Diego Police Department alleges that it failed to report the matter to the Department of Justice as required by law, failed to adequately investigate the sexual assault of a minor, denied or concealed material information from the victims mother and induced the victims mother to sign a non-prosecution letter based on concealed information.

The victims mother seeks unlimited civil damages, according to the claims. The claim against police indicates that it seeks damages greater than $25,000.

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morgan.cook@sduniontribune.com
Ben Dillingham was one of the first openly gay power brokers in San Diego, a City Hall insider who cleared the path for pioneering local and state office-holders.

Until we all come out of the closet, he once said, it will not be safe for any of us.

Mr. Dillingham died Thursday at his San Diego home from pancreatic cancer. He was 72.

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He was the lodestar for those of us aspiring to serve in politics, said San Diego state senator Toni Atkins, who in 2014 became the first lesbian speaker of the state assembly.

Mr. Dillingham became the top aide for Mayor Maureen OConnor after her election in 1986, and soon was a beacon to others, according to Christine Kehoe, a City Hall staffer elected to the City Council in 1993, the first acknowledged gay elected official in city history and later a state legislator.

He was a role model, Kehoe said in a statement. Ben never lost his Marine bearing, no matter what controversy swept through his office.

Mr. Dillingham later became a leader in community organizations dedicated to LGBT rights and to the fight against AIDS, which claimed the lives of three of his partners.

Whether with private and extraordinary notes of encouragement to community members, or with powerful and incisive and insistent truths spoken to powerful officials, he has been the communitys courageous champion for justice, for truth and for dignity, Delores Jacobs, CEO of the San Diego LGBT Community Center, said in a statement.

Benjamin Franklin Dillingham III was born on May 23, 1945 in Honolulu, the descendant of a wealthy railroad and construction family.

He went to boarding school in Massachusetts and then to Harvard, where he got a degree in economics and an MBA.

During the Vietnam War, he served in the Marines as a reconnaissance platoon leader and was awarded a Bronze Star. He continued his military career at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, eventually retiring after eight years as a captain.

He went to work for General Dynamics and then became the chief financial officer for the Metropolitan Transit Development Board, which is where he met OConnor.

In a statement, the former mayor called him a dear friend and soul mate for over 35 years and said his contributions to the community are dwarfed only by his humility.

As OConnors gatekeeper, Mr. Dillingham had a reputation for toughness in his dealings with people trying to win the mayors favor on various issues.

But he also was loyal to his co-workers, once taking a cut in pay so that others in the office could get raises.

I can still keep my image as an SOB, he told a reporter at the time. If Im really a pussycat, thats between me and God and maybe it will help me get into heaven.

He served on the boards of numerous community organizations, including the San Diego AIDS project; AIDS Foundation San Diego; San Diego Human Dignity Foundation; and Episcopal Community Services. He was an active member of the Metropolitan Community Church.

Among his many honors: grand marshal of the Pride parade, the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Award, and the Crystal Torch from the Human Rights Campaign. The Veterans Wall at the LGBT Community Center is co-named after him.

Ben was truly one of a kind, county Supervisor Ron Roberts said in a statement, a dedicated, principled and driven man whose tireless work ethic was unmatched, and whose generosity to our community and loyalty to friends were endless and unwavering.

Mr. Dillinghams survivors include his mother, Mrs. Andrew Dillingham; sisters Ceseli Foster and Lorie Rosenwald; and brother Henry Dillingham II.

Services are pending.

john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com
Will Congress accommodate the demands for around 30 seats in Gujarat Assembly election and reservation for Patidars in the state government jobs? Hardik Patel has set yet another deadline for Congress.

By India Today Web Desk: With more people leaving his camp by the day, Patidar leader Hardik Patel seems to be in a hurry to make alliance or break ties with the Congress for Gujarat Assembly election.

Reports suggest that Hardik Patel has given a fresh deadline of midnight tonight for the Congress leadership to decide on his demands for a separate quota for Patidars in Gujarat and a list of candidates on about two-and-a-half dozen Assembly seats.

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The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader is said to have given a list of around 30 Gujarat Assembly constituencies, where he wants to field his own candidates. The Congress, on the other hand, is reluctant to accept the demand of leaving out 30 seats to Hardik Patel.

Gujarat will vote for 182-seat Assembly next month in two phases on December 9 and 14. The last date for filing nomination for the first phase ends on Tuesday. Hardik Patel, reportedly, wants to have clear view by tonight so that if he has to announce his own candidates, he has a couple of days to nominate contestants.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has shown inclination to accommodate Hardik Patel's demand to cash in on anti-incumbency against the BJP government. Hardik Patel has galvanised the Patel community in Gujarat over past two years. This may work in favour of the Congress should Hardik Patel joins the party or announces support to it for Gujarat Assembly election.

The resurgent Gujarat Congress is already feeling strain in accommodating candidates of newly inducted OBC leader Alpesh Thakor's choice. The party leaders are not in favour of conceding Hardik Patel's demands as they fear it would lead to dissension in the ranks.

CONGRESS IGNORING PAAS?

On the other hand, some of the close aides of Hardik Patel including Dinesh Bambhania were in New Delhi yesterday to hold talks with the Congress over seat adjustment for Gujarat Assembly election. The Congress leadership is in the process of finalising the list of candidates for the Gujarat election.

However, the PAAS leaders are reportedly unhappy as they could not hold talks with senior Congress leaders over accommodating their candidates on Congress's symbol for Gujarat election. With things not moving as per PAAS's calculation, it is reported to have given a deadline to the Congress to come clean on the matter by midnight tonight.

Dinesh Bamania, convener of PAAS, claimed that Gujarat Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki initially had a brief meeting with them and told them that there would be a detailed meeting again after the Congress Central Election Committee's meeting got over.

"However, even after the CEC meeting got over, they have not met us and Solanki is not picking up our calls. This is an insult to us," he said.

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After the waiting, Bamania, after speaking to PAAS leader Hardik Patel, has reportedly given an ultimatum to the Congress to declare its stand on the reservation status within 24 hours or else face opposition. The 24-hour deadline ends tonight.

This is the second time that Hardik Patel has set a deadline for the Congress this month. Earlier, he had asked the Congress leadership to make up their mind by November 7 on the issue of reservation for Patidars in government jobs and college admissions. But, he withdrew the deadline without Congress making any concrete efforts to persuade him.

(With inputs from IANS)

--- ENDS ---
Oceanside is one of the few North County cities that currently has zoning in place to help preserve agriculture. Recently, the question has arisen of how important the preservation of our agricultural heritage, present and future, is to the public. An initiative is being circulated in Oceanside that, if successful, would require a public vote whenever existing land zoned for agriculture or open space is proposed for another land use.

The Save Open Spaces and Agricultural Resources (SOAR) initiative now being circulated in Oceanside is consistent with the League of Women Voters position on agriculture in San Diego County related to wise land use to preserve agriculture for the entire region. Furthermore, it is consistent with our long-standing history of supporting the peoples right to vote on critical issues in their community.

The League of Women Voters believes that the San Diego county agricultural industry is of historical, environmental and economic importance to our region. The recent League of Women Voters study of agriculture in the county recognized the value that open space, fresh foods, wildlife corridors, clean air and visual harmony bring to the overall ambience of San Diego County.

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The situation in Oceanside is a classic example of what the study recognized as a major area of concern. The northeastern portion of Oceanside is mostly zoned as agriculture, and has been for many decades. The rest of the area is zoned low density residential with minimum 2 acre lots. No city water or sewer infrastructure is present. Additionally, the city of Oceanside has adopted smart growth policies aimed at clustering future growth near the I-5 corridor, which already has infrastructure for utilities, transportation geared to higher volume traffic and ready availability of urban amenities and services.

The League of Women Voters does not take a position on ballot measures without first conducting a study of the issue, developing a consensus position from the study, and evaluating the proposed measure for consistency with that position. A key recommendation of our 2015 study of agriculture in San Diego County is to Support the preservation and expansion of land used for agricultural purposes through: a) adopted General and Specific Plans; b) zoning; and c) permanent dedication programs in order to encourage the long-term presence and viability of the agricultural industry.

This is not to ignore or deny the challenges of practicing agriculture in San Diego County. Water costs, labor supply, encroaching pests and plant diseases, high land costs, and climate change are all constant factors which are part of any farmers concerns. Yet agriculture has been successful in San Diego County due to our many microclimates, ingenious farming techniques, smart crop choices and increasingly sophisticated use of modern science.

The League of Women Voters therefore supports this initiative. It is an effort to maintain an irreplaceable resource that has significant value to the community. The SOAR initiative will not solve all the challenges related to local agriculture. But we feel that it is an important step in the right direction.

To see the full LWV study, go to https://lwvncsd.org/Studies.html

Omsted is president of League of Women Voters, North County San Diego.
When Harvey Weinstein said, that was the culture then, he was right.

So why are we still telling blonde jokes?

First I should say: Forgive me, for Ive been suffering from a continuous loop of self-inflicted outrage fatigue.

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But last month I seized control. Cutting back on social media was the key. I stopped engaging in Facebook fights and instead, focused on fact-finding and critical thinking.

Then last week, something threw me for a loop. Two men, for whom I have the utmost respect, told blonde jokes in quasi-public settings. One joke came via email to a circle of friends and one joke was told from the podium at the conclusion of a well-attended meeting.

With OReilly, Weinstein and the #MeToo movement still on the front page, this caught me off guard. When I mildly pushed back about the emailed blonde joke, my dear friend responded: Only a joke, Jan, only a joke.

To which I say: Please friends, can we start connecting the dots?

Yes, the blonde jokes were funny. But is degrading someone actually funny? (Oh come on, my wife thinks its hilarious.)

When you ridicule someone  even in the cloak of humor  you make it easier to dehumanize that person. And if you dehumanize that person, perhaps normal boundaries of decency and propriety are easier to cross.

Man, youre no fun anymore, cant you take a joke?

I get that a lot these days. Some would say Im way too politically correct, but in my defense, Im just tired of lazy humor. I dont appreciate jokes drawn from the good old days of sexism and chauvinism.

When Harvey Weinstein defended his bad behavior he boiled it down to this: that was the culture then. And hes right. As The New York Times recently wrote, its a poor excuse that explains a lot. More often than not, in those days, women were props in a mans world, some treated better than others. Real equality was rare.

So yes, undeniably, women have come a long way. But as we are reminded in daily news reports, powerful men  across all industries  continue to disrespect and abuse women with impunity. Do jokes that ridicule women, told in everyday settings by esteemed individuals, contribute to a sense of invincibility and male privilege?

Lets be clear. Not for a moment am I saying that men who tell blonde jokes  or any sexist joke  accept, condone or perpetuate the abuse of women. That would be utterly absurd and a ridiculous leap.

But I am suggesting that when a culture routinely demeans a certain class of people  females, for instance  it becomes easier to relax boundaries. For some sick individuals, its a socially accepted building block as they escalate their Ill take what I want behavior.

Last Jan. 24, on the morning of the Womens March, an Atlantic County, New Jersey, freeholder (a term for an elected official) named John Carman posted something dumb on Facebook. A photo of a beautiful smiling woman, dutifully cooking over a hot stove, was accompanied by this question: Will the womans [sic] protest be over in time for them to cook dinner?

As you can imagine, the reaction was mixed. Carman responded on Facebook to his critics: Lighten up, its called humor.

Pressed further, he said in an interview that the post was not meant to offend and that some people just have to get a sense of humor.

I hope John Carman has a sense of irony because that joke inspired a 32-year-old political newcomer to bounce him from office in the Nov. 7 election. Yes, in that race in New Jersey, the offendees got the last laugh.

But seriously and with all due respect, can we rethink the blonde jokes and the women in their place humor? Its probably time to relinquish these themes to the 20th century, where they thrived and mostly went unchallenged.

I know, I know  for some of you, political correctness has Made America No Fun. But cant we do better and still get a good laugh?

Percival is a media relations consultant and a past president of the San Diego Press Club.
Will the California Public Utilities Commission live up to its image as an agency thats a lap dog for the giant investor-owned utilities it regulates? Sooner or later, Californians are going to find out.

The issue is San Diego Gas & Electrics request to bill its customers $379 million for the costs of three 2007 San Diego County wildfires sparked by the utilitys power lines. In August, two administrative law judges who work for the California Public Utilities Commission recommended that the CPUC turn down the request. They cited two state investigations that concluded the utility created dangerous conditions by not trimming tree branches and brush next to its lines, leading to deadly blazes that destroyed more than 1,800 homes and buildings.

Since then, the CPUC board has on four occasions put off a decision on the recommendation. Complicating the picture, massive wildfires broke out in the wine country north of San Francisco on Oct. 8, killing at least 43 people and destroying nearly 9,000 structures. The Bay Area News Group reported that some of the blazes might be linked to downed Pacific Gas & Electric power lines, and the utility may face billions of dollars in claims. PG&E and Edison have joined SDG&E in arguing that climate change has made disastrous wildfires more likely, and that when the blazes occur, the utilities should be able to pass along the cost to ratepayers.

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Thankfully, a number of state lawmakers realize its wrong to let SDG&E off the hook  and worry about the dangerous precedent it would set. This week, state Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, sent a letter to each CPUC board member criticizing their delay and warning that a decision in SDG&Es favor disincentivizes [utilities] from prioritizing safety.

In response to emails from a San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board member, three San Diego Assembly members  Democrats Todd Gloria and Shirley Weber and Republican Brian Maienschein  agreed with Hill. State Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, also agreed and issued a statement in which she said she expected PUC board members to act, first and foremost, in the interest of ratepayers.

Unfortunately, that expectation is one that board members have repeatedly failed to meet. An egregious recent example: In 2014, the CPUC approved a plan to make ratepayers cover 70 percent of the $4.7 billion cost of shuttering the San Onofre nuclear plant that Edison and SDG&E co-owned and Edison operated as majority owner. The CPUC did so even though evidence later suggested Edison played a role in the plants failure because the utility botched the replacement of worn-out steam generators. In 2015, a U-T Watchdog investigation found that the framework for the plan had been established in a secret meeting between an Edison executive and then-CPUC President Michael Peevey in 2013 at a hotel in Poland. The CPUC was forced to reopen the settlement, and hearings continue.

Now the stakes are even higher in the fight over wildfire costs. If SDG&E, PG&E and Edison know their ratepayers will foot the bill for their mistakes, will anything keep them from cutting corners? A CPUC decision in favor of SDG&E wouldnt just help utility shareholders. It would put Californians lives at risk  and lost lives cant be renegotiated.

Related:

SDG&E deserves blame, tab for 2007 fires

SDG&E doesnt deserve last-minute reprieve on cost of 2007 wildfires

If PUC decision on wildfire utility costs endangers Californians, abolish the commission

New wildfire safety rules good  if they are actually enforced

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion
America has rarely seemed as polarized as it does today. A Gallup poll released this year found just 34 percent of those surveyed identified as moderate, down from a high of 43 percent in 1992. While there are still many moderate Americans, ideologues increasingly control our two dominant parties.

And these individuals arent just fierce advocates of their causes. In 2014, Stanfords Shanto Iyengar and Princetons Sean J. Westwood published Fear and Loathing across Party Lines: New Evidence on Group Polarization. Their research showed party preference is now a crucial factor in how many people judge each other  a factor more powerful than race. As a result, what weve seen in America in recent decades is the transformation of party affiliation into a form of personal identity that reached into almost every aspect of our lives, as a Vox story on Iyengar and Westwood put it.

Against this disheartening backdrop, its sad to report the days of one of the traditions of our federal government that encourages moderation and bipartisanship  the Senate Judiciary Committees blue slip process  may be numbered. Built on traditions of Senate courtesy in which senators are deferred to on some matters involving their home states, the process took shape in the early 20th century. It prevents a presidents judicial nomination from advancing to a vote of the full Senate unless the nominee is supported by both of his or her home-state senators, indicated by returning a blue nomination form to the Senate Judiciary chair.

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A 2013 Congressional Research Service report found that while some Judiciary Committee chairs and majority leaders were more likely than others to honor the blue slip process, the Senate had a long history of making clear to the White House the importance of working with home-state senators in choosing federal court nominees. This has had the hugely positive effect of making presidents more likely to pick judges with at least some moderate inclinations than judges whose worldviews  like Antonin Scalia on the right and Ruth Ginsburg on the left  often seem to drive their decisions as much as the specifics of the cases before them.

But last week, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said he was going to bypass the blue slip process with Trump administration nominees for judges on the 5th and 8th districts of the U.S. Court of Appeals. Since these appellate courts both cover more than one state, this isnt as strong a break with tradition as some reports suggest. Past Senate Judiciary chairs have made a distinction between nominees for federal trial courts and appellate courts. But its telling that veteran Senate Republicans like Grassley  first elected in 1980  are as ready to abandon long-held traditions like the blue slip process as young firebrands like Tom Cotton of Arkansas  elected in 2014.

This can only help the Trump administrations project to use GOP control of the White House and Senate to quickly install as many young, highly conservative judges on federal appellate courts as possible  a sharp escalation of the hardball over judicial nominees that has been building for decades.

A Nov. 11 analysis in The New York Times noted this approach may be copied by Democrats when they return to power. And so the U.S. may be well on its way to having a federal court system thats as riven by ideology as the legislative branch.

This is not healthy. If Americas most powerful institutions are as divided as Americans on extreme ends of the political spectrum, then our future is imperiled  because middle ground and progress on crucial issues will be far more difficult to find.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion
A judge charged with drunken driving and videotaped using racial slurs while arguing with police officers was suspended without pay Monday for eight months by a judicial review panel.

Superior Court Judge E. Curtissa Cofield, who was confirmed as Connecticuts first black female judge in 1991, apologized to the state Judicial Review Council.

I regret that my actions may have tarnished the institution that I love, she said. Ive embarrassed and humiliated my family and loved ones, and disappointed my friends.

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The panel determined, by unanimous vote, that Cofields disparaging and demeaning comments failed to live up to the standards of integrity and impartiality expected of judges. The council could have imposed up to a one-year suspension and recommended her permanent removal by the Connecticut Supreme Court, but instead settled on the lesser suspension.

Cofield told reporters she would not appeal.

She was arrested the night of Oct. 9 after her car hit a parked state police cruiser in a construction zone on Route 2 in Glastonbury. Police say she told them she hadnt had any alcohol, but she failed a sobriety test, and urine tests later that night showed she had a blood-alcohol level twice the legal limit of 0.08.

She also argued with state and Glastonbury police officers. A surveillance camera at the Glastonbury police department captured the exchanges on video, which shows her using the N-word, calling a black state trooper Negro, threatening that troopers job, referring to a female officer as little girl and Barbie and using other offensive language.

When I watched the video, I did not recognize myself, Cofield told the council. The woman I observed that night is not the woman I am.

Cofield acknowledged that her conduct was reprehensible, but said she did not willfully violate the conduct code because her judgment was impaired by her intoxication.

Judge Susan S. Reynolds appeared to stump Cofield when she asked why Cofields comments were not racist.

Why is it not racism .... hmmm. I think for crimes like bias you have to have intent, Cofield said. All I can say is I was really intoxicated. ... I cant explain it. Why is it not racism ... I dont know. But if it is or someone perceives that it is, I apologize for that.

Other judges subpoenaed to testify said Cofield received above-average job evaluations and her reputation was excellent.

Marvin Zelman, a psychiatrist who said he has spent 15 hours with Cofield, testified that she was under a lot of stress in 2008. Her father died that year, her mothers house burned down and her adult children had legal problems.

Shes had an impeccable record (as a judge) for 17 years and I see no reason she couldnt continue, Zelman said.

Cofield has been accepted into the states alcohol education program for first-time DUI offenders, and the drunken driving charge will be dismissed if she successfully completes the program.



Associated Press Writer Susan Haigh contributed to this report.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  New Yorks highest court ruled Thursday that Bank of America must disclose to an insurer communications it had with Countrywide Financial six months before the bank bought the mortgage lending company in 2008. The insurer, Ambac Assurance Corp., claims in a lawsuit that Countrywide illegally misrepresented its mortgage-backed securities.

The Court of Appeals ruled attorney-client privilege doesnt shield hundreds of communications between the two institutions and their lawyers from Ambac as it collects evidence for its fraud lawsuit. The court reinstated the order of a judge in Manhattan, where the fraud case is pending.

Ambac guaranteed payments on securities issued by Countrywide subsidiaries between 2004 and 2006.

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Ambac argues that the very communications Bank of America withheld from disclosure would have revealed that the merging entities structured their transaction to conceal Countrywides fraudulent dealings and leave potential victims without recourse, Judge Eugene Pigott Jr. wrote. Defendants ... respond that there is no evidence of actual abuse in this case.

Pigott, writing for the four-judge majority, noted that attorney-client privilege in New York is generally lost when communications are shared with third parties, except when they relate to pending or anticipated litigation such as with co-defendants in criminal cases.

He rejected the banks argument that privilege should apply more broadly to any common legal interest, concluding that any benefits of that would be outweighed by lost evidence, along with the potential for abuse. Judges Sheila Abdus-Salaam, Leslie Stein and Eugene Fahey agreed with him.

In a dissent, Judge Jenny Rivera wrote theres already a crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege that permits disclosure of communications related to future wrongdoing. A referee in the Countrywide case reviewed and distilled the 366 communications at issue to 110 deemed privileged, she noted.

Attorney-client privilege encourages the free flow of information essential to legal representation, Rivera wrote. The majoritys contention that application of the privilege might lead to misuse is purely speculative.

Judge Michael Garcia agreed with her.

Stephen Younger, attorney for Ambac, said the ruling gives important guidance to courts and litigants on an unsettled question. By reaffirming the litigation requirement, the court struck the right balance between providing common interest protection to the situations where its most needed and denying it where the benefits are marginal and outweighed by the costs to the fact-finding process, he said.

Calls to Jonathan Rosenberg, attorney for Bank of America, were not immediately returned.
By PTI: Washington, Nov 18 (PTI) Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has slammed Donald Trump and Republican Senate nominee Ray Moore for being unapologetic over the sexual misconduct allegations, saying the US President has "disgraced the office".

Hillary, 70, the former Democratic presidential nominee who last year lost the White House race to Trump, 71, said that Democratic Senator Al Franken has apologised for his reported sexual misconduct and his willingness for a probe "is the kind of accountability Im talking about".

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"I dont hear that from Roy Moore or Donald Trump... Look at the contrast between Al Franken, accepting responsibility, apologising, and Roy Moore and Donald Trump who have done neither," she told New Yorks WABC radio station.

Hillary also said that the President has "disgraced the office".

Asked if she admired anything about Trump, she quickly responded in the negative.

"No. The answer is absolutely no... I didnt think hed be as bad as he turned out to be," she said of Trump.

When asked about Moore, who has been accused by five women of sexual misconduct, Hillary said he does not appear to be someone who will bring respect and honour to the state of Alabama.

Moore, a former judge and the Republican nominee for a vacant Senate seat in Alabama, has denied all charges.

When asked about the past behaviour of Bill Clinton, her husband and a former US president, and if she should have been more supportive of his female accusers versus reports that she attacked their credibility, Hillary said, "Every situation has to be judged on its own merit."

She further said those allegations were investigated and recent comments by others about her husband are not relevant. "I dont know that we can rewrite and revise history," Hillary said.

Of specifically Senator Gillibrands recent comments about Bill Clinton that he should have resigned after his affair with Monica Lewinsky, she said, "I dont exactly know what she (Gillibrand) was trying to say."

Hillary is currently on a tour for her new book What Happened -- a memoir and election postmortem published by Simon & Schuster. PTI KIS CPS

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The accused Sai Kiran Reddy Saanikommu, was identified and the mobile phone used for the committing the offence was seized.

By Ashish Pandey: An engineering student was arrested by the cyber crime department of Rachakonda police station for stalking three girls of a reputed engineering collage.

The 20-year-old accused is also a second year engineering student in Warangal.

The accused downloaded the profile pictures of victims from Instagram and later morphed it with nude pictures. He did this to blackmail them.

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According to the police, on November 12, one of the victim got a WhatsApp message from an unknown number asking to share her pictures.

Shocked and surprised with the random video calls and messages she blocked the number.

Later, one of her classmate started receiving video calls and morphed pictures of her with abusive texts. She too opted to block the number.

The stalker also threatened to post her pictures on porn sites.

The accused Sai Kiran Reddy Saanikommu, was identified and the mobile phone used for the committing the offence was seized.

"The accused has confessed that since victims stopped responding to his messages and blocked the number, he decided to take revenge by sending morphed pictures and vulgar texts", said CP Rachakonda, Mahesh Bhagwat, while speaking to India Today.

The accused was booked under sections 292 IPC and 66 E and 67 of IT Act and sent to judicial custody.

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Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/17/2017 -- Glucoamylase decomposes starch into glucose by shredding glucose units commencing the non-reduced end of polysaccharide chain. They are derived from submerged fermentation of a specially selected producer strain of Asp.niger. To sustain an optimum enzyme activity, glucoamylase should be stored in dry and cool place in a strongly closed container. The global glucoamylase market is expected to grow at a single digit CAGR during the forecast period.



Glucoamylase is a significant industrial enzyme and is extensively used in brewing, starch saccharification and across distilling industry. Glucoamylase is derived from a wide variety of sources which includes plants, animals, and microorganisms. Main stream production of glucoamylase is prepared using liquid fermentation process. Further, the method of solid state fermentation is been employed for the production. The technique is gaining renewed interest from researchers in the near time.



Request For Report Sample: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3993



Global Glucoamylase Market: Drivers and Restraints



The major driver driving the global glucoamylase market is the health benefits of glucoamylase. Glucoamylase can break down the starches into glucose which are absorbable and usable. Some of the health benefits of glucoamylase includes aid in irritable bowel syndrome, aid for digestive upset & gastrointestinal issues, fast aiding of the digestive organs and reduction of food allergies. Also, studies have proved that glucoamylase in combination with other enzymes resuts in less autoimmunity responses and can influence the immune system in a beneficial way.



Global Glucoamylase Market: Segmentation



By product segment, the global glucoamylase market is segmented into:



Liquid State Fermentation

Solid State Fermentation



By Application, the global glucoamylase market is segmented into:



Alcohol

Starch Sugar

Beer

White Spirit

Others



By source, the global glucoamylase market is segmented into:



Plants

Animals

Microorganisms



Global Glucoamylase Market: Segmentation Overview



The global glucoamylase market report is segmented by source, by application, and by product segment. By application, the market is further sub-segmented into alcohol, starch sugar, white spirit, beer, and others. Glucoamylase helps to break down starch, which occurs naturally in most of the vegetables such as wheat, potatoes, rice and corn. Moreover, glucoamylase is used as a processing additive filler in many prepared food products.



Global Glucoamylase Market: Regional Outlook



The glucoamylase market is segmented by regions into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Middle East & Africa (MEA) and Japan. North America is anticipated to account for the largest share in global glucoamylase market and is expected to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. The US is the single largest market for the specialty enzyme. Further Europe is expected to account for the second largest share in the global glucoamylase market. Growing concerns about health care and cosmetics have led to the demand for specialty enzymes increased in the recent years. Further, the demand for glucoamylase is increasing due to the introduction of new drugs that are used in the enzyme replacement therapy.



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Global Glucoamylase Market: Key Players



The key players in the global glucoamylase market are Novozymes, Genencor, Amano Enzyme, DSM, AB Enzyme, Verenium, Shandong Longda, VTR, SunHY, YSSH, BSDZYME, Challenge Group, Jinyuan, and Sunson. To ensure product differentiation and to gain a considerable share of the market, major vendors are adopting creative strategies and are constantly developing innovative products.
The name Sanctuary City has flavors of kindness and righteousness, and it tastes like doing well to others.

It sounds like a refuge from lifes injustice and oppression, a haven from persecution and oppression, and the embodiment of kindness to everyone. It seems to have the value system of all that good religion stands for, and thus it grafts easily into the American way.

Sanctuary Cities must be inherently good. I was born in one, but in those days it was known by another name: the No Mean City, also a biblical term, but with a very different potential for interpretation.

Before peeling off the label that says Sanctuary City and sticking it on our lapels, like visitors to an exhibition, it is best we know what the term means. In its origins of a few thousand years ago, Christians, Jews and perhaps Moslems, meet the term in the scrolls of the Old Testament, as did we in Sunday school class recently. The Book of Joshua contains the edict to set up Cities of Refuge (Sanctuary Cities) in the new nation of Israel, by commandment of God!

Immediately after the land had been divided up among the tribes and the people, this by importance was the next new law of the land. Here stated plainly is the answer to the two questions:

>> 1. What is a City of Refuge (Sanctuary City)?

>> 2. What is the need for such a place?

These were seven cities where the law of the land provided protection for those involved in accidental death incidents, and yet to be pronounced innocent. Justice is a slow plodding donkey, while vengeance is as swift as a falcon. In cases where fatal accidents occurred, the accused was told to flee to a City of Refuge and there avoid the Avenger who was a close family of the deceased.

These cities were Levite controlled, and thus places of the Law (call them university towns). Each could be reached from anywhere in the country in about a days march. Here the person would receive protection and sustenance and await justice to come, on the back of a donkey. Properly stated, the Law of the Land charges these cities to do this. No vigilante justice in this nation! Israel was a nation of laws.

Secondly, Cities of Refuge are the courts where the account of the accident is first told. This to its elders, and by the party involved. Our evening news of infinite and obscure origins and transportations has brought us much woe. News is biased, politicized, commercialized and sanitized for the manipulation of the masses. It is supersized, with everything on it and a side order of fries.

Oh! Walter Cronkite, where art thou? A City of Refuge was to be where the story was first told by the plaintiff to a magistrate, in public (my presumption). We might even call it the truth.

So with The Principle in one hand and The Object in the other, let us measure with these rods whether some cities are justified in calling themselves Sanctuary Cities. The answer No applies equally, in both cases. Rather than being agents of the law, they are contrary to the Law and even promote the notion that it is meritorious to flout it. It is a good thing for mercy to season justice, but first comes conviction, and then perhaps mercy. Stealing the biblical term Sanctuary City but not the principle is gross deceit.

Secondly, we as a nation have well-established laws and agents to enforce them. The public prosecutor, the police force and the courts all orbit around the cause of truth and the determination of innocence and guilt without prejudices gravitational pull.

Sanctuary Cities are not needed in our day. Even Israel, the land of Joshua, does not have these places any more, as public courts suffice.

Let the motion against Sanctuary Cities be passed with a unanimous vote.
FLORENCE, S.C.  Francis Marion University President Fred Carter told the universitys trustees Thursday that the schools fiscal health has never been better, and that it is well-positioned for the future.

Carters remarks came at the boards quarterly meeting on the FMU campus.

Weve never really been in better shape financially, Carter said. This board made the decision long ago that we werent going to borrow money to build buildings. We were going to raise money privately, look for (funding) matches and try to get state appropriations and get all of that money together before we broke ground Thats a wise policy because when our kids pay tuition, their tuition isnt saddled with debt service related to buildings that well be paying off into the future.

Carter also credited the work of the schools academic deans and vice presidents, and the schools unusually lean administrative organization for the the good financial status.

In his report to the board, Carter said that the next big program in the universitys pipeline will be mechanical engineering. It will serve to augment the already burgeoning industrial engineering program within the universitys Department of Physics. A feasibility study for mechanical engineering is underway.

Weve been hiring industrial engineering faculty with some mechanical engineering capabilities, Carter says. Weve already started segueing toward mechanical engineering.

No precise date has been set for the start of the program, which will require board and regulatory approval.

At Thursdays meeting, the board approved a new quality enhancement program called Professional Experience and Knowledge (PEAK), which will provide students with experiential learning opportunities.

The board also unanimously approved a new bachelor of science degree in health care informatics, which will be available in both management and information technology tracks through the universitys School of Business. The new program is an interdisciplinary major, with extensive components from the School of Health Science and the College of Liberal Arts.

The health care informatics degree will provide a new resource for the regions health care industry by producing professionals capable of managing and interpreting the ever-increasing flow of data in the fast-growing health care sector. In that regard, it is, at least in part, a response by the university to a need identified by regional health care providers. As such, it continues FMUs support for improving health care in the Pee Dee region and the state.

The need for health care informatics graduates has intensified as the health care field has become more and more data-driven, focusing on analytics and shared information throughout various institutions.

Health care informatics also adds another career path for FMU students. In the past three years FMU has added new programs in industrial engineering, advanced practice nursing (family nurse practitioner, nurse educator) and physician's assistant.

Speech language pathology and FMUs first doctoral program, a doctorate in nursing practice, are set to begin next year.

Carter also took time to praise a number of university groups and programs. He applauded the universitys Student Government Association and SGA President Marcedes Smith for their continued efforts to support a broad range of initiatives across campus, and noted a number of overseas trips planned for students in the spring.
By PTI: from govt institutions: Swaraj

New Delhi, Nov 15 (PTI) India will take up with Sri Lanka the issue of reported removal of the name of a revered leader of Indian Tamils in the island country from government institutions, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj assured DMK working president MK Stalin today.

The assurance came after the DMK leader flagged the issue with Swaraj.

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"Requested the MEA @SushmaSwaraj to raise Indias concerns over the removal of Thiru. Savumiamoorthy Thondamans name from Sri Lankan government institutions with their government. The revered leader of Hill Country Tamils must continue to be recognised for his immense contributions," Stalin tweeted.

Responding to Stalin, Swaraj said, "We will take up this matter with the Government of Sri Lanka."

Savumiamoorthy Thondaman was a Sri Lankan politician who represented the Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka. He was the leader of the political party Ceylon Workers Congress. PTI PYK ASK ASK

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FLORENCE, S.C.  Fourth-graders at Delmae Elementary school beat bankers in a trivia challenge earlier this week at the school.

The fourth-graders competed against employees from First Reliance Bank during the schools annual Are You Smarter than a Fourth Grader? challenge.

Cheers erupted in the multipurpose room as bank employees presented the trophy to the student team. Lisa Young, a fourth-grade teacher who organized the competition, said the trophy will be a nice addition to the schools showcase.

A Jeopardy-style round kicked off the competition with questions in literature, grammar, math, science and social studies categories. Questions were relevant to fourth-grade curriculum standards.

We like to have fun, but we also like to make sure kids are learning, Young said.

The students won the round in a 2000 to 1100 victory.

The student team was made up of representatives from each fourth-grade class. All other fourth-grade students sat in the audience to cheer on their friends.

A new team of fourth-graders took the stage for the second round of the competition. The second round was made up of questions about Florence. The student team again swept the victory.

Each fourth-grader who competed received a blue ribbon from First Reliance. Employees at First Reliance said they enjoy working with Delmae Elementary.

Theyve always been a huge support to Delmae, Young said.

This week is American Education Week. Young said having guests at the school was a way to connect the community with the school. Employees and students joked with each other about who was smarter, cheered for each other and high fived at the end.

While the event was educational, Young said, it was also a fun break from regular instructional time for both students and teachers.
In a large tank filled with cold water, an orphaned beluga calf slurps and gulps with gusto six times a day. Feeding time for this bouncing baby boy in the 24/7 critical care unit of the Alaska SeaLife Center involves buckets, tubes and rubber nipples originally intended for livestock. Tyonek, as the 11-week-old is known, guzzles formula made from powdered milk substitute supplemented with salmon oil and herring filets and pureed in a Vitamix blender.

The calf was rescued in late September after stranding on a quicksand-like flat on the remote western edge of a frigid arm of water near Anchorage. And his rescue represents a collaborative, creative and extreme effort  by experts in Alaska and others who traveled thousands of miles to contribute to his care  to help save a species: The endangered Cook Inlet Beluga.

With a population of only about 300, the species needs every individual. Even if Tyonek lives in captivity for the rest of his life, the baby beluga will provide data about health and behavior critical to saving his species. But to get to that point, the whale must first grow.

So how exactly does one bottle-feed a whale calf? It actually takes three humans to prepare the delicious (to a beluga) and nutritionally sound meal and then bottle feed about a liter to the cetacean. In the wild, a baby beluga would swim alongside its mother to nurse. In the centers cleverly named I-Sea-U, things are a bit less natural.

The calf swims up, and we present the bottle, said the centers director of husbandry, Brett Long. The little guy then pushes his tongue forward, rolls it into a little taco around the nipple and, usually, starts suckling.

Caregivers feed the baby around the clock, filling his belly with about six liters of the fishy formula each day. If he doesnt take enough on his own, they use a soft, flexible feeding tube that delivers the magical mix directly to his stomach.

Its working. Tyonek, whose name means little chief in the local language of the village near where he was found, weighed 135 pounds when he was found. Hes since packed on about 60 more.

That progress certainly wasnt guaranteed when Carrie Goertz, the centers animal health director, got to him.

The first person to spot him on that sunny Saturday was a keen-eyed officer from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He and a pilot had flown in a helicopter that morning with Goertz to perform a necropsy on another whale that had died after stranding. After dropping Goertz back at the center in Seward, about 90 miles away, the officer caught sight of the baby beluga from the air.

The officer and pilot landed and tried to push the calf back out into the water. It didnt work, so they went back for Goertz.

When she arrived, she noticed damage to the belugas fluke, or tail, probably from pecking birds and cuts from rocks. She guessed hed been there at least two hours, but maybe as long as 12. But he was breathing, and his eyes were in good shape.

Still, Goertz knew the calf wouldnt survive without help, even if they could get him to deeper water.

I thought, maybe we can do something for this guy, she said. Its great to be able to learn from the dead, but being able to help the living has its own rewards.

She went into problem-solving mode. A pickup by boat would take hours and add additional danger. So Goertz and the NOAA officers scoped out the back of the helicopter and moved things around. They measured the calf  he was more than five feet long  and figured hed fit, and then hoisted him inside.

It would not have worked if the animal resisted. But he didnt. They bolstered him with soft objects and took off for Anchorage. Two hours away at the center, staff prepared for the calfs arrival, moving a young rescued walrus named Aku into another room.

Twenty minutes later, they transferred the little whale into a truck where he was made comfortable on a thick foam mat. A caravan headed south along the Seward Highway, which, for part of the way, hugs the harsh waters of Cook Inlet. Beluga experts from five aquarium partners  Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, SeaWorld San Diego, Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut and Vancouver Aquarium in Canada  immediately said theyd come to help, too, and some arrived within 24 hours.

There is a significant effort in studying this population, Long said. Being in a position to respond quickly to individual animals, and possibly aid in the species recovery, is crucial, he said.

The rescue was very unusual for the SeaLife Center. It is often called on to rehabilitate seals, sea otters and other animals (like Aku, who was found orphaned in Nome, Alaska, in the summer and has since moved to SeaWorld Orlando), but rarely cetaceans. A one-day-old beluga calf it took on in 2012 was in very poor shape and did not survive.

But Tyonek didnt have significant injuries. Caregivers focused on feeding him every two to four hours, tweaking the recipe for his formula and making sure he didnt sink in his tank  a common problem for exhausted and weak cetaceans. We needed him to ... float well, which is not always the case with cetacean rehab, Long said.

Fortunately, he said, were not having to reinvent a lot of wheels, when it comes to feeding. Having lots of expertise devoted to the case helps, Long said. So does the fact that the calf already knew how to nurse.

Nobody manufactures beluga nipples, so the team has had to make do with some created for cows and sheep. Caregivers meet every morning at 8 a.m. to discuss Tyoneks daily weigh-ins, his temperature, and the ins and outs of his digestion (which they monitor by ultrasound). Ultrasound imaging also helps the team monitor the growth of his important blubber layer. And then theres the constant cleaning and sanitizing.

Theres not a lot of idle time, Long said.

Now the baby is on a reliable schedule. He hams for the camera with a cuteness that rivals that of the world-famous Fiona the hippo. And in early November, he moved to an outdoor pool that, at about 30 by 50 feet, gives him more room to grow.

Tyonek will stay in intensive care for another month and then continue to be looked after 24 hours a day. The National Marine Fisheries Service will determine whether hes a candidate for release. Its a long shot. In the wild, his mother would have given him two years of education in survival skills.

But for now, the baby beluga seems content with his caregivers. He head butts them in the water and chirps and clicks to them. Hes very tactile, Goertz said. Typically a beluga calf is touching his mom most of the time ... Hes definitely looking for that type of interaction.

She says hell turn his body to get rubbed in a particular spot. Not to be anthropomorphic, she said, but you get the feeling hes saying Oh yeah, that feels good, or Now scratch this spot. 

When it comes to helping a terribly rare Cook Inlet beluga, Goertz added, every day is a victory.
On the same day that outraged critics called for Sen. Al Franken to resign, Alabama's Republican Party offered its unqualified support to Senate candidate Roy Moore.

What's wrong with this picture?

Franken came under fire Thursday over allegations that he kissed and groped Leeann Tweeden, a Los Angeles radio anchor, without her consent in a 2006 USO tour in the Middle East, two years before the former "Saturday Night Live" cast member took public office.

Now, after years of practiced seriousness to dispel concerns about his comic past, his image has been undone in many minds by a photo. It is a shot of his grinning at the camera like a goofy doofus while reaching out in a pantomime grab for the breasts of a sleeping Tweeden. Tweeden says she didn't see the photo until after she returned home and felt understandably angry and humiliated. She also accused Franken of forcibly tongue-kissing her backstage, also without her consent.

Once you see the photo, as the saying goes, you can't un-see it. It might be the most politically damning photo since Gary Hart, Democratic front-runner in the 1988 presidential race, was photographed with campaign aide Donna Rice sitting on his lap on a boat dock  and Hart was wearing a shirt bearing the boat's name, "Monkey Business." He dropped out of that race.

"You knew exactly what you were doing," Tweeden writes in an online essay. "You forcibly kissed me without my consent, grabbed my breasts while I was sleeping and had someone take a photo of you doing it, knowing I would see it later, and be ashamed."

Franken responded with two statements of apology to Tweeden and agreed with calls from both parties' leaders to turn his fate over to the notoriously toothless Senate Ethics Committee.

Moore, by contrast, continued to deny accusations that he stalked and "dated" high school girls, which allegedly included improper sexual contact with a 14-year-old, while he was a prosecutor in his 30s  and revelations that he had been banned from a shopping mall in his hometown, Gadsden.

Yet he was endorsed by Alabama's Republican leaders, despite warnings from national GOP leaders that he could lose to Democratic candidate Doug Jones in the deeply conservative state  or be expelled from Congress if he wins. Ironically, Moore has cultivated a loyal base among the conservative state's evangelicals, which he now rallies by playing the conspiracy card. He claims to be the victim of anti-conservative conspirators in Washington, despite numerous calls from both parties for him to step aside.

His defiance might be reckless, but it also is his right. It also is the right of Alabama's voters to decide if this is the sort of man they want to send to Washington as their senator.

Personally, I would like to see Franken step down so his example would increase pressure on Moore and others to treat sexual harassment as a serious offense, whether it is criminal or not.

Among those others is President Donald Trump, who unfortunately responded to Franken's infantile stunt in a typically infantile Trumpian tweet: "The Al Frankenstien (sic) picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words."

And he continued the tweet with even more crudeness: "Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps?" Yuk, yuk.

Trump makes no mention of the sexual harassment accusations that happen to have been made against him by multiple women.

Nor does he mention the accusations against his own Grand Old Party's albatross, Roy Moore.

With that in mind, one might think there hasn't been much progress since I called on President Bill Clinton to resign after the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke. He ignored such calls and, thanks to overreaching by impeachment-hungry Republicans, completed his second term with higher approval ratings for himself and his party than Congress had.

But times have changed. Franken is only one of the latest political and show business stars to be caught up in charges of sexual harassment. The Harvey Weinstein scandal and online "#MeToo" campaigns have heightened awareness and sensitivities since the bad old days when Anita Hill had to defend her credibility in Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' confirmation hearings.

When Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said he believes the women regarding allegations against Moore, it marked how far we have come as a society. The sarcasm of Trump's tweets show how far we have to go.
By PTI: By Aditi Khanna

London, Nov 18 (PTI) Hundreds of Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists were smuggled out of Raqqa in Syria last month as part of a deal struck by the US and UK armed forces, a media investigation has claimed.

ISIS fighters and their families were covertly evacuated by American, British and local Kurdish forces from the de facto capital of the terrorist group after it was bombarded in October, and freed to "spread out far and wide across SyriaAand beyond," according to a BBC documentary titled Raqqas Dirty Secret.

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Foreign fighters who had joined ISIS - those not from Syria and Iraq - were also allegedly able to join the escape convoy.

"There was a huge number of foreigners. From France, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Yemen, Saudi, China, Tunisia, Egypt," a local driver told the BBC.

The report describes how the escape convoy of trucks carrying 250 fighters, 3,500 family members, and loads of arms and possessions, was arranged on October 12Aby local officials in meetings attended by a western officer.

The aim was to spare the lives of attacking forces and end the four-month battle over Raqqa, a crucial stronghold of the terrorist network.

"Great pains were taken to hide it from the world. But the BBC has spoken to dozens of people who were either on the convoy, or observed it, and to the men who negotiated the deal," the makers of the documentary claim.

The Kurdish-ledASyrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had cleared Raqqa of media so that the ISIS escape from its base would not be televised.

It claimed that only a few dozen fighters had been able to leave, all of them locals.

But a local driver told the BBC that the convoy was six to seven kilometres long and included almost 50 trucks, 13 buses and more than 100 of ISIS own vehicles.

ISIS fighters, their faces covered, sat defiantly on top of some of the vehicles.

"Footage secretly filmed and passed to us shows lorries towing trailers crammed with armed men. Despite an agreement to take only personal weapons, IS fighters took everything they could carry. Ten trucks were loaded with weapons and ammunition," the report said.

The SDF did not want the retreat from Raqqa to look like an escape to victory.

No flags or banners were allowed to be flown from the convoy as it left the city, the deal struck by local officials had stipulated.

In light of the BBC investigation, the US-led coalition fighting in Syria admits the part it played in the deal.

"We didnt want anyone to leave. But this goes to the heart of our strategy, By, with and through local leaders on the ground. It comes down to Syrians ? they are the ones fighting and dying, they get to make the decisions regarding operations," Colonel Ryan Dillon, spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve, the Western coalition against ISIS, was quoted as saying.

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He maintains that while a Western officer was present for the negotiations, they didnt take an "active part" in the discussions and that only four foreign fighters were allowed to leave in the convoy and they are now in SDF custody.

According to the report, the deal to free the ISIS fighters was about maintaining good relations between Kurds leading the fight and Arab communities who surround them. It was also about minimising casualties.

"ISIS was well dug in at the citys hospital and stadium. Any effort to dislodge it head-on would have been bloody and prolonged," the BBC report said.

"But it has also meant battle-hardened militants have spread across Syria and farther afield ? and many of them arent done fighting yet," it added.

The SDF, meanwhile, continues to maintain that no such deal was done. PTI AK KUN

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By PTI: Jammu, Nov 18 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today urged the Centre to provide more facilities to Haj pilgrims in the state during the pilgrimage next year.

In her letter to Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the chief minister detailed the facilities being provided to Haj pilgrims at the Srinagar embarking point.

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She has sought further strengthening of the same, an official spokesman said.

The chief minister said that the facility of embarkation at Srinagar saves a lot of time and cost, and sought the continuation of the same, he said. PTI TAS ANB

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By PTI: Patna, Nov 18 (PTI) The ruling JD(U) today took a swipe at the luncheon meeting between Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav and claimed that the Congress vice president in the past was aversed to any show of proximity to RJD supremo Lalu Prasad.

Gandhi and Yadav had met over lunch at a restaurant in Delhi yesterday after which the latter had posted a photograph clicked on the occasion on Twitter, thanking the Congress vice president and saying he felt "appreciated" and "grateful".

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"It seems a new relationship is being built between Bofors and Chara (fodder)", Janata Dal (United) chief spokesman Sanjay Singh said in an obvious dig at the scams in which the names of top leaders of the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal have figured.

Taking potshots at Rahul Gandhi, Singh asked, "He is so conscious of his image that he used to avoid sharing the stage with Lalu Prasad despite the latter being his long-time political ally. Does he see no problem now in hobnobbing with the RJD supremos son."

Meanwhile, RJD national vice president Shivanand Tiwary said "it is indeed the beginning of a new relationship. Both Rahul and Tejashwi have a common political goal which is to defeat the BJP."

"We hope misunderstandings, if any, between Rahul and Lalu will be cleared and the Congress vice president will be in direct touch with Tejashwi over issues relating to Bihar," Tiwary added.

The RJD, the JD(U) and the Congress had fought the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls together forming a formidable mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) which had defeated the BJP-led NDA in the state surmounting a country-wide wave in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, differences between Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the RJD leadership over the issue of corruption cases involving Tejashwi, who was then his deputy, led to the collapse of the grand alliance in July last.

Kumar resigned from his post and was immediately offered support by the BJP, which paved way for his return to the NDA after four years. PTI NAC SNS KJ

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Ill be honest with you. Following the terrible October fires that scorched Sonoma and Napa counties, Id read plenty of news stories that quoted the areas winemakers and restaurants pleading for visitors. And I thought those pleas sounded a little ... self-indulgent.

People have lost their homes and their lives, Id thought as I read, from the comfort of my own (unburned) home. Why would I spend money on an expensive meal or bottle when I could give that cash to the Redwood Empire Food Bank?

Then Jineen Summerton told me she was organizing a winery outing for her neighbors and friends, some of whom had lost their homes in the Tubbs fire.

Youre coming, she said.

I didnt argue. Summerton, 73, is an old family friend  shes known me all my life. Shes currently employed as a wine industry tour consultant, but shes maintained an indomitable spirit over the course of many careers, adventures and travails.

Plus, shed evacuated her own Santa Rosa home during the fire. She was one of the lucky ones  her home survived.

But I knew shed spent the past several weeks dealing with the fallout from this disaster, in a very personal way. If she thought a winery outing was a good idea, I was in.

It really is a way to help, Summerton told me. So many people who were affected work in wine, hotels or food up here  they lost their homes and their jobs in one go.

Shed actually thought of organizing a different kind of outing, Summerton said. But then she decided that, considering the circumstances, doing something fun had its own value.

As we piled onto the bus, Lance Ruttledge, 69, told me he agreed with her logic.

Its good for your soul to be out doing normal things, Ruttledge said. He and his wife, Terri, 60, lost their home in Kenwood a month ago.

There were no fire trucks, no emergency personnel, nothing at all, Terri Ruttledge said. We saw the fire as it was about to jump the street. We ran out, got our neighbors and tore out of there.

The past few weeks have been excruciating in different ways  Insurance, FEMA  nothing happens very fast, Lance Ruttledge said. So for them, one of the best things that could happen was to have a pleasant, distracting experience.

When people treat me like a friend, thats the best thing they can do, Ruttledge said. He mentioned Tim Busch, CEO of the high-end Meritage Resort in Napa.

He put our family up in that expensive hotel  he even let us bring our dog  for weeks, he continued. I feel incredibly lucky in one way, because Ive realized how incredibly generous people are. This day is another example.

Our first stop was the Square Peg Winery in Sebastopol. Its a family-owned vineyard that specializes in dry-farmed Pinot Noir. We picked up our tasting glasses and listened to owner Brad Alper as he poured the first tastes.

A few pours later, the group wandered into the vines, debating which of the wines had been the best. After Id lodged my personal favorite  the old-vine Zinfandel hed poured us  I let the group mosey away so I could I hang back and talk to Alper.

Business has actually been OK for Square Peg since the fire.

Knock on wood, Alper said. Because everyone Ive talked to has been struggling. The fire stopped about half a mile from our winery. If it had gotten any closer ...

Alpers words trailed off, and his face filled with horror at the possibility. Then he said that visitors will be very surprised at how the majority of wineries were not affected. And because most (owners) would love to see people right now, theyll get a lot of attention.

That certainly seemed to be the case at the next stop. Wind Gap Wines has a tasting room at the Barlow in Sebastopol. The Barlow is one of those hip redevelopment projects that turned former industrial buildings into an expensive thoroughfare of aggressively artisanal commodities. On a warm October weekend day, it should have been jam-packed with visitors.

Instead, the servers had time to lavish us with attention. I have to admit, it was really nice. And it felt good to provide the servers with our business  not to mention our tips  in exchange for a delicious product. Further lifting my heart? Watching everyone else in the group, including those who had lost their homes, toasting our day together.

When youve been having a string of impossible days, theres real value in getting your mind off of it, Summerton told me. This areas going to have a long rebuild. We may as well have some fun while were doing it.

Caille Millner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cmillner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @caillemillner
By PTI: for convicts

Ahmednagar (Maha), Nov 18 (PTI) After a local court today held three men guilty of raping and murdering a 15- year-old girl in Kopardi village, the victims parents have sought death for the convicts.

Additional Special Judge Suvarna Kevale held Jitendra Babulal Shinde, Santosh Gorakh Bhawal and Nitin Gopinath Bhailume guilty of rape, murder and criminal conspiracy.

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"We waited for a long time and today the court held all three men guilty. To send a stern message in the society, the convicts should be awarded death punishment so that no one will dare to commit such an act in the future," the victims mother said.

She also said they were thankful to the Maratha community, who took out marches, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, police and government for supporting them.

The victims father, too, sought death for the convicts.

"Entire Maratha community feels that the convicts should get nothing but the death sentence," he said.

Ahead of the verdict, residents from Kopradi and its nearby villages had thronged the court.

The incident had triggered widespread protests from the Maratha community with marches being held across the state.

The girl was found murdered after being raped on July 13 at Kopardi village in Ahmednagar district. She belonged to the Maratha community. PTI SPK NRB ANB

--- ENDS ---
Abortion foes behind the clinics known as crisis pregnancy centers want the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a California law requiring the clinics to inform their patients about the availability of abortions. But if they win the California case, they could lose much more in 16 other states, where laws require doctors to tell patients that abortions could harm them.

The clinics, backed by nationwide groups opposing abortion, argue that the notification mandated by California  that the state makes abortion and reproductive care available at little or no cost  violates their freedom of speech by compelling them to advertise abortion and send a message with which they disagree.

But legal analysts say the same argument could be used against laws in states that require doctors to tell women that terminating their pregnancy would make them more vulnerable to breast cancer, mental illness or suicide, and that fetuses can feel pain.

The California law merely requires disclosure of accurate information about the availability of health care, said Deborah Rhode, a Stanford law professor who has written about gender discrimination. A Supreme Court ruling that the state cannot require crisis pregnancy centers to pass along that information would surely cover speech that has a far less justifiable reason for protection, she said.

The abortion-warning laws mandate adversarial-argumentative statements that surely have less constitutional protection than the notices California requires, said Jesse Choper, a UC Berkeley law professor and former Supreme Court law clerk.

To the contrary, said Mat Staver, president and chief attorney of the conservative Christian nonprofit Liberty Counsel, because crisis pregnancy centers consider abortion to be murder, any message that opens a pathway to abortion would actually take the lives theyre trying to save.

The potential that the challenge to the California law could backfire, first voiced in the online Slate magazine by legal commentators Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern, raises the stakes for the case that the Supreme Court agreed to hear last week.

The California law, sponsored by Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, applies to all reproductive health centers but was directed at more than 200 crisis pregnancy centers in the state. Those centers, many of them religiously affiliated, offer free counseling and services, including pregnancy tests, ultrasound examinations and parenting classes, to pregnant women, but steer them away from abortions.

The law, effective in 2016, requires all clinics that have a doctor on staff to notify clients of the range of reproductive health services available under state law, including contraception and abortion, and to list the phone numbers of the countys social service center. Clinics without a doctor must notify clients that they are not licensed by the state.

A federal appeals court upheld the law in October 2016, saying the state does not violate freedom of speech by requiring clinics to provide accurate health care information that patients have a right to receive. But the Supreme Court granted a hearing of an appeal by multiple clinics and will decide the constitutionality of the law in the term that ends next June.

The state should protect freedom of speech and freedom from coerced speech, said Kevin Theriot, attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents the clinics.

Thats also the argument that medical groups and abortion-rights supporters have made against laws enacted since the mid-2000s that require doctors to advise women that the abortions they seek could harm them.

Five states require a warning that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer. In seven states, doctors must tell women they would be more prone to mental illness, which under some state laws includes a warning of the risk of suicide. Twelve states require doctors to tell pregnant women that their fetuses can feel pain.

Opponents of abortion say they have studies to support all of those warnings. But most scientists say otherwise.

A UCSF study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2005, found a scientific consensus that fetuses were physiologically incapable of feeling pain until the third trimester of pregnancy, when virtually no abortions are performed. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reached the same conclusion in 2012.

The American Cancer Society, the World Health Organization and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists all say research has found no link between abortion and breast cancer.

Regarding mental illness, the American Psychological Association said in 2008 that its studies showed abortion may lead to feelings of sadness or guilt for some women but does not pose a psychological hazard for most women.

Nonetheless, a federal appeals court in 2012 found enough evidence, including medical studies, to uphold a South Dakota law requiring doctors to tell women that an abortion would make them more prone to suicide.

Other courts have limited or overturned some state laws designed to restrict access to abortion or discouraging women from terminating their pregnancies.

In 2014, a federal appeals court struck down, as a violation of patients rights, a North Carolina law requiring a doctor to perform an ultrasound examination on a woman seeking an abortion, display the image and describe the fetus to the woman, even if she objects.

A North Dakota judge in 2002 dismissed a false-advertising suit against an abortion clinic for its brochure that declared no proven link between abortion and breast cancer. A federal appeals court in 2013 struck down an Arizona law banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy  a law based on the claim that fetuses can feel pain at that stage  though similar laws remain in effect in other states.

And in 2015 the Supreme Court overturned a Texas law that would have shut down most of the states abortion clinics by requiring them to meet the same standards as surgical centers, and by requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.

But no court has yet overturned a state law requiring doctors to warn patients about the asserted harmful effects of abortion.

That could change if the Supreme Court rules that California violates crisis pregnancy centers freedom of speech by requiring them to post information about the availability of abortion.

Theres very little speech that you can compel by law, said UC Berkeleys Choper. You can require an organization to give very basic information. I dont think you can require an organization to make statements that are disputed. ... Those statements (about the harmful effects of abortion) are in dispute.

Staver, whose Liberty Counsel organization represents another group of crisis pregnancy centers in California, said there might be a way to preserve the abortion-warning laws while overturning the California statute.

The pregnancy centers are primarily doing counseling, he said, and are being required in California to speak a message that is opposed to the central mission of the organization ... saving lives.

Doctors also have free-speech rights, Staver said, but probably can be required to pass along information to their patients that is supported by some medical evidence ... generally accepted in the medical community. It would have to be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@egelko
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Long-held fears of a corporate takeover of cannabis agriculture bubbled to the surface Friday, a day after the state released detailed regulations for what has historically been a loosey-goosey trade populated by small backwoods farmers.

The rules for the growth, distribution and sale of marijuana in California, written by three licensing agencies  the Department of Health, Department of Food and Agriculture and the Bureau of Cannabis Control  do not limit the number of licenses a grower could get or the total acreage one could farm.

Small growers were counting on the state to set limits, which they reckoned would give them a chance to get a foothold before the big operators moved in. They had hoped for a cap of 5 acres per farmer for the first five years.

Frankly, this could be a catastrophe, said Hezekiah Allen, executive director of the California Growers Association, an advocacy group for more than 1,000 medical marijuana farmers, business owners and patients. It creates a clear cut-and-dried advantage based on how much money a business has.

The complicated guidelines issued this week actually do limit the size of a marijuana grow depending on what kind of license the farmer obtains  with a maximum of about an acre per license. But, there are no limits on the number of licenses a farmer can have.

It means a big-spending plantation owner may be able to obtain dozens, or even hundreds, of licenses, Allen said.

Although the California Department of Agriculture proposed limits in an environmental document issued Monday, the limits were not included in the final regulations released Thursday.

This decision is likely to push most of the existing growers back into the black market and create tension between the unregulated and regulated markets, he said. There will be an abundant supply of dirt-cheap cannabis in the state and there is a real possibility that this marketplace could go through a bubble burst collapse.

No explanation has been given for removing the limit, but Allen said the concept has been a bedrock policy since 2015. Although it wasnt in Proposition 64, which legalizes adult use of marijuana starting in January, the concept was used to sell the initiative to small growers.

Even with the limits, legalization of recreational marijuana is expected to catapult thousands of growers in California into the frenzied forefront of a new retail industry that will bring fundamental changes to agriculture and commerce.

Besides a 15 percent excise tax on sales and a $9.25 tax for every ounce of bud a farmer produces, new infrastructure, inspections and track-and-trace systems for plants are expected to cost growers thousands of dollars a year.

Recreational-use marijuana sales are expected to generate more than $7 billion a year. The concern is that venture capitalists, who can afford the costs and hassle of ramping up for legalization, would eventually drive out many of the small farmers who have been driving the medical cannabis industry for two decades.

With prices already dropping, there is little doubt among most cannabis connoisseurs that a great many small farmers are going to suffer.

We have been operating in a surplus in California even without these regulations, said Josh Drayton, the director of communications and outreach for the California Cannabis Industry Association. We are cultivating more than we are consuming as a state.

Sunshine Johnston, the owner of Sunbolt Grown cooperative, a small marijuana farm in Humboldt County, said she will be driven out of business if large companies are allowed to flood the market with cannabis and drive down prices even further.

Most of the suffering is likely to happen in Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties, the growing region known as the Emerald Triangle, which by some estimates produces 60 percent of the marijuana consumed in the United States.

We can limit the number of people who can grow cannabis or we can limit the amount they can grow, Allen said. If the regulated marketplace is going to work, we need to reduce supply.

Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @pfimrite
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Everybody can use a little inspiration these days and, fortunately, theres a heaping dose of it on the second floor of San Franciscos Main Library.

Inside the Library for the Blind and Print Disabled sits 34-year-old Elizabeth Phillips, who joined the staff in September as a braillist, creating documents that blind people like her can read. Beside her rests her guide dog, Allegro, who helps her get to the library on BART from her home in Berkeley.

Considering Phillips cant see a thing and struggles with orientation, her everyday life is impressive. But shes been racking up impressive feats since was 6 months old.

Parents around California owe Phillips and her mother, Mary Beth Phillips, a huge debt of gratitude. It was because of how they responded to the worst day of their lives  the day baby Elizabeth was violently shaken by a nanny and permanently blinded  that parents have a way of safeguarding against a similar fate befalling their children.

Its called TrustLine, a registry of child care workers who have passed a state background check, and its prevented 18 percent of applicants from joining because of criminal or child abuse histories. Last month, the registry turned 30, and Elizabeth Phillips addressed a crowd of several hundred at an anniversary celebration in Sacramento.

She recalled being a 4-year-old and sitting on then-Assemblyman Art Agnos lap during a Sacramento hearing about the creation of TrustLine.

The head of the committee turned to ask if I had anything I wished to say, Phillips told the gathering. I most certainly did, and eagerly taking the microphone, I exclaimed, We need a big rule for grown-ups!

The day in June 1983 started like any regular day for the busy Phillips family, but soon turned terrible. Elizabeths dad was at his job as a hospital administrator and her mom had a graduate school psychology class to attend. A neighbor in Berkeley with an infant of her own said her nanny could watch Elizabeth, too.

Back then, there were no cell phones, so when Mary Beth Phillips arrived back at the neighbors house to pick up Elizabeth, she didnt know her baby was in a hospital, comatose, her eyes flooded with blood.

The nanny had called 911, claiming the familys dog had attacked Elizabeth and that the baby had become unresponsive. But Elizabeth had no scratches, bites, tears in her clothes or any other signs of an animal attack. It would become clear in an ensuing court case that the nanny had shaken Elizabeth with tremendous force.

The 16-pound girl, who had previously had big, brown eyes, was permanently blinded. Her left eye is now solid white. She was in a coma for eight days, suffering seizures.

In the beginning, youre just hoping your baby will live, said Mary Beth Phillips, who now works for the federal governments Office of Child Care and lives in Walnut Creek. Youre just trying to get through the next minute and the next minute.

The doctors told the mother that if the baby did survive, she might be permanently brain-damaged. There wasnt very much they could do, she recalled. They said its up to Liz.

Eventually, Elizabeth was able to come home and slowly made progress.

She had to start over, Mary Beth said. She had to learn to roll over. She had to learn to sit up. She had to learn to do everything again. She would just work at something and work at something and work at something.

The nanny was convicted of felony child abuse, but, incredibly, the judge just gave her a small fine, community service and probation. And even more incredibly, he let her continue caring for children so shed have a way to support herself while on probation. But there was no easy way for the next family to hire her to know what shed done to Elizabeth.

Thats what got Mary Beth Phillips steaming mad.

This nanny was a ticking time bomb, she said. That really was where I just said, Im in. This cant be.

Mary Beth Phillips sought help from multiple East Bay lawmakers, but made no headway until she contacted the office of Agnos, who would soon become mayor of San Francisco.

Together they created TrustLine, which fingerprints prospective nannies and babysitters and checks their backgrounds against records at the California Department of Justice. If a parent hires somebody from the registry, he or she knows the child care worker has no disqualifying criminal convictions or child abuse reports in California.

Elizabeth Phillips went on to give speeches about her story and the importance of caring for children, winning numerous awards for her advocacy. As a teenager, she ran in the Olympic torch relay in the Atlanta Games. She graduated from Stanford University with a bachelors degree in philosophy and a minor in creative writing. She earned her doctorate in philosophy last year from the University of Arizona.

She hoped to enter academia but was frustrated when the dissertation committee declined to recommend her for a tenure-track position, which is how she wound up at the Main Library. But she finds it fitting because her doctoral thesis was about the importance of human connections, and thats what libraries are all about.

Libraries are great example of interconnectiveness, she said. They bring people together.

Agnos hadnt seen Elizabeth Phillips in 30 years and was delighted to reconnect at the anniversary celebration.

She was an infant who was the subject of a tragedy, but her mother turned it into an inspiration not only for me, but for thousands if not millions of parents to come, Agnos said. She and her mother were not deterred one iota from making a success of both of their lives.

Elizabeth Phillips said she hasnt forgiven the nanny who so dramatically changed her life, but she appreciates how her family handled the aftermath.

I always knew our family was making a difference  not only for other families, but for the state, she said. The idea you can create something powerful and good out of something traumatic and awful, it brings hope to me and Im sure to other people too.

Mary Beth Phillips isnt quite as sanguine. She refuses to sugarcoat the terribly unfair turn her daughters life took. She remembers this idea coming up on a trip to Camp Mather during the summer Elizabeth was 10.

We were walking together, and she said, Mom, do you think its good that I got blinded? Mary Beth recalled, her voice quavering. I said, No, I dont. But I think we made some good things come out of it.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com, Twitter: @hknightsf
One of the dispiriting trends in modern American politics is the pervasiveness of tribalism: the willingness to forgive or condemn on the basis of party or ideology, no matter the facts. Its us against them, no principle too sacred to sacrifice. That phenomenon was pushed to the fore with allegations that Roy Moore, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Alabama, had preyed upon young women in their teens when he was in his early 30s.

The most disturbing account, with on-the-record quotes in the Washington Post, involved the initiation of sexual contact with a 14-year-old.

As Americans, as decent human beings, can we agree that pedophilia is indefensible regardless of how long ago it occurred, and regardless of its consequences on the balance of power in the nations capital?

Some of Moores defenders in Alabama were absurd in their analogies and shameful in putting partisan calculation above all principle. State Auditor Jim Ziegler invoked the parents of Jesus, noting that Mary was a teen and Joseph was an adult carpenter  apparently forgetting the little detail of virgin birth. Theres just nothing immoral or illegal here, he told the Washington Examiner in reference to the allegations of Moores pursuit of teens. Maybe just a little bit unusual.

Bibb County (Ala.) GOP Chairman Jerry Pow told a reporter, Im not saying I support what he did, but he was standing with Moore because he could not support a Democrat.

Thank you, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., for suggesting Moore should withdraw from the race to fill the seat created by the appointment of Jeff Sessions as U.S. attorney general. The Republican National Committee cut off its joint fundraising agreement with Moore.

Perhaps there was a touch of strategic pragmatism in the Republican establishments thinking: A tainted Moore could be vulnerable against Democrat Doug Jones, even in a deep-red state.

Still, condemnation of the credible allegations of Moores sexual misconduct  and that of Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn.  should not hinge on party label.

Just as the Moore scandal was consuming Washington, radio personality Leann Tweeden described a pair of 2006 incidents in which Franken kissed and groped her without her consent on a USO tour. The groping of her breasts while she was asleep on a military plane was photographed with Franken posing with a dignity-shredding grin.

It was a sickening sight. It cannot be brushed aside because Franken was not a U.S. senator at the time. It is mitigated only slightly, not excused, by his apology and partial admission of guilt. It cannot be rationalized by his progressive work on policies affecting women.

His actions were wrong, period. He should be held accountable. Senate leaders are right to call for an Ethics Committee investigation, and Franken has agreed to cooperate.

Which brings us to President Trump, whose artful dodging of what his spokeswoman called the troubling Moore allegations  the candidate should step aside if the accusations are true, asserted Trump  was initially speculated to be driven by the presidents own history of accusations of sexual harassment.

But that did not stop the Republican president from going on Twitter to take a shot at Franken.

The Al Frankenstien (sic) picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps? Trump tweeted.

For the moment, at least, Moore appears adamant about staying in the race. His defiance got a boost last week when Sean Hannity of Fox News, Trumpisms chief cheerleader, lifted his 24-hour ultimatum for Moore to explain the inconsistencies in his story and remove any doubt about his innocence.

Hannity concluded that Moores suitability for the Senate shouldnt be decided by me. That judgment, he said, belongs to Alabama voters.

If Moore gets elected, McConnell has raised the possibility of expulsion. No U.S. senator has been expelled since the early 1860s, when 14 were ousted for siding with the Confederacy.

Franken, too, could face expulsion after the ethics probe. In recent times, the Senate Ethics Committee unanimously recommended expulsion of Sen. Bob Packwood, R-Ore., in 1995 on sexual harassment and misconduct charges and of Sen. Harrison Williams, D-N.J., in 1981 on charges that included bribery, conflict of interest and conspiracy to defraud.

Packwood and Williams resigned, which could well be Frankens fate.

One of the talking points from Hannity and other hyper-partisan Republicans is that Bill Clinton received a pass from the media and Democrats for the allegations of his sexual misconduct. They seem to forget the widespread condemnation he received, including from this newspapers editorial page, and the fact that he was only the second president in U.S. history to be impeached.

Disgust over Hollywood producer Harvey Weinsteins abuse of women has fortified Americans determination to expose and eradicate harassment by men in power. Its safe to assume that Clintons abusive behavior would be viewed even more harshly today. He would be unlikely to salvage his presidency.

Its also worth contemplating how Donald Trumps history of harassment allegations  and that 2005 Access Hollywood tape when he bragged about a stars ability to force himself on women  would be judged if they emerged in todays unforgiving climate.

John Diaz is The San Francisco Chronicles editorial page editor. Email: jdiaz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnDiazChron

A week that rocked the nations capital

The would-be senator

Roy Moore

Allegations: A succession of women have come forward to say that Moore pursued them in their teens when he was a prosecutor in his early 30s, about four decades ago. The most serious charge involved sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl. Moore has denied the allegations, calling them political attacks, and has vowed to stay in the race.

Reaction: Establishment Republicans moved quickly to distance themselves from Moore. The party cut off financial support. Prominent senators have called for Moore to drop out of the Alabama special election. Notably silent: Steve Bannon, high priest of the alt-right, who pushed Moores candidacy. Notably hedged: President Trump, who said Moore should drop out if the accusations are true, but has otherwise held his fire.

Upshot: The scandal has put Republicans, who hold a narrow edge in the U.S. Senate, in an impossible fix. If he loses, the Democrats gain a key vote. If he wins, the Republicans gain a national embarrassment and, most likely, ugly expulsion proceedings going into the 2018 midterms.

The senator

Al Franken

Allegation: Los Angeles radio personality Leann Tweeden, who accompanied the Minnesota senator on a USO tour in 2006, accused him of forcibly kissing and groping her. Especially damning was a photograph of Franken grabbing Tweedens breasts as she was sleeping on a return flight from Afghanistan.

Reaction: No Democrat of any prominence came to Frankens defense. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called for the ethics committee to investigate. Franken apologized, saying of the photo, There's no excuse. I look at it now and I feel disgusted with myself.

Upshot: There is no escaping the juxtaposition of this with the Moore allegations. The heat is on for Franken to be expelled or resign.

The whistle-blower

Jackie Speier

Allegation: The congresswoman from the Peninsula wrote in Insight last Sunday that my office has been inundated with calls from current and former Capitol Hill staffers reporting inexcusable behavior and even sexual assault. She followed up last week by testifying that two current members of Congress, one Democrat and one Republican, have been accused of harassment.

Reaction: One of the striking revelations from Speier was that millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent in quietly settling harassment questions.

Upshot: More shoes are likely to drop. Americans deserve to know the identity of the two congressmen accused of harassment, despite nondisclosure agreements in settlements. Who are the others accused of untoward behavior?
From Silicon Valley and Hollywood to Sacramento and Washington, relentless revelations of sexual assault and harassment by powerful men have shown that no industry or region has a monopoly on the problem.

The same goes for political parties.

Just as the Senates Republican majority was being roiled by accumulating allegations against Roy Moore  the pistol-packing, cowboy-hat-clad, far-right Alabama Senate candidate accused of aggressively pursuing and sometimes forcing himself on teenage girls in the 1970s and 80s  a Los Angeles radio anchor accused Democratic Minnesota Sen. Al Franken of kissing and groping her against her will during a 2006 USO tour. Franken, a lefty Saturday Night Live alumnus who has championed legislation to enable more prosecution of sexual assaults, appears to be Moores opposite in almost every respect. And yet this supremely odd couple are united by disturbing charges that they misused their power to bully and abuse women.

In Sacramento, meanwhile, where 140 women signed an open letter objecting to pervasive sexual harassment and misconduct in the Capitol, two Democratic legislators from Southern California, Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra and Sen. Tony Mendoza, have been accused of harassing female staffers.

This being politics, allies and supporters of Franken, Moore and other accused politicians will be tempted to adjust their outrage based on political calculations. President Trump, who was infamously recorded boasting of serial sexual assault, provided the most prominent example of such hypocrisy this week, gleefully attacking Franken while hiding behind his press secretarys carefully qualified remarks about Moore. Democrats, for their part, must avoid repeating the mistake of downplaying sexual misconduct allegations against one of their own, as many did in the case of Bill Clinton.

Fortunately, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and several other Republicans have unequivocally condemned Moore. And the Senates top Democrat, Chuck Schumer of New York, was one of a number who joined McConnells call for an Ethics Committee investigation of Franken.

The accused are certainly entitled to a fair and transparent process, but mere denials of credible accounts should not suffice. Nor should any legislature await police investigations or criminal convictions. As former presidential candidate Mitt Romney noted recently, the standards for serving the public must be higher than the standards for staying out of prison.

The legislators accused of sexual harassment and assault, in Sacramento and Washington alike, make laws and set examples. That makes it especially important for Congress and the Legislature to hold their own accountable regardless of any political calculus. Predators should not hold positions of power in either party.

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.
Selling the Donald Trump/Republican tax plan should be awkward for an administration that has made patriotism its central theme. Thats because patriotism isnt mostly about saluting the flag and standing during the national anthem.

Its about taking a fair share of the burden of keeping America going.

But the tax plan gives American corporations a $2 trillion tax break at a time when theyre enjoying record profits and stashing unprecedented amounts of cash in offshore tax shelters.

And it gives Americas wealthiest citizens trillions of dollars more, when the richest 1 percent now hold a record 38.6 percent of the nations total wealth, up from 33.7 percent a decade ago.

The reason Republicans give for enacting the plan is supply-side trickle-down nonsense. The real reason is payback to the GOPs mega-donors.

Even some leading Republicans are starting to admit this. This month, Gary Cohn, Trumps lead economic adviser, conceded in an interview that the most excited group out there are big CEOs, about our tax plan.

Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., admitted that my donors are basically saying, Get it done, or dont ever call me again.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned that if Republicans fail to pass tax reform, the financial contributions will stop.

Republican mega-donors view the tax payback as they do any other investment. When they bankrolled Trump and the GOP, they expected a good return.

The biggest likely beneficiaries are busily investing an additional $43 million to pressure specific members of Congress to pass it, according to the Wall Street Journal.

They include the 45Committee, founded by billionaire casino oligarch Sheldon Adelson and Todd Ricketts, whose family owns the Chicago Cubs, and the Koch brothers groups, Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Partners.

Theyre not doing this out of love of America. Theyre doing it out of love of money.

How do you think they got so wealthy in the first place?

As more of the nations wealth has shifted to the top over the past three decades, major beneficiaries have poured some of it into politics  buying themselves tax cuts, special subsidies, bailouts, lenient antitrust enforcement, favorable bankruptcy rules, extended intellectual property protection, and other laws that add to their wealth.

All of which have given them more clout to get additional legal changes that enlarge their wealth even more.

Forty years ago, the estate tax was paid by 139,000 estates, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. By 2000, it was paid by 52,000. This year it will be paid by just 5,500 estates. Under the House tax plan, it will be eliminated altogether.

Why do Americans pay more for pharmaceuticals than the citizens of every other advanced economy? Because Big Pharma has altered the laws in its favor. Why do we pay more for Internet service than most other nations? Big cables political clout. Why can payday lenders get away with payday robbery? The political heft of big banks.

Multiply these examples across the economy, and you get a huge hidden upward redistribution from the paychecks of average working people and the poor to top executives and investors. (I explain this in detail in the documentary Saving Capitalism, airing this week on Netflix.)

All of this is terrible for the American economy.

More and better jobs depend on increasing demand for goods and services. This must come from the middle class and poor, because the rich spend a far smaller share of their after-tax income.

Yet the middle class and poor have steadily lost purchasing power. Partly as a result, a relatively low share of the nations working-age population is employed today, and the wages of the typical worker have been stuck in the mud.

The Republican tax plan will make all of this worse by burdening the middle class and the poor even more.

A slew of analyses, including Congress own Joint Committee on Taxation, shows that the GOP plan will raise taxes on many middle-class families.

It will also require cuts in government programs that middle- and lower-income Americans depend on, such as Medicare and Medicaid.

And the plan will almost certainly explode the national debt, eventually causing many middle-class and poor families to pay higher interest on their auto loans, mortgages and credit cards.

I dont care whether the top executives of big corporations, Wall Street moguls and heirs to vast fortunes salute the flag and stand for the national anthem.

But they enjoy all the advantages of being American. Most couldnt have gotten to where they are in any other country.

They have a patriotic duty to take on a fair share of the burden of keeping America going. And Trump and his enablers in Congress have a patriotic responsibility to make them.

 2017 Robert Reich

Robert Reich, a former U.S. secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at UC Berkeley. He blogs daily at www.facebook.com/rbreich. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at SFChronicle.com/letters.
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Harvey Milk is remembered for his inspiring speeches, his charisma, fearlessness, and that celebratory ride during the 1978 Gay Pride parade in San Francisco, leading a small army of supporters while holding an Im From Woodmere N.Y. sign.

The many lives of Harvey Milk: An excerpt from a new biography

But a look through The Chronicle archives highlights some traits that were less cinematic, yet equally important to his eventual success as the first openly gay elected official in California: Milk was a tireless campaigner, engaging any potential voter who would listen.

Milk the workhorse can be seen in a cache of previously unpublished campaign photos, discovered in the basement of The Chronicle during this months 40th anniversary of Milks election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The images were taken during his 1976 campaign, when Milk was running a fierce race for Assembly against Art Agnos.

When dawn gilds the great steel and glass shafts of the financial district, Harvey Milk has already risen and readied himself for another days struggle against what he calls The Machine, the June 1, 1976, Chronicle article began. By 7 a.m., Milk, 45, is milling around some BART station, handing out campaign leaflets.  Where ever I see a group of people, I stop, says Milk.

The photos were taken by another legend, Raising the Flag at Iwo Jima photographer Joe Rosenthal, who worked at The Chronicle for more than 30 years after World War II. Milk appears to be working alone at a San Francisco Safeway grocery store, smiling, passing out flyers, conversing with shoppers and then smiling some more.

He wears a suit, tie and a conservative haircut. His only self-promotion other than the flyers is a small Harvey Milk for Assembly button.

It was a contentious election; based on The Chronicles coverage even more than his runs for San Francisco Supervisor that bookended the Assembly race. After Milk announced his candidacy, he was fired within hours from his Board of Permit Appeals position by an angry George Moscone, an Agnos supporter who had appointed Milk to the board just weeks earlier.

If he runs, Moscone told The Chronicle, hell set the record for the shortest commissioner in history. And Im not talking about size.

When Milk entered the race in March, Agnos was also endorsed by Assemblyman Willie Brown and Reps. Phillip Burton and John Burton. Milk was dismayed when several openly gay leaders were unwavering in their support of Agnos, who had championed gay issues while working for Assembly Speaker Leo McCarthy.

In an interview, Agnos suggested that he talked about gay rights at public meetings more frequently than Milk did.

Milk is running a closet campaign in front of straight audiences and an up-front one in the gay community, Agnos told The Chronicle.

The barbs werent one-sided. Milk, who was supported by Supervisor Quentin Kopp and local business owners, criticized Agnos for posing in campaign literature with three kids who were not his own children.

Milk was considered a longshot, entering the race just three months before the June 10 election against a popular rival. But Milks reputation for hard work extended to his supporters. At a May 25, 1976, outdoor breakfast with Gov. Jerry Brown, Agnos backer Willie Brown reportedly shouted at a large and vocal group of Milk sign-holders, who were blocking Browns view.

There was a swelling roar that the Harvey Milk signs and balloons be removed so Brown could see, The Chronicle reported the next day. Finally Willie Brown ordered the Milk enthusiasts to Take down those damned signs.

Milk lost a tough race to Agnos, 17,031 votes to 13,401. But there were signs of a growing populist wave, in and out of the Castro district. Despite the endorsements for Agnos, gay communities voted in a majority for Milk. And in St. Marys Park, an Irish Catholic neighborhood, Milk reportedly beat Agnos soundly.

Milk seemed bitter after the defeat  at the political machine he felt worked against him, and especially the gay community leaders who remained with Agnos.

My first priority is trying to get this camera store back in shape, Milk said. I dont know if Ill run again.

But he would return to politics quickly, and the hard work would pay off. In November 1977, Milk would walk with a huge crowd from that camera store, sworn in as the first openly gay supervisor in San Francisco.

Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicles pop culture critic Email: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @PeterHartlaub
A man and a woman were hospitalized after being mauled by pit bulls in East Oakland on Friday morning, officials said.

A woman and her pit bull were attacked around 10 a.m. on the 2600 block of 63rd Avenue by two pit bulls that belong to a man in the neighborhood. Another man was injured in the attack.

Oakland Police and Oakland Animal Care and Control officers responded to the scene, and the man and woman were transported to the hospital. Both were in stable condition Friday afternoon, said Marco Marquez of the Oakland Police Department. The womans pit bull died during the attack.

Rebecca Katz, director of Oakland Animal Services, said the owner of the attacking dogs surrendered them to Oakland Animal Services, and they are being held at the local shelter. He also surrendered a third pit bull, which he said was not involved in the attack.

At this point, we have four dogs in custody, Katz said. One is dead, and three are alive. Katz said the investigation is ongoing into which dogs were involved.

She said its too early to say what will become of the dogs. Based on what were seeing at this point, by our standards, all three would be euthanized, Katz said. Two are in quarantine, which is required by state law after animals bite humans.

Were waiting for the investigation to be completed, and then we will determine what to do, Katz said.

Sophie Haigney is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sophie.haigney@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SophieHaigney
SEATTLE  Amazon and the tax collector are at it again.

For years, the company and state governments scuffled over Amazons resistance to charging state sales tax, which helped keep prices low on its e-commerce site and angered politicians and other retailers. Eventually, Amazon began adding the tax in states across the country.

But there was a loophole. Amazon added the tax only when the item came from its own inventory, not from the millions of independent merchants who sell products through Amazons website. Amazon left it up to those sellers  who account for half of all items sold on the site  to collect sales tax on their own. But, according to sellers, tax lawyers and accountants who work with them, most do not.

Now states, thirsty for the millions of dollars in unpaid sales tax revenue, are coming for their money.

Amazon recently warned its sellers that the company, as of Jan. 1, would be collecting sales tax from merchants who ship orders to its home state, Washington, as it seeks to comply with a state law signed in July. That will be the first time Amazon has collected a state sales tax from the merchants known as marketplace sellers on its site.

It is a grudging concession. In South Carolina, Amazon is fighting an effort by the states Department of Revenue to use existing laws to force Amazon to collect tax on marketplace sales. The state is arguing that Amazon owes it $57 million in such taxes from last year. A judges decision in the case is pending.

Other states are going after Amazons sellers, a much less powerful target, for unpaid sales tax. In Massachusetts, a judge in late September ordered Amazon to give the state information about merchants who stored goods in the state. Sellers have reported receiving letters from tax investigators in California, too.

Consumers may absorb much of the new costs. Depending on the state, sales tax can add 5 percent to nearly 10 percent to the cost of an order.

Jill Kerr, a spokeswoman for Amazon, declined to comment. In a recent filing with regulators, Amazon singled out South Carolinas effort as a risk.

If South Carolina or other states were successfully to seek additional adjustments of a similar nature, we could be subject to significant additional tax liabilities, Amazon said in the filing. We intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter.

Taxes remain a political sore spot for Amazon, even as it has become one of the most successful companies in the world. President Trump has even taken to criticizing the business on Twitter as a no-tax monopoly  attacks that often appear prompted by coverage of him in the Washington Post, which is owned by Jeff Bezos, Amazons chief executive.

Amazon pays hundreds of millions of dollars annually in income tax, and charges tax on the sale of its own goods in every state that has a sales tax. But because so many marketplace sellers do not collect sales tax, there is some legitimacy to the idea that Amazon is not doing everything it can to make sure the government gets its cut.

Caught in the middle are Amazons marketplace sellers, who run the gamut from mom-and-pop operations to sophisticated merchants boasting teams of employees.

On Amazons marketplace, sellers list their products for sale and determine the price. Many take advantage of an additional program, called Fulfillment by Amazon, through which their inventory is stored in Amazons warehouses and shipped by the company.

The sellers pay fees for those services, but Amazon leaves it up to them to collect sales tax where they are required to do so. The fees Amazon charges its marketplace sellers are a huge business for the company, totaling nearly $8 billion during its most recent quarter, up from $5.65 billion a year earlier.

Many merchants said they have received conflicting advice on their sales tax obligations from accountants and lawyers, according to interviews with several individual merchants and consultants who work with dozens of sellers each. Few want to charge sales tax without assurances that competing merchants on Amazon will do the same.

Theres a lot of anxiety, said Chris McCabe, who previously worked at Amazon and now provides consulting services to merchants. Theres a lot of ambiguity here.

Many Amazon sellers, McCabe said, live in fear of getting a letter or phone call from a state investigator that leads to a hefty bill for uncollected back sales tax, which could also come with penalties and interest. The sellers interviewed for this article would speak only on the condition of anonymity, saying they feared attracting the notice of such an investigator.

Sales tax on e-commerce are governed by a 1992 Supreme Court decision, Quill Corp. vs. North Dakota, which established that states cannot collect taxes from companies that did not have a physical presence there.

In its early days, Amazon took advantage of that law by keeping its warehouses out of populous states like California. But as the company has grown and focused more on reducing delivery times, it reached deals with many states to set up warehouses inside their borders. As part of those agreements, Amazon typically agreed to begin charging sales tax after a delay of a few years.

Sellers who sign up for Fulfillment by Amazon are probably the most exposed to the state income tax laws. As part of the program, their merchandise gets distributed to numerous Amazon warehouses. Most states take the position that having their inventory in a warehouse, even if the facility belongs to Amazon, creates a duty to charge sales tax on marketplace sales in those states.

Not all advisers agree. One electronics seller, who has millions of dollars in annual sales on Amazon, said he only collected sales tax for orders delivered in his state, on the advice of his accountant.

Accountants are not in agreement on the issue, either. Michael Fleming, an accountant of Peisner Johnson in Texas, said his firms business was booming with Amazon marketplace sellers. He advises them, he said, to charge sales tax wherever a state can argue it has a nexus  the term most used for a physical presence.

With concerns mounting among sellers, the Multistate Tax Commission, an intergovernmental state tax agency, recently offered an amnesty program that frees marketplace sellers from back tax liabilities when they take steps to collect them on current sales. But some states, including New York, California and Washington, did not participate in the program. Only 852 sellers out of the hundreds of thousands estimated to be selling on Amazon applied for the program.

Paul Rafelson, an adjunct professor at Pace Universitys law school and a lawyer who works with Amazon sellers, said he believes that some states were going after sellers for back taxes to avoid a face-off with the company.

He said the scramble by states and cities to woo Amazon as it seeks a place for its second headquarters  bidding has set off a huge competition  has made state governments even less inclined to go after Amazon.

A lot of states, he said, have told me its too political to go after Amazon.

Nick Wingfield is a New York Times writer.
DURHAM, N.C.  The gathering in a private dining room at a Mexican restaurant had the fervent energy of a megachurch service, or maybe an above-average Oprah episode  a mix of revival-style confession and extravagant empathy. There were souls to be won.

By the end of the day, Kellys going to be an agent, the groups square-jawed leader said. Kelly went through the process a while ago, then life happens, now shes back. Her commitment to me that she made earlier, she looked me right in the eyes and told me shes going to be an agent.

Paradise, for these pilgrims, lies at one end of a phone line.

The Redwood City company behind this spectacle, Liveops, had invited several dozen freelance call-center agents to a so-called road show. Some of them may have answered your customer-service calls to the Home Depot or AAA. All were among the more than 100,000 agents who work as independent contractors through on-demand services like the one Liveops operates, which uses big data, algorithms and gamelike techniques to match its agents to clients. What Uber is to cars, Liveops is to call centers.

The agents are part of a tectonic shift in how jobs are structured. More companies are pushing work onto freelancers, temps, contractors and franchisees in the quest for an ever more nimble profit-making machine. It is one reason a job category seemingly headed offshore forever  customer service representatives  has been thriving in call centers and home offices across the United States, supporting roughly 3 million workers.

While critics of the arrangement cite rising insecurity, some of Liveops star agents  like Emmett Jones in Chicago, who knows of his rivals primarily as numbers on a leader board  say the opportunity has been transformative.

The earnest gratitude of the agents assembled here, not far from the Raleigh-Durham Airport, affirmed that. To them, Liveops is a sustaining force, a way to earn a living while being present at home. A few had driven hours to attend. Many brought friends and family members who were considering joining Liveops Nation, too.

There were icebreakers (Liveops Nation Bingo). Gift-card raffles ($150? the chief executive quipped. Who approved these things?). Free enchiladas. Everyone was invited to schmooze.

John, I heard your story about how you got to us is pretty great, said the master of ceremonies, an impossibly sunny woman named Tara. Would you mind telling all these people?

When the mike came to John, a former insurance claims adjuster with a gray beard and several earrings, there was a sense of imminent revelation.

I was working in another glass box over near here for six years, he began. I reached the point where it was either jump off the roof or walk out the front door.

The other agents laughed knowingly.

He continued, My commute now is I walk down the hall, close the bedroom door behind me. More laughter.

Then Johns voice softened: This is good, this is good. I get paid for when Im working, instead of souring when you get paid for 40 hours and work some more. So, Im here.

Awesome, Tara said, applause drowning her out. I feel like Johns story mimics a lot of what we hear from people.

According to Greg Hanover, a longtime Liveops official who became chief executive this summer, the companys goal is to make agents feel as if theyre part of a movement, not just earning a wage.

Where we want to be with this is what Mary Kay has done, multilevel marketing companies, Hanover said, referring to the cosmetics distributor and its independent sales force. The direction we need to head in for the community within Liveops Nation is that the agents are so happy, so satisfied with the purpose and meaning there, that theyre telling their story.

Its an ambition that feels almost radical compared with Uber, whose best-known exercise in worker outreach is a video of its former chief executive berating a driver. It was heartening to discover that on-demand work could be both financially viable and emotionally fulfilling.

But the more you talk with Jones and some of his Liveops competitors, the more you detect a kind of Darwinian struggle behind the facade of community and self-actualization. You start to wonder: Is there really such a thing as a righteous gig-economy job, even if the company is as apparently well intentioned as Liveops? Or is there something about the nature of gig work thats inescapably dehumanizing?

Jones, who lives in Chicago, was the top-rated Liveops agent for an insurer called Tru-

Stage for much of this year.

An AT&T technician for decades, he decided that he needed to be at home not long after his wife was found to have vertigo in 2008.

I cant work and be worried about how shes doing, he said.

A few years later, when his daughter told him of a friend who worked with Liveops, he was eager to sign up  but refused to send in his required voice test until it was close to perfect.

I must have did the voice test four or five times, he said. I wanted to make sure I gave the right tone that they were looking for.

As a Liveops agent, Jones sells life policies to callers, often those who have just seen a television commercial for TruStage insurance. He estimates that he works roughly 40 hours a week, beginning around 8 most mornings, and that he makes about $20 an hour. He is such a valued worker that TruStage invited him to its headquarters this year for a two-day visit by an elite group of agents, in which executives pumped them for insights about how to increase sales.

Roughly two decades ago, Liveops and its competitors typically connected callers to psychic hotlines, and in some cases less reputable services. Such businesses had frequent spikes in call volume, making it helpful to have an on-demand work force that could be abruptly ramped up.

The only thing people were interested in was the abandonment rate  that is, the number of people who would hang up in frustration from being kept on hold  said Kim Houlne, the chief executive of a Liveops rival called Working Solutions, which she founded in 1996.

The call center industry took a hit during the 2001 recession, when cost consciousness unleashed a wave of outsourcing to India. But within 10 years, many companies decided that the practice, known as offshoring, had been oversold. The savings on wages were often wiped out by lost business from enraged customers, who preferred to communicate with native English speakers.

People dont feel comfortable, Houlne said, alluding to the overseas agents.

By the early part of this decade, quality was in fashion. The enormous amounts of data that companies like Liveops and Working Solutions collect allowed them to connect callers to the best possible agent with remarkable precision, while allowing big clients to avoid the overhead of a physical call center and full-time workers.

Today, in addition to sales calls, Liveops agents handle calls from people trying to file insurance claims, those in need of roadside assistance, even those with medical or financial issues relating to prescription drugs. The agents must obtain a certification before they can handle such calls, which sometimes takes weeks of online coursework.

Like Uber, Liveops expends considerable effort calculating demand for its agents. For example, if an auto insurance company is running a commercial on ESPN, Liveops will ask the companys media buyer  that is, the intermediary that placed the ad  to predict how many calls such an ad is likely to generate. Liveops will adjust that prediction, using its own data showing how many calls similar ads have produced from similar audiences during a comparable time of year.

And like Uber, Liveops focuses obsessively on utilization  in the Liveops case, the percentage of working agents actually on a call. Depending on the client, Liveops strives for rates of 65 to 75 percent. Lower than that and the agents, who make money only when theyre on a call, will complain that theyre not busy enough. Significantly higher and the system is vulnerable to a sudden increase in demand that could tie up the phone lines and keep callers waiting.

Liveops asks agents to schedule themselves in half-hour blocks, known as commits, for the upcoming week. If the company expects demand to be higher than the number of commits, it sends agents a message urging them to sign up. (Uber does something similar, except without formal scheduling.) Sometimes it will even offer financial incentives, like a bump in the rate earned for each minute theyre on a call, or a raffle-type scheme in which people accumulate tickets for the giveaway of an iPad or a cruise.

Again like Uber, Liveops relentlessly tests the effectiveness of these tools. Referring to financial incentives, Jon Brown, Liveops senior director of client services, said, Weve zeroed in on exactly what we need for an agent to go from 10 to 15 commits, from 15 commits to 20 commits. We know where the price point is, what drives behavior.

And then there are the performance metrics. Liveops agents are rated according to what are called key performance indicators, which, depending on the customer, can include the number of sales they make, their success at upselling customers, and whether a caller would recommend the service based on their interaction.

Liveops makes clear that its agents ability to earn more money is closely tied to performance.

Youve heard the term meritocracy? said a Liveops official named Aimee Matolka at the North Carolina event. When a call comes in, it routes in to that best agent. Yes, our router is that smart. You guys want to be that agent, I know you do. Otherwise you wouldnt be here.

It allows the agents to track their rankings obsessively through internal leader boards. (Liveops officials said that though the pressures of the job can preoccupy agents, it is up to them how much time to invest.)

I lost the No. 1 spot, now Im No. 2, Jones said in early August, acknowledging that he checks his ranking frequently. I thought about researching to find out who it is  you always want to know whos the competition  but I said leave it.

He added: Im a competitive person. We just toggle back and forth. If they see me jump back in, they work harder. They want that spot back.

Noam Scheiber is a New York Times writer.
By PTI: (Eds: Updating with fresh inputs)

Colombo, Nov 18 (PTI) Several houses and businesses belonging to the minority Muslim community have been attacked allegedly by Sinhala mobs in Sri Lankas southern city of Galle following violent clashes, prompting police to arrest 19 people and impose curfew.

The police said that seven persons were injured in the clashes.

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People have claimed that two mosques, 34 houses, 13 shops and 11 vehicles had been damaged in stone pelting incidents last night.

"The situation has been brought under control. The curfew was re-imposed from 6 PM today (Saturday) until 6 AM tomorrow (Sunday)," Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said.

Last night, police had to impose curfew in several areas of Galle following communal clashes. It was lifted at 9 AM this morning.

A few houses and businesses belonging to the minority Muslim community has been attacked after a minor incident involving the majority Sinhala community.

Polices Special Task Force and the military have been deployed to bring the situation under control, the police said.

Nineteen people arrested for their alleged involvement in the clashes have been sent on judicial remand till November 30, the police said.

Vajira Abeywardena, a senior minister in the town said: "A small incident on Thursday night was brought under control and later yesterday another group had escalated the situation."

The government said that an all religious committee has been formed to bring the situation under control.

Muslims account for 10 per cent of Sri Lankas 21 million population. The community has been complaining of increasing attacks against them in recent years. PTI CORR NSA CPS

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When Gretchen Carlson, a former Fox News anchor who now campaigns against sexual harassment, took the stage at a TED event this month, she described 2017 as a tipping point in the fight against workplace misconduct.

But behind the scenes, TED owner Chris Anderson and other senior officials had been grappling with accusations for much of the year that their own conferences, famed for turning short speeches by leading figures into viral videos, had not been a safe place for women  and that the atmosphere of predatory male behavior was getting worse.

At least five people, including a past main stage speaker, told TED officials that they were harassed or groped during the organizations flagship conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, in April, according to interviews and email correspondence seen by the Washington Post.

The nonprofits general counsel Nishat Ruiter said in an April email to TEDs senior leadership that she, too, had been touched inappropriately but let it go. She added she was finding it difficult to believe the issue was being addressed by TED effectively. We are clearly not doing enough.

In a statement to the Post, TED acknowledged several incidents had occurred at the Vancouver conference and said it has taken action.

We did hear from a small number of women attendees at TED2017 about harassment. As a result, two men were immediately disinvited and wont be returning, TED said.

In the decades since TEDs original owners got the idea of turning 18-minute talks by world leaders, chief executives, academics, artists and others into a business under the slogan ideas worth spreading, the conferences and spin-off events have become known as a meeting place for the global elite, particularly leaders in the technology industry. Andersons private foundation acquired TED in 2001.

The gatherings are regarded as a place where the likes of former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, scientist Richard Dawkins and former Vice President Al Gore could be encountered in the hallways, and the organizations talks have been watched online more than 1 billion times worldwide.

Most people pay $10,000 to attend and must apply for tickets.

The Post reviewed email exchanges among senior TED officials at the time of the April conference, sparked by a complaint by a longtime attendee, who complained of sexual harassment and being offered every drug known to man. The problem was so bad that the woman decided to pack her bags and leave, telling Anderson that it would be her last TED conference.

Anderson forwarded the complaint to his leadership team, saying, I dont want to overstate whats here (until we can find more) but I do think well need to think seriously about what more we can do.

Tom Rielly, the organizations director of partnerships, wrote in response that harassment had occurred in past years.

Im afraid as difficult as it is to talk about, experiences like this have been going on for years, to varying degrees, Rielly wrote. I agree this is absolutely heartbreaking and stomach turning. He also suggested that alcohol could be fueling the misconduct.

Ruiter, the general counsel, said that she had heard of more such incidents at this years conference.

I heard from so many women unprompted about the type of advances that were everywhere, and that felt different from years past, Ruiter wrote. This included a TED Prize winner and two TEDsters who spoke to me about this and more than one staff member.

TED did not make Anderson, Rielly or Ruiter available for interviews. The three did not respond to personal inquiries.

Nilofer Merchant, an author and former Apple executive whose 2013 TED talk received nearly 3 million views, said in an interview that sexual harassment is not a new problem for the TED conferences.

The same thing was happening 5 years ago. Its still happening, she said. Whats different now is were sharing our stories.

At the April conference, Merchant said a longtime attendee pressed his erection against her at a bar. She recalls mouthing to her friend who was nearby: Help me.

In this awkward moment, youre trying not to make it an issue, she said in an interview. Im trying to spend my time at TED, which I paid $10,000 to attend, talking to people about ideas and not worry about the guy with his boner pressed against me.

Merchant said she saw the same man approach two of her friends, who were talking to a TED newcomer in her early 20s, and say, Oh, three black women together. What should I do with that?

She reported the incidents to TED officials. She said she was only told Thursday that the man she had reported had been banned.

TED told the Post that in November of last year it had inserted language to its code of conduct for attendees that specifically prohibited harassment in any form and added a reporting process for incidents. In the summer, TED included additional language that banned sexual harassment of any kind, including unwelcome sexual attention and inappropriate physical contact. It also began to promote the policy actively to attendees, mentioning it from the stage.

Big corporate conferences, including TED, present a particular challenge in setting standards of appropriate behavior because of the blend of work and socializing and because attendees are not direct employees.

In Silicon Valley, such events are seen as crucial to cultivating relationships that could lead to business deals. TED says its conferences are for high-level relationship building, and forbid direct sales pitches.

Jess Ladd, a TED fellow and founder of Callisto, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting sexual assault, said conferences often involve alcohol and off-site networking, which can open the door to improper interactions.

If your boss harasses you, you know you can go to HR, she said. But if its a powerful investor or an academic in your field, its really hard to know what to do and what your options are.

Conferences approach the problem in different ways. The World Economic Forums annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, said it screens attendees who are not heads of state or chief executives, and revokes invitations if it learns of misconduct.

Some conferences have been updating their policies in light of recent high-profile sexual harassment scandals.

Summit, which attracts an elite technology industry crowd, updated its sexual harassment policy this year to include language that explicitly bans unwelcome sexual attention, inappropriate physical contact, and sexual images in public spaces.

South by Southwest, an annual gathering in Austin, Texas, said it has a broad code of conduct that does not specifically mention a ban on sexual harassment by attendees (it bans harassment of all kinds). On its website, DEF CON publishes a similar code of conduct. The Aspen Ideas Festival said it has no published harassment policy for attendees, but it encourages staff to report incidents.

The accusations against TED come at a time when allegations of sexual harassment and abuse by powerful men are roiling Hollywood, Silicon Valley and the U.S. Congress.

The heightened awareness of sexual misconduct in the workplace and other professional settings was sparked in part by Carlson, who reached a $20 million settlement with Fox in 2016 after suing her old boss Roger Ailes for sexual harassment.

Right now is the tipping point, Carlson said at the TEDWomen conference in New Orleans this month, choking up at points throughout her 14-minute speech. We are watching history happen. More and more women are coming forward and saying, Enough is enough.

The conversation between the leadership of TED in April was set off by an email from Brooke Hammerling, the founder of Brew Media Relations.

On April 27, as the annual conference was under way in Vancouver, she wrote an email to Anderson, saying she had felt fearful as a female at the event and had decided to leave a day early.

This is my last TED, she wrote, according to the messages viewed by the Post.

I was told by different people many married that for example I was hot, my figure was awesome, did I sleep with  she named a technology celebrity  and I was asked why I wasnt married because I was hot so should be able to land a dude, Hammerling wrote. I was offered every drug known to man ... I was pushed. Literally pushed.

Wow, this just about made me throw up, Anderson responded.

In an interview Friday, Hammerling said: I was really uncomfortable and disturbed by it, as were other women who were in the vicinity.

She praised the initial response by Anderson as wonderful and said she had been reimbursed for her attendance.

He was upset about it and responded to me immediately, she said. We got together on the phone and I gave them my suggestions.

After that: I never heard anything, she said.

TED is meant to be a different experience, Hammerling said. Its meant to be a collective of thoughtful people who have taken time  at great expense  to learn and expand, to be part of something really beautiful. Its supposed to be a safe environment.

Elizabeth Dwoskin and Danielle Paquette are Washington Post writers.
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Lovers of classic cars will have the opportunity to get close-up views of some of the most revered automobiles ever built when the 60th annual San Francisco International Auto Show opens Nov. 18.

Cars personally selected by Curator Wayne Barnes from the San Francisco Academy of Art University collection will be showcased at the Moscone Convention Center for the entire run of the auto show.

We are proud to be able to exhibit vehicles that represent the elegance, style, craftsmanship, technology and innovative spirit of automotive designers of the past and the future, show Director Kevin Diamond said. We appreciate the opportunity provided by Elisa Stephens, president of the university.

The university was founded in 1929 by her grandfather, Richard S. Stephens, a painter and creative director of Sunset Magazine, and his wife, Clara, in a rented loft on Kearny Street. His son, the late Richard A. Stephens, who began the car collection, served as president until 1992, when he was named chair emeritus. He was succeeded as president by his daughter.

CHECK CAR PRICES:

More than 9,000 undergraduate students are enrolled in the universitys 19 degree or certificate programs, including the industrial design department, home to the car collection.

Department head Tom Matano uses the collection on the Van Ness Avenue campus to inspire for his students.

The collection is also open to the public by appointment, said Barnes. Proceeds from the admission fee are donated to the Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco and Rotary,

Graduates of the industrial design program have been hired by an impressive list of companies, including BMW Design Works, GM, Mazda, Toyota, Fox Racing, Black & Decker, Camelback, Hasbro, Mattel, Tigo, LG Electronics, Microsoft, Nike, VIDIA, Palm Inc., Samsung, Tony, Sketchers, North Face and Timbuk 2 Designs.

The university also offers majors and continuing education programs in acting, advertising, animation and visual effects, architecture, art education, art history, fashion, fine art, game design, graphic design, illustration, interior architecture and design, jewelry and metal arts, landscape architecture, motion pictures and television, multimedia communications, music production and sound design for visual media, photography, visual development, and web design.

Students can also enroll in flexible online degree programs in most majors.

Academy of Art University is an accredited member of Western Association of Schools and Colleges, National Association of Schools of Art and Design, Council for Interior Design Accreditation and NAAB (M-ARCH).

For more information about the university, visit www.academyart.edu or call (800) 544-2787.

For more information about the International Auto Show or to order tickets, visit www.sfautoshow.com. Adult tickets are $10. Children 12-years and under are free when accompanied by an adult.

Classic cars on display

Gems from the San Francisco Academy of Art University car collection will be on display at the auto show. The display will showcase automobiles ranging from the 1920s to 2016, including cars specially selected to celebrate the auto shows six decades of bringing the best new vehicles to Northern California residents.

The Decades Cars include:

1959 Edsel Convertible

1965 Pontiac Grand Prix

1971 Chevrolet Corvette

1981 DeLorean

1999 Ford Mustang

2000 Mercedes 500

2016 Ford Mustang.

Also expected to be exhibited:

1928 Isotta Fraschini

1931 Chrysler Imperial Sedan

1931 Pierce Arrow Sedan

1932 Packard 900 series Coupe

1932 Dusenberg

1933 Pierce Arrow Silver Arrow

1933 Chrysler Imperial Phaeton (Ralph Roberts)

1934 Packard Dual Windshield Pheaton

1936 Hispano Suiza

1938 Buick Town Car

1941 Cadillac

1947 Chrysler Town/ Country

1948 Chrysler Town/ Country

1948 Lincoln Coupe

1950 Jaguar XK120 alloy

1961 Lincoln Continental Sedan

1963 Buick Riviera

1963 Volkswagen Bug

1964 Jaguar E type Coupe

1965 Pontiac Grand Prix

1967 Cadillac Eldorado

1969 AMC AMX

1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z281

1969 Pontiac Trans Am
LOS ANGELES  Los Angeles County saw a surge in reported hate crimes last year linked to white supremacists, with a wave of incidents targeting Jews, Muslims and African Americans, according to a study released Thursday.

Immigrants also have been targeted, prompting officials to call in sheriffs deputies to maintain calm at public meetings.

For the last several months, weve had to alert the Sheriffs Department because white supremacists and anti-immigrants groups have been disruptive in communities like Cudahy, L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis said. Residents are fearful to attend these meetings because these groups have shown up yelling fearful rhetoric and even brandishing weapons at times.

Reported hate crimes linked to white supremacists jumped from 63 in 2015 to 105 last year, a 67 percent increase, according to the annual study conducted by the L.A. County Commission on Human Relations.

Overall, 482 incidents were reported, roughly the same as in 2015. But that followed a 24 percent jump from 2014 to 2015  a surge that the study said was fueled in part by anti-Muslim reaction to the Dec. 2, 2015, terror attack in San Bernardino.

The study found that a majority of the reported hate crimes linked to white supremacists  52 percent  were motivated by religion and targeted mostly Jews. Last year, swastikas were found on vehicles, synagogues, schools and Jewish-owned businesses.

Race was the motivation for 36 percent of the white supremacist hate crimes, the study found. The most frequently targeted group in these crimes were African Americans.

The study also found that L.A. County saw an increase in gender-based crimes, particularly against transgender people. There were 39 reported gender-based crimes compared with 22 the year before  a 77 percent increase.

The most targeted within that group in 2016 was Latina transgender women.

Mariana Marroquin, an antiviolence project manager at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, said she was attacked about 20 years ago by a group of people because of her gender identity.

I was beat up and stripped while my attackers were planning how to kill me, said Marroquin, who identifies as a transgender woman and an immigrant. We can do better.  We are survivors and fighters, and we came so far that we cannot go back.

The study covered the period during and after the 2016 presidential campaign, in which President Trump made a series of controversial comments about Muslims and Mexicans. Critics have complained that his comments emboldened white nationalist groups.

The study found that after the election, from Nov. 8 through Dec. 31, there were 82 reported incidents  a 9 percent increase from the previous year.

For instance, shortly after the election, mosques in L.A. County received a series of handwritten letters praising Trump and calling for the eradication of Muslims in the country.

Though L.A. Countys total showed no increase, reports of hate crimes have been on the rise in recent years across California and the nation.

The California attorney generals office reported an 11.2 percent statewide increase in hate crimes in 2016. According to FBI statistics released this week, hate crimes across the nation were up 5 percent in 2016 from the previous year.

The study, which has been conducted annually since 1980, is based on reports from every law enforcement agency in L.A. County and community-based organizations.

Melissa Etehad is a Los Angeles Times writer.
1 Pipeline leak: A federal pipeline safety agency has sent technical experts to the site of an estimated 210,000-gallon oil spill from the Keystone pipeline in South Dakota. A Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration representative said Friday that the agencys investigation is ongoing. TransCanada Corp. crews shut down its Keystone pipeline Thursday after a drop in pressure was detected from the leak south of a pump station in Marshall County. State officials say the buried pipeline leak is on agricultural land and dont believe it has polluted any surface water bodies or drinking water systems.

2 Deadly crash: Two young brothers were killed as a result of a collision involving a Los Angeles County sheriffs patrol car and two other vehicles. The crash occurred around 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles as deputies were responding to a report of a gunshot victim. Police Capt. Alfonso Lopez said the Sheriffs Department SUV collided with the other vehicles and then struck five pedestrians on a sidewalk, including the boys and their mother. The conditions of the other pedestrians was not disclosed. As of Friday, police did not release the identities of the victims, or provide more details about the sequence of events leading to the fatal crash.
The woman, who claims to be Hindu by birth, alleged that her husband assaults and tortures her daily demanding that she converts to Islam.

By Saurabh Vaktania: In what appears to be a case of love jihad, a Mumbai-based model has alleged that her husband continuously assaulted her and forced her to convert to Islam.

The model, Rashmi, stated that her husband Asif thrashed her even before she came to file the complaint with the Bandra police. After lodging the FIR (first information report), police rushed her to a hospital where is currently undergoing treatment.

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Rashmi tied the nuptial knot with Asif in 2005 and gave birth to their son in 2010.

The woman, who claims to be Hindu by birth, alleged that her husband assaults and tortures her daily demanding that she converts to Islam.

Rashmi also alleged that her husband recently remarried a woman and has now asked her to walk out of his life.

When Rashmi went home on Friday, Asif thrashed her and hit her with utensils. After abusing her, Asif asked her to leave their home immediately.

Rashmi with her husband Asif and their 7-year-old son. Rashmi with her husband Asif and their 7-year-old son.

Disappointed with the episode, Rashmi went to Bandra police station and filed the FIR against her husband.

Police are investigating the case while trying to figure out whether it is a case of love jihad.

According to Rashmi, Asif's second wife has converted to Islam.

Meanwhile, Asif too has lodged a complaint against Rashmi

The cops said that the couple have been staying together for the last 13 years. Incidentally, Rashmi never made any complaint about conversion in the past.

Now the other woman with whom Asif has relationship will be called for statement.

--- ENDS ---
The San Francisco Chronicle is proud to be the title sponsor of the 60th annual International Auto Show.

For six decades, Northern California auto enthusiasts have gathered at this storied event to see the newest models from the top manufacturers both in the U.S. and abroad.

As a visitor to the show, youll be able to view an impressive array of alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles, as well as traditionally powered models.

The Chronicle has enjoyed an association with the International Auto Show since the 1970s.

Its one of many channels we use to bring you automotive news and information.

Every Friday, our Cars section spotlights new models through a partnership with Car and Driver, provides maintenance tips and presents stories from local auto enthusiasts who tell the story behind their favorite cars.

At SFGATE.com/Cars, we provide all the tools you need to buy or sell a car, including expert tips and reviews.

We hope you will use this guide to make the most of your visit to the International Auto Show.

Be sure to stop by our booth to say hello.

Jeff Johnson,

Publisher of The San Francisco Chronicle
By India Today Web Desk: Yes, Manushi Chhillar from Haryana has made India extremely proud by winning the title of Miss World 2017, that was held at Sanya City Arena, in China, this year.

Manushi, who was also the winner of Miss India 2017, made it through a total of 108 contestants to bag the coveted title. She was crowned by Miss World 2016, Miss Puerto Rico, Stephanie Del Valle.

- Miss World (@MissWorldLtd) November 18, 2017

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Just 20 years old, Manushi, whose father is a scientist and mother an academic, is the sixth Indian woman to be crowned Miss World. Manushi was pursuing her Bachelor's degree in medicine and surgery, when she got herself enrolled for the pageant.

As part of her Beauty with a Purpose project, Manushi took up the cause of menstrual hygiene, and spread awareness in 20 villages.

Manushi reacts after being announced the winner of the Miss World 2017 crown (PTI photo)

After winning a position among the top 5 contestants, Manushi was asked which profession deserved the biggest salary and why.

To this, she replied, ''A mother deserves the highest respect. It's not always about cash but also the love and respect that we give to someone. My mother has been a huge inspiration to me. I think it is the job of a mother that deserves the biggest salary.''

Here's are a few Twitter reactions that her victory has garnered:

Congratulations to the daughter of Haryana @ManushiChhillar for making India proud with the #MissWorld2017 title.Be it sports or beauty pageants, time and again Haryana has proved that its daughters have the mettle to make the country proud. ????- Birender Singh (@ChBirenderSingh) November 18, 2017

?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? 2017 ? ?-? ?I- Manohar Lal (@mlkhattar) November 18, 2017

Miss India Manushi Chillar rules the world!!! Congratulations for getting the crown back #MissIndiabecomesMissWorld

- Shobhaa De (@DeShobhaa) November 18, 2017

India wins Miss World 2017!!!! Congratulations @ManushiChhillar ???????????????????yipeeeee about time!!!!?????????? super proud!!!! #JaiHind ???????- sushmita sen (@thesushmitasen) November 18, 2017

Picture courtesy: Facebook/Miss World

It was her heart-warming reply to the final question that won her this prestige.

Manushi's also celebrated this grand moment.

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The husband, a pornography addict, would make her watch adult content and then force her to indulge into similar acts.

By Divyesh Singh: On Friday evening, a 22-year-old man was arrested in Thane for chopping his wife's hair off after she refused to bow down to his unnatural sexual demands.

The incident took place in Kalyan, a city in Thane district of Maharashtra. Police arrested accused husband, 22, after his wife, 20, filed an assault case against him.

In her complaint, the victim alleged that her husband, a pornography addict, would make her watch adult content and then force her to indulge into similar acts. The two married each other around a year ago.

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According to the police, the accused used to tie the victim's hands and legs with rope and force her to perform unnatural sex. The husband used to beat her when she refused his demands. Recently when she protested his demands, he cut off her hair and sent the picture to her mother.

After the incident, the victim returned to her maternal home and was helped by a Bhiwandi-based NGO in filing the case against the accused at the Bazapeth police station, after which the accused was arrested. He will be produced in a court on Saturday.

The man was arrested under section 377 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) for unnatural sex and other sections of assault under IPC section 323.

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By PTI: By Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, Nov 18 (PTI) Nepal and China are working on several key areas including cross-border railway connectivity, highways and construction of a dry port, Chinas envoy in Kathmandu Yu Hong said today.

Hongs statement comes within days of Nepal cancelling a USD 2.5 billion hydropower project that was to be built by a Chinese state-owned firm.

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"China has taken the request of the Nepal government for constructing cross-border railway line seriously," Hong said, adding a team has already begun preliminary feasibility study for the project.

Similarly, the expansion of Rasuwagadhi-Syafrubeshi road link, resumption of Araniko Highway and construction of dry ports in Tatopani, Rasuwa and Yaritoo are also on Beijings priority list, she pointed out.

Nepal should reap benefits from the prosperity of China, she remarked during a press meet organised on the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China and Sino-Nepal relations by the Embassy of China in Kathmandu.

"Nepal could benefit from Chinas prosperity in various sectors including trade, investment and connectivity as Nepal has already joined the China-proposed One Belt and One Road (OBOR) initiative," she said.

The Chinese envoy stated that China was supporting Nepal on the basis of "equal treatment, mutual cooperation and shared development framework".

Sino-Nepal relations have strengthened further in recent times, she said, adding the high-level exchange of visits, feasibility study on railways in Nepal, increasing number of Nepali students in China indicate the "robust" bilateral ties.

She said China was working out to resume Tatopani border point and to smoothly operate Araniko Highway as these were important factors to promote bilateral trades.

The Chinese envoy also praised Nepals one-China policy, which states that there is only one Chinese government and that the island of Taiwan is a breakaway province that belongs to China. PTI SBP KIS

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By PTI: By Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, Nov 17 (PTI) Nepals election commission today asked the government to provide adequate security amidst a spate of attacks on candidates and their sympathisers during the recent poll campaigns.

Former prime minister K P Oli has accused "some forces" of hatching conspiracies to assassinate the left alliance candidates, hours after a Maoist Centre candidate was attacked yesterday.

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The Election Commission (EC) said in a statement that it has been left stunned by the ongoing attempts to deprive the election candidates and voters of their fundamental rights.

The ECs statement comes in the wake of violent incidents targeting election candidates and political parties rallies.

Expressing confidence on the security plan of the government, the EC urged the administration to adopt strict measures for the security of candidates and their supporters.

It also called on all the political parties, voters and stakeholders to get involved in their poll-related activities without being discouraged by such incidents.

The EC also urged the parties to desist from any anti- election activities against the aspirations of people.

Olis remarks came after some unidentified men hurled a bomb at Narayan Kaji Shrestha, CPN-Maoist Centre leader and the leftist alliances candidate for Parliamentary elections in Gorkha-2. Shrestha escaped unhurt in the attack.

Nepal is organising provincial and parliamentary elections in two phases on November 26 and December 7.

The general and parliamentary elections are seen as the final step in Nepals post-war transition to a federal democracy.

The Maoists have dominated Nepals politics for more than 20 years after waging a decade-long insurgency against the government forces that claimed more than 16,000 lives.

The civil war in Nepal came to an end in 2006. PTI SBP CPS

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Vasundhara Raje said that Padmavati should not be released until some amendments were made to the film.

By India Today Web Desk: The controversy over the film Padmavati is not dying down anytime soon.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia has shot off a letter to Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani urging her to ensure that the film 'Padmavati' is not released without necessary cuts.

Raje also said that the Censor Board should consider all possible results before certifying the film, a day after the Board sent the film back to its makers because the application for the certification was "incomplete".

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She suggested that a committee of historians, film experts and members from the Rajput community be formed to look into the film's subject and necessary changes be made to it so that it does not hurt the sentiments of any community.

The letter is the first official communication from Rajasthan CM on the controversy surrounding the epic drama directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh in lead roles.

Both Padukone and Bhansali have received threats. The film is based on Rajput queen Padmavati and is scheduled to release on December 1.

Various Rajput groups have been protesting across the country, including in Rajasthan, against releasing the film, alleging it "distorts" history and hurts sentiments of people. Yesterday, the protesters blocked entry to the Chittorgarh Fort in Rajasthan. Today, a similar protest was held at the Kumbhalgarh Fort in Rajsamand district of the state.

Raje said a filmmaker has the right to make a film as per their understanding but provisions were also there in the Constitution to control such rights in case of hurt to public sentiments and law and order. Therefore, she said, there should be a rethink on the release of the film, an official statement said on Saturday.

A delegation from Mewar region, comprising the state's Urban Development Minister Shrichand Kriplani, MLA Chittorgarh Chandrabhan and others, met Raje at her residence and expressed gratitude for writing the letter to Irani.

The Rajasthan chief minister also suggested that the censor board consider the consequences before certifying a film.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Ruby Rose said that she is shocked by what Deepika Padukone is having to go through and admired her courage.

By India Today Web Desk: That Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period drama is facing the ire of right-wing groups for allegedly distorting history is widely known. The film's leading lady, Deepika Padukone, has not been spared. The Shri Rajput Karni Sena, who is spearheading the anti-Padmavati movement, has called Deepika filthy names, from "naachnewali" to "bazaaru", and have even threatened to chop off her nose.

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Deepika Padukone's co-star in xXx: Return Of Xander Cage, Ruby Rose, has tweeted in support of her. "I am in shock at reading what my dear friend is going through but in absolute awe of her strength and courage. Deepika, you are one of the strongest women I know," she wrote.

I am in shock at reading what my dear friend is going through but in absolute awe of her strength and courage. Deepika you are one of the strongest women I know. https://t.co/wrEaO9WZA0- Ruby Rose (@RubyRose) November 18, 2017

Meanwhile, Deepika has refused to cower to the threats of the Shri Rajput Karni Sena. "I have full faith in the judicial system of our country. I know no wrong will be done," she said.

Earlier, in an interview, Deepika opened up about the outrage over Padmavati and called it "absolutely appalling". "What have we gotten ourselves into? And where have we reached as a nation? We have regressed," she said, adding, "The only people we are answerable to is the censor board, and I know and I believe that nothing can stop the release of this film."

Padmavati, which also stars Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh, is slated to release on December 1.

ALSO WATCH: Sanjay Leela Bhansali thrashed, sets of Padmavati vandalised by Karni Sena

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Addressing a group of protestors against the release of film Padmavati, a BJP leader from Mumbai, Raj Purohit threatened to slap Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for making remarks against Rajputs.

By Vidya : Addressing a group of protestors against the release of film Padmavati, a BJP leader from Mumbai, Raj Purohit threatened to slap Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and even used unparliamentary words.

He also told the gathered crowd that he was an elected leader and should not be using such abusive language and all elected MLAs have to maintain a decorum.

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The protest was held at Azad Maidan by Mumbai Rajput Chatriya Samaj, which according to protestors was only a trailer as a bigger protest is planned for Monday. Purohit urged protestors to come out in large number in the coming week.

Starting his speech accusing Padmavati film maker Sanjay Leela Bhansali of turning the history of Rajputs on its head, Purohit said, "He is making the queens dance. There were women dancers to do that. queens never danced like dancers. He is degrading our history."

Referring to Tharoor's statement about the Rajputs now attacking Bhansali while they had actually sided with the Britishers during the British occupation of India, Purohit said, "I will not slap Bhansali. But, I am more upset with Shashi Tharoor. He had no business talking about Rajputs and Padmavati film issue. But, the man who has killed his wife using a poison which no one has been able to detect, is telling us that we did not fight the Britishers? Did his father do it then? If, we had not fought the Britishers then, and had not stood at the border then there would have been no temples in the country."

Tharoor was in Mumbai on Thursday for a literature festival and had made the remarks while discussing a book.

Attacking the "English speaking people", who questioned the existence of even Lord Rama and Padmavati, Purohit explained that these ancient histories have passed on from one generation to the other and that's how people know about their past.

Meanwhile, on Friday Maharashtra Minister of State for Home (rural) Deepak Kesarkar assured that adequate security would be provided for the release of film Padmavati. Bhansali himself has been given round the clock security owing to various threats being meted out to him from across the country over the film.

--- ENDS ---
(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

Welcome to Gringo's, amigos.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Gringo's Tacos quietly opened as a dining destination and arcade at the developing Urby complex in Stapleton. The restaurant presents its version of Mexican fare amidst two bars, sprawling clusters of tables and a few cozy nooks.

Gringo's is located at 24 Navy Pier in Stapleton's Urby complex and can be reached at 917-423-2450 or 917-423-2451.

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Tacos galore at Gringo's in Stapleton at the Urby complex. (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

Tacos and tempos.

Going forward with Staten Island's newest restaurant, Gringo's will be open for dinners only starting at 5 p.m. The official grand opening happens on Saturday, Nov. 18 with a DJ plus t-shirt and hat giveaways. A skeeball contest will begin around 9 p.m. as a DJ gets set to play for the night crowd.

In fact, music will be a regular presence on Fridays and Saturdays between a DJ and Mariachi Brunch.

Happy hour has been established from Monday through Friday from 5 to 7 p.m.

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(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

First, about the design of the restaurant...

There are two bars in the place with 18 stools between them. And the dining room proper is ready for 120 guests. On Friday night on a table check with guests the executive chef, Rick Truocchio, pointed out that Gringo's space can be sectioned into two for private parties. The demand is there, he said, based on the number of requests sister cafe, Urby Eats across the way, gets for such affairs.

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Getting ready for dinner at Gringo's at the Urby complex in Stapleton (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

Who created the space?

Says a spokeswoman for Gringo's: "Gringo's Tacos has been designed by Soho-based interior design firm and creative agency, Gachot Studios. Inspired by an American sense of play and a vibrant palate of primary colors associated with Mexican decorative arts aesthetic, the Gringos experience is a mixture of contemporary culture and 80s nostalgia."

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Pamela Silvestri | silvestri@siadvance.com

It is where Ms. Pac Man graphics meet Mortal Kombat and Skeeball arcade games.

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Nighttime at Gringo's at the Urby complex in Stapleton (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

There are cozy nooks.

"Each of the two bars features a 12-tap beer tower, custom shelving, bronze mirror and wood paneling. The main bar features a custom neon art installation created in collaboration with Staten Island natives, artists Dee & Ricky," says the spokeswoman.

"Playful custom graphics developed by the duo, in collaboration with Gachot and Alan Hill, are also found throughout. The space is layered with found objects and a variety of plantings, such as succulents, cacti, fig trees, and indoor palms," she explains.

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Little corners by the booths include phone charging stations and living room-esque features. Gringo's at the Urby complex in Stapleton (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

There's even a phone charger in various corners of the restaurant.

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Making friends at the Arcade portion of Gringo's at the Urby complex in Stapleton (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

And then there's the 'boom' and 'bam' of the two skeeball sections.

Gringo's also features tabletop shuffleboard.

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(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

Tokens for skeeball cost 2 for $1.

Sometimes the staff will give a few tokens away for goodwill toward little ones.

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(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

Kids can play the games a few feet away from their table.

Joseph and Matteo DeStefano of Lighthouse Hill play a video game at Gringo's in Stapleton at the Urby complex.

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(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

Mom and Dad can chit-chat.

Ana and Charlie DeStefano of Lighthouse Hill stopped into Gringo's at the Urby complex in Stapleton on its first Friday night.

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One of two bars at Gringo's at the Urby complex in Stapleton (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

Tequila, cerveza and cocktails.

Cocktails might come from a tap. There are modest rosters of Tequilas and smokier Mezcal counterparts offered by the glass and in tasting flights.

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(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

Paper plate?

Not! It's plateware standing in for that bodega-style, disposable thing along with distressed stainless cutlery.

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Pamela Silvestri | silvestri@siadvance.com

And, we got tacos.

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(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

And, we got drinks.

Prickly Pear "Flava" can be added to a Gringos Margarita for an extra dollar.

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Drinks awaiting passage to the table from the bar. Gringo's at the Urby complex in Stapleton (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

You'll get your 'Corner Bodega' cocktail in a brown paper bag.

A rimmed mango wedge is plugged into the neck of an empty bottle refilled with a mixed drink of Mezcal, Mango-Pineapple Shrub and beer.

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Pamela Silvestri

Clink, yo.

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(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

A squeeze bottle of housemade sauce is on every table.

Yeah, it's real hot.

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(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

Now, the food.

"Dem Nachos" include three cheeses, pickled jalapenos with a punch, green onion, guacamole and crema over the top. This portion came with Al Pastor Chicken.

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(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

There is one salad on the menu.

Tostada Ensalada employs mixed greens with avocado slices, cucumber, roasted sweet corn, pickled red onion, puffed pepitas, tomatoes, queso fresco, tomatoes with house tostadas schmeared with black bean puree. The salad comes with honey-mustard or cumin-lime vinaigrette.

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(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

"We Found Nemo," the taco.

Fish tacos start with a housemade corn tortilla which holds battered, deep-fried fish, mango-jicama slaw, salsa verde and chili-lime mayo.

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(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

The BLTaco explained with visual aid

BLTaco is a slab of pork belly topped with pico de gallo, avocado, lettuce and chipotle-lime mayo.

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Staff-Shot

The Pig Out

The "Pig Out" comes with carnitas-style Berkshire pork, pickled jalapeno and red onions plus salsa verde and crema. Gringo's at the Urby complex in Stapleton (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

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(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

Duck That

"Duck That" is a taco dish comprised of duck leg confit shreds, cucumber, scallion, pomegranate mole sauce and the crispy duck skin.

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(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

As the evening moves on, the kiddies move out.

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(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

Dessert includes the Choco Taco in its foil package.

Or, Churros offered with two sauces  Mexican Chocolate and Strawberry. The fresh fried Churros come in a brown bag.

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Gum is a gift at the very end of the meal.(Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

Time to say g'night.

Gringo's hours are Monday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to midnight. The kitchen closes then at 10 p.m. On Friday and Saturday, the restaurant opens at 5 p.m. and closes at 1 a.m. with the kitchen open til 11 p.m. On Sunday, food shuts down at 9 p.m. but the place is open from 5 to 10 p.m.

Parking can be validated by the restaurant at select times. Call the restaurant to be sure this arrangement is in effect at the desired time of a visit.

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Night time outside Gringo's at the Urby complex in Stapleton (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

G'night, Gringo's.

(G'night!)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- After 22 years on the bench, New York State Supreme Court Justice Philip G. Minardo will officially retire his robe in Richmond County as of the end of this year.

Justice Minardo, who primarily presides over civil cases, falls under the judicial system's mandatory retirement requirement ruling that applies to Supreme Court justices: They cannot continue to serve after 76 years of age.

Back on December 2005 Justice Minardo was asked by Jonathan Lippman, then Chief Judge of the State of New York, to serve as Administrative Judge of Richmond County, making him the first to fill said post.

Thereafter, on Jan. 1, 2009, the borough's court system gained complete autonomy after legislators created the 13th Judicial District, severing Staten Island from Brooklyn in the Second Judicial District.

But before Justice Minardo officially joins the ranks of the leisurely -- and in what you might call a rousing roast of sorts -- the learned jurist was joined by some 300 well wishers at LiGreci's Staaten, Wednesday night -- all of whom couldn't let the mega milestone go by without some fun and fab fanfare.

Among the revelers were Justice Minardo's wife, Dr. Marianne Labarbera, Borough President James Oddo, former borough Presidents James Molinaro and Ralph Lamberti, retired Justices Anthony I. Giacobbe and John Fusco, family members and friends, fellow judges and colleagues, attorneys, law clerks, members of the court administration, priests and physicians -- who quite simply wouldn't have missed a chance to wish Justice Minardo a fond farewell as he embarks on a brand new chapter in his life.

The send off party even saw a slew of roasters take to the podium at the popular West Brighton banquet spot.

And as roasters elaborated on his illustrious career, playfully bantered and spoke some gentle insults, chuckles and even a few hearty laughs reverberated from every corner of the room.

Emcee for the evening was longtime friend, Civil Court Judge/Acting New York State Supreme Court Justice Orlando (Lindy) Marrazzo Jr.

Rev. Michael Martine, pastor of Holy Rosary R.C. Church, South Beach offered the invocation and bestowed his blessings upon Justice Minardo and the exuberant crowd.

ROSTER OF ROASTERS

In his opening remarks: Justice Marrazzo thanked those in attendance and welcomed everyone to Justice Minardo's "Forced Retirement Party."

"I met Phil over 40 years ago on the Barrister Softball Team, where he was a great hitter and first baseman. And it was there he earned the title 'The Legend.' He was really a legend in his own mind. We are losing a great jurist. Phil, we are going to miss you."

Court of Claims Judge/Acting New York State Supreme Court Justice Wayne Ozzi read a Proclamation issued by Janet DiFiore, chief judge of the Court of Appeals of the State of New York, before noting:

"Phil, you have a beautiful wife, Marianne, and a new hip. Good luck on your retirement."

Said Allyn Crawford, president of the Richmond County Bar Association:

"You've been a great friend to the lawyers of Staten Island. You were always fair to the trial lawyers. You treated them the way they deserved to be treated. You have always been one of us."

Philip G.. Minardo, Jr., Justice Minardo's son noted: "I'm the lucky one who has my dad's name, Philip George Minardo. I'm not a lawyer, but I can sense what you do on a regular basis. My dad has a passion for his profession, for his children and grandchildren and for his family and friends. All of us here respect what you do."

Brian Minardo, another son of Justice Minardo stated:

"Thanks to all of you for being here tonight. And thanks to the Hon. Lindy Marrazzo for putting this party together. Lindy always served as a friend and mentor. And thanks for all you have done for my dad and thanks to the legal community who've been like family. We have nothing but love and respect for all of you. I'm a firefighter and like our Brotherhood, the legal community is filled with the same love and respect."

Anthony Minardo, Justice Minardo's brother noted:

"Phil, John, Philip and Brian are three of the finest sons you'd ever want to meet. Out of all the people in this room, I know Phil the longest. We were born and raised in Brooklyn and our parents taught us family values. There were no silver spoons and no privileged plates. Phil succeeded and he excelled. But now in retirement, will they still say 'All rise' when you walk in the room? And to his brother Michael, he suggested: You might want to do what we'll do come Jan. 1, change your number."

Dr. Michael Minardo, Justice Minardo's brother explained:

"There's 19 years between Phil and myself. So when people ask what it was like growing up with Phil, I say 'I have no idea.' I'm a chiropractor and my mom would always say 'Why can't you be like your brother Philip?' He was always there for me. He came to my parties and my games. This room is filled with his extended family. We love you, Phil. And mom and dad would be so proud of you."

And Mary Ann Ciraulo, Justice Minardo's secretary, explained:

"I'll never forget when the judge interviewed me for the position and asked me if I was computer literate. Well I must admit, I wasn't too computer savvy at the time. So he really frightened me, since he led me to believe he was this wiz in technology, only to learn otherwise. And I might add that he also intimidated me when I first started working with him, but I learned early on that his bark is worse than his bite, because guess what? He now tells me that I intimidate him.

And, of course, a glorious time was when he was appointed the first Administrative Judge of Richmond County. I had no idea of what it entailed, but I managed to get through it both as his Principal Secretary and Administrative Assistant, and I think we did a great job together! It's a pleasure working for you. I will miss you and I'm sure as you can see from the crowd here this evening, everyone will agree that the courthouse will not be the same without you."

When it came time for Justice Minardo to take the mic, he spoke from his heart, and still evoked laughter.

"Call the first case," said he. "I don't know what to say. I'm speechless. I still have six weeks left, you know. I want to thank everyone. You won't find a finer person around than Lindy Marrazzo. He's a great man and a great member of the Richmond County Bar Association and a wonderful facilitator of this event."

He added: I am extremely proud of my profession. I don't know where 22 years have gone. If you enjoy what you're doing, you never have to work a day in your life. Thank you to all in my chambers and to every person who made my life easy and to all members of the judicial staff and to court officers who are the finest in the city. And to Dennis Quirk who makes sure we have great court officers. And to my colleagues past and present. It has been a great honor for me to serve. I'm so proud of my wife, Dr. Marianne LaBarbera who agreed to marry me three years ago and of my family. Thank you all again."
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An injured bald eagle was found outside of a home in West Brighton on Friday.



The doorbell rang at Elizabeth "Betty" Hayes' home at around 2:30 p.m. It was her neighbor pointing to her driveway. A bald eagle stood there, looking back at her.

Hayes said that the bird was originally found on her neighbor's porch, but her neighbor opened the door and the Bald Eagle walked over to her yard.



"I realized that something's wrong...that it's not flying. You could tell that the wings are bad," she said.

An injured bald eagle was found outside of a home in West Brighton Friday, November 17, 2017. (Staten Island Advance/Shira Stoll)

She was worried it would get hit by a car or die, so she trapped it between her neighbor's fence, her fence, and a garbage can to make sure it wouldn't leave.

Hayes said she called the police department, the fire department, and the Staten Island Zoo, but no one gave her an immediate response. "Because I don't know how long it will take for them to come, I was worried about whether or not he was going to eat," said Hayes. "So, I had some left-over lemon chicken. He ate it. He looks like he enjoyed it."

She also gave the Bald Eagle some water.



At approximately 5:00 p.m., the Staten Island Zoo general curator and veterinarian, Sarrah Kaye, came to rescue the bald eagle.



Brian Morris from the Staten Island Zoo confirmed that the bird has been taken to The Raptor Trust, a wild bird rehabilitation center in New Jersey. While there is no confirmation on if the bird's wing is injured, Morris said the eagle is blind in one eye.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The landscape of Staten Island is shifting -- quite literally -- from the development of St. George to new businesses and housing on the South Shore.

Local community boards give residents an opportunity to offer input in the decision-making process for many of these long-term projects.

Community Board meetings are open to the public and afford a great way to learn more about what's going on in your neighborhood and to get involved.

If you have something you would like to speak out about, all you need to do is sign up -- before the meeting is called to order -- to speak in the public session.

The following meetings are scheduled for the week of Nov. 20 to Nov. 24.

COMMUNITY BOARD 1

Arlington - Castleton Corners - Clifton - Concord - Elm Park - Fort Wadsworth - Graniteville - Grymes Hill - Livingston - Mariners Harbor - New Brighton - Port Richmond - Randall Manor - Rosebank - St. George - Shore Acres - Silver Lake - Stapleton - Sunnyside - Tompkinsville - West Brighton - Westerleigh

There will be a Mariners Harbor/Port Richmond Committee Meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at 7 p.m. at 250 Park Ave. On the agenda:

New Beer and Wine license for LunchBox, 1612 Forest Avenue

The board office is located at 1 Edgewater Plaza, Suite 217, Stapleton. The office phone number is 718-981-6900. The board chairman is Nicholas Siclari; the district manager is Joseph Carroll.

COMMUNITY BOARD 2

Arrochar - Bloomfield - Bulls Heads - Chelsea - Dongan Hills - Egbertville - Emerson Hill - Grant City - Grasmere - High Rock - Lighthouse Hill - Midland Beach - New Dorp - New Springville - Oakwood - Ocean Breeze - Old Town - Richmond - South Beach - Todt Hill - Travis

There will be a Full Board Meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m.

All committee and full board meetings are in the board office, which is located in the Lou Caravone Community Service Building on the campus of Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center and Home, 460 Brielle Ave., Sea View. The office phone number is 718-317-3235. The chairman of the CB 2 board is Dana T. Magee; the district manager is Debra A. Derrico.

COMMUNITY BOARD 3

Annadale - Arden Heights - Bay Terrace - Charleston - Eltingville - Great Kills - Greenridge - Huguenot - New Dorp - Oakwood - Pleasant Plains - Prince's Bay - Richmond Valley - Richmond - Rossville - Tottenville - Woodrow

There will be no Community Board 3 meetings for the week of Nov. 20.

All committee meetings take place at the Community Board 3 office located on the second floor of 1243 Woodrow Rd. All general board meetings take place at the Woodrow Methodist Church Hall located at 1075 Woodrow Rd., 10309. The office phone number is 718-356-7900. The CB 3 board chairman is Frank Morano; the district manager is Charlene Wagner.
In a series of Tweets, President Donald Trump condemned Sen. Al Franken for allegedly kissing and groping a woman without her consent. Some believe liberals are being hypocritical for protecting Democrats accused of assault. But others think Trump is the biggest hypocrite of them all. After being caught on tape bragging about assaulting women, and with over a dozen women accusing Trump of assault, the president has no room to call out Franken. What do you think?

PERSPECTIVES

After a Los Angeles radio host came forward with her story about how Al Franken kissed and groped her without her consent, Trump took to Twitter to call out the Minnesota senator.

The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps? .....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 17, 2017

.And to think that just last week he was lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women. Lesley Stahl tape?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 17, 2017

Many have accused liberals of being hypocritical for calling on Roy Moore, who was accused of sexual misconduct with underage girls, to drop out of the Alabama Senate race, while not doing the same for Al Franken.

And CNN will protect and defend Franken. Then will attack Moore. Then call Trump a hypocrite. It's in their play book!  Spin.of.CNN (@SpinofCNN) November 17, 2017

But liberals have called out Trump for being the biggest hypocrite of them all. After he was caught on tape bragging about sexually assaulting women, he is the last person who should be condemning anyone for sexual misconduct.

People who live in glass houses...  katecoynemccoy (@katecoynemccoy) November 17, 2017

Not to mention, Franken issued an apology which was accepted by his accuser. Trump still denies the accusations from over a dozen women who have come forward accusing him of sexual assault, and has actually threatened to sue his accusers.

Bad? Why? Because he apologized? In your eyes, real men assault and grab women inappropriately and NEVER apologize. Right?  A.C. Evans, MD, PhD (@gynoncdoc) November 17, 2017

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By India Today Web Desk: Twitter has suspended the verified account of a Pakistani website after receiving complaints that the handle had tweeted a modified photograph of an Indian student activist.

Pakistan Defence's website (which isn't linked to the country's government) says its now-deleted Twitter handle was followed by almost 308,500 people. It calls itself a "one stop resource for Pakistan defence, strategic affairs, security issues, world defence and military affairs."

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The website tweeted a modified photograph of Delhi Universiy student activist Kawalpreet Kaur standing in front of a mosque.

In the original photograph, Kawalpreet holds up a sheet of paper that bears this message: "I am a citizen of India and I stand with secular values of our Constitution. I will write against communal mob lynching of Muslims in our country #CitizensAgainstMobLynching."

Please take down this picture immediately, @defencepk. You are using a morphed image of a young girl and putting her life in danger. Dear @TwitterSupport, @Raheelk, @misskaul, please take note. Here's the original picture: pic.twitter.com/jec2GzXnmF- Shehla Rashid (@Shehla_Rashid) November 18, 2017

But in the image Pakistan Defence tweeted, the text had changed: "I am an Indian, but I hate India, because India is a colonial nation that has occupied nations such as Nagas, Kashmiris, Manipuris, Hyderabad, Junagard, Sikkim, Mizoram, Goa."

In its tweet, Pakistan Defence said, "Indians are finally realizing the truth; their country is actually a colonialist entity." It deleted the tweet later, ANI reported.

Kawalpreet Kaur thanked everyone who reported Pakistan Defence's tweet. She said the message in her original picture "shouldn't be lost in these dark times."

The account of @defencepk has been suspended by twitter for posting my unverified & morphed pictures. Grateful to all who reported it in large numbers. The message of the picture shouldn't be lost in these dark times. No nation wants lynchings & killings. Only bigots wants hate.- Kawalpreet Kaur (@kawalpreetdu) November 18, 2017

In September, Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan's envoy to the United Nations, showed the UN General Assembly a photograph of a Palestinian woman, and said she was a victim of pellet gun fire in Kashmir.

In fact, Pakistan Defence retweeted a picture of Lodhi holding up the fake photo, without verifying facts.

Only weeks later, the Pakistan government included a picture of an Afghan mosque in a video exalting Pakistan's "mind-blowing sceneries, civilization, heritage, culture." Maleeha Lodhi re-tweeted it.

WATCH | India hits back at Pakistan after Maleeha Lodhi's lie, tells world about Lt Fayyaz

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The future of the statue of Christopher Columbus and other symbols is at stake and the city wants your input.

The Mayoral Advisory Commission on City Art, Monuments, and Markers will hold public hearings in each borough this month where New Yorkers can share their ideas about the city's monuments and markers in public spaces.

The Staten Island hearing will be Tuesday, Nov. 28 at 10 a.m. in Borough Hall, St. George.

Commission members will attend alongside Co-Chairs Darren Walker and Tom Finkelpearl.

Those interested in testifying can sign up to testify online or sign up in person at the hearing.

After announcing the formation of the commission in mid-August, Mayor Bill de Blasio cautioned fellow Italian-Americans against a "rush to judgement" on after they rallied in support of the Christopher Columbus statue in Columbus Circle.

"I would ask my fellow Italian-Americans who are concerned to step back for a moment and recognize that we haven't even made the commission, which is going to look at any and all monuments from around the city where there's concern and come up with criteria," de Blasio said at an unrelated event in Brooklyn. "It's not time to judge something that hasn't even begun. People have every right to talk about their pride and I understand that pride and I support that pride. But I think it's not fair to rush to judgement when the commission has not even begun its work."

90-DAY REVIEW

De Blasio announced the 90-day review of "symbols of hate" after deadly violence erupted in Charlottesville, Va., when white supremacist groups protested the removal of a statue of Confederate Army Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The commission will assess statues and monuments symbolizing hate, racism or anti-Semitism and evaluate each figure and before making recommendations.

"They will listen to ideas and concerns from their fellow New Yorkers," de Blasio said. "They will determine a set of criteria by which they will consider these different monuments on city-owned land and make proposals to me about how to handle specific situations."

Staten Island elected officials have voiced strong opposition to the commission, including Councilman Joseph Borelli (R-South Shore) who organized a rally in September after Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said that the Columbus statue should be considered for removal because of the "oppression" he brought to native populations.

"The mayor can't say people are jumping to conclusions when he has already made specific suggestions of what monuments would meet his criteria, not to mention the second-most powerful elected in the city is out there making the case against Columbus," Borelli said.

The commission held its first hearing Friday in Queens, featuring a mix of citizens who thought some monuments should be taken down and others who lambasted the committee's work as an exercise in political correctness.
West Chester, P.A. -- Dozens of neighbors rushed to the scene of a massive late-night fire that injured nearly 30 people at a Pennsylvania senior living community, wrapping the elderly in blankets and carrying them to ambulances in makeshift gurneys.

Larry Kingsland, 62, said Friday he and scores of people who live around the Barclay Friends Senior Living Community ferried elderly residents to medics as firefighters rescued them from the blaze.

"Everyone saw how devastating the fire was and we all had the same reaction: that people needed help," he said of the Thursday night inferno in West Chester, west of Philadelphia. "The whole neighborhood was helping."

Town officials said some of the more than 130 residents were still unaccounted for Friday afternoon, and that there was the possibility someone could have died in the fire.

"We're hoping for the best obviously here," said Mayor Jordan Norley, who put the number taken to hospitals at 29.

Emergency management officials said there were still hot spots more than 12 hours after the fire was declared under control, and that much of the burned-out complex was too unstable for investigators to enter.

The fire spread to multiple buildings, engulfing sections within minutes as more than 400 emergency personnel responded. The heat was so intense that one firefighter battling the blaze discovered his helmet was melting, said county emergency services director Robert Kagel.

A spokeswoman for the senior center said about 132 residents were present when the blaze broke out. Emergency officials put the number of staff at about 20; they were all accounted for.

More than a dozen remained hospitalized late Friday, the mayor said, and officials told a news conference they were in good condition. Patients at Paoli Hospital were admitted with issues related to smoke inhalation, a spokeswoman said.

Many of the residents were pushed in wheelchairs or rolled on beds to safety, said Dina Ciccarone, another neighbor who helped move people away from the fire and into safety. In some cases, she said, people used blankets as makeshift gurneys to assist in the rescue effort.

"Most of them could not walk," the 37-year-old Ciccarone said. "Some were lying on the ground, we were just bundling them up."

As the complex went up in flames, news helicopter coverage showed dozens of residents on the lawn or along the street, wrapped in blankets as overnight temperatures dipped into the low 40s. Some of the residents were taken from the scene by school bus.

Mike Lentz, a 60-year-old accountant who lives across the street from the facility, said neighbors also helped to comfort seniors as they were led away from the flames.

"I would try to wrap them in a blanket and kept telling them 'you're safe now,'" he said. "Some were crying. Some were disoriented and crying."

Barclay Friends offers various levels of care including memory care, skilled nursing and post-acute rehab.

Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were at the scene.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Wu-Tang Clan founding member RZA reportedly filed a trademark suit Friday, accusing a Brooklyn-based dog-walking service of ripping off his group's name.

The company, using Woof-Tang Clan as its name, even sells T-shirts on their website paying tribute to the group.

RZA, born Robert Diggs, said in court papers that the name and logo of the Wu-Tang Clan has been "unmistakably associated" with the Staten Island hip hop group since 1993.

The trademark application filed by the Woof-Tang Clan on June 8 is a violation of the multiple registrations already owned by the Wu-Tang Clan, the court papers said, according to the New York Daily News.

Marty Cuatchon, the owner of Woof-Tang Clan's website, illustrates he's a fan of Wu-Tang with a T-shirt called "Old Dirty Bali -- Return to the 36 Chambers," which features a dog named Bali on a blue and yellow identification card.

It's the same name as Wu-Tang member Old Dirty Bastard's solo debut album, "Return to the 36 Chambers." The album featured his face on a blue and yellow ID card, like the shirt.

Cuatchon told the Daily News, he was aware of Diggs' trademark challenge, but declined to comment further until he sought legal advice.

"I am a fan. We walk dogs, I thought it was a good idea," he told the News.

This was not the first time a company has tried to capitalize on Wu-Tang's name. An Alaskan dog-sled team is also known as the Woof-Tang Clan, the News reported.
PAAS leader Hardik Patel has said that in spite of the authorities denying them permission, they will be holding a massive 'prestige rally' in Mansa.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Ignoring denial of permission by the authorities, the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) is determined to go ahead with its mega rally in Mansa town here on Saturday evening to demonstrate the community's support to young leader Hardik Patel, despite the 'sex CDs' on him, - in a big worry for the ruling BJP.

PAAS leader Hardik Patel has said that in spite of the authorities denying them permission, they will be holding a massive 'prestige rally' in Mansa, showcasing the support the group has among the Patidar community.

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Patel also claimed that they would "drop a bigger bomb" on the ruling BJP against the recent releases of CDs alleging a sex scandal against him.

The Gandhinagar police have denied PAAS permission for the Adhikar Sabha rally, but PAAS is adamant to hold the event with or without police permission.

Mansa, about 41 km away from Ahmedabad, is the hometown of BJP national president Amit Shah. It is also the place from where the Patidar reservation demand and agitation had started in 2015.

After two years of agitation and witnessing many ups and downs, the PAAS has seen recent attacks on Patel over the "sex CDs" which have gone viral on social media. The CDs show Hardik's lookalike or allegedly him with a woman in compromising situation.

Alleging that the CDs are doctored and are the handiwork of the BJP, Hardik Patel has threatened to "drop a bigger bomb" on the issue at the rally in Mansa town.

Through this rally he and the PAAS group also want to convey the message that the entire Patidar community is still with them in their demand for reservation for the Patidars.

The Congress has come out in support of Patel in the CD row. However, the talks between the party and the PAAS leaders in Delhi on Friday seemed to have suffered a setback with the group giving an ultimatum of 24 hours to resolve the reservation imbroglio.

Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, too, has extended support to Patel.

The rally in Mansa will be a big worry for the Gandhinagar district administration as they had earlier given permission for the rally.

PAAS leader Atul Patel claimed that permission was cancelled on "flimsy grounds". "The authorities told us that if the meeting is allowed at the location decided by the PAAS, it could create enmity among communities and so the venue should be changed. This is not possible for us," Atul said.

"Come what may, we are not going to change the rally location in Mansa," he added.

Gandhinagar District Superintendent of Police (DSP) Virendra Yadav said: "We have not granted them permission. They want to hold it on the main road. During the election period, we discourage even political parties from holding functions on the main roads, which can cause traffic problems. We have asked them to find another place. If they do so, we can consider their demand for permission," he said.

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"If they carry on with the rally without permission, legal action will be initiated," the police officer added.

ALSO WATCH | CCTV footage sparks rumours of secret Rahul Gandhi-Hardik Patel meeting

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The surge in new wind farm developments has failed to produce an upswing in complaints, with just nine of the 79 projects operating in Australia receiving any formal objections, Andrew Dyer, the National Wind Farm Commissioner, has said.

As of the end of October, the commission had received 54 complaints, for existing projects, with all but two resolved. Four people had relocated as part of the resolution process.

Lining up: Few operating wind farms in Australia attract complaints. Credit:Bloomberg

"There are no complaints for recently completed wind farms," Mr Dyer told Fairfax Media.

Victorian wind farms have attracted the bulk of objections, accounting for 31 of the 54, while SA and NSW had 16 and seven complaints, respectively. Operating wind farms in other states have not triggered any complaints, Mr Dyer said.
A tweet in which Rahul Gandhi addressed Sitharaman directly, contained three specific questions about the controversial Rafale deal.

By India Today Web Desk: It's shameful that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is silencing Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet about the controversial Rafale deal.

The tweet, in which Rahul addressed Sitharaman directly, contained three specific questions.

Dear RM, whats shameful is your boss silencing you. Please tell us : 1. Final price of each Rafale jet? 2. Did PM take CCS permission before announcing purchase in Paris? 3. Why PM bypassed experienced HAL & gave the deal to AA rated businessman with no defence experience?- Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) November 18, 2017

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Meanwhile, #RakshaMantriJawabDo trended on Twitter.

The Congress has said the government's purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France has caused a loss to the public exchequer.

Nirmala Sitharaman has said the decision to make the emergency purchase was taken because the India Air Force had an urgent requirement. She said "all procedures had been followed".

The Congress has alleged that the government neglected the interests of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) - as Dassault Aviation, the French manufacturer of Rafale aircraft, refused to transfer technology to it - and instead entered into an agreement with Reliance Defence.

The party also alleged that the aircraft were being purchased at much higher rates than what was decided after the tender process was completed during the UPA government's tenure.

The BJP has said the allegation is intended to "divert attention," as Congress bigwigs face the prospect of being questioned in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scandal.

On its part, Reliance Defence Limited has said the Congress' allegations are "baseless and unfounded".

WATCH | Gujarat model meant to serve the rich, of no help to the poor: Rahul in Bharuch rally

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Recently retired Sydney escort, Amanda Goff, aka Samantha X. No one welcomed that retirement more than Goff's former husband, Sydney businessman David Basha, with whom she has two children. Basha has attempted to avoid all publicity surrounding his ex wife's highly public self-outing as a sex worker, and is fiercely protective of their children, who he shares custody of with Goff. He has been quietly building a new life with his long-term partner Edwina McCann, the editor-in-chief of Vogue Australia, who is understood to have been underwhelmed by Goff's relentless media exposure documenting the most intimate details of her life. Unwelcome turbulence: Edwina McCann and David Basha.

McCann is also uneasy about Goff continuing to run her own escort agency, Samantha X Angels, and is not a fan of her books, including Hooked: Secrets of a High Class Escort, and Back On Top, which documented her experiences in the sex industry. Celebrity snipper sitting pretty Joh Bailey at his Double Bay salon. Credit:Dallas Kilponen He's the man responsible for many of the well-coiffed ladies who lunch in Sydney's more fashionable establishments, but next Friday it will be society snipper Joh Bailey's turn to host lunch, and for a worthy cause too. To mark the 20th anniversary of the death of his former client Princess Diana, Bailey is taking over Bar Machiavelli in Rushcutters Bay for a luncheon to raise money for the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, the same cause which saw the Princess come to Sydney in 1996.

And the man who spent more time with Princess Diana while she was here than any other was Bailey. Princess Diana and Joh Bailey in Sydney, 1996 "I spent more time with the Princess on that tour than anyone really as we spent a couple of hours every morning together in her hotel suite as she prepared for her daily commitments," Bailey told PS "Afterwards, I was invited to take tea with her at Kensington Palace following her summer holiday. But as fate had it, that was never to be." Among Bailey's "girls" joining him will be Kerri-Anne Kennerley, Nicole O'Neil, Natasha Stanley, Diane Ipkendanz, Patti Mostyn, Kate Sorrenti, Jade Coppelson, Stephanie Conley, Carmela Cerrone, Ellie Aitken, Terry Biviano, Kate Waterhouse, Camille Walker and Caroline Honan, heiress to the Manildra flour mill fortune.

Meanwhile Bailey's city salon has become the home of a hi-tech massage chair this week. Called the DreamWave, the chair costs a whopping $11,000 and had been shipped to Australia in preparation for 93-year-old French crooner Charles Aznavour's tour. However Aznavour has since cancelled, allowing Bailey to have the chair installed in his salon, which he declared was "faaabulous". Celebrating the plastic fantastic Dr. Michael Miroshnik, plastic and cosmetic surgeon. Who will be Australia's new king or queen of boob jobs and lip implants? Next Saturday night 350 of Australia's leading plastic surgeons will converge on the Hilton for the annual My Face My Body Awards, billed as the "Oscars" of the cosmetic surgery world.

Botox devotees and Real Housewives of Sydney stars Victoria Rees and Matty Samaei will be there to see some of their favourite practitioners gonged. The awards are broken down into 15 categories, including best practice and best plastic surgeon and this year Sydney is well represented among the finalists. The evening will be hosted by the award's founder and men's "grooming consultant" Stephen Handisides, who modestly described himself as "dashing" in his own press release. "The awards are the pinnacle of achievement and respected by the industry across the globe," Handisides assured PS. Dr Michael Miroshnik, the undisputed master of breast implants in Sydney, is a contender for the best plastic surgeon award, up against another Sydney practitioner, Dr Angelo "Mr Eyelids" Tsirbas, Brisbane's Dr Philip Richardson, Toowoomba's Dr Mark Magnusson, the Gold Coast's Dr Terrence Scamp and Dr Anh, who runs her outfit from James Packer's Crown Casino in Perth.

But it's not all a celebration of the superficial. The awards charity partner is Interplast Australia, a group of volunteer plastic surgeons who offer life-changing reconstructive surgery across the Asia Pacific region for those who cannot afford it. Assisting people who have congenital conditions such as cleft lips and palates and those with trauma and burn injuries. Rinehart alert but not alarmed Beef Queen, Gina Rinehart. Australia's newest Beef Queen Gina Rinehart certainly looked the part on Tuesday night when she launched her new range of Wagyu steaks in Martin Place. Rinehart took over the swanky Paspaley boutique for the evening, though things didn't get off to a flying start especially when a fire alarm sounded just as the speeches were beginning, not that anyone appeared too perplexed by the repeated warning to "Evacuate! Evacuate! Evacuate!".

The recently trimmed down Rinehart was seen nibbling on some of the beef delicacies that were circulating throughout the crowd, seemingly oblivious to the alarms. Mystery art buyer Sydney art dealer Tim Olsen was the winning bidder on Thursday night in Paddington, paying a whopping $2.1million for Emily Kame Kngwarreye's Earth's Creation I, a new record price for a female Australian artist. While Olsen said the dramatic work would potentially be loaned to a major cultural institution for the foreseeable future, it appears he was buying the work on behalf of a mystery client. PS hear's a "wealthy Australian philanthropist" was the actual buyer at the Fine Art Bourse auction, which had originally been scheduled to happen on Tuesday night but was postponed after the auction house's computer system came under attack.
My career as a masseuse came about fortuitously, in my mid-30s, after I'd trained to be a naturopath. Despite being physically exhausting, I did it for 14 years; it was my favourite job and unlike any other I'd had.

Beset by unfortunate erections, indecent proposals, embarrassing body sounds and the scars accrued through life, it's a career as revealing of humanity as any John Steinbeck novel. In a world where touch between strangers is taboo, we stroke embattled bodies in dark rooms, reaching intimate places no sane person would go: dandruff-infested crowns, between the toes, over acne.

Photo: Getty Images.

Massage therapists witness the human body in all its variety and form. Fungus, boils, lipomas, hair in weird places, webbed toes  we've seen it all. Unless you're under the age of 10, most of you have imperfect bodies. So get over it. I've massaged giants, dwarfs, the dying and those so obese they drape over the table.

Among our occupational dilemmas are how to deal with sweaty hikers, carpet backs, saggy skin, skeletal frames, peeling sunburn, women in the hijab and shoulders like concrete. Fetid body odours are a significant challenge (we might slyly use an aromatherapy oil).
The level of cash-back depends on the retailer, the type of product and how much of the commission is rebated to the purchaser, but it can be up to 30 per cent of the purchase price. For most products it's between 2 and 8 per cent. Despite the potential savings, a poll of 1132 Australians by comparison site Finder reveals one in three respondents have never heard of a cash-back websites. Of the the 17 per cent who say they have used cash-back websites, about one in three say their experiences are great and they enjoy the savings. A further one in three say receiving the cash back was not always a smooth process. The remainder use the sites infrequently as they don't always like the deals. It is expected the presence of Amazon in Australia will grow online sales, probably to the benefit of cash-back sites.

Andrew Clarke, founder and chief executive of Cashrewards, a cash-back website, is expecting the launch of Amazon will grow overall online retail sales to 15 per cent within five years from 7 per cent now. Citi analysts believe Amazon will likely make its Australian debut with a narrow product range, given the timing of the launch, centred on traditional gifts like toys, electronics and clothes. Cashrewards is the only Australian loyalty-type site to have Amazon.com as a partner. Clarke is keeping tight lipped on whether Cashrewards will be continuing the partnership following Amazon's Australian debut. Cashrewards, which has the largest turnover of any Australian cash-back site, and the other half-a-dozen Australian sites pay the cash-backs in addition to any coupons, sales or discounts that already appear on the retailer's website.

As the purchases are made on the retailers' websites, they are subject to the usual terms and conditions of the retailers. Be aware of risks Bessie Hassan, money expert at Finder, says shoppers should be aware of some downsides of cash-back sites. "In some cases, you can wait up to 90 days to receive your cash  it may not seem like a long time, but if you're relying on the money a particular occasion or because you're on a tight budget, it can really put you out," Hassan says. And she has a warning on gift cards generally, whether taking one in lieu of cash rewards or buying one as a Christmas present.

"The motto is spend it or lose it and there's nothing more frustrating that finding that the gift card has expired," Hassan says. Ray Ridgeway, the managing director for Australia of WorldFirst, an online money transfer service, says when buying online, check on the delivery times and the costs of delivery, particularly when buying from overseas. Also watch for the fees and exchange rates when purchasing overseas as, sometimes, whatever discount or cash-back you are receiving could be more than offset by the costs of getting it to Australia, he says. There are always risks when purchasing from online "retailers" that are not well known. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says in the three months of this year, the latest available data, there were more than 1000 complaints made to the it about fake online shops.

"Scammers set-up fake websites that look like genuine online stores, including professional-looking design, stolen logos, and even a '.com.au' domain name, says Delia Rickard, the deputy chair of the ACCC. They even use stolen Australian Business Numbers (ABNs). "The scammers running these sites will advertise goods, often well-known and trusted brands, at unbelievably low prices to lure in unsuspecting consumers shopping around for a good deal." Rickard says. The ACCC says when using retail websites, find out exactly who you are dealing with. If it is an Australian company, you are in a much better position to sort out the problem if something goes wrong. Australian Business Numbers can be checked at https://abr.business.gov.au.

The regulator advises that when making online payments, only pay for items using a secure payment service  look for a URL starting with 'https' and a closed padlock symbol, or use a payment provider such as PayPal. Young family makes big savings With three young children, Brett and Janette Rowcliff are on the lookout to save money on their shopping and their Christmas spending any way they can. The family from Glenhaven in north-western Sydney is saving by making purchases though a cash-back website called Retail Rewards Club. For example, they save $7 each time they fill up their car with petrol and save about $20 each time they do their grocery shopping.

Brett and Janette will be doing some of their Christmas shopping on the cash-back site and will also be buying camping equipment for their upcoming family holiday on the South Coast. "I will admit I was sceptical at first, thinking there must be a catch," says Brett, a 42-year-old graphic designer. "It's really easy to use. We log into the website and then it takes us to the website of the retailer. "With groceries, I can buy a card online and load it with money and then take it to the supermarket." As all the transacting is done through the retailer, if Brett pays with his rewards credit card he receives rewards points as normal.
Australia's main medical association called on Saturday for the government to allow independent doctors and other health experts to help more than 400 asylum seekers languishing inside a recently closed detention centre in Papua New Guinea.

The asylum seekers have shut themselves inside the Australian-run Manus Island Centre for the past 18 days, defying attempts by Australia and Papua New Guinea to close it in a standoff the United Nations describes as a "looming humanitarian crisis".

Australia has shut access to the centre, and staff, including doctors, have left, leaving the men without sufficient food, clean water, power or medical care.

Members of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) voted unanimously on Saturday to call on the government to grant access to the centre so doctors could assess the men's health, wellbeing and living conditions.
There are fears Australians have become complacent about sun protection, with new research revealing 2.7 million adults are getting sunburnt on weekends because many aren't slipping on a shirt.

The latest Cancer Council National Sun Protection Survey shows that overall the proportion of adults wearing clothing to protect themselves from the sun has decreased from 19 per cent to 17 per cent in the last three years.

Alarmingly, the number of adults getting sunburnt on weekends has steadily increased over the past seven years. The rate of weekend adult sunburn rose from 13 per cent in 2010-11 to 17 per cent in 2016-17.

The state or territory with the highest proportion of adult weekend sunburn was the Northern Territory at 25 per cent, followed by Tasmania (21 per cent) and the ACT (19 per cent).
At last count, Walker's 70 known creditors were more than $10 million out of pocket and they are demanding to know what happened to their money. Walker told John  and scores of other clients  that their savings would be as safe as if it was in the bank and they had "nothing to worry about". The 60-year-old medically retired underground miner said he trusted Walker implicitly. But after his death, victims have discovered more and more of the disturbing reality behind Walker's affable facade. John has since realised that he got lumbered with an $83,000 tax bill in 2014 because Walker was desperate for cash to keep his Ponzi scheme going. Some people call him a grub or a scumbag and of course I understand it. But even now, knowing what I do, I cant help but hesitate to refer to Ray in that way. I thought of him as a good mate.

For a Ponzi scheme to work, it needs a constant stream of new investors and, it usually collapses when the stream runs dry, or the operators spend all the money. With the net starting to tighten on Walker's dodgy operation, he recommended to John in 2014 that he sell an investment property. This was despite knowing that his long-time client had been medically terminated from work that financial year and received a higher than usual income because his unclaimed holidays and sick leave had been paid out. The proceeds from the house sale got added to John's income and he got slugged with an $83,000 bill from the tax office. "I can only deduce now that Ray recommended I do that because he knew I'd deposit the money from the sale of the investment property with him," he said.

"It was all so he could keep his Ponzi scheme going. I never gave it another thought. Why would I? I was talking to my professional accountant who I'd known for 30 years and I took his advice." Do you know more? donna.page@fairfaxmedia.com.au Then there were the funerals. John said he was shocked to read in the Newcastle Herald that Walker seemed to make a habit of attending victims' funerals without their family knowing the person's life savings were missing. He did the same to John twice. First at his father's funeral 16 years ago, and then at his mother's three years ago. "I can still remember at Mum's funeral when we were all gathered there and Ray came over and we embraced, I got emotional, and I was honoured that he was there to support us," John said.

"In hindsight, he was there hugging me knowing he'd ripped me off and looking at mum in her coffin knowing he'd ripped her off too. "What an absolute betrayal. That really sticks in my throat." It was John's late mother's estate that was partially responsible for Walker finally losing his grip on the operation he'd masterminded for decades. In early 2015 there was a problem. John's family needed to account for their mother's $600,000 estate so it could be disbursed between her four sons. Walker responded characteristically. He stalled and he lied, claiming that there were delays because a group of investments were being realised at the same time.

John's younger brother, Guy, tried calling and emailing him repetitively. After months with no answers he made a complaint to the Professional Association of Chartered Accountants. Twenty days before Walker killed himself, John sent him an SMS. "G'day mate, could you PLEASE ensure you ring Guy TODAY either way as to what is happening?," it read. "As you know I am very casual about the situation but my three brothers are very agitated about the lengthy delay. I feel I am in a very awkward position." Walker ignored the message. Ten days later he received a bruising nine-page legal letter from Newcastle solicitor Rob Brook demanding the return of another elderly client's funds of more than $650,000.

Mr Brook's letter left no doubt that he knew that behind the facade of the legitimate Newcastle accounting business, something sinister was going on and if his client did not get her money he was going to the police. Walker now had to come up with more than $1.2 million and he couldn't find it. He killed himself 10 days later. John said over decades he never suspected a thing. He said interest payments from his family's deposits were always paid on time by direct debit. "There was no reason to question anything until right at the end when it was too late," he said. "Ray was always welcome in our home. Most years he would come out to our home and as an aside he would do our tax. It was mainly a social visit, we'd have a few beers and we'd have dinner, we always looked forward to seeing him."

A public examination will be held by the bankruptcy trustee in Sydney next year in an effort to trace the missing money. Walker's wife of 40 years, Jennifer, and son, Brett, who worked as an accountant alongside his father for more than 25 years, will be called to give evidence. John said he often asked Walker what would happen if anything happened to him. "I asked him a lot about that because of the amount of money we had deposited with him and he used to always tell me that Brett knows everything and would take care of everything, that I had nothing to worry about," he said. "Seems I had a lot to worry about. I worked my whole life to save for my family's future and it's just unbelievable that Ray could do this to us." Brett Walker declined to be interviewed but has denied any knowledge of his father's fraud and said he never benefitted from it.
A former branch secretary of the Country Women's Association has failed to sue the organisation with a judge finding that she was "belligerent, rude and overbearing".

Marion Louise Collier attempted to sue the CWA for defamation over an email circulated by the chief executive to 545 members outlining the reasons for her expulsion.

Marion Collier, in the middle holding two flags, in happier times at a CWA fundraiser at Wellington, NSW, in 2013. Credit:The Wellington Times

The case traversed falsehoods about flower beds, malevolent minute-taking and the slatternly habits of the local bridge club.

Mrs Collier also sought an order that her removal from the position of secretary was unlawful.
They describe it as Parramatta's multicultural hub of cuisine.

But restaurants and cafes along "Eat Street" fear construction of a light rail line will threaten the survival of their businesses that have made the al fresco dining strip on Church Street a popular destination.

They're so nervous that almost two dozen businesses have warned in a joint submission of the "high level of uncertainty" the multi-billion-dollar project is having on their businesses, making it difficult to plan further investment, and hire or train staff.

Construction on the first stage of the line that stretches for about 12 kilometres from Westmead to Carlingford via Parramatta's CBD and Camellia is due to start in the middle of next year and take as long as five years.
Possibly with his Fink tail already firmly between his legs after being refused entry to a gang holiday in Bali, bikie enforcer Jesse Johnston got off a plane at Sydney Airport only to be met by more authorities.

This time the 22-year-old, who likes to go by the social media moniker Alphonse Fink, denied he was a member of one of the most feared bikie gangs in Australia and just wanted to head home to the Central Coast.

Finks bikie Jesse Johnston was denied entry to Indonesia only to be deported to New Zealand after landing back in Australia.

But, after Australian Border Force officials found clothing sporting the gang's distinct "rat Fink" emblem, Johnston was told his entry was being denied and he was deported to his native New Zealand.

Because, despite his denials, Johnston had been quickly moving through the national ranks of the Finks and, despite his age, was already the sergeant-at-arms of the gang's Newcastle chapter.
The longtime bodyguard of the Ibrahims, Semi "Tongan Sam" Ngata, was shot outside the home of John Ibrahim's mother on Friday night as the family made last-minute preparations for a wedding involving the family of former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer.

Mr Ibrahim's nephew, Hassan "Sam" Sayour, was due to marry Aisha Mehajer, the sister of Salim, who is known for his legal battles and his own lavish wedding.

Emergency services were called to a home in Price Street, Merrylands about 10.45pm and found Mr Ngata with a single gunshot wound to the back.

The 59-year-old was taken to Westmead Hospital, where he remained on Saturday morning in a serious but stable condition.
By PTI: homes

New Delhi, Nov 18 (PTI) Home Minister Rajnath Singh has asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to move all juveniles, arrested for pelting stones and other unlawful activities, from jails to remand homes and review their cases sympathetically, officials said.

The decision is considered to be an attempt to reach out to the people of Jammu and Kashmir by the central government after the appointment ofADineshwar SharmaAasAthe Centres special representative toAinitiate talks with all stakeholders.

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The issue was discussedAin detail at Wednesdays meeting of the core group on Kashmir, chaired by the union home minister and attended byADefence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, where it was decided to ask the Jammu andA Kashmir government to work on the cases of juveniles.

After the core group meeting, the Jammu and Kashmir government has been asked to shift all juveniles, who were arrested for pelting stones and other crimes, to remand homes and review theirAcases sympathetically, a home ministry, privy to the development, told PTI.

The state government is expected to take the initiative to shift the juveniles to remand homes and review their cases soon, the official said.

Top officials of ministries of home and defence, chiefs of intelligence agencies, besides Sharma also attended the meeting.

The Centres special representative also briefed the union home minister and others about his first round of talks he had with various sections of the society there last week.

Sharma will again visit the state soonAto continue his mission of holding a sustained dialogue process.

However,AtheAanti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir will go on even though the central government has appointed the special representative to initiate talks with all stakeholders in an effort to bring a lasting peace in Jammu and Kashmir with violence by Pakistan-based militants groups continuing unabated.

Director General of Police of Jammu and Kashmir S P Vaid had recently said that around 170 militants were gunned down by the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir this year.

Two Army soldiers were killed and a CRPF jawan suffered injuries in an encounter in Pulwama district of the state on November 2.

Three militants were gunned down in Pulwama in an encounter in which an Army jawan was also killed on November 6.

Three militants, including Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhars nephew, were gunned down by security forces in Pulwama district on November 7. PTI ACB ASK ASK

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Ambulance staff whose medical records were sold to solicitors will launch a class action against NSW Ambulance in the Supreme Court on Monday in an action that will test privacy law.

NSW Ambulance contractor Waqar Malik was convicted of unlawfully disclosing personal information last year after he sold the worker's compensation files of 130 former and current employees to personal injury lawyers.

NSW Ambulance paramedics are suing for breach of confidence and invasion of privacy after a contractor sold their medical records to a third party. Credit:Quentin Jones

The files included medical records such as psychiatric assessments and details of injuries.

Current and former ambulance employees who have joined the class action argue this sensitive information should have been more strictly managed, in a statement of claim that alleges breach of confidence, invasion of privacy, breach of contract and misleading and deceptive conduct.
The partner of a Walcha grazier found dead inside his homestead three months ago will face Tamworth Local Court on Sunday over his murder.

Natasha Crossman, 42, was arrested in Walcha, on the state's northern tablelands, on Saturday morning.

Walcha sheep grazier Mathew Dunbar with partner Natasha Crossman, who has been arrested over his death.

Homicide detectives had been investigating the suspicious death of her partner Mathew Dunbar, also 42, after he was found dead on his property early on August 2.

After about 12 hours of questioning, Crossman was charged with murder and refused bail.
A Sydney man has won the right to get behind the wheel of a taxi despite a history of drug, traffic and robbery offences.

Andy Benjamin Darko, 30, from Guildford successfully overturned a decision by the Roads and Maritime Services, barring him from driving a taxi, in the Civil and Administrative Tribunal, last month.

A Sydney taxi driver has won the right to get behind the wheel despite his criminal past.

Mr Darko first applied to RMS for an authority to drive a taxi in October last year. The application and a subsequent review were refused by RMS after the discovery of previous criminal, drugs and traffic offences.

Those included a 2006 conviction for robbery in company, when Mr Darko was sentenced to 3 years 6 months imprisonment. He was released at the end of 2007, after the expiry of a non-parole period.
Child Safety Minister Shannon Fentiman said she was "shocked" and "horrified" to discover one of her electoral officers had a criminal record for child pornography.

Ms Fentiman said the man was employed in a junior administrative position for less than a month and was made to resign immediately.

Child Safety Minister Shannon Fentiman says the former employee had no involvement in ministerial matters. Credit:Chris Hyde

The man was employed by the Queensland Parliament which did not conduct criminal checks, she said, but added that the policy has since been changed and background checks are now undertaken.

"I received advice on the 28th of October from the clerk of the parliament that this officer had an undisclosed criminal history on the undertaking I took this information confidentially," Ms Fentiman said.
A vodka bottle has been smashed over the head of a senior constable during a street brawl in Brisbane's south overnight.

It will be alleged police were breaking up the group of people on Centaurus Street in Inala about 1.45am when a 19-year-old woman attacked the officer from behind with the bottle.

The male officer, 33, was taken to the Mater Brisbane Hospital with minor injuries and the teenager has been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm and public nuisance.

She was due to appear at Richlands Magistrates Court on Saturday.
Jason Stevenson has had 55 rounds of surgery  and counting  to clear the warts that fill his throat and threaten to choke him. They are the legacy of an up-to-now incurable and potentially lethal childhood disease.

But now, a potential cure has arrived from a surprising source, and could save his grandchildren from suffering the same illness.

Jason Stevenson and daughter Jody.

In an unexpected side effect, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine being given to schoolchildren around Australia has almost eradicated cases of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP).

Scientists believe it is possible the disease could soon be wiped out in Australia.
The Greens have claimed victory in the Northcote byelection taking the seat from Labor for the first time since it was created 90 years ago.

Lidia Thorpe will now make history as the first Indigenous woman elected to the Victorian Parliament.

The Greens will hold three lower house seats in Victoria, extending their reach in Melbourne's inner suburbs.

The party's volunteers and staff members danced, embraced and cheered at the Thornbury after-party as the results rolled in.
Fears of a possible terror attack on Victoria's Latrobe Valley power stations have led the Andrews government to lock up a stash of public documents for the next decade.

The documents were withdrawn from public access within days of the state having learnt it faces a higher risk of blackouts this summer and an increased risk of energy shortfalls over the next decade.

The Yallourn power plant in Gippsland's Latrobe Valley could be a target for terrorism. Credit:Joe Armao

The trove includes technical plans of the Yallourn brown coal power station, which, it is feared, could be used to strike at Victoria's power network.

Yallourn is the second largest power station in Victoria and provides about 22 per cent of the state's power supply and 8 per cent of demand in the national electricity market.
Saturday's contest in Northcote between Labor and the Greens could be repeated at the 2018 election after new Liberal state director Nick Demiris announced a controversial plan to not run candidates in several inner-city seats.

Running Liberal candidates in Labor-held inner-city seats effectively made them into safe Labor seats by splitting the opposition vote, Mr Demiris told the Liberal Party's State Council in Lardner, an hour south-east of Melbourne, on Saturday.

"If we don't run in some inner-Melbourne seats  like Brunswick, like Melbourne, like Richmond, maybe like Northcote  Labor loses," said Mr Demiris, who was appointed to the role in September.

The Greens have steadily eroded Labor's margin in each of those traditional stronghold seats since 2002, and won Melbourne in 2014.
There are many signs that Christmas is coming, such as Santas appearing in shopping centres and queues for the Myer windows.

The presence of Robbie Holbery's artwork in shopping strips is another one. You have probably seen it.

Passionate about his work: Robbie Holbery perfects his copperplate Christmas message on Aussie Jack's butchers in Watsonia. Credit:Chris Hopkins

For decades he has hand-painted Christmas messages on butchers' windows, from Sorrento to Ivanhoe to Sunshine.

The 75-year-old is one of the last signwriters in Australia practising the old-style copperplate lettering.
Earlier, Tamil Nadu CM Edapadi K Palanisamy had even written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in detail describing about the incident.

By Akshaya Nath: Nirmala Sitharaman's comment denying the alleged attack on fishermen by the coast guard in Rameswaram has caused a furore among the community.

Earlier this week, an incident was reported from Rameswaram where a fisherman alleged that the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) had open fired at them in the sea, resulting in injury of two.

An FIR against the ICG has been filed by the marine police of the Coastal Security Group. Fishermen K Pichai Arokiyadass and S Johnson, had produced a 0.22 cm diameter aluminium bullet as a proof of the alleged firing.

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Earlier, Tamil Nadu CM Edapadi K Palanisamy had even written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in detail describing about the incident.

In his letter he said, "I request you to immediately intervene in this matter and advice the Ministry of Defence to avoid such incidents in future."

"If the coast guard did not fire it then where did the bullet come from? We venture into the sea hoping that the coast guards will protect us. Instead, if they attack us where would be go", questioned Sesu Raj, a fisherman.

Yesterday, more than 3000 fishermen observed a day's strike in Rameshwaram condemning the incident and this statement by the defence minister has led to disappointment.

Rameshwaram fishermen have been facing regular threats from the Sri Lankan Navy and have been raising the issue of how their livelihood has taken a set back these days.

At present, a case has been registered under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC and Section 27(1) of the Arms Act, 1959 against the coast guard following the complaint registered by the fishermen.

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Two men have been shot in Melbourne after a heated argument at a birthday party, police say.

The pair, 19 and 21, had been celebrating a birthday with friends at the Hampton Park Tavern before an argument erupted in the car park, said police spokeswoman Creina O'Grady.

Police are investigating a shooting after a birthday party. Credit:Jason South

Both men were shot when the dispute escalated on early Sunday morning and were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, she said.

No one has been charged over the outer south-eastern suburbs shooting at this time, but police believe the two injured men knew the shooter.
The Big Issue's Women's Subscription Enterprise is celebrating a successful first year of operation helping homeless or disadvantaged women in Perth.

The Big Issue aims to "help people help themselves" by creating work for homeless, marginalised and disadvantaged people.

The Big Issue's vendors are 85 per cent male, despite women making up nearly half of Australia's homeless population. Credit:Henry Zwartz

Vendors buy copies of the magazine for $3.50 and sell them for $7, keeping the difference, and are given the dignity of employment.

Since beginning in Australia in 1996, over 11 million magazines have been sold, putting $25 million into the pockets of disadvantaged Australians.
Zimbabwean and Chinese military leaders hold talks in Beijing on November 8. China has had ties to Zimbabwe since the African nation's independence in 1980. Credit:PRC Ministry of Defence As Mugabe's international isolation grew over the years, it increasingly looked to China for help. In 2003, Zimbabwe launched its "Look East" policy that sought to find new international partners after relations with Europe soured. China soon came to dominate the policy. Between 2010 and 2015, China granted Zimbabwe over $US1 billion in low-interest loans, and Zimbabwe reciprocated by making the Chinese yuan an official currency. A worker walks past photographs of Robert Mugabe at a government building in Harare. Credit:AP In return, Mugabe offered effusive personal praise for Xi. The former anti-colonial crusader stood up for the Chinese leader during the 2015 China-Africa summit in Johannesburg. "He is doing to us what we expected those who colonised us yesterday to do," Mugabe said after criticisms of Chinese investment in Africa. "We will say he is a God-sent person."

The Chinese were portrayed as "potential saviours" in Zimbabwe, Moss said: "There were big promises of how the Chinese were going to turn Zimbabwe's economy around." Women walk past their apartment block in the low-income neighbourhood of Mbare in Harare. Credit:AP Ultimately, that didn't happen, and part of the problem may have been Mugabe himself. Yun Sun, an expert on Chinese funding at the Stimson Centre in Washington, said Mugabe's preferences for nationalisation and indigenisation in his economic policies, plus his domestic political turmoil, had made China's large investment in Zimbabwe look risky and led to "complaints and grievances" in Beijing. China wouldn't actively support a plot to get rid of Mugabe, Sun said, "but if there is a domestic campaign to make him gone, China won't be cheering for him, either". People pass a newsstand in Harare. Credit:AP

In official statements, China has offered little support for Mugabe. Speaking on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said the relationship between Zimbabwe and China would not change due to the situation in the country, adding that Beijing hoped "that the situation in Zimbabwe will become stable and the issues will be resolved peacefully and appropriately". Meanwhile, the op-ed in China's state-run Global Times newspaper offered a more positive view of the coup. "We have good reasons to believe that as Zimbabwe enters the post-Mugabe era, China will see an improved environment to cooperate with the country," wrote Wang Hongyi, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "Friendly ties will embrace new development opportunities." The positive comments from Beijing stand in contrast to a muted tone in Washington, perhaps reflecting the fact that the State Department's top position for Africa, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs, is vacant. "There is no political leader at the State Department on Africa policy who would drive an aggressive response here," Moss said. The US had generally taken a wait-and-see approach to Mugabe, Moss said, and this is now an opportunity for Washington to push for human rights and democracy in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe with his wife Grace in 2008. Her political elevation appears to have triggered this week's events. Credit:AP But the man most expected to become its next leader, former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa, is unlikely to address those issues. Once a close ally of Mugabe, Mnangagwa was sanctioned by the US in 2003 and described as one of several officials "who undermine democratic processes and institutions in Zimbabwe". Such concerns are unlikely to worry China, however. "China has significant investment in and lending to Zimbabwe," said David Dollar, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who was the US Treasury's economic and financial emissary to China between 2009 and 2013. "Its main interest is economic stability and reform." Who might follow? The key players after Mugabe

Emmerson Mnangagwa A lifelong Mugabe aide and 1970s liberation war veteran known as "The Crocodile", Mnangagwa, 75, was in the pole position to succeed Mugabe until his progress was impeded by the dramatic political ascent of Mugabe's wife, Grace. His sacking as vice-president this month appears to have been the trigger for the army to step in. Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai speaks to the Associated Press at his home in Harare on Thursday. He called for a negotiated transitional mechanism as well as comprehensive reforms before elections. Credit:AP Morgan Tsvangirai

A former union leader who founded the Movement for Democratic Change in the late 1990s, Tsvangirai, 65, has been Mugabe's main political rival for two decades. He served as prime minister in a 2009-2013 unity government formed after violence-ridden elections in 2008. Tsvangirai has been undergoing treatment for cancer outside Zimbabwe but returned to Harare late on Wednesday. Constantino Chiwenga As the military chief who pulled the trigger on the coup, Chiwenga is expected to win a senior role in the interim administration. The 61-year-old has served in the armed forces since Zimbabwe's independence in 1980 and was sanctioned by the United States and European Union, although the latter removed him from its list of restricted individuals in 2014.

Former vice-president Joice Mujuru, once known as "Spill Blood", has called for "free, fair and credible elections". Credit:AP Joice Mujuru A liberation war veteran with the nom de guerre "Spill Blood", Mujuru, 62, formed her own political party after being ousted as vice-president in 2014. Her husband, Solomon Mujuru, a general who died in suspicious circumstances in 2011, was regarded as one of the most feared men in Zimbabwe and one of the few people capable of challenging Mugabe. Dumiso Dabengwa

Moscow-trained Dabengwa, 77, nicknamed "The Black Russian", fought in the 1970s anti-colonial struggle for ZIPRA (Zimbabwe People's Liberation Army), a rival to Mugabe's ZANLA (Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army). His incorporation in any unity government would ensure it represented both wings of the liberation struggle. Tendai Biti, widely credited with saving Zimbabwe's economy from complete collapse, may return to government. Credit:AP Tendai Biti A lawyer by training, Biti, 51, won international plaudits as finance minister in the 2009-2013 government that stabilised the imploding economy.
Beirut: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrived Saturday in Paris nearly two weeks after suddenly resigning his post from Saudi Arabia, a move that set off fears of wider instability and raised questions about whether he had willingly quit.

Hariri's office said on Saturday that the embattled premier and his wife, Lara, landed in Paris for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. He then plans to travel to Lebanon for independence day celebrations next week, according to a statement from the Lebanese president. It was unclear whether Hariri would remain as prime minister or formally submit his resignation to President Michel Aoun upon his expected arrival in Beirut. Aoun has not yet officially accepted Hariri's decision to step down.

Hariri's visit to Paris caps what was a mysterious and extended stay in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, following his resignation on November 4. Lebanese officials accused Saudi authorities of holding Hariri, a one-time ally, hostage as part of an attempt to destabilise Lebanon. Saudi Arabia wants to pressure Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement, an Iranian proxy with significant political and military power. Saudi Arabia's Sunni Muslim monarchy and Shiite-majority Iran are battling for influence in countries and conflicts across the region, a rivalry that has killed tens of thousands in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

Many Lebanese feared their tiny nation - which boasts Sunnis, Shiites, Christians and other sects - could easily be plunged into political or sectarian turmoil. Hariri is a Sunni Muslim, whereas Lebanon's president is Christian, and its parliamentary speaker a Shiite. The government is run on a national power-sharing pact that divides political authority among Lebanon's three major religious groups. That agreement was made after Lebanon's devastating civil war from 1975-1990.
New York: An estimated 130 children or more are dying every day in war-torn Yemen from extreme hunger and disease, according to Save the Children, an international aid group

The charity said a continuing blockade by the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthi rebels aligned with the country's former president was likely to further increase the death rate. It said more than 50,000 children are believed to have died in 2017.

United Nations officials say Yemen will face the world's largest famine in decades if the Saudi-led coalition refuses to lift its blockade on deliveries of aid. Credit:DemocracyNow

The coalition closed all air, land and sea ports to stem the flow of arms from Iran on November 6, after Saudi Arabia intercepted a missile fired towards its capital Riyadh. It has since said that aid can go through "liberated ports" but not the key Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah.

Now United Nations sanctions monitors have told the Security Council in a confidential report the coalition is threatening the peace, security and stability of the country by blocking humanitarian aid.
Attacking Mahatma Gandhi, Haryana Minister Anil Vij said that the 'Sabarmati ke sant' song was an insult to freedom fighters.

By India Today Web Desk: Haryana Minister Anil Vij has sparked off a controversy by attacking Mahatma Gandhi yet again, calling the song 'Sabarmati ke sant' an insult to freedom fighters.

'De di hamein aazaadi bina khadag bina dhal, Sabarmati ke sant tune kar diya kamaal' is a patriotic song by Asha Bhonsle from 1954 film Jagriti.

Vij has been known to issue controversial statements even earlier. In January this year, the Haryana Minister said that the rupee had become weaker due to Mahatma Gandhi's image on the notes.

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Vij's remarks are surely going to leave the ruling BJP embarrassed, especially as PM Modi has strongly espoused Mahatma Gandhi's vision of cleanliness through his Swachh Bharat Mission.

More details are awaited.

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El-Aaiun (Occupied Territories) November 18, 2017 (SPS) - Western Sahara Resource Watch and Environment Protection Association on Saturday condemned the continued illegal activities of German company Siemens in the field of electric power in the cities of El-Aaiun, Dakhla and Boujdour in the occupied Western Sahara.

The Association pointed out in a statement that it is very concerned about the maximum speed with which the Moroccan regime is working on the development of the high-voltage electricity network in Western Sahara in El-Aaiun, Boujdour and Dakhla in order to accelerate the production of electricity through renewable energies.

In particular, it recently amended law 15-58, amending and completing Law 13-09 on energy, which aims to market electricity produced from sources of renewable energies by opening the low voltage, medium voltage, high voltage and very high voltage electricity market to the private sector for export, which is beneficial to Morocco's economy in exchange for the impoverishment and starvation of then Sahrawi people, the statement added.

The Association called on the international community to put pressure on Morocco to stop immediately the exercise of any activity within the territory of Western Sahara against the will and wishes of the Saharawi people, without consulting its sole legitimate representative, the Polisario Front. (SPS)

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Moscow, November 18, 2017 (SPS) - Human rights violations committed by the Moroccan occupying forces in Western Sahara were denounced in a conference organized Friday, in Moscow, jointly by the representation of the Polisario Front in the Russian capital and that of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Russia.

The audience, made up notably of students from various Russian universities and institutes, took the opportunity to learn about the Sahrawi cause through the screening of a documentary relating the genesis of the issue of Western Sahara and the suffering of people committed to continuing their struggle for their independence despite the stubbornness of Morocco which continues flouting the resolutions of the United Nations and the international law.

The representative of the Polisario Front in Russia Ali-Salem Mohamed-Fadel broached the main phases of the 42 years of the Moroccan occupation and the serious repercussions caused by this invasion against the Sahrawi people who have succeeded, thanks to their brave combatants, in resisting this colonizing military force.

Despite four decades of struggle and exile of refugees, the Sahrawi people succeeded, under the leadership of the Polisario Front, in paving the way for the building of a modern State and having cultivated and organized Sahrawi citizens, said Mohamed Fadhel Ali Salem. (SPS)

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STAMFORD  For decades, heroin dealers have been branding the translucent glassine envelopes they send out to the streets  as a marketing gimmick, a commentary on current events, or sometimes both.

Bags stamped WMD  weapons of mass destruction  were popular during the Iraq War. Blue Thunder heroin hit the streets in the early 1980s, right after the cop movie of the same name premiered in the theaters.

The stamps were a way for customers to identify a particular product in the unregulated, Wild West world of street-corner drug sales. The tradition was never established for other illegal drugs, including cocaine or crack.

Over a period of 30 years, we have almost exclusively seen the glassine bags stamped with different insignias, Stamford police Capt. Richard Conklin said.

But now, as police increase efforts to identify and prosecute dealers whose products are responsible for rising numbers of overdose deaths, more and more bags of drugs are being found without stamps.

Bags found recently at the scenes of three drug-related deaths in Stamford have investigators wondering whether dealers are trying to make it more difficult to find them by omitting the brands.

Just recently we have seen a number of these heroin bags come through unstamped. We are really trying to wrap our heads around it, said Conklin, who supervises Stamfords Narcotics and Organized Crime squad and the departments Bureau of Criminal Investigations that probes overdose deaths.

Is it someone new to the business packaging their own, or is it an effort to camouflage who the heroin is coming from? We really dont know and it is a trend we will be monitoring.

Its a trend Danbury police have noticed over the past year as well.

It would be a good assumption that dealers would rather risk losing some repeat customers, based on individual branding, than be traced by investigators, said Lt. Chris Carroccio, spokesman for the Danbury Police Department.

In response to the rising rate of overdoses, Stamford police officers now carry Narcan  the drug administered to reverse the effects of an overdose  and four members of the department have received specific training on how to trace drugs to their source.

The tipping point in Stamford came in July when there were three overdoses  including one fatality in a single day. It came on the heels of Stamford first responders administering Narcan a record 32 times in June.

There were three overdose deaths last week in Stamford after there were nine in all of 2016. According to the state office of the chief medical examiner, there were 917 accidental overdose deaths in Connecticut last year  up from 495 in 2013. Of the deaths last year, 853 involved opioids.

Conklin said authorities are waiting for toxicology reports to be completed to determine the cause of deaths in the recent Stamford cases.

Near each of the men who died, age 31, 44 and 54, police found bags of heroin that were unstamped.

The names of the men have not been released until the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determines the cause of their deaths.

The stamps on the heroin bags had provided important clues to investigators that often led to the source of the drugs. In August, accused heroin dealer James Pipicelli was charged with manslaughter. According to his arrest warrant, police traced a bag of heroin stamped Takeover to the 65-year-old Pipicelli that was found next to the lifeless body of 28-year-old Stamford resident Daniel Peretz.

Conklin said most of the heroin found in Stamford is produced elsewhere and brought in by so-called commuter dealers.

They are what I call subsistence heroin dealers, Conklin said. They are not kingpins and they arent cartel members. Many of them are heroin-addicted themselves.

The dealers either take the train or drive into New York City, where they purchase prepackaged heroin and bring it back to sell in Stamford for a considerable markup, Conklin said.

They will purchase the heroin in bricks (100 pre-stamped bags) or bundles (10 bags) and bring them back to Stamford for resale.

In his 37 years with the department, Conklin estimated there have been only about a dozen arrests of Stamford dealers who cut their own heroin and package for sale locally.
By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 18 (PTI) Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa today opposed the decision to rename Dyal Singh (Evening) College in Delhi as Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya, saying the move would negate the legacy of the philanthropist.

Sirsa said it was S Dyal Singh Majithias efforts that resulted in the college getting its land on a lease in 1960.

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Majithia made huge contributions as one of the leading philanthropist of the country, Sirsa said in a statement.

"Dyal Singh Evening College is an important part of the Dyal Singh Trust. Changing the name of Dyal Singh (Evening) College is like negating his legacy. Nobody would tolerate it," he said.

Sirsas remarks came a day after the Governing Body of college decided to rename it as Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya.

Expressing high regards for VandeMataram, the MLA said, future generations would not know about a great philanthropist if the college was renamed.

"We would not let the name change happen. If it is not revoked, it would result in unpleasant protests," Sirsa said, adding that he had already had a word with the chairman of the colleges management committee to not initiate the process.

Various students too have opposed the decision to rename the evening college. "Instead of improving facilities in the college, the chairman of the college bypassed all existing mechanisms and overruled the dissent from students and professors and took a decision for renaming with support from the ABVP," student Swali Prakash said, referring to the RSS- affiliate student body Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.

Congress-affiliated National Students Union of India said in a statement it would welcome the trend of renaming colleges if students will be provided better infrastructure and facilities.

"When the governing body seeks to change the name they also disgrace the legacy of Punjabs first freedom fighter ? Sardar Dyal Singh Manjithia. The establishment of the Punjab National Bank, Dyal Singh College were noteworthy contributions by him," the NSUI said in the statement. PTI CPB/SKC/JTR ABH

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Shah Rukh Khan has been accused of applying to purchase land for agriculture, but building a bungalow instead.

By India Today Web Desk: The Peasants and Workers Party of India will bring up the controversy surrounding Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan's Alibag bungalow in the Maharashtra Assembly, its general secretary has said.

Alibag-based activist Surendra Dhavale has filed a written complaint against Shah Rukh Khan, his wife Gauri Khan, a company (Deja Vu Farms Pvt Ltd), that company's CEO, and other unkown individuals and public servants for using forged papers while acquiring a large plot for the construction of the super-luxury bungalow.

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The major allegation against Shah Rukh Khan is that he applied to purchase land for agriculture, but constructed a bungalow instead.

"By raising this issue, we would like to highlight (to) the Chief Minister and (to) State Cabinet Ministers...(that a) large number of violations using forged documents are being done by celebrities and rich persons at Alibag, giving a bad name to the region", PWP General Secretary Jayant Patil told India Today.

The PWP will seek immediate action.

Jayant Patil called for an investigation of "all the concerned officials involved in the clearance of (the) SRK file."

He alleged that "lower level" district officers had helped Shah Rukh Khan get documents verified and get permission to build the bungalow.

'SRK DIDN'T DO ANYTHING ILLEGAL'

Meanwhile, Mahendra Dalvi, a member of the local panchayat at Alibag's Thal village, defended the actor.

"He is a nice man and has not done anything illegal," he said.

Dalvi, a senior Shiv Sena worker in Alibag, is married to the sarpanch who cleared the sale of the plot to Khan.

He said he wasn't aware if Moreshwar Ajgaonkar, a chartered accountant chosen to to be a frontman to acquire the plot, was a farmer or not, but said he had documentary proof.

"Moreshwar Ajgaonkar had credential documents and 7x12 (an authentic document that proves an individual is a farmer) in hand...These documents were verified and cleared by the local district officers. Therefore, the agriculture plots were given to Ajgaonkar - who was also...(a) close confidant of Khan at Alibag"

Raigad Collector Dr Vijay Suryavanshi, too, said Ajgaonkar's 7x12 had been found to be valid.

"Thus, Section 63 of Bombay Tenancy Act...seems have not been violated by Ajgaonkar," he said.

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By PTI: London, Nov 18 (PTI) A simple colour-changing test to rapidly detect fluoride in drinking water may help prevent skeletal fluorosis, a crippling bone disease, in developing countries such as India, scientists said.

While low amounts of fluoride are beneficial for healthy teeth, high levels of fluoride can weaken bones, leading to skeletal fluorosis, said researchers at the University of Bath in the UK.

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This disease causes crippling deformities of the spine and joints, especially in children whose skeletons are still forming, they said.

When water passes over certain minerals, it can dissolve fluoride, which results in elevated levels of fluoride in drinking water sources in parts of India, East Africa, China and North America.

Levels of fluoride in drinking water are routinely monitored and controlled at treatment works in developed countries.

However, in areas where there is no piped water system or treatment works, people rely on drawing untreated water from wells, which can often be contaminated with higher than recommended levels of fluoride.

The amounts of fluoride in the groundwater can vary due to weather events, with levels fluctuating hugely when there is a lot of rain.

A research team led by Simon Lewis from the University of Bath has developed a simple colour-changing test that detects high levels of fluoride quickly and selectively.

While the test is at the proof of concept stage, the team aims to develop it into a disposable test strip that is low cost and easy to use by anyone.

"Whilst a small amount of fluoride is good for your teeth and prevents tooth decay, high levels are toxic and can cause crippling deformities that are irreversible," Lewis said.

"Most water quality monitoring systems need a lab and power supply and a trained operator to work them. What we have developed is a molecule that simply changes colour in a few minutes which can tell you whether the level of fluoride is too high," said Lewis.

"We would like to develop this technology into test strips, similar to litmus paper, that allow people without any scientific training to perform a test that is low cost, rapid and robust.

"We anticipate that in the future it could make a real difference to peoples lives," said Lewis. PTI SAR SNE

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Joan S. Simons went to be with her Savior, Jesus, on November 14, 2107.

Services will be held Tuesday, November 21, 2017 at 11 AM at Calvary Memorial Church in Gering, Nebraska. A service will also be held in January 2018 in Redlands, California.

Joan was born to William and Ruth Spafford on March 31, 1929 in Hammond, Indiana. The family moved to Inglewood, California in her high school years where her beautiful, operatic voice was discovered. She sang in many stage productions and venues.

Joan married Lester Simons, March 20, 1953. They had 3 children, David, Lynne and Stephen. Together they pastored churches in Alberta, Canada, Southern California, and Ely, Nevada.

Joan was known as a spiritual mentor to many, spending countless hours pointing them to Jesus. Always a learner, she spent her days researching and reading about everything from medical issues to current affairs. She was really excited when she learned she could google anything she wanted to know. And of course, her Bible was a constant source of inspiration and wisdom. She spent many hours in prayer for everyone she knew but especially for her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

Joan has been reunited with her husband, granddaughter Bethany, and many friends and family.

Those who remain here are her sister, Mary Jane Muth, of Camarillo, California; her children: Dave(Cheryl) Simons of Ely, Nevada; Lynne(James) Adams of Gering, Nebraska; and Steve (Kim) Simons of Redlands, California; Step-Daughter, Maureen(John) OBrian of Massachusetts.

Grandchildren: Dustin(Nicole) Simons, Karina (Kalib) Willard, James (Jesi) Adams, Charissa (Jason) Johnson, Zach Simons, Anaiah Simons, and Jessica (Brian)Edmiston. Great grandchildren: Adrienne and Jordyn Simons, Ava and Caliber Willard, James, Lillian and Reagan Adams, Aspyn Johnson, and Ethan and Riley Edmiston, plus many nieces, nephews, and friends.

A memorial has been established in her honor and gifts can be sent to: Joan Simons Memorial 1945 N St Gering, Ne 69361

Joans life can be summed up in the following words by her son, Steve.

As I navigate through all the emotions that come from the death of my mom, I continue to come back to a single word: FAITHFUL. While no person can be perfectly described in one word, FAITHFUL encompasses so much of what defined my mom. FAITHFUL to God, FAITHFUL to her husband and family and FAITHFUL to anyone who came to know her. That FAITHFULNESS and personal relationship with Jesus Christ has her standing today with Dad in heaven and hearing WELL DONE!!!! Love you mom.
Over the Veterans Day weekend, I was out in the district making seven different stops for different Veterans Day events. Me and my legislative aide really need to get our pilots license up to date. The 43rd District is bigger than Connecticut. In 2021, when we redistrict the state after the census, Im thinking it will be even bigger. There are ranches in the 43rd bigger than many of my colleagues districts they can walk around in an afternoon. I wouldnt trade it for anything. Its the best part of the state and I am very lucky to represent it.

As a retired U.S. Army colonel, Veterans Day carries a special meaning for me and all who have served our country in uniform. I have countless friends and acquaintances in this category. Many of my relatives have all served. My father is a Korean War veteran. Lt. Col. (retired) Bakers father was in the Navy in the Pacific during WWII. Some confuse Veterans Day with Memorial Day. That day we remember and honor those who died in service to their country. Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans  living or dead. If youre a veteran, Id imagine youre like me. Every day is Veterans Day. To all of you I say, thank you very much for your service.

Regardless of branch or component, whether you have seen combat or volunteered in peacetime, active-duty or reservist, 20-year careers or a drafted. These are all Americans who, for a time in their lives, invested a part of themselves in service to our nation. We honor you this weekend.

To all the many organizations who promote veteran issues, I want you to know how incredibly important you are to our society. You help veterans in so many ways, from helping with benefits or a hot meal, to fighting for veterans in the halls of government by navigating bureaucracy to writing legislation. The most important thing organizations like the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (and their auxiliaries) do is remind ordinary Americans of something larger than themselves. They help our country turn outwards and upwards and take pause from our busy lives focused on self to be reminded, to be grateful, to be proud of all the countless millions of Americans who put service to their country above all else. We dont don the uniform of a tribe, or a sect or of a particular religion. We dont fight for our family or the local region of place we live in. The calling answered by Americans past and present has no equal in the world. We took an oath to protect an idea bigger than anything anyone has ever been called to put on a uniform for in the history of the human species.

On the west steps of our Capitol, the words of President Lincoln can be found behind his statute. He said:

 Our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.

American veterans, from Valley Forge to Gettysburg to Kandahar, saw a nation so conceived as something bigger than themselves and answered the call to protect that idea. I have seen a big part of this world and I can tell you there is only one place on this earth you can find people who think this way, who give of themselves this way, and thats right here in the United States. I hope we all take a moment and quietly reflect how lucky we all are to be surrounded by fellow countryman of this selfless stature. We are truly blessed. Its why the U.S. has long endured. I urge you to take a moment and thank one of the 22 million veterans there are in the United States.

Please contact my office with any comments, questions or concerns. Email me at tbrewer@leg.ne.gov or call us at 402-471-2628.
Two former state senators, one of the best tax lawyers in the U.S., a farmer and a rancher walk into a bar. They exchange BS on death taxes, curse the feds, hoist a few beers and go home satisfied current law doesnt unfairly target ag producers. Based on Internal Revenue statistics, not campaign rhetoric, Id agree.

For me, researching this column was difficult because death and taxes are unpleasant topics and, in the case of estate taxes and the current tax plans in Congress, they are a moving target. However, coupled with the rewrite of our own wills and estate plans, the topic was especially timely.

My first alert was an opinion piece shared by former Sen. Sandy Scofield on social media in early November, warning farmers not to be taken in by the proposed elimination of the federal estate tax as a boon to farmers. The columnist warned us the estate tax is targeted at those chauffeured around in limos, not plugging down a county road in a tractor or hauling a semi-load of cattle and I was quick to agree.

But, the article was more than a week old and, according to the aforementioned Harvard-educated lawyer, no longer applicable, because the two tax plans currently under consideration  one in the House of Representatives and one in the Senate  change every day. A Bloomberg News article actually had hourly updates. The estate tax bounces in and out of each report. Its enough to make my head hurt.

The first lesson learned: death taxes, estate taxes and inheritance taxes, are not the same thing, although the terms are widely-used interchangeably by those of us who didnt know any better. Federal estate taxes are charged against the estate, the property of a person who has died. Inheritance taxes are charged by some, not all, states against the heirs of the estate. Nebraskas inheritance tax for immediate relatives is 1 percent over any property valued more than $40,000.

Second lesson learned: while a lot of small businesses, including farmers and ranchers, have assets in excess of $5-10 million, few pay huge estate tax bills due to exemptions, deductions, marital transfers and the step-up basis. The step-up establishes a new base value for property, which has appreciated during the decedents lifetime. Former Sen. Bob Wickersham explains the value is stepped up to a new, more fair market value (comparable to income-based valuations) at the time of his death, less deductions for improvements like buildings, fences, stock tanks, windmills, etc.

In 2006, the last time Congress messed with estate taxes, they also cut the step-up basis. This year, the House plan includes elimination of the step-up, as well. Think of the consequences for the heirs of a piece of property originally purchased for $10 and a mule, now worth hundreds of thousands. And, if you dont sell the real estate, theres always the quarter-million dollar combine or the 500 head of cows, if pastures are parched.

Steve Leimburg writes an estate planning email newsletter relied upon by 1,500 law firms, accounting firms and banks throughout the United States, including the attorneys cited above. Leimburg is one of the most respected experts in the field of tax law and considers the claims about farmers bearing the brunt of the estate taxes overstated, misleading and even preposterous.

Leimburg says the number of small businesses and farms subject to federal estate tax in 2017 is about 80, not millions as claimed in a recent Trump speech, an overstatement by a factor of nearly 25,000.

In addition, the false claim that farmers must sell the farm to pay the tax is misleading. Currently, for every $666 of federal estate tax collected, $1 of it comes from small businesses or farms, Leimburg continues. Whats more, many (if not most) of those farms are eligible for reduced valuation and/or the payment of the estate tax over 15 years.

The current federal estate tax is only imposed on taxable estates of more than $5.49 million or $10.98 million for married couples. So, for every 1,000 estates, only two are large enough to pay federal estate tax. Thats less than one-quarter of 1 percent and it belongs to billionaires whove donated millions to political campaigns.

Under the proposed GOP tax plan, the exemptions for estate taxes will increase to $11.2 million ($22.4 million for married couples). That will be one in every 1,000 estates or about 0.1 percent. After 2023, the estate tax is abolished entirely, costing the government $2 billion a year for the next six years and $30 billion or more thereafter for four years, for a total of $132 billion during the next decade.

If we reduce federal revenue by $132 billion, there are only three things that could happen. We incur more debt, we make up the difference elsewhere with other taxes or we reduce government expenses dramatically. If you favor the latter, Id invite you to Google Starve the Beast and Newt Gingrich for details on a 20-year-old strategy to reduce government size and scope. Say goodbye to federal funding for public schools, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and, of course, our military.

I spoke to one young cattle producer from the northern Panhandle who envisions a federal tax system with no estate taxes, no tax lawyers, estate plans and insurance policies to cover negotiations between heirs. That would be the same tax system that allows us to file our income tax returns on a postcard. Not going to happen!

In a recent Brookings Institute column I read, the author talks about how the average citizen is so easily convinced tax cuts for the rich will benefit everyone. How is this sleight of hand possible? she asks. In part, because tax policy is confusing, average citizens can be misled about the impact of tax legislation.

And that is exactly what seasoned politicians and crazy ex-reality TV stars involved in politics are trying to do with farmers and the estate tax argument. As Leimburg explained, their claims are overstated to the point of ridiculous and, based on IRS stats, they are flat-out lies. Farmers are too smart for that, Mr. Trump.
CONCORD- Radio broadcaster Robert D. Raiford, who graduated from Concord High School, passed away Friday, Nov. 17 at the age of 89, according to news reports.

Raiford served as curmudgeon at large on the John Boy and Billy Show which is syndicated to 57 radio stations across the nation and originated at Charlottes WRFX-FM (Fox 99.7).

He began his career at 17 in Concord as a play-by-play announcer for the Concord Weavers, a minor-league team, on WEGO-AM (980).

He studied communications at the University of South Carolina, became a leading announcer on Charlottes WBT-AM (110) and worked as a news anchor on Charlotte NBCS affiliated on Channel 36.

In an article in the Independent Tribune written in 2013, Raiford talked about living in Washington D.C. and working for WTOP Radio and WTOP TV when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

He had just finished reading for Voice of America and had gone home for a nap before heading back into work.

He stopped by his dry cleaners when he saw the owner, Frank, with a solemn look on his face. After hearing the awful news, Raiford headed back to work, knowing his show At Your Service was going to be preempted with news coverage.

When Raiford got into the WTOP office he was asked to cover the funeral procession when Kennedys body was brought to Washington.

But even before he covered the procession, Raiford glimpsed a bit of the news first hand when he was headed out to get a bite to eat and saw a green ambulance go by.

And the light was on in the back of it and the curtains were drawn, and I looked in there and there was Jackie Kennedy, Raiford said in the interview.

Raiford was forced to leave the airwaves in August 2015 after he had a stroke.

He is survived by his wife, Kelia, and four children.
Sonia Gandhi has called CWC meet on Monday to pay way for formal election of Rahul Gandhi as Congress president.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has called CWC meet on Monday. The CWC is likely to announce poll schedule for Congress party president's election. (File photo)

By Supriya Bhardwaj, Kumar Vikrant Singh: It is now almost certain that Rahul Gandhi will be elevated as Congress president before votes are cast for Gujarat Assembly election. Sources in the Congress say that decks have been cleared to choose Sonia Gandhi's successor in the party.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has convened a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) at 10.30 am on November 20. The CWC is expected to approve the election schedule for the party president's post.

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The Congress's election schedule is likely to be of 10-15 days. Rahul Gandhi is one confirmed candidate, who will be filing nomination for the post. If no other party leader files nomination till the last date of doing so, Rahul Gandhi will be elected as Congress president unopposed.

According to sources, vice-president Rahul Gandhi's elevation as party president will take place before December 2.

The Congress election committee has sent a tentative schedule, according to which November 21 has been fixed as the date to file nomination and December 1 as the date for withdrawal of candidature. Date of organisational poll is December 8 and counting will be held on December 11.

The Congress sources said that no other leader has shown intent to enter into a contest against Rahul Gandhi. This equation makes it certain that Rahul Gandhi will be declared Congress president before first vote is polled in Gujarat Assembly election.

"The Congress Working Committee (CWC) will announce the organisational election schedule. The date of withdrawal of nomination is the day when an announcement will be made that Rahul Gandhi has been elected unopposed as the party's president", said a senior party leader.

The Election Commission has set December 31 as the deadline for Congress's organisational polls. Rahul Gandhi has dropped enough hints during his election campaigns in Gujarat that he is ready to lead the Congress as party president.

The Pradesh Congress committees have already passed resolutions in support of Rahul Gandhi for the new party president.

Rahul Gandhi's elevation has been deferred several times in the past as he reportedly wished to take the mantle officially after November 19, the 100th birth anniversary of his grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

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Romania is ranked among EU's top 5 heaviest consumers of antibiotics, a situation which favors the emergence of treatment resistant bacteria, the Romanian Health Observatory (ORS) said in a report this Friday.

"The high consumption of antibiotics has turned Romania into one of the European countries with the highest rates of proliferation of treatment-resistant bacteria. Antibiotic resistance has been termed at a UN meeting as 'the biggest and most urgent global risk factor which requires international and national attention'.The World Health Organization has named the period November 13 - 19, 2017 World Antibiotic Awareness Week (...) The Romanians' consumption of antibiotics is excessive, which favors and renders even more serious the emergence of treatment-resistant bacteria. Romania ranks first in the EU as the state with the highest percentage of use of antibiotics without prescription," the Romanian Health Observatory release states.According to the cited source, the patients or their families often pressure the pharmacist or the doctor to release antibiotics even when their use is not medically justifiable.According to experts, the release notes, antibiotics do not reduce fever and have no effect in colds and respiratory infections."The commercial factor weighs heavily in the distribution of antibiotics to the population, contributing to the unjustified increase in the use of antibiotics through questionable promotion methods. The relevant legal regulations are vague and rarely applied, and in their turn doctors and pharmacists sometimes prescribe antibiotics unnecessarily, practicing a defensive medicine that does not pursue the patient's well-being, but avoiding at any cost a potential situation where the health professional would be at tort. The insufficient information on this subject even among medical staff also contributes to this situation," the release informs.ORS goes on to say that red flags in this respect have been raised as early as 2014, like for instance by then Director of the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Marc Sprenger, who cautioned that Romania is "in the red zone" and that solutions heavily depend on political will. AGERPRES
Minister of Justice Tudorel Toader had a meeting this week with Dutch ambassador to Romania Stella Ronner-Grubacic, with the latest report of the European Commission on the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) being the major subject of discussion.

According to release of the Ministry of Justice, the two high officials looked at aspects of the CVM report as well as at the judiciary reform in Romania."During the talks, the Minister of Justice highlighted the progress made and acknowledged in the report, and expressed his confidence that the goal of having the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism lifted before Romania takes over the Presidency of the Council of the EU in early 2019 will be achieved. The Justice Minister reiterated that attaining this goal requires loyal constitutional cooperation, real and substantive debates as well as beefing up institutional dialogue. At the same time, the Minister of Justice expressed his conviction that the CVM can be replaced by internal country-own monitoring mechanisms and structures such as the National Anticorruption Strategy and the Strategic Management Council. The JusMin reaffirmed his commitment to continuing the reform of Romania's judiciary, in line with the recommendations of the European Commission," the release states.The Dutch ambassador emphasized the importance of continuing efforts towards achieving these goals, adding that the meeting is a good opportunity to strengthen cooperation between the two countries and reaffirm mutual support.Also attending the meeting this week at the seat of the Ministry of Justice were Secretary of State with the Ministry of Justice Marieta Safta, and Arthur den Hartog - Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Bucharest. AGERPRES
MEP Sorin Moisa announced on Saturday having decided to resign from the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and that he will also quit the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) group to join the EPP group as an independent.

In a Facebook post, Moisa points the finger at party Chairman Liviu Dragnea under whose lead "PSD has unburied, revived and adjusted to the current context of Romania a bunch of the long-groomed reflexes of national-communism."He also takes issue with how PSD presents the relation with Brussels and the multinationals."What PSD offers now is not patriotism, but frustrated nationalism in the Polish or Hungarian vein, that poses a futile opposition to Brussels, staking out a social conservative stance. This is a type of rhetoric and political practice that draws the country close not only to the illiberal Vishegrad group, but also to Putin's Russia," Moisa wrote, adding that he was also appalled by the out-of-touch lack of empathy shown at the recent anniversary of Dragnea's birthday the same day of the two-year commemoration of the Colectiv fire tragedy.Among the reasons that led him to the decision to quit PSD Sorin Moisa also lists the credibility-deprived fight against corruption and the TelDrum case where Dragnea stands accused of corruption deeds."PSD has reached such a level of domestic and international distrust that no one believes them any more as regards the reform of justice, not even when they are possibly right. Therefore they should better send the reform projects to the Venice Commission first and seek the opinion of this body which cannot be suspicioned of bias," Moisa adds.In the TelDrum case he vents off saying that "even if in the end the trial would not prove Dragnea's guilt, his position at the head of the party and of the Parliament of Romania has become unsustainable wherever in the civilized world. (...) What seems to happen now is Mr. Dragnea pushing Romania, in order to save his own neck, into an authoritarian project to justify ignoring the reaction of the EU and the US to a blitz anti-justice operation."Moisa added that his resignation from PSD will be immediately followed by his resignation from the S&D group and his handing over all the files he was handling in this capacity."In recent years, many political parties of the S&D group have shifted towards a radical left I could only be connected to as a purely intellectual speculation. My solid connection with the S&D group was the PSD delegation, a pragmatic delegation solidly rooted in the moderate, centrist part of the S&D. Once this tie dissolved, I will join as an independent the EPP group that has occupied the center of the political spectrum the S&D has freed in such an uninspired move," he said.Sorin Moisa made it clear that he will not join any political party, organization, foundation or platform in Romania, "except for the highly unlikely case where he could contribute to a truly transformative momentum in Romanian politics." AGERPRES
The Indian fishermen have been facing a terrible period venturing out in the sea with being arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy frequently.

By Akshaya Nath: Four Indian fishermen from Rameswaram have been taken into custody of Sri Lankan Navy near Katchatheevu islands toight.

The fishermen ventured into the sea after a day long strike held in Rameswaram.

They have been taken into custody under the charges of crossing into Sri Lankan territory and practising illegal fishing. The fishermen have now been taken to Karai Nagar port in Sri Lanka and will be assembled in front of their magistrate tomorrow.

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After the alleged shooting of the Indian fishermen by Indian Coast guard, Rameswaram fishermen had gone on a strike for the last few days.

They raised concern about their safety and security.

The Indian fishermen have been facing a terrible period venturing out in the sea with being arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy frequently.

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Editor's note: An earlier version said the cuts affected the law firm's St. Louis offices. A spokesman on Saturday said the firm has not commented on the "location of the departing lawyers," adding the total number of lawyers has been reduced by "less than 4 percent."

_______

ST. LOUIS  Husch Blackwell, a law firm with offices in St. Louis, announced Friday it is eliminating 40 lawyers from its payroll through layoffs and retirements.

Husch Blackwell CEO Greg Smith and Chairman Maurice Watson said Friday in a prepared statement: "With retirements and other year-end transitions, approximately 40 attorneys, all partners or counsels, are expected to leave the firm. Such departures are offset, in part, by new attorney hires throughout the year, and our firm had a net increase of 12 attorneys for the 12-month period ending October 31, 2017. Given our firms size and scale, these attorney transitions are expected and normal."

The staff reduction is part of an evaluation of "whether the firm's services match trending market demands and client needs," the statement said.

A spokeswoman for the Kansas City-based firm declined to say how many lawyers it employs or how many were affected in the St. Louis area. It has offices in Clayton and in St. Louis' Cortex district.

One of the firm's recent hires is Mary Pat Carl, the former lead homicide prosecutor for the Circuit Attorney's Office. She left the office in October after 14 years there. The firm said Carl starts Nov. 27 as a partner working in government compliance and investigations.
Remy James Arling will be remembered for many things: his huge cheeks, his broad smile, how much he liked carrots, and his piercing blue-gray eyes, seen in one of the hundreds of pictures his parents keep of him.

But part of Remy's legacy also will be passed on to children and families who never met him or his parents, Tim and Laura Arling. These babies, many in NICUs across the country, will get some of the 3,000 ounces of breast milk that Laura pumped for Remy, saved in freezers, and donated to the Mothers' Milk Bank in Austin after he died.

Newborn babies, on average, consume between 14 and 22 ounces of breast milk a day. Even at eight months, a child would only need 24 ounces of breast milk a day. Laura had easily more than a hundred times that much to give away.

"I did it for Remy," she said. "Breast-feeding was one of the only parenting things I could do for him."

- - -

Laura Arling had a lot of time to think about her son coming into this world. Her water unexpectedly broke when she was 30 weeks along, and she spent the four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas last year on bed rest at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland. Because of the high risk of infection, she wasn't allowed any visitors besides her husband. The doctors wanted her to make it to 34 weeks, and planned to induce her Dec. 27.

But on Dec. 25, Remy made a surprising and relatively fast entrance into the world. "Remy had his own way of doing things," Laura said.

Remy spent 10 days in the NICU before going home. He was feeding well, and at his two-week appointment, he was a pound over his birth weight, a good sign for a growing baby. But just shy of his one month birthday, Laura and Tim sensed something was wrong. Remy was having trouble feeding. His airways were closing; while taking a bottle, he turned blue and passed out.

The Arlings went back to the hospital, thinking it would be a brief stay. They hoped the visit would be a quick and quiet blip in an otherwise long and healthy life.

Remy never came home again.

- - -

Remy was diagnosed with a "left pulmonary artery sling," meaning his left pulmonary valve wrapped around his heart, something Laura, a pediatrician, had only seen on medical school test questions, never in real life. The cardiologist at the NICU said this was the first LPA sling he had diagnosed. Remy also had a hole in his heart, which had been discovered in utero, though Laura and Tim thought they wouldn't need interventions until he was at least a year old, if at all.

At one month and one day, a cardiac surgeon at Children's National Medical Center in Washington opened Remy's chest to repair the hole and open the narrow valve pumping blood to his heart and lungs. The valve swelled shut, so Remy remained on the heart and lung bypass machine for three weeks. Blood and oxygen had trouble reaching his extremities, and Laura and Tim faced the reality that their son would lose parts of all four of his limbs.

"We kept calling it Remy's luck," Laura said. At one point, the bypass machine stopped working, and a team of specialists frantically did CPR while a new machine was hooked up.

Through it all, Laura kept pumping breast milk. Remy received a tracheotomy to breathe and a G-tube in his stomach for nutrition. With the machines connected to him, Remy wasn't able to breast-feed, but the nurses included some of Laura's breast milk in the formula and IV nutrition he received.

"Formula does a great job of growing kids, but they haven't figured out how to give a mother's immune system to a baby," Laura said. "Remy managed to not catch an infection the whole time on breast milk. He didn't catch a sniffle, he didn't get pneumonia. He never had a wound infection. I took pride in that."

She added, "You have a super immune system as a pediatrician."

Laura pumped eight times a day, around the clock. She kept a pump in Remy's hospital room so she could sit with him.

When she went back to work at Capitol Medical Group in Chevy Chase, Maryland (Tim also works there, as an internist), she used her pumping time to focus on Remy. "I'd scroll through pictures and look at videos of him," she said. "It allowed to me to commune with him in my feelings. Every ounce that I made I felt more like his mother."

Kimberly Seals Allers, author of "The Big Letdown," believes Linda's instinct was spot on. Breast milk can be life saving for NICU babies.

- - -

Remy continued to grow. He started to eat solid foods and tried to sit up. But in August 2017, as the Arlings prepared to take him home for the second time, he went into cardiac arrest, followed by a seizure. The brain damage was extensive. The Arlings knew then their son wasn't going to come home, ever.

Laura stopped pumping then, so she could spend as much time as possible with Remy. Family and friends, who had been discouraged from visiting the hospital because of Remy's weakened immune system, were welcomed, each taking turns snuggling him. He was held nearly every moment. A photographer came to capture the family together and the doctors and nurses all stopped by to say tearful goodbyes.

The month after Remy was gone was a haze. There was the funeral with the pews filled, some with people Laura and Tim had never met. There was a private burial in the same plot as Remy's grandfather, James, after whom he is named.

Julie Price, Remy's godmother, approached Laura with the idea of donating her breast milk. Laura didn't realize how much milk she'd accumulated. "I thought, most babies need breast milk, through a year. I figured with Remy's medical problems, he would need it longer than that." Laura had a freezer full of milk at home, in addition to milk in her sister and brother in-law's freezer, in Tim's father's freezer, and in the hospital fridge.

With Price's help, Laura and Tim selected the nonprofit Mothers' Milk Bank because it services NICUs, based on need. The Breastfeeding Center for Greater Washington, a short drive from their home, served as a drop-off point. On the one-month anniversary of Remy's death, after Laura passed the medical tests to be cleared as a donor, she packed the milk in coolers - their car filled so tightly that she had to squeeze in the back seat - while Tim drove downtown.

Tim volunteered to take the donation himself, but Laura wanted to see it through. "I thought I was doing it for Remy, and for other babies like Remy." As she stared at an empty freezer, the full force of what it meant to be giving this milk away hit her.

"I knew this was ending," she said. "Breast-feeding definitely helped me feel like a mom, in a situation where there were a lot of things taking that away from me. When you can't take your child home with you, you start to lose your identity as a mother.

"At the time, I never liked it," she added. "It's not fun or comfortable. It hurt for me."

But she's glad she did it: For Remy, and for the children who still may get the milk. Allers says donations like these allow all NICU babies to access human milk. Six states cover breast milk purchased from milk banks under Medicaid, but many do not, even for the NICU babies who need it most.

"With more donors like Arling, human milk can be an accessible option for more women who can't breast-feed, thus broadening affordable options beyond a mother's own milk or formula," Allers said. In times of crisis, from natural disasters in Texas to man-made disasters in Flint, Michigan, such milk donations can be lifesaving, even for non-NICU infants.

"In my saddest points in the first little bit [after he died,] I wondered, should I have pumped less?" Laura said. "I could have spent more time with him then."

But she doesn't allow herself too much time to dwell on what could have been. She acknowledges what parents everywhere wonder about their actions and their children.

"Knowing what I knew at the time, I was only trying to do the best I could for him."

Gale is a journalist based in Bethesda, Md. Follow her on Twitter @beckgale.
The Wood River Police Department believes that a recent spate of overdoses may be caused by a mix of cocaine and fentanyl.

Police and fire departments in Wood River responded to what are believed to be multiple overdoses in a 12-hour period Friday. One was fatal.

According to the department:

 Two overdoses were called in by Donzos lounge around midnight. One victim was a 21-year-old female, the other a 24-year-old male, both from Wood River. Both were unresponsive and Narcan was used. They were transported to Alton Memorial Hospital.

 Police and firefighters responded around 2 a.m. after receiving a report that a 36-year-old man had overdosed in the 200 block of Penning. The man, who resided at the residence, was transported to Alton Memorial Hospital.

 Police and firefighters investigated a report of a possible overdose at 10 a.m. in the Wal-Mart parking lot at 610 Wesley Drive. A 28-year-old man from Wood River was inside a vehicle and officials "quickly determined the male was deceased from a suspected overdose."

 Police investigated a report of a traffic crash in the 600 block of Mildred at 1:50 p.m. They found a 27-year-old man unresponsive and not breathing. Wood River Fire/Rescue administered Narcan to the man. When he became stable he was transported to Alton Memorial Hospital.

A police news release said evidence from one of the calls was taken to the Illinois State Police Crime Lab, where it was identified as cocaine/fentanyl based. Police think the drug is being portrayed as cocaine, and users may not know it has been mixed with fentanyl, which can be deadly.

Police said area police and fire departments, the Madison County States Attorney's office and coroners have been made aware of the recent rash of overdoses.

"We want people to be aware this mixture of cocaine/fentanyl is out here locally and even touching something (mixed) with fentanyl can be absorbed into the skin or nasal passages causing illness or death," the news release said.

Officials at the police department could not be reached for comment Friday.
By PTI: Jammu, Nov 18 (PTI) National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah today asked party leaders and workers to start preparing for the panchayat polls and strengthen its units to thwart attempts to "split" the party.

This was the first visit of Abdullah to the partys headquarters here after being re-elected as the NCs president last month.

"We need not to wait for the announcement of the panchayat polls. We have to work hard from today and strengthen each of our units to defeat the opponents," he told his partys activists.

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The elections were supposed to be held last year, but could not be conducted because of the explosive situation in the valley following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8, 2016.

The state government has failed to hold the panchayat elections this year, so far, after large scale violence during the by-poll in the Srinagar Parliamentary constituency on April 8 and the forced the cancellation of the by-election to the Anantnag Parliamentary seat. A

The former chief minister said, "Attempts would be made to split the party once the panchayat elections draw closer."

"There will be conspiracies to divide the people on communal lines and split us, but we have to remain alert and foil such nefarious designs. NC workers need to stand up at that time and safeguard everyone," he said.

Terming panchayat polls as the first test of the NC, Abdullah said that the Jammu and Kashmir government is yet to take a decision on the elections as Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is making different statements about the states situation at different places.

"She is saying in Delhi that there is peace (in Kashmir), but on reaching Kashmir she is saying there is no peace and election is not possible. She knows very well that her brother will lose (the election from Anantnag parliamentary constituency)," he said.

He asked women leaders and activists to use 33 per cent reservation in each panchayat.

Abdullah accused the PDP-BJP government of failing to mitigate the sufferings of the people and said the NC strongly believes in unity of the people.

"Our slogan is Hindu-Muslim-Sikh-Christian unity and we will work in accordance with it to take the state to new heights," he said.

Referring to his recent visit to various areas along the Line of Control in north Kashmir, including Teetwal and Machil, he said people are facing lot of problems due to failure of the government to provide better roads, communication and electricity facilities.

"They too are citizens of India. I want to ask the government to reach out to these people of these places instead of making mere statements and development claims," he said, adding that despite the "step-motherly" treatment by the government, the people are happy with the country and do not want Pakistan.

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"They are still looking at this country, they are saying that we are not Pakistanis and do not want Pakistan," he said.

Abdullah said he would work and fight for the rights of the people till his last breath.

"Before going away, I want to see the people of the state prosperous and living in communal harmony," he wished.

The NC leader said that his party had passed the autonomy resolution, but would also work to ensure regional autonomy in accordance to the wishes and aspirations of the people.

"The National Conference will make it happen," he said.

He also criticised the state government for implementing Goods and Service Tax (GST) and said they have surrendered the financial autonomy to the centre as well. PTI TAS ANB

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Toward the end of his 12-day trip to Asia, President Donald Trump tweeted, When will all the haters and fools out there realize that having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. There (sic) always playing politics  bad for our country. I want to solve North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, terrorism, and Russia can greatly help!

Trump has a point. Russia can, in theory, greatly help. But it probably wont, at least not greatly. It wont help because Vladimir Putin and his regime dont think helping America is in their national interest.

Putin, a former ghoul of the KGB, subscribes to a theory of statecraft with deep roots in both Russian and Soviet history.

During WWI, Vladimir Lenin advocated revolutionary defeatism. The idea was that winning the war was pointless since it was a battle between competing capitalist ruling classes. It would be better if everyone  including Russia  lost. The masses, he hoped, would then wage a civil war to overthrow their masters. The idea was derived in part from 19th century revolutionary socialist Nikolay Chernyshevsky, who coined the phrase the worse the better  which Lenin often quoted.

This basic strategy worked well enough for the Bolsheviks. Lenin became the founding father of the Soviet Union, which brutalized and enslaved its own people and its neighbors for 70 years.

The Soviet Union, despite its military might, was always a weak country. Any nation that has to rule by fear is by definition weak. If the Soviets could have invaded and defeated Western Europe and America, just as they had Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, they would have. Its what Marxist-Leninism demanded, after all.

But they couldnt. So they adapted. Before they could export revolution, as Leon Trotsky wanted, they first had to export revolutionary defeatism. And so for a half-century, the Soviets did what they could to undermine the West by sowing discord and strife. The idea was, as Marxist theorists had long put it, to heighten the contradictions of capitalism to force it to collapse.

They developed a wide array of methods. Their propagandists fed conspiracy theories to gullible journalists and intellectuals in the 1930s and 1940s. In the 1960s, the Soviets tried to discredit Martin Luther King Jr. because his message of tolerance and nonviolence was inconvenient to their cause. The KGB wanted the violent radical Stokely Carmichael to become the leader of black America. It disseminated leaflets in black communities claiming that right-wing groups were developing a plan for the physical elimination of leading figures in the Negro movement in the U.S., as Darien Cavanaugh of the website War is Boring recently recounted. In the 1980s, the Soviets spread lies about America inventing AIDS to kill blacks.

This is the world Putin grew up in. He was a KGB foreign intelligence officer for 16 years. Hes called the demise of the Soviet Union one of the 20th centurys greatest tragedies. But hes not a Marxist. In fact, its been speculated that he may be the worlds richest man.

But he is the man the KGB made him.

Forget about America for two seconds. Putins social-media army has been mucking around in Western Europe for years. He supports fringe radical groups  or creates fake representatives of them  on both the left and the right. They use WikiLeaks, and the useful idiots who love it, to undermine Western governments in the name of democracy and transparency.

The goal isnt primarily to get a particular politician in power, but to sow chaos and doubt, to heighten the contradictions, and to weaken the strong countries and alliances that Putin thinks are holding down Russia. The Russians helped push for Brexit, not because Brexit was good for Britain (which I think it might be), but because it was bad for the European Union.

Some want to believe that Putin saw in Trump a useful ally, and that Trump volunteered for service. Again, thats possible. But I think the answer is more straightforward and obvious. The Russians just wanted to cause trouble and wound the presumptive winner, Hillary Clinton. Thats why WikiLeaks encouraged Donald Trump Jr. to claim the election was stolen. But then the elder Trump won.

Trump believes that every country should follow its own narrow self-interest. Thats a defensible position. The only problem is that Russias  or at least Putins  definition of self-interest is at war with ours.

Jonah Goldberg

Copyright Tribune Content Agency
Gov. Eric Greitens is doing a great disservice to public education by undermining the concept of free public schools for all children. They are the backbone of democracy.

The governor's desire to hire an Atlanta charter school expert as Missouri's commissioner for Elementary and Secondary Education is not in line with Missouri's goal of public education for all. Charter schools are independent schools with little oversight by the Department of Education. Charter schools are not available to all children. Many charter schools are excellent, but there are not enough of them to educate all children in our state.

Our country was founded on access to free public education for all students. While charter schools are important as a good alternative for some students, our primary emphasis must be on improving public schools available for all children. That's America's best hope for the future.

I fear the governor's selection will lead us down the wrong path of education for all.

Susan Uchitelle  Clayton
Pakistan has said that it was considering the response from India on an offer the country had extended to allow Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav to meet his wife earlier this month.

Indian Reply to Pakistans Humanitarian offer for Commander Jadhav received & is being considered, Foreign Offices Director General for South Asia and Saarc Dr Mohammad Faisal tweeted on Saturday.

He, however, did not mention the content of the reply.

On November 10, Pakistan had granted permission to the convicted Indian spy to meet his wife, months after a request was made by Indias Ministry of External Affairs.

The Government of Pakistan has decided to arrange a meeting of Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav with his wife, in Pakistan, purely on humanitarian grounds, Faisal had said in a statement.

A Note Verbale to this effect has been sent to the Indian high commission in Islamabad.

It is not clear what prompted Islamabad to allow Jadhavs wife to meet him in Pakistan.

There were rumours that the two countries discussed the issue in a recent meeting between Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the newly appointed Pakistani High Commissioner to New Delhi Sohail Mahmood.

Islamabad, however, denied that the Indian spys issue came under discussion.

The development, nevertheless, suggests that the two countries might be quietly discussing the subject. Pakistans decision to allow the Indian spy to meet his wife could also be linked to the hearing of the case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The move may help Pakistan dispel the Indian negative propaganda at the ICJ of not granting access to Jadhavs family.

Commander Jadhav alias, Hussain Mubarak Patel, a serving Commander of the Indian navy, who was working with Indias premier intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), was apprehended by law-enforcement agencies on March 3, 2016 after he illegally crossed over into Pakistan.

He confessed before a magistrate and the court that he was tasked by RAW to plan, coordinate and organise espionage, terrorist and sabotage activities aimed at destabilising and waging war against Pakistan.

Jadhav was sentenced to death earlier this year; however, the International Court of Justice ordered a stay in his execution.

New Delhi has repeatedly sought access to the convicted spy but Islamabad denied the permission on the ground that consular access in cases related to spies was not applicable.
By PTI: for identification

New Delhi, Nov 18 (PTI) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has asked the Indian Ambassador in the Philippines to initiate steps to exhume the body of a person with a life jacket that has a marking of the Emerald Star, the cargo ship which sank off Okinawa over a month ago, for identification.

MV Emerald Star, that had 26 Indians on board, sank on October 13, 2017. While 16 Indians were rescued, remaining 10 could not be found.

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In a series of tweets, Swaraj said the Coast Guard of Philippines have informed India that an unidentified decomposed body of a person with a life jacket marking Emerald Star was found on October 28 on island city of Banua.

"Since the body was decomposed, it was buried there," Swaraj said, adding that she has asked the Indian Ambassador in Manila that the body be exhumed and brought to Manila for identification through DNA testing.

The external affairs minister said the search operation for missing Indians was going on.

"We continued search for missing Indians on nearby islands," she said.

Extensive search operation was launched by Japan and the Philippines after the ship sank. The Indian Navy had joined the operation.

Indian missions in Japan, the Philippines and China were coordinating the search operation. PTI MPB ASK ASK

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Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has left the Saudi capital Riyadh for France some two weeks after he announced his abrupt resignation in a televised address from the Arab kingdom, Lebanese television says.

"Mr. Hariri left Riyadh airport on his private jet with his wife and is headed for Le Bourget airport," northeast of Paris, reported Future TV, which is owned by Hariri's family, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

A source close to Hariri said that based on the flight schedule, the PM would arrive at the French airport at around 7:00 a.m.

Read more: France's Macron invites Hariri and family to France

In a rare English tweet before departure from the Saudi capital, Hariri singled out German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who had expressed doubt that the Lebanese PM was free enough to leave the Arab kingdom. We expect that Prime Minister Hariri can come back to Beirut, the top German diplomat had said on Friday.

I am on the way to the airport Mr. Sigmar Gabriel, Hariri said in his tweet posted in the early hours of Saturday.

A member of Hariri's political party and two Lebanese TV stations said that he met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and other senior Saudi officials before leaving the Arab kingdom.

Also read: Lebanon accuses Saudi Arabia of holding its PM hostage

A few hours earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron said since Lebanon had not recognized Hariris November 4 resignation, France would receive him "with the honors due a prime minister."

Riyadh recalls envoy to Germany

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia recalled its envoy to Berlin to express its protest over Gabriels comments suspecting that Hariri had been held against his will in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia has decided to recall its ambassador to Germany for consultations and will give the German ambassador in the kingdom a letter protesting these unfortunate and unjustified statements, Saudi state news agency, SPA, said, citing a spokesman for the Saudi Foreign Ministry.

Explore: Iran hopes Hariri returns to Lebanon, helps restore calm

Back on November 4, Hariri announced his unexpected resignation in a televised address while he was in Saudi Arabia, saying that he was stepping down because of the security situation in Lebanon. He also said that he saw a plot being hatched against his life.

Hariri also accused Iran and the Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, of meddling in the Arab countries affairs; an allegation the two have rejected.

Read more: Lebanon asks Saudi Arabia for explanation on PM Hariri's absence

Top Lebanese officials and senior politicians close to Hariri say he was forced to quit, and is being held by Saudi authorities. Lebanese politicians from across the political spectrum have called for Hariris return to Beirut, saying it is necessary to resolve the crisis.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun has called Hariri a Saudi hostage and refused to accept his shock resignation unless he returns to Beirut.
By PTI: counterpart

New Delhi, Nov 18 (PTI) Indian Armys Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) today asked his Pakistani counterpart to take steps to ensure peace and tranquillity along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

During a telephonic conversation, Lt Gen A K Bhatt told his Pakistani counterpart that there appeared to be a "disconnect" between the Pakistan Armys reiteration about the desire for peace and the action of its troops, official sources said.

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Citing various incidents, Bhatt said that Pakistani troops resort to heavy firing without provocation, they said.

The telephonic conversation between the two DGMOs took place following a request by the Pakistani side.

Lt Gen Bhatt impressed upon the Pakistan DGMO Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza that there appeared to be a "disconnect between the intent at the Pakistani General Headquarters which reiterates its desire for peace and the actions of Pakistani troops along the Line of Control, who resort to heavy firing without provocation," a source said.

Bhatt further exhorted his Pakistani counterpart to resolve this "existent credibility gap" to ensure that peace and tranquillity is maintained along the LoC.

The Pakistan Army DGMO alleged that Indian security forces have resorted to unproved firing and targeted civilians along the LoC in the Pooch sector.

Bhatt, however, made it clear that the Indian Army always maintains impeccable standards of professionalism and does not target civilians in any manner. PTI MPB ASK ASK

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The collection of lehengas, pashmina shawls, paithani and banarasi saris, and jewellery has prices ranging from Rs 320 to 1.5 lakh.

By Radhika Bhalla/Mail Today: The festive air of weddings and winters calls for celebration, and if you're in the mood to splurge, an exhibition of craft and fashion called 'the Wishlist' is back with its seventh edition in the Capital Saturday.

Being hosted at Vivanta by Taj-Ambassador Hotel, the day-long pop-up event will be catering to fashionable finds from some of the master weavers of the country - Arjun Chouhan from Maheshwar and Ansari from Banaras.

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Other labels will include Devnaagri, Aavaran from Udaipur, Maisara Jewelry, Arpana NGO, Chandroti NGO and Monal Weaves.

Also Read: Designer Ritu Kumar is happy about Indian youth being interested in handloom

Speaking on the line-up, Sadhana Talwar Mehta, founder, shared, "The honey bee collects nectar from thousands of different flowers to produce honey.

Photo : Mail Today

"While that in itself is extraordinary, it pales in comparison with the work that it does in helping flowers grow and bloom through pollination.

"The Wishlist curates the best of fabrics, clothing and crafts from across the length and breadth of this culture and talent rich country." "The other and perhaps the most important aspect of our work is to empower local artisan and give them a platform to showcase their skill and craft that they have perfected over centuries," Mehta added.

Also Read: #NationalHandloomDay: This is why linen should be your best friend

The collection of lehengas, pashmina shawls, paithani and banarasi saris, and jewellery has prices ranging from Rs 320 to 1.5 lakh.

Lehengas and pashmina shawls among items available at the exhibition.

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Tata Institute of Social Sciences alumna working with a startup in Mumbai has reported a case of sexual harassment by fellow student. When she told him that she will report the matter to the police, he was quick to shrug it off and mock her.

By India Today Web Desk: The recent Harvey Weinstein scandal that led to the protests by women all over the world took social media by storm.

In India, we also witnessed initiatives taken by local police in Kolkata to take strong action against the accused, if being reported for sexual harassment.

#MeToo trending on social media saw how deep rooted the problem is and how it is no longer possible to ignore it.

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Sayanti Sengupta, a former student of the prestigious Tata Institute of Social Sciences went through harassment at the hands of a fellow student named Oishik Chatterjee.

In a Facebook post, Sayanti shared pictures of a personal conversation with the accused where he was seen mocking her.

Oishik Chatterjee did his masters in Hospital Administration from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, belonging to the 2014-16 batch.

He did not take her warning seriously of getting reported if he didn't put an end to his actions.

When contacted, Sayanti revealed how she came in contact with the accused who was a year senior to her in the same institute.

The conversation between the two began with a casual exchange of numbers and that's how the two started communicating. What followed however, was something that initially made Sayanti doubtful of Oishik's intentions.

Oishik's inappropriate flirtatious advances made Sayanti uncomfortable and she kept on ignoring him. Soon after this, he expressed his liking towards her and when Sayanti did not reciprocate his romantic initiations, he retorted to ways that were unappreciative.

According to Sayanti, she was clear in her head about the situation and made her stance very clear. Oishik immediately apologised for his actions but within a few days, the situation was back to square one. He would initiate bawdy conversations and pass lewd remarks even after the girl constantly protested against it.

Oishik kept bugging Sayanti on Facebook but did not get any response from her. It was last week when he again messaged her and she could not take it any further and finally decided to report it. On contacting fellow students from TISS, she got to know that there have been similar experiences with other women too.

A number of people responding to Sayanti's post stood in support of her decision to report the case. What came to light was that several other women shared stories of similar experience when it came to Oishik's sexual harassment.

Facebook: (Sexual harassment)

The accused has reportedly deactivated his Facebook and Twitter accounts.

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The public got all dressed up in their best vintage frocks as part of the retro revolution thats taking a hold of Tauranga.

A new Vintage and Retro Fayre, a brand new event to Tauranga, went off without a hitch, with many people saying it could be as big as the Napier Art Deco Festival.

The Greerton Village had 40 stalls of vintage items, such as clothing, furniture and vinyl on sale.

There were also four Bay of Plenty vintage vehicle clubs displaying their classic rides, including the BOP Vintage Car Club and Mini Car Club; and live music from Gin Rickey Jive who did a jazz spin on some modern songs.

Greerton Village Mainstreet Manager Sally Benning says the event was originally organised for March this year but was cancelled due to bad weather.

There was a really bad weather bomb then, so I found another day because I felt it was a great event for the community, she says.

"Vintage and retro are very popular now, and this event had something for everyone.

The public who dressed in theme were also rewarded for their efforts in playing the part, with spot prizes going to the best-dressed ladies and gents, as well as the best vintage car.

The best vehicle went to John Griffin, gents best dressed was Daniel French with runner-up Joe Scott, and ladies best dressed was Elaine Rickard with runner-up Miss Kitty Kat.

Daniel French from Tauranga came dressed as a World War 2 British spy and Elaine Rickard from Te Puke dressed as a preloved and recycled lady.

The response has been excellent from the public and I think the best-dressed competition had a lot of supporters, a lot of people dressed up and came out and supported them, says Sally. Its been a great day.

The Vintage and Retro Fayre was held at the Greerton Village Square, 179 Chadwick Road and in the Greerton Village School, from 10am-2pm.

All proceeds made on the day will go towards Greerton Village School.

Jasiel Fraser, 13, Haley Eastwood, 10.

Nick Haylings, Phillip Gore, Joe Scott, Frank Parnwell, Daniel French and Craig Williams.

Gin Rickey Jive.
Life Education Trust Western Bay of Plenty Region supporters were acknowledged and thanked at a function on Tuesday at Copper Crest Retirement Village.

A Life Membership Award was presented to Astrid Martin, who has been actively involved with the trust and the programme since the mid-1990s.

Astrid initially started as executive officer, before training as an educator.

Astrids passion for the Life Education programme and its mascot Harold the Giraffe extended from the classroom to the region. In 2003 she moved from teaching onto the board, becoming a volunteer trustee and then chairperson of the trust, a position she held for several years.

Astrid was the driving force behind the move from one mobile classroom to two, finding the resources and funding to make this happen.

Astrid continues to support the trust, from providing prizes for fundraising raffles, through to attending meetings where her expertise is needed.

Grace Hospital was also presented with a Community Contribution Award, in recognition for over 20 years of support, in particular the provision of a vehicle for one of the trusts two educators.

The Life Education lessons are presented in two mobile classrooms, which are transported between schools by local transport companies. The two educators need transport to get to these schools and Grace Hospital provides one vehicle and covers the running costs, as its contribution to Life Education in the Western Bay of Plenty.

Life Education WBOP Region chairperson Sue Boyne thanked the trusts major supporters and grant funders.

We receive no government funding. The real cost to deliver the programme is $16 per child. Schools contribute an average of $6 per child, but the remaining $10 per child (about $120,000 per year) must be raised through grant funding, donations, sponsorship and fundraising.

The support of our major sponsors and funders makes a huge difference to our organisation  it means we can continue to provide the Life Education programme to over 12,000 children in primary and intermediate schools throughout the Western Bay of Plenty.
The Kiwibank at Bayfair will no longer be providing postal services, as the branch adopts a standalone model similar to that of Kiwibank branches in Hamilton and the Auckland CBD.

The changes will occur once NZ Post finds a new business to partner with.

Until then, customers will still be able use the postal services at the Bayfair branch.

Kiwibank general manager retail distribution Geoff Waller says Kiwibanks customer needs are changing.

Its important we have the right environment for conversations and keep providing our unique customer experience. Weve seen great results already from our two existing Kiwibank standalone sites, and were excited to bring this model to Tauranga.

NZ Post head of retail Mark Yagmich says the focus now is on finding a suitable local Tauranga business to partner with.

We already successfully deliver postal services through local businesses in many communities throughout New Zealand as a way of maintaining a sustainable business. Whilst we carry out this search there will be no change to our services for customers who use the Bayfair Mall PostShop.

Kiwibank and NZ Post both say they will continue to keep staff, customers and local community informed as dates and changes are confirmed.
As stacks of Roses chocolates boxes are raised in supermarkets across the country ahead of Christmas, shoppers may notice a major difference.

Cadbury has axed the controversial Cherry Ripe from its Roses collection.

The flavour has been replaced by a new addition, "Dark Mocha".

The Roses box describes "Dark Mocha" as carrying a "rich espresso taste", with fudge covered in "Old Gold dark chocolate".

The new Roses mix was made in New Zealand at the Dunedin Cadbury factory, according to the box. The factory is set to close in 2018, Cadbury has announced. The company says Roses chocolates and other classics like Pineapple Lumps would be made in Australia after the closure.

The Cherry Ripe has long been a controversial addition to many of Cadburys chocolate assortment packs.

The company came under fire from angry customers alleging they had bought packs filled almost exclusively with Cherry Ripes, in the lead-up to Easter in 2016.

In March last year, more than 20 people complained on Cadburys Facebook page after opening their Favourites Easter egg boxes only to find a whole lot of Cherry Ripes and not much else. The company responded by saying it was just bad luck for the unhappy customers.

- Stuff
Mrs H also had plenty of time on her hands and was financially comfortable. She always rented big houses and had a couple of full-time servants.

In Granada she would spend days sitting in the Alhambra, but although she loved the country and its people, often drawing favourable comparisons with her native England, the food was a problem. She developed 'an absolute hatred, nay, detestation of our dinners.

The olla (stew) was..... an almost solid mass in which the spoon could stand upright, the little lump of black meat which might have been that of any animal from a camel to a lamb.... The unknown fish, always tasting like boiled calico....

Happily we could always have excellent coffee and equally good bread. Butter had better be forgotten as it was sold in apothecaries as an ointment....'

How things have changed, albeit slowly. Visitors to Spain in the middle part of the last century could possibly recognise some of the dishes described by Mrs H, and certainly meat was a luxury.

In Andalucia there was beef or pork, cooked and served within hours of leaving the slaughterhouse, tough and unappetising. Coming (usually by car then) from northern Europe, the best option was to buy lamb in Aranjuez's market and freeze it at the destination.

A recent theme of Onda Cero's weekly gastronomic discussion programme was how Spanish cuisine is rated outside Spain. Minimal research on international trends showed that this bears a direct relationship to the number of a country's restaurants in foreign urban centres.

To support my theory I started counting up the number of Spanish eating-places in London, but gave up after it got to high double figures. I remember when Martinez's in Swallow Street was the only one, and outside the capital there was the 'Andalucia' in Rugby. I don't think anyone these days would rate this country's cuisine other than outstanding.
The British Ambassador to Spain, Simon Manley, attended and read a lesson at the Service of Remembrance at St George's Anglican Church in Madrid.

The Ambassador was joined by diplomatic colleagues from across the Commonwealth, EU and other countries, as well as serving members of UK armed forces based in Spain.

Simon Manley said: Remembrance Day is a special moment for us all to remember those who serve, and have served, to keep us safe and free.
On 7 to 14 January over 600 Spanish teachers from all over the world will come to the city for Malaga Education Week. The aim of the event is to promote Malaga as a place where people can come to learn Spanish.

Malaga Education Week was created by the Spanish schools association (NACEM) and will be made up of debates, talks and informative meetings. Ideas regarding Spanish being an economic resource and tourist attraction will be discussed.
British armed forces associations along the Costa del Sol turned out last weekend to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice during two World Wars and recent conflicts. Several Remembrance Day services were organised by the Royal British Legion Spain South to honour the fallen and their families.

Members of the Coin branch of the RBL gathered in Coin's cemetery chapel. The Mayor of Coin, Fernando Fernandez, and the Captain of the Guardia Civil, Bernabe Moya Ortiz, attended the event. As in previous years, the TAPAs choir performed at the service.

The TIMS choir provided the hymns during the RBL service in the Salon Varietes Theatre in Fuengirola. The service was led by the President of RBL Spain South, Neil Adams, and attended by members of several branches, including Mijas Costa and Marbella.

The Royal Air Force Association held a service in the St George's Anglican Church in Malaga. The event was attended by Charmaine Arbouin, British Consul of Andalucia and the Canary Islands, who laid a memorial wreath on the graves in the English cemetery. This was followed by the reading of On Flanders Fields.

During the service, the reverend Mark Pudge said: We meet to commit ourselves to work in penitence and faith for reconciliation between the nations so that all people may live in freedom, justice and peace.

The Mollina branch of the RBL held their Remembrance Day service, led by reverend Doreen Cage, on Saturday. Members of the Mollina branch also attended the Governor's Remembrance Parade in Gibraltar on Sunday.
By PTI: United Nations, Nov 18 (PTI) A UN General Assembly committee has unanimously passed a Pakistan-sponsored draft resolution over the right to self-determination for peoples who are subject to colonial domination and foreign occupation.

The draft resolution, which now moves the General Assembly for passage next month, calls on countries to cease immediately their military intervention in and occupation of foreign countries and territories, and all acts of repression, discrimination, exploitation and maltreatment.

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It was co-sponsored by 75 countries.

However, the US was quick to point out that the draft resolution contains many misstatements of international law and is inconsistent with current state practice.

Introducing the resolution, the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi said the right to self- determination "forms the bedrock" of the most important human rights conventions - the covenant of civil and political rights and the covenant of economic social and cultural rights.

"The latter categorically states All people have the right of self-determination by virtue of their right to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic social and cultural development. The right to self- determination has also been reaffirmed and upheld time and again repeatedly by all major UN, NAM, OIC and other summits as well other numerous resolutions and declarations," she said.

Of late, Pakistan has itself been facing demands for right to self-determination in various parts of the country, including in Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan.

Free Balochistan posters and banners have appeared in various parts of the world including Switzerland and the UK.

Altaf Hussain of the Muhajir Quami Movement (MQM) in recent months has also started demanding right to self- determination alleging that Muhajirs have been subject to brutal repression by Pakistani security forces.

Lodhi told members of Third Committee of the General Assembly that the "draft resolution before the committee reaffirms the universal significance of the right to self- determination" and declares firm opposition to all acts of foreign occupation, military intervention and domination, which resulted in the suppression of this fundamental human right and gives rise to chaos and insecurity in the world.

The resolution, she said, sends a strong signal of support from the international community to peoples everywhere in the world who still find themselves "subjugated and oppressed and struggling against foreign occupation".

After the unanimous passage of the vote, the Spanish representative told the committee that the colonial situation in Gibraltar affected the territorial integrity of his country.

Spain had asked for decades for a dialogue-based solution and had proposed co-sovereignty as a way to address the socio-economic well-being of the territory.

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Asserting that this means that the right to self- determination is not fully enjoyed, Spain alleged that the UN Charter is being used to uphold the interests of colonising powers.

Spain has been calling for "shared sovereignty" on Gibraltar.

The US representative said that the country considers the right of self-determination of peoples to be important and therefore joins a consensus on this resolution.

"We note however as has frequently been stated by the United States and other delegations that this resolution contains many misstatements of international law and is inconsistent with current state practice," he said in the committee after the passage of the draft resolution.

Exercising its right to reply, Britain recalled its sovereignty over Gibraltar, saying the people of Gibraltar had enjoyed the right of self-determination.

The constitution endorsed by the people of Gibraltar had provided for a modern relationship, and the UK reiterated its commitment to the people of Gibraltar.

The British representative said Britain would not enter into sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar was not content. She expressed regret that Spain had withdrawn from talks in 2012. PTI LKJ KUN

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Friends, neighbours, foreigners' councillor, Jorge Bravo and infrastructure councillor, Jose Maria Rivas Galvez, joined Alfons Mettel who retired earlier this year after 30 years as president of El Capistrano village in Nerja last Thursday for the renaming of a plaza. Plaza Alfons Mettel, which is in situated in the heart of the village, was named after Mr Mettel in recognition of his hard work and dedication to El Capistrano spanning three decades.

Alfons and Rosie Mettel originally bought a house in the development in 1978, seven years after construction started. The couple used it as a holiday home for a decade and became permanent residents 1n 1988.

Alfons, who spent many years working in top level positions for Unilever in Africa and South America, was asked soon after moving in to take over as president of the village. On accepting the position, he promised his wife that it would only be for a year or so, he explains. He took over in the midst of what some have described as a rebellion. There was a bank loan that had to be paid back and problems with electricity supply and the sewage system ensued. Many homeowners were not paying the monthly community fees and there was division among residents.

One of the first steps that the new president took was to restrict the use of the pool to those who were up to date with community fees. This led to a knock on the door one Sunday morning, Alfons recalls, from the Guardia Civil, who had received calls from residents asking Alfons to be more lenient. The case ended up going to the high court in Madrid. Eventually people started to pay community fees again and the all important swimming pool was available once again to everyone. We came here to retire and relax, Alfons jokes.

Among the numerous residents, projects and anecdotes they have met, seen and can recount in the time they have lived there, Rosie and Alfons will have witnessed the filming of popular Spanish television series, Verano Azul in 1981 which used El Capistrano. British television presenter, Judith Chalmers, once owned a property there and they will have lived through the timeshare boom of the late 1970s and 80s.

The couple are originally from Germany, but through Alfons's job with Unilever, have lived in The Congo, Kenya, Mexico and Venezuela, where their two children were born. Reflecting on their 30 years in Nerja, Rosie says, We have never lived anywhere for so long!

The couple both speak fluent English, Spanish and French along with their native German. For work purposes the lingua franca in many countries we have lived in has been English but if you live in the country you have to speak the language, Alfons says of their linguistic skills.

Rosie has been involved in work with organisations such as the International Red Cross in the different countries the couple have lived in. She has helped in schools and hospitals to get necessary resources and on a project in Zaire along with the Austrian ambassador, to educate people on birth control.

Alfons was awarded an OBE in 1988 for services to industry and for helping British people who were living in the same countries as him. He says that he was the 75th German person to receive the title. Although he admits he was very honoured to have been honoured, he confesses that he never uses the title. Alfons was unable to travel to London for the ceremony. However, he was presented with the award at a later date by the UK ambassador to Spain on behalf of the Queen, when a British warship docked in Almeria.

In 1993 the then Mayor of Nerja approached Alfons to set up an association for presidents of housing developments and that is when APCUN (Association of Presidents of Urbanisations In Nerja) was born. The mayor was aware of other presidents of housing developments facing similar problems and knew about the progress he had made at El Capistrano.

Despite the inauspicious start to his tenure as president of El Capistrano Alfons has turned things around in the last 30 years. Potential enemies he may have made in the early days of swimming pool restrictions have become long-term neighbours and friends and the couple talk of the sense of community that exists in the area. Our neighbours are very nice people, it's a very close community with lots of activities that have developed over the years, says Rosie.

There are organisations, lectures, films, concerts, international dinners, a social room, book club and library. A host of volunteers of all ages help out with the various activities and despite language barriers people do come together they say.

At 85, Alfons says he is looking forward to a retirement full of travel and writing. He has a book published and says he has another in the pipeline. He adds that he always said that if and when there was someone able and willing to take over the job then he would step down. It took him 30 years but Keith Taylor, who was previously Vice-president, took over at the beginning of 2017. The hand over went very smoothly, confirms Alfons.
RICHMOND  Traveling to spend time with family is a holiday tradition, and as millions hit the road this Thanksgiving, Virginia State Police urges motorists to drive to save lives so everyone arrives safely for the celebration.

Within the past two weeks, traffic crashes in Virginia have claimed the lives of 35 drivers and passengers, and nine pedestrians. From Jan. 1, 2017, to Nov. 16, 2017, preliminary reports indicate traffic crashes statewide have resulted in 710 deaths; compared to 640 deaths during the same timeframe in 2016.

Tragically, traffic fatalities are on the rise in Virginia, said Colonel W. Steven Flaherty, Virginia State Police Superintendent. Weve seen an 11 percent increase over this time last year. With so many people estimated to travel over the Thanksgiving weekend, we need everyone to help prevent crashes by driving smart, buckling up and never driving drunk or drugged. We want everyone to arrive alive and enjoy the holiday.

To help prevent traffic deaths and injuries during the Thanksgiving holiday, the Virginia State Police will once again be participating in Operation C.A.R.E., an acronym for the Combined Accident Reduction Effort. Operation C.A.R.E. is a state-sponsored, national program designed to reduce crashes, fatalities and injuries caused by speeding, impaired driving and failure to use occupant restraints. As a participating agency, state police will increase its visibility and traffic enforcement efforts throughout the Commonwealth beginning Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017, at 12:01 a.m. and continuing through midnight, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2017.

During last years Thanksgiving weekend, Virginia State Police troopers:

 Cited 9,235 speeders

 Cited 2,928 reckless drivers

 Arrested 132 drunken drivers

 Cited 824 safety belt violations & 286 child restraint violations

 Investigated 1,163 traffic crashes, in which eight were fatal

With additional troopers and other law enforcement working on Virginias highways this holiday weekend, Virginia State Police also reminds drivers to comply with Virginias Move Over law. A life-saving law intended to protect public safety responders and others who have a responsibility to work the roads. Drivers are required to change to another travel lane or, when unable to, to cautiously pass emergency personnel stopped on the side of the road. The law also includes highway maintenance vehicles and tow trucks equipped with flashing amber lights.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A Jamesville couple has made Upstate Foundation history by donating the largest monetary gift the organization has ever seen, according to Upstate Medical University officials.

Carol Nappi, left, and her husband Sam Nappi, right, recently donated $8 million to the Upstate Foundation, the largest gift in its history.

The multi-million-dollar donation will go toward a new hospital complex, expanding its focus to neurosciences -- with a focus on Alzheimer's disease and Dementia -- and general wellness, according to Upstate officials.

Sam and Carol Nappi, of Jamesville, announced the $8 million donation to the foundation at a gala held Friday night.

Sam Nappi is the founder and chairman of Alliance Energy, a group focused on promoting and researching renewable energy, according to its website. Carol Nappi is a member of the Upstate Medical University College of Nursing Advisory Board and is a former psychiatric therapist.

The Nappis are known in the community for donating to local medical research programs, according to the hospital. They also had a hand in the creation of the St. Joseph's Hospital Emergency Services building, the Christina M. Nappi Surgical Tower, and created Syracuse University's Biomedical Stem Cell Laboratory, officials said.

"Sam and Carol Nappi have shown over time through their generous gifts, a love for this community and a desire to improve the health of this community," Upstate President Danielle Laraque-Arena said. "Their cause is our mission and we are grateful for their support."

The wellness complex will be known as the Nappi Longevity Institute in honor of the Nappi's donation. The building, set to be built on the corner of East Adams and Almond streets, is supposed to have eight floors and cover about 360,000 square feet, according to hospital officials.

Construction on the new building is scheduled for early 2018.
SALAMANCA, N.Y. -- Police are searching for two baby girls who went missing with their mothers Saturday in Western New York.

Keshauna Boggs and Selena Ventura, both teenagers, were last seen with their children in Cattaraugus County, according to the state Missing Persons Clearinghouse. Police said the children -- two baby girls -- are believed to be in danger.

The babies, Londyn Richardson and Malani Ventura, went missing around 6:30 a.m. on East State Street in Salamanca, officials said. The children are traveling with their mothers in an SUV, officials said.

The mothers may be headed for Long Island, officials said. Police believe the woman might travel to Sound Beach or Bayshore in Suffolk County.

Keshauna Boggs, left, and Selena Ventura, right, went missing together with their baby daughters at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017, in Salamanca, Cattaraugus County. The babies, Londyn Richardson and Malani Ventura, are considered endangered.

Officials provided descriptions of the mothers, the babies and the vehicle all four are traveling in.

The baby girls:

Londyn Richardson, Boggs' daughter, is 29 days old. Londyn weighs about 10 pounds and is 18-inches long. She has black hair and brown eyes.

Malani Ventura, Selena Ventura's daughter, is 3 months old. Malani weighs about 20 pounds and is 24-inches long. She has black hair and brown eyes.

The mothers:

Boggs, Londyn's mother, is 18 years old. She is 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds. Boggs has brown eyes and black hair that is dyed orange at the tips.

Ventura, Malani's mother, is 16 years old. She is 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs about 200 pounds. Ventura has black hair and brown eyes.

The vehicle:

Officials said the mothers are traveling with their babies in a blue 2007 Honda CRV. The SUV has New York license plates numbered HDL6588.

State officials asked anyone with information about the missing children and their mothers to call 911 or reach out to the Salamanca City Police Department at (716) 945-2330.
The resolution is expected to come up for General Assembly's endorsement next month.

By Indo-Asian News Service: The UN General Assembly has unanimously passed a Pakistan-sponsored resolution reaffirming that the universal realisation of the right of peoples to self-determination was a fundamental condition for the effective guarantee and observance of human rights.

The resolution, co-sponsored by 75 countries was adopted on Thursday without a vote in the 193-member Assembly's Third Committee, which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural issues, reports Dawn news.

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Earlier, introducing the resolution in the committee, Pakistan's Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi said that self-determination had provided hope to people in their struggle against foreign occupation, a right that had been upheld by all major UN summits, Non-Aligned Movement and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The resolution is expected to come up for General Assembly's endorsement next month.

The text also declared the General Assembly's firm opposition to acts of foreign military intervention, aggression and occupation, since these have resulted in the suppression of the right of peoples to self-determination and other human rights in certain parts of the world.

The resolution called on those states responsible to cease immediately their military intervention and occupation of foreign countries and territories, as well as all acts of repression, discrimination, exploitation and maltreatment.

It is a message of support from the international community to peoples, everywhere in the world, who still find themselves subjugated and oppressed and struggling against foreign occupation.

"It is my earnest hope that this august body will once again adopt the resolution by consensus, and that more of you will join as cosponsors to show your firm and unwavering commitment to the right to self-determination for all occupied, oppressed and suffering people of the world", the ambassador added.

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A 10-year-old kid was able to use his face to unlock his mother's iPhone X, raising fresh concerns on the security of Apple's Face ID feature.

Apple is rumored to be planning three iPhone models next year, all of them with the bezel-less iPhone X design and Face ID. The security feature, however, will need to win over the trust of customers before then.

Son Unlocks Mom's iPhone X Using His Face

Attaullah Malik uploaded a video that demonstrated how his 10-year-old son, Ammar Malik, was able to unlock the iPhone X of his wife, Sana Sherwani, through the Face ID feature.

According to Apple, there is a roughly one in 1 million chance that a random person will be able to unlock somebody else's iPhone X using their face. However, things are different in the cases of twins, siblings, and children under the age of 13 years old.

Malik expressed concern that his son was able to access Sherwani's iPhone X in an interview with Wired. The parents do not want to disable Face ID due to its convenience, but the concern for privacy remains very real.

When Malik and Sherwani were asked to re-register their faces on the Face ID feature of their respective iPhone X units, the results were varying. Their son was able to unlock his mother's smartphone in the third and sixth attempts.

Should iPhone X Owners Be Concerned?

The experiment that Wired suggested for Malik and Sherwani to do revealed that iPhone X owners should not really worry about random people being able to break through Face ID security.

The prevailing theory is that, as the 10-year-old kept using his face to try to unlock the iPhone X, Sherwani's usage of the password made the smartphone train itself on her son's face.

Part of the Face ID's capabilities is that, if it does not recognize the user but a certain threshold is met and the password is entered immediately, the system will learn new data and combine it with what is stored inside the iPhone X. This means that the Face ID data of Sherwani's son was likely combined with hers, making it much easier for her son to unlock the iPhone X using his face.

This is the same thing that happened with the cases of brothers beating Face ID and the reason why iPhone X owners do not need to worry that the facial recognition system is vulnerable. A Vietnamese security firm claimed that a mask tricked Face ID, but it involved a lot of preparation and was impractical to use on regular people.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The unfortunate demise of billions of passenger pigeons, which led to its extinction, may be due to its loss of genetic diversity.

Passenger pigeons used to dominate the skies of North America, with an estimated population reaching about 5 billion. Also known as Ectopistes migratorius, these birds nested in flocks to drive off predators and keep their numbers growing.

Lack Of Genetic Diversity

Their effort to maintain their huge population eventually caused their extinction. With the birds banding together, they were easy target for hunters who catch and shoot the bird to trade in the market. Aside from commercialization, rapid extinction of passenger pigeons may be due to the loss of genetic diversity.

Through the analysis of DNAs of preserved birds, evolutionary biologists from University of California, Santa Cruz were able to compare the specimens of passenger pigeons coming from varied geographic regions with two band-tailed pigeons. They found that passenger pigeons showed evidence of natural selection. High genetic diversity was present in genomes that underwent mutations between generations, while regions that did not rearrange or mutate have low diversity. When this happens, harmful DNA will adjust with the good genes and result to the suppression of genetic variation.

"When we looked at rates of adaptive evolution and purifying selection in both species, we found evidence that natural selection had resulted in both a faster rate of adaptive evolution in passenger pigeons and a faster purging of deleterious mutations," said coauthor Gemma Murray. "That is exactly what you would expect to see if selection is causing the differences in genetic diversity."

Scientists deduced that while the pigeons adapted well to living in large flocks, they were not able to cope well when their numbers started to diminish.

Beth Shapiro, a coauthor of the study, said it was possible to avoid the extinction of passenger pigeons if it wasn't for overhunting and overexploitation. A constant reminder of poor legislation laws is Martha, the last known passenger pigeon that died on Sept. 1, 1914. The bird was the subject of genetic engineering to bring the extinct birds back to life.

"Perhaps we should step back and think more holistically about how species have adapted and evolved as we try to come up with ways to protect them," said Shapiro. "We think now of restoring them by creating patches of protected habitat, but we don't know if the way they've evolved through their entire history means that they're not fit for living in small populations."

Conservation Efforts For Rare Populations

National Museum of Natural History curator of birds Helen James suggests that there should be more intense conservation efforts focused on birds with rare population.

"We have to understand what's going on in populations, what's going on in the ecosystem at large," said James. "Because if a major factor that allows the species to survive suddenly changes, you absolutely can have sudden disappearances of species that are ecologically playing a really large role. And that can have cascading effects."

The study is published in Science on Nov. 17.

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The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced on Wednesday, Nov. 15, their decision to allow the Arecibo Observatory to remain operational with a reduced funding from the decision-making body.

Science-Focused Operations

According to the announcement, the decision is a thrust toward the NSF's goal of partnering with interested stakeholders to help in maintaining science-focused operations of the radio telescope despite the budgetary constraints of the agency.

"NSF remains deeply concerned about the impacts from recent hurricanes on Arecibo Observatory staff, the facility, and all citizens of Puerto Rico" NSF said in a statement. "The Record of Decision arrives at a challenging time, but is necessary for the agency to secure a future for the Observatory, as it will allow negotiations to begin with potential collaborators who may take over management and operations as NSF funding is reduced."

The NSF conducted a study on the environmental impact of Arecibo to help them decide on the future operations of the facility. During the study, the agency also solicited for possible funding partners. While the environmental study concluded early this year, announcement was put on hold after the Hurricane Maria damaged the observatory. While the damage to the observatory was minimal, the agency expects to shell out a minimum of $4 million for its repair.

James Ulvestad, acting assistant director for NSF's Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate in Alexandria, Virginia, confirmed that Arecibo will remain functional only because there were viable partners who responded to the agency's solicitation. Once negotiations are final, NSF's financial contribution to Arecibo will decrease to only $2 million annually.

"We have worked very hard to help bring Arecibo to a state where we still have cutting-edge research there, but with NSF not having to make the same investment that we've made historically," said Ulvestad.

Arecibo's Scientific Discoveries

The 54-year-old radio telescope was built in a sinkhole in western Puerto Rico. Regarded as the world's second-largest radio telescope, Arecibo radio telescope has several important contributions to science since its construction in the 1960s. Last year, the radio telescope provided a detailed analysis of the rarely occurring repeated fast radio bursts (FRBs).

It was also the first to send a targeted message to the stars, gave the first indirect evidence for cosmic ripples, and discerned the first planets to orbit a star. To date, Arecibo remains an important radio telescope in detecting gravitational waves via pulsar stars.

"It remains the most sensitive telescope in the world for pulsar timing and provides a critical resource for training students throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico," said Maura McLaughlin, chair of the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves.

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You a Bose fan? If so, you should know that it's holding a huge Black Friday 2017 sale on Amazon right now.

It's slashing down the prices of its audio peripherals, from a slew of headphones to speakers. The best part is, some of the discounts even go all the way up to 50 percent off.

Bose Does Black Friday Right

Of course, there's plenty of Bose products to choose from on Amazon, but to help you get started, here's a couple of notable deals worth taking note of:

Bose SoundSport in-ear headphones: $49 from $99 (save $50)

Bose SoundTrue Ultra in-ear headphones: $79 from $129 (save $50)

Bose SoundSport wireless headphones: $129 from $149 (save $20)

Bose SoundSport Pulse wireless headphones: $179 from $199 (save $20)

Bose QuietComfort 25 acoustic noise cancelling headphones: $179 from $299 (save $120)

Bose SoundLink around-ear wireless headphones II: $199 from $279 (save $80)

Bose QuietComfort 35 (Series I) wireless headphones, noise cancelling: $329 from $349 (save $20)

If you're not in the market for some headphones, then you'll be glad to know that Bose is also throwing in some speakers into the mix.

Bose SoundTouch 10 wireless speaker: $179 from $199 (save $20)

Bose Solo 15 Series II TV sound system: $299 from $329 (save $30)

Bose SoundTouch 30 Series III wireless speaker: $449 from $499 (save $50)

Bose SoundTouch 20 Series III wireless speaker: $314 from $349 (save $35)

Amazon Prime's free shipping service is applicable to all of them, but if you can't wait to get your hands on them, you can opt for next-day shipping for a small fee.

Take note that Bose also has listed down the QuietComfort 35 wireless headphones for $329.95, SoundLink around-ear wireless headphones II for $229.95, and SoundSport in-ear headphones for Apple devices for $49.95 on its website, which are all under the Special Offers category.

It's also worth mentioning that the QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones come with Google Assistant, but unfortunately, it didn't make the cut in Bose's Black Friday sale extravaganza.

Wrap-up

Bose wants you to have a pair of headphones or a speaker or two, and it's coming in strong this Black Friday to do just that by cutting down prices across the board.

Now the deals are already up way ahead of the holiday, and that means you can go start grabbing some Bose stuff before the typical chaos takes place.

With all said and done, feel free to hit us up in the comments section below and let us know if any of these bargains caught your eye. Happy shopping!

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Astronomers have finally discovered the origin of an eerie whistling sound in space, referred to as the whistler mode chorus. The phenomenon has been linked to the sudden bursts of electrons in the magnetosphere.

Whistler Mode Chorus

A research team from the University of Minnesota combined data collected by NASA's FIREBIRD II CubeSat and Van Allen Probes mission to find that a common plasma wave in space is possibly the reason behind the impulsive loss of high-energy electrons into the atmosphere of the Earth.

The waves, which can accelerate electrons efficiently, are created by the fluctuations in magnetic and electric fields. They have typical rising tones that sound similar to the noise made by chirping birds. The research team published their findings in Geophysical Review Letters.

Observing the detailed chain of events between chorus waves and electrons requires a conjunction between two or more satellites, lead study author Aaron Breneman said. There are certain things you cant learn by having only one satellite  you need simultaneous observations at different locations.

The two spacecraft happened to be located in the perfect position, which enabled them both to capture the impulsive electron loss. The FIREBIRD II flies at a height of 310 miles above the planet and the two Van Allen Probes travel in a wide orbit at 13,000 miles high above Earth.

The differences in the height at which the spacecraft are located, further, allowed the researchers to observe the cause of the fluctuating electrons from varying perspectives. While studying the combined data, the researchers found out that chorus waves in the Van Allen belts began making noise immediately before FIREBIRD II detected the microbursts.

NASA has stated that the new results are a confirmation that chorus waves play a significant part in controlling energetic electrons loss. The information can help scientists know why radiation belts hurl away high-energy electrons so violently. The knowledge can further aid in improving the predictions for space weather.

Spooky Space Sounds

The sounds in outer space can be a bit creepy at times, in fact, NASA had released a spooky space sound playlist last month to commemorate the occasion of Halloween. It was a compilation of sounds captured at various times by satellites traveling through the universe.

Even though the lack of atmosphere and space vacuum means that there is no way to relay sound waves, some spacecraft are still able to capture radio emissions in the cosmos. The radio waves that are captured are sent back to Earth and converted into sound waves.

For now, the eerie whistling noise of Whistler Mode Chorus, which sounds quite similar to a horror or a sci-fi film soundtrack, can be heard here on the agencys Soundcloud account.

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Controversial neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero claimed that head transplant surgeries will soon become an accepted procedure as his team successfully accomplished a head transplant on a cadaver.

The Italian surgeon announced on Friday, Nov. 17, during a press conference in Vienna that his team from Harbin Medical University in China was able to transfer a head between two corpses. Canavero added that a surgical journal will release a more detailed report of the said procedure in a few days.

"The first human transplant on human cadavers has been done," said Canavero, according to The Telegraph. "A full head swap between brain dead organ donors is the next stage."

The Future Of Head Transplants

With the head transplant between two brain-dead donors next in Canavero's plans, is there really a high chance for this to push through?

There were numerous, less controversial transplants done in the past. In 2012, Andrew Sandness underwent a facial transplant procedure after a gunshot damaged his face, leaving him with only two teeth and no jaw and nose.

However, head transplant is a radical procedure. Many experts question its scientific possibility and ethical consequences.

On a scientific point of view, Michael Sarr, editor of the journal Surgery and a former Mayo Clinic surgeon, explained that what Canavero wants to achieve is quite impossible. He explained that when doctors sever a nerve, its "downstream side" or the region that receives the signal dies. The "upstream side" or the region of the nerve that produces the signal also dies but eventually regrows to only about a foot-length provided that a "downstream channel" is present.

This is the medical basis behind amputation and re-implantation of extremities. Amputated and re-implanted wrists can still regain function, while amputated shoulders will not result to a purposeful hand.

"What Canavero will do differently is bathe the ends of the nerves in a solution that stabilizes the membranes and put them back together," explained Sarr. "The nerves will be fused, but won't regrow. And he will do this not in the peripheral nerves such as you find in the arm, but in the spinal cord, where there's multiple types of nerve channels."

Canavero, the proponent behind the HEAVEN procedure, also previously reported a successful head transplant between two rats.

Head Transplant And Its Ethical Implications

Aside from overcoming the hurdle of medical feasibility, Canavero and his goals of head transplant still need to answer whether the procedure should indeed happen or not.

Medical practitioners raise concerns about the ethical implications of the procedure, citing that there are no scientific studies with animal models that can support Canavero's claims. Assya Pascalev, a biomedical ethicist at Howard University, claims that revolutionary procedures are strong magnets of criticisms and objections. There is also the issue of regulation. Pascalev also raised concern about some legal issues that will result from the procedure.

"It's not just about a head adjusting to a new body. We might be dealing with a whole new person," added Pascalev.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Several puppies brought to New Hampshire and Vermont from Puerto Rico tested positive for leptospirosis after getting sick. Individuals who interacted with the infected puppies are advised by authorities to consult their healthcare providers.

Puppies From Puerto Rico

On Nov. 9, a Vermont dog rescue non-profit brought 10 puppies to Vermont and New Hampshire from hurricane devastated Puerto Rico in hopes of finding a good home for them. A couple of days later, the puppies were taken to the outdoor patio at Ramunto's Brick and Brew Pizzeria so that the patrons and customers could interact with them.

Soon after, five of the 10 puppies had fallen ill, with one of them testing positive for leptospirosis. That said, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) states that the puppy that tested positive for leptospirosis was not at the restaurant, and as they were merely stationed at a designated area outside the facility, the restaurant is deemed as safe. Out of the five puppies that got sick, two have been euthanized.

As such, DHHS are investigating and contacting the households which received any of the puppies. What's more, they are also encouraging any persons who may have been in contact with the puppies to contact their healthcare providers. Those who were at the pizzeria but did not come in contact with the puppies are not at risk of infection as it takes direct contact with the infected animal's urine to be infected.

Leptospirosis In Animals And Pets

Leptospirosis is a bacterial infection that can infect humans and various kinds of wild and domestic animals including dogs, horses, cattle, and rodents. The bacteria that causes leptospirosis, Leptospira, is spread through the urine of infected animals which may seep into soil or water where it can live for up to weeks and even months. Animals that are infected by the bacteria often do not display any symptoms but may continue to excrete the bacteria once in a while for up to several years.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests taking care of rodent problems to protect the household from contracting leptospirosis, and even having pets vaccinated. But if a veterinarian has confirmed that your pet does have leptospirosis, antibiotic treatments are available. Early treatment may allow your pet to recover faster and prevent more serious damage to your pet's organs. Direct contact with your pet's blood, urine, and tissues during the infection must be avoided.

Although leptospirosis is quite rare in the United States, it is the most widespread zoonotic disease in the world, with 50 percent of cases occurr in Puerto Rico.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Researchers found that a genetic mutation among members of an Amish community may actually be helping them live longer and evade aging-related diseases such as diabetes. Experts are now working on a possible "longevity" drug based on the mutation.

Genetic Mutation In The Amish Community

In 2015, a team of healthcare workers went to Berne, Indiana to investigate, study, and interact with the members of an Old Order Amish community. Nearly 180 immediate and extended family members were tested, 43 of whom were carriers of a unique genetic mutation that evidently allows them to live 10 years longer than their kin.

Normally, the gene SERPINE1 makes PAI-1, a protein that is associated with aging. However, 43 of the 177 individuals tested were found to carry mutations on the gene. They were also found to have longer telomeres, or the protective caps at the end of our chromosomes, which is a biological marker of aging in which shorter telomeres are signs of aging.

Protected From Diabetes

Researchers then tested the individuals for signs and markers of aging and found that those with the mutation retained the flexibility of their blood vessels compared to those who do not have the mutation. What's more, when they compared the fasting insulin levels of an individual with two normal copies of the gene and another with one gene mutation, the individual with the mutation had almost 30 percent lower fasting insulin levels, making him practically protected from developing diabetes.

"Not only do they live longer, they live healthier. It's a desirable form of longevity. It's their 'health span'," said Dr. Douglas Vaughan, cardiologist and lead author of the study.

Private Mutation

The Amish community in Indiana was originally from Berne, Switzerland and emigrated to the country in the 19th century. The mutation was introduced by two descendants of farmers from Switzerland who eventually married into the Amish community. Because of the isolated nature of the community, they have been both culturally and genetically isolated. In fact, no other Amish community carries the mutation.

"This is the only kindred on the planet that has this mutation," said Vaughan.

Members of the Berne Amish community with the mutation tend to have a life expectancy of 85, while other Amish without the mutation have an average lifespan of 71.

'Longevity' Pill

Because of the astounding finding on the Berne Amish community, Northwestern University partnered up with Tohoku University to create a "longevity" pill, an anti-aging drug which essentially mimics the effects of the mutation by inhibiting PAI-1.

The drug is currently in its second phase of testing in Japan and the team plans on applying for FDA approval to begin testing in the United States in the coming months. They are also planning on testing the drug on individuals with type 2 diabetes and obesity.

The study is published in Science Advances.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
By India Today Web Desk: The official Twitter handle of Priyanka Chopra's team shared a video on Thursday night which shows the actor being pushed out of a moving van by her Quantico co-star Russell Tovey.

If you were thinking that Priyanka Chopra was seriously injured, you could not be further from the truth. On closer inspection, you realise that the two actors are just goofing around. The van is stationary; what gave the illusion of movement was a screen behind with moving scenery projected on to it. In fact, you can even hear Priyanka tell Russell at the end of the video that he is being "so dramatic".

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Priyanka is currently busy shooting for the third season of Quantico. Apart from this, she has two Hollywood films, A Kid Like Jake and Isn't It Romantic? in the pipeline.

Fans who were waiting for her to sign a Bollywood film will have to wait a while, since Priyanka is already neck-deep in work. Her name has been associated with several films, from the Kalpana Chawla biopic to Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Gustakhiyan. However, her mother, Madhu Chopra, confirmed that she has no time for a Bollywood project this year.

ALSO WATCH: I wanted to be seen as a modern actor, says Priyanka Chopra

--- ENDS ---
Just four days after the tragic killings of 26 people at a Texas church, the Rev. David Collins, an Albany pastor, gathered leaders in his congregation to discuss forming a security team for their small Baptist church.

"I can't imagine something happening to small town Albany, but you never know," said Collins, pastor of Blood River Baptist Church in eastern Livingston Parish. "We're definitely praying nothing like that will ever happen, but I imagine the people in Texas thought the same thing."

The team is made up of deacons and members who are former and current emergency responders like police officers and firefighters. Collins said their new security protocols began Nov. 12, when they discreetly checked the parking lot, bathrooms and lone open doorway  down from the three doors they used to always leave open. Collins said they also plan to install security cameras to monitor the property and are considering addressing the whole congregation about emergency procedures.

And, he said, the church will pay the fees for the security team to complete tactical training classes newly offered by the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office, an eight-hour course required by state law for someone to carry a concealed firearm in a place of worship.

"I remember growing up in churches and we never had to think of this, but we live in a fallen world," Collins said. "We need to keep our focus on Jesus Christ ... but at the same token, we have to protect each other too."

Faith leaders and their congregations across the Baton Rouge area have found themselves discussing safety and security as they try to grapple with the reality of the massacre by a man armed with a military-style rifle on Nov. 5 at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. In that incident, an armed neighbor  and former National Rifle Association instructor  grabbed his own rifle and exchanged fire with the gunman outside the church. That neighbor and another man later gave chase as gunman Devin Patrick Kelley drove away. Kelley later died of a self-inflicted gunshot, authorities concluded.

'Let's go:' Former NRA instructor recalls chasing down, stopping Texas church shooter SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas (AP)  A former National Rifle Association instructor who grabbed his rifle and ran barefoot across the street to op

Some local churches, like Blood River Baptist Church, are choosing to take advantage of legislation passed in 2010 that allows church, synagogue and mosque leaders to approve members already equipped with concealed carry permits to also pack heat in their houses of worship  providing the members undergo an additional eight hours of tactical training annually. But other faith leaders have decided it's more important to maintain gun-free zones in their sanctuaries and address safety in different ways.

Tactical training

The Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office advertised on Facebook two days after the Texas church shooting that it would offer the required tactical training to certify concealed carriers to do so at their places of worship, the course Collins' selected security team has decided to take. Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard said the courses were not a reaction to the recent shooting in Texas, but he said that incident definitely drew more response about the new program.

"Those things get people thinking, and they want to make sure they have the training they need," Ard said. "We are getting a lot of interest."

In less than two weeks since opening sign-ups for the courses, almost all of the 75 available spots have been filled, said Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Lori Steele. She said the office will look to offer more dates for the training if residents continue to sign up. The course costs $125 per participant.

Ard said he spoke with some faith leaders in Livingston more than a year ago about their interest in having some designated parishioners armed at their services. He worked with some of his deputies who already were certified as state concealed handgun permit instructors to develop the curriculum for the church, synagogue or mosque training. It is prohibited by Louisiana law to bring a concealed gun into a house of worship except under this provision that allows for designated carriers who are trained.

+17 Some St. Tammany churches training members to carry concealed weapons as part of security team The image on the screen was stark: a Bible next to a gun with the inscription, "One will save your soul. One will save your life.''

Although the instructors for these faith-based tactical courses have to be state-certified teachers for concealed handgun permits, there is no statewide or standard training for the tactical training specified in state law. State Police keep a log of approved concealed handgun permit instructors, but they do not track who has submitted approved syllabuses for the faith-specific training, said State Police spokesman Senior Trooper Bryan Lee.

Ard said his office's curriculum goes over roles and responsibilities for lay security officers, how to interact with law enforcement, tips for emergency planning, education on firearms and ballistics as well as how to respond if someone does open fire in a church.

"The No. 1 thing we want to make sure we're paying attention to is safety for everyone," Ard said. "People have to understand what they have in their hand and how dangerous it is."

Though Live Oak United Methodist Church in Watson has had security procedures in place for the past few years, including two off-duty officers patrolling during services and a security team, the Rev. Mark Crosby, senior pastor, said he plans to send some members to the Livingston Parish sheriff's tactical training.

I think itd be beneficial because the size of our campus, its hard for even two (off-duty officers) to be able to patrol (everywhere)," said Crosby, whose church has about 3,000 members.

He said he realizes some members might not be keen on having concealed weapons at church, but he said he hopes the majority will be grateful to know someone in their trusted community is armed.

"My thought is, had there been a uniformed (officer) or even an usher outside the doors that was carrying (in Sutherland Springs), could they have prevented this massacre from happening?" Crosby said.

Although the Texas church shooting sparked conversation about safety between the Rev. Conway Knighton, of St. Mary Baptist Church, and other clergy, the Baton Rouge pastor said he still feels comfortable with only fully trained security officers wielding guns  something his church has invested in for Sunday services. St. Mary pays for two off-duty sheriff's deputies to patrol the premises, which Knighton said is much safer than having his civilian members carrying guns into church, even if those civilians undergo an eight-hour training.

"Officers are trained to make split decisions; most parishioners aren't going to have that," he said. "In hostile situations or unusual situations, if they're not trained to deal with that and you just have (someone without) professional training, other people can get hurt by that."

The Rev. Nichelle Landry, pastor of Victory International Ministries in Baton Rouge, said when the Texas church massacre came up at a Bible study the week following the incident, one of her volunteers offered to go through the certification process to carry a gun at services. But she declined.

"That was not my vision for God's house," Landry said. "I can't tell him what to do on his personal property, but we just want to remain prayerful, be aware of our surroundings. That's what we're encouraging our congregation to do."

Landry said her leadership team discussed further security options for their church, but they chose instead to beef up their evangelism, prayers and outreach to the residents of Baton Rouge.

"We cannot allow fear to seep in," Landry said.

Weighing options

For other faith leaders, it's about striking a balance.

"(Security) is something that we always think about, and yet we're sensitive to not let it affect our mission and our identity as a really open place," said Rabbi Natan Trief, of Beth Shalom Synagogue in Baton Rouge.

Trief said this past week, Beth Shalom leaders set up a security task force to head the synagogue's future safety protocols, weigh options and decide what methods will be most beneficial for them.

"(These kind of attacks) have been happening for a while, but (Texas) kind of fueled the desire to get on top of this once and for all," Trief said. "I just think the sheer number, the size of the town and that he literally went up and down the pews ... those statistics really allow you to see evil really close up; it strikes a chord."

Trief said during the synagogue's biggest holiday services, they hire an off-duty officer to patrol. Otherwise, the synagogue benefits from having some congregation members who are law enforcement officers and can always be aware at services. He said the new security task force will look into the option of training some eligible members so they could be armed at the synagogue but said the task force first will consult security professionals to see what's best.

For the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge, Chief Financial Officer Joe Ingraham said he doesn't expect security protocols to drastically change immediately, but he said there's now a bigger push to better streamline procedures for all emergencies.

He said the diocese already has implemented an emergency-related smartphone app with information on what to do during events like hurricanes or active shooters, but it is still working on expanding that to each parish, which have varying security practices. Some individual parishes, often because of size, traffic or location, have a security guard, while others do not, Ingraham said. But, he said, he doesn't expect Catholic churches to pursue concealed carry options during Mass and would expect "strong opposition" to such a proposal.

"Unless the person is very skilled with a gun, like a police officer, you could cause a lot more problems," Ingraham said.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has encouraged faith leaders to create procedures to follow during emergencies, including active shooters, through its Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The center was created under former President George W. Bush in 2006 in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, to better connect the faith- and community-based groups with the emergency management sector.

The center has since expanded its mission and provides resources to prepare for active shooters for faith-based groups across the country, including online trainings and videos as well as guidelines for how to set up an emergency plan.

At Istrouma Baptist Church, administrator Ray Raney developed a security plan for the church four years ago, which included hiring officers and using walkie-talkies among the team.

"I know how important it is," Raney said. "The only thing that's going to stop somebody with a weapon is a weapon."

He called most churches "soft targets" because attackers know they are typically gun-free zones. But at Istrouma on Sundays, he said they have two off-duty Baton Rouge police officers, six to eight current law enforcement officers who are also attending services, and security cameras. Raney and two of the church's pastors also have been certified to carry a concealed weapon at church, trained by certified deputies from the West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office, who annually come to the church to recertify them.

"That's really where that training should be, in your church," Raney said, so officials can plan for particulars of the building or campus. However, he said Istrouma does not want to extend that training to more civilians, which he said he thinks could add confusion during an emergency situation.

"We try to be as proactive as we can," Raney said.
Every driver who paid the fine on a New Orleans traffic camera ticket in the early years of the controversial enforcement program is owed a full refund, a judge ruled this week, ordering the city to pay up to an estimated $28 million to more than 200,000 scofflaws, the lead plaintiff and attorney in a class action lawsuit said Friday.

Robert Burns, a former longtime Jefferson Parish judge who serves as the ad hoc judge over the long-running case, issued his ruling from the bench on Wednesday.

Burns ruled that the city's decision to farm out the traffic enforcement program to the Department of Public Works at the onset of the program in 2008 violated the City Charter, and that the city therefore must repay all traffic camera fines issued from January 2008 to Nov. 3, 2010, according to plaintiff's attorney Joseph McMahon.

Reached by phone Friday, Burns declined to comment on the judgment, other than to confirm that he had rendered one. He referred questions to McMahon and a private attorney for the city, who also declined to comment.

A spokesman for Mayor Mitch Landrieu's administration said Friday night that the city plans to appeal the ruling.

Scofflaws shouldn't expect to see refunds of their $110 ticket payments anytime soon. Even if the city's appeal fails, McMahon noted, the city has a long history of leaving tens of millions of dollars in civil judgments unpaid for years.

"Obviously, we're very happy for the class, but it's a long road between there and getting somebody a refund for their fine," he said.

The judgment, if upheld, would end the case for people who received traffic camera tickets in the early years of the program. McMahon said a broader challenge is pending, however, that could affect drivers who got ticketed on or after Nov. 4, 2010.

+2 Push to ban traffic cameras in Louisiana crashes in House committee A bill that would let voters statewide decide whether to outlaw traffic cameras was crushed Monday in the Louisiana House Transportation Committee.

That was the date the City Council, in response to a court injunction barring the Public Works Department from enforcing and administering the program, placed it under the New Orleans Police Department.

The council attempted to make that decision retroactive. Burns then threw out the consolidated lawsuit, but a state appeals court panel reversed his decision, saying the city "cannot retroactively divest plaintiffs of that cause of action."

All of the Civil District Court judges in New Orleans recused themselves from the case, leading the Louisiana Supreme Court to appoint Burns.

His ruling comes seven years after plaintiffs began filing lawsuits over the automated ticket program that rankles much of the city's driving public, even as the number of cameras grows. The planned addition of 55 stationary and mobile cameras this year brings the total number of traffic cameras in the city to 121, according to news reports.

Several of those lawsuits were consolidated into the case that Burns addressed in his ruling Wednesday.

The program got off to a rocky start, sparking controversy when it came to light that the Public Works Department had hired a firm headed by an NOPD captain, Edwin Hosli, that paid off-duty cops to review the camera tickets, against Police Department policy.

Hosli, a close friend of then-NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas, was later cleared of wrongdoing, but the hubbub came on the heels of a scathing U.S. Department of Justice report that portrayed the off-duty police detail program as an "aorta of corruption" on the force.

That assessment led to an overhaul of the police detail work, which is now managed by City Hall under the terms of a federal consent decree guiding a raft of NOPD reforms.

Burns did not rule that the city must pay a specific dollar amount back to speeders and red-light runners, McMahon said. The $28 million figure, he said, comes from city budget documents adding up revenue from the program.

The ruling marked the second successful challenge to a local traffic camera program. A similar lawsuit over a since-aborted camera program in unincorporated Jefferson Parish resulted in a $7 million legal settlement, said McMahon, who also was involved in that litigation.

In the New Orleans case, McMahon encouraged eligible traffic scofflaws to be patient.

"The problem is the city of New Orleans doesn't pay their judgments. Just like the firefighters had to fight for years, this fight is far from over," he said. "I would hope that the city would respect the fact the courts have ruled they have wrongfully taken money from maybe 250,000 citizens."
Lane closures on I-10 high-rise bridge in New Orleans likely to continue after fire damage
In just a short space of time, virtual reality has exploded in use, which represents a thrilling prospect for Shaun Gladwell.

"The growth has been exponential, there was no way that anyone could have predicted how it has grown," he said.

Shaun Gladwell is in Canberra as part of the Hyper Real exhibition at the National Gallery. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

"There's a lot of unknowns in the field, which is exciting."

Mr Gladwell is one of the leading artists when it comes to virtual reality and is in Canberra this weekend, featuring at the National Gallery of Australia.
"When their face says it all" is the motto Red Balloon touts to people shopping for skydiving, hot-air ballooning and other experiences.

However, the online retailer founded by entrepreneur and television personality Naomi Simson has egg on its face after it paid penalties totalling $43,200 for alleged breaches of consumer laws.

Red Balloon founder Naomi Simson is a judge on television show Shark Tank. Credit:Network Ten

The penalties follow four infringement notices issued by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which alleged Red Balloon charged four consumers excessive surcharges on payments they made by MasterCard and Visa credit and debit cards.

"Red Balloon was charging these customers more than allowed under the law prohibiting excessive payment surcharges on card transactions," said ACCC deputy chairman Dr Michael Schaper.
Gold Coast residents are angry that Gold Coast City Council has done "absolutely nothing" to repair a retaining wall that collapsed into a sinkhole behind a $7 million unit complex.

They say someone needs to take responsibility into an issue which has now an "industry-wide" investigation.

However, court action is now close.

Queensland's professional engineers body confirmed on Tuesday they now had one industry-wide complaint into retaining walls and a second complaint into fake documentation in a number of retaining walls in the Gold Coast, Logan, Ipswich and Brisbane City Council areas.

Serious erosion eight months after the Gold Coast retaining wall collapsed  for the second time in March 2017  has now forced four units to be emptied.
If the citizenship fiasco was a TV comedy it might be called Poms Out of Work. For wogs, the parliamentary crisis is sweet revenge, sweet as a spotted dick drenched in custard, never mind the bout of political constipation we now endure. At the time of writing these are the scores: Anglo-Celts; eight MPs out, Wogs; none. With at least another four MPs under a cloud because they did not act fast enough to renounce their British citizenship before running for election.

Nothing personal here; I feel sympathy for the felled politicians. But in its black letter law approach, the High Court delivered poetic justice in this post-Brexit climate of growing nativism and resurgent Anglo chauvinism. The entire spectacle is smugly satisfying for many "ethnic Australians", we who experience the just-audible flutter of irritation at the end of the telephone line, followed by, "Could you spell your surname please?"

"That's an interesting name," the interrogator continues. "How do you pronounce that again?"

If you're thinking the same about my name  see the byline, it's why I get to reclaim the word "wog"  it's "sago", as in the pudding. The question that invariably follows: "And where's that name from?" Meaning where am I from. Answer: refer to Josh Frydenberg's family history and you'll get the general idea.
The suggestion of a shake-up of Canberra's planning laws will send a shockwave through those in established suburbs in the territory.

A new discussion paper on the ACT's future housing supply foreshadows potential changes to RZ1 zoning rules, which cover about 81 per cent of the capital's residential land.

Separate unit titling of dual occupancies in these zones has been floated as a way of helping to meet the demand for medium-density housing.

It is a common cry from the housing industry that there are not enough blocks released for such housing in the territory.
Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform president Bill Bush seems to want "to stabilise opiate-dependent Canberrans" (Sunday Canberra Times, Letters, November 12 ). My question is simple. Why not provide here the complete rehabilitation infrastructure to restore their human rights by giving back their drug-free lives?

As long ago as October 2014, an online ABC item by Bronwyn Herbert reported that more than 300 ice addicts a year were turning to naltrexone implants at the Fresh Start Perth clinic run by Dr George O'Neil. The WA government funds it to the tune of $3 million annually.

A video accompanies the Herbert item with Leigh Sales reporting. Professor Gary Hulse is an addiction specialist at the University of WA and believes naltrexone research should be fast-tracked. In 2014, he was reported as saying, "When we had a swine flu epidemic, there were big pushes to find medication treatment; if they weren't registered, to push them forward, to look at safety and to get them out to the community."

Dr O'Neil agreed there had been three naltrexone-related deaths in 2012 in Sydney (not his clinic) as a result of bad practices. Given these had nothing to do with Dr O'Neil, and that implant naltrexone constantly resident in the blood works like naloxone, which nullifies the effect of opiates, it can be reasonably concluded that if the 32 persons who died from overdoses here  mentioned by Bill Bush  had been under treatment in Perth they would not have died.

Put another way, a person whose life is saved in the Kings Cross injecting facility today, may die tomorrow injecting at home, or with mates in a public place  while the same does not occur with appropriately implanted naltrexone.
I agree with the words of Tim Gartrell, who ran strategy for the "yes" campaign: "The assumption by the hard right in Australian politics since the 1999 republic referendum has been overturned by this result. [That assumption?] That they had a blocking silent majority of the Australian people, and all they had to do to stop progress was to hold a plebiscite or a referendum."

What a week! It will be one long remembered for the triumph of the "yes" campaign for same-sex marriage, and the comprehensive demonstration, as I wrote on Thursday , that it is no longer the hard-line religious conservatives who run the show in this country, but the secular liberals.

"Ferry McFerryFace", as the new name for one of Sydney's newly commissioned ferries? TFF has already had something of a rant on this, the broad theme of which was  beyond, "Hey you kids, get off my lawn!"  was that it risks being a one-line joke told endlessly for the next 50 years. My own suggestion was that we find the original words of Gadigal people of the Eora nation for "big canoe" and go with that. I am advised by a reader that "'mari nawi"  or big canoe  was the name Indigenous people gave to the ships of the First Fleet." Wouldn't that cut it?

Illustration: Reg Lynch

Constitutional absurdity

What is wrong with this picture? On Monday morning, three new members of the Australian Senate were sworn in by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove, representing Queen Elizabeth II, with each senator replacing a departing senator who, though a citizen of Australia, also had citizenship of another country, which is strictly forbidden under our constitution. Their first act to become senators? They had to swear an oath of allegiance to a lady with no Australian citizenship whatsoever. I repeat, what is wrong with this picture? Can I suggest that few other things highlight the colonial nature of our constitution than this absurdity?

And, of course, one of the newly sworn-in senators, Fraser Anning, was replacing the execrable One Nation's Malcolm Roberts  all on the strength of having narrowly avoided bankruptcy, and having got just 19 primary votes in the last election  only to defect within the hour, to become an independent. As was noted last week, of the 26 people who have ever held office for One Nation, no fewer than 16 have either been expelled from the party, or quit. When One Nation cannot even run its own candidates, what on earth makes anyone think the party is worth a vote to run the whole show?
The same-sex marriage survey results showed which members of Parliament voted in a starkly opposite fashion to those in their electorates. The electorate of Blaxland had a strong "no" vote, while their MP Jason Clare voted "yes", and in prominent "no" campaigner Tony Abbotts seat of Warringah there was a strong "yes" vote.

Some people may think it's the duty of their MP to vote in the way they did. Of course, this could mean that as every state voted "yes" then the Senate as a whole should support the same-sex marriage legislation. But generally, this connection between popular sentiment and how a MP votes is usually made in terms of single member constituencies.

It's based on a very old idea of the role of MPs as "delegates" or "agents" of their constituents and therefore liable to be issued instructions on how they should vote on any issue. This idea relates back to a time when Parliament, especially in England, could be understood as bringing together the interests of its various boroughs and counties.

This model of representation is difficult to sustain once a country is understood as constituting a national entity with a unified political culture. It's also difficult to sustain once Parliament begins to deal with a range of complex policy matters. The idea of a newly elected member being issued with a list of instructions and then needing to go back to their constituents every time a new issue arises may sound very democratic, but its also quite impractical.
Childcare and aged care professionals perform some of the most crucial work in our economy and society. Yet they are among the lowest paid, earning around $20 an hour. Not only is this absurd, it is a threat to the prosperity and wellbeing of the entire population; early childhood education is pivotally important to future learning, while caring decently for our ageing population is evidently in the interest of us all.

Add to this travesty the overarching problem that real wages have been stagnant for years, and there is compelling case for a sizeable increase in their remuneration. Many childcare workers, frustrated after appealing for years against this unfairness, recently went on strike seeking an increase of 35 per cent. Given how low the starting point is, that is a thoroughly reasonable demand, and could readily be met by altering the priorities of the federal budget.

Wages for childcare workers don't stack up.

For example, some of the $50-$60 billion earmarked for company tax cuts that even the government's own advisers say will have at best a marginal effect on the economy could be used to subsidise the increase, so that childcare providers would not struggle to stay afloat. Besides, corporate profits are at record highs.

There are more than 350,000 staff in aged care, and 80,000 in childcare. Most of them are women. Many have academic and vocational training, and skills honed during long, dedicated experience. They all have responsibilities that can literally mean the difference between life and death. They are hugely valuable people who are being insultingly undervalued.
Claire Thurstans' article ('I'm bleaching my teeth because of Facebook', The Sunday Age, 12/11) is a timely reminder that our privacy is being eroded every day. In order to post a comment on the national broadcaster's website in response to some programs on ABC television, one is now forced to post such a response on its Facebook page, where one's privacy is non-existent and one's right to express an opinion is no longer moderated to ensure it amounts to something more than simply abuse. In order to express an opinion or take part in a debate about some issue, one is forced to expose one's private profile in a way that leaves one open to the personal abuse, emotive comments and invasion of privacy demonstrated in abundance on these "official" Facebook pages. Patricia Wiltshire, Montmorency FORUM Fix the system My chronically and mentally ill sister was prematurely discharged from a private hospital recently to avoid the sliding scale of payments made to hospitals by private health insurance companies that are incurred post a 28-day period. In desperate need for a community care unit bed, her first night post-discharge was instead spent alone in a hotel room in Thornbury. She is one of the lucky ones as she can, for the next week or so, afford this expensive option. For thousands of other mentally ill Victorians being chronically mentally ill means a private and ill-equipped boarding house or the street.

The mental health system in Victoria is one major mess and has only become worse these past few years. It is run by government providers fixated on catchments and meeting targets creating a drive-through approach of medication and then showing a person out the door or private hospitals focused on premium rates whereby they will assess patients as miraculously recovered and discharging them by day 28. The fact that they leave a person at significant clinical risk is not considered. Victorians would be outraged to know how the mentally ill are treated in Victoria. The system is so broken they are overwhelmed. Over the past few months I have witnessed no better than Third World conditions and responses to mental health. Nobody seems to care. The chronically mentally ill are obviously not considered to be vote grabbers. Sonia Berton, Preston Injecting rooms Peter Lyell (Letters, 12/11), safe injecting rooms are not there to prevent overdoses. They are to prevent people from dying as a result of an overdose. It is not possible to provide clinically measured doses without knowing the purity (or lack thereof) of the drug that the user is taking.

Geoff Schmidt, Fitzroy North Assisted dying Michael Short's eloquent plea ('Two lives, two deaths and a timeless lesson', The Sunday Age, 5/11) for the recognition of choice in dying is based on two dissimilar personal experiences of dying. This is not surprising because no two deaths are the same. His message is that choice allows the most dignified use of the time remaining to a person and their family and friends. I agree entirely. Yet in passing Short states that the law reform organisation Dying With Dignity has "unduly usurped the word [dignity]". This is not so. Dying With Dignity Victoria has advocated for voluntary assisted dying because it is the missing choice in our law. We have never advocated that voluntary assisted dying is the only way in which people can die with dignity. Originally named the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, our name was changed in 2000 to reflect our support for dignity in dying, in whatever way provided dignity (a very personal concept) for every dying person. We support palliative care and fully accept that people can find dignity in dying through that provider. Dr Rodney Syme, Toorak

National parks By purporting to measure the environmental credentials of governments on their rate of national park declaration, Sarah Rees and Matt Rushel ('Act on forests before it's too late', The Sunday Age, 12/11) laid bare the environmental movement's wrong-headed philosophy, which equates conservation with mere political symbolism that provides little more than an illusion of environmental benefit. True conservation involves identifying specific environmental threats and actively striving to minimise their impacts. Simply legislating to rebadge areas of state forest as national park may well kill off the small local timber industry that operates in just a 6 per cent portion of Victoria's forests, but does absolutely nothing to address the key threats posed to all forests by unnatural fire regimes, and introduced and feral animal, plant and insect pests. Indeed, the substantial expansion of forested national parks over the past 20 years has already inadvertently worsened the ecological threat of fire by removing former forestry sector workforces and diminishing the road/track access network. Until the environmental movement shifts its focus from simplistic land tenure change to advocating management action on these key threats, it does not deserve to be taken seriously.

Mark Poynter, Balwyn End of our world In my opinion the Earth is stuffed. In spite of the heroic efforts of many, many organisations such as Greenpeace, ACF etc. vested interests and blatant political power will prevail. Humans are like lemmings. We are in plague proportions on this earth and getting worse. Ultimately war, famine, thirst, exhaustion of resources will overcome us. On the bright side, the world is 4.6 billion years old. Humans have been around for 200,000 years and have gotten out of hand in the past 200 years. Give the earth a million years or two and our devastation will only rank with the asteroid that destroyed the dinosaurs.

The Earth will survive. Geoff Champion, Mount Dandenong Change is needed The constitution needs changing, and that requires a referendum. So let's make it meaningful. Sure, change section 44, but let's aim for indigenous recognition and an Australian republic as well. I can't be the only person to notice the anomaly of our MPs (including newly minted MP Fraser Anning) swearing allegiance to the Queen of Australia  who also happens to be the Queen of a foreign power. Yet those who are deemed to have dual citizenship of this foreign power (England) or the right to access it, are ineligible to sit in our Parliament. This is farcical. The constitution has served us well, but it's time that it reflected modern, independent Australia. Jennie Irving, Camberwell

TPP troubles While Justin Trudeau is accused of sabotaging the Trans-Pacific Partnership, perhaps he has a point in not rushing to sign. Remember that then trade minister Andrew Robb was the TPP negotiator for Australia who, according to The Age, "walked straight out of Parliament last year and into an $880,000-a-year job with a billionaire closely aligned to the Chinese Communist Party and its key trade policy". Also remember that if US President Donald Trump had not pulled out, there was a strong suspicion among some observers that we were going to be screwed over by the US on pharmaceuticals and copyright issues among others. Previously, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has traded off a reputation for being clever, but in reality, appears to be somewhat clueless and not very politically savvy so perhaps it is he who should not rush in to sign Australia up? Geoff McNamara, Newry Shortchanged

Daily we read in the comment pages of Malcolm Turnbull's faults, his diminishing and successive dismal poll results and all manner of vitriolic insult. Despite all this, one fact is rarely canvassed. His standing and approval is far superior to that of Bill Shorten. In reality, Mr Shorten should be so far in front of Mr Turnbull when compared with previous opposition leaders; however, as an alternate PM he is as shallow as a puddle. If Bill Shorten is the best the ALP can put forward, they have a lot to answer for. Graham Stevens, Murrumbeena Globe theatre We have in Melbourne one of what must be the best range of theatres in the world, mostly in the Arts Centre area. Would it not make sense to complete this range with a 'Globe' Theatre? The pop-up Globe has obviously been a huge success. Could we not make it a permanent one? With an aim of eight Shakespeare plays a year it would be possible to inter-weave other playwrights of the past  Marlowe, Dryden, Jonson, Sheridan and Goldsmith to name but a few. It could be used for poetry recitals and chamber music  especially in the "early music" tradition, and the plays could be done in the old repertory theatre system, with the same cast performing one while preparing the next. All it needs is a benign Minister for the Creative Industries and a few billionaires. The London Globe is a huge success. Why not ours? Peter Valder, Toorak
Providing a $1 billion loan to underwrite Adani's proposed mega coal mine in Queensland would have "serious negative impacts" for Australia's international reputation and "unpick the progress" of the Paris climate agreement, according to Christiana Figueres, a former United Nations climate chief.

Ms Figueres has written to the Turnbull government's Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF), which is considering a concessional loan for a rail link from the mine to the coast.

The former executive secretary of the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change

sought to highlight that under the NAIF's own enabling legislation, it "must not act in a way that is likely to cause damage to the Commonwealth government's reputation, or that of a relevant State or Territory".

Ms Figueres warned the expected total lifetime carbon emissions from burning coal from the proposed Carmichael in the Galilee basin would be 4.64 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide, according to details of the letter obtained by Fairfax Media.
There will soon be a generation of style watchers who don't care for Dior's New Look or Yves Saint Laurent's Le Smoking tux  instead the word "Virgil" scribbled on their sneakers in pen will be how they spend hundreds and thousands of dollars.

On a particular empty street in Sydney's east, on a particularly nothing day last week, hundreds of teenagers, some still in their Cranbrook and other elite school uniforms, lined up for hours to meet their idol, Virgil Abloh, the introverted Chicago native who is, according to supermodel Naomi Campbell, "the future".

One of "The Ten" Nike sneakers designed by Virgil Abloh. Credit:Nike

The hype was for 10 types of sneakers he has re-imagined for Nike, including words in quotations (such as "Swoosh" on Chuck Taylor-style sneakers; "shoe laces" printed on...shoe laces; and "air" on the air-filled sole). The hype for his limited edition range was so enormous Nike had to stagger sales by digital raffles throughout November. The latest release then had to be cancelled after "technical issues caused overwhelming demand". Some of the buyers who lined up in Sydney had spent about $1000 per pair for Abloh's take on Air Jordans and and Air Max 90 styles.

In between collaborating with Nike, he also heads up the Milan-based fashion brand, Off-White, where his collections since 2013 have combined casual wear with a luxury price tag (think $700 silk organza hoodie jumpers). Abloh is also known as DJ Flat White where he uses his sets to mix tracks by some of his celebrity comrades including Drake, A$AP Rocky, Travis Scott and Rihanna. Something he did after being honoured at this year's GQ Australia Men of the Year Awards before quietly slipping out of the formal dinner to man the decks with a Sydney creative group at an underground nightclub.
People arrive for the wedding of Hassan "Sam" Sayour and Aisha Mehajer on Saturday. Credit:Fiona Morris Ngata has long been an enforcer and guard for Ibrahim, who has referred to him as his "closest friend", the "head coconut", someone to whom he could not be closer, even if they were brothers. Living just down the street, the 59-year-old Ngata was often seen sitting out the front with Ibrahim's mother. "Sam is two metres tall, 120 kilograms and all muscle  a former professional boxer," Ibrahim wrote in his autobiography. "He has a big mullet haircut, wears a black overcoat and has fists like shoeboxes  still does." Writing on the footpath outside John Ibrahim's mother's house, where Ibrahim family bodyguard Semi "Tongan Sam" Ngata was shot on Friday night. Credit:Fiona Morris He was taken to Westmead Hospital where he remained in a serious but stable condition on Saturday.

Inspector Tamara Kirby from Merrylands police station declined to confirm media speculation that the shot was fired into the wedding crowd as an intended warning and struck Ngata by chance. A marquee is installed before the wedding between Hassan Sayour and Aisha Mehajer. Credit:Fiona Morris "There are quite a number of lines of inquiry that investigators are looking into," Inspector Kirby said. It's not clear if the shooting is related to the August arrest of two Ibrahim brothers, Michael and Fadi, who were caught in a dramatic sting in Dubai. Michael Ibrahim has been and charged over the attempted importation of 1.9 tonnes of MDMA, ice and cocaine. Fadi Ibrahim is accused of drawing $800,000 from the mortgage on his house to help fund his brother Michael's alleged international crime syndicate, and then being repaid $1.6 million. John Ibrahim's nephew, Sam Sayour, was set to marry Aisha Mehajer, the sister of Salim Mehajer. Credit:Seven News

Chief Inspector Bradfield Peters of Holroyd Local Area Command said the shooting was "brazen" and "targeted". Police had made no arrests and could not provide a description of the gunman but Mr Peters said he had deployed extra officers and "strategies" to guard against possible reprisals. Investigations are underway to find out if a car found burned out in nearby Mays Hill may have been linked. Semi Ngata, also known as "Tongan Sam", and Fadi Ibrahim. Credit:Edwina Pickles Meanwhile, wedding preparations continued on late afternoon Saturday. A white Porsche delivered bottled water and then what looked like a cake to the Price Street home. Men in tracksuits tried to force cameras back as a woman in the Porsche was handed a black cloak, before she drove away. For a Mehajer wedding, the place was looking distinctly low-key. There may have been two golden thrones on the backyard patio but the wind had blown over potted palms. There was bric-a-brac and doors off their hinges left lying in the front yard.

Police officers search for evidence in Merrylands on Saturday. Credit:AAP The bride, Ms Mehajer, is a model and a director of several companies whose names suggest industries from beauty to construction. Her groom, Mr Sayour, is the son of the Ibrahim brothers' sister Maha, and was shot himself in a dispute at Old Guildford in February 2011. The then 19-year-old was shot twice in the groin while two of his associates were also wounded. His uncle, Michael Ibrahim, was allegedly two-timing between rival Sydney drug syndicates helmed by two warring Middle Eastern crime families while attempting to import large amounts of drugs. During a massive police operation in August, John's house was raided but he was not alleged to be involved. Fadi has since been released on $2 million bail but Michael remains in custody. The only brother not in custody or facing charges at the moment is John.
For Leanne Webb it will be the loss of a companion of 20 years, the constant backdrop to her domestic life.

As far as Lesley Walker is concerned, it's an act of madness to be removing scarce greenery in an area already under severe developmental pressure and critically short of trees.

The giant oak tree's age has been put at more than 120 years. Credit:Benjamin Millar

The Footscray neighbours discovered this week that a giant oak tree that has been growing behind their homes since the late 1800s was earmarked for immediate removal.

Chainsawing of the canopy began on Wednesday, ordered by the owner of the property that contains the tree's trunk.
Frank Argondizzo is voting independent in the Northcote byelection. Credit:Darrian Traynor Labor's key message was enough to convert 29-year-old Hayley Marks. She cast her vote at Santa Maria College  where the only sausage for sale was beef. "I always vote Greens," she said. "Today I voted Labor first and Greens second". The medical researcher and renter said her decision was "purely" down to housing.

The people of Northcote have a chance to make history today by electing the first Aboriginal woman to the Victorian parliament. Richard Di Natale "I'm getting to that stage now where I want to buy a house," she said. "I'm trying to save for a deposit ... But it's hard. Ms Marks said she believed Greens candidate Lidia Thorpe saw housing affordability as a federal issue while Ms Burns thought the state government could help make the market fairer. "That was enough to change my vote," she said. For others, the Labor message was wide of the mark.

Daniel Aspinall, 42, said he voted Greens first, Labor second. "I feel Greens better represent me in terms of marriage equality and other progressive policies," he said. The publisher said he was not primarily influenced by local issues but was not impressed by Labor's "single issue" campaign. "Also, I think you've got to keep them honest," he said. "I like state Labor and I like what Daniel Andrews is doing, but if you keep returning the same party they start to take you for granted".

Another factor which drew Mr Aspinall to the Greens in Northcote was a theme driven home at the polling booth by Australian Greens leader Richard Di Natale. He and state leader Samantha Ratnam flanked Ms Thorpe while she cast her vote at Thornbury Primary School as the Greens rolled out their big guns. "The people of Northcote have a chance to make history today by electing the first Aboriginal woman to the Victorian parliament," Senator Di Natale said. Mr Di Natale portrayed the campaign as one of a party funded by corporate donors, developers, and the alcohol and gambling industries against a grassroots campaign. But for others trying to influence the vote, neither party was sufficiently progressive nor independent. Retired union official Mick Doran was handing out how to vote cards for Dr Joe Toscano  despite admitting the anarchist's vote was likely to be "not very much".

"I probably voted Labor in 1983  but never again after that," he said. "The Greens are probably my number two choice but, with all the shirts and the posters, you can see they are going the way of the other parties." Another long-term resident said the very people who had made Northcote a Labor fortress for 90 years had been forgotten in all the talk of progressive politics  the working class. The one-time Labor voter stood out among the crowd of younger volunteers at the gates. Frank Argondizzo said he had voted Labor in every election since emigrating from Italy to Northcote 50 years ago. This time, he was handing out how to vote cards for an independent candidate

Mr Argondizzo said he worked on a Ford factory line for two decades before "the Greens destroyed my job". "They never talk about poverty and they never talk about jobs," he said. "You never meet a poor greenie, they've all got wealthy parents. "They don't even work, they suck on coffee." Loading
Then National Organisation for Women president Patricia Ireland, centre, calls on the Republican Congress to drop efforts to impeach Bill Clinton in 1998. Credit:AP "I wish I had done more to be supportive of her," said Patricia Ireland, longtime president of the National Organisation for Women, who is now an attorney in Florida. "For Paula Jones, there were nice distinctions that people made. She didn't work for him, he didn't have the power to hire or fire her. But that ignores the reality that he was a very powerful man." At the time, however, the attitude of many feminist leaders was summed up in a 1998 New York Times op-ed by Gloria Steinem, who wrote that "Mr Clinton seems to have made a clumsy sexual pass, then accepted rejection". She was similarly dismissive of other women who came forward with stories of sexual abuse by Clinton before and during his time in the White House. Former Alabama Chief Justice and US Senate candidate Roy Moore has been accused of pursuing under age girls. Credit:AP A spokeswoman for Steinem said she "isn't doing interviews at this time". Clinton settled Jones' lawsuit in November 1998 for $US850,000, acknowledging no wrongdoing and offering no apology.

Clinton's defenders argued that his infidelities were a private family matter, and that his pro-feminist agenda on the issues had to be protected. But the first line of defence for many of Clinton's allies was to attack his accusers with lacerating insults that now seem not only sexist, but elitist. Beverly Young Nelson, the latest accuser of Alabama Republican Roy Moore, reads her statement at a news conference on Monday. Credit:AP James Carville, who had been the top strategist for Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign, once said: "If you drag a hundred-dollar bill through a trailer park, you never know what you'll find." In retrospect, would he make that comment again? Then-comedian Al Franken and sports commentator Leeann Tweeden perform a comic skit for troops in Kuwait in 2006. She accused him of forcibly kissing her on the tour. Credit:AP

"I don't know," said Carville, who this weekend is joining the Clintons and the alumni of that campaign in Little Rock, where they are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their victory in an election where speculation about the candidate's sex life and the state of his marriage became major topics. Carville said he had been referring to Gennifer Flowers, who came forward during the 1992 campaign claiming that she had had a 12-year affair with Clinton. She reportedly was paid $US100,000 by The Star, a supermarket tabloid, to tell her story. Both Clintons denied it was true, prompting Flowers to hold a news conference at which she played tapes of her phone conversations with the Arkansas governor. Hillary Clinton on stage at a symposium last week. Credit:AP "The circumstances were considerably different than what we see today," Carville insisted. But he added: "There is no doubt the ground has shifted between that time and now. There's no question this is a different environment, probably for the better." Others from Clinton's orbit in those days said that he had been punished heavily for what he did, by becoming the second president in US history to be impeached. They also point to the fact that some accusers aligned themselves with right-wing groups that were determined to destroy Clinton politically.

"Those of us who lived through it know how fierce the criticism and condemnation were, and the price he paid," said Ann Lewis, who was a top White House official. Republicans, meanwhile, are doing their best to add to the Democrats' unease, which grew with the allegation by broadcaster Leann Tweeden that he had forcibly kissed and groped her while the two were travelling overseas on a USO trip in 2006. Her accusations were accompanied by a photo of Franken apparently groping her breasts while she slept. The news brought calls from members of his own party for a Senate investigation - among them, Franken, who also apologised. On Friday, Trump tweeted: "The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps? ....." He followed that tweet with another one: "And to think that just last week he was lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women." Trump has not taken to his favourite medium to discuss the growing pile of allegations against Moore.

"Well, Al Franken was a brand new news story yesterday and the president weighed in as he does on the news of the day, often enough," Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway told Fox News. "The Roy Moore story is eight days old and the president put out a statement during his Asia trip on that." Though the issue of Clinton's alleged sexual abuse has taken on fresh currency, it had also surfaced during his wife's campaign last year to become the nation's first female president. She has long positioned herself as a champion of women's issues, and tweeted at one point: "Every survivor of sexual assault deserves to be heard, believed, and supported." Her adversaries on the right, however, saw her as her husband's enabler and shield. But at a December 2015, appearance in New Hampshire, a woman stood up in the audience and read a question from a card: "You say that all rape victims should be believed. But would you say that about Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey and/or Paula Jones?" Broaddrick had accused Bill Clinton of raping her in 1978, and Willey claimed he had groped her when she came to the White House to ask him to give her a job. Clinton responded: "Well, I would say that everyone should be believed at first until they are disbelieved based on evidence."

In the radio interview Friday, Clinton was again asked whether she should have been more supportive of his female accusers. "Every situation has to be judged on its own merit," she said. She further said those allegations were investigated and recent comments by others about her husband are not relevant. "I don't know that we can rewrite and revise history." Late in the 2016 campaign, as Trump was trying to contain the damage from his own crude and boastful comments about assaulting women, which were picked up on a hot microphone during the taping of an episode of Access Hollywood, he brought three of Bill Clinton's accusers - Jones, Broaddrick and Willey - to his second presidential debate against the former first lady. Ireland said there is much that young feminist activists can learn today from her generation of movement leaders, and what now could argued are the mistakes they made. Loading "There are things that we can learn from each other. And we have to listen without being defensive," Ireland said. "We all reflect the culture of our time."
Blinn College and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi will offer the first information sessions Monday for academic programs at the forthcoming RELLIS Campus.

The business department at Blinn will offer Associate of Science degrees in business and accounting that are designed to provide a smooth transition into the bachelor of business administration degree program offered by A&M-Corpus Christi.

The informations sessions will be on the Blinn campus in Bryan from 10:30-11:30 a.m. in room D-139 and 1:30-2:30 p.m. in room F-224.

For more information or to sign up, email busi@blinn.edu.
Stephanie Simpson started her career at the College Station Police Department in 1981 -- and while she never wore a badge or carried a gun, colleagues said Friday her contributions to the department have been invaluable.

A capacity crowd gathered in the College Station City Council chambers Friday afternoon to honor Simpson, who is retiring from the department after 36 years of service.

She started at the department in 1981 as a municipal court clerk when the court was located within the police department. It wasn't long before she was promoted to records technician and during her tenture also served as records supervisor and information services supervisor. In 2003, she was promoted to information services division manager, where she oversees the records and evidence sections, crime analyst, noise abatement and licenses and permitting. During Simpson's tenure, she has worked with seven police chiefs and continued her education, obtaining a degree from Texas A&M University in 1992.

She's received various departmental awards, and was recognized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for assisting in a large scale investigation in 2000.

"She has filled many different roles here over the years with her grace, class, and most of all a servant's heart," Chief Scott McCollum said during Simpson's party.

Many stood at a lectern during the farewell party to speak about Simpson, most unable to utter a sentence without becoming teary-eyed. Every person who addressed the party stressed how this records staff member impacted their lives in indescribable ways.

"For the last two-and-a-half years I've had the privilege of 'supervising' [Simpson]," said CSPD Assistant Chief Charles Fleeger to the crowd. "But [supervision] doesn't really happen. She helped me survive the last two-and-a half years, not just in a professional sense, but on a personal level. I had gone through a lot those years."

At times, those in attendance would erupt in deafening laughter as co-workers told tales of fun times and jokes shared in the department because of Simpson's joyous spirit. Before McCollum could step down from the podium, Simpson presented the police chief with a box labeled as a hazardous material. Partygoers roared when McCollum opened it to reveal a candy dish he would visit in Simpson's office on a regular basis over the years. Simpson said that along with a bag of chocolate, it was her parting gift to the chief.

Simpson was described not only as a trustworthy and knowledgeable professional, but as a friend, mother figure, and counselor of police officers and city staffers. She was presented with money and various gifts, including a collection of written memories and a Stephanie Simpson-themed rendition of the poem T'was the Night Before Christmas.

Those who spoke agreed that Simpson was essential to the establishment of the current incarnation of department. Now she will retire with her husband Scott, a retired CSPD lieutenant. She will not be gone completely, however, as she plans to volunteer at the department in the future.

"I am humbled beyond belief to be here today," Simpson told the crowd. "... It means more to me than you will ever know.
Texas A&M in the early 1960s wasn't an obvious place to put a machine that can accelerate charged particles to fractions of the speed of light, but it was also a time of change.

James Earl Rudder was the university's president, the Corps of Cadets became voluntary and women and African-Americans were admitted as students. The desire to chart a different course, Cyclotron Institute Director Sherry Yennello said Friday, extended to the pursuit of excellence in research. The Welch Foundation's invitation in 1961 for the university to submit a proposal to build a modern cyclotron on campus was the start, she said, of what became a major turning point in Texas A&M's transition from an agricultural and mechanical college to the major research entity it is today.

Nobel Prize winners Glenn Seaborg and Willard Libby helped dedicate the Texas A&M Cyclotron Institute on Dec. 4, 1967. On Friday, a three-day symposium celebrating the 50th anniversary of the institute wrapped up.

Speaking at the anniversary ceremony, Texas A&M President Michael K. Young called it an exciting day for the university to reflect on securing the cyclotron through a partnership between its three founding partners, the Atomic Energy Commission, the state of Texas and the Welch Foundation, at a time when the university was not known as a research giant.

"We look at the work that started 50 years ago and we see what we have become, with one of the top programs in the country, with the amount of funding that's available, with the breakthroughs that have been made by so many of the great professors who are with us here today, because there was that vision, there was that moment, and there was that ambition on the part of this university that we can do this," Young said.

Also speaking at Friday's ceremony in the Hawking Auditorium in the Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Karen Butler-Purry, interim vice-president for research, called the establishment of the cyclotron a "watershed moment" that pushed Texas A&M toward the vanguard of nuclear research. She said the institute generates about $7.5 million in overall external research funding each year. A press release announcing the anniversary stated that companies including Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the U.S. Navy Laboratories rent the facilities to perform testing.

The Cyclotron Institute's facilities have been used for research across many scientific disciplines, with the focus being "first and foremost" on scientific discovery, Yennello said, as well as workforce development and radiation testing as a way to "give back to society."

The original K150 cyclotron came online in 1967, and was followed 20 years later by a K500. Timothy Hallman, associate director of science for nuclear physics at the U.S. Department of Energy, said the institute is one of five Centers for Excellence designated by the DOE, calling it a "truly one of our crown jewels."

The symposium also included several talks on nuclear science, historical perspectives from former Cyclotron Institute directors and tours of the facility.
A 21-year-old Tomball man who previously pleaded guilty in the April shooting death of a Brenham-area man was sentenced Friday to life in prison.

According to the Washington County District Attorney's Office, Nicholas Porter pleaded guilty in September to the April 10 slaying of Ernest Trevino, who was shot in the chest in his home on Hummingbird Road. Porter requested a hearing to determine his sentence, which Judge Reva Towslee Corbett presided over.

According to officials, Porter confessed to the Texas Rangers that he killed Trevino. A search of Porter's mother's home led to the discovery of drug paraphernalia, marijuana, THC, prescription medications, stolen electronics, $50,000 in cash and four guns, including the pistol used to kill Trevino.

More than 20 people testified during the two-day hearing. According to testimony, Trevino had recently become involved in selling marijuana to offset the costs of being a single father. Porter was Trevino's marijuana supplier, and at the time of the shooting, he owed Porter about $2,000. Officials said Porter drove from Tomball to Trevino's home to collect the debt and shot him in front of his children.

Friends and family of Trevino described him as someone who had overcome a criminal past to become an involved father and valued employee. Numerous witnesses testified that Trevino's children were his top priority, and his boss described a plan where he would soon retire and sell his company to Trevino.

Porter's family and girlfriend also testified, with his girlfriend calling him a "peaceful person," and she was hopeful he would get probation. Porter's sisters testified that he was the man of the house after their father left, and Porter's grandparents, whom he lived with when he moved to Burton as he started high school, asked the court to have mercy on him.

According to the district attorney's office, Porter also testified. In his testimony, he said Trevino did owe him money, but the shooting was not related to the debt. Porter also said he went to Trevino's home with good intentions and was in fear of his life, though he conceded Trevino was not armed. He also said he sold up to $10,000 of hydroponic marijuana a week.
Tallon Dillard said after spending more than eight years serving in the U.S. Army, finding his place in the civilian world was no easy task -- that is, until he landed at Texas A&M. Once he enrolled at the university, he said he knew he had found a place in which he felt he could belong.

Dillard, who is set to graduate in December, was one of three student veterans at Texas A&M to receive their Aggie ring on Friday at the Clayton W. Williams Jr. Alumni Center thanks to a scholarship provided by members of the university's class of '60.

The class of '17 global design and construction student said having the support of these former students in the form of his Aggie ring evoked feelings of gratitude that were "hard to put into words."

"It's a great honor to be in the presence of these great Aggies and to be included in this tradition," Dillard said. "It means a lot."

Dillard said being medically retired from the military was a tough adjustment for him. He attended several other schools, before finally coming to Texas A&M, which has provided him withe a place that "immediately felt like home."

"Just to be a part of something again that resembled so much of the military values, to have that kind of brotherhood again -- even with just regular students that weren't veterans, just sharing that bond of being Aggies has been amazing," he said. "Being in a room with members of the class of '60 and still having that bond with guys I just met five minutes ago is just unbelievable. It's something I look forward to for the rest of my life, to be able to walk into a room with another Aggie and immediately have a friend."

Richard Ghislein, one of the members of the class of '60 who has contributed to the scholarship, said having the opportunity to help student veterans such as Dillard is an absolute pleasure.

"We know from personal experience what this means and the sacrifice that these young people have made of their time and their youth to serve in the armed forces," he said. "It's something that should be recognized."

Ghislein said as he and his classmates were determining a way to give back they finally landed on providing for Aggie ring scholarships as a way to provide students with a symbol of the A&M experience that they would be able to carry with them and benefit from for the rest of their lives.

Jerry Bradshaw, another scholarship contributor from the class of '60, added that the iconic ring is a symbol recognized by fellow Aggies worldwide and has the potential to instantly create a connection and provide some idea of the shared values and experiences those who wear it seek to embody.

Bradshaw said although he and his classmates are more than happy to help provide rings to these Aggie veterans in whom they take so much pride, they are hopeful that it is a tradition that can outlast them.

"We hope to continue as long as we can, but after that, we're hoping some people younger than us can pick up the tradition of doing this, too," Bradshaw said.

Addressing Dillard directly, Ghiselin said he hopes he will one day be able to pay forward the gift he has been given and support another Aggie veteran in the same way.

"When you become financially stable and can contribute, we would hope that you would pay it forward and contribute to some other young individual, who is also a veteran, in getting his or her ring," he said. "That would be great to see."
July 14, 1919 - November 15, 2017

Funeral services for Belle Greer, 98 of Elgin, formerly of Rockdale are scheduled for 2:00p.m. Monday, November 20, 2017 at Phillips & Luckey Funeral Home in Rockdale with Steve McMaster officiating. Burial in the Oak Lawn Cemetery in Rockdale. Visitation will be Sunday, November 19, 2017 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the funeral home.

Belle was born on July 14, 1919, on a family farm near Elgin, TX to Albert Cooper Harrison and Ira Kate Weaver. As the seventh of nine children, and a child of the Depression era, she learned to fend for herself and to be resourceful. They raised sweet potatoes and watermelons, but when times were hard, the family rented the farm out and they moved into Austin to work on a dairy. They learned to make do with what they had.

Belle was a sharp-minded child and learned quickly. She started school early following her brother Kyle, and loved to read. Her eldest brother Vernon and his wife Thelma let her live with them during her final year of school. She was the only one of the kids to graduate high school. After she graduated from Elgin High School in 1937, she got her first job in town at the Elgin City Cafe.

Belle married Jim Greer in 1941, in Lubbock, Texas. They eventually moved to Pasadena, California, where Rhonda and Kathy were born. Becoming homesick, they moved back to Texas in 1954 and settled in Rockdale. The family made their home in the Praesel Addition where the girls and Jim could enjoy outdoor life, and eventually moved into town where they stayed for more than 40 years.

Belle purchased the Fabric Shop in Rockdale in 1970, where she spent more than 30 years providing fabric, notions, and a friendly ear. When Jim retired from IGC, he joined her in the store, providing sewing machine repair. They made quite the pair. She was the love of his life.

During the past few years, Belle struggled with health issues. After moving to the Elgin Nursing Home in April 2016, she got a second wind and blossomed socially under the wing of Royanne Hicks, the Activities Director. The family gives thanks to the staff, nurses, and all of her friends at the Elgin Nursing Home for their care, love and friendship.

She was preceded in death by her husband, James Greer on February 9, 2015; her parents and eight siblings, Vernon Harrison, Ruby Greer, Jewel Cogburn, Opal Owen, Arlee Owen, Kyle Harrison, Lloyd Harrison and Mildred Brooks.

She is survived by her two daughters, Rhonda Willard and Kathy McMaster both of Hutto; two grandchildren, Steve McMaster and wife Elizabeth of Hutto and Debra McMaster of Houston and three great grandchildren, Lauren, Nathan and Calvin McMaster of Hutto. She was a proud member of the Christadelphian Church, and her insight was inspiration to the members.
I believe many things these days, chief among them the fact that were in a moment of reckoning for men who for too long have held the levers of power and assumed that gave them the right to be awful.

I believe we need more women in charge, and fast. Men have had their chance to run things for  well, for forever, and if the present waves of revelations about sexual harassment and sexual assault by powerful men show us anything, its that men have screwed things up royally.

I believe Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken, who on Thursday was accused of groping a woman and kissing her without her consent, should step down, even though he apologized and encouraged an ethics investigation into his own behavior.

I believe Roy Moore, the Alabama judge facing numerous accusations of sexual misconduct against girls in their teens while he was in his 30s, should leave the race for U.S. Senate immediately.

I believe there should be a full investigation into the allegations of sexual misconduct against President Donald Trump, even though voters overlooked those allegations and elected him.

I believe each of those cases, and myriad others surfacing now, should be looked at individually, with no bad action by one man being used to negate the bad action of another.

As the photo of Franken smirking as he reaches to grab the breasts of a sleeping woman went viral Thursday, many appropriately condemned him. And many who did that, myself included, swiftly were hit with excuses about how Moores alleged actions against teens are far worse than the accusation against Franken, or how allegations against Trump are more serious than Frankens case because Trump is president.

I believe thats a bad way to look at things. Condemning Franken isnt excusing anyone else. We shouldnt be measuring acts of harassment or assault by volume or severity and then letting lesser cases slide. Bad is bad. One doesnt negate the other, or excuse the other, and letting that happen is a disservice to any of the women whose lives were damaged.

I believe no fewer than 20 men will email me to say, Didnt hear anything from you when Bill Clinton was president!! To which I will respond: Thats because I was in my early 20s and not a journalist.

It was also a different time, and sex scandals were treated differently. That doesnt make Clintons actions any less reprehensible, but arguing that his treatment then doesnt measure up to the treatment of men caught up in the current wave of allegations is pointless. And dumb. And again, one mans horrid behavior doesnt make any other mans horrid behavior acceptable. Ever.

I believe the problem we have in this country with men who have power sexually harassing or sexually assaulting women has nothing to do with politics or ideology or religion. It has to do with male dominance and entitlement.

And I believe these revelations of swinish male behavior, revelations that undoubtedly will continue, signal one thing: Lascivious behavior stemming from male dominance and entitlement is no longer going to be ignored or begrudgingly accepted.

I believe thats a good thing.

And I believe we need more women in positions of power to make sure it happens. Fast.

Rex Huppke is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Email him at huppke@chicagotribune.com.
WEST NORWALK

Local families can arrange for a special appearance at their homes from none other than Santa Clause himself this December, thanks to the efforts of the Norwalk Professional Firefighters Association.

The Norwalk Professional Firefighters Association announced that they will hold the 19th Annual Santa Deliveries on the evenings of Dec. 4, 5 and 6.

For a small donation to the association, Santa will arrive at your house on a fire truck and deliver a personal gift and some holiday cheer. Applications can be picked up at the Broad River fire station located at 90 New Canaan Ave. on from 7-9 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 27.

Applications are limited and will be handed out on a first-come, first-served basis. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association and other local charities.

ROWAYTON

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, the countdown clock to the winter holiday season has begun.

With that in mind, the Rowayton Arts Center is giving residents a jump start on holiday shopping with their Holiday Gift Show, which opens this weekend.

The show will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Saturday, Nov. 18 to Monday, Nov. 20. The arts center will also be open Tuesday through Sunday, from Nov. 21 to Dec. 24.

Under the creative eye of award-winning artist Pam Abear, the RAC Art Gallery transforms into a magical winter wonderland. The holiday tradition will feature the work of some of the regions best artisans.

The event will feature a raffle with prizes including Dana Goodfellows painting, Island Lighthouse, which is valued at $3,200.

Proceeds from the raffle and Holiday Gift Show are used to support the Rowayton Arts Center and its educational outreach projects.

WEST NORWALK

With winter weather slowly creeping in, the local chapter of the Knights of Columbus is looking to keep Norwalk residents warm.

The Knights of Columbus will begin the distribution of brand new winter coats to Norwalks youth from 9 a.m. to noon, or until supplies run out, on Friday, Nov. 24 from 9 a.m. to noon, at St. Joseph Church on 85 South Main St. in South Norwalk.

As part of the Neighbors Helping Neighbors initiative, the Coats for Kids program allows councils across North America to purchase new winter coats for children at a discount and to distribute them to children in need in their local communities.

Since the programs launching in 2009, more than 370,000 coats have been distributed in 49 states and all 10 Canadian provinces.

While our society is pushing us to purchase items on Black Friday, the Knights of Columbus does not want to forget those that need basic necessities for the upcoming cold winter season, said project chairman and District Deputy, George Ribellino, Jr.

In 2016, the Knights of Columbus set a new all-time record for the 18th consecutive year. Charitable donations increased from $175 million in 2015 to a new total of $177.5 million in 2016.

For more information, go to www.kofc.org.

ROWAYTON

Looking to burn some calories in advance of your annual Thanksgiving dinner binge? Sign up for one of Rowaytons budding annual traditions, the Rowayton Turkey Trot.

The race will feature to different portions  a 5K and a one-mile course. Race winners will receive prizes, and kids under 10 run for free. Adults' entry is $30 for pre-registration online, and $40 the day of the event, which is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 23.

The race, sponsored by the Rowayton Library, will start from the Rowayton Library on 33 Highland Ave. Parking is available across the road, courtesy of Graham Capital.

To register or learn more details, check out the race website at rowaytonturkeytrot.com.

Share your neighborhood news

To share your community and neighborhood news with The Norwalk Hour, contact Pat Tomlinson at 203-842-2570, or at ptomlinson@hearstmediact.com.
Duplicate bridge results announced

CHARLESTON -- The results of the duplicate bridge game played on Nov. 13 are:

1 Keith Atteberry - Mark Daily

2 Jan Albin - Stan Albin

The next game will be played on Monday at 6:45 p.m. at First Christian Church in Charleston.

Extension Healthy Aging Summit rescheduled

CHARLESTON -- The University of Illinois Extension Healthy Aging Summit, "The Power of Aging", that was to be held on Wednesday at the LifeSpan Center has been postponed until March 21.

For further information, call the Coles County Extension office at 217-345-7034 or visit the website at https://web.extension.illinois.edu/registration/?RegistrationID=17430.

Thanksgiving Buffet to be held at convention center

EFFINGHAM -- The Thelma Keller Convention Center will be hosting a Thanksgiving Buffet from 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Thursday in the Grand Ballroom. The buffet will include roasted sliced turkey, chef carved ham, corn bread dressing, real mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, gravy, sweet Potatoes, Sweet Yellow Corn, a variety of salads and a dessert table.

For more information, contact 217-347-5115 or atucker@kellerconventioncenter.com.

Community Thanksgiving dinner set

CHARLESTON -- Salisbury Church will partner with the Villas of Holly Brook to provide a free community Thanksgiving meal from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.

The menu consists of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, noodles, corn, and pumpkin pie. Reservations or home deliveries can be arranged by calling 217-208-7340 or 217-512-3082 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. The Villas of Holly Brook is located at 738 N. 18th St.

Christian Science Society to hold Thanksgiving service

CHARLESTON -- A Thanksgiving Day Service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Christian Science Society, 812 Jackson Ave.

Everyone is welcome to attend. For more information, call Mary Thompson at 217-967-5362
Grand Island Public Schools Board of Education president Bonnie Hinkle received the Ann Mactier Leadership for Learning Award during a ceremony at the Nebraska Association of School Boards conference Thursday in LaVista.

The Nebraska Association of School Boards and the Nebraska State Board of Education jointly sponsor this award that recognizes local school board members for their policy leadership and contributions to curriculum and instruction in Nebraska public schools. John Witzel, Nebraska Department of Education, presented the award.

She works collaboratively with all members of the board and is uniquely able to speak in strong support of students while maintaining a sense of respect for everyone at the table, Witzel said of Hinkle.

Hinkle said she was honored to receive the award. I feel like I should have eight other board members, our superintendent and administrators up here with me because we all love kids.

Hinkle has served on the GIPS Board of Education for 11 years, serving as president since 2015. She has also served on standing and special committees including curriculum, personnel, extra-standard, Healthy Kids, Grand Island Public Schools Foundation, finance and facilities, calendar, labor relations, Key Communicator, Parent Advisory Council, technology, public relations, high school visioning and strategic advisory committee.

We have been blessed to have the leadership of Mrs. Hinkle on the GIPS Board of Education, said GIPS Superintendent Tawana Grover. Her guidance during my time in the district and well before it has been instrumental in providing opportunities for our students. Her work on the strategic plan has set the foundation for a successful future for our district.
A Nov. 7 story about the new Grab & Go breakfasts being served at Grand Island caused one reader to ask who is paying for the breakfasts, which are being served at no charge to Grand Island Senior High students and staff.

Kris Spellman, director of nutrition for Grand Island Public Schools, said the original source of funds for the school breakfast program at GISH is the federal government, with those funds being administered to local school districts through the Nebraska Department of Education.

That reimbursement is enough so that GIPS does not have to charge Senior High students anything for their Grab & Go breakfast. We feel breakfast is an important enough meal that we want to serve it free to high school students, Spellman said. We would like all high school students to eat breakfast.

She said the reimbursement pays both food and labor costs, as well as any other expenses associated with serving Grab & Go breakfast.

Spellman said the GISH Grab & Go program relies on economy of scale  that is, getting enough high school students to eat breakfast every day  that the school district can afford to provide the breakfasts at no charge.

Spellman said the amount of breakfast reimbursement per student depends on which category a student belongs to. She said the breakfast reimbursement is greatest for the students who are eligible for free meals from the school district, the reimbursement level is less for the students who are eligible to pay for reduced-price school meals and the reimbursement amount drops again for students who are deemed capable of paying the so-called full price for a school lunch.

Spellman said the district keeps track of how many free high school kids eat breakfast, how many reduced-price high school students eat breakfast and how many full-price high school students eat breakfast, even though no money ever changes hands as part of the Grab & Go breakfasts.

Spellman said the record-keeping is done simply so the Grand Isand Public Schools receives the correct reimbursement from the federal-state government for its Grab & Go breakfast program.

The Grand Island Public Schools also received a $110,0000 grant from Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom and the Walmart Foundation to buy the food carts and mobile refrigeration units needed to run the Grab & Go breakfast program. The grant money also was used pay for a larger walk-in freezer to provide additional space for the greater amount of food that must be stored because of the program. Consequently, the grant helped Grand Island implement its new Grab & Go breakfasts.

Even though breakfast is provided absolutely free of charge to GISH students, the school district still charges nominal fees to students who eat school lunch. GIPS school lunches provide much more food for kids to eat than do school breakfasts.

Here is how the school lunch reimbursement system works for GIPS: Children from families with incomes at or below 130 percent of the poverty level are eligible for free meals at lunch time. Children who live in families that earn between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty level are eligible for reduced-price meals. Regulations say GIPS can charge no more than 40 cents per meal to students who qualify for reduced-price school lunches.

Children from families with incomes over 185 percent of poverty supposedly pay full price for school lunch. However, those regulations point out that the so-called full-price meals still results in a small reimbursement going to the GIPS nutrition services program.

Spellman said that the Grand Island Public Schools operates its overall food service program on a break-even basis, and does not rely on school district general fund money to keep running.
No. 1 Looking back, it feels like sexual harassment. As I remember it, many desks in the schools I attended had a picture of a penis drawn or carved into them. Maybe it was smudged because somebody tried to clean it off or paint it over, but it was there. It had been there for generations. There were penises etched into school cafeteria tables and trays, drawn in chalk on brick buildings, spray painted onto walls. They appeared on the inside and outside of all forms of public transportation. I always assumed they were drawn by boys and men.

In contrast, girls dont spend a lot of time drawing vaginas on anything. Perhaps its simply tough to draw a reasonable one during a brief elevator ride or before lunchroom workers catch you with a Sharpie, but I think theres more to it. Girls and women dont want to plaster representations of our genitalia on all available surfaces. Yet some boys and men seem to feel a need to display themselves. This should not be encouraged outside of art classes, consensual relationships or designated beaches.

No. 2 Sexual harassment, abuse and assault have nothing to do with attraction or affection; they have to do with power, the need to dominate and the need to degrade. Harassment expresses unbridled contempt, not desire. People dont get harassed because theyre cute; people get harassed because they are in the same place as the perpetrator.

No. 3 When I am invited to give talks by organizations or companies on the subject of appropriate and inappropriate humor in the workplace, theres often a banner announcing Dr. Gina Barreca: Sexual Harassment Workshop. Usually some of the audience members clearly believe Im there to help them do it better. I sum up my talk by asking the audience to remember that Harass is one word. I can see that some are puzzled.

No. 4 Heres why its called sexual objectification: Making a human being so insubstantial and unimportant that you can grab him or her and then throw him or her away after youve satisfied yourself  as if there are no consequences for your actions  makes that person into a thing. The person is stripped of any individual identity. The idea that the object might have its own conflicting desires, wishes or inclinations is unthinkable. Its merely something to which things are done; what it wants is meaningless. Its disposable, like a Kleenex.

No. 5 We need to clarify to the young and vulnerable that being sexually intimate with those in power does not mean power will rub off. Being close to somebody who radiates fame will not give you fame. A manipulator in a position of power who uses his apparent weakness as lure to gain sympathy is the proverbial wolf in sheeps clothing. Under that false woolly familiarity, youll find sharp teeth and lingering drool.

No. 6 It would be comforting to tell ourselves that this is just a mutant moment in modern history. But is it? Perhaps there has always been a split between comedy that relies on sexual vulgarity and comedy that treats its audience with more respect. We can see (a) difference in old and new comedies, commented one critic. For the writers of old comedy it was indecent language that was ridiculous, while those writing new comedy prefer innuendo. The critic was Aristotle, who lived from 384 B.C. to 322 B.C.

No. 7 Even though sexual harassment, like other forms of aggression, is nothing new, that doesnt make it OK. Certainly women in Hollywood have had to deal with it since the first movie shot was framed. Theres a story that when brilliant comic actress Judy Holliday was being chased around the casting couch by a director, she decided she had enough and yelled, STOP. JUST STOP. Holliday then took her falsies out of her brassiere, handed them to the director and said, I believe its these youre after.

No. 8 Stop. Just stop.
Time for a confession: Im a lousy tipper.

I dont like to have pizza delivered to the house because Id have to pay the driver a dollar or two. Whenever we order pizza, I always pick it up.

A couple of times a week, I buy coffee at Scooters. A container on the counter says Tips are welcomed. I pay for my coffee and drive away, feeling guilty because I never leave a tip.

At restaurants, I leave as much as a quarter. Just kidding.

I leave waiters and waitresses good tips. But Im not always happy about it.

Its not that Im a cheapskate. Well, actually it is.

I appreciate the work waiters and waitresses do very much. I know they dont make a lot of money.

I also understand that customers can be difficult.

People are pigs, says my wife, who worked as a waitress when she was 17. Before we leave our table, my wife always gathers the plates together and cleans up as much as she can, remembering her own difficult days.

In other parts of the country, gratuities arent expected solely at restaurants. At a hotel near Chicago, a cleaning woman mentioned the possibility of leaving money for her the next morning.

Ive heard of people, mostly in big cities, who give Christmas gifts to barbers and other people who provide them with regular service.

Take care of the ones who take care of you, one man said.

Even around here, people leave Christmas gifts for their newspaper carrier and maybe the mailman. Back when there were milkmen, they probably received a nice holiday gift.

When we travel, my wife always slips a little something to people who help us in airports. I also give a few dollars to the lady who cuts my hair.

But one thing I dont like about tipping is the uncertainty. Just who gets a tip, and how much?

At a Sonic in North Platte, the teenager who brought us our food was quite willing to keep the change. At a Sonic?

Maybe its me. Maybe I should be a little more willing to spread whatever money I have.

If I ever go to England, I will happy drop a few quid wherever I go, just because I like using that phrase.

Im also not arrogant about tipping. I dont say, Heres a little something for your trouble. Before my life is over, Ill probably be part of the service industry myself.

People who are really cheap could just leave their waitress with advice rather than money. Such as always bet on the underdog at home. Or Never get plastic surgery. Youll regret it.

Restaurants now make it very easy to calculate tipping amounts. Receipts often tell you what a proper tip would be. They also tell you what amount to leave if youre in a very giving mood.

One advantage of buffets, some people say, is you dont have to leave any money on the table.

In a book I read, author Nicholas Pileggi was described as a promiscuous and generous tipper. Nobody will ever describe me that way.

But at restaurants, I always leave a good 15 percent.

My wife and I always use a coupon when we go out to eat. The newspaper often contains coupons for Sanchez Plaza, Tommys, Whiteys, Perkins, Godfathers Pizza and many other places.

Getting a deal on your meal makes it easier to leave four or five bucks. The coupon basically covers the cost of the tip.

That way, everybodys happy.

As they say in Route 66, wont you get hip to this timely tip?

Jeff Bahr is a reporter for The Independent. He may be reached at jeff.bahr@theindependent.com.
A hearty Saturday Salute goes this week to the friends and neighbors of Rodney and Jason Rauert who pitched in to help get the Rauerts corn harvested this week.

Rodney Rauert died earlier this month after an extended illness. He and his son, Jason, farmed together on more than 1,000 acres in rural Grand Island. But with weather delays and his fathers illness and death, Jason, was struggling to get their harvest completed.

So about 40 farmers and others who just wanted to help showed up Wednesday morning to, as Nebraskas own Larry the Cable Guy says, get er done. They harvested the corn and then hauled it to the elevator and put some of the crop into storage bins.

This is the epitome of Nebraska neighborliness. Family friend Brian Quandt said once the news was out about the harvest bee, many people volunteered to help the family. Aurora Co-op provided lunch and refreshments for the volunteers. The co-op was also helping to refuel the volunteers equipment.

Because of everyones help, at the end of the day, the Rauert family had one less thing to worry about. We salute everyone who answered the call to help this family in need.

Welcome home, Kathie

A similar example that warms the heart is the gathering of friends and neighbors who welcomed Kathie Reisdorph of Grand Island home from the hospital Thursday night.

Reisdorph received news that she would be able to have a heart transplant on Oct. 28, only 29 hours after going on the transplant list. The surgery was done the following day at Nebraska Medicine in Omaha.

Friends didnt go inside her house Thursday because she is still recovering and cant be around people because her immune system is low. But she could see the turnout and know she has the support of everyone she knows. Now she will be able to continue the process of building her strength at home.

Food for the hungry

A hearty salute also goes to the Hastings College students in LocalGlobal who gathered to assemble 2,500 sandwiches Tuesday night for Hastings Open Table Program.

The event was part of a variety of activities for Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week this past week. About 20 people worked in an assembly line to make ham and cheese sandwiches and put them in plastic zip bags so they could be packed into sack lunches the following day for Open Table. The lunches are available to anyone who needs them, with no proof of need required.

With Thanksgiving approaching and so many families stocking up on food in preparation for a holiday feast, its important that we recognize that there are many families throughout the area who cant afford to buy food whenever they want.

Its great to see college students learning about simple ways they can help those in need.
Going around the curve in front of Greenline Equipment, there, waving in the breeze, was an American flag hanging so patriotically from the crane at Chief Construction. Thank you so very much to the employees for honoring our veterans. As a 50-plus-year employee of Chief Industries, I was so honored by this show of support to veterans.
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Linkedin Jalur Rempah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia  Sun, November 19, 2017

The latest documentary explores the islands where wealth reduced people to slaves.

Dylan Amirio

The Jakarta post/Jakarta

Banda: The Dark Forgotten Trail opens a window to a piece of Indonesia forgotten by time, tarnished by a dark history, but bearing historical significance that matches the weight of the entire country.

The islands of Banda in eastern Indonesia, once colloquially named the Spice Islands, were once the most valuable pieces of property on Earth. Back in the 16th century, an abundance of spices never seen in the world attracted Europeans who aimed to dominate the trade of these valuable commodities.

Nutmeg was Bandas prized crop. Nutmeg itself was extremely versatile in the way that every part of the spice had a certain use, such as for food preservation, as a culinary flavor and as a basic ingredient of cosmetics. So valuable and rare was this spice in those days that its value exceeded that of gold, and the Dutch did everything they could to secure a monopoly, from killing the Banda natives to even going to war with the English.

Banda: The Dark Forgotten Trail, the new documentary directed by Jay Subyakto, discusses the entire history of the Banda Islands with raw, unfettered emotion and well-researched facts. It is a visually captivating movie, as the images of an unspoiled landscape string the wrenching stories gracefully on top of a moving soundtrack that recalls the music of synth-heavy band Survive.

The film explores the history of the Banda Islands from its pre-colonial era, when the Portuguese held the fort, to the brutal occupation by the Dutch, to its significance in Indonesian history as the port of exile for founding fathers Sutan Sjahrir, Mohammad Hatta and Tjipto Mangunkusumo.

As with many grandiose tales of treasure and desire, the Bandas significant history comes with long, savage periods of bloodshed, be it at the hands of the Dutch or even of the islanders themselves. The movie includes a wide range of statements from historians, locals and those who once lived on the Banda Islands, who tell their stories with visible passion.

One locals account of falling victim to the regional religious violence of the 2000s is told in a stoic manner yet with the kind of chilling impact seen in fellow Indonesian violence documentary The Act of Killing.

Banda and The Act of Killing both explore the blind cruelty that Indonesians are able to stoop to whenever faced with anything that challenges religious or social supremacy.

The conflict between Christians and Muslims that wrecked the Maluku region in the early 2000s seems to sting the hearts of the Banda natives even deeper than the Dutch occupation, because the destruction was carried out by the islands own people.

The destruction of present-day Banda Islands does not only come in the form of violence. Locals also tell the viewers of savage economical rape of the once glorious nutmeg trade by the companies that run it today, leaving the nutmeg farmers and harvesters with less than nothing. The way the natives are treated by the current, local companies mirrors the way the Dutch used to treat them centuries ago: as slaves.

Viewers can capture the emotions of the Banda people, who express their deep sentiments toward their history and toward an increasingly indifferent Indonesia, and the movie, which aims to elicit an emotional reaction more than anything else, succeeds in doing so.

The Banda Islands are of breathtaking beauty to the eye. There is no need to visually enhance the natural features that surround and are within the island group.

However, some historians and locals in the film lament the fact that the cold foot of globalization has begun to creep in. Parks are turned into multi-story government buildings, and the internet has rendered the youth rather unmotivated to preserve the Bandas of today. The modern age might have opened Bandas doors to the world even wider, but it comes at a risk to the island group itself.

The Bandas want tourists to boost their economy, but they also want to keep the islands spirit intact.

Jay Subyakto says it is up to the youth to give a darn about things like this, because they are the generation that masters this era.

They should be able learn from the mistakes of our forefathers and treat what remains of the past with greater care than before.

. (./.)
Late night hosts' comedy in the past were not obviously divisive or unreasonably prejudiced and would not exceed the boundaries of civil discourse! Contemporary late night hosts have seemingly wandered from that rectitude. A good example is The Late Show host Stephen Colbert's vulgar diatribe against the president earlier this year. In the finale of it he said: In fact the only thing your mouth is good for is being Valdimir Putin's (expletive) holster.

No surprise that Colbert received his training from Jon Stewart, past host of the popular The Today Show on Comedy Central. The show cleverly poses as guiltless stand-up comedy, political satire and parody yet serves as a political pundit against the president and right-wing politics in general.

Trevor Noah has become the host of The Daily Show and Jon Stewart admittedly was his mentor. Noah is reputed to be even more derogatory towards the President of the United States, his collaborators and voters than Stewart. (Google video clips of the show). With his divisiveness this late night host Noah was allowed to perform at the State Farm Center during the recent University of Illinois Homecoming!

As a sign-holding and vocal protester at the event I was appalled. A university official tried to move me to a shadowy area away from the front entrance and summoned the police when I refused. The reactions to my protest were mostly divisive. I was VERY uncomfortable as a Donald Trump voter and Christian attending this event. Ostensibly the concert was a comedy routine, yet much of the show was a mockery of the president, conservative ideology and Donald Trump voters.

A Citizen for

MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN

Personal Responsibility

In God We Trust

Limited Government

Strong National Defense

Restricted Immigration/Secure Borders

Ronald Sutliff, Mattoon
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Linkedin Jalur Rempah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia  Sun, November 19, 2017

Maritime trade involving spices and other commodities along the Sriwijaya Kindoms route from the 7th century to around the 12th century, turned out to be fertile ground for cross-cultural exchange among its traders.

National Archaeology Center researcher Bambang Budi Utomo pointed out that maritime trade of the era produced what is known to be Southeast Asian ship technology, which was discovered in what are now Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The Southeast Asian technology showcases advancement in terms of maritime technology. Prior to these Southeast Asian ships, which were discovered around the 6th century, vessels were manufactured by digging out timber. The dugout method was inefficient because the size of the ships would be limited by the size of the timber, Bambang explained.

The more advanced Southeast Asian ship technology uses ropes made of palm fibers to connect many separate pieces of timber, resulting in much larger ships. This is called the sewn-plank and lashed-lug technique.

Buddhism and Islam also made their way into Sriwijaya through the maritime trade. Bambang said Indonesias Islam embodies the Shia tradition brought over by Persian traders.

We can see the influence from rituals such as thanksgiving involving the birth of a baby, the Maulid Nabi celebration, as well as the sacredness of the month of Muharram in the Islamic calendar, when people fast [on the 10th day], he added.

Indonesia was also actively involved in contributing to the global cultural scene embodied by Buddhism at that time.

Indonesia built three sacred temples in what is now known as the Nakonsitamarat area of Southern Thailand [previously known as Wat Sema Muang], around the 8th and 9th centuries. Sriwijaya also played a part in constructing a boarding house for foreign students who studied Buddhism in the Nalanda University in India, he said.

The cultural significance of the spice trail does not stop at the fluid interaction of different cultures and beliefs in ancient times. In the present, the spice trail could also be used to promote Indonesian food, arts and culture.

The Culture and Education Ministrys general-director of culture, Hilmar Farid, said that the ministry had a mission to nominate the spice trail to be recognized as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritage site.

Currently, many city administrations in Indonesia want to nominate either a building or a site as a world heritage. Actually, we want to propose the spice trail to represent our common heritage, to strengthen our attempts at preserving it. The question is: what is our common heritage? To determine this, we need to undergo research studies, which require energy and time, he said.

Hilmar conceded that it may take some time for the spice trail to be acknowledged as a world heritage site, as the recognition process would involve marking the long route.

The first step toward creating awareness about the spice trails history will involve a number of napak tilas (public journey), spanning from Southeast Asia to South Asia.  JP/Sebastian Partogi

. (./.)
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Linkedin Karlis Salna and Tassia Sipahutar (Bloomberg)  Sat, November 18, 2017 13:01 1824 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a29b1236 2 Science & Tech Rudiantara,Google,Twitter,social-media,Indonesia Free

Indonesia has threatened to bar the worlds biggest social-media providers from operating in the country unless they comply with stringent demands to filter pornography and other content deemed obscene.

Twitter Inc., Alphabet Inc.s Google and a host of companies have been put on notice by Indonesian Communications Minister Rudiantara, who warned that all platforms now face serious consequences if they dont adhere to government requests to block content.

The worst case is I will not allow them to be in Indonesia," Rudiantara, who uses one name, said in an interview on Thursday. "We are focusing on content. If you violate content then you are violating rules and laws in Indonesia.

A country of 260 million people, Indonesia is a prolific user of social media. But the nation with the worlds largest Muslim population has also become increasingly concerned about its use to spread material related to terrorism and racial violence, as well as pornography and child abuse. Twitter, Google and Facebook are all also blocked in China.

Indonesia last week threatened to block the use of Facebook Inc.s messaging service WhatsApp unless it removed obscene content available as GIF images. WhatsApp was allowed to continue operating after agreements to filter images and videos were reached with third-party services that provide GIFs.

Read also: Google, Facebook join news organizations in 'Trust Project'

Summoning Executives

Samuel Abrijani, Director-General for Application and Informatics at the Communications Ministry, said executives from Google and Twitter would be summoned for meetings with government officials to discuss what action they would take to monitor content. He gave no details on timing.

Representatives for Google and Twitter in Asia didnt immediately respond to requests for comment.

The minister, whos previously served on the boards of PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia and PT Indosat, said he wanted to work with content providers to help improve the literacy of Indonesians. They must at this stage help us to filter content that violates the rules and regulations of the country, he said.

Facebook Users

He said Google has shown the most good will and had been receptive to requests to help monitor social media. Facebook, which counts almost 90 million Indonesians among its users, has also previously agreed to work with the government.

Amid the crackdown on social media platforms, President Joko Widodo has also ordered the development of the nations digital economy as a priority. The digital economy may be worth $130 billion by 2020, Rudiantara said.

Read also: Minister promises countrywide high-speed internet 'before 2024'

Indonesia has recruited Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. founder Jack Ma as an adviser to help it reach its digital goal, particularly around the development of payment systems and logistics.

"I want to sell Indonesia. I want to make Indonesia more competitive across the international landscape, so I need people like Jack Ma," Rudiantara said. He wants the billionaire businessman to be "a guru for the development of human capital, not only to support Indonesia but to support the region."

Some of the companies caught up in the crackdown have also previously fallen afoul of the Indonesian government over tax compliance. Tax authorities have been in a long-running dispute with Google and have also set their sights on Apple Inc., as well as Twitter, Yahoo! Inc. and Facebook.

Rudiantara said Thursday that he plans to issue a ministerial decree by the end of the year that will toughen rules for foreign companies operating in the communications sector. The measure, he said, would address three key issues, including ensuring companies pay tax, adhere to their legal obligations and provide customer service.

While they may not necessarily be required to have a local office, they would need to have some kind of presence, such as representation by a third party, he said. Indonesian content providers had complained that they were being chased while other companies werent paying taxes.

There must be a level playing field, Rudiantara said.
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Linkedin Catherine Marciano (AFP) Vatican City  Sat, November 18, 2017 08:44 1824 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a29aab5e 2 Health euthanasia,Vatican,doctors,debate Free

"We don't carry out euthanasia as often as it is asked for," says Dutch GP Carin Littooji, advocating for assisted dying on a bench usually reserved for bishops in the Vatican.

The World Medical Association (WMA)has gathered at the heart of the Catholic Church to debate its policy on end-of-life care.

The choice of location sends a clear message about the organization's position on the controversial issue of euthanasia, according to Jeff Blackmer, the vice president of the Medical Association in Canada.

"It's like having a human rights discussion in North Korea," said Blackmer, whose home nation allows terminally ill patients to legally receive medical help to die. "It's not a neutral environment."

Euthanasia, practiced by a doctor, and assisted suicide, performed by a patient, are deemed unethical by the organization, which counts more than 100 national medical organizations among its members.

The standards-setting body encourages doctors worldwide to refrain from supporting the procedures -- even if they are legal in their country.

But medical associations in Canada and the Netherlands, where assisted dying is also legal in limited cases, are calling for a change in attitude within the WMA.

Littooji says a patient experiencing unbearable suffering who requests an assisted death is monitored over a long period by a team of doctors.

"It's a road we walk together over time, the end can be euthanasia but far more often it's a natural death," adds Littooji.

Popular Support

President of the German Medical Association, Frank Ulrich Montgomery, quoted the 2,400-year-old Hippocratic Oath to the conference: "... neither will I administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a course."

While he highlighted surveys from some industrialised nations which show majority support for terminally ill people legally ending their own lives with doctors' help, he questioned whether it is "compassionate" to kill your patient.

"In liberal societies people want to have choice and options right up to the very end of their life," he added.

"Are our ethics, our deepest beliefs, dependent on polls?"

But Dutch Royal Medical Association chairman Rene Heman told the conference that euthanasia "can be accepted".

In the Netherlands, a patient must be experiencing unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement to qualify for one of the life-ending procedures.

"It will never feel good for a doctor," he accepted.

"The possibility of euthanasia does not undermine the trust between patient and doctor. The patient knows he can rely on this physician."

A letter from the Pope was read to the conference, reiterating the Catholic Church's unwavering opposition to both acts.

During a coffee break, delegates were also offered books with titles such as "Post-Abortion Trauma" or "The Risk of Eugenics" by the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life.

Topics : euthanasia Vatican doctors debate
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Linkedin Pauline Froissart (Agence France-Presse) London, United Kingdom  Sat, November 18, 2017 14:04 1824 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a29b1e54 2 Lifestyle Queen-Elizabeth-II,Prince-Philip,British-royals Free

He accepted living in her shadow. She forgave his periodic gaffes.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip will celebrate their platinum wedding anniversary on November 20, marking 70 years since they married in the splendour of Westminster Abbey.

Despite three of their four children (Charles, Anne and Andrew) having divorced, this royal union has endured through the decades without any public hint of marital strife.

Now, they join a small club of couples who have spent seven decades together.

No events are planned to celebrate their landmark, but the bells of Westminster Abbey will ring at 1300 GMT in tribute.

Elizabeth and Philip will spend the day with other members of the royal family, a Buckingham Palace spokesman told AFP.

After 70 years of marriage it's a burgeoning clan, with four children, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

They expect to welcome a sixth great-grandchild in April, when Prince William and wife Kate Middleton's third child is due.

The 96-year-old Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, retired from the public eye this summer, enjoying his newfound free time reading and painting.

For her part the Queen, at 91, is slowly passing over some of her official duties to her son Prince Charles, now aged 69.

Read also: Queen Elizabeth II turns 91 with quiet day, gun salutes

- Meeting at 13 years-old -

It was a version of love at first sight.

Elizabeth was aged just 13 when she first laid eyes on her future husband Philip, then a dashing 18-year-old blond army officer.

The pair may have met in their teens, but it would be eight years until the nation celebrated with pomp their fairy-tale wedding at Westminster's famous abbey on November 20, 1947.

The princess dazzled, dressed in a satin dress embroidered with roses and decorated with 10,000 pearls and sparkling crystals.

In this post-war period, it was "a flash of colour on the difficult road we're taking," said Winston Churchill, leader of a Conservative Party then in opposition.

Fresh memories of the war and fears of anti-German sentiment meant several of Prince Philip's German relatives -- including his three surviving sisters -- were not invited to the ceremony.

Prior to the wedding, the Queen Mother asked her future son-in-law if he would cherish her daughter.

"Cherish Lilibet? I wonder if that word is enough to express what is in me," he replied, using the Queen's childhood nickname.

He went on to say that he had "fallen in love completely and unreservedly" with her.

Read also: William and Kate expect baby in April: Kensington Palace

- Sacrifices -

After their honeymoon -- at Balmoral, the Scottish holiday estate of the royal family -- the newlyweds moved to Malta where Philip, a naval officer, had been stationed.

However, the premature death of King George VI, in 1952, put an end to the more carefree life the young couple had adopted on the Mediterranean island, and propelled Elizabeth to the throne.

It also forced Philip to sacrifice his career in the Royal Navy to become the Queen's spouse.

The son of a Greek prince banished from the country, he renounced his titles and Greek Orthodox faith and became a British citizen to marry Elizabeth, adopting his mother's anglicised name, Mountbatten.

But their children would take the Queen's family name, Windsor.

On his 90th birthday in 2011, she surprised her husband by making him Lord High Admiral, the titular head of the Royal Navy and a role she had held since 1964.

It was reported to be a show of gratitude for his decades of unstinting support as her consort.

That support has come alongside a steady stream of gaffes, sometimes with xenophobic hints, which the Queen appears to have forgiven him for.

"I think the main lesson that we have learnt is that tolerance is the one essential ingredient of any happy marriage," Philip said in a golden wedding anniversary speech in 1997.

"You can take it from me that The Queen has the quality of tolerance in abundance."

The man she referred to as her "rock," also once remarked: "My job first, second and last, is never to let the Queen down."
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Linkedin News Desk (AFP) Montreal, Canada  Sat, November 18, 2017 09:05 1824 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a29ab802 2 Business jet,employment,Canada,jobs Free

Canadian manufacturer Bombardier announced Friday the addition of 1,000 jobs in Montreal to build business jets, to meet rising demand for its new Global 7000 series.

The Global 7000 will be the largest purpose-built business jet in the industry, with the longest range and speed, when it enters into service in the second half of 2018 -- two years behind schedule.

Chief executive Alain Bellemare said this week that demand for business jets, after a weak decade, has turned around.

Bombardier's new craftspeople, artisans and engineers will work over the next 18 months on the aircraft's interior, which boasts a kitchen and four distinct living spaces.

The new positions come after the company slashed more than 15,000 jobs in its aerospace and rail divisions around the world since 2015.

In February, Ottawa loaned Bombardier Can$372.5 million (US$291 million) to complete development of the Global 7000 and its CSeries passenger aircraft.

Eight months later, Bombardier entered into a partnership with Airbus, giving the European manufacturer a majority stake in its marquee CSeries airliner program in exchange for Airbus's heft in marketing the new plane to potential clients.

The move was also seen as a means of skirting US anti-dumping and countervailing duties on the CSeries, by moving part of its production to Airbus's facility in Mobile, Alabama.

The CSeries is the first new design in the 100- to 150-seat category in more than 25 years.

The US Commerce Department recently imposed duties on the jetliner after US rival Boeing filed a trade complaint accusing Bombardier of having unfairly benefitted from state subsidies that allowed it to sell the aircraft at below cost to Delta Air Lines.

The row has since exploded to involve the British government, since the CSeries wings are assembled in Northern Ireland. The European Union has vowed retaliation against Boeing.

Topics : jet employment Canada jobs
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Linkedin (AFP) Los Angeles  Sat, November 18, 2017 06:34 1824 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a29a7fe8 2 World pilot,US,Navy Free

The US Navy was left red-faced Friday after a pilot painted an enormous outline of a penis in the sky using the condensation trails from his multi-million-dollar warplane.

Residents of the town of Okanogan, in the western state of Washington, had been stunned to see the F-18 jet scrawling the phallic symbol on Thursday, and several photos quickly circulated online.

Navy officials acknowledged one of their crews was behind the stunt, saying the aircraft "left a condensed air trail resembling an obscene image to observers on the ground."

"The actions of this aircrew were wholly unacceptable and antithetical to Navy core values," Lieutenant Commander Leslie Hubbell, a spokeswoman for the Naval Air Station on Whidbey Island, said in a statement.

"We have grounded the aircrew and are conducting a thorough investigation -- and we will hold those responsible accountable for their actions.

"The Navy apologizes for this irresponsible and immature act," she added.

Many onlookers on the ground posted images of the drawing on social media and appeared amused by the stunt.

Ramon Duran told The Spokesman-Review that he was running errands when he noticed the jet drawing the male genitalia.

"After it made the circles at the bottom, I knew what it was and started laughing," Duran said.

"It was pretty funny to see that. You dont expect to see something like that."

Topics : pilot US Navy
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post)  Sat, November 18 2017

The local police on the outskirts of the capital deserve praise following the latest incident of mob vigilantism, this time against a young unmarried couple accused of having sex. Police in Tangerang arrested six men this week, including two neighborhood chiefs, for egging on the intimidation, beating, stripping and parading of the victims. Perpetrators who spread the incident online will also face legal consequences.

Even if the couple had engaged in mesum, todays shorthand for sexual indecency, Tangerang police chief Sr. Adj. Comr. Sabilul Alif said no one had any right to abuse them, adding that they had not. This is a rare sentiment today, which should be trumpeted by our leaders of morality.

Nevertheless the damage had been done, with the young woman screaming for mercy as the assaulters forcefully stripped her, paraded the couple and took selfies, filming their act and posting it online. The sickness spread instantly, as usual, across cyberspace, with even some mainstream media uploading the video, a prize-find in the frantic 24-hour search for click bait.

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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta  Sat, November 18, 2017 10:35 1824 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a29ae3ee 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Mandalika,special-economic-zone Free

Following the launch of Mandalika Special Economic Zone (KEK), the tourism in West Nusa Tenggara province is gaining more and more recognition.

There are three strategic moves that NTB has successfully done and resulted in the increase of the number of tourists, explained head of Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) West Nusa Tenggara, Abdul Hadi Faishal.

Those three moves were celebrations of National Press Day (HPN) and Musabaqah Tilawatil Quran (MTQ) in 2016 and the launching of KEK Mandalika that fell in October 2017. All of these occasions were attended by President Joko Widodo.

KEK Mandalika is deemed as the first step in the string of big programs that aim to improve Indonesia's tourism. The area is expected to create up to 58,000 jobs and earn more than Rp 13 trillion of investment.

Abdul added that Mandalika is also expected to have 2,000 hotel rooms by 2019.

For access, a road from the airport has been built. Now it only takes 30 minutes to travel to KEK Mandalika from Lombok International Airport.

KEK Mandalika is one of the Tourism Ministrys 10 Priority Destinations. It has a total area of 1,034 hectares stretching from Kuta Beach to Seger Beach and Tanjung Aan Beach. The area is known for its Putri Mandalika Monument located in Seger Beach.

Other tourist sites available at KEK Mandalika are Merese Hill, Sade Traditional Village and Ende Traditional Village that is home to the Sasak people. (kes)
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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta  Sat, November 18, 2017 17:26 1824 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a29b804a 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,West-Papua Free

West Papua is set to host Senja Kaimana Festival 2017 in Kaimana Regency on Nov. 20-23.

The cultural parade will feature eight tribes from Kaimana, namely Mairasi, Kuri, Irarutu, Oburau, Madewana, Napiti, Myere and Kouwayi.

The festival itself was first held in 2012 and has become an annual event in the regency. This year, the event is slated to feature performances of modern and traditional dances, traditional archery competition, traditional cooking competition, exhibition of local products and cultural procession.

There will be a cultural parade from tribes in Kaimana to open the festival and also competitions for visitors. Hopefully Kaimana will be getting more recognition that is beneficial to the local economy, said Kaimana tourism department head Marthen Fenetiruma.

Dozens of stalls will be available for the locals to sell handicraft products or food.

The festival will also host a batik launching event where several batik motifs such as palm, garuda combined with traditional house, jellyfish, sea urchin, sun, tifa and manta will be trademarked.

One of the aims of this festival is to consistently promoting Kaimana batik, Marthen added.

Visitors will be given the opportunity to visit several tourist sites such as Hius Paus in Triton Bay, Mai Mai site, Ermund, Tugu For De Bus Lobo and Little Comodo in Triton Bay.

To travel to Kaimana, tourists can book a Garuda Indonesia flight.

Garuda offers flights that serve Ambon  Kaimana  Manokwari and Ambon  Kaimana  Nabire using ATR  600 planes that can carry 70 passengers, he told. (kes)
There was a huge police presence in the Two Bridges neighborhood yesterday following a stabbing inside an apartment building.

According to Channel 11, cops responded after receiving a 911 call from a resident at Two Bridges Tower, 82 Rutgers Slip at around 1:30 p.m. A victim, covered in blood, knocked on her door, asking for help.

The victim was rushed to the hospital and was listed in serious condition.

People in the building say the victim does not live in Two Bridges Tower, which is located next door to Extells 80-story luxury condo project, One Manhattan Square.
(lead article)

Tehran, Saudi rulers contend over Mideast

Kurds fight attacks amid growing conflicts

Mustafa Abdi

Deepening disputes between the capitalist regimes in Tehran and Riyadh are increasingly shaping politics in the Middle East today. The capitalist rulers in Iran have made significant gains in wars in Iraq and Syria, moving to secure a land bridge to their ally Hezbollah in Lebanon and access to the Mediterranean Sea.

The Saudi monarchy is seeking to counter Tehran, taking steps to curb the sprawling network of emirs and other princelings pursuing their own interests and to deepen alliances with other bourgeois Arab regimes in the region.

With the defeat of Islamic State in all but a few isolated areas in Syria and Iraq, Washington  and Tel Aviv, Cairo, Ankara and other capitalist regimes there  are also looking to position themselves to advance their interests.

Tehran has made the most gains. Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers, Hezbollah fighters and Shiite-based militias, backed by Moscows air power, have pushed back the efforts of the Syrian people to bring down the dictatorial rule of Bashar al-Assad. And Guard leaders and the Hashd al-Shaabi militia have strengthened the rule of the pro-Tehran rulers in Iraq.

They have pushed back the Kurds as well. With a green light from Washington, these forces seized Kirkuk and pushed the Kurds out of more than 30 percent of the territory they have controlled and defended against assaults from Islamic State.

Tehran is one of the most developed capitalist countries in the Middle East, with increasing aid from Beijing and Moscow in getting credit and expanding trade.

In contrast, monarchical rule and a backward social structure in Saudi Arabia have held back capitalist development in the kingdom, despite its massive oil reserves. In a move aimed at altering this situation, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the son of the king, has led a deep-going purge against other ruling family members, including current and former ministers, as well as steps to reel in the semi-autonomous power of the Wahhabi Muslim ministry there.

Riyadh has announced plans to solicit investment in government-run Saudi Aramco, the largest oil producer in the world, worth an estimated $2 trillion. The British government has promised a $2 billion loan guarantee to Saudi Aramco if the oil companys stock offering is made on their exchange, while President Donald Trump has urged Saudi rulers to remember that using the New York Stock Exchange for the offering is important to the United States.

The regime is also promoting more modern bourgeois social relations, including ending restrictions on womens right to drive and participate more broadly in public life.

The Saudi rulers immediate focus is on preventing Hezbollah and Tehran from strengthening their position in Lebanon. Riyadh has charged Tehran with attempting to start a war there. They got the pro-Saudi Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri to announce his resignation from the Saudi capital, saying he feared he was targeted for death. Riyadh also called for its citizens in Lebanon to get out as soon as possible.

U.S. rulers pursue imperial interests

The propertied rulers in Washington, far and away the strongest imperialist power worldwide, back the Saudis drive to stem Tehrans advances, as they seek to impose a measure of stability for their interests in the region.

The Trump administration is planning to strengthen Washingtons position, as well as that of Riyadh, Tel Aviv and its other allies, by pressing for what the president calls the ultimate deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

Washington is getting help from the rulers in Egypt as well as Saudi Arabia in pressing both the Palestinian Authority on the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Washington finds the moment ripe for this push, the New York Times reported Nov. 12, because these Arab regimes want to refocus attention on Iran.

Trump is getting bipartisan backing for the effort, with former Barack Obama Mideast adviser Dennis Ross saying his team has done a very good job.

Washington has set up some 13 military bases across Syria, most of which were aimed at collaboration with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in beating back Islamic State, while simultaneously attempting to prevent Hezbollah and Syrian troops from connecting a route for Tehran from the Iraqi border across Syria to Lebanon.

The Assad regime now says they plan to push the SDF out of Raqqa and parts of Deir el-Zour province they have taken from Islamic State. The question is whether Washington will negotiate this territory away from the Kurd-led forces.

Meeting in Vietnam as part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit Nov. 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Trump agreed to maintain the deconfliction channels between their militaries in Syria. Opposing Kurdish independence, they both reaffirmed backing for Syrias territorial sovereignty.

U.S. weapons used on Kurds in Iraq

In an interview with CNNs Christiane Amanpour, Kurdistans former President Masoud Barzani elaborated on the role played by Washington in ensuring Kurdistans independence referendum, which was approved by over 92 percent, would not be implemented and after the vote permitted the use of U.S. weaponry in attacks against Kurdistan by Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi militia.

I was not surprised that the Iraqi forces attacked Kurdistan, said Barzani. But what surprised me greatly was the people whom America had listed as terrorists [Iranian militias], attacked us with American weapons under the eyes of American officers and officials.

The 30 million Kurds living within Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran are the largest nationality worldwide without their own state.

Barzani said Tehran and Baghdad were planning to attack the Kurds whether they conducted the independence vote or not. If we would have lost our will, it would have been much bigger than losing some of the areas temporarily, he said.





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(front page)

Washington faces growing competition from Beijing

Long-term conflicts between Washington and Beijing marked President Donald Trumps 12-day tour of Asia. For years the U.S. rulers have confronted the steady rise of Chinese capitalist penetration in a part of the world they considered their prize won in the second imperialist world war.

Washington has grown relatively stronger, particularly in relation to London, Berlin and other rival imperialist powers in Europe, which lack any serious military strength to back up their investments abroad. The U.S. rulers also face a growing challenge from Beijing and Moscow. They are no longer just new markets for investment, trade and capital growth, but their rulers are increasingly aggressive capitalist competitors. In multiple markets, U.S. bosses confront moves by Beijing to muscle into parts of the world where the U.S. rulers are used to having their way.

Trump met with the heads of state of Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. In particular he directed complaints at Beijing, arguing its regulations prevent American companies from being able to fairly compete within China.

Like his predecessors, Trump claims to advance American interests. But in reality, he means something else. There is no America, there are two contending classes in the U.S.  the working class and the propertied owners  with sharply opposed interests. Trump fights for the interests of U.S. bosses and bankers in cutthroat competition with their rivals abroad over markets and trade.

During the tour Trump reiterated his decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, favoring what he called bilateral agreements, and announced new business deals along the way. But neither the current nor previous administrations have come up with any effective way for the U.S. rulers to contain the increased reach of Chinese capital.

Growth of working class in China

Over more than three decades the Chinese government has lured foreign capitalist investment, promising low wages and state-controlled trade unions to keep workers in line. The massive expansion of Chinese industry  and the explosive growth of the working class there  has turned that nation into the worlds largest manufacturer and exporter. The spread of capitalist exploitation led to some 8,000 strikes or job protests between 2011 and 2016.

To advance Chinese capitalists fight for markets, Beijing has pressed trade deals and huge infrastructure projects on other nations, known as its Belt and Road policy. It is constructing railways, roads, fuel pipelines and power stations across Asia that will expand its reach into Europe and Africa. These projects require use of Chinese materials and labor, to the detriment of the toilers there.

Beijing opened its first overseas military base this August in Djibouti. The country already hosts U.S., French and Japanese military installations.

Indias rulers have responded to these initiatives with alarm. New Delhi is concerned about Beijings rising clout and closer relations with its rival Pakistan.

During his Asian tour Trump repeatedly referred to the region as the Indo-Pacific, a remark that was widely read as an effort to draw India closer to Washingtons orbit. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said last month that Washington was determined to counter Beijings Belt and Road projects with U.S.-backed competition.

President Trump took advantage of the trip to press Beijing and Moscow to step up economic and political measures to pressure North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program. Washington has imposed numerous rounds of sanctions against the government there that have hit working people the hardest.

Both Trump and Chinese leaders sought economic and political deals with other Asian rulers during the weeks meetings. In particular, Trump worked to reforge Washingtons links with the government of President Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines. Duterte has been increasing ties with China and Russia.

Despite Chinas growing economic and political weight, Washington holds significant advantages over its rivals. Some 64 percent of all foreign reserves worldwide are held in U.S. dollars.

Above all the U.S. rulers hold a military might no rival comes anywhere close to matching. In addition to its nuclear arsenal and unsurpassed naval and air power, Washington deploys 39,000 troops in Japan and an additional 23,000 in South Korea. It has tens of thousands more worldwide, including deployed in conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Niger and elsewhere.





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(front page)

SWP says, Working class needs to take power

Going into the final week of the Socialist Workers Partys fall campaign to expand the reach of its literature and raise $100,000 to meet expenses, party members and supporters are reaching out to workers on their doorsteps, plant gates, at strike picket lines and social protest actions.

In many places, SWP election campaigns helped boost the effort. When Cynthia Jaquith, SWP candidate for mayor of Miami, knocked on Sergios door in North Miami the week before the Nov. 7 election, he invited her to sit down and talk.

Sergio came here after his family fled Chile following the 1973 coup there orchestrated by Washington. He worked for decades as a baker in Miamis hotel industry, and said he was all too familiar with what Jaquith described as the increasing carnage visited on working people by capitalism today.

Where once he had no problem holding down a union job, he said those jobs were now disappearing. He decided to retire and start working part time.

We need to rebuild the labor movement. Our unions have been seriously eroded by decades of misleadership from the officials, who tell us to rely on electing Democrats, not the independent power of the working class, Jaquith said. We are the majority, the ones who produce all the wealth. We need to take political power to transform this society.

Sergio bought a subscription to the Militant and Are They Rich Because Theyre Smart? by SWP National Secretary Jack Barnes, one of five books on special offer for subscribers.

The heart of the Militant and book drive by members of the Socialist Workers Party, and the Communist Leagues in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, is getting literature into the hands of workers and discussing the communist movement and its perspectives for fighting the disastrous effects of the capitalist rulers wars and economic crisis. The campaign runs until Nov. 21, concurrently with an annual drive to raise $100,000 to finance the work of the party.

The other books on special discount with a subscription are The Clintons Anti-Working-Class Record and Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power, also by Barnes; Is Socialist Revolution in the US Possible? by SWP leader Mary-Alice Waters; and Its the Poor who Face the Savagery of the US Justice System by the Cuban Five, Cuban revolutionaries who were framed up and imprisoned in the U.S. for up to 16 years for their actions defending their revolution.

Bravo to the Albany branch of the SWP! Party Fund Director Chris Hoeppner writes. Sergio Zambrana reports that Albany raised its quota by $750. Along with a raise of $600 from Los Angeles, this takes the pledges over the goal.

I know you! Elizabeth Chavarria told Walmart worker Pat Scott after she knocked on Chavarrias door in Federal Way, Washington, Nov. 13. Scott had joined SWP members knocking on doors near the store where she works, where many recognized her from shopping there.

Chavarria, a restaurant kitchen worker, wanted to know what the paper was all about. She got a copy and asked Scott to come back after payday to discuss getting a subscription and some of the books.

Follow-up is crucial

Bill Arth in Los Angeles reports that a co-worker who got a copy of Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power wants to get together for dinner for further discussion.

One of my co-workers at Walmart signed up for a sub and got the Workers Power book after we talked about the partys perspective of workers taking political power, Janice Lynn writes from Atlanta.

I explained that one of the things she would see in the paper are articles about the Cuban Revolution. She said she had always heard that Castro was evil, but then she had seen a documentary about Cuba that opened her eyes and shed be interested in those articles, Lynn says. I told her we need to follow the example of the Cuban Revolution and do the same thing here.

Rachele Fruit participated in a team of SWP members from Atlanta and party supporter Samir Hazboun going door to door in Shelbyville, Tennessee, where a white nationalist rally and a counterdemonstration took place Oct. 28.

They met a factory worker and rap artist named Kannon Ragland at his apartment.

Its crazy that you are here at my door. For the past year Ive been getting into a lot of things that are happening in the world and trying to understand them, Ragland said. Ive noticed how social media tries to make it look like theres more racism than there is. Ragland said that he and many other African-Americans in the area stayed away from the counterprotest because people in similar actions elsewhere had ended up starting fights.

Ragland got a subscription and three books on special. I didnt know that the ending of welfare and the increase in the number of people in prison happened while Clinton was president, he said. They always tell you the Democrats are for working people.

Hazboun told Ragland how much he learned about the Cuban Revolution and its example for working people here by going on the In the Footsteps of Che brigade to Cuba in October. We need to start working now to make sure you can join us on the next brigade coming up in May, he said.

Meet workers from across the world

We had some great experiences this weekend, Annette Kouri writes from Montreal. We went to a neighborhood where there are many working people who are originally from Iran. We found real interest in the Communist League and its activities and sold three copies of Is Socialist Revolution in the US Possible? in Farsi, two with subscriptions. We sold two other books in Farsi, including Cuba and the Coming American Revolution.

Katy LeRougetel reports that going door to door in Richmond in Vancovers Lower Mainland, Communist League members Joe Young and Francois Bradette met Nubia, who is originally from Catalonia. Bradette pointed to the papers coverage of labor and political battles around the world, including in Catalonia.

It is very important to be aware of what different social classes are doing in politics worldwide. We need to come together, she said. We are doing all the work and the rich are living it up.

Nubia doesnt support independence for Catalonia, but her family back home does. She said its up to the people there to decide. She got a subscription and Are They Rich Because Theyre Smart?

Nov. 22 is the last day subscriptions and book sales can be reported to the Militant. Contributions to the fund that come in the mail by Nov. 28 will be counted toward the goal. To help in the final push, contact the SWP or Communist League nearest you, listed on page 8.





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(front page)

Jury: NY cops are responsible for killing of Mohamed Bah

NEW YORK  In an important victory in the fight against police brutality, a Manhattan federal jury Nov. 14 issued a $2.21 million civil judgment against the New York Police Department in the 2012 death of Mohamed Bah. It took the jury only hours to find that Detective Edwin Mateo used excessive force in firing the shot that killed Bah.

This is a victory for everyone, Hawa Bah, Mohameds mother, told the Militant. It will help ensure that other mothers do not face what I faced. It will protect my sons legacy and protect the lives of other Black and brown young men.

Mohamed Bah, a 28-year-old student and taxi driver, was killed Sept. 25, 2012, after his mother called 911 to ask for an ambulance to take him to the hospital. She had flown in from her native Guinea because her son was suffering from depression.

Instead of medical help, nine heavily armed cops arrived. They refused to allow her back into the apartment to speak with her son. Bah was hit by several bullets, the final and fatal shot while he was lying on the ground.

The jury also found that Lt. Michael Licitra, who was in charge, had lost control over the cops.

Earlier this year, a federal prosecutor refused to seek an indictment of any of the officers, claiming insufficient evidence. A Manhattan grand jury in 2013 voted against bringing any criminal charges for similar reasons. Initially the city said that the knife that police claim Bah was threatening them with was lost. But in 2015 they changed their story, saying it wasnt lost, it had just been contaminated in Hurricane Sandy.

At first the city said the clothing Mohamed Bah was wearing when he was killed had been destroyed by the hospital. Then they claimed the garments had been brought to the funeral home with his body. Suddenly, on Nov. 3, several days into the civil trial, city officials informed the court and the Bah familys attorneys that the clothing was, in fact, in NYPD custody.

It is unforgivable to me that, either through malevolence or incompetence, this would not have been discovered, Judge Kevin Castel said to the court.

This was a cover-up, Hawa Bah stated. For five years they kept evidence that might have helped us convict the cops.

The city says it will appeal the verdict and will also try to avoid paying the award by claiming immunity. We have every expectation that this judge will allow this jurys verdict to stand, Randolph McLaughlin, a Bah family attorney, told the press.





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The chairwoman of the Legislature's Judiciary Committee has filed requests via the state's public records disclosure law to get information on Nebraska State Patrol actions that could potentially be violations of law or prompt legislation.

Sen. Laura Ebke sent the letters Friday to Gov. Pete Ricketts, Attorney General Doug Peterson, state Human Resources Chief Jason Jackson and Col. John Balduc, the Patrol's new superintendent.

The public-information request was a response to an October letter sent to Ebke by Omaha Sen. Burke Harr and Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus. Their request came after the attorney general chose not to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the actions that led to the firing of former patrol Superintendent Brad Rice.

Harr had been thwarted in his attempts to get more information from the Ricketts administration and to get Peterson to appoint a special prosecutor to look into the events surrounding Rice's dismissal.

Ebke has said that because of widely reported and troubling facts about the incidents within the patrol, the concerns expressed by Harr and Schumacher, and Peterson's conclusion that his office lacks legal authority to pursue the matter, the Legislature may need to pursue more fully its responsibility to oversee and hold state agencies accountable.

Harr had also sent letters to several county attorneys about appointing special attorneys in their jurisdictions to investigate actions taken by officers and administrators of the patrol there.

District Judge Travis O'Gorman appointed attorney Joe Stecher on Oct. 6 to investigate events in Sheridan County.

In her letter, Ebke asked Ricketts and the others for communications regarding:

* Medical examinations of patrol employees and prospective employees by Lincoln Dr. Stephen Haudrich, who was selected to perform physical exams for patrol applicants.

A trooper had sued the state in August, saying women were put through medically unnecessary and sexually invasive examinations to get jobs with the agency that were not required of men.

Brienne Splittgerber, who was part of the patrol's graduating class in 2015, said in the lawsuit she got no assurances from patrol leaders that they would stop the exams after she reported what happened during her required, pre-employment physical.

Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers followed up with a complaint with the state's professional and occupational investigations office against the doctor.

* The March 4, 2016, event in which Brian Davis, after being pulled over, was struck by Trooper Lindsey Bixby with the butt of a rifle in Sioux County.

According to an Omaha World-Herald report, Davis, of Colorado, led Nebraska state troopers on an hour-long, high-speed chase and appeared so intoxicated or impaired when he finally emerged from his car he had trouble standing. He put his hands up but did not comply with a command to get down on the ground. A video then showed Bixby, who has since resigned, hitting Davis on the side of the head with a rifle butt.

* The Oct. 23, 2016, pursuit and motor vehicle collision involving Trooper Timothy Flick that led to the death of Antoine Ledeaux.

The trooper was cleared of any wrongdoing by a grand jury, but questions have been raised about whether there was internal interference in how the patrol report of the accident was framed.

* Requests and investigations by Jackson into the conduct and review of the patrol and its administration.

* The governor's June 30 decision to terminate Rice's employment as superintendent.

* The governor's decision to place on paid administrative leave Capt. Jamey Balthazor, Flick, Maj. Mike Gaudreault, Lt. Col. Thomas Schwarten, Sgt. Travis Wallace and Sgt. Kevin Waugh.

"Our goal really, that we've told the administration, is that we don't want to prosecute through the committee. We don't want to litigate through the committee," Ebke said Friday. "We just want to find out if there's some possible fixes through legislation."

And she wants to be prepared if a special meeting of the committee is needed.

The committee is interested in the conflict of interest declared by the attorney general, and if there's something that can be done in the future to avoid that problem, she said.

Ricketts has said he turned over information on the events that led to Rice's dismissal and the suspensions to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but that agency only deals with federal laws.

So Ebke said the bigger question is, if there are potential federal violations, are there potential state violations as well? And who prosecutes violations of state statutes? Peterson has said that he can't because of the conflict.

Ebke said she would like to see a more streamlined approach to such questionable issues involving a state agency, rather than leave it up to individual counties where events took place to look at each incident individually.
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Lancaster County Engineer Pam Dingman will be seeking a second term in the 2018 elections.

The Republican was appointed to the position in 2013 and elected for a four-year term in 2014.

Serving the citizens of Lancaster County is an honor and a responsibility I continue to take very seriously, Dingman said in a news release announcing her re-election campaign.

My focus will continue to be on three primary areas of this office: modernization, efficiency and pavement.

During Dingmans term she created a pavement condition-rating system that is used to prioritize asphalt overlays.

In addition, she also created inspection systems for pipe culverts and box culverts. These systems enable the county engineer to focus on replacing the worst pipe culverts and box culverts first.

The county engineers office has also implemented the use of a GPS radio system that does not require a monthly data fee. The system has allowed the engineer's office to choose routes efficiently and save fuel. In addition, safety features of the system have provided exact locations of workers in emergency situations, according to the news release.

During Dingmans current term, Lancaster County experienced the worst flooding since 1908. The county was able to quickly repair important roads and bridges under Dingman's leadership and management, according to the news release.

Dingman has persistently sought additional funds from the County Board for road and bridge work.

The county engineer is one of 11 county elected offices that will be part of the 2018 statewide election.

There will be at least three races where incumbents will not be seeking re-election.

Rob Ogden, a deputy county assessor, has announced he will be running for the county assessor's job. Current County Assessor Norm Agena has announced his retirement.

County Attorney Joe Kelly has been nominated as U.S. Attorney for Nebraska by President Donald Trump and will not be seeking re-election if he is confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

County Commissioner Bill Avery has indicated he likely won't run for re-election. Sean Flowerday, a local business executive and former public safety worker, has announced he is a candidate for that seat.

County officials are elected on a partisan basis, with voters selecting a Democrat candidate and a Republican candidate in the primary to advance to the November general election.

Dingman is a licensed professional engineer who has a 25-year career as a practicing civil engineer in the private and public sectors.

She has experience as a project engineer, project manager and CEO of engineering companies.

She is the recipient of several professional and leadership awards, including the Society of Women Engineers Entrepreneur Award in 2013, University of Nebraska Young Alumni of the Year in 2008, and ABWA Top Ten Business Women in America in 2006.
Temple of Justice:

Let Justice Be Done To All

The democracy Liberians fought for, for so many years, is not an exercise to RUSH and play with. It is a tedious and slow PROCESS, and PATIENCE is its most valuable VIRTUE.

Liberia is our *Kpormeni (business) for which every Liberian has a part to play. More importantly, democracy is not a system of QUICK FIX  it is a long-drawn process that requires patience, Law and Order.

A classic example is the ongoing investigation which involves Donald John Trump, President of the United States, his family and associates.

October 10, 2017, Liberian Presidential Election is no exception! This election is about our future  the future of our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. This is a palava, no individual or group has the monopoly to decide for the rest of us. It is the people thing! The days of the so says one, so says all, mind your business or leave the peoples thing alone are things of the past. Many of our compatriots died advocating for this day. While there were, and still are some who betrayed the cause; many of us are still around carrying on the struggle.

Therefore, when discussing Liberias pregnant and vexing problems, it must be done with civility; no one should disrespect another person because he/she disagrees with their position. In a democracy, everyone has the right to express his/her opinion without being told to shut up; especially, when it is directed at a woman who could be your sister, aunt or mother.

The statement below was posted by Mr. Dortu-Siboe Doe in the comments section of FrontPage Africas November 8, 2017, online edition in response to the article titled: Frances Johnson Backs Liberty Party Call for NEC Board of Commissioners Recusal.

According to the former Chief Justice and former NEC Chair, Cllr. Johnson-Allison:

There is a legal basis for that (Liberty Partys complaint of electoral fraud and irregularities to the Supreme Court). Whenever you feel that your rights may not be protected by a certain officer  judicial or otherwise administrative, if you feel that person has already been compromised or they have already expressed pre-judicial statement against your interest it is your right to take legal action.

What is wrong with the statement above for which Mr. Doe had to tell Cllr. Frances Johnson-Allison to shut up?

Heres what he wrote:

Frances Johnson Allison, you just shut-up! As a then NECs Commissioner who is on national and public international records of being totally void of competence, integrity, and principle, you have no moral ground to say anything about a free and fair election or even justice. In fact, when it comes to discussions on elections in Liberia involving the CDC, you should recuse yourself. YOu (sic) are a shameless cheat and a fraud, to say the least.

I see nothing in Cllr. Johnson-Allisons statement that warrants such disrespectful response. How could Mr. Doe misinterpret Cllr. Johnson-Allisons position with such an insult? She is someones mother, a wife and more importantly, a responsible citizen who has served our country for over 45 years. This behavior has no place in our civil discourse.

It is such reckless remarks George Orwell alluded to when he said: If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. Tell them the truth, not insults!

As a Progressive, a social and political activist for over 48 years, I have encountered similar individuals. Some of whom find palava with me because they do not want to be told the truth. To them I simply say Liberia is our *Kpormeni; therefore, every Liberian has the right to make Liberia his/her business. No one has the right to tell another Liberian to shut-up when discussing Liberias palava.

I pity Liberians who feel they know everything pertaining to Liberia. They see themselves as experts on ALL matters concerning Liberia, and when the fact is, they are on the wrong side of the issues. The only justification I can come up with is that they too preoccupied with preserving their social connections, or relationship with the powers that be and their CORRUPT elitist status. Then they encountered patriots who have the best interests of the country at heart; and when they are not able to provide reasonable arguments, they resort to insulting the person they disagreed with. All I have to say to this approach is: if you cannot stand the heat in the kitchen, you have no business being there. Simply put, if you cannot tolerate disagreements, dont participate in the Liberian discourse, PERIOD!

Let Justice Be Done To All

It is important as patriotic Liberians to adhere to the rule of law in adjudicating all matters, especially electoral disputes; the protection of our constitution and fragile democracy. This is the first time that I can remember; the Liberian Supreme Court is exercising its constitutional authority; now the Supreme Court that they accused in the past of not doing its job  are now being blamed by them for doing its job. They called it delaying the electoral process. Isnt that strange! Proponents of such argument should read CHAPTER VII (THE JUDICIARY), Articles 65 and 66 of the Constitution.

Articles 65 reads:

The Judicial Power of the Republic shall be vested in the Supreme Court and such subordinate courts as the legislature may from time to time establish. The courts shall apply both statutory and customary laws in accordance with the standards enacted by the Legislature. Judgments of the Supreme Court shall be final and binding and shall not be subject to appeal or review by any other branch of Government. Nothing in this Article shall prohibit administrative consideration of the justiciable matter prior to review by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Also, Articles 66 reads:

The Supreme Court shall be the final arbiter of the constitutional issues and shall exercise final appellate jurisdiction in all cases, whether emanating from courts of record, courts not of record, administrative agencies, autonomous agencies or any other authority, both as to law and fact except cases involving ambassadors, ministers, or cases in which a country is a party. In all such cases, the Supreme Court shall exercise original jurisdiction. The Legislature shall make no law nor create any exception as would deprive the Supreme Court of any of the powers granted herein.

According to Cllr. Frederick A. B. Jayweh, Liberias Civil Procedure Law provides that a civil action is commenced by - 1, the filing of a complaint; 2, the filing of an answer; and 3, the filing of a reply.

Thereafter, the Court or Administrative Agency before whom these Legal Papers are initiated and filed, must first hear and determine who is right or wrong first before making any further declaration. The failure to respect the value of this process will legally offend the doctrine of Due Process of Law and Fairness; and by extension, Prohibition, will lie and be sustained. In short, a stay order will be invoked and appropriately imposed immediately by the Supreme Court.

Because NEC refused and failed to first hear and decide first the election Irregularity and Fraud Complaint of Liberty Party (LP), the Supreme Court of Liberia, is correct to have issued, imposed and sustained the Writ of Prohibition against NEC.



The Supreme Courts interpretation of the Constitution should be celebrated by us. Lets call a spade, a spade! The NEC too should bear some of the faults for the current impasse Liberians find themselves. Therefore, we should not rush to judgment.

Reckless Statements Should Be Avoided

Reckless statements such as, CDC will accept nothing less than timely return to democratic election process; or The truth is that there was no legitimate, moral, statutory, nor constitutional, basis for the Supreme Court to have ordered the halting of NECs election activities and in effect the preparation of the runoff, when in fact, the NEC had not yet disposed of the complaint brought before it  the NEC! Hence, it is not the NEC that will be blamed for the delay of the runoff. It is the Supreme Court that will be blamed for the runoff, wrote Dortu-Siboe Doe.

In law, there is something called DUE PROCESS! Dr. Augustine Konneh made a very good point here. He says, The ruling of the Supreme Court in the case of the Liberty Party has implication for the rule of law in Liberia. The Courts decision did not only uphold the rule of law but gave assurance to aggrieved Political Parties and candidates in an election that they can be given the Due Process. The Supreme Courts action suggests that the Judiciary is willing to listen to peoples problem within the legal system. Therefore, there is no need for parties, other groups, and individuals to resort to violence or take extra-legal means to address their grievances which is not good for the rule of law. I agree with his points!

However, Cllr. Pearl Bull compounded the issue when she made the inappropriate statement, If Yall not able to rule this country give it to the women. To which one political commentator said, Where has she been; wasnt it a woman, her friends, and family that got us into this mess we are in!

Lets call a spade, a spade!

Lets call a spade, a spade! There were many irregularities that even some international observers reported about. For example, it was reported that the process leading to the election was problematic. Also, it was reported that most NEC workers were incompetent  they did not know how to identify names by alphabetical order and could hardly direct voters to their proper queues.

United States Ambassador Christine Elder

And then for the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia to issue a press statement on November 15, 2017, calling for the Supreme Court of Liberia and NEC to speed up the process is not only disingenuous but INSULTING to Liberians. Is there a different brand of DEMOCRACY for Africans and all peoples of COLOR? What America CANNOT tolerate; they want others to accept. If the U.S. Government has nothing good to say in this matter, they should leave us alone. They should first take the specks from their eyes before they attempt to remove ours from our eyes.

What sense does it make to suggest!

Disputes and litigation should be initiated and conducted in good faith by the claimants, the NEC, and if needed, the Supreme Court, in an expeditious manner to permit the timely conclusion of Liberias electoral process and a peaceful transition.

Liberias political leaders should take their cue from the citizens who waited patiently to vote and did so with respect for their fellow citizens, regardless of political views. Efforts by any actors to impede the expressed will of Liberias people for personal ambition could risk goodwill and future investments in Liberia by international partners. The Liberian people and the international community have worked too hard and invested too much to watch Liberias progress stall. The United States remains committed to Liberias future and encourages Liberians to conclude the presidential electoral process as soon as possible to allow Liberias democratic and economic progress to continue.

What a gross disrespect to us! If the U.S. had cared that much, then the United States would not have tolerated the 12 years of corruptions with impunity under President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, her family, friends and corrupt elite. Thanks for your advice that is, perhaps, propelled by the lobying efforts of Riva Livingstone (President Sirleaf's lobyist who is currently in Liberia):; but we do not need it! Thats our message to you, Ambassador Elder!

There is a saying in Liberia called: Hurry, hurry burst trousers; and that Patient dog eats the fattest bone. These are parables our parents and old folks taught us when growing up in Liberia. The Almighty God too, used similar advice to the people of Israel when they were impatient to reach the Promised Land.

The world in which we live is full of many surprises and misfortunes; some are temporary, while others are avoidable; but most of them I believe are caused by mans disobedience to God. This reminds me of the statement, A delay is not denial. It was directed at the Israelis who were disobedience to God and began to engage in all sort of evil activities because they did not hear from God at the time they wanted.

In Habakkuk 2:3 (LB), The Lord said, These things I plan wont happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!

The same is true in our case; therefore, it is paramount that we adhere to the rule of law in the adjudication of all electoral disputes and the protection  to protect our democracy and Constitution.

The challenging parties are adhering to the provisions provided by the law, and a potentially volatile electorate is showing restraint and learning the finer points of democracy. President Sirleaf says Liberias democratic institutions are strong and able to withstand challenges, but that democracy is only as strong as its weakest link, observes one political commentator.

The Liberty Partys Action is the Right Approach

The Liberty Partys legal action is a precedent in the best interest of our country and democracy. This is the first of its kind! The one that comes close to it is the presidential election dispute between President Charles Dunbar Burgess King of the True Whig Party (TWP) and presidential candidate Thomas J. R. Faulkner of the Peoples Party (PP) in 1927. The difference is Hon. Faulkner had no confidence in the judicial system of Liberia, so he built up another case, and went the time was right, he took his complaint to the League of Nation (precursor of the United Nations).

Pres C. D. B. King

Lawsuit Is Part Of Bassa Peoples DNA

The story about the Bassa ethnic group in Liberia is worth stating here. This ethnic group is noted for exercising their rights in the court system. Unlike their Kru (Klao) cousins, they will sue a person at the Justice of the Peaces court over matters one might not consider relevant.

For example, I had a cousin named Garvlen (big man). He was a trader (street). They were commonly referred to as Here-na boys. One gentleman in our neighborhood (Clay Street, Monrovia) owed Garvlen a balance of 25 cents for merchandise he bought from him. But when Garvlen approached him for his 25 cents debt, while he was playing Checker, he got annoyed for being disturbed over 25 cents business. He said to Garvin, Go sue me! He did just that; paid $1.50 to sue him to recover his 25 cents debt.

Therefore, it did not come as a surprise me that it was Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine, a Bassa man that took NEC to court. It is better for the court to decide than for the people to take the law into their own hands.

Dogan (Logan) Dehgoe) Court At Any Hour

Liberians are not in the practice of keeping records (history). Many young people will not know about this true story of the Justice of the Peace named Henry Logan of Lower Buchanan, Grand Bassa County. I knew Charles Walker Brumskine in Lower Buchanan. The young lady I dated - Anita Tencent (nickname) Doegbee (deceased) and Brumskine were classmates (senior class) at Bassa High School in the late 60s. Anita became my wife.

Taking people to court was a common practice among the Bassa people in Grand Bassa County and Monrovia. There was a Justice of the Peace named Henry Logan, but he was referred to as Henry Dehgoe. His court was known as Dehgoe (Dehnigoe) Court. He held court at any hour. His court was the talk of the community. This was the environment Charles Walker Brumskine grew-up in. Dehgoe (Dehnigoe) in the Bassa Language means not to postpone or delay. You could sue anyone in his court at any time of the day or night. I believe he holds the record of being the first to have night court in Liberia, and for that matter, Africa.

Besides being a lawyer, Cllr. Brumskine took his complaint to the Supreme Court of Liberia because thats the Bassa thing to do. Also, based on our Constitution, it is the right thing to do.

I am not a member of Cllr. Brumskines party; I am a lifelong member of the Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA) and a Progressive of the 70s & 80s, who has not betrayed the Liberian Peoples Struggle. But regardless of the beef one may have had, or have with Cllr. Brumskine, if he does the right thing, I believe, he should not be judged on the past, rather he should be judged on the merit of his present correct action, especially, in this case.

Conclusion: There Is No Turning Back

Folks, the SOCIAL MEDIA, and the INTERNET are here to stay! There is no turning to the old ways of doing things. The SOCIAL MEDIA is a revolution readily accessible to anyone who can use the technology. No government can control or repress the peoples FREEDOM to express themselves. What I found unique about the SOCIAL MEDIA and the INTERNET during the 2017 campaigns and the October 10 Presidential and Legislative Elections, is free speech and expression was at its best. This is the stuff a democracy is made of! Supporters of each candidate posted on the Internet the reason(s) their candidate was the best as opposed to the other candidates. This means the efforts of the PROGRESSIVES of the 70s and the 80s is not in vain.

However, there were some individuals who took their freedom of expression to the extreme; they insulted those they disagreed with; forgetting to know that freedom of speech has its LIMITS! Check out the Clear and Present Danger Doctrine. If this continues in the comments section of ThePerspective.org, we will BLOCK such individual from posting in our comment section.

Finally, there is a concern for justice in our world today. However, to achieve justice in this world of ours, we must understand how God views it. So, let me leave you with The Parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8 The New International Version (NIV).

Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, Grant me justice against my adversary.

4 For some time he refused. But finally, he said to himself, Even though I dont fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice so that she wont eventually come and attack me!

6 And the Lord said, Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? (www.biblestudytools.com)

If youre a believer, lets leave the current impasse to God Almighty to handle it. With Him nothing is impossible. But please to dont say, God helps those who help themselves. This statement is NOWHERE to be found in the BIBLE! So, my fellow Liberians, lets leave it to God  for His time is the BEST.

Gwe feh, Kpeh!

Our eyes are opened; the time of the people has come!

In union strong success is sure, we will overall prevail.

*Kpormeni means: Thats your business in Kpelle, the largest ethnic tribe in Liberia.



What is your take? Please post your comments below:


Temple of Justice:

Let Justice Be Done To All





1.0 Preamble

In the post-war Liberia, corruption has been recognized as a MAJOR PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE, (16 January 2006). Also, It has been described as a VAMPIRE to the development (January 26, 2015). These two descriptions were coined by Her Excellency Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf the President of Liberia and the 2011 Nobel Prize Laureate. The former one was when she was swearing into office in 2006, while the latter was when she was delivering her annual message to the Joint Session of the Legislature, 2015.

Besides, these two negative metaphors clearly indicate dangerousness and harmfulness of the corruption to the national development especially within the context of Liberia. Moreover, this article goes further to conceptualize corruption as a cancer that eats up sound and constructive policies, agenda and transformative goals for the nation. The standard of the development (tangible and intangible) in Liberia is an indisputable evidence of corruption being a malady that destroys the future of the nation in all its spectrums.

Further, corruption has been the major obstacle for Liberias development drives to be fully achieved. Hope (2010[i]) ascertained that the culture of corruption in connection to the government of Liberia had/has an adverse impact on citizens, living standards, reduction of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), increasing mismanagement of public resources and undermining the rule of law. Besides, if one critically peruses and examines the standards of development in this nation since independence in 1847, he/she would certainly conclude that something is wrong with the whole system, especially the country is blessed with all colours of the natural resources which some have been extricated over the years. Of course, if proper financial mechanisms were in place with an effective implementation, Liberia would have been counted among the line-up of the richest and advanced nations on earth. But the cancer is seriously working.

2.0 Major Causes of Corruption in Liberia:

There are multiple factors that lead to corrupt practices in any given nation. Both the governors and governed play a significant role in making this cancer a champion. Therefore, this piece looks at some of these causes in the following:



2.1 Bad Governance

It is always the case to point out the finger at the governments not only in Liberia but all over the world for corrupt practices and mismanagement of the public funds and resources. Because governments have in general two major functions; policy design and policy implementation. Therefore, in most of the African countries including Liberia, authorities exhaust efforts in drafting and crafting anti-craft legislation and establishing anti-corruption institutions, but when it comes to the compliance with the laws they can be very soft and dysfunctional. Thus, if this happens, the culprits, red-handed officers and institutions with corrupt records will always go free and escape the justice as a result, cancer will actively continue to do its evil job at the detriment of the State.



2.2 High level of Bureaucracy (Red Tape)

Compliance with the system is a symbol of good governance. However, unnecessary red tapes in public spaces likewise in private sector may compel and force some light-minded people to take advantage of illegal mains to attain public goods and services. Hence, bribery is in most often the fuel which energizes this ill- intent. Thought to receive and give out the bribes are forms of corruption under the Liberian Public Financial Management Regulation for the Public Financial Management Act of 2009 (sec.N1.sub.(1-4). Let's just take a typical example, if a driver violates a traffic rule and he has to be issued a ticket to pay at the national revenue, but in course of that, he could spend days before being able to settle the government because of long bureaucracy that has been put into place. At the end, the violator may use bribery by given any amount of dollars to the police officer at the expense of 25 or 40 dollars for instance. That means the government has lost that fine which serves as an addition to the national revenue at the sometime a deterrent for the violator desist from reckless driving and violation of rules and orders.



Practically, The on-going Global Witness corruption scandal against some high profile government officials in receiving bribery in favour of the UK mining firm, Sable Mining which is alleged to have paid amount of US$950,000 in bribe to change the law its interest. This is a clear demonstration how bribery is being used to deprive Liberians of the dividends of their natural resources through receiving bribes by some ill-minded government officials is working in Liberia[ii] to betray the public.



2.3 Poor Accountability System

In the absence or silence of accountability and the rule of law in the country, financial mismanagement will always overshadow transparency, honesty, and answerability. Thus, corrupt officials will take advantage of any situation to robe the State and deprive ordinary citizens of getting the benefit of their nations wealth and taxes. Therefore, public servants have to feel the strongest sense of accountability in order to curtail and reduce massive rates of corruption in Liberia.



2.4 Upbringing

The society as a whole plays a pivotal role in combating corruption, likewise, it contributes nurturing this cancer to spread and eat up the nation. That is when it is prevalent in any society that whenever one joint the ship of the national government, automatically that person has to get rich, the child will be subconsciously cultivated with this anti-development belief in various social institutions such as families, schools.Thus, when he gets there he/she will practically apply what he/she has been brought up with. And this is a scenario in many African nations including Liberia. The public sector is the place where financially zeros and can easily turn overnight to become financially heroes in most instances.



3.0 Conclusion:

Liberia is a blessed with lots of natural resources which are deemed to develop and build the nation. Nevertheless, instead of those resources being cure for the socio- economic maladies in the country, they have turned to be curse in a very literal term. Unemployment rate is alarming, infrastructures are dysfunctional, school system isnt market driven and above all the peace is fragile due to the economic hardship. However, all of these are dividends of bad governance which has been in practice for several decades. Therefore, an effective implementation of anti-craft laws and regulations without prejudice and bias is the only way to curtail corrupt practices and mismanagement of the public resources.



About the Author: (Ph.D. Candidate in Law, International Islamic University Malaysia)

Founder of the Institute for Development Research (IDR)

Email: mory6140@gmail.com

[i] Hope, K. R., Sr. Liberias governance and economic management assistance program (GEMAP): An impact review and analytical assessment of a donor policy intervention for democratic state-building in a post-conflict state. South African Journal of International Affairs, 17(2), 243-263.

[ii] Edwin G. Genoway, Jr Liberia: Global Witness Bribery Report Met With Mixed Views in Liberia, http://allafrica.com/stories/201605131186.html



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Nebraska Court of Appeals Judge Everett O. Inbody will retire Jan. 1 after more than 30 years on the bench.

Inbody holds the seat for the 5th District, which includes 24 counties in Southeast Nebraska, with the exception of Lancaster and Seward counties. He took office in 1995 and served as chief judge of the appeals court from 2004 to 2014, according to a judicial branch news release.

During his time as chief judge, the court adopted a "rocket docket" for child abuse and neglect cases, implemented a new system of case screening to reduce the length of time that cases remain in the appellate system, and began holding oral arguments on college campuses throughout Nebraska to expose young people to the judiciary.

Inbody previously served as district and county court judge, beginning in 1986. He graduated from the Nebraska College of Law in 1970.

"I am thankful for the opportunities presented to me during these past 32 years," he said in the release. "I have been blessed to work with outstanding judges throughout the state of Nebraska."

Nominations to replace Inbody must be submitted by Nov. 28 at 4:30 p.m. A judicial nominating commission will hold a public hearing on the candidates at 10 a.m. Dec. 19 at the York County Courthouse.
The secret of red crystals, a book based on the journey of a woman scientist in search of the lactoferrin (the structure of a red colour protein which is present in the first milk of mother), was launched by Dr Randeep Guleria, Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) recently.

Written by Dr Sujata Sharma, Professor of Biophysics Department, AIIMS, the book is an autobiographical account of 12 years of her life. It describes the journey of the doctor in search of the lactoferrin ~ a protein that is found in colostrum (the first milk of the mother) and protects the newborn from infections.

Though this work had been given up by scientists all over the world citing difficulties, it was done successfully for the first time in AIIMS, New Delhi, said Dr Sharma, adding that the journey is fraught with various trials as not only is the work challenging but as a woman scientist, the journey is uphill.
Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital authorities in Bihar have imposed Rs 50,000 fine each on 54 second year students for ragging their juniors, an official said on Saturday.

DMCH Principal R.K. Sinha imposed the fine. The students have been directed to pay the penalty amount by November 25, the official added.

Failing to pay the fine would invite stern action, the college authorities said. The guardians of the 54 students have been informed.

The college authorities took the action after its Anti-Ragging Committee submitted a report. The Committee was formed on a directive of the Medical Council of India (MCI).

On November 11, a first year student of the DMCH living in the college hostel complained to the MCI about the ragging incident. She accused the senior students of repeated ragging.

The victim complained that she was abused, beaten and mentally tortured. She alleged in her written complaint that the seniors put pressure on her for one work or another, an official said.

The MCI on November 16 directed the DMCH to take action.

Last week in a similar incident, the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College administration in Bhagalpur had imposed Rs 25,000 fine each on 33 second-year students for ragging their juniors.

Principal Arjun Singh imposed the fine of Rs 8.25 lakh on the 33 students of the 2016 batch for ragging the 2017-batch students earlier in November.
Scanning for clues to crack Gudia gangrape and murder case in Kotkhai area of Shimla district, the CBI is now banking on voice samples to nail the accused who had allegedly tried to hush-up the case.

Sources said the CBI has got hold of call recordings which reportedly contain conversations pertaining to hushing up the case between some members of Special Investigation Team (SIT).

The former Superintendent of Police, D W Negi, who was arrested on Thursday, was being grilled by the CBI sleuths from the past three days on the basis of the findings of call recordings.

The CBI was asking Negi to name the real accused in Gudia case on the basis of the scientific evidence collected by it and these revelations might have led to his arrest, sources said.

Though CBIs attempt to get voice samples and zero in on the real accused got a setback during a hearing in the court on Friday as the lawyers of arrested cops didnt appear in the court.

The court has posted the matter for hearing on 20 November.

Earlier on 15 November, the CBI had sought courts permission to take voice samples of IG Zahur H Zaidi, DSP Theog Manoj Joshi, the then SHO Kotkhai Rajender Singh, ASI Deep Chand Sharma, Head Constables Surat Singh, Mohan Lal and Rafiq Ali and constable Ranjit Singh. The cops were arrested for alleged custodial death of one of the accused, Suraj, a Nepalese national, though the Police had claimed he was murdered by another accused Rajender Singh. The CBI teams which are investigating both Gudia case and custodial death were camping at the crime scene in Kotkhai in Shimla district since last one month.

Gudia, a tenth standard girl from Kotkhai, had gone missing while returning home from school on 4 July. Her body was found in the woods on 6 July with multiple injuries on her body. Her autopsy had confirmed that she was gangraped and later, strangulated to death.

Following public outrage over ghastly crime, the government had constituted a SIT which had arrested Ashish Chauhan, Rajender Singh alias Raju, Deepak, Subhash Singh Bisht, Suraj and Lokjan.

Though the action failed to satisfy the public and this had to public protests in upper Shimla even ransacking of Theog Police Station, leading the state government to refer the case to CBI.

On 19 July, the HP High Court had directed the CBI to probe into the Gudia case, along with custodial death case.
The India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2017, which was thrown open to the general public on Saturday, drew a mixed response from scores of people thronging Pragati Maidan. While a large number of visitors were happy, many were disappointed as they had hoped for some new attractions. Entry was strictly regulated and only those with the genuine passes were being allowed.

According to Sanjay Vashishth, spokesperson of India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO): At a time only 60,000 people were being allowed within the arena and no free entries were entertained.

Hemant from Noida, who is a regular at the trade fair, said it was not very different from previous years. In fact I am happy that the fair is being held in a smaller area, which means less walking, he said. The huge halls of earlier have been replaced by makeshift stalls.

Similar views were echoed by Narendra Kumar and Pooja who too did not feel that things were radically different this time around. Their only complaint was that since all the states were crammed into one hall, it has become difficult to distinguish stalls of the different states. They were quite happy with their purchases and had no complaints about the prices.

Another regular, Indu, seemed disappointed as she was expecting something different this time. She was unhappy with the lack of space and felt claustrophobic while exploring the stalls.

Vishnu and Sai, two young regulars at the fair, looked clearly disappointed with the lack of military hardware on display this time around. They felt that the fair did not have too much cutting edge technology. The exhibitors are charging way too much for their products, said Vishnu.

Dharmendra was visiting the fair for the second time and had mixed feelings. While he was happy that many things on display were useful, he was not keen to buy anything as he felt that prices would come down drastically as the fair reaches its climax, and then he could make a killing.

The Chinese pavilion wore a deserted look and most of the Chinese exhibitors were winding up. Eve who was selling construction material said they were closing shop because they felt that the Indian people were not aware of their products and hence there was lack of response from them.
The family members of a BJP leader, who was shot dead at Tigri village here, today demanded a CBI investigation into the killing and the immediate arrest of the perpetrators.

Former village head and BJP leader Shiv Kumar Yadav and his driver were killed on Friday by unidentified assailants in Bisrakh area when they were going to Ghaziabad in a car.

Superintendent of Police Arun Kumar Singh said Yadavs family members and area residents protested at the Noida Sector 71 crossing against the killing.

They demanded a CBI probe into the incident and immediate arrests. The Noida police Special Task Force has been deployed to crack the case and arrest the killers, he said, adding that it was suspected that four people were involved in the crime.

An FIR has been registered against four people and the police has detained some people for questioning. The family suspect that Yadav was killed due to an enmity related to his election.

According to the police, a CCTV video of the incident showed the assailants firing bullets on Yadavs car. But as the footage was not clear, it was difficult to identify the assailants, the police said.

SP (rural) Suniti said that six teams have been formed to arrest the accused. Police personnel have deployed at Yadavs village, Behlolpur, to maintain law and order.

The incident took place when he was going to Ghaziabad from Haibatpur. Yadav and his driver Bali Nath died on the spot while his security guard Raees died during treatment last night on Friday, he said

The police officer said that a woman, who was injured after Yadavs car rammed into a vehicle, succumbed at a hospital here.

BJP Noida district president Rakesh Sharma said Yadav was an active worker of the party and condemned the incident.

Senior Superintendent of Police Love Kumar said the initial investigation suggested that shooters were hired to kill Yadav, whose father and brother were murdered 25 years ago.
Deepika Padukones co-actor in XXX: Return of Xander Cage, Ruby Rose has raised her voice in support of her friend. She read reports on what the actress has been going through due to the fringe groups in Rajasthan.

Rose was quick to lend out support to Deepika and took pride in calling the brave heart actress her friend. She wrote on Twitter: I am in shock at reading what my dear friend is going through but in absolute awe of her strength and courage. Deepika you are one of the strongest women I know.

She is in shock with the controversy and called Deepika one of the strongest women.

I am in shock at reading what my dear friend is going through but in absolute awe of her strength and courage. Deepika you are one of the strongest women I know. https://t.co/wrEaO9WZA0  Ruby Rose (@RubyRose) November 18, 2017

Deepika Padukone, who has given two years of her career to Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Padmavati is not letting down her courage and was recently seen saying that the movie will release on the afore mentioned date.

Karni Sena of Rajasthan recently stated that they would chop off Deepikas nose, if the movie releases and many such statements have been passed until now against the Bollywood diva.

In reply to Ruby Roses tweet, Deepika sent her a folded hands emoji.

A look at her tweet:

Several Bollywood stars have come out in the support of the actress and of the film. Shabana Azmi recently raised her voice against all that is happening in the country.

Deepika, who plays the title role of Rajput Queen in Padmavati, has received threats from various Rajput organisations, who have demanded the movies release be stalled.

Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Padmavati also features Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor.

With IANS Inputs

READ ALSO: Ghoomar was difficult: Deepika Padukone
Freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose has been one of the most interesting and mysterious figures in the history of Indian Independence. Filled with controversies, conspiracy theories, Boses life is the stuff of legends, especially his last few years that were cut to heroic proportions.

Netaji is Indias own superhero, he is someone that we need today said producer Ekta Kapoor. What makes his life such interesting is the sheer number of narratives involved that made him as a freedom fighter with superhuman spy-like qualities.

In the world of cinema and glamour, Bose has always commanded huge respect as the man himself stands out in the pantheon of the great leaders our country has ever seen. ALT Balajis latest exclusive Bose: Dead or Alive  a documentary drama that speculates the events that could have had happened if Bose wouldnt have died in a plane crash in 1945. Its funny when you think about it, for a person who has had such a happening life. It is ironical that it is the air of mystery around his death that interests the world most.

As Kapoor, joint managing director of Balaji Films puts it what we have tried to show is that, if Bose would have been alive after 1945, this is how it probably would have happened. The series delves into the last few years of Boses life and then speculates the rest. The movie has Rajkumar Rao, Patralekhaa, Naveen Kasturi and Sanjay Gurbaxani in leading roles.

To play the character of a man who was a master of disguise, who fooled the British at his will; it is almost perfect that Rao was cast to portray Bose. Rao has gone through tremendous physical transformations in the past several years in movies like Raabta, Trapped and Newton. The actor gained 14 kilos for the series and had to shave his head to get into the look to play Bose. Kapoor admitted that she was thankful towards the dedication that Rao put into his acting.

I like to take roles that will challenge me as an actor said Rao. He went on to mention that he was pleasantly surprised when he got the call to play Bose, but since he was already a fan he decided to take it up.

Creative producer of the series Hansal Mehta told that a humongous amount of research has gone into making this series as accurate as possible. Most of the research has been done through public domain and the lores that surround different stages of Boses life.

The show has almost taken two years to be completed as is ALT Balajis most anticipated and ambitious project of all time and will be streamed across the ALT Balaji website, app and JIOCinema.

Shot across Kolkata, Mumbai, Leh, Poland and Thailand the series and its trailers show tightly packed drama and some semblance to reality. Rao has spent a lot of time in Netaji Bhavan to make the character his own. We made the show with lot of hard work and love. I hope that you will see that sincerity in the series, said Rao.

It is not the first time that the subject of Netaji has been dealt with and it is not the first time that questions have been posed. The recent declassification of confidential files indicates that the country is still looking for a closure with the man it loved and the leader it respected.

The legend of Netaji Subhash Bose has lived long amongst his supporters and his enemies. Some have claimed to have seen him and some have provided evidence for the same. It is about time that legends come true in the silver screen, but this time not in a movie theatre but over online streaming.
In the latest episode of Bigg Boss 11, housemates are seen having a gala time in each others company. Letting bygones be bygones, they come together for a swim in the pool.

Now that there are two couples in the house, that are romantically involved; they have all managed to set all eyes on themselves.

Benafsha is seen lying in Priyanks lap. She talks to him about her current boyfriend outside the house and says that she loves him, but she feels different for Priyank. She also assures her love interest that things will be fine outside, and they will fight it out together. Priyank keeps listening to her.

On the other hand in the Bigg Boss 11 house, Puneesh and Bandagi also get cosy as the latter asks her boyfriend to kiss her picture. He refuses to do it and says that he wants to kiss her in person. The two of them get up and start walking towards the washroom. Once again they have grab all eyeballs for locking themselves inside a washroom.

After a while, the housemates decide to spend some time in the pool. Hina Khan, Benafsha and Bandagi come out in bikinis while Arshi decides to wear a black sari. Akash, who was sleeping until now also comes to see the girls.

Puneesh gets into the pool and starts romancing Bandagi. Benafsha calls out for Priyank, but he sits in a corner watching them.

Later, Bigg Boss announces the next task for captaincy. Luv Tyagi, Bandagi Kalra and Puneesh Sharma are handed over a bowl each, filled with different colours of water. They have to save the bowls and keep standing for two hours with the bowls in their hands. Benafsha comes and throws Luvs bowl as he crushed her picture in the previous task.

Bandagi wins the task and becomes the new captain of the house.

A live poll was run on TheStatesman.coms Twitter page. The poll was on who should be the next captain in the house, and maximum fans voted for Bandagi.

Keep watching this space for more updates on Bigg Boss 11.

READ ALSO: Bigg Boss 11: Bandagi Kalras father hospitalised
Thor: Ragnaroks director Taika Waititi  New Zealander of the Year, blossoming fashion icon, and man of a thousand poses  is swift to launch into a description of Loki, the unbeloved son of Asgard, as, someone who tries so hard to embody this idea of the tortured artist, this tortured, gothy orphan.

Hes discussing the characters emotional arc in the film, one that sees him put away his childish fixations and step up to save his city from obliteration; to put into perspective his petty family squabbles and realise a home is still a home, however you may feel about its inhabitants. Waititis Ragnarok may be childishly gleeful, but theres still a hell of a lot of growing up to do.

The lesson to be learnt, Waititi explains, is simply that all this artifice requires too much effort. Its too tiring trying to be like that, he says. And, most humans, we get over ourselves, we get to that point where were like, man, being a tortured artist is actually, like, a lot of work. Maybe I should just be real and present, and just be me, and I dont have to be a tortured artist to be interesting, I can just be a weird New Zealander and thats enough.

It feels like a telling moment  a small, unconscious giveaway that immediately captures him as an artist. Effortlessly, Waititis description has managed to slip from Loki to himself. For, even in the world of gods and superheroes, he still finds common ground  to empathise, to see himself reflected to some degree.

Humanity has always anchored his work, in the sense that people, no matter their circumstances, are still bound by the same fears and insecurities  whether foster child (2016s Hunt for the Wilderpeople), vampire (2014s What We Do in the Shadows), or mass of biceps (Thor, obviously). My world is not spectacle and explosion, he notes. Its two people talking.

In real terms (and this is a little damning, depending on your attachment to those characters), Thor and Loki are just two rich kids from outer space and we shouldnt really give a sh*t about what their problems are. But in Waititis hands  a little bit of a shift here, a little bit of a tease there, and new layers emerge.

Ragnarok is a story, in a way, of letting go  Loki of his facade, Thor of his fixation on his own image as the impenetrable hero, and toward a real sense of leadership. Waititi adds, You realise that theres nothing more endearing than people who are desperately trying to be liked or trying to be the hero, you know? Who also probably just need a hug or want to impress their dad?

The days are long gone, certainly, from when Marvel hired Kenneth Branagh to turn Thor into Shakespearean epic. But filmmaking, as much as life, is a journey. Evolve or die, in other words. While Star Wars is still in its first tender steps for Disney, Marvels maturity has seen the necessity to experiment to prevent itself from drying out. Theres a lot to be said for the fact the Han Solo films Phil Lord and Christopher Miller can be fired for leaning on improvisation, while Waititi can be hired for it.

I just had to remind myself that they asked me to do this for a reason, he muses. Because of a certain sensibility that I have that theyre interested in. I just did my own thing, let them steer me in the Marvel direction as long as I could keep my Taika-kind-of-voice going through the whole thing. And they were very supportive of that.

The director, curiously, is not actually credited as a writer on the film, though he explains, I was contracted to do a couple of passes on the script, for dialogue and stuff like that and, you know, I didnt mind not being credited there. A lot of these things are determined almost before you start, because there were also two versions of the script before I turned up as a director. Best put, Thor: Ragnarok is a Marvel movie recalled in a Taika-kind-of-voice.

An MCU base upon which Waititis usual trademark touches balance. For example, in the way hell undercut an emotional crescendo with a swift joke (take Hunt for the Wilderpeoples funeral scene, ironically the funniest part of the film).

And so, one of the most essentially tragic moments of the entire franchise, the destruction of Asgard, the home to a whole people, destroyed in front of their eyes, occurs only for Korg (Waititi in a motion-capture suit), forever trying to be helpful, to chime in that the damage is not too bad since the foundations are strong enough to rebuild upon. That is, until the foundations blow up, too.

That Taika-kind-of-voice is evident also in Ragnaroks visuals. Though Waititi initially cites a more traditional source, Thors original co-creator Jack Kirby, he names Alejandro Jodorowskys work, too, namely The Holy Mountain and his aborted Dune adaptation, making use of Chris Foss concept art for the latter.

Sometimes we didnt capture it, but it was definitely on the moodboards a lot, he notes. Just that style. Just some of the sets and some of the colours. Asgard and Hela took inspiration from Gustav Klimt, in all their sparkling elegance.

Subversion and re-examination is at the heart of so much of Waititis work, from the superficially comic  What We Do in the Shadows vampires in a flatshare  to the more layered, as in the constant questioning of masculine ideals at work within Boy (2010)s central father/son relationship. With Ragnarok, theres some subtle, quietly illuminating work at hand in its female characters.

Of course, much has been made of Cate Blanchetts Hela marking the MCUs first female (main) villain. However, what makes her work so well as a character isnt just the fabulous, delicious badassery of a Blanchett unleashed, as promised in the films marketing material. As Thors sister, the exiled child of Odin, her wrath is, in fact, perfectly justified.

When it comes to Tessa Thompsons Valkyrie, the Asgard warrior who exiled herself after defeat at the hands of Hela, the film jumps into archetype  the Han Solo, the hard drinker, the rogue. The thing is its an archetype almost never applied to female characters. Her introduction sees her both singlehandedly take out an entire gang of scrappers and drunkenly topple off a gangplank.

It was enough of a change that Waititi admits he was nervous as to how shed be received by audiences. My fear sometimes is that peoples reactions are, Oh god, a drunk woman? Whats wrong with her? he says. But, if it was a guy, you know, everybody would be like, Ah, awesome, what a cool dude! He loves day drinking! Which is so dumb.

At some point, I remember, we got one comment in one test screening that was, like, Oh, shes really violent. That was, like, really full on for her to murder those people. But, you know, Han Solo straight up murders a dude and everyone thinks hes cool, he adds. So, I just really wanted that character to have the most layers and, in a way, she is one of the most interesting characters in the film.

All of Ragnaroks achievements, however, seem to come down to Waititi asking himself a few simple questions, Whats the least expected direction we can go in? And most of the time we were shooting, thats the one thing we kept reminding ourselves of. Do we feel like weve seen this before in another Marvel film? Or do we feel like weve done this before? If so, whats the opposite direction we can run in, and instead of running, lets sprint in that direction.

(The Independent)
During the 2016 political campaign, with Hillary Clinton clearly headed for White House victory over her unorthodox GOP opponent, Donald Trump made the bold claim that he could change and become anything he wanted.

Its very easy being presidential, he proclaimed with the confidence of a billionaire.

The first fifth of the Donald Trump presidency has proven the accuracy of Donald Trumps claim. He can indeed change and become presidential -- but only during his foreign trips as United States commander-in-chief and leader of the free world. We witnessed that other President Trump during his five-nation, nearly two-week journey around Asia.

At home, its a different story, different president, different man. His regular early-morning tweet offensives, for instance, provide a hostile resident media the days easy storyline -- whos angered the 71-year-old with what statement on which broadcast network.

Diehard Trump supporters, a group often hovering now slightly below 40 percent, love it. Trumps being the rowdy gunslinger crashing the decorous D.C. party, upsetting all the stuffy elites whove been dismissively ignoring them for years. The more outrageous, the better, even if its politically counterproductive.

The rest of Americans, a group now approaching six-in-10, do not approve of this Oval Office occupant. Its not like they can do anything about it for three more years. But they frown, even wince, at this presidents verbal antics and unabashed arrogance.

They wouldnt really mind a different style of president, someone whos not a programmed political bot. But please just not someone so petty, juvenile and seemingly desperate to get in the last word on even the most insignificant arguments. Did too. Did not.

But wheel a long staircase up to the gaping door of that beautiful blue-and-white Air Force One command center on some foreign airport, and the man who steps out and waves is a different president.

Confident. Kind. Assured. Actually human.

In Beijing, the president of the United States delighted Chinas President Xi Jinping by producing a tablet with a video of 6-year-old granddaughter Arabella Kushner singing a song for him in Mandarin.

At that moment the man whom millions still love to hate for soundly shattering their overconfident election expectations was just another proud grandpa. Shes very smart, Trump told Chinas applauding first couple.

Of course, in reality the real estate magnate is also selling something, in this case support for increased pressure on North Koreas rotund, rogue dictator, Kim Jong Un, to abandon his rapidly developing nuclear weapons program.

Surprisingly in this era of stark political chasms, in that concern, foreign traveler Trump has the support of both Democrats (75 percent) and Republicans (74 percent), in rare agreement that the Norths weapons program is a major threat to the country, the Pew Research Center found.

As remote as Kim backing down seems now, an American leader must be seen to go to extraordinary lengths to avoid a military confrontation. And Trump, so often portrayed as shooting from the lip, is doing just that.

Trump took the same broader statesmanlike approach in a speech to South Koreas National Assembly. Like his address to dozens of Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia last spring, it was not apologetic, but both eloquent and refreshingly candid.

America does not seek conflict or confrontation, the president said, but we will never run from it. History is filled with discarded regimes that have foolishly tested Americas resolve.

Trump urged other nations to pressure Pyongyang. The time for excuses is over, he said. Now is the time for strength. If you want peace, you must stand strong at all times. The world cannot tolerate the menace of a rogue regime that threatens with nuclear devastation.

Then, Trump directly addressed the leader of the North Korean dictatorship. The weapons you are acquiring are not making you safer. They are putting your regime in grave danger.

North Korea is not the paradise your grandfather envisioned. It is a hell that no person deserves. Yet, despite every crime you have committed against God and man, we will offer a path to a much better future. It begins with an end to the aggression of your regime, a stop to your development of ballistic missiles and complete, verifiable, and total denuclearization.

Notably absent from this 35-minute Trump speech was the bombast, derisive little Rocket Man nicknames and threats of unimaginable fire and fury raining down on Kims Pennsylvania-sized country.

But wait! That shouldnt really surprise. This was the President Trump speaking abroad in Seoul, not the other President Trump spouting off back in Washington.
As part of his ongoing Ayodhya truce efforts, Art of Living (AOL) founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will on Saturday meet Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, officials said.

Ravi Shankar arrived in the city on Friday evening for a three-day antrang yatra, a spiritual event of the AOL, which will be attended by Bhagwat. The duo will hold a closed-door meeting, sources said.

After volunteering to mediate in the contentious Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has met a host of Hindu and Muslim leaders including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other stakeholders.

On Friday he held talks with the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) in Lucknow, a day after meeting Hindu leaders in Ayodhya.

After the meeting, Sri Sri said he was confident that the solution to the dispute will be in national interest.

We are holding dialogue and discussions over the issue and I am confident that something good will come out of it. I am sure that the solution to this issue will be in national interest, he said.

Reiterating his earlier stand for an out of court settlement, he said: We all believe in the judiciary but it cant bond hearts We need a solution straight from the heart.

As per reports, the spiritual guru will be briefing the RSS chief about the outcome of his meetings with all the stakeholders.
The Centre has raised import duty on crude palm oil to 30 per cent from 15 per cent and on refined oil to 40 per cent from 20 per cent in a bid to curb cheaper shipments and boost local prices for supporting farmers and refiners, according to a notification.

Import duty on soyabean oil, sunflower oils, canola/mustard oils  both crude and refined format  has been raised, the notification released by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) late last night said.

Import duty on soyabean has also been increased.

An inter-ministerial group headed by Union minister Nitin Gadkari and the Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister (EAC-PM) had examined the local price situation and suggested raising the import duties on edible oils and some oilseeds.

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said import duty of crude palm oil has been doubled to 30 per cent, while the refined crude palm oil been increased to 40 per cent from 25 per cent.

Import duty on crude soyabean oil has been increased to 30 per cent from 17.5 per cent, while refined soyabean oil has been raised to 35 per cent from the current 20 per cent.

Similarly, import duty on crude sunflower oil has been increased to 25 per cent from 12.5 per cent, while that on refined sunflower oil has been increased to 35 per cent from 20 per cent.

Also, import duty on crude canola/rapeseed/mustard oils has been increased to 25 per cent from 12.5 per cent, while the tax on refined crude canola/rapeseed/mustard oils increased to 35 per cent from 20 per cent.

That apart, import duty on soyabean has been increased to 45 per cent from 30 per cent, the notification said.

Welcoming the move, industry body Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA) said, As the prices of all oilseeds fell below the MSP and a sense of deep distress and despondency was setting in the minds of farmers, the government finally saw the logic in our demand.

India, the worlds leading cooking oil buyer, imported 154.50 lakh tonnes of both edible and non-edible oils in 2016 -17 marketing year (November-October), up by 4.75 per cent from 147.38 lakh tonnes in the previous year.

India imports palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia and a small quantity of crude soft oil, including soyabean oil from Latin America. Sunflower oil is imported from Ukraine and Russia.
The Supreme Court has said that Delhis Lieutenant Governor has more power than the Governor of a state as he does not have to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers all the time.

A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said that under Article 163, the Governor has to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers except in the case where he has to exercise his discretion.

The language of Article 163 is similar to Article 239AA sub clause 4 but the only difference is that the Legislative Assembly cannot make laws with respect to entries 1, 2 and 18 in which the LG can exercise his discretion. Thus, the LG has more power than a governor of state, said the bench.

The apex court is hearing a plea of the Delhi government claiming that the LG cannot govern Delhi, has no role in the affairs of the national capital. It is only the council of ministers, headed by the chief minister, which can govern, it said.

The court is hearing a batch of pleas on who enjoys supremacy in governing the national capital, referred to in Article 239AA of the Constitution.
Reiterating that Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) belonged to Pakistan, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Saturday dared BJP leaders to take it back.

Yes, it (PoK) belongs to them (Pakistan). It has been with Pakistan since the last 70 years. You havent been able to take it back, what will you do now? Abdullah said in a public gathering in Jammu.

The BJP president once himself said that India will not cross the LoC (Line of Control). Now they are saying they will take it (PoK) back. If you (BJP) have the guts, pick up guns and go fight on the border, he added.

Abdullah further said that Pakistan was not wearing bangles and the country posses atom bombs too.

Do you want us to be killed by them? Think about the poor people living in border areas, who are bombed daily, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir had on Thursday stressed that PoK is a part of the Indian territory and no one could stop New Delhi if it wanted to wrest the area from Islamabad.

The statement had come a day after Abdullah said Pakistan would not allow India to take back PoK.
Voicing concern over the plight of transgenders, the Madras High Court on Saturday directed the Centre to inform it whether a follow up action would be taken to make the transgender bill pending in the parliament a statute.

Giving the direction on a petition filed by two trangenders, Justice N Kirubakaran said a decision on the passage of the bill should be taken at the earliest because the transgenders were suffering.

He directed the central government that it has to inform the court whether the follow up action would be taken to make the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016 a statute.

He noted that the Lok Sabha referred the bill to the parliamentary standing committee on social justice and empowerment on September 12, 2016, for examination and the committee submitted its report on July 21 this year.

They (transgenders) are unable to even use public facilities like washroom for their convenience. If any right is given under the proposed act, it will definitely address this problem also, the judge said.

The judge also directed the Centre to inform the court why it introduced its own bill in the Lok Sabha when already a private member bill The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014 was passed unanimously by the Rajya Sabha on April 24, 2015, and subsequently came to the lower House.

He was referring to a submission by the counsel for the Centre in this regard.

Taking a serious view of the Tamil Nadu governments failure in implementing the courts earlier direction on reservation to transgenders, the judge said a decision shall be taken on or before November 27 failing which the health secretary, and the secretary, Social Welfare Department have to appear in the court.

A bench of the high court had directed the state government to take a decision on the reservation for the transgenders within six months.

The period of six months has already expired and even today it is stated that the decision is being considered, he noted in his order.

They could not postpone the issue of making reservation to transgenders indefinitely, the judge said.
Questioning Narendra Modi governments silence over the Padmavati film controversy, the Congress on Friday said the Information and Broadcasting Ministry must resolve the issue by talking to both the sides.

There has been a huge controversy surrounding the the film Padmavati. The government must find a way to resolve the issue, said Congress spokesperson Rajeev Shukla.

He also said it was the responsibility of the censor board and the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to find a solution to the matter.

If the sentiments of a particular community are being hurt, proper measures should be taken to ensure an amicable resolution on the issue, said Shukla.
The Nagaland Legislators Forum on Friday resolved to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to submit a memorandum, seeking resolution of Naga political issues before the state assembly elections next year.

The Naga parliamentarians met in the Nagaland Assembly Secretariat under the Chairmanship of Imtiwapang Aier, who is also the Assembly Speaker.

The meeting which was also attended by Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang expressed its sincere desire to have Naga issues settled at the earliest.

Adopting a five-point resolution, the Forum endorsed the points made in the memorandum submitted by the Parliamentary Working Committee of Nagaland Legislators Forum on Naga political issues to the Prime Minister of India on July 16, 2015.

The resolution signed by Aier and Zeliang appreciated the leadership and vision of Prime Minister Modi for the significant progress made in the negotiations for the final settlement of the Naga issues.

In view of Nagaland Assembly elections due in few months, it was agreed that the Chief Minister should convene an all political party meeting at the earliest.
India has responded to Pakistans note verbale offering to arrange a meeting between former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is on death row in the neighbouring country, and his wife.

The offer was made on 10 November by the Pakistan foreign office through the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal on Saturday confirmed that Islamabad had received Indias response to its offer which was being considered. Indian reply to Pakistans humanitarian offer for Commander Jadhav received & is being considered, he tweeted.

Reports from Islamabad said New Delhi had asked Islamabad to grant a visa to Jadhavs mother too to travel to Pakistan and meet her son. However, there was no confirmation available from the Indian side.

Pakistans offer is being considered as a positive development in Indian circles. New Delhi is believed to have sought some more clarifications in its response.

Jadhav has been languishing in a Pakistani jail since 3 March 2016 on charges of espionage and conspiring to destabilise Pakistan. Despite repeated requests, New Delhi has not been granted consular access to Jadhav so far. India has taken the Jadhav case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ICJ, in its provisional order in May, ordered a stay on Jadhavs execution pending completion of the trial. Pakistan has to submit its response in the case to the ICJ by 13 December.
A large number of people defied curfew-like restrictions imposed by the authorities on Saturday to attend the funeral of slain militant Mugees Ahmad Mir.

Authorities had imposed curfew in parts of Srinagar on Saturday as a precautionary measure following killing of an Al-Qaeda terrorist Mugees Mir in a shootout with the police on Friday evening. However, people from different parts of the city reached Parimpora area where the slain militants funeral was held.

On Friday, a sub-inspector of police was also killed and a constable injured in the shootout by terrorists in the Zakura area of Srinagar.

Mir is the first militant of the Al-Qaeda to be killed by security forces in Kashmir. The outfit is led by the radical Zakir Musa.

Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was put under house arrest while Yasin Malik was lodged in the central jail as a precautionary measure to prevent them from instigating people on the killing of Mir.

All education institutions were shut down and train services suspended in the valley. Security forces were deployed in strength to thwart and untoward incident and the restrictions were implemented strictly.

Two other terrorists travelling in a car with Mir had escaped from the spot after firing at the police. Mir was killed on the spot.

(With agency inputs)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asked people to share their ideas on topics that they would like to be addressed in the 38th edition of his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat, to be aired on November 26.

Taking to Twitter, Modi said people could share their inputs via the Narendra Modi mobile app or record and send their messages via toll free number 1800-11-7800 or give a missed call on 1922 and follow the link received via SMS.

What are your ideas for this months #MannKiBaat, which will be held on Sunday, 26th November? Share them with me on the Narendra Modi Mobile App, he tweeted.

What are your ideas for this months #MannKiBaat, which will be held on Sunday, 26th November? Share them with me on the Narendra Modi Mobile App. https://t.co/TYuxNNJfIf  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 18, 2017

Dial 1800-11-7800 and record a message for #MannKiBaat. You can also write on the MyGov Open Forum and share inputs for this months #MannKiBaat, he said in another tweet.

Dial 1800-11-7800 and record a message for #MannKiBaat. You can also write on the MyGov Open Forum and share inputs for this months #MannKiBaat. https://t.co/sj4aBVBCFc  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 18, 2017

Mann Ki Baat will be aired at 11 am on All India Radio, DD National and DD News.
Antibiotics are often regarded as a magic bullet to kill bacteria which are the cause of most infectious diseases. The trouble is these microorganisms are becoming more resistant to antimicrobial drugs and thus patients with certain diseases are being left in the lurch. It has reached the point that Singapore has formed an inter-ministerial committee to provide a whole-of-government effort to fight antimicrobial resistance. Just how did this serious state of affairs arise?

The short answer is public misconception and weak professional standards have contributed to the overuse of these useful drugs which unfortunately is making them less useful. Educating people about antibiotics and working with professionals and industry players are part of the National Strategic Action Plan which was launched recently to tackle a problem with potentially devastating consequences: if antimicrobial resistance mounts, even simple infections could kill.

Ordinary people might fail to distinguish between bacteria and viruses (which are often the cause of a sore throat and the common cold). Antibiotics are ineffective against viruses but patients might still demand these drugs. It is bad enough that many doctors tend to over-prescribe antibiotics, but patients make it worse by skipping doses, saving antibiotics for future bouts of illness, and consuming such medicine meant for someone else.

Completing the full course of the drug is routinely emphasised by doctors, but new research suggests that an extended treatment course is appropriate only for certain cases. For simple infections, a better message would be that antibiotics are a precious resource that should not be used for longer than is necessary, said Oxford University professor Lucy Yardley.

The president of the British Society for Immunology also agreed that shortening antibiotics courses may help tackle the resistance problem. The Singapore work group should, therefore, examine prescribing practices and clarify guidelines which will be most beneficial to public health in the long run.

The message to people, which should also include children, should be simplified so they can better appreciate the nature of microbes. Few realise that bacteria are born to adapt to the external environment. They can change their surrounding layers, including genetic information, in order to resist drugs, and can even pass on these characteristics to future generations of bacteria.

In the classic science fiction novel, War Of The Worlds, by HG Wells, invading aliens were finally defeated by simple microorganisms on earth that humans had become immune to. The irony is that instead of preserving such immunity, people are creating super bugs resistant to all known drugs, by overusing and abusing antibiotics.
Sushma Swaraj would probably be relieved that Hansraj Gangaram Ahir is not a political heavyweight, and only a junior minister in the Modi government. Else a tidal bore of indignation and protest would have swept up the Padma, and South Block would have much damage-containment on its work-sheet after the minister of state for home affairs contended that Bangladesh was a bigger challenge to national security than China or Pakistan.

While those two known adversaries had often committed territorial aggression, Ahir maintained that the aggression from the eastern neighbor took the shape of a population assault. I know because I see it closely he said at a Homeland Security Conference in the Capital. Bangladesh is only a so-called friend because evidently it has caused India most harm through illegal intrusion, he was quoted as saying in a press note from Assocham, organisers of the conference, and as such going ahead it is only smart technologies which will help us curb this menace.

The minister, who hails from Maharashtra, had recently visited the easten frontier regions. While the conference did focus on using hi-tech aids to enhance border security, Ahirs bracketing Bangladesh with Pakistan and China is a new take on national security priorities.

Only a few days back the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, had extolled Indo-Bangladesh relations when launching a new railway service from Kolkata to Khulna. Mrs Swarajs trips to Dhaka have been projected as highly successful by the MEA, and India had recently airlifted consignments of relief material to help Bangladesh manage the influx of Rohingya refugees.

So are North and South Block on different pages? From a narrow political perspective it is not difficult to see from where Ahir is coming for the BJP has consistently slammed illegal immigration from Bangladesh and insisted that the demographic balance has been overturned in several areas straddling the border. Indeed even in New Delhi do BJP leaders blame illegal migration for a host of civic shortcomings. Hence the ministers contention is not out of sync with the party line.

However, given the delicate regional balance Ahirs strategic formulation might not go down well. Particularly since Bangladesh has been backing India on several issues. To be fair, at the same event Ahir also came down heavily on China and Pakistan, and for good measure also blasted the National Conference chief s theory that POK belonged to Pakistan.

But was a conference focused on technological aids to border management the occasion to propound theories on regional relations? There would be much truth to the argument that the present government is a twoman army, but it has no dearth of loudmouths. The Prime Minister generally ignores the lesser lights of his team, but as with Ahir and Bangladesh they often create national embarrassment.
It is gratifying to reflect that the climate-change conference in Bonn has registered a critical forward movement with the 19-nation Powering Past Coal Alliance emitting the signal to phase out coal ~ trashed as the dirtiest fuel that provides 40 per cent of global electricity. The concert of powers that has pledged to ensure a cleaner environment is helmed by the UK and Canada with Mexico, New Zealand, Denmark and Angola signing up as new members.

As a major coal-polluter, India is yet to spell out its stand on what has generally been acknowledged as a political watershed. Though Donald Trumps America has already let it be known that it shall not abide by the Paris agreement of 2015, the world does expect an unequivocal stand from the White House on the phasing out of coal ~ a major factor behind environmental devastation. No less unequivocal must be the case against coal and not least on environmental and health grounds.

It is an awesome thought that coal pollution kills no fewer than 800,000 a year across the world. India remains particularly vulnerable with hundreds of thousands of undiagnosed casualties in the rural belt. The alliance will signal to the world that the time of coal has passed, is the UK climate minister Claire Perrys assurance to the world. Clearly, the transition to clean energy has gained global momentum not least in the UK where electricity generated by coal has already fallen from 40 to 2 per cent since 2012.

Thursdays agreement is only just the beginning, and the alliance hopes to induct 50 new members by next year. Regretfully, the concert against coal does not include any Asian country where much of the worlds coal is used. The countries have by and large paid a high price for the rampant use of coal for electricity, not to forget the fuel for cooking in rural areas. It doesnt have to be so if we are to have a clean growth century.

Furthermore, there has been a steady decline in the price of renewable energy. Markedly in the US, given its stout opposition to any agreement on the environment, the renewable energy industry employs 250,000 people, compared to 50,000 in the coal sector. Renewable energy, therefore, is preferable even in terms of employment generation.

The US delegation in Bonn has been robust in its efforts to promote the use of coal. Not to put too fine a point on it, the signal to phase out the Black Diamond is a rebuff for Trump from the UK and Canada, two of Americas closest allies.

A reassuring beginning has been made with coal; climate change and a clean environment will determine the destiny of humankind. The Bonn round has emitted a clean signal, though Germany is yet to acquiesce.
I was in my room in the Baghdad Hotel on al-Sadoun street last Sunday evening, writing about the chances for stability in Iraq taking hold, when the walls and floor began to shake. They jerked sideways and up and down several times as if my room was the cabin of boat in a rough sea. My first confused thought was  this being Baghdad  that there must have been some huge bomb explosion, which would explain the rocking motion of everything around me.

But almost simultaneously, I realised that I had not heard the sound of an explosion, so a better explanation was that there was an earthquake, though I had never thought of Baghdad as being in an earthquake zone. The jerking movements of the walls and floor of my room were so spectacular that I wondered if the building was going to collapse. I looked under the desk where I was sitting, but the space was too small for me to crouch in.

I got down on my hands and knees and started to crawl towards the bathroom which is meant to be the safest place in the event of a bomb explosion, and I supposed the same must be true of earthquakes. I had got about half way there when the shaking stopped.

The lights were still on which seemed a good sign. I got back on a stool and googled Baghdad earthquake on my laptop and read a series of alarmed tweets confirming that was indeed what had just happened. It was a 7.3 magnitude quake centred 19 miles from Halabja, a small city in Iraqi Kurdistan 150 miles north-east of Baghdad and close to the Iranian border. Nine people had been killed in Iraq, but the catastrophic damage was in Iran where 530 people had died. In earlier times, an earthquake like this would be taken as an omen: a warning of bad times to come.

Shakespeare is full of such grim portents which commonly precede assassinations and defeats in battle. This would be a pity in the case of present day Iraq because, for the first time since Saddam Hussein started his war with Iran in 1980, the prospects look positive. The central government is stronger than before, defeating Isis in the nine-month long siege of Mosul and ending the move towards secession of Iraqi Kurdistan by peacefully reoccupying Kirkuk and other disputed territories. Substantial successes these certainly are, but what has really changed the political landscape of Iraq is that there is no longer a community, party or faction fighting the central government with financial and military aid from foreign backers.

For once, Iraq has good relations with all neighbouring states. The earthquake may not herald more domestically-generated violence in Iraq, but in the real world it is a useful reminder that the country, along with the rest of the Middle East, is vulnerable to unexpected and unpredictable events. Of course, these are always a possibility anywhere, but never more than at present because of the strange character change of two traditionally conservative powers in the region: the US and Saudi Arabia.

Previously committed to preserving the political status quo, both have become mercurial and prone to saw off the branch on which they are sitting. Shortly before the earthquake in Baghdad, I was making the above point about Iraq stabilising to a European diplomat. He said this might be true, but that real danger to peace comes from a combination of three people: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trumps son-in-law and Middle East envoy Jared Kushner, and Bibi Netanyahu in Israel. Probably, the Saudis and the Americans exaggerate the willingness of Netanyahu and Israel to go to war.

Netanyahu has always been strong on bellicose rhetoric, but cautious about real military conflict (except in Gaza, which was more massacre than war). Israels military strength tends to be exaggerated and its army has not won a war outright since 1973. Previous engagements with Hezbollah have gone badly.

Israeli generals know that the threat of military action can be more effective than its use in maximising Israeli political influence, but that actually going to war means losing control of the situation. They will know the saying of the 19th century German chief of staff, Helmuth Von Moltke, that no plan survives contact with the enemy. But even if the Israelis do not intend to fight Hezbollah or Iran, this does not mean that they would not like somebody else to do so for them. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told me in an interview earlier this month that his greatest fear was a US-Iranian confrontation fought out in Iraq. This could happen directly or through proxies, but in either case would end the present fragile peace.

On the optimistic side, US policy in Iraq and Syria is largely run by the Pentagon and not the White House, and has not changed much since President Obamas days. It has been successful in its aim of destroying Isis and the self-declared caliphate. The wars in Iraq and Syria already have their winners and losers: President Bashar al-Assad stays in power in Damascus, as does a Shia-dominated government in Baghdad. An Iranian-backed substantially Shia axis in four countries  Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon  stretches from the Afghan border to the Mediterranean. This is the outcome of the wars since 2011, which is not going to be reversed except by a US land invasion  as happened in Iraq in 2003.

The great danger in the Middle East today is that Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman and Jared Kushner appear to have a skewed and unrealistic understanding of the world around them. Inspector Clouseau seems to have a greater influence on Saudi policy than Machiavelli, going by the antics surrounding the forced resignation of Saad Hariri as Prime Minister of Lebanon. This sort of thing is not going to frighten the Iranians or Hezbollah. The signs are that Iran has decided to go a long way to avoid confrontation with the US.

In Iraq, it is reported that it will support the reelection of Abadi as prime minister which is also what the US wants. Iran knows that it has come out on the winning side in Iraq and Syria and does not need to flaunt its success. It may also believe that the Crown Prince is using anti-Iranian nationalist rhetoric to secure his own power and does not intend to do much about it. Nobody has much to gain from another war in the Middle East, but wars are usually started by those who miscalculate their own strengths and interests.

Both the US and Saudi Arabia have become wild cards in the regional pack. The sort of Neo-con and right-wing think tankers, who in 2003 were saying that a war with Iraq would be a doddle, are back in business in Washington, pushing for war with Iran  and are stronger than ever. The wars in the Middle East should be ending, but they could just be entering a new phase. Leaders in the US and Saudi Arabia may not want a new war, but they might just blunder into one.

(The Independent)
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex employees of Italys foreign ministry will on November 22 hold a conference in Rome to mark the first anniversary of the introduction of same-sex civil unions here, the ministrys LBGTI association Globe-MAE announced.

Globe-MAEs President Fabrizio Petri will open the event taking place at the International Womens House in Romes Trastevere district, which will be attended by all the main LBGTI associations and focus on the state of gay rights in Italy and the world.

Politicians including Senator and foreign ministry undersecretary Benedetto Della Vedova, Senators Monica Cirinna, Sergio Lo Giudice and Luigi Manconi are due to speak at the conference, together with MPs Renata Polverini and Alessandro Zan, and several senior Italian officials, Globe-MAE said.

The aim of the meeting is to assess Italys commitment to LBGTI rights worldwide and implementation of the 2016 same-sex civil unions law, which grants same-sex couples many of the same rights as married heterosexual couples, including inheritance and pension rights.

Italy was the last countries in western Europe to introduce gay civil unions.
Ousted premier Nawaz Sharif and four of his family members can soon be barred from leaving Pakistan in connection with the Panama Papers case as the countrys anti-graft watchdog has initiated a process to place their names on the Exit Control List, a media report said today.

Sharif, 67, and some of his family members are facing charges relating to their ownership of properties in London.

He resigned as prime minister in July after the countrys Supreme Court disqualified him over undeclared income.

Three cases were registered by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on September 8 against Sharif, his children and son-in-law in the Accountability Court Islamabad, following the July verdict by the Supreme Court.

Dawn reported that the NAB Lahore office yesterday initiated the process to place the names of Sharif, his sons Hussain and Hassan, daughter Maryam and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar on Exit Control List (ECL).

According to the NAB Islamabad spokesman the members of the family may face travel restriction if listed on the ECL.

An accountability court had earlier declared Hussain and Hassan proclaimed offenders for skipping court proceedings in connection with the case.

On Thursday, the NAB had requested the ministry of interior to put Finance Minister Ishaq Dars name on the ECL after an accountability court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for him.

Dar, like Sharifs sons, has continuously been absent from court proceedings in a case against him for owning assets beyond known sources of income.

A senior official told the paper on condition of anonymity that the NAB Lahore had written to its Islamabad headquarters requesting that Hussain and Hassans names be placed on the ECL.

The NAB spokesman in Islamabad confirmed the other three names Sharif, Maryam and Safdar that had been recommended by the anti-graft watchdog Lahore to be placed on the ECL.

The official in the NAB Lahore said according to the procedure, they would first place names of Hussain and Hassan, who live in the UK, on the ECL and if they still did not appear before the accountability court, then NAB would request cancellation of their passports.

Sharifs family has been shuttling between Islamabad and London in recent days due to his wife Kulsoom, who is battling throat cancer.

The three cases against the Sharifs are related to the Flagship Investment Ltd, the Avenfield (London) properties and Jeddah-based Al-Azizia Company and Hill Metal Establishment.

The political future of Sharif, who leads the countrys most powerful political family and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, has been hanging in balance since his disqualification. If convicted, Sharif could be jailed.

Sharifs family alleges that the cases are politically motivated.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan is expected to remain modest in 2018, the media reported on Friday.

The UNHCR said the trend of the return of Afghan refugees back to their home is declining this year as the number of the returning refugees was some 370,000 in 2016, whereas only 50,000 returned to their native lands in the first three quarters of 2017.

The refugee agency did not cited the reason of this downward trend, however, local watchers believe that uncertain security and economic situation in Afghanistan is the main reason that Afghan refugees are not interested in going back to their homeland.

Apart from this, the UNHCR has cut the cash grant from $400 to $200, to each returning Afghan refugee under a voluntary repatriation programme, following a slash in donor agencies financial aid, which further dampened their spirits to return.

The UNHCR, however, assured that it will keep on supporting Pakistan to promote a peaceful coexistence between the locals and refugees.

The UN refugee agency said the protracted Afghan refugee situations in Iran and Pakistan require long-term solutions, with a focus on the creation of conditions conducive to voluntary repatriation to Afghanistan and support for refugee-hosting communities.

The agency added that it launched Appeal 2018-2019 which lays out the financial resources that will be required for the agencys program to protect and improve the lives of 68 million people of concern.

The appeal presents the proposed budgets of 7.508 billion U.S. dollars and 7.352 billion U.S. dollars for 2018 and 2019 respectively.

UNHCR said in mid-2017, a delegation of 160 Afghan refugees travelled from Pakistan to Afghanistan to advocate for measures to be taken to ensure return is sustainable, including in relation to land, employment, shelter, health and education.

In 2018, data from the UNHCRs protection-based monitoring in Afghanistan will continue to help address protection issues in the country, support the transition between humanitarian assistance and development work, and inform government-led reintegration activities, it said.

According to local media, Pakistan hosts 1.3 million registered Afghan refugees.
General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak is holding a series of consultations on Friday on how to deal with the deadlock in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) election in which Dalveer Bhandari of India is facing Britains Christopher Greenwood.

Lajcaks Spokesperson Brendent Varma told reporters: The President will meet today (Friday) with the President of the Security Council (Sebastiano Cardi of Italy), as well as the UN Office of Legal Affairs and the UN Department for General Assembly and Conference Management.

Ahead of the next scheduled round of balloting on Monday, it is helpful to have coordination with Cardi because a candidate will have to get a majority in both the Council and the Assembly where the elections will be held simultaneously, Varma said.

He added that Lajcak is a big proponent of dialogue.

Bhadari and Greenwood are sitting judges who are seeking re-election.

Mondays voting will be the third meeting of the Council and the Assembly for voting for the ICJ election.

The contest has emerged as a test of wills between the Assembly and Council. Bhandari has nearly a two-thirds majority with 121 votes in the 193-member Assemlby, while Greenwood has a slender majority of nine in the 15-member Council.

Since the procedures require a majority in both chambers, neither of them have not been able to be elected and neither body has been willing to compromise.

So far 11 rounds of balloting have been held over two days in the Assembly and 10 in the Council. Four others were elected on the first day, November 9, in the first four rounds with majorities in both chambers, After that seven rounds of runoff balloting in the Assembly and six in the Council were held between Bhandari and Greenwood without being able to break the deadlock.

Lajcaks meeting with the legal department is significant as the Assembly and the Council would have to find a way to break the deadlock if neither candidate wins in both bodies on Monday.

On Thursday, Varma said that one of the methods to break the deadlock would be through a joint conference that consists of six members, three appointed by the General Assembly and three by the Security Council.

And this joint conference could, by an absolute majority, agree upon one name for each of the vacancies, that is one seat (in this case) and submit that for acceptance to the Assembly and the Council, he explained.

The issue of the imbalance of power between the two chambers has become the focal point of the election runoff between Bhandari and Greenwood, who is from a permanent member of the Council. Under the current system, the nine votes that Greenwood won in the Council are enough to neutralise the votes of 121 countries that Bhandari received in the Assembly.

The Permanent Members have by tradition each had a judge on the world court. That is now being challenged by the Assembly, where a majority have been chafing under the unrepresentative character of the Council, which wields enormous powers, and want it reformed.

The Permanent Members and their allies, meanwhile, are rallying behind the British candidate as they do not want to see their perk endangered by the loss of one of their own.

Bhandari, who originally ran for the Asia-Pacific seat on the ICJ, lost to Lebanese lawyer-turned-diplomat Nawaf Salam.

But because Greenwood did not get a majority in the Assembly, he was not elected either and has been locked in an unprecedented contest featuring a candidate from a permanent member of the Council and one who is not for the same category.

Three incumbent judges of the ICJ  President Ronny Abraham of France, Vice President, Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf of Somalia, and Antonio Augusto Cancado Trindade of Brazil  were elected along with Salam in the first four rounds of voting on November 9.
The US military has reported a total of 20,348 sexual assaults from 2013 to 2016 at the countrys defence installations around the world, the Pentagon said in a new report.

The report, provided by the Department of Defences Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) on Friday detailed the number of sexual assault reports across the services and joint bases, as well in combat zones, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Army had the highest number of cases at 8,284 in the four years, according to the report.

The number of cases in the Navy stood at 4,788, with 3,876 reports in the Air Force and 3,400 in the Marine Corps.

The Pentagon estimated that 32 per cent of service members experiencing sexual assaults in the 2016 fiscal year, up from 25 per cent in the previous two years.

Holding Army, Navy and Air Force units, Joint Base San Antonio had the most sexual assault reports of any joint base across the four-year period, with 881.

As to combat areas, Afghanistan received 295 sexual assault reports from fiscal 2013 to 2016, higher than any other country that has US military presence.

One of the features of the departments reporting program is that service members can report allegations of sexual assault at any time and at any place, Nate Galbreath, deputy director of the SAPRO, said.

A report could involve allegations for an incident that occurred while on deployment, while away on leave, or even prior to entering the military.

In 2013, the Pentagon began allowing victims of sexual assault to seek legal help without notifying their command and police, which would be classified as restricted reports.

Sexual assault victims who seek police involvement have unrestricted reports.

According to the SAPRO statement, the statistics were published now due to recent requests for this information under the Freedom of Information Act.
Indias imports of African crude oil in October plunged to their lowest in over four years, with the worlds No.3 oil consumer increasingly turning to cheaper supplies from the United States and heavier Middle Eastern grades, ship tracking data showed.

US crude production has soared more than 14 per cent since mid-2016 to 9.65 million barrels per day (bpd), altering trade routes as its relatively cheap and light grades become a viable import option for Asian refiners.

Earlier in Asia, West African oil was competing with Middle East grades, but now it has a new competitor: the US, said Ehsan Ul-Haq, director of crude oil and refined products at consultancy Resource Economist.

Surging US crude output has made West Texas Intermediate(WTI)-linked American oil relatively cheap compared with the international benchmark, Brent, which has been propped up by supply cuts led by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

WTI has since October been trading at an average discount of $6 per barrel to Brent. "In the last few months, US oil gave tough competition to the African grades and the price difference (between WTI and Brent) was good enough to cover the freight," said R. Ramachandran, head of refineries at Bharat Petroleum Corp.

US crude oil exports to India were unheard of until 2015, when Washington eased tight export restrictions in parallel with its growing output.

Rising steadily this year, US oil in October accounted for about 3 per cent of India's overall imports, while the share of African crude fell to about 10.5 per cent, the lowest since November, 2012, the ship tracking data in Thomson Reuters Eikon showed.

Indias oil imports in October totalled 4.1 million bpd, a decline of 15 per cent over September, when they hit a monthly record. The imports were also 4.6 per cent lower than a year ago. Of that, around 430,000 bpd came from Africa, the lowest level since March, 2013.

Supply disruptions in Nigeria also dented its exports, forcing Indian refiners to seek supplies elsewhere.

Last month, the share of the Middle East crude in Indias overall imports rose to its highest in about a year, making up almost 70 per cent of all supplies, the data showed, shipping over around 2.8 million bpd.

Ramchandran said Indias new and expanded refineries were geared towards processing heavy oil from the Middle East. Instead of low sulphur, refiners are looking at medium sulphur oil, so cargoes are shifting from West Africa to the Middle East, Ramachandran said.

India's biggest oil supplier is Iraq, followed by Saudi Arabia. Iran replaced Nigeria as the third-biggest supplier.

-Reuters
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati cannot seem to catch a break. The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has sent Padmavati back to the makers as the application for the certification was "incomplete".

According to the CBFC, the movie, which has triggered protests by several Rajput groups, will be reviewed as per the set norms once it is sent back to the board after sorting out the issue.

"The film was submitted for certification last week. We examined the documents, as we normally do. It was conveyed to the makers that their application was incomplete. They had to rectify and send it back, we will view it when it comes back to us," a source in the CBFC said.

"When they rectify the deficiency we will scrutinise it once more and when the turn comes we will examine it (film for certification)," the source added.

The source, however, refused to divulge details of the "deficiency in the application" on account of which it was returned to the makers for rectification.

When asked about the date for screening of the film, the source said, "When it comes back to us we will put it in queue and see when the turn comes, there will be no exception."

Ajit Andhare, COO, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, confirmed the development.

"That's true. But film is with the CBFC, it is merely a minor technical issue. Nothing stops them from seeing the film if they want," he said. Andhare also rubbished reports that the film has been postponed to January next year.

"Rumours of postponement of Padmavati are baseless," he tweeted.

Meanwhile, the Shri Rajput Karni Sena threatened it will intensify its protest against the movie if it is not banned.

Karni Sena president Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi said Rani Padmavati's depiction in the film was "totally distorted" and the Rajput community will not accept her "wrong" portrayal. It is an insult to the culture of the community and the queen's legacy," he said.

A few Karni Sena activists wanted to take out a procession against the movie, but it was withdrawn, police said. The Karni Sena has called for a countrywide 'bandh' on December 1.

Padmavati, starring Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, Shahid Kapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Sultan Alauddin Khilji, is set for December 1 release.

Bhansali has been under attack from the group since he started shooting for the movie. The set of the movie was vandalised twicein Jaipur and Kolhapurand the director was roughed up by Karni Sena members in Jaipur in January.

Bhansali, through a video statement, has sought to clear the air surrounding the film, saying he was careful in depicting the "Rajput honour and dignity" in the film.
MOUNT PLEASANT  Two people were transported to the hospital late Friday after a vehicle was involved in a serious crash and ended up wrapped around a tree.

Police believe alcohol and speed may have been factors in the crash.

On Friday, at 10:56 p.m., the Mount Pleasant Police Department responded with the South Shore Fire Department to the 1400 block of Oakes Road following a report of a vehicle crashed into a tree, according to a Mount Pleasant Police Department release issued Saturday morning.

The front-seat passenger, identified as Mary F. Pagano, 34, of Mount Pleasant, was trapped in the vehicle and had shallow breathing and was unresponsive.

Mount Pleasant officers cut her from her seat belt and assisted her until South Shore Fire Department paramedics could render advanced aid.

South Shore firefighters had to cut apart the vehicle and remove her.

Upon removal, she was transported to the emergency room at Ascension All Saints Hospital in Racine. She was in stable condition as of early Saturday morning.

Upon further Investigation, police determined that the driver, Nicholas B. Putz, 35 of Elm Grove, had a strong odor of intoxicants emanating from him.

He also had a laceration to his head and was transported to the Ascension All Saints Hospital for minor injuries.

The Wisconsin State Patrol was contacted to respond to the scene and they conducted a reconstruction investigation of the crash scene along with Mount Pleasant officers.

The incident remains under investigation by Mount Pleasant Police and the Wisconsin State Patrol.
Veteran actress Shabana Azmi on Saturday urged the Indian film industry to boycott the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa to protest against the threats to actress Deepika Padukone and filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali on their upcoming film Padmavati.

"The entire film industry should boycott IFFI in protest against the threats to Deepika Padukone, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Padmavati," Shabana said in a tweet.

In a series of other posts on Twitter, Shabana lashed out at the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), which has reportedly sent back the film's application, allegedly citing it to be incomplete.

She wrote: "Padmavati application to CBFC has been sent back because of incomplete formalities! Really? Or to keep fires stoked for electoral gains?"

"Sabki dukaan chal rahi hai (Everybody is gaining) under the patronage not of the fringe but of the government in power. Film industry must stand as one.

Later on, Shabana accused the film fraternity of remaining quiet.
Security forces dealt a major blow to Lashkar-e-Toiba when they killed its six top commanders including Owaid, nephew of 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and son of second-in-command of Jamat-ud-Dawa, parent organisation of Lashkar, Abdul Rehman Maki, in a fierce encounter at Hajin in North Kashmirs Bandipora district.

One Garud commando of Indian Air Force was also killed in the encounter while another soldier was injured.

The slain commanders included Zargam and Mehmood, the most wanted militant Lashkar commanders in north Kashmir.

Mehmood was main wanted in the in the killing of BSF constable Mohommad Ramzan Parrey alias Rameez on September 27

The encounter has now finished and it was a success. Total of six LeT terrorists eliminated. Weapons and ammunition recovered. One of the terrorist named Owaid is son of Rehman Maki and nephew of Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi (mastermind of Mumbai terror attacks), tweeted Dr Director General of JK police Shesh Paul Vaid.

Owaid is the second nephew of Lakhvi to have been killed by the security forces in Kashmir in the last 10 months.

On January 19 security Abu Musaib, another nephew Lakhvi, was also killed at Hajin village in Bandipora district.

Owaid was active in Hajin area (for quite some time). He is the nephew of Lakhvi, said Deputy Inspector General of police north Kashmir Vidhi Kumar Birdhi.

The encounter started after after a joint team of police, Army and CRPF cordoned off Chandrageer village of Hajin.

During searches, the security forces came under fire from hiding militants. A gunfight ensued in which the six militants were killed.

One more terrorist killed. Total six terrorists including LeT commander Mahmood Bhat killed so far. One IAF Garud soldier martyred and one army soldier injured. Operation continues, said defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia.

The security forces have maintained that while they would spare the local militants during operations if they agree to surrender but the foreign militants will not be spared.

The foreign militants have been doing most of the fighting in Kashmir since the killing of more than a 170 militants since the start of this year.

North Kashmir is considered a stronghold of Lashkar unlike in the south where Hizbul Mujahideen has more presence.
Theres a nip in the air in the Indian capital, as winter sets in. However, the sun, which usually offers soothing November warmth, has turned pale orange, shrouded in an ungodly mist.

As he steps out of the crowded Delhis Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station, Mumbai-based trader Mohit Shringis eyes begin to burn. An uneasy itch crawls down his throat. He takes a deep breath, hoping to ease the discomfort. What flows in is a toxic mix of gases, which in a few minutes will render him bedridden for the day.

By the time I got to my hotel, my eyes were watering. I felt unwell and threw up, he recounts.

Mohits is not an isolated experience. Over the past few weeks, Delhis deteriorating air quality has led to a marked increase in the number of people seeking treatment for respiratory ailments. The Indian Medical Association describes the situation as a "public health emergency." Schools have been closed and people have been advised to avoid outdoor activities.

The alarm is a product of rising levels of PM2.5, i.e. airborne particulate matter 30 times finer than human hair that can enter the respiratory tract and lodge deep inside peoples lungs. While the WHO recommendation for PM2.5 concentration is 25 micrograms per cubic meter, an upper limit of 50 is still considered a good level. In Indias national capital region over the past few weeks, however, the level has consistently hovered above 400, even breaching the 1000 mark on occasion.

Serious health hazards

In the short term, this can result in increased respiratory infections, allergies and asthma, while long-term exposure to high levels of PM2.5 can potentially cause heart diseases, strokes, lung cancer, premature deaths and impair cognitive development.

Whats more, new research has made it amply clear that the threat from air pollution is not a future concern. It is a clear and present danger.

For instance, a study in the Journal of Indian Pediatrics has found that children growing up in Delhis polluted environment experience reduced lung growth compared to those in the US. This results in reduced exercise capacity and greater vulnerability to respiratory illnesses.

Likewise, a recent Ministry of Health and Family Welfare-led study estimates that outdoor and indoor air pollution accounted for 6.4% and 4.8% of the total disease burden in India in 2016. Meanwhile, a paper published in the medical journal Lancet states that over half a million deaths in India in 2015 could be attributed to PM2.5 air pollution. That accounted for nearly one-fourth of all PM2.5-related deaths across Asia.



A chronic problem

The current smog across much of north India is justifiably being blamed on farmers, particularly those in the states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, burning crop residue. This is a regular practice this time of the year, which results in alarm, discussion and even political bickering.

However, the underlying message from the above-mentioned studies is that air pollution in India - Delhi in particular, is neither a seasonal phenomenon nor is it a product of merely one factor. In other words, air pollution is not an acute but rather a chronic problem, with a slew of studies pointing at road dust, vehicles, household and industrial pollution along with waste burning as the major culprits.

Identifying the constituents of the noxious mix that we are breathing is a crucial starting point in working towards a cleaner future. However, in doing so, it is also important to acknowledge that the pollution crisis that Indias capital is facing is a result of near-sighted, ineffective and poorly executed public policies.

For instance, the Delhi government has sought to impose vehicular restrictions, such as the odd-even rule, as a knee-jerk and emergency measure. However, the experience of other megalopolises, such as Mexico City and Beijing, shows that vehicular restrictions of different types can be effective only if accompanied by improvement in public transport. This means long-term planning and investments, which yield better systems and services.

Likewise, declaring stubble burning as illegal while not offering financial and technological support to farmers to dispose off the waste via alternate means serves little purpose. These are nothing more than temporary fixes.

Conventional wisdom informs us that linkages exist between economic growth and increased environmental pollution. Such a belief indicates that the price of development inherently implies a faustian bargain with the demon of toxicity. However, new information debunks such myths. In fact, there is a growing understanding today that rather than being a price to be paid for development, environmental pollution is actually imposing costs on development. A World Bank study last year found that in 2013, China lost nearly 10% of its GDP and India 7.69% owing to welfare costs, lost work days and premature deaths linked to air pollution.

Clearly, there is enough incentive for policymakers to factor in pollution-related externalities into public policy. What is now needed is sustained public involvement along with vision and political will.

The author is a senior multimedia journalist and Chinese affairs analyst based in New Delhi
India's health minister J. P. Nadda reiterated the country's commitment to eliminate tuberculosis (TB) by 2025 at a WHO ministerial conference on ending TB in Moscow earlier this week. But back home, his ministry seems to be dragging its feet on a policy proposal for TB patients.

According to the latest WHO Global TB Report, India has the highest burden of tuberculosis in the world. To help ease the direct and indirect costs incurred by TB patients, especially those below the poverty line, the National Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis Elimination (2017-2025) proposes a cash benefit of Rs 2,000 per month for those seeking care in public and private sector facilities. An Aadhaar-linked direct benefit transfer, the cash incentive was proposed to ostensibly support the nutritional needs and loss of wages incurred by patients of tuberculosis.

Several months after the proposal, Survivors Against TB, a patient advocacy group wrote a letter to the health minister to "specifically request information on when the scheme is likely to begin" and "when the first set of payments will reach the end beneficiaries. According to the group, their letter, written on November 1, 2017 has elicited no response from the ministry, raising concerns about the government's commitment to ease the financial burden on TB patients.

"This scheme was conceptualised to ensure that TB would not be a cause of increased debt and poverty for affected families, especially those below the poverty line," said Chapal Mehra, a spokesperson of the group. "By delaying this scheme, the government is denying the bare minimum economic benefits to TB patients to help them survive this disease," he said.

Mehra says that global evidence has also shown that poverty and TB are connected, and those suffering from the disease endure huge financial strain, despite the free drugs and treatment provided by the government. "People who are poor contract TB frequently and experience severe economic barriers to health care, including high expenses as well as loss of income. This scheme would be a game changer for them," Mehra told THE WEEK.

Costs incurred by patients are higher if they have multi-drug resistant TB. Patients of MDR-TB are currently being managed in medical colleges and private sector hospitals. In a study done in Mumbai and published in the International Journal of Science and Research, authors found that the unavailability of drugs on hospital schedule force the patients to buy them on their own.

Thus, the average cost of treating MDR-TB over 24 months comes out to be Rs 1,40,752.50. This includes total drug costs of Rs 1,29,406.17. The average total daily cost of drugs is Rs 166.83, according to the journal article. The average monthly income of the families in the survey was Rs 8,333.33, and they bore the treatment costs with their own funds.

More than half of India's TB patients are being treated in the private sector, posing a challenge in sustaining the treatment, the national draft policy says. "The overwhelming challenge facing TB control in India remains delayed diagnosis and inadequate treatment, particularly among patients seeking care from private providers, who alone are ill-equipped to sustain their patients on prolonged, costly treatment," it says.

Thus, the government has to extend the financial assistance to patients seeking care from the private sector, too, says Mehra. Though the policy draft proposes to provide an incentive to them as well, it does not mention a timeline to do so, he says.

At the Moscow ministerial conference on ending TB, Nadda said that quality of care was the top priority for the government, and this includes "free diagnosis with rapid molecular tests, free treatment with best quality drugs and regimens, financial and nutritional support to patients," among other services.

In that context, Survivors Against TB insists that the government ought to hasten the cash benefit scheme for poor TB patients. The national policy draft also sets an ambitious target to provide the cash incentive to 50 per cent of notified TB patients by 2018. "We have also proposed key parameters for effective monitoring and evaluation of the scheme," said Mehra.
Even before the real electioneering has begun in Gujarat and candidates of the BJP and the Congress are yet to file their nomination papers, the war of words between the arch rivals have already begun. The social media is abuzz with photographs, sarcastic comments and cartoons.

However, the real debate on development appears to have taken a backseat. To give a voice to the problems faced by the poor and marginalised across the state, Navsarjan Trust, working with the dalits, has come out with a 16-page newspaper of sorts.

Titled Gujarat Vikas Samachar (Gujarat Development News), the first copy was released in Ahmedabad on Saturday. It has been brought out by Dalit Shakti Publication of the Navsarjan Trust.

Neeruben Chorasiya of Bhavnagar, who surveyed a few villages, said that while tall claims are made about development, young girls are doing petty jobs for Rs 150 per day despite having obtained a BBA degree. What would be the result if more villages were surveyed, she wondered.

Founder of Navsarjan Trust, Gagan Sethi said that in the days to come, the newspaper would reach about 400 to 500 villages of the state. The publication carries case studies and articles on malnutrition, breach of human rights, exodus by dalits, poor education standards and much more.

The idea is to bring to fore the problems faced by the poor across the state, Martin Mackwan of Navsarjan Trust, said, adding that they decided to highlight the problems in form of newspaper as people take newspapers seriously. He, however, lamented that majority of the problems reflected in Gujarat Vikas Samachar are not highlighted in mainstream newspapers.

Manjula Makwana from Jasdan in Saurashtra said that though widows were given a monthly pension of Rs 800-1,000, it was too less to make their two ends meet. She (the widow) has to go for work, leaving behind her young children, and the latter's studies are affected, Makwana said.

Mentioning about the discrimination with the dalits, Narendra Parmar of Patan district in North Gujarat said that the district, in the recent past, has seen a large number of families leave their native villages to settle somewhere else due to discrimination. He said that there are still villages where in tea stalls dalits are not given tea in routine cups but are given in use and throw cups. The barber also does not cut their hair, he claimed.

Mackwan said that they hoped to bring out the edition once in a month but before the elections it could be brought out once in a fortnight.

These narratives need to come out, Sethi said, adding that while in the mainstream publications the headlines are Moody's and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), here it is Human Development Index (HDI).
Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam has alleged that a senior IAS officer in Chief Minister's Office aided Vidarbha Infotech, an information technology company, to bag the contract for towing vehicles for parking rules violations in Mumbai. The man he named is Praveen Darade, additional commissioner of MMRDA and secretary to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The Chief Minister's Office has issued a clarification that there is no wrongdoing in awarding towing contract to Vidarbha Infotech. The tendering process was done by the traffic department at the level of joint commissioner of police. During the e-tendering process, the company had the lowest bid and based on that it was awarded contract for seven years.

Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam | via Facebook

Sanjay Nirupam spoke to THE WEEK and explained the details in an interview

When did you first find out about the whole issue?

A friend told me two-three weeks ago that a constable from traffic department had filed a complaint against Vidarbh Infotech that they have been given 1000 sq feet office in traffic branch headquarters in Worli. He also said that this company had got contracts to tow away the vehicles which are violating parking rules.

Then it so happened that all of us saw the video in which a hydraulic machine was picking up a car in which a lady was feeding her child. I was very angry with the inhuman approach used by police.

So I began making inquiries and was told that Vidarbha Infotech is very close to Praveen Darade, senior IAS officer in the CMO.

What is the link between Vidarbha Infotech and Praveen Darade? Has he helped the company in the past ?

That is what I am asking to be probedthe link between Darade and Vidarbha Infotech. I got a tip off that the company has received many favours from Darade in past. It got nearly 10 contracts, all given by institutions where Darade worked. When Darade was heading Nagpur Improvement Trust, Vidarbh Infotech got three contracts. When he came to Mumbai and started working in CMO, the company began getting contracts here. Then another contract was given to the company last year when Darade became additional commissioner of MMRDA. This has been the trend. I want to know that whether this is just a coincidence or something else; whether nepotism or favouritism involved here.

Darade is a senior officer in CMO. Do you feel he has higher political backing and blessings?

Darade is the only officer in the entire state who has been allotted a bungalow in Malabar Hill till his retirement. This is a BMC bungalow, and not a state government bungalow. The logic given is that his wife Vaishali, an IRS officer, is additional commissioner with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). All IAS and IRS officers get transferred after three years. Also, if his wife is working with BMC, why has the bungalow been allotted to Darade? Has the chief minister's influence played a main role here? I feel Fadnavis should clarify why he is favoring Darade.

What evidence have you collected? How much money is the government losing because of this ?

The government is not losing money here, but people of Mumbai are. Earlier the towing charges were in the range of Rs 150-200 for four-wheelers. After contract was given to Vidarbha Infotech the rates have been increased to Rs 660. Of this, Rs 400 goes to company, Rs 200 to state government and Rs 60 is tax.

Similarly for two-wheelers, the earlier towing charges were in the range of Rs 50-100. Now they are Rs 436 of which the government and the company get Rs 200 each and Rs 36 is tax.

There are 1.7 million bikers and over 9 lakh four-wheelers in the city. This company has deployed 80 hydraulic cranes for towing away vehicles. Also, earlier towing contracts were given locally and it had created around 1,000 jobs.

What action are you demanding against those involved?

I am asking the chief minister to investigate the whole issue. First of all, the contract with Vidarbh Infotech should be terminated. Relationship between Darade and Praveen Ugemuge of Vidarbh Infotech should be scrutinised. If the chief minister believes in transparency, he should order an inquiry. Also, take away the 1000 sq ft Office given to the company in Worli where even the electricity bills are being paid by the traffic department.
A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team on Saturday visited the residence of slain RSS leader Ravinder Gosain in Ludhiana and also the area where he was killed last month, an official said.

The 12-member NIA team headed by an Inspector General of Police rank officer, reached Ludhiana on Friday evening and during their visit to Gosain's residence on Saturday morning, recorded the statements of his family.

The team met Ludhiana Police Commissioner R.N. Dhoke and a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Gagan Ajit Singh which was formed by the state government to probe the case, said sources.

"The state police shared all details related to the case with NIA team," the official added

The agency took over the murder probe from Punjab Police following a Home Ministry order on Thursday, nearly a month after the state government decided to hand over the investigation, and the Punjab Police claim of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) role behind the murder.

The NIA re-registered the case under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, sections murder and acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention of the Indian Penal Code and sections Arms Act.

On October 17, Gosain, 60, was returning home after attending a morning drill (RSS Shakha) when he was attacked near his house. He died on the spot while the attackers fled.

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had decided to hand over the probe to the NIA while announcing a Rs 5 lakh compensation for the deceased's family and a government job for one of his progeny.

Gosain, who lost his wife to cancer some years ago, is survived by four children.

The killing of the RSS leader was the latest in a series of murderous attacks on right-wing and religious leaders in Punjab. This was the eighth such incident in the state since 2016.
An Argentine submarine with 44 crew members on board has gone missing off the country's Atlantic coast.

Argentinas navy launched a huge search and rescue operation to discover the missing submarine.

The ARA San Juan submarine was last spotted Wednesday in the San Jorge Gulf roughly 432 kilometers (268 miles) off the east coast, CNN reported.

"The navy is conducting operations to resume communications with the ARA 'San Juan' submarine," the navy said on Twitter.

Crews are searching for the vessel by air and sea near its last known location, CNN quoted navy spokesman Enrique Balbi as saying.

According to reports, the diesel-powered 66-metre long Class TR 1700 San Juan was on a voyage from the southernmost city of Ushuaia to the naval base of Mar del Plata when contact was lost.

The governments of the US, UK and Chile have offered satellites and ships to aid in the search operations.
MADISON  A change to the Wisconsin Constitution is on the horizon after a bill called Marsys Law passed both the state Senate and Assembly with large bipartisan support. But there is still a long way to go before the words are put into place.

Senate Joint Resolution 53, Marsys Law, provides crime victims certain protections that are currently only written in state law.

State Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, has been championing Marsys Law to be written into the state constitution.

If judges are going to consider constitutional law as opposed to state law when balancing the rights of the victim as opposed to the rights of the person whos been charged, its not equal, Wanggaard said. The victim has a right to privacy in our state law but not in our constitutional law.

Marsys Law still needs to be passed again by the Legislature after an election year and then ratified by voters in a general election. The earliest the Wisconsin Constitution could be changed would be 2019 or 2020.

Wanggaard said that in the early 1990s, the state wrote rights of people accused of crimes into the Constitution. Marsys Law, if passed again and voted for by the public, would put victims rights at an equal level with those of the defendant.

But (those rights) dont supersede the rights of the defendant, Wanggaard said.

The story of Marsys Law

According to Marsyslaw.us, the motivation for the law came when in 1983 Marsalee Marsy Nicholas, a student at the University of California-Santa Barbara, was killed, allegedly by her ex-boyfriend. A week after the murder, her mother, Marcella Leach, ran into the man accused of her murder at a grocery store; the family did not know he had been released on bail.

Since then, Marsys Law has gotten attention from statehouses around the nation.

Under Wisconsins Marsys Law, victims of a crime would be, among other things, notified of any release or escape of the accused, or death of the accused, if they are in custody or on supervision at the time of death.

Wanggaard said this law looks at those involved in a crime from the perspective of the victim.

We dont always think about what the victim is going through, Wanggaard said. If youve ever been a victim of a crime or you know of a family member or close friend thats been a victim of a crime, it can be pretty devastating.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said nothing about this law changes rights of defendants.

I think we have always been considered one of the leaders nationwide in doing everything we can to balance out the rights of the defendants against those who are the victims of the crimes, Vos said. (Marsys Law) takes a lot of those protections and puts it permanently in the (state) constitution.

Vos anticipates in spring 2019 the new Legislature will vote on the law again.

Then, after that second time, it goes to the people for ratification in a general election, Vos said. So I presume it will be on the ballot in the spring 2019 or spring 2020, and after that it becomes part of our constitution.
The spectacular rise and fall of Zimbabwes uncompromising First Lady, Grace Mugabe, had an unusual beginning: an office affair. It was the early 1990s when President Robert Mugabes eye fell upon one of his shy young typists.

She would become his wife, a ferociously ambitious politician and, more than two decades later, a contributor to the downfall of her 93-year-old husband.

President Mugabe is trying to cling to power after the military took over this week in response to his purge of vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, a liberation war fighter and Graces sworn enemy.

Mnangagwas aides even accused her of trying to poison him with ice cream from her dairy farm this year. She denies this.

Grace, now 52 and under house arrest in Harare, had been calling for Mnangagwas removal for weeks as the two fought an increasingly bitter winner-takes-all contest to succeed the man who has led Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980.

It wasnt the first time Grace had wielded influence over her husband. When it appeared former vice president Joice Majuru was in line to succeed Mugabe in 2014, he fired her following public rallies at which Grace derided Majuru. This time she appears to have gone too far. The purge of Mnangagwa and many of his comrades irked the military, who had no intention of allowing Grace and her youthful Generation 40 (G40) faction of the ruling ZANU-PF to take over the political reins.

Deeply unpopular among much of the Zimbabwean public due to her alleged corruption and volatile temper, Grace does not have the liberation credentials the military believe are required to be a Zimbabwean ruler.

The lavish lifestyle that earned her the nickname Gucci Grace and the political ambition that almost propelled her to the presidency were not evident when she met her future husband.

He just started talking to me, asking me about my life, she told a South African journalist in 2013. I didnt know it was leading somewhere. I was quite a shy person, very shy.

At the time, they were both married. President Mugabes wife, Sally, was desperately ill and died in 1992. Grace and Robert were married in 1996 and have three children. At first Grace stayed out of politics and was better known for her spending habits, including buying mansions in South Africa, rare diamond jewellery, and Rolls-Royce limousines for her playboy sons.

Then there are the repeated allegations of violence.

In Singapore in 2009, photographer Richard Jones says Grace flew into a rage when he tried to take her picture. She ordered her bodyguards to hold his arms back while she punched him repeatedly in the face. Grace denies the assault.

In August this year, Grace was accused of beating a young South African model who was partying with her sons. According to Gabriella Engels, Grace burst into a hotel room where she was talking with friends and whipped her with an electric cable as bodyguards looked on.

Grace says she acted in self-defence after Engels tried to stab her with a knife.

The reports of lavish spending and explosive temper earned her the title Dis-Grace back home in Zimbabwe, where an economic crisis had left most of the 16 million population mired in poverty and unemployment.

Zimbabweans also question Graces credentials. Eyebrows were raised in 2014 when she gained a PhD in three months. Her thesis, on the changing role of the family, has never been published.

This hasnt stopped her trying to reach the political summit.

When Majuru was removed, Grace became head of the ZANU-PF Womens League, giving her a seat at the partys top table.

She used her political platform to take on Mnangagwa and his allies and made a push to succeed her frail husband.

They say I want to be president. Why not? Am I not a Zimbabwean? Grace said at a recent rally.

-Reuters
Workplace safety inspectors on Friday announced a $1.8 million fine for what they called a preventable explosion on May 31 that destroyed a corn processing plant, killed five workers and injured 12 others, including a 21-year-old employee who suffered a double leg amputation after being crushed by a rail car.

The penalty for the Didion Milling Inc. plant about 40 miles north of Madison is the largest fine to emerge from a single investigation in Wisconsin, officials of the U.S. Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administration said.

The OSHA investigation concluded the explosion at the plant in Cambria could have been avoided if the company had followed safety precautions that are well established in the industry.

The company issued a statement saying it disagreed with the severity of the penalties and was working with lawyers on a response.

OSHAs five-month investigation found that Didion failed to control highly combustible grain dust that leaked from enclosures and accumulated throughout the plant, and the company didnt maintain equipment to prevent heat or sparks that can ignite the dust.

Didion Milling could have prevented this tragedy if it had addressed hazards that are well-known in this industry, said OSHAs Chicago-based regional administrator, Ken Nishiyama Atha. Instead, their disregard for the law led to an explosion that claimed the lives of workers, and heartbreak for their families and the community.

Because the investigation is considered open until Didions opportunities for appeals are exhausted, OSHA didnt disclose what it determined about the specific ignition source. Typical sources include overheated machine bearings, motors, misaligned conveyor belts, or welding and cutting operations.

OSHA cited Didion for 14 willful violations, which are issued when employers knowingly fail to follow rules or are indifferent to employee safety. Eight of the willful violations were also classified as egregious because they happened repeatedly. Five other citations were considered serious. Most involved fire and explosion hazards.

The company has been placed in OSHAs Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which allows OSHA to inspect its other facilities.

Didions website says it employs 150 in its Johnson Creek offices, and in Cambria at an ethanol plant, a corn intake facility and  before the explosion  at the mill.

Cambria village president Glen Williams said the company has poured the footings for a new mill, but hasnt yet sought a building permit. Didion placed many of the mill workers at other plants, but they lost substantial overtime pay, so a food pantry has been busy, Williams said.

The community as a whole has come together quite well, Williams said.

Still, emergency workers who responded to the explosion scene, and family members of the dead and injured, continue to suffer aftereffects, he said.

There are some people who are still struggling with the incident, and there are still some hard times coming for those people, Williams said. I cant really say theres an opinion against, or a hatred for Didion, but I cant say that it doesnt exist, just that I havent witnessed it.

Didion questions

severity of penalty

OSHA officials said they provided Didion with the 45-page citation document Friday morning. The company issued a statement in the afternoon.

Didion does not agree with the severity of the penalties levied against our family-owned business or the conclusions released by OSHA today, spokeswoman Aisha Bachlani said. We are working with our legal counsel to determine how to address the findings from this federal agency.

The statement touted Didions importance as an employer and processing center for farmers and its intention to rebuild the mill in a way that will utilize the latest technology and industry best practices, creating one of the most efficient, effective and safe operational systems available, Bachlani said.

The Didion team continues to mourn the loss of our team members who died or were injured that tragic day in May  we will never forget what happened, Bachlani said. Our thoughts remain first and foremost with the families of those affected, our employees and the community.

Asked why the company viewed the penalties as too severe, Bachlani said Didion disagreed with the way OSHA categorized the violations.

We have established a record of solid operating procedures, she said. Safety is embedded in everything we do.

Didion is continuing to work with its own experts to investigate the explosions cause, she said.

Didion has 15 business days to comply with the citations, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Willful and serious violations cited

Under a 1970 federal law, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthy workplaces.

Dust is the main source of explosions in grain processing and storage operations, according to OSHA.

A small explosion can shake loose caked dust, creating clouds that ignite in a much larger secondary blast.

In the last 35 years, more than 500 grain dust explosions have been recorded in the U.S., killing more than 180 people and injuring more than 675, according to OSHA.

Didions willful citations were issued under OSHAs grain handling standards for machine maintenance and dust control. The company was cited for failures to shut down ignition sources, prevent static electricity, provide adequate employee protective equipment, correct malfunctioning dust collectors, and maintain safety controls.

OSHA cited the company because it didnt provide workers with fire resistant clothing, or install an alarm system so employees could escape as soon as a small fire started.

The company also failed to inspect and maintain safety controls on equipment, and didnt ensure that air filters worked properly.

OSHA said the company didnt regularly shut down milling equipment for inspection, lubrication and removal of debris to reduce risk of heat and sparks that can ignite dust.

The company was cited for not creating a written dust-removal plan and schedule, and not training employees or verifying a plan was followed. Instead of requiring sweeping, Didion allowed workers to use compressed air to clear dust from surfaces around machinery that could ignite it, OSHA said.

The serious citations included violation of rules requiring dust filtering machinery installed inside a building to be equipped with explosion-suppression devices.

Previous citations

for explosion hazards

Complaints prompted some of the seven OSHA inspections of Didion between 2010 and 2014.

The company faced fines from OSHA in 2011 for failing to install equipment to protect workers from dust that can ignite and explode.

An OSHA inspection report said Didion didnt keep its corn processing facility free from recognized hazards that caused or were likely to cause death or serious physical harm. Employees were exposed to the hazards associated with dust explosion, deflagration or other fire hazards.

Six filters set up to collect dust in the facility werent equipped with explosion protective systems and conveyor equipment wasnt properly bonded to ducts that are used to control particulate matter, inspectors said then.

Records show Didion paid a $3,465 fine and the case was closed in September 2013. OSHA hadnt cited the plant for anything since, records show.

The records also show that in 2011 OSHA informally settled without fines several citations alleging Didion didnt provide adequate respiratory protection for employees.

In 2010 Didion agreed to pay the state $1.05 million to settle state Department of Justice lawsuits alleging the company violated air and water pollution regulations dozens of times over the previous decade. The air violations related to inadequate measures to prevent dust from escaping the plant and polluting the air outside. The water violations concerned pollution from Didions ethanol operation.

The state helped the company win $5.6 million in stimulus funding to expand its milling and ethanol facilities, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism has reported.
The new Ms Africa 2017/2018 Phiwayinkhosi Tshangela from Nhlambeni in Manzini has made Swaziland proud.



Many Swazi beauty queens, in the past and present, have competed in international platforms. Some came back as runner-ups while others got recognition of some sort. But Phiwayinkhosi, who is popularly known as Phiwa, came back home with the ultimate prize- she was crowned queen; the fairest of them all!!!



The former Masundvwini High School pupil was embraced by the whole of Swaziland for her achievement. She was, particularly, praised by the Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs David Cruiser Ngcamphalala and the CEO to Swaziland National Council of Arts and Culture, Stanley Dlamini, for the outstanding work.

Currently though, Phiwa is based in South Africa where she is pursuing a modelling career, and this is working out well for her as she also studied Marketing and Management at Luton College in Johannesburg.



She also won most courageous award 2017 which was part of the awards on the night. She was also appointed as Africa Pageants Country Director for Swaziland for new entries next year and she can be contacted for more information.



I am the oldest girl in a family of six, born from a mixed nationality marriage of a Xhosa father and a Swazi mother who are both Christians, confidently says the beauty as she introduces herself to Gcwala.

With her tall height, bright flawless skin and beautiful features, she possesses the give me your attention look.

The beauty elaborated on how she got involved with pageants, and for her, it is no new industry.



Exposure



My first exposure to beauty pageants was when I was tasked to be the choreographer for Miss Deaf Swaziland 2011 hosted by Nokuthula Mbatha and my interest was ignited from there. I had never participated in pageant myself but went on to host a successful Miss Teen Swaziland 2012. My profile as a good choreographer grew and this led to an increase in the number of high profile projects I participated in including Miss Deaf 2012 and Miss Deaf Africa 2014, she explained.

The South African based model snatched the title from nine other hopeful pageants at the prestigious event held at Bufflespoort Resort in the North West yet it was her first pageant.

Ms Africa is my first pageant as a contestant and its been a major learning experience.

Growth

I was referred by a friend who briefed me about the Ms Africa pageant and the core values it represents and it felt like an event that would benefit my personal growth.

The fact that it is also an international event made it even more appealing. The additional motivation came from Desiree Oliphant Miss United Nations 2016 who felt I had the relevant qualities required by the event.



For me, this whole contest had required dedication, commitment, meetings, and deadlines and I had to concentrate in developing myself. I also had to believe in myself as the other contestants were also gorgeous on all levels!!! The main benefit for me was having delivered on all these difficult challenges they had given me every step of the way. So, crown or no crown I felt a sense of accomplishment that yes, indeed, I do represent beauty with substance and just participating in that contest felt like a moment of victory for me and the crown would just be the icing on the cake, said the beauty.

Phiwa has more dreams for herself, which includes flying out of Africa and attaining more titles.

Challenge

My next big challenge is the preparation for my overseas contest next year. Top on my list of priorities is fund-raising for charity and this time around, the charity events will be staged in different African countries. The aim is to have a meaningful reign full of beneficial activities to community groups who need the assistance the most.

Professionally I am an ICT (Information Communication Technology) specialist NAD Business Enterprise based in Roodeport in Johannesburg and I urge all queens to get stable jobs. To all future aspiring beauty queens, they must stay humble, stay true and committed. Also, they represent beauty with substance so you can leave a meaningful legacy, she concluded.
Parenting expert reveals children in line - and youll be shocked by what she says.

Parenting expert Sharon Witt discusses positive parenting techniques.



She says smacking children has no benefit and can send a damaging message

Offers options for disciplining children that can help bring order into the home



Advises parents how to manage feelings when they reach breaking point. Two moms reveal they have slapped their children occasionally and its acceptable. The contentious issue of smacking is one that continues to spark fierce debate in parenting circles.

There are those who advocate for hitting a child with an open hand on the buttocks as a reasonable form of discipline, and those who believe this is an outmoded way of managing a childs behaviour.



According to current research, spanking is generally considered the least effective way to bring children into line, and as well it has been linked to an increased likelihood of poor health, social and developmental outcomes. Sharon Witt believes there are better strategies parents can deploy when it comes to disciplining children.



Thirty years ago smacking was the way children were disciplined. But now there are many other ways we can use to guide our children, she said.

Here, FEMAIL takes a look at some positive non-physical strategies for keeping children in check, and how each can be implemented for better parenting outcomes.



USING TIME OUT AS RESPONSE TO MISBEHAVIOUR



The option of using time out as a disciplinary measure isnt new, but the benefits can be two-pronged, said Witt.

Parents have to be mindful that giving a child a smack because you are frustrated is not really teaching them the right thing. In our society we cant really hit someone because we are frustrated with them. The expert suggests one technique parents can use when issuing time out to children whose behaviour has crossed the line is to first count to 10, and in that time give the child a chance to change their behaviour.



Ms Witt said the effect of counting first before putting a child in time out allows the child some choice  in that they can become aware of consequences  and it can also give parents some breathing space from a heated situation.
BULUNGA  A Sihlongonyane clan has been banned from having any community activities following a dispute at Bulunga under the Manzini Region.



The clique members are descendants of a right-hand man of the late King Mswati II, Nyumbane Sihlongonyane and they constitute about 70 per cent of the community.



In a letter dated September 1, 2017, the family is ordered to stop utilising land and even constructing any structures, holding meetings and conducting funerals while the matter is pending.



The Sihlongonyanes said they have not lost any of their relatives from the time the order was issued.

However, if anyone of the family dies their bodies will be taken to the mortuary and remain there until the powers that be decide on the next move, said family spokesperson Phillip Sihlongonyane.



What the family found unusual was that they have been ordered to appear before the Manzini Swazi National Court at a date that has not been stated.

You are further warned that failure to appear before the court may attract a fine of E20 or two months imprisonment or both.

The letter cites Section 79/1950 Section 9 Subsection (2) which says failing to appear before the office was contempt and could even lead to one having to appear before the King.



Philip Sihlongonyane received the order on behalf of his clan because it was addressed to him.








MANGWENI  Despicable sums up how a community described the father who is alleged to have molested his three daughters aged 22, 19 and 16.



The father of five is said to have committed these reprehensible acts since 2014.



The pupils are from Mangweni, a small community harboured by lush fields of sugar cane.

The green that symbolises life and wealth in the village shelters three teenage girls who see nothing but misery in the area as the community has watched them suffer at the hands of their father for over three years now.

One of the children, who will not be identified by either name or age, said life was good within their family until 2014 when their father ordered their mother to leave the family compound.



With glassy eyes, the minor said after this, their father allegedly started making sexual advances and demands such that one day he sent them to Tshaneni, which is the nearest town to buy cold drinks and withdraw cash for him.

While they were away, the father is alleged to have ordered one of the girls to take off her underwear and he indecently touched her.

When we returned from Tshaneni, she was crying as she told us that our father had ordered her to take off her panties.



According to the minor, their father was disturbed by a cousin who came to the family compound while he was molesting her.

Following this, she said their mother returned to take their sister away with her which resulted in her dropping out of school.

The girls alleged that their father would sometimes accuse them of destroying his marriage and therefore, had to pay for it one way or the other as people were mocking him.
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15th Handicraft Trade Fair kicks off in Ktm

The 15th Handicraft Trade Fair and 13th Craft Competition kicked-off on Friday at Bhrikutimandap Exhibition Hall in Kathmandu, with the objective of promoting Nepali handicrafts. The fair was inaugurated by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari.
17 kg gold seized from Kerung border

Police have confiscated 17 kg gold from Kerung border point of Rasuwa, the only trade route currently in operation between Nepal and China, on Saturday.
BALLSTON SPA -- A fire Friday evening on Center Street displaced 10 people from two families, according to the Northeastern New York Chapter of the American Red Cross.

The Red Cross said it provided financial help for shelter, food and clothing to two adults and five children in one family. The children are 3, 5, 6, 10 and 11.
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TROY -- In Saturday morning's chill, about 40 people gathered at Ninth and Rensselaer streets and began chanting:

"How many more? It really needs to stop! Not one more, prosecute the cops!"

The group joined for a march and rally to demand the prosecution of Troy police officer Jarrod Iler, who shot 22-year-old Dahmeek McDonald in Troy on Aug. 15 and Sgt. Randall French, who shot and killed Edson Thevenin of Watervliet on April 17, 2016.

They also demanded the resignation of Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel E. Abelove.

"We're here to keep the awareness up on the police brutality and the mistreatment of the people in the ghetto," said James Cooper, McDonald's uncle, who goes by the name Messiah.

"We want these police held accountable for their actions. We want (them) brought upon charges. And we'd like to be in on who's going to police us because, primarily, it's set up to police my community, no one else's."

McDonald, who was wanted for an alleged parole violation, was unarmed when he was shot twice in the shoulder and face by Iler, a five-year veteran of the force, during a traffic stop on Eighth Street at Rensselaer Street around 6:40 p.m. Aug. 15, police said. McDonald was treated at the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries and sent to the county jail.

Thevenin was fatally shot after authorities said he fled a traffic spot on the Collar City Bridge. A grand jury declined to indict French, however a special grand jury is examining the investigation as part of its ongoing examination of Abelove's handling of the shooting death.

"I'm here to support accountability for the officers who have committed acts of violence and against unarmed people," said Mari Matsuo, who attended the rally. "We're here to show them there are people in this community that are going to continue to come out and demand that change."
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Supermodel Gigi Hadid said Friday she will not be walking the Victoria's Secret fashion show in Shanghai next week, a few months after Chinese internet users accused her of racist behavior.

Hadid said in a post on her Twitter account: "I'm so bummed I won't be able to make it to China this year. Love my VS family, and will be with all my girls in spirit!!"

Hadid did not give a reason and Victoria's Secret refused to comment.

The surprise exit comes months after a video of Hadid triggered an outpouring of criticism on Chinese social networks. It showed Hadid squinting in a way that appeared to be a reference to a stereotype about Asian facial features.

Hadid responded by apologizing in September on China's popular Twitter-like microblog site, Weibo. "I have learned to be very careful of how my actions can come off or be portrayed, and I'm hopeful you'll accept my apology," the post said.

It was not clear whether Hadid was denied a visa.

 Associated Press

Another allegation against Tambor

An actress on "Transparent" says the show's star Jeffrey Tambor pressed his body against hers in a sexually aggressive manner and made inappropriate and unwanted sexual statements on the set of the show.

Tambor denies the allegations saying in a statement that he has "never been a predator  ever."

Tambor, 73, plays the transgender matriarch of the Pfefferman family on "Transparent," which streams on Amazon.

The actress, Trace Lysette, who is transgender, said in a statement to Deadline Thursday that when she emerged from wardrobe in a costume of a lingerie top and shorts for a scene with Tambor, he said, "My God, Trace. I want to attack you sexually."

Lysette said she and another actress laughed off the remark, but then Tambor approached her between scenes minutes later.

"He came in close, put his bare feet on top of mine so I could not move, leaned his body against me, and began quick, discreet thrust back and forth against my body," Lysette said.

Lysette urged Amazon to "remove the problem and let the show go on."

Amazon Studios says it is adding the information to an investigation of Tambor it opened last week.

 Associated Press

Painting proceeds to benefit foundation

A painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat from the collection of Yoko Ono has sold for $10.9 million.

Sotheby's says the work, titled "Cabra", was sold Thursday in New York to an unidentified buyer.

Part of the proceeds will benefit the Spirit Foundations, founded by Ono and John Lennon.

"Cabra" was inspired by Muhammad Ali's 1970 knockout of Argentine heavyweight Oscar Bonavena.

 Associated Press

Someone should let Fox News know

Hillary Clinton is mocking Fox News for "always talking" about her as if she'd won the presidency.

The 2016 Democratic presidential candidate is joking in an interview with the online news outlet NowThis that she is officially resigning as the conservative news channel's president of the United States.

She says the outlet is "always talking about the Clinton administration," despite the fact that she lost the election to Donald Trump.

Clinton says: "I want to take this opportunity, sitting here with you, to announce that I am resigning from the Fox News presidency. "

She adds: "I think that we should just leave that behind us and whoever they want to blame for anything, they're going to have to find somebody else."

 Associated Press

Hudson gets order against ex-fiance

Jennifer Hudson has obtained an order of protection against her former fiance David Otunga.

Police in suburban Chicago say Otunga was removed from the couple's home in Burr Ridge, Illinois, Thursday night after being notified of the order. He left without incident.

Tracy Rizzo, attorney for the former WWE star, says Hudson petitioned for the order "in an effort to gain an unfair advantage in the custody dispute" involving the former couple's 8-year-old son. Rizzo says Otunga "has never abused or harassed" Hudson. Rizzo calls the protection order "meritless" and says Hudson made "false allegations" against him.

 Associated Press
ALBANY  More than 100 vendor tables of trains and train related items are on display until 3 p.m. Saturday at the Albany Train Show at the Polish Community Center 225 Washington Ave., Albany. Experts are on hand to offer free appraisals or provide direction on building a first layout. A train doctor will be on hand to bring ailing trains back to life.
"Unfit." That's what Mitt Romney said about Roy Moore, the controversial former state judge who's on the ballot as the GOP Senate nominee for Alabama's special election on Dec. 12. Moore is under fire for allegations that he had sexual and romantic contact with girls as young as 14.

Romney said Moore should step aside, and that he believed the accusers, back on Friday, Nov. 10. It wasn't until the following Monday, that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell followed suit without hedging his criticism by saying that Moore should drop out of the race "if" the accusations are true. McConnell took a page from Romney's playbook, saying he believed the women, and that Moore should leave the race, full stop.

But Romney said it first. And as I wrote in October, he's not the only Mormon Republican leader to publicly criticize members of his own party in these unusual times. U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., denounced President Donald Trump's administration from the Senate floor, saying he could not be complicit in Trump's irresponsible and vengeful behavior.

And that's not all.

Orrin Hatch, the Senate's longest-serving member, sharply criticized Trump's handling of Charlottesville: "We should call evil by its name," he tweeted. "My brother didn't give his life fighting Hitler for Nazi ideas to go unchallenged here at home."

Hatch did support Trump's candidacy in 2016  but plenty of high-profile Mormons did not. Former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah; Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho; Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah; and others either withdrew their endorsements after Trump's "grab 'em by the pussy" comments became public or never supported him in the first place.

So, are Mormons becoming the new moral conscience of the GOP? Only halfway. Here's why.

Do you notice a pattern among most of the LDS GOP politicians who have spoken out against Moore, Trump and other unconscionable members of their party? Many of them are either out of power already (Romney), choosing to relinquish power because re-election would be a challenge (Flake, Chaffetz) or planning to retire (Hatch). The ones who are still in power, like Mia Love  the only black female Republican in all of Congress  have been oddly quiet about Moore and other recent scandals.

Why do Mormon Republicans seem most apt to speak their minds when it's concerning a question of sexual ethics? Moore has done some outrageous things in his career, like refusing to follow the law to such an extent that he lost his seat on the Alabama Supreme Court not once but twice. And the news is filled on a near-daily basis with ethical violations of Trump's administration, including the ongoing and ever-expanding investigation into possible collusion with Russia.

Just last week, several Mormon GOP leaders voted in favor of giving a federal judicial seat to an untested 36-year-old who has never even tried a case. (However, as a blogger, this nominee openly denounced Hillary "Rotten" Clinton and background checks for prospective gun owners, which may be more than enough to qualify him in the mind of Trump.)

Where was the Mormon conscience then?

I don't expect LDS Republicans to suddenly abandon conservative values and start voting for health care or against tax cuts. They have to vote their principles and represent their constituents.

I do, however, expect them to call out injustice when they see it, even if that injustice is being perpetrated by members of their own political party. And apart from these high-profile reproofs primarily about sex  an issue that Mormons still care about in their politicians, even if evangelicals have rapidly abandoned the idea that politicians' personal immorality will spill over into unethical behavior in public life  Mormon GOP leaders have kept pretty mum.

Where we can see profound moral leadership right now is less in the cadre of (mostly male) LDS politicians but in the vibrant new group Mormon Women for Ethical Government, a bipartisan organization founded in the wake of Trump's election. Whether it's mass shootings or immigration or sexual violence, these women have no shortage of reflections on putting Mormon faith into action.

And in an era when Republicans and Democrats can't seem to countenance one another, it's heartening to see on the MWEG Facebook page that it is still possible, in 2017, for passionate members of diverse political persuasions to come together on causes that matter.

Jana Riess is senior columnist for Religion News Service.
MALTA  The government-run Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership announced Thursday it would create the Next Wave Center in the Saratoga Technology + Energy Park to provide short-term "flex space" for companies working with GlobalFoundries.

The news angered developer Mark Rekucki, who worked with Prosperity Partnership earlier in the year to secure tax breaks on his own flex-space property, which he built in the same neighborhood for the same reason.

But after a closing deadline was missed, "They dropped me," Rekucki said.

In an interview, Rekucki did not hold back. "I made a good-faith effort with them to build the space with them, and then they ignored me. They always talk about shovel-ready  my buildings are key-ready. This whole thing smacks of government bureaucracy, using public money for something the private sector already did. What's the point?"

The owner of MJ Properties of Clifton Park Inc., Rekucki said Prosperity Partnership's President

Marty Vanags and his taxpayer-funded group brokered the tax abatement deal to support his 50,000-square-foot, two-building project on Stonebreak Road. But without a closing with the Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency, the tax benefits cannot be realized.



Vanags disputes the criticism, saying he did help Rekucki and that the loss of the tax benefit is the developer's fault. "We did everything by the book," he said.



Rekucki's company has been designing and building office, research, warehouse and manufacturing space in the Capital Region for 32 years. Until this project, it had always worked with Saratoga Economic Development Corporation.

More for you After split, mixed results

Rekucki said SEDC helped him him apply for and secure tax abatements and find occupants for the buildings he erects on spec. Those projects include structures that now house Shmaltz Brewing Company, Ryan Herco Flow Solutions, SemiTorr Group and Yankee Distillers.



But for this project, Rekucki said local elected officials  whom he would not name  told him to go to Prosperity Partnership. "I was told that SEDC was on the ropes, scrambling for funding after the county pulled it," he said.



He found the staff to be pleasant and professional, but inexperienced. "They don't know what they are doing," Rekucki said.



Rekucki said that became obvious to him after the deadline to close a tax deal was missed. He said he went to Vanags for help. But after an initial meeting, multiple calls went unanswered.

Ultimately, he had to hire an attorney who worked with the town to resolve the property tax issue.



The county IDA's CEO Richard Ferguson said Rekucki's project was eligible for $209,000 in tax abatements spread over a five-year period. But Rekucki can't reap the benefit until the deal is closed, Ferguson said.



"We didn't hear anything from Mark or Prosperity Partnership," Ferguson said. "If someone wants to contact us, we can close."

Rekucki said he and his attorney plan to close the deal. And then he'll sell the property rather than rent it out.

"This has cost me thousands of dollars," Rekucki said. "I don't want to say how many, but it's thousands."

Vanags pointed out that Rekucki's fee was refunded, as is the case with all Prosperity Partnership deals. That's one of the incentives Prosperity Partnership has employed to draw business away from SEDC, which has been in business since 1978. SEDC relies on the fees to survive, especially since the county's Board of Supervisors withdrew all support in 2014 after the SEDC board refused to allow elected officials to serve on its board.

SEDC's board explained that decision by expressing the fear that an elected official could pressure it to steer economic development to the politician's town instead of the community best suited for the project.



In response, the supervisors created Prosperity Partnership and hired Vanags to run it. Over a three-year period, the county has invested $2.35 million in the group. To date, its results have been slim. It has relocated one company, Land Remediation, into the county. And that firm's move to Waterford can't be fully attributed to Prosperity Partnership: Vanags acknowledged that Land Remediation chose Waterford before the his group became involved.

Vanags and staff, Ferguson said, did help with Land Remediation's tax abatement application.



Vanags, who has argued that economic development takes time, said that he's sorry Rekucki feels ill-treated. "There was nothing we could do after we brought him to the IDA," he said.



"He asked us to help after the fact, but there was nothing we could do  as it is law," Vanags said. "Therefore he has to pay a larger assessment, and he won't be able to take advantage of the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes). He was reminded by us and the IDA staff to schedule a closing."



Rekucki disputes that he was reminded.

Ferguson said that the IDA does not remind its clients or the economic development organization of pending deadlines. A closing date is discussed at the IDA meeting where the project is approved, and then it is the economic development organization and the client's responsibility.



For his next project, Rekucki will go back to SEDC, which has shown his vacant flex-space buildings to six potential clients. He said Prosperity Partnership has showed his buildings only once.



"This whole thing is wrong," Rekucki said. "SEDC has a proven track record with developers like me, but they are not given the funding."
Albany

Two people suffered minor injuries and were arrested Friday evening after police chased their vehicle from the corner of Orange Street and Lexington Avenue to the intersection of Sheridan Avenue and Dove Street.

The chase began at about 5:30 p.m. when a motorist refused to stop for police, said Albany police spokesman Steve Smith.

The chase ended when the vehicle containing the two suspects, a driver and passenger, hit an unoccupied vehicle.
Albany

Vyvenne Jasmyn Ward, 51, has spent almost two decades in prison on rape convictions.

Near the end of her second prison term  this one for raping a woman in a Cortland alleyway  Ward asked for and eventually started getting hormone treatments to transition from a man to a woman.

After a legal struggle involving a number of complaints  I finally gained both an evaluation and recommendation for the commencement of hormone therapy on July 3, 2015, she wrote in a recent letter to the Times Union.

But later that month, after her prison sentence was completed, she was committed to the Central New York Psychiatric Centers sex offender unit. She is being held there indefinitely after a court proceeding found she has a psychological abnormality that puts her at risk of committing another offense.

Ten years after New York lawmakers approved a controversial civil confinement program under which sex offenders are locked up in hospitals, officials are confronting the thorny question of how to handle the cases of people who were imprisoned for rape and are now transitioning genders.

Ward is working with at least two other transgender residents at CNYPC and she says they, too, have had to battle for treatment.

While prison inmates for years have been able to get hormones, the practice has been more complicated for those in civil confinement.

The program is based on the idea that these people have served their prison sentences  that is, paid their debts to society. But, before release, they are deemed mentally ill and transferred as patients to secure psychiatric hospitals, under the control of mental health workers rather than prison guards.

The state Office of Mental Health, which runs the civil confinement program, wont say how many transgender people it has under its jurisdiction. Agency officials contend they are prohibited by law from releasing that information, although the law does not prevent the release of general data.

Federal and state health information privacy laws prohibit the Office of Mental Health from identifying or providing medical information that could lead to the identification of any individual we serve, OMH spokesman James Plastiras said. This would include information regarding the number of individuals in a specific program who are transgender or transitioning.

Others, though, complain the response is symptomatic of the secrecy surrounding those in civil confinement.

While considered to be patients, rather than prison inmates, they remain locked up and have limited access to the outside world through phone calls and letters.

Jim Murphy, a prison reform activist and member of the state Catholic Conferences Criminal Justice Committee, said the state has locked people away and assured everyone they are "taking care of their civil rights and no, you can't look and see what's going on."

The unique status of those in civil confinement also impacts their ability to bring cases to the state Division of Human Rights.

Ward is trying to bring her case before the DHRs office in Rochester but said an Office of Mental Health lawyer is arguing the DHR does not have jurisdiction.

They are equating me with being a prisoner who is in prison, Ward wrote.

She also disclosed her personal struggles, including an episode in which she attempted self-mutilation to change her sex organs from male to female, before hospital officials agreed to provide the hormone therapy.

The treatments cost about $30 per month, although there can be other costs which would follow Medicaid guidelines.

Ward also said she is tagged as being a grievance thinker when she brings up her transgender status during group therapy sessions at the hospital, which is located in Marcy.

Im seeing this all over the country, said Moira Meltzer Cohen, a New York City-based lawyer who is helping Ward.

As civil confinement units nationwide house more transgender residents, Meltzer Cohen believes the gaps in their treatment plans are becoming clear.

Theres no policy for treatment, she said.

OMH officials insist there are protocols for transgender people in civil confinement. They point to specialized treatment teams and note that theyve contracted with two consultants who specialize in gender dysphoria  a medical diagnosis that identifies the unhappiness people experience when they feel their outward appearance of gender does not align with their mental and emotional state.

Because New York has no cisgender" women in civil confinement custody  that is, individuals who were born with female anatomy and who identify as female  transgender women are currently placed in facilities populated by men.

While all patients have private showers, advocates believe transgender patients may be at a heightened risk to be sexually victimized if they don't have a say in where they are held.

You (should) ask them where they are going to feel safest, said Ronica Mukerjee, a nurse practitioner who treats transgender patients.

rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @RickKarlinTU
Bomb goes off near leftist assembly in Rautahat, 7 injured

Seven persons were injured, two of them critical, when a bomb exploded near leftist alliance assembly at Chandrapur Municipality in Rautahat district on Saturday.
AS part of a series of free public lectures, UL Hospitals Group is inviting the public to find out more about Protecting Your Mental Health at City Hall, Merchants Quay, Limerick, on Tuesday, November 21, at 6pm.

The series of lectures forms part of UL Hospitals Healthy Ireland programme, which commits the group to greater public engagement and more educational events.

Next Tuesdays lecture will feature a variety of speakers both from within the HSE and from outside organisations, including Brian Higgins, CEO of Pieta House, to outline the Pieta House services in the Mid-West and the work of Pieta House on suicide prevention.

Also speaking is Aoife Boland, area lead of Mental Health Engagement in the Mid-West, who will speaks on her work to ensure that the views and experiences of service users and their supporters are at the heart of the planning and delivery of local mental health services.

The event is supported by the Little Things campaign via the Mid-West Suicide Prevention Office and will also aim inform the public on the common myths and misconceptions around admission to an acute psychiatric unit.
The recently deceased former Irish Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave enjoys an interesting Co. Tipperary connection.

The former Taoiseachs father, William T. Cosgrave who was himself President of the Free State Executive Council  the predecessor to the position of Taoiseach from 1922 until 1932, sheltered in Seskin House, Upperchurch, which was owned by his step uncle, during the War of Independence from 1919 to 1921, having reputedly spent time in the National School in Garnakilka.

W.T. Cosgraves mother had married twice, firstly to Thomas Cosgrave the proprietor of a public house and general grocers in Dublins Jamess Street and upon Thomas Cosgraves sudden death at the age of thirty three, Cosgraves mother Bridget Lysaght married Thomas Burke from Seskin, Upperchurch, the Bar Manager. There were four children by the first marriage and two by the second.

On the second day of the 1916 Rising Frank (Goban) Burke, the only son of Thomas Burke and his wife Bridget by her second marriage was killed by a single snipers bullet which lodged in his throat. He was only nineteen years of age and died instantly, becoming one of the largely forgotten insurgents of the 1916 Rising.

His sister Joan, who was musically talented and a noted soprano would go on to found the Leinster School of Music with her half sister Mary Cosgrave. She died in 1984, unmarried.

The death of Frank  who was nicknamed Goban  after the Goban Saor - as he was good with his hands, cast a dark shadow over W.T. Cosgrave who was first on the scene at the moment of Franks death which had taken place at 7.30 on the morning of Tuesday April 25th1916 in the Nurses Home of Dublins South Dublin Union which the insurgents were occupying.

In later years W.T. Cosgrave would pay an occasional visit to Seskin House, today owned by the Embledon family, and attended the funeral in Glenkeen Cemetery above Borrisoleigh in 1947 of Jim Burke, his step uncle, who had served as a Major in the British Army on the front during World War One.

On account of Major Burkes position in society, all reference in the Burke family to Goban Burke was discouraged as he was a slain rebel, but with the passage of time history may smile favourably upon him.

This connection of the Cosgraves to Co. Tipperary is worth noting as the nation recently laid to rest 97 year old Liam Cosgrave, who served as Fine Leader from 1965 onwards and as Taoiseach from 1973 to 1977.
[November 17, 2017] China Blood Product Industry Report 2018-2022 - Research and Markets

The "Research Report on Blood Product Industry in China, 2018-2022" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering. China will become one of the major global blood product markets as its economy develops. Chinese government imposes strict regulations on production, sales and import of blood products. In addition, the government implements a lot release system of biological products (including blood products and vaccines), compulsorily inspecting and verifying every batch of such products when leaving factory or being imported. Disqualified or disapproved products should not be on the market or imported. According to market research by the author, about 30 blood product manufacturers have been authenticated by the Chinese government by the end of 2017. But indeed, only 20 of them operate under normal production. Since 2012, mergers and acquisitions have emerged in China's blood product industry. Examples include Jiangxi Boya Bio-Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. purchasing partial stake of Zhejiang Haikang Biological Products Co., Ltd., Beijing Tiantan Biological Products Co., Ltd. acquiring Chengdu Rosen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Humanwell Healthcare Group Co., Ltd. acquiring Wuhan Rui De Biological Products Co., Ltd.



Key Topics Covered: Chapter I Basic Concept of Blood Products

Chapter II Overview of Global Blood Product Industry, 2013-2017 Chapter III Operation Status of China Blood Product Industry, 2013-2017 Chapter IV Analysis of Major Blood Product Manufacturers in China, 2016-2018 Chapter V Analysis on Blood Product Industry Chain in China, 2016-2018 Chapter VI Forecast on Development of China Blood Product Industry, 2018-2022 Companies Mentioned Beijing Tiantan Biological Products Co., Ltd.

Green Cross (China) Biological Products Co., Ltd.

Guangdong Danxia Bio-pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Guangdong Shuanglin Bio-pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Guangdong Weilun Bio-pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Guiyang Qianfeng Biological Products Co., Ltd.

Harbin Pacific Bio-pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Hebei Daan Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Hualan Biological Engineering Co., Ltd.

Hunan Nanyue Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Jiangxi Boya Bio-pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Shandong Taibang Products Co., Ltd.

Shanghai RAAS Blood Products Co., Ltd.

Shanxi Kangbao Biological Product Co., Ltd.

Shenzhen Weiguang Biological Products Co., Ltd.

Sichuan Yuanda Shuyang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Subordinate Institutions of Biological Products of China National Biotec Group

Walvax Biotechnology Co., Ltd.

Wuhan Rui De Biological Products Co., Ltd.

Zhenxing Biopharmaceutical & Chemical Inc. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/rp4r8j/research_report View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171117005279/en/

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Country-specific tourism marketing plan prepared

The Tourism Ministry said Friday that the government had prepared country-specific tourism marketing strategies considering the vital importance of promotion in boosting arrivals.
Samsung released a performance document for its SZ985 Z-NAND SSD. The new SSD uses a special flavor of Samsung's flash to offer unheard of performance from a NAND-based SSD, with the obvious intention of offering good-enough performance at a much lower price than Intel's DC P4800X Optane SSDs. For now, Samsung is pushing the SZ985 to its data center customers, but much like Intel does with its 3D XPoint-based SSDs, we could see a consumer version come to market for the enthusiast crowd.

Samsung's document laid out some rather impressive performance specifications for the new drive, but they're limited in scope. The Z-NAND SSD boasts up to 3.2 GB/s of sequential read/write throughput and 750,000/170,000 random read/write IOPS. The random read specifications are impressive compared to other NAND-based SSDs, but we have to take the measurements with a grain of salt.

Samsung spec'd the 3D TLC PM1725a at over 1 million random read IOPS but has never submitted the SSD for review and doesn't specify the type of workload it used to measure random read performance. We've seen independent third-party tests that put the number closer to ~700,000 IOPS with an industry-standard 4K random test.

Swipe to scroll horizontally Samsung SZ985 Z-NAND SSD Intel Optane (3D XPoint) Samsung PM1725a Intel DC P3700 Interface PCIe 3.0 x4 PCIe 3.0 x4 PCIe 3.0 x8 PCIe 3.0 x4 Media Z-NAND 3D XPoint 48-layer 3D TLC NAND 20nm MLC NAND Sequential Read/Write (GB/s) 3.2 / 3.2 2.4 / 2 6.4 / 3 2.8 / 2 Random Read/Write IOPS 750,000 / 170,000 550,000 / 500,000 1,080,000* / 170,000 460,000 / 175,000 Random Read Latency 12 - 20s 10s 90s 115s Random Write Latency (typ) 16s 10s 20s 25s Drive Writes Per Day (DWPD) 30 30 5 17 Capacity 800 GB 350 / 750 GB 1.6 / 3.2 / 6.4 TB 400 -800 GB / 1.6 - 2 TB

However, Samsung's claimed latency reduction is striking. The company said the SZ985 delivers 12-20s latency for random reads and 16s for random writes. These latency numbers are particularly strong compared to the other NAND-based SSDs in the table, although they aren't quite as mind-bending as Intel's Optane. The SZ985's random write performance also lags behind the Optane DC P4800X, but Samsung's strategy is to offer good-enough performance at a much lower price point. In the enterprise, cheap and "good-enough" almost always wins.

Image 1 of 5

Samsung also provided performance results compared to its PM1725a in RocksDB workloads, along with a few synthetic performance measurements. We also included a picture of the company's performance data displayed at the Flash Memory Summit. The latency-to-IOPS comparisons highlight similarly solid low-QD performance scaling compared to Intel's Optane SSDs.

From the limited data, the SSD looks impressive, but there are still several unanswered questions. Samsung hasn't released QoS metrics, such as 99th percentile performance, that are a strength of 3D XPoint-powered SSDs. The company also hasn't released the mixed random workload specifications, which are a critical aspect of real-world application performance. Given the SZ985's NAND-like random write IOPS specification, we imagine it wouldn't fare as well during mixed workloads. The latency scaling chart, for instance, only measures performance with a random read workload, but the SSD might not scale as well when a mixture of random writes are added to the equation. We expect more information to trickle out as the SSDs come to market.

The SX985's endurance is impressive. In fact, its 30 DWPD of warrantied endurance rivals Intel's Optane SSDs. Samsung hasn't released detailed information about its Z-NAND, but it has confirmed our early speculation that it uses MLC NAND in an SLC configuration. That provides both performance and endurance boosts, but it's likely that Samsung's references to a "unique circuit design" means shorter bitlines and wordlines in the NAND package, which would improve performance. It's also possible that the NAND die have more planes, which are sections of the die that respond independently to data requests, to boost performance. We also know the company is using a new controller.

Samsung also revealed that it has an MLC variant in the works that will offer slightly less performance but much more capacity. That indicates the SZ985 isn't a one-off product and that we'll see further development in the future.

Samsung's strategy of leveraging proven and mature NAND technology is smart, particularly due to economics. Lowering the price of any new memory requires scale, and that's a process that can take years. In fact, Intel and Micron just announced last week that they have expanded 3D XPoint production, although we suspect that some of the expansion is targeted at the second generation of 3D XPoint, which many expect to come along sometime next year. In contrast, Samsung already has copious NAND fabrication capabilities, so spinning up a new version of NAND likely doesn't require extensive investments and should foster widespread availability.

Price will be key to Z-NAND's success. Most existing applications cannot fully utilize the performance of Intel's 3D XPoint-based SSDs, so providing enough performance to get within range of Optane's usable performance at a lower price point could be disruptive to Intel's ambitions. Unfortunately, we aren't sure of pricing or availability yet.



MORE: SSD Memory Face-Off: Intel Optane vs Samsung Z-NAND
"Nick Haines, Mara Rose Williams, Sam Zeff, Scott Parks and Dave Helling discuss how journalism has changed in the past 25 years. They also discuss K-State's anti-hate rally, teachers protesting Kevin Yoder, Gov Greitens and the Missouri Ed Commissoner, the lack of transparency in Kansas politics, the Jackson County Jail, sidewalk privatization in Westport and the stats on guns in schools."
Kansas City public housing atand now a local activist is hearing renewed complaints.This week activist Alonzo Washington sent out notice to media outlets across Kansas City about urban core allegations which offer new deets and also referenceFollowers of Mr. Washington can check his notes out viaIn the meantime, what's interesting here is that during the #MeToo crisis . . . Victims have been encouraged to come forward with their complaints and it's unclear if testimony from the local urban core will be treated with the same media spotlight as accusations confronting the Hollywood elite.Developing . . .
"(Executive) Frank (White) might be able to easily sway the media but the fact his that he still hasn't changed his approach in the Legislature and those relationships haven't been repaired. His "task force" stunt was great public relations but I'm not sure how much it matters when what he's really doing is RAISING A MASSIVE DEBT LEVEL at the County. They news might be kind to him but constituents are going to take it out on the Legislature when they see those higher property tax bills just in time for the election.
Show-Me KCMO Hollywood Tax Breaks

Kansas City Offers Production Incentives Even Though State of Missouri Does Not Kansas City, here we come. That could be the rallying cry among filmmakers who want to take advantage of the cityscapes, historic jazz scene and trendy Country Club Plaza ambiance of this town along the banks of the Missouri River.

Cruel Kansas City Power Play

KCMO non-profit that helps homeless has power shut off KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Reconciliation Services is a mainstay at 31st and Troost. Every Friday, Father Justin Mathews, executive director of the organization, caters to Kansas City's working poor and homeless. They come in for a hot meal as the nights get colder. Volunteers hustle to feed more than 400 people.

Inside The JoCo Crackdown This Week

Officials seize $75,000 in counterfeit items from Mission store KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Court documents reveal that officials found more than $75,000 in counterfeit items at a Mission, Kansas store. Johnson County Sheriff deputies raided Sue's Accessories on Nov. 9, taking the owner, So Wun Pak, into custody and seizing many items in her store.

Inner-Suburban Chase Aftermath

Independence man charged after leading police on chase, threatening officer with rifle LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. -- An Independence man is facing charges after threatening a Lee's Summit officer with a rifle after a police chase Friday. Richard Connely, 30, was charged in Jackson County with first-degree assault and armed criminal action, prosecutors said. Around 4:30 a.m.

Rolling In Cash

KC bus tech startup Transportant announces $11M in pre-sales School districts across North America are on board with Transportant - to the tune of $11 million in pre-sale agreements, co-founder John Styers said. The startup, which uses video-based technology to allow students, parents and school administrators to better monitor school buses, announced the milestone - $10 million over its goal of $1 million in pre-sales - Thursday at Lean Lab's Launch[ED] Day pitch event.

Another Reason To Hate STL

Kansas City Royals Rumors: Cardinals interested in Eric Hosmer There are plenty of teams interested in adding Eric Hosmer to their lineup this offseason. It leaves the Kansas City Royals, who are still interested in retaining the first baseman, with plenty of rivals in vying for Hosmer's signature.

Kansas City Great Expectations

Chiefs postseason tickets go on sale next week Based on the team's current record and standing within the AFC, the Kansas City Chiefs said postseason tickets will go on sale next week. The team said in a news release that tickets for a potential AFC Wild Card or AFC Divisional home game will go on sale to the public at 10 a.m.

We start Saturday with stormy weather, Lucy body acceptance hotness and more than a few Kansas City MSM links. Take a look:is the song of the day and thisfor right now . . .
Police in the Northland are looking for a man who they believe exposed himself to children and may have shined a flashlight into apartment bedrooms near I-29 and Barry Road. The Park Hill School District has warned parents after they say the man exposed himself to Tiffany Ridge Elementary students Tuesday morning.
Commentary: Kansas City Hall Of Famer Has Character Fans know their favorite teams are full of drama, on the field and sometimes off. Players come and players go, but at every game there's at least one real character whose only job is to be a good sport. Commentator Victor Wishna explains in this month's edition of 'A Fan's Notes.'

Possibly the only real bright side for the 2017 is the acknowledgment of a far more enduring local player than any of the baseball "stars" passing through town.You decide . . .
EC says it is serious about candidates security

The Election Commission has said it seriously takes the growing number of attacks on candidates and election rallies with the first phase of federal parliamentary and provincial elections less than 10 days away. Polls will be held in 32 districts on November 26 in the first round.
Turner Twyman/KMBC SOURCE: Turner Twyman/KMBC A teenager was found shot to death inside a business Saturday morning in Kansas City, Kansas. Police were called at 7:16 a.m. to the 2400 block of South 34th Street to check on a person who had been shot. When officers arrived, police said they found teen dead.
Overland Park man arrested for rape for allegedly drugging coworker OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- An Overland Park man has been charged with rape, a first-degree felony, after he allegedly drugged a coworker. Court documents say the charges stem from an incident in March 2016 when a 21-year-old woman told police her coworker Logan Kleen, 28, had raped her.

Scandal closer to home and not involving any celebrity but instead a more insidious danger to local women confronting danger at work. Checkit:
A Kansas City firefighter is suspected of animal neglect after a dog was found dead in a crate inside a bedroom closet of an apartment the man was evicted from. Blayne Trevor Theunissen, 25, was issued a summons Wednesday in Platte County to appear in court Dec.
Speaking at the Gennadius Library on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Fulbright Greece

Bank of Greece chief Yannis Stournaras said on Wednesday he is in favour of the creation of centers of excellence to limit Greeces brain drain.

Speaking at the Gennadius Library on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Fulbright Greece, the central banker noted that from 2008 to 2013, almost 223,000 young Greeks aged 25-39 left the country in search of a better job, pay and prospects. Adding other ages, the total number rises to 427,000 in the same period.

As he added, under current circumstances, brain drain is difficult to halt without a lasting improvement in the economy and without specific actions. An important initiative for the return of young scientists is the development of centers of excellence that will attract a critical mass of scientists and researchers, he said. If they are developed effectively, these centers can gain international recognition in the academic business community and become a pole of attraction.

At the same time, he stressed that the creation of brain circulation structures will help the Greek ecosystem of research and development.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: flickr.com/photos/chathamhouse License: CC-BY-SA

Source: ANA-MPA
Germany claims that, so far during 2017, some 1,000 non-Greeks arrived at German airports from Greece without a Schengen certification

Greece has lodged a demarche with Berlin over increased checks on Greek travelers at German airports that contravene procedures stipulated in the Schengen Agreement.

The Greek government is reportedly extremely disturbed with the situation but Athenss protestations to the German government were seen as relatively moderate given that the checks are taking place against the backdrop of negotiations between German political parties to form a government and rising concerns over refugee arrivals.

Germany claims that, so far during 2017, some 1,000 non-Greeks arrived at German airports from Greece without a Schengen certification.

According to the Schengen Agreement, citizens of signatory countries can move freely between those states without border controls.

German concerns were further augmented by press reports claiming that some 15,000 refugees and migrants are moving daily through the so-called Balkan corridor from Greece to Germany.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, who is viewed as possible suitor for the leadership of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in coming years, has been at the forefront, demanding stricter checks on travelers from Greece.

But de Maiziere is not alone, as pressure on the CDU over immigration from the far-right is expected to grow further.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report

Source: ekathimerini.com
Visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to embark on a creative journey, and admire contemporary jewelry divided into 3 sections: Precious Eternities, Solid Metals, and Material Worlds

NEW YORK  Twenty-seven gifted Greek jewelry designers, with the support of Enterprise Greece, are presenting their collections at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York, November 16-19. The exhibition, just in time for the holiday shopping season, is the next milestone for A Jewel Made in Greeces annual program, whose aim is to promote Greek jewelry all over Greece and abroad. All participant designers represent contemporary jewelry, creating a dialogue between the present and ancient Greek jewelry making.

Visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to embark on a creative journey, and admire contemporary jewelry divided into 3 sections: Precious Eternities, Solid Metals, and Material Worlds. Gold, silver, precious stones, outstanding designs and colors all are part of this creative journey which has something for everyone and helps support the work of talented Greek artists and designers as well as the Greek economy. The exhibition hours are: Thursday, 2-9 PM and Friday  Sunday, 10 AM-6 PM.

The companies and designers who are exhibiting are:

Precious Eternities-

Dimos jewelry by Stavros Dimos, Maria Fotopoulou, Stelios Karantonas, Kevork Kolanian  Orofasma, Kouzoupis S.A, Maramenos & Pateras, Anileve by Evelina Papantoniou, and Evan Tsoukalas.

Solid Metals-

Margarita Chrissaki, Dared by Despina Daldaki, Eleni Daskalaki, Ukka Lelle by Marilina Deligiannopoulou , Vasso Galati, Vanile on the Rock by Vanessa Geroulanos, Danai Giannelli, Myrto Grigori, Bijoux Bizarres by Panos Kardasis, Katia Kolokytha, Evangelos Kyriakos, Daphne P., Chryssanthi Papaxenou, Mary Samoli, and Olga Maria Tsiligkiroglou.

Material Worlds-

Maria Chaniou, Fotini Kostouli, Sofia Papakosta, and Konstantina Tzavidopoulou.

The designers spoke with The National Herald about the event on its opening day, Thursday, Nov. 16 at MAD where jewelry enthusiasts explored the diverse collections and wonderful pieces of jewelry available for purchase.

A Jewel Made in Greece

Mary Samoli, jewelry designer and founder of the platform A Jewel Made in Greece, spoke with TNH about the event and the importance of supporting the work of Greek artists and jewelry designers in these difficult economic times. Reaching a wider American audience is a goal of the event and for all the participants whose unique, handmade jewelry emphasizes the best of Greece and its timeless, enduring tradition in jewelry. Samoli noted that early man decorated himself before he dressed himself and Greece has 6,000 years of jewelry history that legacy continues today.

Sofia Papakosta, originally from Karpathos, told TNH about the inspiration for her work from the folk tradition of the island, as well as the influence on her work from her time as a dancer at the Theatre of Dora Stratou where she wore the costume and jewelry from every different region of Greece in various performances.

Konstantina Tzavidopoulou noted that her work is handmade so no two pieces are exactly alike. Her designs draw inspiration from ancient tradition but with a modern sensibility that creates a timeless effect.

Eleni Daskalaki told TNH about the inspiration from nature and the sea in her work. Charming floral and leaf forms in rings, bracelets and necklaces as well as an enchanting octopus necklace are just a few of her designs on view at the exhibition and sale. Her daughter, Marianna Legaki, was also in attendance at the event.

Panos Kardasis told TNH about his designs, Bijoux Bizarres, which he calls mythical jewelry for real people noting the strong influence of traditional jewelry that can be worn in a variety of ways for the modern looks of today.

The next milestone for A Jewel Made in Greece is the 5th Annual Designers Meeting at the Zappeion Megaron, February 23-26, during which more than 70 Greek and foreign contemporary designers will present their work.

A Jewel Made in Greece is a flexible and elegant platform which engages designers/producers of contemporary art jewelry by developing a creative dialogue between the culture of art and the history of Greek jewelry.

Enterprise Greece is the official agency of the Greek State, under the supervision of the Ministry of Economy and Development, to promote investment in Greece, exports from Greece, and make Greece more attractive as an international business partner.

More information about the extraordinary designs and artists is available online at: www.ajewelmadeingreece.gr.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Hromoslav License: CC-BY-SA

Source: thenationalherald.com
Greece is among top-5 countries in the world for tourism perception according to the latest Anholt-GfK Nation Brands IndexSM (NBISM) study

In the wake of a substantial drop in global perception of the USA, Germany retakes overall top ranking, while France climbs to second place. The UK has regained the ground it lost last year after the Brexit vote to hold onto third place, while Japan jumps into the top five for the first time since 2011, standing equal with Canada.

Nation 2017 rank 2016 rank Score change

2017 vs. 2016 Germany 1 2 +0.99 France 2 5 +1.56 United Kingdom 3 3 +1.27 Canada 4 4 +0.96 Japan 4 7 +2.12 United States 6 1 -0.63 Italy 7 6 +0.74 Switzerland 8 8 +1.34 Australia 9 9 +0.76 Sweden 10 10 +1.30 NBISM score changes: minor change: +/-0.26-0.50; medium: +/-0.51-1.00; large: > +/-1.00

USA loses ground in global perception of its Governance

Of the 50 countries measured in the study, only the USA saw its overall NBI score drop this year. However, it still ranks among the top five nations for three of NBIs six categories: namely, Culture (where the USA is ranked second), Exports (also second), and Immigration-Investment (fifth). But it fell from 19th place to 23rd for Governance, a notably poor score for one of the worlds leading countries.

Professor Simon Anholt, who created the NBI study in 2005, comments, The USAs fall in the Governance category suggests that we are witnessing a Trump effect, following President Trumps focused political message of America First. However, Americans assessment of their own country is notably more positive this year than last. A similar fall in global perception of the USA was seen following the re-election of George W. Bush, when the USA fell to seventh place. Previously, America has never stayed outside the top ranking for more than a year at a time: it will be interesting to see whether this holds true in the 2018 ranking.

Germany gains in Governance, People, and Culture

Germany, by contrast to the USA, enjoys a very balanced image across all six categories of the index, with notable improvements in global perception of its Culture (+1.07), Governance (+1.28), and People (+1.34). It ranks in the top five countries for all but one of the Index categories  that one being Tourism, where it is gaining ground, if not yet in the top five.

Germanys overall score increases are boosted by significantly improved perceptions among Egyptians (+5.92), as well as among Russians (+2.26), Chinese (+2.17) and Italians (+2.06). Americans stand alone in ranking Germany outside the top-ten overall nation brands, placing it eleventh.

UK regains the ground lost in 2016

Global perception of the UK has recovered following the significant decline seen in 2016 immediately after the Brexit vote. Its overall Index score is back to very nearly its 2015 level, with improvement across all six categories.

This puts it into the top five countries for Exports, Culture, Tourism and Immigration-Investment. The UKs largest gains are for Governance (nearly two points) and People, suggesting that most countries have come to terms with the UKs vote last year to leave the EU, and their perception has re-settled following that shock.

France and Japan leap ahead in global perception of their national brands

Both France and Japan benefitted from score gains in their own right, as well as from the USA decline, allowing them to leap ahead in the overall ranking.

France now stands in second place for the first time since 2009, up from fifth last year, with gains across all six categories. This is seen especially for Governance, where Frances improved score stands at double the average amount, and Immigration-Investment. It ranks first of all countries for global perception of its Culture, second for Tourism, and fifth for Exports.

2017 has also been a banner year for Japan. It now stands in fourth place, equal with Canada, having gained its highest overall score in nearly a decade. Japan is perceived most highly for Exports, where it comes ahead of all other countries, and also shows significant gains compared to the average for Immigration-Investment, Culture, and Governance.

Vadim Volos, GfKs senior vice president of public affairs and consulting, comments, The Nation Brands Index allows our clients to understand where  and why - their nation stands in terms of their current image, momentum and potential. Changing global perception of a national brand is challenging and slow - but countries can influence biased or outdated perceptions by understanding the negative views and actively communicating actions and changes that address those.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Artemis Katsadoura License: CC-BY-SA
Bahrain's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has implemented a new SIM Card Verification regulation which requires operators to introduce a secure way to verify identities of SIM card holders.



The TRA's latest move comes as part of its efforts to ensure consumers can safely enjoy using their telecoms services with peace of mind.



There have been instances in the past where a large number of individuals have been taken advantage of because of a security gap when consumers take on SIM enabled services, mainly due to the verification process not being sufficient, said a senior official.



"It was brought to our attention that consumers have had multiple SIM cards in their name without their knowledge, and they discovered they had to pay for services they never asked for. This, of course, was unacceptable and TRA had to take action," remarked Mariam Al Mannai, the TRA Consumer Affairs Manager.



In light of this development, operators worked together with TRA to stop criminals from getting access to peoples identities.



"Operators co-operated fully and recommended biometric scans as the best way to impede this kind of activity and safeguard consumers from being victims of fraud," stated Al Mannai.



As per the new TRA rule, all customers must complete the registration of the verification process at the concerned service providers' offices.



Those with postpaid lines will have time until June 2, 2018 for completing the formalities. If they miss the deadline, their lines will get suspended and will have until September 2 to lift the suspension.



Similarly for those with prepaid lines, the deadline ends on March 2 and they will be given a grace period until June 2 to lift the suspension.-TradeArabia News Service
Oman is working on over RO400 million ($1.04 billion) worth of electricity, gas and solar projects to cater to the growing demand in the sultanate, said a report.



To encourage future energy-related ventures in the country through attracting domestic and foreign investments, the government has launched the Musandam Gas Plant (MGP) and Musandam Power Company (MPC).



On completion the projects will produce 45 million standard cu ft of gas, 20,000 barrels of exportable condensates per day and 80 tonnes of liquified petroleum gas each day.



Oman Oil Companys (OOC) wholly-owned subsidiary, Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production and Oman Gas Company inaugurated these facilities at a celebration in Al Dara in Wilayat Bukha in Musandam.



The scope of work includes construction of subsea pipelines, oil and gas storage depots and export platforms.



The Musandam Power Company (MPC) is set up by a consortium comprising of OOC, holding 70 per cent of shares and LG International Corporation, holding 30 per cent of shares.



This Independent Power Producer has been constructed to build a new natural gas fueled, dual fuel reciprocating engine based power generation facility with a net capacity of 120 MW at Reference Site Conditions.



The power plant uses natural gas as its primary fuel, with light fuel oil as a back up to ensure uninterrupted power.



The MPC, an affiliated company of Oman Gas Company, has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP).



As per the deal, OPWP will purchase the electrical power capacity produced from the plant for a period of 15 years, it added.



Electricity output will be transmitted to the existing medium voltage grid through a new 132KV transmission line being built by the Rural Areas Electricity Company.



The Plants 120MW net output capacity will support demand growth in Musandam Governorate, it added.
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.
Flight test of new radar starts today

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (Caan) will be conducting flight inspection of the Mode S Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar (MSSR) system installed on Bhatte Danda in Lalitpur on Saturday.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 18

The UT police have confirmed that the death of an Electricity Department employee on Friday was a case of murder. Five persons, including a juvenile and two eunuchs, have been arrested in the case while another accused, also an eunuch, is at large.

Harwinder, Singh, a substation attendant, along with his colleagues, had gone to Azad Colony in Sector 25 yesterday to snap power connection to the house of Vikas and Atul due to non-payment of bill. However, the duo, along with others, allegedly thrashed the power department employee leading to his death.

The post-mortem of the body will be conducted on Monday after the deceaseds daughter, who is in the USA, reaches here.

A case has been registered under Sections 302, 353, 332, 186, 148 and 147 of the IPC.

Those arrested are Vikas, Atul, eunuchs Rupali and Malaika and a juvenile. The other accused, Sonam, is on the run. The accused were produced in court, which sent Vikas and Atul to one-day police remand and the two eunuchs to judicial custody.

The police had not sought remand of the two eunuchs.

Cops claim belied

The footage of a CCTV installed in the area (right) shows residents chasing and thrashing electricity department employees in the presence of cops. In a statement on Friday, the UT police had claimed that the electricity department did not inform them about the visit to the colony and hence, no cop was deployed there. However, the CCTV footage shows cops walking along with colony residents as the latter thrash and chase the power men away. The police had also ruled out murder as no apparent injury mark was found on the victims body. However, it registered a case of murder on Saturday. Police officials said they had already started a departmental enquiry into the matter and any official found guilty of laxity would be taken to task.
Tribune News Service

Mohali, November 18

While the local police are still groping in the dark in the case of rape and murder of a 17-year-old maid from Mataur village for the past four days, another minor girl from the village has gone missing.

The victim, Shivani (15), worked as a maid at the Meritorious School in Sector 70 here.

In his complaint to the police, the victims father Brajesh Kumar alleged that after coming from her work place on November 16, Shivani left the house at around 5 pm, saying that she was going to her aunts house, which was in Mataur itself. As she did not return, the family enquired about her from the aunt and came to know that she did not go there.

Inspector Jarnail Singh, SHO, Mataur police station, said the victim was not having a mobile phone. The kin and acquaintances of the family are being contacted. We are trying to find out whom was she in touch with, said the cop, adding that a case under Sections 363 and 366A of the IPC has been registered in this connection.

Cops clueless on minor maids rape, murder Meanwhile, the local police are clueless in the case of rape and murder of the 17-year-old girl from Mataur, who worked as a maid at a house in Sector 69 here.

On November 9, the victim, a resident of Mataur village, had not returned home from her workplace in Sector 69. She worked as a domestic assistant at a house there and had called it a day in the evening. Six days later, her decomposed body, having multiple stab injuries in the abdomen, chest and neck, was recovered from dumping yard area in Sector 69 here. The postmortem report stated that the victim was raped before murder.

Sub-Inspector Rajiv Kumar, SHO, Phase VIII police station, said despite quizzing a number of persons, including acquaintances of the victims family members, and scrutinising several CCTV footages and mobile call details of some suspicious persons, they failed to get a clue to the crime.

We have not lost hopes. Investigation in the case is on, said the SHO.
Follow the money!

Our Election Commission (EC) wallahs tell our political parties to follow the election code of conduct but as always, our chors know only how to break the rules and not worry because they can get away with it.
Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 18

Hoping to get Rs 2 lakh for the marriage of their daughters under the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme of the Central government, several gullible residents of Maloya filled and submitted fake forms.

Even as there is no such provision to give cash under the scheme, these fake forms were being circulated in the colony openly. The residents gave their personal details like bank accounts and Aadhaar numbers in the forms.

The matter came to light during a public meeting with residents taken by local MP Kirron Kher today. Kher, while expressing surprise, asked Maloya police station SHO Ram Rattan to unearth the scam and arrest those who were behind the distribution of fake forms.

There is no such scheme of giving cash under the scheme. This is just a ploy to malign the image of the present government, Kher told the gathering. Deputy Mayor Anil Kumar Dubey alleged, This matter had come to my knowledge and I had given a complaint at the SSP window. These fake forms are being circulated by the Congress.

The SHO asked the people to come to the police station and meet him in this regard. However, it was strange to see that the police failed to act even as so many residents were being befooled.

Municipal Corporation Additional Commissioner Saurabh Mishra advised the residents not to share bank details or Aadhaar numbers with others and check their identity before sharing crucial information.

The forms came from Dhanas and were sold by a photostat shop for Rs 2 in Maloya Colony. It was said that residents whose daughters are between the age of eight and 32 and are unmarried will get Rs 2 lakh each from the government under the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign. There is no truth in it, said Babu Singh Jandiala, president of the Maloya Colony Welfare Association.

Rajkumar, a resident, said, People have been running to post offices to submit their forms. Nobody here knows who circulated them.

Meanwhile, Jandiala handed over a memorandum of issues relating to green belt, community centre, sampark centre, schools and non-functional street lights to Kher. Earlier, people raised many civic problems with Kher who, along with officers, resolved them.
Sunit Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, November 18

Its celebration time at the home of Dr Dinesh Chhillar and his wife Dr Usha, paternal uncle and aunt of 20-year-old Haryana girl Manushi Chhillar, who was crowned Miss World 2017 in Sanya, China, on Saturday.

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Apart from Manushis relatives, their neighbours and other acquaintances are pouring in to congratulate them.

We started dancing and jumping in joy as soon as Manushi was crowned Miss World. Right now, we feel on top of the world, says a beaming Dr Usha, who is also Manushis teacher, as she offers sweets to the guests.

Dr Usha is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Dermatology at Bhagat Phool Singh Government Medical College for Women in Sonepat, where Manushi is a third-year student of MBBS course.

Manushi is a gifted and multi-talented child. She is a fine poetess, painter and an accomplished Kuchipudi dancer as well. She has a good hand at surgery and wants to become a cardiac surgeon, she maintains while talking to The Tribune amidst a festive atmosphere.

Manushis uncle, Dr Dinesh Chhillar, who is also an HCMS doctor, points out that she was born in Rohtak, though she studied at Bangalore and Delhi. She was the CBSE topper in English and is associated with Shakti project on menstrual hygiene.

Manushis father Dr Mitra Basu Chhillar and mother Dr Neelam are also doctors, now settled in Delhi. Dr Mitra Basu Chhillar belongs to Bamnoli village in Jhajjar district and has served at the Rohtak PGIMS as registrar.

Manushi has been confident and we were also hopeful that she will make it. By the grace of the Almighty, she has brought laurels to the country and we are proud of her, says Dr Usha.
Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 18

A selection committee headed by Justice Surya Kant of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has completed the process of interviews for the posts of member of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA).

The Tribune has learnt that the committee constituted under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, under Justice Surya Kant, which includes Legal Remembrance Kuldeep Jain and Principal Secretary (Town and Country Planning) Arun Kumar Gupta, has completed the process of interviewing nearly 60 persons who applied for the posts of member of the two benches of RERA  Gurugram and Panchkula.

Of the 68 persons who had applied for the RERA posts, nine had applied for the posts of chairperson only, 18 for both chairperson and member and 41 applied for the posts of member only.

Sources say that the interviews for the posts of member were held in the High Court on Sunday and the selection committee is yet to submit panels to the state government. Each of the two benches of the RERA is to have a chairman and two members.

Among those who had applied for the posts of member are KK Khandelwal, a serving IAS officer; RC Verma, Hardeep Kumar and Sameer Kumar, all retired IAS officers; AKS Pawar, Ram Singh Choudhary and Subhash Chander Goel, all retired district and sessions judges and Anil Kumar Upadhyaya, a retired IFS officer. The applicants also included eight women.

The committee earlier this month had sent panels comprising names of retired IAS officer KK Jalan and Khandelwal for the post of chairman for the Gurugram Bench and those of retired IAS officer Rajan Gupta and retired district and sessions judge AKS Pawar for the Panchkula Bench.

However, the selection of the chairpersons has run into controversy after Ravinder Chawla, a Faridabad resident, yesterday moved the CM Window opposing Khandelwals candidature on several counts.

Chawla has alleged that Khandelwal, a serving IAS officer, did not seek the governments permission before applying for the post.

Earlier, Leader of Opposition Abhay Chautala had shot a missive to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar opposing the appointment of Jalan and Gupta on the ground that both of them had given clean chit to Robert Vadra in Shikohpur land deal during Bhupinder Singh Hooda regime.

Abhay had stated in his letter that Jalan, the then Principal Secretary of the Town and Country Planning Department, was responsible for controversial acquisition of 1,407 acres of land for which the Supreme Court had earlier this month ordered a CBI probe.

The dispute
Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 18

Tightening its noose around members of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Kotkhai minor rape and murder case, the CBI has taken former Shimla SP DW Negi to Delhi for interrogations while another member of the team, DSP Rattan Negi, has also been summoned to Delhi.

The CBI had arrested eight police officials, including the head of SIT and Inspector General of Police ZH Zaidi and DSP Manoj Joshi, on August 29 and Negi was arrested on November 16.

The CBI has debunked the theory of the disbanded SIT that Suraj, an accused in the minor rape and murder case, was killed by another accused Raju and suspected the complicity of SIT members in the custody death.

All police officials arrested on August 29 are still in the judicial custody while the police remand of Negi will end on November 20. The CBI is racing against time to conclude the investigations in the custodial death case as the High Court has directed it to file the chargesheet by November 30.

The CBI had summoned DW Negi and Rattan Negi for questioning earlier also but they were not arrested and the arrest of the former was an indication that the CBI has gathered some more information allegedly linking him with the custodial death case.

Suraj, one of the six accused in rape and murder case, was killed in the police custody in Kotkhai on the night of July 18 and later both cases were handed over to the CBI on the directions of the High Court on July 22 and the SIT was disbanded.

Race against time
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 17

National Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) has provided a semi-dynamic model of 220 MW nuclear power plant to Pushpa Gujral Science City. The model was handed over by AK Jain, Additional Chief Engineer, NPCIL to Rajesh Grover, Director, Science City, here today. The semi-dynamic NPP models are one of the best tools to educate general public about the nuclear power plants. Various nuclear safety features are also incorporated in the model to build confidence in viewers that the nuclear power plants are absolutely safe.

Grover said the generation of electricity through nuclear energy contributes relatively little to global warming compared to the amount of energy generated from fossil fuels (coal and oil). He also informed the students that 27 kg of uranium produces same amount of electricity that 700 tonnes of coal does.

AK Jain delivered a lecture on nuclear power and its advantages. He highlighted in his lecture that the nuclear energy was safe contrary to the fear and misconception of general public. More than 200 students from various government schools attended the lecture. Owing to continuous additions, the Science City continues to attract people, receiving lakhs of visitors every year.
Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, November 18

A commando of the Indian Air Force and six militants were killed in a gunfight in north Kashmirs Bandipore district on Saturday, the Army said.

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The gunfight erupted at Chandrageer Hajin, 32 km from Srinagar, when joint teams of Police, Army and CRPF launched an operation after an intelligence reports said militants were hiding in the area.

As the cordon a search operation was launched in the area, militants fired at party to break the cordon. In the gunfight so far six militants were killed, an Army officer said.

One of the six militants killed was 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi's nephew Owaid.

READ: Restrictions in parts of Srinagar after militant killed in shootout

The officer who was killed was a commando of Indian Air Force elites special forces unit Garud. A soldier was also wounded.

The five dead militants have not been identified yet, but security forces suspect they belong to Lashkar-e-Toiba, the officer said.

Hajin has witnesses many gunfights between militants and forces in the past few months.

Two Indian Air Force (IAF) Garud commandos were killed in a firefight in Hajin that also left two militants  one of them a local  dead last month.  With agencies
Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 18

Taking a serious note of the reported decision of the state government to delete the names of West Pakistan refugees from the list of beneficiaries getting subsidised ration under the National Food Safety Act (NFSA), the J&K High Court Bar Association (Jammu) today announced to move a court against the inhuman step of the PDP-BJP coalition.

We will take this case to a court of law in case the controversial order, denying ration to West Pakistan refugees, is not withdrawn immediately, Bar president BS Slathia told mediapersons here this afternoon.

Dubbing the step as inhuman, Slathia said they would not allow the coalition to commit such atrocities on the poor refugees.

It is a crime against mankind and humanity to deny ration to the refugees from West Pakistan who have been leading a miserable life in Jammu since their migration in 1947. We were expecting that the state government would grant them full citizenship and enable them to lead a dignified life as Indian nationals. It is sad that instead of granting citizenship to the refugees, the state government even snatched ration from them so that they starve, regretted Slathia.

The Tribune had reported in its November 18 edition that the PDP-BJP government had reportedly initiated the process to delete the names of West Pakistan refugees from the list of beneficiaries getting subsidised ration under the NFSA.

The names of nearly 60 refugee families living in Uttam Colony on the outskirts of Jammu city had reportedly been deleted from the ration card beneficiaries list issued by the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department.
Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, November 18

The body of a militant, Mugees Ahmed Mir, was wrapped in a black flag with Kalima inscribed on it, often used by the Al-Qaida and ISIS, during his funeral procession in Srinagar, where the government had imposed restrictions to ward off protests following his killing.

Mir, a top militant commander was owned by both pro-Pakistan militant outfit Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, led by Zakir Musa, an Al-Qaida affiliate. He was killed by security forces in a gunfight at Zakura on the city outskirts on Friday afternoon. J&K Police Sub-Inspector Imran Tak was also killed in the gunfight.

Mugees Mirs body was wrapped in a black flag - a defiance to Pakistan in Kashmir. Mourners raised pro-freedom and pro-Zakir Musa slogans, eyewitnesses said.

Reports said pro-Pakistan slogans were raised on Friday evening when Mirs body reached home.

In the wake of Mirs killing, the government had detained JKLF chief Yasin Malik and placed moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house arrest.

The situation remained under control except a minor clash at Parimpora, a police officer said.

Mir, in his mid twenties, was injured in a gunfight at Zakura, Srinagar, when a car in which he was travelling with his associate was intercepted by policemen. The militants in the car fired at the policemen but managed to escape.

It became later known that Mir was injured in the shootout. After sustaining injuries, sources said, Mir called up his family and informed them about his injury. The family was later informed about his death and was asked to collect his body.

Mir had joined militancy in April 2016 and was a member of the Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen. The police, however, claim that he had joined the group led by Zakir Musa a few months ago. The Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen, owned Mir on Friday and said forces draped his body in ISIS flag to defame the ongoing movement in Kashmir.

Hurriyat condemns restrictions

Srinagar: The Hurriyat Conference faction headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Saturday condemned the imposition of restrictions in parts of Srinagar and closure of educational institutions in the city. The restrictions and the closure of institutions were ordered by the district administration as preventive measures following the killing of a militant on Friday. TNS
Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 18

Former Union minister and National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah today launched an all-out offensive against the ruling BJP for its anti-Muslim rhetoric and communal policies, warning it against cutting India into more pieces.

Unfazed by the legal cases and sharp criticism, senior Abdullah, in his inimitable manner, also reiterated that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) is a part of Pakistan and they (Pakistan) have not worn bangles to allow India take it back.

In UP, their leaders threaten Muslims that if you dont vote for us (BJP), we will show you. This country doesnt belong to your father. It belongs to all, be they Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian. It is his or her fundamental right to vote for whoever they want to. You cannot force anyone. You have made one Pakistan. How many more Pakistans you will create? How many pieces will you cut this country into? he asked while addressing a gathering here.

The NC chief was addressing party workers at the party headquarters here to accord a reception to him on his re-election as president of the party. A video has gone viral in which a BJP leader in UP is allegedly heard threatening Muslim constituents to vote for his wife in the upcoming civic polls or face dire consequences.

Farooq said the people had not voted for a weak nation but they wanted to have a strong country. If they (BJP) want to continue communal policies for creating a divide among people on religious lines, we will not allow them to succeed in their designs, he said.

The National Conference leader also stood by his words, saying PoK belongs to Pakistan. They are not wearing bangles and they also have atom bombs. Do you want us to be killed by them? You are sitting in palaces but think about the poor people living in border areas.

You fought four wars but achieved nothing. In Kargil war, the Prime Minister of the BJP government had said the sanctity of line (LoC) would not be crossed. They made rhetoric that they would take PoK back. When did we (NC) stop you? Pick the gun, go to the border and fight to take it back, he said, adding, I am being dragged into the court but I am ready to face all this.

Meanwhile, taking a serious note of Farooqs PoK remarks, the J&K High Court Bar Association, Jammu, has demanded an immediate action against him under Section 124-A, RPC, and related provisions of law. He has urged the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Election Commission of India to immediately disqualify him from the membership of the Lok Sabha and derecognise National Conference.

Takes a swipe at Mehbooba

Farooq took a dig at Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for allegedly making backdoor appointments in Anantnag. She went to Anantnag along with officers and directed them to appoint the selective candidates. The highly educated unemployed youth were ignored but she must understand that the day will come when she will be made answerable for her mistakes, he said.

GST rollout a blunder

The NC chief slammed the Mehbooba government for surrendering everything in the lust for power, alleging the roll out of the GST had eroded the financial autonomy of the state. Besides, they have been attacking the autonomy of the state by demanding the repeal of Article 35A, he said.
From the margins

While many voters across the nation have a premonition that political candidates will become indifferent to their needs once elected into office, Muslims voters living in the Far-Western hills of Province 7 lament that the candidates vying for electoral seats have not even stopped to listen to their plights.
Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 18

Unfazed by the legal cases and sharp criticism, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Saturday reiterated that Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) is part of Pakistan.

He said he was ready to face all legal cases against him.

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#WATCH Jammu: Farooq Abdullah says, 'You have made one Pakistan, how many Pakistans will you make, how many pieces will you cut India into?' pic.twitter.com/LN3RV1Z5Up  ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2017

He also demanded the formation of a commission to look into the cases of war widows and army personnel who had been fighting a proxy war by Pakistan in J&K for the past seven decades.

He took a dig at the PDP-BJP government for not visiting the house of Sohanlal Bhagat who was martyred in an IED blast in Manipur recently.

He asked Army chief General Bipin Rawat to first see the miserable condition of widows of army personnel and then talk about any possible war.
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, November 18

In collaboration with joint education and research with Queen Mary University and Dental Council of India (DCI) took a head on start with the recent visit of the latters member at the varsity in London.

The city-based doctor Vikas Jindal attended the joint discussion on research and education among the two countries on behalf of the DCI. While talking on the occasion, Dr Jindal, highlighted the high standards of the dental education in the country and the education policies of the DCI.

He said the joint education and research among Indian and London Institutes was sure to benefit both parts of the world. Students can gain from facilities from both sides. This will also facilitate them in understanding culture of both countries, he added.

A final draft shall be prepared by the DCI after I submit my report. The best part of my visit was to see the research facilities in the university, he added. Dr Jindal lauded the role of the UK government for providing funds for research. He said, The research in India is more clinically oriented rather than molecular or gene based, which needs funds and hopes to get support from the government in this regard. He exhorted dental institutes of the country to work collectively towards research in dentistry and aim towards providing dental treatment, which was research and evidence based.
Harshraj Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 18

The health services at the ESI Dispensary (No.3) at Focal Point, Phase V, Ludhiana, are getting affected due to shortage of staff and lack of infrastructure.

As the dispensary located in the industrial area, a large number of labourers having the ESI cards visit this dispensary to get treatment.

Out of four posts of doctors, two posts of doctors are lying vacant at dispensary wherein an average 600 patients visit daily. It is noticed that a huge rush is witnessed on every Monday. As many as 800 patients visit on this day.

The dispensary lacks required infrastructure as seating arrangement is available for only few patients while mostly patients are seen standing in queues outside a doctors room.

A patient on condition of anonymity said, I am holding an ESI card under which free treatment is provided. I came here at around 10 am. It is afternoon now, and I am still waiting for my turn. I have been asked to come after 2pm as a dispensary staff member announced that it is lunch time from 1 pm to 2 pm.

As specialist doctors are unavailable here, many patients are referred to the ESIC Model Hospital, Bharat Nagar Chowk. If we have to visit hospital, we take leave from factory and amount is deducted from our salary for day off. The government should upgrade this dispensary and specialist doctors should be available here, said another patient.

President of the Karkhana Mazdoor Union, Lakhwinder said, The labourers generally complain us that they have to stand in long queues to get examined at the dispensary. There is an acute shortage of doctors. It has been seen that only one doctor is generally available here. All doctors should be available till 5:30 pm and dispensary should be upgraded.There is no facility for proper drinking water. The government should also deploy specialist doctors here.

The prescribed medicines should be available inside the dispensary. The doctor should also cross check the medicines that are provided to patients at pharmacy. The government should ensure seating arrangements for the patients. Besides this, facility of drinking water and toilets should be provided, he added.

Some patients also complained the TLC test test to count white blood cellsis not being conducted as well. There are two posts of Auxiliary Nursing Midwife (ANM) but one post is vacant. Besides, some posts of class IV, clerical staff and sweepers are lying vacant.

A staff member at dispensary revealed that one doctor is available at morning shift from 9 am to 3 pm and other doctor examines patients from 11 am to 5 pm (evening shift).

The Senior Medical Officer at ESI dispensary, Dr Inderjit Kaur said, Post of two doctors is vacant. We also required an ANM, sweeper and class four employees. We have written in this regard to the higher authorities.

An equipment at laboratory had met with fault and it has been sent for repair, she added.
Jaipur, November 18

Hundreds of residents led by the Rajput community on Saturday blocked entry to the Kumbhalgarh Fort in Rajsamand district for some time demanding a ban on Padmavati, a day after a similar protest at Chittorgarh Fort against the movie.

The protests against the epic drama based on Rajput queen Padmavati also spread to Kota, where nearly 200 Congress party workers demonstrated against the Sanjay Leela Bhansali- directed film. They hanged an effigy of the filmmaker at a square in the city.

The Congress party protesters termed the Censor Board's decision to return the film without certification a "political stunt" amid the proposed state assembly elections in Gujarat.

But Central Board of Film Certification chief Prasoon Joshi said today the application for certification for the film was incomplete and thus was sent back.

The situation in Chittorgarh was normal today, the SHO of Chittorgarh police station, Omprakash, said.

The Circle Officer of Kumbhalgarh, Chandan Singh, said: "The entry was blocked for some time due to the protest and it resumed after the protest was over."

He said elaborate security arrangements were made in view of the protest which ended peacefully.

The majestic hill fort of Kumbhalgarh is the birthplace of legendary king Maharana Pratap and a Unesco world heritage site.

According to the Chittorgarh police station SHO, Devendra Singh, who allegedly shot in the air during the protest at Chittorgarh Fort yesterday, has been booked under the Arms Act, but he was not yet arrested.

Rajasthan was yesterday rocked by protests against the film with protesters blocking entry to the Chittorgarh Fort and burning effigies of Bhansali. The entry to the fort remained blocked till 5 pm yesterday.

Rajput groups have alleged distortion of historical facts in the period drama starring Padukone, Shahid Kapur and Ranveer Singh.

In March, the Chittorgarh Fort was vandalised by a group of men who broke mirrors installed at the Padmini Palace.

Three mirrors installed at the Padmini Palace were damaged by four-five unidentified men.  PTI
Our Correspondent

Patna, November 18

A premier medical college on Saturday slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 on each of the 61 girl students of the first and third semester for their involvement in ragging.

The college authorities also warned of strict action if the situation fails to improve.

All first and third semester girl students of Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) have been directed to pay the fine by November 25.

In case, they fail to pay the penalty by that time, the authorities may debar them from attending classes for the next six months.

On the recommendation of the anti-ragging squad of the college, principal RK Sinha imposed the fine on all first and third semester girl students, including the victim and accused of the ragging.

Neither the victim came to complain or the accused to confess their involvement in the ragging incident.

So, the administration took action against both the victim and accused considering their collective responsibility in violating anti-ragging norms.

Principal Sinha said, A junior student of my college had complained to the Medical Council of India (MCI) against her seniors for repeated ragging. On the direction of the MCI, an anti-ragging committee was set up two days ago. In its probe, the committee found that neither the victim nor the accused came forward. So, it recommended a collective fine as per the anti-ragging norms. We have also called their guardians for counselling.
New Delhi, November 18

Actor Rahul Roy on Saturday joined the BJP in presence of Union Minister Vijay Goel at the party headquarters here.

He said it was a significant day for him and thanked the party.

"The way Narendra Modi ji and Amit Shah ji have been taking the country forward and the way the perspective of the world towards India has changed in the past two years is remarkable. I am elated to have taken this decision," Roy told mediapersons.

The actor said that he wants to contribute towards development of the country and is ready to take up any task entrusted to him by the party.

Roy made his Bollywood debut at the age of 22 in the 1990 blockbuster 'Aashiqui'. He acted in movies like 'Junoon' and 'Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee'.

The actor also won the first season of TV reality show 'Bigg Boss'. PTI
Kochi, November 18

The NDA government should not be lured into false belief that the economy is out of the woods, former prime minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday, reacting to the Moodys upgrade of Indias sovereign credit rating.

The US-based agency upped Indias rating to Baa2 from Baa3 and changed its rating outlook to stable from positive, saying the reforms would help stabilise rising levels of debt.

I am glad that Moodys has done what they have done but we must not be, I think, lured into false belief that we are out of the woods, he said, reacting to a query on Moodys rating, here.

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The economy needed strong purposeful guidance to move forward at the rate which the government itself says they want the country to move eight to 10 per cent, Singh said on the sidelines of a national seminar on Macro Economic Developments in India: Policy Perspectives organised by the Economics Department of St Teresas College, Ernakulam.

His comments came in the wake of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley terming the Moodys upgrading Indias sovereign rating after 13 years as belated recognition of the reforms undertaken.

Singh also cautioned that the soaring prices of the crude oil could hurt the fiscal system of the country.

Now the crude oil prices are USD 62-64 whereas a few months ago, they were about 40-45. So it can hurt balance of payment. It can also hurt the fiscal system as well, Singh said.

Asked how different he would have implemented the GST, Singh said there was undue haste in implementing the new taxation system and blamed the bureaucracy for its lack of preparedness.

Both in administration and implementation, I think there is much to be desired and the very fact that the council has met so many times, they have now reduced rates of 211 items.

That showed that there was undue haste in implementation and the bureaucracy had not done its homework, he said. PTI
New Delhi, November 18

A Delhi court on Saturday completed recording evidence in a case against gangster Abu Salem for allegedly demanding Rs 5 crore as protection money from a Delhi-based businessman in 2002.

Additional Sessions Judge Tarun Sehrawat heard arguments from the prosecution and the advocate of the accused, M S Khan, and posted the matter for further hearing on November 21.

Salem, who was extradited from Portugal in November 2005, was granted bail in 2013 in the present case. However, he is currently jailed in various other cases, including the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.

Salem, along with five other accused, is facing trial for allegedly demanding Rs 5 crore as protection money from businessman Ashok Gupta, a resident of Greater Kailash.

According to the prosecution, Salem allegedly demanded the money from Gupta and his son Abhishek in April 2002, threatening that he would eliminate their family members if the demand was not fulfilled.

The other accused facing trial are Chanchal Mehta, Majid Khan, Pawan Kumar Mittal and Mohd Ashraf. One of the accused, Sajjan Kumar Soni, died during the course of the trial.

Police claim to have recorded some of the telephone calls made by Salem to Gupta.  PTI
United Nations, November 18

India has shot down rumours that it was in talks with the UK for Judge Dalveer Bhandari to withdraw in favour of the British candidate, Christopher Greenwood, in the deadlocked election to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Dismissing the rumours meant to undermine Bhandari's support in the General Assembly, India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin said: "We understand that some impression is being sought to be created that India and the UK are in talks and Judge Bhandari may withdraw, as he may not be allowed to win.

"We are here; we intend to stay the course until the will of the majority prevails," Akbaruddin declared at a reception for Bhandari attended by representatives of over 160 countries here on Thursday.

A candidate has to win an absolute majority in both the General Assembly and the Security Council, which neither of the two sitting judges have.

Bhandari has nearly a two-thirds majority with 121 votes in the 193-member Assembly, while Greenwood has a slender majority of nine in the 15-member Council.

As the runoff between Bhandari and Greenwood reached the "tipping point" with another round of election scheduled for November 20, Akbaruddin also strongly opposed using a joint conference made up of three representatives each from the Assembly and the Council to break the deadlock saying that it was against the principles of democracy.

The ICJ statues provide for the joint conference to pick a candidate if the stalemate continues after the third election meeting of the Council and the Assembly.

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Calling the joint conference a "can of worms", Akbaruddin said the UN cannot go back to a "toolkit" of the past that has never been used in its history.

As the lobbying has intensified, the campaign has taken an ugly turn with Greenwood's supporters trying to break Bhandari's growing support in the Assembly by carrying out a stealth campaign to make it appear that India was giving up, according to diplomats.

Rumours were floated that Bhandari may withdraw or that India would agree to a joint conference, making the Assembly voting seem futile, the diplomats said.

So far 11 rounds of balloting have been held over two days in the Assembly and 10 in the Council.

Four others were elected on the first day on November 9, in the first four rounds with majorities in both chambers. After that seven rounds of runoff balloting between Bhandari and Greenwood were held in the Assembly and six in the Council without being able to break the deadlock.

"This election is getting prolonged only because the clear support of 121 is being equated to the support of nine," Akbaruddin said.

General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak had a round of meetings on Friday afternoon with Security Council President Sebastiano Cardi and officials of the UN legal and General Assembly departments in preparation for the balloting on November 20, his spokesperson Brenden Varma said.

"We also understand that there is talk of a joint conference mechanism to break the deadlock.

"Let me tell you right now upfront that not one person has approached me with this proposal, certainly not the representative of the country whose candidate is being faced," Akbaruddin said.

Akbaruddin did acknowledge meeting British diplomats. "Yes, we have talked. Sure, we are diplomats, what else do we do? We talked, but never once was such a proposal made." "The precedent is clear... As is expected in the 21st century, the candidate who enjoys overwhelming support of the General Assembly membership can be the only legitimate candidate to go through." He cited the outcome of the ICJ elections in 2011 and 2014 when the candidate who won the Assembly majority prevailed.

Susana Ruiz Cerutti of Argentina won in the Council and Patrick Lipton Robinson of Jamaica in the Assembly in the 2014 ICJ election. After 12 rounds of voting, Cerutti withdrew.

In 2011, Julia Sebutinde of Uganda had a majority in the Assembly and Abdul Koroma of Sierra Leone in the Council. When the deadlock continued after the 10th round of balloting in the Council and 11th in the Assembly, the African Union prevailed on Sierra Leone to back off.

It has to be decided on the floor of the house... We are democratic country we will abide by democratic verdict. We urge all others do too," Akbaruddin added. IANS
Gauchan murder case: Two more suspects held

Police has arrested two more suspects in connection to the murder case of Sharad Kumar Gauchan, chairman of Federation of Contractors Associations of Nepal.
Syed Ali Ahmed

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 18

The move to rename Dyal Singh (evening) College, spread over 9 acres in the heart of South Delhi, as Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya has taken political contours with student groups, NSUI being one of them, alleging that the decision was politically motivated.

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The college governing body maintains that the name has been changed in the interest of students. But a section of students and teachers remains unconvinced, pointing out that the chairman of the college governing body, Amitabh Sinha, is associated with the BJP.

The notification to change the college name, issued on Friday, has been sent to the VC for approval. The college is named after Dyal Singh Majithia, who founded The Tribune Trust (1881) and the Punjab National Bank (1894). He also set up an education trust. Dyal Singh College was born out of that trust. The college was established at Lahore in 1910.

After Partition, it was shifted to Karnal and then to Delhi as a constituent college of the University of Delhi (1959).

It was taken over as a university maintained institution in 1978. The Dyal Singh College building in Lahore still stands in the name of Government Dyal Singh College.

While the teachers protesting against the decision say the college lacks the infrastructure to function as a regular college, the students see it as part of the BJP agenda to saffronise education.

Denying the allegations, Sinha said: Given the responsibility of the college governing body by the VC of Delhi University, I am only doing my duty. There were two colleges  one day and the other evening. The evening shift students were rated as second-grade students. They faced difficulty in getting jobs. Thats why the governing body converted it into a day college.

College principal Pawan Kumar Sharma said they had already built 28 more rooms even though only 22 were needed. So there is no question of lack of infrastructure.
Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, November 18

Six Pakistani militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba, including the son of Abdul Rehman Makki, the second-in-command of Jamat ud Dawah, and nephew of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who is believed to have masterminded the Mumbai terror attacks, were killed in a fierce gunfight in north Kashmirs Bandipore district today. A Garud commando of the Indian Air Force (IAF) was killed too and and another soldier injured.

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Six Pakistani Lashkar terrorists have been eliminated. One of them, named Owaid alias Osama, is son of Zakir Rehman Maki and nephew of Zakir Rehman Lakhvi, the Mumbai terror attacks mastermind, state Director-General of Police Shesh Paul Vaid said. He said Owais had been active in the area since last year.

He identified the other killed militants as Zargam and Mehmood. The latter, the police said, was involved in the killing of BSF constable Mohommad Ramzan Parrey alias Rameez on September 27 as well as of two Garud commandos.

The gunfight at Chandrageer Hajin, 32 km from Srinagar, erupted when joint teams of the police, Army and CRPF cordoned a sparsely populated locality following reports that militants had taken refuge there.

As soon as the search operation was launched, militants hiding in various houses opened fire to break the cordon. In the gunfight, six of them were killed, Srinagar-based Defence spokesman Col Rajesh Khalia said. " An Air Force Garud commando was martyred and one soldier injured," he added.

Hajin, once known as the epicentre of pro-government militant group Ikhwan, had of late turned Lashkar headquarters with Hajin witnessing frequent gunfights between militants and forces in recent months. Last month, two IAF Garud commandos were killed in an encounter in which two militants, one of them a local, were eliminated too.

Owaid is Lashkar chief Lakhvi's third close relative to have been killed in Kashmir. In 2007, Lakhvis son Mohammad Qasim,20, was killed in Bandipore's Gamroo village. In January this year, his nephew Abu Musaib was shot dead in a gunfight. Recently, Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Hafiz Sayeed's nephew was killed in a gunfight in Pulwama, south Kashmir.
Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 18

India has responded to Pakistans note verbale offering a meeting between Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav and his wife. The proposal, in a sudden development, was made on November 10 by Pakistan foreign office through the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

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The Government of Pakistan has decided to arrange a meeting of Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav with his wife, in Pakistan, purely on humanitarian grounds, said a formal release.

Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad confirmed having received the response.

Pakistan Foreign office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal wrote on twitter, Indian Reply to Pakistan's Humanitarian offer for Commander Jadhav received & is being considered.

Sources suggest the development is being viewed in a positive light and the modalities for the process could be discussed in the next few days, though it is learnt that New Delhi has also sought some clarifications in its response.

A former Indian naval officer sentenced to death by the Pakistan military court, Jadhav has been languishing in a Pakistani jail since March 3, 2016 on serious charges of espionage and conspiring to destabilise restive Balochistan province. But despite repeated requests from the Indian side, consular access has not been granted to Jadhav so far with India dragging the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The ICJ in Hague in its provisional order in May directed a stay on the pending execution subject to completion of trial. Pakistan has to submit its response on the case to the ICJ by December 13.

Sushma Swaraj had informed Jadhavs mother Avantika personally about the ICJ interim order. India has been pushing for a meeting between Jadhavs mother and him the last many months. Details about Jadhavs wife remain very sketchy. And it is not known if an Indian diplomat will be allowed to accompany said wife for the proposed meet.

Islamabad accuses Jadhav having an alias Hussain Mubarak Patel and of being a RAW agent. It was alleged he confessed to his crimes in front of a magistrate, with the video tape played out in a press conference. India rejects these charges calling Jadhav a retired naval officer who was abducted from Iran.

Jadhavs mercy plea is currently with the Army chief and according to sources, it will also go the Supreme Court before reaching the Pakistan Presidents office for a final decision.
Smita Sharma

New Delhi, November 18

India has responded to Pakistans note verbale offering a meeting between jailed Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav and his wife. The proposal by the Pakistan Foreign Office through the Indian High Commission in Islamabad came on November 10.

"The Government of Pakistan has decided to arrange a meeting of Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav with his wife in Pakistan, purely on humanitarian grounds," read an official statement. Pakistan's Foreign office spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal tweeted: Indian reply to Pakistan's humanitarian offer for Commander Jadhav received & is being considered.

The development is being viewed as a positive one and modalities for the process could be discussed in the next few days. New Delhi has sought some clarifications, it is learnt.

A former Indian Navy officer sentenced to death by Pakistan's military court, Jadhav has been languishing in jail since March 3, 2016, on charges of espionage and conspiring to destabilise restive Balochistan. Despite repeated requests, Pakistan had so far refused consular access to Jadhav, pushing India to move the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague. The ICJ, in its provisional order in May, ordered a stay on Jadhav's pending execution, subject to completion of the trial. Pakistan must submit its response in the case to the ICJ by December 13.

For the past several months, India has been pushing for a meeting between Jadhav and his mother Avantika. Details about Jadhavs wife remain sketchy. Islamabad claims Jadhav alias Hussain Mubarak Patel is a RAW agent who has confessed his crimes before a magistrate. India rejects these charges, maintaining that Jadhav, a retired Navy officer, had been abducted from Iran.

Jadhavs mercy plea is with the Pakistan Army Chief. Sources say the plea will go the Supreme Court and then the Pakistan Presidents office for a final decision.
Washington, November 18

UN General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak has held several rounds of consultations at the UN headquarters in New York ahead of next week's crucial election to break the deadlock between India and the UK for the last seat at the International Court of Justice.

India's nominee Dalveer Bhandari and Britain's Christopher Greenwood, who are seeking re-election at the Hague-based ICJ, are locked in a major battle as 11 rounds of elections held in both the UN General Assembly and UN Security Council have failed to yield results.

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The UNGA and the UNSC are scheduled to meet Monday afternoon for the 12th round of voting. The meeting will be presided over by Lajcak.

Under the election procedures, the balloting would be held simultaneously by the Assembly and the Council.

In the successive rounds of elections spread over two days in the last two weeks, Bhandari, 70, enjoyed nearly two- third majority in the 193-member Assembly.

Greenwood, 62, received nine votes as against five by Bhandari in the Security Council. As per ICJ rules, the candidates need to gain majority in both the General assembly and Security Council to be declared elected.

The Hague-based ICJ has 15 judges on its bench.

Elections for one-third of its judges are held every three years.

While four of the ICJ judges were elected early this month when they received the required majority of votes in both the General Assembly (193 members) and the 15-membered Security Council.

Earlier today, Lajcak's spokesperson Brenden Varma told reporters about the meetings.

"The president will meet today with the president of the Security Council, Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi of Italy, as well as the UN Office of Legal Affairs and the UN Department for General Assembly and Conference Management," he told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.

Asked to elaborate on the president's consultations and the nature of the current impasse, Varma responded that the General Assembly was planning to meet on Monday to resume the elections, and no deadlines had been missed at this stage.

"In that regard, it is premature to speak about any sort of impasse," he said.

"It would be good to wait until Monday to see how the meeting goes," the spokesperson added.

Regarding the consultations, Varma said the president would be discussing the continuation of the elections.

"Because the candidates need to secure majorities in both the General Assembly and Security Council, coordination between the two organs, including with respect to the timing of the elections, is helpful," he said.

"The president is a big proponent of dialogue, which includes talking to various interlocutors about issues and ensuring that everyone is on the same page," he said.

The consultations could be seen in that context, Varma said.

Meanwhile, the US refused to respond to questions on ICJ elections in New York.

"We do not preview our votes at the UN," a State Department Spokesperson told PTI.

The US is not only a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, but also it has significant influence over the members of the body.

Its stand on the issue is not known publicly.

India is aiming at getting two-thirds of the votes in the UN General Assembly on Monday.

Senior Congress leader and former UN official Shashi Tharoor has called on the Security Council "to respect the mandate of the General Assembly".

A day earlier, Varma said there were additional procedures that could be followed in New York if the Monday's meeting remained inconclusive.

For example, a joint conference could be formed, consisting of six members (three appointed by the General Assembly and three by the Security Council). PTI
New Delhi, November 18

Union minister Smriti Irani took a jibe at Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for his reported maharaja comments amidst a row over period drama Padmavati.

Tharoor, on Thursday, reportedly said the so called valorous maharajas had scurried to accommodate themselves when the British trampled over their honour and were now after a filmmaker, claiming that prestige was at stake.

Reacting to Tharoors remarks, Irani on Friday tweeted, Did all the Maharajas (kings) kneel in front of the British? What will Jyotiraditya Scindia, Diggi Raja (Digvijaya Singh) and Amarinder Singh say on Shashi Tharoor's comments?

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Congress leaders Scindia, Digvijaya Singh and Amarinder Singh hail from royal families.

However, Tharoor on Thursday had tweeted, Im dismayed that some BJP supporters are claiming I attacked Rajput honour...I spoke about the Maharajahs who made their accommodations w/the (with the) British. I have never made a communal comment in my life.

As for specific concerns of the Rajput community, he said peoples sentiments must be respected in the interest of Indias diversity and harmony.

Rajput valour is part of our history and is not in question. BJP and its censors should take these concerns into account, Tharoor said.

Sanjay Leela Bhansalis movie Padmavati is witnessing protests with some groups alleging that it tampered with historical facts. PTI
Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 18

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant today announced participants from 150 countries, with over 50 per cent of them businesswomen, will attend the 8th edition of three-day Indo-US Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES).

The joint summit, which is being organised in Hyderabad from November 28-30, is going to be first in South Asia, as the earlier editions were held in Washington DC, Istanbul, Dubai, Marrakech, Nairobi, Kuala Lumpur and Silicon Valley.

Addressing a pre-event press briefing, Kant said the summit would be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and American delegation will be led by Ivanka Trump, the Advisor to US President Donald Trump.

For India, this summit holds a special place as we are more intensely focused than ever before to give entrepreneurs the opportunities and ecosystem to help them thrive, he said.

We have been encouraging the spirit of entrepreneurship through various programmes be that Start-up India, Make in India, or Atal Innovation Mission. This summit will help us showcase our incredible potential to the world.

In a statement, NITI Aayog, the lead organiser from the Indian side, said: Approximately one-third of the selected entrepreneurs are from the US, another one-third from India and the rest are from other countries around the globe.

Women will represent 52.5 per cent of all participants and this is the first time that women have been the majority of participants at the GES, the statement said.

Ivanka Trump-led delegation will highlight the theme of Women First, Prosperity for All and focus on supporting women entrepreneurs and fostering economic growth globally.

Women power

Over 50 per cent of participants at Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad, first ever in South Asia, from November 28-30 will comprise women.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 18

The Aam Aadmi Party today demanded that sessions of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha should take place for more days. According to a letter submitted by four MLAs of the party led by Leader of the Opposition Sukhpal Khaira, the sittings of the Vidhan Sabha are decreasing every year and members get very limited opportunity to express their views in the House. The party also demanded that the meeting of representatives of all parties be convened to discuss the issue.

He said from 1952 to 1977, the number of sittings held was far greater than that of sittings held in present times. He demanded that the minimum number of sittings of the House during a financial year should not be less than 40 as per rule 14-A of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Punjab Vidhan Sabha so that members may get sufficient opportunity to raise public issues in the House.

He suggested that discussions may be held for a day or two on the burning issue such as farmer suicides and alarming number of road accidents.

He demanded that the maximum number of sittings should be increased during the Budget Session. In the present times, the Budget is generally passed in three sittings but it used to be passed in 13-14 sittings.

The party demanded that proceedings of the House should be telecast live.

Seeks minimum 40 sittings in a year

Leader of Opposition Sukhpal Khaira said from 1952 to 1977, the number of sittings held was far greater than that held in present times. He demanded that the minimum number of sittings of the House during a financial year should be 40 so that members may get sufficient opportunity to raise public issues in the House.
Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, November 18

The fledgling Kolkata-based Bangladesh Gurdwara Management Board, which made a wobbly start in 1972, has organised yet another successful pilgrimage. Pilgrims, numbering 200, reached Bangladesh on November 9. The last batch returned home recently.

Two dignitaries, including Obaidul Quader, the Bangladesh minister for roads, transport and bridges, visited the historic Nanakshahi Gurdwara at Dhaka and promised the pilgrims support for any programme organised at the shrine. Hands folded and eyes shut, he stood in front of Guru Granth Sahib and prayed, said an evidently pleased Harbhajan Singh, a resident of Amritsar and follower of the Kar Sewa sect headed by Sukha Singh of Tarn Taran.

Sukhdev Singh, also from Amritsar, recalled how the nagar kirtan in Dhaka on November 10 had drawn an overwhelming response. We were looked after well. People from all religions attended the gurdwara functions. It seemed we were celebrating communal amity, said Bhai Gurbux Singh of Takht Hazur Sahib, Nanded, Maharashtra. Awami League MP Quazi Rosy also visited the gurdwara and interacted with the pilgrims, he added.

The Sikh pilgrimage circuit in Bangladesh consists of five gurdwaras  two each in Dhaka and Chittagong and one in Mymensingh. As Bangladesh does not have any Sikh population, there is no Sikh on the Dhaka-based Gurdwara Management Committee.

Headed by a Hindu, Parashuram Begi, and with local Hindus, Muslims and Christians as its members, the committee looks after the gurdwaras as well as pilgrims visiting the shrines during Baisakhi and Guru Nanaks birth anniversary.

Controlled by Kolkata panel
Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 18

Goraya resident Reena (34) returned home today after a harrowing time in Saudi Arabia, where she was underpaid and tortured by her employers.

Her return was facilitated by the External Affairs Ministry after her video, in which she appealed to AAP MP Bhagwant Mann to rescue her, went viral.

Talking to The Tribune, she said, I will never go abroad again. I urge all women planning to work overseas to conduct a thorough investigation about their agent and the promises being made to them.

Reena reached Saudi Arabia in October 2016. My employers treated me well during the first few months, but later they started tormenting me. They held me captive and used to beat me up. While I was promised Rs 25,000 per month, I was given barely Rs 15,000. I was also not allowed to call up anyone. Reenas husband had gone to Bahrain, but he came back after sustaining a serious injury in an accident. Her 10-year-old son is studying, while her 15-year-old daughter quit studies earlier.

I now plan to earn a livelihood in India and take care of my husband and children, she added.
IRD fetes countrys largest taxpayers

The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) on Friday felicitated 15 companies and an individual for being the largest taxpayers in the fiscal year 2016-17.
Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 18

When Krishan Kumar sought a withdrawal of Rs5 lakh from his general provident fund (GPF) for his daughters marriage, little did the senior tax assistant know that he would end up embroiled in legal wrangling.

He was asked by the Assistant Commissioners office to furnish the details of not just the bridegroom and his family, but even that of halwai, caterer, tent-provider, cameramen and disc jockey.

The move has prompted Justice Rajan Gupta of the High Court to summon Income Tax Deputy Commissioner Neelam Sharma.

Justice Gupta also issued a show-cause notice to her to explain whether she violated the orders passed by writ court willfully by over-reaching the process of court and, if so, whether appropriate punishment was needed to be awarded.

Kumar had moved the HC against the Union of India and other respondents after his request for withdrawal of money was refused by the Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax Circle (Administration), Patiala, vide an order dated January 3. His request was again refused on February 3.

Taking up the petition filed through counsel Ashu Kaushik, the Bench observed that the petitioner was suspended in June 2016. His first request was rejected by passing of a cryptic and non-speaking order. It did not disclose the reason for rejection.

Referring to the rules in the second rejection order, the authority concerned said the amount lying in the GPF could be disbursed only to an employee with a permanent service of 15 years or more. But his permanent service was for 14 years and seven months on the date of passing of the order.

Disposing of the petition on September 27, the Bench directed the Assistant Commissioner to pass an order afresh on the request of withdrawal of money after observing that the petitioner had completed 15 years of service.

Alleging violation of the September 27 order, Kaushik again moved the HC by filing a contempt-of-court petition. Justice Gupta took note of his submission that the information asked for by the respondent was irrelevant for the withdrawal of the GPF.
Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, November 18

A strike by instructors of 24 colleges across Ontario (Canada) has severely impacted over 3 lakh international students academically and financially.

They said they would not be unable to pursue studies till the strike by instructors under the banner of Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) is called off. The strike has been underway since October 16.

The students fear that if the semester is condensed or extended, it could result in delayed graduation, additional financial requirements and visa-related issues.

A student of Centennial College, Surbhi Sareen, who hails from Jalandhar, said, I wont be able to take up my public relations course in January if I cant finish my human resource management semester II classes by December 22.

Another student from Punjab, Gifty, said, Our money and time is at stake, in case the semester gets extended for another four months. In Canada, where jobs are temporary, it would become more difficult for us to manage expenses. We just hope this strike ends soon. The students who were doing campus jobs are suffering more.

Students are demanding a tuition fee refund for each day missed due to the strike. Through a post on social media sites #wepaytolearn, students are being asked to sign a petition for reimbursement for each day lost.

On an average, for tuition fee of $5,000 for two 13-week semesters, we are paying $40 per day to be in school. We demand that every full-time student must be reimbursed $30/day and part-time students must be reimbursed $20/day to manage expenses, said another student, Jasleen Kaur.

Surbhi said, Over 12,000 part-time and contract-based instructors, who teach for seven to 12 hours a week, are on strike. They want that at least 50 per cent of teachers should be full-time or permanent ones, besides a hike in their wages.
Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, November 18

An absconding principal of a government school has been booked on charges of molesting two students a day after an inquiry commission indicted him, police said on Saturday.

Police booked principal of Ghabdan Meritorious School, retired Wing Commander C Deepak Dogra, on charges of molestation on Saturday after an inquiry committee found merit in a complaint that he had behaved inappropriately with two female students of Class 12.

Devinder Singh, Station Head Officer of Sangrur Sadar police station, said police had raided the school within minutes of filing an FIR, but Dogra had already left the school by then.

Dogra has been booked for sexual harassment under Section 354-A of the Indian Penal Code, as well as sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

Sangrur Deputy Commissioner (DC) APS Virk and Sub-Divisional Magistrate Avikesh Gupta held meetings with schools staff on Saturday.

Two female students had accused Dogra of having called them to his residence on the school campus, ushering them into his bedroom, and touching them inappropriately, even trying to forcibly kiss one student, on November 1.

Last week, Sangrur district commissioner Virk formed a special committee to inquire into the allegations. The committee submitted its report on Friday.
Michael Glover

This month a sensational story about art, the Nazis and a part-concealed Jewish identity, stutters to a fascinatingly inconclusive conclusion in Germany with the opening of two exhibitions, one in Bonn and the other in Bern. The story began in 2012 when an old man called Cornelius Gurlitt was accused of tax evasion by the authorities. The accusation led to discovery of a trove of art in his Munich apartment. For months the authorities kept the story to themselves. Then the press got wind of it.

The art had belonged to his father Hildebrand, who had been a museum director and art dealer from the time of the Weimar Republic in the 1920s, and throughout the Third Reich and on. Hildebrand had died in a car accident in 1956. It was presented as nothing less than the story of the wheelings and dealings of Hitlers principal art dealer  and here was the loot perhaps, in the custody of his 80-year-old, reclusive son, in the full dazzle of publicity.

The two exhibitions put on display 400 of the 1,500 works in the Gurlitt collection, 250 in Bonn and 150 in Bern. They also tell the immensely complicated story of that seizure and its impact, demonstrate how the provenance experts of Germany and Switzerland responded to its shock waves, and show off some of its best works by modern masters as Klee, Munch, Dix, Marc, Nolde. Most interesting of all, they present in great detail the convoluted, morally dubious story of Hildebrand Gurlitt himself within the context of the tumultuous times through which he lived.

Yes, it was one respectable mans fear of the consequence of having been condemned as a Mischling (a man of mixed race, one quarter Jew) and sent to the camps, which caused the Dresden art dealer and museum director Hildebrand Gurlitt to work with the Reich Ministry in order to save his own skin. A Nuremberg Law of 1935 had characterised him as a second-degree half-caste. He was a vulnerable man, aware of the pressing need to survive in an ever more dangerous world. The only answer was to cosy up to the regime. He perjured himself by dealing in and disposing of works that Hitler condemned as degenerate, which were snatched from public museums, and looted from Jewish collectors.

Hildebrands skills as an art dealer were extremely useful. The Reich desperately needed foreign currency to fund the war effort. He bought, sold and acquired work for German museums and other collectors, and amassed works for his own private collection, enriching himself in the process. He became Hitlers art dealer. And after the war, under close scrutiny at the denazification tribunal, he slipped through the net that appeared to be closing around him by characterising himself as a victim.

In the basement of the Kunstmuseum Bern, 150 of the 1,500 works in the Gurlitt estate have gone on display, all examples of what Hitler and his cronies characterised as degenerate art. What exactly does it mean though, this word degenerate? There is no logical explanation because it was not logical, said Nina Zimmer, director of Bern museum. It was an ideological impulse.

What fascinates us is the realisation that Hitler, a poor artist himself, believed in arts power to transform lives. He thought these works were so dangerous because they had the power to deprave the human spirit. Hitler believed art should be elevating, noble, in tune with the aristocratic principle. The art here is, by comparison, full of bodily distortion.

At the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn, we see a much broader range of works from the Gurlitt trove altogether, from Durer and Holbein to Monet, Degas and Picasso. Here are many works which Hitler himself would have favoured, 18th-century French paintings, for example, of which his own hero, Frederick the Great, would have approved, and consequently the kinds of art that might yet be shown in the Fuhrer Museum in Linz, a grandiose scheme which was never realised.

Himself, Gurlitt was a tissue of contradictions, an opportunist. Before and after the Second World War, he had championed the cause of modern art but denounced it during the years of the Reich. He was to champion it yet again after the war.

 The Independent
Rameshinder Singh Sandhu

If your travel plans are taking you to Chicago, known for its architecture and skyscrapers, you will also be greeted by more than 100 fibreglass dog statues, painted in different colours and designs on several streets in the downtown.

Interestingly, each one of these sculptures is a German Shepherd and has a police connection. The exhibition is dedicated to Chicago police dogs for the hard work they do every day to assist the police officers in keeping the city safe.

An initiative of the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation (CPMF) and Chicago Paws (CP), the exhibits are on display till early next year.

Besides saluting police dogs that go for building searches, detect narcotics and explosives, search for evidence and even missing people, the exhibition also gave a platform to hundreds of local artists, including three police artists who designed and painted these sculptors which stand sponsored by a local company, individual or a family.

Also open for sale, funds raised will go for training more dogs for assisting the police, for helping the families of fallen or wounded police officers and overall welfare of CP  the home of pets.

Coming to how each of these sculptures fascinate the tourists which also carries the name of the dog, name of the artist who worked on it and the sponsor, these are actually being photographed many times more than the skyscrapers around.

While some of these sculptures are painted as wearing duty uniforms, including the safety helmets worn during a bomb detection, glasses and name batches, some of their backs are painted with safety messages for the public and their daily routines. There are also those that are painted with city attractions and adorning all kind of colours  be it yellow, blue, pink or orange attracting one and all towards them. Then there are also those who are carrying the written city history, cartoon conversations on the city, sketches of their duty scenes and so on  grabbing every eye.

And, how these are all positioned (majority on Michigan Avenue) does make a point as despite being sculptures, these clearly seem to be guarding the downtown other than offering a warm welcome to the city. Moreover, these appear quite real as if are busy observing their surroundings. These have been placed in front of hotel doors, shops, showrooms, bus stops (guarding both sides), sitting in the planted areas, and even some of the secluded corners  taking note of their city and in return, everyone who sees them comes running to them to hug them followed by selfies and pictures and, of course, they deserved to be hugged for the work they do.

Then are also many of the tourists, who taking note of the police connection, cant hold themselves on approaching the nearby policemen on duty to know more about this exhibition and the answers go on to praising them  calling them their canine heroes that never let them down.
Saba Naqvi

The Ahmedabad-based taxi driver had been with me for two days, helpful and pleasant, as we toured Gujarat for the ongoing elections. On our way back from Viramgam, I told him, We will be entering through Juhapura (India's largest Muslim ghetto) and could we please stop. I got a blunt answer: No one should stop there; that is Pakistan; all filth of Gujarat comes from Juhapura; I will not stop there.

I've confronted communalism of various forms but this was more profoundly troubling as it was just a matter of fact statement. My driver did not intend to be vicious; he was revealing the manner in which he and many other Gujaratis see Muslims. Intellectually, what was interesting for me was to understand the notion of "fear" of the Muslim although 15 years ago, it was the minority that was viciously brutalised in the state.

Take Juhapura, before 2002 just another Muslim neighbourhood in Ahmedabad with a population of 40,000. After the riots, Muslims from across the city and the state came there seeking sanctuary and today the population is 5,00,000.

This expanding population is served by just two primary schools run by the government and one secondary school. But the good news is that where the state has abdicated, the community has, via various trusts and private initiatives, responded by setting up its own schools  not madarsas  and close to 30 primary and secondary schools have come up in Juhapura.

There Gujarat's second-class citizens live without adequate streetlights, parks, pucca roads, separated from Hindu neighbourhoods with ditches and barbed wires. Yet as human beings do, they persevere with their lives and possibly the strong tradition of entrepreneurship among a section of the Gujarati Muslim has just made this ghetto a universe unto itself. Muslim enclaves in Uttar Pradesh could learn some lesson from the sheer survival skills of their Gujarati brethren.

This is not the first time I've travelled in Gujarat and it's the only part of India where it's become par for the course for me to avoid revealing my name when traveling outside Ahmedabad. I don't feel victimised by having to invisibilise myself; I just do it to get people to open up more frankly. That is why I quite understand the need of the minorities of Gujarat who want to invisibilise themselves during the election campaign.

Take Rahul Gandhi's energetic campaign in the Modi bastion, in the course of which he has visited many temples. There is no appeal being made to him to balance that with visits to distinctly "Muslim" locales. On the contrary, appeals have been made to him to avoid doing just that by members of the minority community.

It must also be said that Juhapura is not representative of all Gujarats Muslims although it is certainly representative of Ahmedabad, where some of the most brutal violence took place in 2002. I was also pleasantly surprised to land up in the midst of a panchayat meeting in a village in Mehsana district, dominated by Patels, but where there were two Muslim members. Gujarati speaking, they were transporters and not afraid to voice their views in front of the others who were supporting the BJP.

Communalism is so open in Gujarat that the sarpanch just said to their faces that Muhommadans always think differently. Such barbs were traded quite amicably. It was a riotous and raucous meeting, but a riot did not seem to be in the offing.

And so I moved on perversely relieved that at least the great election narrative in Gujarat was refreshing in one respect: one was not fed reams of stories from reporters obsessed with cracking the mysteries of the Muslim vote and then getting it spectacularly wrong.

This is partly because the demographics of Gujarat are different from the two big heartland states, where the minority community makes up nearly 20 per cent of the electorate (as do Dalits). In Gujarat, Muslims are 10 per cent and Dalits 7 per cent. Second, there is no multiplicity of regional parties from which the minorities can choose in Gujarat and the only alternative to the BJP is the Congress.

What is visible in such stark relief in Gujarat should also be seen beyond the BJP and Modi, it is also linked to global processes across the world where Muslims have become a feared community. If one really examines the facts, one may see the tragedy of wars in lands whose inhabitants are followers of Islam. The developed West keeps expressing the fear of the Muslim, but no guilt for destroying many of their homelands.

Similarly, there is no guilt in Gujarat about the 2002 events and Muslims continue to be viewed as suspicious, filthy, dangerous or all of the above. They are not allowed to work in many buildings in Ahmedabad and a city editor explains to me that it's sound Gujarati business-sense to recognise that if Muslims move into any area, property prices would go down.
By K. Natwar Singh

Do people remember Indira Gandhi well? Yes, they do. Which is the most visited memorial in the country? Well, it is the Indira Gandhi Memorial at 1 Safdarjung Road in New Delhi. Busloads come every day. They come from all parts of the country. They and their children come to pay homage to Indira ma.

I was the vice-chairman of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust for over 15 years. The trust organised annual conferences in various parts of the country  Mumbai, Pune, Guwahati, Mount Abu, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram and other cities. Invitees were men and women of high distinction, politicians, authors, academicians, artists, scientists and businessmen.

Sonia Gandhi presided over these conferences. These were, to use a tired phrase, big hits. The papers read there were of high quality. These were compiled in a handsome volume.

Today is Indira Gandhis 100th birthday. In 1917, end of the First World War was nowhere in sight. Gandhi was well on the way to become Mahatma, Jinnah was an active member of the Congress and the Russian Revolution was a few weeks old. The whole of Africa (except Ethiopia, Liberia and South Africa) and large parts of Asia were under the colonial rule. Lloyd George was the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Woodrow Wilson was the US President and George Clemenceau was the French President.

Life expectancy in India was 25 years. Literacy rate for men was 15 per cent and for women 1 per cent.

Was Indira Gandhi a very great prime minister or only a great prime minister? She would have been the former, but for Emergency and Operation Bluestar. The former dented her reputation, the latter her life. For historys judgement, we must wait for a few more decades. I guess it will be favourable.

I shall now come to the ultimate act of immodesty by quoting myself. In the chapter on Indira Gandhi in my book Profiles and Letters, I wrote: When she was assassinated on October 31, 1984, the spring went out of my life. She inspired in me a lasting affection and a degree of respect, verging on veneration. I owe her more than I can say. Probably, much more than I know.

* * *

I first met Robert Mugabe in the early 1980s at a hidden location near Harare. I was then High Commissioner to Zambia. He was the leader of ZANU  Zimbabwe African Nationalist Union. By then it was clear that he would be prime minister of Zimbabwe. This he did in April 1980. Indira Gandhi attended the independence day celebrations of Zimbabwe. I accompanied her. The 89 years of the British rule ended. Ian Smith, the outgoing white prime minister of Southern Rhodesia, had claimed that there would be no black rule in that country for 1000 years. He found himself in the dustbin of history.

Rajiv Gandhi visited Harare in May 1986. My birthday was on May 16. It was celebrated on a flight along with Mrs and Mr Mugabe  as guests of Rajiv Gandhi. Mr and Mrs Mugabe said: Both of us wish you a Happy Birthday. Their signatures appeared inside the card, which, somehow has survived. It was quiet an occasion  two heads of government wishing yours truly all the best on my 56th birthday.

President Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years with an iron fist. He is now 93. His second wife, Grace is 51, a good-looking lady. Apparently Mr Mugabe wished her to succeed him. This wholly undemocratic and arbitrary pronouncement has led to his house arrest by the army. Technically, he is still President but without power. Every one wishes that he goes into graceful retirement. So far the army is treating him with kid gloves. His contemporary Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia lives in Zambian capital Lusaka. He too is 93. The other contemporary Julius Nyerere of Tanzania died more than a decade ago.

President Mugabes obduracy proves the adage that the lives of most political leaders end in failure.

* * *

In late December 1988, I was in Islamabad with Rajiv Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao for the SAARC Summit. At the end of the first days deliberations, I ran into a Pakistani journalist, who with a straight face said to me, Sir, in Pakistan you are considered a hawk. My reply: We run a foreign policy not a bird sanctuary.
Smita Sharma in New Delhi

In the early 90s posted in Paraguay as a young diplomat, Frank Hans Dannenberg Castellanos, recalls transiting through Chile once. He saw people wearing gas masks. When his aircraft took off, the image of heavy brown mushroom smoke looming over the city remained stuck in his memory. Today Ambassador Castellanos, the Dominican envoy to India and dean of the Diplomatic Corps, has serious concerns about Delhi's air crisis that has affected his sleep.

He conveyed the concerns of the diplomatic community comprising of 159 missions in India to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) formally. A former Indian foreign secretary calls this 'unusual' reflecting how serious the situation has become.

In his meeting with the MEA official, the Dean said: We completely understand that this is an issue that affects 22 million people that live in this city and not just the diplomatic community. We all breathe the same air.

But bad air can choke diplomacy: Chile choked in the early 90s leading to heartburn literally for diplomats posted there. The slash and burn practices primarily in Sumatra and Kalimantan led to a disastrous South East Asian haze crisis in 2015 that engulfed not just Indonesia, but also Brunei and Singapore. Being named the most polluted city in the world by WHO in 1992 was a diplomatic nightmare for Mexico City which panicked but decided to fight the good fight.

We update our emergency plans, our car rationing and our monitoring stations. We are making international commitments to phase out coal by 2030, says Mexican ambassador to India, Melba Pria.

The diplomatic community has been struggling to cope with the gas chamber that the NCR has transformed into. Gas masks and air purifiers are being used extensively by missions and their staff. Outdoor exercises and physical activity for children stopped in British and American schools in this season. European missions have allowed extended vacations to diplomats with families to fly to Bhutan, Singapore and other neighbouring destinations with better air quality.

Thailand's Ambassador Gongsakdi has asked his headquarters to consider designating India a 'hardship posting' for better staff welfare measures and budgetary compensation. Costa Rican envoy Mariela Cruz Alvarez decided to call it quits in Delhi after she was forced to seek hospitalization in Bengaluru, thanks to respiratory ailment.

In a blog that went viral, the envoy, a yoga practitioner and strong follower of Art of Living, wrote: We need to wake up fast. India I love you and it hurts me to see you drowning in loads of plastic and toxic air.

Even Beijing managed to formulate a strategy following the national debate triggered in 2011. In 2013 the Chinese government came up with a 10-point action plan. Air quality monitoring standards were changed. Fuel standards were improved and heavy fines imposed on farmers who burnt crops in north eastern parts of China.

Public participation increased through technology. There were more than 5 million downloads of the Blue Map App last year that empowers citizens to monitor local as well as global air index on their cell phone and also report violations of chemical factories and industrial plants polluting China.

Not acceptable: Doing nothing

New Delhi: Excerpts from an interview with Mexican Ambassador Melba Pria

How has the air crisis in Delhi affected your and the embassy staffs daily working?

We have been affected. But the important thing to remember is that everyone in Delhi and in many cities of this country are affected. But what about the children who grow up in Delhi and are forced to breathe this air?

Has any staff suffered from respiratory problems or has anyone sought leave?

There have been mild respiratory issues. We are arranging to buy additional air purifiers and replacing filters.

Does Mexico City or any other city in your country face similar issues?

Mexico City was named the most polluted city by the WHO in 1992, but we managed to achieve considerable progress. One of the greatest achievements is that the citizens have become more aware.

Any emergency measures you recommend?

What worked for Mexico City may or may not work for Delhi or other cities. My message is air pollution will not end simply by wishing it away. What is not acceptable is to stay frozen, doing nothing about it.
Sushil Manav in Chandigarh

It was a better day, though hazy, on Nov 15: A perfect opportunity for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to land in Chandigarh; his flight was on time. Exactly a week back, a pea-souper had engulfed Delhi, forcing closure of primary schools in the national capital. Pollution had hit 70 notches more than the World Health Organizations safe level, prompting doctors in the capital city to warn of a public health emergency. Dozens of trains coming to the capital and 30 flights had been delayed. So, Nov 15 was to be the best available day. The CM met his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar two days after Kejriwals fervent wish to see Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh had been met with a bridling rejection.

The subject of supposedly three-way discussion was burning of the stubble, the paddy crop residue that most farmers have to burn  causing widespread suffocating smoke across North India  in the absence of a viable and economical alternative. Not that Khattar and Kejriwal managed to hit it off well; that was not the agenda. They pulled off a surprise for the reporters: the CMs finished off the official meeting in about an hour, smiled before the cameras and offered platitudes such as they would work together to get the national capital rid of the deadly smog by next year.

Then came in a weather prediction: it was going to be a little breezy, and that there could be a drizzle by the weekend. So, the smog had to go as per the annual weather pattern. All have breathed a sigh of relief. Any long-term solution to stubble burning  contributing about 20% of smog  thus remains as elusive as ever.

Back in the Haryana hinterland, time was running out for Sukhraj Singh, a farmer from Dher village of Fatehabad: His fields were still strewn with dried paddy stubble. Several farmers in his neighbourhood areas had already prepared for the next wheat crop. The fear of getting fined for burning the residue weighed heavy on his mind more because his farmland is situated along the main Fatehabad-Jakhal-Chandigarh road and is easily visible. Finally, he gave in and set his fields on fire last Tuesday.

I know what I am doing is banned, but I don't have any options. I have to prepare my fields for wheat within the next week, otherwise I will be late, said Sukhraj.

Farmers in a bind

Hundreds of farmers in Fatehabad, Sirsa, Hisar, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Panipat, Ambala, Yamunanagar and other paddy-producing areas have burnt the paddy stubble defying orders from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and warnings from the state government. The authorities told us to keep stubble aside and that they would arrange for its transportation to gaushalas (cow protection centres). But they didn't tell us where to store it. To store stubble in an acre, one needs at least 1-marla land. So, over 19,000 acres will be required to store stubble if all farmers in the state decide not to burn the stubble, says a farmer at Dharsul village of Fatehabad. Fatehabad deputy commissioner Hardeep Singh says he has asked villagers to deposit stubble on panchayat land wherever it is lying vacant.

Satnam Singh, a Sirsa farmer, says he can allow the stubble to decompose provided he was allowed to transplant paddy a bit earlier. But paddy sowing before June 15 is banned by law. Gurjeet Singh Mann, a progressive farmer from Sirsa, says sowing early varieties of paddy was not practical for several reasons.

The government bars paddy transplantation before June 15 every year because sowing takes place in standing water when the evaporation is very high during May and first half of June. Relaxation in the ban would result in inferior rice quality, says Mann.

The ill-effects of smog do not limit to NCR alone; people living in the hinterland where paddy straw is being burnt are equally affected. Dr Manish Tuteja, Chest and TB Specialist in general hospital Fatehabad, where most incidents of setting paddy fields on fire have been reported, says the number of patients in his OPD increased from 120 normally to 180 during the smoggy days. Most patients complained of chest and throat infection, he said.

Going around in circles

On October 5, the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) issued a three-page order citing directions of the National Green Tribunal and Punjab & Haryana High Court on disposal of wheat and paddy straw. The board issued directions for effective implementation of the orders and formed district-level committees under deputy commissioners.

The orders said that small landholders having an area less than 2 acres will have to pay an environmental compensation of Rs 2,500 per incident of fire, those with landholding of more than 2 acres but less than 5 acres will have to pay Rs 5,000 per incident and those with more than 5 acres will have to pay a compensation of Rs 15,000 per incident of fire on their fields.

Environment Minister Vipul Goel says police cases have been registered against 244 farmers and a fine of Rs 18.65 lakh has been imposed on 695 farmers for stubble burning in Haryana. The number is very small considering that the total area under paddy in the state is nearly 12 lakh hectares, and lakhs of farmers grow the crop and burn their stubble.

A senior SPCB officer says the board is ill-equipped to take up the mammoth task. At least half of our 12 regional offices looking after three districts each do not have a vehicle. Our official work is very diverse. During smoggy days, our staff in the NCR region remained busy till midnight to ensure closure of manufacturing units as per NGT orders, he said.

Farmers can't be blamed, as smoke from stubble burning constitutes merely 15% of the total air pollution, says former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda. He is against the fine imposed on farmers and demands that the state government pay it because it has failed to provide any alternative to farmers.

40 years later, Punjab pays for paddy shift

Chandigarh: The problem of crop residue burning has taken a serious turn over the last 40 years when the first cotton crop  a cash staple  failed in Punjab and farmers were bedazzled by the government and farm scientists pleas to go in for paddy. A farmer growing traditional crops such as pearl millet, maize, pulses and oilseeds in the late 70s and early 80s with subsistence existence was hooked.

Today, Rs 11,477 crore is needed to prevent stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana and Western UP, as per a Niti Aayog data. The Aayog is of the view that an infusion of Rs 5, 000 crore should be immediately credited to the farmers under the Direct Benefit Transfer system to tide over the crises. The amount can enable a farmer to buy necessary Conservation Agriculture (CA) implements.

From where this astronomical sum will come is anyones guess, but a study by CA scientists has calculated that Rs 484 crore was needed this year with potential benefits of Rs 1,470 crore spread over two years. Again its a case of low accountability and wastage of time. Strangely, the commission is silent on the burning that takes place even when wheat is harvested.

As an immediate measure, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered that straw should be procured for Rs 550 per quintal which would be used by the NTPC in its thermal plants. The farmers would only have to deliver the bales to the designated depots for this purpose and the expenses would be borne by the state. But it appeared a tall order. The NTPC counsel told the NGT on Friday that power plants converting farm stubble to pellets were only few. Now that most of the straw has already been set ablaze, the farmers wonder if the NGT would spare time to direct a state to fulfil its obligations in the next season.  Amarjit Thind
Anup Ojha is a reporter for The Kathmandu Post primarily covering social issues and human interest stories. Before moving to the social beat, Ojha covered arts and culture for the Post for four years.
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 18

Forest Minister Harak Singh Rawat has called upon the industry to look at the Biodiversity Act as an opportunity to sustain the business resources for the future generations rather than liability.

The minister was addressing a programme on biodiversity Act organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Dehradun.

Harak Singh Rawat said Uttarakhand was blessed with immense natural wealth and stressed the importance to safeguard its ecology.

He asserted that the industry too had a big responsibility towards safeguarding the ecology and called upon the industry not to look upon the Biodiversity Act as liability.

Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board member secretary SS Rasaily asserted that the spirit of the Act was not to incur any additional taxes or cess but meant to ensure that the bio-recourse is available in future as well to sustain their business.

We do not have any intention to force the Act on the industry but we welcome the industry to have a dialogue with us and participate as per their convenience, he added.

He said the state biodiversity board had constituted around 900 community members groups as Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) for access and benefit sharing of the resources in the state.

Earlier, making introductory remarks, Anil Taneja, Regional Director of the state chapter of the chamber, stated that there was need to present this Act as an opportunity to the industry.

Co-Chairman of the chamber Virendra Kalra stated that the chamber was committed to seeking clarifications on any ambiguities perceived by the industry in the implementation procedures of the biodiversity board.
Arusha (Tanzania), November 16

At least 11 people were killed after a plane crashed in Ngorongoro Crater in northern Tanzania on Wednesday.

We are deeply saddened to report that 11 peoples have died after a single plane accident this morning in northern Tanzania, The Coastal Aviation Company Management, the owner of the aircraft, said in a statement.

The Cessna Caravan plane, carrying a single pilot and ten passengers, was heading to the famous Serengeti National Park, a popular tourist destination when the incident took place.

The company said that the names of the passengers and crew were being withheld so their families could be informed.

The police has launched an investigation to establish the cause of accident, Anadolu news agency reported.

Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to everyone associated with this incident tonight. We are currently assessing the scene of the incident and will provide a further update when we have more information, Coastal Aviation Managing Director Julian Edmunds said in a statement.

Obviously, we are in shock. This is devastating. I fly our planes regularly. I have the utmost faith in our crew and our equipment. On behalf of the entire team at Coastal, we will be doing everything we can to assist the pending investigation. Nothing is more important to us than passenger safety, she said.  ANI
Buenos Aires, November 18

An Argentine submarine with 44 crew on board was missing in the South Atlantic two days after its last communication, prompting the navy to step up its search efforts late on Friday in difficult, stormy conditions.

The ARA San Juan was in the southern Argentine sea 432 km (268 miles) from the Patagonian coast when it sent its last signal on Wednesday, naval spokesman Enrique Balbi said.

The emergency operation was formally upgraded to a search-and-rescue procedure on Friday evening after no visual or radar contact was made with the submarine, Balbi said.

Detection has been difficult despite the quantity of boats and aircraft involved in the search, Balbi said, noting that heavy winds and high waves were complicating efforts.

Obviously, the number of hours that have passed - two days in which there has been no communication - is of note.

The navy believes the submarine, which left Ushuaia en route to the coastal city of Mar del Plata in Buenos Aires province, had communication difficulties that may have been caused by an electrical outage, Balbi said. Navy protocol would call for the submarine to come to the surface once communication was lost.

We expect that it is on the surface, Balbi said.

The German-built submarine, which uses diesel-electric propulsion, was inaugurated in 1983, making it the newest of the three submarines in the navys fleet, according to the navy.

President Mauricio Macri said the government was in contact with the crews families.

We share their concern and that of all Argentines, he wrote on Twitter. We are committed to using all national and international resources necessary to find the ARA San Juan submarine as soon as possible.

Argentina accepted an offer from the United States for a NASA P-3 explorer aircraft, which had been stationed in the southern city of Ushuaia and was preparing to depart to Antarctica, to fly over the search area, Balbi said.

A Hercules C-130 from the Argentine Air Force was also flying over the operational area. Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Britain and South Africa had also formally offered assistance.  Reuters.
Paris, November 18

Saad al-Hariri, who resigned as Lebanons Prime Minister this month while in Saudi Arabia, arrived in Paris on Saturday as part of French mediation efforts aimed at trying to ease tensions across the region. Hariris resignation on November 4 threw Lebanon into political crisis and put it centre-stage in the Middle Easts overarching rivalry between Sunni Saudi Arabia and its allies and a bloc led by Shia Iran.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who welcomed Hariri with a warm embrace at the Elysee Palace for talks and a family lunch, leveraged Frances close relations with both Lebanon and Saudi Arabia to secure a deal that saw Hariri travel to Paris and open the door to a resolution of the crisis.

Hariri, who arrived at his residence in Paris in the early hours of the morning, told Lebanese President Michel Aoun in a phone call from Paris that he would be in Lebanon on Wednesday for Independence Day celebrations, Aoun said on Twitter.

A French presidential source said the two would discuss in detail the reasons behind Hariris resignation and how to move ahead in the coming days.

Lebanon is being shaken so its important Hariri comes to Paris for us to work with him on the best way out of the crisis, said a senior French diplomat.

While undoubtedly a diplomatic coup for Macron, some regional and French diplomats have cautioned that his strategy to try to appease all sides in the region may backfire.

Paris has intensified its rhetoric over Irans regional activities. On Thursday, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian denounced Tehrans hegemonic temptations. Iran responded by accusing France of taking sides and Macron on Friday said Iran should clarify its ballistic missile programme. That was met by a rebuke in Tehran. On Saturday, Ali Akbar Velayati, a adviser to Irans supreme leader, said Macron should stay out of its affairs.  Reuters

Lebanon remarks: Riyadh recalls Berlin envoy
Cairo, November 18

Saudi Arabia has summoned its ambassador in Germany home for consultations over comments allegedly made by German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel during a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

The ministry said Saudi Arabia would deliver a protest note to Germanys ambassador in Riyadh over what it said were baseless comments made by Gabriel.

Such remarks provoke the surprise and disapproval of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which considers them as aimless and based on false information that would not help bringing about stability in the region, the ministry said in a statement in English carried by Saudi state news agency SPA.

The controversy revolves around the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri while on a visit to Saudi Arabia on Nov. 4, accusing the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group of spreading chaos in the region.

Hariris abrupt resignation and continued stay in Saudi Arabia has raised concern over Lebanons stability.

Hariri has since left Saudi Arabia with his family for a visit to France, in what was seen as a possible way out of the crisis.

The Saudi ministry did not single out any specific remarks by Gabriel it was referring to.

But on its website, the German foreign ministry quoted Gabriel as telling his Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil that Germany stands firmly by Lebanons side, and warned against fanning tension in the Middle East.

Another trouble spot is the last thing that people in the Middle East need now, Gabriel said, according to his ministrys website.  Reuters.
Washington, November 18

US President Donald Trump said in a tweet on Friday he is putting a decision to allow imports of elephant trophies on hold until he can review all conservation facts.

The rule released on Friday allowing hunters who kill elephants in Zimbabwe to bring their trophies back to the United States outraged animal activists.

Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts. Under study for years, Trump wrote, adding he would take it up with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Early word of the planned change had drawn protests from conservationists, who said it could deplete already at-risk elephant populations.

It also caused a social media firestorm, with opponents posting photos of President Donald Trumps sons Donald Jr. and Eric, avid hunters, posing with dead wild animals.

Tanya Sanerib, senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said on Friday in a statement: Its great that public outrage has forced Trump to reconsider this despicable decision, but it takes more than a tweet to stop trophy hunters from slaughtering elephants and lions. We need immediate federal action to reverse these policies.

Amid the backlash to reports that the move would apply to two southern African countriesZimbabwe and neighboring ZambiaWhite House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said it was due to a review by career officials at the US Fish and Wildlife Service which began back in 2014 under the previous administration of Democratic President Barack Obama.

This review established that both Zambia and Zimbabwe had met new standards, strict, international conservation standards, that allowed Americans to resume hunting in those countries, Sanders told reporters.

In an official notice published on Friday in the Federal Register, the US Fish and Wildlife Service said it had concluded that the killing of African elephants in Zimbabwe as trophies, between the dates of Jan. 21, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2018, will enhance the survival of the African elephant. The move, which would have reversed a policy implemented by Obama, was disclosed by Fish and Wildlife Service officials attending a meeting in Tanzania this week that was organized by a pro-trophy hunting group.

The officials had said Zambia would also be covered by the change, but only Zimbabwe was mentioned in Fridays notice.

ABC News reported that the Trump administration last month began granting permits for the import of trophies from the killing of lions in Zimbabwe and Zambia. The administration did not immediately say if the Trumps suspension applied to animals other than elephants.

Africas elephant population plunged by about a fifth between 2006 and 2015 because of increased poaching for ivory, a coveted commodity used in carving and ornamental accessories in China and other parts of Asia, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said last year.

Wildlife activists argue that corruption is endemic in impoverished Zimbabwe, and that money generated by big game hunting and meant for conservation has been diverted into the pockets of crooks and poachers.

Supporters say money made from well-regulated hunts has been used for costly wildlife conservation in cash-starved African countries battling to diminish chronic poverty.

The Republican chairman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, Representative Ed Royce, slammed the administrations decision to allow the imports, saying economic and political turmoil in Zimbabwe gave him zero confidence the authorities there were properly managing conservation programs.

Elephants and other big game in Africa are blood currency for terrorist organizations, and they are being killed at an alarming rate, Royce said in a statement. Stopping poaching isnt just about saving the worlds most majestic animals for the futureits about our national security. Zimbabwe was thrown into chaos this week when the army took charge, appearing to signal the end of long-serving President Robert Mugabes reign, despite the 93-year-olds insistence that he remains in charge.  Reuters.
Caracas/Bogota, November 18

Veteran Venezuelan opposition leader Antonio Ledezma, under house arrest since 2015 for alleged coup plotting, escaped across the border to Colombia on Friday and later flew to Spain.

With a 2018 presidential election looming, an array of major Venezuelan opposition figures are now in exile, detention or are barred from holding office.

They say Maduro has turned Venezuela into a dictatorship, while the government accuses them of joining forces with a US-led global plot to topple him.

Ledezma, the best-known detained opponent of leftist President Nicolas Maduro after Leopoldo Lopez, had spearheaded street protests against Maduro in 2014 that led to months of violence.

In Spain today I feel free, he said at Madrids Barajas airport, where he arrived in the early hours of Saturday. He was cheered by a small crowd including his wife and two daughters, who were already in Spain. Supporters chanted the Venezuelan anthem.

Lets not permit that Venezuela dies in our hands, he also said, adding that he would soon meet with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. The 62-year-old former Caracas metropolitan mayor said he had gone past 29 police and army controls during a clandestine, overland journey that he kept secret from his loved ones.

I ask my wife and daughters to understand. They have suffered long hours of anguish without knowing where I was, he told reporters in the Colombian border town of Cucuta after crossing a bridge from San Antonio in Venezuela.

It was my decision alone. Welcome to freedom! tweeted former Colombian President Andres Pastrana, who is close to Venezuelas opposition and the families of other jailed activists.

Ledezma was mocked by Maduro as The Vampire, and accused by officials of helping violent hardliners, including dissident military officers plotting to topple the president via air strikes. Ledezma said those charges were trumped up.  Reuters
Harare, November 18

Zimbabweans celebrating the expected fall of President Robert Mugabe marched towards his residence in the capital Harare on Saturday, live television pictures showed, as the country prepared to oust its leader of the last 37 years.

Hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of the capital singing, dancing and hugging soldiers in an outpouring of elation as Mugabes rule comes to an end.

In scenes reminiscent of the downfall of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, men, women and children ran alongside the armoured cars and troops that stepped in this week to oust the only ruler Zimbabwe has known since independence in 1980.

The 93-year-old Mugabe has been under house arrest in his lavish Blue Roof compound in Harare, from where he has watched support from his Zanu-PF party, security services and people evaporate in less than three days.

Mugabes nephew, Patrick Zhuwao, told Reuters on Saturday that the elderly leader and his wife were ready to die for what is correct and had no intention of stepping down in order to legitimise what he described as a coup.

Speaking from a secret location in South Africa, Zhuwao said Mugabe had hardly slept since the military seized power on Wednesday but his health was otherwise good.

On Harares streets, emotions ran high as Zimbabweans spoke of a second liberation for the former British colony, alongside their dreams of political and economic change after two decades of deepening repression and hardship.

These are tears of joy, Frank Mutsindikwa, 34, told Reuters, holding aloft the Zimbabwean flag. Ive been waiting all my life for this day. Free at last. We are free at last.

Mugabes downfall is likely to send shockwaves across Africa, where a number of entrenched strongmen, from Ugandas Yoweri Museveni to Democratic Republic of Congos Joseph Kabila, are facing mounting pressure to step aside.

The secretary-general of Zimbabwes War Veterans Association, Victor Matemadanda, called on those at an anti-Mugabe rally to march on Mugabes residence, and live television footage showed hundreds of protesters marching in that direction.

Let us now go and deliver the message that grandfather Mugabe and his typist-cum-wife should go home, Matemadanda told the crowd in the Harare township of Highfield.  Reuters

Economy imploded during President Mugabes 37-year rule

The scenes in Harare reflect the anger and frustration that has built up in two decades of economic mismanagement that started with the seizure of white-owned farms in 2000, the catalyst of a wider collapse

The central bank tried to print its way out of trouble by unleashing a flood of cash but that only made matters worse, leading to hyperinflation that topped out at 500 billion per cent in 2008

At least 3 million Zimbabweans emigrated in search of a better life, most of them to neighbouring South Africa

After stabilising briefly when Mugabe was forced to work with the opposition in a 2009-2013 unity government, the economy has collapsed again, this time due to a chronic shortage of dollars in the country. In October, monthly inflation leapt to more than 50%

NO DIS-GRACE
Monitoring ramped up in Dailekh's sensitive voting centers

Dailekh district administration has intensified monitoring in voting centers deemed to be highly sensitive during upcoming elections.
Oklahomas newest and youngest state Supreme Court justice will be considered for the U.S. Supreme Court if an opening emerges during President Donald Trumps term.

Justice Patrick Wyrick, 36, was one of five people added Friday to Trumps running list of 25 potential choices.

The president remains deeply committed to identifying and selecting outstanding jurists in the mold of Justice (Neil) Gorsuch, the White House said in a news release, referring to Trumps last choice.

Trump may have an opportunity to appoint multiple justices. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 84 years old and Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has hinted at a 2018 retirement, is 81 years old. Each of the past three presidents has appointed multiple justices.
NC, Maoist Centre leaders attacked

Amid rising concern over continued attacks on candidates and election campaigns, senior leaders of the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Centre) were targeted on Friday in what could pose a serious challenge to poll security.
NC should win for democracys sake: Deuba

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said that the Nepali Congress should win the upcoming parliamentary and provincial elections to safeguard democracy in the country.
Nepal as a Dharma destination

Near the foothills of Chandragiri, in a spacious front yard, German national Hannah Wiggenhauser is busy memorising mantras for a shamanic ritual.
Strategy to boost farm sector, improve nutrition introduced

The US government, in partnership with the Agricultural Development and Health ministries, launched a five-year Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS) on Friday to boost agricultural productivity and improve nutrition in Nepal.
There is no self-plagiarism

Plagiarism in intellectual work is stealing someone elses ideas and/or words and passing them on as ones own. For academics in many parts of the world, it is a career-ending moral crime because our enterprise of knowledge production relies fundamentally on trust between member practitioners.
Three including two cops injured in Bhojpur explosion

Three persons, including two police personnel, were injured when a roadside bomb exploded in Bhojpur district.
Vietnams digital economy has seen significant growth over the last decade and is expected to be valued at US$57 billion by 2025. The countrys digital...
The Government Inspectorate has found many violations in housing projects in Ha Noi. - Photo dantri.com.vn

The violations and the poor quality of planning of residential areas were discovered after inspectors checked 38 out of 204 projects.

They found that housing plans were adjusted several times, leading to changes in the heights of buildings and land use. In particular, the arbitrary adjustment of plans affected the order, discipline and interests of the State, according to the inspectors.

This situation has led to difficulties in developing urban planning for the city, Tran Huu Loi, head of the inspection delegation, told the Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper.

The violations benefited investors because they were not obliged to pay more land-use fees or land rents as the adjustment of plans were made in favour of the investors, causing losses to the State budget, the Inspectorate said.

Further, housing project developers did not fulfill their financial obligations. For example, the investor of the CT2 land plot under the Kim Van-Kim Lu New Urban Area Project in Hoang Mai District did not pay a land-use fee equal to VND733 billion ($32.24 million), although it built houses for rent.

In many projects, inspectors found investors had illegally altered land-use and construction plans, using more land but not paying fees for the extended area.

At the time of inspection, many investors had not yet paid obligatory fees to the State budget.

The Ha Noi Peoples Committee also miscalculated land use fees and, in some cases, housing project investors did not fulfill all their financial obligations, resulting in a shortfall of VND6 trillion ($266.6 million) for the State budget.

On the basis of the inspection results, the Government Inspectorate has proposed Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to direct the chairman of the city Peoples Committee to take measures to rectify shortcomings and violations in management of construction investment and land use.

The committee needs to review and check project investors violating land use and construction plans to handle the violations, it said.

Organisations and individuals must also review their management responsibility, the Government Inspectorate added.
Vietnamese taxation and customs policies were reformed in recent years to create favourable conditions for local and foreign enterprises to do business, Peter Hong, deputy chairman of the Business Association of Overseas Vietnamese, said.

However, Vietnamese taxation and customs policies change regularly, which makes it difficult for Vietnamese to have information. Also, the overseas Vietnamese business community does not receive much information about incentive projects and fields, he added.

Hong said overseas Vietnamese send a huge number of remittances every year to Vietnam, but only a small amount of the money was used to invest and conduct business.

For the first 10 months of the year, a total of US$2.7 billion of remittances were sent to HCM City, of which only US$260 million were channelled into investments.

It means that most remittances have been spent for individual purposes and they havent created any new value at a time when the city lacks huge capital for socio-economic development, he said.

Chau Ba Long, general director of Minh Nguyen enterprise, said the Government had given priority to supporting industries, but machinery imports for these industries had not received preferential taxes and customs procedures as several other industries had.

More importantly, import licenses for secondhand machinery are out of date, he said.

The law stipulates that enterprises cannot import 10-year-old machines, but in reality many machines have operated over 10 years and retain their quality and efficiency better than many new-tech domestically made machines.

David Ngo, a businessman, cited the example of automated and engineering machines from Germany, France and Sweden.

Such machines operate for a long time and their precision is still much better than brand-new ASEAN products, he said. Furthermore, Vietnamese authorities regulate old and new technology based on the amount of time, which is inappropriate. Such regulations have restricted many overseas Vietnamese from importing machines.

Many overseas Vietnamese businesspeople have also complained that their vehicles such as cars and motorbikes could not be brought into Viet Nam because of regulations on equipment, machinery and private vehicle imports that require time of usage rather than certain levels of efficiency and environmental protection.

They are also concerned about financial regulations which do not limit the amount of money that overseas Vietnamese can bring into Vietnam, but limit the amount that can be sent out.

The regulation allows us to bring the same or less amount of money than we brought to the country. But if the time period is more than one year, we must have a licence from the State Bank of Vietnam. How can we benefit over the long term? David Ngo asked.

Bui Viet Cuong, an overseas Vietnamese from Switzerland, said: Regulations are very necessary to ensure State management in every aspect of life. The knowledge of overseas Vietnamese in finance is great, and relevant authorities should issue proper policies to encourage them to invest and promote the countrys development.

Nguyen Huu Nghiep, deputy head of the HCM Citys Customs Department, said that authorities had tried to reform administrative procedures, especially online services, to reduce cumbersome procedures for overseas Vietnamese and investors, and have regularly organised forums to hear complaints.

We will submit all proper and practical complaints to relevant ministries for adjustment in order to create the most favorable conditions for investors, he added.
Korean companies making donations to Vietnamese organisations at last night's Kocham Charity Night 2017

Park Noh Wan, Consul General of the Republic of Koreas Embassy in Vietnam, said that Kocham Charity Night is an opportunity for all individuals, companies, and government of Korea and Vietnam to work together for economic growth and the development of the co-operation between the two countries.

The trade volume between the two countries already exceeded $50 billion by October 2017 and is expected to reach a new record this year. Based on the expansion of trade and investment, Korea and Vietnam have established inseparable political, social, and economic ties. Now Vietnams economic and social development means the development of Korea.

More than 5,000 Korean companies have entered Vietnam with a cumulative investment of $55 billion. Korea has earned position as the No.1 investor in Vietnam.

The active participation in charity activities will leave an impression that Korean companies are friendly and responsible in Vietnam, which will be a great help for the development of Vietnamese-Korean co-operation in this 25th year of diplomatic ties, he said.

Kocham Charity Night, which celebrates its 14th anniversary this year, is the annual event where Korean companies doing business in the southern parts of Vietnam combine their efforts to support disadvantaged Vietnamese people.

This year, the charity event collected VND4.4 billion ($193,600) in donations as well as gifts worth VND600 million ($26,400). Major sponsors include Hwaseung Vina, Taekwang, CJ Corporation, Hyo Sung, Lotte Group, and Sung Huyn Vina.

The donation was awarded to several organisations, like Ho Chi Minh City Eyes Hospital, the Poor Patients Support Fund, Tien Phuoc Disability Facility, the Centre for Social Protection in Long An province, and the Ho Chi Minh City Relief Association for Handicapped Children.

Starting operations in 2003, Kocham has around 700 company members and represents over 2,500 Korean companies investing in the central and southern regions of Vietnam. Kocham has five branches in the provinces of Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Long An, and Ho Chi Minh City. The association also has four main business branches, including garment, finance, commerce, and logistics.
The Bac Son region in northern Lang Son Province was once the home of a culture that existed 10,000 years ago. Various archaeological traces unearthed in the area show that humans existed here from a period known as the New Stone Era. Caves have retainded traces of these primative people.

Bac Son also has a rich, modern, revolutionary tradition starting with the Bac Son Revolution in 1940, the first armed revolution led by the Vietnam Communist Party against French and Japanese invaders. Names such as Khuoi Noi Forest, Nong Luc Communal House and Mo Nhai Military Post are all associated with heroic fighting days.

Stunning: A view of Bac Son Town with green fields and pyramid hills.

I first visited Bac Son with photographer Van Chuc nearly 30 years ago, when the doi moi (renewal) process started. Like other areas throughout Vietnam, Bac Son was having a hard time, with poor vilalges, needy people, under-developed infrastructure.

I remember old Bac Son Town. When night fell, it was so dark with almost no light in the streets. But the public loudspeaker echoed throughout the town, making it less boring.

That year produced a bumper crop of mandarin oranges. Prices dropped so low, farmers had to give the fruit away because the roads were so bad and there were few vehicles.

War time: A remnant of the old revolutionary base in Bac Son Town.

After that trip to Bac Son  following a trip to Tan Trao, U Minh and the central highlands  I wrote an article titled: Please dont forget the old revolutionary bases! to remind authorities that the areas that produced revolution should be given special care.

Bac Son has changed much now. This time, I am stunned at a town with many multi-storey houses along the main roads while many villas and hotels mushroom along surrounding roads. Restaurants, shops and central markets draw big crowds. Groups of tourists pass every day along the main road running though the town. Bac Son Museum and the high television tower on top of Na Lay Mountain were the main features of the old Bac Son.

Still weaving: Traditional weaving skills are still popular in the area.

During time in Bac Son, we have visited various places in the district and seen changes in local life. The roads have been improved, enabling cars to reach villages easily. Electricity has led to huge developmen in Bac Sons economic, cultural and social development. Cattle farming and forestry has developed well. Tourism, small industry and services have also improved. Culture, education and health have achieved varying success.

According to To Bac Thai, chairman of Bac Son Districts Peoples Committee, the average growth rate of the district is more than 9.1%, the average income last year reached VND27 million (US$1,200)  and the number of poor fell by 22.56%.

Tai style: A house on stilts inside Bac Son Revolutionary Museum.

We visited Quynh Son Village, a tourism destination. Hundreds of houses on stilts all facing south owned by Tay people have been built in the old style with yin-yang tiled roofs. This has created a united space luring both domestic and foreign tourists.

Melodious sounds of dan tinh (traditional lute of the Tay), sweet folk songs and wine attract tourists.

In Quynh Son Village, we visited a workshop producing yin-yang tiles for hundreds of years.

We also visited Tham Khuyen Cave, once a home to stone-age people, relics of the Bac Son revolution, Nong Luc Commune, whish hosted the meeting that decided on revolution 77 years ago.

We watched the scenery from Tam Quan Pass, where the shadow of the mountain mingles with green colours of fields and trees. On top of Na Lay Mountain, photographers from our group had a chance to take aerial views of Bac Son Town with villages and fields like an embroidery painting.

Peaceful: Quynh Son Village offers a glimpse of a tranquil life.

Bac Son Museum now has more spacious exhibition halls. Visiting the museum again, I understand clearly the long history, traditions and cultural features of Bac Son.

Beside the main building, a new house on stilts has been built with full sets of working tools and household utensils for visitors to imagine a typical living space of the locals.

In 2016, about 17,000 visitors came to the museum, said Duong Thi Tot, director of Bac Son Revolutionary Museum, Since the beginning of 2017, we have received 72,000 visitors.

Among objects, we paid attention to a photo of noted composer Van Cao and his song titled Bac Son with music notes, the musicians signature at the end and also the signature of the legendary General Vo Nguyen Giap.

Old kiln: The only yin-yang brick tile workshop in the town.

Composer Van Cao wrote the song for a drama under the same name by writer Nguyen Huy Tuong in 1945, even though he had never set foot in Bac Son. Yet the song has won the hearts of many generations of Vietnamese people.

Bac Son, in the song, will be rememembered by Vietnamese patriots with the familiar green of the old military base. And its referral to the blood of martyrs colouring the forest leaves.
Former IMF chief Rodrigo Rato could face a five-year jail sentence if he is found guilty of falsifying information about Bankia's finances. (Photo: AFP/Dani Pozo)

Former IMF chief Rodrigo Rato could face a five-year jail sentence if he is found guilty of falsifying information about Bankia's finances. (Photo: AFP/Dani Pozo)

Rato, a former Spanish economy minister, is accused of falsifying information about Bankia's finances to encourage investors to buy into its stock market listing.

He will stand trial along with 30 other former Bankia executives for investor fraud and for falsifying 2010 and 2011 accounts, Spain's High Court said in its ruling.

The court will also put Bankia itself and its parent company BFA on trial over the failed listing, as well as accounting firm Deloitte and one of its employees. Deloitte audited the lender's accounts.

Bankia was rescued in 2012, less than a year after it was listed, and tens of thousands of small investors who had converted their savings to shares lost everything.

The near-collapse of Bankia almost brought down Spain's whole financial sector, which was bailed out later that year by international creditors for 41 billion (US$48 billion).

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that "serious inaccuracies" in the information provided by Bankia misled investors.

When Rato was questioned in court in 2012 over the Bankia listing, he reiterated his claims that Spanish authorities held responsibility for events at the lender including the timing of its ill-fated stock market flotation.

STRUGGLING FINANCIALLY

Public prosecutors in June asked that Rato, 68, be given a five-year jail sentence over the Bankia listing.

They have argued that as the bank's "main executive," he was "fully aware of the inconsistency of the Bankia project and of its financial weakness" but still gave the green light for the listing.

Bankia was created in 2010 by merging seven regional savings banks, part of a financial sector shake-up brought on by the collapse of a construction boom that dragged Spain into a severe recession.

Last year, the bank said it had paid out 1.2 billion in compensation to 190,000 small investors, but added it still had about 30,000 claims pending.

Rato was sentenced in February to four years and six months in a separate case for misusing funds when he was the boss of Bankia, and Caja Madrid before that.

Rato and the other executives were accused of having paid for personal expenses with credit cards put at their disposal by the lenders, without ever justifying them or declaring them to tax authorities.

These expenses included petrol for their cars, supermarket shopping, pricey holidays, luxury bags or parties in nightclubs.

OUTRAGE

The case caused an outrage in Spain, where it was uncovered at the height of a severe economic crisis that left many people struggling financially - made all the worse because Bankia later had to be nationalised.

Rato denied any wrongdoing and said the credit cards were for discretionary spending as part of executives' pay. He was allowed to remain free and without judicial supervision pending a final verdict in the case.

Rato was economy minister and deputy prime minister in the conservative government of Jose Maria Aznar from 1996 to 2004, before going on to head the International Monetary Fund until 2007.

He is the third former IMF chief to get into trouble with the law.

His successor Dominique Strauss-Kahn was tried in 2015 on pimping charges in a lurid sex scandal, and was acquitted.

And Christine Lagarde, who took over from Strauss-Kahn and is the current IMF chief, was found guilty of negligence over a massive state payout to a tycoon when she was French finance minister, though she received no penalty.
Tran Anh Digital's net loss is VND4.8 billion larger than previously stated

Apparently, there has been a notable discrepancy between Tran Anh Digitals 2017 first half financial statement and the previous self-reported financial statement that highlighted a larger net loss right before the merger with MWG.

The board of directors (BoD) at Tran Anh Digital pointed out that the recently leaked information on the merger negatively influenced customer behaviour and shrunk the companys revenue.

The companys BoD also attributed the post-audit discrepancy to the readjusted trade discounts given to providers until, which increased the cost of goods sold and decreased accumulated profit, before-tax profit, and after-tax profit.

Nguyen Duc Tai, co-founder cum chairman and CEO of MWG, recently confirmed that negotiations on the acquisition of Tran Anh Digital were basically finished. The negotiation stated that Tran Anh Digitals shareholders had approved of MWG purchasing over 25 per cent of the companys charter capital, with the caveat that the corporation will not submit a takeover bid, and to eliminate the listed stock on the Hanoi Stock Exchange.

On September 30, the companys total assets reached VND824 billion ($36.3 million), which was a 30.5 per cent drop since the beginning of 2017.

The primary cause for this was the plunging inventory, and plummeting short-term assets and short-term accounts receivable.

According to the official financial statement, the company earned a net revenue of VND1.825 trillion ($80.3 million), 7.2 per cent less than in the first half of 2016.

The cost of goods sold reported a VND1.57 trillion ($69.1) rise, whilst accumulated profit reached VND225 billion ($9.9 million), 2.7 per cent down against the same category in the self-reported financial statement.

Additionally, due to the surging costs of sales, financial costs, and corporate management, Tran Anh Digitals financial situation encountered a major setback.

Tran Anh Digital is a Hanoi-based enterprise which trades in and provides maintenance services for computers, electronics, household appliances, and telecommunications equipment in Vietnam.
IFC and three other regional lenders will provide a new loan package for Vietnam International Bank

The five-year financing package for VIB comprises of $100 million from IFCs own account and $85 million from three international lenders: Cathay United Bank Co., Ltd., Industrial; Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (Hong Kong Branch), and Thailands Kiatnakin Bank Public Company Ltd.

The IFC-led loan aims to address two key development challenges in Vietnam: the financing gap faced by micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises and the lack of affordable housing. IFCs long-term funding commitment will enable VIB to double its SME and affordable housing portfolios over the next five years, boosting its lending to more than $1 billion in total.

This syndicated facility marks a milestone for VIB, and other local privately-owned banks in Vietnam, to access long-term funding from foreign commercial lenders, allowing them to develop longer-term financial products, such as residential mortgage lending, said Kyle Kelhofer, IFC country manager for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Lao PDR.

IFC is also a prominent advisor at VIB, helping the bank improve its SME banking practices. VIB joined IFCs Global Trade Finance Programme in 2011 and the current trade line of $120 million has enabled the Vietnamese lender to increase its presence in the import and export sector.

Previously this year, IFC has approved a $57-million loan for VPBank, another leading commercial bank in Vietnam. The two-year loan, which can be converted to common shares, is also intended to help Vietnamese SMEs get the financing they need.
Photo: Larry Marano/Getty Images

Former Partridge Family star David Cassidy is reportedly clinging to the last moments of his life in a Florida hospital. Per TMZ, Cassidys condition is currently listed as critical as he suffers from organ and kidney failure, and unless he gets a liver transplant soon he could soon die. Hes also been in and out of a consciousness from an induced coma since earlier this week, with his family and friends beginning to arrive at the hospital to pay their final respects. Earlier this year, the 66-year-old Cassidy revealed hed been battling dementia for many years, which prompted him to stop performing live. I was in denial, but a part of me always knew this was coming, he said at the time. I want to focus on what I am, who I am, and how Ive been without any distractions. I want to love. I want to enjoy life.
A century-old home in Bruce-ville-Eddy is almost ready to open its doors as a coffee shop and a venue for live music, art and dance classes, and a farmers market, with a space for kids and a domino room.

By the time the Farm to Market Coffee Company sells its first espresso, more than 100 community members will have helped in the effort that started as a two-person venture.

Tucked on McLennan Countys southern border with Falls County, the 43-year-old city of less than 1,500 people has struggled with an economic downturn in recent years. The expansion of Interstate 35 interrupted access to local businesses and much of the community, city leaders have said. The city recently received a $10.8 million grant and loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to build the first city-owned wastewater system, helping to secure the citys future. Meanwhile, city leaders partnered with First National Bank of Moody for a City Center project that is expected to open in a little more than a year.

Council member Jason Dean said he has seen the town struggle, but hes not giving up on the place he calls home.

Dean and business owner Vivian Williams are a few weeks shy of opening the Farm to Market Coffee Company. While the address is 303 W. Third St., the name of the company comes from local ties. The duo said everyone in the community refers to that street as Farm-to-Market Road 107, or the 107.

This is the center of what will be the walkable downtown. It will redevelop. Its inevitable, Dean said.

Customers attracted to the Kissing Tree Vineyards Tasting Room have proven people will make the trek to Bruceville-Eddy, said Dean, who is also pastor of The Well church in Moody.

Each part of the renovation has tied closely to finding the beauty in older things, Dean said. Reclaimed wood, whiskey barrels turned into sinks, cabinets over a wagon axle and wheels all helps tie parts of the communitys past with its present and future, Dean said. Families have donated materials, including lots of farming equipment, which in turn has been transformed into light fixtures, entries and other amenities.

That idea of the old connecting with the young is even played out in the way we decorate and use 100- to 150-year-old pieces, whatever pieces were bringing in, many of them from Bruceville-Eddy, from Moody, from McGregor, from Chilton, this area right here. Its literally peoples grandparents stuff, or great-grandparents things, Dean said. We think its funky and its fun. We come from farmers. It keeps our people around us. The stories stay part of us. Nothing will be sleek. Well keep tweezers on hand. If you get a splinter you get 50 cents off your coffee.

Many people have become so technology-oriented they have forgotten to learn the stories from generations before them, Williams said. The idea behind Farm to Market is to create a place where the young and the more seasoned come together over a game of dominoes or an iced coffee to share stories, she said.

Dean said his friend, entrepreneur Blake Batson, owner of the Common Grounds coffeehouse in Waco, will be in to train the baristas. Farm to Market Coffee will offer a variety of local coffees before settling on one company, Dean said. The food menu will be fluid, based on what is fresh and available, and offer a chance for a variety of locals to offer their wares.

The Tea Room in the shops old green house will serve as a meeting space that can be closed off while normal operations continue. Several community members have already offered to host classes to meet community needs. Adult education, foreign languages and drivers education are among the variety of opportunities for the space.

After stepping up to the houses front porch, guests will enter under a wall of old newspaper clippings highlighting the areas history. To the right, a rooms ceiling was accidentally painted to look like a helicopter landing pad. The room is now lovingly called the 4077, referencing the M*A*S*H TV series about the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War.

Retired police officer Frank Holt spent the week transforming old wood into a countertop over whiskey barrels and a wagon axle and wheels.

Hes helping us build this thing and he cant even stand the smell of coffee, Dean said with a smile. Thats a labor of love. He just loves to work with his hands.

Holt said he now restores homes, but hes used to making locations look more modern.

Im doing it but its hard for me to do it, Holt said with a grin. I like them smooth and high glossed. This is the opposite of that.

Two rooms upstairs, where the ceiling is paneled with old doors, will cater to children. One will be focused on younger kids, and the other will be focused on older kids.

A childrens and adult lending library will also be on hand, allowing customers to share a book with their neighbors or pick one up.

A 1948 Chevrolet is being moved to the back of the property, where volunteers are building a stage for live music performances. Dean said they hope to have one ticketed show a month, plus free shows for house bands and open mic nights.

One neighbor raised concerns during the rezoning process about the house-turned-business adjacent to his home, Dean said. They promised to build the neighbor a privacy fence, he said.

An open side lot will offer space for a farmers market and local antique flea market, Williams said.

We need to provide things to our community so they dont have to drive 20 miles to Waco or 20 miles to Temple to get, Williams said. Were trying to provide here those things that our community needs.

A building designed to look like a barn is also planned out back, and they hope to be fully-functional by Spring. The barn building will offer space for groups of about 20 to 25 people for activities like art and dance classes, family gatherings, reunions or bridal showers. Nearby, there will be a fenced-in playground for children.

The duos journey to bring the house to life was in itself a blessing from God, they said.

Dean has had a vision for a coffee house serving as a community hub for a while. He had spent about a decade trying to find the right property, he said. Each house either was out of his price range or was bought up before he could secure a deal.

Shortly after Dean became a Bruceville-Eddy City Council member, a landowner came before the city offering to donate a house. The city didnt have a need for it, so Dean called the owner the next day to make an offer, he said. Once again, he was too late. But someone told him he should call the new owner and share his vision.

He waited three months before calling Williams.

Williams said she had lived in the area since 1999 and felt God tugging at her heart to do something beneficial for her community. Williams owns Southern Enterprises of Envirocare and opened Our Daily Bread cafe about a year ago near the coffee house. She said she bought the coffee house property not yet knowing what its future would hold. She always liked the idea of a coffee house but wasnt really sure how to put that together, she said.

Thats when Dean called and introduced himself.

When he started talking about the whole coffee house it just flooded me, Williams said. It was, Thats why I bought it. Youre the reason I bought it. Thats what God wrote on my heart. I was in tears because it just all came together. When he told me his vision I said, Yes. Lets do that. I want to be part of that. Thats what God has written on my heart. Ive been praying for an opportunity to lift up the spirit of the community, and this will be an awesome way to do that. 

Since the renovation of the century-old house started, about 100 people from across the community, age 5 to age 92, have dedicated time to help bring new life to the property, she said.

What weve seen already during this whole renovation process weve had multiple people from young to old, Williams said. We give tours about two to three times a day.

Thats no exaggeration, Dean said.

People are excited about it, Williams said. They are interested in it. They want to be part of it.

Williams has put about $100,000 into buying and renovating the property, but the time and effort from their teams and volunteers has been even greater, the duo agreed.
Buzzard Billys, the Cajun-oriented riverfront restaurant across Interstate 35 from McLane Stadium, is expanding by about 5,000 square feet to create the Swamp Shack, a dining and relaxation area that will extend over the waters of Lake Brazos, a part-owner said.

Were putting in roll-up doors on Monday, and we should have the whole project completed by the first or second week of December, businessman Paul F. McClinton said.

McClinton owns the establishment with Claude Lindsey, Jim Hawkins and managing partner Diane Nowlain.

McClinton said he hopes the Swamp Shack will do for Buzzard Billys what a sprawling riverfront deck and pier did for Mannys, an upscale Mexican restaurant that since has closed but for a time proved popular with patrons wanting to unwind with drinks or a meal while enjoying the view.

It is going in next to the new riverwalk, will seat 98 and will serve as a waiting area of sorts for Buzzard Billys, McClinton said. We get a lot of traffic off the interstate, and we think this will create even more.

He knows a thing or two about taking advantage of the picturesque setting along the river near downtown, having opened the Brazos Landing Restaurant in 1980 and constructed the first Brazos Queen riverboat to offer dining and cruises. Alas, the citys malfunctioning low-water dam often sabotaged efforts to make the Brazos Queen a popular tourist attraction.

The original Queen is now docked at Lake Ray Hubbard, and the dam has since been replaced. McClinton said an upgraded Buzzard Billys with access to the riverwalk should contribute to the areas appeal.

Brotherwell Brewing permits

Brotherwell Brewing, founded by business partners David Stoneking, Tommy Mote and Jacob Martinka, has received a manufacturing license from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, along with permits to brew, carry and self-distribute its line of craft beers.

The company posted the permits on its Facebook page, along with photos and videos of crews installing equipment in its expanded facility at 408 E. Bridge St.

Brotherwell hopes to start offering tours of the building soon, as it continues to introduce its product to the Waco market, according to its website.

Silobration award

Magnolia Market at the Silos continues to receive kudos. The Texas Downtown Association named Magnolias Silobration the winner in its Best Promotional Event category for a community with a population over 50,000, according to a press release from the association.

Judges enthusiastically selected the event for recognition based on the scope and impact the event made in Downtown Waco, according to the press release. The other finalists in this category were Longviews Downtown Live and Tylers Toast to Downtown Tyler.

A total of 115 entries were submitted in 12 categories.

Silobration, hosted by Fixer Upper stars Chip and Joanna Gaines, offers food, music and games for youngsters at the popular Silos complex. It attracts crowds of between 30,000 and 50,000, according to estimates by city officials.

Cash Mob

The First National Bank of Central Texas continues to promote the endeavors of small businesses and nonprofits through its Cash Mob events.

The bank will give each of its more than 100 employees $10 to spend at locally-owned businesses on Black Friday, according to a press release.

A bank official asked employees to send him photos from inside the businesses where they spend the money so he can compile a list.

Building permit roundup

Building permits of note issued last week include:

Site grading for The Axis at Legends Crossing, a commercial center planned by Waco real estate agent Jimmy Banks, estimated at $500,000.

A new International House of Pancakes restaurant at 1705 N. Interstate 35 in Bellmead, estimated at $965,000.
The Waco areas jobless rate dropped to a 17-year low in October, and the state enjoyed a record-setting fall in unemployment, according to a report released Friday by the Texas Workforce Commission.

Unemployment in the Waco Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes McLennan and Falls counties, hit 3.3 percent last month, down from 3.8 percent in September and 4.0 percent in October of last year.

Still, a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics was not as positive, showing the number of people with jobs in Falls and McLennan counties actually dropped by an estimated 500 people during the past year.

The lower jobless rate came about because the civilian labor force, which reflects the number of people with and without jobs, dropped by about 1,800 people from October last year to this year.

Fewer people were working, but fewer were looking, according to the statistics bureau, which showed that job losses were heaviest in professional and business services, 400; leisure and hospitality, 300; trade, transportation and utiliites, 200; and education and health services, 100.

The government category saw an increase of an estimated 400 jobs, while other services showed a jump of 100 positions. No significant changes were reported in the areas of construction, manufacturing, information or financial activities.

Kris Collins, senior vice president for economic development at the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, took the positive view, noting the number of unemployed in the Waco MSA dropped by 600 between September and October, according to non-seasonally adjusted figures.

The report shows our local economy remains strong, Collins said.

The chamber has repeatedly claimed that a falling jobless rate does not always represent good news, since the availability of a workforce plays a role when industrial prospects consider a community.

But we have such strong assets in education that I believe prospects can attract talent even with our low unemployment rate, Collins said.

In a report she prepared for the chambers newsletter, Collins said Empereon Marketing will start hiring next month to fill a 68,000-square-foot customer support center in Lacy Lakeview. It hopes to fill 500 positions immediately and 750 within two years.

Meanwhile, the state of Texas seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent in October, setting a record for the lowest jobless rate in four decades, according to a press release from the Texas Workforce Commission.

By adding an impressive 71,500 jobs over the past month and 316,100 jobs over the year, Texas employers have once again demonstrated their unmatched innovation and ability to achieve success in our countrys premier place to do business, workforce commission Chairman Andres Alcantar wrote in the press release. This economy provides valuable opportunities for the highly skilled Texas workforce also to achieve success.

An estimated 12.9 million Texans had jobs in October, up from 12.7 million in October of last year, leading to the record-low jobless rate.

Nationally, unemployment fell to 3.9 percent in October, down from 4.7 percent the same month last year, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.

In Texas, the Midland and Amarillo MSAs recorded the months lowest jobless rates of 2.4 percent, followed by Bryan-College Station at 2.5 percent, and the Austin-Round Rock and Lubbock MSAs at 2.6 percent.
Waco Independent School District has scored poorly on state measures for its 1,100 special education students and will have to demonstrate major improvements or face state sanctions, Superintendent A. Marcus Nelson said during a school board meeting Thursday.

Without getting into it, were about to get in trouble with the TEA over this in a whole other way than were already facing sanctions, Nelson said.

Sanctions related to the special ed program would be focused on correcting shortfalls, rather than punitive measures, a Texas Education Agency spokesperson said.

Throughout the next few months, the Waco ISD school board will be hearing several presentations about data from the districts Performance-Based Monitoring Analysis System, an annual automated data report from the TEA that measures the health and student outcomes of selected program areas, including bilingual education, career and technical education, special education and more, Nelson said.

The special education portion of the report is based on 11 performance indicators scored from zero to four, with zero being the best rating, said Laurie Tresl, who oversees secondary special education and assessment.

In special education, Waco ISD earned a three or four in three indicators directly tied to the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readings, which impact state academic accountability ratings and other monitoring measures used by the school board, Nelson said.

From ages 6 to 21 in our special ed program, our district is doing a great job moving special ed kids into including them in the general ed population, Nelson said. The kids arent performing well, but we are moving them in there. But youve got to think about that. Its pretty easy for the adults to make scheduling decisions and move kids into special ed, but if were not going to teach them at a level they deserve, then we need to be held accountable for that.

Waco ISD is already facing the possibility of having to close or repurpose five elementary and middle schools because of persistently low state academic accountability scores: Alta Vista Elementary School, Brook Avenue Elementary School, J.H. Hines Elementary School, G.W. Carver Middle School and Indian Spring Middle School.

Sanctions related to the special education program would not include any kind of closure, TEA spokesperson DeEtta Culbertson said Friday. Instead, the TEA would work with the district to address any issues. If accountability measures continue to lag, the TEA would do a site visit or appoint a monitor to directly address needed improvements, Culbertson said.

Its not a gotcha type of sanction or monitoring, Culbertson said. Its more of a way to address what your deficiencies are and what we can do to get the district back on track.

She was not able to say Friday afternoon how close Waco ISD might be to a state reprimand.

Waco ISD earned threes for third- through eighth-grade STAAR passing rates in math, reading, writing and science, and a four in social studies.

It scored threes in those subjects for third- through eighth-grade STAAR passing rates among students one year after exiting special education. It scored threes in math, science and social studies and a four in English-language arts for high school STAAR end-of-course passing rates, Tresl said.

I have a couple things to say about the ELA. Thats absolutely unacceptable, Tresl said. We might want to consider contributing factors. When were taking a look at accountability, we have a lot of other assessments where they get in oral administration. Were able to read those tests to them, and yet you can see when theyre having to do it themselves, theyre struggling with that reading component considerably.

For perspective, a zero would mean more than 60 to 70 percent, depending on subject area, of the special education students were passing, she said.

In the eight other indicators, which arent clearly tied to STAAR performance, Waco ISD rated zero to two. Officials also identified a few other areas to address, including a small over-identification of white students as emotionally disturbed, Nelson said.

This is the first in a series of meetings, Nelson said. We received our preliminary TAPR (Texas Academic Performance Reports) today, and while were proud the district has met standards as a district, special education needs substantial interventions.

The district has already taken steps to improve student outcomes in special education, Tresl said. It is training and reviewing ways to increase student engagement on a monthly basis, she said.

The district is also consulting with a regional special education liaison, collaborating with the curriculum department on districtwide initiatives and intervention methods, proposing alternative instructional delivery models to principals and more, Tresl said.

I am impressed the special ed department and the superintendent have taken ownership of the scores such as theyve been presented, Board President Pat Atkins said. There was a time 10 or 15 years ago, the fact that we got zeroes, ones and twos on those last eight indicators wouldve been put on great big slides, and the fact that we were getting threes and fours on those last three indicators would have been in a teeny, tiny font at the bottom of the page.

I just want to commend you for creating an atmosphere where folks dont feel the need to justify their work and justify their position but rather recognize we have students who arent doing what they need to do on the STAAR test and end-of-course exams and that we need to do better in presenting strategies on how were going to get better outcomes.
Every day we are bombarded with new allegations of sexual abuse and harassment by celebrities, corporate executives and politicians. The list is long. Perhaps it started with Bill Cosby, then Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Bill OReilly, Roger Ailes and others. The list is growing by the day.

How did we get into the mess? How did we sink so low?

It seems to be a frog in the kettle thing. You know, if you place a frog in boiling water, it will immediately jump out and save itself. But if you place a frog in room temperature water, it will rest there as you gradually raise the heat until the frog eventually cooks and dies. It is unaware of the danger and does not jump out.

Maybe it was the mid-1950s that our sexual mores began to gradually change. Our commitment to marriage started to slip. Divorce and remarriage, multiple times, became acceptable. Consensual sex began to replace the covenant monogamous relationship that had guided sexual standards.

I dont think there is any single source to blame. TV sitcoms gradually adopted the consensual sex standard and portrayed it easily and somewhat attractively. We went from Father Knows Best, The Nelsons, I Love Lucy and Leave It to Beaver to Friends (with benefits), Seinfeld and The Big Bang Theory and a whole slew of daytime soap operas. Movies portraying casual sex are too numerous to list. Sleeping around became entertaining and acceptable.

Fifty Shades of Grey was originally self-published as an e-book in 2011. The book includes erotic scenes of bondage/discipline, dominance/submission and sadism/masochism. It became a best-seller around the world with 125 million copies sold by 2015, the fastest selling paperback of all time in the U.K.

Pornography, once only available in seedy newsstands, became a click away on laptops, PCs, iPads and tablets. Email inboxes were bombarded by invitations to smut.

Leaders moral failures

Repeated moral failure on the part of national leaders undermined our moral standards further. Bill Clintons sexual tryst in the Oval Office, chief among them. Of course, President Donald Trumps recorded locker room language didnt help. The world and our culture will likely continue down this path. But God calls followers of Christ to a different path, a different standard, a healthier way of life.

The standard set by Jesus has always been the same. David P. Gushee, noted Christian ethicist stated it best: What is the sexual ethics standard that applies to followers of Christ? Celibacy outside of lifetime covenantal marriage, monogamous fidelity within life-time covenantal marriage. That norm applies to all Christians. It is demanding, countercultural, and essential to the well-being of adults and children.

Jesus was clear in setting the bar high when it came to sexual standards. You have heard it said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, he who looks on a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:27-28).
Vicky L. Hunt

May 20, 1949 - Nov. 14, 2017

Vicky Hunt, 68, of Waco died on Tuesday, November 14, at St. Catherine's Hospice with her husband, Russ, and her sisters, Marci and Jayne, by her side. You are invited to a memorial service to honor her life on Saturday, December 2, at 11:00 am at Lake Shore Baptist Church, 5801 Bishop Drive in Waco, with a reception following.

Born Vicky Lynn Davis to Homer and Jean Davis in San Antonio, Vicky moved with her family to Laredo when she was ten. She met the love of her life, Russ Hunt, while he was stationed at Laredo AFB. He spied her in the church choir and finagled a way to go to her house for Sunday dinner. They married after Vicky graduated from high school and enjoyed 50 years of love and devotion.

The USAF took them from Biloxi, MS, to Germany - first Wurzburg, Bavaria, and later Hahn AFB, where Russ, Jr. was born. Vicky's love of travel developed early, and they took every opportunity to explore most of central Europe before moving to Waco, returning to Europe often.

Vicky began her career in education working for Waco ISD, running the Special Education Resources Center. Even though she wasn't yet a certified teacher, she had extensive knowledge about which materials would support learning for students with specific disabilities. Vicky always did her "homework," studying curricula and doing research in the days before Google.

Because of her love of children and heart for those with disabilities, Vicky moved to Kirk Wilson as school secretary where she could have daily contact with students. She stayed until the campus closed and then pursued her dream of going to college.

After graduating from Baylor and earning Special Education certification through Tarleton, Vicky began teaching at Waco High. Always the curious learner, she simultaneously commuted to UT and earned an MS in Early Childhood Education. She later served as a "Helping Teacher," where her gifts of enthusiasm, versatility, tenacity, and knowledge of methodology and materials benefitted WISD Special Ed teachers and their students.

Vicky will be remembered for her kindness, generosity, graciousness and empathy. She always thought of others. It was not unusual for any of her friends to be surprised with a gift of something Vicky noticed you needed or that she made for you. Sharing her love of travel with friends, she happily planned trips anywhere. You never got lost if Vicky was along. She was the best tour guide and knew about the history, art, culture and food of everywhere she'd been or planned to go. She was a voracious reader, a gourmet cook, and so very smart. If you had a question about almost anything, you could count on Vicky to find the answer.

Vicky's grandson, Patrick, was the light of her life, and she took every opportunity to be with him until her illness limited her. She especially enjoyed having him as a traveling companion. Vicky enjoyed cruising, having a special affinity for Germany and even repeated the "Christmas Markets" cruise twice so she could share it withfamily and friends. Vicky's happy place was Kauai, HI, where she and Russ celebrated their anniversary every summer, always enjoying a family vacation with Patrick and his folks.

For nearly three years, Vicky courageously fought Multiple Myeloma. She never complained. When her chemo yielded good results, her response was, "It's a God thing." When her body betrayed her with enormous pain, she would say," It is what it is." Her faith grounded her. She was an example of strength, grace, and trust in God.

Vicky is survived by her husband Russ, their son, Russ Jr, his wife Leslie, and son Patrick; her sisters, Marci Hall and Jayne Mitchell, and their children: Marci's son, Bryan, and grandson, TJ; Jayne's daughter, Whitney, and daughters, Kaylee and Emory Grace, and a host of cherished and lifelong friends.

Memorials honoring Vicky's life may be made to The ARC of McLennan County, P. O. Box 3367, Waco, 76707 or Lake Shore Baptist Church Missions, 5801 Bishop Drive, Waco, 76710.
Time for reflection and to unleash creative ideas: Early this year, the Finnish government has begun handing out cash to jobless people as part of a two-year experiment. Credit:NYT Another school sees it as the required response to an era in which work can no longer be relied upon to finance basic needs. "We see the increasing precariousness of employment," said Karl Widerquist, a philosopher at Georgetown University in Qatar, and a prominent advocate for a universal social safety net. Not a new idea, but it's gaining momentum: Martin Luther King was an advocate for a type of universal basic income. Credit:AP "Basic income gives the worker the power to say, 'Well, if Walmart's not going to pay me enough, then I'm just not going to work there.'"

The universal basic income is clearly an idea with momentum. Early this year, Finland kicked off a two-year national experiment in basic income. In the United States, a trial was recently completed in Oakland, California, and another is about to launch in nearby Stockton, a community hard-hit by the Great Recession and the attendant epidemic in home foreclosures. The Canadian province of Ontario is enrolling participants for a basic income trial. Several cities in the Netherlands are exploring what happens when they hand out cash grants unconditionally to people already receiving some form of public support. A similar test is underway in Barcelona, Spain. A nonprofit organisation, GiveDirectly, is proceeding with plans to provide universal cash grants in rural Kenya. As a concept, basic income has been kicked around in various guises for centuries, gaining adherents across a strikingly broad swath of the ideological spectrum, from the English social philosopher Thomas More to the American revolutionary Thomas Paine. The populist firebrand Louisiana governor Huey Long, the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., and the laissez-faire economist Milton Friedman would presumably agree on little, yet all advocated some version of basic income.

IMF's looking into it In a clear sign of its modern-day currency, the International Monetary Fund - not an institution prone to utopian dreaming - recently explored basic income as a potential salve for economic inequality. Not everyone loves the idea. Conservatives fret that handing out money free of obligation will turn people into dole-dependent slackers. In the context of the US, still the world's largest economy, any talk of a truly universal form of basic income also collides with arithmetic. Give every American $US10,000 ($12,566) a year - a sum still below the poverty line for an individual - and the tab runs to $US3 trillion a year. That is about eight times what the United States now spends on social service programs. Conversation over.

Labour-oriented economists in the United States are especially wary of basic income, given that the nation's social safety programs have been significantly trimmed in recent decades, with welfare, unemployment benefits and food stamps all subject to a variety of restrictions. If basic income were to replace these components as one giant program - the proposal that would appeal to libertarians - it might beckon as a fat target for additional budget trimming. "Tens of millions of poor people would likely end up worse off," declared Robert Greenstein, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington-based research institution, in a recent blog post. "Were we starting from scratch - and were our political culture more like Western Europe's - [universal basic income] might be a real possibility. But that's not the world we live in." 'People want to work' And some advocates for working people dismiss basic income as a wrongheaded approach to the real problem of not enough quality pay cheques. "People want to work," said the Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz when I asked him about basic income early this year. "They don't want handouts."

Yet some of the basic income experiments now underway are engineered precisely to encourage people to work while limiting their contact with public assistance. Finland's trial is giving jobless people the same amount of money they were already receiving in unemployment benefits, while relieving them of bureaucratic obligations. The bet is that people will use time now squandered submitting paperwork to train for better careers, start businesses, or take part-time jobs. Under the system the trial replaces, people living on benefits risk losing support if they secure other income. In short, basic income is being advanced not as a license for Finns to laze in the sauna, but as a means of enhancing the forces of creative destruction so central to capitalism. As the logic goes, once sustenance is eliminated as a worry, weak companies can be shuttered without concern for those thrown out of work, freeing up capital and talent for more productive ventures.

The trials in the Netherlands, conducted at the municipal level, are similarly geared to paring bureaucracy from the unemployment system. Ditto, the Barcelona experiment. Navigating the age of robots Silicon Valley has embraced basic income as a crucial element in enabling the continued rollout of automation. While engineers pioneer ways to replace human labourers with robots, financiers focus on basic income as a replacement for pay cheques. The experiment in Stockton, California - set to become the first city government to test basic income - is underwritten in part by an advocacy group known as the Economic Security Project, whose backers include the Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. The trial is set to begin next year, with an undisclosed number of residents to receive $US500 a month.

The trial in Oakland was the work of Y Combinator, a startup incubator. Its researchers handed out varying grants to a few dozen people as a simple feasibility test for basic income. The next phase is far more ambitious. The Y Combinator researchers plan to distribute grants to 3,000 people with below-average incomes in two as-yet undisclosed American states. They will hand out $US1,000 a month to 1,000 people, no strings attached, and half as much to the rest, allowing for comparisons in how recipients use the money, and what impact it has on their lives. 'Interest is exploding everywhere' One key element of the basic income push is the assumption that poor people are better placed than bureaucrats to determine the most beneficial use of aid money. Rather than saddle recipients with complex rules and a dizzying array of programs, better to just give people money and let them sort out how to use it. This is a central idea of GiveDirectly's program in Kenya, where it began a pilot study last year in which it handed out small, unconditional cash grants - about $US22 a month - to residents of a single village.

The program is now expanding its sights, with plans to hand out grants to some 16,000 people in 120 villages. From a research standpoint, these remain early days for basic income, a time for experimentation and assessment before serious amounts of money may be devoted to a new model for public assistance. Yet from a political standpoint, basic income appears to have found its moment, one delivered by the anxieties of the working poor combined with those of the wealthy, who see in widening inequality the potential for mobs yielding pitchforks. Loading "The interest is exploding everywhere," said Guy Standing, a research associate at SOAS University of London. "The debates now are extraordinarily fertile."
It was, though, a defeat for a certain brand of public, conservative Christianity, one that has focused on sexuality, morality and traditional views of men and women.

It would be entirely wrong to see Australia's decisive support for marriage equality as a defeat for Christianity. After all, Liberal senator Dean Smith, whose bill legalising same-sex unions is about to be made into law, is a Christian. Labor senator Penny Wong, too, is a woman of faith who has worshipped at Uniting churches.

Who speaks for God? And who speaks for the church? For many, the answers to these questions were rapidly flipped and fried on Wednesday when the postal survey results were announced and the entire country was briefly bathed in a carnival of colour; an antipodean Munchkin land.

Marriage equality advocates celebrating the ''yes'' vote mark past St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney on Wednesday. Credit:Anna Kucera

And a triumph for the grassroots, those in the pews who  as polls repeatedly showed  quietly tolerated but did not share the views of their church leaders, and for those who continually asked why the unelected Australian Christian Lobby is viewed as the voice of Christianity in this country when its membership is so small (and, as researcher Stephanie Judd found, is dominated by Baptists and Pentecostals).

The scenes were galvanic: visceral roars of relief, visible slumping, uncontrolled tears of joy, unabashed dancing, volcanic eruptions of hope and decency and fairness. Is it really possible to say God was not part of that? That God was sitting cranky on the sidelines, lamenting that more people will now formally vow to spend their lives caring for each other?

We have never entirely understood the full diversity of Christianity in this country; we tend to see it as narrow and controlling. But we're not stupid; we know Jesus  the great disruptor  was on about something the Pharisees were not.

This was evident on Gogglebox recently when the families were watching Magda Szubanski  in a powerfully contained, lacerating and vulnerable moment  speak to the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Dr Glenn Davies on Q&A, about her belief that the church should not impose its views on a secular society. She said: "I accept that the church will never marry me  that grieves me in ways you will never know."
Things might be a little slow for the WA building industry right now, but a Perth start up focussed on developing new building technology has just cracked a new market in Europe.

Pro9 Global has inked a deal worth $20 million dollars to clad residential towers in Croatia with a thermally insulated facade it has developed as a modular, prefabricated system.

Pro9's system will be fitted to apartment buildings in Split, Croatia.

Pro9's Global Managing Director Daniel Jukic said the new contract in Croatia is a big breakthrough for the WA company, who will work with strata company Stano-Uprava to install its cladding at 150 residential towers in the coastal city of Split.

"About three quarters of European buildings were built prior to 1975. It's an enormous challenge for countries in the European Union to improve existing structures to meet modern energy efficiency standards," he said.
A solo yachtsman has been rescued by a merchant ship 2100 kilometres west of Perth after his vessel's mast was brought down in heavy weather.

The Australian Maritime safety Authority said the yachtsman activated an emergency signalling device on Thursday night , which was relayed to them by the International Emergency Response Coordination Centre in the United States.

The United States flagged Car Carrier Patriot answered the call. Credit:AMSA

The AMSA then asked the yachtsman to activate his emergency beacon to appeal for help from shipping in the area.

The United States flagged Car Carrier Patriot answered the call, changing course to assist.
1. Yes. The ordinance goes against state law and is not in the best interest of the cities.

2. Yes. At the very least, it should be amended to give police officers some discretion.

3. No. Voters approved the ordinance by large majorities; the councils cant ignore that fact.

4. No. The petition process has to be given a chance to work. Leave the ordinance alone.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say how the cities should move forward regarding the ordinance.

Vote

View Results
"This research project is about deploying a number of WiFi access points around the Perth area and subsequently monitoring end-user behaviour as they connect with their devices, and whether they engage in risky internet usage while connected to these supposedly comprised wireless access points," Dr Szewczyk said.

ECU researchers Dr Patryk Szewczyk and Dr Krishnun Sansurooah from ECU's School of Science and Security Research Institute set up a series of dodgy WiFi networks to show how vulnerable users are to cyber crime.

Well, thousands of people around Perth have done just that.

Would you connect your smartphone to a WiFi network called FBI Surveillance Van or Compromised Police Network?

"We actually deployed a number of wireless access points with dodgy network names. Networks which most people actually shouldn't connect to.

"Regardless of this, even though there were other freely available wireless networks in the vicinity, people still decided to connect to the wireless networks, accept our lucrative terms and conditions and proceed to access various websites from Facebook to Twitter, through to their banking websites. We were basically able to capture all of that information."

The researchers used names such as "compromised academic network". "intel department" and "compromised police network".

"The worst parts is that even when we deployed these in the Perth Metro region, where there are a lot of trusted public WiFi networks, they decided connect to ours instead and engage in this risky behaviour," Dr Szewczyk said.

Dr Szewczyk said anyone from cyber criminals to a child could create these networks using $50-$60 worth of hardware.
We (The Bahamas) now rank 119 out of 190? overall in the Doing Business 2017 from The World Bank.



In terms of getting electricity we rank 117. We are behind Iraq and Sudan on this score. (Perhaps the requirements of BPL to transfer a BEC account back to the name of the landlord or to the next tenant has something to do with this.)



In terms of registering property we are at 167 - definitely in the bottom section of the list



In terms of starting a business we are at 108 - behind Burkina Faso, Congo, Grenada, Liberia etc



The good news is that we are ahead of Syria and Haiti in all or almost all categories.



This could be the reason thousands of Syrians and Haitians are getting on rafts and rickety boats headed to Greece and the Bahamas.



The bad news is, if we keep on going down on this list, we will be competing with the Syrians and Haitians for that supply of rafts.



On the entrepreneurial side, there is probably an opportunity here for anyone in the raft-making business.

Leandra Esfakis

November 16, 2017
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Nov. 15, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY, MASSAC COUNTY, IL

By West Kentucky Star Staff Nov. 15, 2017 | 06:23 PM | PADUCAH, KY, MASSAC COUNTY, IL

People can donate food to help families in need at the 25th annual "Groceries for Good" campaign on Saturday.



"I think it's a great way to recognize the blessings that we have individually, and a great way to start out the holiday season of giving," event coordinator Lisa O'Rourke said. "It puts everything into perspective as we go into the holiday season."



From 9 am to 5 pm, participating grocery stores in McCracken and Massac counties will accept donations. They are the three Kroger stores in Paducah, Banks Market in Lone Oak, Cash Saver on Jackson Street, Forthman Foods IGA in Kevil, Food Giant in Reidland, Big John and Save-A-Lot in Metropolis, and Barney's Market in Brookport.



Donations will be taken to Paducah Tilghman High School where volunteers will sort the items. Service agencies will collect donated goods for delivery to families during the holidays.



Agencies participating are The Salvation Army, Family Service Society, Hope Unlimited Family Care Center, Martha's Vineyard, Merryman House, Paducah Cooperative Ministry, Paducah Day Nursery, River City Mission and St. Vincent de Paul.



The last event raised more than $46,000 and saw nearly 300 volunteers.



O'Rourke said more volunteers are still needed Saturday, Nov. 18. So far, volunteers include local Boy and Girl Scout troops, youth groups, community members, and students from Paducah Tilghman, McCracken County and St. Mary high schools.



In addition to canned goods, donations accepted include dry food items, baby items, hygiene products, cleaning supplies and paper products.



The event is sponsored by The Paducah Sun and The Metropolis Planet, and all proceeds remain local.



For more information on volunteering or cash donations, contact The Paducah Sun at 270-575-8801.
ViWinTech could begin demolition of the old Residential Care Center in the next few days
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Nov. 17, 2017 | SMITHLAND, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Nov. 17, 2017 | 05:03 PM | SMITHLAND, KY

Faculty, staff, and students from West Kentucky Community & Technical College visited Livingston Central High School this week as part of the college's "Education Express: Connecting Communities" Tour.



More than 30 students, educators, and local government officials turned out to meet WKCTC's faculty and staff on November 14, in what was the last visit for the tour for 2017. The college plans to visit several other communities in 2018.



WKCTC is a two-year, comprehensive, regional college serving more than 8,000 students annually. It offers more than 250 associate degree, diploma and certificate options in more than 40 academic and career programs, with classes offered in Paducah and Hickory, as well as online.



The Aspen Institute has recognized WKCTC as one of the top 10 community colleges in the nation each of the four times they have awarded prizes.



For more information, contact Janett Blythe, (270) 534-3079 or Janett.blythe@kctcs.edu
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By Brandon Porter, Commonwealth Policy Center

Nov. 17, 2017 | CAVE CITY, KY

By Brandon Porter, Commonwealth Policy Center Nov. 17, 2017 | 06:56 PM | CAVE CITY, KY

Is Expanded Gambling Worth the Risk? - By Brandon Porter



Being a state that is closely tied to the horse racing industry, its not a surprise that expanded gambling is frequently discussed in Kentucky. Even more, its no surprise this issue comes up when the woes of Kentuckys economy are mentioned. Keeping those things in mind, there are a few questions we should ask.



Would expanded gambling improve the work ethic of Kentuckians?

The prosperity of the Commonwealth is built on the hard work and ingenuity of previous generations. Its the only way the Commonwealth will be shared with the generations to come. The Apostle Paul said if anyone is unwilling to work, he shouldnt be allowed to eat. The allurement of easy riches doesnt promote the valuable principle of hard work.



Would expanded gambling promote false hope to Kentuckians?

When you think of a skilled trade, what comes to mind? A vocational school would never teach the trade of learning to pick lottery numbers or how to play a slot machine. Hopefully, students go to school to learn a skill or trade with the understanding that they will use this ability to provide for themselves and others. Gambling is built on the hope that the next coin, the next ticket, the next race, or the next pull of the lever will pay huge dividends.



Should the state government partner with an institution that could contribute to addiction?

Race tracks and casinos are usually established through state sponsored incentives. This is different than an industry that is regulated by state government, because it is the state government partnering with a business a business that could cause harm to citizens.



Did you know the National Center for Responsible Gaming estimates 1.2 million Americans struggling with gambling addictions annually? Compare that to the 600,000 people that the Center for Disease Control say die from cancer each year. This means there are twice as many families affected by gambling addiction than by cancer. Whether we hear about them or not, gambling addictions are prevalent in the United States.



Yes, there are rebuttals to each of these questions. Yes, expanded gaming is legal in states that border Kentucky. Yes, there might be tax revenue generated by expanded gambling sites. But is it worth the risk to the overall health of Kentucky in this generation and for the ones to come?



Brandon Porter is the Media Director for CPC. He and his wife are raising their family in Cave City, KY.


Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Sen. Jeff Flake, a frequent sparring partner of President Donald Trump, continues to make enemies in his own party after calling the GOP "toast" while unaware he was still on a live mic.

Flake, R-Ariz., was at a tax reform event in Mesa, Arizona on Friday night when he was caught bashing the president in a conversation with friend, Mesa Mayor John Giles.

"If we become the party of Roy Moore and Donald Trump, we are toast," Flake was caught saying by ABC affiliate KNXV-TV.

Moore is running for the vacant Senate seat in Alabama left by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He has come under fire for a number of allegations of sexual harassment and assault, but has refused to leave the race.

Trump is a frequent opponent for Flake, who announced last month he would not seek re-election in 2018 in a fiery speech condemning the president from the floor of the Senate.

Flake indirectly called out Trump in his Senate speech, saying, "We must dedicate ourselves to making sure that the anomalies never becomes the normal, with respect and humility."

He told ABC News' Mary Bruce of Moore in a Nov. 9 interview on Capitol Hill, "If there is any shred of truth to these stories, he ought to step aside. And now."

Flake's criticism of Trump and the GOP weren't the only interesting comments to be caught on the live mic Friday night.

Giles was caught appearing to encourage Flake to run for president in 2020.

"I am not throwing smoke at you, but you are the guy -- just for fun, think about how much fun it would be -- just to be the foil, you know, and point out what an idiot this guy is," Giles said, apparently referring to Trump. "Anyway, I hope you do it."

Giles, who is a moderate Republican like Flake, has been mayor of Mesa since 2014.

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WASHINGTON  The Trump administration said it will allow the importation of body parts from African elephants shot for sport, contending that encouraging wealthy big-game hunters to kill them will aid the vulnerable species.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a written notice issued Thursday that permitting elephants from Zimbabwe and Zambia to be brought back as trophies will raise money for conservation programs. A licensed two-week African elephant hunt can cost more than $50,000 per person, not including airfare, according to advertised rates.

The change marks a shift in efforts to stop the importation of elephant tusks and hides, overriding a 2014 ban imposed by the Obama administration. The new policy applies to the remains of African elephants killed between January 2016 and December 2018.

Legal, well-regulated sport hunting as part of a sound management program can benefit certain species by providing incentives to local communities to conserve those species and by putting much-needed revenue back into conservation, the agency said in a statement.

Animal rights activists and environmental groups expressed skepticism Thursday that killing elephants could help save them. Wayne Pacelle, the president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, said the policy change sends the wrong signal amid international efforts to curb illegal poaching.

What kind of message does it send to say to the world that poor Africans who are struggling to survive cannot kill elephants in order to use or sell their parts to make a living, but that its just fine for rich Americans to slay the beasts for their tusks to keep as trophies? Pacelle asked.

But the move was quickly praised by groups that champion big-game trophy hunting, including Safari Club International and the lobbying arm of the National Rifle Association. The two groups had sued to challenge the ban in court.

Chris Cox, executive director of the National Rifle Associations Institute for Legislative Action, called the action a significant step forward in having hunting receive the recognition it deserves as a tool of sound wildlife management, which had been all but buried in the previous administration.

By lifting the import ban on elephant trophies in Zimbabwe and Zambia the Trump administration underscored, once again, the importance of sound scientific wildlife management and regulated hunting to the survival and enhancement of game species in this country and worldwide, Cox said.

President Donald Trumps two adult sons are avid trophy hunters. A photo of Donald Trump Jr. holding a knife and the bloody severed tail of an elephant he reportedly killed in Zimbabwe in 2011 has sparked outrage among animal rights activists.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday referred questions about the policy change to the Fish and Wildlife Service, saying no announcement had yet been finalized. The agency said the formal announcement of the policy will be published in the Federal Register on Friday.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who oversees the Fish and Wildlife Service, recently installed the arcade game Big Buck Hunter Pro in the employee cafeteria at the agencys Washington headquarters, a move he said would promote wildlife and habitat conservation. In June, the department removed longstanding protections for grizzly bears near Yellowstone National Park, a step to potentially allow them to be hunted.

The worlds largest land mammal, the African elephant has been classified as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act since 1979.

Illicit demand for elephant ivory has led to devastating losses from illegal poaching as the natural habitat available for the animals to roam has also dwindled by more than half. As a result, the number of African elephants has shrunk from about 5 million a century ago to about 400,000 remaining. And that number continues to decline each year.

According to the United Nations, as many as 100,000 African elephants were killed between 2010 and 2012. For forest elephants, the population declined by an estimated 62 percent between 2002 and 2011.

The U.S. decision comes as the longtime president of Zimbabwe was placed under house arrest this week by the nations military, plunging the west African nation into political uncertainty. The U.S. embassy there has advised Americans there to limit unnecessary movements.

Tanya Sanerib, a lawyer with the advocacy group Center for Biological Diversity, called the timing of the Trump administrations announcement bizarre.

Corruption was already a huge concern in Zimbabwe, and its shocking that Zinke is lifting the trophy ban during a military coup, she said. With tanks in the streets, whoever is actually running the Zimbabwe government just cant be trusted to protect elephants from slaughter by poachers.
TOWN OF HONEY CREEK  A landlord is facing criminal charges after prosecutors say he stole the carcass of his tenants dog and brutalized her horse.

On Friday, the Sauk County District Attorneys Office charged Jerry A. Leister, 67, of Middleton, with felony mistreatment of an animal and misdemeanor dognapping. He faces up to 3 years in prison if convicted of the felony.

According to the criminal complaint, the tenant told investigators that her boyfriend returned to the home, located southwest of Baraboo on Balfanz Road, in September and noticed her dog was missing. He noticed a pool of blood at the end of the driveway, and the landlord, Leister, pulling away in his truck.

The woman said when she confronted Leister about what her boyfriend saw, Leister said he noticed the deceased dog in the driveway and became worried it would traumatize her young son. He told the woman he took the carcass away in his truck.

However, the woman told investigators that Leister refused to tell her where the dog was buried. When she pressed him for more information, the tenant said, Leister became evasive.

The woman also reported that on Oct. 20, Leister showed up at the home enraged because construction workers she had referred him to for a project were not showing up for work. He allegedly began shouting at her and pointing his finger in her face with her son nearby.

Three days later, the woman said, she saw Leister bring a skid-loader into a nearby barn where she kept two horses. The next morning, the woman noticed an injury to one horses muzzle and blood scattered around the barn.

Investigators documented a large laceration running horizontally across the horses face above its nostril, with a bone sticking straight up above the wound. There also was a 2-inch cut to the animals shoulder.

The woman told authorities that the horse is docile, and likely would have moved out of the way for equipment without coaxing. She stated she believed that Leister was capable of killing or harming her animals, a Sauk County Sheriffs Department detective reported.

The detective located the skid-loader at another property, and a tenant who lives there said Leister told them about the incident. He allegedly admitted that he saw the horse get tangled in a blanket and begin to panic, flailing wildly. The witness said Leister left without helping the horse or notifying its owner.

Investigators report that Leister refused to speak with them when they showed up at his home to ask questions. Attempts to reach Leister by phone Friday were not successful.

This is not the first time Leister has been accused of becoming violent with a tenant. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail in relation to a 2008 dispute over unpaid rent.

In that case, Leister was accused of punching a female tenant, throwing her against a car, and then punching and choking her boyfriend. In an interview, Leister said he was defending himself, and that one of the tenants brandished a firearm during the dispute.

In 2005, Leister was accused of threatening Sauk Prairie Police Chief Jerry Strunz and his family for issuing him a drunken-driving ticket.
Welcome, Sen. Al Franken, to the growing list of creepy guys in Hollywood and Washington who apparently think its OK  or funny  for men in power to sexually harass or assault women and men.

Well see if the liberal media and his fellow Democrats treat the charges against Franken as seriously as theyve been treating the ones against Republican Senate hopeful Roy Moore of Alabama.

Franken, the very unfunny comedian who became the very liberal senator from Minnesota in 2009, is apologizing as fast as he can  and even calling for a Senate ethics committee to investigate himself.

But hes got a lot of splaining to do.

On-air radio personality Leeann Tweeden of Los Angeles has accused him of kissing her without her consent and groping her in 2006 during a USO tour in Afghanistan.

Theres even a horrific photo of a grinning Franken cupping his hands over Tweedens breasts while she slept that quickly has gone viral.

Given that sexual predators of all kinds dont commit a single sleazy act of molestation, assault or harassment and then retire, well probably be hearing from other women who had unwanted encounters with Franken.

In any case, Franken apparently is not Congress lone harasser.

We learned just this week that for years Congress has had a secret slush fund to pay off women who had been victims of sexual harassment by its members.

More than $15 million in settlements  paid by taxpayers  was spent from 1997 to 2014 to protect our duly elected slime balls from bad publicity they probably deserved.

Meanwhile in Alabama, Roy Moore is still refusing to exit the special election next month to fill Jeff Sessions vacated seat. Voters may elect him and ignore the credible charges that he hit on or assaulted underage girls as a 30-something DA nearly 40 years ago.

But I think Moore is guilty as charged.

Having lived through molestations and abuse by a man as a boy, I think I can read when someone is being honest about their accusations and someone is not.

I tend to believe the women accusers more than I believe Roy Moore.

People will say, Why did the women wait 40 years to bring these charges up?

I tell them I didnt reveal my sexual abuse for 34 years. Its not something youre dying to publicize, believe me.

The charges against Moore are coming forward now because the young women he took advantage of long ago are being empowered by the #MeToo campaign. Its a new era. Victims of sexual assault by the powerful and famous  women and men  can now come out of the closet and tell their horror stories.

Moores got zero defenders in the GOP establishment, and his poll numbers are crashing.

Its true he has not been convicted in a court of law, and probably could never be. But hes been declared guilty in the court of public opinion. He should step aside.

Alabamas governor should delay the election or do whatever he can to allow a write-in.

The Moore and Franken cases are a good morality test for conservatives and liberals.

Is sexual assault, harassment or serial creepiness by a man always wrong, or is it just wrong when the guy charged with it is not on your political team?

During the 1990s, Bill Clintons misbehavior and possible crimes got a pass from Democrats and most of the mainstream liberal media, which didnt believe the women accusers or denigrated them.

I see some in the conservative media making the same partisan mistake by disbelieving Moores accusers.

In the 1990s, conservatives were right about Bill Clinton. Lets not be wrong about Roy Moore.

I dont care what party he belongs to, I dont want someone like him in the Senate any more than I want someone like Al Franken.




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Thierry Neuville repelled Jari-Matti Latvalas challenge to restore a comfortable lead at Kennards Hire Rally Australia on Saturday afternoon.

Stage info: SS12/13 SS12: Welshs Creek, 33.49km

Saturday afternoons opener repeats the opening two-thirds of the morning Nambucca test. It is fast and flowing with big corners and crests, although there is a 4km section which is extremely tight between trees. Jumps and small sections of asphalt mean this test has everything. SS13: Argents Hill, 12.24km

This live TV stage comprises the final part of Nambucca. It is fast and flowing all the way, ending with a 2.25km segment, which mixes a short technical section with fast flowing corners to the stop line.

The Hyundai i20 driver won the Welshs Creek and Argents Hill speed tests to extend his advantage from 6.3sec to 19.0sec, leaving Latvala to admit his hopes of overhauling the Belgian were disappearing.

Neuville delivered a stunning performance in Welshs Creek. In conditions that ranged from bone dry gravel to treacherously slippery mud, he stopped the clocks 9.9sec faster than Latvala, before eking out a further 2.8sec in Argents Hill.

I got into the first stage, the tyres felt good so I kept going and when it started to get dry I really pushed hard. The next one was more slippery and I struggled a bit with oversteer, so not so much fun, said Neuville.

Now I have a good lead but we have to be careful. If the rain comes tomorrow its going to be very difficult.

Latvala posted top three times in both tests but cut a frustrated figure after Argents Hill when he saw the timesheets. Asked if he could still win, the Toyota Yaris pilot replied:

If Thierry is keeping that speed, no chance. When Im on mixed tyres the balance of the cars isnt so great and Im not as confident as I was this morning. I havent been running so much in this car with the mixed tyre package and it seems a bit of an issue for me now.

Kris Meekes podium hopes vanished when he swiped the rear of his Citroen C3 against a Welshs Creek bridge and broke the rear suspension. He retired at the start of Argents Hill, promoting Ott Tanak to third.

The Estonian punctured in Welshs Creek and had to fit a worn soft tyre to his Ford Fiesta for the next test. He held a 25.0sec advantage over Craig Breen in fourth, with Hayden Paddon a further 14.9sec back in fifth.

Sebastien Ogier slid wide into a bank in the final slippery section of Welshs Creek and spun. The impact ripped the bumper from his Fiesta and a chunk of the front splitter. The Frenchman lost 10sec but was up to sixth.

Stephane Lefebvre spun and stalled his Citroen C3s engine after a Welshs Creek crest.

The second pass through Newry was cancelled due to a damaged bridge mid-stage, so just two passes through the Coffs Harbour waterfront tests remain this evening.

Head to WRC+ to see the latest onboard and video reports from Kennards Hire Rally Australia

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Appeal to locate missing Wrexham fan  51 year old Alan Wells

This article is old - Published: Friday, Nov 17th, 2017

Police appeal for help in finding a missing man from Mold.

Alan Wells 51, has not been seen since he went missing from his home in the town on Wednesday, November 15.

Alan is pictured above in a Wrexham club scarf, where he is a season ticket holder.

If you have any information which may help officers trace Alan police are asking you to call 101 quoting reference 19630
Motorists urged to keep their speed down and save lives

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Nov 18th, 2017

Emergency services across North Wales have joined together to support this years Brake Road Safety Week by asking all road users to Speed Down, Save Lives.

North Wales Police, the Welsh Ambulance Service and the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service are calling on drivers across the region to get behind the biggest road safety event in UK by pledging to slow down and to think of the consequences of driving too fast.

The campaign, which takes place from 20th  26th November, will see officers from the Roads Policing Unit use social media to highlight one of their Fatal 5 messages every day by using the hashtags #SpeedDown #RoadSafetyWeek.

Inspector Dave Cust from North Wales Police Roads Policing Unit said: Road Safety Week is an opportunity for police, partner agencies and the public to work closely together with a common aim to reduce fatal and serious injury collisions on our roads.

This years theme is speeding and the campaign is simply asking people to speed down and save lives. Speeding is an issue that concerns many residents and one that we take extremely seriously.

Campaigns like this give us a great opportunity to raise awareness of the dangers of speeding and also remind motorists that officers are on the lookout for anyone putting themselves and other road users at risk. Those who choose to ignore the speed limits can expect to be prosecuted for their actions.

We have a robust strategy around the Fatal 5 offences  which are speeding, drink and drug driving, not wearing a seatbelt, using a mobile phone and dangerous driving. People committing one of the Fatal 5 offences are more likely to be involved in a fatal collision than those who are not so we will be using the week to further highlight our messages.

He added: We are committed to making our roads a safer place for all who use them and we will continue to target those irresponsible drivers who choose to ignore speed limits and drive irresponsibly, not only risking their own lives but the lives of others.

We are pleased to be supporting this years Road Safety Week and our officers will be working with partners and colleagues focussing on education, engagement and enforcement.

Jane Honey, Deputy Head of Community Safety for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said: As firefighters, we witness first-hand the terrible aftermath of road traffic collisions.

Our roads can be dangerous places, resulting in serious injuries or even death, but by changing our driving behaviour we can help to make our villages, towns and cities safer places to be. Every action that we take, as a driver or as a passenger, can change the outcome of a journey and the future of a family. We are supporting this years campaign by asking everyone to speed down to save lives.

Welsh Ambulance Service Road Safety Champion Dermot OLeary, who is based in Rhyl, said: We witness first-hand the devastation caused by road traffic collisions and the effect on families and the local community.

The Welsh Ambulance Service fully supports this campaign and will be working with our emergency services partners to get this vital message out to as many people as possible during Road Safety Week.

Road Safety Week is an annual awareness campaign, organised across the UK by national charity Brake. For more information please visit their website (www.brake.org.uk)

Please follow the North Wales Police Roads Policing Unit on social media via Twitter @NWPRPU and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NWPRPU/
New campaign urges families to talk about importance of organ donation

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Nov 18th, 2017

A major campaign focusing on the role of families in the organ donation process has been launched by the Welsh Government.

Latest figures published by NHS Blood and Transplant show there were 21 cases in Wales where families either overrode their relatives decisions to donate organs, or didnt support the deemed consent.

With an average of three organs retrieved per donor in Wales last year, this could have resulted in as many as 65 additional transplants.

Back in December 2015, Wales became the first country in the UK to move to a soft opt-out system of consent to organ donation  meaning unless a person has not registered a decision to become an organ donor or a decision not to become an organ donor, they will be considered as having no objection to being an organ donor. This is known as deemed consent.

However, if individuals dont tell their family of their decision to donate, the family may not honour that decision and override the organ donor registration or not support deemed consent.

Wrexhams Assembly Member, Lesley Griffiths, has backed the hard-hitting advertisement which shows an individuals choice to donate his organs being overridden by family members

Ms Griffiths said: The Welsh Labour Government led the way in introducing this progressive legislation, which ultimately aims to save peoples lives.

Increasing the consent rate will help reduce transplant waiting lists and although awareness and understanding of the legislation is increasing, there are still a significant number of people dying whilst waiting for their transplant.

Having a chat with family members about your organ donation wishes can not only help simplify an already distressing time, but help ensure more people in Wales and across the UK will have their lives transformed as additional organs become available.
Theatre partnership with Wrexham GP training programme marks 10 years

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Nov 18th, 2017

An innovative partnership which sees theatre students from Wrexham Glyndwr University help to train GPs in North Wales has marked its 10th year.

The work with the Wrexham GPs specialty programme, based at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, is now established as a key part of the universitys degree in Theatre, Television and Performance.

A consultation skills workshop is held every October at the hospital, with students acting as patients with a range of medical problems.

The workshops allow the students to work on role-play techniques and enhance their applied theatre skills through corporate drama exercises.

In return, medics who are training to be GPs are able to practice their communication skills with patients.

Elen Mai Nefydd, Senior Lecturer in Theatre, TV and Performance, said: The partnership has been such a valuable learning experience for our students and it has enhanced their training in a very specialist area of performance. This will provide them with a valuable skillset in the industry when they graduate.

Ian Happs, General Practitioner and programme director and GP Trainer said: Working with the theatre students from Wrexham Glyndwr University over the past decade has been a real pleasure and extremely valuable for our junior doctors.

The theatre students have worked hard to give accurate portrayals of all sorts of people with many different medical problems.

They have helped the trainee GPs to develop their consultation skills and to prepare for their final professional exams.

On a personal level, I have found the project very rewarding and Ive been delighted to help to bring our two very different disciplines together each year.

A big thanks to Elen Mai and the team. I look forward to continuing the partnership in the years to come.

Applied theatre is one of the unique strands to Wrexham Glyndwr Universitys BA (Hons) in Theatre, Television and Performance.

Other projects have seen students work with new high school pupils to help them cope with issues such as relationships, cyber-bullying and classroom discipline.

Working in partnership with Alzheimers Society in Wrexham, theyve also helped to raise awareness of dementia by devising their own theatre production called Open Voices.

Find out more about the degree at https://www.glyndwr.ac.uk/en/Undergraduatecourses/TheatreTelevisionandPerformance/
The officer shot in Charleston Thursday night is the son of a retired Charleston Police officer who was shot in the line of duty back in 2006, according to Charleston Police Chief Steve Cooper.

Patrolman Seth Johnson was struck once in the torso, but was wearing his bulletproof vest while responding to a burglary Thursday night at a home on Albert Street.

Patrolman Johnson's father Eric Johnson, who is the current police chief at Yeager Airport, was shot while he was working a sting operation at a Charleston hotel in June 2006. When he approached a suspicious car, the man inside -- a convicted felon and fugitive -- shot him twice.

In an interview on October 2007 when then Lt. Johnson was inducted into the American Police Hall of Fame in Titusville as the 2007 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year, he said, "I didn't want to die so I fought back. I was able to retreat and thank God I am still here today."

"When I say I am lucky to be here I think we shouldn't forget those who aren't lucky enough to be here -- those that have fallen," Johnson said.
The European Union is supporting Madrids imposition of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution to impose a puppet government in Catalonia. Giving Madrid a blank check to turn back the clock to the authoritarian policies of the fascist regime led by Francisco Franco, which fell in 1978 amid mass struggles of the Spanish working class, the EU is shattering whatever pretenses remain that it is a force for democracy.

As Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy prepares to dissolve the Catalan parliament, seize control of the regional state apparatus, beginning with the security services and the ministries, and purge the public service, the EU is fully backing him. Rajoys Popular Party (PP) government, supported by Spains other bourgeois parties, has readied tens of thousands of Guardia Civil and soldiers to carry though its attack on Catalonia.

The workers of both Catalonia and the rest of Spain have been led into this perilous situation as a result of the treacherous right-wing policies of the supposed left of the bourgeois political establishment, the social democrats and Podemos, and the reactionary pro-capitalist and pro-European Union perspective of the Catalan nationalist parties. All of these parties have supported the brutal austerity policies imposed on workers across Spain since the 2008 financial crisis at the behest of the EU and the European and international banks.

Despite the sharp conflict between the Spanish bourgeoisie and its Catalan nationalist counterpart, they are united in their determination to make the working class pay for the crisis of Spanish and European capitalism.

Madrid has given the powers of the impeached premier of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, to Spanish Vice-Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, who is charged with running the province and overseeing snap elections unilaterally set by Madrid for December 21. This is a sign that Madrid is moving toward a return to dictatorship. Saenz de Santamaria comes from a family intimately connected to the repressive apparatus of the Francoite regime.

Her grandfather, General Jose Antonio Saenz de Santamaria, played a leading role in the Francoite security forces after the Civil War, up until 1996, two decades after Francos death.

The EU is now backing the return to a similarly undemocratically installed regime. I have one person I talk to in Spain, that is Prime Minister Rajoy He wants to respect [constitutional rules] and he has my full support, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday while on a voyage to Guyana. Macrons foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said he did not recognize Catalan independence and wanted a strong and united Spain.

Germany refuses to recognize the independence of Catalonia, declared German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who added that she fully supported Madrid. Her spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said that Berlin supports the clear position of Rajoy, who aims to restore order and calm.

Even as it temporarily grants asylum to the impeached Catalan Premier Carles Puigdemont, the Belgian government is also backing Madrid. Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel indirectly exhorted the Catalan population to accept a military-backed regime, saying, The political crisis can be resolved only through dialog. We are calling for a pacific solution that respects the national and international order.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter: The Catalan issue must be resolved within the constitutional order. Spain is a faithful ally that strongly contributes to our security.

On Friday, EU Commissioner Carlos Moedas had said: What is happening now is very hard for everyone involved, but we as the European Union must defend Spains constitutional order.

The encouragement by European governments of the imposition of some form of police-military dictatorship in Cataloniathe prelude to the imposition of such a regime more broadly across Spain and Europeis a warning to the working class. EU governments are reacting to the Catalan crisis as an opportunity to impose dictatorial regimes in countries across Europe.

This is the outcome of a quarter-century of mounting austerity and militarism in Europe since the Stalinist bureaucracys dissolution of the Soviet Union. As class tensions rise as a result of explosive levels of social inequality, mass unemployment and social attacks that are the greatest since the Great Depression of the 1930s, the ruling class is repudiating even the outer forms of democratic rule. It is moving back toward the bloody and authoritarian capitalist regimes of the middle of the 20th century in Europe.

An article in the daily LAlsace titled The Catalan powder keg stated: The government of Mariano Rajoy faces the difficulty of taking the reins in Catalonia without providing a pretext for opposition. The slightest excess, from one side or the other, could be the spark that sets off a situation ready to explode.

Another regional French daily, Le Bien public, also called Catalonia a powder keg and concluded, In such a very tense climate, violent excesses can never be excluded.

It added, Catalan nationalist militants, used to pacific resistance, will not let police arrest their leaders facing sedition charges and, in theory, up to 30 years in prison. Madrid can maintain its juridical firmness without committing the error of sending in the troops. But what no one can predict are the reactions of non-Catalan populations who make up entire suburbs of Barcelona and can be aggressive. In meetings, in cafes, we avoid talking about it and thats for the best. Its a powder keg, said one social-democratic official from Barcelona.

As the EU countries throw off the democratic mask, they are leaving the population no other future than a series of authoritarian police states, monitored by increasingly powerful police and surveillance forces capable of spying on all aspects of citizens lives.

In France, Macron is making permanent the state of emergency via the new antiterror law that creates a de facto police state. Another measure taken in parallel with this law is the creation of a planning staff bringing together the heads of the intelligence agencies and various security forces, which could lead to a police-military regime against social opposition.

Macron, who was marketed during this years presidential election as the democratic alternative to neofascist candidate Marine Le Pen, clearly signaledby receiving Egyptian military dictator General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi a few days ago at the Elysee presidential palacethat he does not oppose dictatorship.

The only way forward is the independent political mobilization of the European working class in struggle against the reactionary measures of the Rajoy government and of the other EU states, demanding the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Catalonia and an end to the crackdown.

However, workers can carry out such a perspective only in opposition to the Catalan nationalists, whose perspective is to continue imposing austerity while building an independent Catalan capitalist state. This means as well a struggle against the pseudo-left parties, which either promote the Catalan bourgeois nationalists or defend the Spanish capitalist state, in both cases seeking to subordinate the working class to the European ruling classes. The way forward is the struggle to unite European workers under the banner of the United Socialist States of Europe.

The Catalan crisis has exposed the bankrupt and reactionary character of organizations such as Spains Podemos party and Unsubmissive France (LFI) of Jean-Luc Melenchon, which are hostile to all appeals to mobilize the workers in struggle against state repression. Podemos has consistently used appeals for dialog to pose as a party capable of resolving the crisis while strangling social opposition. It has finally aligned itself with the Rajoy government by backing its call for December 21 elections in Catalonia, and thus the broader repression organized by Madrid.

The French ally of Podemos, LFI leader Melenchon, after having appealed to Macron to intervene with Rajoy, has now declared his support for Rajoys fraudulent elections. I dont want anyone to simply declare independence like that nor to repress independence. People must vote, he said this weekend.
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) held a strong public meeting at Colombos New Town Hall last Sunday to commemorate the centenary of the Russian Revolution. About 150 workers, students, youth, professionals and housewives, including SEP/IYSSE members and supporters, attended the event, which featured a screening of Tsar to Lenin, the authoritative documentary on the 1917 October Revolution.

The meeting was live-streamed through the SEP Facebook page. Around 300 watched the event online, among them party members and supporters in Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka and supporters of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) in Chennai, India.

Centenary meetings are being held throughout Sri Lanka and internationally by the ICFI. Four days earlier, a meeting and screening of Tsar to Lenin were held at Peradeniya University in Kandy, the hill country capital. On December 16, another meeting will be held in Galle, the southern capital.

In preparation for the Colombo event, SEP/IYSSE members campaigned in working-class areas and universities in and around the city, distributing leaflets and discussing the significance of lessons of Russian Revolution with workers, youths and students.

Chairing the event, SEP political committee member K. Ratnayake began by sending the partys warmest greetings to comrades in Jaffna, Chennai and internationally. He said the aim of the centenary meetings and online lectures organised by the ICFI is to build the necessary revolutionary leadership for workers and youth coming to struggles worldwide. Everywhere, people faced attacks by capitalist ruling classes, including a world war drive, creating similar conditions to those that drove Russian workers to take political power 100 years ago.

Citing remarks made by David North, the chairperson of the international editorial board of World Socialist Web Site, during his online lecture the previous night, Ratnayake pointed out that the ICFI is the only organisation in the world, which represents true heritage of Russian Revolution.

By contrast, Ratnayake said, pseudo-left groups held centenary meetings to prevent workers and youth from challenging capitalism. United Socialist Party (USP) leader Siritunga Jayasuriya had recently told one these meetings: The USP joins hands with the FSP [Frontline Socialist Party], as Lenin and Trotsky did on the eve of the Revolution, gathering all those on the left.

Ratnayake explained that contrary to Jayasuriya, the seizure of power by the Russian working class in October 1917 was prepared by intense political and theoretical struggle waged by Lenin and Trotsky against every opportunist tendency. Without that, the October Revolution would have been impossible and counterrevolution would have triumphed.

The main speaker, SEP general secretary Wije Dias, pointed to the world historical significance of the Russian Revolution. It marked the opening of a new progressive epoch in the development of human civilisation. Despite the later betrayals of counter-revolutionary Stalinism, the revolution had immense achievements, including in advancing the economic and social standards of working families in a vast region of the globe, based on the nationalised property relations established after the revolution.

Dias outlined the electrifying inspiration that workers and youth throughout the world, and the oppressed masses of the colonial countries of every continent, drew from the call issued by the Bolshevik Party, led by Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky, for liberation and peace in the midst of the barbarism unleashed by World War I.

The speaker referred to the deepening breakdown of the capitalist world economy since 2008, and the military aggression and inter-imperialist rivalries engulfing the globe once again. What these developments glaringly express is that the fundamental contradictions that ferociously broke onto the world political arena in 1914, in the form of the world war, have not been resolved.

Dias said the perspective of the October Revolution was based on Trotskys theory of permanent revolution, which demonstrated the necessity for the working class to take power. He said ferocious condemnations of Trotsky and Trotskyism today reflected the desperation of the imperialist ruling classes. The speaker referred to slanderous campaigns against Trotsky by ruling class-funded academics and the Google censorship seeking to prevent people accessing the WSWS.

But the struggles of the working people and the youth are emerging in different forms at various points of the world arena, sharply raising the need for the perspective and leadership of the world socialist revolution. Todays pseudo-lefts called for broad fronts, just as the Mensheviks, Social Revolutionaries and other lefts opposed the Bolshevik struggle for the working class to take power in 1917.

The speaker cited Trotskys 1932 Copenhagen speech, titled In Defence of October, in which Trotsky said: The active intervention of the masses in historical events is in fact the most indispensable element of revolution.

Dias concluded: It is with unflinching confidence in such a process that we have taken the conscious decision to train the present generation of the working class and the youth in the lessons of the 1917 Revolution so they can play the leading role in the coming revolutionary struggles under the banner of Trotskyismthe program of socialist internationalism.

The audience warmly received the screening of Tsar to Lenin, which was preceded by a brief introduction by SEP political committee member Pani Wijesiriwardane. Indicating intense interest, books worth nearly 10,000 rupees were sold at the SEP literature table and more than 11,000 rupees donated to the partys building fund.

After the meeting, several audience members gave comments to the WSWS.

Anusha, a political science student said: Although I had heard about the Russian Revolution I didnt have a detailed knowledge of it. I became curious to know what socialism is after meeting IYSSE campaigners. I have now read The Historical and International Foundations of the SEP. After listening to the speeches here, my understanding of the contents of that book, particularly on the background in which the Fourth International was founded, further developed. I like socialism as a social system, offering equal opportunities for all.

Ajith, a doctor, said: I was working for the JVP [Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna] until a breakaway faction formed the FSP in 2012. I am disillusioned with both these parties. I have been following WSWS and SEP because I felt the working class needs an alternative. I attended this meeting because I think educating people with the lessons of the great October Revolution is very important today for future struggles.
British band Enter Shikari, formed in 2003, recently released their fifth album, The Spark.

The radical and raucous rhetorical element of the bands previous work is still there, but the music has in addition something more introspective, escapist and pessimistic about itreflected in a less frenetic, more mellow sound.

With the new album the band is attempting to navigate their way through an increasingly fraught political and social atmospherethe growth of militarism, nationalism and inequalityand to continue to encourage an alternative.

The pressures and contradictions involved cause problems. They undoubtedly contributed towards the 2015 breakdown suffered by frontman and songwriter Rou Reynolds.

Listening to The Spark suggests Enter Shikari is at a political and personal crossroads. Upon the albums release, Reynolds told the Independent, You still get that apathy is cool thing with some bands, but I dont think you can take that position any more, in 2017.

The world is so tumultuous. But I wouldnt be able to put so much passion into writing if I wasnt also experiencing protests outside of music. Maybe thats a sort of litmus test for whether the music is real or not. What I was trying to do with this album in marrying the personal and the political is to ensure that human vulnerability is laid bare, and to not be afraid to speak about emotions.

Reynolds says that the failure to speak about emotions was one of the big reasons you get people like Donald Trump. This is of course misguided. The emergence of Trump is not the result of repressed emotions, but the outcome of the protracted crisis of American capitalism and the culmination of a process that has developed over decades.

The frontman adds that it was natural, and incredibly inspiring that young people were becoming more politically involved, as evidenced by the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Party leader. He is clearly striving to articulate an artistic response to the political and social complexities he sees. So much happened over those two years, globally and in my personal life, he says. Some of it is maybe even a self-confidence thing, feeling as though I dont have much to offer in terms of art that helps other people. But seeing as 2015 was the year of hell for me, it wasnt just that I wanted to write a more personal record, I had to.

In terms of songwriting I wanted to make a record that concentrated on lucidity, music that instead of being five songs in onewhich is what a lot of our older stuff wasconcentrated more on melody.

The question is whether this produces a development or a regression, or perhaps a combination of the two.

The older material Reynolds refers to begins 18 years ago when he, Chris Batten and Rob Rolfe formed the trio, Hybryd. In 2003 Enter Shikari was launched when Liam Rory Clewlow joined. That line-up remains unchanged. They draw on an eclectic mix of influences, citing the Beatles, The Prodigy, Rage Against the Machine and Sick of it All.

Their sound has evolved. Their debut, Take to the Skies (2007), was heavily influenced by metalcore (an amalgamation of heavy metal and hardcore punk) coupled with the synths and electronic instrumentation of genres like trance and house. The vocals were a blend of the screamed and the clean.

Reynolds lyrics struck a chord with a new audience, coming just as the global crash of 2008 broke.

Common Dreads (2009) showed a stylistic shift, musically and lyrically. The band introduced more electronic elements and styles, reduced and refined the screamed vocals, and employed noticeably more politicized lyrics, as in Fanfare for the Conscious Man:

Our gracious queen should grasp her crown

And take a good fucking swing at Blair and Brown

For leading her country into illegal warfare

And tryna [trying to] pass it off that were doing it cos we care.

The third album, A Flash Flood of Colour, was more explicit still. Stalemate declares:

Previous wars made billionaires out of millionaires

Todays wars make trillionaires out of billionaires

Tomorrows wars will fuel generations of hate.

On The Mindsweep (2015) the band lambast the destruction of the National Health Service (Anaesthetist) and the banking system (Bank of England) with its image of the central Bank being blown up because there is No room for ethics now, greed is in charge. Torn Apart attacks the notion of race as something reared in the mind.

The Mindsweep ends with the clarion call:

And well start a world so equal and free

Every inch of this Earth is yours, all the land and all the sea

Imagine no restrictions, but the climate and the weather.

Speaking of The Mindsweep to rocksound.tv Reynolds said, On previous albums, the songs were written towards an overall theme. It was about being the voice of the voiceless, standing up for the oppressed. With this one, Ive consciously tried to not just speak about British society, but explore a more global scope The biggest problems that humanity faces are universal.

People are simmering. Theres so much discontent, and we want a different world.

In The Spark the hardcore punk and heavy metal elements have mostly departed. The electronics are less oriented toward dance music. The Sights, Live Outside and Undercover Agents are fairly upbeat pop tracks, while Rabble Rouser has strong grime influences. Shinrin-yoku stands out as the most musically and lyrically uplifting.

However, elsewhere, the lyrics are less hard-hitting. The whole comes across as rather out-of-sync. There is cathartic release here, most poignantly on the contemplative Airfield and An Ode to Lost Jigsaw Pieces (in Two Movements). Take my Country Back declares pessimistically, Weve really gone and fucked it this time.

Reynolds confides in Team Rock, Politically the last few years have just been crazy shock after shockyou feel like youve been nudged off the path where youre going and its about trying to get your bearings again. What are we rallying against? What is a progressive thinking person supposed to think about this?

The chief difficulty is that what Reynolds believes to be progressive is no such thing. The Zeitgeist Movement and the films of its founder, Peter Joseph, have been a huge influence on his work and shaped the values of the band. Reynolds was guest speaker at the movements 2014 annual conference.

The Zeitgeist Movement was founded in 2008 just as the global economic crisis erupted. It was steeped in various conspiracy theories, including those culled from right-wing and anti-Semitic sourcesblaming a secret banking elite in control of the circulation of money for the worlds ills. It claimed the solution to capitalist corruption and inefficiency was not political action by the working class, which it claimed was non-existent, but reforms enacted by an enlightened technocracy.

Reynolds crisis of perspective confirms that drinking intellectually from such a poisoned chalice will not, indeed cannot, nourish a healthy artistic response to the profound social and political problems that have animated the work of Enter Shikari to date. A serious re-examination is required.
Thanks to the people we have been able to meet with to discuss the funding needs for public education needs and Fair Nebraskas proposal to start over with a totally new conversation regarding a completely new, reliable and fair source of funding.

I thoroughly enjoyed our meeting with Kelly Holthus and Jim Hoffman at Cornerstone Bank. When a meeting goes on longer than anticipated it usually means the meeting was positive and productive. Thanks guys.

We were also privileged to be invited to the York County Democrats meeting recently. Their secretary, Lora Boyer, kindly called me and asked if we would make a presentation to their group showing our ideas about property taxes in Nebraska. Considering that I am a past chairman of the Seward County Republican party, they treated me very kindly. I have often told people I have worked for the Republican party because it was evident they needed help more than anybody else.

The point is that the Nebraska property tax issue is non-partisan. One of the participants asked What can the average person do to fix this? After thinking about the question (I had no ready answer at that time) I believe it will require individual effort to become more familiar with this problem and answers for the problem. For instance, Nebraska, by USDA standards, is the most unfair state in this nation regarding taxation of cropland. I feel Nebraska also overtaxes business properties and homes.

Then we need to have the persistence and the firm belief that we can and we will correct this problem.

Occasionally the electorate rises up and finally says, We will be heard, enough of this crap! I think it is okay to become angry. We have been patient too long. Patience has allowed our politicians to continue to extort huge amounts of money from rural Nebraska. People can no longer service their debt nor are they able to contribute to their churches or their local charities. Our government has been cruel to rural Nebraskans.

In the case of Fair Nebraska, we will need funding and members to become relevant. So far we have suggested paying 1 percent of the property tax on your business or ag land. Some have given more, some have given less. We need participation.

To the person questioning whether I had the ability to write these letters or if my wife did the writing  all bad ideas are mine, any good ideas are hers.
YORK  City water services will have to be extended to an area otherwise not online because the contamination plume from Division Avenue has now reached far down East 25th Street.

York City Administrator Joe Frei told the council this week that the city is working with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) about this water line extension, as it will be at the expense of the federal government.

The plume now impacts private water sources in that area, so water from the citys system will need to be delivered to impacted properties.

York Mayor Orval Stahr said the contamination plume has reached the area of the county shop, the co-op property in that vicinity and two residences.

The origination point of this particular plume is the former grain bin storage area on North Division Ave., which was once operated by the USDA.

This plume is not related to the other two contamination plumes in the city that are being remediated by the Environmental Protection Agency.

This contamination site in York is considered to be of high priority and the remediation is the responsibility of the USDA, which has entered the Nebraska Voluntary Cleanup Program for this site and 6-7 other former grain bin sites in the state.

The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), a financial branch of the USDA, leased grain storage areas across the Midwest  many decades ago  with the goal to help stabilize grain prices and help farmers after the war.

Officials explained that the idea was to buy and store grain to help farmers at that time stay in business when prices were low.

During an informational session held last year, Laurie Brunner, a groundwater geologist from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ), explained that this contamination plume contains carbon tetrachloride, which was applied as a liquid to kill rodents and help preserve grain. Carbon tet was sometimes over-applied, improperly applied, or improperly stored resulting in releases to the environment. Unfortunately, thats what happened here. At this site, they may have stored carbon tet and it leaked. There was a release to the soil and possibly to the ground water.

It should be stressed that the municipal water supply has not been impacted  that is why the municipal system is being extended to affected properties.
YORK  The York community, which reaches far beyond these city limits, is remembering the life and legacy of Michelle Ronne -- longtime volunteer, business person and advocate for many.

Ronne, 49, passed away on Wednesday, Nov. 15, leaving many in mourning and also in gratitude for all she did and all she stood for.

The wife of Ross Ronne and the mother of three children  Breanne, Evan and Morann  was also referred to as a force of nature in the business world as well as in the arena of being a promoter of York and worthy causes.

She was the co-owner of Green Realty and Auction in York . . . a family company she ran with her sister, Kristi Bukaske; husband; her oldest daughter; and many longtime associates.

This proactive and dynamic company was started by her father, the famed Norm Green. Ronne and Bukaske (the Green girls) grew up in the auction and realty business.

I remember us kids, having to sit around and prep all those sale bills for distribution, Ronne said, laughing, in an interview with the York News-Times in 2012. Thousands upon thousands of them. Oh, how I hated that job.

When they got to be teenagers, her then-boyfriend and now husband, Ross, joined the group to work at auctions. He was so interested in the auction business and he worked a lot for my dad as he grew up. Hes been a part of my family since we were 16 years old, she said in that earlier interview.

Ronne said, back in 2012, that she never had any early intention of officially joining the family business  but in 1990, she earned her realty license, followed by her broker license in 1993.

Bukaske was licensed in 1998 and joined the company.

A family business, in every sense of the term.

In 2003, Ronne and Bukaske were faced with their fathers sudden death. Besides their personal pain, they also had to face the fact that the business was already in motion and had to be dealt with.

We all worked so hard, Ronne said in that interview, as she remembered the tough transition. I remember how Mary (Thomas, longtime employee) worked her butt off. Everyone stepped up. We just did what we had to do. We just kept going.

Ross joined the team full time as auctioneer.

I remember thinking that if we could just get two years under our belts, wed be fine, Ronne said. Then two years came and went . . . and no one doubted that we could do it and carry on.

Carry on they certainly did.

While they changed some things with how the company runs . . . by embracing forward-thinking marketing strategies and technology . . . they still held true with the traditional auction time set by their father, which was one minute after the hour. They just tweaked it a little . . . to two minutes after the hour, which has become their trademark.

And the company is still very much about family.

In 2014, Ronne and Bukaske were recognized by the York Area Chamber of Commerce when they were given the Women-owned Business Award. At the time, Ronne reflected on the tight bond between the two, saying, We are so close, we are more than sisters. We are a perfect combination.

Many remember Ronnes dedication and business skill. That includes Kathy Larson, former advertising director for the York News-Times. Working with Michelle Ronne through the York News-Times advertising department for 23 years gave me insight into the professional, hard working woman she was. She built her business from the ground up, always staying on the cutting edge of the real estate profession while also building relationships and friendships along the way. I am proud to have considered myself Michelle's friend and colleague, and know that she will be greatly missed by myself and many others.

The sentiment was shared by Carrie Colburn, publisher of the York News-Times.

The York News-Times and Green Realty have for years been partners  supporting each other, contributing to the positive success of one another and best of all being friends, working together through it all, Colburn said. Michelle was a great lady. This great loss hurts. The entire heart of the YNT aches. Her impact on us, the community she loved and the countless families she touched is beyond words. In our thoughts and prayers we send our love to her family, friends and the Green Team  today, tomorrow and years to come, you have our love and support.

Despite her busy professional life while also raising a family, Ronne still found time to be a very active volunteer in many organizations. The list is long: York Chamber Ambassadors, chairman of Yorkfest, York Rotary Club, CASA, York County Development Corporation and the Blue River Board of Realtors.

When I was executive director of the York Area Chamber of Commerce, Michelle was the chairman of the Chamber Ambassador program, remembers Todd Kirshenbaum. I got to work with her on many projects. She was always eager to do what was best for the community and for the chamber. She was professional but always had a smile and took genuine interest in whoever she met.

Michelle and I go as far back as the late 80s when we were cocktail waitresses at Chances R. We used to talk a lot about our hopes and dreams for the future, said York Area Chamber Director Madonna Mogul. Along with her sister, they carried on their fathers business which allowed her to impact so many families here in York. Michelle was a chair and co-chair of the Chambers Ambassador Club, served on several committees and provided leadership for the staff here at the Chamber. I looked forward to when Michelle would come to the office to share ideas for her business, the Chamber and the York community. Michelle will be missed by so many in York. My thoughts and prayers are with Michelles family during this difficult time.

Dave Sjuts, a fellow Chamber Ambassador, agreed that Ronne was a go-to person for the York community, saying, Michelle was one of those people you could count on to take charge and do it right.

Carol Knieriem, executive director of CASA, said she is extremely grateful for Ronnes work with the organization, which provides court-appointed advocates to be voices for abused and neglected children in the court system.

Michelle was an active and passionate member of the board of directors for CASA for York County from June 2008 to February 2010, Knieriem said. During that time, she held the position of board treasurer. Michelle continued to financially support CASA for York County after her term on the board. She was very supportive of the work of our volunteers and board members throughout the years. Our hearts go out to Michelles family. We will all miss Michelle.

York County Development Corporation Executive Director Lisa Hurley added that, I was so saddened to hear of Michelles passing. From the minute I met her, she went out of the way to connect me around the community and provided valuable insight on York County. I consider her a friend and will miss her. She leaves a true legacy in the York area, and her loss will be felt in the community for years to come.

Funeral services for Ronne will be held Wednesday, Nov. 22, at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church in York.

The commemoration of her life will begin at 10:02 . . . two minutes after the hour.
The following questions were asked recently on the Wonderline:

Q: Will chlorinated water adversely affect house plants?

A: We asked York Public Works Director Mitch Doht this very interesting question  one that hadnt been asked before -- and he said he didnt necessarily have an answer.

Doht said he had never been told that there would be any adverse effects on house plants, if watered with chlorinated water.

Meanwhile, the effects of the ongoing chlorination have not really yet been noticeable since the process started.

The induction of chlorine to the citys water system has been very gradual, which may be why it hasnt been very noticeable so far.

If someone is worried about giving their houseplants chlorinated water, they should probably use bottled water or water that has gone through a filtering system.

Q: Was any consideration given by the York County Commissioners to purchase the empty NRD building?

A: There was some discussion about that building quite some time ago when the theory of a consolidated 911 communications center was first on the table.

The commissioners had talked about that building, as well as a few other independent buildings in the city. They took into consideration the different buildings infrastructure such as wiring and other features. They also looked at the age of different buildings, feasibility for this purpose and other factors.

Q: I have noticed what I believe are counting meters lying across Blackburn Avenue in various locations. What is their purpose?

A: York Public Works Director Mitch Doht explained that citywide routine traffic counts are currently being done in York by the Nebraska Department of Transportation. The NDOT will provide the data to the city upon completion, which we will use for planning and maintenance purposes, as well as traffic studies.

Q: Is there a mandatory retirement age for police officers in First Class cities in Nebraska?

A: There are state statutes that address pension programs for police officers in First Class cities, but we havent found any statutes pertaining to a mandatory retirement age for police officers in First Class cities.

Q: Can you print a recipe for pecan pie? And tell me why is my pie so hard it cant be cut after being baked?

A: We talked with some cooks and did some research into why this readers pecan pie turns out to be hard. What we think is that the pie was baked too long.

Sometimes people find themselves wanting to bake a pecan pie longer than they should because they dont think the filling is fully done. Remember that a pecan pie is essentially the theory of a custard and it will set up on its own as it is allowed to cool after the baking process.

And another pie maker said one reason might be that the person used the wrong kind of syrup element when making the pie, which could make the pie hard.

That said, we pulled a tried and true recipe used by one of our staffers mothers all her life for pecan pie. And it came from her mother. It is simple. It works. Stick to it and your pie should be just fine.

Mix together three large eggs,  cup sugar, 1 cup of WHITE KARO SYRUP, one heaping tablespoon of butter, one cup of chopped pecans and one teaspoon of vanilla. Beat that well.

Then pour it into an unbaked pie crust and bake it 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Now, let it cool completely on the counter. Dont mess with it. Dont worry about it. It will set up. Then stick it in the refrigerator for at least four hours before eating it.

The pie should be great.

And now were hungry.

Q: I understand that the Nebraska Public Service Commission will be announcing their decision regarding the Keystone XL pipeline on Monday. What time of day will that happen?

A: The public service commission will issue its decision on the Keystone XL pipeline during its weekly meeting in Lincoln on Monday, Nov. 20. The meeting will begin at 10 a.m.

Q: Not too long ago, files from the investigation into the assassination of John F. Kennedy were released. My question is how many files are there and where can I read them?

A: The latest batch of files from the investigation into JFKs assassination included more than 3,100 documents. The page count is in the hundreds of thousands.

They can be read on the National Archives website, at www.archives.gov/research/jfk/2017-release.

Q: How many state parks are in Nebraska? I read recently about how the state tourism organization said people arent nearly aware enough as to what Nebraska has to offer, including people who actually live in Nebraska. So Im asking the question so we can be better educated regarding state parks.

A: There are 12 state parks in Nebraska. They are the following: Arbor Lodge State Park, Buffalo Bill Ranch State Park, Chadron State Park, Chadron State Park Historical Marker, Fort Kearney State Park, Fort Robinson State Park, Niobrara State Park, Ponca State Park, Smith Falls State Park, Stolley State Park, Sutherland Reservoir State Park and Victora Springs State Park.

And just for further information, there are also four state fish hatcheries, one state wildlife area, 68 state wildlife management areas, four state fish hatcheries, two national forests, one national historic site, four national wildlife areas, six national wildlife refuges and one national recreation area.

Q: Are the inaugural gowns worn by all the nations First Ladies on display at the Smithsonian?

A: The tradition started with the gown worn by Helen Taft in 1909. Every First Lady since has donated the gown she wore to the Inaugural Ball.
Harare: Thousands are expected to take to the streets here on Saturday to demand the resignation of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe.

The rally, which is deemed as "solidarity march", is supported by the military which staged a takeover on Wednesday after a power struggle over the 93-year-old Mugabe's successor, reports the BBC.

The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) said in a statement on Friday: "The ZDF is, therefore, advising the nation that for as long as the planned march remains orderly, peaceful... and without hate speech and incitement to cause violence, it fully supports the march."

On Friday, Christopher Mutsvangwa, the leader of the influential war veterans' association, called for a huge turnout at the rally.

"We want to restore our pride and tomorrow is the day... We can finish the job which the army started.

"There's no going back for Mugabe. He must leave."

Regional branches of the ruling Zanu-PF party as well as war veterans, who until now were loyal to the President, are also saying that Mugabe should quit.

The President had been under house arrest since Wednesday's takeover, but on Friday he made his first public appearance at a graduation ceremony here, the BBC reported.

Mugabe sacked Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa last week, apparently to pave the way for his wife Grace Mugabe, who is four decades younger than him, to take over the presidency instead.

The military said it was "engaging" with Mugabe and would advise the public on the outcome of talks "as soon as possible".

Mugabe has led Zimbabwe since it gained independence from Britain in 1980.
Visakhapatnam: Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday and lauded his government for using technology to help farmers in the state.

"Andhra Pradesh is taking bold steps. I expect we will be accelerating it (technology usage). More than half of India's population is engaged in agriculture and three-fourths of rural women are engaged in agriculture. Apart from gender equality, research has shown that having more women also increases production by 20 to 30 percent," Gates said at the valedictory session of the AP Ag-Tech Summit-2017.

Gates also noted that the growth in the economy will not only lead to a higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but also lift people out of poverty.

"First, we can turn the largest economic sector in the country into a source of growth instead of a drag on the economy. Secondly, we can make sure that growth is inclusive and that it not only leads to a higher GDP but also lifts people out of poverty. Third, we can produce enough nutritious food to spurt a healthy and well-educated labor force for the future, when the Indian economy will depend even more on highly skilled workers," he added.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was also present in the summit.

Naidu  the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and TDP chief  also requested help from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in agriculture, nutrition and health.

CM @ncbn held an internal meeting with famous philanthropist and co-founder of @Microsoft, @BillGates asking for his cooperation in the areas of Agriculture, Nutrition, Health and Sanitation in Andhra Pradesh. pic.twitter.com/AXE2Hcu7H7 November 17, 2017

Gates further said, "Two examples that I am very impressed with; one is the Mega Seed Park, which really is the first of its kind and it will make available lots of high-quality seeds and coupled with that is the new EC distribution application, D Krishi, which will help farmers access quality seeds in a timely manner and ensure that the government's resources are being widely used. These are the kind of innovations that will help achieve the Chief Minister's goal of sustained double-digit economic growth in Andhra Pradesh over the next decade."

Gates, who had landed in Visakhapatnam on Friday, also visited the exhibition stalls in the summit along with Naidu.

The summit focused on innovative ideas, technologies and global best practices to push agricultural transformation in the state.

This three-day global event was organised by the Andhra Pradesh Government in association with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Dalberg Advisors.

More than 1,500 global leaders from 61 countries including business heads, start-up founders, leading policymakers, progressive farmers, NGOs, agriculture and technology experts participated the summit over three days.

Gates  the world's richest man  had met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow earlier in the day.
Dhaka: China has offered to help defuse the Rohingya crisis, Bangladesh said on Saturday, following meetings with Beijing's top diplomat that Dhaka hopes will apply pressure on Myanmar take back hundreds of thousands of refugees.

More than 600,000 Rohingya are languishing in Bangladeshi refugee camps after fleeing a brutal Myanmar army campaign launched in late August.

The UN says the scorched-earth operation, which has left hundreds of villages burned to ash in northern Rakhine state, amounts to ethnic cleansing.

Bangladesh, which already hosted some 250,000 Rohingya before the current exodus, wants the latest arrivals to return swiftly and is keen to enlist help from China, a staunch ally of Myanmar.

Foreign Minister A H Mahmood Ali held talks in Dhaka today with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi over the issue.

"When the issue of exodus of displaced Myanmar nationals was raised, the Chinese Foreign Minister stated that as a friend China will help resolve the issue and will not be partial to any side," Bangladesh foreign ministry said in a statement after the talks.

The statement added Wang stressed the "importance of continued consultations and dialogue between Bangladesh and Myanmar on the issue."

No details were given on what concrete steps Beijing might take.

Myanmar has faced growing international anger over its treatment of the Rohingya but China has helped shield the country from censure.

Earlier this month the UN Security Council dropped plans to adopt a resolution demanding an end to the violence in Myanmar in the face of strong opposition from China.

According to Bangladesh's private news agency UNB, Wang held a briefing for a small number of local media at China's embassy in Dhaka where he said Beijing supports "a proper solution of the problems through bilateral channels".

But he warned against further moves at the UN to criticise or punish Myanmar.

Wang is the first of a host of foreign ministers from Asia and Europe who are visiting Bangladesh for talks on a refugee crisis that has left the impoverished nation reeling.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Ali will take his counterparts from Germany, Sweden and Japan, together with the European Union's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini, to the border town of Cox's Bazar tomorrow to see the camps.

Refugees are penned inside vast, squalid camps, and UNICEF estimates that 25,000 children are suffering from severe malnutrition that could easily become a major killer.

The ministers will also meet Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed in principle to begin repatriation of the Rohingya but are still tussling over the details.

Yet on Thursday Myanmar's powerful army chief distanced himself from any suggestion of a quick return. The Rohingya, he said, could only return if Buddhist citizens accepted them -- a highly unlikely scenario given that the minority are so widely loathed and ostracised inside Myanmar.
New Delhi: Massive anti-Pakistan protests are being held across Gilgit Baltistan against illegal taxation by the Pakistani regime on Saturday.

According to ANI, a large number of residents, small traders and businessmen today joined the protest against unfair taxation policy of the Pakistan government in Skardu, Gilgit Baltistan.

Skardu: Massive anti-Pakistan protests across Gilgit Baltistan against illegal taxation pic.twitter.com/7IqKcj8CRL  ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2017

Due to the protest and shutdown, economic activities in the entire Gilgit Baltistan have come to a standstill.

All small and big businesses were shut down indefinitely against unfair and unjust taxes imposed on them by Pakistan.

Businessmen in Gilgit Baltistan are opposing the illegal taxation policy. We will carry on with the protests with same force and zeal until the Pakistan government withdraws notification of taxes, a businessman was quoted as saying.

One of the protesters slammed the Pakistan government and warned that their protest against its repressive and unjust policies will continue till they get rid of it.

"Will you pay taxes to Pakistan on chickens kept in your households? Will you pay taxes on cow kept at your house for milk," an angry protester asked while addressing a gathering in the Skardu city.

On the taxation system, he said, "Taxes are imposed on additional family members, if you have more than five family members, an additional tax needs to be paid."

''I urge people of Gilgit Baltistan living in Karachi, Quetta, Lahore and other parts of Pakistan to be prepared. We are going to take on Islamabad head-on,'' an unidentified leader of the protesters said.

"We will not pay taxes," the agitating traders declared.

Massive anti-Pakistan protests were held last month on October 22 across PoK and Gilgit Baltistan to mark 'Black Day'.

This day, on October 22 in 1947, the Pakistani Army had invaded the undivided state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Protests were also reported from Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Kotli, Gilgit and Hajirah and other places.

The protestors chanted anti-Pakistan slogans. They also demanded the immediate withdrawal of the Pakistan Army from the 'occupied' territory.

A massive rally and public meeting were held at Banbehek, near Rawalakot. A similar protest rally was held in the Kotli and Hajira towns of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Who started the fire? Well, technically its that ingenious journalist who on that one bored afternoon some months ago, decided to write a desk piece on how Sanjay Leela Bhansali (SLB) has shot a dream sequence between Rani Padmavati and her invader and tormentor Alauddin Khilji.

Somebodys dream-fantasy has now become the nations nightmare.

That no such sequence was shot, has ceased to matter over the months as the fire rages on over SLBs film and its alleged insult to the Rajput community.

So my question again. Who started the fire?We could go back to the 14th century when, according to folklore, Rani Padmavati jumped into the leaping flames with her female entourage to avoid falling into the hands of the lustful Allauddin Khilji.

You have to see how Sanjay Leela Bhansali has shot the climactic sequence of johar where the Rani, played with mesmeric grace by Deepika Padukoneyes, the same actress whose nose now faces the potential prospect of an impromptu cosmetic surgeryjumps into the pyre.

Ive seen the sequence. Its the most magnificent ode to self-annihilation Ive seen in cinema anywhere in the world. Jumping into the pyre is nothing new to my dear friend Sanjay Leela Bhansali. When he decided to make Devdas the purists were baying for his blood for showing Paro and Chandramukhi dancing together. During Goliyon Ki Raas Leela Ram Leela, the protesters(no longer purists, mind you ) wanted to know how SLB can use mythological names in such a romantic context.

Leela cannot be romancing Ram. Durga cant be sexy.

During Bajirao Mastani, the Maharashtrians were very suspicious, much more so than the self-appointed Rajput representatives who are currently demanding, among other things, SLBs head. What they actually want is to watch the film and get selfies clicked with Deepika Padukone. But the Padmavati team is in no mood to oblige.

We wont show the film to the goons even if they promise to stop the violence in return. No bargaining with anti-socials, says a Padmavati representative.

Sanjay, in the meanwhile, tries to remain calm as the storm gathers more and more momentum. He has disconnected his phone number and we converse on a number given only to his mother, sister and a few very close friends. We speak about everything except the disturbances. We sing the songs of our idol Lata Mangeshkar to remind one another of a world of beauty and harmony that no longer exists. The television is not played at SLBs residence to ensure his mother doesnt get disturbed by reports of the violence that her son has managed to whip all across the country for no fault of his.

But Sanjays mother knows whats going on. Why are they talking like this about my son? she asks me in a voice of smothered anguish, as she doesnt want her son to know that she knows.

I have no answer. Why is there countrywide violence and death threats to the filmmaker for a film that has not one single objectionable shot that would offend the Rajputs or any other community?

Am I insane to hurt the very sentiments that my film eulogizes? SLB asked me.But whos listening?

Padmavati actually started playing in my friends head fifteen years ago soon after he completed Devdas.

I remember the day he excitedly called to share the idea with me.Do you know about the legend of Rani Padmavati? She was a warrior and a true patriot. She fought off the advances of Aalluuddin Khilji when he resolved to possess her. She wouldnt even allow him a glimpse of her person. He had to look at her in a mirror reflection.Thats how pure she was of spirit. What a braveheart! Sanjay raved.

I was in raptures, as I am every time SLB shares a story or a song with me. (By the way, my favourite unfilmed scripts of SLB are Hamari Jaan Ho Tum a film about a child bride that he once wanted to make with Alia Bhatt and Heera Mandi which will feature a bevvy of divas from Rekha to Tabu to Kareena in a Kotha chronicle).

Padmavati was special from the start. Back then SLB wanted to cast Aishwarya Rai as Padmavati.But before the movie came the opera of Padmavati in Paris that wowed the western world. It was only a matter of time before SLB got down to putting his dream project on celluloid.

Little did he know that someone somewhere had other plans. We still dont know why the controversy erupted. Its like a fierce bloodied battle for a land that doesnt exist. The imagined insult to the Rajput community has been used a sounding board to launch the most intense hate-mongering campaign Ive seen against any film in any language.

What will the Karni Sevaks do when they realize they have slipped up badly and oops, Padmavati is not an insult to the Rajputs but a dazzling homage to their courage and valour? Will they say sorry?

Nana Patekar never said sorry for shouting at SLB after he saw Ranveer Singh dancing as Bajirao.

How can you show our Maratha warrior dancing? You should say sorry, Nana screamed at SLB(probably unhappy that he didnt get to play Bajirao).

SLB remained calm as Nana spewed vitriolic. The filmmaker then said, This is how my Bajirao is. If you dont like it thats your problem.

And he disconnected the phone.

Matters are not that easy to solve this time. The protesters refuse to calm down even when THE Arnab Goswami(yes the very same, one and only) declares he has seen Padmavati and has found nothing objectionable in it.

This is a Kafkesque conflict brought out of the creative world into the streets. The mob wont be pacified even when they realize they are wrong. They will still have SLBs head, Deepikas nose and Ranveers .errrrwhatever.

(Subhash K Jha is a film critic and movie expert)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)
New Delhi: Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus 'Padmavati' has run into massive trouble, first with fringe groups demanding a ban on the release of the film and now its private screening has irked CBFC chief, Prasoon Joshi.

Padmavati has been in news for various reasons. The Rajput Karni Sena first attacked Bhansali back in January this year and vandalised the film sets in Jaipur fort. The matter has escalated to a level now where the members of the group are giving life threats to the lead actress Deepika Padukone.

ANI quoted Mahipal Singh Makrana of Rajput Karni Sena as saying, Rajputs never raise a hand on women but if need be, we will do to Deepika what Lakshman did to Shurpanakha.

On the other hand, Lokendra Singh Kalvi, a senior leader of the Rajput group, called for a nation-wide strike on December 1. He said, We will gather in lakhs, our ancestors wrote history with blood. We will not let anyone blacken it. Will call for Bharat bandh on 1 December.

According to Pinkvilla.com, a Meerut-based Thakur leader, Thakur Abhishek Som leader offered Rs 5 crore for her head. Reacting to the whole controversy and such threats, the report quotes Deepika as telling a leading daily, Well, at this point, as a woman, an artiste and a citizen of this country I feel angry, I feel let down and I also find it amusing. I will never feel scared. Fear is not an emotion I have ever identified with."

Adding, People are allowed to express themselves without having even seen the film. And having worked in the film, I can assure you its one film every Indian will be proud of. Im glad we are showcasing Padmavatis journey. Her story needs to be told not just to people in this country but across the world.
Mumbai: The makers of 'Padmavati' have rued how the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is "looking the other way" due to which they are compelled to show the movie at other platforms.

"What an irony, those who are supposed to watch are looking the other way and we have to run around and show it at other forums to 'clear' it," tweeted Ajit Andhare, Chief Operating Officer, Viacom18 Motion Pictures.



The banner has produced 'Padmavati', scheduled to release on December 1, with Bhansali Productions and it will distribute the film in India.



The censor board has reportedly sent back the film's application for certification, citing that it is incomplete.



Meanwhile, senior journalists Rajat Sharma and Arnab Goswami said on Friday that they have watched the movie and didn't find anything that could hurt the sentiments of the Rajput community.



Andhare further wrote: "Can screen to responsible individuals who feel aggrieved. Please come, see it yourself, nothing to hide, put an end to this saga. Let's celebrate our heritage."



"We can do it tomorrow itself, we want them to stand with us support the film it celebrates Rajput pride. We have been saying from beginning... Film just finished few days back," he added in a series of posts late on Friday night.



"Padmavati" is Bhansali's professed tribute to the valour and sacrifice of Rajput queen Rani Padmavati. Various Rajput organisations have demanded the movie's release be stalled and have threatened the director and the film's lead actress Deepika Padukone.



"We must appreciate that government has really gone out of the way to provide security to Sanjay and Deepika," Andhare tweeted thanking Union Information and Broadcasting Mi
New Delhi: International Men's day is here and it is time to praise the men in our lives for all they have done for us! Here's a post that you can dedicate to every man in your life and put up a huge smile on his face. A man feels emotions most deeply; he might not show it but he will definitely be delighted to have his qualities acknowledged.

Here are 5 things to learn from Indian Men

1. Respect towards Elders

When it comes to respecting the elders, no one does it better than Indian men. In Indian culture, respecting the elders is a norm taught to every child. Men show respect by touching the feet of the elderly whenever they meet them. This tradition exists only in India which makes our dear men so much special!

2. Commitment

'Ek baar maine commitment kardi to mai apne aap ki bhi nahi sunta'- This isn't just a dialogue but the truth that Indian men uphold with pride. They are never afraid of commitment and when they say something will be done, it usually is done (exceptions are there, of course).

3. Respect for Tradition

Upholding tradition is yet another quality which must be mentioned. An Indian man will always value and respect his tradition, even if he doesn't agree with them at times!

4. Care for Family

Love and respect for parents and caring nature towards family is something we are thankful to them for! It isn't always the mother asking 'beta tune khaana khaaya?', in India, our men are very caring towards their family. They might not show it often but love their family dear and would go to any extent for their benefit.

5. Sense of Humour

Last, but not the least their humour will make you go ROFL most of the times. Not everyone has the sense of humour that Indian men are blessed with and this quality is something that we all are thankful for!

Here's wishing everyone a very happy International Men's day 2017!
New Delhi: A slight overnight drizzle brought some relief from a thick layer of smog hovering over the national capital on Saturday. However, the air quality in Delhi and the NCR region continues to be of 'very poor' quality.

According to the MeT department, shallow fog and mist are likely to continue in Delhi and the NCR in the days to come.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had on Friday released the new air quality index (AQI) data of Delhi-NCR with prominent pollutants PM 2.5 and PM 10 in 'very poor' category.

In the national capital, the content of particulate matter, PM 2.5, in the air has been quite high, often crossing 500, while the safety limit is 50, it said.

But the AQI was slightly better on Saturday (303) as compared to that of Friday (307). The highest level of PM2.5 was 187.06 micrograms per cubic metre on Friday.

The PM 2.5 is responsible for respiratory problems and reduced visibility.

Earlier in the week, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Haryana counterpart, Manohar Lal Khattar also promised to jointly address the toxic smog situation that has beset the northern India.
New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday released the second list of 36 candidates for Gujarat Assembly polls. It had released list of 70 candidates on Friday.

With this, the party has announced 106 candidates for elections to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly elections to be held in two phases on December 9 and 14.

In the list, there are 13 ST candidates and two SC candidates.

In the first list, the ruling party has fielded 16 fresh faces in its first list.

Five Congress rebels were also given tickets - Raghavji Patel, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Ramsinh Parmar, Mansinh Chauhan and CK Raolji.

They had supported the BJP during the presidential election and during Congress leader Ahmed Patel's Rajya Sabha election.

Chief Minister Vijaybhai Rupani will contest from Rajkot West, while Deputy CM Nitinbhai Patel will contest from Mahesana and state party president Jitubhai Vaghani from Bhavnagar West.

The names were finalised by BJP's Central Election Committee, which met on Wednesday.

The meeting, chaired by BJP president Amit Shah, was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj among others.

(With PTI inputs)
FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar: Cristiano Ronaldo to Lionel Messi, stars likely to play their last WC
New Delhi: The Congress working committee meeting on Monday is likely to approve the schedule for the party president's election, as per media reports.

Party sources said the CWC will meet at Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's 10 Janpath residence at 10:30 am on November 20.

The CWC will approve the schedule for the Congress president's election, they said. Rahul Gandhi is expected to be the only candidate in the fray, the sources said, PTI reported.

On the last day of filing the nomination, if no other contestant files his/her nomination against Gandhi, then he will be declared president unopposed.



The party has time until December 31 to complete the entire organisational election process and submit the report to the Election Commission.



The Congress had earlier set a deadline to complete the organisational elections by October-end.

"The schedule for the elections will be approved and according to that, the process will start. The date for which will be announced on Monday," Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi told ANI.

"The Congress working committee approves the schedule for the Congress president elections separately," he added.

On asking what date will Rahul be "crowned" as the party president, Dwivedi asserted that using this word would be "wrong" at the moment.

"The date for Congress president elections will be announced, when the nominations will be filed, when the scrutiny will happen and when the date for taking back the names will happen," he said.

(With Agency inputs)
New Delhi: The Indian Army on Saturday told the Pakistani military that there appeared to be a "disconnect" between the Pakistan Army headquarters' intent and the actions of its troops along the Line of Control.

In a telephonic conversation over the hotline, Indian Army's Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen A K Bhatt also told his Pakistani counterpart that Indian troops will continue to take all retaliatory measures and "retain" the "right" to punitively respond to any provocative acts of transgression from the Pakistani side, the Army said.

The unscheduled talks took place following a request from the Pakistani DGMO, who during the conversation, accused Indian security forces of resorting to unprovoked firing and targeting civilians in the Poonch sector, it said.

Lt Gen Bhatt conveyed to Pakistan DGMO Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza that retaliatory firing by the Indian troops is carried out in response to unprovoked and repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan, the Army's Additional Directorate General of Public Information said in a statement.

It said Lt Gen Bhatt told the Pakistani DGMO that there appeared to be a "disconnect between the intent at the Pak GHQ (General Headquarters) which reiterates its desire for peace and the actions of Pak troops along the Line of Control, who resort to heavy firing without provocation."

He further exhorted Maj Gen Mirza to resolve this "existent credibility gap" to ensure that peace and tranquillity are maintained along the LoC.

The Army said Lt Gen Bhatt clarified that Indian troops always maintain "impeccable standards of professionalism" and do not target civilians in any manner.

Bhatt said that the Indian Army will continue its efforts to ensure peace and tranquility along the borders.

The talks come a day after Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that the military was always ready to deal with any kind of "perpetual threat" on its eastern border including the LoC with India.

The Chief of Army Staff visited the Rawalpindi Corps headquarters where he was briefed on the prevailing situation along the Line of Control (LoC)/the Line of Actual Contact (LAC) and operational preparedness, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Army's media wing, had said in a statement, on Friday.

"Expressing satisfaction on the response to India's ceasefire violations, Bajwa said that there cannot be any let up for our preparedness for a response against the perpetual threat on our eastern border including LOC/LAC," the ISPR had said.

(With PTI inputs)
MUMBAI: A former model based in Mumbai has alleged that her Muslim husband assaulted her and forced to convert to Islam.

The woman further said that the husband has "remarried a Hindu girl half his age and has asked her to leave their house.

He is now trying to evict me from our marital home. I am facing a serious threat to my life, said the ex-model.

The woman has claimed that she was also tortured and assaulted.

"I am a Hindu. I didn't give into his pressures," she added.

A case has been registered case against two people by the Bandra Police. Police investigation underway.

With ANI inputs
New Delhi: In the wake of a bitter standoff between Indian and Chinese troops at Doklam region in Bhutan earlier this year, the officials from both sides held their first meeting on border-related issues in Beijing.

According to PTI, the meeting, which was held on Friday, was part of the 10th round of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs.

During the meeting, the two sides reviewed the situation in all the sectors of their border and exchanged views on enhancing CBMs and military contacts.

"The talks were held in a constructive and forward-looking manner," a release from the External Affairs Ministry said.

"Both sides reviewed the situation in all sectors of India-China border and agreed that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas is an important prerequisite for the sustained growth of bilateral relations," it stated.

"In this regard, the two sides also exchanged views on further confidence-building measures and strengthening of military-to-military contacts," the MEA release said.

In the meeting, the Indian delegation was led by Pranay Verma, Joint Secretary (East Asia), in the Ministry of External Affairs, while the Chinese side was led by Xiao Qian, Director General, Department of Asian Affairs, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The two delegations comprised diplomatic and military officials from each side, according to the MEA statement.

The meeting comes several months after Indian and Chinese troops were locked in an over two-month-long standoff at the Doklam plateau in Bhutan.

This was the first round of talks between the two countries after Chinese President Xi Jinping began his second five-year term as the chief of the ruling Communist Party of China last month.

The WMCC was established in 2012 as an institutional mechanism for consultation and coordination for the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas.

It was established to deal with the tensions over recurring border incursions as well as to exchange views on strengthening communication and cooperation, including between the border security personnel.

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488 km long Line of Actual Control (LAC). While China claims Arunachal Pradesh as Southern Tibet, India asserts that the dispute covered Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during the 1962 war.

Earlier this month, Beijing protested Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman`s visit to Arunachal Pradesh but New Delhi reasserted that the northeastern state was an integral part of India.
Here is what is making headlines today:

1. DGMO talks: Will punitively respond to provocations, India tells Pakistan

The Indian Army on Saturday told the Pakistani military that there appeared to be a "disconnect" between the Pakistan Army headquarters' intent and the actions of its troops along the Line of Control and asked it to address this "credibility gap". Read full report

2. Kulbhushan Jadhav case: Pakistan receives Indian response, to consider it

Pakistan has received a response from India in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case and is considering the same, said Dr Mohammad Faisal, Spokesperson Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pakistan on Saturday. Read full report

3. India's Manushi Chhillar crowned Miss World 2017

India`s Manushi Chhillar has won the coveted Miss World 2017 pageant. The 20-year old from Haryana also won the Head to Head Challenge and the Beauty with a Purpose titles on Saturday. Read full report

4. Six Pakistani terrorists gunned down in J&K's Bandipora; IAF commando martyred

Six militants were gunned down in north Kashmir's Bandipora district on Saturday in an encounter in which a Garud commando of the Indian Air Force (IAF) was also killed, as per media reports. Read full report

5. Postpone Bhansali's Padmavati: Vasundhara Raje requests Smriti Irani

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Saturday wrote to Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani requesting her to postpone the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film Padmavati. Read full report
Here is what is making headlines today

1. Narendra Modi govt's new mission - to link 1 billion UIDs with 1 billion bank A/Cs with 1 billion mobiles

Backed by Moody's rating upgrade and 30-spot rise in 'ease of doing business', the central government is mulling over a plan to next come up with "1 billion-1 billion-1 billion" connectivity vision. https://goo.gl/bNPSKV

2. PM Modi only world statesman to stand up to China: Top US expert

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the only world statesman to have stood up to China and their Belt and Road Initiative, even though the US has been silent on the ambitious project till recently, a top American expert on China has said. https://goo.gl/2P1Guo

3. Husband forces ex-model to convert to Islam, marries another woman

A former model based in Mumbai has alleged that her Muslim husband assaulted her and forced to convert to Islam. https://goo.gl/NwKQcu

4. 'We will take Pakistan head on' - Gilgit Baltistan leaders warn Islamabad

Massive anti-Pakistan protests are being held across Gilgit Baltistan against illegal taxation by the Pakistani regime on Saturday. https://goo.gl/oeyfRT

5. After Yogi Adityanath, Microsoft founder Bill Gates meets Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu

Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday and lauded his government for using technology to help farmers in the state. https://goo.gl/25cxTm
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the only world statesman to have stood up to China and their Belt and Road Initiative, even though the US has been silent on the ambitious project till recently, a top American expert on China has said.

During a Congressional hearing, Michael Pillsbury, Director of Center on Chinese Strategy at the prestigious think-tank Hudson Institute, told lawmakers on Friday that PM Modi and his team have been quite outspoken against Chinese President Xi Jinping's ambitious project.

"The only statesman in the world who stood up to it yet is Prime Minister Modi. He and his team have been quite outspoken, partly because the Belt and Road Initiative includes violation of Indian sovereign claims," Pillsbury said.

"But the US government, until now and this is a five-year-old initiative if you count the early part of it, has been silent," he said.

Praising the Trump administration for its new Indo-Pacific strategy, the former Pentagon official said in recent days people have heard more than 50 times by members of the Trump administration including the president himself mentioning a "free and open" Indo-Pacific region.

"The Chinese have already attacked this. They don't like it," said Pillsbury, who is considered an authority on China-related issues.

"The Indians, fairly recently, were joking about we want to make the Indian Ocean the Indian Ocean, by which they meant the purchase of several billion dollars worth of American PA aircraft, which have weapon systems in the back that can sink ships, frankly, and other improvements including maritime situational awareness and a big new center in Delhi where the Indians can keep track of both blue holes and grey holes going through the Indian Ocean," he said.

"The Chinese are very angry about this. They have criticised the Obama administration for its effort to, as they say, boost India, to a higher rank order in comprehensive power than the Chinese believe India deserves," the top American expert on China said in response to a question.

Senator Ed Markey said China's signature Belt and Road Initiative that aims to position China as the uncontested leading power in Asia "may further coerce" and bully its neighbours through loans they cannot repay.

The Belt and Road Initiative aimed at building a vast network of infrastructure projects expanding China's expertise and capital to different parts of the world includes $50 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor or CPEC over which India has protested as it passes through Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir or PoK.

India boycotted the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) organised by China in May this year to highlight its concerns over Beijing trying to push projects through PoK.

Speaking about alleged theft by China, he said the US companies face the threat of intellectual property theft with reports that China has been stealing cutting-edge research as well as sensitive trade secrets from the United States. And that includes companies working in the clean energy sector who cannot compete with state-backed firms.

Pillsbury also said the Chinese are offering low-interest loans to countries that cannot afford it. "We already saw the example of Sri Lanka, which fell behind in its payments and then was the subject of coercion that if you transfer the main port here in Sri Lanka to Chinese control, we will forgive the debt. The Sri Lankans did it," he said.

There were serious concerns of debt burden brought in by the Belt and Road Initiative projects after Sri Lanka opted for the long-term lease of its Hambantota port for a $1.12 billion debt swap. "...So we are beginning to see what the Belt and Road Initiative may mean," Pillsbury told the lawmakers.

Senator Markey said China is challenging the very underpinnings of the global order that has brought peace and prosperity. China has not lived up to its international obligations to help de-nuclearise the Korean Peninsula, he said.

"No country has greater leverage than China, which is responsible for approximately 90 percent of North Korean trade," he noted.

Markey said, "China is challenging the international system elsewhere as well. It was constructed in violation of international law, military bases on artificial islands and disputed areas of the South China Sea."

"Through economic coercion, Beijing undermined the sovereignty of its smaller neighbours and countries including South Korea and the Philippines face Chinese retaliation for taking legal and sovereign actions in their own defence," he said.
Islamabad: Twitter deleted Pakistan's verified defence handle after they used a fake picture of an Indian girl.

The picture, which showed a woman holding a placard giving out message of the "secular values of our constitution", was morphed and distorted, which sent out a completely negative message against India.

Pakistan's defence handle @defencepk, however, deleted the picture sometime later.

Earlier, in September, Pakistan used a fake picture to establish a false narrative.

Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi, in her right to reply to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's speech at the UN, showed pictures of Palestinian victims and tried to pass them off as 'evidence' of atrocities on Kashmiris.

The picture, used by Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN, was reported by a number of media outlets as that of Rawia Abu Joma'a, a 17-year-old girl injured in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza city in 2014. Rawia's picture was taken by award-winning photographer Heidi Levine.
Srinagar: Six terrorists were gunned down in north Kashmir's Bandipora district on Saturday in an encounter in which a Garud commando of the Indian Air Force (IAF) was also killed.

Security forces cordoned off and launched a search operation in Chandergeer village in Hajin area of the district after receiving specific intelligence input about the presence of militants in the area.

The search operation resulted in an encounter when the militants hiding there fired on the search party of the security forces, who retaliated.

DGP, J&K, Shesh Paul Vaid said, "LeT commanders Zargam and Mehmood also eliminated in the operation. All of the terrorists neutralised today were Pakistanis."

Great success for security forces! So far 5 terrorists have been eliminated at Hajin Bandipore by a joint operation of @JmuKmrPolice, @crpfindia and Army. https://t.co/MC4Wgy0Oxl  Shesh Paul Vaid (@spvaid) November 18, 2017

LeT commanders Zargam and Mehmood also eliminated in the operation today. All of the terrorists neutralised today were Pakistanis.  Shesh Paul Vaid (@spvaid) November 18, 2017

Defence Ministry Spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said troopers of the Rashtriya Rifles (RR), Special Operations Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) surrounded Chandergair village in Hajin area of Bandipora district, following information about the presence of militants, IANS reported.



The Garud Commando Force is the special forces unit of the IAF.

(With PTI inputs)
Mumbai: Australian actress Ruby Rose on Saturday lent out her support to actress Deepika Padukone, who has been threatened of physical harm over the release of her film "Padmavati".

She is "in shock" with the controversy and called Deepika "one of the strongest women".



"I am in shock at reading what my dear friend is going through but in absolute awe of her strength and courage. Deepika you are one of the strongest women I know," Rose tweeted.



In reply, Deepika sent Rose a folded-hands emoji.



Deepika and Rose shared screen space in 2017 Hollywood film "xXx: Return of Xander Cage".



Deepika, who plays the title role of Rajput Queen in "Padmavati", has received threats from various Rajput organisations, who have demanded the movie's release be stalled.



Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, "Padmavati" also features Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor.


LUCKNOW: A Class 11 student in Uttar Pradesh suffered serious injuries on his legs after school authorities decided to cut off his denim pants as punishment for not wearing school uniform.

The incident took place in Kanpur's Sikander town. The student went to school to take his exam, dressed in jeans.

Angry over this, the school manager took a pair of scissors and simply cut of the jeans. In the process, the student's thighs were injured.

The school manager didn't listen to my child, he just cut off his jeans and then used the scissors on his legs, said Vinod Pal, the father of victim,

The manager should have sent him back home if he was not wearing the school dress. Such behavior is not tolerable, he added.

A case has been registered by the police.

With ANI Inputs
PARIS: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrived in France Saturday from Saudi Arabia, where his shock resignation announcement two weeks ago sparked accusations that he was being held there against his will.

Hariri is in Paris at the invitation of France`s President Emmanuel Macron, who is attempting to help broker a solution to a political crisis that has raised fears over Lebanon`s fragile democracy.

Hariri and his wife Lara, who landed at Le Bourget airport outside the French capital at 7:00 am (0600 GMT) after flying in from Riyadh overnight, were due to meet Macron at noon.

A source close to the premier told AFP that Hariri`s two youngest children, Loulwa and Abdelaziz, born in 2001 and 2005 respectively, had stayed behind in Riyadh "for their school exams".

His elder son Houssam, born in 1999, was due to arrive in Paris separately from London.

"Hariri does not want to mix his children up in this affair," the source said.

The couple were whisked to their Paris residence in a seven-car convoy under tight security.

"To say that I am held up in Saudi Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie," Hariri had tweeted just before his departure, adding to repeated denials of the rumours from Saudi officials.

A source close to Hariri said the premier had held an "excellent, fruitful and constructive" meeting with powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman before he left.

Hariri, a dual Saudi citizen who has previously enjoyed Riyadh`s backing, announced his resignation on November 4.

He said he feared for his life, accusing Iran and its powerful Lebanese ally Hezbollah of destabilising his country.But Hariri`s failure to return from Saudi Arabia prompted claims he was essentially being held hostage there, including from Lebanese President Michel Aoun who refused to accept his resignation from abroad.

Hariri`s resignation was widely seen as an escalation of the battle for influence between regional arch-rivals Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, which back opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

His attempt to step down also coincides with a purge of more than 200 Saudi princes, ministers and businessmen.

Hariri met French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Riyadh on Thursday as Paris, which held mandate power over Lebanon for the first half of the 20th century, seeks to ease the crisis.

In another development, Riyadh on Saturday recalled its ambassador to Berlin in protest at comments by Germany`s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel which were interpreted as a suggestion that Hariri acted under Saudi orders.

Without mentioning Saudi Arabia directly, Gabriel had on Thursday said he shared concerns about the threat of instability and bloodshed in Lebanon and warned against "adventurism".

"Lebanon has earned the right to decide on its fate by itself and not become a pinball of Syria or Saudi Arabia or other national interests," he had said earlier in the week.Ahead of Hariri`s departure, the Lebanese president -- an ally of Hezbollah -- welcomed the announcement of the trip to Paris, expressing hope that it was the "start of a solution".

"If Mr. Hariri speaks from France, I would consider that he speaks freely," Aoun said in a statement.

"But his resignation must be presented in Lebanon, and he will have to remain there until the formation of the new government."

There is no indication of Hariri`s plans after the visit, which Macron has said could last "a few days or weeks".

But the French leader has insisted he would be free to return to Lebanon to either formally resign or rethink his decision.

France`s intervention was the latest in a string of European efforts to defuse tensions over Lebanon, where divisions between Sunni Hariri`s bloc and Shiite Hezbollah have long been a focal point in a broader struggle between Riyadh and Tehran.

Hariri -- whose father, ex-prime minister Rafik Hariri, was killed in a 2005 car bombing blamed on Hezbollah -- took over last year as head of a shaky compromise government which includes the powerful Shiite movement.

Saudi Arabia`s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir insisted from Madrid that "unless Hezbollah disarms and becomes a political party, Lebanon will be held hostage by Hezbollah and, by extension, Iran".

Hariri`s resignation comes as the long-standing rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran intensifies and as Riyadh undergoes a major shake-up under the ambitious crown prince.
SHANGHAI: A senior Chinese envoy has met an aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in Pyongyang, the two sides said Saturday, stressing longstanding ties despite deep divisions over the North's nuclear activities.

Song Tao is visiting on behalf of President Xi Jinping, ostensibly to brief the North's officials on the recent Chinese Communist Party congress and other "issues of mutual interest".

The two communist neighbours, once said by Mao Zedong to be "as close as lips and teeth", are at odds over the nuclear standoff and US President Donald Trump is urging Beijing to pile pressure on Pyongyang.

Song, the first senior Chinese envoy to visit in more than a year, had been widely expected to raise the impasse over North Korea's missile and nuclear tests in his Friday meeting with Choe Ryong-Hae, a top official in North Korea's ruling party.

But a Chinese Communist Party report of the meeting made no mention of those issues, focusing instead on platitudes about the long relationship.

A party statement said Song and Choe agreed that mutual ties were "the common treasure of the two peoples".

"Both parties should make concerted efforts to promote the development of the relations between the two parties and the two countries and let them benefit the two peoples," the statement paraphrased them as saying.

A brief report by North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency said Song told his hosts that China wanted to "develop the traditional friendly relations between the two parties and countries", but gave no further details.

Trump, who warned Xi during his trip to Beijing last week that time was "quickly running out" to solve the nuclear crisis, took to Twitter on Thursday to hail Song's mission as "a big move, we'll see what happens!"

The United States wants China, which accounts for 90 per cent of North Korea's foreign trade, to apply more economic pressure.

But experts doubt Song's visit will yield breakthroughs, saying Beijing has far less political influence on Kim than is thought despite the economic ties.

"Relations are extremely stressed. Perhaps the lowest point since the Korean War. Perhaps (the mission) will put a floor under China-North Korea relations, preventing further deterioration," said Bonnie Glaser, China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

China has imposed its own banking restrictions on North Koreans in addition to enacting a series of UN measures that include bans on imports of coal, iron ore and seafood from the North.
CALIFORNIA: The US Navy was left red-faced Friday after a pilot painted an enormous outline of a penis in the sky using the condensation trails from his multi-million-dollar warplane.

Residents of the town of Okanogan, in the western state of Washington, had been stunned to see the EA-18G Growler jet - a variant of the workhorse F/A-18 warplane - scrawling the phallic symbol on Thursday, and several photos quickly circulated online.

Navy officials acknowledged one of their crews was behind the stunt, saying the aircraft "left a condensed air trail resembling an obscene image to observers on the ground."

"The actions of this aircrew were wholly unacceptable and antithetical to Navy core values," Lieutenant Commander Leslie Hubbell, a spokeswoman for the Naval Air Station on Whidbey Island, said in a statement.

"We have grounded the aircrew and are conducting a thorough investigation -- and we will hold those responsible accountable for their actions.

"The Navy apologizes for this irresponsible and immature act," she added.

Many onlookers on the ground posted images of the drawing on social media and appeared amused by the stunt.

Ramon Duran told The Spokesman-Review that he was running errands when he noticed the jet drawing the male genitalia.

"After it made the circles at the bottom, I knew what it was and started laughing," Duran said.

"It was pretty funny to see that. You don`t expect to see something like that."

The Boeing EA-18G Growler combines the F/A-18F Super Hornet platform "with a sophisticated electronic warfare suite" at a cost of $67 million each, according to a Navy fact sheet.
PARIS: Prime Minister Saad Hariri said he will return to Lebanon for Wednesday`s Independence Day celebrations and explain his situation, after his shock resignation announcement in Saudi Arabia sparked political turmoil.

Speaking after talks in Paris on Saturday with French President Emmanuel Macron, who is seeking to broker a way out of the crisis, Hariri said he would "make known my position" once back in Beirut.

"As you know I have resigned, and we will discuss that in Lebanon," he told reporters, saying he needed to meet with President Michel Aoun before taking further steps.

Hariri`s announcement follows two weeks of deep uncertainty after his surprise decision to step down on November 4.

His failure to return to Lebanon since then sparked rumours that he was being held in Riyadh against his will, which both he and Saudi officials denied.

"To say that I am held up in Saudi Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie," he said in a Twitter post just before flying to Paris overnight.

Hariri`s wife and eldest son Houssam joined him for lunch with Macron at the Elysee Palace, but their two younger children, who live in Saudi Arabia, have remained there "for their school exams", a source close to the premier said.

After the meeting, Macron`s office said the president will "continue to take all necessary initiatives for Lebanon`s stability."

"We are helping to ease tensions in the region," the Elysee Palace added, without saying if Hariri had confirmed his resignation to Macron.

Paris, which held mandate power over Lebanon for the first half of the 20th century, plans to bring together international support for Lebanon, depending on how the situation develops.

Hariri`s mysterious decision to step down -- which Aoun has refused to accept while Hariri remains abroad -- has raised fears over Lebanon`s fragile democracy.

Hariri`s camp has sought to allay the concerns, with a source saying the premier had a "fruitful and constructive" meeting with the powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman before leaving.

Hariri, a dual Saudi citizen who has previously enjoyed Riyadh`s backing, resigned saying he feared for his life.

He accused Saudi Arabia`s arch-rival Iran and its powerful Lebanese ally Hezbollah of destabilising his country.Hariri`s resignation was widely seen as an escalation of the battle for influence between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, which back opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

His attempt to step down also coincides with a purge of more than 200 Saudi princes, ministers and businessmen.

In another development, Riyadh on Saturday recalled its ambassador to Berlin in protest at comments by Germany`s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel which were interpreted as a suggestion that Hariri acted under Saudi orders.

Without mentioning Saudi Arabia directly, Gabriel had said Thursday that he shared concerns about the threat of instability and bloodshed in Lebanon and warned against "adventurism".

"Lebanon has earned the right to decide on its fate by itself and not become a pinball of Syria or Saudi Arabia or other national interests," he had said earlier in the week.

Germany`s foreign ministry had yet to comment on the row, but in a statement it welcomed Hariri`s "imminent return to Lebanon".Ahead of Hariri`s departure, Aoun -- an ally of Hezbollah -- welcomed the trip to Paris, expressing hope that it was the "start of a solution".

"If Mr Hariri speaks from France, I would consider that he speaks freely," Aoun said.

"But his resignation must be presented in Lebanon, and he will have to remain there until the formation of the new government."

France`s intervention was the latest in a string of European efforts to defuse tensions over Lebanon, where divisions between Hariri`s Sunni bloc and Shiite Hezbollah have long been a focal point in a broader struggle between Riyadh and Tehran.

Hariri -- whose father, ex-prime minister Rafiq Hariri, was killed in a 2005 car bombing blamed on Hezbollah -- took over last year as head of a shaky national unity government which includes the powerful Shiite movement.

Saudi Arabia`s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir insisted from Madrid that "unless Hezbollah disarms and becomes a political party, Lebanon will be held hostage by Hezbollah and, by extension, Iran".

Hariri`s resignation comes as the long-standing rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran intensifies and as Riyadh undergoes a major shake-up under the ambitious crown prince.
ISLAMABAD: Ousted premier Nawaz Sharif and four of his family members can soon be barred from leaving Pakistan in connection with the Panama Papers case as the country's anti-graft watchdog has initiated a process to place their names on the Exit Control List, a media report said today.

Sharif, 67, and some of his family members are facing charges relating to their ownership of properties in London.

He resigned as prime minister in July after the country's Supreme Court disqualified him over undeclared income.

Three cases were registered by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on September 8 against Sharif, his children and son-in-law in the Accountability Court Islamabad, following the July verdict by the Supreme Court.

Dawn reported that the NAB Lahore office yesterday initiated the process to place the names of Sharif, his sons Hussain and Hassan, daughter Maryam and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar on Exit Control List (ECL).

According to the NAB Islamabad spokesman the members of the family may face travel restriction if listed on the ECL.

An accountability court had earlier declared Hussain and Hassan proclaimed offenders for skipping court proceedings in connection with the case.

On Thursday, the NAB had requested the ministry of interior to put Finance Minister Ishaq Dar's name on the ECL after an accountability court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for him.

Dar, like Sharif's sons, has continuously been absent from court proceedings in a case against him for owning assets beyond known sources of income.

A senior official told the paper on condition of anonymity that the NAB Lahore had written to its Islamabad headquarters requesting that Hussain and Hassan's names be placed on the ECL.

The NAB spokesman in Islamabad confirmed the other three names ? Sharif, Maryam and Safdar ? that had been recommended by the anti-graft watchdog Lahore to be placed on the ECL.

The official in the NAB Lahore said according to the procedure, they would first place names of Hussain and Hassan, who live in the UK, on the ECL and if they still did not appear before the accountability court, then NAB would request cancellation of their passports.

Sharif's family has been shuttling between Islamabad and London in recent days due to his wife Kulsoom, who is battling throat cancer.

The three cases against the Sharifs are related to the Flagship Investment Ltd, the Avenfield (London) properties and Jeddah-based Al-Azizia Company and Hill Metal Establishment.

The political future of Sharif, who leads the country's most powerful political family and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, has been hanging in balance since his disqualification. If convicted, Sharif could be jailed.

Sharif's family alleges that the cases are politically motivated.
Catalonia: Police in Spain shot and injured an unarmed Frenchman on Saturday at a toll station near the French border, who officers said was shouting `Allahu akbar`.

The officers mistakenly suspected he had a weapon, a police statement said, adding that they do not expect to open a terrorism investigation.

The man, of Moroccan origin, was travelling with a woman in a vehicle registered in France and approached the toll by the border town of La Jonquera in the north of the country in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Police said a Guardia Civil patrol was alerted because the man had a "strange" attitude and "seemed to be manipulating something inside the vehicle".

"The police asked him to get out. He finally got out with something in his hands and he moved towards the officers," said a spokesperson for the Catalan police.

The spokesperson said that, according to the policemen present, the man "shouted `Allahu akbar`(God is greatest)".

"The police officers repeatedly asked him to stop, shot in the air to intimidate him but as he continued to move forward, they shot him in the hip," he said.

The man "then undressed" and "appeared to suffer from mental problems".

According to the Guardia Civil his life "is not in danger" and he is being cared for in a hospital in Gerone.

Police say an investigation is underway to establish the facts about what happened.
TECOMAN (MEXICO): A Mexican baby has gained 27 kgs in just 10 months, leaving the doctors baffled over his unusual growth.

Doctors treating Luis Manuel Gonzales were unable to figure out why his weight has drastically increased since his birth, media reports said.

Luis had weighed a normal 3.5 kg at birth. Today, he is unable to crawl due to his excessive weight and visits the hospital four times a week for tests.

However, his three-year-old brother Mario weighs normally.

Though Luis' weight gain still remains an enigma, doctors suspect he might be suffering from Mexico's growing obesity epidemic.

Others suspect he may be suffering from a genetic disorder.

Meanwhile, as his treatment cost soars, Luis' parents have made a Facebook appeal for financial help, asking people to support with whatever they can.
November 16, 2017

Facing a court case, Hamid Baghaei, the vice president under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has taken refuge in a holy shrine in Iran, a centuries-old form of protest undertaken by those seeking to escape oppression at the hands of rulers. On Oct. 15, Baghaei, along with former Ahmadinejad officials Ali Akbar Javanfekr and Habibollah Joz-Khorasani, took refuge at the Shah Abdol-Azim shrine in the historic city of Rey, just outside of Tehran.

A statement by the three individuals said there is extreme judicial pressure to issue oppressive sentences against them. The statement said the legal cases against them are based on untrue and baseless accusations. They said they faced long periods of solitary confinement and hundreds of hours of intensive interrogations to acquire false confessions.

Explaining why the three took refuge at the Shah Abdol-Azim shrine, the statement said that legal and reasonable pursuits and repeated legal protests until now have been fruitless. The statement accused the judiciary of taking illegal actions and of making predetermined decisions. The trio hopes that their sit-in at the shrine will result in an awakening and awareness for those who feel they have absolute power, meaning the judiciary.

Among the three, Baghaei is the most well-known and is the closest confidant of Ahmadinejad. Baghaei tried to run in the 2017 presidential election, but the Guardian Council rejected his candidacy. Baghaei was first arrested in June 2015, though the charges against him were never disclosed. He was arrested again in July of this year and spent 18 days in prison. It is believed that Baghaei is likely facing some form of corruption charges.

With one former vice president already serving time for corruption, and another  Baghaei  likely to be sentenced soon, Ahmadinejad and his former close advisers went on the offensive and attacked the integrity of Irans judiciary, whose head is appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Ahmadinejad and Baghaei both complained of ill treatment of prisoners, claiming that all Iranians understand their criticisms of the judiciary.

Tehran prosecutor Gholam Hossein Ismaeili said that Baghaei's not attending his third court appearance was a promotional stunt, but that his lawyers did attend. The prosecutor said Baghaei's absence from court is indicative of someone who does not want to defend himself in the legal framework and regulations or does not have a defense.

Baghaei's move to take refuge at the Shah Abdol-Azim shrine surprised many, given the historical role the shrine played under the Qajar rule in Iran, from 1785-1925. Those who took refuge at the shrine often did so as a last resort, and as a protest against corrupt and unaccountable leaders. They were often seen as having a just cause, rather than just seeking to avoid jail time over corruption charges. Having no legal recourse, those taking refuge at Shah Abdol-Azim shrine were in essence seeking protection under the clergy  the only other sector of society that could challenge the monarchy.

Many Iranians said Baghaei's sit-in was motivated by personal and political reasons. Political analyst Alireza Namvar Haghighi tweeted, Ahmadinejad knows that with the summoning and arrest of [Esfandiar Rahim] Mashaei and Baghaei that his left and right wings are being cut. BBC political analyst Hossein Bastani commented on the historical significance of Baghaeis protest, tweeting, Seeking refuge in the traditional religious institutions from the appointed institutions [judiciary] has been an unwritten red line in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Mohammad Ali Abtahi, the former vice president under Reformist Mohammad Khatami, summed up the general feeling online that Baghaeis gesture seemed hypocritical, tweeting, God willing everyone is removed from oppression. But too bad they didnt take Saeed Mortazavi. He knows the area well. Its the same direction as Kahrizak. Mortazavi, who held a number of positions under Ahmadinejad, was the head of Kahrizak prison, where a number of 2009 post-election protesters were tortured and killed.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. One of the key events of the upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels is expected to be the signing of the EU-Armenia Framework Agreement, Armenpress reports, New Europe published an article on this topic.

Author of the article Violetta Rushev says there is no doubt about Armenias commitment to intensify its political and economic ties with the EU.

The planned signing of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement on the sidelines of the upcoming Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels will be Armenias second attempt to get closer to the EU, Violetta Rushev writes, reminding that in 2013 Armenia didnt sign the agreement with the EU and announced the decision on joining the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

Rushev says the rapid change in political and economic preferences in Yerevan served like a cold shower for the EU bureaucrats.

According to author, for some, the decision, taken by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in the run-up to the 2013 EPS in Vilnius, was at first sight unexpected, but it barely surprised those who are familiar with the economic situation of this small South-Caucasian republic. She said Armenia, a landlocked country, has few natural resources, closed border with Turkey and uneasy relations with Azerbaijan. Considering these circumstances, this tiny Christian Orthodox country had no other options but to seek Russias support, she writes, adding that at present, Russia is Armenias biggest trade partner.

If Armenia signs the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement in Brussels next week, it will be the first member of the EAEU and CSTO to sign a framework agreement with the EU. It looks as though Armenia, trapped between its traditional ties to the East and a desire to integrate with the West, chose the latter option, the author said.
STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. The relative calm in the Arsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact remained unchanged from the period of November 12 to 18, the Artsakh defense ministry told Armenpress.

During the abovementioned period the Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire regime more than 200 times by firing nearly 2500 shots from firearms at the Armenian positions.

The Defense Army forces continue confidently conducting their military tasks in the frontline.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on November 18 received renowned cardiac surgeon, professor, academician Leo Bockeria, Head of the A.N. Bakulev Scientific Center for Cardiovascular Surgery, who arrived in Armenia on a three-day visit at the invitation of the Yerevan State Medical University to develop the cooperation with medical centers, as well as conduct an exchange of experience, press service of the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

Welcoming the renowned doctor in Armenia, President Sargsyan highly appreciated his contribution to the development of cardiac surgery, stating that thanks to the new, latest methods installed by professor Bockeria, thousands of human lives were saved and many others still wait for their recovery with a hope.

The Armenian President thanked the famous doctor for the readiness to share his experience with others. Serzh Sargsyan said Armenia attaches great importance to the development of healthcare field, as well as installation of the leading experience in medical field. In this sense the President highlighted the establishment of ties and cooperation with the worlds leading specialists and expressed hope that Leo Bockerias visit to Armenia, the contacts with the Armenian specialists, the exchange of practical knowledge and experience will be a great support for the development of the healthcare field in Armenia.

Doctor Bockeria thanked for the warm reception, appreciation and assured that he will make all efforts to contribute to developing cardiovascular surgery in Armenia. The renowned heart surgeon presented the global development trends in the field and the opportunities to achieve better results by the use of latest technologies. Professor Bockeria said he is impressed with the medical centers in Armenia and their highly-qualified specialists with whom he will be happy to cooperate.




YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. At night of November 19, during the daytime of 20, on 21 no precipitation is expected in Armenia, the emergency situations ministry told Armenpress.

In the evening hours of November 19 and at night of 20 rain in different parts of the republic rain is expected. West wind speed is 3-8 m/s: The air temperature at night of November 20 will increase by 4-5 degrees.

At night of November 19, during the daytime of 20, on 21 no precipitation is expected in Yerevan, in the evening hours of 19 and at night of 20 rain is possible.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. The Mayor of Caracas Antonio Ledezma escaped from his long-term house arrest in Venezuela, fleeing across the border to Colombia and then on to Spain, BBC reports.

He had been confined since early 2015 on charges of supporting an attempted coup, which he denies.

The 62-year-old Mayor is a vocal opponent of President Nicolas Maduro.

Columbia confirmed Ledezma entered the country on November 17. Later he escaped to Spain where he was welcomed by his family.

The Caracas Mayor told journalists he would work from exile to secure the release of political prisoners.

Former Colombian President Andres Pastrana tweeted: "Welcome to freedom!" in response to the news.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Two projects will be implemented on the 30th anniversary of the Sumgait pogroms within the frames of An Ordinary Genocide project which will soon be presented to the public.

During a press conference on November 18 Marina Grigoryan, An Ordinary Genocide project manager, said through one of the programs they will try to present the crime in Sumgait in 1988 by the eyes of Azerbaijanis.

We will try to present only the testimonies of Azerbaijani witnesses made during investigative and court hearings. At the moment we have materials of three criminal cases. Most of the testimonies were given by Azerbaijanis, and this is very important. If we form a book the goal of which will be to prove that the Sumgait pogroms have been organized and coordinated by the Azerbaijani leadership and special services, we will see that the Azerbaijani testimonies confirm that fact. These testimonies by the Azerbaijanis are a lot since most of the criminal proceedings were being held in Baku and Sumgait, and Armenians mainly didnt attend them. Azerbaijanis were the main witnesses, Grigoryan said.

The second program is called The Sumgait children. Marina Grigoryan said at the moment they try to find people who were kids during the years of Sumgait pogroms and managed to survive resettling in different countries of the world. We try to find people who witnessed these events, the killings and tortures of their parents and relatives. Its quite a complex topic from psychological perspective since these terrible events left an irreversible trace on them, and its very hard for them to remember these events, she said.

Marina Grigoryan added that they also want to make a reference to the murders of Armenian children in Sumgait. We also have proofs. You can see a photo in the website of our project which is taken from the court materials, and it depicts the little childs tortured body. There have really been killings of children, there are terrible evidences on how the children were killed. We will try to present all these in our film, as well as to touch upon the issue how the Sumgait massacres affected the Azerbaijani children who not only witnessed these events, but also, according to many evidences, there have been many minors, 14-17 years old boys, as well as girls, among the murderers, she said.

Marina Grigoryan stated that the Sumgait events are not our past, rather, they are our present and will remain so as long as Azerbaijan continues its anti-Armenian policy. According to her, the anti-Armenian policy, carried out by Azerbaijan during those years, further developed over the past 30 years and has become more obvious. It was that period that put the beginning of Azerbaijans anti-Armenian policy which continues till now, Marina Grigoryan noted.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan visited the Center for Strategic Initiatives (CSI), press service of the government told Armenpress.

The CSI staff reported the PM on the ongoing and upcoming reforms in public administration, improvement of business environment, tax administration, agriculture, education, tourism and other fields.

The works on developing Armenias digital agenda strategic document were also discussed at the meeting.
Top adult photographer/director Tammy Sands definitely has a thing for lingerie, and let's face it: Who doesn't want to see a sexy woman clad in a sexy bra, panties and stockingsor perhaps just one or two of the three? Well, those who purchase Goliath Books' latest Sands release, Sexy Lingerie Girls, will find 240 pages filled with 400 high-quality photos of just those images. And the company is playing up the tantalizing aspect of leafing through the book and discovering those beauties one by one.

"Everyone loves the surprise of opening a gift," reads the book's introduction. "You might think you know what the wrapping paper hides, but you cant be sure until you start unwrapping. Tearing off the pretty packaging and seeing whats underneath is the best part of any gift.

"Taking off a sexy girls lingerie has this effect, as well. Not so long ago, underwear fulfilled only the most practical purposes. Men of another time could only dream of joyfully undressing a woman while they struggled to remove woolen stockings and billowing bloomers. By the beginning of the 19th century people began to focus more on the aesthetic aspects of a womans intimate clothing... Weve come a long way from flesh-tone granny panties or suit-of-armor-like bra and corset constructions, and were far from stopping."

Shot mainly in the U.S., readers who watch adult content are likely to see some familiar faces, and each gal is shown in multiple poses, sometimes beginning with bra, panties, garter belt and stockings, but by the end of the set, at least a couple of those dainties will have been discardedor at least appear in the process of being discardedrevealing the toned and tan bodies underneath.

Available in five languagesEnglish, French, German, Spanish and ItalianSexy Lingerie Girls might be just the volume to while away a quiet evening or two, perhaps in the den, perhaps in the bedroomand it's now available in hardcover from Goliath Books here. The entire Goliath Books catalog can be found here.
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.
We hope that after consulting with Interior Secretary Zinke, the president will direct the department to maintain a strict ban on any imports of sport-hunted African elephant and lion trophies. Photo by iStockphoto

23.7K shares







In a tweet to more than 40 million followers, President Trump announced this evening that hes put big game trophy decision on hold, signaling discomfort with the trajectory of public discussion concerning the Interior Departments enormously controversial announcement on Thursday to allow imports of elephant and lion trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia.

The agencys announcement, which reversed a 2014 Obama administration decision to deny trophy hunters the opportunity to bring trophy tusks and other parts from Zimbabwe into the United States, triggered delirium among the nations small fraternity of big-game hunting enthusiasts, but provoked widespread condemnation among Americans of all political stripes. Long-time animal advocates such as Ellen DeGeneres and Ricky Gervais criticized the action, but so too did major conservative pundits, including Laura Ingraham and Mike Savage  two of the presidents biggest supporters during the presidential campaign.

Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts, wrote the president in a tweet this evening. The interior secretary confirmed the action in a separate tweet.

Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts. Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2017



We hope that after consulting with Interior Secretary Zinke, the president will direct the department to maintain a strict ban on any imports of sport-hunted African elephant and lion trophies. Both species are protected under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act, and their populations have been in steep decline, as a consequence of a variety of human-caused factors, including trade in the parts of these animals. The primary tool the agency invokes for foreign-listed species under the authority of the Endangered Species Act is to restrict imports of parts of animals into the United States. In short, if American trophy hunters cannot import the heads, tusks, and hides of the animals, they are unlikely to kill them in the first place.

Keeping elephants and lions alive is a key to economic progress in so many African nations. Millions of tourists trek to natural areas throughout Africa to see elephants, lions, and the extraordinary wildlife on the continent, collectively contributing billions to the economies of wildlife-rich nations. Dramatically fewer in number than wildlife watchers, trophy hunters generate minuscule dollars in relative terms. Whats more, trophy hunting robs these nations of their greatest resources, diminishing the wildlife-watching experiences of so many tourists. Any U.S. sanctioning of trophy hunting sends a particularly contradictory message at a time when the world has been rallying to save elephants and lions.

As I tweeted earlier this evening, we are grateful to President Trump for reassessing elephant and lion trophy hunting imports. This is the kind of trade we dont need. We hope that he hears an outpouring of concern over any plan to promote the killing of these species and that he holds firm and makes the protections indefinite.
The Upguard Cyber Risk Team has found three Department of Defense mass-storage "buckets" on Amazon that are world-viewable, containing 1.8 billion of social media posts that the DoD scraped from social media over 8 years as part of its global surveillance program.



As Upguard writes, this raises two important questions: why is the DoD spying on everyone (including US citizens at home and abroad, as well as active-duty service members), and why were they so careless with all the data they amassed through that spying?





The archive appears to originate with the amazingly named, defunct government contractor "VendorX," who appear to have been grossly negligent in the execution of their duties, an incompetence that the Pentagon never seemed to notice.

Massive in scale, it is difficult to state exactly how or why these particular posts were collected over the course of almost a decade. Given the enormous size of these data stores, a cursory search reveals a number of foreign-sourced posts that either appear entirely benign, with no apparent ties to areas of concern for US intelligence agencies, or ones that originate from American citizens, including a vast quantity of Facebook and Twitter posts, some stating political opinions. Among the details collected are the web addresses of targeted posts, as well as other background details on the authors which provide further confirmation of their origins from American citizens.

What is more clear is the significance of these data repositories' contents.The collection of public internet posts in massive repositories by the Defense Department for unclear reasons is one matter; the lack of care taken to secure them is another. The CENTCOM and PACOM CSTAR cyber risk scores of 542 and 409 provide some indication of gaps in the armor of two major military organizations' digital defenses. The possible misuse or exploitation of this data, perhaps against internet users in foreign countries wracked by civil violence, is a troubling possibility, as is the presence of US citizens' internet content in buckets associated with US military intelligence operations. The Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military from " being used as a tool for law enforcement, except in situations of explicit national emergency based on express authorization from Congress," but as seen in recent years, this separation has been eroded. Despite all of this, the same issues of cyber risk driving insecurity across the landscape are present here, too. A simple permission settings change would have meant the difference between these data repositories being revealed to the wider internet, or remaining secured. If critical information of a highly sensitive nature cannot be secured by the government  or by third-party vendors entrusted with the information  the consequences will affect not only whatever government organizations and contractors that are responsible, but anybody whose information or internet posts were targeted through this program, potentially resulting in unfair bias or unwarranted actions against the post creator.

Dark Cloud: Inside The Pentagon's Leaked Internet Surveillance Archive

[Dan O'Sullivan/Upguard]





(via Techdirt)
In 1936, John Maynard Keynes suggested that a fair economic system would lead to "the euthanasia of the rentier, and, consequently, the euthanasia of the cumulative oppressive power of the capitalist to exploit the scarcity-value of capital"  implying that we have a choice between fairness and extreme wealth, and that the two couldn't peacefully co-exist.

Lurking in the back of the minds of the super-rich, and in the share-price of surveillance/control businesses like Palantir and G4S is the fear that one day, the world will come to realized that Peter Thiel was right when he declared that the "freedom" to be a ruthless exploiter plutocrat was not "compatible" with democracy, and decide to opt for the latter (Thiel, meanwhile, seems to plump for the former).

Now, the Republican Party is pushing for a tax-plan that rewards literal idle wealth, windfalls to fund share buybacks and other nonproductive financial engineering, millions for the children of the richest 0.2% of Americans, while making it impossible for all but the wealthiest to go to grad school, cutting funds for rural people suffering from opiod addiction, cutting health-care for 9,000,000 poor American children; raising tax on the dwindling middle class, raising tax on home-ownership, cuts funding for health care for the poorest Americans across the board, cuts benefits for veterans, adds 1.5 trillion to the debt.

Candid Republican lawmakers have admitted that they feel they must transfer trillions to the richest Americans or face the end of their political careers as their campaign contributions dry up.

But as wave after wave of revelations come about the impunity with which the super-rich dodge taxes and cram the American worker, the euthanasia of the rentier is gaining traction.

A senior Wall Street exec  anonymous, for obvious reasons  told Vanity Fair's William Cohan that they feared that passage of the GOP's tax plan would be the final straw that collapsed the whole Reagonomic, neoliberal consensus and triggered a new growth industry for guillotines. In part, that's because the plan is so economically incompetent that it will inevitably usher in a horrific recession that will batter the Americans who are still trying to recover from the last finance-industry-triggered econopocalypse, with a new housing crisis, a tax disaster in populous "blue" states like New York and California, a collapse in consumer confidence and spending, and worse.

Other CEOs have gone on the record, calling the Trump plan a "tax cut" not "tax reform" with the super-rich as the prime beneficiaries, and no reason to believe that the cuts will be accompanied by higher wages, better jobs, or more investment in the US.

If Cohn were being more honest, he'd admit what most chief executives are saying privately, and some publicly. "The Trump team is arguing that massively cutting taxes for corporations will somehow translate into significant wage increases for working people," David Mendels, the former C.E.O. of publicly traded software company Brightcove wrote last week. "This argument fundamentally disregards everything we know about how companies actually decide to hire and how much to pay their employees. As a C.E.O. (and in previous roles) I was involved in hiring and determining salaries for thousands of people over 25 years. From real-world experience I can tell you that tax rates literally never came up in any discussion about hiring or pay levels." Occam's razor, he added, is the best rubric to predict what will happen when you give investors more money in the absence of increased demand: they'll keep it. Howard Schultz, the billionaire executive chairman of Starbucks, was more blunt: "This is not tax reform," he said at the DealBook conference in New York last week. "This is a tax cut. It's fool's gold that he wants to take the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent. For what purpose? Is that profit going to go back to the people who need it the most? Is that going to help half the country that doesn't have $400 in their bank account for a crisis? No." Executives know there's no mechanism in the G.O.P. tax plan to reward them for passing those savings along to their employees, who Paul Ryan has estimated would get an average $4,000 raise (over a decade) as a result of corporate largesse. The labor market has tightened considerablythe unemployment rate is at a 15-year lowand the stock market is starting to level off. The word on the street, though, isn't that higher corporate profits will lead to higher wages; rather, it's all about buybacks: Goldman says stock buybacks will hit $590 billion in 2018, while Merrill Lynch predicts half of all repatriated cash would go to buybacks or acquisitions. It's a sugar high that might extend the market rally temporarily, but will deepen the rot in our economic cavity.



"IT'S A PONZI SCHEME": WALL STREET FEARS TRUMP'S DERANGED TAX PLAN COULD KICK OFF ECONOMIC EUTHANASIA

[William D. Cohan/Vanity Fair]





(via Late Stage Capitalism)

(Image: Trump's Hair)
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (previously) is practically the only US regulator we can be proud of  founded by Elizabeth Warren before she ran for the Senate, the CFRB is a consumer protection agency that has been at the forefront of reining in criminal activities like Wells Fargo's nationwide frauds and Equifax's dox attack on the USA, as well as being the best defense Americans have against predatory loan-sharks masquerading as "payday lenders," abusive debt-collectors, racial discrimination in lending, and the student loan racket.

So naturally big business and Trump hate it.

Last month, the GOP reversed the CFBP rule that ensured that Americans could sue banks that defrauded them, but that was just for starters.

Now, CFRB director Richard Cordray is stepping down, likely in a bid for to be the next governor of Ohio, and his departure is a dream come true for the likes of Ted Cruz, who called the consumer protection agency "an out-of-control bureaucracy" and introduced legislation to abolish it; it's also great news for Senator Ben Sasse [R-NE] who said that "King Richard" should be fired.

The CFRB has been buried in an avalanche of frivolous, well-funded lawsuits, while the likes of Breitbart has whipped up its low-information base to call for the demise of the bureau. These alt-right hordes have been supplemented by massive, well-funded astroturf efforts that also offered huge paydays to the likes of Newt Gingrich.

There are unbelievably large pools of dark money sloshing around in the fight to kill the CFRB. Organizations like the "U.S. Consumers Coalition" won't reveal their funders and their principal competitors for anti-CFRB is "Protect America's Consumers," whose funders are also a secret. But their attack-ads, deceptive reports, and planted news stories are very visible indeed.



Structural reforms to the CFPB will have to make their way through the conflicted GOP leadership in Congress. The party's pro-business faction backs the idea of neutralizing the bureau by imposing a five-person governing commission. But, said one GOP congressional staffer, "you've got a lot of Republicans saying that a single director is not such a bad idea now that Donald Trump is in the White House." In June, the House passed Hensarling's Financial CHOICE Act, which Ryan dubbed "the crown jewel" of the GOP agenda. The CHOICE Act keeps the CFPB in the hands of a single director while stripping the bureau of many of its regulatory powers. Yet there is no companion bill in the Senate, where 60 votes are required to make any structural changes to the CFPB. Congressional Republicans can continue to deploy the Congressional Review Act, which they used to reverse the arbitration rule, though at this point, only the fate of the bureau's payday rule, issued in October, is up in the air. No other major new rules are far along in the pipeline.



Looming as an existential threat to the bureau is a lawsuit that's been working its way through federal courts since 2015. That was the year the CFPB slapped a $109 million fine on a New Jersey-based mortgage company called PHH that the bureau found had taken illegal kickbacks for referring customers to mortgage insurers. PHH responded by filing a lawsuit that challenged the constitutionality of the agency. In October 2016, just a month before Election Day, a three-judge panel issued a surprise ruling declaring that an agency whose director could only be removed for cause was unconstitutional. Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who wrote the decision, called Cordray the "single most powerful official in the entire U.S. Government, other than the President." Hensarling declared it "a good day for democracy." Now he's called Cordray's resignation "an excellent opportunity to enact desperately needed reforms."

NO PROTECTION FOR PROTECTORS

[Gary Rivlin and Susan Antilla/The Intercept]
Reels of 8-mm film, long forgotten in a dusty attic, inspired Hugh Kroetsch to retrace his steps through Canada's High Arctic in a father-and-son expedition nearly seven decades in the making.

Hugh Kroetsch, 85, and his filmmaker son Frederick travelled north last summer, visiting communities the elder Kroetsch had first seen as a fur trader in the 1950s.

An hour-long documentary, Last of the Fur Traders, premieres on AMI-tv Friday night. The film was produced by Frederick Kroetsch.

"It took 50 years off of him," Frederick said of his father in an interview with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.

"When he flew up there, he suddenly turned into a young man again. He would be able to last eight to 10 hours a day, just telling stories, and I would be there, tired, saying 'Dad, we need to go to bed.'

"I think it had a huge impact on him. He said that it added a few years to his life, looking forward to this."

Frederick was inspired to take on the project after discovering some long-lost footage his father had shot in the Arctic.

'It was always danger'

The grainy black-and-white film, recovered from a dusty ammunition case, showed his father as a young man in the 1950s, working on wooden ships and travelling to remote outposts across the North.

Hugh spent his youth as chief engineer on a Hudson's Bay Co. supply rig, delivering groceries, fuel and other supplies to some of the most remote outposts on the Mackenzie River and the icy inlets of the Northwest Passage.

He traded and hunted with the Inuit and monitored the skies for signs of incoming Soviet bombers  part of a secret surveillance effort during the early years of the Cold War.

"Being in the Arctic when I was up there, it was always danger," Hugh said in a promotional trailer for the documentary. "You had to have a crew that knew what that they were doing, and we had that."

Now 85, he was desperate to see the North's icy landscape and its people one last time. Father and son set out on their journey this summer. The changes in the landscape were evident immediately; something about the rugged North the elder Kroetsch knew had been lost.

Story continues

"When you see the footage my dad took, in the summer months, the ice was everywhere," Frederick said.

"He was actually trapped in the ice for weeks at a time and they would have to climb out with a knife and cut six-inch strips around the boat so they wouldn't be crushed by the ice. Very dramatic stories, very dramatic footage.

"This summer, when we went back at the same time of year, I didn't see a snowflake."

'Felt like northern royalty'

On their journey through Fort McMurray, Yellowknife, Inuvik, Aklavik and the Nunavut communities of Gjoa Haven, Taloyoak and Cambridge Bay, they brought the archival footage and family photographs to show people along the way.

One night, while they were showing the old reels of film to a crowd of community elders, there was a yelp of excitement.A young Inuk girl, filmed by Hugh in his youth, was in the audience  now an old woman in wheelchair.

In the 67 years since he left, Hugh's affection for Canada's North had not faded, and he was welcomed as a respected storyteller.

"They kind of treated him like he was super elder," Frederick said "He was often the oldest person in any community that he went to and he knew all their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, so it was amazing to see how much respect was given to him."

"I kind of felt like northern royalty for a bit. It was great."

Difficult conversations with community elders altered the course of the documentary, said Frederick.

The people they encountered were keen to speak about the harmful impact of residential schools. The last surviving residential school in the Arctic closed its doors in 1996, and the system's painful legacy is still raw, he said.

"It was really the common denominator of every story up there," Frederick said. "I think they wanted to share their stories and I think it's impossible to tell the story of the north without talking about that.

"And it was one of those decisions I had to make really early on, this is going to be a very major part of the doc, and at the beginning I hadn't imagined that it would be."

With the film set to have its TV premiere Friday, Frederick has already had rave reviews from his father.

"He loves it. I was actually in Toronto when he saw the first rough cut and he called me up and he said, 'Well son, by golly, I shed a tear watching it.' "

Listen to Edmonton AM with host Mark Connolly, weekday mornings at CBC Radio One, 93.9 FM in Edmonton. Follow the morning crew on Twitter @EdmAMCBC.
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's Google said it has bought a plot of land in southern Denmark adjacent to a planned Apple Inc data center to make sure it has the option of building one there too. Apple said in July it would spend around $950 million to build a center with a planned opening in 2019. If Google follows suit it would make the area one of the world's largest data center hubs, the local municipality Aabenraa said. "This is great news," Denmark's energy minister Lars Christian Lilleholt told Reuters on Friday. "It signals that Google has plans in Denmark, and I think it's because we have some of Europe's lowest power prices for companies, some of the greenest energy, and a high security of supply," he said in a telephone interview. Facebook in January announced plans to build a data center in Odense in central Denmark, its third outside of the United States. Besides its new 131 hectare (324 acres) plot in Aabenraa Google also owns a 73 plot in Fredericia, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Aabenraa. Google has no plans for the lots yet, but wanted to secure the possibility to expand its data centers in Europe if required, a spokeswoman told Reuters. ($1 = 6.3073 Danish crowns) (Reporting by Teis Jensen; editing by Alexander Smith)
Rumble

Drones have been used for filming and for looking down at the earth from above for a few years. As technology advances, they become better at providing a view that was once impossible without great expense. The world is beautiful when seen from above and amateur videographers are now able to explore and record almost everything. A recent advance is shown here with footage from a DJI Avata. It's a small and affordable quad copter that flies like an airplane, hovers like a helicopter, and records in ultra high definition. What's even more amazing is that the operator wears virtual reality goggles that show a crystal clear display of everything the drone sees as it flies. The Avata tilts, dives, climbs, and zooms over the terrain, giving the pilot the sensation that they are in full flight instead of merely watching a screen. The experience is so real that the operator often needs to sit down to avoid falling over during the flight. The motion controller on this drone is held like a joystick and tilted to make the drone bank, climb, or dive. A trigger throttle controls the speed of the drone which reaches exhilarating 55km/h (34mph). The drone is so responsive that it can be flown inches from the ground and through tight spaces. As this drone owner took his first flight with the tiny machine, he started out slowly over a very quiet road near his home. What he didn't realize is that he was about to have an extreme deja-vu experience. For years, he had dreamed of flight, a very common dream for many people. But the surprising part is that he accidentally began his test flight in a setting that was much like his recurring dream. And the experience as he began to lift the drone into the air was eerily similar to the way the dream unfolded. And it was as close to the feeling of true flight as anyone can experience while their feet are still on the ground. Footage of flights in the days that followed give us the same chance to see what the operator sees as they fly this drone. This is how the world would look if you could fly like a bird.
The Supreme Court of Canada and a senior executive with the Canada Revenue Agency anxiously reached out to Canada's communications spy agency for help after the CBC revealed cellphone tracking technology was being used near Parliament Hill, according to documents.

In April, a months-long CBC News and Radio-Canada investigation revealed that someone was using cellphone spying and tracking technology in the parliamentary precinct.

A day later, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale announced the RCMP and CSIS would launch an investigation into who was using the trackers, while saying that it wasn't a Canadian security agency.

The revelation prompted an IT manager from the Supreme Court to request help from the Communications Security Establishment, according to emails released to CBC News through the Access to Information Act.

What kind of assistance was requested from CSE is unclear because that part of the email was redacted.

Questions about BlackBerry Messenger

In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for the Supreme Court said the court wanted "to better understand any possible implications of this technology for the court." CSE met with officials from the Supreme Court to explain how the technology worked, Remi Samson said.

In another exchange, an IT specialist from the Canada Revenue Agency reached out to CSE with concerns a director general with the agency raised, including "whether or not the BBM Enterprise is protected against the espionage tools found on Parliament Hill yesterday."

The specialist wanted assurances from the spy agency that BlackBerry Messenger (BBM)  an encrypted instant messaging and video app  is protected for all three kinds of messages: voice, text and video. Answers were not included in the email chain.

But in a statement to CBC News, CRA said it "received clarification from CSE that no unknown security vulnerabilities were identified."

In an email to CBC News, CSE said that its IT team provided guidance to both CRA and the Supreme Court, including information about the threats posed by the tracking devices known as IMSI catchers and possible mitigation measures.

Story continues

How the technology works

IMSI catchers work by mimicking a cellphone tower to interact with nearby phones and read the unique ID associated with the phone  the international mobile subscriber identity, or IMSI.

That number can then be used to track the phone. In some instances, IMSI catchers can be used with other technology to access a phone's text messages and listen in on calls.

The emails from CSE also provide a window into the reaction to the CBC/Radio-Canada investigation from the highest levels across Canada's security agencies hours after the story went to air.

One chain includes the heads of the RCMP, CSIS, CSE and the National Security Adviser to the prime minister, among others in the Privy Council Office, on how each organization was responding. The emails included media lines being sent out and advice about what the public safety minister and MPs might be asked the following day.

Confusion around role of CSIS

A separate set of emails from Public Safety reveal there was initial confusion about CSIS's role.

Amid concerns about what to communicate, it wasn't initially clear whether a Canadian agency might have been the one doing the spying.

"Can we be categorical on security agencies NOT being involved?" asked Christiane Fox, then the assistant secretary to the cabinet, in an email to representatives from Public Safety, the Privy Council office and CSE.

A director at Public Safety Canada writes back: "I don't know that we can say that categorically."

Twenty-one minutes after Fox's initial question, he replied again.

"CSIS confirmed they can't be categorical," wrote Ryan Baker.

However, Goodale was categorical when he spoke to reporters the next morning that it was not a Canadian agency that was doing the spying.

CBC News checked in again with the minister's office this week and was told that "while CSIS was unable on the night of April 3rd to confirm specific details on the service's use of this technology, Minister Goodale was provided with updated information from CSIS and the RCMP by the next morning," before the minister spoke to reporters.
By David Shepardson and Eric Beech WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said in a tweet on Friday he is putting a decision to allow imports of elephant trophies on hold after a torrent of criticism from conservation advocates and across social media. Trump's reversal came hours after his administration released a rule on Friday to allow hunters who kill elephants in Zimbabwe to bring their trophies back to the United States, which had been banned by the Obama administration. "Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts. Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you!" Trump wrote. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement that he had spoken with Trump and "both believe that conservation and healthy herds are critical." He said the "issuing of permits is being put on hold as the decision is being reviewed." Early word of the planned change had drawn protests from conservationists, who said it could deplete already at-risk elephant populations. It also caused a social media firestorm, with opponents posting photos of President Donald Trump's sons Donald Jr. and Eric, avid hunters, posing with dead wild animals. Tanya Sanerib, senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said on Friday in a statement: "It's great that public outrage has forced Trump to reconsider this despicable decision, but it takes more than a tweet to stop trophy hunters from slaughtering elephants and lions. We need immediate federal action to reverse these policies." Amid the backlash to reports that the move would apply to two southern African countries -- Zimbabwe and neighboring Zambia -- White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said it was due to a review by career officials at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service which began back in 2014 under the previous administration of Democratic President Barack Obama. "This review established that both Zambia and Zimbabwe had met new standards, strict, international conservation standards, that allowed Americans to resume hunting in those countries," Sanders told reporters. In an official notice published on Friday in the Federal Register, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it had concluded that the killing of African elephants in Zimbabwe as trophies, between the dates of Jan. 21, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2018, "will enhance the survival of the African elephant." The agency had said earlier on Friday before Trump's tweet that "legal managed hunting" can help provide incentives to conserve wildlife and habitat and provide revenue to help conservation. The move was disclosed by Fish and Wildlife Service officials attending a meeting in Tanzania this week that was organized by a pro-trophy hunting group. The officials had said Zambia would also be covered by the change, but only Zimbabwe was mentioned in Friday's notice. Zambia was mentioned in a news release issued by the government. The international affairs section of the official U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service webpage shows the agency has already begun accepting permits for imports of trophies from the hunting of lions in Zimbabwe and Zambia. Wildlife advocates said that move contradicts the agency's decision last year to extend Endangered Species Act protections to African lions. But U.S. hunting groups and the National Rifle Association praised the recent decision on lion trophies, which they said the Trump administration issued on Oct. 20. Africa's elephant population plunged by about a fifth between 2006 and 2015 because of increased poaching for ivory, a coveted commodity used in carving and ornamental accessories in China and other parts of Asia, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said last year. Wildlife activists argue that corruption is endemic in impoverished Zimbabwe, and that money generated by big game hunting and meant for conservation has been diverted into the pockets of crooks and poachers. Supporters say money made from well-regulated hunts has been used for costly wildlife conservation in cash-starved African countries battling to diminish chronic poverty. The Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee, Representative Ed Royce, slammed the administration's decision to allow the imports, saying economic and political turmoil in Zimbabwe gave him "zero confidence" the authorities there were properly managing conservation programs. "Elephants and other big game in Africa are blood currency for terrorist organizations, and they are being killed at an alarming rate," Royce said in a statement. "Stopping poaching isn't just about saving the world's most majestic animals for the future -- it's about our national security." Zimbabwe was thrown into chaos this week when the army took charge, appearing to signal the end of long-serving President Robert Mugabe's reign, despite the 93-year-old's insistence that he remains in charge. (Reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas and David Shepardson and Eric Beech in Washington; Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici in Washington; Editing by Sandra Maler and Mary Milliken)
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis: Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on Arab-Israeli relations

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blog spot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work.

.

..IMRA Weekly Commentary..16 November '17..As costly as it may be to act now, it could very well be the best choice of action."Quiet for quiet" has been Israel's operative policy ever since PM Ehud Barak's hasty retreat from Lebanon. Israel limits itself to attacks in the north against equipment still in Syria. "Quiet for quiet" applies once equipment reaches Lebanon, regardless of its nature.That same policy, according to which the enemy can literally do anything and everything in preparation to attack Israel without being subject to an Israeli response, was extended to the Gaza Strip after PM Sharon's retreat.Defense ministers, IDF chief of staff's and prime ministers all embraced "quiet for quiet", confident that it would be child's play for the mighty IDF to neutralize whatever assault capabilities the enemy managed to amass under "quiet for quiet".But that was only part of the story.The worst case outcome was not seen as particularly costly for the Jewish State: a photo op temporary Hezbollah flag planting in some Israeli border community and some dead Israelis and Israelis taken hostage in the south.Unpleasant yes. But not critical.The problem with this approach is that it assumed that, at most, the IDF has to deal with two fronts - Hezbollah in the north and Hamas etc. in the south.But now there's actors, especially Iran, to take into account.With a very real possibility that things may get a lot worse in the neighborhood before it gets better.Back to "quiet for quiet".The longer we postpone demolishing the military threat that has built up during "quiet for quiet" the greater the danger that attack capability is used as part of a larger operation against us.As costly as it may be to act now, it could very well be the best choice of action.________________________________________
       :   MLA ,        41 
The authorities in Jessore Central Jail have executed death sentences of 2 for murdering freedom fighter Monwar Hossain 23 years ago.





Senior Superintendent of the jail Kamal Hossain told reporters that the executioners hanged the convicts, Golam Rasul Jhorhu, 75, and Abdul Mokim, 60, at 11:45pm on Thursday.





Both the convicts from Alamdanga Upazila's Durlovpur village in Chuadanga were members of extremist group Purbo Bangla Communist Party.





Kamal said they handed the bodies of the convicts to their families after post-mortem examination.





Jessore Deputy Commissioner Ashraf Uddin, Superintendent of Police Anisur Rahman and Civil Surgeon Dilip Kumar Roy were present during the execution.





Before the execution of the death sentence the imam of the jail mosque administered Tawba of the 2 convicts.





Referring to case dossier, Kamal said some members of the extremist group hacked freedom fighter and Kumari union council member Monwar to death at Durlovpur village on June 28, 1994.





Monwar's brother Ahim Uddin started a case at Alamdanga Police Station, naming 21 people, on the following day.





Chuadanga District and Sessions Judge's court sentenced 3 to death, 2 to lifetime imprisonment and acquitted the 16 others on Apr 17, 2008.





2 of those sentenced to life in prison are Amirul Islam and Hiya from the same village.





Monwars son Jahangir Alam, who is a member of Kumari union council now, told bdnews24.com that the jail officials informed them about the execution of the death sentences some days ago.





He said members of extremist group 'Janajuddh' threatened his family several times to save the murderers of his father. "We are happy now as the 2 have been hanged."





Monwars widow China Khatun said, "We shed tears for yearsnow its the turn of the murderers' families."





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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

bdnews24.com, November 18, 2017
Nevada prisons official said Friday the state is refusing pharmaceutical company Pfizer's demand to return a drug it manufactured and not use it in a planned lethal injection execution.





Nevada received a letter Oct. 4 similar to one received by officials in Nebraska and reported by the Omaha World-Herald, Nevada Department of Corrections spokeswoman Brooke Keast said.





The Nevada letter, obtained Friday by The Associated Press, seeks the return from the prisons pharmacy of the sedative diazepam or the opioid painkiller fentanyl made by Pfizer if they are intended for what the company calls "misuse" in an execution.





"Pfizer strongly objects to the use of its products as lethal injections for capital punishment," company executive Robert Jones said in the Oct. 4 correspondence, which promised to reimburse the state for the returned drug.





Pfizer announced in May 2016 it would block distribution of its products and those of its affiliate, Hospira, for executions in the 31 states in the U.S. with the death penalty. Company spokesman Steven Danehy in New York confirmed the authenticity of Jones' letter, but declined to comment about it.





Plans for Nevada's first execution in more than a decade  using a never-before-tried combination of diazepam, fentanyl and the muscle paralytic cisatracurium  were put on hold this week pending review by the state Supreme Court.





Diazepam is commonly known as Valium. Keast said the supply that Nevada received for the planned execution of twice-convicted murderer Scott Raymond Dozier was manufactured by Pfizer.





Invoice records show the drugs were obtained in late May from Cardinal Health, a company that Keast called the usual state prisons pharmacy supplier, at a combined cost of less than $500. Cardinal Health has not said if the company knew the intended use of the drugs.





"We are under no obligation, once we've made a purchase, to return it," Keast said Friday.





In Nebraska, the Omaha World-Herald reported a similar Oct. 4 letter was among several documents released by the state Department of Corrections in response to public records requests from the newspaper and the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska.





Officials with the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services and the office of Gov. Pete Ricketts declined to say whether the state had any Pfizer drugs.





Nebraska spent $10,500 last month on four drugs for the execution, said Dawn-Renee Smith, a spokeswoman for that state's corrections department. While Smith didn't disclose the source of the drugs, she said they did come from a source in the U.S.





Nebraska plans to use a four-drug protocol in its lethal injections, including the same three drugs as Nevada plus potassium chloride to stop the heart.





Pfizer manufactures three of the drugs, but not cisatracurium.





Nebraska has struggled to obtain lethal injection drugs in recent years because of company bans. It began shopping for drugs again after voters reinstated capital punishment last year, overriding state lawmakers who had abolished the death penalty. Nebraska hasn't executed anyone since 1997.

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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
A major pharmaceutical company demanded in a letter a month ago that the State of Nebraska return any lethal injection drugs it might have that were manufactured by the company or its affiliate.





Pfizer adopted a policy in 2016 banning the use of its products in an execution as a "misuse" of drugs intended to save lives.





"Pfizer makes its products to enhance and save the lives of the patients we serve. Consistent with these values, Pfizer strongly objects to the use of its products as lethal injections for capital punishment," stated the Oct. 4 letter, signed by Robert Jones, a public relations director at Pfizer.





Officials with the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services and the office of Gov. Pete Ricketts declined to say Thursday if the state had obtained any Pfizer drugs.





"The state spent $10,500 on the four lethal injection drugs purchased last month."





"We are not disclosing the identity of the supplier at this time," said Corrections spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith.





But Smith said the state spent $10,500 on the 4 lethal injection drugs purchased last month.





This comes 2 years after Nebraska spent $54,000 on similar drugs that it never received.





A week ago, the state informed a death row inmate that it had obtained the substances it planned to use in carrying out the inmate's death sentence.





3 of the drugs are on Pfizer's list of substances it prohibits for use in executions.





If Nebraska obtained drugs made by Pfizer, it risks a lawsuit from the company or one of its distributors claiming that it violated the company's ban on using drugs on its list of "restricted products" for a lethal injection, according to a national authority on the death penalty.





"The question is: Is there someone who is violating their contract with Pfizer?" asked Robert Dunham of the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center on Thursday. "Or is a distributor being misled about the use of the drug?"





Dunham said Pfizer typically doesn't send such "demand" letters unless it suspects that a state has obtained drugs manufactured by it.





The Pfizer letter was among several documents released by Corrections this week in response to public records requests from The World-Herald and the ACLU of Nebraska. The newspaper and the civil rights group each independently requested information about the state's efforts to obtain lethal injection drugs.





The records show that the state on Sept. 19 received federal approval, if necessary, to import controlled substances. On Oct. 12, records indicated that 4 lethal injection drugs were being stored at a prison in Lincoln.





The documents also list expiration dates for the drugs. 2 of the drugs expire in July and August 2018.





That raises doubts about whether Nebraska could set an execution date before the drugs expire, according to a leading death penalty opponent, State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha.





While the state has declined to identify the source of the 4 drugs, Smith, the Corrections spokeswoman, said last week that they came from a source in the U.S.





Dunham said the information released so far seems to indicate two possible sources: either a private compounding pharmacy or a distributor that handles Pfizer products.





The records released by the state indicated that at least 2 of the drugs had been sent to a laboratory in Minnesota for testing. Such testing is required by state law before the drugs can be used in an execution, Smith said.





The 4 drugs that the state obtained included 3 on Pfizer's list of 13 "restricted products" the company has said cannot be used in lethal injections.





The 3 are diazepam, fentanyl citrate and potassium chloride. A 4th drug obtained by the state, cisatracurium besylate, is not manufactured by Pfizer, a company spokesman said Thursday.





The Pfizer letter said the company would reimburse the state for any drugs it returned that were made by Pfizer or Hospira, a Pfizer company. A company spokesman declined to say if Nebraska had returned any drugs, referring questions to state officials.





Nebraska, as well as several other states, have scrambled to obtain lethal injection drugs in recent years, in part because companies like Pfizer have banned their use for executions.





Some documents released to the ACLU illustrated that. Included were pleas from officials in Nevada and Mississippi who were seeking help to obtain lethal injection drugs for their states.





Danielle Conrad, who heads the ACLU of Nebraska, said Thursday that the information released to the ACLU raises more questions than it answers.





"Every attempt to tinker with the machinery of death doesn't bring us any closer to an execution," Conrad said. "It just raises a new set of questions."





Almost 1/2 of the records request by the group produced a state response that "no records" exist. Conrad, a former state senator, said the ACLU is reviewing whether its request was fully complied with, adding that she expects more to be released next week.





Nebraska has yet to seek an execution warrant for the inmate, Jose Sandoval, who was sentenced to die for his role in the murders of 5 people inside a Norfolk bank in 2002. Last week's notice was a required step before an execution date is requested.





There has not been an execution in Nebraska for 20 years, since the electric chair was in use. Electrocution was ruled unconstitutional as cruel and unusual punishment by the Nebraska Supreme Court, so the state switched to lethal injection.





But the state has stumbled in past attempts to obtain the drugs.





In 2011, a Swiss manufacturer demanded the return of a lethal injection drug purchased through a broker in India, saying it had been improperly obtained by the broker. 2 years ago, Nebraska spent $54,000 through the same broker, Chris Harris, for drugs it never received. That shipment was blocked by federal authorities.

 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

Omaha World-Herald, November 17, 2017
The United States is working with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of the Congo to better combat the outbreak of deadly disease. In October, the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa hosted a two-day TechCamp, The Congos: Ground Zero for the Prevention of the Next Global Health Crisis.

The TechCamp gathered 50 provincial health officials and communication experts from Congo-Kinshasa and Congo-Brazzaville to explore ways modern technology can inform and equip communities to prevent and stop outbreaks of Ebola, Yellow Fever, cholera, and other dangerous diseases.

Experts from the NGO community provided participants with practical uses of SMS, voice recognition, radio, and visual media technologies in mitigating the health crises. Participants shared best practices in previous health crises and methods for efficiently deploying technology to fight future outbreaks. TechCamp participants returned home with actionable ideas to improve health communication between provincial governments and the communities.

Through U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, and the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, the United States government provided more than $200 million in 2017 in humanitarian aid, including health services, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. USAID and CDC provide health-related support to underserved rural and urban communities throughout both Congo-Kinshasa and Congo-Brazzaville.

TechCamps are a U.S. Department of State program that link civil society groups with technology experts and tools to apply tech solutions to real-world issues. Representatives from more than 3,000 organizations globally have taken part in a TechCamp since the programs inception in 2010. Ilan Moss, Senior Communications Manager for New York-based NGO Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, facilitated The Congos: Ground Zero for the Prevention of the Next Global Health Crisis.

I believe wholeheartedly in the potential for innovation and technology to solve the worlds most obstinate challenges, said Jennifer Haskell, Charge dAffaires at the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa.

I am also aware that what works in one country may not work in another. Therefore, our TechCamp is focused on results, with participants identifying their own real-world challenges and offering practical technologies to help solve them.
Article Four of the US Constitution outlines relations among the states, and between each state and the federal government. It sets out the responsibilities and duties of the states as well as responsibilities that the federal government has to the states.

Article Four sets the rules for such matters as admitting new states and border changes between the states. For instance, the first Section, called the Full Faith and Credit Clause, stipulates that each state must recognize and respect the public acts and decisions of other states. It also stresses that the Congress may monitor such interactions between states, and may stipulate how proof of such acts may be admitted.

The "Privileges and Immunities Clause also prohibits state governments from discriminating against citizens of other states.For example, should two people, one from Michigan and the other from Ohio, be convicted of the same crime in Michigan, the state may not impose a tougher penalty on the resident of Ohio.

Article Four also provides for extradition of fugitives between the states, and lays down a legal basis for freedom of interstate travel. Today, this provision is sometimes taken for granted, but in the days before the Constitution was written, crossing state lines was often difficult and costly.

Under Article Four, the federal government of the United States guarantees to every state a democratic form of government, and will protect each of the states against foreign invasion. If a states legislature, or its executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) asks for help, the federal government is required to defend it against domestic rebellion or political violence. As well, Article Four empowers the Congress to make rules for disposing of federal property and governing non-state territories of the United States.

In Federalist No. 43, James Madison wrote: A protection against invasion is due from every society to the parts composing it. The latitude of the expression here used, seems to secure each state not only against foreign hostility, but against ambitious or vindictive enterprises of its more powerful neighbors. The history both of ancient and modern confederacies, proves that the weaker members of the Union ought not to be insensible to the policy of this article.

In other words, the Constitution protects all states equally and guarantees to the citizens of each state a democratic form of government.
On their third consecutive day of taking refuge in a sanctuary south of Tehran, three close allies of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have called upon the Supreme Leader, ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step in and assign the chairman of the influential Expediency Council to supervise the legal procedure concerning the indictments against them.

Hamid Baghaei, Ali Akbar Javanfekr and Habibollah Khorasani have used the old tactic of bast neshini or taking refuge in a sanctuary to protest what they have described as judiciarys politically motivated decisions against them.

It is the first time that prominent political figures in Iran use the age-old tactic since the founder of Pahlavi dynasty, Reza Shah legally banned it in 1935.

Meanwhile, managing editor of a local news agency, Aria, says that his website has been blocked after publishing Ahmadinejads acerbic speech at Shah Abdol-Azims shrine, where his close allies have taken refuge.

Ahmadinejad and his allies have long been maintaining that the Islamic Republics head of judiciary or Chief-Justice, ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani and his four brothers are attempting to dominate Iran through elimination of all real Revolutionary forces, including the former president and his close companions.

The enmity was clearly reflected in the speech delivered by Ahmadinejad at Shah Abdol-Azims shrine, where Ahmadinejad accused top judiciary officials of conspiracy against himself and his close ally, insisting that they are attempting to convict his deputy, Hamid Baghaei for political reasons.

Ahmadinejads deputy for executive affairs, Hamid Baghaei declared on Wednesday, November 15, that, along with the former presidents aide and accountant, he would take refuge in the sanctuary, disregarding the summons to appear at court.

Ahmadinejad and his allies have long been complaining that the Larijani brothers want to dominate Iran...

The trio has written a letter to the Supreme Leader asking him to step in and assign the chairman of the Expediency Council, deputy speaker of Assembly of Experts and former head of the Islamic Republics judiciary, ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi to weigh all legal charges against them. They insist that the charges are unfounded and they are innocent.

According to a website promoting Ahmadinejad, Dolatebahar (the Government of Spring) cited the trio as saying, If ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi found us guilty, we would demand the highest penalty for our crime.

But if we were not found guilty, the trio have insisted ayatollah Shahroudi should instantly remove all injustice imposed on us and lay the groundwork for the dismissal of all who were behind it.

Ironically, both ayatollahs, Hashemi Shahroudi and Amoli Larijani have repeatedly been introduced by some analysts as possible candidate to replace the current Supreme Leader, ayatollah Khamenei.

Based on video clips of the speech circulated in social media, Ahmadinejad lambasted the judiciary and accused it conspiring to convict Baghaei without any evidence.

Baghaei was first arrested for embezzlement in 2015 but, according to Ahmadinejad close allies, he was later freed by the Supreme Leader, ayatollah Ali Khameneis special order.

Once again, last July, Baghaei was detained but later released on a huge bail.

Currently, another close ally of Ahmadinejad, Esfandyar Rahim Mashshayee has also been summoned to court for insulting the Supreme Leader, offending the ruling systems officials and spreading false information.
After French President Emmanuel Macrons comments recently about Irans behavior in the region and its missile program, a senior advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, accused the Macron of interference in Irans affairs.

Ali Akbar Velayati in an interview with Irans state broadcaster on Saturday lashed out at Macron saying, We dont ask permission from others about our countrys issues or our defense plans or whether to have missiles or not.

Recently, Macron has twice repeated his view that Iran should reconsider its conflict generating policies in the region and should be transparent about its missile program.

He has also said that there should be negotiations about Irans missiles, similar to the nuclear talks. Otherwise, sanction can be a distinct possibility.

Resolution 2231 of the United Nations, which wrapped up Irans nuclear agreement with world powers, calls on the Islamic Republic to refrain from developing nuclear capable ballistic missiles.

In a sharp rebuke to Macron Velayati said in his interview, Who is Macron to interfere. If he wants Iranian-French relations to expand he should not interfere in such matters.

Macron, however, has reaffirmed his support for the nuclear agreement challenged by U.S. President Donald Trump. "If we were to walk away from it, it would lead to either immediate war or an absence of control which would inevitably lead to a North Korean-situation, which I could not accept."

But European countries seem to be willing to press Iran on the missile issue and its interference in regional countries.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 18

Trend:

Dubai has hosted the 2nd International Participants Meeting (IPM), which is considered as one of the main preparations for the World Expo 2020.

Representatives of the countries participating in the meeting spoke about the work done and future plans in anticipation of the Expo 2020 Dubai.

Director of the Heydar Aliyev Center Anar Alakbarov informed about the experience of Azerbaijans participation in international exhibitions, including the countrys being successfully represented by national pavilion at exhibitions held in Milan, Antalya and Astana in recent years.

An agreement on Azerbaijans participation in the Expo 2020 Dubai was signed within the framework of the meeting.

Director General of the Expo 2020 Dubai Bureau and UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Ebrahim Al-Hashimi spoke about the achievements and future stages according to the action plan.

Dimitri Kerkentzes, deputy secretary general of International Exhibitions Bureau, highly appreciated the results achieved.

He noted the importance for Dubai to be ready to host the World Expo 2020 in three years.

World Expo 2020 will be held in Dubai, in the UAE, between October 20, 2020 and April 10, 2021. The Expo site, which will cover a total of 438 hectares, is located in the Dubai South district, near the Al Maktoum International Airport.

Expo 2020 Dubai is being organized under the theme Connecting Minds, Creating the Future.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 2

By Azad Hasanli  Trend:

Russian Export Center JSC is considering the possibility of supporting 20 projects on export of products to Azerbaijan, Elmira Kachayeva, the centers project manager on work with exporters, told Trend.

She said that almost all projects envisage provision of non-financial services.

If the projects are implemented, the total volume of exports support may exceed $200 million, Kachayeva added.

To date, the center has supported exports worth over $500 million to Azerbaijan.

The Russian Export Center JSC offers a specialized one stop shop for exporters, providing financial and non-financial support, and interacting with relevant ministries and agencies.

The center has been established to provide a specialized service for exporters. Its areas of expertise include export transactions, providing consultations on issues related to exports, assistance in organizing exports, and providing support related to export procedures.

Among other things, the center focuses on supporting requests made by exporters working with relevant ministries, agencies and government services.
Mexico's National Bank for Foreign Trade (Bancomext) and the China Development Bank (CDB) announced on Friday the renewal of a cooperation agreement to finance projects in Mexico, Xinxua reported.

This marks the renewal of agreements signed in November 2014 when Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto visited China, Bancomext said in a statement.

Both institutions agreed to co-finance projects in Mexico in key sectors such as technology, equipment, tourism and renewable energy, among others.

"As much Bancomext as the China Development Bank further commit to establishing exchange mechanisms on development policies in sectors and regions that allow to identify business and trade opportunities, through cofinancing by Mexican and Chinese companies," the statement explained.

Bancomext and the CDB agreed on the need to analyze cooperation alternatives in the infrastructure and telecommunications sectors.

The CDB is the world's largest development financial institution. In 2016, it managed assets worth over 2 billion U.S. dollars and a credit portfolio worth around 1.4 billion U.S. dollars, said the Bancomext statement.

The renewal of the agreement was signed by Bancomext director-general, Francisco Gonzalez, and CDB Executive vice-president, Zhang Xuguang.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 11

By Gulgiz Muradova  Trend:

Kazakhstan is considering the issue of delivering passenger locomotives to Azerbaijan, Kazakh Deputy Energy Minister Magzum Mirzagaliyev told Trend.

"Currently, the Azerbaijani embassy in Kazakhstan, together with Lokomotiv Yarastyru Zauyty JSC, is considering the issue of supplying additional three passenger locomotives," the vice minister said.

He noted that back in July 2015, an agreement was signed between Lokomotiv Yarastyru Zauyty JSC and Azerbaijan Railways CJSC to supply 10 locomotives to Azerbaijan. The delivery of locomotives completed in 2016.

"The ongoing close cooperation between JSC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy and CJSC Azerbaijan Railways "has also become an additional impetus for the development of bilateral transit and transport cooperation," Mirzagaliyev said.

Proof of this is an increase in the flow of goods between countries. As the vice minister noted, according to the results of 2016, 23,211 transit containers and trucks were transported in the direction of Aktau-Baku-Aktau, which exceeds the indicator of the year before by more than 270 percent.

JSC "Kazakhstan temir zholy" forecasts that in 2017 the volume of cargo traffic between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan will increase by 30 percent.

Furthermore, as Mirzagaliyev noted, the volume of mutual trade turnover between the countries for the past year increased by nine percent compared to 2015. In 2015 the figure was at the level of $ 125.5 million and in 2016 - $ 136.8 million.

"Our mutual efforts for the effective work of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation played an important role in this work. We hope that the agreements reached during the thirteenth meeting of the commission held in Astana on Sept.21-22 last year will give even more positive results of cooperation between our countries," Mirzagaliyev said.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 18

By Ali Mustafayev  Trend:

Kazakh Tayinsha May LLP exported 1,000 tons of rapeseed oil worth 400 million tenge to China, during the 9 months of 2017.

The company in North Kazakhstan launched the production of the rapeseed oil in December 2016, receiving investments of the Chinese Xi an AiJu Cereals and Oil industry group, said the representatives of the company during a press tour, Kazakh media outlets reported.

Nearly at the same period (in December) the company carried out the technical input of an automated warehouse of raw materials, and an oil pressing shop. Companys plants processed 5,000 tons of raw materials (rapeseed), and produced 1,600 tons of unrefined rapeseed oil since then.

In July 2017, as a result of installation of additional equipment, Tayinsha May produced 400 tons of sunflower oil.

The company launched an oil refining shop on August 23, 2017 and currently plans to purchase for about 100-150 tons of rapeseed and sunflower, for the further oil production.

(Currency rate: $1 - 332.21 tenge)
Tehran, Iran, November 18

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

A recent expression of doubt by Patrick Pouyanne, the chief executive officer of Frances energy giant Total, whether to carry out cooperation with Iran has strengthened worries over the fate of Irans energy development projects.

Omid Shokri, a Washington-based energy analyst, told Trend November 18 that Total or any other oil and gas company is interested to have good relations with US, adding, it is possible for Total to withdraw from South Pars field.

Totals chief executive officer last week said under political pressure, his company is liable to leave the $4.8 billion deal with Iran. If we cannot do that for legal reasons, because of [a] change of [the] regime of sanctions, then we have to revisit it, he said.

Total last week increased its US presence with the purchase of a portfolio of liquefied natural gas assets from Engie (ENGIY), including the company's stake in the Cameron LNG project in Louisiana, one of the first new gas export terminals in North America.

Sealed a few months ago, the deal with Total over the development of South Pars gas field used to be vied by Iran as an icebreaker and itself a discouragement for new sanctions on Iran.

However, last month US President Donald Trump unveiled a tough and comprehensive new policy towards Iran. He accused Tehran of violating the 2015 nuclear accord (which had paved the way for removal of sanctions) and announced that he would no longer certify that the lifting of sanctions was in US interests.

Shokri believes that major to-be partners of Irans oil and gas companies are waiting for US Congress decision about Iran and nuclear agreement.

This is while Iran used to cherish the nuclear deal as a means to open way for the development of its oil and gas industries, which had been kept outdated by years-long sanctions.

Irans economy is heavily oil-dependent. In the early 2010s, sanctions efficiently stifled the countrys oil revenues as its exports dropped from 2.3 mbpd to 1 mbpd.

Irans oil, gas, and petrochemical infrastructure are not by far as efficient as they could. Many of the countrys oil fields are in the second half of their lives and need restoration or else they lose profitability.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 18

By Ali Mustafayev  Trend:

Pakistan intends to purchase 150,000 tons of coal per year from Uzbekistan as soon as the modernization of the Uzbek Shargunkumir JSC finishes, Shargunkumir JSC Director for Future Development, Investment and Capital Construction Sattor Saidov told Trend.

He added that currently the company is not able to provide Pakistan with demanded quantity of coal because the process of modernization was delayed by the Chinese consortium of China Coal Technology & Engineering Group Corp. and China Railway Tunnel Group Co., Ltd. However, the work on the modernization project is already on and the company will start the export of coal to Pakistan in 2020 after the mines are completely modernized.

Shargunkumir's currently operating mines are expected to raise the level of coal production from 150,000 tons to 200,000 tons by the end of 2017.

The company intends to increase the output to 700,000 tons per year in 2019 and to 900,000 tons per year in 2020.

Previously, the director of the company, during an interview with Trend, announced that the modernization of the company within the cooperation with China will have its influence on total coal exports of Uzbekistan.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 18

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov within his visit to Belgium met with Secretary General of the International Energy Charter Urban Rusnak, Azerbaijans Energy Ministry said in a message.

At the meeting, it was noted that Azerbaijan and the International Energy Charter will hold an expert meeting early next year, according to the ministry.

During the meeting, the sides discussed the Energy Charter Process and its prospects. Azerbaijans close cooperation with the International Energy Charter and the countrys active participation in the activity of working groups was highly appreciated.

It was stressed that energy efficiency has become a topical issue throughout the world and even began to be perceived as a special kind of energy. The parties considered it important to boost joint activity on preparation of the draft law on energy saving and energy efficiency of Azerbaijan within the framework of EUs EU4Energy Governance program.

The sides also exchanged views on the preparation of the Energy Strategy of Azerbaijan, special programs to ensure energy efficiency in various spheres of the countrys economy and the relevant legislative documents, as well as development of the national action plan for the effective use of energy resources. New proposals in this direction were considered.

Shahbazov noted that these areas of cooperation will give impetus to the implementation of events envisaged by Azerbaijans Strategic Road Map for the development of utilities (electricity and thermal energy, water and gas supply), and stressed the importance of the International Energy Charters support in implementing such big projects.

In addition, the parties discussed the Energy Charter Conference to be held Nov. 28-29 in Ashgabat city, as well as new trends in the world market.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 18

By Ali Mustafayev  Trend:

China opened a representative office of the State Tourism Administration in Kazakhstan within the end of the Year of China Tourism in Kazakhstan, said the Deputy Head of the Main Department of Tourism of China Du Jiang during the Closing Ceremony of the Year of China Tourism in Kazakhstan.

This is only the beginning of a great cooperation with Kazakhstan in the tourism industry, said Du Jiang, Kazakh media outlets reported.

The ambassador of China tom Kazakhstan Zhang Hanhui, in turn stressed that this year, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Kazakhstan reached 257,000 people, adding that generally, the tourist flow between the two countries reached 500,000 people, in 2017.

This is a very big work done by the two countries, said the Chinese ambassador.

The year of China tourism in Kazakhstan started in April this year during the Kazakhstan international tourist exhibition.

President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the year 2017 as the Year of China's Tourism in Kazakhstan, signing a joint declaration on further development of the strategic partnership.
Tehran, Iran, Nov. 15

By Mehdi Sepahvand  Trend:

There is a lot of sensational talk in Iran about whether to use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The government cherishes hopes of circumventing a USD boycott through cryptocurrencies, but, it fears more sanctions, arguing that such currencies are used to fund terrorism.

Trend has asked Dario Azzopardi, the CEO of 3 Group, a University of Malta Information Technology graduate, and a Bitcoin miner to answer these concerns. Following is his answer:

"I can have a knife to kill a person and even I can have the same knife to cut a piece of cake. Everything is like this in life. In 2016, a Europol report found that there was no evidence of terrorists using Bitcoin and while it is evident ransomware extortionists and hackers prefer cryptocurrencies, its rare to see other crimes involve Bitcoin. Now, a report from the European Commission to the European Parliament and Council found that the risk of digital currencies being used to finance terrorism is 'moderately significant (level 2).' This is in a scale ranging from 'lowly significant (level 1)' to 'very significant (level 4)'."

"The report admits that terrorist groups could use virtual currencies to their advantage, and notes that cases in which these were used have been reported. On Twitter, supporters even attempt to spread instructions on how to use them, but nevertheless these are still not being widely adopted by bad actors. It reads: 'However, the technology is quite recent and in any case requires some knowledge and technical expertise which has a dissuasive effect on terrorist groups. The reliance on virtual currencies to fund terrorist activities has some costs and is not necessarily attractive.'"

"Money laundering possibilities are also addressed. Per the report, criminal organizations could use virtual currencies to gain access to clean cash while hiding its transaction trail. The report states that so far cases of this happening are 'quite rare', the reason for this being the technical expertise required to use virtual currencies. Moreover, criminals dont seem to be very interested in using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and ethereum because of their volatility."

"Notably, the report implies that terrorists and criminals arent smart enough to properly use digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. It reads: 'From a technical point, virtual currencies present some commonalities with e-money but the IT expertise at stake for virtual currencies means that organized crime would have lower capability to use them than e-money which is more widely accepted."

"Microsoft users can use Bitcoin to purchase games, movies and apps in the Windows and Xbox stores, as well as the Microsoft online stores, Expedia.com, Subway, Wikipedia, so these are terrorist acts? Digital money is a new way of payment and it is here to stay."

"Bitcoin is often described as an anonymous currency because it is possible to send and receive Bitcoins without giving any personally identifying information. However, achieving reasonable anonymity with Bitcoin can be quite complicated and perfect anonymity may be impossible."

"Bitcoin is pseudonymous. Sending and receiving Bitcoins is like writing under a pseudonym. If an authors pseudonym is ever linked to their identity, everything they ever wrote under that pseudonym will now be linked to them. In Bitcoin, your pseudonym is the address by which you receive Bitcoin. Every transaction involving that address is stored forever in the Blockchain. If your address is ever linked to your identity, every transaction will be linked to you."

"In the original Satoshi whitepaper, it was recommended that Bitcoin users use a new address for each transaction to avoid the transactions being linked to a common owner. This would be the equivalent of writing many books under different pseudonyms. Although this remains a best practice, it is not enough to guarantee full anonymity due to multi-input transactions."

"Nowadays MOST trusted wallets request identification, proof of address, and to increase limits of trading, you are required to submit more information like business information for due diligence. Due diligence is an every trusted wallet. It is easier to clean dirty money into the bank than to make use of Bitcoin. How? Bitcoin is a decentralized ledger, no one controls it. Bitcoin is like uTorrent download. You download from me and I do download from another person, everybody downloads from everybody, no one in the middle, no intermediary. Person A needs to send 0.003 btc to person B (does not make any difference which country) - only internet connection is required. Because person A needs to send 0.003 btc to person B around 30 verifications are needed to verify that person A really has 0.003 btc in his wallet. They all have to agree. This process is called mining. Lets say person A needs to send now 1 btc to person B. So, 300 verifications are required."

"All cryptocurrencies are digital money. There are more than 700 cryptocurrencies in the world. Cryptocurrencies cannot be printed because they are not paper money. Cryptocurrencies are produced by a process called mining. Cryptocurrencies are not produced by banks."

"What is mining? Most computer software and the payments we do online are based on binary (1  101) + (8  100) = 10 + 8 = 18. Computer software engineers need this kind of sums to be worked out so that they will be able to develop more sophisticated software. Every binary sum solved is called a block and the process is called mining. If there is no mining there will no more new blocks, no more sophisticated software can be developed. Binary sums are not only used for software development but every electronic device works on binary."

"Satoshi Nakamoto started writing the Blockchain database called Bitcoin in 2007 and on August 18, 2008, the Bitcoin database solved the first sum (mined the first block) which is called the genesis block, Block Number 1. Every time a block is solved the database rewards tokens that Satoshi Nakamoto named Bitcoin. The token will be rewarded to that particular mining Bitcoin machine. Every mining machine has a wallet attached to it. The second binary sum was more difficult than the first one. Every block solved has to be verified by all on the network, the second binary sum was to be verified by the first block, and the third binary sum had to be verified by the first and the second blocks."

"Every time a block is created it has to be verified by on the network, to make sure that the answer is correct. Once it is verified, the Blockchain adds what is called the hash key. The hash key is like the 'very good' in homework! No one can cheat with answers because if there is no consensus by all mining machines about the answer of that new block, there would be no hash key, so you do not get rewarded. The Bitcoin Blockchain is like a teacher in class, giving problems to the students. Whoever makes the FIRST RIGHT ANSWER gets a star on his copybook. Nowadays because binary sums are so difficult to solve, you need to join a pool of miners and for every block solved that pool receives 12 Bitcoins. You get rewarded depending on the effort you put into the pool. If person A has 1 miner attached to the pool, he will be rewarded for 1 miner, but if person B has 10 miners attached to that pool he will get rewarded for 10 miners. Nowadays miners have a speed of terahertz/s (112). It takes around 10 minutes to create a new block. Every Bitcoin miner receives approximately 0.002 btc daily. When Bitcoin started as a token it had no value at all. People started trading it and nowadays it has become asset. There are only 21 million Bitcoins; the Bitcoins can be infinite very easily because they are digital assets, but all the truth behind it is that the binary sums will become so complex that they will be impossible to solve, so if no blocks are created the Blockchain will not pay! Now, will mining end when all gets mined, i.e. sometime between year 2110 and 2140? Surely not! Bitcoin is a way of payment from person A to person B, without intermediates EVERY transaction has to be verified by miners. Person A paying 1 btc to person B takes approximately 100 miners to verify the transaction, but if person A is going to pay 10 btc to person B 1000 miners are required to verify the transaction. The Bitcoin database will collect a very small fee from every transaction to be distributed to the miners."

"Millions of transactions are happening every day. This is what is called Blockchain, DECENTRALIZATION. No intermediates! Most cryptocurrencies are created the same way, except for the Ethereum Blockchain."
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 18

By Fatih Karimov Trend:

Another foreign company will take part in development studies of Dalpari oil field, located in Ilam province, south western Iran.

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with Singapore's Berlanga company to study the oil field.

Under the deal, which was signed by Shyngys Kulzhamov, director of Berlanga UK, and Gholamreza Manouchehri, deputy head of the NIOC for development and engineering affairs, the Singaporean firm will undertake studies on development of Dalpari Oilfield and will submit the study results and development proposals to the NIOC.

NIOC has already signed similar agreements with Austria's OMV and Thailand's Thailands PTT Exploration and Production company.

Earliear in August, Thailands PTT submitted its study results on the field to the NIOC.

West Oil and Gas Production Company, one of the Iranian Central Oil Fields Company (ICOFC) subsidiaries, affiliated with the NIOC is Dalparis operator.

The oil fields production is delivered to Cheshmeh Khosh operation zone through 28-kilometer, 8 and 6-inch pipelines.

Dalparis development is among the projects offered to foreigners by ICOFC, within the framework of new designed contracts, called Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC).

The Dalpari oilfield, which was discovered in 1978, is located 210 km northwest of Ahwaz, near Dehluran to Abdanan road. The initial production from the field started in 1999. It has 3 wells with a production of 14,000 barrels of oil per day. Dalpari contains 367 million barrels of in-situ oil reserves, with API of 14.

The fields dimension is 9.3 x 3 kilometers.

In recent months Iran has handed over the study of several oil and gas fields to foreign companies under non-disclosure agreements (NDA).

ICOFC itself is, offering about 30 percent of total offered oil and gas projects to foreigners in framework of IPC, with a total value of above 10 billion euro.

A daily average of 100,000 barrels of crude oil is currently produced by ICOFC, and the figure is planned to double in two stages and reach 350,000 barrels per day by 2021.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 18

By Khalid Kazimov  Trend:

An Iranian state-run bank has rejected recent reports suggesting that Germany has imposed fresh sanctions on its branch in Frankfurt.

Amir Hosseini, the head of the international department at Bank Sepah, has said that banking ties between his bank and Germany are developing, the public relations office of Bank Sepah announced.

Hosseini added that the branch of Bank Sepah in Frankfurt conducted the transaction of about 52 million euros on Friday.

The Jerusalem Post earlier reported that Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) had imposed a credit ban on Iran's Bank Sepah for violating the country's credit law. Bank Sepah was previously sanctioned for its role in aiding Tehran's missile program.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 18

By Fatih Karimov Trend:

Irans oil price registered a significant rise by over $3 per barrel, in the global markets during the week from Nov. 3 to Nov. 10, the National Iranian Oil Company's OPEC Affairs and International Energy Forums Office said in its latest weekly report.

In recent weeks hopes have been increased about extending the OPEC-non-OPEC countries last year agreement to keep the oil output down.

On the other hand, reducing surplus oil supply to oil markets, has strengthen the oil price to over $60 per barrel.

Increasing tension in Middle East and Persian Gulf region is another factor which has led to oil price increase.

Each barrel of Irans Light oil was sold at averagely $63.82 during the week till Nov. 10, or $3.78 more compared to the previous week.

The price of Irans Heavy oil stood at $60.15, indicating a rise by $2.82 during the week, compared to the previous week.

This year the average price of Irans Light oil was $50.79, while the average price of Heavy oil was $50.41.

The price of OPEC basket of 14 crude brands stood at $61.66 during the week till Nov. 10, indicating a rise by $2.94.

The OPEC Reference Basket (ORB) includes the following oil brands: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Rabi Light (Gabon), Minas (Indonesia), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

The baskets price stood at $59.98 per barrel on Nov. 16 as compared to $59.79 the previous day, according to OPEC.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 18

By Fatih Karimov Trend:

Iran has exported 1.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Iraq, since June, when Tehran started gas exports to the neighbouring country, Saeed Tavakkoli, head of Iran Gas Transmission Company, said.

Tehran exports 14 million cubic meters of gas to Iraq per day through existing network in Irans western Ilam and Kermanshah provinces for usage in power plants, Tavakkoli said, the oil ministrys official news agaency reported Nov. 18.

He further said that Iran can increase the figure depending on itself domestic gas consumption.

Once the sixth cross country gas pipeline is completed Irans gas export capacity to Iraq will reach 25 million cubic meters per day, Tavakkoli added.

Iran started a much-awaited project to export natural gas to Iraq's capital Baghdad in June, following two years of negotiations between the two countries.

Iran and Iraq initially signed an agreement in 2013 based on which the Islamic Republic was to export natural gas to power stations around Baghdad via a 270-kilometer pipeline.

Iran has also signed a contract to export gas to southern Iraqi city of Basra.

Tavakkoli said that Iran will start gas export to Basra as soon as the Iraqi side expresses readiness.

Irans gas export capacity to Basra city will be 25 million cubic meters per day, same as the capacity for export to Baghdad city, he added.

Iraq now is the second gas customer of Iran after Turkey which imports 30 million cubic metres of natural gas per day.

With 33.5 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, Iran has the largest conventional gas reserves in the world.
Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said Saturday the French energy giant Total cannot leave a major gas deal with the Islamic republic under the pretext of the US political pressures, Xinhua reported.

Total can only drop the deal if the United Nations Security Council imposes international sanctions against Tehran, Zanganeh said on the sidelines of his meeting with visiting Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Alisher Sultanov, Press TV reported.

Zanganeh said Iran has a valid legal contract with Total, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Iran's Petropars.

In July, Iran and a consortium of the Chinese and French energy giants signed a multi-billion-dollar deal to develop Iran's South Pars (SP11) gas field in the Persian Gulf.

According to Zanganeh, the contract for development of the gas field is worth 4.8 billion US dollars. The contract will be carried out in two phases with a total period of 20 years.

At each stage, 2.4 billion dollars of foreign fund will be allocated, the minister said, adding that Total will operate the SP11 project with a 50.1-percent interest alongside CNPC with 30 percent and Petropars with 19.9 percent.

Iran expects to produce as much as 56 million cubic meters of natural gas per day from the field once it is in full swing, he said.

The Iranian minister's remarks came as the Total Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne recently said that US President Donald Trump's new aggressive approach to Iran could kill the huge energy deal.

"Either we can do the deal legally if there is a legal framework," Pouyanne said, adding that "if we cannot do that for legal reasons, because of change of regime of sanctions, then we have to revisit it."

Last month, Trump unveiled a tough and comprehensive new policy towards Iran, accusing the latter of violating the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, and announced that he would no longer certify the accord.

The South Pars field is a natural gas condensate field located in the Persian Gulf. It is the world's largest gas field shared between Iran and Qatar.

According to the International Energy Agency, the field holds estimated 51 trillion cubic meters of in-situ natural gas and some 50 billion barrels of natural gas condensate.
France should not interfere in Irans missile program, Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Irans supreme leader, said on Saturday according to state media.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that Tehran should be less aggressive in the region and should clarify the strategy around its ballistic missile program, Reuters reported.

It does not benefit Mr. Macron and France to interfere on the missile issue and the strategic affairs of the Islamic Republic, which we have great sensitivities about, Velayati said.

What does this issue have to do with Mr. Macron? Who is he at all to interfere? If he wants relations between Iran and France to grow then he should try not to interfere in these issues.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said Iranian missile activity should be curbed.

Iranian officials have repeatedly said the Islamic Republics missile program is for defense purposes and is not up for negotiation. The program was not part of the 2015 nuclear deal with Western powers under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions.

France said on Wednesday it wanted an uncompromising dialogue with Iran about its ballistic missile program and a possible negotiation over the issue separate from Tehrans 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Tehran, Iran, November 18

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Ongoing periodical talks between Iran, Russia, and Turkey over the political developments of Syria can lead to a democratic procedure for the future of the Arab country, a former Iranian parliamentarian believes.

The talks have proven fruitful. Iran and Russia, and lately Turkey, have offered great help, and these meetings can become the defining factor for the future security of the region, Mansour Haqiqatpour told Trend November 18.

The ex-parliamentarian expressed hope that the people of Syria would be able to genuinely take part in deciding over their fate, noting that help from friendly countries can be effective in preventing the repetition of the bitter experience of recent years.

Masoud Jazayeri, the second in command of Iran's General Staff of Armed Forces, recently said in an exclusive interview with Trend that the IS is witnessing its final days of life.

Iran, Russia, and Turkey support the preservation of Bashar Assad as president at least for as long as elections are held and a new government is formed.

The foreign ministers of the three powers are scheduled to meet in Turkey in the coming days to share their views on the latest political developments in Syria.

Their meeting will be followed by a similar gathering of the heads of state of the three countries in Russia a few days later where to make joint policies over the Syrian crisis.
Tehran, Iran, Nov. 18

By Mehdi Sepahvand Trend:

A recent arrangement by UK government to pay back Iran over an unaccomplished arms deal is purely legal and with no political considerations, an international law professor says.

The UK government has recently announced it is going to pay Iran 450 million pounds outstanding debt - owed for a cancelled arms deal in the 1970s, where the UK received the sum but did not deliver the Chieftain tanks and other weaponry it must have when a regime change occurred in Iran in 1979.

Many British news outlets, however, have accused the government of trying to pay this sum as ransom to free Iranian-British national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe from Iranian custody.

Zaghari has been detained in Iran since April 3, 2016. On September 10, 2016, it was revealed that she was sentenced to five years imprisonment on charge of activities against the Islamic Republic.

The prosecutor general of Tehran had stated in October 2017 that she was being held for running "a BBC Persian online journalism course which was aimed at recruiting and training people to spread propaganda against Iran".

British media, however, had introduced Zaghari as a charity worker.

Recently Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told a parliamentary inquiry that Zaghari had been working in Tehran, teaching journalism, when she was arrested.

British media saw this as a horrific gaffe by Johnson, saying it could prove Iran right in its claims against Zaghari and earn her a longer prison term.

The news outlets now claim the government is going to alleviate pressure by freeing Zaghari by way of the 450 million pound payment.

The prime minister's spokesperson, however, has denied the payment has anything to do with Mrs Zagharis case, saying, We are clear that we don't see any link between these two issues. That's not something I recognize.

Yousof Molaee, an international law professor at the University of Tehran, told Trend November 18 that the settlement of this debt is purely legal.

There have been many other deals between Iran and the UK, such as in construction, industries, and mines. Following the revolution all of them either were revoked or stalled.

He noted that Iran has in the years after the revolution filed many suits with international courts to receive its sums of money back from the UK.

The settlement has taken so long first because of the legal procedures that are naturally there, then because of sanctions which prevented transfer of money to Iran. So the problems that had kept the payment so far have been mainly technical rather than political, Molaee noted.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.18

By Nigar Guliyeva  Trend:

Kerstin Lundgren (Sweden, ALDE) and Titus Corlatean (Romania, SOC), co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of obligations and commitments by Georgia, will make a fact-finding visit to the country Nov. 20-22, the PACE reported.

Discussions will mainly focus on recent political developments, the constitutional reform, the judicial independence and the situation with regard to the Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

In Tbilisi, Ms Lundgren and Mr Corlatean are due to meet, in particular, the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the Ministers of Justice, Foreign Affairs, and Internal Affairs, as well as the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality.

Talks are also scheduled with various parliamentary committees, the political groups represented in Parliament, the extra-parliamentary opposition, and the Georgian delegation to PACE.
Rival U.S. and Russian resolutions to extend the mandate of experts probing chemical attacks in Syria were defeated Thursday at a heated Security Council meeting that reflected the deteriorating relations between Washington and Moscow, FRANCE 24 reports

The result of the two votes means that the expert body the Joint Investigative Mechanism known as the JIM will cease operations when its current mandate expires at midnight Thursday.

The U.S., its allies and human rights groups called it a serious blow to efforts to hold accountable those responsible for carrying out chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

During a three-hour drama, Russia first vetoed the U.S. draft resolution which was supported by 11 of the 15 Security Council members. Bolivia joined Russia in voting "no" and China and Egypt abstained.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia withdrew the Russian resolution over Moscow's insistence that it be voted on second not first as required under council rules. But using another council rule, Bolivia then resubmitted and called for a vote on that resolution.

Japan late Thursday proposed a 30-day extension of the JIM and the Security Council was expected to discuss it on Friday.

After the votes, the United States and Russia blamed each other for ending the JIM's operations, both insisting they wanted it to continue.

Russia's Nebenzia shot back saying: "Today it became absolutely clear we need a robust professional mechanism that will help to prevent the threat of chemical terrorism in the region, and you need a puppet-like structure to manipulate public opinion which on the basis of false information will time after time accuse the Syrian government of violating international norms."

Russia has been highly critical of the JIM's findings that the Syrian government used chlorine gas in at least two attacks in 2014 and 2015, and used sarin in an aerial attack on Khan Sheikhoun last April 4 that killed about 100 people and affected about 200 others who survived the nerve agent.

The JIM has also accused the Islamic State extremist group of using mustard gas in 2015 adsnd again in September 2016 in Um Hosh in Aleppo.

Nebenzia accused the JIM of "fundamental flaws" in blaming President Bashar Assad's government for the attacks.

He cited its use of "remote working methods" and failure to visit Khan Sheikhoun, "focusing solely on dubious testimony from opposition and even terrorist groups, the disregard for the whole range of rules and methods provided for under the Chemical Weapons Convention."
A Russian cybersecurity firm whose products current and former U.S. officials suspect Moscow has used as a tool for spying was flagged by U.S. military intelligence as a potential security threat as early as 2004, according to new information the Defense Department provided to Congress, The Wall Street Journal reports.

In 2013, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the U.S. military spy service, also issued a Pentagon-wide threat assessment about products made by the company, Kaspersky Lab, according to an email this week from the Pentagon to the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. The contents of the assessment werent disclosed.

The DIA began producing threat reporting referencing Kaspersky Lab as a threat actor as early as 2004, according to the email, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, raising questions about why other federal agencies continued to use the firms products.

The Journal reported in October that hackers suspected of working for the Russian government targeted a National Security Agency contractor through the contractors use of Kaspersky Lab antivirus software and stole details of how the U.S. penetrates foreign computer networks.

Kaspersky has long said it doesnt assist the Russian government with spying on other countries.

The revelation about Kaspersky comes as concern over Russian infiltration of American computer networks and social-media platforms is growing after the U.S. intelligence assessment that the Russian government worked to help President Donald Trumps 2016 campaign. Russia has denied meddling in the election.

Kaspersky published a report on Thursday saying that the computer it believes may have belonged to the NSA contractor in question was infected with other malware that could have been responsible for ex-filtrating information.

The company said in a separate statement, in response to the revelation that U.S. military intelligence flagged the firm as a threat actor, that it remains ready to work with the U.S. government to address any and all concerns and further collaborate to mitigate against cyber threats, regardless of their origin or purpose. It added: we maintain that there has yet to be any credible evidence of the risks presented by the companys products.

The DIAs threat analysis center, established in 2009, circulated analysis regarding Kaspersky Lab to various acquisition programs within the Pentagon, according to the email. It also made its views about the potential threat posed by Kaspersky Lab known to other agencies as early as 2012, the email said.

The email the Pentagon official sent this week was a follow-up to questions posed by the committee chairman, Rep. Lamar Smith (R., Texas), about why the Pentagon had decided not to use Kaspersky products while other U.S. federal agencies felt safe to do so.

A top Pentagon cybersecurity official, Essye Miller, told the committee at a hearing this week that the Defense Department hadnt used Kaspersky products because of intelligence information regarding the firm.
The US refused to grant nonimmigrant visas to more than 50 percent of applicants from Armenia, according to the official report of the US Department of State on the number of nonimmigrant visa denials in 2017.

The report indicates that 51.87 percent of appeals from Armenia were rejected. Compared to the indicator for 2016, the number of denials grew 5.99 percent.

The countries neighboring Armenia have the following indicators: Georgia - 61.09 percent of denials (1.73 percent decrease), Iran - 58.66 percent (13.64 percent growth), Turkey - 17.86 percent (4.24 percent growth).

The number of refusals to nonimmigrant visa appeals from Russia grew 2.32 percent and reached 11.61 percent.

The residents of Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino were the most welcome guests for the US in 2017, and didnt receive any refusal. These countries are followed by Cyprus (1.69 percent of denials), Argentina (1.79 percent), Uruguay (3.19 percent), Hong Kong (3.45 percent) and Oman (3.46 percent).
The sharp political divisions in the United States over climate change spilled over to the outside world at the United Nations conference that will likely be remembered for two rival delegations that showed up from the U.S, Los Angeles Times reports.

As Trump administration officials attending a U.N. climate change conference in Bonn made headlines for promoting coal as an energy source for the future, an alliance of cities, states, companies and universities from across the United States tacitly usurped the federal governments role and sought to assure an anxious international community that vast numbers of Americans remain committed to the 2015 Paris accord designed to fight climate change.

Each country is ordinarily represented by one official delegation at international gatherings, and the presence of two competing camps from the United States created an extraordinary atmosphere at the conference, which ended Friday. It was the first such gathering on climate change since President Trump decided in June to pull the United States out of the Paris accord.

The loud and colorful U.S. coalition of cities and states that supports the Paris agreement and action against climate change not only stole the show in Bonn with its gigantic pavilion featuring free beer and high-spirited panel discussions, but it managed to help galvanize the other 195 countries in the Paris pact against the Trump administration.

We cant just wait for our national leaders  we need to take action together, California Gov. Jerry Brown told a panel discussion in Bonn. Brown was appointed as a special advisor for states and regions by the U.N. conference president.

Along with Bloomberg, other prominent Americans promoting the fight against climate change and distancing themselves from the Trump administration were former Vice President Al Gore and Democratic Sens. Ben Cardin of Maryland, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

"When President Trump announced his intention to withdraw from the Paris agreement, some people worried that it meant the end of America's climate leadership  but I think that can't be farther from the truth," Bloomberg said.

The official U.S. delegation in Bonn, led by Trumps special assistant on energy and the environment, George David Banks, was unabashedly proactive in getting out its message at its only official appearance. Even though the conference as a whole aimed to shift the global economy away from fossil fuels, Banks led a panel discussion entitled, The Role of Cleaner and More Efficient Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Power in Climate Mitigation.

"While the U.S. official presence was subdued in the negotiations, the surge of sub-national action in the U.S. is undeniable," said Paula Caballero, global director of the climate program at the World Resources Institute, in a statement at the end of the conference on Friday. "Having already abandoned its leadership role, the Trump administration appears to be living in an alternate universe with its ill-advised focus on fossil fuels."
Militant grenade launcher in Eastern Ghouta fired several shells at the Al Mujtahid and Set Zaynab districts in Damascus leaving 22 civilians injured, a local police source told Sputnik on Saturday.

According to the source, the shelling has caused significant material damage.

Shellings have recently increased in Damascus, with the recent taking place the day before, with at least 4 civilians, including a child, being killed as a result of an attack by militants.

According to the information provided by sources close to Astana talks on the Syrian peace settlement, Damascus may become a new safe zone in Syria in addition to those already existing in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, as well as the northwestern Idlib, Latakia, Hama and Aleppo and
Turkey has launched a probe into a former and a current US prosecutors who are currently involved in a case against Turkish citizens in New York, Anadolu reported November 18.

The Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office on Saturday accused former US prosecutor Preet Bharara and current US prosecutor Joon H. Kim of using information and documents from previous investigations in Turkey for an ongoing case in the US.

The US prosecutors had obtained some voice recordings and other fake documents from unknown persons instead of official channels, which was contrary to international law, for building their case against Turkish citizens in America, according to Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office.
KYODO NEWS - Nov 18, 2017 - 19:40 | All, World

A special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping met Saturday with North Korea's top official in charge of foreign affairs, at a time when the international community is trying to compel Pyongyang to change course.

Song Tao, head of the Chinese Communist Party's International Department, and Ri Su Yong, a vice chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea who formerly served as foreign minister, discussed the situation on the Korean Peninsula, regional affairs and bilateral issues, the Korean Central News Agency said.

The North Korean official news agency's report provided no other information about what they discussed, but it is likely Song raised the issue of Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

The meeting in Pyongyang came a day after Song met with Choe Ryong Hae, the closest aide of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and the two agreed to promote the development of the "traditional friendly" relations between the two countries.

Song's visit comes amid a two-month pause in North Korea's weapons testing, and about a week after U.S. President Donald Trump and Xi agreed to strengthen cooperation toward achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Song's is the first known visit by a high-ranking Chinese official to North Korea since October last year.

China has said the purpose of Song's visit is to inform North Korea of the results of the ruling party's twice-a-decade congress held late last month.

But as China has been under pressure from the United States and other countries to play a bigger role in reining in North Korea, it would not be a surprise if Song brought up the nuclear issue.

Chinese official media have warned not to foster high expectations over Song's visit.

The Global Times, an influential tabloid affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, said in an editorial on Saturday that Song is "not a magician."

"The key to easing the situation on the peninsula lies in the hands of Washington and Pyongyang," it said. "If both sides insist on their own logic and refuse to move in the same direction, even if Song opens a door for talks, the door could be closed anytime."

China has said the North Korean nuclear issue must be resolved through "dialogue and consultation," not just by applying pressure on Pyongyang, and has proposed a so-called suspension-for-suspension approach to break the stalemate.

The approach requires South Korea and the United States to suspend joint military exercises in exchange for North Korea freezing its nuclear and missile activities.

China has long argued that the crux of the nuclear issue is about security problems between North Korea and the United States.

North Korea has refrained from conducting a major arms test since Sept. 15, when it fired a ballistic missile that flew about 3,700 kilometers, the farthest a North Korean missile has ever traveled and enough to strike the U.S. territory of Guam where key military bases are located.

Despite the hiatus, North Korea has repeatedly said it has no plans to accept the Chinese suspension-for-suspension proposal and abandon its quest to develop a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile.

North Korea has claimed that its arms development program is a legitimate right to self-defense that is vital to deter U.S. aggression.

Song is expected to stay in Pyongyang until Monday, according to a source familiar with the situation, and he could potentially meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un before returning to Beijing.
KYODO NEWS - Nov 16, 2017 - 19:56 | Urgent, All

Japan handed over three North Korean fishermen Thursday to a fishing vessel from their home country a day after they were rescued from a capsized boat in the Sea of Japan, the Japan Coast Guard said.

The coast guard said it returned the three crew members at around 10:55 a.m. to the vessel sailing about 350 kilometers northwest off the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture after they were rescued by a coast guard vessel Wednesday outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.

Coast guard officials said they are still searching for 12 crew members that are missing from the same boat.

The three were rescued from the upturned hull of a wooden boat about 360 kilometers off the peninsula, as they were on the way back to North Korea with their catch.

They suffered no life-threatening injuries and expressed a desire to go home.

When asked whether the boat had been in Japan's EEZ, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the three crew members had been questioned but did not elaborate.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday left for the Philippines, where he will participate in various bilateral and multilateral programmes, including the India-ASEAN Summit. On the time period of his departure, the Prime Minister had said that his visit to the Philippines to attend the India-ASEAN Summit symbolize the countrys commitment to evolution ties with the ASEAN member states and the Indo-Pacific region as part of the Act East Policy.

Apart from participating in the ASEAN-India and East Asia Summits, in the three-day visit, Mr. Modi would also take part in special celebrations of the 50th anniversary of ASEAN, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Leaders Meeting and ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.

My participation in them symbolizes Indias commitment to continue deepening relationship with ASEAN Member States, in particular, and with the Indo-Pacific region, in general, within the framework of my Governments Act East Policy, the prime minister had said in a statement on Saturday. Mr. Modi said he looks forward to having a bilateral meeting with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and will also have interactions with other ASEAN and East Asia Summit Leaders.

He said he was also looking towards connecting with the Indian community in the Philippines. The 10-member grouping ASEAN and India comprise a total population of 1.85 billion people which is one-fourth of the global population. The combined GDP has been estimated at over 3.8 trillion dollars. Trade between India and ASEAN stood at $ 65.04 billion in 2015-16 and comprises 10.12 per cent of Indias total trade with the world.
Thursday began on a fantastic note as the makers of Tiger Zinda Hai released a new picture of Katrina Kaif from the song titled, Swag Se Swagat. The song hasnt been launched as yet and the makers are only making the wait even more difficult by releasing such stills. In the picture, Katrina strikes a stunning pose at a beautiful location and is absolutely killing it with her Swag.

Swag Se Swagat featured as one of the top trends on Twitter soon after Katrinas picture was released. Let welcome Katrina with an ounce of Swag. Swag Se Swagat is expected to be released soon. Enjoy the pictures till then.

The trailer of Salman Khan and Katrina Kaifs much-awaited film Tiger Zinda Hai released on November 7 to stratospheric interest levels. Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, Tiger Zinda Hai is a sequel to Kabir Khans 2012 film Ek Tha Tiger, which also cast Salman Khan and Katrina in principal roles.

Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif reprise their roles as spies in Tiger Zinda Hai and have been assigned the task of rescuing 25 nurses, who were kidnapped in Iraq in 2015. Tiger Zinda Hai will release on December 22.
Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Sexual misconduct allegations emerge against Al Franken, Katrina Lakes Stitch Fix goes public, and Louise Linton makes (more) enemies online. Have a relaxing weekend.

EVERYONES TALKING

 Hire to fight harassment. Renowned sociologists Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalevwho are experts on workplace culture and corporate diversity programs, including reasons why they failshare their take on the current hot topic: sexual harassment in the workplace. In Harvard Business Review, they pen an article that is pretty well summarized by its headline: Training Programs and Reporting Systems Wont End Sexual Harassment. Promoting More Women Will.

The crux of their argument is that harassment flourishes in workplaces where men dominate in management and women have little power. Meanwhile, in industries and workplaces where women are well represented in core jobs, (e.g. engineers in tech companies) harassment is significantly less likely to occur.

Yet hiring more women into core jobs and management roles isnt an easy feat (as any regular reader of this newsletter knows). Furthermore, women tend to leave workplaces where sexual harassment is commonthus initiating a vicious cycle.

Instead, many companies opt for what Dobbin and Kalev call cosmetic fixes: anti-harassment training programs and systems to handle internal complaints.

Most have installed training and grievance procedures and called it a day. Theyre satisfied as long as the courts are. They dont bother to ask themselves whether the programs work.

The authors research suggests that the programs do workbut only for white women. They hypothesize thats because [white women] are better protected from retaliation because, on average, they are in more senior roles. But overall, women who file harassment complaints end up more likely to leave their jobs either involuntarily or of their own accordand others may follow them when they see complaints badly handled, with the harassers still in their jobs.

Story continues

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

 Another un-funny comedian. Leeann Tweeden, a model, sportscaster, and radio host, dropped a bombshell blog post yesterday in which she accused comedian-turned-Minnesota Sen. Al Franken of forcibly kissing her and then groping her as she slept. Franken said he didnt recall the kissing incident during a USO Tour, though he apologized to Tweeden and to everyone who counts on me to be an ally and supporter and champion of women. He also said he feels disgusted about a photo Tweeden published that shows her sleeping, with Franken grabbing at her breasts. Fortune

 Throwing stones. President Donald Trump tweeted about the Franken scandal late last night, calling his longtime critic Al Frankenstien [sic] and saying the groping photo is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Trump, of course, has been dogged by sexual misconduct allegations himself. Washington Post

 Sizing down. Stitch Fix CEO Katrina Lake is the only woman to lead a tech IPO this year as shares of the online stylist debut today. The offering was seen as a test for other digital-first retailers, and, as Fortunes David Meyer reports, it was smaller than expected, raising $120 million at a share price of $15; the original guidance range was $18-$20. Fortune

 A for fertility benefits. FertilityIQ, a review platform of fertility clinics, published an analysis of IVF benefits at 250 large or high-profile employers. At the top of the list: consulting powerhouses (Bain, BCG), financial institutions (Bank of America, KKR), and tech firms (Facebook, Pinterest, Spotify, LinkedIn, Google). New York Times

 Men marrying up. A new study in the journal Demography found that womens personal earnings have grown faster than mens earnings between 1990 and 2011 and that, as a result, the number of highly educated women actually exceeds the number of highly educated men in the marriage market. What this means, in practice, is that women are now more likely than before to marry less educated men. Vogue

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Apples diversity chief Denise Young Smith is leaving the country after just six months in the job. Shell be replaced by Christie Smith, a longtime Deloitte HR exec.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

 No love for Linton. Is Louise Linton trying to make enemies on social media? Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchins wife posted a photo of herself with a sheet of money, prompting comparisons to just about every evil villain in pop culture. Back in September, Linton was in hot water for an Instagram post in which she tagged a bunch of designers in an image of her stepping off a government plane (which she and Mnuchin used for their honeymoon). Guardian

 Radical Women. NYMag has the quirky story of New York Radical Women, a small gang of women that began meeting regularly in cramped apartments across the Lower East Side in 1967. As the magazine notes, NYRW arose out of a savagely polarized political moment, much like our current one, in which the frustrations and injustices of life as a woman suddenly exploded into eloquent rage. New York Magazine

 Sarahs side-hustles. Pando founder Sarah Lacy has been busy with projects beyond her tech blog. Shes poured more time into Chairman Mom, a new site geared toward a working mother audience. Shes also recently released a new book called The Uterus Is a Feature, Not a Bug. (Interesting note: Lacy says Facebook rejected ads for the book because of the word uterus.) Recode

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ON MY RADAR

Former Israeli actress alleged to be operative for intelligence firm Wall Street Journal

A transgender woman is being held in an all-male prison. Shes suing to be transferred Time

Empowering women in the economy would boost growth, Citi says Bloomberg

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy is on a mission to get more women on company boards Motto

QUOTE
Apples diversity chief is leaving the company after holding the job for only six months.

Denise Young Smith, a 20-year Apple veteran was most recently the companys vice president of diversity and inclusion, is stepping down, Apple confirmed. TechCrunch first reported on Denise Young Smiths upcoming departure.

She will be replaced by Christie Smith, a longtime Deloitte human resources executive. Unlike her predecessor, Christie Smith will not directly report to CEO Tim Cook, but rather to Deirdre OBrien, who is Apples human resources chief.

We deeply believe that diversity drives innovation, an Apple spokesperson told Fortune. Were thrilled to welcome an accomplished leader like Christie Smith to help us continue the progress weve made toward a more diverse workplace.

Get Data Sheet, Fortunes technology newsletter.

Earlier this November, Cornell Tech, a joint venture between Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, said Denise Young Smith would join the engineering school as its executive-in-residence starting Jan. 2018.

She had irked some critics in May when she commented during a conference, There can be 12 white, blue-eyed, blonde men in a room and theyre going to be diverse too because theyre going to bring a different life experience and life perspective to the conversation. Her comments were seen by some as insensitive to people of color, women, and members of the LGBT community, who have long faced an uphill battle in the workplace.

Denise Young Smith later apologized for her comments, saying that they were not representative of how I think about diversity or how Apple sees it.

For that, Im sorry, she said in a staff email. More importantly, I want to assure you Apples view and our dedication to diversity has not changed.

Apple, like many Silicon Valley companies, is struggling to diversify its workforce, especially in its leadership and in tech jobs. In 2017, only 3% of its leaders were black, and women held just 23% of tech jobs.

Apple has said that it making improvements, as shown in its latest diversity report in which it said that 50% of new hires are from historically underrepresented groups in tech.

Cook said in 2015: We are proud of the progress weve made, and our commitment to diversity is unwavering. But we know there is a lot more work to be done.
(This version of the Nov.15 story corrects the spelling of the drug in paragraphs 8, 9) By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca has achieved another milestone in rebuilding its drug portfolio with U.S. approval of a drug for severe asthma as the company battles to put patent losses on older medicines behind it. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decision to endorse benralizumab, which will be marketed under the name Fasenra, follows a positive recommendation for the product in Europe on Friday. Shares in AstraZeneca were 1 percent higher on Wednesday following the overnight news. Fasenra will compete with GlaxoSmithKline's Nucala and Teva's Cinqair - two other injectable antibody drugs for severe asthma - but AstraZeneca believes its product's potency and convenient dosing could give it an edge. The Anglo-Swedish company is also being competitive on cost, setting a long-term price below that of rivals at $28,000, or $33,000 in a maintenance year, depending on whether patients receive six or seven doses. Treatment in the first year will cost $38,000, as more doses are needed, which AstraZeneca said was in line with competing biologic drugs in severe asthma. While most investor focus is on AstraZeneca's cancer research, the company also has a long history in respiratory therapy that it plans to build on with Fasenra and another earlier-stage medicine called tezepelumab that is developing with Amgen. Modern biotech asthma drugs are offering new hope for severe asthma sufferers who continue to have breathing problems despite using modern inhalers. In the case of Fasenra, the number of severe asthma attacks was roughly halved in clinical tests. Fasenra is designed for patients with a particular kind of asthma driven by a type of white blood cells called eosinophils. AstraZeneca had previously said it hoped to win U.S. approval for the new drug before the end of the year. The FDA approval, announced late on Tuesday, clears Fasenra as an add-on treatment for severe asthma patients aged 12 years and older. "This is the first approval from our respiratory biologics portfolio and the latest in a series of significant milestones for our company as we deliver on our pipeline-driven transformation," said AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot. Last week, while presenting quarterly results, Soriot said the drugmaker was moving into a commercial execution mode, following the success of a number of new medicines in clinical development. In cancer, it has seen good results in 2017 with two new pills already on the market - Lynparza and Tagrisso - while its blood cancer drug Calquence won U.S. approval last month. Imfinzi, its closely watched immunotherapy medicine, failed in initial tests in one lung cancer setting but proved successful in another. (Editing by Louise Heavens)
Ballard Power Systems, Inc. BLDP announced that it has signed a Development Agreement worth $9 million with Siemens AG for developing a zero-emission fuel cell engine. Per the agreement, the companys 200 kilowatt (KW) fuel cell engine will be utilized in Siemens trains in its Mireo railway platform.

The Mireo train platform features energy-efficient components and intelligent onboard network management that will enable the Mireo rail trains to consume 25% less energy than conventional trains. Notably, once Ballard Powers fuel cell engines are developed, they will be used to run the energy-efficient Mireo trains.

Ballard Power is expected to gain from this deal. The increase in demand for fuel cell technology from domestic and international clients is expected to boost the order book of the company.

Fuel Cell Technology for Cleaner Future

Fuel cells have become a viable option for vehicles due to inherent zero emissions, reliability and economic benefits. Consequently, this has increased the demand for fuel cell-technology which is cheaper than conventional power sources. Naturally, this technology is gaining importance and is witnessing increased adoption in trains, trams, transit buses and commercial trucks.

Notably, the Development Agreement with Siemens, backed by Ballard Powers fuel cell technology, is anticipated to provide customers with flexible train solutions for various suburban routes. The deal will enable Siemens to reduce expenses on electrification and wire infrastructure. Further, this step is expected to enable the replacement of diesel-powered rail vehicles.

Ballard Power along with other companies like Plug Power PLUG and FuelCell Energy, Inc. FCEL are consistently investing in research and development activities to introduce novel fuel cell alternatives for a cleaner future.

Price Movement

Ballard Power Systems has outperformed the industry in the last year. The companys shares have returned 141.8% compared with the industrys rally of 47.6%.

Story continues

The favorable price performance can be attributed to the companys strong order backlog which touched $236.8 million at the end of third-quarter 2017 and improvement in year-to-date revenues by 48%.

Zacks Rank

Ballard Power currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better ranked stock from the same space is Stoneridge, Inc. SRI that has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Stoneridge posted third-quarter 2017 earnings from continuing operations of 36 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 32 cents by 12.5%. The companys 2017 estimates have increased to $1.49 per share from $1.46 per share in the last 30 days.

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Security guards stand in front of Mercedes Benz booth at Auto Guangzhou in Guangzhou, China November 17, 2017. REUTERS/Bobby Yip

GUANGZHOU/BEIJING (Reuters) - Germany's Daimler AG plans to invest 5 billion yuan (568.7 million) in China, jointly with its Chinese joint-venture partner, for capacity to produce electric cars and the batteries that power them - part of an effort to help its China operations comply with the country's green car production and sales quotas.

Hubertus Troska, head of Daimler's greater China operations, told reporters that the investment was part of Daimler's previously announced 10 billion euros (8.9 billion) global green car initiative.

Troska, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Guangzhou auto show, said Daimler which operates Mercedes-Benz and Smart brands in China, and its partner BAIC Motor Corp Ltd plan to make the investment to localise production of battery electric vehicles (EV) in China.

The investment will also go toward producing EV battery packs using locally produced battery cells.

"If there's one country in the world (that could) grow demand for electrics, that's China because no other countries have so many big cities," Troska told reporters.

Though official purchase incentives for battery electric cars are being phased out over the next few years, "there is a strong incentive (for Chinese consumers) to go for electrics," Troska said.

That is in part because of the Chinese government's commitment to build sufficient charging infrastructure, Troska said.

Daimler said on Friday the company and BAIC aim to produce locally in China battery-powered electric vehicles under the EQ brand by 2019.

The first EQ vehicle Daimler and BAIC plan to launch in China will be the EQC, a battery-powered crossover sport utility vehicle (SUV).

Globally, Daimler plans to invest 10 billion Euros in the expansion of its electric fleet over the next few years. By 2022, Mercedes-Benz's offerings will be "electrified," a spokeswoman said, meaning customers will be offered an electrified alternative in every Mercedes model.

China has set strict quotas for electric and plug-in hybrid cars that come into effect from 2019. It has a target of 2 million so-called new-energy vehicle (NEV) sales by 2020 and has signalled longer-term it will phase out the sale of conventional petrol-engine cars.

Story continues

This seismic shift towards NEVs has prompted a flurry of electric car deals and new launches, as manufacturers worldwide race for a share of the world's largest auto market.

Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE), for example, said on Thursday the group plans to spend 10 billion euros by 2025 to develop and manufacture all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles as it seeks to comply with upcoming stringent rules in China.

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom and Hong Kong Newsroom; Editing by Richard Pullin and Christopher Cushing)
When General Electric (NYSE: GE) CEO John Flannery presented the company's investor update on Nov. 13, the stock market didn't take it well. It sent GE shares below $19, lower than they'd been since 2012. As part of the update, Flannery officially announced that he was looking to sell $20 billion in assets, including the company's transportation and consumer lighting units.

While this may sound pretty dire -- perhaps even a little like a breakup of the conglomerate -- it's actually unlikely to matter much to investors. Here's why.

A row of six hanging light bulbs with the fifth lit.

Things look pretty bleak for industrial conglomerate General Electric thanks to a trend of underperformance and a dividend cut. Image source: Getty Images.

The lighting's on the wall

The decision to rid GE of its famous consumer lighting unit should come as no surprise to anyone. Back in 2015, GE separated its consumer and industrial lighting units into two new units it called "GE Lighting" and "GE Current," respectively. After the company's 2016 sale of its consumer appliance unit to Chinese manufacturer Haier, GE Lighting was the sole consumer business in GE's immense portfolio.

As if that weren't enough, a leaked internal email from June -- which was later verified by GE -- informed GE Lighting employees that "GE is formally beginning discussions with buyers around a proposed sale of our GE Lighting business."

GE is actually a bit late to the party on this: Its rival Siemens already spun off its consumer lighting business -- which makes Sylvania brand bulbs -- as Osram Licht back in 2013. Dutch company Royal Philips NV followed suit in 2016, spinning off its Philips brand consumer lighting business.

So it's almost a guarantee that GE Lighting's pending departure was already priced into the stock, even if that of the GE Current industrial lighting business might not have been. Regardless, it probably won't matter for investors for another big reason.

Story continues

Small potatoes

Despite bringing in $15.1 billion in revenue for GE in 2016, GE's "Energy Connections and Lighting" business unit -- which includes GE Current, GE Lighting, and the already-sold GE Industrial Solutions -- has a profit margin that is laughably small. As in, bringing in just $311 million in profits on its $15.1 billion in revenue, for a profit margin of just over 2%. Compare that to the overall profit margin of the company's industrial segments -- 15.6% -- and you can see just how little these businesses contribute to the company's bottom line.

Or, put another way, Energy Connections and Lighting contributed 13.4% of the company's 2016 industrial revenue and just 1.8% of the company's industrial profits. The corporate benefits of spinning off or selling these businesses almost certainly outweigh the drawbacks, because they will almost certainly help GE lower its overall administrative costs.

Transportation, on the other hand, has a comparatively high profit margin. At 22.6%, the unit had the second-highest profit margin of GE's industrial divisions in 2016, trailing only Aviation. That said, it's also by far GE's smallest unit, generating just $4.7 billion in revenue in 2016. Arguably, such a high-margin business could be sold for an attractive price, allowing GE to cut some expenses while only losing about $1 billion in annual profits. That has to look like a winning proposition to Flannery.

Where to go from here

When looking at how little an impact these asset divestitures would have on the company, a certain analogy regarding deck chairs and the RMS Titanic comes to mind.

Now, obviously, GE is making other changes to its operations in addition to ditching its Transportation, Lighting, and Industrial Solutions units. The company has already merged its oil and gas division with oilfield services company Baker Hughes to form independent entity Baker Hughes, a GE Company, which is 62.5% owned by GE. According to Flannery in his recent investor presentation, the company is weighing its options, but would like to reduce its commodities exposure.

Then there's the slimming of the board from 18 positions to 12, promised corporate cost reductions, and of course, the halving of the dividend. The thing is, none of these changes seem particularly transformative. They largely leave GE's existing structure -- and, apparently, strategy -- in place. If investors were looking for a bold new vision from Flannery, they came up empty-handed after this presentation.

Investor takeaway

Certainly, a series of incremental changes -- or "baby steps," if you prefer -- can lead to outperformance in the long run. And these moves by Flannery will certainly free up some cash that could be used to make major changes like big acquisitions or bold new initiatives... down the road.

For investors, though, the stock price isn't going to rise significantly until the company either makes major changes to its operations -- which these aren't -- or starts to significantly improve its fundamentals -- which these moves may help with, but don't do immediately.

It looks like investors are in for a rough ride over the next year or so with GE.

More From The Motley Fool

John Bromels owns shares of General Electric. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
FILE PHOTO: Emirates Airlines aircraft are seen at Dubai International Airport, United Arab Emirates May 10, 2016. REUTERS/Ashraf Mohammad/File Photo

(This story corrects paragraph 12 to identify "flydubai" not "Emirates" in November 16 story.)

By Tim Hepher and Alexander Cornwell

DUBAI (Reuters) - It started with a deal that never was and ended with the mother of all air show announcements - this week's Dubai Airshow saw little in the way of firm new business, but reminded observers the rivalry between two global giants is as fierce as ever.

As stragglers placed a handful of orders, delegates said the show would be remembered for the collapse of an anticipated Airbus deal to sell A380 superjumbos to Emirates and hunger for smaller jets including a record deal for 430 Airbus A320s.

A Boeing 787 deal with Emirates also shook up the battle for widebody orders.

All that barely moved the needle in this year's order race, where Boeing leads, as most deals are not final.

But the two rivals left Dubai with over 700 provisional orders for the bread-and-butter, narrowbody models on which their futures mainly depend.

"It's the aviation equivalent of pile it high and sell it cheap," said Rob Morris, global consultancy head at Ascend Flightglobal. "This is where they generate their cash."

Boeing notched up 33 firm orders and Airbus disclosed an order for 45 jets to China's CDB Leasing.

If all 674 preliminary air show deals turn into solid business, Airbus' 35 percent share of the market it shares with Boeing will rise to 48 percent. But both seemingly have enough business in hand to make it a tense end-year countdown.

"It's nothing new to see very large orders. However, the devil is in the detail," said Aengus Kelly, chief executive of AerCap <AER.N>, the world's largest leasing company.

"How many of them will be firm and when will the delivery dates actually occur? Some of them could be a decade away," he added after signing a series of deals with Egyptair.

VOLUME GAME

On Wednesday, U.S. investor Bill Franke pulled together a cohort of airlines in which he has stakes to announce a preliminary wholesale deal for 430 Airbus jets, achieving what one awed financier called a "masterstroke" of low prices.

Story continues

Boeing bagged a flydubai order for 175 of its 737s.

That worries some analysts who say planemakers are waging a futile battle, having already sold out for the next 8 years.

Several noted it was the last show before retirement for Airbus sales boss John Leahy, fighting to get back on even terms with Boeing after a bruising start to the event.

"Maybe it was John Leahy's last hurrah to get one last deal out there; but what a way to go out," Morris said.

Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders, who left Dubai without an A380 order after taking ultimate control of Airbus sales this year, is also keen for good news after his position was weakened by negative press over his handling of Airbus compliance probes.

Others said Airbus had merely demonstrated the pricing power of planemakers for their best-selling models and underpinned its production plans in a part of the business where the number of jets being produced is critical.

Without such volume, planemakers often struggle to recover their high fixed costs, despite other cost-saving plans.

Dubai saw an unexpectedly lively chapter of this contest, carried out under the shadow of Gulf tensions and political turmoil in Saudi Arabia which thinned visible attendance.

Unlike the Gulf kingdom, which some analysts say has resumed a "swing producer" role to underpin oil prices by tightening production, insiders say Boeing has determined it will not be the one to absorb aircraft market shocks in any future downturn.

It lost significant share to Airbus by cutting production after 9/11, just as Airbus was growing rapidly.

It lost ground again in 2010 when Airbus launched a revised model that sparked huge orders, forcing Boeing to follow suit.

Now, a new Boeing management is ahead of Airbus on orders since the start of the year, and neither company is ready to back down on record production plans.

Though the industry anticipates growth in demand, analysts say that could cause disruption for others.

"When demand goes down as it inevitably will, ... something else must give on the supply side. Either more planes retire earlier or more get stored or airlines reduce utilization, or probably a mix of all three," Morris said.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher, editing by David Evans)
Bitcoin cash's big ups and downs have had market impacts far and wide, while showcasing the nascent nature of the crypto sector as a whole.

Editor's note: The author, a freelance writer in the U.K., has an account at Trading 212 and was in the BCH market on Nov. 12.

As the cryptocurrency bitcoin cash surged to a high of $2,500 last weekend, clients of Trading 212, a brokerage based in the U.K., Germany and Bulgaria, were sitting on fat profits, in some cases hundreds of thousands of pounds.

That is, until Sunday, when the cryptocurrency took a nosedive  and the firm suspended trading.

Unable to close their positions, the affected customers could only watch as the price of bitcoin cash fell more than $800 in under an hour. Trading 212 says the suspension lasted only 10 minutes, but according to the traders, that was all it took to erase in some cases sizeable gains.

Not taking it lying down, 54 customers went so far as to set up a WhatsApp group called "People v 212," where they compared notes about how to reclaim their alleged missing gains.

All told, the Trading 212 clients  many of whom described their frustrations in interviews or emails  say they lost an estimated 10 million ($13.2 million), though some have settled their complaints with the company. For example, a group of traders from Cardiff, Wales, has accepted an offer to pay out a proportion, about 10 percent, of the profits they say they were owed.

Aside from temporarily preventing clients who had accumulated gains from cashing out, some said Trading 212 failed to execute their stop-loss or take-profit orders. The company, in turn, claims the customers whose orders were canceled had violated its contract terms.

"Today we have settled with most of the affected clients," Borislav Nedialkov, a co-founder of Trading 212, said Friday.

Justin Galvin, one of the Trading 212 customers battling to get what they see as their rightful profits, blamed the company for the situation, however. In statements, he argued the firm simply took too risky a strategy in offering the product in a nascent market.

Story continues

Galvin said:

"In my opinion, they exercised too much risk by offering bitcoin cash to entice new customers only to have those traders beat the market by 100 times.

CFD emptor

But while bruising losses are nothing new in the crypto space, these traders hadn't actually purchased bitcoin cash. Rather, they had entered into contracts for difference (CFD) with Trading 212. In a CFD, traders don't buy assets directly but take positions on price movements. (CFDs are banned in the U.S.).

The gains and losses are amplified because the brokers allow trading at 30x to 150x margins.

In short, these entities don't hold any of the assets that customers are trading on. In this sense then, CFD brokers operate in a world that is more akin to betting. (Indeed, many of the companies in the sector also offer spread-betting services, although not in Trading 212's case.)

These companies sometimes freeze positions for short periods to manage volatility, as Trading 212 did with bitcoin cash on Sunday. In such situations, there is little clients can do if the broker prevents them from adjusting their positions in the market.

The goings on at Trading 212, then, perhaps represent a collision of worlds, where crypto traders meet old-school middlemen.

"In crypto, I exit with my bitcoin profits immediately. Never leave your winning chips on the table for the dealer to see, said Clem Chambers, chief executive of company stock analysis site ADVFN.com.

Trading 212, however, is relatively new to the CFD broking game, launching its share-dealing and crypto service in June this year. Nevertheless, it has succeeded in attracting many young investors and traders. Its addition of eight cryptocurrency markets has helped it to expand.

Still, many investors may have been prone to act emotionally, perhaps either not understanding, or being wilfully unaware, of the terms of the investments in which they had entered. It may be that the company concluded the Cardiff-based traders were "trading in concert" given that they knew each other, although the company has so far brought forward no evidence.

Not used to the nature of the trading schemes that have sprouted up around the market, many were surprised, then, at the measures the company has taken.

Rickety markets

But Trading 212 isn't the only area of the crypto market to come under stress as a result of bitcoin cash's weekend ups and downs.

Bitcoin cash's price pullback happened at the same time as Korean exchange Bithumb began to have outages. In response, industry website CoinMarketCap stopped taking prices from the exchange, meaning 50 percent of trading volume worldwide wasn't shown in its charts.

Three thousand Korean customers of Bithumb have launched a class action lawsuit against the exchange claiming they suffered losses as a result of the two-hour outage.

Price swings of the magnitude seen in the bitcoin market on Sunday would possibly have triggered a trading suspension on stock exchanges, but this is crypto, where no such mechanisms exist. Having said that, the market is showing signs of maturing.

The introduction of bitcoin futures by derivatives market giant CME Group will go some way to bearing down on bitcoin volatility  although some incumbents in the futures markets worry that a crypto "virus" could jump the species barrier and initiate a pandemic in the "real economy." The outbreak of influenza at Trading 212 may be an early warning sign.

Regulators, it seems, are taking notice, though their main message is "buyer beware."

Following the incident, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a statement on the risks of cryptocurrency CFDs. But Trading 212's customers are unlikely to find any consolation in its words.

While the FCA regulates CFD brokers, it warned:

"These protections will not compensate you for any losses from trading."

Since then, Trading 212 appears to be taking steps to ensure a similar situation doesn't repeat, announcing it was raising the deposit level required to trade on margin.

Money drain visualization image via Shutterstock

Related Stories
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made a pitch to small and medium-sized business owners on Friday, saying they could expect the lowest tax rates in decades from the Republican tax reform bills winding their way through the House and Senate. In a CNBC interview, Mnuchin looked to clarify the direction of the so-called pass-through rate, in which the profits and losses of sole proprietorships, partnerships and S-corporations "pass through" to their owners who are then taxed at individual income-tax rates, currently as high as 39.6 percent. "We're going to have the lowest pass-through rates we've had since the 1930s," Mnuchin told "Squawk Box," one day after the House passed its version of the GOP 's vision to cut rates and simply taxes for companies and working Americans. "The large number of pass-through returns, [98 percent], are all $500,000 or less. Those people will get substantial reductions  small and medium-size businesses," he said."These are about businesses that are going to reinvest in the business. That'll be good for the economy; good for growth," said Mnuchin, who came to the Trump administration from the business world, including a stint working at Goldman Sachs. The House plan calls for a drop in the pass-through rate to 25 percent. But in an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, University of Southern California tax law professor Edward Kleinbard said: " The discounts aren't really aimed at small businesses . They go to any business, large or small, that happens to be organized as a partnership or an S corporation, as long as it isn't a service business." Formerly chief of staff for the Joint Committee on Taxation during the Bush 43 and Obama administrations, Kleinbard also writes, "The House bill allows completely passive investors in eligible businesses to get the discounted tax rate on all their pass-through income."Mnuchin also said the House tax bill will place a higher burden on those who earn more than $1 million per year but provide a break to everyone else. Opponents say that measure is a stealth tax hike on the middle class. On Thursday, Sen. Ron Johnson , a former small business owner who's concerned about pass throughs, said on CNBC that President Donald Trump personally promised to "'work my tail off'" to win the Wisconsin Republican's vote on the Senate's tax overhaul plan. While saying he would oppose the Senate plan in its current form, Johnson told "Squawk Box" that he wants to fix the bill so he can support it. The senator, however, said he didn't have enough information about the measure to even propose an amendment to change what he doesn't like. Republicans can't really afford to lose votes. They hold only a two-seat majority in the Senate. Despite the razor-thin Senate majority, Mnuchin predicted on Friday that the Senate will be able to join the House and pass its version of tax reform; he predicted that congressmen and senators will be able to make compromises to craft a single bill that will pass both chambers; and he predicted that the measure will be on the president's desk for approval by Christmas. The Senate Finance Committee voted to approve its tax bill late Thursday. But in what may be a complicating factor, a new analysis from the Joint Committee on Taxation showed average taxes for all income groups would go up by 2027 after initially dropping under the Senate approach. WATCH: Mnuchin sees a GOP tax bill on Trump's desk by Christmas Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made a pitch to small and medium-sized business owners on Friday, saying they could expect the lowest tax rates in decades from the Republican tax reform bills winding their way through the House and Senate. In a CNBC interview, Mnuchin looked to clarify the direction of the so-called pass-through rate, in which the profits and losses of sole proprietorships, partnerships and S-corporations "pass through" to their owners who are then taxed at individual income-tax rates, currently as high as 39.6 percent. "We're going to have the lowest pass-through rates we've had since the 1930s," Mnuchin told "Squawk Box," one day after the House passed its version of the GOP 's vision to cut rates and simply taxes for companies and working Americans. "The large number of pass-through returns, [98 percent], are all $500,000 or less. Those people will get substantial reductions  small and medium-size businesses," he said. "These are about businesses that are going to reinvest in the business. That'll be good for the economy; good for growth," said Mnuchin, who came to the Trump administration from the business world, including a stint working at Goldman Sachs. The House plan calls for a drop in the pass-through rate to 25 percent. But in an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, University of Southern California tax law professor Edward Kleinbard said: " The discounts aren't really aimed at small businesses . They go to any business, large or small, that happens to be organized as a partnership or an S corporation, as long as it isn't a service business." Formerly chief of staff for the Joint Committee on Taxation during the Bush 43 and Obama administrations, Kleinbard also writes, "The House bill allows completely passive investors in eligible businesses to get the discounted tax rate on all their pass-through income." Mnuchin also said the House tax bill will place a higher burden on those who earn more than $1 million per year but provide a break to everyone else. Opponents say that measure is a stealth tax hike on the middle class. On Thursday, Sen. Ron Johnson , a former small business owner who's concerned about pass throughs, said on CNBC that President Donald Trump personally promised to "'work my tail off'" to win the Wisconsin Republican's vote on the Senate's tax overhaul plan. While saying he would oppose the Senate plan in its current form, Johnson told "Squawk Box" that he wants to fix the bill so he can support it. The senator, however, said he didn't have enough information about the measure to even propose an amendment to change what he doesn't like. Republicans can't really afford to lose votes. They hold only a two-seat majority in the Senate. Despite the razor-thin Senate majority, Mnuchin predicted on Friday that the Senate will be able to join the House and pass its version of tax reform; he predicted that congressmen and senators will be able to make compromises to craft a single bill that will pass both chambers; and he predicted that the measure will be on the president's desk for approval by Christmas. The Senate Finance Committee voted to approve its tax bill late Thursday. But in what may be a complicating factor, a new analysis from the Joint Committee on Taxation showed average taxes for all income groups would go up by 2027 after initially dropping under the Senate approach. WATCH: Mnuchin sees a GOP tax bill on Trump's desk by Christmas



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Ohio State University

Ohio State University Facebook

Ohio State University suspended 37 fraternities, pointing to hazing and alcohol violations.

No sororities were suspended.

Eleven fraternities had been under investigation since the start of the school year.



The Ohio State University suspended 37 fraternities organizations from campus Thursday, citing instances of hazing and alcohol, WOSU Public Media reported.

The suspension includes any social activities and recruitment of new members. The 17 sororities on campus are not part of the suspension.

A spokesperson for Ohio State said that 11 fraternities had been under investigation since the start of the fall semester.

"[Eleven] of the 37 IFC chapters have been under investigation since the school year began," spokesperson Dave Isaacs told WOSU. "The majority of these cases involve hazing and/or alcohol. The university will not tolerate behavior that puts the health and safety of its students at risk."

Between 2011 and 2015, Ohio State suspended or disciplined 10 fraternities for hazing, Ohio State's student paper The Lantern reported.

The suspensions at Ohio State seems to be the most aggressive move yet by a college to crack down on fraternity hazing. Other universities have issued sweeping bans on Greek life, but they have come after a pledge has died in a drinking-related incident. Ohio State's ban is surprising both in its size and the fact that it stemmed from an investigation into the greater culture of fraternities at the school.

Other big-name universities have current bans on Greek life.

Both Florida State University and Texas State University indefinitely suspended the activities of all Greek organizations after a pledge died on each campus.

Louisiana State University banned Greek organizations after a freshman named Maxwell Gruver, 18, died participating in a fraternity hazing game where he had to drink alcohol when he answered a question incorrectly.

Story continues

And after a Penn State sophomore named Timothy Piazza, 19, died in February after a fraternity hazing event, university officials suspended fraternities and sororities from holding social activities during the spring semester. The Penn State Board of Trustees also passed a package of new rules designed to change Greek life.

If you're part of a Greek organization on a US college campus and have something to share, contact ajackson@businessinsider.com

NOW WATCH: Inside the Texas Longhorns' amazing $7 million locker room

See Also:

SEE ALSO: A Texas State University fraternity pledge has died  continuing the alarming trend of deaths at public university fraternities
The Internet was abuzz on Friday with news that famedand controversialItalian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero and partner Dr. Xiaoping Ren of Harbin Medical University in China had performed the worlds first successful human head transplant (albeit with the major caveat that it was done on a corpse, raising comparisons to Dr. Frankenstein and his monster). Canavero claims the procedure was a success and a sign that full-on, presumably live head transplant surgeries are imminent, with the potential to help people who suffer from diseases which have caused their bodies to waste away.

But Canavero and Ren have prompted plenty of skepticism over the years from critics challenging both the scientific feasibility and ethical implications of head transplants, with some prominent doctors rejecting the notion that such a procedure is even possible. Canavero and Ren have played up reported successes in performing mice, monkey, and even rat head transplant operations.

There are, as you might imagine, a number of massive obstacles to successfully completing a head transplant surgery. Not only would head and neck tissue, nerve cells, and spinal cords have to be grafted together to create functional units; the patient going through such an extensive procedure would have to stay alive for long enough for it to work and then have to hope that his or her new body doesnt reject the head of a biological stranger.

Considering that even groundbreaking, clinically proven biological re-engineeringlike new genetic technologies which involve manipulating blood cancer patients immune cells into becoming cancer killers before re-inserting them into the bodycan cause serious, toxic side effects, its an open question what the long-term effects of an entirely new head and brain would have on a body (or vic versa); such interactions would be highly unpredictable.

And as neuroscience Dr. Dean Burnett points out in a scathing op-ed, Canaveros outsized claims about past successes may not exactly align with the realities of his accomplishments. For instance, Burnett notes, the monkey head transplant procedure didnt result in a being with actual consciousness.

There have, however, been other kinds of recent milestones in the transplant space, including one of the most extensive face transplants ever done and the prospect of human organ donations from genetically modified pigs.
(Reuters) - U.S. smartphone chipmaker Qualcomm Inc may win European Union approval for its bid to acquire NXP Semiconductors NV by the end of the year, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Qualcomm, which supplies chips to Android smartphone makers and Apple Inc , is set to become the leading supplier to the fast growing automotive chip market following the deal, the largest-ever in the semiconductor industry. Regulators have dropped their concerns after accepting Qualcomm's pledge not to acquire standard essential and system-level patents belonging to NXP, according to the Bloomberg report. (https://bloom.bg/2A5VN8E) Qualcomm recently rejected rival Broadcom Ltd's $103-billion takeover bid in November, saying the offer undervalued the company and would face regulatory hurdles. Qualcomm said in June it was confident of addressing EU's antitrust concerns and expected to close the NXP deal by the end of 2017. The European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said on Wednesday a ruling on Qualcomm's proposed acquisition of NXP may come in 2018. Qualcomm and NXP did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while the European Commission was not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka and Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
Your week in review, in haiku

1.

Dear public servants:

No touching. Stop race-baiting.

Be welcome at malls.

2.

The sexiest man?

At Cracker Barrel, maybe.

If that, sniffs Twitter.

3.

Got any Russian

backdoor overtures lying

around? Just asking.

4.

One leaky Keystone.

Two hundred thousand problems.

No Native respect.

5.

Kicking the tires:

Wherefore art thou Koch brothers?

Reclaiming our Time.

Reclaim your weekend, everyone.

On Point

Apples diversity chief is leaving her post after six months Denise Young Smith, the companys most recent vice president of diversity and inclusion, is leaving her post and the company. The 20-year Apple veteran will be replaced by Christie Smith, a longtime Deloitte human resources executive. While Denise Young Smith reported directly to CEO Tim Cook, Christie Smith will report to Deirdre OBrien, Apples human resources officer. Fortune

Department of Homeland Security official resigns after racist comments come to light Jamie Johnson, director of the Center for Faith-Based & Neighborhood Partnerships at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), resigned last night after a CNN report revealed public comments he made disparaging African Americans and Muslims during numerous talk radio appearances. On one occasion, Johnson blamed black people for turning major cities into slums because of laziness, drug use and sexual promiscuity. During another appearance he said, all that Islam has ever given us is oil and dead bodies over the last millennia and a half. Johnson, who is a pastor, apologized on his way out. I regret the manner in which those thoughts were expressed in the past, but can say unequivocally that they do not represent my views personally or professionally, he said. The Hill

Some DACA applications were lost in the mail and rejected, despite meeting a crucial deadline Though the administration now says it will reconsider some applications that it processed incorrectly, its not clear how theyll be able to keep that promise. At least 4,000 out of more than 130,000 renewal applications were rejected for barely missing the deadline, but advocates think the true number could be much higher. The Trump administration plans to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which protects nearly 700,000 young immigrants from deportation, in 2018. NPR

Story continues

The Nigerian womens bobsled team is going to compete in the Olympics The three women, Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga finished their fifth and qualifying race yesterday, and are officially heading for the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang next February. They are the first African bobsled team in Olympic history, and their remarkable quest has already delighted an exhausted and cynical world. We are all Nigerian now, o. Deadspin

The Woke Leader

For your weekend viewing pleasure: Mudbound Mudbound, an extraordinary film by Dee Rees with co-writer, Virgil Williams, debuts today on Netflix. The film was adapted from Hillary Jordans 2008 first novel, Mudbound and is the story of two families during World War II, one black and one white, whose lives are intertwined on the same dusty, brown patch of farmland. It also features a resplendently bare Mary J. Blige, in a performance that is sure to generate buzz. Even the reviews are epic: The radicalism of Mudbound thus lies in its inherently democratic sensibility, its humble, unapologetic insistence on granting its black and white characters the same moral and dramatic weight, says film critic Justin Chang. In a film industry that has only begun to correct its default position of presenting black suffering almost exclusively through a white gaze, this is no small achievement. LA Times

What sexual harassment looks like The Washington Post has collected stories from women who were harassed at work and then reported the incident. The employers are not named, and the women are identified by first name and age only. But what becomes quickly apparent is how diverse and widespread the behavior is, and how economically vulnerable female employees often are. If you were a person who laughed off or misunderstood the meaning of hostile workplace in the past, consider this a painful primer. Oh, and the kicker? When women report, things often get far worse. Washington Post

On the meaning of macaroni and cheese If you think of mac and cheese as an easy, weeknight side dish that starts in a blue box, then youre probably white. But if you think of macaroni and cheese as a made-from-scratch culinary event, then youre probably black. And thats part of the fascinating difference between a black and white Thanksgiving celebration. In black culture, for the most part, macaroni & cheese is the pinnacle, the highest culinary accolade. Who makes it, how its made and whos allowed to bring it to a gathering involves negotiation, tradition and tacit understanding. A delightful look at how a simple dish defines a culture. Charlotte Observer

Quote
Stitch Fix went up just 1 percent on its first day of trading. After pricing at $15, the company closed at $15.15. It's also below the opening trade of $16.90.

The company didn't raise as much money as it had been hoping for. It raised $120 million, after pricing at $15, below the expected range of $18 to $20. The company also reduced the size of its IPO from 10 million shares to 8 million.

Stitch Fix markets itself as an affordable fashion stylist. Customers are able to order boxes of items designed to fit their measurements and style preferences.

Users can opt to purchase favorite items and send back the rest. The boxes can be ordered on a subscription basis or on the customer's whims.

The bull case for Stitch Fix is that it's been able to grow to $977.1 million in annual revenue in just six years since it was started by CEO Katrina Lake. This is up from $730.3 million in fiscal 2016 and $342.8 million the year before. The top line is growing fast.

It's achieved profitability in some years, although it turned to a small loss of $594,000 for 2017. Last year saw $33.2 million in net income.

But it's a very competitive landscape. Others in the category include Le Tote, Trunk Club, Wantable, Boon + Gable and Dia & Co. Rent the Runway has also been rolling out subscription boxes and Rocksbox has a similar model for jewelry.

And it's competing with malls and other online retailers. While consumers increasingly enjoy the convenience of having items sent to their home, Amazon and others in the e-commerce world have made it easier than ever to find customized fashion.

It also may be hard to predict growth, an important task for public companies, which are expected to provide investors with quarterly updates.

Stitch Fix users can order boxes on demand, and it's hard to say whether users will order with consistent frequency. It's difficult to determine how many items they will opt to buy.

But it's undoubtedly a win for Baseline Ventures, which owned 28.1 percent of the company prior to the IPO. Benchmark Capital Partners owned 25.6 percent and Lightspeed Venture Partners owned 11.8 percent.

Over the summer, TechCrunch broke the news that Stitch Fix had filed for IPO.
Tesla unveiled the Tesla Semi truck on Thursday.The truck can drive 500 miles on a single charge, which was higher than some analysts had expected. That may mean that, in terms of range, the vehicle could meet the needs of long haul truck drivers."That is 500 miles at maximum weight, at highway speed, so you are doing 60 mph," Tesla CEO Elon Musk told a crowd in Los Angeles Thursday night. "That is the worst case scenario."Musk said the truck can beat a diesel truck in a straight line, up a 5 percent grade, and even without two of its four independent motors functioning.The truck can go from 0-60 in 5 seconds by itself, or in 20 seconds with an 80,000 pound load.And Musk said the truck will beat diesel trucks in terms of price per mile when the total cost of ownership is factored in, Musk said.Musk also said the truck drives far more easily than diesel trucks.Every truck will come with Autopilot standard. The truck's low center of gravity will make it difficult for the truck to rollover, and impossible to jack-knife, Musk said.Tesla will also build a network of Tesla "Megachargers" that will charge the trucks' batteries to a 400 mile range in 30 minutes.The company will guarantee the truck will not break down for 1 million miles, Musk said."We are guaranteeing it won't break down for a million miles because it has four independent motors," Musk said. "You can lose 2 of those 4 motors and the truck will still keep going."Musk said a convoy of Tesla Semi trucks would even be more economical than freight by rail.Analysts have expressed some skepticism that any electric truck can currently compete with the diesel trucks that dominate commercial trucking. Unlike luxury car buyers, trucking companies are primarily concerned with which trucks make most sense for their own financial bottom line."The biggest challenge Tesla faces with its semi is customers," said Rebecca Lindland, executive analyst at Kelley Blue Book. "These are business people not fans, and they will need convinced that this truck is better for their balance sheet than existing technology. It probably is, based on the specs provided, but this isn't necessarily a slam dunk." Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) unveils its bid at a commercial truck as it faces other challenges, particularly around the production of its Model 3 sedan. The company reported its biggest quarterly loss in history in the third quarter, weeks after saying it had fallen far short of its delivery targets for the Model 3.As it attempts to address what Tesla has called "production bottlenecks" and boost production, Tesla has faced some criticism over its relationship with some members of its workforce. Among other things, Tesla was accused of being a "hotbed of racism" in a proposed class action lawsuit filed Monday in Alameda County, California. Tesla said the suit is a "hotbed of misinformation" and disputes several of the claims it makes. The United Auto Workers union also filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board in October over Tesla's firing of hundreds of workers . Still, the company's stock price has soared in recent months. Shares of Tesla are up just over 47 percent since the beginning of the year.Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that the Tesla Semi can travel 65 miles per hour on a 5 percent grade. Tesla unveiled the Tesla Semi truck on Thursday. The truck can drive 500 miles on a single charge, which was higher than some analysts had expected. That may mean that, in terms of range, the vehicle could meet the needs of long haul truck drivers. "That is 500 miles at maximum weight, at highway speed, so you are doing 60 mph," Tesla CEO Elon Musk told a crowd in Los Angeles Thursday night. "That is the worst case scenario." Musk said the truck can beat a diesel truck in a straight line, up a 5 percent grade, and even without two of its four independent motors functioning. The truck can go from 0-60 in 5 seconds by itself, or in 20 seconds with an 80,000 pound load. And Musk said the truck will beat diesel trucks in terms of price per mile when the total cost of ownership is factored in, Musk said. Musk also said the truck drives far more easily than diesel trucks. Every truck will come with Autopilot standard. The truck's low center of gravity will make it difficult for the truck to rollover, and impossible to jack-knife, Musk said. Tesla will also build a network of Tesla "Megachargers" that will charge the trucks' batteries to a 400 mile range in 30 minutes. The company will guarantee the truck will not break down for 1 million miles, Musk said. "We are guaranteeing it won't break down for a million miles because it has four independent motors," Musk said. "You can lose 2 of those 4 motors and the truck will still keep going." Musk said a convoy of Tesla Semi trucks would even be more economical than freight by rail. Analysts have expressed some skepticism that any electric truck can currently compete with the diesel trucks that dominate commercial trucking. Unlike luxury car buyers, trucking companies are primarily concerned with which trucks make most sense for their own financial bottom line. "The biggest challenge Tesla faces with its semi is customers," said Rebecca Lindland, executive analyst at Kelley Blue Book. "These are business people not fans, and they will need convinced that this truck is better for their balance sheet than existing technology. It probably is, based on the specs provided, but this isn't necessarily a slam dunk." Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) unveils its bid at a commercial truck as it faces other challenges, particularly around the production of its Model 3 sedan. The company reported its biggest quarterly loss in history in the third quarter, weeks after saying it had fallen far short of its delivery targets for the Model 3. As it attempts to address what Tesla has called "production bottlenecks" and boost production, Tesla has faced some criticism over its relationship with some members of its workforce. Among other things, Tesla was accused of being a "hotbed of racism" in a proposed class action lawsuit filed Monday in Alameda County, California. Tesla said the suit is a "hotbed of misinformation" and disputes several of the claims it makes. The United Auto Workers union also filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board in October over Tesla's firing of hundreds of workers . Still, the company's stock price has soared in recent months. Shares of Tesla are up just over 47 percent since the beginning of the year. Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that the Tesla Semi can travel 65 miles per hour on a 5 percent grade.



More From CNBC


The Tesla Semi may be more expensive up front but may be significantly cheaper over time than diesels, Piper Jaffray says.

There are still plenty of questions about Tesla's (TSLA) new Semi, but there is no doubt it is innovative and represents a number of firsts for the trucking industry, says one analyst.

"To be honest we think the truck is a little bit of a game changer, not so much for Tesla but for the trucking industry itself," Morgan Stanley analyst Ravi Shanker said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Friday.

"It is going to be the industry's first Class 8 truck with 500 miles of range; it is going to be the industry's first level 4 autonomous truck, and it is going to be the industry's first truck that is nearly 50 percent cheaper to operate in a level 4 autonomous platoon," he added.

Level 4 autonomy is the second-most-advanced level of self-operating capability on the 0-5 scale developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers.

The need for many of the Semi truck's unique features has been questioned by analysts and others in the industry.

The trucking industry has narrow profit margins, and carriers are primarily concerned with saving as much as possible.

To make the economic case, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told a crowd in Los Angeles on Thursday that the total per-mile cost of ownership for the truck would be $1.26 per mile, compared with $1.51 per mile for a comparable diesel truck.

Whether the Tesla's exceptional features  such as a cockpit with a centered captain's chair and room enough to stand  will matter much to customers remains to be seen. But some are already showing interest. Trucking firm J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) said on Friday it is reserving multiple vehicles, and retailer Wal-Mart (WMT) said it preordered several.

"Tesla is doing what it does best, which is delivering innovation," Shanker said.

WATCH: Can Tesla deliver with new semi truck?
GUANGZHOU/BEIJING (Reuters) - Volkswagen Group said on Thursday it plans to spend 10 billion euros ($11.8 billion) by 2025 to develop and manufacture all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles as it seeks to comply with upcoming stringent rules in China. The group, which includes Volkswagen AG and Audi AG , intends to launch 15 of the so-called new energy vehicles (NEV) models over the next two to three years, and an additional 25 after 2025, China chief Jochem Heizmann told Reuters on Thursday. China's NEV production and sales quotas, which must be met by 2019, have prompted a flurry of electric car deals and new launches as automakers in China race to ensure they do not fall short. Automakers that do fall short will be required to buy credits. Volkswagen currently has around 10 NEVs already on the market in China, although all are imported models with limited sales volumes, according to a company spokeswoman. Heizmann, speaking ahead of the Guangzhou auto show, added that the group is aiming to sell 400,000 new energy vehicles per year in China by 2020 and 1.5 million per year by 2025. NEVs refer to all-electric battery cars and heavily electrified plug-in hybrids. Heizmann said some of those models will have a 400-600km driving range on a single full charge. By comparison, Tesla's model S has a range of 490km and as much as 632km depending on battery capacity, according to the company. The Volkswagen Group is also confident that its group companies and their local China joint venture partners will be able to generate enough NEV sales volume to account for NEV quotas by 2019, Heizmann said, adding that there will be no need to buy credits. "We need high volumes of new energy vehicles... we are working on full speed on that." Last week, General Motors Co's China chief Matt Tsien told reporters GM's China joint ventures will be able to generate enough NEV sales volume to account for NEV quotas by 2019 and without the need to buy credits. Tsien said both GM and its China joint-venture partners "are working to at least meet, if not exceed, those credit mandate requirements." The Guangzhou auto show starts on Friday. (Reporting by Beijing Newsroom and Hong Kong Newsroom.; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
The Pakistani government has extended by 24 hours a deadline for an Islamic group to disband its rally in the capital.

Authorities had set a morning deadline of November 18 for the rally organizers -- the Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah party -- to end a protest that has disrupted life in Islamabad.

Before dawn, police surrounded Islamabad's Faizabad crossing, where demonstrators have camped out.

They have been demanding the dismissal of the country's law minister, Zahid Hamid, who they charge intentionally removed a long-standing reference to the Prophet Muhammad from a constitutional bill.

Hamid has apologized, saying it was a clerical error that was later corrected. Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has dismissed what he called the protesters' "unreasonable demand" for Hamid's ouster.

On November 17, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, who runs the party behind the rally, told the gathering that he would not end his demonstration until Hamid is fired.

The rally has drawn criticism from residents in both Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

The police have put up shipping containers and road blocks to prevent the rally from pushing deeper into Islamabad.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP
Pakistani authorities on November 17 warned an estimated 5,000 Islamist protesters staging a sit-in near the capital, Islamabad, to disband within hours to avoid a crackdown, but protest leaders said they would not move.

"You all are being given a last warning," Islamabad's deputy commissioner of police said in an order. "End the illegal sit-in immediately...All resources can be used to break this sit-in."

The warning came a day after a court ordered the rally organizers -- the Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah party -- to end the 10-day protest that has disrupted life in Islamabad and inconvenienced commuters, forcing them to find alternate routes.

A spokesman for the Labaik party, Ejaz Ashrafi, said the group would not comply with the ultimatums.

"We're not moving," he told Reuters by phone from the sit-in.

A government official, Khalid Abbasi, said late on November 17 that after protesters were given the warning, hundreds more party supporters joined the sit-in. He said the participants were carrying rods and sticks.

The demonstrators began camping out last week at the main Faizabad crossing, which links the garrison city of Rawalpindi with Islamabad.

They have been demanding dismissal of the country's law minister, Zahid Hamid, who they charge intentionally removed a long-standing reference to the Prophet Muhammad from a constitutional bill.

Hamid has apologized, saying it was a clerical error that was later corrected. Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has dismissed what he called the protesters' "unreasonable demand" for Hamid's ouster.

On November 17, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, who runs the party behind the rally, told the gathering that he would not end his demonstration until Hamid is fired.

The rally has drawn criticism from residents in both Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

The police have put up shipping containers and road blocks to prevent the rally from pushing deeper into Islamabad.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters
Its been several weeks since Turkmenistan hiked fees to state kindergartens tenfold, nearly emptying many preschools, prompting a rare public protest, and resulting in the jailing of an official for merely interacting with protesters.

Angry parents say authorities are now pressing the public to enroll their youngsters in state preschools to offset an accompanying drop in kindergarten attendance, which translates into less money for the cash-strapped government.

Officials in the capital, Ashgabat, and in Dashoguz and Balkan provinces have ordered public-sector employees to send their preschool-age children to kindergartens or risk losing their jobs, several local residents told RFE/RL.



According to one resident of the northern Dashoguz Province, the November fee increase from around $2.80 to $22.80 has prompted many parents to keep their children at home.

Another Dashoguz resident complained that the higher fee represents around half of the family budget for many people in that rural region. Some women who work farmland take their children along as they can no longer afford the nursery prices, the source said.



Both residents spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing government reprisals in an authoritarian state with little tolerance for any form of dissent.

A mere comment about the nursery-fee increase landed a local education official in prison last month.



According to local residents, there are now only around 15 children in preschool facilities that previously had around 200 children attending them on a regular basis.

The head of the education department who advised the protesters to complain to the governor has been removed from his post, arrested, and charged with calling for rebellion against the government, the officials said.

The instructions to public-sector workers were issued during meetings in dozens of government institutions, they said.



As information is difficult to obtain from tightly controlled Turkmenistan, it remains unclear whether similar warnings have been given in other parts of the country.



The kindergarten fee increase, initially announced last month, prompted a rare protest rally in Dashoguz, where dozens of people, most of them women, gathered near the provincial education department on October 10.

The head of the department told the protesters to go and complain to the provincial governors office instead, according to two employees at the education department and the Dashoguz city administration who spoke to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity.



On their way to the governors office, the protesters were stopped by the country's special police force, OMON, the officials said.

The head of the education department who advised the protesters to complain to the governor has been removed from his post, arrested, and charged with calling for rebellion against the government, the officials said.



The arrested officials wife, who worked in a local kindergarten, has also been dismissed from her job, they added.



RFE/RLs Turkmen Service spoke to colleagues of the arrested education official who confirmed the charges but declined to give his name, saying only that he is about 50 years old.



They also said a state-appointed defense lawyer has since declined to become involved in his case, citing the gravity of the charges. The family is said to have hired another lawyer.



Falling kindergarten attendance is the latest blow to the state budget in gas-rich Turkmenistan, which is facing economic fallout from the global slump in energy prices.



The countrys gross domestic product (GDP) has fallen from 11.1 percent in 2012 to 6.2 percent in 2016, the Asian Development Bank says.

Turkmenistan has abandoned subsidies for natural gas, electricity, and water, while ordinary Turkmen also complain that wages are often paid late.

Written by RFE/RL senior correspondent Farangis Najibullah, based on reporting by RFE/RLs Turkmen Service
PRESS RELEASE

16 November 2017

WENTWORTH RESOURCES LIMITED

("Wentworth" or the "Company")

Corporate update

Wentworth, the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE: WRL) and AIM (AIM: WRL) listed independent, East Africa-focused oil & gas company, announces that it is undertaking a restructuring process to better align its corporate and management structures with its shareholders and asset base in Africa, to increase management efficiencies and reduce certain costs.

As a first step in this process, the Company is relocating its head office and executive management team to London from Calgary, Canada bringing them closer to shareholders and to the Company's core operating assets in Tanzania and Mozambique. Due to personal reasons, Managing Director Geoff Bury, is unable to relocate to London and will therefore be leaving the Company when a suitable replacement has been found. The Company has commissioned an executive search agent and is currently reviewing candidates for the role of Chief Executive Officer, although Geoff will remain in his current role for a period of time to allow a smooth transition of responsibilities.

In line with the head office relocation and given that the Company has few Canadian registered shareholders and very limited operational connection to Canada, the Directors are exploring the possibility of re-domiciling the Company from Canada to a European country in order to better service its shareholder base, reduce costs as well as corporate complexity. The Company will consult and update shareholders, when appropriate, as to the progress on the corporate reformation process.

Geoff Bury, Managing Director, said:

"I take great pride in the significant achievements since joining Wentworth in 2010, most of all positioning the Company to be a major gas producer in East Africa and securing a potentially world class appraisal asset in Mozambique that is capable of delivering significant upside to our shareholders in the near term. I strongly believe in the quality assets that Wentworth has and the growth these assets can achieve."

Bob McBean, Executive Chairman, said:

"Firstly, I would like to thank Geoff for his significant contribution to the business. When we established Wentworth through the reverse takeover of Artumas, there were substantial changes required to rationalise the asset base, significantly reduce G&A, and manage the Company through legacy issues, which would not have been possible without Geoff's clear management and direction. Under Geoff's management we have transitioned the Company to where we are now: establishing a growth platform business both in terms of production and cash flow and with upside from our potentially world class exploration and appraisal asset in Mozambique.

"As we enter this process of improving alignment of our corporate structure with our shareholder and asset base, the business is in excellent shape to take advantage of the opportunity to deliver the next phase of growth, both in Tanzania and Mozambique, and potentially beyond these jurisdictions and I look forward to working with a new CEO to achieve this."

-Ends-

Enquiries:

Wentworth Geoffrey Bury,

Managing Director gpb@wentworthresources.com

+1 403 993 4450



Lance Mierendorf,

Chief Financial Officer lance.mierendorf@wentworthresources.com

+1 403 680 8773



Katherine Roe

Vice President Corporate Development & Investor Relations



katherine.roe@wentworthresources.com

+44 7841 087 230 Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited AIM Nominated Adviser and Broker (UK)

Callum Stewart

Ashton Clanfield +44 (0) 20 7710 7600 GMP FirstEnergy Broker (UK)

Hugh Sanderson

Jonathan Wright +44 (0) 20 7448 0200 Peel Hunt LLP Broker (UK)

Richard Crichton

Ross Allister

Chris Burrows +44 (0) 20 7418 8900 FTI Consulting Investor Relations Adviser (UK)

Edward Westropp

Kim Camilleri wentworth@fticonsulting.com

+44 (0) 20 3727 1000 Crux Advisers Investor Relations Adviser

(Norway)

Carl Bachke +47 909 808 48

About Wentworth Resources

Wentworth Resources is a publicly traded (OSE: WRL, AIM: WRL), independent oil & gas company with: natural gas production; exploration and appraisal opportunities; and large-scale gas monetisation initiatives, all in the Rovuma Delta Basin of coastal southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique.

Inside Information

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by Wentworth to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) no. 596/2014 ("MAR"). On the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service ("RIS"), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements

This press release may contain certain forward-looking information. The words "expect", "anticipate", believe", "estimate", "may", "will", "should", "intend", "forecast", "plan", and similar expressions are used to identify forward looking information.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date the statements are made in light of management's experience, current conditions and expected future development in the areas in which Wentworth is currently active and other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Wentworth undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable law.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties that contribute to the possibility that the predicted outcome will not occur, including some of which are beyond Wentworth's control. These assumptions and risks include, but are not limited to: the risks associated with the oil and gas industry in general such as operational risks in exploration, development and production, delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures, the imprecision of resource and reserve estimates, assumptions regarding the timing and costs relating to production and development as well as the availability and price of labour and equipment, volatility of and assumptions regarding commodity prices and exchange rates, marketing and transportation risks, environmental risks, competition, the ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources and changes in applicable law. Additionally, there are economic, political, social and other risks inherent in carrying on business in Tanzania and Mozambique. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could vary or differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. See Wentworth's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2016, available on Wentworth's website, for further description of the risks and uncertainties associated with Wentworth's business.

Notice



Neither the Oslo Stock Exchange nor the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange has reviewed this press release and neither accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
OAKVILLE, Ontario, Nov. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Saint Jean Carbon Inc. (Saint Jean or the Company) (TSX-V:SJL) (OTCQB:TORVF), a carbon science company engaged in the design and build of green energy storage, green energy creation and green re-creation through the use of carbon materials is pleased to provide an update on the construction of the Companys mill, lab and anode material manufacturing facility, as announced in a press release dated July 5th, 2017. The purpose of the mill is to be able to take graphite mineralized rock and turn it in to spherically shaped, carbon coated anode material for the lithium ion battery market and doing all of this within one production facility using traditional, non-traditional, proprietary and patent pending technologies. The Company believes that there is no other facility like this in North America.



The facility has been designed, engineered, re-worked and procured with the help of: DENM Engineering Ltd. Burlington Ontario, Magem Mining Inc. Toronto Ontario, R&D Advanced Innovations Inc. Bonfield Ontario, SGT Surplus Inc. Ottawa Ontario, Aluminum Surface Technologies Inc. Burlington Ontario and the Companys internal resources. Due to the unique nature of the facility, very specialized equipment has been either sourced or custom built.

The main highlight of the mill is the Companys proprietary and patent pending process for greatly increasing the head grade of the mineralize material before fine milling and floating. This allows for significantly smaller equipment and foot print as the process is working mostly with nearly finished product and does not need to process large amounts of waste material. Flotation cells, drying, and filtering are all traditional processes utilized on the finishing end of the product. Sizing is done through traditional jet milling and the shaping and coating are proprietary and patent pending processes.

The facility will be able to create a wide variety of sizing and shaping without any waste. Finished material will range from 5um to 50um with fairly equal size distribution. Purity range will run from 98.75%gc to 99.999%gc depending on the customer specification. No harsh chemicals are used to increase the purity. This ensures that the high order of carbon is maintained. Carbon coating is accomplished by either high heat furnace or electrical magnetic inclusion.

Paul Ogilvie, CEO, commented: This project is well underway. We hope to be commissioning in the coming weeks and ready for sample runs in late November. The facility will also be a for-hire mill, and we will encourage other companies to hire us to work with their material.

David Salari, P.Eng., CEO, of D.E.N.M. Engineering Ltd. commented: It is a real pleasure to be building this processing facility within a city instead of hundreds of kilometres from civilization. The design and layout has offered unique challenges, but also created a very logical plug and play batch scenario. The team looks forward to laboratory commissioning and production of the final product.

Most of the large pieces of equipment have been commissioned; re-worked or custom built and have been delivered. The major electrical upgrades are complete and on plan. There are still a few minor pieces of equipment either on route for delivery or being sourced. The lab features SEM (scanning electron microscope), laser particle diffraction, etc. The finished lab will also have pilot scale graphene production and anode assembly for material testing. Once the facility is complete in the coming weeks, the Company will be offering tours and demonstrations to; industry, the universities, government bodies and customers. The website will host many photographs and the technical details. The Company over the last four years through private placements has funded the project from; design inception, equipment design, material testing, engineering, outsource product development, etc. The estimated investment so far is approximately $2,000,000.00.

About Saint Jean Carbon

Saint Jean is a publicly traded carbon science company, with specific interests in energy storage and green energy creation and green re-creation, with holdings in graphite mining and lithium claims in the province of Quebec in Canada. For the latest information on Saint Jeans properties and news please refer to the website: http://www.saintjeancarbon.com/

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Saint Jean Carbon Inc.

Paul Ogilvie, CEO and Director

Information Contact :

Email: info@saintjeancarbon.com

Tel: (905) 844-1200

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, concerning Saint Jeans business and affairs. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as plans, expects or does not expect, intends budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved.

These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, and are naturally subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances that may cause actual results to differ materially. The forward-looking statements in this news release assume, inter alia, that the conditions for completion of the Transaction, including regulatory and shareholder approvals, if necessary, will be met.

Although Saint Jean believes that the expectations represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that these expectations will prove to be correct.

Statements of past performance should not be construed as an indication of future performance. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors, including those discussed above, could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Any such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information is provided as of the date of this press release, and Saint Jean assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

Bankers Hall West Tower

Suite 1000, 888 - 3rd St S.W

Calgary, AB T2P 5C5

P: (403)-444-6888 F: (403)-295-9170

Email: info@saintjeancarbon.com

Web: www.saintjeancarbon.com
kinjiGC wrote:

AbhiJ wrote: At the annual stockholders meeting, investors heard a presentation on the numerous challenges facing the company, including among them the threat from a rivals multibillion-dollar patent infringement suit and the declining sales for the companys powerful microprocessor chip.

A. including among them the threat from a rivals multibillion-dollar patent-infringement suit and the declining sales for

B. which includes the threat of a rivals multibillion-dollar patent-infringement suit and declining sales of

C. included among these the threat from a rivals multibillion-dollar patent-infringement suit as well as a decline in sales for

D. among them the threat of a rivals multibillion-dollar patent-infringement suit and the decline in sales of

E. among these the threat from a rivals multibillion-dollar patent-infringement suit as well as the decline in sales for



Can some one explain what type of modifier is used in the correct option and some other usages of this type modifier.



Meaning : At the annual SHM investors heard numerous challenges. Among those challenges were two challenges : threat from a rival's MDPI and decline in sales of company's powerful microprocessor chip.



verbing modifier should modify the preceding clause and should make sense with the subject of the preceding clause. Here including modifies the challenges and doesn't fit well with "investors" subject of the preceding clause.

A. including among them the threat from a rivals multibillion-dollar patent-infringement suit and the declining sales for

Rejecting the option A for the above reason and also sales of instead of "for".



B. which includes the threat of a rivals multibillion-dollar patent-infringement suit and declining sales of

which should replace challenges and includes has SV issue



C. included among these the threat from a rivals multibillion-dollar patent-infringement suit as well as a decline in sales for

included should modify the closest noun "challenges" that is correct. "included among these" construction doesn't seem correct. sales of should be used instead of "for".



D. among them the threat of a rivals multibillion-dollar patent-infringement suit and the decline in sales of

This looks the least of the devil.



E. among these the threat from a rivals multibillion-dollar patent-infringement suit as well as the decline in sales for

"sales for" is the issue.



Doubts:

1) Any issue in "among them" and "among these"?

2) them should refer to the animate pronouns. Isn't it?

3) Any other errors? Meaning : At the annual SHM investors heard numerous challenges. Among those challenges were two challenges : threat from a rival's MDPI and decline in sales of company's powerful microprocessor chip.verbing modifier should modify the preceding clause and should make sense with the subject of the preceding clause. Here including modifies the challenges and doesn't fit well with "investors" subject of the preceding clause.A. including among them the threat from a rivals multibillion-dollar patent-infringement suit and the declining sales forRejecting the option A for the above reason and also sales of instead of "for".B. whichthe threat of a rivals multibillion-dollar patent-infringement suit and declining sales ofwhich should replace challenges and includes has SV issueC. included among these the threat from a rivals multibillion-dollar patent-infringement suit as well as a decline in salesincluded should modify the closest noun "challenges" that is correct. "included among these" construction doesn't seem correct. sales of should be used instead of "for".D. among them the threat of a rivals multibillion-dollar patent-infringement suit and the decline in sales ofThis looks the least of the devil.E. among these the threat from a rivals multibillion-dollar patent-infringement suit as well as the decline in sales"sales for" is the issue.Doubts:1) Any issue in "among them" and "among these"?2) them should refer to the animate pronouns. Isn't it?3) Any other errors?

Choice A

Choice B

Choice C

Choice D

Choice E

Hi kinjiGC,Thanks for posting your doubt here.It is true that "comma + verb-ing modifier" modifies the preceding action and must make sense with the doer of the modified action. However, "including" is an exception to this rule. Preceded or not preceded by a comma, "including" ALWAYS modifies a noun entity. In this sentence, "including" modifies "the numerous challenges" because what follows "including" are some of the challenges that the company faced.Hence,is not incorrect from "comma + including". It is incorrect, as you have already mentioned, for the use of preposition "for" after "the declining sales" and use of preposition "from" after "threat". The correct preposition in the context of this sentence will be "threat of".- Again, there is no problem with the modification of "which" here because "facing the company" is a noun modifier that modifies "the numerous challenges" and cannot be placed anywhere. So "which" can jump over this modifier and correctly modify "challenges". But yes, singular Verb "includes" does not agrre in number with plural Subject "challenges".: Again, "included" in this choice is not incorrect for the same reason already explained in Choice B. "these" is demonstrative pronoun and must be followed by a noun. Per the context of the sentence, "these" should be followed by "challenges". But it is not. Hence, use of "these" is incorrect. This choice also repeats both teh incorrect prepositions of Choice A.: This choice is correct. Here, "among them...." is a Noun Modifier that correctly modifies "the numerous challenges". Note that "them" can be used to refer to animate as well as inanimate objects.: This Choice repeats the "these" error of Choice C and the preposition errors of Choice A.All your doubts have been addressed in the analysis here. Please study them well, compare it to your analysis, and understand what all you possibly missed in your analysis.Hope this helps.Thanks.SJ_________________
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Guwahati, Nov 17 (IBNS): Closing ceremony for the 7th Indo-Bangladesh joint exercise SAMPRITI was held at Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School, Vairengte, Mizoram on Friday.

Exercise SAMPRITI is an important bilateral defence cooperation endeavour between India and Bangladesh.

Major General Md Moshfequr Rahman of Bangladesh Army and Major General MS Ghura of the Indian Army presided over the ceremony.

Kohima based Defence PRO Colonel Chiranjeet Konwer said that, the exercise aimed to strengthen and broaden the aspects of interoperability and cooperation between the Indian and Bangladesh Armies while working together in a Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism environment under the UN mandate.

Exercise was conducted under the aegis of the Red Horns Division of Gajraj Corps and had two distinct components which included Command Post Exercise (CPX) and Field Training Exercise (FTX). Troops from 38 East Bengal Regiment of Bangladesh Army and Mahar Regiment of Indian Army represented respective armies during the exercise," Colonel Konwer said.

The CPX was conducted at recently created Joint Training Node, Umroi, Meghalaya from November 6 to November 11 over six days whereas FTX was conducted at Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School, Vairengte, Mizoram from November 6, over a period of 13 days. CPX focused on planning of Counter Terrorist operations whereas during FTX focus was on company, platoon level tactical drills. A tactical exercise was also conducted during the FTX. Both contingents displayed great enthusiasm and professionalism while carrying out joint drills and skill displays during the conduct of exercise and it was a great learning experience for both the contingents, said he.

The troops have not only learnt about each others organization, but have also identified best practices.

Joint Exercises between Armies across the world are increasingly becoming an important aspect of the bilateral relations.

Exercise SAMPRITI between the armies of India & Bangladesh was not only symbolic of their maturing relationship but will also built trust and confidence between both Armies.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)




[These funds well] help us meet urgent needs of refugees, returnees and local populations when our humanitarian appeal is seriously underfunded, said Stephen Tull, the Humanitarian Coordinator in the African nation.



To date, less than 40 per cent of the requirements have been met at national level [and the allocation will] support a new joint programme of assistance, he added.



The latest allocation follows an earlier release of $10 million in September last year in the same region to cover the priority needs of the most vulnerable communities. In 2017, the provinces of Moyen-Chari, Mandoul, Logone Oriental and Logone Occidental witnessed several new populations influxes, compounding the crisis.



The situation was further complicated by the gradual withdrawal of humanitarian partners due to an increased lack of funding.



The latest batch of resources will help provide multi-sectoral emergency assistance through multi-purpose cash transfers, and contribute to strengthening basic social services, food security, protection, shelter and livelihoods. Funds will also support nutrition, health and education programmes.



About 14 per cent of the allocation will also be used by the UN Humanitarian Air Services (UNHAS) services to maintain humanitarian access throughout the country.



However, in spite of the additional funds, the needs remain daunting.



According to Florent Mehaule, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Chad, further support remains critical to help the 866,000 people in need of emergency assistance.



This funding will only cover a fraction of the needs, he added, underscoring that increased involvement of development actors and of the Government to support and complement the efforts of the humanitarian community and help reinforce the resilience of affected populations.



Established by the UN General Assembly in 2006, CERF is a humanitarian funding mechanism managed by OCHA, on behalf of the UN Secretary-General. It enables a faster and more effective response to vital needs of people affected by natural disasters, armed conflicts, or under-funded crises.



Since 2006, the Fund has provided $173 million to aid programmes in Chad and is the third largest humanitarian donor in the country.



Photo: WFP/Marco Frattini



Source: www.justearthnews.com








New York, Nov 18(Just Earth News): Over the past 10 days, dozens of makeshift rafts carrying more than a thousand people have floated into Bangladesh, proof that Rohingya refugees are resorting to increasingly desperate means to flee to Myanmar, the United Nations refugee agency said on Friday.

Unable to pay for the crossing, refugees are building rafts from whatever material they can get their hands on  mostly bamboo poles and empty jerry cans tied together with rope and covered with plastic sheets, William Spindler, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters at the regular press briefing in Geneva.

Using paddles made of bamboo and plastic debris some of these rafts made it to Shahporir Dwip in Bangladesh, a journey of about four hours, he added, pointing out that the Naf river estuary between the two countries is about three kilometres wide at this point.

According to Spindler, more than 100 Rohingya refugees are known to have drowned in shipwrecks and boat incidents since the start of the crisis on 25 August, and recent arrivals said they had been waiting for more than a month in desperate conditions on Myanmar' shores with food and water running low.

An estimated 620,000 Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh since 25 August, the UNHCR spokesperson explained. The Kutupalong Extension site alone, which was set up soon after the influx began, is now highly congested sheltering some 335,000 new arrivals  more than half of the influx so far.

Citing UN Habitat data that Dhaka's population density is 44,500 people per square kilometre, UNHCR said 13 out of 20 blocks in the Kutupalong Extension area are more densely populated than parts of the Bangladesh capital city, with an area known as Block CC sheltering more than 95,000 people per square kilometre.

Despite concerted efforts to deliver more aid and services, the overcrowding and difficult living conditions in the camps and makeshift sites increase health, sanitation and fire risks as well as violence and trafficking, stressed Spindler.

Additional land and more space for shelters and infrastructure are needed urgently to provide life-saving services and aid, including water points, latrines and spaces for women and girls.

As high population density also escalates risks, particularly for sexual and gender based violence (SGBV), UNHCR is engaging all segments of the refugee communities to raise awareness.

Together with our partners, we are working to put in place referral pathways for women, survivors of SGBV, as well as safe spaces for women and girls, said Spindler.

Solar-powered healthcare

Meanwhile, the UN International Organization for (IOM) is using solar energy to power its health posts in Kutupalong and Balukali makeshift settlements  now home to an estimated 440,000 Rohingya refugees.

As the demand for our healthcare services increases, solar-powered lighting means we can provide round the clock emergency consultations and medicine distributions, said Mariam Abdelkerim-Spijkerman, the IOM Emergency Health Officer in Cox's Bazar.

Prior to the latest refugee influx, in close collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Bangladeshi Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, IOM had been coordinating aid work in the health sector.

As people continue to flood into the settlements, pressure on the health sector has steadily risen.

The health needs of the refugees are immense - providing 24-hour lighting helps save lives, explained Abdelkerim-Spijkerman.

Photo: UNHCR/Andrew McConnell

Source: www.justearthnews.com
On Thursday, Reuters described some of the latest such efforts coming from the Saudi capital of Riyadh. The report quotes Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir as emphasizing that recent Saudi measures are justified by the aggression that remains on display in the actions of its chief regional rival. Any way you look at it, they are the ones who are acting in an aggressive manner, he said. We are reacting to that aggression and saying, Enough is enough. Were not going to let you do this anymore.

These remarks follow two new sources of conflict that emerged this month. Firstly, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen launched a missile that penetrated more deeply into Saudi territory than any other since the beginning of the more than two-year civil war, which sees a Saudi-led coalition supporting the exiled president Abed Rabu Mansour Hadi. After destroying the missile near King Khaled International Airport, the Saudis laid blame for the attack on the Iranians, who had previously been caught smuggling arms to the Houthi as well as helping to boost the missile range of other regional terrorist groups including Hezbollah.

That Lebanese militant organization was also the partial focus of the second source of conflict, namely the surprise resignation of Lebanons President Saad Hariri. The Saudi-backed official announced his resignation after traveling to Riyadh, where he still remains. His message described threats of assassination presumably originating from Hezbollah, which wields considerable political power and has long functioned as an arm of Iranian policy in the country on the eastern Mediterranean coast.

In his statement on Thursday, Jubeir said that Hezbollah must disarm and restrict its role to that of a political party. He added that Saudi Arabia was consulting with its allies to determine how to fulfill this goal and prevent Hezbollah from furthering Irans imperial aims across the Middle East. Many countries of the region are being challenged to take sides in the growing tensions between the two leading regional powers. A few, including Qatar, are stuck squarely in the Middle.

Saudi Arabia and some of its allies have been working to keep Qatar isolated in the hope of compelling it disavow former ties to Iran and come fully on board with a plan by fellow Sunni Arab states to counter the adventurism of the Persian Shiite theocracy. But so far this has reportedly encouraged the government of Qatar to drift closer to Iran while looking to it to compensate for some of the lost goods and revenue that used to come from Arab neighbors.

Some Saudi allies have refused to commit to the punishment of Qatar. Others, like Egypt, have participated in that action but have showed reticence toward other Saudi efforts to strike back against perceived Iranian aggression. The Associated Press published an article on Thursday that detailed the Egyptian governments particular efforts to stand alongside Saudi Arabia while also discouraging the ongoing escalation of tensions with Iran.

This naturally raises questions about whether and to what extent Egypt and Arab governments will support Saudi efforts to contain Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies. In fact, the AP report quoted Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi as saying that the Middle East has enough instability and challenges as it is, without courting a conflict centered on Hezbollah or Tehran. But this is not to say that Sissis government will not support targeted measures to exert pressure on Hezbollah without openly inviting real conflict. Furthermore, some regional powers may not even be inclined to impose such limits on Saudi ambitions. And somewhat surprisingly, not all such potential allies are Arab.

Newsweek ran a story on Thursday that called renewed attention the growing cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Israel, based upon their mutual anxiety over the growth of Iranian influence in the region. The article described the first ever interview with an Arabic-language newspaper by Gadi Eisenkot, the chief of staff of the Israeli military. In it, he made an unprecedented declaration of willingness to coordinate with the Saudi kingdom, offering to share any information that advances the two countries common interests.

Eisenkot highlighted some of these common interests by calling for Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies to leave Syria. At the same time, Hezbollah and its supporters have similarly identified Saudi-Israeli common interests and have used them to suggest that the resignation of the Saudi-backed Prime Minister of Lebanon was a possible precursor to Israel launching an attack on Hezbollah. For his part, Eisenkot denied that Israel had any intention of launching such an attack, but he added, We will not accept there being any strategic threat to Israel.

Israel considers Iran to be not only a strategic threat but an existential one. And Hezbollah, being so close to the Jewish state, is a major factor in that threat. But similar, even if less dire threats are recognized by many governments both in the Middle East and the West. On Thursday, the Washington Examiner published an article suggesting that this recognition is leading to broad coordination of pressures against Hezbollah, which could ultimately unravel Irans Middle East ambitions.

The article described Hariris resignation as a serious blow to claims of legitimacy by Hezbollah, which had effectively given control of Lebanon to Iran over the previous two years. In the wake of that power shift, the US has moved to expand sanctions on the terrorist organization, and the Examiner suggests that this could support the emerging efforts by Saudi Arabia and its neighbors to diminish Hezbollahs power. Furthermore, these efforts have seen thinly-veiled declarations of support from elsewhere in the West, as when French President Emmanuel Macron spoke in Riyadh to demand a very demanding stance on those who could threaten any leader.

Macrons show of support for Saudi Arabia also extended to the other issue contributing to the recent escalation in Iranian-Saudi tensions: the development and exportation of Iranian missile technology. Reuters reported on Wednesday that the French government had called for an uncompromising dialogue with Iran over its ballistic missile program, possibly leading to a separate agreement to impose limits on that program.

However, the same report indicated not only that Iran had rejected this call but also that the European Union as a whole had contradicted Frances position while remaining more focused on the preservation of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. This goes to show that while many forces are lining up in opposition to the expansion of Iranian influence, there is some distance to go before consensus is reached either in the Middle East or among Western powers.
This situation persists in spite of the fact that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani personally visited affected areas to oversee the relief effort. UPI reported upon Rouhanis tour of the apparently worst-hit province of Kermanshah and noted that he had promised residents his government would do everything in its power to alleviate their suffering and to return water and power to the region.

But a Reuters report on Thursday indicated that hardline opponents of the Rouhani administration had used their own media outlets to attack the government over its response to the disaster. Relying on more sympathetic state-affiliated media outlets, the administration has attempted to portray the relief effort as successful and already adequate in scope, but such accounts appear to be at odds with the facts on the ground and aimed mainly at countering propaganda on the other side.

As Reuters noted, this war of words in the Iranian media seems to suggest that the earthquake has opened up a new front in the conflict between rival political factions. And insofar as those factions are actively opposing each other in their provision of information to the public, it is not unreasonable to assume that they may be standing in the way of each others relief efforts.

As was previously reported, the hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had assumed broad authority to lead the relief efforts in Kermanshah and elsewhere. Now, with Rouhani personally on the scene, the paramilitary organization is apparently striving to promote public awareness of its own relief efforts while blaming widely recognized deficiencies on government entities that are closer to the president.

Meanwhile, Rouhani has seized upon the opportunity to raise questions about the scale of the devastation, which may be attributable in large part to the wide-ranging influence of the IRGC over building projects throughout the country. In recent years, Iran has been implementing a strategy of economic privatization that has frequently served only to shift economic interests out of the hands of state institutions and into the hands of front companies for the IRGC, which increasingly has the appearance of a parallel state structure.

Its clear there has been corruption in construction contracts, Rouhani said on Wednesday, according to the Reuters report. He declined to directly name the powerful IRGC, but he did call attention to the fact that many buildings that had completely collapsed during the earthquake were erected as parts of projects spearheaded by Rouhanis predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose presidency was closely allied with the IRGC and who had personally served as a Guard.

Anyone responsible will be punished, Rouhani added. It was not immediately clear whether this threat was backed up by a concrete plan, but the Christian Science Monitor reported that the president had called for an investigation into why state-constructed buildings collapsed so readily. However, the governments commitment to such an inquiry is questionable in light of the fact that the earthquake was not the first sign of shoddy construction in those government projects.

The CS Monitor report noted that Ahmadinejad-sponsored buildings had been criticized while construction was still ongoing, precisely for the reason that the lack of adequate standards in some two million units could lead to catastrophe in the wake of an earthquake or other natural or man-made disaster. Not only did these criticisms fall on deaf ears at the time, they were apparently forgotten by the time Rouhani took office.

Furthermore, wire re-published an interview with earthquake expert James Jackson in the wake of Sundays disaster. In it, the Cambridge University professor and frequent traveler to Iran said that the opportunity for that country to address problems of vulnerability to earthquakes is often missed after a relatively short period of public outcry. Jackson added that this problem is exacerbated by Irans largely self-imposed political and cultural isolation, which makes it difficult for Iranian citizens to learn what they might do to help improve outlook for disaster-prone cities.

That same isolation may also diminish the likelihood of Iran accepting assistance or advice from the international community. Indeed, recent reports of the relief effort indicate that the government has turned down offers of help. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif thanked the international community but said on Twitter, For now we are able to manage with our own resources.

This, of course, contradicts the widespread reports of inadequate government aid. And while this in turn plays into the criticism being pushed by the IRGC, the acceptance of foreign aid would contribute to a larger set of hardline talking points that characterize the Rouhani administration as weak and insufficiently committed to the Islamic Revolution on account of its diplomatic outreach to the international community. In 2015, that outreach led to the nuclear agreement that freed Iran from myriad economic sanctions, but the administration has done little since then to support Western expectations of broader rapprochement.

This is only one of many trends that has undermined Rouhanis image as a moderate. Despite clear contests between his faction and the faction linked to the IRGC and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the president has backed away from numerous promises of domestic reform and has demonstrated consistent alignment with hardline positions. This naturally calls into question the seriousness of his promise to investigate the corrupt that led to this weeks building collapses, or at least the likelihood of such an investigation affecting the IRGCs hold on Iranian commerce, including building contracts.

In response to past scandals, the government has prosecuted individual officials from previous governments, sometimes even sentencing them to death. But in no prominent case has this led to a broader investigation into state institutions or their affiliates, despite widespread reporting that points to endemic corruption among IRGC members and others.
The Trump administration has also designated the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. Reportedly, the international community desires European governments to back the blacklisting.

Firouz Mahvi, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has said, The situation of human rights in Iran is very bad. Many prisoners are executed in Iran, which according to Amnesty International, if we exclude China, more than 55% of the executions in the world took place in Iran under the presidency of Hassan Rouhani. Then Mahvi asked, So we should ask the European governments how can you have a normal relations with a government whose minister of justice is in the EU black list for human rights violations?

Additionally, Els Van Hoof, a member of Foreign Affairs Committee in the Belgian Parliament at a conference for the Belgian Committee of Parliamentarians and Mayors for a Democratic Iran states, Women are the most repressed in Iran. Thousands of female political prisoners have been executed by this regime only for refusing to accept the despotic rule of the mullahs. Many women suffer today in Iranian jails for speaking out for their rights.

He added, On the other hand, I wish to express my deep disappointment of the attitude of the EU and especially Federica Mogherini. She ignores repression against women in Iran and even went to Iran to take part in the ceremony for the second term of Rouhani. Such a policy of closing the eyes to human rights violations and the repression of women in Iran cannot be justified because Europeans want to do business with Iran. According to Van Hoof, Europe should insist that expansion of their relationship with Iran should be conditioned to include a suspension of executions and measurable markers being achieved in relation to human rights and womens rights.

The IRGC is believed to run most of Irans economy, through the control of companies both directly and indirectly, yet some European leaders encourage companies to invest in Iran, thus funding the IRGC and the regimes activities. Regarding this, many have been critical of Federica Mogherinis active relationship with Iran, despite the regimes continued torture of political prisoners and lack of judicial due process.

For example, An Capoen, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Belgian Parliament has said, I am deeply worried about the continuous human rights violations in Iran. We are now at the beginning of the 2nd term of Rouhani as president. He again became president after an unopposed election, which at least brings some questions. Even though Rouhani is considered a moderate in the West it is a fact that his first term more than 3000 people were hanged. This makes Iran the highest number of executions in the world, per capita. Capoen continued, That is why I am confused and very frustrated, about the way Mrs. Mogherini is dealing with Iran. She encourages people to invest in Iran and in the meantime, remains silent about the human rights violations and repression of women in Iran. This silence by EUs foreign policy chief, is extremely damaging for the reputation of Europe and is in the benefit of the theocratic state of the mullahs who become encouraged to carry on their repressive rule.

Although the regime has attempted to appear more moderate, has not really changed its leadership in the past 30 years, as noted by Capoen.

So, while the US is saying no more to the Iranian regime, Europe appears content to continue the appeasement policy.
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Bahrains capital city Manama has been named the best city by world citizens in the Expat Inside 2017 Survey where the Bahraini capital scores points in Quality of Urban Living, Getting Settled, Urban Work Life, and Finance & Housing indices.

Manama tops the rankings involving 51 global cities voted by 7,985 respondents selected in 40 countries.

The city is believed easy to live in without speaking any local language, giving it a high score in the Getting Settled Index.

88 per cent of respondents agree that it is easy to find an accommodation in the Bahraini capital where access to finance is also easy.

Expats in Bahrains capital are twice as likely to have an annual household income of over 200,000 USD as respondents worldwide (11% vs. 5%). This might be connected to the fact that they are also twice as likely to work in management (31% vs. 14%), the report says.

Expats suggest that it is not a big deal to find a job or start a career in Manama. 27 per cent of expats say they primarily moved to the Gulf city because they found a job.

On the Urban Work Life, the city is ranked 12th out of the 51 cities.

Manama outdoes Prague, Madrid and Kuala Lumpur ranking respectively 2nd, 3rd and 4th.

Other regional cities such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Muscat and Riyadh are ranked respectively 15th, 17th, 45th, 12th, 48th.

The Saudi second city Jeddah features among the three bottom cities along with Lagos and Paris.
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United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Russia cast a second veto in as many days at the United Nations Security Council on Friday to block the renewal of a probe to identify the perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

A draft resolution put forward by Japan would have extended the UN-led Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) for 30 days to allow time for negotiations on a wider compromise.

But Russia used its veto power to prevent adoption after 12 council members voted in favor of the measure, effectively ending the mission. China abstained, while Bolivia voted no.

It was the 11th time that Russia has used its veto power to stop council action targeting its ally Syria.

"Russia is wasting our time," US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the council after the vote. "Russia has no interest in finding ground with the rest of this council to save the JIM."

"Russia will not agree to any mechanism that might shine a spotlight on the use of chemical weapons by its ally, the Syrian regime," she said.

"It's as simple and shameful as that."

A resolution requires nine votes to be adopted at the council, but five countries -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- can block adoption with their veto power.

Japan put its proposal forward after Russia on Thursday vetoed a US-drafted resolution that would have allowed the expert investigators to continue their work for a year.

A separate Russian draft resolution that called for changes to the JIM failed to garner enough support, with just four votes in favor.

"Any extension of the JIM's mandate for us is possible only provided fundamental flaws in its work are rectified," said Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia.

- Fictitious investigation -

The Russian ambassador accused the JIM's leadership of having "disgraced itself with its fictitious investigation" of the sarin gas attack at the opposition-held village of Khan Sheikhun.

Story continues

The panel "signed its name on baseless accusations against Syria," he charged.

In a report last month, the JIM concluded that the Syrian air force had dropped the deadly nerve agent on Khan Sheikhun, leaving scores dead.

The April 4 attack triggered global outrage as images of dying children were shown worldwide, prompting the United States to launch missile strikes on a Syrian air base days later.

After the veto, the council met behind closed doors at Sweden's request to hear another appeal for a temporary extension, but Russia again refused, diplomats said.

Swedish Ambassador Olof Skoog said council members must "make sure that we are absolutely convinced that we have exhausted every avenue, every effort before the mandate of the JIM expires tonight."

Italian Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi, who holds the presidency, told reporters after the meeting that the council "will continue to work in the coming hours and days constructively to find a common position."

The final efforts turned to finding some technical ruse that would have allowed the JIM to avoid shutting down and would not require a resolution, diplomats said.

UN officials confirmed late Friday that the panel would end its work at midnight (0500 GMT Saturday) as there was no decision from the council to keep it in place.

The row over the chemical weapons inquiry came as the United Nations was preparing a new round of peace talks to open on November 28 in Geneva to try to end the six-year war.

The joint UN-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) panel was set up by Russia and the United States in 2015 and unanimously endorsed by the council, which renewed its mandate last year.

Previous reports by the JIM have found that Syrian government forces were responsible for chlorine attacks on three villages in 2014 and 2015, and that the Islamic State group used mustard gas in 2015.
This is just so heartbreaking. This show got me through my teens and just knowing that these women were suffering behind the scenes makes me want to cry. They are so brave for coming forward.

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wow this is so fucked up. I feel so bad for hilarie and everyone else. I wonder if this is why she left the show? honestly now that she points it out I totally get the thing about her being his muse, he always seemed weirdly obsessed with peytons character. ugh

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Yes she states in the article that WB was going to give her a huge raise for season 7 but she didnt want to continue cause of his behavior. She also didnt want to complain to WB because she still wanted to work with them and didnt want to be seen as difficult

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yeah she said that's why she left the show as soon as her contract was up. she turned down a big pay rise to get out.

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In 2006, Schwahn invited Burton and Ackles to attend an outdoor concert with him and his wife. I thought, Oh, well, his wifes coming, Burton said. Great. Maybe theres nothing going on and Im being paranoid. But at the show, Burton said, Schwahn, with one arm around his wife, put the hand of his other arm on the small of Burtons back and slid his hand beneath the waistband of her pants. Burton said that she eventually excused herself to get a drink. Ackles confirmed that she saw Schwahn slide his hand into Burtons pants.

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Burton described a pattern of behavior in which Schwahn would allegedly manipulate female cast members by playing them against each other



Sophia had a strained relationship with Hilarie and Bethany for quite some time especially after her divorce from CMM. It would not surprise me if Mark had anything to do with that.

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mte. :( it also makes me wonder if he pitted the women on-screen against each other for his own gain too.

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I am sure he did. The environment on set became really toxic. It was very clear that Mark and Sophia did NOT get along. Chad also cheated on her with extras and what not. It basically became Sophia vs Chad for some time because people on set did know that he was fucking around on her.

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Yeah, I the gossip that "Bethany and Hilarie took Chads side" after the divorce. Fans were so nasty to Sophia it was disgusting. To know that Mark actively pitted the three women against eachother is so vile.

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He probably did. From what it looks like now, they seem to be decent friends. Or at least friendly to each other.

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wow, never knew that and I was really into oth at that time, though I didn't frequent forums or anything like that. glad that they are all tight now and supportive and hilarie and sophia seem super close now or have been for the past few years, they both left the sweetest bday messages for each other and ofc i love that all the oth actresses are supportive of each other.



ughh fuck mark

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I think he abused Sophia a lot more than we know or think...:((

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even before all of this being revealed I'd rewatch OTH and did notice how sexualized Peyton became vs the character she once was in early seasons. also that whole plot with the guy pretending to be her brother was fucked up and now I think that shit was part of Mark's abusive fantasy. I just double checked and that was all written by him.

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Mark was always weirdly obsessed with Hilarie's character. I really think he played out all of his own fantasies through the show.

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ita. And the more you think about it with plotlines like this through the male gaze, the more uncomfortable and gross the industry seems. We consume so much of film/tv without realizing that some of these plots with violence against women are just male writers trying to live out their abusive fantasies. I often think about this when I watch shows like Mindhunter.



It's why it's so important women get opportunities. I think it's why I love Halt & Catch Fire so much bc women get to write and direct and you see how beneficial that is to both the quality of the show and for the viewers.

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MTE, it was obvious to me from the very beginning, sadly. He gave me the sicko vibe.

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he did that same plot pretty much with brooke twice and quinn once too. i used to think it was kind of ~empowering to see them take back control and get justice in the show, but now it just seems creepy.

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I shudder when I think back at all the plots dealing with abuse and assault. Mark even inserted himself into the show to have scenes with Hilarie, disgusting.

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Goddamn poor Hilarie.

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I felt sick reading that whole thing. I can't imagine going through that for years. They are so, so brave for putting all those horrifying details out there for everyone to see.

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Also, Hilarie was married to the son of the executive producer and that still didn't protect her. Women are NEVER safe.

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I just finished reading this and hoped it was posted here. How heartbreaking for those women. He is such a disgusting piece of shit. I loved OTH and to think that all this was going on behind the scenes is just terrible. Reading about how it has affected Hillarie, I wanted to cry for her.

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I feel so bad for hating Peyton

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Ha, I had love and hate for her at different times. I always had a soft spot for Hillarie, though since her VJ days.

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same :(

my hatred never spilled over to hating hilarie, but i definitely hated peyton back in the day



now i just feel bad knowing everything hilarie went through

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Me too. I just hated how the show became so focused on her.

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tbh she was a controversial character and no one knew what was happening behind the scenes but i could never hate her mostly because i still enjoyed the brooke/peyton bff scenes despite everything that happened. and i thought peyton as character had more potential. go figure mark only saw her for one thing though and by the end it just seem like character was tied to lucas when it was never like that. i think as long as the hate never spilled over to hating the actress that's fine because a lot of brooke fans were so ott in their hate that it spilled over to hilarie and i think towards the end iirc sophia had to tell her fans to stop.



Edited at 2017-11-18 02:10 pm (UTC)

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I feel so bad that they had to go through any of that. How horrible. :(

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this made my stomach turn and my eyes well up. i hate that a show i loved because of the female cast is tainted by the man behind it being a monster to them.

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mte

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delete all men



also OT but whatever happened to sharktoothdecay?

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I was just thinking about them!

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the last time i remember her being around was when vehiclesshockme snapped at her and then deleted/took a break themselves.

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Piggybacking off your comment to ask: what happened to wavvy?

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honestly no clue. wavvy just stopped posting and haven't even seen them on werebel. had no clue they deleted.

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and like right before reputation's release lmao

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She verbally abused me and was banned from the site as she had been previously banned before over viciously attacking people. I wish her all the best and hope she has found some semblance of stability and a life now.

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Where did dangerbuffalo go??

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they were banned. but they were lurking here for a long time and sending PMs to people as replies to their comments under a diff username

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bury him. this was trash too idg how some of these people keep getting hired to make these awful shows with middling ratings

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Trump

Trump

LATEST: Approx. 5,000 barrels of oil leaked from the Keystone pipeline in South Dakota; leak "completely isolated within 15 minutes and emergency response procedures were activated," TransCanada says. pic.twitter.com/r9faencTXJ  ABC News (@ABC) November 16, 2017

Image of Amherst incident taken earlier today by aerial patrol as part of our initial response. For more updates, visit https://t.co/8yWI1Oq2EM pic.twitter.com/uRNtYUdVjL  TransCanada (@TransCanada) November 16, 2017

Here is a view from above at the site of the Keystone Pipeline oil leak near Amherst. https://t.co/tcN7HI7rAY For more on the story be sure to follow @smarvel_AAN pic.twitter.com/M9nBeqfriG  John Davis (@jdavis_AAN) November 17, 2017

This is the THIRD oil spill on @TransCanada Keystone 1 pipeline! The last was 300 gallons & took MONTHS to clean. Imagine 200 THOUSAND!  Dallas Goldtooth (@dallasgoldtooth) November 16, 2017

Nebraska official says oil spill wont factor into regulators upcoming decision on the Keystone expansion because pipeline safety is a federal responsibility. https://t.co/0FPm4EKnjC  AP Central U.S. (@APCentralRegion) November 17, 2017

Latest Press Release from Sisseton Wahpeton Tribal Chairman Dave Flute about the Keystone Pipeline leak. pic.twitter.com/TShcCWdFuX  Ruth H. Hopkins (@RuthHHopkins) November 17, 2017

Hundreds streaming out of US fossil fuel event (right). Singing & chanting. I hear room is empty #COP23 #WeThePeople pic.twitter.com/M9Yrv6pcmK  Leehi Yona (@LeehiYona) November 13, 2017

Trump

Fiona Apple is rightfully furious at the most recent oil spill where TransCanada's Keystone 1 pipeline leaked 210,000 gallons of oil (that's 795,000 litres) onto agricultural land in Amherst, SD. Since of course there is a tweet for everything, Fiona addresses a particular one he made in 2015 rebuking superior president Obama's rejection of the Keystone XL project (whichhas since green-lit).Fiona has previously performed her anti- Christmas carol at a Standing Rock benefit concert.She also released a " Tiny Hands " chant for the Women's March. TransCanada said it has contained the leak, emergency response underway for clean up, and is investigating the cause. The last time it spilled 400 barrels of oil, it took around 10 months to clean up. That's significantly smaller than 210K. Pipeline will be shut until it gets approval to restart from the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Spill comes just days before Nebraska will decide on permits for the Keystone XL line. Keystone leak won't affect Nebraska ruling because regulators can't consider pipeline safety. The spill was 15 miles west of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Nation in NE South Dakota. The native American tribe is concerned about environmental impact, and if their water source will be contaminated. They offer their assistance in cleanup even though they oppose the pipeline. When water protectors fought for our clean water ( #NoDAPL #NoKXL ), they had the national guard activated against them, were shot at, were sprayed with water cannons in below freezing weather, arrested and put in cages, had attack dogs unleashed on them, and still have ridiculous charges against them. Pipeline developers are silencing and punishing protesters even suing groups like Greenpeace & Earth First for $300 million. Indigenous-led groups are still fighting. #DivestTheGlobe protests are urging banks to cut ties with fossil fuels and having success. They were also very loud and active at the most recent climate conference #COP23 , where thesent officials to praise fossil fuels!! Side note: Senate has moved forward with legislation that opens up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
With health insurance premium payments piling up after she had surgery on both ankles, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student Amber Brewer visited the Norris Health Center on campus this fall to see what they could do to help her. As a biomedical sciences major, she faced a busy semester of clinical work ahead and knew she would probably have to quit her job at the Blood Center of Wisconsin and look for a different position with fewer hours.

Her outlook changed, however, when she saw a flier at the health center for the Dash Emergency Grant, one-time assistance for students facing a financial dilemma. She went to student services, met with a counselor and just a few days later received $1,000, enough to pay her health insurance with some left over for her electric bill.

Brewer is among the first four-year college students in Wisconsin to benefit from the Dash Emergency Grant program funded by the Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corp., a nonprofit student loan servicer based in Madison. First offered in 2012 to students at the states 16 two-year technical colleges and other two-year institutions around the Midwest, the program has had success in helping retain students who otherwise might drop out due to financial concerns. This semester it was expanded to students at UW-Milwaukee, Mount Mary University, Alverno College and Cardinal Stritch University.

The grant is often distributed in amounts of $500 and $1,000, and students must apply through an advisor at their school, according to Ben Dobner, director of education grant making at Great Lakes. He said most students who receive the grant use the money for transportation purposes, such as getting a car fixed, or rent and utilities.

Alverno student Jieneen Metcalf faced a combination of all of these.

"I was on the verge of dropping. I had the money for the semester, but that was it. Food, gas, car, utility bills  I was behind on everything," Metcalf said. "My mind was so cloudy, I just couldnt focus on school."

The 38-year-old single mother went back to school in 2013 but soon became very ill due to what doctors eventually discovered was a thyroid issue. Despite going through many blood transfusions and getting her thyroid removed, Metcalf was able to stay in school thanks to cooperation and understanding from her academic advisors and professors. She slowly but surely began regaining health and strength at the beginning of this school year, but after so much time being unable to work, was struggling with payments.

Aware of her situation, school advisors informed her about the emergency grant.

"I actually cant believe a resource like that was available in the first place," Metcalf said. "It was a huge weight off my shoulders."

Now, Metcalf has a meeting set up with an advisor so she can stay on track to graduate in May and prepare to start her career. She studies community development and leadership and hopes to serve as an alderman someday.

Great Lakes allocates these grant funds to colleges and universities that agree to continue to help students succeed financially and academically after receiving the grant.

"Mount Mary, UWM, Stritch, Alverno  these colleges all showed a strong commitment to these grants being an overall part of their student success strategies, not just giving the grant but also providing the wrap-around help," Dobner said.

For the 2017-2019 program, Alverno received $210,000 for emergency grants, Cardinal Stritch received $67,200, Mount Mary received $84,000 and UW-Milwaukee received $630,000.

Among two-year student grant recipients from 2012 to 2015 around the Midwest, 73 percent either graduated or remained enrolled the next term, Dobner said. For all two-year college students nationwide, the retention rate (student returning to school the following fall) is 61 percent and the graduation rate is 29 percent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

"I cant say theres a scientific correlation, but the grant is often the carrot that makes students raise their hand and say, I need help," Dobner said. "We give them help with the emergency grant and then tell them about other long-term help they can seek."

According to a National Student Clearinghouse report on the matriculating class of first-year college students in 2010, 62.4 percent at four-year public institutions graduated within six years. At four-year private schools, that number was 73.9 percent. Those numbers showed slight increases from the prior year.

The six-year graduation rates at Alverno, Cardinal Stritch, Mount Mary and UW-Milwaukee are all between 40 and 45 percent.

Pearl Goodwin, a first-year student at Cardinal Stritch, read about the grant online and approached her academic advisor to learn more. Goodwin recently moved to a new, safer neighborhood with her three sons, but its also more expensive.

"I ran into the issue of this huge We Energies bill," she said. Within two weeks of meeting with her advisor, Goodwin received the $500 grant and was able to pay off the mounting bill.

"It did relieve a lot of stress, and I just wish it were more out in the open," Goodwin said. She said she tells classmates who are going through similar struggles about the grant.

"Im in the night school program, so were at work all day. Had I not actively started looking for ways to help my situation, I would not have stumbled upon this grant."

Similarly, Brewer said she feels lucky to have happened to see the flier at the health center and hopes UW-Milwaukee advertises it more around campus.

At Cardinal Stritch, Dean of Students Donney Moroney said the grant has been advertised on the schools website, through a press release, on boards around campus and also by designated advisors trained to work with students who may benefit from the emergency grant.

Teon Austin, assistant dean of students for diversity initiatives at Cardinal Stritch, said the grant program is especially helpful for the schools first-generation and low-income students who often lack the knowledge and background to obtain financial aid. The grant gives the school the opportunity to both help these students through a difficult time, and to talk with them about other resources to keep them in school, he said.
Argentina's military pushed forward Saturday with the hunt for a submarine that has been missing with 44 crew aboard for days, but said that bad weather has hampered the search. There has been no contact with the ARA San Juan since early Wednesday, according to the navy, prompting Buenos Aires to launch an air and sea search for the missing vessel. Nearly 80 percent of the search area has been scoured by ships and aircraft so far, Argentine navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told a news conference. "The weather is bad. There is a storm with waves of six meters (nearly 20 feet)," Balbi said. "It really complicates the work." And "at this stage of the search, there's really nothing that we can rule out," he stressed. So far, authorities say the likeliest hypothesis is that a power loss caused a communications loss. Brazil, Britain, Chile, the United States and Uruguay took part in the aerial side of the search, said naval attache Oscar Filippi. And the United States said it was sending rescue help. The California-based Undersea Rescue Command was deploying two independent rescue assets -- including a pressurized rescue module -- to help in the hunt for the missing sub. They were expected on Sunday. Argentine President Mauricio Macri said on his Twitter account that "we will do what is necessary to find the submarine as soon as possible." The TR-1700 class diesel electric submarine had been returning from a routine mission to Ushuaia near the southernmost tip of South America, to its base at Mar del Plata, around 400 kilometers (250 miles) south of Buenos Aires. Among those on board is Argentina's first female submarine officer, 35-year-old weapons officer Eliana Krawczyk. The San Juan is one of three submarines in the Argentine fleet. Sixty-five meters long and seven meters wide, it was built by Germany's Thyssen Nordseewerke and launched in 1983. It underwent a re-fit between 2007 and 2014 to extend its usefulness by some 30 years.
A senior Chinese envoy discussed regional concerns with officials in Pyongyang on Saturday, North Korean state media said, as the US presses China to help ease the standoff over the North's nuclear weapons. The visit by Song Tao, described by Pyongyang as a special envoy of President Xi Jinping, is the first by a senior Chinese envoy for more than a year. Relations are severely stressed over Pyongyang's nuclear sabre-rattling and Beijing's support for tough UN sanctions on its neighbour. "The two sides exchanged their views on such matters of mutual concern as the situation of the Korean peninsula and region and bilateral relations," the official KCNA news agency said in describing Song's talks with Ri Su-Yong, a senior ruling party leader, and other officials. Relations between the two communist neighbours, once said by Mao Zedong to be "as close as lips and teeth", are at their worst in decades over North Korea's actions, and Beijing faces pressure from US President Donald Trump to pile pressure on Pyongyang. Song, who arrived on Friday, met that day with Choe Ryong-Hae, another senior official in North Korea's ruling party and a close aide to leader Kim Jong-Un. Each side's account of the meeting with Choe mentioned that both sides stressed the importance of their longstanding ties. - 'Common treasure' - A Chinese Communist Party report on the Choe-Song talks said they agreed that mutual ties were "the common treasure of the two peoples" and that both sides "should make concerted efforts" to maintain them. The United States wants China, which accounts for 90 percent of North Korea's foreign trade, to apply more economic pressure. Trump, who warned Xi during his trip to Beijing this month that time was "quickly running out" to solve the nuclear crisis, took to Twitter on Thursday to hail Song's mission as "a big move, we'll see what happens!" But experts have expressed doubt it will yield breakthroughs, saying Beijing has far less political influence on Kim than is thought despite the economic ties. "Relations are extremely stressed. Perhaps the lowest point since the Korean War. Perhaps (the mission) will put a floor under China-North Korea relations, preventing further deterioration," said Bonnie Glaser, China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. China has imposed its own banking restrictions on North Koreans in addition to enforcing a series of UN measures that include bans on imports of coal, iron ore and seafood from the North. But Beijing fears that squeezing Pyongyang too hard would cause its collapse. Analysts say Song's trip is probably aimed more at urging Kim's regime not to escalate tensions rather than applying real pressure for disarmament. As nuclear tensions have soared, Xi has pushed for negotiations and a "dual track approach" in which the United States would freeze its military drills in South Korea while North Korea halts its weapons programmes. Trump claimed this week that Xi had agreed during their talks last week to drop that approach, but Beijing subsequently stood by the policy.
Flags of China and North Korea are seen outside the closed Ryugyong Korean Restaurant in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, China, in this April 12, 2016 file photo. REUTERS/Joseph Campbell/Files

BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) - Traditional friendship between China and North Korea represents "valuable wealth" for their people, China said after its special envoy met a high-ranking North Korean official, but there was no mention of the crisis over North Korea's weapons.

Song Tao, who heads the ruling Chinese Communist Party's international department, is visiting Pyongyang to discuss the outcome of the recently concluded Communist Party Congress in China, at which President Xi Jinping cemented his power.

In a brief statement dated Friday but reported by Chinese media on Saturday, the international department said Song, who is there representing Xi, reported to North Korean official Choe Ryong Hae the outcome of the congress.

Song and Choe also talked about relations between their parties and countries, the department said.

"They said that the traditional friendship between China and North Korea was founded and cultivated by both countries former old leaders, and is valuable wealth for the two peoples," it said.

"Both sides must work hard together to promote the further development of relations between the two parties and two countries to benefit their two peoples."

The department made no mention of North Korea's nuclear or missile programmes, which are strongly opposed by China.

The North's official KCNA news agency said Song informed Choe about China's 19th National Congress "in detail", and stressed China's stance to steadily develop the traditionally friendly relations between the two parties and countries.

Song arrived on Friday but it is not clear how long he will be in North Korea.

China has repeatedly pushed for a diplomatic solution to the crisis over North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and missiles to carry them, but in recent months it has had only limited high-level exchanges with North Korea.

The last time China's special envoy for North Korea visited the country was in February last year.

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NO MAGICIAN

Song's trip comes just a week after U.S. President Donald Trump visited Beijing as part of an Asia tour, where he pressed for greater action to rein in North Korea, especially from China, with which North Korea does 90 percent of its trade.

The influential state-run Chinese tabloid the Global Times said in an editorial that it was unwise to expect too much from his trip, saying his key mission was to inform North Korea about the party congress in Beijing.

"Song is not a magician," the newspaper said.

"The key to easing the situation on the peninsula lies in the hands of Washington and Pyongyang. If both sides insist on their own logic and refuse to move in the same direction, even if Song opens a door for talks, the door could be closed any time."

It is not clear whether Song will meet North Korea's youthful leader Kim Jong Un.

Kim and President Xi exchanged messages of congratulations and thanks over the Chinese party congress, but neither leader has visited the other's country since assuming power.

Song's department is in charge of the party's relations with foreign political parties, and has traditionally served as a conduit for Chinese diplomacy with North Korea.

China's new special envoy for North Korea, Kong Xuanyou, who took up his position in August, is not believed to have visited the country since assuming the job.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Ben Blanchard; Editing by G Crosse, Robert Birsel)
By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - An international investigation into who is to blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria will end on Friday after Russia blocked for the third time in a month attempts at the United Nations to renew the inquiry, which Moscow has slammed as flawed.

In the past two years, the joint U.N. and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) inquiry has found the Syrian government used the nerve agent sarin in an April 4 attack and has also several times used chlorine as a weapon. It blamed Islamic State militants for using mustard gas.

Russia vetoed on Friday a Japanese-drafted U.N. Security Council resolution to extend the inquiry for one month. It was an eleventh-hour bid to buy more time for negotiations after Russia blocked U.S.-drafted resolutions on Thursday and Oct. 24 to renew the investigation, which the council created in 2015.

Syrian ally Russia has cast 11 vetoes on possible Security Council action on Syria since the country's civil war began in 2011. The Japanese draft received 12 votes in favor on Friday, while China abstained and Bolivia joined Russia to vote no.

After Friday's vote, the council moved to closed-door discussions at the request of Sweden's U.N. Ambassador Olof Skoog to "ensure we are absolutely convinced we have exhausted every avenue, every effort" to try and renew the investigation.

After a brief discussion, Italian U.N. Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi, council president for November, told reporters: "The council will continue to work in the coming hours and days, constructively, to find a common position."

Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council earlier on Friday that the inquiry could only be extended if "fundamental flaws in its work" were fixed. He said that for the past two year the investigators had "rubber-stamped baseless accusations against Syria."

The council voted on a rival Russian-drafted resolution on Thursday to renew the inquiry, but it failed after only garnering four votes in favor.

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A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Russia, Britain or China to be adopted.

"Russia is wasting our time," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the council on Friday.

"Russia's actions today and in recent weeks have been designed to delay, to distract and ultimately to defeat the effort to secure accountability for chemical weapons attacks in Syria," Haley said.

While Russia agreed to the creation of the inquiry two years ago, it has consistently questioned its work and conclusions.

The April 4 sarin attack on Khan Sheikhoun that killed dozens of people prompted the United States to launch missiles on a Syrian air base. Haley warned on Thursday: "We will do it again if we must."

Despite the public deadlock and war of words between the United States and Russia at the United Nations, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Thursday that President Donald Trump believed he could work with Russian President Vladimir Putin on issues like Syria.

Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by James Dalgleish and Lisa Shumaker)
Russia cast a second veto in as many days at the United Nations Security Council on Friday to block the renewal of a probe to identify the perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks in Syria. A draft resolution put forward by Japan would have extended the UN-led Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) for 30 days to allow time for negotiations on a wider compromise. But Russia used its veto power to prevent adoption after 12 council members voted in favor of the measure, effectively ending the mission. China abstained, while Bolivia voted no. It was the 11th time that Russia has used its veto power to stop council action targeting its ally Syria. "Russia is wasting our time," US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the council after the vote. "Russia has no interest in finding ground with the rest of this council to save the JIM." "Russia will not agree to any mechanism that might shine a spotlight on the use of chemical weapons by its ally, the Syrian regime," she said. "It's as simple and shameful as that." A resolution requires nine votes to be adopted at the council, but five countries -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- can block adoption with their veto power. Japan put its proposal forward after Russia on Thursday vetoed a US-drafted resolution that would have allowed the expert investigators to continue their work for a year. A separate Russian draft resolution that called for changes to the JIM failed to garner enough support, with just four votes in favor. "Any extension of the JIM's mandate for us is possible only provided fundamental flaws in its work are rectified," said Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia. - Fictitious investigation - The Russian ambassador accused the JIM's leadership of having "disgraced itself with its fictitious investigation" of the sarin gas attack at the opposition-held village of Khan Sheikhun. The panel "signed its name on baseless accusations against Syria," he charged. In a report last month, the JIM concluded that the Syrian air force had dropped the deadly nerve agent on Khan Sheikhun, leaving scores dead. The April 4 attack triggered global outrage as images of dying children were shown worldwide, prompting the United States to launch missile strikes on a Syrian air base days later. After the veto, the council met behind closed doors at Sweden's request to hear another appeal for a temporary extension, but Russia again refused, diplomats said. Swedish Ambassador Olof Skoog said council members must "make sure that we are absolutely convinced that we have exhausted every avenue, every effort before the mandate of the JIM expires tonight." Italian Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi, who holds the presidency, told reporters after the meeting that the council "will continue to work in the coming hours and days constructively to find a common position." The final efforts turned to finding some technical ruse that would have allowed the JIM to avoid shutting down and would not require a resolution, diplomats said. UN officials confirmed late Friday that the panel would end its work at midnight (0500 GMT Saturday) as there was no decision from the council to keep it in place. The row over the chemical weapons inquiry came as the United Nations was preparing a new round of peace talks to open on November 28 in Geneva to try to end the six-year war. The joint UN-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) panel was set up by Russia and the United States in 2015 and unanimously endorsed by the council, which renewed its mandate last year. Previous reports by the JIM have found that Syrian government forces were responsible for chlorine attacks on three villages in 2014 and 2015, and that the Islamic State group used mustard gas in 2015.
Our current cultural moment has provoked an unprecedented excavation of the female memory. Recollections of violations large and small, thoroughly traumatizing and mildly annoying, top-of-mind and all but forgotten, have poured onto the internet like a million leaks from an ancient, overfilled vessel. Many have seen themselves in the stories of alleged abuse by Harvey Weinstein, Louis C.K., Brett Ratner, John Besh, James Toback, Jesse Lacey, or any of the dozens of other men whove been accused of sexual exploitation in recent weeks. Some of these women had already recognized certain incidents from their past as harassment or abuse. Others have been forced by this interminable news cycle to relive, reconsider, and reclassify some of the things men have done to them against their will or to search for boundaries in the mess of human interaction.

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To anyone bearing witness, #MeToo is writing an alternate history of the workplace, the classroom, the corner store, the dance club, the sidewalk, the friends party, and the intimate confines of the romantic relationship. To people whove experienced harassment and abuse, its also an alternate history of our own lives. Before, we were everyday women dealing with everyday creeps. Now, we must contend with the knowledge that the everyday woman, by virtue of existing in the public sphere, has endured untold violations. Actions that once seemed playful or relatively harmless now seem sinister, invisible grease for the wheels of an orchestrated system of humiliation designed to instill self-doubt and fear into women who might have otherwise posed a threat to male control. What happened to me was something that was so casual, I almost didnt even consider it sexual harassment, even though it was beyond my desire, wrote the Roots Danielle Young in a recent piece about the moment the Rev. Jesse Jackson grabbed her thigh during a photo-op.

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Of course, not every uncomfortable experience is harassment, and not every woman is redefining these experiences as abuse. Though the lines between acceptable behavior and harassment feel in some ways clearer today than ever, there still isnt anything close to broad agreement about where all these lines should be drawn.

This is why the current moment has both women and men reassessing interactions from their past, wondering if they were on either end of a troubling encounter. Its not just that our collective understanding of the prevalence of harassment has changed; its that our understanding of the very definition of harassment has been called into question. The definition will grow more capacious as we retrain our antennae to categorize certain male behavior as threatening that wed previously been conditioned to dismiss or ignore. Both the #MeToo hashtag and the Shitty Media Men spreadsheet place accounts of one-off verbal come-ons next to dire accusations of sustained sexual abuse, which made some feminist critics (including, when the spreadsheet first circulated, me) queasy. As Rebecca Traister wrote in New York magazine last week, the rage that many of us are feeling doesnt necessarily correspond with the severity of the trespass: Lots of us are on some level as incensed about the guy who looked down our shirt at a company retreat as we are about Weinstein.  Part of it is the decades weve spent being pressured to underreact.

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The specter of sexual harassment has been weighing heavily on many of the men in my life. Male friends have contacted me out of the blue to ask me to be honest, to tell them if I think theyve ever done anything to earn them a spot on one of the many semi-secret lists of sexists and creeps bouncing around the internet. When I told a Lyft driver in Detroit that I was in town for the Womens Convention in late October, he asked if I was a #MeToo, too. A friends father, who Ive known for years and hugged at least a dozen times, paused and asked for consent before putting an arm around me at a party this month. Its justyou never know how people will feel about being touched these days, he said with a laugh.

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By legal definition, sexual harassment is unwelcome or unwanted; if its welcome or wanted, its not harassment. The baked-in subjectivity of this definition, combined with the large-scale recalibration of this moment, has allowed space for some people to wonder whether cracking down on sexual harassment will put an end to all friendly flirtation. One male director of a design firm told the New York Times that companies should cancel the holiday party until, as the Times paraphrased, it has been figured out how men and women should interact.

But the rules of interaction havent changedits just that, for the first time, women are publicly calling foul en masse. Sexual harassment has moved from the realm of cheesy office training videos to the real world, where harassers are not only Donald Trumps and anonymous subway masturbators, but also our friends, lovers, fathers, and work buddies. Theyre the bad guys, yes, and theyre a fair number of good guys, too. If men are worried that they are constantly on the verge of unwittingly violating someone in the post-#MeToo erawhich, good, they should beits because, in a society that rarely takes claims of clear-cut sexual assault seriously, theres usually little room for open discussion about the more nuanced social norms that define the boundaries of sexual harassment.

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Now theres finally room. Room for survivors to dig up and display the rotting garbage theyve been toting around for years, to explain aloud, for the whole world to hear, where they draw the line between right and wrong. To get a handle on how people define, or are redefining, the borders of sexual misconduct, Slate distributed a survey asking people a series of questions about their experiences as targets or perpetrators. We solicited anecdotes about encounters that didnt seem like harassment at the time but upon later reflection looked like more serious transgressions. We also asked our respondents to offer examples of incidents that, for them, fell into a gray areaa category of behavior that isnt unequivocally harassment, whether because of the intent of the perpetrator, the reception of the target, or the severity of the offense. They classified each anecdote as in a gray area but ultimately OK or in a gray area but ultimately not OK.

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There are a few visible patterns in the stories from our 56 respondents. People who felt flattered as teenagers or young adults by sexual advances from older authority figures grew to see such pursuits as gross or an abuse of power as they aged. Survivors of verbal harassment were sometimes wary of naming it as such if it never escalated into anything physical. Both male and female victims reported feeling pressure to be chill when physical touch or sex acts were forced on them. Women are reconsidering sexual contact theyve had with gay menboth as targets and culprits of misconductand contemplating when a compliment becomes street harassment. To these survey respondents, sexual violations in the context of romantic relationships have been some of the hardest examples to recognize as assault in the moment, but theyve also done some of the deepest and most lasting damage to both survivor and perpetrator.

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The variety of behaviors people corralled into the two gray areas identified hereborderline but ultimately OK and borderline but ultimately not OKis telling, too. What seems like a gray area to one person is outright harassment to another. Many of the anecdotes that respondents described, especially those that involved unwanted physical touch, could easily be filed under the graver labels of sexual abuse or assault. The diversity of reactions to similar behaviors reveals both the personal nature of these experiences and a widespread lack of practical know-how when it comes to recognizing sexual harassment in the real world. It also illustrates how difficult it can be to attach any of these labelsharassment, assault, coercion, abuseto people we know, trust, or love, or to ourselves, even when they might seem to objectively apply.

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These stories, which have been lightly edited for clarity, are not presented to caution readers about any sort of slippery slope about naming harassment or to argue that the borders of harassment are hopelessly blurry. Theyre not: If people paid closer attention to, and heeded, the desires of their sexual partners and women in general, there would surely be far fewer unwanted advances. Instead, we hope the following anecdotes will illustrate the diversity of human reactions to one set of similar behaviors and the barriers that prevent people from recognizing harassment when it happens to themor when they perpetrate it against someone else. Those perceptions will continue to shift as people absorb the mass of new data points that were currently sifting through as a culture. If we can subject the nuances of the gray areas to close examination instead of running away from them, that shift might become a sea change.

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At Work

Harassment is perhaps easiest to identify when it occurs in the workplace. There are laws on the books defining and prohibiting it; since the 1990s, most companies have set policies about it. But Slates respondents were split on certain specific actionsdiscussing an employees appearance, hugging subordinates, making weird comments about a workers pregnancyand there are still barriers to recognizing textbook harassment when it happens, many of which are represented in the stories below. Young people often dont have the confidence or institutional experience to know when managers cross lines, and many employees subconsciously make excuses for inappropriate behavior to avoid confrontation or being disillusioned by mentors.

Describe a situation that was in a gray area but ultimately OK.

When I was around 30, I lived in Hong Kong and worked as a reporter. I frequently interviewed highly successful business people. It wasnt uncommon for men I interviewed to be keenly aware that I didnt have kids, went out a lot, and basically didnt conform to feminine norms. They would invite me to visit them at their second home in Shanghai or to go to Macau for the weekend to gamble with them. One guy  would send six- or seven-dozen roses to my desk at the paper for seemingly no reason at all.  There did seem to be an awareness to not physically threaten or touch me. Moreover, their gestures were more romantic in nature verses crude. I actually believe that these advances were really a form of wooing me to become their mistress, which is not generally unusual for men of that level of success to have in Asia. L., 39, consultant, Houston

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I was an intern on Capitol Hill when I was 19. I eventually learned that all of the interns had nicknames among the staff, and my nickname was hot-tern.  I honestly thought it was hilarious when I found out and most importantly, I never felt disrespected by any of the staff or held back from any experiences because they werent taking me seriously or anything of the like. Alycia, 30, finance professional, Boston

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I was pregnant but hadnt told anyone. My male boss brought me into his office to ask if I had anything to tell him because my boobs seemed much larger than usual. Elise, 47, lawyer, New York

[I have] an older colleague who works in a different office. When he visits he gives me a hug, and I find it friendly and fatherly, but another of my colleagues has told me she would not like that (he hasnt hugged her, so maybe he accurately reads the room). Emma, 36, charity grant assessor, United Kingdom

Hanging out with someone from work at a bar when he lunged forward and stuck his tongue down my throat. I made several excuses to leave, but he insisted on walking me home. I didnt think it was a date, but I could see how he might read the situation as such. I told him the next week that I wasnt interested, and he was very nice about it, but I felt uncomfortable at work after that. I dont blame that on him, though. Sharon, 24, assistant, New York

My boss discussing blow jobs in front of or with me, in vague terms. Vivi, 30, analyst, Idaho

I used to have a male colleague who would use penis analogies to discuss completely nonsexual things. If a politician self-sabotaged, my colleague would say so-and-so tied a brick to his dick and stuck it off the edge of a bridge. If two people were fighting on Twitter, my colleague would say they were measuring their dicks against one another. It wasnt exactly harassment, but it made me uncomfortablelike, why is he making me think about penises in the middle of my workday when penises are absolutely not germane to what were discussing? I ultimately found it OK, though, because he wasnt targeting me specifically and never talked about his colleagues genitals. Natasha, 29, journalist, D.C.

Describe a situation that was in a gray area but ultimately not OK.

[A much older manager] would often talk about how cute I was and was fixated on my love life. He always wanted details about the guy I was dating. At the time I just thought he was a silly, older man. Looking back on it, I realize now that it was the buildup to when he pinned me against a counter with his boner. Lauren, 39, consultant, Houston

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My husband and I were both sent on a company trip to France. I got pregnant while on the trip. My male boss said, I knew if we sent you on a trip like that you would end up pregnant. To this day I still want to defend myself by saying, But I am going on maternity leave and will come back to work, like I need to justify my behavior. Madeleine, 61, retired, Redmond, Washington

I had a temporary Christmas job in retail. When I was stocking the shelves an older woman would come up behind me and  press herself against me. She had worked there a long time, and I was new, so I would not have been taken seriously if I had complained. Also people didnt have a conception of her as being a sexual person at all, let alone attracted to women. Emma, 36, charity grant assessor, United Kingdom

In the restaurant world: I was told I was hired because the manager likes cute girls. A different restaurant manager laughed with me privately about a chef who was being reprimanded (lightly) for sexual harassment, and chef said, But thats why we work in restaurants! Because we can say and do those things, and its OK! The manager expected me to laugh? I even might have. Cora, 29, copywriter, D.C.

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At my grad school internship, I worked at a small think tank. I have a tattoo on my back and was wearing a shirt that mostly covered it but there was a bit peeking out. The company president walked up behind me and pulled down the back of my shirt in order to see my full tattoo. Jamie, 33, data scientist, Chicago

I was in the first year of my first job out of college at age 22. I was on a work trip with basically all my co-workers, and it was very late (maybe 3 a.m.) after a fancy event we were all staffing. We were drunk and giddy and sharing a bottle of prosecco in an empty hotel ballroom. One older married guy (far higher up the professional ladder than me, but not in my direct chain of command) was talking and flirting with me. When the group finally dispersed, the man asked me if I wanted to see his room, since it was much bigger and nicer than mine. I did, and we hung out for another hour or two while he packed for his early morning flight. Nothing happened, and when he left for his flight at 6 a.m., we parted ways. But I always thought it was weird that an older married dude invited a very young subordinate to his hotel room at 4 a.m. after flirting with her. I think it made him feel good just to prove to himself that he could get a 22-year-old to come back his hotel room or something. I always felt weird around him after that and lost a lot of respect for him, even though at the time, it made me feel flattered to have been chosen. Natasha, 29, journalist, D.C.

Describe a situation that seemed OK at the time but now seems like harassment.

When I was in college, I worked part-time in a local restaurant. My boss would make frequent remarks about my physique. At the time, and considering how hard I would train, I thought it was a compliment that he thought I had a tight little body.  I realize now that he was assessing my body, similar to how I would imagine people talk about racehorses or a well-bred dog. Lauren, 39, consultant, Houston

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When I was 20 years old at my first job of less than a year, my co-worker told me that our 70-year-old boss had been commenting on the size of my breasts and laughing about what a nice rack I have. The same co-worker later told me about a sex dream he had about me. I thought these things were funny at the time and laughed them off, but theyve always stuck with me. Julia, 30, administrative professional, Philadelphia

When I was 18  my job consisted of organizing, retrieving, and delivering records to the hundreds of attorneys in the building. One attorney started personally requesting me to be the one to bring him his files. Eventually, one day when I brought him his files, he came right up and hugged me, saying, We know each other well enough. We can hug. Then he would email me to ask if I wanted to watch movies at his place. I could borrow a pair of pajamas from him if I wanted. I declined, not knowing what to do, even rationalizing it with odd things like maybe hes gay and just legit wants a girlfriends pajama party? At the time I was 18 and didnt know what was normal, but now as a 30-year-old woman, I look back and see a man in his 40s trying to have a sleepover with an 18-year-old intern. Alycia, 30, finance professional, Boston

1973, job interview in a hotel room with a group of men. One invited me to come down to the newsstand with him to buy cigarettes. I ended up in his hotel room where I gave him consensual oral sex. I got the job. Sandra, 71, retired college professor, New York

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At work, I explained to a new team member the history of a client. I said, This is a new client that we recently brought inwell, actually I brought them in, because I did. The other colleague in the meeting, male, said, Ooohh. That was saucy. I didnt like the feeling at the time, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized he would never have said that to a man, and saucy has very sexual connotations. Cora, 29, copywriter, D.C.

When I was a teenager, I worked at a small bar and grill. In the kitchen, most nights, it was just me and the chef. The chef never really creeped me out, but he hugged me a lot and would run his hands along my waist and ribs, and he would kiss my neck. Looking back on it, I can see that it was completely inappropriate (given that I was 15-22 years old while holding this job and that he was 25 years my senior), though I dont really feel traumatized by it. I actually kind of liked the attention as an insecure teenage girl. Lindsay, 35, higher education, Wisconsin

A couple months after graduating college, I was starting my first job with a consulting company. They had gathered all the new analysts from around country in a hotel in Dallas. There were a number of social engagements that you were kind of expected to go to, and theres a lot of drinking. A couple nights in, I went to the restroom and was standing at a urinal. Someone comes up next to me, and I know hes a manager because they wear different nametags. He glances over at me, ostensibly looking at my penis, and he makes this comment about me having a tiny white dick and that it didnt measure up at all to his dick, which he described as so low it was hanging into the urinal. [At the time], I think I was thinking of it like, Oh, its just guys saying shit to each other when theyre drunk. Ben, 32, Oakland

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Dating

When physical intimacy or mutual romantic interest has already been established, it can be especially hard to entertain the possibility that a sexual experience, in that context, might constitute harassment. Also, the legacy of woman as property and sex as her duty creeps into contemporary relationships in insidious ways, sometimes in the form of relentless pestering for sex or willful disregard for a partners desires. These anecdotes show that, in cases where there is romantic or sexual history between the partners, recognizing misconduct by either party can be incredibly painful.

Describe a situation that was in a gray area but ultimately OK.

I once was in a relationship with a woman who clearly saw me as a long-term partner, when I considered us to be less serious. I never misrepresented my feelings about us out loud, but whenever she would bring it up I would dodge the question. I didnt want us to break up and stop having sex, so I let her continue to believe that we might be long-term partners. I think I could have acted in a way that was more considerate of her feelings and lessened the eventual emotional hardship she suffered when we broke up, but I dont believe what I did was sexual harassment. Roger, 29, lawyer, D.C.

Describe a situation that was in a gray area but ultimately not OK.

Ive had many experiences of men with whom I was intimate having an expectation of getting off or finishing even if we were not having sex. Ive been yelled at for giving a guy blue balls. Ive had many experiences where I was intimate with a man and then slowed down before anything moved toward intercourse, and Ive received a lot of well, you implied that we were going to have sex or now Im worked up, and it causes me pain if I dont get off or why would you invite me over if you werent planning on having sex with me? I have many times finished a guy (hand job usually) even if we were done hooking up because I didnt want to have sex but he implied that I owed him that. I still find it horrifying and inappropriate, but whenever Im in that situation, I still feel obligated to do it. Keisha, 23, graduate student and State Department employee, D.C.

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There was a time in college where I felt a lot of pressure around fitting in, particularly with other men, particularly straight men, and sort of the culture of hooking up that I felt was floating around in my social circles. I hooked up with someone. She and I had met at a party, and we had both been drinking. We were making out, and we were talking, so I felt like it was a situation where we were both present for it and that it was consensual. But I saw her a few days later, and Id left some hickeys on her shoulder and her neck. She wasnt upset by it and kind of laughed about it as a sort of joke. But its a memory I look back on, and I dont feel good about, in part because I felt like the whole point of the hookup was me sort of trying to prove something or had a connection to my own insecurity. Ben, 32, Oakland

My first girlfriend would allow me to hide in her room at night after I became homeless at 18. We were very sexually active during the beginning of our relationship, but near the end she wanted to slow down. I didnt want to and continued to make advances consistently. I thought at the time that since we were in a relationship it was OK. I allowed myself to stay ignorant until after we had broken up and I read some of the blog posts that she wrote about that time in her life. The way she described how she felt used, harassed, and worthless after my consistent advances tore me apart. Roy, 28, musician and activist, Salt Lake City

I was with a man who resisted condom use with such intensity that eventually I gave up on the idea of using them. We started using the withdrawal method. One day, he unilaterally decided that if we were having sex for the second time in a day that it was OK not to withdraw, because his friend had told him so. Id told him so many times that we were risking an unwanted pregnancy, and he would just brush aside all my concerns as if I were being hysterical or paranoid. So some part of me just gave up in that moment, lying there in bed feeling helpless, feeling as if my body wasnt really my own, as if what I needed or wanted wasnt even a part of the equation. Unsurprisingly, I got pregnant, and went through the seven most miserable weeks of my life waiting to get an abortion. It was one of the most awful things Ive ever gone through, and its so depressing that I valued myself so little. Yosia, 31, business owner and writer, California

Describe a situation that seemed OK at the time but now seems like harassment.

I was at a local show and ended up getting [a womans] phone number. A while later we went out to dinner and went back to her house to watch a movie. There was some intoxication involved. She asked if I wanted to go to her room for the night. At the time I didnt feel the desire to go any further than that and didnt make any advances. After we began [having sex] she [said] she didnt know if she was clean and that she didnt have protection, but by that point I wasnt in a mind frame to consider the consequences. After the first round there was a small break before she got back on top. This continued multiple times. I remember thinking that this is what it felt like to be used. It wasnt until after that I decided that this was something that I didnt want to happen again. Roy, 28, musician and activist, Salt Lake City

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I was out at a club with some friends when I was reintroduced to a friend of those friends, and he and I ended up going back to my apartment at the end of the night. When we got there, we consensually moved from kissing and touching to oral sex, but I wasnt interested in having anal sex with him. He did want to have anal sex and asked me multiple times if we could, including while laying on top of me with his dick rubbing against my ass. I gave a variation of no, Im sorry, not tonight each time.  Finally, after about five or six times, he did stop asking and left abruptly. At the time, I didnt think much of it since (1) he never penetrated me, (2) we did enjoy some consensual sexual moments that night, and (3) he was living in another city. I now think he probably committed some form of harassment and/or assault against me. But in the back of my mind, I still hold doubts about that assertion, and I sometimes wonder whether those interactions actually live up to the rather serious definitions of assault and harassment. Jordan, 27, analyst, D.C.

In my early 20s  I took someone home and started having sex with him. Halfway through, my bedroom door opened and in walked a guy I had been on a couple of dates with. Hed come back with my housemates. I looked at him in shock and then said, OK, take your clothes off and join us. We had a threesome, and for years it was a funny and outrageous storybut I realized recently that he had no right to follow me home and walk in on me like that. And I wonder what would have happened if I had said no. Emma, 36, charity grant assessor, United Kingdom

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I went on a first date with a guy I met on Tinder, and he kept touching mea little at first, things that seemed normal, like one of those playful hits on the shoulder, and it kept getting weirder, like when he put his hand on my lower back and touched my thigh. It ended with him walking me out to my car, putting me in a playful headlock on the way, and making me hug him goodbye and he wouldnt let go. I jumped in my car and sped away as quickly as I could and didnt process how weird it all was until halfway home when I just started crying. Chelsea, 26, editor, Ohio

I was in a long-distance relationship at age 21 and went to visit my girlfriend for a long weekend after several months apart. When I arrived, she was warm and caring as usual and wanted me to sleep in her bed with her but suddenly not interested in having sex. I was confused and extremely disappointed, and on the second night, I was so horny in bed with her that I told her that if she didnt want to have sex that was her decision but that I really needed to jerk off. She reluctantly agreed that was OK, but after I put on some porn and started, I wanted her even more and begged her to have sex. She finally said OK. During intercourse, she was visibly sad and at one point started crying. I asked if I should stop, but she weepily told me it was OK to keep going, and I finished. When the trip was over, we broke up. About a year later when learning about sexual harassment for a job, I came to terms with the fact that the way I pressured her and continued when she was clearly not enjoying it was harassment. Roger, 29, lawyer, D.C.

In Public Spaces

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Since the invention of streets, women have debated how we should feel about street harassment. Some people enjoy the phantom adulation screamed at them from across the block; others wish men would stop making unsolicited assessments of their bodies. The stories in this category explore womens desires to draw a line between objectifying or threatening harassment and harmless, or at least harm-lite, compliments.

Describe a situation that was in a gray area but ultimately OK.

I was in London. As I crossed a street, I noticed a man noticing me. He smiled at mebut it seemed more a smile of recognition rather than a sleazy smile. He walked to his car, threw his gym gear in the boot, and got in his car. I continued walking. Within a few minutes, the guy in the car came around the corner. As he drove by, he had his window down, and he called out, Youre really very beautiful. I wasnt sure how I should have felt. I was taken aback. When I thought about it, though, I think it was probably OK. He didnt curb-crawl. He didnt wait for me around the corner. He didnt try to engage me in conversation when we were both on the footpath. He didnt say anything offensive. Heessentiallypaid me a compliment. Hazel, 44, writer and Ph.D. candidate, Dublin

Im a heavily tattooed woman, and  sometimes its hard to even go to the grocery store without someone asking me a question about my skin. I understand that it might seem friendly to strike up a conversation about tattoos, but it also doesnt feel good to have strange men alert me to the fact that theyre interested in my legs or looking at my chest. Probably my least favorite is when men ask to look at my tattoos, which usually means they want me to stand still for them to ogle or that they want me to lift part of my clothing to reveal more skin.  However, if its another heavily tattooed person and they make a small comment, such as complimenting the art or asking who the artist is, that ultimately feels OK. Hannah, 30, animal rescuer, D.C.

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Great outfit! or other mention of attire, either low-cut or not. I do believe that people ought to lighten up a bit when folks give compliments or slightly off-color jokes, and they take offense. This world is too uptight as it is without intentionally interpreting every compliment as having sexual overtones! My definition of harassment is something that makes the listener uncomfortable, whether sexual or not. If I am not uncomfortable with the remark or wink or whatever, I do not think of that as harassment! Joyce, 74, university professor, New Haven, Connecticut

Man I pass on my pedestrian commute every day says, Good morning. What a beautiful smile you have! Have a great day. Every day he says this and I dont find it menacing or inappropriate. Kate, 38, nurse, Philadelphia

Describe a situation that was in a gray area but ultimately not OK.

I used to live in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and went to pubs quite frequently. I cant remember a Saturday night where going up to the bar to get a drink did not include getting my ass grabbed or boob tweaked (or on one particularly disgusting occasion, gotten my ear licked). This is considered the price women pay to drink in public, and we all dealt with it. It was termed a bit of banter and did not matter how I was dressed. Kristen, 34, chief operating officer, Philadelphia

Describe a situation that seemed OK at the time but now seems like harassment.

In my latter teen years I was at a skate rink with a friend, and some girl I had met maybe an hour before came up behind me and did the hug-from-behind thing and whispered stuff in my ear. I think she may have kissed me in the cheek too. I remember being very uncomfortable with this, but also I didnt want to make her feel rejected or undesirable. I put on a brave face at first. I wanted to be the guy who was chill with a random woman showing me physical affection. But I wasnt. Paul, 33, journalist, Florida

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A man at grocery store comments on cuteness of my infant baby boy and asks if hes my first. I tell him I have a preschool boy also. He says, You know what they call moms who have boys? Red hot mamas. Kate, 38, nurse, Philadelphia

With Friends

Because friendships foster intimacy, harassment can persist under the guise of playful ribbing or buddy-chats about sex. Because friendships foster forgiveness, targets are often inclined to give perpetrators the benefit of the doubt. And when one party to a friendship wants to make the relationship sexual, existing bonds may mute consent-seeking alarms that would go off in an encounter with a stranger. These anecdotes clarify some internal struggles friends face when their ideas of appropriate boundaries conflict.

Describe a situation that was in a gray area but ultimately OK.

[As a teenager,] a close friend told me that he often enjoyed masturbation. We talked about what it would feel like to have someone else jack us off and agreed that we would try it even though we didnt find each other attractive. One night we took turns. After a few minutes of this I told him that I wasnt comfortable with it and that I wanted to stop. He agreed, and we never considered that possibility again. Roy, 28, musician/activist, Salt Lake City

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Ive had groups of friends who were very free to surprise-share their genitals with me and each other. At the time I grimaced but laughed it off. There was something about it that gave me a sense of intimacy with them, like I was in the club and it was cool, it made me tough. Eventually their immaturity got to me, and I moved on to better friends, but I wonder if I should have dumped them sooner due to this. I wouldnt condone this behavior happening to me now. But it didnt really bother me too much at the time, and I still dont feel like it was really that bad. Colleen, 38, artist, California

Describe a situation that was in a gray area but ultimately not OK.

I was driving in a car with a friend from high school (we were in college at the time). He pulled over into an empty parking lot late at night and began to feel me up out of the blue. I told him I did not want to do anything with him, and he tried to convince me for a bit before backing off and driving me home. He made me feel extremely on edge, and I kept my phone at the ready the whole ride home in case he changed his mind. I gave him a kiss when he dropped me off because I felt horrible and like I had to please him somehow (we had never had any sort of romantic relationship prior to this). Sometimes I wonder if my fear was dramatic or unnecessary given that he stopped. But another part of me says that he shouldnt have pulled into a dark, empty parking lot, feeling me up without checking to see if I was interested. Sharon, 24, assistant, New York

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I was at a party with a friend who pulled my bra strap down to my elbow in front of another man, and it felt like a lesson plan for this other mans benefit. I had long wanted to sleep with this friend, so my response was muted. Molly, 31, microbiologist, Colorado

Describe a situation that seemed OK at the time but now seems like harassment.

Im a queer woman, and when I was in college, I used to make out on occasion with one of my gay male friends. I think we both found each other attractive but obviously werent into each other romantically. One night, we were drunk at a party and snuck into someones bedroom to make out. I remember asking him several times to have sex with me while we were making out, and he said no every time. I think I felt like, If I could just seduce him enough, hell have sex with me. I should have taken him at his word. At the time, it felt like we were just playing around, and since he was a lot bigger than me and a dude, I felt like he still had the power in the situation. Now, I feel horrible, like I harassed him. Natasha, 29, journalist, D.C.

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One co-worker and friend of mine made me feel very weird when he kept telling me about the sexual details of his marriage, and also when he sent me a bunch of pictures hed taken at Burning Man without giving me a heads up that there were TONS of shots that were literally just close-ups of his penis. Yosia, 31, business owner and writer, California

In high school, two of my guy friends would touch my thighs under the desk in class. It was like a joke we were all in on, but it made me vaguely uncomfortable. I would push them away and laugh but never stood up for myself overtly because I didnt want to be not chill. Megan, 30, lawyer, D.C.

Elsewhere

No matter where harassment takes place, power dynamics play a major role in how its perceived. A doctor, professor, or older family friend generally has a greater responsibility to police the appropriateness of his own behavior than a patient, student, or teenager. But if the person in a position of power respectfully accepts a rejection of his advance, is it still harassment? When the power dynamics are less clearas with a developmentally disabled man who wants to hug a nonconsenting womantargets may wonder about the appropriate response.

Describe a situation that was in a gray area but ultimately OK.

One time, when visiting my grad school adviser in his office, I was wearing a fairly low-cut dress. I was also wearing feather earrings (so very light), one of which had fallen out of my ear while I was sitting in his office and landed between my breasts. After several minutes of conversation, he asked me somewhat awkwardly after a lot of shifting glances, Why is that there? while looking at the fallen earringand thus my cleavage. Lindsay, 35, higher education, Wisconsin

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I was about 15 or 16. A family friend, a professor in his 50s who lived in an apartment in a college dorm as a resident faculty resource for the students, let me come and whine my teenage anxieties, pouring me wine and maybe sharing some marijuana. He made a pass at me a couple of times. I said no. He continued to be a gentleman and a family friend. Later I learned that this was his regular M.O., so I assume college boys in crises probably fell into his net. I have no idea how they fared, but I hope he was good to them. David, 60, law, San Francisco

Describe a situation that was in a gray area but ultimately not OK.

A man at my local church apparently likes to greet people by giving hugs. I dont like physical contact like that with strangers and tried to get by with a handshake. He may have had a developmental disability, but I felt completely alone in rejecting this unwanted attention. Julia, 30, administrative professional, Philadelphia

I graduated from drama school recently. As the culmination of two years of hard work, we put on a full-scale theatrical production. I played a sex worker, a young woman who was a victim of human trafficking. At one point during rehearsals, our director became angry with me for not sexing the part up enough. In the scene, this woman was asking a doctor for help, but a language barrier made some amount of physical storytelling necessary. The director became frustrated and in front of my scene partner and the stage manager said I should just grab my breasts and gestured the way in which he thought I should shove my breasts up into my face. He accused me of being afraid to go there, treated me like a bad actor, and acted as though I was just being difficult because I insisted that was wrong for the character and unnecessary. C., 25, actor, New York

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A college professor took his students out to a local bar several times during the semester (all age 21-plus). He would sit next to me at the bar and make comments like, Youre different than other students. Youre more mature.  It always felt creepy. Kate, 38, nurse, Philadelphia

Describe a situation that seemed OK at the time but now seems like harassment.

Having my butt grabbed or my boobs honked by someone whose sexual orientation excludes me as a love interest. Molly, 31, microbiologist, Colorado

Years ago, I had an OB-GYN who, when he realized I had left my husband, used to kiss me every time I went to his office, hold my hand across his desk, refer to my unborn child as the baby weve waited for for so long, and call me pet names. I thought my discomfort was unreasonable; there was usually a nurse in the room, so I thought if it was unprofessional, they would have reacted. Hazel, 44, writer and Ph.D. candidate, Dublin

Back when I was 22 and about to graduate college, I was looking for a job in the nonprofit or government sector. There was a man I knew through my university fundraising work who ran a local foundation; I emailed him to ask if we could meet for a networking meeting where I could discuss what I wanted from my future career and maybe he could give me advice or job leads. We ended up having brunch, but he didnt want to talk about my career. Instead he asked me prying personal questions about my dating life and implied that he wanted to date me. At the time, I thought I might have inadvertently made him think I was flirting with him and felt it was a misunderstanding that was my fault. Jamie, 33, data scientist, Chicago
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If you want the best small business team, you need to create a culture thats going to attract top talent.

Thats no small feat. But it can be made easier with expertise from business culture experts. An upcoming Twitter chat can help you glean insights from some of those experts and others in the small business community.

The Twitter chat, Build Culture, Win Talent: Driving Small Business Success, is scheduled for November 29 at 3 p.m. ET. Experts will share tips and ask questions of participants to create an active conversation.

You can learn more about the chat in the Featured Events section. Then check out even more upcoming small business events in the list below.

To see a full list or to submit your own event, contest or award listing, visit the Small Business Events Calendar.

Featured Events, Contests and Awards

#MetLifeSmallBiz Twitter Chat: Build Culture, Win Talent: Driving Small Business Success

November 29, 2017, Online, Twitter

MetLife will host a #MetLifeSmallBiz Twitter chat conversation among small business owners about how to build and maintain the kind of culture that attracts and keeps top talent. MetLife will be joined by Small Business experts Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends, Rieva Lesonsky of Small Biz Daily and a member of Susan Solovics team. These experts will share tips based on their personal experiences building winning business cultures, and expand upon small business insights from the latest Employee Benefit Trends Study and the MetLife & US Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index. Join us 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET on Twitter under the hashtag: #MetLifeSmallBiz

TNW New York

December 12, 2017, New York, N.Y.

The fifth edition of TNW New York is designed for decision-makers looking to explore the digital technologies transforming the Tech, Communication and Media industries.

This year were keeping it cozy and curated by operating an invite-only policy. If you want to be one of a thousand industry leaders discovering, discussing and shaping whats Now and Next in digital this December, then apply for your invitation now!

LEAP HR: Retail Conference, Nashville 2018

February 27, 2018, Nashville, Tenn.

LEAP HR: Retail 2018 will once again dig deeper into the innovative people leaps helping digital-native and established retailers succeed in a rapidly transforming industry. With new speakers, fresh case studies, and a pre-conference Boot Camp day dedicated to what the next-generation retail workforce really looks like, LEAP HR Retail 2018 remains the unique opportunity for senior people leaders in this industry to really challenge and get creative around how we do HR in retail.

More Events

More Contests

Sustainable Brands17

November 30, 2017, Multiple Cities

This weekly listing of small business events, contests and awards is provided as a community service by Small Business Trends and SmallBizTechnology.
Bear killed female elk.

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The project of returning elk to Slovak nature slowed down due to two unexpected events. First, elk ran away and then predators attacked, My Novohrad wrote.

The workers from the Research Institute for Animal Production Nitra and citizen association ZITO in cooperation with the Norwegian deer centre Svanoya and Swedish sponsor Warmlands Moose Park Eksharad decided to start the project Restitution of Eurasian elk in 2014, My Novohrad reported.

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Eurasian elk used live in Slovakia and the project aimed to return the animals to Slovak nature. Currently, they live in a preserve in the cadastre of Latky village, My Novohrad stated.

Running away

Latvian elk Merg and Swedish elk Embla lived in area of the preserve for more than year. In May, they escaped after a flood that broke the fence. Researchers knew about their whereabouts thanks to special GPS collars, My Novohrad wrote.

The animals were doing well at first. The female Embla delivered her first baby animal in the wild, My Novohrad reported.

Embla was in great condition at that time and it seemed that together with Merg, they were doing well in the wild, said the head of ZITO, Stanislav Bystriansky, as quoted by My Novohrad.

Embla showed herself to researchers two months ago, letting them take photos of her and stayed around for about half an hour. She was without her baby and her front leg was hurt. Then came the sad end.

Big loss

We found, thanks to the GPS signal, that Embla was not moving for a third day. She was killed by a bear, said Bystrinasky as cited by My Novohrad. It was a big loss because we take care of them and hope that after centuries when our ancestors killed all the elk during a time of famine, they will begin to be a part of our nature again.

Researchers hope that Merg is doing well and that he will find one of the female elks that are coming to Slovakia from Poland, My Novohrad wrote.

During the rutting season he walked over the whole Polana area but couldnt find a female elk, said Bystriansky for My Novohrad. His trip also had unpleasant consequences as his legs were gnawed by wolves, My Novohrad stated.

Researchers look after three male elk who still need a female. ZITO has asked for compensation from the state, My Novohrad wrote.

Damage made by predators comes to several thousand euros. A protected animal killed another animal protected in the same way, said Bystriansky for My Novohrad, as he awaits more interest on the part of the authorities.

Researchers hope that authorities will approved their request as compensation would help them continue the unique project, My Novohrad reported.
Its not that I thought sexually harassing women was okay, its more that I accepted that was just part of how things worked. Unfortunate, yes, but also standard.

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I am visiting the United States and the big news continues to be the almost daily revelations about sexual harassment by men in Washington, Hollywood  pretty much everywhere, actually. Yesterday it was a Democratic senator and a few days before that the Republican candidate for senate in Alabama was accused of trying to date 14 year old girls when he was in his 30s. In the UK parliament a similar series of scandals are emerging, and threaten the stability of Theresa Mays already unstable government.

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The first of the big sexual harassment revelations came weeks ago, with Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, and it has been nonstop ever since. Was anybody really surprised that a wealthy, older man was using his power to try and convince young, pretty actresses to have sex with him? I was not. But after a few weeks of reflection shouldnt we all be ashamed that it was so unsurprising?
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Red Hat, Inc. provides open source software solutions to develop and offer operating system, virtualization, management, middleware, cloud, mobile, and storage technologies to various enterprises worldwide. It offers infrastructure-related solutions, such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, an operating system platform that runs on hardware for use in hybrid cloud environments; Red Hat Satellite, a system management offering that helps to deploy, scale, and manage in hybrid cloud environments; and Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, a software solution that allows customers to utilize and manage a common hardware infrastructure to run multiple operating systems and applications. The company offers application development-related and other technology solutions, such as Red Hat JBoss Middleware, a solution for developing, deploying, and managing applications; integrating applications, data, and devices; and automating business processes in hybrid cloud environments; The company's application development-related and other technology solutions also includes Red Hat cloud offerings, a software solution that enables customers to build and manage various cloud computing environments; Red Hat Mobile, a software development platform that enables customers to develop, integrate, deploy, and manage mobile applications for enterprises; and Red Hat Storage, a software solution that enables customers to manage large, unstructured, or semi-structured data in hybrid cloud environments. It also provides consulting, support, and training services; and realtime operating system, distributed computing, directory services, and user authentication. Red Hat, Inc. has collaboration with Juniper Networks Expand to provide a unified solution for enterprises designed to manage and run applications and services. The company was formerly known as Red Hat Software, Inc. and changed its name to Red Hat, Inc. in June 1999. Red Hat, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina.
A Jardine Matheson company has built up an 8 percent stake worth $911.5 million in Vinamilk , Vietnams biggest-listed company, highlighting a strong interest from foreign groups to expand in one of Asias fastest-growing economies.

Singapore-listed Jardine Cycle & Carriage Ltd (JC&C) on Thursday said one of its wholly-owned units had bought an additional 36 million shares in Vinamilk, just days after it paid $616.6 million for a 5.53 percent stake in the dairy firm.

The sale comes amid Vietnams broader effort to trim its stakes in state-owned firms, including the countrys biggest brewer Sabeco, Vietnam Airlines and Habeco, many of which have low profitability.

But progress has been slow, given the small sizes offered, sizeable state control and concerns about vested interests.

A Vinamilk stake sale in 2016 drew in only one buyer, but last weeks sale saw high demand from 19 investors in Vietnam and overseas after the state investor removed some of the restrictions applied to the earlier sale.

JC&Cs previous purchase of Vinamilk stock was made through the open market and an auction by the State Capital Investment Commission of Vietnam, the largest shareholder in the dairy firm. The latest purchases were made via on-market deals only.

The unit is now Vinamilks No.2 foreign shareholder, after the 16 percent stake controlled by Fraser & Neave Ltd, a group backed by Thai tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi.

JC&C is part of Hong-Kong based Jardine Matheson, one of Asias biggest conglomerates which has interests in luxury hotels, motor vehicles, property, food retailing, transport financial services and agribusiness.

Officials at the Ho Chi Minh stock exchange did not provide further details on the latest purchase.

Vinamilk shares rose as much as 1.2 percent to 184,000 dong a share ($8.11 each) on Thursday. ($1 = 22,701 dong)
With many Vietnamese parents putting insufficient emphasis on financial education for their children, three undergrads in Ho Chi Minh City have come up with a project to enhance money management skills among primary school students.

The students, from the Department of Primary Education, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, have won a spot at the "Young Masterminds and Education 2017" competition with their innovative idea.

The contest is jointly held by the Ho Chi Minh Youth Union's Central Committee, the Ministry of Education, Tuoi Tre (Youth) Newspaper, and JSC Thien Long Group.

The proposed program includes such activities as making good foods for parents, managing household expenditure, keeping a piggy bank, making handicraft, or buying and selling used books.

The masterminds behind the idea, Tran Nguyen Thanh Truc, Nguyen Thuy Oanh, and Nguyen Ngoc Tuong Vy, are in their early twenties.

Laying a foundation for young learners

"As a private tutor, I have seen how parents carelessly provide their kids with pocket money, Truc said.

They have the least interest in how this money is going to be spent.

"So I thought helping the kids to use money in proper manners and to value their parents' hard work could possibly be a nice idea.

She added that adequate financial education lays a firm basis for the young students' future.

An active participant in the Youth Union's activities, Truc found "Young Masterminds and Education 2017" the very chance to put her team's idea into practice.

Even though the senior students were up to their ears in school work, the three pre-service primary school teachers managed to meet up occasionally to exchange resources and polish their plan.

They focused on how money relates to the family and the society as a whole, endeavoring to tailor activities for their specific target - elementary school children.

Another member of the team, Oanh, commented on their methodology: "We base the program on primary school textbook currently in use.

We've attempted to figure out how financial education can best integrate with other subjects."

Stay innovative

The proposed financial education program offers corresponding activities for grade one to five in the Vietnamese primary education system, stressing rational expenditure and a raised sense of sharing.

Third graders, children aged 8-9, for example, may be involved in an activity called "A surprise gift for your beloved". Meanwhile, fourth graders might partake in "Family meals, when teachers will take them on a field trip to the supermarket, where they will spend a maximum of $4.40 to purchase the most nutritious foods based on previous lessons.

"We need to conduct experimental research and make further modifications," Truc said. "The idea might be 'crazy', but to us this is a milestone."

She further explained that as future teachers, they needed to maintain their sense of creativity and self-education.

In their opinion, financial education can benefit primary students in helping them manage the money they have spent and saved, which in turn arouses their interest and improves learning.

However, the application of such a program might be met with certain obstacles - it possibly can only be integrated into other subjects, or conducted as an extra-curriculum activity.

Apart from such time limit, the demographics of students vary wildly from one area to the next, and large classes of 40-50 students will call for utmost flexibility on the part of teachers.
Miss Vietnam Do My Linh, who represents her country at the Miss World 2017, has been listed among favorite contestants and is ready to shine at the beauty contests finale tonight, November 18.

The 21-year-old Vietnamese, hailing from Hanoi, was crowned Miss Vietnam 2016 and has since led a scandal-free life and won support from local audience through her charity works.

Miss World 2017, the 67th edition of the Miss World pageant, is taking place tonight, November 18, at the Sanya City Arena in Sanya, China.

Linh and 117 contestants from all over the world will compete at the finale, with Stephanie Del Valle of Puerto Rico scheduled to crown her successor at the end of the event.

Do My Linh has so far impressed fans at home and around the world with her great participation in the Head to Head Challenge, a new feature of the beauty pageant, where contestants have a chance to speak and express themselves. The only winner of the challenge will earn a spot in the Miss World Top 40.

The Vietnamese was in Group 18 with beauty queens from Spain, Wales Zimbabwe, South Sudan and Belize, who were challenged to speak about their role as a beauty queen, and take one question from the event host.

Linh started by introducing her role as an ambassador for Vietnamese victims of the Agent Orange with fluent English. She then took the final question, Name one moment where you can say you are proud of your country, with full confidence.

Linh recalled her trip to a flood-stricken area in central Vietnam and met with disaster victims, when she realized nothing can let the country and its people down, which is why she is very proud of [her] country and people.

Alvin Sebetero, who hosted the challenge, wrote on Facebook later that Linhs answer made him happy and deemed it one of [his] favorite response among the six of them.

It's nice to see a nation helping each other to stand once again after a fall, Sebetero wrote, declaring that Linh was Group 18 winner.

Audience in Vietnam can cheer for Linh by watching the final on Miss World website and E! and BBC One channels.

Prior to the final night, Linh has showcased two photo shoots of her in bikini and gown dresses.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Check out the news you should not miss today, November 18

Politics

-- The APEC Economic Leaders Week, hosted by Vietnam in the central city of Da Nang from November 6-11, has successfully ended with many key outcomes, Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said as he chaired a meeting to announce the results of the event on Friday.

Society

-- A tropical depression that formed in the East Vietnam Sea on Friday has strengthened into a storm on Saturday morning and is heading towards Vietnam's south-central coast. It is the 14th storm to hit the country so far this year.

-- Nguyen Khac Thuy, 77, the suspect in the infamous child sex abuse case in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, was sentenced to three years behind bars on Friday on charges of child molestation.

-- Mainstream media should actively work to 'orient' the currents of right information on social networks, Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan emphasized during a Q&A session at the 14th National Assemblys ongoing fourth session on Friday.

-- Two men were arrested Friday for allegedly transporting 26,200 methamphetamine pills in Na Meo commune, bordering Laos, in the north-central Vietnamese province of Thanh Hoa.

-- Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City's coastal district of Can Gio should have evacuation plans ready as the area might be hit by a storm, the municipal administration said at a meeting on Friday, as Vietnam was bracing for the 14th storm this year.

-- The deputy director of the finance department and deputy director of the environment department of the northern province of Son La have been arrested and taken into custody for investigation over their violations in compensating residents who had to relocate to make space for a local hydropower plant construction.

Business

-- Singapore-listed Jardine Cycle & Carriage Ltd (JC&C) has said one of its wholly-owned units had bought an additional 36 million shares worth $911.5 million in Vinamilk , Vietnams biggest-listed company, Reuters reported on Friday.

-- The Central Highlands province of Dak Lak plans to rake in up to $650 million a year from exporting coffee, according to a development master plan of the local administration.

Lifestyle

-- The first Italy-ASEAN Week, showcasing the best of the Italian lifestyle, is scheduled to kick off today, November 18, in Hanoi and runs until November 27
A court in Vung Tau, the coastal city of the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, on Friday sentenced a 77-year-old man to three years in prison for child sexual abuse.

Nguyen Khac Thuy was found committing lewd acts on two girls, aged six and 11, in separate cases in April and May 2014, at the local Lakeside apartment complex, according to court documents.

In the first case, the elderly man touched the sensitive parts of the little girl and was later scolded and beaten into the face by the victims father.

In the second incident, the victim was talking with her friend in her apartment at Lakeside when Thuy appeared and put his hand through the door to commit lewd acts on her.

Nguyen Khac Thuy is seen at a court in Vung Tau, southern Vietnam.

Thuy pleaded not guilty to charges of child molestation during the investigation process and at Fridays court.

The court declared Thuys appeal inadmissible, ruling that there is sufficient evidence to charge him.

The court therefore rejected Thuys not-guilty peal as well as the appeal of his lawyer and upheld the verdict.

In September, Ba Ria - Vung Tau police recommended that the 77-year-old be prosecuted for molesting four preteen girls.
The last Australian Story for the year hears from the family of Justine Damond, who was tragically shot by a Minneapolis policeman in July.

Justine did what any Aussie woman would do. Go to the police, because you know its safe. In this case, it was the wrong decision. John Ruszczyk, Justines father

It doesnt add up, thats the problem for us, it doesnt add up, why a policeman would shoot a woman in her pyjamas? Katarina Ruszczyk, sister-in-law & lawyer

I want to know what happened that night. How does such a thing happen? Its been 12 weeks now and we have no more answers than on the day of. Don Damond, Justines fiance

Theres no excuse for it. If she can be shot, anybody can be shot. Any 911 caller, any mother in her pyjamas, anybody. Bob Bennett, US attorney

Sydney woman Justine Damond Ruszczyk was living in Minneapolis and weeks away from her wedding when she was shot dead by a US police officer in shocking circumstances that are yet to be explained.

On the night of July 15, the former vet-turned-meditation teacher was home alone when she called 911 to report what she thought was a sexual assault taking place in the laneway behind her house.

When the police car arrived, she went outside  only to be shot dead by one of the police officers, Mohamed Noor, who was seated inside the vehicle.

In this Australian Story exclusive, we meet Justines Australian family in their first in-depth media interviews  and travel to Minnesota to speak to her fiance Don Damond, and her friends and neighbours, as they search for answers and seek justice for Justine.

8pm Monday on ABC.
maldives trip

Twitter @willarmstrong_

Cheltenham student Will Armstrong lost his ID on a night out.

A few days later he received an itinerary the Flight Centre travel agent for a first-class trip to the Maldives.

The letter was part of a prank by the company, who had found his ID.



26-year-old Will Armstrong  a student from Cheltenham  lost his ID on a night out.

A few days later, he received an itinerary for a first class trip to the Maldives  and was told he had to pay them 5,289.87 just six days later.

Armstrong shared a tweet which read "so I was pretty drunk the other night and I lost my ID, then this turns up today...:"

Tweet Embed:

https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/927958251551055872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

so I was pretty drunk the other night and I lost my ID, then this turns up today... pic.twitter.com/TX0CHttfnT

The letter he received in the post read: "Thank you so much for popping in the other day. We certainly appreciate your business and hope your beginning to get excited about your upcoming first class flight to the Maldives!"

It included an itinerary for a trip to the Maldives in early December, flying first class with Etihad Airways.

"Please keep in mind, balance in due on Friday, November 10th at 12:05 p.m.," the letter went on.

However, the letter was all part of a prank by his local Flight Centre travel agent, who had found his driving licence outside their shop  and found a unique way of returning it.

"We're just kidding. Weve found you're driving license [sic] (enclosed) outside our shop and thought you might need it!" the letter read, adding: "Just make sure you consider us for your next holiday."

Armstrong visited the store to thank Steve, the man who found his licence and returned it to him with the cruel-but-funny prank.

He posted a photo to Twitter alongside Steve, saying: "here's the man himself, thank you Steve!"

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Tweet Embed:

https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/928269821170651136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

here's the man himself, thank you Steve! pic.twitter.com/D0ctqiSXlY

A Flight Centre spokesperson told MailOnline Travel: "Were delighted that the dedicated Flight Centre team in Cheltenham were able to reunite William with his lost driving licence and we hope hell visit the store again soon."

NOW WATCH: We flew from London to France using the Uber of private aeroplane flights  heres what it was like

See Also:
By Carolyn Crist

(Reuters Health) - Going quickly from low altitude to high altitude can cause headache, fatigue and nausea, the American Medical Association warns in a new publication directed at travelers.

Acute mountain sickness affects more than one in four people who travel above 3,500 meters, or 11,600 feet, and more than half of those who travel above 6,000 meters, or 20,000 feet.

Many popular ski resorts in the Rocky Mountains and the Alps, for example, are well above those elevations.

With winter and the holiday season approaching, its time for travelers to be careful as they visit high altitudes, said Dr. Jill Jin of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, who wrote the one-page primer online November 14 in JAMA.

Its important to talk about the signs, symptoms and treatment, she told Reuters Health by phone.

Headache, fatigue, poor appetite, nausea, vomiting, light-headedness and sleep disturbances that develop six to 12 hours after ascent all can be symptoms of acute mountain sickness, the article warns. The problems usually improve in one or two days if the traveler doesnt go higher. In fewer than 1% of cases, symptoms can grow worse and turn into high-altitude cerebral edema.

Everyone is susceptible, even if youre young, Jin said. Everyone can experience it, regardless of gender and age.

Acute mountain sickness is easy to diagnose in healthy adults but can be harder to spot in children and those with health problems.

Treatment usually includes rest, hydration and pain medicine for headaches. Some patients need supplemental oxygen. Some prescription medicines, such as acetazolamide and dexamethasone, can help. People with persistent severe symptoms should go back down to a lower altitude.

This is a public health problem in places such as Colorado. Millions of people visit the mountains every year, and it affects how people enjoy their trip, said Dr. Chris Davis of the University of Colorado at Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, who researches high altitude sickness, frostbite and avalanche injury patterns.

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This is high season for Colorado mountain resorts when people plan their Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and other holiday travel here, he told Reuters Health by phone. An ounce of prevention pays off in the long term.

Theres a myth that fitness drives your risk, Davis said. Its based on genetics, so even if youre fit, you may experience it.

The JAMA paper says a gradual ascent of 400 meters, or 1,333 feet per day - especially for sleeping at night - can help prevent acute mountain sickness. Travelers can also try pre-acclimatization, or regular exposure to altitude, as well as hydrating with water and avoiding alcohol.

Those who have experienced high altitude sickness before should be especially careful, Jin advises. Patients with heart disease, lung disease, anemia and obstructive sleep apnea should talk to their doctors before traveling to high altitudes.

Davis pointed out that while the paper mentions high-altitude cerebral edema, it doesnt discuss lung edema, which, while rare, is more common and also carries the risk of severe symptoms and death.

Mountaineers know the tips and tricks of gradual ascent up high altitudes, but some tourists fly from sea level to a city and then immediately drive to the mountains, he said. Instead, spend the night in Denver, for example, and split up the trip to lower your risk.

An accompanying article in JAMA reviews the existing research on instruments to use for diagnosing acute mountain sickness. The "clinical functional score" is highlighted as the simplest of the available instruments.

SOURCES: http://bit.ly/2ySxWVC and http://bit.ly/2hCDpsp

JAMA 2017.

See Also:
BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Friday it supports Cambodia in pursuing its own development path, after Cambodia's Supreme Court dissolved the country's main opposition party at the request of the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen ahead of elections next year.

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the comment at a daily news briefing in Beijing.

The United States has promised "concrete steps" against Cambodia and the European Union raised a threat to vital trade preferences after the ruling.

(Reporting by Michael Martina; Writing by Ryan Woo; Editing by Nick Macfie)
TIMIKA, Indonesia (Reuters) - U.S. miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc is evacuating spouses and children of workers from its giant Indonesian copper mine after a string of shootings in the area raised security concerns.

The move follows efforts by Indonesian authorities on Friday to evacuate villages near Freeports Grasberg mine in the eastern province of Papua that authorities said had been occupied by armed separatists.

Since August at least 12 people have been injured and two police officers have been killed by gunmen with suspected links to separatist rebels.

Freeport has asked family and household members of its employees to prepare over the weekend for a temporary relocation from the mining town of Tembagapura, about 10 km (6.2 miles) from Grasberg, company sources said. Workers have been asked to stay behind and maintain their work schedule, they said.

Details of the evacuation or the number of people impacted were not immediately clear. Shots were fired at a light vehicle and two large mining trucks were set on fire at Grasberg on Saturday, one of the sources said. The sources declined to be named as they were not authorised to talk to the media.

Freeport in a statement on Saturday confirmed the evacuation plan and said it will be carried out immediately.

"We are working closely with government and law enforcement to ensure the safety of our people and those in the communities we support, and to bring about the return of peace and stability as soon as possible," it said.

Grasberg is the world's second-largest copper mine by volume.

The separatist West Papua National Liberation Army (TPN-OPM) says it is at war with Indonesian authorities and wants to "destroy" Freeport in an effort to gain sovereignty for the region.

TPN-OPM has claimed responsibility for the shootings but denies police allegations it took civilian hostages.

(Reporting by Sam Wanda in TIMIKA; Writing by Fransiska Nangoy and Fergus Jensen in JAKARTA; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government should revoke landing rights for Kuwait Airways given its ban on Israeli passengers, a senior Justice Department official said on Friday, saying such discrimination was intolerable.

Christian Lange, parliamentary state secretary in the ministry, appealed to Chancellor Angela Merkel to personally advocate a ban on Kuwait Airways' operations in Germany.

A German court ruled on Thursday that the airline had the right to refuse to carry an Israeli passenger due to his nationality, a verdict that Jewish groups said condoned anti-Semitism.

Lange told Merkel in the letter that he had received countless phone calls from members of the Jewish community and from others in Israel, expressing shock about the court ruling, made just days after Germany solemnly marked the anniversary of the Nov. 9, 1938 Nazi pogroms against the Jews.

"We cannot say 'Never again' at a remembrance ceremony, but then remain silent when activists in Germany call for a boycott of Israel, or, as in this case, when an airline refuses to carry Israeli citizens," Lange said.

"Especially the German government must make clear that we reject this form of discrimination and hate, and that we stand by the side of our Israeli friends," he told the chancellor.

The Lawfare Project, the legal group that represented the plaintiff in the case, has vowed to appeal against the ruling.

"To see a Jewish person banned from exercising his freedoms in Germany in 2017 is chilling enough. To see that discrimination whitewashed and legitimised by a German judge is grotesque," said the group's executive director, Brooke Goldstein.

Deputy German Foreign Minister Michael Roth also criticized the airline's policy, telling Die Welt newspaper that he had contacted the Kuwaiti ambassador in Germany about the issue.

German Transport Minister Christian Schmidt told Bild newspaper that it was not acceptable to discriminate against airline passengers because of their nationality, and said the German government would address the matter with the Kuwaiti government.

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"This requires contacts at the ministerial level," Schmidt told the newspaper in an interview to be published on Saturday.

"We will do all we can within our legal means to prevent something like this in the future," Schmidt told the paper.

There was no immediate response to a request for comment emailed to the airline.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Editing by William Maclean)
Gerry Adams to step down in end of an era for Irish nationalism

By Conor Humphries

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams, a pivotal figure in the political life of Ireland for almost 50 years, said on Saturday he will step down as party leader and complete a generational shift in the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Reviled by many as the face of the IRA during its campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland, Adams reinvented himself as a peacemaker in the troubled region and then as a populist opposition parliamentarian in the Irish Republic.

Adams said he would be replaced as party president, a position he has held since 1983, at a party conference next year. He would also not stand for reelection to the Irish parliament.

"Republicanism has never been stronger... But leadership means knowing when it is time for change. That time is now," Adams said in an emotional speech to a packed party conference.

"I have complete confidence in the next generation of leaders," he said.

Adams stayed on stage as the 2,500-strong crowd, some in tears, gave him a standing ovation and sang a traditional Irish song about the road home, followed by the national anthem.

Adams will almost certainly hand over to a successor with no direct involvement in the decades of conflict in Northern Ireland, a prospect that would make Sinn Fein a more palatable coalition partner in the Irish Republic where it has never been in power.

Deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald, an English literature graduate from Trinity College Dublin who has been at the forefront of a new breed of Sinn Fein politicians transforming the party's image, is the clear favourite to take over.

That would mean the left-wing party being led on both sides of the Irish border by women in their 40s after Michelle O'Neill succeeded Martin McGuinness as leader in Northern Ireland shortly before the former IRA commander's death in March.

IRA DENIALS

Adams, who will turn 70 next October, has always denied membership of the IRA but accusations from former IRA fighters that he was involved in its campaign of killings have dogged him throughout his career.

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Adams was a key figure in the nationalist movement throughout the three decades of violence between Catholic militants seeking a united Ireland, mainly Protestant militants who wanted to maintain Northern Ireland's position as a part of Britain, and the British army.

3,600 died in the conflict, many at the hands of the IRA.

As head of the political wing of the IRA during its bombing campaigns in 1980s Britain, Adams was a pariah and banned from speaking on British airwaves, forcing television stations to dub his voice with that of an actor.

He and his party emerged from the political cold in October 1997 when he shook hands with Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair at their first meeting. A year later, he helped win sceptical elements in the IRA to the Good Friday peace deal, which largely ended the violence.

Since the peace deal Adams and McGuinness turned Sinn Fein from a fringe party into the dominant Irish nationalist party in Northern Ireland and the third largest party in south of the border.

While its anti-austerity platform led to a six-fold increase in its number of seats in the Republic - 23 out of 158 - suspicion of Sinn Fein's role in the Northern Ireland troubles still runs deep and the far larger ruling Fine Gael and or main opposition Fianna Fail have ruled out governing alongside them.

Analysts say a change of leader could help open the way to Sinn Fein entering government in Dublin for the first time.

"Under a new Sinn Fein leader I think anything is possible," said David Farrell, politics professor at University College Dublin.

A new Sinn Fein leader will also take over responsibility for rescuing power-sharing devolved government in Northern Ireland and avoid a return to full direct rule from London for the first time in decade.

Power-sharing collapsed after Sinn Fein withdrew in January saying the Democratic Unionist Party was not treating it as an equal partner and a series of talks have failed to break the impasse.

(Writing by Conor Humphries and Padraic Halpin; Editing by Toby Chopra)
Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri is seen at the governmental palace in Beirut, Lebanon October 24, 2017. Picture taken October 24, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir - RC1F0AAA54F0 (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Qatar's foreign minister on Friday criticized "reckless leadership" in the Gulf for a number of crises including the Gulf rift and Lebanon, taking apparent aim at Saudi Arabia.

The diplomatic crisis, in which Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt have boycotted Qatar, has been brewing since the summer after the four countries cut diplomatic, transport and trade ties with Qatar, accusing it of financing terrorism. Doha denies the charges.

Saudi Arabia and its allies are fighting for sway across the region against a bloc led by Iran, which includes the heavily armed Lebanese Shi'ite Hezbollah group.

Attention on the dispute has shifted recently especially in the wake of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri's shock resignation announcement this month while in Saudi Arabia.

Hariri's abrupt resignation and his continued stay in Riyadh have caused fears over Lebanon's stability and thrust it into the bitter rivalry between Riyadh and Iran. Saudi Arabia and Hariri - whom Riyadh backs - say his movements are not restricted. Riyadh also denies accusations it forced Hariri to resign.

"We see a pattern of irresponsibility and a reckless leadership in the region which is just trying to bully countries into submission," Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said in Washington.

"What we are witnessing now in the region ... it's something we just witness(ed) in recent history, bullying small countries into submission.

"Exactly what happened to Qatar six months ago is happening now to Lebanon. The leadership in Saudi Arabia and the UAE need to understand ... there is no right for any country to interfere in other countries' affairs," he told a group of reporters.

Asked to comment on those remarks, the Saudi Embassy in Washington's spokeswoman, Fatimah Baeshen, said:

"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's foreign policy has always been premised on regional stability, peace, and security. The Kingdom does not interfere with its neighbours domestic affairs."

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Riyadh says Qatar backs terrorism and cozies up to Iran. Qatar rejects the accusation and says it is being punished for straying from its neighbours' backing for authoritarian rulers.

Since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman rose to power less than three years ago, Riyadh has struck a more aggressive posture towards Iran, launching a war in Yemen, leading the boycott of neighbouring Qatar, and ratcheting up its rhetoric against Hezbollah.

U.S. efforts to bring an end to the dispute have yet to bear fruit. Qatar hosts the largest U.S. air base in the region which is used in the international coalition fighting Islamic State.

Thani said Qatar's Boeing C-17 transport aircraft, used by Doha for logistical support within the coalition, were forced to fly over Iran given that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have blocked Qatari planes from flying over their airspace.

"So if we imagine that any emergency will happen, those C-17 planes which might have U.S. troops will land in Iran.

"So this is the impact of this blockade ... on the global coalition and on U.S. military operations there," Thani said.

(Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by James Dalgleish)
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel attends a news conference after a meeting with his Belarussian counterpart Vladimir Makei in Minsk, Belarus November 17, 2017. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has summoned its ambassador in Germany home for consultations over comments by German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel about the political crisis in Lebanon.

The Saudi foreign ministry said the government also handed Germany's representative in Riyadh a protest note over what it said were "shameful" comments Gabriel made after a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart.

After a meeting in Berlin with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Gabriel told reporters that Europe "could not tolerate the adventurism that has spread there". It was not clear from a Reuters television recording that the remark was targeted at Saudi Arabia.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri resigned while in Saudi Arabia on Nov. 4.

"Such remarks provoke the surprise and disapproval of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which considers them as aimless and based on false information that would not help bring about stability in the region," the Saudi ministry said.

The ministry later said on its Twitter account it had summoned the German ambassador in Riyadh and handed him "a protest memorandum over the shameful and unjustified remarks made by the German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel."

Hariri's abrupt resignation has raised concern over Lebanon's stability. He met French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Saturday, several hours after he left Saudi Arabia. Lebanon's President Michel Aoun said on Twitter Hariri had told him in a phone call from Paris he would be in Lebanon on Wednesday for Independence Day celebrations.

The German foreign ministry welcomed Hariri's departure from Saudi Arabia for Paris and impending return to Lebanon.

"We are very concerned about regional stability and call on sides to reduce tensions," the statement read. "We aim this message at all actors in the region."

(Reporting by Mohamed El-Sherif, writing by Sami Aboudi, Editing by Janet Lawrence and Toby Chopra)
Devro , a manufacturer of collagen based sausage casings, saw sales growth bounce back over the first half the year.

In its interim report released Wednesday, the company posted a total revenue increase of 11% to 125.2m, built primarily around its 6% increase in sales volumes in the British and Irish markets.

That was compared favourably to the 6.6% drop in sales volumes seen in 2016.

Exchange rate fluctuations also benefited the company in the second half of 2016. Due to a "significant weakening" of the pound towards the end of 2016, translational exchange gains improved underlying profits to the tune of 2.8m.

Completion of its new Chinese based plant helped the group to a 125% increase in volume sales in the region, while Russia saw an increase of 19%. The Japanese division posted a 5% increase in volumes thanks to an expansion into non-meat categories, while South-East Asia reported impressive 40% growth.

In Latin America, the company did see a 35% decrease in sales volumes due to ongoing issues related to the transition in the supply of products between plants. Further work is planned to resolve these problems in the second half following completion of new plants in the area.

Peter Page, chief executive of Devro, commented that,"Devro has made good progress with its principal objectives of growing revenue, volumes and market share in a range of markets, whilst reducing unit costs in operations. The Devro 100 programme to accelerate achievement of these objectives has progressed well during the first half of 2017."

Changes in prices and product mix were a drag, subtracting 6% from the group's sales.

The underlying EBITDA was ahead of the first half of 2016 by 16.7% to 30.8m, lowering its EBITDA/net debt ratio to 2.4 times.

Unaudited earnings per share were 6.0p, which was down on last year's 6.3p, as profits before tax slipped from 13.7m to 13.1m.

However, operating cash flows before pension deficit funding improved by 7.6m to 23.9m thanks to lower exceptional spend and capital expenditures.

Devro kept its interim payout at 2.7p.

"The Board's expectations for the full-year remain unchanged and the business continues to generate strong cash flow from the underlying operations, which will enable net debt covenant ratios to be returned to historic levels over time," said Page.

As of BST 1245 Devro shares had risen 4.9% to 226.7p
Analysts at Barclays re-jigged their recommendations on European Exploration and Production companies in order to take into account the recent rise in crude oil prices and improved investor sentiment regarding companies ability to execute to plan operationally.

In the process they upgraded their recommendation on shares of Ophir Energy and Premier Oil while downgrading stock in Det Norske, Genel and Ithaca Energy.

"Those two points appear to have been enough to see many investors revisit the sector with more forward-looking optimism in recent months and increasingly ascribe value to delivery of 2016 operational goals," the analysts said in a research note sent to clients on 21 June.

With crude oil futures having recovered to $50 per barrel, equity analysts at Barclays opted to 'mark-to-market' their price assumptions, increasing their 2016 Brent forecast to $44 a barrel and nudging their 2017 estimate from $55 a barrel to $57.

The broker also continued to factor in a gradual recovery in oil to $70 per barrel from 2018 onwards.

On the basis of the above, it rollowed forward its net asset value estimates by one year to the end of 2016. As a result, Ophir Energy was now their 'top-pick' and not DNO, Premier Oil was upgraded from 'equal-weight' to 'overweight' and Tullow Oil kept at 'overweight'.



Bank of America-Merrill Lynch upgraded ICAP to buy from neutral with an unchanged price target of 500p, saying the stocks recent underperformance has added valuation appeal to a compelling strategy.

It noted ICAP shares have dropped 19% this year, which is around 18% more than the All Share and attributed much of the weakness to macro/referendum concerns.

The bank said it continues to see ICAP as well placed, especially post the NEX separation. NEX is the company which will endure once ICAP sells the bulk of its voice assets to Tullett Prebon.

We have supported the companys separation of its voice broking from the electronic assets (NEX Group), and believe that these businesses should have a vibrant future, BofA said.



Liberum upgraded Go-Ahead Group to buy from hold but trimmed the target price to 2,740p from 2,860p.

It said the markets overreaction to the groups recent trading update presented a buying opportunity.

The halving of long-term margin guidance at the GTR rail franchise and the potential for a narrow miss of the 100m bus profit target were disappointing. However, the share price reaction exceeded any reasonable assessment of value reduction, the brokerage said.
Voters in Rome have elected the city's first woman mayor after the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) won a resounding victory.

Virginia Raggi (pictured) won 67% of the vote a run-off ballot with the Democratic partys Roberto Giachetti.

There was also a shock in the traditionally centre-left city of Turin, where another woman, Chiara Appendino, was voted mayor ousting the Democratic incumbent.

Appendino, a 31-year old business graduate, won the mayoral race with 54.6% of the vote, defeating Piero Fassino with 45.4%.

I will be a mayor for all Romans. I will restore legality and transparency to the citys institutions after 20 years of poor governance. With us a new era is opening, the 37 year old Raggi said after her win.

M5S was founded by comedian Beppe Grillo after the 2008 economic crisis and had been perceived broadly as a party of protest. However it now poses a threat to the administration of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his ruling centre-left Democratic Party.

Raggi, a lawyer, will take over a city that has not had a leader for eight months after an expenses scandal forced the resignation of Democratic mayor, Ignazio Marino. Rome has been run by a special commissioner in the interim.
Spanish police shoot dead 5 terrorists in seaside resort town

A terrorist attack claimed the lives 13 people in Barcelona after a van speed through the busy central street of Las Ramblas on Thursday thoroughfare, with a second attack in the seaside town of Cambrils ending with death of five assailants.

The terrorists killed in Cambrils were reportedly wearing what appeared to be belts laden with explosives but officials later said the devices were fake.

Before the regional police in Cambrils was able to intervene six people were injured, two seriously, after the terrorists ran over an undetermined number of civilians.

One suspected terrorist was detained in Cambrils and another in Ripoll, in northeastern Catalonia, according to the latest reports.

Regional police believe that an explosion at a home in the town of Alcanar, Tarragona on Wednesday night was related to the Barcelona killings the next day.

That explosion killed one person and left another seven injured, but it was initially believed it had been due to a gas leak at the house.
B&Q UK boss Kevin O'Byrne will step down from his post as parent company Kingfisher undergoes some leadership restructuring.

The shake-up, which will be announced next week, is the first step in a move to bring B&Q closer to French DIY chain Castorama and under the control of Vernoique Laury, who has been chief executive of Kingfisher since September.

B&Q has faced challenging conditions amid the UK's housing crisis, with less Britons carrying out home improvements as ownership becomes more difficult.

Laury has pushed for increased joint buying and sourcing across brands internationally, believing that consumers hold a common goal - to improve the comfort and attractiveness of their living spaces. Laury has also shown an interest in shrinking B&Q's 360-strong portfolio to minimize costs.

Analysts were largely not surprised by O'Byrne's anticipated departure, in the wake of his failure to secure the top position in Kingfisher last year.
Arcadia boss Philip Green has agreed to pay up to 50m a year into the fashion group's pension fund, UK media reported.

The fund reportedly has a deficit of around 200m. Arcadia has been contributing 25m a year, but the increase could see it clear the deficit in four years

However, unnamed sources cited by the Financial Times said the pension hole has deepened significantly since last years accounts, meaning a full recovery could take twice as long.

It is the second time in a week that Green has agreed to stump up cash for pensions. Last week he finally paid 363m to help bridge the 571m deficit at high street chain BHS which collapsed last year after after he sold it in 2015 to serial bankrupt Dominic Chappell for 1

The tycoon's reputation suffered serious damage after he stalled on helping the estimated 20,000 former BHS workers who faced reduced benefits. He also still faces calls to be stripped of his knighthood.

A parliamentary investigation concluded that BHS had been subject to systematic plunder by Green, Chappell and their coterie of advisers.

Sir Philip systematically extracted hundreds of millions of pounds from BHS, paying very little tax and fantastically enriching himself and his family, leaving the company and its pension fund weakened to the point of the inevitable collapse of both, the parliamentary committee said at the time.
Banco Santander-Chile, together with its subsidiaries, provides commercial and retail banking products and services in Chile. It operates through Retail Banking, Middle-Market, Corporate Investment Banking, and Corporate Activities segments. The company offers debit and credit cards, checking accounts, and savings products; consumer, automobile, commercial, mortgage, and government-guaranteed loans; and Chilean peso and foreign currency denominated loans to finance various commercial transactions, trade, foreign currency forward contracts, and credit lines, as well as mortgage financing services. It also provides mutual funds, insurance and securities brokerage, foreign exchange, financial leasing, factoring, financial consulting and advisory, investment management, foreign trade, treasury, and transactional services, as well as specialized services to finance projects for the real estate industry. In addition, the company offers short-term financing and fund raising, and brokerage services, as well as derivatives, securitization, and other tailor-made products. It serves individuals, small to middle-sized entities, companies, and large corporations, as well as universities, government entities, and local and regional governments. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated 326 branches, which include 220 under the Santander brand name, 14 under the Select brand name, 7 specialized branches for the middle market, and 22 as auxiliary and payment centers, as well as 1,338 ATMs, including depository ATMs. Banco Santander-Chile was incorporated in 1977 and is headquartered in Santiago, Chile.
Corning Incorporated engages in display technologies, optical communications, environmental technologies, specialty materials, and life sciences businesses worldwide. The company's Display Technologies segment offers glass substrates for liquid crystal displays and organic light-emitting diodes used in televisions, notebook computers, desktop monitors, tablets, and handheld devices. Its Optical Communications segment provides optical fibers and cables; and hardware and equipment products, including cable assemblies, fiber optic hardware and connectors, optical components and couplers, closures, network interface devices, and other accessories. This segment also offers its products to businesses, governments, and individuals. Its Specialty Materials segment manufactures products that provide material formulations for glass, glass ceramics, crystals, precision metrology instruments, software; as well as ultra-thin and ultra-flat glass wafers, substrates, tinted sunglasses, and radiation shielding products. This segment serves various industries, including mobile consumer electronics, semiconductor equipment optics and consumables; aerospace and defense optics; radiation shielding products, sunglasses, and telecommunications components. The company's Environmental Technologies segment offers ceramic substrates and filter products for emissions control in mobile, gasoline, and diesel applications. The company's Life Sciences segment offers laboratory products comprising consumables, such as plastic vessels, liquid handling plastics, specialty surfaces, cell culture media, and serum, as well as general labware and equipment under the Corning, Falcon, Pyrex, and Axygen brands. The company was formerly known as Corning Glass Works and changed its name to Corning Incorporated in April 1989. Corning Incorporated was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Corning, New York.
Brookfield Asset Management is an alternative asset manager and REIT/Real Estate Investment Manager firm focuses on real estate, renewable power, infrastructure and venture capital and private equity assets. It manages a range of public and private investment products and services for institutional and retail clients. It typically makes investments in sizeable, premier assets across geographies and asset classes. It invests both its own capital as well as capital from other investors. Within private equity and venture capital, it focuses on acquisition, early ventures, control buyouts and financially distressed, buyouts and corporate carve-outs, recapitalizations, convertible, senior and mezzanine financings, operational and capital structure restructuring, strategic re-direction, turnaround, and under-performing midmarket companies. It invests in both public debt and equity markets. It invests in private equity sectors with focus on Business Services include infrastructure, healthcare, road fuel distribution and marketing, construction and real estate; Industrials include manufacturers of automotive batteries, graphite electrodes, returnable plastic packaging, and sanitation management and development; and Residential/ infrastructure services. It targets companies which likely possess underlying real assets, primarily in sectors such as industrial products, building materials, metals, mining, homebuilding, oil and gas, paper and packaging, manufacturing and forest product sectors. It invests globally with focus on North America including Brazil, the United States, Canada; Europe; and Australia; and Asia-Pacific. The firm considers equity investments in the range of $2 million to $500 million. It has a four-year investment period and a 10-year term with two one-year extensions. The firm prefers to take minority stake and majority stake. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. was founded in 1997 and based in Toronto, Canada with additional offices across Northern America; South America; Europe; Middle East and Asia.
GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the creation, discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceutical products, vaccines, over-the-counter medicines, and health-related consumer products in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceuticals R&D, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare. The company offers pharmaceutical products comprising medicines in the therapeutic areas, such as respiratory, HIV, immuno-inflammation, oncology, anti-viral, central nervous system, cardiovascular and urogenital, metabolic, anti-bacterial, and dermatology. It also provides consumer healthcare products in wellness, oral health, nutrition, and skin health categories. The company offers its consumer healthcare products in the form of nasal sprays, tablets, syrups, lozenges, gum and trans-dermal patches, caplets, infant syrup drops, liquid filled suspension, wipes, gels, effervescents, toothpastes, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, denture adhesives and cleansers, topical creams and non-medicated patches, lip balm, gummies, and soft chews. It has collaboration agreements with 23andMe; Lyell Immunopharma, Inc.; Novartis; Sanofi SA; Surface Oncology; Progentec Diagnostics, Inc.; Alector, Inc.; and CureVac AG., as well as strategic partnership with IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. and Vir Biotechnology, Inc. The company was formerly known as GlaxoSmithKline plc and changed its name to GSK plc in May 2022. GSK plc was founded in 1715 and is headquartered in Brentford, the United Kingdom.
Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. provides natural gas compression services and equipment to the energy industry in the United States. It fabricates, manufactures, rents, and sells natural gas compressors and related equipment. The company primarily engages in the rental of compression units that provide small, medium, and large horsepower applications for unconventional oil and natural gas production. As of December 31, 2021, the company had 2,023 natural gas compression units in its rental fleet with 418,041 horsepower. The company also engages in the design, fabrication, and assembly of compressor components into compressor units for rental or sale; engineers and fabricates natural gas compressors; and designs and manufactures a line of reciprocating compressor frames, cylinders, and parts. In addition, it is involved in the design, fabrication, sale, installation, and service of flare stacks and related ignition and control devices for the onshore and offshore incineration of gas compounds, such as hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gases. Further, the company offers customer support services for its compressor and flare sales business; and exchange and rebuild program for small horsepower screw compressors. Its primary customers are exploration and production(E&P) companies that utilize compressor units for artificial lift applications; E&P companies that focuses on natural gas-weighted production; and midstream companies. Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.
How to watch and what to know about Northern Iowa at South Dakota

The Coyotes' season will end Saturday, win or lose. They'll hope to make it a win against a Panthers squad still technically alive for the playoffs.
AUSTIN, Texas  Former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge was in the early stages of recovery from a heart attack, his wife said Friday, a day after he underwent an emergency heart procedure.

The 72-year-old Ridge, a former two-term Republican Pennsylvania governor, remained hospitalized in critically stable condition in Austin, Texas, where he was attending a Republican Governors Association conference.

In a statement, Michele Ridge said its going to be day-to-day for her husband.

We all know what a fighter he is, she said. Wed ask those of you who have been sending prayers to keep them coming.

Tom Ridge was at his hotel when he called for help Thursday morning. His wife said first responders worked heroically to get her husband to the trauma center at Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas.

Ridge underwent a cardiac catheterization and was resting comfortably and responding to doctors, she said.

Ridge, a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War, also was a county prosecutor and a six-term congressman from Erie, Pennsylvania, before being elected the states governor in 1994.

Ridge was the nations first homeland security secretary, serving under Republican President George W. Bush until February 2005. He left the governorship after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to join the Bush administration.

Since leaving government, Ridge has headed Ridge Global, a firm that advises on cyber security, international security and risk management.

Ridge and his wife live in Bethesda, Maryland.
Cynthia Borrego wont have an ethics complaint hanging over her head when shes sworn in as an Albuquerque city councilor in less than two weeks; the West Side resident who filed the complaint has dismissed it.

Feliz Nunez pulled the complaint late Thursday, a day before the citys Board of Ethics & Campaign Practices was slated to hold an evidentiary hearing on the matter.

We have maintained all along that this complaint was politically motivated and that Councilor-elect Borrego did nothing wrong, Greg Payne, Borregos attorney, said in a statement.

Borrego, a publicly financed candidate who prevailed in the District 5 runoff on Tuesday, had been accused of accepting cash contributions and reporting them as in-kind contributions for signs and other election materials. But Payne had argued that no money changed hands between donors and Borrego.

Ms. Borrego seems like a nice person and she has a significant job ahead of her, said attorney Pat Rogers, who represents Nunez. She would do well to distance herself from political operatives who talked her into the unseemly grab of public dollars followed by a squeeze on private donors for bogus in-kind contributions.

In a separate case, the ethics board on Friday ruled in favor of Make Albuquerque Safe  the political action committee that ran attack ads against Mayor-elect Tim Keller during the campaign. Neri Holguin, chairwoman of the political action committee backing Keller, alleged in one complaint that Make Albuquerque Safe failed to disclose contributions from the owner of the Santolina development and another donor in a timely manner. Karen Mendenhall, Holguins attorney, asked the board to launch an investigation.

Rogers, who also represents Make Albuquerque Safe, countered that Holguin had produced no evidence to show that his client broke any rules or failed to accurately report contributions or expenditures.

The board voted unanimously in favor of Make Albuquerque Safe in that matter.

Holguins second complaint alleged that the committee failed to disclose the company that created the TV and radio spots attacking Keller. Rogers argued that it was an oversight and that his client corrected the mistake on its own once it was brought to its attention. He urged the board to dismiss that complaint, and the board agreed by a 5-2 vote.

Were disappointed, Holguin said. Democracy depends on transparency
A torrent of sexual abuse allegations against powerful figures in politics and media has reignited the defining political fight of the 1990s.

But this time, the battle is being waged within the ranks of Democrats and their allies, including leaders of the feminist movement. A growing number now say they were wrong to have so stridently defended former president Bill Clinton against the women who over the years accused him of offenses that ranged from groping to exposing his genitals to rape.

The uncomfortable question is whether Democrats then were guilty of the sin they accuse Republicans of committing now by continuing to support President Trump and Alabama GOP Senate nominee Roy Moore, despite allegations of sexual offenses: Were they also putting partisanship and their desire to hold onto power above the principles they claim to hold dear?

A remarkable exchange of fire began Thursday when Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand  Hillary Clintons successor as senator from New York, a staunch backer of her presidential campaign and a talked-about presidential possibility  told the New York Times that by todays standards, the appropriate response for Bill Clinton would have been to resign when his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky was revealed in 1998.

That brought a retort from longtime Hillary Clinton aide Philippe Reines on Twitter, in which he dismissed the presidents affair with a subordinate as a consensual sex act. Reines lobbed an additional shot at Gillibrand: Over 20 yrs you took the Clintons endorsements, money, and seat. Hypocrite. Interesting strategy for 2020 primaries. Best of luck.

In a radio interview with WABC host Rita Cosby Friday, Hillary Clinton deflected a request for response to Gillibrands tweet: I dont exactly know what she was trying to say.

During the 1990s, the allegations about the presidents behavior went far beyond the Lewinsky affair, which led to Bill Clintons impeachment, after he lied about it under oath during a deposition in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones. She claimed the states then-governor had summoned her in 1991 to a hotel room, where he dropped his pants and asked for oral sex.

I wish I had done more to be supportive of her, said Patricia Ireland, longtime president of the National Organization for Women, who is now an attorney in Florida. For Paula Jones, there were nice distinctions that people made. She didnt work for him, he didnt have the power to hire or fire her. But that ignores the reality that he was a very powerful man.

At the time, however, the attitude of many feminist leaders was summed up in a 1998 New York Times op-ed by Gloria Steinem, who wrote that Mr. Clinton seems to have made a clumsy sexual pass, then accepted rejection. She was similarly dismissive of other women who came forward with stories of sexual abuse by Clinton before and during his time in the White House.

A spokeswoman for Steinem said she isnt doing interviews at this time. Clinton settled Jones lawsuit in November 1998 for $850,000, acknowledging no wrongdoing and offering no apology.

Clintons defenders argued that his infidelities were a private family matter, and that his pro-feminist agenda on the issues had to be protected. But the first line of defense for many of Clintons allies was to attack his accusers with lacerating insults that now seem not only sexist, but elitist.

James Carville, who had been the top strategist for Bill Clintons 1992 campaign, once said: If you drag a hundred-dollar bill through a trailer park, you never know what youll find.

In retrospect, would he make that comment again?

I dont know, said Carville, who this weekend is joining the Clintons and the alumni of that campaign in Little Rock, where they are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their victory in an election where speculation about the candidates sex life and the state of his marriage became major topics.

Carville said he had been referring to Gennifer Flowers, who came forward during the 1992 campaign claiming that she had had a 12-year affair with Clinton. She reportedly was paid $100,000 by The Star, a supermarket tabloid, to tell her story. Both Clintons denied it was true, prompting Flowers to hold a news conference at which she played tapes of her phone conversations with the Arkansas governor.

The circumstances were considerably different than what we see today, Carville insisted. But he added: There is no doubt the ground has shifted between that time and now. Theres no question this is a different environment, probably for the better.

Others from Clintons orbit in those days said that he had been punished heavily for what he did, by becoming the second president in U.S. history to be impeached. They also point to the fact that some accusers aligned themselves with right-wing groups that were determined to destroy Clinton politically.

Those of us who lived through it know how fierce the criticism and condemnation were, and the price he paid, said Ann Lewis, who was a top White House official.

Republicans, meanwhile, are doing their best to add to the Democrats unease, which grew with the allegation by broadcaster Leann Tweeden that he had forcibly kissed and groped her while the two were traveling overseas on a USO trip in 2006. Her accusations were accompanied by a photo of Franken apparently groping her breasts while she slept.

The news brought calls from members of his own party for a Senate investigation  among them, Franken, who also apologized.

On Friday, Trump tweeted: The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps? .. He followed that tweet with another one: And to think that just last week he was lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women.

Trump has not taken to his favorite medium to discuss the growing pile of allegations against Moore.

Well, Al Franken was a brand new news story yesterday and the president weighed in as he does on the news of the day, often enough, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway told Fox News. The Roy Moore story is eight days old and the president put out a statement during his Asia trip on that.

That statement, issued under the name of press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said that Trump believes Moore should exit the Senate race if these allgations are true.

Though the issue of Clintons alleged sexual abuse has taken on fresh currency, it had also surfaced during his wifes campaign last year to become the nations first female president. She has long positioned herself as a champion of womens issues, and tweeted at one point: Every survivor of sexual assault deserves to be heard, believed, and supported.

Her adversaries on the right, however, saw her as her husbands enabler and shield.

But at a December 2015, appearance in New Hampshire, a woman stood up in the audience and read a question from a card: You say that all rape victims should be believed. But would you say that about Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey and/or Paula Jones? Broaddrick had accused Bill Clinton of raping her in 1978, and Willey claimed he had groped her when she came to the White House to ask him to give her a job.

Clinton responded: Well, I would say that everyone should be believed at first until they are disbelieved based on evidence.

In the radio interview Friday, Clinton was again asked whether she should have been more supportive of his female accusers. Every situation has to be judged on its own merit, she said. She further said those allegations were investigated and recent comments by others about her husband are not relevant. I dont know that we can rewrite and revise history.

Late in the 2016 campaign, as Trump was trying to contain the damage from his own crude and boastful comments about assaulting women, which were picked up on a hot microphone during the taping of an episode of Access Hollywood, he brought three of Bill Clintons accusers  Jones, Broaddrick and Willey  to his second presidential debate against the former first lady.

Ireland, the former NOW president, said there is much that young feminist activists can learn today from her generation of movement leaders, and what now could argued are the mistakes they made.

There are things that we can learn from each other. And we have to listen without being defensive, Ireland said. We all reflect the culture of our time.
SANTA FE  The parents of a man who was found dead in a Las Vegas, N.M., apartment last year claim officers could have saved his life if they went inside his apartment after getting a domestic violence call the night before.

Steven Marquez was allegedly killed from blunt force trauma to the head by 27-year-old Daniel Sullivan July 18, 2016 in an apparent domestic violence incident. Sullivan was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in December.

Marquezs parents, Michael and Karen Marquez, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Santa Fe District Court Thursday against Las Vegas city government and Las Vegas Police Department officers Elias Rael, Caleb Marquez and Joseph Mascarenas. The officers responded to the apartment after a neighbor called 911 to report that she heard banging and screaming from inside Marquezs apartment.

Officers reported hearing a sarcastic knock come from inside the apartment after they knocked on the door, the lawsuit says, but didnt go inside to see if anyone needed help.

Had the defendant police officers properly investigated, Steven Marquez would have lived, the suit states. This case presents a tragedy that resulted from a toxic blend of apathy and bad police training.

Sullivans arrest warrant says police responded to the domestic disturbance call, but it doesnt say anything about someone knocking from inside.

Marquezs parents had the landlord open the door around 8 p.m. the next day after not hearing from Marquez and found him lying facedown near the door, according to the complaint. They are seeking damages for Marquezs injuries as well as punitive damages for the officers and citys alleged negligence.

LVPD Sgt. David Cordova wrote in Sullivans arrest warrant that Officer Rael went to the apartment about 11 p.m. after the neighbor called 911 but didnt mention that anyone may have been inside. Officer Rael attempted to look through windows and call people out of the residence but no one responded in any manner, Cordova wrote.

Las Vegas spokesman Lee Einer referred questions to the Hale and Dixon law firm in Albuquerque. No one in their office could be reached Friday afternoon.
A man kidnapped his girlfriend on Thursday before leading police on a chase into southern New Mexico, according to a New Mexico State Police spokesman.

Officer Ray Wilson said the pursuit ended when 30-year-old Epifanio Torres surrendered to Border Patrol agents, at a checkpoint near Las Cruces. He is charged with aggravated fleeing while additional charges are pending.

He said NM State Police were alerted, around 8:30 p.m., to be on the lookout for Torres after he reportedly kidnapped a woman in Albuquerque.

Wilson said an out-of-state relative, who had been on the phone with the victim, reported the incident to police.

It was reported that the suspect and victim have been in an on-going relationship, he said.

State Police spotted Torres vehicle traveling south on Interstate 25 around 9:15 p.m., Wilson said. Torres refused to stop for officers.

He said police initiated a pursuit and officers also notified Border Patrol agents the I-25 checkpoint near Las Cruces.

During this time, Torres was on the phone with State Police and told them he would surrender at the checkpoint, Wilson said.

Torres pulled into the checkpoint and surrendered to the Border Patrol agents without incident, he said. The woman he kidnapped was checked by medical crews but refused to go to the hospital.

Wilson said State Police are investigating the incident.

Epifanio Torres
SANTA FE  New Mexico lieutenant governor candidate Kelly Zunie abruptly dropped out of the race Friday, saying she might not meet constitutional residency requirements.

Zunie, who was the only GOP lieutenant governor candidate, worked for two-plus years as the Cabinet secretary of the Department of Indian Affairs until stepping down this summer.

She acknowledged in a statement released by the state Republican Party that she might not meet the requirement that anyone running for lieutenant governor  or various other statewide offices  must live in New Mexico continuously for at least five years proceeding Election Day.

Zunie, a member of Zuni Pueblo, is a New Mexico native but lived and worked in Utah for years before returning to her home state in July 2014. That would mean she would have lived in New Mexico for four years and four months at the time of the November 2018 general election.

I was born and raised in New Mexico, Zunie said. I have lived here most of my life, and I have always considered New Mexico my residence. When I filed my candidacy, I assumed those circumstances qualified me to run for office. Recently, I have learned that other requirements might apply.

She also said she had been urged to file a court challenge against the five-year residency requirement but decided against doing so.

Zunies statement about withdrawing from the race for the states second-highest elected office did not address recent financial problems that include $15,000 in unpaid Utah state tax liens in 2016 alone, according to legal records.

She told the Journal last month that the issue stemmed from confusion over filing taxes jointly with her husband, who still lives in Utah.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

The younger sister of the man shot and killed by deputies in a North Valley mobile home last week said the Office of the Medical Investigator told her he was shot in the chest and arm and bled to death.

Deputies have not publicly identified Matthew Scudero, 50, as the man who was killed, but Darcy Scudero said she is making arrangements for his cremation.

He did not die quickly, she said in a phone interview from Florida on Friday. He eventually bled out when he lost oxygen to the brain but it took a while.

A Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office spokeswoman has not answered any questions since last week about the shooting. She said instead the department will hold a news conference Monday.

Matthew was shot and killed on Nov. 10, after deputies say he fired at them from his mobile home at Village Park on 10200 Second NW.

His father had called 911 to say that Matthew had pointed a gun at him. Sheriffs deputies say when they arrived he barricaded himself in his home and shot at them.

In a news conference a couple of hours after the shooting, Sheriff Manuel Gonzales said several deputies returned fire. They called in SWAT teams from BCSO and New Mexico State Police when they didnt hear anything else from the home and made announcements over a loudspeaker for him to come outside.

When authorities entered the home, Matthew was dead from multiple gunshot wounds.

Gonzales said five deputies were put on standard administrative leave following the shooting. He said he did not know how much time had passed between the shooting and when they entered the home to find Matthew dead.

But Matthews neighbor Larry Goode told the Journal he had been at the house when deputies arrived and was sitting in the back of a police car when the shooting occurred about 10 minutes later around 8:20 a.m. Around 10:30 a.m. Undersheriff Rudy Mora told the media they were still trying to contact the suspect.

Goode said he heard them break down the door to the mobile home a couple of hours after that.

Darcy Scudero said she is also looking for answers from deputies. She said her 90-year-old father is distraught over losing his son.

Hell never recover, this is the end of my dad, she said. He spent the last 40 years looking out for my brother  because of a head injury (Matthew) had short-term memory problems.

She said she doesnt excuse her brothers actions if he fired at deputies, but she wishes they had tried to help him before he died.

Im sad for my brother and for my father, Darcy said. Im sad and angry that he couldnt at least die with dignity. He laid there on the floor, just like a crumb, like he didnt matter.

The shooting was the sixth time deputies have shot and killed or injured someone in the past four months. On Friday, they were again involved in a shooting and two people were found dead.
West Mesa High students got a first-hand lesson on the consequences of driving while intoxicated Thursday thanks to a Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court program that brings real defendants to local schools.

Several hundred students gathered in West Mesas Performing Arts Center to watch Judge Yvette K. Gonzales hear two cases from a bench set up on the stage.

The Courts-to-School Program, launched in 2010, replicates a real courtroom, down to the handcuffs slapped on the defendants.

Its a unique mix of civics education, career exploration and scared straight.

After hearing their sentences, the defendants  both second-time DWI offenders  delivered emotional statements about the impact of their crimes.

I felt like my whole world was crashing down on me, said Matthew Widdows of his arrest roughly nine months ago. Being booked into jail was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life.

Widdows, who works in correctional facilities, had decided to get behind the wheel and drive a half mile to pick up some pizzas even though he had consumed a number of drinks.

He was pulled over because he didnt have his headlights on, and found to be intoxicated.

In the aftermath, Widdows lost his car, drivers license and girlfriend and barely held onto his job. Legal fees and lost wages added up to thousands of dollars.

I made an extremely bad choice, Widdows said. I hope you will make good choices.

Michael McGranahan, the second defendant, had a blood alcohol level of .15  well above the .08 legal limit  when an officer stopped him for speeding. He spent four days in jail, and said he would have been fired if his parents didnt own the business where he works.

McGranahans service technician position requires driving, but he cant get insurance to operate a company vehicle for five years.

If I could go back, Id call Uber, McGranahan said. Its extremely easy.

Under the terms of their sentences and probation, both men will spend four days in jail, have to an ignition interlock on their vehicle, complete 48 hours of community service, pay roughly $800 in court costs, and undergo random drug and alcohol testing.

After the proceedings, the judge, attorneys and probation officers answered questions from the audience, including a few inquiries about law school.

Gonzales told the Journal she hopes Courts-to-School inspires students to learn more about the legal system.

They got to see an actual courtroom, she said. We like to talk to them about things in their future that they could do.

Genesis Mendez, a 15-year-old sophomore, said she is already thinking about how she can make it into the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

This (presentation) makes it seem more real, Mendez said. It makes you actually want to pursue your goals.
The world equates American military power with the maintenance of the postwar global order of free commerce, communications and travel.

Sometimes American power leads to costly, indecisive interventions like those in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya that were not able to translate superiority on the battlefield into lasting peace.

But amid the frustrations of American foreign policy, it is forgotten that the United States also plays a critical but more silent role in ensuring the survival of small, at-risk nations. The majority of them are democratic and pro-Western. But they all share the misfortune of living in dangerous neighborhoods full of bullies.

These small nations are a far cry from rogue clients of China and Russia  theocratic Iran, autocratic North Korea and totalitarian Venezuela  that oppress their own people and threaten their regions.

In the Middle East, there are two places that consistently remain pro-American: the nation of Israel and the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. Both show a spirit and tenacity that so far have ensured their survival against aggressive and far larger neighbors. Both have few friends other than the United States. And both are anomalies. Israel is surrounded by Islamic neighbors. The ethnic Kurds live in the heart of the Arab Middle East. Quite admirably, the U.S. continues to be a patron of both.

For some 500 years, the Ottoman Empire terrified the Christian Middle East and Mediterranean world. Almost every country in its swath was Islamicized. Two tiny unique places were conquered but not transformed: Armenia and Greece. Both suffered terribly at the hands of the Ottomans and their successors, the early-20th-century Turkish state.

Yet both Armenia and Greece remained Christian and kept their languages and cultures. Today, both are still quite vulnerable to renewed neo-Ottoman Turkish pressures.

America has been a friend to both Armenia and Greece, although their histories with the U.S. were often controversial. In turn, they have sent millions of talented and skilled immigrants to the United States. The world is a far better place because there are 11 million Greeks who keep the legacy of Hellenism alive. Armenia still remains a Western outpost  the first country to formally adopt Christianity as a state religion, and a nation that has preserved its faith under centuries of cruel foreign persecutions.

Without the United States, there would never have emerged a free and independent Taiwan and South Korea. The former would have been absorbed by communist China in 1949. The latter would have been wiped out in 1950 by Chinese-sponsored North Korea. Today, Taiwan and South Korea are models of international citizenship, democracy and prosperity. They have given the world singular products and brands, from Foxconn and Quanta Computer to Samsung and Kia.

Given their relatively small areas, Taiwan and South Korea likely would not have survived Chinese bullying or, more recently, North Korean nuclear provocations without strong American support and protection.

Our relationships with all of these vulnerable nations are as much practical as principled. All follow international law. All have sent gifted citizens to the United States. All are fiercely self-reliant and are reputed to be among the worlds best fighters.

To visit any of these countries is to experience islands of sanity and decency in neighborhoods of violence and madness. Will these unique but vulnerable nations survive?

In the Middle East, age-old enemies are on the move. There is the scourge of radical Islamic terrorism, the specter of a nuclear Iran, and a newly aggressive Turkey.

Kurdistan is threatened variously by Iraq, Iran and Turkey.

Iran periodically boasts that it will soon destroy Israel. Irans clients in Lebanon and Syria brag that they can launch thousands of missiles into the Jewish state.

Greece is bankrupt and overrun by hundreds of thousands of immigrants, most of them young, male and Muslim. Turkey systematically violates Greek national waters and airspace.

South Korea and Taiwan are both threatened by North Koreas nuclear-tipped missiles. China periodically warns them that they need to make the necessary subservient adjustments in their foreign policy to accommodate a rising China and a supposedly declining America.

America itself is $20 trillion in debt and divided. It has lost global credibility after years of issuing phony red lines and deadlines to various rivals and enemies.

The U.S. military is in sore need of repair and expansion. Much of the country is sick and tired of costly interventions that could not turn battlefield success into stability, much less into lasting strategic advantage.

Yet a country is not just defined by its economic and military strength, its global clout or its powerful allies. It is also judged on how it treats weaker but humane nations. As long as the U.S. remains good to these impressive but vulnerable states, it will remain great as well.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

A strongly worded report contracted by the areas water utility authority on the Air Forces RCRA Facility Investigation on the fuel spill submitted in January points out several data gaps in the mandated report that must be filled before corrective measures can be implemented.

Our evaluation found that the RFI document does not provide the evidentiary basis for conducting a CME (Corrective Measures Evaluation) and its conceptual model contains errors and omissions that could lead to an inappropriate or ineffective set of corrective measures, reads a June 29 technical memorandum from INTERA Inc. to the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority.

The RFI report is required by the state and the Environmental Protection Agency and includes all relevant data necessary to analyze possible remediation solutions.

Eileen Marcillo of INTERA addressed the water authority during its Thursday meeting, saying the most significant shortcoming in the report is the lack of a defined mass of the fuel present in the soil and groundwater.

The longevity of that plume is fully dependent on that mass, she said.

Other concerns raised included misrepresentation and overestimation of fuel constituent degradation rates.

The end result is that degradation of benzene and EDB is proceeding much more slowly than is purported in the RFI report, INTERA wrote.

The New Mexico Environment Department sent a letter to the Air Force soon after the RFI was submitted addressing many of the same concerns.

The INTERA report is very much in line with the comments that we had from our review, said Diane Agnew, the states technical lead on the project, at the meeting.

The Aug. 3 letter required the Air Force to submit a work plan to address the concerns by Nov. 8, which has not yet been received.

A letter of deficiency was sent to the Air Force on Thursday.

Kathryn Lynnes, the Air Forces senior advisor on the clean-up, agreed with most of the concerns cited by the state and INTERA and said the RFI report acknowledged many of the data gaps mentioned. We knew wed have to do more work, Lynnes said.

Work on an addendum to the RFI, which will address the data gaps, is expected to begin in 2018.

Lynnes said more soil sampling will be done at the source zone and additional monitoring wells will be installed to better map the contamination.

As for the late work plan, Lynnes said they are working to complete it as soon as possible.

Its unacceptable and theres going to be some people that Im going to have a really stern conversation with when I get back to the office, she said.
T he end of a long-fought lawsuit against the University of New Mexico came suddenly in the night for Cynthia Herald.

For eight days of testimony in an Albuquerque courtroom and eight years of legal battles before that, we had heard Heralds story spool out like a bad dream  how she as a second-year anesthesiology resident at the UNM Health Sciences Center was raped by a senior anesthesiology resident in June 2009 and how she, and not he, was later expelled from the program.

Herald sued UNM and its entities in 2011, lost at trial in 2013 but successfully appealed a previous ruling by state District Judge Shannon Bacon, got a second trial and a new round of having her life scrutinized in open court.

UNM officials had argued that they had good reason to fire Herald. She had a substance abuse problem, they said. She was not cooperating, they said. She was a danger to patients, they said. They said they had tried to help Herald in her hour of need, that they had offered her counseling and support and remedial medical training and mentoring, but she had refused nearly all of it.

I dont want to do anything about it, she had written in an email to a UNM faculty member, according to testimony.

But in what was literally an eleventh-hour decision  the phone call between attorneys coming at 11 p.m. Thursday, the night before closing arguments and jury deliberations  UNM offered to settle the case.

It was over, just like that.

Although neither side is allowed to reveal the details for six months, Herald was pleased with the outcome.

Perhaps the UNM folks had looked into the eyes of the jurors and decided they had lost them.

Perhaps they knew that if jurors had sided with UNM, Heralds attorneys, Randi McGinn and Lisa Curtis, would almost certainly file an appeal and the case would go on and on.

Perhaps they agreed with the judge that the state Whistleblower Protection Act under which Herald had filed her claim was too poorly worded to argue well, even by strong veteran attorneys like UNMs Patricia Williams and Lorna Wiggins.

Perhaps, as the judge had admonished, the case had grown too cantankerous, too unwieldy, punctuated as it was with two motions for mistrial, countless objections, a missing juror and a crying witness after McGinn confronted her outside court and condemned her new, unexpected testimony as chickenshit.

You all hate this case, Bacon had barked in court Thursday.

Perhaps they realized that the ground had shifted, that women across the country were coming forward with their stories of sexual abuse and harassment by powerful men in powerful institutions and how finally, finally, they were being heard. They were being believed. Perhaps the jury would believe Herald, too.

Perhaps they simply decided it was long past time to cut their losses and move on.

Ensuring the safety and well-being of our patients is a critical priority, Dr. Paul Roth, UNM Health Sciences Center chancellor, said in a statement. Cases like this demonstrate the need for us also to renew our commitment to timely and appropriately addressing allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

I sat in the courtroom for nearly every minute of testimony, and just as Bacon had said, it was a cantankerous two weeks, each side presenting witnesses with wildly different recollections of what had transpired eight years ago.

What seemed to be agreed upon was that Herald had been raped and needed help.

But what that help looked like or whether it had been offered at all  well, that was up for heated debate.

But there are a few things that UNM would be wise to look at if it truly wants, as Roth says, to more timely and appropriately address allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

That begins when Herald was escorted into a room and asked about the rape by her three male supervisors, who should have never been the ones to question her. According to the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management and UNMs own policies, a report of sexual assault should be sent to an internal audit department with examiners trained in dealing with victims.

No notes were kept at that meeting, another policy violation, setting up an intractable he said, he said, he said, she said scenario.

Her accused rapist was never interrogated, never reported to law enforcement, never questioned about other allegations against him, including reports that he had an alcohol problem, repeatedly showed up for work hung over and exhibited violent, misogynistic tendencies toward women. (Hes now a doctor working in a pain clinic outside Austin, by the way.)

Witnesses for UNM say they never spoke to the accused rapist because Herald had asked them not to.

Dr. Herald did not want anything to be done, Dr. David Sklar, associate dean for graduate medical education at the time, testified. Anything more would have violated her wishes.

But UNM policy says that her supervisors should have reported the allegations of rape to law enforcement  something Herald had not done and says she was encouraged not to do for the sake of the medical schools reputation  if not for her safety, then for the safety of other UNM staff and patients.

UNM officials also testified that at her request they did their best to keep Herald separated from her accused attacker, assigning them to different facilities. But Herald presented at trial a calendar in which she had marked the shifts she had seen her accused attacker.

Herald testified that she was denied a leave of absence several times to deal with her post-traumatic stress disorder before she was finally given a month off. But UNM officials testified that she had never requested time off.

UNM officials also testified that Heralds performance had gone downhill and that they had grown concerned with what they believed was her inability to keep up with her class, possibly exacerbated by a debilitating dependency on medications such as Ambien and Ativan. Several witnesses had reported seeing her at the hospital on one occasion slurring her words, stumbling and mishandling basic medical procedures, putting patients at risk.

Therapeutic assessments, according to testimony, later found no substance abuse concerns. By then, however, Herald was on her way out. She was fired in June 2010.

Details of the settlement are confidential for six months. Had the jury sided with Herald, UNM could have faced a payout of nearly $4 million in the cost of lost pay alone.

Its not just the money that matters to Herald.

I feel a huge sense of relief and just a sense of resolve after such a long, long road, she said. It looks like were finally effecting some change.

As they walked down the hallway from the courtroom on Friday, attorney Curtis slung her arm around Heralds shoulder.

Now its a new day, Curtis told her. Justice matters.

I so hope that is true.

UpFront is a front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Joline at 823-3603, jkrueger@abqjournal.com or follow her on Twitter @jolinegkg. Go to www.abqjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Attorney General Hector Balderas office has asked a district judge for an enhanced sentence for former state Sen. Phil Griego after he was convicted of several charges  bribery, fraud and unlawful interest in a public contract  that stem from his time holding public office.

At stake is Griegos legislative pension  more than $1,300 per month  and other legislative payments he lawfully received as a senator after the criminal acts were committed.

However, the 2012 law that allows a judge to fine convicted public officials up to the value of their salaries and fringe benefits doesnt specify pensions. And Balderas has previously said the law lacks teeth and needs to be strengthened.

The law has not changed, but Attorney General Balderas will pursue everything possible under the current law, AGs Office spokesman James Hallinan said Friday.

Griego, a Democrat from San Miguel County, represented a sprawling Senate district for 18-plus years before resigning in 2015 instead of facing possible disciplinary action stemming from an internal ethics investigation.

On Thursday, he was found guilty of five corruption-related charges after a nearly three-week trial. Even without the enhanced sentence, Griego faces up to 17 years in prison and hefty fines when hes sentenced in mid-February.

Griego currently receives a monthly legislative pension of about $1,350  or slightly more than $16,200 annually, according to the Public Employees Retirement Association. A pension fund official said Friday that she could not disclose when Griego began receiving his legislative pension.

In addition to pension benefits, New Mexico lawmakers also receive per diem payments  currently set at $164 per day  intended to offset food and lodging expenses that could also fall under the fringe benefits definition. They do not get salaries.

Attempts to update the law to make it clearer that politicians convicted of felony corruption offenses while in office should lose their pensions have stalled at the Roundhouse during the past two regular legislative sessions.

Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo, who has sponsored several of those bills, said Friday that he would try again on pension forfeiture legislation during the 30-day session that starts in January.

It turns out taking someones pension is really complicated, but its something that can be done and should be done, McQueen told the Journal. If you get convicted of violating the public trust, you should no longer be on the state payroll  thats my view.

But even if a more stringent law were to be enacted, it might not affect Griego, because new laws generally cannot be applied retroactively.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Gov. Susana Martinez said Friday that the two-term Republican governor has not yet made any final determinations about what issues will be added to the sessions agenda.

In New Mexico, 30-day sessions are typically limited to budgetary matters and items added to the agenda by the governor. Thats in contrast to 60-day sessions, held in odd-numbered years, when all issues are on the table.

Griego, 69, was convicted by a jury of five of the eight public corruption counts he was facing, including four felony charges. He was acquitted of the other three charges.

The charges stemmed from Griegos pushing for legislation authorizing the 2014 sale of a historic state-owned building near the Capitol, concealing his involvement in the deal and ultimately making a $50,000 commission as a real estate agent for the buyer.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  New Mexicos two U.S. senators have successfully added an amendment to a major defense funding bill to help protect Los Alamos National Laboratorys role as the nations producer of plutonium pits, the triggers for nuclear weapons.

The possibility of moving pit-making to another weapons complex site was first raised at a meeting of a nuclear safety board in June in Santa Fe.

As the Journal reported then, an official with the Department of Energys National Nuclear Security Administration said a study was underway to determine if meeting pit-production goals for a huge weapons modernization plan could be best met at Los Alamos or by adding capabilities elsewhere. Loss of the pit-making job  none have been made since 2011, but LANL is ordered to make up to 80 per year by 2030  would cost Los Alamos millions, and possibly billions, of dollars worth of work.

No findings from the study have been released, and no one has proposed moving pit production. But Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, New Mexico Democrats, made a pre-emptive strike with an amendment to the defense authorization bill passed by the Senate on Thursday and which now awaits the presidents signature.

It requires the Trump administration to meet certain requirements to justify moving pit manufacturing from Los Alamos, including certification by the Secretary of Defense and review by the Nuclear Weapons Council. If no decision is made within 150 days of Trump signing the defense funding bill, the pit work stays in Los Alamos using planned, new underground modules.

The two senators didnt address their amendment in comments released about the defense bill. Heinrich said he will continue to ensure our installations in New Mexico have strong, sustainable national security missions for years to come.

Critics maintain theres no need for new pits with thousands currently in storage. Greg Mello of the Albuquerque-based Los Alamos Study Group said the senators see only dollar signs involved.

Rebuilding even a small version of the Rocky Flats Plant (which formerly made pits in Colorado) near Santa Fe will have very serious consequences for the region and the country as a whole, he said.

LANL has been under attack for safety lapses. In 2016, it was the only one of the DOEs nuclear facilities to receive a failing safety rating in the area of criticality, or prevention of uncontrolled nuclear chain reactions, although no such accidents have taken place.

In all, the defense bill includes more than $14 billion for the National Nuclear Security Agency, an increase of nearly $1 billion over the last fiscal year. The funds support weapons work and environmental cleanup at LANL, Sandia National Laboratories and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in southern New Mexico.

Another Udall-Heinrich amendment supports the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, an independent panel that oversees the labs. The measure requires board members to report to Congress each year about whether the White Houses budget request for the board is enough to fund reviews deemed necessary to ensure safe operations at DOE sites. Supporters say the boards role is critical given safety issues at LANL and the planned uptick in nuclear weapons work.

The bill also authorizes spending for projects at New Mexico bases, including $50 million at Cannon Air Force Base, $4.2 million for Holloman and more than $9 million for Kirtland Air Force Base.
The University of New Mexico has settled a likely multimillion-dollar case brought by a former anesthesiology resident who said her hospital supervisors retaliated and fired her after she reported being raped by a colleague.

Cynthia Heralds story went before a civil jury twice since she filed her case in 2011. In 2013, she lost the case but successfully appealed. The case went before a jury again for the past two weeks, culminating Thursday in final testimony.

But late Thursday, UNM placed a call to Heralds attorney team offering to settle the case.

Herald, and her attorneys Lisa Curtis and Randi McGinn, said Friday morning that they are pleased with the settlement, details of which will remain confidential for six months. Her civil lawsuit sought about $4 million in lost wages in addition to compensation for damages.

Maybe I can go back to being my normal self, Herald said following the Friday morning hearing dismissing jurors and resolving the case in front of District Judge Shannon Bacon.

UNMs attorneys on the case, Lorna Wiggins and Patricia Williams, declined to comment after the hearing. UNM in a statement later said the university and Herald have mutually agreed to settle her lawsuit.

Ensuring the safety and well-being of our patients is a critical priority, Paul B. Roth, chancellor for Health Sciences, said in the emailed statement. Cases like this demonstrate the need for us also to renew our commitment to timely and appropriately addressing allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

UNM had claimed Herald made the accusations to cover for her failure in the residency program caused by her alleged drug addiction. Herald was terminated from the residency program in June 2010. The man she accused of raping her graduated from the program and was recommended by his UNM supervisors for a pain specialty fellowship.

He was never charged.
WASHINGTON  You can do anything, Donald Trump once boasted, speaking of groping and kissing unsuspecting women.

Maybe he could, but not everyone can.

The candidate who openly bragged about grabbing womens private parts  but denied he really did so  was elected president months before the cascading sexual harassment allegations that have been toppling the careers of powerful men in Hollywood, business, the media and politics. He won even though more than a dozen women accused him of sexual misconduct, and roughly half of all voters said they were bothered by his treatment of women, according to exit polls.

Now, as one prominent figure after another takes a dive, the question remains: Why not Trump?

A lot of people who voted for him recognized that he was what he was, but wanted a change and so they were willing to go along, theorizes Jessica Leeds, one of the first women to step forward and accuse Trump of groping her, decades ago on an airplane.

The charges leveled against him emerged in the supercharged thick of the 2016 campaign, when there was so much noise and chaos that they were just another episode for gobsmacked voters to try to absorb  or tune out. When you have a Mount Everest of allegations, any particular allegation is very hard to get traction on, says political psychologist Stanley Renshon.

And Trumps unconventional candidacy created an entirely different set of rules.

Trump is immune to the laws of political physics because its not his job to be a politician, its his job to burn down the system, says Eric Dezenhall, a crisis management expert in Washington.

Now Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, accused of assaulting teenage girls when he was in his 30s, is waving that same alternative rulebook.

Long a bane to establishment Republicans, Moore is thumbing his nose at calls by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other GOP members of Congress to drop out of the campaign, and accusing them of trying to steal the race from his loyal insurgents.

As for Trump, the president who rarely sits out a feeding frenzy is selectively aiming his Twitter guns at those under scrutiny.

He quickly unloaded on Democrat Al Franken after the Minnesota senator was accused Thursday of forcibly kissing and groping a Fox TV sports correspondent, now a Los Angeles radio anchor, during a 2006 USO tour.

Yet Trump has been largely mum as Washington Republicans try to figure out what to do about Moore. McConnell and company have zero interest in welcoming an accused child molester to their ranks nor in seeing their slim 52-48 Senate majority grow even thinner should Moore lose to Democrat Doug Jones in a special election Dec. 12.

Trump did support moves by the national Republican Party to cut off money for Moore. But he hasnt said whether he still backs Moores candidacy.

Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, pressed repeatedly on the matter this week, would say only that Trump thinks that the people of Alabama should make the decision on who their next senator should be.

As for the allegations against Moore, Sanders said Trump finds them very troubling.

As for Franken, presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway told Fox News that Trump had merely weighed in as he does on the news of the day when jabbing at the senator.

But Trumps broadsides at Franken served as an open invitation for critics to revisit his own history of alleged sexual misconduct.

Leeds, for her part, called the president the walking definition of hypocrisy.

Look no further than the bipartisan howl that greeted Ivanka Trumps statement this week about Moore for a demonstration of the perilous crosscurrents around Trump on the issue.

Theres a special place in hell for people who prey on children, Trumps daughter told the AP, adding that she had no reason to doubt the victims accounts. She did not call for Moore to leave the race.

Liberals and conservatives both pounced. Those on the left noted she had waited a week to chime in and had never given similar credence to the claims of her fathers accusers. Some on the right faulted her for buying into unproven accusations.

Liberal movie director Rob Reiner tweeted: Ivanka believes Roy Moores accusers. But the more than 12 women who accuse her father of sexual abuse are all liars. The difference is? 

The sexual assault drama is playing out as a painful sequel for Leeds and other women who came forward during the 2016 presidential campaign to accuse Trump of harassment and more  only to see him elected president anyway.

My pain is everyday, Jill Harth, a former business associate who claimed Trump put his hands under her dress during a business dinner in 1992, tweeted in October. No one gets it unless it happens to them. NO one!

Its the same for those who accused former President Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct, their charges once written off as bimbo eruptions.

I am now 73.it never goes away, nurse Juanita Broaddrick, who accused Clinton of raping her in 1978, tweeted Friday.

Allegations of womanizing, extramarital affairs and abuse dogged Clinton over the course of his political life, culminating in his 1998 impeachment  and acquittal  over his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. He also agreed to an $850,000 settlement with Arkansas state worker Paula Jones, who had accused him of exposing himself and making indecent propositions when he was governor. The settlement included no apology or admission of guilt.

Leading feminists and Democratic-leaning groups stayed loyal to him throughout  though some are rethinking that stance now.

Even in the current charged environment, when every new allegation can produce screaming headlines, Trump may well be able to go his own way  and take a hands-off approach to Moore.

Trumps base likes him when hes gratuitously ornery: Insulting war heroes, Gold Star families and the disabled have all been good for him, so what does he gain by strongly opining on Moore? asks Dezenhall. Nothing that I can see, so as a guideline, he doesnt need to do all that much.

___

Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nbenac
HARARE, Zimbabwe  Giddy with joy and finally free to speak out, vast throngs of demonstrators turned Zimbabwes capital into a carnival ground on Saturday in a peaceful outpouring of disdain for President Robert Mugabe and calls for him to quit immediately. Still clinging to his now-powerless post, the longtime leader was scheduled on Sunday to discuss his expected exit with the military command that put him under house arrest.

People in Harare clambered onto tanks and other military vehicles moving slowly through the crowds, danced around soldiers walking in city streets and surged in the thousands toward the building where Mugabe held official functions, a symbol of the rule of the 93-year-old man who took power after independence from white minority rule in 1980. There, in a situation that could have become tense, the protesters instead showed deference to the small number of soldiers blocking their way and eventually dispersed.

It was a historic day when the old Zimbabwe, a once-promising African nation with a disintegrating economy and a mood of fear about the consequences of challenging Mugabe, became something new, with a population united, at least temporarily, in its fervor for change and a joyful openness that would have seemed fanciful even a few days ago.

The euphoria, however, will eventually subside, and much depends on the behind-the-scenes maneuvering to get Mugabe to officially resign, jumpstart a new leadership that could seek to be inclusive and reduce perceptions that the military staged a coup against Mugabe. The president was to meet military commanders on Sunday in a second round of talks, state broadcaster ZBC reported.

The common enemy is Robert Mugabe. Thats for starters, said 37-year-old Talent Mudzamiri, an opposition supporter who was born soon after Zimbabwes independence.

He had a warning for whoever takes over Zimbabwe: If the next leader does the same, we are going to come out again.

Many Zimbabweans believe the most likely candidate will be Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former vice president with close military ties whose dismissal by Mugabe triggered the intervention of the armed forces, which sent troops and tanks into the streets this week, effectively taking over the country. The increasing presidential ambitions of Mugabes wife Grace, a polarizing figure who denounced Mnangagwa amid a factional battle within the ruling ZANU-PF party, alarmed those who feared a dynastic succession.

Leadership is not sexually transmitted, read a poster at the Harare rallies. Other signs denounced Gucci Grace, a reference to the first ladys record of high-end shopping expeditions outside Zimbabwe, which suffered hyperinflation in the past and is currently struggling with a cash shortage and massive unemployment.

The discussions over Mugabes fate come ahead of a key ruling party congress next month, as well as scheduled elections next year.

The president, who is believed to be staying at his private home in Harare, a well-guarded compound known as the Blue Roof, is reported to have asked for more time in office. He has been deserted by most of his allies, with others arrested. The ruling party has turned on him, asking for a Central Committee meeting this weekend to recall both him and his wife, who heads the womens league of the party. Impeachment is also a possibility when Parliament resumes Tuesday.

Even as concerns remained about who next would be in charge and what freedoms might be available if the military lingers in power  or if Mugabes recently fired deputy leads a new government  people reveled Saturday in the rare chance to express themselves freely.

In Harare, people ran through intersections, raising their arms in triumph. Young men shouted, laughed and embraced. Others danced on top of moving buses. One man stripped to his underwear and danced on a car roof.

Some marchers had posters with an image of the military commander who swept in to take control, with the slogan: Go, go, our general!!! Demonstrators handed flags to soldiers, who accepted and waved.

Its like Christmas, said one marcher, Fred Mubay, who said Zimbabweans have been suffering for a long time.

Veterans of the long war against white minority rule, once close allies of Mugabe, took part in the demonstration, along with opposition activists who long have faced police crackdowns by the Mugabe government. Thousands gathered for speeches at the Zimbabwe Grounds, where Zimbabweans assembled to cheer Mugabes return from exile in 1980 after the liberation war.

Elizabeth Sithole, 60, said her husband died in 2004, she lives with her children in a 2-room apartment and her business selling vegetables has collapsed. On Saturday, though, she had a big smile while standing near soldiers in downtown Harare.

Im very happy, she said.

___

Follow Christopher Torchia on Twitter at www.twitter.com/torchiachris
From the outside, a teenagers life seems like it's all about that carefree vibe, with endless fun. Cut to 2017s reality, where teen girls arent exactly living that life. Poked, prodded and trolled for their dressing and sexuality, they often come up against unrealistic expectations and judgement when it comes to their body, behaviour and choices. To make it worse, social media fuels their insecurities, leaving them vulnerable and ready to go to extremes for validation.

Ginger from Lifestyle, a brand thats all about the 15 to 22-year-old girls decided its high time we give our ladies a break from those expectations; and we did it, no holds barred. Heres calling out all those silly demands of perfection  the unfairness around fairness, the whole sexuality debate, the body shaming, labeling, and everything else in between.

Talking about this campaign, Mr. Srinivasa Rao, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Lifestyle, said, #ImperfectlyPerfect is inspired by the young girl of today who is strong, opinioned and recognizes her uniqueness not as a flaw but as a beautiful distinction. With this campaign, Ginger hopes to create awareness regarding the unrealistic and unreasonable expectations that society has from young women and we hope that it resonates with young women, reiterating that its their uniqueness that makes them who they are and celebrates the strength they have to rise above any negativity that comes their way.

 Were celebrating the quirks, the differences, the uniqueness  because thats what makes each of these girls shine. Its what makes them real, badass, strong, and most importantly, Imperfectly Perfect. Why should you have to meet standards you don't subscribe to or agree with? Why does fair equal beautiful and why should flat or fat make you feel like you're less or more? Why do your fashion choices carry the added burden of speaking up for your morals? Why are 'sexy' and 'hot' labels rather than compliments? Raised eyebrows or awkward silences notwithstanding, too many questions and not nearly enough answers. We wanted Ginger to be the bold voice of the girl who has a strong mind to go with it and is totally comfortable in her skin. To celebrate her individuality beyond stereotypes and tags and acknowledge the quirks and uniqueness that makes her unapologetically herself. To declare boldly that if perfection is the standard the world imposes, she is gloriously and happily #imperfectlyperfect ", commented Priya Shivakumar, ECD & Creative Head, JWT Bengaluru

" I believe this is a brave new campaign for the bold and the beautiful girls out there. Am really proud that Ginger from Lifestyle which is one of the biggest brands in the retail space, built by the J Walter Thompson company has given girls enough reason to celebrate their imperfections. added Senthil Kumar, Chief Creative Officer, JWT India

Credits:

Senthil Kumar: Chief Creative Officer

Priya Shivakumar: ECD, Writer

Creative Team: Pradeep Ravindran, Ashwin Lingan, Saagarika Shenoy

Servicing: Vigyan Verma, Arunava Sen, Sravani Rani.
A mother is a symbol of strength and selfless love with a hint of Maa Durga that dwells within her. Sridevi-starrer MOM is one movie that truly reinforces this thought! Debutant director Ravi Udyawar gets his sensibilities spot on in this slick fast paced revenge drama portraying a mothers valour and the length she is willing to get justice for her child. &pictures, Naye India Ka Blockbuster Movie Channel, premieres MOM on Saturday, 18th November 2017 at 8 PM.

MOM marks the comeback of legendary actor Sridevi in her 300th film after a 5-year hiatus. Along with the iconic actor, this cinematic masterpiece also features a much-celebrated star cast comprising of Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Akshaye Khanna along with supporting actors including Sejal Ali and Adnan Siddiqui with striking roles. Adding to this dream team is music maestro A.R. Rahman whose heart-warming background score and music works wonders for the film.

In fact, upon MOMs release in theatres, many prominent Bollywood celebrities and filmmakers took to social media platforms to praise the film. Veteran actor Anupam Kher applauded the film on social media platforms saying Watched #Mom produced by @BoneyKapoor. OUTSTANDING. Everybody is excellent. @SrideviBKapoor once again shows why she is the #QueenOfActing.

Legendary actor Sridevi commented, MOM, to me, wasnt just another film; it was an experience and a journey that I partook to show viewers the tumultuous emotions of a mother. As an actor and a mother myself, I personally felt the rage and agony that my character Devki underwent. Every nuance, every reaction that my character has evoked on-screen is something that I have felt and experienced personally while the story was being narrated to me. MOM narrates a hard-hitting message which has become one of the biggest requirements in current times. Thanks to the films premiere on &Pictures on 18th November at 8PM our message will be reiterated.

MOM is the story of Devki Sabarwal (Sridevi), a biology teacher who yearns for her 18-year-old step daughter Aryas (Sejal Ali) love and acceptance. A turn of events leads to an unfortunate incident with Arya with the perpetrators going scot free. When Devki loses faith in the legal system, she takes it upon herself to avenge the suffering of her beloved daughter. This sets into motion a game of cat & mouse with the most meticulously crafted plan. Joining her in this crusade are private detective Dayashankar Kapoor aka DK (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) and the cop Matthew (Akshaye Khanna).

To what extent will Devki go to fight for her daughter? Will justice be served?

Watch the premiere of MOM on Saturday, 18th November 2017 at 8 PM, only on &pictures!
Beijing Zmeng Network Technology Co.,Ltd. (ZMT), China's largest offline data service platform, has recently announced that it completed series B+ round financing worth 180 million yuan (US$ 27.1 million). YF Capital, founded by Alibaba chairman Jack Ma, led in Series B+ round financing, followed by IDG Capital Partners and Kinzon Capital. To date ZMT has raised 300 million yuan (US$ 45.2 million) in Series B found financing. According to Guang Yuhao, founder and CEO of ZMT, ZMT will focus on "offline data capitalization" after Series B round financing to further promote the upgrading of China's traditional retail industry, sharing economy and other new business types.

ZMT has been favored by a number of institutional investors. Investors in the previous rounds of financing include Fosun and IDG Capital Partners.

Just as Google Analytics analyzes consumers' online data, ZMT helps enterprises acquire offline data through smart hardware and integrate offline data with online data, thereby looking into consumer needs, strengthening management, optimizing services and upgrading marketing. China's traditional retail industry does not know how to acquire and apply mass offline consumer data. ZMT can offer retail enterprises all-round support in data acquisition, synthesis and application, and help them capitalize offline data, thus boosting their competitive advantage in the fast-growing Chinese market. International companies promoting retail industry development through offline data like Euclid and RetailNext are also acquiring offline data through new-generation sensor network and operating on this basis. To promote their advertising business, international giants, such as Google and Facebook, are also working on offline data.

Over the past four years since its founding in 2013, ZMT has focused on the continuous accumulation and value exploration of offline data, established China's largest offline data system, created more than 2 million offline application scenarios, and developed more than 1 million business partners in more than 300 cities. ZMT's offline data capitalization practice application solutions have covered tens of vertical fields including life service, automobile, real estate, education, health, finance and tourism, gaining high recognition from the market. Now ZMT's monthly business revenues are up 200 percent year on year and up 20 percent month on month. ZMT is expected to achieve annual business revenues of hundreds of millions yuan in 2017.

The datamation rate of offline consumer behavior is only 7 percent in China, showing that the Chinese data market is the biggest ever. As China's largest offline data service platform, ZMT can increase the rate to 70-80 percent and the figure will continue to grow. According to the lead investor YF Capital, ZMT is one of the few big data enterprises that can achieve high revenues and profits. It has connected the three links (acquisition, processing and application) of data to build a closed-loop chain, and enjoys prominent advantages of the three links.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171117005880/en/

In China:

Beijing Zmeng Network Technology Co.,Ltd

Xiangning Wang, +8613581993472

wangxiangning@zmeng123.com

Website: www.zmeng.cc
November 17, 2017

Baghdad  The first draft of Iraqs federal budget for 2018, approved by the government at the start of the month, envisions slashing the Kurdish regions share from 17% to 12.7% of the total.

The cut is one of several punitive constitutional measures that followed the Sept. 25 Kurdish referendum on independence. Those measures also saw Baghdad seize control of disputed areas, border crossings and air bases, and demand that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) transfer taxes and other public revenues to the central government.

This is the first time that the KRGs share of the budget has been subject to review since 2005, when the government of then interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi allocated 17% to the Kurdish region, despite the fact there has not been an official census in Iraq since 1997.

There have been no negotiations so far with Baghdad on the budget or other pending issues, despite the KRGs desire for talks, said parliament member Najiba Najib of the Kurdistan Alliance. The central government is still refusing to receive the Kurdish delegation.

Iraq still doesnt currently have official statistics, she added. Even data from the Ministry of Trade is inaccurate. Its not reasonable to believe that the population of the Kurdish region has stayed at just 5 million, as the United Nations said in 2003 when it recommended the KRG receive 13% of the national budget.

She said the central government has felt arrogant and powerful since it regained control of Kirkuk.

It is trying to exert its dominance and control over the entire [Kurdish] region and punish it through the budget, which it spent the last three years writing, she said.

She criticized decisions taken through a majority in the Iraqi parliament rather than the principle of reaching an agreement over issues concerning the Kurds, adding that the problems would get worse if the draft budget is not re-examined.

The Kurdish regional parliament on Nov. 5 issued a statement urging the Iraqi Cabinet not to vote on the draft budget, as it had been prepared unilaterally by the Iraqi Finance Ministry without the participation of the KRG, in violation of Law 95 of 2014 and Articles 105, 106 and 121 of the Iraqi Constitution, which guarantee the Kurdish region a fair role in federal institutions.

The Kurdish government confirmed that the amount allocated for public servants salaries in the KRG, compared to the amount allocated under the biometric system, is very small  not even enough to pay the salaries of one province of the Kurdish region.

Other political actors, such as the National Wisdom Movement led by Ammar al-Hakim, say the method of distributing the budget to Iraqs various regions is unfair. They have backed the idea of distributing it to Iraqi Kurdistan provinces on the basis of regular governorates in the region rather than via the Kurdish government.

Haider al-Fawadi, a member of the movement, told Al-Monitor, A 12% share is reasonable for the KRG, and it can be spent after the region hands over what it owes the federal government, including revenues from airports, taxes, border crossings and oil.

It's not reasonable to give 17% of the budget to the conclave that has just 5 million people without it handing over these resources to the federal government, he added.

He said he feared domestic and international pressures on the government to restart payments to Iraqi Kurdistan at the previous level, but he added that a majority in parliament will not allow any bill to pass that allocates more than 12% of the federal budget to the KRG.

The leaking of a draft budget could increase pressure on the KRG to hand over its oil resources and border crossings in exchange for a bigger share of the budget or a return to 17%. But the issue will not be solved that easily. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has defended cutting the Kurds share of the budget and talked of major corruption in the KRG, as well as inaccurate statistics on the number of civil servants in local administrations. In other words, the job of auditing the regional governments accounts and negotiating the handover of revenues to the federal government will be the key criteria in setting the KRGs final share of the budget. Moreover, there are bigger and more complicated issues that could send the crisis in another direction, most notably the regions vast debts to the central government and international oil companies.

Former Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said at a press conference on Nov. 12 that the KRGs debts have now reached $51.4 billion, which has escalated the crisis in Iraq, noting that the KRG had received some $18.5 billion through oil sales and customs revenues on top of its 17% share of the federal budget.

The Iraqi government should not have to deal with the consequences of an oil policy in which it played no part and did not ask for, he said. Whoever signed the contracts should deal with the consequences.

It appears that Baghdad has plenty of reasons to cut the KRGs share of the budget. It also has the economic tools to exert major pressure in order to impose its dominance over the countrys wealth and revenues in their entirety, as well as annulling the Kurdish independence referendum, providing international powers do not interfere to influence the political parties that control the parliament and central government.
November 17, 2017

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  On Nov. 7, Minister of Local Governance Hussein al-Araj announced that all government land allocated after Oct. 2, 2017, in the Gaza Strip was done illegally. New allocations of land are postponed until further notice.

The land allocation issue evolved from Hamas not being able to pay the salaries of government employees when it had full control of Gaza. Deputies for the Change and Reform Bloc, representing Hamas in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), ratified a law on Nov. 25, 2015, giving government employees land in Gaza based on the amount of back salary owed to them.

By this mechanism, employees submitted a request to the Land Authority in Gaza to obtain a piece of land commensurate with their back wages. Alternatively, employees could apply for Housing Associations, in which a group of 20-40 employees were given 800-1,000 square meters (up to a quarter acre) of land for the construction of residential housing.

According to Khalil Hamada, a spokesman for the Workers Syndicate in Gaza, 18,000 employees benefitted from the land distribution. Under the scheme, those employees now have the right to sell their share of the land they received.

Deputy Minister of Local Governance Mohammad al-Jabarin told Al-Monitor, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah has instructed his ministers to suspend all decisions issued by the Hamas government in Gaza after Oct. 2, 2017. The land allocation program was also stopped because it was not approved by the consensus government after it assumed administration of Gaza Oct. 2.

Jabarin added, The issue of land allocation has been discussed at several Cabinet meetings, considering it to be a sovereign issue concerning the wealth and resources of the Palestinian people. The meetings concluded that distributing these lands should be suspended, and after the consensus government assumed all its responsibilities in Gaza, it should reconsider the lands Hamas had illegally distributed to its employees during the Palestinian division.

He further clarified, stating, The decision to distribute government-owned land is considered null unless approved by the Palestinian president.

The Hamas government had argued that the land allocations had been within its powers while it controlled and managed Gazas affairs, beginning after it won 76 seats in the PLC in 2006.

Jamal Nassar, the Gaza-based chair of the Economic and Financial Committee in the PLC, told Al-Monitor, The decision to distribute government lands is within the PLCs jurisdiction. The PLC did indeed approve the decision since all legal requirements were available and the Gaza government was unable to pay the salaries of its employees, because the blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip since 2007 had led to a decline in government revenues.

Nassar claimed that the Gaza government had no other choice but to allocate land in lieu of salaries. The value of government employees' [back] salaries was estimated at 1 billion shekels [$285 million] through May 2016, Nassar said. If the consensus government decided to suspend the law of land distribution, it will have to pay the salaries of these employees itself or reach a settlement to address their financial situation to ensure their employment rights are met.

During a meeting at al-Awda University College on Nov. 22, 2015, Gaza Economy Minister Ziad al-Zaza said that according to the Land Authority, government-owned land amounted to 2,124 dunams (525 acres), and the area to be allocated by the Gaza government ranged from 965 to 1,200 dunams (238-297 acres).

Ihab Nahhal, the vice president of the Gaza Civil Servants Union, told Al-Monitor, The union wants Gaza government employees to receive all their financial rights whether they are paid in cash or through another settlement that the government deems appropriate to guarantee their employment rights as stipulated in the Labor Law. He also asserted, The union will not stand in the way of the consensus government, should it decide to suspend land allocation, provided all financial obligations are met.

Bahaa Eddin Ezzeddine, the head of the administrative services department at Nasser Medical Complex, received a plot of land at the al-Aqsa project in Khan Yunis. He told Al-Monitor, No one can take over the land that the Gaza government granted me based on my job entitlements. If the consensus government decides to consider the land granted to me as illegal, as it claims, it must bear the consequences and pay me my money.

Several Hamas spokespeople refused to comment on this issue, but one Hamas spokesman told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, The issue of land allocation can be examined as part of the upcoming reconciliation talks with Fatah in Egypt. I do not think it could be a threat to reconciliation if the consensus government shows good intentions to recognize all employees without being unfair to anyone. However, Hamas and Fatah are yet to discuss this issue in detail.
November 16, 2017

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently rejected the use of a high school entrance exam his own party introduced with great fanfare just a few years ago. Now a new version has been launched, to a much less enthusiastic reception.

During a live TV interview Sept. 16, Erdogan said, The high school entrance exam [commonly known by the acronym TEOG in Turkish] must be abolished. I don't want that system. It will be abolished now. Ironically, it was Erdogans Justice and Development Party (AKP) that introduced the TEOG exam in the 2013-2014 school year.

TEOG was advertised with the promise that it would advance high school education and help promote the spread of Imam Hatip (religious) high schools (IHL). During that school year, the percentage of IHLs did increase, to 19.9%, up from 11.8%.

This year, on Nov. 5, a new entrance system was unveiled. Oddly, the new system resembles the one used before the AKPs TEOG. Students wishing to qualify for the top schools will have to take the entrance exam, and only 300,000 are expected to be accepted, according to Education Minister Ismet Yilmaz. To put that into perspective, 1.2 million students will graduate from eighth grade in 2018. Yilmazs words caused an uproar among Turkish parents.

During his 16 years holding national public offices, Erdogan has yearned for a pious generation, and Turkeys schools have turned into testing grounds, with annual tweaks to the system and the curriculum. Erdogan has even asked college professors to run IHLs, while other members of his family, such as his son, Bilal Erdogan, recently made the headlines questioning the influence of the "sinister West" on Turkish minds. Young Erdogan argued that the Western lifestyle is an attempt to enslave Turks.

Yet most of the news from the AKP-introduced pious education system has been less than promising: In 2017, only one in five IHL graduates was able to pass the university entrance exam. Indeed, not only students but also prospective teachers are struggling with their standardized tests. For example, in August, prospective teachers on average could only answer 30% of the questions correctly. The correct answer average for high school math teachers was 11 out of 50, raising alarm bells for administrators and the public. In addition, more than 2,000 teachers have been dismissed due to political reasons after the botched coup in July 2015.

In 2015, the Program for International Student Assessment results showed that Turkish students had the lowest level of satisfaction with their education system among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. Students academic scores have regressed significantly in all three areas of testing: math, reading and science.

While academic standards have deteriorated, Erdogans pious generation is also growing up with significant anxiety. Not a day passes without mind-boggling news about child martyrdom or other blood-spilling, harrowing incidents emerging from Turkeys K-12 education system. On Oct. 31, news from Izmir province reported fifth- and sixth-grade students were informing their parents of their desire to die before they have accumulated too many sins to enter paradise. Parents were surprised to hear their childrens willingness to commit suicide to show their religious adoration and obedience.

There have been other reported incidents in which students as young as 2 years old were provided religious values education at government-funded preschools. In one case, teachers told young students, If your mother fails to cover her hair, hell fires await her, and several students broke down in tears. The impact of twisted religiosity goes from preschool to college. For instance, on Nov. 1, news broke that Karamanoglu Mehmetbey University had posted an employment ad seeking an educator able to "fight the devil" under the guidance of the Quran. After a public uproar, the ad disappeared from the colleges website.

Erdogans dream of raising a pious generation has backfired. The highest percentage of political opposition came from voters aged 18-24 during the April 16 referendum that granted the president unprecedented powers.

To put all these reports in perspective, Bekir Agirdir, the director of Konda Research and Consultancy, provided interesting information based on recent research. The research is unpublished, but Agirdir shared a few striking results. According to Konda, about 25% of the youth surveyed believe luck and cronyism are necessary to land a job. When asked about the AKPs recent curriculum changes, only 26% approved. Even among those parents whose kids attend IHL schools, the approval rates were below 50%. Agirdir explains that this is a stark change. Between 2002 and 2007, the AKP made important headway and the public was both pleased and hopeful about education. Yet, since then, education under the AKP has regressed significantly. Agirdir said, If in a country one in every three people declare their wish to live abroad if they could, and three-fourths say they would send their children abroad for education if they could afford it, we're talking about a picture worse than a firms bankruptcy.

Al-Monitor conducted one-on-one interviews with 54 families who have students who either currently attend or graduated within the past two years from IHL schools in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir provinces. These families were deliberately chosen because they are registered AKP member households. In these interviews, more than 55% of respondents answered affirmatively to three statements.

The first of these statements was Our children are less enthusiastic about practicing Islam since becoming IHL students. Of all respondents, 73% said students come home with conflicting religious information. They are unable to learn Arabic or do well in their lessons about the Quran and Hadith (the sayings of Muhammad).

For the second statement, 68% agreed: Our childrens chances of getting into college are worse because they are IHL students. Families were quite disappointed that they have to pay private tutors and yet the students still struggle, particularly with math and science.

On the third statement, 55% of respondents said, Except for gender separation, IHL education would not be my first choice for my younger kids. The parents of sons, in particular, would rather send their kids to regular schools, though parents of female students did find value in IHL women-only classes. This is a crucial concern for a significant number of families.

Out of the 54 families, 52 asked Al-Monitor during their interviews about opportunities to study in the United States.

Some 93% of the youth, though describing themselves as observant Muslims, told Al-Monitor they haven't done any sort of volunteering or community service and could not recall a time when they helped someone outside their family. Indeed, the 2016 Global Youth Development Index and Report ranked the participation of Turkish youth in civic activities at 177 out of 183 countries. Civic participation, according to the report, is a measure of the extent to which youth "interact positively with their communities. The report defined "youth" as people between 15 and 29.

Erdogans dream of raising a pious generation has backfired. The highest percentage of political opposition came from voters aged 18-24 during the April 16 referendum that granted the president unprecedented powers. These are the voters Erdogan has invested in heavily through youth programs in the past 15 years. A research report by the Islamist Felicity (Saadet) Partys youth branch refers to the AKPs youth policies as patchwork politics and indicates how disappointing the policies have been. According to the report, only 15% of the Turkish youth describe themselves as traditionalist, while 10% say they are modernist and the remaining 75% describe themselves as neither.

Repeated failures in the education system are reflected in real numbers. Youth unemployment, according to government sources, has persistently increased since 2005, reaching 24.5% in 2017. Middle and lower classes are worried about paying off debts, saving for marriage and staying out of the military. Erdogan's dream of a generation of pious, patriotic youth is not to be: Since 2015, more than 155,000 people have avoided military service citing health reasons, a significant increase over earlier years, according to the Ministry of Defense.

Erdogan now understands he cannot ride on the votes of the "pious generation" he has invested in and tried to cultivate for more than a decade. This may well explain his unexpected turnabout and sudden love for the founder of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who is a symbol of secularism.
November 15, 2017

The Nov. 11 joint statement by Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump that there can be no military solution in Syria and that all parties should participate in Geneva talks has unnerved Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The statement apparently is affecting Erdogan's calculations involving Syria's Kurds and Turkey's future role in Syria.

Erdogan expressed indignation about the US-Russia statement on the eve of his Nov. 14 meeting with Putin and said, If there can be no military solution, then they should withdraw their soldiers. The world is not stupid. The central government killed nearly 1 million people. Turkey doesnt have soldiers there. Let them withdraw their soldiers and look for political solutions. The US has five air bases in northern Syria. They are preparing one at Raqqa. They also have eight military bases  that makes 13. Russia has five bases. What about these facts?

Erdogan traveled in this angry mood to Sochi on Nov. 13 to meet with Putin. In the joint press conference after their meeting, two leaders said progress has been made in de-confliction zones, as agreed to at Astana. But Erdogan was more conciliatory this time. A basis has been laid that will allow us to focus on a political solution. We pay attention to the declaration made made in Vietnam by Putin and Trump.

That Erdogan and Putin had not reached an agreement was clear from a statement of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who said, Issues discussed by the two leaders are very complex and will not be revealed.

Ankara and Moscow have three key issues they cannot agree on about the Kurdish question.

In response to Turkeys backing the establishment of a de-confliction regime in Idlib, Turks want military action against Kurds in nearby Afrin to block a Kurdish corridor. However, the Russians want the Turks to remain observers in Idlib, as they agreed at Astana.

Kurds will be invited to the Syrian Peoples Congress to be hosted by Russia. This has been opposed by Turkey.

The Democratic Union Party (PYD) of Rojava will be included in the Geneva peace process for Syria. Until now, Turkey had blocked any participation by Kurdish groups.

Ankara is disturbed by Russia's refusal to acknowledge Turkish requests despite all the cooperation Turkey has displayed at Astana. Contacts between Russians and the Kurds have revealed that Russia has not given the green light for an operation at Afrin. While Erdogan was at Sochi, Ziyad Sabsabi, deputy chair of the Russian senate's foreign relations committee, was in Qamishli, a major Kurdish town in Syria, to receive families of Russian fighters who had joined the Islamic State. Russia has never had a negative attitude toward the Kurds. We have always agreed with their demands for the recognition of their legitimate rights. We will continue to do so, he said.

The Aleppo-born Sabsabi said Russia has worked hard for the Kurds to participate in all meetings, including in Geneva and Astana. Asked about Russias reaction to possible attacks by the Syrian army and Iranian-linked groups on Kurdish YPG and Syrian Democratic Forces, Sabsabi said: Russia will not be a part of any clashes between the regime forces and SDF, but will play a reconciliatory role.

It wasnt hard to see why Erdogan was disappointed and upset.

Abdulkarim Omar, the chairman of the Jazeera canton foreign relations committee who hosted Sabsabi in Qamishli, told Al-Monitor that Russia insists on Kurdish participation in the political solution process. Omar said representatives of Kurds, Syriacs, Asharis, Armenians, Chechens and Turkmens will all participate in the Syrian Peoples Congress Russia is planning.

Omar said there is nothing new in the negotiations with the Damascus regime: Last year at the Khmeimim meeting under Russian mediation, we discussed the future of Syria, Kurdish rights and the status of the Northern Syrian Democratic Federation. But the regime is not prepared to negotiate a political settlement. There are no new contacts with the regime.

Omar said the situation in Afrin, where Turkey wants to be more involved, is complicated. But we believe Russia, Iran, the US and other regional and international players will oppose such an operation.

A PYD official in charge of civilian administration affairs at Raqqa told Al-Monitor his views about what is going on with Russia and Turkey. He said the Peoples Congress was to have been held at Sochi on Nov. 18 but that Turkish objections to the Kurds' presence blocked it. He said, To soften the Turkish objection, Russia renamed the meeting the National Dialogue Conference of Syria. There could be other similar attempts to find a solution. We think Turkey may withdraw its objection. We are going to send 100 names from Raqqa, Tabqa, Manbij and other locations [to Sochi]. They wont only be Kurds but will represent all ethnic groups in the area.

Omar said Russia insists on convening the Peoples Congress because it wants to spread the following message: We succeeded in Syria. We put together the political basis for a solution. He said the United States is not opposing the proposed Congress. He said Russia has told the Kurds that when they come to Sochi, they should not refer to a Northern Syrian Democratic Federation. They should simply mention the contents of the project without mentioning names. This is not a bargaining point between Kurds and Russia but a Russian move to minimize possible objections. Russians seem to favor a model like Tatarstan in the Russian Federation while the Syrian regime may agree to a cantonal system such as in Afrin, Kobani and Jazeera, he added.

Omar said the Putin-Trump statement is a positive development as the regime has stepped up its threats against the Kurds after the liberation of Raqqa. He said an accord that rules out a military solution will discourage operations against areas controlled by the SDF. Anyway, the Americans are saying, We are here. Dont you dare attack us. The international coalition will continue to remain on the ground until a political settlement is reached. This is an assurance for the Kurds. Finally, Russians are telling the Kurds that they wont allow Turkey to attack Afrin.

All these contacts, negotiations, background dialogues and the field situation tell us that Turkey is still not in a position to achieve its ends despite its success with Operation Euphrates Shield. Further progress in US-Russian agreement despite Turkeys objections may well open the way for there to be a settlement on the Kurdish issue without bloodshed.
November 17, 2017

Every year on Nov. 10, Turkey commemorates the death of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder and first president of the Turkish Republic. At 9:05 a.m., the moment he took his last breath, sirens ring loud across the county, as people stop in the streets or stand silently at their workplaces to remember the Father of the Turks, as his surname literally means. At Anitkabir, the iconic mausoleum of Ataturk in Ankara, an official ceremony, attended by droves of citizens, is held while the media and social media are flooded with messages emphasizing Ataturks greatness.

This year, all these classic rituals took place. But there was something new and unusual: The political camp entrenched behind President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which traditionally has identified itself with Islam rather than the staunchly secular Ataturk, proved more Ataturkist than ever before.

This usual viewpoint was first visible in the main ideological indicator of the Erdogan regime: the pro-Erdogan media, which now constitutes the overwhelming majority of the Turkish media. Newspapers that have shown only half-hearted interest in Nov. 10 commemorations before came out this time with huge tributes to Ataturk, marking an unmistakable difference in tone. Members of Erdogans ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) expressed an unexpected admiration for Ataturk in their public messages. The local branches of the AKP organized free bus trips to Anitkabir and announced them with posters in urban centers. And most importantly, Erdogan himself, who had conspicuously skipped some previous Nov. 10 commemorations, led the ceremonies at Anitkabir.

This newfound love for Ataturk was certainly a novelty for the AKP, and no wonder it sparked dozens of columns in the Turkish press. The Mujaheeds to Anitkabir, a popular columnist amusingly wrote, contrasting the AKPs Islamist roots with Ataturks secular visions. The contrast was clear, and that is probably why Erdogan himself felt the need to respond to those who criticized him and his party for this change of tone. We will protect Ataturks legacy, he vowed at a conference organized for honoring Ataturk at his presidential palace. He also promised to save this legacy from the ideological bigotry that instrumentalizes his name.

Why did Erdogan need to make this emphasis? And what is the reason for this latter-day reclaiming of Ataturk by the Erdoganists?

The first answer to this question is the presidential election of 2019, the winning of which is now the most important goal for Erdogan. Unlike in the parliamentary elections he won repeatedly since 2002, a vote fluctuating between 40% and 50% of the electorate will not be enough this time. Erdogan needs to win more than 50% of the vote, and everybody seems to agree that this is a very risky threshold. The conservative Islamic voters, on which Erdogan has traditionally relied, are just not enough to give him more than half of the nations mandate. He also needs to appeal to what traditionally has constituted the center right of Turkish politics, which had always represented a pragmatic middle ground between pro-Ataturk secularists and pro-Islamic conservatives.

A recent political development that may have boosted this political need is the Good Party that was founded in late October. Led by charismatic female politician Meral Aksener, the party seems to be an effort to revive the center right, which had vanished from the scene since the early years of the AKP. Polls suggest that the Good Party has rapidly gained popularity as high as 16% of the votes, making Erdogans AKP go down to 38%. Embracing Ataturk would be a smart tactic to regain some of those voters who moved from the AKP to the Good Party.

The second answer to why Erdogan now embraces Ataturk is more strategic and conceptual: Erdogan is willing to present himself as the second Ataturk, the second savior-founder of the nation, and it is much easier to do this by claiming the legacy of the first Ataturk. This tendency has become increasingly clear in the past three years, as I explained in Al-Monitor last year, in the usage of Ataturk symbolism by Erdogan. This includes Erdogans claim to lead Turkeys Second War of Liberation, after the first one Ataturk led in the aftermath of World War I, and his choosing of Samsun, the city where Ataturk launched the war of liberation, as the place to launch his electoral campaigns.

Yet there is an important nuance between the image of Ataturk with which Erdogan now identifies and the image of Ataturk that Turkeys Ataturkists have traditionally upheld. In the latter one, Ataturk was a Westernizer who secularized his nation with top-down reforms during his absolute presidency from 1923 to 1938. Erdogan and his followers understandably skip those un-Islamic themes. The Ataturk they rather like is the anti-Western war hero who saved the motherland from the occupation by European imperialists in 1919-1922. This also allows them to argue that Erdogan is not undoing Ataturk, as the Ataturkists typically claim. Erdogan, in this view, is only re-doing Ataturk by making Turkey independent again.

Ironically, Erdogan not only claimed this new tailor-made Ataturk in his Nov. 10 speech, but also condemned those who misrepresented him. The latter included the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), the very party founded by Ataturk. We will not let any party like the CHP abduct Ataturk from our nation, Erdogan declared. We will understand him and talk about him as our nations Mustafa Kemal  the veteran of our War of Independence.

To me, this was yet another confirmation of a truism I have been reiterating for a while: The official ideology of Erdogans New Turkey, if there is any, is not Islamism, as some Westerners seem to think. It is rather Erdoganism. The latter is a blend of Islamism, Turkish nationalism, anti-elite populism, moralism, nepotism and opportunism. It may even include, as we can now see, a rightly redefined dose of Ataturkism.
Huawei only just announced the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro a few weeks ago, but many are now looking forward to the companys Spring lineup, which will likely bring us the P11 and P11 Plus. The Huawei P11 Plus has supposedly leaked already, and it is showing a rather usual Huawei design along with a 18:9 aspect ratio display. Seeing the Huawei P11 Plus with a 18:9 display shouldnt be much of a surprise considering the fact that the Huawei Mate 11 and Mate 11 Pro both feature a 18:9 display, and that is also the trend in 2017 and looks to continue in 2018.

There are a few other interesting tidbits surfacing in this leak. One is the dual-camera setup. It appears to have two camera modules, instead of just one. It looks a bit odd, compared to how Huawei has done camera bumps in the past with a dual-camera module, but it is important to note here that this is likely a prototype and may not be the final version of the phone. Youll also see on the bottom that there is a USB-C port in the center, a speaker and then a 3.5mm headphone jack. So those wondering if Huawei would keep the headphone jack can rest easy now, since it is indeed there. Hopefully it doesnt get removed between this prototype and the final version when that launches early next year.

Its still a bit early for the Huawei P11 Plus, but it is slated to be announced at MWC 2018 at the end of February. That would actually be a bit early for Huawei, seeing as the smartphone maker has typically announced the P series smartphones at an event in London in April. But with Samsung rumored to be announcing the Galaxy S9 ahead of MWC, it does leave the door open for other flagships to debut at the event in Barcelona. But that is still about 4 months away. So needless to say, a lot of things could change between now and then. Since there is a headphone jack on the phone right now, it could be taken out before the final model, since companies do go through numerous prototypes before the final version.
Google has now announced its latest Project Fi referral challenge, Fi it Forward. This follows on from similar challenges which have in the past offered prizes including free Google Play credit and a trip to Google HQ. This one however is a lot more device-focused as the prizes up for grabs include a Chromecast at the lower end, and a Moto X4 at the higher end. The Moto X4 was the latest device to join the Project Fi program and is the first Android One smartphone to make its way to the US.

As this is a referral program the rules are pretty straightforward, the more referrals for Project someone can make, the better the prize they will get. For example, to get a free Chromecast, Fi members must obtain two referrals while the promotion is active. In contrast, getting the Moto X4 for free will require seven referrals during the same time. Speaking of which, the referral program is now active (started today, November 17) and is due to run for one complete month, with its ending date set for December 17. As part of a wider reward for all, Google also announced that upon the completion of this particular referral challenge the company will donate $50,000 towards the Information Technology Disaster Resource Center (ITDRC) to help with disaster relief. While this one has been listed as a prize it is understood to be independent of how many referrals are made during the campaign  the donation will be made regardless.

As a matter of standard procedure, Google does offer $20 Fi credit to its members who make a successful referral to Project Fi, which can then be used against their monthly bill. While not specifically mentioned in the announcement for this latest campaign, it is assumed those $20 credits will still be applicable on top of the opportunity of gaining the greater prizes. Those looking to take part in this latest challenge will be able to do so by heading over to their Fi dashboard. Although Google has explained that for now, this is only available via the desktop version of the Fi website. There, members will be able to generate their unique code and share it.
Qualcomm can now claim yet another world first thanks to a partnership between the chip maker and both ZTE and China Mobile. The trio has now announced, via Qualcomms official blog, the worlds first successfully completed end-to-end 5G New Radio (NR) Interoperability Data Testing (IoDT) system to be based on 3GPP R15 standards, supporting the 100MHz bandwidth. The 3.5 GHz data connection was tested at China Mobiles 5G Joint Innovation Center and is said to have been made possible thanks to ZTEs 5G NR pre-commercial base station and Qualcomm Technologies 5G NR UE prototype.

Although this demonstration does not mean that competing companies arent also this far along with their own testing, the demonstration could put the three companies in a unique position in the industry. It could, in effect, show that Qualcomm and ZTE are well ahead of the competition in terms of being prepared to build out 5G networks at scale. China Mobile  and indeed China -would also gain reputational recognition as the state-run wireless provider involved in helping that progress move forward. Thats going to be advantageous in addressing the ever-increasing number of devices featuring connectivity and the data-intense requirements of next-generation media streaming. Beyond that, the technology is claimed to be capable of multi-gigabit peak data rates, while also maintaining a lower level of lag than current networks. Those features would make it an indispensable piece of the autonomous tech puzzle  particularly where that concerns self-driving vehicles. Moreover, since the network was tested to the as-yet-unfinalized 3GPP standards, the demonstration shows that the companies should be ready to begin updating current networks to 5G once the standards are finalized. It should be said that those standards could ultimately change, of course. That would, unfortunately, render at least some of the work already completed by this 5G partnership either obsolete or useless. However, drastic changes are unlikely this late in the standardization process.

The companies also have another demonstration planned for November 23. That will take place at the China Mobile Global Partner Conference, as the entities involved in the collaborative effort look to cement their place ahead of others in the industry.
Four years after the attack on Blanquerna (the Catalan governments office in Madrid) during celebrations for Catalonias National Day, the fourteen neo-Nazis responsible have yet to be sent to prison. Last Thursday Spains Constitutional Court (CC) upheld the appeal against the Supreme Courts ruling of January this year, which raised their sentences to 4 years from an initial eight months, in keeping with the Provincial Court of Madrids ruling.

The news was welcomed by various far-right groups, who had taken steps in recent weeks in an attempt to avoid having their own "political prisoners". The Facebook page Auxilio Azul Presos de Blanquerna [Blue Help for the Blanquerna Prisoners, in reference to a 1930s fascist support group] welcomes with "immense" joy the fact that the CC has accepted the appeal lodged by lawyers representing six of the defendants. The original date of their entry into prison, last Wednesday, was put on hold awaiting the outcome of the CCs ruling.

The accused in question are Manuel Andrino and Inigo Perez de Herrasti, the respective leaders of Falange and Alianza Nacional; Miquel Venegas Giron, Jesus Fernando F.G who, during the incident, shoved the then CiU MP Josep Sanchez Llibre and Sergio Reguilon Fumero who ran on the ticket of the fascist party La Espana en Marcha [Spain on the March] in the 2014 European elections. The sixth, Juan Luis Lopez a member of Falange, is currently not in Spain, his whereabouts unknown.

The rest of the defendants have also not received a custodial sentence as they are awaiting news of an appeal. They will now be able to take advantage of the fact that the CC has overturned the courts ruling, thus further delaying their entry into prison.

A 'Blue March' for acquittal

To celebrate the Constitutional Courts decision and also to express their opposition to a situation they consider unfair, during the trial the defendants declared that in attacking the Blanquerna centre they were acting out of a "love for Spain several organizations on the extreme right have organized a demonstration in Madrid tomorrow under the banner "Absolution for the Blanquerna 14. Defending Spain is not a crime", known as the 'Blue March.

Meanwhile, the Catalan governments Blanquerna centre in Madrid has also been affected by Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, as has the entire administration of Catalonia.
How To Achieve The Perfect Shave With A Straight Razor

Your Comprehensive Guide To Shaving With A Straight Razor

The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.

There comes a point when a man must graduate from the beginners level of shaving  you know, cartridge razors  and indulge in the luxury of a straight shave. Old-fashioned as it may seem, it remains a badge of honor for primitive types and a status symbol for the grooming elite. To master the perfect shave, with a straight razor, makes you a certified G!

Granted it takes more time to execute and isnt something squeamish crowds can handle, theres no denying the practice warrants the smoothest results possible. And with the right preparation and techniques, you can wield a traditional blade like a pro. Listen, learn, and read our how-to guide on achieving the perfect shave with a straight razor.

Prep Your Face

Despite the niche popularity of dry-shaving, its something professional barbers don't recommend. Sure, its quick and simple, but lord, its freaking painful to endure as inflammation forever gets the better of your sheath. Follow the right protocol to prepare your hair and skin for a safe shave.

RELATED: Don't Even Think About Picking Up A Razor Without Reading This First

Step 1: Trim Down The Bush (Optional)

Not every man lives the clean shaven life. Theres a massive crowd of Movember-ers out there who appreciate the fine detailing of a straight shave for edging hairlines and sideburns. Simon Chercuitte, Head Barber for Frank & Oak, says a beard trimmer will save you time: "Make sure to do a quick once over with an electric trimmer if your beard is too longdoing this will prevent the razor from pulling on the hair."

Step 2: Make A Warm Compress

Next is to heat up a towel. Dont make it too hot. The heat from the towel will soften hair and make it easier for the blade to cut.

Step 3: Massage Pre-Shave Oil Onto Face

A good pre-shave oil will lubricate your face and give you an added layer of protection from the razor, says Chercuitte. Rub the ointment gently into the skin. Then clean and dry off your hands so they arent slippery when clutching onto any shaving instruments.

Step 4: Lather Up And Apply Shaving Cream

Throw some cream into a shaving bowl if necessary. Most other times youll be able to build itdirectly from the packing it comes in. Grab a badger brush made from natural hair and soak it in warm water for a few minutes. Take it and apply circular motions into the cream to develop a thicker lather. Lastly, stroke up on the neck and go down on the face.

Jack Black Supreme Cream Triple Cushion Shaving Lather

An elite shaving cream is the best insurance plan any guy can make for a straight razor. Jack Black delivers the best ROI (return of investment) with a creamy blend of active ingredients and patented Protective Triple Cushion Technology that allows for sleek razor glide, while providing stellar cushioning for blades to execute sharp cuts without causing any nicks, cuts, or irritation. Enjoy velvety soft skin upon completion.

$19.00 at Amazon.com

Philips Norelco Beard Trimmer 7200

Lumbersexuals looking to tidy up certain areas around their beards need to perform some weed-whacking first before taking a blade to the face. The 7200 is a proven winner with the hair-cutting prowess to warrant the cleanest trims backed by 20 built-in length settings and lift & trim technology to guide hairs into the stainless-steel blades. Add an integrated vacuum system that snatches up 90% of cut hairs, youre looking at the Mr. Belvedere of beard trimmers.

$49.95 at Amazon.com

The Art of Shaving Lemon Pre-Shave Oil

Moisten those whiskers and give the blade enough of a lubricated surface to perform barbesque-cuts with this unique pre-shave oil. TAOS loaded its formula with botanical ingredients that nourish sensitive skin to stave off ingrown hairs and razor burn. The sleek texture makes it ideal for tough beards, whereas its effervescent scent is soothing to breathe in.

$25.00 at Amazon.com

The Body Shop Luxury Flannel Facial Washcloth

Dont settle for just any wash cloth. Make the effort to purchase something more suitable for facial care like this silky-soft option that delicately cleanses your mug and removes residue instantly. Youll get an amazing warmth effect from the cloth once heated and its very gentle on the skin so to condition before shaving.

$6.50 at Amazon.com

Sharpen Your Weapon

A samurai never enters the battlefield with a dull blade. Neither will a gentleman entering his shaving chamber. Set some space aside in the bathroom or grooming closet for these razor-tapering essentials.

Step 1: Hone Your Razor

Honing is a technique used for lubricating the blade. Youll want to lead the edge of the blade, ensuring its placed flat on a whetstone and using moderate pressure to lead the razor for each pass. Experts believe 20 strokes will suffice.

Step 2: Strop Your Razor

A stropping strip is just what you need to prepare the razor for the sharpest cut possible. Hang the strop on a hook and pull it towards you with the leather side faced up. Lay the razor flat, holding between the blade and handle so to easily turn it when stropping. Gently slide the razor across the strop, away from you and flip over at the end of the strop to bring towards you. Aim for 15 passes each side for a total of 30.

King Grit Combination Whetstone

Constructed from ceramic, heres a whetstone durable enough to effortlessly sharpen stainless stain and carbon knives. Submerge the rough side in water for 2-3 minutes to keep it soaked and wet when stroking blades. Some might have reservations about the plastic base, but it holds up very well and provides good stability when honing.

$25.30 at Amazon.com

RoyalShave 3" Red Latigo Leather Straight Razor Strop

High-quality leather combined with a wide stropping surface make this an ideal option for straight-shaving enthusiasts. The materials have been cured for the perfect draw, whereas the handles provide good grip control to ensure ones safety when exercising their blade. You can even give the razor a good polish thanks to the twin strop thats built from webbed fabric.

$64.95 at Amazon.com

Bonus: The Blue Jeans Sharpening Trick

Life hacks are awesome for the simple fact they allow us to make the most with what we have. If the finances arent there to splurge on such nifty shaving accessories, look no further than the worn-down denim jeans sitting in your closet. Apparently, the fabric is perfect for realigning the metal indentations of a blade for sharper cutting. Just know that youll gain a better shaving experience utilizing the professional tools listed above.

RELATED: Bring The Barbershop Home With These Straight Razors

Start Your Shaving Experience

Step 1: Make The Skin Taut

Create the smoothest shaving surface possible by gently pulling your skin up. This will decrease the risk of cuts and nicks when navigating the razor across sensitive areas.

Step 2: Start With The Check, Then The Neck

Apply nice strokes across the cheek first, going with the grain. That means taking the razor down on the cheeks and the chin. Then move towards the neck, only going against the grain this time.

Step 3: Do The Opposite Second Time Around

The second pass-through will have you going against the grain on the cheek. Go with the grain around the neck area.

Step 4: Rinse Your Face

Self-explanatory!

Feather SS Japanese Straight Razor

The katana of straight razors is beautifully crafted for newbies to perform straight shaves with finesse. Its lightweight, yet durable craftsmanship makes the razor easy to hold and allows the blades to do all the work. Speaking of which, the blades are super-sharp and disposable, offering the best of both shaving worlds by eliminating the need to hone or strop them. The stainless steel design comes heat resistant to last the razor a lifetime.

$64.95 at Amazon.com

Boker King Cutter 5/8

A 5/8 razor is the most common of straight razor type. The King Cutter is a standout for all the right reasons. It boasts a high-quality German blade sharp made from special alloy thats sharp AF to improve cutting capabilities. More impressive is the durable black handle thats built for wear resistance.

$110.61 at Amazon.com

Dovo Straight Razor Carbon

Dovos heritage resonates with shavers, as its earned a solid reputation over the past century for manufacturing elite blades. This carbon steel razor leads you to believe the hype with an incredibly effective edge thats half-hallow and light for pleasant navigation and shaving. Combine that with a sturdy wooden handle and you have a razor most beginners will feel safe using in-hand.

$106.05 at Amazon.com

RELATED: Chances Are You're Using Aftershave Wrong - Here's The Right Way

The After-Shave

Even if shaving is considered a form of physical exfoliation, chaffing a razor across the face does impact the health of your skin. Hence the need for a post-shave skin treatment. Solutions come in many topical forms.

Step 1: Clean-Up Time

Grab a nice cool towel to rid your face of any shaving cream residue. The cooling effect of the cloth will also relieve the face of any inflammation and close up pores.

Step 2: Heal Skin With Aftershave

Balm, lotion, splash, or hemostatic agent  utilize some sort of aftershave product to remoisturize skin and medicate any impurities that may have been inflicted on the skin such as cuts or razor burn. Follow the same massaging techniques as a beard oil. Then let it settle and dry.

Step 3: Ingrown Hair Prevention

Its quite common for hairs to grow sideways or curl back into the skin after a shave. One way to stop the development of them is with an ingrown hair serum. Spread it across irritated spots and allow to sit for a few minutes.

Pacific Shaving Co. Caffeinated Aftershave

Caffeine is the unsung hero of skincare that does more to rejuvenate a mans sheath than most active ingredients. Heres an aftershave balm that doubles as a facial conditioner, which combines the stimulant with rich antioxidants to construct blood vessels for reducing redness and calming shaved surfaces. Pricing along gives it a major edge over the competition, but make no mistake, its the aftershaves hydrating performance that warrants the product a spot in your dopp kit.

$5.49 at Amazon.com

Prospector Co. Aftershave Splash

Traditionalists seeking a more barbershop feel after a clean shave (minus the burn) will find solace dabbing on this alcohol-free splash. Some of the most soothing components are found in the arctic blue solution from aloe to Witch hazel, replenishing and tightening skin for supple appearance. The chilling smell of bay leaf and coriander is potent enough to immerse yourself into the atmosphere of the North Pole.

$16.99 at Amazon.com

Glyder Styptic Balm

Styptic pencils might seem like a new concept, but these skin-saving applicators have been utilized by military medics to treat combat wounds. Glyder works to seal cuts fast with therapeutic ingredients not found in other pens such as Aloe Vera, Argan oil, and Vitamin E. Its conveniently simple to handle across the face and portable enough to carry around if ever the temptation was there to straight-shave on the go.

$9.99 at Glyder.io

Anthony Ingrown Hair Treatment

This gel complex is designed to rid your mug of any razor bumps using a rich blend of skin-comforting acids (glycolic, salicylic, phytic) to gently slough off dead skin and release hairs before they become ingrown. Willowherb and lavender helps to soothe and tone post-shaved skin no matter the time of day. Smear it around target areas such as the cheeks, jawline, and neck to do away with pseudofolliculitis barbae.

$32.00 at Amazon.com

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ABS

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Inspired by the FT Concept presented in 2015 at the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show, the all-new Terios isnt all that different from the model it replaces. The teaser speaks volumes about how little will change, and spy photos of the pint-sized crossover suggest the newcomer will use the tried-and-tested 1.5L four-cylinder engine of its predecessor.As Daihatsu teases the J300 Terios, Toyota didnt pay attention to the carparazzi, which captured the Rush completely uncovered. According to Autonetmagz.com , two trim levels will be offered in Malaysia: 1.5 G and 1.5 TRD Sportivo, with the latter featuring 17- instead of 16-inch wheels.Standard equipment for the Rush in the Southeast Asian federal constitutional monarchy includes a rearview camera, rear parking sensors, start-stop, air conditioning , and 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment. The TRD Sportivo ups the ante with automatic air conditioning, smart entry, soft-touch trim, eight-speaker audio system, and dark chrome detailing.LED-accented lighting, LED signal lights in the side mirrors, and a shark fin antenna are on the menu too, as are, BA,, HAS, and the choice between a five-speed manual and four-speed automatic transmission. Somewhat intriguingly, the cited motoring publication says the Rush gets six airbags as standard while the Daihatsu Terios wont.The most controversial detail about the 2018 Toyota Rush, however, is the front grille. To the point, its design is extremely similar to that of the fourth-generation Honda CR-V facelift , produced from 2014 until 2017. Coincidence or not, the Rush doesnt look bad at all for what it is, even when compared to crossovers of the same size sold in Europe and the U.S.On that note, the 2018 Daihatsu Terios goes official on November 23.
Proceedings from the sale will go to the Military Service Initiative, whose main goal is to ensure that post-9/11 veterans make successful transitions to civilian life. The initiative's focus is, as per the Bush Center, gaining meaningful employment and overcoming the invisible wounds of war.General Motors highlights more than 50,000 retirees are veterans and more than 6,000 veterans are now working for the automaker, which explains why the biggest of the Big Three in Detroit supports the cause. And the car, well, the Corvette 65 Carbon is cooler than a penguin on ice.Offered as a $15,000 package on the Grand Sport 3LT ($76,190) and Z06 3LZ ($89,390), the 65 Carbon is made thoroughly special by the Ceramic Matrix Gray paintwork. Exclusive door graphics and fender stripes are also featured, as is blue stitching, Jet Black suede, and blue-painted brake calipers. A part of those 15,000 greenies goes into carbon fiber detailing, which is used in areas such as the steering wheel rim and rear spoiler.Exclusive sill plates and Carbon Flash badges are also featured, complemented by special center caps and Competition Sport Seats. All in all, the Carbon 65 is a lot of car for the money, and whoever bids the most on the first-ever Carbon 65 Coupe will go home with a future classic.The car in question, one of only 650 examples of the breed, is based on the Z06 Coupe . And to set it apart from the rest of the production run, VIN #1 wears the signature of George W. Bush on the steering wheel-mounted airbag cover. In fact, the former President got to drive the car a little while ago, as you will see in the following video.
Sutter Health, a California-based network of hospitals and doctors, knowingly destroyed massive amounts of evidence that were relevant to a lawsuit that accuses the not-for-profit system of anticompetitive practices and price-gouging, Chad Terhune reports for California Healthline. Sutter said it made a "mistake," but a judge said Sutter was, at best, "grossly reckless."

Why it matters: It's a damning revelation against a large hospital system, and it's worth watching to see if there will be any penalties. Hospitals and doctors have consolidated rapidly over the past decade, which experts say has contributed to rising health care costs.
Freedom's House has released its "Freedom on the Net 2017" report. The China section claims that:

China was the world's worst abuser of internet freedom for the third consecutive year;

The 2016 cybersecurity law mandates real name registration and storage of PRC user data within China;

Censorship on WeChat increased and several were detained for comments on WeChat;

New rules constrict the space for online news;

A crackdown virtual private network (VPN) tools.

Ren Xianliang, deputy director of the Cyberspace Administration of China criticized the report, per Reuters:

"We should not just make the internet fully free, it also needs to be orderly...The United States and Europe also need to deal with these fake news and rumors."

The key point: Chinese officials, some of who have warned for years of "hostile foreign forces" using the internet to subvert China, believe they have found the solution to managing the political risks from the internet while harnessing its economic and technological power. The interference in the U.S. presidential election process by Russia, a "hostile foreign force" to America, only strengthens their resolve.

One interesting fact: The censorship has not hurt wealth creation. Overseas-listed Chinese internet firms have a combined market capitalization of over one trillion dollars, and three of China's richest people are internet moguls.
Martha, the last known passenger pigeon before dying in 1914, can be seen at the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum. Photo: Susan Walsh / AP

A new study suggests passenger pigeons, which once covered North America with massive flocks before their extinction in the early 20th century, may have maintained stable populations for thousands of years until human hunters came along, per The Washington Post. That counters previous research that found the species had already taken a downturn by that time.

The double whammy: Besides the sudden influx of human predators, the birds' genome had been tuned to the size of its population. It had surprisingly low genetic variation in some parts of its genome, which "provided few avenues for the bird to respond to human pressures, which ultimately drove it to extinction," according to the study, published Thursday in Science.

Role of genetics: One way genomes evolve is via random mutation (also called neutral evolution). Those mutations don't necessarily have an immediate benefit but sometimes can in the long run. Another process is selection in which one version of a gene is preferred  or not  over another because it influences survival. Researchers found the passenger pigeon's genome was diverse overall compared to other birds but that diversity wasn't uniform across their chromosomes. The researchers think that suggests their large population size allowed them to adapt quickly to their environment (via selection) but the cost was that there wasn't much neutral evolution happening, which left them with little genetic variation.

"Large population size appears to have allowed for faster adaptive evolution and removal of harmful mutations, driving a huge loss in their neutral genetic diversity," the researchers wrote. "These results demonstrate the effect that selection can have on a vertebrate genome and contradict results that suggested that population instability contributed to this species's surprisingly rapid extinction."

The bottom line: The study says having a huge population was initially a key survival mechanism for the passenger pigeon. However, the birds' surprisingly low genetic variation caused it to be unable to recover from humanity's overhunting practices. As one of the study authors told WashPost, "It's impossible to adapt to gunfire."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to provide further information.
Special Counsel Bob Mueller subpoenaed Russian-related documents from more than a dozen top Trump campaign officials last month, per "a person familiar with the matter," the WSJ reports.

Why it matters: This is the first known request from Mueller for information from the campaign itself. The campaign has been voluntarily complying with the special counsel investigation and its requests for information, so this suggests Mueller's requests aren't being fully met. Failure to provide requested documents can count as obstructing a grand-jury investigation.

This comes on the heels of the Senate Judiciary claiming that Jared Kushner failed to disclose emails about WikiLeaks and Russia. It also follows the revelation that Mueller's team has secured a guilty plea from a campaign associate, George Papadopoulos, and that they have indicted Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort and his associate, Rick Gates.
One of Ohio's Supreme Court Justices, Bill O'Neill, responded to the controversy around Al Franken's 2006 behavior with a revealing Facebook post about his own sexual past, which he crafted to "save my opponents some research time" by revealing himself that he "was sexually intimate with approximately 50 very attractive females" in the last 50 years.

Why it matters: O'Neill is a sitting member of a state Supreme Court and he's running as a Dem candidate for governor of Ohio in 2018. His response doesn't take seriously the allegations against Franken (and therefore similar claims against men from many years ago, like Roy Moore). He referred to the latest news as a "national feeding frenzy about sexual indiscretions decades ago," and suggested other issues (like legalizing marijuana) are more important.

His full response:

"Now that the dogs of war are calling for the head of Senator Al Franken I believe it is time to speak up on behalf of all heterosexual males. As a candidate for Governor let me save my opponents some research time. In the last fifty years I was sexually intimate with approximately 50 very attractive females. It ranged from a gorgeous blonde who was my first true love and we made passionate love in the hayloft of her parents barn and ended with a drop dead gorgeous red head from Cleveland.

Now can we get back to discussing legalizing marijuana and opening the state hospital network to combat the opioid crisis. I am sooooo disappointed by this national feeding frenzy about sexual indiscretions decades ago.

Peace."
Republicans are now realizing how Trump is threatening their party's image and their candidates' chances in gubernatorial races, particularly after Ralph Northam beat Ed Gillespie, "an exceptionally good candidate" according to Gov. Scott Walker.

Why it matters: The GOP is trying to keep 26 governor's seats in the 2018 elections, including a handful in blue states, so the stakes are high for Republicans. And the Democratic Governors Association has already been refining their playbook after Northam's victory to share with Dem candidates in every race, but particularly those running in red states.

Nearly 45% of votes cast in the Virginia gubernatorial race were from those who strongly disapprove of Trump and who supported Ralph Northam, according to exit polls. "Just simply the intensity of the opposition  I think that's what was reflected in the Virginia vote," said Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, per CNN. "That should be a wake-up call to all of our supporters in the elections next year."

One effective strategy for Democrats in 2018, based on what DGA Political Director Corey Platt told reporters they learned from Northam's success, is to point out that their Republican opponents won't stand up to Trump.

for Democrats in 2018, based on what DGA Political Director Corey Platt told reporters they learned from Northam's success, is to point out that their Republican opponents won't stand up to Trump. Northam got more votes (1.4 million) than any other Virginia gubernatorial candidate in history, and the election got a historic 2.6 million votes total. That, in addition to the 57% of Virginia voters who disapprove of Trump, reflected the anti-Trump opposition that helped Democrats win this race.

(1.4 million) than any other Virginia gubernatorial candidate in history, and the election got a historic 2.6 million votes total. That, in addition to the 57% of Virginia voters who disapprove of Trump, reflected the anti-Trump opposition that helped Democrats win this race. Another big fear for Republican governors "is not who my opponent's going to be," Gov. Walker said. It's the strength of financial support from various Dem groups, like former AG Eric Holder's National Democratic Redistricting Committee, as well as Dem activists, like billionaire Tom Steyer.

Go deeper: What Democratic groups learned from the Virginia elections.
The White House requested an additional $44 billion from Congress on Friday for disaster recovery, which if approved would bring the total to almost $100 billion for Texas, Puerto Rico, Florida, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Politico reports.

Go deeper: The latest on Puerto Rico recovery, per Puerto Rico's government site and FEMA:
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Traditional energy sector boundaries are blurring as companies throughout every industry reach different stages in their energy transformation. As the new energy future continues to emerge, leaders must turn away from old approaches, embrace new thinking, and reinvent business models to ensure the proper supply and demand of sustainable energy for both businesses and the world beyond.

BCGs energy consultants help clients decarbonize and rapidly scale zero-carbon solutions and technologies by working shoulder-to-shoulder with them to solve the energy trilemmaensuring affordable, reliable, and sustainable energyno matter where they are in their energy transformation.

Tomorrows energy solutions take shape today as BCG orchestrates innovative models and partnerships that strive for whats best for all of us.
Buffalo, N.Y.-based Catholic Health received the first required approval to acquire a 40 percent stake in Orchard Park, N.Y.-based Sterling Surgical Center, according to Buffalo Business First.

The health system hopes to purchase Sterling Surgical Center, which specializes in ophthalmology and gastroenterology. The center submitted a certificate of need application in August.

Catholic Health plans to spend $2.2 million for the stake in the ASC. The health system already serves Orchard Park with Mercy Ambulatory Care Center and expands services in the region's southern communities with other outpatient and ambulatory centers in West Seneca, East Aurora and Lackawanna.

"As we look at ways to better serve our community, ambulatory surgery was an area that offered great potential," said Catholic Health President and CEO Joe McDonald. "Rather than duplicate existing services, partnering with a high quality ambulatory surgery center like Sterling Surgical is the best way to strengthen services for the patients and communities we serve."

Many of the surgery center's physicians already serve the same community as Catholic Health, and the ASC's Medical Director Albert Diaz-Ordaz described the partnership as a "natural alliance."
A data breach led to the inappropriate access of at least 1,200 Williamsport, Pa.-based UPMC Susquehanna patients' information, the hospital said in a statement Friday.

UPMC Privacy Officer David Samar said officials first learned of the breach Sept. 21 after an employee reported suspicious activity to the information technology staff.

Hospital administrators determined the information  names, dates of birth, contact information and Social Security numbers  was accessed through a phishing attack. Mr. Samar said officials cannot confirm if the information has been used for improper purposes.

The hospital has reportedly notified HHS and sent letters notifying affected patients. UPMC Susquehanna has also provided patients with information about how to place fraud alerts on their files with three major credit-reporting agencies and supplied patients with links to additional identity protection resources.

Officials set up a toll-free telephone line for patients to call and share their concerns.

UPMC officials have completed a comprehensive review of the incident and will update current procedures to better secure patient information, according to the notice. Those measures include additional staff education, employment screening and other best practices.

Editor's note: Becker's Hospital Review reached out to UPMC Susquehanna for comment and will update the article as more information becomes available.
The following hospital and health system credit rating and outlook changes and affirmations took place in the last week, beginning with the most recent.

1. Moody's affirms 'Baa3' on Adventist Healthcare

Moody's Investors Service affirmed its "Baa3" rating on Gaithersburg, Md.-based Adventist Healthcare's bonds, affecting $327 million of debt.

2. Moody's affirms 'Aa2' on University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics

Moody's Investors Service affirmed its "Aa2" rating on Iowa City-based University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, affecting $295 million of debt.

3. Moody's affirms 'A3' on The Christ Hospital

Moody's Investors Service affirmed its "A3" rating on Cincinnati-based The Christ Hospital's outstanding bonds, affecting $318 million of debt.

4. S&P assigns 'BBB-' to Orange Regional Medical Center

S&P Global Ratings assigned its "BBB-" rating to Middletown, N.Y.-based Orange Regional Medical Center's series 2015 and 2017 bonds. Orange Regional Medical Center is a subsidiary of Greater Hudson Valley Health System, also in Middletown.

5. S&P affirms 'A+' on MidMichigan Health

S&P Global Ratings affirmed its "A+" rating on Midland-based MidMichigan Health's revenue debt.

6. Moody's revises OSF Healthcare System's outlook to negative

Moody's Investors Service affirmed its "A2" rating on Peoria, Ill.-based OSF Healthcare System, affecting $1.1 billion of debt.

7. Fitch downgrades Jennie Stuart Medical Center to 'BB+'

Fitch Ratings downgraded Hopkinsville, Ky.-based Jennie Stuart Medical Center's bonds to "BB+" from "BBB-," affecting $62.9 million of debt.

8. Moody's downgrades Summa Health to 'Baa2'

Moody's Investors Service downgraded Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health's rating to "Baa2" from "Baa1," affecting $350 million of debt.

9. Fitch affirms 'AA-' on Virtua Health's revenue bonds

Fitch Ratings affirmed its "AA-" rating on Marlton, N.J.-based Virtua Health's revenue bonds, affecting a total of $605 million of debt.

10. Fitch affirms 'A+' rating on St. Luke's Episcopal Presbyterian Hospitals

Fitch Ratings affirmed its "A+" rating on Chesterfield, Mo.-based St. Luke's Episcopal Presbyterian Hospitals' series 2011 and 2015B bonds, affecting $57.7 million of debt.

11. Moody's downgrades Premier Health Partners, Miami Valley Hospital to 'A3'

Moody's Investors Service downgraded Dayton, Ohio-based Premier Health Partners' bonds to "A3" from "A2," affecting $647 million of debt.
In the last 10 years, Cambridge, Mass.-based Harvard University's endowment has grown by less than 2 percent, which places its position as the world's richest school at-risk, according to Bloomberg.

While Harvard's endowment growth has lagged, the university's rivals  Stanford (Calif.) University and New Haven, Conn.-based Yale University  have made record-crushing advancements. In the past decade Yale, currently the second-richest school in the world, increased its fund by 20 percent to a record $27.2 billion. Third-place Stanford's endowment rose 44 percent, in the same time period, to $24.8 billion.

According to industry experts, while Harvard is dominant in many categories, it is "profoundly mediocre" with its investment strategy. Over the 10 year period, Harvard's average return on investment was 4.4 percent, which trails behind its peers. Stanford had an average ROI of 5.8 percent, while Yale posted a 6.6 percent return.

If the wealthiest endowments maintain their current investment returns, Yale's fund will outpace Harvard, claiming the title of world's richest school by 2032.

"If youre able to outperform in a top quartile-way, youre going to pull ahead  thats just mathematics," endowment expert William Jarvis, now with U.S. Trust in New York, told Bloomberg. He recently left the Commonfund Institute, which works with nonprofits to enhance their investment strategies. "Compounding is so powerful," Mr. Jarvis added.

The division overseeing Harvard's endowment has recognized the university's investment shortfall. In 2015, the division commissioned a report that found Yale could beat out Harvard within the next two decades. According to Bloomberg the internal report quoted anonymous employees complaining that Harvard's endowment "descended into mediocrity because of easy-to-beat internal benchmarks."

Harvard's Ivy League peers are making up ground by tapping outside fund managers for each asset; whereas Harvard maintained an internal trading desk and invested more in real estate and timberland.

Even though Harvard Management Co.  which controls the endowment  replaced its president and CEO in December 2016 in hopes of improving investment returns, Harvard's annual gain for the year ended was the worst among the wealthiest endowments. Harvard's gain was 8.1 percent, while Yale's endowment increased 11.3 percent and Stanford's grew 13.1 percent.

"Our performance is disappointing and not where it needs to be," Harvard Management Co. President N.P Narvekar and CEO wrote in Harvard's annual report this year, according to Bloomberg.

While Harvard's investment strategy lagged behind its peers in the past decade, Harvard is still a prolific fundraiser  collecting $6.2 billion in gifts between 2008 and 2016 and funneling 2.4 billion into the endowment.
Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, plans to hold a final vote on whether to reverse Obama-era net neutrality legislation during a Dec. 14 agency meeting, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Net neutrality rules, which were established in 2015, prohibit broadband companies from prioritizing or blocking some content over others. In May, the FCC voted 2-1 to advance Mr. Pai's proposal to reclassify internet service providers as utilities. The proposal would make this decision voluntary, allowing companies to select the types of content they provide at their own discretion.

Mr. Pai has previously stated he favors an "open internet," and views former President Barack Obama's order as unnecessary. Mr. Pai will likely drop net neutrality rules limiting "paid prioritization" by broadband companies, several industry experts hypothesized to Reuters. However, the sources indicated they expect him to maintain legal requirements related to transparency.

The proposal to overturn the legislation has garnered more than 22 million comments since Mr. Pai opened the proposal to public feedback in May. While some stakeholders, such as internet service providers AT&T and Comcast, agree with Mr. Pai, others worry the proposal would harm access to the internet for consumers and small businesses.

A group of major tech firms  including Facebook and Google's parent company, Alphabet  urged Mr. Pai to abandon his plan to overturn the legislation in July.

Mr. Pai is slated to unveil his plan for the final vote next week, according to the two sources. An FCC spokesperson declined Reuters' request for comment.
New Bedford, Mass.-based Southcoast Health System informed approximately 50 employees Friday that their positions will be cut.

Peter Cohenno, a Southcoast Health spokesperson, confirmed the news in an emailed statement to Becker's, citing the organization's financial struggles. The four-hospital system's operating loss doubled in the first half of fiscal year 2017 to $19.3 million compared to the same period of fiscal year 2016. By the end of fiscal year 2017, the health system reported a $38 million operating loss, which Mr. Cohenno said includes restructuring costs and higher-than-anticipated losses from the Southcoast Physicians Group.

"Our leadership made very difficult decisions related to actions that will reduce costs and achieve operational efficiencies," he wrote in the statement.

"We carefully and thoughtfully reviewed the timing of this decision along with our organizations financial needs. We determined that it was in the best interest of those impacted to make this decision prior to the holidays as opposed to immediately thereafter."

He noted the job cuts, which will take place across the system, come after nearly 200 eligible employees accepted voluntary buyouts.

The savings from the buyouts are "significant," he said, but Southcoast Health expects it will need to fill some open positions and hopes to do so with employees affected by the job cuts.

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Directors of two arms of the National Institutes of Health that fund firearm research said they have no intentions to reboot a discontinued gun violence research initiative launched under President Barack Obama in 2012 in the wake of the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., according to a report from Science.

The NIH program  titled Research on the Health Determinants and Consequences of Violence and its Prevention, Particularly Firearm Violence  ran from January 2014 to January 2017 and devoted $18 million of the agency's $34 billion annual budget to back more than 20 firearm research projects.

"We probably will issue [a new] funding opportunity announcement, but it will be on violence in general. I don't think we have to specify gun violence," George Koob, PhD, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, said at a press conference, according to Science. "Much more important is the interaction of violence and sexual aggression with alcohol."

Joshua Gordon, MD, PhD, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said the NIH backs research into multiple causes of violence, but "whether we need additional specific studies on gun violence  that's a question that we will look into but we have not identified that currently as a [research] gap."

While researchers can still apply for funds to conduct firearms research outside of the program, some gun violence researchers have argued this is not enough.

"The lack of support for research on firearm violence, as compared with the magnitude of the problem, is unique," Garen Wintemute, MD, an emergency medicine physician who directs the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California, Davis, told Science via email. "A continued focused effort would be very useful."

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Omar Ishrak, CEO of Medtronic, spoke about value-based care at OCTANe's Medical Technology Innovation Forum, according to Medical Design & Outsourcing.

Here are five key points from the presentation:

1. Mr. Ishrak feels in the future healthcare will be an "economic driver, and not a cost driver," according to the report. He challenged device companies to collect and apply data on economic value in the future.

2. There is currently a lack of accountability on the device company's part because technology is paid for even if the procedure needs a reoperation; when reoperations occur, the system pays for the new device. He sees payment more depending on outcomes in the future.

3. Without change, Mr. Ishrak sees lawmakers taking drastic measures to reduce spending and cut costs at a rate that will be prohibitive for future innovation. He advised the industry to begin considering more accountability for value-based care.

4. In the future, healthcare will prize keeping individuals healthy and in the workforce longer.

5. Value-based outcomes will require more collaboration in the future.
Here are nine spine and neurosurgeons making headlines.

Philip Schneider, MD, of Chevy Chase, Md.-based Montgomery Orthopaedics, a division of The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics, discussed how his practice has evolved in the wake of the opioid epidemic.

Essentia Health-Duluth (Minn.) Clinic added Anne Normand, MD.

Thomas Schuler, MD, reported arthroplasty and artificial intelligence as the top two areas in spine surgery.

William C. Tally, MD, offered insights into why he believes reimbursement and consolidation will shake up the spine industry in the next year.

Rohit Verma, MD, of New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health, shared what he thinks will impact the spine field and what the industry has in store for minimally invasive surgery.

Rick Friedman, MD, PhD, and Marc Schwartz, MD, launched the acoustic neuroma program at UC San Diego Health to treat rare brain tumors.

Vladimir Sinkov, MD, of Manchester-based New Hampshire Orthopaedic Center, highlighted reimbursements, regulations and lawsuits as the three greatest obstacles currently impacting independent spine surgeons.

Brian Gantwerker, MD, of The Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles shared his key thoughts on the trends and benefits of spine surgeons in private practice.
Sinn Fein Northern leader Michelle O'Neill has warned the DUP that if it wants a return to Stormont it must "embrace a rights-based society and equal partnership government".

She was speaking at the opening session of the party's ard fheis in Dublin last night.

Gerry Adams will announce tonight when he is stepping down as Sinn Fein president.

Mrs O'Neill said: "If the DUP wish to exercise political power in government in the North of Ireland now or in the future, then the cost is to embrace a rights-based society and equal partnership government, which works for everyone.

"This would pave the way for the Executive to be restored. The people voted for the implementation of previous political agreements, they voted for the values of the Good Friday Agreement, and they voted for a step change and no return to the status quo."

She insisted Sinn Fein remained committed to restoring the Stormont Assembly and Executive.

"However, they only have value if they enjoy the confidence and support of the people they were established to serve. As Martin McGuinness said, there is no going back to the status quo," she added.

Mrs O'Neill said Sinn Fein was committed to tackling sectarianism and building a just and fair society based on equality and respect.

"A key challenge for us all is to confront sectarianism and the causes which segregate our communities still, 20 years on from the Good Friday Agreement," she said.

"The DUP's denial of rights for all citizens, and the failure to fully implement previous political agreements, the contempt shown for Irish national identity and culture, combined with the RHI scandal to tip us into the ongoing political crisis.

"These rights include marriage equality, language rights, a Bill of Rights and the rights to an inquest in legacy cases. An Irish Language Act has both practical and symbolic importance in recognising and respecting Irish national identity."

She maintained Sinn Fein had "invested heavily" in the peace process. "I want to lead Sinn Fein back into a new Executive, which represents genuine equal partnership government," she said.

"For over 10 months Sinn Fein has sought to resolve these issues through dialogue and political negotiations with the DUP and both Governments.

"However, despite our best endeavours the discussions were unsuccessful.

"In large part this was pre-determined by the Conservative Party's pact with the DUP to keep them in government."

Meanwhile, Mrs O'Neill has insisted that Sinn Fein doesn't favour the extension of the 1967 British Abortion Act to Northern Ireland.

But she disclosed that she would support an ard chomhairle motion liberalising her party's position to allow for abortion where there is a serious risk to a woman's mental and physical health, as well as in cases of fatal foetal abnormality and rape and incest.

There are eight motions on abortion on the agenda for debate at the ard fheis tomorrow.

Former Sinn Fein MLA Daithi McKay said the new policy would be "broadly in line" with the 1967 British Abortion Act.

But Mrs O'Neill told the Irish News there was "a big difference" between her party's proposed new policy and the British legislation.

Sinn Fein "isn't in favour of abortion" and when this was explained to people they would understand the policy change, she said.

"I believe it's practical, it's reasonable - it is just a restatement of our current policy with additional features," she insisted.

Sinn Fein deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald is widely seen as Mr Adams' heir apparent with high-profile Donegal TD Pearse Doherty ruling himself out of a leadership challenge and Mrs O'Neill following suit yesterday.

The party is today expected to pass a resolution allowing it to be a junior coalition partner in a future Irish Government. Ms McDonald last night told delegates it wouldn't do so "just to make up the numbers".

Sinn Fein would deliver a "progressive republican programme for government", implement "radical policies" and challenge the status quo.

"We have had a succession of corrupt 'me fein' governments serving the interests of an inherently corrupt elite," she said. "What we need, for the first time in this State, is a government for the people."
Is this Northern Ireland's worst Christmas tree?

The effort in Banbridge was deemed so poor that officials agreed to replace it with a new, better version.

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon UUP councillor Glenn Barr tweeted a picture of the sorry looking spruce yesterday, and by nightfall it had been taken down.

"It was very bad. I think it had probably been cut down a few weeks ago, wrapped in netting and left sitting until it was delivered and put up at the top of the town," Mr Barr told the Belfast Telegraph.

"It's not the worst tree I've ever seen in Northern Ireland, but it's certainly the worst I've ever seen in Banbridge."

Once the picture began to circulate on social media the council swung into action to give it the chop.

A replacement will be delivered and erected on Monday - at no additional cost to the ratepayers.

The new tree will be spruced up next week to get it ready for the council's Christmas lights switch-on ceremony, which is to be performed next Friday by Lord Mayor Gareth Wilson

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council said: "The Christmas tree in Newry Street, Banbridge, has been removed as it was deemed substandard by the council upon erection.

"A replacement tree will be put in place on Monday afternoon in advance of the Christmas lights switch-on event on Friday, November 24."

Councillor Barr said he was happy the problem had been addressed. "I'm glad something good has come of the controversy. We just want a tree we can be proud of for everybody in the town," he added.

It's not the first time the town has had tree trouble - last year it was blown down by the wind.

The Banbridge lights switch-on is part of the council's 'Our Story Of Christmas' festive programme, which it says offers events, activities and thrilling things to do for all the family.

Does your town have a worse Christmas tree? Email newseditor@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
A Protestant community worker in Londonderry who was warned by police that dissident republicans were planning an attack on him says he wants the threat lifted so he can return to the job he loves.

The 64-year-old, who did not wish to be named, told the Belfast Telegraph he is staying at his Waterside home until the threat is withdrawn.

The man, who works in the allotments and in park maintenance for the Bogside and Brandywell Initiative, said his family were greatly worried about what is happening.

A written warning passed to him from police reads: Dissident republicans are aware that a male called ....... from the Waterside is working at the allotments in ....... and it is believed that an attack on this male may be imminent.

He said he was not frightened himself, and despite the concerns of his family, he was eager to get back to work asap.

I got a threat, it was a warning, he said. I dont know where it originated from.

My boss told me about it. It was passed from various people. It hasnt frightened me.

I dont know who threatened me, but I think if it was dissident republicans they would have known more information about me than what was on the statement that I got from the police.

I think they would be better organised. It just said I was from the Waterside, not my address. They dont know where I live.

He went on: I wasnt worried when I got the warning, to be honest, I thought it was a joke.

People threaten people, its just one of those things. Its how life is. But my family are very worried.

I dont think that its a real, genuine threat, I think it was issued just to get me out of Creggan. Once they got me out of Creggan the threat is over. I wont go back unless the threat is lifted.

I was told not to go back to work until my boss contacts me to tell me its safe to do so. I got on all right with everyone over there.

Everyone is genuine. But it only takes one individual. Thats the way life is. The police have said to keep vigilant and if anything strange happens to report it to them.

Im just going to wait it out until I get the all clear from my boss.

Councillor (Colly) Kelly and councillor Campbell are working away in the background to see if they can find out who issued the threat and get it withdrawn. Ill be back. I love it over there. Its nice and the people are nice.

The family man said he felt the threat was issued because some people wanted jobs to go to their own people.

Its hard enough to get work, I want to hold on to the job I have, he added.

It has always been hard to get a job in this town. I think that is what the problem is here. They think that by threatening people from the Waterside out, they will get the jobs. They would want someone from the area to get the job. That has always been the way.

Tommy McCourt from the Time 2 Choose project, a Derry scheme that mediates between dissident republicans and people under threat, said his sources had told him that the warning, said to originate from the Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH) grouping, was not officially sanctioned by that organisations leadership.

The PSNI said: We do not discuss the security of individuals. However, if we receive information that a persons life may be at risk we will inform them accordingly.

We never ignore anything which may put an individual at risk. No inference should be drawn from this.
Police have seized a large quantity of suspected drugs in north Belfast on Friday.

Detectives from the Organised Crime Unit made the discovery following the search of a property in the Newington Street area around 9pm.

Officers seized approximately 30,000 suspected Xanax tablets, as well as a large quantity of suspected Class B controlled drugs.

Drug related paraphernalia was also taken. Enquiries into the matter are continuing.

Detective Inspector Andrew Hamlin said: "Taking prescription drugs that you havent been prescribed in unregulated quantities can pose a massive risk to life. We are committed to removing drugs and illegal substances from communities in order to keep people safe.

"The PSNI is committed to making Northern Ireland a hostile environment for those in our community who are involved in serious drug crimes. We will seek to identify them, arrest them and place them before the courts.

"Anyone with any information about drugs or any illegal activity should contact police by calling 101. Information can also be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."
Three men arrested after police found half-a-kilo of cocaine in a car are members of an organised criminal drugs gang, a court heard yesterday

Three men arrested after police found half-a-kilo of cocaine in a car are members of an organised criminal drugs gang, a court heard yesterday.

The Vauxhall Astra in which they had travelled from Londonderry to Coleraine was stopped on Wednesday night as it returned to Derry on the Clooney Road near Ballykelly.

A detective constable told the city's Magistrates Court that officers found cocaine with a value of 30,000.

Before the court were Matthew Curry (33), from Mount Street; Ryan McGlinchey (23), from Benview estate, and Declan Wells (21), from Cornshell Fields.

All three are jointly charged with possessing cocaine and possession with intent to supply.

Wells and McGlinchey are also charged with possessing cannabis, while McGlinchey is further accused of having 120 Pregabalin (Lyrica) tablets without a prescription.

The detective constable said all three denied any knowledge of the cocaine.

He described the defendants as part of an organised criminal drugs gang.

Applying for bail, defence solicitors said the trio denied the charges and none of them had any relevant criminal record.

However, District Judge Barney McElholm said the defendants' version of events lacked credibility and remanded them until December 14.
The skeleton of his studio after wildfires swept through Americas west coast last month, leaving devastation in their wake

A renowned Northern Ireland artist has told how his life's work went up in smoke after devastating fires ravaged America's west coast.

Clifford Rainey, an award-winning glass sculptor, saw his studio destroyed by the flames which swept through Napa county in California last month.

The 69-year-old, who is originally from Whitehead in Co Antrim, has been living in Napa for the past 26 years.

Trying to come to terms with the devastating loss, Clifford said: "The fire took all the works that I have made and collected for myself."

As well as the sculptures, he lost moulds, drawings and paintings, plus precious mementoes from home.

Clifford's grandfather Robert Orr was a cabinet maker from Jordanstown, and Clifford lovingly carried his tools to California with the intention of making casts of each as a lasting tribute to his ancestor's craftsmanship.

Clifford had also been storing some of his own most precious creations - which cannot be replaced - as an investment for his pension age.

The sculptor, who has enjoyed an illustrious career, has exhibited in some of the most prestigious galleries and museums in the world, including the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and in Switzerland, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Canada and across the United States.

He has taught art and sculpture at nine art schools and colleges in Britain and America.

He moved to California to take up a university post, and is Glass Programme Chair and Professor of Fine Art at the California College of Art in Oakland.

Last month's wildfire, one of California's worst, claimed the lives of more than 40 people.

Some 20,000 people fled Napa and two other counties and a state of emergency was declared. A combination of dry weather and strong winds fuelled the destruction.

Recalling the horrific experience, Clifford, who lives with his partner Rachel Riser, a floral artist, said he was alerted by a phone call.

He said: "Rachel and I were sleeping. It was 10.30pm or 11pm at night. When we looked out the window we could see it.

"We just threw anything we could into the car and got out of there.

"It was a really windy night, 45 to 50mph winds."

He made the decision to dash back to the property and raced into the house and grabbed some drawings from his college days in Northern Ireland, two books from his more than 1,000-volume library, two pillows upholstered from pieces of a prized Turkish rug he'd purchased at a souk in Istanbul, and his laptop.

He raced back down the hill and took refuge, first in the car park of a primary school and then at a friend's house.

Clifford said that the wildfire raged for a week, adding: "I had never seen anything like it. It was huge. It was pretty dynamic."

Once the fires were finally extinguished, he surveyed in horror the charred remains of his home and studio.

He said: "State came on site and instructed demolition crews to take everything to the ground. Total cleanse."

The couple have lost all their clothes and personal possessions, as well as items from his most important collections which he had set aside to sell during his retirement.

Clifford had been working on a new sculpture "evoking the Statue of Liberty" to be made entirely from glass bottles.

However, he has been encouraged to find a spanner which had belonged to his grandfather among the devastation and he is convinced that he could make further discoveries.

Determined to remain upbeat and to pick up the pieces, he says that he is now "looking at a clean slate ready for a new journey" assisted by what he has described as a "great, generous gathering of friends to help salvage charred fragments of the past".

"We have a really good set of friends. Everybody rallied," he said.

"People have given us furniture and gift vouchers to buy clothes. We are trying to get finance sorted out to rebuild. We are keeping well and living in a hotel. It is just a matter of starting again. I am starting to make new work to make a living."
In October, a report by the UN and the chemical weapons body said they were "confident" that the Syrian government was behind a sarin gas attack in April (Anthony Devlin/PA)

The UK ambassador to the UN has said he is astounded that Russia has again vetoed a resolution to renew the mandate for experts investigating the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

It is the second no vote from the country in 24 hours to extend the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM)  and the 11th Russian veto on Syria resolutions at the United Nations Security Council.

The latest veto came on Friday, after Japan proposed a 30-day extension for the JIM, with Russia again blocking the renewal of the international inquiry into the attacks.

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Speaking after the Security Council vote, ambassador Matthew Rycroft said the latest defeat proved Russia were determined to protect their Syrian ally.

He said: Yesterday I was deeply disappointed that, even after extensive efforts to reach an agreement, a further reasonable attempt to renew the mandate was again vetoed by Russia. That veto seriously damaged my hope that those using chemical weapons in Syria would be identified and held to account.

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But now I am frankly astounded that Russia has rebuffed Japans perfectly sensible proposal to ask the secretary general and the director general of the OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) to consider the structure and methodology of the JIM.

This third veto in a month clearly exposes, if it wasnt already obvious, Russias determination to protect their Syrian ally, whatever the harm that causes to the ban on the use of chemical weapons, to the wider international system of rules, to Russias own reputation.

The JIM was set up in 2015 to investigate allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria.

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In October, a report by the UN and the chemical weapons body said they were confident that the Syrian government was behind a sarin gas attack in April that claimed more than 90 lives.

The attack on Khan Sheikhoun drew widespread international condemnation of the Syrian government, although Damascus and Moscow denied the atrocity.

Speaking after the release of the report last month, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson accused Russia of covering up for the Syrian government, saying: This behaviour can only undermine the global consensus against the use of chemical weapons.

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I call on Russia to stop covering up for its abhorrent ally and keep its own commitment to ensure that chemical weapons are never used again.

On Friday, Mr Rycroft added: The failure to renew the JIM is a failure to uncover the truth behind the conduct of all actors who use chemical weapons in Syria.

As I said yesterday, those of us who are committed to upholding the international system will not cease in our efforts to stop the use of chemical weapons, and to identify and hold to account those who use these vile weapons.

We will keep going. Not only to bring justice to those who have suffered from the use of these despicable weapons but also to deter those who might think of doing so in future.
Paul Golding, leader of Britain First, and the party's deputy leader, Jayda Fransen. (Nick Ansell/PA)

The deputy leader of far-right group Britain First has been arrested in London over a speech made at a rally in Belfast this summer.

Jayda Fransen, 31, from Penge, south east London, was arrested in Bromley by Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) detectives on Saturday.

Britain First leader Paul Golding, in a video posted on his Twitter feed, said Ms Fransen will be taken to Belfast to be interviewed over comments she made outside the City Hall in August.

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He said: A large group of plain clothes police detectives from Belfast of all places jumped out of nowhere and have arrested Jayda.

What have they arrested her for? Both of us addressed, made a speech, at a public demonstration outside Belfast City Hall all the way back in August.

The detective I spoke to told me she is being flown to Belfast tonight to be interrogated.

Its absolutely ridiculous  this is non-stop with me and Jayda, non-bloody stop.

He said his colleague had been arrested for no bloody reason.

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Ms Fransen and Mr Golding were in Belfast on August 6 for a demonstration by around 50 people calling themselves Northern Ireland Against Terrorism, which took place on the same day as a republican march organised by the Anti-Internment League to mark the use of detention without trial by the British Army during the height of the Troubles in 1971.

A PSNI spokesman said: A 31 year old woman has been arrested by PSNI Criminal Investigation Branch Detectives in London today.

The arrest was made in Bromley by PSNI detectives working with officers from the London Metropolitan Police Service.

The woman is being brought to Belfast to be interviewed under Art 9(1) of the Public Order (NI) Order 1987 in relation to speeches made at the Northern Ireland Against Terrorism Rally on Sunday 6th August this year.
Both the Government and the EU did not comment on the report on Friday night (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

The European Union is reportedly threatening to hold back Britains final 5 billion rebate payment from Brussels as part of negotiations over the so-called Brexit divorce bill.

European Council president Donald Tusk has set a deadline of the start of December for Britain to make further movement on the financial settlement in order to unlock trade talks.

But according to the Telegraph, Brussels negotiators have not provided clarity on the final rebate payment for 2018, which is due to come a year in arrears after Britains scheduled exit from the EU on March 29 2019.

The newspaper quotes British officials who think the rebate, first secured by Margaret Thatcher in 1984, should be netted off the final divorce bill.

Both the Government and the EU did not comment on the report on Friday night.

Reports, dismissed as speculation by Downing Street, have suggested Mrs May could be prepared to offer a further 20 billion in payments, which would bring to around 38 billion the total sum Britain is prepared to pay to settle its liabilities  well short of the 60 billion euro (53 billion) sought by Brussels.

After talks with the Prime Minister in Sweden, Mr Tusk said the EU has completed the internal work necessary to give the green light for talks on trade and transition to begin at the next European Council summit in Brussels on December 14-15.

But he said that much more progress was needed from the UK on the divorce bill and Northern Irish border, two of the three key issues in withdrawal talks, in order to break the deadlock which has prevented the move to the second phase of negotiations which the UK is seeking.

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He said he had told Mrs May that this progress needs to happen at the beginning of December at the latest.

Mrs May told reporters as she left Gothenburg: We are agreed that good progress has been made but there is more to be done, that we should move forwards together towards that point where sufficient progress can be declared and we can look ahead to what I have already said I want to see as a deep and comprehensive and special partnership between the UK and the remaining 27 members of the EU.

Mrs May is anxious to secure the agreement of EU leaders to open discussions on Britains future relations with the bloc  including a free trade deal  when they meet next month in Brussels.

In meetings at the summit with Mr Tusk, Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar, Swedish PM Stefan Lofven, French president Emmanuel Macron and Italian premier Paolo Gentiloni, Mrs May came under pressure to spell out how much the UK will pay Brussels in a so-called divorce bill in order to secure progress on trade talks.

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Mr Varadkar made clear that Dublin is ready to delay the start of trade talks beyond the start of next year unless the UK offers further concessions on the Northern Irish border.

After meeting Mrs May in the margins of the summit, he told reporters: Before we move to phase two talks on trade, we want taken off the table any suggestion that there will be a physical border, a hard border, new barriers to trade on the island of Ireland.

If we have to wait until the new year, if we have to wait for further concessions, so be it.

Brexit Secretary David Davis suggested that he wanted to see compromise from Brussels, warning EU leaders that they will get nothing for nothing.

Expand Close Theresa May speaks with French President Emmanuel Macron as they walk on a pier at an EU summit in Gothenborg (Virginia Mayo/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Theresa May speaks with French President Emmanuel Macron as they walk on a pier at an EU summit in Gothenborg (Virginia Mayo/AP)

In any negotiation you want the other side to compromise, Mr Davis told the BBC. I want them to compromise. Surprise, surprise, nothing comes for nothing in this world.

But so far in this negotiation, weve made quite a lot of compromises. On the citizens rights front, weve made all the running.

Asked about the Brexit Secretarys claim that the UK had made all the concessions so far in the negotiations, Mr Tusk said: I can say only that I appreciate Mr Daviss English sense of humour.

If leaders do not agree to move to the second phase at the summit in Brussels on December 14-15, then it could mean no progress until the next scheduled European Council in March.

That would add to business uncertainty and increase the potential for the UK to leave without a Brexit deal.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh smile as they stand side by side in the first of a new series of portraits to mark their 70th wedding anniversary.

The photographs, taken by British photographer Matt Holyoak, show Elizabeth II and Prince Philip standing in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle in early November.

The 91-year-old monarch opted to wear the cream day dress by Angela Kelly that she also wore at the Diamond Wedding Anniversary thanksgiving service, along with a yellow gold, ruby and diamond Scarab brooch, designed by Andrew Grima and gifted to the couple in 1966.

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They are framed by Thomas Gainsboroughs 1781 portraits of George III and Queen Charlotte, who were married for 57 years, and the Queen holds her hands clasped in front of her, while Prince Philip stands upright with his hands behind his back.

Mr Holyoak has worked with a host of British and Hollywood celebrities and his photos have regularly been splashed on the covers of magazine such as Harpers Bazaar, Shortlist and Dazed and Confused.

The photographs were taken for Camera Press, which also celebrates its anniversary 70 years after the agency distributed the royal pairs official wedding photos as its first assignment.

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Elizabeth II, who married he consort at Westminster Abbey on November 20 1947, is the first British monarch to celebrate a platinum wedding anniversary.

Their enduring relationship has lasted the longest of any British sovereign, and Philip has been at the Queens side throughout the decades, supporting her as she devotes herself to her duties as head of state.

The monarch, who was a 21-year-old princess when she walked up the aisle, is the nations longest reigning sovereign, having overtaken the record set by Queen Victoria.

The 96-year-old newly retired Duke, who was 26 and fresh from serving for the Royal Navy in the Second World War when he wed, is the longest serving consort in British history.

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Together they have celebrated the Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees of the Queens reigns, and faced ups and downs over the years including the breakdown of three of their four childrens marriages, and the backlash which followed the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

With their family growing year by year, the Queen and Philip are preparing to welcome their sixth great-grandchild in April  a third child for the the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

They already have five great-grandchildren  Savannah and Isla Phillips, Mia Tindall, Prince George and Princess Charlotte  as well as eight grandchildren  Peter and Zara Phillips, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince Harry, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor and Viscount Severn  and their own four children the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex.
Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri says he will return home in the coming days and will declare a political stance for the first time since making a strange resignation announcement from Saudi Arabia that unleashed fears of a crisis in Lebanon.

Mr Hariri and his family met Saturday with French President Emmanuel Macron, who invited the Lebanese leader to Paris to dispel fears he was being held in Saudi Arabia against his will.

Mr Macron is seeking to calm tensions and avert a proxy conflict between Saudi-backed and Iranian-backed camps in Lebanon.

The appearance in Paris - looking relaxed and posing with his wife and older son on the steps of the Elysee Palace with the French presidential couple in front of a large crowd of journalists - contrasted with his limited-access, carefully choreographed appearances from Saudi Arabia.

Mr Hariri told Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Saturday he will take part in Independence Day celebrations in Beirut on Wednesday, according to Macron's office.

After his meeting with Macron, Mr Hariri told reporters: "God willing, I will attend Independence Day in Lebanon and will declare my political stance from Lebanon and after meeting President Michel Aoun."

"As you know I have resigned and we will talk about this matter in Lebanon," he said after thanking Mr Macron, who he added "expressed pure friendship toward me that I will never forget".

The independence day ceremony is usually headed by the president, prime minister and parliament speaker, and Mr Hariri's presence could help calm uncertainties that have escalated since his strange and surprising resignation announcement on November 4 from Saudi Arabia.

However, Mr Hariri's political status is murky. Lebanon's president refused to accept the resignation, accusing the Saudis of holding him against his will.

A high official in Macron's office said his place is first in Beirut, "which is the only place where he can hand his resignation to the Lebanese head of state".

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with French presidential policy, found it normal Mr Hariri would keep any announcement about his political stance for his fellow citizens.

Before leaving Riyadh, Mr Hariri dismissed as "rumours" reports about his alleged detention in the kingdom.

In his televised resignation announcement, Mr Hariri had cited Iran and Hezbollah for meddling in Arab countries, particularly Saudi Arabia. He also said he was afraid for his life.

Saudi Arabia on Saturday asked its citizens for the second time in less than two weeks to leave Lebanon "as soon as possible" given the "circumstances" there. That raised fears of more punitive actions to come.

The French presidential official said it is essential that Lebanon be protected from "negative" foreign influences because the country needs stability and a strong state.

The official didn't name any specific nations but said Lebanon should be protected from the "dangers that regional crises can pose to it".

The Arab League is due to hold a meeting on Sunday in Cairo at Saudi Arabia's urging where the Lebanon crisis and Iran's role in the region are expected to be discussed.

Just before leaving Saudi Arabia, Mr Hariri met with the Saudi Crown Prince and other senior officials, according to a member of his political party and two Lebanese television stations.

He landed before on Saturday at an airport used for private jets in Le Bourget north of Paris, and came in a convoy to his Paris residence in a high-end neighbourhood, where police stood guard. Mr Hariri frequently stays in France thanks to decades-old family ties here.

He held private talks with Mr Macron and then they were joined by Mr Hariri's wife Lara al-Azm and elder son Hussam and Mr Macron's wife Brigitte for lunch.

Mr Hariri's two younger son and daughter, Abdul-Aziz and Loulwa, remained in Saudi Arabia because they have school on Sunday, said Okab Saqr, a member of Hariri's parliamentary bloc.

The official with the French presidency said France is not worried that Hariri left two of his children in Saudi Arabia.

"We have no reason to be concerned about this," the French official said, answering questions about whether, as some have suggested, Saudi Arabia could use the children's whereabouts to maintain pressure on Hariri.

Mr Hariri's exact next steps after his planned visit to Lebanon are unclear. A French official said Saturday that France is offering him the necessary support during this time of political turmoil in his country. The official was not authorised to be publicly named.

Mr Macron said he received Mr Hariri "with the honours due a prime minister," even though he has announced his resignation, since Lebanon hasn't yet recognised it.

While Mr Macron insists he's not offering "exile," Mr Hariri's return could be complicated by Lebanon's internal tensions.

During a phone call on Saturday morning, Mr Macron and Mr Aoun spoke about a return of Mr Hariri to Lebanon that could help make Lebanese institutions "function normally again", the French presidential official said.

It is part of a broader Macron strategy to reassert French influence in the region, while the United States under President Donald Trump is increasingly seen as unpredictable or disengaged.

Mr Macron's office says France's strategy is to talk to all powers in the region and not to appear as choosing a camp.

AP
3M will help mentor start-ups in various areas of business.

3M has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of Karnataka recently at the Bengaluru Technology Summit 2017.

As per the MoU, 3M will provide a Booster Service Kit and conduct, on a pro-bono basis, mentoring sessions to start-ups in the areas of commercialisation process, stage gate discipline, building a business case and accelerating product launch, competitive and pricing analysis, and differential value and options analysis. This will be conducted as per the program and schedule mutually agreed by the parties involved.

Shri Priyank Kharge, the State Minister for IT, BT and Tourism, pointed out that hopefully start-ups in the State will benefit from the wide range of mentoring sessions by industry specialists from 3M in the areas of commercialisation, stage gate discipline, building business cases, competitive pricing analysis and differential value analysis.

Mr. Kris Sridhar, Head R&D, 3M, was present at the event. 3M is a multinational conglomerate corporation that transforms technology into solutions. It supplies an array of innovative products across applications such as electronics, healthcare, industrial, safety and security.
State strengthens commitment to start-ups and development through technology.

Bengaluru TechSummit 2017, showcased the countrys progress in the technology and biotech sectors. The theme of the event Ideate, Innovate, Invent was experienced by visitors and delegates through all the sessions, conferences, seminars, special programmes and the exhibition.

Hosted by the Department of IT & BT, Government of Karnataka, the three-day mega event is a creative mix of two flagship events- the 20th edition of Bengaluru ITE.biz and the 17th edition of Bengaluru India Bio under one platform.

The summit was attended by 3173 delegates, 267 speakers, more than 11000 visitors, and 250 exhibitors on leading edge technologies that are changing the world and saw signing of ten MoUs that would have a significant impact on technology sector in the State.

The three-day event was inaugurated on November 16, 2017, by the Honble Chief Minister of Karnataka, Shri Siddaramaiah, in the presence of Ms Anne Berner, Honble Minister for Transport and Communications, Finland, who was the Guest of Honor.

In a progressive move to strengthen tech inclusion in rural areas, the State Government launched a unique project providing free wi-fi to 500 grama panchayats in the State. The project, which will roll out the benefit to all 2650 grama panchayats in future, is an indication of the Governments commitment to an outcome driven development of the State.

The event saw the Government signing ten MoUs indicating the growing importance of the event. MoUs were signed with Virgin Hyperloop One, CoE for Data Science and AI, Intel, French MoU, 3M, NUMA, BT Policy, AR/VR India Report and Elevate Start up Directory. Thrust areas of partnership were hyperloop, intel and traffic management.

The event also hosted conferences and seminars were thought- leaders discussed issues on path-breaking topics like Internet of Things, GIS, Cybersecurity, Cloud and Big Data, AVGC, security 360 and AR/VR.

The summit focussed on the biotech sector and its state-of-the-art technologies that are changing the world: personalized medicine, rare diseases and orphan drugs, bio therapeutics, agro biotech and new technology.

Creating a start-up culture:

Karnataka is setting up centres of excellence in IoT, robotics, cybersecurity, data analytics and aerospace. The State is poised to create 20,000 start-ups by 2020 and will mobilise Rs 2000-crore fund for start-ups and foster industry partnerships, according to Industries Minister, R V Deshpande

On the concluding day of the summit, there were roundtable discussions between select start-ups, the Government, VC firms and accelerators to identify and fulfil the needs of the start-ups. The session focused on solving problems specific to individual start-ups by extending the necessary support of the Government, VC, accelerators and incubators as per the requirement.

The session established fruitful partnerships among all stakeholders of the start-up community and helped curate start-ups and explore the synergies that exist in the sector.

Various sectors like IT/ITeS/IoT/AVGC/Biotech/MedTech/Agritech/Clean tech/Aerospace and Aviation participated. This opened new doors for Idea2POC and Elevate 100 winners.

Women Power at TechSummit:

Bengaluru TechSummit had a separate event for women entrepreneurs on 16 November, 2017, titled She Drives Technology" that highlighted women and their achievements in leading innovation in the IT and BT sectors and also how women returning to work can be a game changer for the sectors.

For the first time in the country, there was a B2B summit for animation, visual effects gaming and comics sector, hosted at the summit. Called the Bengaluru AVGC Summit the event was a partnership between the Government of Karnataka and ABAI, the trade association for animation, visual effects, gaming and comics sector.

Creativity to the fore:

Mr Priyank Kharge, IT, BT and Tourism Minister for the State, was emphatic that the goal is to make the State the creative capital of India and this could be possible through summits like this where small developers were given free entry so they could interact with global majors like Turner/Cartoon Network, BBC, Disney, Hotstar and many others who were present at the event.

The summit explored the future of path-breaking tech developments like Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. The expert panel comprising renowned names from the industry explored the definitions of augmented reality and virtual reality and presented cases for both technologies.

On 17 and 18, November, 2017, the summit hosted the "Bengaluru Maker Faire", an event for all those who believe in the do-it-yourself spirit for sharing their accomplishments and showcasing their work with an appreciative audience. The event saw some of the leading technologists, hobbyists, tinkerers, artisans, and entrepreneurs interacting with one another to celebrate, inspire and get inspired.

Speaking at the event, Mr Priyank Kharge said that the Government wants to create a stimulating atmosphere and this kind of events would change the way the youth would impact a global change.

One of the highlights of the TechSummit was the Rural IT Quiz, which is a pioneering effort by the Department of IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka in partnership with Tata Consultancy Services since the year 2000. The programme has enhanced IT awareness amongst students at the grassroots level, and helped them keep abreast of the latest developments in the State.

The summit rewarded those who have made a significant contribution in the sectors with the presentation of the STPI IT Export Awards and Bio Excellence Awards.
One of the job advertisements from Raskovic's company offering sales work. In a room at the Mooloolaba Surf Club in Queensland, he outlined to Gibbs his business model. "It all seemed a little dodgy," Gibbs said. "I didn't feel comfortable in the interview and then when he explained how he conducted the business I knew, there and then, it wasn't legal." Lubo Jack Raskovic has set up a new recruitment business with his partner Neo Tau, which specialises in jobs for migrants seeking a visa. Credit:Nick Moir Raskovic followed up with an email to potential employees. Fairfax Media has sighted one of these emails that reveals, for the first time, how Raskovic's business works.

According to the email, Raskovic hires consultants who operate as job scouts in regional locations. Their job is to scrounge around for employers willing to offer visa sponsorship, even if they had to go door to door. These employers are offered a $12,500 "incentive" to be paid as "a training subsidy  when individuals obtain permanent residency or [a] visa". The money is promised to be paid in two parts  firstly a $2500 payment within two weeks followed by a $10,000 payment "paid on permanent residency approval". In exchange for finding an employer, the job scouts receive $5000  half payable when a job placement is agreed and half "upon completion, lodgement and approval of all requisite employer sponsorship documentation". But the job had some potential hidden downsides. Under current laws it is illegal to receive, offer or provide money in exchange for a sponsored work-visa arrangement. The penalties include up to two years' imprisonment and a fine of $75,600 for an individual and $378,000 for companies.

The laws don't just cover employers who accept payment in return for sponsoring a visa, they apply to any person in the supply chain. In fact, money doesn't have to change hands to break the law, the mere offer is enough. Griffith University academic Peter Lee, who is also a migration agent and a former migration specialist at the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, examined the Raskovic email at Fairfax Media's request. "On the basis of information provided it does not appear legal," he said. "The risk of prosecution will be real; namely all three, or more, parties in the chain could be affected namely, the prospective sponsor, the prospective visa applicant and the intermediary and others that may be associated in the activity." The sample script sent to potential employees. A spokesman from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection would not say whether it was investigating Raskovic's scheme but said it "investigates all allegations regarding paying for visa sponsorship".

Fairfax Media asked Mr Raskovic whether the scheme was legal, but he did not responded to questions. Many of Raskovic's clients are seeking visas under the government's regional sponsored migration scheme. The scheme enables employers in regional and low-population areas to sponsor skilled employees. It allows a successful applicant and their family to live in Australia and work permanently in a regional area. It's a popular visa with more than 10,000 placements in the past financial year. Raskovic's scheme brings together hopeful migrants with regional employers in the hope the partnership will result in a sponsored visa under the scheme. But his services come with a hefty cost  as much as $70,000, with much of it paid upfront. Many borrowed money from family and friends in their home country to pay his fees. Raskovic also provides migration advice and visa application documents to prospective employers. However, in many cases the job doesn't work out. Former clients told Fairfax often the job is not what was explained to them. At other times, clients have no confirmation that a job actually exists, because they are restricted from speaking to the employer. One employer, approached by Fairfax Media last week, said he had "never heard" of Raskovic or his company, despite being named in a letter of offer given to a former client.

Demand for the regional visa has been growing, but the number of placements has fallen. In 2016-17 there were 19,926 applications received compared to 17,533 applications in 2015-16. During that same time the number of placements dropped from 12,269 to 10,198. It's unclear whether the Immigration Department has prosecuted any breaches of the visa although it says it has a number of active investigations. Harmandeep Brar, 24, from Melbourne, says he paid Raskovic around $45,000 in fees for a job. "I had to ring my parents, as we are on a student visa and we didn't have that much money," he said. "My parents had to bring back money from India." Trained as an automotive mechanic, Brar was offered a job at a waste company fixing diesel machines. He said he told Raskovic, through representatives of his company Global Skills & Business Services Pty Ltd, he wasn't qualified to work on these machines.

After being assured he would be trained, he travelled to Chinchilla in regional Queensland where he worked for waste company We Kando Pty Ltd. He was fired within two months and returned to Melbourne. We Kando declined to comment. "When I told my family back in India I was very depressed  they had given me money and this guy had scammed me," he said. Brar chased Raskovic for a refund, which had been promised in his contract, but Raskovic stopped answering his messages. In October, Global Skills was placed into liquidation with debts of around $2.5 million, leaving 45 creditors, mostly Indian migrants, out of pocket. Meanwhile, Raskovic in the year before going into liquidation, bought luxury cars, including a brand new Porsche and a $3 million mansion in Bella Vista, in Sydney's north-west, under a separate company.

In the months leading up to the liquidation, invoices seen by SBS-Fairfax show companies linked to Raskovic sought payment for more than $1 million in fees, including almost $200,000 to a company run by his daughter, Sarah Raskovic. She declined to answer questions when asked about the payments. Fairfax has also learned that Raskovic hasn't been banned just once, but twice, by the corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. In 1999 he was also disqualified from managing a corporation for four years. This disqualification forced Raskovic to resign from the board of his companies in February 1999. However months after resigning, his mother joined one of his companies. Raskovic would later tell the Industrial Relations Commission, as part of an unfair dismissal case, that his mother had no "active role in the management of the company". The commission ultimately found "evidence  capable of giving rise to the inference that [Mr Raskovic] remained involved in the operational and legal affairs of the corporate group during the period of his disqualification". As part of the same case, the commission was told that contracts distributed by Raskovic's company were "unfair" and "against the public interest", and some documents were shown to be backdated, although the commission found the evidence was "not sufficient to found an inference of fraud". Recently, Raskovic has begun working for a new company  All Borders Pty Ltd  set up just weeks before Global Skills went broke, and operating from the same office under a similar business model. It's owned by his partner, Neo Tau, who shares his Bella Vista mansion.

But the recent spate of job advertisements are in the name of another company again  National Business Services  set up in June. Raskovic has declined an interview and has not responded to written questions. Gibbs said he wasn't aware of Raskovic's past but, after meeting him, he had a "gut feeling" something wasn't right. "I then went home and searched his name and found out that his business practices are rotten," he said. Loading
Washington: US President Donald Trump has reversed his own administration's decision to start allowing hunters to import trophies of elephants that were killed in two African countries, pending a further review.

His Twitter message on Friday evening reversed a decision by the US Fish and Wildlife Service over Zimbabwe that was announced this week and promoted as recently as Friday afternoon by the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

US President Donald Trump has reversed his own administration's decision to start allowing hunters to import trophies of elephants that were killed in two African countries. Credit:Bloomberg

Ryan Zinke, the interior secretary, said in a statement later on Friday night that the decision applied to two African countries, though it did not name them.
I expect we'll still be doing this in another 10 years. We're all committed to making it happen. It's a different sort of relationship when you've got a group of girls who have known one another for 10 years and the kids all know each other. It's special. We went through everything at the same time, and we still are." THE WORKATION Amanda Rose, 38, goes away with her friend and business partner Maria Kovacic, 47, at least once a year to take stock and plan ahead. Amanda Rose and Maria Kovacic. "I met Maria online  that's the best way of finding a girlfriend right?! She needed some help with her branding and she found me on LinkedIn. We just clicked. We both love to work. I thought I was a workaholic before I met her.

Maria and I are complete opposites in some ways  she's tall, has dark hair, is married with two adult daughters and works in finance. I'm blonde, single, into fitness and I couldn't add up without my iPhone. But we're both so straight up with each other. We decided to go into business together and created a network for businesswomen in western Sydney. We work so hard that we never find time to relax and brainstorm, so three years ago we decided to go away to do that. Other people go away and drink and relax and walk, but we get bored, so we said, 'Let's go away, eat, drink  and work.' We try to go twice a year. We've been to hotels in Sydney, the NSW Central Coast and Wolgan Valley. We choose somewhere calming, where you can unwind and think clearly. We do career planning, life planning. It gives you a purpose for the next six months. We bring the notes from the previous trip and check off what we've achieved and what we need to do. If you go away just for fun you might talk about these things but you come back pretty much where you left off. We turn up at meals with our charts and notebooks. A woman once said to us, 'Whatever job you do must be so much fun because you girls look like you're really enjoying yourselves.' We still manage to fit in a few facials.

Maria is the only woman besides my mother I will share a room with. We respect each other's space. In a group, everyone always wants to do stuff together. I want to nap when I want to nap and work when I want to work. These trips have brought us closer. We show our personal sides, which, because we're both such private people, we wouldn't do in a group." THE ANGELS PARTY Pamela Yialas, 35, organises a weekend of partying in Melbourne every year for her friends Jessica Arango, 31, Liliam Sheridan, 36, Valentina Roshanak, 35, and Alla Kologrivova, 31. All live in Sydney. Pamela Yialas, Liliam Sheridan, Valentina Roshanak and Alla Kologrivova. "My girlfriends and I go once a year to Melbourne for the weekend, leaving the boys behind. We call ourselves The Angels. Three of us are Colombian and two are Russian. We're not like other girls who like pampering or shopping when they go away. We just go to go out.

Melbourne has the best food, the best bars, that casino life. It's an easy city to have fun in. The winter there is cool, you can dress up. It's an opportunity to live it differently but not have to go too far. We love staying at Crown [casino] because it's easy and convenient. I organise everything  I book as many restaurants as possible, get our names on the door of as many clubs as I can, and always have a bottle of champagne waiting in the room when we arrive. We get dressed, we go out, we find fun and adventure. That's the magic. When we started this yearly weekend it would get a bit wild and wacky, but times have changed. One of us has two kids now, so it's hard for her to get away, and another has a baby, so it's a big ask for her husband. The mums in our group don't want to go out now, they just want to stay in and get a massage. But I say, 'Absolutely not  you can do that in Sydney.'

As we get older we think we have lost that inner-fun person. My role in the group is to remind the others that while we're no longer wild, we can still go out and enjoy ourselves. It's so important to reconnect with that inner sense of fun; it's what keeps you going in life. I try to get the girls to let go of what's going on at home. They might talk to their husband or kids during the day, but when 6pm hits, I say: 'Come on, girls, you've got to let it go. Let's have one night and tomorrow you can resume your life with a hangover.' Through these trips away we have built beautiful friendships. We confide in one another. We consider ourselves like family. I hope we'll still be doing this in 10 years, I really do." THE MOODIE GIRLS' WEEKEND Meg Moodie, 78, began the tradition of an annual weekend with her daughters Belinda, 57, Virginia, 55, Alison, 54, and 51-year-old Angela, 21 years ago.

All the Moodies. "When the girls started getting married and having children, we found we were missing out on time together. So I said, 'Let's have a girls' weekend.' They came to my house in Henley in Sydney and I made tacos for dinner. Virginia never lets me forget that I served something so mundane. Our biggest adventure was going out for breakfast. We enjoyed it so much we just had to do it again. From then on it became bigger and better. We've been to the Central Coast, South Coast, Blue Mountains, Bowral and Melbourne. We never go to the same place twice. There are 10 of us now, including five granddaughters aged between 34 and 22. We made the decision that granddaughters can only join us once they turn 21. It's a very important rule. Some things that are spoken about at the girls' weekend, like menopausal issues, you have to be old enough to appreciate. Virginia runs an initiation ceremony, which includes rules like 'always top up somebody else's glass before your own', and 'uphold the confidence of the group'. Sometimes the mothers help the younger ones finance the trip. My daughters say you learn a lot when three generations are together. It's good to be away with strong women you can trust. The younger generation can talk with older mentors, while we benefit from the younger ones' input. I'm just amazed what a close-knit family we have. I think everybody has to work hard to make that happen, especially when they don't live near one another any more.
If you're aiming for you or your partner to be at home with the baby for an extended period of time, then you need a plan for getting through the lean patch. Think about what you can buy or be given secondhand, and what luxuries you can forgo. Don't worry, it's not forever. 2.Government parental leave Were you working before the baby's birth and earning under $150,000? "Work" includes self-employment and prior periods of parental leave. If so, you may be eligible for paid parental leave from the government. This is 18 weeks at the minimum wage  currently $695 a week before tax. It's for the primary caregiver, but it can be split with other eligible people such as your partner or the child's other legal parent. What people don't always realise is the government also offers "dad and partner pay", which is an additional two weeks' paid leave. This can't be used by the birth mother  it's use it or lose it. If you weren't working, then you could be eligible for the "newborn upfront payment", which is a non-taxable sum of $540, and the "newborn supplement", which is a payment that varies by means testing and the number of other children in the family.

If you're having multiples, you can have multiple newborn payments or, if you're eligible, you can take paid parental leave for one child, and the newborn payments for other children. 3.Corporate leave Check your employer's policies. You may be eligible for paid parental leave from the company in addition to the government payments. You may also be able to purchase additional annual leave. Again, don't forget that both parents should do this. Many companies offer paid paternity leave, but men don't always take it up. 4.Childcare

Put your name down on several waiting lists for childcare as soon as you can. In many areas, especially in Sydney and Melbourne, availability is a huge issue. Even if you're not sure of your plans, I strongly suggest putting your name down so you have options down the track. The government is overhauling its childcare payments from next July  you can look at the Child Care Subsidy Estimator calculator at education.gov.au/childcare to figure out your entitlements. 5.Super Not everyone can afford to make extra super payments, especially when the household is down a breadwinner. But if you can, it's a good thing to do. There are tax incentives to encourage people to contribute to their lower-income earning partner. This applies to child-free couples as well, but many people will become eligible for the first time only when they take time off to have children. After all, if one parent is staying at home, or working part time, there's a good chance they'll be earning less than $37,000 a year even if they weren't previously. If that's the case, the working partner can contribute to the lower income earner's super and get a tax rebate  the maximum rebate being $540 for a contribution of $3000. The payment starts phasing out when the lower-income partner earns $37,000 and stops completely when they reach $40,000. 6.Health care If you have private health insurance, you'll probably be out of pocket for the birth of the baby. If you're using Medicare, it won't cost a cent. As a public patient you won't get your choice of doctor and you may have to share a room, but the quality of the health care is very good. Your choice, but budget accordingly.

7.A will If you don't already have a will, you need one once you have children. It's not just about where your assets and property go, but more importantly so you and your co-parent can appoint a testamentary guardian who'll be responsible for the children if you both die. And while you're getting a will, make sure you have a binding death nomination for your super too, as that's handled separately. 8.Life insurance Many Australians have death and total and permanent disability insurance, generally known as life insurance, through their super. But many families are under-insured, especially those with high mortgages. It's a mistake just to insure the main breadwinner. Consider also what would the surviving partner need if the children's primary caregiver died. They might need to work less, or to hire a housekeeper and nanny. Insurance is complicated and not all policies are created equal. While it's worth getting a quote for additional insurance from your super fund, it's an area where it can be worth talking to a financial planner. Loading
Deceptively cloudy days and the capital's high altitudes may be leaving Canberra's adults more at risk of sunburn.

A national survey by the Cancer Council has found about 19 per cent or potentially 53,000 adult Canberrans were getting sunburned each weekend in the 2016/17 financial year.

Manuka Pool manager Bryan Pasfield takes sun safety seriously as part of his job. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

The bush capital was the third-worst offender, following the Northern Territory's 25 per cent and Tasmania's 21 per cent.

Western Australia was Australia's most sun smart state, with only 15 per cent sunburned on the weekends in the 2016/17 summer.
Australian politics is gripped by a fascination with personalities, not policies, as candidates with false authenticity graft votes from their electorates, a former Greens leader has said.

Launching her book at Old Parliament House on Tuesday in Canberra, Christine Milne cited politicians who began in student politics as an example.

Christine Milne launching her book- 'An Activist Life' at the MOAD. Credit:Karleen Minney

"They're in there [Parliament] simply as a personal ambition ... the policy platform is irrelevant," Ms Milne said.

In her memoir, An Activist Life, Ms Milne points to US President Donald Trump as "the ultimate example of fake authenticity".
A man who drove himself to a Logan hotel for help after being shot six times is refusing to cooperate with police as he recovers in hospital.

Police said the victim, 25, suffered six gunshots wounds - two in the stomach, three to his left thigh and one to his right thigh.

The man has suffered six gunshot wounds in Logan, before driving himself to a nearby hotel in Waterford West for help. Credit:The Today Show - Twitter

The man, who was known to police, was taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

However, his injuries were classified as non-life-threatening, according to a Queensland police spokeswoman.
A fiery head-on multi-vehicle crash closed the Bruce Highway near the Sunshine Coast on Saturday.

Australian Traffic Network reporter Ben Mihan said all northbound lanes were closed as police investigated what happened.

The multi-vehicle crash on the Bruce Highway at Nambour. Credit:Clayton's Towing - Facebook

Emergency services were called to the scene just before 11am and found at least two cars had been involved in the crash.

One of the cars involved caught fire and it is understood two people were also trapped in the wreckage.
A man has been charged after stabbing a teenager in the neck following an argument outside a Brisbane pub.

The 17-year-old was admitted to Princess Alexandra Hospital in a serious condition after a verbal dispute escalated with another man around 10am on Saturday at Sunnybank.

A 33-year-old man will appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday on charges of going armed to cause fear and with acts intended to maim, disfigure or disable.

AAP
The Turnbull government has welcomed reports the Islamic State's so-called caliphate has fallen after the liberation of the last militant-held town in Iraq but signalled the group still needs to be fought globally as a terrorist outfit.

Late on Friday, Australian time, the Iraqi military announced it had retaken the town of Rawa on the Syrian border, the final hold-out for the militant group that swept across large areas of Syria and Iraq in mid-2014, sending shockwaves around the world.

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said Australia remained an "active member" of the global coalition to defeat Islamic State. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

About 1000 Australian military personnel have been involved in the fight against the group for the past three years, mostly in Iraq. These have included a large RAAF contingent, about 300 army trainers and several dozen special forces "advising and assisting" the Iraqis. There is no immediate news of their withdrawal.

"The Australian government welcomes reports that the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) have liberated Rawa on the Euphrates, the last Iraqi town under ISIS occupation," Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told Fairfax Media.
Labor may return to government in Queensland, taking marginal seats from the Opposition via One Nation preferences, the latest Newspoll suggests.

The survey of six swing seats suggests that both parties will lose votes to Pauline Hanson's One Nation, but the preferences will help Labor win other seats from the Liberal National Party, according to the poll published in The Weekend Australian.

Queensland voters are split on the issue of the controversial Adani coalmine, with the government decision to reject a federal loan losing it votes in the state's north, but finding support in the southeast.

AAP
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Snow this evening will give way to lingering snow showers late. Low 27F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 100%. Snow accumulating 1 to 3 inches..

Tonight

Snow this evening will give way to lingering snow showers late. Low 27F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 100%. Snow accumulating 1 to 3 inches.
But the experience enriched the magazine itself because I would make contacts, get story ideas and keep abreast of what was happening in the very top end of town. I'm allergic to alcohol, which proved to be a big asset. These days I don't even possess a long evening dress; I'd rather be under my duvet at night bingeing on some crime thriller on Netflix. You've always been a diarist, taking your notes down in blue school exercise books, even while you were at Vanity Fair. Why the compulsive need to diarise? There's something about putting pen to paper at the end of each day that helps you make sense of the events that happened. It's an intimate, personal process and it made me feel clearer and calmer. I loved the unity of using the exercise books over the years, although these days I use my laptop. I remember going through the photos for one issue and realising with a thud that every second pic was of a bald head.

You write in your diaries about hiring people you sometimes didn't like. Did you always put talent ahead of your personal feelings? Always. It's about the work for me. If someone is difficult to deal with, but very talented, I will try to overcome whatever challenges they present to get their best stories or photos. I don't have a long memory for grievances. The 1980s and '90s were the gilded age of magazine and newspaper publishing, a time when editors had big editorial budgets thanks to huge revenues from advertising. What's the most expensive story you commissioned? I don't recall the most expensive story but "The Media Decade Hall of Fame" issue [December 1989] cost a fortune because we had Annie [photographer Annie Leibovitz] on airplanes crossing the globe. But this was a time of great structural confidence in media; there was no metaphysical agony about how do we survive, but rather, how do we produce a great issue? Shortly after starting in the job, you found some Annie Leibovitz photos buried in an art department drawer and immediately scheduled them. Until then, Leibovitz was a rock photographer for Rolling Stone, although a well-known one.

I took Annie into a different creative realm. She was able to widen and deepen her bevy of gifts. I loved her eye, and we had a great working partnership. The most important thing an editor does is manage talent: you nurture, cajole and bring out their best. Tell me about some of those iconic covers. The one of Demi Moore, naked and pregnant. Demi was three months pregnant at the time, and I thought it would be great to photograph the bump, instead of trying to disguise it, which was the usual thing at that time with celebrities. Annie showed me some beautiful shots of Demi in a brief summer dress, but then she brought out these others, of a golden, naked Demi enormously pregnant. I found the shot liberating, a statement of naturalness; the year before I'd spent months trying to cover my own expanding bump. I didn't think Demi would agree to us using them, but when she did, I went crazy. Did you also go crazy when you saw Leibovitz's pictures of Whoopi Goldberg in a bath of milk? Oh yes, I was ecstatic. That's what I loved about Annie's shots; they really brought out the energy and joy of being a performer.

The 1985 cover of then US president Ronald Reagan dancing with his wife Nancy was similarly joyful  and one of your biggest sellers. When I saw those pictures on my light box, I instantly knew they were gold dust. Ronald and Nancy Reagan on the cover of Vanity Fair. How were the Reagans on a personal level? I loved Reagan's affability, his great talent for projecting strength and fairness to the world, even if I didn't like his politics. He had a natural gift for instilling exuberance into the national mood. But Nancy was critical to his success; she was his joy gene. What the Reagans had in spades was natural class; from the top, they led the black-tie era.

Vanity Fair became famous for its trademark crime stories: the attempted-murder trials of aristocrat Claus von Bulow; the killing of primatologist Dian Fossey; the sociopath Menendez brothers; the murder of Vicki Morgan, Alfred Bloomingdale's mistress. I love crime stories! The best ones lift a lid on an entire world. The Claus von Bulow story took you into the decaying gentility, the Bloomingdale story into the seedy underworld of Bel Air. You see the universe behind the big gated mansions, the behaviour behind the air-kisses. Very early in your editorship of Vanity Fair, a journalist wrote that you were tough. Do you have to have ice in your veins to be an editor? I'm impatient with people who don't deliver, or don't give their best. The dreaded "borderline" piece was the worst. You know what to do with a terrible piece: kill it. Or a brilliant piece: publish it. But a borderline story required a lot more work and angst over whether to run it. Being a writer myself, I know the worst thing you can do to a journalist is give them what I call the "slow no"  leave them hanging around, waiting for you to make a decision.

These were the AIDS epidemic decades: you did a cover about its toll on the arts community. I was always at a funeral. We lost so many good people. Perry Ellis [sportswear designer], a very well-bred Virginian with an ageless beauty. Steve Rubell [co-owner of New York City disco, Studio 54], who helped organise Vanity Fair's fifth anniversary party. Patrick Kelly [African-American fashion designer], who was so vibrant and colourful. He was only 35 when he died. In 1987, you had Donald and Ivana Trump on the cover. Did you ever imagine he'd be president? Absolutely not. We were astounded enough when Reagan, a former actor, became president, but at least he'd been governor of California. It was inconceivable that someone like Trump, with no experience of political processes, could become president. Yet I remember him sounding off about politics even back then, and saying in our Hall of Fame story that he could negotiate arms control with the Russians. What was your impression of him back then?

When I first met Trump in the mid-'80s he was refreshingly vulgar but fun  in some ways, a classic New Yorker. But as the years went by, he became more and more unappealing. He was a bankrupt, had a very public divorce, and could be a bully and a liar. He became very aggressive when we published anything he didn't like, and in the pre-Twitter era would write letter after letter and call me up, yelling down the phone. After our writer Marie Brenner did a profile on him [in 1990], writing that he owned a copy of Hitler's collected speeches, he was livid, and came up behind her at a function and poured his glass of wine down her back. Has Trump's labelling of any form of news reporting that he doesn't like as "fake news" increased public distrust of the media? Absolutely. Journalism is under tremendous stress. But the big question is, what happens after Trump? Is he the new normal? Will we see a new line of presidents who feel it is okay to lie, bully and divide a nation, or will we see someone who's articulate, professional and high-minded? Tina Brown in the London office of Credit:Getty Images

You were the first female editor of The New Yorker, which you moved to after Vanity Fair. Did you ever hit the glass ceiling? I didn't really notice it at the time. When you're young you blaze ahead. I did notice there were no women in management. Women were editors but it stopped there. There still aren't nearly enough women in higher management. If you were commissioning a cover story now on the Great Fall of Harvey Weinstein, how would you find a fresh angle? I'd like to hear from the men around Weinstein: what they think, what they've seen, why they didn't speak up, how the rules of engagement may have changed for all men now, and not just neanderthals like the Weinsteins or Bill O'Reillys [of the world]. The Kevin Spacey stuff is disturbing, but you want to be very clear on what you are accusing people of being. You once had a TV chat show. Do you ever regret not pursuing a career in TV?

No. TV is all about logistics, and far less about content. I didn't find TV satisfying. I love the whole process of editing: cutting and reshaping the text and making it work with the pictures. Can you teach a journalist how to write for a magazine like Vanity Fair? Yes, but you can't teach them how to notice the right things, or to have a unique voice. Born a British citizen, you've lived in New York since moving there in 1983. Do you still love it? Yes, my two children are American, and I became a US citizen after 9/11. I feel a deep loyalty to the place, which I was reminded of after the recent terror attack. But Manhattan is so expensive now, it's driven out many of the interesting, talented people who can't afford to live here anymore. And that's sad.
Indian Air Force has released a recruitment notification for filling up the vacant positions of 132 Civilian in Group C. Interested candidates should apply within 30 days from the date of advertisement.

Indian Air Force vacancy details:

Post Name: Group 'C' Civilian

Post Details: LDC, Store Keeper, Safaiwala, MTS, Mess Staff, Cook, Carpenter, Dhobi, Ward Sahayika/Ayah, Painter, Vulcaniser

Number of Posts: 132 posts

Location: All India

Educational Qualification for Indian Air Force Vacancy:

For LDC/Storekeeper post: The candidates must have passed a 12th class examination from a recognized board. Typing speed of 35 WPM in English and 30 wpm Hindi shall be needed for LDC posts.

For Other Posts: The candidates must have passed 10th class or Matriculation examination from a recognized board.

How to apply for Indian Air Force vacancy?

Interested candidates may send their application in prescribed format along with the copies of relevant documents and a self-addressed envelope affixing with Rs.5/- postal stamp to the concerned Air Officer Commanding/ Station Commander/Commanding Officer within 30 days from the date of advertisement.

Mode of Selection:

Candidates will be selected on the basis of written test or physical test or practical test or skill test.

Application fee:

No application fee will be required.

Age limit for Indian Air Force vacancy:

The candidates must fulfill the below-mentioned age limit in order to apply:

Minimum: 18 years

Maximum: 25 years

(Age Relaxation: applicable as per rules)

Indian Air Force important dates:

Last Date fo Form Submission- within 30 days from the date of advertisement.

Date of Advertisement: November 11, 2017, to November 17, 2017

For more information about the job notification, click here
Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) has issued the Agriculture Extension Officer (AEO) Grade II Exam 2017 admit card. The commission has released the AEO admit card on the official website of TSPSC.

Candidates who applied for the examination can download the AEO Admit Cards from the official website.

Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) be conducting the AEO written examination 2017 on November 22, 2017. The post of Agriculture Extension Officer is for Agriculture and co-operation departments.

The commission had published the recruitment notification for 851 AEO posts in the state of Telangana. The candidates who registered and submitted the fully-filled forms can download the admit cards.

The Admit card contains details like - Roll Number, Venue, Time and dates of the examination. The candidates are reminded that admit card is crucial for the exam and the candidates will not be allowed to appear for the exam without the admit cards.

The examination for AEO will consist of two papers - Paper I and Paper II.

Paper I will comprise of General Studies and General Abilities.

Paper II will have the concerned subject agriculture (Diploma level)

There will be 150 questions in each paper, for 150 marks and thus the total mark for the exam will be 300.

How to Download the TSPSC AEO Exam 2017 Admit Card 2017?

Visit the official website of TSPSC - tspsc.gov.in

Click on the 'What's New' section

Click on the link for TSPSC SEO Hall ticket 2017

Enter your Application ID and Password in the space provided and submit

The Admit Card will appear on the screen

Download and Print a copy for future reference

Also Read: TSPSC Group I Services Revised Results 2017 Declared: Check Now!
Before Donald Trump became the President of the United States, he was well-known for stretching the truth a time or two. Whether it was making absurd claims about immigrants as rapists, or discussing the size of crowds at his rallies, any right-thinking person knew that Trump didnt mind lying to the public if he thought it would be to his advantage.

But since becoming president, the lies have not stopped. Thanks to Politifact, we took a dive into all the statements made by President Trump that have been proven false. Then we narrowed it down to eight of the most blatant lies.

Counter-protesters in Charlottesville didnt have a permit

The lie: Because I dont know if you know, they had a permit. The other group didnt have a permit. So I only tell you this. There are two sides to a story.

There are often two sides to a story, but frequently one side is just plain wrong. Outside of the obvious problem with having the President of the United States of America stumping for a massive group of white nationalists, he told a lie in the process. According to Politifact, the Washington Post had published a document showing that counter-protesters had indeed applied for and received a permit to protest against the Neo-Nazis and white nationalists holding tiki torches in Charlottesville, Virginia.

This has been one of the more difficult moments of Trumps tenure in the White House. Overlooking, for a moment, the rhetoric that plagued his campaign, this was the first time the president officially and publicly defended the actions of people waving Confederate flags and wearing Nazi armbands.



Weve signed more bills than any president ever

The lie: Weve signed more bills  and Im talking about through the legislature  than any president ever.

This was a statement made by President Trump on Made in America Day, when the infamous picture of the president sitting in the front seat of a big truck was taken. With Vice President Mike Pence standing behind him, Trump proceeded to claim that in six months they had passed and signed more bills through legislature than any president in history.

Again according to Politifact, Trump had signed 42 bills into law through his 178th day in office. Not only is that not the most ever, its not even really that close. The most ever is the 228 by President Dwight Eisenhower, just narrowly ahead of President John F. Kennedy at an even 200. In total, six presidents  Eisenhower, Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton  signed more bills than Trump.

The New York Times wrote about [Obama wire-tapping]

The lie: Well, because the New York Times wrote about itnot that I respect the New York Times. I call it the failing New York Times. But they did write on Jan. 20, using the word wiretap.

This comes from a claim from President Trump that former President Barack Obama had his phone wiretapped. There has since been zero evidence found that Obama had Trumps phones tapped, which in itself is a lie. But the even more obvious lie is Trumps claim that The New York Times wrote about such a thing on January 20, which they did not.

The Times did, however, report a story about Trump aides having their phones tapped by the FBI in their investigation into Trump-Russia ties. At any rate, Trumps claim is that Obama may have gone outside the law to tap his phones, which was not true and the Times never even came close to making such a claim.

Millions of people  voted illegally

The lie: In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.

Trump has made specific claims of serious voter fraud in several different locations across the United States, including Virginia, California, and New Hampshire. But as for the statement above, there are two very clear lies. The first is that Trump won the Electoral College in a landslide, when the truth is that he had one of the smallest electoral victories by percentages. Trump received 56.9% of the electoral votes in the 2016 election, which is a smaller percentage than all but five elections since 1960.

But to the bigger point, Trump is incorrect that millions of people voted illegally. Putting aside his assumption that the vast majority of illegal voters would have voted for Hillary Clinton, Trumps statement almost certainly is based on a claim by InfoWars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who said that three million illegal aliens cast ballots in the 2016 election. Based on lack of evidence and credible reports, that has been rated as false by Politifact.

Trumps claims of voter fraud are his  and Republicans  attempt to plant the seed of doubt in democracy, clearing the way for more stringent voting laws. Some Republicans have even openly admitted that this is merely done as a way to hold an advantage over Democrats, because the more people vote, generally the more often Democrats win elections.

The New York Times apologized for bad coverage

The lie: The @nytimes sent a letter to their subscribers apologizing for their BAD coverage of me.

Nope. Back when Trump was merely President-elect, he took to Twitter to claim that the New York Times had sent out a letter to subscribers on November 13 to apologize for how they covered him during the campaign and 2016 election. And while the Times did send out a letter to subscribers, it contained no such apology. According to the letter:

As we reflect on the momentous result, and the months of reporting and polling that preceded it, we aim to rededicate ourselves to the fundamental mission of Times journalism. That is to report America and the world honestly, without fear or favor, striving always to understand and reflect all political perspectives and life experiences in the stories that we bring to you. It is also to hold power to account, impartially and unflinchingly. You can rely on The New York Times to bring the same fairness, the same level of scrutiny, the same independence to our coverage of the new president and his team.

The Times did make statements regarding the commitment to honest coverage and holding those in power accountable, but where Trump sees an apology is anyones best guess.

I never said this!

The lie: The @nytimes states today that DJT believes more countries should acquire nuclear weapons. How dishonest are they. I never said this!

Trump tweeted the above statement on November 13, the same day that he falsely accused The New York Times of sending out an apology letter. This time, he stated that they had lied in suggesting that he had said more countries should acquire nuclear weapons. This is a reference to a November 11 article by reporter Max Fisher, which reads as the following:

Trump has suggested that more countries should acquire nuclear weapons, to protect themselves without Washingtons help.

Fisher is correct, because both Trump and a spokesman for Trump have made statements suggesting that other countries should improve their nuclear arsenal. Specifically, in a March article in the Times, Trump stated:

And, would I rather have North Korea have them with Japan sitting there having them also? You may very well be better off if thats the case. In other words, where Japan is defending itself against North Korea, which is a real problem.  [I]f Japan had that nuclear threat, Im not sure that would be a bad thing for us.

A lot of them didnt make calls

The lie: The traditional way, you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didnt make calls, a lot of them didnt make calls  And some presidents didnt do anything.

In this lie, Trump is referring to the hot water he found himself in for not addressing the deaths of four Green Berets in Niger early in October, 2017. After stating that he had written some letters that should already be in the mail  who among us hasnt blamed the post office for a suspiciously late arriving letter?  Trump went on deflect blame toward former President Obama and others.

Politifact refused to rank this lie because of the lack of actual, physical evidence. The handling of conversations with the families of fallen soldiers has traditionally been private, because of its sensitive nature. But even White House officials have said that its inaccurate to state that some former presidents didnt do anything in regards to the families of fallen soldiers.

I didnt know Steve (Bannon)

The lie: I like Steve [Bannon], but you have to remember he was not involved in my campaign until very late.  I had already beaten all the senators and all the governors, and I didnt know Steve. Im my own strategist, and it wasnt like I was going to change strategies because I was facing crooked Hillary.

Trump claimed in The New York Times last April that former White House aide and strategist Steve Bannon joined his campaign late, and that he didnt know Bannon prior to that. This was amidst rumors of a rift between Bannon and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, and in the months that followed, Bannon was let go from his post in the White House.

But focusing on the point where Trump says he didnt know Bannon, that runs opposite to something Trump said a year prior when Bannon and Kellyanne Conway were first hired.

I have known Steve and Kellyanne both for many years. They are extremely capable, highly qualified people who love to win and know how to win, Trump said.

One of these statements is certainly a lie, and the evidence suggests it was when Trump claimed he didnt know Bannon. According to The New York Times, there were at least nine times that Trump appeared on Bannons radio show prior to the campaign. Not only does the evidence suggest Trump is lying, so do his own words from a previous statement.

Information via Politifact.

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Thousands of Christian villagers in China have been told to take down displays of Jesus, crosses, and gospel passages from their homes as part of a government propaganda effort to transform believers in religion into believers in the party.

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports that Communist Party of China (CPC) officials visited believers homes in Yugan county of Jiangxi provincewhere about 10 percent of the population is Christian. They urged residents to replace personal religious displays with posters of President Xi Jinping; more than 600 removed Christian symbols from their living rooms, and 453 hung portraits of the Communist leader, according to SCMP.

The efforts were part of a government campaign to alleviate poverty in the region, since some CPC members believe families faith is to blame for their financial woes, according to SCMP. The poster swaps in villagers homes represent the partys desire to have residents look to their leaders, rather than their Savior, for assistance.

Many poor households have plunged into poverty because of illness in the family. Some resorted to believing in Jesus to cure their illnesses, the head of the government campaign told SCMP. But we tried to tell them that getting ill is a physical thing, and that the people who can really help them are the Communist Party and General Secretary Xi.

Though the party denies the claim, some Christians in Yugan county say they were told they would not be eligible for government assistance unless their posters were removed.

The news comes weeks after the CPC held its national congress, where Xi continued to consolidate party power and passed a historic measure to write his political philosophy into its constitution. SCMP called Xi the countrys most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, who also developed a personality cult through portraits in Chinese homes. The news outlet also noted Xis efforts to rein in the grassroots of Chinese society.

Xi continues a longstanding tradition by Chinese leaders to assert state power as an ultimate force and to rein in social movements that threaten it, according to Brent Fulton, president of ChinaSource.

Before Christians were asked to take down religious displays from their homes, the Yugan church removed its cross, as dozens of churches across Zhejiang and other Christian areas have done in recent years in order to comply with government regulations.

In September, China passed tighter restrictions regarding religious gatherings, teachings, and buildings. Though they are not slated to officially go into effect until February 2018, Christians in some provinces have already noticed a crackdown on their activity. Police detained leaders of a house church, as well as a three-year-old, who were caught singing in a public park.

In an analysis last year for CT, Fulton wrote:

The CPCs control over religion is to be exerted not only through law, but also by reconciling religious doctrine with the partys socialist values. While religion serving socialism has been in the CPC lexicon for some time, direct intervention in the beliefs and practices of individual religionsincluding calls for the Sinification of Christian theologyhave become more common under Xi. His speech directed religious groups to dig deep into doctrines and canons that are in line with social harmony and progress ... and interpret religious doctrines in a way that is conducive to modern China's progress and in line with our excellent traditional culture.

In an August op-ed for The New York Times, Chinese student Derek Lam called out perverse efforts to co-opt Christianity to endorse Xis political agenda.

Judging by recent events, the party is very close to completing its mission of bringing Christianity under its thumb, he wrote. Although there is nothing I would love more than to become a pastor and preach the gospel in Hong Kong, I will never do so if it means making Jesus subservient to Xi Jinping.
After Australia says 'Yes' to same-sex marriage, reflections of a gay celibate Christian

Australia has responded to the question on gay marriage with a landslide response of 61.6 per cent 'Yes.' As I heard the news, I felt much like the citizen of a nation deeply disagreeing with its actions (those of the LGBTQI community). As a celibate gay or 'Side B' Christian, I deeply disagree with my own 'people'.

There were two realities that concerned me as I watched my nation descend into an often gruelling and nasty democratic battle for 'rights'. Both sides had presuppositions in the debate that were wrong: 1. On the conservative side, LGBTQI people were still somehow perceived as more sinful compared with the general 'heterosexual' population 2. On the 'liberal' side, biblically-obedient Christians who disagreed but loved the LGBTQI community were still prejudged as bigots or inherently homophobic for disagreeing on the definition of marriage. The gay marriage campaign was never about equality, this was cheap PR spin. Gay marriage was about two competing definitions of love and reality. Sexuality in our modern world is charged as the ultimate, and transcendent goal, whereas for Christians, it is secondary to following Jesus Christ. Australians generally struggled to understand the implications of the Christian view of sexuality.

For these reasons, when I saw the news, I was simultaneously filled with a pang of great joy and deep sadness. I deeply loathed the fact that a movement I helped build in some small way had become an excuse to look down on, misrepresent and persecute fellow Christians, and mislead so many in my family, the Church (some of which are now redefining marriage in their churches). As a once-atheist student and gay rights activist, I fought for civil unions in the nation's capital, Canberra and finally, around the nation during the 2012 Rudd Government. Like Princeton's Sheriff Gergis, I now believe that marriage is distinct from gay unions as the only place shared biological life and intense emotional intimacy can come together directly, and that this was not just about my faith, but a natural fact. As a Christian, I still agree with the civil unions I fought for, with the addition of the same rights to have these internationally recognised.

I believe the only marriage that reflects God's image is between one man and one woman. There are many things in gay relationships that aren't as black and white as many in the Christian world have sinfully painted them. However, I have seen the reality of the Kingdom of God and the question remains, will we take up our cross and follow Jesus Christ or not? The legalisation of gay marriage changes nothing essential about our human need for salvation from our sinfulness. I said yes to that salvation those 9 years ago. 5 years later I gave God my homosexuality, leaving gay marriage behind. I now live for a new horizon. Like the gay journalist Jonathan Rauch, I was once a frightened young man tortured with the certainty that there was no place in the world for me to love the man of my dreams. The only solution was if the Australian people and I decided to give myself the right to marry. Australia would have found, at last, 'a name for his soul. It is not monster or eunuch. Nor indeed homosexual. It is: husband'. As Wesley Hill, a celibate gay New Testament Professor puts it, it's like the relief of a negative biopsy'You're not sick or twisted or crazy; you're just hindered from giving and receiving love, and now the hindrance is removed'. This explains the huge surge of jubilation so many gay and lesbian people feel in the wake of gay marriage being legalised. Finally, their loves may be dignified not with the ill-fitting platitudes of friend or partner or the clinical epithet disordered or the disdainful slur 'pervert' but rather with the venerable, ordinary, immediately recognisable words husband or wife.

As a church-goer in this time, Rauch's picturing of marriage is deeply familiar. It's the place to find real transcendence, fulfilment and real satisfaction. It sounds almost exactly like how marriage is promoted in evangelical or orthodox churches. It's no wonder strange therapies that wrongfully tried to 'cure' gay people pointing them toward 'traditional heterosexual marriage' developed alongside a swelling gay marriage movement. The Church made marriage its idol and Western secular culture has obligingly agreed as shown in this vote. As Hill iterates, 'until the church turns away from such heterodoxy and begins to embody afresh a lesson from the life of its celibate Lordthat the truest, deepest human love is available outside of marriage as well as inside it, in spiritual friendships, in intentional communities, in vowed brother- and sisterhood, in devoted service, and in a hundred other beautiful and honourable callings and vocationsthe Jonathan Rauches of the world will continue to want the only end to their loneliness they've ever heard the church and the world agree on.'

I eagerly pray for and await the day when a movement of Christians greater than the gay marriage movement would form in the Church and say, decidedly 'no' to this idolatry of sex and marriage, whatever its form. One day I dream of a semi-monastic renewal of Christians giving up their private middle class lives to live together, married and celibate. Meanwhile I share this to encourage all Christians to share God's love with the gay community whilst standing on the reality that God's image as reflected and ratified by Jesus in marriage between one man and one woman. To the LGBTQI community I say God loves you, and his grace is for you. He doesn't reduce you into a commercial group to be exploited in terms of the market trends of sexual identity, but holistically as a person he desires to know and died for. He calls you today like he did me in that Sydney pub eight years ago to come, leave your old life behind, pick up your cross and follow him. I can tell you, it's the best decision I ever made.

David Bennett is an adjunct speaker for the RZIM Zacharias Trust.
Don't pray to God 'like a parrot,' says Pope Francis

Mass-goers should spend their time in silence before the service, preparing to 'meet Jesus' instead of engaging in 'chitchat', Pope Francis has said.

'Silence is so important,' the Pope said during his weekly general audience yesterday. 'Remember what I told you last time: we are not going to a show. Silence prepares us and accompanies us.'

Francis reflected on the Eucharist as a form of prayer that is 'the highest, the most sublime and, at the same time, the most concrete' way of encountering God's love.

'This is the greatest grace: to experience that the Eucharist is the privileged moment to be with Jesus and, through him, with God and with our brothers and sisters,' he said.

He added that in the Gospels, Jesus teaches his disciples that the first thing needed to pray 'is to know how to say "father"' and to trust in God with the humility of a child.

Christians, he said, must also allow themselves to be 'surprised by the living encounter with the Lord,' and not simply 'talk to God like a parrot,' repeating the words of prayers without thinking.

Straying from his prepared words, Pope Francis added: 'The encounter with God is a living encounter. It is not an encounter of a museum, it is a living encounter. And we go to Mass, not a museum! We go to a living encounter with the Lord.'

The Pope went on to say that the Mass is also a gift and a consolation where Christians discover that God's greatest surprise is that he 'loves us even in our weakness'.

'The Lord encounters our frailty,' Francis said. 'This is the environment of the Eucharist. This is prayer.'
Applied Materials President and CEO Gary Dickerson told CNBC on Friday that "there's never been a better time to be an investor" in his company in its 50-year history.

"The future of competition is going to change," Dickerson told "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer. "A.I. and big data are transforming major industries. We see this in retail today, health care, transportation, many, many, many different areas. And at the foundation of that technology is Applied Materials with materials innovation."

As companies invest in competing digitally via smart devices, better displays and streamlined service, Applied Materials, which provides key components to these products, is a direct benefactor, Dickerson said.

"We're firing on all cylinders," the CEO said. "That is fueling our business. That's something we've never seen in the history of our company."

In the era of A.I. and big data, Applied Materials sees several specific drivers contributing to its double-digit revenue and profit growth, Dickerson said.

The first is devices getting smarter. Sensor technology, memory power and data retention all fall in Applied Material's wheelhouse of products, giving it "fundamental" multi-year drivers, the CEO said.

"The memory business is also growing at a rate we've never seen before. All of these smart devices are creating a tremendous amount of data. Data's exploding," he told Cramer. "The profitability of memory companies is better than we've ever seen. And also, to really capture the value, you have to take the data and process it with high-performance computing. And the fundamental technology for high-performance computing and A.I., those materials come from Applied Materials."

Dickerson said that the smart device "explosion" will undoubtedly drive the semiconductor giant's revenue growth through 2018 and beyond.

But nothing trumps the single largest driver for businesses like his, Dickerson said.

"The last one, the biggest driver that we've ever seen in our lifetime that's going to change our world in the next 10 years, is A.I. and big data," the CEO said. "So you combine all of those things together  people have a hard time because they try to extrapolate from the past  we have some fundamental different drivers that are multi-year drivers in our display business and our semiconductor business, so we see [a] clear line of sight."
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As Amazon encroaches on nearly all aspects of retail, CNBC's Jim Cramer found himself asking a key question: "To be Amazon'ed or not to be Amazon'ed?" "It's almost eerie that one company could play such a huge role in both the economy and, yes, for Cramerica, the stock market," the "Mad Money" host said. "As the legendary cable operator John Malone told David Faber yesterday, Amazon is a 'death star' moving in 'striking range of every industry on the planet.'" related investing news What Cramer is watching Wednesday  retail sales strong, Lowe's delivers, Estee Lauder love Yes, Amazon has seemingly unlimited capital, a laser-focused founder, CEO and proverbial "evil emperor," Jeff Bezos, and a lack of exposure to the struggling brick-and-mortar landscape, rife with steep rents and crushing labor costs. But Cramer said that its chief driver is that the consumer loves Amazon, which, which Prime, provides the most convenient and quickest way to get practically anything. "For now, Amazon is indeed the death star," Cramer concluded. "As long as they continue to provide better goods at a better service, every conceivable competitor is right to be afraid. Be very afraid."

Cramer's game plan: Individual stocks drive gains

A farmer unloads harvested corn in Marshall, Missouri. Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Applied Materials CEO on the 'future of competition'

Gary Dickerson, Applied Materials Junko Kimura | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Applied Materials President and CEO Gary Dickerson told CNBC on Friday that "there's never been a better time to be an investor" in his company in its 50-year history. "The future of competition is going to change," Dickerson told Cramer. "A.I. and big data are transforming major industries. We see this in retail today, health care, transportation, many, many, many different areas. And at the foundation of that technology is Applied Materials with materials innovation." As companies invest in competing digitally via smart devices, better displays and streamlined service, Applied Materials, which provides key components to these products, is a direct benefactor, Dickerson said.

What to make of Chinese IPOs?

CEO Xiaochuan Wang and company Chairman Charles Zhang of China-based Sogou Inc ring the opening bell to celebrate their company's IPO at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, November 9, 2017. Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Initial public offerings seem to be coming back in style on Wall Street, so Cramer wanted to zoom in on one part of the market that caught CNBC's attention in recent weeks: Chinese IPOs. "Now, it's not just that Chinese IPOs have been surging. According to the IPO experts at Renaissance Capital, we've had 149 deals so far in 2017, up more than 53 percent from this time last year," the "Mad Money" host said. "By my count, 11 of those IPOs were for Chinese companies. More important, we've gotten nine Chinese deals in just the past nine weeks." Six of the eleven Chinese IPOs have gone up from where their deals priced, while five have gone down. Cramer examined them all and gave his final take for homegamers.

Owens Corning CEO on housing and hurricanes

Owens Corning Chairman and CEO Michael Thaman told Cramer on Friday that as people spend more on their homes, one of his company's key drivers is bouncing back. "The big news in roofing is that re-roof has come back," Thaman said. "We've had all these years of very weak re-roof demand where storms were defining the marketplace. Now you've seen home equity improving, people are investing in their homes, people are putting new roofs on their house, and as a result, we're seeing that core roofing market, which is our bread and butter, really come back and sustain great performance." Still, storms are a major business driver, and though rebuilding in Texas inevitably slowed the supply chain at first, those disruptions are now gone  to Owens Corning's benefit. "Once those disruptions go away, you've got to go back in and rebuild," the CEO said. "Initially, they were churning out a lot of drywall, they were churning out a lot of insulation, that's got to go back in. There'll be roofs, and then we'll get new construction back on its feet in Texas as well."

Lightning Round: Don't overstay in these oil stocks
"The next two days are going to be decisive," said Volker Kauder, parliamentary leader of Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) as he arrived for the talks.

The biggest sticking points are over climate change, where the Greens want emissions cuts that the other parties see as economically ruinous, and immigration, where Merkel's arch-conservative allies in Bavaria insist on stricter rules.

For German Chancellor Angela Merkel, an awkward three-way conservative-liberal-Green alliance is her best hope of securing a fourth term, but the parties are still far apart after four weeks of talks.

Germany's would-be coalition partners met on Saturday for a last-ditch round of weekend talks aimed at finding common ground in the divisive fields of climate and migration policy, in the hope of staving off a possible early election.

A self-imposed deadline of Thursday for wrapping up exploratory talks and starting formal coalition negotiations passed without agreement, forcing the conservatives to promise further concessions on emissions cuts to the Greens.

Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU) fears that it risks being topppled by the far-right in regional elections next year after 60 years in power if it fails to secure immigration red lines that are anathema to the left-leaning Greens.

"We'll have a sense this evening of whether it's going to work," CSU leader Horst Seehofer said.

Among its demands are a cap of 200,000 per year on the number of refugees Germany will take, and an end to the practice of allowing successful asylum seekers to bring their immediate families to join them.

Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a former foreign minister who now plays an apolitical role, warned against "fresh election panic", suggesting in a newspaper interview that the brinkmanship was not out of the ordinary.

"Before they get going there are always attempts by parties to drive prices up as high as possible," he told Welt am Sonntag. "What we've seen in the past weeks isn't so different from previous negotiations."

All parties are anxious to avoid a repeat election, which they fear could boost the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which surged into parliament for the first time in September's national election.

But the heterogeneous three-way coalition, made necessary after the conservatives and the centre-left suffered punishing election losses, is almost without precedent in Germany's post-war history.

The "Jamaica" tie-up, so-called because the three camps' colours match the island nation's flag, is untested at national level.
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Google's new Pixel Buds, the company's first-ever branded headphones, are not worth buying. The highlight feature of Pixel Buds, which I'll dig into in a bit, is the ability to tap into an Android smartphone to translate languages in real-time. Unfortunately, that didn't work as well as expected. And, while the Buds are ultimately supposed to be Google's take on Apple's popular AirPods, they fall short in several ways. Let me explain.

Limited support

You can squeeze either phone to bring up Google Assistant Todd Haselton | CNBC

First, know this: while the Pixel Buds will work with iPhones and Android devices that have Google Assistant, the translation feature works only with Google's Pixel smartphones. That means the target audience of folks who can really use these to their full potential is super small.

The Pixel Buds look cooler than AirPods

The Pixel Buds Todd Haselton | CNBC

My biggest complaint with Apple's AirPods, which I own and love, is that they look downright silly, as if you've decided to walk around town with a white plastic pair of strange-looking earrings. The Pixel Buds look way better. I have a black pair and they don't look as awkward as AirPods, simply appearing as little round wafers sitting in each ear. On the plus side, Apple's AirPods are also really easy to set up: open the case with the buds inside near an iPhone and you'll get an alert to pair. That's supposed to be true of the Pixel Buds, too, but in my tests that pairing process only worked once. The rest of the time I had to manually pair them by holding down a button, opening the Bluetooth menu on my phone and then tapping "pair." Google may need to update the software to fix that.

They're cumbersome and cheap

Pixel Buds vs Apple AirPods Todd Haselton | CNBC

The Pixel Buds might look better than AirPods, but there's a downside. The Pixel Buds are way more cumbersome, with a cord that connects the two buds and a clunky case that can be hard to close when they're inside. I found myself fumbling to get them fit in my ear properly, too, which isn't an issue with AirPods. They also feel cheap, from the plastic covers to the charging case, which seems like it's made out of a material one grade above cardboard. I never once got the impression this was a premium product.

They're not very comfortable and the audio is so-so

Wearing the Google Pixel Buds is uncomfortable, though they look better than AirPods Todd Haselton | CNBC

I can sit at my desk listening to AirPods for most of the day without them feeling too irritating. The Pixel Buds aren't comfortable at all, though. They're kind of bulky, so there's a lot of plastic touching my ears, and they don't slide in and sit as comfortably. Also, since the fit isn't very good, I found that the audio wasn't any better than a set of $30 wireless Bluetooth buds I have sitting at my desk. That's a big deal, considering these cost $159.

They can translate in real-time, sort of

Todd Haselton | CNBC

The stand-out feature of Google Pixel Buds is that they're supposed to be able to translate spoken languages in near real-time. In my real-world tests, however, that wasn't the case at all. I took the Pixel Buds out on the streets of Manhattan, speaking to a Hungarian waiter in Little Italy, multiple vendors in Chinatown and more. If you press the right earbud and say "help me speak Chinese," for example, the buds will launch Google Translate, you can speak what you'd like to ask someone in another language, and a voice will read out the translated speech through your smartphone's speakers. Then, when someone replies, you'll hear that response through the Pixel Buds. The microphone on the Pixel Buds is really bad, so it barely picked up my voice queries that I wanted to translate. I stood on the side of the road in Chinatown repeating myself at least 10 times trying to get the phone to pick up my speech in order to begin translation. It barely worked, even if I took the buds out and spoke directly into the microphone on the right earbud, and often only translated half of what I was trying to ask. In a quiet place, I was able to allow someone to respond to me, after which I'd hear the English translation through the headphones. That was neat, but it barely ever actually worked that way. To mitigate this, I found it was just easier to manually open the Google translate app, speak into my phone's microphone, and then let someone else also speak right into my phone. This executed the translation nearly perfectly, and meant that I didn't need the Pixel Buds at all.

Should you buy them?

The Pixel buds charging case and the Apple AirPods charging case Todd Haselton | CNBC
AUBURN  Pillars and promoters of the community received honors from the DeKalb Chamber Partnership Thursday night.

The chamber staged its annual meeting at the Kruse Expo Center, announcing that the attendance of 305 people set a record.

Business owners, educators and volunteers came to the stage to accept nine special awards.

The annual Allen Graber Citizenship Award was presented to John Souder of Auburn, creator of the prized Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival posters since their beginning in 1980.

Souder was described as completely selfless and as a person who gives back any way he can.

Jeremiah Otis received the award for young professional of the year.

His involvement and commitment to improving the lives of people around him is unmatched, Sarah Payne said in an introduction.

The owner of Jeremiahs Brewed Awakenings coffee shop in Auburn, Otis said his family moved to DeKalb County in the late 1990s, and at first it was too small for his taste.

The longer I was here, the more in love with this place I fell, Otis said. The people are amazing. Talk about Hoosier hospitality  you guys have it in spades.

When he began a free Thanksgiving meal at his shop three years ago, volunteers and donors contributed far more food and money than needed. Otis fed more than 200 people and donated the rest to other charities.

This years Thanksgiving Bash at the shop is scheduled for Thursday starting at 11 a.m.

I dont deserve this award, Otis said. The people in this community who care about it and want it to be better every day and love it and just cant imagine any other community being as good as this  you guys are the people who deserve awards like this.

Carbaugh Jewelers of downtown Auburn was honored as small business of the year for its community involvement. Owner Mike Littlejohn and his wife, Deb, purchased the store in 1997.

Its more than the success of your individual business. Its about the community. Its about giving back. Thats true success, Mike Littlejohn told Thursdays crowd. Its about inspiring other business owners to come together for the good of the community.

At the same time, he said, We have more fun in Carbaugh Jewelers, without an HR department, than any other business we know.

Littlejohn praised his employees, Jan Bundy and Sue Wilhelm. He credited the stores previous owners, the late Bob Carbaugh and Betty Carbaugh, for first offering him a job and then allowing him to buy the business in 1997.

Youre going to see some big changes for the future, Littlejohn said about coming improvements to the downtown district. Youre going to love what you see.

Team Quality Services of Auburn received an award as large business of the year.

We not only fix problems that happen, we look for ways to fix problems before they happen, an employee said on a video about the company.

Founder and President Chris Straw said 20 years ago, he aspired to become an airline pilot.

He took a part-time job representing a windshield-wiper supplier to the General Motors plant in Fort Wayne. That grew into his business that now employs nearly 200 people at 96 plants in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Its just absolutely mind-boggling, Straw said. Thank God that He had a better plan for my life than I did.

Straw thanked his family and his employees who turned my crazy, nutty dreams into reality.

The chambers associate executive director, Terry Rayle, credited Straw for his idea to start the Launch DeKalb County competition for student entrepreneurs earlier this year.

A new award for contributions to education went to Kristi Surfus, principal of J.E. Ober Elementary School in Garrett.

Garrett-Keyser-Butler school board President Larry Getts accepted for Surfus, who was not able to attend.

She is the embodiment of our unspoken motto of doing whats right for kids every day, Getts said. He added that her energy and passion are infectious.

Chamber Executive Director Teresa Harmeyer described visiting Surfus at her school.

You could just tell what an amazing leader and educator she was just by those unsolicited hugs from the students, Harmeyer said.

Another new education award went to Judy Sorg, director of the Learning Link project.

She has made Learning Link an asset to the foundation and to the community, said Wendy Oberlin, retired executive director of the Community Foundation DeKalb County.

Sorg said the credit belongs to everyone who has worked with Learning Link. She added, the chamber has the vision to understand that providing education to their members is essential.

Oberlin then came to the stage to accept the Community Foundation DeKalb Countys award for nonprofit of the year. Now 20 years old, the foundation holds more than $15 million in charitable assets

Were here to connect our donors with the causes they care about, said the foundations board president, Holly Albright.

The chamber presented surprise awards to its volunteer worker, George Davis, and intern, Morgan Spade.

You do an amazing job for the community, Harmeyer told Davis.

About Spade, Harmeyer said, This young woman has saved so much time in our office. Rayle said local schools should be proud of training young people such as Spade.
Saad al-Hariri, who resigned as Lebanon's prime minister this month while in Saudi Arabia, arrived in Paris on Saturday as part of French mediation efforts aimed at trying to ease tensions across the region.

Hariri's resignation on November 4 threw Lebanon into political crisis and put it centre-stage in the Middle East's .

French President Emmanuel Macron, who welcomed Hariri with a warm embrace at the Elysee Palace for talks and a family lunch, leveraged France's close relations with both Lebanon and Saudi Arabia and open the door to a resolution of the crisis.

Hariri, who arrived at his residence in Paris in the early hours of the morning, told Lebanese President Michel Aoun in a phone call from Paris that he would be in Lebanon on Wednesday for Independence Day celebrations, Aoun said on Twitter.

A French presidential source said the two would discuss in detail the reasons behind Hariri's resignation and how to move ahead in the coming days.

"Lebanon is being shaken so its important Hariri comes to Paris for us to work with him on the best way out of the crisis," said a senior French diplomat.

"We're trying to create the conditions for a de-escalation in the region. We want to avoid a proliferation of crises that could get out of control."

Hariri's abrupt resignation and continued stay in Saudi Arabia has caused fears for Lebanon's stability. His visit to France with his family is seen as part of a possible way out of the crisis.

Okab Saqr, a member of parliament for Hariri's Future Movement, said after Hariri's visit to France he would have "a small Arab tour" before travelling to Beirut.
On the Wisconsin shore of the Menominee River a new 3,000-ton Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship sits docked in the water. It's already been delivered to the Navy by Lockheed Martin and it's already active.

A crew of 50 live aboard and have been conducting tests for six months on nearby Lake Michigan. Next month, the warship will be commissioned the USS Little Rock before deploying to Florida.

In addition to automation that has cut crew size in half versus more traditional ships of this size, interchangeable "mission packages," and a top speed of 40 knots, the close-to-shore warship will tout something else: the ability to vertically launch Hellfire missiles (also made by Lockheed) to target threats on land, sea and in the air.

It's one of the ways Lockheed is looking to make the controversial ship more lethal. It's a strategy meant to not only silence critics and snag more orders, but better position the top defense contractor for one of the biggest, most-anticipated new Navy contracts.

"This is a warship," says Michele Evans, Lockheed's vice president and general manager of integrated warfare systems and sensors, a multibillion dollar Naval systems portfolio that includes LCS and the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system.

"It really looks to bring vertical launching systems, take advantage of a lot of what we develop with Aegis, and eventually, we could even look at having a laser-based system on this.

"So, we see the growth potential and I think there's a desire as the Navy looks toward a future frigate."

That future frigate is the Navy's "future guided missile frigate" or FFG(X), a competition for a next-generation small combatant ship to be based off of an existing small surface combatant (like for example, LCS).

Last week the Navy released a design request for proposal that's expected to be awarded next year, the last step before selected contractors build their concepts. Officials met with industry on Friday to review the hundreds of pages of guidelines.

The final contract is set to be awarded in 2020, with the program likely to be worth about $15 billion, according to Roman Schweizer, a defense analyst at Cowen. It's expected to span at least 20 ships.

For the Littoral Combat Ship, Lockheed, an LCS co-prime, partners with shipbuilder Fincantieri Marinette Marine and ship designer Gibbs & Cox for its Freedom-class variant.
Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton face off during the first presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.

President Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are at it again.

Trump lashed out at his former rival on Saturday, calling Clinton "the worst (and biggest) loser of all time," after the ex-Democratic nominee made pointed criticisms in a series of interviews about Trump's political and moral legitimacy.

TWEET

The president tweeted: "Give it another try in three years," in an apparent attempt to bait Clinton to run for president again.

The president's remarks followed two interviews on Friday, in which the former Democratic nominee differentiated between sexual assault accusations against GOP Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore and Democratic Sen. Al Franken. Clinton questioned why Trump was never hurt by past allegations from women that he behaved improperly, and tried to cast doubt on the legitimacy of Trump's win by invoking Russia's suspected meddling in the 2016 general election.

In an interview with Mother Jones, Clinton said she can't explain why Trump's candidacy was not affected by the allegations or his bullying of his rival candidates on the campaign trail.

"I don't understand a lot about how he got away with so many attacks and insults and behaviors that allowed him to win the presidency," the publication reported Clinton as saying.

Trump has always denied allegations made by several women to the New York Times before the election, and around the time of the release of the infamous 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape. In the second presidential debate, Trump admitted to bragging on the tape about kissing and groping women, but said he actually never did any of those things.

On WABC radio, Clinton said the Franken situation differs from Moore because the Minnesota senator apologized, and said he would "gladly cooperate" with an ethics investigation. "I don't hear that from Roy Moore or Donald Trump," Clinton said. "Look at the contrast between Al Franken, accepting responsibility, apologizing, and Roy Moore and Donald Trump who have done neither."

The president has been blasting Franken, while trying to stay out of the Moore situation. Trump's has said the voters of Alabama should decide on whether to elect Moore in next month's special election.

The former secretary of State  appearing to promote her new book "What Happened"  also told WABC radio that Trump has "disgraced the office" of the presidency. "I didn't think he'd be as bad as he turned out to be," she added.

Clinton, also a former senator from New York and first lady, called the GOP tax reform plan "bad policy" that's "downright cruel" to working Americans. "I will predict to you that a number of Republican members of Congress who voted for it, will lose their seats in 2018."
Types of obituaries

The Missourian publishes two types of obituaries  family obituaries and life stories.

A family obituary is the version submitted by a funeral home or family. Please see the submission form for details on cost and deadlines. Family obituaries

A life story is a closer look at a person's life and involves a reporter contacting family and friends. Life stories are based on newsworthiness and consent of the family. Life stories.
ConservativeHome spoke yesterday evening to sources close to David Davis, who unambiguously deny the Daily Telegraphs story today that he may resign out of frustration with Theresa May over Brexit. They laughed the suggestion off, saying that it is simply wrong. In particular, they disputed the claim that the Brexit Secretary is angry because he was not shown a recent letter to the Prime Minister from Boris Johnson and Michael Gove which sought to toughen her stance on leaving the EU. David was only too pleased not to have seen the letter, said the source. Because that way he cant be accused of leaking it.

But it is worth delving a bit into the Telegraphs account, and other coverage this morning, to get a sense of the background to it  and what may be going on. The paper says that Davis is frustrated by the role that Jeremy Heywood and Oliver Robbins are now playing in drawing up Brexit policy for the Prime Minister in Downing Street. This is close to the mark. The Brexit Secretary didnt see eye to eye with Robbins, who served until recently as Permanent Secretary in DexEU, and the latters move will have relieved them both. May has certainly boosted the policy-making capacity at the centre which reports to her personally.

However, the main source for the Telegraphs story undermines his own claim that Davis may quit with his description of how Brexit policy now works. As he points out, the Prime Minister is not in a position to set its course on her own, as she might effectively have been had she won a landslide last June. The lack of a Conservative majority has tilted the balance of power from May herself to Cabinet members (which was precisely why Gove and Johnson felt secure enough to write that letter in the first place). The key decision-making body is now the EU Strategy and Negotiations sub-committee.

It was recently enlarged, and now includes the Environment Secretary and Liam Fox. With the Brexit and Foreign Secretaries also on the committee, the main Cabinet backers of Leave during the referendum are all present. Measures that they dont like could only be forced through it by all other six members acting in concert, and such a dispute would risk a major rupture and possibly resignations. And readers will have noted during the last few months that Johnson and Gove, in their different ways, are not backward about putting their views forcefully  hence the letter.

To put it brutally, the Prime Minister is not in a position to impose Brexit policy on her Cabinet colleagues, however much senior civil servants might wish in private that it were otherwise. She must proceed by consensus. And no-one is more important to it than Davis, who does not feel the Vote Leave loyalties that so tug at the Foreign and Environment Secretaries, but who like them wants a post-Brexit model that is closer to Canada than Switzerland. In effect, he has become the key Cabinet swing voter when it comes to policy formulation on leaving, and not only because of his role in the negotiation. May could not just force her views on him were she to try.

The Telegraph story is not brilliantly sourced. The friend of the Brexit Secretary says in it that he that he might resign, and doesnt claim to have spoken to him. And thats about it. A Cabinet member is quoted as saying that Davis has form  which is true enough  but this is very much in the realm of speculation. A question sometimes worth asking in these circumstances is: who benefits? Or in this case: who gains from such stories about the Brexit Secretary? (The paper also contains an attack on him today from Charles Moore.) His relations with the Chancellor and the Foreign Secretary are very patchy.
Robbins Talks Taxes, Google, IoT

Cisco Systems CEO Chuck Robbins spoke with CNBC Friday after detailing an encouraging first quarter performance earlier in the week. The CEO covered ground ranging from the role Cisco is playing in the IoT market to his hopes for tax reform and what that could mean for the San Jose, Calif., company's capital strategy.

Robbins said Cisco would likely increase its already brisk pace of M&A, make investments in innovation and pay dividends and do stock buy-backs if it can repatriate cash held overseas as a result of tax reform currently making its way through Congress.

Robbins also discussed his outlook for Cisco's new hybrid cloud partnership with Google, as well the prospects for growth as the networking giant seizes the opportunity presented by the cloud and IoT.

What follows are excerpts of Robbins' discussion with CNBC.
Genting Hong Kong named the World Dream on Friday at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong.

Puan Sri Cecilia Lim, World Dreams official Godmother and the wife of Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Genting Hong Kong, delivered an inspirational message and activated the traditional breaking of the champagne on the hull of the new ship in the presence of more than 1,000 guests including government dignitaries, business and trade partners and media.

Notable attendees at the debut and christening included Guest of Honour The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Honourable Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and Mr Edward Yau, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Ms Cathy Chu, JP, Commissioner for Tourism and Dr Peter Lam, GBS, Chairman of Hong Kong Tourism Board.

We are truly excited to christen World Dream in Hong Kong  and to be the first-ever cruise ship to have this honour in a city that holds such significance to Genting Hong Kong and Dream Cruises. As the pioneer of the Asian cruise industry 24 years ago, Genting Hong Kong developed the Asian cruise industry with the founding of Star Cruises, with its headquarters in Hong Kong, said Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Genting Hong Kong.

Now, with Genting Dreams arrival in the Pearl River Delta a year ago, she has delivered over 300,000 international passenger trips from across the region. Hundreds of jobs have been created and tourism receipts in hotels, airlines and destination management industries for the Pearl River Delta have grown significantly.

Tan Sri Lim also expressed the importance of Hong Kong to both Genting Hong Kong and the overall cruise industry in the Asia Pacific and reiterated the companys commitment to showcase the city and grow the Pearl River Delta region into a world-class, cruise destination hub.
What's going on in and around Somerset County?

lifestyle
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Gallagher & Co., Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AUS) Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Bermuda) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Illinois), Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Insurance Brokers of California Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher (Aus) Pty Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher (Bermuda) Holding Partnership, Arthur J. Gallagher (Life Solutions) Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher (U.S.) LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher (UK) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Asesoria S.A.C., Arthur J. Gallagher Australasia Holdings Pty Ltd., Arthur J. Gallagher Brokerage & Risk Management Services LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Broking (NZ) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Financial Services Professionals Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Group Quebec ULC, Arthur J. Gallagher Holdings (UK) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Insurance Brokers Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Latin America LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Management (Bermuda) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Real Estate Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services (Hawaii) Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services of Utah Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher School Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Service Company LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Services (UK) Ltd, Ashmore & Associates Insurance Agency, Atlantic Risk Management Corp., Atrex Insurance (Cayman) SPC Limited, Avantek Pty Ltd, Axe Insurance PCC Limited, BIS Insurance Services, Baker - Tillys employment benefits solutions, Ballard Benefit Works, Bankers Financial Benefits, Barmore Insurance Agency, Behnke & Co. Inc., Bellisle Pty Ltd, Belmont Associates Consultants, Belmont Insurance Holdings Limited, Belmont International, Belmont International Limited, Benefit Development Group, Benefit Management Group, BenefitLink Resource Group, Benefits Planning & Insurance Agency, Benefits Unlimited, Bennett & Shade Co., Bergvall Marine, Bergvall Marine A.S., Besselman & Little Agency, Big Savings Insurance Agency Inc., Blenheim Park Ltd, Blenheim Park Services Limited, Blue Holdings Pty Ltd, Blue Horizon Insurance Services, Blue Water Benefits, BluePeak Advisors, Blueleaf Consulting Pty Ltd., Bluewater Incorporated Cell Insurance Company, Bollinger Inc., Bollinger Insurance Services Inc., Bowen Miclette Britt & Merry of Arkansas Inc., Brendis & Brendis, Brim AB, Broker Benefit Services, Brokerage Professionals, Brown Hobbs & McMurray Insurance, Bultman/Bell Associates Inc., Burkwald & Associates, Burns-Fazzi Brock & Associates, Bushong Insurance Associates, C&B Consulting Group, CGM Gallagher Insruance Brokers (Trinidad & Tobago) Limited, CJM Solutions Inc., CMA Solutions LLC, Cairnstone Financial, California Insurance Center, Capital Bauer Insurance Agency, Capitol Benefits Group, Capsicum CRLA LLP, Capsicum Re Brasil Participacoes Ltda, Capsicum Re Latin America Corretora De Resseguros Ltda, Capsicum Reinsurance Brokers Bermuda Limited, Capsicum Reinsurance Brokers Miami Inc., Carefree Marketing Inc., Carpenter Cammack & Associates, Cashan & Co., Castle Insurance Associates, Centennial Insurance Agency, Charity First Insurance Services Inc., Charles Allen Agency, Charter Lakes Insurance Agency, Chris Schroeder Insurance, Christie-Phoenix, Cintran Claims Canada Limited, Classic Insurance Services, Cleaveland Insurance Group, Cohen & Lord Insurance Brokers, Cohn Financial Group, Coleman Group Holdings Limited, Coleman Holdings Limited, College and University Scholastic Excess Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Commercial Insurance Brokers, Complete Benefit Alliance, Complete Financial Balance, Complete Financial Balance Pty Ltd, Consolidated Casualty Specialties LLC, Construction Risk Solutions, Contego Underwriting Limited, Contego Underwriting Ltd, Continental Excess & Surplus, Convergence Risk Services Ltd, Copper Mountain Assurance Inc., Cornwall & Stevens Co., Corporate Benefit Advisors, Corporate Life Consultants, Countrywide Accident Assistance Limited, Coverdell & Company Inc., Coverdell Canada Corporation, Cowles and Connell, Craig M. Ferguson & Co., Crist Elliott Machette Insurance Services, Crombie Lockwood (NZ) Limited, Davis-Poston & Associates, Denman Consulting Services, Detlefs Johnson & Partners, DiBrina Group, Dickinson & Associates, Discount Development Services L.L.C., Discovery Benefit Solutions, Dodson-Bateman & Co., Donald P. Pipino Co. Ltd., E. S. Susanin Inc., EHE Holdings LLC, EHS Holdings Limited, Elantis Premium Funding (NZ) Limited, Elantis Premium Funding Limited, Elite Benefits Insurance Marketing Services, Employee Benefits Analysis Corp., Employee Benefits of The Carolinas, Encore Insurance & Bonding, Everett James, Evolution Risk Services Limited, Evolution Technology Services Limited, Evolution Underwriting Group, Evolution Underwriting Group Limited, Evolution Underwriting Limited, Excel Insurance Services, FYI Direct Canada Corporation, FYI Direct LLC, Farallone Pacific Insurance Services, Fenchurch Faris Limited, Fidelity Benefits & Insurance Services, Financial Profiles Inc., Finergy Solutions Pty Ltd, First Agency, First Iowa Insurance Agency, First Premium Inc., First Premium Insurance Group, Fish & Schulkamp, Fishermans Insurance Services, Foley Healthcare Limited, Fortress Financial Solutions Pty Ltd, Fortress Insurance LLC, Foundation Strategies, Fox Lawson & Associates, Franklin-Case Agency LLC, Fraser MacAndrew Ryan Limited, Friary Intermediate Limited, Fuller & O'Brien, G.S. Chapman & Associates Insurance Brokers, G.S. Levine Insurance Services, GBS (Australia) Holdings Pty Ltd, GBS Administrators Inc., GBS Insurance and Financial Services Inc., GBS Retirement Services Inc., GBS Specialty Markets LLC, GGB Finance 1 Limited, GGB Finance 2 Limited, GGB Finance 3 Limited, GGB Finance 4 Limited, GPL Assurance, GPL Assurance Inc., Gabor Insurance Services, Gale Smith & Co. Inc., Gallagher (Bermuda) Insurance Solutions Ltd., Gallagher - Grace/Mayer Insurance Agency, Gallagher Bassett Aires Inc., Gallagher Bassett Canada Inc., Gallagher Bassett Insurance Services Ltd., Gallagher Bassett International Ltd., Gallagher Bassett NZ Pty Ltd., Gallagher Bassett Services Inc. , Gallagher Bassett Services Pty Ltd., Gallagher Bassett Services Workers Compensation Victoria Pty Ltd., Gallagher Benefit Services (Canada) Group Inc., Gallagher Benefit Services (Holdings) Limited, Gallagher Benefit Services Inc., Gallagher Benefit Services Management Company Limited, Gallagher Benefit Services Pty Ltd, Gallagher Benefits Consulting Limited, Gallagher Bomford Couch Wilson, Gallagher Burgess, Gallagher Canada Acquisition Corporation, Gallagher Caribbean Group Limited, Gallagher Clean Energy LLC, Gallagher Communications Limited, Gallagher Community Clinic RPG LLC, Gallagher Consulting Ltda, Gallagher Corporate Services LLC, Gallagher Coyle, Gallagher CyberRisk, Gallagher Energy Risk Services Inc., Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC, Gallagher Holdings (UK) Limited, Gallagher Holdings Bermuda Company Limited, Gallagher Holdings Four (UK) Limited, Gallagher Holdings Three (UK) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (Barbados) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Kitts & Nevis) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Lucia) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Vincent) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers Jamaica Limited, Gallagher International Cash Management s.r.l., Gallagher International Holdings (US) Inc., Gallagher Investment Advisors LLC, Gallagher Inwest Group, Gallagher Koster, Gallagher Lambert Group, Gallagher Madison Risk & Insurance Services, Gallagher Mauritius Holdings, Gallagher Mississippi Brokerage LLC, Gallagher RE Colombia Ltda Corredores de Reaseguros SA, Gallagher Risk & Reward Limited, Gallagher Risk Group LLC, Gallagher Risk Placements Pty Ltd, Gallagher SKS, Gallagher Service Center LLP, Gallagher-Tarantino, Galtney Group, Game Day Insurance Inc., Gardner & White Corp., Gardner Marine Agency, Garza Long Group, Gatehouse Consulting Limited, Gault Armstrong Kemble Pty Ltd, Gault Armstrong SARL, Giles Group, Giles Holdings Limited, Giles Insurance Brokers, Gillis Ellis & Baker Inc., Goodman Insurance Agency, Grandy Pratt Co., Greenseed Alternative Mangaers Platform Ltd, Grossman & Associates, Group Benefits of Arkansas, Group Insurance Associates, Gruppo Marcucci, HLG Holdings Limited, HMG-PCMS Limited, HPF Investments LLC, HR Owen Insurance Services Limited, Hagan Newkirk Financial Services, Hagedorn & Company, Hardman & Howell Benefits, Harlequin Insurance PCC Limited, Hartstein Associates Inc., Healthcare Professionals Purchasing Group LLC, Healthcare Risk Solutions, Heath Lambert Group Ltd., Heath Lambert Limited, Heath Lambert Overseas Limited, Heiser Insurance Agency, Henderson Phillips Fine Arts Insurance, Herbruck Alder & Co., Heritage Insurance Brokers (CI) Limited, Hesse & Partner AG, Hesse Consulting, Hexagon ICC Limited, Hexagon Insurance PCC Limited, Hill Chesson & Woody, Hogan Insurance Services, Home & Travel Limited, Honour Point Limited, Horseshoe Corporate Services Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services (Cayman) Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services USA Inc., Horseshoe ILS Services UK Ltd, Horseshoe Insurance Advisors US LLC, Horseshoe Insurance Advisory Ltd., Horseshoe Insurance Services Holdings Ltd, Horseshoe Insurance Services Holdings US Inc., Horseshoe Management (Gibraltar) Limited, Horseshoe Management (Ireland) Ltd, Horseshoe Management Ltd., Horseshoe PCC Limited, Horseshoe Re Limited, Horseshoe Services (Cayman) Ltd, Horseshoe Services (Pty) Ltd, Horton Insurance Agency, Housing Authorities Services Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Human Resource Management Systems, I-Protect Underwriting Pty Ltd, IBIS Advisors, IBS Reinsurance Singapore Pte Ltd, ILS Fund Services Ltd., ISG International, ITI Solutions, Igloo Insurance PCC Limited, Independent Benefit Services, Independent Fiduciary Services, Ink Underwriting Agencies Limited, InsSync Group Pty Ltd, Inspire Underwriting Limited, Instrat Insurance Brokers, Instrat Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd, Instrat Integration Holdco Pty Ltd, Insurance Acquisitions Holdings Limited, Insurance Associates Inc., Insurance Dialogue Limited, Insurance Dialogue Ltd., Insurance Plans Agency, Insurance Plus Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Insurance Point, Insurance Risk Managers of Missouri Inc., Insure My Villa Limited, Insure Pty Ltd, Integrated Healthcare Strategies, InterNational Insurance Group, InterPacific Underwriting Agencies, Intermountain Financial Benefits, Interstate Insurance Underwriters, JPGAC LLC, James F. Reda & Associates, James R. Weir Insurance Agency, Jenkins and Associates, Joe E. Martin Inc., John P. Woods Co. Inc., Jones Brown, Jones Brown Group Inc., Jones Brown Insurance Solutions Inc., Joseph Distel, Joseph James & Associates Insurance Agency, Just Landlords Insurance Services Ltd, KDC Associates, KRW Insurance Agency, Kahl Insurance Services, Kaler Carney Liffler & Co. Inc., Kane Group - Insurance Management Operations, Kelly Financial, Kent Kent & Tingle and RBS, Keyser Benefits Corp., Kingspark Enterprises Pty Ltd, L&R Benefits, LSG Insurance Partners, Learn About Money Limited, Lewis & Associates Insurance Brokers, Leystone Insurance & Financial, Life Plans Unlimited, Lincoln Financial Management, Longfellow Financial, Lucas Fettes Limited, Lucas Fettes and Partners Limited, Lutgert Insurance, MA Underwriting Pty Ltd, MDM Insurance Associates, MG Advanced Coal Technologies-1 LLC, MGA Insurance Services, MRS Holdings Ltd., Madison Scott & Associates, Managed Healthcare Solutions, Mannequin Insurance PCC Limited, Marchetti Robertson & Brickell Insurance, Marine Insurance Service, Martin Gordon & Jones Inc., McDowall Associates Human Resource Consultants, McIntyre Risk Management, McLean Insurance Agency, McNeary, McPherson Benefits Group, McRory & Co., Mecacem Insurance SPC Ltd, MedInsights Inc., Melton Insurance Associates, Memberworks Canada LLC, Merit Insurance, Metcom Excess, Metzler Bros. Insurance, Meyers-Reynolds & Associates, Mid America Group, Midwest Surety Services, Mike Henry Insurance Brokers, Mike Henry Insurance Brokers Limited, Mike Henry Insurance Funding Limited, Miller Buettner & Parrott, Miller-Harrison Insurance Services, Milne Alexander Pty Ltd, Minvielle & Chastanet Insurance Brokers, Monument Insurance (NZ) Limited, Monument Llc, Monument Premium Funding Limited, Mortgage Insurance Agency, Murphy Consultants, Mutual Insurance Services, NationAir Aviation Insurance, National Administration Co., National Ethics Association, National Transportation Adjusters, Nelson/Monarch Insurance Services, Nicoud Insurance Services, NiiS/Apex Group Holdings, Nonprofit Insurance Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Noraxis Capital Corp, Nordic Forsakring & Riskhantering AB, North Alabama Insurance, Nourse Insurance Brokers, O'Gorman & Young, OAMPS (UK) Limited, OAMPS Gault Armstrong Pty Ltd, OAMPS Limited, OAMPS Special Risks Ltd, Offshore Market Placements Limited, Optimum Talent, Orb Financial Services, Orb Financial Services Limited, Osprey Insurance Brokers Limited, Oval Group, Oval Healthcare Limited, Oval Insurance Broking Limited, Oval Limited, Oval Management Services Limited, Oxygen Insurance Managers, P2 Group, PEN Insurance Management Advisors Ltd, PT IBS Insurance Broking Service, Pacific Insurance Agency, Palmer Atlantic Insurance, Palmer Atlantic Insurance Ltd, Palmer Atlantic Risk Services Ltd., Park Row Associates, Parkstar Enterprises Pty Ltd, Parmia Pty Ltd, PartnerSource, Pastel Holding (NZ) Company, Pastel Holdings Pty Limited, Pastel Purchaser (NZ) Limited, Pastel Purchaser Pty Limited, Pavey Group Holdings (UK) Limited, Pavey Group Holdings Limited, Pavey Group Limited, Pearson Dunn Insurance Inc., Pen Underwriting Canada Limited, Pen Underwriting Group Pty. Ltd., Pen Underwriting Limited, Pen Underwriting Pty Ltd, Persing Dyckman & Toynbee Inc., Personal Advice Services Pty Ltd, Petty Burton Associates, Pointer Insurance Agency, Portmore Insurance Brokers (Wilshire) Limited, Portmore Insurance Brokers Limited, Potter-Holden & Co., Powell Insurance Agency, Premier Insurance Services Inc., Premier Risk Services, Premium Finance Corporation, Preston-Patterson, ProSource Financial, Professional Agents Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Professional Claims Managers, Proinova AB, Proinova Agency AB, Pronto California Agency LLC, Pronto California General Agency LLC, Pronto Florida Claims LLC, Pronto Florida General Agency LLC, Pronto Franchise LLC, Pronto General Agency Ltd, Pronto General Agency Management LLC, Pronto Holdco Inc., Pronto Holding California LLC, Pronto Holding Florida LLC, Pronto Insurance Agency of Laredo Inc., Pronto Premium Finance LLC, Property & Commercial Ltd., Property Insurance Initatives Limited, Property and Commercial Limited, Protected Insurance Company, Protection Plan Association Inc., Protek Group Limited, Providium Consulting Group, Ptarmigan Underwriting Agency Limited, Ptarmigan Underwriting UK Limited, Purple Bridge Claims Management Limited, Purple Bridge Finance Limited, Purple Bridge Group Limited, Purple Bridge Investments Limited, Purple Bridge Online Services Limited, Purple Bridge Publishing Limited, Quantum Underwriting Solutions Limited, Quillco 226 Limited, Quillco 227 Limited, R. L. Youngdahl & Associates, R.G. Speno Inc., R.W. Scobie, RA Rossborough (Guernsey) Ltd., RA Rossborough (Insurance Brokers) Ltd, REGENCY Group inc., RGA Referencing Limited, RGA Underwriting Limited, RIL Administrators (Guernsey) Ltd., RJ Dutton Inc., RSM Insurance Services Limited, Reassurance Holdings Inc., Rebholz Insurance Agency, Reid Manson Ltd., Reimbursement Services, Rentguard Limited, Reward Management Limited, Reynolds & Rodar Insurance Group, Riley & Associates, Rio 587 Limited, Rio 588 Limited, Risk & Reward Group, Risk Management Partners Limited, Risk Placement Services Inc., Risk Planners, Risk Services (NW) Limited, Risk Services (NW) Ltd., Risk Solutions Group Limited, Robert A. Schneider Agency, Robert Keith & Associates, Roberts & Roberts Insurance Service, Robinson-Adams Insurance, Rossborough Healthcare International Ltd, Rossborough Insurance (IOM) Ltd., Rossborough Insurance Services Ltd. (Jersey), S. A. Freerks & Associates, SEG Insurance Ltd, SGB-NIA Insurance Brokers, SHILLING Ltd, SKANCO International, SMERI AB, SRS Underwriting Pty Ltd, Secure Enterprises Pty Ltd, Securitas Re, Sellers Group, Sentinel Indemnity LLC, Septagon Insurance PCC Limited, Shuford Insurance Agency, Sigma II Insurance Agency, Sinclair Billard and Weld Limited, Sobieski & Bradley, Solid Benefit Guidance, Spanjers Insurance Agency, Spataro Insurance Agency, Specialised Broking Associates, Specialty Risk, Stackhouse Poland, Stackhouse Poland Bidco Limited, Stackhouse Poland Group Limited, Stackhouse Poland Holdings Limited, Stackhouse Poland Midco Limited, Stackouse Poland Limited, Stanton Group, Stark Johnson & Stinson Inc., Steel Agency, Strata Solicitors Ltd, Strategic Health Plans Corp., Strathearn Insurance Brokers, Strathearn Insurance Brokers (Qld) Trading Trust, Strathern Insurance Group Pty Ltd, Strathern Integration Holdco Pty Ltd, Strathern Unit Trust, Strong Financial Resources, Summit Insurance Group, Sunday and Associates, Sunderland Insurance Services, Super Advice Corporate Services Pty Ltd, Taylor Benefits, Texas Insurance Agency, Texas Insurance Managers, The BeneTex Group, The Buchholz Planning, The Chapman Group, The Commonwealth Consulting Group, The Daniels Group Inc., The EHE Group LLC, The EHE Insurance Agency LLC, The Eagle Insurance Agency LLC, The Eriksen Group, The Forker Company, The Gleason Agency, The Great Lakes Agency, The HR Group, The Hawk Agency, The Human Capital Group, The Lance Group, The Levitt/Kristan Co., The MW Bagnall Company, The Old Greenwich Consulting Group, The Parks Johnson Agency, The Plus Companies Inc., The Presidio Group, The Producers Choice, The Rains Group, The Splinter Group, The Titan Group, The Treiber Group, The Woodsmall Companies Inc., Title & Covenant Brokers Ltd., Title Investments Limited, Tom Sherwin Insurance Agency, Total Reward Group, Total Rewards Group (Holdings) Limited, Towle Agency, Transwestern, Tri-State General Insurance Agency, Triad Insurance Agency, Triad USA, Tribeca Strategic Advisors, Trinder & Norwood, Trip Mate, Trissel Graham & Toole, Tropp & Co., Tudor Risk Services, Tyloma Holdings Limited, Uni-Care Inc., Unison Inc., Universico Group, Unoccupied Direct Limited, V2V Holdings LLC, VEBA Service Group, Vasek Insurance Services Limited, Velo ACU LLC, Velo Holdings Inc., Verbag AG., Vertrue LLC, Victory Insurance Agency, Vincent L. Braband Insurance, Vital Benefits, Voluntary Benefits Solutions, W. E. Kingsley Co. Inc., WM. W. George & Associates, Walker Taylor Agency, Welling Associates, Wesfarmers Insurance - Insurance Brokerage Operations, Western Benefit Solutions, White & Company Insurance, Whitehaven Insurance Group, William Gallagher Associates Insurance Brokers, William H. Connolly & Co., Williams Insurance Agency Inc., Williams-Manny Insurance Group, Winn & Company Insurance Brokers, Wischmeyer Benefit Partners, Woodbrook Underwriting Agencies, Woods & Grooms, WorkCare Northwest, Worksite Communications, Y. S. Liedman & Associates, YOA Capsicum Reinsurance Broker Limited, Zenor Limited, Zuber Insurance Agency, and e3 Financial.

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CarMax, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer of used vehicles in the United States. The company operates through two segments, CarMax Sales Operations and CarMax Auto Finance. It offers customers a range of makes and models of used vehicles, including domestic, imported, and luxury vehicles, as well as hybrid and electric vehicles; and extended protection plans to customers at the time of sale, as well as sells vehicles that are approximately 10 years old and has more than 100,000 miles through wholesale auctions. The company also provides reconditioning and vehicle repair services; and financing alternatives for retail customers across a range of credit spectrum through its CarMax Auto Finance and arrangements with various financial institutions. As of February 28, 2022, it operated approximately 230 used car stores. CarMax, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is based in Richmond, Virginia.
FREMONT  More than 100 area elementary and middle school students will be able to get new winter coats, hats and gloves thanks to the generosity of the employees at Cardinal IG in Fremont.

The coats were picked up by representatives from Fremont Community Schools and Metropolitan School District of Steuben County schools Thursday afternoon.

For the second year in a row, the employees held penny wars between departments as a fundraiser to purchase coats for students in the Fremont and MSD school districts.

Its a drive that Cardinal plant manager Mike Connell said was born out in the factory.

This was born out of an organic creation of the team out in the factory, Connell said. They wanted to do something like this, determined the need and we ran with it.

The winning department in the penny wars was the mezzanine, with $1,079.15 in just pennies, and more than $1,600 total raised.

As a whole, Cardinal raised more than $2,500 with the drive and was able to purchase all new coats, hats and gloves in various sizes to distribute between the districts. All three shifts of employees participated in the drive.

MSD of Steuben County Superintendent Brent Wilson said the coats were an immediate need for his district and the drive very appreciated.

Eric Bryan, principal at Fremont Elementary School, said hes glad to have the chance to open the closet and give the students in need a brand new coat because he can tell the student its yours, take it with you.

Connell said they do this because Cardinal wants to continue to be a good resource for the community.

Fremont High School Principal Mark Sherbondy said its great to have the help because when the schools have help meeting the non-educational needs of the students, it helps them continue to meet the educational needs.
Under Armour, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the developing, marketing, and distributing performance apparel, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and youth. The company offers its apparel in compression, fitted, and loose fit types. It also provides footwear products for running, training, basketball, cleated sports, recovery, and outdoor applications. In addition, the company offers accessories, which include gloves, bags, headwear, and sports masks; and digital subscription and advertising services under the MapMyRun and MapMyRide platforms. It primarily offers its products under the UNDER ARMOUR, UA, HEATGEAR, COLDGEAR, HOVR, PROTECT THIS HOUSE, I WILL, UA Logo, ARMOUR FLEECE, and ARMOUR BRA brands. The company sells its products through wholesale channels, including national and regional sporting goods chains, independent and specialty retailers, department store chains, mono-branded Under Armour retail stores, institutional athletic departments, and leagues and teams, as well as independent distributors; and directly to consumers through a network of 422 brand and factory house stores, as well as through e-commerce websites. It operates in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. Under Armour, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.
Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. manufactures, and distributes life science research and clinical diagnostic products in the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. The company operates through Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics segments. The Life Science segment develops, manufactures, and markets a range of reagents, apparatus, and laboratory instruments that are used in research techniques, biopharmaceutical production processes, and food testing regimes. It focuses on selected segments of the life sciences market in proteomics, genomics, biopharmaceutical production, cellular biology, and food safety. This segment serves universities and medical schools, industrial research organizations, government agencies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, biotechnology researchers, food producers, and food testing laboratories. The Clinical Diagnostics segment designs, manufactures, sells, and supports test systems, informatics systems, test kits, and specialized quality controls for clinical laboratories in the diagnostics market. This segment offers reagents, instruments, and software, which address specific niches within the in vitro diagnostics test market. It sells its products to reference laboratories, hospital laboratories, state newborn screening facilities, physicians' office laboratories, and transfusion laboratories. In addition, the company offers products and systems to separate complex chemical and biological materials, as well as to identify, analyze, and purify components. The company offers its products through its direct sales force, as well as through distributors, agents, brokers, and resellers. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Hercules, California.
Watts Water Technologies, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells products, solution, and systems that manage and conserve the flow of fluids and energy into, through and out of buildings in the commercial and residential markets in the Americas, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers residential and commercial flow control products, including backflow preventers, water pressure regulators, temperature and pressure relief valves, and thermostatic mixing valves. It also provides heating, ventilation, and air conditioning and gas products, such as boilers, water heaters, custom heat, and hot water solutions; hydronic and electric heating systems for under-floor radiant applications; custom heat and hot water solutions; hydronic pump groups for boiler manufacturers and alternative energy control packages; and flexible stainless steel connectors for natural and liquid propane gas in commercial food service and residential applications. In addition, the company offers drainage and water re-use products comprising drainage products and engineered rain water harvesting solutions for commercial, industrial, marine, and residential applications; and water quality products that include point-of-use and point-of-entry water filtration, conditioning, and scale prevention systems for commercial and residential applications. Further, it provides smart mixing system under the IntelliStation name. The company sells its products to plumbing, heating, and mechanical wholesale distributors and dealers, as well as original equipment manufacturers, specialty product distributors, do-it-yourself chains, and retail chains; and directly to wholesalers and private label accounts. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1874 and is headquartered in North Andover, Massachusetts.




Good News from Lynne McTaggertA Love Bomb Gets Dropped in the Middle EastIts been eight days since our historic Middle Eastern Peace Intention Experiment, and shock waves are rippling across the Middle East, as well in the hearts of our participants.For those of you who havent heard, we targeted the Old City of Jerusalem, largely because it is the spiritual heart of most of the worlds inhabitants of the three main religions, a place that belongs to everyone, but that can be possessed by no single faith.We sent intention through my YouTube channel, as thousands of people from around the world joined the Arabs from eight countries and hundreds of Jews from Jerusalem at the Gerard Bechar Theatre in Jerusalem, both of whom were lit up on my screen.I ran the experiment from Smarts Way Studio, owned by Dr. Salah Al-Rashed, the Deepak Chopra of the Middle East. The studio has the capability of simultaneously connecting screens from nine different locations. We connected Arabs from eight cities  in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan and Tunisia and also an auditorium of Israelis in Jerusalem, who were attending a special peace event, all to my other screen, where everyone could see me running the experiment.No horns in sightThe experiment itself was amazing, but even more amazing was the reaction of the Arabs and Jews, who began sending love, forgiveness to each other.You have no idea how revolutionary this is, said one Saudi woman to me. We have never seen Israelis. Weve been taught to believe that they have horns coming out of their heads.After our experiment, the Jerusalem event carried on, with Dr. Noga Gazit, speaking about how inner peace leads to global peace; Imad Telhami, discussing the principles in business that support social ethics; and Lilian Weisberger, of the Women Wage Peace Steering Committee, and The March of Hope and The Journey to Peace  two projects that attracted more than 60,000 participants.A rabbi and a sheikh spoke about biblical precedents for this coming together, and both Arabs and Israeli families shared their stories about how the conflict had impacted them, and offered solutions for lasting peace.The story breaksThe story about the experiment broke immediately all across the Middle East. Dr. Al-Rashed showed me the Twitter feed from a prominent MP in Kuwait, who acknowledged the experiment as a wonderful mechanism for promoting peaceful relations.Israeli press and television was also awash in the story. As Time Out Israel wrote, While peace in the Middle East is neither black nor white, it's the small efforts like this meditation event that slowly start to make a difference.And then there was the reaction of our thousands of participants on YouTube. They came from all over the US, from Brooklyn to Los Angeles and the UK, most of Europe, the Arab countries and Jerusalem, but also more exotic, far-flung places: Australia, Brazil, Tokyo, Bangkok, Budapest, Finland, Columbia, South Africa.Once again, about half the audience registered a mirror effect. Relationships were healing, participants felt more love for the entire world.As Ross Watts wrote: The Middle East Peace Intention energy is still affecting me today  smiles and LOVE Bombs just flowin- and glowin  doing acts of kindness without any thought  they just happen. MERCY Lynne McTaggart, the rebound effect is AWESOME!I experienced personal release of deeply held, old, old patterns dating back to my earliest childhood that subsequently came up into awareness, for acceptance and clearing out, wrote another. Probably my deepest healing ever, and it has made a huge (HUGE!) difference to my relationship to my partner, which was already deeply powerful. Now it is a totally connected union.Healing the healersPeople experienced their own physical healings: After the meditation I experienced a severe headache, which I normally never have... I went to bed. It was the beginning of a realignment process in my neck vertebrae... my neck is getting better and better than years before!Now that we have this capability to connect audiences around the globe and allow them to interact, Dr. Al-Rashed and I are planning larger Peace Experiments involving every continent on the planet.The powerfully transformational mechanisms at work in my healing intention groups appeared to be the unique power of group prayer coupled with an amazing mirror effect. Focusing on healing someone else brings on a mirrored healing.And thats the real point of all of this. Yes, we might lower violence in Damascus Gate, and I hope we do. But most of all, what we will have created is a ripple effect of peace in the hearts of the participants that extends out to the entire world.
Tyler Technologies, Inc. provides integrated information management solutions and services for the public sector. The company operates in three segments: Enterprise Software; Appraisal and Tax; and NIC. It offers financial management solutions, including modular fund accounting systems for government agencies or not-for-profit entities; utility billing systems for the billing and collection of metered and non-metered services; products to automate city and county functions, such as municipal courts, parking tickets, equipment and project costing, animal and business licenses, permits and inspections, code enforcement, citizen complaint tracking, ambulance billing, fleet maintenance, and cemetery records management; and student information and transportation solutions for K-12 schools. The company also provides a suite of judicial solutions comprising court case management, court and law enforcement, prosecutor, and supervision systems to handle multi-jurisdictional county or statewide implementations, and single county systems; public safety software solutions; systems and software to automate the appraisal and assessment of real and personal property, as well as tax applications for agencies that bill and collect taxes; planning, regulatory, and maintenance software solutions for public sector agencies; software applications to enhance and automate operations involving records and document management; and data and insights solutions. In addition, it offers software as a service arrangements and electronic document filing solutions for courts and law offices; software and hardware installation, data conversion, training, product modification, and maintenance and support services; and property appraisal outsourcing services for taxing jurisdictions. The company has a strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services for cloud hosting services. Tyler Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Plano, Texas.
Juniper Networks, Inc. designs, develops, and sells network products and services worldwide. The company offers routing products, such as ACX series universal access routers to deploy high-bandwidth services; MX series Ethernet routers that function as a universal edge platform; PTX series packet transport routers; wide-area network SDN controllers; and session smart routers. It also provides switching products, including EX series Ethernet switches to address the access, aggregation, and core layer switching requirements of micro branch, branch office, and campus environments; QFX series of core, spine, and top-of-rack data center switches; and juniper access points, which provide Wi-Fi access and performance. In addition, the company offers security products comprising SRX series services gateways for the data center; Branch SRX family provides an integrated and next-generation firewall; virtual firewall that delivers various features of physical firewalls; and advanced malware protection, a cloud-based service and Juniper ATP. Further, it offers Junos OS, a network operating system; Contrail networking, which provides an open-source and standards-based platform for SDN; Mist AI-driven Wired, Wireless, and WAN assurance solutions to set and measure key metrics; Mist AI-driven Marvis Virtual Network Assistant, which identifies the root cause of issues; Juniper Paragon Automation, a modular portfolio of cloud-native software applications; and Juniper Apstra to automate the network lifecycle in a single system. Additionally, the company provides software-as-a-service, technical support, maintenance, and professional services, as well as education and training programs. It sells its products through direct sales, distributors, value-added resellers, and original equipment manufacturers to end-users in the cloud, service provider, and enterprise markets. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
Teradyne, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and supports automatic test equipment worldwide. The company operates through Semiconductor Test, System Test, Industrial Automation, and Wireless Test segments. The Semiconductor Test segment offers products and services for wafer level and device package testing in automotive, industrial, communications, consumer, smartphones, cloud computer and electronic game, and other applications. This segment also provides FLEX test platform systems; J750 test system to address the volume semiconductor devices; Magnum platform that tests memory devices, such as flash memory and DRAM; and ETS platform for semiconductor manufacturers, and assembly and test subcontractors in the analog/mixed signal markets. It serves integrated device manufacturers that integrate the fabrication of silicon wafers into their business; fabless companies that outsource the manufacturing of silicon wafers; foundries; and semiconductor assembly and test providers. The System Test segment offers defense/aerospace test instrumentation and systems; storage test systems; and circuit-board test and inspection systems. The Industrial Automation segment provides collaborative robotic arms, autonomous mobile robots, and advanced robotic control software for manufacturing, logistics, and light industrial customers. The Wireless Test segment provides test solutions for use in the development and manufacture of wireless devices and modules, smartphones, tablets, notebooks, laptops, peripherals, and Internet-of-Things devices under the LitePoint brand name. This segment also offers IQxel products for Wi-Fi and other standards; IQxstream solution for testing GSM, EDGE, CDMA2000, TD-SCDMA, WCDMA, HSPA+, LTE, and 5G technologies; IQcell, a multi-device cellular signaling test solution; IQgig test solution; and turnkey test software for wireless chipsets. Teradyne, Inc. was incorporated in 1960 and is headquartered in North Reading, Massachusetts.
Post Holdings, Inc. operates as a consumer packaged goods holding company in the United States and internationally. It operates through five segments: Post Consumer Brands, Weetabix, Foodservice, Refrigerated Retail, and BellRing Brands. The Post Consumer Brands segment manufactures, markets, and sells branded and private label ready-to-eat (RTE) cereal and hot cereal products. It serves grocery stores, mass merchandise customers, supercenters, club stores, natural/specialty stores, and drug store customers, as well as sells its products in the military, ecommerce, and foodservice channels. The Weetabix segment primarily markets and distributes branded and private label RTE cereal, hot cereals and other cereal-based food products, breakfast drinks, and muesli. This segment sells its products to grocery stores, discounters, wholesalers, and convenience stores, as well as through ecommerce. The Foodservice segment produces and distributes egg and potato products in the foodservice and food ingredient channels. It serves foodservice distributors and national restaurant chains. The Refrigerated Retail segment produces and distributes side dishes, eggs and egg products, sausages, cheese, and other dairy and refrigerated products for grocery stores and mass merchandise customers. The BellRing Brands segment markets and distributes ready-to-drink (RTD) protein shakes, other RTD beverages, powders, nutrition bars, and supplements. It serves club stores, food, drug and mass customers, and online retailers, as well as specialty retailers, convenience stores, and distributors. Post Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Tableau Software, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides business analytics software products. It offers Tableau Desktop, a self-service, powerful analytics product with data; Tableau Server, a business intelligence platform for organizations; Tableau Online, a hosted software-as-a-service version of Tableau Server; Tableau Prep, a data preparation product for combining, shaping, and cleaning data; and Tableau Public, a cloud-based platform for analyzing and sharing public data. In addition, it offers Visual Query Language (VizQL) for databases, which is a computer language for describing pictures of data, including graphs, charts, maps, time series, and tables of visualizations; Live Query Engine that interprets abstract queries generated by VizQL into syntax understandable by database systems; and Hyper, an in-memory data engine technology that helps customers to analyze a range of data sets by evaluating analytical queries directly in the transactional database. Further, the company provides support, maintenance, training, and professional services. It serves organizations in various industries, including business services, energy and telecommunications, financial services, life sciences and healthcare, manufacturing and technology, media and entertainment, public sector, and education, as well as retail, consumer, and distribution industries. The company sells its products directly, as well as through indirect sales channels, such as technology vendors, resellers, original equipment manufacturers, independent software vendor, and distributors in the United States, Canada, and internationally. Tableau Software, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
TransUnion provides risk and information solutions. The company operates in three segments: U.S. Markets, International, and Consumer Interactive. The U.S. Markets segment provides consumer reports, actionable insights, and analytics to businesses. These businesses use its services to acquire new customers; assess consumer ability to pay for services; identify cross-selling opportunities; measure and manage debt portfolio risk; collect debt; verify consumer identities; and mitigate fraud risk. This segment serves various industry vertical markets, including financial services, insurance, tenant and employment, collections and services, technology, commerce and communication, public sector, media, and other markets. The International segment offers credit reports, analytics, technology solutions, and other value-added risk management services; and consumer services, which help consumers to manage their personal finances and consumer credit reporting, insurance and auto information solutions, and commercial credit information services. This segment serves customers in financial services, retail credit, insurance, automotive, collections, public sector, and communications industries through direct and indirect channels. The Consumer Interactive segment provides credit reports and scores, credit monitoring, identity protection and resolution, and financial management solutions that enable consumers to manage their personal finances and take precautions against identity theft. This segment offers its products through online and mobile interfaces, as well as through direct and indirect channels. The company serves customers in approximately 30 countries and territories, including North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, India, and the Asia Pacific. The company was formerly known as TransUnion Holding Company, Inc. and changed its name to TransUnion in March 2015. TransUnion was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand. The company also provides home decor products under the West Elm brand; kids accessories under the Pottery Barn Kids brand; and an organic bedding to multi-purpose furniture under the Pottery Barn Teen brand. In addition, it offers made-to-order lighting, hardware, furniture, and home decors inspired by history under the Rejuvenation brand; and women's and men's accessories, travel, entertaining and bar, home decor, and seasonal items under the Mark and Graham brand, as well as operates a 3-D imaging and augmented reality platform for the home furnishings and decor industry. The company markets its products through e-commerce websites, direct-mail catalogs, and retail stores. It operates 544 stores comprising 502 stores in 41states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico; 20 stores in Canada; 19 stores in Australia; 3 stores in the United Kingdom; and 139 franchised stores, as well as e-commerce websites in various countries in the Middle East, the Philippines, Mexico, South Korea, and India. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
The Holmen Village Board this week unanimously approved a $6.3 million budget for 2018

This years budget was $10.6 million, or $4.3 million more than the estimate for 2018, largely because of the expense of building the new library, completed in September, and the Holmen Drive project.

Property owners in the village will be providing a little over $3 million of the budget, according to village officials. The mill rate will be calculated when the village receives tax figures from the School District of Holmen, Western Technical College and La Crosse County.

Among the more notable changes in next years budget is a 28.15 percent increase in intergovernmental revenues. Holmen Village Administrator Scott Heinig said the rise in state transportation funding is due to the transfer of authority over Holmen Drive and Main Street from the county to the village.

The transfer of jurisdiction of the county road from Cole Court at the southern end of Holmen Drive to a point 1,300 feet north of the McHugh Road intersection in 2016 means the village is now responsible for maintaining that stretch of highway.

The villages Public Works Department submitted a budget of $1,090,081 to cover the costs of street repaving projects scheduled for next year, installation of a new street in tax increment finance district #2, design services for Sand Lake Road improvement project and the Gaarder and Main streets projects as well as new equipment. The department also included the cost for a new engineering technician to the departments staff.

A clarification was made to the draft budget presented at the HVBs special meeting in October regarding the police departments outlay requests. The draft budget indicated the HPD was looking to hire another full-time officer. However, the chiefs request was to simply increase the 2018 budget to cover the costs of the full-time officer hired this past summer for an entire year. The department isnt looking to increase its staffing in 2018.

The board unanimously voted at the Nov. 9 public hearing to adopt the $6.3 million budget, which is projected to be balanced.

Holmen Drive construction

Although the paving on Holmen Drive is nearing completion, the board approved a 151-day extension on the villages contract with Chippewa Concrete Services, Inc. The company has informed the village the majority of work still needing to be done involves landscaping along the roadway.

By extending the completion date to April 30, 2018, the change allows the contractor to put in trees and other vegetation during the spring planting season.

Its to finish everything that needs to be done, said Holmen Public Works Director Dean Olson. There might be a little more they will need to do on construction.

According to Olson, weather and the availability of construction material are the primary factors in determining when construction will end for the year.

Although the county is placing the asphalt, the material is obtained from Mathy, and they typically shut down their plant before Thanksgiving, said Olson. There might be some other touch-up items that could be worked on next week, but that is also dependent on the weather.

The primary focus is to get the surface course of pavement on Holmen Drive before construction ends for the year.

The estimated $6.5 million reconstruction project began this past spring and is a joint project with La Crosse County.

The villages portion of the project was initially estimated at just over $4 million. The project has experienced cost overruns as well as delays due to unanticipated utility infrastructure upgrades and sublayer defects.
Suncor Energy Inc. operates as an integrated energy company. The company primarily focuses on developing petroleum resource basins in Canada's Athabasca oil sands; explores, acquires, develops, produces, transports, refines, and markets crude oil in Canada and internationally; markets petroleum and petrochemical products under the Petro-Canada name primarily in Canada. It operates through Oil Sands; Exploration and Production; Refining and Marketing; and Corporate and Eliminations segments. The Oil Sands segment recovers bitumen from mining and in situ operations, and upgrades it into refinery feedstock and diesel fuel, or blends the bitumen with diluent for direct sale to market. The Exploration and Production segment is involved in offshore operations off the east coast of Canada and in the North Sea; and operating onshore assets in Libya and Syria. The Refining and Marketing segment refines crude oil and intermediate feedstock into various petroleum and petrochemical products; and markets refined petroleum products to retail, commercial, and industrial customers through its other retail sellers. The Corporate and Eliminations segment operates four wind farms in Ontario and Western Canada. The company also markets and trades in crude oil, natural gas, byproducts, refined products, and power. The company was formerly known as Suncor Inc. and changed its name to Suncor Energy Inc. in April 1997. Suncor Energy Inc. was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
The Veterans Day assembly at Crucifixion Elementary School last Friday caused both students and staff to open up about the sacrifices that military veterans make for their country.

A panel of uniformed veterans performed a flag-folding procedure while they informed students of the meaning and symbols of the flag. The veterans then fielded questions from students regarding their military service.

One student asked why military officers sometimes wear gloves with their uniforms, and another asked why they decided to enlist. A couple of the veterans said they were just young, and seeking a new experience when they signed up.

American Legion Post 595 commander Michael Limberg had a different experience, and shared how his life was turned around by the call he got to serve. Limberg was raised in La Crosse and went to school at UW-La Crosse, and after graduating had job lined up in Green Bay to teach. On the day he signed his teaching contract, he was drafted into the army. Limberg said it was the first time he was away from home.

Sixth-graders Maddy Gaderneier and Olivia Johnson didnt ask any questions during the panel, but they were in awe at some of the personal experiences veterans shared about the being drafted. Gaderneier and Johnson were also surprised by the variety of jobs veterans had during their service, and neither could imagine the difficulties they had to face.

I would not be brave enough to just leave home like that, said Johnson. Gaderneier agreed, and said shed be scared to miss her family too much.

This years Veterans Day landed on the 15th anniversary of the death of Robert Adams, a former Crucifixion principal who died in a motorcycle accident.

Adams was a Vietnam veteran, who rescued soldiers via helicopter and survived two separate crashes during the war. Former Crucifixion Reverend Monsignor Donald Grubisch was a World War II veteran, piloting bomber planes in World War II.

After the assembly, Crucifixion head cook Jim Frie, gathered with a group of sixth-graders and shared memories about his brother who was a Vietnam veteran, and his father who served in World War II. Frie remembers how frightening the potential of getting drafted to serve in Vietnam was, and how the fear motivated him in school.

If you didnt keep your grades up in college and you slipped below a C-average, you were drafted and gone, said Frie. And within two months you were in a rice paddy up to your armpits.

Frie recited a memory from when his brother was serving in Vietnam, and Marine Corps officers showed up at their home one day asking to speak to his parents, who were both working at the time. The officers wouldnt tell Frie what had happened, and Frie said hell never forget thinking that his brother was dead, until finding out that he was only wounded.

The realities of the Vietnam War became vivid to Frie when he went to visit his brother in the Great Lakes Naval Hospital in Chicago, and walked with his father through ward after ward filled with injured marines to find his brother.
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. 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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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Best Buy Co., Inc. retails technology products in the United States and Canada. The company operates in two segments, Domestic and International. Its stores provide computing products, such as desktops, notebooks, and peripherals; mobile phones comprising related mobile network carrier commissions; networking products; tablets covering e-readers; smartwatches; and consumer electronics consisting of digital imaging, health and fitness, home theater, portable audio comprising headphones and portable speakers, and smart home products. The company's stores also offer appliances, such as dishwashers, laundry, ovens, refrigerators, blenders, coffee makers, and vacuums; entertainment products consisting of drones, peripherals, movies, music, and toys, as well as gaming hardware and software, and virtual reality and other software products; and other products, such as baby, food and beverage, luggage, outdoor living, and sporting goods. In addition, it provides consultation, delivery, design, health-related, installation, memberships, repair, set-up, technical support, and warranty-related services. The company offers its products through stores and websites under the Best Buy, Best Buy Ads, Best Buy Business, Best Buy Health, CST, Current Health, Geek Squad, Lively, Magnolia, Best Buy Mobile, Pacific Kitchen, Home, and Yardbird, as well as domain names bestbuy.com, currenthealth.com, lively.com, yardbird.com, and bestbuy.ca. As of January 30, 2022, it had 1,144 stores. The company was formerly known as Sound of Music, Inc. The company was incorporated in 1966 and is headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota.
Our portfolio of high quality UK commercial property is focused on London Offices and Retail around the UK. We own or manage a portfolio valued at 13.7bn (British Land share: 10.3bn) as at 30 September 2020 making us one of Europe's largest listed real estate investment companies. Our strategy is to provide places which meet the needs of our customers and respond to changing lifestyles - Places People Prefer. We do this by creating great environments both inside and outside our buildings and use our scale and placemaking skills to enhance and enliven them. This expands their appeal to a broader range of occupiers, creating enduring demand and driving sustainable, long term performance. Our Offices portfolio comprises three office-led campuses in central London as well as high quality standalone buildings and accounts for 65% of our portfolio. Our Retail portfolio is focused on retail parks and shopping centres, and accounts for 31% of our portfolio. Increasingly our focus is on providing a mix of uses and this is most evident at Canada Water, our 53 acre redevelopment opportunity where we have plans to create a new neighbourhood for London. Sustainability is embedded throughout our business. Our places, which are designed to meet high sustainability standards, become part of local communities, provide opportunities for skills development and employment and promote wellbeing. In April 2016 British Land received the Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development, the UK's highest accolade for business success for economic, social and environmental achievements over a period of five years.
Community members are invited to Black River Memorial Hospices Evergreen Memorial Service to pause and remember those who have died during this past year.

We know that the holidays can be an especially hard time for those who have recently lost a loved one, says Dena Graff, director of Black River Memorial Hospice and Homecare departments. We will have printed materials and grief support staff available to help those who have experienced a loss, said Graff.

The memorial service will be held on Thursday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. at the Black River Memorial Hospital Dorothy Halvorson Conference room. The program will include readings, songs and sharing.

There will also be a Remembrance evergreen tree at the service. All attendees may bring a holiday ornament to place on the evergreen tree in remembrance of their loved one. Ornaments will be placed on the tree during the service. The tree is then displayed in the hospital lobby throughout the holidays in memory of those we have lost. Refreshments will be served following the service. Please RSVP by calling 715-284-3662.

For more information on hospital events or homecare, palliative and hospice care, go to brmh.net.
The Womens Clothes Closet of Our Saviors Lutheran Church would like to thank everyone who made our 10th annual Fashion Cornucopia Style Show a success.

We would like to thank A&S Clothing, Dales Clothing, Grand Bluff Running, Mainstream Boutique, Touch of Class and Willow Boutique for providing clothing and accessories.

We're also grateful for the volunteers who worked so hard to prepare and serve a gourmet meal for our show. We also would like to thank Jennifer Livingston and Lisa Klein for hosting the show. Our music provided by Kim Shively and her folks made the show even more special.

Along with the support of all the participants, guests, silent auction items and generous donations, we are able to continue to provide gently used clothing to the women in the La Crosse area. Without this help, we would not be able to continue our mission.

Betty Linse, La Crosse
Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc., through its subsidiaries, produces, markets, and distributes fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Fresh and Value-Added Products, Banana, and Other Products and Services. It offers pineapples, fresh-cut fruit, fresh-cut vegetables, melons, and vegetables; non-tropical fruits, such as grapes, apples, citrus, blueberries, strawberries, pears, peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries, and kiwis; other fruit and vegetables, and avocados; and prepared fruit and vegetables, juices, other beverages, and meals and snacks. The company also engages in the sale of poultry and meat products; and third-party freight services business. In addition, it manufactures and sells plastic and box products, such as bins, trays, bags, and boxes. The company offers its products under the Del Monte brand, as well as under other brands, such as UTC, Rosy, Fruit Express, Just Juice, Fruitini, Mann's Logo, Arcadian Harvest, Nourish Bowls, Broccolini, Caulilini, Better Burger Leaf, RomaLeaf, and other regional brands. It markets and distributes its products to retail stores, club stores, convenience stores, wholesalers, distributors, and foodservice operators. Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. was founded in 1886 and is based in George Town, Cayman Islands.
Kinder Morgan, Inc. operates as an energy infrastructure company in North America. The company operates through four segments: Natural Gas Pipelines, Products Pipelines, Terminals, and CO2. The Natural Gas Pipelines segment owns and operates interstate and intrastate natural gas pipeline, and underground storage systems; natural gas gathering systems and natural gas processing and treating facilities; natural gas liquids fractionation facilities and transportation systems; and liquefied natural gas liquefaction and storage facilities. The Products Pipelines segment owns and operates refined petroleum products, and crude oil and condensate pipelines; and associated product terminals and petroleum pipeline transmix facilities. The Terminals segment owns and/or operates liquids and bulk terminals that stores and handles various commodities, including gasoline, diesel fuel, chemicals, ethanol, metals, and petroleum coke; and owns tankers. The CO2 segment produces, transports, and markets CO2 to recovery and production crude oil from mature oil fields; owns interests in/or operates oil fields and gasoline processing plants; and operates a crude oil pipeline system in West Texas, as well as owns and operates RNG and LNG facilities. It owns and operates approximately 83,000 miles of pipelines and 143 terminals. The company was formerly known as Kinder Morgan Holdco LLC and changed its name to Kinder Morgan, Inc. in February 2011. Kinder Morgan, Inc. was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Aviva plc provides various insurance, retirement, investment, and savings products in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and internationally. The company offers life insurance, long-term health and accident insurance, savings, pension, and annuity products, as well as pension fund business and lifetime mortgage products. It also provides insurance cover to individuals, small and medium-sized businesses for risks associated with motor vehicles and medical expenses, as well as property and liability, such as employers' and professional indemnity liabilities. In addition, the company provides investment management services for institutional pension fund mandates; and manages various retail investment products, including investment funds, unit trusts, open-ended investment companies, and individual savings accounts for third-party financial institutions, pension funds, public sector organizations, investment professionals, and private investors. It markets its products through a network of insurance brokers, as well as MyAviva platform. The company was formerly known as CGNU plc and changed its name to Aviva plc in July 2002. Aviva plc was founded in 1696 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
It was late Friday afternoon, and the service counter at Kohnert and Scheppke in Melrose, Wis., was a busy place.

That was not unusual on payday at the general mercantile store that sold everything from groceries to hardware, but this was no ordinary Friday. It was Nov. 19, 1976, the day before the annual gun deer hunt opener in Wisconsin.

I tried to be patient as I stood in line with my brother Kevin and my dad, but I was too excited. We were waiting to buy our licenses for the next day. It was my first deer hunt. I could hardly wait.

I was less than a month shy of my 13th birthday. Two of my cousins who filled out the trio known in the family circles as the Terrible Three of 63 were born earlier that year and were able to hunt in 1975 because they were already 12. I was extremely jealous that I was forced to wait another year.

It would not be my first time in the woods. I had sat with my dad and my grandfather in their stands at times, and we all helped with deer drives. But it would be the first time that I could shoot my own deer.

Finally the line moved and we stepped to the counter. The three of us completed our license information. We were issued our back tags and the corresponding numbered metal tags used when registering.

Blaze-orange clothing wasnt required in those days; that didnt come until 1980. Dad had a red-and-black hunter-plaid coat that he wore. The requirement to wear red was instituted in 1945 in Wisconsin.

I didnt get a buck my first year, but Dad did, joining the 69,510 hunters who were successful in killing an antlered deer in 1976. But I was hooked on hunting. The next year Dad, Kevin, Grandpa and I applied for a party permit so between the four of us we could harvest a doe. I felt privileged to be able to wear the special blue armband.

This weekend will be my 42nd season of deer hunting. Im a novice compared with the 68th season for Dad. He was mentored by his father and started hunting in the days when deer were scarce on our farm. Most deer hunting was on public land in the eastern Jackson County.

Times have certainly changed. Deer are plentiful now. No more standing in line at the store. This past week I bought my deer license online, although you can still buy them from retailers.

Back tags and metal tags are history. So is the process of tagging and registration. Hunters no longer need to physically tag the deer. Instead they can go online to register their deer by 5 p.m. the day after harvest. All hunters need to carry in the woods is a paper copy of the license, a drivers license if used when buying the license or a digital copy. Yep, the license can be kept on a phone.

All of this would have been handy the year Dad couldnt find his license and needed to go to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources office to get a duplicate. That didnt sit well with Dad, who said: No jury in Jackson County is going to convict a man for hunting on his own land as he headed out the door.

He was probably right, but he got his duplicate license.

An enormous positive change in hunting is safety. In 1914  when there were only 155,000 licenses sold for deer hunting  there were 24 hunters killed and 26 hunters injured during the gun season. In 2016 there were 598,867 licenses sold and five non-fatal injuries.

Thanks to requirements like gun hunter safety  which began in 1967 and became mandatory in 1973  and blaze orange or fluorescent pink, fatalities and injuries are rare even with many more hunters in the woods.

What hasnt changed is the tradition. While Grandpa and some other family members are no longer with us, they are remembered and join us in spirit.

And Im still excited about opening day, just like that 12-year-old those many years ago.

Have a safe and memorable hunting season.

Photos: 2017 deer hunting season
The following companies are subsidiares of Molina Healthcare: Aetna & Humana - Medicare Advantage, Affinity Health Plan, AmericanWork Inc., Better Health Network, Camelot Care Centers Inc, Children's Behavioral Health Inc., Choices Group Inc., College Community Services, Dockside Services Inc, Family Preservation Services Inc., Family Preservation Services of Florida Inc., Family Preservation Services of North Carolina Inc., Family Preservation Services of Washington D.C. Inc., Family Preservation Services of West Virginia Inc., Florida NetPASS LLC, Hclb Inc., Magellan Complete Care, Maple Star Nevada Inc., Maple Star Oregon Inc., Mercy CarePlus, Molina Clinical Services LLC, Molina Healthcare Data Center Inc., Molina Healthcare of Arizona Inc., Molina Healthcare of California, Molina Healthcare of Florida Inc., Molina Healthcare of Georgia Inc., Molina Healthcare of Illinois Inc., Molina Healthcare of Iowa Inc., Molina Healthcare of Louisiana Inc., Molina Healthcare of Maryland Inc., Molina Healthcare of Michigan Inc., Molina Healthcare of Mississippi Inc., Molina Healthcare of Nevada Inc., Molina Healthcare of New Mexico Inc., Molina Healthcare of New York Inc., Molina Healthcare of North Carolina Inc., Molina Healthcare of Ohio Inc., Molina Healthcare of Oklahoma Inc., Molina Healthcare of Pennsylvania Inc., Molina Healthcare of Puerto Rico Inc., Molina Healthcare of South Carolina LLC, Molina Healthcare of Texas Inc., Molina Healthcare of Texas Insurance Company, Molina Healthcare of Utah Inc., Molina Healthcare of Virginia Inc., Molina Healthcare of Washington Inc., Molina Healthcare of Wisconsin Inc., Molina Holdings Corporation, Molina Hospital Management LLC, Molina Information Systems LLC dba Molina Medicaid Solutions, Molina Medical Management Inc., Molina Pathways LLC, Molina Pathways of Texas Inc., Molina Youth Academy, NextLevel Health Illinois, Pathways Community Corrections Inc., Pathways Community Services LLC, Pathways Community Support of Texas Inc., Pathways Health and Community Support LLC, Pathways Human Services LLC., Pathways of Arizona Inc., Pathways of Delaware Inc., Pathways of Idaho LLC, Pathways of Maine Inc., Pathways of Massachusetts LLC, Pathways of Oklahoma Inc., Pathways of Washington Inc., Providence Community Services, Providence Human Services, Raystown Developmental Services Inc., The Game of Work LLC, The RedCo Group Inc., Total Care Medicaid plan, Transitional Family Services Inc., Unisys -Health Information Management, and YourCare Health Plan.

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Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. operates as a seaborne shipping and logistics company in North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, South America, and internationally. It focuses on the transportation and transshipment of dry bulk commodities, including iron ores, coal, and grains. The company operates in two segments, Dry Bulk Vessel Operations and Logistics Business. The Dry Bulk Vessel Operations segment engages in the transportation and handling of bulk cargoes through the ownership, operation, and trading of vessels and freight. This segment charters its vessels to trading houses, producers, and government-owned entities. The Logistics Business segment operates ports and transfer station terminals, as well as upriver transport facilities in the Hidrovia region; and handles vessels, barges, push boats, and cabotage business. This segment provides its integrated transportation, storage, and related services through its port facilities, cargo barges, and product tankers to mineral and grain commodity providers, as well as to users of refined petroleum products. As of December 31, 2021, the company's fleet consisted of 36 vessels totaling 3.9 million deadweight tons. Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. was incorporated in 1954 and is headquartered in Grand Cayman, the Cayman Islands.
This photo shows a close-up of a crazy quilt made in 1905 by Mary Dalton Jenks Benton. Her family treasured it, and, in 1983, one of them donated it to La Crosse County Historical Society.

Its hand-pieced in the usual asymmetrical, crazy pattern of quilts of this genre. Included among the fabrics are three commemorative ribbons, printed with the names of local La Crosse organizations. This ribbon is a memento of an event held by the Old Settlers Association.

And what was the Old Settlers Association? Why, that was the La Crosse County Historical Society before we adopted the name we have today. And it wasnt even our first name  that was the La Crosse Pioneer Association, founded in 1870, less than 40 years after Nathan Myrick erected the first permanent European-American cabin on Prairie La Crosse.

Our new name was officially approved in 1898, but as this 1903 ribbon shows, it took a while for the new name to catch on.

We are an old organization. Our mission has grown and evolved as the region has grown. As the names Pioneer and Old Settlers Association suggest, we were first created to honor and preserve the memory of the citys founders, glorifying men such as Nathan Myrick, John Levy and Thomas Stoddard. The young city needed heroes, whose exploits  real or otherwise  became part of the mythology out of which the towns identity grew.

With the arrival of the 20th century, and a desire by La Crosse residents to find their place in the larger world, the historical society expanded its focus to share with residents as many wonders of the wide world as its citizens cared to donate. The collection swelled with items brought back from far-away travels, many of them reproductions.

By the mid-20th century, starting with the Colonial Revival of the 1930s and going strong through the countrys bicentennial, the organization was collecting items based on their antiquity. Interest in worldwide curiosities gradually was replaced with a veneration for items viewed as harking back to the countrys, and La Crosses, early days.

In the past few decades, this focus has been further refined to what we know best: La Crosse and the Coulee Region. But now our mission to preserve and share local history has expanded to include the stories of everyone who has lived here, and to document history as it is being made.

My goal with the Things That Matter series in the La Crosse Tribune has been to share the rich cultural assets and stories that make up the layers of life in the Coulee Region. To fully understand historical events, we need to understand the world in which they took place. These artifacts, some of seemingly minor importance, reflect the world in which events are embedded. Its all one story, made up of lots of little stories.

These stories, big and small, are what we love to share. Its what the Historical Society exists for. The objects we feature only matter because the people who made or used them matter. History is about people; its what we share, whether we like it or not, sort of like family.

I continue to be gratified by how many of you let us know that you appreciate Things That Matter. We need the support of everyone who reads and enjoys these articles. We need your help to grow into the history museum that La Crosse deserves.

Something to be proud of. Isnt that how you feel about the history of your community? We feel that way, too, and we are proud of the work we do to help the citizens of La Crosse County feel that connection.

No place really becomes a community until it is wrapped in human memory: family stories, tribal traditions, civic commemorations. No place is a community until it has awareness of its history. Our connections and commitment to one another are strengthened when we share stories and experiences.

LCHS is committed to preserving and sharing those stories and experiences with you. And I am asking you to commit to helping us in our mission.Many people dont realize that, despite the word county in our name, we are not part of county government. The La Crosse County Historical Society has been a member-governed 5013 nonprofit organization since 1939. While county supervisors generously donate a small grant to us each year, we depend on memberships and other donations from individuals for most of our operating expenses.

If you enjoy reading Things That Matter, I ask you to support us by joining the La Crosse County Historical Society. Membership levels start at $35 and entitle you to free admission to Historic Hixon House and Riverside Museum, as well as a subscription to the only local publication regularly publishing original articles on local history, our newsletter.

Joining is quick and easy, and can be done on our website, www.lchshistory.org or by calling the office at 608-782-1980. A membership makes a great gift for family who live out of town but who would enjoy receiving our newsletter with its local history articles.

So, join now, and help us make this membership drive a success. And when you open your Saturday morning Tribune and see the Things That Matter article, you can take pride in knowing that you help support this engaging series.
Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. owns and operates energy and infrastructure businesses. The company operates through three segments: Refining, Retail, and Logistics. The Refining segment owns and operates three refineries that produces ultra-low sulfur diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, marine fuel, distillate, asphalt, low sulfur fuel oil, and other associated refined products primarily for consumption in Hawaii, Pacific Northwest, Wyoming, and South Dakota. The Retail segment operates 119 fuel retail outlets, which sell merchandise, such as soft drinks, prepared foods, and other sundries in Hawaii under the Hele, 76, and nomnom brands; and gasoline, diesel, and retail merchandise in Washington and Idaho under the Cenex, nomnom, and Zip Trip brand names. The Logistics segment owns and operates terminals, pipelines, a single point mooring, and trucking operations to distribute refined products throughout the island of Oahu, Maui, Hawaii, Molokai, and Kauai. It also leases marine vessels; owns and operates a crude oil pipeline gathering system, a refined products pipeline, storage facilities, and loading racks in Wyoming; and a jet fuel storage facility and pipeline that serves Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. In addition, this segment owns and operates a marine terminal, a unit train-capable rail loading terminal, storage facilities, a truck rack, and a proprietary pipeline that serves Joint Base Lewis McChord. The company was formerly known as Par Petroleum Corporation and changed its name to Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. in October 2015. Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Donald Trump got back from Asia on Tuesday night. By Wednesday afternoon, he was taking a victory lap.

Trump's speech, which ran for more than 20 minutes, will be remembered primarily for Trump's dry mouth -- and his need for water.

The reason for that is not only because Trump had been so critical of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's water-drinking habits during the 2016 campaign. (Karma!) It's also because Trump's speech amounted to a dry recitation of where he had been, who he had seen and how much he was loved during his trip.

This was Trump playing his own hype man. He felt like the Asia trip went well and he wasn't getting enough credit for exactly how well it went. So, why not give a speech and force the "fake news" to cover it?

From his opening statement onward, it was clear that Trump's lone goal with the speech was to pat himself on the back. Repeatedly.

Here's how the speech started:

"Last night I returned from a historic 12-day trip to Asia. This journey took us to five nations to meet with dozens of foreign leaders, participate in three formal state visits and attend three key regional summits. It was the longest visit to the region by an American president in more than a quarter of a century. Everywhere we went our foreign hosts greeted the American delegation, myself included, with incredible warmth, hospitality, and most importantly, respect. And this great respect showed very well our country is further evidence that America's renewed confidence and standing in the world has never been stronger than it is right now."

"Historic." "The longest visit." "Incredible warmth." "Great respect." "Never been stronger."

Trump's reliance on superlatives isn't new, but it is revealing. He so badly wants to get credit for, quite literally, making America great again in a single trip. He said as much in his speech Wednesday: "During our travels this is exactly what the world saw: A strong, proud, and confident America. Once again our country is optimistic about the future."

That was fast! But Trump's emphasis on not only solving America's image problems but doing so very, very quickly was a theme throughout his Asia trip. In a press conference aboard Air Force One while flying in Vietnam over the weekend, here are few of the things Trump claimed credit for:

"Prime Minister Abe came up to me just at the end and he said that since you left South Korea and Japan that those two countries are now getting along much much better."

"There's been a real bonding between South Korea and Japan."

"They say in the history of people coming to China, there's been nothing like that and I believe it." (This was about Trump dining with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Forbidden City -- the first time a US president has dined there since the founding of modern China.)

"It's the biggest state entrance and the biggest state dinner they've ever had. By far." (Again, China.)

Trump is someone who needs his successes -- real or imagined -- acknowledged. And when he isn't getting proper credit -- or proper credit as he imagines it -- he gets angry and frustrated.

You can imagine him stewing on his flight back from Manila on Tuesday as coverage of embattled Alabama Senate nominee Roy Moore dominated TV screens. (Trump was asked for a comment about Moore at the conclusion of his speech Wednesday, but ignored it.)

You can also imagine him insisting to aides that he give this speech as a way to tell the story he wanted told about his many firsts and overwhelming successes during his two weeks in Asia.

So, speech given.

Success in changing the subject? Only if you count the momentary fact that people will be talking about Trump's dry mouth rather than whether Moore will drop from the Alabama race.
VeriFone Systems, Inc. provides payments and commerce solutions at the point of sale (POS) worldwide. It offers countertop solutions that accept payment options, including contactless, NFC, mobile wallets, and EMV; PIN pads that support credit and debit card, EBT, EMV, and other PIN-based transactions; and multilane consumer facing commerce devices. It also provides portable payment devices, including small, portable, and handheld devices that enable merchants to accept electronic payments wherever wireless connectivity is available; and mobile solutions that attach to and interface with iOS or Android based smartphones and tablets. In addition, it offers integrated electronic payment systems that combine electronic payment processing, fuel dispensing, and ECR functions, as well as secure payment systems for integration with petroleum pump controllers; unattended and self-service payment solutions designed to enable payment transactions in self-service, high-transaction volume, and public transportation environments; and network access solutions. Further, it provides installation, deployment, training, and application development and delivery solutions; project management, client education program, and consulting services; helpdesk support, equipment repair and maintenance, and software post-contract support services; and application libraries and development tools. Additionally, it offers omnichannel commerce, terminal management, and security solutions; and cloud-based managed, transaction payment, and other value added services. It sells its products directly; and through third party and channel partners. It serves financial institutions, payment processors, government organizations, and retailers; petroleum, transportation, and healthcare companies; and quick service restaurants. The company was formerly known as VeriFone Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to VeriFone Systems, Inc. in May 2010. VeriFone Systems, Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, California.
NACCO Industries, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the natural resources business. The company operates through three segments: Coal Mining, North American Mining, and Minerals Management. The Coal Mining segment operates surface coal mines under long-term contracts for power generation companies and an activated carbon producer in North Dakota, Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana in the United States, as well as Navajo Nation in New Mexico. The North American Mining segment provides value-added contract mining and other services for producers of aggregates, lithium, and other minerals; and contract mining services for independently owned mines and quarries in Florida, Texas, Arkansas, and Indiana. The Minerals Management segment is involved in the leasing of its royalty and mineral interests to third-party exploration and production companies, and other mining companies, which grants them the rights to explore, develop, mine, produce, market, and sell gas, oil, and coal. The company was founded in 1913 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.
In his UW-Madison lab, Su-Chun Zhang discovered a likely cause of ALS, the deadly neurological disorder also known as Lou Gehrigs disease, after turning skin cells from ALS patients into stem cells.

A protein error in cellular structures called neurofilaments, which transport chemicals that allow muscles to move, leads to paralysis in at least some forms of ALS, Zhang found. The company he started, BrainXell, is using a federal grant to screen compounds that might be developed into drugs to fix the error.

If we know whats going on at the early steps of the disease process, we can potentially devise a means to intervene, Zhang said.

The research is one of many ways scientists in Madison and around the world are making use of a groundbreaking development announced 10 years ago this week: induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells.

To make iPS cells, scientists reprogram skin or blood cells back to their embryonic state. No embryos are destroyed, or even used, as is required to get embryonic stem cells.

James Thomson, the UW-Madison researcher who captured international attention by first isolating human embryonic stem cells, in 1998, reported his creation of iPS cells in the journal Science on Nov. 20, 2007. On the same day, the same feat was proclaimed in the journal Cell by Shinya Yamanaka, a Japanese researcher who went on to share the Nobel Prize in 2012 for the work, as he had done it first in mice.

The discovery of iPS cells  which, like embryonic stem cells, can be coaxed into many cell types, from heart to kidney to brain  ushered in a new era in biology and regenerative medicine.

Not only did iPS cells remove the ethical and political controversy surrounding the destruction of embryos to obtain stem cells. They also offered the potential to devise cell therapies for Parkinsons disease, heart disease, diabetes, spinal cord injury and other conditions from a patients own cells, which could overcome the risk of immune rejection.

A decade after the discovery of iPS cells, progress is mixed. Clinical trials of experimental therapies using the cells have barely begun, but the cells are proving useful in other ways.

Theyre allowing researchers like Zhang to make discoveries by studying disease models in a dish, considered better than animal models in many respects. Theyre also letting pharmaceutical companies screen potential drugs for side effects, many of them using iPS cell lines made by Cellular Dynamics International, a Madison company founded by Thomson.

People who want a cure for X, Y and Z disease are going to be disappointed with the 10 years of progress, said Dr. Tim Kamp, a UW-Madison cardiologist and co-director of the universitys Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center. But from a realistic standpoint, I think things have progressed fairly well.

Billions of cells

Biomedical engineers like William Murphy, the other co-director of the stem cell center on campus, are using iPS cells to create organoids, or tissue chips, three-dimensional clusters of cells that mimic human brains, livers, blood vessels and other tissues in lab dishes.

In work funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Murphy and his colleagues are using organoids to screen chemicals for toxicity, as the health effects of many chemicals on the market today are unknown.

Meanwhile, Murphy is hopeful enough about cell therapies from iPS cells that hes working on methods to grow a lot of them efficiently. In September, the National Science Foundation awarded $20 million to UW-Madison and other universities, including the Georgia Institute of Technology, to improve cell production through an Engineering Research Center for Cell Manufacturing Technologies.

How do we generate billions of cells in a way thats reasonably low cost and highly effective and safe, while maintaining their function? Murphy said.

Cellular Dynamics, or CDI, already produces billions of cells per year, directing iPS cells into 14 types of cells sold and used in research worldwide, said Kaz Hirao, CEO.

The company, started in 2004 and acquired by Fujifilm in 2015, plans to apply to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to start clinical trials of cell therapies for Parkinsons in 2019 and heart disease by 2020, Hirao said.

CDI is also developing immunotherapy for cancer, similar to the unprecedented chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR, T cell therapies approved by the FDA in August and October. Those expensive treatments use a patients own cells, while CDI is looking at an off-the-shelf preparation using banks of cells from other people.

The reason is very simple, Hirao said. We can make a more cost-effective therapy.

Restoring vision

Another CDI project aims to restore vision to people with age-related macular degeneration or a disease called retinitis pigmentosa.

Opsis Therapeutics, a joint venture started last year between CDI and Dr. David Gamm, director of UW-Madisons McPherson Eye Research Institute, hopes to start a clinical trial within three years.

In the first reported clinical trial involving iPS cells, in 2014, a Japanese woman received retinal cells derived from her own iPS cells. She fared well, but safety concerns stopped the study.

This year, a Japanese man got the same treatment, but with iPS cells from another person. The National Eye Institute in the U.S. plans to apply next year to start a study involving retinal cells derived from iPS cells, grown using a protocol developed by CDI and Opsis.

Those efforts and others involve supportive tissue in the eye, called retinal pigment epithelium cells. Gamm is focusing instead on what he calls the star of the vision show: photoreceptors, which detect light.

Theyre whats lost; theyre the key element, he said. But theyre also more difficult to make, and to get to function in the diseased eye.

Gamm said, Its great that were at this position where were now thinking of how best to install the cells, because we actually have the spare parts now, which 10 years ago we didnt have. But its still a large hurdle to overcome.

Kamp, the cardiologist, is part of an $8.6 million, seven-year National Institutes of Health grant to test 3-D heart patches of heart muscle cells, grown from iPS cells, in pigs.

The cells are made at UW-Madison, then sent to Duke University in North Carolina, where they are fashioned in patches. The patches are shipped to the University of Alabama, where they are delivered into pigs after heart attacks.

Human trials could be next. But challenges remain, including immune rejection from the pigs and getting the patches to sync up to the pig hearts, mechanically and electrically.

Its not like plugging a USB drive into your computer, and it just hooks up fine, Kamp said.

Personal quest

Thomson, who in 2011 won the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, sometimes called Americas Nobel, is using iPS cells to develop blood vessels that could someday be used in bypass surgeries for cardiovascular disease.

The blood vessels of many patients arent suitable for use as bypasses, doctors say. Thomson and others at the university are trying to create artery banks from the iPS cells of universally compatible donors, through an $8 million NIH grant.

For Zhang, a neuroscientist, iPS cells are helping him better understand  and develop potential treatments for  ALS and a related condition called spinal muscular atrophy, along with Parkinsons and spinal cord injury.

He is pursuing spinal cord injury not only as a scientist, but also as a patient.

After a bicycle accident in 2014 injured his spinal cord, Zhang was able to regain the ability to walk. But he struggles to use his hands to write or hold chopsticks, has digestive complications and feels pain in all of his limbs, which causes trouble sleeping.

Its horrible, he said. You feel like your legs are on fire all of the time, and you simply want to chop your legs off.

He plans to spend much of this winter in Singapore, because warm weather reduces the pain. But his dedication to creating cell therapies in his Madison lab has only intensified, he said.

It should be possible, he said. I am actually very hopeful.
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.
Ryder System, Inc. operates as a logistics and transportation company worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Fleet Management Solutions (FMS), Supply Chain Solutions (SCS), and Dedicated Transportation Solutions (DTS). The FMS segment offers full service leasing and leasing with flexible maintenance options, as well as maintenance services, supplies, and related equipment for operation of the vehicles; commercial vehicle rental services; and contract or transactional maintenance services of trucks, tractors, and trailers, as well as fleet support services. This segment also provides access to diesel fuel; offers fuel planning and tax reporting, cards, and monitoring services, and centralized billing; and sells used vehicles through its 63 retail sales centers and www.ryder.com/used-trucks website. The DTS segment offers equipment, maintenance, drivers, administrative, and additional services, as well as routing and scheduling, fleet sizing, safety, regulatory compliance, risk management, and technology and communication systems support services. The SCS segment comprises distribution management services, such as designing and managing customer's distribution network and facilities; coordinating warehousing and transportation for inbound and outbound material flows; handling import and export for international shipments; coordinating just-in-time replenishment of component parts to manufacturing and final assembly; and offering shipments to customer distribution centers or end customer delivery points, as well as other value added services, such as light assembly of components. This segment also offers transportation management services, such as shipment optimization, load scheduling, and delivery confirmation services; knowledge-based professional services; and e-commerce and last mile services. Ryder System, Inc. was founded in 1933 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.
United Parcel Service, Inc. provides letter and package delivery, transportation, logistics, and related services. It operates through two segments, U.S. Domestic Package and International Package. The U.S. Domestic Package segment offers time-definite delivery of letters, documents, small packages, and palletized freight through air and ground services in the United States. The International Package segment provides guaranteed day and time-definite international shipping services in Europe, the Asia Pacific, Canada and Latin America, the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East, and Africa. This segment offers guaranteed time-definite express options. The company also provides international air and ocean freight forwarding, customs brokerage, distribution and post-sales, and mail and consulting services in approximately 200 countries and territories. In addition, it offers truckload brokerage services; supply chain solutions to the healthcare and life sciences industry; shipping, visibility, and billing technologies; and financial and insurance services. The company operates a fleet of approximately 121,000 package cars, vans, tractors, and motorcycles; and owns 59,000 containers that are used to transport cargo in its aircraft. United Parcel Service, Inc. was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. The company's personal banking products and services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and financial and investment advice services; and commercial banking products and services comprise business deposit accounts, commercial credit cards, business loans and commercial mortgages, cash management solutions, foreign exchange, specialized banking programs, treasury and payment solutions, and risk management products for small business and commercial banking customers. It also offers investment and wealth advisory services; digital investing services; financial services and solutions; and investment management, and trust and custody services. In addition, the company provides life insurance, accident and sickness insurance, and annuity products; creditor and travel insurance to bank customers; and reinsurance solutions. Further, it offers client's debt and equity capital-raising services, as well as loan origination and syndication, and treasury management; strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and recapitalizations, as well as valuation and fairness opinions; and trade finance, risk mitigation, and other operating services. Additionally, the company provides research and access to markets for institutional, corporate, and retail clients; trading solutions that include debt, foreign exchange, interest rate, credit, equity, securitization and commodities; new product development and origination services, as well as risk management advice and services to hedge against fluctuations; and funding and liquidity management services to its clients. It operates through approximately 900 bank branches and 3,300 automated banking machines in Canada and the United States. Bank of Montreal was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.
WellCare Health Plans, Inc. provides government-sponsored managed care services. The company operates in three segments: Medicaid Health Plans, Medicare Health Plans, and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs). The Medicaid Health Plans segment offers plans for beneficiaries of temporary assistance for needy families, supplemental security income, and aged blind and disabled residents; and other state-based programs, such as children's health insurance programs and long-term services and supports programs for qualifying families who are not eligible for Medicaid. The Medicare Health Plans segment provides Medicare, a federal program that provides eligible persons aged 65 and over, as well as some disabled persons with a range of hospital, medical, and prescription drug benefits; Medicare Advantage, a Medicare's managed care alternative to the original Medicare program, which offers individuals standard Medicare benefits directly through Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; and coordinated care plans that are administered through health maintenance organizations and require members to seek health care services and select a primary care physician from a network of health care providers. The Medicare PDPs segment provides Medicare part D PDP plans to Medicare-eligible beneficiaries. Its PDP plans offer national in-network prescription drug coverage, including a preferred pharmacy network. As of December 31, 2018, the company served approximately 5.5 million members in the United States. WellCare Health Plans, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.
WASHINGTON (TNS)  The House passage of a tax code rewrite Thursday was just the first in a multistep process. Many changes are expected before a bill reaches President Donald Trumps desk.

First, the Senate has to prove it can pass a tax overhaul after failing to do so on health care.

Then the two chambers will form a conference committee and reconcile a litany of differences, after which the House and Senate will have to vote on the compromise measure.

Here are 10 things to watch as the tax bill continues its journey:

1. Individual mandate

Ironically, the provision that has probably drawn the most attention in recent weeks is less about taxes than it is about health care, and thats the effective repeal of the 2010 health care laws individual mandate. Yes, its part of the Internal Revenue Code, but GOP leaders never intended to include it or anything related to the 2010 law in the tax overhaul.

However, the Senate  in need of some high-dollar pay-fors and under pressure from conservatives and Trump  decided to add a repeal of the individual mandate to its bill. This was not in the House bill, and it could cause some of the moderates who voted yes on Thursday to reconsider if its included in final passage amid concern that it could further disrupt the chaotic insurance market.

2. State, local tax deduction

Another high-profile issue has been the GOP effort to gut the state and local tax, or SALT, deduction. The Senate fully repeals the deduction, which allows taxpayers to deduct property taxes and either state income or sales taxes. The House would eliminate the deduction for state and local income or sales taxes but retain the break for property taxes with a new $10,000 cap. Even with that, 12 House Republicans from high-tax states  five from New York, four from New Jersey and three from California  voted against the bill Thursday.

A full repeal of SALT is considered fatal in the House, and anything short of the $10,000 property tax deduction might cause at least a few members to jump from yes to no. The probability is that the House position prevails here.

3. California surprise

After three of his California Republican colleagues (Reps. Tom McClintock, Dana Rohrabacher and Darrell Issa) voted against the tax bill, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy predicted some of their issues will be solved in a final bill, noting that he was working on it personally but declining to provide further details. I think youll see some changes affecting California and others, McCarthy said.

The main concern McClintock, Rohrabacher and Issa cited was the partial elimination of the state and local tax deduction. California has one of the largest income tax burdens of all 50 states. It was unclear if McCarthy was referring to further SALT deduction changes or another solution that ensures the majority of the trios constituents would get a tax cut.

4. Individual tax cuts

Where the House and Senate bills most diverge is on the structure of individual tax cuts. The House plan sets up four permanent individual income tax brackets of 12, 25, 35 and 39.6 percent. The Senate has seven brackets of 10, 12, 22, 24, 32, 35 and 38.5 percent that expire after eight years, along with other individual tax provisions.

The Senate approach goes against two main goals of the GOP tax overhaul  simplification and permanency. Senate Republicans knew theyd have to forgo the latter in some areas to meet the Byrd rule requirement  that the bill not add to the deficit outside the 10-year budget window. So sunsetting the individual tax cuts is the approach they took. If House Republicans decide to object, theyll likely have to offer other provisions theyre willing to put an expiration date on to ensure that any final measure is Byrd compliant. The bill they passed Thursday was not.

5. Small business tax relief

A wide gap also exists in the bills treatment of small businesses whose incomes are taxed at their owners individual rates. These so-called pass-through entities would get some relief under both chamber measures, but some lawmakers have complained that neither go far enough.

The House bill reduces the tax rate on pass-through businesses to 25 percent with some limitations. It would also phase in a special 9 percent rate on the first $75,000 in net business taxable income for active owners or shareholders of pass-through entities who earn less than $150,000. Those earning above $150,000 would receive a reduced special-rate benefit, which would fully phase out at $225,000.

The Senate plan would allow owners and shareholders to claim a deduction equal to 17.4 percent of their business income. For owners or shareholders with incomes above $500,000 for joint filers and $250,000 for all other filers, the deduction would be limited to 50 percent of their W-2 income, defined as wages subject to wage withholding, elective deferrals, and deferred compensation paid by the entity.

How to tax small businesses could prove one of the more challenging questions House and Senate tax writers have to resolve.

6. Mortgage interest deduction

Some House Republicans who voted yes Thursday did not like that the bill curtailed the mortgage interest deduction for new home purchases to interest paid on the first $500,000 of debt. (The limit is $1 million, under current law.) The House bill also got rid of the deduction for second homes. Many of these members are hoping the Senate position, which retains the deduction for second homes and the $1 million limit, prevails. The deciding factor in conference will ultimately be based on whether curbing the deduction costs any votes and whether the revenue is needed to offset other changes.

7. Family/child tax credit

Many senators thought the House bill did not go far enough in expanding the current $1,000 child tax credit. The House bill would have created a new family credit: $1,600 for each child and $300 for each parent and non-child dependent, with the latter credit set to expire after five years. The Senate plans proposes a credit of $2,000 for each child and $500 for each parent and non-child dependent, both of which would expire after eight years. The House family credit phases out at $230,000 for joint filers, while the Senate version phases out at $500,000.

Ivanka Trump, the presidents daughter and adviser, has been lobbying for a larger child tax credit. So have GOP Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, Tim Scott of South Carolina and Dean Heller of Nevada. But some House members believe the money saved by their version compared to the Senates could be better used, like to make some of the individual tax cuts permanent.

8. Estate tax

Repealing the estate tax is a high priority for conservative Republicans. The House bill would nearly double the amount exempted from tax, from about $5.5 million currently to $10 million, for seven years, but would fully repeal the estate tax thereafter. While the Senate plan would also increase the threshold for exclusion by the same amount for eight years, it would keep the tax. Full repeal may be important to retaining yes votes in the House.

9. Medical expense deduction

The House bill repeals the deduction for medical expenses, while the Senate retains it. The provision allows taxpayers to deduct out-of-pocket medical expenses if they exceed 10 percent of their adjusted gross income. Many lawmakers prefer to keep the deduction, if possible, but it remains to be seen if that would be prioritized over other items that would also cost money to retain.

10. International provisions

Both bills include complex international provisions designed to prevent multinational companies from tax avoidance by abusing the new territorial tax system the measures would create. The so-called base erosion provisions vary in each bill but both versions have been panned as inadequate. What the chambers come up with will determine whether they actually meet their stated goal of preventing companies from fleeing the U.S. and incentivizing others to return.

Another international provision that will need to be settled is the rates at which the existing offshore profits of multinational entities are taxed. These so-called deemed repatriation rates are 14 percent for cash and other liquid assets and 7 percent on illiquid assets under the House bill. Those rates are 10 percent and 5 percent, respectively, under the Senate bill. Some House conservatives, such as Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, prefer the rates in the Senate bill.
President Donald Trump, whose own campaign was rocked by sexual harassment allegations, has declined to publicly discuss accusations that Roy Moore, the Republican nominee in the Alabama Senate race, made inappropriate advances toward teenage girls several decades ago.

His reticence disappeared Thursday night when it came to Sen. Al Franken, the Minnesota Democrat who was accused earlier in the day of groping and sexual hectoring during a 2006 USO tour.

The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps? read the presidents first tweet, sent just after 10 p.m. in Washington.

Ten minutes later, he added: And to think that just last week he was lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women. Lesley Stahl tape?

The first referred to a photograph of Franken putting his hands near the breasts of a sleeping Leeann Tweeden, a Los Angeles radio news anchor who accused Franken of groping her and of an aggressive kiss during a rehearsal for a skit he had written.

The second appeared to refer to a skit Franken had discussed while working on Saturday Night Live that involved drugging and raping CBS reporter Lesley Stahl. The reference was included in a 1995 New York magazine article.

Franken, who joined the Senate in 2009, apologized to Tweeden on Thursday in two statements and said he would fully cooperate with an ethics investigation. Tweeden said in a CNN interview that she accepted the apology.

Trumps criticism of Franken was notable because the president has so far declined to offer a specific response to allegations by several women that Moore, as a prosecutor in his 30s, approached them while they were teenagers. Two women have alleged physical assaults.

Trump said during his recently concluded Asia trip that he would have more to say about Moore when he returned home. But he left it to Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday to offer a bare-bones comment.

The president believes that these allegations are very troubling and should be taken seriously, and he thinks that the people of Alabama should make the decision on who their next senator should be, she said.

Sanders said Trump believes Moore should step aside if the allegations are true, but she would not say what the president would take as proof.

During the presidential campaign, Trump was accused by more than a dozen women of sexual harassment, many instances of which involved unwanted physical contact. He continues to contend that all of the women who have accused him are liars, Sanders said last month.

Trump also was captured in a video released one month before the election in which he bragged about grabbing and kissing women against their will.

Asked why Trump finds allegations against Moore troubling while contending the ones against him are to be dismissed, Sanders said that the president has certainly a lot more insight into what he personally did or didnt do.

And he spoke out about that directly during the campaign. And I dont have anything further to add beyond that, she said.
We have taken the logical next step forward in development using what is in all likelihood the most successful design of its kind in the world, he said.
Toyota promised a more refined and better-finished SUV and at first glance, they seem to have delivered on that promise.

We got behind the wheel of the diesel automatic variant to find out if the new Fortuner has what it takes to be the perfect SUV for those long road trips to nowhere?

Toyota Fortuner Design, Features & Safety

Exterior

At first glance, the all-new design of the sharply-styled Fortuner is something that's not hard to miss, especially, when compared to the previous generation SUV which was all butch and muscular.

Up front, the main highlights of the new Fortuner include a really high bumper line, a severely angled back main grille and the sharp-looking LED headlamp with integrated DRLs that flank it. Another very trendy feature that sees prominent use on the nose is the chrome bracketing on the grille and around the fog lamps.

From the rear, the sidelines make the car look more muscular and modern. Moving further, the rear windshield and elegantly cut LED tail-lamps strike a good balance and draw attention to the Fortuner everywhere it goes. The new Fortuner is one of the best looking SUVs from the Japanese carmaker till date.

Interior

Step inside the Fortuner and you will be welcomed with an airier and less constrained cabin and leather wrapped seats. Moreover, the neatly integrated dash, cooled glove box, gearshift lever and steering wheel are also wrapped neatly in faux-leather. Overall, the fit and finish quality of the car gives a great sense of luxury.

The driver's seat can be adjusted electronically in eight different ways. The car also features an information-packed LCD display in the instrument cluster and LED cabin lights. Sadly, the Fortuner does not feature a sunroof which might disappoint some buyers, but that is because the AC vents for the second and third row run through the roof!

In the second row, the passengers are treated with comfortable seats and ample space. The second row of seats slides backward if more space is needed and in this position, there is enough leg-room to accommodate tall passengers.

Sadly, there is insufficient headroom in the third row and also passengers might feel a bit claustrophobic during long runs.

To conclude, the current Fortuner feels quite spacious compared to its predecessor. With the third row of seats folded down, then there is enough boot space for those packing for a long road trip!

Safety

In terms of safety equipment, the Fortuner offers 7 airbags, ABS, EBD and stability control with brake assist as well.

Toyota Fortuner Engine & Performance

The Toyota Fortuner is powered by the same 2.8-litre turbocharged diesel engine which is found in the Innova (read our review here).

The diesel engine produces 174.5bhp @ 3,400rpm and 420Nm of torque which kicks in between 1,600 to 2,400rpm. The engine is mated to a six-speed automatic gearbox and Toyota does offer the Fortuner with a six-speed manual as well.

The Fortuner's Hill Descent Control (HDC) feature only engages when the SUV is in the Four-Wheel Low (L4) mode. With HDC engaged, the Fortuner's electronics take over, applying brakes to those wheels that need it, allowing the SUV to descend down steep slopes without a hitch.

The L4 mode also must be selected when climbing up a steep slope as well. On tarmac, the best way to get the most out of the Fortuner is to engage the H2 mode whichdisengages the front axle and sending all the power and torque to the rear wheels. Also, the 4X4 option is limited only to the diesel variants of the Fortuner.

The Fortuner comes equipped with two driving modes - Power and Eco. In Power mode, throttle response is more aggressive and crisp for quicker responses. In the Eco Mode, the throttle response is dulled to improve fuel consumption.

Paddle shifters allow drivers to take manual control of gearshifts, however, the shifts did not feel smooth at all thanks to the laborious nature of the gearbox.

The Fortuner features a full body-on-frame chassis and features 225mm of ground clearance and 700mm of water-wading ability. The new Fortuner is very stable at higher speeds but body-roll is noticeable whenthe SUV is pushed into a corner.

Promeet Ghosh Thinks!

Toyota has kept its promise to make the new Fortuner even more appealing to its audience. With its new looks, richer interiors, a calmer cabin and a more powerful and refined engine, the new Toyota Fortuner feels like the complete package.

The new Fortuner is priced at Rs 31,91,300 ex-showroom (Mumbai). So, if have the desire to go on a road triphits you and have the cash to spare, then the Fortuner will be your perfect companion.
When Jimmy Meeks reached Sutherland Springs, Texas, the First Baptist Church was screened off as a crime scene as experts investigated the Sunday morning massacre that claimed 26 lives.(tncms-asset)245ba04a-9239-11e6-814a-00163ec2aa77[0](/tncms-asset)

As a retired police officer, and a Baptist preacher, Meeks didnt need to enter the ravaged sanctuary. As a church-security consultant, he paid special attention to the churchs parking lot and the surrounding area.

When the gunman arrived, he parked across the street. He had to cover lots of ground to reach the church.

Its just a simple little building, said Meeks, who is part of a Sheepdog Seminars team, training church leaders how to protect biblical sheep from wolves.

There are churches like this one all over the country  there always have been and there always will be. ... So many churches dont have someone outside in the parking lot, standing watch. They dont see the danger coming.

Church-security issues are back in the news, as America faces renewed debates about safety, faith and the Second Amendment.

But some church leaders, like Meeks, have been studiously paying attention to church-security issues ever since the night of Sept. 15, 1999, when an angry outsider entered Wedgwood Baptist in Fort Worth, Texas, and killed seven during a youth-group prayer rally.

Since 1999, at least 800 people have died in church attacks across America, said Meeks, who has 35 years of police experience, including 11 years when he led a Fort Worth church while serving as an officer in nearby Hurst. Two of his areas of expertise are hostage negotiations and crime-prevention techniques.

So far, 108 people have been killed in churches during 2017. The previous record was 77 in one year.

Meeks stressed that the Sheepdog team didnt go to Sutherland Springs on business. Along with concerned clergy from Texas and elsewhere in America, We went there to put our arms around people and let them weep on our shoulders. ... Well help with other things down the line.

One of the problems, whenever another tragedy causes headlines, is that some people think the solution to every church-security problem is one word  guns. One critic, noted Meeks, recently accused his organization of trying to organize an NRA convention in a local Bible Belt church.

Guns are not the answer, he said. I tell people that I have the greatest safety tip in the history of safety tips  WAKE UP.

The bottom line: Waking up does not mean urging throngs of church folks to start packing concealed weapons when they take their places in pews and pulpits.

There are many people carrying guns who have no right to be doing that. They are dangerous  dangerous to other people and dangerous to their own families, Meeks said. When a threat arises, people dont rise to the level of whatever ability they think they have. They sink to the level of their training. ... You dont need someone who was in the military long ago bringing a weapon to church when they havent taken a shot on a range in 20 years or gone to a safety course  ever.

Religious groups may or may not choose to guide people into gun safety classes. That isnt the emphasis at most church-security gatherings.

The key, Meeks said, is that pastors must talk openly about safety issues, including the need to have a few trained church volunteers or off-duty police at strategic points around the church, such as parking lots and major entrances. Its also important for church members to trust their leaders during times of strife in their families. If there is any chance of family violence, church leaders need to hear about it  with systems in place to keep the information confidential.

Words come first. You have to have people trained to deal with angry words and upset people long before they bring their conflicts to church. If it gets to guns, its too late, he said. But pastors just dont want to talk about all this, because theyre scared of running people off.

You see, church folks still think that people out there are like them, that theyre basically good and they dont want to hurt anyone. Thats just not true. We know for a fact now that it isnt true.
Google on Monday rolled out an online payment service thats designed to accelerate the online checkout process.

While the new offering isnt quite Amazon One-Click, it will eliminate many of the annoying steps that can slow down the online purchase process and often result in abandoned shopping carts.

Pay with Google uses address and credit or debit card information users provide to Google to speed them through checkout. Instead of a merchant collecting that information from the customer, its sent behind the scenes by Google.

Google has called on website and app developers to incorporate Pay with Google into their creations.

You can implement it with just a few lines of code, and its free  we dont charge any transaction fees, said Pali Bhat, Googles vice president for payments products.

Google understands that it takes more than an application programming interface and a service to create a critical mass of users, said Rajiv Dholakia, vice president for products and business development at Nok Nok Labs.

Pay with Google is doing that by bringing Googles users as well as its developers to the party, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Convenient Service

For anyone with a Google account, the payment service can be very convenient.

Customers can direct payments from any of the credit cards they have registered with Google companies, including Chrome, Android Pay, YouTube and Google Play, noted Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

Plus, they dont have to fill in numbers or address lines, thus speeding up the payment process, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Users upgrading their Android phones also will find Pay with Google a cozy fit.

They dont have to add new cards every time they get a new phone. They can leverage their cards from Google, said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy.

On the downside, that does create one-stop-shopping for cybercriminals, since a shoppers credit cards are stored at a single location.

I see that as a low probability, though, as Google is typically secure, Moorhead told the E-Commerce Times.

Since [Pay with Google] is based on the Android Pay platform, it supports those same security features and functions, said Pund-ITs King.

Googles Gain Is Merchants Loss

Performing online transactions using Pay with Google is especially secure when compared to data protection methods found at many merchants.

Your credentials are pretty darn safe behind Googles firewalls, said David Robertson, publisher of The Nilson Report.

The reality is too many merchants store our data on systems that can be compromised, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Merchants have never historically been in the business of protecting information, Robertson continued, and many CEOs dont understand whats needed to be spent to protect data stored about their customers.

However, theres a significant drawback for merchants to funneling transactions through Google.

Google is separating the merchant from the opportunity to collect information about their customers, Robertson said.

Youthful Tilt

At launch, Pay with Google had 15 partners, with another 12 in the wings and the expectation of many more as the service picks up momentum.

Still, the offering may not attract as broad an audience as Google would like it to.

Customers need to have bought into Google as a primary mobile and service provider, Pund-ITs King explained.

Plus, the retail partners are tilted to companies focusing on younger consumers, he added. Thats likely to change over time, but it could limit interest among older customers.

Whats more, if Google is betting on more people paying for things with their phones to boost Pay with Google usage, it may be disappointed.

I believe the value proposition for mobile payments remains fairly weak, King said. The function it proposes to eliminate  using a physical credit card  is hardly onerous, and most consumers continue to have concerns about the security and trustworthiness of mobile payments.

Nevertheless, Google had to get into the payment aggregator game with a product like Pay with Google, maintained Nilsons Robertson.

No one knows what the landscape is going to look like three years from now, but everybody is trying to get their ducks lined up to play in as many ponds as possible, he explained. So if you have the capability to be a payment aggregator, it seems to be a good play.
A three-pronged banking malware campaign has been infecting Android phones since the beginning of this year, according to security researchers.

Attackers have been stealing credentials, planting the Marcher banking Trojan on phones, and nicking credit card information. So far, they have targeted customers of BankAustria, Raiffeisen Meine Bank and Sparkasse, but the campaign could spread beyond Vienna.

The attack begins with a phishing message delivered by email to a phone, security researchers at Proofpoint explained in a Friday post. The message pretends to be from the targets bank and contains a link that often is obscured by a Web address shortener like bit.ly.

The link takes the victim to a bogus bank page where the bandits request the targets bank account or PIN information.

Once the hackers have that information, they instruct victims to log into their accounts using their email address and password. All the information entered at the fake banking site is harvested by the hackers.

Permission to Hijack

Instead of getting access to an account, banking customers get a popup message instructing them to install the banks security app. About 7 percent of targets have downloaded the security app, which is really the Marcher malware, Proofpoint estimated.

Once installed, the malware asks for extensive permissions  everything from receiving, sending, reading and writing SMS messages to opening network sockets, reading address books, changing system settings and even locking the phone.

In addition, when applications like the Google Play store are opened, the malware will ask for the users credit card information.

While banking Trojans and phishing are common fare for cybercriminals, combining the two in a focused campaign isnt, noted Patrick Wheeler, director of threat intelligence at Proofpoint.

In general, we dont see a lot of crossover between phishing actors and those who distribute malware, he told TechNewsWorld. The combination of the socially engineered banking Trojan download and multistep phishing attack that gathers credentials or financial information at each step, is fairly unusual.

Not Your Typical Email Attack

The Marcher campaign in Austria is significantly more coordinated than the standard email attack, noted Matt Vernhout, director of privacy at 250ok.

However, it may have limited impact, as the number of steps required to complete the attack may be more than most individuals are willing to complete, he told TechNewsWorld.

Marcher has been around for a long time, which is why its perpetrators may find it necessary to modify the way they create landing pages to ensnare victims.

This is likely because security vendors and domain hosts are hot on their heels shutting them down, said Armando Orozco, a senior malware intelligence analyst with Malwarebytes.

They need other avenues to keep their business model going, he told TechNewsWorld.

Future Expansion

The likelihood of the Marcher campaign spreading is very high, said Proofpoints Wheeler.

Marcher has been observed worldwide, and we have already seen a variety of schemes to distribute the malware, primarily via SMS, and increasingly sophisticated social engineering from actors associated with Marcher, he said.

Any attack such as this one is usually a canary in the coal mine, noted Rajiv Dholakia, vice president of products at Nok Nok Labs.

One should expect variations of this to continue to evolve and spread around the world, he told TechNewsWorld.

Its not unusual for malware to be released in a single country or region and then, depending on its success, expand to other countries, said Damien Hugoo, director of product marketing at Easy Solutions.

We have seen many banking Trojans start out in Europe in the past year and expand globally, he told TechNewsWorld.

Protect Yourself

What can consumers do to protect themselves from this kind of attack?

One defense is to use Android phones that are easy to keep current with the latest version of the operating system, like Googles Pixel and Nexus phones, suggested Daniel Miessler, director of advisory services at IOActive.

Pixel and Nexus stay updated constantly, he told TechNewsWorld.

Also, never use app stores other than the official Google Play store, Miessler advised, and for the highest security, refrain from installing apps that are not extremely well known and well-tested.

Consumers need to be vigilant.

As with phishing attacks on any platform, the onus is on consumers to beware of scams and look for red flags. Unsolicited emails or texts asking for information or giving extensive reasoning for why they should download an app are clear warning signs, advised Proofpoints Wheeler.

Apps that ask for extensive permissions or that do not come from legitimate app stores should also be avoided, he said, unless consumers are absolutely sure of the origin and necessity of the app.
By Katherine Paul

Diestel Turkey, sold by Whole Foods and other retailers at premium prices, says on its website that its animals are never given hormones, antibiotics or growth stimulants.

But Diestel Turkey samples tested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) suggest otherwise, leading consumers to wonder: Can these companies be trusted?

According to testing conducted under the USDAs Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) National Residue Program, samples of Diestel Turkey products tested positive for numerous drug and antibiotic residues.

One of those drugs, chloramphenicol, is strictly prohibited by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in food production because its known to have severe toxic effects in humans including bone marrow suppression or aplastic anemia in susceptible individuals.

According to an amended complaint filed Nov. 13, against Diestel Turkey Ranch, the FSIS inspected Diestel turkeys on four dates in 2015 and 2016, and reported, in addition to chloramphenicol, residues of antibiotics important for human use, veterinary antibiotics, a hormone and other pharmaceuticals.

Animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) brought the action against the privately held Sonora, California, turkey producer in the Superior Court of California. DxE is suing Diestel for falsely advertising its turkey products as hormone- and antibiotic-free, and for deceiving consumers about how the companys birds are raised and treated.

According to the lawsuit, Diestel turkey products tested by the USDA were positive for residues of:

 Ketamine, a narcotic. The Drug Enforcement Agency describes ketamine as a dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects. Ketamines street names include Special K, Cat Tranquilizer, and Cat Valium, the latter two referencing its veterinary uses, and it is commonly referred to as a club drug because it is used illegally at dance clubs and raves. The FDA has not approved the use of ketamine in poultry.

 Amikacin, an antibiotic for human use that the FDA considers important for humans

 Spectinomycin, also an antibiotic for human use

 Hygromycin, an antibiotic for veterinary use

 Ipronidazole, also a veterinary pharmaceutical

 Melengestrol acetate, also known as MGA, a synthetic hormone

 Sulfanitran, an antibacterial drug feed additive

Kim Richman of Richman Law Group, which represents DxE, said that to the best of his knowledge, the USDA did not test any certified organic Diestel Turkey samples. Since organic meat goes through a certification process, the end product is not tested. It appears that the National Residue Program samples only non-organic meat and poultry, Richman said.

This isnt the first time some of these drugs, including chloramphenicol and ketamine, have been found in poultry. As reported by Bloomberg on June 22, the Organic Consumers Association, Friends of the Earth and Center for Food Safety sued Sanderson Farms, the third largest poultry producer in the U.S., for advertising its chicken as 100% natural even though USDA testing reported finding drug residues in Sanderson chicken samples.

Consumers arent pleased to learn that factory farm poultry brands mislead them. But they arent necessarily surprised either.

But its a whole different story when the brands they thought they could trust turn out to be making false claims, too.

Are Diestel and Whole Foods misleading consumers?

Producers like Diestel, and retailers like Whole Foods, know consumers are willing to pay a premium for hormone-free, antibiotic-free turkeys from farms that have high animal-welfare standards.

But what happens when companies make claims that dont live up to consumer expectations?

Diestel Turkey claims its birds live idyllic lives. On its website, the company says:

All of our whole-body Diestel turkeys are raised under our strict standards. We support our turkeys with a healthy environment, fresh mountain water, and the clean air from the Sierra Nevada Foothills. Our feed never contains fillers, our birds are never given growth stimulants or antibiotics, and we never make compromises when it comes to the quality of the feed.

Whole Foods gives Diestel Turkey its 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating standard, a rating intended to differentiate factory farm meat from pasture-raised. The rating not only sets high standards for the comfort, physical safety and health of the animals, but also prohibits the use of hormones and antibiotics.

The USDA testing suggests that Diestel is deceiving consumers about the use of antibiotics and other drugs on its farms. A nine-month investigation of Diestel Turkey Ranch by DxE suggests Diestel also deceives consumers not only about the use of antibiotics and hormones, but also about how the turkeys it sells are treated before being slaughtered for meat.

On its website, Diestel says:

We pay close attention to the health of our birds by spending time with them in the fields, observing their behaviors, and making sure they have the best environment possible.

But according to the complaint DxE filed against Diestel, the turkey producer bases those claims on one picture-perfect farm as its poster child farmbut raises most of its turkeys elsewhere, under industrial factory farm conditions.

And that picture-perfect farm is rated Step 5, even though most turkeys do not enjoy those Step 5 conditions.

In reality, DxEs investigation found that the vast majority of the turkeys sold by Diestel are raised under very different conditions than those portrayed by the Diestel website. According to the complaint, the DxE investigation found:

 turkeys raised in overcrowded barns

 turkeys found languishing or dead

 turkeys suffering from excessive confinement

 turkeys trapped in feces that covered much of the barn floor, up to one-half foot deep

 turkeys suffering from swollen-shut eyes, swollen nostrils, open wounds, and/or bruises

 turkeys missing large patches of feathers as a result of pecking one another and/or defeathering from extreme stress

 turkeys routinely subject to debeaking and/or beak-trimming

 turkeys laboring to breathe in an enclosed barn environment dense with ammonia and particles of dried feces and feathers

 as many as seven percent of birds in a barn dying in a single week

Whats a consumer to do? Weve put together this Holiday Turkey Buying Guide that steers consumers in the direction of reliable sources of honestly marketed turkeys.

And as always, we recommend consumers take advertising and marketing claims with a grain of salt, until those claims can be verified by a third party.

In the meantime, were asking consumers to ask Whole Foods to stop selling Diestel Turkey products.

Katherine Paul is associate director of the Organic Consumers Association.
Vikram Kapoor, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Drew Johnson, professor of civil and environmental engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), have been awarded a $692,452 funding agreement through the City of San Antonio's Proposition 1 Edwards Aquifer Protection Program to design and implement a way to track fecal bacteria in the Edwards Aquifer so that major contamination can be stopped before it starts.

The Edwards Aquifer is the primary source of drinking water for millions of people living in central and south Texas. Like all naturally occurring water sources, it is vulnerable to contamination from storm water runoff, municipal waste or even leaking septic tanks on private properties.

"Some of the sources that contribute to bacteria in aquifer systems are uncharacterized and uncontrollable," said Kapoor. "San Antonio is a forward-thinking city and UTSA is a forward-thinking university which is why we seek to identify sources that can be characterized and controlled. We're going to use innovative molecular techniques to get ahead of any issues that could arise."

The project team will spend the next two years collecting samples over several different regions of the Edwards Aquifer. The researchers will then work to identify specific DNA markers that are found in fecal bacteria to determine if there's contamination in the aquifer, to evaluate the level of contamination if present, and to accurately locate where it originated along the aquifer.

"Understanding and identifying the sources of surface and groundwater fecal contamination is paramount to protecting water quality and mitigating pollution and risk to human health," said Kapoor. "We will determine whether there's fecal contamination, then we'll advise the City on how to mitigate it."

Kapoor's work is the first approach of its kind to studying fecal contaminants in the Edwards Aquifer. Once the scientific testing is complete, his project will include outreach efforts to educate the public, especially homeowners, on how to keep local water resources safe from contamination.

"We're reaching out to our community to understand how septic tanks, pet waste, urban wildlife populations and household wells can affect our drinking water and our environment," said Kapoor.

Education modules for the communities surrounding the aquifer, also funded by the project, will be developed and led by the UTSA Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the project team will begin collecting and testing samples from the aquifer this winter.

###

UTSA is ranked among the nation's top four young universities, according to Times Higher Education.
Some people in the La Crosse area are not happy with Pope Francis.

Here is a recent example. I write the petitions for the Prayer of the Faithful for Roncalli Newman Parish. Some people wrote to the La Crosse bishops office to complain about some of my petitions. They objected to this one: For wisdom for Pope Francis as he continues his work to decentralize the Catholic Church.

They objected to the word decentralize. Yet that is what Pope Francis is doing. Pope Francis also insists that he is simply implementing the teachings of Vatican II, and quotes from those documents.

One example: On Oct. 22, 2017, Pope Francis corrected Cardinal Robert Sarah, the prefect of the Vaticans Congregation of Divine Worship. Sarah is the one responsible for American Catholics now responding, And with your spirit instead of, And also with you. He has insisted on a strict literal translation from the Latin. The Pope corrected him by saying that the translation of relevant liturgical texts is up to the bishops conferences of each nation and should not be imposed from Rome.

In other words, the Pope is decentralizing the Catholic Church according to the teaching of Vatican II.

There are other critics of Pope Francis in high places. One of the most notable is Cardinal Raymond Burke, former bishop of La Crosse. What is remarkable about these critics is that many have insisted on absolute loyalty to previous popes. They harshly criticized anyone who questioned papal teaching.

Now they criticize papal teaching. This raises the question: Is their loyalty to the pope or to their own theological opinions?

These critics have a new ally, Capuchin Father Thomas Weinandy, who recently released a letter to the pope accusing him of confusing the faithful. Weinandy was executive director of the U.S. bishops Secretariat for Doctrine. Father Tom Reese asserts that Weinandy used his office like a grand inquisitor to persecute those theologians who questioned papal teaching. True he did not physically torture his victims, but he did everything he could to destroy their reputations and careers.

Weinandys complaints include giving a path to divorced Catholics that offers the possibility of receiving communion, demeaning the importance of doctrine, and appointing some bishops who support and defend those who hold views contrary to the Catholic faith.

Weinandy is harsh. He accuses the pope of calumny in calling the popes critics Pharisaic stone throwers who embody a merciless rigorism. Weinandy also asserts that Francis seemingly intentional lack of clarity inevitably risks sinning against the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth.

Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich defends Pope Francis whom he called one of the most popular persons on the planet. In fact, a Pew Research survey released this past January found that 87 percent of Catholics express a favorable view of Francis.

I dont think people are scandalized by the pope. I think theyre being told to be scandalized. I think there is a difference, said Cupich on Nov. 6 in a conversation with Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne.

Heidi Schlumpf in the National Catholic Reporter further speaks of Cupich. In his visits to Chicago parishes, Cupich says that he finds Catholics appreciate Francis because he speaks to their everyday lives and has a pastoral approach that allows the shepherd to be sometimes led by the sheep.

This approach frustrates more traditional Catholics. The pope is calling people to have an adult spirituality, rather than being infantilized in their spirituality. For people who like to tell other people what to do, thats threatening, adds Cupich.

As Francis wrote in The Joy of Love, the church is to help form consciences, not replace them. The church accompanies people in their decision-making rather than dictating to them.

As I write the petitions for the Prayer of the Faithful, I will continue to be sensitive to traditional Catholics. However, I continue to believe it is good to pray for wisdom for Pope Francis as he decentralizes the Catholic Church.
When you head to work childcare really matters especially now

There are more than 1,2, 3, ways to help today or "What you can do" tomorrow to help KidsFirst build community around its tutoring and childcare program in the San Fernando Valley. Here's some last minute team reminders. Be ready to watch a master by filling the room and coming early. Come out and have a great time. Whether watching by the video streaming or at the event, it will be a joyous workout for a great cause.

Start by clicking on the donation button tonight at www.kidsfirst.la and RSVP by your donation(s). Set out your work out clothes, stretch and bring a water bottle and a towel. Text a few friends...do you think we can have a flash mob and fill the 250 people capacity for tomorrow's event by social media tonight. Join this fitness expert and have a wonderful time.

Watching Billy Blanks in action is extraordinary, but reaching out to help children succeed will take community effort.

Other reminders to make the day great:

1) You can invite your friends to participate live or online: You can join his invite to 62,722 people on his official Facebook page by also sharing the news on social media and let's fill the room!!! and KFSC's scholarship fund right now.

2) You can RSVP and attend: Let's get kids rough, tough and school ready this quarter and for the rest of their lives. Let's put your calendars and links together to help this awesome educational program serve more children now.

3). Donate as a legacy: If TAE BO has helped you to get your workout on let's keep this learning legacy going as an action for education now.

Donate now:

You can go to www.kidsfirst.la and donate to $20 and hold your place using paypal.

Click in and donate and bring friends!

Enroll your social responsibility corporate team to get fit and at the same time help out (find out how to give through your corporate United Way Greater Los Angeles Fund to help these programs by writing us at bo@kidsfirst.la) Saturday's TAEBO Fundraiser for Kids First of So Cal. If not for the event than for Team Verizon, Bank of America and others to fund childcare that parents need by the Holidays. Call or email someone who needs a new purpose and to burn some calories now.

The where and when:

Billy's class will be held at 2pm on the 18th of November 2018, Legends Gym 20928 Osborne St, Canoga Park, CA 91304.

Even if you've got other plans for tomorrow's event.... your year-end tax deductible donation is welcome. Consider sponsoring a child for a semester, a month, or all year by multiples of $100, $400, or $4000.00 to help KidsFirst build resources to fund student slots open for children today. You can watch more Tae Bo on Billy's official facebook page, but helping our charity out and coming to the event might really shake you up for the better. Come out and bring friends.

Info about KidsFirst SoCal...

Founded in the San Fernando Valley, this fee for service nonprofit program offers options for parents weekly and year round. You can make sure that these local, high quality services and programs can continue to be affordable and ongoing at our local public schools even when the schools are out and parents need coverage.

KidsFirst and New Education Options invite you to bring friends on the Saturday the 18th and raise the roof with Mr. Blanks.

'

_______________________________________________

The difference you can make:

The First 8 years, you can make all the difference to a child's success:

http://www.aecf.org/resources/the-first-eight-years-giving-kids-a-foundation-for-lifetime-success/

Streaming:

This Billy Blanks Event will be streamed from the Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialTaeBoFitness

Where to give (KidsFirst of So Ca url) to donate:

www.kidsfirst.la

Join the TAE BO Nation:

www.taebo.com

https://www.facebook.com/thebillyblanks/

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2DCCogAGJk

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMGIp3jifsoufZv_y8_c1Qg

Let's shoot the stars and fund student scholarships for Title 1 students and elementary programs now.
Friday, November 17, 2017

(NewsUSA) - The term "global economy" has been bandied about for more than a decade and there is no doubt that with evolving technology, businesses can go global from anywhere in the world.

To that end, if you're looking for a new direction to take your interests, you may want to consider the United Kingdom (UK). Taking a business to the UK can be a unique and profitable opportunity when equipped with the right insight.

But keep these simple strategies in mind to help avoid pitfalls when entering the UK market:

-Prepare. Before exploring taking your business to the UK, do your due diligence. Be aware of opportunities to launch your business in conjunction with an annual show or exhibition, or by putting on your own event designed to appeal to UK consumers.

-Plan. Several elements of expanding a business overseas are the same as those for expanding within the United States - locating space, hiring staff, and creating local interest and buzz.

However, these tasks can be challenging to complete remotely and having local insight on factors including competitors, the right route to market, and the appetites and demands of customers/consumers allows an incoming business to be more efficient and effective.

-Partner. A common pitfall that businesses may encounter when establishing a foothold in the UK is trying to manage everything from the United States.

Forming a partnership with a local marketing group can help incoming companies understand the local business environment and open up networks.

-Purpose. Determine the goals you want to achieve with your business expansion.

For consumer goods, pop-ups are one way to test the waters by setting up a short-term shop. Consider social media campaigns and focus groups. But remember that what sells in the United States may not sell the same way in the UK. Determine whether your business brand travels well and what products or services will be a hit by utilizing local experts to design ways to target your core audience.

-Profit. Many factors make the UK a desirable place to grow a business and increase profits, including tax breaks, flexible employment, and a diverse population.

Partnering with a local company that specializes in helping businesses enter the UK ensures that you make the most of this new market opportunity.

For more information, call 646-905-0646 or go to rochesterprgroup.com to find more information and advice about expanding your business to the U.K.

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ITHICA, N.Y.  Farmers in New Mexico, Texas, Ohio, and Michigan want to know more about a crop pest solution developed on farms in Northern New York and in the Shields Lab at Cornell University.

Initially developed to protect the alfalfa crops so critical to the Northern New York dairy industry, using biocontrol nematodes as a non-chemical management practice has shown promise for reducing not only damage by alfalfa snout beetle but by other field crop and fruit pests.

Research

With a mandate backed by a 30-year commitment from the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program, Cornell University entomologist Elson Shields, Ph.D., and Research Specialist Antonio Testa pioneered the science of using a combination of two NY-native nematodes.

They are trying to reduce the alfalfa snout beetle populations that were frequently destroying entire fields of alfalfa in one season.

Once they proved the biocontrol nematodes, in a single application, could significantly reduce the pest population by destroying alfalfa snout beetle larvae over multiple growing seasons, Shields and Testa tested and found success with the use of the biocontrol nematodes for managing pests in strawberry and blueberry crops.

Current funding from the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is underwriting on-farm trials evaluating the impact of biocontrol nematodes on corn rootworm in corn grown in rotation on alfalfa acres.

National interest

In June 2017, New Mexico-based researchers established a biocontrol nematode test plot in an alfalfa field infested with white fringe beetle, an insect similar to alfalfa snout beetle and similarly not controlled by conventional pesticide treatment.

If soil samples analyzed this fall by the Shields Lab show establishment of the microscopic biocontrol nematodes in the trial plot in northeastern New Mexico, the research will be expanded to include the potential to control white fringe beetle and longer-term persistence studies.

In West Texas, near Dalhart, a biocontrol nematode trial was established in May 2017 in a cornfield with severe corn rootworm populations.

Rootworm populations in the area are suspected of becoming resistant to the various Bt-rootworm toxins incorporated into corn varieties.

Results

Shields said they did not expect any positive results from the West Texas trial until 2018, but the biocontrol nematodes reduced the rootworm feeding damage by two-thirds compared to conventional corn planted without soil insecticide.

The NY-native nematodes performed beyond expectations under the extremely heavy pressure.

Recently analyzed samples from the West Texas trial showed the biocontrol nematode population there has dramatically increased.

Shields and his colleagues in Ohio and Michigan are awaiting response to a USDA grant request to test the NY-native biocontrol nematodes against corn rootworm in those states and to continuing the promising field work in Texas.

Northern New York farmers on 100 farms have applied the biocontrol nematodes to more than 19,000 acres of alfalfa as of September 2017.

The Northern New York biocontrol nematode research has also attracted international attention.

In June 2015, a Russian delegation representing the largest milk producer in Russia and Europe traveled to Northern New York specifically to meet with Shields and tour regional farms seeing the results of applying the biocontrol nematodes.

In Europe, alfalfa snout beetle is also a pest of grapes and hops, newly emerging agricultural crops across New York State.

The New York Farm Viability Institute, which funds projects statewide, is currently funding biocontrol nematode trials against pests in corn, sod, apples, strawberries and greenhouse crops in the Finger Lakes, Hudson Valley and other regions of New York State.

The history, results and widespread impact of alfalfa snout beetle research are chronicled on the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program website, www.nnyagdev.org.
Solar must go on rooftops instead of farmland, charity says
I Am Sitting With My Kids

He wrote, "I'm sitting under a tree, on the edge of a valley, approximately 5000 feet above sea level... Ammi, Ira and Junaid are by my side and we are in the middle of one of our favourite board games.''

Shahrukh Is Licking My Feet

Shahrukh is licking my feet and I am feeding him biscuits every now and then.

Shahrukh Is The Name Of Our Dog

What more can I ask for? Now, before you jump to any conclusions let me add that Shahrukh is the name of our dog.

I Did Not Name Him

And before you jump to any further conclusions let me add that I had nothing to do with naming him.

Shahrukh Is The Dog Of The Caretakers

In fact Shahrukh is the dog of the caretakers of our house. When I bought this house it came with the caretaker and his dog!

SRK Was Shooting For A Commerical In This House

Apparently Shahrukh (the actor) was shooting for a commercial in this house a few years ago, and that very day the caretakers bought a pup, and named him Shahrukh.

Strange!

What are the chances of me buying a house which comes with a dog called Shahrukh!

Shahrukh Is Begging For My Attention

Well Shahrukh is once again begging for my attention, so let me get back to him. He is smelling too much, he needs a bath.
Amitabh Bachchan has rubbished reports claiming he had a close shave when the rear wheel of a car taking him to the Kolkata airport rolled off.

Bachchan had gone to Kolkata at the invitation of the West Bengal government for the inaugural programme of the 23rd Kolkata International Film Festival on November 10.

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The 75-year-old actor took to Twitter to inform his fans that he is well.

"I am informed by concerned well-wishers and media, that I had a close escape from a car accident in Kolkata, that is incorrect. There has been no accident... I am well," Bachchan tweeted yesterday.

According to reports, the superstar was on his way back to the airport on November 11 when the incident occurred. He was accompanied by a senior state minister.

The car was provided by a travel agency. A senior official was quoted as saying that the government had sought an explanation from the agency.

On the work front, Amitabh Bachchan will be next seen in Aamir Khan starrer Thugs Of Hindostan. The film also casts Fatima Sana Shaikh and Katrina Kaif in the key roles.

Credits: PTI
With Newton being unanimously chosen as India's official entry to the Academy Awards next year, actor Rajkummar Rao hopes that his dark comedy on Indian democracy manages to win the golden statuette. Directed by Amit Masurkar, the movie featuring Rajkummar in the title role, has been chosen to represent the country in the Best Foreign Language category at the awards.

Bikini Alert! Ruhi Singh's Latest Pictures Are Too Hot To Handle

As it is barely months to the ceremony, the actor says the team is working round-the-clock, which includes showing the film around and acquiring the services of a publicist. "The campaign is on. We are trying our level best and hoping for the best. The team is already there. A lot of screenings are going on in Los Angeles as we speak. There are a huge number of films, that are in the running for the Oscars."

Lingerie Wars! Who Looks The HOTTEST? Esha Gupta Or Amy Jackson

In an interview with PTI he continued, "I really want Newton to break India's dry spell at the Oscars. I can't say, obviously, if it will happen or not. But I wish it does,"

There were reports that suggested Newton was a rip-off of the 2001 Iranian film Secret Ballot. But they were quashed with filmmaker Anurag Kashyap's timely intervention. He reached out to the director and the producer of the Iranian film to clarify that Newton bore no similarity with their project.

Rajkummar quipped, "(He) butchered those people who were saying 'it's a copy, it's a copy'. I don't understand people have so much time in this world. I don't know why they don't focus on making their life better."

Also View: Sizzling Hot Pictures Of Amy Jackson!

(PTI News)
If you tred to locate the Ocooch Mountains of Wisconsin online, Google Maps would direct you to a so-named bike ride that loops through Kickapoo country northwest of Richland Center.

Its a ride, with a total elevation gain of some 3,153 feet, that fairly describes the bluff and valley topography of what we know as the Driftless Area  the rough landscape of southwest Wisconsin and parts of adjacent states that escaped the scouring of the glaciers. Otherwise, the Ocooch Mountains are not well defined, cartologically speaking.

The Wisconsin Historical Societys Dictionary of Wisconsin History says that Ocooch is an obsolete name for the highlands in south-western Wisconsin.

It was also part of the name of a journal of the land and culture of the Driftless Area, The Ocooch Mountain News, that was published between 1974 and 1981. I edited that publication for a time late in its life, just long enough to grow fond of the Driftless even before living here.

One of my favorite writings for the Ocooch was based on a long interview with the late Phil Lewis, a professor of landscape architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In the interview, he described the Driftless as the hole in the donut of a circle city of some 16 million people who, as they discovered the beauty of the Driftless, would place increasing recreation and development pressure on the region. It would be vital for the people of the region to inventory and describe what was worth preserving in the face of such pressure, Lewis said.

Lewiss observations have remained current through the years as the size of that circle city has grown and since conservation faces sobering new realities, according to the new book The Driftless Reader, edited by Curt Meine, conservation biologist and author of the Aldo Leopold biography, and Keefe Keeley, executive director of the Savanna Institute and native of the Kickapoo Valley.

In an introduction to one of the chapters in the book, they wrote: How can the cities, towns, farms and economies of the Driftless Area  how can we  respond to climate change, biodiversity loss, compromised food and food systems, intensified demands on our soils and freshwater, energy infrastructure and development pressures, the sand mining boom, and other environmental challenges? Will we regard them as inexorable trends or as conservation challenges and opportunities?

Their answer, while not explicit, seems to be that to conserve the regions qualities, one has to understand and appreciate its cultural, geologic and historical background, which they offer in some 50 illustrations, including a copy of a painting of the boyhood home of Hamlin Garland in Onalaska, and 80 written texts, including a lovely poem by Lynne Valiquette of Holmen who writes as Lynne Burgess. Also included are writings by Black Hawk, Mark Twain, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Frank Lloyd Wright, Aldo Leopold, David Rhodes, and many other Native people, explorers, scientists, historians, farmers, songwriters, journalists and poets.

I particularly liked the excerpt from Landscape and Home: Environmental Traditions in Wisconsin by William Cronon, environmental historian at the UW-Madison.

He wrote, regarding his love of exploring caves or others interests in birding, hunting or farming, Our passion teaches us to care, so that the land becomes not an abstraction called environment, but a familiar place filled with limestones and sinkholes, cat-tails and geese, oak groves and white-tailed deer. The details matter in an entirely new way; we have experienced them at first hand, as members of a landscape we have learned to call home.

The Driftless Reader, published by University of Wisconsin Press, is a welcome and rich resource for all who want to know more about this landscape we have learned to call home. My only regret is that it did not include the prescient guidance of Phil Lewis and only one reference, in a charming poem by Kathe Davis, to the Ocooch Mountains.
Deepika Padukone & Sunny Leone On Bigg Boss 11

Bollywood actresses, Deepika Padukone and Sunny Leone, who is also an ex-Bigg Boss contestant, will be visiting the sets to promote their films, Padmavati and Tera Intezaar, respectively.

Deepika Padukone To Promote Padmavati On BB 11

If we are to go by the promo, Deepika might perform for Angreji beat' song from the film, Cocktail. This is not the first time that Deepika has been on the show. She had also promoted her earlier films on the reality show.

Sunny Leone On Bigg Boss 11

Sunny Leone too had been in the house previous. Apart from being a contestant in Bigg Boss 5, she had also been on the sets of the show to give tasks to the contestants.

Sunny's Favourite Contestant

It has to be recalled that Sunny was the first to reveal that her friend, Vikas Gupta, will participate on the show. Her favourite contestant is also Vikas Gupta.

Sunny & Arbaaz To Promote Tera Intezaar On BB 11

Sunny will be accompanied by her Tera Intezaar co-actor, Arbaaz Khan. Sunny will also be seen interacting with the contestants. She adds that she is excited to meet Salman Khan.

Bigg Boss 11 Latest Elimination

Coming back to the serious part of the show, which is elimination. It was said that there would be no elimination, but Hina Khan will be sent to the secret room.

Hina Will NOT Be Sent To The Secret Room!

But, according to India-Forum report, Hina will not be sent to the secret room and either Benafsha Soonawala or Sapna Choudhary will be eliminated. It is also said that there is no secret room this season!

Shilpa Shinde-Akash Dadlani

Also, there will be a major fight between Akash Dadlani and Shilpa Shinde. Puneesh Sharma will also be seen joining them. Puneesh will be questioning Shilpa as to how shilpa became friends with Vikas Gupta, whom she hated to the core!
Larry and Ann Scheckel presented a session entitled Electricity Made Simple at the National Science Teachers Association Conference Nov. 9-11, at Milwaukees Wisconsin Center.

The theme of the conference, Making Waves: Moving Science Forward, was built around the ideas of science literacy, science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.

The Scheckels hands-on session was designed for teachers who were searching for ideas to teach basic electricity and simple electrical circuits. Participants hooked up a simple circuit with battery, bulb and wire and moved to a series circuit, a parallel circuit and use of switches.

Basic electricity terms of voltage, current and resistance were explained. An ammeter and volt meter were utilized to develop a basic understanding of Ohms Law. Participants used capacitors to show how electricity is stored. An electrical circuit with motor, fan, switch and batteries demonstrated the uses of electrical power. Teachers constructed an electromagnet, a home-made light bulb and were introduced to LEDs.

Many ideas on how to teach electricity to students in upper primary and middle school grades were shared.
First-term Irmo Mayor Barry Walker announced Sept. 26 that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. The mayors wife, Susan, also got COVD-19, Walker said on social media. As you know Im a kidney patient and require weekly dialysis, Walker wrote. This virus compromises my immune syste Read moreWhat You Missed: Irmo Mayor Barry Walker gets COVID-19
Google adds several new exciting features to Google Assistant: Aims to enhance user experience News oi -Samden Sherpa Google has now upgraded its Assistant app with several features and is making the experience more rich for its users.

Google has now upgraded its Assistant app with several features and is making the experience more rich for its users. Notably, the company has brought the ability to use voice commands to troubleshoot problems with your Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL. In addition, the company has a brought a lot of other changes as well.

Talking about the first aspect, Google Assistant will now launch a troubleshooting process from the commands that users give either using their voice or by typing using the virtual keyboard.

According to Android Police, users can ask the virtual assistant to run diagnostics tests to check the battery health of their Pixel 2 handset or test the camera or even connectivity with their Bluetooth headphones. Also, the Assistant app can set up a phone call or chat with the Google Support team to resolve your issues through a human.

The publication has also reported that the new enhancement was spotted on a Pixel 2 XL running Android 8.1 Oreo dev preview. However, it is present on Android 8.0 Oreo-running Pixel 2 that has the November Security Patch. Google could release the troubleshooting support for all Assistant-integrated Android devices in the coming months.

New Platform for Developers

Apart from that, Google is now offering a platform for developers to create voice-enabled solutions or apps with support for Google Assistant in new languages like Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Indian English.

New Sections

The Explore tab in the Google Assistant app has new 'What's New' and 'What's Trending' sections which will refresh themselves from time to time to keep the users updated. "Whether you're searching for a great restaurant for biryani, mapping your travels or helping the kids with their homework, your Google Assistant is always ready to help," said Brad Abrams, Group Product Manager, Google Assistant.

There is also an autocomplete feature in the search box of the app directory to help users easily find their required apps.

Subcategories

Google Assistant has added subcategories to basically segregate apps within the app directory. Categories like "Food and Drink" in getting additional subcategories, like "Order Food" or "View a Menu."

Discovery Support

Google Assistant is getting discovery support that will let users access third-party apps from Google Assistant by using contextual queries like the Alexa. App developers are also getting a new discovery section on the developer console to help them improve the implicit discovery of their apps on Google Assistant.

Family Badge

Google has launched a new "For Families" badge on the Google Assistant, designed to help users find apps that are appropriate for all ages.

Google is making Assistant more interactive and the company has made some tweaks such as the ability to switch from a speaker to phone and a quick response following a 'cancel' command.

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Select Samsung and LG smart TVs now have support for YouTube TV app News oi -Chandrika YouTube TV service was first introduced back in March.

Back in March, Google had introduced an internet-based television service called YouTube TV. Basically, it a subscription-based service and offers six accounts at a cost of $35 (approx Rs. 2,608) a month.

Initially, YouTube TV was available only in the largest US markets, but Google slowly rolled out the television service to more and more US markets. What's more, it got some new channels as well as support for Google Home voice commands. A few weeks ago, the official YouTube TV app was launched for Android-based TVs and Xbox One Consoles. Now, Google has announced which TVs will get the YouTube TV app.

At this moment, only a few smart TVs from Samsung and LG will offer support for YouTube TV app. To be precise, television sets launched between the year 2016 and 2017 will be compatible with this new app. That being said, Samsung and LG TVs launched in the year 2014 and 2015 should get the support as well.

Apart from these two South Korean companies, Linux-based Sony TVs and Apple TV boxes are expected to have the support for YouTube TV app soon.

In case you are totally familiar with the YouTube TV, let's us give you some more details. Like any other internet-based TV service, it lets you subscribe to it. Once you have the subscription, you will get a cloud DVR with no storage limits. With YouTube TV membership, you will be able to watch YouTube's exclusive content and browse YouTube as well.

To access YouTube TV on a compatible Samsung TV, users need to update their set's firmware and then go to "Apps" and add it to your home screen. It's the same process for LG TVs, but users would have to go LG Content Store.

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Samsung Galaxy S9 might be released in April News oi -Abhinaya Prabhu

The Galaxy S9 and S9+ have been making the rounds on speculations since the past few months. We have been hearing that the upcoming flagship smartphones might arrive with the under-display fingerprint sensor. Contradictory to this, there were speculations that it might feature a facial recognition technology as seen on the iPhone X instead of an under-display fingerprint sensor.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 is believed to feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC and there are claims that both Qualcomm and Samsung are discussing about the chipset. Undoubtedly, this smartphone will be the first one to make use of the chipset. But when the chipmaker will supply the Snapdragon 845 soC and when the smartphone manufacturer will debut the mass production of flagship models remain to be unknown.

We had earlier reported that the Galaxy S9 will be unveiled at MWC 2018 in February next year. The MWC 2018 is said to begin on February 26 in Barcelona, Spain. Now, a GizChina report citing inside sources suggests that the flagship smartphone that will be announced in February will go on sale sometime in April.

In one of the previous reports, we got to see that the mass production of the Galaxy S9 duo will debut sometime in December. Also, it was revealed that the pilot production has been completed. However, it is claimed that there are some issues related to the mass production of the smartphone and these are said to be caused due to the Snapdragon 845 chipset's production.

From the earlier reports, we have got to know that three Galaxy S9 models are in the making. While we already know that two will be the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, the other one is believed to the 4-inch Galaxy S9 mini. These variants are said to feature 6GB RAM, dual camera setup with 12MP and 16MP sensors and run on Android Oreo.

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Yuho Mobile to invest Rs. 500 cr to start smartphone production in India News oi -Samden Sherpa Another Chinese phone maker Yuho Mobile is aiming to grab a larger share of the Indian market.

While the Chinese brands like Xiaomi, OnePlus, Honor, and Oppo amongst others have enjoyed a good amount of success, it looks like another Chinese phone maker is aiming to grab a larger share of the Indian market.

As such, Yuho Mobile which launched its India operations four months back has now announced it plans to invest Rs. 500 crore to start its production in India as it looks to touch the Rs 1,000 crore sales mark by the end of next year.

"We are planning to invest Rs. 500 crore by next year. We are talking to Foxconn for setting up a manufacturing facility at Noida, near Delhi," Yuho Mobile Business Head (Distribution Sales) Rajeev Tiwari told the press. The company will outsource manufacturing of the handsets and is looking to have a capacity to produce 10 lakh units annually, he added.

"The production is likely to start from mid-2018. Apart from the Indian market, this facility will also cater to the SAARC countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and the Philippines," Tiwari said. "Yuho Mobile Pvt Ltd is currently having sales of Rs. 30 lakh every month, he added.

In the first phase, the company is aiming to be present through 7,000 outlets in North and East regions of India. In the second phase, Yuho is targeting to be present in 10,000 outlets across the country. "A total business topline of Rs. 1,000 crore by 2018 should keep us in good stead," Tiwari said.

The company today rolled out three models for the North Eastern market, priced between Rs. 6,000 and Rs. 15,000. Tiwari has further stated that the company is aiming to be present in the region through 700-800 sales outlets within next three months.

Source: PTI

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Every child has a right to a good public education.

That was the message from the Tomah Area School District faculty during American Education Week Nov. 13-17.

American Education Week annually demonstrates that it is the right of every child in our community to have access to high-quality public education, said Tomah Education Association co-president Nathan Jungmeyer, a Tomah High School social studies teacher. We also get a chance to recognize our teachers, support staff, bus drivers and everyone who ensures that students have high-quality learning every day.

The first observance of American Education Week dates back to Dec. 4-10, 1921, with the NEA and American Legion as the cosponsors. A year later, the then-U.S. Office of Education joined the effort as a cosponsor, and the PTA followed in 1938.

In Tomah, THS students recoreded public service announcements about their most influential teachers, and elementary students created a writing and art flyer describing their favorite part of school. The best ones were chosen and displayed at local downtown businesses.

Tomah mayor Nellie Pater signed a proclamation declaring American Education Week in Tomah. It reads, in part, ...public schools are the backbone of democracy, providing young people with the tools they need to maintain our nations precious values of freedom, civility and equality ... schools are community linchpins, bringing together adults and children, educators and volunteers, business leaders and elected officials in a common enterprise.
Strikes Continue Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Nov. 17, 2017  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, conducting 34 strikes consisting of 56 engagements Nov. 13-16, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of the strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Yesterday in Syria, coalition military forces conducted five strikes consisting of 10 engagements against ISIS targets near Dayr Az Zawr. The strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed an ISIS vehicle and three explosive hazards.

On Nov. 15, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets near Dayr Az Zawr. The strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

On Nov. 14, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of seven engagements against ISIS targets near Dayr Az Zawr. The strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed three explosive hazards, two fighting positions and a command-and-control center.

On Nov. 13, coalition military forces conducted three strikes consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS headquarters.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed an ISIS vehicle and an ISIS headquarters.

Strikes in Iraq

Yesterday in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted five strikes consisting of five engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qayyarah, three strikes destroyed three ISIS-held buildings.

-- Near Rawah, two strikes destroyed an ISIS improvised explosive device facility and an artillery piece.

On Nov. 15, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of seven engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed a vehicle-borne bomb factory.

-- Near Rawah, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units, destroyed four ISIS vehicles and damaged a fighting position.

On Nov. 14, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 17 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two ISIS vehicles, a weapons cache, a vehicle-borne-bomb factory and two suicide vests.

-- Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed an ISIS supply route.

-- Near Ramadi, a strike destroyed an ISIS bunker and four ISIS vehicles.

-- Near Rawah, five strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle-borne-bomb factory, an ISIS-held building, a weapons cache and an ISIS headquarters and facilitated effective fire on ISIS targets.

On Nov. 13, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of four engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed a vehicle-borne-bomb factory.

-- Near Rawah, three strikes destroyed two ISIS tractor-trailers and two vehicle-borne-bomb factories.

Previous Strikes

Additionally, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of one engagement near Qaim, Iraq on Nov. 11. The strike destroyed an ISIS supply route.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.

The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect.

For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.

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Allied Spirit VII Exercise Showcases Integrated Training

By Army Staff Sgt. Kathleen Polanco, 7th Army Training Command

HOHENFELS, Germany, Nov. 17, 2017  "It's very important for us to train together with our partners," said Col. Arturas Radvilas, the commanding officer of the Lithuanian army's Motorized Infantry "Griffin" Brigade.

"For us, this is the most important thing because it's a multinational exercise," Radvilas added.

Radvilas is talking about Allied Spirit VII, a 7th Army Training Command-conducted multinational exercise that focuses on tactical interoperability and testing secure communications among NATO members.

The exercise, which began Oct. 30, is being held here until Nov. 22. There are approximately 4,000 participants from 13 nations: Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Working Together

"The importance of Allied Spirit is to bring our NATO partners together in a cohesive exercise where we can test and exercise our alliance together to prove interoperability, have situational understanding, learn tactics and maneuver, and increase our ability to integrate these forces to work together as a full team," said Brig. Gen. Jeff Smiley, the deputy commanding general of the 40th Infantry Division, California Army National Guard.

The three-week exercise integrates different forces into one multinational brigade, with Lithuania taking the lead as the higher command. Lithuania provides mission command of fire support, offensive, defensive and stability tasks, while concurrently operating a command post exercise at the Warfare Training Center in Nemencine, Lithuania.

In the first week, the participating nations spent time getting to know each other's procedures, capabilities and systems through improvised explosive device awareness training, route clearance and vehicle recovery. Some of the other training objectives included media engagements: civilian-military integration; medical training; and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense.

Integrated Training

This integrated training was an invaluable asset for the California Army National Guard unit to take home as the soldiers don't often receive many opportunities to train with allied partners, Smiley said.

"We have a lot of experience in working with law enforcement, fire services, local government, and county and state governments," Smiley said. "Well, those experiences really play out very well over here in this complex environment where we get to interface."

After a week of refresher training, the units familiarized themselves with the training area by moving into their fighting positions as they prepared for the main exercise days to begin.

'Totally Different' Training

"It was totally different from what we normally do because most of our training is conducted in Canada on wide-open prairies," said Lt. Col. Jez Lamb, the United Kingdom's 1st Battalion, Royal Regiment Fusiliers, first-time participants in the exercise. "But here, maximum ranges are about 50 meters, so it's very close. We can't form nice open formations, so the whole thing is totally different."

After familiarization with the training area's terrain, and understanding everyone's involvement and capabilities, the Fusiliers and the rest of the multinational brigade were ready to take on the opposing forces.

Exercise participants are challenged to apply their training and integrate their skills to conduct recons, dismounts, attacks and defensive operations as one interoperable fighting force.

"This is a unique opportunity for us to be trained here," Radvilas said. "Being able to learn from our partners and understand them is very important for us."

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Air National Guard Strikes Hard at 'Combat Hammer' Exercise

By Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Robert Shepherd, 132nd Wing, Iowa Air National Guard

DUKE FIELD, Fla., Nov. 17, 2017  Airmen with Air National Guard units from Texas, New York, Iowa, Ohio, California, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and North Dakota supported and piloted MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles during Operation Combat Hammer, the first operational air-to-ground weapons evaluation for the Air National Guard that includes the Reaper.

The Combat Hammer exercise takes place twice each year at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and twice annually at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and is part of the Weapon System Evaluation Program. WSEP has two parts: Combat Hammer evaluates all Air Force air-to-ground weapons, mostly bombs, while Combat Archer evaluates all air-to-air weapons, mostly missiles.

Realistic Training

"WSEP is an opportunity for the Air National Guard to provide our warfighters with 'as real as it gets' combat training outside of the combat zone, said Air Force 1st Lt. Josh, WSEP Project Officer for 132nd Wing, Des Moines, Iowa.

The 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group out of Eglin AFB conducted a maritime Weapons System Evaluation Program in the Gulf of Mexico and in Choctawhatchee Bay, Nov. 1-3 and Nov. 6-8. Within the 53rd WEG, the 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron is the lead for Combat Hammer.

"As a whole, Combat Hammer has to do that on a much larger scale since we have three to four units here each WSEP. A lot of hours by a lot of people go into making this happen, and it couldn't be done without a whole team effort," said Air Force Maj. Marcus, the assistant director of operations for WSEP at the 86th FWS, Eglin AFB.

Exercise participants this year included F-22 Raptor aircraft, from the 94th Fighter Squadron at Langley, AFB, Virginia; F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft, from the 55th Fighter Squadron of Shaw AFB, South Carolina; A-10 Warthog aircraft from the 75th Fighter Squadron of Moody AFB, Georgia; and MQ-9 Reaper UAVs with Air National Guard units from Texas, New York, Iowa, Ohio, California, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and North Dakota and the 2nd Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Florida.

Approximately 30 boats simulated realistic swarm attack formation maneuvers in the Choctawhatchee Bay while military aircraft targeted them from above to practice simulated "kills" and evaluate the precision-guided munitions.

The 96th Range Control Squadron gathered data from the aircraft, weapons, targets, and a multitude of other range sensors. This combined information provides full situational awareness to the WSEP engineers, allowing them to make real-time decisions on the performance of the various weapons systems.

The exercise also marked the first time an MQ-9 Reaper flew across multiple states back to its home unit instead of being shipped back. The 174th Attack Wing in Syracuse, New York, flew its MQ-9 over 1,200 miles from Duke Field, Florida.

(Editor's Note: The full names of Air Force members quoted in the article weren't used due to security concerns.)

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Lebanon FM vows response to foreign interference

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 17, 2017 04:29PM

Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil says his country's sovereignty is not for sale, vowing response to any attempts at outside interference, Russia's RIA news agency reports.

He made his comments in Moscow on Friday in relation to the ongoing chaos in Lebanon created after Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri announced his resignation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, earlier this month.

Hariri announced his resignation on November 4, citing several reasons, including the security situation in Lebanon, for his sudden decision. He also said that he realized a plot being hatched against his life.

Hariri also accused Iran and the Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, of meddling in the Arab countries' affairs; an allegation the two have rejected.

Bassil expressed hope that Hariri would return to Beirut after he ends his visit to France, Russia's RIA news agency reported.

On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron invited Hariri and his family to France, apparently as a way-out for him to leave Saudi Arabia amid reports that the Riyadh regime is holding the prime minister against his will.

Bassil further said Hariri can return to Beirut without any conditions or restrictions on his freedom, adding he can decide whether to step down as the prime minister once back in Lebanon.

The top Lebanese diplomat emphasized that Hariri should still be considered as the country's serving prime minister.

Meanwhile, Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Bassil as saying on Friday that some forces were trying to oust the country's leader.

"Some sides are trying to use certain forces in order to displace the leader of Lebanon," Bassil said in a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

He added that a "campaign to intimidate Lebanon" had been launched and hoped Moscow would intensify its efforts aimed at "providing a balance of forces" in the region.

The foreign minister said Russia has always played a "great role" in the fight against terrorism and the de-escalation of conflicts.

Lebanon should solve problems free from foreign interference: Lavrov

Lavrov, for his part, urged Lebanon to resolve problems through dialogue and without external interference.

"And the most important thing, we support the resolution of all urgent issues by the Lebanese themselves without any external interference through dialogue in the legal field taking into account the interests of all leading political forces as well as ethnic and religious groups," Lavrov said in the meeting with his Lebanese counterpart.

He also emphasized that his country backs Lebanon's sovereignty.

"Russia has consistently supported the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon. We are interested in Lebanon being safe and functioning effectively with the participation of all branches of power and all the governmental structures," he said.

Hariri rejects detention 'rumors'

The Lebanese premier in a tweet on Friday dismissed as "rumors" the reports about his detention in Saudi Arabia.

Hariri said he has stayed in Saudi Arabia to consult about Lebanon's future and its relations with the region.

He also said "stories" about his family in Saudi Arabia are only "rumors." Lebanese President Michel Aoun had previously said that Lebanon is in possession of reliable intelligence that Hariri's family were also detained in their house in Saudi Arabia.

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Lebanese security forces bust Daesh terrorist network

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 17, 2017 04:21PM

Lebanese security forces have arrested a group of people suspected of affiliation with Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in neighboring Syria, and planning to carry out a series of deadly attacks in Lebanon.

"We were able to arrest a group of Syrians, who had formed a network to conduct terror missions. They were tasked with monitoring Lebanese Army and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) centers in southern Lebanon in order to collect information on military personnel and equipment ... and their methods of operation," Lebanon's General Security Directorate said in a statement released on Friday.

The statement added that the detainees had taken pictures of sensitive facilities, and sent them to Daesh terrorists in Syria's northern city of Raqqah as well as the eastern town of al-Bukamal on the border with Iraq.

"Their second mission was to target shops in Aramoun village of Aley district in the Mount Lebanon province, and throw ordinary people into panic. Members of the network also worked to recruit people to fight within Daesh ranks in Syria, arranged temporary marriages to the militants, and funneled money to the extremists," it pointed out.

Lebanon has often seen the infiltration of Takfiri elements from neighboring Syria into its territory, where they target the civilian population or security forces with bombings.

In August 2014, members of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham  formerly known as Nusra Front  and Daesh terrorist groups overran the town of Arsal, located 124 kilometers northeast of Beirut, killing a number of Lebanese forces. They took 30 soldiers hostage, most of whom have been released.

Since then, Hezbollah resistance fighters and Lebanese military forces have been defending Lebanon on the country's northeastern frontier against foreign-backed terrorist groups from neighboring Syria.

Hezbollah fighters have fended off several Daesh attacks inside Lebanon. They have also been providing assistance to Syrian army forces to counter the ongoing foreign-sponsored militancy.

The movement has accused Israel of supporting Takfiri terrorists operating in the Middle East.

Israel, which continues to occupy Lebanon's Shebaa Farms and Syria's Golan Heights, is widely reported to be offering medical help to Takfiri terrorists injured in Syria. In December 2015, British newspaper the Daily Mail said Israel had saved the lives of more than 2,000 Takfiri militants since 2013.

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US now has significantly more troops in Somalia

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 17, 2017 11:09AM

The Pentagon has revealed that the United States now has some 500 troops on the ground in Somalia even as it denies a "build-up" of forces in the African country.

The Pentagon announced in a statement on Thursday that there were now more than 500 US troops on the ground in Somalia, Fox News reported on Friday. That would be a significant increase in the number of American soldiers in Somalia since early 2014, when roughly two dozen US troops arrived there for the first time since 1993.

US Africa Command has also said that there have been 28 US airstrikes in Somalia this year, mostly from drones and against purported al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militants.

The US also carried out its first airstrike against purported Daesh positions in Somalia earlier this month.

Build-up in Africa

Lt. Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr., who is the director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff, at a press briefing on Thursday denied that the increase in the number of US troops in Somalia was a "build up." He said there was a "flow of forces in and out" of the country.

"I'm not going to discuss exact troop levels. I think we're a little under that 500 total, actually. I think it's closer to 400, is probably what we  what we operate there," he said.

The US military recently conducted six straight days of airstrikes in Somalia  from last Thursday to Tuesday, according to US media.

Fox News reported that in addition to Somalia, the US military had conducted over 100 airstrikes in Yemen.

In October, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, claimed that Daesh "has aspirations to establish a larger presence" in Africa after being pushed out of Syria and Iraq.

He said Pentagon planned to advise US President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on the increased "allocation of forces" in Africa, citing the Daesh threat.

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Philippine troops committed rights abuses in Marawi battle: Amnesty

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 17, 2017 08:01AM

Amnesty International says both Philippine government forces and Daesh militants committed human rights abuses during a five-month battle in the southern city of Marawi in the Philippines.

The London-based human rights group released a 34-page report on Friday, saying all sides in the fighting were guilty of violations.

The report said the Takfiri militants had committed unlawful killings, hostage-taking, pillage, and had mistreated prisoners in Marawi, which is located on the southern island of Mindanao.

The report, entitled "The Battle of Marawi: Death and destruction in the Philippines," said the terrorists used child soldiers and singled out Christians for attacks.

Some survivors said hostages had been executed or physically abused and forced into labor and used as human shields, the report said.

Some hostages, who had managed to escape, said that they had been detained and tortured by security forces, who suspected them to be militants.

"I was punched and kicked," the report quoted a survivor as saying. "They tied our hands and feet with electrical wire The military was angry because 13 of their men were killed."

Marawi had been the scene of fierce fighting between the Philippine forces and the terrorists since May 23. The militants occupied Marawi after taking control of the city's central business district. They ransacked banks and shops and looted houses.

Last month, the Philippine government declared the city fully liberated.

The violence has displaced hundreds of thousands of residents and left at least 1,131 people dead, including 919 militants and 165 soldiers and police officers.

The Amnesty investigation, which was based on interviews with 48 witnesses from September until early November, cited at least 10 separate incidents where at least 25 Christians had been executed by the militants.

The rights group described the executions as war crimes.

Philippine government forces were also accused of killing non-combatants in airstrikes, which may have been carried out in excess.

At least ten hostages, Amnesty said, might have also been killed in a single aerial bombing carried out by the government armed forces.

Amnesty said an independent inquiry had be carried out into the bombardments to find out whether government "bombings of civilian neighborhoods were proportional under international humanitarian law."

"The Philippine authorities must bring those responsible for torture and other violations to justice and ensure that the victims receive adequate reparations," said Tirana Hassan, Amnesty International's crisis response director.

In reaction to the report, Philippine armed forces spokesman, Restituto Padilla, said Filipino troops had been given strict instructions to observe and respect international humanitarian law.

"We will not tolerate and condone these abuses and will act on them," he told in a news briefing on Friday.

United States Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had hailed the Philippine military last month for ending the siege without a single credible human rights abuse allegation.

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Lebanon FM: Hariri crisis 'part of attempt to create chaos'

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 17, 2017 07:08AM

Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil says the crisis over the resignation of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri is part of an "attempt to create chaos in the region."

Speaking in Moscow on Friday, Bassil said Lebanon has the "full powers" to respond to the crisis, but hoped this would not be necessary.

"We will respond and we have the full powers to do that, but we hope it doesn't come to that," he said.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun has said that Hariri, who resigned as prime minister on Nov. 4, is being detained in Saudi Arabia against his will - despite the premier's reassurances he would return home soon.

On Friday, a senior Hariri aide was quoted as saying that Hariri will see France's president on Saturday in Paris and the meeting will help resolve the Lebanese crisis and boost stability.

Bassil has been touring European capitals to lobby for Hariri's return. On Thursday, he warned that Lebanon should not be treated as a plaything by any country.

"Lebanon is not a toy in others' hands," the Lebanese foreign minister said at a joint press conference with his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel in Berlin.

Gabriel said he shared concerns about the threat of instability and bloodshed in Lebanon and, without mentioning Saudi Arabia directly, warned against the "adventurism" behind the Lebanon crisis and the "human tragedy in Yemen."

"We expect that Prime Minister Hariri can come back to Beirut," he added.

Saudi Arabia has been bombing Yemen since 2015 to restore its Riyadh-allied government, killing many thousands in the process.

Bassil, for his part, said, the "Hariri issue is actually a matter of Lebanon's sovereignty," and called on Arab countries to "not interfere with Lebanon's internal matters."

The Lebanese foreign minister also said further turmoil in his country, which is already hosting thousands of refugees fleeing violence in neighboring Syria, would create a new influx of asylum seekers to Europe.

Bassil also visited Turkey on Thursday and is to travel to Russia on Friday, where he is about to meet with Russia's top diplomat, Sergei Lavrov.

At a joint presser with Bassil, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged Hariri's "immediate" return.

"We support Lebanon's unity, integrity and stability, and we oppose any development that would risk Lebanon's stability," he said.

"Lebanon does not need any other problems. On the contrary, we need to contribute to the solution of the existing problems."

Bassil also held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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A judge has dismissed a legal challenge to Winona Countys ban on industrial frac sand mining.

Minnesota Sands, a company with leases on thousands of acres in southeast Minnesota, sued the county along with landowners who claim the 2016 ordinance violates their constitutional rights by singling out sand used for industrial purposes while permitting sand to be mined for construction uses.

In a written order issued Friday, Winona County District Court Judge Mary Leahy dismissed the claims, ruing that the county board acted within its legislative capacity in adopting the ordinance and that the ordinance does not violate the plaintiffs rights to equal protection and due process nor U.S. commerce laws.

Leahy also ruled the ordinance does not amount to a taking, under which landowners are entitled to compensation when laws strip their property of all economic value. The plaintiffs never had the right to mine their lands as mining was a conditional use and required a permit even before the adoption of the ban. She also ruled the ordinance does not deprive them of all economic value as the land can still be used for other purposes.

Winona County was the first in Minnesota to completely ban mining of the round-grained silica sand used to extract oil and natural gas through a process known as hydraulic fracturing.

Demand for frac sand led to a boom in mines across western Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota since 2009, though demand later waned with falling oil prices. Industry watchers expect demand to exceed the 2014 peak this year or next as well operators use more sand per well.

While there are dozens of active frac mines in Wisconsin, Minnesota has just three, with a fourth site idled, according to the states Legislative Reference Library.

According to court documents, Minnesota Sands has mining leases to 1,946 acres of land in Winona County that contain silica sand worth between $3.6 billion and $5.8 billion. Company President Rick Frick of Dakota, Minn., claims to have rights to another 1,700 acres of land though he has yet to mine any sand.

In October, Minnesota Sands asked the state Environmental Quality Board to terminate the boards 2013 order requiring the company to complete a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement before moving ahead on proposed mines on about 615 acres in Fillmore, Houston and Winona counties.

The company said it instead planned to mine just one 50-acre site in Fillmore County, saying legal and market conditions had made other locations unfeasible.

Minnesota law requires an EIS, which can take more than a year to complete, for a frac sand mine or group of linked mines of more than 160 acres. Smaller projects require only an Environmental Assessment worksheet.

Frick told the board he had terminated his leases in Houston County and could not pursue those in Winona County because of the ban.

The board voted to delay action on the request, citing concerns a decision could affect the court case.
UN chief says Saudi war on Yemen 'stupid,' calls for lifting of blockade

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 17, 2017 03:09AM

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has described Saudi Arabia's long-running war on Yemen as "stupid," saying the blockade on the impoverished country must come to an end.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the UN chief's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Guterres had written a letter to Saudi Arabia's UN envoy Abdallah al-Mouallimi, asking the Riyadh regime and its allies to reopen Yemen's sea and airports as well as borders.

"The secretary general is very much disappointed that we have not seen a lifting of the blockade," said Dujarric, underscoring Guterres' frustration with Saudi officials' disregard for international calls to remove the siege.

Guterres and his top aid officials are "heartbroken at the scenes we are seeing from Yemen and the risk of continued suffering of the Yemeni people," Dujarric added.

"This is a man-made crisis," he said of the unprovoked military campaign that has killed over 12,000 Yemenis since it began in March 2015, noting that Guterres had called it a "stupid war."

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia announced that it was shutting down Yemen's air, sea, and land borders, after Yemeni fighters targeted an international airport near the Saudi capital.

This is while the UN has listed Yemen as the world's number one humanitarian crisis, where 17 million people are in dire need of food, seven million of whom are facing famine.

The war has also forced one of the world's worst outbreaks of cholera upon the impoverished country, killing over 2,200 people and leaving nearly one million people more infected.

In his letter to Mouallimi, Guterres called on the Saudi-coalition to allow UN flights to the Yemeni capital Sana'a as well as Aden, and to reopen the key ports of Hudaydah and Salif.

He also offered to send a UN team to Riyadh for talks on more thorough inspections at Hudaydah port, after Saudi Arabia claimed that ships docking there are used for smuggling arms into areas controlled by the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

Saudi Arabia began the war over two years ago in an attempt to reinstall Yemen's former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh, and crush the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

Since the onset of the brutal war, Ansarullah, the national army and popular groups have joined forces to defend the country against the Saudi aggression. Over the past two years, the Houthis have also been running the state affairs.

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Argentine Submarine Goes Missing for Two Days, Major Search Op Underway

Sputnik News

21:48 17.11.2017(updated 22:25 17.11.2017)

There are 44 crew members on board of the San Juan submarine.

The San Juan submarine, which had left the southern city of Ushuaia for Mar del Plata in Argentina more than 1,800 miles away has been last heard from two days ago and is considered to be missing. According to a navy spokesman, it may have suffered a communications error.

"We are investigating the reasons for the lack of communication," Argentine naval spokesman Enrique Balbi told reporters. "If there was a communication problem, the boat would have to come to the surface."

According to the newspaper Clarin, the submarine with 44 crew members on board could have suffered from fire or a technical failure.

"The latest official and reliable information is that the submarine has not yet been found. It's not that it's lost: to be lost you'd have to look for it  and not find it," Balbi said.

He added that a tracker airplane and navy ships are searching the area for the missing vessel.

The relatives of the crew have already been informed about the incident. However, Admiral Gabriel Gonzalez, chief of the Mar del Plata base, said the submarine had sufficient food and oxygen, so the current situation is not an emergency.

According to national Argentine newspaper La Nacion, the submarine, which is 66 meters long, has a diesel-electric vessel that underwent a complex repair and engineering work in 2008, was constructed in Germany in 1985 and joined the Argentine Navy a year later.

 Sputnik

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UN rights chief voices concern about Cambodia election after opposition ban

17 November 2017  The United Nations human rights chief voiced grave concerns Friday about the conduct of credible, free and fair elections in Cambodia next year following the decision by the Supreme Court to dissolve the main opposition party.

"An effective multi-party democracy requires an opposition that can operate freely without intimidation and threats  and the same goes for a credible, free and fair election," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein in a news release.

The court dissolved the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), the main opposition party, on Thursday after the Ministry of Interior complained that the opposition was plotting a so-called colour revolution against the Government. A total of 118 CNRP members were banned from political activity for five years.

"People need to be able to debate and discuss freely the political affairs of their country, and the decision to dissolve the CNRP has deprived over three million voters of their representation," Mr. Zeid said.

The party's dissolution follows the arrest on 3 September of CNRP president Kem Sokha on charges of 'treason' related to comments made in 2013 about his grassroots political strategy to challenge the current Government.

"The use of law against the CNRP and its members is a smokescreen  it is the rule by law, and not the rule of law. The accusations against the CNRP and its members were vague, as were the legal provisions supporting the complaint to dissolve it," Mr. Zeid said, adding the dissolution of the CNRP was based on alleged criminal acts by Kem Sokha which had not been proved in a court of law.

Mr. Zeid said the party's dissolution and the ban on its members was all the more worrying, given other measures by the Government in recent months, including closure and suspension of civil society groups as well several media companies. It has also been targeting individual journalists and members of non-governmental organizations.

"An essential component of all democracies is a vibrant civil society, including NGOs and press that may sometimes be critical of the Government," said Mr. Zeid. "Imposing limits on civil society and shrinking their space serves only to stymie the creativity, innovation and ingenuity necessary for Cambodia to continue to develop, and to maintain peace."

Similarly, he stressed, "a free press is essential to ensure that the public is properly informed of political and other issues so that people can be responsible and engaged actors."

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US Officials Warn Special Ops Forces Being Stretched to Possible Breaking Point

By Jeff Seldin November 17, 2017

Add U.S. lawmakers to the ranks of those worried the country's special operations forces are being stretched to a possible breaking point.

Pentagon officials raised the issue months ago, telling lawmakers in May the continuous, heavy reliance on the most elite U.S. forces was threatening to erode their capabilities.

Since then, such concerns have only grown, highlighted by a series of high-profile incidents, including a probe into whether two members of the Navy's SEAL team may have been involved in the death of an Army Green Beret member in Mali this past June, and the death of four special operation soldiers in an ambush in Niger last month.

"I do worry about overuse of SOF [special operations forces]," House Armed Services Committee Chairman Republican Mac Thornberry said Wednesday at a conference in Washington.

"They are increasingly an organization of choice because SOF is very effective," he said.

Force of choice

There currently are about 70,000 active duty, reserve and civilian personnel serving under U.S. Special Operations Command. According to Congressional testimony, approximately 8,000 forces are currently deployed to more than 80 countries.

Some of the more high-profile missions include critical roles as part of the effort to defeat the Islamic State (IS) terror group in both Iraq and Syria, as well as assistance to Afghan forces fighting both the Taliban and IS.

Efforts to stem the influence of terror groups in Africa, including the mission in Niger, as well as efforts to reassure U.S. allies in Europe and Southeast Asia, have only increased the need for special operations forces.

"The operational tempo is so incredible," Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Democrat Jack Reed said at a policy forum on U.S. special operations forces.

"The idea that you would have within six years, multiple deployments, some people every six months to deploy, that in and of itself causes lots of consequences," he said.

Operational tempo

Some lawmakers fear that even as U.S. special operations forces perform well while they are deployed, the high operational tempo is taking a toll once they return home  with personnel sometimes suffering from physical and emotional scars that cannot be easily identified.

"These men and women are some of the most hardcore, determined people that we have in our armed forces," said Republican Senator Joni Ernst, a combat veteran who served in Iraq.

"It is very hard for them to step forward and say, 'Hey, I need to go see the doc. Hey, I need to visit with the counselor,'" she said. "We have to provide more support for those who are engaging in this high op tempo environment."

Some of the country's elite forces are starting to get more help.

Ernst said some Navy SEAL teams now have psychologists assigned to their units. Other units are doing more to monitor and detect changes in behavior following deployments.

But she and others worry existing programs are not working well enough, and they say more needs to be done.

"We spend so much time and effort talking about the stuff we're going buy for the military. I'm not sure over the years we have spent enough time on our most valuable assets, which is our people," according to Thornberry, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee.

Still, there are nagging concerns the current special operations force may be nearing its limit.

"What they're capable of is unbelievable, but for how long?" said Representative Adam Smith, the ranking member of House Armed Services Committee. "How many missions can you send them on? How many times can they do this? I think that's what we don't know."

Growing demands

In the meantime, lawmakers expect Washington's reliance on special operations forces is only going to grow, in part due to an expanding set of global hot spots and also because of a U.S. foreign policy approach that seems to be minimizing the use of diplomacy.

Senator Reed pointed to the U.S. operation in Niger, where four U.S. soldiers were killed, as an example.

"Part of that operation was sort of civic engagement  those special operators were talking to the head person in the village," he said. "Typically, with adequate security, that's a State Department function."

According to Ernst, "We should run the gamut before we are engaging our military and we can't do that if we don't have the personnel outside of DoD [the Department of Defense] that are shaping that battlefield for us, shaping that discussion.

"They have to be properly funded. It's critical to our national security," she said. "They help our [special forces] operators significantly."

Another option, according to both Reed and Ernst, is to expand the number of U.S. special operations forces, which they say may be necessary even with a bulked-up diplomatic corps.

"We have to increase numbers and resources," Reed said, warning, "We cannot sacrifice quality for quantity."

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Sahel Counterterror Force Lacks Funding

By Nicolas Pinault November 17, 2017

Burkina Faso's foreign minister says a new counterterrorism force for Africa's Sahel region needs substantially more funding to operate.

The G5 Sahel force was formed to enable Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Mauritania and Chad to defend themselves against Islamist militant groups that operate in the region, such as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and Boko Haram. It was authorized by U.N. resolution 2509, which was agreed upon by France and the United States after intense negotiations.

Alpha Barry told VOA's French to Africa service that the G5 Sahel force has received only a quarter of the estimated 423 million euros, or $500 million, it needs for annual operations.

"To date, we only gathered 108 million euros. The European Union has donated 50 million euros; France, 8 million euros; and 10 million euros each [from] Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania and Chad. The current gap is important," Barry said Thursday on VOA Afrique.

Barry said $60 million in pledged U.S. aid will go to militaries in the region, not the G5 force.

Leaders of the region are counting on a meeting December 14 in Brussels to persuade donors, particularly the Gulf countries, to commit to financing the G5 Sahel.

"This is a major step toward closing our budget. We call for a strong mobilization of the United States, in particular. If terrorism is not defeated in our countries, it will be a threat to the world," Barry said.

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Nikki Haley: US Must Take Sides in South Sudan Conflict

By Mariama Diallo November 17, 2017

The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations says the South Sudanese government is engaged in a brutal, protracted military campaign against a fragmented opposition and says, while both sides are responsible for atrocities against civilians, the government is primarily responsible for ethnically based killings.

Nikki Haley, who made those remarks Wednesday at Washington's Holocaust Museum, says nothing prepared her for the level of suffering she saw when she recently visited South Sudanese refugee camps.

"Entire families are living with nothing but a tarp over their heads. Women are giving birth on dirt floors, floors that have now turned to mud by the fact that it is the rainy season," Haley said. "There is nothing that prepares you for the sobs of the South Sudanese women, nearly all of whom have been raped, sometimes repeatedly."

She spoke of one story in particular: "One woman told me about being gang raped. She told me about how soldiers ripped the baby out of her arms and threw him in the fire."

High hopes for Kiir

Haley traveled to South Sudan last month, becoming the first senior member of the Trump administration to do so. She said the United States at one point had high hopes for the country's leader, Salva Kiir, but there is now revulsion with what he has allowed to happen the past few years.

She said there are limits to U.S. patience and generosity regarding the conflict.

"His government and his soldiers have caused the suffering of millions of South Sudanese people," Haley said. "To his credit, he did not try to deny it, but acknowledgment of evil is not enough. We have to take a side."

She welcomed Kiir's order this week requiring free and unhindered access for humanitarian groups in South Sudan.

Haley's remarks were followed by a panel discussion with journalists and activists, some who have recently visited the country.

Telling South Sudan's story

"We are now blaming most of the atrocities on the government, which is what is happening in the latter part of this conflict," said Simona Foltyn, a South Sudan-focused journalist and videographer. "The rebels also committed real bad atrocities in the beginning, and just because these are the dynamics right now that does not mean the rebels are really better."

Foltyn added, "If they were put in a different environment where the civilians are Dinka, I would suspect there would be a lot of atrocities being committed by the rebels as well."

Nyagoah Tut Pur, a lawyer, human rights activist and member of the South Sudan Young Leaders Forum, argued in favor of establishing an evidence collection mechanism.

"Memories fade, and in such a topography like South Sudan, evidence gets lost. It can be destroyed when people realize that one day they'll be held into account," Pur said. "So it's very critical that today we collect that evidence. Because, at the end of the day, it is not how the war was fought, but it is the narrative that is told after the war is over."

For South Sudan freelance journalist Jason Patinkin, who has also worked for VOA, the question that needs to be asked of Ambassador Haley and others should be: "OK, you have talked tough. What would you do? What would you do to actually end this war and bring accountability?"

Focus on the conflict

As part of a focus on the conflict, and in collaboration with FotoWeekDC, a citywide festival focused on photography, the journalists' work  large-sized stills photos and videos  are being projected on the exterior walls of the Holocaust Museum in Washington.

Joshua Bolten, vice chairman emeritus and a member of the Holocaust Memorial Council, told the audience the threat of genocide is very much alive today, in places such as Myanmar, the plains of Iraq, and perhaps nowhere as acute as in South Sudan.

"At this moment, we know it's not enough for people to learn about the history and ask what would I have done? We all have the responsibility to ask what will we do now," Bolten said.

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Mugabe Makes Appearance as Pressure to Resign Builds

By VOA Zimbabwe Service November 17, 2017

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe made a public appearance Friday, his first since the military took over state institutions and opened talks aimed at getting the aged leader to resign.

Mugabe, wearing a blue and yellow academic gown, presided over a university graduation ceremony for more than 1,000 students in Harare. The president appeared to fall asleep at times and said nothing about the ongoing political uncertainty.

Mugabe, 93, is reported to be resisting demands from the army and members of his own ZANU-PF party to step down after 37 years in power.

The Zimbabwe Defense Forces seized key state institutions on Wednesday, confined President Mugabe to house arrest and clamped on what they termed thieves surrounding the president, including Professor Jonathan Moyo, Home Affairs Minister Ignatius Chombo, Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, ZANU-PF Youth League secretary Kudzanayi Chipanga and several others.

The detainees, who are in army barracks, are said to be members of a faction of the ruling party that were seeking to elevate first lady Grace Mugabe to the post of vice president. President Mugabe fired his longtime ally, Emmerson Mnangagwa, from the position on November 5.

Opposition demands intensify

Members of opposition groups are expressing frustration with the pace of negotiations over Mugabe's political future and have called for a mass protest in Harare on Saturday.

Christopher Mutsvangwa, chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association, told journalists that the planned protest is designed to push the president out of office.

Jacob Ngarivhume of opposition group Transform Zimbabwe said hopes of Mugabe leaving office are slowly dissipating.

"There is no way he should be allowed to continue holding power," Ngarivhume told VOA's Zimbabwe service. "If he were to do that, then Zimbabwe would be in trouble. What I see happening is there might be a dragging on of the discussion around his departure, but eventually. he must go. He has outlived his usefulness."

Former prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who leads the Movement for Democratic Change party, joined the calls for Mugabe to resign.

"Mr. Robert Mugabe must resign, step down immediately in line with the national sentiment and expectation, taking full regard of his legacy and contribution to Zimbabwe, pre and post Zimbabwe," said Tsvangirai, who returned to the country this week from South Africa, where he is being treated for cancer.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Friday now is the time for the southern African country to return to civilian rule.

"Zimbabawe has an opportunity to set itself on a new path: one that must include democratic elections and respect for human rights," Tillerson told African ministers and diplomats before a meeting in Washington. "Ultimately, the people of Zimbabwe must choose their government," he added.

Mugabe hanging on

There has been no indication Mugabe will voluntarily give up power. Nick Mangwana, who is the Britain-based representative of ZANU-PF, told VOA that, "President Mugabe remains President Mugabe as of now."

Mugabe is the only leader the nation has known since Zimbabwe won independence in 1980, and has turned back many previous challenges to his rule, often using the army, police and physical violence from supporters to intimidate opponents.

His hold appeared strong even as Zimbabwe's economy, which has struggled for years, suffered a new downturn over the past 12 months. Last December, the ruling ZANU-PF party nominated him as its presidential candidate for the 2018 elections.

The turning point was the firing of Mnangagwa, 75, a liberation war hero who maintains strong support among veterans.

Mnangagwa's current whereabouts are uncertain, though he is widely believed to be in South Africa.

As for the president, the Zimbabwe Defense Forces said Friday it is "currently engaging with the commander-in-chief, President Mugabe, on the way forward and will advise the nation as soon as possible."

Gibbs Dube and Anita Powell contributed to this story.

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Tillerson, African Foreign Ministers Talk Trade, Good Governance, Security

By Cindy Saine November 17, 2017

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Friday that the Trump administration wanted to refocus the U.S. relationship with Africa squarely on trade and investment, to help unlock the tremendous potential of what is expected to become the world's most populous continent in coming decades.

"By 2050, the population of the continent is projected to double to more than 2.5 billion people, with 70 percent of that population being under the age of 30," Tillerson said. "All of these young people will have expectations for entering the workforce."

Tillerson noted a more vibrant and economically competitive Africa would grow the middle class, increase standards of living and make the entire continent more prosperous. He made the remarks ahead of ministerial talks with foreign ministers and representatives of 37 African countries at the State Department in Washington.

"I have not had the chance during my time as secretary of state to travel to the continent," Tillerson said. "In my prior life, I came to your continent a lot, and I visited many of your countries. But I do look forward to coming early next year."

Before becoming the chief U.S. diplomat, Tillerson was the chief executive of energy company ExxonMobil.

On Friday, he noted U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa grew from $17 billion in 2010 to more than $25 billion in 2014. Tillerson said that last year, U.S. direct investment in Africa grew to $57.5 billion, the highest level to date.

"Africa is a growing market with vast potential. Five of the world's 10 fastest-growing economies are in Africa, and consumer spending there is projected to exceed $2 trillion by the year 2025," he said.

Good governance

The secretary of state noted economic growth and lasting prosperity, however, can thrive only in environments of good governance.

Tillerson said Friday's talks would focus on how lasting peace and prosperity are undermined when governments fail to respect human rights and uphold the law. He said a peaceful transition of power is important, but democracy involves more than just holding fair elections.

"Democracy requires the inclusive, peaceful participation of a nation's citizens in the political process," Tillerson said. "That includes freedoms of expression and association, an independent press, a robust and engaged civil society, a government that is transparent and accountable to all of its citizens, and a fair and impartial judiciary."

The secretary noted that a recent African Union study concluded corruption costs the African continent $150 billion a year.

Fighting terrorism

Tillerson said the United States also stood with its African partners to work to defeat what he called the scourge of terrorism and to address the root causes of violent extremism. He said the U.S. was helping 20 African countries to train, deploy and sustain more than 27,000 African peacekeepers this year in United Nations and African Union missions.

The secretary also urged African countries to help isolate North Korea, which he called a threat to all nations, by acting to implement U.N. sanctions in full, and cut off all U.N.-proscribed ties.

"I urge you to take additional measures to pressure the DPRK by downgrading your diplomatic relationships with the regime, severing economic ties, expelling all DPRK laborers and reducing North Korea's presence in your country in all other ways it may be found," he said.

Turmoil at State Department?

Friday's African ministerial meeting comes as Tillerson has been under increasing fire from a number of U.S. lawmakers for what they say is turmoil at the State Department, citing career foreign service leaders who are leaving in large numbers because of budget cuts and morale issues.

Africa expert and former U.S. Ambassador John Campbell told VOA the fact that the secretary was hosting such a major meeting of African leaders was good, but he noted the Trump administration still has no signature issue for the African continent.

"My concern about the Trump administration's approach to Africa is its failure to fill important policy positions such as the assistant secretary of state, its failure to nominate ambassadors to important African countries, such as South Africa, and the threat of massive cuts in the State Department and USAID [U.S. Agency for International Development] budget will severely curtail assistance programs in Africa."

Past policy on Africa

Campbell said the Trump administration's focus on Africa differs markedly from that of former President Barack Obama's administration and even more so from that of former President George W. Bush's, citing Bush's initiative to combat the HIV virus and AIDS.

"I would suggest President George W. Bush had even more enthusiasm for Africa than President Obama did. He went there, I think, three times. His wife, Laura Bush, went more often," Campbell said. "And he gave every indication of being absolutely fascinated by the continent and recognized how important the continent was."

Asked about how Trump was perceived in African nations, Campbell said views were mixed.

"Some Africans admire the president's 'big man' style, you know, the bluster, the larger-than-life persona. This after all is a political style that has been fairly common in Africa in the past," the former U.S. diplomat noted. "Others, however, are concerned about the president's position on things like climate change, and what they see as an over-readiness to invoke the use of military force to solve problems."

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US, EU Talk Tough on Cambodia

By David Boyle November 17, 2017

Preferential access to Cambodia's biggest export market could be removed and senior government officials banned from doing business with U.S. companies in response to a court ordered dissolution of the country's opposition, statements released Friday suggest.

Cambodia's Supreme Court ruled Thursday to dissolve the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) and ban 118 of its members from politics for five years for what it determined was a treasonous plot they hatched with U.S. officials to overthrow the government.

The ruling came ahead of a national ballot next year and followed large electoral gains at both the previous parliamentary and local elections for the CNRP  in both cases winning more than 40 percent of the vote.

The European Union, White House and U.S. Senate have all issued strong statements threatening concrete actions in response to the decision  which effectively dismantles any semblance of democracy in the country.

U.S. reaction

In Washington, the State Department said it is "greatly concerned" over Cambodia's decision to silence the opposition party and said such a move will isolate the country even further.

"Not only does that [ to dissolve the opposition] set back Cambodia's democratic development, it unnecessarily damages Cambodia's relationship with the United States and others in the international community; it weakens Cambodia's economic growth and prosperity; and isolates the country further from democracy to the region," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said during Friday's press briefing.

"The government of Cambodia should undo its dissolution of the Cambodian National Rescue Party, release the imprisoned leader, Kem Sokha, and allow opposition parties, civil society and media to maintain their legitimate activities," Nauert added.

A motion unanimously passed by the Senate on Thursday urged the State Department and relevant bodies "to consider placing all senior Cambodian government officials implicated in the abuses noted above on the Specially Designated Nationals [SDN] list."

SDN sanctions freeze the assets of targeted individuals, regimes, corporations or countries and generally prohibit U.S. entities from doing business with them, including financing.

The sanctions, which also freeze property interests, are implemented by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and have been applied in nations such as Zimbabwe, Syria, North Korea and Iran.

Will Trump intervene?

The Senate also called on President Donald Trump to intervene directly and make it clear the result of Cambodia's national election next July will not be recognized under the current conditions.

The White House said in its own statement  the second it has issued rebuking Cambodia this week  that it was terminating support to Cambodia's National Election Committee (NEC) and its administration of the election "as a first step."

"It is becoming increasingly evident to the world that the Cambodian government's restrictions on civil society, suppression of the press, and banning of more than 100 opposition leaders from political activities have significantly set back Cambodia's democratic development and placed its economic growth and international standing at risk," it said.

"The United States will take concrete steps to respond to the Cambodian government's deeply regrettable actions."

Opposition leader speaks

Sam Rainsy, the opposition leader who resigned in February after Hun Sen, the prime minister, announced plans for a law that could lead to the party's dissolution, told VOA Khmer that Cambodians should demand Hun Sun's resignation, saying if the prime minister remains in power "there will be economic sanctions." The law dissolving the opposition party passed, but it was never applied because Sam Rainsy resigned.

According to Sam Rainsy, Hun Sen must "change his politics to end suppression of the CNRP, to return basic rights and freedom to the Cambodian people, and free all political prisoners, including Kem Sokha, who is president of the CNRP."

Sam Rainsy, speaking in Washington to a Khmer audience on a radio call-in show, said sanctions could be avoided. If "the decision to dissolve the CNRP is canceled, the CNRP will operate again immediately. Our structure remains intact. There were few, almost no defections to the CPP, as Hun Sen called for."

NEC spokesman Hang Puthea said the lack of U.S. support would not affect the country's election process because the government had already stacked the budget with enough funds to cover the lost funds.

"The budget is already planned and it is the Royal Government of Cambodia which will provide for the election," he said.

Financial support

Ruling Cambodian Peoples Party spokesman Sok Eysan said Cambodia now enjoyed plenty of financial support from China, Russia and Japan.

"When the U.S. and EU community do not help, I think others big countries in the world who see it is justice, they will help Cambodia for the election process," he said.

The European Union has the greatest potential leverage of all  absorbing about half of Cambodia's total exports  some $5 billion worth.

In a statement on Thursday, the EU suggested preferential access to its markets which Cambodia access on a preferential basis through the Everything But Arms scheme could now be removed.

"Respect of fundamental human rights is a prerequisite for Cambodia to continue to benefit from the EU's preferential Everything But Arms scheme," it said.

EU spokespeople have not yet responded to a request for clarification over what steps it would now take in reaction to the Cambodian Supreme Court ruling and the local embassy spokesperson could not be reached.

Ken Loo, Secretary-General of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, said he could not predict if factories would still be able to export to the EU without the EBA preference, but stressed it was up to politicians, not traders, to sort out disputes like this.

"If the EU did withdraw the preferential access or suspend the preferential access then of course it will have a severe impact on our industry given that about 43, 44 percent of our exports are going out to the EU," he said.

Labor Ministry spokesman Heng Sour said the European Union and the United States should stop worrying about the political situation and focus on trade

"Cambodia doesn't rely only on the European community but Cambodia has other country's markets and Cambodia strongly believes that the EU community and U.S. will not kill the encouragement to respect working conditions with trade," he said.

Some 600,000 Cambodians are formally employed in the garment sector with many more believed to be working informally in the same industry - making it the biggest source of regular income in the country.

Unemployment

Employment opportunities are so scarce in Cambodia that an estimated one million people currently work abroad in Thailand despite the country's reputation for severe exploitation of migrant workers.

For this reason suspension of the EBA as a punitive measure is sometimes referred to as the "nuclear option" and is considered by most analysts to be a highly unlikely measure.

Dr. Lee Jones, an Associate Professor in international politics at Queen Mary University of London, said the experience of similar sanctions in Myanmar demonstrated that while crippling for the sector, they had practically no effect on the regime itself.

"Targeting the garment sector could severely harm the interests of that particular part of Cambodian society would not actually assist in putting pressure on the regime, in fact quite the opposite," he said. "I mean the state would lose export revenues and things like this but the people who would really be harmed would be the workers in those factories and they're the main ones that have actually been battling the government on the streets after the last election."

Targeted sanctions were a better idea, he said, but still had a very patchy success rate at changing regime behavior.

Kann Vicheika contributed to this story.

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Zimbabwe's Ruling Party Calls on President Mugabe to Step Down

Sputnik News

00:31 18.11.2017

Zimbabwe's ruling party Zimbabwe African National Union  Patriotic Front (ZANUPF) calls on the country's president, Robert Mugabe, to resign amid ongoing political crisis in the country, local media reported Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  According to the ZBC broadcaster, as many as eight of the Zimbabwean ruling party's 10 provincial coordinating committees said that 93-year-old Mugabe should resign as he had lost control of the party and the government due to his incapacity to work because of his age.

The ZANU-PF also plans to convene an extraordinary meeting of its central committee to discuss the developments in the country within 48 hours.

On Thursday, former Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai already urged Mugabe to step down in the interest of the country. Tsvangirai is considered to be Mugabe's main political opponent.

The Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF) announced in a statement on Friday their support for an upcoming march against President Robert Mugabe as long as it remains "peaceful and orderly." In the statement, the ZFD said they had been approached earlier by several volunteer organizations seeking to "freely express their desires" and hold a march in the Zimbabwean capital city of Harare on Saturday.

"The ZDF is therefore advising the nation that for as long as the planned march remains orderly, peaceful and in tandem with the fundamental bill of rights and within the confines of the country's constitution and without hate speech and incitement to cause violence, it fully supports the march," the statement read.

On Tuesday, Mugabe, who has been leading Zimbabwe for over 30 years as both president and prime minister, and his guards were confined to his house by soldiers. The military deployed armored vehicles in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare and took control of the state-owned broadcaster. The military then stated that their actions did not constitute a seizure of power and instead targeted "criminals." According to media reports, Mugabe had negotiations with the military and refused to step down.

Mjobisa Noko, a spokesman for the Coalition of Democrats (CODE), an alliance of Zimbabwean opposition parties, told Sputnik on Thursday that the military takeover in Zimbabwe was an opportunity for the country to make a peaceful transition to democracy. that the military takeover in Zimbabwe was an opportunity for the country to make a peaceful transition to democracy.

 Sputnik

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That's a Wrap: Israel's Titanic Eight-Nation Air Force Exercise Concludes

Sputnik News

00:50 18.11.2017

The largest air exercises ever held in the history of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) wrapped up on Friday. Blue Flag, an eight-nation war game contested in the skies of southern Israel, set numerous records - including largest aerial war game of 2017.

France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Poland and the US joined the Israeli Air Force for mock battles over Ovda air base, just a few miles north of the resort town of Eilat and the Red Sea. More than 1,200 people took part in the exercises, along with 61 aircraft flying hundreds of sorties.

Together, the eight nations made up the country of Falcon Land, waging war against their hated enemies Nowhere Land  played by a squadron of IAF F-16 fighter jets.

In a statement, IAF top dog Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin said that the drill was meant to help prepare the participating militaries for operations in the mutable, complex political and military landscape of the Middle East. "Countries in the Middle East are constantly changing, with new actors and new organizations, and we need to understand how to deal with each one of them," he said.

"If we wish to influence the reality that we will see a decade from now, we must prepare together to create common solutions and build effective international programs," Norkin went on to say. He added that hosting the drill was "undoubtedly an honor for the IDF and for Israel."

The statement added that the exercise had three purposes: to strengthen diplomatic ties between the participants, to expose the various air forces to different tactical doctrines and techniques and improve military cooperation.

Blue Flag 2017 was the third biennial event, and each exercise has been exponentially larger than the last. The first exercise involved American, Israeli and Italian pilots, while the second included those three nations along with Greece and Poland. Italy brought five Tornado jets while Greece, Poland and the US brought 18 F-16s between the three of them.

This year's newcomers included France, Germany and India, major gets as all three are among the top 10 largest defense spenders in the world. The French Air Force, which hasn't been seen over the skies of Israel since 1956, brought five Mirage 2000AD fighter jets. India brought a C-130J Hercules transport plane and a retinue of special forces soldiers to man it.

The Luftwaffe came along with a half-dozen Eurofighters. The participation of the Germans was a subject of some controversy, as it would be the first time since World War I that German planes had been seen over the territory.

Compounding the issue is that the symbol of the modern Luftwaffe is the Iron Cross: a symbol of Germany for centuries, but also heavily associated with the Nazis whose highest military honor was an Iron Cross medal.

"Seeing the Luftwaffe airplanes [adorned with Iron Crosses] entering our hangars  it's something I'll always remember," said Col. Itamar, commander of Ovda air base, at the beginning of the exercises. "It's sensitive. It's emotional. The past can't be changed."

However, Itamar added, the two nations have been able to put history behind them and work to their mutual benefit.

 Sputnik

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US Announces Arrests of 267 MS-13 Gang Members in Latest Sweep

By Masood Farivar November 16, 2017

U.S. law enforcement officials announced on Thursday the arrest of 267 members of MS-13, a violent gang the Trump administration has vowed to get off America's streets.

The arrests were made in recent weeks as part of a major anti-gang crackdown code-named Operation Raging Bull. Led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the operation swept up 214 MS-13 members in the United States and 53 members in El Salvador, the gang's home base, officials said.

The two-phase operation, aimed at MS-13 members and their global financial networks, was begun under the administration of former President Barack Obama but has escalated under President Donald Trump.

The initial, 18-month phase ended in September and netted 51 arrests in El Salvador, officials said at a news conference in Washington.

The second phase, running from October 8 to November 11, resulted in the latest arrests in the United States and El Salvador.

Administration's efforts

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions touted the arrests as an important step in the Trump administration's effort to stamp out MS-13, whose members have been implicated in a series of high-profile murders around the country.

"President Trump has ordered the Department of Justice to reduce crime and take down transnational criminal organizations, and we will be relentless in our pursuit of these objectives," Sessions said in announcing the arrests. "That's why I have ordered our drug-trafficking task forces to use every law available to arrest, prosecute, convict and defund MS-13."

The only street gang designated by the Treasury Department as a transnational criminal organization, MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, boasts nearly 10,000 members in the United States, mostly immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

In a statement, the Justice Department said a majority of the 214 MS-13 members arrested in the United States were from El Salvador and that 64 members had illegally entered the United States as "unaccompanied alien children."

Sixteen of the arrestees are U.S. citizens and five have legal status in the United States, the department added.

Trump has blamed what he calls the lax immigration policies of the Obama administration for allowing gang members to enter the United States illegally as unaccompanied alien minors.

Root out MS-13

In February, Trump directed the Justice Department to redouble its efforts to root out MS-13 and other transnational criminal organizations. The Justice Department said it's trying to do exactly that.

Last month, Sessions formally designated MS-13 as a "priority" for the department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, a collective of several law enforcement agencies, including the FBI.

The designation allows the drug task forces that typically focus on organized crime and drug trafficking to use an array of statutes, including gun laws, drug laws and tax laws, to target the gang.

The Justice Department said it has secured the convictions of 1,200 gang members and the arrests and indictments of about 4,000 MS-13 members in El Salvador so far this year.

"These 267 arrests are the next step toward making this country safer by taking MS-13 off of our streets for good," Sessions said.

ICE Deputy Director Thomas Homan said combating MS-13 has long been a priority for the agency.

"However, we are now combating the gang with renewed focus and an unprecedented level of cooperation among DHS's components, and our domestic and international partners," Homan said.

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China to achieve "major breakthrough" in nuclear-powered space shuttle around 2040: report

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 07:54, November 17, 2017

BEIJING, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- China is expected to achieve a "major breakthrough" in nuclear-powered space shuttles around 2040, according to a report issued by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation on Thursday.

The achievement will be able to support large-scale exploration and development of space resources, and make mining on asteroids and space solar power plants possible, said the report, which outlines the development road map for China's space transportation system to 2045.

A future generation of carrier rockets will be put into use around 2040 and hybrid power reusable carriers will be developed, the report said.

By 2045, the means of getting into and out of space as well as space transportation will see subversive transformations, making it possible to build a space ladder, earth station and space post, as well as regularly explore the solar system on a large scale with coordination between humans and machines, said the report.

The report also said that the Long March-8 carrier rocket is expected to be launched in 2020 and the Long March series of rockets will provide commercial launch services for other countries.

Around 2025, reusable suborbital carriers will be successfully developed and suborbital space travel will come true, it said.

Around 2030, heavy carrier rockets will be launched to provide powerful support to manned lunar landing missions and sufficient transportation power for samples from Mars to return to Earth.

Around 2035, carrier rockets will be completely reusable and the future generation intelligent carrier rockets with advanced power will be launched, the report said.

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Panama to develop mutually beneficial relations with China: Panamanian President

People's Daily Online

(People's Daily Online) 16:13, November 17, 2017

Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela on Thursday reiterated the country's adherence to the one China policy, noting that Panama will develop a friendly relationship with China that can lead to mutual benefits and win-win results.

The remarks were made during the inauguration ceremony of the Panama Embassy in Beijing. Both Panamanian President Varela and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the event. Varela is visiting China from Nov. 16 to 22. This marks the first trip by a Panamanian leader to China since the two nations established diplomatic ties on June 13.

"The establishment of the Panama Embassy in China is a historic event. Two months ago, China's national flag flew in the heart of America  Panama, and today, the Panamanian flag is waving in the heart of China  its capital Beijing. I'm glad that Panama has officially established ties with the great Chinese people," Varela was quoted as saying by Xinhua News Agency.

According to Xinhua, the two nations will sign over 20 contracts during Varela's visit to China, covering a wide range of areas. Varela will also meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, in an effort to boost cooperation and trade between the two nations.

Wang congratulated the great outcomes achieved by the two nations, noting that Panama's decision to establish diplomatic ties with China is a correct choice that can "endure the test of time and history."

"Panama's president always talks about his country's dream, while our president Xi Jinping also tells the world about our Chinese dream. Our dreams are connected, as they all aim to improve the people's livings and seek for world peace," Wang added.

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China, Russia to hold simulated anti-missile drills in Beijing

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 17, 2017 10:04AM

The Chinese and Russian militaries are preparing to hold joint computer-assisted anti-missile drills in what is said to be a response to the deployment of a US missile system is South Korea.

China's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday that the militaries will hold the simulated anti-missile drills in the Chinese capital, Beijing, in December.

The militaries will practice defense against missiles and how to handle "sudden and provocative attacks on the two countries' territories by ballistic missiles and cruise missiles," said the ministry.

"The drill is not aimed at any third party," said the statement, without providing more details.

Russia and China held their first computer anti-missile defense drills in May 2016.

The new drill is said to be carried out in response to the deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in South Korea. Washington has deployed that missile system to deter what it describes as a threat from North Korea.

China and Russia, which have close military and diplomatic ties, have repeatedly expressed their opposition to the deployment of the THAAD, saying it will do nothing to help ease the tensions with Pyongyang. They, instead, call for a peaceful, negotiated solution to the dispute with North Korean over its nuclear and missile programs.

South Korea, meanwhile, has been negotiating with the United States to purchase a nuclear-powered submarine as well, several news outlets said earlier this month.

Pyongyang has been under harsh international sanctions since 2006 over its multiple missile launches and nuclear tests. The United Nations Security Council, in September, tightened those bans even further after North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test involving a hydrogen bomb.

Washington and Japan have also imposed their own bans against the North.

The North says it would continue to develop its missile and nuclear programs as a deterrent against potential foreign aggression.

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North Korea rules out negotiations on nuclear program

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 17, 2017 05:19PM

North Korea has dismissed international calls for denuclearization, saying its nuclear and ballistic missile development programs will remain in place as long as the United States poses a threat to the country.

In an interview with Reuters, Han Tae Song, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said on Friday that there would be no negotiations with Washington as long as joint US-South Korea military exercises continue.

"As long as there is continuous hostile policy against my country by the US, and as long as there are continuous war games at our doorstep, then there will not be negotiations," the North Korean envoy said.

He reiterated that Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs would be completed and serve as a surefire deterrent against a potential US invasion of the country.

"Our country plans ultimate completion of the nuclear force," he said.

"My country will continue to build-up its self-defense capability, the pivot of which is nuclear forces  as long as the US and hostile forces keep up nuclear threat and blackmail," Han said.

Pyongyang has pursued its nuclear program as a deterrent against the hostile policies of the US and its regional allies despite mounting international pressure and harsh UN sanctions aimed at stopping the program.

Senior Chinese figure arrives in Pyongyang

A high ranking Chinese envoy arrived in Pyongyang on Friday.

Upon arrival, Song Tao met with Choe Ryong Hae, a vice chairman of the ruling party and one of the North's most senior figures.

Song, who heads the Communist Party's International Department, will brief Pyongyang on the important outcome of China's ruling Communist Party congress held last month.

Song, who acts as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative, will try to ameliorate ties between North Korea and China, which have soured over Beijing's cooperation with the UN sanctions slapped against Pyongyang.

North Korea is also upset over Beijing's expressions of support for US President Donald Trump's calls for exerting more pressure on Pyongyang to stop its nuclear and missile development programs.

The visit demonstrates Xi's effort to head off further pressure from Washington.

China is North Korea's largest trading partner and its economy is dependent on its neighbor.

So far, however, North Korea has ignored Beijing's calls on Pyongyang to end its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and return to the negotiating table.

Beijing says it has some sway over Pyongyang; however, its influence is not as much as what Washington would like it to be.

China, like other countries, is opposed to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile development programs. However, it is against measures that could bring down Kim Jong-un's government in North Korea, fearing unrest and chaos would lead to refugees pouring into the neighboring country.

North Korea staged its sixth nuclear test on September 3 and launched a ballistic missile on September 15, firing it over the Japan into the Pacific Ocean.

Song's visit comes as Joseph Yun, the US envoy for North Korea, met on Friday with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Do-hoon, on the resort island of Jeju in South Korea.

"China, of course, has a big role to play on Northeast Asia security issues," Yun was quoted by South Korea's Yonhap news agency as saying.

We hope China "regards the denuclearization as a critical goal. We do hope that special envoy will forward that goal," Yun said.

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North Korean ICBM Program Runs Into Major Roadblock

Sputnik News

23:24 17.11.2017(updated 23:25 17.11.2017)

The South Korean foreign intelligence service has reported that North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program has hit a snag, as the communist country has run into difficulty developing reliable atmospheric re-entry technology that would allow their missile to return from Earth's orbit.

The report came from the National Intelligence Service (NIS), who met behind closed doors with the South Korean National Assembly's Intelligence Committee on Thursday. According to an anonymous parliamentary source with Yonhap News, NIS claims that the DPRK will not have a functional ICBM until they can overcome this hurdle.

"[The NIS said that] the North had recently carried out a few missile engine tests, but it is still not at a stage where it can complete its ICBM development," the anonymous source told Yonhap.

North Korea has not launched a missile since September, but in July 2017 they undertook two high-profile tests of the Hwasong-14 ICBM. The tests were both successes, with the latter test demonstrating that the Hwasong-14 could potentially hit any part of the continental United States.

But to reach that far, the Hwasong-14 would need an effective reentry vehicle. The second tested missile made it into space just fine, but the reentry vehicle broke into pieces when it attempted its return to Earth.

This is less a fault in North Korean engineering and more evidence of how difficult reentry vehicles are to build: they must be able to protect the warhead from temperatures of 12,600 degrees Fahrenheit (7,000 degrees Celsius) and speeds topping out at Mach 24 (roughly 18,500 mph).

Not only do reentry vehicles take considerable technical knowhow to build, the NIS said, they also require a variety of specialized and expensive components. The intense regimen of international sanctions levied against North Korea by the US, UN, EU, and others have thus slowed the construction of a reentry vehicle by the DPRK.

The NIS also said that US military pressure, such as the deployment of aircraft carriers to the Korean Peninsula and the buzzing of North Korean airspace with strategic bombers, is a major contributor to Pyongyang's hesitancy to test another missile.

Another unusual factor, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, is that North Korea typically refrains from testing missiles in the last quarter of the calendar year. Nobody is really sure why this is the case; it may just be a coincidence.

But they will launch again, the NIS insisted. It's only a matter of time.

A functional ICBM is seen as crucial for North Korea, as currently they have very weak leverage against the US directly  they can only threaten US allies like South Korea and Japan. An ICBM would give them leverage over the US mainland, which could potentially drive a wedge between South Korean and US security interests.

 Sputnik

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Iran Says Britain To Transfer $527 Million Debt Payment To Tehran Soon

November 17, 2017

Iran's envoy to Britain said on November 17 that Britain plans to transfer more than 400 million pounds ($527 million) soon to settle a debt from the 1970s.

Ambassador Hamid Baeedinejad made the announcement in a statement posted to his Telegram social-media account, saying there was no link between the debt payment and the issue of an Iranian-British aid worker who has been jailed by authorities in Tehran.

Britain owes the funds to Iran as a result of a disputed arms deal during the 1970s and has sought legal advice about whether it could transfer the money to Iran.

Britain's Telegraph newspaper reported on November 15 that the British government is preparing to transfer the funds to Iran as it seeks the release of a jailed Iranian-British aid worker.

The Telegraph report, citing unidentified British government sources and diplomats, said Britain did not want to directly link the payment to the release of jailed charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

But the sources said Britain is seeking to secure the "goodwill" of Tehran in the midst of an effort to win Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has vowed to do "everything" he can to release Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was detained in Tehran in April 2016 and sentenced to five years in prison on charges of plotting to overthrow Iran's clerical establishment.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, denies the charges.

Arrests during 2015 and 2016 of Iranians with dual citizenship in Western countries, including Zaghari-Ratcliffe, were seen as a bid by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to undermine Iranian President Hassan Rohani and the process of improving relations with the West.

Based on reporting by The Telegraph, Reuters, and the BBC

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-britain-debt-payment- zaghari-ratcliffe/28859954.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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Rawah victory marks military collapse of Daesh in Iraq, says interior minister

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 17, 2017 02:11PM

Iraqi Interior Minister Qasim al-Araji says the recapture of the last redoubt of Daesh Takfiri terrorists in the country's western province of al-Anbar by army soldiers and pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units marks the end of the military threat posed by the extremists in the country.

"We congratulate the religious authority and the Iraqi nation on the liberation of the town of Rawah," he said in a brief statement received by Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network reported on Friday.

Earlier in the day, the commander of the al-Jazira and Upper Euphrates liberation operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah, said army troops and pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units  also known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi  had completely retaken Rawah, located about 300 kilometers northwest of the capital Baghdad, and hoisted the national Iraqi flag over a number of buildings there.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has praised Iraqi forces for the liberation of Rawah in record time, stressing that they are now clearing al-Jazira region as well as Anbar of the last remnants of Daesh terrorist group besides securing border areas with Syria.

"Liberation of Rawah in a matter of few hours shows the power and capability of our armed forces as well as the success of military plans already drawn," he pointed out.

Late last month, the Iraqi prime minister formally ordered the launch of operations to purge Daesh terrorists from the towns of Rawah and al-Qa'im.

Abadi visited the newly-liberated town of Qa'im and the nearby Husaybah border crossing in far western Iraq on November 5, and raised the Iraqi flag at the border crossing.

On October 5, Abadi said Iraqi armed forces had liberated Hawijah, driving Daesh Takfiris out of their last bastion in the oil-rich northern province of Kirkuk.

The Iraqi prime minister said on August 31 that the northwestern city of Tal Afar, located 200 kilometers northwest of Kirkuk, and the entire Nineveh province had been purged of Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

The recapture of Tal Afar was made possible with the help of the Iraqi army, Federal Police, Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) units, Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters and the Interior Ministry's elite rapid response forces, the Iraqi prime minister stated.

On July 10, Abadi formally declared victory over Daesh extremists in Mosul, which served as the terrorists' main urban stronghold in the conflict-ridden Arab country.

In the run-up to Mosul's liberation, Iraqi army soldiers and volunteer Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters had made sweeping gains against Daesh.

The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19.

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Abe vows to boost military as Japan sheds pacifist stance

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 17, 2017 06:14AM

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to bolster Japan's military capabilities and amend the country's pacifist constitution in his first policy speech since a landslide election victory.

"We will strengthen Japanese defense power, including missile defense capabilities, in order to protect the people's lives and peace," he said Friday, outlining his priorities in a policy speech to parliament.

Japan's military spending has increased steadily since Abe took office in 2012, with the government saying it plans to buy more American weapons.

During his visit last week in Tokyo, President Donald Trump urged Abe to buy many more US arms, raising questions if he was more interested in the business side of it.

US Ambassador to Japan William Haggerty said the US is trying to make more advanced weapons technology available to Japan more efficiently and the US military more effective in the region.

"Our overarching goal is to increase Japan's capability and interoperability. Our overarching goal is on security and defense," Haggerty said. "And [Japan's] goal is to make certain that more advanced technology is available to Japan."

Japan's well-equipped and well-trained armed forces are technically known as the "Self-Defense Forces," and do not have the right to an aggressive strike.

Nationalists like Abe say the constitution is a humiliating relic imposed by US occupiers after Japan's defeat in World War II. He wants to change the wording of the document so that Japan can have a full-fledged military.

However, many Japanese feel a strong attachment to the constitution's peaceful ideals and changing it sits close to the bottom of their to-do list.

In his speech on Friday, the premier said he would push ahead with changing the pacifist constitution but keep the clause that prevents Japan from waging an offensive war.

Abe's ruling coalition won in a landslide in last month's snap election, securing a two-thirds supermajority in both houses of parliament, which makes it easy for Abe's policies to be approved.

In his speech to Parliament, Abe promised concrete action to respond to what he called "escalating provocations" by North Korea.

The premier described North Korea's sixth nuclear test earlier this year and two missile launches that flew over Japan as a national crisis.

Any tentative move towards revamping the pacifist constitution could trigger alarm bells in China and the Koreas given Japan's history of military aggression in the region.

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UN urges Myanmar to end Rakhine military operations

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 17, 2017 03:12PM

A United Nations General Assembly committee has approved a draft resolution that urges Myanmar to halt military operations in the country's Rakhine state that have "led to the systematic violation and abuse of human rights" of Rohingya Muslims.

The General Assembly's Third Committee, which focuses on human rights, on Thursday passed the resolution, drafted by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, with 135 votes in favor, 10 against and 26 abstentions.

The draft resolution also called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to appoint a special envoy on Myanmar.

More than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have so far fled the predominantly-Buddhist Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh since August 25, when a crackdown on the Rohingya intensified in Rakhine.

During the past three months, the government troops have been raping, killing, making arbitrary arrests, and committing mass arson of houses in hundreds of predominantly-Rohingya villages in the state.

The United Nations has already described the Rohingya as the most persecuted community in the world, calling the situation in Rakhine similar to "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing." Estimates as to how many Muslims have been killed vary from 1,000 to 3,000.

At the root of the crisis is the refusal by Myanmar to grant citizenship to the Muslim minority. The government says the Rohingya should go to Bangladesh, where they are originally from, while Bangladesh says that they are from Myanmar and that Dhaka has accepted Rohingya refugees only on humanitarian grounds.

The Thursday resolution also called on Myanmar's authorities to grant access to a UN panel tasked with investigating allegations of abuse after the eruption of a wave of violence in October 2016.

It also urged full and unhindered access of humanitarian aid to the violence-hit region and called on Myanmar to grant full citizenship rights to Rohingya Muslims.

The resolution, which will now be formally adopted by the 193-member General Assembly in December, deepens international pressure on the government of Myanmar but is not legally binding.

For 15 years the UN Committee annually adopted a resolution denouncing Myanmar's human rights record, but last year the European Union did not put forward a draft text due to an alleged progress in how Myanmar's government has been dealing with the issue of the Rohingya under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi.

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U.S. Ambassador To Russia Says New Foreign-Media Legislation Is 'Big Concern'

Tom Balmforth November 17, 2017

MOSCOW -- The U.S. ambassador to Russia has visited the Moscow bureau of RFE/RL and Voice of America (VOA) in a gesture of support for American media that could be targeted by new Russian legislation.

U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman said during his November 17 visit that the Russian legislation is a "big concern."

"We just think the principles of free media in any free society and democracy are absolutely critical for strength and well-being," Huntsman said. "Freedom of speech is a part of that. That's why we in the embassy care about the issue. That's why we're going to follow the work that is going on in the Duma and the legislation that is being drafted very, very carefully. Because we're concerned about it."

Russia's State Duma on November 15 passed legislation that would allow for the designation of foreign media organizations in the country as "foreign agents" and require them to declare full details about their funding, finances, and staffing. It still requires an upper-house vote and the signature of President Vladimir Putin.

Huntsman said that despite Moscow's characterization of the legislation as a response to actions against the state-controlled RT network in the United States, the Russia legislation "isn't reciprocal at all."

Huntsman said a move by Washington to require RT to release financial information about its operations in the United States was meant to ensure "transparency."

"That's far different from designating somebody a foreign agent and effectively making it virtually impossible for them to operate," he said.

Watching 'Carefully'

In Moscow, the U.S. Embassy cautioned Russia against using the legislation as a tool to limit media freedom.

Embassy spokeswoman Maria Olson said on November 16 that Washington is watching "carefully to see whether it is passed and how it is implemented."

Russian legislators characterize the legislation as a tit-for-tat response to Washington's recent requirement that RT's American contractor register and disclose financial information under a long-standing U.S. law, the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

Olson said the U.S. law is aimed only at making information public about the foreign sponsorship behind organizations seeking to influence U.S. political debate and does not otherwise restrict what registrants say or do.

"As we have told our Russian interlocutors, FARA promotes transparency without restricting or limiting expression," Olson said.

"FARA does not limit publishing of materials. It only requires registration, labeling, and record-keeping. Some governments have asserted FARA is being used as a tool to restrict political freedom. These assertions are completely erroneous," she said.

Media freedom and human rights groups have criticized both the Russian legislation and the U.S. requirement for RT to register under FARA.

Russia's Justice Ministry has published a list on its website confirming that its first targets under the law may be nine media outlets connected with RFE/RL and VOA.

The U.S.-funded outlets previously were warned by the ministry that they might be affected by the legislation.

Coming just two days after RT's U.S. contractor registered as a "foreign agent," Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it is "alarmed by Russia's quid pro quo response" to Washington.

"We condemn this eye-for-an-eye response, as media freedom will be its only victim," said Johann Bihr, the head of RSF's Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk.

"It is highly regrettable that the U.S. authorities started this. Combating propaganda is one of our era's imperatives, but it is not the job of governments to define what is legitimate journalism," he said.

'Draconian Provisions'

The group said the Russian legislation would apply the same "draconian provisions" Russia has imposed on foreign nonprofit groups since 2012 on foreign media, including putting the "ignominious foreign-agent label" on everything they publish or broadcast.

But the media law is vaguer than the 2012 law in giving Russian authorities a weapon they potentially could use against media out of favor with the Kremlin, it said.

"The law's extremely vague provisions open the way to selective, arbitrary, and highly political application and, at a time of unprecedented pressure on the media, are liable to make it even harder for Russian citizens to get access to freely reported news," Bihr said.

"One can only speculate as to its first targets, which could include such leading public broadcasters as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the BBC, and Deutsche Welle. Russian exile media may also be targeted," he said.

The Russian legislation is "a full-throttle attack on media freedom," Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said.

"This legislation is tailor-made to be selectively and politically enforced, and to silence voices they do not want Russian people to hear," Williamson said.

Warning Letters

On November 15, shortly after the Duma approved the legislation, Russia's Justice Ministry sent warning letters to RFE/RL's Russian Service and Tatar-Bashkir Service, as well as to its Idel.realii and Sibir.realii, Russian-language websites that focus on news from Russia's central Volga region and Siberia.

Also receiving warnings were Current Time TV, a Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, and RFE/RL's Krym.Realii website, which focuses on news from the Ukrainian peninsula that Russia occupied and seized in 2014.

The letters did not make any specific threats, except to note that the news operations might face restrictions under the new law.

In a November 15 statement, RFE/RL said the "situation regarding Russian media in the U.S. and U.S. media in Russia remains vastly unequal."

"RT and Sputnik distribute freely in the U.S., whereas RFE/RL has lost its broadcast affiliates in Russia due to administrative pressures, and has no access to cable," it said. "RFE/RL reporters are subject to harassment and even physical attack in Russia."

"RFE/RL's job is to provide accurate and objective journalism to our Russian-speaking audiences worldwide, including in Russia," RFE/RL's statement said. "We look forward to continuing our work."

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-state-department-cautions -russia-against-using-foreign-media-legislation -limit-freedom/28859051.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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U.S. Radio Station Registers As 'Foreign Agent' For Russian Sputnik Broadcasts

Mike Eckel November 17, 2017

WASHINGTON -- A Washington, D.C., area radio station that recently took over broadcasts of the Russian state-funded news outlet Sputnik has registered under the U.S. foreign-agent law, just days after the TV channel RT did.

The station's owner, a Virginia company called Reston Translator, filed the paperwork with the Justice Department on November 15, the same day that Russia's lower house of parliament passed new measures containing potential restrictions for foreign-funded media outlets.

Under the contract, which was posted on the Justice Department's foreign-agent database, Sputnik is paying $900,000 to Reston Translator to rebroadcast a live audio stream from Sputnik's website.

Sputnik Radio is owned and operated by Rossia Segodnya news group, a media-holding company that was formed in 2014 in an effort by the Kremlin to consolidate control over several state-funded media outlets. Sputnik runs radio broadcasts and news websites in 30 languages.

In June, Reston Translator gave up its bluegrass music broadcasts and signed the deal with Sputnik.

U.S. law enforcement officials later contacted Reston's main owner, communication lawyer John Garziglia, and notified him that he needed to file under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), a decades-old law that requires people working in the United States for a foreign government in a "political or quasi-political capacity" to register with the Justice Department.

In response to the Justice Department's demand for registration, Garziglia objected to the demand, arguing the company did not meet the requirements of FARA. But he said he would still comply.

"We do so because we have been directed to do so, not because it is required by law," he said.

"Reston Translator LLC appreciates the role of the Department of Justice, National Security Division, in carrying out the purposes of FARA..." he wrote. "Reston Translator LLC further acknowledges that you and your National Security Division may have significant questions as to the activities of [Rossia] Segodnya in our United States."

While Reston Translator was forced to comply with the law, it wasn't immediately clear if Sputnik, or Rossia Segodnya, had also registered.

An e-mail sent by RFE/RL to one of Sputnik's top U.S. editors was not immediately returned.

On November 13, RT, which previously was known as Russia Today, filed FARA registration for its U.S. operating unit with the Justice Department after weeks of protests and threats.

Both RT and Sputnik came under growing pressure from U.S authorities in the wake of a U.S. intelligence report released in January that accused them of spreading misinformation as part of a Russian-government effort to influence the 2016 presidential election.

In May, FBI and Justice Department officials questioned a former White House correspondent for Sputnik about the organization's editorial operations. Andrew Feinberg, who was fired from Sputnik in May, also told RFE/RL that he turned over a thumb drive containing thousands of internal e-mails from his five months at Sputnik.

RT joined at least six other foreign media outlets that are currently registered under FARA, including Canada's CBC, Japan's NHK, and the China Daily.

On November 15, within hours of Russian lawmakers passing the new restrictions, the Russian Justice Ministry sent warnings to at least five RFE/RL news services.

The letters did not specify what potential restrictions they could face, but lawmakers have said designated media could be subjected to detailed financial reporting requirements and be required to label published material as coming from a foreign agent.

While RT and Sputnik distribute their programs freely in the United States, RFE/RL is already subject to severe restrictions in Russia, with nearly all of its radio broadcasts forced off the air by 2012 due to administrative pressure.

Neither RFE/RL nor VOA has any access to cable TV in Russia.

U.S. officials say the Russian law differs significantly from FARA, which was passed in 1938 specifically to counter fears of Nazi propaganda and misinformation being spread in the United States.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-russia- foreign-agent-sputnik-radio-station- washington-registration/28860508.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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Sechin Says He'll Testify In Extortion Trial When 'We Can Agree On A Schedule'

RFE/RL November 17, 2017

Russian state oil company chief Igor Sechin, who was summoned twice this week to testify in an ex-economy minister's extortion trial but failed to show up, says he will appear when "we can agree on a schedule."

"As for my participation in court, I will strive to fulfill the requirements of Russian law," Sechin said after a meeting at the Kremlin on November 16, according to Russian news outlet RBC. "But at this stage, my main task is to fulfill my duties as president of Rosneft. As soon as we can agree on a schedule, I will certainly fulfill the necessary conditions."

Sechin was summoned twice by Moscow's Zamoskvoretsky District Court to testify as a key witness in the trial of former Economy Minister Aleksei Ulyukayev.

Russian news agencies reported on November 16 that Judge Larisa Semyonova has issued a third summons for Sechin to appear on November 22.

Sechin stressed in his comments to RBC.ru that he has already "reflected his position in written testimony and in public statements."

A longtime former deputy chief of staff to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sechin is a key figure in the case. Prosecutors say that he handed Ulyukayev the $2 million that the then-minister allegedly extorted from him in exchange for a favorable decision on a major acquisition by Rosneft.

The oil company chief's failure to appear in court so far has attracted additional attention to a case that has already highlighted rifts between members of Putin's circle of ruling elite.

It could raise questions about the outcome of the trial -- an unusual development in Russia, where rights groups say courts are beholden to the Kremlin and the verdicts in politically charged cases often seem obvious in advance.

Ulyukayev is being held under house arrest and has looked gaunt and grim in his court appearances. He is one of the highest-ranking officials to be arrested in Russia since the Soviet era.

He is accused of extorting a $2 million bribe from Sechin in exchange for his ministry's approval for Rosneft to acquire a majority stake in the regional oil company Bashneft.

Prosecutors say the 61-year-old Ulyukayev was caught taking a case full of money from Sechin, 57, at Rosneft headquarters in a sting operation.

Ulyukayev's trial began in August. He says he is not guilty and accuses Sechin and Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) of tricking him by telling him the case was full of wine.

With reporting by RBC.ru, Interfax, and TASS

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/sechin-rosneft-says-will -testify-in-extortion-trial-when-we-can-agree-on-schedule -ulyukayev-economy-minister/28858902.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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Security Council again fails to extend panel investigating use of chemical weapons in Syria

16 November 2017  Two draft resolutions  one sponsored by the United States and another led by Bolivia  were defeated in the United Nations Security Council Thursday, blocking renewal of the international inquiry into chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

With a 'no' vote from Russia, as well as a negative vote from Bolivia, and abstentions by China and Egypt, the Council failed to adopt the US text that would have renewed for one year the mandate of the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the UN, which is set to expire on 17 November.

A negative vote  or veto  from one of the Council's five permanent members (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States) means a resolution cannot be adopted. This marks the 10th time Russia has moved to block Council action on Syria since the conflict broke out six years ago.

Ahead of today's action on the US-led text, the Bolivian draft on extending the Mechanism, also for one year, was rejected after first being tabled by Russia and then withdrawn. The text was rejected by a vote of four in favour to seven against with four abstentions.

In late October, ahead of the release of the Joint Mechanism's final report, the Security Council failed to adopt a similar measure due to a negative vote from Russia.

The JIM was established unanimously in 2015 to identify "to the greatest extent feasible" individuals, entities, groups or Governments perpetrating, organizing, sponsoring or otherwise involved in the use of chemicals as weapons in Syria.

In a briefing just last week, Edmond Mulet, Head of the Mechanism told the Council that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) was responsible for using sulfur mustard in a September 2016 attack in Umm Hawsh and that the Syrian Government was accountable for the release of sarin in an April 2017 attack in Khan Shaykhun.

"There has been sufficient evidence of a credible and reliable nature to make [these] findings," he said of the Mechanism's report, which was released on 26 October.

Mr. Mulet stressed that despite the challenges of investigating complex cases during an armed conflict, the Mechanism has taken great care to ensure that its methodology and findings were technically and scientifically sound.

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Russia, US Reject Rival Chemical Weapons Resolutions on Syria

By VOA News November 16, 2017

Russia on Thursday vetoed a U.S.-sponsored Security Council resolution that would have extended the international probe into chemical weapons use in Syria.

Hours later, the council rejected a Russian-sponsored resolution after it failed to get the required nine-vote minimum for passage. The Russian proposal included changes to the mandate that the U.S. opposed.

This was the 10th time Russia vetoed a resolution on Syria.

Without passage, the mandate of the Joint Investigative Mechanism expires Thursday at midnight.

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said Thursday's veto "strikes a deep blow."

"By eliminating our ability to identify the attackers, Russia has undermined our ability to deter future attacks. [Syrian President Bashar al-] Assad and ISIS will no longer be on notice for the use of chemical weapons by Russia's actions today," Haley said, using an acronym for the militant group.

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said Russia has failed in its duties as a permanent Security Council member, a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention, and as someone who claims to support peace in Syria.

Russia's ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, called the U.S. resolution unbalanced and made only "superficial" changes to what he says are "flaws" in the JIM.

Nebenzia said it is the United States' responsibility if the mechanism cannot be salvaged.

The Joint Investigative Mechanism began its work more than two years ago after a series of chemical weapons attacks against civilians in Syria that killed or injured hundreds.

The U.N. investigators have blamed the Syrian military for using poison gas, saying the rebels do not have aircraft or the ability to launch such attacks.

Syria says terrorists  its word for the opposition  are responsible.

Russia, which is Syria's most powerful ally, has supported investigations into chemical weapons but criticized the reports as being unfair to the Syrians.

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Daesh car bombing leaves 26 Syrians dead in northern Dayr al-Zawr

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 17, 2017 06:31PM

A so-called monitoring group says more than two dozen people have been killed and scores of others injured when a powerful explosion targeted a group of internally displaced persons in the northern countryside of Syria's eastern city of Dayr al-Zawr.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, citing local sources, reported on Friday that a Daesh terrorist detonated an explosive-laden car at a checkpoint run by US-backed militiamen from the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near al-Jafra neighborhood, leaving 26 people dead and 30 others injured.

The monitoring group added that 12 children and seven women were among the deceased.

The overall death toll is expected to rise as some of the injured victims are in a critical condition, and several people are missing.

On November 3, Syrian army forces, in cooperation with allied fighters from popular defense groups, completely liberated the city of Dayr al-Zawr from the clutches of Daesh terrorist group.

Daesh overran large parts of Dayr al-Zawr province, including its many oil fields, in mid-2014 as it seized swathes of land in Syria and neighboring Iraq.

By early 2015, the Takfiri terrorists were in control of some parts of the city of Dayr al-Zawr and besieged the remaining parts, which were under government control. It is estimated that 100,000 people remain in the government-held parts of the city.

Backed by the Russian military and fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement, the Syrian army managed to break Daesh's three-year siege on Dayr al-Zawr province last month.

Militant rocket attacks kill seven civilians in Damascus

Meanwhile, at least seven civilians, including a child, have lost their lives in two separate rocket attacks by foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants against residential district in Syria's capital city of Damascus.

An unnamed security source said three civilians were killed and seven others injured when a rocket fired by Takfiri terrorists positioned in the militant-held Eastern Ghouta region struck a grocery market in the al-Zablatani neighborhood.

A child was also killed and three others were injured in an attack on al-Duwaila neighborhood.

The source added that the projectiles caused substantial damage to public properties and several houses in the targeted area.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups that are wreaking havoc in the country.

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Russian bombers pound Daesh positions near Syria's Bukamal again

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 17, 2017 05:50PM

Russian Tupolev Tu-22M3 long-range bombers have conducted a string of new aerial attacks against the positions of Daesh Takfiri terrorist group near the town of Bukamal in Syria's eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr as government forces, supported by allied fighters from popular defense groups, are fighting to fully recapture the territory from the extremists.

"Six Tupolev-22M3 bombers left an airbase in Russia, crossed over the Iranian and Iraqi airspaces and carried out a massive air strike against Daesh fortified areas, manpower and armored vehicles. Surveillance equipment have confirmed that all of the designated targets had been hit," Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

It added that Sukhoi-30SM fighter jets, based at Russia-run Hmeimim air base southeast of Syria's western coastal city of Latakia, had escorted the bombers while they were in Syrian air space, and that all the bombers had safely returned to their base.

The development came only two days after six Russian Tupolev Tu-22M3 bombers bombarded Daesh outposts near Bukamal.

On November 4, TU-22m3 bombers flew from Russia across Iran and Iraq, and conducted airstrikes against Daesh targets near Bukamal.

Russia's Defense Ministry said at the time that command centers and weapons depots were among the targets hit by the bombers.

Russia's Kolpino submarine launched six Kalibr cruise missiles from the Mediterranean Sea against Daesh outposts in Bukamal on November 3.

Six Tupolev Tu-22M3 bombers launched a massive aerial assault against designated terrorist targets near Bukamal on November 1, destroying fortified areas, arms and ammunition depots.

Since September 2015, Russia has been conducting aerial attacks against terrorist positions in Syria at a request from the Damascus government.

Backed by Russian air power, Syrian ground forces have managed to make numerous gains against terrorists on various fronts.

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UN Security Council To Vote Again On Syrian Chemical Weapons Inquiry

RFE/RL November 17, 2017

The UN Security Council says it will vote on November 17 on a one-month extension of a mandate to allow experts to determine who was responsibile for chemical-weapons attacks in Syria, one day after Russia vetoed a similar proposal.

The new proposal, submitted by Japan, was discussed earlier by the Security Council members on November 17 behind closed doors.

The AP reported that Russia's deputy UN ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov, opposed the Japanese draft during the talks but that U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley and many other council members were in favor of it.

In Moscow, a Foreign Ministry official told AFP that the 30-day extension of the Syrian chemical weapons mandate was "pointless" and that urgent action on the expert panel's work was not needed.

Russia vetoed a U.S. proposal to renew the mandate on November 26 after it had received approval in the Security Council.

It was Moscow's 10th such veto of UN resolutions involving the Syrian civil war since the conflict began in 2011.

The mandate for the panel of experts to investigate expired at midnight on November 17.

Haley said the veto showed Russia consistently puts protection of its ally Syria, which has been blamed for all but one chemical attack since the investigation started in 2015, above the protection of Syrian civilians killed in such attacks.

"Russia has killed the investigative mechanism, which has the overwhelming support of this council," she said. Eleven of the council's 15 members supported the U.S.-drafted resolution, which would have extended the investigation for another year.

"To my Russian friends, the next chemical weapons attack is on your head," Haley said. "You are basically telling the entire world that chemical weapons are OK to use. That's what we should be embarrassed about today."

France's UN Ambassador Francois Delattre said the Russian veto was a blow to international efforts to curb the use of chemical weapons.

"Let there be no doubt: We have unleashed a monster here," said Delattre.

Russian UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya shot back, saying the investigative mechanism needed an overhaul, including a mandate to secure evidence of chemical use first-hand rather than through parties involved in the conflict.

Nebenzya called the mechanism "a puppetlike structure" that he said can be manipulated by the West. "On the basis of false information, it will time after time accuse the Syrian government of violating international norms," he said.

Haley also accused the Russian officials at the UN of refusing to discuss the issue with her.

"For some reason, the phones at the Russian Mission [at the UN] aren't working," she said. "We have tried to get a call with them and they've been too busy to talk to us this week. And when I have tried to call Vasily [Nebenzya], for some reason he is not available."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected Haley's claim as "fake diplomacy."

"Mrs. Haley's claim she made [on November 16] in a rather agitated manner, that the Russian [UN] mission had allegedly for days kept rejecting her offers to meet and talk about this issue, to discuss these two drafts of the resolution (i.e. the Russian and the U.S. rival drafts), is a lie -- I'll say it again," he said. "Apparently, we are facing a new phenomenon in international relations, in which not only do we have fake news, but fake diplomacy as well."

Russia has been highly critical of the team's findings that the Syrian government used chlorine gas in at least two attacks in 2014 and 2015 and used sarin in an aerial attack on Khan Sheikhun last April that killed nearly 100 people.

Syria has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons. The investigative team also found the extremist group Islamic State was responsible for a mustard gas attack in 2015.

After Russia vetoed the U.S. extension proposal, the council later voted against a rival resolution put forward by Russia to overhaul the investigative mechanism. It received only four votes in favor -- from Russia, Kazakhstan, Bolivia, and China -- short of the nine votes needed to pass.

U.S. President Donald Trump had urged the council to support the investigation's continued work. In a tweet shortly before the vote, Trump said renewing the mandate would "ensure" that President Bashar al-Assad's Syrian "regime does not commit mass murder with chemical weapons ever again."

With reporting by AP, dpa, AFP, Reuters, and AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/un-russia-syria- chemical-weapons-resolution/28860285.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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Turkish President Slams US Policy in Syria

By Dorian Jones November 17, 2017

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan used an address to party officials Friday in Ankara as an opportunity to launch a blistering attack on the U.S. policy in Syria.

Erdogan openly asked why the U.S. is involving itself in a country 12,000 kilometers away. He then accused Washington of breaking commitments and promises, claiming the country was trying to trick him.

Bilateral relations have hit a low point over Washington's arming of the Syrian Kurdish group the PYD in its fight against the Islamic State. Ankara accuses the PYD of being linked to a Kurdish insurgency in Turkey.

In a sign of the level of mistrust generated over the dispute, Erdogan accused the U.S. of sending large amounts of cash to Islamic State.

"Daesh is a group armed by those who claim to fight against the terror group," Erdogan said, adding the U.S. had sabotaged operations against IS  also referred to as Daesh  and that whoever created the ruthless terrorist group also created the PYD.

Turkish pro-government media repeatedly have accused Washington of being behind Islamic State. Such theories got a boost from reports the Syrian Kurdish militia and U.S. forces had agreed to allow hundreds of Islamic State fighters and their families to leave the besieged Syrian city of Raqqa.

U.S.-Turkish relations could be further strained with Erdogan reiterating his call Friday for the removal of Syrian Kurdish forces in Afrin, a Syrian enclave on Turkey's border. The Turkish president repeatedly has warned that a military operation would be launched against Afrin.

Analysts say such an operation would require Moscow's permission, given it has its own soldiers deployed there. Erdogan said this week, however, that he had had a productive telephone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on the subject.

The two leaders, along with their Iranian counterpart, are due to meet at a summit next week to discuss Syria. Ankara's relations with both Tehran and Moscow have markedly improved in the last year, much to the concern of Turkey's NATO allies.

Erdogan on Friday also announced Turkish forces had withdrawn from a NATO military drill in retaliation for slights made to him and the founder of the Turkish State, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, by other soldiers participating in the exercise. Erdogan warned there could be no alliance if such behavior continues.

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November 27, 2017 - Nicole Sanchez (Class of 19) and James Simermeyer (14)

The presentation included information about the Transformative Advocacy Fellowship to positively impact New Mexican children and families.

Close to fifty UNM Law School students recently attended a public interest session on a fellowship for transformative social change. They also met with representatives from eighteen non-profit organizations that provide direct legal service, policy advocacy or education to New Mexican children and families in need.

The session is part of the public service and diversity initiatives funded by a generous grant from the WK Kellogg foundation. Five student organizations with missions of public service and diversity co-sponsored the information session, along with Student and Career Services and the Institute of Public Law.

Some students made new connections with non-profits while other students were able to discuss their legal passions with various organizations to hopefully, find a good match.

Applications for the Corrine Wolfe Transformative Advocacy Fellowship are due February 1, 2018

The session highlighted the Corrine Wolfe Transformative Advocacy Fellowship, a post-graduate fellowship providing a salary of $41,000 for graduating law students and recent alumni to work on a two-year project at a New Mexico non-profit. The project must benefit the health and welfare of New Mexico children and families, especially in rural areas, and provide direct legal service, policy advocacy or education.

Representatives from local non-profit organizations were encouraged to share ideas for projects that can address the legal needs of New Mexican children and families.

Jesse Clifton (Class of 18) said that the fellowship allows public-interest minded students to have an impactful and meaningful introduction to their careers. For two years, fellows are afforded the opportunity to pursue their passions in fighting racial inequality and improving the futures of New Mexico's underserved, low income children, said Clifton. It's hard to imagine a state that would benefit more from combating these issues than our own.

Deshawnda Chaparro (Class of 18) said the fellowship is important for the rural, immigrant work that she hopes to do as my career. There are plenty of resources for immigrant families in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Las Cruces, but outside of those urban areas, immigrants have little access to immigration counseling and direct representation, said Chaparro. This Fellowship would allow me the opportunity to gain invaluable experience in the field I want to work in while also assisting New Mexican families to stay together. The fellowship is designed to build and strengthen a pipeline of law students to pursue careers in public interest and diversify the profession. Applications are due February 1, 2018.

Third year law students were encouraged to begin collaborating and seeking out ways to work with nonprofits.

Currently several non-profits have project proposal ideas on the UNM School of Law electronic jobs board, called Connect. Disability Rights New Mexico, DNA Peoples Legal Services, NM Appleseed, NM Center on Law and Poverty, New Mexico Legal Aid, NM Legal Aid Native American Program and Southwest Womens Law Center have all proposed project ideas.

These proposals are meant to start a conversation with interested fellowship applicants, so the collaboration process can begin earlier resulting in stronger and more effective programs. The project proposals can all be accessed by students and alumni on Connect HERE
Erdogan orders withdrawal of Turkish troops from NATO drills

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 17, 2017 02:33PM

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced the pullout of dozens of Turkish soldiers from a NATO military exercise in Norway after Turk leaders were depicted as the "enemies."

Erdogan said in a televised speech on Friday that he had ordered 40 troops to be withdrawn from the exercise after his name and that of the country's founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, were placed on a "table" listing "enemies" at the NATO drill.

Turkey's leader said the incident, which took place on Thursday, was considered an insult and so he had instructed the troops, who were to take part in the NATO exercise, to pull out.

In response, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg apologized for the incident.

"I have been informed about the offense caused in a recently concluded exercise at NATO's Joint Warfare Center in Stavanger, Norway," he said. "I apologize for the offense that has been caused."

Stoltenberg said the incident was the result of an individual's action and did not reflect the NATO policies.

"The individual in question was immediately removed from the exercise by the Joint Warfare Center, and an investigation is underway," he added.

NTV private broadcaster reported on Friday that NATO had fired the military officer who used pictures of Erdogan and Ataturk to show "enemies."

Turkey, which has been a NATO member since 1952, is considered a key ally of the West, particularly the United States.

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British PM hopes EU will respond 'positively' to Brexit offer

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 17, 2017 10:04AM

British Prime Minister Theresa May has said she is looking forward that the European Union would respond "positively" to her proposals for Brexit.

May made the remarks as she arrived for a summit in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Friday to launch reforms for the bloc's post-Brexit survival. She will hold talks with EU President Donald Tusk, and has already held meetings with her Irish, Swedish and Polish counterparts.

"I look forward to the European Union responding positively to that so we can move forward together and ensure that we can get the best possible arrangements for the future that will be good for people in the United Kingdom and across the remaining EU27," May said on the eve of the EU Social Summit for Fair Jobs and Growth.

May reiterated that Britain will honor its "commitments" on the divorce bill the EU insists Britain should pay.

Speaking in in Gothenburg on Friday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called on Britain to do more to unlock the next phase of Brexit talks on future trade relations and a transition deal, at a summit in Brussels next month.

"The clock is ticking. I hope that we will be able to come to an agreement as far as the divorce is concerned at the December council (summit) but work has still to be done," Juncker told reporters.

Last week, EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier warned the bloc was preparing for the possible collapse of Brexit negotiations with Britain.

Barnier told French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche on Sunday that the failure of negotiations was a "possibility."

"A failure of the negotiations would have consequences on multiple domains," he said.

Earlier this month, Barnier told the UK that it had just two weeks to make its position clear on the Brexit divorce bill or the EU could block a transition deal with the country.

Britain has said that London is willing to offer the other 27 EU members "further assurance" on its divorce before the next summit in December.

The UK has also expressed its willingness to pay up to 40 billion euros to the bloc as it wanted considerable progress on settling Britain's liabilities before Brexit talks resumed.

But, Barnier has said that the two sides are stuck in a "disturbing deadlock" over the divorce bill.

Davis warns EU not to put 'politics above prosperity'

Meanwhile, Britain's Brexit Secretary David Davis on Thursday called on Germany and other European nations not to "put politics above prosperity" not to put "politics above prosperity" in Brexit talks.

He made the request at an economic conference in Berlin, Germany.

He did not comment on the key issue of how much the UK will have to pay Brussels to settle its divorce bill.

Davis has previously said it is in the interests of both sides "to work to find solutions."

EU Chief Negotiator Barnier has said Britain must increase its financial offer before negotiators will move on to discuss the future trading relationship with the EU, amid signs May will attempt to break the deadlock by doubling her offer to around 40 billion in the coming weeks.

EU leaders have been increasingly frustrated about divisions in May's cabinet over Brexit, saying they were still unsure what the UK wanted, even after five rounds of negotiations.

The slow progress of Brexit talks has fueled fears that May's government may collapse, or worse that London may fail to strike a withdrawal agreement with Brussels before its formal exit from the EU on March 29, 2019, which could cause economic and transport turmoil in the UK and EU.

Johnson pushes for post-Brexit trade talks

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Friday urged the EU to move on to post-Brexit trade negotiations in order to solve the Irish border issue.

"The issues of the Northern Irish border and how it works are intellectually, intimately bound up with the questions of the customs union, the single market, Britain's relationship with those," he said on Friday at a Dublin press conference with his Irish counterpart Simon Coveney.

"Those questions have been reserved by the (European) Commission for study in stage two of the negotiations. I think logically now is the time to proceed to stage two," he added.

Determining the future of Britain's land border with the EU has been a priority for the bloc, with all sides seeking to avoid a return to a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

"We need to get on with this, but our view is that you can only really crack the problem in the context of a wider understanding of how the new customs arrangements are going to work," said Johnson, who made the comments after European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker warned on Friday that Britain must do "more work" before moving onto trade talks.

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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

Daniel Zitterkopf will speak at Calvary Assembly of God Church in Lexington on Sunday, Dec. 17 during the Sunday School service at 9:30 a.m. and the Morning Service at 10:30 a.m. about his and his wife Libbys calling to serve with U.S Missions.

HAPPENINGS

Miller Dances: All Dances start at 7 p.m. Bring finger food and snacks. Questions? Call 308-325-2909. Nov. 18 - "Sundowners" - special guests singles and agriculture; Nov. 25 - "Diamonds and Dust."

The 12th Annual Endure the Cure Co-ed Volleyball Tournament will be held Dec. 3 at 8 a.m. at Gothenburg Junior and Senior High School Gym, 1322 Avenue I. The event will serve as a fundrasier for Marcia Speck, who is being treated for breast cancer. All proceeds go to the family. For more information call Jim Macias at 308-746-3100.

First United Methodist Church in Lexington will have their annual Country Store Friday, Dec. 8, 2017. There will be candy, cookies, baked goods, crafts and homemade soup (to go) from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Homemade cinnamon rolls and coffee from 8:00 to 10:30 a.m. From 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 will be lunch with soups, sandwiches, and homemade pie (free will offering). The public is invited.

The Lexington High School Liberty Belles will sponsor a Junior Dance Camp on Dec. 9 at Bryan Elementarys School gym. Registration forms are availalbe at elementary school front offices and on the school web site. For more information contact kyleewhite39@hotmail.com.

WIC sites in Dawson County for November are: Lexington - Community Action Partnership of Mid-Nebraska Building, 911 West 7th St., Tuesday thru Thursday, the first four full weeks for each month. Call 308-324-6212 for an appointment. Cozad - Parkview Building, 120 East 9th, Monday, Dec. 4. Gothenburg  American Lutheran Church, 1512 Ave. G, Gothenburg, Friday, Dec. 1.

The Plum Creek Community Players will once again be bringing the Missoula Childrens Theater to Lexington. Please save the dates on your calendar from Feb. 19-24, 2018. The selected production is

"Gullivers Travels." More information will be coming as the audition date of Feb. 19 approaches.

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.

YMCA EVENTS

Craft and Vendor Show Nov. 18. Still accepting vendors. For questions or more information: Call: 324-1970

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. .

LEXINGTON CHAMBER CHRISTMAS EVENTS

Santa Claus will be available for visits three Saturdays next month, on Dec. 2, 9 and 16 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Pinnacle Bank Parking Lot located at downtown Highway 30 and Washington Street. Free for all ages. Fire truck rides, provided by the Lexington Volunteer Fire Department, will also be available.

The Annual Christmas Parade in downtown Lexington will be held Sunday, Dec. 3 at 5:30 p.m. All are welcome to be in parade. Deadline to signup to be in the parade is Monday, Nov. 27. To register contact the Lexington Chamber of Commerce at 308-324-5504 or email christy@lexcoc.com.

The Lexington Council for Economic Development is sponsoring a free movie showing, of Home Alone, at the Majestic Theatre on a first come first served basis on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 3 p.m.

LEXINGTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

The Lexington Public Library will be closed Thursday, Nov. 23 and Friday, Nov. 24 for Thanksgiving. We will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 22 and we will reopen on Saturday, Nov.25 at 9:00 a.m. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

The next "Booked for Lunch" program at the Lexington Public Library is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 5. Join us for a "Cowgirl Christmas" with Crabgrass Duo. A light lunch will be served beginning at 11:30 a.m. with this fun musical program starting at noon. To preregister for lunch, visit the Lexington Public Library or call (308)324-2151. This program is sponsored by the Lexington Public Library Memorial Fund, the Friends of the Lexington Public Library, the Emerson Fund, and the Lexington Community Foundation.

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, Nov. 21, and 28 and Dec. 5, 12, 19, and 26 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

9 a.m. - Tai Chi

10 a.m. - FROG

12:45 p.m. - Ive Got IT

1:30 p.m . - FROG

3 p.m. - Strength Training

No BINGO

Tuesday

1 p.m. - Pretzels

1 p.m. - Foot Clinic

Wednesday

9:15 a.m. - Go4Life

9:30 a.m. - Coffee/Crafts

9:30 a.m. - Pool T. - Broke Bow

11 a.m. - 5-in-a-Row

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

Swiss steak, baby bakers, California Blend, hot cinnamon apples

Tuesday

Sweet and sour chicken, diced potatoes, roasted cauliflower, plums

Wednesday

Meatloaf, cottage fries, broccoli corn cassserole, mixed fruit

LEXINGTON SCHOOL MENU

Breakfast

Monday

Cherry frudels or cereal and cheese stick, 100 percent fruit juice, fruit, milk

Tuesday

Egg omelet with tortilla or cereal and cheese stick, 100 percent fruit juice, fruit, milk

Wednesday

Blueberry bash waffles or cereal and cheese stick, 100 percent fruit juice, fruit, milk

Lunch

Monday

Chicken sandwich/bun, hamburger on bun, beef and bean burrito, sub sandwich, yogurt, muffin, cheese, chicken rice, corn

Tuesday

Chili soup/crackers, burger on bun, chicken patty on bun, sub sandwich, yogurt, cheese, muffin, broccoli, cinnamon roll

Wednesday

Turkey sandwich, hamburger on bun, beef and bean burrito, sub sandwich, yogurt, cheese, muffin, sun chips

OVERTON SCHOOL MENU

Breakfast

Monday

Breakfast tornado or egg and cheese wrap

Tuesday

Apple muffin and ham

Wednesday

Griddle sandwich

Lunch

Monday

Chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, roasted carrots

Tuesday

Shredded pork sandwich, sweet potato fries, coleslaw

Wednesday

Potato soup, ham and cheese roll-up, relish tray, grapes, blueberry crisp

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.
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Haiti - News : Zapping...





Cable car project for La Citadelle

On Saturday during his visit to the North, President Jovenel Moise announced that engineers will be on site on 23 November to analyze the cable car project for La Citadelle of King Henri Christophe. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20446-haiti-politics-major-projects-of-the-ministry-of-tourism.html



Monitoring of works of the HUEH

Jude Alix Patrick Salomon, the Minister of Economy and Finance and the staff of the Technical Unit for Studies and Supervision (UTE) met the representatives of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID - Haiti) and of the French Development Agency (AFD) on the state of progress of the reconstruction work of the Hospital of the State University of Haiti (HUEH) started in 2013 . This meeting made it possible to adopt new provisions to facilitate the execution of the works.



Moise announces a dam on the Barjon River

Saturday, President Jovenel Moise announced a dam on the Barjon River in the Northeast. This dam will serve as a water reservoir for irrigation of the land.



Launching of the States General in Les Cayes

This weekend took place the official launch of the Estates General of the commune of Les Cayes.



The Head of State discusses projects in the North

Saturday, President Jovenel Moise accompanied by Max Rudolph Saint-Albin, the Minister of the Interior, as well as Parliamentarians of the North Department, met in the city of Cap-Haitien with local officials, key players of the department and representatives of civil society Capoise around the main projects to be conducted in the region soon...



Haitian Piano Festival

For the second day in a row, the organizers of the Haitian Piano Festival met with the Mayor of Jacmel, Loudie Cesar, partner of this event, which provided the Festival with a set of support, including logistics. For the second evening, Mrs. Cesar was first Lodge to enjoy two hours of Scholarly Music.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Politic : Twinning between Les Cayes and 2 Dominican cities





A large delegation met with Dominican businessmen and initialed twinning agreements with two important Dominican cities.



Under the auspices of the Embassy of the Republic of Haiti in the Dominican Republic, a large delegation composed of Gabriel Fortune, Mayor of Les Cayes, Mrs. Marie May Guillaume, Head of the Departmental Office South of the Ministry of Tourism and Mr. Pierre Antoine Borgat, Vice-President of the Southern Chamber of Commerce, met with Dominican businessmen and initialed twinning agreements with two important Dominican cities : Mayaguate and San Cristobal.



It should be noted that agreements signed between cities open the way for exchanges based on education, culture, tourism, economy and sport. The signatories of these important development agreements have welcomed this new turning point in relations between the two countries.



In Santiago, at the end of this visit, the Haitian delegation discussed with Haitian students. An debate opened between the two parties where the students asked relevant questions about the integration structures of the new skills in the development of Haiti. Pierre Antoine Borgat, representative of the Southern Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Fortune have invited students to be creative because Haiti offers many opportunities.



Miousemine Celestin, acting Charge d'Affaires at the Embassy of Haiti in the Dominican Republic took the opportunity to invite the student sector to participate in the activities of the Haitian authorities in DR. Also she invites them to register at the Embassy or Consular Posts of their respective jurisdictions and to join together in association, for the well-being of their community.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Police probing racially charged, anti-gay threats against downtown brewery

Someone sent threatening emails to Black Star Line Brewing Co., which opened last month at 131 Third Ave. West.

Related Stories

A downtown brewery that bills itself as a safe space for people of color and the lesbian and gay community was the target of vandalism and racially charged threats this week.

The Hendersonville Police Department is investigating a series of threatening emails sent to Black Star Line Brewing Co. Thursday and Friday.

We had multiple threats on our website, different threats, said Simon Melendez, a Black Star Line employee who spoke for owner and chief brewer L.A. McCrae. Also we came in today and the keg electrical wires were cut. We had a few alerts go off in our building, we had a sign stolen among other things. It all started just about racism and hate.

An email Friday afternoon followed previous messages and the damage that the brewery workers said they found when they opened.

We are just getting started N----, the email said. We hate N----. Especially gay, men hating n----. We still coming 

Detectives are investigating the threats.

We took a communicating threats report last night on some vulgar and racial tones that were sent to them via email and on their website, Hendersonville Police Capt. Bruce Simonds said. Its currently being investigated by the detective bureau.

Its very disturbing, he said of the language. We take it seriously. The chief went down there and met with the owners. Problem is tracing an IP address to a sender that disguises the origin.

Police have stepped up their watch over the bar on Third Avenue West.

Absolutely, Simonds said. We do that with any threat or any break-in for the foreseeable future to make sure it doesnt happen again.

Describing itself as the first black, family, & woman owned brewery in the Asheville area, Black Star Line says that it aims to create space for women, people of color, queer folks, and other folks with marginalized social identities. It is the spot that is truly for us and by us.

In the meeting with the owner and employees, Chief Herbert Blake pledged support from police.

He basically reassured us that this movement we have going here is going good for the city, that no matter what everybody has our back, Melendez said.

He said the brewery has received a positive reception since it opened last month.

Were trying to be cautious and at the same time maintain a balance of peace and not have violence break out here and/or anywhere else, because of our cause, he said. We have people fighting for our side and people fighting against our side. People that agree and disagree feel very strongly on both sides.

Business wise, its been fantastic, he added. People have been coming in, having a good time. Were just going to be welcoming. Hopefully, everybody will just be peaceful and we can stay the happy medium.

Bartender Javier Naranjo, who recently moved here, said bar patrons have been uniformly supportive.

Its been all positive, he said. I havent had any inkling of any such belief or disdain for people like this.
Three Irishmen arrested in Amsterdam as part of the international operation to destroy the Kinahan cartel have been remanded in custody.

The men appeared in an Amsterdam court yesterday as Dutch authorities work on building a money laundering and drugs supply case against them.

Dublin man William O'Brien, who gardai believe has connections to the cartel and a number of other dangerous crime organisations, was one of three Irishmen arrested in the bust.

Footage obtained by the Herald showed O'Brien and three others being arrested by heavily-armed Dutch police on Wednesday afternoon.

They were handcuffed, blindfolded and bundled into police cars before being taken into custody.

At around the same time the arrests unfolded on the streets of Amsterdam, police stormed a heavily-fortified apartment, where they discovered a "bitcoin farm", 3m of cannabis, computers, cash and encrypted phones.

Yesterday, Dutch police released images of the bitcoin farm, along with some of the drugs and cash they seized.

O'Brien and two criminals from Limerick were among eight people arrested in the Dutch capital, in an operation which involved close co-operation with specialist gardai.

The more senior of the Limerick criminals handed over 600,000 to the Criminal Assets Bureau in 2014, after gardai found the money in a property linked to him.

The money launderer was officially warned of a threat against his life after the cash was seized, but it is believed he has linked up with criminal gangs in Dublin and Limerick since then - including the Kinahan cartel.

Five other men - one Belgian and four Dutch nationals - also appeared in court in Amsterdam as part of the investigation.

Shot

Convicted drug dealer O'Brien (35) is originally from Lombard Court, in the Pearse Street area of the capital, but moved to the Clonsilla area of west Dublin a number of years ago.

In July 2014, when he was living at an address in Beechfield Rise, he was lucky to escape with his life after he was shot three times through the property's front door in front of his young son.

He was hit in the chest, shoulder and hand when a gunman opened fire on him in the attempted murder.

He later underwent surgery to remove bullets, one of which was lodged in his abdomen.

O'Brien's car was previously burnt-out in June 2010, when it was parked outside a friend's house in East Wall.

In July 2011, O'Brien was jailed for three years for possession of cannabis plants worth more than 325,000, at Greenogue Business Park, Rathcoole, in July 2009. He was released from Mountjoy Prison in October 2013.

Gardai believe that since his release, O'Brien has associated with serious criminal elements, including members of the Hutch mob before its deadly feud with the Kinahan cartel, as well as a criminal closely linked to gangster Christopher 'Git' Russell.

However, he is understood to have been "trusted and on very friendly terms" with a number of senior Kinahan cartel players since he was a teenager.

He was considered one of the main drug suppliers in the Pearse Street area for a number of years.

"It is fair to say that he would have been very much trusted by senior cartel members, but O'Brien has connections to other criminal groupings as well," a source said last night.

It is expected that O'Brien, the two Limerick criminals and the five other men will next appear in an Amsterdam court in a fortnight, as Dutch police continue their investigation.

It is understood all eight suspects are being held in solitary confinement in prison.

Seizure

This week's operation against the cartel in Amsterdam was linked to a massive drugs seizure by gardai, in which two men have now been charged here.

In a statement earlier this week, Assistant Commissioner John O' Driscoll, who is leading the investigation, said gardai will continue to target organised crime.

"There is a particular emphasis, firstly, on protecting life and tackling threat-to-life incidents," he said.

"But also, on targeting the sale of drugs and other illicit products and, importantly, targeting the financial gain and money laundering involved."
A woman who claims she severely injured her back when she fell 15 feet on to rocks while strolling at Blessington Lakes in Wicklow has sued in the High Court.

Mother-of-three Alison McCurtin, has taken the action against the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) over the fall 14 years ago on the Lacken side of the ESB reservoir at Blessington when she claims the ground disappeared underneath her and she fell backwards.

The 38-year old woman was rescued from the rocks and taken to hospital where it was found vertebrae on her lower back were fractured, her counsel Richard McDonnell said.

Race

Mr McDonnell said Ms McCurtin had to wear a back brace for about eight months afterwards and it is her case that she will never be pain free.

Ms McCurtin, of Orwell Park Green, Templeogue, Dublin, began the action as a result of the fall on August 26, 2003.

She has claimed that owing to alleged negligence, she was caused to topple backwards to the shore below when the ground gave way from under her.

She has claimed there was an alleged failure to have any adequate warning signs that the undercut shore banks were dangerous, and a failure to warn those present that walking close to the edges of the banks should be prohibited.

She has further claimed the ESB allowed her to use the lake shore as a recreational walk when the undermined banks were a trap because they looked solid.

There was, she has further claimed, an alleged failure to monitor, inspect or examine the lake shore for such dangers, and a dangerous hazard at a well known recreational location was allegedly created by failure to ensure the area was safe for walking. The ESB has denied the claims.

It contends Ms McCurtin failed to have any adequate regard for her own safety and failed to take any adequate precautions for her own safety.

The ESB also claims Ms McCurtin failed to heed the signs it says were close to the area of the accident.

In a second case, Ms McCurtin has also sued in relation to an unrelated car accident on October 29, 2004, at Newline Road, Co Wexford.

Sued

She has sued the driver of a vehicle, Bill Stafford, of Wittyshill, Wellington Bridge, Co Wexford, which ran into the back of a car in which she was a passenger.

She has claimed that the road accident exacerbated the injuries from the Blessington accident.

The court heard liability is admitted in the car accident case which is before the court for assessment of damages only.

Opening the case, Mr McDonnell said Ms McCurtin was walking along with friends enjoying the view at Blessington when all of a sudden the ground under her allegedly collapsed.

The case resumes next Tuesday before Mr Justice Anthony Barr.
Fine Gael national executive member Barry Walsh has resigned in the wake of the controversy over his Twitter comments.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar had earlier said Mr Walsh should resign after it emerged he called senior female politicians derogatory names on social media.

Fine Gael TD Kate O'Connell brought Mr Walsh's comments to the attention of the party on Wednesday night at a parliamentary party meeting.

Disciplinary

A senior Fine Gael source confirmed yesterday afternoon that Mr Walsh has resigned from its national executive with "immediate effect".

In a statement released yesterday afternoon, Fine Gael said: "Fine Gael executive council chairman Gerry O'Connell has today at 3.15pm received and accepted the resignation of Barry Walsh from Fine Gael's Executive Council.

"The resignation takes effect immediately."

Earlier, Mr Varadkar, speaking from Gothenburg, where he is attending a meeting of all EU heads of state and government, said: "It would be for the best if he resigned and stepped down as a member of the Fine Gael Executive Council pending a disciplinary procedure which is now under way."

Mr Walsh also allegedly took aim at other women in the public eye such as Sabina Higgins, the wife of President Michael D Higgins, Sinn Fein TD Mary Lou McDonald and actor and pro-choice activist Tara Flynn.

"Mr Walsh is below the standard of what I'd expect of a Fine Gael officer," the Taoiseach said.

Over recent weeks, Mr Walsh posted a series of abusive tweets, targeting people who favour repealing the Eighth Amendment.

Crude

On Wednesday night, Dublin Bay South TD Ms O'Connell handed out screen-grabs of his Twitter activity and informed colleagues she had written to Fine Gael secretary general Tom Curran to complain about the abuse.

Mr Walsh had also made particularly crude references to actor Tara Flynn, who is the voice of Blind Date on TV3.

Ms Flynn has spoken about her own experience of seeking an abortion in the past and vocally supports a change in Ireland's restrictive laws.

On October 1, Mr Walsh tweeted: "From what Tara Flynn says, she was pregnant and just couldn't be bothered having a baby. So she had it killed. Why is she a feminist hero?"
How good are these two guys, Penn State fans? It may surprise you ...

football
West coast rapper slash All-Blue-affiliate G Perico has been a busy man this year. Back in April, Perico dropped off his official debut album All Blue, which featured thirteen tracks of west-side flavor. In September, G Perico teamed up with Jay Worthy and Cardo to form the group G-Worthy, and the trio ended the month by dropping their first eponymous album as a collective. For a little bonus trivia, that album was entirely recorded and produced in Los Angeles, which explains the distinct sonic aesthetic. Now, Perico has announced his third project of the year, 2 Tha Left, which may very well be his best one yet.

The album is set to drop on December 8th via Pericos own imprint So Way Out, with distribution handled by Priority Records. 2 Tha Left has features from Bino Rideaux, Nef The Pharoah, TeeCee4800, AD, Polyester, Ray Wright, Mozzy, and Curren$y. In fact, you can check out the full tracklist below, as well as the blue-heavy album artwork.

1. Tha Intro

2. Affiliated

3. Go f. Bino Rideaux

4. Everybody

5. Other Side f. Nef The Pharaoh

6. What Up Cuz f. TeeCee4800 & AD

7. World On Wheels [Interlude]

8. I Love Thots

9. Fly Around f. Polyester & Ray Wright

10. Whats Real f. Mozzy

11. Send Her Home f. Curren$y

12. Amerikkka

13. One Two

14. Mind Yours

15. Tha Outro

In an interview with HipHopDx, G Perico states my mission is to inspire and be talked about 100 years later. Be in history books. An ambitious goal to be sure, but dropping three projects on an annual basis is a promising start. If youre into G Pericos music, be sure to check out the albums first official video for Affiliated, which you can catch below. Stay tuned for G Pericos upcoming To Tha Left, which drops in a few weeks.

G Perico
Its been a big week for Offset. First, he and his rap crew were accused of jumping XXXTenacion, that was later proven to be untrue, and now a part of his personal life has gone public into the hands of the media.

The Blast reports that a Justine Watson filed documents against Offset in August to establish child support and paternity for her 7-year-old son, Jordan. Justine is claiming that Offset is the father even though he has never taken a DNA test.

Offset has apparently been providing Justine with on-and-off financial assistance but rarely helped with medical, education or extra-curricular activity expenses. After figuring out Offsets net worth, Justine now wants to be paid the child support he has missed over the years as well as $15,000 in attorneys fees.

The publication reports that Offset responded to the court order in October admitting that he is the father and has been sending money Justines way since Jordans birth. Although he believes having the court decide the final verdict, where he also wants joint legal and physical custody of Jordan, he doesnt want to pay the $15,000 for her legal fees.

Two days after Offset got on one knee and proposed to Cardi B during her Powerhouse concert, he filed to have all his financial information in the case private. Offset also admits to having two other children with different women.

As for Offset and Cardi Bs upcoming wedding, the Bodak Yellow rapper (who wears a $500,000 engagement ring) recently spoke on the big day and shared some tidbits of what to expect, since BET has shown interest in broadcasting their wedding just as the network did with Gucci Mane and Keyshia KaOir.

The world is not ready for it, she said. Everybody got to be wearing red. And my bridesmaids are gonna be wearing suits, whats good.
Nikes annual Doernbecher Freestyle Collection will be up for grabs this Saturday, November 18th with 100 percent of the proceeds from the sales of the collection to benefit OHSU Doernbecher. Adult and youth sizes will launch in SNKRS, and the full apparel collection will launch on nike.com and at select Nike retail and partner stores. Learn more about this years patient-designers here.

This years Doernbecher Freestyle Collection, which were created by six brave kids Andrew, Amyiah, Brayden, Brody, Carissa and Tylan, includes the Air Jordan 12, Nike Air More Uptempo, Nike Air VaporMax, Nike SB Zoom Stefan Janoski, Nike Air Huarache Run Ultra, and the Nike Air Max Thea Ultra Flyknit.

According to Nike, the annual Doernbecher Collection started out as an idea from Connor Doherty, the son of Nike Creative Director and OHSU Doernbecher Foundation board member Michael Doherty. His suggestion  enabling the hospitals young patients to engage their imaginations by designing their very own Nike sneakers  formalized in 2003 as the OHSU Doernbecher Freestyle program.

Fourteen years and 85 patient-designers later, his idea has raised $17 million for the hospital, brightened the lives of countless kids and caught the attention of sneaker lovers and collectors across the country. Every day, countless young patients at OHSU Doernbecher Childrens Hospital demonstrate what it means to go all in as they bravely face serious illness.

Below you can read the story and inspiration behind each sneaker and the designer, courtesy of Nike.

Tylan Hibbard  Nike SB Zoom Stefan Janoski

Tylan was born with truncus arteriosus, a rare heart defect that is fatal if not corrected. But while his heart may not function perfectly, its full of love for his family. Theyve always been there for me, even when things get tough, he said. Tylan included his own personal mantra on the tab of the SB Zoom Stefan Janoski: be kind. Thats the theme of his very own YouTube channel, which he created to help other people feel better. At the end of every video, it says be kind because you never know what someone else is going through, he said. Thats why you want to be the best you can be to them. Because he thinks every fisherman needs a good fishing shoe, Hibbard also designed his shoe with nautical details. A school of trophy fish swims against a deep blue background. Brayden Sparkman  Nike Air Huarache Run Ultra Brayden Strong is Brayden Sparkmans nickname, and it is also an apt description for how hes choosing to fight acute lymphoblastic leukemia. When I was diagnosed, everyone in the community started calling me by that nickname, he explained. For me, it means trying your best and leading by example. Sparkman is an avid baseball player who hopes to play professionally one day. His Air Huarache Run is a tribute to the game and features red baseball stitching, his own logo and nickname, which describe his playing style. The prominent display of orange is a nod to his favorite baseball and football teams. Andrew Merydith  Nike Air VaporMax Like Andrew, the ultra-lightweight VaporMax is also built for speed. It features vibrant shades of green and purple that coordinate perfectly with his favorite BMX jersey. Andrew used his initials to create a cool logo, and came up with his own hashtag for the outsole: #ilovethefam. My family is my hero, he explains. Theyve been so supportive and caring throughout this whole thing. According to Doernbecher social worker Emily Somervell, Andrew shares his familys caring, compassionate traits. For Andrew, helping others brings him the most happiness, she said. Thats why hes looking forward to becoming a scientist who helps treat and hopefully cure cystic fibrosis. After participating in the Freestyle program, Andrew says he has another career aspiration: designing shoes. Carissa Navarro  Air Jordan 12 Carissas Air Jordan XII is perfect for dancing and also a showcase for her favorite things. Youll find her stuffed dog Max on the outsole, a picture of her family inside, and a slice of pizza on the laces. I put pizza on my shoe because pizza is delicious! she smiles. Of all the things that Carissa loves most, her twin sister Savannah tops the list, and her name appears on the heel tab of the left shoe. Carissa was born without kidneys, but Savannah helped her stay alive in the womb until she could begin dialysis. Shes the best sister ever, said Carissa of her twin. Amyiah Robinson  Nike Air Max Thea Ultra Flyknit Amyiahs colorful ombre Air Max Thea Ultra Flyknit features her name loud and proud, as well as a logo comprised of a heart with angel wings flying over the words ROCK STAR. Sometimes I think Im kind of a rock star, she laughed. And the angel heart is a symbol that means a lot to my mom. She was in the military, so it represents freedom. Besides, shes my guardian angel. Besides being true to herself, Amyiah also believes being true to her roots, which is why the inside of one shoe features a map of her hometown in Oklahoma, while the other contains a map of Oregon. Amyiah moved to Oregon in 2015 to be closer to family and to be treated for sickle cell anemia, which requires monthly transfusions at Doernbecher. Brody Miller  Nike Air More Uptempo To help in his fight against complex brain malformation, Brody Miller, an aspiring comic book artist, dreamed up an alter ego, Generator Man, who is featured on his Air More Uptempo. Generator Man is based on me, he explains. Not only can he shoot healing energy out of his hands, he also has the powers of mind control. Other super-powered features include a glow-in-the-dark outsole that reveals the words BE STRONG. With all my surgeries, Ive had to be really strong, he explains. Theres also a giant BPM down the side, which stands for beats per minute as well as his initials, Brody Preston Miller.

Nike x Doernbecher
This Big Indian Joint Family Has 72 Members Living in The Same House in Maharashtra
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San Felipe, in north Bogota, is a low-rise neighbourhood with dangling telephone wires and serious security grilles capping the two-storey homes. Its slightly like the less well-heeled parts of Los Angeles. But on this October day, nosing their way along the cracked concrete pavements, are people who youd recognise from Frieze London: international art nomads in black and asymmetrical garb, along with a smattering of art collectors in gallery-hopping mufti of chinos and trainers.

Maria Wills, standing outside the pistachio-coloured gallery Instituto de Vision, is receiving them with papaya cocktails and an excellent show of Colombian artists. Even in the few years since the gallery began in 2014, Wills has seen Bogota inch further along the track to international art destination.

Since we opened the gallery, the art district has really consolidated, she says. Its now on the map of the new, improved Bogota, with around 14 galleries and a monthly open evening, featuring fearsome coffee, rum, and a nose round Flora Ars and Natur  a kind of ICA of Bogota.

Okay, but why is Bogota and its art scene different from any amount of global cities experiencing a bit of an uplift? Because Colombia and its capital have just emerged from the longest civil war in history, with a peace treaty signed last year that aims to close half of centurys fighting with guerrilla group, the Farc.

A decade or two ago murder, kidnappings and political violence were common in Bogota, and although Colombia has long had big-hitter artists  Miguel Angel Rojas and Doris Salcedo among them  its fierce reputation meant that few would have been foolhardy enough to flit from gallery to gallery.

Despite some sketchy patches, Bogota is now a buzzing international metropolis (Shutterstock)

While theres a widespread scepticism about the peace process  and nor has hit Netflix crime drama Narcos exactly helped public perceptions  theres a huge sense of optimism in the air thats attracting international attention.

Im hopeful that things will change to the point where we can start talking about a post-war period, says Wills, who thinks that art might help provide a healing experience. And a feeding frenzy. Pariss Pompidou Centre in Paris, MoMA in New York and Londons Tate Modern all have eyes and ears in Bogota, which is currently considered a bit of a laboratory and a city to watch.

Around 20 years ago, you would hardly have seen a tourist in Bogota, a local tells me. Now, while the city wont win any prizes for traffic management and sprawl, theres a mood afoot thats been likened to the fall of the Berlin Wall by Felipe Gonzalez, Spains former prime minister.

Crime has been bought down to a three-decade low. President Juan Manuel Santos won a Nobel Peace prize last year for his efforts in sorting the peace deal. The hopey-changey thing is alive in Bogota.

The annual ArtBo art fair, funded by the Bogota Chamber of Commerce, is the key moment in the calendar when curators, critics and collectors descend on the city to peer round an art-filled hanger, with offsite events like walks in San Felipe.

Banco de Bogota and Torre Colpatria are examples of the innovative new architecture (Shutterstock)

It all started 13 years ago, when Colombias city strategists set out, as ArtBo director Maria Paz Gaviria puts it, to activate the city, and to brand it as a place open to culture, business and inward investment.

Now, Bogota is not only attracting those collectors and gallerists from Europe and the US, but also other Latinos, including Venezuelans like artist Lucia Moron, who has been in Bogota for nine years.

It started small, but its become quite a community here, she says. Bogotas increasingly international, adds Fernando Pradilla of the Galeria Fernando Pradilla, opened like so many in the last ten years. Theres now about 80 galleries here  and its growing all the time.

Much of the energy is with younger artists like Maria Clara of El Vitrinazo, a gallery that places art in bakeries, hostels and bars, and at ArtBo one encounters a more raw sensibility than many art fairs. For example, at one stand I saw a woman sing laments in front of old photographs of the Farc conflict, as part of a themed area called Against Forgetting.

As Maria Wills says, For 60 years, many of our artists have been using different media to address our war and violence. Art is a means to try and make sense of the strife.

Flamboyantly dressed in Colombian designer Pepa Pombo, ArtBos director Maria Paz Gaviria testifies to Bogotas new artistic energy.

The peace process has put rocket fuel in the tank. Im against making a role for the arts, but the arts are a place for liberty and visibility. In Colombia weve all become much more visible  not just the fair.

Bogota is now a city to watch for its vibrant art scene (Oliver Bennett)

The galleries range from raw places in rough neighbourhoods to plush palaces with polished-concrete floors, like the 30-year-old La Cometa Gallery, and are concentrated in three main areas: San Felipe, Chapinero and Macarena  perhaps the most picturesque area, pushed up against the Eastern Hills, part of the Andes and Bogotas topographical highlight.

Between these areas are red-brick tower blocks, bicycle paths, parks, seething highways and bizarrely, the occasional fake Tudor house, as if Surrey had landed on the equator. Its a disjointed city, with many areas that are still sketchy. Even so, a result of the peace process is that everyone wants a piece of Colombia.

The Pope came recently, as did One Young World: the global forum for young leaders, addressed here by Bob Geldof. Bogota featured in the 2013 Phaidon Press book, Art Cities of the Future, and wealth is shakily growing: research firm WealthInsight reported that the number of millionaires in Colombia had grown by 39 per cent from 2007-2014.

Theres another factor in Bogotas turnaround; it has become legendary as a city of urban innovation. Much of this is to do with the legendary example of Antanas Mockus, who became mayor in the bullet-proof vest days of 1995, and advocated a playful behaviourist approach to governing the city.

Mockus, who lives in Macarena and runs an influential Bogota-based urban company called Corpovisionaries, is fond of quoting philosophers like Pierre Bourdieu. He recalls his more head-line grabbing initiatives, such as training traffic police to learn mime, so they could ridicule drivers who ran red lights; giving drivers thumbs-up and thumbs down cards to use rather than road rage; and set up a Night Without Men, when men were invited to stay at home while women went out.

His water-saving initiative used the voice of Colombian pop star Shakira saying Thank you for saving water, and Mockus claims that it encouraged people to cut down on their usage. But his key win came when he invited the wealthy to voluntarily give an extra 10 per cent in taxes, which astonishingly, 63,000 households did  part of the reason why his philosophical ideas live on in Bogota. People respond to humour and playfulness from politicians, he says.

At the Abasto restaurant in Bogotas Chapinero district, David Melo, marketing manager for Invest in Bogota, is rhapsodising about Colombian food. Were seeing lots of fusion restaurants, he says, holding up a little bottle of fierce Amazonian spice called Wai Ya. This jungle-to-fork gastronomy is growing fast, he says, partly driven by social programmes that try and shift farmers away from cocaine production; for example, Abastos coffee was made in a conflict zone.

Some are using art to process, and heal from, the decades of conflict (Oliver Bennett)

Bogotas art-driven push has been complemented by other kinds of foreign investment, says Melo. Industries are moving in: life sciences, health services and creative industries like HBO, Disney, Sony. Theres a long-awaited new metro system due to start next year  although Bogotas sceptics will believe it when they see it.

But Melo says that Bogota doesnt want to forget the past. We encourage visitors to talk about the peace process, partly because it shows how far weve moved on. The calamity that was Pablo Escobar and his narco-baron ilk is now more of a problem for Mexico, sadly for that country, and Narcos is seen as a retro show, just as 1970s cop show Kojak would be to a New Yorker.

It would be blithe to suggest that problems dont exist in Bogota and Colombia. This year saw the highest cocaine harvest for years. The Peace Agreement referendum last year  to ratify the peace deal and gauge how far the population supported the peace deal with Farc  saw the No camp win by a whisker, unwilling to make any capitulation to the guerrilla group (which has now re-ordered its acronym and become the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force).

The fallout has been a bit divisive, with family arguments breaking out. This is President Santos final year in office, and as the countrys top Yes voter he wants to leave the country remembered as the architect of a solid peace agreement, like South Africa and Northern Ireland.

But at a rooftop party for ArtBo, held in a shiny property development with rooftop Jaccuzis for Bogotas new rich, few of these fears were on display as a local businessman, Jorge, pressed my hand and said: Welcome to the new Bogota. The old search for El Dorado  the mythical source of gold, so much part of Bogotas history  has taken a new turn.
Gerry Adams has announced his intention to step down as Sinn Fein president in 2018.

The 69-year-old republican veteran told the annual Sinn Fein Ard Fheis in Dublin it would be his last as leader, and a special meeting of the party would be called next year to elect a successor.

The TD for Co Louth, who has been party president since 1983, also told delegates he would not run in the next election in the Irish Republic.

"Leadership means knowing when it is time for change and that time is now," he told the annual conference in the RDS arena in Dublin.

Mr Adams said the move was part of the ongoing process of leadership transition within the party.

The plan, formulated along with Martin McGuinness before his death earlier this year, has already seen Michelle O'Neill, 40, take the role of Sinn Fein's leader at Stormont.

Mr Adams has gone before the Ard Fheis to seek re-election every year since 1983 and that formality was repeated on Saturday night.

But in his leader's speech, he told republican faithful it would be the last time he would put himself forward for the role.

"I want to thank everyone who has welcomed me into their homes and communities and have made me part of countless campaigns, countless elections and countless negotiations," he said.

Amid rapturous applause and a standing ovation, Mr Adams told delegates: "We are going to continue to go forward."

He paid special tribute to his wife Collette and son Gearoid.

The long-standing MP for west Belfast switched his focus to the Dublin parliament in 2011, becoming a TD for Co Louth.

Sinn Fein has made steady gains in the Irish Republic in recent polls but many believe the prospects of further growth is limited due to the presence of Troubles era figures.

Current deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald, 48, will be a clear favourite to succeed Mr Adams.

The Ard Fheis also saw the party faithful debate its position on abortion.

Delegates voted to partially liberalise the party's stance, setting its position ahead of next year's referendum in the Irish Republic on the clause of the state's constitution that frames its strict laws on terminations.

The conference was also the first since Mr McGuinness died in March. His widow Bernie attended as tributes were paid to the former IRA commander turned Stormont deputy first minister.

In a reflective address, Mr Adams said one of the party's greatest achievements during his time as president was forging with peace process along with SDLP leader John Hume.

He added: "We have also recast Sinn Fein into an effective all-Ireland republican party, with clear policy and political objectives, and the means to achieve them through democratic and peaceful forms of struggle where none existed before.

"Republicanism has never been stronger.

"This is our time. We will grow even stronger in the future."
A young medical student, who is just as accustomed to mucking out in her wellies as she is to working on hospital wards, was crowned the 53rd WR Shaw Queen of the Land at the festival in Tullamore, Co Offaly at the weekend.

21-year-old Emma Birchall, from Kilcullen, Co Kildare managed to come out on top among the 31 women competing in the event on Sunday night. Speaking to the Farming Independent, the third-year University College Cork medical student says she was stunned by her win.

"I wasn't expecting it at all. I was completely shellshocked to hear my name called out. I couldn't believe it at all," she says.

Emma represented South Kildare Macra and impressed the judges during the private interviews on Saturday and again that night during the onstage ones.

"Everyone is nervous before they go on stage, but the adrenaline really kicked in for me when I got on stage and I really enjoyed it. I was proud to represent my club," she said.

Emma has been a member of her club since its foundation in 2015 and finds it gives her a break from her intense college timetable.

"I come home at the weekends and find it's a great way to relieve stress. We always do different activities and it's a great way to meet new faces as well," she adds.

Although Emma comes from a dairy farming background, she says that her hope for the year would be to show people that Macra is about more than farming.

"It's not just about farming or for people with farming backgrounds. It's for anyone and everyone. I'd love to get that message out there even more as sometimes I think people get the wrong idea," she says.

Runner-up on the night was Melissa Glynn from Cranmore, Co Roscommon, while Lucy McClymont from the Dumfries and Galloway region in Scotland was third.

Escort of the Year Fergus O'Rourke received a weekend stay for two in the Bridge House Hotel and a 300 clothing voucher from Guy Clothing.

Prior to announcing the winner, judge and 2016 Queen Karen Elliffe complimented the women for being excellent ambassadors for their clubs and counties and wished the incoming 2017 Queen the very best of luck for the coming year.

Chair of the committee Ger Mahon says that Emma will make an "excellent ambassador" for the festival and thanked all those who support it every year.

"We have had another successful Queen of the Land festival," he said.

"Thanks to our main sponsors WR Shaw, the associate sponsors, committee and the travelling supporters who came from all over the country and beyond to Tullamore."
A lot done and more to do appears to be the lie of the land two years into the GLAS scheme which involves more than 50,000 farmers in programmes to promote biodiversity and reduce the impact of agriculture on the environment.

The figures are certainly impressive:

However, hill farmers working marginal land, mainly in the west, have ongoing issues with GLAS.

"From the onset the scheme it has caused us concern," says Vincent Roddy of the Irish Nature and Hill Farmers Association.

"There is an issue with the collective requirement for commonage farmers and also the inability of many privately -owned hill farmers to join the scheme," Mr Roddy said.

"Hill farmers don't qualify for low pasture or traditional hay meadow, so it's hard for us to draw payments from GLAS. This needs to be addressed and amendments have to be made for hill farmers to feel the benefits.

"The big issue, of course, is the failure of the Department to pay farmers on time or even close to when they should be paid. This has dogged the scheme from the start and continues to cause problems.

"The department say that it is a complicated scheme but we must remember it was they who designed it. In the Farmers Charter of Rights, GLAS or other agri-environmental payments are supposed to be paid by November," Mr Roddy added.

"Given this, we would argue that in future all Department of Agriculture Schemes need to see the Farmers Charter of Rights implemented as part of the terms and conditions of each scheme."

IFA Environment Chairman Thomas Cooney is more upbeat about GLAS, saying that the numbers involved prove farmers are actively contributing to the environment in a positive way.

"All these measures show that farmers are committed to lowering emissions and greater biodiversity in general. There's been a whole change of mindset," he said.

But Padraig Fogarty of the Irish Wildlife Trust believes that GLAS doesn't go far enough to change farmer attitudes.

"Farmers themselves need to come up with solutions and ideas. Instead they are being given money and told to tick boxes. It would be better if the money given to farmers was based on results.

"Extensive research was done on REPS and it proved that it did nothing to protect habitats - things have to change."

Mark Mc Dowell, chairman of the Hedge Laying Association of Ireland, (HLAI) told the Farming Independent that while GLAS - like its predecessor, the REPS scheme - increased the number of hedgerows, it didn't necessarily improve quality.

He assays that the "craft" of hedge laying isn't something that can be achieved in a five-year scheme like GLAS.

"Anyone can plant a hedge but it's all about the aftercare. The hedges of the country are in an awful state. We need a long-term project to improve the quality. It requires more than a five-year plan."

He also claimed that people are engaging in mechanical hedge laying.

"The figure of hedge laying is beyond anything that could've been achieved manually. Mechanical hedge laying is not acceptable in the scheme but we are aware that it has been enforced. It crushes and weakens the hedge. It can't be a positive thing for wildlife," he said.

Herbicides

Agricultural advisor Pat Minnock says that while increased wild bird cover is a positive measure, he think that the issue of herbicides "needs to be revisited" as weeds are on the rise in these areas and rats are also becoming problematic.

In an effort to reduce water pollution, 28,500 farmers are fencing almost 15,000 kilometres of watercourses at a distance of 1.5 metres from the bank.

Jenny Deakin, Senior Scientist at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said that while this method of water management is best practice internationally, research is ongoing to find out whether will work here.

"It is a good measure but we need to see if it fits the Irish context. It keeps animals out and manages sediment impact and nutrients, but we're still in the early days, so it's hard to tell."

And even though 470,000 bird, bat and bee boxes were installed on farms, Kate McAney of the Vincent Wildlife Trust says the boxes are "completely unsuitable" for one species - the Native Lesser Horseshoe bat, due to its inability to crawl like other bats.

"It's disappointing that there's nothing for these bats as they really rely on farms as habitats. We're hoping to get funding for a farmer project to conserve the lesser horseshoe," she says.

The final word goes to Catherine Keena, Countryside Management Specialist at Teagasc.

She says that while improvements can always be made to the scheme, the fact that GLAS involves 50,000 farmers proves it is having a positive impact on the environment.

"It makes farmers more environmentally aware and it helps them focus on why they are doing these actions.

"Of course improvements can always be made but it involves 50,000 farmers with 500 courses around the country so it is having a positive impact. Farmers are really engaged."

The deadline to complete GLAS courses before the end of the year is putting farmers under unnecessary pressure, claims agricultural consultant Pat Minnock.

"Farmers are under a lot of pressure as it is. It has to be done in two months which is very tight and unfair. There's no leeway and if you can't do them [the courses], you're kicked out,"

He also questioned why "we waited until the wettest autumn to start the courses", when the scheme began two years ago. "There's health and safety issues around working in the dark on farms at this time of the year. It's ridiculous. They should have been rolled out earlier."

Agricultural advisor Richard Hackett agrees that deadlines are too tight. "I know there's deadlines to be met but farmers should be given more time to discuss issues such as farm safety. They won't learn much in a cold field in December."

A Department of Agriculture spokesperson, said that "the duration of the course is 6 hours and participants are being paid to partake in the course. This is the most suitable time of year for training for many GLAS participants with less on farm work pressure."

The spokesperson added that "all GLAS Advisors facilitating GLAS Training have a professional qualification and have been trained by the Department in their role as a GLAS Advisor. Each GLAS training session must comprise of two training sessions and the GLAS Trainer must hold one of these sessions either in the morning or afternoon on a host farm. It is also open to a GLAS Trainer to provide both sessions on a host farm."
The European Investment Fund (EIF) and Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) have tripled the lending capacity of an Irish SME programme to 330m.

The EIF is part of the wider European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU's financing arm, which has ramped up lending here since the crash.

The latest enlarged lending means that from next year an expected 10,000 Irish companies in all sectors will have access to support under the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME) project.

The additional 230m announced yesterday was agreed after 3,500 SMEs, primarily in the agri-sector, fully utilised an initial 100m of COSME funds.

The loans allowed SBCI to launch a three-year risk-sharing product last year which was fully utilised within six months.

The COSME Loan Guarantee Facility supports guarantees and counter-guarantees to financial institutions to help them provide more loans and lease finance to SMEs.

It means low-cost loans can be accessed by borrowers through existing banks that partner with the funds to administer the scheme.

The Tanaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Frances Fitzgerald, pictured, said the Government is also looking for EIB support for a fund to help firms ride out the effects of Brexit.

"I welcome this announcement and I look forward to working with the EIB Group on further significant supports for Irish businesses. In addition to the Brexit Loan Scheme which I recently announced, I am also working with the EIB and the SBCI on the development of a Brexit Investment Loan Guarantee Scheme," she said.

On Thursday the EIB announced an 85m loan for Limerick City and Council's Twenty Thirty project, which is developing a major office scheme in the city on what is known as the Opera Site.

EIB vice president Andrew McDowell said the enlarged SME lending scheme is also expected to be followed by a 300m joint scheme with SBCI to address working capital challenges of Irish companies - as announced in last month's budget.

State-owned SBCI's CEO Nick Ashmore said the EU funding means the it can develop and deliver new programmes that address recognised market failures relating to SMEs' ability to obtain access to finance.
Tony Ryan, pictured at home in Co Kildare in 2005, funded projects NUI Galway and DCU projects

The charitable trust established in memory of Ryanair founder Tony Ryan almost doubled the amount it donated to various causes, to 4.69m last year.

The Tony Ryan Trust was incorporated in 2009 with the core objectives of advancing education and religion, the relief of poverty, and other charitable works.

Mr Ryan - who died in 2007 aged 71 - bequeathed 10m of his fortune to the trust. Two of his sons, Declan and Shane, are directors of the company.

New accounts filed for the Tony Ryan Trust show that last year it donated 4.69m. This followed donations of 2.58m in 2015.

The big winner in terms of donations last year was DCU, which received 2.52m. Barnardos received 408,000; NUI Galway received 250,000; Foroige received 209,000; Social Entrepreneurs Ireland received 200,000; the Tipperary Fund received 318,000 and other organisations received 783,800.

The payout last year resulted in the Trust's cash pile reducing from 7m to 2.3m. The reduction in the cash pile contributed to the Trust's interest income plummeting from 1.62m to 5,847.

The trust's management and administrative expenses came to 36,850 during the year.

Declan Ryan is one of Ireland's best-known philanthropists. The late Tony Ryan - who left over 95m in his will - was also a noted philanthropist.

Mr Ryan donated a marine science institute to NUI Galway in 1993. He also funded The Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship at the Citywest Park, which is run by DCU.
Country may unload shares of Royal Dutch Shell and others

Egil Matsen, deputy governor of the Norges Bank, Norways central bank, whos in charge of overseeing the fund. The oil-rich nation has the worlds most important investment fund, and controls about 1.5pc of global stocks

Norway's proposal to sell off 30bn in oil and gas stocks brings sudden and unparalleled heft to a once-grassroots movement to enlist investors in the fight against climate change.

The Nordic nation's $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund said on Thursday that it's considering unloading its shares of Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and other oil giants to diversify its holdings and guard against drops in crude prices.

Norges Bank Investment Management would not be the first institutional investor to back away from fossil fuels. But until now, most have been state pension funds, universities and other smaller players that have limited their divestments to coal, tar sands or some of the other dirtiest fossil fuels.

Norway's fund is the world's largest equity investor, controlling about 1.5pc of global stocks. If it follows through on its proposal, it would be the first to abandon the sector altogether.

"This is an enormous change," said Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres, a non-profit that advocates for sustainable investing. "It's a shot heard around the world."

The proposal rattled equity markets. While Norwegian officials say the plan isn't based on any particular view about future oil prices, it's apt to ratchet up pressure on fossil fuel companies already struggling with the growth of renewable energy.

Expand Close Egil Matsen, deputy governor of the Norges Bank, Norways central bank, whos in charge of overseeing the fund. The oil-rich nation has the worlds most important investment fund, and controls about 1.5pc of global stocks / Facebook

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Whatsapp Egil Matsen, deputy governor of the Norges Bank, Norways central bank, whos in charge of overseeing the fund. The oil-rich nation has the worlds most important investment fund, and controls about 1.5pc of global stocks

The Stoxx Europe 600 Oil and Gas index reversed gains after the announcement, sliding 0.4pc in London.

Shell's B shares declined 2.4pc in London. Exxon fell 0.8pc and BP slipped 0.8pc.

Norway's Finance Ministry, which oversees the fund, said it will study the proposal and will take at least a year to decide what to do. The fund has already sold off most of its coal stocks.

"People are starting to recognise the risks of oil and gas," said Jason Disterhoft of the Rainforest Action Network, which pushes banks to divest from fossil fuels.

The fossil fuel divestment movement began on college campuses about five years ago and has gained momentum since.

The argument is simple: climate change has exponentially increased the risk of backing coal, oil and gas, so investors should put their money elsewhere for the sake of both the planet and their own fortunes.

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The Rockefeller Family Fund - which controls a fortune originally derived from oil - announced in 2016 that it sold its stake in Exxon and would dump all other fossil-fuel investments.

The California State Teachers' Retirement System board voted to divest from US coal companies. AXA, the French insurance giant, said it would sell 500m in coal holdings.

Norway's fund dwarfs them all, however.

"The divestment movement just got some new juice," said Jamie Webster, a fellow at the Centre on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.

While environmentalists heralded the fund's proposal, the move has more to do with hedging risk than saving the planet.

Norway derives about 20pc of its economic output from oil and gas. Finance officials have long debated whether reinvesting those profits back into petroleum producers leaves Norwegians overly exposed to the volatility of oil prices.

"Our perspective here is to spread the risks for the state's wealth," Egil Matsen, the deputy governor at the central bank in charge of overseeing the fund, said in an interview in Oslo on Thursday. "We can do that better by not adding oil price risk through the fund."

Per Magnus Nysveen, senior partner and head of analysis at the Oslo-based consulting company Rystad Energy, said the proposal "has nothing to do with the environment."

"It is purely a financial debate," Nysveen said.

That's true, Lubber said. But the debate, she said, underscores that climate change has made fossil fuels increasingly risky investments - even in the eyes of a petroleum giant like Norway.

"It's an enormously important statement," Lubber said.

"Once one major player does it, others will follow." (Bloomberg)
DC and Warner Brothers have worked hard to dispel the notion that their Extended Universe is a bargain basement version of the Marvel franchise, and with Wonder Woman they finally created a movie that was the equal of their rival's output in terms of wit, star power and watchability.

Gal Gadot was perfectly cast as the incorruptible Amazonian and Chris Pine provided the comic backdrop necessary to make this kind of stuff digestible. Suddenly, the DC Universe was on the up and the ugly excesses of the interminable Batman V Superman were all but forgotten.

Not any more, they're not. The common denominator between all the worst DC movies has been Zack Snyder, whose heavy hand may have suited the gory charms of schlock horrors like 300 and Dawn Of The Dead, but is kryptonite to superhero yarns. His 2013 Superman reboot Man Of Steel was dull and laden down with ugly effects; Superman V Batman was worse; and Justice League may be the biggest mess of all.

It ought to be said that Snyder departed the film in post-production following the sudden death of his daughter, with Joss Whedon coming in to finish the project and reshoot up to 20pc of it. Many chefs is rarely a good idea in films and Justice League has the feel of a movie that's been hacked about a bit.

But it also contains all the usual Snyder trademarks - a gloomy aesthetic, badly-edited fight scenes, a muddled plot and nasty Cgi - giving us no reason to suppose it was ever going to turn out like Citizen Kane.

**WARNING: SPOILER FOR BATMAN V SUPERMAN and plot details of Justice League to follow**

In Batman V Superman, the ageless and frankly rather splendid warrior princess Wonder Woman showed up to join the fight against evil. When Superman died at the end of that film, all bets were off, but now Batman realises he'll need all the help he can get if he's going to suppress the latest threat to humanity.

Wonder Woman is in London going about her crime-fighting business when she gets disturbing news from her clan on Paradise Island. The Amazonians have been attacked by an ancient, war-obsessed god called Steppenwolf, who has stolen their so-called Mother Box, a source of unspeakable power. There are two other such boxes on Earth and if Steppenwolf gets hold of them, he will be unbeatable.

The only one capable of stopping him is in the cemetery so Batman and Alfred (Jeremy Irons) begin searching for talented allies. They find them in The Flash (Ezra Miller), a university student who can move at the speed of light, Cyborg (Ray Fisher), a former athlete who was cybernetically reconstructed after an accident, and Aquaman (Jason Momoa) heir to the throne Atlantis and a hell of a swimmer.

They and Wonder Woman join forces to confront Steppenwolf, but when Batman realises they're out of their depth, he has the bright idea of trying to blast Superman back to life.

Does he succeed? The fact that Henry Cavill's name appears in the credits may give you a clue, but this is a film that flits between characters so aimlessly that it doesn't really matter who shows up. If Justice League has a central character, it's Batman, but Ben Affleck's caped crusader is glum to the point where one starts to worry about him, and wonder if he ought perhaps be medicated. He strolls through this film like a middle-aged Hamlet, brooding aimlessly about global warming and the fate of mankind.

At least he gets a funny line. When The Flash asks Bruce Wayne what his superpower is, he pauses and says "I'm rich". There aren't nearly enough laughs in Justice League, though it's not for want of trying, and the film is also saddled with a boring Cgi villain. It's frenetic and lacks dramatic focus, but, worst of all, it's really not very nice to look at. The bombastic and boastful Aquaman shows promise as a hero and will soon appear in his own film, and Gal Gadot seems very comfortable in Wonder Woman's skin. But this film is dull, deadly dull, and may even jeopardise plans for Ben Affleck's first standalone appearance as Batman.

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petervician/iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump will be presented with the recommendation to finance and sell anti-tank missiles to the Ukrainian government  a move aimed at deterring aggression from pro-Russian separatists, a State Department official told ABC News.



The National Security Council decided during a meeting on Tuesday to greenlight the presentation of a $47 million grant package to the Ukrainian government to purchase American defense arms, including the powerful Javelin anti-tank missiles.



The president and Congress must approve the sale of anti-tank missiles. The Javelin, a portable missile with a steep price-tag, has been described as "The American Military's Anti-Tank Killer."



If Trump approves the arms deal, it would be a major shift from the party platform on sending lethal weapons to Ukraine, which was amended when Trump was the party's nominee for president, from supporting "lethal defensive arms" to Ukraine to the more vague "appropriate assistance -- language that ran counter to the perspective of many of the organizations Republicans.



"They softened it, I heard, but I was not involved," Trump said of his campaign in an interview with ABC News's George Stephanopoulos at the time, before adding, "The people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were."



Trump's then-campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, had worked for years for the pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was expelled in a popular uprising in 2014.



Russia invaded Crimea and sent troops and arms into eastern Ukraine shortly after his ouster, leading to a conflict that rages on to this day. The Obama administration never provided arms assistance to Ukraine in response.



A former Trump White House official and adviser to the president expressed concern to ABC News that arming Ukraine would inflame tensions in the region and aggravate Americas fragile relationship with Russia.



Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Gen. James Mattis have been in discussions since June about how to best make the sale. They strongly recommended the decision to finance and sell anti-tank missiles to Ukraine above two other options that would aid in the arming of Ukraine.



The State Department official added that, in the upcoming weeks, there will be a meeting to discuss the public messaging on the sale  feedback that will be included in the eventual decision.



But a White House official cautioned that they are not ready to make their decision public.



"We have no announcement at this time," National Security Council spokesperson Michael Anton told ABC News in an email.



The State Department was equally non-committal. "The United States has neither provided defensive weapons nor ruled out the option of doing so," a State Department spokesperson told ABC News.



Ukrainian officials have been publicly optimistic about relations with the United States.



"We are really satisfied with the acceleration of U.S.-Ukraine relations at the moment," Artur Gerasymov, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and chairman of a military subcommittee, told the publication Foreign Policy in late October.



Mattis stressed the administration's desire to strengthen ties with Ukraine in an August press conference in Kiev with President Petro Poroshenko.



"This permits me, better informed, to go back and advocate for what I believe you need, as brought to me by your minister of defense and, certainly, your president," Mattis said. "For example, we've just approved -- just very recently, last couple of weeks -- another $175 million worth of equipment, including some specialized equipment that can be used to help defend the country, bringing to a total of nearly $750 million in the last several years."



He added, at the time, that U.S. military leadership has been reviewing the American position on providing defensive lethal weapons.



"I would also point out that, on the defensive lethal weapons ... we are actively reviewing it," Mattis said. "I will go back, now, having seen the current situation, and be able to inform the secretary of state and the president in very specific terms what I recommend for the direction ahead."



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Sean and Conor Price will be singing their hearts out on The X Factor tonight, as they battle to say in the show with the competition heating up.

The teenagers have betrayed few signs of nerves as they continue on their path to stardom.

Their supporters have been praying they will survive another week's elimination test.

The theme of this weekend's show is "crazy in love", with all remaining contestants performing love songs.

Just 10 acts remain in Simon Cowell's show, with the boys busy rehearsing all week as they gear up to perform the hit Issues by Julia Michaels on the stage.

They have once again been calling on their supporters to get behind them and vote so they can stay in the programme for another week.

Sean (18) and Conor (15), who started off busking on Grafton Street, have been immersed in rehearsals all week in order to ensure their vocals are tip-top for tonight's show.

However, they managed to take time off for a bit of relaxation by visiting top London attraction Winter Wonderland, along with fellow contestants Rak-Su Music, saying they had a "great time".

Last week saw the singing siblings receive a standing ovation from the panel of judges for their rendition of George Michael's hit Freedom.

They have consistently received positive comments from the judges, with Nicole Scherzinger saying Conor was like an Irish rock version of Justin Bieber.

"You boys are just a breath of fresh air, great job," she said.

Louis Walsh also praised their talents.

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"What I love about you guys is it's real. There's no dancers. There's no great backing track. It's just about you and your voices," he said.

"You've got an amazing voice, Conor. I want everyone to vote for you now."

However, this weekend there's a double elimination looming - meaning every vote will count when it comes to staying in the cut-throat competition.

The grand finale of the contest will take place next month.
A grieving Northern Ireland widower leapt to his death from a multi-storey car park after he could no longer visit his wife's grave every day.

Months before taking his own life, John Cassidy (86) was diagnosed with an adjustment disorder - depression triggered by the loss of his wife of 50 years, Jean.

An inquest heard he jumped from the first storey of the car park at the Eden Square Shopping Complex in Urmston, Greater Manchester, in the early hours of June 22.

He was found dead hours later by a passer-by.

Originally from Northern Ireland, Mr Cassidy was one of nine children who grew up in a rural farming community and moved to England in his late teens.

At the time of his death, the retired HGV driver was unable to make daily visits to his wife's grave because he had been forced to give up his driving licence. Mr Cassidy, of Oakfield Court, Urmston, had cared for his wife Jean before her death in 2014.

Early last year he tried to take his own life with a medication overdose, but his daughter found him slumped in the kitchen and he had recovered in hospital.

He was diagnosed with an adjustment order - an adverse reaction to a life event -and sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

But the inquest heard he was reluctant to accept help and didn't attend the bereavement counselling sessions he was offered.

In February last year, the court was told, he was involved in a car accident, crashing into a parked van, breaking four ribs and fracturing his sternum.

Because of his earlier overdose it was feared this had been done deliberately.

However, mental health staff were satisfied it had been an accident.

But following the crash Mr Cassidy had to surrender his driving licence, which made it difficult to visit his wife's grave every day.

His daughter Bridget Fletcher, the eldest of six children, said: "I knew he would find that difficult, not being able to go every day."

The court heard that Mr Cassidy also had a bad skin allergy that he initially feared was cancer.

It ended up being diagnosed as eczema but he had remained concerned with it as prescribed creams failed to clear up the condition.

In the week of his death, Ms Fletcher had taken him to hospital because he was getting frustrated waiting for a dermatology appointment.

She told the inquest: "He was in such a bad mood but I never dreamed that would be the last time I would see him. It came as a complete shock."

Ms Fletcher explained to the court how her father married after moving from Northern Ireland.

She said: "He had quite a hard childhood, his father was very strict.

"When he had the opportunity to leave home he did and ended up coming over to England where he met my mum.

"He was very conscientious and very hard-working but he would expect everyone else to be of the same ilk. He wasn't very sympathetic to people who weren't like that.

"He provided for us all very well but I feel he had personal issues from his upbringing that made things difficult for him."

South Manchester assistant coroner Rachel Galloway recorded that Mr Cassidy had taken his own life.

A post mortem examination gave the cause of death as multiple injuries.

After the verdict, Ms Fletcher, said: "They (the mental health teams) did what they could. We are happy with the care he received.

"He was a hard-working, conscientious person. Anyone who spoke of him said how helpful he was."
Two men have appeared in court charged in connection with the seizure of 6.2m of drugs in raids on a premises in Ashbourne, Co Meath, on Wednesday.

Michael Smullen (31), a father-of-one from Ashdale Close in Kinsealy, Co Dublin, and Keith Donoghue (37) from Swift Grove in Clonshaugh in Dublin 17, were brought before Trim District Court yesterday morning amid tight security.

Both were charged under the Misuse of Drugs Act with possession of drugs and possession of drugs for unlawful sale or supply.

Detective Garda William Armstrong told Judge Cormac Dunne that he arrested and charged Mr Smullen on Thursday night at Ashbourne Garda Station.

The court heard that when charged, Mr Smullen had replied "no" to each charge.

Garda Donal Donoghue told the court he arrested and charged Keith Donoghue on Thursday night and that the accused had made no reply to the charges.

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The court heard that it is alleged both men were working in tandem at a lock-up in Muckerstown, Ashbourne, Co Meath, on Wednesday when gardai searched the premises.

It is alleged Mr Smullen was making cardboard boxes and that Mr Donoghue, who came out of a back office with a 'tick list', was packing the boxes with the cannabis for further transportation.

Other items were also found, including weighing scales and boxes that had already been packed and sealed.

Det Gda Armstrong said that cannabis weighing 311kg and valued at 6.2m was found on the premises.

Both men applied for bail but it was objected to on the grounds of the seriousness of the charges and the lengthy sentences that could result from those charges.

Bail was denied, but both men were granted free legal aid.

They were remanded in custody to appear at Cloverhill court on November 24.
A woman who claims she severely injured her back when she fell 15ft on to rocks while strolling at Blessington Lakes, in Wicklow, is suing the ESB in the High Court.

Mother-of-three Alison McCurtin is taking the action against ESB over the fall 14 years ago on the Lacken side of the ESB reservoir at Blessington.

She claims that on August 26, 2003, the ground disappeared underneath her and she fell backwards.

Ms McCurtin (38), of Orwell Park Green, Tempelogue, Dublin, was rescued from the rocks and taken to hospital where it was found vertebrae on her lower back were fractured, her counsel Richard McDonnell said.

Counsel said Ms McCurtin had to wear a back brace for roughly eight months, and won't ever be pain-free.

Ms McCurtin has claimed there was an alleged failure to have any adequate warning signs that the undercut shore banks were dangerous.

She has also claimed there was an alleged failure to warn that walking close to the edges of the banks should be prohibited. She has further claimed the ESB allowed her to use the lakeshore as a recreational walk, and that there was an alleged failure to monitor, inspect or examine the lakeshore for such dangers.

The ESB has denied the claims.

It contends Ms McCurtin allegedly failed to have any adequate regard for her own safety, and allegedly failed to take any adequate precautions for her own safety.

The ESB also claims Ms McCurtin allegedly failed to heed the signs it says were close to the area of the accident.

In a second case, Ms McCurtin has also sued in relation to an unrelated car accident on October 29, 2004, at Newline Road, Co Wexford.

She has sued the driver of a car, Bill Stafford, of Wittyshill, Wellington Bridge, Co Wexford, who ran in to the back of a car in which she was a passenger.

She has claimed the road accident exacerbated the injuries from the Blessington accident.

The court heard liability is admitted in the car accident case, which is before the court for assessment of damages only.

The case resumes on Tuesday before Mr Justice Anthony Barr.
Sacked journalist Kevin Myers launched an astonishing attack on the Sunday Times and those who supported his dismissal during a speech in Portlaoise.

He claimed to have been misrepresented in the aftermath of his final column for the newspaper. He added that the treatment he received afterwards would normally be reserved for a paedophile, a rapist or an unrepentant terrorist. He conceded the controversial column that led to his dismissal was admittedly poor but said his freedom of speech died the morning it was published.

Speaking at the James Fintan Lalor Autumn School Mr Myers also criticised Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, author JK Rowling and former US President Bill Clintons daughter Chelsea Clinton for supporting his removal from the newspaper.

He also rounded on major news outlets in Ireland and the UK for their coverage of the affair.

"It was immediately labelled in the twitosphere as [a] toxic anti-Semitic rant. That went around the world in an hour or two and by 3.30am in the morning my career as a journalist was over while I slept and you slept.

"At 4am in the morning the editor of The Sunday Times was woken up and took down my column online and that pretty much was that. Anybody who knows me, such as the Jews of Ireland, knows that I am not anti-Semitic and I am and remain a firm friend of Israel.

"That made no difference to the two newsrooms - the RTE newsroom who know me and the BBC newsroom who don't know me. But I was the number one item on the news that day in Ireland and Britain.

"They were content to repeat the lies that I was an anti-Semite. Across the world that day I was the number one news story, even though North Korea had fired a missile the night before. My admittedly poor column became an excuse to destroy me.

In quotes carried by the Leinster Express, he said he was amazed by the criticism he received from fellow journalists and well-known figures.

"That day, JK Rowling, who has 15 million followers in America, joined in the internet lynch mob. One of her followers was Chelsea Clinton. She too has millions of followers. We have an exponentially growing campaign against me describing me as what I am not.

At midday I was told I was fired by The Sunday Times. The editor of The Sunday Times made a statement to the press. Not only was I being fired but I would never ever be employed by The Sunday Times again.

"This is the kind of punishment you reserve for a paedophile, for a rapist, for an unrepentant terrorist. There was, of course, no process, no due process, no enquiry, no phone conversation, nothing. I was fired for all time.

The worst damage came from the Taoiseach [Leo Varadkar] and Tanaiste [Frances Fitzgerald]. When I thought I was steadying the ship, the Taoiseach not merely applauded my dismissal but by extension, he applauded my being banned for the rest of my life by the Sunday Times without any due process, consultation and without even a single phone call.
Newstalk's Chris Donoghue has handed in his notice just three months after he was appointed group political editor for Communicorp.

The broadcaster (33) who spent 14 years at the station has landed a Government gig as special advisor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney.

The Ministers current advisor, Caitriona Fitzpatrick said the Department needs a strong communications manager as they deal with the fallout over the UKs Brexit negotiations.

She confirmed to independent.ie that Mr Donoghue will join her at the Department in early December.

She said: We are very excited about having him on the team. We had a second position to fill and it was great to get him. Hes a good addition and were looking forward to working with him. It was worth waiting to get someone as good as him.

He has a range of relevant expertise, particularly dealing with Brexit. Theres a lot of Brexit communications to do. We need somebody strong.

A massive gulf between Ireland and the UK is evident. The UK's Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, publicly disagreed with the Foreign Affairs Minster on a series of issues related to Brexit during an early morning press conference in Dublin yesterday.

Mr Donoghues main task will be dealing with the Departments communications as Ireland navigates the chasm that has opened up between the nations as the UK prepares to leave the EU.

In a statement released today, the former presenter said: "After 14 very happy years at Communicorp an opportunity to take on a new challenge has come up and I have decided to go for it.

"I am looking forward to the next chapter and would like to thank all my colleagues in Newstalk and Communicorp for their support over the years."

In August, the broadcasters drivetime programme with Sarah McInerney was axed to make way for Ivan Yates.

Ms McInerney was given an 8am hour-long Saturday morning slot while Mr Donoghue was made political editor across all Communicorp stations including Newstalk, Today FM, 98FM and SPIN. Three months on, Mr Donoghue is leaving.

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Minister Coveneys spokeswoman, Ms Fitzpatrick said: Hes working out his notice with Newstalk now. They (the Minister and Mr Donoghue) know each other reasonably well in a working capacity. Chris is someone that wed come across fairly often in his capacity at Newstalk. Hes a great addition to the team."

In a statement, Communicorp's CEO Adrian Serle said: "I would like to thank Chris for his hard work and dedication over the years and wish him the very best in his new role.

"Chris is a big part of the Communicorp family, having started out in the Newstalk newsroom 14 years ago.

"Since that time, he has become one of the country's most successful broadcasters through his work on Newstalk Breakfast, Newstalk Drive and most recently in his role as Group Political Editor for Communicorp."

Chris will present 'On the Record with Chris Donoghue' for the final time this Sunday.
Gerry Adams is to step down as leader of Sinn Fein in 2018.

He will not seek re-election to the Dail when the next general election is called.

Mr Adams revealed the timeline during his speech to around 2,000 party members at their Ard Fheis in the RDS.

Earlier delegates passed a motion that would require an extraordinary Ard Fheis to be summoned no more than three months after a vacancy for President arises.

Mary Lou McDonald is widely tipped to succeed Mr Adams when the time comes.

Mr Adams (69), who was re-elected as President for a 35th year, just minutes before his speech spoke of the need for generational change.

He said when it took over as leader in 1983 when the war in the North was raging.

Previously he has said that himself and Martin McGuinness had discussed a plan for a co-ordinated passing of the baton.

Mr McGuinnesss departure was hastened by his illness and Mr Adams handpicked Michelle ONeil to be his replacement as Sinn Feins leader in the North.

In his speech Mr Adams took aim at Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, comparing him to the late UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

He said Mrs Thatchers right wing government had destroyed lives.

Do you recognise the similarities? Her legacy lives on in our Taoiseach, he said.

At the same time he called on the Taoiseach to stand firm in the Brexit negotiations and use Irelands veto to ensure no return to a border between the Republic and the North.

He needs to be more like Michael Collins and less like Hugh Grant, he said.

Mr Adams also promised that if Sinn Fein are in government they will hold a referendum on Irish unity within five years.

He was elected a TD for Louth in 2011 after resigning a seat in the British Parliament that he never actually took up.

He has always denied being in the IRA but his political career has been marred in controversy.

In April 2014 he was arrested by detectives investigating the murder of mother-of-10 Jean McConville.

The widow was abducted, shot dead and buried at a Co Louth beach in 1972. Mr Adams was questioned for four days before being released without charge. Sinn Fein made accusations of political policing.

In 2000, Adams found out that his brother Liam had abused his niece Aine over six years but it wasn't until 2007 that the Sinn Fein president engaged with police.

Two years ago, Liam Adams was jailed for 16 years for rape and abuse. The DPP in Northern Ireland carried out a review as to whether Mr Adams should be charged with withholding information, but eventually decided that he should not be prosecuted.

More recently he faced criticism for his reaction to a BBC Spotlight programme which told the story of Mairia Cahill.

She described being raped by an IRA figure and subsequently subjected to an IRA kangaroo court. Mr Adams denied such a court was held, and later said most abuse happens in families.

Ms Cahill pointed out that her alleged abuser, Martin Morris, was not a blood relative.

Mr Adams was introduced to the stage by Kerry councillor Toireasa Ferris who said it was the most emotionally charged Ard Fheis.
Sinn Fein Deputy Leader Mary Lou McDonald pictured at the Sein Fein Ard Fheis in the RDS.Picture Credit:Frank Mc Grath

Sinn Fein will not allow its TDs or senators to have a free vote on abortion.

Party delegates have told their representatives to support the repeal of the Eighth Amendment  but to limit the cases in which terminations are allowed.

The move raises serious questions about the future of Meath West TD Peadar Toibin who asked their Ard Fheis to offer us some flexibility on this issue.

Sinn Feins deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald said the party would not cop out by allowing TDs to vote with their individual conscience in the same as way Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.

She accused the two parties of having an a la carte approach to the referendum on the Eighth Amendment.

The motion passed by the Ard Fheis states: The party accepts the need for the availability of abortion where a womens life, health or mental health is at risk, and in cases of fatal foetal abnormality and in the cases or rape or sexual abuse.

Ms McDonald said the free vote nothing to do with freedom of conscience and everything do to with political expediency.

The Eighth Amendment protects nobody. It has no place in the Irish constitution, she said.

The Dublin Central TD said the law which gives equal status to a woman and her unborn baby should never have been entered into the constitution.

And she added that it has remained in place because of a monumental failure of leadership.

However, Mr Toibin told the conference: The right to life is the primary human right. You cannot cherish all the children equally if you do not give the right to life to all the children.

He said that in Britain a shocking 97pc of children diagnosed with Down Syndrome in the womb are aborted.

Mr Toibin said that any law which looked like the British abortion act would be political kryptonite.

And the TD said the partys policy on abortion had shifted three times in the past four years.

Is it not reasonable to offer us some flexibility on this issue, he asked.
The Fine Gael activist at the centre of the online abuse storm agreed to step aside from the party's executive council following a private request on behalf of the Taoiseach.

Leo Varadkar is understood to have sent an intermediary to visit Barry Walsh and inform the former president of Young Fine Gael that he wanted him to voluntarily resign rather than be forced out.

Mr Walsh subsequently wrote to Fine Gael saying he deeply regretted "the tone and language I used in some of my tweets", adding that he "took the political jousting a step too far".

The Irish Independent understands Mr Walsh was a member of Fine Gael's disciplinary committee which is due to investigate his case. Sources say before the probe got under way he would have had to be removed from the committee, complicating the situation further.

It comes as Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said he is looking at compiling a "formal code of behaviour" for party officials and TDs who use social media.

He also hit out at social media companies for distancing themselves from online abuse.

"The social media companies have a lot to do here as well. This business of the social media companies, who are earning lots of money, standing back and saying 'this is nothing to do with us', I don't think that is sustainable any longer," he said.

Reacting to Mr Walsh's online posts, the Opposition leader said they were "terrible" and "wholly inappropriate".

Among tweets highlighted by Fine Gael TD Kate O'Connell at a parliamentary party meeting were ones that described Sinn Fein deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald and Dublin North-West TD Roisin Shortall as "bitches". He also attacked actor Tara Flynn, who has spoken publicly about her own experience of abortion.

"From what Tara Flynn says, she was pregnant and just couldn't be bothered having a baby. So she had it killed. Why is she a feminist hero?" Mr Walsh tweeted on October 1.

Mr Martin said: "It's about time people stopped using social media platforms to simply abuse people, insult people, accuse people of things they haven't done, use all sorts of language to dehumanise them.

"Social media platforms are in danger, particularly in the political sphere, of degenerating into very extreme, intolerant political language." Ms O'Connell last night told the Irish Independent she felt a "responsibility" to bring Mr Walsh's behaviour to the attention of Fine Gael HQ after "a huge volume of people contacted me".
Irish officials were deeply unimpressed by UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson's grasp of the dangers posed by Brexit, the Irish Independent understands.

In a worrying development, civil servants frequently had to clarify the Tory politician's statements during a series of meetings in Dublin.

One source warned he "has no idea of the practical ramifications" of the UK's decision to leave the European Union.

"He wants Brexit and wants it now. He doesn't care if it's hard or soft. He just wants out," a well-placed source said.

Anglo-Irish relations are now at one of their lowest ebbs in modern history, amid growing speculation that Ireland will block the Brexit negotiations from progressing.

All sides had hoped that the opening phase dealing with Ireland, citizens' rights and the divorce bill, would be resolved next month.

Mr Johnson's first visit to Dublin since Brexit began on a shaky note when he repeatedly clashed with Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney at an early morning press conference.

Asked by the Irish Independent if he could offer any vision of how the UK believes a frictionless Border could operate after Brexit, Mr Johnson said this was "intellectually, intimately bound up" in the second phase of the negotiations.

In response, Mr Coveney said: "Yes, we all want to move on to phase two of the Brexit negotiations but we are not in a place right now that allows us to do that."

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At the same time, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was holding a bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister Theresa May on the fringes of an EU summit in Gothenburg. But he also appeared to make little progress, saying afterwards: "Nothing has changed."

Mr Varadkar said there was a "frank exchange of views" and that Britain has still not come up with any proposals as to how best solve the matter of avoiding a hard Border with Northern Ireland.

"It's 18 months since the referendum, its 10 years since people wanting a referendum started agitating; looking for one. Sometimes it doesn't feel like they have thought all of this through," he said.

"We've been given assurances now for 18 months since the referendum that there'll be no hard Border in Ireland; that there'll be no physical infrastructure; that we won't go back to the borders of the past.

"We want that written down in practical terms in the conclusions of phase one," Mr Varadkar said.

The two meetings leave a major impasse which could now stall the Brexit talks into the new year.

But one Dublin source said last night: "They are in Borisland. It's a parallel world."

Particular concern has been raised by the fact Mr Johnson linked finding a solution to the Irish Border to the situations in Dover and Calais.

"Northern Ireland was always a unique case, which is why it's in phase one," a source said.

After his meeting in the Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr Johnson met with Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin.

Mr Martin said his "abiding sense is a chasm between what they [the UK] would like to happen, their concept of what Brexit could mean and the realities of the practical implications and follow-through on Brexit".

He said Mr Johnson "didn't hold back" but added: "There is a sense around this that 'everything will be alright on the night' but we can't negotiate on that basis."

Asked whether he fears negotiations might move to phase two in December, he said Ireland needs to go to the next EU meeting with "eyes wide open".
Jonah Murphy (2) needs vita funds to aid his recovery via Jingle Bells for Jonah Facebook

A YOUNG Galway woman has told how she helped save her baby cousins life when, at just 7 weeks old, he went into cardiac arrest shortly after a stay in hospital.

Karen Hurney (24) from Claregalway bravely performed CPR on little Jonah Murphy when his parents discovered he stopped breathing in the early hours of the morning on September 12, 2015.

The miracle baby, born with half a heart, is the first tot with his rare condition to survive home CPR in Irish history.

Jonah, described as the familys little super hero, was not expected to survive but has defied all odds. Hes now two years old thanks, in part, to his big cousin who said the pair have a special bond after the life-changing incident.

Ms Hurney said brave Jonah suffered brain stem injury due to oxygen deprivation so the family have launched a fundraising appeal to help towards recovery and his 24 hour care.

She has also urged others to become CPR-certified, stating: 30 seconds can make the difference.

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She told independent.ie: He stopped breathing (around 5am in his cousin's home after weeks at Our Ladys Childrens hospital in Crumlin). His dad (Jonathan) tried to give him CPR but he was in an absolute panic because obviously his child wasnt breathing.

I saw a little lifeless baby on my kitchen table. I just went into survival mode. I knew how to do CPR. I said I need to go help this baby.

I was oddly calm. I didnt acknowledge that it was my little cousin. If I did, I dont think I could have stayed calm. I just thought of him as a baby who needed help.

To me, doing compressions with two fingers was hard because he had a scar on his chest from surgery.

It was a shock to me (afterwards), she added. I was so worried thinking: could I have done more?

They (his parents) were in absolute bits. My mother was throwing holy water around. They were screaming, roaring crying. She (Jonahs mother Edel) was so startled. It was her first child. She was crying, begging him to be ok.

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The 24-year-old production operator who was trained in First Aid by Galway City Civil Defence said she did compressions on little Jonahs chest using two fingers as the ambulance service talked her through it down the phone.

Jonah, who underwent his first surgery for hypoplastic right heart syndrome when he was just four days old, was then rushed to University Hospital Galway before being transferred to ICU in Crumlin where doctors performed life-saving treatments.

The young baby was deemed ineligible for further surgeries on ethical grounds and was sent home for palliative care in January 2016.

Baby Jonah, however, had plans to live.

Ms Hurney said: We were told he couldnt survive but he did. Hes the only baby with his condition who has survived home CPR.

(When he was sent home) we said wed do everything we can to help him. They (doctors) couldnt believe he taught himself to swallow (pureed fruit). Hes so determined. Hes figuring out how to put himself onto things. He loves watching his favourite shows on Baby TV. Ive never seen a child laugh as hard at it.

She added: I have never ever lost hope in him. I just have 110% faith that he will survive. Im obviously very close to him now. Its a life-changing experience to do that and to see him now.

Jonah still cant swallow water and needs to be fed through his stomach. He requires 24 hour, round-the clock care and will need further surgeries as he grows.

Ms Hurney has urged others to take First Aid courses and become certified in CPR so they too can act quickly in an emergency.

She said: A doctor in Crumlin congratulated me on (the CPR). He said it was a big thing to take on.

It should be in primary school that you learn how to do it. Thirty seconds can make the difference. They might not survive but youll know that you did all you could. Its very rare theyll teach you how to do CPR on a baby. I think everyone should learn how to do it.

A close friend of Jonahs family is raising much-needed funds by hosting a family fun Christmas party in the Clayton Hotel just outside of Galway City on November 26.

Tickets for the Jingle Bells for Jonah event cost 10 per child or 30 for a family of four children, and are available from Sweeneys Pharmacy in Claregalway village outside Galway city.
Hartford is the most surprising of Aer Lingus's three new US destinations for 2016. Random, even.

LA? Sure - Aer Lingus flew there in the noughties, before pulling the route as the economy tanked in 2009. It's a logical partner to its San Francisco flights.

Newark? It struck some as odd that IAG's newest acquisition would go head-to-head with United, who already operate direct flights from Dublin to the New Jersey hub, but its proximity to New York and convenience for onward connections make sense.

But Hartford? The Google Maps were out for that one.

"The key issue is it is a significant commercial metropolitan area, with a significant population and very high per-capita income, but it doesn't have a direct service to Europe," explained Aer Lingus CEO Stephen Kavanagh.

Not completely random, then. Here's your cheat sheet:

1. It's the gateway to New England

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Whaddya mean, Boston is the gateway to New England? Located roughly 100 miles southwest, midway between Beantown and New York, Hartford's Bradley International Airport could be the perfect launch pad for seasonal leaf-peepers.

@poloconghaile FWIW, the CT airport is virtually on border of western Mass - easier access to fall colors, ski areas, Berkshires in summer.  Regina D (@friendofedmund) October 21, 2015

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2. It's the insurance capital of the world

Well, according to Aer Lingus, anyway. Hartford is renowned for the number of insurance companies headquartered there - not of interest to tourists, perhaps (Lonely Planet calls it "the filing cabinet of the world"), but Aer Lingus isn't just looking at outbound tourism when it creates routes.

The airline, IAG, government and Dublin Airport itself are all working towards growing Dublin as a hub for transatlantic passengers entering and exiting Europe. A huge proportion of those are business and commercial travellers.

The Hartford route is seen as a "risk-sharing" one in its early years, with Aer Lingus receiving free landing charges for the first two years among a package of incentives in return for the connectivity it's offering to Europe.

3. Mark Twain lived there

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Dublin has James Joyce; Hartford has Samuel Langhorne Clemens. The author, who wrote under the pseudonym of Mark Twain, lived here from 1871 to 1891. It was here that Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer were born (imaginatively, anyway), and visitors can see the Twain House & Museum - "a stunning example of Gothic Picturesque architecture" - at 351 Farmington Avenue (marktwainhouse.org).

4. Its public art museum is the oldest in the US

That'll be the Wadsworth Atheneum (thewadsworth.org), founded in 1842. 50,000 works of art range from Greek antiquities to surrealist paintings, and admission is free on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 4-5pm! Hartford itself is one of the oldest cities in New England, so you won't want for historical hits on a visit.

5. Here's the science part...

Hartford is also home to the Connecticut Science Center (ctsciencecenter.org). The Cesar Pelli-designed building is home to 150 hands-on exhibits, covering everything from forensics to astronomy. Go science!

6. It's illegal to cross the street on your hands

So yeah, Hartford has some peculiar laws on its statutes... largely due to its Quaker heritage. It's not alone there, but some of the relics are pretty random.

As well as the headline here, according to a story recently published in the Hartford Courant, it's also illegal for a man to kiss his wife on Sundays, and for any barber or beautician to whistle, hum or sing while working on a customer. Sheesh!

For more on Connecticut, see ctvisit.com.
Law enforcement's implacable onslaught on the Kinahan international crime cartel has gained such momentum that those of us who have witnessed this in the past can confidently predict the end is in sight for its monstrous murder machine.

The unending litany of seizures of drugs, money and guns, and the arrest of so many drug lords, combined with the fact Kinahan and his associates are now pariahs in the criminal community, is proof their hegemony is coming to an end. However, before we - in 'respectable' middle-class society - say good riddance to the 'stars' of the horrifying gangland soap opera we have witnessed over the past 21 months, we should take stock of our own role in this appalling drama.

The seizure of drugs worth 10m is damaging, but not fatal to massive criminal organisations like the Kinahans. It is only when it occurs alongside scores of other similar busts that it affects the criminals' all-important bottom line.

But the truth is this: the 10m market that was available for the seized shipment this week has not gone away.

For organised crime is fuelled, sustained and made possible because human beings will always want to get inebriated, high or stoned.

'Respectable society' takes considerable reassurance by being able to pick up a paper and look at the faces of the 'bad people' whose paths we would never deign to cross.

This psychological self-delusion offers reassurance that these perfidious, immoral thugs are way down the social hierarchy. But the inconvenient truth is that it is cash flowing from the middle classes that has helped make the drug lords rich and powerful.

The reality of the situation with regard to the Kinahans is that, as sure as death follows life, market realities will ensure that another criminal organisation is in the process of preparing to fill the imminent vacuum. All that will change are the faces in the pictures, and the names in the headlines.

The basic principles of the free market come into play in a situation such as this: if there was no demand for illegal narcotics, then there would be no supply, and the bad guys would have to find alternative sources of ill-gotten gains.

The global drugs trade is a massive economic beast. The demand for product - cocaine, cannabis, heroin or otherwise - dictates the volumes outputted by producers. It is an alternative economy unto itself.

Unlike practically any other product or commodity on the international market, illegal narcotics generate prodigious profits and also defy the vicissitudes of market forces. It is on a par with oil and weaponry as the most lucrative source of income in the world.

So where does that put the 'respectable' middle classes in Ireland who are delighted to see the imminent demise of the Kinahan gang?

What they view as their harmless, indulgent taking of so-called recreational drugs this weekend ultimately translates into huge profits that go into the pockets of people like Christy Kinahan. It results in the horrendous bloodshed and loss of life we have witnessed on our streets. The reality is that there are plenty among the 'respectable' population who pay their taxes and despise gangsters but still take drugs.

Without them, Christy Kinahan would be back being what he started off as in life: a low-class, cheapskate conman cashing dodgy cheques for a living.

While those enjoying a few lines of the 'Devil's dandruff' this weekend may consider it a 'victimless' crime, this is nothing more than an attempt to rationalise and detach themselves from the evil they help perpetuate. Those with powder up their nose tonight have blood on their hands.
On Friday night I headed for Courtneys Bar where a rather special 21st birthday party was taking place for Leon Myers from Woodville Manor and there to make sure he had a fantastic night were dad Cormac, mum Evelyn from Blackrock, sisters Sarah and Zoe Fegan, grandparents Maureen and Paul Myers from Point Road and a huge collection of family and friends.

Leon who works for Moffetts wanted to thank everyone for coming along and was up for making it a mad one with all his mates.

I then headed over for a word with Katie Rice from Muirhevnamor and Leon's cousin Nicole Ryan-Gogarty from Point Road who wanted to wish him all the best on his big night but Katie wasn't that impressed with the chicken curry joke.

Not too far away I got talking to my two old friends Mary McGinn from Doolargy Avenue and Toby Twibill from Castle Road who seemed to have a blonde thing going on and were in their usual rare form when I caught up with them.

After this I got a quick word with some of Leon's bunsers in Chris Casey from Finnabar Crescent, Sven McArdle from Farndreg, Ryan McEvoy from Bay Estate and Amy Murphy from Ashling Park who told me they were going to make sure he had a mental night for sure.

Also in their company was a rather sceptical Declan McGuckin from Carrick Road and a not so sceptical Curtis Byrne from The Holy Lands who said they were ready for a major session with their buddy.

Just arrived in was aunt Helen Myers from Point Road and Eamonn O'Callaghan from McSwiney Street who were greeted by Leon's mum Evelyn Ryan from Blackrock and told me it was going to be a nice quiet, respectable and refined celebration.

Next I had the pleasure of meeting up with Leon's glamorous granny Maureen Myers from Point Road who wanted to wish him a very happy 21st and hoped he had a lovely night.

I then headed over for a word with sisters Pauline and Helen McCusker from Park Villas who were in good form and wanted to wish Leon all the best on his big night.

Also up near the bar I met up with Alan Durnin from Bay Estate, Gerry and Amy Bishop from Blackrock who told me this was going to be an epic night and were wondering would Leon be fit for it.

Just arrived in the door where Courtney Ryan and Leah Grimes both from Muirhevnamor who are friends of Leon's and told me they wouldn't have missed the party for anything.

It's not very often I get the chance of meeting a real star of the skateboard world, but on Friday I had the pleasure of talking to Skatepark Princess Zoe Fegan from Blackrock who wanted to wish her brother Leon a very happy birthday and she was going to make the best of the night, well as much as her mum Evelyn would let her!

Just arrived in the door were Caoilainn Meek from Bellurgan and Aoibhin McErlean from Haggardstown who were going to have a nice quiet celebration with Leon and his mates, eh I'd be thinking no to that one.

Finally, before I departed I got a word with Leon's bestie Saoirse Mulholland from Hoeys Lane who said they were ready to party the night away, and then some.
Recent travels have seen local artist Rosemary Warren exploring new horizons. While the landscape and particularly the coast of her surroundings on the beautiful Cooley peninsula continue to provide inspiration, her latest work sees her exhibiting paintings from her travels to Abu Dhabi.

Having worked for many years as a lecturer in Visual Arts in St Patrick's teaching training college, Drumcondra, Rosemary is now enjoying the time which retirement gives her to pursue her twin passions of painting and singing.

It is as an artist that she has earned national acclaim, with her work exhibited in the Royal Hibernian Academy, The Soloman Gallery, Dublin and Kenny's, Galway, as well as locally in The Basement Gallery, The Station House, Carlingford, and with the North Louth Artists.

She has recently had two exhibitions in Abu Dhabi which she visited on a number of occasions when her daughter was living there.

These visits have inspired her to embrace a new palette, reflecting the at times glaring sunlight which dominates the desert landscape.

They have also seen her venturing into embracing portraiture, which she admits is 'something new for me.'

This latest exhibitions features a number of portraits of Abu Dhabi citizens in their traditional costumes.

'Thee are paintings of people I met and faces I've seen,' she says.

However, it is still the environment in and around her home near Carlingford which provides the greatest inspiration for her.

'When I look at my paintings, they are like a visual diary, little snippets from my daily life,' she explains.

She is constantly looking for subjects for her watercolour and acrylic paintings, filling sketchbooks and taking hundreds of photographs.

The fall of light and reflections on surfaces such as glass and water draw her eye, transforming everyday objects such as a vase of flowers into a thing of beauty.

'I also do a lot of still life paintings, as well seascapes, so there are lots of works with boats, jelly fish, and coastal scenes,' says Rosemary whose love of the sea stems from her keen interest in swimming and sailing.

The landscape of the Cooley mountains is another source of inspiration, with Rosemary seeing beauty in the small details everyday scenes such as a broken rusty gate against yellow gorse at Roosky.

The exhibition opens in The Basement Gallery, An Tain Arts Centre, on Thursday night and continues until December 22nd.

Rosemary will be giving a guided tour of the exhibition followed by a practical workshop on November 25. The 'Every Picture Tells A Story' workshop at 11am is suitable for children aged eight to twelve years while the Communication Through Art workshop at 12.30pm is designed for adults.

The exhibition will travel to Drogheda in the new year.
Mairead McGuinness, MEP, with Frank O'Brien and Ciaran Reid, Louth Leader Partnership at the launch of The Changing Lives Initiative held in The Carrickdale Hotel

Gina McIntyre (left), CEO of SEUPB, with Mairead McGuinness, MEP and Aileen O'Donoghue, The Changing Lives Initiative Steering Group at the launch of The Changing Lives Initiative held in The Carrickdale Hotel

Changing Lives, an innovative new cross border early intervention programme launched today (Monday) in Dundalk by Mairead McGuinness MEP and first Vice-President of the European Parliament will help thousands of families affected by Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Launching the initiative at the Carrickdale Hotel, Ms McGuinness said it will "transform thousands of lives for the better, forever."

She said it is beyond doubt that early intervention is essential. This initiative which is aimed at children in the three to seven age group will enable those who may have ADHD reach their full potential and it will help their parents and teachers first understand the challenges and then experience the joy and fulfilment of seeing the children develop their innate skills and talents.'

The new Initiative will be delivered across County Louth, Colin/West Belfast, and the Argyll & Bute region of Scotland. It aims to create a better understanding about ADHD and provide an intervention programme for families with children experiencing behaviours consistent with ADHD. As well as working with families the programme will provide training for those working with young children, in particular teachers and early years' professionals.

Ms McGuinness congratulated everyone connected with the new service saying: 'ADHD recognises no borders, class or creed and this initiative will deliver accordingly with inestimable benefits to individuals and families.' Further information on how families can avail of the programme is available at www.changinglivesinitiative.com
Janet Miley from Musgrave Marketplace, Pat Crotty, President of the VFI, Leigh Williams and Ashley Williams from Mickey Finns Pub and Ruth Gilligan from Musgrave Marketplace at last weeks awards ceremony

Mickey Finn's Pub in Redcross has won a prestigious award for serving the best pub food in the land.

The Irish Pub Awards recognise the best pubs nationally, with eight category winners awarded across seven counties in Ireland.

The Awards were presented by Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin T.D., at the Gala Ceremony in the RDS Concert Hall .

The winners were selected from over 500 applications in this joint national awards programme which is presented by the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) and the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA).

The food offering at Mickey Finn's Pub is unusual in that beer is either used in the recipe or staff will recommend a compatible beer with each dish.

It also does tours of the brewery next door, the Wicklow Brewery, including the marrying of each beer sample with a 'Celtic Tapas' and finishing with a 'Beeramisu Desert' which is made with vanilla stout.

With chef's from around the world, Mickey Finn sources local ingredients where possible and produces most of the menu on site.

Its brewery malt bread is made using the spent grain from the beer and it serves its own bespoke 'Derek Dunne' sausages which are infused with the Wicklow Brewery's St. Kevin's Red Ale.

Finger food includes Helles Beer-battered fish and chip cones.

Co-owner Leigh Williams said: 'over the past ten years, we have developed into a destination offering a visitor experience that opens up all of the senses.

'Tasting beer with fool evolved as part of the tour since we opened the brewery in 2014.'

Events have become a very important aspect of Mickey Finn's approach.

It hosted the Red Cross Beer Festival in October for the second time, including five local breweries, live music and a barbecue.

It also recently held its sixth annual Father Ted Fest where staff dress up in all sorts of characters.

'We put a big focus on theme nights such as Spanish tapas with Spanish guitarists and flamenco dancers,' said Leigh.

The pub and its friendly staff are a magnet for both the locals and tourists alike with Traditional Irish Music and Irish Dancing sessions, acoustic evenings and story-telling nights.

Wicklow Brewery is at the forefront of the craft-beer explosion and was established in 2014 after tourists visiting Mickey Finn's kept constantly looking for local beer.
Local Enterprise Office, Wicklow and Failte Ireland are inviting Wicklow Tourism Operators to attend a free Seminar on Thursday, November 23 in the Parkview Hotel, Newtownmountkennedy to explore the topic of 'Marketing your Tourism Business Online'.

The objective of the seminar is to help businesses develop and implement successful digital marketing strategies/campaigns and maximise the opportunities from the Ireland's Ancient East Brand.

Keynote speaker on the evening is digital marketing expert Amanda Webb, of Spiderworking.com. Amanda will be sharing her expertise on how to write great content for social media, ways to incorporate the Ireland's Ancient East story into marketing activity and measuring effectiveness of campaigns. There will be a focus on practical tools to help operators such as highlighting where the industry can access free resources online as well as providing content marketing strategy templates which can be tailored and adapted for each individual business.

Aoife O'Driscoll-Mansergh, Marketing & Communications Manager for Powerscourt Estate will also share her experience of how Powerscourt House have used their social media marketing activity to enjoy the benefits of being part of Ireland's Ancient East Brand.

Representatives from the Local Enterprise Office, Failte Ireland, Wicklow Tourism, and County Wicklow Partnership will give a quick snapshot of supports available locally for tourism businesses. The evening will also present an opportunity for business owners and managers to speak to agency representatives on a one to one basis and to network and build relationships with other tourism providers in the county.

On the night businesses can also register for Individual Digital Marketing Mentoring sessions which will take place in Local Enterprise Office, Wicklow County Campus, Rathnew on November 30.

Booking is essential at localenterprise.ie or 0404 30800. The event will start at 5.30 p.m.
A man who pleaded guilty to theft from a former employer over seven years ago is still held in good stead by his former boss.

Leon Cooney, 51 Ardmore Wood, Herbert Road, Bray, pleaded guilty to theft of a welder at St Vincent's Private Hospital, Herbert Avenue, Dublin 4, on April 1, 2010, at Thursday's sitting of Bray District Court.

In 2010, Mr Cooney, then aged 21, was employed as a builder.

Earlier this year, his former employer noticed machinery belonging to him up for sale on DoneDeal. He recognised the item as being his property.

The item was returned to the rightful owner and Mr Cooney was cooperative with the gardai at all times.

Defence Solicitor, Brendan Maloney, said the matter had never been reported until the former employer saw the item belonging to him on sale on DoneDeal. During the previous seven years it had been in the possession of Mr Cooney, who never used it.

Mr Maloney said: 'It was a foolish decision and was returned in working order to its owner. My client was only 21 at the time and this has come back to haunt him. He left school at 17 and went straight into work.

'He is now 29 with two children and is a full-time plumber. He regrets his actions and the injured party, believe it or not, still holds him in good stead,' said Mr Maloney.

Judge David Kennedy ordered a Community Service Report and adjourned all matters back to January 11 2018.
A cosy fire has long been at the centre of an Irish winter. From nights spent socialising around the fireplace to the great Irish tradition of sharing music and craic around a roaring fire, the Bord na Mona Hearth Sessions are a celebration of those warmer winter moments with friends and family.

This year, Bord na Mona is set to ignite even more of these moments as they invite pubs with the cosiest firesides across the country to compete for the chance to host an intimate 'Acoustic Hearth Session' of their own. Nine pubs in Cork have been shortlisted - DeBarra's Folk Club in Clonakilty, South County Bar in Douglas, The Square Bar in Bandon, Baker Street Bar in Gurranabraher, Connollys in Leap and Charlie Maddens Bar in Timoleague. Cork City also has three entries with The Shelbourne Bar, Oval Bar and Costigan's Pub.

Now in its second year, the Hearth Sessions will feature a stellar line up of Irish talent with Cork's own Stephanie Rainey as well as Little Hours and Ye Vagabonds playing acoustic sets against the backdrop of a roaring fire in the first week of December.

Supported by the Vintners Federation of Ireland, pubs across the country were invited to participate, heroing their own hearth, to host one of three, hotly anticipated Hearth Sessions. Votes can now be cast on the Bord na Mona Fuels Facebook page up to November 20. Go to Hearth Session by visiting www.facebook.com/bordnamonafuels page.
Minister of State for the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands Joe McHugh has given a grant of up to 2,517 for Beal Atha an Ghaorthaidh Pipe Band to help them purchase new musical instruments and uniforms.

He said "I am very pleased to be in a position to help this band, whose main language is Irish and who promote the musical tradition".
From the Creative Ireland County Cork Conference to the Historic Graveyard Management Workshops there is plenty happening to make November a busy month from a heritage perspective.

The Creative Ireland County Cork Conference, the first of its kind in the County, will see wonderful talks about our culture and creativity by over 15 different speakers, all experts in their field, as well as a musical performance on the evening of this Thursday (16th November) at 7pm featuring the Youghal Comhaltas Group (CCE Craobh Eochaille); Ian Wilson with Saxophonist Cathal Roche and a performance by Peadar O Riada. The conference takes place on the 16th and 17th of November, is free of charge, and all are welcome. For more information, email creativeireland@corkcoco.ie.

With regard to Creative Ireland in the County of Cork, a five-year Culture and Creativity Strategy is also being prepared and submissions, thoughts, ideas and proposals are most welcome and will form a very important part of the strategy going forward. For further information, visit www.corkcoco.ie/arts-heritage/creative-ireland.

This coming Saturday, and Monday and Tuesday of next week, will see the roll-out of a series of workshops on the subject of our historic graveyards. Supported by Cork County Council's Historic Monuments Advisory Committee, the workshops are intended to help interested community groups and individuals on all aspects of care and maintenance of historic graveyards.

Community groups are more and more playing a key role in the well-being of their own local areas and the maintenance of a community's historic graveyard has become a key consideration in this regard.

The workshops themselves, delivered by Jacinta Kiely & John Tierney of Eachtra, will entail presentations, discussion and a site visit, taking place in Springfort Hall near Mallow on Saturday 18th; Skibbereen Monday 20th and Midleton on Tuesday 21st November. All are welcome to attend and it is free of charge. Spaces will be allocated on a first come basis and for further information or to book a place email Jacinta@eachtra.ie or phone 0872362319.

Graveyards are sometimes termed 'God's Acre' and they can be a haven for wildlife. Wildlife as a whole falls under the term biodiversity and the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys, has recently launched Ireland's third National Biodiversity Action Plan.

Through co-operation with key stakeholders such as other Government departments, state bodies, and non-governmental organisations, 'Actions for Biodiversity 2017-2021' demonstrates Ireland's continuing commitment to meeting and acting on its obligations to protect our biodiversity for the benefit of future generations. Currently there are over 31,000 recorded species in Ireland and Biodiversity has been estimated as being worth over 2.6 billion to the Irish Economy each year. For further information, see www.biodiversityireland.ie and www.npws.ie.

In addition to the Creative Ireland County Cork Conference and Historic Graveyard workshops, there are many further events taking place over the coming days.

On Friday 17th November at 8pm a wonderful publication compiled and edited by Mairin and Eamon Lankford will be launched in the G.A.A Pavilion in Douglas. The book Saint Columba's - The Story of a Community, celebrates 200 years of life, work, worship and community spirit. The book will be available for sale at a special rate on the night and all are welcome.

Also on the evening of November 17, for anyone in the West Cork area, there will be a highly anticipated illustrated talk by Dr. Donal O'Driscoll, regarding the recently published tome 'The Atlas of the Irish Revolution'. The talk will discuss the conception and production of the Atlas, which is the most comprehensive treatment of Ireland's revolutionary years ever produced. Dr. O Drisceoil will reflect on its contents with special reference to County Cork and West Cork in particular. The event has been organised by the Michael Collins House and takes place in the Parish Centre, commencing at 7.30pm. Admission isfree and all are welcome.

Earlier this week Cork County Council was delighted to have Bob Bateman visit the County Hall where he gave a most absorbing talk on the Manchester Martyrs and indeed the pivotal role that his great grand uncle had in the Fenian Rising of 1867.

Of the three Manchester Martyrs, two were from the County of Cork: Michael Allen (West Cork) and William O'Brien (East Cork). In recognition of the sesquicentennial commemoration of the Manchester Martyrs (23rd November 1867) a wonderful commemorative event will also take place in Ballymacoda on Sunday 19th November, commencing at 12 noon. All welcome.

The next day, Monday 20th, will see an illustrated talk take place in Ballincollig at 8pm in the Rugby Club. Organised by the Muskerry Local History Society, renowned Military Historian Gerry White will give a talk regarding the Battle of Passchendaele, titled 'Mud, Blood and Bravery: The Battle of Passchendaele, 31 July to 10 November 1917'.

Gerry delivers fascinating talks and this event is sure to see a great crowd. All are welcome.

A few days later, on Wednesday 22nd at 8pm, another large crowd is expected at Kilmurry Independence Museum, Kilmurry, for a talk by John Sheenan regarding Rock Art in Clearagh. Rock Art is a fascinating aspect of our collective heritage and the talk, organised by the Kilmurry Historical and Archaeological Association, should prove to be a most interesting one.
I'm posting this week's update having just touched down in Japan ahead of a week long, Government of Ireland Agri-Food Trade Mission to Asia.

As usual I will provide plenty of feedback from the trip on a daily basis.

But, back to the week just ended, where I began my Monday morning in Brussels with a breakfast meeting with my colleagues in the European People's Party and a media briefing before attending the monthly Council of AgriFish Ministers. Communicating my concerns, that of the farmers and the beef industry, due to the direction of the proposed Mercusour Trade deal was my priority for the meeting and I'm satisfied that the message was delivered.

I returned from Brussels to Dublin on Monday night which allowed an opportunity to prepare for Cabinet the following morning.

On Tuesday morning I briefed Government on my Department's work in expanding our food exports and our Brexit preparations.

In the afternoon I chatted with journalists about our trade mission to Japan and South Korea, outlining my hopes and expectations for the trip. Cabinet resumed in the late afternoon and there were votes in the Dail chamber throughout.

Tuesday night I joined the Taoiseach in meeting the leaders of the main farming organisations for a wide ranging exchange.

Wednesday was oral parliamentary question day, where I faced a grilling from opposition spokespersons on topical matters. I spent the morning preparing before stepping into the Dail at lunchtime for the close to two hour questioning.

Later that evening it was a pleasant return visit to the veterinary school in UCD for the launch of the XLVets Skillnet Graduate Programme. By the skin of my teeth I made it back to the Dail for another vote at 7.30pm.

It was an extra early start to Thursday morning for a visit to Keeling's in North County Dublin. It was worth waking early for, however, to see the impressively vast growing facilities there.

Back in the Department I did an interview with John Cooke of RTE's Countrywide.

After the weekly voting block in the Dail I departed for Kildare to address the well attended Equine Summit where I also took the opportunity to meet with the Chinese ambassador.

On Friday I spent some time in the constituency office and packed my bag for departure. Big week ahead!

TRADE MISSION DAY 1:

While you were all sleeping we hit the ground running on Day 1 of our Government of Ireland Agri-Food Trade Mission to Japan. Our first meeting of the day was a briefing on the Japanese market for the travelling delegation of nearly 30 companies.

Our next engagement was with Suntory Ltd, who have significant investment in Ireland in Cooley and Kilbeggan Distilleries.

During my visit to the Japanese House of Representatives I had a very pleasant lunch with the Japan Ireland Parliamentary Friendship League. Important contacts for us here!

In the afternoon I had a very good meeting with Japan's Minister for Health Labour and Welfare, Katsunobo Kati. We discussed Brexit, the terms of our beef access and opportunities for sheepmeat.

Tonight I had dinner with the Friends of Ireland Business Advisory group as well as some significant investors in the Irish market.

Time now to battle the jet lag while you all get on with your day!
Gerry White of the Western Front Association will give a lecture, this Monday, on the Battle of Passchendaele to commemorate its 100th anniversary.

The battle, one of the most famous during WW I, was fought between July and November, 1917, near the town of Ypres in Belgium. The battle is also one of the most controversial of the war, being fought in atrocious conditions.

Soldiers from the 16th Irish Division and the 36th Ulster Division fought alongside each other. The battle resulted in approximately 250,000 casualties on both the British and German sides.

The lecture, which is organised by Muskerry Local History Society, will be held on Monday, 20 November at 8pm in Ballincollig Rugby Club.
In a first of its kind for Munster, the town of Fermoy has been given its own distinctive digital footprint through a new app aimed at promoting local business and encouraging more people to visit the town.

Simply called Fermoy, the app, which is available free of charge through Google Play and the Apple Store, was officially launched on Monday evening at a reception in the Fermoy branch of the AIB.

Speaking at the well-attended launch, Fermoy-native Colin Hanley of the Galway-based Boon Agency, the company behind the development and ongoing roll-out of the town-app initiative, said it would be rolled out locally in phases over the coming months.

The app already features a user friendly dashboard with sections covering subjects including shopping in Fermoy, local attractions and walks, useful local contact and places to stay, eat and drink in Fermoy.

Mr Hanley said that as the different phases of the app are rolled out it will also offer additional sections including in-app purchases (which will allow the app to remain free to businesses), a clubs/schools section, local alerts and the ability to pre-book digital tickets for events taking place in the Fermoy area. It will also incorporate a click and collect function for local businesses that will be integrated with existing online payment systems.

Our focus has been on developing these towns apps and creating a digital infrastructure that businesses can plug into without having to develop it themselves, which can be a costly business. Our aim is to create online experiences that make it easy for people to do business in a town and turn visitors to the app into paying customers, said Mr Hanley.

He said that towns of Fermoys size can often be overlooked when it comes to the development of technology and apps as they can often be viewed as being financially unviable.

Mr Hanley said the app costs in the region of 15,000 to develop for each location, with the McCarthy Insurance Group (MIG) coming on board to provide a start-up grant for each town in Munster where it will be rolled out. He said that Cork County Council would also be coming on board to help cover the cost of developing the Fermoy app and similar ones in towns across the county including Mitchelstown and Charleville.

We are looking at rolling it out in 76 towns across the country. The beauty of this app is that once all the phases are in place and more towns come on board it will generate the funding needed to develop it further, said Mr Hanley.

A team will be put in place in Fermoy to drive the app and put up regular content, so it wont stay still. The way we have built the app means it can be adapted as technology moves on, so it is future-proofed, he added.

Susan Gaynor of the Castlerea town team also spoke at the launch, saying the app had proven to be hugely successful when it was rolled out in the Roscommon town. Other speakers at the launch included Minister for State and Cork East TD David Stanton; The chair of Cork County Councils Fermoy electoral division, Cllr Frank OFlynn, and Paul Kavanagh of the McCarthy Insurance Group.

All urged people to download the app themselves and spread the world about it.

This is a hugely exciting innovation that has huge potential. Through apps like this we can promote towns like Fermoy as great places to live, work in and visit, Deputy Stanton said.

Mr Kavanagh agreed, saying it was now up to the local community to buy into the app and make it work. He also paid tribute to Michael Hanley of the Fermoy Enterprise Board for initially coming up with the idea for a Fermoy tourist app.

He said that it was decided to take the idea further to incorporate all the town has to offer.

There is a lot more to come. It is now up to everyone to download the app and spread the word so it will be the tool that people use when they visit Fermoy, he said.
Special guest Hazel Long from Colaiste Mhuire Crosshaven Cork, cuts the ribbon to open the Bank at St Mary's with the school's bankers Savannah Hickey, Hanna Donovan, Caoimhe Moynihan, Miriam Murnane, Katie Sheehan & Jessica Buckley

AIB Macroom Student Co-ordinator Karl OBrien with the St Marys Secondary School Bank Team who launched their BuildABank Challenge on Tuesday last at St Marys Secondary School. Pictured are Jessica Buckley, Katie Sheehan, special guest and popular blogger and make up artist Hazel Long, a sixth year student from Colaiste Mhuire Crosshaven, who cut the ribbon to open the Bank, Caoimhe Moynihan, Hanna Donovan, Savannah Hickey and Miriam Murnane with their business teacher,Arlene ODonoghue. Picture: John Delea.

As part of the AIB Build a Bank Challenge, six Transition Year students  with the help of four assistants  from St Marys Secondary School, Macroom have recently set up their own school bank.

The school bank team decided to call their bank  Space Savers Bank. The Space Savers will open in the school canteen every Tuesday under the supervision of Eleanor Hickey, Student Officer at AIB Macroom and Arlene ODonoghue their Business Teacher.

The students involved are Caoimhe Moynihan, Hanna Donovan, Katie Sheehan, Jessica Buckley, Savannah Hickey, Mirium Murnane, Aimee OHerlihy, Elaine Kelliher, Anna OLeary and Eileen Condon. The school bank team have designed their bank around market research so that they have a bank available in the school that completely meets the needs of their target market.

In October all Transition Year students in the school were invited to apply to AIB to be chosen to run the 2017/2018 school bank. The students applied for the positions by filling in an application form and all who applied were interviewed by two AIB Bank Officials.

The AIB Build a Bank Challenge, which is now in its 16th year, is an exciting and fun way for Transition Year students to set up and run their own school bank. The competition is of huge benefit to the students involved as it introduces them to the world of business and banking, teaching them new skills such as money managing, marketing strategies, customer service skills, leadership and teamwork skills. The school bank competition also benefits all of the students in St Marys as it encourages them to lodge and save their money on a regular basis.

Recently, The Space Savers Bank held their launch party, at which students could lodge money, open an account if they did not already have one and enjoy music, sweets, buns and cakes. They also had an opportunity to chat to and take pictures with special guest  Hazel Long (the social media star - Make up by Hazel).

There was huge excitement at this event and the students were all very keen to get involved and start saving. There were competitions for all students who lodged money or who opened an account on the day.

As the girls progress in this competition they have lots of amazing fun ideas that will keep their customers happy and most importantly keep them saving.

The girls will be taking part in the Regional Final in Cork on February 6.

The school and the students involved would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all local businesses who sponsored prizes for th launch party, this is very much appreciated.

The sponsors are: The Bigger Picture, Corrigans Insurance, Granvilles, Enchanted Flowers, Dunnes, Anne Maries Beauty Salon, Connections, The Castle Hotel, Moon Balloon, Muse, No 57, Railway View Pharmacy, Haven Pharmacy, Deasys Pharmacy, The Movement, Deloitte Accountants, Lynchs Hairdressers, The Auld Triangle, Michael Twomey Butchers.
Following on from their most recent massive success, 'Songbook', St. Peter's Male Voice Choir, Drogheda and Musical Director Edward Holly present their annual Christmas concert which for 16 years has welcomed the beginning of the festive season in Drogheda.

In the magical setting of St. Peter's Church, West Street, they'll present 'So this is Christmas' with a live 14-piece Orchestra,

St. Peter's Male Voice Choir with guests both international and local, perform many Christmas favourites in a magical evening not to be missed by music lovers.

It's on December 2 at 8pm. Tickets: 25 (no booking fee). Available from: Credit Card Purchase (041) 982 9124. Reception at Westcourt Hotel, West St., Drogheda (041) 983 0965. Sacristy of St. Peter's Church, West St.,Drogheda, (041) 983 8537.

Sign up for Vantastival

Musicians are now invited to apply for a slot at the 2018 Vantastival festival. Applications are accepted from original acts of all genres as well as traditional groups. Interested acts should fill in the online application form at www.vantastival.com/line-applications-2018/. Musicians must provide a link where the judging panel can listen to a minimum of three original tracks. The deadline for receipt of applications is 5pm on Friday 15th December 2017.

Powered by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Vantastival will take place from the 1st to the 3rd June 2018, returning to the beautiful grounds of Beaulieu House on the banks of the Boyne just outside Drogheda.

The festival is one of Ireland's most unique independent music festivals and 2017 saw record numbers attend over the June bank holiday weekend. Vantastival has earned its reputation as a relaxed and friendly boutique festival with a diverse line up showcasing the best of up-and-coming Irish acts and providing a platform for new Irish music. 2018 will be the ninth year of the event.

Tickets for Vantastival 2018 will go on sale on December 1st.

See www.vantastival.com for more details.

Des Clinton's images are on display

Images of Military in Drogheda 1916-1923 from the collection of Des Clinton is now running at Drogheda library.

The photos can be viewed during library opening hours until 18 November. A wonderful collection of images of Old Drogheda not to be missed.
In 2016 and 2017, 150 homeowners in Mid Louth benefited from the Louth Better Energy programme and the organisers, the Dunleer Development Board, are now preparing for a funding application for 2018.

The funding is provided by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and the programme in Louth is managed by the Dunleer Community Development Board.

Over 1m has been secured in funding for the projects up to this point as well as significant savings for homeowners and others.

A series of public information meetings are to be held across the County of Louth to inform people of how communities can work together to avail of significant grants to upgrade homes, community centres and business premises to make them more efficient in energy use, warmer, reduce energy costs and avail of the option of using more renewable energy solutions.

Next up are Ardee Dee Hub on Tuesday 21st Nov 7pm.

Castlebellingham; OConnells Club rooms ; Tuesday 21st Nov 8.30pm.

Philipstown Community centre; Wednesday 22nd Nov 7pm.

Dunleer Market House; Wednesday 22ndNov 8.30pm .

If you are interested in registering to avail of these grants please attend one of the above meetings or send an email with your name, address, phone number and email details to info@themarkethouse.ie or phone: 0899854278.
The team at Nature's Best are this week celebrating major success in the recent Irish Quality Food awards.

A local family run company, Nature's Best scooped 4 top awards for their fresh salad products in the Fresh Produce and the Good Choice categories.

Managing Director Rory Callaghan said "We are thrilled with this win. The fresh food sector in Ireland is a really competitive market and we have worked hard to be leaders in this industry. Winning these awards is a huge credit to our team who work so hard to develop, produce and deliver superb products to our customers right across the country."

Started over 30 years ago, Nature's Best now has over 300 staff making it one of the largest employers in Drogheda.

"Many people know our company name but don't really know what we do. We produce over 750,000 fresh salad products every week in our HQ here in Drogheda. We produce top quality own brand products for all of Ireland's leading retailers and you'll find these delicious healthy convenience foods on supermarket shelves in every town and village across the country."

But the team at Nature's Best are not resting on their laurels.

"Our New Product Development team are superb. They constantly develop new ideas for us and our clients. We've a number of new products coming to market including No Mayo salads, It's A Date Energy snacks and a delicious range of Healthy Horizons flavoured humous and soups"

Rory continued "The New Product Development team have also designed a range of longer-life products suitable for the export market. We're now exporting to the Middle East inc. Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain and we're in negotiations for a major deal into Hong Kong."

Not content with scooping 4 major awards and bringing great new products to market, Rory and his team need to grow their facility to cope with the rising demand.

"Subject to planning permission, our plan is to expand our facility by another 35,000sq. ft. in 2018. Expansion also means the creation of 75 more jobs for Drogheda and the north-east bringing our workforce to nearly 400."

Nature's Best are proud supporters of many Drogheda community initiatives including the Boyne 10K, Drogheda FC, Drogheda Soup Kitchen, Drogheda Homeless Aid and local schools.

Indeed, Nature's Best founder Paddy Callaghan is continuing his service of the community in his role as President of Drogheda and District Chamber this year. "Being part of the fabric of Drogheda's community matters to us in Nature's Best. It's where we and our team live and work and we're proud to be a driving force here in our home town."
Disability campaigners in Louth have been urged to become a thorn in the side of decision makers - after one person revealed he left a meeting with Louth County Council in tears.

John Morgan said that he met a council official in a bid to improve the lives of wheelchair users. Im 53 years old and came out crying, he told a shocked conference on disability at the Westcourt Hotel on Saturday.

He said he got better luck with another council official Frank Pentony who went on a walkabout with him in Dundalk and got some problems fixed.

Community campaigner James ONeill said that no-one should leave a meeting with the likes of a council official in such a manner.

These people should be accountable. The law of the land belongs to the people and they should be gone, he stated.

A series of other issues were raised, not least the ongoing storm in relation to people parking on footpaths in both Drogheda and Dundalk.

One local woman said that she had to go onto the road with her wheelchair as cars parked on the footpath. As a result, other motorists flashed their lights and beeped at her. It is a similar problem for people with buggies and walking sticks.

A huge issue for many are buses with no ramps - even though 24 hours notice is given - and allocated space on trains. All too often wheelchair areas are full of baggage or buggies. You are left there like a lost soul, one train user remarked.

John Morgan said in Dundalk you cant get a wheelchair accessible taxi 99% of the time after 6pm.

Proper plans in relation to Droghedas hosting of the Fleadh in 2018 need to be agreed in terms of disability access and participation.

Plans need to include all of the issues people are bringing up and they must be addressed, Mayor Smith remarked.

Drogheda architect Florence Shields also said that young people especially needed to be educated in relation to disabilities and maybe that would rub off on their parents.

Senator John Dolan paid tribute to the only surviving founder member of the Irish Wheelchair Association Oliver Murphy, saying there was no difference between the IWA foundation and the meeting in the Westcourt.

The first thing to do is make the case in your local community, he stated. We need to keep the political interest stoked up.

He said he had been at the Cavan Fleadh and people with disabilities were volunteers and performers and that was important for Drogheda next year.

He said the area was full of history and that means tourism but Drogheda should remember that mainly older people were tourists and they had to be catered for. There is a business case here, he remarked.

He said he could sense palpable anger and frustration amongst the various Louth groups and they needed to turn that into actions.

Get stuck into Louth, Dundalk, Drogheda and the other towns and villages. You have to lead this yourselves, he urged the large attendance.

Oliver Murphy said people with disabilities did not want to be special - they just wanted a county Louth that I can go anywhere in.

There has been one hell of an improvement since the IWA was founded and keep it going. Work together, dont give up, he urged.

Mayor Pio Smith facilitated the meeting and said that it centred on issues with education, amenities and work and that all the aspects would be put together and presented at a further meeting early next year.

A Make Way Day takes place each year in Dublin to highlight disabilities and it is proposed to hold one in Drogheda next year.

I intend to meet Chief Executive Joan Martin and agree a day to do this, the mayor remarked.

It is likely to be a countywide initiative. Mayor Smith said he learned a lot from the day and he had great faith in the people he worked within the council that matters could be progressed.
In days gone by, buying a plucking a turkey for Christmas was something of a ritual

Nowadays, there is no novelty in having turkey for dinner, lunch or brunch. The bird either whole or in parts, cooked or uncooked, is easily obtainable in grocers, butchers and supermarkets. Restaurant menus would not be complete if turkey, in one form or another, was not listed. As for carveries, I have yet to come across one that did not have a roast turkey ready to be sliced at the serving counter.

Before the advent of enterprises that mass produced thousands of the birds in enormous sheds, some farmers' wives bred and reared small flocks of a dozen or so for the Christmas market.

I recall the time in the mid- forties in mid- November when the American Bronze birds that for seven months had the freedom of the farmyard and a nearby green field being taken and put in a shed that was in semi-darkness.

The floor of the shed was littered with wood shavings obtained from Thorne's chair factory in Ardee and chaff. Whereas up until then they were fed on dinner leftovers, boiled spuds and fistfuls of oats they were now given a special meal mixture.

The "gobblers" as the birds were called appeared to be contented enough in their surroundings although the cocks had less space to strut around.

On the 8th of December they usually got double rations. This was because it was a Church Feast Day and the day on which country folk headed for the city to purchase Santa Claus presents for children and gifts for family and friends.

I shall never forget the first one I had to pluck. I was about sixteen years of age at the time and was given a demonstration of how it was done by my eldest brother. It was a challenging task, given by a master pheasant plucker.

It was his practice on Sunday mornings in the wintertime after hand milking the cows and attending an early morning Mass to head off with his shot gun seeking pheasants, partridges and pigeons. Recipes for pigeon pies frequently appeared in women's' magazines at the time.

The odd bagged pheasant was home cooked and divvied out in minute portions. It's taste, texture and colour was quiet different to that of cooked chicken. Chickens or hens, whether roasted, boiled or in stews would have been the most popular meat at the time.

As farm fowl would have been hand fed and reared from the day they were hatched, killing them was not easy nor pleasant and was done with great reluctance. Whilst a chicken was killed by wringing it's neck, a turkey on the other hand was a different proposition.

It was done by placing the bird's head under the handle of a yard brush lying flat on the ground and pulling the body upwards with a quick Such a sight was not easily forgotten. This method however, was thought to be more humane than cutting it's throat with a serrated knife.

Initially only two birds were killed and on one I was shown how to pull off the feathers. The large wing and tail could be plucked in handfuls whilst extra care had to be taken when plucking the fleshy parts of the body as the skin was easily torn. Small pin feathers had to be extracted with a pair of pliers. Bruised or damaged birds would be worth less. It was essential that the turkeys were plucked as soon as possible after they were killed.

That first experience of mine took place in the hay barn that was enclosed on three sides. For warmth, I wore a well worn overcoat and muffler. My legs, covered with hay were tucked beneath a tarpaulin for collecting loose feathers. The winters then were not as kind as they are now!

I will never forget that evening when during the session an inquisitive rat ( probably attracted by the smell of the dead birds) sniffing the air, came and disappeared under the tarpaulin.

Legs were swiftly withdrawn from under the cover and a yard shovel was used to hit any place where there was movement. The rat escaped. The incident helped me to remember the story about " Rafferty and the three legged rat". Sin sceal eile.

Local butchers were always in the market for prime birds. Before being sold it was customary for them to hang the fowl, for two or three days, from hooks attached to long iron bars within and outside their premises.

In Ardee on the fairdays before Christmas in the area behind the Market Square where there is a statue of Foster, live turkeys, geese and chickens were sold. For appraising their weight a specially constructed scales was erected. Oftentimes, buyers just bought the fowl as soon as they arrived in cribbed carts.

At the end of the day's work, all the loose feathers were collected.

The small downy ones were gathered for pillow and cushion fillings. A cushion, albeit filled with goose feathers was once used by mother "Ar dheis De go raibh a hanam dilis" for kneeling on before retiring at night and first thing after getting out of bed in the morning.

Before rearing turkeys she bred geese. The grease from roast grease was commonly used for chapped hands, sore udders of cows, softening and preserving the leather of boots when Dubbin was not available and of course roasting spuds.

Some of the larger feathers when attached to a long handle gave the appearance of a witch's broom-stick.

It was used to snare cobwebs that were out of reach. More, when tied together made a small hand brush for sweeping the floor. Neighbours' children often called to collect some, to make Indian head dresses.

Catching a chill was one of the side effects of the job.

The inhalation of motes from the birds' down could bring about bouts of sneezing and running noses, and bites from mites often caused itching and rashes.

Although the popularity of having turkey for the Christmas dinner has not diminished, the goose is gradually gaining ground.

In the past when turkeys were put in the shed for fattening, was their "goose cooked"?
Drogheda's man in Rome, Christian Brother, Christopher 'Sonny' Kierans, is to retire early next year after 46 years service, many of those in the Vatican City.

Sonny, however, won't be allowed to leave without a couple of big occasions and one of those is earmarked for next May, it has just been revealed.

Tom O'Reilly, chairman of the Drogheda Male Voice Choir explains; "We had several invitations to sing at important overseas events on our return from the Royal Albert Hall but, when someone mentioned we should mark Brother Kierans retirement with a performance in Rome, it was unanimously agreed that we would undertake to organise this very special occasion.

"Our committee have been working diligently on this task and have put together a great programme for our stay in Rome. We are overwhelmed with the response we have received from the likes of the Mayor of Drogheda, Pio Smith, who will travel with us, also from the Irish Embassy in Rome who will entertain us and our guests at a special reception to honour Brother Christopher Kierans".

Mr Joe Heeney, a committee member of DMVC, who is organising the choir's travel arrangements says; "There has been a wonderful response from the choir members to travel and within a short space of time our group had reached its quota of 80 people who are making the trip. We have a standby list and expect many more friends and interested people to come forward and hopefully arrangements can be made to facilitate everybody".

The choir will sing at the Saturday Vigil Mass in St Peters' Basilica in the Vatican and also at the official reception in the Irish Embassy in Rome.

Plans are at an advanced stage for the choir to sing in St Peters' Square prior to the Papal audience for the assembled congregation. Seamie Briscoe Liaison Officer with the DMVC states; "Whilst this is a splendid trip for the choir and our party, the main reason for undertaking this visit to Rome and the Vatican is to honour a great Drogheda person who has been so helpful to everybody from his native town and has devoted his life to his vocation.

"Sonny has always assisted and provided help to his fellow towns folk when they visited Rome and the Vatican City. His love of his native town has never faltered and he keeps up with all the news from home on a regular basis. He retains many friendships, despite his long term absence, and of course, the regular 'pilgrims' from home also bring him up to date with any news he may have missed. 'Sonny' is responsible for all the English speaking delegations and visitors from all over the world to the Vatican, a role he has filled with distinction down through the years."
The result of the Brexit referendum in June 2016 sent shockwaves through Europe - and through the British Conservative party - with many fearing the vote would start an 'independence' domino effect across the continent.

Given the scale of the political and democratic crisis caused by Brexit it is perhaps understandable that most European Governments - including that of the UK - didn't know how to react in the immediate wake of the shock result.

Now it seems a line is finally being drawn in the sand and the Brexit 'phoney war' may be coming to an end.

It is probably no coincidence that the remaining 27 EU member Governments have decided to get tough with Theresa May's increasingly inept administration in the wake of the Catalonian independence crisis that has engulfed Spain in recent weeks.

To say Brexit took Europe by surprise would be an enormous understatement but the vote was as much of a shock to the UK establishment, including many prominent 'Leave' supporters.

For 16 months May's Government and her vastly experienced civil service have been running around like headless chickens as they attempt, in vain, to come up with a plan for Brexit.

Their efforts haven't been helped by the grotesque political pantomime being played out by the Conservative party whose members seem more concerned with who will occupy Number 10 rather than the economic cliff the UK is about to go over.

By contrast, the remaining 27 EU Governments - many of them annoyed by the arrogant imperial attitudes of some prominent Brexit supporters - have used the last year and half well.

While the UK's negotiators still don't appear to have any idea how Brexit can be achieved, the EU governments have used the time to develop and adopt a strong, unified policy.

For her part, Teresa May - who looks more and more like a lame duck Prime Minister with every passing day - seems to have realised that the disarray in her Government has presented the EU with a major advantage.

In her disastrous 2017 General Election campaign Teresa May constantly referred to her Government as 'strong and stable'.

Ironically, that's the very mantra May and the Tories' Brexit adversaries seem to have adopted for the EU.

In that context it is reassuring to see Leo Varadkar adopting the EU's tough stance with his comments on the need for major trade UK concessions if a 'hard Brexit' is to be avoided.

The border issue makes Brexit a far more complex issue for Ireland but for too long the Government in the Republic has adopted a 'softly, softly' approach to the issue.

Any return to a hard border would be a disaster for Ireland north and south but it is something that we must be prepared for.

If it is to be avoided the EU has to make the UK face reality and make concessions. The only way to do that is for the EU 27 to present a unified front. We must be a key part of that combined effort.

The border issue gives the Republic a potentially influential position in the Brexit talks and we must take advantage of that.

The phoney war is over. It's time to pick a side and stick to it.
Medical staff and nurses on the frontline are being pushed to the brink every day of their working lives

I'm sure I wasn't alone this week in my shock to learn that so far this year, 82,000 people were on trolleys in emergency departments.

We all hear the stories of people admitted to hospitals which simply don't have a bed for them, and so they end up in a corridor, often with no idea when they will be properly accommodated.

However, I never dreamed that the figures were this high.

Healthcare experts have claimed that we should be out on the streets protesting about the situation which shows no sign of improvement.

Meanwhile, medical staff and the nurses on the frontline in particular are being pushed to the brink every day of their working lives.

People talk about a 'calling' in life and truly being a nurse is a vocation. These people who are caring for people during the most vulnerable and often terrifying time of their lives are under such pressure it is difficult to see how they can sustain such a way of life without burning out.

The overcrowding is endless, the demands of the job never ease and year after year there are promises that it will be better, but with a figure of 82,000 people on trolleys, long before the year is even over - it is clear that change and improvement will take a generation.

It is so frustrating that the entire system is creaking under the pressure. We have some of the best healthcare professionals in the world working in our hospitals and yet they are almost being turned off the job they trained so hard to do, because it is impacting on them in such a negative way.

One nurse told his story this week of how he had to transfer to a different role because his family life was suffering so much as a result of his career.

He said that deep down he knew that there would not be any meaningful change.

Every job has its pressures and stresses but where many others can take a step back or share the workload, nurses cannot tell a sick patient that they can't do something for them, or decide that the demands being made of them are unfair -as it is the patients they have pledged to care for who will ultimately suffer. Apparently we have fewer beds in the Irish hospital system than we did in 1980, so when that it coupled with a population rise of over 30 per cent, there is no way that things can continue the way they are and have patients properly treated.
Some 12 Transition Year students from Fingal Community College took part in an Intercultural exchange project with a group of students from Austria.

The students came from BRG Hamerling, a Secondary school in Linz, in Upper Austria.

The students worked over a four-day period in mixed nationality teams to investigate, plan and edit a video documentary on the differences between their cultures.

The programme was organised by Future Learning, a Malahide-based language school which specialises in project-based programmes of this sort.

Future Learning works with many Dublin secondary schools to give TY students an opportunity to become involved in project based learning with students from other countries.

Fingal Community College had been involved in a very successful project last year with Future Learning and their Transition Year Coordinator was delighted that students from the College were again given an opportunity to be involved in a collaborative project with students from different countries that would embed key skills through the use of ICT.

Within five minutes of meeting the Fingal Community College students had developed a rapport with the Austrians.

They worked well together on documentaries that investigated topics such as the different Irish and Austrian tourist attractions, sports, monuments, food, music, and languages, and one brave group examined each other's stereotypes.

The local students were also able to show the Austrian students a trick or two in the area of video editing as they had already gained skills in this area from a Digital Media module on their TY programme.

On completion of the programme Awards were given to the following students from Fingal Community College for their achievements: Adam Bowes Moosa, Alison Molloy, Barry Laffey and Eve Mongey were recognised for their Intercultural Communication skills and Manasseh Ekundayo for his Technical Skills
A man who obtained a driving licence over the Internet was quite naive and believed it to be authentic, a court has heard.

Pawel Szczykutowicz (32) had to produce his driving licence at a garda station. However, the licence was discovered to be fake following an analysis by gardai, Balbriggan District Court heard.

The defendant, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to using a false driving licence on April 19th at Balbriggan Garda Station.

The defendant, who has an address at Moylaragh Avenue in Balbriggan, didn't have a driving licence, defence solicitor Fiona D'Arcy told the court.

'He went onto the Internet and obtained one from a website. The result is the licence he produced at the garda station. He was quite naive and believed it to be authentic,' said Ms D'Arcy.

'He knows now he has to do right and he is anxious to avoid a conviction,' she added.

Judge John Cheatle said if the defendant makes a charitable donation of 100 he will strike the case out.

Once the money was handed over, he struck the case out.
A strategic plan for its work in the county over the next three years has been published by Fingal Leader Partnership which welcomed the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to Swords for the launch of the strategy document.

The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty TD launched the strategy saying the plan was one of the best she has seen in recent months.

Drilling down into some of the specific projects undertaken by Fingal Leader Partnership across the county, the minister praised its role in the Tus programme which places 200 people in work placements with community organisations around the county, each year.

Minister Doherty said: 'I don't think that I ever met a TUS worker who doesn't understand and appreciate the valuable service that they are actually providing to the communities that they represent. I know that we use certain programmes as part of labour activation but I think that there has to be an element and serious acknowledgement of that a lot of our CE Schemes and most importantly all of our TUS Schemes that are employment activation provide real social services and social inclusion in communities where services are otherwise not provided by the State.'

The partnership operates a jobs club in Swords which the minister said 'gives support to people on a daily and a weekly basis' and helps 'rebuild confidence and self-esteem' in the unemployed.

She also welcomed Fingal Leader Partnership's focus on the integration of migrant communities into the wider community in Fingal, saying: 'We need to look after our new Irish population who are coming here for a good reason, because we are welcoming, because we have employment, because we have a beautiful country that they want to be part of and they are enriching our lives and our society and I hope that we will enrich theirs.'

The minister also praised the partnership's initiative in developing a new computer home support service for older people.

Chris O'Malley, CEO of the Fingal Leader Partnership said the plan sets out how 'Fingal LEADER Partnership can build on its strong heritage of local development and social inclusion to make the most effective possible contribution' to meeting the challenges facing communities in Fingal over the next three years, particularly in rural Fingal.

He said: 'While we are fully committed to pursuing the priorities identified in this document, we remain open to new ideas and possibilities for collaboration in the way that we pursue them.'

As well as the minister and the partnership CEO, the launch was also attended by chair of the board of Fingal Leader Partnership, Chris Harmon, CEO of Fingal County Council, Paul Reid and the Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Mary McCamley.

Local politicians also attended the launch of the strategy document including Senator James Reilly (FG), Cllr Tony Murphy (IA), Cllr Grainne Maguire (NP), Cllr David O'Connor (NP), Cllr Anne Devitt (NP), Cllr Tom O'Leary (FG) and Cllr Joe Newman (NP).
I took a not so wee journey up north at the weekend for the first time and was blown away by all it had to offer.

As a thank you to my mother for her general amazingness over recent weeks keeping The Little Fella and The Whirlwind Princess entertained, I brought her along for the one night whistlestop tour. Despite (and maybe because of) growing up hearing about all of the atrocities in Northern Ireland on the news, I have to hold my hands up and admit that I know very little about its history. Like many 'southerners' my love of history travelled further afield to the great battlefields of Europe, Africa and Asia, as well as the Republic. And so it was that we arrived in the Titanic Belfast Centre on Saturday and got our first taste of Northern Irish history. The centre - which opened in 2012 - is located right beside the harbour which makes it all the easier to imagine the activity and the scale of the work involved in building 'the unsinkable' ship.

The centre is - in a word - magnificent. It draws you in with its personal stories and leaves you astonished in wide eyed admiration at the wondrous achievement of designing, building and launching just a few hundred metres away - the RMS Titanic, the pride of the city, into Belfast Lough.

The luxury Cunard Olympic class vessel by Harland & Wolff was something to behold and its legacy endures as reflected in the many films and works made about it.

Listening to the survivors' stories and reading press accounts of the days and weeks following the tragedy, which claimed 1,503 lives, was a truly moving and memorable experience.

Titanic Belfast extends over nine interactive galleries, with multiple dimensions to the exhibition, drawing together special effects, dark rides, full-scale reconstructions and innovative interactive features. No ocean floor stone is left unturned in this world class centre, which warrants half a day really, even if we only got to spend two hours there as we were rushing off to dinner at Home, which staved off the cold on a particularly chilly November night in this city of 300,000.

The following morning we left our little rented house on Hillfoot Street in a typical snug and inviting Belfast suburban area and headed south, and having finally found our bearings, north, to the coast road, starting at Carrickfergus. The coastal road is a must. As you drive along you are practically flush to the wild tourquise and deep royal blue sea. Our destination was the Giant's Causeway, a place I've heard about since my days in primary school listening to tales of Fionn mac Cumhaill. For this leg of the journey I wished I had the little crew with me, but then the peace and quiet was enjoyable.

Along the way I lost count of the amount of times my mother exclaimed 'Wow!' as we wound our way up the coast in glorious sunshine. We stopped at Carrick-a-Reede to see the rope bridge and drank in the spectacular views. Next the Giants Causeway Centre's basalt facade greeted us. Seamlessly integrated into the wildly romantic Antrim coast's rugged landscape, it was a sight to behold. The new audio guides were fantastic, as was our guide Chloe. Seeing the vertical polygonal columns of solid basalt made the long trip up all worthwhile, even with the bone chilling cold to contend with. The centre is fantastic and great value at 11 a ticket. I was like a big child taking in the legended stories of Finn Mac Cool (as they call him up north) by the mighty rollers.

On the way back we had some wonderful seafood at The Plough Inn in Hillsborough to cap a wonderful weekend by the Irish Sea.
Participants gather before the start of the walk and talk at Gorey Family Resource Centre, which was part of breast cancer awareness

Breast Cancer Awareness Week was marked at Gorey Family Resource Centre recently with a Walk and Talk event around Gorey Town Park.

Up to 15 members of the various groups that meet at the centre on Charlotte Row, and members of the public enjoyed a refreshing walk around the park, before returning to the centre for a healthy breakfast.

Community and family support worker Elaine Sheridan explained that part of the message of Breast Cancer Awareness Week is to stay active and eat healthy. They also watched a short film on breast health made by the Irish Cancer Society, and information posters and leaflets on breast health were also available.

Some of the women wore pink to mark the occasion and badges in aid of the Irish Cancer Society were also on sale.

Thanks went to all who took part in the day, and it's hoped there will be an even bigger turnout next year. For information, call in to Gorey Family Resource Centre or contact the centre on 053 9489017.
While an election could be some ways off just yet, a new face in Wexford politics is determined to hit the ground running as he officially launched his campaign for election to Dail Eireann. Davidstown native Gerald O'Donoghue announced his intention to run in the next general election under the banner of Renua Ireland, one of Ireland's newest political parties.

It's proving to be an extremely busy time for Ger and his family. Along with his wife Maura and their four children, aged from nine months to five years, they are currently in the process of moving to the New Ross area from the Ballagh where the lived for seven years, which will help with his commute as he is currently working in Waterford. In fact, the Davidstown's man's commute played a big part in his decision to enter the political arena.

'I was working in Dublin for four or five years,' he recalled. 'I was leaving at 6 a.m. before the kids got up and I wouldn't be home until 7.30 or 8 p.m. and they'd be gone to bed. Places in Wexford were being turned into car parks as people parked up and car-pooled or took public transport to work in Dublin. The busiest parts of the county were petrol stations off the main roads. I was frustrated that I couldn't get a job as an engineer in the county. This is something that I want to address. We need to get jobs back into County Wexford.'

'We've been ignored by the IDA and there are few opportunities for professional jobs in Wexford,' he continued. 'People are going off to college and very few return. Those who do are like me and have to commute out of the county. It's a real brain drain. A big part of this is education and Wexford needs a good university or a significant third-level campus with a focus on STEM subjects. We all know that the IDA follows universities for reduced costs on research and development and things. There was an opportunity to do something with St Senan's there and those in authority sat on their hands. It's easy for the IDA to ignore Wexford when there are no proper links to education and this is something that needs to be addressed.'

Initially when approached by Renua about running for election, with a young family, Ger was reluctant to throw his hat into the ring. However, he believes he is a good match for the fledgling party and can achieve a lot for Wexford.

'I do feel strongly about politics and how Wexford is lacking,' he said. 'As well as that I agreed with a lot of Renua policies. I'm strongly "Pro-Life" and Renua were prepared to take a stand on the eighth amendment. As well as that, Renua aims to reward workers and make it worthwhile for people to go out there and work.'

While taking a strong stance on the eighth amendment is something that some seasoned political voices are reluctant to do, Ger believes it's important and that taking a stance will pay off in the long run.

'I believe it will,' he said. 'A lot of people are afraid to stand by their convictions. I think a lot of people in the government are afraid that they won't be seen as 'modern' if they come out as 'pro-life' and that it's not a cool and liberal viewpoint. Renua haven't been afraid to voice an opinion on this and I think it's important to stand by your convictions.'

In fact, Ger believes that there will be no election until the debate on the eighth amendment is done and dusted.

'I don't see an election happening until after next summer at the earliest,' he said. 'I think it won't be until after the election on the eighth amendment. Fianna Fail don't want to tackle that topic. They want the government to do their dirty work and are hoping that it will pass and that they can walk into an election afterwards without having taken the rap for it. I do think we could see an election next summer though.'

Being from the Enniscorthy area, O'Donoghue faces stiff competition. Fianna Fail's James Browne has carried on from his father and was comfortably elected last time out, while Fine Gael's Paul Kehoe carries with him a wealth of political and ministerial experience. Adding to this Sinn Fein's Johnny Mythen only narrowly missed out last time around, meaning that the area could be a tough nut for a new name to crack. Ger is optimistic, however.

'I believe it can be done,' he said. 'If I can get the message of Renua and what we are trying to do in Wexford out there. Enniscorthy may have three strong, well-known, high-profile politicians, but it hasn't been well served in relation to job creation. Wexford is an unemployment black-spot and Enniscorthy is the black-spot of the black-spot. I think there is room for change and people will see that.'

Going forward, Ger is keen to get Renua's message out and show there's a new political face in town.
President of the Royal Air Force Association Republic of Ireland Branch Alan Harrison was the guest of honour at a civic reception held in the Gorey Municipal District building last week.

Those present heard that Mr Harrison, who was a guest of the Gorey Freemasons Centre, has tirelessly dedicated many years to the Royal British Legion and the Royal Air Force Association Republic of Ireland branch.

Chairman of the Gorey Municipal District Cllr Joe Sullivan gave a warm welcome to Mr Harrison, who was awarded the British Empire Medal by Queen Elizabeth II in December, 2015.

Clearly delighted by the reception, Mr Harrison told the gathering of counsellors, officials and invited guests he was absolutely flabbergasted to be the guest of honour at the reception.

Cllr Sullivan presented him with a hand turned wooden bowl by renowned local artist Robert O'Connor.

Cllr Sullivan thanked the Masonic Centre in Gorey for organising the visit, an organisation Mr Harrison has been a part of for the past 53 years.

'It was through working for Pierces of Wexford 45 years ago that I developed some life-long friendships at the Masonic Centre in Gorey,' said Mr Harrison.

He said the Freemasons made him realise there are people in the world who are in need and it through the organisation he has done great work for many charities.

Last March, fellow members from the Royal Air Force Association Republic of Ireland branch appointed Mr Harrison as the president, after he served three years as their vice president.

Chairman of the Masonic Lodge John Stephens, Provisional Assistant Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge Harvey Heavener, Lt Kenneth Martin from the Royal British Legion, Major General David O Morchoe president of the Royal British Legion and his wife Margaret attended the special ceremony.

Speaking at the event, Canon Mark Hayden said 'it is very important we recognise the work of the Royal Air Force and other organisations, as they all put their lives at risk once they put on that uniform.'
Five schoolgirls at a County Wexford school said their mouths were taped shut by a teacher in fifth class when they did not stop talking.

They gave evidence of their alleged treatment by a female substitute teacher at Ireland's first-ever public fitness-to-practise inquiry, held by the Teaching Council in Maynooth last week.

The teacher, who has not been named, faced allegations of professional misconduct at the inquiry into the March 2012 incident in a primary school.

'I was scared and shocked,' said one of the girls as she recalled the incident, which is alleged to have happened when they were in fifth class.

The teacher was not present at the hearing and was not represented. In a submission to the Teaching Council, she denied the accusations and claimed the children had taped up their own mouths. Each of the pupils contradicted this.

The young witnesses, who are now aged between 15 and 16, said there were six boys and five girls in a maths class. They admitted that all the pupils were talking and messing and that they did not stop talking despite the teacher telling them to "whist" on several occasions.

The substitute teacher, who had started at the school two days previously, said she would Sellotape their mouths if they didn't stop talking.

'She could not control the class. We kept talking,' said a now 16 year old.

The inquiry heard that the teacher placed Sellotape on the lips of two of the girls and instructed the other three girls in the class to put Sellotape on their own mouths. It remained on the girls' mouths for up to 30 minutes until the class ended.

The school principal said she was later informed what had happened by a pupil and she spoke with the five girls.

'I could see they were upset. One or two were crying,' she said.

The girls had 'little red marks' around their mouths, she said. When the substitute teacher arrived back at the school later that afternoon, she put the allegations to her.

The teacher did not deny it and said she 'didn't mean any harm by it'.

However, she later told the Teaching Council she had not taped the pupils' mouths.

The principal informed her that afternoon that she was not to return to the substitute teaching job. She contacted the parents and asked the girls to write down what had happened.

The principal said she had contacted the Department of Education, Tusla and the HSE.

The hearing heard that attempts by solicitor Natasha Forde, acting on behalf of the Teaching Council director, to maintain contact with the teacher since a preliminary hearing in September, had been fruitless.

At one stage, the teacher indicated to the inquiry team she 'no longer' wished to be contacted by phone or email.

Among the evidence was that, last month, a man answered a call to the contact number provided by the teacher and said it was a 'wrong number'. On other occasions, there was no response or the call was disconnected.

Over two days earlier this month, a summons server called to the teacher's apartment and there was no reply. One neighbour said she hadn't seen her for the previous week and that post hadn't been collected.

A 10-year-old neighbour told the summons server that he believed she had 'gone back to her other house in another county'.

The identity of the teacher, the school principal and the pupils were not made public at the hearing. The school was not named.

The hearing concluded with the three-member panel indicating it will give its decision on the case at a later date.
Wexford actress Charlie Murphy will take on the role of trade union activist Jessie Eden in the new series of Peaky Blinders which starts on Wednesday, November 15, on BBC2.

Charlie who is the daughter of Pat and Brenda Murphy who owned and ran the popular Scissors Empire hair salon on Wexford's South Main Street before it became part of Lloyd's Hair Salon in late 2015 is perhaps best known to Irish audiences for her role as Siobhan in Love/Hate. Charlie (29) said she hadn't seen the show before she was cast.

'It was on the list, everyone has a list: 'I have to watch that, I have to watch that', she said.

However she soon remedied that saying: 'I watched the first few episodes and then I was just hooked'.

In the fourth series of the hit BBC gangster drama Peaky Blinders Charlie takes on the role of passionate Communist trade union activist Jessie Eden who made history in the 1920s.

Eden made headlines in 1926 when she convinced her all-female section of workers at the Joseph Lucas motor components factory in Birmingham to down tools as part of the general strike, before going on to lead 10,000 women out on a week's strike in 1931, a show of power that was almost unprecedented in its time.

'I'm always interested in those people you see flashing by at the corner of your eye,' said the show's creator Steven Knight. 'So much of history concentrates on the memoirs of some politician or other but then in the middle of all that grey there's a flash of colour and that's Jessie - being female and working class there was very little prospect that she would become a household name but she did extraordinary things.'

Peaky Blinders first mentioned Eden last series when Helen McCrory's outspoken Aunt Pol and the rest of the Shelby women downed tools and headed out to hear the firebrand speak at Birmingham's Bull Ring. This series, however, she will play a more central role as her desire for better conditions for her workers puts her on a collision course with enigmatic anti-hero Tommy Shelby played by Cillian Murphy.

'It's always been my intention to tackle the 1926 general strike as it was a time when the possibility of a genuine revolution was in the air,' said Knight. 'Birmingham has always been a very radical, very unionised, very left-wing city so it was important for us to have someone on the show who represents that.'

Even the briefest glimpses of Eden in history paints a tantalising picture of a determined working-class woman whose pragmatic, honest and articulate voice speaks vibrantly across the years.

Her daughter-in-law Andrea McCulloch describes her as 'very strong, committed in her beliefs. She was sort of person you might underestimate because she was small and vulnerable-looking but then - bang. You didn't want to underestimate her. By the time I knew her she was a sweet old lady but I was told she could tear you off a strip if you did something she didn't approve of.'

Charlie Murphy said that Eden's voice feels as relevant now as it was then. 'One of the things I find most fascinating is where she drew that strength from. She's an extraordinary woman, very brave, very passionate and she really put her neck on the line, not just for women but for everyone.'

After leading 10,000 women out on strike in 1931 in a dispute over attempts to link workers' pay to performance speed Eden found herself singled out at work and eventually lost her job.

Charlie admitted she was nervous tackling the Birmingham accent.'At the audition I'd never tackled the Brummie accent before. It's such a brilliant accent but very daunting to approach.'

She said she hopes that her portrayal of Eden helps to show the role she had in history.

'Jessie was so intriguing and such a powerful person at that time, you delve online and you try and find as much as you can when you're researching but there's very little there so hopefully this will cast a light on er.

'To the very end her one true love seems to have been justice, fairness and equality. She comes across as a very inspirational person to be around and I'm sure that rubbed off on so many people.'

The Wexford actress said she had been nervous joining the heavyweight cast which also features Tom Hardy, Aiden Gillen and Adrien Brody.

'It was scary, exciting, you kind of get used to the first day of school every few months, but here you are not starting with everyone and the dynamic is set.

'It seems like a beast of a show from the outside and it's stunning. It was a bit nerve-racking starting and the anticipation was more than anything. I was fine when I got there.'
A section of the attendance at the Let's Talk Tourism conference in The Brehon. Photos by Don MacMonagle

Following the success of last year's inaugural National Tourism Forum in Killarney, 'Let's Talk Tourism 2017' returned with aplomb to The Brehon Hotel where a day-long conference examined the challenges and opportunities facing the industry both in Kerry and nationally.

While last year's conference had a stong focus on Brexit and its projected repercussions, this year the focus was much broader.

Presented by TV and Radio Broadcaster Olivia O'Leary, a top-notch team of speakers included Paul Carty, Managing Director of Guinness Storehouse, Fiona Monaghan, Head of Wild Atlantic Way at Failte Ireland, CEO of Malaysia Airlines, Peter Bellew, Central Marketing Director of Tourism Ireland, Mark Henry, and Minister for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin, to name but a few.

Tourism is an industry exposed on many levels to a cross-section of factors, both positive and restrictive, and some of the topics discussed in detail were regionalisation and seasonality, food tourism, digital and screen tourism, air access, and skills and manpower.

Also speaking was John Brennan, MD of The Park Hotel and Dromquinna Manor in Kenmare and he described Let's Talk Tourism as extremely positive for the industry as it gets people talking. He also praised Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland for outlining the various strategies, trends and changes facing the industry.

"It evokes a great thought process for the industry that is good for us all, while it's equally good that Kerry gets to host it," said John.

The 2017 tourist season was described on the day as 'extremely good', while The Wild Atlantic Way was cited as a major success and a possible template for enhancing future tourism strategies. Brexit formed a major part of last year's discussions but John says this approach had been adjusted slightly in 2017.

"You cannot plan for something you don't know how or when is going to happen. I was at a tourism conference in Madrid recently and we literally spent three minutes talking about Brexit as we don't know how it's going to pan out. People are still going to take vacations and people's net wealth is increasing.

"We must also remember that we're in a Eurozone with 26 other countries. I think it's fair to say the 'unknown' aspect of Brexit poses its single biggest threat at the moment," said John.
Students of Mercy Mounthawk Secondary School, Michael Moynihan, John McCrohan, Isabelle Crowe, Niamh Ryan, Molly O'Keeffe and Mairead Kearney getting ready for the school's fashion show which will be on in the School Gym on November 29 at 2pm and 8pm

Mounthawk's Transition Year students are currently rehearsing for their annual fashion show fundraiser which will be held in the school gym at 8pm on Wednesday, November 29, in aid of the Recovery Haven and Muscular Dystrophy Ireland.

The theme this year's catwalkers have chosen is 'the Wonder of Winter' which will emerge before the fashionistas in a wide variety of hats, coats, shoes and accessories, many of them the very latest fashions courtesy of a number of top boutiques from across Kerry.

Tickets are available for 10 from any of the 155 TYs and are also available on the night but event organiser and Mounthawk teacher Stacey O'Leary urges people to get their hands on tickets before November 29 from the students.

With special guest Maria Walsh (former Rose of Tralee) and best dressed prizes, the night promises to have plenty of fun, fashion and surprises.

Until the night the students will be practising their catwalk strut and getting ready to dress to impress for their friends, family and for the many members of the public who are expected to pack Mercy Mounthawk for the eagerly anticipated night.
Students with disabilities and their families are being left in a frightening limbo on leaving school as they wait to find out what services will be available for them after graduating.

At least one student of the Nano Nagle special secondary school in Listowel who is finishing school this academic year is still waiting for confirmation on the care and services that will be provided for him by the HSE when he leaves the institute. Two others were only informed of their future provision by the HSE in September, meanwhile.

Fianna Fail deputy John Brassil - the party's spokesperson on primary care - raised the issue of delays with Minister of State at the Department of Finance Patrick O'Donovan this week. Deputy Brassil blames the level of bureaucracy in the system for the painful wait families and students are being forced to face.

"At present, the process of determining and allocating support for these young people starts in September before they are due to finish school," Deputy Brassil said.

"Many are left waiting an unfair amount of time to be told what service supports would be provided to them and their families when they left the school.

"For example, for those who finished their schooling in summer 2017, the process began in September 2016. Unfortunately, with the level of bureaucracy in our system, only two of the five students due to complete their studies at Nano Nagle were informed of their future provision by the HSE...Two were only told in September, and alarmingly there is still one young adult and his family waiting for confirmation from the HSE," he said. He is calling for the process to start much earlier and with fellow Kerry TDs will meet the Minister of Health on the issue as it pertains to the entire county - where 271 applications for support for school leavers were received this year.
Almost 65,000 raised and a total still rising at time of print. The O'Sullivan family of Kilcummin is in deep mourning after the death of eldest son Anthony in Australia last week but the generous support of friends and family has provided some solace in difficult times.

Aged 33, Anthony O'Sullivan died suddenly in Australia on Sunday, November 5. The eldest of seven boys, the family await the results of a post mortem.

In the days after Anthony's death, friends launched a Go Fund Me page to cover repatriation and burial costs. The fund quickly surpassed its original target and is currently more than double. For Anthony's father, Paddy, a former principal of Anabla NS, the support has quite simply been "overwhelming".

"It's just incredible altogether. I was very apprehensive at first but Anthony's friends insisted it was what they wanted to do, particularly his good friend and classmate Daniel O'Leary. The money will go directly to funeral costs and everything raised above the target is going to the Kevin Bell Repatriation Foundation.

"Kevin's father Colin contacted the family to say they are simply dumbfounded by the amount of money that has been raised and that he is extremely grateful," Paddy stated.

Anthony's brothers Killian (29) and Patrick (30) who live in Darwin were at Anthony's hospital bedside when he died. They Skyped home so Paddy and other family members could say goodbye. "We were able to tune in and be there with him on video. Even though it was very traumatic and sad, it was great to have such technology."

A DJ who was known across Australia, Anthony previously played The Grand in Killarney and at various Kerry weddings. He had build up a wide network of friends since moving to Australia in February 2010.

"I just have no words to describe the support," said Paddy. "Anthony's friends in Australia have just been incredibly helpful to my sons."

"During the week Anthony's friends organised a walk from Coogee to Bondi and afterwards helium balloons were released. There was a flock of birds that flew over afterwards, twice, and that was so fitting for Anthony as he loved birds, in fact all animals," Paddy recalled.

"He used to breed budgies and pigeons at home, from the age of just 14."

"The Coogee Bay Hotel was Anthony's haunt and there were about 300 of his friends who gathered there to remember him last week. Some of them had been down already from Perth and Brisbane and they flew back down again, it was very touching," he added.

Anthony had recently cut back his DJing to weekends to be able to train in electrical work and Paddy had planned to travel to Australia in February to visit his sons. It was one of his last conversations with Anthony.

Anthony will be buried with his mother Sheila who lost her fight against cancer in 2004.
Christmas stress took its toll on councillors during a debate on plans for this year's Nollaig Christmas festival.

The row erupted over whether or not to hold a Christmas crafts and food market in the town.

District Manager Sinead Casey said the focus of Nollaig New Ross is to attract people to shop local and the promotion of local crafts and produce.

On Saturday, November 18, Santa will arrive on a sleigh from the parish church to The Tholsel. Cllr Willie Fitzharris will turn on the Christmas lights with New Ross Person of the Year Mary Browne.

Afterwards Santa will meet local children and distribute gifts. DJ Paul Kelly will MC the event.

St Michael's Theatre will show two Christmas movies free of charge to the public, sponsored by New Ross Chamber and Wexford County Council. South East Radio will broadcast live.

On Sunday, December 3, Santa and elves will arrive by boat via the River Barrow to the Boat Club. He will meet local children, distribute gifts and proceed to a disco in the Parish Pump. The Elf on the Shelf will visit and be photographed in various locations throughout the district from November 18 to December 24.

Prizes will be given for correct identification of the location of the smiley elf through social and local media.

Ms Casey said the Chamber is extending the Christmas lights in the town thanks to the generous contributions of local retailers.

A window display competition will run with local schools and clubs. Prizes will be presented to the school or club with the best festive window. Ms Casey said this initiative run by local volunteers, aims to use as many vacant property windows in town as possible.

Local craft workers who wish to sell their crafts to consider participating in pop-up shop for the Christmas period facilitated by Wexford County Council and New Ross Chamber of Commerce.

Ms Casey said a new sound system has been acquired providing festive music for the town centre. She said the lead party organising the festival was the chamber. Vacant buildings in the town centre will be decorated by school pupils and local clubs. She said festive craft fairs are taking place at venues across the district over the coming weeks.

'There has been a lot of misinformation and rumours circulating about Christmas markets. A proposal was sent in a month ago to bring a Christmas market to the town. It was considered upside down and inside out with the chamber. It would have involved a marquee, lights and event management. Stall holders or traders would be set up in a location in town over a weekend before Christmas.'

She said it would have cost 15,000. 'It's a lovely idea but retailers from outside the town would come here on the weekend of December 16. In fairness to the rate payers operating in the town the proposal was deferred until next year for further consideration. I want to put these rumours and misinformation to bed; it's not going to happen.'

Council officials will meet the event organisers in the spring and discuss the possibility of having a market in the town next year.

'As long as it's fair and equitable to all retailers in the town, that will be the basis for our discussions.'

Cllr Michael Whelan said he agreed with the district manager. 'I don't think it's a great idea to bring in outside traders to compete with loal businesses. Were these proposals brought here before they were even considered.

Cllr Michael Sheehan said: 'I agree. We should do everything we can to promote New Ross.'

He said the proposal was sent into New Ross Chamber of Commerce on June 9th 'and nothing happened with it since'.

'It has been investigated and it was decided that this is not going to go ahead but the proposal was not to displace any rate payers. It was a proposal to bring up to 20,000 people to the area. The proposal should be coming here first rather than coming to other sections.'

Cllr Sheehan said money would have been available to hold the market, adding that between 40 and 50 local traders could have been accommodated in the market. 'Wexford have a huge winter festival, as does Waterford and Kilkenny. We are caught in the middle where we don't have anything major. We should be prioritising that and give festivals three years to see if they work and bring a significant amount of people in.'

Cathaoirleach Cllr Willie Fitzharris said he was amazed that the incorrect procedures were followed.

'I would be totally against bringing in outside traders. People come into town to do their Christmas shopping. There have only so much in their pocket. If they are going into a festival they will be spending their money there.'

Cllr John Fleming the council is looking at increasing rates so the possibility of holding an event needs to be researched.

Cllr Larry O'Brien said: 'I would hate to be giving away money to outside traders.'

Ms Casey said: 'This proposal was brought forward and there wasn't enough information to give to the councillors and there wasn't enough consideration given to that proposal at the time. We will do further research as we also don't know the quality of the product and that will be researched.'

Cllr Fitzharris said the proposal went through the wrong channels, adding that the chamber of commerce are the best organisation to deal with such a proposal.

Cllr Whelan suggested that the market could be discussed at the next meeting with the chamber, which was agreed.
An Enterprise Centre is among a raft of plans Wexford County Council has for New Ross, people in attendance at the meeting heard.

Director of Services for Economic Development Tony Larkin said the council's main focus is on creating jobs across the county. He said a 25,000 sq ft advance factory is being developed on a site near Lake Region in Butlersland Industrial Estate.

'We are building an advance factory for IDA clients. It has been a while since New Ross has got a win from the UDA with Lake Region. We are in the process of procuring a partner developer who will build it and the county council will rent the empty building for 100,000 a year until an IDA client comes along. The guy who will build the best factory that we can rent at the lowest cost will be the winner.'

He said the building will have space to be expanded by up to 75 per cent if required. 'If we had that facility last year we would have filled it twice. We were dealing with companies who needed access to Rosslare and Belview ports. No one is interested in Greenfield sites as they want to be up and running within one year.'

An enterprise centre and business start-up hatch lab is planned for the town, Mr Larkin said.

'We have committed ourselves to a Hatch Lab in Gorey. This centre would provide genuine urban renewal in the heart of New Ross rather than going out to the outskirts.'

The council is working on acquiring a site. 'It's a longer term project than the advance factory.'

Mr Larkin said the local authority has acquired a site to create a logistics and distribution hub also in Butlersland Industrial Park.

'We are working with two companies. I would expect this to go ahead in the coming months.'

Plans to develop and expand Hook Heritage Lighthouse Centre were also outlined.

'It's easily the best tourist attraction in the region. They attract over 50,000 visitors to the tour each year and Failte Ireland is looking to double that number. The lighthouse also draws much more people to the area. I believe in it very strongly and it's being actively designed. We will help with land acquisition and match funding and help with technical advice and support.'

He said plans for a greenway from Rosslare to Waterford going through New Ross have been agreed in principal with Waterford council.

'It will really put New Ross on the map for tourists.'

Describing the Dunbrody Visitor Centre as a very successful project, he said: 'There is a very ambitious development plan to go into Murphy's furniture shop on the quay. The county council will help with the development, the business plan is still being prepared. It will be similar to the Hook centre with match funding provided and Failte Ireland are very helpful.'

The centre is one of three Failte Ireland plan to develop, the others being Hook Lighthouse Heritage Centre and Wells House near Gorey.

The council is in discussions with New Ross Port Company with a view to taking over managing its properties. This would include demolishing the unsightly tanks on the quay and freeing up property in the town.
Ben Benson's life was saved only by a combination of good fortune and quick thinking when he suffered a heart attack at his Saltmills home recently.

Vincent (Ben) Benson, of Benson Fuels, was working in the yard on September 30 when he took ill. 'I was out getting Ready Mix concrete ready with my brother-in-law. I said I wasn't feeling great and I felt a pain up my left arm. At 8.30 a.m. I came up from the yard and I was pumping sweat and yet I was absolutely freezing with the cold. Robert said he would bring me to the doctor. I laid down on the ground and Eugene rang 999. They got an ambulance from Waterford and they came across on the ferry. n the meantime someone got a defibrillator from Talaught. They rang Dominick Power and the ambulance put me on a drip.'

The ambulance took 29 minutes to arrive from Waterford. 'We thought it was 90 minutes. They were all working together and they made a decision to contact either Cork or Dublin and Cork accepted me. The ambulance men said if they were to drive me I wouldn't make it. It's good because I'm here today to talk about it.

'Luckily for me the helicopter wasn't that far away. They decided to land it in a big field over the road. They put me in an ambulance and brought me 600 yards to the field and I was told the helicopter would come from Waterford within minutes.'

When Ben arrived the helicopter was waiting for him.

'They wheeled me over and put me onto the helicopter. As we were going down the land the paramedics said I was having a heart attack. They saved my life. They said it took 20 minutes to get to Cork but it felt like 20 hours to me.'

When he arrived at Cork University Hospital Ben got three stents put in. 'I was too weak. No one ever told me I had a partly blocked artery.'

While in bed Ben was informed by his doctor that he would be sent to Wexford General Hospital, once an ambulance became available. That was on the Sunday. 'The following morning I was told I'd be going to Wexford, but there was no ambulance. The doctor told me I could be there up to six days waiting. Then, at 3 p.m., a fella said they were bringing me to Wexford General Hospital.'

When they arrived Ben was told he would have to enter through the Accident & Emergency Department. 'The ambulance driver tought this strange. We arrived at the back door and the man there said he shouldn't be leaving us in but that he would. This was a few days after I had almost died. The ambulance driver said to me "You left your fancy room in Cork to come down to this.'

Ben was placed on a trolley in the hall.

'It was like lambs going to the slaughter. They put me on this broken down trolley. I wanted a cup of tea and I needed to take my tablets. A nurse said she would get a doctor to see me and I would be sent home. She got me my tea and a gluten free sandwich and two tablets. She said she was going to send me home and when then I was informed I shouldn't be sent home.'

Ben had to ask the doctor to write a prescription for him. 'Years ago there is no way they would let you out without tablets, a prescription or someone to look after you.'

Ben said a follow up meeting should have been arranged and some advice offered.

'I couldn't do what I was told to do because I was never told. I had my dog at the vets in Wellingtonbridge and I left with a full page of instructions as to what to do with him and I got nothing. My blood pressure was in double figures when I went to the doctors in Duncannon having been released from the hospital. I am a coeliac. The doctor didn't believe me.'

Ben went to Cork on October 22nd and another three stents were put in.

'It was a shock that I needed more stents put in. Margaret almost had a heart attack when I was told by the doctor that I had a partially blocked artery and I, having spent the previous few weeks doing some work in the yard. I could've dropped. There was no communication about the stents.'

Ben appealed to the Government to finance 24/7 cardiac care in University Hospital Waterford. 'There are people dead today and they shouldn't be. I am alive because people made the right decision at the right time. I am in great order at the moment. I'm trying to see a man for my diabetes. If I don't get my bloods down I will have another heart attack.'

Ben praised the nurses in Cork and Wexford, describing them as 'absolutely super'.

A mobile unit for treating heart patients in Waterford, promised by the Government in response to local anger over cardiac facilities in the southeast, arrived in the city in September.

The mobile catheterisation lab caters for 30-45 patients a week, for a period of 20 weeks, at a cost of about 1 million.

The lab is expected to 'completely clear' waiting lists for patients requiring diagnostic angiography while on site at University Hospital Waterford.

The lab will not provide emergency cardiac care.

Since the idea of the mobile lab was mooted, over 300 Waterford patients have been treated in public and private hospitals in Cork under an outsourcing initiative of the local hospital group.

As a result, the maximum waiting time has been cut to under 12 months. Thirty per cent of people who were offered appointments in Cork turned them down. Waterford is only one of seven major cardiac services to operate daytime hours only. The absence of a night-time service in the southeast means emergency patients have to be brought by ambulance, or helicopter when available, to Dublin or Cork.

A cath lab is where angiograms are performed, along with scheduled and emergency stenting.

An Ireland East Hospital Group spokesperson said: 'We cannot comment on individual patients. When a consultant and bed manager require a patient to be transferred to another hospital, they are required to call the recipient hospital and speak with the bed manager and the consultant to ensure that a bed is available prior to transport of the patient. If a call is not made prior to the transport of a patient or if a bed is not available at the recipient hospital when a patient is sent from another hospital, the patient will be received and medically assessed through the Emergency Department.

'Regarding broken trolleys, all trolleys are regularly serviced at Wexford General Hospital. Faulty trolleys are taken out of service once staff are made aware. An orderly or security personnel assigned to the Emergency Department check trolleys on a daily basis.'
A number of New Ross businesspeople spoke up at the meeting, expressing grave concern about the effects the rates hike will have on the town.

Owner of the Cracked Teapot cafe on Quay Street, Tina Saridakis said: Everything that we heard tonight is really encouraging, but for the moment, with the long winter months ahead and the very short footfall on our streets, it will be very difficult to pay extra rates. Even to find (money for) rates at the moment is very difficult, not to mention finding money for all the other overheads.

Ms Saradakis said the town is very quiet from October until March. Head of Finance with Wexford County Council Annette ONeill said the bodys credit control team work closely with business owners who are finding it difficult to pay their rates.

She said a payment plan can be agreed where the majority of money owed for rates can be paid during the busier summer season.

We work with rate payers who want to pay us and we go very hard after those who defiantly ignore us.

Ms Saradakis said two businesses have relocated from her street in recent weeks. We will have two vacant shops beside us and an increase in rates will put people off opening up. Are there incentives for people using properties that are closed as a lot of businesses have gone from the town?

Director of Services for Economic Development Tony Larkin said New Ross has suffered more than most areas.

He said rates are an essential part of the councils income which is needed to drive an ambitious programme for the town and area.

I am in the council 37 years and in all that time we have been waiting for someone else to fix our problems. Waiting for the IDA, for Failte Ireland, for a minister. To some extent Wexford has been lagging behind in terms of employment and wages, especially. Realistically every business has been affected.

He said the council has a specific scheme designed to bring properties which have been vacant for more than one year back into use. Under the scheme 75 per cent of the fit out costs can be used as a rebate in year one and 50 and 25 per cent can be deducted in year two and year three.

New Ross District Director Eamonn Hore said North Street and John Street are being developed and with work ongoing on developing Goat Hill and the High Hill site, along with tourism trails, the Quay Street area will see a marked increase in footfall.

Ray Lawlor of Lawlors Menswear on North Street said: I have never seen an audience so quiet and timid. I am assuming they are like me, shocked. I assumed we were going to get an information meeting and now it appears we are hear to learn the council are going to increase the harmonisation process and the rates at the same time.

He asked if councillors will be voting on the rates increase and on completing the rates harmonisation process in 2018 and how long the 15 per cent rates reduction scheme will be in place. He also asked what time of year the rates have to be paid.

Ms ONeill said the 15 per cent will have to be phased back to the general Rates Incentive Scheme over a number of years. It will be a decision of the councillors in every budget year.

She said: The deadline for the current Rates Incentive scheme is April and October, depending on the payment method, but we may consider a third date for ratepayers affected by harmonisation. We will work with the rate payers in New Ross to get this across the line.

Cllr Michael Sheehan said the enterprise centre will create between 50 and 70 jobs. These people will have to go somewhere to eat and to shop. I think it will be a fantastic facility to have on that side of the town. No other area can harmonise their rates unless we all harmonise together. The inflow of rates coming in will be greater from other areas than what is generated here so rate payers from Wexford, Enniscorthy and Gorey will bring benefit to here.

He said charity shops and other businesses do not have to pay rates, adding that this is unfair on rate paying businesses in the area.

You are paying rates and they are not. If someone has the courage to open a business we should do everything we can to ensure that minimum barriers are there. We need to make that jump and look at all of the property put in front of us. The bulk of these projects will be completed by 2019. Other local authorities are willing to put the money in, in Kilkenny, Wexford and Waterford. We dont have the luxury of sitting by and hoping that everything will go well.

Cllr Oisin OConnell suggested that the council bring the Rates Incentive Scheme up to 18 per cent. Ms ONeill said: 15 per cent would be palatable for the rate payers and also beneficial for the council.

Cathaoirleach of New Ross Municipal District Cllr Willie Fitzharris said: No elected official wants to put rates on people but when we studied it and as elected members we have a duty to progress industry and commerce in the New Ross district and without money we cannot do that.

Director of Services for Economic Development Tony Larkin said the council CEO Tom Enright has committed to not increasing rates in 2019.

Mr Larkin said the council is in the middle of a housing crisis so more money is being devoted to this area also.

Cllr Michael Whelan said the plans for the New Ross area look great. It would be great to have the money to do this, he said.

Cllr John Fleming said the big problem for local businesses is that the economic recovery has not reached the area.

We have felt no bounce here. The whole area is in transition. Were getting roads and gas but it seems the shops are not getting the benefit.

The fact that rates and property tax rates are rising further exacerbates matters for business owners, he said.

We need to get your views. Is this the straw that breaks the camels back?

Chamber of Commerce President John McSweeney said some businesses will have to look at their own business model.

Ask yourselves What have we been doing and if we have been doing the same thing year on year and we are getting the same results - its time to look inside and say maybe my business model isnt correct. Look at my pricing, my customer service etc.

He said businesses are opening in New Ross and everyone would love to see changes happen at a faster pace, adding, but its improving and there will be further improvements in less than 18 months and that will benefit businesses in New Ross. You may have to make these changes so you are best placed to benefit your business.
Two panels of the Ros Tapestry: Arrogant Trespass: The Norman Landing at Bannow Strand and The Siege of Wexford were on exhibition in Wexford Library for the duration of the Wexford Opera Festival.

On Thursday, November 2, a very entertaining and informative presentation on how the tapestries came about and the history associated with them was given by Eithne Scallan in Wexford Library.

Eithne wrote A Tale Told in Thread, an account of the 150 plus voluntary embroiderers, mostly from County Wexford, but some from further afield, who stitched threads of history, who patiently and skilfully over more than 17 years embroidered 15 panels of the magnificent Ros Tapestry.

A Tale Told In Thread consists of 15 panels that depict the history of New Ross, the most important port in Ireland in the late 1200s.

The detailed designs for the tapestries was begun 18 years ago and has been praised by Michelle Obama, among other dignitaries. They have been viewed by tens of thousands of visitors at the Ros Tapestry on the quay in New Ross.

The Ros Tapestry is one of the largest series of embroidered tapestries in Europe.

Each tapestry depicts a different significant event in the history of the town and surrounding areas. New Ross is central to at least four counties which were heavily influenced by the Normans, Wexford, Waterford, Kilkenny and Carlow and their tales are richly told in thread here at Ros Tapestry.
A householder who slipped and fell on porch tiles breaking his left ankle sued Sligo County Council in a personal injuries action lasting three days at the High Court in Sligo.

The court was told that Thomas Keegan of 1 McNeill Drive, Cranmore was returning home after attending a funeral after which he had been drinking. He had drank five pints when the accident happened as he entered his house.

An engineer called on behalf of the plaintiff described the tiles in the porch as semi-glazed mosaic but this was disputed by an engineer called on behalf of the defendants. It was agreed however that the tiles posed a moderate to low risk of slipping when wet and that after the accident they were concreted over by the Council which was doing up the houses in the street at the time as part of the Cranmore Regeneration Programme.

The court heard that Mr Keegan, who was represented by Mr John Finlay SC instructed by Mr Michael Quigley, solicitor, had moved into his house as a tenant in 2004. It was claimed by the defendants that the plaintiff had never complained about the tiles before the accident though he had lodged some 39 complaints regarding other issues over the years.

The Council was represented by Mr Peter Bland SC with Mr Eoin Armstrong, solicitor.

Mr Keegan insisted he had mentioned the tiles were slippy to regeneration staff. He admitted to having had five pints after the funeral before going home on the day of the accident on November 18th 2013.

The plaintiff recalled how he walked up to his house, his foot slipped on the tiles which threw him forward.

He managed with his left hand to put the key in the door and with his right hand open it before falling forward but twisting his ankle and breaking it.

Mr Keegan, who was using a walking stick, was questioned by Mr Bland regarding a subsequent accident he had on July 13th 2014 when he had slipped off the pavement and had x-rays taken at Sligo University Hospital of his left ankle, the same one he had fractured.

The plaintiff admitted that he hadn't mentioned this accident to his orthopaedic surgeon Mr William Gaine and that he had answered no when filling out a PIAB for on February 31st 2015 when asked if he had any accidents in the previous five years.

Mr Keegan said this accident was just a slip. "I just went in to check if I did any more damage to my ankle. It wasn't an injury," he said. The x-ray showed no damage.

He had plates in his ankle still at that stage following the original fall at his house. Mr Keegan, who once worked in construction, said he always brought the stick with him when he left his house as he got pain in his ankle whenever the ground was uneven or when he had to negotiate steps.

He insisted he had made the regeneration team aware that he wished to bring his front door out so that the porch would be enclosed. Mr Gaine told the court he first examined the plaintiff on May 19th 2015 and on two further occasions. He said the injury suffered by Mr Keegan was worse than the normal ankle fracture as it involved the tibia and fibula.

It was described as a pylon fracture. The plaintiff had plates inserted on both sides of the ankle in an operation carried out the day after the accident. He was subsequently in a plaster cast for ten weeks. Mr Keegan developed a wound infection and this had to be treated with antibiotics and dressings for a number of weeks.

Mr Gaine noted that some fifteen years earlier, Mr Keegan had been involved in a crash in which he had hurt his neck.

The witness said that while the ankle mended, he was left with stiffness and pain in it especially when walking on uneven ground, going up stairs or when on long walks. He was walking with a slight limp.

One of the metal plates was removed in November 2015 and the other in August 2016. This gave him some local improvement but he still required pain killers at night. In June 2017 witness saw the plaintiff again and there was no significant change in his circumstances.

He still got discomfort in bed at night or if he was on his feet for long periods.

Mr Gaine said he could not rule out the need for further surgery which may be fusing of the ankle. He agreed this was an infrequent operation, having done just two in the past two to three years.

Engineer, Mr Tom O'Brien told the court he attended at the plaintiff's house on February 16th 2015 where a slip alert test device which is calibrated was subsequently carried out.

Its findings were that the tiles, which he described as unglazed and rough to touch, presented a moderate to low risk of slipping in wet conditions. There was also a rubber mat in place which Mr O'Brien said he dried out regularly. Mr O'Brien said the porch was exposed and facing the prevailing wind in what is a seaside town. He viewed the tiles as being semi-glazed and believed an external, unglazed tile should have been used.

On the morning of the court he visited the estate again and saw that most of the 62 houses he had seen, some 52 of them, had blocked off the porches with another door or had concrete instead of tiles.

Nine still had tiles in place on an open porch but he was not sure what type they were. Mr O'Brien said the plaintiff had told him he had stepped on to the porch when he slipped, struggled with his balance and fell.

Mr Bland said the council did not fit doors enclosing the porches in Cranmore as these were more problematic and the ones seen by the witness must have been privately installed.

Morgan Duggan, consultant forensic engineer, on behalf of the defence, in evidence said he visited the house on May 17th and said the tiles were grimy and dirty. There were two mats in place, one rubber and the other brush and wire. The tiles were 20 millimetre square. Four slip tests were carried out and an unglazed tile had a low to medium risk of causing slipping when wet.

"But this tile presented good grip to my shoes when wet," he said. He noted there were many similar mosaic tiles at shop and pub fronts around Sligo, particularly in O'Connell Street.

Witness said mosaic tiles were durable, easy to clean and aesthetically pleasing and this was why they were used at shop fronts.

Mr Duggan told Mr Finlay that the slip test was on the cusp of low and he believed the tiles were appropriate for the location.

Marisa Moran of the Cranmore Regeneration Project told the court said in the ten years she was working there no porch was enclosed by the council because of a potential trip hazard. All requests for repairs were logged she said and none had been received from the plaintiff regarding tiles in his porch. There was one complaint from the householder living next door to the plaintiff which was received on November 27th 2015 and on January 7th 2016 the porch was concreted over.

Estate Officer at Cranmore since 2014, Noel Meehan, who was also previously Clerk of Works there, said a new windows and doors programme was introduced in 2011 for 43 houses which included the plaintiff's.

Witness called to the plaintiff on April 27th 2011 who wanted one window blocked up. There was no mention of his wanting the porch closed in. On October 26th 2011, witness again called to Mr Keegan's home and he wanted an extra open sash for ventilation in an upstairs window and solid panels at the bottom of the front door instead of glazing. Agreement was reached on this and new pvc windows and doors were installed.

"He did not discuss bringing out the door to cover the porch," said Mr Meehan.

To enclose the porch would necessitate the moving of the ESB meter box. The plaintiff did raise concerns about the chimney. In submissions at the conclusion of the evidence, Mr Finlay argued that though Mr Keegan was a tenant, the local authority remained the occupier within the meaning of the Occupiers Liability Act.

The council therefore owed Mr Keegan common duty of care. A surface presenting a moderate risk of slipping was not providing a duty of care for the occupant, he said. He added that the question arose of whether the house was fit for human habitation due to the exposed entrance.

"And, I say not if it presents a hazard when wet," said Mr Finlay.

Mr Bland submitted that there can be more than one occupier and that there were two for social housing, the landlord and the tenant. He said the porch was negotiated thousands of times in the nine years the plaintiff was living there. He said the description and mechanism of how the accident befell Mr Keegan was unreliable.

"His account of how he came to grief is incredible and not credible," said Mr Bland.

Mr Bland also submitted that whether the tiles were glazed or not they did have slip resistance.

"It was found to be at the cusp of low to medium risk when wet and that is not a danger in a small porch negotiated safely thousands of times by the plaintiff," he said. He stressed that the duty of care is not mechanical in its application and that there had to be recognition of the practicalities of life.

Mr Justice Anthony Barr reserved his judgement saying he would deliver it in a couple of weeks' time in Dublin.
A plan by the County Council, IDA and IT Sligo to lease a floor of the Building Block has come to an abrupt end.

Requests for a report into the plan, which was promoted enthusiastically earlier in the year by the council, was met with a straightforward response that it was no longer proceeding with the project which was also to involve IT Sligo and the IDA.

It had been proposed that a ten year contract/lease would be entered into with the owners of the building and the cost per year for the first floor would be in excess of 100,000 - a quarter to be paid by the Council, a quarter by the I.T. and half by the IDA.

This now all appears to have fallen by the wayside.

On Monday this week the Council told The Sligo Champion: "Issues in relation to the 'Building Block' are a matter for the owners of the property, Sligo County Council will not be commenting further at this stage."

There was no further explanation forthcoming.

The council's involvement in the project was through the Local Enterprise Office.

Councillor Declan Bree had asked the council for a report on the council's plans and had initially been informed that negotiations were ongoing and that a report would issue in due course to the council.

In a statement, the co-founders of The Building Block, Denise Rushe and John Monahan told The Champion: "The negotiations between the building owner and the IDA/Council have been separate to The Building Block collaborative space.

"The Building Block continues to grow and develop with a roll out of immediate 10 new desks and future plans to move upstairs within the building.

"The events space has been host to many significant events in recent months and welcomed many visiting international companies.

"We have also noted an increase in hot desk use and desk rental demand, and continue to support the local entrepreneurial eco-system, acting as a hub for startups, SMEs and entrepreneurs."

On May 18th last an SPC meeting of the Council was told by John Reilly of the Local Enterprise Office that the building, which is owned by a pension trust- Everards Trustees had developed the ground floor into an ultra-modern shared office space geared towards the high tech and creative industries sector.

The proposals involving three parties: IDA Ireland, IT Sligo and Sligo County Council (LEO) were for a broadly similar development on the first floor of the building.

Councillors were informed that the legal documentation was imminent via the IDA Property Division (the lead negotiator) and may contain the following:  10 year lease with a break clause at year 5 subject to around 9 month's rent penalty;

 IDA Ireland to take 50% stake; SCC(LEO) and IT Sligo 25% each - rental and other costs to be paid pro-rata;

 A basic rental cost payable via the LEO of 12,308 p.a. plus vat - after fit out charges (to bring the first floor to the same type of modern standard as is the case with the ground floor), utilities, cleaning, etc are factored in, the overall annual cost is anticipated to be 26,475 plus vat.

Mr. Reilly stated that the key rationale for involvement in the project was to put in place in the centre of the city an asset in terms of enterprise and economic development that will project Sligo as a modern top class location for business.

Potentially, businesses from outside of the region can operate on a small scale, get a feel for the potential of Sligo, the services, facilities and quality of life on offer.

He stated that the availability of such a venue for local progressive businesses to network, learn from each other and grow will assist indigenous business development.

A scenario involving a number of businesses setting up larger operations, having sampled what is on offer in the facility, is one that all concerned will work towards.

The members were informed that the maximum rent receivable (based on 100% occupancy) would be in the region of 39,000 to 42,000.
Bankrupt businessman Finbarr Filan still intends running as a candidate for political party Renua Ireland in either the next local or General election.

The former developer announced his bankruptcy last week to the tune of 15 million.

He doesn't regret going public and says the response he's received so far has been "very good."

"I've had three people into our shop who are not far behind me in the same process. I've been surprised by the amount of people who are affected by it," he told this newspaper.

For Finbarr, there was no relief at the High Court in Dublin where he declared bankruptcy.

"Relief is the wrong word. It's hard to describe it. It's not a line being drawn in the sand, it's the start of the line being drawn.

"I will have to work with the Insolvency Agency over the next few years. It's the start of the end. You're glad it's going to be over eventually. You know you're getting towards the end of a traumatic time in your life," he said.

He maintains the issue of both personal and business insolvency is "a huge issue out there" and people don't realise how bad it is.

"If people think the whole Tracker mortgage is a scandal, there's 70,000 people in debt and that's just personal," he said.

"There are over 32,000 mortgages in arrears over two years. These people will end up having to have some kind of debt settlement with the banks but the banks aren't playing ball," he said.

Finbarr says the banks are not acting fairly in the whole banking crisis but believes High Court Judge Justice Marie Baker is, to coin a phrase, starting to 'put manners on them'.

"The banks are continuing to take silly issues to court to delay matters. Justice Marie Baker is doing great work," he said.

He supports calls by anti-cartel campaigners such as founder of the International Small Business Alliance Seamus Maye for a public savings bank system to be introduced in Ireland.

Finbarra also points to the fact that a public banking system was included in the Renua Ireland General Election manifesto last year.

"We were the only party calling for public banking but it's fallen on deaf ears because the Government doesn't want to break up the cosy cartel of the banks," he said.

"Public banking is the way forward. We do need to do it," he added.

He also believes in business-to-business banking where businesses can lend to businesses directly and cut out the middle man.

For this reason perhaps, Finbarr is still planning to run as the Sligo Leitrim Renua candidate in either the next local or general election: "I believe the local elections in 2019 will be held first."
Sligo born TV star Scott Fredericks was remembered as "a man who danced to his own tune" at his funeral last week.

The actor and latterly radio drama director passed away peacefully at Sligo University Hospital last Monday 6th November "with a quiet smile on his face." Born Frederick Wehrly in Strandhill in 1943, Scott was educated by the Cistercians and worked in Bond Street, London before following his heart's desire and joining RADA. In his homily at Fredericks' funeral in Sligo Cathedral last Thursday, Canon Niall Ahern said the late actor was employed by Warner Brothers and had even played billiards with Fred Astaire. He told mourners that Scott was the first person to write and produce a one man show on WB Yeats. He also said Scott's 12-part drama on Fionn MacCumhaill would be the sort of thing that could be taken up by animators Cartoon Saloon.

The father of Mark and Paul, starred in Dr Who and Blake 7 TV series and in the last ten years of his life worked for RTE as a radio drama director.

"Scott never waivered from his professional integrity. Even this morning we have received tributes from Bucharest of his standards," said Canon Ahern. "He danced to his own tune. He composed his first song at 15 and formed his own band then. He stretched out his artistic talent to pottery, carving, woodwork. He loved the natural and the pure, that permeated into his social conscience," he said.

"He felt everyone should live their dream and be given the supports to do so. As Mary said last night, he was a man for every man," he said. Mourners were told that it was his personal bravery towards the end of his life that will be his defining characteristic: living with an aneurysm and only part of one lung.

"He cut quite a dash in hospital with a cigarette in one hand and respirator in the other," said Canon Ahern. Scott's son Mark gave the eulogy, thanking his uncle Tony Wehryl and aunt Irma Morgan for providing "essential companionship" and being "amazing over the last three years."

"Scott had a very interesting career and was justifiably proud of Blake 7 and Dr Who, which won him adulation from critics and fans alike," said Mark. Scott was laid to rest in Sligo Cemetery.
The centenary of one of Sligo and Ireland's most prominent 19th century figures will be celebrated at a special conference during Science Week at IT Sligo.

The life work of William Gregory Wood-Martin, who died on November 16th 1917, will be honoured at the conference this Saturday with speakers from the disciplines of archaeology, folklore and history talking about his contributions.

Born in Sligo, on July 16, 1847 as the only child of James Wood and Anne Martin, he was heir to both the Woodville and Cleveragh estates in Sligo. Wood-Martin received his early education at home, and completed his academic training first in Switzerland, and then in Belgium. By 1866 he had joined the army and served as a lieutenant Colonel in the 8th Brigade, North Irish Division between 1883 and 1902, spending the remainder of his military career attached to the Sligo Artillery and the Sligo Rifles.

He received medals for his service as an Aide-de-Camp from three successive British Monarchs; Victoria (1897), Edward VII (1902), and George V (1911). By 1877 Wood-Martin had returned to Cleveragh House, his mothers' family home in the east of Sligo town, to care for his ailing father. He was active in his community and served as a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant of the County.

William G. Wood-Martin's importance rests primarily on his valuable contributions to Irish archaeological, folkloric and historical research. He carried out a range of excavations in Ireland including a number of the megalithic monuments at Carrowmore and the court tomb at Deerpark in Co. Sligo.

His 'Sligo and the Enniskilleners', 1688-1691, published in 1880, was followed by his 3-volume History of Sligo, County and Town, published between 1882 and 1892, and is widely regarded as a work of national as well as local importance.

For more see https://cromlechscrannogscures.wordpress.com/
A 30-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to the murder of a 59-year-old musician who was stabbed to death in his home.

Martin (Mattie) Kivlehan died from two stab wounds to the neck, the murder trial at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin of Keith Brady was told on Monday.

Brady of Cartron Estate has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Kivlehan at New Apartments, Holborn Street on August 2/3 2015. The plea was not accepted by the prosecution.

Paul Murray SC (prosecuting) told the jury that the deceased was a bachelor and people would often visit his house for a drink. On the Sunday night of August 2nd and the following Bank Holiday Monday, Keith Brady and his sister Janice Brady were in Mr Kivlehans house and while they were there Mr Kivlehan died.

His body was found the next day and a pathologists report showed that he had two stab wounds on either side of his neck. The pathologists report, Mr Murray said, would show that one of the wounds went to a depth of 7.8cm while the other was 9cm deep. Death was not immediate but would have been rapid, brought on by blood haemorrhage.

Counsel added that a toxicology report would show that the deceased had high levels of alcohol in his system. Mr Murray told the jury they must decide whether Mr Kivlehans death amounted to murder or manslaughter.

He explained that in order for them to bring a verdict of murder the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused intended to kill or cause serious injury to Mr Kivlehan.

Under Irish law, he explained, an accused person is presumed to intend the natural and probable consequences of their actions. He then asked: What are the natural and probable consequences of stabbing a person, not once, but twice, on either side of the neck?

Detective Garda Eoin Conway told Mr Murray he took photos of the house where Mr Kivlehans body was found. He said the apartment was in a general state of untidiness. He identified an armchair which had blood staining and was surrounded by rubbish and beer cans.

A duvet visible in one of the photos had been covering Mr Kivlehans body. The trial is expected to last at least a week and is before Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of five men and seven women. Earlier, Janice Brady pleaded guilty to impeding the arrest or prosecution of a person believed to have committed murder and the matter was adjourned for sentencing.
"How dare I earn a decent wage," says train driver Patrick Sheerin outside MacDiarmada Station last week.

"When I read in certain media outlets that we only push a few buttons...I seem to be one of the best paid train drivers in the whole of Europe but it's far from it," he adds, clearly frustrated.

Patrick is on the picket line as part of the ongoing rail strikes over pay. Today will be their third day of industrial action in a dispute that remains deadlocked after talks between unions and Irish Rail management broke down last month.

He is joined by fellow train driver Padraig O'Gara, ticket inspector Declan Doherty and clerical worker Katherine McDonagh.

They are all taking turns to man the picket line outside the deserted station and are more than happy to talk to The Sligo Champion.

Patrick has been a train driver in Sligo for the last 25 years. Padraig for the last 14 years. Both have seen their job become "thankless" in the last decade since the recession, between cuts to Government funding, cuts to staff and pressure from the travelling public.

"Another amazing thing is that we're meant to be on 62,000 a year. I keep reading this and it's a fallacy, completely," says Patrick. "Most of us are on 48 hour contracts, we work every second weekend, going to Dublin and back in the same day.

"We spend over a year training in Dublin and then spend 500 hours out learning with a driver, getting the knowledge of the track," he says.

"There's more and more pressure on us. Not just from our company - they're getting pressure from the Government to extract more (productivity) from staff but there's a lot of pressure from the public as well," he says.

Pressure from the public is mounting through social media: "If something happens on the track or around a station, it's often got to management before staff themselves even know about it," says Patrick.

"It's so easy on social media to spit your vitriol or your hate towards somebody. But when people actually physically come up and talk to you it's amazing how they understand," he says.

"It's also forgotten that we also pay taxes. And as for this gold-plated pension- someone on the dole gets a bigger pension than I will. That's something we're also fighting for, a respectable pension," he adds.

Both train drivers believe the dispute should never have gone as far as industrial action.

The unions had brokered a deal and at the eleventh hour the CEO makes a phone call at the end to call the whole lot off. It shouldnt have come to that, says Padraig.
Greystones Players are delighted to present Connections at Whale Theatre, a diverse and entertaining evening of romance, comedy and farce. Four one-act plays explore variations on love, relationships and our expectations of theatre.

While the Auto Waits is adapted by Walter Wykes from a short story by the renowned American writer O. Henry, whose stories are famous for their ironic twists and surprise endings. Through an encounter between a young man and woman, the play explores social identities and romantic fantasy while adroitly undermining character and audience expectations.

Sure Thing, by the acclaimed playwright David Ives, cleverly examines the endless variations of boy meets girl and the ensuing pick-up lines. The nature of 'romantic' love and choice is explored: How do two people decide to get together? How do couples play to each other's expectations? How quick are we to jump to conclusions and exclude possibilities?

In Post-Its, by veteran playwrights Winnie Holzman and Paul Dooley, an actor and actress read the post-it notes left for each other by a couple that span the duration of their lives together. Comical and moving, Post-Its explores the ups and downs of a relationship that has inadvertently been captured on scraps of paper.

In Michael Frayn's metatheatrical comedy Audience, the characters are actually watching the audience, expecting them to perform, and comedy ensues as Frayn holds a mirror up to the audience in which they might see some of their own foibles.

The plays will be on at Whale Theatre on Thursday and Friday, November 23 and 24, at 8 p.m. Tickets are 12 and available from whaletheatre.ie.
To get the best out of yourself and life, it is important you are healthy and feel good in mind, body and spirit.

Walking is a great and free way to get moving, boost health and creativity, and feel connected and alive. The benefits are powerful.

66% of Irish adults don't meet basic exercise requirements (Healthy Ireland Report). The standard global recommendation is 150 minutes of moderate (e.g. brisk walking) exercise per week for adults (World Health Organisation). It is an hour per day for children and adolescents.

Physically, walking has so many health benefits. It promotes longevity, bone and muscle health (reducing fracture risk) and helps in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other metabolic diseases, cancer, depression, anxiety, obesity, and many other illness. There are many examples of physical activity alleviating symptoms and pain and boosting mood in those with chronic conditions like back pain. It helps us feel energised. Depending on how we are inside when we walk it can have even greater benefits for the mind, senses and spirt. Walking offers moments of solitude allowing us to reflect and connect inwards as well as an opportunity to connect nature and others - all bringing value to our lives.

The setting makes all the difference. The Japanese practice of forest bathing has many benefits from lowering the heart rate and blood pressure, and reducing stress hormone production to boosting the immune system, and improving the overall feeling of wellbeing. Green exercise, or exercise in nature, is of great interest to researchers who are seeing improvements in ability to cope with stress by interacting in nature and the affect of on our senses.

Moreover, walking lifts our spirit and boosts creativity. It connects us to ourselves and our environment which prepares us to be more connected to life. If we allow it, it brings us fully into the present. As the forest bathing studies show and as we know and feel when walking on a beautiful beach, we get even more benefits from powerful natural settings. Walking also builds momentum for solving problems and getting things done. It de-stresses. When we fully move with the motion, it moves us emotionally and mentally too.

There are relatively few injuries from walking. However, as a caution, if you really want to get the full benefits, minimise phone use and other distractions. Hospitals in the US and probably around the world are experiencing increases in accidents related to technology and walking. The Germans call people that walk engrossed in smart phones-smombies-smartphone + zombies.

As well as risking accidents, Smombies are missing out. To enjoy all the benefits of walking, as with anything in life, allow yourself to be fully engaged in the walk and connect with the setting you are in.

When at work, a walk around your office as a break from desk work gives new ideas. If you can, take the stairs not the lift. These small changes bring great benefits cumulatively at physical, mental and emotional level.

Happy healthy centenarians integrate exercise into their daily lives. For any of us to be at our best it is important we do to.

As Mr Vincent Van Gogh wrote in a letter to his brother, "Always continue walking a lot and loving nature, for that's the real way to understand art better and better".

So get out and walking this week and watch the results!
Michelle Roche; Paul Roche, President of the Irish Institute of Master Mariners; Andrew Sheen, President of the Irish Chamber of Shipping, and Ayshea Sheen

Over 160 people from around the country were treated to some top class Wicklow hospitality as the Irish Institute of Master Mariners and the Irish Chamber of Shipping held the Marine Ball in the Arklow Bay Hotel.

It's four years since the ball was last held in Arklow and Mary O'Neill, vice president of the Irish Chamber of Shipping, said it is one of the biggest events of the year.

'Arklow has always had a strong connection with the mariners, so it was great to honour the town,' said Mary.

There was several guest of honours at the event, including Commodore Hugh Tully from the Irish Navy; Conor Mowlds, director of the National Maritime College of Ireland; Liam Lacey, director of the Irish Maritime Development Office; and Michael Kingston, Global Maritime Lawyer of the Year 2016.

Speaking at the event, Cllr Tommy Annesley, cathaoirleach of the Arklow Municipal District, congratulated everyone for their hard work and said that it was 'great to see the local Maritime of Ireland branch to get together with the national organisation.'
Maeve, Grace, Sylvester and Susie Delahunt outside the store on its last day of trading last Saturday

SV Delahunt and Co., the hardware store that has been at the heart of Wicklow town for 147 years, ceased trading on Saturday.

Proprietors Syl Delahunt and his wife Grace marked the day with a special event celebrating the history of the store, its employees, customers and suppliers.

Syl's great grandfather, Thomas Delahunt, opened a bar and grocery in 1870 on Wicklow's Main Street, where The Mariner public house is now located. His son, Sylvester, moved the business to its current location at Abbey Hill in 1907.

In the 1950s, the next generation took the helm. Tom Delahunt, ably assisted by Store Manager Pat Dunne, expanded the business, adding a bottling facility and builders providers.

In the late 1970s, Syl, the fourth generation, began working in the business, and has been a mainstay of the retail community for almost 40 years.

Speaking at the event in the store on Saturday, Syl Delahunt said: 'As the proud fourth generation son of this wonderful business, it has been a very tough decision to cease trading. We have been blessed to have had an abundance of the hardest working people in Wicklow and I wish to extend a sincere and genuine "thank you" to each and every one of our employees for being part of our extended family through the years.

'To our loyal customers - we cannot thank you enough. Our mission was always to serve the people of Wicklow in a professional, courteous and friendly manner, and it has been my privilege to have been a part of that tradition. I would also like to thank our wonderful suppliers, many of them local family businesses. We have really enjoyed doing business with you.'

Many local business people, customers and former employees joined Syl, Grace and their family to officially mark the closing of the store.

The hardware store's Facebook page has also been inundated with good wishes from those sad to see this landmark Wicklow business close its doors.
Libraries in County Wicklow are set to benefit from 161,515 in Government funding as announced last week by the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring TD.

The funding will allow for the modernisation of the local library service and for the extension of opening hours.

The announcement coincided with Wicklow's hosting of The Library Association of Ireland Public Libraries Section annual conference in Tinakilly House.

Minister Andrew Doyle said this latest funding represents unprecedented Government investment in Wicklow's public libraries.

'This investment package comprises 121,136 from the Department of Rural and Community Development, supplemented by additional funding of 40,379 from Wicklow County Council. This funding is in addition to significant funding already provided by Minister Ring's Department for public libraries here this year.

'Here in Wicklow this investment will enable the implementation of our new public library strategy which will be launched early next year and which will be focused on modernising the public library service and enhancing the range and quality of services available to users.

'It's an ambitious strategy which is aimed at increasing library membership and usage of our public libraries,' said Minister Doyle
Irish hair stylist Andrew Fitzsimons has been Kourtney Kardashian's personal stylist for the past two years but he turned his attention to little sister Kylie for her latest shoot.

Kylie has just announced she is teaming up with Topshop and he Kyle Cosmetics pop-ups will be selling in seven Topshop stores across the US.

Andrew is known for tending to the tresses of Hollywood A-listers and music stars from Mariah Carey to Bella Hadid to Adele and he started working with the Kardashians when Kendall Jenner launched her modelling career in New York.

He then became big sister Kourtney's personal stylist, and told Indepedent.ie about their first meeting, "I worked with the family in New York two years ago for Fashion Week. I think it was Kanyes first season for Yeezy. I did Kourtneys hair and when she walked in we were both wearing the same outfit; a band tee, ripped skinny jeans and boots. We got on really well.

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"Kourtney is a great friend. I see her almost every day. Kim is amazing too."

He is the man responsible for Kourney's new lob and he has styled Kylie's hair for her latest campaign.

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She's known for frequently wearing long wigs of various hues but this is a much more pared back look as it's a beauty campaign rather than a hair shoot.

Fitzsimons look from the Kylie Cosmetics campaign will be in the windows of Topshop stores in Los Angeles, Miami, NYC, Chicago, Las Vegas, Houston and Atlanta.

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The 29-year-old celebrity hairdresser has a massive following on social media and as a feminist and LGBTQ+ activist, he uses his platforms and connections to do all he can for the community in his adopted hometown of LA.

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Victoria Beckham has paid tribute to one of her biggest inspirations in the fashion world, Azzedine Alaia, who has died aged 77.

Alaia was sometimes dubbed the king of cling for the form-fitting designs he first made popular during the 1980s and updated over the decades.

Beckham was among a number of famous faces from the world of fashion who paid tribute, as she shared a photograph of Alaia on Instagram.

She wrote: A sad day. Rest in peace @azzedinealaiaofficial The world is a far less beautiful place today without you. You were a true master and one of my biggest inspirations.

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American-Canadian actress Jennifer Tilly shared a photograph of herself wearing one of the designers gowns and said Alaia helped define Hollywood glamour for over 30 years.

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Project Runway judge Nina Garcia wrote: A fashion legend and true original. We will miss this creative genius.

Kris Jenner  mother of the Kardashian clan  tweeted: What a beautiful gift you werethank you for all of the wonderful memories.. RIP.

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The French Haute Couture Federation announced Tunisian-born Alaias death on Saturday without providing details.
Police opened fire on protesters escorting Raila Odinga, Kenya's opposition leader, from Nairobi's international airport yesterday, killing at least five people in an ominous escalation of the country's political crisis.

For the first time since protests erupted more than three months ago, serious violence erupted in the affluent centre of the Kenyan capital as police attempted to prevent Mr Odinga from addressing a rally called at a city park.

The car carrying Mr Odinga, who was returning from a trip to the United States and Britain, was struck by a tear-gas canister that splintered its bullet-proof windscreen, an incident that goaded his supporters into further fury.

Helmeted police used tear gas, water cannon and live fire to disperse stone-throwing protesters during repeated clashes along streets which the opposition motorcade passed. There was also violence in other parts of the city.

Although at least 66 people have been killed since Mr Odinga challenged his defeat in a presidential election in August, this is the first time that the opposition leader has been directly caught up in such extreme unrest.

A police decision to ban his homecoming rally, also a first, coupled with the ruthless police response, suggests that Kenya's government may be adopting a more hardline approach to the protests.

The police insisted they had not used live ammunition and were responsible for none of the deaths. Journalists and witnesses who saw three corpses said all had bullet wounds.

Senior figures in Mr Odinga's opposition, the National Super Alliance (Nasa) coalition, warned it could prove more incendiary too.

"The wanton use of force is ill-advised," Mutual Kilonzo Jr, an opposition senator, wrote on Twitter. "It will only strengthen the resolve of Nasa and its supporters."

Kenya is experiencing its worst political violence in a decade as anger simmers over two contentious presidential elections held in the past three months.

The first saw President Uhuru Kenyatta's re-election overturned by the supreme court.

The second was boycotted by Mr Odinga.
The US Navy has had to apologise after one of its warplanes drew a penis in the sky above Washington.

Pictures of the phallic trail of smoke went viral after many residents spotted the obscene skywriting above the small town of Okanogan.

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The air crew who used the warplane, from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, have since been grounded.

The actions of this aircrew are wholly unacceptable and antithetical to Navy core values, the naval air station said in a statement. We have grounded the aircrew and are conducting a thorough investigation, and we will hold those responsible accountable for their actions.

The Navy apologises for this irresponsible and immature act, and anyone who was offended by this unacceptable action.

It seems some residents didnt appear to be offended though. Anahi Torres wrote on Twitter that it was most monumental thing to happen to the community.

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After it made circles at the bottom, I knew what it was and started laughing, local resident Ramone Duran told the Spokesman Review: It was pretty funny to see that.

The aircraft involved in the incident was an E/A-18 Growler, a carrier-based plane which carries a two-person crew.

The Navy said the plane had flown over the small town in a pattern that left a condensed air trail resembling an obscene image to observers on the ground.

The individuals in the air crew have not been named.
Comandante Espora Argentine ship sails off the navel base in Mar del Plata, as part of a searching crew to find the submarine (AP Photo/Vicente Robles)

The ARA San Juan, a German-built diesel-electric vessel, not heard from since Wednesday (Argentina Navy via AP )

Argentina's Navy said it was ramping up the search for a submarine that had not been heard from in three days, and at least six other nations would join in the effort.

Spokesman Enrique Balbi said the area being searched off the country's southern Atlantic coast has been doubled as concerns about the 44 crew members grew.

"We are not discounting any hypothesis," Mr Balbi said. Possibilities could include "a problem with communications" or with its power system, he added.

Authorities last had contact with the German-built diesel-electric sub, the ARA San Juan, on Wednesday as it was on a voyage from the extreme southern port of Ushuaia to Mar del Plata.

President Mauricio Macri said in a tweet the country will use "all resources national and international that are necessary to find the submarine".

Pledges of help came from Chile, Uruguay, Peru and Brazil, as well as the United States, which sent a NASA scientific aircraft and a Navy plane.

Britain was sending a polar exploration vessel, the HMS Protector, which British officials said should arrive Sunday.

Admiral Gabriel Gonzalez, chief of the Mar del Plata Naval Base, said authorities have reinforced both the surface search for the missing submarine and the deep-water search.

He added they are "coordinating with units from the United Kingdom and the United States".

Relatives of the 44 crew members gathered at the Mar del Plata Naval Base in the hopes of hearing news about their loved ones.

"We feel anguish. We are reserved but will not lose our hope that they will return," Marcela Moyano, wife of machinist Hernan Rodriguez, told television network TN.

From the Vatican, Argentine Pope Francis said he was making "fervent prayers" for the crew.
Mr Trump tweeted on Friday the policy had been 'under study for years'

The US Fish and Wildlife Service said on Thursday it would allow such importation

President Donald Trump has said he is delaying new policy allowing trophies of African elephants shot for sport to be imported until he can review "all conservation facts".

The US Fish and Wildlife Service said on Thursday it would allow such importation, arguing that encouraging wealthy big-game hunters to kill the threatened species would help raise money for conservation programs.

Animal rights advocates and environmental groups criticised the decision. California Rep. Ed Royce, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged the administration to reverse the policy, calling it the "wrong move at the wrong time".

Mr Trump tweeted on Friday the policy had been "under study for years". He said he would put the decision "on hold" and review it with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Mr Zinke issued a statement later on Friday saying: "President Trump and I have talked and both believe that conservation and healthy herds are critical.

"As a result, in a manner compliant with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, the issuing of permits is being put on hold as the decision is being reviewed."

Mr Royce questioned the action because of concerns not only about African wildlife but US national security, citing the political upheaval in Zimbabwe, where the longtime president was placed under house arrest this week by the military.

"The administration should withdraw this decision until Zimbabwe stabilises," the committee chairman said in a statement.

"Elephants and other big game in Africa are blood currency for terrorist organisations, and they are being killed at an alarming rate.

"Stopping poaching isn't just about saving the world's most majestic animals for the future - it's about our national security."

The change marks a shift in efforts to stop the importation of elephant tusks and hides, overriding a 2014 ban imposed by the Obama administration.

The new policy applies to the remains of African elephants killed between January 2016 and December 2018.

"Legal, well-regulated sport hunting as part of a sound management program can benefit certain species by providing incentives to local communities to conserve those species and by putting much-needed revenue back into conservation," the agency said in a statement.

Mr Royce said that when carefully regulated, conservation hunts could help the wildlife population, but "that said, this is the wrong move at the wrong time."

He described the perilous situation in Zimbabwe, where the US Embassy has advised Americans to limit their travel outdoors.

"In this moment of turmoil, I have zero confidence that the regime - which for years has promoted corruption at the highest levels - is properly managing and regulating conservation programs," Mr Royce said.

"Furthermore, I am not convinced that elephant populations in the area warrant overconcentration measures."

The world's largest land mammal, the African elephant has been classified as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act since 1979.

Illicit demand for elephant ivory has led to devastating losses from illegal poaching as the natural habitat available for the animals to roam has also dwindled by more than half.

As a result, the number of African elephants has shrunk from about five million a century ago to about 400,000 remaining which continues to decline each year.

Two other lawmakers, Reps. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., co-chairs of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, assailed the administration's decision.

"We should not encourage the hunting and slaughter of these magnificent creatures," Mr Buchanan said. "We don't get a second chance once a species becomes extinct."

One group that advocates for endangered species called for more action after Mr Trump's Friday night tweet.

"It's great that public outrage has forced Trump to reconsider this despicable decision, but it takes more than a tweet to stop trophy hunters from slaughtering elephants and lions," said Tanya Sanerib, senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity.

"We need immediate federal action to reverse these policies and protect these amazing animals."

AP
Emmanuel Macron, centre right, and his wife Brigitte, greet Saad Hariri, second left, his wife Lara, and their son Hussam at the Elysee Palace in Paris (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri says he will return home in the coming days and will declare a political stance for the first time since making a strange resignation announcement from Saudi Arabia that unleashed fears of a crisis in Lebanon.

Mr Hariri and his family met Saturday with French President Emmanuel Macron, who invited the Lebanese leader to Paris to dispel fears he was being held in Saudi Arabia against his will.

Mr Macron is seeking to calm tensions and avert a proxy conflict between Saudi-backed and Iranian-backed camps in Lebanon.

The appearance in Paris - looking relaxed and posing with his wife and older son on the steps of the Elysee Palace with the French presidential couple in front of a large crowd of journalists - contrasted with his limited-access, carefully choreographed appearances from Saudi Arabia.

Mr Hariri told Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Saturday he will take part in Independence Day celebrations in Beirut on Wednesday, according to Macron's office.

After his meeting with Macron, Mr Hariri told reporters: "God willing, I will attend Independence Day in Lebanon and will declare my political stance from Lebanon and after meeting President Michel Aoun."

"As you know I have resigned and we will talk about this matter in Lebanon," he said after thanking Mr Macron, who he added "expressed pure friendship toward me that I will never forget".

The independence day ceremony is usually headed by the president, prime minister and parliament speaker, and Mr Hariri's presence could help calm uncertainties that have escalated since his strange and surprising resignation announcement on November 4 from Saudi Arabia.

However, Mr Hariri's political status is murky. Lebanon's president refused to accept the resignation, accusing the Saudis of holding him against his will.

A high official in Macron's office said his place is first in Beirut, "which is the only place where he can hand his resignation to the Lebanese head of state".

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with French presidential policy, found it normal Mr Hariri would keep any announcement about his political stance for his fellow citizens.

Before leaving Riyadh, Mr Hariri dismissed as "rumours" reports about his alleged detention in the kingdom.

In his televised resignation announcement, Mr Hariri had cited Iran and Hezbollah for meddling in Arab countries, particularly Saudi Arabia. He also said he was afraid for his life.

Saudi Arabia on Saturday asked its citizens for the second time in less than two weeks to leave Lebanon "as soon as possible" given the "circumstances" there. That raised fears of more punitive actions to come.

The French presidential official said it is essential that Lebanon be protected from "negative" foreign influences because the country needs stability and a strong state.

The official didn't name any specific nations but said Lebanon should be protected from the "dangers that regional crises can pose to it".

The Arab League is due to hold a meeting on Sunday in Cairo at Saudi Arabia's urging where the Lebanon crisis and Iran's role in the region are expected to be discussed.

Just before leaving Saudi Arabia, Mr Hariri met with the Saudi Crown Prince and other senior officials, according to a member of his political party and two Lebanese television stations.

He landed before on Saturday at an airport used for private jets in Le Bourget north of Paris, and came in a convoy to his Paris residence in a high-end neighbourhood, where police stood guard. Mr Hariri frequently stays in France thanks to decades-old family ties here.

He held private talks with Mr Macron and then they were joined by Mr Hariri's wife Lara al-Azm and elder son Hussam and Mr Macron's wife Brigitte for lunch.

Mr Hariri's two younger son and daughter, Abdul-Aziz and Loulwa, remained in Saudi Arabia because they have school on Sunday, said Okab Saqr, a member of Hariri's parliamentary bloc.

The official with the French presidency said France is not worried that Hariri left two of his children in Saudi Arabia.

"We have no reason to be concerned about this," the French official said, answering questions about whether, as some have suggested, Saudi Arabia could use the children's whereabouts to maintain pressure on Hariri.

Mr Hariri's exact next steps after his planned visit to Lebanon are unclear. A French official said Saturday that France is offering him the necessary support during this time of political turmoil in his country. The official was not authorised to be publicly named.

Mr Macron said he received Mr Hariri "with the honours due a prime minister," even though he has announced his resignation, since Lebanon hasn't yet recognised it.

While Mr Macron insists he's not offering "exile," Mr Hariri's return could be complicated by Lebanon's internal tensions.

During a phone call on Saturday morning, Mr Macron and Mr Aoun spoke about a return of Mr Hariri to Lebanon that could help make Lebanese institutions "function normally again", the French presidential official said.

It is part of a broader Macron strategy to reassert French influence in the region, while the United States under President Donald Trump is increasingly seen as unpredictable or disengaged.

Mr Macron's office says France's strategy is to talk to all powers in the region and not to appear as choosing a camp.

AP
The European Parliament recommends to the EU Council to open visa dialogue with Armenia. This is stated in the document that was adopted by MEPs during the Wednesday session.

November 17, 2017, 18:59 European Parliament calls for end to Karabakh conflict, opening visa dialogue with Armenia
Robert Mugabe, centre, arrives to preside over a student graduation ceremony at Zimbabwe Open University on the outskirts of Harare (AP)

Former supporters of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe have demanded that he resign after nearly four decades in power.

In an extraordinary evening broadcast, state broadcaster ZBC - for decades, a mouthpiece for the Mugabe government - reported on the mounting campaign for his resignation.

Mugabe had earlier emerged for the first time from military-imposed house arrest, presiding at a university graduation ceremony.

Clad in a blue gown, the 93-year-old joined academics on a red carpet and sat in a high-backed chair in front of several thousand students and guests, a routine he has conducted for many years as the official chancellor of Zimbabwe's universities.

This time, however, the spectacle was jarring because the authority of the world's oldest head of state, once seen as impregnable, is evaporating daily.

That Mugabe was permitted to go to the Zimbabwe Open University event possibly reflected a degree of respect by the military for the president, a former rebel leader who took power after independence from white minority rule in 1980.

The armed forces are in a delicate position, sending tanks and troops into Harare's streets this week to effectively end the Mugabe era, while refraining from more heavy-handed measures that would heighten accusations that they staged a coup and violated the constitution.

Meanwhile, the ruling Zanu-PF party signalled impatience with Mugabe amid negotiations on his exit.

Party branches passed no-confidence votes in all 10 Zimbabwean provinces, and the state-run Zimbabwe Herald newspaper said all had called for the resignation of Mugabe and his wife. They are seeking a special meeting within two days of the party's Central Committee.

Demonstrations were called for Saturday in Harare to support the military's move against Mugabe, who drew applause from the graduating students on the outskirts of the capital only when he made brief, perfunctory remarks, usually to bestow degrees on delighted graduates.

The military said it supports plans for a march, as long as the demonstration is orderly and peaceful.

Discontent with Mugabe has been growing because of the dire state of the economy, concerns about corruption and mismanagement, a sense that he is no longer physically capable of leading the country due to advanced age and the ambitions of his wife, Grace Mugabe, to succeed him.

The military stepped into the factional battles of the ruling party on Wednesday after the firing of Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is close to the armed forces and was heavily criticised by both Mugabes.

Mr Mnangagwa, who fled Zimbabwe after his dismissal, will return only after the process to remove Mugabe is complete, high-level supporters said.

In Washington, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called for a return to civilian rule in Zimbabwe, urged any new leader to respect democracy and human rights, and said the country has a chance to put itself on a "new path".

China said it hopes Zimbabwe's political situation can be resolved "under the legal framework" and that stability can be restored.

Questions have been raised about China's possible role in Zimbabwe's affairs because Zimbabwe's army commander was in Beijing last week. China said the visit by General Constantino Chiwenga was a "normal military exchange".

As Mugabe tries to hang on in negotiations over his departure from office, he has asked for "a few more days, a few more months", the chairman of the influential war veterans' association in Zimbabwe told reporters.

Chris Mutsvangwa, a Mnangagwa ally, said there is little tolerance for Mugabe to extend his presidency.

Several ruling party figures linked to Grace Mugabe - Jonathan Moyo, the higher education minister; Saviour Kasukuwere, the local government minister; and Ignatious Chombo, the finance minister - were detained during military operations, according to Mr Mutsvangwa.

Mr Moyo was not at the graduation ceremony, even though he had been scheduled to attend.

The military said "significant progress has been made in their operation to weed out criminals around President Mugabe," saying they had committed "crimes that were causing social and economic suffering in Zimbabwe".

AP
Roy Moore speaks at a news conference in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife Kayla Moore (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore has been backed by his fiercest religious allies as he tries to fight back against allegations of sexual misconduct.

His Alabama campaign has been rocked by claims about his relationships with teenage girls decades ago.

He held a news conference in Birmingham, Alabama, designed to send a powerful message to the political world that religious conservatives across America remain committed to the former judge.

The event also revealed an aggressive strain of homophobia rarely seen in mainstream politics - in recent years, at least.

Mr Moore first caught the attention of many in the LGBT community after describing homosexual conduct as "an inherent evil against which children must be protected" in a 2002 child custody case involving a lesbian mother.

In 2005 he said "homosexual conduct should be illegal".

He also said there is no difference between gay sex and sex with a cow, horse or dog.

Mr Moore's stand - combined with the fiery comments from his supporters - unnerved some in Birmingham's relatively small LGBT community.

"It made me extremely angry," said Mackenzie Gray, 37, who came out as transgender in 2010.

She says most people in her life do not know she was born a man.

"My fear with the religious leaders and the hateful rhetoric we're hearing is that it's going to start escalating into something even larger. It's dangerous."

Indeed, other LGBT activists suggested this week that open acceptance of Mr Moore's anti-gay rhetoric goes back to a dark and violent time in Alabama history.

Mr Moore's Democratic challenger, Doug Jones, is best known for prosecuting the men who bombed Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church, nearly 40 years after the 1963 crime that killed four black girls.

Racial tensions have lingered in the state, even as the violence lessened. In 2000, Alabama became the last state in the country to overturn its ban on interracial marriage.

The state has been slow to embrace gay rights as well, with 81% of voters supported a ban on same-sex marriage in 2006. Only neighbouring Mississippi, with 86%, scored higher.

Patricia Todd, the state's first openly gay state representative, says she has faced at least four death threats in recent years, and local LGBT leaders meet quarterly at the FBI office in Birmingham to help identify potential hate crimes.

In contrast to many conservative politicians with national ambitions, Mr Moore has made little attempt to change his tone on LGBT issues as equal rights for the gay community has earned increasing acceptance among mainstream America.

His hero status among many Christian conservatives was cemented in 2016 when, as the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, he refused to comply with a Supreme Court ruling that legalised same-sex marriage nationwide.

He was later suspended, the second time he was forcibly removed from the state Supreme Court.

Mr Moore's unapologetic positions - and repeated promises to take them to the Senate if elected on December 12 - were celebrated at the news conference by religious leaders who travelled from as far as Colorado, Ohio and Texas to stand at his side.

Rabbi Noson Leiter, who once called Hurricane Sandy's destruction "divine justice" for same-sex marriage, lashed out at "homosexualist gay terrorism".

North Carolina-based Christian activist Flip Benham has previously warned that the policies that protect the civil rights of transgender people would trigger "bloodshed coursing down the corners of our streets".

At the news conference he said: "We're praising everything that God says is wrong and will destroy you. Homosexual sodomy destroys those who participate in that behaviour and nations that approve of it."

AP
The highest-level Chinese envoy to North Korea in two years has held meetings in the country's capital to try to improve relations that have soured over Beijing's tightening of sanctions.

Song Tao's official mission starting on Friday is to brief North Korean officials on the outcome of China's ruling Communist Party congress held last month.

He is visiting as President Xi Jinping's special envoy, according to Chinese and North Korean state media, but no other details about his itinerary or whether he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have been announced.

After arriving, Mr Song met with Choe Ryong Hae, a vice chairman of the ruling party and one of the most senior leaders after Kim.

During their meeting on Friday, Mr Song briefed Mr Choe on the developments from the Communist Party congress and also gave him an unspecified gift for Mr Kim, Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said.

The agency said Mr Song also stressed the Communist Party's stance to further build on the "traditional friendly relationship" between the countries and their ruling parties.

The visit is seen as an effort by Mr Xi to explore a new approach in relations and likely also reflects Mr Xi's desire to head off further pressure from Washington.

China's relations with North Korea have deteriorated under Mr Kim, who has ignored Beijing's calls to end the North's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests and return to disarmament talks.

North Korea staged its sixth nuclear test on September 3, detonating what it said was a hydrogen bomb, and most recently launched a ballistic missile on September 15, firing it over the Japanese island of Hokkaido into the Pacific Ocean.

China, North Korea's largest trading partner, says its influence with Mr Kim's government is often exaggerated by the US and others. Beijing is opposed to measures that could bring down Mr Kim's regime and lead to a refugee crisis along its border, and while enforcing harsh new UN sanctions targeting North Korea's sources of foreign currency it has called for steps to renew dialogue.

The visit comes as Joseph Yun, the US envoy for North Korea, met on Friday with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Do-hoon, on the resort island of Jeju in South Korea.

"China, of course, has a big role to play on Northeast Asia security issues," Mr Yun was quoted by South Korea's Yonhap news agency as saying, adding that he hopes China "regards the denuclearisation as a critical goal. We do hope that special envoy will forward that goal."

Mr Song's visit to North Korea also comes as China and South Korea are repairing their relations that soured over Seoul's deployment of a US anti-missile system.

South Korean president Moon Jae-in is to visit China next month for talks with Mr Xi.

Song is the first ministerial-level Chinese official to visit North Korea since October 2015, when Politburo Standing Committee member Liu Yunshan delivered a letter to Mr Kim from Mr Xi expressing hopes for a strong relationship, although the respite in frosty ties proved short-lived. Vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin visited Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, in October last year.

Mr Song heads the Communist Party's International Department.

AP
Jaipur, Nov 18 (IBNS): In a recent development to the Padmavati controversy, one person has been arrested for firing during the protest outside the Chittorgarh Fort in Rajasthans Chittor against the release of the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial film.

The protester has been arrested under the Arms Act.

The protest extended to several places across the country with many taking to the streets in Rajasthan, Haryana, and even southern Tamil Nadu.

The protesters are demanding a ban on the Bollywood film.

Taking the controversy to a new low, a Karni Sena leader has threatened to chop off actor Deepika Padukone's nose as the latter reacted sharply to the ongoing controversy centred on the film recently.

Reacting sharply to the vandalisation of a Kota mall recently, Padukone said people have regressed as a nation. "It's appalling, it's absolutely appalling. What have we gotten ourselves into? And where have we reached as a nation? We have regressed."

The actress even said nothing can stop the release of the film, drawing comments form the leaders of Karni Sena.

In a video which had surfaced on Thursday, one of Karni Sena's leader said: "We will not hit Deepika but we will do what Laxman did to Surpanaka (chop off nose)."

"She is provoking us" the leader added.

The Karni Sena members even organised a massive protest in Bengaluru on the same issue on Wednesday.

A leader of another fringe group offered a bounty of Rs. 5 crore to people for Padukone's and Padmavati director Sanjay Leela Bhansali's heads.

The controversy has erupted after several fringe groups alleged that Bhansali has distorted history in his upcoming film. The group has even said they will not allow the portrayal of Rani Padmini, to be played by Padukone in the film, in a wrong way.

Padukone had earlier urged Information and Broadcasting minister Smriti Irani to take legal actions after few protesters who had vandalised artist Karan K's Rangoli, which was inspired by film Padmavati.

The Supreme Court has recently dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) demanding a stay on the release of Bhansalis film Padmavati.

The top court suggested that the Censor Board should take an independent view over the issue, saying it cant substitute role of CBFC.

The petition said that the film wrongly depicts Rajput queen Padmavati and its release could hurt the sentiments of the Rajput community.

The trailer of the film shows Rani Padmavati doing a Ghoomar dance. The depiction of Rani Padmavati in the said dance sequence is contrary to how the dance is performed traditionally. The queens never used to do Ghoomar and the thumkas (hip movement) themselves and the revelation of skin by actress Deepika Padukone, in her portrayal of Padmavati, has hurt the sentiments of the Rajput community, the petition said.

Apart from Padukone, the film starres Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor in lead roles.

Bahansali released a video statement on the films official Twitter account on last Thursday calling the film his tribute to the sacrifice, valour and honour of Rani Padmavati.

The film has evoked a massive controversy with various Rajput groups, including the Karni Sena, threatening to disrupt its screening for what they alleged "distorting historical facts."

Bhansali once was slapped by some members of the Karni Sena, who vandalised the set early this year.

The set of the movie was again vandalised in Kolhapur, with the miscreants burning the costumes in March this year.
New Delhi, Nov 18 (IBNS): President Ram Nath Kovind while addressing the 94th convocation of the University of Delhi on Saturday said that the University of Delhi is in many ways the University of India.

"Every state and region of our country is represented in the University of Delhi. Young students from the Northeast add to the richness and vibrancy of the University campus and of the city of Delhi."

The President also appreciated the fact that 112 of the 171 medal and prize winners were girls.

"Almost a two-thirds majority! This is in keeping with the trend in education of girls consistently outscoring boys. A welcome sign in our society," the President said.

President also appreciated the fact that under the National Institutional Ranking Framework, six colleges of the University of Delhi are ranked in the first 10 in the country. "A commendable performance," he said.

President Kovind also said, " Artificial Intelligence is changing not just how our society does but how it thinks. We are at the edge of a society of cognitive machines. The challenges and the opportunities before us are immense. Universities will need to adapt."

"New courses and programmes will have to be devised if our education system is to answer the needs of the next 25-30 years. Some of these may call for a multi-disciplinary or inter-disciplinary approach," he said.

"Capacity of physical classrooms is limited. University of Delhi has taken steps to begin Massive Open Online Courses. As broadband penetration deepens, MOOC has an exciting potential to democratise knowledge," the President pointed out.



Images: Rashtrapatibhvn/Twitter
New Delhi, Nov 18 (IBNS): Amid the Padmavati row, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Prasoon Joshi has criticised the makers of the Deepika Padukone starrer film for private screenings before getting a certification, media reports said.

Joshi's comments came after the film was shown to selected media houses as the controversy regarding the film's content continues on one hand.

Joshi told media that such an activity by the Padmavati makers compromised the system's role in the film industry.

Padmavati evoked a huge controversy after several fringe groups alleged that director Sanjay Leela Bhansali has distorted history in his upcoming film.

The groups have even said they will not allow the portrayal of Rani Padmini, to be played by Padukone, in a wrong way.

Taking the controversy to a new low, a Karni Sena leader has threatened to chop off actor Deepika Padukone's nose as the latter reacted sharply to the ongoing controversy centred on the film recently.

Reacting sharply to the vandalisation of a Kota mall recently, Padukone said people have regressed as a nation. "It's appalling, it's absolutely appalling. What have we gotten ourselves into? And where have we reached as a nation? We have regressed."

The actress even said nothing can stop the release of the film, drawing comments form the leaders of Karni Sena.

Reacting to it, threats were issued to do physical harm to Padukone.

Padukone had earlier urged Information and Broadcasting minister Smriti Irani to take legal actions after few protesters who had vandalised artist Karan K's Rangoli, which was inspired by film Padmavati.

The Supreme Court has recently dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) demanding a stay on the release of Bhansalis film Padmavati.

The top court suggested that the Censor Board should take an independent view over the issue, saying it cant substitute role of CBFC.

Amid the running feuds, the censor board, has sent the movie back to the makers as the application for the certification was incomplete."

According to media reports, the application was sent back to the filmmakers through an online process on November 16.
Guwahati, Nov 18 (IBNS) : After arresting 22 officials of Assam Civil Service (ACS), Assam Police Service (APS) and other allied service, Assam police is planning to quiz at least 38 more officials in connection with the cash-for-job scam in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC).

A top police official said that, the investigating team had accessed the forensic report of several answer scripts, which were earlier seized from the APSC office in Guwahai.

We have already identified few more officials after receiving the forensic report and would likely to be asked them to appear before the investigating team, the top police official said.

The top official of Assam police said that, apart from it, police had also identified at least 12 middlemen for their involvement in the cash-for-job scam.

Sacked chairman of APSC Rakesh Pauls brother Rajib Paul, Sudip Das, Mrigen Saikia and Mofidul Islam are among the middlemen, who are presently absconding.

They had collected huge cash amount from the candidates for Rakesh Paul and other APSC persons to provide a secured government job. We have already sent messages to all states counterparts, the police official said.

Dibrugarh police had recently arrested 22 ACS, APS and other allied service officials in connection with the scandal.

Investigating officer and Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Dibrugarh police Surajeet Singh Panesar said that, three more officials are still absconding and police is trying to arrest them.

The entire scam has been came to light after, Dibrugarh police had arrested an engineer named Naba Kanta Patir from Upper Assams Dibrugarh district after they caught him red handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from a lady doctor to provide a secured government job on Oct 27 last year.

Following the incident, Dibrugarh police had registered a case and arrested then chairman of APSC Rakesh Paul from Guwahati and later arrested few more persons including former members of APSC Samedur Rahman, Basanta Doley, Pabitra Kaiborta, Musharaf Hussain, Mabud Ali Choudhury, three ACS officers Bhaskarjyoti Dev Sharma, Bhaskar Dutta and Amit Sharma.

On Aug 31 last, the Gauhati High Court had granted bail to 10 accused persons including three Assam Civil Service (ACS) officials, who were arrested in connection with the cash-for-job scam of Assam Public Service Commission (APSC).

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Srinagar, Nov 18 (IBNS): At least six LeT militants were killed during an encounter with security forces in Hajin area of north Kashmirs Bandipora district on Saturday.

Director General of Police (DGP) of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Shesh Paul Vaid confirmed the matter on Twitter.

Vaid tweeted: "The encounter is now finished and was a success. Total of 6 LeT terrorists eliminated. Weapons and ammunition recovered."

He said LeT commanders Zargam and Mehmood were eliminated during the operation.

"LeT commanders Zargam and Mehmood also eliminated in the operation today. All of the terrorists neutralised today were Pakistanis," he said.

The defence spokesman said that two soldiers including an IAF Garud commando suffered injuries in the encounter and were hospitalized.

However, the IAF guard succumbed to injuries in the military hospital, he said, adding that the search operation in the area is still going on.

(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)
Mumbai, Nov 18 (IBNS): Amid the Padmavati row, actor Deepika Padukone has received support from her Hollywood co-star Ruby Rose as the latter reacted strongly to the controversies regarding the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial film.

Rose, with whom Padukone had shared screen space in Hollywood film 'xXx: Return of Xander Cage', tweeted: "I am in shock at reading what my dear friend is going through but in absolute awe of her strength and courage. Deepika you are one of the strongest women I know."

I am in shock at reading what my dear friend is going through but in absolute awe of her strength and courage. Deepika you are one of the strongest women I know. https://t.co/wrEaO9WZA0  Ruby Rose (@RubyRose) November 18, 2017

Rose's reaction came after Padukone recently in an interview stated that she is deeply hurt and angry on the whole controversy.

Padmavati evoked a huge controversy after several fringe groups alleged that director Sanjay Leela Bhansali has distorted history in his upcoming film.

The groups have even said they will not allow the portrayal of Rani Padmini, to be played by Padukone, in a wrong way.

Taking the controversy to a new low, a Karni Sena leader has threatened to chop off actor Deepika Padukone's nose as the latter reacted sharply to the ongoing controversy centred on the film recently.

Reacting sharply to the vandalisation of a Kota mall recently, Padukone said people have regressed as a nation. "It's appalling, it's absolutely appalling. What have we gotten ourselves into? And where have we reached as a nation? We have regressed."

The actress even said nothing can stop the release of the film, drawing comments form the leaders of Karni Sena.

Reacting to it, threats were issued to do physical harm to Padukone.

Padukone had earlier urged Information and Broadcasting minister Smriti Irani to take legal actions after few protesters who had vandalised artist Karan K's Rangoli, which was inspired by film Padmavati.

The Supreme Court has recently dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) demanding a stay on the release of Bhansalis film Padmavati.

The top court suggested that the Censor Board should take an independent view over the issue, saying it cant substitute role of CBFC.

Amid the running feuds, the censor board, has sent the movie back to the makers as the application for the certification was incomplete."

According to media reports, the application was sent back to the filmmakers through an online process on November 16.

Images: facebook.com/FilmPadmavati, twitter.com/RubyRose




Twenty-five years after the end of the civil war, El Salvador has proven itself to be a functioning democracy that honours freedom of expression and where the political discourse is vibrant, said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein in his end-of-mission statement.



In my meetings with President Sanchez Ceren and his ministers, I was told how the fight against violence, in particular gang violence, is a priority for the State, Zeid added.



Despite the introduction of the 'Safe El Salvador' Plan that aims to curb and prevent violence, the level of violence in the country remains shockingly high, he said, citing reported deaths of more than a thousand civilians and 45 police officers in armed confrontations between the police and alleged gang members from January 2015 to February 2017.



There are also alarming reports of extrajudicial killings and the return of death squads.



Regarding the extraordinary security measures, which since April 2016 have placed thousands of people in prolonged and isolated detention under inhumane conditions, Zeid called on the President to end these measures and grant international independent organizations, including his Office (OHCHR), access to these detention centres.



The vulnerability of these inmates is highlighted by an outbreak of tuberculosis, affecting more than a thousand inmates, with several hundred also said to be suffering from malnutrition, he noted.



El Salvador has the awful distinction of having the highest rate of gender-based killings of women and girls in Central America  a region where femicide is already regrettably high, as is impunity for these crimes, Zeid pointed out, noting that investigation, prosecution and punishment of such crimes can help to counter the perception that violence against women is tolerated.



As for the country's absolute prohibition on abortion, Zeid said that some women were convicted of aggravated homicide in connection with obstetric emergencies and, as a result, are serving 30 years in prison.



He went on to call upon El Salvador to launch a moratorium on the abortion ban and review all cases where women have been detained for abortion-related offences. Such a review could be established by presidential decree.



Photo: OHCHR Guatemala



Source: www.justearthnews.com












New York, Nov 18(Just Earth News): On Friday, 75 ministers announced a landmark agreement to take urgent action to end tuberculosis (TB) by 2030 at the conclusion of a World Health Organization (WHO) conference in Moscow, Russia, on eradicating the world's deadliest infectious disease.

On Friday marks a critical landmark in the fight to end TB, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at the closing of the first WHO Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Tuberculosis in the Sustainable Development Era, held in Moscow.

It signals a long overdue global commitment to stop the death and suffering caused by this ancient killer, he added.

Together with UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Russian President Vladimir Putin opened the Conference on 16 November. The gathering brought together delegates from 114 countries.

The newly-minted Moscow Declaration to End TB is a promise to increase multisectoral action as well as track progress, and build accountability. It will also inform the first UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on TB in 2018, which will seek further commitments from heads of State.

Since 2000, global efforts to combat the disease have saved an estimated 53 million lives and reduced the TB mortality rate by 37 per cent. However, progress in many countries has stalled, global targets are off-track and persistent gaps remain in TB care and prevention.

As a result, TB still kills more people than any other infectious disease. There are also major problems associated with antimicrobial resistance, and it is the leading killer of people with HIV.

One of the main problems has been a lack of political will and inadequate investment in fighting TB, stressed Tedros. "Today's declaration must go hand-in-hand with increased investment."

More than 1,000 participants took part in the two-day conference, which was attended by ministers and country delegations, as well as representatives of civil society and international organizations, scientists and researchers.

The end result was a collective commitment to ramp up action on four fronts.

The first pledge was to rapidly move to achieve universal health coverage by strengthening health systems and improving access to people-centred TB prevention and care so no one is left behind.

Secondly, was the assurance that sufficient and sustainable financing would be mobilized through increased domestic and international investments to close implementation and research gaps.

The third commitment was to advance research and development of new tools to diagnose, treat, and prevent TB.

Finally, the ministers vowed to build an accountability framework to track and review progress on ending TB, including multisectoral approaches.

They also promised to minimize the risk and spread of drug resistance and do more to engage people and communities affected by, and at risk of, tuberculosis.

Photo: The Global Fund/John Rae

Source: www.justearthnews.com




Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), sounded the alarm during the regular bi-weekly news briefing in Geneva.



He was responding to a question from a journalist who asked him to clarify a warning yesterday from UN aid chiefs that the closure of air, sea and land ports in Yemen threatened millions of vulnerable children and families.



It means that these are the number of people in areas where there's an IPC4  Integrated Phase Classification 4  which is the last step before obviously 5, which is famine [] But you are correct, there may be as we speak right now, famine happening, and we hear children are dying. I mean, there's excess mortality as a cause and consequence of undernourishment.



Yemen imports up to 90 per cent of its daily needs, including fuel, which has now reached crisis levels.



Reserves are in such short supply that three Yemeni cities have been unable to pump clean water to residents in recent days, according to UN partner the Red Cross.



This has left one million people at risk of a renewed cholera outbreak, just as the country emerges from the worst epidemic in modern times.



RELATED: Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen



Other diseases are also a threat, including diphtheria, a serious infection of the nose and throat, that's easily prevented with a vaccine.



It's spreading fast and has already claimed 14 lives, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which said that a vaccination campaign is planned in nine days' time.



In addition to water and sewage problems in Hodeida, Sa'ada and Taiz, the Red Cross warned that the capital Sana'a and other cities will find themselves in the same situation in two weeks - unless imports of essential goods resume immediately.



Also at the briefing, Alessandra Vellucci, for the UN Information Service (UNIS) recalled yesterday's statement in New York from Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN SecretaryaGeneral regarding a letter the UN chief sent to the Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations.



In the letter, the Secretary-General said that the blockade imposed by the coalition since 6 November is already reversing the impact of humanitarian efforts. While he welcomed the reopening of Aden port, the SecretaryaGeneral noted that this alone will not meet the needs of 28 million Yemenis.



As such, the Secretary-General called on the Saudi-led coalition to enable the resumption of UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) flights to Sana'a and Aden airports, and the reopening of Hodeida and Saleef ports so that fuel, food and medical supplies could enter Yemen.



Photo: UNICEF/Algabal2018







Source: www.justearthnews.com














The Mediterranean is a global junction of mutually enriching cultures, societies and economies. Yet violence and hatred are threatening that dynamism, to the detriment of the entire world, Guterres told a meeting of the UN Security Council chaired by Angelino Alfano, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, which holds the 15-member body's presidency this month.



Challenges facing the region include illicit trade in narcotics, weapons and petroleum products, large movements of refugees and migrants, regrettably managed by human smugglers and traffickers, and maritime piracy.



The Mediterranean Sea provides immense economic resources  such as hydrocarbons and fish stocks  and invaluable trade routes. However, its benefits depend on stability and cooperation, the UN chief stressed.



Guterres went on to highlight difficulties in various parts of the region.



Libya's stability is vital for the region, but after years of prolonged transition, the country's institutions are deeply divided.



Instability in the Sahel region has contributed to an increase in irregular migration towards Europe.



Egypt continues to face several security challenges, including from irregular migration and from the cross-border transit of weapons and fighters along its desert borders with Libya and Sudan and in the Sinai Peninsula bordering the Gaza Strip.



The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) will continue to thrive unless the deep political roots of the Syrian conflict are resolved through a credible and comprehensive political process.



Turning to the movement of refugees and migrants, Guterres said that so far this year, at least 2,800 refugees and migrants have perished in the Mediterranean, while countless others died on their way across the Sahel desert.



There is a clear need to create more regular and safe ways to protect those fleeing persecution, and address the drivers of displacement. We must also address the worrisome increase in xenophobia and discrimination against refugees, migrants and minorities, the Secretary-General said, stressing the need to re-establish the integrity of the refugee protection regime on both sides of the Mediterranean.



All too often, responses to security challenges in the Mediterranean are undertaken largely or solely through traditional security arrangements or ad hoc solutions, he noted.



Such approaches carry the risk of prolonging unacceptable status quos or worsening situations if not backed by efforts to address the underlying root causes, he said, noting that efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development have there an important role to play.



The Mediterranean is a global junction of mutually enriching cultures, societies and economies. Yet violence and hatred are threatening that dynamism, to the detriment of the entire world, the UN chief explained.



We should do our utmost to resolve the worst of the region so that it can continue to contribute its best, he said, adding: I count on countries in the Mediterranean and beyond to reaffirm their proud tradition of openness and solidarity.



Photo: UNHCR/A. DAmato (file)







Source: www.justearthnews.com
















Toronto, Nov 18 (IBNS): Dipika Damerla, Ontarios Minister of Seniors Affairs, recently presented an overview of a new action plan titled Aging with Confidence: An Action Plan for Seniors.

The action plan aims to ensure the well-being of present as well as future diverse seniors group and enabling them to lead independent, active, healthy and socially-connected lives, media reports said.

Seniors have spent a lifetime contributing to their communities and to the economy. It is our collective responsibility to ensure their changing needs are met, Damerla was quoted by the media.

The website (ontario.ca/AgingWell) provides information, all in one place, about government services, programs and supports for seniors across the province.

Todays older adults are redefining what it means to be a senior. Our plan is designed to help them participate and achieve as they have always done, able to enjoy the opportunities and meet the challenges of aging, Damerla was quoted by media.

The plan includes free high-dose flu vaccine starting in the 2018-19 flu season, vital to seniors' health and well-being, .

The plan also promotes independence, social interaction and combating isolation among the seniors by allowing them to enjoy a higher quality of life enabling them to access government services to lead an independent and dignified life while also contributing and participating in the community.

A new government campaign, included in the plan, provides information about the importance of a power of attorney with access to tools to help seniors choose persons to provide them with personal care and financial decisions on their behalf, if necessary.



(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
Amid the aggressive protests going on across the nation and several Rajput organisations including Karni Sena demanding a ban on Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film -- with apprehensions that it shows Rani Padmini in bad light, hence distorting historical facts -- the fate of the movie hanged in the balance.

Supreme Court had rejected the plea against the release of the Sanjay Leela Bhansali film saying that unless CBFC certifies the movie, the court is not liable to take any action. Following which all eyes were glued on the censor board to take a decision.

As per the latest course of development, the board has refused to certify the film saying that the application submitted by the makers is incomplete.

padmavatifilm.in

According to a TOI report, the application was sent back via the online process on Nov. 16. It is said that delay in certification process might also lead to delay in film's release.

"It will be incorrect to say that the film has been rejected. The CBFC has only sent Padmavati's application back to the filmmakers because of certain technical deficiencies in the form. Once the filmmaker returns the completed application, the film will be reviewed as per the rules," TOI quoted a source as saying.

(Also Read: Rajput Organisation Announces Award Of Rs 5 Crore For Whoever Beheads SLB & Deepika Padukone)

Screengrab

The time limit for the first step of certification -- submission to the examining committee -- is 68 days, reportedly. The process of certification involves reviewing of the application, allotment of a date to review the film, suggestions of changes and then granting a certificate. Alternatively, CBFC may also refuse to certify the movie.

(Also Read: Mumbai Police Increase Deepikas Security After Karni Sena Threatens To Chop Her Nose Off)

Screengrab

"In case of 'Padmavati', the producers would have had to submit Form I, an application for certification for public exhibition of a film produced in India. What is likely to have been a sticking point is part 7(a) of the form, which asks filmmakers to "specify whether the film is based on fiction or true incident or true story or mythology or epic or devotional or biographical and if so the source from which it has been made may be mentioned (sic)," the source added.

(Also Read: PIL Filed In Delhi HC To Form A Special Committee For Reviewing Padmavati Before Its Release)

newsindiatimes.com

Meanwhile, Shabana Azmi expressed her disappointment with the board's decision on social media.

#Padmavatis application to CBFC has been sent back bcoz of incomplete formalities! Really? Or to keep fires stoked for electoral gains?  Azmi Shabana (@AzmiShabana) November 17, 2017

Will Padmavati hit the screens on Dec. 1? Only time will tell!
A court in Pune has sentenced a 31-year-old man to six-month rigorous imprisonment for showing pornographic pictures to a minor girl on his cellphone, a crime which he committed in January 2015.

afp/representational image

The accused, Sanjay Omprakash Pardeshi, a resident of Indiranagar in Yerawada, was involved in an affair with the girl's mother after her father had passed away.

Omprakash who was already married to another woman was looking after the girl and her mother.

According to the prosecution, the accused called the girl near a bridge and touched her inappropriately on January 20, 2015, following which the frightened girl returned home. The following day when she was in school, the accused called her outside on the pretext of offering an ice cream and showed her pornographic pictures on his cellphone.

reuters/representational image

The incident came to light after the girl told her class teacher about it.

Incidentally, during the trial, the mother did not support the girl's case but deposed in favour of the accused in what, the court observed, might be an attempt to screen him from punishment.

The court, however, relied on the girl's evidence that stood corroborated by the evidence of her class teacher and school principal to whom she had first reported the incident. It also relied on the digital forensic report relating to the presence of the porn pics in the cellphone that was seized from the accused.

The court observed that the girl's conduct after this alleged sexual assault, which occurred a day before the offence, was not normal as she kept mum about the incident.
There are only a handful who are selfless enough to sacrifice their own life to save others. And among those few gems is Lieutenant Sayed Basam Pacha didn't flinch even for a second when he was approached by a suicide bomber.

Reuters

On Thursday, a suicide bomber killed nine people at a political gathering in the Afghan capital. The attack was yet again claimed by none other than the ISIS.

The suicide bomber reportedly ran towards a crowd  including many dignitaries  in Kabul, Afghanistan, despite Sayed Basam Pacha efforts to stop him.

That's when he decided to take a brave step and threw his arms around the bomber before he could detonate his explosive vest.

Sayed Basam Pacha, a police officer who lost his life in todays #Kabulblast pic.twitter.com/l6hTufUjns  jawidomid (@jawidomid) 16 November 2017

Unfortunately, merely a second after Pacha wrapped his arms around the suspect, his explosive device detonated and they were both killed.

Also Read: Suicide Bomber Kills At Least 35 And Injures 42 Civilians In Kabul

Reuters

A report in New York Times quoted, Basir Mujahed, a police spokesman, as saying that 14 people which included Lt. Pacha, seven police officers and six civilians were killed.

"Hes a hero, he saved many lives. All seven of those policemen are heroes, but especially him. Just think if that suicide attacker got past the gate, what would have happened  you cannot even imagine, Basir Mujahed said.

We salute Sayed Basam Pacha's bravery!

Also Read: Painful Images From Brutal Kabul Dog Fight Show Mutts Mauling Each Other In A Fight To Finish
During a recent dive to explore the lake, archaeologists from Van Yuzuncu Yil University and a team of independent divers found an underwater fortress.

Huge Underwater Castle With Ancient Fairy Chimneys Discovered at the Bottom of Turkeys Lake Van pic.twitter.com/fUP7aqWKw6  Chanel Aveson (@MarcusJlaczyrh) November 17, 2017

Also Read: Turkey Sets Example For Rest Of World, Offers University Scholarship to 53 Rohingya Muslim Kids

Tahsin Ceylan, an underwater photographer and videographer, Mustafa Akkus, an academic from Van Yuzuncu Yl Universitys fishery faculty, Murat Kulakac, a diving instructor and Cumali Birol, a diver, plunged into Lake Van, Turkey's largest lake, to discover its secrets, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

 Underwater ruins of 3,000-year-old castle discovered in Turkey .

Archaeologists in Turkey's eastern Van province discovered the ruins of a 3,000-year-old Urartu castle during underwater excavations in lake Van.https://t.co/QlcqmIzFHS pic.twitter.com/mpjOPZ8rmh  Archaeologyin Turkey (@AinTurkey) November 12, 2017

According to historians the structure looks Urartian because the stone used in its construction is characteristic of that civilization.

"Many civilisations and people had settled around Lake Van," Ceylan told Turkish news outlet Hurriyet Daily News. "They named the lake the 'upper sea' and believed it hid many mysterious things. With this belief in mind, we are working to reveal the lake's secrets."

The team had heard local rumours that the lake had hidden treasures, "The walls of this castle cover a wide area," said Ceylan. "Excavations need to be done underwater as we don't know how deep the walls are."

Also Read: Turkey Has Detained Hundreds Of ISIS Suspects In Nationwide Raids

According to researchers the alkaline water of the lake has allowed the castle to remain preserved in excellent condition.
In a heartwarming gesture, a driver was spotted helping an old woman cross a busy road by blocking the traffic in eastern China.

Facebook/People

Also Read: This Futuristic Library In China Has 1.2 Million Books & It's Heaven On Earth For Book Readers

In a video posted by People's Daily, China, an elderly pedestrian is seen struggling to get through a busy junction. One driver who noticed her, decided to take stock of the situation.

Despite heavy traffic, the driver blocked the road with his car and helped the woman cross the road. '

Also Read: China To Build The World's Highest Planetarium In Tibet With The Region's Largest Telescope

While the other cars zoomed past without a care in the world, this one driver blocked the traffic with just one turn.

Video from a surveillance camera shows the man driving alongside her until she reached the other side of the road safely. The video has collected over 50,000 views and almost 3,000 reactions.
Amid war cries and allegations of abduction against Saudi Arabia, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has left the Kingdom for France.

reuters

The Lebanese premier and his wife left Riyadh early Saturday and were due to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris after allegations from Hariri's political rivals in Lebanon that he was essentially being held hostage by the Saudi authorities.

"Mr Hariri left Riyadh airport on his private jet with his wife and is headed for Le Bourget airport", north-east of Paris, announced Future TV, a television channel owned by Hariri's family, without specifying if the couple were accompanied by their children.

In a further escalation of the situation, Saudi state media said Saturday the country had recalled its ambassador to Berlin in protest over comments made by the German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel perceived as suggesting Hariri had been held against his will in Riyadh.

reuters

Hariri, a dual Saudi citizen, has been in the Saudi capital since his televised announcement there on November 4 that he was stepping down because he feared for his life, accusing Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of destabilising his country.

The announcement - which reportedly took even some of Hariri's closest aides by surprise - and his subsequent failure to return home to quit officially in person, fuelled claims that he was acting under orders from his Saudi patrons.

But shortly before leaving Riyadh for Paris, Hariri said in a tweet addressed to Gabriel that it was untrue he was being held in Saudi.

"To say that I am held up in Saudi Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie. I am on the way to the airport," Hariri tweeted.

To say that I am held up in Saudi Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie. I am on the way to the airport Mr. Sigmar Gabriel.  Saad Hariri (@saadhariri) November 17, 2017

Gabriel on Thursday said he shared the concern about the threat of instability and bloodshed in Lebanon and, without mentioning Saudi Arabia directly, warned against the "adventurism" behind the Lebanon crisis.

Earlier in the week Gabriel had said: "Lebanon has earned the right to decide on its fate by itself and not become a pinball of Syria or Saudi Arabia or other national interests".

Prior to Hariri's departure, Lebanese President Michel Aoun -- a Hezbollah ally who had accused Saudi Arabia of "detaining" the prime minister and refused to accept his resignation from abroad -- welcomed the announcement of the trip to Paris.

"We hope that the crisis is over and Hariri's acceptance of the invitation to go to France is the start of a solution," he said Thursday on the official presidential Twitter account.

reuters

"If Mr. Hariri speaks from France, I would consider that he speaks freely, but his resignation must be presented in Lebanon, and he will have to remain there until the formation of the new government," Aoun said later in a statement issued by his office.

Macron said he will host Hariri with the honours due to a prime minister when they meet at noon on Saturday, with his family set to join them later for lunch.

There is no indication what Hariri plans to do after visiting Macron, but the French leader has insisted he would then be free to return to Lebanon to either formally resign or rethink his decision.

France's intervention was the latest in a string of European efforts to defuse tensions over Lebanon, where divisions between Sunni Hariri's bloc and Shiite Hezbollah have long been a focal point in a broader struggle between Riyadh and Tehran.

Hariri -- whose father, ex-prime minister Rafik Hariri, was killed in a 2005 car bombing blamed on Hezbollah -- became head of a shaky compromise government including the group last year.

reuters

Lebanon's Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, from a rival bloc to Hariri's, on Friday during a visit to Moscow blasted unnamed groups for seeking to "dislodge the Lebanese head of state".

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir insisted from Madrid that "unless Hezbollah disarms and becomes a political party, Lebanon will be held hostage by Hezbollah and by extension Iran".

Hariri's resignation comes amid a sharp escalation in the long-standing rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, as Riyadh undergoes a major shake-up under ambitious Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

Riyadh and Tehran back opposing sides in the protracted wars in Yemen and Syria -- entangling them in a complex web of proxy conflicts
Update 7.41pm: Four people have died following a mid-air collision between a helicopter and a two-seater plane in Buckinghamshire, Thames Valley Police Superintendent Rebecca Mears has said.

Superintendent Mears said the aircraft were carrying two people each.

She said she could not give any details of the identity or the genders of the victims at this stage and her "first priority" at this stage was the next of kin.

Update 6.33pm: The plane involved is a Cessna 152 with a capacity for one pilot and one passenger.

Built in 1982, it is owned by Airways Aero Associations, which is based at the air field, and had been flown for almost 14,000 hours as of May.

The aircraft suffered substantial damage to its landing gear, propeller and engine covering during a previous crash as it was taking off at Bodmin airfield in Cornwall in July 1993.

An archived report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch shows the pilot admitted the accident was caused by his "misjudgement and lack of experience".

A woman who lives nearby said she was out walking her dogs at the time of the collision.

"We heard a helicopter circling over head and then heard sirens," she said.

She said she then smelled smoke, which she believes was related to the crash.

A police cordon remained in place outside the entrance to the Waddesdon estate on Friday night.

Officers were joined by members of staff from the estate.

A white tent erected inside the ground was partially visible through a high hedge from the main road, which has been reopened.

Update 4.14pm: The plane that crashed is believed to be a Cessna 152, which has capacity for one pilot and one passenger.

Thames Valley Police said on Twitter: "We're aware of a number of casualties following an incident this afternoon in Waddesdon, Aylesbury.

"There were a number of road closures following the incident, which have now been lifted.

"We will provide further updates when available."

Update 3.32pm: South Central Ambulance Service said the incident had caused "a number of casualties".

A spokeswoman said: "We received the call at 12.09pm, for a mid-air collision involving a helicopter and an aircraft in Upper Winchendon, near Aylesbury.

"We sent a number of resources to the scene, including a Thames Valley air ambulance, two ambulance crews, two ambulance officers and a rapid response vehicle.

"There have been a number of casualties at the scene, but at this stage this is all we are able to confirm."

Video grab taken from the BBC of the scene of the crash.

Earlier: A helicopter and an aircraft have been involved in a mid-air collision over Buckinghamshire in the UK.

Emergency services rushed to the scene close to the village of Waddesdon following reports of an incident at 12.06pm, Thames Valley Police said.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch said the collision had involved a helicopter and aircraft.

Air crash investigators are being sent to the scene, but the priority is being placed on saving lives, police said.

Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said they currently have seven vehicles responding to the incident, including fire engines as well as urban search and rescue vehicles.

Thames Valley Police are co-ordinating the response to the crash and warned there will be disruption to surrounding roads for the rest of the day.

Firefighters currently assisting other emergency services at scene of air accident near Waddesdon. Air Accidents Investigation Branch informed. Disruption to road network around Waddesdon likely for the rest of the day  Bucks and MK Fire (@Bucksfire) November 17, 2017

Air crash investigators are being sent to the scene, but the priority is saving lives, police said.

Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said they currently have seven vehicles responding to the incident, including fire engines as well as urban search and rescue vehicles.

Thames Valley Police are co-ordinating the response to the crash and warned there will be disruption to surrounding roads for the rest of the day.

A spokeswoman for Waddesdon Manor, a large estate near Aylesbury, said the crash had not happened on its grounds.

File photo of Waddesdon Manor.

Waddesdon Manor is managed by the Rothschild Foundation, a family charitable trust, on behalf of the National Trust, who took over ownership in 1957.

RAF Halton, which is around 10 miles away, said no military aircraft had been involved.

A spokesman said: "We can confirm that neither of the aircraft concerned has a connection with either our air force nor the military, and this is as much as we know at this time."

Wycombe Air Park is also known as Booker Airfield and sits around 20 miles away from the site of the crash.

It offers flight training for rookie pilots.

In May, a man was left fighting for his life after the helicopter he was travelling in with two other men crashed at the site.
News Analysis: Government Commits to Global Climate Effort but Pushes Coal at Home

Mawleik village in Kale Township, Sagaing Division soon after flood waters that indundated the entire village receded, September 2015. / The Irrawaddy

BONN, Germany  Even as its representatives participate in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference in Bonn, Germany from Nov. 6 to 17, the government is pushing ahead with plans to expand the number of coal-fired power plants to address a serious power shortage in the country.

The 23rd Conference of Parties (COP23) is a global conference involving nearly 200 nations and some 30,000 participants, including government officials, scientists, technocrats, environmentalists, civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations. Its ultimate goal is to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius. One of the aims of the Bonn conference is to secure $100 billion in funding for adaptation and mitigation projects starting from 2020.

Although Myanmar is not listed among the top-10 CO2 emitters in German Watchs 2017 index, the governments energy policy can hardly be said to prioritize emissions reductions.

Last week, the speaker of Karen State Parliament Saw Chit Khin reiterated the regional governments coal-fired power plant policy. The speaker said electricity would be provided to villagers by setting up clean-coal power plants in the state. Villagers would no longer have to enter the forests and cut down trees for firewood. The state government has given a green light to Toyo Thai Company to build a 1,280 MW coal-fired power plant in Hpa-An Township.

No more rice cooking with firewood and no more cutting down trees, said Saw Chit Khin.

Myanmars Energy Requirements

In fact, the electrification master plan was originated by ex-president Thein Seins administration, which commissioned 10 coal-fired plants across the country. These would join the Tigyit coal-fired plant, which is located in Shan State and already generates electricity. In April 2015, the government signed an MOU to commission a $2.8 billion coal-fired plant in eastern Myanmars Mon State. Several thousand Mon residents have staged a series of protests against the coal-fired power plant project in recent years.

However, Electricity and Energy Ministry Deputy Director General Hein Htet  one of the delegates attending COP23 in Bonn  has said that only one coal-fired plant, in Karen State, had been approved, with all other MOUs on hold.

Under the National Electricity Master Plan (2015-16), the government intends to adopt a mixed-energy system to fuel the countrys power grid. It calls for the nations electricity supply to be fueled 63 percent by hydropower, 32 percent by natural gas, 3 percent by coal and 2 percent by diesel.

To meet energy requirements beyond that, the government aims to increase the coal portion to 22 percent, with hydro falling to 54 percent and gas falling to 22 percent, with a mere 2 percent of power supplies fueled by renewables in fiscal years 2020-21. By 2030, the government targets 33 percent of the power supply being fueled by coal-fired plants (up by more than 10 percentage points from 2020-21), 38 percent by hydropower, 20 percent by gas and 9 percent by renewable energy sources.

Hein Htet said the National Electrification Master Plan (NEMP) was drafted by the previous government and revised by the National League for Democracy-led government after it took office in 2016 to adjust the ratio between the various power sources.

The director-general said in a statement that the government planned to increase the contributions of hydropower, gas and coal-fired plants even further in the future, but declined to provide details. The finalized master plan is expected to launch in early 2018.

Powering Growth

U Hla Maung Thein, the director general of the Ministry of Forestry and Environmental Conservation and head of Myanmars delegation to COP23, said Myanmar ranked at the top of the Global Climate Risk Index 2018 report. He added that the countrys vulnerability to natural disasters was demonstrated by Cyclone Nargis in 2008, which took 140,000 lives and displaced nearly 2 million people after sweeping through the Irrawaddy Delta.

As the military government transitioned toward democratic rule after Nargis, the countrys economic growth began to improve, with the World Bank estimating in 2015 that Myanmars GDP would reach 8.5 in 2015, but severe flooding the same year cost the country.

According to World Bank statistics, Myanmars GDP growth declined from 7.3 percent in 2015 to 5.9 percent in 2016. The countrys economic performance should improve this year and next, however, with growth forecast at 7.7 percent in 2017 and 8.0 percent in 2018, according the Asian Development Bank.

U Hla Maung Thein said, Our country is poor and we have to develop economically. In terms of the energy sector, as you know, only 37 percent of the total population has access to electricity. Without addressing that problem, socioeconomic growth is impossible.

He said the government has to consider an integrated approach to achieving energy sufficiency by producing electricity from fossil fuels, oil and gas, hydropower, solar power and wind turbines. Along with these sources, the government will apply the latest technology to build coal-fired plants during a transitional period of economic growth, he said.

We want everyone to have electricity by 2030, U Hla Maung Thein said.

Indonesias Deadly Example

Regarding the latest-technology coal-fired power plants, environmentalist Nur Hidyati, executive director of WAHLI Friends of Earth International (Indonesia), pointed out that her country has at least 100 coal-fired power plants, which provide 35,000 MW of power across the nation. Construction of the plants was mostly funded by Chinese and Japanese investment.

There is no such thing as clean coal technology. You cannot burn coal without producing emissions. This process creates serious pollution. Coal is dirty and coal kills; a lot of children have already died in my country, Nur Hidyati said.

She urged the Myanmar government to learn from Indonesias experience, explaining that burning coal emits invisible coal dust particles into the air, which are inhaled by people living near power plants. This causes damage to the respiratory systems of local residents over time. Moreover, the particles can also cause acid rain, which is devastating to the livelihoods of farmers. Globally, the huge scale of emissions leads to climate change.

If the Myanmar government continues to build coal-fired power plants it will only repeat what is currently happening in Indonesia, where people are suffering, right now. A lot of farmers in Indonesia apply traditional farming methods and are at the mercy of the weather. The have already experienced changes in the weather patterns, while traditional fishermen are losing fishing grounds due to water pollution from coal use.

What About Other Countries?

Myanmar is not the only country turning to coal-fired power plants to address energy shortfalls; even the wealthiest countries in the world, including European Union members, currently operate coal-fired plants and are reluctant to subordinate their economic agendas entirely to the need to reduce carbon emissions.

Under the Paris Climate Agreement signed last year, the wealthiest countries agreed to help finance mitigation and adaptation projects in least developed countries. Other countries are encouraged to provide support on a voluntary basis. However, no developed country has yet to match the amount pledged in the final agreement. In fact, the worlds most powerful country, the US, has vowed to withdraw from the agreement under President Donald Trump.

Ministry of Electricity and Energy official Hein Htet pointed out that China  the largest carbon emitter in the world  is also focused on its national interest, especially its One Belt One Road strategic plan and its energy sector development plan. Although China is trying to promote renewable sources of electricity, it does not plan to completely abolish its coal-fired plants. Rather, it intends to switch to newer coal-fired power plant technologies.

As we are Myanmar citizens, we have to emphasize the national interest. Other countries are promoting their interests and we should focus on our national interest too, he said.

Climate Finance

Myanmar is one of the 48 poorest nations that signed the UNFCCC and ratified the Paris Agreement. It has also submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution under the latter. It is therefore in compliance with its commitments in terms of climate adaptation and mitigation activities. Myanmars carbon emissions amount to less than 0.10 percent of the global total.

Ministry of Forestry and Environmental Conservation DG Hla Maung Thein said, As you know, Myanmar experiences heavy rain, cyclones, landslides and droughts every year. Making ourselves more resilient through adaptation programs is the most appropriate approach for us. But whatever we carry out  mitigation or adaptation projects  both need money.

On Oct. 30, Global Environmental Facilities (GEF) approved $5 million for three projects in fishery adaptation, biodiversity (rich reef coral) and renewable energy for Myanmar. The government intends to implement the projects in the coastal and delta regions rural areas. They are part of a $30 million, eight-project plan involving GEF.

Last week, US$300,000 was approved for Myanmar for capacity building as a Nationally Designated Authority (NDA) under the Green Climate Fund. It is drafting projects to be submitted for approval. According to Hla Maung Thein, neighboring countries including Cambodia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Bhutan have already received project preparation phase funds under the GCF.

Myanmar will also draft a proposal with the technical assistance of Koreas Green Technology Center (GTC) for full project proposal phase funding shortly and expects to roll it out within six months. At COP23, the government and GTC have both signed MOUs securing technical support for Myanmar.

We will draft the GCF proposal when we return to Myanmar, he said.
Opinion Tillerson Shows a Deft Touch in First Visit to Myanmar

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is greeted by senior Myanmar officials before his bilateral meeting with State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Naypyitaw on Nov. 14. / State Department

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson deserves credit for a job well done during his first visit to Myanmar.

On Wednesday evening, Tillerson flew out of the country having earned praise from observers for recognizing the complexity of Myanmars political situation and for his balanced and constructive handling of the Rakhine conflict.

Right after Tillersons briefing at a Nov. 15 joint press conference with Myanmars de facto leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw, the nations capital, the State Counselor said, Well, just let me briefly thank Secretary Tillerson for his understanding of the situation.

We have discussed the matter in some detail, and we agree that it is most important that we should bring peace and stability to this country, and that can only be done on the basis of the rule of law, she said.

Tillerson underscored that point in his briefing, saying, The United States has stood with the people of Myanmar for many years in their struggle against oppression and their pursuit of a freer, more peaceful, more prosperous, and more democratic society. Im here today in Naypyitaw to reaffirm our commitment to a successful democratic transition in Myanmar, and that commitment remains strong.

We continue to support the elected government as it strives to make progress on urgently needed reforms, to solidify the democratic gains of recent years, and to bring peace and reconciliation, prosperity, and greater respect for human rights, Tillerson said, emphasizing those most important points before turning to address the Rakhine issue.

Many people here  from the de facto leader to politicians to ordinary people  are quite worried that the Rakhine conflict will kill the countrys democratic transition, which remains fragile due to the highly unusual political situation in the country, in which power is constitutionally shared by the incumbent government and the military.

Lower House International Relations Committee member Daw Pyone Kaythi Naing described Tillersons message as constructive and acceptable. The NLD lawmaker added that Tillersons statement reflected the real situation in the country.

But the Secretary of State didnt miss the opportunity to condemn those who deserve condemnation, or to offer condolences where warranted.

Were deeply concerned by credible reports of widespread atrocities committed by Myanmars security forces and by vigilantes who are unrestrained by the security forces during the recent violence in Rakhine State. Were also distressed by the fact that hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children have been forced to flee to Bangladesh, he said.

We do condemn the August 25 attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on Myanmars security forces that initiated this violence and reiterate that there is zero tolerance for such attacks. We express our condolences at the loss of life among the Myanmar security forces resulting from this unprovoked attack.

Prominent politician U Ko Ko Gyi, whose political career dates back to the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, observed that Tillersons statement recognized the complexity of the countrys politics.

His briefing shows that the US has carefully crafted its diplomacy so that it is on an appropriate track, he said. I would say its the positive outcome of a thorough analysis by the US and its diplomats on the ground. They talked extensively to important non-state actors to hear their perspectives. Effective diplomacy depends not only on relations between governments, but also with other non-state actors.

U Ko Ko Gyi urged foreign countries like the US and the UK not to let their diplomatic efforts be overly affected by internal politics in their respective countries. He said foreign policies should take into account the political realities in the countries with which they have relations. Otherwise, their diplomacy will be inappropriate for that country.

With more than 600,000 Rohingya refugees having fled the country, Myanmars military leadership is likely to be targeted by US and EU sanctions for its internationally alleged disproportionate military operation against the Rohingya.

On that subject, Tillerson rejected the idea of broad economic sanctions against the entire country, expressing his preference for sanctions targeting individuals who were responsible for atrocities in Rakhine. However he said, In terms of targeted individuals, I think, again, all of that has to be evidence based.

U Thwin Lin Aung, the director of the civil society group Genuine Peoples Servants, sees the Rakhine conflict as a crisis in which human rights violations took place. Regarding sanctions, he said it would be inconsistent to impose them for isolated violations in northern Rakhine alone, because there have been human rights violations in the east, north and south of the country as well. If sanctions are to be imposed in one case, they should be imposed in all cases, he said.

However, he concluded, any solutions imposed to solve that crisis should not be allowed to obstruct the countrys unfinished democratic transition, which is most important for the entire nation.

The military leadership may not be so appreciative of the stand Daw Aung San Suu Kyi took at the press conference, however. She didnt defend them at all. Moreover, she seemed okay with Tillersons condemnation of the military and with his holding them accountable.

To most foreign observers and media, this will likely mean very little. But in the context of the political reality in Myanmar, where the militarys role in politics is a fact of life, such a gesture has grave implications for the relationship between her government and the powerful military.

Tillerson is aware of how important the civilian-military relationship is in Myanmar. In his briefing, he raised his meeting with military chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, acknowledging that military support for Myanmars ongoing transition to a federal, democratic state is crucial.

As part of that process, the military and government must work together to address the grievances of civilians throughout Myanmar and build strong, credible institutions. It cannot do so without acknowledging, addressing, and bringing to an end the tactics and practices that led to abuse and suffering, Tillerson said.

At this stage, US diplomacy toward Myanmar is taking the right approach with respect to its handling of the two key, and distinct, stakeholders  the government and the military. At the same time, the US has demonstrated that it cannot afford to lose Myanmar as a potential ally in the Southeast Asia region, one that is poised to take off economically and democratically if the country can navigate this fragile political transition.
Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd claims the Coalition Government changed its NBN policy to ensure "a sub-standard network" due to its "cosy relationship" with the Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corporation.

Rudd told The Saturday Paper in an interview that he was surprised that this had not been more comprehensively debated and inquired about.

Work on the national broadband network was begun in 2009 under the Labor Government that Rudd led, with a policy of having fibre supplied to 93% of premises. The balance was to be made up by fixed wireless and satellite connections, mainly due to accessibility issues.

But in 2013, when the Coalition Government headed by Tony Abbott took power, it changed the technologies. Added were fibre-to-the-node and HFC cable. Additionally, other methods of using fibre with varying lengths of copper forming the lead-in have also been employed.

The Labor plan was said to be too costly. But Rudd rejected this argument, and alleged that it was News Corp's opposition to the plan that was responsible for the changes. A fast network would have boosted subscribers to Netflix and competitors to the Foxtel pay network in which News Corp has a stake, he claimed.

Complaints about the NBN, which is being built by a government-owned entity known as NBN Co, have soared this year, showing a sharp rise.

If ever there was a case for a royal commission in Australia on the waste of public funds and the unseemly relationship between the Liberal Party on the one hand and the Murdoch party on the other in the destruction of the NBN model for Australia, this is it," Rudd told the paper.

People need to look very carefully at why theyve ended up with such a dog of an NBN in Australia, which is a laughing stock of the developed world, whereas when we launched it, we were in a position to lead the world. This is a genuine national disgrace, scandal and tragedy.

The Saturday Paper quoted Communications Minister Mitch Fifield as rebutting Rudd's claims.

"The only thing he can reflect on is a failed project. The Turnbull Government has turned it around and is delivering the NBN to millions of homes and businesses across the country at $30 billion less cost and six to eight years sooner than Labor. Thanks to our policy, all Australian homes and businesses will have fast broadband by 2020," Fifield said.

And News Corp told the newspaper: Mr Rudd is entitled to his opinions. It is a role of the media to scrutinise governments, it is what defines a democracy, and we stand by our role in doing that.

The interview also canvassed Rudd's views on a range of other issues.
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By Jessica Corbett, staff writer| ( Commondreams.org ) |  

New York Times reporters uncovered consistent failure by the coalition to investigate claims properly or to keep records that make it possible to investigate in what may be the least transparent war in recent American history

An 18-month investigation by a pair of New York Times reporters reveals far more civilians are killed in the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)particularly in the air warthan the U.S.-led coalition reports.

After visiting nearly 150 bombing sites in northern Iraq between April 2016 and June 2017, as well as the American base in Qatar where decisions are made about coalition air strikes, Azmat Khan and Anand Gopal found that one in five of the coalition strikes we identified resulted in civilian death, a rate more than 31 times that acknowledged by the coalition.

Since the U.S.-war against ISIS began in August 2014, the coalition has released monthly reports in which it claims tens of thousands of ISIS combatants and 466 civilians have been killed in Iraq. While the coalition claims civilians have died in only 89 of its more than 14,000 airstrikes in Iraq, Khan and Gopals on-the-ground reporting suggests the civilian death toll from coalition bombings in well into the thousands. U.K.-based Airwars estimates at least 3,000 civilians have been killed, but the groups director told the reporters Airwars may be significantly underreporting deaths in Iraq due to lack of reliable reporting.

In addition to touring and satellite mapping the destroyed sites, Khan and Gopal pored over local news reports, and interviewed hundreds of witnesses, survivors, family members, intelligence informants, and local officials. At the air base in Qatar, they were given access to the main operations floor and interviewed senior commanders, intelligence officials, legal advisers, and civilian-casualty assessment experts. The also handed over data they collected on 103 air strikes from ISIS-controlled regions and examined analysts responses.

Our reporting, they write, revealed a consistent failure by the coalition to investigate claims properly or to keep records that make it possible to investigate the claims at all, concluding, this may be the least transparent war in recent American history.

In addition to poor record-keeping and neglecting investigations, the reporters point to civlians unexpectedly being near to an ISIS target and flawed or outdated intelligence that conflated civilians with combatants as common reasons for civilian casualties.

The coalition and the U.S. Department of Defense post videos of bombings to their websites, which are presented as evidence of a military campaign unlike any otherprecise, transparent and unyielding, Khan and Gopal write. A Central Command spokesperson insists that U.S. and coalition forces work very hard to be precise in airstrikes, and that the coalition is conducting one of the most precise air campaigns in military historybut one such clip previously featured on the sites is a bombing of two homes with a caption claiming they were operating an ISIS car-bomb factory.

The homes were in fact owned by Iraqi civiliansBasim Razzo and his brother. The reporters recount the killings of Razzos loved ones in vivid detail. Razzo is a 56-year-old who worked as account manager for a Chinese multinational telecommunications company; in the 1980s, while he studied engineering at Western Michigan University, his wife Mayada sold Avon products to their neighbors. A few days after the attack, the badly wounded Razzo wrote on Facebook: In the middle of the night, coalition airplanes targeted two houses occupied by innocent civilians. Is this technology? This barbarian attack cost me the lives of my wife, daughter, brother, and nephew.

In response to Razzos effort to seek compensation and an apology, and the reporters investigation, Razzo was offered a condolence payment from the coalition several months after the attackwhich he declinedbut, through documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, he was able to learn a bit more about how their homes had been misidentified, surveilled, and destroyed.

Despite everything, Basim could not bring himself to hate Americans, Khan and Gopal write. In fact, this experience was further evidence for a theory he had harbored for a while: that he, fellow Iraqis and even ordinary Americans were all bit players in a drama bigger than any of them.

Because of his ties to the U.S, Razzo occasionally video conferences with university students about his experiences. I have nothing against the regular American citizen. I lived among you guys for eight years, he recently told a Penn State class of about 750 students. This situation of war, big corporations are behind it.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License

Via Commondreams.org



Related video added by Juan Cole:

PBS Newshour: Report finds disparities in civilian deaths from U.S.-led ISIS bombing campaign
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TeleSur |  

Environmental activist group Greenpeace said the leak demonstrated that approval should not be given for another section of the 2,600-mile pipeline planned for Nebraska.

At least 210,000 gallons of oil have leaked from the Keystone Pipeline in South Dakota in the United States, just days before a crucial decision due on whether to grant a permit for a long-delayed sister pipeline.

The spill, which amounts to some 5,000 barrels, is the largest oil spill to date in South Dakota, said a spokesman for the states Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Crews immediately shut down the Marshall County pipeline on Thursday morning, and officials are now investigating the cause of the leak. So far, there have been no reports of damage to waterways or wildlife, CNN reports.

The pipelines operator, TransCanada, said in a statement: The safety of the public and environment are our top priorities and we will continue to provide updates as they become available.

But environmental activist group Greenpeace said the leak demonstrated that approval should not be given for another section of the 2,600-mile pipeline, which delivers crude oil from Canada to Texas, to be built in Nebraska.

In March, President Donald Trumps administration officially issued a permit that approved construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Environmentalists oppose the project because it would cut across the Ogallala Aquifer, one of the worlds largest underground freshwater deposits. And Native American groups have argued the pipeline would cut across their sovereign lands.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission needs to take a close look at this spill, said Greenpeace spokesman Rachel Rye Butler. A permit approval allowing Canadian oil company TransCanada to build Keystone XL is a thumbs-up to likely spills in the future.

Jane Kleeb, head of the Nebraska Democratic Party and a longtime activist opposed to Keystone XL, told the Washington Post: TransCanada cannot be trusted. I have full confidence that the Nebraska Public Service Commission is going to side with Nebraskans, not a foreign oil company.

TransCanada said the latest leak occurred about 35 miles south of the Ludden pump station, which is in southeast North Dakota, and that it was completely isolated within 15 minutes.

The company said it has obtained permission from the landowner to assess the spill and plan the clean-up operation.

Via TeleSur

-

Related Tweet added by Juan Cole:

Wow! The genius of Trump the Brilliant! "Keystone" "South Dakota" "TransCanada" pic.twitter.com/aUQBTB7FLH  Paul Michael ?? (@realPaulMichael) November 16, 2017



Related video added by Juan Cole:

The Young Turks: Of Course The Keystone Pipeline Is Spilling Thousands Of Barrels Of Oil
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri arrived Saturday morning with his family in Paris, after a two-week stay in Saudi Arabia, where he is a dual citizen and has a mansion. Lebanese president Michel Aoun had charged that Saudi Arabia had taken Hariri hostage, but the latter denies the charge. The trip (or escape) to Paris was arranged by French president Emmanuel Macron on a trip to Riyadh earlier this week. France is the former colonial power in Lebanon and has excellent relations with Saudi Arabia because of security cooperation and substantial arms sales to the kingdom by Paris.

Lebanese foreign minister Gebran Bassil had visited Moscow on Thursday and while there said that Hariris resignation was an attempt to force out President Aoun (a long-time ally of the Shiite Hizbullah). What is more likely is that Bin Salman is trying shape the outcome of the May, 2018, parliamentary elections.

Hariri, a Sunni Muslim, resigned by telephone from his post from Saudi Arabia, but the resignation was not accepted by Christian President Aoun, on the grounds that it had to be submitted while the PM was actually in Lebanon. It is rumored that he was forced to resign by Saudi crown prince Muhammad Bin Salman because he declined to take a strong stance against Hizbullah, the Shiite party-militia allied with Iran. Since 2016 Hariri has served in a national unity government dominated by Hizbullah and its Christian allies. Given the current shape of Lebanese politics, however, any Sunni prime minister (the prime minister in Lebanon is always Sunni) would have to cooperate with Hizbullah to keep power. President Aoun, a Christian, became president through such cooperation.

It is also rumored that Saudi authorities are annoyed that Hariri appears to have run through the $4 bn family wealth he inherited from his father, Rafiq Hariri, a fortune gained in Saudi Arabia. That wealth had allowed the formation of Future (al-Mustaqbal) TV, which aims at bolstering Sunni and Saudi soft power in Lebanon. And perhaps it was intended to back the formation of a Sunni militia at one point, but those plans have failed. The Saudis may be tired of bankrolling the allegedly profligate Hariri. That is, Hariri may have gotten caught in the crown princes anti-corruption campaign, in the course of which he has detained several other wealthy Saudi citizens.

The Hariri affair is raising tensions inside Lebanon but also more generally. Saudi Arabia withdrew its ambassador to Germany to protest remarks of foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel, who said that Lebanon must not become a Saudi plaything and implied that it was under Saudi influence.

On Thursday, French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that France was disturbed by the hegemonic temptation of Iran in the Middle East, drawing a sharp rebuked from Iran, which accused France of taking sides.

Hariris actions and decisions in the coming month will help analysts predict the economic health of Lebanon and the Middle East in the coming year or two.



Related video added by Juan Cole:

FR24 Eng. Hariri to visit France: Lebanon is increasingly caught between Saudi Arabia and Iran
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The Conversation: Pep Canadell, CSIRO; Corinne Le Quere, University of East Anglia; Glen Peters, Center for International Climate and Environment Research  Oslo; Robbie Andrew, Center for International Climate and Environment Research  Oslo; Rob Jackson, Stanford University, and Vanessa Haverd, CSIRO

Global greenhouse emissions from fossil fuels and industry are on track to grow by 2% in 2017, reaching a new record high of 37 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, according to the 2017 Global Carbon Budget, released today.

The rise follows a remarkable three-year period during which global CO emissions barely grew, despite strong global economic growth.

But this years figures suggest that the keenly anticipated global peak in emissions  after which greenhouse emissions would ultimately begin to decline  has yet to arrive.

The Global Carbon Budget, now in its 12th year, brings together scientists and climate data from around the world to develop the most complete picture available of global greenhouse gas emissions.

In a series of three papers, the Global Carbon Projects 2017 report card assesses changes in Earths sources and sinks of CO, both natural and human-induced. All excess CO remaining in the atmosphere leads to global warming.

We believe society is unlikely to return to the high emissions growth rates of recent decades, given continued improvements in energy efficiency and rapid growth in low-carbon energies. Nevertheless, our results are a reminder that there is no room for complacency if we are to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, which calls for temperatures to be stabilised at well below 2 above pre-industrial levels. This requires net zero global emissions soon after 2050.

National trends

The most significant factor in the resumption of global emissions growth is the projected 3.5% increase in Chinas emissions. This is the result of higher energy demand, particularly from the industrial sector, along with a decline in hydro power use because of below-average rainfall. Chinas coal consumption grew by 3%, while oil (5%) and gas (12%) continued rising. The 2017 growth may result from economic stimulus from the Chinese government, and may not continue in the years ahead.

The United States and Europe, the second and third top emitters, continued their decade-long decline in emissions, but at a reduced pace in 2017.

For the US, the slowdown comes from a decline in the use of natural gas because of higher prices, with the loss of its market share taken by renewables and to a lesser extent coal. Importantly, 2017 will be the first time in five years that US coal consumption is projected to rise slightly (by about 0.5%).

The EU has now had three years (including 2017) with little or no decline in emissions, as declines in coal consumption have been offset by growth in oil and gas.

Unexpectedly, Indias CO emissions will grow only about 2% this year, compared with an average 6% per year over the past decade. This reduced growth rate is likely to be short-lived, as it was linked to reduced exports, lower consumer demand, and a temporary fall in currency circulation attributable to demonetisation late in 2016.

Yet despite this years uptick, economies are now decarbonising with a momentum that was difficult to imagine just a decade ago. There are now 22 countries, for example, for which CO emissions have declined over the past decade while their economies have continued to grow.

Concerns have been raised in the past about countries simply moving their emissions outside their borders. But since 2007, the total emissions outsourced by countries with emissions targets under the Kyoto Protocol (that is, developed countries, including the US) has declined.

This suggests that the downward trends in emissions of the past decade are driven by real changes to economies and energy systems, and not just to offshoring emissions.

Other countries, such as Russia, Mexico, Japan, and Australia have shown more recent signs of slowdowns, flat growth, and somewhat volatile emissions trajectories as they pursue a range of different climate and energy policies in recent years.

Still, the pressure is on. In 101 countries, representing 50% of global CO emissions, emissions increased as economies grew. Many of these countries will be pursuing economic development for years to come.

A peek into the future

During the three-year emissions plateau  and specifically in 2015-16  the accumulation of CO in the atmosphere grew at a record high that had not previously been observed in the half-century for which measurements exist.

It is well known that during El Nino years such as 2015-16, when global temperatures are higher, the capacity of terrestrial ecosystems to take up CO (the land sink) diminishes, and atmospheric CO growth increases as a result.

The El Nino boosted temperatures by roughly a further 0.2. Combined with record high levels of fossil fuel emissions, the atmospheric CO concentration grew at a record rate of nearly 3 parts per million per year.

This event illustrates the sensitivity of natural systems to global warming. Although a hot El Nino might not be the same as a sustained warmer climate, it nevertheless serves as a warning of the global warming in store, and underscores the importance of continuing to monitor changes in the Earth system.

No room for complacency

There is no doubt that progress has been made in decoupling economic activity from CO emissions. A number of central and northern European countries and the US have shown how it is indeed possible to grow an economy while reducing emissions.

Other positive signs from our analysis include the 14% per year growth of global renewable energy (largely solar and wind)  albeit from a low base  and the fact that global coal consumption is still below its 2014 peak.

These trends, and the resolute commitment of many countries to make the Paris Agreement a success, suggest that CO emissions may not return to the high-growth rates experienced in the 2000s. However, an actual decline in global emissions might still be beyond our immediate reach, especially given projections for stronger economic growth in 2018.

To stabilise our climate at well below 2 of global warming, the elusive peak in global emissions needs to be reached as soon as possible, before quickly setting into motion the great decline in emissions needed to reach zero net emissions by around 2050.

Pep Canadell, CSIRO Scientist, and Executive Director of the Global Carbon Project, CSIRO; Corinne Le Quere, Professor, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia; Glen Peters, Research Director, Center for International Climate and Environment Research  Oslo; Robbie Andrew, Senior Researcher, Center for International Climate and Environment Research  Oslo; Rob Jackson, Chair, Department of Earth System Science, and Chair of the Global Carbon Project, globalcarbonproject.org, Stanford University, and Vanessa Haverd, Senior research scientist, CSIRO

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
TORONTO, Nov. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd. (TSX-V:MON) has completed an initial channel sampling program at the Soris Lithium Project in central Namibia which returned an average lithium grade of 0.76% Li2O with values up to 3.66% Li2O from all channel samples. The best result from channel sampling returned 14 metres of 1.93% Li2O. The channel sampling program was designed to test lithium bearing spodumene mineralization in a number of pegmatites on the property where prior operators mined for tantalum and tin and did not test the lithium potential of the property.

On October 24, 2017, Montero entered into an agreement and is currently in a legal and technical due diligence period whereby Montero may at any time elect to acquire an 80% interest in the Property by committing to spending C$1 million and completing a feasibility study within 3 years of transfer of the mining rights to Montero. Montero is awaiting mineralogical sample analysis and lithium assay results of RC chips from a prior drill program before electing to acquire an 80% interest.

A total of 4 channel sample traverses were collected as representative sections of the pegmatite mineralization along approximately a 2.4 km strike length. Channel samples were taken every 1 metre across the exposed and accessible portions of the pegmatite with a total of 53 samples submitted for full chemical analysis to SGS Laboratories in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Channel sample results returned lithium values up to 3.66% Li2O, tantalum values up to 1,917ppm Ta2O5 and tin values up to 12,696ppm SnO2. The samples within the selected channels are representative of those channels but may not necessarily be representative of the overall mineralization hosted in the pegmatites on the property. Spodumene has been identified as the major lithium bearing mineral. Results from channel sampling were returned as follows:

RESULTS OF THE CHANNEL SAMPLING PROGRAM Channel Width in Lithium a Tantalum b Tin c Location Metres Li2O % Ta2O5 ppm SnO2 ppm NC1 16 0.68 112 3812 CC1 5 0.13 120 1405 MC1 14 1.93 155 689 SC1 6 0.03 793 401

a. Li2O obtained by conversion factor of 2.153

b. Ta2O5 obtained by conversion factor of 1.2211

c. SnO2 obtained by conversion factor of 1.2696

-

Dr. Tony Harwood, President and Chief Executive Officer of Montero commented, Monteros first channel sampling program has confirmed lithium, tantalum and tin mineralization over a 2.4 km strike length of exposed pegmatite. Channel MC1 returned 14m at an average grade of 1.93% Li2O where the best individual sample assayed 3.66% Li2O. Monteros primary interest at Soris is to test the lithium content of the spodumene bearing pegmatites to establish a lithium resource. Prior operators never tested for lithium. Initial Lithium assay results from prior operator RC drill holes are expected shortly which will provide Montero an understanding of the lithium potential in a third dimension. These, along with mineralogical test results designed to understand metallurgy, will enable Montero to decide whether to proceed with trying to define a lithium resource.

The lithium, tantalum and tin values from Channel MC1 and Channel NC1 returned the best lithium values. The width of exposed pegmatite at Channel MC1 is 24m and Channel NC1 is 16m although all the pegmatite was not necessarily sampled due to surface rubble. Nico Scholtz Pr.Sci.Nat. carried out the channel sampling program for Montero and the locations are outlined below.

The Soris Lithium Project is in central Namibia, north west of the town Uis which is 220km north of Walvis Bay, Namibias largest commercial deep-water port. The project is in the Erongo Region and is connected by dirt and asphalt road to the port of Walvis Bay.

The zoned pegmatites at the Soris Lithium Project belong to a group of highly fractionated, tantalite-cassiterite, lithium-rich rare metal pegmatites known as Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum (LCT) pegmatites. The Soris pegmatites were previously mined on a small scale for tin and tantalum (Diehl, 1992). The pegmatite has not been mined or systematically sampled or assayed for lithium.

The pegmatites at Soris have narrow border-zone comprised of fine to medium grained feldspar-quartz-muscovite rock, succeeded inwards by a narrow similar wall-zone. Inwards from here, the pegmatite is a mixture of feldspar, quartz, spodumene and green muscovite. The pegmatite contains spodumene throughout this internal zone varying in volume from about 10% to >30% of the pegmatite. The spodumene occurs as coarse-grained large prismatic crystals up to 0.8 m in length and as smaller plate-like crystals 1 cm in length. The crystals are randomly arranged in a matrix of variably coarse-grained microcline and albite feldspars. The spodumene is pale green to white or grey in colour.

Lithium assay results from a previous 31-hole RC drill program as well as mineralogical analysis from samples taken are yet to be received.

Qualified Person's Statement

This press release was reviewed and approved by Mr. Mike Evans, M.Sc. Pr.Sci.Nat., who is a qualified person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101 and a Consulting Geologist to Montero. A review was also undertaken by Nico Scholtz, Pr.Sci.Nat., a qualified person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101 and has extensive experience in rare metal pegmatite exploration and Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum (LCT) pegmatites.

About Montero

Montero is a mineral exploration and development company engaged in the identification, acquisition, evaluation and exploration of mineral properties in Africa. Currently these include Lithium, Tantalum and Tin in Namibia, Phosphates in South Africa and Rare Earth Elements (REE) in Tanzania. Montero is reviewing and evaluating other opportunities from its operating base in South Africa. Montero trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol MON.
Greenpeace released:

Greenpeace have welcomed Fonterras pledge to substantially reduce climate emissions from agriculture, but say there is a gaping hole in the plan.

Today, New Zealands largest dairy producer pledged to reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030, with a long term aim to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Greenpeace campaigner, Amanda Larsson, says its positive to see Fonterra finally acknowledging their significant contribution to climate change. Setting targets to reduce their impact is an important first step, however Fonterra still seem to be in denial of the fact that taking action on climate change means reducing the dairy herd, she says.

Reducing the dairy herd will lead to an increase in global emissions. The global demand for dairy products will be met by whichever countries can supply them. If you reduce the dairy herd in NZ, then it will merely increase in some other country. And our dairy production tends to have lower greenhouse gas emissions per litre of milk than other countries. So the net impact will be to actually increase global emissions.

Fonterra are relying on some pretty aspirational and unproven technological fixes to address a major source of their emissions  burping cows, says Larsson. There is a rather gaping hole in that plan. We urgently need a dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from livestock. The only way to do that in the time we have available is to reduce the herd. The milk giant have indicated they are betting on technological breakthroughs such as methane vaccines and low emissions feeds to cut down the enormous amounts of methane and nitrous oxide emissions produced by cattle.

Ill make this simple. Reducing the NZ diary herd results in the following:

NZ reduces its GG emissions

Other countries increase their GG emissions by a greater amount

NZ exports less, and has lower national income and jobs

Other countries export more

So the net impact of doing what Greenpeace (and the Greens) say is to increase global greenhouse gas emissions and lower NZs national income, exports and jobs.
By Park Si-soo



A Thai man was found dead near his dorm room in a factory-crammed village in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, police said Friday.



The man, 24, was found hanging from a steel pole near his room at 6:20 a.m. Thursday, according to police. His room is next to a factory where he had worked since 2014 as an undocumented foreigner, investigators said.



An investigation is under way to find the cause of his death. Police will conduct an autopsy soon.



His colleagues reportedly told police that he used to have frequent contact with his family in Thailand but recently cut contact for unknown reasons.



He entered South Korea on a travel visa and started working at the factory, investigators said.




Children hide under the table during an earthquake drill at the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters in eastern Seoul, Friday. / Yonhap



Experts warn of stronger, more frequent seismic activity



By Jung Min-ho



The 5.4-magnitude quake that rattled Korea's southeastern city of Pohang earlier this week shows last year's Gyeongju quake was not an once-in-a-lifetime event  and there could be another one in the near future.



Some experts, including Korea Seismological Institute head researcher Kim So-gu and former Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation President Jeong Sang-man, think it's just a matter of time before Korea experiences more destructive quakes, while the government takes mere baby steps to prepare for them.



First and foremost, Korea has few experts with hands-on experience and knowledge of the natural phenomena. In a country where strong quakes had been rare for many decades, the government did not feel the need to nurture them and there are few jobs in the field.



As a result, the country knows little about what's beneath the Korean Peninsula. According to the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, there are believe to be hundreds of active faults  the source of quakes  here, but only 25 of them have been studied so far.



Following the Gyeongju quake, the government said it will spend more than 117 billion won ($107 million) on thoroughly studying the faults, but according to the current schedule, the project will be completed in 2041.



When big quakes occur, the greatest damage on land comes from building collapses. This is why Japan, a country with frequent quakes, has for decades tightened its construction codes and made significant investments to develop quake-proofing construction methods.



Until recently, on the other hand, construction firms in Korea did not feel the need to invest much to make building more quake-resistant, so they didn't.



According to government data this year, only 6.8 percent of all 7 million buildings across the country are designed to be quake-resistant, slightly up from last year's 6.5 percent. The ratio is only 23.1 percent among schools.



Fortunately, no serious casualties occurred in the quakes in Gyeongju and Pohang, but many buildings collapsed and were seriously damaged as a result, which urged the government to apply stricter construction standards to avoid a similar scale of destruction in the future.



The government plans to invest 285.1 billion won to make all schools more quake-resistant. But this project is also expected to take at least 20 years to be completed.



This means, for now and many years to come, Korea will remain vulnerable to major quakes, Jeong said.



"But the good news is that the government's real-time warning improved greatly in only a year. The government can reduce the vulnerable time significantly if it is serious about improving everything from studying tectonic plates and constructing sturdier buildings," he said.



Following the Gyeongju quake, many criticized the government for its slow warning alarm system, which went off eight minutes after the event. But this time it took 19 seconds for everyone to receive the message.



"History shows powerful quakes occurred even in Seoul. They will certainly occur again, and we all have to be ready," Jeong said.






Church of the Brethren hosts Thanksgiving Day meal

TWIN FALLS  A free Thanksgiving Day meal will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 23  Thanksgiving Day  at the Community Church of the Brethren, 461 Filer Ave. W., Twin Falls. Everyone is invited to join us for a time of fellowship and good food. Information: Bradon Tilley, 208-961-0130.

Burley Catholics host Christmas bazaar

BURLEY  The Little Flower Catholic Church will host its Christmas bazaar from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. today at the church, 1601 Oakley Ave., Burley. There will be baked goods, craft items and other Christmas items for purchase. A meal of chili, baked potatoes and cinnamon rolls will be offered all-day. A raffle will be ongoing, with tickets costing $1 or six for $5  no need to be present to win.

More information: 208-678-5453.

Unitarian Universalists explore the idea of home

TWIN FALLS  The old song tells us, Be it ever so humble, theres no place like home. In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothys magic involves truly knowing, Theres no place like home. Does the word mean a physical home? Is it a cherished idea or philosophy that grounds us? Is it certain people, wherever they are in the world? Is it a house of worship, a school or a place or work?

Rev. Elizabeth Greene will explore what home can mean to us, how deeply-important it is to feel at home. Please join us at the Magic Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday to hear her speak on the topic. We are at the Vendor Blender and Event Center, 588 Addison Ave. W. near the old hospital, Twin Falls.

Unitarian Universalism honors the differing paths we each travel. Our congregations are places where we celebrate, support and challenge one another as we continue on our spiritual journeys. Unitarian Universalists covenant to affirm and promote: the inherent worth and dignity of every person; justice, equality and compassion in human relations; and acceptance of one another. Newcomers of all religious paths, or none at all, are always welcome. Child care is available. We are handicapped-accessible. Parking is in the rear of the building.

Information: Ken Whiting, 208-734-9161 or email mvuuf83301@yahoo.com.

Jaime Thietten performs Christmas concert

TWIN FALLS  Jaime Thietten will be in concert from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Dec. 5 at St. Edwards Catholic Church, 161 Sixth Ave. E., Twin Falls. Join Jaime as she shares Advent and Christmas music from her new CD The Joy of Christmas. A freewill offering will be accepted for Jaimes ministry, and her recorded music will be available for purchase.

Information: pelayoc@cableone.net or call 208-733-3907.

Ascension provides free hot meal today

TWIN FALLS  The Feed My Sheep ministry at Ascension Episcopal Church will provide a hot meal at 11:30 a.m. today at the Mustard Seed, 702 Main Ave., Twin Falls  in their indoor facility. All who are in need of a weekend meal and fellowship are invited.

Ascension will welcome the Rev. Michael Case as guest celebrant for Holy Communion at 9 a.m. Sunday at the church, 371 Eastland Dr. N., Twin Falls. Case is the part-time priest-in-charge at Holy Nativity Church in Meridian, Idaho. No childcare or Sunday School will be available; children are welcome to join their families for the worship service. A fellowship coffee-hour will follow the service. Ascension Cafe, the adult discussion group, will also meet then  continuing the three-week discussion of Myths, Miracles and Metaphors led by Dave Duhaime.

Djembe Drumming  simple drumming in community  will meet at 6:45 p.m. Monday in the library of the church. All ages are welcome. For information or if you need a drum supplied, call 208-961-1349. Knit-Us-Together, the handwork group, will meet from 1 to 3 p.m. Wednesdays  working on prayer shawls; baby blankets and hats to donate; or on individual handwork projects.

Ascension Episcopal Church is handicapped-accessible. More information: call 208-733-1248 or visit www.episcopaltwinfalls.org.
WENDELL  Four children were removed from their home Wednesday after authorities found them living in filth, the Gooding County sheriff said.

Idaho Health and Welfare was called Wednesday to investigate the childrens living situation after a 3-year-old boy shot his 5-year-old sister with a 9 mm pistol, Sheriff Shaun Gough said.

The shooting was an accident, Gough said Friday, and the parents face no charges in connection with the shooting.

But the home was a filthy mess, he said. The children, ages approximately 2 to 8, are now in temporary foster care.

Health and Welfare has a safety plan, the sheriff said. The parents have to do certain things before they can get them back.

The father was at work and the children were at home with their mother Wednesday morning when the boy climbed on a freezer chest to reach the top of a refrigerator, where two 9 mm pistols were kept, Gough said.

One pistol had a lock; the other didnt, he said.

They said both were supposed to be locked, he said, but we never found the (second) lock.

The shot went through the girls right arm but hit no bones.

Gough didnt identify the family, but he said the shooting happened in a rented home in the 600 block of West Avenue F in Wendell.
More antimatter particles stream toward Earth than scientists can explain  and new research from a mountaintop observatory in central Mexico deepens the mystery by crossing off one possible source.

The Earth is constantly showered by high-energy particles from a variety of cosmic sources. Physicist Victor Hess used a balloon to provide the first evidence of the extraterrestrial nature of cosmic rays in 1912. Since then, scientists have identified and accounted for a variety of different types, but the origin of some of these particles continues to elude experts.

The recent finding, detailed in the journal Science today (Nov. 17), concerns positrons, the antimatter complements of electrons. High-energy particles, usually protons, traveling across the galaxy can create pairs of positrons and electrons when they interact with dust and gas in space, study co-author Hao Zhou, at Los Alamos National Lab, told Space.com. In 2008, the space-based PAMELA detector measured unexpectedly high numbers of earthbound positrons. This was about 10 times what they were expecting to see, according to Zhou. [Supernova Face-Off May Solve 40-Year-Old Antimatter Mystery]

After years of work, camps coalesced around two distinct explanations, according to a statementby Michigan Technological University, which was involved in the new study. One hypothesis suggests the particles come from nearby pulsars, rapidly spinning cores of burnt-out stars, which can whip particles like electrons and positrons to incredible speeds. The other group posits a more exotic origin for the excess positrons, perhaps involving dark matter, an unknown yet pervasive entity that accounts for 80 percent of the universe's mass.

Particles like positrons that carry an electric charge are difficult to detect on Earth since they can be deflected by the planet's magnetic field. But scientists have a workaround. The particles also interact with the cosmic microwave background  an ever-present stream of low-energy photons left over from the birth of the universe. "The high-energy electron, or positron, [will] kick the low-energy photon ... so this the photon becomes a high-energy gamma-ray," Zhou said. "These gamma-rays, which have no electric charge, can pass right through the magnetic field and make it all the way to Earth's surface.

Zhou's team made detailed measurements of the gamma-rays coming from the direction of two nearby pulsars  Geminga and its companion PSR B0656+14  that are the right age and distance from Earth to account for the excess positrons. To do this, the scientists used the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory, located about 4 hours east of Mexico City. HAWC comprises more than 300 tanks of extra-pure water. When gamma-rays plow into the atmosphere, they create a cascade of high-energy particles. As this shower of particles passes through HAWC's tanks, it emits flashes of blue light, which scientists can use to determine the energy and origin of the original cosmic ray.

The data from HAWC revealed that particles are streaming away from the pulsars too slowly to account for the excess positrons, according to a statement by the University of Maryland, whose researchers also contributed to the work. In order to have arrived here by now, the particles would have needed to leave before the pulsars had formed, Zhou said.

Zhou's colleagues are quick to point out an important caveat. "Our measurement doesn't decide the question in favor of dark matter, but any new theory that attempts to explain the excess using pulsars will need to match the new data," University of Maryland physicist Jordan Goodman, the lead investigator and U.S. spokesman for the HAWC collaboration, said in the statement from Maryland.

By observing the rotations of galaxies, scientists determined that the universe contains more mass than the objects we can observe. They call this mysterious extra mass dark matter. Aside from seeing dark matter's gravitational influence from afar, no one has directly detected it otherwise. However, a popular model of the substance involves weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPS, which interact with regular matter solely through gravity. If these proposed particles were to decay, or be annihilated somehow, they could conceivably generate pairs of electrons and positrons, Zhou said.

There are other astrophysical processes to consider as well. Supernova remnants and microquasars  extremely bright objects formed as matter spirals toward a black hole  can produce positrons, Zhou said. And there's the possibility that the initial model of particle interactions with the cosmic microwave background is inaccurate. "In order to confirm a detection of dark mater, I guess, there's still a long way to go," Zhou said. "We have to rule out all these astrophysical processes."

Zhou's team plans to take advantage of HAWC's incredibly wide field of view to narrow down these alternatives in future studies.

Email Harrison Tasoff at htasoff@space.com or follow him @harrisontasoff. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
This graphic shows the masses of the black holes involved in the five mergers detected by the LIGO collaboration, as of Nov. 17, 2017.

There's a population of monsters lurking in the dark depths of space that astronomers are trying to get acquainted with.

These monsters are pairs of black holes, each with masses of anywhere from about five to several tens of times that of the sun, that are crashing into each other and forming even more massive black holes in the process. This week, scientists with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) announced that earlier this summer they had detected a gravitational wave signal from yet another one of these black hole mergers  their fifth since 2015 and involving some of the lightest black holes LIGO has ever detected.

"We're getting to know black holes in a really new and unprecedented way," Eve Chase, a doctoral student at Northwestern University and a member of the LIGO collaboration, told Space.com.

Making waves

LIGO was designed to detect gravitational waves, or ripples in space itself. Albert Einstein showed that very massive objects, like stars and planets, curve space like a bowling ball on a mattress. (He also showed that time is fundamentally linked to space, so he called the universal fabric space-time.) Gravitational waves are created when massive objects move rapidly through space-time.

On Sept. 14, 2015, LIGO made the first-ever direct detection of gravitational waves, more than 100 years after Einstein first predicted them. (The detection was announced in February 2016.) The space-time ripples were coming from two black holes that had been orbiting each other, growing gradually closer and closer together until they finally collided. All five of the black-hole merger events detected by LIGO have involved so-called stellar-mass black holes, which have masses of between about five and 100 times that of Earth's sun.

"We have five different little families of black holes that each have their own quirks," Chase said. "Each detection's a little different. Some are very loud, some are very far way, some have lighter masses, some have black holes that have close to equal masses."

Before LIGO's 2015 detection, researchers could indirectly observe stellar-mass black holes by looking for light coming from a star or a ring of material orbiting around the black hole. Stellar-mass black holes detected via X-rays typically topped out around 10 to 20 solar masses, but some of the black holes detected by LIGO have been much larger (which came as a bit of a surprise to scientists).

This graphic shows black holes and neutron stars that have been detected using both gravitational waves and light, organized by their mass. The black holes detected by LIGO are in blue, and are mostly heavier than the stellar mass black holes detected via light. But, the June 8, 2017 detection by LIGO found black holes with masses closer to those detected using light. (Image credit: LIGO)

But this week, LIGO announced that on June 8, the instruments detected a black hole merger involving some of the lightest black holes that the observatory has yet detected, at seven and 12 times the mass of the sun. The merger created a black hole 18 times the mass of the sun, with some mass lost in the merger, and there's a high probability this is the lightest combined-mass black hole detected by LIGO, according to Chase. The merger detected by the collaboration on Dec. 26, 2015 involved black holes with very similar masses.

"The kicker with this event is the mass," Chase, who was a leader on the analysis of the June 8 event, told Space.com. "The June 8 event has masses consistent with black holes previously detected through X-ray observations, allowing us to compare black holes detected through X-ray observations with black holes from gravitational-wave detections. This establishes a link between two separate populations of black holes."

LIGO is discovering black holes rapidly, and will soon have found as many as were known from light-based observations before the collaboration's first detections, Chase said. LIGO also has a companion in this search: In August, the Virgo Gravitational Wave Observatory came online in Italy, and the two observatories made two joint signal detections that month  a black hole merger on August 14, and the first-ever detection of a binary neutron star merger on August 17.

"We're just in the beginning stages of starting to have a population of these binary black holes," Chase said.

"These binary star systems can either be formed alone or in the Times Square of stellar environments, in dense clusters bustling with stars," Chase wrote in an email. "The stars born in dense environments get knocked around much more than stars formed in isolation, leaving lasting effects on the orbit and spins of the systems. After a hundred or so binary black hole detections by LIGO and Virgo, it may be possible to determine the ratio of black holes formed in isolation to those formed in crowded environments."

LIGO scientists are now like zoologists studying a rare species in the wild  their task is to try to discern between the characteristics of the individuals and those of the entire population.

"We can't draw any conclusions with just five events, but we're on our way to be able to explore how binary black holes are formed," she added.

But Chase said astronomers will use the detections made so far to try to estimate how many of these binary solar-mass black holes are lurking in galaxies. Every new detection will help to refine those estimates.

LIGO is undergoing another upgrade that will improve its sensitivity, increasing the volume of sky over which it can search for gravitational waves. It will begin observations in the fall of 2018.

Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield.Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
by Larissa Faw , November 17, 2017

California subscribers shouldn't be concerned that this month's Food & Wine magazine appears in their mailboxes as Food & Milk.

For the first time, the magazine is changing its name as part of a new campaign from the California Milk Processor Board (CMPB). This geo-targeted promotion will reach 92,000 out of the magazine's 925,000 subscriber rate base.

Goodby Silverstein & Partners (GS&P) convinced the magazine and publisher Time Inc. that this placement will reconnect milk to modern foods.

Our approach to planning media is not to place an ad, but to hack the media so you cant separate the creative idea from its context, says Christine Chen, partner and director of communication strategy, GS&P. "Naturally, they had the right concerns about their brand and whether we would uphold their quality but they were surprisingly open and incredibly supportive."

advertisement advertisement

The campaign features a cover wrap that is identical to the national Food & Wine cover, but with shot-glass-size servings of milk instead of wine placed in a holiday-party setting. The cover wrap will have additional executions on the inside front cover and inside back cover of those copies of the magazine exclusively designated for California Food & Wine subscribers.

The creative concept is part of CMPB's Food Loves Milk campaign - which launched in September 2015 - to highlight milks ability to complement a range of flavors, from savory to spicy to sweet.
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by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, November 17, 2017

A Democratic lawmaker wants federal agencies to install ad blockers on government computers, unless the online ad industry develops a plan in the next six months to defeat malvertising.

"Although the vast majority of internet advertisements are legitimate, the fact that hostile actors can remotely target and potentially infect the computers of U.S. government employees means that this cyber threat vector can no longer be ignored," Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) says in a letter sent Thursday to Rob Joyce, cybersecurity coordinator at the White House. "Using targeted ads, it is simply far too easy for foreign governments to deliver malicious code directly to the computers of government employees."

advertisement advertisement

He adds that malware "is increasingly delivered through code embedded in seemingly innocuous advertisements online," and that users can become infected without even clicking on ads.

Wyden specifically asks Joyce to begin talks with the "online ad industry" and direct the industry to develop a plan within six months to prevent foreign governments from delivering malvertising to federal computers.

"After 180 days, if you are not completely confident that the advertising industry will effectively address this cyber threat, direct the Department of Homeland Security to issue a Binding Operational Directive requiring federal agencies to block the delivery to employees' computers of all internet ads containing executable computer code," Wyden writes.

The senator doesn't specify which companies or organizations he wants contacted. The letter does not mention the Trustworthy Accountability Group -- an industry organization created by the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Association of National Advertisers and Interactive Advertising Bureau -- that currently works to prevent the spread of malware.

Last year, TAG moved forward with a program that certifies buyers, sellers, and intermediaries in the digital advertising supply chain that have taken steps to combat malware. TAG also recently launched a platform to share malware-related information with other companies and law enforcement agencies.

Mike Zaneis, CEO of TAG, calls Wyden's letter "a little bit out of left field."

"I wouldn't expect it to have legs," Zaneis says, referring to Wyden's proposal. "Having the federal government unilaterally block a $70 billion U.S. industry is a short-sighted approach to what has been a long term, very complex problem."

John Montgomery, executive vice president for brand safety at GroupM Global, adds that computers are more likely to become infected with malware through a link in an email, or interactions on sites carrying pirated content, than from ads on legitimate sites -- particularly when the ads aren't clicked on.

"He's making ads the enemy here," Montgomery says of Wyden. "There are many, many ways a government computer could be infected."

Montgomery also points out that ad-blocking technology is imperfect, especially on mobile devices and social networking sites. He suggests that other measures, including malware detection technology, or restricting access to sites with questionable content, would be more effective than installing ad blockers.

TAG's Zaneis adds that even though the industry can make efforts to combat malware, it's impossible to completely prevent infections. "Malware is not a new issue," he says. "The criminals are really dedicated, and they're proficient, and they have a profit motive."
When I woke up this morning I read a bit of news that shocked me. It said, The world's first human head transplant has been successfully carried out on a corpse in China, as per an Italian professor, Sergio Canavero.

A Head Transplant! Seriously? Up until that point, stuff like this seemed only possible in science fiction films.

The announcement was made at a press conference in Vienna this morning by Professor Canavero, director of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group. The whole procedure was carried out by a team led by Dr. Xiaoping Ren in China. Just last year, the team grafted a head onto the body of a monkey. This time they moved on to a human subject.

It was a gruelling 18-hour operation. The experts demonstrated that it is possible to successfully reconnect the spine, nerves and blood vessels of a severed head. Like, are we actually playing God here?

Facebook/SergioCanaveroMD

For too long nature has dictated her rules to us, said Professor Canavero, during the press conference.

We're born, we grow, we age and we die. For millions of years, humans have evolved and 110 billion humans have died in the process.

That's genocide on a mass scale. We have entered an age where we will take our destiny back in our hands.

It will change everything. It will change you at every level. The first human head transplant, in the human mode, has been realized.

Everyone said it was impossible, but the surgery was successful.  added the mad doctor!

Getty Images

Check out these two pictures below:

The two-headed creature lived 36 hours on average ( long-term survival of the specimens was not a priority.)

CNS

This is how it all came into being

CNS

Severely handicapped Russian computer scientist Valery Spiridonov is the first person who has volunteered to undergo the head transplant.

This is what people in the community has to say about the operation.

The professor of neuroscience at the University of Oxford, Dr. Jan Schnupp, said: I find it inconceivable that ethics committees in any reputable research or clinical institutions would give a green light to living human head transplants in the foreseeable future. Indeed, attempting such a thing given the current state of the art would be nothing short of criminal

Dr. James Fildes, NHS principal research scientist at the University Hospital of South Manchester's Transplant Centre, also had a few words the subject. Unless Canavero or Ren provide real evidence that they can perform a head, or more appropriately, a whole body transplant on a large animal that recovers sufficient function to improve quality of life, this entire project is morally wrong.

Perhaps far more worryingly, this endeavour appears to revolve around immortality, but in each case, a body is needed for the transplant, and therefore a human needs to die as part of the process.

Where does Canavero propose to get the donor body from if the goal is to tackle the laws of nature?

Has Canavero considered how he will tackle acute rejection of the constituent parts of the head?

What will rejection of the skin, muscles, eyes, and brain manifest as? I hope this is not just egotistical pseudoscience.

Aim of this experiment and future plans of Dr. Sergio

The first transplant could be carried out on someone from China, where a large number of volunteers have already claimed to have come forward.

Basically, the aim of this surgery is to first cut the spinal cord and then repair it before using electrical or magnetic stimulation to 'reanimate' the nerves and even movement in the corpse. This draws parallels to the infamous story of Frankenstein, where electricity is used to reanimate the fictional monster.

Dr. Canavero and his colleagues in South Korea and China pointed to experiments conducted in the 1800s using the corpses of criminals who had been hung as proof such tests could be successful.

We're not exactly sure where we're moving forward with this but if this is actually successful on a human being, medical science will forever be changed!

For a little more info about the grisly surgery, here is what Dr. Sergio had to say in a TEDx speech back in 2015
I think we can all take a wild guess as to which feature Android companies are already rushing to copy. We already spotted a smartphone that copied the iPhone X notch, but it lacked all the sensors Apple has integrated on their latest smartphone. However, a report by DigiTimes says that Android companies are already digging deeper into the notch and are trying to copy what's inside it.

Haha I called it. Android smartphones are already copying the iPhone X https://t.co/isTEWFfaV9 pic.twitter.com/8bFXKlhvOj  Akshay Bhalla (@Bhallanator) November 9, 2017

The TrueDepth front-facing camera uses 30,000 infrared dots to map a user's face and aid in facial recognition capabilities. This feature is lacking in any Android smartphone and it seems like this may change in the near future. Android device manufacturers are now attempting to adopt the same ID sensing technology on their upcoming models and we are not surprised.

(c) MensXp

In fact, I predicted this would happen the moment iPhone X was available to buy. I tweeted out something similar and then found a Xiaomi phone that is already replicating the feature. At the time, the notch was only copied in the design sense, however, new reports are now pointing towards the actual technology being copied.

(c) Apple

The report goes into detail and says that companies like Huawei, Oppo, and Xiaomi are already looking to acquire 3D sensing components. Suppliers like Largan Precision, Sunny Optical, Orbbec, and Himax Technologies are supposed to provide the parts. With a large number of companies now looking to manufacture the technology, this, in turn, will also benefit Apple as costs of production will also go down.

The report has currently only mentioned Chinese smartphone manufactures and there is no word on companies like Samsung, LG, HTC or Google trying to replicate the same 3D sensing technology. Reports have already confirmed that Samsung is already working on a similar technology for their upcoming smartphones in 2018.

Source: Digitmes
18.11.2017 LISTEN

I was told of a funeral which happened recently somewhere in Accra. Hell broke loose when it was time to read the biography of the deceased.

According to his biography supposedly orchestrated by his wife, he had only one child. His family, on the other hand, insisted he had adopted two more children; making three of them in all.

When you dont tell the world who you are and what you ever had, others will do so.

When you die, others will tell your story (and may obviously not tell it well) so when alive, you need to tell your own story. When youre no more, others will speak for you; hence, as long as youve breath, you ought to speak for yourself!

In our part of the world, its seemingly rare to have our autobiographies on the shelves of libraries or bookshops. We have been brought up to be selfish, thus, hardly think about making our experiences available for posterity. Little wonder a chunk of our history is either lost or contaminated because it was oral.

We live our lives without having posterity in mind. We live and die without exposing our children to our failures and achievements. They, thus, start their lives fighting the same battles we fought instead of fighting their own battles. They start life all over again instead of continuing from where the earlier generation left off. Thats how important autobiographies are!

A well-documented autobiography (or biography) is like a will. It becomes a sacred legacy for every generation. It becomes an invaluable asset to many.

Tell you what, the autobiographies of great business men in history (like Virgins Richard Branson) have become a must-read for many who aspire to be like them because such books hand over to their readers within minutes decades of experience.

If writing is one of the easiest ways to transfer knowledge, then reading is one of the easiest ways to receive it, too.

Your autobiography is like a will that guides every other person and hands over assets of wisdom to them so they can be someone greater than you ever were.

Like a mirror, an autobiography makes you come in contact with the image of the writer. It gives you the rare opportunity to take a stroll down their private life.

When you dont script your life down into a piece of collection, that lifes legacy just goes waste in the grave. If people with similar aspirations can never benefit from your failures and successes, your experiences would have been of no essence, in the first place. If others would need to fail the same way you did, your failure was of no benefit to society.

Our failures, especially, should be of benefit to society. Get that autobiography of yours written!

Aside an autobiography raking in fortunes for the writer, it is the only avenue they can take readers on an excursion in their mind.

The reader is able to travel along with the writer inasmuch as they learn a skill or two from his/her experience.

I have come across many clients who pitch one excuse or the other as to why they havent written their autobiography yet and I am not the least surprised this part of our world always seems to be behind others. An excuse why you cant hand over your experience to posterity is a pretty bad excuse!

Our nation keeps running in circles because theres no smooth transfer of experience from the old generation to the new. We are always starting life all over again when others are continuing from where their previous generation left off in others parts of the world. Of a truth, we cant ever catch up with them.

Decades of experience are buried every weekend. Countless packages of lessons are kept six feet away from humanity every Saturday. The success of this nation, trust me, is only an autobiography away.

At all cost, get to tell your lifes story to the world before others do. Africa, for instance, is almost always painted a dark continent by the Western world because they tell us our own stories.

When you leave your story to be told by others, theyd mistaken your blackness for darkness. Get your autobiography!

Tell the world of your failures and how you surmounted them. Tell of your successes, too. An autobiography is an asset. Own one. To your mansions and automobiles, add your autobiography!

Experience can never be bought. However, we can give posterity an opportunity to learn from our weaknesses and strengths by handing over to them a record of our lives.

We can create a legacy that would outlive us and it begins with our autobiography. We can be mentors to generations to come even long after we are gone. Thats the magic of an autobiography.

Your experience in this life will be a priceless property for others who are yet to come. Dont let it go waste. You need an autobiography and this is why!

The writer is a playwright and Chief Scribe of an Accra-based writing company.
18.11.2017 LISTEN

Ghanaian actor, Ekow Smith Asante was a guest speaker at the maiden edition of Choose Life symposium held in Sunyani yesterday.

The Choose Life Campaign which is under the theme: The Youth; a tool for curbing psychological distress took place at the Sunyani Senior High School from 2pm to 6pm.

The campaign was designed by 96500 Media Consult to create awareness, educate on the side effect and possible way of eradicating suicide completely from our educational system.

The campaign had other resource personnel educating students on the causes and preventive measures of suicide.

the event was climaxed with the premiere of a short film written and directed by Fumey Kafui Dorcas (Faraday), Ghanas youngest movie director titled "WHO CAUSED IT".

The movie which threw light on the causes of suicide.
17.11.2017 LISTEN

Rome, 17 November 2017- Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), will be in Paris today to take part in a roundtable that will review results from an independent evaluation of France's partnership with IFAD.

The evaluation presents a positive picture of the partnership between IFAD and France between 2013  2017, looking at its relevance, impact, effectiveness and sustainability in terms of Frances development agenda. The evaluation was requested by Frances Treasury.

France and IFAD have worked together through the years to ensure that we deliver real results to the poorest and most remote rural areas of the world, Houngbo said prior to the event where he will address members of the French National Assembly as well as development specialists. We look forward to discussing ways to build on these results in the future.

For the last four decades, France has supported IFADs work to assist the worlds poorest rural people  smallholder farmers, fishers and nomadic herders who live in some of the worlds most remote areas. Together their shared commitment has helped to eradicate rural poverty and hunger, and transform rural economies.

It has never been more important to scale up our efforts and to focus on long-term development, Houngbo added. Last September, newly released figures showed that hunger increased for the first time in 10 years affecting 815 million people in 2016, 38 million more than in 2015 because of climate change and protracted crises.

The worlds 500 million small farms, which produce as much as 75 per cent of food in some areas of developing countries, are crucial to eliminate hunger, feed a growing world population and meet the demand for higher-value food products. IFAD-supported projects and programmes help farmers increase their productivity, better manage natural resources, access markets and financial services, and set up agri-businesses.

Referencing Frances development priorities, Houngbo said, Our thematic priorities are closely aligned specifically around the need to address climate change and its impact on agriculture, the importance of giving rural women access to resources and to help rural youth find meaningful employment.

In Africa alone, 10 million young people enter the job market every year. Houngbo believes the agricultural sector offers huge potential for young entrepreneurs and workers, offering an alternative to migration.

France has been a key partner to set up the worlds biggest fund to help smallholder farmers adapt to climate change. IFADs Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP) channels climate finance to smallholder farmers to help them build their resilience to changing weather patterns and climate shocks. Between 2012 and 2017, 5.5 million small farmers in 41 countries benefited from ASAP finance.

In addition, support from France was key for the establishment of the Platform for Agricultural Risk Management (PARM), which helps countries integrate risks management in their agricultural policies and programmes. And Frances contributions to the Support to Farmers Organizations in Africa Programme through IFAD has helped strengthen African farmers organizations as well as their regional and pan-African networks, enabling them to provide better services to their members and contribute to national policy dialogue.

As world leaders set their sights on ending hunger and poverty by 2030 as part of their commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, Houngbo said IFAD is embarking on an ambitious plan to increase its impact by exploring new ways to increase and diversify its resource base.

To this end, last April the French Development Agency provided IFAD with a Euro 200 million loan, one of the first loans granted as part of IFADs new Sovereign Borrowing Framework, which enables the Fund to borrow from its member states.

France is one of IFADs top contributors with US$606.1 million provided to the Funds resources and investments portfolio since 1978.

Between 2010-2016, IFAD-supported initiatives benefited 139 million people of whom 43 million increased their agricultural revenue and 24 million moved out of poverty, half of them women.

IFADs investments are targeted to the poorest and most fragile countries with about 45 per cent of IFADs investments in Sub-Saharan Africa.
18.11.2017 LISTEN

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) Thursday lauded the Government's initiative to create the Nation Builders Corps (NBC) to address unemployment, but urged it to urgently address unfair trade policies in favour of Ghanaian farmers and manufacturers.

It said: 'We need a very radical review of our Trade Policy to protect our manufacturers and farmers. Ghana also needs to work with other countries in the ECOWAS region to secure the sub-regional market for our private sector.'

In a statement, copied to the GNA, the TUC said the NBC, which was expected to reverse the growing trend of graduate unemployment by employing 100,000 graduates across the country, in 2018, was obviously the most ambitious jobs programme designed to address the critical challenge of unemployment.

The NBC, it said, was a bold initiative because the jobs to be provided would significantly improve public service delivery and also signal to young people that education was rewarding.

'The benefits will far exceed the cost of the programme,' the Union said in a statement it described as 'a preliminary statement on the assessment of the 2018 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, presented to Parliament, on Wednesday.

Dr Yaw Baah, the Secretary-General, signed the statement.

The TUC, however, asked the Government to give details of the programme regarding how many years the employment will last and whether or not the duration will be one year, like the National Service Scheme.

These, it said, had to be addressed prior to the rollout of the programme in 2018.

Throwing more light on the Trade Policy, the Union said the review must cover all the impediments to the growth of Ghanaian private sector to facilitate their profitability to enable it to absorb these graduates when and where necessary.

'The 100,000 graduates that will be employed in 2018 will at some point have to transit into the mainstream labour market after they have acquired further skills and experience so that others can also benefit from the programme,' the TUC said.

'Strengthening the domestic private sector to absorb the beneficiaries of the Nation Builders Corps Programme will ease that transition.'

The Labour Union also said it had expected the Budget to announce measures by the Government to reduce the cost of borrowing.

The Ghanaian private sector, it said, had suffered a lot of unfairness, especially in the areas of trade, high cost of production and access to credit, as compared to their counterparts trading partners in countries such as China, Turkey, Brazil and South Africa.

'The private sector needs the support of the State, at least for a specified period, to enable local entrepreneurs to expand their businesses and to create decent jobs for Ghanaians,' it stated.

While commending the initiatives set out in the budget to create an enabling environment for private sector development such as the proposed reduction in energy tariffs, they called for an urgent review of Ghana's trade policies as they remained unfair to local manufacturers and farmers, especially livestock farmers.

It assured the Government that the TUC and its affiliates operating in all the sectors of the Ghanaian economy were ready to support policies that would create jobs for Ghanaians and ensure prosperity for every Ghanaian, regardless of their economic and social status or their location - rural or urban.

'As has been the practice for so many years, the TUC submitted some proposals to government for the 2018 Budget and Economic Policy,' it said.

'Employment creation and related issues, including the need to keep industrial peace, were at the heart of the proposals.

'In our submission, we reiterated a point made in our earlier proposals and other submissions that the greatest challenge facing our country today is the lack of decent jobs for young people.'

GNA
The Secretary to the Tema Sakumo shrine, Mr Stephen Ashitey Adjei, has bemoaned the conviction of the Tema Mayor for contempt of court, saying the incurred penalty was totally avoidable.

At a press conference in Tema, Mr. Ashitey Adjei, who is popularly known as Moshake, said the Mayor's conviction to a fine of Ghc2,500 is an unwholesomeness that has come about due to the incompetence of some people at the Assembly.

'The Ramsar Site land under contention does not belong to the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) and there is a court judgment that firmly establishes this fact. If the people who brief the Mayor at the TMA had done a little research, the Mayor would not have mistakenly issued an order for buildings on it to be demolished,' Moshake said.

According to him, Mr Felix Mensah Nii Annang-La, had only suffered conviction on account of laziness and ignorance of some people around him.

According to him, the Forestry Commission which had jurisdiction over the land is also to blame because if the Commission had carried out its mandate with integrity, there would not have arisen the grey areas that have incurred the Tema Mayor a conviction.

'When former President Obama came to Ghana and said that Ghana did not need strong men but strong institutions, he meant institutions like the Forestry Commission being proactive and not reactive. If the Commission had properly delivered its mandate in respect of that land, the Mayor would not have made the mistake of seeing the land as belonging to TMA,' Moshake said.

Touching on legalities surrounding the Ramsar site, a 252.52 acre swathe which shares boundaries with Sakumono Village, Gold House, Emefs Estates, Old Lashibi township, Klagon village, some sections of Communities 3, 5, 6, 11, 12 and the Motorway, he said the Forestry Commission's jurisdiction over it had been affirmed by a high court in 2015.

'A lackadaisical Forestry Commission had similarly been sued by a prominent citizen of Nungua who had demanded that the land which had been acquired by government in 1952, be returned to the Nungua Stool because partly, the use for which it had been acquired was not being pursued.

However, Her Ladyship (Mrs.) Rebecca N.S. Sittie, who had presided over, 'Nii Bortey Klan and the Nungua Stool Vs. Land Commission, Ministry of Lands, Forestry Commission and the Tema Development Corporation,' had ruled that the land could not be reverted to the Nungua Stool because government's acquisition under LI 1659 in 1952 held valid,'he said.

He said,'According to the court, Nii Bortey Klan and the Nungua Stool's invocation of article 20 (5 and 6) of the 1992 Constitution, in attempt to get the land reverted claiming that among others, the land was not being put under the use it was acquired for, was not valid because the 1992 Constitution could not be applied retrospectively.

The land had been confirmed to be under the jurisdiction of the Forestry Commission because the government had paid the necessary compensation to acquire it through the TDC in 1952 and later transferred it to the Wild Life Division of the Forestry Commission,'he noted.

'That transfer was under the tenet of the international treaty of wetlands which the Government of Ghana ratified in 1988. The Ramsar Site was acquired under the Wetlands Management Regulation 1999 (LI 1659),' Moshake said.

According to him, the Forestry Commission is therefore the agency with jurisdiction over that land and not the TMA.

'The court judgment which affirmed this is publicly available and so I do not understand why those who are supposed to brief the Mayor did not bring this to his attention leading to Annang-La incurring court conviction over it,' Moshake lamented.

Mr Felix Mensah Nii Annang-La was convicted for contempt by an Accra High Court for ordering the demolition of properties on the Ramsar Site under the impression that the land belongs to the TMA.

Mr Justice Kweku Tawiah Ackaah-Boafo, who had presided over the contempt hearing at the High Court, ordered the Mayor to pay Ghc2,500 for the contempt agreeing with plaintiffs that the Mayor's action also defied the fact that there was even a case about the land already pending.

The conviction has been a source of embarrassment to the Mayor and the TMA with the General Assembly of the TMA meeting on Thursday to deliberate over it.

'People are suing over the Ramsar Site because the Forestry Commission is not seen to be putting the land under the intended use.

It is not only the Ramsar Site that lies fallow in terms of management, even the Chemu is also in a terrible state because the Forestry Commission is just sitting down and doing nothing to desilt it,' Moshake said.

GNA
18.11.2017 LISTEN

The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) will boost the export of Non-Traditional Exports (NTE) through its initiative, "One District, One Export Product" to rake in 10 billion dollars in four years to accelerate national development.

Mr. Eric Amoako Twum, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO), GEPA gave the hint when he met Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), Coordinating Directors, Planning Officers, and other key stakeholders in the Central Region.

The meeting held at Jukwa on Thursday, was to deliberate on the implementation of the National Export Strategy vis-a-vis the 'One district, One exportable product', which would bring in foreign exchange earnings.

Mr Twum explained that the key tenets of the National Export Strategy document was to advocate, identify, promote and develop at least one exportable product to dovetail into the Government's flagship programme of 'One District, One factory' industrialisation drive.

In that vein, he mentioned measures to boost the NTEs to include engaging with committees in the districts to identify exportable products; setting up regional offices in all the 10 regions of the country as well as restructure the internal operations of the Authority, which had started in earnest.

The Authority would also establish technical services teams to offer on-time technical advice and support to farmers, producers and exporters, in addition to engaging design consultants to support the craft and creative industry to produce master craftsmen to help exporters meet export requirements.

In addition, it would strengthen collaboration with the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the foremost science and technology institution in Ghana, to ensure that the necessary quality standards for the export market were maintained.

Mr Thomas Agyei Baffour, Deputy Central Regional Minister, expressed the commitment of the Regional Coordinating Council to provide an equal platform for all districts to identify exportable products in their localities to stimulate growth.

He commended the GEPA for initiating the programme to harness the economic potential of districts to increase their financial viability to aid the national transformation agenda.

To achieve this vision, he urged the MMDCEs to show greater commitment and adopt the policy guidelines under the Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) to identify the products which could be harnessed to develop the economic potentials to help propel growth in their areas.

"The Almighty God was magnanimous to the Region and endowed it with numerous resources such as cocoa, pineapple, cassava, citrus, oil palm, vegetables, fish stock, gold and other minerals".

He said farmers in the Region were already into the production of exportable products such as chilli pepper, pineapple, eggplant and other exportable vegetables, adding that, they should work together to expand their capacities to create more wealth and jobs.

To that end, he encouraged all small-scale Agro processing businesses in the Region who were engaged in fruit processing to take full advantage of the GEPA offer to boost their businesses.

GNA

By Isaac Arkoh, GNA
18.11.2017 LISTEN

The Chief Executive of Cocobod, Mr. Joseph Boahen Aidoo, has renewed the call to Ghanaians to consume more chocolate and other cocoa products because of the enormous health benefits.

Chocolate, he said, was good for the intellectual development of children, and added that regular drinking of brown cocoa powder with milk but without sugar had also proven to be effective in the management of diabetes and high blood pressure.

The other high point of drinking brown cocoa powder with milk was that it could help to smoothen the skin and reduce menstrual pains.

He was speaking at a meeting held with cocoa farmers at Bonsu after inspecting an irrigated cocoa farm on a research plot at the Bonsu Cocoa College.

Established just 18 months ago, it has started fruiting.

Mr. Aidoo was in the Eastern Region to inspect various projects being piloted in the area as part of the push by the government to raise cocoa production levels and returns.

These included irrigated and artificial pollinated farms.
This appeared in Fridays Washington Post.

During a hearing on harassment in the Capitol, Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., told the story of a young woman whose male boss, a sitting member of Congress, answered the door in a towel and exposed himself when the staffer stopped by his house to drop off materials. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., said she knew of two current lawmakers, one a Democrat and the other a Republican, who have engaged in sexual harassment. And now a Los Angeles radio host has accused Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., of kissing and groping her without her consent.

Frankens misconduct occurred in 2006, three years before he entered the Senate. But the allegations against him have brought the nationwide reckoning with sexual harassment into the Capitol.

Leeann Tweeden alleges that Franken forcibly kissed her while the two were traveling on a USO tour to entertain troops abroad. A photograph from the same tour shows Franken appearing to grab Tweedens chest while she sleeps. While Franken says that he doesnt remember the kiss the way she does, he has apologized for the photograph and says he is disgusted with [him]self.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., have both called for an investigation into Frankens conduct, to which the senator pledges his cooperation. Were glad to see members of Frankens own party voice their support for a fair probe by the Senate Ethics Committee. McConnells commitment to supporting committee investigations into all credible allegations of sexual harassment or assault also must hold firm for members of his own party  not only Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, into whom McConnell has promised an ethics probe if Moore triumphs in an Alabama special election. Comstocks and Speiers stories show that abuse of power on Capitol Hill is a problem that crosses party lines.

As the committee looks into Frankens behavior, it will have to consider what comes next. What level of misconduct merits a lawmakers departure from Congress? Should the legislature have a zero-tolerance policy, or can gradations of offense be recognized? If a members wrongdoing took place entirely before his time on the Hill, should that affect continued service? Members of the House of Representatives should be asking these same questions.

Meanwhile, theres a lot of work to be done to ensure that victims of workplace harassment in Congress have access to justice. Under existing rules, those seeking to file a complaint must work their way through a cumbersome process that discourages victims from coming forwardand interns have nowhere to turn at all. Speier and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., have introduced much-needed legislation to streamline the reporting process and increase transparency. The bill would also write into law mandatory sexual harassment training across Congress, which both chambers have recently adopted as a matter of policy.

As elected officials, Gillibrand said, we should be held to the highest standards  not the lowest. She is right. Both Democrats and Republicans should support measures to hold predators to account, provide victims with support and make clear that all people deserve to be treated with respect.
18.11.2017 LISTEN

About six million drivers are expected to be migrated unto the new driver license smart card in the Eastern Region.

Mr. Eric Addison, Regional Manager of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that this would be done within a period of six years.

He said no new fees would be charged for the new license and added that, the old fee of GH 45.00 for renewal every two years remained unchanged.

The fee of GH 64.00 for license replacement would be maintained.

Mr. Addison advised everybody not to rush for the new license because there was enough time to do that.
By Josephine Naaeke, GNA Correspondent, Bonn, Sponsored by the Stanley Foundation, USA

Bonn Nov. 17, (GNA) - Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Minister for Environment Science, Technology and Innovation has said that Ghana would like to see substantive progress in the climate negotiations on issues such as, finance, adaptation, loss and damage, mitigation and gender.

He said these are important to ensure that 'we implement our Nationally Determined Contributions and called on developed country parties to ensure sustainable and predictable flows of finance.

Prof Frimpong-Boateng was addressing the high-level segment of the 23rd session of the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC, the thirteenth session of the Conference of Parties serving as Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol and Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement in Bonn.

He said Ghana is of the view that Middle Income Countries that pursue their socio-economic development with low carbon footprints should not be discriminated against through denial of access to grants.

According to the Environment Minister, Ghana reiterates its position that the UNFCCC process of negotiations is capable of that which truly respects the right of nations to pursue sustainable development, while providing equal opportunity for all to contribute towards achieving the global temperature goal.

'In this regard, Ghana associates herself with the common position of the African Group and G77 + China and calls for an all-inclusive negotiation of the Paris Agreement that will enhance the implementation of the Convention and its Kyoto Protocol.

'We further wish to emphasise the need to address the pre-2020 emission gap and call on developed countries to find opportunities to close this gap,' the Minister said.

Ghana like many developing nations, is already taking steps to address the negative impacts of climate change.

He said Ghana had commenced pre-2020 activities and was mainstreaming Nationally Determined Contributions in sector and local level plans and programmes.

'As part of effort to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), over the past months government has taken bold steps in protecting the environment of its people, particularly our water bodies, which have been polluted through illegal mining.

'Our' young farmers abandon farming because of drought and loss of farmlands and engage in illegal mining.

He said in the coming years 'we seek to continue promoting sustainable development for sound Environmental Governance and also intensify awareness creation, collaborations and partnerships with relevant stakeholders.'

'These are some of the policies and measures we are undertaking at the national level to build resilience and equitable low carbon economy. We hope with additional support we will enhance our capacity to deliver on this laudable endeavour.'

Prof Frimpong-Boateng urged all parties to be mindful of the key elements in the deliberations on this multilateral platform.

'We' emphasise the need for strong partnership and call for strong leadership and drive to achieve a better climate future to facilitate the sustainable development we all cherish.

Together, 'we' can explore common grounds and above all 'seek to build mutual trust'.
18.11.2017 LISTEN

Angry and distraught looking students of OLA College of Education in Cape Coast have demonstrated for hours on their campus to appeal to the Government to amicably solve the impasse between it and their teachers to enable them return to the classroom.

The students, spotting red head and wrist bands went round the school campus singing and shouting to register their protest over the issue to among others register their displeasure with the situation.

The School, an all female one, saw the demonstrators holding placards some of which read "we can't do it without our teachers, pay teachers their due to return to classrooms, teachers' absence will affect our studies"

The Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) on Thursday, November 2, 2017 embarked on an indefinite strike demanding that the Government paid them salary arrears owed its members since October 2016.

According to CETAG the strike became the only option when Government failed to act despite a directive by the National Labour Commission (NLC), directing the Ministry of Finance to pay the arrears within two weeks.

Ms Marian Fynn, Vice President of the Students Representative Council (SRC), told newsmen that the demonstration was a peaceful one.

The absence of the teachers, according to her was having serious debilitating effects on their studies, adding that the strike would have been avoided if Government had paid heed to the teachers' request.

She therefore, appealed to the Government to take immediate steps to settle the grievances for their teachers to continue academic work.

Ms. Fynn said the demonstration will continue until the Government adhere to the plea of CETAG.

Other students who spoke with the Ghana News Agency appealed to President Akufo-Addo to intervene to help address the issue.

The GNA observed that there were no teachers at the School as at press time.

GNA

By Isaac Arkoh, GNA
18.11.2017 LISTEN

The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) to facilitate investment in northern Ghana for the accelerated development of the area.

Under the agreement, the two agencies would collaborate to showcase multiple investments with the SADA zone, in a bid to increase the influx of foreign direct investment into the zone.

The MoU lays out plans for SADA to develop a one-stop information platform that would provide expanded, in-depth local support and up-to-date information to investors keen to explore possibilities on offer in the area.

The Zone's arable land suitable for agriculture and agro-processing is high on the list for promotion and investment, and there are opportunities in providing supporting infrastructure and services.

The GIPC would in turn market the investment projects developed by SADA to local and international business communities.

Both parties would also plan and implement joint investment promotion missions, road shows, and forums both locally and internationally.

The duo, would also undertake joint research and feasibility studies on making the area more attractive, broadening the landscape for investors, as well as finding methods to reduce and remove constraints to investment through policy and incentives.

Mr Charles Abugre, the Chief Executive Officer, SADA, said: "Ghana and the SADA zone are rich, viable investment destinations that provide dynamic, yet stable business opportunities for investors looking to enter the West Africa Market".

"Investors can reach deep into the Sub-region as well, as the zone is a fantastic launching pad for the West African interior and we are looking forward to actively engaging businesses on how they can help drive growth in the zone."

He said the Northern Development Authority would soon be replacing SADA; adding their objectives were almost the same.

Mr Yofi Grant, the Chief Executive Officer, GIPC, said: "This is the start of an important leap forward for SADA. The zone is working to maximise its potential and making the concerted effort to reach out to local and international investors, who have an interest in conducting business in the zone, thanks to its many appealing factors."

"The GIPC is ready to provide its assistance in pulling these potential financiers and businessmen into the area to bolster the zone's economy," he added.

SADA is an independent agency for coordinating a comprehensive development agenda of the northern savannah ecological zone in Ghana.

The GIPC is the government agency responsible under the GIPC Act, 2013 (Act 865) to encourage and promote investments in Ghana.

Madam Mavis Hawa Koomson, the Minister for Special Development Initiatives, in a speech read on her behalf, said the establishment of the three development authorities under her Ministry, was to enable the Government to accelerate the development process and ensure inclusive growth that would lead to job creation, equal opportunity and prosperity for all.

She, therefore, urged SADA and GIPC to continue to work closely together to enable Ghana achieve an accelerated socioeconomic transformation.

"The future envisage for the next generation is one that must be sustainable, inclusive and innovative. High level of investment will, therefore, enable Ghana achieve this feat," she stated.

GNA

By Iddi Yire, GNA
18.11.2017 LISTEN

As part of efforts to mobilise revenue to spearhead national development, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has rolled out a sensitisation programme to reach out to the tax-paying public.

The programme, which is a sequel to the national tax campaign launched in Accra recently is to among others create tax awareness and education to the tax paying public especially those in the informal sector to honour their tax obligations to the state.

Employees of the GRA went on a float through the central business district of Takoradi popularly called the market circle amidst brass band music to tease the business community out to the programme.

Speaking to the media after the exercise, an Assistant Commissioner at the Takoradi GRA Small Tax Office (STO), Mr Peter Ben Baah appealed to prospective tax payers to register with the GRA calling on debtors to the authority to also settle their outstanding debts.

He warned against tax evasion and called for an agreement between the GRA and businesses on the mode of payments.

A Medium Tax Payer Officer (MTO) at the Takoradi office, Madam Lysbeth Martin-Peprah who spoke to the GNA on the sidelines, said GRA had trained mobile workers to collect taxes with a record system(database) which monitor all tax payers to honour their tax obligations, disclosing that about 500 tax payers under her outfit in the Western Region, honoured their tax obligations to the state.

Responding to agitations by some tax payers on the 3 per cent new tax regime introduced by the government, she said the GRA would continue to intensify its education on the need to pay the new tax rate and warned that tax payers who refused to pay their taxes at a stipulated period, would pay interest, have their offices or shops sealed off or be arraigned before the law court.
Mr Eric Banye, Country Programme Coordinator for SNV has called for a multi-stakeholder commitment to address the challenge of post-harvest losses.

'The issue of post-harvest losses is increasingly threatening to plunge Ghana into a food insecure country and therefore needs multi-stakeholder commitment to address the problem.'

Such commitment, he said must not only be focused on developing policies and programmes but also commitment in terms of budgetary allocations that will ensure that such policies and programmes are well and effectively implemented to achieve the desired results.

Mr Banye, who said this during the first Upper West Regional post-harvest loss forum in Wa noted that Agriculture had the potential to industrialise the country but that greater efforts must be put into reducing post-harvest losses.

He noted that post-harvest losses were increasingly becoming a disincentive to farmers in Ghana, the reason why the number of food insecure population was unacceptably high in the country.

Mr Banye said the investment, which required to reduce post-harvest losses was relatively modest compared to the impact of the losses, noting that a World Bank report indicated that investing one dollar to reduce post-harvest losses would give results equivalent to 40 million dollars.

He said post-harvest loss intervention should be seen more as an integrated component to reduce food insecurity in the country, adding that they could not continue to promote agriculture alone by the supply of incentives while forgetting that there would be high losses.

'What is the essence in supporting the farmer to produce 10 acres when he can technically not harvest 10 acres or he will harvest 10 acres but he can technically not keep the 10 acres?', he questioned.

'As we promote agriculture as an alternative to industrialising this country, I think it is also our responsibility to look at what are the worse areas', he said adding that the sad aspect was also what was known as the quantity verses quality loss.

Mr Banye said unfortunately most of the technical farmers usually counted the loss at the quantity side forgetting the loss at the quality side, noting that sadly consumers of the produce were not able to count the quality lost due to lack of capacity.

He said there were a lot of approved and unapproved chemicals in the market, which were abused by farmers due to various reasons including; lack of technical know-how and poverty resulting in the farmer not having the patience to wait for the potency of the chemical to go down before sending the produce to the market among others.

Mr Banye noted that it was the collective responsibility of all stakeholders to help address the issue of post-harvest losses in the country, hence the organisation of the regional level forums to ensure that they deliberated on the key issues affecting the regions in terms of post-harvest losses.

He explained that the SNV Voice for Change (V4C) project was an evidence base advocacy programme that seeks to build the capacity of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) including; the media for them to be able to influence the agenda setting policy development.

The forum which was under the theme: 'Addressing Post-Harvest Loss, implication for planting for food and jobs policy in the Upper West Region' was organised by the Ghana Trade and Livelihood Coalition (GTLC) in collaboration with SNV under the V4C partnership project.
18.11.2017 LISTEN

By Josephine Naaeke, GNA Correspondent, Bonn, Sponsored by the Stanley Foundation, USA

Bonn, Nov. 17, GNA - World Wide Fund, (WWF) for nature has welcomed the creation of the 'The Global Alliance to Power Past Coal', launched in Bonn at the UN climate summit, as an important step toward building a coal-free future.

Supported by more than 20 countries and regions, the alliance demonstrates the type of collective ambition the world needs to end its dependency on coal as carbon dioxide emissions are projected to record their first increase in four years, primarily due to coal consumption.

Manuel Pulgar Vidal, leader of WWF's global climate and energy programme, said: 'The science is clear there is no place for coal in a 1.5C world. Our societies and economies must be powered by clean sources of energy that are good for people, their lives and livelihoods, and the planet.

He said 'we' welcome the first steps countries and regions have taken today to make this vision a reality through the alliance, but this is only the start.'

A transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient economies must be accompanied by the sharing of best practices to support coal phase-outs across borders, including through climate financing, and the adoption of concrete initiatives to support this transition, including developing clean energy plans and targets, in order to address and minimise social impact.

Research shows that in addition to environmental and economic returns, phasing out of coal also holds human health benefits - more than 800,000 people die each year globally from the pollution generated by burning coal.

Pulgar Vidal added: 'Phasing out coal is as much about stronger climate action as it is about ushering in better public health and well-being for people.

Every day, we are seeing encouraging market signals that are bringing us closer to a renewable world but we need to spark even greater acceleration to a just transition. The writing on the wall is simple: ending coal is our only way to power a sustainable future for all.'

Michael SchAfer, Director, Climate & Energy, WWF-Germany said: 'We welcome the move by 21 countries and states to quit coal generation in their country and to restrict the financing of coal abroad. Considering that a coal phase-out is the low-hanging fruit of the global transformation, we call on Germany to join this coalition of front-runners.

The parties in Berlin need to agree on the first steps in the coming days so as to stay within the remaining carbon budget set in the context of the Paris Agreement'.

The Global Alliance to Power Past Coal brings together governments, businesses and organisations to accelerate clean growth and climate protection through the rapid phase-out of coal power.
18.11.2017 LISTEN

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has decried the increasing abuse of Tramadol, a pain reliever, among the youth and called for concerted effort by stakeholders to curb the trend.

The FDA said its routine educational programmes and campaigns at public places such as schools, markets and bus terminals, showed that there was high abuse of the Tramadol aka Tramol among students, drivers and their mates and market women.

Mrs Olivia A. Boateng, the Head of Tobacco and Substances Abuse Department of FDA, made this known at a training programme on Pharmaceutical Crime, Intelligence Gathering and Investigation in Accra.

The six-day programme, brought together the media, judges, the Ghana Revenue Authority- Customs Division, and security personnel from the Economic and Organised Crime Office, the Ghana Police Service, and Bureau of National Investigations.

Mrs Boateng explained that Tramadol was a man-made (synthetic) narcotic analgesic (pain reliever) and it was usually prescribed to patients suffering from moderate to severe pain.

According to her preparations containing tramadol are classified as Prescription Only Medicines (POM) and the approved dosage strength for tramadol by Ghana FDA was 50mg and 100mg.

However, Mrs Boateng said, the strength dosage used by the public was 120mg, 200mg and 225mg, adding that those strength of the dosage of the drug was not approved by the Authority.

'The sad aspect of this is that most of those drugs with high dosage are not registered by the FDA and often time have expired,' she said.

According to her, the medicinal benefits of tramadol could quickly become harmful when it was not taken as prescribed, adding; 'excess amounts, regular use or overuse can cause side effects, many of which can be dangerous and may affect the brain in ways very similar to illegal drugs.'

Mrs Boateng said tramadol abuse could include agitation, headache, dizziness, drowsiness, tired feeling, constipation, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting.

She further mentioned hallucinations, itching, sweating, flushing and fever, fainting, seizure (convulsions) infertility, impotence, sexual problems, organ damage and subsequently death.

Mrs Boateng said tramadol was being used to enhance sexual drive and to prolong ejaculation.

She said tramadol could produce euphoria comparable to heroin, adding that when others used tramadol it acted as a pain reliever and it drifted them to deep restful sleep.

Mrs Boateng said the FDA was going to step up educational campaigns to emphasise on the dangers of the abuse of tramadol as well as source for funding to carry out surveys in order to make informed regulatory policy decisions.

'We are also going to strengthen surveillance at the point of entry to discourage the influx of these drugs and increase stakeholder collaboration with the National Road Safety Commission and the media among others,' she added.

GNA

By Joyce Danso/Hafsa Obeng, GNA
The Centre for Sustainable Rural Development (CESRUD) in collaboration with Biblionef Ghana have jointly launched a project to improve on basic education in the Upper East Region.

The three-year-project which is funded by Lions Club International Foundation of the Netherlands and the Accra Chapter of the Diamond Lions Club of Ghana would provide books and other learning materials to all 20 basic schools in the Bolgatanga West 'B' Circuit.

The CESRUD is a non-profit organisation working to improve basic education and livelihood of women. It also works to equip the youth with entrepreneurial skills at Sumbrungu in the Bolgatanga Municipality.

Speaking at the launch of the project, Mrs Patricia Arthur, the Executive Director of Biblionef Ghana, said the NGO focused on creating conducive learning environment for less privileged children.

The schools, she said, would be stocked with relevant books and reading materials every year, to enrich the children's knowledge and improve on educational standards in the Municipality.

Mrs Arthur said 365 books and a cupboard each to keep the books were presented to the schools as the first phase of the project.

She announced that Biblionef Ghana would also construct a community library stocked with current books in the Sumbrungu community to encourage reading among the youth.

In addition, two teachers selected from each of the schools would be given library management training to guide their pupils.

"A library or Learning Community Space (LCS) as we call it will also be set up for the community. The LCS will have 1250 books, educational games, computers and tablets for the children to use.'

The Executive Director expressed optimism at the success of the project and appealed for collective efforts from the community to achieve the goal of improving quality of education at the end of the project.

"I wish to plead with all of us; teachers, parents, school authorities, educational officials, the community to do our very best to become involved in the project to the benefit of the children.'

Lion Francis Tachi, the past president of the Accra Diamond Lions Club, said the main objective of the club was to serve the needy and impact lives in communities through education and empowerment training for the youth, and therefore, encouraged the pupils to make good use of the books.

Mr Madison Amokase Anane, the Bolgatanga Municipal Director of Education, who chaired the function, commended the founder of CESRUD, Mr Rex Asanga for the initiative and urged teachers of the beneficiary schools to work hard to improve the performance of pupils.

Mr Amoako Anane, who urged the teachers to patronise the library, noted that attitudes exhibited by teachers formed part of causes of poor performance of pupils, and therefore, advised teachers to desist from acts that demoralised children.
18.11.2017 LISTEN

Madam Otiko Afisah Djaba, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, on Friday appealed to African governments to improve upon their national budgets to help eradicate Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) on the Continent.

Gender responsive budgets, she said, must be urgently encouraged for effective planning, execution of various interventions aimed at reducing maternal mortality, as well as for the development of additional strategies to address the deep rooted negative cultural practice, by first targeting grassroots communities where the problem was endemic, she said.

Madam Djaba said it was a shame that in the 21st century, Africa would still be talking and battling with the practice and eradication of such a primitive cultural practice, which had no known benefits to the people, but rather affected their holistic development in areas including health, education, human rights and economic growth.

She said the practice of FGM in various regions and communities including Africa and Asia, was a major contributor to the failure of the countries to fully achieve their Millennium Development Goals on health, and that strengthened efforts must be pursued in order to attain the Sustainable Development Goals.

She called on governments and all stakeholders to scale up interventions and mobilise more domestic resources as well as explore new strategies to address the current gaps.

We must also ensure intensified and sustained education, information, legislation, expand access to Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health services to young people, eliminate cross-border practices of FGM and provide care for survivors of FGM, as a major intervention to reducing Maternal and Newborn deaths.

The Gender Minister said there was also the need to look at the new forms of FGM, stop the medicalisation of the practice by initiating strong punitive measures, and support ministries of gender and health to raise the voices of FGM at the highest levels of governments' discussions to get the needed attention to urgently address the challenges.

Madam Djaba said this at the end of a three-day high level international meeting on FGM in Accra, as part of the week-long events to commemorate the African Union (AU) Annual Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA).

She said the Campaign, which was an initiative by the AU to accelerate the availability and use of universally accessible quality health services including those related to Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), that were critical to the reduction of maternal and child mortality, had since its institution in 2009, seen great support from African First Ladies in mobilising resources to address the challenges.

The joint programme by the AU-UNFPA, was not to develop more strategies and plans, but rather to ensure coordinated and effective application of existing plans and strategies to eliminate the practice of FGM, improve maternal and child health, and generally empower females to achieve their full potentials.

The Gender Minister called for the involvement of men and boys, who were supposed to be the end beneficiaries of FGM in the various discourse towards ending FGM and also build bridges with other stakeholders and development partners, saying Africa has no choice but to get it right for its future and current generations.

Ms Nafissatou J. Diop, a Senior Advisor with the UNFPA and the Global Coordinator of the FGM Programme in Africa, in a presentation, said 47 African Member States, Ghana inclusive, had launched and successfully domesticated CARMMA, with others yet to do so.

She said even though several strategies and interventions had been deplored so far, some challenges such as poor and delayed services at the health institutional and community levels, financial, transportation barriers, poor health seeking attitudes of people, FGM and other illegal cross boarder activities and traditional practices, posed major limitations to ensure the safety of especially pregnant women and other vulnerable persons from accessing quality care.

She said there was the need to intensify activities among governments and stakeholders to build synergies to avoid duplication of functions and to ensure the achievement of a common goal of urgently eradicating FGM and maternal mortality by improving maternal and child health through enhanced health systems and infrastructure as well as legislations.

Ms Beatrice Mutali, the Deputy Regional Director of the UNFPA, commended Ghana for her leadership role in the fight to eliminate FGM and reduce maternal mortality through integrated responses and approaches.

She said although change was happening on the Continent, increases in the number of girls called for the scaling up of SRH services including Family Planning to reducing unwanted pregnancies and abortions that often resulted in deaths.

GNA

By Christabel Addo, GNA
18.11.2017 LISTEN

Madam Aridja Frank, Regional Programme Coordinator, Hanns Seidel Foundation, has underscored the need for citizens to actively collaborate with the police to enable them deliver on their mandate.

She said the police to civilian ratio had always not been enough and called on citizens to volunteer vital information to the police.

Madam Frank who was speaking to the media on the sidelines of a sensitization forum in support of Ghana Police Transformation Programme in Ho, said an improved democracy required an improved police force.

'The police cannot work alone; they have to work together with the citizens and so we are challenged to improve relations between police and citizens. The police cannot guarantee the security of the citizens if they are not willing to work together,' she said.

Madam Frank appealed to personnel of the Service to show significant commitment and support towards the transformation agenda.

Dr Benjamin Agordze, Director of the Ghana Police Transformation Programme, said inputs from personnel in other regions would be considered to guide the implementation process.

Nana Asomah Hinneh, Volta Regional Police Commander, said crime was on the rise and called on personnel to be agents of change in the discharge of their duties, and endeavour to get to the roots of issues affecting the fight against crime.

He asked participants to prioritize the transformation agenda and replicate same at their duty posts.

The German non-governmental organization will be funding the project for four years.
18.11.2017 LISTEN

The Judiciary is examining the possibility of practising non-custodial sentences as part of efforts to decongest prisons in the country, Ms Justice Sophia Akuffo, Chief Justice of the Republic has announced.

Ms Justice Akuffo said the conditions at the prisons did not speak well of the country's status as a human rights nation hence the possibility of non-custodial sentences, adding the Judiciary would do all within its power to decongest the prisons.

Ms Justice Akuffo announced this in Tamale on Friday when she opened the Justice for all Programme, at the Tamale Central Prison to allow remand prisoners at the facility to benefit from the programme.

The Justice for all Programme, seeks to alleviate prison overcrowding by setting up special in-prison courts to adjudicate remand prisoner cases across the country.

The Tamale Central Prison was built to accommodate 78 prisoners but it currently has between 250 to 300 inmates, a situation which puts pressure on the facility.

In all, a total of 20 remand cases were heard, out of which three were unconditionally discharged, 13 were granted bail, three bail applications were refused and one bail application was struck out.

Ms Justice Akuffo said remanding suspects was not supposed to be part of the criminal justice system, adding the Judiciary, therefore, was making efforts to deal with the causes for remanding suspects.

She directed that judges who were fond of remanding suspects should be reported to her office for action to be taken against them.

She reiterated that the Justice for all Programme was not to release dangerous persons to the public but rather those, who ought not to be at the prisons thereby protecting their human rights.

Justice Clemence Honyenugah, Justice of the Court of Appeal, who presided over the Court session at the Tamale Central Prison as part of the Justice for all Programme, said he had identified three judges for being recalcitrant on remanding suspects in the Region.

He said those judges would be invited to face disciplinary proceedings.

Deputy Director of Prisons, Mr Dah Leonard Kwesi, Northern Regional Commander of Ghana Prisons Service, commended the Justice for all Programme saying it had helped to reduce overcrowding at the prisons thereby improving the well-being of inmates.
18.11.2017 LISTEN

Fifty Five soldiers of the Ghana Air Force Aviation Unit 3 (GHAV3) who were on a one year duty tour in the United Nation Multi-Dimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), have returned home.

This follows the successful completion of a request by the UN to provide tactical military air transport services in support of MINUSMA.

A parade dubbed: 'Mission Accomplishment Parade', was held on the premises of the Air Force Base in Accra on Friday at which the third and last contingent of the Ghana Air Force Aviation (GHAV 3), was officially welcomed back from the Peacekeeping Operation.

On November 16, 2014, a Unit comprising One Casa 295 and supported by 55 all ranks drawn from Air Force as the major service, Army and Navy was deployed to Mali with its main operating base initially located in Bamako, the Capital of Mali and later at Gao, Northern part of Mali.

After a year's duty tour by Ghana Aviation One, Ghana Aviation One and Two successfully rotated in September 2015.

The Ghana Aviation Unit Three commanded by Group Captain Yaw Cole was in surged on September 22, 2016.

Among the numerous tasks that the unit performed were administrative and logistic support flights, VIP and VVIP flights, Cargo resupply, troops in section and instruction, patrols observation, troop movements, tactical airlift, air recognisance, casualty evacuation and medical services.

Present to inspect the GHAV 3 contingent was Brigadier General Abubakari Issahaku, the Director General of the International Peace Support Operation.

Brig. Gen. Issahaku lauded the effort made by the gallant officers and men who in spite of the numerous challenges in the area of operation exhibited professionalism, commitment and hard work to provide air transport services to the UN Mission in Mali.

'We do acknowledge your tremendous sacrifices and diligence which have contributed to further raise the image of Ghana,' he said.

He said during its tour of operations, Ghana Aviation Three flew approximately 85 hours, airlifted a total of 853 personnel, 15,000 passengers and about 330 tons of cargo in 37 softies.

He therefore commended the past and present commanders and members of the Unit for the good job, the Chief of Air Staff and the Military High Command for their leadership and support given to the Ghana Aviation Unit in Mali.

Group Captain Godfred Sackey Parker, the Acting Base Commander, Air Force Base Accra, urged the members of the MINUSMA GHAV 3 and other officers who took part in the Peacekeeping Operation to bring the experiences they had gained home.

Group Captain Yaw Cole, the MINUSMA GHAV 3 Commander said personnel from other Units of the Ghana Armed Forces who were also on the mission contributed their quota to ensure peace.
President Donald Trump said Friday he will uphold a ban on importing trophies of elephants hunted and killed in Zimbabwe, pending further review, reversing his own administration's decision from just a day earlier after a public outcry.

"Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts. Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you!" Trump tweeted, referring to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Just hours before, Trump's spokeswoman Sarah Sanders had defended the US Fish and Wildlife Service's move to end the 2014 ban initiated under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama.

The service said Thursday that it would begin issuing permits to import "sport-hunted trophies from elephants hunted in Zimbabwe" between January 21, 2016 and December 31, 2018. Zambia would also have been covered under the revised rule.

The move was met with a barrage of criticism from animal rights groups and activists.

It also came on the same day that the US State Department presented to Congress its first annual report on wildlife trafficking which, it said, "remains a serious transnational crime."

French screen legend and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot added her voice to the growing chorus of criticism, slamming Trump as "unfit for office" after his administration's "shameful actions."

"No despot in the world can take responsibility for killing off an age-old species that is part of the world heritage of humanity," Bardot said in a letter to Trump, released through Fondation Brigitte Bardot.

The move is "a cruel decision backed by Zimbabwe's crazy dictator and it confirms the sick and deadly power you assert over the entire plant and animal kingdom," the 83-year-old actress added.

French actress and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot had previously criticized US President Donald Trump over his administration's move to loosen restrictions on hunting bears and wolves on federally protected land in Alaska

"Your shameful actions confirm the rumors that you are unfit for office."

According to the Great Elephant Census project, African savannah elephant populations fell by 30 percent between 2007 and 2014, while Zimbabwe saw a drop of six percent.

Despite an overall fall in poaching, Africa's elephant population has declined in part because of continued illegal killing, said a report this year by CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

African ivory, in particular, is highly sought in China where it is a status symbol.

The US decision takes advantage of a provision in the Endangered Species Act, which says the import of such trophies can be legal if accompanied by proof that the hunting benefits broader conservation of the species.
Political analyst and the communication team member of the largest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Agbenya Precious, has charged His. Excellency Dr. Mahammud Bawumia, the Vice President of Ghana to stop the complaining and comments as if he is on political campaign platform.

According to Mr. Agbenya, the attitude and utterances of the Vice-president seems to behaving as if Ghanaians are still in the electoral campaigning, says the Man who was always in the neck of former president John Dramani Mahama led government criticising NDC government from every coroners, calling by names like incompetent government.

He lamented that, Dr. Bawumia then the Vice presidential candidate to then opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo criticized the previous government of borrowing unnecessarily because there is money in the country, and for matter Ghanaian citizenry were sitting on money so there was no need for government to borrow.

Mr. Agbenya, wanted to know what Ghanaians who voted for NPP based on those campaign messages are experiencing for the past ten (10) months from the elections.

He observed that, now cost of living has become high and unbearable as compared to the previous NDC government regime, says Dr. Bawumia who was preaching who was leading the campaign against government borrowing is now the 'Chief Borrower' in the current NPP government, while his master the President is in worldwide tour and the appointment of unprecedented huge number ministers the country has ever had in the history of our democracy as a nation.

He disclosed that, Dr. Bawumia and his master the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the NPP government themselves has realized that they have failed Ghanaians per the promises they made that gave them the people of the country the mandate to govern them.

He underscored that, the president, his vice and for that matter the NPP government have no morale rights today to talk against bribery and corruption likewise to talk against borrowing and incompetency.

He moreover, reminded the NPP government that, during the campaign they promised the people Ghana especially a session of new regions would be created with one district one factory to also taken off in their first six (6) months when voted into government, while Teacher Trainnee and Nurses allowances would also restore within that same six (6), and questioned the government whether such gargantuan and mouthwashes promises have been fulfilled within the first six months they promised the Ghanaian voter?

Source: Daniel Kaku
I have been reading off-and-on about the ongoing litigation at the Winneba-based University of Education, a former institutional satellite of the University of Cape Coast, with little understanding, because the issues so far put into the public domain by the media do not seem to necessarily reflect the crux of the problem, which appears to be that the UEW has been operating with a Governing Council whose mandate expired in November 2013 (See Supreme Court Throws Out Anti-Atuguba Suit Classfmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 10/26/17).

There is clearly a political edge which, not surprisingly, reflects the gross administrative incompetence of the Mahama-led regime of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). This is curiously ironic because ever since the Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) assumed the democratic reins of governance, on or about January 7 this year, operatives of the main opposition National Democratic Congress have been haranguing President Addo DankwaAkufo-Addo about the supposedly slow pace at which the Chief Occupant of the Flagstaff House has been constituting the various governing boards of public enterprises and corporations and tertiary academies.

It is also ironic that during the 3-year period that the University of Education, Winneba, Central Region, operated without a properly constituted governing council or board, it was Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, who served as the substantive Minister of Education. The Ministry of Education, we are told, is constitutionally mandated to regularly constitute the governing councils of our public universities and other tertiary academies.

Where I have my beef is the apparent interference of university administration by some local traditional rulers, such as Supi Kofi Kwayera, whose locus vis-a-vis the operation and/or management of the UEW is not very clear to yours truly. In other words, what is the locus standi of SupiKwayera for him to so cavalierly presume to sue the Vice-Chancellor of the UEW and cause university activities to effectively grind to a screeching halt? Of course, I know some local residents may be involved in husbanding the activities of these tertiary academies, but to what extent ought they be allowed to interfere with campus culture and administration such that academic activities get so adversely affected?

We must quickly point out here that our universities and other tertiary academies are the indisputable brain-trust of the country. And any attempt to disrupt their lawful activities, such as SupiKwayera has been widely reported to be doing, seriously undermines the intellectual and cultural development of the country, especially when the government has also had to deal with the perennial problem of unattractive conditions of service of the faculties of these academies.

If this does not already exist, then maybe Parliament needs to look into ways of amending the Constitution to enable a governing council whose mandate or terms of reference have expired to continue to legally operate until another one has been constituted, without having to unhealthily accommodate the pathologically litigious likes of SupiKwayera. I also unreservedly agree with the quite studious observation that sometimes decisions handed down by some of our judges inordinately and unwisely tend to interfere with academic freedom and the progressive and smooth-running of these major tertiary academies.

The attempt by Dr. Samuel Ofori-Bekoe, former President of the UEW branch of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTG), to disengage the services of Dr. Raymond Atuguba as the UEWs legal counsel, may very well be politically motivated and one that has more to do with the proverbial changing of the guard, or government-of-the-day, than merely the fact of whether Dr. Atuguba qualifies to serve in such capacity or not. But it is a matter that falls outside the purview of our present discussion.

*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs
This came to light when President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo paid a courtesy call on him yesterday during which discussions bordering on energy, infrastructural development, railways and roads and the need to cooperate strategically for the mutual benefit of the two countries and their respective citizens, were held.

He told President Akufo-Addo that he was keen in seeing Ghanaian companies invest in Qatar, and was also keen on meeting with the Ghanaian business community during his visit to the country.

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani indicated that Qatar is desirous of forging strong partnerships and relations with countries such as Ghana and those that are governed in accordance with the rule of law, respect for individual liberties, human rights and the principles of democratic accountability.

He stressed the need to rekindle the ancient ties between Africa and the Gulf Region, which he noted, had become weak in the course of the last 60 to 70 years.

President Akufo-Addo was grateful for the warm reception accorded him and his delegation.

He noted that Ghana, considering the significant gas resources available to her, is willing to learn from Qatar, which has exploited its gas resources for the development of the country and the living standards of its people.

The president was hopeful that Ghana would have established an embassy in Qatar prior to the visit of the Emir.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has assured the general public and businesses not to panic because it has enough dollars to meet their demands and support the cedi.

The assurance follows what has been described as sustained depreciation of the cedi over the past week.

As at close of business on November 17 some banks were quoting 4.56 against a dollar with some analysts describing the cedis performance as the worse for the year.

What is causing the cedis depreciation?

A lot of reasons have been given for the current woes of the Ghana cedis.

According to some market players, the cedis challenge came about as a result of the sudden pick up in corporate demand of the American currency, which was not met with the required supply on the market.

Some of the traders with the commercial banks have also told JoyBusiness that the heightened demand has also been influenced by attempts by traders to quickly clear their imports before the Chinese holiday season.

Some traders of the commercial banks have also argued that there has been little intervention by the Central Bank to help deal with the situation.

However, persons close to the BoG have rejected this argument insisting that most of these demands are not backed by real demand from businesses.

Bank of Ghana on the current situation

According to the Bank of Ghana, it is currently on market to support the banks with the required dollars, a development they believe would help stabilize the situation very soon.

Head of Financial Markets at the BoG, Stephen Opata told JoyBusiness that looking at their reserve position, there is no way the situation would get out of hand.

Generally, our external position is very good compared to same period last year, and we expect to end the year by building reserves of $650 million, he said.

He added that we expect to end the year with a current account surplus, so in general, the external position is good, our reserves as at now is $7.29 billion which is equivalent to 4.1 months of import cover.

Mr. Opata said these numbers should convince everyone that the Central Bank reserves are in a good position to stabilize local currency, therefore there is no need to panic.

Regarding whether the lender of last resort is going to increase its intervention if the situation gets out of hand, he said, I dont expect it to get out of hand.

"But if we observed increase volatilities than we are comfortable with, of course, we will sell more dollars to ensure that there is not too much volatility that we are not comfortable with.
Thirty-five-year-old John Duut holds a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Social Works from the School of Social Work, Accra Kaajaano, despite his visual impairment.

I studied at the School of Social Works from 2013 to 2016, he says.

During his time at the school, John gained training in Criminology, English, Social Policy, Psychology and Sociology to equip him with the necessary skills for social work practice with diverse groups.

The ultimate goal of his training was to serve others to improve their lives and create a society where everyone will feel a sense of belonging while eliminating oppression and inequality.

But after his training, John's story has turned out to be a contrary of what his education seeks to do in society.

Genesis

John was not born blind. As a child, he could see like any other person until he got sick with measles which made him lose his sight.

At that time I was staying in a village at Garu Tinpani in the Northern Region with my mother. When the thing happened, she tried using herbs to cure it but the sickness rather took my eye sight, John narrates.

He said the situation, however, did not prevent him from continuing his education as he was enrolled at a blind school in Wa, where he had his basic education and then proceeded to the Wa Senior High School (SHS) in 2003 and completed passing all the subjects except English.

After his SHS education, he decided to do something for himself as he was becoming a burden to his mother who was a peasant farmer in Garu Tinpani.

I moved to Kumasi, precisely Atwima Nwabiagya, to find something to do for myself, because although I am blind, I can move about with my white cane. That was where I found a wife and we have four children including a set of twins, John narrates.

He says he stayed in Atwima Nwabiagya for the next ten years working as a peasant farmer on a half-acre of land a Good Samaritan decided to give him and did occasional begging at the markets by himself to sustain his family.

Anytime I go out to beg and get some small money I give it to my wife and she will hire labourers to clear the land to cultivate corn, plantain and cocoyam. What we get is just for our feeding that is all, he adds.

John, after years of begging cum farming, decided to further his education which brought him to the School of Social Works, Accra, through a friend's advice and support.

So I left my family, came to Accra, filled forms and I gained admission in 2013 to study Criminology, English, Psychology, Social Policy, Sociology and completed in 2016.

John served in the National Service Scheme at the Atwima Nwabiagya District Social Welfare Department. His service was later extended till March 2017.

We were handling marital dispute cases, particularly resolution of marriage, he says.

Begging Experience

After the extension of his service till March this year, John's life came to a standstill when he had to go back to his wife and children without a job.

When I was doing the National Service, I bought Local Government forms and filled it. I brought it to the headquarters but they told me they were very busy so they collected the form and told me they will get back to me, he says.

But after following up on three different occasions with no positive results, John gave up since he could not cope with the frequent travel from Kumasi to Accra.

The father of four with a stay home wife has had to resort to begging in the streets of Accra after several unfruitful attempts to gain employment.

After the extension, I came to Accra in April to stay with an uncle to beg for a living. I don't have a guide, those who have guides go to the traffic lights to beg with their guides, and they get money, he reveals.

John says he does not want his children who are in school to engage in begging activities, so he goes solo in his begging business which does not fetch much money.

When I go to the market, I get some coins but it is not like those who are on the street. Sometimes I go to Madina, Ashaiman markets and Tema Station. It is very hard, very hard because sometimes I knock people's things off because I walk alone and you get insulted, but what will I do? In fact I could see that my situation is very bad, I am suffering, he indicates. 

John is, however, able to save some money and send back home to his family in Kumasi occasionally.

My wife is still in the farming business, I don't have money if I had I would build a kiosk for her so she could have additional source of income, but I am able to send GH200, he says.

No Support / Social Safety Net

Although a member of the National Blind Union, John says there is very little the union can do about his situation since the mandatory dues members have to pay was not forthcoming.

We are supposed to pay dues at the meetings we go so there will be some form of assistance if a member needs help but looking at our situation we cannot pay the dues and so we do not have money to help ourselves, he explains.

John's family is also not on the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) initiative of government implemented by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection aimed at providing financial support to the extreme poor and vulnerable families who are also elderly aged 65 years and above, severely disabled who are unable to work or cater for orphans and vulnerable children.

John does not, however, fall within the category of the initiative which has reached the poorest people in Ghana numbering over 77,000 families in all 10 regions of the country.

Inequality Gap

Ghana has experienced steadily increasing growth of over seven percent per year on average since 2005. Following the attainment of middle income country status in 2010 and discovery of offshore oil reserves, per capita growth in the country has remained relatively high.

Despite the growth recorded, inequality has been increasing in the country and poverty remains prevalent in many areas.

Although the proportion of people living in poverty has declined by a quarter since 2006, the number of people living in poverty has only declined by 10 percent (from 7m to 6.4m), meaning that poverty reduction is not keeping pace with population growth.

For people living with disabilities, the 2010 Population Census reveals that while the proportion of economically active persons among the abled-bodied population is 72 percent, the corresponding proportion for those who are disabled is 57 percent, implying that they are in a more vulnerable position and, therefore, less able to withstand shocks and manage risks.

Inclusive development

In May 2016, Accra hosted the National Forum on Inclusive Development, where over 300 participants from over 150 institutions from across government, civil society, trade institutions, private sector, development partners, academia and the media came together to contribute to the promotion of the equitable transformations of Ghana's economy.

The forum, organised by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), with UNICEF, the World Bank, UNDP and ActionAid, was to ensure national aspirations resonates with the international and continental vision for development and transformation.

They also called for the expansion of the social protection initiatives like LEAP, which they agreed, is well targeted and reaching the very poor households and making significant contribution in boosting productivity and local growth.

It only reaches one in ten households and it should be expanded initially from the current 147,000 households to 55,000 households by 2017, they agreed.

Since Ghana has committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of eliminating poverty and leaving no one behind, inequalities are self-perpetuating, do not self-correct, and require conscious policy efforts to be reversed. Failing to eliminate poverty wastes the value and potential of our democracy, therefore, failing to tackle inequality risks the polarisation of our society.

The National Forum on Inclusive Development are, therefore, a key step in the process of undertaking such deliberate policy-design to ensure a more equitable nation.

The expectation is that these suggestions will be carefully analyzed and supported with available research and practical experiences for incorporation into national policy-making and the upcoming long term national development plan (LTNDP), they concluded.

For John, he wants to be employed by government in his field of training so he can stop begging in the markets of Accra.

I want government to employ me at the Department of Social Welfare because that is where I have been trained because getting a sustainable source of income will help me and my family a lot, John says.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri


The Ghana Air Force Aviation Unit (GHAV) has completed its operations with the United Nations Multi-Dimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

At a mission accomplishment parade held at the Air Force Base in Accra, the Director General in-charge of International Peace Support Operations, Brigadier General A. Issahaku, said the officers and men deployed, in spite of the enormous challenges in Mali, their area of operation, exhibited professionalism, commitment and hard work to provide air transport services to the United Nations Mission in Mali.

He said the Ghana aviation unit deployment in Mali was as a result of Ghana's response to the request by the United Nations to provide tactical military air transport services of MINUSMA.

On September 16, 2014, a unit comprising CASA C-295 aircraft and supported by 55 all-rank men drawn from the Air Force as the major service, Army and Navy was deployed to Mali with its main operating base initially located in Bamako.

The personnel were to perform administrative and logistic support flights, VIP and VVIP flights, cargo resupply, troops insertion and extractions, patrols observations, troops movements, quick reactions forces response, tactical airlifts, air reconnaissance, among other duties.

Brigadier General Issahaku noted that the Ghana aviation unit distinguished itself creditably and that the high performance was widely acknowledged throughout the mission.

The dexterity of its crew and efficiency of the technicians and other ground supporting staff contributed greatly in making the CASA aircraft the preferred choice in the Mission, he narrated.

Brigadier Gen. Issahaku averred that barely a month into its operations, the troops were requested to relocate to Gao  the northern part of Mali  and this relocation was completed in October 25, 2016 and flying activities commenced immediately.

On November 29, 2016, the Jihadist group  Al- Mouabitoun  carried out a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive attack at the Gao airport that significantly damaged some of the CASA aircraft's major components.

The aircraft was recovered to Accra for further examination and repairs for eight weeks before it finally resumed service on august 10, 2017 till October 25, 2017 when the troops withdrew their services.

Brigadier Gen. Issahaku congratulated the commanders and members of the unit on raising the image of the country higher.

The MINUSMA GHV3 commander, Group Captain Yaw Cole, in an address, said there was no casualty, even though they flew into areas that were under threat of missile attacks.

He said by the time they left the mission, they had carried close to about 15,000 passengers, 330 tonnes of cargo.

We had to withdraw the aircraft at Gao since that place was not safe for basing aircraft on safety grounds.
On November 17 President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan received the Foreign Minister of Brazil Aloysio Nunes Ferreira.

November 18, 2017, 10:48 Armenian President receives Brazils FM

STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 18, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS:President Sargsyan highlighted the personal contribution of Aloysio Nunes Ferreira to the strengthening of that friendship.

The President of the Republic recalled with warmth his visit to Brazil in August, 2016 and his productive and constructive meeting with President Michel Temer. Serzh Sargsyan emphasized that Armenia is ready to continue deepening the relations and cooperation with Brazil  a country enjoying high reputation and having a serious role in the region and the international arena.

The interlocutors mutually recorded with satisfaction the assistance of Armenia and Brazil to one another not only in bilateral relations but also in international organizations. The Foreign Minister of Brazil noted that the approaches of the two friendly countries coincide in many issues. Nunes Ferreira reaffirmed the position of his country supporting the mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs in Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement.

Brazils Foreign Minister expressed words of commendation addressed to the large Armenian community in Brazil, stressing that Armenians are deeply respected in Brazil.

FM Aloysio Nunes Ferreira hoped that his visit to Armenia will give new impetus to the development of bilateral relations and will outline new horizons for partnership.
A day after the sad death of the University Of Ghana, Legon student we are beginning to understand more than ever before the challenges of mental health and how we have ignored this reality for too long to our detriment as a people.

The question as to whether what happened to our poor girl could have been avoided is a definite affirmative.

Even more intriguing is the similar path taken by a sixteen year old girl outside Accra, an occurrence which surprised many given her tender age.

Chances are that this girl too posted unusual tendencies but nobody bothered to intervene. She certainly could have withdrawn to herself to the extent that she could no longer contain the situation she found herself in. The parents did not see it let alone seek medical health.

We live in a country or society where mental health invites an automatic stigmatization by even family members. When a person who has ever suffered a depression and sought mental attention gets incensed about a situation and screams, just anybody else in society would react to a situation he or she is said to have suffered; a relapse of the earlier mental health. This suggests that the person would live with the mental health till death.

Ignorance has many negative fallouts one of which is how we react or not to a mental condition overlooking the expert intervention in a facility set up for such purposes.

We largely think erroneously that they are the only persons who need the intervention of psychiatrists; those who strip naked and walk about in the street.

With the high incidence of, especially, girls committing suicide in recent times, we think it is time that we mount a massive educative campaign on what constitutes a mental condition which requires intervention of experts. Thankfully, we have in place a Ghana Mental Health Service  an ample recognition by the state of this all important medical service.

The death of the latest victim of depression has triggered a national conversation which we hope would be sustained until Ghanaians understand that when there is something unusual about, especially, their children, the need to engage a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist should not be marginalized.

It was sad learning that the Legon student was exhibiting obvious symptoms of depression which could have easily been managed long before the untoward happened.

We have learnt how suicide occurs when the mental state of a victim of depression hits a crescendo and the brain can no longer cope with the situation in which the victims find themselves.

Suicide is not a simple thing to undertake and would only take place when those around the victim fail to observe that something unusual is taking place about them.

Let us assist those who exhibit unusual traits by insisting on having them consult experts otherwise we would be confronted with situations which visited the University of Ghana, Legon a couple of days ago.

What is the state of counseling on our campuses? From what we are hearing, these facilities are rarely patronized. Indeed many students do not know where they are sited let alone seek the attention of the experts there when the need arises.

Many persons, even outside our tertiary institutions, require the intervention of clinical psychologists; especially married women, because of the conditions they find themselves in as a result of certain factors.
Africa 2017 scheduled for Egypt next month will host Ghanaian Entrepreneur and founder of award-winning Agric firm Agro Mindset, David Asare Asiamah.

Also in attendance will be Alassane Ouattara, President of Cote d'Ivoire; Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda; Carlos Agostinho do Rosario, Prime Minister Mozambique and Sheif Ismail, Prime Minister of Egypt.

Dr. Bandar Hajjar President; IDB Group Chairman; Board of Executive Directors of Islamic Development Bank, Tony O. Elumelu, Chairman and Founder, Heirs Holdings and Tony Elumelu Foundation and many others will also grace the occasion.

Mr Asare Asiamah is an emerging player in the Ghana-based agribusiness space.

The focus of the group is to run highly profitable farm-based enterprises with long-term growth potential and showcase this know-how to the private sector in an industry relevant manner.

While at the Africa Forum, he will partake in the Young Entrepreneurs Day (YED), a landmark event hosted by the Egyptian government and organised by the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation and COMESA Regional Investment Agency (RIA).

The event comes off on December 7, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Africa 2017 YED aims to harness the demographic dividend by offering a unique platform to invest in youth and the young champions of tomorrow.

With an expected participation of 250 hand-picked delegates, Africa 2017 YED will feature the rising entrepreneurial stars of the continent.

It will welcome the leading private investment firms and visionary policy-makers and invite a roster of thought leaders currently changing the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Africa and the world.

The Africa 2017 Forum is a business-to-business and government-to-business platform, focusing on key strategic sectors.

This years Forum will focus on Driving Investment for Inclusive Growth, providing a platform to increase private sector cooperation in Africa and catalyse investment into sectors of strategic interest to our continent.

The 2017 edition builds on the success of the inaugural Africa 2016, where six African heads of state and more than 1,000 delegates from 45 countries participated.

Egypt has been stepping up its support and working to enhance the economic and cultural integration of the continent in view of achieving shared prosperity.

As one of the selected founders and entrepreneurs, Mr Asiamah will have first access to a series of Entrepreneurship and Fundraising workshops, network with fellow serial entrepreneurs as well as pitch his company Agro Mindset to leading investment firms and multinational corporations.

Mr Asiamah has been the recipient of multiple awards including the Forbes Africa 30 under 30 class of 2016, African Achiever Award for agricultural excellence, the Future Awards for Agriculture, Ghana UK Based Awards (GUBA) for corporate sustainability, the Ghana Top 30 Under 30 listing amongst others.
GENEVA (17 November 2017) - The Government of Cameroon must engage representatives of the Anglophone population in a meaningful political dialogue and halt renewed violence in the south-west and north-west, where the countrys English-speaking minority are reportedly suffering worsening human rights violations, a group of UN experts* has warned.

We urge the Government to adopt all necessary measures consistent with Cameroons human rights obligations to end the cycle of violence, the experts said in a joint statement.

Up to 17 people have reportedly been killed, and dozens wounded and arrested in demonstrations in the countrys Anglophone regions since 1 October.

The experts are disturbed by reports of a series of measures taken by the national authorities, including curfews, a ban on public meetings, and other restrictions aimed at preventing peaceful protests. Excessive use of force by the security services, injuries, mass arrests, arbitrary detentions, torture and other ill-treatment have also been reported.

Freedom of expression has been reportedly limited by the blocking of internet connections and of access to social media platforms such as Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook, which a UN expert has previously condemned.

These restrictions must stop immediately, and the Government must ensure a thorough, impartial and independent investigation into all allegations of human rights violations perpetrated during and after the events of 1 October. The Government must take effective measures to prosecute and sanction all those responsible for such violations.

The appeal for action comes nearly a year after UN experts publicly urged the Government to halt violence against the English-speaking minority , following reports that Anglophone protesters in Buea and Bamenda had suffered undue force.

The experts also denounced any use of violence against members of the security forces, after reports that several were killed last week.

Since December 2016, the experts have repeatedly raised concerns directly with the Government of Cameroon and continue to monitor and seek clarification of the alleged human rights violations in the north-west and south-west of the country.
The ruling party in Equatorial Guinea has maintained a firm grip on power after sweeping to another landslide victory in elections widely criticised by the opposition as fraudulent, according to official results.

The Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE) and it's allies won all 75 senate seats, mayoral posts and 99 of the 100 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of parliament, the results released late Friday showed.

The PDGE has dominated the parliament of the tiny oil-rich country since single-party rule was scrapped in 1991.

It is the party of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, Africa's longest-serving leader, who has ruled the former Spanish colony for 37 years and been repeatedly accused of abuses by human rights groups.

Just one opposition MP, a member of the Citizens for Innovation party (CI), was also elected to the lower house, in the capital Malabo, according to the electoral commission. One CI councillor was also elected.

Officials from opposition parties have denounced the result, citing multiple cases of fraud and irregularities on the day of the vote, last Sunday.

Then security forces were deployed and private vehicles banned from the roads. Residents complained that this left them unable to reach polling stations -- often located very far from their homes -- which were mostly closed by 1700 GMT, one hour before the official end of polling.

Internet access was also completely cut on the day of the vote and Facebook has been inaccessible since the end of October.

Opposition groups say their websites have also been blocked since 2013 and that they had no access to state media, which regularly broadcast campaign ads by the ruling party.

Around 273,502 people took part in the election, 84 percent of the total voters, said the president of the electoral commission.

"There were no incidents during the vote, the electoral process took place in transparency," said Interior Minister Clemente Engonga Nguema Onguene.

"No protest of the result or claim has been recorded," he said.

Equatorial Guinea, which borders Cameroon and Gabon, is one of sub-Sahara's biggest oil producers but a large proportion of the 1.2 million population still lives in poverty.
Some residents of the Volta Region took to the streets in the regional capital, Ho, to register their protest against what they describe as untold hardship and neglect of major projects in the Volta Region.

Dressed in red, the protestors walked through principal streets to present their petition to the Regional Coordinating Council.

Mawunyo Agbe who read the petition on behalf of the group outlined a number of projects they said the government must ensure are executed and those abandoned to be completed.

Some of the projected listed were Ho Airport project, the eastern corridor road project, Ho-Aflao road among others.

This protest dubbed 'Mieku vor' literally meaning 'we are dying' which is the first to hit the administration of the President, Nana Akufo-Addo in the region, registered a handful of about 70 protestors.

The protestors issued three month's ultimatum to the government to respond to their concerns.

However, some of the protestors were seen with banners and placards that seek to advocate against the splitting the Volta region.

Some of the inscriptions on those banners and placards read "No to new Oti Region", "Why not develop, but new region?" and "1 region -Volta."

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com
Being in political opposition is one hell of a time. More so, when the party least expected that status of opposition. Thats exactly the situation in which the NDC finds itself. Not many had envisaged the NDC to lose the elections of 2016 as a result of massive infrastructural development embarked upon by the government under the leadership of his Excellency John Dramani Mahama coupled with an incumbency advantage.

But as fate would have it, NDC lost by an unprecedented margin never witnessed by any incumbent Government. That massive loss in both the presidential as well as the number of parliamentary seats brought to the fore the need for the party to do some deep introspection to position itself strategically going into the 2020 elections.

It is obvious that winning any election depends on the suitability and popularity of the political brands involved. In this case, the party as the mother brand and the presidential candidate as the individual brand. The NDC as a political brand has been able toentrench itself across the length and breadth of the country. In Ghana politics, the NDC is a popular brand in every nook and cranny of country. This is evident from the electoral performance of the party in all the seven general elections since 1992.

Notwithstanding the popularity of the party as a brand, thecandidates who run on the ticket of the brand need to possess some other attributes that would complement the party brand in order to beat other parties and their candidates in any election. In the painful defeat of 2016, His Excellency John Mahamadiscounted these attributes largely as a result of his inability to take prompt, timely and decisive decisions. This resulted in despair and despondency within the rank and file of the party and by extension amongst the generality of the Ghanaian people. This state of despair and despondency negatively manifested itself in the outcome of the 20`6 elections when scores of party faithful failed to turn out to vote thereby affecting fortune of the party.

As the party braces itself for the 2020 elections, a candidate needs to be elected to bear the flag. This is already witnessing some jostling by potential candidates who are trying to endear themselves to the stakeholders for a possible selection ascandidates. Notable personalities such as Prof Joshua Alabi, Mr.Sylvester Mensah, Mr. Stephen Atubiga, and Rt. Hon Alban Bagbin have so far openly and publicly declared their intentions to contest for the Presidential slot of the party. His Excellency former president John Mahama, in his usual indecisive manner, has been doggy, giving the impression that the timing is not right yet whiles campaigning openly but claiming that some pressure is being put on him to make a declaration too.

It is important to state quite clearly that as a mass and Democratic Party, every qualified party member has the right to express an interest in leading the party. And I have no doubt that most of these people are honorable people whose credentials suffice for them to lead the party as presidential Candidates. However, considering the enormity of the task of winning back power after just four years, it is important to select a candidate who has that extra urge over all the others as well as the all-round attributes that would brighten the chances of the party with an assured winning formula. The Party needs a candidate whose popularity and likability transcends every facet of the Ghanaian society, a candidate who has a proven and unblemished record of achievement, a candidate whose accumulated experience in Ghanaian politics is un-paralleledand never in doubt. The party needs a face that resonates with the youth and student population of the Ghanaian society arising from the close contact and interaction established over the years, a candidate whose leadership inspires hope and confidence in his followers. Leadership skills set, driven by wise and timely decision-making based on honesty and forthrightness. Such a leader would attract the requisite resources both financial and material for the effective and efficient running of the party machinery.

Having keenly observed the lead-up to the impending presidential primaries of the party as regards the candidates that have so far declared their candidature, the Rt. Hon Alban S.K Bagbin stands tall as he best fits the attributes needed to propel the party to victory in 2020. As the longest serving Member of Parliament not just of the 4th Republican Parliament, but in the history of Gold Coast and Ghana, he has served as Minority for eight continuous years. In that position of minority leader, he traversed the entire country, revamping, inaugurating and resourcing the Tertiary, Youth and Women wings of the party. This motivated and charged this core segment of the party to work tirelessly for the electoral victory of 2008. Moreover, his regular and frequent dissenting voice against the harsh, cruel and insensitive policies of the New Patriotic Party government of President J.A Kufuor was so characteristic that it caught the attention of the masses of the Ghanaian people. This has made his name a household and a popular one.

In his role as a parliamentarian, Alban Bagbins commitment to developing the human-resource potential of all manner of persons especially students is un-paralleled and he has received rave reviews in high magnitudes. This commitment transcends constituency, regional or political considerations. He freely avails his help and support devoid of any of these inconsequential considerations. This is an attribute that has endeared him to people across the remotest of towns and villages in Ghana. It is the mark of a leader ready to serve and to lead. An Alban Bagbin ticket offers a renewed sense of hope and belongingness to the NDC amongst both the old and young party members. As presidential candidate Alban Bagbin would afford the ordinary party faithful a high stake in the affairs of the party arising from all-inclusiveness which would build a sense of unity and oneness of purpose. This approach would undoubtedly deliver victory for the party at the polls in 2020.

The NDC cannot afford to overlook this passionate and timely call by Alban Bagbin to the party to take the members to the Promised Land in 2020. This call is predicated on the proven selfless, sacrificial and dedicated leadership that Hon Alban Bagbin has offered to the party over the years. His unblemished public service record is a testament to this. Surely, with him the NDC would be smiling all the way to the Flagstaff House in 2021.

LONG LIVE HON ALBAN BAGBIN

LONG LIVE THE NDC

LONG LIVE MOTHER GHANA
18.11.2017 LISTEN

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has expressed shock at the news of the death of versatile broadcaster with The Multimedia Group, Kwadwo Asare Baffuor Acheampong (KABA).

KABA died suddenly on Saturday morning at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

The Vice President posted on his facebook wall: I have learnt with shock, the sudden demise of Joseph Kwadwo Asare-Baffuor Acheampong (KABA) of Asempa FM and the Multimedia Group.

Dr. Bawummia appeared on Ekosii sen hosted by KABA ahead of the 2016 elections.

Dr. Bawumia who expressed his condolence prayed for strength for the family and entire media fraternity to be able to deal with the painful loss.

May God give his widow, family and the entire media fraternity, the fortitude to bear this painful loss the Vice President posted.

KABA until his sudden death, was the host of popular late afternoon political talk show, Ekosii Sen on Asempa 94.7 FM.

He was married to Valentina Ofori Afriyie who is also a broadcaster with Accra-based Class FM, having worked many years with Radio Gold and Spirit FM in Kumasi.

He left behind a daughter.

Chief Executive Officer of The Multimedia Group, Kwesi Twum led management and staff of the Multimedia Group to his residence shortly after news of his death.

Mr. Kwesi Twum expressed his condolence to the wife and family.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
18.11.2017 LISTEN

With greatest respect, it is entirely disingenuous to suggest that Uganda's president, Yoweri Museveni, is immune to a coup just because he purged his bush war comrades out of all sensitive positions from the army. The assumption here is that the new young guys that are occupying these positions are: unambitious, totally loyal to Museveni, are happy with nepotism, are happy with the idea of life presidency, are happy with a declining health care system, are happy with corruption, e.t.c.

I know for sure that there are a lot of people serving in this government but would celebrate Museveni's downfall. There are people in government not happy with Mrs. Museveni being a minister and first lady at the same time. There are people not happy with Museveni's son being a 'prince' in the army. Obviously, they appear loyal and all those things Museveni wants to see, when in public, but they are damn hurting. By the way,It takes a lot of intellectual capacities to play a dummy in a convincing manner infront of someone you know is a bad leader. Only a really intelligent person can play convincingly a moron, it takes brains to act like a brainless on the scene or in front of the camera.

Having relatives in strategic positions may not save a leader, either. Relatives could actually turn out to be worse than the people outside the family. Just like in running businesses, they tend to suck the life out of a business, and take everything for granted, which ultimately leads to its downfall. Secondly, we have read in history where a brother has killed a brother because he wants to take over leadership, or for some other reasons, which paved a way for a new government. For instance, in 2001, a crown prince strode into a royal family gathering, opened fire, and killed nine people  including his father the King, before shooting himself. The palace is now a tourist attraction. So, please, people shouldnt make assumptions that Mr.Muhoozi Kainerugaba is happy with whatever is happening in the country. Who knows? He may also get a moment and feel like ending it all. These things happen, and have always happened.

Now, the reason the coup in Zimbabwe happened--or at least the explanation we've decided to accept--is that there was friction between Mugabe's wife, Grace Mugabe, and the ZANU-PF historicals.Joice Mujuru, the first female VP, lost her job in 2014 because of the first lady. The same happened to Emmerson Mnangagwa, fellow Chelsea FC fan. You've got to ask yourself, how many people have been dismissed or appointed in office due to the influence of Janet Museveni.

Mugabe is still highly respected by the ZANU-PF historicals because of his role towards Zimbabwe's independence, and he has literally given them wealth and freedom to do whatever they want.The story of his life and career has been shoehorned into the Zimbabwe education curriculum at a fundamental level.Zimbabwean army chief General Constantino Chiwenga owes all his life to Mugabe, and he has protected him several times over corruption accusations. The war veterans had the biggest share of farms formerly belonging to white farmers. I wouldnt say the same for Museveni as he has rattled off several NRM historicals. They may not be in government anymore but still somehow yield influence especially public perception of their leader.

Museveni's political life and fortunes are now prominet because he wanted it that way. When a leader has been in power that long, tangential politicians in any field fade from the collective radar, until only one person remains; the significance of that individual is then exaggerated, until the day they unexpectedly lose power.

But envisioning how any long time dictator will lose power is harder for several people, but it happens and will happen in Uganda.There is a justice-driven part of my brain that believes--or needs to believe--that as long as a leader is bad, its just only a matter of time before somebody does something about it.The fact that Museveni has not yet lost power doesnt mean that it will not happen.

Shall I spell it out for you? If you decide to give opportunities to your tribemates, son, wife, brother or daughter to serve in the government, you had better make damn sure that you are equally offering the same opportunities to almost all Ugandans. Otherwise, you're always in trouble, and trouble will certainly find you whether you like it or not.

Museveni isn't young anymore, he is only younger than Mugabe and a few leaders around the world.Classifying him as "still young and alert" at 73 years old tends to reflect more on the source than the subject. The fact is that human beings naturally hate doing the same things day in, day out. Politics is like a marriage. It needs new romance and new things every now and then, to keep it appealing. Museveni has been in power for so long, lots of damage has been done, and a lot of people have had their heads turned against him, and want change.

"In tribute to the United Kingdom and the Republic of Uganda, two bastions of strength in a world filled with strife, discrimination and terrorism."
It had not happened in decades. On Tuesday, members of the US Congress gathered to consider the scope of presidential power in launching a nuclear strike. The state of the mind of the current president was very much at the forefront of the discussion, even if some present preferred not to name him specifically.

One senator who was fairly frank about his concerns was Democrat Chris Murphy of Connecticut, giving more than a hint where some members were coming from. We are concerned that the president of the United States is so unstable, so volatile, has a decision-making process that is so quixotic, that he might order a nuclear strike that is wildly out of step with US interests.

Of the procession of experts consulted on the matter, Peter Feaver of Duke University was of some interest. Let me start with a simple but important question, came the query from Sean Illing of Vox. Can the President unilaterally launch a nuclear strike? [1]

Feaver was cautious, preferring to consider the issue in terms of logistical matters, and legal authority. To that precise point the answer was no. He requires other people to carry out an order, so he cant just lean on a button and automatically missiles fly. But in a legal and political sense, the President had authority on his own to given an order that would cause other people to take steps which would result in a nuclear strike.

Illing pressed further, wanting a scenario where a strike might be called for. Feavers description is that of a complex of mass preparatory killing in action. Consider the instance where the president is woken up in the middle of the night. He has a mere 30 minutes or less to make a decision about using the nuclear option, either because the US has been attacked or will be attacked.

By that point, hundreds if not thousands of people in the national security complex would have evaluated, examined and abided by protocols, awaiting an answer from the executive. Feaver speaks with instrumental precision: the system is designed to be able to carry out an order in that narrow time span, and he alone would have the legal authority to give that order if hes still alive.

A second scenario was also supplied: that of the errant president itching to call for a strike in the middle of the night. (Interesting how these desires lie dormant during the day.) Hey, I wanna do a nuclear strike, comes the seemingly unhinged request. The response from this same mass security complex might be more critical. Well, they would ask, what is this? Why are we doing this? A good number would have to affirm the decisions soundness.

Feavers assumption here is of a smooth, functioning system that neutralises the madman, corners the poor decision. Soldiers, for instance are trained to disobey illegal orders, so context matters. Presumptions of legality may exist, or otherwise. A nuclear strike ordered with no context, no crisis, no alert casts no presumption of legality. Alarms, claims Feaver, would go off throughout the system.

Retired General Robert Kehler, formerly the commander of US Strategic Command, added more meat to the bone in suggesting that the military might well refuse to follow an order deemed illegal. No one, however, was any the wiser how that process would unfold.

Senators claiming that Trump is not stable in terms of how he would handle a nuclear strike ignore the fact that anyone who contemplates such a move is bound to have his sanity questioned to begin with. Their grievance is with what form of insanity is most suited for the occasion.

Feaver did, at the very least, admit that a closer look at nuclear command and control was due, even if sceptical about legislative fixes that would hem in presidential power. (Congress, as ever, is regarded with suspicion in times of nuclear catastrophe  best leave it to the more fleet-footed president.)

The annihilating nature of nuclear war, in its very realisation, renders its use an act of insanity. But such insanity is built into the military industrial complex. It is measured, gauged and dolled out in portions. What this grand nuclear military process is supposedly meant to do is administer it cautiously, a rationalised nonsense, if ever there was one.

This shines light on a perverse point: the security establishments of the world where nuclear weapons are still present make it mandatory to assume that use might well be urgent. They couch this as a precautionary principle in terms of safe guards, rational actors and oversight, the false comforts of credible theory. Again, such measures are fairly meaningless where momentum is in place, and will unwavering.

The only genuinely sane appraisal in terms of a nuclear option is not to have one. To date, the only leading politician in a nuclear state who has made it clear he will not use his countrys nuclear option should he become prime minister is Jeremy Corbyn of the British Labour Party. And how the chicken hawks greeted that decision, deeming the man a terrorist for not wanting to engage in an act of mass murder.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne.

[1] https://www.vox.com/world/2017/11/17/16656856/trump-congress-nuclear-weapons-war
His Excellency Consul General, Prof. Samuel Amoako

18.11.2017 LISTEN

Ghanas Consul General to the United States of America, His Excellency Professor Samuel Amoako continues to live up to the expectations of the Ghanaian community as reactions from his daily interaction with the people confirm. His interactive work model has gained so much attention among the Ghanaian community that hardly will a week pass without granting aninvitation request to a community-based group.

Last Sunday, November 12th, 2017, he was once again invited by the Bethel Presbyterian Reformed Church in Brooklyn, New York to honor an annual harvest church service.

Addressing the well-attended congregation, the Consul General took the opportunity to remind his audience that he has been mandated by the president of the republic to undertake his duties as stipulated in the constitution. On that note, he will deliver to all Ghanaians resident in the United States without any discrimination.

Highlighting on his core duties, he remarked that his office is an embodiment of the political and economic ambassador of the president. Accordingly, his message has been to encourage Ghanaians to project the positive political image of the country to those they come into contact with and encourage investors to make Ghana their preferred investment destination.

He will therefore make it his main point at every function to preach the good news about the presidents flagship programs (One District, One Factory; One Village, One Dam; Free Senior High School; Inner City and Zongo Development, and Planting for Food and Jobs) and use the opportunity to encourage people to invest in Ghana.

Professor Samuel Amoako also encouraged church members to help other members to complete passport and visa applications online.

He further asked for their support in creating a database for the U.S.-born Ghanaian children at the consulate for proper ancestral records to be kept for the Ghanaian families in the U.S.

Before he took his seat, H.E. Professor Amoako admitted that given the enormity of his task, he could not succeed without the congregations prayer support. He, therefore, humbly and earnestly asks for the churchs support.
18.11.2017 LISTEN

BONN-COP23, the international climate negotiations, draws to a close today in Bonn, Germany. Hosted by Fiji, the first 'island COP' shone a spotlight on the impacts of climate change on island states and particularly vulnerable countries.

Chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group, Gebru Jember Endalew, said, "As an Ethiopian, I know intimately the pain caused by climate change. My country is in the grip of a severe drought that has put 13 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia at risk of increased food insecurity. At the same time, our friends in South Asia have been drenched by extraordinary monsoon flooding, friends in the Caribbean have been battered by devastating hurricanes, and island states in the pacific are watching their homes disappear before their eyes beneath the water."

"As Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama of Fiji put it, we are all in the same canoe. The impacts may vary, but no country can escape the damage of climate change. This is why we came to COP23 with high expectations for a COP of action and support, with substantive outcomes to achieve the goals set by the international community in Paris."

"The LDCs welcome progress that has been made here at COP23, including the adoption of the Gender Action Plan and the Indigenous Peoples' and Local Communities' Platform. It is essential that we amplify marginalised voices and recognise the disproportionate impact of climate change on women and indigenous communities around the world. This is crucial for achieving global climate justice and for addressing the multi-faceted threat of climate change."

"Progress was also made on the design of the Talanoa Dialogue to be held in 2018. The Dialogue must lead to an increase in ambition by all countries to put us on track to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius."

"A key priority at COP23 was making significant progress on developing the 'ruleset' that will govern how countries implement their Paris Agreement commitments. While the LDC group welcomes the progress made, many areas of work are still lagging behind. This jeopardises our ability to complete the Paris ruleset by our agreed deadline at the end of 2018. We must urgently put pen to paper to properly finalise the ruleset in a thoughtful and considered manner, without a last-minute rush."

"We also need to rapidly translate work done in the negotiating rooms into tangible action on the ground. This calls for ambitious climate action by all countries through strengthening and implementing national contributions, managing the decline of fossil fuels, and promoting renewable energy. The LDCs are committed to leading on ambitious climate action in our countries - a key example is the LDC Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Initiative, an LDC-owned and driven initiative to bring universal access to clean energy in the world's poorest countries."

"Tackling climate change also requires support for adaptation and loss and damage action in poor and particularly vulnerable countries. The LDC Group thanks Germany, Sweden and Belgium for the contributions to the Adaptation Fund and Least Developed Countries Fund. We hope to see other countries following suit and rapidly accelerating their finance pledges to meet the scale of support needed by developing countries to fill the ever-widening finance gap."

"In particular, the need to adapt to, and address the irreversible loss and damage arising from, climate change is a matter of urgency for LDCs. The scale of loss and damage that LDCs are experiencing is already beyond our capacity to respond and it will only get worse, with more lives lost, more destruction to infrastructure and a bigger impact on our economies. We will not be able to raise our people out of poverty if we do not effectively address loss and damage and for that we need support."

"The LDCs call for a global response to climate change that is fair and equitable, that advances the interests and aspirations of poor and vulnerable countries and peoples, and fulfils our Paris vision of limiting warming to below 1.5C to ensure a safe and prosperous future for all."
18.11.2017 LISTEN

Bonn, Nov 17  COP23 in Bonn is the first UN Climate Change Conference to receive official certification for eco-friendly performance. Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks and Ovais Sarmad, UN Climate Change Deputy Executive Secretary were today presented with the Eco-management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) certificate . The certificate verifies the event management's successful and environmentally-friendly organisation of the conference.

Event managers were already aiming for the consistent prevention of environmental burdens when planning began eleven months ago, and their work was documented in the environmental statement required under EMAS.

Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks said: "We have succeeded in making this Climate Change Conference environmentally friendly and sustainable. This is an important signal for a conference which is not just about negotiations, but also about taking action. It goes without saying that there is still room for improvement in certain areas  this COP only marks the start of the learning curve. I highly recommend using EMAS as the yardstick for future Climate Change Conferences."

Ovais Sarmad, Deputy Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change said: "I want to thank the German government, the people of Bonn and my own staff for embracing wholeheartedly the UN climate conference 2017 and its ambition to be the greenest COP ever. We are fortunate indeed to be headquartered in a country that is working towards a determined transition to an environmentally-friendly and ever more sustainable future. That said, achieving the high EMAS certification approval was not a given. But here I think we have together raised the sustainability bar of UN conferences with some 28,800 people participating over the two weeks. I am sure many will look to what has been achieved, within the UN system and beyond, for inspiration on how all events and conferences can play their part in meeting the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals."

All goals and measures were documented in the environmental statement, then assessed on-site over several days by environmental verifiers and subsequently validated. Such measures included waste avoidance and strict waste separation, climate-friendly catering, excellent local public transport, climate-neutral shuttle services and environmentally sound and reusable materials also for the temporary structures. Energy supply and water consumption are also among the areas to be reviewed in the follow-up.

The role of the 650 volunteers who supported the conference and received training on COP23 environmental issues, should not be underestimated. They inform participants, for instance, about the numerous drinking fountains throughout the conference premises (almost 50) where participants can refill their COP23 reusable bottles they received on registering. The environmental verifier confirmed that this approach also worked well.

After the conference, data on consumption, collected data and the goals and measures of the original environmental statement will be evaluated and examined again by the environmental verifier. This will include a precise calculation of the unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions caused, for example, by the arrival and departure of the participants. These emissions will be offset with certified emission reduction (CERs) credits from particularly ambitious international climate action projects.

The IHK (The Chamber of Commerce and Industry) of Duisburg, which is responsible for Bonn, also handed over the registration certificate for the official EMAS database. COP23 will be added to the EMAS register, which now contains over 9,000 sites of companies and organisations committed to environmental protection.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party will meet on Sunday to discuss removing him as president, a government MP and a party official told AFP.

"There's a central committee meeting (on Sunday) to endorse the resolutions reached by the provinces," said the MP.

The parliamentarian, who declined to be named, referred to the decision by eight of the party's ten regional committees on Friday to call for Mugabe to resign as president and party leader.

"Yes we are meeting (Sunday) to endorse the decisions of the nine provinces," said the party official who confirmed that a further region had called on Mugabe to go since Friday night's announcement.

"We are also recalling him as the president and first secretary of the party," said the source who also declined to be named.

The meeting comes after tens of thousands of overjoyed protesters flooded Zimbabwe's streets on Saturday, celebrating the crumbling of Mugabe's ruthless regime which had controlled the country for nearly 40 years.

The mass turnout came after an unprecedented week in which the military seized power and put Mugabe under house arrest in response to his sacking of vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Review of CI.133 will aid in ...
By Shannon Monnat, Associate Professor, Syracuse University and David L. Brown, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University. Originally published at the Institute for New Economic Thinking website

Economic, social and health decline in the industrial Midwest may have been a major factor in the 2016 US presidential election, Monnat and Browns INET research finds, with people living in distressed areas swinging behind Trump in greater numbers. Trump performed well within these landscapes of despair  places that have borne the brunt of declines in manufacturing, mining, and related industries since the 1970s and are now struggling with opioids, disability, poor health, and family problems.

The role of the rural vote in Donald Trumps victory in the U.S. Presidential election has received widespread coverage. But suggesting that rural frustration with political insiders and years of perceived neglect was in itself enough to deliver Trump to the White House overlooks other key factors that saw the Republican candidate out-perform in areas ravaged by decay.

To be sure, Donald Trump received a much larger share of the rural vote than Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Electoral data shows he won the countryside by 63.2 percent to 31.3 percent, with the vote share increasing in the most rural areas. But this advantage hardly signals a new trend. Republican candidates have long won larger shares of the rural vote, particularly in Appalachia, the Great Plains, and parts of the South. In addition, rural voters account for only about 15 percent of the total U.S. population, and provided a similar share of votes in the 2016 presidential election.

Although Trumps rural edge certainly contributed to his victory, it was not sufficient to swing the election on its own or to support a theory that a rural revolt handed him the win. Instead, Trumps combined rural and small city over-performance, and Clintons under-performance, particularly in the industrial Midwest, was key to Trumps unanticipated victory. To understand the election outcome it is critical to understand what drove voters in those areas to cast a ballot for Trump.

Election Results: The Predicable and The Unexpected

Of course, Clinton won the U.S. popular vote by nearly 2.9 million votes. Trump not only lost the national popular vote; he also under-performed relative to Mitt Romney four years earlier, receiving 45.9 percent of votes in 2016 compared to Romneys 47.1 percent in 2012.

Trump nonetheless won because the U.S. electoral college system places more importance on some states over others when it comes to the outcome. Small advantages in key places enabled Trump to accumulate sufficient electors to claim victory. Like Romney in 2012, Trump garnered large vote shares throughout Appalachia, the rural South, the Great Plains, and Mountain West.

The Republican stronghold in these areas is not new. What was unexpected though, was how well Trump performed, and conversely how poorly Hillary Clinton performed, in the industrial Midwest. Ultimately, Trumps win came down to a difference of just 77,744 votes spread across three states: Michigan, which he took by 10,704 votes; Pennsylvania, by 44,292; and Wisconsin, with a 22,748 margin.

Trump also garnered substantially larger vote shares than Romney in the other industrial states including Ohio, Illinois and Indiana  as well as in Appalachia, parts of New England, upstate New York, Minnesota, and Iowa.

Trump won more votes than Romney in these regions; Clinton also received far fewer votes and a smaller share than Obama in these areas, even in counties and states she won.

Although the industrial Midwest is home to just over 16 percent of U.S. counties, nearly a third of the 206 pivot counties  those that went for Trump after going for Obama in both 2008 and 2012  were in the industrial Midwest. In nearly all pivot counties, Obamas victory margin declined between 2008 and 2012, perhaps foreshadowing their shift to a Republican candidate in 2016. Importantly, Trumps advantage in the industrial Midwest was not confined to rural counties; it also included small urban counties like Montgomery County in Ohio and Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and even larger urban counties like Michigans Macomb County, which is located in the Detroit metropolitan area.

How Despair Drove Trump Votes

To understand the electoral shift in these and similar places outside of the industrial Midwest, it is important to understand the economic, social, and health declines that have plagued them over the past three decades. In many of the rural areas and small cities where Trump performed better than expected or where Clinton performed worse than expected, economic distress had been building and social conditions breaking down for decades. The places that experienced the largest voter shifts in 2016 were not all among the poorest places in America, though Appalachia certainly holds that distinction. But they are places that are generally worse off today than they were a generation or two ago, with far fewer manufacturing and natural resource industry jobs that once provided reliable, livable wages and benefits to those without a college degree. Certainly de-industrialization is not a new phenomenon in the U.S., but its impacts have been unevenly distributed.

Our INET research, published in the Journal of Rural Studies, used county-level election data from 2012 and 2016 alongside demographic, economic, and health research from multiple sources to probe key sources of Trumps support. We found that nationally, and especially in the industrial Midwest, Trumps average over-performance  defined as the difference between his percentage share of the vote compared to that of Romney four years earlier  was greater in areas of higher economic, social, and health distress.

Comparing the difference in Trump over-performance between counties in the top and bottom quartiles for economic, demographic, and health characteristics helps us understand what drove voters in areas including the industrial Midwest to swing to Trump. The percentage of residents without a four-year college degree had the strongest association with Trump over-performance, but indicators of despair also helped to explain his success in the industrial Midwest. In particular, economic distress (based on rates of poverty and unemployment, and the percentage of people collecting disability payments or lacking health insurance), health distress (determined by rates of disability, obesity, those rating their own health fair or poor, smoking, and drug-induced, alcohol-induced and suicide mortality), and social distress (accounting for factors like rates of separation/divorce, single parent families, vacant housing units and persistent population loss), were strong predictors of Trump over-performance. Notably, Trumps average over-performance was 12% higher in counties with the highest poverty rates compared to those with the lowest poverty rates. These relationships held even when controlling for metropolitan status.

Of course, this is not an exhaustive list of factors that likely influenced the election, and many of these factors are strongly correlated, making it difficult to disentangle and rank in terms of influence. We also dont know from the data whether the most economically distressed residents voted for Trump, or if it was comparatively less distressed residents who, out of anxiety and frustration with the deprivation they saw around them, went for the Republican nominee.

Ultimately, what these descriptive findings suggest is that Trump performed well within these landscapes of despair  places that have borne the brunt of declines in manufacturing, mining, and related industries since the 1970s and are now struggling with opioids, disability, poor health, and family problems. Just as decades of declines in secure and livable wage jobs, resource-disinvestment, and social decay have made some places in the U.S. more vulnerable to the opioid scourge, the same forces made some places more susceptible to Trumps quick-fix populist messages.

Mean Difference in Trump Over-performance (%) between Counties in the Top Quartile vs. Bottom Quartile of Each County Characteristic, Industrial Midwest N=504 counties in Industrial Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin). The bars represent the difference in mean Trump over-performance (percent difference in Trump vote share in 2016 vs. Romney vote share in 2012) between counties in the top 25th percentile (Q4) vs. bottom 25th percentile (Q1) for all characteristics except non-metro county and persistent population loss (which are both dichotomous). All estimates are from unadjusted linear regression models, but all models use clustered standard errors to account for nesting of counties within states.

Of course, this is not an exhaustive list of factors that likely influenced the election, and many of these factors are strongly correlated, making it difficult to disentangle and rank in terms of influence. We also dont know from the data whether the most economically distressed residents voted for Trump, or if it was comparatively less distressed residents who, out of anxiety and frustration with the deprivation they saw around them, went for the Republican nominee.

Ultimately, what these descriptive findings suggest is that Trump performed well within these landscapes of despair  places that have borne the brunt of declines in manufacturing, mining, and related industries since the 1970s and are now struggling with opioids, disability, poor health, and family problems. Just as decades of declines in secure and livable wage jobs, resource-disinvestment, and social decay have made some places in the U.S. more vulnerable to the opioid scourge, the same forces made some places more susceptible to Trumps quick-fix populist messages.
Yves here. As much as I support unions in theory, there is too often a difference between theory in practice. In this case, my beef is that many union leaderships regularly sell out their members. I am particularly disgusted with the conduct of the unions with respect to CalPERS, where they get know-nothing, potted plants on the board who rubber stamp staffs self-serving initiatives. Even worse, the SEIUs Terry Brennard and CSEAs David Low were cited by CalPERS staff as key players in getting its non-secret, tamper-friendly election procedures passed.

So if this decision goes against public employee unions, IMHO their leaders habit of power-seeking at the expense of the rank and file is a big part of the antipathy towards unions in America and laid the groundwork for cases like these.

By Bobbi Murray, a freelance journalist based in Los Angeles. Originally published at Capital and Main

Wisconsin provided early examples of scorched-earth labor policies. California unions took note.

Should Mark Janus prevail in his Supreme Court case, public-sector employees in California and other states who now pay agency fees instead of union dues will be able to opt out of any payment at alleven though they can still benefit from collective bargaining contracts and turn to the union with grievances, enjoying a free ride that drains union resources.

The ruling would undermine the ability of public-sector unionsabout half of U.S. organized laborto set standards for wage and workplace conditions. The resulting financial pressure will hamper unions from taking lead roles in policy debates on such issues as health care. The short-term [goal] is to reduce the ability to collect dues, said Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs. The long-term aim is to weaken collective bargaining.

Anti-union forces, often funded by corporate-backed foundations, have been on the attack for decades. One stunning victory was the 2011 passage of Wisconsins Act 10, that states budget repair bill. Republican Governor Scott Walker, long a vocal enemy of public-sector unions, introduced it to address a $3.6 billion budget shortfall.

Act 10 gutted public-sector union collective bargaining rights, leaving unions unable to negotiate wagesexcept raises attached to the cost-of-livingalong with pensions, work conditions such as hours worked, sick leave and vacations. In other words, all the things that, for many, make it worth paying union dues.

The law also loosened restrictions on local governments hiring and wage policies, while allowing wage freezes and requiring higher employee health-care contributions.

Act 10 knee-capped labor as a political force in an historically union state  the first to recognize public-sector unions. By 2014 the once-robust Wisconsin State Employees Union had lost 60 percent of its members; its annual budget dropped from $6 million to $2 million. Then came the defections. In 2013 the nearly 6,000 prison guards staffing Wisconsins correctional facilities voted to leave WSEU for the newly-created Wisconsin Association for Correctional Law Enforcement, which cut dues from WSEUs roughly $36 monthly rate to WACLEs $18. WACLE now represents approximately 5,900 state security workers.

The two major public-sector unions both lost about 80 percent of dues-paying members, Joel Rogers, a University of Wisconsin, Madison professor of law and sociology, told Capital & Main. Rogers is also the founder of an organization called COWS, touted as the national high-road strategy center think tank. Shrunken union budgets hobbled the ability to operate effectively on policy issues and support labor-friendly candidates. They are basically nowhere near what they were in terms of political forces, Rogers said.

Employees whose livelihoods had taken a hit with budget cuts werent in a mood to pay dues to a union without collective bargaining power. So they quitbleeding unions of funds.

Which is what it was all about, said Rogers.

Labors post-Act 10 relative absence from the Wisconsin policy arena, Rogers continued, has contributed to an across the board assault on all public goods, starting with the K-12 system and the universitythat was about 1.5 billion worth of cutsenvironmental deregulation, the Department of Natural Resources stripped of powers and evacuated of scientists, endless stuff on deregulation [and] corporate liabilities have been reducedincreasing pressure to privatize public goods.

Governor Walker, Rogers added, was backed by donors not widely known outside Wisconsin, but whose political footprint extends far beyond the state. They included Diane Hendricks, who made a fortune in the roofing-supply business. A backer of Scott Walkers presidential PAC who donated $500,000 to defeat a union-backed recall effort against the governor, she is heard here in a YouTube clip asking Walker to turn Wisconsin into a red state; he replies that the first step is dealing with public-sector bargaining.

There was also Michael Grebe, a corporate attorney and former Marine, who chaired Walkers gubernatorial and anti-recall campaigns. He recently retired as CEO of the Bradley Foundation, which from 2001 to 2009 donated nearly as much money to ultra-conservative causes as foundations backed by the Koch Brothers and the Scaife family combined. Efforts aimed at dismantling public infrastructure included: vouchers for private schools and cutbacks in public employee benefits and collective bargaining rights.

Were part of the right-wing movement, Grebe told the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal-Sentinel. I dont think its conspiratorial.

The Wisconsin labor organizations that are now managing to hold their ground are those that had cultivated a strong base before Act 10 and are adjusting strategies to reach their members and different constituencies.

Michael Rosen is a past president of American Federation of Teachers Local 212, which represents 1,400 faculty and professional staff. Strong unions that were very active and had a mobilized membership were able to maintain [their] membership, Rosen said.

Heather DuBois Bourenane of Wisconsin Public Education Network reflects on her organizations efforts to organize at parent and teacher house meetings, to ramp up use of Facebook and other digital channels, to pack public state budget meetings and to launch postcard campaigns and write letters to news editors.

She was a mother with two kids in the school system holding down two part-time university teaching jobs and a third assistantship when Act 10 passed. She had marched against it and now has a sharpened sense of the need to be on guard. We hope people look at us in Wisconsin and lift us up as lessons learned.

The Golden State boasts the largest number of union members in the country at 2.6 million, with 53 percent represented by public-sector unions. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is one of the two largest; Service Employees International Union is another. Janus victorious would not be nearly as onerous for California as Act 10 was for Wisconsin, as Act 10 effectively extinguished public-sector collective bargaining. Still, Janus would provide a huge anti-labor win.

Rough estimates are that within three years, 20 to 40 percent of union members would stop paying dues, said Fred Ross, a veteran organizer with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245, which represents 2,500 public-sector transit and power workers throughout California. Unions would have to operate with between 20 and 40 percent less revenue, he added.

Unions are the largest source of campaign contributions to Democratic Party legislatorsmany of whom support such union-backed measures as worker protections, the $15 hourly minimum wage and immigrant-rights protections, said Steve Barkan, a Los Angeles-area campaign consultant. Janus tips the scales further toward corporate interests, he said.

Public-sector unions were under attack in California before Janus. Labor activists like Ross have been organizing for months, some for years, to counter its potential effects. Ross local has developed a targeted strategy based on a volunteer organizing committee. Some 250 union member organizers are charged with building relationships with 10 other members to explain the unions role in winning benefits and protecting rightsand signing them up as voluntary dues-paying members.

Unions for home-care workers  those paid from public funds to work in private homes caring for low-income infirm persons  got hit hard by the 2013 Harris v. Quinn decision that has similarities to the Janus case. The 5-4 Supreme Court ruling said home health-care workers didnt have to support their unions financially.

Harris is our Janus, said Doug Moore, executive director of the United Domestic Workers Homecare Providers Union (UDW) and an AFSCME International Vice President. Before the Harris decision, We had 68,000 [people]  Moore said. We lost 20,000 [fees-paying non-members] overnight after the decision came down.

As the Harris decision approached, the union went into high-gear to connect with its base. Most of the millions of homecare workers in the U.S. are women of color; about one-quarter live below the poverty line and more than half need public assistance to get by.

The UDW created focus groups that discovered the home-care workers main concern was being able to obtain more hours for severely infirm clients like those with Alzheimers. Staff expanded existing efforts at In-Home Supportive Services worker orientation sessions in 21 counties around the state to make presentations. There were house visits, efforts to match Facebook profiles to email, a button on the website to sign up, going paperless and doing sign-ups via tabletanything that would engage and listen to members, and convey the value of the union. There are now 72,000 dues-paying members  approaching double the UDWs pre-Harris level.

The same story applied to SEIU Local 2015, which also represents public-sector home-care workers. Harris threatened Local 2015s voluntary membership rates. The union began to look at ZIP codesconnecting homecare workers that live within blocks of one another but would never meet on the job. Facebook and Twitter helped. Membership increased by 48 percent, said Kim Evon, a Local 2015 vice-president. Our demographic tends to be 70 percent women of colorand the average age is 55. We make a lot of assumptions that they are not plugged in but they are. Mail is that thing that piles up and gets stuck in the circulars from Vons.

In a September organizing blitz, 16 different Southern California unions approached adjunct faculty at East Los Angeles College to join the California Federation of Teachers; meanwhile, SEIU 99, which organizes non-professional campus workers, informed child care providers of the benefits of belonging to a union. Private-sector janitors and security guards and other workers visited public-sector workers who are going to be impacted by Janus.

Alfonso Garcia was one of them. A union member since 1987, Garcia is currently an organizer for United Steelworkers Local 675, and has talked to part-time teachers, childcare providers and homecare workers in their homes to explain what a union doesabout benefits, job security and meeting with management. One voice, thats just one person, he said. One thousandthats a better voice. The union gives us a voice.
(Natural News) Natural News founder/editor Mike Adams said in a recent podcast that two government agencies that shouldnt be  the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration  are now arming up with military-style equipment such as body armor, spending tens of millions of dollars on such gear over the last few years.

OpenTheBooks.com has been tracking this government spending on military-style equipment, revealing a frightening pattern of regulatory agencies  which should be pushing paper  now building their own PRIVATE ARMIES to be used as weapons of intimidation and coercion against the People, Adams says in a recent podcast.

The regulatory police state has arrived! When an environmental protection agency is building its own private army with military weapons, body armor, and assault gear, you know something has gone horribly wrong with the federal government, he noted.

Just imagine, he points out, that now farmers can be subjected to military-style EPA raids and intimidation tactics, almost as if the government itself is engaging in state-sponsored terror against American citizens.

Whats even odder is that the FDA, too, has begun building its own military-style government militia of armed assault teams.

Is this part of the FDAs continued mission to destroy natural products that compete with the profits of Big Pharma? Adams asked, noting that most of the militarization of these and other federal agencies took place under the Obama administration.

The Health Ranger said that hes been documenting for years the United States slow but steady progression towards a North Korea-style police state in which the central government has supreme control over all Americans, and where even state governments would be completely powerless against Washingtons power.

While the trend has certainly slowed since President Donald J. Trump was inaugurated in January, he still has a long way to go before he drains the swamp and cleans out Obama-era (and previous) federal appointees and holdovers who believe in an all-powerful federal government that dictates mandates to the people.

How is it protecting the environment when youre all geared up as a military assault team? Adams said, in reference to the EPAs SWAT-style units.

And of course, the taxpayer doesnt get off the hook either, Adams said, quoting published sources claiming that these federal agencies were spending tens of millions of dollars to purchase SWAT-style gear and weapons.

Forty-four federal agencies have spent over $71 million on items like body armor, riot helmets and shields, cannon launchers and police firearms and ammunition, Adams said during his podcast, quoting one of those reports, which used the watchdog organization Open the Books as a source.

That amount is in addition to nearly $400 million spent on similar gear and weapons by legitimate federal spy and law enforcement agencies like the FBI, CIA, Secret Service and the Diplomatic Security Service, the latter of which falls under the State Department.

There are 440 federal agencies in all, by the way, proving that once an agency is created, it never goes away.

Later in his podcast, Adams noted again that America is already a police state, and that citizens are living under a totalitarian regime right now.

He also said he believes were living in a food fascism police state as well since the FDA also has armed units and can impose the agencys will  literally at the point of a gun  anytime it wants, with no recourse for the citizens.

They want to be able to raid your herbal manufacturing facility, and they want to make sure that you are shootable and defenseless when they come, Adams said of the FDA, mockingly.

Theres much more to his podcast and you can hear it in its entirety below or by clicking here.
(Natural News) Given the sexual harassment allegations engulfing Judge Roy Moore, the GOP candidate for U.S. Senate in Alabama, it is interesting to recall the reaction of most liberals to Bill Clintons misconduct in and out of the White House. For many Democrats, the tawdry behavior was irrelevant and just about sex.

While the 42nd presidents escapades were minimized, Juanita Broaddrick is on record accusing Clinton of raping her in a Little Rock hotel room when he was a candidate for governor of Arkansas, a story that the mainstream media buried. As president, Clinton pandered to the far-left feminist constituency and positioned himself, as his wife did, as a champion of womens rights, which may be why he received a pass.

During the 1992 presidential campaign, most media outlets ignored allegations by Gennifer Flowers that she had a 12-year relationship with candidate Clinton. After a protracted legal struggle, Clinton entered into an out-of-court settlement with Paula Jones in her sexual harassment lawsuit, and his law license was suspended for five years. Kathleen Willey accused Clinton of groping her in the Oval Office. Democrats and their media allies mostly ridiculed Jones and ignored Willey. Dolly Kyle recently published a book about her long affair with Clinton. Over the years, the names of other women involved with Slick Willie have also surfaced.

Of course, many liberals and Democrats stood by Mr. Clinton despite the allegations because they agreed with his policy stances and did not want to reward those on the other side, the New York Times observed.

The Daily Wire recalls that Clinton enjoyed the support of his coalition even after impeachment proceedings were launched attendant to his false statements made under oath about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Despite this, Democrats applauded Clinton after his impeachment and portrayed him as the victim of politics of personal destruction.

What is even more disturbing about the hypocrisy of the media and the Democrats is that they claim to support women and encourage victims to come forward, even as Bills accusers say Hillary tried to silence them.

Some 20-plus years later, Democrats may or may not be changing their tune, particularly against the backdrop of ultra-liberal U.S. Senator Al Franken being accused of groping a woman, plus the disturbing track record of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and other Hollywood liberals whose misbehavior has now come to light. (Related: Read more about Clinton wrongdoing and the hypocrisy of Democrats and the fakestream news media at Clinton.news.)

I was 35 years old when Bill Clinton, Ark. Attorney General raped me and Hillary tried to silence me. I am now 73.it never goes away.  Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) January 6, 2016

Given recent events, liberal writers at the Times, Vox, The Atlantic, and elsewhere have recently changed their tune about Bill Clinton, the Washington Free Beacon reported, although its a reasonable to wonder if they would have come forward had Hillary Clinton been elected president in 2016.

Bill Clinton should have resigned, Vox reporter Matt Yglesias wrotearguing that Clintons affair in the 1990s with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky should have resulted in his resignation because it was an abuse of power.

Looking back, The Atlantic writer Caitlin Flanagan wrote this about the Clinton scandals.

The Democratic Party needs to make its own reckoning of the way it protected Bill Clinton The party was on the wrong side of history, and there are consequences for that.

Clinton himself has not weighed in, according to the New York Times.

Mr. Clinton has kept publicly quiet amid the flurry of sexual misconduct stories lately, and his office had no comment on Wednesday. But other Democrats were not as willing to come to his defense this week. Of a dozen prominent political activists contacted on Wednesday, none went on the record on Mr. Clintons behalf.

Many Democrats, and those in the mainstream media, had no hesitation, however, in publicly denouncing President Trump when the Access Hollywood locker-room talk tape surfaced about a month before the election.

Sources include:

DailyWire.com

NYTimes.com

WashingtonFreeBeacon.com

Vox.com

TheAtlantic.com

Inquisitr.com
(Natural News) Long careers in the military have always been difficult due to the very physical nature of the vocation, but service has been particularly tough in recent years due to overseas contingency operations.

Lengthy wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with operations in Africa, Europe, and Asia, have taken their toll on the men and women who sacrifice much to serve in the armed forces. For many of these vets, theyve been left with injuries and wounds that will plague them for the rest of their lives.

One of the militarys primary ways of treating veterans chronic pain is through opioids, but recent statistics prove this is a terrible treatment protocol for many reasons, not the least of which because opioid use (and abuse) by vets is killing many of them.

In a column for the New York Observer, Ken Blaker writes that bandaging military members pain with opioids is a deadly prospect and ought to be stopped immediately.

In his 1961 novel Joseph Heller coined the term Catch-22 by describing a military rule that placed airmen in a double bind  unable to solve a problem because of the circumstances inherent in a problem. For Veterans in 2017, opioid abuse is the most devastating Catch-22, he wrote.

He noted that current data shows that veterans, who are subject to high levels of trauma and mental health issues, are dying of opioid overdose at twice the rate of the general population  a stunning statistic given that the general population is dying at a high rate due to opioid overdose.

The VAs Office of Inspector General published a report over the summer that makes, among others, a recommendation for stricter guidelines for prescribing opioids, as well as better use of electronic medical records to provide for greater tracking.

However, notes Blaker, these are just minor steps that will only minimally reduce the abuse epidemic because they are not (so far) tied to drug-free treatments that enhance the health and lives of veterans, he wrote.

Opioids have become the magic bullet for treating pain, added. In 2001 the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations introduced standards for helping pain patients that encouraged increased use of opioids.

The report downplayed the risk of addiction, and virtually suggested that access to opioids is a patients right. But of course specific drugs are not a right. Rather, patients are entitled to the best treatments that do the least harm, he said.

As Natural News reported in September, a comprehensive study validated the impact opioid abuse has had on our country, with results suggesting that from 2009 to 2015, overdose-related ICU admissions increased by 34 percent and the cost per ICU treatment rose by 58 percent.

Further, the study found, the number of opioid deaths during the same period within ICUs almost doubled. (Related: New report claims opioids killed more Americans last year than the entire Vietnam War worst is yet to come.)

The studys lead author, Dr. Jennifer P. Stevens, wrote that the study tells [the public] that the opioid epidemic has made people sicker and killed more people, in spite of all the care we can provide in the ICU, including mechanical ventilation, acute dialysis, life support and round-the-clock care.

Now, as Blaker notes, the epidemic is hitting the veteran community even harder, percentage-wise, and even cited one heart-breaking case as an example.

One of my chiropractic students worked for months with a collaborative team to wean a wounded soldier off of his high doses of opiates, Dr. William Morgan, a veteran himself who once served as the chiropractor to the United States Capitol treating members of the U.S. Congress and the Supreme Court, told Blaker.

Once off the drugs, he was relatively pain-free for several months. One night he had a relapse and was in intense pain and went to the emergency room, Morgan continued. The ER doctor reviewed the patients chart and re-prescribed the patients previous dose of opiates. The patient was dead the next morning.

Blaker concluded that the country owes veterans something much better than this  and hes right.

Find more news coverage of the opioid epidemic at Opioids.news.

Sources include:

Observer.com

NaturalNews.com
San Franciscos Ferry Plaza will open its doors to foodies on Saturday for ChefsGiving, a Bay Area fundraiser that will donate all proceeds to North Bay Fire relief efforts.

More than a 100 restaurants have participated all week with a goal of raising $1 million.

Foodies will have the opportunity to samples some of the Bay Areas best cuisine and wine. Some wines will also be up for auction as well.

The event will continue until November 19 and tickets can still be purchased.
Scott Hubbards career at NASA revolved around space exploration and reaching for the stars.

Ive been involved in looking for life elsewhere in the universe for almost 45 years, he said.

In the stars above, he sees a constellation of curiosity. But in the stars he sees with online reviews, he found a black hole of deception.

My first reaction was to be angry, he explained. Because this is, sort of, a form of identity theft.

Heres why: A 15-year-old NASA photo of Hubbard appears under the name Elbert Hubbard in many online reviews. There are five-star ratings for several artificial turf grass sellers in Florida. A glowing testimonial from Elbert Hubbard gives five stars to a used car dealer in Plainville, Connecticut.

Theres one hang-up.

I have never bought a single car in Plainville Connecticut, Hubbard said.

Same for the turf grass.

I have never bought any artificial turf, Hubbard said.

Scott says the reviews are bogus.

So, who posted them? We asked the companies. They said they have no idea.

You should have your guard up, said Internet Consultant Jason Brown.

Brown tracks fake online reviews. He says there are millions of them that mix real people and real photos with fake names and fake feedback. Brown lists them on his website, reviewfraud.org.

There are just countless businesses all across the United States that are falsifying reviews, he said.

Brown is right. Yelp estimates 25% of reviews on its site are bogus or biased.

Honest or not, theres money to be made with rave reviews. Harvard found when a restaurants online rating increases just one star, revenue jumps 5 to 9 percent. Brown believes some businesses lie to get that boost. They might pay a shady marketing or reputation company to post five-star fiction.

A few companies are doing it here in the United States, but the majority of it is coming from overseas, he explained.

So, whos policing online reviews? The government is, to an extent.

In March, some California car dealers paid $3.6 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission case that included accusations they posted fake reviews on Facebook.

Facebook says it is Continuously updating [ITS] systems that help detect fake accounts. Google says it uses automated systems BUT IT TENDS not to share details behind [ITS] processes.

The phony Google account with Scotts photo is still active. The Connecticut car dealer review was pulled down. But, a new review just went up, awarding five stars to a painting company in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

That company refused to answer our questions.

Brown is calling on Google must do more to protect consumers.

Its easy for Google, he said. They can easily see these patterns. And identify if all the reviews are coming from the same location.

As for Professor Hubbard, who teaches space flight at Stanford, he has learned his lesson about online reviews. He says all of us can.

Its not rocket science.

I think this experience will make us dig just a little bit deeper, he said.

Heres how Brown suggests spotting red flags in online reviews. First, open the users profile and scrutinize it. If all their reviews are vague -- yet 100% positive -- take those posts with a grain of salt.

I see lots of reviews from brand new users, and only one local review, question if they really know your neighborhood.

Finally, Brown says disregard that user whose profile shows they only review one kind of company, but in different cities. Brown says that person is probably paid to improve an industrys image by posting fake reviews.
The remains of a World War II Marine who was killed in the South Pacific arrived at San Jose International Airport Friday to be returned to his family in Gilroy.

The Masoni family has waited since 1943 for Frank Masoni to return home.

Masoni was a Marine cook in the South Pacific but was sent into action and killed in the battle of Tarawa.

His family thought his body was never recovered until the military conducted a DNA test matching it to an unknown Marine buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. Turns out, it was Masoni.

"A moment that my dad never believed would ever happen in his lifetime," said Frank Masoni's niece, Lanna Sandoval.

On Friday, with full military honors, Masoni's casket was guided by the Patriot Motorcycle Club as firefighters manned every overpass from San Jose to Gilroy, saluting the fallen Marine.

"It's nice to know our missing veterans are still being looked for and found and returned to their families," said Mike Cabael from the Patriots Motorcycle Club.
Police fired a shot at a vehicle that hit an officer in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood, but the driver remains on the run, according to the city's top cop.

Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said Friday evening that a white Audi had hit an officer responding to a report of shots fired around 3 p.m.

Police had encountered a crash scene on School Street, and the driver of a minivan involved told police the driver of a white Audi had fired shots and fled.

"The police were everywhere," said Jamie Kitchens. "There were shell casings on the ground, the cars were crashed. They were trying to keep us as far back as they could, but it took them a while to get the perimiter closed off."

Officers caught up with the Audi a couple blocks away near Washington Street. It started to take off, according to Evans. Police drew their weapons, and the Audi allegedly backed up and hit one of the officers.

Evans said one round was fired at the Audi, which was recovered near the intersection of Miles Street and Bragdon Street in nearby Roxbury. But the suspect was nowhere to be found.

"They were looking for the driver, and they were interviewing everybody," said Elianny Rodriguez, who lives in the area. "They were knocking on doors, asking for the person."

Initially police said the incident happened on Centre Street; however, they revised that information shortly after to shots fired from a vehicle on School Street.

Washington Street from School Street to Columbus Avenue was closed due to the ongoing investigation. Motorists were being encouraged to seek alternate routes.

Boston Public Schools said the nearby Hernandez School for students from kindergarten through grade eight was placed in safe mode as a result of the investigation.

"It's pretty nerve-wracking," said parent Leigh Belanger. "But at the same time, you sort of have to trust the school has it in hand, and they did."

No one was injured in either shooting, but the officer who was hit by the Audi sustained minor injuries.
Gov. Dannel Malloy is holding back funds to state agencies and municipalities to cover an estimated $881.6 million gap built into the newly passed, two-year $41.3 billion budget.

The Democrat's fiscal office announced Friday that the bulk of the $881.6 million  $700 million  will come from expected savings from the state employee labor concession agreement.

Malloy's plan reduces state operational costs by $25 million, program costs by $55 million, and state aid to cities and towns by $91 million.

The cuts to states and towns range from thousands of dollars to millions of dollars.

As an example, Bridgewater will have more than $2,000 withheld. Enfield will have $2.3 million withheld. West Hartford will get $2.2 million less.

Democratic House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz said the governor's decision to "put a quick target on our towns and public schools is misguided." He added that "A significant part of the current estimated shortfall is based on lower federal funding, which [the governor's] own budget office failed to project. Funding our schools is a clear legislative priority in the bipartisan budget just passed, so going after that particular funding raises serious questions and will no doubt bring strong pushback from all corners of the state."

Senate Democratic leader Martin Looney released a statement saying that "while lapses were inevitable, it is a source of grave concern that the administration chose to carry out the cuts in this manner."

Senate Republican leader Len Fasano said in response to the holdbacks that "the governor is blatantly ignoring the will of the legislature and doing what he wanted to do all along. He is going out of his way to dismiss certain savings and instead dramatically reduce funding to municipalities, turning a blind eye to the careful efforts of lawmakers to protect towns and cities as much as possible."

Malloy's budget secretary Ben Barnes says "adjustments" are needed now to achieve savings and these cuts let municipalities and agencies know how much funding to expect for the rest of the fiscal year.

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities spokesperson Kevin Maloney said that the sudden changes to funding for cities and towns actually creates uncertainty.

"I don't think towns are going to express any other view other than being startled, upset, wondering what they can believe going forward," said Maloney. "Do we have the expectation this is going to happen again? Are towns going to be confronted in December, January with another situation?"

CCM says the cuts are going to have a significant impact.

"When there are cutbacks, it affects the quality of education. It affects the quality of police and fire services. It affects the quality of public works services. It affects building maintenance, repairing roads," said Maloney.

But more changes may need to be made to the state budget. Barnes said that, "Monday's consensus revenue forecast suggested that the Governor may need to exercise his statutory rescission authority or the General Assembly may need to take further actions to balance the budget in the months ahead."
A drifter who killed seven people in Connecticut in 2003 has been sentenced to six consecutive life sentences.

A state judge in New Britain handed down a 360-year prison sentence for William Devin Howell, who pleaded guilty to six murder charges in September. He's also serving a 15-year prison sentence for manslaughter in the seventh victim's death.

The Hampton, Virginia, native is believed to be the most prolific serial killer in Connecticut history -- not counting mass shootings. The bodies of six women and a man were found buried behind a strip mall in New Britain between 2007 and 2015.

Howell was serving a 15-year prison sentence for manslaughter of 33-year-old Nilsa Arizmendi of Wethersfield when he pleaded guilty to killing Joyvaline Martinez, 24, of East Hartford; Diane Cusack, 53, of New Britain; Mary Jane Menard, 40, of New Britain; Melanie Ruth Camilini, 29, of Seymour; Marilyn Gonzalez, 26, of Waterbury; and Danny Lee Whistnant, 44, of New Britain.

Family members wrote letters that were read aloud in court about their loved ones and the impact Howell had by taking their lives.

"I will never find peace or forgiveness in my heart for a demon like him. I hope he suffers slowly and rots in hell for the rest of his life," wrote Sandra Martinez, the sister of Joyvaline Martinez.

"You used your size and your force to rip away lives that did not belong to you," said April Rich, sister of Danny Lee Whistnant.

Howell spoke for a few minutes apologizing repeatedly for the pain hes caused, stating if he could take it all back he would, announcing his acts were monstrous and that he believes in the death penalty and feels that should be the sentence.

This sentence means He will die in prison. He is not eligible for parole or any risk reduction earned credits.

Police said Howell called his van the "murder mobile" and told a prison cellmate there was a monster inside him. Authorities said three victims were sexually assaulted.

He was working odd jobs and cuts grass at homes and businesses in Wethersfield, Hartford, New Britain and West Hartford at the time of the killings.
Former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge was in the early stages of recovery from a heart attack, his wife said Friday, a day after he underwent an emergency heart procedure.

The 72-year-old Ridge, a former two-term Republican Pennsylvania governor, remained hospitalized in critically stable condition in Austin, Texas, where he was attending a Republican Governors Association conference.

In a statement, Michele Ridge said it's going to be "day-to-day" for her husband.

"We all know what a fighter he is," she said. "We'd ask those of you who have been sending prayers to keep them coming."

Tom Ridge was at his hotel when he called for help Thursday morning. His wife said first responders worked "heroically" to get her husband to the trauma center at Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas.

Ridge underwent a cardiac catheterization and was resting comfortably and responding to doctors, she said.

Ridge, a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War, also was a county prosecutor and a six-term congressman from Erie, Pennsylvania, before being elected the state's governor in 1994.

Ridge was the nation's first homeland security secretary, serving under Republican President George W. Bush until February 2005. He left the governorship after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to join the Bush administration.

Since leaving government, Ridge has headed Ridge Global, a firm that advises on cyber security, international security and risk management.

Ridge and his wife live in Bethesda, Maryland.
After NBC 5 shared a story of a North Texas driver whose car's engine had no oil after a Walmart oil change, other viewers came forward with similar stories.

Jose Betances got his oil changed at the Walmart on Farm-to-Market Road 423.

Hours later his car had a major malfunction.

"Every signal that you can think of was on at the same time. Next step, I have no acceleration, and I can't accelerate on the car," Betances told NBC 5 Responds in September.

His car's engine was out of oil.

Dozens of NBC 5 viewers  well over 100  have reached out to us and our Consumer Investigative Center to share similar experiences.

"My mother went to Walmart this summer for an oil change on her vehicle. About an hour after she left she heard loud noises on her engine, and the vehicle would just stop in the middle of the street," Allen Maurice said.

Maurice's mother had her car towed to an auto repair shop and was told her car's oil cap was not screwed back.

They filed a claim with Walmart for the cost of a new engine, and their claim was denied.

The Welches also came forward. NBC 5 profiled them two years ago when their car broke down after an oil change at Walmart.

Two separate mechanics said the engine had too much oil  six quarts instead of the manufacturer's recommended five.

Walmart's own receipt shows they were charged for six quarts, which was too much for their car, but Walmart still denied the claim. The Welches said they haven't been back to Walmart since.

Neither has Mario Sanchez.

He got an oil change and drove to San Antonio, where his truck broke down. He took it to a Walmart in that city.

"He said it was the wrong oil, the wrong filter and the wrong amount of oil," Sanchez said.

Meaning, one Walmart discovered that another Walmart put in the wrong oil and it hurt his engine.

When asked if Walmart paid for the damage Mario said, "No, they didn't pay for it. They denied my claim."

NBC 5 Responds told Walmart about all the complaints we received after airing Betances's story.

A spokesperson told us, "We have a long withstanding policy if a customer has a legitimate claim we will examine it."

The "we" is CMI, a company which investigates all complaints and possible lawsuits against Walmart. All three men were initially under the impression that CMI was a third-party company.

"They don't mention that it is their own company. They don't mention that at all," Sanchez said.

CMI is, in fact, a branch of Walmart's parent company.

We did find people who said CMI paid them after their engines were damaged at Walmart, but the vast majority said their claims were denied.

That includes Ray Magruger, who says Walmart told him they had video proving they didn't break his car. However, he says they won't show it to him because it's confidential.

"It's just the sad fact that, you know, we know it took place there. If you have video footage that shows otherwise, show me," Magruger said.

The Texas Attorney General's Office says it has nearly 150 complaints against Walmart's auto service division.

They're now also looking into the complaints we brought to their attention and encourage anyone who had issues to report it to the Attorney General's Consumer Protection division for help.

Walmart also told us it stands by its previous statement  that they feel all procedures related to Jose Betances's oil change were properly followed.
A new Dallas police inquiry centers on possible improprieties in sergeant promotion exams, the latest potential shake-up since new Police Chief Renee Hall arrived in September.

Several reliable sources said Friday the new probe involves a police major's connection with an outside business.

Maj. Latoya Porter is currently assigned to the North Central Patrol Substation, according to a police website. She was a homicide lieutenant before that.

The sources said her business, called Rank and File Development, helps prepare candidates for promotion. They said the internal affairs inquiry is whether Porter may have provided confidential inside information to candidates to help them pass exams.

Porter did not reply to an e-mail request for comment Friday, and the office of Chief Hall declined to confirm anything about Porter.

"We expect that there would be no cheating, and everybody is graded objectively and fairly," said criminology expert Alex Piquero.

Piquero gives exams as an instructor at the University of Texas at Dallas. He has been grading Dallas police under the new police chief.

"Sometimes things need to get shaken up, as long as they get shaken up for the right kinds of reasons and we get the right outcomes as a community," Piquero said.

On Oct. 9, Hall announced the entire command staff must reapply for half as many slots. Commanders are still waiting to learn who will be demoted.

On Nov. 9, Hall announced the Dallas Police Vice Squad had been disbanded for what she called "significant irregularities." Sources said prostitution and human trafficking enforcement has ground to a halt.

"Sometimes the lack of information from the public's perspective is a bit concerning, but we want her to take her time and do the right job investigating what is going on there," Piquero said.

Dallas Police Association President Mike Mata said Friday that he has been assured the vice situation is only a pause to draft new procedures and not some scandal.

In an e-mail Friday, Hall's Chief of Staff, Thomas Taylor, said vice is still being enforced from substations and a new command staff will be named Dec. 1. He said Chief Hall's schedule Friday did not include time for an interview.

State officials confirmed this week that Hall has not yet taken her exam to officially become a Texas peace officer. She has 180 days to do it after starting her job in Dallas.
All this week, NBC5 has been bringing you stories about the damaging effects of domestic violence.

In Tarrant County, it's estimated one in three women will become a victim. The national average is one in four. Last year, the county had 16 domestic violence murders, 14 already this year.

The problem is so large that police and prosecutors teamed up to create a special unit. NBC 5 went with them to the doorstep of abuse.

Its a rainy afternoon and Bedford Police are making a house call.

"To try to make contact with both the victim and the suspect involved in this case," said Bedford Police Officer Hall.

It's an unannounced visit to the home of a known domestic violence offender. On this day, they're hand-delivering a letter to put the abuser on notice.

"It tells them to stop their actions now, their violent actions now," said Bedford Police Sergeant Tyler Stillman. "If they do not, we will submit their case for swift prosecution and put them in prison."

Swift prosecution is the next step in a combined effort to shine a light on violence in the home.

"These are not crimes just against the victim, said Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson. They are crimes against the state of Texas."

And in Tarrant County, they are far too common. Wilson noticed a pattern when she took office in 2015 and started reviewing all capital murder cases.

"Over half of our capital instances last year were family violence-related and you know, that is not acceptable," Wilson said.

So the DA's office started a new unit that only handles cases of "intimate partner violence."

"And we see that if we don't take these seriously, this person, remember they're prone to violence, could be a threat against our greater community at another time," Wilson said.

Now prosecutors are working with police before the case reaches the courthouse. NBC 5 watched as they met with officers from the Hurst, Euless and Bedford police departments to streamline how these cases are handled, from the first contact.

"Everybody's job as a police officer is make them safe that night, get them off the street, diffuse the situation. But what we're thinking about at the DA's Office is the end game," said Art Clayton, Chief Prosecutor for the Intimate Partner Violence unit.

Prosecutors are urging police to collect good hard evidence the night of the crime because in family violence, the victim doesn't always want to testify, though the case will move forward.

"We've gotta keep in mind, their situation is complicated, Clayton said. We gotta let them know we're here to help and keep them safe."

Which takes us back to the streets with Bedford police.

"We're gonna do a follow-up with this victim. Just to see if she's safe and see if there's any resources or anything that she needs at this point," said Courtney Janes, victim services coordinator for the Bedford, Hurst and Euless police departments.

She's a trained counselor, there to reassure victims and help navigate volatile relationships.

"With these types of offenses, emotions are very, very high," Janes said.

Take the case of Julie Renfro. When officers step in her door today, it's like a family reunion. But back in 2014, the same officers arrived moments after Renfro's ex-husband had severely beaten her. Crime scene photos captured the first signs of injury.

"My hair was a mess, I had blood on my face and I'm trying to downplay this whole situation," Renfro said.

Police didn't give up and Renfro's ex was locked up. Now he'll be getting out soon and her support team is still there for her.

"We can help figure out what we can do to keep you safe," Janes said.

"They never gave up on me and like I said, I didn't have anybody to reach out to," said Renfro.

It's a mission to see the process through, keep a family safe and deliver justice for the crimes behind closed doors.

Were here to try to keep them safe and to make the violence stop and honestly that may mean that that person needs to be locked up for a long time, said Wilson.

Prosecutors say these cases are also the most dangerous for police. This year, across the country, 32 out of 38 cases where police were killed on the job were connected to a domestic violence call.
Former president Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared together onstage Friday for the first time since the 2016 presidential election to answer a host of political and personal questions.

The former First Couple was very casual during the hourlong discussion at the Toyota Music Factory in Irving.

They cracked a few jokes and were very candid on a number of topics  chief among them President Donald Trump, the 2016 election and the way forward for the Democratic Party.

When asked what they would tell Trump if he were seated next to them, Bill Clinton said Trump should, "stop seeking enemies and look for people to work with."

"We're the same age," he added. "What do you want your legacy to be?"

Hillary Clinton said Trump, as president, should do more to unite the country. She also discussed some of her own missteps during the campaign.

"It was the first reality TV campaign. He was the first reality TV candidate and I was the candidate of reality. I was not as entertaining and I admit that," she said.

The former Democratic presidential candidate also urged Trump to fix the Republican tax overhaul and push Congress to reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program, which she helped establish.

"It's a budget-busting, debt-increasing giveaway. It's not going to deal with our infrastructure problem, not going to provide better education, and it's not going to solve our health care problems," she said. "It's not too late for you [Trump] to demonstrate that you really understand the job, how awesome the responsibility is. You're looking for ways to bring people together and not divide us, so don't let the Republican Congress hurt people."

The pair spent several minutes discussing what happened during the 2016 election. Much of the conversation focused on Russian meddling.

"Vladimir Putin is an internal threat to our democracy and a national security threat. They were sewing discord in America. We were slow to defend ourselves," Hillary Clinton said.

The night ended with the couple being asked what they wanted their legacy to be.

Bill Clinton demurred, saying it all depends on how you keep score.

Despite calls for her to leave politics for good, Hillary Clinton said she's not worried about her legacy, because she is not done fighting for the causes she believes in.

"Anything I can do to bring people together, solve problems, help tackle the challenges we face is what I'm committed to right now," she said. "It's too soon to start thinking about legacy, because I'm not going anywhere."
A child abducted by her mother from Rochester, New York, earlier this week was found in San Diego Friday night. Her mother does not have custody and had taken the girl without permission, investigators said.

The girl's mother, Rene Stong, 32, was arrested at a Motel 6 in San Diego's Little Italy community after a motel employee recognized her from a flier. Her daughter, Laylani Ortiz, 5, was found safe and in good health.

According to the Rochester Police Department (RPD), Stong picked up her daughter from school on Wednesday at around 4 p.m. NBC affiliate WHEC News 10 reported that Stong took the girl off the school bus, which she was not authorized to do, the girl's family told the news station.

When the girl didnt come home from school, her family called the police. The RPD identified Stong as a possible suspect in the girls disappearance and thought she might return to her home in Rochester with the child.

That did not happen.

The girls family told WHEC News 10 that Stong took an Uber to Laylanis school. After taking her off the bus Stong and the child took the Uber to the Greater Rochester International Airport (GRIA).

There, Stong bought plane tickets and left the state with Laylani, flying to Detroit and then San Diego Thursday morning. The RPD said an Amber Alert was not immediately issued, as investigators did not believe Laylani was at risk of injury or death.

RPD investigators believed the mother and child were in Southern California. Officials were working with law enforcement agencies in the region to find them, including the FBI, Rochester officials told NBC 7.

The family told WHEC News 10 that United States Customs and Border Protection was also aware of the abduction, in case Stong tried to cross the border from San Diego into Mexico. The family said the girls father was not involved, as he is currently serving time in a Florida jail.

NBC 7 reached out to local law enforcement agencies on Friday. The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) and San Diego County Sheriff's Department said they were not involved in the investigation. FBI San Diego officials confirmed the agency was assisting the RPD with the case.

SDPD officers responded to the motel in Little Italy Friday night and took Stong into custody. Stong was booked into the Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility just before midnight Friday, where she'll await possible extradition back to New York.

Meanwhile, the RPD said the child is being cared for by San Diegos Social Services.
The Trump Administration appointed a new U.S. Attorney for San Diego Thursday, but Adam Braverman was given the job without being formally nominated or confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Braverman is a veteran prosecutor in the San Diego office. His appointment makes him the top-ranking federal law enforcement official in the Southern District of California, which includes both San Diego and Imperial Counties.

Braverman was most recently deputy chief of the districts Criminal Enterprises Section, which prosecutes international and domestic drug trafficking, according to a Justice Department news release.

Braverman replaces acting U.S. Attorney Alana Robinson, who was appointed to the job in January on a temporary basis, for up to 300 days. Robinsons fill-in appointment expired Thursday.

Braverman was given an interim appointment and took his oath of office Thursday, the Justice Department said.

A DOJ official told NBC 7 that federal law gives the Attorney General authority to appoint Braverman for 120 days, after which the District Court can renew that interim appointment indefinitely. The DOJ official said no Senate confirmation is necessary for Braverman to hold the office during that time.

Braverman is the Trump Administrations choice for the job, and will be a candidate for formal nomination and confirmation by the Senate, the DOJ official said.

According to the official, Senator Dianne Feinstein formed a committee to interview candidates for the U.S. Attorneys job and conducted those interviews this summer. Braverman was among those interviewed.

But the DOJ official said Californias other Senator, Kamala Harris, has not interviewed any of the candidates.

The official said Harriss failure to move forward with the nominating process prevented the Trump Administration from formally nominating Braverman.

So the Justice Department used the little-known federal law to give Braverman the job Thursday, pending his official nomination and confirmation by the Senate.
Far too often, families are the ones most affected by a gunman's action.



"When I see her, all I see is my baby," Razonya Collier said. "I see nothing but happy times. I see my baby, I see my baby growing up, I see her playing, I see her smiling."



Collier's "baby" was 20 years old on Nov. 18, 2015, when she was walking with an older man near 97th and Avalon in South Los Angeles. The neighborhood sits between two of LA's largest rival gangs. But Ciara Grigsby was no gang member.



LAPD South Bureau Homicide Detective Robert Bourbois said the scene where, two years earlier, NewsChopper4 hovered above as investigators below began the grim task of piecing this all together. A surveillance video they have from the incident may be the strongest piece of evidence yet.



Detectives hope someone might recognize the man and woman from the video who approached Ciara and her companion on foot.



"Female suspect says to Ciara, where you from," Bourbois said.



It's a common gang challenge, that often ends with gunfire. And this night was no exception.



"I cry every day, on my way home, on my way to work. And it took me a long time to come into this house because this is where we lived," Collier said.



If the suspects thought they'd get away with just affecting one life, they were wrong.



"For her not to be here, like, it puts me on a whole other level. I don't think my life will ever, ever be the same because when I lost her, I lost a piece of my heart too, it changed me as an individual. I don't look at things the way I used to, the things that used to matter to me honestly don't even matter. I would give anything in the world to hug my daughter, to have a conversation with her. I would do anything anybody asks me to, just to have my baby," Collier said.



There is a $50,000 reward for information in this case. And police aren't naive to the fact that many in the neighborhood might worry about retaliation.



"We understand that and we know how to deal with that," Bourbois said. But tonight's plea is much bigger than just closing this one case.



"Yes, this may be gang violence here but if we don't take a step forward then we'll just continue the cycle in neighborhoods like this," Bourbois said.
What to Know Police say mother's arrest is due to leaving the child home alone, not necessarily related to death investigation.

Child's body found two weeks after she was reported missing; father later said she choked on milk and he moved her body.

Couple's biological child remains in foster care; hearing set for Nov. 29 to determine custody.

The mother of a North Texas toddler whose body was recovered last month from a drainage culvert weeks after she was reported missing was arrested Thursday on a charge of child endangerment.

Police said she and her husband left their 3-year-old adopted child, Sherin Mathews, home alone while they went to dinner just hours before they claimed she had disappeared.

Sini Ann Mathews, who has maintained her innocence in the death of Sherin, surrendered to Richardson police Thursday and is being held on $250,000 bond on the state jail felony charge.

She was arraigned Friday morning and did not respond to reporters questions when she was transferred to the Dallas County Jail Friday afternoon.



Sini Mathews, the mother of a Texas toddler whose body was recovered last month from a drainage culvert weeks after she was reported missing, was arraigned Friday morning.

In a statement Thursday, Richardson police said detectives learned Sini Mathews, 35, and Wesley Mathews took their 3-year-old biological daughter to dinner and left Sherin alone at home, placing her in "imminent danger of death, bodily injury, or physical or mental impairment."

"The time that they left, she was not under the care of any other adult or of any other person, she was left home alone by herself and it's for that reason that you see this particular charge," said Kevin Perlich, with the Richardson Police Department. "It's not necessarily related to her death, it's related to her care that she was being given while she was in that home."

The mother of a child whose body was recovered last month from a drainage culvert weeks after she was reported missing was arrested Thursday on a charge of child endangerment/abandonment.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, detectives used cell phone records to show Wesley and Sini went to a North Garland restaurant on the evening of Oct. 6. The theory is supported by a receipt obtained by police that showed the couple purchased only one child's meal in addition to their individual meals as well as the testimony of a waiter who said only one child was present at the table.

During an interview with detectives, Wesley Mathews, 37, admitted to leaving Sherin home alone after growing frustrated she wouldn't drink her milk and said they returned home about 90 minutes later and found her where they left her, in the kitchen.

Both Sini and Wesley told police the child was alive when they returned home from dinner, though police have not confirmed that information.

Sini Mathews surrendered to Richardson police Thursday and was arrested on a charge of child endangerment/abandonment after police say she and her husband left their adopted daughter home alone while they went to dinner. Police say the charge is not related to the daughter's death investigation.

Hours later, on the morning of Oct. 7, Wesley Mathews called police and reported Sherin missing. In a story he would later change, Wesley originally told police Sherin disappeared overnight after he ordered her to stand outside at about 3 a.m. for not drinking her milk. When he returned, Wesley said she had disappeared and that her location was unknown.

Weeks later, Wesley Mathews changed his story and said he "physically assisted" her in drinking her milk and that she choked and died at the home. He said he then moved the girl's body and later called police to report her missing.

Sherin Mathews' Death: The Investigation Continues

The Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office is still working to determine what killed Sherin Mathews.

Sini Mathews said she was sleeping when Sherin disappeared and was unaware of what took place overnight between the child and her father.

Meanwhile, Wesley Mathews remains jailed on a charge of felony injury to a child and is being held on a $1 million bond.

Sini Mathews' attorney has maintained throughout the investigation she had nothing to do with her daughter's death and that she was distraught during her daughter's disappearance.

NBC 5 confirmed Friday that at some point in the last month Sini Mathews was terminated from her job at Children's Medical Center in Dallas where she worked as a case manager.



Sini Mathews remains silent as she is guided out of a courtroom Monday by her attorney Mitchell Nolte. The next custody hearing has been set for Nov. 29.

On Thursday, her attorney Mitchell Nolte thanked Richardson police for allowing his client to surrender.

"We learned this morning that the Richardson Police Department had obtained an arrest warrant for Sini Mathews for the offense of Abandoning/Endangering a Child. The police were professional and courteous and allowed us to bring Mrs. Mathews to the Police Department and surrender herself into custody," Nolte said in a statement.

Attorney David Kleckner says Wesley Mathews loves his children and wants custody of their 4-year-old daughter returned to his wife. Kleckner said he's making arrangements for Wesley Mathews to attend the next CPS hearing on Nov. 29.

Earlier this week, Wesley Mathews' attorney, David Kleckner, said his client loves his children and wife and that he's a good family man who wants custody of their surviving daughter to be returned to her mother.

Sini Mathews was in court as recently as Monday asking for custody of the couple's child to be returned to her, but that hearing was rescheduled 1 p.m. Nov. 29. The couple's surviving child has been in foster care since shortly after her sister's disappearance. The child was expected to be placed in the care of family in the Houston area following Monday's hearing.

Sini Mathews Arrest Warrant Affidavit



NBC 5's Diana Zoga and Maria Guerrero contributed to this report. Check back and refresh this page for the latest update. As this story is developing, elements may change.
Deputies in the Florida Keys are searching for two masked men who allegedly stabbed a man to death and cut a womans neck with a knife, according to a press release.

The incident happened in a house behind a CVS Pharmacy after 8 p.m., the release said. Deputies were led to the location by a source in the pharmacys parking lot who heard about a nearby stabbing.

When Deputy Jenna Moeller arrived at the home on Stock Island, she saw a man on a downstairs landing who appeared to be unresponsive. Moeller then heard yells for help coming from the second floor.

After going upstairs, Moeller found a woman bleeding from her neck. The woman said she lived at the home and was robbed by two men wearing masks. One suspect was described as large and heavy set, while the other was described as short and thin.

The man on the downstairs landing was a neighbor, the woman said. He apparently got stabbed multiple times after trying to help the woman.

The man and the woman were transported to the hospital. The woman was treated for the neck injury and released, but the man was pronounced dead. Deputies have not yet released his name.

Two other men were believed to be on the scene at the time of the incident, but sustained minor injuries. They were not transported to the hospital.

Officers are asking anyone with information to contact the Monroe County Sheriffs Office. Anyone who wants to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers of the Florida Keys at 1-800-346-TIPS.
Adriana Veras thought learning microblading would be a good career move.

I thought I could make a lot of money, Veras said.

Veras along with Mercedes Duarte and six others signed up for a 2-day course offered by the Puerto Rico-based Papaya Boutique and Academy. They learned about the course on social media. Papaya has 95,000 followers on Facebook.

The course was being held at a Miami hotel.



Each paid $106 as a deposit and $895 on the day the course started.

They said the first day was filled with lectures but hands-on practice was on day two.



We had to bring in models and we tattooed them, Veras said. We didnt know what we were doing.

Papayas owner and instructor, Vilmarie Ortiz, is seen on video in a class preparing one of the volunteer models for microblading.



Four students who were in the class say they were told by owner and instructor Vilmarie Ortiz that they could get to work immediately.



We were told we didnt need a license to do the procedure, Duarte said.

Ortiz denies she said that.



But the academys manual says microblading does not require a license.

Veras, Duarte and the others learned it does when they called the states Health Department after the course.



They told me the State of Florida considers microblading a form of tattoo and therefore you need a tattoo artist license, Duarte said.

As for the course Ortiz offered at that hotel, the Health Department sent a statement that read: To perform these types of classes where a live subject is used, the company must obtain at least a temporary license and the person performing the procedure must be licensed.



For more than a month, Ortiz said by email that she would show NBC 6 Responds her permits and licenses.

She stopped answering emails after Investigator Myriam Masihy sent her an email from the Florida Department of Health that read at this time, Papaya Boutique and Academy does not hold a license in Florida.

The Health Department said they were going to reach out to Ortiz to make sure she was aware of the requirements for the courses. Since then, Ortiz cancelled a microblading course scheduled in Orlando.

Veras, Duarte and the others asked for a refund, but say they dont expect to get their money back.

Their situation is a good lesson for anyone interested in learning microblading or considering having the procedure done.

Charme International in Southwest Miami-Dade is a State of Florida approved education facility. Students at Charme attend a three-day microblading course that starts with a mandated health requirement.

The first requirement that they need to take before the class is the blood-borne pathogens and communicable diseases to prevent cross contamination between clients, said Charme International President Norma Olivera.

At Charme, students learn everything from selecting the correct pigmentation to the importance of disposing needles in the proper containers.

As we protect our clients, we protect ourselves, Olivera said.

After Charme students complete the course, they take an exam.

Then they can get a license. But then they are required to work at a licensed facility.

They cannot come to any house, Olivera said. The license goes hand in hand with the establishment.
The commission appointed by New York's mayor to evaluate statutes and monuments and ensure there are no "symbols of hate" on public property held its first hearing Friday, featuring a mix of citizens who thought some monuments should be taken down and others who lambasted the committee's work as an exercise in political correctness.

"This is a country built on freedom and democracy, not bureaucrats telling us what is correct and what is not correct," said Gerald Mattacotta, a 72-year-old teacher at Queensboro Community College.

Mayor de Blasio, a Democrat, announced the creation of the commission in August, days after hundreds of white nationalists protesting the planned removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, brawled with counter-protesters, leaving one woman dead.

The mayor initially said the commission would perform a 90-day review of monuments, with an eye toward possibly identifying some that should be removed. In a tweet, de Blasio himself suggested one that should go: a plaque on Broadway for Philippe Petain, a World War I hero later convicted of treason for heading the collaborationist Vichy government in Nazi-occupied France during World War II.

Since then, the mayor has softened his tone, saying committee's main purpose was to develop guidelines on addressing monuments that might be seen as "oppressive and inconsistent with the values of New York City."

About 20 people spoke Friday at Queens Borough Hall during the first of five planned public hearings the committee is conducting before making its recommendations.

A few singled out the statue of Christopher Columbus that stands atop a high column in Columbus Circle, at the southwest corner of Central Park.

Columbus is revered by some as an explorer and reviled by others for having spread European colonialism and slavery to the New World.

"The Columbus statues glorifies a figure who is against all the things the Statue of Liberty represents," said Rick Chavolla, board chairman of the American Indian Community House, a nonprofit serving Native Americans. "Symbols like this cannot remain and need to be taken down."

Glenn Cantave, 24, the founder of Movers and Shakers, a group that advocates for marginalized communities, called Columbus "a terrorist, and that's why his statue should not stand."

Robert Holden, a Queens civic leader who will become a city council member in January after winning election this month, urged a cautious approach.

"This country made mistakes obviously. Our history is full of them," said Holden, a registered Democrat who ran as a Republican after losing a primary. "But we shouldn't judge our art or monuments on today only. The history is very, very important."

Philip Orenstein, the president of the Queens Village Republican Club, questioned whether tearing down statues would start a domino effect of removing names from history books and curriculum.

"To tear down our statues is just plain wrong," he said.

The panel's co-chairman, city Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Tom Finkelpearl, said the group plans to make recommendations to the mayor by the end of the year.
What to Know A five-alarm blaze ripped through an upper Manhattan building on Friday afternoon, causing the roof of the building to cave in.

A tenant who lived on the top floor was missing Saturday, but was later accounted for, police said.

The cause of the fire wasn't yet determined, but firefighters said fierce winds accelerated the blaze.

A tenant who was missing after their upper Manhattan apartment building went up in flames has been accounted for, police said Saturday, meaning no one is believed to have been killed in the massive blaze.

The update came hours after firefighters said the person was missing and feared to be in the charred shell of the six-story building at West 144th Street and Broadway in Hamilton Heights.

The tenant lived on the top floor of the building, where flames raged for hours and most of the roof of the building collapsed in Friday's fire.

Nine people suffered minor injuries in the blaze: a police officer and a civilian suffered smoke inhalation, while seven firefighters had bumps and bruises, FDNY Chief of Department James Leonard said.

Although officials had earlier feared the building would collapse, the structure was now stabilized, he said.

Fierce winds spread the fire quickly, fireballs of debris raining down on the street and a thick wall of black smoke shooting into the skyline shortly after it broke out on the top floor around 3:15 p.m.

"It couldn't have been in a worse position for the wind," Leonard said.



The Red Cross said it was housing and providing support for 20 families, some from the building that burned and others from nearby buildings that were evacuated.

It's not clear what caused the blaze. There was a sidewalk shed outside the building as a precaution while crews made repairs to a damaged facade, but it wasn't clear whether construction had begun or if it played any role in the massive blaze.

Elizabeth Mercado told News 4 that she and her 5-year-old son sprinted out of the building after hearing fellow tenants screaming "fire."

"I couldn't believe it," she said. "It's incredible."

Traffic cameras in the area showed smoke pouring from the building, and social media users reported seeing the plume from dozens of blocks away. By 4 p.m., the smoke had transitioned from black to a light gray as ladder trucks laid gallons of water on the flames.

The same traffic camera showed debris enveloped in flames falling down to to the street below as the facade and roof of the building crumbled under the intensity of the blaze.
What to Know The USPS says there are 2,600 buildings in the Bronx and Manhattan where it can't deliver packages because they don't have access

Customers are frustrated from having to go to the post office to pick up packages, which rapidly pile up in some neighborhoods

The USPS wants building owners to install a postal lock or a key-keeper box outside the building to ensure carriers can get in

Some packages can't be delivered by postal carriers in Manhattan and the Bronx because they don't have keys to thousands of apartment buildings, News 4 New York has learned exclusively.

There are 2,000 buildings in the Bronx and 600 more in Manhattan where the United States Postal Service can't deliver packages because of a limited key-sharing situation: the letter carriers have the key to the building, but when the package carrier arrives, they don't have the key, the USPS says.

In the Williamsbridge section of the Bronx, packages have piled up in 17 mail cages in the post office in just 24 hours Friday, a huge source of frustration for residents forced to go to the office and wait in line. If customers don't pick up their packages within 15 days, the packages are returned to the sender.

"Every time I have to get a package, it's never delivered to me. I have to come here," said Sandy Smith.

"It's frustrating. In this day and age, with Amazon shopping, a lot of people rely on home delivery," said Josh Lottlieb.

The USPS says it sent thousands of letters to building owners where package carriers don't have access to the building. Many have made changes, but thousands did not. The USPS says it may stop attempting to deliver to those buildings altogether.

A spokesman for the postal service says building owners have several options to ensure delivery of packages: one is an electronic key entry, where a postal lock activates the electronic door lock release when a postal key is used. Another is a key-keeper box that can be installed in a wall or door jamb.

"These two methods allow our carries easy access to buildings and will alleviate delivery service issues for many thousands of our customers," said USPS spokesman Xavier C. Hernandez.

The USPS plans to send a letter to politicians Monday alerting them to the problem.
What to Know A Brooklyn woman said a subway rider punched her in the face and banged her head against a wall

She said the man was manspreading and she had asked him to give her room when he attacked

Video posted to her Facebook page shows the alleged attacker being subdued by another subway rider

A Brooklyn woman said video shows the manspreading attacker who punched her in the face in during a profanity-laced tirade on a subway train Thursday morning.

Sam Saia posted the video taken by another rider to her Facebook page later that night. She also posted a photo of her split lip.

I wanted to raise awareness for fellow Brooklyn gals about some lowlife who punched me in the face on the N train this morning, she said in the post. This is the man who hit me on the N train this morning. This is his face. Share it!

Saia said she had gotten on the subway at Bay Parkway stop in Midwood and was riding to work when the man sitting next to her began manspreading, pushing her against the side of the car with his legs.

She wrote in the Facebook post: When I asked him to give me room, he yelled B----, you aint nothing! Ive raped white b------ like you, f------ c---! You aint nothing, you f------ b----!

Saia told him to relax and put her earbuds in. Thats when she said he slugged her in the face and banged her head against the wall of the train.

A bunch of good people ran to help me, as my lip was gushing blood, she said on Facebook.

One of the straphangers stepped in and subdued the alleged attacker. The video starts around this point; it shows the straphanger gripping the alleged attacker by his arms and ordering him to leave the train at the next subway stop.

Get off the train, bro! You just f------ hit a lady. You just f------ hit a lady, the man says. Im not on duty right now, but I will f--- you up.

Its unclear what the straphanger was referring to when he said he was not on duty.

Look at her mouth. Man, listen, look at her! he says as he continues to clutch him by the arms.

When the train arrives at the New Utrecht station, the alleged attacker says, I apologize.

F--- you, Saia says in response. Oh my God, go, get off the train.

The video ends a short time later. Saia said she reported the incident to the police and is filing a report at a local precinct. No arrests have been reported.

She said she posted the video to social media to keep other people in the neighborhood safe.

Be warned. Stay safe! she said.
There are nearly 250 hospital emergency rooms in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

Many will treat tens of thousands of patients each year. An NBC10 Investigators analysis of federal Medicare records found that the wait to see a doctor varies greatly from one ER to the next. The data is from 2015, the most recent available.

The median wait across the country is about 30 minutes. In Pennsylvania, it's 22 minutes. In New Jersey, it's 25 minutes, while in Delaware, it's 34 minutes.

Here are the three hospitals in the greater Philadelphia region with the highest median wait times, and what officials there say is to blame for the plus-hour waits. And below those three is a complete list of the hospitals in the three states analyzed. The searchable database includes ER wait times, time it takes for patients with broken bones to receive pain medication, and percent of patients will leave before being seen.

NUMBER THREE: Lankenau Hospital, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania

Median wait time: 61 minutes

The hospital's ER is currently designed to treat 35,000 patients a year. This year, it is on pace to treat 58,000. Dr. Joe Bushra, chief of emergency medicine, said 61 minutes is "way too long."

"That's a long time to wait when you're sick."

Bushra said Lankenau is doing something to improve its ER wait time: The hospital is undergoing an expansion to the department that will be completed in 2019.

NUMBER TWO: Christiana Care Health Services, Newark, Delaware

Median wait time: 63 minutes

The hospital in Delaware's second-largest city already did what Lankenau is embarking on: expansion.

"We've done several things to address that," Dr. John Powell, assistant chairman of emergency medicine, said. "One is the emergency department that we're standing in."

Powell said the larger ER at Christiana should lead to lower waits than the 2015 show.

NUMBER ONE: Cooper University Hospital, Camden, New Jersey

Median wait time: 66 minutes

Cooper, like the other two hospitals in this bottom three, is undergoing an expansion of its ER. The hospital said in a statement that it will be completed by early 2018.

In Pennsylvania, there is no standard established for acceptable ER wait times. Dr. Michael Consuelos, of the Hospital Association of Pennsylvania, said that has a lot to do with the myriad types of injuries, illnesses and afflictions that are treated at a hospital's emergency room.
District residents packed D.C. Council chambers Friday to talk about skyrocketing water bills, and the growing fees that have no end in sight.

"I can't stop this rate from increasing, there's nothing I can do. Even if I stop running the water, the bill would just keep going up," D.C. resident Tracey Williams told council members.

The majority of the Clean Rivers program is paid for by DC Water customers.

The fees are currently assessed based on the surface area of their property that can't absorb water.

"I'm just not convinced that this is beyond the capacity of the wise thinkers over at DC Water to come up with a better way," said Councilwoman Mary Cheh, who chairs the committee that held the public hearing.

The Clean Rivers fees have been the subject of a series of News4-I-Team reports, showing how the cost is devastating some customers. They're funding a $2.6 billion dollar tunnel project to stop sewage and stormwater from overflowing into our rivers.

"Accountability and transparency are key to this process. We need a full independent audit of this project," said Sean Kennedy, a visiting fellow with the Maryland Public Policy Institute.

On Tuesday, DC Water revealed the Clean Rivers fees are projected to double again by 2026. They will continue climbing through 2030 and are slated to remain on DC Water bills indefinitely.

"If you truly want to relieve the pressure, the district government itself owns more impervious surface area than anyone, thousands of miles of roadways sidewalks and alleys," said Alan Roth, former chairman of the DC Water Rates Committee.

But as the I-Team exposed, the District's public roadways are exempt from that fee, even though they create plenty of stormwater runoff.

Council member heard from several residents, non-profits and pastors who said their churches have had to cut community programs to pay for their water bills.

Representatives from five cemeteries said even though their properties are mostly greenspace, the fees are threatening their ability to keep operating. Some bills have grown by thousands of dollars a month, just in Clean Rivers fees.

"We're not asking for an exemption or a free ride," said Jim Jones of Rock Creek Cemetery, "We're perfectly willing to pay our fair share, we just want some equitable treatment for it."

After the first several I-Team reports in October, DC Water said it would re-evaluate the fees for fairness.

The D.C. Council is now considering new legislation to lessen the burden on cemeteries.

Friday, council members also discussed the possibility of lowering the fees for churches and other non-profits with hardships.

But if that happens, the rest of the customers would have to make up the difference, unless the District or federal government agree to fund part of the project.

Removing the exemption for public roadways could generate an extra $35 million each year.

"I keep hearing how tough this is and what a hard question this is," Jones told the council, "Just because good public policy might be tough, is no reason I would think, for not attempting to do something with it."
Former deputies said there is chaos, bullying and turnover problems inside the Culpeper County Sheriffs Office.

Four former deputies, who asked to remain anonymous to protect their current employment, said Sheriff Scott Jenkins has created a hostile atmosphere for law enforcement employees in the tiny, picturesque Virginia county two hours south of Washington, D.C.

Jenkins rebuts the criticism and questions why the deputies involved sought to remain anonymous, calling them disgruntled ex-employees and politically motivated. Agency records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act confirm staff resignations, terminations and retirements in the Culpeper County Sheriffs Office far outpace those in other local sheriffs departments.

The 101-person Culpeper County Sheriffs Office has lost 91 employees since 2012, according to those records. The rate of staff turnover in the agency was nearly three times higher than staff departures in Prince William, Loudoun and Fairfax counties, according to the I-Team investigation.

The former deputies said Jenkins has bullied staff since his election in 2012, triggering some of the resignations and retirements. One former deputy said, Its not just disgruntled employees, this is actually a legitimate problem. Another former deputy said, (Jenkins) would get so angry, sometimes even pounding his fist on the table. Sometimes (he used) vulgar names, just to tear you down. He tore many people down. Another former deputy said, He treated me so bad, I just couldnt take it anymore. Ill be honest, I got off the phone and cried to my wife. I couldnt take it.

The rate of staff turnover is a potential risk to the Culpeper community, according to a former deputy. You get new officers that are not familiar with the community or the people within it. So their response time to calls is (longer). How they deal with people is different.

Jenkins declined multiple requests for an on-camera interview. When the News4 I-Team approached Jenkins as he visited the site of an agency event in October, Jenkins drove off. He did not appear at a public hearing of his Culpeper County Public Safety Committee in October.

Jenkins instead issued a lengthy written statement to the I-Team. The statement said, in part, Of the sixty-some deputies who have left the office over the past six years there are a variety of reasons for this to include but not limited to: criminal activity, gross violations of ethical requirements or policies, retirements, persons leaving to join other agencies for better pay or to pursue other careers. Starting salaries are low and it is hard to compete with the private sector, federal positions and jurisdictions like Prince William County or Fairfax County. I do not believe the citizens of Culpeper County have any reason for concern regarding turnover.

Reported by Scott MacFarlane, produced by Rick Yarborough, and shot and edited by Steve Jones.
Investigators recovered the gun of a slain Baltimore homicide detective from the gritty lot where he was shot and have determined that it was fired more than once, a top police official said Friday.

Ballistic tests show that recovered shell casings were matched to the recovered firearm, Commissioner Kevin Davis told a news conference at police headquarters. When asked if it was possible that the officer was shot with his own gun, Davis said authorities are "looking at every possibility."

"We only recovered one gun from the scene. That doesn't mean that there wasn't a second gun," Davis said.

An autopsy has not been completed for Sean Suiter, an 18-year veteran of the department, the commissioner said. Suiter, 43, died at a hospital Thursday, less than 24 hours after he was shot in the head while working on a case in West Baltimore, a rough neighborhood of vacant lots and boarded-up row houses.

A vigorous manhunt and a hefty reward that stood at $190,000 Friday has not led to any arrests. But Davis said tips are steadily coming in and detectives are following leads. Baltimore investigators are being assisted by federal agents.

Davis said the shooter, who investigators suspect was wounded in the confrontation with Suiter, is likely in Baltimore. Police plan on keeping blocks of the West Baltimore neighborhood where the shooting happened cordoned off through the weekend because evidence is leading detectives to conduct searches there.

Officials say Suiter was a Washington, D.C, native who lived with his family in York, Pennsylvania, about an hour's commute from Baltimore.
I have just arrived from Bonn, Germany where I attended the 23rd Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Once again, the Philippines sent an outstanding delegation led by an able and focused Secretary Manny de Guzman, vice chair of the Climate Change Commission, in the first week. I am proud to have served once again as an adviser to our delegation. This was my 18th COP, missing only the years 2004-2008 when I consciously did not work globally on climate, preferring to immerse myself in thinking through the issues of adaptation. President Duterte is the fifth president of the Philippines I have served in these negotiations and I am glad that we have been quite consistent about prioritizing both mitigation and adaptation.

Last Monday, Senator Loren Legarda, who became the head of our delegation in Bonn, delivered two speeches that espoused this view of mitigation and adaptation.

In a side event sponsored by the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, and Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, Senator Legarda recalled how the people of Fiji, the COP President, and other climate vulnerable nations are seeing the destruction caused by rapid onset events, more commonly known as extreme weather events. According to Legarda: We are also already dealing with the slow onset events or creeping impacts of climate change, such as sea level rise and ocean acidification.

As expected, Senator Legarda emphasized the 1.5C goal that the Philippines and other members of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) has been espousing. According to her: For vulnerable nations like ours, it is actually 1.5C that gave birth to Paris, because without this long-term temperature threshold goal, this agreement would have been like many otherswith no driver of ambition and transformation, and blind to consequences.

Legarda then praised the the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for rising to the critical task of assessing all of the science related to the 1.5C target. The report is expected to propose enhanced climate action by highlighting what more can be done now and in the near future to better align with 1.5 and by indicating how significant the additional risks are for just half a degree.

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The Senator also praised other member nations of the Climate Vulnerable Forum for continuing to lead the charge in addressing climate change. Quoting from an analysis of Climate Action Tracker released last week, Legarda pointed out that only Morocco and the Gambia have nationally determined contributions that are compatible with 1.5EsC. She also highlighted that four out of the five countries which have 2EsC-compatible climate action plans are also members of the CVF: Bhutan, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, and the Philippines.

Senator Legarda promised to do everything in her power to ensure the Philippines NDC will soon be rated 1.5EsC-compatible as well. She laid down the argument for this very clearly.

We continue to pursue a development path consistent with 1.5 degrees not only because we know it is the best way to protect our people and climate, but also because we know it will also spur economic growth.

However, there is more than just energy to consider in the transition to clean energy-powered economies is critical to climate action. The race to 1.5EsC-compatible economies presents to the ambitious an opportunity to transform development itself.

To start, we need climate-responsive plans and policies that would allow us to upgrade virtually all facets of our economies, which can only produce massive jobs and pump prime our economies. This can be done by first filling the staggering gap in local and national climate data through a research framework that encompasses both the rapid onset and slow onset impacts of climate change. Having a deep understanding of our vulnerabilities will enable us to plan better and smarter.

We would therefore need to garner international climate finance support for data-gathering technology and bottom-up capacity building measures to enable a better understanding of our risks and investment opportunities.

And while we need to ensure that the pledges amounting to 100 billion dollars in public finance annually are delivered with the right balance, this figure pales starkly in comparison to private finance, which we need to tap with urgency.

We need financing and de-risking facilities that unlock investments in critical infrastructure assets outlined in the vulnerable country-led Climate Infrastructure Blueprints, including urban services, transport, water, energy, sustainable landscapes, and ocean and coastal ecosystems.

Working closely with our development partners, and with boldness, we can more rapidly de-risk investments even as we rapidly increase incentives that pull in the right kind of private sector capital towards climate-resilient, sustainable and inclusive plans that likewise contribute to the fight to keep warming within the 1.5 degree threshold.

Another speech in Bonn, delivered also last Monday, gave Senator Legarda a chance to share her thinking on adaptation. According to her, adaptation has always been at the center of the Philippines climate change strategy. We see this in the Climate Change Act, in the National Framework Strategy on Climate Change, and the National Climate Change Action Plan.

Senator Legarda did not forget to highlight the importance of getting more definitive commitments from developed countries to finance adaptation in the UNFCCC process. This is consistent with our demand for climate justice. Echoing what many of us have been saying for years, Legarda argued that adaptation should be placed on equal footing with mitigation. Indeed, we need scaled-up, continuous, predictable, and adequate financial support for adaptation.

In teaching and writing about climate change, I have observed that the first decade of climate negotiation and action was focused on mitigation by developed countries of their carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions. This was followed by a second decade which saw the need for the big developing countries like China and India to also reduce or stabilize their emissions; but alongside this was the emergence of adaptation as an agenda equal to mitigation. Today, on the third decade of the UNFCCC, climate justice is rightly the emerging priority. As Senator Legarda emphasized in Bonn, all our actions, adaptation and mitigation, must now be through this lens.

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Two of the three teen girls who went missing from the Bristow area of Prince William County, Virginia, have been found, police said.

Ashley Sarahy Lemus, 17, was located in Fairfax County today and is safe. Breonia Andreia Thomas, 17, was found yesterday in Washington, D.C. The remaining teen, Chamareya Rontavia Wright, is still missing.

All three girls left the Bristow area about 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 12. The FBI is involved in the search for Wright is asking for the public's help to find her.

Wright is described as an 18-year-old black female who is 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing 195 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Wright was last seen wearing a sweatshirt and dark color leggings.

Wright was originially listed as "missing-runaway" but has since been upgraded to "missing-endangered," police said.

The FBI is asking anyone with information about their whereabouts to contact the Prince William County Police Department at 703-792-6500 or the FBI Washington Field Office at 202-278-2000 or www.tips.fbi.gov.
Iraqi forces backed by the U.S.-led coalition retook on Friday the last town in the country that was held by the Islamic State group, more than three years after the militants stormed nearly a third of Iraqi territory, the Defense Ministry's spokesman said.

At dawn, Iraqi military units and local tribal fighters pushed into the western neighborhoods of Rawah in western Anbar province and after just five hours of fighting they retook the town, according to Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool.

Rawah, 175 miles (275 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, lies along the Euphrates River Valley near the border town of Qaim that Iraqi forces retook from IS earlier this month.

U.S.-led coalition forces supported the operations to retake Rawah and Qaim with intelligence, airstrikes and advisers, coalition spokesman Ryan Dillon said.

ISIS blitzed across Iraq's north and west in the summer of 2014, capturing Iraq's second-largest city of Mosul and advancing to the edges of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Later that year the United States began a campaign of airstrikes against the militants that fueled Iraqi territorial gains, allowing the military to retake Mosul in July this year.

All that now remains of ISIS-held Iraq are patches of rural territory in the country's vast western desert along the border with Syria.

ISIS has steadily been losing ground across the border in Syria as well where its so-called "caliphate" has basically crumbled with the loss of the city of Raqqa, the former Islamic State group's capital, which fell to the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in October.

Both the U.S. and Russia have embedded special forces with their respective partners and are supporting their advances with airstrikes. Russia backs Syrian government forces of President Bashar Assad.

The last urban areas controlled by the militants in Syria are the border town of Boukamal and a patch of territory near the capital, Damascus, and in central Hama province.

Syrian government forces, backed by Russian troops and Iranian-backed militias, originally pushed ISIS out of Boukamal earlier this month, but the militants retook a large part of the town, mostly its northern neighborhoods days later. Since then, ISIS has repelled government forces trying to push back into the town.

Meanwhile, U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces are also approaching Boukamal from the eastern side of the Euphrates.

Despite ISIS' significant territorial losses, the group's media arm remains intact, allowing it to still recruit supporters and inspire new attacks. Iraqi and American officials say ISIS militants are expected to continue carrying out insurgent-style attacks in Syria, Iraq and beyond.

Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb Beirut contributed to this report.
The countrys largest retailer is expanding its commitment to sourcing products manufactured in the United States.

Under its U.S. manufacturing initiative, Walmart has pledged to buy an additional $250-billion in American-made goods from many companies around the country through the year 2023.

"With this, were in direct response to consumers," said Chris Buchanan of Walmart. "They have been asking us for more goods that are made in this country."

Walmart has long been a lightning rod for criticism of potential negative impacts to small businesses, as proponents of downtowns have complained the large stores take revenue away from mom and pop shops.

Walmart has also historically been targeted for criticism of its pay practices for employees, who have gotten raises from the retailer in recent years.

However, Buchanan said such criticism doesnt recognize the positive impacts Walmart makes on communities, including by fostering job growth through its commitment to buying U.S.-made products.

"Our company is definitely involved in so many initiatives that arent controversial, that arent lightning rods," Buchanan told necn. "Our veterans hiring program, the U.S. manufacturing initiative, obviously, our sustainability program. Were doing the right thing, and were proud to do so."

Buchanan joined Gov. Phil Scott, R-Vermont, in visiting the Wilder manufacturing center for King Arthur Flour, a famous baking supply and ingredients company where chocolate chip cookie mixes were on the production line Friday.

King Arthur is one of the many New England and U.S.-made brands Walmart carries in its retail stores both regionally and around the country.

Karen Colberg, the co-CEO of King Arthur Flour, an employee-owned company, said its sales at Walmart have increased 800 percent over the past decade, and that the retailer carries a range of products, including gluten-free baking mixes.

"While we have our own footprint and we have our e-commerce business, being partnered with Walmart enables us access to the geography they have, the footprint they have, and the 2,600 stores and all their customers," Colberg told necn. "We always want to see more people bakingto make baking even more enjoyable for more people."

Colberg, who said King Arthur Flour makes approximately 300 products, said the additional reach that has become possible through the national partnership with Walmart was a major component of helping grow jobs in Vermont.

Colberg added that other retail partners across the country, including grocery store chains, boutique kitchen retailers, and specialty food markets, have all been critical to the companys success and future growth.

Gov. Scott donned a hairnet and white coat to tour the company that Colberg said employs roughly 400 people total, and is dedicated to excellence in food-safe production practices.

"People from across the world come to Vermont every year just to see your operation [at the King Arthur visitors center in Norwich], Gov. Scott told some of King Arthurs employees before his tour. Which I think is pretty special, when you think about that."

Erin Sigrist of the Vermont Retail & Grocers Association praised Walmarts commitment to sourcing U.S.-made goods, and said it is nice to know that around the country, more consumers have an appreciation for products made in this country.

Sigrist noted that Vermont-made and New England-made products, in particular, are well-known for their quality and craftsmanship, and that small businesses are dedicated to making positive impacts on their states and communities, including by supporting local non-profits.

"Its encouraging that a large corporation [like Walmart] is thinking about bringing some of those products from America onto their shelves instead of looking for the least expensive item," Sigrist said.

Sigrist said she hopes this holiday season, shoppers support small, independent businesses that make positive impacts on their communities, and when theyre in box stores, to seek out New England-made gifts, too.

One place to check out a wide selection of Vermont-made gifts is this weekend at the Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center in South Burlington, for the 65th annual Vermont Hand Crafters show, Craft Vermont.

The event runs through Sunday, Nov. 19 at the hotel, and features more than 160 artisans selling pottery, jewelry, glass, textiles, food products, home decor, and more.
A group of dogs rescued from Puerto Rico and brought to New Hampshire have fallen ill, and now state health officials have a warning for residents who may have contracted the bacterial infection.

Two of the ten rescued dogs have died from the infection. The woman who rescued them tells NBC Boston that shes doing everything she can to keep the rest of the puppies alive.

From the storm-ravaged streets of Puerto Rico, to Aimee Goodwins Norwich, Vermont backyard, the puppies have had quite the journey.

Well, its heartbreaking, said Goodwin.

Since arriving in the U.S., five of the rescues have become sick. One tested positive for Leptospirosis, a bacterial infection that can be deadly for animals, as it was for two of Goodwins rescues.

The whole point is to have them thrive and have wonderful lives here and to see it end like that is just terrible, Goodwin said.

The infection can be transmitted from animals to humans and earlier this week, some customers at Ramuntos in Hanover had the chance to play with the puppies at an event to raise money for Goodwins nonprofit, Surfin Sato.

The risk was very low with the dogs being out on the porch, Goodwin said.

The New Hampshire State Epidemiologist says in humans, the infection can cause flu-like symptoms and if left untreated, could cause liver and kidney failure. So, hes urging anyone who had direct contact with the animals to talk to their doctor.

Im concerned for the people whove been exposed and the dogs whove been exposed, Goodwin said. But it also confirms this is what we need to be doing right now.

With the help of some antibiotics, the rest of the puppies are no longer showing any symptoms and Goodwin is hopeful they will be going to their adoptive families by next week.

The owner of Ramuntos declined an on-camera interview but told NBC Boston he was trying to do something good for Goodwins nonprofit, for the animals, and the community. Hes disappointed this happened, but reassures his customers there is absolutely no risk to anyone except the people who came into direct contact with the puppies on November 12.
Near-hurricane force winds toppled trees, took down power lines, knocked out electricity to hundreds of thousands of people, and damaged buildings and cars  but was this October wind storm a "major disaster?" Thats what FEMA officials are helping to answer.

Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency are in Maine this week and next week, visiting towns that have reported significant damage from a pre-Halloween storm.

"To people who have been affected by this disaster, it is very significant, and it is severe," said FEMA spokesman Diego Alvarado.

FEMA officials will verify damage reports and estimate clean-up costs. Their data will then go to Gov. Paul LePage, who can ask President Trump to declare the storm a "major disaster," triggering federal funds. Typically, damage needs to be higher than $1.9 million to qualify as a major disaster event.

Friday, FEMA and Maine Emergency Management Agency officials toured Freeport, which was hit hard by the powerful storm.

"We still have damaged trees that are hanging and presenting threats," said Freeport Public Works Superintendent Earl Gibson.

FEMA has a team in southern Maine and northern Maine this week, and expects to be touring the state for several more days.

Local and state governments, along with certain private nonprofits, are eligible for FEMA funds.
A Norwich church has temporarily relocated to a boxing ring where self professed 'hard men' will tell their stories of finding faith. The first Tough Talk event is set for November 20.

A Norwich church has temporarily relocated to a boxing ring where self professed 'hard men' will tell their stories of finding faith. The first Tough Talk event is set for November 20.

How can we help feed those in need? Andrew Frere-Smith reminds us of the importance of meals, and offers us some food for thought as the rising cost of living impacts our communities. Read more

Latest Norfolk Christian community events Events of interest to the Norwich and Norfolk Christian community happening over the next few weeks are listed. Read more

John leads Norwich churches trip to Holy Land Experienced Holy Land traveller and former CEO of YMCA Norfolk, John Drake, is leading an inter-church tour from Norwich to Israel and Palestine in March 2023, with a few places still available. Read more

Christmas rhyming play by North Norfolk teacher Matthew Pickhaver, who lives in North Norfolk, has just published the third of his series of play scripts on the theme of Christmas, which is now available to buy. Read more

Advent and Christmas events at Norwich Cathedral From an Advent Open Evening to Carols in the Cloister and an array of special services and concerts with Norwich Cathedral Choir, there is lots to look forward to at Norwich Cathedral this festive season. Read more

Norwich church to hold Sunday healing service Witard Road Baptist Church is hosting a healing service on November 27 led by Rev Ray and Ruth Scorey from Norfolk Healing Rooms. Read more

Sheringham youth attend forbidden church The youth group at Lighthouse Community Church in Sheringham were forced to meet at a secret location earlier this month when the Lighthouse building had, supposedly, been shut down by the authorities. Read more

Christmas pud workshop at Norwich church Not made your Christmas pudding yet? Don't know where to start? Come along to a Christmas pudding workshop at Norwich Central Baptist Church on November 21 with MasterChef contestant Jane Wyndham. Read more

Norwich Foodbank provides over 4,700 food parcels Norwich Foodbank gave out 4,793 emergency food parcels to people across Norwich in the last year  with 1,790 of these going to children. Read more

Poppies cascading in Sheringham church A fall of poppies cascades from the pulpit in St Andrews Methodist Church in Sheringham, and anyone is welcome to come and see them. Read more

Bishop Graham's prayers for COP27 climate conference Bishop Graham is publishing daily prayers on social media for the current COP27 climate conference, and is asking all to join. Read more

Discovering the Orange in your life The vibrant colours of autumn have been inspiring regular contributor Jane Walters to focus on the positive. Read more

YMCA annual celebration set to inspire YMCA Norfolk is set to hold its much anticipated 2022 annual celebration and awards ceremony on November 17, after almost 3 years since the last event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more

Hub manager vacancy at community shop Earlham Community Shop Community Interest Company is looking to appoint a manager for this new venture being developed in the heart of NR5 Norwich. Read more

Abbey Days brings Christmas Magic to Wymondham Visitors to Wymondham Abbeys Christmas fair will be able to treat their children to a magic show and fun baking workshop while they browse more than 60 stalls. Read more

Salvation Armys new Christmas Appeal in Norfolk The Salvation Army has launched their new Christmas appeal across Norfolk which, this year, has evolved from the much-loved Toys and Tins appeal. Read more

Are we storing up treasures on earth? Rising prices affect us all, and Anna Heydon urges us to spare a thought for those who will be struggling with the cost of living this winter. Read more
Team launches series of challenges for CLIC Sargent

A THATCHAM-based business has raised more than 6,000 to aid a young staff member diagnosed with cancer.

Charity Rankin, 23, was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma, an uncommon cancer that develops in the lymphatic system.

Miss Rankin, who works at the Harrods Distribution Centre in Thatcham, has said she is over the moon after her colleagues rallied round to support her.

Her team supported her by tirelessly organising events, including a cake sale, a reggae night, a car boot sale and a bucket collection.

The group then went the extra mile by taking on a 12-mile-long Tough Mudder challenge featuring 20 obstacles to give them the boost they needed to raise more than 6,000.

They raised 6,642 in aid of CLIC Sargent, the UKs leading cancer charity for children and young people.

The charity supported Miss Rankin throughout her cancer treatment this year through a social worker, who offers emotional, practical and financial support to young people.

Miss Rankin said: We couldn't be happier at the amount raised, and CLIC Sargent has a very special place in my heart after everything I have been through, so Im over the moon we could give something back.

Kate from CLIC Sargent in Southampton has been amazing and such a friendly face to see every time I was down there.

CLIC Sargent fundraising and engagement manager Alina Kairi said: We cant thank Charity and her Harrods Heroes enough for all their tireless fundraising efforts, all topped off with the daunting Tough Mudder challenge.

Its amazing to see how they have all rallied round to support charity and all the money they have raised will help us in our fight to support more young people.

For more information about CLIC Sargents work, and how to get involved in fundraising, go to www.clicsargent.org.uk
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Cabinet approves MoU between India and Poland for the promotion of Civil Aviation Cooperation

New Delhi : The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Poland for the Promotion of Civil Aviation Cooperation.





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The MoU will be signed on behalf of the two countries after its approval by the two Governments. The MoU would be for a term of five years.The objective of the MoU is to recognize the mutual benefit of Cooperation in the field of Civil Aviation having particular significance in establishing and improving Regional Air Connectivity in India. Apart from this both sides will recognize the mutual benefits of environmental testing or approvals, flight simulators monitoring and approvals, aircraft maintenance facilities approvals, maintenance personnel approvals and aircrew members approvals.The main areas of this Memorandum of Understanding to promote ad facilitate mutual cooperation are as under:a. Support in the civil aviation market by reviewing any legal and procedural issues which may adversely affect cooperation between India and Poland.b. Exchange of information and expertise between the Ministries and respective Civil Aviation Authorities related to aviation regulations, regional air operations, airworthiness requirements and safety standards to enhance safety and security of air transport; and / orc. Collaboration on or joint development, organization and/or conduct of training programmes on aviation safely, on topics such as safety oversight, airworthiness, flight operations, licensing, legislation and enforcement; and / ord. Aviation associated consultations, joint organization and/or conduct of conferences and professional seminars, workshops, talks and other such activities on aviation safety with the participation of representatives from the Parties related to the field of civil aviation; and / ore. Regular dialogue or meetings for exchange of information; knowledge, expertise and experiences between Ministries and respective Civil Aviation safety related development of mutual interest to the parties;f. Collaboration on research and studies on aviation safety interest topics and issues of mutual interest.g. Any other issues related to co-operation in the areas mentioned above.
Ministry of Health organizes National Workshop on Promotion of Male Participation in Family Planning

New Delhi : Ministry of Health and Family Welfare organized a one-day national workshop on the promotion of male participation in family planning, here today.





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Smt. Vandana Gurnani, Jt. Secretary inaugurated the workshop, which highlighted concrete strategies to understand and incorporate the male perspective and male needs in the same way as attention is given to women's perspectives and needs.The Health Ministry through its sustained family planning efforts, aims to increase male participation in family planning, with continued emphasis on delivering assured services, generating demand and bridging supply gaps.The workshop also saw the launch of the Family Planning Logistics Management Information System (FP-LMIS) manual. The FP-LMIS software was developed to facilitate the management and distribution of contraceptives and is designed to provide robust information on the demand and distribution of contraceptives to health facilities and ASHAs and strengthen supply chain management. It is intended to be a decision-making tool for policy makers, program managers and logistics personnel to monitor and manage the flow of contraceptive supplies, in order to reduce stockouts and overstocks, and improve the program's effectiveness and contraceptive security.Male participation in improving the reproductive health of couples is crucial. While the permanent methods of contraception have traditionally found more acceptance in India, the maximum number of acceptors are women. The World Vasectomy Day is an event intended to raise global awareness on Vasectomy. The National Workshop today is also a precursor and curtain raiser to the upcoming Vasectomy Fortnight across States. All states/UTs across India will observe a dedicated 'Vasectomy Fortnight' from 21st November to 4th December 2017 with commensurate publicity whereby quality male sterilization services would be provided to clients at public health facilities.The observation of a dedicated fortnight is intended to galvanize awareness on male sterilization and thereby improve its acceptance in the community. The Vasectomy Fortnight will be observed up to the block level with focus on Family Planning service delivery along with IEC & advocacy.The theme of the workshop and the 'Vasectomy Fortnight 2017' is:"Zimmedar Purush ki yehi hai Pehchan, Parivar Niyojan mein jo de Yogdaan"The observation of the Vasectomy Fortnight 2017 will be conducted in two phases:1. Mobilization phase (21st Nov - 27th Nov) - This fortnight is utilised for awareness generation on the benefits of male contraception. IEC, especially on male participation in Family Planning and addressing various myths associated with it, will be available across public and accredited health care facilities.2. Service delivery phase (28th Nov - 4th Dec) - In addition to awareness generation, all districts and blocks will organise for provision of male sterilization services in this dedicated fortnight.Male participation in adoption of family planning has been a challenge along with other numerous challenges that must still be overcome, particularly in terms of raising public awareness around promoting and male engagement in family planning services. The promotion of male participation is vital to the success of the Family Planning programme. The theme of the workshop was in alignment with the theme of the Vasectomy Fortnight and discussions during the workshop revolved around a variety of topics such as:A Concerted efforts to promote male involvement in Family PlanningA Bolstering young men's engagement in adopting reproductive decisionsA Bridging the gender gapA Addressing the sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescentsThe eminent speakers at the workshop also included the pioneers of NSV in India who addressed the gathering on the global scenario and the role of technical agencies in promoting male participation. The state representatives highlighted the respective strategies for improving the uptake and arresting the decline of vasectomy services.
By Diego C. Cagahastian

KEY Chinese officials are all over the place this monthPresident Xi Jinping in Da Nang, Vietnam for the Apec Business Summit (Nov. 10-11 ) and state visit to Laos (Nov. 14) and Prime Minister Li Keqiang in Manila for the 31st Asean Summit and East Asia meetings (Nov. 13 to 14) and official visit to the Philippines.

Xi and Li are seriously taking on their roles as peripatetic leaders of the worlds second-biggest economy to give a human face to Chinas policy of openness and peace and development for all.

The two top Chinese leaders were out of the country last week selling Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which is based on the idea of reviving the Old Silk Road and infusing Chinese aid to the countries that it would traverse, helping them develop and in return, boosting Chinas potential as the futures No. 1 economic power.

President Xi and Prime Minister Li had just emerged from the highly successful 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China, which set the master plan for the economic and political development of China for the next 5 years and even later.

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Xis election as general secretary of the Communist Party and the subsequent formation of the seven-man Standing Committee of its Politburo with Li and five others signaled the consolidation of power behind Xi and Li, augur well for Chinas continued development and prosperity along the lines of Xis socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Most reassuring for the Philippines was Premier Lis announcement that his country will give a grant of 150-million Renminbi or about P1.15 billion for the rehabilitation of war-town Marawi City.

Government estimates place the cost of rebuilding the city which was recently flattened by the onslaught of religious violence sponsored by the rouge Islamic State at P50 million.

Marawi City Mayor Majul Usman Gandamra said the Chinese grant will go a long way in helping his constituents who lost their homes to rebuild their lives following the man-made tragedy.

He also cited the initial Chinese donation of 47 heavy equipment recently, including 8 excavators, 8 wheel loaders, five compactors, five track-type tractors, five bulldozers, 8 dump trucks, 8 cement mixers and a container van. DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said these items came from Chinas Emergency Humanitarian Assistance Program. Even before Li arrived for a visit, DPWH personnel had been using the Chinese equipment for the ground preparations in Marawi.

Lis trip to Manila cleared a lot of doubts about Chinas plans and intentions in Asean and in the Philippines. While the festering problem of the South China Sea still exists, President Xi Jinping and President Duterte have struck an informal modus vivendi on how to handle the situation: To play is down and avoid a flashpoint that could ignite more trouble for the two countries.

And while Xi assured Duterte that the fears of Chinese militarization is nothing (to worry about), here now was Li putting ink to paper in 14 agreements, mostly hard and big-ticket projects, that clearly would jump-start Philippine progress and prosperity.

Wherever he goes and whenever he makes a statement, the prime minister reflects the Chinese line of strategic, long-term goals and policies.

He said at the joint press conference with Duterte following their bilateral talks, My suggestion is that our two sides may sit down together to discuss and formulate cooperation plans in these areas, lasting for the next five or even 10 years to take forward our cooperation in these specific fields, to send out (a) message to people of the two countries as well as the international community that China-Philippines relationship will continuously go forward and the people-to-people friendship between us will be further strengthened.

The Chinese governments head noted that both China and Manila are countries with large population so that it is to the benefit of both to develop opportunities some more and to treat each other as big mutual markets.

Always stressing cooperation, Li said, If we can work together, I believe, it will all bring benefits to the people of both countries and the region as a whole.

Following these exchanges of gratitude and platitudes, Duterte and Li witnessed the signing of 14 financial, infrastructure, and cultural agreements between the two nations.

These include the Second Basket of key infrastructure projects cooperation between the Department of Finance and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, exchange of letters on dangerous drugs abuse and treatment and rehabilitation centers, two bridges across Pasig River, industrial parks development, Philippine National Railways south long hall project, agreement on production capacity and investment, agreement on the provision of goods for addressing climate change, defense cooperation, intellectual property, financing agreement on the Chico River pump irrigation project and the New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam project, the 2017 Renminbi bond issuance underwriting accord with the Bank of China, and a financial agreement between BCDA and China Development Bank.

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Gujarat polls: BJP releases list of 70 candidates

New Delhi , November 17 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday released a list of 70 candidates for the Gujarat Assembly elections.





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"The Central Election Committee of the party held a meeting with party chief Amit Shah," a press release read.The names that were decided by the Committee included Vijay Rupani, Nitinbhai Patel, Jitu Vaghani, Vasanbhai Ahir, Shankarbhai Chaudhary and more.The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and others.Earlier on Wednesday, the Congress Central Election Committee meeting to select candidates for Gujarat elections was postponed for today.The elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 9 and 14.
I 'can' be friend with Hamilton one day: Rosberg

Johannesburg [South Africa], November 17 : Former Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg has refused to rule out becoming friend with Lewis Hamilton one day, but admitted that they are not at the moment.





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The former team-mates were good friends in their early racing day, but fierce inter-team competition at Mercedes resulted in their fallout.Insisting that the duo is no longer rivals, Rosberg believes that he and four-time world champion Hamilton could surely rekindle it down the line."We were very good friends in the past. It can happen again in the future. We're not rivals anymore, I'm completely out of it, so I don't see why we could not get along well after some time," Sport24 quoted Rosberg, as saying.The German driver, however, added, "We're not at that point yet."Rosberg had endured tough time getting along with Hamilton--call it a competitive streak or racing jealousy as the pair was often reported being involved in a constant battle both on and off the track.However, the inter-team rivalry finally came to an end with Rosberg's retirement after the German lifted his maiden Formula One world champion title in 2016.Hamilton, on the other hand, recently became a four-time world champion with a ninth-place finish at the Mexican Grand Prix, the race which was won by the Red Bull's Verstappen.
Design Your Own Bed Introduces Industry's First Total Body Pressure Management Modular Mattress Enabling Consumers to Customize Their Bed to Fit Their Body, Lifestyle, Sleep Habits

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz: Despite spending approximately one-third of our lives in bed, we have little or no control over the design of an essential part of ensuring a good sleep -- our mattress.





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A new company Design Your Own Bed (DYOB), www.designyourownbed.com, is looking to change that with the introduction of the industry's first affordable total body pressure management modular mattress enabling consumers to easily adjust their bed design to fit their body, lifestyle, and sleep habits.The mattresses industry's "one size fits all" approach is inadequate to accommodate a variety of consumers' sleep needs, not to mention body shapes, and also leads to more than 50,000 mattresses each day ending up in landfills in the U.S. alone, according to DYOB founder Karen Day Roma."Our mattress design is industry disrupting," said Roma. "We want to help people take charge of that one-third of their life and sleep well with proper musculoskeletal support. It is our mission to create the most compelling and interactive sustainable mattress of the 21st Century by driving the world to transition to a totally modular, interchangeable and customized pressure management design. This mattress will grow old with you as you age because it has the unique ability to be immediately adjusted as your body changes."Roma stressed that typical mattresses on the market can't be unzipped, washed, vacuumed, and adjusted. As a result, they wear out and are discarded."With our design, your bed's lifespan will be extended through your life because of its dynamic interchangeable, flippable, replaceable patent-pending parts," said Roma. "Let's say you fall and dislocate your shoulder, gain or lose weight, or your pet urinates on your mattress, instead of having to discard that mattress, with our design you can unzip the cover and adjust the therapeutic parts to displace pressure where you need. You can also remove the support foam, wash it and even vacuum the inside of the mattress, which is ideal for people with allergies."With a name that fits the company's mission and philosophy, DYOB's 10-inch high mattress is branded the Roma ME mattress.ME has three modular pressure management design options, called Bedmates, for each side of the bed. Depending on your body geometry, one will work best for you, and another will work best for your partner. The company's products will be sold online through its website and they will offer free delivery.DYOB also offers the Roma "WE" Mattress. WE is one whole mattress, not split and totally designed for you by the company's engineers. It is also modular and you can unzip the cover to wash and vacuum out any debris. It is made for the person who has no body pains and prefers DYOB's all-in-one flippable comfort design (soft or firm.) The company used its signature AirRoma Comfort Zone with high density medium firm and firm foams. WE is part of its Quick ship program, and it is compression roll packed and ships in one small lightweight box.
The 2017 Winner of Launching Las Vegas Has Been Announced

LAS VEGAS: Dr. Samir Pancholi and the Launching Las Vegas Committee are proud to announce the winner of the third annual Launching Las Vegas award, Wedspire. Launching Las Vegas was created in 2015 to celebrate those who work hard to build up Vegas and support our community. The annual contest has awarded USD 2,500 to local businesses since its inception.





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"Every year, we look forward to learning more about great new Vegas businesses and helping drum up support and recognition for them throughout the contest," says Dr. Samir Pancholi, creator of the award. "It's always exciting to see the Vegas community come together in support of each other. We knew it would be difficult for voters to choose from such an impressive group of nominees, but the votes are in and we are delighted for this year's winner."Hundreds of votes were cast as community members came out in full force to recognize their favorite of three nominated startup companies: Wedspire, Axiom Cyber Solutions, and Fuelixer. All companies were chosen for their dedication and contributions to the Las Vegas entrepreneurial communityaand they epitomize the hard work and passion Las Vegans are known for.Although the contest was close, Wedspire came out on top and will be awarded a cash prize of $1,000 to support their continued growth. Wedspire is a community of engaged couples and wedding professionals that is changing how the wedding industry does business. Their online platform is a curated marketplace built around the goal of taking the stress out of wedding planning by connecting couples with wedding prosaand they've quickly gained a loyal customer base thrilled with their experience."We are thrilled to be honored with the Launching Las Vegas 2017 award. In our first year of Wedspire, we were fortunate to be surrounded by such a supportive community here in Las Vegas and are appreciative that they have helped us achieve this award," says Afeisha James-Kipps, Co-Founder and CEO of Wedspire. "As we continue to launch our business forward, creating a strong and authentic community within our own brand, we will always be reminded of and inspired by the wonderful network we have developed locally in Las Vegas."Axiom Cyber Solutions was awarded second place and a $250 cash prize. Axiom Cyber Solutions is a Las Vegas cyber security company focused on providing holistic, enterprise-class cyber security solutions to small-to-medium businesses. They're dedicated to protecting businesses most at-risk of attack by providing a firewall backed by the SecureAmerica Threat Defense Platform, antivirus, and Endpoint Detection and Response for a low monthly subscription cost."We are honored to have been selected as one of the Launching Las Vegas finalists," responds Troy Wilkinson, CEO of Axiom Cyber Solutions. "We would like to thank Dr. Pancholi for establishing the award and recognizing the startup businesses of Las Vegas. Thank you to all of our supporters for their votes."The Launching Las Vegas committee congratulates our 2017 winner and runner-up and wishes all nominees the very best in their endeavors.
Birla Cellulose is Number One Globally for its Commitment to Sustainable Forestry Management

MUMBAI: Birla Cellulose of the Aditya Birla Group has been ranked Number one* globally by the NGO Canopy, in its Hot Button Report for its work on the conservation of ancient and endangered forests. Birla Cellulose has a 'light green shirt' ranking in the updated and expanded edition of the Hot Button Report released recently, which ranks eleven viscose rayon producers that represent 70pc of global viscose production.





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"We are proud of the global Industry leading ranking of Birla Cellulose and thank Canopy for acknowledging our sustainability efforts from forest to fashion. This reinforces our belief that sustainability is core to our business strategy," said Dilip Gaur, Business Director, Pulp & Fibre, Aditya Birla Group and Managing Director - Grasim Industries Ltd."High conservation value forests are an important part of our global ecosystems. At Birla Cellulose, we use only sustainably sourced fibre for our pulp operations. We adhere to the strict standards of our Global Fibre Sourcing Policy, which focuses on protection of High Conservation Value and Ancient and Endangered Forests," states Vinod Tiwari, Chief Operating Officer, Pulp Business, Birla Cellulose. He added, "Birla Cellulose has been striving to deliver quality products while protecting the environment, and the efforts of all team members have made this achievement possible.""We engage with the entire textile value chain and support global brands for their sustainability journey and being a responsible partner to their sourcing needs. We have plans to further support in traceability, certifications and sustainable innovations," added Rajeev Gopal, Chief Marketing Officer, Birla Cellulose.Birla Cellulose has successfully completed CanopyStyle Audit and its current supply chains confirm that the risk of sourcing wood from ancient and endangered forests or other controversial sources is low risk, which is an industry leading result."We've seen remarkable progress with CanopyStyle over the past four years as a result of the collective action of our brands partners. In the upcoming year, CanopyStyle brands and designers are looking for additional leadership from their rayon and viscose suppliers," said Canopy's Executive Director and Founder, Nicole Rycroft.Canopy's Hot Button Issue ranks the world's top viscose producers on their progress on eliminating endangered forests from their supply. This year the ranking features five new criteria, including priorities on conservation solutions and transparency where Birla Cellulose has leader scores. The report is highly anticipated by over 105 global brands, retailers and designers that are part of the CanopyStyle initiative. It has become a 'go-to' resource for fashion brands since first published in 2016.
New Book Gives Healthcare Administrators and Practice Owners Control Over Staffing and Fiscally-smart Practice Structures for NPs and PAs

PHOENIX, Md: Most medical practice management literature addresses practice structure and profitability as it relates to physicians. The role of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) has evolved significantly over the past several years but most practices are not set up to take full advantage of their potential.





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Yet fiscally smart and patient-centered practices are effectively using nurse practitioners and physician assistants in this ever-changing healthcare landscape. This new book discusses what employers can expect when hiring advanced practice providers and how to help midlevel providers in their practices reach their full potential."Any practice that is not using the full power of physician assistants and nurse practitioners is missing out on a breakthrough," says author Erin Tolbert. "With Unlocking the Value of NPs and PAs: Increase Revenue and Create a Healthy and Thriving Practice with Midlevel Providers," she says, "medical practice administrators can get right to work tracking productivity, analyzing costs, planning compensation, and deciding on a structure that takes advantage of the midlevel providers to improve practice efficiency and practice revenue."Published by Greenbranch Publishing, this indispensable book (in print and convenient eBook) provides:Introduction - Why Better Midlevel Provider Management MattersChapter 1: A Day in the Life of a Midlevel Medical ProviderPros, cons and potential to improveChapter 2: A Flawed System - How Did We Get Here?A Brief Timeline of the U.S. Healthcare System and its Impact on Medical ProvidersChapter 3: Healthcare Education vs. RealityWhat healthcare providers need to know beyond patient careChapter 4: Midlevel Providers and Your PracticeUsing NPs and PAs to increase revenue and improve work-life balanceChapter 5: Nurse Practitioners and TrainingWhat Happens When Things Go RightChapter 6: Best Midlevel Provider Hiring PracticesCompensation and Expectation TransparencyChapter 7: Recruiting and Retaining Midlevel ProvidersCut Costs and Run a Healthy BusinessChapter 8: Common Objections to Using Advanced Practice ProvidersAddressing Productivity Effects, Integration and LiabilityReaders will feel empowered with practical, actionable strategies for improving practice structure and hiring practices with midlevel providers. Written from the perspective of a nurse practitioner who works with hospitals and clinics examining their recruiting practices and management strategies, readers will gain an all-new understanding of these strategies that will lead to stronger employment relationships with NPs and PAs and ultimately--financial profitability.Meet Erin Tolbert, RN, MSN, FNP-CErin Tolbert is a certified Family Nurse Practitioner who actively practices in the emergency department in Nashville, Tennessee. Her clinical experience lies in family practice, urgent care and emergency medicine. Based on her own career journey, Ms. Tolbert founded MidlevelU in 2012 to share her professional experience with prospective and practicing nurse practitioners and physician assistants. MidlevelU serves as a resource for NPs, PAs and the facilities that employ such providers and is a thriving online community with more than 100,000 monthly readers. Erin Tolbert and MidlevelU regularly receive national media attention on news outlets like The Fox News Channel and CNN where Erin appears as a medical expert discussing the latest healthcare news topics.$69.00 list price, eBook $62.00
My Eyelab Announces Multi-unit Agreement in Miami

PALM SPRINGS, Fla: My Eyelab (www.myeyelab.com), one of the fastest growing retail optical centers in the nation, announced today the signing of a four-location, multi-unit franchise deal expanding operations across the Miami metro area.





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Closing out the Miami market is longtime entrepreneur Kristin Druey. After years of self-employment and entrepreneurship, Druey joins the My Eyelab system with extensive knowledge in real estate development, marketing and financial competence. My Eyelab's market dominance, cutting-edge technology and rapid growth is what attracted the established business owner to the optical retailer."As an entrepreneur, you're always looking to join the right team, with the same ambition and drive as you. The My Eyelab franchise support team has consistently proven themselves to be the right team," Druey said. "Working with Daniel (Stanton) and the entire My Eyelab team has been nothing short of fantastic."Vision Precision Holdings, the parent company of My Eyelab and Stanton Optical, recently earned recognition as the 18th largest optical retailer in the U.S. by Vision Monday, currently operating 83 corporate locations with four more expected to open by the end of 2017. My Eyelab is seeking single and multi-unit franchise owners in the priority markets of Florida, California, Texas and North Carolina."Kristin has a one-of-a-kind drive to succeed. She consistently sets goals for herself and the My Eyelab brand, and we're confident that she will reach those goals in no time," said Daniel Stanton, CEO and co-founder of My Eyelab. "Between our intelligent, technology-based approach to eye care, our dedication to continuous innovation, and savvy business owners like Kristin, the My Eyelab optical business is destined for even greater things."Druey's first of four locations is slated to open in April 2018 at 333 South State Road 7, Suite B in Hollywood, Fla. For more information about My Eyelab's optometry practice for sale, visit www.myeyelab.com/franchise.
Safi Kilima Tanzanite's Debuts 2018 Cruise Ad Campaign

NEW YORK: Safi Kilima Tanzanite, an exclusive brand within the Diamonds International's portfolio, unveiled their new 2018 Caribbean ad campaign featuring a fresh take on an iconic brand that is currently celebrating 50 years of one of the rarest gemstone in the world, tanzanite.





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The campaign features the latest offerings from the Safi Kilima Tanzanite collection modeled by former Victoria's Secret and current Maxim model Anna Christina Schwartz, and brought to life by fashion photographer Chris Chieco.Safi Kilima Tanzanite Brand Director Alison Finkler said, "Our main goal, being the top tanzanite brand in the world, is to raise brand awareness of this gorgeous gemstone. We want the world to fall in love with Safi Kilima Tanzanite. Every woman deserves to take home a piece of history."The campaign follows Safi Kilima Tanzanite's year-long celebration of the gemstone that is currently in its 50th anniversary since discovery. More so, the campaign celebrates the long-awaited brand refresh. This year, Safi Kilima Tanzanite takes on a modern, fashion forward aesthetic that captures the true design and feel of the brand, including a contemporary logo (released this past summer), new store concepts, and the evolution of long-time designs such as the "Wow" bracelet and the release of the entry-priced Bolo bracelet at $199.Tanzanite is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary since discovery and Safi Kilima Tanzanite, is pushing this gemstone into the spotlight where it belongs. Said to be 1,000 times rarer than a diamond due to fact that it can only be mined in one location in the world, Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa, tanzanite becomes rarer by the moment as the mines continue to deplete the reserve. Recently, Diamonds International President & CEO Morris Gad introduced a 600 carat Safi Kilima Tanzanite stone - an extraordinary carat size, which surpasses what's currently on display in museums, like the 123 tanzanite stone in the Smithsonian.
San Francisco Businesses Rank Second Most Optimistic in the World About Their City's Digital Environment

SAN FRANCISCO: The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released a global research project commissioned by Telstra, a leading telecommunications and technology company, which assesses the confidence of business executives in their city's environment and its conduciveness to supporting the digital ambitions of companies.





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The 'Connecting Commerce' report includes the first ever Digital Cities Barometer, a ranking of 45 cities around the world across five key categories relevant to business performance: innovation and entrepreneurship; the financial environment; people and skills; development of new technologies; and ICT infrastructure.Executives in three US cities were surveyed, with confidence amongst San Francisco-based executives higher than those in Chicago and New York. San Francisco ranks second for its overall environment, followed by New York (11th) and Chicago (15th).While San Francisco is the top performing US city across all categories, executives believe they are let down by the ICT infrastructure in each of the three cities. More than 60 per cent in San Francisco and New York state their city's infrastructure is ineffective at meeting their business needs, a percentage that is higher in Chicago.Cardi Prinzi, Telstra's Senior Vice President Americas, said the report makes an important contribution to exploring what support executives need to digitally transform their business and thrive in a connected world."Digital transformation can be a long and complex process. In most cases, existing internal resources will not be enough and businesses will need to look outside for additional support. Businesses will find most of that support in the city or cities where they operate, with the majority of business executives surveyed believing that when it comes to government policies, those implemented by local government have more influence on their organization's digital success than national policies," said Mr. Prinzi.Key findings from the research include:aThe biggest transformation difficulty for Chicago-based businesses is internal resistance to change (20 per cent cite this reason). This compares with external resource limitations in the other two cities - 40 per cent cite limited funding for investment in San Francisco, and 28 per cent believe a shortage of talent in New York is their biggest challenge.aSeventy-three per cent of respondents in San Francisco and 61 per cent in New York rate their educational institutions as effective at preparing people with the required digital skills. However, there is a general belief that supply cannot keep up with growth in demand.aTwo-thirds of executives in San Francisco and Chicago, and 57 per cent in New York believe there is a divide between city and federal governments when it comes to supporting innovation.aThe availability of open government data provided by city departments is important to 72 per cent of businesses in New York and 66 per cent in San Francisco. New business opportunities are cited as the top benefit gained from this data.Overall, the report found that business leaders are relatively confident that their city environments can provide the support they need to meet their digital ambitions."Many agreed that an organization's city is intrinsically linked to the success of its digital transformation, with firms willing to move to another city to get it right and 75 per cent of respondents believing factors in the external environment are just as important as their internal capabilities in determining their transformation success," said Mr. Prinzi.
AAA And Keolis Launch Nation's First Public Self-Driving Shuttle In Downtown Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS: AAA, in partnership with Keolis, just brought the future of transportation to America and now the century-old auto club wants to hear from you.





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AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah (AAA) is sponsoring the nation's first self-driving shuttle pilot project geared specifically for the public. Over the course of a year, the self-driving shuttle aims to provide a quarter-million residents and visitors of Las Vegas with first-hand experience using autonomous vehicle (AV) technology, exposing most riders to the technology for the first time. This pilot builds on Keolis' limited shuttle launch in downtown Las Vegas in early 2017; today's launch will be the first self-driving vehicle to be fully integrated with a city's traffic infrastructure.In addition to studying how the shuttle interacts in a live traffic environment in downtown Las Vegas' busy Innovation District, AAA will survey riders on their experience in order to understand why a large percentage of consumers remain wary of driverless technology, and whether a personal experience changes their perception. AAA partnered with the city of Las Vegas, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) and Keolis North America (Keolis), which will operate and maintain the NAVYA Arma fully electric shuttle.Tim Condon, President & CEO of AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah, said autonomous-vehicle technology is poised to bring unprecedented mobility independence to Americans, in addition to improving traffic safety."From the horseless carriage to the driverless car, AAA has built its legacy on making travel safer, easier and more enjoyable," said Condon. "AAA believes autonomous technology has the potential to save lives and improve traffic safety. We believe our Las Vegas pilot will allow the public to experience this exciting technology for themselves and allow their voices to be heard as AAA studies how autonomous transportation can be safely deployed for public use."The shuttle is manufactured by NAVYA, comes equipped with LiDAR technology, GPS, cameras, and will seat eight passengers with seatbelts. Safety features include the ability to automatically and immediately brake in the event of a pedestrian crossing in the path of the vehicle. In addition to surveying the shuttle's riders, AAA will examine how others sharing the streets react to it -- including pedestrians and cyclists. AAA chose Las Vegas for the launch because of the state's progressive regulations on autonomous vehicles, heavy investment in innovation, the high volume of visitors and a sunny, dry climate that's favorable for testing new driving technology."Las Vegas is a global leader in innovation and sustainability and we are excited to partner with AAA, Keolis and the RTC to bring the NAVYA autonomous shuttle back to Las Vegas," Mayor Goodman said. "The shuttle will be a great fit in fabulous downtown Las Vegas within our Innovation District, where we are forerunners in testing new technologies.""As a global provider of innovative public transportation services, we're honored to be working with the city of Las Vegas, the Southern Nevada Regional Transportation Commission, AAA and our NAVYA partners to test autonomous shuttle services with residents and visitors of Las Vegas," said Keolis North America President and CEO Clement Michel. "Today marks a historic step in introducing the first autonomous shuttles to operate on an expanded network of city streets in North America. We're excited to demonstrate to the residents and visitors of Las Vegas new technology that will enhance their transportation experiences in the future."In addition to the pilot in Las Vegas, AAA also partnered with GoMentum Station in Concord, California, to study vehicles being tested at the nation's largest secure proving grounds for connected and autonomous technology.How the Self-Driving Shuttle Pilot Program WorksCovering a 0.6-mile loop in the Fremont East "Innovation District" of downtown Las Vegas, the all-electric, self-driving shuttle offers free rides for people to experience autonomous transportation in a real-world environment. The shuttle is the country's first autonomous shuttle to be fully integrated with "smart-city" infrastructure, communicating with traffic signals to improve safety and traffic flow. The shuttle is operated and maintained by Keolis, which also led the efforts to integrate its vehicle into the smart-city infrastructure, in partnership with the city of Las Vegas and NAVYA.The shuttle can be boarded at any of the autonomous-vehicle shuttle's three stops located on Fremont Street and Carson Street between Las Vegas Boulevard and 8th Street.AAA is proud to work with the Las Vegas community on this program. The auto club will donate USD1 per passenger during the pilot program for a minimum donation of USD100,000 to the Las Vegas Victims' Fund and its efforts to support the needs of people impacted by the Las Vegas mass shooting October 1, 2017.
Russia has vetoed a Japanese-drafted UN Security Council resolution on renewing a joint mechanism to investigate who is behind chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

It is the third veto of an extension for the chemical weapons investigators in the past month. After Russia vetoed a compromise 30-day extension of the mission proposed by Japan, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said that Russia saw fit to waste our time.

UK Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said he was frankly astounded that Russia would block a resolution to restructure how the mission operates to meet some of Moscows concerns.

Swedish Ambassador Olof Skoog called for immediate additional private consultations.

The Security Council was holding those consultations Friday night, but no further vote was expected. The mandate for the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) to inspect for chemical weapons runs out at midnight Friday.

Italian UN Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi, president of the Security Council, said the group will continue to work in the coming hours and days to find a common position in light, of course, of this crucial non-proliferation issue that we have been debating for the last days.

The Russian veto is the 10th that Moscow has made to protect its ally, the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It means that the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), a body formed to learn who was responsible for chemical weapons attacks on civilians in Syria, expires at midnight Thursday. The U.S. proposal sought to extend it for another year.
ConcertoHealth Chosen by Seattle Primary Care Innovation Elective for Citywide Training Program

IRVINE, Calif: ConcertoHealth, the leading provider of specialized primary care and supporting clinical services for vulnerable, frail and elderly patients, was selected for the Seattle Primary Care Innovation Elective, a four-week course that trains medical residents in primary care innovation and leadership.





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The ConcertoHealth Care Center in Renton, Wash., was chosen as a site for the program based on its innovative, collaborative, team-based approach to patient care.ConcertoHealth Care Centers in Washington offer services that go beyond the scope of a traditional doctor's office to include 24/7 care coordination and support, and access to physicians, nurses, field-based clinicians, care coordinators, social workers, and pharmacists. ConcertoHealth integrates clinical care with social services and proprietary health data analytics to offer high-touch, individualized primary and preventative care for patients regardless of the care setting, be it at home, in a hospital, Care Center, or post-acute setting. ConcertoHealth also deploys its technology and on-the-ground care teams to support health plans' primary care provider networks."We are proud to be selected for the Seattle Primary Care Innovation Elective, which offers a unique experience to residents training at some of the best primary care programs in the country," said Chris Dodd, M.D., M.S., ConcertoHealth regional medical director for Washington state. "We look forward to hosting physicians-in-training at our Renton Care Center, and sharing the proven insights, strategies and services that we deploy at ConcertoHealth Care Centers each day."The first of two medical resident groups recently toured the ConcertoHealth Renton Care Center. They learned about the ConcertoHealth primary care model and observed the interdisciplinary care team and patient visit preparation meetings. The residents also received an overview of the ConcertoHealth patient engagement team and discussed opportunities to improve quality of care through a team-based, collaborative approach to effectively manage care and treatment for the most vulnerable and costly patients.
Three scholars awarded Japan's highest private award

Kyoto [Japan], November 17 : Three scholars have been awarded Japan's highest private award for global achievement called the Kyoto Prize, in recognition of their great achievements in the fields of advanced technology, basic science, and arts, respectively.





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This international prize has been presented annually since 1985 by Inamori Foundation, to encourage individuals who have contributed significantly to science, basic sciences, and arts, philosophy and culture.Japanese engineer and researcher Dr. Takashi Mimura was awarded the Kyoto Prize in advanced technology for his "invention of the High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT)".The Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences was given to Australian plant physiologist Graham Farquhar.Richard Taruskin, a musicologist from the United States, won the Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy.Sam (Shigeyuki) Kitani, an official of Kyocera Corporation said, "The management philosophy of Inamori is well known throughout the world and more than 40 works about his management style and philosophy have been translated worldwide. Recently, his management style and philosophy have been translated into Thai, Vietnamese and other Asian languages. Naturally, his Asian way of thinking is familiar for the people of these countries and is supported by the people in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations".Hayato Takenouchi of Inamori Foundation said, "For example, Nobel Prize was created based on the will of Alfred Nobel. In the same way, Inamori's philosophy is reflected in the Kyoto Prize. Winners are selected based on their philosophy "To contribute to the world is the best action of a human being".The 33rd Kyoto Prize was hosted by the Inamori Foundation.
Nepal remembers Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

Kathmandu [Nepal], November 17 : Nepal on Friday remembered India's first Education minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad to celebrate the National Education Day.





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The program, organised by Embassy of India in Kathmandu, in collaboration with Indian Culture Centre was also celebrated as Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Day.Many dignitaries, senior bureaucrats from Government of Nepal and academicians marked their presence on the day.Ambassador of India to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri said, "We believe in solidarity which means offering our expertise, learning abilities, capacities in the area of skill development and make them available to fellows from the developing world."The first batch of 12 ITEC participants went to India in the year 2000.Over the years, the number of seats allocated to Nepal under ITEC program has increased from 12 in 2000 to 250 in 2016.Candidates from Government of Nepal as well as from private and public sectors have been trained under ITEC programme in reputed institutions in India in the field of computers, engineering, journalism, banking and other fields.From the days of its initiation to take offer professional courses about 1250 participants are said to be benefitted by the initiated programs, the ITEC informed.Anil Pariyar participant, ITEC said, "India and Nepal have been sharing wide commonality through this ITEC program and it is great for me to get involved in it."The day was marked with much fervor and showcasing of various Indian dances and songs by the Nepali students who are enrolled in various culture learning process in the Indian Culture Center.
Google dedicates its doodle to V Shantaram on his 116th birthday

New Delhi , Nov 18 : Google on Saturday paid its tributes to V. Shantaram, renowned Indian filmmaker and producer, through a dedicated doodle on the occasion of his 116th birth anniversary.





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Born as Rajaram Vankurde Shantaram on 18 November in 1901, V. Shantaram was known for films such as Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946), Amar Bhoopali (1951), Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (1955), Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957), Navrang (1959), Duniya Na Mane (1937) and Pinjra (1972).The doodle depicts three films produced and directed by Shantaram in the 1950s that won him numerous national and international awards. Amar Bhoopali told the true story of an ordinary cow herder with a natural gift for poetry, set in the days of the Maratha Confederacy.Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje, a love story set against the background of classical Indian dance, was among the first films in India to use Technicolor.Do Aankhen Baara Haath portrayed the tale of a young jail warden who would reform dangerous prisoners into persons of virtue through hard work. Shantaram's powerful approach to advocating humanism while still exposing injustice made this film a classic.The doodle by Sukanto Debnath celebrates Shantaram's lasting impact on Indian cinema.He started his film career doing odd jobs in Maharashtra Film Co. owned by Baburao Painter at Kolhapur and went on to debut as an actor in the silent film Surekha Haran in 1921.Shantaram, fondly known as Annasaheb, had an illustrious career as a filmmaker for almost six decades.He was one of the early filmmakers to realize the efficacy of the film medium as an instrument of social change and used it successfully to advocate humanism on one hand and expose bigotry and injustice on the other.Shantaram was conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1985 and was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1992.He died on 30 October 1990 in Mumbai. The V. Shantaram Award was constituted by Central Government and Maharashtra State Government in his honour.
President of India presents Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner to the President's Bodyguard

New Delhi : The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, presented the Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner to the President's Bodyguard at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (November 17, 2017).





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Speaking on the occasion, the President said that it gave him great pleasure to present the PBG a Silver Trumpet with his Trumpet Banner. As the President's personal troops, the President's Bodyguards have lived up to the highest standards of professional excellence and distinguished service to our country. The men of the PBG comprise the only regiment in the Indian Army fully trained as horsemen, paratroopers, tank-men, and in ceremonial duties. This gives them a special position in our Armed Forces.The President said that it is a matter of pride that warriors of the President's Bodyguard have served with distinction during our country's major wars, as well as with the Indian Peace-Keeping Force in Sri Lanka and on the icy heights of the Siachen Glacier. They have also been deployed overseas as part of United Nations Peace-Keeping Missions.The President's Bodyguard is the oldest regiment in the Indian Army, having been raised as the Governor-General's Bodyguard (later the Viceroy's Bodyguard) in 1773. As the President of India's own Guard, it has the unique distinction of being the only military unit of the Indian Army that is privileged to carry the President's Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner. This distinction was conferred on the President's Bodyguard in 1923 by the then Viceroy, Lord Reading, on the occasion of the Bodyguard completing 150 years of service. Each succeeding Viceroy, thereafter, presented the Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner to the Bodyguard.On January 27, 1950, the regiment was renamed the President's Bodyguard. Every President has continued the practice of honouring the regiment. Rather than a coat of arms, as was the practice in the colonial era, the monogram of the President appears on the Banner. Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, presented his Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner to the President's Bodyguard on May 14, 1957.
French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs calls on PM

New Delhi : Mr. Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi today.





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He briefed the Prime Minister on recent developments in the bilateral relationship as follow-up to the Prime Minister's visit to France in June 2017.The Prime Minister appreciated the contribution of Mr. Le Drian to the growing India-France engagement, in his current role as well as in his earlier role as Defence Minister of France.The Prime Minister said that the significance of India-France Strategic Partnership is not limited to the bilateral context, but acts as a force for peace and stability in the regional and global context as well.The Prime Minister also said that he looks forward to receiving President Macron in India at his earliest convenience.
Suresh Prabhu in Russia to participate in Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting

New Delhi: The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Suresh Prabhu is on a visit to Russia from November 15-17, to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Meeting of the Ministers of Member States responsible for Foreign Economic and Foreign Trade.





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The Minister of Commerce and Industry is also holding bilateral meetings during his visit. This is the first Ministerial Conference on Trade organized by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization after India became a full member of the Organization in June 2017. This is also Shri Prabhu's first visit to Russia as Minister of Commerce and Industry.During his visit, the Minister of Commerce and Industry met the Member of Board (Minister) for Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EaEC), Ms. Veronika Nikishina on November 15 and discussed early start of negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement between India and the Eurasian Economic Commission, as well as the potential and opportunities for increasing trade cooperation.On November 16 Shri Prabhu participated in a Round Table interaction with 30 of Russia's leading business leaders. The companies that attended the Round Table were leaders in steel, engineering goods, railways, financial services, nuclear energy, agriculture, Venture Capitalists and trade promotion. The Minister told the gathering about the new initiatives of the Government of India, particularly with regard to ease of doing business, priority areas like financing in the nuclear energy sector, natural gas, railways, organizing Trade Fairs, agro-marketing etc. The business leaders participated enthusiastically in the discussion to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation between India and Russia. The Minister of Commerce and Industry invited the businessmen to take part in the Partnership Summit, in Vizag in India from 24-26 February 2018.The Minister of Commerce and Industry also met the Minister for Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Mr. Maxim Oreshkin on November 16 and discussed the current level of bilateral trade between India and Russia and ways for its enhancement. They also discussed opportunities that the fast growing economy of India provides for doing business, particularly in the field of manufacturing. Earlier in day, Shri Prabhu also met the President of Skolkovo Foundation and Renova Group, Mr. Viktor Vekselberg and discussed production of solar panels, bottled Baikal water and renewable energy production.The Minister will separately address a gathering of Russian Small and Medium Enterprises and a select group of Russian investors at Delovaya Russia today. He will also meet his other Russian counterpart, the Minister of Industry & Trade of the Russian Federation, Mr. Dennis Manturov. The discussions are likely to included ways to strengthen India- Russia Investment and collaboration in creating Joint Ventures under the Make in India initiative of the Government of India.
Rwanda has announced a global visa free entry for travelers from everywhere in the world starting January 1, 2018.

According to the Directorate of Immigration and Emigration, citizens of all countries in the world could receive 30 days visa on arrival under the new regime as of next year.

The East African nation already has such a system in place for all African countries and a number of countries outside the continent.

Countries like Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, Ghana, Guinea, Indonesia, Haiti, Senegal, Seychelles and Sao Tome and Principe will continue to enjoy free visas with 90-day validity under the new visa regime.

Nationals of Australia, Germany, Israel, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States will get an entry visa valid for up to 30 days and pay $30 for a visa upon arrival without prior application, the Directorate of Immigration and Emigration said.

Citizens of COMESA Member States will however get 90 days visa on arrival (on payment of the prescribed fee) as provided by Article 4 of the COMESA Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Labor, Services, Right of Establishment and Residence.

Data from the Directorate of Immigration and Emigration indicates that the number of tourists in Rwanda tripled to 3,030,057 in 2015 and 3,297,976 last year. African nationals that transited via Rwanda increased to 1,157,171 last year from 970,152 in 2015.
Examination of the subject Education pertaining to the Ministry of Human Resource Development

New Delhi : The Committee on Estimates (Lok Sabha) headed by Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, M.P. is examining the subject 'Education' and will present thereon to Lok Sabha. Considering the importance of the subject, the Committee has decided to invite Memoranda containing views/suggestions on the subject 'Education' with particular reference to Higher Education from individuals /experts /pubic /bodies/ organizations/ stakeholders and others concerned/ interested with the subject.





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All those willing to submit their views/suggestions on the above subject may send written Memoranda, either in English or Hindi to Director, Lok Sabha Secretariat, Room No. 422, Fourth Floor, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi-110001 or Fascimile on 011-23019582 or e-mail them at comestimate@sansad.nic.in within one month of the publication of this Communique.The Memoranda submitted to the Committee would form part of the records of the Committee and would be treated as 'Confidential' and not circulated to anyone, as such an act would constitute a breach of privilege of the Committee.Those who wish to appear before the Committee, besides submitting Memoranda, are requested to intimate to this effect for consideration of the Committee. However, the Committee's decision in this regard shall be final.
Shri Nitin Gadkari lays foundation stone for Cochin Shipyard's Rs 970-crore International Ship Repair Facility

Kochi : The Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Nitin Gadkari has said that Cochin is all set to become a global ship repair hub.





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He was speaking at Cochin today, after laying the foundation stone for a Rs 970-crore International Ship Repair Facility (ISRF) for Cochin Shipyard Limited. The facility is being built at Cochin Port Trust where CSL has leased out a 40-acre plot for the project.The International Ship Repair facility will be a State of the Art facility that can handle a major chunk of small and medium sized vessels plying in India. CSL will set up a ship lift system of size 130 m x 25 m with lifting capacity of 6000 tonnes and 6 work stations. The facility can repair up to 85 vessels, and CSL will thereby be almost doubling the number of ships that can be repaired every year.Pointing out that this facility will help boost India's share in commercial ship repair market, Shri Gadkari said that the industry will also generate about 6000 direct and indirect jobs, besides giving rise to a number of ancillary industries in the state, thus having a multiplier effect on employment and economy.Shri Gadkari also inaugurated the conference Build The Ship - 2017 organized by the Ministry of Shipping in Cochin today. The event deliberated upon the recommendations of a study regarding the growth strategies for promotion of Shipbuilding, Ship Design, Ship Repair and Marine Ancillaries in India.At the conference the Minister announced the start of Center of Excellence in Maritime and Shipbuilding (CEMS), a start up in skill development for maritime and shipbuilding sector. CEMS will have campuses at Vishakhapatnam and Mumbai. It is being set up by the Ministry of Shipping in collaboration with Siemens under the flagship programme Sagarmala. CEMS will provide industry-relevant skill development, equip students with employable engineering and technical skills in the port and maritime sector and contribute to the Government of India's ambitious Sagarmala programme. It will help meet the domestic skill requirement in ship design, manufacturing, operating and Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) and aims to become an international nodal centre in South Asia, attracting students from neighboring countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia for skill development in the Port and Maritime sector. This initiative will also add to the Make in India and Skill India efforts in the maritime sector. Shri Gadkari unveiled the logo of CEMS at the launch event in Cochin today.A joint venture b/w CSL & HDPEL- Hooghly Cochin Shipyard Ltd. ( HCSL) has been incorporated with CSL 74% and HDPEL 26% shares in HCSL. A Shareholders agreement was signed between CSL and HDEPL at the conference today, for taking over manufacturing facilities of HDEPL in Kolkata. With this, CSL is setting the stage for revival and strengthening of maritime heritage in Kolkata.Shri Gadkari also visited Munnar today, where he laid the foundation stone for rehabilitation and upgradation of NH 85 from Bodimettu to Munnar to two laned with paved shoulder. The 42 km project has an estimated cost of Rs 380.76 Crores.
Shri K.J. Alphons requests all Chief Ministers to put in place a Protocol so that in Future tragic incidents of boat mishap do not take place

New Delhi : Shri K. J. Alphons, Minister of State (Independent charge) for Tourism expressed deep concern at the tragic death of 21 tourists in a boat mishap in the Krishna river in Andhra Pradesh.





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He has requested the Chief Ministers of the States and Lt. Governors/Administrators of the UTs to put in place a protocol so that in future such incidents do not take place.In a letter to the Chief Ministers of all the States and Lt. Governors/Administrators of the Union Territories, the Minister expressed his astonishment at the fact that the boat in which the tourist were ferried had no license and the boat was overcrowded beyond the capacity and had no security equipments like life jackets, etc on board, which is gross violation of basic stipulations.
Combined Defence Services Examination (I), 2017 - Declaration of Final Result

New Delhi : The following are the lists, in order of merit of 209 (124+75+10) candidates who have qualified on the basis of the results of the Combined Defence Services Examination (I), 2017 conducted by the Union Public Service Commission in February, 2017 and SSB interviews held by the Services Selection Board of the Ministry of Defence for admission to the 144th Course of Indian Military Academy, Dehradun; Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala, Kerala and Air Force Academy, Hyderabad (Pre-Flying) Training Course i.e. No. 203 F (P) Course.





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There are some common candidates in the three lists for various courses.The number of vacancies, as intimated by the Government is 150 for Indian Military Academy [including 19 vacancies reserved for NCC aCa certificates (Army Wing) holders], 45 for Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala, Kerala Executive(General Service) [including 06 vacancies reserved for NCC aCa Certificate holders (Naval Wing)] and 32 for Air Force Academy, Hyderabad.The Commission had recommended 3611,2154 and 650 as qualified in the written test for admission to the Indian Military Academy, Indian Naval Academy and Air Force Academy respectively. The number of candidates finally qualified are those after SSB test conducted by Army Head Quarters.The results of Medical examination have not been taken into account in preparing these lists.Verification of date of birth and educational qualifications of these candidates is still under process by the Army Headquarters. The candidature of all these candidates is, therefore, Provisional on this score. Candidates are requested to forward their certificates, in original, in support of Date of Birth/Educational qualification etc. claimed by them, along with Photostat attested copies thereof to Army Headquarters /Naval Headquarters /Air Headquarters, as per their first choice.In case, there is any change of address, the candidates are advised to promptly intimate directly to the Army Headquarters /Naval Headquarters /Air Headquarters.These results will also be available on the UPSC website at http://www.upsc.gov.in. However, marks of the candidates will be available on the website after completion of its complete process i.e. after declaration of final result of Officersa Training Academy (OTA) for Combined Defence Services Examination (I), 2017.For any further information, the candidates may contact Facilitation Counter near Gate aCa of the Commissionas Office, either in person or on telephone Nos.011-23385271/011-23381125/011-23098543 between 10:00 hours and 17:00 hours on any working day.
Pakistani, Chinese investors to get equal opportunity in CPEC zones

Islamabad [Pakistan], Nov.18 : The Pakistan government has reportedly agreed to allow both Chinese and Pakistani investors equal opportunity to invest in economic zones to be established along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).





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The cabinet meeting on the CPEC, which was chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, issued a notification in this regard on Friday.Earlier, media reports had suggested that only Chinese investors would be accommodated in the economic zones and Pakistanis will be barred from investing there.A spokesperson for the prime minister said that Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal gave the participants of the meeting a detailed briefing on the CEPC.The participants were informed that a feasibility study of the construction of Gwadar Port was complete, and the construction could begin as early as March 2018. The project will be completed in three years.Previously, the government had claimed that the project would be complete by December 2018.The prime minister was also informed hat the seventh meeting of the Joint Working Group of CPEC would be held in Islamabad on Monday.
The African Union on Friday urged the Libyan authorities to investigate slave markets of black Africans operating in the conflict-torn nation, after the CNN aired footage of live auction in Libya where black youths are sold off for as little as $400 prompting outcry.

Guinean President Alpha Conde, who is also chairman of the African Union, demanded an inquiry and prosecutions relating to what he termed a despicable trade  from another era.

Meanwhile, Senegals government, commenting on Facebook, expressed outrage at the sale of sub-Saharan African migrants on Libyan soil, which constituted a blight on the conscience of humanity.

Conde further appealed for the Libyan authorities to reassess migrants detention conditions following revelations about squalid jails and detention centers that await migrants who are caught trying to reach the coast.

These modern slavery practices must end and the African Union will use all the tools at its disposal, Conde added.

Libya has opened an investigation into the practice, CNN reported Friday, and pledged to return those taken as slaves to their countries of origin.
CBFC member feels 'Padmavati' controversy is 'unnecessary'

New Delhi , Nov 18 : Terming the whole controversy surrounding 'Padmavati' as 'unnecessary,' Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) member Kailash Masoom has said Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum-opus should not be opposed before watching it.





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While talking to ANI, Masoom said, "I think the controversy is unnecessary. How can it be said that the history has been distorted when no one has watched it yet?""I didn't find anything controversial with the film's trailers or promos. The movie must first be watched before opposing it," he added.The Censor Board is yet to certify Bhansali's film that was embroiled in several controversies after speculation that there was a dream sequence showing Rani Padmini and Alauddin Khilji.The film, which features Deepika Padukone in the title role as Rani Padmavati, alongside Shahid Kapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Sultan Alauddin Khilji, is scheduled for release on December 1.
Frost and Sullivan and CNI Jointly Host the First Edition of 2017 Nepal Business Excellence Awards in Kathmandu

Kathmandu, Nepal : Frost and Sullivan and Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) concluded the first edition of 2017 Nepal Business Excellence Awards (NBEA) on November 14th at Hotel Soaltee Crowne Plaza, Kathmandu, Nepal.





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The highly coveted and sought-after awards program honored companies delivering exceptional performances across industries.This year, Excellence Awards were presented to 11 companies in four major categories: Emerging Business, Medium Business, Large Business and Mega Large Business. Sipradi Trading Pvt. Limited was recognized with the "Super Platinum Award" and Nepal SBI Bank Limited was declared the "Super Platinum Award - 1st Runner Up". The event had more than 120 industry leaders in attendance. The participating companies for 2017 Nepal Business Excellence Awards were from verticals such as Manufacturing, Trading, IT&ITES, BPO/KPO, Hospitals, Construction, Logistics, Hotels, Banking and Financial Services & Insurance.The awards banquet commenced with CNI President, Hari Bhakta Sharma delivering the inaugural address on "Business Excellence in Nepal" talking about how this opportunity was missing for a long time. "This is to honor people who have exhibited excellence and whose practices, we can learn from," he said.Highlighting the "Significance of Business Excellence" during the welcome note, Aroop Zutshi, Global President & Managing Partner, Frost & Sullivan said, "CEOs these days are more concerned about the pace of change driven by technology, and are changing the way companies compete." He further applauded all the potential leaders and disruptors of Nepal, who have shown significant growth in the past few years.Eminent speakers and distinguished panelists came together from across industries representing government bodies, policy makers and business leaders from renowned organizations. A few prominent thought leaders and industry experts who participated were:Anuj Agrawal, Vice President, CNI and Managing Director, Vishal GroupNaindra Prasad Upadhyay, Secretary, Ministry of Women, Children and Social WelfarePuneet Varshney, Managing Director of Bottlers NepalShishir Dungana, Secretary, Ministry of FinanceThe awards program also showcased an interactive panel discussion titled "Nepalese companies will be globally competitive by 2022 - A utopic assumption or a possible reality?" where industry experts deliberated on readiness of Nepalese industries to adopt global best practices and how they will fare in the next five years. The panel shared their insights on the current challenges being faced by business owners and how the government could aid them to make the environment more conducive. The panel also discussed initiatives that can be taken by government bodies to support the domestic market compete globally and set a benchmark for themselves in future. The discussion ended on an optimistic note highlighting the potential of Nepalese companies to meet international standards, if it gears up immediately.Frost & Sullivan's rigorous measurement-based methodology and parameters for the awards are aimed at selecting the best-in-class. The assessment process involved participation from Frost & Sullivan and CNI industry experts. Acknowledging the stellar achievements of the participating companies, CNI spokesperson said that it is important to understand how businesses match the expectations of the global marketplace.At the concluding session, Mangesh Lal Shreshtha, Managing Director, Frost & Sullivan - Nepal, discussed and applauded the accomplishments of the companies and front-runners in the areas of innovation, convergent thinking and advanced technologies that are catalyzing and transforming industries in Nepal.
UAE Exchange India Awarded for Business Excellence Award More than Once

Kochi : UAE Exchange India is a legendary financial institution through decades of expertise in serving the customer with financial services, molding a company into best financial service provider of the nation.





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As a recognition for outstanding performance company has been honored with the awards for 'Business Excellence'.Fame Excellence Award 2017India's Greatest Brand Award 2016-17Fame Business Excellence 2017 award was presented by Mr. D.D Sharma, Chairman and Ms. Nanki Sharma, Director of Fame India at an exclusive event at Crown Plaza in Goa on September 24th, 2017. Mr. Ashish Rivonkar, Branch Head-Margoa received the award, rewarding the outstanding accomplishment made by financial institutions for their hard work and great business results.India's Greatest Brand 2017 award for NBFC category was granted for the best innovative organizations and professional doings for the development of society to UAE Exchange India. Award was handed over by Dr. Nobert Revai-Bere, Consul-General of Hungary in India and Dr. Mustafa Sassa, Chairman Sarrah Raj Enterprises and Sellforce.com, to Mr. Satish Chawla Head corporate-West India on October 9th 2017 at Taj Lands End Hotel, Mumbai.Both achievements for business excellence enhance the working of financial services, also it's a great encourage for the business as well as employees to develop new methods to digitalize and modernize the services for the requirement of populace.
Sutter Health intentionally destroyed 192 boxes of documents that employers and labor unions were seeking in a lawsuit that accuses the giant Northern California health system of abusing its market power and charging inflated prices, according to a state judge.

In a ruling this week, San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Curtis E.A. Karnow said Sutter destroyed documents "knowing that the evidence was relevant to antitrust issues.  There is no good explanation for the specific and unusual destruction here."

Karnow cited an internal email by a Sutter employee who said she was "running and hiding" after ordering the records destroyed in 2015. "The most generous interpretation to Sutter is that it was grossly reckless," the judge wrote in his 12-page ruling.

Sutter, which has 24 hospitals and nearly $12 billion in annual revenue, said the destruction was a regrettable "mistake."

Employers and policymakers across the country are closely watching this legal fight amid growing concern about the financial implications of industry consolidation. Large health systems are gaining market clout and the ability to raise prices by acquiring more hospitals, outpatient surgery centers and physician offices.

Said Richard Grossman, the lead plaintiffs' lawyer representing a class of more than 1,500 employer-funded health plans: "It's stunning what Sutter did to cover up incriminating documents in this case.

In April 2014, a grocery workers' health plan sued Sutter and alleged it was violating antitrust and unfair competition laws. The plaintiffs began requesting documents related to contracting practices, such as "gag clauses" that prevent patients from seeing negotiated rates and choosing a cheaper provider and "all-or-nothing" terms that require every facility in a health system to be included in insurance networks.

Sutter disputes the broader allegations in the lawsuit over its market conduct and said its charges are in line with its competitors.

The judge said that in 2015 Melissa Brendt, Sutter's chief contracting officer in the managed-care department, and an assistant general counsel, Daniela Almeida, authorized Brendt's executive assistant to destroy 10 years worth of managed-care documents going back to 1995. The company earlier had scheduled the documents to be destroyed in 2035  20 years later.

The executive assistant, Sina Santagata, testified in a deposition she wasn't aware of any other time in her 17 years at Sutter when the managed-care department destroyed records held in storage.

In his Nov. 13 ruling against Sutter, the judge singled out an email by Santagata as "particularly noteworthy."

The executive assistant emailed Brendt, the chief contracting officer, on July 30, 2015, after sending the order to destroy the records. She wrote, "I've pushed the button  if someone is in need of a box between 3/15/95 & 11/23/05  I'm running and hiding.  'Fingers crossed' that I haven't authorized something the FTC will hunt me down for."

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces antitrust laws in health care to prevent hospitals, drugmakers and other industry players from engaging in anti-competitive behavior that could harm consumers.

Santagata testified that she was being "sarcastic" in her email, and Sutter told the judge that the FTC reference was just a "joke."

Karnow saw no humor in it. "There are infinite topics for jokes, and the choice of this one is strong evidence" in the plaintiffs' favor, he wrote in his order Monday.

As part of his sanctions against Sutter, the judge ordered the health system to examine email backup tapes covering 2002 through 2005 to search for documents on some of the same topics as the destroyed records. Also, Karnow said he will consider a plaintiffs' motion for issuing jury instructions that are adverse to Sutter in light of the document destruction. The trial is scheduled for June 2019.

"The record shows that Sutter's conduct was more than just an inadvertent error," Karnow wrote.

Sutter spokeswoman Karen Garner said the incident was a "mistake made as part of a routine destruction of old paper records" and the Sacramento-based health system disclosed the error as soon as it was discovered.

"We regret that as part of a routine archiving process we failed to preserve some boxes of decades-old hard-copy documents," Garner said.

The United Food and Commercial Workers and its Employers Benefit Trust initially filed the case against Sutter in 2014. The joint employer-union health plan represents more than 60,000 employees, dependents and retirees. The court certified the case as a class action in August, allowing hundreds of other employers and self-funded health plans to potentially benefit from the litigation.

In addition to its 24 hospitals, Sutter's nonprofit health system has 35 surgery centers and more than 5,000 physicians in its network. It reported $11.9 billion in revenue last year and income of $554 million.

Grossman, the plaintiffs' counsel, said he welcomed the judge's ruling. But he said much of the evidence is irreplaceable, particularly handwritten notes from negotiating sessions and meetings involving key Sutter executives.

He said those records covered a critical period in the early 2000s when there was a "sea change in Sutter's contracting strategy" and it implemented provisions that insulated the health system from price competition.

"This was groundbreaking in the industry," Grossman said. "Until we address the anti-competitive behavior of entities like Sutter, we will not solve the problem of high costs in health care."

The plaintiffs are seeking to recover hundreds of millions of dollars from Sutter from what it claims are illegally inflated prices. The lawsuit alleges that an overnight hospital stay at Sutter hospitals in San Francisco or Sacramento costs at least 38 percent more than a comparable stay in the more competitive Los Angeles market.

A study published last year found that hospital prices at Sutter and Dignity Health, the two biggest hospital chains in California, were 25 percent higher than at other hospitals around the state. Researchers at the University of Southern California said the giant health systems used their market power to drive up prices  making the average patient admission at both chains nearly $4,000 more expensive.

"Sutter is a pretty extreme case of market power, but health care consolidation has become a really important issue across the country," said Kathy Hempstead, a health care researcher at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "It's been on the back burner somewhat because of the debate over the Affordable Care Act, but there is bipartisan interest in tackling this."

This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, which publishes California Healthline, a service of the California Health Care Foundation.
Staff at the University of Liverpool's Department of Eye & Vision Science have been awarded 1.3 million by the National Institute for Health Research's (NIHR) Intervention for Innovation (i4i) program to develop a state-of-the-art Ultra-Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography (Ultra-OCT) system.

The Ultra-OCT is intended to revolutionize the way corneal eye conditions are detected, diagnosed and managed.

The best commercially available OCT machines have a resolution of no more than 4 micrometers, but the Liverpool team's system has a far superior resolution of 2 micrometers and can scan 1,000 times faster.

This means that doctors using the Ultra-OCT will be presented with a non-invasive, safe, cross-sectional view of a cornea - a virtual biopsy - while patients will benefit from earlier disease detection, more accurate monitoring of their eyes and personalised management of their conditions.

The award will fund the development of a clinical prototype, produced in collaboration with colleagues in the University's Electrical Engineering & Electronics department. It will then be tested with patients at St Paul's Eye Unit at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, while The Centre for Health Economics & Medicines Evaluation (CHEME) at Bangor University will assess its cost effectiveness for possible future NHS use.

The NIHR has previously funded a lab-based prototype of the system, which with its fast, precise and accurate automated analysis tools performed exceptionally well when scanning donated human eye tissue. The multi-disciplinary team, led by Dr Yalin Zheng, is confident that the clinical prototype will do the same.

Dr Zheng said: "OCTs have already transformed the way we diagnose and treat eye conditions, but our aim is to develop a system which will take that to the next level. By adopting a different approach to other systems on the market we are developing an OCT scanner which offers superior scanning technology and wide applicability, while also being commercially viable."
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is known to cause memory loss and cognitive decline, but other functions of the brain can remain intact. The reasons cells in some brain regions degenerate while others are protected is largely unknown. In a paper to be published in Stem Cell Reports, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital have found that factors encoded in the DNA of brain cells contribute to the patterns of degeneration, or vulnerability, in AD.

AD is characterized by plaques composed of amyloid -protein (A) and tangles composed of Tau protein; accumulation of A protein leads to disruption of Tau and, eventually, neurodegeneration which affects brain regions in a variety of ways. The front, rostral, portion of the brain is generally more damaged by plaque build-up while the back, caudal, portion is generally spared.

Neuroscience eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

Though there are several mechanisms that could cause these differences, the team focused on the potential contributions of cell-autonomous factors among neuronal subtypes that could affect both the generation of and the responses to A. In a novel application of human induced-pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology, the team generated powerful culture systems that represent different areas of the brain. The systems were developed by taking skin cells from patients with a familial Alzheimer's disease mutation and turning these skin cells into stem cells. Stem cells divide to make more stem cells, providing an unlimited supply of cells. Stem cells also can be turned into any type of cell in the body, including brain cells. In this study, the authors showed that vulnerable brain cells made more toxic A protein compared to brain cells from more protected regions of the brain.

In addition, the researchers found that brain cells in the protected, caudal portion of the brain have a less toxic response to A than their rostral counterparts. Though early-onset, familial Alzheimer's disease (fAD) accounts for a small number of AD cases, the study of fAD patients, or samples in this case, can reveal important aspects of the cell and molecular mechanisms underlying all types of AD. The team is currently using this information to investigate exactly why caudal neurons are protected and what differences in cell type cause neurons to be protected from AD.

"These findings illuminate our understanding of why some neurons are spared and why others are not spared in AD," said Christina Muratore, PhD, of the Department of Neurology. "If we can find out more information about why these subtypes of cells are protected, we may be able to use this information to tailor therapies to protect the vulnerable cells."
First look - Han Solo's first "wife" Sana Starros in her first solo series

The Marvel Comics' original character Sana Starros gets her own series
30 mass graves with over 1500 skeletons recovered in Czech Republic

New Delhi : Believed to be from the 14th Century, the archaeologists have uncovered 30 mass graves containing over 1,500 skeletons this week from the Czech Republic, according to the Prague Daily Monitor.

It is believed that the skeletons recovered are of the victims of starvation from famine as well as epidemics in Bohemia dating back to the 14th century.

"We must realize that such a mass grave represents a sample of a population within a very short period, which is extremely valuable to us. The 30 graves, as far as I know, are the largest set in Europe," Jan Frolik, the Czech archaeologist who led the research, told the Monitor.

Chapel of bones in Evora Portugal. Doorway says "Nos ossos que aqui estamos, pelos vossos esperamos" We bones, are here, waiting for yours pic.twitter.com/RuO6E3ZVy1  Bananawatermelon (@Bananaaquamelon) September 20, 2017

According to report, each grave contains skeletons of atleast 50 to 60 people. With a depth of about 8 feet, the graves are likely to have 26-27 layers each.

Archaeologists discovered the mass graves on the grounds of the Sedlec Ossuary, also called the bone church," in the city of Kutna Hora, about an hour outside Prague.

According to Atlas Obscura, the site attracted countless numbers of bodies from the 13th century on, since it was believed to contain "holy soil." The morbid decorations were commissioned in 1870 by a woodcarver who was tasked with finding a way to make use of the astronomically high number of bones that were brought to the ossuary.

Frolik told the Monitor that It may be expected that further mass graves will be found during the research of the interior.
A few weeks after its debut in Ukraine, Google's Android Pay arrives in the Czech Republic and Brazil. This mobile payment service will go live in Slovakia soon as well.

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Contactless payments will be the norm everywhere sooner or later but there are still a lot of markets left for the platforms like Apple Pay or Android Pay to conquer for now. Back in May, we heard that Google's digital wallet platform was heading to a bunch of new markets. Now, two names from that list get full Android Pay support: Brazil and the Czech Republic.

This week, Brazil became the first Latin American country to receive Android Pay. In Europe, the service went live in the Czech Republic this Tuesday, and Slovakia is expected to follow soon. Google's Android Pay also arrived in Ukraine earlier this fall.

The official blog post about Android Pay's extended coverage mentions a few places where the service can be used in Europe today and the products one can get using it: the Kiev Metro tickets, various Czech bakeries and the Sumava bread, as well as the Albert supermarket and the traditional Kofola carbonated soft drink that has been introduced in the 1960s to replace Coca-Cola and continues to be very popular in the Czech Republic more than 50 years later.

Google released Android Pay back in September 2015 as the direct successor of the Google Wallet platform that was introduced in 2011. Although Google Wallet has been replaced by Android Pay in many areas, web-based Play Store purchases still use it. Google Wallet is still employed by some app-based peer-to-peer payments, but it will probably be discontinued in a year or two.
The UN Security Council was unable to prolong the mandate of the UN-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons mission of investigation into the use of chemical weapons in Syria, on the last day of this mission.

November 18, 2017, 11:23 Russia, US do not reach agreement on investigation into chemical attacks in Syria
New outbreak: Deadly virus, similar to Ebola, with NO treatment now strikes Uganda

Uganda is in the middle of a health care crisis as the deadly Marburg virus has once again hit the African nation. Health chiefs have announced that the virus, which is clinically similar to the Ebola virus, has been detected in five cases. The reports note that an emergency Marburg virus screening is being carried out at the Kenya-Uganda border in Turkana, where three members of the same family died of the disease.

Reports have detailed that the outbreak first started back in September when an adult male in his 30s, who used to work as a game hunter and resided near a cave with a heavy bat colony, had been admitted to a local health center after falling ill with high fever, vomiting, and diarrhea. According to reports, the man did not respond to antimalarial treatment and his health quickly deteriorated. The man was taken to another hospital but passed away shortly. The mans middle-aged sister and a third victim had also subsequently passed away.

Marburg virus disease is a rare disease with a high mortality rate for which there is no specific treatment. The virus is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids, and tissues of infected persons or wild animals (e.g. monkeys and fruit bats), according to a disease entry posted on the World Health Organization (WHO) website. Health experts note that the deadly virus kills up to 88 percent of people it infects and is currently considered as one of the most deadly pathogens to date.

However, key health officials remain uncertain about the range of the fatal outbreak. (Related: Black Death and incurable Marburg Virus now spreading across Africas cities worlds medical system helpless to stop it.)

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At moment we dont know if there are other people apart from the dead who have contracted the disease. Health experts are still investigating in addition to sensitising the population about the dangers of Marburg and we call for public vigilance, says Dr. Diana Atwine, Ugandas health ministry permanent secretary.

WHO recommends steps to cut the risk of contracting marburg virus

In line with the recent Marburg virus outbreak in Uganda, the WHO has listed key pointers in preventing the onset and transmission of the disease. These tips include:

Keeping the public well informed  According to the WHO, communities affected by the outbreak should keep the general population informed about the nature of the disease in order to prevent the onset of community stigmatization. Likewise, the health organization suggests that people presenting symptoms of the disease be taken to treatment facilities immediately. The organization also highlights the importance of following outbreak containment guidelines. As per the WHO, people who have died of the disease should be promptly buried.

 According to the WHO, communities affected by the outbreak should keep the general population informed about the nature of the disease in order to prevent the onset of community stigmatization. Likewise, the health organization suggests that people presenting symptoms of the disease be taken to treatment facilities immediately. The organization also highlights the importance of following outbreak containment guidelines. As per the WHO, people who have died of the disease should be promptly buried. Wearing protective clothing and equipment  The WHO encourages people to wear gloves and other appropriate protective clothing such as masks during work or research activities and tourist visit to mines or caves where fruit bat colonies roost in order to reduce the risk of bat-to-human transmission.

 The WHO encourages people to wear gloves and other appropriate protective clothing such as masks during work or research activities and tourist visit to mines or caves where fruit bat colonies roost in order to reduce the risk of bat-to-human transmission. Avoiding direct contact  The health organization also discourages healthy, unaffected people from having direct contact with infected patients to prevent the onset of human-to-human transition within the community. The WHO also suggests wearing gloves and protective clothing when attending to the needs of infected patients. Moreover, the WHO advises that routine hand washing should be practiced after visiting sick relatives and when taking care of infected family members at home.

Find more news on the plague and other outbreaks at Plague.info.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

Express.co.uk

WHO.int
Govt Makes Sweeping Changes to Textbooks for 1-6 Graders

By Gvantsa Gabekhadze

(TBILISI)  Georgias Ministry of Education opted to make sweeping changes to all course books used by the countrys first through sixth graders that will cost GEL 23 million from the state budget.The ministry and lawmakers claim that the new books will be in-line with modern demands and European standards and will raise the motivation of children to study harder.The switch will begin next year for primary school students, with changes to the school textbooks from seventh through twelfth graders coming in the next few years, the government announced.Teimuraz Murgulia, Deputy Minister of Education, says that current school textbooks for 1-6 graders are "very hard and sometimes discourage students from studying.The head of Parliaments education committee, Mariam Jashi, says the books will radically differ in terms of content and design.The printing of new school textbooks will start in April 2018 By September, the students will have absolutely different, very interesting textbooks, said Jashi.Some critics of the decision argue that there is little time for producing textbooks in line with European standards.
The News in Brief

Georgian MPs Visit Donbass Conflict Zone, Reiterate Support for Ukraine



(KYIV) -- A delegation of Georgian parliamentarians on a four-day visit to Ukraine, reiterated their support for Kyiv while visiting the countrys eastern Donbass region.



The Donbass has been embroiled in a bloody conflict since April 2014 when Russian-backed separatists and regular military units sent from Moscow attempted to forcibly seize whole swathes of Ukrainian territory.



The five-member Georgian delegation, led by Giorgi Mosidze of the ruling Georgian Dream party, traveled to the combat zone on November 8. The group visited Marinka, Volnovakha, Novotroitske, Mariupol and Shyrokyne  all of which are located just a short distance from areas that see daily firefights and shelling.



The delegation members met with Ukrainian soldiers deployed in the area, as well as representatives of the local government. The parliamentarians also paid tribute to the memory of soldiers who died during a May 2014 battle in the small railway town Volnovakha and the twelve civilians killed in 2015 in passenger bus shelling near the town.



We intentionally began our official visit with a trip to the Donbass to better understand how Ukraine lives the war, MP Giorgi Mosidze stated, adding that the Georgian delegations visit was to express support for our Ukrainian brothers in their struggle for sovereignty and territorial integrity.



Georgia has been engaged in a similar struggle for already three decades by joining our efforts and coordinating our actions in the international arena, we will manage to achieve our strategic goals more effectively, Mosidze added.



MP Sergei Kapanadze of the opposition European Georgia party, who also serves as a Deputy Chairman of the Parliament, said the legislatures support for Ukraine should go beyond mere verbal statements.



Our visit to the Donbass is meant to demonstrate exactly that it is paramount to express support for the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian state by traveling to the occupation line.



This is our common struggle and it is exactly, here, in the Donetsk Regio, where we can see most vividly the same sort of occupation as in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia). The situation in the Donbass and Crimea follows the same pattern, Kapanadze noted.



The delegation concluded their visit on November 11 with a number of ministerial meetings, including with Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.

(Cuvil.ge)







Traditional Folk Music, Ethnic Displays Highlight Belarusian Cultural Days in Tbilisi



(TBILISI) -- Folk ensembles and young artists from Belarus will celebrate the countrys culture and arts in Georgias capital Tbilisi with two days of concerts, exhibitions and film screenings from November 16-17.



The list of artists included on the bill of the Belarusian Cultural Days festival will include state dance ensembles Khoroshki and Pesniary, as well as Junior Eurovision finalist Helena Meraai.



The 14-year-old Meraais performance will come only 10 days before competing in the 2017 Junior Eurovision contest in Tbilisi.



The festival will also include on exhibition from the Belarusian National History and Culture Museum, highlighting the traditions and national character of the former Soviet republic, sandwiched between Poland and Russia.



A display celebrating acclaimed early 20th century Belarusian poet Yanka Kupala and his visit to Georgia will also be on agenda.Kupala is widely regarded as the poet laureate of the Belarusian language and a major proponent of its usage in everyday life.



Rounding off the program, will be a screening of various works by Belarusian directors and animators at the Cinema House on Tbilisis main thoroughfare, Rustaveli Avenue.

(Agenda.ge)







EU Appoints New special Rep. for South Caucasus



(BRUSSELS) -- The Council of the European Union has appointed Toivo Klaar as EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, the EU press service reported Monday.



Klaars task will be to contribute to finding a peaceful settlement to the frozen conflicts in the region, including the Russian-backed breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.



EU Special Representatives promote Brussels policies and interests in certain regions, as well as issues of particular concern for the EU. They also play an active role in efforts to consolidate peace, stability and the rule of law in developing countries on Europes borders.



The Estonian-born Klaar will also represent the EU at the Geneva International Discussions regarding the consequences of the 2008 conflict in Georgia.



Currently the head of the Central Asia Division at the European External Action Service (EEAS), Klaar previously led the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia.



Klaar succeeds Herbert Salber, who had held the post since July 8, 2014. In September, Salber became Germanys newest ambassador to Bulgaria.

(Trend.az)




The men packing the boat with rice, cigarettes and medicine had fled war and persecution in their home countries.

Now, at 1 a.m., off the coast of a remote island in Papua New Guinea, they were speeding back to the detention camp they hated.

Why, I asked, would they return to the prisonlike refugee processing center where they had been trapped for nearly five years?

We have brothers to feed, said Behnam Satah, 31, a Kurdish asylum seeker, as we cruised over moon-silvered waves on a hot November night. We have brothers who need help.

More than 1,300 asylum seekers have been dumped on Manus Island since the end of 2012 as part of Australias contentious policy to keep migrants from reaching its shores. They were all but forgotten until last month when Australias attempt to shut down the center and move the men to facilities near the islands main town of Lorengau hit resistance.

Hundreds of the men refused to leave.

Many said they were afraid to move closer to town, where some had been attacked and robbed by local residents. But it was more than that. With the attention of the world finally on them, the camps detainees had turned their prison into a protest, braving a lack of water, electricity and food to try to jog loose a little compassion from the world.

They had already suffered and understood danger. Fleeing more than a dozen countries, they had risked their lives with human traffickers on ramshackle boats leaving Indonesia. And ever since the compound started filling up in 2013, it has been plagued by illness, suicide and complaints of mistreatment.

But now, by staying there and sneaking in and out by boat, they were risking arrest in a desperate search for self-determination, and to intensify scrutiny of Australias migration policy and methods.

And that scrutiny has come.

Veteran United Nations officials said this month they had never seen a wealthy democracy go to such extremes to punish asylum seekers and push them away.

Papua New Guinea officials and local leaders, enraged at how the camps closure was handled, have demanded to know why Australia is not doing more to help the men.

Instead, Australia is cutting services  reducing caseworkers and no longer providing medication, officials said, even though approximately 8 in 10 of the men suffer from anxiety disorders, depression and other issues largely caused by detention, according to a 2016 independent study.

Its a very drastic reduction, said Catherine Stubberfield, a spokeswoman for the United Nations refugee agency, who recently visited Manus.

Australias Department of Immigration and Border Protection did not answer questions about the service cuts. In a statement, it said general health care was still available and alternative accommodation sites were operational and suitable.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has also doubled down on Australias hard-line approach, arguing that offshore detention has been a successful deterrent against illegal trafficking.

But in Papua New Guinea, deterrence increasingly looks like an incentive for cruelty. Officials, Manus residents and outside experts all argue that Australia has a responsibility to those it placed here, to international law, and to its closest neighbor.

Theyve put the burden on a former colony which does not have the resources for many of the things its own people want, like health care and a social safety net, said Paige West, a Columbia University anthropologist who has done extensive fieldwork on Manus. This is a problem created by Australias failure to comply with its human rights obligations.

The detention center, a warren of barracks and tents, sprawls across a naval base used by American troops in 1944 during World War II. The Papua New Guinea Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that the camp was illegal, calling it a violation of personal liberty. The governments of Australia and Papua New Guinea agreed in April to close the site by Oct. 31.

But finding alternatives has been a struggle.

Some of the men at the camp  all of whom were caught at trying to reach Australia by boat  have been granted refugee status and are hoping for relocation to the United States, under a deal brokered by President Obama and initially opposed by President Trump.

But nearly 200 of the 843 men still stuck on Manus (women and children were sent to the island of Nauru) have not had their asylum claims fully processed, or their claims have been rejected, leaving them effectively stuck on the island.

For now, all of the detainees are expected to move to three smaller facilities, near Lorengau, a few miles from the camp.

Lorengau is not a big place. It is a close-knit rural town with a few thousand people, a single supermarket, a rusty playground and electricity that comes and goes.

The new detention facilities are set apart from main roads and are closely guarded  we were turned away when a photographer and I tried to visit. But detainees can come and go. And photos, taken by the men, show that none of the facilities were fully operational more than a week after the move was supposed to happen.

At one of the new facilities, West Lorengau Haus, the electricity and water had not been turned on when representatives of the United Nations refugee agency visited days after the main camp had officially closed.

Its still a construction site  you cant just move refugees into that space, said Ms. Stubberfield, the spokeswoman.

The two other sites also had problems: One had intermittent running water, and the other, the East Lorengau Transit Center, lacked caseworkers.

Kepo Pomat, who owns the land that facility occupies, said he had issued the authorities an ultimatum: If his company did not receive the caseworker employment contracts, he would kick the refugees off his property.

Part of the problem is that the governments of Australia and Papua New Guinea are at odds over who is responsible for the men. Australia says Papua New Guinea is in charge of providing for them. Papua New Guinea says it is willing to house the refugees, but it is Australias responsibility to pay for them and pursue ways for them to leave.

Weve been urging that the Australians keep up their responsibility, said Duncan Joseph, a community leader and the islands Red Cross representative. The fact that theyve withdrawn and drastically scaled back services doesnt change that for us, morally and legally, they are responsible for these men.

Many of the detainees who have moved to the new sites reported crowded dormitories and delays with getting food. Some did not receive the weekly stipend of $30 for medicine and incidentals they were promised upon arrival.

Mohyadin Omar, 27, a lawyer with a soft demeanor who fled Somalia in 2013, said the move to the transit center had made him consider returning to Mogadishu. He is a certified refugee who lost his entire family to war. He fears he will be killed back home, but he may go anyway.

Im tortured four years here, he said. Im done.

Back inside the main detention camp, conditions deteriorated quickly after the Australians officially left on Oct. 31, cutting off the electricity and water before departing.

In the equatorial heat, the men who were sick got sicker. Asthmatics needed inhalers. Diabetics needed insulin.

Mr. Satah, the leader of the supply operation, seemed relieved when our boat pushed ashore. The navy guards and police meant to keep everything out of the camp either did not see us or chose not to intervene. Mr. Satah, a fast-talking former English teacher, smiled he led a dozen men carrying food and medicine toward a container inside the compound.

O.K. Brothers, thank you very much  love you, love you, he said, echoing their expressions of appreciation.

Though it was after 2 a.m., many of the men were eager to guide me through the camp, where most had lived for more than four years, in many cases without ever leaving.

They showed off the well they had dug for water, and the protest signs they posted on Twitter using cracked cellphones, cherished like fine crystal.

Some of the men who stayed at the camp appeared mentally stronger than those who had relocated.

They made clear they want to be resettled in a third country, neither Australia nor Papua New Guinea. In the meantime, they were surviving. They were defying the authorities. Thanks in part to money from supportive Australians and local boat pilots risking arrest, they had cigarettes, a stash of booze, and a measure of what they have most craved: agency and autonomy.

There are many things that brought us to the point where weve said we will never go, Mr. Satah said when he was still in Lorengau gathering supplies. But remember, we didnt come here by choice.

Behrouz Boochani, another Iranian Kurd who has become well-known for writing from the camp, put it more simply in a resistance manifesto: All the conversations are driven by one thing, and one thing only, and that is freedom, he wrote. Only freedom.

Why then have more of the men not tried to pursue a future in Papua New Guinea? After I spent time in Lorengau, it became clear: Even for those who have made a life in Manus, there are real challenges.

Mustafizah Rahman, 25, an asylum seeker from Bangladesh, married a local woman and opened a shop in a red shipping container near the main Lorengau market.

There, he said, he is pursuing his dream to become a multimillionaire.

The islands residents consider him a model of integration. But Mr. Rahman, whose wife is eight months pregnant, remains stateless, he said, without formal residency in Papua New Guinea.

Lorengau has become increasingly crowded with climate change refugees who have moved there from more remote islands, and Mr. Rahman said he was barely getting by after paying for rising rent and food costs.

Not everyone can do this, Mr. Rahman said, between customers. Were really not accepted in this country. If they bring everyone to town, many people will die.

The fear of violence is shared by many of the asylum seekers, who have been targets of attacks in Manus and in other parts of Papua New Guinea, as they have been in other countries. A recent Human Rights Watch report documented a series of cellphones thefts and attacks, some involving machetes.

Kakau Karani, Lorengaus acting mayor, said that the risks were exaggerated and that in fact, many residents had provided the men with food, lodging and work.

Around 10 children have been born to asylum seekers and local women, the mayor said, adding, If we werent friendly, we would not be making babies here.

Other residents worry that the men are preying on local women.

Ultimately, both the asylum seekers and the local residents are a mix of potential and risks.

Some of the detainees are resilient and have learned new languages. Others survive with sleeping pills or drink too much  as do some local men.

Australia says offshore detention has reduced trafficking and deaths at sea. Mr. Turnbull has rejected an offer from New Zealand to take 150 of the refugees, arguing it would encourage traffickers.

But for Manus, the effects are evolving and still being tallied. Six detainees have died here. A small number have reached Australia for medical treatment. Hundreds have left, after agreeing to deportation. And 54 refugees from Manus and Nauru have made it to the United States.

When might more follow?

Yassir Hussein, one of the camps leaders, said he often contemplated ideals like liberty and justice  and what they mean for migrations winners and losers.

We are happy for the lucky ones, he said. But why are they lucky? Why are we not lucky?
After 'The Kashmir Files', Agnihotri back with 'The Vaccine War'

Anti-bomb squad fishes out gelatin sticks from river in Maharashtra

Maharashtra: Man shoots neighbours dog for barking at him

Three women run over by express train in Mumbai

India

pti-PTI

Mumbai, November 18: At least three women were killed after they were run over by an express train while crossing tracks between suburban Malad and Goregaon stations on Saturday.

Another woman was injured in the tragic incident, he said.

"The incident took place at around 12.15 pm when the deceased was trespassing (crossing tracks illegally) between Malad and Goregaon stations," said WR Chief Public Relations Officer Ravinder Bhakar.

"Another woman sustained injuries and was admitted to a nearby hospital," he added.

PTI
Akhilesh Yadav accuses BJP of spreading hatred ahead of civic polls

India

oi-PTI

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday accused the ruling BJP of spreading "hatred" and trying to "divert people's attention" through its campaigns for the civic polls in Uttar Pradesh.

The former chief minister also criticised the Yogi Adityanath government for the plight of potato farmers and non-payment of arrears to cane growers, among others. "Nothing should be expected from the BJP now... its foremost task is how to spread hatred, create problems and humiliate others. In order to divert attention of the people, the BJP leaders pick up brooms or wear masks," he told reporters in Lucknow.

"The BJP blames others (for lack of development in the state), but now it is ruling Uttar Pradesh... most of the big cities had BJP mayors, but even the garbage has not been removed in the past 10 to 15 years," the SP leader said.

"Except for picking up brooms (as part of the Swachcha Bharat Mission)... I don't think the BJP has any direction," he said.

Stressing that his government had completed the Agra-Lucknow Expressway in 23 months, Yadav said that it was now the responsibility of the present dispensation to construct the Purvanchal Expressway.

"This is the responsibility of the government... they will get funds from the Centre... Niti Aayog is also cooperating with them. They (BJP) were saying that they will connect Varanasi and Ayodhya, but they should at least start the work," he said.

Yadav said that if expressways and 'mandis' (wholesale markets) are made, the state will develop and farmers will get good rates for their produce. "If dairies such as Parag and Amul come up, it will improve the rural economy, if laptops are distributed it will take the country ahead on the path of 'Digital India'," he said.

To a question on the possibility of entering into an electoral alliance with the BSP, the SP president said, "We are trying to work a way out an alliance... our relations are not bad with anyone... we are in the forefront to improve relations."

His remarks came after BSP supremo Mayawati yesterday said that her party favoured joining hands with secular fronts in the Lok Sabha and state polls, only if it gets a respectable number of seats to contest.

On the law and order situation, the former chief minister said that the people of the state know that the BJP government has "failed" on this front.

PTI
Arnab proposes but Censor Board disposes Padmavati: Did Prasoon Joshi toe govt line?

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

New Delhi, Nov 18: Looking at the short tenure of lyricist-adman Prasoon Joshi as the chief of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) since he was appointed for the coveted post in August this year, it has been a quiet journey so far, unlike the tumultuous stint of his predecessor, Pahlaj Nihalani.

The news of Joshi being appointed as the chief of Censor Board (as the CBFC is popularly known as) was welcomed by many as the lyricist-adman is considered to be a "liberal" person, a total contrast to sanskari Nihalani, who had opposed many movies for allegedly hurting Indian culture during his term as the chief of the statutory body under the ministry of information and broadcasting.

Till date, Joshi has not courted any controversy, although immediately after his appointment as the chief of Censor Board, a Punjabi movie, Toofan Singh, was denied certification on grounds of "excessive violence".

The development did not catch the attention of the media much as it was a small Punjabi film, unlike a big Bollywood project.

Thus, Joshi did not face the ire of liberals and champions of freedom of speech. Now, months after Toofan Singh was denied approval by the CBFC, the board on Friday returned filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali's application for his upcoming controversial film, Padmavati, citing "technical deficiencies".

Once the deficiency in the application is removed, it would be scrutinised again, said a Censor Board member, according to the news agency, Press Trust of India. Thus, the makers of the period drama--that is facing protests across the nation for allegedly distorting history by showcasing queen Padmini of Chittor, Rajasthan in a bad light--had to once again submit Padmavati before the board.

The whole process is likely to delay the release of the film. The film is scheduled to hit theatres on December 1.

The reason for not watching the film on technical grounds might be a genuine one, however, looking at the whole controversy over the film that has got a strong political tone to it makes one wonder if Joshi, like his predecessor, toed the government line.

After gauging public sentiment against the Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film, political parties, both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, supported those who want a ban on the period drama for allegedly distorting history.

The political parties thought that if they don't support the ban brigade it might hurt their vote share in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections, scheduled on December 9 and 14, as a lot of voters belong to both the Rajput and Kshatriya communities--the two main groups which are opposing Padmavati tooth and nail.

In fact, the Kshatriya community leaders from the BJP wrote a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) demanding the stalling of Padmavati's release ahead of the Gujarat elections.

So, the film's political connection can't be denied as every Tom, Dick, and Harry from the BJP and the Congress are busy slamming the film's director and its lead actress Deepika Padukone.

In spite of the whole protest against the film turning nasty, as both Deepika and Bhansali received multiple death threats, all these days, the information and broadcasting ministry remained silent.

However, when the Censor Board-- a prominent body under the ministry--was supposed to take a stand on the film, it acted like a spineless institution by citing "deficiency in the application"--a pretty lame excuse.

Well-known actress Shabana Azmi raised questions over the CBFC's decision to send back the application for the certification of Padmavati. In fact, the actress-activist alleged that the Censor Board was indulging in politics.

"#Padmavatis application to CBFC has been sent back bcoz of incomplete formalities! Really? Or to keep fires stoked for electoral gains?" the veteran actress tweeted.

While the CBFC refused to watch the movie and delay its release, popular news anchor Arnab Goswami watched the film on Friday during a private screening. Unlike, his usual pro-government stand, Goswami profusely praised the film and as usual as an activist, he demanded the release of the film.

Trying to dispel rumours about vilifying Rajput women in the film by Bhansali, Goswami during his night show at Republic TV called Padmavati the "greatest tribute to Rajputs".

"I watched the movie Padmavati. It's the greatest ever tribute to Rajput pride. Karni Sena will be laughed at and they'll look like clowns when people will watch the movie," Goswami said.

The controversial news anchor also slammed the Shri Rajput Karni Sena, the fringe group at the forefront opposing Padmavati, for spreading rumours about the film.

"I Watched The Movie #Padmavati . It's Greatest Ever Tribute To Rajput Pride. Karni Sena Will Be Laughed At & They'll Look Like Clowns When People Will Watch The Movie. " - Arnab Goswami#RepublicWatchesPadmavatipic.twitter.com/VXGmV8JdMd  Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) November 17, 2017

The makers of the film have rued how the CBFC is "looking the other way" due to which they are compelled to show the movie on other platforms.

"What an irony, those who are supposed to watch are looking the other way and we have to run around and show it at other forums to clear it," tweeted Ajit Andhare, chief operating officer of Viacom18.com, the production house behind the film.

The banner has produced Padmavati with Bhansali Productions and it will distribute the film in India.

As the ruling dispensation at the Centre has developed a liking for playing politics over films--we saw similar chaos and confrontation between filmmakers and the Censor Board before the release of Udta Punjab, a film on drug menace in Punjab ahead of the Assembly elections in the state last year--it has badly hurt the Indian cinema by repeatedly trampling artistic creativity and restricting freedom of expression of filmmakers.

OneIndia News
Assam AG quits citing outside interference

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The advocate general of Assam resigned on the ground that there was outside interference in his functioning. Chinmoy Chaudhary said that he was not allowed to work with full dignity.

"I have put in my papers to the government on three grounds he said.. While there was outside interference on my work, I was not allowed to work with full dignity as the AG's office required. Moreover, the atmosphere in which I was made to work was not congenial," Choudhury told The Indian Express.

Choudhury was appointed as advocate general of the state by the BJP-led government of Sarbananda Sonowal on June 28 last year. Choudhury said there was no point clinging to an office where there was no dignity. "I found that there was no point clinging to a post where there is no dignity. Moreover, many a time I was not aware of various decisions of the government which are supposed to be taken in consultation with the advocate general," he said.

OneIndia News
Calcutta HC labels W Bengal Government's dengue death report "controversial and contradictory"

India

oi-Amitava

By Amitava

The Calcutta High Court caught the West Bengal Government on the wrong foot over the dengue report furnished by the State. The Court labeled the report "controversial and contradictory."

Following the production of 4 additional death certificates by a petitioner's Counsel, the Court further questioned whether the Government report could be "trusted." The four persons had died in Government Hospitals from dengue stated the certificates.

During hearing PIL on dengue, on Thursday the Government there had been 38 dengue deaths in the State until November 15th. The 38 included 23 deaths in State-run Government Hospitals and 15 in Private facilities.

However, Advocate Srijib Chakroborty representing petitioner Debasish Chakraborty, produced 4 additional death certificates.

Incidentally, Debasish Chakraborty, a researcher from the Jadavpur University had filed a PIL on dengue at the High Court. There are 9 other PILs on dengue also being heard at the Court.

Acting Chief Justice Jyotirmay Bhattacharjee stated that the State Government report is controversial and contradictory.

"I am inclined to seek an affidavit from the Government of West Bengal in which they will have to make clear what steps have been taken regarding dengue. The State will also say what action has been taken to send mobile units to remote areas to conduct tests" ordered the Acting Chief Justice.

He asked the State regarding plans for compensation to families of dengue victims.

State Advocate General Kishore Dutta then raised the question of maintainability of the PIL. "The Court should first establish whether the PIL is maintainable or not. There is a clear directive of the Supreme Court that PILs have to be admitted based on the amount of research that has gone into them. Nowadays most of the PILs are based on newspaper reports" argued Dutta.

He further claimed that the situation is not out of control and that the State is doing its best.

Justice Arijit Banerjee, a constituent of the Division Bench questioned whether there are parameters to declare dengue as an epidemic.

To this Dutta stated that declaring an epidemic is an administrative decision and the Court has no jurisdiction over such matters.

The Advocate General then blamed the Union Government for not supplying Elisa Kits (for conduction dengue tests) to West Bengal. "the West Bengal Government had to arrange for Kits and spent Rs. 55 Crores. The Union Government spent only 9 Crores on national Urban Mission and the National Vector Borne Disease Control programmes" claimed Dutta.

This was countered by Kaushik Chandra, Additional Solicitor General, Government of India. "This is incorrect. In 2015-16 the Union Government had sanctioned Rs. 22 Crore to West Bengal which remained unutilized. In 2016-17 Rs. 19 Crore remained unspent" claimed Chandra.

OneIndia News
Emerald Star tragedy: 'Exhume the body to ascertain identity', says Sushma Swaraj

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Nov 18: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has asked the Indian Ambassador in the Philippines to initiate steps to exhume the body of a person with a life jacket that has a marking of the Emerald Star, the cargo ship which sank off Okinawa over a month ago, for identification.

MV Emerald Star, that had 26 Indians on board, sank on October 13, 2017. While 16 Indians were rescued, remaining 10 could not be found. In a series of tweets, Swaraj said the Coast Guard of Philippines have informed India that an unidentified decomposed body of a person with a life jacket marking Emerald Star was found on October 28 on island city of Banua.

"Since the body was decomposed, it was buried there," Swaraj said, adding that she has asked the Indian Ambassador in Manila that the body be exhumed and brought to Manila for identification through DNA testing.

The external affairs minister said the search operation for missing Indians was going on.

"We continued search for missing Indians on nearby islands," she said.

Extensive search operation was launched by Japan and the Philippines after the ship sank. The Indian Navy had joined the operation. Indian missions in Japan, the Philippines and China were coordinating the search operation.

PTI
This is the truth: All people of India are Hindus says Dr. Mohan Bhagwat

First Indo-China meet since Doklam standoff held

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

In an important development India and China on Friday held their first meeting on the border consultation and coordination mechanism here after the Doklam standoff and reviewed the situation in all the sectors of their border and exchanged views on enhancing CBMs and military contacts.

The 10th round of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was held in Beijing, a press release from the Indian Embassy here said.

The WMCC was established in 2012 as an institutional mechanism for consultation and coordination for the maintenance of peace and tranquility in the India-China border areas.

It was established to deal with the tensions over recurring border incursions as well as to exchange views on strengthening communication and cooperation, including between the border security personnel.

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488 km long Line of Actual Control (LAC). While China claims Arunachal Pradesh as Southern Tibet, India asserts that the dispute covered Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during the 1962 war.

Today's talks were held in a constructive and forward- looking manner, the release said.

Both sides reviewed the situation in all sectors of India-China border and agreed that maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border areas is an important prerequisite for sustained growth of bilateral relations, it said.

The two sides also exchanged views on further confidence building measures (CBMs) and strengthening of military-to- military contacts, it said.

The talks between the delegations headed by Pranay Verma, Joint Secretary (East Asia), Ministry of External Affairs and Xiao Qian, Director General, Department of Asian Affairs, were the first such dialogue between the two countries after the 72-day-long standoff at Dokalam in the Sikkim section.

The standoff which began in mid-June ended on August 28 after Chinese troops stopped building a key road close to India's Chicken Neck corridor. India objected to the construction highlighting its security concerns. The road was being built by the Chinese troops in the area also claimed by Bhutan.

This is the first round of talks between the two countries after Chinese President Xi Jinping began his second five-year term as the chief of the ruling Communist Party of China last month.

Today's talks took place ahead of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's planned to visit to India to take part in the Russia, India and China (RIC) Foreign Ministers meeting expected to be held in New Delhi next month.

Chinese officials earlier said Wang is expected to meet his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj as well as top Indian leaders.

The contentious issues bedeviling both the countries, including the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as well as Beijing's veto blocking UN listing of JeM leader Masood Azhar as a global terrorist are expected to be discussed during Wang's talks with Indian leaders.

Ahead of the talks, Chinese officials have expressed optimism that differences over the listing of Masood Azhar by China in the 1267 Committee of the UN Security Council may be resolved soon. China has blocked India's application last year and vetoed a similar resolution sponsored by the US, the UK and France twice this year.

Also the 20th round of India-China border talks headed by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi, who are the designated Special Representatives, are expected to be held in New Delhi next month.

The dates for both RIC and border talks are yet to be announced.

The Special Representatives were also mandated to discuss all issues related to India-China relations.The delegations at today's talks comprised of diplomatic and military officials from each side.

The two sides agreed to hold the next meeting of the WMCC at a mutually convenient time, the release said

OneIndia News
With India-Bangladesh coming together, ISI set to get further exposed on fake currency

D-Syndicate raises its ugly head again: This time on the target are Hindu leaders

Flung across the border fake currency sold at Rs 30

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

A day after it was reported that the ISI has set up two factories to print fake currency notes, the Delhi police have busted an international syndicate.

Kashid, a resident of Malda in West Bengal who was into the racket for 15 years, was arrested with fake currency in the denomination of Rs 2,000.

During the questioning, it was learnt that Kashid was selling fake currency for the past 15 years. The police also learnt that he would purchase the Rs 2,000 note at Rs 30 from Pakistan. The notes would be flung across the border, he said.

In India, the Rs 2,000 note would be sold at Rs 900, he also said.

Meanwhile, Intelligence agencies continue to keep a watch on the three factories in Pakistan occupied Kashmir to print fake currency.

At the factory, Intelligence Bureau officials say are the mirror copies of the Rs 500 and 2,000 notes which were introduced post demonetisation.

IB sources say that at least 3 units have been set up. It is at a preliminary stage as they have not yet mastered the note fully as yet. Most of the security features have been copied and it is only a matter of time before all security features have been replicated, the officer says.

The ISI has set up two routes to ensure that the currency lands in India. It has now made it a norm that every terrorist infiltrating into the Valley has to carry with them a certain number of notes. The other route it has set up is through Bangladesh.

[Now running in PoK: 3 exclusive factories to print fake currency]

At the factories the ISI has also high quality machines. The high quality ink and paper that is being used would also make it difficult for the agencies to spot. In a recent report submitted to the Union Home Ministry, the IB had said that the fake Rs 2,000 notes would be harder to spot than the Rs 500 notes.

The notes printed in the PoK factories would be smuggled into Bangladesh. From there it would enter West Bengal through the already existing channels. From there it would be transported by road to Kashmir.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, November 18, 2017, 17:52 [IST]
Cong for Muslims, BJP for Hindus: Did Rahuls temple visits in Guj help to bust the myth?

Gujarat Assembly elections 2017: Congress likely to release first list of candidates on Sunday

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

The Congress is likely to release its first list of candidates for the Gujarat Assembly polls next week, the party sources said on Friday.

The Congress has been cautious while selecting the list. It has taken into consideration a host of factors.

It is looking to create a balance and also accommodate the interests of the Patels, Dalits, and OBCs. While the high command has cleared the names of 70 candidates, a formal announcement to this effect would be made only on Sunday.

The Congress is yet to arrive at a seat-sharing understanding with the NCP and the rebel faction of JD(U) led by MLA Chhotu Vasava in Gujarat.

Besides, the party is yet to clinch a deal with the Hardik Patel-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) for fielding mutually acceptable candidates.

The sources, however, were at variance on the number of candidates the first list will have.

According to a source, the party will come out with the list of 70 candidates for the phase one of the election.

Rahul Gandhi, vice-president of the party will take a final call on the matter. He would hold a meeting with the two screening panels set up by the party before making a final announcement on the candidates.

The Congress is locked in a bitter battle with the ruling BJP in Gujarat, which has been under the saffron party's rule for over two decades.

Gujarat goes to poll in two phases on 9 December and 14 December. The election result will be declared on 18 December. It will be held in 182 Assembly constituencies.

OneIndia News (with agency inputs)
2 non-local labourers shot at by terrorist in J&K's Anantnag

FM Nirmala Sitharaman hints at possibility of Centre considering restoration of state status to J&K

In J&K, 14,000 dropouts find their way back to schools

One Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist gunned down in Jammu and Kashmir

Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvis nephew, 5 other LeT terrorists gunned down in Hajin

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi's nephew was among six terrorists killed by the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Hajin area on Saturday.

One personnel from the IAF's Garud force was also killed in the gun battle while two army personnel were injured.

Director general of police SP Vaid confirmed on Twitter that one of the terrorists killed, identified only as 'Owaid', was the nephew of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attack.

Owaid is also the son of Abdul Rehman Makki, the second-in-command of terror outfit Jamat-ud-Dawah. Makki is Hafiz Saeed's second in command of the terror outfit Jamaat-ud-Dawa which claims to be a social and welfare outfit. Saeed is also the co-founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Meanwhile, mobile data services have been suspended in Bandipora.

On Friday, terrorists had attacked a police party in Zakura Hazratbal area of Srinagar in which a Sub-Inspector was martyred.

On November 14, one terrorist was killed by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district.

On November 13, two terrorists were killed while a policeman was injured in Jammu and Kashmir's Handwara area.

On November 2, five jawans were injured in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district after a CRPF vehicle was attacked by the terrorists.

On October 10, terrorists had attacked a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) vehicle in Jammu and Kashmir's Sanat Nagar Chowk.

OneIndia News
From using Bhagwad Gita to local rowdies, Christian missionaries are on overdrive mode in Karnataka

Karnataka government doctors treated 6 lakh outpatients as Pvt doctors protested

India

oi-Anusha

While private doctors in Karnataka were busy protesting against a medical regulation bill, government doctors turned heroes across the state. Between November 11 and 16, government doctors have treated 6,46,939 outpatients. Government doctors at various district-level, taluk-level hospitals, and community centers have treated more than 6 lakh patients in 6 days.

OPDs pf private hospitals and nursing homes, diagnostic centers and clinics were shut for almost a week across Karnataka as doctors went on a strike against the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments (Amendment) Bill, 2017. Government doctors in various places turned saviors for patients in need of medical attention.

Data sourced from all community health centers, district and taluk hospitals between November 11 and 16 shows that government doctors treated 48,706 In patients, conducted 5,072 surgeries and attended to 6,285 deliveries. The largest number of outpatients was recorded on November 16 with 1,49,943 patients seeking help from government doctors.

Private medical practitioners in Karnataka called off their strike after the High Court directed them to do so and after a meeting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Post the meeting, Siddaramaiah said that the private doctors' concerns will be addressed and a new bill would be tabled before the assembly on Monday.

OneIndia News
Luxury car import case: Madras HC upholds 2-year jail term for Sasikalas husband

India

oi-PTI

The Madras High Court on Friday upheld a trial court order sentencing M Natarajan, husband of jailed AIADMK leader V K Sasikala, and three others to two years imprisonment in a 23-year-old duty evasion case connected to import of a luxury car from the UK.

Natarajan and three others were convicted of conspiracy, forgery, cheating and tax evasion and sentenced to two years in jail in the case by a CBI court in 2010. All the four challenged the order.

When the pleas came up today, Justice G Jayachandran said there is ample evidence placed before the court by the prosecution to show that these accused were involved in cheating the government by producing forged documents. Dismissing their petitions, the judge directed the trial court to secure the accused and remand them to judicial custody to undergo the remaining period of the sentence, if any.

The Lexus car with engine capacity of 3000 cc which is not in compliance with the residence transfer provision has been imported with fabricated documents, the judge said.

The provision clearly restricts the import of car above 1600 cc by Indian nationals or foreign nationals of Indian origin coming to India for permanent settlement, unless the said importer has stayed abroad continuously for a period of at least two years and had used the car at least for one year before the date of import, the judge said.

The court noted that many senior customs officials who were part of the "conspiracy" were not prosecuted in the case. "It is unfortunate that senior customs officers who were the members of the conspiracy were not prosecuted, since the prosecuting agency was refused sanction by competent authority. This cannot be the reason to allow the other conspirators to go scot-free."

This court opines that this is high time to revisit the law mandating sanction under Prevention of Corruption Act, and subject it to judicial scrutiny, the judge said.

Similarly, refusal to accord sanction should also be subject to judicial scrutiny so that improper exercise of power by unscrupulous person shielding his subordinate shall be averted, the judge added.

The judge then directed the trial court to secure the accused and remand them to judicial custody to undergo the remaining period of the sentence, if any.

The case relates to the import of a Toyota Lexus car in 1994. Natarajan declared it as a used vehicle and thereby allegedly evaded tax to the tune of Rs 1.06 crore. The CBI and Enforcement Directorate had registered separate cases against Natarajan and three others after it was found that the documents presented by them were fabricated.

According to CBI, Natarajan, along with three others - his nephew V Bhaskaran, Yogesh Balakrishnan and Sujaritha Sundararajan - substituted the original sale invoice with a photocopy of an invoice fabricated by changing the vehicle's manufacturing date to July 1993.

PTI
Measles in Mumbai: Toddler dies, 126 children infected in 2022 so far

Aamir Khan announces break from acting, wants to spend time with family

Mumbai:Teacher rapes minor inside madrassa, arrested

India

pti-PTI

Thane (Maha), November 18: A five-year-old girl was allegedly raped repeatedly by a teacher inside a madrassa in Mumbra area near Thane, following which the accused was arrested.

"The 35-year-old accused, who hailed from Bihar, raped the girl a number of times last week. He was arrested last night," C M Mujwar, Inspector at Mumbra police station told PTI.

He said the accused was an Arabic language teacher who had joined the madrassa just 15 days ago.

After the girl told her mother about her ordeal, a complaint was lodged at Mumbra police station last evening, the police inspector said.

A case for raping a woman under twelve years of age of age and relevant sections of the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012 was registered, the police said, adding a probe was underway.

PTI
UP: Kanpur airport to get World-Class facilities by year end

School boy suffers bruises as his jeans get cut off as punishment

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

In abizarre incident reported from Uttar Pradesh, a Class 11 student suffered cuts on both legs allegedly after school management used scissors to cut off his jeans as punishment for not wearing school dress. the incident was reported from in Kanpur.

Vinod Pal, the father of the boy, alleged that the school manager didn't listen to his child, reported ANI.

"He just cut off his jeans and then used the scissors on his legs. The manager should have sent him back home if he was not wearing the school dress, but such behaviour is not tolerable."

A case has been registered by the police against the management.

OneIndia News
Comment: Bengaluru's flyover not a walkover, but the finest steel has to go through the hottest fire

"Siddaramaiah would lick boots for votes," says Union Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde

India

oi-Anusha

Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde is once again in the news for his controversial statements. In a video clipping from a BJP yatra in Belagavi, Hegde is seen attacking Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in a crass way.

"Siddaramaiah will do anything for votes. All he needs here is votes and nothing else. He would even lick somebody's boots for votes," the union minister is seen saying while addressing a rally during the BJP's Parivarthana Rally. As expected, his lines rouse thunderous applause from the crowd.

No holds bar attacks have already begun in a poll-bound Karnataka with leaders of political parties launching scathing personal attacks. Ananth Kumar Hegde is infamous for making controversial statements and this is the latest to add to his list.

The union minister even alleges that under the Congress government, Karnataka has become a safe haven for terrorists. "ANyone can do anything anywhere and come to Karnataka. Police officers themselves agree that there is 4.5 lakh Bangladeshis in Bengaluru alone. Imagine the kind of bomb that has been placed right in between your feet. Bangladeshis are in Bengaluru, more in Belagavi, Vijayapura, Hubli-Dharwad," he said.

The Congress has decided to stage a protest against Ananth Kumar Hegde's statements against Siddaramaiah on Saturday.

OneIndia News
ED is 'completely independent' in what it does: Nirmala Sitharaman

FM Nirmala Sitharaman hints at possibility of Centre considering restoration of state status to J&K

India will continue to rely on close cooperation of US to address global economic challenges: Sitharaman

Sitharaman slams Congress, says allegations on Rafale deal shameful

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday rubbished all allegations leveled by the Congress party over the Rafale fighter aircraft deal, stating that the UPA regime which was previously in power for 10 years could not make a decision on the jets, despite recognising the depleting the combat strength of the Indian Air Force.

"Between 2004 and 2014, entire decade the UPA could not arrive at a decision. Twelve long years of negotiations and still (there was) no decision, although critically recognising the need for strengthening the Air Force," said Sitharaman while addressing a press conference here.

She accused the UPA regime of not attending to the IAF's key requirement for a decade and credited the NDA government for making the emergency purchase in a "fast and transparent" manner to plug capability gaps.

"Allegations relating to the Rafale deal are shameful, the deal was finalised following a transparent procedure," Sitharam countered.

She said the due process of clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Security was followed with an active participation of the defence minister Manohar Parrikar.

India floated a global tender in August 2007 to buy 126 planes but it stood cancelled after PM Narendra Modi declared in April 2015 India would buy 36 Rafales from France under a government-to-government deal.

She said while the UPA regime couldn't take a decision for 10 years, the NDA government quickly grasped the seriousness of the situation and followed the necessary procedure to hammer out a deal with a friendly foreign country. She said it was "shameful" that the previous government failed to serve the military's interests and was now "bickering" over price.

She asked defence secretary Sanjay Mitra to share with media the comparative cost of a Rafale jet as negotiated by the NDA government versus the UPA regime. The ministry, however, is yet to share those figures.

Apart from Sitharaman, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju also defended the deal.

The Congress had accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of "misleading" the nation on the Rafale fighter aircraft deal by not making public the price of the aircraft, and alleged a "cover-up".

OneIndia News
You don't talk to me: Sonia Gandhi told Smriti Irani in Parliament over 'rashtrapatni' row

DGama's family says, 'absolutely no connection' with firm linked to Irani's family

For Tharoors maharaja comment, Smriti Irani has this to say

India

pti-PTI

Union minister Smriti Irani on Friday took a jibe with Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for his reported 'maharaja' comments amidst a row over period drama 'Padmavati'.

Tharoor had on Thursday reportedly said the "so called valourous maharajas" had scurried to accommodate themselves when the British "trampled" over their honour and were now after a filmmaker, claiming that prestige was at stake.

Reacting to Mr. Tharoor's remarks, Smriti Irani tweeted, "Did all the Maharajs (kings) kneel in front of the British? What will Jyotiraditya Scindia, Diggi Raja (Digvijaya Singh) and Amarinder Singh say on Shashi Tharoor's comments?"

However, yesterday Mr. Tharoor had taken to Twitter to say, "I'm dismayed that some BJP supporters are claiming I attacked Rajput honour...I spoke about the Maharajahs who made their accommodations w/the (with the) British. I have never made a communal comment in my life."

As for specific concerns of the Rajput community, he said people's sentiments must be respected in the interest of India's diversity and harmony.

"Rajput valour is part of our history and is not in question. BJP and its censors should take these concerns into account," Mr. Tharoor said.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's movie 'Padmavati' is witnessing protests with some groups alleging that it allegedly tampered with historical facts.
Surat voters to get personalised invitation cards from EC

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

In a bid to encourage more and more people to exercise their franchise, the Election Commission has launched a novel initiative in Surat, Gujarat. The Chief Electoral Office of Surat has come up with a plan to give voters a personalised invitation to participate in the election process.

Mahendra Patel, the Chief Electoral Officer of Surat, told ANI that the invitation cards would be addressed to the head of the family.

"We thought this election is such a huge occasion for democracy, so why not send an invitation to the voters for the same, and hence on behalf of ECI, we would send invitation cards to each family in Surat," Patel told ANI.

The invitation would be delivered to the family when the booth level officer visits them to give the voting slip.

The Gujarat Election Commission has also been using various other mediums such as radio and Tele Vision to encourage people to vote. Patel expressed hope that this initiative would translate into higher voter turnout than in previous elections.

"On the other side of the invitation card, we have inducted the information related to VVPATs, so that the people are aware of its functioning," he added.

The Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017 will be held in two phases on December 9 and 14. The counting of votes will take place on December 18.

OneIndia News
@alextdaugherty

Last month, Florida Gov. Rick Scott and agriculture commissioner Adam Putnam came to Washington with a simple message: include disaster relief funding for Florida citrus industry. The state's congressional delegation and Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio also made a similar pitch to the Trump administration.

Fast forward to Friday, and Florida lawmakers are angry that the Trump administration did not include a $2.5 billion for the state's citrus industry in a $44 billion disaster relief request for Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.

"Floridians have been kicked to the curb in this proposed disaster supplemental, which lacks relief for Floridas citrus growers who suffered immensely from this storm," said Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Lakeland. "The Florida delegation specifically requested this relief because there isnt a citrus grove that wasnt affected, with some experiencing 100 percent losses  worse than anything the industry has experienced in over 20 years. I cannotI will notsupport a proposal that leaves behind over 60,000 Florida jobs. I urge my colleagues in the Florida delegation to oppose it as well. I believe we have a duty to fight to ensure our citrus growers get the relief they need."

Ross, a senior deputy majority whip, plans to rally fellow members to vote against any disaster relief package that does not include the citrus money. He requested federal help from U.S. Department of Agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue days after Hurricane Irma made landfall in September.

It is possible for GOP leadership to revamp the Trump administration's disaster relief proposal before Congress votes on the plan, which will likely occur when Congress returns from a Thanksgiving break.

Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Okeechobee, also pushed for citrus relief funding.

"Do we want to say that orange juice is produced and made in America? Without the inclusion of funds to address citrus crop losses; that is at risk," Rooney said. "The threat to the domestic industry is real: oranges imported to Florida, primarily from Brazil and Mexico, are already projected to surpass what is grown in Florida this season. This storm has jeopardized an iconic Florida crop and way of life. Washington must act and provide relief so that generations of family citrus growers can continue to produce, employ, and put Florida-grown orange juice on Americas breakfast tables."

Nelson also criticized the $44 billion disaster funding request in more general terms, noting that Puerto Rico asked for $94 billion in disaster relief earlier this week while Texas asked for $61 billion after Hurricane Harvey.

"This request by the administration doesnt come close to providing what is needed," Nelson said in a statement. "People are hurting and they desperately need our help, yet this request has no money to provide housing for evacuees and barely any money for Floridas citrus growers. Thats unacceptable. Congress needs to pass a more robust disaster bill that actually provides the funding needed to help people recover."

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, also opposed the package and said she will use her spot on the House committee that determines federal spending to push for changes.

This Trump administration request is an insult," Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. "It ignores evacuee housing, and demands matching funds that will hinder Puerto Ricos ability to tap CDBG relief. It also falls way short of what of Floridas citrus growers need. As an Appropriator, I will work across the aisle in Congress for a recovery package that actually takes seriously the tremendous need we have after this ravenous storm season.
Chinese envoy's visit to North Korea a 'big move': Trump

International

pti-PTI

Beijing, November 18: A top Chinese envoy landed in North Korea on Saturday in a trip hailed as a "big move" by US President Donald Trump, who has urged Beijing to pile pressure on its nuclear-armed ally.

Diplomat Song Tao is visiting the North on behalf of President Xi Jinping to brief officials on the recent Chinese Communist Party Congress and other "issues of mutual interest", foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

He is the first major Chinese envoy to visit Pyongyang in more than a year with ties severely strained between the two countries.

Analysts expect Song to address the nuclear standoff, which has roiled relations between the two Cold War-era allies as China has backed United Nations sanctions on North Korea over its missile tests and sixth nuclear blast.

Trump, who warned Xi during his trip to Beijing last week that time was "quickly running out" to solve the nuclear crisis, took to Twitter on Thursday to hail the mission as "a big move, we'll see what happens!".

A brief report from North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency this morning confirmed Song had landed and met with Choe Ryong-Hae, a senior Pyongyang official and a close aide of leader Kim Jong-Un.

The report said Song told his hosts China wanted to "develop the traditional friendly relations between the two parties and countries" but contained no further details of what was discussed.

Washington wants China, which accounts for 90 percent of North Korea's foreign trade, to put more economic pressure on the reclusive regime.

But experts doubt Song's visit will yield major breakthroughs. "China has virtually no political influence on North Korea.

Its influence is derived from economic leverage," Bonnie Glaser, China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told AFP. "Relations are extremely stressed.

Perhaps the lowest point since the Korean War," she said. "Perhaps (the mission) will put a floor under China-North Korea relations, preventing further deterioration."

China has imposed its own banking restrictions on North Koreans in addition to enacting a series of UN measures that include bans on imports of coal, iron ore and seafood from the North.

But Beijing fears that squeezing Pyongyang too hard would cause its collapse. Song is the first Chinese envoy to make an official trip to North Korea since October 2016, when vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin visited.

Geng gave scant details about the trip, saying he did not know who he would meet or what topics he would discuss.

China's relations with North Korea are currently at "the lowest point they've been in history", leaving the North diplomatically at its most isolated, said Lu Chao, director of the North Korea Research Centre at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences.

As a high-level diplomat, Song would likely meet directly with North Korea's top leaders, he said. "As far as North Korea is concerned, China's opinion is still an important one and will certainly arouse their full attention," Lu said.

As nuclear tensions have soared, Xi has pushed for negotiations and a "dual-track approach" in which the United States would freeze its military drills in the region while North Korea halts its weapons programmes.

Trump claimed this week that Xi had agreed to drop his plan during their talks last week, but Beijing stood by its policy. "We believe that at the moment, this is the most realistic, feasible, fair and reasonable plan," Geng told a regular news briefing.

Yuan Jingdong, a specialist in Asia-Pacific security issues at the University of Sydney, expects little from Song's mission. "We can expect some face-saving, assuring but very general and abstract commitments with no substantial changes in North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes," Yuan said.

The visit is "more about warning North Korea against going to extremes than forcing it to give up the nukes" because China's top priority remains to maintain regional stability, he said.

Song would likely "assure Kim that if he behaves within a reasonable bound he can expect Beijing to continue providing some assistance and resist broadening the sanctions."

PTI
Lebanese PM Hariri expected to fly to France

International

pti-PTI

Beirut, November 18: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who is expected to fly to Paris, said on Saturday he was on his way to the airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh where he has been since his shock resignation.

"To say that I am held up in Saudi Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie. I am on the way to the airport," Hariri tweeted.

To say that I am held up in Saudi Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie. I am on the way to the airport Mr. Sigmar Gabriel.  Saad Hariri (@saadhariri) November 17, 2017

Lebanese President Michel Aoun had accused Saudi authorities of "detaining" Hariri and refused to accept his resignation from abroad.

Hariri, a dual Saudi citizen, has been in Riyadh since issuing a statement on television there on November 4 that he was stepping down because he feared for his life while also accusing Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of destabilising his nation.

Just before Hariri's tweet today, a source close to him said he was on the point of leaving Riyadh and had met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. French President Emmanuel Macron has invited Hariri to Paris with his family for a "few days".

Macron will meet Hariri at noon (1100 GMT) today as he arrives in the midst of a major political crisis, the French leader's office said today.

Hariri's resignation was quickly perceived as the latest round in a tug of war between Saudi Arabia, his longtime sponsor, and its regional arch-rival Iran.

It has raised deep concerns about the stability of Lebanon, which has long been riven by disagreements between Hariri's bloc and that of his chief rival, the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.

Hariri's resignation announcement -- which reportedly took even some of his closest aides by surprise -- and his subsequent failure to return home to officially quit in person, fuelled speculation that he was acting under orders from his Saudi patrons.

In his Tweet today Hariri specifically mentioned German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, without going into any more details.

Gabriel yesterday said he shared the concern about the threat of instability and bloodshed in Lebanon and, without mentioning Saudi Arabia directly, warned against the "adventurism" behind the Lebanon crisis.

Earlier in the week Gabriel had said: "Lebanon has earned the right to decide on its fate by itself and not become a pinball of Syria or Saudi Arabia or other national interests".

PTI
PM Modi only world statesman to stand up to China on BRI: Pillsbury

International

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Recommended Video

PM Modi lauded for standing up to China's One Belt  One Road initiative | Oneindia News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is getting stronger globally with each passing day, despite opposition at home. Modi seems to have successfully convinced the global community that 'Ache Din' has indeed come for India.

American scholar Michael Pillsbury vindicated India on One Belt and One Road Initiative (OBOR) against China, saying the only statesman in the world who stood up to it yet, is Prime Minister Modi.

"He and his team have been quite outspoken, partly because the Belt and Road Initiative includes violation of Indian sovereign claims," Michael Pillsbury said.

During a Congressional hearing, Michael Pillsbury, Director of Center on Chinese Strategy at the prestigious think-tank Hudson Institute, told lawmakers that PM Modi and his team have been quite outspoken against Chinese President Xi Jinping's ambitious project.

"The only statesman in the world who stood up to it yet is Prime Minister Modi. He and his team have been quite outspoken, partly because the Belt and Road Initiative includes violation of Indian sovereign claims," Pillsbury said.

"But the US government, until now and this is a five-year-old initiative if you count the early part of it, has been silent," he said.

Praising the Trump administration for its new Indo-Pacific strategy, the former Pentagon official said in recent days people have heard more than 50 times by members of the Trump administration including the president himself mentioning a "free and open" Indo-Pacific region.

"The Chinese have already attacked this. They don't like it," said Mr. Pillsbury, who is considered an authority on China-related issues.

"The Indians, fairly recently, were joking about we want to make the Indian Ocean the Indian Ocean, by which they meant the purchase of several billion dollars worth of American PA aircraft, which have weapon systems in the back that can sink ships, frankly, and other improvements including maritime situational awareness and a big new center in Delhi where the Indians can keep track of both blue holes and grey holes going through the Indian Ocean," he said.

"The Chinese are very angry about this. They have criticised the Obama administration for its effort to, as they say, boost India, to a higher rank order in comprehensive power than the Chinese believe India deserves," the top American expert on China said in response to a question.

Senator Ed Markey said China's signature Belt and Road Initiative that aims to position China as the uncontested leading power in Asia "may further coerce" and bully its neighbours through loans they cannot repay.

The Belt and Road Initiative aimed at building a vast network of infrastructure projects expanding China's expertise and capital to different parts of the world includes $50 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor or CPEC over which India has protested as it passes through Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir or PoK.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the only world statesman to have stood up to China and their Belt and Road Initiative, even though the US has been silent on the ambitious project till recently, a top American expert on China said today.

During a Congressional hearing, Michael Pillsbury, Director of Center on Chinese Strategy at the prestigious think-tank Hudson Institute, told lawmakers that PM Modi and his team have been quite outspoken against Chinese President Xi Jinping's ambitious project.

"The only statesman in the world who stood up to it yet is Prime Minister Modi. He and his team have been quite outspoken, partly because the Belt and Road Initiative includes violation of Indian sovereign claims," Mr Pillsbury said.

"But the US government, until now and this is a five-year-old initiative if you count the early part of it, has been silent," he said.

Praising the Trump administration for its new Indo-Pacific strategy, the former Pentagon official said in recent days people have heard more than 50 times by members of the Trump administration including the president himself mentioning a "free and open" Indo-Pacific region.

"The Chinese have already attacked this. They don't like it," said Pillsbury, who is considered an authority on China-related issues.

"The Indians, fairly recently, were joking about we want to make the Indian Ocean the Indian Ocean, by which they meant the purchase of several billion dollars worth of American PA aircraft, which have weapon systems in the back that can sink ships, frankly, and other improvements including maritime situational awareness and a big new center in Delhi where the Indians can keep track of both blue holes and grey holes going through the Indian Ocean," he said.

"The Chinese are very angry about this. They have criticised the Obama administration for its effort to, as they say, boost India, to a higher rank order in comprehensive power than the Chinese believe India deserves," the top American expert on China said in response to a question.

Senator Ed Markey said China's signature Belt and Road Initiative that aims to position China as the uncontested leading power in Asia "may further coerce" and bully its neighbours through loans they cannot repay.

PTI
No decision to provide EWS flats to Rohingya illegal migrants in Delhi: MHA

What about undocumented Indians living abroad: Manish Tewari on BJP's Rohingya threat to nation comment

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

Will Myanmar abide by UN resolution to grant full citizenship to Rohingyas?

International

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

United Nations, Nov 18: As the flow of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar to Bangladesh continues unabated, it's clear that the military operations in Myanmar's Rakhine State against the minority Muslim community are yet to get over which began on August 25.

Thus, till date, Bangladesh has given shelter to at least 622,000 Rohingyas in its refugee camps in Cox's Bazar district. Aid workers predict that 200,000 more Rohingyas will be entering Bangladesh in the coming weeks.

Amid this unprecedented refugee crisis, a key United Nations (UN) committee overwhelmingly approved a resolution on Thursday calling on Myanmar's authorities to end military operations against Rohingya Muslims, ensure their voluntary return from Bangladesh and grant them "full citizenship rights", reported AP.

The General Assembly's human rights committee approved the resolution sponsored by the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) by a vote of 135-10, with 26 abstentions. Those voting "no" included Myanmar's close neighbour China as well as Russia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Laos.

The resolution now goes to the 193-member General Assembly for a final vote in December where its approval is virtually certain.

Saudi Arabia's UN ambassador, Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, speaking on behalf of the OIC, said "another inhumane scene" of religious hatred is unfolding in Myanmar, forcing nearly 620,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh.

He said the OIC is deeply concerned at escalating violence against the Rohingya, who have been called "insects" and "roaches" in Myanmar.

The resolution said there has been a "disproportionate and sustained use of force" by Myanmar's security forces against the Rohingya community and others in northern Rakhine State. It said nearly 60 percent of the Muslims who have been forced to flee are children.

The resolution expresses "grave concern" at the reports of human rights violations and abuses, particularly in Rakhine, and calls on Myanmar to grant unhindered humanitarian access to aid those in need as well as access for a UN fact-finding mission.

The resolution also asks UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to appoint a special envoy for Myanmar.

Myanmar Ambassador Hau Do Suan told the committee, "The draft resolution is, to say the least, flawed in its substance and dubious and questionable in intent."

"It is based on one-sided accusations, and falsely claimed evidence, using controversial and self-designated nomenclature throughout," he said.

The resolution "undermines the sovereignty of a nation and is tantamount to insulting its people."

By contrast, Bangladesh's UN ambassador, Masud Bin Momen, called the Rohingya "the most persecuted people on Earth" and stressed the importance of their survival and basic human rights.

Recently, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appealed to the international community to pressurise Myanmar to take back its "citizens". The Bangladesh government has expressed its inability to give food and shelter to a large number of refugees because of its limited resources.

OneIndia News
From Alternet

He's desperate to be liked by dictators.

"We've had a great relationship," said a giddy Donald Trump, following his two-day schmoozefest in Manila with the thuggish president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte.

Duterte, a self-styled "toughie" who boasts of personally killing many people and who likes to compare himself to Satan, has been on a murderous rampage since his election last year. In the name of eliminating drugs, he has unleashed a massive military assault across the country, not merely targeting dealers, but also anyone using drugs. His onslaught against his own people is a human rights atrocity, with untold thousands essentially being executed in what are antiseptically termed "extrajudicial killings" -- i.e., illegal, unjustified, murderous.

Yet, the present President of the United States says Duterte is his new buddy, and Trump stressed in their official discussions that the Philippine president can count on him and the U.S. (which includes you and me) to be a friend. And, as a friend, Trump didn't bother his authoritarian buddy with any unpleasant talk about those rampant human rights abuses.

Instead, the Duterte-Trump get-together was one of mutual praise and even affection. Indeed, Donald was delighted when Rodrigo impulsively grabbed the microphone at a gala state dinner and serenaded Trump with a love ballad: "You are the love I've been waiting for," he crooned.

In fact, Duterte had earlier demonstrated that love when he named Jose Antonio to be his trade representative to our country. Antonio, a Philippine real estate mogul, happens to be a partner with our president in the luxurious new Trump Tower, now under construction in Manila. Cozy, huh?

This might be good business for Trump, but it's a sorry deal for our national interest.

But as Trump explains, "Strange things happen in life."

Yes -- like him! Take that strange bromance he's got going with another presidential counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The two recently had a private tete-a-tete, after which our president said that Russia's president had vehemently denied the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies that Putin's hackers and tricksters ran a slew of fake news ads and spread propaganda to help defeat Hillary Clinton last year. Trump added that he thinks Putin is "very insulted" to be accused of such a thing, and that the Russian told him straight-out that "he absolutely did not meddle in our election."

Well, gosh, I guess Putin would deny that, wouldn't he? But Trump really, really wants to believe that his bro wouldn't fib to him. "We seem to have a very good feeling for each other," Donald said sweetly. "I believe that when [Putin] tells me that, he means it. I believe that he feels he and Russia did not meddle in the election."

"Feels?" Putin is a former KGB espionage agent, a practiced liar and a conniving authoritarian who rules Russia with an iron fist. He doesn't govern by his feelings, but his "feelers" -- loyal operatives who make sure he knows everything that's going on. And he certainly knows that Russia did indeed mess with America's most sacred democratic principle: free and fair elections. Moreover, he knows that by duping Donald, he's free to keep messing with our internal affairs.

Trump has zero knowledge, experience or skills in foreign policy, and he's in way over his head when dealing with someone like Putin. Why wouldn't our president at least challenge this dangerous foreign threat to our people's democracy?

"Well, look," Trump meekly replied when asked this question, "I can't stand there and argue with him."

Really? Well, since you're not up to the job, please get out of the way so we can find a president who will stand there and argue with the Putins and Dutertes of the world.
From Strategic Culture



The Capitol Building at Night

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It is not possible to overstate the power of certain constituencies and corporate lobbies in the United States. These pressure groups, joined by powerful government agencies, many of which have secret agendas that focus on national security, constitute what is increasingly being recognized as "Deep State America." Deep State is the widespread belief that there exists in many countries an entrenched and largely hidden infrastructure that really controls the national narrative and runs things. It explains why, for example, a country like the United States is perpetually at war even though the wars have been disastrous failures ever since Korea and have not made the nation more secure.

To be sure, certain constituencies have benefitted from global instability and conflict, to include defense industries, big government in general, and the national security state. They all work together and hand-in-hand with the corporate media to sustain the narrative that the United States is perpetually under threat, even though it is not.

The recent exchanges over the Russia-US relationship exhibit perfectly how the Deep State operates to control the message. American President Donald Trump briefly met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vietnam. Putin reportedly told Trump that Russia "absolutely had not meddled" in the 2016 US election and Trump then told reporters that he believed the Russian leader meant what he said, "which is good." As de'tente with Russia is not considered desirable by the Deep State, there was an immediate explosion of a contrary narrative, namely that Trump believes a Russian "enemy" and does not trust what his own intelligence agencies have told him about 2016 because he is being "played" by Putin. This story was repeated both on television news and in all the mainstream newspapers without exception, eventually forcing Trump to recant and say that he does believe in US intelligence.

Not a single major media outlet in the US reported that it just might be possible that Putin was telling the truth and that the intelligence community, which has been wrong many times over the past 20 years, might have to look again at what it considers to be evidence. No journalist had the courage to point out that the claims of the Washington national security team have been remarkably devoid of anything credible to support the conclusions about what the Russian government might or might not have been up to. That is what a good journalist is supposed to do and it has nothing to do with whether or not one admires or loathes either Putin or Trump.

That the relationship between Moscow and Washington should be regarded as important given the capability of either country to incinerate the planet would appear to be a given, but the Washington-New York Establishment, which is euphemism for Deep State, is actually more concerned with maintaining its own power by marginalizing Donald Trump and maintaining the perception that Vladimir Putin is the enemy head of state of a Russia that is out to cripple American democracy.

Beyond twisting narratives, Russiagate is also producing potentially dangerous collateral damage to free speech, as one of the objectives of those in the Deep State is to rein in the current internet driven, relatively free access to information. In its most recent manifestations, an anonymous group produced a phony list of 200 websites that were "guilty" of serving up Russian propaganda, a George Soros funded think tank identified thousands of individuals who are alleged to be "useful idiots" for Moscow, and legitimate Russian media outlets will be required to register as foreign agents.

Driven by Russophobia over the 2016 election, a group of leading social media corporations including Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter have been experimenting with ways to self-censor their product to keep out foreign generated or "hate" content. They even have a label for it: "cyberhate."

Congress is also toying with legislation that will make certain viewpoints unacceptable or even illegal, including a so-called Anti-Semitism Awareness Act that would potentially penalize anyone who criticizes Israel and could serve as a model for banning other undesirable speech. "Defamatory speech" could even eventually include any criticism of the government or political leaders, as is now the case in Turkey, which is the country where the "Deep State" was invented.
Sixty-nine years after Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, a "shrine" dedicated to his killer Nathuram Godse was set up in Guwalior by the Hindu Mahasabha on Wednesday (November 15), Hindustan Times reported.

The ultra-right-wing organization installed a bust of Godse inside its office premises amid Vedic chants to mark the anniversary of his execution.

Leaders of the Mahasabha said every Tuesday they will perform "akhand bharat (Greater India) aarti in the temple" to apprise the younger generation about Godse's life and vision.

The term akhand bharat or Greater India is most commonly used to encompass the historical and geographic extent of all political entities of the Indian subcontinent, and the regions that are culturally linked to India or received significant Indian cultural influence.

A Gwalior-based leader of the Mahasabha Jaiveer Bhardwaj told HT that they were forced to set up the shrine inside their office building as the district administration did not give permission and land for the temple.

"We had applied for permission on November 9, but district authorities denied it. So we finally decided to set up the temple inside our building in the Daulatganj area of the city", he said.

Bhardwaj said the "temple" would created awareness among the younger generation about the historical events surrounding the life of Godse, which, he claimed, is often distorted, and the role of Mahatma Gandhi in the partition of the sub-continent in 1947 by Britain to establish Pakistan.

He said Godse had spent time in Gwalior and it was from here he went to Delhi to kill Mahatma Gandhi.

Assassination of Gandhi

On January 30, 1948, Nathuram Godse, a member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), shot Mahatma Gandhi three times and killed him in Delhi.

Godse and his fellow conspirators Digambar Badge, Gopal Godse, Narayan Apte, Vishnu Karkare, and Madanlal Pahwa were identified as prominent members of the Hindu Mahasabha.

Along with them, police arrested Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who was suspected of being the mastermind behind the plot.

Savarkar coined the term Hindutva (Hinduness) to create a collective "Hindu" identity as an essence of Bharat (India).

While the trial resulted in convictions and judgments against the others, Savarkar was released on a technicality, even though there was evidence that the plotters met Savarkar only days before carrying out the murder and had received the blessings of Savarkar.

The Kapur Commission in 1967 established that Savarkar was in close contact with the plotters for many months.

The governing Bharatiya Janata Party is widely seen as the political arm of the umbrella Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS, or National Volunteer Corps).

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From Consortium News



Satellite photos of the supposed Syrian nuclear site before and after the Israeli airstrike.

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In September 2007, Israeli warplanes bombed a building in eastern Syria that the Israelis claimed held a covert nuclear reactor that had been built with North Korean assistance. Seven months later, the CIA released an extraordinary 11-minute video and mounted press and Congressional briefings that supported that claim.

But nothing about that alleged reactor in the Syrian desert turns out to be what it appeared at the time. The evidence now available shows that there was no such nuclear reactor, and that the Israelis had misled George W. Bush's administration into believing that it was in order to draw the United States into bombing missile storage sites in Syria. Other evidence now suggests, moreover, that the Syrian government had led the Israelis to believe wrongly that it was a key storage site for Hezbollah missiles and rockets.

The International Atomic Agency's top specialist on North Korean reactors, Egyptian national Yousry Abushady, warned top IAEA officials in 2008 that the published CIA claims about the alleged reactor in the Syrian desert could not possibly have been true. In a series of interviews in Vienna and by phone and e-mail exchanges over several months Abushady detailed the technical evidence that led him to issue that warning and to be even more confident about that judgment later on. And a retired nuclear engineer and research scientist with many years of experience at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has confirmed a crucial element of that technical evidence.

Published revelations by senior Bush administration officials show, moreover, that principal U.S. figures in the story all had their own political motives for supporting the Israeli claim of a Syrian reactor being built with North Korean help.



Vice President Dick Cheney hoped to use the alleged reactor to get President George W. Bush to initiate U.S. airstrikes in Syria in the hope of shaking the Syrian-Iranian alliance. And both Cheney and then CIA Director Michael Hayden also hoped to use the story of a North Korean-built nuclear reactor in Syria to kill a deal that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was negotiating with North Korea on its nuclear weapons program in 2007-08.

Mossad Chief's Dramatic Evidence

In April 2007 the chief of Israel's Mossad foreign intelligence agency, Meir Dagan, presented Cheney, Hayden and National Security Adviser Steven Hadley with evidence of what he said was a nuclear reactor being constructed in eastern Syria with the help of the North Koreans. Dagan showed them nearly a hundred hand-held photographs of the site revealing what he described as the preparation for the installation of a North Korean reactor and claimed that it was only a few months from being operational.



President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney receive an Oval Office briefing from CIA Director George Tenet. Also present is Chief of Staff Andy Card (on right).

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The Israelis made no secret of their desire to have a U.S. airstrike destroy the alleged nuclear facility. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called President Bush immediately after that briefing and said, "George, I'm asking you to bomb the compound," according to the account in Bush's memoirs.

Cheney, who was known to be a personal friend of Olmert, wanted to go further. At White House meetings in subsequent weeks, Cheney argued forcefully for a U.S. attack not only on the purported reactor building but on Hezbollah weapons storage depots in Syria. Then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who participated in those meetings, recalled in his own memoirs that Cheney, who was also looking for an opportunity to provoke a war with Iran, hoped to "rattle Assad sufficiently so as to end his close relationship with Iran" and "send a powerful warning to the Iranians to abandon their nuclear ambitions."

CIA Director Hayden aligned the agency clearly with Cheney on the issue, not because of Syria or Iran but because of North Korea. In his book, Playing to the Edge, published last year, Hayden recalls that, at a White House meeting to brief President Bush the day after Dagan's visit, he whispered in Cheney's ear, "You were right, Mr. Vice-President."

Hayden was referring to the fierce political struggle within the Bush administration over North Korea policy that had been underway ever since Condoleezza Rice had become Secretary of State in early 2005. Rice had argued that diplomacy was the only realistic way to get Pyongyang to retreat from its nuclear weapons program. But Cheney and his administration allies John Bolton and Robert Joseph (who succeeded Bolton as the key State Department policy maker on North Korea after Bolton become U.N. Ambassador in 2005) were determined to end the diplomatic engagement with Pyongyang.

Cheney was still maneuvering to find a way to prevent the successful completion of the negotiations, and he saw the story of a Syrian nuclear reactor built secretly in the desert with help from the North Koreans as bolstering his case. Cheney reveals in his own memoirs that in January 2008, he sought to sandbag Rice's North Korea nuclear deal by getting her to agree that a failure by North Korea to "admit they've proliferating to the Syrians would be a deal killer."

Three months later, the CIA released its unprecedented 11-minute video supporting the entire Israeli case for a North-Korean-style nuclear reactor that was nearly completed. Hayden recalls that his decision to release the video on the alleged Syrian nuclear reactor in April 2008 was "to avoid a North Korean nuclear deal being sold to a Congress and a public ignorant of this very pertinent and very recent episode."

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The year 2018 is the 40th birthday of PKK organization. PKK leader Duran Kalkan said that the PKK central committee saw the 40th-year significance. And the PKK central committee prepared a special plan for the 40th year of the Kurdish people's struggle to achieve peace and freedom for people in Kurdistan.

He called on PKK members and Kurdish people to be prepared for the better years to come.

The PKK central committee recognized that the victory of defeating ISIS Islamic terrorist forces in Syria changed the balance of power in the Middle East.

Turkish Islamist government and Qatar helped ISIS Islamic terrorist forces in Syria to defeat Kurdish people forces in Syria, while the US air forces helped Kurdish people in Syria to liberate the city of Raqqa-Syria as the 'capital' of the ISIS Islamic terrorist caliphate (Islamic Empire).

The Kurdish people's victories in Syria pushed Turkey as the leader of Islamic Sunni extremist to seek the alliance with Iran as the leader of Islamic Shi'a extremist.

Turkey and Iran helped Iraqi Shi'a forces to attack the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) region of Barzani and Talabani mafia organization as loyal to Turkey and Iran, while the US looked another way. Barzani and Talabani mafia families lost 51% of KRG land now. The Peshmerga forces of mafia families lasted only a few hours of the war.

Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria are united against Kurdish people under the leadership of Abdullah Ocalan. The PKK leader is very popular in Kurdistan now. PKK revolution is attracting millions of Kurds, which are pushing the Persian of Tamil, Arabs of Africa, and Turks of Mongolia to unite against Kurdish people forces in the Kurdistan.

For the first time the Persian of Tamil, Arabs of Africa, and Turks of Mongolia are afraid to lose power and invite the entire original Caucasian people to take back the land from people who came from India, Africa, and Mongolia originally.

The land from India to Europe and from Egypt to Mongolia belongs to Caucasian people. Persian of Tamil, Arabs of Africa, and Turks of Mongolia are occupiers of Caucasian people's land.

References

Kalkan: Sala 40. we bibe sala sorese

click here

Raqqa, ISIS 'Capital,' Is Captured, U.S.-Backed Forces Say

click here
From Alternet

This time there's no fake Democratic threat, just a Republican they want to stop any way they can.



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The strange saga of Roy Moore's senatorial bid in Alabama has made one thing clear: Nobody should doubt that the GOP is the modern political party most eager to rig election results -- even when the target is a fellow Republican.

Recent days have seen the best minds in the current generation of Republican strategists contorting election rules in every imaginable way to try to stop Moore from becoming Alabama's junior U.S. senator next month.

Some of these exchanges have been chronicled on election law blogs, where for years, Republicans have defended their catalog of partisan voter suppression tactics (led by the big lie they were protecting the process from hordes of Democrats impersonating other voters, despite never offering serious proof). But now that an apparent sexual predator is refusing to exit the race, despite calls by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other top Republicans, the party's best and brightest have been exploring every possible angle, including canceling December's special election.

Astoundingly, as of Thursday, the stop-Moore contingent has come up empty-handed. They have been thwarted by the calendar, Alabama's sitting Republican governor and small details like the U.S. Constitution's 17th Amendment (in part governing the election of senators after a vacancy). But how they tried!

Perhaps the best exchange was captured on ElectionLawBlog.org, where scholar and blog founder Rick Hasen recounted his to-and-fro tweets with conservative media personality Hugh Hewitt, who, "at first" suggested canceling the election altogether, and letting [Alabama Sen. Luther Strange, who lost a primary to Moore] just complete the term."

That was a wonderful addition to Republican voter suppression canon: don't hold an election at all.

"I protested that canceling an election already underway (military and other absentee voters have already voted) is profoundly undemocratic and dangerous," he replied. "It also appears to violate the 17th Amendment, which requires that an appointment of a temporary senator be temporary, and that the state schedule a replacement vote."

Hewitt relented, Hasen noted, but not until a better idea emerged: "Eventually Hewitt relented on this point; not because he thought it was undemocratic -- indeed he seemed to believe Republicans are somehow entitled to Alabama's two Senate seats without an election -- but because he thought it would violate the 17th Amendment," Hasen wrote. "So he hit on another idea, and according to Politico it is an idea Republican leaders nationally are now weighing: get Luther Strange, the temporary senator appointed to replace Jeff Sessions, to resign, and then with the new vacancy, declare this election void and start over."

Here's where the GOP got blocked by the weedy details. After Sessions resigned, the state's previous governor appointed Strange to the Senate and set a date for a special replacement election. The big surprise, to Senate Republicans like McConnell, was that Strange lost that race's primary to Moore.

These Washington Republicans weren't excited about Moore before half a dozen women accused him of predatory sexual behavior. But Alabama's Republican Party was standing by its nominee, frustrating the Senate Republicans. So then GOP leaders started looking at other scenarios, such as, could they get Sessions to resign as Attorney General to run for his old Senate seat? No. Could they get find another well-known Republican to run a write-in campaign? Not likely. Could Strange resign before December's special election, triggering a new vacancy and possibly a new election?

"The election date is set for Dec. 12. Were he to resign I would simply appoint somebody to fill the remaining time until we have the election on Dec. 12," Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey told AL.com on Wednesday, dashing that last theory.

That left two possibilities. Moore could lose the election to Democrat Doug Jones, narrowing the GOP's Senate majority to one seat. Or, should Moore win, the McConnell gang could seek to expel him from the Senate, but that takes time and a two-thirds vote.

"There's a Senate norm, apparently, of not expelling for conduct before taking office that voters knew about," Hasen blogged, noting Senate tradition. "Do senators violate this norm? It takes two-thirds to expel. What if Democrats, either following this norm or sticking it to Republicans, don't vote to expel? Then Moore is a constant national story, and a reminder of what the Republicans are trying to avoid... No wonder Republicans are contemplating a constitutional Hail Mary."

Thus the GOP has once again seized the spotlight as the party most enthusiastic about rigging elections -- or doing whatever it takes to get the outcome they seek.
This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.



Kurdish Guerillas

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Despite appearances and differing ideologies, both the Kurds' SDF and ISIS are Western intelligence assets in Syria. Neither would exist in Syria without the West and its allies, and both serve to destroy the country.

The Empire's anti-democratic SDF proxies are not defeating the U.S Daesh proxies. They are simply replacing them.

One might reasonably ask how two seemingly opposed terrorist groups could possibly share the same strategic purpose. The answer would likely escape the awareness of the fighters as well, and it certainly escapes the awareness of most Canadians, whose tax dollars are supporting the terrorists. But the answer isn't that complicated.

Consider the similarities between the two groups:

Both groups seek to illegally "impose their will" on Syria, and are effectively destroying Syria, contrary to the wishes of the vast majority of Syrians[1]

Both groups seek to partition Syria

Both groups require and receive support from the same aggressor nations

Both groups engage in activities that are illegal under international law and punishable according to Nuremburg Principles

ISIS/Daesh serves the military strategy of "place-setter"[2], as outlined in an earlier article. Empire first infests an area with terrorists, then destroys the area, using the fake pretext of "going after terrorists", subsequently, it channels the original terrorists elsewhere, and then replaces the former terrorists with new terrorist occupiers who are portrayed as "liberators".

Syrian journalist Nasser Atta describes the following video as an ISIS convoy "carrying 4500 fighters and their families leaving Raqqa a month ago after an agreement with US-backed Kurdish forces":

Investigative journalist Sharmine Narwani describes the same strategy in these words:

The West, their allies, and their proxies are not wanted in Syria. They are the problem, not the solution. Their foreign "interventions" in Syria amount to war crimes as policy.

Notes

[1] TESEV (2012) 'The perception of Turkey in the Middle East 2011', TurkiyeEkonomikveSosyalEtudlerVakfi, Istanbul, February, online: http://tesev.org.tr/en/yayin/ the-perception-of-turkey-in- the-middle-east-2011/ Accessed 17 November, 2017

[2] Mark Taliano, "The Islamic State as "Place-Setter" for the American Empire. ISIS is the Product of the US Military-Intelligence Complex." Global Research, 26 October, 2017. (https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-islamic-state-as-place-setter-for-u-s-empire-isis-is-the-product-of-the-us-military-intelligence-complex/5606371). Accessed 11 November, 2017

The original source of this article is Global Research

Copyright Mark Taliano, Global Research, 2017
This week both conservatives and progressives were disgusted at Trump's move to allow trophies of elephants that were killed in two African countries to be imported. Trump's sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, have posed with an elephant, leopard, crocodile and other animals they killed in Zimbabwe; Trump defends them as "great shots, they love it."



The Trump Sons Enjoy Killing Endangered Animals

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This is not the first time the love of trophy killing has gone all the way to the White House. President George H.W. Bush, former Vice-President Dan Quayle and the late Retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. were proud members of Safari Club International (SCI)--the bloodthirsty group that sponsored dentist Walter Palmer's murder of Cecil an African lion in the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe in 2015. Bush, Quayle and Schwarzkopf actually demanded that the Botswana government keep lion hunts available for trophy hunters and they are widely believed to have killed lions themselves on safaris.

Rich Americans, Europeans and Japanese have slaughtered so many mature male lions in Botswana that trophy hunters use a "mane-extension service" to make the immature lions they kill look more fierce for mounting by weaving fake hair onto them.

The killing of Cecil marked a turning point in the public's awareness of----and disgust at---- people who get a thrill out of killing exotic, endangering animals. After Cecil, 30 airlines refused to ship big-game trophies. Palmer posed with at least two other"trophy" animals before Cecil, flashing the same "Aren't-I-a-he-man?" grin.

in 2012, the King of Spain enjoyed killing an elephant, to the horror of his subjects, and the year before, the CEO of Godaddy.com, Bob Parsons, videotaped his own killing of an elephant. After Jimmy John's founder and CEO Jimmy John Liautaud proudly posted photos of himself with murdered elephants, a rhinoceros and a leopard, some began boycotting the chain.

Safari Club International Glorifies a Culture of Death

Unlike hunting groups that give lip service to conservation or skill, SCI is just unapologetically pro-killing. It "glorifies a culture of death," says Sea Shepherd's Paul Watson. SCI holds extreme killing derbies that celebrate slaughter like, the "African Big 5" club, in which hunters try to kill a lion, leopard, elephant, African buffalo and rhinoceros, and the "African 29" club, in which hunters kill 29 different animals including a lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, buffalo, three kinds of antelopes, a wildebeest, impala, gazelle and many more. In 2006, SCI defeated an amendment to the Marine Mammal Protection Act in the House of Representatives that would have banned the import of sport-hunted polar bear trophies from Canada. The NRA said restrictions on polar bear killing were "anti-hunting."

Pro-gun groups and trophy hunters defend the killing of exotic, endangered animals as "helping local economies" and even saving other endangered animals from death. The logic is no different from maintaining that sex tourists who abuse one 11-year-old girl save other 11-year-old girls from abuse.

You Don't Have to Go to Africa to Kill a Zebra

There is so much money in shooting exotic animals that trophy operations have sprung up in the U.S. "Hunters" can shoot zebras and other exotic animals at operations like Circle E in Bedias, TX and Heartland Wildlife Ranches in Ethel, MO for as much as $6,500 a head. "Hunters come from across the country to take aim at trophy animals," including zebras, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A three-day hunt for water buffalo at the Heartland costs $4,000.

A chilling expose in the Washington Post says that hundreds of exotic trophy operations exist in Texas alone, "some of which offer opportunities to bag or buy such unusual prey as Russian boars, nilgais, barasinghas, oryx, zebras, giraffes and wildebeests." Unless the species is endangered, federal authorities will not regulate such operations, says the Post. In one operation "staff members apparently used dart guns to tranquilize animals, then herded them toward hunters for the kill."

Owners of such exotic animal operations, which are backed by SCI, say those with ethical objections are trying to deprive them of their livelihoods. "These animals belong to me. I should be able to do with them what I want," Charly Seale, executive director of the Exotic Wildlife Association, the exotic ranches' trade group, told the Post. "The government just shouldn't be telling us what we can and can't do with them."

But public opinion is clearly changing. In 2016, a woman who spray painted "perv" and "scum" on Palmer, the Cecil killer's, River Bluff Dental practice was given probation and community service suggesting that even the courts are disgusted with warped, bloodthirsty trophy killing.



Trump's sons like to kill endangered animals

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From Empire Burlesque

Good old godly Roy Moore now has a page on his website where you can contact him and tell him if you've been approached by the evil media trying to dig up dirt on him.

This follows news that Alabamians have been receiving robocalls from someone claiming to be "Bernie Bernstein of the Washington Post" offering to pay for salacious stories, which, curiously enough, is the same line that Breitbart and other defenders of mall-stalking goobers are taking, i.e., that the media are paying people to smear good old Roy.

Immediately upon hearing of this opportunity, I leapt at the chance to offer my help to this Christian knight-errant, as you can see below. I encourage all good folk who want to make this country safe again for sweaty, jowly goobers to paw teenage girls to do the same.

"Dear Roy, I was sitting in the bathtub trying to calm down after binge-watching reruns of Duck Dynasty when someone knocked on the door. I ran down the steps to answer the door but noticed that I'd forgotten my towel so I grabbed a Kleenex and held it over my privacy and opened the door. Standing there was a man I couldn't absolutely swear was Jewish but you know some of them don't look Jewish like that Ronan Farrow who is Woody Allen's son but looks like Frank Sinatra who I believe was an Italian and not Jewish.

"Anyway, this man asked me if I would go on the record to the Washington Post and say that Judge Roy Bean Moore had tried to get in my underwear 35 years ago. I said absolutely not. I wasn't even in the country 35 years ago I was in Guatemala if that's any of your business. But, I said to him, even if Judge Roy Bean had tried to get into my underwear 35 years ago or 35 days ago I would still vote for him because that's what Jesus would do because of Moslems and fairies.

"So, I said to him, you can go tell George Soros and Jeff Bozo I'm not going to smear a godly man for doing what any red-blooded American male would do in similar circumstances. He said, OK then but then he said he had to sneeze and because my mama raised me to be polite I handed him my Kleenex and the next thing I know there were CNN cameras filming me and the next thing I know the video went viral and now all the guys at the pool hall look at me funny.

"So Judge Roy Bean if you get to the Senate like I know God wants you to I hope you will use your pull to get YouTube to take down that video because it was kind of cold that day and it is not really representative of my natural nature.

"Thank you and God bless. Your pal, C.K. Dexterhaven"
From Alternet

The Supreme Court and states have rejected fetal personhood, but Congress is slipping it into a college savings plan.





The GOP tax plan before Congress has billions in gimmicks and giveaways for corporate interests. But none may be as far-reaching, from a social policy perspective, as language declaring human fetuses are legal persons for federal tax purposes.

Having Congress or federal courts declare fetal personhood, as it is known, has been one of the anti-abortion movement's top goals for decades. That's because U.S. law is rife with rights and protections that are ascribed to persons, or to entities -- such as corporations -- whose behavior has human attributes. And as with so-called corporate personhood, which entered the American legal lexicon in the late 1800s, once that characterization becomes commonplace in law, it's virtually impossible to extricate.

"The GOP has chosen to hide this deeply unpopular and extremely dangerous provision deep in the tax code where they think no one will find it," wrote Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, for CNBC.com. "If it goes unnoticed and passes into the final bill, it will have succeeded where they have always failed: in establishing a definition of when life begins that goes against legal precedent, science, and public opinion."

There's a good reason the GOP tax bills are hiding personhood in an arcane provision. Despite a decades-long push by conservative Christians to create fetal personhood, the U.S. Supreme Court has not affirmed it in its abortion rulings. Nor have voters passed ballot initiatives creating fetal personhood, even in deep-red states such as North Dakota and Mississippi, even as it has appeared with more frequency in recent years. Neither have states passed fetal personhood bills, even though nine states introduced 13 bills in 2016. (Instead, abortion opponents have created other obstacles, from parental notification laws to waiting periods.)

But now the GOP has slipped a declaration of fetal personhood into a provision in the tax bill that would allow parents to create college savings accounts, known as 529 plans, for the unborn.

"Never mind that the provision is unnecessary: Americans can already set up 529s for the children they wish to have," NARAL's Hogue said. "A 529 that's already seeded with capital in a parent's name can be transferred to a child once that child is born... Never mind that the implementation would be a mess begging all sorts of questions as to when you get Social Security numbers and other identifying factors for children."

As Hogue and others who have studied the religious right and dominionist Christians have noted, the fundamentalist movement's goal is "to exercise dominion over society by taking control of political and cultural institutions." Thus, a sweeping GOP tax bill has become the vehicle: to create legal fetal personhood under the guise of a government-backed college savings program.



"The anti-choice movement knows this [ruse], but they simply don't care as their real intent was never to provide hard-working families a tax break," Hogue said. "It was something else entirely: As Jeanne Mancini of March for Life told Politico: 'A child in the womb is just as human as you or I yet, until now, the U.S. tax code has failed to acknowledge the unborn child -- all while granting tax breaks for those seeking an abortion under the pretense of 'healthcare'...The proposed tax plan is a huge leap forward for an antiquated tax code, and we hope this is the first step in expanding the child tax credit to include unborn children as well.'"

Hogue noted that other proposals in the tax bill are anti-student and penalize academia. The bills cut student debt relief in current law, she said, and would newly tax graduate school tuition grants.

Frederick Clarkson, a senior fellow now with Political Research Associates, has studied and written about the religious right and dominionist Christianity for decades. In 2016, he reported that the religious right was increasingly seeking to exempt itself from government oversight. However, now that the GOP controls the Congress and White House, it is not surprising that the fetal personhood cause is making headway in Washington.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, is the best-known dominionist leader in Congress, but he is not alone, Clarkson wrote in another piece that described the theocrat's goal as "defending the right of Christians to continue to hold cultural authority and privilege."

"Cruz and other national pols comprise the tip of a very large, but hard to measure political iceberg," Clarkson said. "There are untold numbers of dominionist and dominionism-influenced politicians and public officials at all levels of government and who even after leaving office, shape our political discourse."

"Roy Moore, the elected chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, has been a rallying figure for dominionists of all stripes for the better part of two decades," Clarkson continued. "Most recently, he [Moore] has led efforts to exempt Alabama from federal court ordered compliance with marriage equality, citing his view of 'God's law.'"

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From Smirking Chimp

From Clarence Thomas to Jerry Sandusky to Bill Cosby to Harvey Weinstein, those who doubt their accusers always ask something similar to what Roy Moore said about those who accused him of sexual harassment and assault: "To think grown women would wait 40 years before a general election to bring charges is unbelievable."

What takes so long? Why don't alleged victims head straight to the police?

There are 17 good reasons in this great article.

Let me add two more that we don't talk about enough: shame and fear of disbelief.

I'm not referring to the well-documented victims' fear that they somehow brought the attack on themselves (for example, a woman who worries that she somehow sent mixed signals to a suitor who then raped her), but to something one rarely sees discussed in the media or talked about in typical conversations about victimhood.

Society doesn't like victims. Victims make us uncomfortable. It's probably a vestige of our Darwinian instinct for survival: the monkey clan prospers when its members are healthy and lucky, but finds life perilous around those who are sick and unfortunate. We turn away from the unlucky: the homeless man, the woman whose face bears burn scars, the black guy getting choked to death by cops. Not our business, not our problem, these are troubles to be avoided. I do it too.

This instinct goes double for those who refuse to soft-pedal their victimhood. Not even the most active social justice warriors have Rose McGowan's back in her Twitter crusade against Harvey Weinstein -- she's a bit too angry for comfort. (Her recent drug arrest doesn't help.)

I am not judging humanity here. I am trying to answer Roy Moore et al's question. One of the answers is shame -- the shame simply of being a victim in a shallow capitalist society that loves winners, hates losers and despises victims. Fake it to make it has a corollary: never let 'em see you sweat.

My friend Cole Smithey the critic told me a bit of film theory, after a character in a movie gets maimed (loses a hand, gets shot and acts shot, getting weaker and visibly bleeding, whatever), the audience stops liking and identifying with him or her. There are exceptions. Typically, however, a screenwriter will have a maimed character die, vanish or completely recover. Because no one likes a victim.

Getting fired and libeled by the LA Times reminded me of that anthropological truism. Immediately following my firing, I hardly heard from my fellow cartoonists. (That's rare.) Friends resurfaced after I presented exculpatory evidence. A pair of taints (Loser and Liar) had been erased.

Then I sued the Times for defamation, and things tipped back. Some of my friends stayed true but others dumped me because they were scared that if they sided with me the Times and Tronc might deny them work, also because I'd gone Rose McGowan-y crusade-y. It's true that the LAPD bought Tronc and the Times fired me for the LAPD, but it's weird and anyway, no one likes a victim. Especially not an angry one.

Fear of not being believed is another under-discussed yet potent inhibitor to victims considering whether to step forward, whether by filing a police report or going to the press.

I grew up poor with my single mom and we were short of money. To bring in some cash, my mom hooked me up with a job helping the janitor wash the blackboards after school at my junior high school. Looking back now, it was a situation perfect for an abuser: no one but an older male custodian and a 13-year-old boy in the otherwise empty building.

One afternoon the dude snuck behind me while I was working in a classroom and grabbed me, pinning my arms to my side. "Do you trust me?" he whispered in my ear. I remember his exact voice, the smell of his breath (alcohol, bourbon maybe). I felt his penis harden against my back.

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Nov 18, 2017: Adult Knee Sleeve Market Forecast 2023 Emerge, Rehband, Workt, Tommy Kono

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Nov 18, 2017: Abdominal Trainers Market Forecast 2023 Ab Rocket, RitFit, EILISON

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Nov 18, 2017: 3D Digitizers Market Forecast 2023 Olympus, OPTICON, RIEGL LMS, SICK

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A market study  Global 3D Digitizers Market  examines the performance of the 3D Digitizers market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the 3D Digitizers market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of 3D Digitizers market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.Get Free Sample Of Report:The Global 3D Digitizers Market 2017 report includes 3D Digitizers market Size, Revenue, market Share, 3D Digitizers industry volume, market Trends, 3D Digitizers Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, 3D Digitizers Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2023.Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global 3D Digitizers Market Forecast 2017:1. Datalogic ADC2. Nikon Engineering3. Olympus4. OPTICON5. RIEGL LMS6. SICK7. ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES8. PerkinElmerFirstly, the report covers the top 3D Digitizers manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Enquiry for More Info@Further, the 3D Digitizers report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of 3D Digitizers industry, 3D Digitizers industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. 3D Digitizers Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.The 3D Digitizers research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the 3D Digitizers market revenue worldwide.Finally, 3D Digitizers market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:Spire Market Research is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244United States
Nov 18, 2017: Aligning Ball Bearing Market Forecast 2023 NACHI, NTN, TIMKEN, FAG

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A market study  Global Aligning Ball Bearing Market  examines the performance of the Aligning Ball Bearing market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Aligning Ball Bearing market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Aligning Ball Bearing market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.Get Free Sample Of Report:The Global Aligning Ball Bearing Market 2017 report includes Aligning Ball Bearing market Size, Revenue, market Share, Aligning Ball Bearing industry volume, market Trends, Aligning Ball Bearing Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Aligning Ball Bearing Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2023.Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Aligning Ball Bearing Market Forecast 2017:1. SKF2. ZKL3. Koyo4. NSK5. NACHI6. NTN7. TIMKEN8. FAG9. INAAligning Ball Bearing Market : By Application Single Row Double Row Multiple RowAligning Ball Bearing Market : By Type Woodworking Machinery Textile MachineryFirstly, the report covers the top Aligning Ball Bearing manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Enquiry for More Info@Further, the Aligning Ball Bearing report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Aligning Ball Bearing industry, Aligning Ball Bearing industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Aligning Ball Bearing Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.The Aligning Ball Bearing research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Aligning Ball Bearing market revenue worldwide.Finally, Aligning Ball Bearing market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:Spire Market Research is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244United States
Nov 18, 2017: Alcohol Extraction Machine Market Forecast 2023 Goyum Screw, Colorado, Hielscher, Dab Genius

Alcohol Extraction Machine

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A market study  Global Alcohol Extraction Machine Market  examines the performance of the Alcohol Extraction Machine market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Alcohol Extraction Machine market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Alcohol Extraction Machine market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.Get Free Sample Of Report:The Global Alcohol Extraction Machine Market 2017 report includes Alcohol Extraction Machine market Size, Revenue, market Share, Alcohol Extraction Machine industry volume, market Trends, Alcohol Extraction Machine Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Alcohol Extraction Machine Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2023.Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Alcohol Extraction Machine Market Forecast 2017:1. Goyum Screw2. Colorado3. Hielscher4. Dab GeniusFirstly, the report covers the top Alcohol Extraction Machine manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Enquiry for More Info@Further, the Alcohol Extraction Machine report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Alcohol Extraction Machine industry, Alcohol Extraction Machine industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Alcohol Extraction Machine Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.The Alcohol Extraction Machine research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Alcohol Extraction Machine market revenue worldwide.Finally, Alcohol Extraction Machine market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:Spire Market Research is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244United States
Nov 18, 2017: Aircraft Headsets Market Forecast 2023 Industry Research Report

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A market study  Global Aircraft Headsets Market  examines the performance of the Aircraft Headsets market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Aircraft Headsets market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Aircraft Headsets market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.Get Free Sample Of Report:The Global Aircraft Headsets Market 2017 report includes Aircraft Headsets market Size, Revenue, market Share, Aircraft Headsets industry volume, market Trends, Aircraft Headsets Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Aircraft Headsets Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2023.Firstly, the report covers the top Aircraft Headsets manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Enquiry for More Info@Further, the Aircraft Headsets report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Aircraft Headsets industry, Aircraft Headsets industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Aircraft Headsets Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.The Aircraft Headsets research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Aircraft Headsets market revenue worldwide.Finally, Aircraft Headsets market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:Spire Market Research is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244United States
Nov 16, 2017: Autocollimators Market Forecast 2023 Logitech, Standa, TAYLOR HOBSON, TRIOPTICS

Autocollimators market

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A market study  Global Autocollimators Market  examines the performance of the Autocollimators market Size 2017. It encloses an in-depth Research of the Autocollimators market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Autocollimators market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail.Get Free Sample Of Report:The Global Autocollimators Market 2017 report includes Autocollimators market Size, Revenue, market Share, Autocollimators industry volume, market Trends, Autocollimators Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Autocollimators Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2023.Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Autocollimators Market Forecast 2017:1. HGH SYSTEMES INFRAROUGES2. Logitech3. Standa4. TAYLOR HOBSON5. TRIOPTICS6. OptoTech7. Nikon MetrologyFirstly, the report covers the top Autocollimators manufacturing industry players from regions like United States, EU, Japan, and China. It also characterizes the market based on geological regions.Enquiry for More Info@Further, the Autocollimators report gives information on the company profile, market share and contact details along with value chain analysis of Autocollimators industry, Autocollimators industry rules and policies, circumstances driving the growth of the market and compulsion blocking the growth. Autocollimators Market development scope and various business strategies are also mentioned in this report.The Autocollimators research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Autocollimators market revenue worldwide.Finally, Autocollimators market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About Us:Spire Market Research is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244United States
Naval Gun System Market: Qualitative analysis and outlook of key players- Bae Systems, IMI, Lockheed Martin

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United States Naval Gun System Market Report 2017 is latest research study released by HTF MI evaluating the market, highlighting opportunities, risk side analysis, and leveraged with strategic and tactical decision-making support. The study provides information on market trends and development, drivers, capacities, technologies, and on the changing capital structure of the United States Naval Gun System Market.United States Naval Gun System market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includes Northrop Grumman, Bae Systems, IMI, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon & ThalesUnited States Naval Gun System (Thousands Units) and Revenue (Million USD) Market Split by Product Type such as C4ISR, Electronic Warfare & WeaponMarket Segment by Type 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022C4ISR xx xx xx xx xx Xx xx-Change (%) xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx%Electronic Warfare xx xx xx xx xx Xx xx-Change (%) xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx%Weapon xx xx xx xx xx Xx xx-Change (%) xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx%Get Access to sample pages @The research study is segmented by Application such as Navy, Air Force & Land Force with historical and projected market share and compounded annual growth rate.United States Naval Gun System (Thousands Units) by Application (2017-2022)Market Segment by Application 2012 2017 2022 Market Share (%)2022 CAGR (%)(2017-2022)Navy xx xx xx xx% xx%Air Force xx xx xx xx% xx%Land Force xx xx xx xx% xx%Total xx xx xx 100% xx%Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), and market share and growth rate of Naval Gun System in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringMarket Segment by Regions 2012 2017 2022 Share (%) CAGR (2017-2022)The West xx xx xx xx% xx%Southwest xx xx xx xx% xx%The Middle Atlantic xx xx xx xx% xx%New England xx xx xx xx% xx%The South xx xx xx xx% xx%The Midwest xx xx xx xx% xx%Total xx xx xx xx% xx%This independent 103 page research with title United States Naval Gun System Market Report 2017 covers geographic analysis that includes regions/countries like The West, Southwest, The Middle Atlantic, New England, The South & The Midwest and important players/vendors such as Northrop Grumman, Bae Systems, IMI, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon & Thales. With n-number of tables and figures examining the Naval Gun System , the research gives you a perfect visual, products, submarkets and market leaders revenue forecasts as well as analysis to 2022Each player highlighted in the research study contains companies Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors, in-depth business overview, geographic footprint and contact information. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to SWOT Analysis.Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @This study is the collection of primary and secondary data including valuable information from major vendors in the market and the projections are derived on data from 2012 to current date and projected forecasts till 2022 which makes the research study a valuable resource for industry personnel, and other people looking for key industry related data in readily accessible documents with easy to analyze graphs and tables. The report is a perfect answer to future development roadmap of Naval Gun System based on ongoing outlook to assist industry player understand the development journey of Naval Gun System Market.Key questions answered in this report - United States Naval Gun System Market Report 2017What will the market size be in 2022 and what will the growth rate beWhat are the key market trendsWhat is driving United States Naval Gun System marketWhat are the challenges to market growthWho are the key vendors in United States Naval Gun System market spaceBuy this research report @There are 15 Chapters to display the United States Naval Gun System market.Chapter 1, to describe Definition, Specifications and Classification of Naval Gun System , Applications of Naval Gun System , Market Segment by Regions;Chapter 2, to analyze the Manufacturing Cost Structure, Raw Material and Suppliers, Manufacturing Process, Industry Chain Structure;Chapter 3, to display the Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of , Capacity and Commercial Production Date, Manufacturing Plants Distribution, R&D Status and Technology Source, Raw Materials Sources Analysis;Chapter 4, to show the Overall Market Analysis, Capacity Analysis (Company Segment), Sales Analysis (Company Segment), Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment);Chapter 5 and 6, to show the Regional Market Analysis that includes The West, Southwest, The Middle Atlantic, New England, The South & The Midwest, Naval Gun System Segment Market Analysis (by Type);Chapter 7 and 8, to analyze the Naval Gun System Segment Market Analysis (by Application) Major Manufacturers Analysis of ;Chapter 9, Market Trend Analysis, Regional Market Trend, Market Trend by Product Type [C4ISR, Electronic Warfare & Weapon], Market Trend by Application [Navy, Air Force & Land Force];Chapter 10, Regional Marketing Type Analysis, International Trade Type Analysis, Supply Chain Analysis;Chapter 11, to analyze the Consumers Analysis of ;Chapter 12, to describe Naval Gun System Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix, methodology and data source;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Naval Gun System sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.Get customization & check discount for report @Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.Connect with us atHTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact Us:HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road, Edison, NJ USA - 08837sales@htfmarketreport.comPh: +1 (206) 317 1218
Global Artificial Intelligence Market to Grow at a CAGR of 62.20% by 2022 -Empowering AI in Robotics, automotive and Healthcare Industry

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The Artificial Intelligence Market was worth USD 0.23 billion in the year of 2012 and is expected to reach approximately USD 28.75 billion by 2022, while registering itself at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 62.20% during the forecast period. Impressive enhancements in business prospects of AI deployment and enhancements in powerful artificial intelligence arrangements are driving the business development. Quick developments in fast data storage capacity, high computing force, and parallelization have added to the quick take-up of the robotics and artificial intelligence technology in end-use businesses, for example, healthcare and automotive. Further, the requirement for comprehension and analyzing visual contents, for increasing important bits of knowledge, is anticipated to boost the business over the estimated time frame. The machine intelligence field holds secure development prospects, inferable from which, the major players are concentrating on building up a coordinated arrangement including software and hardware. Moreover, to increase their client base, a few sellers have teamed up with merchants and end users for the distribution of their product. The expanding noticeable quality of parallel processing applications is prompting expanded implementation of the technology in logical trains, for example, data science and artificial intelligence. Associations are using artificial intelligence to separate profitable insights of knowledge from data for giving creative products and enhancing the experience of consumers; thereby, boosting the development of the market. Artificial Intelligence is receiving prominence because of its intricate, information driven applications, for example, voice and picture recognition. It provides an incredible opportunity for investment, as it can be used over different technologies to defeat the difficulties of high volumes of data, high processing force, and enhancement in information storage. The quick implementation of artificial intelligence in end-use sectors, for example, automotive, retail, and healthcare is anticipated to enlarge market development over the gauge time frame.Get sample copy of this Report:Key Market Players:IBM Watson HealthZebra Medical Vision IncEnliticIntelLifegraphMicrosoft CorporationBaiduAtomwiseGoogleThe market division, in light of AI solution type, incorporates software, hardware and related service solutions. Dynamic direct income gathered from sources, for example, service solutions and software, is anticipated to lead the market over the estimate time frame. The hardware portion incorporates chipsets, for example, Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), Central Processing Unit (CPU), and, Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC). Presently, the industry is ruled by CPUs and GPUs because of their high processing capacities that are required for artificial intelligence structures. The portion is anticipated to be the quickest developing in the upcoming years. AI-based software incorporate libraries for deploying and designing artificial intelligence applications including those for, multi-hardware communication capabilities, inference, linear algebra, primitives, sparse matrices, and video analytics. Further, the service portion incorporates integration, installation, and support undertakings and maintenance. AI service solutions market is anticipated to develop at a significant pace over the conjecture time frame. Reasonable enhancements in data storage capacity, parallel processing capabilities, and high computing power have additionally added to the quick take-up of the artificial intelligence technology in unique end-use verticals. Also, the requirement for analyzing and comprehending visual contents, among enterprises to increase important insights, is anticipated to boost the business over the estimate time frame.The Artificial Intelligence sector is sectioned by center advancements into Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Vision archetype, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning. Deep Learning technology section is foreseen to command the AI market on the basis of income over the estimate time frame5. 'Deep Learning' technology is picking up unmistakable quality because of its unpredictable information driven applications including image and voice recognition. It offers a considerable opportunity for investment as it can be used over different innovations to beat the difficulties of high computing power, improvement in data storage, and data volumes. The machine learning and deep learning would cover the significant investment region in AI all through the gauge time frame. It incorporates cognitive applications such as text and rich media analytics, machine learning, filtering, searching, tagging, clustering, navigation, visualization, hypothesis generation, question answering, and cautioning and AI stages, which encourage the advancement of cognitively enabled, intelligent, and advisory arrangements. Developing deployment of cloud-based computing stages and in light of premises hardware equipment for the secure and safe reclamation of the vast volume of information have made ready for the extension of the examination stage. The rising interests in research and development by the major players for advancements of products plays a critical part. Machine learning technology encourages various opportunities for the developing retail sector by scaling human aptitude with its decision support and real-time learning capacities. It empowers retailers to give more altered encounters and is ready to permit a more extensive range of development that guarantees to transform the retail business. The AI market incorporates end-use verticals, for example, manufacturing, law, healthcare, advertising & media, agriculture, BSFI, transportation, retail, and others. The advertising & media section ruled the general market and represented more than 20 percent of the aggregate share of the market in 2016.The AI Market by healthcare application additionally isolated in to use cases including, hospital workflow management, and robot assisted surgery, dosage error reduction, virtual nursing assistants, hospital workflow management, automated image diagnosis, and preliminary diagnosis. Furthermore BFSI applications market additionally incorporates, investment/portfolio management solicitations, risk assessment, financial analysis/research. Artificial Intelligence has seen significant development in the current past because of the need for progression in the ranges of object perception, machine translation, and object recognition. The landscape of infrastructure and tools for preparing and sending of neural systems through 'Machine Learning' is further developing quickly. The fast uptake of artificial intelligence in end-use enterprises, for example, business and retail investigation is anticipated to enlarge development throughout the following couple of years. Artificial intelligence technology is widely deployed by a few online and mobile administrations, for example, Amazons Alexa, Microsoft Cortana,dialogue and voice recognition of Siri, Google Assistant, and image classification in Facebook & Google Photo. The expanding measure of digital data as images, speech, and videos, from various sources of social media, for example, consumer analytics and IoT, is boosting the requirement for information mining and analytics.Make Inquiry about Report:On the basis of regions, the market is sectioned into South America, Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). In 2016, North America administered the worldwide AI market on the basis of income, attributable to the accessibility of high government subsidizing, the existence of major players in the district, and solid specialized selection base. The district is expected to rule the market over the estimate time frame. Moreover, the embrace of cloud-based administrations in nations, for example, the Canada and United States, is altogether adding to the regional market development. In Europe, the cloud-based AI deployment is anticipated to encounter striking development in the anticipated a very long time because of expanding interest of consumers towards favorable circumstances, for example, simple record control and quicker and on-request access to information. Further, numerous private and public associations have been gathering domain-specific data including issues, for example, marketing, fraud detection, medical informatics, national intelligence, and marketing. Enormous information based AI calculations help in dissecting such disorderly and unsupervised information by ceaselessly enhancing each arrangement of information. The territorial markets in South America, Asia Pacific, and the MEA area are foreseen to encounter striking development amid the gauge time frame. The feasible ascent in innovative improvement after some time particularly in the lower developing nations in the Asia Pacific locale prompted the interest for the fuse of the AI technology to go up. Artificial Intelligence commercial center gives exceptional chances to venture firms, organizations, and advisors searching for mergers or acquisitions. The persevering requirement for digital transformation is empowering mergers and acquisitions at record levels among specialized and non-specialized AI stake-holding organizations. The major players are IBM Watson Health, Zebra Medical Vision Inc, Enlitic, Intel, Lifegraph, Microsoft Corporation, Baidu, Atomwise and Google.The global Artificial Intelligence Market is segmented as follows-By Solution:Software (SW)Hardware (HW)ServicesBy Technology:Machine LearningMachine VisionDeep LearningNatural Language ProcessingEnd User Outlook:BFSIRetailAutomotive & TransportationManufacturingHealthcareLawAdvertising & MediaAgricultureOthersGet Customized Report for your region:About Crystal Market Research:Crystal Market Research is a U.S. based market research and business intelligence company. Crystal offers one stop solution for market research, business intelligence, and consulting services to help clients make more informed decisions. It provides both syndicated as well as customized research studies for its customers spread across the globe. The company offers market intelligence reports across a broad range of industries including healthcare, chemicals & materials, technology, automotive, and energy.Contact Us:Judy304 South Jones Blvd, Suite 1896,Las Vegas NV 89107,United StatesToll Free: +1-888-213-4282Email: sales@crystalmarketresearch.com
Global Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Machines Market - Opportunities and Forecasts, 2017-2022

Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Machines Market

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The Global Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Machines Market Research Report 2017 renders deep perception of the key regional market status of the Dry Construction Materials 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.The report on Global Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Machines Market is a professional report which provides thorough knowledge along with complete information pertaining to the Dry Construction Materials industry a propos classification, definitions, applications, industry chain summary, industry policies in addition to plans, product specifications, manufacturing processes, cost structures, etc.Get Free Sample Copy of this Report @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 Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Machines 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 Dry Construction Materials Market.Browse full report with Table of Content @The report is generically segmented into six parts and every part aims on the overview of the Dry Construction Materials 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 Dry Construction Materials 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.Enquiry Before Buying @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 Dry Construction Materials Industry. The production value and market share in conjunction with the SWOT analysis everything is integrated in this report.Some points from TOC:-Global Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Machines Market Research Report 20171 Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Machines Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Machines1.2 Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Machines Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Machines Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Machines Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Horizotal Type1.2.4 Vertical Type1.3 Global Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Machines Segment by Application1.3.1 Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Machines Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Pharmaceutical Packaging1.3.3 Food Packaging1.3.4 Electronics Packaging1.3.5 Other1.4 Global Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Machines Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Machines Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Machines (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Machines Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Machines Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)Check For Discount @About Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on Global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:Email- sales@qyresearchgroups.comWebsite-
Military Surveillance Drones Industry and Global 2022 Foresight Report

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Exclusive Summery:The global military surveillance drones market is a very dynamic market and is expected to witness high growth over the forecast period. The growth of military surveillance drones market is influenced by the internal and external security threats, increasing need for border monitoring, and development of next generation drones. However, the growth of this market is expected to be restrained by the issues associated with data processing and low endurance and flight range.Drones are the next generation of aerial platforms that are being deployed by the defense ministries around the world. The demand for such unmanned systems has been fuelled by their successful deployment, during combat missions, majorly in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. In recent years, there has been a rise in the number of global conflicts such as the Russia and Ukraine conflict over Crimea, battle for supremacy in the South China Sea territory between China and South Korea, maritime disputes between Venezuela and Guyana, and the sea border dispute between Colombia and Nicaragua. This creates the need to up-date border surveillance systems and the treatment of operational information concerning threatsHowever, the growth of this market will be hampered owing to factors such as Issues Associated with Data Processing, prone to Cyber Attacks and Low Endurance and Flight Range.Get a Sample Report @The global Military surveillance drones market size is projected to grow from USD 2083.0 Million in 2016 to USD 4549.4 Million in the year 2023, at the CAGR of 11.96 %.Major Key Players Boeing (U.S.), Airbus Corporation (Netherlands), Lockheed Martin (U.S.), Northrop Grumman Corporation (U.S.), Thales Group (France), Elbit Systems Ltd (Israel), Saab Group (Sweden), Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (Israel), AeroVironment, Inc. (U.S.) General Atomics (U.S.).Market Research Analysis:Based on type, the micro/Nano is expected to grow at the highest CAGR. The micro/Nano surveillance drones are the smallest of all drones. These drones are very affordable owing to their small size. Micro drones can either be remotely controlled or some possess cameras and can fly autonomously. These small systems allow remote observation of hazardous environments that are inaccessible to the ground vehicles. As a result, these systems witness a high demand from the defense authorities, across the globe.Based on payload, the Electro-Optic/Infrared Sensor segment will account for the largest market share with 29 % in the global Military surveillance drones market. Electro-optical payloads are the sensors that enable unmanned vehicles to sense and avoid obstacles, detect movement, navigate accurately, find the enemy, and warn of the potential for buried improvised explosive devices.If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.For further information on this report, visit @Scope of the reportThis study provides an overview of the global Military surveillance drones market, tracking two market segments across four geographic regions. The report studies key players, providing a five-year annual trend analysis that highlights market size, volume and share for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC) and Rest of the World (ROW). The report also provides a forecast, focusing on the market opportunities for the next five years for each region. The scope of the study segments the global Military surveillance drones market by its type, payload and region.By Type Fixed Wing Micro/ Nano MiniBy Payload Electro-Optic/Infrared Sensor Cameras Electronic Intelligence Maritime Patrol Radar OthersBy Region North America Asia Pacific Europe Rest of the WorldAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Aircraft Component MRO market By Segment, Types, Regions, Applications And Forecast To 2023

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Exclusive Summary:Asia accounted for the largest share in global aircraft component MRO market in 2016. It is an emerging region in the long-haul international market and it relies heavily on the small and medium wide-body aircraft. As a result, a number of such airlines have been entering into service, recently such as Indigo, Tigerair Singapore, Tigerair Australia, and Air Asia. In 2016, Asia-Pacific is home to major MRO service providers such as HAECO, GMF AeroAsia, and ST Aerospace, and is projected to witness the highest growth rate, during the forecast period. In 2016, North America was the second-largest region for the global aircraft component MRO market. A number of the major MRO service providers such as Airbus and Honeywell, are present in the region, resulting in a high market share of the region. Moreover, it is expected that approximately 10,000 aircraft would be in service in the region by 2035, which would create an opportunity for the major and prominent companies of the region.Key questions answered in this report What will the market size be in 2023 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?Get a Sample Report @Aircraft Component MRO Market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players including GE Aviation Honeywell Aerospace Lufthansa Technik Pratt & Whitney Rolls-Royce FL Technics Delta TechOps Barnes Aerospace AAR Turkish TechnicBased on application, commercial air transport accounted for the largest market share of 63.11% in 2016. Over the years, the aviation industry has been witnessing a steady growth, owing to the increased diversification among airlines, across the globe. Of late, the passenger traffic is expanding with resilience across the globe, despite a slight slowdown in the global economy. In recent years, the large aviation markets, such as the U.S., Europe, and Asia have witnessed increased expenses by passengers, due to the rising incomes of the expanding middle class population in these regions, which have resulted in the progress of the aviation industry. Moreover, global air travel has been made easier and convenient by the low cost carriers, whilst airlines are extending their services to various geographic locations. This results in an increased focus on the expansion of the aviation industry, around the world. As of 2016, there were over 23,000 airplanes in service, and the number is expected to double, over the next 20 years. To meet this growing demand of commercial aviation, it is important for the MRO service providers, across the globe, to ensure provision of efficient and high quality maintenance for airplane components.Check for Discount @Military aviation segment accounted for the second largest market share in 2016. With the expected deployment of the much anticipated F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) plane, which has received a large number of orders from several countries, the MRO market for the JSF aircraft is expected to be relatively high. The U.S. DOD intends to have regional repair capabilities in Europe and the Pacific for all 774 components of the F-35 JSF. The plane is expected to replace the currently operating F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft. As a result, until the introduction of the JSF planes, it is expected that the MRO market for the F-16 aircraft would be growing over time. Therefore, it is expected that the component MRO market for military aviation planes would grow at a CAGR of 3.30%, during the forecast period.If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.For further information on this report, visit @The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Military Laser Rangefinder Market Evolution in coming Years with Trends, Innovations & Opportunities by 2023

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Market Research Future Publish a New Report on - Military Laser Rangefinder Market Research Report - Global Forecast To 2023Exclusive Summery About Report:It is expected that by 2023, North America would be the dominant region in the military laser rangefinder market, primarily due to the presence of major manufacturers in this region. In addition, the increasing military expenses by the US Department of Defense (DOD) on miniature military rangefinders have resulted in the market witnessing a significant surge in demand, in this region.Key questions answered in this report What will the market size be in 2023 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?Military Laser Rangefinder Market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players including Elbit Systems, FLIR Systems, General Atomics, Gooch & Housego, L3 Technologies, Leonardo, Northrop Grumman, RPMC Lasers, Thales, UTC Aerospace Systems.Request a Sample Report @Market Research Analysis:Many countries are focusing on upgrade of their airborne defense and offence systems, thus application of drones as laser rangefinders is rapidly gaining momentum. Growing preference for miniature rangefinders will further provide the market with growth prospects, owing to the several advantages of miniature rangefinders which include enhanced accuracy, safety of soldiers, and efficiency in military operations. As a result, the market for military rangefinders is expected to register a growth rate of more than 5%.Although the military laser rangefinders assist the soldiers to efficiently mark their targets, the health issues associated with these laser systems is one of the major challenges faced by the manufacturers of such systems, the defense authorities, and the market.Global Military Laser Rangefinder Systems Market:The changing landscape of war in the recent times is one of the major factors driving the military laser rangefinder market, with the evolution of the 21st century digital warfare. The lightweight laser rangefinders enable faster mobility and significantly reduce the chances of fatigue for the armed troops. These portable devices are carried by the armed forces, Special Forces, and Forward Air Controllers (FAC), and they consist of an optical sight, laser emitter, and range finder. These systems may vary in size but they are usually mounted on tripods to ensure a stable aiming platform. They provide the soldiers with higher adaptability, attack capability, accuracy, and maneuverability, which makes them more lethal.If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.For further information on this report, visit @Table of Content1 Introduction1.1 Definition1.2 Scope of Study1.3 Research Objective1.4 Assumptions & Limitations1.5 Market Structure:2 Research Methodology2.1 Research Process2.2 Primary Research2.3 Secondary Research3 Market Dynamics3.1 Drivers3.2 Restraints3.3 Opportunities3.4 Challenges3.5 Macroeconomic Indicators4 Market Factor Analysis4.1 Porters five forces model4.1.1 Bargaining Power of suppliers4.1.2 Bargaining Power of Customer4.1.3 Intensity of Competitors4.1.4 Threat of New Entrants5 Military Laser Rangefinder Market, By Type..ContinuedAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Military Exoskeleton Market 20172023 : Drivers, Opportunities, Trends, and Forecasts

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Market Research Future Publish a New Report on - Military Exoskeleton Market Research Report - Global Forecast to 2023Exclusive Summery About Report:Modern-day soldiers are equipped with radios, night vision devices, global positioning system (GPS) equipment, and computers in their uniforms that provide them with real-time data, which assist the troops with satellite imagery of the battlefield and significantly enhance their situational awareness. As a result, there is a growing demand for integrated smart weapons and lightweight body armors. Military Exoskeletons are lighter than the conventional load carriage or armor systems, and they enable added protection and counter attack against hostile enemy advances. Therefore, there have been significant developments of light weight body suits, which would boost the efficiency of the armed troops in the battlefield. With a higher number of lethal and protective Exoskeletons being developed, the market is expected to witness tremendous growth during the forecast period.Get a Sample Report @Major Key Players BAE Systems, General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Safran, Bionic Power, Ekso Bionics, 20 Knots Plus, Revision Military, SpringActive, SRI International.Regional AnalysisBy 2023, North America is expected to be the dominant region in the military Exoskeleton market primarily due to the presence of major manufacturers in this region. In addition, increasing military expenses by the US Department of Defense (DOD) on these body suits have resulted in the development of advanced military exoskeleton systems. Europe is expected to acquire the second largest market due to the high expenses on soldier modernization programs by countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK, which would come in aid of their soldiers, by enhancing their operational and attack capabilities.If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.For further information on this report, visit @The report for Global Military Exoskeleton Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
LiDAR Sensor Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth and Forecast Report To 2022

LiDAR Sensor Market

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In this report, the global LiDAR Sensor market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of LiDAR Sensor in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), covering:United States, EU, China, Japan, South Korea, TaiwanGet Sample Copy of this Report @Global LiDAR Sensor market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players including:Leica Geosystems AG (Switzerland), Teledyne Optech Inc. (Canada), Trimble Navigation Limited (U.S.),Riegl Laser Measurement Systems GmbH (Austria), Velodyne LiDAR, Inc. (U.S.)On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into:Navigation, Positioning SystemsOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of LiDAR Sensor for each application, including:Airborne, TerrestrialBrowse full report with Table of Content @Some points from TOC:-Global LiDAR Sensor Market Research Report 20171 LiDAR Sensor Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of LiDAR Sensor1.2 LiDAR Sensor Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global LiDAR Sensor Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global LiDAR Sensor Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Navigation1.2.4 Positioning Systems1.2.4 Type II1.2.4 Type II1.3 Global LiDAR Sensor Segment by Application1.3.1 LiDAR Sensor Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Airborne1.3.3 Terrestrial1.4 Global LiDAR Sensor Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global LiDAR Sensor Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 EU Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 South Korea Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of LiDAR Sensor (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global LiDAR Sensor Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global LiDAR Sensor Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global LiDAR Sensor Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global LiDAR Sensor Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global LiDAR Sensor Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global LiDAR Sensor Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global LiDAR Sensor Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global LiDAR Sensor Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers LiDAR Sensor Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 LiDAR Sensor Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 LiDAR Sensor Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 LiDAR Sensor Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, ExpansionAsk for Discount @About Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on Global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:Email- sales@qyresearchgroups.comWebsite-
Commercial Aircraft Actuation System Market Outlook and Development Status Review

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Market Highlights:The global commercial aircraft actuation system market has been experiencing substantial growth in recent years primarily due to growing air travel in developing nations. Of late, the emergence of auto pilot systems is also gaining traction. Autopilots are the best safety aid when flying in the clouds, low visibility, or in congested airspace. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) norms, an autopilot system is a mandate when a single pilot is operating the aircraft. FAA certifies the current technology autopilots at low cost. The integration of digital display systems and technologies, such as the autopilot system and FMS, in the cockpits of the aircraft, relieve the pilots of their workloads and assures availability of essential flight information. To enhance safety, the organization encourages the development and installation of autopilots in the aircraft. As a result, autopilot manufacturers are investing in the creation of new digital smart autopilots that is compatible with a variety of aircraft without additional certifications bearing high costs.Request a Sample Report @Major Key Players Honeywell, Parker Aerospace, UTC Aerospace Systems, Eaton Corporation Plc, Liebherr, Moog, Curtiss Wright, Saab AB, Woodward Inc., Triumph Group Inc.Market SegmentationThe global commercial aircraft actuation systems market has been analyzed based on the three segments, namely type, aircraft type and regions.On the basis of type, the global commercial aircraft actuation systems market is segmented as electric, hydraulic, pneumatic and mechanical. The hydraulic actuation systems are expected to dominate the market with largest share. The growth of the segment can be attributed to increasing demand in operating wheel brakes, land gear, and speed propellers. On the other hand, there is a shifting trend towards electric actuators. Thus, advancements in electric actuators recently is expected to significantly boost the growth of the segment during the forecast period.Based on aircraft type, the market is bifurcated as narrow body, wide body and others. The narrow body segment is expected to witness exponential growth in North America due to rise in aircraft sales, technological advancement, and increasing passenger traffic.Browse Full Report Details @Table of Content1 Executive Summary2 Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.3 Assumptions2.4 Market Structure3 Research Methodology3.1 Research Process3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size Estimation3.5 Forecast Model4 Market Dynamics4.1 Drivers4.1.1 Growing Demand For Automation4.1.2 Increasing R&D Investments4.1.3 Increasing Demand In The Emerging Economies4.2 Restraints4.2.1 Cost Associated With Autopilot Systems4.2.2 Thermal Challenges Of MEA4.3 Trends4.3.1 Development Of Autopilot Landing System4.3.2 Use Of Lightweight MaterialsContinued.For Any enquiries visit @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Virtualization Security Market Comprehensive Analysis 2017 and Top Leaders: Altor Networks, Trend Micro, Symantec, VMware, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Ericsson Networks, Intel Security

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Market Research Future published a research report on Virtualization Security Market Research Report- Global Forecast to 2027  Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2027.Market Synopsis of Virtualization Security MarketMarket ScenarioThe major growth driver of virtualization security market includes growing demand for cloud computing and increasing demand for managed security services, and increasing demand for identity and access management among others.Objective of Virtualization Security Market Study: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the global Virtualization Security Market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To Analyze the Virtualization Security Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW). To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by type, applications and sub-segments. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market. To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global Virtualization Security Market.Get Sample of Report @SegmentsGlobal Virtualization Security Market can be segmented as follows: Segmentation by Type: Hardware (Networking), Software (System & networking management, security management, operating system, virtual client computing software). Segmentation by Services: Integration & design, consulting, and support & maintenance among others. Segmentation by End-users: Cloud service provider, IT, telecommunication, healthcare & retail, government (BFSI), and large enterprises among others. Segmentation by Infrastructure: Virtual switch, Hypervisor, web server, and virtual machine.Key Players:Some of the major players in Global Virtualization Security Market Altor Networks (U.S.), Trend Micro Inc. (Japan), Symantec Corp. (U.S.), VMware Inc. (U.S.), Fortinet Inc. (U.S.), Hewlett-Packard (U.S.), Dell Inc. (U.S.), Ericsson Networks (Sweden), Intel Security Group (U.S.), CA Technologies (U.S.) and Oracle corporation among others.Industry News: Cisco has announced in June 2016 about its new platform Cisco tetration analytics which is been designed to help customers to gain visibility over data centers in real time. The device collects telemetry information from hardware and software sensors and conduct analysis with the help of advanced machine learning techniques. Oracle has announced in June 2016 about its new development SPARC which is designed to bring security, efficiency, and simplicity on cloud platform.Americas North America US CanadaEurope Western Europe Germany France U.K Rest of Western Europe Eastern EuropeAsia Pacific Asia China India Japan South Korea Rest of Asia PacificGet Complete Report @The Middle East& AfricaThe report for Virtualization Security Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.About 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
Wireless Monitoring and Surveillance Market 2017 Global Leaders: Honeywell, Axis communications, Bosch security, Cisco systems, Micropower, Aruba networks, Panasonic

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Market Research Future published a research report on Wireless Monitoring and Surveillance Market Research Report- Global Forecast to 2027  Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2027.Market Synopsis of Wireless Monitoring and Surveillance MarketMarket ScenarioThe major growth driver of Wireless Monitoring and Surveillance Market includes growing demand for better & more cost-effective security management, fast-moving growth of network video market and new strict government initiatives on technology compliance among others.Get Sample of Report @Objective of Wireless Monitoring and Surveillance Market Study: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the global Wireless Monitoring and Surveillance Market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To Analyze the Wireless Monitoring and Surveillance Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW). To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by type, applications and sub-segments. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market. To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global Wireless Monitoring and Surveillance Market.SegmentsGlobal Wireless Monitoring and Surveillance Market can be segmented as follows: Segmentation by Components: Digital camera, network nodes, servers, and monitoring stations among others. Segmentation by Technologies: Video and IP technologies among others. Segmentation by End-users: Shopping malls/commercial complex, Banks/financial institutions, Government (Municipalities, Military, law enforcement), Educational institutes, and Transportation among others.Key Players:Some of the major players in Global Wireless Monitoring and Surveillance Market include Honeywell (U.S.), Axis communications (Sweden), Bosch security systems (Germany), Cisco systems (U.S.), Micropower technologies (U.S.), Pelco (U.S.), Aruba networks (U.S.), Panasonic Corporation (Japan), and D-link (U.S.) Corporation among others.Industry News: Bosch Group has announced in June 2016 about its partnership with Protectas SA which is a leading security company of Sweden to provide better remote video monitoring services to the customers. Honeywell, one of the leaders in wireless connectivity has announced in February, 2016 about its new development Micro RAE gas monitor which is industrys first wireless 4-gas monitor that can work with all types of wireless communication protocol. The product need to be connected to smartphone to transmit gas which is been used to read over a cellular networkAmericas North America US Canada Latin AmericaEurope Western Europe Germany France U.K Rest of Western Europe Eastern EuropeAsia Pacific Asia China India Japan South Korea Rest of Asia PacificGet Complete Report @The Middle East& AfricaThe report for Wireless Monitoring and Surveillance Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.About 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
Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) Market Estimated to Rise Profitably with 50% of CAGR by Forecast 2022

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Market Research Future published a research report on Software Defined Wide Area Network Market Research Report- Global Forecast to 2022  Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2022.Market Synopsis of Software Defined Wide Area Network MarketMarket Scenario:Software Defined Wide Area Network is a networking service useful in managing network services through low level functionality. It permits enterprises to build virtual networks and provide micro segmentations & services. It also helps organization in managing their connections between internal & external cloud services.The major factor that drives the growth of software defined wide area network market is growing adoption of private cloud technology, rising software defined data centers, and increasing demand for security features in network services among others.Globally the market for Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) Market is expected to grow at the rate of more than ~50% from 2016 to 2022.Regional AnalysisNorth America is dominating the global software defined wide area network market with the largest market share due to high demand of network architecture & growing need of central networking and therefore is expected to grow with highest revenue by 2022 followed by Europe. Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing region due to growing investment of major players in the region and therefore is expected to grow with a highest growth rate.Key Players:Some of the major players in Global Virtualization Security Market Altor Networks (U.S.), Trend Micro Inc. (Japan), Symantec Corp. (U.S.), VMware Inc. (U.S.), Fortinet Inc. (U.S.), Hewlett-Packard (U.S.), Dell Inc. (U.S.), Ericsson Networks (Sweden), Intel Security Group (U.S.), CA Technologies (U.S.) and Oracle corporation among others.Get Sample of Report @Study Objectives of Software Defined Wide Area Network Market. To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the Software Defined Wide Area Network Market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze the Software Defined Wide Area Network Market based porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW) To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by type, application and End-User. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Software Defined Wide Area Network.Segments for Software Defined Wide Area Network Market:Global Software Defined Wide Area Network Market can be segmented as follows: Segmentation by Components: virtual appliance, physical appliance, hardware, software and hybrid. Segmentation by Deployment: Cloud, and on-premise. Segmentation by End-Users: BFSI, manufacturing, healthcare, IT, and retail among others.Get Complete Report @Target Audience: Application development service providers Network providers Training & education sector Data integration service providers Corporate GovernmentAbout 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
Virtualization Security Market Future Plans 2027 and Global Players: Altor Networks, Trend Micro, Symantec, VMware, Fortinet, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Ericsson Networks, Intel Security

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/942

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/virtualization-security-market-942

Market Research Future published a research report on Virtualization Security Market Research Report- Global Forecast to 2027  Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2027.Market Synopsis of Virtualization Security MarketMarket ScenarioThe major growth driver of virtualization security market includes growing demand for cloud computing and increasing demand for managed security services, and increasing demand for identity and access management among others.Key Players: Altor Networks (U.S.) Trend Micro Inc. (Japan) Symantec Corp. (U.S.) VMware Inc. (U.S.) Fortinet Inc. (U.S.) Hewlett-Packard (U.S.) Dell Inc. (U.S.) Ericsson Networks (Sweden) Intel Security Group (U.S.) CA Technologies (U.S.) Oracle corporationGet Sample of Report @Industry News: Cisco has announced in June 2016 about its new platform Cisco tetration analytics which is been designed to help customers to gain visibility over data centers in real time. The device collects telemetry information from hardware and software sensors and conduct analysis with the help of advanced machine learning techniques. Oracle has announced in June 2016 about its new development SPARC which is designed to bring security, efficiency, and simplicity on cloud platform.Objective of Virtualization Security Market Study: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the global Virtualization Security Market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To Analyze the Virtualization Security Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW). To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by type, applications and sub-segments. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market. To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global Virtualization Security Market.SegmentsGlobal Virtualization Security Market can be segmented as follows: Segmentation by Type: Hardware (Networking), Software (System & networking management, security management, operating system, virtual client computing software). Segmentation by Services: Integration & design, consulting, and support & maintenance among others. Segmentation by End-users: Cloud service provider, IT, telecommunication, healthcare & retail, government (BFSI), and large enterprises among others. Segmentation by Infrastructure: Virtual switch, Hypervisor, web server, and virtual machine.Americas North America US CanadaEurope Western Europe Germany France U.K Rest of Western Europe Eastern EuropeAsia Pacific Asia China India Japan South Korea Rest of Asia PacificGet Complete Report @The Middle East& AfricaThe report for Virtualization Security Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.About 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
Field Service Management Platform Market Historical Analysis 2017 and Top Leaders: ServicePower, ClickSoftware, Astea International, GenieBelt, Sage Software, ServiceNow

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https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/field-service-management-platform-market-1574

Market Research Future published a research report on Global Field Service Management Platform Market Research Report - Forecast to 2022  Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2027.Market Synopsis of Field Service Management Platform MarketMarket ScenarioFSM or Field Service Management Platform is a solution which helps in managing companys resources which is directly associated with clients. Managing the workers activity or scheduling the work or billing are few solutions which field service management platform provides.Key Players:The key players in the market of Field Service Management Platform Aare- ServicePower (UK), ClickSoftware Technologies (U.S.), Astea International (U.S.), Infor (U.S.), GenieBelt (Denmark), Intacct (U.S.), Sage Software (UK), Epicor (U.S.), ServiceNow (U.S.), Coresystems AG among others.Objective of Field Service Management Platform Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the global Field Service Management Platform Market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To Analyze the Field Service Management Platform Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW). To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by type, applications and sub-segments. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market. To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global Field Service Management Platform Market.Get Sample of Report @Market SegmentationSegmentation by Deployment: On Premise & On Cloud.Segmentation by Domain: SMEs & Large Business Units.Segmentation by Industry: Telecommunication, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Construction, Transportation & Logistics, Oil & Gas among others.Industry News In August 2016, ServicePower Technologies PLC announced the partnership with Westbrook International Ltd. Which will help in implementation services. In August 2016, ServicePower Technologies PLC announced the partnership with Bolt Data where Bolt Data will be providing sales, implementation and support services.Target Audience FSM Platform providers Cloud Service Providers Software Developers System Integrators Manufacturing Industry Government organizationsGet Complete Report @The report for Global Field Service Management Platform Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.About 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
A national environmental group launched a television advertising campaign to urge three Republican members of Congress, including U.S. Rep. John Katko, to oppose tax reform legislation that's linked to a separate measure that would allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The League of Conservation Voters released the TV ad Wednesday. The $550,000 campaign targets Katko, U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen of Minnesota and U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin of Maine. The three congressmen supported the House tax reform proposal that passed by a 227-205 vote Thursday.

The TV ad focuses on the Senate tax reform proposal and a separate measure that's been linked to the plan. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved legislation this week that would allow drilling in part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The 19.2 million-acre refuge is the largest in the U.S.

Drilling is currently prohibited in the refuge. Democrats oppose the bill and Republicans, many of whom have long supported opening up part of the refuge for oil and gas drilling, view it as a potential revenue source to complement the tax plan.

The House bill didn't include a provision related to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refugee, but the League of Conservation Voters is concerned that it could be included in a final tax reform agreement.

"Rep. Katko is on thin ice if he supports a tax plan that would turn the iconic Arctic National Wildlife Refuge into an oil field," said Tiernan Sittenfeld, senior vice president of government affairs for the League of Conservation Voters.

"The Republican leadership's tax bill showers huge tax cuts on millionaires and large corporations, increases taxes on some in the middle class and would destroy one of our most majestic landscapes. We urge Rep. Katko to oppose this disastrous legislation."

The League of Conservation Voters noted that a similar attempt to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refugee was made in 2005. It was a group of House Republicans who opposed the plan that advocated for its removal from a budget bill.

The tax reform push in Congress cleared its first hurdle Thursday with passage of the House bill. The Senate must pass its proposal to allow for the formation of a conference committee.

The panel will negotiate a final agreement on tax reform legislation.
Off the Felt: Timex Loses Shirt, Berkey and Jymaster Visit Disneyland

November 18, 2017 Alexandra Cacovean

Its been a while since we dug into some of our favorite Instagram accounts. We all know their lives are pretty awesome and chaotic at the same time, so it was fun catching up.

Some of them were parenting (ahem, Jason Mercier), others were playing poker tournaments, and a lot of them were just chillin on paradise beaches. Meanwhile, outside my office it's raining. But we're not peanut butter and jealous.

So without further ado, lets take a look of what they did this past week, shall we?

Papa Merciers livin his dad life.

Jonahs just living his normal life, surrounded by tigers.

Snowboarding in a t-shirt, what could possibly go wrong?

Gorgeous Laura still gorgeous, nothing new I guess.

Jennifer and Phil visited Fort Worth and they are now Texan AF.

Jordan went to Disneyland and gifted us with this photo. Thanks!

Yep, couple goals.

Minas still a selfie master.

Yo! Garl!

Lets take a moment to appreciate Natalie Hof and her insane eyebrows.

Physics girl around the world!

Ronnie is actually happy in this photo.

Kyle looks like hes having so much fun! #pokerlife

Apparently Sofias in paradise at the moment.

Pura vida!

Off to Punta Cana with a glass of champagne, thats what I call a life. Enjoy!

Vivian Saliba went to WSOPE and visited beautiful Prague.

Jeff Gross looks like a pro surfin in Fiji. I bet it wasnt that easy!

The caption, OMG.
Theres been much hand-wringing over the state of the American economy in recent years. After the 2008 financial crisis upended middle-class families, we now live with regular media reports of recovery and growth  as well as rising inequality and decreased social mobility. We ponder what kind of future were creating for our children, while generally failing to consider who has already fallen between the gaps.

Jessica Bruders Nomadland hones in on an unexpected breed of worker that has emerged from this most recent economic depression: the elderly, who saw their stocks fail and retirement savings erased just as they were ready to exit the workforce. With no reliable source of income, a growing number are choosing to forgo their permanent address, and instead opt into a tribe of fellow wanderers who move in accordance to the cycle of seasonal temp jobs and community gatherings.

Bruder shapes her study of this nomadic lifestyle around Linda May, a 64-year-old grandmother who lives in a trailer. One would expect both eccentricity and toughness from a roamer, though Linda wears both qualities with a resplendent dignity through Bruders anecdotes. From the way Linda jokes with her dog  Youre going to wear out that tongue! Youre going to need a tongue retread, and guess whos gonna pay for that?  to her dreams of a self-sustaining, eco-friendly hut, its quickly clear that this study in nomads is meant to be more uplifting than depressing.

This sense of unexpected joy extends across entire groups of traveling workers. When the author joins some Amazon temp workers at night, they sing a parody called The Twelve Days of Amazon, where lords-a-leaping is replaced with horns a-beeping, and the counting includes three orange vests and ten sore muscles. This sing-along occurs alongside a dinner of pork rinds, baby carrots, and egg salad sandwiches.

Linda and her friends lead objectively fascinating lives, though it is Bruder who manages to juxtapose these details in a way that neither pities nor romanticizes them. She shows us Amazon workers who crack jokes but notes how they also depend daily on the workplaces free stash of painkillers. She remains mindful of the challenge to fairly portray people who both struggle and remain upbeat simultaneously, through even the most soul-testing of challenges.

Yet at some point, this is no longer enough for Bruder. Halfway through the story, she buys a van and becomes a nomad herself, thus elevating the writing to a new degree of wryness wrought from lived experienced. After a week of utter monotony scanning merchandise at an Amazon warehouse in Texas, she fantasizes disrupting the field of working robots by doing some kind of proletarian parkour routine. Bruder stands in as a proxy for this underclass of Americans, who know what it entails to endure this kind of robotic manual labor.

Relaying these new experiences, the author makes it clear that to be a migrant worker is to relearn the basic skills of living. Her window gets smashed, the vans toilet and water tanks freeze, and during a tornado warning, she has no underground safe place to go to. Ones sanity amidst such difficulties is maintained by way of meet-ups with other van dwellers  informal conventions of RVs where extra electricity is provided through solar panels, and lectures from community members on American Sign Language and tire changing are provided.

Theres no way to read Nomadland without coming to admire the houseless (as they prefer to be called) for their ingenuity and kindness. Nor can one disregard the lengths to which Bruder goes to integrate herself with her subjects, gaining direct access to the experiences shes studying. Its with this background that the author drops her most damning statement about the wasted potential she has seen in America, where denying access to opportunity for large segments of the population [has meant] throwing away vast reserves of talent and brainpower.

Such an indictment will resonate with the reader long after the book is finished, perhaps even guilt-tripping them out of their next Amazon purchase.
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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for BitRush Corp.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Toronto, Ontario (FSCWire) - BitRush Corp. (CSE:BRH). has issued a press release with the following headline:Boehm Found by Ontario Superior Court to have Acted Oppressively Towards Bitrush and Its ShareholdersTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on BitRush Corp., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/BitRush Corp.Source: BitRush Corp. (CSE: BRH, ISIN: CA09173X1096, WKN: A140AE)Date: November 17, 2017Time: 6:41 PM EST--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of BitRush Corp. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.)
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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Tasca Resources Ltd.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - Tasca Resources Ltd. (TSX Venture:TAC). has issued a press release with the following headline:Tasca Resources Increases Land Package with Additional 620 Sq. Km in Area of NadinaTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on Tasca Resources Ltd., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/Tasca Resources Ltd.Source: Tasca Resources Ltd. (TSX Venture: TAC, ISIN: CA8765031031)Date: November 17, 2017Time: 8:23 PM EST--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Tasca Resources Ltd. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.)
Wild celebrations were reported across Zimbabwe on Saturday moments after reports emerged that some lawmakers were plotting to remove the countrys defiant president.

Robert Mugabe has failed to stand down, days after the military seized control of the countrys affairs.

Zimbabwe Newsday reports Saturday that an opposition parliamentarian of the Movement for Democratic Change, James Maridadi, would raise the motion next week.

The paper cited its sources as stating that the articles of impeachment could be moved as early as next week Tuesday  and that the Speaker had been informed.

Local media reports said members of Mr. Mugabes ZANU-PF would likely endorse the impeachment proceeding in order to pave way for a new leader.

The report has further raised the hopes of Zimbabweans that the 93-year-old leaders days in office are numbered. It came hours after citizens held protests across the country to demand Mr. Mugabes ouster and affirm their support for the military action.

Mr. Mugabe was pushed aside in the early hours of Wednesday by military leaders, in what many see as a potential end to the 37-year-old rule.

He had vowed to be in charge of the country until his death. But a recent decision to make his wife, Grace, the president of the southern African nation, is believed to have prompted the military takeover.

Military leaders in uniform took over state broadcaster, ZBC, on Tuesday, a day after the chief of army staff, Constantino Chiwenga, warned of possible military intervention due to an alleged inflammatory rhetoric of politicians.

But the military has maintained that its intervention was not a coup. Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was sacked last week by Mr. Mugabe, is now widely believed to have been favoured by the military as the next leader.

South African President Jacob Zuma sent his Defence Minister, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, and State Security Minister, Bongani Bongo, to Zimbabwe to meet with Mr. Mugabe and the military Wednesday.

The team held talks with Mr. Mugabe Thursday afternoon, although sources said the leader had refused to step down until he completes his current tenure. His current tenure expires next year.

Morgan Tsvangirai of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, MDC, has continued to demand Mr. Mugabes resignation.

In 2008, the MDC won a majority in parliamentary polls, defeating Mr. Mugabes Zanu-PF. But Mr. Tsvangirai withdrew from the second round of the vote, sparking a crisis that eventually led to a power-sharing arrangement.

The arrangement collapsed in 2013, prompting Mr. Tsvangirai to proceed on exile, where hed remained largely until returning to the country after yesterdays coup.
Todays election in Anambra will go down as one of the most anticipated governorship elections in the history of Nigeria.

Already, it has set a record of being the governorship election with the highest number of candidates (37) in Nigerias electoral history.

Godfatherism, zoning, political vendetta and IPOB threat to boycott are some of the indices observers are expecting to play out in todays polls with over 2.1 million registered voters.

The reason this election is holding today and not in 2019 with those of most other states is rooted in the controversial nature of Anambra politics.

In the 2003 Anambra governorship election, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, under former President Olusegun Obasanjo hatched the perfect heist that snatched the mandate of the then winner, Peter Obi, who contested under the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, then under the leadership of Chekwas Okorie.

The then PDP flagbearer, Chris Ngige, emerged winner against the peoples mandate. It took three years of titanic court battles for Mr. Obi to win back his mandate. Mr. Ngige was sacked by the Court of Appeal in March 2006 and Mr. Obi was sworn in two days later.

Interestingly today, almost all the characters that played a role in the 2003 controversy realigned under different parties to continue the unending battle for power.

Peter Obi is leading PDP to the polls, a party that denied him his mandate for three years. He is believed to be the godfather of the partys flagbearer, Oseloka Obaze. Mr. Obaze meanwhile served as Secretary to the State Government under Mr. Obi and incumbent Governor Willie Obiano.

Mr. Obiano is still flying APGAs flag after a scuffle with Mr. Obi. Meanwhile, Chekwas Okorie, APGAs founding leader, is now in the same boat with Osita Chidoka in the United Progressives Party.

To complete the circle of realignment, Mr. Ngige who was once abducted as a sitting PDP governor, is now a member of the All Progressives Congress and is backing its candidate, Tony Nwoye. Both are former PDP stalwarts.

Another popular name apart from the major candidates, as todays polls open, is Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). His group has vowed that the election will not hold until the federal government gives a date for a referendum for a separate state for Igbos of South-east Nigeria.

PREMIUM TIMES in partnership with the Centre for Democracy and Development, CDD, brings you live updates of the election.

Blaring siren and the sound of roving helicopters have become common in Anambra in the wake of todays governorship polls.

Apart from the stiff competition in the election, there have been security threats.

The secessionist Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, through its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, had earlier said unless the Nigerian State calls for a referendum to determine the status of the country, there would be no election in Anambra State.

Despite being labelled a terrorist organisation, members of IPOB staged a demonstration in Onitsha, the Anambra State capital, threatening voters not to participate in todays election.

Last Friday, members of the secessionist group sang and marched around the commercial town, threatening to unleash mayhem on potential voters.

Todays election proceedings is keenly watched across the world as its outcome will further chart a new course for Nigerias sovereignty and determine the measures being taking to stop unrest.

While the police have deployed 26,000 personnel for the election, the Civil Defence have deployed 13,000 personnel, officials said.

The Army and Navy are also believed to have deployed hundreds of personnel to maintain peace for the elections.

The police deployment comprise police special forces, police mobile forces, Counter Terrorism Units and Bomb Protection Units.

Others are bomb disposal specialists, as well as sniffer and attack dogs. Surveillance helicopters will monitor proceedings from the air, while there will be gunboats on the river Niger, plus 15 armoured personnel carriers and 303 patrol vehicles.

All these are measures put in place to ensure a smooth election and also ensure any threat by IPOB is not carried out. However, some citizens of the state describe the tactics as heavy handed which might have an impact of voters turn up.

Helicopters are flying around since this week, police and army are everywhere as if its war and not election. I will just stay at home till the election is over any unexpected issue, Kennedy Omenwa, a television repairer at Onitsha told PREMIUM TIMES.

Follow our live updates of the election here.

7:41 AM: The city of Awka is absolutely calm with security almost every 5 minutes you move, either stationed or mobile.

Security officials include Army, Navy, Police, and NSCDC.

At the RAC at Aguleri, the number of polling units are not pasted.

07:38AM: Presently at the RAC situated at Aguleri. They are distributing the election materials, SPO not in sight. #SnapAndSend #AnambraEast

[07:52, 11/18/2017] Emmanuel Muruako CDD: Gridlock on the road. People did not adhere to the rule of no movement with vehicles. #TeamIhiala

Setting up of poling unit at unit 004 ABAGANA WARD 2

Corpers, electoral materials still awaiting departure at 7.45 a.m. at CENTRAL SCHOOL ABAGANA. A corps member said they were waiting for their vehicles. Some other vehicles were already occupied with materials and corps members. but they were yet to move.

Idemili North is peaceful. Security presence is high.

As at 8:05 am at St Peters, Ogidi ward 1 to Holy Trinity Ogidi ward 2, nothing is happening in both places.

Corps members stranded at Idemili North LGA as drivers who are supposed to convey them refused to show up with their vehicles.

However, it was learnt that the materials have been moved to the RAC centre; while those to use the materials were left behind.

08.19AM Business going on at Awka etiti. Seems people aint ready for accreditation

08:17 AM: At Awka Etiti A few people are at the market going on with their normal business.

Vegetables and other food stuffs are on display.

Vulcanizers are working and other food stuffs are on sale.

A police van is stationed just ahead and they are mingling like it is okay for the market to be half opened.

Materials and personnel have not arrived at any of the 3 polling units visited in Onitsha North LGA as of 7:30 am. Ado girls secondary school, Awka road Onitsha, New era secondary school Omagba phase1 and Prince memorial high school. Some civil defence staffs are stranded. Meanwhile, there is adequate security on the major roads but not enough inside the streets.

8:30am: Materials arrived early at Dennis Memorial Grammar School Onitsha, Ward1. It has 4 polling units Voter registration has not commenced. Few voters are already at the unit.

The ever busy streets of main market Onitsha has turned to a football stadium as citizens who are indifferent about the election get themselves busy playing football.

At ward 11, Onitsha High school which also doubles as a RAC, materials are yet to be moved to the various polling units as at 8:30am when voting is supposed to have commenced.

08.36 AM: Voting started at eri primary school otuocha ward 1 Aguleri, polling unit 005

Arguments over the payment of feeding allowance created a scene at the Nkpor RAC in Idemili North LGA. The argument created delays so that at 8.30 am the materials were just about leaving the centre.

The corps members insisted that they would not depart for the days job if their feeding allowances were not paid.

A corps member told PREMIUM TIMES that the matter was later resolved and that the corps members would be paid at their units.

8.37am: Names of those will be able to vote at nkpor ward 1.

There is heavy military deployment at Oyeagu Abagana, an IPOB stronghold in Idemili North LGA heightening fears of low turn out in the area.

At 8.52 am at Polling Unit 2, Ward 12, Onitsha North. They are still preparing for the voting process.

09.04am: Two more pulling Unit, including Ibenato Central school unit to move from the Otolo RAC.

09.07am: Security personnels on ground @eri 1 004 otuocha 1

As at 09.14 am, there are 327 registered voters @ CPS Ward 001/002 Ubuluisi-uzo community in Ihiala LGA.

Accreditation and voting have commenced at Ward 1, polling unit 002, All Saints Primary School Onitsha, Onitsha North LGA. There is, however, low turn out of voters because the process was not started on time.

8:54am: There are many cases of verification failure in the ward 1, polling unit 002, 003, 004 at All Saints primary school Onitsha. Voters are complaining about the delays.

Meanwhile, some voters are complaining of complete restriction of movement at housing estate 33 Onitsha.

The army are conducting a thorough stop and search, they even asked people to go back in some case, I just managed to come out, Ifeanyi Okoro, a voter, said.

At 8:33am, at Onitsha south, Ward 12 polling unit located at federal housing, the electoral officers are setting up the polling unit.

At 8.49am at the RAC in Otolo Nnewi, Corps members expressed reservations about going for the elections without security operatives in their vehicles to escort them.

Card reader not working at Bishop Patterson Junior Seminary Mbosi Ward 20, Polling unit 004. Incidence form is being used.

At Ward 008, Odata central school 11. Uzor Akwa. Voting started at 9:20. Voters are complaining that a second polling unit meant to be there, PU 004, is absent.

A voter was causing trouble. Harassing the INEC officials. A security official stepped in.

There are a total 752 voters on the register of the polling unit.

Although election is supposed to commence at 8 a.m., most of the poling units visited at Idemili north were yet to start the voting proper as at the time of filing this report (9.15am).

The situation has been blamed on logistic problems and poor arrangements by INEC.

09.23am: People still waiting for election materials at idemili north ogidi ward 2

09.23am: Emejulue /Ajasa market Onitsha. People buying and selling

09:33am: At ward 001 003, accreditation has started fully at Ihiala LGA.

09.27am: At otolo nnewi ward 2 Enem hallThe election materials just arrived now..the environment is serien..people are waiting

09.28am: Inec officials arriving at polling station.Ogidi ward 1  Idemili team reporting.#snapandsend#

09.30am The situation of the card reader being explained to an Inec superior @eri 1 004 otuocha1 #snapandsend

09.38am: Onitsha North LGA, Ward 11, PU 009 have not started accreditation and voting

09:39am Onitsha North LGA Onitsha sports club, Ward 11, PU 012 Have started accreditation and voting

09:46am Onitsha North LGA, Iweobi Open space Ward11, PU 013 have started accreditation and voting. They started around 9am and the smart card reader and everything is working perfectly..

9:39am: At anglican girls Uruagu Nnewi (super rac) some inec adhoc staff refusing to leave for their various PUs because of money issues #snapandsend teamnnewi

The man on brown native was just arrested for impersonation of two PVC. He claimed it belongs to a friend who is on his way @ ihiala LGA Ubuluisiozor ward 001

09:52am: There is a problem between Inec media and inec officials @St augustine church#Anambra East.

The inec officials and some people are shouting at the media for snapping and intruding without their permission.

The Inec media are arguing that they dont have to power because they are all from Inec.

09.53AM: Corpers fighting over election materials..Guess there is lack of materials here.. Ogidi ward 1..idemili team reporting.

09.56am: Governor just arrived @ eri primary sch 004 otuocha 1

Osita Chidoka, the UPP candidate, arrived his polling unit 030 at Central School 3 at 9.55am, but the officials at the unit just started setting up.

Voting began a little behind schedule at about 10 am at Enem ward, Abada junction polling station in Nnewi visited by Premium Times.

But most of the voters were seen milling around obviously waiting for party officials to share money to them before they vote.

They ignored pleas from electoral officers to go and vote and were seen chatting.

But at Ihialla Local Government, a mixup by INEC officials seems to have delayed the commencement of voting.

An electoral observer told our correspondent that voters refused to vote because electoral officers mixed up the electoral materials.

According to him, in some polling stations where there are supposed to be about two or three polling units, materials for just one polling unit were provided.

At Idemili North, Amaugochukwu Hall 1, Watching the Vote by YIAGA, an NGO, reports that accreditation and voting was disrupted by two unknown gentlemen. INECofficials scampered for safety with the ballot papers but returned later to continue with the voting. Upon return they discovered the card reader and ballot box have been taken away. Accreditation and voting are now on hold.

The UPP candidate, Osita Chidoka, voted at 10.15 a.m. at his polling unit at Central School Obosi.

The UPP candidate Osita Chidoka voting at 10.15am at his polling unit at Central School Obosi

10:06 Manual accreditation going on @PU 003 Ubuluisiozor ihiala LGA

10.07am: Governor Obiano leaving the polling unit @ eri primary sch 004 otuocha ward 1#snapandsend

10.19am: Voting and accreditation in progress @ CPS 1 ward 003. Voters turned out enmass to exercise their franchise. The PO, APOs and all INEC official are working happily

10.24am: Voters here are being paid to vote for Apc.

This poster is freshly pasted around this unit.

A voter said it is to reiterate their stand and that so far the money has been good.

He refused to state how much he was given.

Another voter is seen showing a man his hand and insisting he has voted for Apc.

10.24am: voting exercise has commence at AkwuEgbo central school Uruagu otolo nnewi..the card reader is working perfectly..only 4 persons have casted their vote as at time of report.

At 10.11am at Ward 015, Ihiala, some voters are threatening to beat up ad-hoc staff, pressurising them to use manual method as the card reader is faulty.

Vote and write your name in order to collect money from APC and APGA. APGA IS #2000. APC IS #2500

A party agent is seen lobbying for votes at Ogidi 2

PU 021, PU 009, and PU 010

The UPP candidate, Osita Chidoka, has complained of late arrival of electoral materials to his polling unit at Central School Onosi, Idemili North LGA.

He feared that the arrival of the materials two hours behind schedule could affect the process of election at the end of the day.

I hope the late arrival would be taken into account in considering when the election would end,  he said.

We are also awaiting reports from our situation room to find out if the same thing was experienced across the state.

PREMIUM TIMES observed the late arrival of the materials and INEC officials at the unit and many others in Idemili.

Mr. Chidoka, a former aviation minister, is challenging 36 other candidates in the election including incumbent governor Willie Obiano.

At 10.31am, at St Lous Catholic Church, Uruagu which also serves as Uruagu Ward 2, no voting or accreditation has commenced. The election officers just arrived at about 10:30am. Tables and chairs were made available to POs and APOs.

At Ogidi2, PU 009. After three trials. Finger print scan not working properly.

10.39am: At time of reporting,People are stranded and worried.the PO and APOs are having misunderstanding among them..voting have not commenced#SnapAndSend.

Voting in process but Card reader not detecting finger prints or voters cards of some people @ilu Abito square 001 nsugbe 1 #snapandsend

At Isseke

Amaudo/umezee Primary school 1, as at 10:45 a.m., over 30 people have voted out of the 612 on the voters register. PU 014 at same place, with 474 voters has had over 40 votes. PU 010 has 56 votes already.

There are PDP/APGA party agents present.

The PDP agent say he has been paying with his money to match APGAs N3000 per vote. Both parties are hustling for voters.

An elderly woman in her late 60s was led to the front by a few persons who claimed she was blind.

Surprisingly though, all her actions proved otherwise. The police officer resists saying they cant have their way, they bullied him into accepting that she is blind.

She was subsequently helped to vote after getting accreditation and working up to the point of voting all by her self before she was joined. She later walked up to get her payment all by herself.

11.08am: At Okija Ward 2, PU 009, Umuohi Community Primary School, Okija, the Card Reader is experiencing difficulty reading some finger prints The INEC Ad-hoc staff provided toilet tissue for people to clean their thumbs.

Meanwhile money is exchanging hands among political parties, PDP, apc and APGA. Unofficial party agents are seen trying to buy votes with N500 each.

Furthermore, campaign posters of both APGA and APC candidates are visible at the entrance of the premise.

11:17am: voting just started at st peters ogidi ward 1

Stomach Infrastructure by APC @ illo abito square Nsugbe. People are being encouraged by to vote with rice sharing by APC.

11.30am: Stomach Infrastructure Update. Food being shared to voters by APC agents @ilo Abito square PU001 Nsugbe ward 1#snapandsend

Voters at St. John of Thpe Cross Catholic Church Nnewi, Anambra whose surnames first letter falls within O-Z alphabet range are complaining that they are prevented from voting as their names were not found in the voters register. Others not affected did their accreditation and voting at same time.

The governorship candidate of the Progressive Peoples Alliance, PPA, Godwin Ezeemo, has raised alarm over an alleged attempt to disenfranchise him and his people in Aguata in the ongoing governorship election in the state.

He spoke at his polling unit in Igwebuike civic center in Umuchu ward 1 in Aguata local government area.

He said that as at 10 a.m materials and INEC officials were yet to arrive his polling unit.

Also there are no security operative yet at my polling unit at Umuchu ward 1 in Aguata Local Government area of Anambra State, he added

Mr Ezeemo urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to extend the accreditation and voting time for Umuchu ward.

Mr Ezeemo expressed worry that even with all the preparations by INEC there are still delays in the election process.

He however expressed optimism that at the end of the entire process, he will emerge victorious.

11.50am: Voters at Orie market square Okpoko ward at Ogbaru at 11:48. There is no queue, no organization and people here dont know how to vote. #SnapAndSend #TeamOgbaru

11:33 Uproar as Tony Nwoye arrives Illo abito square Nsugbe

11:46 At Ukpor ward 4, PU 007 and 008, Nnewi south, voters came out in their numbers to vote. Foreign observers can be seen monitoring the pools.11

11:49 Card reader is not working polling unit 003 st peters ogidi

As at 11.45am at Amamu 11, Wards 8 and 2, voters whose first letter of their surnames fall between O-Z are unable to vote. Their names are not on the list.

The missing names are assumed to be part of the names that should be on an extended polling unit for an extended voting point. They say they have been calling the supervisory polling officer who has not responded. Voters are crying fowl.

There are 831 voters on the unit/ward 008 hence there should be an alternate voting point, apovo. The materials for an apovo are on ground. There are 718 voters on the Ward 6 register.

Party agents buying votes are complaining that those who they pay to vote are folding the paper hence they are spoiling the ballot paper.

The assistant polling officer says that some whose names fall between A to N are not also on the register.

12.06pm: No voting in Iyiaga ward as officers refuse to cross over

At Umedim ward 1 in Otolo, people queue up to collect money from APGA after voting, same for APC.

Massive turn out of voters at Umudim Ward 1. Otolo, Nnewi North LGA

11:56am  Ogbaru LGA: at CPS Odekpe, Ward 1, PU 18, voters are not arranged in an orderly manner.

12.02pm: Sharing of N2,000 each to voters by party agents believed to be working for PDP at CPS Odekpe, ward 5, Ogbaru LGA.

@Nnewi North, almost every corner is littered with APGA posters, but we have not seen an APGA agent in Otolo Wards 1 and 2.

At Nnewi North LGA, Otolo ward 3; across all the pulling units, turn out is very low, voting is ongoing.

Agents seem to have pre-booked voters and they bring them to voting points and educate them on what to do.

At PU 12, voter turn out is very low and INEC officers appear to be relaxing.

Aguleri: Ward 2, Pu 005 is situated in somebodys compound. Surprisingly others turned up in numbers there and are not complaining.

The voters register is pulled off the wall at unit 22 ward 2 Abatete in Idemili North LGA and voters manage to pour through the papers in search of their names.

APC running mate Dozie Ikedife exercise his franchise

12:50pm: At Ochuche town in Ogbaru LGA, Ward 6, Polling Unit 4. The PDP flagbearer, Oseloka Obaze, is yet to vote. He is from the aforementioned town, LGA, ward and polling unit and he is expected to vote here. A host of journalists, observers are anticipating his arrival.

We cleared bush before we started setting up our poling materials, a polling officer at Umuchem unit at Photo in Idemili South Local Government Area has said.

The official said when they arrived the venue early, the site for the voting was completely in the bush.

I had to cut the grass myself before we manage to start the process at 9am, she told PREMIUM TIMES.

13.13pm: APGA agent collecting voters card and given them money..Nnewi Ichi.. Polling unit

003

13.18pm: Apga agent sharing gala and malt at pu020/pu021.

Community primary school 1/2 Abatete.

13.04pm: Assistant Polling Officers complain about not knowing the whereabouts of their polling officer, Unit 007, Ward 01, Onitsha north

12.47pm: No Election is taking place in the whole of AWA WARD, ORUMBA NORTH due to a major shortage of ballot papers. While registered voters are 2262, only 1261 ballot papers was given to the ad-hoc staff. Voters therefore, refused to proceed with the election.

APGA agent given INEC money at Nnewi ichi ward ..Polling Unit 003

See and buy live at polling unit 008 Umudioka primary sch awkuzu ward 2 .Oyi LGA #snapandsend

The supposed security men , relaxing under mango tree while the electoral process is ongoing at PU013,014,015 Ndiakwu otolo ward one nnewi #snapandsend

In Nkpor ward Two.. Woman making call in front of an observer telling someone on the phone dat PDP paid her #500 and APC #1000 for her to cast vote for their candidates. #snapandsend #Reporting.

Voting has ended at Uzoakika, Oddata Central School ward, Polling Unit 008, voting ended at 2:02pm. Counting going on now.

As at 14.21pm, at Uzoakika Oddata Central School ward, Unit 004 where voting didnt start till 11pm, the polling agents who did not label ballot boxes continued attending to voters after the 2 pm deadline. As at 2:18pm, they were still receiving votes. The officials who arrived late also ate for about 20 minutes while voters stood waiting for them.

Voting ends in some polling units in Idemili north local government. Sorting of ballots have commenced in units At 5 and 6 in Uzubi Central School ward 3.

Voting ends in some polling units in Idemili North Local Government. At units 5 and 6 at Uzubi Central School, Ward 3, sorting of ballots has commenced.

While the gubernatorial election in Anambra state has begun, a dog was spotted at a polling unit in one of the communities with the campaign banner of the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tony Nwoye. #AnambraDecides201 #SnapandSend

14.32pm: Results: Ward 3, PU 003, Idemili North LGA.

APC  10

APGA  63

PDP  10

UPP  5

At Nkpor 2, Idemili North, a party agent is heard talking on phone about how he needs more money (N100,000) to outpay another agent from another party.

Onitsha North LGA Ward 8,PU 007

Result computation in progress

14.43pm: PU007&8, Idemili North Oraukwu.

Ballot sorting and counting in progress

Votes being sorted @ PU Amansa primary school 011; Igbariam 05 Anambra east

Trouble at Umuenem otolo ward 2 as voters and agents are scrambling for the cash #snapandsend

15.09pm: Umudim Nnewi North LGA, PU- 5, Ward 1

APGA  73

PDP  22

APC  26

Sorting of ballots at Unit 6, Ward 3, Idemili North LGA ongoing

Delay in counting of votes:

There are perceived irregularities at the polling centre of the PDP flag bearer, Oseloka Obaze, Ward 6, PU 001 as of 3:10pm. Party members could be seen in groups arguing over what is believed to be how money should be shared.

At 3:12pm, counting of votes has not commenced. When asked, the INEC staff who seemed compromised argued that they are waiting for party agents before they commence. Based on the Electoral Act of 2010 as amended, it is mandatory that party agents be available to validate the vote counting process.

15.16pm: Umudim Ward 1, PU-015, Nnewi North LGA

Manual voting 47

Voting by card reader 34

Total number voted-81

APC  29

APGA -34

PdC-1

PDP -16

Results: Ward 03, PU 004.

APC  13

APGA  41

PDP  15

UPP  17

VOID  7

Reg. Voters 415

Total vote cast: 93

Sorting of ballots at unit 6 ward 3, idemili north LGA

Unit 6, Ward 3 Idemili North

APGA 69

APC 11

PDP 10

UPP 20

Ihiala LGA, Ogboro ward, Nkwoegbe primary sch 1. PU 004

Voting closed 2pm.

Counting commenced 4mins after 2.

Counting closed 2:33

Number of registered voters 220

Voter turn up . 56.

Results

Invalid  6

APC 19

APGA 19

PDP 8

PDC 2

PPP 1

UPP 1

Umudim Uru ward 1 PU 12 Nnewi LGA

15.56pm: Nnewi north LGA umudim ward 1 PU 12 result sheet

15.46pm: Ovala square, PU 013. Igbariam

APGA 40

PDP 6

APC 15

PPA 1

NEPP 1

Rejected 4

Unit 23 Abatete Ward 02 Idemili North

APGA 62

PDP. 11

APC. 20

Nnewi North, Nnewi ichi Ward 2, Pu 003

Rejected vote 2

APGA 27

APC 16

PDP 21

Upp 1

PU 012, Nnewi Ichi, Ward 2

APC 27

APGA 63

PDP 51

UPP 2

Rejected 12

PU 005, Nnewi Ichi Ward 2

APC 14

AGAP 1

APP 1

APGA 37

PDP 14

PPA 1

UPP 3

Rejected 14

The Independent National Electoral Commission has blamed corps members for delays in the commencement of Saturdays governorship election in Anambra State.

A spokesperson for the commission, Solomon Soyebi, said most polling units could not open early as planned because many corps members who were meant to serve as poling officers did not have the right attitude towards the exercise.

Mr. Soyebi, who is INECs Voter Education and Publicity, later told PREMIUM TIMES that INEC had some problems with the corps members especially those brought from outside the state.

He said most of them did not want to go to where they were posted and that there was a mix-up in the posting of corps members.

In Awka-South, for example, Mr. Soyebi said INEC had to move about 180 corps members to Nnewi-North and South at about 8:30, which resulted in some delay.

He was however confident that challenges, including card reader failure in some instance, would not affect the election.

At several polling centres visited by PREMIUM TIMES, accreditation did not start until 9:30 a.m. and voting till 10:00 am.

For example, at 030 polling unit at Central school where on Osita Chidoka, one of the gubernatorial aspirants, United Progressives Party, UPP, voted, election did not start until past 10.

PREMIUM TIMES also observed that as at 12: 06 p.m., there was no voting at the Iyiaga Ward as officers.

UNIT 1 WARD 4 NJIKOKA LGA

APGA 215

APC 23

PDP 60

UPP 2

UNIT 003 ward 10 Njikoka LGA

APGA 153

APC 80

PDP 11

16.56 PM: Result for PU 015, Ward 2, Ihiala LGA

APC 63

PDP 26

APGA 54

UPP 5

Others 6

Total number of voters on registered list.856.. .total number of registered voters 115

The unit at Ihiala Ward 2 did not paste the form EC60E as required by law which led to a quarrel at the PU.

17.17pm: Oraukwu central school, PU 010, Idemiri north.

Ogbaru LGA: Central School Ochuche (Obazes polling centre)

Ward 6, PU 001

PDP: 370

APGA: 11

APC: 5

UPP: 1

Invalid: 4

Ward6, PU 014

PDP: 126

APGA: 8

APC:5

UPP: 0

Invalid: 16

Result for Nkpor Ward 2, Idemili North governorship, PU-022

APGA -36

PDP -16

APC-11

UPP-3

Invalid-11

APDA-1

AGAP-1

House of Assembly result for the above ward and unit

APGA -35

PDP -20

APC -15

Invalid-5

UPP -2

DA -1

Unit 003, Ward 10 Awka south

APGA. 153

APC. 80

PDP. 11

Unit 003 Ward 7 Awka south

APGA. 145

APC. 28

PDP. 15

UPP. 2

unit. 001 Ward 7 Awka South

APGA 219

APC. 37

PDP. 14

PPA. 3

unit 005 Ward 7 awka south

APGA. 99

APC. 10

PDP. 12

UPP. 1

06.09am: A few collation officers have arrived from LGA and scribbling down results into some sheets. However, INEC have not shown any sign of commencement in sight.

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Two PREMIUM TIMES journalists were lavishly celebrated in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday as they won the 2017 edition of the Global Shinning Light Award.

Editor-in-Chief, Musikilu Mojeed, and multiple award-winning investigative reporter, Emmanuel Mayah, shone like a million stars after they were named winners of the prize ahead of other contenders from other parts of the world.

The prize honours investigative journalism conducted in a developing or transitioning country, done under threat, duress, or in the direst of conditions.

They were awarded first place for a two-part story which investigated the extrajudicial killings of IPOB protesters: Inside the Massive Extrajudicial Killings in Nigerias South-East and How the Onitsha Massacre of Pro-Biafra Supporters was Coordinated.

The story written by Emmanuel Mayah and edited by Musikilu Mojeed exposed how extra-judicial killings were perpetrated and covered up by state security agencies.

The two-month long investigation uncovered multiple mass graves, lending support to allegations that police and military forces targeted innocent and defenceless civilians for abuse and extrajudicial killings.

Following reports that included photo evidence, human rights groups called for an independent probe and the army announced another investigation.

Project No. 1, by Beladi TV channel, on corruption in Iraqs Ministry of Education was also announced as joint first place at the award held as part of the ongoing 10th Global Investigative Journalism Conference.

According to the organisers, this years award drew a record 211 submissions from 67 countries, more than double the number of entries in the previous GSL Award in 2015.

The judges were particularly impressed with the solo investigations that were conducted with minimal resources amid real threats and intimidation, noted Sheila Coronel, Academic Affairs Dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, one of the judges.

By honouring the extraordinary work of these journalists at risk, we pay tribute to all the good work being done in so many places where courageous journalists keep the flame of watchdog reporting alive.

The competition this year was extraordinary, notes David E. Kaplan, executive director of the Global Investigative Journalism Network, which sponsors the awards. Despite the global backlash against quality journalism, this shows that investigative reporting is alive and well around the world.

In addition, the judges honoured two other projects with citations of excellence: Making a Killing, for the joint investigation that exposed an arms pipeline between Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East worth 1.2 billion; and Gujarat Files: Anatomy of a Coverup,, for an undercover investigation revealing Indias top officials complicity in the 2002 Gujarat Riots.

Mr. Mojeed is a former John S. Knight International Fellow at Stanford University and Ford Foundation International Fellow at The City University of New York. He has reported extensively on corruption, human rights and human trafficking and is one of Africas most regarded investigative journalists.

He is well known for exposing government and corporate corruption in his country.

A winner of several awards, including the FAIRs Editors Courage Award, a Stanford journalism fellowship, the Wole Soyinka Investigative Reporting Award and a Ford Foundation Fellowship, Mr. Mojeed was on the board of the Forum for African Investigative Reporters, and is a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors.

He is a member of the worlds foremost investigative journalism group, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. He recently shared a Pulitzer Prize for his teams globally-acclaimed reporting on the Panama Papers.

Mr. Mayah is one of Africas most regarded investigative journalists. He has done ground-breaking works on human trafficking, environmental and human rights abuses as well as on illicit financial flows.

He, at various times, won local and international awards, including the FAIR African Investigative Reporting Award, the CNN/Multichoice Journalist Award, the Nobert Zongo Prize for Investigative Journalism and the Woke Soyinka Prize for Investigative Journalism, among others.

Below is a list of finalists from which winners were named Saturday.

Inside the Massive Extrajudicial Killings in Nigerias South-East and How the Onitsha Massacre of Pro-Biafra Supporters was Coordinated, Premium Times, Nigeria (2016). Reporter: Emmanuel Mayah; Editor: Musikilu Mojeed

A two-month long investigation by Mayah uncovered multiple mass graves, lending support to allegations that police and military forces have been targeting a minority ethnic group for abuse and extra-judicial killings. Following reports that included photo evidence, human rights groups called for an independent probe and the army announced another investigation.

Justice, Tiger Eye PI, Ghana (2015), Al Jazeera English (2017), Insight TWI. The team: Anas Aremeyaw Anas, Philip Clothier, Paul Sapin and Raphael Rowe

A two-year undercover investigation produced evidence of 34 judges and over 100 clerks accepting bribes to rule a certain way in court cases. Following the release of a three-hour documentary and the publication of newspaper reports, 25 judges were removed from office and a number of judicial staff were relieved of their duties.

Project No. 1, Beladi TV channel, Iraq (2016), Investigation: Asaad Al-Zalzali; Photography: Thaer Khalid

When $200 million allocated for public schools in Iraq went missing, reporter Al-Zalzali followed the money, which led him to a bank and to another country. The story exposed the magnitude of corruption in the countrys Ministry of Education and led to a conviction and a settlement that returned half the stolen money.

Death in Service, BBC World and BBC Arabic, Egypt (2016). Reporter and producer: Mostafa ElMarsafawy; Camera: Alaa Elkamhawi, Mohamed Emad and Moahmed Fathi; Executive producer: Elizabeth C. Jones

An investigation into 13 military conscripts deaths uncovered abuse and, in some cases, allegations of murder. Authorities, meanwhile, worked to cover up the evidence. After the story aired, one of the officers featured in the investigation was sentenced to three years in jail. Reporter ElMarsafawy was accused of undermining security and stability in Egypt and forced to resign his job.

Making a Killing, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (2016) Reporters: Lawrence Marzouk, Ivan Angelovski and Miranda Patrucic; Additional reporting: Atanas Tchobanov, Dusica Tomovic, Jelena Cosic, Jelena Svircic, Lindita Cela, RISE Moldova, Pavla Holcova, Stevan Dojcinovic and Pavle Petrovic; Editors: Drew Sullivan, Jody McPhillips, Rosemary Armao, Gordana Igric and Anita Rice

The joint investigation uncovered an arms pipeline between Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East worth 1.2 billion. The weapons flow, reporters found, were being financed by Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE and Turkey, and systematically diverted to extremist groups, including the Islamic State. After the story was published, the European Union announced it would monitor the flow of weapons and several countries reviewed their policies.

Corruption and Organized Crime, Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia, Serbia (2016). Team: Dino Jahic, Ivana Jeremic, Milica Saric, Andjela Milivojevic, Milica Stojanovic, Vladimir Kostic, Bojana Bosanac and Filip Rudic

The team built two databases and produced a series of stories exposing Serbias official fight against corruption as a nominal exercise. Records obtained through hundreds of Freedom of Information requests revealed that corruption prosecutions mainly targeted low-level public officials, dragged on for years and often resulted in suspended sentences.

Dirty Gold: Chasing the Trace of the London Bullion Market, Ojo Publico, Peru (2015). Team: Oscar Castilla, Nelly Luna, Fabiola Torres and Audrey Cordova

The investigation identified American and Swiss companies that were buying gold illegally mined in Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador and Chile. After publication, US, Swiss, Chilean and Peruvian authorities launched their own probes into the companies and their associates, resulting in arrests of several individuals implicated in the schemes.

Wild Land: Violence, Devastation and Death in the Heart of Brazil, O Estado de S. Paulo, Brazil (2016). Reporters: Andre Borges and Leonencio Nossa; Photo and video: Dida Sampaio and Helvio Romero; Editor: Luciana Garbin

Journalists traveled 15,000 kilometers of government roads to investigate the theft of public lands and timber in the Amazon region of Brazil. The series exposed human rights abuses, corruption and elaborate profiteering schemes. It also included detailed information, including X-rays, on 1,309 individuals killed in land conflicts in rural Brazil over two decades.

Anbang Series, Southern Weekly, China (2015) Reporters: Li Weiao and Lv Minghe; Editors: Shu Mei and Su Yongtong

The investigation into Chinas Anbang Insurance Group scrutinized the opaque companys expansion into overseas investments, its complex strategies of mergers and acquisitions, and the frequently changing shareholding structure that includes former Communist Party leaders. Under pressure from Anbang and government authorities, the publisher was forced to remove the story from its website five days after publication. Nonetheless, industry insiders called the investigation a powerful expose of the connection between money and political power in China.

The Jungle Gangs of Jharkhand, Hindustan Times, India (2016). The team: Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava and Athar Rather

The investigation looked into a collaboration between security agencies in the Indian state of Jharkhand and rogue armed groups fighting Maoist insurgents. Data and narrative collected during the investigation showed that local communities were victimized more often by the state-supported gangs than by the insurgency. After publication, Indias National Human Rights Commission called for an independent inquiry.

Gujarat Files: Anatomy of a Coverup, self-published, India (2016). Rana Ayyub

Reporter Rana Ayyub went undercover for nine months to record top officials speaking candidly about the 2002 riots in Gujarat, which left at least 1000 Muslims dead. When one of the targets of Ayyubs investigation was poised to become the countrys new prime minister, Indian media houses got cold feet. Despite threats and surveillance, Ayyub self-published the transcripts that revealed complicity by Indias top officials in the attacks.

The Khadija Project, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project in collaboration with numerous international outlets (2015) Reporters: Miranda Patrucic (OCCRP), Joachim Dyfvermark and Sven Bergman (SVT), Ola Westerberg (TT), Paul Radu (OCCRP), Iggy Ostanin (Bellingcat), Eleanor Rose (OCCRP), Karim Secker, Olesya Shmagun (OCCRP), Lorenzo Di Pietro (IRPI), Lejla Camdzic (OCCRP), Boris Kartheuser (freelance), Sylke Gruhnwald (SRF) Julian Schmidli (SRF), Lovisa Moller (Factwise), Sofia Hultqvist (Factwise), Tolga Tanis (Hurriyet), Habib Abdullayev (Meydan TV), Lejla Sarcevic (OCCRP), Don Ray, Khadija Ismayilova and RFE/RL Azerbaijan Service. Azerbaijani reporters, fearing arrest, used pseudonyms. Editors: Drew Sullivan, Jody McPhillips, Rosemary Armao, Deborah Nelson and Dave Bloss

Reporters from a dozen media outlets spent a year continuing the work of OCCRP/Radio Free Europe investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, who was arrested on trumped-up charges in Azerbaijan. The investigations broke new ground in exposing kleptocracy and corruption in the country, much of it benefiting the ruling Aliyev family. After a series of stories implicated individuals and companies both in Azerbaijan and abroad, Ismayilova was released from prison.
At least 230 Nigerian peacekeeping troops serving under the United Nations Mission in Liberia, UNMIL, were awarded the United Nations peacekeepers medal on Monday.

The UNIMIL, which announced the awards in a statement on Friday, said the peace keepers were conferred with the UN medals at a ceremony in Morovia in recognition of their contributions to peace and stability in Liberia.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General, SRSG, Farid Zarif, presided over the ceremony at Camp Abuja in Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia.

The UNIMIL said the UN medals were also presented to Staff Officers, Military Observers, and the Pakistani Medical Contingent, PAKMED.

In his remarks, Mr. Zarif said the peacekeepers contributed towards strengthening and consolidating peace and stability in Liberia.

They have brought pride and honour, not just to their contingents, but also to their nations, Mr. Zarif said.

You have also given meaning to the United Nations services throughout the world by helping nations in distress in order to fight back some of the challenges that may have gone beyond their capacity, he added.

The SRSG urged the peace keepers to take pride in their contributions to serving the common cause of the United Nations by helping humanity and nations in distress.

He said by so doing, peacekeepers justify the presence and continuation of the work of the United Nations as the most indispensable organization without which humanity would be in difficult distress.

Be proud of what you are doing in supporting and maintaining peace around the world and helping other nations, he added.

The event was graced by top officials of UNMIL and UN Country Team, including the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General, DSRSG, for Peace Consolidation, Yacoub El Hillo, Force Commander, Salihu Zaway Uba, a major-general and Director of Mission Support DMS, David Penklis.

However, UNIMIL said the Security Council at its 7851st meeting held on December 23, 2016 adopted the Resolution 2333 (2016) that extended its mandate for a final period until March 30, 2018.

A request has also been sent to the Secretary-General to complete the withdrawal of all uniformed and civilian UNMIL components, other than those required to complete the Missions liquidation, by April 30, 2018.
Erecting a wall between donor agencies and newsroom beneficiaries of their grants is one way of maintaining editorial independence, journalists at the ongoing Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, have said.

The conference, a gathering of over 300 investigative journalists from across the world, began on Wednesday.

At a session on Nonprofits and New Models on Friday, Anya Schiffrin, said donor funding and newsroom independence has continued to be a source of great concern for media practitioners.

Ms. Schiffrin, said lots of journalists have stories about their donors calling them to make editorial suggestions such as requesting that they interview a particular individual.

One solution is creating a wall between between funding and editorial arms such as having a firewall between newsroom and Board of Directors such that the board does not see editorial content before it is published, said Ms. Schiffrin, Director of Technology, Media and Communications at Columbia University, New York.

Donors can outsource decision making about grants, for instance, awarding funds to intermediary groups who in turn award it to news organizations.

Maria Theresa Ronderos, Director of Open Society Foundation on Independent Journalism, said her organization focuses on supporting the development of media organizations to enable them to do the journalism they want.

So what do we really ask of grantees? What we really want is for them to be entrepreneurial and to enhance their critical capacity to understand the digital area and their audience, said Ms. Ronderos, a Columbian journalist.

She said her organization also wants to see quality journalism as well as a clear vision from grants beneficiaries, adding that the pool of grantees have shrunken over the years.

According to her, Open Society Foundation has received 699 proposals from around the world out of which 40 had been pre-selected and about 15 would receive their funds in the end.

Dapo Olorunyomi, the Publisher of PREMIUM TIMES newspaper, said to enhance collaboration between media organizations and donor agencies, they must have shared values.

If you want to do independent journalism, you have to look at the values that drive you, said Mr. Olorunyomi, one of the panelists at the session.

He said that if the relationship between funders and newsroom is overstretched, a false problem which doesnt exist could be created.

Ms. Ronderos said media organizations having diversity of funding, whether donors or advertising, is essential to maintain their independence.

It is also important to show a donor that you are receiving money from the public, it will be a plus because it sees you as connecting with your audience.

Some of the panelists said their organizations had turned down funds from donors as a result of them having contrasting interests.

Drew Sullivan, Editor and Co-Founder of Organized Crime & Corruption Reporting Project, said his organization returned $5,000 to an organized crime figure, adding that it would be ideal to have a pool where journalists can access funds for their investigations.

Mr. Olorunyomi said his organization rejected two grants last year and one of the cases was because the interests of the donors did not align with that of PREMIUM TIMES.

We need a new kind of pressure to support the independence of the media.
Police in Borno State said at least six person, including four suicide bombers, died during an apparently coordinated suicide attacks by Boko Haram insurgents in Maiduguri on Saturday.

PREMIUM TIMES had earlier reported the attacks, citing two persons dead while waiting for further details from the security officials.

In a statement issued by the Police Public Relations Officer, Victor Isukwu, the police said two different set of attacks occurred, starting from the very early hours of Saturday.

According to Mr. Isukwu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, the attack also left some other persons with serious injuries.

The statement reads:

In the wee hours of today 18/11/2017, two female suicide bombers detonated their IED vests in the outskirt of Alakaramtii village in Jere LGA, killing themselves alone.

Then at about 0650hrs, two other teenage female suicide bombers infiltrated Alakaramtii village. One of them hurriedly detonated her IED vest killing herself, her partner and an innocent boy while four others including the mother of the innocent boy, sustained injuries.

The corpses and the injured have been evacuated to University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. The police EOD team promptly rendered safe the unexploded IED and sanitised the area. Normalcy has since been restored to the area.
Incumbent Governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano, came under attacks Saturday after addressing his supporters at a polling unit, with activists accusing him of violating the Electoral Act.

Activists said the governors address constituted a form of campaigning, which the law says must end 24 hours before voting.

For the purpose of this Act, the period of campaigning in public by every political party shall commence 90 days before polling day and end 24 hours prior to that day. This refers to a registered political party or any person acting on its behalf during the 24 hours before polling day, the Act reads in section 99 (1 and 2).

The governor cast his vote around 10 a.m. at Eri Primary School, Unit 004, Otuocha 1, Aguleri, Anambra East on Saturday, before speaking to his supporters.

Abiola Akiyode of the Transition Monitoring Group, condemned the governors action describing it as a temptation the governor should have avoided.

The most worrisome aspect (of this election) is that the governor came with a microphone to address the people. I think it is a sort of campaign. Since I have been observing, I have never seen any governor go to that extent to talk to people on election day. I think he should have avoided the temptation even if people are pushing him to do something, she said.

Speaking further, Mrs. Akiyode said the governors address is a form of campaign given its content and timing.

What he spoke about is a sort of campaign. Saying that at the end of the day he would have cause to be happy. I think these are not things one should expect on election day.

However, the governor was not able to use the card reader at his polling unit as the machine malfunctioned.
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has urged Delta people to engage in actions that will strengthen the bond of unity no matter the political divide.

Mr. Okowa made the call on Saturday at Owhelogbo, Isoko North local government area of Delta State at a reception organised in honour of former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, by Ovuozourie Macaulay.

According to the governor, the more united we are, the better for our state, we should play politics that will engender unity.

Most of us have being looking forward to an event like this where our leader is honoured, there is no doubt that Chief Ibori is a leader in its true sense, he built a strong political family and by the grace of God, the leadership of the state today is still within the family, the family is still intact and most of the things we have achieved in the state today can be traced to the foundation laid by him, Mr. Okowa said.

He added, I must thank him for laying a foundation that we are building on, there is no state in the country today that has the type of road infrastructure we have in Delta State, Chief Ibori has a big heart, he is bold.

Mr. Ibori thanked Mr. Macaulay for organising the reception and urged leaders in the country to be courageous in standing on the part of the constitution and working for the people.

When you are in office, people will abuse you, allow them, that is the beauty of democracy, you must be courageous to stay on the part of the people, no matter the price; if there is any constitution breach, you must stand up and oppose it, Mr. Ibori said, as an elder statesman, I will be happy if this democracy which we all fought for is deepened.

The immediate past governor of Delta State, Emmanuel Uduaghan, urged the people to avoid pulling down those who are in position of authority, rather, such people should be encouraged to succeed.

Chief James Ibori is up and he will never go down again, he said.

A former governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, in his speech, described Mr. Ibori as a bridge builder while Mr. Macaulay said the event was in honour of a giant in the struggle, a resilient fighter for the rights of the Nigerian workers and the masses, a courageous and selfless social crusader.

The chairman of the occasion, Alexander Ogomudia, thanked God for the life of Mr. Ibori and commended Mr. Macaulay for organising the event.

Mr. Iboris deputy, Benjamin Elue; former acting governor of Delta State, Sam Obi; a former chief of naval staff, Dele Ezeoba; a former Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Victor Ochei, among others, attended the ceremony.

Mr. Ibori was also jailed in the United Kingdom for stealing $250 million as governor.

He returned to Nigeria in 2016 after serving his term.
A deafening explosion has occurred near Giwa barracks area of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

An official confirmed that two people were killed in the explosion.

This is coming three days after two suicide bombers attacked a crowded suburb of Maiduguri leaving at least 18 persons dead and 29 injured.

Todays blast went off at about 6.50 a.m. Saturday morning.

Residents cringed in fear as the thunderous blast reverberated over the city.

PREMIUM TIMES quick checks indicate that the blast came from the Giwa barracks axis of the city.

Security trucks belonging to the Nigeria military and that of the Civillian-JTF were sighted coming from the Giwa barracks road at top speed with their headlamps on.

A trader, Umar Ali, residing close to the barracks said the explosion went off after the suicide bomber was gunned down.

We learnt that it was soldiers that shot a suspected female suicide bomber who was coming near a military post near the barracks, Mr. Ali said.

It was after she was gunned down that the explosions went off, but it was massive bomb. Thank God no one was hurt.

No official statement has been issued from either the police or the military as at the time of filing this report.

However, the chairman of the State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, Satomi Ahmed, told journalists that two people were killed including the suicide bomber.

A female suicide bomber was shot near the Army Giwa Barracks. During the process, a teenage boy was affected by the explosion, he said.
Residents of Ilorin turned out in their numbers on Saturday for the local government election held across Kwara.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that voting started 9 a.m. after voters were accredited.

Security personnel were stationed at strategic locations in Ilorin.

Police, soldiers, civil defence, Immigration and FRSC officials were also stationed at polling booths to maintain order.

A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress ( APC), Abubakar Baraje, who voted at Baboko ward I, expressed satisfaction with the conduct of election.

Speaking with journalists after casting his votes, Mr. Baraje said turnout of voters for the election was equally impressive.

He expressed optimism that APC will come out victorious at the end of the day.

NAN also reports that the Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed voted at his home town, Share at about 9.40 a.m.

Mr. Ahmed commended the State Electoral Commission for the smooth conduct of the election.

The governor expressed satisfaction at the turnout of voters and security arrangement.
Thugs on Friday disrupted the PDP primary elections organised to decide the partys chairmanship candidate for Kanke, in the February 18 local government elections in Plateau.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the thugs, who invaded the Kwall Stadium venue of the election, beat up members of the PDP electoral committee and officials of the party, and destroyed several cars.

Worst hit in the attack was Anthony Joro, a member of the electoral committee, whose ear was mutilated.

Also hit was Dauda Waptu, the PDP Chairman in Kanke Local Government, who sustained injuries on his face.

NAN reports that the election, which began peacefully with delegates voting after accreditation, turned violent when it was Waptus turn to vote.

Trouble started when some of the delegates said he should not be allowed to vote because they did not recognise him as the party chairman, a position others vehemently rejected, insisting that he was the leader and must vote.

The argument later turned violent and the thugs, usually fenced off the voting centre, invaded the arena and attacked their targets.

Tyopev Terna, public relations officer of the Plateau police command, said the police were going after the political thugs that disrupted the exercise.

We have not arrested anyone, but we are investigating the matter; the thugs beat up many people and destroyed several cars. We shall not rest until they are fished out and dealt with, he told NAN.

Mr. Waptu expressed surprise at the attack.

The list of delegates for the election was okayed by all members. I still do not see any reason why anyone will want to disrupt the exercise, he said.

He accused an unnamed member of the House of Representatives of sponsoring the thugs, and described such attitude as crude and primitive.

Benedict Shignuhul, PDP Vice Chairman in Plateau Central Senatorial District, expressed shock, saying the incident was very unfortunate uncalled for.

He also blamed the attack on an unnamed member of the House of Representatives who appears bent on destroying the party that made him.

This same member abandoned the party immediately he won his election in 2015. His eyes are already focused on securing another tenure in 2019, but we have told him to first strengthen the party by uniting its members.

He wants to control everything, but is not ready to contribute anything, except violence. We have always told him that politics is a game of give and take. We must protect mutual interests if we want to progress, he said.

Tim Golu, who represents Kanke/Pankshin/Kanam in the House of Representatives, blamed the party officials.

The authentic list of delegates, whose election was witnessed and certified, was doctored by Mr Amos Gombi, PDP State Deputy Chairman, who is from Kanke, in a desperate effort to impose his crony, he alleged.

Mr. Golu said party officials were warned of the impending danger, but insisted on conducting the primary election even when they were told that the environment was not conducive.

Those who insisted that the primary election must hold should be arrested and held responsible for the unfortunate crisis.

They changed the list of delegates three times and the people at the wards protested; even after the security operatives and some of us, who sensed danger, warned them, they insisted.

This incident wouldnt have happened if they had listened to us; now look at the level of damage and animosity it has created, he said.
Blaring siren and the sound of roving helicopters have become common in Anambra in the wake of todays governorship polls.

Apart from the stiff competition in the election, there have been security threats.

The secessionist Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, through its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, had earlier said unless the Nigerian State calls for a referendum to determine the status of the country, there would be no election in Anambra State.

Despite being labelled a terrorist organisation, members of IPOB staged a demonstration in Onitsha, the Anambra State capital, threatening voters not to participate in todays election.

Last Friday, members of the secessionist group sang and marched around the commercial town, threatening to unleash mayhem on potential voters.

Todays election proceedings is keenly watched across the world as its outcome will further chart a new course for Nigerias sovereignty and determine the measures being taking to stop unrest.

While the police have deployed 26,000 personnel for the election, the Civil Defence have deployed 13,000 personnel, officials said.

The Army and Navy are also believed to have deployed hundreds of personnel to maintain peace for the elections.

The police deployment comprise police special forces, police mobile forces, Counter Terrorism Units and Bomb Protection Units.

Others are bomb disposal specialists, as well as sniffer and attack dogs. Surveillance helicopters will monitor proceedings from the air, while there will be gunboats on the river Niger, plus 15 armoured personnel carriers and 303 patrol vehicles.

All these are measures put in place to ensure a smooth election and also ensure any threat by IPOB is not carried out. However, some citizens of the state describe the tactics as heavy handed which might have an impact of voters turn up.

Helicopters are flying around since this week, police and army are everywhere as if its war and not election. I will just stay at home till the election is over any unexpected issue, Kennedy Omenwa, a television repairer at Onitsha told PREMIUM TIMES.
The Nigeria Police on Tuesday redeployed the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Umar Abubakar, and his deputy, Mike Okoli, as part of preparations for Saturdays governorship election in the state.

Mr. Okoli who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday said he and the commissioner were asked to leave the state on Tuesday.

Im not in Anambra State right now. The commissioner of police and I were asked to step aside. We were asked to leave on Tuesday, and we left. As I speak, I am in Abuja, Okoli said in a telephone chat with our reporter.

Pressed further to reveal who was currently in charge of police affairs in the state, Mr. Okoli said he was not in a position to know who was sent to take charge in their absence.

With a record 37 candidates in the epic gubernatorial race, Anambra State elections has been greeted with drama and intrigues, particularly in the area of security.

The incumbent governor and candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Willie Obiano, had on Tuesday raised alarm over the withdrawal of his security aides on the orders of the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Ahmed Idris.

The situation generated so much controversy in the wake of President Muhammadu Buharis visit to the state this week.

After a report about the removal of the governors security was presented to the president, he immediately intervened on Wednesday with a directive that the governors security details be restored.

A similar intervention by the Senate after a stiff criticism by concerned Nigerians led to the Upper Chamber passing a motion urging the IGP to rescind his decision and restore the security aides of the governor before the elections.

The police deployed 26,000 personnel to Anambra for the election, with the process to be supervised by a deputy inspector general of police.
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has expressed disappointment over the low turnout of voters in the ongoing Anambra governorship election.

There has been large voter apathy across the state during the election. While some citizens attribute it to the IPOB sit at home threat and militarisation of the state, others say it is because there was no enough flow of cash by the contesting parties.

Mr. Obaze arrived his polling unit, Ward 6 at his hometown Ochuche in Ogbaru LGA at exactly 1:30 p.m. He cast his vote at 1:40 p.m.

Ive been monitoring the process across the state both at the capital in Awka, Nnewi North and south and thee seem to be a low voter turn out.

You can explain the situation in the cities that people travelled to the village to vote but here in the villages there seemed to be a mix up.

As of this afternoon in some parts in Okpoko, voting has not commenced. Weve conveyed this information to the INEC hoping they will do something before 2 p.m. when the voting will end, Mr. Obaze said.

He said the final count would determine the depth of the voter apathy.

He however expressed satisfaction that the election has been peaceful.

Mr. Obaze also expressed optimism that he will come out victorious after the election.
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.




DUBLIN, November 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The "Global Medical Tourism Market 2017-2021" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering.

The global medical tourism market to grow at a CAGR of 12.55% during the period 2017-2021.

Global Medical Tourism 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.

One trend in the market is rise in international accreditation and assistance by hospitals. International accreditation of hospitals is one of the major trends in the global medical tourism market. The US has appointed an affiliate agency, the JCI, that provides accreditations to hospitals. Hospitals need to follow a set of rigorous standards to obtain the accreditation.

According to the report, one driver in the market is leveraging internet to create awareness. The emergence of internet allows for budding consumer to glance and request from a range of service offered by vendors through their online websites and portals. It makes the user experience of patients easier and aids in brand retention and visibility. The capacity of the vendors to showcase their services online allows for capturing larger share of the market and higher revenue generation. Moreover, the increasing penetration of internet will enable the vendors to provide a broad range of services such as dentistry, orthopedics, cardiovascular treatments, cancer treatments to reach new potential customers and increase the customer base for these services.

Further, the report states that one challenge in the market is lack of reimbursements. Reforms in the reimbursement structure as well as rates worldwide distress consumer demand leading to market fluctuations. Despite reforms for pharmaceuticals and medical devices, developed countries such as Germany, France, the US, the UK, and Japan do not have proper reimbursement policies for these surgeries. Most of the medical insurance offered across the US do not cover the cost of these procedures barring a few Managed care organizations (MCOs) depending on the plans opted by patients. Also for the patients travelling to other nations for treatment are also hindered by the limited reimbursement options.

Key Market Trends



Rise in international accreditation and assistance by hospitals

Transition from invasive to non-invasive procedures

Growth of strategic initiatives for fertility treatments

Key vendors

Apollo Hospitals

Asklepios Kliniken Verwaltungsgesellschaft

Bangkok Hospital

Bumrungrad International Hospital

Fortis Healthcare

Other prominent vendors

Asian Heart Institute

Medanta The Medicity

Min-Sheng General Hospital

Parkway Holdings

Wooridul Hospital

Anadolu Medical Center

Prince Court Medical Center

Raffles Medical Group

Samitivej Sukhumvit

Spire Healthcare

Key Topics Covered:



Part 01: Executive Summary



Part 02: Scope Of The Report



Part 03: Research Methodology



Part 04: Market Landscape



Part 05: Market Segmentation By Treatment Type



Part 06: Regional Landscape



Part 07: Decision Framework



Part 08: Drivers And Challenges



Part 09: Market Trends



Part 10: Vendor Landscape



Part 11: Key Vendor Analysis



Part 12: Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2fmr6r/global_medical



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

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SANTA ANA, Calif., Nov. 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Following an automobile accident, drivers depend on insurance companies to help them pay their vehicle repair costs as well as their medical expenses. Submitted auto insurance claims are not always accepted by the insurance company, however. In a new statement to the press, the Santa Ana accident attorneys at I Accident Lawyer explain why a claim might be denied.

"If you do not seek immediate medical attention following an accident, the legitimacy of your injury claim may be called into question," says Robert Koenig, car accident attorney. "Insurance companies can also reject a claim if medical records do not indicate an injury or if the injury is determined to pre-date the accident."

Additionally, an auto insurance company might reject a claim if the accident was avoidable  for example if it was caused by the policyholder driving while intoxicated or allowing an unlicensed driver behind the wheel.

"If your claim is denied for any of these reasons, it's important to contact an attorney, who can help you get the claim accepted," says Koenig. "And if the claim is denied without a valid reason provided, then the insurance company is acting in bad faith  making a personal injury attorney even more necessary."

ABOUT:

The attorneys at I Accident Lawyer offer personal injury representation to individuals across California, Nevada and Colorado, and especially to those seriously injured in auto collisions. Over 25 years, the firm has won more than $150 million in settlements*. More information is available at www.iaccidentlawyer.com.

I Accident Lawyer in Santa Ana

1851 East First Street, Suite #900

Santa Ana, CA 92705

800-920-0810 (Toll-Free)

*This does not constitute a guarantee, warranty or prediction regarding the outcome of your case and results include that of independent associated counsel. In the event of a loss, you may be obligated to pay the opposing parties' fees and costs. We are not affiliated with any public agency. Nothing on this site or any site that brought you to this one is to constitute an inference or implication that we are the "best" (or similar word) attorneys in comparison to other firms, but rather states our opinion. In the event that you fill out any forms or request a case evaluation, this does not guarantee that you: (a) do in fact have a case (b) that we will become your legal representation (c) does not guarantee a response from one of our attorneys (d) enter into any type of relationship with the firm. It is at our discretion to call you or take you on as a client. The Accident Attorneys' Group makes no claim or representation regarding, and accepts no responsibility for, the quality, content, nature or reliability of third-party websites accessible by hyperlink from the site or websites linking to the site. This website, postings, articles, upkeep and general online presence is controlled by a marketing team and is not necessarily the views, opinions or writings of any Attorney(s) at The Accident Attorneys' Group.

SOURCE I Accident Lawyer

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(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/582326/Primary_Health_Care_Corporation_Logo.jpg )

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/607361/PHCC.jpg)

Led by Dr Mariam Abdul Malik, Managing director of PHCC, the conference featured world-renowned healthcare experts including keynote speakers Dr Ahmed Al Shaatti, Lord Ara Drazi, Professor Maureen Topps and many more distinguished speakers in the field of primary care.

At a local level, participants included health professionals from PHCC, the Ministry of Public Health, Qatar University, Weill Cornell Qatar College, Sidra Research Center, and Calgary College of Nursing. Global experts taking part in the conference joined from the UK, US, Canada, Ireland, Lebanon and neighboring GCC countries including Kuwait and Oman.

On her opening address, Dr Abdul Malik said, "Following the wise leadership of his Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani to invest in the nation's health and wellness as a key priority of Qatar's National Vision 2030, we are honored to reflect this drive through our commitment to the continued development of primary healthcare services.

This year's conference will conspicuously signalize a celebration of what has been already achieved, a focus on promoting healthy lifestyle, prevention, early diagnosis and the provision of long-term support to patients and their families. The next three days will lay foundations for future developments in primary healthcare globally. It will present a platform for knowledge sharing, a forum facilitating discussions of best practice and a stage reinforcing Qatar's legacy to promote the health and wellbeing of people through the provision of outstanding healthcare service."

58 seminars and scientific lectures are scheduled to take place throughout the 3-day conference, these will review primary care challenges and developments, provide a platform to drive change and enhance best practice.

Day one featured keynote speaker, Dr Ahmad Al Shatti, Consultant, Occupational & Environmental Medicine Director, OHD, MoH from Kuwait delivered a paper on laying the foundation for healthier communities and a brighter future.

Dr Ahmad Al Shatti commented "Primary health care centers are cornerstones in the health care delivery system, essential setting for health, wellbeing, and necessity for sustainable development for individual for individuals, communities and countries.

This paper will demonstrate many related concepts and initiatives including Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's), Eastern Mediterranean Regional (EMR) health priorities, strategies and roadmaps, current situation analysis with non- communicable diseases (NCD's) as living examples and Healthy cities initiative, health and climate change, culture and behavior.

Following this, Professor Michael Kidd, Professor & Chair Department of Family & Community Medicine University of Toronto Canada delivered a keynote on "How Primary Care Can Support Health from your perspective."

Sessions on the first day also included discussions on minor surgical skills, knee and shoulder examination workshop and identifying & supporting the Autistic Child in the community workshop."

Attending the conference and a key note speaker, Lord Ara Darzi, Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London, The Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery at Imperial College and the Institute of Cancer Research commented " Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) under the inspirational leadership of Dr Mariam Abdulmalik has made huge inroads in establishing solid foundations of the healthcare system and has been recognized internationally through its diamond accreditation award. It strives to provide care of the highest quality, ensuring patient safety and focused on patient experience. Through the launch of the family medicine model, implementation of cancer screening services, the opening of new health centers and the introduction of wellness clinics, PHCC ensures the population of Qatar make positive lifestyle choices to achieve balance in physical, mental and emotional health and to supports people to live longer, healthier and more productive lives."

Contacts: [email protected], +974-5509-3146

SOURCE Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC)
NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until December 22, 2017 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE: RIO), if they purchased the Company's American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") between October 23, 2012 and February 15, 2013, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Get Help

Rio Tinto investors should visit us at https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-rio-tinto-plc-american-depositary-receipts-securities-litigation or call to speak to our claim center toll-free at (844) 367-9658.

About the Lawsuit

Rio Tinto and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On October 17, 2017, an SEC complaint charged that as early as August 2012 the Company knew that various developments had rendered its coal assets in Mozambique ("RTCM") worthless (reportedly -$680 million), yet did not publicly disclose that fact, continued to publicly tout RTCM's value to investors, and continued to significantly overvalue it. On February 15, 2013, the Company filed its Form 6-K, reporting an 80% write-down, or $2.86B, for the asset.

On this news, the price of Rio Tinto's shares plummeted.

About ClaimsFiler

ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. ClaimsFiler's team of experts monitor the securities class action landscape and cull information from a variety of sources to ensure comprehensive coverage across a broad range of financial instruments.

To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com.

SOURCE ClaimsFiler

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NEW YORK, Nov. 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Ford Motor Company ("Ford" or the "Company") (NYSE: F) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, for the Eastern District of Michigan, and docketed under 17-cv-13536, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Ford securities, seeking to recover compensable damages caused by defendants' violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

If you are a shareholder who purchased Ford securities between February 18, 2014, and October 26, 2017, both dates inclusive, you have until December 29, 2017, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

[Click here to join this class action]

Ford Motor Company designs, manufactures, and services cars and trucks. The Company also provides vehicle-related financing, leasing, and insurance through its subsidiary.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) flaws in the Company's manufacturing processes, supply chain, and/or quality control rendered at least 841,000 Ford vehicles unsafe to drive; (ii) the foregoing issues, when revealed, would foreseeably subject Ford to additional regulatory scrutiny and impact the Company's profitability; and (iii) as a result, Ford's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On October 27, 2017, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ("NHTSA") announced a preliminary investigation into 841,000 Ford vehicles, citing concerns that the vehicles' steering wheels could detach while the vehicles are in motion. NHTSA stated that it is specifically investigating 2014-2016 model Ford Fusion sedans.

On this news, Ford's share price fell $0.21, or 1.71%, to close at $12.06 on October 27, 2017.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP

Related Links

http://www.pomerantzlaw.com


VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Women's Choice Award is delighted to honor Storkcraft for earning the 2018 Women's Choice Award as America's Most Recommended Baby Furniture. This award designation is based on a national survey that is distributed to tens of thousands of women across America who are asked to select the brands that they would highly recommend to their family and friends.

Storkcraft

"We are pleased to salute Storkcraft for their focus on excellence, a commitment that is recognized by women consumers nationwide," says Delia Passi, CEO and Founder of Women's Choice Award. "By carrying the Women's Choice Award seal, Storkcraft can signify their commitment to empower women to make smart buying choices."

Women's Choice Award's mission is to give women a collective voice so that they can help each other identify brands, products and services that deserve her loyalty and referrals. As the trusted referral source for women, the seal helps women who are searching for the most recommended hospitals, businesses, brands and services.

"We are extremely honored to accept this award and enter into a new partnership with Women's Choice Award," says Adam Segal, CEO of Storkcraft. "Storkcraft is thrilled to be recognized as the baby furniture brand of choice by women across the nation for excellence in product and consumer experience."

ABOUT THE WOMEN'S CHOICE AWARD

The Women's Choice Award sets the standard for helping women to make smarter purchasing choices. The company and its awards identify the brands, products and services that are most recommended and trusted by women. Additionally, they recognize those that deliver a recommendation-worthy customer experience. Awards are based on surveys of thousands of women, as well as research conducted in partnership with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. As the trusted referral source for women, WomenCertified Inc., home of the Women's Choice Award, created the first national award based on the ratings and preferences of women. Women can visit the official website at www.WomensChoiceAward.com to learn more.

ABOUT STORKCRAFT

Established in 1945, Storkcraft is the industry leader in design, manufacture and innovation for infant, juvenile and teen furniture products in North America. Specializing in several different categories including convertible cribs, gliders, dressers and changing tables, Storkcraft is committed to its customers, its communities, its employees and infant safety. Storkcraft is proud to provide quality furniture products to families across multiple generations for over 70 years. For more information, visit www.storkcraft.com.

Media Contact:

Florencia Latino | WomenCertified Inc.

T: (954) 922-0846

[email protected]

Media Contact:

Sheliza Thobani |Storkcraft Manufacturing Inc.

T: (604) 274-5121 ext. 346

[email protected]

Related Images

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America's Most Recommended Baby Furniture

image2.jpg

image3.jpg

SOURCE Storkcraft

Related Links

http://www.storkcraft.com


WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Press Club, its Journalism Institute and other advocates for press freedom and immigration justice urge U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to suspend efforts to deport Emilio Gutierrez, a winner of the club's Press Freedom Award.

Late on Friday, an immigration judge in El Paso, Texas, refused to stay the deportation of Gutierrez from the United States  where and his son fled after his investigative reporting led to threats against himself and his family. Gutierrez requested asylum in the United States; it took eight years for him to get a hearing, which took place last year.

"Gutierrez fled his country because his reporting jeopardized him and his family and then faced years of bureaucratic indifference before now being threatened with removal," said NPC President Jeff Ballou. "He deserves better from a country that has enshrined protections for the press in the First Amendment of its Constitution."

Gutierrez has been in the midst of an appeal process over his asylum case. On Thursday Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials summoned him for a meeting. They told his lawyer they wanted to deport him that day. This meeting took place exactly six weeks after he appeared at the National Press Club to accept a Freedom of the Press award, one of the club's highest honors, on behalf of his country's beleaguered press corps.

At the NPC's request, Gutierrez represented all of his Mexican colleagues, as an exemplar of their tenacity and courage as reporters are killed, kidnapped and forced into hiding in retaliation for their reporting on drug cartels and government corruption.

He and his Mexican associates "find ourselves immersed in a great darkness," Gutierrez said through a translator.

"Our hope is that U.S. officials will provide a beacon in that darkness, in keeping with the country's long tradition of advancing press freedom, by granting Gutierrez the asylum he has requested in the United States," said Barbara Cochran, president of the board for the non-profit National Press Club Journalism Institute. "Sending him back to a country that is the most dangerous in the western hemisphere for journalists could amount to a death sentence."

The National Press Club, the National Press Club Journalism Institute and the undersigned organizations appeal to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to reconsider this deportation order. We also ask the Trump administration and all members of Congress to let the Department know that this case not only puts an individual reporter in danger, but also could have a chilling effect on truth-telling everywhere.

Jeff Ballou, president

The National Press Club

Barbara Cochran, board president

NPC Journalism Institute

Sandy Johnson, president and COO

National Press Foundation

Margaux Ewen, acting North America director

Reporters Without Borders

Dan Shelley, executive director

Radio Television Digital News Association

Bruce Brown, executive director

Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

Suzanne Nossel, executive director

PEN America

Joshua Hatch, president

Online News Association

John Donnelly, president

Military Reporters and Editors

Sarah Glover, president

National Association of Black Journalists

Yvonne Leow, national president

Asian American Journalists Association

Melissa Lytle, president

National Press Photographers Association

Mark Hamrick, president

Society of American Business Editors and Writers

Alberto B. Mendoza, executive director

National Association of Hispanic Journalists

Beau Willimon, president

Writers Guild of America East

Contact: Kathy Kiely, National Press Club Journalism Institute Press Freedom Fellow, [email protected]

John Donnelly, chair, National Press Club First Amendment Team, [email protected]

SOURCE National Press Club
BEIJING, July 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- HNA Group, a Chinese multi-national corporation headquartered in Hainan Island, starting as a local air carrier and growing up to a Global Fortune 500 company with multiple businesses operations including tourism, finance, logistics and eco-technology, is celebrating its 24th anniversary.

During the group's anniversary celebrations, HNA Group's partners have commended the group for its outstanding achievements through the years and given their support for continued growth and success in the future. Bob Leduc, president of Pratt & Whitney, an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations, said, "Over the past 24 years, HNA Group has gone from a local air transport company based in Hainan Island to a Global Fortune 500 conglomerate. The story of the group makes for an inspiring chapter in the global aviation industry."

Committed to developing green aviation

HNA Group established the Green Aviation Initiative & Network in cooperation with key strategic partners, Pratt & Whitney and its parent company United Technologies in June 2016, as a move to boost the future development of the green aviation industry in the course of becoming an environmentally responsible aviation.

Doug Cai, president of Greater China, Pratt & Whitney, said, "The Green Aviation Initiative & Network aims to build an environmentally responsible aviation ecosystem via communication, dialog and innovative solutions."

How to use energy more efficiently, how to protect the environment and how to reduce the carbon footprint have been some of the hot topics across the world's civil aviation industry. The Green Aviation Initiative & Network serves as an international exchange platform for connecting the entire industry chain at a global level as well as encouraging cross-border interaction, industrial collaboration and joint innovation.

As of June 2017, the one-year old Green Aviation Initiative & Network has already made some notable achievements, one is which is bringing together 27 leading companies and organizations with a presence in the aviation industry to sponsor and support the platform construction of the project. In November 2016, 12 organizations, including HNA Group and United Technologies, jointly released Green Aviation Whitepaper 2016 through the network, drawing much attention and receiving positive feedback from players across the Chinese aviation industry.

Mr. Cai commented, "From a new perspective focusing on sustainable development, the Green Aviation Whitepaper reviews the development of the aviation industry, while HNA Group and United Technologies' strategic cooperation in green aviation allows them to make a contribution to the building of a sustainable and environmentally responsible aviation environment."

By researching the aviation industry's low energy consumption, low emission and low pollution practices across the entire process, from design to testing and manufacturing, the whitepaper advocates industrial competitiveness, moving the industry from a sole focus on creating market value to comprehensive economic, social and environmental value creation, as well as improving the respond capability to climate change. Over the next two years, the Green Aviation Initiative & Network plans to expand its presence across all aviation-related industries by demonstrating the basic benefits of an environmentally responsible aviation ecosystem.

Promoting the development of a green aviation industry with clean power

Both as joint sponsors and members of the executive committee of the Green Aviation Initiative & Network, HNA Group and United Technologies have formed a long-term and in-depth partnership based on their shared passion for environmental protection and the public interest as well as their strong sense of responsibility for the development of the industry.

In 2002, HNA Group received its first Boeing 767 wide-body aircraft powered by Pratt & Whitney's PW4056 engine.

Due to continuous technological advances in the aviation industry, energy efficiency improvement and carbon emissions reduction through the application of advanced technologies have become a standard approach in the industry. In tandem with the trend, HNA Group has equipped its fleet with Pratt & Whitney's revolutionary PurePower geared turbofan engine. The advanced PurePower engine has been proven to reduce energy consumption by 16 percent, nitrogen oxide emissions by 50 percent and engine noise footprint by 75 percent when compared to traditional engines.

Mr. Cai explained, "Selecting the new energy-saving and environment-friendly engine reflects HNA's lasting focus on environmental protection."

An innovative approach to making a contribution for the benefit of the greater good

Mr. Cai indicated that, innovation is a driving force to sustainable development for both Pratt & Whitney and HNA Group.

He added, "We look forward to working with HNA Group to open a new chapter in the aviation industry characterized by innovation driven by a changing environment."

As a case in point, HNA Group continues to innovate in its approaches to environmental protection and contribution to the public interest, as well as pioneer in incorporating public interest programs into its daily operations while enhancing its social responsibility commitment. At the end of 2016, HNA Group initiated the Green Tour program, a public benefit program in the form of carbon footprint offset. As the first innovative public interest program launched by a Chinese airline, Green Tour aims to become a benchmark brand in the green aviation sector through enhancing public awareness by inviting travelers to become the advocates of environmental protection. Passengers of HNA Group's flights are invited to offset their carbon footprint through voluntary donations or Fortune Wings Club points. The passenger can calculate the extent of their carbon footprint using the Carbon Footprint calculator which could be found on Hainan Airlines' official website, their mobile phone or at the airport self-check-in terminals. The donations will be used to support the reforestation program of the China Green Carbon Foundation.

To date, the Green Tour program has donated 500,000 yuan (approx. US$73,561) to the China Green Carbon Foundation for the conservation and recovering of the Dongzhaigang Mangrove Forest in Haikou, Hainan province, China Further donations will go to a program to plant trees and conduct conservation campaigns in cities across China struggling to control smog and desertification. The Green Tour program will provide HNA Group's Fortune Wings Club members with a carbon footprint offset map, which includes graphs showing the ways the carbon footprint is offset. The open and transparent program allows more passengers to participate in environmentally-friendly carbon offset efforts. The program is expected to go a long way in conveying the concept of green and low-carbon development and enhancing the airline's commitment to build a green aviation together with their passengers.

With the mission of becoming an advocate of an environmentally responsible lifestyle, a green industry leader, a green service supplier and a green development pioneer, HNA Group will continue promoting a green, low carbon economy and supporting to develop the ecologically sound development and environmentally responsible China in the world. HNA Group's subsidiaries and affiliates are also targeting towards key strategic green growth. In March 2015, Hainan Airlines inaugurated China's first passenger flight running on sustainable biofuel.

The fight, carrying more than 100 passengers from Shanghai to Beijing, was powered by a fuel blend, half of which was an aviation-grade biofuel while the remainder was traditional petroleum-based fuel. The biofuel was derived from discarded cooking oil. Compared to the petroleum-based fuel, the biofuel, which can be produced sustainably, is able to reduce the carbon emissions by between 50 and 80 percent and plays a key role in supporting the development of the aviation industry while ensuring the industry's commitment to environmental protection.

A focus on both growth and social responsibility

Over the past 24 years, HNA Group has made quantum leaps in performance and has been praised by industry watchers as a miracle in the history of aviation business. From a traditional air transportation company starting on a small island South of China to a large global conglomerate with presence all over the globe, from three leased aircraft to operating and managing a comprehensive fleet exceeding 1,250 airplanes, including wide-body aircraft, regional jets and helicopters, and overseeing 1,200 routes crisscrossing the planet, HNA Group is a proud global company to ranks 353rd on the Fortune Global 500 list. By the end of 2016, the group created more than 410,000 working opportunities and achieved annual revenue of over 600 billion yuan (approx. US$88.3 billion). Pratt Whitney is very proud of HNA Group's achievements in terms of the speed of the group's growth and the outstanding performance over the 24 years. Mr. Cai noted that Pratt & Whitney looks forward to even greater successes in its collaborations with HNA Group in the coming years. Most notably, HNA Group's ultimate goal aims at making contribution to the society and benefit for the greater good.And it has always been at the core of the group's corporate philosophy since the day one.

To date, HNA Group has donated over 10 billion yuan (approx. US$1.47 billion) to worthy charities. The group has cooperated with UNESCO, the World Food Programme and UNICEF, to deliver philanthropic activities such as Ghana School Feeding Program, Change for Good and Inspired Gifts, as well as many other programs supporting education and women rights in Asia and Africa. In addition, the group is committed to long-term public welfare programs in China, including Brightness Action, Benevolence Well and Send Love Home. Over the next decade, HNA Group also plans to donate 1 billion yuan (approx. US$150 million) to ecological protection poverty alleviation programs for those financially disadvantaged in Hainan province.

SOURCE HNA Tourism Group
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Berkley Pockets Jakemans Stones

Danielle Perez at Berkley took U.S. rights to the debut novel Sticks and Stones by Jo Jakeman. The thriller, which Jane Kirby at Harvill Secker sold, is, the Penguin Random House imprint said, a cross between Behind Closed Doors and Thelma and Louise. It follows a woman who, the publisher elaborated, turns the tables on her abusive husband, along with some very unexpected allies: his ex-wife and mistress. The British author, a former journalist, won the York Festival of Writings Friday Night Live contest in 2016. Stones, which was also acquired by Vintage UK, is set for a fall 2018 release.

Wade Lands at 37 Ink

Known as an Instagram poet, Cleo Wade sold a poetry collection called Heart Talk to Dawn Davis for her 37 Ink imprint at Atria. The book, subtitled Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life, is, Wade said, a compilation of new poetry, handwritten notes, and good ol fashioned real and practical advice for every day. Wade, who gained a following for her lyrical writing on Instagram, has been dubbed the Millennial Oprah by New York magazine. Davis said the book, which is slated for spring 2018, will offer pithy and powerful antidotes to these troubling times. Heather Karpas at ICM Partners handled the world rights agreement for Wade.

Aussie Award Winner to Tin House

In a North American rights deal, Tin Houses Masie Cochran bought Josephine Wilsons novel, Extinctions. The book won the 2017 Miles Franklin Literary Award, which calls itself Australias most prestigious literature prize. Catherine Drayton at InkWell Management represented Wilson. According to Inkwell, the novel is a humorous but poignant family story in which a retired engineer is pushed together with his neighbor, Jan, and forced to revisit his past. The book is set for a fall 2018 release by Tin House; it will be published in the U.K. by Serpents Tail.

Bloomsbury Takes Trip to Whites Texas

Memoirist, essayist and novelist Edmund White sold A Saint in Texas to Liese Mayer at Bloomsbury. About twin sisters coming of age in the Lone Star State during the 1950s, the novel, Bloomsbury said, follows the girls lifelong struggle to understand one another. Amanda Urban at ICM Partners represented White, and the book is set for a spring 2020 release.

Ward Sells Six to S&S

Closing a six-book deal that will launch a new series, bestselling author J.R. Ward signed a U.S., Canadian, and open market rights agreement with Gallery Books. Under the deal, Consumed, the first in a new series, will be released in October 2018; Gallery said the series is set in the dangerous and adrenaline-fueled world of firefighters. Also included in the agreement are three more books in Wards ongoing Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Lauren McKenna at Gallery negotiated the agreement with Meg Ruley at the Jane Rotrosen Agency. Ward has written more than 30 novels and, according to Gallery, sold more than 15 million copies worldwide.

Kensington Gets Historical with Jeffries

Sabrina Jeffries entered into a four-book world rights agreement with Kensington. Wendy McCurdy won the bookswhich will launch a new historical romance seriesat auction from Pam Ahearn at the Ahearn Agency. The first book under the agreement is set for 2019 and will be released under the publishers Zebra Books imprint. Jeffries has written more than 50 novels and, per Kensington, has more than nine million copies of her work in print.

Mira Goes SF with Chen

Mike Chens debut novel, Here and Now and Then, was acquired by Michelle Meade at Mira Books. The two-book world rights agreement was negotiated by Eric Smith at P.S. Literary. Mira said the book is an intimate, character-driven science fiction novel that reads as if The Time Travelers Wife were written by Nick Hornby. In it, a man races across time in order to raiseand then savehis only daughter before she is erased from history. Here is set for a fall 2018 publication.

Treleases Debut to Flatiron

After an auction, Sarah Barley won North American rights, in a three-book deal, to Gita Treleases debut novel, Enchantee. The YA historical fantasy was pitched, Flatiron said, as Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell meets Sofia Coppolas Marie Antoinette. The book, which Molly Ker Hawn at the Bent Agency sold, is set in Paris in 1789 and follows, the publisher explained, a poor young woman who uses magic to impersonate an aristocrat at the glittering Palace of Versailles as her own political awakening forces her to choose sides in the French Revolution.
At outlets that report to NPD BookScan, sales of print units were 9% higher in the week ended Nov. 12, 2017, than in the comparable week in 2016, with units up in all four major publishing categories. Unit sales in the adult nonfiction category were 15% higher than in the week ended Nov. 13, 2016. Three of the four top-selling books in the category were new. Topping the list was Pete Souzas Obama: An Intimate Portrait, which sold more than 76,000 copies. Landing in second place was Inventing Joy by Joy Mangano, which sold almost 43,000, and in the fourth spot was Medical Medium Thyroid Healing, selling more than 34,000 copies. The juvenile nonfiction segment also had a good week, with units up 14% from the similar week in 2016. Harry Potter: A Journey Through a History of Magic by the British Library continued its run as #1 on the category bestseller list, with slightly more than 19,000 copies sold. Raid of No Return: Nathan Hales Hazardous Tales #7 debuted in third place on the list, selling more than 6,000 copies. The latest edition in Jeff Kinneys Wimpy Kid series, The Getaway, sold more than 230,000 copies in its first week, making it the top-selling book in the week. The book landed one week later than last years entry, Double Down, which sold more than 236,000 copies (more than 151,000 copies in the comparable week). Print unit sales increased 1% in the adult fiction category. The newest Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child, The Midnight Line, was #1 on the category bestseller list, selling more than 77,000 copies. The week was also another good one for the hardcover format, where units jumped 19% from the comparable week in 2016.

Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel (in thousands)

Nov. 13, 2016 Nov. 12, 2017 Chge Week Chge YTD 2016 2017 Week YTD Total 12,151 13,283 9% 2% Retail & Club 10,284 11,355 10% 4% Mass Merch./Others 1,867 1,928 3% -8%

Unit Sales of Print Books by Category (in thousands)

Nov. 13, 2016 Nov. 12, 2017 Chge Week Chge YTD Adult Nonfiction 4,503 5,174 15% 3% Adult Fiction 2,443 2,480 1% -0.6% Juvenile Nonfiction 1,058 1,205 14% 7% Juvenile Fiction 3,579 3,891 9% 2%

Unit Sales of Print Books by Format (in thousands)
With a history stretching back 91 years, Pelican Publishing in Gretna, La., has repeatedly adapted to meeting the changing demands of the market. Officially established in 1926, Pelican published William Faulkners first title, Sherwood Anderson and Other Creoles, which will be reissued with a new foreword in 2018. The company has been owned by the Calhoun family since 1970 and is currently led by Katherine Calhoun Nettleton, who serves as publisher and president.

Pelican publishes 5060 new titles each year, with a staffincluding warehouse personnelnumbering just 19, and its focus is on regional titles for various parts of the country, according to promotions director Antoinette de Alteris. To give a sense of the companys publishing range, de Alteris noted that we celebrate regional cooking from around the world. Pelican publishes one of the top-selling Puerto Rican cookbooks and one of the top Polish cookbooks.

In addition, Pelican publishes books in French and Spanish, because those are the languages of Louisianaand now for much of the United States, de Alteris said. Our history books cover topics both popular and unpopular with an unbiased eye. We give voice to authors who have been marginalized.

Next years list will continue to be heavy on childrens books, including new picture books such as a tale about a squid by Henry Herz and a picture book biography of artist Ruth Asawa, de Alteris said. The adult list will feature art books, a business title from a former Disney exec, and a couple of books on music.

Pelican has had some breakout backlist successes, too. One of its best-known and most popular titles, with approximately one million copies sold, is Cajun Night Before Christmas. (It inspired an entire series of books, including this years An Artists Night Before Christmas and the forthcoming Northwest Twelve Days of Christmas.) The original received an unexpected boost last year, shortly after Pelican released its first interactive e-book of the title.

We did no marketing, de Alteris said. But one week after it came out, Channing Tatum was on Kelly Ripa and said it was his favorite Christmas book, brought it up on his phone, and started reading it in a Cajun accent for two straight minutes, and sales skyrocketed. The book had been out 44 years. It had sold consistently, but with that a new generation found it.

Pelican had a similar late success with its 1999 title Microwave Cooking for One by Marie Smith. Often described as the saddest book ever written, it was referenced in 2013 on TVs The Mindy Project, and in 2015 Jimmy Fallon included it in his do not read list. Sales jumped after both shout-outs.

What made our company strong to begin with, said de Alteris, was taking oral tradition, folktales, and stories of regionalism. One such title is Dance Halls of Spanish Louisiana by Sara Harris, which came out on November 1. Its a look at southeast Louisianas Isleno community. The Islenos, of Canarian Spanish origin, are a very insular community who have created their own culture of dances, but for a variety of reasons the Isleno culture is dying. Harris went into the communities to capture the traditions before they disappeared.

The research for that book illustrates one advantage Pelican has in being a local publisher: I met Harris through the Joan of Arc krewe, said Harris, noting a classic parade social club. We were getting ready for our parade, walking through a restaurant and this lady was sitting there writing. I told her that I worked for a publishing house, gave her my card, and asked if she wanted to join the parade. Soon after, when the manuscript was done she sent it inand now were publishing it.

De Alteris cited a number of reasons why an indie like Pelican has survived: It has been a privately owned and family-run business, driven by strong individuals with a clear vision. With that foundation we have created a strong backlist, a varied and diverse frontlist, a focus on regional titles no matter the region. We have really pushed that as a touchpoint all along the way; our goal is to give a voice to communities who might not have a national reach, along with a commitment to our own unique vision. We build our business on personal relationships and a love of books.
The city of Barcelona has just 1.6 million residents, yet it dictates much of what Spanish speakers around the world read. Barcelona is home to the two dominant Spanish-language publishing conglomerates, Grupo Planeta and Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, and it is the hometown of the most influential literary agency working with Spanish authors, Agency Literaria Carmen Balcells, as well as numerous highly regarded independent Spanish-language publishing companies.

It is also the capital of Catalonia, where more than 60% of the residents, in addition to speaking Spanish, speak and read Catalan and identify themselves primarily as Catalan. This cultural division is what, in part, prompted Catalonia to vote on October 1 to secede from Spain and become an autonomous state.

Alongside the Spanish-language industry, a parallel publishing industry in Catalan exists, with nearly 100 publishers working in the language. Newspapers and trade magazines publish bestseller lists for both Spanish language and Catalan books, and Catalonian booksellers give equal shelf space to the titles. When the conglomerates acquired companies such as Santillana (in 2014) and Ediciones B (earlier this year), they laid off numerous bilingual publishing professionals who then went on to start their own book-related businesses, from publishing houses to bookstores.

Catalonia has often presented itself as a publishing entity independent from Spain. For example, the region served as Guest of Honor at both the 2007 Frankfurt Book Fair and at the 2016 Bologna Childrens Book Fair, under its own flag. Of the 98 members of Publishers Association of the Catalan Language, nearly half of the members publish exclusively in Catalan, with the others, including Planeta and Penguin Random House, publishing both in Catalan and Spanish.

Overall, the Catalan-language publishing industry accounts for approximately 10% of the publishing business in Spain. Revenue from the sales of Catalan books accounted for 238 million ($277 million) in 2016. Total sales in Spain for the year were roughly 2.3 billion. Catalan-language publishers produced 11,343 titles in 2016, 13% of Spains titles that year; Spanish-language publishers produced 81,496.

After a decadelong slump in book sales due to an economic recession and high unemployment throughout Spain, book sales began bouncing back in 2016. Sales in Catalonia were 3.6% higher last year than in 2015, and sales for the whole of Spain were up 2.7%. Despite the uncertainty about the future, many in the Catalan publishing industry are optimistic that it will survive should the region become independent. Publishing consultant Bernat Ruiz Domenech recently wrote on his blog that streamlined, low-cost publishing models make sustaining Catalan-language industry viable. And, since Catalans tend to print locally, bookstores can be resupplied quickly should a title become a bestseller.

Literary agent Anna Soler-Pont also believes that independence would in no way be a death sentence for publishing in Catalonia. Soler-Pont who has been a vocal proponent of independence, said: We dont foresee any threat with possible independence from Spain. On the contrary, we already work around the world, representing clients from 26 different countries in five continents from Barcelona. And we would continue to do so!
Mysteries can be a lucrative genreespecially for publishers whose author rosters include names like Grafton, Patterson, Robb, or any of a number of bestselling stalwarts who publish with the Big Five. Independent publishers, however, have to work harder, or at least differently, to get their books into the hands of readers. Like the details of a well-plotted mystery, the strategies these publishers deploy offer clues as to how they overcome the challenges of their trade.

When author Ed Aymar looks back, he sees a mystery landscape littered with dead publishers. There was a rise in small publishing in the 20002012 period, says Aymar, who edited the anthology The Night of the Flood (Down & Out, Mar. 2018) and who is managing editor of the International Thriller Writers website The Thrill Begins. A lot of that came from frustrated writers who saw a way to create their own publishing house.

Without experience, though, many went under. It wasnt uncommon to see a house go in a year, Aymar says. They didnt have the business savvy. Today he sees a healthier setup: there are more publishers with editorial or business-side experience, and they prioritize author advocacy in areas that matter to writers, readers, and the bottom line.

Support Systems

Jason Pinter is one of those publishers. He founded Polis Books in 2013 after stints in marketing, publicity, and editorial at Warner, Crown, St. Martins, and Grove Atlantic. Advocacy has been central to his efforts, from the moment he starts courting an author to sign with the press.

Pinter cant pay writers sizable advances. He offers enough, he says, to convince them that, even if theyre not going to be able to buy a new yacht up front, its going to pay the rent for a couple of months. The problem, he says, is that without a big advance, authors are tempted to bypass him altogether and self-publish.

Advocacy is the way he persuades them, explaining the benefits of working with a small publisher. If you decide to self-publish youre not just a writer anymore, he says. Youre running a business, which cuts your writing time in half. To a lot of authors thats not appealing.

David Abolafia, marketing and publicity director at Oceanview Publishing, says that his authors appreciate the publicity and marketing support his small press offers, which includes digital marketing and reviewer and bookseller outreach. We make a big deal about launches, he notes. We make sure that its something to celebrate, and thats one of the reasons why authors stay with us.

In August, Oceanview published a crime novel about human trafficking, The Last Girl, by Danny Lopez, pen name of literary fiction author Phillippe Diederich. The publisher supported the book with digital and print marketing, and strategically discounted the e-book edition. Oceanview also hosted a launch event at an independent bookstore. Thanks to Oceanviews efforts, the bookstore sold out of the title.

For Catherine Treadgold, publisher at Coffeetown Press, too, readings are a way to boost authors engagement and support. Seeing the authors live still matters, she says, and the events result in sales. While traditional advertising is sometimes out of reach for a small press like Coffeetown, Treadgold says, launches and readings present an opportunity to foster a sense of community among her authors. A recent reading in southern Oregon, for example, drew several Coffeetown authors who live in the area as well as local mystery enthusiasts.

Katharine Carroll, U.S. publicity director for the U.K.s Titan Books, says that one benefit of being small is having the flexibility to test new marketing ideas quickly, without being slowed by a labyrinthine organizational structure. In April 2018, for instance, Titan will publish Alice Blanchards A Breath After Drowning. Shes a successful author, Carroll says, but its also her first book since 2005s Life Sentences. That was a while ago, and not everybody will remember her.

Instead of seeing the gap between books as an impediment, Carroll sees it as an opportunity for Titan to try something new in order to reintroduce Blanchard to readers. The publisher will develop a primarily digital campaign, using targeted social media, newsletters, and other digital outreach to attract the attention of major media, a tactic Titan has not yet tried with an author.

For Martin Shepard, whose Permanent Press is coming up on four decades in business, clarity and equality among his authors is the most important form of advocacy. He uses the same contract hes used for years. We pay everybody a $1,000 advance, he says. We spell these things out, and we dont have many people cursing us for not doing better.

Mining the Backlist

As publishers across genres know, theres money to be had in a strong backlist. This is especially true in a category like mysteries, where multibook series reign. Without a backlist, Jason Pinter says, youre basically pushing a freight train starting at a standstill.

Pinter seeks out authors from whom he can acquire rights to older titles along with a new manuscript, reissuing former out-of-print works as discounted e-books, with marketing for the new title embedded in the e-pub files.

In addition to driving sales, he says, the attention that he pays backlist titles is what persuades some writers to sign with Polis. For instance, the publisher acquired eight Kent Harrington titles, whose rights had reverted to the author, along with a new manuscript, Last Ferry Home, which it will release in March 2018.

Matt Martz, publisher at Crooked Lane, says he looks to the Big Five as a source for authors who can bring a backlist along with a new title. There are some very good writers with good readership who may not be getting good attention at the bigger houses, he says.

One such author is Eva Gates, whose three Lighthouse Library mysteries, published with Berkley, sold about 39,000 print copies in mass market, according to NPD BookScan. Crooked Lane acquired the existing titles and a new book in the series, The Spook in the Stacks, which it will release in hardcover in June 2018.

Pricing the backlist e-book titles appropriately, Martz says, is an art: We move the price up and down pretty regularly. Crime readers might pick up book three or four in a series and then go back for book one. Were looking for ways to hook them.

Publishers typically sell discounted backlist series titles through Amazons Kindle store, Bookbub, and other e-book discount sites, and, while prices rise and fall, they typically remain below those of new titles. Martz says this creates new opportunities to draw readers. You get multiple shots to build authors careers, he notes. Every time you publish an authors new book, the sales of the previous book go up, too.

Give em What They Want

Another way indies boost sales is by responding rapidly to trends in the genre. Kensington Publishing and Pegasus Crime, two established independents, are both looking to cozies as a way to bolster sales.

Kensington is stepping up its publication of this subgenre, which emphasizes community and whodunit storytelling over violence and graphic description, to four titles a month, and supporting those books with new promotional heft, including a book club event program with independent bookstores launching in 2018.

In January, the publisher will release Better Dead by debut novelist Pamela Kopfler, a book that started out as a romance. Esi Sogah, senior editor at Kensington, says that a number of cozy authors began as romance writers. Its not something you would have naturally thought of, she says, but romance writers tap into the relationship building thats a hallmark of cozies.

At Pegasus Crime, deputy editor Jessica Case notes that cozies do well in the hardcover market, and get plenty of library support. Capitalizing quickly on trends like the current taste for cozies, she says, is something an independent press has the flexibility to do. The perk of being an indie is being nimble, she says. Chasing the flavor of the month can be a gamble, but if something seems to be working we can do more; if it isnt, we can do less.

Risk Management

Getting books to the right markets in the right format remains the biggest factor determining whether most mystery publishers are financially sound. Its also a tricky landscape to navigate, Martz says. Sales and distribution in and of itself is the giant monster.

One way publishers meet the challenge is by reducing overstock and limiting print runs. For Shepard, that has meant cleaning out his warehouse of unnecessary overstocka recent purge eliminated hundreds of backlist titles that had accumulated over the years. Eric Campbell, publisher at eight-year-old Down & Out Books, avoids warehousing altogether, by having nonreturnable accounts and using Ingram print-on-demand.

Indie publishers in general cant accept the risk of selling a hundred books to a bookstore only to see 90 of them returned later, Campbell says. He makes the majority of his sales via traditionally nonreturnable accounts such as libraries, and through direct sales at conferences and his website. Even though he loses retail accounts, he sees that as a reasonable cost for limiting his risk. He has begun, however, to explore shifting his distribution model and the marketing that goes with it, including issuing a catalog for the first time and accepting some returns from specific accounts.

Oceanviews new distributor, Ingram, encouraged the publisher to try simultaneous releases of hardcovers and trade paperbacks, based on feedback from indie booksellers. Its first two simultaneous release titles are with series authors Matt Coyle and David Putnam. Preorders for Coyles Blood Truth (Dec.) and Putnams The Innocents (Feb. 2018) indicate that paperbacks are selling about on par with trade paperback releases that pub a year after the hardcovers, David Abolafia says, and it has not affected the hardcover presales at all.

Partners in Crime Fiction

Among his cohort of publishers, Shepard reads as the most dour. Everybody loses money on books, he says. Even the big houses. Yet, despite the challenges, he continues to publish for many of the same reasons he did when Permanent Press opened its doors decades ago.

Theres a community of authors who understand the aims of his press, he says: to support authors who publish good works by setting reasonable financial and sales expectationswhich are very modestwith them from the outset. We tell our authors exactly what to expect and what not to expect, he says, which means that the press has a very loyal group of writers who buy into the same concept.

Pinter agrees: I wanted to be able to say, Youre going to have a partner all along. I wanted to add a more personal touch than these authors were used to. Four years later, Pinter says, Any success weve had is in large part due to goodwill from our authors.

The genesis for that community comes down to manuscripts, and Shepherd says there are plenty of them5,000 to be specificcoming through the door each year for his consideration. Then there are the one or two that he selects to bring into print, and thats enough to override even Shepards skepticism.

Its always exciting, he says, to publish a book and see whats going to happen with it.

Below, more on the subject of mysteries and thrillers.

Mysteries Without Borders: Mysteries and Thrillers 20172018

Indie publishers see continued opportunities in acquiring international titles, and in turn, penetrating overseas markets.

Double Identities: Mysteries and Thrillers 20172018

Bookseller-publishers Otto Penzler and Barbara Peters launched their specialist bookshops a decade apart, and thats just the start of their differences.
Bookseller-publishers Otto Penzler and Barbara Peters launched their specialist bookshops a decade apart, and thats just the start of their differences.

In 1979, Penzler, seeking additional space for his four-year-old publishing house, Mysterious Press, opened the Mysterious Bookshop in New York City.

Peters, a former librarian at the Library of Congress and an apprentice attorney, wanted to open an independent bookstore for her local community in Scottsdale, Ariz. She founded the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in 1989, and eight years later, with her husband, Robert Rosenwald, started Poisoned Pen Press.

Now approaching her third decade in business, Peters is quick to launch into informed analyses of industrywide publishing trends. Penzler, by contrast, is more apt to talk about the deluxe limited editions that he publishes, which can only be purchased from his store.

Perhaps nowhere are they further apart than on the issue of Amazon. When Peters heard that a number of authors whom shed supported for many years had signed deals with Thomas & Mercer, Amazon Publishings mystery imprint, she did something highly unusual for an independent bookstore. I opened up a dialogue with Amazon and got very favorable terms [for purchasing books] and publicity support, Peters says. In many cases were the only bookstore event theyll have.

The decision, she notes, boils down to loyalty: Mine was entirely predicated on not abandoning authors I have a relationship with. And if I was criticized by my fellow booksellers, I was willing to live with it. We have authors with whom weve dealt from the very beginning of our careers.

The arrangement reflects her underlying concern about the state of mystery publishing overall: Wheres the new surge of authors comparable to the 1990s? she asks. How do you build a brand for a new author with far fewer bookstore outlets?

Its a serious matter for a bookseller who prides herself on spotting new writers, cultivating relationships with them as they develop their careers, and inviting them to participate in one of the nearly 300 events she hosts each year. Author events are so central to the success of Peterss shop that she describes her bookstore space as a theater where we dont do book signingswe do programs.

In January, for instance, the shop will host Douglas Preston (in person) and Lincoln Child (via Skype) for a joint interview, q&a, and signing in support of City of Endless Night. Peters expects to sell 4,000 copies of Preston and Childs book in conjunction with their event.

Peters acknowledges that mysteries are a major component of the stores sales but says: Ive spent the last 18 years unbranding us as a mystery bookstore. Primarily were a fiction bookstore and slanted toward commercial fiction, with science fiction and romance. She cites the bookstores relationship with Diana Gabaldon, author of the time-traveling historical romance series Outlander, as one example. Gabaldon lives nearby and stops in regularly to sign first editions of her books.

On the other hand, Penzlers devotion to mystery fiction is so great that hes hesitant to extend his true crime section beyond a shelf or two of space; his basement is packed with 2,000 Sherlock Holmes mysteries.

Where Peters sees a decline in up-and-coming mystery authors, Penzler is having none of it. He believes there are as many major authors today as in previous decades, and hes unconvinced that big names are the only draw for events.

What does really well is a local novelist, because then it becomes a huge party, he says. Hes fond of local police officers, lawyers, judges, and journalists who write books. We rely a lot on the authors to bring in friends, family, colleagues, followers, he notes. If a cop has a book and invites his friends, they show up and buy a book.

Penzler wont carry Thomas & Mercer titles, and is emphatic when he says he will never stock titles from any Amazon imprints in his store. He and Peters have known each other for a long time, and understand each others operations well, but he describes reaching an agreement with Amazon as a repugnant decision. Why would I support a company that wants to put me out of business?

Peters respects his position, but is also unwavering in her own. Every bookstore reflects its community, she says, and those of us who have survived have had to find new strategies.

Return to the main feature.
Paul Oliver, marketing director at Soho Press, isnt counting on promoting the next Girl on the Train. But books like Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan (Soho Crime, 2015), which won the Philippine National Book Award and is considered the first Filipino crime novel? Thats what were interested in, he says.

Soho Crime, an imprint of Soho Press that publishes mysteries set all around the globe, is one of several independent publishers that see continued opportunities in acquiring international titles, and in turn, penetrating overseas markets.

Forthcoming books from Soho Crimewhose website showcases its lists international nature with a world map pinpointing various locales with a crosshairs iconinclude My Name is Nathan Lucius, by South African writer Mark Winkler (Feb. 2018), and Japanese author Fuminori Nakamuras Cult X (May 2018). Oliver says that the imprint, which launched in 1991, has had a few unexpected successes and breakouts over the years, among them The Boy in the Suitcase by Danish authors Lene Kaaberbl and Agnete Friis, which was Soho Presss bestseller across all imprints in 2013.

At Brooklyns Akashic Books, publishing international mysteries has become, unexpectedly, a busy two-way street. When Akashic released the Brooklyn Noir anthology in 2004, it was inconceivable to publisher Jonny Temple that it would grow into a series of 90 (and counting) region-specific titles.

Brooklyn Noir was never intended to be a series, he says. But when the book took off, he started looking further afield. We had a small hit on our hands, and it became very easy to say, Why dont we do the same model in other places? 

Next year those cities are almost all outside the U.S.Baghdad, Lagos, Marrakesh, and Sao Paolo, to name a few. Books in the series emphasize local writers and, overwhelmingly, sales are strongest in their own markets. The moment the series went overseasin 2006, with Dublin Noirit launched Temple into the subrights business. Akashic controls world rights in all languages for every book in the series, then makes subrights agreements with publishers in various countries, allowing the books to publish in the authors original languages.

Over time, established agreements have led to additional sales for the press. For instance, the French publisher who acquired Paris Noir has since licensed nine additional titles from the series.

Coming to America

Moving in the opposite direction, Europa Editions has renewed its investment in bringing international crime fiction to American readers. The press is relaunching its World Noir series of crime fiction from overseas, which currently makes up a third of its 3035 publications each year.

Europas acquisition of Michel Bussis Time is a Killer (Apr. 2018) indicates how strongly Europa believes in expanding its international crime list, says publicity director Rachael Small. In acquiring Time is a Killer, the publisher outbid Hachette, with whom Bussi, a top-selling writer in France, had previously published two novels. Europa will publish four of Bussis novels over the next two years.

Other forthcoming World Noir titles include Scottish author Alan Parkss Bloody January (Mar. 2018) and Weeping Waters by South African author Karin Brynard (Apr. 2018).

Europa is probably best known as the U.S. publisher of Elena Ferrantes Neapolitan novels, and Small says that the World Noir relaunch, which includes a revamped cover look for the books, is an effort to distinguish its crime fiction from other works.

World Noir wasnt distinct enough from our literary list, Small says of the previous designs. So readers didnt think, This is a mystery. This is a crime novel. The redesign is going to set it apart.

At 15-year-old Bitter Lemon Press in the U.K., publisher Francois von Hurter oversees a team of three, who find new works by scouring French and German newspapers, reaching out to a network of translators, and working with agents in London. Von Hurter is among those whove noted a drop in U.K. sales in recent years, due to a contracting library market, so the U.S. readership has become increasingly essential for his houses survival. American readers now provide 60% of Bitter Lemons revenue.

As a result, rights are a substantial component of von Hurters calculations about what to publish. We need to have the U.S. and Canadian sales, he says. Bitter Lemon buys world rights when possible and sells subrights to markets the publisher wouldnt otherwise be able to reach.

International Crime Fiction Syndicates

A recent acquisition by Severn House, also in the U.K., shows just how complex the swirling marketplace of acquisitions can get. Severn recently acquired Glenn Coopers Sign of the Cross (Apr. 2018), which was first published in an Italian translation by Casa Editrice Nord. Cooper, an American, had previously published with HarperCollins, among others, but hadnt been able to find a U.S. publisher for this book. Severn House publisher Kate Lyall Grant says that the Italian e-book edition, which pubbed in late 2016, has sold one million copies. And now its coming back to the authors home country and language.

Such numbers are, of course, impressive, but Akashics Temple is quick to point out that the contours of international mystery publishing allow publishers of his size to thrive without a million-plus blockbuster. We have one book thats that lucrative by the standard of a large press, he says, and thats [the 2011 childrens book parody] Go the F*ck to Sleep. Given Akashics size, he says, the press can meet its financial needs with the steady combined sales and network of the Noir series, which currently constitutes 25%35% of its annual title output.

We have a streamlined process and a community of about 1,200 writers around the world, Temple says. Take the 90 [Noir] books together, and maybe its not huge business for a big publisher, but for us its big business.

Return to the main feature.
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.
The Africa 2017 conference is scheduled for the beginning of December and promises to connect policymakers, investors and entrepreneurs around technologies that could help accelerate the development of commercial markets and services on the continent. One technology that will likely be at the center of discussions is the promise and utility of autonomous flying vehicles, or drones.

Drones aren't just useful for deliveries and high-end photography missions, or as surveillance devices or weaponized tools for the military. Less well-known is their potential in the emerging world, especially on the African continent, to transform urban and rural infrastructure and enhance agricultural productivity.

In order to build a comprehensive understanding of drones, their utility and regulatory concerns, a team of RAND researchers traced the deployment of drones from last-mile logistics (Amazon, Google, United Parcel Service deliveries to the home/office) in Europe and the United States and detailed their uses within the sharing economy, smart cities and the Internet of Things. The work highlighted the emerging role of drones in facilitating remote medical operations to first responders and assisting African nations seeking to address infrastructure issues, reduce development costs and boost agriculture.

Since 2015, Amazon, Google, UPS, DHL and Alibaba have run high-profile drone delivery system experiments. In the future, drones could augment, or in some situations even replace, truck fleets with important implications for energy consumption, air traffic management, road congestion, urban planning, and goods and service consumption patterns in urban areas. Elsewhere, drones are also seen as a possible solution to infrastructure problems, especially in Africa where air transportation could help meet the challenges posed by poor or non-existent road and rail networks. In fact, experts believe that drones could account for 10 percent to 15 percent of Africa's transport sector in the next decade.

In 2014, 54 percent, or 3.9 billion people worldwide, lived in cities and towns. In the United States, 98 percent of the land area is classified as rural, but is home to only 25 percent of the population. This picture changes dramatically in Africa. In Ethiopia, for example, 87 percent of the people reside in rural areas.

Rural areas are more difficult to reach by traditional delivery methods. Delivery by drone could help.

Rural areas tend to have less developed (or at least less dense) infrastructures and may be more difficult to reach by traditional delivery methods. Delivery by drone could help to overcome this problem, providing occupants of rural areas with deliveries of everything from online shopping orders to emergency medical supplies.

The economic benefits could be vast. In Africa, for instance, the lack of infrastructure, roads and public transportation systems pose immense challenges to development. According to the World Bank, Africa would need to spend $75 billion more each year on infrastructure, operations and maintenance just to sustain its current level of development. Redirecting this investment toward drones could help meet the region's needs more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Drones have many applications. In Africa these include agriculture, mapping and surveying, land tenure (including farm boundary delineations, a major issue in African countries), land-use planning, emergency medical cargo delivery, and wildlife conservation.

Access to land is essential for food security and the livelihood of residents of rural areas of Africa. Even if involved in other trades, land provides an essential safety net during times of economic instability and helps define cultures and identities.

Drones could be used to accelerate the land registration process, facilitating land tenure assessment and titling.

However, only 10 percent of rural land in Africa is mapped and registered, which poses an immense hurdle to development. Drones could be used to accelerate the land registration process, facilitating land tenure assessment and titling. Even simple drones could vastly improve upon traditional methods of land surveying, like boots on the ground, costly manned aircrafts, or satellite imagery.

In 2016, Tanzania ran a pilot project using drones to obtain aerial imagery to support a national land tenure program. The pilot was successful and sparked interest in both Africa and the wider development community.

Until now, drones for precision agriculture have only been accessible to large-scale farmers in industrialized countries. But the reduction in cost, size and complexity of drones and the associated sensors means that African farmers can leapfrog more traditional methods of agriculture to ultra-modern precision farming. Drone technology offers a range of agricultural applications, including remote sensing for crop scouting and monitoring, crop volume and vigor assessments, crop inventory, precision spraying, pest management and more.

Drone technology offers a range of agricultural applications.

Of course, deployment of drone technology in Africa still faces technological, economic, social, and legal and regulatory challenges.

Assuming drones will be battery operated, versus gasoline powered, small commercial drones have short flight times of only 20 to 40 minutes. Weight loads always affect efficiency and many drones must carry loaded spare batteries and several chargers to the field. Recent investments in fast loading, high capacity and safe batteries could alleviate these pressures, but deliberate planning will still be needed to develop the supporting infrastructure for charging, maintenance and operations. A lack of tech-literacy and an insufficient number of high-skill operators will also affect growth.

Drone usage has sparked opposition from some who have expressed concerns about security, noise pollution, liability and property damage. Drones are also still stigmatized in some parts of the world as weapons or devices designed to spy on people. However, my own research and experience in Kenya and Tanzania showed that drones have positive associations among different stakeholders in those countries. It is possible that the use of cargo drones to deliver medical supplies has helped improve their image.

Some 26 percent of African countries now have drone regulations in place. South Africa, Mauritius, Morocco, Rwanda and Tanzania are among the countries where drones are deployed for crop scouting purposes, but widespread use in agriculture has yet to catch on across the continent.

To leapfrog development constraints via drone technology, policymakers could ensure these hurdles are met and that stakeholders are engaged in every step of the process. Specific recommendations include establishing public private partnerships, investment in research and development, and strengthening intellectual property legislation.

Shira Efron is an associate policy researcher at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation and a special adviser on Israel with RAND's Center for Middle East Public Policy.

This commentary originally appeared on Inside Sources on November 17, 2017. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
According to a Pew survey released this week, 88 percent of Indians hold a favorable view of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and 83 percent are satisfied with the state of the economy. Most notably, 70 percent said they were satisfied with the direction their country is moving in. Just 29 percent felt this way in 2013, which means there has been a seismic shift in public sentiment in India.

The increase in public confidence comes just three years after Modi was elected prime minister. During this time, his Bharatiya Janata Party has enjoyed multiple victories in state elections, and Modi has embarked on major reforms in several sectors. The prime ministers revolutionary vision for Indias future bears little resemblance to its present. But when polls suggest that a strong majority of Indian society may have bought into that vision, it is time to stop and take stock.

Modis vision for India can be boiled down to strengthening the country in three ways. The first is strengthening the central government. Modi wants to unify all of India around a set of policies and to enforce those policies in an equitable way, for the benefit of both Indian citizens and foreign investors. The second is strengthening Indias military. Modi wants India to be strong not only on the Indian subcontinent but also in what India has taken to calling the Indo-Pacific region. The third is strengthening Indian society. India is a vast collection of religions, ethnicities and languages. Modi doesnt view this diversity as an advantage. He is a Hindu nationalist, and he wants India to be a nation-state with a uniquely Hindu identity.

Strengthening the Central Government

In terms of the first part of his vision, Modi has already taken some ambitious steps. A year ago, his government launched a controversial scheme to abruptly take 85 percent of Indias currency out of circulation to crack down on money circulating in the black market. In the short term, Modis demonetization plan created chaos at every level of Indian society. Long queues at bank machines and stories of cash shortages were abundant. And at the macro level, the economy took a hit: Gross domestic product growth in the first quarter of 2017, just after demonetization was implemented, was 5.7 percent, compared to 7.9 percent in the first quarter of the previous year.

But Modis demonetization scheme was ultimately a success in that it addressed the problems it was intended to address. Those who tried to hide wealth gained through illegal activities were forced to pay taxes or find alternate havens. And the BJPs opponents in state elections could no longer use cash to buy votes, one of the many reasons the party rode to easy victories in key states like Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP defeated the incumbent party. Most important, Modis popularity remained sky-high.

Demonetization was not a flash in the pan. It was the beginning of a broader plan to strengthen the writ of the central government in Indias diverse and far-flung constituent states. On July 1, India introduced a Goods and Services Tax to unify the country into a single market. India has been contemplating tax reform for over a decade, but it took constitutional changes passed by Modis government in 2016 to make implementation possible. The GST replaced the convoluted and dizzying tax regime that existed before.

The government is now setting its sights on the gold and real estate sectors. The GST raised taxes on gold, and in August, the Indian government placed gold under the protection of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, making it harder for individuals to use gold to evade taxes. Reports suggest more regulations on the gold trade are coming. The government initiated reforms to the real estate sector last year, when it passed a law giving itself broad powers to prosecute individuals who own what are known as benami properties  real estate purchased under someone elses name, also to evade taxes. In August, Modi claimed that demonetization had helped unearth more than 300,000 shell companies  which are often used in benami transactions. Earlier this month, Indias Central Board of Direct Taxes announced investigations into all properties valued above roughly $46,000.

The government has also reformed bankruptcy laws. In May 2016, it passed a national bankruptcy law aimed at streamlining the process and shortening proceedings that, according to the World Bank, used to take over four years on average to resolve. (The new law is intended to conclude proceedings in 180 days, with the possibility of a 90-day extension in exceptional circumstances.) These new laws were tested earlier this year by an Indian company called Innoventive Industries. Innoventive tried to delay bankruptcy proceedings and avoid paying its creditors by invoking state laws and appealed its case all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and stated that this case represented a paradigm shift in the law. The governments handling of another Indian company, Reliance Communications, which defaulted on U.S. dollar bonds earlier this week, will be another litmus test for Indias new bankruptcy laws and will determine whether they can be utilized by foreign creditors.

Military Ambitions

With regard to strengthening the countrys military, India has also been flexing its muscles more in the past two years. Last year, Indian ships participated in military exercises with the Japanese and U.S. navies in the Philippine Sea. Those exercises were a sign of things to come for Indias foreign policy. In October, the Indian navy announced it planned to deploy ships to the Indian Ocean permanently. Earlier this month, Modi traveled to the Philippines for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, but he also found time to sign a defense cooperation agreement with the Philippines after a meeting with mercurial Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. The Philippines has become a key locus of competition between China and the United States, with China hoping to pull the Philippines away from U.S. influence. Indias objective here is to make sure the Philippines does not improve relations with China in a way that changes the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific.

During Modis trip, India, Australia, Japan and the United States resurrected the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a defense cooperation initiative between the four countries that was established in 2007. The central goal of the initiative is to counter Chinas influence in the region. This is a big step for India. Its no longer content to just conduct exercises in Chinas backyard. It wants to be part of a major alliance to limit Chinas powers in the Pacific. In the past, India and China have had minor border spats in places like Doklam and have competed for political influence in places like Nepal. But projecting Indian naval power in Chinas sphere of influence is an escalation and a sign that India wants to be a player beyond the subcontinent.

The Social Realm

The third main aspect of Modis vision for Indias future is in many ways the most daunting. India cannot achieve any of the changes mentioned above if it is at war with itself, and Modis Hindu nationalism has already created significant strife within the country. According to the Center for the Study of Society and Secularism, violence against Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and other religious minorities has increased in the past five years. And while this type of violence is not exceptional in Indian history, this is the first time it has erupted while a strong Indian government dominated by Hindu nationalist ideology is in charge.

The official guiding philosophy of Modis BJP is integral humanism, which has been interpreted in various ways since it was first articulated in 1965. For some in the BJP, integral humanism is about defining Indian culture as separate from Western culture, and therefore leaves space for multiple religions to be accepted as authentically Indian. But for others, Modi most notable among them, the BJPs ideology is inextricably tied to Hindu nationalism. From this perspective, being Indian means being Hindu. But this definition obviously excludes other religions. Modis position is similar to a number of nationalist movements in other countries whose popularity has increased in recent years. The problem, however, is that the diversity of Indian society is orders of magnitude greater than that of countries like Spain, for example, or even China.

Which is why the Pew survey is so arresting. It would be one thing if a large majority of Indians were simply happy with Modis economic policies and more assertive foreign policy. But the survey says most Indians are satisfied with the direction in which Modi is taking the country. If (and its a big if) the survey results mean the vast majority of Indians support Modis articulation of Hindu nationalism, then maybe a new Indian identity is emerging at the local level. Perhaps Modi is not driving India toward a more Hindu nationalist direction  perhaps India is becoming more Hindu nationalist, and Modis election and subsequent successes are an expression of that identity taking root. If an Indian government, whether led by Modi or someone else, finds itself in charge of a unified India, it would be able to marshal Indias vast resources more efficiently than ever before. Then, India would no longer be the poor, decentralized, inefficient country it is today. With a unifying identity, India could become a powerhouse whose rise could have massive consequences for the balance of power not just in the Indo-Pacific but around the world.

In geopolitics, sometimes the most important things to grasp are intangible. This is one reason geopolitics is so complicated; people prefer to put their faith in facts that can be measured instead of truths that cant be. For instance, India is the second-largest country in the world by population and will soon be the largest. It has the seventh-largest GDP, and even with its economic challenges, it is growing rapidly. It has a huge and well-educated labor force, and English is spoken throughout the country. It has easily defensible geography, and its only true enemy  Pakistan  is weaker than India and can be managed.

But statistics will not define Indias future. It will revolve around a question whose answer cant be summed up by facts and figures. That question is: Can India become a unified country, or is it destined to remain an unruly union of different peoples whose first loyalty is not to New Delhi, but to their own region, state, tribe or God? The latter is the more likely scenario; Modi represents an ephemeral phase of consolidation, but the country will return to its fractious reality. But there is enough evidence mounting to stop and consider what the less likely scenario might look like. It is one in which India is very strong, indeed.
Light shines through the windows of 1000 Faces Coffee inviting the Athens community to embrace the aromas of different roasts. Once located on Barber Street, the coffee company, is invoking warmth with every cup as it expands to its new home on Thomas Street.
Armenian lawmakers on November 17 approved legislation to provide young men who have illegally evaded compulsory military service an opportunity for amnesty if they pay a hefty sum.

The 105-seat National Assembly voted unanimously for the offer as an amendment to an existing amnesty law, in a move that is expected to enable hundreds of young men, who must have turned 27 by December 1, to avoid criminal prosecution and legally return to Armenia.

To qualify for the amnesty, they will have to pay 200,000 drams, or $410, for each conscription period they illegally missed, to a maximum of 3.6 million drams, or some $7,400, for all draft periods.

Ruling Republican Party lawmaker Karine Achemian, who presented the bill in parliament, said the amnesty provision will be in force until December 31, 2019.

The original amnesty law adopted in 2004 has so far been extended eight times, enabling thousands of citizens to return to Armenia. The previous term of the legislation expired in May 2015.

Earlier, the Defense Ministry suggested that the parliament provide such an opportunity for the last time and also raise the cost for taking advantage of the amnesty to at least 9 million drams (approximately $19,000).

But that initiative was rebuffed by the parliamentary committee on defense and security, where it was criticized by committee Chairman Koryun Nahapetian and several other lawmakers affiliated with the Republican Party.

Achemian said the Defense Ministry proposal would have restricted lawmakers constitutional right to come up with bills.

Nahapetian said last week that 700 to 800 draft dodgers have been granted amnesty each year since 2004. He also revealed that almost 9,500 men remain on the run on draft evasion charges.


Anticorruption campaigns in Central Asia, and investigations into corruption there in general, are fascinating to observe.

They are so seldom about actually fighting corruption.

Corruption is a huge problem in Central Asia and authorities have regularly declared new battles against it.

If asked to name the primary source of corruption in their countries, most citizens of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan would probably point (discretely) at their own governments.

The idea that everyone in government is somehow dirty is pervasive across Central Asia.

If this is true, it would mean anyone in government could be exposed at any time. That makes political alliances all the more important, which in itself breeds turf wars among the elite.

And that raises questions about why officials and other powerful figures are detained, arrested, or imprisoned, officially on corruption charges.

Turkmenistans President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov announced his countrys latest campaign against corruption at the start of May. The first to go were Prosecutor-General Amanmurad Hallyyev and nine other prosecutors, regional and city, officially dismissed for failing to rein in corruption. A week later, they were then arrested on charges of corruption.

However, RFE/RLs Turkmen Service, known locally as Azatlyk, heard from people in the Turkmen government, including the Interior Ministry, who offered a different version of Hallyyevs incarceration.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, because Turkmen authorities tend to throw people into prison for speaking to Azatlyk, these people said Hallyyev was sacked for failing to squeeze sufficient money out of businesses to help Turkmenistan pay the huge costs of hosting the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG).

Hosting AIMAG seemed like a good idea a few years ago when Turkmenistan was raking in money from gas sales. But gas prices dropped and Turkmenistan was still looking at spending more than $8 billion, at least, to host AIMAG in September 2017, at a time when the country is experiencing its worst economic crisis since independence.

Some accounts claim Hallyyev simply could not get all the money Ashgabat wanted; other accounts say he and the other prosecutors were caught skimming off some $15 million of that money.

Whatever the truth, Hallyyevs sacking started a purge in the Prosecutor-Generals Office and the Interior Ministry. Dozens of people were dismissed.

In June, Berdymukhammedov announced the creation of the State Service for Combating Economic Crimes.

The other Central Asian governments have created and re-created state agencies to combat corruption over the years, but Turkmenistan had never done so.

Qishloq Ovozi asked Alex Melikishvili, a senior analyst at the Washington-based research company IHS Markit, why Turkmenistan needed an anticorruption agency now, after all these years without one.

Melikishvili said it was probably a combination of several factors. Among those factors, he said, having a formal mechanism to carry out anticorruption measures creates the impression that the Turkmen government has become more serious about tackling graft.

That, as Melikishvili suggested, reflects nicely on Turkmenistans overall investment profile, as having a state service specifically dedicated to fighting economic crimes provides talking points to Turkmen officials in their talks with potential foreign investors and international financial institutions.

Turkmenistan desperately needs foreign investment. Twenty-six years of an isolationist foreign policy, a long record of human rights abuses, and amazing financial opacity have made Turkmenistan an unattractive investment opportunity, despite the country having the fourth-largest reserves of natural gas in the world.

But Melikishvili noted there could have been a more immediate reason to establish the State Service for Combating Economic Crimes.

It is very likely that this service [would] be used to shake down high-ranking state officials and entrepreneurs to fill the rapidly dwindling state coffers, he said.

Azatlyk, and Turkmen opposition websites, such as Chronicles of Turkmenistan and Alternative News of Turkmenistan, reported there were such shakedowns in the weeks leading up to AIMAG.

Hallyyevs political demise was followed by the crippling of the Prosecutor-Generals Office and the Interior Ministry, possibly suggesting there was a battle between ministries and agencies for dwindling sources of income.

Tajikistan has seen an anticorruption campaign this year aimed, ironically, against the countrys State Agency for Financial Control and Fighting Corruption.

As Edward Lemon, a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia Universitys Harriman Institute and an authority on Tajikistan, recounted, Citing its ineffective work, in February 2015, President [Emomali] Rahmon fired 330 of the agencys 495 staff members. These workers were never replaced."

The next month, Rahmons son Rustam Emomali, who was 27 years old at the time, became the agencys director, but he left that position in January 2017 after he became mayor of Tajikistans capital, Dushanbe.

During the time Emomali was the director, no one in the agency was sacked. But in April 2017, arrests started. The agencys deputy director, senior investigators, and others were detained -- 10 high-ranking officials altogether by June.

There was talk of a battle between government agencies. It remains possible that Rustam, in collaboration with the security services, is behind the move to marginalize the agency," Lemon said.

Many officials, not only in Tajikistan, have business interests, and their fall from power on corruption charges opens up new opportunities for enrichment.

Charges of corruption are also a means of weakening political opponents. In 2014, Tajik authorities seized the Sahovat bazaar in the western city of Tursunzade that belonged to Muhiddin Kabiri, the leader of the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT). Before the end of 2015, Kabiri had fled Tajikistan and the IRPT, officially registered for 18 years, was declared an extremist party.

The cases against Omurbek Tekebaev, the leader of Kyrgyzstans Ata-Meken party, and several other leading members of that party seemed to be aimed at neutralizing a political opponent and vocal critic of the government of President Almazbek Atambaev.

Tekebaev was convicted of corruption and fraud in August 2017 for alleged offenses that dated back to 2010.

Tekebayev came under investigation in February 2017 after he started looking into Atambaevs alleged business ventures and property abroad. Tekebaev had also announced plans to run for the presidency in the October election. His conviction came almost exactly two months before election day.

Qishloq Ovozi just looked at the case of former Minister of National Economy Kuandyk Bishimbaev. He is in custody for corruption, but there appears to be more to his case than allegations of taking bribes.

Former Kazakh Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov (who was also a former defense minister) was convicted on corruption charges in December 2015 and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but like Bishimbaev, some felt Akhmetovs legal problems were the result of infighting among Kazakhstans elites.

However, his 10-year prison sentence was reduced by two years in January 2017 as part of an amnesty marking Kazakhstans 25th anniversary of independence. And in September 2017, Akhmetov was let out of prison and given limited freedom, essentially parole, for the remainder of his sentence.

And then there are the untouchables.

In December 2009, Aliakbar Abdulloev, the director of Tajikistans nongovernmental organization the Center for Anticorruption Education and Promotion, said, Facts show that today the activity of Tajik law enforcement bodies is mostly aimed at uncovering corruption-related crimes among doctors, university lecturers, and state officials of low and middle rank, but senior state officials, as always, remain out of reach.

That could be said about any of the Central Asian states, and it really begins with the presidents and their immediate family members, all of whom are widely rumored to be wealthy. But it is not only officials.

Melikishvili from IHS Markit recalled the case of Kazakh businessman Vasily Ni, a longtime friend of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev, who was arrested while receiving a $1 million bribe in September 2016 by the operatives from Kazakhstans National Anticorruption Bureau.

Ni was released in April 2017 and no sensible explanation was offered by the Kazakh authorities to justify Nis release, Melikishvili said, leading to speculation that his release was probably due to behind-the-scenes kickbacks.

Well give Abdufattoh Goib, the former head of Tajikistans anticorruption agency, the last word. On March 19, 2014, Goib said his agency never set a goal to eliminate corruption [entirely].

Qishloq Ovozi will follow up this article with one of the most bizarre tales of power and corruption in Central Asia so far: the story of Gurbanbibi Atajanova, Turkmenistans Iron Lady.

RFE/RLs Central Asian services contributed to this report.

The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL.
Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia's leading independent media outlets, has announced the appointment of Sergei Kozheurov, the respected Russian newspaper's longtime general director, as its new editor in chief.

It is Kozheurov's second time to serve in the post. The majority of the editorial staff chose him in a vote on November 17 under an election procedure prescribed in the charter of the editorial board, which is held every two years, the newspaper said.

Also contending for the post was economics and politics editor Kirill Martynov and chief editor Aleksei Polukhin. Kozheurov won with 92 editorial board votes.

The previous editor in chief, Dmitry Muratov, who headed the newspaper for 22 years, said that he would not run again.

Muratov told the Russian news agency Interfax that his reason for resigning was the need for a change in leadership. He continues to work for the newspaper as chairman of the board of directors and editorial board.

"I was the first editor of Novaya Gazeta. And my task is not to be the last," Kozheurov, 64, said after the results were announced.

Kozheurov, with the newspaper since its founding in 1993, was editor in chief until 1995 and served as a columnist and member of the editorial board for five years after that. He has been general director since 2000.

Prior to joining Novaya Gazeta, Kozheurov worked for the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, where he was deputy editor in chief until 1992. He became one of the founders of Novaya after leaving the publication, together with Muratov, Pavel Voshchanov, Akram Murtazayev, Dmitry Sabov, and other journalists.

Based on reporting by Novaya Gazeta and Interfax


The arrest of a leader from a banned Islamic group in Kyrgyzstan has put a spotlight on a secretive community that tries to live as Muslims did in the seventh century.

Kyrgyz police said on November 14 that they had arrested a man from the group, which is known as Yaqyn Inkar.

The 47-year-old man, whose legal name was not given but is known by the nickname Nurmoldo, was ordered held for two months while he is investigated for inciting national, racial, religious, or interregional hatred, police said.

He was arrested in Belovodsk, near Bishkek, on October 20.

Local news reports said he has two wives and 12 children, but little else is known about him.

'Denial Of Everything Except God'

His arrest brought renewed attention on the little-known, mysterious Muslim community, which a court in June declared an extremist organization and banned its activities.

Taking its name from the Arabic words yakan and inkar -- which translate as denial of everything except God -- members of the community say they are expected to live as people did during the life of the Prophet Muhammad, using only what God sent.

They say there is no need to work. They even say that their teachings say that those who work are infidels.... They can be dangerous for society."

Men are supposed to grow out their beards and often wear Pakistani-style white clothes. Followers do not recognize any state institutions and refuse to register their childrens births or send them to school.

All electronic devices -- including mobile phones and televisions -- are forbidden and members are expected to eschew cars or buses, traveling instead by foot or on horseback.

They also believe that work interferes in their religious rituals and that men are not obligated to provide for their families, leading many of them to not hold jobs because they believe that God will provide.

The community also does not use money and its members are not supposed to go to doctors or accept aid from social services.

Modern Dress, Mobile Phones

Despite the stated strictures, however, many members dont appear to follow many of the tenets of the community, as RFE/RL Kyrgyz Service reporters found during a visit to a community in the northeastern Issyk-Kul region.

Some of the men were wearing modern dress and several carried mobile phones, though they claimed not to use the Internet.

Yaqyn Inkar members said being on video is a sin in Islam and asked that their faces not be filmed during the interview.

One of the believers, Abdurakhim Abdraev, said they were not members of Yaqyn Inkar but rather of the worldwide Islamic movement Tablighi Jamaat.

In todays society, many things are going in ways that are not in accordance with Sunni regulations regarding the [Islamic way of life], he told RFE/RL.

Tablighi Jamaat, which translates as Messengers Assembly, is banned in Russia and every other Central Asian country except Kyrgyzstan.

Kadyr Malikov, a religious expert and director of the analytical center Religion, Law, and Politics in the capital, Bishkek, said that Yaqyn Inkar is a breakaway group of Tablighi Jamaat that was started because some members of Tablighi Jamaat did not think the group was as true to original Islamic ideals as it should be.

In 2016, there were estimated to only be a few dozen members of Yaqyn Inkar. Those numbers are believed to have grown into the hundreds, though precise numbers are unknown.

'Dangerous For Society'

Begun around 2012, the Yaqyn Inkar community spread mainly in the northern districts of Tyup and Ak-Suu, as well as in the city of Karakol and other parts of the Issyk-Kul region, according to Malikov.

Some Kyrgyz officials have expressed concern that the movement could spread to southern regions, which is traditionally more observant than the largely secular north.

Mainstream Islamic officials in Kyrgyzstan have been critical of Yaqyn Inkar.

They say there is no need to work. They even say that their teachings say that those who work are infidels.... They can be dangerous for society, Rustam Ybykeev, an Islamic official in Karakol, told RFE/RL.

Mufti Maksatbek Toktomushov said the Yaqyn Inkar members do damage to themselves and attract people to a form of Sufism. He attacked their belief that men do not need to provide for their families because God will do so.

As a result, in some cases people refuse to support their children and even leave them.... But in real Islam, everybody has obligations, he said. You have obligations, your wife does, [and] your children have rights, which their teaching apparently does not agree with.
Authorities in Pakistan say they have found the bodies of five more Pakistanis who were apparently planning to cross into Iran on their way to Europe.

A spokesman for the Baluchistan government said the bodies were found on November 18 in Turbat district, 1,000 kilometers southwest of the city of Quetta.

The spokesman, Anwarul Haq Kakar, said the men apparently were part of a group that included 15 men from Punjab Province who were killed earlier this week by a separatist group.

The discovery comes a day after the Pakistani Army said troops had killed a Baluch separatist commander involved in the slaying of 15 men from Punjab in Baluchistan, where separatist groups have waged a low-level insurgency.

Based on reporting by AP and Samaa TV
Russia vetoed on November 17 a proposal to temporarily keep alive the mandate of the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), a UN body investigating who is responsible for chemical-weapons attacks in Syria, one day after blocking a one-year extension of the inquiry. The veto in the UN Security Council was Moscow's 11th such veto of UN resolutions involving the Syrian civil war since the conflict began in 2011. (Reuters)
Welcome back to the China In Eurasia briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter tracking Chinas resurgent influence from Eastern Europe to Central Asia. Im RFE/RL correspondent Reid Standish.

Before we get started, a few announcements: The newsletter is now biweekly, rather than going out only on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. To subscribe, click here.

And I will also be launching Talking China In Eurasia, a new podcast. Im joined by the Royal United Services Institutes Raffaello Pantucci to talk about Xi and Putin. Listen to the first episode here or below.

Xi Gets Pragmatic About Russia At The G20

It was light on optimism, but U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping injected a healthy dose of pragmatism back into the U.S.-China relationship with their meeting in Bali at a time when global anxiety is rising over Russias war against Ukraine.

Finding Perspective: The meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit was far from a breakthrough, but it did repair some damage from the recent backslide in relations between both countries and send some signals that the world isnt necessarily destined for Cold War 2.0.

The more than three-hour talks saw some blunt exchanges over contentious issues like Taiwan and North Korea, but the two leaders also pledged more frequent communications and decided that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Beijing for follow-up talks in 2023.

Of particular note, Biden raised Russias invasion of Ukraine and threats by Russian President Vladimir Putin to use nuclear weapons. Both leaders reiterated their agreement that a nuclear war should never be fought, according to a White House readout.

While far from a sea change for Chinese policy, thats notable. The credibility of Beijings claims to be neutral on the Ukraine war continue to come under scrutiny, and China has shown discomfort of late with the Kremlins nuclear saber-rattling.

Xi made similar comments after a November 4 summit with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and during another G20 meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to the French readout.

Why It Matters: Xi is not abandoning Putin, but this marks the latest shift for Beijings balancing act over Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Four Chinese officials briefed on the February 4 meeting between Xi and Putin, where they declared a no-limits partnership, told the Financial Times that Putin didnt tell Xi the truth about the invasion and that Beijing was caught off guard by it.

What Xi knew about Putins war plans has been a topic of debate, and there is evidence to support both the idea that Xi was aware and that he was caught off guard.

Many analysts are of the opinion that Xi knew about Putin's decision to invade but expected a quick victory, which perhaps was what Putin believed at the time.

Others point to a steady stream of dismissals from Chinese officials and experts about the likelihood of an invasion in February and the fact that Beijing did not evacuate its citizens from Ukraine  like Western nations did  as evidence that China was not expecting a war.

China certainly has its own interests in keeping a distance from Moscows war and using that space to do some upkeep with the West. But perhaps the most important point here is that even if Putin did blindside Xi, China has stuck with Russia despite its battlefield failures, political isolation, and the atrocities its troops are accused of committing.

Again, this is pragmatism more than anything else. As Chinese experts often say, even if Russia is looking unattractive these days, why would Beijing abandon its main anti-Western partner as China continues to be in the crosshairs of rising American pressure?

Read More

 Want to hear more about Russia and Chinas complex relationship amid the Ukraine war? Then tune in to the debut of Talking China In Eurasia today at 2 p.m. CET/ 8 a.m. EST. You can listen live here and find the episode on RFE/RLs website and wherever you listen to your podcasts.

 Condemning Russias invasion of Ukraine and its global fallout is shaping up to be the key theme of the G20, with the Financial Times reporting that a joint communique from the summit takes aim at Moscow.

Expert Corner: The Future Of The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

Readers asked: Did Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharifs recent trip to Beijing breathe new life into the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)? How do Islamabad and Beijing really feel about the project after all these years?

To find out more, I asked Filippo Boni, an expert on China-Pakistan relations at the Open University in Britain:

Shehbaz Sharif's visit to China was high on symbolism and relatively low on substance. While the two sides were keen to reaffirm and emphasize the strength of their strategic partnership, no significant new commitment was made. Apart from a few memorandums of understanding and attempts from the Pakistanis in the run-up to the trip to address some of CPECs issues  including payments to Chinese independent power producers  nothing major came from the visit. This is despite Sharif's attempts at revitalizing CPEC since April and the very close ties he enjoys with the Chinese leadership.

The outcome of this visit is not entirely surprising, especially if interpreted against the backdrop of Pakistan's current domestic predicaments. The security situation for Chinese nationals has deteriorated, the economy is struggling, and political instability is at one of its highest points in recent years. All these dynamics, coupled with the global scaling down of Belt and Road Initiative financing, have likely impacted Beijing's lack of commitment to new projects.

After almost 10 years and $25 billion worth of projects, there seems to be a general consensus on both sides that the first phase of CPEC  the one focused primarily on energy projects  was largely successful. The same cannot be said for the second phase, including the slow progress on the development of Special Economic Zones, and for the port of Gwadar, where little progress has been made for the ports full commercial functioning.

Do you have a question about Chinas growing footprint in Eurasia? Send it to me at StandishR@rferl.org or reply directly to this e-mail and Ill get it answered by leading experts and policymakers.

Three More Stories From Eurasia

1. 'Sweep It Under The Rug'

Recent allegations of China operating 54 overseas police stations have fueled controversy around the world and sparked investigations, but in Hungary and Serbia the new findings are being met with swift denials by authorities, despite growing evidence.

The Details: My colleagues Akos Keller-Alant from RFE/RLs Hungarian Service, Mila Durdevic from RFE/RLs Balkan Service, and I reported on the fallout from these revelations and the slew of probes launched in many European countries recently.

The stations are overseas operations of the public security bureaus from two Chinese provinces and are used to persuade citizens to return to China, including through pressure on family members at home. While most of those involved appear to be suspected of crimes such as telecommunications fraud or corruption, dissidents have also reported that the stations have been used to monitor and threaten them.

Fourteen governments have already launched investigations into the overseas police stations, and the Dutch and Irish governments have ordered China to shut down the facilities in their countries.

But in Hungary and Serbia  two countries where Beijing is said to operate such facilities and whose governments prize their warming political and economic ties with China  officials appear to be trying to sweep it under the rug, as one analyst characterized it, despite growing scrutiny from opposition lawmakers in each country.

2. Global Ripples Hit Central Asia

Political and economic shocks from Moscows war in Ukraine, coupled with added strains from tensions between Beijing and Washington, are taking their toll around the world, especially in Central Asia, where countries in the region are closely tied to both China and Russia.

What It Means: As RFE/RLs Uzbek Service reported, Vladimir Norov, the countrys foreign minister, warned about geopolitical tensions affecting stability in the region and beyond while addressing his counterparts at an Organization of Turkic States meeting in Samarkand.

The breakdown in global cooperation is felt particularly strong in Central Asia. While some economies have been able to benefit by becoming a new home for businesses and capital relocated from Russia, others are seeing investment dry up and their economies coming under strain.

World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Anna Bjerde recently warned that Uzbekistan needs to continue with its market reforms in order to withstand the global economic shocks that are to come.

RFE/RLs Kyrgyz Service also reported that the countrys government is trying to court more investment but that questions remain from investors about Kyrgyzstans stability and investment climate. According to official statistics from January to June of this year, China is the leading source of foreign investment, with $129 million during that span.

3. The Tech In Moscows Iranian Drones

A new investigation by Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, looked into electronic components underpinning Tehran's production of the Mohajer-6 drone, which Russia has used in its war in Ukraine, and found that theyre far from homegrown.

What You Need To Know: The Mohajer-6 drones contain components produced by companies from the United States and the European Union, both of which have sanctions restricting the export to Iran of technology that can be used for both civilian and military purposes.

The investigation also found drone components produced in China, including a real-time mini-camera made by a Hong Kong firm.

The drone also contains a microchip bearing the logo of a California technology company and a thermal-imaging camera that Ukrainian intelligence says may have been produced by a firm based in Oregon or China.

The international tech in the drone not only highlights the complex ecosystem that allows firms and buyers to circumvent sanctions slapped on both Iran and Russia, but also the close networks between Chinese and Western tech companies that still exist, despite a recent push to break some of those linkages.

Across The Supercontinent

On The Mainland: The watchdog group Freedom House recently launched a new project called the China Dissent Monitor, which tracks protests and other forms of dissent inside China. Read it here.

Censored: Chinese authorities behind a major trade expo in Shanghai pulled an opening ceremony address by European Council President Charles Michel that was set to criticize Russia's illegal war in Ukraine and call for reduced European dependency on China, Reuters reported.

Backtracking: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has softened his countrys stance toward China, moving away from his predecessor Liz Trusss decision to label it a threat.

One Thing To Watch

How long will Chinas stringent COVID policies stay in place?

New infections are rising as a winter wave hits and popular frustration continues to boil over inside the country as investor confidence stays dented over the measures. New footage also showed crowds of residents in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou escaping a compulsory lockdown and clashing with police.

Thats all from me for now. Dont forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you might have.

Until next time,

Reid Standish

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your in-box on the first and third Wednesdays of each month.
Ukraine's main security agency says it has detained two Russian citizens wanted by Interpol, including one who allegedly was involved in the assassination of American journalist Paul Klebnikov.

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said in a statement on November 18 that it had detained a Chechen native who is a Russian citizen who "participated in a number of assassinations, in particular, the editor in chief of the Russian edition of Forbes and the deputy chairman of the apparatus of the government of the Chechen Republic in 2001-2003."

Shortly after being appointed the first editor of the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, Klebnikov was attacked by armed gunmen outside his office building in Moscow in July 2004.

Authorities said the killing was a response to Klebnikov's investigative work, which included books on Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky and Chechen rebel leader Khozh-Akhmed Nukhayev.

Prosecutors later accused Nukhayev of masterminding the crime and arrested three Chechen men for carrying out the hit.

All three men were eventually acquitted and authorities said they no longer believed Nukhayev had ordered the killing.
Notes: What if Navy blitz becomes blueprint? Notre Dame 'would welcome that'
I will never forget the summer I was flying home from college in upstate New York, to see my parents who were living in Tokyo, Japan. I flew from New York City to San Francisco to spend the night with my aunt and uncle. The next day, I was to fly to Tokyo. Back in those days, airlines issued paper tickets. I awoke the following day and realized I had lost my ticket. Remorseful and repentant, I made the international phone call to admit to my carelessness to my father. I was prepared to be reamed out. Instead, my father taught me an unforgettable lesson about generosity, by calmly buying me another ticket home to Japan.

I remembered this experience this morning because the first thought I had when I woke up was about money. "Why?" you may ask. Right now, at my church, we are in the middle of our annual Stewardship Campaign. I imagine other congregations who are doing the same thing. On one level, stewardship campaigns are all about raising money from the congregation to support the ministry of the church. Right now I am asking people to pledge to the church so that our work as a church can continue for another year.

Fundraising has never been the most joyful part of my call as a pastor. It takes a particular kind of person to be a fundraiser. Most people are uncomfortable talking about money and finances. But it is essential for us all to have these conversations about money and finances, mainly from the perspective of the practice of generosity.

Social scientists who study human behavior have found that people who practice generosity are physically healthier and emotionally happier than those who do not. There is a connection between the regular practice of giving of either our money and our volunteer time and our sense of purpose in life. The amount of money or time is not as significant as the consistent practice of that giving.

So here are some questions for you to ponder as you think about your journey to generosity.

 Generosity: When have you received it? When have you given it?

 When and how have you been generous last week, yesterday, last year?

 When and how have you been generous at work, at your house of worship, with your family and friends?

 What have you been generous with? Love, kindness, money, time, prayer?

 Who taught you about generosity most recently?

 Who taught you about generosity when you were younger?

 Who do you admire for their generosity?

 How do you make decisions about how to be generous?

There probably are lots of amazing stories about generosity in your life. If you're willing, I would love to hear them. And it's not a bad idea to share those stories with your family and friends.
Professor Stephen Hawking speaks about "Why We Should Go into Space" for the NASA Lecture Series, April 21, 2008

Stephen Hawking was regarded as one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists in history. His work on the origins and structure of the universe, from the Big Bang to black holes, revolutionized the field, while his best-selling books have appealed to readers who may not have Hawking's scientific background. Hawking died on March 14, 2018, at the age of 76.

Stephen Hawking was seen by many as the world's smartest person, though he never revealed his IQ score. According to the news site (opens in new tab) The Atlantic, when a New York Times reporter asked Hawking what his IQ was, he replied with "I have no idea, people who boast about their IQ are losers."

In this brief biography, we look at Hawking's education and career  ranging from his discoveries to the popular books he's written  and the disease that robbed him of mobility and speech.

Related: 4 bizarre Stephen Hawking theories that turned out to be right (and 6 we're not sure about)

Stephen Hawking's early life

British cosmologist Stephen William Hawking was born in England on Jan. 8, 1942  300 years to the day after the death of the astronomer Galileo Galilei. He attended University College, Oxford, where he studied physics, despite his father's urging to focus on medicine. Hawking went on to Cambridge to research cosmology, the study of the universe as a whole.

In early 1963, just shy of his 21st birthday, Hawking was diagnosed with motor neuron disease, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (opens in new tab). He was not expected to live more than two years. Completing his doctorate did not appear likely, but Hawking defied the odds. He attained his PhD in 1966 (Hawking made his PhD thesis available online in 2017) and he went on to forge new roads into the understanding of the universe in the decades since.

As the disease spread, Hawking became less mobile and began using a wheelchair. Talking grew more challenging and, in 1985, an emergency tracheotomy caused his total loss of speech. A speech-generating device constructed at Cambridge, combined with a software program, served as his electronic voice, allowing Hawking to select his words by moving the muscles in his cheek.

Just before his diagnosis, Hawking met Jane Wilde, and the two were married in 1965. The couple had three children before separating. Hawking remarried in 1995 but divorced in 2006.

A Brilliant Mind

Stephen Hawking pictured in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1979 (Image credit: Photo by Santi Visalli/Getty Images)

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Hawking continued at Cambridge after his graduation, serving as a research fellow and later as a professional fellow. In 1974, he was inducted into the Royal Society, a worldwide fellowship of scientists. In 1979, he was appointed Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, the most famous academic chair in the world (the second holder was Sir Isaac Newton, also a member of the Royal Society).

Over the course of his career, Hawking studied the basic laws governing the universe. He proposed that, since the universe boasts a beginning  the Big Bang  it likely will have an ending. Working with fellow cosmologist Roger Penrose, he demonstrated that Albert Einstein's Theory of General Relativity suggests that space and time began at the birth of the universe and ends within black holes, which implies that Einstein's theory and quantum theory must be united.

Using the two theories together, Hawking also determined that black holes are not totally dark but instead emit radiation. He predicted that, following the Big Bang, black holes as tiny as protons were created, governed by both general relativity and quantum mechanics.

Related: Black holes of the universe [photos]

Professor Stephen Hawking experiences the freedom of weightlessness during a zero gravity flight. (Image credit: NASA/J. Campbell, Aero-News Network)

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In 2014, Hawking revised his theory, even writing that " there are no black holes"  at least, in the way that cosmologists traditionally understand them. His theory removed the existence of an "event horizon," the point where nothing can escape. Instead, he proposed that there would be an "apparent horizon" that would alter according to quantum changes within the black hole. But the theory has proven to be controversial.

Related: Portrait of genius: Stephen Hawking exhibit photos

Hawking also proposed that the universe itself has no boundary, much like the Earth. Although the planet is finite, one can travel around it (and through the universe) infinitely, never encountering a wall that would be described as the "end."

Hawking's Books

Hawking was a popular writer. His first book, "A Brief History of Time (opens in new tab)" (10th-anniversary edition: Bantam, 1998) was first published in 1988 and became an international bestseller. In it, Hawking aimed to communicate questions about the birth and death of the universe to the layperson.

Hawking went on to write other nonfiction books aimed at non-scientists. These include "A Briefer History of Time (opens in new tab)," "The Universe in a Nutshell (opens in new tab)," "The Grand Design (opens in new tab)" and "On the Shoulders of Giants (opens in new tab)."

He and his daughter, Lucy Hawking, also created a fictional series of books for middle school children on the creation of the universe, including "George and the Big Bang (opens in new tab)" (Simon & Schuster, 2012).

Hawking made several television appearances, including a playing hologram of himself on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and a cameo on the television show "Big Bang Theory (opens in new tab)." PBS presented an educational miniseries titled "Stephen Hawking's Universe (opens in new tab)," which probes the theories of the cosmologist.

In 2014, a movie based on Hawking's life was released. Called "The Theory of Everything," the film drew praise from Hawking, who said it made him reflect on his own life. "Although I'm severely disabled, I have been successful in my scientific work," Hawking wrote on Facebook in November 2014. "I travel widely and have been to Antarctica and Easter Island, down in a submarine and up on a zero-gravity flight. One day, I hope to go into space."

Related: 8 Shocking Things We Learned From Stephen Hawking's Book Grand Design

Stephen Hawking Quotes

Hawking's quotes range from notable to poetic to controversial. Among them:

"Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing? "

"All of my life, I have been fascinated by the big questions that face us, and have tried to find scientific answers to them. If, like me, you have looked at the stars, and tried to make sense of what you see, you too have started to wonder what makes the universe exist."

"Science predicts that many different kinds of universe will be spontaneously created out of nothing. It is a matter of chance which we are in."

"The whole history of science has been the gradual realization that events do not happen in an arbitrary manner, but that they reflect a certain underlying order, which may or may not be divinely inspired. "

"We should seek the greatest value of our action."

"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

"It is not clear that intelligence has any long-term survival value. "

"One cannot really argue with a mathematical theorem."

"It is a waste of time to be angry about my disability. One has to get on with life and I haven't done badly. People won't have time for you if you are always angry or complaining."

"I relish the rare opportunity I've been given to live the life of the mind. But I know I need my body and that it will not last forever."

A list of Hawking quotes would be incomplete without mentioning some of his more controversial statements.

He frequently said that humans must leave Earth if we wished to survive.

"It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand or million...Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain inward-looking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space."  August 2010

"[W]e must  continue to go into space for the future of humanityI don't think we will survive another 1,000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet."  November 2016

"We are running out of space and the only places to go to are other worlds. It is time to explore other solar systems. Spreading out may be the only thing that saves us from ourselves. I am convinced that humans need to leave Earth."  June 2017

He also said time travel should be possible, and that we should explore space for the romance of it.

"Time travel used to be thought of as just science fiction, but Einstein's general theory of relativity allows for the possibility that we could warp space-time so much that you could go off in a rocket and return before you set out. I was one of the first to write about the conditions under which this would be possible. I showed it would require matter with negative energy density, which may not be available. Other scientists took courage from my paper and wrote further papers on the subject," he told Parade in 2010.

"Science is not only a disciple of reason, but, also, one of romance and passion."

The theoretical physicist was also concerned that robots could not only have an impact on the economy but also mean doom for humanity.

"The automation of factories has already decimated jobs in traditional manufacturing, and the rise of artificial intelligence is likely to extend this job destruction deep into the middle classes, with only the most caring, creative or supervisory roles remaining," he wrote in a 2016 column in The Guardian (opens in new tab).

"The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race," he told the BBC in 2014. Hawking added, however, that AI developed to date has been helpful. It's more the self-replication potential that worries him. "It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever-increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded."

"The genie is out of the bottle. I fear that AI may replace humans altogether," Hawking told WIRED in November 2017.

An avowed atheist, Hawking also occasionally waded into the topic of religion (opens in new tab).

"Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going."  The Grand Design, by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow

"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components failThere is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."  2011 interview with The Guardian (opens in new tab)

"Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation. What I meant by 'we would know the mind of God' is, we would know everything that God would know, if there were a God, which there isn't. I'm an atheist."  2014 interview in El Mundo (opens in new tab)

Additional Resources
The first in a series of four advanced polar-orbiting satellites launched to space on its third try early Saturday (Nov. 18), turning its watchful eye to improving the accuracy of weather forecasts and Earth observations.

The new Joint Polar Satellite System-1 satellite, or JPSS-1, launched into orbit atop a United Launch Alliance-built Delta II rocket at 4:47 a.m. EST (0947 GMT), lighting up the predawn sky over its Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The successful liftoff came after two scrubbed launch attempts earlier this week due to high winds and boats inside the launch range restriction zone offshore.

"Things went absolutely perfect today," NASA launch manager Omar Baez said after the JPSS-1 launch. "The nation's got another wonderful weather asset up in space." [The JPSS-1 Weather Satellite's Mission in Pictures]

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in partnership with NASA, operates both geostationary satellites, like GOES-16, which stay in a fixed spot over Earth as they orbit, as well as polar-orbiting satellites, like Suomi NPP, which launched in 2011. Suomi NPP was originally intended to test the technology in store for JPSS-1, officials said at a news conference Sunday (Nov. 12), but it has become a valuable weather and Earth analysis satellite.

The United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket carrying the Joint Polar Satellite System-1 (JPSS-1) weather satellite for NASA and NOAA lifts off from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California on Nov. 18, 2017. (Image credit: United Launch Alliance )

"This is huge," Greg Mandt, director of the JPSS program, said during live commentary just after the dazzling liftoff of JPSS-1. "JPSS 1 is part of a national polar orbiting weather satellite program, and we really need this because 85 percent of all the date from our weather forecast models come from this series of weather satellite.We're looking forward to getting good data from this satellite."

JPSS-1 will follow in Suomi NPP's path  literally  by chasing its precursor around in the same polar orbit, boasting "instruments so precise that they can measure the temperature to better than a tenth of a degree from the surface of the Earth all the way to the edge of space," Mandt said during the Nov. 12 news conference. The spacecraft will pass around the globe every 90 minutes.

The 14.8-foot (4.5 meters), 5,060-lb. (2,295 kilograms) spacecraft's five instruments will let it observe Earth and its climate over the long term while also pinpointing immediate weather changes. The satellite's full mission cost, including development and the whole life of the mission, is $1.6 billion.

"With such an active and extremely dangerous hurricane season we've recently encountered  and the destructive wildfires we've seen around the planet, and particularly in California in the last year  JPSS-1 is arriving at just the right time," Steve Volz, director of NOAA's Satellite and Information Service, said during the news conference.

The Joint Polar Satellite System-1 satellite is released into orbit from the second stage of its United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket after a successful launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California n Nov. 18, 2017. (Image credit: NASA TV)

The JPSS-1 liftoff marks the second-to-last launch for Delta II rockets, which debuted in 1989 and have been responsible for 50 NASA launches, carrying a long list of satellites and Mars missions to space, officials said at the news conference. The final satellite to be launched on a Delta II rocket would be ICESat-2, which is currently set to launch in 2018.

Just under an hour after launch, JPSS-1 was released from the rocket's second stage, and the stage performed an extra engine burn to move out of the way and prepare to release the rocket's other passengers: five miniature satellites called cubesats, which will examine 3D printing of polymers in space, as well as a miniaturized weather-measurement system, which will study how components and computation are impacted by space radiation and more. All five of the small satellite travelers were successfully deployed by 85 minutes after launch. [Hurricane Watch: How Satellites Track Huge Storms from Space]

JPSS-1 itself, which will be renamed NOAA-20 once it's declared operational in orbit, will use its instruments to measure atmospheric temperature, moisture, ozone levels, vegetation and rainfall across the globe. (Read in more detail about JPSS-1's five instruments here.)

"All of these instruments can work in tandem," Mandt said at the news conference. "For example, the VIIRS [Visible, Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite] can tell us the location of a fire and track the smoke plumes, while the CrIS [Cross-track Infrared Sounder] can measure carbon monoxide and methane from the fire, allowing us to see where air quality might be affected."

And in its turn, JPSS-1 will work with Suomi NPP and other weather satellites  plus JPSS-2 through 4, when they eventually launch  to provide an uninterrupted picture of Earth's weather and climate conditions.

ULA's Delta II rocket used nine solid rocket boosters to help heft the JPSS-1 polar-orbiting weather satellite and five experimental cubesats into space. (Image credit: NOAA)

"NOAA's mission as an operational agency is to be the trusted deliverer of Earth observations without interruption," Volz said at the news conference. "Many of the national infrastructure elements, the weather forecasts, all of the users in the nation rely on knowing the weather forecast will be there every day, every six hours, without interruption."

With JPSS-1 joining Suomi NPP in orbit, the system will no longer have a single point of failure  whether from a collision with orbital debris or a power failure that could give NOAA a forecasting blind spot.

"We have a young, fresh J1, as the aging and mature Suomi-NPP can continue to operate, so that we now are getting ready for J2," which will someday be the new-arrival satellite to the older JPSS-1, he added. "We want to have that cadence set up."

Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Say this for "Justice League," the DC Comics/Warner Bros. offering that hits screens almost everywhere this week: It reverses the bleak course of prior DC Extended Universe movies.

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

The movie and its plot are born into a world saddened by the death of Superman (as seen in 2016's Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice), and starts with similar somber notes. Steppenwolf and his Parademons, a fairly deep cut for mainstream audiences (but still a callback to BvS) are introduced as the Big Bads, and the mood gets darker still. But eventually, a grudging camaraderie comes about and a light usually not seen in the DCEU shines through - for the most part.

Batman and Wonder Woman are the driving forces of both the plot and the eventual formation of a very informal 'Justice League' - those words are never actually spoken by any character in the movie. Whereas a previous viewing of their previous flicks in this continuity-driven middle stop toward an preordained sequel are certainly helpful, they're fortunately not needed. A Cliffs Notes version spoken by the characters in-film will get you through.

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

The movie does a fine job introducing and developing its new-to-the-movies heroes Aquaman, Flash, and Cyborg. DC is still on its perpetual quest to Make Aquaman Somehow Cool, which in this instance makes him a whiskey-swilling malcontent who seems to like the White Stripes. Flash is played as a new-hero-on-the-block, unsure of his abilities and full of wide-eyed wonder, while Cyborg is the movie's convenient deus ex machina, with technology that can seemingly defeat any bad guys and/or plot problem.

Superman (c'mon, no spoiler alert needed, you saw him on the poster!) makes his return, and the production veers off-kilter for a beat as confusion and an inevitable 'good guys fight each other' occurs. But an alliance is eventually formed, and in an interesting and ultimately satisfying way.

Along the way, the mood gets lighter. Legit jokes between characters (you can decide if they're funny or not) happen. The opportunity for heroic moments occur, selfless sacrifices are made, and things turn out for the better. The mood is never 100 percent upbeat, but is way, way, way (thank you, thank you, thank you) better than BvS or Man of Steel (a movie, you'll note, that thankfully did not contain the word "Superman" in the title).

Steppenwolf's eventual demise (you had to see that coming, right?) happens in a manner that makes very little comic book sense (or perhaps even real world sense), but hey, if you've got some popcorn left or are on a minor endorphin rush from some actual light cracking through, hey - that's a pretty forgivable sin.

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

At the end of the day, "Justice League" teaches us nothing really. It's that two-hour layover in Denver on your trip from Los Angeles to New York, but an important stop on a larger journey. It is the captain jerking the wheel and steering a ship on to a different course. Films such as Man of Steel and BvS taught us that the world is a bleak, overtly dangerous place with no hope. "Justice League" moves on a 30-degree tangent from that. To pull a lesson from one universe over, the Guardians of the Galaxy movies teach us that a burden shared is a burden halved, and that genuine love can grow among disparate parties. "Justice League" at least shows us that very reluctant partners can come together in a time of shared sacrifice to work for a better tomorrow.

And oh yeah, that middle stop toward an preordained sequel: Yes, there are both mid- (fun!) and post- (holy crap, dark, and here's your sequel) credit sequences. Stay to the end-end. And DC Extended Universe: Its up to you where you want to go.

Similar articles of this ilk are archived on a crummy-looking blog. You can also follow @McLauchlin on Twitter.

Originally published on Newsarama.
A conference aimed at disputing the idea that the world is round just wrapped up in North Carolina.

The first-ever 2017 Flat Earth International Conference (FEIC) was held in Raleigh on Nov. 9 and 10, featuring some of the big names in round-Earth denial. Among the speakers were Darryle Marble, who once took a level on a plane to "prove" the Earth doesn't curve; Mark Sargent, the creator of the Flat Earth Clues YouTube Series, who believes all life is enclosed in a "Truman Show"-like dome structure; and Jeran Campanella, a YouTube and online radio personality, who makes flat-Earth, 9/11 Truther and other conspiracy theory videos. [7 Ways to Prove the Earth Is Round]

The conference was hosted by Kryptoz Media, which produces DVDs and other media arguing that "scientism" is an agenda designed to keep people from God, and the Creation Cosmology Institute, an organization with little online footprint except a now-deleted YouTube channel.

The conference featured talks such as "NASA and Other Space Lies," "Flat Earth with the Scientific Method," "Waking Up to Mainstream Science Lies" and "Testing the Globe." The conference organizer, Kryptoz Media's Robbie Davidson, is a Christian creationist, and that philosophy emerged in sessions such as "Flat Earth & The Bible" and "Exposing Scientism," the latter of which decried evolution and the Big Bang theory of the universe's origin.

Flat-Earthers believe that Earth is not a globe, but a flat plane. Beliefs on how the "true" globe is laid out vary, but many YouTube personalities who push the conspiracy theory say that the planet is a disc surrounded by an ice wall. Flat-Earthers argue that NASA and other scientific agencies digitally fake pictures of the globe from space and that there is a vast conspiracy to keep the truth of the flat Earth from the public.

Recently, flat-Earth believer and rapper B.o.B. tried to crowdfund $1 million via GoFundMe to launch a satellite to see if he could detect for himself the curvature of the Earth. GoFundMe temporarily froze the donation account, but it is now back online, having raised $6,842 from 224 people.

No one knows how many people really subscribe to flat-Earth beliefs. The Flat Earth Society, the oldest organization devoted to the belief, claims 555 members. Marble boasts 22,954 subscribers to his YouTube channel. About 500 people attended the conference in Raleigh, Davidson told Live Science via email.

The next annual Flat Earth International Conference will be held in Denver, from Nov. 15 -16, in 2018. Davidson said he expects up to 1,500 attendees.

Original article on Live Science.
A new version of a humanoid disaster robot, called Atlas, can do half-turns in the air and even a backflip.

A new video shows a robot performing amazing acrobatic feats, from backflips to half-turn jumps.

The eerily humanoid robot, called Atlas, is 4.9 feet (1.5 meters) tall and weighs 165 pounds (75 kilograms), and uses Lidar and stereovision to navigate in its surroundings, according to Boston Dynamics, which makes the robot. Atlas is designed to be able to take on emergency situations where human life would normally be put at risk, such as going into buildings that have crumbled after an earthquake, or dealing with patients who have deadly, highly infectious diseases, according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

In the video, the newest version of the humanoid does a kind of jump training called plyometrics, leaping between raised platforms, doing a 180-degree turn in the air on raised platforms and performing a backflip off a platform. Though he may not give American gymnast Simone Biles a run for her money right now, the robot does manage to stick the landing. [Machine Dreams: 22 Human-Like Androids from Sci-Fi]

Other videos show the robot stacking boxes on a shelf, ambling on a walk in the snow with a human "friend" and chasing after, and picking up, a box that's deliberately moved out of its reach. According to the Boston Dynamics website, Atlas can carry payloads up to 24 lbs. (11 kg).

Atlas has other human-like abilities, such as a sense of balance, so it resists toppling when pushed, and can get back up after a fierce shove.

The current version of Atlas isn't yet as agile as the average human; when it walks, it uses an awkward gait resembling a person who really, really has to get to a bathroom. And though it can travel over rough terrain, video seems to show it stumbling where a human might be fine.

Still, the current version of Atlas is a dramatic improvement over its ancestors: In 2013, when it first debuted at the DARPA Robotics Challenge, Atlas weighed 330 lbs. (150 kg) and required a cord for power, Technology Review reported at the time.

Originally published on Live Science.
M urder detectives are investigating the death of a woman who was allegedly found bound and gagged at her home in a north London suburb.

The body of the woman, aged in her 50s, was discovered by police at an address in Muswell Hill, on Thursday night.

The Sun reported that police found the woman tied up and are investigating whether the incident was a robbery which went wrong.

A post mortem examination will take place on Saturday morning to establish a cause of death.

A Met Police spokesman said: At this early stage, the death is being treated as suspicious. Officers from the Homicide and Major Crime Command are investigating.

There have been no arrests. Enquiries continue.

Officers believe they know who the woman is but are awaiting formal identification.

Police were called to the address in Hill Road shortly after 7pm on Thursday.

Anyone with information is asked to call the incident room on 020 8785 8244, or contact the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.


A murder probe has been launched after a woman was stabbed to death after allegedly being gagged and bound in her home in north London.

The body of a woman, aged in her 50s, was discovered by police at an address in Muswell Hill on Thursday night, Scotland Yard said.

She died as a result of stab injuries, a post-mortem held on Saturday morning found.

According to the Sun, officers found the woman tied up and are investigating whether the incident was a robbery which went wrong.

A murder investigation was launched on Saturday afternoon.

A Met police spokesman said: Detectives from the Homicide and Major Crime Command are investigating.

At this early stage, they retain an open mind as to any motive. Enquiries continue to establish the circumstances and officers continue to work at the scene.

Officers believe they know who the woman is but are awaiting formal identification.

Police were called to the address in Hill Road shortly after 7pm on Thursday.

No arrests have been made and enquiries continue.

Anyone with information is asked to call the incident room on 020 8785 8244, or contact the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
R ichard Leonard has been elected the new leader of Scottish Labour following a heated campaign battle to succeed Kezia Dugdale.

Party members were forced to choose between the left wing Mr Leonard and the more centrist candidate, Anas Sarwar.

The election was organised in the wake of Ms Dugdale's shock resignation in August.

The party's interim leader, Alex Rowley, was suspended earlier this week over allegations surrounding his conduct.

Richard Leonard, the newly elected leader of Scottish Labour holds a press conference in Glasgow / Getty Images

Speaking after the announcement, Mr Leonard said: "This new movement for real change, energised with this new generation hoping to lead it...is unity we can rally around.

"Today, we have not just elected a leader. My aim is to be the next Labour First Minister of Scotland."

Mr Sarwar said: "I congratulate Richard on his victory. He has my full and unwavering support, and I look forward to campaigning with him to return Scottish Labour to government."

The vote achieved a 62.3 per cent turnout among members, with Mr Leonard winning a 56.7 per cent and Mr Sarwar 43.3 per cent of the vote, respectively.

It has been reported the former leader, Ms Dugdale, will soon join other high profile names in ITV's I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here reality series.
T he partner of British motorcycling star Daniel Hegarty who died after an accident in the Macua Motorcycle Grand Prix has paid tribute to him as "the love of her life".

The 31-year-old racer was critically injured after crashing into the barriers on his sixth lap of the course during Saturday's race - losing control on a corner known as 'Fishermen's Bend'.

Although the race was immediately halted, it was too late to save Mr Hegarty, who died while being transported to hospital.

Tributes poured in over social media as racing fans grieved his death and wished his friends and family well.

British rider Daniel Hegarty has died after an accident in the Macau Grand Prix / AFP/Getty Images

His long-time partner, Lucy Draycott, wrote on Facebook: "The love of my life has passed away this morning...I need time to take in what has happened."

Mr Hegarty had previously expressed concerns over the risks associated with his sport, telling Road Racing Core on 2016: "it really scared [my son] for a long time".

"I find it hard with my children because my eldest son...understands things and he can get facts and statistics - like how many riders have died in the years.

"It really scared him for a long time, so I found myself explaining it to him...My parents are really scared. I wouldn't like to be them...I just told them I'm as focused as I can be to minimise the risk."

A statement from the race organisers said: "Daniel's family and team have been contacted, and the Macau Grand Prix committee will ensure every assistance is extended to them.

"The committee extends its deepest sympathies to Daniel's family and friends."
Republican legislative leaders from western Montana called the recent special session a success Friday, saying the GOP-led Legislature proved to be both efficient and effective.

Senate Majority Leader Fred Thomas, House Majority Leader Ron Ehli and House Appropriations Chair Nancy Ballance  all from Ravalli County  said they were proud of their partys efforts to shrink the government in Helena while protecting vital services for needy Montanans. They also touted their ability to hold the line on taxes. Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, had proposed temporary tax increases to raise $75 million to close the state's $227 million budget shortfall.

Raising taxes was a non-starter, even though we got thousands of letters from people saying Please raise taxes. We need these services,  Ballance said on Friday, sipping a large cup of coffee and trying to recover from the long hours legislators put in during the whirlwind session, which ended at 1:40 a.m. Thursday. But we knew that raising taxes only hurts vulnerable people, and the hard-working people of Montana who were already struggling.

Bullock called legislators back to Helena, with the special session beginning Monday, to figure out how to fill the hole in the state budget caused by lower-than-anticipated revenue and the $75 million fire season.

Bullock had suggested splitting the shortfall into three parts, which included him making $76 million in cuts from state agencies, finding $75 million in transfers and $75 million in temporary tax increases.

Republicans rejected the temporary tax increases, but moved forward with the transfers and passed legislation to make permanent the $75 million in cuts that Bullock ordered for state agencies.

Legislators gathered about $123 million through fund transfers, a new fee and delayed payments, according to a spreadsheet from Balance. That included almost $30 million from a fee charged to the Montana State Fund, which administers the state workers compensation program, and the elimination of about $15 million in block grants for schools, which primarily pay for student transportation.

Another $30 million may come from CoreCivic, the private prison company that runs Crossroads Correctional Center in Shelby. It offered to return the money it placed into an escrow account in exchange for an extension of its contract, which ends in 2019.

The real key is that when we came away, theres $160 million that would have been cuts to service that arent, Balance added.

Ehli said the deep philosophical differences between Republicans and Democrats couldnt have been more highlighted during the special session. He accused Bullock of politicizing the process by not putting together a realistic solution before the Legislature reconvened.

So Nancy went to work to put together a large package of potential solutions we could take to the governor and talk about, Ehli said. Nancy was in the middle of some of the toughest decisions to be made to find cuts we felt harmed the most vulnerable.

As the majority leader in the House, I thank her for pulling my caucus together better than ever before. We are going to take care of people the best we can by limiting cuts and not putting this on the back of taxpayers.

Thomas said that the untold story is how Bullock sat on his hands for six months before the special session, not making any cuts despite evidence of the revenue reductions.

We knew there were problems, but we werent in Helena, dealing with it day to day, Thomas said. Within one week, we saw a tremendous job get done that was significantly better than what he would have done.

Bullock did oversee the implementation of SB 261, which included a series of cuts totaling $990,000 the Legislature created when revenue projections reached trigger points. Many of those cuts came through layoffs, program reductions and vacancy savings.
N ew Royal Mail stamps to commemorate the 70th wedding anniversary of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh have been revealed.

The six stamps include an image of the royal couple on their honeymoon in the grounds of Broadlands, Romsey, Hampshire and looking at photographs of their wedding.

Another shows the royal couple walking down the aisle of Westminster Abbey after their wedding service on November 20 1947.

Two stamps mark their engagement announcement in July 1947, showing the couple at Buckingham Palace.

Royal Mail spokesman Philip Parker said: "A platinum wedding anniversary is rare, and for the Royal Family it is unique.

The royal couple walk down the aisle at Westminster Abbey / PA

"We are delighted to issue these six stamps to mark Her Majesty's and the Duke of Edinburgh's 70 years of marriage."

The Queen, 91, and Prince Philip, 96, will celebrate their Platinum wedding anniversary on Monday.

They will be the first British Sovereign and consort to reach the milestone.

There will be no public celebration to acknowledge their wedding anniversary in contrast to their silver, golden and diamond anniversaries which were all marked publicly. This year they are expected to mark their platinum anniversary with a small family party at Windsor Castle, the monarchs home to the west of London.

Princess Elizabeth, as she was at the time, married dashing naval officer Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten at Londons Westminster Abbey, just two years after the end of World War Two, in a lavish ceremony attended by statesmen and royalty from around the world.

The couple first met when they attended the wedding of Prince Philips cousin, Princess Marina of Greece, to Elizabeths uncle, the Duke of Kent, in 1934. The Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, was just eight years old.

They met again when she was 13 when she made a visit with her parents to Britains Royal Naval College at Dartmouth in southern England where he was a cadet.

Their engagement was announced in July 1947 and they married four months later.
A Tube crush website where passengers secretly capture and rate photos of men they find attractive while riding the London Underground has sparked a privacy row.

The TubeCrush.net site asks commuters to send in photos of good-looking men that they have spotted during their journeys across the capital.

But the online platform has sparked concerns over privacy, while other critics have called out the site for sexism towards men.

Steve Motion, the websites founder, defended the concept and said that if a person asks to have their photo removed, there is a mechanism in place to enable them to do so.

He also said that "it is different in our society for a woman to have her picture taken compared to a man."

TubeCrush.net: Passengers are asked to submit photos of men they find "attractive" when they're travelling on the London Underground / TubeCrush

Privacy International PI Solicitor Millie Graham Wood said "Apps like TubeCrush may give the appearance of being innocuous and harmless. That is rarely the case where data is the new oil and we are the product."

He continued: "We note with serious concern that rather than address the very real and worrying privacy issues arising from this website and app, the privacy policy abdicates responsibility and fails to address the infringements on individual privacy. Further, they create an onerous process for individuals to remove their data."

Harry Janes, 23, was one of the men featured on the site. He said that he was informed about the picture by a friend of a girl he was seeing at the time.

He said: To be totally honest I thought it was absolutely hysterical. I'm not particularly sensitive so it was really just water off a ducks back. It did make me question what else might be lurking on the Internet that you don't necessarily know is there though."

When asked whether or not he felt the picture was a breach of his privacy he said: At the time, no, I thought it was funny. Looking back though, its incredibly creepy. I have absolutely no recollection of even where I was going the day it was posted, but the fact that its obviously been documented, posted and commented on I find slightly odd.

One man who was pictured on the site described it as 'creepy' / TubeCrush

He said that he thought that the website was controversial and that it would not be as well received if it focused on the objectification of women on the tube.

Mr Motion, Founder of Tube Crush said that if a person asks to have their photo removed there is a mechanism in place to enable them to do so.

"If someone wants their photo removed we will 100 per cent take it down." He said.

He also noted that since the site launched in 2011 he has had only 20 people request to have their photo removed.

On Twitter people were quick to call out the site for encouraging sexism against men.

Fortuna Copia wrote: The non-consent aspect of your work is worrying. Why encourage? You're not exactly helping gender parity by reducing one gender to silent objects are you? Very counterproductive.

The ratings of men on your site are mostly negative too so not positive is it.

One user wrote: If Men uploaded pictures of Women to an app to rate their attractiveness; they would be slaughtered. Yet its okay for Women to do on this Tubecrush app? The World is losing its sense.

Another man Tony Lauder said that he didnt see anything wrong with the site and that it inspired him to go to the gym.

Author and journalist Mark Simpson, who coined the term metro sexual and recently wrote a book about the objectification of men said: "Male objectification seems to be an unstoppable force." However he did say that for some young men "being a 'sex object' can be pleasurable, powerful and even money-making."

He continued: "If TubeCrush were pictures of attractive women that men were admiring on the sly then it would cause a scandal. Personally though I don't think this is a reason to pretend to be scandalised by TubeCrush."

Mr Motion responded to claims that the site encourages reverse sexism.

He said that when he founded the site he did consider including pictures of women on the tube, however after doing some research and discovering similar sites which had encouraged harassment of women he decided against it.

Mr Motion said: "I think it is different in our society for a woman to have her picture taken compared to a man".

He noted that the over all response from men who have appeared on TubeCrush has been positive and that some were flattered. However, he said that when did some market research into whether or not women would want to be photographed, the majority of the women that he asked said they would not be comfortable with that.

He said: "Until there is a change in equilibrium when it comes to gender in society, it will be hard to have a site celebrating a woman's appearance without making women feel uncomfortable."

TubeCrush has proved to be extremely popular since its launch in 2011 and has 11,000 likes on Facebook, 10,000 followers on Twitter and it recently launched on Instagram.

The website claims to have been set up to celebrate the attractiveness of strangers on the Tube.
H uge crowds gathered outside Londons Zimbabwe Embassy amid claims officials will meet on Sunday to dismiss Robert Mugabe as president.

The meeting, which is scheduled to start at 10.30am (8.30 GMT), will also reinstate vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa and remove Mugabes wife Grace, from the leadership, sources have said.

As news emerged of the meeting, crowds gathered outside Zimbabwe House on The Strand to celebrate the 93-year-olds downfall after four decades in power.

Revellers, undeterred by heavy rain, chanted and waved the countrys flag in preparation for what they dubbed our independence day.

Anti-Mugabe demonstrators outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London / AFP/Getty Images

Jackie Luvv, who left her homeland 20 years ago, said: "We are here to see a new Zimbabwe, the rebirth of Zimbabwe. We are calling it our Independence Day."

The 34-year-old said Zimbabwe under Mr Mugabe's rule offered nothing for her generation.

She added: "There was no future for us. We had finished school, we were bright but there were no prospects of anything."

A woman holds a Zimbabwe flag on The Strand / AFP/Getty Images

Ms Luvv said: "We are certain that he is leaving. We are going to do it peacefully though. The world is watching."

Her schoolfriend Audrey Charowa said she had seen people from across the political spectrum of Zimbabwe at the gathering in London, reflecting unity among those wanting Mr Mugabe to leave office.

She said: "I'm here because we have not had democracy in Zimbabwe since the 80s. We've never been able to protest. The police always moved in in their riot gear."

Protesters hold up signs at London's Zimbabwe Embassy / Getty Images

Ms Luvv added: "What they did today (the march in Harare) is a sign of what is to come. People are ready for the change."

Many in the crowd in London waved Zimbabwe flags and carried placards reading "One Zimbabwe, one nation" and "Bob's not my uncle". 5651273737001

Karen Insalata brought her 15-year-old daughter Georgia to Zimbabwe House for the "party".

Protesters call for Mugabe to step down in Zimbabwe 1 /13 Protesters call for Mugabe to step down in Zimbabwe People wave a Zimbabwean national flag and carry banners during a demonstration AFP/Getty Images People taking to the streets as part of the mass action protests against President Robert Mugabe EPA People taking to the streets as part of the mass action protests against President Robert Mugabe EPA People gather at an anti President Mugabe rally EPA People gather at an anti President Mugabe rally AFP/Getty Images A man carries a placard during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Zimbabwe's president AFP/Getty Images People gather to demonstrate for the ouster of 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe AP Euphoric crowds march and chant on the streets of Harare AP A man waves a Zimbabwean national flag AFP/Getty Images One protester demanded Arsenal FC manager Arsene Wenger be sacked too AFP/Getty Images

The business consultant, who also left Zimbabwe as a teenager, said: "We never thought this day would happen."

Asked for her thoughts on the future she said she is hopeful. Smiling, she replied: "Anything is better then Mugabe.

"It's a bit like anything is better than Trump. It's the same. Every single one of us has been affected by this guy (Mugabe)."

In Zimbabwe, euphoric crowds marched in celebration of the end of the Mugabe era, with people of all races calling for the official process to be sped up.

Some had posters with an image of the military commander who swept in earlier this week and put the 93-year-old under house arrest, with the slogan: "Go, go, our general!!!"

Marchers handed flags to soldiers.

"It's like Christmas," said one marcher, Fred Mubay, who added that Zimbabweans have been suffering for a long time.

Mr Mugabe, the world's oldest head of state, is said to be asking for more time amid negotiations that seek his exit with dignity.
The White House had sought to overturn a 2014 Obama administration ban on elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia.

But the President tweeted on Friday that the changes were on hold until he could "review all conservation facts" with the Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke.

Mr Zinke's role involves managing US wildlife and environmental conservation and "honouring American commitments and responsibilities to tribal nations".

The President's initial announcement caused outrage among animal rights activists, with the US Humane Society calling the decision "jarring".

Protests spread on social media, with one photo of the President's son, Donald Trump Jr, posing next to a dead elephant in Africa receiving hundreds of shares.

Images have also emerged of another of Mr Trump's sons, Eric, with a dead leopard and other animals.

Comedian Ricky Gervais, an advocate of animal rights, said in a Facebook post: "The fact that Trump has lifted President Obama's ban on elephant trophies into the country is a devastating blow to the survival of these beautiful animals.

"It's savage and pointless. It breaks my heart."

Experts say the number of African elephants has plummeted in the last ten years - down by around 30 per cent between 2007 and 2014.

The National Rifle Association praised the decision, saying it was long overdue.

A spokesman said: "By lifting the import on trophies in Zimbabwe and Zambia, the Trump Administration underscored the importance of sound scientific wildlife management and regulated hunting to the survival and enhancement of game species worldwide."
M eghan Markles body double on Suits has hinted that the American actress has quit the legal drama amid speculation that she is moving to the UK to be with Prince Harry.

Nicky Bursic, who has worked on the show for six years, posted a message on Instagram saying it had been an honour to be Ms Markles stand-in and that she was wishing her all the happiness in the world.

The post featured a picture of the pair standing beside one in another in matching outfits on the Suits set in Canada. She also tagged the message with a champagne glass emoji.

Mr Bursics message read: Its been an absolute pleasure and honour being your stand-in for the last two seasons Meghan Markle. Though Ive been on Suits for six years, the latter two has been my most memorable.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pictured together for the first time / Getty Images for the Invictus Ga

Wishing you all the happiness in the world Bella. #youdeserveitall #loveher.

Since posting the photo, she has made her public Instagram page private.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in first public appearance together 1 /9 Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in first public appearance together The couple could be seen laughing and smiling Getty Images for the Invictus Ga attend a Wheelchair Tennis match during the Invictus Games Getty Images They were both at this weekend's opening ceremony of the Paralympics-style event for wounded and injured servicemen and women Reuters It is the couple's first public appearance together Reuters Royal watchers are viewing it as a milestone in their relationship Getty Images for the Invictus Ga Harry and Meghan were both casually dressed AP They could be seen holding hands Getty Images

Ms Markles onscreen father Wendell Pierce also shared a link to an article which said she was expected to quit Suits with the caption: My beloved TV daughter.

The US actress, who plays Rachel Zane in the US drama series, is expected to quit after season seven comes to a close with her co-star Patrick J Adams.

It comes amid speculation that Ms Markle is preparing to move to the UK to be with Prince Harry.

Prince Harry has been dating the star of legal drama Suits since about May last year. There have been reports that Harry and Ms Markle, who holidayed in Botswana in August, are already engaged.

Rumours went into overdrive in mid-October when it was reported that Ms Markle and the Queen had met and spent an hour together in Buckingham Palace drinking tea.

Prince Harry and Ms Markle made their first public appearance together at the Invictus Games in September.
T he Prince of Wales has described the devastation caused by hurricanes in the Caribbean as utterly heartbreaking.

Speaking after meeting families made homeless by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, Prince Charles said it was "painful beyond words to see the devastation".

The heir to the throne's comments came during the first of his three-day visit to the Caribbean.

At a Friday night reception in the Antiguan capital of St John's, Charles said: "It was so painful beyond words to see the devastation that was so cruelly wrought across the Caribbean by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in those few, terrible weeks in September.

The Prince of Wales viewed a guard of honour as he arrived / PA

"In Barbuda as well as in the British Overseas Territories of Anguilla, Turks and Caicos, and the British Virgin Islands; in Dominica, and in Puerto Rico, Saint Martin and other islands too, the loss of life and property and the damage to the natural environment have been utterly heartbreaking.

"This is why it was so important to me that I should come to the Caribbean this weekend - to show my support (however inadequate that may be) for those who have suffered so greatly; and to thank all those who have worked so tirelessly and courageously to help and assist them."

The prince was greeted by the governor-general of Antigua and Barbuda, Sir Rodney Williams, and the country's prime minister, Gaston Browne.

Charles' visit, which began on Friday, started as the UK Government reaffirmed its commitment to "stand by" the islands devastated by the natural disasters and announced a further 15 million in support.

The new International Development Secretary, Penny Mordaunt, has launched the financial package - 12 million for Dominica and 3 million for Antigua and Barbuda.

With the 15 million initiative - plus 15 million recently allocated for the affected Overseas Territories of Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and Turks and Caicos - the UK Government has now committed 92 million to help recovery and long-term reconstruction in the region.

The prince was making his first official visit to the Commonwealth nation, whose island of Antigua escaped the worst of Hurricane Irma's high winds and lashing rain. Neighbouring Barbuda and the BVI bore the brunt of its destruction.

During Saturday Charles will visit Barbuda, where most of the buildings were destroyed, and the BVI, which suffered major damage to its infrastructure, homes and businesses.

On BVI's main island of Tortola the prince will meet staff from British Virgin Islands Red Cross, who are supporting families made homeless by the hurricane, and attend a community reception at Government House.

The entrepreneur and BVI resident Sir Richard Branson will be among the guests at the event.
R obert Mugabe will be dismissed as Zimbabwe president at a meeting on Sunday morning, sources have said.

The meeting, which is scheduled to start at 10.30am (8.30 GMT), will also reinstate vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa and remove Mugabes wife Grace, from the leadership, according to reports.

The announcement came as thousands took to the streets of Zimbabwe's capital Harare to demand the end of Mugabe's leadership after four decades in power.

Euphoric crowds marched in celebration of the end of the Mugabe era, with people of all races calling for the official process to be sped up.

Protesters call for Mugabe to step down in Zimbabwe 1 /13 Protesters call for Mugabe to step down in Zimbabwe People wave a Zimbabwean national flag and carry banners during a demonstration AFP/Getty Images People taking to the streets as part of the mass action protests against President Robert Mugabe EPA People taking to the streets as part of the mass action protests against President Robert Mugabe EPA People gather at an anti President Mugabe rally EPA People gather at an anti President Mugabe rally AFP/Getty Images A man carries a placard during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Zimbabwe's president AFP/Getty Images People gather to demonstrate for the ouster of 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe AP Euphoric crowds march and chant on the streets of Harare AP A man waves a Zimbabwean national flag AFP/Getty Images One protester demanded Arsenal FC manager Arsene Wenger be sacked too AFP/Getty Images

Some had posters with an image of the military commander who swept in earlier this week and put the 93-year-old under house arrest, with the slogan: "Go, go, our general!!!"

Marchers handed flags to soldiers.

"It's like Christmas," said one marcher, Fred Mubay, who added that Zimbabweans have been suffering for a long time.

Mr Mugabe, the world's oldest head of state, is said to be asking for more time amid negotiations that seek his exit with dignity.

But the crowds in Harare today made it clear the country was ready to move on without him.

Zimbabweans gather outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London / PA

Some of the demonstrators were removing street signs with the name of President Robert Mugabe and stomping on them.

Meanwhile, crowds gathered outside Zimbabwe House on the Strand, in London, to celebrate what they dubbed " our independence day".

Jackie Luvv, who left her homeland 20 years ago, said: "We are here to see a new Zimbabwe, the rebirth of Zimbabwe. We are calling it our Independence Day."

Zimbabwean's celebrate 'our independence day' on the Strand / PA

The 34-year-old said Zimbabwe under Mr Mugabe's rule offered nothing for her generation.

She added: "There was no future for us. We had finished school, we were bright but there were no prospects of anything."

Ms Luvv said: "We are certain that he is leaving. We are going to do it peacefully though. The world is watching."

Her schoolfriend Audrey Charowa said she had seen people from across the political spectrum of Zimbabwe at the gathering in London, reflecting unity among those wanting Mr Mugabe to leave office.

Zimbabweans gather in London / PA

She said: "I'm here because we have not had democracy in Zimbabwe since the 80s. We've never been able to protest. The police always moved in in their riot gear."

Ms Luvv added: "What they did today (the march in Harare) is a sign of what is to come. People are ready for the change."

Many in the crowd in London waved Zimbabwe flags and carried placards reading "One Zimbabwe, one nation" and "Bob's not my uncle".

Karen Insalata brought her 15-year-old daughter Georgia to Zimbabwe House for the "party".

Crowds gather in Zimbabwe to demand Mugabe's departure

The business consultant, who also left Zimbabwe as a teenager, said: "We never thought this day would happen."

Asked for her thoughts on the future she said she is hopeful. Smiling, she replied: "Anything is better then Mugabe.

"It's a bit like anything is better than Trump. It's the same. Every single one of us has been affected by this guy (Mugabe)."
T housands of protesters have taken to the streets of Zimbabwe's capital to celebrate "the end of Robert Mugabe's reign".

Witnesses spoke of scenes of jubilation as civilians hugged soldiers in the street, following the alleged military takeover of Harare earlier this week.

The rally comes in the wake of comments from Mugabe's nephew, Patrick Zhuwao, who told Reuters his uncle would "die for what is correct".

The 93-year-old dictator has been described as "virtually powerless" after the armed forces placed Mugabe and his wife, Grace, under house arrest.

It had been rumoured that Mrs Mugabe had fled the country but she was revealed to be at home with her husband.

Thousands of protesters lined the streets of Harare / EPA

Military powers only intervened after Mugabe sacked his vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, last week, in order to pave way for Mrs Mugabe to take over.

He made his first public appearance since the military takeover at a university graduation ceremony, where he appeared to fall asleep in his chair.

Mugabe is said to be negotiating a deal with officials whereby his resign will allow him to "maintain some dignity".

AFP/Getty Images

Many Zimbabweans are growing impatient with the lack of action and are demanding he step down immediately.

The recent rally was supported by both military officials and members of Zimbabwe's ruling party, Zanu-PF.

Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since it declared independence from Britain in 1980.
A rsenal fans in Zimbabwe were spotted holding aloft Wenger Out placards at a protest against Robert Mugabes regime in Harare.

Thousands of people marched through Zimbabwes capital to demand the removal of 93-year-old Mugabe after more than four decades in power.

But a handful of people in the crowd used the occasion to instead call for the sacking of Arsenals longest-serving manager Arsene Wenger, who was appointed in 1996.

Several protesters held up placards which read Wenger Out as they marched through the streets with jubilant crowds.

The signs were described as hilarious on social media, with one person saying an anti-Wenger protester had the greatest sense of humour.

Garikai Tunduwani tweeted: Marchers in #Zimbabwe March with a #WengerOut placard. So funny.

Another person, tweeting under the name, Zim1 wrote: In the midst of all this, this guy has got to have the greatest sense of humour."

Taurai Maduna said: #Zimbabwe @Arsenal fans in Harare are also expressing their frustrations on the pitch saying #Wenger Out.

Greg Whitmore wrote: Meanwhile in Zimbabwe right now... #WengerOut.

Protesters call for Mugabe to step down in Zimbabwe 1 /13 Protesters call for Mugabe to step down in Zimbabwe People wave a Zimbabwean national flag and carry banners during a demonstration AFP/Getty Images People taking to the streets as part of the mass action protests against President Robert Mugabe EPA People taking to the streets as part of the mass action protests against President Robert Mugabe EPA People gather at an anti President Mugabe rally EPA People gather at an anti President Mugabe rally AFP/Getty Images A man carries a placard during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Zimbabwe's president AFP/Getty Images People gather to demonstrate for the ouster of 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe AP Euphoric crowds march and chant on the streets of Harare AP A man waves a Zimbabwean national flag AFP/Getty Images One protester demanded Arsenal FC manager Arsene Wenger be sacked too AFP/Getty Images

Mr Mugabe, the world's oldest head of state, is said to be asking for more time amid negotiations that seek his exit with a veneer of dignity. He has been left virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies after Zimbabwes generals placed him under house arrest and staged a military coup earlier this week.

Crowds gather in Zimbabwe to demand Mugabe's departure

The crowds in Harare on Saturday were making it clear the country was ready to move on without him, while Zimbabwes Arsenal fans seem very keen to move on with Wenger.
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HAMILTON  As the star defense witness testified Monday in Dr. Chris Christensens negligent homicide and drug distributing trial, a search warrant was issued for the witness home and business.

Federal agents were seeking controlled substances, including but not limited to fentanyl, oxycodone and hydrocodone at the home and business of Dr. Forest Tennant, a renowned pain clinic operator. Agents also were able to collect documents involving prescribed or dispensed opioids, including medical records, patient files and billing information, among other items.

On Monday, Tennant testified that while Christensen was in over his head when the general practitioner was treating patients for chronic pain, he was in compliance with generally accepted standards. A jury currently is deliberating whether Christensen is guilty of negligent homicide for the death of two of his patients to whom he prescribed opioids and died from overdoses. Hes also charged with distribution of dangerous drugs and criminal endangerment.

Court recessed Friday without a verdict, and jurors will resume deliberations Monday.

On Friday, Christensens attorney said the timing of the search warrant obviously doesnt seem to me like a coincidence.

I find it to be highly disturbing he has been searched at all, said Josh Van de Wetering. Quite frankly, Im not sure what to make of it. Its scary.

Tennant has operated pain clinics in California since 1975. Hes an internist and addictionologist who specializes in the research and treatment of intractable pain. Hes written more than 300 scientific articles and books  including the Pain Patients Bill of Rights and served as a consultant to the Drug Enforcement Administration, National Institute on Drug Abuse, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The search warrant, which was executed Wednesday, was for United Pharmacy in Los Angeles, two of Tennants offices and his home in West Covina, California as well as the Beverly Hills home of Farid Pourmorady, the United pharmacist.

Tennants voice mail is full at his office, and he didnt return an email seeking comment.

Accusations in the search warrant are similar to the allegations involving Christensen  that he over-prescribed opiates and other drugs, often at the maximum strength available, and in dangerous combinations that could prove deadly. Tennant also is being investigated for speaker fees that he was paid by drug manufacturers, which allegedly were kickbacks in exchange for prescribing their products, and Medicare fraud.

The search warrant was sought by Stephanie Kolb, who works as a diversion investigator for the USDEA. Kolb noted that she has been involved in several investigations involving the illegal trafficking of pharmaceutical controlled substances by medical doctors  and the illegal diversion of pharmaceutical controlled substances. She also has participated in the federal prosecution of physicians, physician assistants and pharmacists.

Kolb wrote that investigators believe United, Tennant and various medical practitioners are profiting from the illicit diversion of controlled substances, including the powerful narcotic fentanyl, which are prescribed and dispensed other than for a legitimate medical purpose.

She said Tennant prescribed fentanyl drugs to non-cancer patients, even though the drugs prescribed are for use in treatment of breakthrough cancer pain, and that he is involved in fraudulent Medicare prescription drug claims. She also wrote that both Tennant and United are implicated in a federal investigation in Massachusetts, which has resulted in federal indictments.

Jessica Tonner is a Ravalli County resident who is a patient of Tennant. He diagnosed her with arachnoiditis, which is an inflammation of the membranes that surround the spinal cord. Its a painful condition that includes severe cramps, muscle spasm and stinging sensations; she believes it was from injuries suffered in auto accidents, and their subsequent treatments, with cortisone injections into her spinal area.

I had been to every specialist between here and Kalispell, and no one could give me a diagnosis, Tonner said. I began seeing Dr. Tennant a year ago last summer, and he was able to tell me what was wrong and gave me ways to get better.

Prior to seeing Tennant, Tonner said she was bedridden. Under his care, using a wide range of therapies, including oral steroids, hormones, anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids, shes able to move around much better.

Its not just pain control but he is treating the disease, she said. He doesnt particularly like opioids, but knows that people with intractable pain need them.

She worries now who will treat her pain. According to the search warrant, a patient whose medical information has been seized under the search warrant may request that a copy of their records be returned to the patient, in order to minimize disruption to the legitimate medical needs of the patient.
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During the 2016 American presidential elections there were charges of Russian interference in the campaign. That led to an unprecedented investigation into the use of social media like FaceBook and YouTube by foreign nations. Not surprisingly (to those who remembered Soviet Cold War intelligence operations) if was found that Russia was covertly using American social media for a lot more than trying to influence the outcome of elections.

More familiar to cold war veterans was the Russian use of social media to influence American public opinion of the U.S. military and the effectiveness of new weapons. Case in point was the source of many (hundreds or more) videos posted on YouTube implying that the new American F-35 stealth fighter was a failure. As the F-35 entered service in 2016, especially in foreign air forces (like Israel) the pilot reports (very positive) were at odds with all this social media videos (very negative.) This was apparently a classic Russian application of dezinformatsiya (disinformation) to try and discourage public support for continuing to develop and build the F-35. It also made the embarrassing (not going well) Russian effort to develop the Su-57 stealth bomber.

Foreign government, especially potential F-35 customers, paid more attention to pilot reports and the results (like increased orders and new customers like Germany) puzzled many English speakers, particularly Americans, exposed to all the Russian dezinformatsiya on YouTube and believing it.

When the Cold War ended in 1991 and the Soviet Union disappeared many Western intelligence agencies thought they had seen the last of Soviet maskirovka (masking) and dezinformatsiya operations. That was an unrealistic expectation as the Russians are reviving these deception practices and, as has been noted since the 1990s, several surviving communist government (like China and North Korea) never stopped using the maskirovka and dezinformatsiya techniques they had learned from their Soviet patrons and their own history. East Asian have numerous surviving ancient documents demonstrating that the value and use of deception and deceit goes back a long way.

One rather obvious example of how Russia has revived its classic dezinformatsiya was recently seen when Russia accused the United States of committing atrocities in Syria by using American warplanes disguised as Russian ones while bombing civilians, hospitals and the like. To carry out this dezinformatsiya the Russians used photos from an American pilot training exercise in which some F-18s, which are somewhat similar in appearance to Russian Su-30s, were given a Russian Air Force paint job and flown by American pilots who knew Russian fighter tactics and techniques. This was part of the dissimilar training the U.S. Navy revived (from a World War II practice) in the late 1960s to better prepare American pilots to deal with North Vietnamese fighter aircraft encountered over North Vietnam. This led to regular Red Flag and Top Gun training programs that evolved as potential enemy air forces did. The Russians claimed these photos showed American aircraft operating over Syria and bombing forbidden (by international law) targets, in order to blame Russia.

This was classic Soviet era dezinformatsiya and it still works, especially when you are not looking for it, as was the case with the F-35 smear campaign. Most people were not fooled by the Syrian F-18 campaign but enough were to make it worth the effort. The less obvious F-35 campaign was a lot more successful until it was detected and revealed. As Russia itself began using these techniques again most Western intel analysts were somewhat mystified because they had not seen this sort of thing at all (if they were young) and the older intel experts had not seen it done to this degree since the 1980s, when the Soviet Union was still around and using these techniques heavily used right up until the end. But that was before the Internet and social networks. For professional liars the Internet was a gold mine.

The Soviets pioneered the use of specialized organizations developing and deploying dezinformatsiya. A similar but even larger one Soviet government agency was created for maskirovka. This agency planned and carried out large scale deceptions of American photo satellites. In addition to concealing weapons, their performance, and movements the Soviets also used satellite deception to mislead the West on how their troops would operate in the field. Several times a year the Soviets would hold large scale maneuvers. Each of these exercises would involve many divisions, plus hundreds of aircraft and helicopters. Satellite photos of these maneuvers were thought to reveal tactics the Soviets were going to use in future wars. But the Soviets knew when American satellites were coming over and sometimes arranged displays of tactics they had no intention of using. Naturally, this made it more difficult for the Western intelligence analysts to figure out exactly what the Soviets were planning. That, of course, was the sort of confusion the Soviets wanted to create with these little deceptions. The current Russian government is reviving a lot of Soviet era organizations and practices because they have discovered maskirovka and dezinformatsiya still work on the West.

After 1991 this inherent fondness for maskirovka and dezinformatsiya was great news for a lot of former KGB (Russian CIA/FBI/secret police) employees who eventually found new jobs doing what they had done before the Soviet Union imploded. In part thats because of new technology. The 1990s were when the Internet blossomed into the World Wide Web. At the same time a lot of the deception and information manipulation the KGB long monopolized was now legal for civilian firms as well in Russia and China. Since then many KGB media specialists have gone commercial and trained a new generation of Internet savvy manipulators and often ended up working for the government again, as contractors rather than uniformed employees.

Spreading lies and rumors is a long standing practice in wartime. But in pre-Internet days it was developed into a fine art by the Soviets during the Cold War. This conflict, which raged (or simmered) from 1948 to 1989 (or 1991, take your pick) never saw the main antagonists (America and the U.S.S.R) fighting each other directly, but rather it was a war of proxies. Other nations provided the battlefields while other peoples provided most of the fighters and fatalities. The Soviets were calling most of the shots during this long conflict even if they were not firing them. While both sides used the media and propaganda the Soviets were enthusiastic users of a particular form of media deception called disinformation. This is the old "repeat a lie often enough and it becomes truth" routine, distributed via press release and planted media stories. On the Internet we call people who do this trolls (or worse). The Russians had, as they had during the Cold War, quietly taken advantage of the relative anonymity of Internet, especially on Western social media, to launch many dezinformatsiya that went (or still are) undetected.

Disinformation is an ancient deception technique, but never has it been used so widely and for such a long time to keep numerous small wars going and generate such levels of hostility towards ones opponent. These fighters were not risking their lives for the Soviet Union but for a myriad of local causes. The Soviet disinformation program was intended to keep everyone in a combative mood and pursuing goals that meshed with the Soviet Unions foreign policy.

Some of the disinformation was pretty outrageous, such as the planted story that AIDS was invented by U.S. military researchers (or the CIA or whatever). Most of the disinformation was small scale and locally relevant in nature. The Soviets had a large bureaucracy, and equally vast budget, to buy the services of local journalists worldwide. The stories supplied would generally cast aspersions on the actions or motives of the U.S. government and Americans in general. While the Soviets were generally inclined to shovel out lies and half-truths pell-mell, they also had specific programs to bring down governments friendly to the West or, more importantly, to prop up the morale of rebels, revolutionaries, and terrorists fighting for a Soviet approved objective. ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant), Al Qaeda and other Islamic radical groups have tried to use the same tactics but have not been nearly as deft and successful at it as the Soviets were.

What made the Soviet program unique was its global nature. The Soviets were quick to realize that the media in most countries was not as independent as in the United States. In fact, the U.S. media was something of an exception. In most nations the media are, like the first newspapers in the 18th century the creatures of one special interest group or another. It was in America that the "independent" media was invented, and even the U.S. media was not completely free of biases and favoritism towards special interests. In most countries, the bias and special interest control is much stronger. That eventually happened in the United States, about a decade or so after the Cold War ended.

Yet in all countries the local media was, like it (or agree with it) or not, the primary source of information for the population. Compared to America, the rest of the world's journalists are not well paid (even by local standards). Thus it is common for journalists to accept "gifts" (or outright bribes) in return for writing certain stories or slanting their reporting a certain way. The Soviets took advantage of this and their local agents (who were often not Russians) were liberally supplied with cash in order to buy the media attention they needed. The American CIA engaged in the same practice but the Soviets were much more aggressive, generous and successful in this area. That has changed as traditional print and TV news media were supplanted by Internet based sources but disinformation is still available as a tool.

While many journalists worldwide admire the American model for media independence, the Soviets realized that they didn't have to buy a lot of journalists in order to give their agenda sufficient exposure. Most of the Soviet disinformation was purposely developed as sensational stuff. The Soviets knew what kind of stories played best in the media and this is what they provided. This was the importance of the large disinformation staff back in Moscow. Stories that played on local fears were favored. For example, over the years, the CIA was played up as the cause behind just about everything that people feared, up to and including the weather and earthquakes. In typical Russian fashion, the Soviets would plant dozens of stories in different countries all hitting the same invented idea from a different angle. That way, the press in one country could cite a Soviet story planted in another country to back up their local "reporting." The Soviets also made the most of some outrageous story appearing in the Western press (whether it was a Soviet plant or not), by planting more outrageous versions and elaborations via the more pliable journalists of other nations. The Soviets realized that the media had become a global system and that there was a great deal of "follow the leader" (or "steal from another newspaper," depending on how you look at it) going on. The Soviets also knew that correcting an inaccurate story was nearly impossible. Once the lie gets loose, you can never correct the misinformation that then forms in so many peoples minds. Once the Internet came along, these techniques became easier and cheaper to use.

The "Big Lie" was something that was created in this century as media grew in importance. The Nazis get a lot of credit for starting it, but it was actually the Bolsheviks (the earliest incarnation of the Communists) in Russia that first used it so effectively at the end of World War I. Indeed, the term "Bolshevik" is Russian for "majority," a title the Communist minority among the Russian socialists gave themselves as they set out to seize control of Russia during World War I. The Communists kept repeating the term Bolshevik (even when it was obvious they were a small minority of the Russian socialists) and eventually more and more people just took it for granted that the Communists were the majority, the Bolsheviks. And soon they were in control of the nation. And at that point they were still a minority, which is why they kept on killing off Russians (into the early 1950s) who actually or potentially thought differently. Russia has yet to recover from that.

Western countries only slowly became aware of what the Soviets were doing. The Voice of America and the BBC World Service radio broadcasts were intended to counter the Soviet disinformation. But these efforts met with limited success. Imaginative lies travel faster and more widely than does the more mundane truth. Politicians in all nations know and take advantage of this fact. "Negative campaigning" is often little more than a disinformation campaign.

The only positive side of disinformation is that, eventually, most people catch on and no longer believe the lies. But this takes time, often decades. And the turnaround has to take place separately in each media area. That is, while people may begin to see through the local disinformation campaign in one area, people in a neighboring nation could still be under the spell of the clever forgeries. The Soviet Union and its East European satellite nations saw their web of disinformation come apart during the 1980s. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 will long be seen as the moment when the tower of deceit came undone. But in actuality, the process of disintegration took place over several years. And for many years to come there will still be people in those formerly Communist countries who will continue to believe the lies, even if the majority does not. Now, however, the large scale deception organizations are being revived.

The deception technique of disinformation had a palpable effect on dozens of battlefields during the Cold War and after. Thousands of pro-Communist fighters believed, to the death, in the tangle of disinformation the Soviets had created. Without such motivation, many of these wars, rebellions, and uprisings would not have happened. Information is power, even false information. And this translated into firepower for decade after decade. It has happened again and this time the true-believers are Islamic radicals. Russia, China and many Western nations have disinformation operations that exploit the Internet to get their version of reality to as many people as possible. The long term impact of all this is as yet unknown.
Complaints have been mounting over display and audio issues with Googles Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, launched just three weeks ago.

Consumers have reported a screen burn-in problem with the Pixel 2 XL, which refers to embedded functions leaving a ghost-like image on the display.

In addition to the Pixel 2 XL display issue, there have been numerous reports of high-pitched noises and strange clicking sounds occurring during calls on the Pixel 2.

The demand for Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL has exceeded our expectations, and were thrilled with the positive reaction to our new phones, both from the reviewers who have tried and tested our devices thoroughly and from consumers who are switching to Pixel, said Mario Queiroz, vice president, product management at Pixel. We take all reports of issues very seriously, and our engineers investigate quickly.

The company will provide updates as soon as it has conclusive data, he said.

The Pixel 2 XL uses pOLED screens, which can display a leftover image when fixed backgrounds or pictures remain on them for a long period of time, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

Anyone who has a pOLED device should be using active backgrounds and make sure no one image remains on the phone for an extended period of time, he told TechNewsWorld.

Some games do have fixed grids, suggesting long-time game players need to watch this as well, Enderle added.

Sales Slowdown

If the reports about the scope of the complaints turn out to be accurate, Google will face a major test in the marketplace, said Werner Goertz, research director for personal technologies at Gartner.

I think it is a grave concern that these devices have been put into the market, he told TechNewsWorld, though certainly with excellent features on paper.

Concern about Googles ability to field a quality device has the potential to impact not only future sales, but also pending deals, Goertz said, including the US$1 billion agreement to acquire HTCs smartphone business, announced last month.

There are people who are going to speculate on the upcoming HTC integration, he added. People will argue maybe in anticipation of new design resources coming on board that maybe they overlooked that.

Despite those concerns, Google has some inherent positives to fall back on, Goertz said, noting that the original Google Pixel did not have the same issues, suggesting that Google has its internal design capabilities in place.

Its unlikely that the reported display issues will lead back to LG, he said, noting that its a company that typically knows what it is doing.

Although the complaints may dampen Pixel sales, Google will be able to absorb the blow, said Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

Apple and Samsung have both had major product defects and survived, he told TechNewsWorld. Im sure Google will survive a product setback.

Every major company faces product issues like this at some point, McGregor said, often the result of too-aggressive scheduling.

Flagship Flounders

The Pixel 2 complaints come more than a year after Samsung went through a massive recall of its flagship Galaxy Note7 smartphones, which were the subject of a massive recall due to overheating batteries that exploded or caught fire.

Samsung ultimately halted production of the Note7 devices, because replacements were found to have similar problems.

Just over a month ago, iPhone and iPad users began reporting a host of problems with the upgraded iOS 11, the new mobile operating system from Apple. Consumers reported the new OS led to battery drainage issues, slow speeds, and problems with WiFi and Bluetooth.
Vivendi SA for a few years now has been eyeing game studio Ubisoft as a potential target for a hostile takeover.

The French media conglomerate has been snatching up company stock and now owns 26 percent of Ubisoft shares. Under French law, Vivendi would be required to pursue a controlling stake once it acquires 30 percent.

Reuters predicted that a move for a takeover would come before the end of the year but Vivendi's lower-than-expected third-quarter earnings coupled with a boon in Ubisoft's valuation means such actions will not happen for at least another six months.

Last year, Vivendi claimed that it had no intentions for a takeover. Even though it is entitled to 22 percent voting rights on the board, it has not asked for representation in Ubisoft (was that the calm before the storm?).

Reuters is now reporting that sources within the company have revealed that a takeover would not be occurring within the next six months due in part to Ubisoft managing to push its shares to a record high. The studio's stock is up 96 percent since January.

Ubisoft has taken note of Vivendi's comment and will be keeping a close eye on the situation. The Guillemot family, who founded the studio and still owns 15 percent of the stock, has long opposed the rival company's aggressive maneuvering, calling it "unsolicited and unwelcome."

"Ubisoft takes note of Vivendi's statement," a spokesperson told GameSpot. "We will remain vigilant about their long-term intentions and will continue to pursue our strategy of growth and value creation in the interest of all our shareholders."
An Albany woman who stole more than $23,000 from over 400 New Yorkers by running a fake law firm is heading to state prison.

Antonia Barrone was sentenced to 1 1/2 to 3 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree scheme to defraud. She was ordered to pay a $244,500 penalty and $23,427.70 in restitution.

According to state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Barrone operated the NYS Prisoner Assistance Center and advertised herself as an attorney assisting prison inmates and their families with parole matters.

However, Schneiderman's investigation revealed that Barrone isn't a licensed attorney and her company did not employ any lawyers.

Barrone's clients were located across the state. She had customers in several counties, including Cayuga. When Schneiderman announced her guilty plea in October, he credited the state Board of Parole counsel's office for discovering the scheme.

"Deceiving vulnerable New Yorkers into paying for unlicensed legal services is reprehensible, costing them thousands each and jeopardizing their rights," Schneiderman said in a statement. "My office won't hesitate to prosecute those who defraud New Yorkers by practicing without a license."

Prior to the criminal investigation, the attorney general's Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau filed a lawsuit against Barrone in May accusing her of defrauding clients by claiming she was a practicing attorney.

In August, a judge ordered Barrone to pay nearly $270,000 in penalties and restitution. She was also prohibited from practicing law in New York and advertising legal services.

Another division of the state attorney general's office, the Criminal Enforcement and Financial Crimes Bureau, led the criminal investigation which found Barrone filed legal documents with forged signatures and fake notary stamps over nearly a five-year period. She also wrote letters for her clients using the letterhead of a fake law firm, "Stacchini & Barrone, Attorneys at Law."

The firm included the name of a licensed attorney who wasn't aware of Barrone's conduct.

Barrone's conviction is her second in the last year. In 2016, she was sentenced to 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison on charges stemming from a high-speed chase.

With her recent sentence, she will serve a combined 2 5/6 to 7 years in state prison.
Children in foster care will now receive the same services as homeless students from Missoula County Public Schools.

Trustees updated board policies this week to reflect new federal requirements that, for the first time, differentiate between students who are homeless or in foster care as well as the services each should receive.

Under the previous rules in the No Child Left Behind Act, students qualified if they lacked a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. That could, for instance, include living on the street, in a car, at a shelter, in a motel, at a campground, or bouncing between the homes of various relatives or friends.

Students also received support services if they were awaiting foster care. Now, under the Every Student Succeeds Act signed in late 2015, federal rules separate homelessness and foster care into two different categories. It also expanded the definition of eligible foster care youth to include more children than just those who are awaiting foster care because of an emergency, temporary placement.

It gives all those foster care kids all the same educational supports we have for those homeless kids, Families in Transition and Foster Care Liaison Trish Kirschten said.

Last year, Missoula schools identified and served 438 homeless students, which is about 5 percent of the total number of children enrolled.

The new requirements do not change the types of services schools must offer or the rights of those families.

Basically, the intent is to remove barriers, requirements such as providing a birth certificate and immunization records upon enrollment," Superintendent Mark Thane said. "Youre provided a period of time to do that. Our intent is to immediately enroll and support those families rather than create policy barriers to prohibit them from immediate enrollment in school.

The requirements also mandate for the first time that state agencies, like the Montana Office of Public Instruction, report annually on the achievement measurements and graduation rates for students in foster care.
According to the President of the National Institute of Civil Aeronautics (INAC), twelve airlines have requested to operate with Venezuela. | Read More
The answer to his problems hit him on a drive, and her name was Sheila Stearns, said Commissioner of Higher Education Clayton Christian.

He needed a new leader to temporarily steer the University of Montana, and the former Commissioner of Higher Education came to mind. He dialed her up and asked for some face time.

"Sure. When do you want to meet?"

"How about 15 minutes? My office."

Christian pitched the idea, a "genius plan" to have Stearns oversee the presidency at UM. When she told him she'd talk with her husband, Hal Stearns, about it, the commissioner knew chances were high his plan would come to fruition.

"I knew once we were at the 'talk to Hal' stage, he's never seen anything that he didn't think she could do," Christian said.

This week, Stearns attended her final full Montana Board of Regents meeting as UM president, and communications director Paula Short and assistant to the president Rebecca Power slipped into the agenda a video full of thanks for Stearns, former chancellor of UM Western.

"Sheila has been a steadying force on our campus," Short said.

UM's Jed Liston said the campus is coming up on its 125th anniversary, and Stearns stands out to him: "I don't think there's been a greater advocate of the university in our entire history."

She's put students first, too, said Braden Fitzgerald and Brenna Love, president and vice president of the Associated Students of the University of Montana.

"Every time we brought a student issue to your attention, we've really appreciated how much you've helped us bring those student issues forward to the campus as a whole," Love said.

Said Fitzgerald: "Your inclusiveness for the student body, I can't thank you enough. It's been so appreciated."

Stearns took the helm after Christian asked the former UM president to step down, believing it was time for change at the flagship.

In the video, Gov. Steve Bullock said Stearns stepped into the job at a challenging time for UM, and her steady leadership has set the flagship on a course to thrive and be responsive to the state's changing needs.

"I appreciate all that you've taken on this last year and want to express my personal thanks to both you and even to U of M's first dude Hal for all your service," Bullock said, using the nickname Hal Stearns has called himself.

Power said Stearns is a leader with a heart for service, for education and for Montana. She said the president walked in the door with a set agenda, and she accomplished it.

"She's managed to do all of those things," Power said.

Dean Chris Shook said Stearns is the only person he's let try on his frames  he wears funky glasses  and UM was lucky to have her as president.

"Thank you for helping me to absorb chaos and radiate calm," Shook said.

Professor Doug Emlen said people on campus recognize that she came out of retirement to help UM through a tough time.

"And I think a lot of us appreciate what that took and the character that she's shown throughout," Emlen said.

She also welcomed Staff Senate leadership into her cabinet, and Jen Zellmer-Cuaresma thanked her for being warm and open to staff senators.

Mario Schulzke, an associate vice president, said he was honored to have worked for Stearns. She's a UM alum who bleeds silver and maroon, and her passion for UM may be the reason she can get away with wearing rival Bobcats colors in Grizzlies territory.

"You are definitely the most fashionable university president I've ever worked for, and you are the only university president who consistently could pull off a blue outfit at the University of Montana," Schulzke said.

Stearns served as UM's first female president, and associate professor of political science Sara Rinfret said she'll miss the interim leader.

"Thank you, President Stearns, for being an inspiration for women across the state," Rinfret said.

In the video, Christian offered thanks from his office, from the regents, and from citizens across Montana. This week, the regents approved a contract for incoming president Seth Bodnar, who will take the reins in January 2018 following his tenure at General Electric.

"We wish you the best of luck, in your attempt, one more time, to retire," Christian said to Stearns.

Old habits die hard, though, and he wasn't going to let her get away completely: "We'll keep your number handy."
Azzedine Alaia. Photo: Joe McKenna

In 1999, the long-time fashion editor Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele urged me to go and meet Azzedine Alaia. I had recently joined the Times, and I got the sense from Carlynes tone that not only would I be in for a treat but that few journalists were visiting Alaia. One of the certainties of the fashion world  of any world, I guess  is that everyone has his moment and then the roar shifts to someone new. Fame lasts for no one, Ingrid Sischy observed at the end of a profile of Alaia, in 1994. That piece, called The Outsider, ran in The New Yorker and featured an Avedon photo of the supermodel Stephanie Seymour bending down bare-assed in a pair of Alaia chaps to plant a kiss on the diminutive designer, who looked startled.

By then, the fashion world had moved on to the minimalist Helmut Lang, as well as a new wave of British talent  Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano. Alaia had legendary feuds with Vogue, Womens Wear Daily, and others. To be sure, Alaia still had his fans, but owing to a series of business and personal setbacks, in particular the death of his beloved sister, Alaia took longer and longer to deliver his clothes to stores. Indeed, they seldom arrived in season, and that was a problem for the increasingly corporate fashion business. One of the few retailers who would wait for his Alaia delivery was Gene Pressman of Barneys. As he told Sischy, When it arrives, Ill take it, because he doesnt make mistakes. He makes classics.

So, for the first time in my career, I went to see Alaia in his studio in the Marais. Housed in a former warehouse of the BHV department store, the studio was directly above the Alaia store and below Alaias private apartment. There was, in addition to a warren of ateliers, a very large show space framed in elegant ironwork, and it was there that I saw one of Westwoods early Paris shows. Alaia had loaned the space to his friend. But I had never seen an Alaia show. I had missed most of the 80s, when Alaia was dubbed the king of cling for his curvy dresses and sharp leathers, and every super in the world would fly in for his shows, which were never held at the same time as the rest of the collections. Unfortunately, I never worked for a newspaper that followed Alaia time, so I never saw Naomi Campbell or Veronica Webb or Stephanie strut down the runway, their clothes still warm from Alaias iron. He did everything himself and, as Gene said, he didnt make mistakes.

Alaia, who came up to roughly my sternum, greeted me and led me up the winding back stairway with worn, uneven treads to a studio that basically looked like a cyclone had come through. There was stuff everywhere  racks of clothes, piles of boxes against the walls, rolls of fabric, things spread across tables and more jammed under them. Near a brick pillar, covered with photos of movie legends (clients, in some cases) and snapshots of models and their kids, was Alaias worktable, covered with scraps and patterns and pins. Next to it was a giant TV set, because he liked to keep it on as he worked late into the night, usually past two or three in the morning. Behind Alaias table was a wall-length mirror. It was in that narrow space, between the table and some boxes and usually a dress rack, that he conducted his first fittings on a house model, looking at her reflection and then back at the cloth that he was molding and pinning with his hands, a pair of girlishly pink glasses pushed up on his nose.

In other words, it was in that narrow, unimpressive space that some of the most original fashion of the late-20th and 21st centuries was created. Alaia loved designing for the female form, constructing his garments directly on the body. Very few designers do their own fittings, much less make their own patterns, but he did. From his first studio in Paris, on the Rue de Bellechasse, he made clothes for a growing group of devoted customers. He earned their trust in the way couturiers used to work. No armies of assistants, no hovering publicists, just an obsession with remaining alive to a womans body, the way she walked in the street.

Another thing that set Alaia apart was his love of technique. Like a scientist in a lab, he would experiment with a time-honored couture technique  ruching, say  until he was satisfied that he had explored it to its logical end. With the ruching (a process of gathering fabric into elegant, crinkly pleats), each phase of the effort produced fantastic results. He started with exquisitely simple dresses in silk crepe with perhaps four single channels of ruching. The next time I saw Alaia, he had more channels. Eventually, he made a dress entirely of ruching. It was the craziest thing, almost a doll-size dress, except it stretched. Though he was known for his caterpillar dresses and sexy knits, he had a true gift for tailoring and cutting on the bias, which put him in the same class as Madeleine Vionnet and Cristobal Balenciaga. Whatever Alaia did, it looked modern  and beyond trends.

I didnt stay long that first visit. Frankly, I was a little overwhelmed and my French was horribly inadequate. But I knew that everything I saw, the little man in the black Chinese pajamas, the clutter, the creak of the wooden floors, the cat napping on the table, the arrival of the wine, was utterly unique and would one day vanish. I wanted to write about it. I asked Alaia if I could come to his studio each time I was in Paris over the years and just sit and watch him work. He agreed.

He said, My house is your house.

I can only tell you that he kept his word, in the most profound sense. For the next 18 years, his house was my house. And he extended that warmth and privilege to many, many people. And without fanfare or expectation. I think that spirit came directly from his own upbringing in Tunisia, the closeness of his family. In any case, he never lost it. He knew a shocking number of people. I remember attending a dinner in the show space for a prominent French political journalist, and gazing at the collection of writers and thinkers in the room, including Bernard-Henri Levy. They all knew Alaia and his boyfriend, the painter Christoph von Weyhe.

Last month, as the Paris collections were winding down, I went to a dinner in Azzedines kitchen, celebrated for its impromptu gatherings and delicious, homey food  often prepared by Azzedine himself. Carla Sozzani, his close friend and business collaborator, was there. So was the Milan publicist Emanuela Schmeidler, the stylist Joe McKenna, and the long-time Italian Vogue art director Luca Stoppini. I could remember other nights in the kitchen, with Naomi, or Kanye West, or Marc Newson, or Rei Kawakubo.

But that night in October was special, the gathering of a tribe. We laughed hard, and Azzedine seemed very jolly. If he was in poor health, he did not show it. Around midnight, he walked me out to my car, through the half-dark shop, and asked when I would be returning to Paris. Maybe in January, I said. He told me to come and see him.

As we hugged, I said, Of course, my friend.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The Pentagon just disclosed the number of sexual assault reports it received between October 2012 and September 2016, breaking the number down by military base for the first time ever. According to a report they released earlier this year, they received a total of 6,172 reports of sexual assault in the 2016 fiscal year, as reported in Reuters.

While the newest study emphasizes that the location where a report is made is not necessarily where the sexual assault occurred, there were a few bases with a notably high number of reports. In the 2016 fiscal year, Norfolk had 270, Fort Hood had 199, the Naval Base in San Diego had 187, Camp Lejeune in North Carolina had 169, Camp Pendleton in California had 157, and Fort Bragg in North Carolina had 146 reports. Outside the country, the U.S. bases in South Korea had a combined 211 reports.

Its important to note that these are only the reported cases, though, because the Defense Department believes that fewer than a third of victims report. According to the their annual report published this May, amid the nude-photo scandal that rocked the Marine Corps, an estimated 14,900 members of the U.S. military experienced sexual assault in 2016.
LINCOLN, Neb.  Discovery of a 210,000-gallon oil leak from the Keystone pipeline would seem to be poor timing four days before regulators in Nebraska decide whether to allow a major expansion of the system, but officials say state law does not allow pipeline safety to be a factor in their decision.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission was scheduled to rule Monday if a Keystone XL expansion pipeline proposed by TransCanada Corp. can cross the state. The commission's decision is the last major regulatory hurdle for a project that has faced numerous local, state and federal reviews and lawsuits since it was announced in 2008.

Keystone operator TransCanada Corp. shut down the existing pipeline early Thursday morning and workers were testing to determine the cause of the spill on agricultural land in Marshall County, South Dakota, near the North Dakota border, about 250 miles (402 kilometers) west of Minneapolis.

State and company officials said the spill was not a threat to waterways or drinking water, but critics were quick to use the leak as an example of what they see as the risks to the environment.

The Nebraska vote Monday will be on a proposed route for Keystone XL, a massive expansion that also would be operated by TransCanada. The new pipeline would carry an estimated 830,000 barrels of oil a day from the oil sands areas of Canada through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, where it would connect with the existing Keystone pipeline.

The decision will hinge on testimony and documents generated from public hearings over the summer and from more than 500,000 public comments, Nebraska Public Service Commission spokeswoman Deb Collins said. A state law passed in 2011 prevents the commission from factoring pipeline safety or the possibility of leaks into its decisions.

"The commission's decision ... will be based on the evidence in the record," Collins said.

The Keystone XL proposal has faced intense opposition in Nebraska from a coalition of environmental groups, Native American tribes and some landowners who don't want the pipeline running through their property.

Nebraska lawmakers gave the five-member commission the power to regulate major oil pipelines in 2011 in response to a public outcry over the pipeline and its potential impact on the Sandhills, an ecologically fragile region of grass-covered sand dunes.

But when they passed the law, legislators argued that pipeline safety is a federal responsibility and should not factor in the state decision.

Opponents of Keystone XL are incensed that the leak won't be considered.

"There is a reason TransCanada and the big oil lobby did not want this information on the record," said Jane Kleeb, director of the Bold Alliance, a coalition of groups that have opposed the Keystone XL for nearly a decade.

President Donald Trump issued a federal permit for the expansion project in March even though it had been rejected by the Obama administration.

The existing Keystone pipeline, where the leak was discovered, transports crude from Canada to refineries in Illinois and a major storage hub in Oklahoma, passing through the eastern Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. It can handle nearly 600,000 barrels daily, or about 23 million gallons.

Since 2010, companies have reported 17 spills in the U.S. the same size or larger than the leak announced Thursday, according to U.S. Department of Transportation records.

Officials in South Dakota said they weren't notified about the leak until roughly five hours after TransCanada discovered it. Brian Walsh, an environmental scientist manager at the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said officials would likely inquire about the delay but were focusing immediately on the spill.

TransCanada said Friday the leak was controlled and posed no threat to public safety. The company has sent more than 75 workers to the spill site, including environmental, engineering and emergency response specialists.

TransCanada spokesman Matthew John said the company will need to do "extensive testing" along with federal regulators and independent testing facilities before they can pinpoint a cause.

An aerial photo released by TransCanada on Twitter that the company says is of the spill, shows a darkened area on flat agricultural land. There do not appear to be any waterways or towns nearby.

Residents near the site reported a surge of activity as cleanup crews arrived at the scene.

Suzie Easthouse, general manager at the Front Porch in Langford, a city southeast of the spill area, said the restaurant will be catering for TransCanada workers at the site. Easthouse said she's serving Friday supper and a middle-of-the-night shift meal for 80 people, with meals for 100 people on Saturday.

"I'm pretty much going to be working a 24-hour shift here now," Easthouse said.

Easthouse said she has mixed emotions about the pipeline, a tug between the business it has brought to the area and her environmental concerns. She said she thinks the spill will have lasting effects in the area.

"It's almost like everybody's fears have come true with it," Easthouse said. "It's not the notoriety we really want in small town South Dakota."
Captain Mike Green, one of the four victims who was killed in the midair crash in the U.K. on Nov. 17. (Helicopter Services)

4 Dead after Midair Crash in UK

Four people are dead after a helicopter and a light aircraft collided over Buckinghamshire in the United Kingdom on Nov. 17.

The crash occurred shortly after midday and the wreckage of the two-seater plane and helicopter have been located at Upper Winchendon near Rothschild familys Waddesdon manor, police said in a statement on Nov. 17.

Three of the four victims have now been identified.

Capt. Mike Green, a senior flight instructor, was flying the two-seater helicopter, which had taken off from Wycombe Air Park. He was also carrying another passenger on a gift sight-seeing tour, reported MailOnline.

Many of Greens former colleagues and friends paid tribute to the well-loved pilot.

Former colleague Capt. Phil Croucher told the news station: I shared a cup of tea with him only on Thursday morning. He was a true gentleman. He was probably the most well-respected instructor in the country. He achieved a very high position within the army as an instructor.

He was an absolutely dedicated instructor. If you wanted a training instructor theres no one more highly qualified. Almost everybody in the country has been instructed by him. Most instructors have been trained by him.

The plane, a Cessna 152, which is primarily used for flight training, also left Wycombe Air Park about 15 minutes prior to the crash, according to MailOnline.

It was carrying student Saavan Mundae and flight instructor Jaspal Barhaboth were tragically killed. Mundae, 18, from Isleworth, studied Aeronautics at Kingston College and was training to become a commercial pilot.

Specialist crash investigators are currently working to find out what exactly happened. These aircrafts are fitted with black box flight data recorders, which are normally found in commercial planes.

Officers are in the process of working to locate and support their next of kin. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch, the AAIB, has been informed and their staff have been on the scene, police said in a statement. These are the early stages of the investigation, however Thames Valley Police will continue to work closely with investigators as they establish the circumstances.

Please see our latest update in relation to the incident in Waddesdon, Bucks: https://t.co/MtuKFijmb8  Thames Valley Police (@ThamesVP) November 17, 2017

A local resident told MailOnline that his father had heard a loud bang.

He ran up to the scene. It was clear pretty quickly that no one has survived, the resident said.

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8-Year-Old Runs Into Fire to Rescue Puppies, Mother FollowsNeither Return

An 8-year-old Oregon girl ran into a burning mobile home to save a litter of 11 puppies. Her mother ran in after her.

Nevaeh Applegate, 8, and Honey Cosgrove, 37, never made it out.

The fire started after Cosgrove put her five children to sleep, KPTV reported. The panicked mom and her husband tried to put the blaze out with an extinguisher but did not succeed.

The children ran outside. Cosgrove called 911. Then Nevaeh ran inside to save the puppies.

There were 11 brand new puppies in that RV, Patty Krull, the childs grandmother, said. Nevaeh went to get the puppies.

Cosgrove ran in after her daughter but never came back.

The gasses in the RV ignited and it was over just like that, Krull said. Im proud of my daughter she gave her life for her children.

Krull described the mom and daughter as two caring people who always smiled.

Her whole face would just shine and she meant the world to me, Krull said. Nevaeh wanted to save some puppies, could I tell you anything else about a big heart in a little girl.

Krull said both her daughter and granddaughter were heroes.

A little 8-year-old girl didnt know that she was putting her life on the line, Krull said. She knew there were babies there and went to get the babies and the mother went to get the baby.

Amity Fire Chief Bruce Hubbard told KPTV that a heat source was too close to the flammable material and that there is nothing suspicious about the fire.

Nevaeh would have celebrated her 9th birthday in a week, KOIN reported.

The surviving siblings are three girlsaged 12, 14, and 17and an 11-year-old boy.

Amity Christian Church is collecting donations for the family.

The school district wrote on its Facebook page that it will be looking for ways to support the family.

This is a terrible tragedy that causes much pain and grief for their family and our students and staff, the statement from the Amity School District says. There are several siblings who survived the fire and will be dealing with this tremendous loss for a long time.

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A North Korean soldier stands guard on the Yalu river north of the border city of Sinuiju, North Korea across from Dandong, Liaoning Province, in northern China on May 24, 2017. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

American Tries to Cross Border Into North Korea Amid Nuclear Tensions

An American citizen was arrested in South Korea when trying to sneak over the border into North Korea.

South Korean officials told The Wall Street Journal that Lawrence Bruce Byron will be deported back to the United States.

Byron, who is in his late 50s and from Louisiana, attempted to cross into North Korea for political reasons. He reportedly sought to facilitate talks between the regime in Pyongyang and the U.S. government as a private citizen.

Byron told South Korean officials he had researched on the internet how to cross into North Korea.

North Korean soldiers ride on a boat used as a local ferry. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

The border between South Korea and North Korea is one of the most militarized in the world.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Byron was spotted by a South Korean citizen as he wandered into a restricted area near the border.

The attempt to cross into North Korea comes as tensions between the United States and North Korea are high.

It is highly unusual for Americans to attempt to cross the border into North Korea.

In 2014, a computer repairman from Texas was apprehended on the bank of the Han River in South Korea after having attempted to swim across the border to North Korea to try and meet with Kim Jong Un.

North Korean border soldiers stand guard in the truce village of Panmunjom on Oct. 20, 2017. Gunfire was exchanged across the border at another location, Hwacheon, on Oct. 29, 2017. (Park Ji-Hwan/AFP/Getty Images)

Rising Tensions

After multiple threats by North Korea to attack the United States and its allies, South Korea and Japan, with nuclear weapons, the Trump administration is trying to find a solution to the crisis.

President Donald Trump has demanded the complete denuclearization of North Korea. He is using diplomatic efforts, as well as economic sanctions and the threat of military force, in an attempt to get North Kore to the negotiating table.

So far, the regime in Pyongyang has refused to discuss its nuclear weapons program.

Sanctions imposed on the regime by the U.N. Security Council, as well as additional sanctions passed by the United States, China, and other countries, have begun to take their toll on the regime. Fuel and food supplies are increasingly scarce in North Korea.

An envoy from China is currently visiting North Korea. While the specifics of the visit have not been disclosed, Trump has described it as a big move.

During Trumps recent visit to China, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said that his country is committed to a denuclearized North Korea.

President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping (R) shake hands prior to a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, on July 8, 2017. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

The statement is significant given the fact that for years China has been instrumental in North Korea developing its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Other countries, including Japan, and South Korea, have also vowed to step up their efforts against the regime.

Following Trumps visit to Japan, as part of his 12-day Asia tour, Japan announced additional sanctions on North Korean entities and individuals.

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Australia Passed Motion to Commemorate Victims of Communism

The Australian Senate passed a motion on Nov. 16 to call on the federal government to commemorate the victims of communism annually.

Senator Cory Bernardi introduced the motion two days prior in response to President Donald Trumps proclamation declaring Nov. 7 the National Day for the Victims of Communism, a day to commemorate the victims of the exploitation, violence, and untold devastation brought by communism around the world.

He proposed that Australia should also commemorate the victims of communist regimes on Nov. 7 from 2018.

The motion initially did not garner the support from all senators, some of whom thought that it was an issue to be debated.

[T]he fact is that this is an ideology that has destroyed hundreds of millions of lives and you dont want to have a motion where we say that its terrible and that we should be condemning it, Bernardi said in response to the objection.



Assistant to the Prime Minister, Senator James McGrath also expressed the importance of commemorating the victims of communism.

The government agrees that the teachings of Lenin and Marx are completely inconsistent with the values of liberal democracy and freedom, McGrath said.

We note the significant numbers of refugees who have come to Australia, fleeing communist regimes, and acknowledge the significant contribution they have made to Australian society, he added.

Related: Trump Proclaims World Freedom Day to Oppose Communism and to Uphold Individual Liberties

According to the Refugee Council of Australia, an organization that researches and influences policies on refugees and asylum seekers, 766,093 refugees and humanitarian entrants were settled in Australia between 1948 to 2012. Many of these refugees came from countries still under communist rule during that period such as Poland, Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Vietnam.

Last month, another motion introduced by Bernardi was passed in the Australian Senate in response to an event organized by the Socialist Alternative on Oct. 26 to celebrate the Russian revolution in 1917 at the Australian National University.

That motion states that it recognizes that this year marks 100 years since the Russian revolution which led to a litany of human rights abuses and approximately 10 million deaths and rejects any assertion that the teachings of Lenin or Marx should be celebrated in a liberal democracy.

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Deadly Car Crash in Austin That Killed Mother and Son, Now Claims Third Victim

A deadly crash that killed a mother and her son last Saturday in Austin, Texas, has now claimed a third persons life.

Scott Latulippe, the 41-year-old father who was also in the familys vehicle on route US 183, was taken off life support on the morning of Friday, Nov. 17.

Just earlier this week, Scotts brother-in-law, Tim Enos, told NBC affiliate KXAN that Scotts brain was severely damaged in the head-on crash.

On Saturday, Scotts wife, Nancy, 38, and his 14-year-old son, Jackson, died at the scene of the incident. Police say 41-year-old Guy Brasted, the driver of the other vehicle crossed a median on Research Boulevard into oncoming traffic in his Jeep and hit two vehicles, including the Fiat that was carrying the Latulippe family, Fox7 Austin reported.

Brasted was driving drunk and is charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter and one count of intoxication assault.

That assault charge could change to a harsher penalty now that Scott has died, according to KXAN.

Brasteds blood alcohol level was at .203, more than twice the legal limit of .08 for driving.

The crash killed nearly every member of the familytheir 10-year-old daughter was the only survivor.

It was reckless of Guy Brasted to ingest alcoholic beverages before driving a motor vehicle on a public roadway, police stated in an affidavit, according to KXAN.

Brasteds bond was set at $200,000.

The person inside the third vehicle involved in the crash did not sustain major injuries.

Nancy Latulippe was a manager at a local Geico office where she handled accident claims.

Scott Latulippe has taught in Californias Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District for 13 years. He started as an auto instructor, worked in the private sector for two years, and then returned to teaching again, Valley Road Runner reports.

Its been a rough 24 hours, Ron McCowan, the principal of the school where Scott Latulippe worked, told Valley Road Runner.

He said Scott was a video production teacher as well as an instructor of drivers ed.

The school district is organizing time for students to write cards and notes with messages of support to the family.

The most recent post on Scott Latulippes Facebook page is filled with photos from the familys trip to Europe.

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A little boys heart stopped beating in Colorado some two years ago. Doctors said he suffered an inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis), but they couldnt figure out what caused it.

Earlier this year, however, two doctors published a case study saying the 11-month-olds heart condition was induced by a high concentration of THC, the active chemical of marijuana, in his body.

While marijuana sends hundreds of thousands every year to emergency rooms, its deadly dosage is estimated to be so high, overdosing is nearly impossible.

That doesnt mean, however, that ingesting the drug doesnt kill in more indirect ways.

Marijuana has been linked to a number of heart conditions, including myocardial infarction, tachycardia, and hypotension.

There is now compelling evidence on the growing risk of marijuana-associated adverse cardiovascular effects, especially in young people, said Emilie Jouanjus of Paul Sabatier University in Toulous, France, in 2014.

Her research revealed almost three dozen cardiovascular complications related to marijuana use reported in France between 2006 and 2010. Nine of them resulted in death.

Now it seems myocarditis could be associated with marijuana too, say Dr. Thomas Nappe and Dr. Christopher Hoyte of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center in Denver, Colorado.

As of this writing, this is the first reported pediatric death associated with cannabis exposure, the authors wrote.

The boy, who was not identified, was normally developed, well-fed, and had no medical history. He suddenly turned irritable and less active, and two days later woke up lethargic and went into a seizure.

He was rushed to a hospital with a central nervous system depression and cardiac arrest caused by myocarditis.

Toxicology reports revealed a high concentration of THC in the boys blood. The doctors learned there were marijuana products in the boys home, though they couldnt uncover exactly how the boy was exposed to it.

Myocarditis can be caused by a number of infections, but the autopsy revealed none.

We just wanted to make sure that were not going to call this a marijuana-related fatality if there was something else that we could point at. And we looked and looked and couldnt find it, Hoyte told 9NEWS.

The doctors say myocarditis has been linked to marijuana use before, in at least three cases, but none of them resulted in death.

Some experts said the link between marijuana and myocarditis still isnt strong enough to definitively say the drug caused the boys death, 9NEWS reported.

In some cases, myocarditis has an unknown cause, so it is possible the heart inflammation was caused by something doctors couldnt test for.

Still, Nappe and Hoyte believe the link to marijuana is plausible and should be studied further.

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The trip Malo the cat took between the headlight and the car radiator. (Screenshot via Google My Maps/edit by The Epoch Times)

French Kitten Survived 300-Mile Trip Trapped by Car Radiator

A kitten was trapped behind a bumper of a car traveling some 300 miles from St Malo in France to Portsmouth, UK.

Retired science teacher Doug Bliss and his wife Renee, both 68, were holidaying in St Malo, a port city in northern France. On their way back, possibly while taking a ferry to Portsmouth, a little stowaway hid in their carand couldnt get out.

On their way from the ferry to their home in Duston, Northampton, they started to hear faint meowing. But it didnt occur to them a cat was actually in their car.

They only realized after they made a pit stop at Sutton Scotney Services between Andover and Winchester North.

When we stopped at the services I couldnt believe what I was hearingmeowing coming from the bonnet [hood] of the car, especially as we had just driven for almost an hour and a half without stopping, said Renee Bliss, according to Blue Cross, a pet charity.

How Malo the French kitten survived 300-mile trip from Brittany trapped inside couple's radiator https://t.co/cxk2Mg7ZD9  Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) November 17, 2017

Unable to extract the kitten, they called Britannia Rescue that couldnt get the kitten out either.

He seemed to be trapped in front of the radiator behind the headlamp, said Doug Bliss, according to The Daily Mail. You could barely see him when he was trapped. I had to bend down and reach into the car from below just to touch him.

The couple then took the car to the nearest garage, Bakers of Oakley, in Basingstoke. There they were able to remove the bumper and rescue the kitty.

When he was finally freed, the poor little thing looked terrified, Renee Bliss said.

The kitten was named Malo, like the city it probably came from.

Hes absolutely gorgeous, and if we didnt already have two rescue cats of our own, we would have jumped at the chance to take him on ourselves, Renee Bliss said.

A local kennel quarantined Malo for 21 days and the Blue Cross then took it in.

As soon as we met Malo we knew hed be a wonderful addition to someones family. Hes had quite a journey to get here, so would love to find a loving home to settle down in and really be able to show his true colours, said Lara Alford, Centre Manager at Blue Cross Southampton.

Malo will be assessed, neutered, wormed, and deflead before he goes to his new family.

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A homeless man in Jersey ordered a fancy dinner and an expensive Champagne, then left without paying the bill. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Homeless Man Dines and Dashes on $500 Meal in Fancy Restaurant

A homeless man walked into a 5-star hotel, ate a ribeye steak, washed it down with high-end champagne, and then left without paying the whopping $530 bill, reports the Daily Mail. The man also allegedly booked a room at the luxury Old Court House hotel in Jersey, a Channel Island, and grabbed two more bottles of wine.

Michael Andrew Phillips, 52, ran up the sizable bill after staff told him he had to order food if he wanted to stay in the hotel bar. So Phillips, who is homeless, made the most of what the fancy eatery had to offer and ordered a prawn cocktail, then a prime cut of steak, and to top it all offa bottle of Dom Perignon, one of the finest Champagnes money can buy, according to the Daily Mail.

Phillips then got a $200-per-night room with a waterfront view, ordered two bottles of unopened wine and apparently retired to his newfound chambers.

But instead, the fine-dining homeless man reportedly ran out of the hotel without dropping a single dime.

Homeless man walks into 5-star hotel, eats steak, drinks champagne, leaves without paying https://t.co/l9afz1B3MG pic.twitter.com/8h6sEvabKf  RT UK (@RTUKnews) November 17, 2017

According to Centenier Amanda Wright, member of the Honorary Police force of Jersey, attached to the Great Britain, Phillips was not in the room the following morning, nor was there any indication he had spent the night there. He was subsequently tracked down by police and taken into custody, reported the Daily Mail. According to the publication, Phillips claimed he had virtually no recollection of the previous evening.

John McCormick, an advocate tasked with defending Phillips, said his client suffered from mental health problems and had not been taking correct medication when the incident occurred.

My understanding is that he is currently excluded from the various shelters and that includes Sanctuary House, said McCormick, reported the Daily Mail.

A court has reportedly arranged for Phillips to liaise with the community mental health services, who will provide assistance with the mans accommodations.

Magistrate Bridget Shaw said that if the accused takes his medication regularly, he is unlikely to run afoul of the law in the future.

As long as you keep taking your medication, there is no reason to believe that you will do anything like this again, said Shaw, according to Daily Mail.

Phillips was ordered to compensate the hotel for the losses it had incurred on account of his actions.

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HAMILTON  A controversial land-use attorney drew more than 100 protesters and as many supporters to Hamilton Middle School Saturday, but the topic of her talk with county residents was interpreted differently by people attending the event.

Karen Budd-Falen, the Wyoming-based grazing-rights lawyer leading President Donald Trump's shortlist for Bureau of Land Management director, presented guidelines on land-use planning to Ravalli County residents.

Protesters characterized Budd-Falen as a supporter of privatizing public land, or at least supporting policies proven to lead to land sell-offs.

Budd-Falen, who once wrote a land-use plan for a New Mexico county stating that federal and state agents threaten the life, liberty and happiness" of the county's residents, was invited by state Rep. Theresa Manzella, R-Hamilton.

Manzella described Budd-Falen as a "lawyer deeply seasoned in natural resource law and a fierce fighter for property rights due to be appointed as BLM director."

While the event was marketed by Manzella as a public meeting meant to open civil discourse, there was a $10 entrance fee. About half of the seats in the auditorium were empty.

In the 1990s, Budd-Falen represented rancher Cliven Bundy, known for later staging an armed standoff with federal authorities on his Nevada ranch in 2014, though throughout her presentation, the attorney sought to distance herself from the Bundys.

Blaze-orange vests and cardboard signs adorned with Theodore Roosevelt, who championed the establishment of public lands, lined the sidewalk up to the middle school where Budd-Falen was scheduled to speak. Protesters called for keeping public lands in public hands, and represented a number of conservation and outdoor recreation groups.

The protests were organized in part by the Montana Wildlife Federation. Bill Geer, MWF president, said Budd-Falen demonizes federal bureaucracy, but he said the bureaucracy actually helps public land users.

"Bureaucracy helps to protect public land because it makes it difficult for anyone to take it away," Geer said.

During her talk with county residents, Budd-Falen said she is for less regulation.

I would like to get rid of bureaucracy and make decisions faster, she said. Im not saying cut any analyzing of effects or issues, but theres got to be ways to make these processes faster.

Budd-Falens talk centered around having a more detailed county land-use plan that would be used to strengthen its own management desires carried out by federal agencies, including the Forest Service. She said that federal policymakers in Washington, D.C., were out of touch, and local governments could help guide more micro-level policies.

While Budd-Falen never spoke about public land transfer, state Sen. Jennifer Fielder, R-Thompson Falls, gave a presentation about her efforts to support federal land transfer to states. She said she had introduced legislation to protect land acquired by the state from private sale, but it was harangued by Democrats and vetoed by Gov. Steve Bullock. Opponents said the legislation offered little protections, as it could be repealed freely once the land was acquired.

Alec Underwood, western field representative for the Montana Wildlife Federation, said Fielders argument that state-owned land is more economically vibrant was faulty.

Saying they outperform federal land is like comparing apples to oranges, Underwood said. State lands are mandated to provide economic output, so naturally they are exploited, while federal lands are not. And when Fielder puts that legislative guarantee forward, its totally meaningless.

Conservationists, including Backcountry Hunters and Anglers President Land Tawney, said the kind of policies Budd-Falen called for are already in use.

What theyre proposing is what we already have, and it works fine, Tawney said. But her history of representing people who believe they should have private land rights to public grazing land is troubling. They said right off the bat they werent going to talk about public land transfer until protesters brought it up, but then they just happened to have this whole slideshow and presentation ready for it.

Manzella reserved an hour at the end of the talk for public comment, split into a half hour each for proponents and opponents.

Jim Rokosch, executive director of Bitterrooters for Planning and former county commissioner, said he was disappointed to be segregated into the opposition group for public comment.

Im certainly a proponent of land-use planning, so I was torn about which group I belonged in. Planning is in the name of our organization after all, Rokosch said after the talk. That was a disservice to the audience by Rep. Manzella. Why set it up as us against them? Were humans, were Americans, were land users. We need to start putting our heads together instead of banging our heads together.

Much of the Budd-Falens talk and audience questions centered around fire management and the effects smoke had on residents last summer. Budd-Falen criticized the let it burn policy that has become more popular among foresters who see forest fire as a natural process.

Audience members said silica and mercury in fire smoke were killing them, and blamed federal mismanagement for the amount of smoke this summer.

Manzella originally wanted Budd-Falen to make a four-hour presentation to the Ravalli County Commissioners on ways to "add teeth" to the Bitterroot Valley Natural Resource Use plan adopted in 2012. But the commissioners backed off after about a dozen residents objected.
Jesse Jackson Says Hes Being Treated for Parkinsons

Jesse Jackson, the American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, and politician who ran for president twice, revealed on Friday, Nov. 17, that he has been treated for Parkinsons disease for the last two years, according to media reports.

My family and I began to notice changes about three years ago, Jackson, 76, said in a statement. After a battery of tests, my physicians identified the issue as Parkinsons disease, a disease that bested my father.

I know Jesse Jackson will keep hope alive as he battles Parkinson's disease and continues his tireless commitment to justice and civil rights. Praying for him and his family.https://t.co/5vlQzWJGTA  Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) November 17, 2017

The disorder can cause tremors, stiffness, and difficulty with walking and balancing.

Northwestern Medicine said in a statement that Jackson was diagnosed with the disease in 2015 and that they had been treating him as an outpatient, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Jackson noted that the recognition of the effects of this disease on me has been painful and that he has been slow to grasp the gravity of it.

Jackson, who was born in Greenville, South Carolina, became known for his civil rights demonstrations alongside the late Martin Luther King Jr. He later ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988.

Here is the full text of Jacksons statement that he tweeted on Nov. 17:

On July 17, 1960, I was arrested, along with seven other college students, for advocating for the right to use a public library in my hometown of Greenville, S.C. I remember it like it was yesterday, for that day changed my life forever. From that experience, I lost my fear of being jailed for a righteous cause. I went on to meet Dr. King and dedicate my heart and soul to the fight for justice, equality, and equal access. In the tradition of the Apostle Paul, I have offered myself  my mind, body and soul  as a living sacrifice.

Throughout my career of service, God has kept me in the embrace of his loving arms, and protected me and my family from dangers, seen and unseen. Now in the latter years of my life, at 76 years old, I find it increasingly difficult to perform routine tasks, and getting around is more of a challenge. My family and I began to notice changes about three years ago. For a while, I resisted interrupting my work to visit a doctor. But as my daily physical struggles intensified I could no longer ignore the symptoms, so I acquiesced.

After a battery of tests, my physicians identified the issue as Parkinsons disease, a disease that bested my father.

Recognition of the effects of this disease on me has been painful, and I have been slow to grasp the gravity of it. For me, a Parkinsons diagnosis is not a stop sign but rather a signal that I must make lifestyle changes and dedicate myself to physical therapy in hopes of slowing the diseases progression.

I am far from alone. God continues to give me new opportunities to serve. This diagnosis is personal but it is more than that. It is an opportunity for me to use my voice to help in finding a cure for a disease that afflicts 7 to 10 million worldwide. Some 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinsons every year.

I will continue to try to instill hope in the hopeless, expand our democracy to the disenfranchised and free innocent prisoners around the world. Im also spending some time working on my memoir so I can share with others the lessons I have learned in my life of public service. I steadfastly affirm that I would rather wear out than rust out.

I want to thank my family and friends who continue to care for me and support me. I will need your prayers and graceful understanding as I undertake this new challenge. As we continue in the struggle for human rights, remember that God will see us through, even in our midnight moments.

KEEP HOPE ALIVE!

Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.

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Man Planning to Open Restaurant Robbed of Nearly $200K in the Bronx

Two men were captured on surveillance footage robbing a man of his bag that contained $194,400 in cashnow police are searching for the suspects.

Abdoul Beh, the victim of the robbery, told ABC7 he was from West Africa and had just recently moved into the neighborhood.

He said that he had saved the money over time because he planned to open a restaurant on the Lower East Side.

It happened too fast, Beh told the New York Post as he recounted the 11:05 a.m. incident on Tuesday, Nov. 7 involving the two hooded thugs.

ABC7 reporter Derick Waller posted on Twitter the surveillance video that captured the robbery in progress.

New video of a violent robbery in The Bronx  in the bag? Nearly $200,000, police say. Details on Eyewitness News #ABC7NY pic.twitter.com/o9iCx85nmy  Derick Waller ABC7NY (@wallerABC7) November 16, 2017

The incident occurred in the lobby of Prospect Avenue building. The building was located near East 169th Street and Prospect Avenue in the Morrisania part of The Bronx.

Beh told the ABC7 he was unable to open a U.S. bank account, which is why he was carrying the bag full of cash. His money was earned primarily from the sale of his home in Guinea.

At the time of the incident, he was on his way to pay construction bills for the restaurant that he is opening with a partner.

Police said a man wearing a black Adidas jacket walked up the stairs past Beh, before grabbing his bag and dragging him up the stairs. Meanwhile, the mans accomplice ran up from behind and tackled the victim, before snatching the bag from Behs hands and escaping out the front door.

That guy hold me here I cant breathe, Beh told ABC7, holding his neck. He put me to the floor and then the other guy take the bag, he run.

During the incident, the attackers grabbed Behs neck so hard that it left scars. The victim said he tried to fight back and chased them outside to their cara green BMW SUVthat the pair escaped in.

Beh said one of the suspects dropped his phone. Police are now using it as evidence in the case.

An unnamed police source told the New York Post that investigators believe the thieves planned the robbery and were waiting for Beh at the scene.

The victim also told ABC7 he was unsure if the attack was entirely random because one of the suspects asked him, Where is the money?

He said the suspects went immediately to his bag that had all the cash inside it. But he said he does not know the thieves.

Beh, a father of eight children who are all in Africa, told the New York Post his restaurant dreams are ruined now.

I am stuck now, he said. It was all the money I bring with me to open the business. I dont have another $200,000.

Currently, Beh is staying with his nephew in the Bronx.

Investigators are treating this as a legitimate robbery. Anyone with information should go to NYPDcrimestoppers.com, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS, in Spanish at 1-877-57-PISTA or text their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and enter TIPS577.
When Sir Francis Cook sold the painting in 1958, he thought he was selling a work by a studentalbeit a student of Italian Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci.

Whoops.

What Cook sold for 45 (equivalent to about 999 today, or $1,320) just sold on Nov. 15 at a Christies auction for the highest price ever fetched by a work of art at auction: $450.3 million.

On Nov. 17, Sir Cooks grandson, 58-year-old Richard Cook, was forced to recall that the painting had once hung in the family home.

The painting would look great over the dining room wall, he quipped to a reporter from the Daily Mail.

He was philosophical about what many might see as a lost opportunity: I havent let anything slip through my fingers it was Leonardos painting!

He was glad that the painting has fetched a record-setting price. I think its absolutely wonderful news. Old masters have been undervalued for a very long time. I am an art historian myself and used to work for Christies New York.

The painting depicts a figure of Jesus Christ with one hand raised in benediction, holding a blue orb which represents the world in his other hand.

Salvator Mundi was painted around the time da Vinci painted the much better known Mona Lisa. It is one of fewer than 20 works generally acknowledged as being the work of the multi-talented Italian master.

No museum in New York City has a da Vinci painting on display, which accounted for the crowds Christies Auction House saw while the work was on display.

I can hardly convey how exciting it is for those of us directly involved in its sale, Christies specialist Alan Wintermute told NBC News. The word masterpiece barely begins to convey the rarity, importance and sublime beauty of Leonardos painting.

He called it the Holy Grail of old master paintings.

Auction Record

The painting was sold to an as-yet unidentified buyer, working through an agent.

The total price was $450,312,500. The actual sale price was $400.43 million. The total price includes an auction feeChristies cut.

The previous record was $304 million paid in 2015 for Willem de Koonings Interchange, which was sold privately.

Pablo Picassos Women of Algiers (Version O) (Les Femmes DAlger) set a price record for an auction sale when it sold for $179.4 million in May 2015.

Interesting History

Some experts doubt that the piece is actually an original work by da Vincior if it was, it has been altered so many times, according to X-ray analysis, no one is sure who might have painted the version visible now.

Da Vinci started painting Salvator Mundi in 1506 on a commission for Frances King Louis XII; the painting was completed in 1523.

It seems the painting was passed on to Princess Henrietta Maria of France who brought it to England in 1625 when she married King Charles I.

The painting was auctioned by the son of the Duke of Buckingham in 1763. After that sale, the painting disappeared from public knowledge.

The painting popped up again in 1900, when Sir Charles Robinson sold it to Sir Francis Cook as a work by Bernardino Luini, a follower of Leonardo. It was later identified as the work of Boltraffio.

The painting stayed in the Cook family for four generations until the latest Sir Francis Cook sold, what he thought was a work by Boltraffio, to Sothebys in 1958 for 45.

The Robert Simon group bought the painting in 2004 for 10,000 (about 14,500 today or $19,160). They had the painting cleaned and examined by a panel of international experts. After 500 years of dirt and many layers of overpainting were removed, the experts declared the work to be a genuine da Vinci.

The painting went on display at Britains National Gallery in London in 2011.

In 2013, Paris-based art dealer Yves Bouvier purchased the work at a Sothebys private sale for about 53 million. He bought it on behalf of a Russian billionaire, who accused Bouvier of cheating him out of $1 billion by misrepresenting sale prices on some 38 pieces, including the Salvator Mundi.
Navy Apologizes After Pilot Draws Obscene Image in Sky in Washington

The U.S. Navy apologized after residents in Washington state noticed a crude, graphic image in the sky.

A U.S. Navy pilot apparently drew an image of a private part, which was eventually acknowledged by a local air base.

In a statement to KREM 2, Navy officials said, The Navy holds its aircrew to the highest standards and we find this absolutely unacceptable, of zero training value and we are holding the crew accountable.

The pilot flew in a pattern that left a condensed air trail resembling an obscene image to observers on the ground, officials added to The New York Post in a statement.

A mother in Okanogan, Washington, said that she was upset because she may have had to explain the images to her children, CBS reported.

An FAA official said that it cannot do anything as it cannot police morality, as CBS reported.

Crew members have been grounded until after a thorough investigation is conducted, officials said to media outlets.

Ramone Duran told The Spokesman-Review that he saw the pilot draw the picture.

After it made the circles at the bottom, I knew what it was and started laughing, Duran said. It was pretty funny to see that. You dont expect to see something like that.

Bartender Misty Waugh said that her 12-year-old son texted her a photo of it. I thought it was pretty funny, and so did he, she said. A lot of people have been talking about it.

And while youre here 

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North Korea Is So Impoverished, Kim Cant Even Bribe His Own Soldiers Anymore

Troops were expecting to receive food during a special inspection, instead all Kim gave them were cigarettes

North Korea maintains a largealbeit outdatedmilitary force, but pays its soldiers so little they have begun raiding farms to feed themselves.

One of the ways leader Kim Jong Un maintains the loyalty of his troops is by doling out luxury gifts and basic food and toiletry items to keep them happy. But this year, the troops who conducted a successful ballistic missile test are complaining all they got were cigarettes.

Soldiers at the unit responsible for North Koreas ballistic missile development felt deeply disappointed when their leader didnt show up with items like chicken broth and sanitary napkins, a source in North Korea told a Seoul-based news site that specializes in getting inside information.

Those were the kinds of gifts he brought after a previous successful launch.

Soldiers in the Korean Peoples Army (KPA) Strategic Forces had prepared for weeks for Kims visit on Aug. 18, but many were left wanting because they did not receive any gift at all. For those who did, the gift was underwhelming.

At the time of the visit, the Kim Jong Un gave the commanders various gifts, but the enlisted soldiers only received a carton of Taedok Mountain cigarettes, an inside source from South Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Nov. 10.

Daily NK reports that those are considered decent cigarettes, but disappointing for the malnourished soldiers who were expecting gifts like those given when their leader inspected the Strategic Forces in March 2012.

At that time [2012], the soldiers received Taedok Mountain Cigarettes, candy, snacks, chicken, seasoning, and more. The women received sanitary napkins and makeup. This time around, however, soldiers are feeling left out because the gifts to the commanders were reduced and some soldiers were excluded from the welcome ceremony, the source said.

The soldiers began preparing for Kims visit in July, the source said, cleaning the headquarters where the unit responsible for developing and testing the Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile is based. Kim wants to mount a nuclear warhead on the missile so he has the ability to strike the United States, his biggest adversary.

The source said the visit was for Kim Jong Un to congratulate the team on the successful test of the Hwasong-14s engines on July 4.

In North Koreas impoverished economy, the communist regime justifies its outsized military budget and military-first ideology on a philosophy of self-reliance and the claim that the country is a leading socialist state standing up to an oppressive world order.

But even with an information blackout that keeps North Koreans from learning that the rest of the world is in much better shape than they are, some North Koreans have begun to discover that South Koreans enjoy freedoms and living standards that look unbelievably luxurious in comparison.

This means that the regimes practice of gifting remains an important reward system to maintain citizen and soldier loyalty.

In 2013, data from South Koreas Ministry of Unification revealed a surge in the value of imported luxury items like pets and pet food, saunas, perfume, high-end alcohol, handbags, watches, bathroom fittings, cars, and electronics.

The value of these imports rose to $645.8 million in 2012, more than double the value of average luxury imports when the late leader Kim Jong Il was still in power.

The products were given as gifts to key figures in North Korean society to ensure their loyalty to the regime, Yoon Sang-hyun, a South Korean legislator, told South Koreas parliament in October, according to a translation from Yonghap News Agency.

Whether Kim Jong Un is just becoming more frugal or sanctions against the rogue communist nation are having a dire effect, this may be the new normal for North Korean troops.

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A screen in Pyongyang shows news coverage of a North Korean missile launch on Aug. 30, 2017. (KIM WON-JIN/AFP/Getty Images)

North Korea Admits Its Terrified by Possibility of Pre-emptive Strike by US

America keeping the possibility of a pre-emptive strike on the table has the North Korean regime worried

An increasingly isolated North Korea is raising concerns about the possibility of a pre-emptive nuclear strike by the United States.

The unusual statement was published by the North Korean regimes Pyongyang Times newspaper on Nov. 14.

The US can make a preemptive nuclear attack on the DPRK without a parliamentary approval in case Trump deems it necessary, the North Korean state media said.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Oct. 30 on the presidents authority.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Gen. Jim Mattis arrive for a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on October 30, 2017. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Mattis said that under Article 2 of the Constitution, the president has the authority to strike North Korea in the scenario of a direct attack by the communist regime or if an attack is imminent.

Tillerson testified on the importance for the United States to retain the ability to strike first as a deterrent.

One of the strengths of the last 70 years has been the deterrencethe fact that no president, republican or democrat, has ever foresworn the first strike capability, that has served us for 70 years, he said.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) had introduced a bill that would require congressional approval for any preemptive strike against North Korea.

North Korean missiles on display in a military parade in Pyongyang on April 15, 2017. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

However, the threat of a preemptive strike appears to have the desired effect on the rogue regime.

Clearly thrown off balance by the threat, the Pyongyang Times wrote, no US administration has openly claimed a preemptive attack on the DPRK as now.

Trump has taken a different approach from previous U.S. administrations to North Korea. While previous administrations reached agreements with North Korea that the regime subsequently broke with little consequence, Trump has demanded the complete denuclearization of the regime.

The head of the U.S. militarys Pacific Command, Admiral Harry Harris, said on Nov. 16 that the strategy involves diplomatic actions with a credible military threat.

While diplomacy must be the main effort with North Korea, it has to be diplomacy backed by credible military power, said Harris.

U.S. Pacific Command commander Admiral Harry B Harris in Singapore on Oct. 17, 2017. (ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

In a separate article published by North Korean state media on the same day, it expressed worry about America increasing spending on and updating its military.

Under Trump, the United States has sharply increased its military spending. On Tuesday, the House passed a nearly $700 billion defense bill.

Among other things, the bill authorizes the acquisition of 90 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and 24 Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets. It also authorizes 13 new warships.

North Korean media said Trump is creating a ferocious war monster, adding, The Korean peninsula and the Asia-Pacific are teetering on the brink of nuclear war.

Two Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighter jets fly to the Avalon Airshow in Victoria, Australia, on March 3, 2017. (Australian Defence Force/Handout via Reuters)

The North Korean regime is known for its frequent threats of using nuclear weapons against the United States and its allies, Japan and South Korea.

However, under increased economic sanctions, and a credible military threat, it appears the North is faltering.

Multiple reports from within North Korea confirm that the economic sanctions are biting and that theres a severe shortage of fuel supplies.

Trump rallied the support from a number of Asian nations, including China, during his 12-day Asia tour. China sent a special envoy to North Korea on Nov. 16, an action described by Trump as a major move.

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Lifestyle: If You're Not Getting Closer to Achieving Your Goals, Try Using a Different Metric
Texas Rangers Arrest Four in Connection With Love Triangle Murder-for-Hire

Texas Rangers arrested four people this week in connection with a murder-for-hire plot spun out of a love triangle.

Delvin Ajair Powell, 38, Kadie Elizabeth Robinson, 28, Robert Samuel Veal, 35, and Ronnie Keith Welborn, 45, were being held at the Collin County jail on Thursday in connection with the murder of 46-year-old Kelli Underwood who was found dead in her home in Princeton on Sept. 20.

Underwood had a bullet wound in her head, The Dallas Morning News reported. Investigators found five .22-caliber cartridges near her body and said the scene showed signs of a struggle. Neighbors reported an alarm going off at the home twice on Sept. 16. One witness said there were two men in the home at the time.

The investigators first spoke to Wellborn, who was Underwoods boss at a sheet metal company. Wellborn revealed that he has been Underwoods lover for several years, even after he kicked her out when Robinson moved in.

Wellborn told the rangers that Robinson did not know that he was still seeing Underwood. Wellborn and Robinson have been together for three years and have a child together.

Wellborn told the rangers that he last spoke to Underwood on Sept. 16, the day that the neighbors reported alarms going off at her home. He also gave conflicting reasons as to why he deleted Underwoods messages from his phone, according to the court affidavit.

The investigation took a turn when one of the neighbors identified Powell as one of the men seen in Underwoods home on Sept. 16. Powell had an outstanding assault warrant and U.S. Marshals arrested him on Sept. 27.

Powell was at a hotel with his girlfriend when he was arrested. She told authorities that she was scared of him and that he almost snapped her neck several times.

Investigators found a knife with a broken tip and stained with what looked like blood in the hotel room. They also found a box of .22-caliber bullets, which belonged to Powell inside his girlfriends truck.

When questioned, Powell said that he and Veal were both former employees of Welborn. He said that Underwood had hired him and Veal to install a swimming pool in her backyard. They said they spent the night at Underwoods home on Sept. 15 with another woman present. He said they accidentally set off the alarm.

The investigators then went to speak to Veal, who gave them several conflicting statements about his time at Underwoods home. Veal told authorities that he had been waiting to speak with them because he was the last one at Underwoods home.

The detectives took a DNA swab, but Veal noted that his DNA would be all over Underwoods house, in every room, the affidavit states.

The investigation took a turn again when an inmate at the Collin County jail passed a note to an officer, which said that Powell described how a burglary went bad in Princeton and he brutally murdered a girl.

The rangers spoke to the inmate who added that Powell said that he put holes in that [expletive]. He also told the inmate that he thought that the police didnt have anything on him. Another inmate told investigators that he smoked that [expletive].

As the investigation continued, rangers reached out to Powells cousin who told them that Powell hypothetically he was working for somebody else. They also tracked down the woman who spent that night at Underwoods house with Veal and Powell. She told them that she saw Veal handing Powell a black handgun.

The rangers then heard from a woman who spoke with Robinson before the murder. The woman revealed that Robinson had given Welborn an ultimatum to fire Underwood after she threatened to burn down their home. Welborn and Robinson devised a plan to plant marijuana in Underwoods car and tip off the police.

Robinson also told the source that Underwood was causing problems in her relationship with Welborn and that she has been watching Underwoods house from afar to see how much time Welborn spent there.

When Robinson learned of the murder, she told the source that she was glad shes gone.

After learning all of the above, investigators confronted Robinson this Wednesday and asserted that she was lying to them. At that point, Robinson pointed at a photo of Powell and admitted that she and Welborn paid him $8,000 to kill Underwood.

Robinson felt this was the only way to mend her relationship with her childs father, the affidavit states. Robinson said her relationship with Welborn has improved since Underwoods murder.

Welborn confirmed that account later on Wednesday, telling police that he gave Veal a .22-caliber handgun and left money for him in a freezer.

Investigators used cellphone records to show that Welborn was at Underwoods home several times after she wall killed. He told police that wanted to be the one to discover her body.

Welborn stated he was heartbroken because he really did care for her, the affidavit said.

All four now face charges of capital murder. Robinson, Veal, and Welborn are each being held on a $1 million bail. Powells bail was set at $1.5 million because he had other unrelated charges.

From NTD.tv

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A herd of elephants walk in front of Mount Kilimanjaro in Amboseli National Park, Kenya, on November 3, 2016. (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images)

Trump Puts Hold on Decision by Fish and Wildlife Service on Elephant Trophies

President says he will review conservation facts after Fish and Wildlife Service decided to issue import permits for elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia

President Donald Trump put a hold on a decision made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to issue import permits for trophy elephants from Zimbabwe and Zambia.

In 2014, import permits were suspended from the two nations. A lengthy FWS review of that suspension culminated in the announcement on Nov. 16, that Zimbabwe and Zambia qualified for permits again. The next day, the president put that decision on ice.

The African Elephant, or Loxodonta africana, is listed as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Under the act, permits for imports of trophy animals can only be issued if it is determined by the FWS that killing the animal enhances the survival of the species.

According to the service, Zimbabwe and Zambia now meet those requirements.

A young male elephant acts defensively at the Pafuri game reserve on July 21, 2010 in Kruger National Park, South Africa. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

In documents filed in the Federal Register, the service said that mechanisms had been put in place in the two African countries that would effectively monitor the flow of money from trophy hunting.

The money is intended to be used for conservation efforts.

The Zambian government has done a good job of identifying how resources from hunting-generated revenue would be shared with communities, the FWS said in the documents.

This review established that both Zambia and Zimbabwe had met new standards, strict international conservation standards that allowed Americans to resume hunting in those countries, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on Nov. 17, before Trumps announcement.

A ban on importing elephant ivory from all countries remains in place, Sanders said.

A baby elephant crosses a dry river bed at the Mashatu game reserve on July 25, 2010 in Mapungubwe, Botswana. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Concerns have been raised over the years about the effectiveness of trophy hunting on conservation efforts given the opaque distribution of money.

The Fish and Wildlife Service argued in its assessment for Zambia that some communities, which deal with problem elephants that destroy crops and properties, were more likely to welcome the conservation efforts.

Trump said that he would personally review all the conservation facts. Meanwhile, the issuing of new permits would be suspended.

Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts. Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2017

The decision to halt permits and review the issue received praise from many Twitter users.

BOOM! Thank you, Mr President. Trophy-hunting is repellent, wrote British TV personality Piers Morgan on Twitter.

BOOM! Thank you, Mr President. Trophy-hunting is repellent. https://t.co/iEPfEQNX4t  Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) November 18, 2017

Radio host Michael Savage wrote on Twitter Thank you, President Trump!

Africas elephant population plunged by 110,000 over the past decade to a total elephant population of about 415,000, according to estimates by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) published last year. In recent decades there has been a sharp increase in poaching for ivory, a coveted commodity used in carving and ornamental accessories in China and other parts of Asia.

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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)

Trump Set to Deal North Korea Another Blow as He Weighs Terror Designation

Here's what it will mean for the North Korean regime

President Donald Trump could announce as early as next week that North Korea will be re-designated as a state sponsor of terrorisma move that will further isolate Kim Jong Uns communist regime.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters on Thursday that Trump would make an announcement on the potential designation early next week.

The President will be making an announcement and decision on that at the first part of next week, Sanders told reporters when asked about the issue.

Sanders statement comes after weeks of speculation and hints that the Trump administration would reverse the George W. Bush-era decision to delist North Korea.

According to a State Department spokesperson, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is still evaluating whether or not to designate North Korea.

The Department has informed Members of Congress that he expects to conclude his review and announce a decision within the month, the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been dropping hints about the possible designation.

During Trumps trip to Japan, a senior administration official previewed the rationale behind redesignating DPRK during a press briefing in Tokyo on Nov. 5.

I mean, if you look at all the victims worldwide of North Koreas aggressionwhether its bombing airliners or terrorist attacks abroad, or the hundreds of attacks that have taken place over the decades against U.S. and South Korean personnel, or the abductions of Japanese citizens and, of course, South Koreans who have been abducted over the years as wellit would take a lifetime to be able to meet with all of the people who have been victimized by that regime, said the official when asked about Americans held captive by North Korea.

The official said Trump was casting a long overdue spotlight on the nature of the North Korean regime and how it affects people inside and outside its borders.

A researcher on North Koreas previous time on the list, when other sanctions were also already in place, said the designation may hurt North Koreas reputation more than its economy.

Terence Roehrig is a national security affairs professor, the Director of the Asia Pacific Studies Group at the U.S. Naval War College, and the author of a study of North Koreas time on the state sponsor of terror list.

Its not entirely clear what specific impacts designating North Korea will have given that it is already under heavy sanctions, he said.

It certainly adds to the reputational sanction of North Korea, he said.

Roehrig said the economic impact of any sanctions coming from the designation is secondary to the United Nations Security Council sanctions already in place.

Roehrigs 2009 paper North Korea and the U.S. State Sponsors of Terrorism List studied the impact of North Koreas first designation as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1988 and the issues that surrounded it being delisted.

In Roehrigs previous study, he said Washington likely had little expectation the designation would have a greater economic impact than the plethora of sanctions already in place.

But after North Koreas bombing of a South Korean flight in 1987 it was believed necessary to make a statement.

U.S. officials had little confidence that the sanctions would change North Korean behavior but for those who hoped the end of the Cold War would hasten the demise of the DPRK, these sanctions might be one more nail in the coffin, wrote Roehrig.

North Korea was delisted by President George W. Bush as part of a complex and ill-fated deal for it to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Roehrig wrote that North Korea managed to weaken the verification protocol sought by the United States.

He believes any future deal that may arise will also struggle on this point given that North Korea would not want to grant the United States the level of access to its facilities necessary to fully verify the regime was not conducting a clandestine nuclear weapons program.

These kind of agreements and the verification necessarily required are big when you have that level of mistrust, he said.
Butte will get a nod all the way from the nation's capital in December when a copper star shines from the top of the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree  a 15,000-pound, 30-inch-diameter, Montana-grown Engelmann spruce.

Called the "People's Tree," the 79-foot conifer from Kootenai National Forest will be adorned with the 4-foot-wide-by-5-foot-tall copper star. Missoula-based Washington Companies designed, planned, and funded the star to celebrate Butte's rich mining history. Butte copper mine operator Montana Resources is part of Washington Companies.

The star has a steel frame wrapped in copper. Frosted Plexiglas allows internal lighting to glow through, like a lantern.

Fabricator Split Mountain Metals, a Belgrade-based business, constructed the star. Owner Brad Brenteson said he got the copper from his supplier. MR vice president of human resources Mike McGivern said MR's copper has been shipped to Utah and Asia for smelting this past year.

So it's impossible to know the origin point for the metal itself, but multiple Montana entities came together to create a star and electrify a Montana tree  Montana's gift to the nation to celebrate Christmas.

"It's a beautiful thing," McGivern said.

Brenteson's staff of five was "all hands on deck for two weeks" in Belgrade, near Bozeman, putting in 1,000 hours altogether to "get 'er done."

"It was pretty crazy on my end," Brenteson said. "We'd never done a project to that scale before."

Washington Companies' graphic designer Ashley Steeves normally designs printed materials for the Dennis Washington-owned business. She never thought she'd be designing a star for the Capitol's Christmas tree.

"It was amazing. I was definitely not expecting to design a star to go to the Capitol," Steeves said. "It's different than anything I do here."

The star has eight points and features Montana's state flower, the bitterroot, on the front and back  a three-dimensional copper piece attached at the center.

Steeves said she and the four-person design team at Washington Companies came up with the bitterroot because they were looking for something "festive" that would represent Montana. It took about two and a half weeks to design it.

The tree was cut by fourth-generation Montanan Pete Tallmadge near Yaak in the northwestern corner of the state. U.S. Forest Service program manager Sandi Mason said the tree is 76 years old.

Around 70 companion trees, ranging anywhere from 6 to 20 feet tall  and all from Montana  will go to Senate and congressional offices. The more than 12,500 ornaments that will hang from the trees are all Montana-made. Even the skirts that will go under all of the companion trees were hand-crafted in Montana.

While Montana has provided Christmas trees to the U.S. Capitol building in the past, the "People's Tree" has never before been adorned by a copper star. It's the 53rd Capitol Christmas Tree and the third from Montana. The Kootenai National Forest supplied a taller Engelmann spruce in 1989. The Bitterroot Forest gave a 70-foot subalpine fir in 2008.

The trucking company, Billings-based Whitewood Transport, is already en route with the tree on its 3,000-mile journey. The trip began in Eureka in northwest Montana on Nov. 13. You can follow its route online by going to www.trackthetree.com.

The lights within the star were created by Missoula-based Western Montana Lighting. Owner Drew Mihelish said she and her warehouse manager designed the internal lighting and built the boxes inside the star that "make it work."

The star is sitting in storage in Missoula, but was be trucked to Butte Monday by Whitewood Transport. The star will be on view at Montana Resources' parking lot, 600 Shields Ave., from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday. The public is welcome to stop by to see the nation's Christmas tree star.

From Butte, the star will begin its own 3,000-mile journey, making additional stops in Livingston and Billings before heading onward to Washington, D.C. The star and the tree will rendezvous at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland before arriving on the West Front Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. The lighting ceremony is set for 3 p.m. Mountain Time on Dec. 6.

An 11-year-old Bozeman sixth-grader, Ridley Brandmayr, who lost the fingers on his right hand in an accident earlier this year, will help Republican U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan flip the switch during the official lighting of the tree.

As Montana's senior senator, Democrat Sen. Jon Tester was able to choose which Montanan would help Ryan turn on the lights. Tester picked Brandmayr for showing "incredible strength, determination, perseverance and passion."

Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, along with his wife Cindy, will also attend the ceremony. Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte will give a brief speech.

"It's a really neat project," Brenteson said. "It's a big honor to be involved with the People's Christmas Tree. I'm looking forward to seeing the star on the tree. Hopefully everyone will enjoy it as much as we do."
Energy drinks have become a popular way for people to get a boost of energy during the day. They are marketed in convenient little packages with a single serving inside so you can take them on the go, making them simple to take whenever you want. However, the researchers conducting a recent study into the health benefits of energy drinks are urging caution when taking them in light of their results.

The results of the study, published in Frontiers in Public Health, found that the risks of adverse health events outweighed the short term benefits of the energy bursts the drinks provide. Some of those adverse health events included mental health problems, increased blood pressure, obesity, tooth erosion, kidney damage, and risk-seeking behavior like violence and antisocial behavior. The researchers also highlighted the worrying trend of mixing energy drinks with alcohol. No specific products were mentioned in the study results.

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The average energy drink can have up to 100 milligrams of caffeine per ounce, far exceeding the recommended daily limit of 400 milligrams for adults. Coffee has a little over 10 milligrams of caffeine per ounce. The rest of the ingredients, including water, sugar, caffeine, vitamins, and stimulants like guarana and taurine, have a minimal effect on the amount of energy provided by the drink.

The energy drinks are basically flavored, concentrated caffeine doses. According to study co-author Josiemer Mattei, an assistant professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, The excess caffeine may contribute to cardiovascular outcomes, such as increased blood pressure. There is not much scientific knowledge about the other ingredients used in the drinks, which should be alarming in itself.

Since energy drinks are classified as supplements, there is not much oversight of the energy drink industry by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The researchers say that more regulatory oversight is needed in the energy drink market. In particular, the researchers are calling for limits on the amount of caffeine that can be in the drinks and stricter regulations on marketing the drinks towards children and teenagers.

Today, the energy drink industry is worth nearly $10 billion per year in the United States. While they are often marketed as a healthy way to get an energy boost during the day, the unknown nutritional benefits and high caffeine content are reason enough to be cautious when using them or even avoid them altogether.
Public meetings calendar

Nov. 20

The Louisa-Muscatine Community School district Board of Education. The Louisa-Muscatine Community School District Board of Education will meet at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 20, in the board room, 14478 170th St., Letts, Iowa.

Dec. 1

The Muscatine County Board of Adjustment. The Muscatine County Board of Adjustment will conduct a public hearing at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 1, in the Board of Supervisors Office in the Muscatine County Administration Building, 414 E. 3rd St., Muscatine.

Dec. 11

Conesville City Council meeting. The Conesville City Council will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11, at City Hall, 102 3rd St., Conesville.

Rockridge School Board meeting. The Rockridge School Board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11, in the Board of Education room at Rockridge High School, 14110 134th Ave. W., Taylor Ridge, Illinois.

Muscatine School Board meeting. The Muscatine School Board will hold its regular meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11, at City Hall.
MUSCATINE  Residents will be greeted with a familiar sound when they go shopping around Muscatine starting Friday, as bell ringers begin collecting donations for the Salvation Army of Muscatine's annual Red Kettle Campaign.

The Red Kettle Campaign is the Salvation Army's largest fundraiser, according to Corps Officer Brook Lopez. Along with funding from United Way, she said the fundraiser pays for an entire year's worth of programs. The Salvation Army, volunteers and community leaders met at Muscatine Community College Friday to start the campaign.

Last year, Lopez said bell ringers raised $163,000, which helped pay for meals for more than 3,400 people, utility and rent bills for more than 1,400 people, plus after school tutoring. The Salvation Army also provides emergency disaster assistance, programs to help people in poverty and more.

Starting Friday, the Salvation Army will work to collect $165,000 by Christmas Eve.

"We love this community and we want to come together to accomplish great things," Lopez said.

Bell ringers will stand outside Walmart and collect donations inside Hy-Vee on 2nd Avenue, Hy-Vee Mainstreet, Fareway and the Pearl Plaza. Because recruiting bell ringers to stand outside is one of the group's biggest challenges, Lopez said the Salvation Army is partnering with Muscatine Community College this year.

MCC President Naomi DeWinter is this year's Christmas Chair, and she said staff, faculty and students will help collect donations at Walmart for two weeks, starting the Monday after Thanksgiving.

"I made the pitch to about 25 students and the feedback was very positive," DeWinter said. "Groups here are really interested in poverty issues."

Students at MCC are running a coat drive and opened a food pantry this fall, according to DeWinter. She hopes participating in the Red Kettle Campaign will be another way for students and staff to learn about the needs of the Muscatine community.

Also this year, Calvary Church will be the distribution site for the annual toy drive, and is also collecting non-perishable food items for the Salvation Army's food basket program.

Lopez said around 350 families, and more than 700 children, are signed up to receive toys this year. And Lead Pastor of Calvary Church, Ty Thomas, said his congregation has set the goal of feeding 400 families with food baskets.

"This has to be family-oriented," Lopez said. "We have to help our brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles who are struggling in this time. We need to meet all needs without judgement."

The Salvation Army is still in need of volunteers to ring bells and collect donations. To sign up, call 563-263-8272.
After a disappointing defeat at the polls, Wapellos volunteer firefighters are planning to reach out to city residents in an effort to come up with another plan for a new fire station.

Voters rejected a $1.7 million bond issue to build a new station during the Nov. 7 city election on a 158-279 vote. A 60 percent majority was needed for approval.

Wapello council member Eric Small, who also serves as the fire departments first assistant chief, updated the city council Thursday on the firefighters reset plans.

Were going to regroup and go back to work to see what changes (can be made), he said.

Part of that process may include surveying residents and holding public meetings to discuss possible changes to the proposed building. Opponents of the bond issue appeared to focus on the buildings cost and some features they felt were not needed.

Small said the firefighters are listening and hoped the plan to seek more community input would lead to a building that could get more support.

Weve heard a lot of comments, he said.

In other action, the council approved hiring David Norcross of Winfield as the citys new assistant police chief on a 5-1 vote. Council member Larry Wagg opposed the decision, pointing out Norcross would receive a $55,000 salary and benefits that could put his compensation package close to $75,000.

Why are we hiring an assistant police chief for this much money? he asked.

Council member Brett Shafer, a member of the councils police and protection committee, said the city needed to stabilize its police force. Shafer said the city has fought a losing turnover battle for years and the committee was hoping by offering a more competitive salary, turnover would be reduced.

Mayor Shawn Maine agreed and said Wapello Police Chief Branden Marquardt had examined the police budget and felt the money was available.

Weve got to do something to entice them to stay, Maine said.

Officials said the city hoped to also hire a third officer sometime later and would continue to use two other part-time officers it hired earlier this month. Marquardt cautioned however that a city officer may not always be on duty.

He said in emergency cases a county deputy would likely respond or a city officer who would be on-call could be called out.

Meanwhile, in other discussion that involved the police force, city officials discussed modifying the citys residency rules for the department. The current ordinance requires police officers to live within eight air miles of Wapello and may not live on the north or east side of the Iowa River.

Marquardt said that would force Norcross to sell his house in Winfield and could also impact part-time help. He suggested identifying surrounding communities as a possible residency rule.

Council members acknowledged the current rule created problems.

I would like them to live in town, but there is not a lot of properties for sale (in town), Small said.

Maine agreed and said the key issue was having an officer on duty when scheduled.

As long as they can be here when they are supposed to be here, he said should be the key point.

The council did not take any action and indicated the issue would continue to be discussed.
SMITHS FALLS, ONT.Canopy Growth Corp. of Smiths Falls, Ont., has formed a joint venture to share ownership of the Agripharm indoor growing operation in Creemore, Ont., with Amsterdam-based Green House Brands.

Canadas largest licensed marijuana producer says it will retain 40 per cent of Agripharm and the rest will be owned by Green House Holdings North America Inc. and Colorado-based Organa Brands.

The venture will create a new Canadian home base for Green House Brands and Organa while Canopy Growth has the right to purchase all the cannabis products produced by Agripharm for distribution through its Canadian system.

Green House Brands and Organa will also grant Canopy an exclusive, royalty-free licence in Canada to certain technology and intellectual property.

Green House Brands was formed in 1985 and was a pioneer in creating a European cannabis coffee shop market. It now operates in Europe, Africa, South America and North America.

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MEXICO CITYThe United States has published an updated list of NAFTA negotiating objectives to reflect some of its tougher-than-anticipated demands in a reminder of the difficult hoeing ahead as parties seek fertile ground for a deal.

The U.S. trade czars office released the new list on Friday just as the three chief negotiators began meeting in Mexico City for their first encounter after an acrimonious round revealed huge differences.

Sources say Canada and Mexico will start the months-long task of probing the U.S. for signs of willingness to compromise, though they expect little progress on the toughest sticking points for another few rounds.

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A new document from the American side illustrated those big gaps.

The U.S. released an updated version of a July document published before negotiations started, in keeping with transparency requirements under American trade law. The new list includes tougher language on Canadian dairy, auto parts and Buy American rules, reflecting negotiating demands adopted in recent weeks.

(Our) objectives represent a serious effort to renegotiate the agreement to update its provisions to the best 21st century standards and rebalance the benefits of the deal so that each country succeeds. ... If these objectives are achieved, the United States will obtain more open, equitable, secure and reciprocal market access and the entire NAFTA region will benefit, says the document.

Major changes from the previous version of the document released four months ago include:

On auto parts, ensuring that rules of origin promote production in North America as well as specifically in the United States. That reflects a U.S. demand at the last round that cars must include 50 per cent U.S. content and 85 per cent content from North America overall, to avoid a tariff.

Ensuring reciprocity in market access for public-works contracts. This reflects an American demand that would limit access to Canadian and Mexican companies to one dollar in public contracts for every dollar American companies receive in those countries.

Eliminating Canadian tariffs on imports of dairy, poultry, and egg products. The July document did not specifically mention eliminating Canadas supply management system. But at the previous negotiating round in October, the U.S. requested supply managements elimination within 10 years.

All these demands, and some others, have been deemed non-starters by Canada and Mexico.

But those two are starting to demonstrate a willingness to seek compromises on some areas. For instance, both Canada and Mexico say they could envision some form of review mechanism every few years to provide status reports on the agreement.

That proposal falls short of the U.S. demand for a so-called five-year sunset clause. In the U.S. position, NAFTA should come with a proviso that the deal gets cancelled unless all parties endorse it after five years.

A rare hint of potential compromise from the U.S. came in the portion of Fridays document referring to that sunset clause. The new U.S. position paper avoids mentioning a five-year cancellation threat, and actually contains language much more palatable to Canada and Mexico.

The new document describes the U.S. position on the so-called sunset clause the following way: Provide a mechanism for ensuring that the parties assess the benefits of the agreement on a periodic basis, which sounds closer to the types of periodic reviews Canada and Mexico might be willing to live with.

Canada also intends to signal its willingness to review auto-parts rules. But again, it views the U.S. starting numbers to be well outside the bounds of an acceptable final compromise.

Were willing to talk about rules of origin, said one Canadian official. But certain figures, or certain proposals, are just not-starters . . . There are certain starting points that are just unworkable.

Its considered doubtful too much progress on the thorny issues will happen at the current round, which ends next week. Canadian officials say they anticipate progress on less-controversial issues like digital commerce, regulatory co-operation and labour and the environment.

But they expect the more intense decision-making to ramp up in the first quarter of next year, as the talks get closer to the hoped-for deadline of March. In the meantime, they will be looking for signs of potential common ground with American negotiators and watching whether the U.S. president escalates his threats to cancel NAFTA.

Canadian union leader Jerry Dias said the sides are frozen far apart. The Unifor boss met with Canadas chief negotiator at the talks, and suggested Steve Verheul and his American counterparts werent doing much budging on the big issues.

Hes showing as much flexibility as the United States is, Dias said, when asked about the chat with Verheul. Dias also said theres little room for Canada to cede much ground: Nobodys going to capitulate to Trump. Trump is wholly unpopular in Canada and Mexico. So nobody really wants to make it look like a Donald Trump victory party.

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Australian musician and AC/DC co-founder Malcolm Young has died at the age of 64 after suffering from dementia for about three years.

With enormous dedication and commitment he was the driving force behind the band. As a guitarist, songwriter and visionary he was a perfectionist and a unique man, said a statement from AC/DC.

The rhythm guitarist founded the hard rock band along with his brother Angus Young in 1973.

As his brother it is hard to express in words what he has meant to me during my life, the bond we had was unique and very special, said a statement from Angus.

He leaves behind an enormous legacy that will live on forever. Malcolm, job well done.

Their older brother George Young, who was an AC/DC producer, died last month at the age of 70.

For more than four decades, Malcolm Young provided the raw backing to the lead breaks and onstage antics of younger brother Angus, instantly recognizable in his schoolboys uniform.

In 2011, Malcolm Young joined Chuck Berry, Keith Richards and Jimi Hendrix among Guitar Player magazines 50 greatest rhythm guitarists.

Sometimes I look at Malcolm while hes playing and Im completely awestruck by the sheer power of it, Angus said in a January 2014 interview with Guitar World magazine. Hes doing something much more unique than what I do, with that raw, natural sound of his.

Malcolm Mitchell Young was born on Jan. 6, 1953, in Glasgow, Scotland, to parents William and Margaret Young. The family moved to Sydney in 1963.

While attending Ashfield Boys High School, whose uniform his brother later wore on stage with AC/DC, Malcolm Young developed his guitar skills with the help of older brother George, who had his own success as a songwriter and member of the Australian band The Easybeats, known for its 1966 hit song Friday on My Mind.

Malcolm then formed AC/DC and asked Angus to join. The name of the band was taken from the sewing machine of his older sister, Margaret, equating the rock groups sound with electrical currents.

The band had its first successes in Australia with the albums High Voltage (1975), Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976), Let There Be Rock (1977) and Powerage (1978), and signed an international contract with Atlantic Records. Gaining worldwide recognition with Highway to Hell (1979), they followed up with Back in Black, the worlds second bestselling album behind Michael Jacksons Thriller.

Over 40 years, AC/DC sold over 200 million albums.

AC/DCs infectious, driving sound stretched further than rock arenas. The song Shoot to Thrill was heard in the film The Avengers, Back in Black made it into The Muppets, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was played in Bridesmaids and their songs were included in the Iron Man franchise. On TV, the bands music was heard in everything from Top Gear, the Hawaii Five-0 reboot, Glee, CSI: Miami and The Voice.

Though the band championed good-natured hellraising, it had to weather suggestions in the 1980s that they were a threat to the moral fabric of society. There were rumours the bands name stood for Anti-Christ/Devils Children and many were shocked when it was learned that serial murderer and rapist Richard Ramirez identified himself as a fan and left an AC/DC baseball cap behind at a crime scene.

In 2014, the band released Rock or Bust, the first AC/DC album without Malcolm Young. Even so, he is very present on the record since the 11 songs are credited to the Young brothers (Angus said he built the album from guitar hooks the two had accumulated over the years).

Around the albums release, Angus Young told The Associated Press that Malcolm was doing fine, but that he couldnt perform anymore.

It was progressing further, but he knew he couldnt do it, Angus Young said of his older brothers dementia. He had continued as long as he could, still writing. But he said to me, Keep it going.

Malcolm Young was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003, and he later retired from AC/DC in 2014 due to health issues.

Several musicians paid their respects to Malcolm Young on social media, writing about his influence and impact in music.

It is a sad day in rock and roll. Malcolm Young was my friend and the heart and soul of AC/DC. I had some of the best times of my life with him on our 1984 European tour, Eddie Van Halen tweeted on Saturday. He will be missed and my deepest condolences to his family, bandmates and friends.

The driving engine of AC/DC has died. A tragic end for a sometimes unsung icon. One of the true greats. RIP, Paul Stanley, of Kiss, wrote on Twitter.

He always stuck to his guns and did and said exactly what he wanted, said AC/DCs statement.

He took great pride in all that he endeavoured. His loyalty to the fans was unsurpassed.

With files from The Associated Press and Bloomberg

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In the witness stand is an ex-girlfriend.

In the body of the court is a woman believed to be the current girlfriend, although she brushes off reporters when asked.

At age 18  as Marlena Meneses was five years ago  she could be forgiven for falling in love with Mark Smich, impetuously moving in with him after a violent row with her stepfather over a phone cord ripped out of the wall.

One can only wonder what the current era girlfriend sees in Smich, as she returns to court day after day, sitting alone, seemingly not unduly troubled by the repulsive video which jurors have watched time and time again: Smich rapping hateful lyrics.

The bitch started off all skin and bones/now the bitch lay on some ashy stone/last time I saw hers outside the home/ and if you go swimming you can find her phone.

The bitch referenced, says the prosecution, was Laura Babcock. Those lyrics were written on her borrowed iPad, mere hours after the 23-year-olds body was allegedly consigned to the flames of a commercial animal carcass incinerator. The video was recorded two months later in Dellen Millards basement.

Smich and Millard may or may not be ruthless killers. The jury will decide. Each has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

But they are both indisputably creeps, as evidence from this trial has made abundantly clear.

The teenaged Meneses, though younger, sounds rather like Babcock clone in those days, restless and chafing over restrictions imposed by her exasperated parents, wandering into the orbit shared by Smich and Millard. Babcock had earlier dated Millard briefly, when she was about Meneses age. She knew Smich as Millards best friend and wingman, frequently lazing at the latters home, sitting around the salt-water pool, smoking dope in the basement, playing on the multiple X-boxes arranged in front of couches. That was Millards man-den, painted black.

Meneses found refuge there too, in the year she dated, then cohabited, with wastrel Smich, bunking in for a couple of months in a spare bedroom at Millards Maple Gate Court family home, then shifting to another from among several Toronto properties Millard apparently owned.

She enjoyed playing with Millards dog, named Pedo. (That dog makes cameo appearances in videos and still photos, including one shot in which hes sitting placidly beside a long rolled-up sheet of blue tarp. The prosecution maintains that Babcocks body was wrapped inside.)

On Friday, the prosecution witness described for court how the couple had met. At a Tim Hortons, one fateful day. I was with a group of friends. He showed up with other friends. He looked over at me and he gave me this stare. Id never experienced anything like that. I went up to him and we hit it off.

Initially they were just dealing, a state Meneses defined as talk-talk-talking to each other. It ended up turning into an actual relationship. By May, 2012, shed moved in with Smich and his mother, hanging out in the garage, younger kids from the neighbourhood always coming by. A lot of young kids looked up to Mark. Neither was employed nor had any money, both living off the cash from odd-job favours done for Millard, such as painting one of his properties. Meneses, high school dropout, also cleaned for Millard, including at his familys plane hanger near Waterloo. The couple drifted back and forth, splitting their time between Millards house  dad usually upstairs  and Smichs moms place.

She portrayed it as a carefree existence with benefits, emphasizing the closeness between Millard, wealthy scion, and Smich. They were like brothers.

And she was the third amigo, for a considerable time, until Millards new girlfriend made it a foursome. We smoked a lot of weed together.

Meneses is wraithlike, a tiny woman with pale skin and a childs face. With obvious pride, she told Crown attorney Jill Cameron about recently getting a promotion to assistant manager in her retail job.

So maybe, hopefully, life has straightened out and stabilized for Meneses since that period when she ran with these two accused.

Shes actually glimpsed briefly in the rap video, a fat joint between her fingers, though insistent of having no memory of the episode and had never even seen the footage until Friday.

Meneses does remember the iPad, how Smich wrote songs on it. Dell gave it to him. I was outside (Millards house) having a cigarette. Smich joined her, saying: Hey, look what I have. Dellen gave it to me. He told me to give it to you. But I want it. So well share it.

That iPad, court has heard, was owned by Babcocks former boyfriend Shawn Lerner. Hed loaned it to Babcock shortly before she disappeared, after putting her up for a couple of days at a west end motel. Babcock had been couch-surfing and had recently begun working for an escort service.

The prosecutions theory is that Millard and Smich murdered Babcock July 3-4 because shed caused problems by boasting to Millards then-girlfriend that they were still having sex. The Crown maintains that Babcocks remains were burned on July 23 in a piece of monster machinery dubbed The Eliminator.

Meneses had been introduced to The Eliminator in late July.

I didnt know what an incinerator was. I didnt want to ask him (Millard) more questions. I didnt want him to think how dumb I was.

It was Smich who explained that the machinery would be used to dispose of dead animals. I thought it was weird because Dell didnt have any farm animals.

He did have a farm, though, in the Kitchener area.

Under direct examination from Cameron, Meneses cast her mind back to one particular night when she saw the incinerator in action. They wanted to test it.

In recounting events, Meneses was not asked if she could identify the exact date. But court has already seen a text exchange, recovered from Millards phone, date-stamped July 21. Smich appears to be asking whether it would be OK to bring Meneses with him. She can wait in the front while were out back talking to that girl.

Millard picked up Smich and Meneses, drove them to the farm, where the incinerator was kept. They were there for half an hour testing it. They told me to stay in the car and wear my earphones and wait there.

The men disappeared inside the barn. They told me, dont look over at us. Stay on my phone, listen to music and not pay attention to them.

Such mystifying scenes happened all the time. I didnt have a choice.

Millard and Smich came back to the vehicle, complaining that they needed an extension cord. So they drove to the hangar, with the incinerator in tow.

Meneses told them she wanted to go home. Instead, Millard gave her some weed. As they went off to do their unknown business, Meneses smoked up and played with Pedo.

They were gone a long time. She heard a crashing sound. So, disregarding orders, Meneses ventured closer to have a peek.

She saw smoke billowing out of the incinerator. I walked by and heard the crackling.

Meneses retreated to the car and passed out.

Meneses had been asked, earlier, if she liked Millard.

At first, yes. Then I grew to really not like him. I felt Dell started to become really perverted. He would constantly stare at my chest and say things.

Millard will cross-examine Meneses when the trial resumes Tuesday.

Rosie DiManno usually appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

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Two weeks ago, Yiheng Feng received a chilling phone call. The person on the other line warned him, in a calm but concerned voice, that he was in imminent danger and must go into hiding immediately.

But its all a scam.

Toronto police have reported three cases of Chinese international students who went into hiding in the last week after being told not to use their cell phones in order to protect their families. They were missing for days before they were found, the latest victims of a world-wide scam making its way across the province.

I was worried, said Feng, president of the York Chinese Students Association. They sounded like they cared; as if you are in very deep trouble and they are trying to help. They didnt sound like they wanted anything from you. They didnt even ask for a credit card number or anything.

On Tuesday, police said at least two Hamilton students had been victims of the scam. On Friday morning, York Region police also issued a warning.

The scam has two parts: First, the caller, posing as a Chinese law enforcement or government official, asks the student to go into hiding to prevent their family in China from being harmed. They are also told not to use their cellphones or go on social media. Then, the scammers contact the families in China, demanding a ransom and telling them their children have been kidnapped.

International students are extremely vulnerable, said Diana Ning, associate director at York Universitys international student department, adding that these students often face language and cultural barriers.

Sometimes international students feel alone and disconnected because they are not familiar with the community support services and face barriers accessing them, Ning said. This makes them very vulnerable and a target for these criminal acts.

Feng said people in his community and their parents in China are very concerned. Scams, he said, are an issue many parents have dealt with before but its still very frightening.

People feel worried, three people were lost, everyone has been posting comments on social media expressing their fear, Feng said. We are foreigners studying in Canada so we really care for each other and we dont want these things happening, we dont want anyone to be harmed.

The reason why some students trust the caller is because often times they have very detailed information about the victim, including their name, email and phone number, Feng said.

Very few people know my real name, it can only be found in my official documents, Feng said. I have no idea where they got the information from.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Consulate General in Toronto said they are aware of the scam.

The Chinese Consulate General has continuously posted warnings in its website and social media, and forwarded these messages to local Chinese media and Chinese community, in the hope that the information can be read and Chinese people here can keep high alert, said spokesperson Zhishan Chen in an email.

As the population of international students grows in the country, Ning said its extremely important for universities, cities and community services to communicate with students in Chinese for these urgent matters and understand their culture.

York University, she said, is communicating with student leaders and using social media platforms like WeChat, one of Chinas most influential social media platforms, to warn students about these kinds of scams.

This needs to be a wake-up call, we love to welcome students because they bring so much to the country but do we as a Canadian society understand the issues facing international students?, Ning asked. Because they do face barriers when something dangerous like this happens.

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THULE, GreenlandWhen Canada provides aid to typhoon-stricken Philippines and gets there before anyone else, who does it?

Or brings our renowned water-purification team plus helicopter to earthquake-ravaged Nepal? Or brings supplies to Canadian troops in Afghanistan? Or brings hurricane relief to devastated Texas?

Or, on a more mundane level, brings a new fire truck and snowblower to the northernmost settlement on the planet?

The answer to all? The 429 Transport Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

The 429 members arent the ones you see in action in areas of mass destruction. Rather, they are the unsung heroes whose sole job is to get the transportation part done  quickly and efficiently.

Based in Trenton, Ont., their theatre is the world. They are ready to go whenever the need arrives and usually on very short notice. And theyre always prepared for snags  militarese for malfunctions and screw-ups. They go with the job, or as Sgt. Patryk Wegrzyn told me a chance for us to really prove ourselves.

For four days, I had the opportunity to watch one crew up close as they delivered that fire truck and snowblower to Alert, Nunavut, on the northernmost tip of Ellesmere Island. I was officially checked in as part of the crew, though insisting on paying my own expenses and accommodation.

I would be with them from the usual breakfast at 6 a.m. until the social at night which, by rule, shut down completely 12 hours before next takeoff.

The task ahead was one of the squadrons regular jobs: Operation BOXTOP. Keep the militarys most northern outpost serviced and supplied. Hence the lime-coloured fire truck. The old one got smashed in an icy pileup.

The journey began on a Monday at 5:30 a.m. We gathered at CFB Trenton for the short van ride to the giant Globemaster aircraft. Capt. Sean Bassett, a no-nonsense, thoroughly professional leader, laid out the mission in staccato tones: Deliver the goods to Alert, drop off some people and attempt five chalks (trips) with fuel from Thule Air Base in Greenland to Alert. But he warned weather could be a big factor. To the rest of the seven-person crew, this seemed like business as usual.

CFB Trenton prides itself as being the hub of air mobility. As I was told often, if you want boots on the ground, this is where you start.

And the huge CC-177 Globemaster III is the workhorse for the squadron. It is a beast. Each of its four jet engines has 18,343 kilograms of thrust. It is almost 17 metres high inside, can carry 110,676 kilograms of fuel and has a range of 10,186 kilometres.

The air force has five and we had No. 2 for our mission.

Our first destination was Thule, the sprawling U.S. air force base three-quarters the way up the west coast of Greenland. Situated 1,200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, it provides an ideal refuelling stop for the Globemasters en route to Alert.

Yet there is a catch. You can only land between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday to Friday. All weekend it is shut. It seems the Americans have outsourced management of the base to local Greenlanders and they operate the base on old banking hours. God forbid anything untoward happens on weekends.

This turned out to be a big factor on our mission.

The task of loading the Globemaster with the fire truck, the snowblower and all the other food and goods is the responsibility of the loadmaster. Our loadmaster was Sgt. Marie-Pierre Tremblay, as direct, plain spoken and confident as you can imagine.

I love my job. I have a real passion for it, she told me right up front. And Im very good at it.

The total weight of our cargo was 34,473 kilograms, and it was her responsibility to make sure it was distributed evenly for takeoff, securely tied down and kept perfectly intact.

This is a real science, explained Wegrzyn, who was along to do the annual flight check of his colleague Tremblay. You have to make sure everything is put in exactly the right place.

My pull-down seat on the fuselage of the Globemaster was beside the fire truck, to which I became quite attached. I can assure you it hardly jiggled the entire trip. And the ropes and guy wires holding it in place were checked regularly by Tremblay and her trainee, Master Cpl. James Brown.

It turned out landing in Thule was no problem, and so our first leg was completed as planned.

Then I got my first Arctic lesson. Make sure you bring your bag back here every day, co-pilot Maj. Pierre-Luc Verreault told me. You never know where we might be forced to land. Goose Bay, Fro Bay (Iqaluit) or wherever!

My second lesson came as we checked into the North Star Inn on the base. The hardbitten clerk warned us the winds were becoming so strong there might be a lockdown. That meant no one could leave the building.

The North Star is a military-style hotel  shared washroom and showers, with men on the second floor and women on the first.

Despite the lockdown threat, we were able to head out to the mess for dinner, walking past a cluster of arctic foxes or archies as the locals call them. At $5.07, the price for dinner was a bargain and the food was surprisingly good. But not a drop of alcohol was to be found.

The following morning, we gathered at 5 a.m. for a $2.03 breakfast, all eager to get going. But as the pilots went through their checklists, they discovered one of the electronic boxes in the cockpit wasnt working.

Now what? We couldnt take off and the talk was of having Trenton fly up a new box, forcing us, of course, to wait. Would it be one day? Would it be two?

Then suddenly the machinist of the crew, Cpl. Don Gunawardena, remembered there was a spare container of Globemaster parts in one of the hangars. He and his delightful mate, electrician Master Cpl. Mike Gagne, rummaged through as we all watched. And voila, they found a spare box!

In no time flat it was installed and we were off to Alert. We travelled over the spectacular Quttinirpaaq National Park, catching sight of Barbeau Peak, the highest mountain in Eastern Canada. By now it was midday and the light was as good as a late October could offer.

Landing at Alert is a challenge, whenever. At 1,676 metres, the gravel runway offers precious little room for error. For most of the year, the runway is ice-slick and as pilot Bassett told us, planes can slide just like cars. It seems the reverse engine thrusters do most of the stopping.

The approach comes from right over the Arctic Ocean and buffeting crosswinds are the norm.

The ceiling has to be 152 metres, and as we experienced, that can vary from minute to minute. There is a box at the start of the runway in which the pilots know they have to land to guarantee room to stop.

In the cockpit, the tension is palpable as the approach is made. In the dark gloom, the only light comes from the runway lights, which can be turned way up. I saw each pilot do this landing and as one might expect, each nailed it. But both times, it was an exercise in aviation precision to behold.

Once on the ground, all the crates and boxes were swiftly unloaded. The real challenge came with the nearly five-tonne snowblower, which was on its own pallet. It wouldnt budge. The entire crew, plus a few hands from Alert, had to lend a strong shoulder.

Then the moment of satisfaction came. The fire engine driver from Alert turned the key, and with red lights blaring, drove the truck from the Globemaster onto the icy gravel tarmac in minus-23 degree weather. Mission accomplished.

There were no high-fives or unusual remarks, only the collective quiet satisfaction of getting the job done. Theyd all experienced this before.

Shortly thereafter, we took off for Thule. The plan had been to do another chalk to Alert with fuel that afternoon. But the time spent earlier on repairs meant we couldnt do a return trip and make the 4 p.m. closing time at Thule.

So, we got off early.

The drill repeated itself the following day and we took off, loaded with fuel. This time the cloud ceiling at Alert wouldnt allow a landing, so we were forced to circle for quite some time.

Suddenly we got a break, and with crosswinds howling, co-pilot Verreault strutted his stuff.

The fuel was pumped out quickly, but once again, a second planned fuel trip had to be scrubbed for we couldnt guarantee making Thules 4 p.m. closing time. Again, no one seemed bothered. After all, this is the Arctic.

On the way back, however, the pilots discovered a de-icing problem with engine No. 4.

A valve was malfunctioning and despite all their manoeuvres, they couldnt get it to operate properly.

The diagnosis was simple: a new valve was needed. And there wasnt one in Thule. Bassett contacted Trenton and after a series of back-and-forths, it was decided a spare valve would be flown up to Thule the next day on a Challenger. A seasoned engine mechanic was also flown up to supervise the very tricky repair.

Paradoxically, the crew of that Challenger thought they would be spending the day training for a medical evacuation in southern Ontario. Instead, they ended up in freezing Thule, some of them in summer wear.

And they drew the ire of the Thule base team, complaining overtime would have to be paid because of the Challengers 4:10 p.m. departure back to Ottawa!

But the valve was successfully installed, and after early morning testing, the Globemaster took off for Alert for the final chalk of the mission. Five planned. Three completed.

All in a weeks work, they told me often. Nothing unusual.

Right!

Which is why they are such unsung heroes.

John Honderich is the chair of Torstar, the Toronto Stars parent company.

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COPENHAGENA 22-year-old Norwegian student has been handed a 250,000-kroner ($38,750 Canadian) fine for drunken driving  but can still count herself lucky.

Katharina G. Andresen is reportedly Norways richest woman, a tobacco heiress with a fortune estimated by Forbes at $1.57 billion.

Fines for drunken driving in Norway are based on the defendants income. Newspaper Finansavisen reported that Oslo City Court said the penalty could have been up to 40 million kroner ($6.2 million) if based on Andresens assets.

The Guardian reported that the state prosecutor had also demanded 18 days in prison, but court accepted that she had no fixed income and that her assets have not yielded any dividend yet.

The court did increase the fine because of her estimated wealth, however.

Andresen told the court she is a student and effectively lives with her parents. She has a monthly allowance of about $1,100 and about $110,000 in a chequing account, she said.

She was also banned from driving for 13 months.

Andresens father gave her a 42-per cent share in the family-owned investment company in 2007, leading Forbes to declare her the worlds second-youngest billionaire. The familys wealth stems from its 1859 acquisition of the Norwegian tobacco company JL Tiedemanns Tobaksfabrik, the Guardian reported.

In Scandinavian culture, fortunes were often handed over to the younger generation earlier than in other countries, as a way of engaging the young in the family business, the Telegraph has reported, noting it is also likely beneficial to do so for tax purposes.

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BIRMINGHAM, ALA.A smiling Roy Moore stood shoulder to shoulder with his fiercest religious allies.

Flanked by a huge sign for Moores Senate campaign, one supporter railed against the LGBT mafia and homosexualist gay terrorism. Another warned that homosexual sodomy destroys those who participate in it and the nations that allow it. And still another described same-sex marriage as a mirage because its phoney and fake.

Thursdays news conference was designed to send a powerful message to the political world that religious conservatives across America remain committed to Moore, a Christian conservative and former judge whose Alabama Senate campaign has been rocked by mounting allegations of sexual misconduct. The event also revealed an aggressive strain of homophobia rarely seen in mainstream politics  in recent years, at least.

In the days since, religious liberals have stepped forward to express their opposition to Moore. More than 50 Alabama pastors signed a letter saying Moore has demonstrated extremist values incompatible with traditional Christianity and is unfit to serve in the Senate. And an anti-Moore rally at a Birmingham church on Saturday drew more than 100 people, some of whom carried signs decrying his opposition to gay rights.

Read more:

Trumps selective outrage: slams Al Franken, silent on Roy Moore

Allegations against Alabamas Roy Moore dividing GOP women

Trump says Alabama should make its own Senate choice as Moore stands firm in race

Moores campaign has taken to repeating Alabamas motto, written in Latin on the state coat of arms in 1923 and translated to We dare defend our rights, while Moore backers have repeatedly argued that their state has the right to decide its own fate in the Dec. 12 special election.

Alabamians will be the ultimate jury in this election, not the media or those from afar, said state party chairperson Terry Lathan.

Gov. Kay Ivey said Friday she would vote for Moore despite being bothered by the accusations against him because, I believe in the Republican Party, what we stand for, and most important, we need to have a Republican in the United States Senate to vote on things like the Supreme Court justices.

Similar sentiments are coming from local-level Republicans such as Steve Morgan, the vice chairman of the Bibb County GOP in rural central Alabama, who says he doesnt know what to make of the allegations against Moore but is frustrated by the involvement of those who live outside of Alabamastarting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other national leaders who have abandoned Moore.

The people in Alabama dont like to be told what to do, said Morgan, 69, who did not support Moore in the GOP primary.

I never liked Roy Moore, he continued. But guess what? Im voting for Roy Moore because I hate the stupidity that has invaded the Republican Party.

The Washington Post first reported Nov. 9 on four women who said Moore pursued them as teenagers, including one who said she was 14 and Moore was 32 when he touched her sexually. Two other women have since told the Post that Moore pursued them around the same time when they worked as teenagers at the mall in Gadsden. Another woman, represented by attorney Gloria Allred, says Moore assaulted her in a parked car when she was 16. AL.com has reported on two other woman, one who says Moore groped her bottom in 1991, when she was 28 years old, and a second who says Moore asked her out in 1982, when she was a 17-year-old waitress at the Red Lobster restaurant in Gadsden.

Moore, 70, has consistently denied any sexual misconduct and has alleged that the women are part of a politically motivated plot against him. In an interview with conservative radio host Sean Hannity, Moore did not rule out the possibility that he dated teenagers older than 16, the legal age of consent, when he was in his 30s. He told Hannity he did not approve of such relationships now. If I did, Im not going to dispute these things, but I dont remember anything like that, Moore said.

In a Senate campaign suddenly hyper-focused on Moores relationships with teenage girls decades ago, Moores hardline stance on gay rights and other LGBT issues has become little more than an afterthought for many voters as Election Day approaches.

But Moore first caught the attention of many in the LGBT community after describing homosexual conduct as an inherent evil against which children must be protected in a 2002 child custody case involving a lesbian mother. In a 2005 television interview, Moore said homosexual conduct should be illegal. He also said theres no difference between gay sex and sex with a cow, horse or dog.

Moores stand, combined with the fiery comments from his supporters  unnerved some in Birminghams relatively small LGBT community.

It made me extremely angry, said Mackenzie Gray, a 37-year-old who came out as transgender in 2010. She says most people in her life dont know she was born a man.

My fear with the religious leaders and the hateful rhetoric were hearing is that its going to start escalating into something even larger, Gray said. Its dangerous.

Indeed, other LGBT activists suggested this week that open acceptance of Moores anti-gay rhetoric hearkens to a dark and violent time in Alabama history.

Moores Democratic challenger, Doug Jones, is known best, perhaps, for prosecuting the men who bombed Birminghams 16th Street Baptist Church  a prosecution that came nearly 40 years after the 1963 crime that killed four black girls. Racial tensions have lingered in the state, even as the violence lessened. In 2000, Alabama became the last state in the country to overturn its ban on interracial marriage.

The state has been slow to embrace gay rights as well: 81 per cent of voters supported a ban on same-sex marriage in 2006. Only neighbouring Mississippi, with 86 per cent, scored higher.

Patricia Todd, the states first openly gay state representative, says she has faced at least four death threats in recent years. One woman called Todds cellphone and vowed to kill her and her family, she said, noting that local LGBT leaders meet quarterly at the FBI office in Birmingham to help identify potential hate crimes.

Its been brutal, but its gotten to the point where I just laugh at them, Todd said Friday.

Shes not laughing at Moore.

Its awful because he says the most hateful things, she said.

In contrast to many conservative politicians with national ambitions, Moore has made little attempt to change his tone on LGBT issues as equal rights for the gay community has earned increasing acceptance among mainstream America.

Moores hero status among many Christian conservatives was cemented in 2016 when, as the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, he refused to comply with a Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. He was later suspended, the second time he was forcibly removed from the state Supreme Court.

Earlier this month, Moore said, The transgenders dont have rights, during a news conference, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.

Moores unapologetic positions  and his repeated promises to take them to the U.S. Senate if elected on Dec. 12  were celebrated at Thursdays news conference by the religious leaders who travelled from as far as Colorado, Ohio and Texas to stand at his side.

Rabbi Noson Leiter, who once called Hurricane Sandys destruction divine justice for same-sex marriage, lashed out at homosexualist gay terrorism.

We need Judge Moore to stand up to the LGBT transgender mafia, Leiter said. He added, We need someone with a proven record of facing off against the gay terrorists.

Another Moore supporter, Texas Christian activist Steven Hotze, warned in 2015 that children would be encouraged to practice sodomy in kindergarten as a result of same-sex marriage. On Thursday, Hotze refused to describe the union of two gay people as marriage: Its mirage because its just like a mirage  its phoney and its fake.

North Carolina-based Christian activist Flip Benham last year warned in a Charlotte City Council meeting that the policies that protect the civil rights of transgender people would trigger bloodshed coursing down the corners of our streets.

Were praising everything that God says is wrong and will destroy you, he said Thursday. Homosexual sodomy destroys those who participate in that behaviour and nations that approve of it.

He offered a pointed message to Moores critics: God doesnt send anyone to hell. Its a place you choose to go.

Benham then turned to Moore, who was sitting a few feet away with his wife. You got the applause of heaven.

Link to 2005 video: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4682986/roy-moore-2005-bill-press

Link to 2002 court case: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/al-supreme-court/1303306.html

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HARARE, ZIMBABWEGiddy with joy and finally free to speak out, vast throngs of demonstrators turned Zimbabwes capital into a carnival ground on Saturday in a peaceful outpouring of disdain for President Robert Mugabe and calls for him to quit immediately. Still clinging to his now-powerless post, the longtime leader was scheduled on Sunday to discuss his expected exit with the military command that put him under house arrest.

People in Harare clambered onto tanks and other military vehicles moving slowly through the crowds, danced around soldiers walking in city streets and surged in the thousands toward the building where Mugabe held official functions, a symbol of the rule of the 93-year-old man who took power after independence from white minority rule in 1980.

There, in a situation that could have become tense, the protesters instead showed deference to the small number of soldiers blocking their way and eventually dispersed.

It was a historic day when the old Zimbabwe, a once-promising African nation with a disintegrating economy and a mood of fear about the consequences of challenging Mugabe, became something new, with a population united, at least temporarily, in its fervour for change and a joyful openness that would have seemed fanciful even a few days ago.

The euphoria, however, will eventually subside, and much depends on the behind-the-scenes manoeuvring to get Mugabe to officially resign, jump-start a new leadership that could seek to be inclusive and reduce perceptions that the military staged a coup against Mugabe. The president was to meet military commanders on Sunday in a second round of talks, state broadcaster ZBC reported.

The common enemy is Robert Mugabe. Thats for starters, said 37-year-old Talent Mudzamiri, an opposition supporter who was born soon after Zimbabwes independence.

He had a warning for whoever takes over Zimbabwe: If the next leader does the same, we are going to come out again.

Many Zimbabweans believe the most likely candidate will be Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former vice-president with close military ties whose dismissal by Mugabe triggered the intervention of the armed forces, which sent troops and tanks into the streets this week, effectively taking over the country.

The increasing presidential ambitions of Mugabes wife Grace, a polarizing figure who denounced Mnangagwa amid a factional battle within the ruling ZANU-PF party, alarmed those who feared a dynastic succession.

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Leadership is not sexually transmitted, read a poster at the Harare rallies. Other signs denounced Gucci Grace, a reference to the first ladys record of high-end shopping expeditions outside Zimbabwe, which suffered hyperinflation in the past and is currently struggling with a cash shortage and massive unemployment.

The discussions over Mugabes fate come ahead of a key ruling party congress next month, as well as scheduled elections next year.

The president, who is believed to be staying at his private home in Harare, a well-guarded compound known as the Blue Roof, is reported to have asked for more time in office. He has been deserted by most of his allies, with others arrested. The ruling party has turned on him, asking for a Central Committee meeting this weekend to recall both him and his wife, who heads the womens league of the party. Impeachment is also a possibility when Parliament resumes Tuesday.

Even as concerns remained about who next would be in charge and what freedoms might be available if the military lingers in power  or if Mugabes recently fired deputy leads a new government  people revelled Saturday in the rare chance to express themselves freely.

In Harare, people ran through intersections, raising their arms in triumph. Young men shouted, laughed and embraced. Others danced on top of moving buses. One man stripped to his underwear and danced on a car roof.

Some marchers had posters with an image of the military commander who swept in to take control, with the slogan: Go, go, our general!!! Marchers handed flags to soldiers, who accepted and waved.

Its like Christmas, said one marcher, Fred Mubay, who said Zimbabweans have been suffering for a long time.

Veterans of the long war against white minority rule, once close allies of Mugabe, took part in the demonstration, along with opposition activists who long have faced police crackdowns by the Mugabe government. Thousands gathered for speeches at the Zimbabwe Grounds, where Zimbabweans gathered to cheer Mugabes return from exile in 1980 after the liberation war.

Elizabeth Sithole, 60, said her husband died in 2004, she lives with her children in a 2-room apartment and her business selling vegetables has collapsed. On Saturday, though, she had a big smile while standing near soldiers in downtown Harare.

Im very happy, she said.

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PARISTunisian-born designer Azzedine Alaia, a fashion iconoclast whose clingy styles helped define the 1980s and who dressed famous women from Hollywood to the White House, has died.

The French Haute Couture Federation announced Alaias death on Saturday without providing details. Twitter tributes to his influence on fashion poured in from around the world.

The couture federation said Alaia was born in 1940, while the Tunisian Culture Ministry said he was born in 1942. The discrepancy could not immediately be explained.

Secretive and known as a fashion rebel, Alaia was based in Paris for decades but did not take part in the French capitals seasonal fashion frenzy or flashy ad campaigns. Instead, he showed privately on his own schedule.

Rather than bending to the conventional fashion scene, Alaia built his own system, and family of supporters, and since the turn of the millennium he had become an increasingly important voice for the value of striving to perfect and explore a single proprietary esthetic and against giving in to the relentless pressure to produce collections.

His kitchen, where he was famous for holding free-flowing lunch and dinner gatherings, for which he often cooked, was his soapbox, and he would regale guests long into the night with opinion, stories and exhortations.

He dedicated his life to the belief that fashion was more than just garments, but rather an element in the empowerment of women.

Alaia sometimes was dubbed the king of cling for the form-fitting designs he first popularized during the 1980s and updated over the decades. Naomi Campbell was a favoured model, and Michelle Obama wore his designs as U.S. first lady.

Campbell, who enjoyed a close relationship with Alaia for many years and affectionately called him papa, has credited the designer with helping launch her career and taking care of her like a father when she met him in Paris at age 16.

In July, Campbell made a rare catwalk appearance for the designers Paris couture show  his first since 2011  and said on Instagram at the time: Its always an honour to walk for you 1986-2017.

His houses website described him as the little man in eternal Chinese pyjamas who built a legend, that of a rebel designer who worked against the system and its trends.

Multiple museums have held retrospectives of Alaias work, including the Guggenheim in New York and Paris Palais Galliera, which put on a show in 2013 that highlighted his way of slowing down time.

A genius who weaved connections among fashion, architecture and fine arts, sculpting creations to magnify womens bodies. A free and generous man, loved and admired, former French Culture Minister Audrey Azoulay, who recently became director of the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO, said in tribute to the designer.

Born in Tunisia in 1935, Azzedine Alaia was raised by his grandmother and earned a diploma at the Tunis Fine Arts Institute, according to his houses website. He arrived in Paris in the 1950s, where he rented a room in a countess home in exchange for small jobs.

He learned to sew at Guy Laroche and worked briefly at Christian Dior, and started his own house in 1980. He worked with superstars as well as low-cost retailer Tati, well before H&M popularized that kind of high-low co-operation with well-known designers.

Alaia received offers to take over other fashion houses, but he routinely refused. He sought financial support in the 1990s and kept his company going. It had revenue of 60 million euros last year.

He is survived by his nieces and nephews; his partner, painter Christoph von Weyhe; his closest collaborator, Carla Sozzani, and all those who worked with him.

With files from The New York Times

Note to readers: An earlier version of this story included Alaias age as 77. However, that detail has been removed due to the discrepancy explained in this updated version.

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WASHINGTONAn FBI report on the rise of Black extremists is stirring fears of a return to practices used during the civil rights movement, when the bureau spied on activist groups without evidence they had broken any laws.

The FBI said it doesnt target specific groups, and the report is one of many its intelligence analysts produce to make law enforcement aware of what they see as emerging trends. A similar bulletin on white supremacists, for example, came out about the same time.

The 12-page report, issued in August, says black identity extremists are increasingly targeting law enforcement after police killings of Black men, especially since the shooting of Michael Brown roiled Ferguson, Mo., in 2014. The report describes cases in which extremists had acted in retaliation for perceived past police brutality incidents. It warned that such violence would probably continue.

Black leaders and activists were outraged after Foreign Policy revealed the existence of the report last month. The Congressional Black Caucus, in a letter to FBI director Christopher Wray, said the report conflates black political activists with dangerous domestic terrorist organizations and would further erode the frayed relationship between police and minority communities.

I have never met a Black extremist. I dont know what the FBI is talking about, said Chris Phillips, a filmmaker in Ferguson.

Before the Trump administration, the report might not have caused such alarm. The FBI noted it issued a similar bulletin warning of retaliatory violence by black separatist extremists in March 2016, when the country had a Black president, Barack Obama, and Black attorney general, Loretta Lynch.

But Black voters overwhelmingly opposed Donald Trump. And they are suspicious of his administration, which has been criticized as insensitive on racial issues, including when Trump was slow to condemn white nationalist protesters following a deadly rally in Charlottesville, Va.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a former Alabama senator whose career has been dogged by questions about race and his commitment to civil rights, did not ease lawmakers concerns when he was unable to answer questions about the report or its origins during a congressional hearing this past week.

Sessions said he was aware of groups that do have an extraordinary commitment to their racial identity, and some have transformed themselves even into violent activists. He struggled to answer the same question about white extremists.

It wouldnt be unusual for an attorney general not to have seen such an FBI assessment, which the FBI creates on its own to circulate internally among law enforcement agencies. But the exchange with Rep. Karen Bass, a Los Angeles Democrat, presented an uncomfortable moment.

What worries me about this terribly is that this is that it is a flashback to the past, Bass said after the hearing. She said she was especially concerned after receiving complaints from members of Black Lives Matter, who said they were being monitored and harassed by police in her district.

The group rallies after racially charged encounters with police, but it is not mentioned in the FBIs intelligence assessment. Even so, Bass said she worried the report will send a message to police that its OK to crack down on groups critical of law enforcement.

The FBI does not comment on its intelligence bulletins, which usually are not public. In a statement, the FBI said it cannot and will not open an investigation based solely on a persons race or exercise of free speech rights.

Our focus is not on membership in particular groups but on individuals who commit violence and other criminal acts, the FBI said. Furthermore, the FBI does not and will not police ideology. When an individual takes violent action based on belief or ideology and breaks the law, the FBI will enforce the rule of law.

The assessments are designed to help law enforcement agencies stay ahead of emerging problems and should not be seen as a sign of a broader enforcement strategy, said Jeffrey Ringel, a former FBI agent and Joint Terrorism Task Force member who now works for the Soufan Group, a private security firm. Agencies can decide for themselves whether the assessment reflects a real problem, he said.

Still, some veterans of the Black and Latino civil rights movement said the FBI assessment reminded them of the bureaus now-defunct COINTELPRO, a covert and often illegal operation under director J. Edgar Hoover in the 1950s and 1960s. Agents were assigned to expose, disrupt, misdirect, or otherwise neutralize the activities of black nationalists, Hoover said in a once-classified memo to field agents.

David Correia, an American Studies professor at the University of New Mexico, said the new memo carries a similar message.

Its part of their playbook, he said. They try to characterize legitimate concerns about something like police violence as somehow a danger so they can disrupt protests. The FBI used a similar tactic to try to cause confusion among New Mexico Hispanic land grant activists in the 1960s, he said.

The cases listed in the new bulletin include that of a sniper who said he was upset about police treatment of minorities before killing five officers during a protest in Dallas, and a man who wrote of the need to inflict violence on bad cops before killing three in Baton Rouge, La. In each of the cases, the FBI alleges the suspects were connected to radical ideologies linked to Black nationalism.

Phillips, who is set to release a film about the shooting of Brown and its aftermath, said if the FBI were really worried about unrest, it should turn its focus to the concerns of the people who are protesting in the streets instead of targeting people who face discrimination daily.

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MADRIDThe ousted mayor of Caracas pledged to spread his protest against Venezuelas socialist government across the world as he arrived in Spain on Saturday, a day after escaping from house arrest and slipping past Venezuelan security forces into Colombia.

Antonio Ledezmas flight from Bogota landed at Barajas airport in Spains capital, Madrid. With a Venezuelan flag draped over his shoulder, he hugged his wife and two daughters and said he would fight Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from exile.

I am going to dedicate myself to travelling the world, to spread the hope of all Venezuelans to escape this regime, this dictatorship, Ledezma said. Venezuela isnt on the verge of an abyss, it has fallen into the abyss.

Read more: Ex-Caracas mayor heading to Europe after fleeing house arrest in Venezuela

Maduro, for his part, called Ledezma a vampire flying around the world.

Ledezma started his global tour by meeting Saturday with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy at the presidential palace hours after his arrival. Neither politician spoke publicly after the meeting. Ledezma has not said what other countries he plans to visit.

Ledezma, 62, was removed as mayor of Caracas and detained in 2015 on charges of plotting to oust Maduro. He was one of the leaders of anti-government protests that rocked Venezuela in 2014 and led to the jailing of other prominent opponents.

Besides his family, he was greeted in Madrid by the former president of Colombia, Andres Pastrana, and the former Venezuelan ambassador, Fernando Gerbasi.

Venezuela is completely collapsing. We cant wait any longer, Ledezma said. We dont have any resources left, only our morale.

Ledezma told The Associated Press on Friday that his decision to flee was driven by threats intended to force the opposition to resume negotiations with Maduros government. Fellow opposition leader and former cellmate Leopoldo Lopez remains under house arrest in Venezuela.

After slipping past intelligence police officers stationed outside his residence 24 hours a day, he passed through several police checkpoints in a long journey by car to Colombia. Colombian immigration authorities said Ledezma entered the country legally across the Simon Bolivar Bridge.

Ledezma thanked both Spanish and Colombian authorities for what he described as warm welcomes.

Ive lived out a James Bond movie, he said, appearing elated. I made this route of more than 24 hours, passing 29 control points, checkpoints, crossing paths, accepting all the risks, and in every moment I always thought about the value of freedom.

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WASHINGTONA co-chair of the U.S. Congressional Animal Protection Caucus says more needs to be done to protect animals threatened with extinction.

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican, said on Saturday that President Donalds Trumps delay of a new policy that would allow trophies of African elephants shot for sport to be imported, was a step in the right direction. In his statement, Buchanan called the sport hunting of African elephants shameful and said the U.S. should support a permanent ban.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it would allow such importation, arguing that encouraging wealthy big-game hunters to kill the threatened species would help raise money for conservation programs.

Read more:

Trump decides to keep the ban on importing elephant trophies  for now

Trump administration reverses Obama-era ban on bringing trophies from elephant hunts to U.S.

VIDEO: Donald Trumps sons battle PETA over killing African big game animals

Animal rights advocates and environmental groups criticized Thursdays decision. California Rep. Ed Royce, the Republican chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, urged the administration to reverse the policy, calling it the wrong move at the wrong time.

Trump tweeted Friday that he would delay the policy until he can review all conservation facts, even though the policy had been under study for years. He said he would put the decision on hold and review it with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Zinke issued a statement later Friday saying: President Trump and I have talked and both believe that conservation and healthy herds are critical. As a result, in a manner compliant with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, the issuing of permits is being put on hold as the decision is being reviewed.

We should not encourage the hunting and slaughter of these magnificent creatures, Buchanan said. We dont get a second chance once a species becomes extinct.

Royce questioned the action because of concerns not only about African wildlife but U.S. national security, citing the political upheaval in Zimbabwe, where the longtime president was placed under house arrest this week by the military.

The administration should withdraw this decision until Zimbabwe stabilizes, the committee chairman said in a statement. Elephants and other big game in Africa are blood currency for terrorist organizations, and they are being killed at an alarming rate. Stopping poaching isnt just about saving the worlds most majestic animals for the future  its about our national security.

Both of Trumps sons have engaged in big-game hunting, and photos of them posing in 2012 with the carcasses of species including an elephant and waterbuck have circulated widely on social media. In one image, Donald Trump Jr. is wearing an ammunition belt and holding the severed tail of an elephant in one hand, a knife in the other.

The Fish and Wildlife Service said in a written notice issued Thursday that permitting parts of elephants from Zimbabwe and Zambia to be brought back as trophies will raise money for conservation programs. The change marks a shift in efforts to stop the importation of elephant tusks and hides, overriding a 2014 ban imposed by the Obama administration. The new policy applies to the remains of African elephants killed between January 2016 and December 2018.

Legal, well-regulated sport hunting as part of a sound management program can benefit certain species by providing incentives to local communities to conserve those species and by putting much-needed revenue back into conservation, the agency said in a statement.

Royce said that when carefully regulated, conservation hunts could help the wildlife population, but that said, this is the wrong move at the wrong time.

He described the perilous situation in Zimbabwe, where the U.S. Embassy has advised Americans to limit their travel outdoors.

In this moment of turmoil, I have zero confidence that the regime  which for years has promoted corruption at the highest levels  is properly managing and regulating conservation programs, Royce said. Furthermore, I am not convinced that elephant populations in the area warrant overconcentration measures.

The worlds largest land mammal, the African elephant has been classified as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act since 1979.

Illicit demand for elephant ivory has led to devastating losses from illegal poaching as the natural habitat available for the animals to roam has also dwindled by more than half. As a result, the number of African elephants has shrunk from about five million a century ago to about 400,000 remaining. And that number continues to decline each year.

One group that advocates for endangered species called for more action after Trumps Friday night tweet. Its great that public outrage has forced Trump to reconsider this despicable decision, but it takes more than a tweet to stop trophy hunters from slaughtering elephants and lions, said Tanya Sanerib, senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. We need immediate federal action to reverse these policies and protect these amazing animals.

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With a gun up the nose and a small hand on the trigger, I came face to face with the use of children as weapons of war. From that faithful encounter at a roadblock in Rwanda as Force Commander of the UNAMIR mission, peacekeepers such as myself have faced the strategic and tactical use of child soldiers across the globe, often without the knowledge or training required. That is, until now.

On Wednesday, the Canadian government released the Vancouver Principles as part of the UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial. Endorsed by UN troop contributing countries, the Vancouver Principles seek to equip peacekeepers with the knowledge and tools to proactively prevent the six grave violations against children  outlined in United Nations Security Council Resolution 1612  specifically their recruitment and use as child soldiers.

It also demands that countries take on their own national implementation of preparedness to prioritize the protection of children in armed conflict.

Child soldiers are recruited and used in 14 country contexts by seven state armies and 54 armed groups according to the latest UN secretary generals Report on Children and Armed Conflict released in October. Not isolated to one region of the world, the use of children as weapons of war is a truly global issue, one that can no longer be ignored or relegated to the margins of the peace and security agenda.

As of August, some 94,154 uniformed personnel  troops, police, military observers and staff officers  were engaged in 15 peacekeeping missions around the globe. Yet almost every peacekeeper that participates is ill-equipped to prevent or address the recruitment and use of child soldiers, just as I was that fateful day more than 20 years ago.

The security sector has a critical role to play in this prevention oriented approach, and must be adequately prepared and trained.

Without effective training peacekeepers to underreact, overreact or not react at all, leading to a situation that can be catastrophic for all involved, from the peacekeeper to the child.

With children being used intentionally and systematically across the world in all forms of conflict, whether by armed groups, state forces, or violent extremists, it is ever more critical to prevent their use if we are to end conflicts.

As Canada re-engages with the United Nations, it can demonstrate leadership with respect to providing guidelines, training and moral authority on the need to prioritize and actively end the recruitment and use of child soldiers. This can be Canadas contribution to capacity building of UN peace operations now and into the future. This can change the way peacekeeping is done.

Lester B. Pearson put Canada on the map through the creation of the concept of peacekeeping but the world has changed a great deal since that time. War has changed and therefore our approaches to addressing conflict must change. It is now time for Canada to improve the effectiveness of peacekeeping missions overall.

Together let us put childrens rights upfront as the cornerstone that can be built upon to create a legacy for our country, for our soldiers and for our children.

Lt.-Gen. Romeo Dallaire (retired) is the founder of the Romeo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative. Dr. Shelly Whitman is the executive director of the Romeo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative.

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Mohammad Salimullah, a Rohingya refugee living in the Indian capital New Delhi, is again living in fear.

Having fled Myanmar more than 14 years ago to escape persecution, Salimullah now lives in a makeshift Rohingya settlement, where he owns and operates a small general store.

"Here, after becoming refugees, we found the right to work, the right to go anywhere we'd like," he said.

"The (government in Myanmar) kept us in such a narrow and helpless state," he tells CNN.

Now, he worries that his hard-won freedom is under threat.

On Tuesday, India's supreme court will consider a case brought on behalf of Salimullah against the deportation of the more than 40,000 Rohingya refugees in India.

The attempt to deport the refugees comes as more than half a million Muslim Rohingya have been forced to flee from Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh to escape deadly violence that has been described by the United Nations as "ethnic cleansing."

Attitudes change

Changes in people's attitude to Delhi's Rohingya first began in August, when news emerged of guidance sent by India's federal government, currently run by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, to the country's 29 states, asking local officials to identify illegal immigrants for deportation -- including, the guidance said, Rohingya Muslims who had fled Myanmar.

"As per available estimates there are around 40,000 Rohingya living illegally in the country," India's junior home minister Kiren Rijiju told Parliament on August 9. "The government has issued detailed instructions for deportation of illegal foreign nationals including Rohingyas."

Rijiju characterized the move as a "continuous process."

The words from one of India Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ministers set off a wave of fear and uncertainty across Rohingya settlements in India.

"We felt scared, we asked people about what we should do, who we should talk to," Salimullah says. "Where else can we go?"

Temporary settlements

Salimullah left Myanmar in 2003, after, he says, his father was harassed and locked up by the police. He spent eight years in Bangladesh, working as an auto rickshaw driver. But life in Bangladesh was also restrictive, he adds. "You had to get permission just to leave the camps."

He eventually left for India, crossing the border with his family in 2011. The Rohingya in India are scattered across India, from Kashmir in the north to Hyderabad in the South. Salimullah decided on Delhi.

Salimullah now lives in Kanchan Kunj, a Rohingya settlement in the city's southeast, just off the banks of the Yamuna river.

Kanchan Kunj is one of four Rohingya settlements in the city, and the oldest. The 50-odd homes there are all temporary structures, made with wooden planks, held down with bricks and covered in tarp. The structures last somewhere between two to four years, Salimullah said, though the community itself has been there since 2012.

Flies swarm in front of Salimullah's shop, a wooden structure that stands on a patch of land off the banks of the Yamuna river in the city's hinterlands. They buzz and loop around his body, but he doesn't spend much time batting them away.

When the news about the risk of deportation broke in August, Salimullah suddenly started getting visitors at his shop. Local political party representatives, activists, reporters -- people who wanted to find out more about him and his fellow Rohingya refugees after the minister's remarks.

It was then, as the media and others descended on Kanchan Kunj, that Sailmullah learned that he could petition India's top court to try and prevent deportation.

He was still apprehensive, though. "I thought we can't go there (Myanmar) they will kill us. What can I do about this?" he says.

Eventually, he approached supreme court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who agreed to take his case and filed a petition asking for protection of Rohingya refugees from deportation on September 1.

The legal action came against the backdrop of growing humanitarian crisis in Myanmar's Rakhine State and neighboring Bangladesh.

The recent outbreak of violence is believed to have begun when Rohingya militants attacked border posts killing 12 security officers on August 25, according to Myanmar's state media. In response, the military intensified what it terms "clearance operations" against "terrorists."

Many of those fleeing these clearance operations bring with them stories of horrific, indiscriminate violence, entire villages being burned to the ground, and children and women murdered.

Myanmar's military denies charges of ethnic cleansing.

Moral obligations

So why does India want to deport the Rohingya back to Rakhine State?

In an affidavit submitted to the supreme court on September 18, the government said that there exists "authentic material indicating linkages of some of the unauthorized Rohingya immigrants with Pakistan based terror organizations" and "that many of the Rohingyas figure in the suspected sinister designs of ISI/ISIS and other extremist group."

The government said that it would submit evidence of this to the supreme court in a "sealed cover."

To date, no evidence has been made publicly available that firmly links Rohingya refugees with international terrorist networks.

The Indian government has also argued that India is not signatory to the specific UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, nor the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. A total of 148 countries are signatories to one of these two legal agreements that outline the rights of refugees and are meant to protect them.

But Bhushan, the lawyer arguing the petition for the Rohingya in Delhi, says India cannot back out on its moral obligations to protect the vulnerable.

While India does not have specific legislation governing the status of refugees, the country has a history of accepting refugees in times of crisis.

At the time of Bangladesh's founding in the early 1970s, for example, India played host to millions of refugees from across the border. So, regardless of a legal framework, "they have in practice abided by the refugee convention," Bhushan says.

Furthermore, while India may not have signed the refugee convention, it is party to many other international conventions, like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which include the principle of "non-refoulement," which is the right guaranteed to refugees to be protected from violence in their home country, Bhushan argues.

"Clearly the Indian government is now going back on its long-stated policy towards refugees in the case of Rohingyas, and is playing domestic communal politics with them by trying to whip up communal sentiment, by labeling them as Muslims and potential terrorists," he adds.

It is unclear whether India has developed specific plans to remove the Rohingya, which would require the direct involvement of the Myanmar government.

Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingya as citizens and does not issue them official documentation -- rendering them effectively stateless.

India has recently tightened up border security in its northeast, denying entry to four Rohingya at the India-Bangladesh border.

As the debate rages on publicly, refugees like Salimullah continue to live in fear as they encounter more local hostility.

For the first time, his five-year-old community has decided to pool together money to pay three men to stand guard at night, he tells CNN.

"Now the issue has become political, and people here say things like 'you people are terrorists,'" he says.

"If they're going to deport us, then there should at least be an example of a terrorist attack, or evidence that the country's in danger," he adds. "We've been here for years, and if you go to the local police station, there's not a single (criminal) report against us."
Striking faculty reject colleges contract offer, Nov. 16

Thursdays no vote confirms that the college structure is dysfunctional and also underlines the Kathleen Wynne governments failure to show leadership in a situation that cries out for the fairness and opportunity they brag about. The students futures could have been saved if the premier had agreed at the outset to address the precarious working conditions of most faculty.

Money seems to be the colleges main concern, with students running a distant, but lately convenient, second.

So heres a suggestion: Let the faculty and students go back to school and have the administrators stay home (or walk the line if they are so inclined). With the help of the largely part-time support staff, the colleges would be able to deliver education as before. The savings from the salaries of full-time administrators would add greatly to the governments fund for students in difficulty and the 24 presidents could busy themselves pressuring the mysterious, government-appointed College Employer Council to start negotiating in good faith.

Judy Robinson, Toronto

Precarious jobs hurt people and our society. If Premier Kathleen Wynne really cares about the underemployed and underpaid, she should take a stand against exploitation in the provinces colleges.

Teachers cannot live on hit-and-miss, underemployment income. Meagre and unpredictable pay cant possibly encourage the best performance overall. And staffing colleges with a preponderance of part-timers shows our government is not serious about the value of post-secondary education. College teachers should not be treated like casual fast-food employees.

All Ontario political parties should put a stop to systematic exploitation. Will we see a bill to limit part-time staffing before the next election? Dont hold your breath.

Bruce Rogers, Lindsay, Ont.

There are about 500,000 students caught in the middle of this strike at Ontario colleges. The issues are quite clear: the ratio of part-time to full-time teachers is way out of proportion. In some departments, only 40 per cent are full-time professors.

The part-time teachers receive lower wages but have the same responsibility, and many do not have any office space or health benefits.

And how can you plan courses with other teachers when they might be gone in the next term? Has anyone asked if there are part-time administrators?

The provincial government needs to show some leadership and get the students back into the classroom. They have suffered enough.

Jim Jackson, Aurora

As the college strike drags on, the lack of action is outrageous. The provincial government would have us believe it is not up to them to end the strike. Absolute nonsense. They are responsible for education and should have legislated the teachers back.

The colleges would have you believe they cannot hire more full-time staff. This is something we have to do as a society. We need to provide work. There has to be a way to address that issue.

The union has posted on its website, One Day Longer, One Day Stronger. What kind of a message is that to the students? For students, its one day longer, one day further from their goals, jobs and hopes. Its one day longer to pay for when they have no money. It is a shameful message. It is a shameful display of power.

What future student would want to enrol in a college in Ontario if they are going to be faced with the uncertainty of a strike? How would the resulting decline in enrolment help the teachers or the colleges?

Carol Walthers, Aurora

I am a full-time teacher at Seneca College and I am eager to return to my students. But I rejected the College Employer Councils offer because I know the union negotiators still have a chance to grind out a contract thats fair to all faculty.

When I finally return to my students after the strike, I want them to know I strongly support equal pay for equal work. This is what I want for them after they graduate, so how can I abandon my own colleagues right now?

Fairness is not too expensive. Its for our futures as workers in Ontario. Its a matter of principle. Faculty at our colleges deserve fairness and so do our students.

Mary Gerritsma, Toronto

Dont let Ontarios college system suffocate itself, Cohn, Nov. 9

Martin Regg Cohn criticizes college teachers for making academic freedom  something he thinks should matter only to cutting-edge professors in the rarefied world of research universities  an issue in their dispute with college management.

I taught in a college for nearly 30 years. Throughout that time, two defining features of the college system particularly concerned me: first, academic managers (chairs and deans) often have no expertise and sometimes no or little training in the academic areas for which they are responsible and, second, most academic managers do not teach once they become managers, even if they are chairs or deans for decades.

What this means is that important decisions about curriculum and assessment are routinely and exclusively made by people who often are, at best, out of touch and, at worst, in the dark. Faculty have no power at all to challenge these decisions, even if they make sense only in terms of cost-saving.

Maybe such realities should be called matters of educational integrity, rather than academic freedom. Whatever they are called, there is nothing rarefied about them. They affect the quality of students college education every day and they need to be changed.

Frank Gavin, Toronto

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Canadian tax hypocrisy that favours the rich must end, Opinion, Nov. 13

Kudos to Ed Broadbent for telling the truth about the way this country panders to the top 10 per cent and, even more, the top 1 per cent  at the expense of the rest of us.

There are several simple changes the Liberal government could enact easily and quickly to help to redress this favouritism.

Add several tax brackets to make the income-tax system much more progressive. Today, the top 10 per cent is taxed at a far lower rate than it was before the Brian Mulroney tax changes of the early 1980s.

Tax 100 per cent of capital gains, instead of just 50 per cent. This is unearned income, gained by doing nothing but sitting on your bum and watching the value of your stock portfolio and real estate climb magnificently over time. How can you morally justify the taxation of unearned income at half the rate of earned income? This is a huge perk for the wealthy, and the main reason for the remuneration of top managers via stock options.

Tax the inheritance of high-value estates. Canada is the only Western country that has no estate tax whatsoever. The taxation of wealth (as opposed to income) is the most direct way to reduce social inequality.

Abolish tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs). Only people with high incomes, or people who are already rich, can take advantage of this perk. Every year, the government loses more tax revenue because of TFSAs.

Not only would these changes mitigate the ever-increasing social inequality of our era, they would significantly augment government revenue  urgently needed for improved health care, eldercare and reconciliation with Canadas Indigenous peoples, to name only three of many pressing needs.

Steven Spencer, Pickering

Ed Broadbent writes, The case for taxing investment income on the same basis as employment income on the grounds that a buck is a buck dates back to the Carter Commission of the 1960s when another Liberal government failed to act on it.

The problem is the ultra-rich are Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus personal friends and he prefers to run defence for them than to do what is right for the public good.

Former finance minister Allan MacEachen tried to reform the tax system under then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau but, like Carter before him, the government of the day distanced itself from any idea of true reform and let both of these truly honourable men get practically eviscerated by all the real (rich) powers. Its all about the Golden Rule: Them thats got the gold makes the rules.

Jennifer A. Temple, Welland, Ont.

As a retiree living on a pension, I am definitely part of the Broadbent constituency, but I am also aware that the 1 per cent are not a monolithic society.

They represent hedge funds and humanitarian funds. One size does not fit all. The fund owners have Canada to thank for their financial success, and they belly up to the bar for health care, airports, clean water and safe streets.

They owe some proportion of their wealth to the country that gave them so much. Nonetheless, these hidden treasures serve many purposes and taxation needs to be applied justly.

To eviscerate a fortune that underwrites Canadian jobs or benefits working-class people would be wrong. Revenue Canada needs to take a case-by-case approach. An iron fist in Ed Broadbents glove.

Hugh McKechnie, Newmarket

Ed Broadbent shines a bright light on the biggest issue of our time: tax reforms that will cut through many complex aspects of our socioeconomic system.

A progressive and clearly defined tax system would address many issues we have been struggling with since the dawn of the 21st century.

We need a tax system that encourages savings and productive investments, while it shifts the tax burden from working people to the wealthy and big corporations. For many years, the middle- and lower-class have been paying taxes while the rich have been taking advantage of it.

A reformed tax system will prevent the creation of generations of wealthy individuals and corporate monopolies, which have taken advantage of societal privileges without paying their fair share. The wealthy have made their money on the backs of the working people.

The Paradise Papers show how the rich, with the help of law firms, have parked 12 per cent of the worlds wealth in offshore accounts, which does nothing to improve the economy. The sheer number and diversity of people and corporations involved in these tax havens is frightening. It is truly like discovering a galaxy of hidden money that public officials have a hand in helping hide away.

Reforming the tax system is possible if there is political will.

Ali Orang, Richmond Hill

Canadian tax hypocrisy that favours the rich must end, Letter, Nov. 15

Numbers can be fascinating, especially when they are about money. This letter writer says that, according to the CRA, the top 0.75 per cent of Canadians, in terms of income, paid 21.2 per cent of all personal income taxes, and that the top 10.2 per cent paid 57.2 per cent.

Further, the top 1 per cent have taxable income equalling 11.7 per cent of all taxable income while paying 10 per cent more in tax than the total taxable income.

These numbers are intended to demonstrate that the rich are paying more than their fair share. But I found them to be nothing but confusing, almost as if they were chosen to defeat efforts to compare statement to statement. Maybe the following will provide a clearer picture.

Fortune magazines most-recent issue states that the richest 1 per cent in the world possess more than 50 per cent of the worlds household wealth. That would seem to suggest that Canadas tax paid by the rich has a lot of growth potential. These numbers I understand.

David Kister, Toronto

Tax the wealthy, dont bash them, Letters, Nov. 14

In response to David Howards letter, I would like to consider the following. There are three main ways you can earn income.

First, by the sweat of your back or the sweat of your brow. This first income should be taxed as it is now, in progressive stages but at rates that are the least possible.

The second way is by having people work for you. Yes, you are providing employment but if they dont work, you get nothing. That income should be taxed progressively but at higher rates than salary or wages.

The third way is by having money work for you through dividends, interest or capital gains. That income should be taxed at the highest rate. The concept of risking capital deserving consideration pales in comparison to the risk to life and limb working in a mine or industrial factory.

Also, the idea that because a company has paid tax should mean there should be no tax on dividends implies that money has some kind of memory. If that were true, then people like firefighters and police officers who are paid with tax dollars should not have to pay any income tax, as that is tax money already.

Bill Armstrong, Markham

Governments are failing at tax-haven whack-a-mole, Nov. 11

After decades of tax avoidance by Canadas wealthy, we now have the exposure in detail of the Panama Papers and the Paradise Papers.

Our current federal government assures Canadians it will restore the principle of tax fairness. Why should Canadians believe this promise? It is the political process and our elected MPs that preserve this economic injustice.

As the Star reported, Parliament and those who bankroll them control the law. It is highly unlikely the wealthy will forfeit their advantage simply because Canadians think its unfair.

Talk is cheap and the government wont move until pushed. I challenge all Canadians to organize a Canada-wide tax boycott. Until tax fairness is achieved, we should refuse to pay any taxes owing, beginning April 2018.

And every MP should be lobbied to support an immediate tax overhaul. Tax fairness can only be achieved by law, not mealy mouthed promises by those concerned only with preserving their own self-interest to the detriment of the rest of us.

Gordon Wilson, Port Rowan, Ont.

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The House of Representatives late Thursday approved a major tax reform legislation along party lines, moving along a vital part of the Trump Administration's agenda. Inside the sweeping bill is a provision targeting hedge funds, a category of investor that Trump has insisted were "getting away with murder."

At issue in the battle over taxes is the way carried interest - the profits received by many hedge funds, private equity managers, and venture capitalists - is treated as capital gains with a top basic rate of 23.8% as opposed to the top ordinary income rate of 39.6%. A move to treat carried interest as ordinary income could significantly increase the amount of taxes fund managers pay.

However, a measure included in the House-passed legislation generally leaves the tax break in place but puts restrictions on a small subset of the investment sector. Specifically, the proposal would limit the carried-interest tax break by increasing the length of time assets would need to be held to qualify for the break, from one year to three years.

The goal of the change is to keep in place the treatment for firms that create jobs, but hike taxes on those that don't. The idea is that it is easier to argue that private equity firms, real estate companies, and venture capitalists, for the most part, create jobs while hedge fund managers do not and therefore the first category investments should be protected while the second sector, hedge funds, should not. The Senate may take a tougher tack on carried interest but for now, the House measure is the one that appears to be moving forward.

All this is good news for top buyout shop managers like billionaire private equity mogul and Blackstone Group co-founder Stephen Schwarzman, who was chairman of President Trump's strategic and policy forum until it was disbanded in August.

Mark Proctor, a partner at Vinson & Elkins LLP in New York, said if approved the measure will generally not have an impact on taxation of private equity fund managers, real estate firms or venture capitalists because the investment strategies employed by these individuals tend to hold assets for more than three years. Private equity firms typically have funds that hold portfolio companies for up to seven years before a business is sold or taken public. "Most private equity, venture capital, and real estate managers will qualify for this from day one without doing anything else," Proctor said.

Under current law, the lower long-term capital gains rate kicks in once an investor holds an asset for more than a year. Proctor noted that some hedge fund strategies, such as high-frequency-trading, hold their investments for less time. As a result, incentive fees paid to managers who employ these strategies currently don't qualify for the lower capital gains treatment and they won't be impacted by the change. However, he added that managers who pursue longer-term "buy and hold" strategies, including activist hedge fund operators, would more likely be impacted.

Kai Haakon Liekefett, head of the shareholder activism response team at Vinson & Elkins, agrees that such a tax change, if implemented, would hurt activists. "Activist hedge funds by nature need to be able to retain the ability to cut and run if need be," Liekefett said. "If they have to hold for three-plus years to avoid a tax penalty that would create a serious problem for a lot of hedge funds whose strategies are often based on shorter holding periods."

He added that it would be particularly problematic for the smaller and startup activists, whose investors often have much shorter lock-up periods.

The tax treatment could have a broader impact on their strategy. Proctor suggests that the tax treatment could create a bias to hold securities for longer periods of time. He added that some activist fund managers may become reticent about launching a campaign at a particular targeted business for fear that they would be punished with higher taxes if their position is liquidated in less than three years. "They'll be cautious and may choose not to launch a campaign if they see a situation where they might have to get out quickly,' Proctor said.

Another discouraging factor involves hedge fund holding periods. While most private equity funds lock up their investors' capital for up to 12 years, hedge funds, for the most part, offer their investors liquidity. Hedge fund investors in many situations can choose when to withdraw their capital - as a result, fund managers do not have as much control over how long they hold their investments.

"If a lot of a hedge fund's investors redeem their positions it creates a situation where the fund manager needs to liquidate its positions," Proctor said. "That may mean they would have to sell equity that they have held for less than three years."

The Treasury Department estimated in 2016 that $19 billion would be raised over ten years from treating carried interest as ordinary income, up from about $18 billion over ten years as estimated in the government's 2015 budget. However, Proctor said he suspects that the change in tax law, as proposed, wouldn't lead to a dramatic increase in revenue raised from carried interest because it would only impose the tougher tax treatment on a small subset of all the types of funds that currently benefit from the carried interest provision.

During the 2016 election campaign candidate, a bipartisan consensus appeared to form among top candidates, Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, that it was time to raise taxes on fund managers of all kinds. The prevalent idea around this was to treat carried interest as ordinary income. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that there never really was a consensus on the issue, with many suggesting that a Democratic administration would have sought to hike taxes on a much broader group of fund managers, including those managing private equity and real estate.

Proctor noted that Trump's background is in real estate and many of his advisers come from the private equity and real estate worlds, all of which likely informed his perspective on the issue.

"The President had to come up with a solution to make good on his promise but at the same time didn't want to hurt the economic interests of real estate investors and private equity investors," Proctor said.

More of What's Trending on TheStreet:

Editors' pick: Originally published Nov. 17.
After taking a year off in college Claire returned to her new year in CIT where she met fellow-fourth year, Conn.

They got to know each other on college nights out in The Brog before romance blossomed. Together for ten years, Conn proposed in May 2015 on the cliff walk in Ballycotton  one of their favourite places. Almost a year later they got married.

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The couple tied the knot in Ballinacurra House in Kinsale on a day the weather was so glorious it called for sun cream. Bride Claire donned separates - a skirt from Coast and top from Folkster - in a modern, stylish twist on the traditional white dress.

Their day went seamlessly - despite Claire having to pop into her local shop to use the toilet on the way to the church - and guests left with framed Polaroids, happy memories, and a bit of a tan.

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Their wedding photos are by Into the Light.

The Dress

Although Claire tried on five wedding dresses initially, in the end she decided against the traditional white dress, and wore separates instead. Her skirt was from Coast, and her top from Folkster. She also had her dressmaker make a couple of adjustments to make the outfit her own, such as changing the colour of the skirt's underlining.

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The Venue

The couple chose Ballinacurra House for their reception.

"We went to visit one or two places but nothing was jumping out at us," said the bride. "The minute we arrived at Ballinacurra House we knew it was the wedding venue for us. It is so intimate and a bit quirky, which we loved."

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The Details

Because they loved their venue as it was, Claire and Conn made very few changes to the decor. They set up a Polaroid station for guests to take pictures of themselves as keepsakes which they could add to one of the couple's home-made frames. We also had a wish jar for guests to pop in little notes for us. We didnt need to do much else as we felt Ballinacurra is just fab the way it is.

The Day

Claire and Conn celebrated their nuptials with 111 guests and the entire thing went 'seamlessly'. The Irish weather played a blinder too, with some guests even getting a bit sunburnt it was so hot.

Video of the Day

For the bride the drinks reception was the highlight of the day; "The drinks reception was amazing. It was exactly as we had wished: Sun shining, Gary Baus playing swing music and all our friends and family mingling."

The Moment

"My Dad surprised me with a limo to bring us to the church. When we got to Ballygarvan I needed to go to the loo so I had to go into the local shop - It's my local shop so I didnt feel too bad!"

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The Stress

"Assembling and sending out the invitations!"

The Supplier

"My good friend, Louise McSorley of Old Schoolhouse Flowers, did so much for us. I met her once to give her some of my ideas and she did everything else. It was so professional."

The Advice

"I know its easy to say but dont get too stressed," says Claire. "It will ruin the whole experience. Also, involve your family. Its an experience that will bring you together. Everyone wants the best for the couple."

The Honeymoon

The couple spent a week in Elea Resort Santorini Suites in Greece.
Axalta Coating Systems Ltd., through its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes high-performance coatings systems in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. It operates through two segments, Performance Coatings and Transportation Coatings. The company offers water and solvent-borne products and systems to repair damaged vehicles for independent body shops, multi-shop operators, and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) dealership body shops. It also provides functional and decorative liquid, and powder coatings used in various industrial applications, including architectural cladding and fittings, automotive coatings, general industrial, job coaters, energy solutions, HVAC, appliances, industrial wood, coil, and oil and gas pipelines; and coatings for building materials, cabinet, wood and luxury vinyl flooring, and furniture market under the Voltatex, AquaEC, Durapon, Hydropon, UNRIVALED, Tufcote, and Ceranamel for liquid coatings; and Alesta, Nap-Gard, Abcite, Teodur, and Plascoat brands for powder coatings. In addition, the company develops and supplies electrocoat, primer, the basecoat, and clearcoat products for OEMs of light and commercial vehicles; and coatings systems for various commercial applications, including HDT, bus, and rail under the Imron, Imron Elite, Centari, Rival, Corlar epoxy undercoats, and AquaEC brands. It also sells its product under the Audurra, Challenger, Chemophan, ColorNet, Cromax, Cromax Mosaic, Durapon 70, Duxone, Harmonized Coating Technologies, Imron ExcelPro, Lutophen, Nason, Spies Hecker, Standox, Stollaquid, Syntopal, Syrox, Raptor, U-POL, and Vermeera brand names. The company was formerly known as Axalta Coating Systems Bermuda Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. in August 2014. Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
I've heard of the happening in the DR...orivate information given and then an employee emailing for $ etc

It was nice that the resort contacted you...enjoy yourbtrip
<<1. I presume the stingers are out in force at Exmouth and around the Reef and stinger suits are thus required.>>

No. In my understanding, no dangerous stingers as Ningaloo Reef/Exmouth is too low a latitude for the stingers so no suit needed.

<< Are jellyfish suits easily available for hire at Exmouth? >>

No, not needed.

Exmouth ideas:

<< 3. Is there much to do in Broome over the summer? I understand that the Kimberley is flooded and inaccessible and that there are stingers around, so I assume swimming is also impossible. >>

Summer is monsoon weather in tropical latitudes like Broome and Port Douglas, so it will be very hot with high tropical downpour rainfall (which could block some roads) and high humidity. Some Broome tours will closed at that time because its low tourism season. Swimming is possible but not recommended due to possibility of dangerous stingers, but some people still do. I would book accommodation with a pool and solve the swimming problem that way.

Here's your Broome options:
Hi I have just read a post that worries me. We had intended to travel from Kyoto to Haneda airport to catch a flight out on Saturday 16 June at 14.05. However, the post I read said that travel on a Saturday can be difficult and that I cannot pre-book on the train. I had assumed that I would be able to catch the bullet train quite easily and that leaving at 8 am would leave us a ton of time to make our flight. Could someone please advise me if I may be in trouble.

Many thanks.
This is a 'hypothetical' query at present.

A possible flight from Narita to Australia has an 8 hour break at KIX. Kids 6 and 8 would be involved. They have been to Osaka before but not Kyoto.

Would this allow a 'hit and run' visit to one or more sights at Kyoto, like Kiyomizu-dera or Fushimi Inari?
I also agree that it's better to stay at an Onsen Ryokan at Miyajima, instead of Hiroshima.

I also think it's better to round trip back to Tokyo, instead of flying out from Kansai Airport, because usually the open-jaw air flights of flying in Tokyo and out Osaka is more expensive than the road trip flight to Tokyo.

If you don't come with your kid, I think it's better to go to Kawaguchiko from Tokyo, instead of Hakone, because the transportation is cheaper to Kawaguchiko than to Hakone and yet there are more Onsen Ryokans where you can see Mt. Fuji from your room in Kawaguchiko: if you come with your kid, he or she might enjoy the transportations in Hakone Round Course.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5210.html

I understand it's good to activate your 7 day JR Pass when you move to Kyoto from Tokyo, if you stay 3 nights in Kyoto, 2 nights in Osaka and 1 night in Miyajima or Hiroshima. But, unless you go to USJ in Osaka, I think you only need 1 night in Osaka, and then you can activate your JR Pass when you go to Kawaguchiko or Hakone and go to Kyoto from there:

Shinkansen Hikari Superexpess from Odawara if you go to Hakone and from Mishima if you go to Kawaguchiko.

https://www.japan-guide.com/bus/gotemba.html

http://www.fujikyu.co.jp/citybus/highwaybus/pdf/Mishima_Kawaguchiko_Liner_timetable_english.2017.pdf

Here is a detailed itinerary of a 9 Days trip using the 7 day JR Pass which includes Tokyo, Kyoto, a half day trip to Nara, a day trip to Osaka, Hiroshima/Miyajima, and Mt. Fuji area (Hakone or Kawaguchiko) for your reference.
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 []
Hello! I think it depends on what kind of traveller are you.

If you are into sight seeing and culinary (let's say you spend 2000 yen per meal for 7 days), I think It's more than enough to shop and dine comfortably during your trip.

But if you are into shopping.. then I think it is really depends on what you shop.. lol

I remember going to a Japanese branded clothes store last year, and each clothes cost around 10,000.

So if you are into shopping, prepare to bring alot.. 

About the Bullet Train, are you planning to stay in Mt Fuji area or you want to take bullet train just to see Mt Fuji? 

Edited: 4 years ago
How do I get from the airport (JFK, LGA, or EWR) to Manhattan?

What To Do During Layovers?

Vacation Apartment Rentals Violate NYC Laws

Hotels: Kitchenettes and kitchens in 100+ Manhattan Hotels

Hotels: Two queen beds plus a kitchen/kitchenette

Hotels: Guests under 21 years old (but at least 18)

Hotels: Which ones charge an additional Resort or Facilities Fee

Hotels: When is the best time to go for cheaper rates?

What are the Must-See's and Must-Do's?

How Do I Ride the Subway (UPDATED)?

Tips, Hint and Suggestions for First Timers

SCAMS to avoid in NYC

What Will the Weather Be Like During My Trip?

Any Good Websites for Researching My Trip?

How Safe is New York?

Where to Eat in NYC

Where to eat in NYC - Part 2

Celiac in the City? (gluten free)

Which Area Should I Stay In?

Is There Cheaper Lodging Outside Manhattan?

How Much Do I Tip People?

Are the New York Pass, Explorer Pass or CityPass worth it?

How Do I Hail a Taxi?

Public restrooms/toilets. Where do you go when you GOTTA GO?

Where are the best areas for shopping?

How do I find Discount Tickets for Broadway Shows?

What are the NYC Halloween events for 2021?

Thanksgiving 2021 in NYC: What to Do & Where to Eat

Christmastime in NYC 2021: Dates for the Trees-Windows-Markets-Ice Skating+MORE!

Christmas Day 2021 in NYC: What to Do & Where to Eat

What Should I Do on New Year's Eve?

How Will I Survive the Cold Weather?

Where are the Farmers Markets and Street Fairs?

What is there to see and do near WTC/SOL/Brooklyn Bridge/SI ferry?

What should I know about visiting the 9/11 Memorial and Museum?

What Is There to See and Do in Brooklyn?

How Do I Get to the Brooklyn Bridge?

What Is There to See and Do in Queens?

Exploring neighborhoods - where should I go and what should I see?

Which is the best? ESB or TOTR or OWO?

Which are the significant churches in Manhattan?

Hidden Gems in the city - not so touristy

How do I get from NYC to the Meadowlands and back?

I'm Getting Married in NYC...what do I need to do?

Should I Buy Knock-Off Purses?

What to Do with Kids and How to Do It?

What should we do at night -- especially with kids or under 21's?

Places to eat (and drink) with a view

Where is the Old FAQ?

Trip Reports: Families with Young Kids - Add yours!

Trip Reports: Groups of Friends - Add yours!

Trip Reports: Couples - Add yours!

Trip Reports: Families with Teenagers - Add yours!

Trip Reports: Solo Travelers - Add yours!

Trip Reports: Families of Adults - Add yours!
Hi,

could you give me some advice on the transfer. On our last visit, we took Airtrain and subway from JFK. This time I would prefer a transfer that is less exhausting.

We are going to stay in the USA for 3,5 weeks, so we will have two large suitcases.

We are flying into EWR, we are staying at Chelsea Savoy hotel and then leaving from JFK.

What would be the rates for a cab from EWR and to JFK? On an online taxi fare finder calculates a price of $47.07 from EWR and $51.04, but I guess I will be additional charges?

If we decide to take a cab, is there any need to pre-book it?

What would be good alternatives to a cab?
When we visited the GSUSA headquarters in NYC this past August, the Scout store was tiny and required security access to the 17th floor (nice view though). (You can search my name for my trip report).

I think this new ground floor store location opening next week will be convenient for Scouting enthusiasts like me and if you are in the area this week, the iconic Cookies will be for sale.

This is the press release that came via a Scouting site I follow.

Are you local to the New York City area, or planning to visit this holiday season? Dont miss a chance to experience the brand new Girl Scout Central flagship store opening Monday, November 20 at 8:30 AM.

Our new space is filled with exciting, new exhibitions jam-packed with all of the Girl Scout history, pride, and G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader) shine you can handle, plus more of the great Girl Scouts tools and swag you already love to choose from. Its an adventure sure to inspire adults and girls alike. And for a limited time, all Girl Scout Central shoppers will receive a FREE gift with purchase!

But wait. Theres more! Girls will be selling Girl Scout Cookies at the store for two days only, November 24 and 25, from 9 AM-noon, and 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM. Dont miss an opportunity to support her success as she takes the lead like a Girl Scout to change the worldfor her and for all of usall while savoring your favorite iconic treats.

And if you plan to attend the lighting of the 2017 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, make sure to swing by before the event. We are located at 420 5th Avenue (on 37th street, between 5th and 6th) just steps away from the Rockefeller Center.

We look forward to sharing this incredible, new space with you!

Have questions? Give us a ring at 212-852-5055.
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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 []
- Police officers battling NASA supporters resorted to throwing stones as the battle intensified

- Cameras showed police pelting vehicles with stones along Haile Selassie Avenue near Uhuru Park

- The also teargassed NASA supporters and their leaders as they tried to gain entry into Uhuru Park

Police on Friday, November 17, were pictured resorting to stones and teargas as they battled re-energised NASA supporters who were keen on entering Uhuru Park grounds.

They managed to keep NASA supporters off Uhuru Park grounds which they had cordoned off when it emerged NASA intended to hold a rally there.

TV cameras showed armed police hurling teargas canisters at the opposition supporters, with water cannons spraying the dreaded water with ferocity.

READ ALSO: Robert Mugabe attends graduation ceremony despite military coup

When the teargas could not work enough for the police, some resorted to pelting vehicles with stones that had been thrown at them by the opposition supporters.

READ ALSO: Kenya is not Zimbabwe and Uhuru should stand firm - Jubilee MP

The pelting of vehicles was captured live on Citizen TV as the police finally managed to keep the opposition supporters off Uhuru Park grounds.

Raila Odinga finally managed to address his supporters from Upper Hill in Nairobi.

READ ALSO: Kenya is not Zimbabwe and Uhuru should stand firm - Jubilee MP

The chaos erupted when police prevented NASA supporters from receiving Raila at the JKIA airport when he jetted in from America.

As reported by TUKO.co.ke, there were running battles between police and the opposition supporters in parts of Nairobi as Raila made his entry into CBD.

National Resistance Movement rally in Kibra ahead of Raila's returns from US on TUKO TV

Source: TUKO.co.ke
- DP Ruto branded Raila Odinga barbaric and primitive as he gave his sentiments on the opposition leader's return home from America and London

- Ruto said that Raila Odinga came back with his signature chaos, destruction, bloodshed and death

- This was after NASA supporters and police engaged in running battles on Friday upon Raila's return

Deputy President William Ruto did not hold back his disdain when he commented on the running battles between police and National Super Alliance supporters witnessed on Friday, November 17.

NASA took to the streets to welcome Raila Odinga back from his international travels but scenes turned chaotic as police used all manner of methods to repel the opposition brigade and their supporters from accessing Uhuru Park grounds for their pre-planned grand rally.

According to his Twitter update on Saturday, November 18, DP Ruto branded Raila barbaric, undemocratic and primitive.

READ ALSO: Police officer was killed during Raila's homecoming and TUKO.co.ke has the details

DP William Ruto. Photo: William Samoei Ruto/Facebook.

READ ALSO: I called Raila Odinga and his Safaricom line is still active - Mutahi Ngunyi

DP Ruto's sentiments came after Raila expressed disappointment that police, instead of President Uhuru and the DP himself, met him and his opposition supporters at the airport.

According to prior TUKO.co.ke reports, Raila condemned the police brutality and wondered why the two national leaders hadn't come to meet him at the airport from his travels in the United States and United Kingdom.

READ ALSO: Amnesty International reacts to Raila's chaotic and bloody welcome home party

Raila Odinga with his supporters as they made their way from the airport to the city center. Photo: NASA Coalition/Facebook.

Install TUKO App To Read News For FREE

"You have been waiting since morning and I say thank you. You have shown great love. My anger is only towards this young man called Uhuru Kenyatta. Instead of welcoming me to the airport, he opted to spend time with his deputy, William Ruto," said Raila.

As Raila's convoy snaked across the city in as much as 6 hours, several vehicles were damaged in the running battles as police used teargas, water canons, stones and alleged live bullets to repel the opposition leaders and their supporters.

READ ALSO: NASA differs with police on number of people killed during Raila's chaotic reception from 10-day US trip

Police worked to repel the opposition from accessing the Uhuru Park grounds for their grand rally on Friday, November 17. Photo: TUKO.co.ke

Five people lost their lives and several others were left with various degrees of injuries.

Have something to add to this article? Send to news@tuko.co.ke

Source: TUKO.co.ke
The Ministry of Health is reminding the public of the dos and donts when it comes to dealin
First Deputy Head of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Alexander Hug will pay a visit to Donetsk and Luhansk regions next week.

Ukrinform learned this from the press service of the OSCE.

"Alexander Hug will pay a visit to the east of Ukraine on November 19-25," the press service informed.

According to the report, Hug initiated a meeting with leaders of "DPR / LPR" terrorist organizations Oleksandr Zakharchenko and Ihor Plotnytsky, and he "is ready to discuss with them the security situation in the regions and the state of implementation of the Minsk agreements, as well as problems hindering the work of the SMM".

During the visit, Hug will meet with SMM observers and join them during patrolling along the contact line.

ish
Russian-backed militants launched 25 attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in ATO area in Donbas in last day.

This is reported by the ATO press center.

"Over the past day, illegal armed groups violated the ceasefire 25 times. The Ukrainian Armed Forces opened fire on the enemy 15 times. As a result of fighting, one Ukrainian serviceman was killed, another one was wounded and one more soldier sustained injury," the statement reads.

The tensest situation was observed in Luhansk direction, where the enemy opened fire from 120mm and 82mm mortars on the defenders of Trokhizbenka (33km north-west of Luhansk). The enemy used the same weapons to launch repeated attacks on Troitske (69km west of Luhansk) and Luhanske (59km north-east of Donetsk). ATO troops outside Novozvanivka (70km west of Luhansk) came under 120mm mortars. Militants also fired at Ukrainian positions near Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk), Novoluhanske (53km north-east of Donetsk), Svitlodarsk (55km north-west of Donetsk) and Zolote (67km north-east of Luhansk), using infantry weapons.

In Donetsk direction, Russian-backed militants used mortars of different calibers, grenade launchers and small arms to launch attacks on the Ukrainian strongholds near Pavlopol (30 km northeast of Mariupol). ATO troops outside Avdiivka (18km north of Donetsk) came under grenade launcher, heavy machine gun and small arms fire. The enemy used heavy machine guns to fire at defenders of Marinka (35 km south-west of Donetsk).

ol
One Ukrainian soldier was killed and another two were wounded in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) area in eastern Ukraine over the past day.

Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Spokesperson for ATO Andriy Lysenko said this at a press briefing on Saturday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Unfortunately, one Ukrainian serviceman was killed yesterday near Troitske [69km west of Luhansk]. Another one soldier was wounded and immediately sent to the hospital, Lysenko said.

He noted that one more soldier had been wounded in the enemy shelling of Ukrainian strongholds near Marinka (35 km south-west of Donetsk).

ol
A good progress is observed in the ongoing negotiations with the Irish low-cost airline Ryanair.

"Ryanair is not a matter of public discussion now, but the negotiations are ongoing. We have already seen a good progress [in negotiations], and I believe they will operate flights in Ukraine," Infrastructure Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Omelian said on the air of Channel 5.

"Moreover, I believe that we will hear some more pleasant news regarding the new carriers this year. The dynamic market development shows companies investment prospects. Ukrainians are ready to fly even with expensive tickets, and if the prices are cheaper, they will fly much more often," Omelian said.

As reported, July 10, 2017, Ryanair cancelled its planned entry into the Ukrainian market.

ol
The North Atlantic Alliance keeps adhering to the open door policy and is ready to accept new members.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said this at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"The doors of NATO are opened. The best proof is that the number of the Alliance members has almost doubled since the end of the Cold War. Moreover, Montenegro joined NATO in spring this year, having expanded the NATO membership up to 29 countries," Stoltenberg replied to the question about the Alliance's position regarding the possible membership of Ukraine.

However, he stressed that the state must necessarily meet certain standards to join NATO.

"Georgia and Ukraine are now focused on reforms: modernizing their defense institutions, tackling corruption, strengthening democracy. NATO and its allies help both countries implement these reforms," the NATO Secretary General said.

At the same time, Stoltenberg stressed that no third party had the right to interfere in this decision-making process.

ol
There is a substantial difference between how Germany and France envisage the possible deployment of U.N. peacekeepers in eastern Ukraine and Russia's position.

"Germany and France's idea and Russia's idea on how a blue helmets (peacekeeping) mission would be shaped are still very far apart," German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told journalists during an official visit to Belarus, Business Insider reports.

Nevertheless Gabriel said the deployment would represent a real chance for peace in the war-torn Donbas region.

"Although our ideas are still far apart, it would be inadvisable to close this window of opportunity," he said.

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France adheres to the sanctions regime against Russia although this makes French economy suffer losses.

French Minister for European Affairs Nathalie Loiseau said this during the meeting with Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.

"Despite the fact that the French economy suffers losses from sanctions, our country adheres to the sanctions regime as there are no prerequisites for its weakening," the French minister said.

In turn, Klympush-Tsintsadze stressed that European sanctions against Russia remained to be the main tool of influence on the Russian political leadership.

"To date, it is the most effective way to make the Russian regime implement the Minsk agreements and stop aggression against Ukraine. Ukraine relies on the continued support of France in this matter," the Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister noted.

In addition, the parties discussed Ukraine-France cooperation, preparations for the Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels, reforms in Ukraine, etc.

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The Memorandum of Cooperation on the Establishment of the National Memorial Complex of the Heroes of Heavenly Hundred  the Museum of the Revolution of Dignity has been signed at the Presidential Administration on Friday, November 17.

The document was signed by the Culture Ministry of Ukraine, the Hossbach Lehmhaus GbR and the Petro Poroshenko All-Ukrainian Charity Foundation, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"It is extremely important to me that the memory of the Revolution of Dignity and the Heavenly Hundred live forever... The best project competition finally starts... The Petro Poroshenko Charity Foundation, headed by Maryna Poroshenko, allocates the first sum of UAH 3 million [about $120,000] in our personal funds to launch the competition," President Poroshenko said at the signing ceremony.

Petro Poroshenko and Maryna Poroshenko handed over to Culture Minister Yevhen Nyshchuk a UAH 3 million check. The Head of State expressed the hope that other benefactors would also donate for this project.

According to the Culture Ministry of Ukraine, more than 60 applications from 12 world countries have been submitted for the architectural competition for the construction of the National Memorial Complex of the Heroes of Heavenly Hundred  the Museum of the Revolution of Dignity.

The winner in the competitions category Memorial to the Heroes will be announced on February 20, 2018, in the category Museum of the Revolution of Dignity  on June 26.

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The works by world-famous Ukrainian artists Mykola Babak and Evgene Matveev (art duo "BM Babak-Matveev") for the first time became a part of the group exhibition at the Alexandre Gertsman Contemporary Art Gallery, which opened in the center of New York on Friday.

Artists, diplomats, experts, journalists and modern art lovers attended the exhibition opening, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"It is an uncommon event to strengthen Ukraine's international image. It is the soft power of promotion of the national interests, which everyone is talking about today. It gives an opportunity to send a message to the world on the political, economic, cultural and spiritual changes in our country," Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations Volodymyr Yelchenko said at the exhibition.

He stressed that the world should reveal the "inexhaustible potential" of Ukraine. According to Yelchenko, the exhibition is also "an excellent platform for generating ideas for Ukraine's promotion on the international arena."

Ukrainian artist Mykola Babak is known for his participation in the 51st Venice Biennale with the National Project. Evgene Matveev is a laureate of the silver medal of the USSR Academy of Arts. Both artists are laureates of the T.G. Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine and have the title of the People's Artist of Ukraine. Three years ago, the artists started to work in a duo and have already created several large-scale projects.

The exposition with participation of the art duo BM Babak-Matveev will last until April 2018.

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The United States honors the millions of Ukrainians who were starved to death during the Holodomor in the early 1930s and condemns the efforts to deny this tragedy as a historical fact.

U.S. Department of State Spokesperson Heather Nauert released a corresponding statement on November 17, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"This month we remember and honor the millions of Ukrainians who were starved to death in the early 1930s as a result of the brutal Soviet-era policies under Stalin. The barbaric seizure of Ukrainian land and crops leading to the Holodomor, or death by hunger, was one of the most atrocious acts of the twentieth century and turned Europes breadbasket into a land of immense human suffering," the statement reads.

At the same time, the American side notes the resilience of Holodomor survivors.

"Ultimately, the Soviet regime failed to destroy the identity and independence of the Ukrainian people," the U.S. Department of State Spokesperson stresses.

The U.S. Department of State underscores that the United States stands with the people of Ukraine as we commemorate this Soviet-manufactured tragedy and condemn efforts to deny it as a historical fact.

The United States also reaffirms its commitment to "a secure and prosperous Ukraine, free from external aggression and occupation, and able to choose its own future."

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Phnom Penh police assert two former Radio Free Asia reporters were engaged in espionage after they allegedly used a guesthouse to send news reports to Washington.

The two journalists, Oun Chhin and Yeang Sothearin, were put under the jurisdiction of the municipal court and accused of supplying secret information to a foreign state.

If found guilty, they could each face prison terms of between seven and 15 years, authorities said.

Sim Vuthy, a municipal police chief, said: We have already submitted enough evidence and documents, including their action plans, their answers, and some more, so we can conclude that it is a conspiracy.

He did not say what secret information the reporters were alleged to have sent to the United States.

The two reporters were detained on Tuesday at the Marady Hotel in Phnom Penh, where they were allegedly in the process of setting up television equipment.

Both of the reporters denied the allegations of wrongdoing.

Their former employer, RFA, closed its bureau in Cambodia in September after what it described as a systematic campaign by the government to end its operations in the country. RFA was one of a number of foreign media outlets targeted by the government in recent months, including The Cambodia Daily, owned by an American, and Voice of America's Khmer Service.

Despite the closure of its' in-country reporting operations, RFA continues to broadcast Khmer-language news programs over short-wave radio and online from its base in Washington. RFA and VOA are international news broadcasters operating in multiple languages. Funding is provided by the US Congress.

After RFAs Cambodia bureau closed, the government warned it would take legal action against RFA staff who continued to work for the broadcaster.

Rohit Mahajan, an RFA spokesman in Washington, said in an email on Wednesday that the reporters had no relationshipcontractual or otherwisewith RFA to provide news or other services.

Sok Sam Oeun, a Cambodian legal specialist, said the charges only made legal sense if the information allegedly supplied to a foreign state was prejudicial to national security.

If sending information abroad is wrong, people using Facebook who share information, which can be seen globally, should all be arrested, Sok Sam Oeun said.

Ly Sophana, a court spokesman, confirmed the court had received the case from the police and will process it in accordance with the legal process.

The detentions have drawn international criticism from Reporters Without Borders and the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the US federal entity that oversees RFA and VOA.

The Reporters Without Borders' statement released Friday also expressed concern about the Thursday detention of former Cambodia Daily reporter, Len Leng, who was subsequently released. She was taken into custody outside the Supreme Court, which ruled Thursday to dissolve the opposition party, Cambodian National Rescue Party.

''These latest cases clearly show that the law and the judicial system are being used to suppress any independent reporting and, above all, to intimidate the entire press,'' said Daniel Bastard, the head of Reporters Without Borders' Asia-Pacific desk.

''We relay and share the deep concern of many journalists on the ground after these arbitrary arrests. International organizations need to understand the gravity of what is happening in Phnom Penh,'' Bastard said, according to the statement. ''The denial of media freedom means the end of a 25-year year democratic transition after the trauma of the Khmer Rouge genocide.''

John Lansing, the CEO of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, issued a statement Friday expressing concern for the well-being of the two former RFA journalists.

''We hope they will be released unharmed and immediately to their families,'' Lansing said.

The statement from Lansing confirmed the two detained journalists worked for RFA until September ''when the network was forced to suspend its in-country operations.''

''It is being reported that the two are being held under suspicion of continuing to work for RFA, despite the network's suspension of operations in Cambodia and the fact that their relationships with RFA, contractual or otherwise, discontinued in September,'' he said.

''While these continuing acts of intimidation are meant to instill fear, they only underscore the BBG's support for our networks and journalists, including those at RFA and Voice of America, and our resolve to continue providing the Cambodian people with unbiased, objective news,'' Lansing said.

''Press freedom is a basic human right and should be a universal priority. When we lose independent voices, we run the risk of conceding the information space to hostile regimes, extremists and rogues.''
On this edition of Press Conference USA, host Carol Castiel sits down with freshman Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), member of the House Financial Services Committee and Co-Chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus. He discusses a range of domestic and foreign policy issues from the Republican tax reform plan and cyber security challenges to the implications of recent Democratic victories in the states of Virginia and New Jersey.
Battered and beaten in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State terror group is surging fighters into Afghanistan, rebuilding its presence and perhaps setting up a new base for attacks on both the West and Russia.

Afghan officials tell Voice of America that Islamic State may now have as many as 3,000 foreign fighters in the country, many of them coming from Pakistan and Uzbekistan. They also fear those numbers are only likely to increase as IS fighters from Iraq and Syria leave those countries as part of an effort to regroup.

A large number of Daesh fighters are foreign fighters, said Afghan Ambassador Hamdullah Mohib, using an Arabic acronym for the terror group.

Those numbers have been further bolstered by a small number of Afghans within, Mohib said in Washington this week. The Taliban, some of the factions  some of the irreconcilable elements that are much more extreme  are also joining Daesh.

The latest Afghan assessment on Islamic State in Afghanistan, also known as IS-Khorasan province, runs counter to much of what U.S. and coalition officials have long been saying. Those officials, while careful not to minimize concerns, have depicted a terror group in retreat.

Targeting IS in Afghanistan

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis himself characterized the fight against IS in Afghanistan as going in the right direction this past July, following an airstrike in Kunar province that killed then-IS-Khorasan leader Abu Sayed.

Every time you kill a leader of one of these groups, it sets them back, Mattis said at the time.

The July strike followed an operation in April that led to the death of the previous emir, Abdul Hasib, following what U.S. officials described as a brutal, three-hour firefight in Afghanistans Nangarhar province.

And just two weeks before that, on April 13, the U.S. targeted an extensive IS tunnel-and-cave complex in Nangarhar with the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal, a GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb.

As a result of the sustained efforts, U.S. officials estimated the terror groups ranks in Afghanistan had been cut from a peak of about 3,000 fighters to about 600, believing most of them to be disgruntled former Taliban fighters.

But if the new estimates from Afghan officials are to be believed, IS has not only rebuilt its presence in the country in a span of about four months, but they have replaced them with new fighters, not worn down after losing the groups strongholds in Iraq and Syria.

It would also seem to indicate that the terror group is capable of doing more than just leveraging local insurgencies to keep its brand alive.

IS in Afghanistans north

One area of particular concern is Afghanistans northern Jowzjan province, a remote area where IS has been relocating fighters, many aligned with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, as well as their families.

Theyre establishing a military presence. Theyre implementing social control, said Caitlin Forrest, with the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Theyre collecting taxes.

According to Forrest and ISWs Jennifer Cafarella, some IS supporters and fighters are flocking to the region from Central Asia, places like Tajikistan and Chechnya, while others have come from as far away as France and Sudan.

Its a sign of whats to come, Cafarella said. This kind of consolidation of foreign fighters in one place is a signature of an external operations node.

And without much pushback from local or national Afghan forces, IS fighters have also been free to recruit both men and children from towns and villages, seemingly undeterred by the fall of the physical caliphate.

ISIS is still cashing in on the image of itself as the defender of the weak, Cafarella said, using an acronym for the militant group. She said the group is still able to sell the idea that it alone is willing to stand up to the West or to defend Sunni Muslims from Shiite forces controlled by Iran.

IS threatening West, Russia

There are also concerns that Afghanistan may not be the only area in which IS has managed to secure new footholds, and based on the type of propaganda, some counterterror analysts believe many of these IS nodes are bent on finding ways to strike the West and Russia as well.

The long wind-up to the fall of Raqqa and Mosul gave ISIS the window to prepare for its future in the so-called post-caliphate era, said Katherine Zimmerman with the American Enterprise Institutes Critical Threats Project.

ISIS began planning attacks in Europe from Libya, and all indicators point to ISIS strengthening in Libya, Zimmerman said, adding, ISIS will continue to cultivate its branches in the Sahara and Nigeria.

Some analysts also argue that even the presence of a small number of foreign fighters in certain areas has allowed IS to grow.

But top U.S. military officials argue that will be difficult.

I think they had aspirational views of going to other places, Joint Staff Director Lt. Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie told Pentagon reporters Thursday. But I would tell you, because of the global coalition that weve assembled and the ability of those nations in these disparate areas of the world to operate effectively against ISIS when it arises, that plan has not been terribly successful for them.

As for Afghanistan, officials there worry Islamic State will find a way to persist and strengthen, co-opting other extremists along the way.

The brutality will continue to increase, which is why we need to address it so rapidly, said Afghan Ambassador Mohib. The more time it takes, the more radical some of these groups become and their ideologies start to sync with each other.
The African Union on Friday called for Libyan authorities to investigate "slave markets" of black Africans operating in the conflict-torn nation, following the release of shocking images showing the sale of young men.

The demand followed the release of CNN footage of a live auction in Libya where black youths were presented to north African buyers as potential farmhands and sold off for as little as $400.

Guinean President Alpha Conde, who is also chairman of the African Union, demanded an inquiry and prosecutions relating to what he termed a "despicable trade ... from another era."

Meanwhile, Senegal's government, commenting on Facebook, expressed "outrage at the sale of sub-Saharan African migrants on Libyan soil," which constituted a "blight on the conscience of humanity."

African migrants from nations including Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Gambia make the dangerous crossing through the Sahara to Libya with hopes of making it over the Mediterranean Sea to Italy.

But testimony collected by AFP in recent years has revealed a litany of rights abuses at the hands of gang leaders, human traffickers and the Libyan security forces, while many end up stuck in the unstable north African nation for years.

More than 8,800 stranded migrants have been returned home this year, according to the International Organization for Migration, which is also amassing evidence of slavery.

Conde further appealed for the Libyan authorities to "reassess migrants' detention conditions" following revelations about squalid jails and detention centers that await migrants who are caught trying to reach the coast.

"These modern slavery practices must end and the African Union will use all the tools at its disposal," Conde added.

Libya has opened an investigation into the practice, CNN reported Friday, and pledged to return those taken as slaves to their countries of origin.
The Argentine navy said Saturday it has intensified its search for a submarine carrying 44 crew members that went missing Wednesday, but efforts are being hindered by strong winds and six-meter waves.

The navy lost contact with the German-built diesel-electric submarine as it was returning from a routine mission from the naval base at Ushuaia, in Argentina's extreme south, to its base at Mar del Platamand.

Despite the turbulent weather, base commander Admiral Gabriel Gonzalez said naval forces were increasing efforts above and below the water's surface and were preparing to comb the bottom of the ocean.

"The underwater search is obviously much more complicated than the search at the surface because it requires a combination of high-tech tools," Gonzalez said at a news conference.

The navy, which launched an air and sea search on Thursday, said an initial search at the vessels last known position, about 430 kilometers off the southeastern Valdez peninsula, turned up no clues.

Argentine officials said they accepted an offer from the United States to participate in the search. A NASA P-3 explorer aircraft that had been stationed in Ushuaia has joined Argentine military aircraft that have been flying over the area. Late Friday, the U.S. Southern Command announced a P-8A Poseidon plane departed an air base in El Salvador to join the search.

Argentine navy commander Carlos Zavalla encouraged family, friends and colleagues of the crew members to remain positive. "So far, the only concrete thing is the lack of communication," he said on local TV.

Pope Francis, a native of Argentina, was among many from around the world to offer support. The pope's office said on Saturday he is praying "fervently" for the crew to safely return to their families soon.

The navy has said it believed an electrical outage may have caused communication problems on the vessel. Navy protocol directs submarines to rise to the surface when communication is lost.
Campaigners expect the Australian parliament to legalize same sex marriage in early December. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has promised to change the law to allow gay couples to marry after Australians voted overwhelmingly for change in a historic postal survey.

This week history was made in Australia. Almost 8 million people - or about 62 per cent of those who took part in a postal survey - decided that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.

The result of the ballot is not legally binding, but Australias center-right Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is promising to act by Christmas to introduce a law that will allow all couples regardless of gender or sexual preference to pop the champagne and be wed.

Turnbull said Australians had voted overwhelmingly for fairness and commitment.

In Sydney, 89-year old John Challis is planning to marry his partner, Arthur Cheeseman, who is 85. They have been in a relationship for 48 years, and have been desperate to marry before they die.

Challis hopes that his wedding will be part of a double celebration.

I have got a 90th birthday coming up next year," he said. "We might sort of combine it with that. But as I have said before one of the important things for us is to have this marriage certificate because it affects the way in which our superannuation (retirement income) could play out. (It) gives us, I think, a new dignity, a new status, a new place in society. We are the same as everyone else.

Opponents of marriage reform in Australia insisted that allowing gay people to marry would threaten religious freedoms, destabilize society and expose children to radical views on homosexuality in the classroom.

4.9 million Australians did vote no, so those dissenting voices are a significant minority.

Australia inherited anti-gay laws from British settlers, who arrived in the late 1700s. Until 1949 the death penalty remained on the statue books for sodomy in the southern state of Victoria, but change did eventually come in 1975, when South Australia declared that male homosexuality would no longer be a crime. It would take the island state of Tasmania another 22 years to do the same. Female homosexuality was never criminalized.

Following this weeks decisive vote in favor of reform, gay marriage should be legal in Australia within weeks.
An Egyptian court has ordered a prominent activist to remain in custody pending trial on charges of participating in an illegal protest against the government's transfer of two strategic Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, a rights lawyer said on Saturday.

Mahinour el-Masry, a rights lawyer herself and notable activist from the country's 2011 uprising, and another defendant attended Saturday's trial in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, said Taher Aboelnasr.

The court ordered that they remain detained until it reconvenes on Dec. 30.

Aboelnasr said el-Masry and four other activists are on trial over charges of protesting illegally in June against the surrender of the islands of Tiran and Sanafir at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba to Saudi Arabia. The presidency has since ratified the transfer of the islands.

After the islands agreement was first announced in 2016, Egypt saw the largest anti-government protests since President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi took office in 2014. Hundreds of demonstrators and activists were arrested, with most later released.

In 2015, Egypt's top court sentenced el-Masry and two others to 15 months in prison on charges of attacking a police station in Alexandria in Dec. 2013.

She and her co-defendants were given two-year prison terms. They appealed and lost, but were given reduced sentences.

El-Masry, 31, is a member of the Revolutionary Socialists movement. She is widely known for her activism in many labor movements, and on behalf of Syrian and Palestinian refugees in Egypt. She has been outspoken on the rights of detainees and political prisoners.

El-Masry was awarded the Ludovic Trarieux Human Rights Prize in 2014 for her work as a "defender of human rights." At the time she was serving a six-month sentence in a separate case in which she faced charges of illegally protesting in 2013 in solidarity with Khaled Said, whose brutal 2010 death while in state custody helped spark Egypt's 2011 uprising.

All unauthorized demonstrations in Egypt are illegal under a law adopted in late 2013 and security forces have previously used lethal force against peaceful demonstrators.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, for the second time in as many days, has delivered a stern warning to Ethiopia over a dam it is building after the two countries along with Sudan failed to approve a study on its potential effects.

Ethiopia is finalizing construction of Africa's largest hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile. Egypt fears that will cut into its water supply.

Cairo said last week that the three countries had failed to approve an initial study by a consultancy firm on the dam's potential effects on Egypt and Sudan.

Ethiopia has repeatedly reassured Egypt, but Cairo's efforts to engage in closer coordination have made little headway.

El-Sissi sought to reassure Egyptians in televised comments Saturday, but stressed that "water is a matter of life or death."
U.N. investigators on Wednesday accused the Eritrean government of a quarter-century of widespread, systematic violations amounting to crimes against humanity.

The U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea released its second report on alleged violations of human rights in Eritrea, which painted a disturbing picture of a society in which abusive conditions and the use of conscripts as forced labor are the norm, rather than the exception.

The commission of three independent experts regarded Eritrea as an authoritarian state, with no independent judiciary, national assembly or democratic institutions. Commission Chairman Mike Smith said there was a vacuum in governance and the rule of law, resulting in a climate of impunity for crimes against humanity to be perpetrated over a quarter of a century.

He added that these crimes are still occurring today.

According to the report, crimes of enslavement, imprisonment, enforced disappearances and other inhumane acts are committed to instill fear in the population and deter political opposition.

Calm facade

The investigators said people should not be fooled by what they called the facade of calm and normality that visitors to Eritrea see. Smith told VOA many visitors to the capital, Asmara, and even foreigners living there, describe a situation that is very different from the apparent reality.

Human rights abuses of the type that we describe do not generally happen in the streets of Asmara," he said. "They are happening in detention centers across the country. They are happening in military camps. They are happening in training centers where foreigners simply do not have access.

Smith said violations, including torture, rape and murder, occur in hidden places. He estimated between 300,000 and 400,000 people have been enslaved during the past 25 years, doomed to serve indefinitely in the countrys system of national service.

Total loss of choice

The principal elements are the complete loss of choice  the fact that you are having to work and that you are not remunerated for your work; that you have to work, come what may, he said.

Smith said the military and national service programs are of indefinite duration and are frequently cited as a main reason for people fleeing the country. He said he thought Eritrea was still operating under a shoot-to-kill policy to stop people from crossing its borders.

He noted, however, that there has been "some relaxation, certainly at the local level, as to whether the soldiers really do shoot or not, or shoot all the time."

So people risk their lives just crossing the border, he said. They then risk their lives crossing the desert to get to the southern Mediterranean. That is the north of Africa, to Libya and similar places, from where they can then get a boat and risk that journey across to Europe, which is extremely dangerous.

The U.N. refugee agency said 47,025 Eritreans applied for asylum in Europe last year. Many others died while making the risky sea crossing. In one particularly tragic event, 366 people drowned when their boat capsized in October off the Italian island of Lampedusa. The UNHCR said nearly all the victims were Eritreans.

Refusal to cooperate

For a second year, Eritrean authorities refused to allow the commissioners to visit the country, so the U.N. officials gathered their information from 833 interviews with Eritreans abroad and 160 written submissions received from mid-2014 to mid-2015.

The commission also received 45,000 written submissions, which were largely critical of the commissions first report. The independent experts said these submissions were the direct result of an organized government campaign to attempt to discredit the inquiry.

Yemane Gebreab, adviser to Eritreas president, rejected this claim. He said members of the Eritrean diaspora have mounted a global campaign to oppose the unsubstantiated allegations of the Commission of Inquiry.

He said testimonies of those in the diaspora were given to the Commission of Inquiry secretariat. It is very strange that the commission that is set up to investigate into the human rights situation in the country would dismiss offhand the testimony of 42,000 people, he said.

Gebreab offered a lengthy, methodical rebuttal of the report, attempting to refute each accusation made and calling the report seriously flawed, unprofessional and one-sided. He dismissed the commissions charge that Eritrea had committed crimes against humanity since it gained its independence in 1991 as being without merit.

'No solid evidence'

The COI has no solid evidence or firm legal basis to support this extreme and unfounded charge, " he said. "The report of the COI fails to meet the principles of impartiality, objectivity and nonselectivity.

When asked by VOA to justify his criticism of the report as being one-sided, given that his government had refused the commission entry into the country, he said, We have not allowed the members of the Commission of Inquiry to visit Eritrea because from the very get-go, they have shown that they lack independence, impartiality and objectivity.

The investigators said they had compiled dossiers of evidence against a number of individuals they think bear responsibility for crimes against humanity. They said the evidence would be made available at the appropriate time to relevant institutions to ensure there is justice for the Eritrean people.

They called for the U.N. Security Council to refer Eritrea to the International Criminal Court. The commission will formally present its findings to the U.N. Human Rights Council on June 21.
At least five people were killed Friday as Kenyan police tried to disperse supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga in ongoing tensions over disputed elections.

Police fired tear gas and water cannons to try to stop supporters of Odinga from reaching Nairobi's center, where the opposition leader was to give a speech.

Police had warned earlier this week that they would not allow Odinga, returning from speaking engagements abroad, to address supporters. Opposition lawmakers, meanwhile, encouraged people to turn out.

Police said five people were stoned to death by angry mobs after they had been caught stealing, but several witnesses said police shot them. Police denied that any live rounds had been used.

Witnesses also described protesters throwing stones at police.

"This is a reckless, insensitive and primitive response to a crisis Uhuru Kenyatta himself has created," Odinga said in a statement that condemned attacks on his supporters.

Odinga had just returned from speaking in the United States and Britain about Kenya's political turmoil.

The opposition leader won an unprecedented court victory overturning the result of the August 8 presidential poll and nullifying President Kenyatta's re-election amid claims of irregularities. Odinga boycotted the new vote, claiming election reforms had not been made.



Kenyatta's win in the new vote is again being challenged at the Supreme Court with claims of irregularities.
The so-called godfather of coral is part of a new research mission to unlock some of the secrets of Australias Great Barrier Reef. Dr. Charlie Veron is part of a scientific team searching for the super corals that managed to survive consecutive years of bleaching on the worlds largest reef system.

Charlie Veron is one of the world's leading experts on coral reefs. Born in Sydney, he is known as the godfather of coral because he has discovered so many different species. He is part of the Great Barrier Reef Legacy mission, which is taking eight teams of scientists on a voyage to map and test the health of remote parts of Australias Great Barrier Reef.

They are searching for so-called super corals that managed to survive the past two years of devastating coral bleaching events.

Veron says the reef is in sharp decline.

It is gut-wrenching and I have lived with this now for close on 20 years," he said. "The predictions that scientists made well over a decade ago have all turned out to be spot on. Well, this is a very important trip because we are actually seeing for ourselves what corals are vulnerable to mass bleaching and what corals are surviving mass bleaching. So, once we know that we will be able to make smart decisions about coral, so the trip is really quite pivotal.

In April, researchers discovered that for the first time mass bleaching had affected the Great Barrier Reef in consecutive years, damaging two-thirds of the World Heritage-listed area.

When it bleaches, the coral is not dead, but it begins to starve and can eventually die. The reefs, though, are resilient, but what concerns scientists is that more frequent bleaching, which is caused by rising water temperatures, makes it harder for the coral to recover. Bleaching occurs when corals under stress drive out the algae that give them color.

Scientists believe that the main threat to the reef that stretches 2,300 kilometers down the Queensland coast in northern Australia is climate change.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is about the size of Italy or Japan and is so big it can be seen from outer space. It is home to more than 3,000 types of mollusks and 30 species of whales and dolphins.
Greek police clashed with hooded youths in Athens on Friday after thousands marched to mark a bloody 1973 student uprising that helped topple the military junta which then ruled the country.

More than 10,000 people marched peacefully to the embassy of the United States, which some Greeks accuse of having supported the seven-year military dictatorship. About 5,000 police were deployed in the streets of central Athens.

At the tail-end of the demonstration, hooded youths hurled stones and petrol bombs at police in the Exarchia district in central Athens, often the setting for such clashes. Police used teargas to disperse them.

Earlier on Friday, Greeks laid flowers at the Athens Polytechnic University to honour those killed during the revolt.

The junta collapsed less than a year later.

The annual protest often becomes a focal point for protests against government policies and austerity measures mandated by the country's international lenders in exchange for bailout funds. The crisis that broke out in 2010 has left hundreds of thousands of people unemployed.

Protesters held banners reading: "We will live freely" and "No pensioner will be fired!"

After seven years of belt-tightening Greeks hope that they will emerge from lenders' supervision in August 2018, when the country's third international bailout expires. Many of them accuse a political elite of driving the country to bankruptcy.
Saad al-Hariri, who announced his resignation as Lebanon's prime minister earlier this month, plans to visit Egypt Tuesday before returning home.

His office announced Sunday he will meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo.

A day later Hariri plans to return to Beirut and explain the surprising resignation announcement he made November 4 while in Saudi Arabia. In that appearance on Saudi TV, Hariri blamed Iran and Hezbollah, which is part of the Lebanese government, for the move, saying he feared for his life.

Hariri spoke Saturday at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron, who offered to help Hariri resolve his role in the bizarre Lebanese political drama.

"As you know I have resigned and we will speak about this matter there [Lebanon]," Hariri said, adding he would take part in the country's independence day celebrations on Wednesday.

"With regard to the political situation in Lebanon ... I will make known my position on these subjects after meeting President [Michel] Aoun," he said.

On Nov. 4, Hariri resigned from office on Saudi TV, sparking turmoil and skepticism. He blamed Iran and Hezbollah, which is part of the Lebanese government, for the move, saying he feared for his life.

On Sunday, as foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries met in Cairo to discuss confronting Iran, Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil stayed home.

Riyadh called for the Arab League meeting after it said Saudi air defenses intercepted a missile that was fired from Yemen November 4. Riyadh accused Iran-backed rebels fighting in Yemen of launching the rocket.

The White House issued a statement Saturday saying President Donald Trump had spoken with Macron about the situation in Lebanon and Syria and both presidents "agreed on the need to work with allies to counter Hezbollah's and Iran's destabilizing activities in the region."



'Behind the scenes'

The French president previously dismissed speculation he offered Hariri exile. But some are not so sure.



I think its hugely uncertain now about what is happening behind the scenes, said Julien Barnes-Dacey, Middle East analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations. What [Hariris] plans are after this, and the nature of this deal is hugely questionable.



Hariris announcement has highlighted the deep political fractures in Lebanon, torn between the competing influences of Shiite Tehran and Sunni Riyadh, and unleashed accusations the Saudis were detaining Hariri against his will.

Lebanon will have to overcome this big obstacle, Lebanese Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk said on Friday of Hariris departure for Paris, predicting a door will open to more stability.



Hariris visit clearly marks a diplomatic coup for 39-year-old French President Macron and his broader bid to reassert France on the world stage. That includes the Middle East, where Macron paid a surprise visit to Saudi Arabia last week at the height of the Hariri crisis, after inaugurating the new Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi.

The opening was seen by some observers as a manifestation of French soft power in the region.

Its certainly an achievement for Macron, Barnes-Dacey said of Hariris impending visit to France, which he noted also reflected a backtracking by Saudi Arabia in letting the Lebanese leader go.



If the move helps to stabilize the crisis, he added, I think that will be seen as a very successful French initiative.

Some skepticism

Others are skeptical about the potential payback.



Its a nice diplomatic coup for France, Middle East analyst Karim Emile Bitar told French radio, describing Frances invitation as face-saving for both Riyadh and Hariri. But, he added, it doesn't solve much.



If Hariri does indeed go into exile, it would not be a first for Lebanese officials.

Hariri spent three years residing in France and Saudi Arabia after the national unity government he then headed collapsed in 2011.



France was also home to Lebanese President Michel Aoun during his own 15-year exile that ended in 2005.



Beyond tapping historic French ties and influence in Lebanon, Macron is reaping the success of a more rebalanced French policy in the Middle East, some analysts say.



Even as his administration reaffirms its relations with powerful Sunni countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt -- Macron met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman last week and Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi last month. Macron is also mulling a visit next year to Tehran, where French businesses are scrambling to invest.
Afghan defense authorities acknowledged this week that Taliban militants have obtained night-vision equipment but fell short of confirming media reports that allege Russia had provided Taliban with the goggles.

The officials said Tuesday they would investigate whether the high-tech equipment that Taliban insurgents were allegedly seen using actually was provided by Russia.

We dont rule out that the Taliban possess night (vision) goggles, but they dont have many of them, General Dawlat Waziri, the spokesperson for the Afghan Ministry of Defense, told VOA. They have used them in Farah [province], Helmand [province] and some other places.

The New York Times on Monday reported that Taliban militants using sophisticated night-vision goggles killed eight Afghan police officers at a checkpoint near Farah, capital of the province of the same name in western Afghanistan.

High-tech gear

Night-vision goggles allow users to see in low-light conditions and effectively zero-in on a target without being seen. The equipment is widely used by U.S. forces as well as the U.S.-trained Afghan Special Operation Forces in their fight against Taliban and Islamic State militants in the country.

That Taliban have access to high-tech weapons has been reported in the media for a while. But the recent allegations of Taliban receiving Russian-made equipment prompted the Afghan government to investigate how the militant group is able to get the technology.

Russian embassy officials in Kabul denied that Moscow has been providing military or financial assistance to Taliban, saying the allegations are baseless.

A U.N. report published last year also highlighted that Taliban have access to highly specialized foreign military equipment.

Several high-ranking officials of the government of Afghanistan highlighted the fact that, during the ongoing fighting season, an increasing amount of highly specialized, modern equipment such as sniper rifles, laser sights and night-vision goggles had been seized from Taliban fighters, according to the U.N. report submitted to the Security Council.

Analysts charge that Talibans access to sophisticated weapons will further intensify the ongoing fight and could further strengthen Taliban against the Afghan security forces.

This device [goggles] would be installed on rifles. It can prove very dangerous, because it enables its user to see a person at night like a person at daylight. They also have accuracy and precision. Hence, its danger is immense, Atiqullah Amerkhail, a retired Afghan army general, told VOA.

Defense ministry spokesperson, Waziri, however, downplayed the potential threat to Afghan security forces.

Numerous media reports allege the night-vision goggles used by Taliban bear Russian manufacturers markings, which has led Afghan authorities to investigate whether Russia is giving the equipment to the Taliban.

It is easy to label something. They mark some weapons to create sensitivities against other countries and damage Afghan relations with other countries, Waziri said. The Afghan government will investigate to know whether they [goggles] are Russian-made.

Russia, which fought a war in Afghanistan from 1979-1989, has recently come under increasing criticism by Afghan and U.S officials for allegedly establishing ties with the Afghan Taliban.

Moscow has acknowledged it has been in contact with Taliban leaders, but maintained it wants to restart the stalled peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

US perspective

In April, General John Nicholson, commander of the U.S.-led NATO Resolute Support Mission, seemed to confirm that Taliban are receiving weapons from Russia.

We continue to get reports of this assistance. We support anyone who wants to help us advance the reconciliation process, but anyone who arms belligerents who perpetuate attacks like the one we saw two days ago in Mazar-e Sharif is not the best way forward to a peaceful reconciliation, Nicholson said, referring to a deadly and sophisticated Taliban attack on a military base in northern Afghanistan that left many Afghan soldiers dead.

Without naming Russia, U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis, during his first official visit to Afghanistan, earlier this year, warned that any flow of weapons from a foreign country to Afghanistan through means other than the Afghan government would be a violation of the international law.

However, Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesperson, claims the weapons and military hardware the insurgents have been using have been captured from the Afghan military on the battlefield.

Wahid Muzhda, a Kabul-based Taliban expert, told VOA the militants obtain military equipment from NATO supply convoys that fall into Taliban hands.

The Afghan government, however, has denied the Taliban claim.

Waziri, of the Afghan defense ministry, said that Taliban might have acquired the equipment from arms markets outside of Afghanistan that sell sophisticated weapons and army equipment.

Experts say trafficked arms and military hardware are easily available in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, including the thriving market for knockoff weapons and optics in the towns of Bara and Dara Adamkhail of the Federally Administered Tribal Region (FATA) in Pakistan.

Chinese versions of knockoff brands of U.S. military hardware are also sold in the region.

Bush Bazaar

The Bush Bazaar in capital Kabul, which took its name from the former U.S. President George W. Bush, has been famous for pilfered and discarded military gear from the U.S. and NATO military bases in the country.

Besides being crammed with Kraft cheese, Campbells soup, Gatorade, toiletries and electronics, the shops in Bush bazaar also sell sensitive military equipment such as sniper sights, night-vision goggles, boots and military uniforms.

Until recent years, one could buy army goggles for 500 to 600 U.S. dollars in Bagram and Kabul, Muzhda told VOA. A similar market existed outside the main U.S. military base in Bagram, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of Kabul.

Rahim Gul Sarwan contributed to this report from Kabul.
Mexicos President Enrique Pena Nieto has signed a new law aimed at addressing the countrys staggering number of unsolved disappearances.

Mexico has more than 30,000 missing people, many victims of the countrys drug violence or corrupt security forces. Advocates are hailing the law as a long-awaited start, but caution that the laws implementation will be critical.

Roberto Campa is the Interior Departments deputy secretary for human rights. He said Friday on Radio Formula that Mexicos two earthquakes in September had tightened government finances, but there would be enough funding to launch the effort.

The law signed Thursday would create a National Search System with local branches in the states.

It would also create new special prosecutors to handle disappearances and provide more forensic resources to investigations.


International aid group Doctors Without Borders says it has not been able to deliver live-saving medical and humanitarian assistance to the people in dire need in the Yemeni capital because of a blockade by a Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Shiite rebels.



The group, known by its French acronym MSF, says in a statement Saturday it hasn't received authorization from the coalition to fly from Djibouti to Sanaa.



The group welcomes the reopening of the port in the city of Aden; however it says this is far from sufficient to deliver timely and urgent medical humanitarian aid across Yemen.



The U.S.-backed coalition imposed a land, sea and air blockade Nov. 6 after a missile attack by rebels on the Saudi capital Riyadh. Saudi Arabia said Monday the coalition would lift the blockade.
Pro-trade Republicans in the U.S. Congress are growing worried that U.S. President Donald Trump may try to quit the NAFTA free trade deal entirely rather than negotiate a compromise that preserves its core benefits.

As a fifth round of talks to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement kicked off in Mexico on Friday, several Republicans interviewed by Reuters expressed concerns that tough U.S. demands, including a five-year sunset clause and a U.S.-specific content rule, will sink the talks and lead to the deals collapse.

Business groups have warned of dire economic consequences, including millions of jobs lost as Mexican and Canadian tariffs snap back to their early 1990s levels.

I think the administration is playing a pretty dangerous game with this sunset provision, said Representative Charlie Dent, a moderate Republican from eastern Pennsylvania.

He said putting NAFTA under threat of extinction every five years would make it difficult for companies in his district, ranging from chocolate giant Hershey Co to small family owned manufacturing firms, to invest in supply chains and manage global operations.

Hershey operates candy plants in Monterrey and Guadalajara, Mexico.

Lawmakers' letter

Nearly 75 House of Representatives members signed a letter this week opposing U.S. proposals on automotive rules of origin, which would require 50 percent U.S. content in NAFTA-built vehicles and 85 percent regional content.

They warned that this would eliminate the competitive advantages that NAFTA brings to U.S. automakers or lead to a collapse of the trade pact.

Representative Pete Sessions, a Texas Republican who has long been a supporter of free trade deals, said he disagreed with the Trump approach of trying to beat someone in the NAFTA talks. Texas is the largest U.S. exporting state with nearly half of its $231 billion in exports last year headed to Mexico and Canada, according to Commerce Department data.

We need to offer Mexico a fair deal. If we want them to take our cattle, we need to take their avocados, Sessions said.

Still, congressional apprehension about Trumps stance is far from unanimous. The signers were largely Republicans, with no Democrats from auto-intensive states such as Michigan and Ohio signing.

Democratic support

Some pro-labor Democrats have actually expressed support for U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizers tough approach.

Some of those demands are in tune, said Representative Bill Pascrell of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means trade subcommittee.

We dont want to blow it up, Republicans dont want to blow it up. But we want substantial changes in the labor, the environmental, the currency, on how you come to an agreement when theres a dispute, and on problems of origin.

Farm state Republicans are especially concerned that a collapse of NAFTA would lead to the loss of crucial export markets in Mexico and Canada for corn, beef and other products.

Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa said Lighthizer in a recent meeting agreed that a withdrawal from NAFTA would be hard on U.S. agriculture, which has largely benefited from the trade pact.

U.S. agricultural exports to Canada and Mexico quintupled to about $41 billion in 2016 from about $9 billion in 1993, the year before NAFTA went into effect, according to U.S. Commerce Department data.

Grassley said, however, that Lighthizers approach was taking everybody to the brink on these talks.

Other Republicans are taking a wait-and-see approach to the talks.

Representative Frank Lucas of Oklahoma said he was willing to give Trump the benefit of the doubt on NAFTA talks, adding that farmers and ranchers in his rural district were strong Trump supporters in the 2016 election.

The presidents a practical fellow. When push comes to shove, he understands the base, Lucas said.
It's been nearly six years since the Senate Ethics Committee conducted a major investigation of a sitting senator. Next year, the panel could be working nonstop, deciding the fate of up to three lawmakers, including two facing allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior.

The typically secretive committee of three Republicans and three Democrats said late Thursday that it planned to resume its preliminary inquiry into alleged misconduct by Senator Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat whose federal bribery trial ended in a mistrial. The panel had begun an investigation in 2012 but deferred to the Justice Department for its probe.

Delving into the onslaught of allegations of sexual misconduct by powerful figures, the ethics panel is expected to investigate Minnesota Senator Al Franken after a woman accused him of forcibly kissing her and groping her during a 2006 USO tour. Franken, a Democrat, has said he welcomes the probe.

The Senate is likely to enter uncharted territory on the case of Alabama's Roy Moore, a Republican who faces multiple complaints from women who said he pursued them when they were teens and he was in his 30s. If Moore wins the December 12 special election, the top Senate Republican says he would immediately face a formal ethics complaint.

'Rather unusual'

"He would be sworn in and be asked to testify under oath and it would be a rather unusual beginning, probably an unprecedented beginning," Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said this week at a Wall Street Journal event.

The flurry of activity is unusual for the panel, which until Thursday had not issued a press release since hiring a new staff director in 2014. The panel's last major investigation focused on John Ensign, a Nevada Republican who resigned in 2011 after revelations that he'd had an affair with the wife of a top staffer.

Disclosure of the affair and Ensign's actions to keep it quiet, including accusations that he helped the staffer find work as a lobbyist, resulted in investigations by the FBI, Federal Election Commission and the Senate. Ensign resigned as the two-year ethics investigation intensified.

The members of the committee have changed since then. The panel is chaired by Senator Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican, and Senator Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, is vice chairman. Other members are Republican Senators Pat Roberts of Kansas and Jim Risch of Idaho, along with Democrats Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire.

Robert L. Walker, a former chief counsel for the ethics panel, said senators who serve on the committee typically are respected by their peers. McConnell served on it, overseeing the investigation of Oregon Senator Bob Packwood.

"I don't think it's an assignment anyone relishes. No one relishes being in a position to pass judgment on others, especially one of their peers," Walker said. "But they understand the importance and ultimate seriousness of this assignment."

Gifts, travel, conflicts

Among the committee's responsibilities are dealing with Senate offices on gifts, travel, compliance with rules and potential conflicts of interests. Major investigations such as the Ensign and Packwood probes can take years to complete.

In 2008, the ethics panel admonished then-Idaho Senator Larry Craig, saying he'd acted improperly in connection with a men's room sex sting and had brought discredit on the Senate.

In a letter to the Republican senator, the ethics panel said Craig's attempt to withdraw his guilty plea after his 2007 arrest at a Minneapolis airport was an effort to evade legal consequences of his own actions. Craig initially announced he would resign his Senate seat, then reneged and served out his term.

More than a decade earlier, the ethics panel found itself in the midst of another sex scandal involving Packwood. In a report delivered by then-ethics Chairman McConnell, the committee described Packwood's "physical coercion" of women and "a habitual pattern of aggressive, blatantly sexual advances, mostly directed at members of his own staff."

The veteran Republican resigned in 1995 under threat of expulsion after a nearly three-year investigation of sexual harassment claims.

The ethics committee typically gets dozens of complaints each year alleging violations of Senate rules, but the vast majority don't amount to a violation of Senate rules or there is too little evidence to take action.

If the committee finds a violation occurred, it may take a series of actions, including issuing a public or private letter of admonition or recommending disciplinary action by the full Senate, up to and including expulsion on a two-thirds vote. Since 1789, the Senate has expelled just 15 members, including 14 who were charged with support of the Confederacy during the Civil War.
North Korea said Friday that it would not hold talks with the United States and South Korea on its nuclear weapons program as long as the two countries continued to hold joint military exercises.

"This is the deterrent, the nuclear deterrent to cope with the nuclear threat from America," North Korean U.N. Ambassador Han Tae Song told Reuters on Friday in an exclusive interview in Geneva.

"There are continued military exercises using nuclear assets as well as aircraft carriers, and strategic bombers ... raising such kinds of military exercises against my country," Han said.

On November 11, the U.S. and South Korea began four days of joint naval drills in waters off South Korea's eastern coast in what the South Korean military described as a clear warning to North Korea.

In Washington, State Department officials pushed back, saying U.S. joint military exercises with Asian allies were "lawful," "long-standing" and "defense-oriented," unlike North Korea's "unlawful nuclear and ballistic missile programs and testing."

Display of will, readiness

The joint exercises were designed to display "strong will and firm military readiness to defeat any provocation by North Korea with dominant force in the event of a crisis," Seoul's military said in a statement last week.

U.S. and Japanese naval forces, meanwhile, began their annual bilateral military training exercise Thursday in the waters surrounding Okinawa. It was also meant to send a strong signal to Pyongyang of America's capability to rapidly mobilize a potent military force.

China said on Thursday that a "dual suspension" proposal to handle North Korea was still the best option, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping had rejected a "freeze for freeze" agreement.

'No moral equivalency'

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert on Friday played down the difference, saying Xi recognized a nuclear North Korea was a grave threat.

"A lot of countries like to talk about this idea for a freeze for freeze, but that's just not going to work," Nauert said during the briefing.

"There's no moral equivalency between the actions on the part" of North Korea and "our legal, justified activities," Nauert said, comparing Pyongyang's missile launches and advanced nuclear tests with U.S. joint military exercises with its Asian allies.

North Korea's Han, when asked about China's latest appeal for a freeze, said, "The situation is far from those things." Han said that U.S. administrations had "never accepted" halting joint military exercises, adding, "If they accept such things, then we will think what we do in the future."

Han dismissed new sanctions the Trump administration has said it is preparing and the possible addition of North Korea to the U.S. list of states sponsoring terrorism.

Global pressure

North Korea is under heavy global pressure to stop its nuclear and missile development programs, which are in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. The country conducted its last ballistic missile test two months ago, and Han told Reuters he did not know when North Korea might test again.

"My country will continue to build up its self-defense capability, the pivot of which is nuclear forces and capability for a triumphant ... strike, as long as U.S. and hostile forces keep their nuclear threat and blackmail," he said.

The North Korean official added: "Our country plans ultimate completion of the nuclear force."

South Korea and the U.S. agreed Friday to keep seeking a peaceful resolution to the North Korean nuclear crisis, but a U.S. envoy said the two countries received "no signal" about Pyongyang's intentions.

Chinese visit

China, meanwhile, was preparing Friday to send a representative to North Korea in an effort to improve relations.

Chinese state media reported that special envoy Song Tao  the highest-level envoy to be sent to Pyongyang in two years  would report the results of China's ruling Communist Party congress held last month and visit North Korean counterparts.

China did not provide additional information about the envoy's itinerary, including whether he would meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
At the annual Queer Pride parade held by Indias LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community in the Indian capital recently, the beat of drums was louder than usual  and the chanting and dancing more exuberant.

The reason: there is renewed optimism that a recent Supreme Court ruling has paved the way to overturn an archaic law that criminalizes gay sex.

The battle to do away with the colonial era law has taken a tortuous route. Scrapped in 2009 by the Delhi High Court, it was reinstated in 2013 by the Supreme Court, dealing a massive blow to gay rights.

At that time the top court said it was up to the legislature to change the law, but it has since agreed to review that ruling.

WATCH: Optimism in India About Overturning Archaic Law Outlawing Homosexuality

Section 377

Hopes for a favorable outcome are riding high after a recent landmark judgment in which the Supreme Court declared privacy as a fundamental right which must protect  among other things  sexual orientation.

Anjali Gopalan, founder of the Naz Foundation, which is at the forefront of the legal battle for gay rights, says that the judgment will have an important bearing when the Supreme Court reviews the law called Section 377.

Five out of the nine judges, it was a nine judge bench, actually questioned the validity of 377. To me that is amazing. I feel a little easier after the privacy judgment, said Gopalan, adding that the gay community felt abandoned in 2013 when the law was reinstated.

One of the organizers of the gay pride march, Manak Matiyani, says he was heartened to hear the top court say that some matters are not the business of the government. In this case where it is consensual, where it is something you are not doing harm to anybody else, it is a private matter and that you have the right to decide who you are, how you will live your life, that made us very hopeful, according to Matiyani.

Legal protection, societal acceptance

Some Hindu, Muslim and Christian religious groups oppose gay rights on the grounds of public morality. They appealed the Delhi High Court's 2009 judgement scrapping the law and got it overturned. They maintain Indian society frowns upon homosexuality.

The law, which makes gay sex punishable with up to ten years in prison, is seldom enforced and in some well-to-do neighborhoods people live openly as gay.

But it exposes those less privileged to harassment. A cook, Pobir Hazara, has found acceptance at the Naz Foundation where he works, but that is not the case when he travels in public transport or in public spaces. When I meet friends in a park on a holiday, to relax, to have a drink, the police waves us away. They say you will create a nuisance and threaten to detain us if we dont leave, he says.

According to Gopalan, the lack of rights has a range of serious implications for the community. If someone from the LGBT community,for example, is raped, it is really difficult for them go and register a case because Section 377 is in place, because they are not seen as part of society. Therefore, if we have a law which protects them, at least they have a recourse.

March is still a protest

Marchers say the parade is the one day when they feel safe and able to express themselves openly.

However, Matiyani underlines that the parade is more than a celebration of gay pride. It is important to remember that the march is still a protest; it is still out there to say that rights are not given to people.

Participants say they are hoping for legal protection for their sexual orientation, a right taken for granted in most democratic countries, even in the tiny neighboring country of Nepal.

That legal protection could be an important stepping stone in winning greater societal acceptance for the community.
A U.N. panel agreed Friday to move ahead with talks to define and possibly set limits on weapons that can kill without human involvement, as human rights groups said governments are moving too slowly to keep up with advances in artificial intelligence that could put computers in control one day.

Advocacy groups warned about the threats posed by such "killer robots" and aired a chilling video illustrating their possible uses on the sidelines of the first formal U.N. meeting of government experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems this week. More than 80 countries took part.

Ambassador Amandeep Gill of India, who chaired the gathering, said participants plan to meet again in 2018. He said ideas discussed this week included the creation of legally binding instrument, a code of conduct, or a technology review process.

The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, an umbrella group of advocacy groups, says 22 countries support a ban of the weapons and the list is growing. Human Rights Watch, one of its members, called for an agreement to regulate them by the end of 2019  admittedly a long shot.

The meeting falls under the U.N.'s Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons  also known as the Inhumane Weapons Convention  a 37-year old agreement that has set limits on the use of arms and explosives like mines, blinding laser weapons and booby traps over the years.

The group operates by consensus, so the least ambitious goals are likely to prevail, and countries including Russia and Israel have firmly staked out opposition to any formal ban. The United States has taken a go-slow approach, rights groups say.

U.N. officials say in theory, fully autonomous, computer-controlled weapons don't exist yet, but defining exactly what killer robots are and how much human interaction is involved was a key focus of the meeting. The United States argued that it was "premature" to establish a definition.

Dramatic depictions

The concept alone stirs the imagination and fears, as dramatized in Hollywood futuristic or science-fiction films that have depicted uncontrolled robots deciding on their own about firing weapons and killing people.

Gill played down such concerns.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have news for you: The robots are not taking over the world. So that is good news, humans are still in charge. ... We have to be careful in not emotionalizing or dramatizing this issue," he told reporters Friday.

The United States, in comments presented, said autonomous weapons could help improve guidance of missiles and bombs against military targets, thereby "reducing the likelihood of inadvertently striking civilians." Autonomous defensive systems could help intercept enemy projectiles, one U.S. text said.

Some top academics like Stephen Hawking, technology experts such as Tesla founder Elon Musk and human rights groups have warned about the threats posed by artificial intelligence, amid concerns that it might one day control such systems  and perhaps sooner rather than later.

"The bottom line is that governments are not moving fast enough," said Steven Goose, executive director of arms at Human Rights Watch. He said a treaty by the end of 2019 is "the kind of timeline we think this issue demands."
The U.S. State Department approved a possible $10.5 billion sale of Raytheon Cos Patriot missile defense system to Poland, the Pentagon said on Friday. NATO member Poland has sped up efforts to overhaul its military following Russias annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014 and in response to Moscows renewed military and political assertiveness in the region.

Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz said in March that Poland expected to sign a deal with Raytheon to buy the Patriot missile defense system by the end of the year.

Patriot missile defense interceptors are designed to detect, track and engage unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cruise missiles and short-range or tactical ballistic missiles.

Support services part of deal

The proposed sale includes 208 Patriot Advanced Capabilty-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement missiles, 16 M903 launching stations, four AN/MPQ-65 radars, four control stations, spares, software and associated equipment.

In addition, Poland is authorized to buy U.S. government and contractor technical, engineering and logistics support services as well as range and test programs for a total estimated potential program cost of up to $10.5 billion.

A Raytheon representative said it is Raytheons experience that the estimated cost notified could be larger than the final negotiated contract amount, signaling that the final price could be lower as negotiations on a final amount proceed.

Raytheon added that it will work closely with the U.S. and Polish governments to ensure Poland is able to procure Patriot at a mutually agreeable price."

NATO allies have same system

The Pentagon said the sale will take place in two phases.

If a deal is finalized, it would allow Poland to conduct air and missile defense operations with NATO allies the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and Greece, which currently have the Patriot system, a U.S. State Department official said.

The contract still requires approval from the U.S. Congress, because it involves a purchase of advanced military technology for which special permission must be obtained.

Poland, which had said it was planning to spend around $7.6 billion on the whole project, said the negotiations are not over.

This does not mean that this amount ($10.5 billion) is the final value of the LOA (Letter of Offer and Acceptance), the Polish Defense Ministry said in a statement, adding it has a good track record in negotiating similar offers.

Lawmakers can block sale

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which implements foreign arms sales, said it had delivered notification to Congress on Tuesday.

U.S. lawmakers have 30 days to block the sale, but that rarely happens.

In addition to Raytheon, the prime contractors will be Lockheed Martin Corp and Northrop Grumman.
Leaders of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabes own ZANU-PF party have begun meeting Sunday and are widely expected to dismiss the long-time ruler.

Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who Mugabe fired last week, is expected to be reinstated at the meeting, and Mugabes wife Grace is expected to be removed from her position as leader of the ZANU-PF Womens League and possibly expelled from the party.

Impeachment is another possibility, the oppositions parliamentary chief whip Innocent Gonese told the Associated Press. The MDC-T leader said MDC-T and ZANU-PF had been in discussions to act jointly.

If Mugabe is not gone by Tuesday, then as sure as the sun rises from the east, impeachment process will kick in, Gonese said.

Mugabes nephew, Patrick Zhuwao, told Reuters Saturday his uncle and his uncles wife were ready to die for what is correct. Speaking from an undisclosed location in South Africa, Zhuwao said Mugabe had no plans to resign in order to validate what he described as a coup.

Zhuwao said his 93-year-old uncles health was good, although he has gotten little sleep since the military seized control Wednesday.

On Saturday, thousands of exuberant Zimbabwean demonstrators flooded the streets of Harare, some of whom marched toward the official residence of Mugabe amid nationwide protests calling for his resignation.

The protesters  some carrying signs that said, Mugabe must go! and Not coup but cool  came within 200 meters of the gates to the complex and staged a sit-down protest after being halted by national troops.

The State House is where Mugabe is under official house arrest and where negotiations for Mugabes departure have taken place.

This is not fair. Why are soldiers preventing us to march to the State House, said 26-year-old Rutendo Maisiri. It is wrong. We will stay put.

The military has stopped such demonstrations in the capital in the past, but is now supporting the protests, directing demonstrators to the Zimbabwe Grounds where speeches are being made by activists, politicians and former freedom fighters calling for the president to resign.

The Zimbabwe Grounds is a symbolic location. It is where Zimbabweans welcomed Mugabes return from exile in 1980 after the liberation war from white minority rule.

Demands intensify

Members of opposition groups are expressing frustration with the pace of negotiations over Mugabes political future.

Christopher Mutsvangwa, chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, told journalists that the protests are designed to push the president out of office.

Demonstrations in other cities around the country were also calling for an end to Mugabe's 37-year rule.

Mugabe is reported to be resisting demands to step down from the army, members of his ZANU-PF party and political activists.

The Zimbabwe Defense Forces seized key state institutions Wednesday, confined Mugabe to house arrest and clamped down on those they termed thieves surrounding the president, including professor Jonathan Moyo, Home Affairs Minister Ignatius Chombo, Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, ZANU-PF Youth League Secretary Kudzanayi Chipanga.

The detainees, who were in army barracks, are said to be members of a faction of the ruling party that were seeking to elevate first lady Grace Mugabe to the post of vice president. Robert Mugabe fired Mnangagwa from the position on November 5.

Mugabe made a public appearance Friday, his first since the military took over state institutions and opened talks aimed at getting the aged leader to resign.

Mugabe, wearing a blue and yellow academic gown, presided over a university graduation ceremony for more than 1,000 students in Harare. The president appeared to fall asleep at times and said nothing about the ongoing political uncertainty.

Demands intensify

Members of opposition groups are expressing frustration with the pace of negotiations over Mugabes political future.

Christopher Mutsvangwa, chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, told journalists that Saturday's protests were designed to push the president out of office.

Former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who leads the Movement for Democratic Change party, joined the calls for Mugabe to resign.

Mr. Robert Mugabe must resign, step down immediately in line with the national sentiment and expectation, taking full regard of his legacy and contribution to Zimbabwe, pre and post Zimbabwe, said Tsvangirai, who returned to the country last week from South Africa, where he is being treated for cancer.

Mugabe hanging on

There has been no indication Mugabe will voluntarily give up power. Nick Mangwana, who is the Britain-based representative of ZANU-PF, told VOA that, President Mugabe remains President Mugabe as of now.

Mugabe is the only leader the nation has known since Zimbabwe won independence in 1980, and has turned back many previous challenges to his rule, often using the army, police and physical violence from supporters to intimidate opponents.

His hold appeared strong even as Zimbabwes economy, which has struggled for years, suffered a new downturn over the past 12 months. Last December, the ruling ZANU-PF party nominated him as its presidential candidate for the 2018 elections.

The turning point was the firing of Mnangagwa, 75, a liberation war hero who maintains strong support among veterans.

Wayne Lee, Fern Robinson, Gibbs Dube, Dan Joseph and Anita Powell contributed to this report.
The controversial extradition of a prominent ONLF rebel leader to Ethiopia was illegal, a report by a Somali parliamentary commission said Saturday.

Abdikarim Sheikh Muse, a top member of Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), which is based in Ethiopia, was handed over to Ethiopian authorities on August 28, after he was detained by Somali security forces in the central Somali town of Galkayo on August 23.

Somali authorities say Muse is a "terrorist and a regional threat." His transfer is sparking outrage in Somalia, however, along with a social media uproar against the Mogadishu-based government.

Somalia's lower house of parliament has endorsed Saturday's report, which was submitted by a 15-member special commission set up in September.

The Somali cabinet had defended the transfer of Muse, saying it was done under a deal reached in 2015 that designates ONLF and al-Shabab as terrorist groups. But the parliamentary commission report found the deal was not struck at a federal level and should not be used as justification for exchanging criminals or prisoners.

Intelligence agency blamed

The commission's report also dismissed labeling the ONLF rebel group as a terrorist group, and it blamed the country's intelligence agency for the extradition of Muse and for misleading leaders.

"The National Intelligence and Security Agency provided the leaders of government with the wrong information and did not inform the judiciary sector," the report said.

"If the president and the prime minister knew about the rendition, it's a disaster. And if they did not, then they cannot be trusted to lead the nation," Abdirahman Hussein Odowaa, former interior minister and a member of parliament, said during the session.

Muse lived in Mogadishu for years, and his supporters say he holds dual Somali-Ethiopian citizenship. He is one of the ONLF's top leaders.

Speaking to VOA Somali from Australia, ONLF spokesman Addani Hirmooge hailed the report and said it showed the parliament was against the "aggression" and stood with the true feeling of Somali people.

Since 1984, the ONLF has waged an armed struggle against Ethiopia as it seeks secession of the Somali Region in Ethiopia.

In 2011, Addis Ababa labeled the group a terrorist organization, alongside al-Shabab and al-Qaida.
Russia has again vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have extended an international probe into chemical weapons use in Syria, one day after it rejected a similar resolution.

Japan had put forward a resolution that would have extended the investigation to identify who is behind chemical weapons attacks in Syria by 30 days to allow time for negotiations on a wider compromise.

On Thursday, the United States sponsored a similar resolution with a yearlong extension that was also vetoed by Russia.

Russian proposal fails

A separate Russian draft resolution Thursday that called for changes to the international investigation failed to get enough votes to pass, with just four countries supporting it. The Russian proposal included changes to the mandate that the United States opposed.

Without passage of any extension, the mandate of the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) expired Thursday at midnight.

Fridays veto by Russia was the 11th time Russia vetoed a resolution on Syria.

After Fridays vote, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley told the council: Russia has no interest in finding common ground with the rest of this council to save the JIM. Russia will not agree to any mechanism that might shine a spotlight on the use of chemical weapons by its ally, the Syrian regime. Its as simple and shameful as that.

Haley offered sincere apologies to the families of the victims of chemical weapons in Syria and the Syrian children, women and men who may be victims of future attacks.

She added: Know that the United States, along with the rest of this council, will not give up on seeking justice for your lost loved ones and protection for your families. Know that Russia can obstruct this council, but it cannot obstruct the truth.

Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the inquiry could only be extended if fundamental flaws in its work were fixed.

Series of attacks

The Joint Investigative Mechanism began its work more than two years ago after a series of chemical weapons attacks against civilians in Syria that killed or caused agony to hundreds.

The U.N. investigators have blamed the Syrian government for using the banned nerve agent sarin in an April 4 attack and for several times using chlorine as a weapon. It blamed Islamic State militants for using mustard gas.

Syrias government says terrorists, its word for the opposition, are responsible for all the attacks.

Russia, which is Syrias most powerful ally, has supported investigations into chemical weapons but criticized the reports as being unfair to the Syrian government.
Editors note: November is Native American Heritage Month. First proclaimed by President George H. W. Bush in 1990, it is an opportunity to acknowledge the histories and cultures of Native people across the U.S., highlighting the challenges they have faced, their sacrifices and their contributions.

Native Americans have influenced every stage of America's development, noted President Donald Trump in his October 31, 2017 proclamation. They helped early European settlers survive and thrive in a new land. They contributed democratic ideas to our constitutional framers. And, for more than 200 years, they have bravely answered the call to defend our Nation, serving with distinction in every branch of the United States Armed Forces.

This month, VOA will highlight prominent Native Americans and their role in U.S. history, culture and society.

Sitting Bull was born around 1831, a member of the Hunkpapa band of Lakota. The location of his birth is disputed. Most historians say he was born in what is today South Dakota. His descendants cite Montana as his birthplace.

Mentored by his uncle, a healer and spiritual leader, the boy killed his first buffalo at age ten and at 14, distinguished himself during a raid on the Lakotas traditional enemy, the Crow. He earned the warrior name Thathanka Iyotake, translated as Sitting Bison Bull.

Sitting Bull was accepted into at least two warrior societies, the Midnight Strong Heart and Kit Fox, brotherhoods whose members were bound by principles of bravery, generosity and morality. He would also become a wichasha wakan, a spiritual leader whose visions would help guide his people.

By the end of the 1840s, the U.S., then just 25 states, extended only as far the continents midpoint. The Plains, considered inhospitable, were designated as Indian Territory. But everything changed in 1849, when gold was discovered in California, and President Polk decided it was Americas manifest destiny to push U.S. boundaries all the way west to the Pacific Ocean.

In 1862, the government passed the Homestead Act, handing out free 65-hectare (160-acre) lots in the West, setting off an unprecedented land rush. It also authorized the first transcontinental railroad.Wave after wave of miners, railroad workers and settlers began crossing the Plains, looking to the U.S. Army to protect them from attacks by the regions tribes, and the 1860s saw often brutal warfare by both sides.

Refused to submit

Sitting Bull first encountered the American Army in 1863, when the military mounted a broad campaign against the Lakota in retaliation for a Dakota massacre in Minnesota. He went on to lead the Lakota in many attacks on U.S. military forts, rejecting government efforts to negotiate or contain him.

Sitting Bull refused to join other Lakota bands, the Yanktonai Dakota and Arapaho Nation in signing an 1868 treaty negotiated at Fort Laramie, Wyoming. The treaty guaranteed the Lakota "absolute and undisturbed use of the Great Sioux Reservation, including the Black Hills, sacred to Lakota, Cheyenne, Arapaho and other tribes. It held only until the discovery of gold in the Black Hills, in 1874. The government then confiscated the Hills and ordered tribes back to the reservation. Sitting Bull resisted, setting up camp along the Little Big Horn River in Montana.

In early June of 1876, Sitting Bull held a Sun Dance, a prayer ceremony in which he pierced his arms in an act of sacrifice and danced to exhaustion. During the ritual, he is said to have had a vision of a military defeat of many soldiers.

That same month, General George A. Custer, a former Civil War hero, led a surprise attack on Sitting Bulls camp. The Lakota, said to be inspired by Sitting Bulls vision, fought fiercely. Within hours, Custer and more than 200 soldiers were dead, news that shocked Americans and caused the Army to redouble efforts to contain the tribes.

In video below, Sitting Bulls great grandson Ernie LaPointe talks about his ancestor and the Battle of Little Big Horn.

Sitting Bull and his followers fled to Canada, but scarce food resources led him to finally surrender to the U.S. Authorities sent him to the Standing Rock Agency in North Dakota, where he lived as a prisoner, refusing to renounce his traditions and spiritual beliefs. This created tension among those Lakota who had embraced assimilation into Christian culture and likely led to his death.

Ghost Dance

The late 1880s saw the birth of a spiritual movement which promised that if Natives lived a good life and performed a ceremonial Ghost Dance, their former way of life would be returned to them.The prophecy spread across the Plains, where it was adapted by the Lakota, now living in harsh conditions on the reservation, dependent on inadequate government rations.

The government viewed the dance as an act of sedition and tried in vain to stop it. Sitting Bull, say his descendants, merely tolerated the prophecy, which was to his eyes a preferable alternative to Christianization

On December 16th, 1890, tribal police, acting on the governments behalf, entered Sitting Bulls cabin to arrest him. He was shot and killed in the melee that followed. On the 29th of December, the Army launched an attack on about 300 Lakota men, women and children camped at Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Reservation, killing most of them and burying them in a mass grave.

Today, Sitting Bulls descendants still pray for their ancestor, whom they revere as a visionary acting not only on behalf of his contemporaries but future generations of Lakota. And every December 29, Lakota gather at Wounded Knee to remember their ancestors and celebrate their resilience.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday criticized as completely inadequate the Trump administrations $44 billion request to Congress for disaster relief in his hurricane-ravaged state and other areas hammered by storms. The White House shot back that Texas may want to foot more of the bill for its own recovery.

Abbott has lavished praise on the federal government since Hurricane Harvey killed more than 80 people, triggered historic flooding in Houston, the nations fourth largest city, and caused an estimated $180 billion in damage. On Friday, he refused to criticize President Donald Trump by name, but said his administrations request is completely inadequate for the needs of the state of Texas, and I believe, does not live up to what the president wants to achieve.

The president has told me privately what hes said publicly, and that is he wants to be the builder president, Abbott said at a news conference inside his Texas Capitol office. The president has said that he wants this to be the best recovery from a disaster ever.

White House bristles

A short time later in Washington, however, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders appeared to contradict that, suggesting that Texas hasnt put up enough of its own money for Harvey recovery.

We feel strongly that they should step up and play a role and work with the federal government in this process, Sanders said. We did a thorough assessment and that was completed and this was the number that we put forward to Congress today.

The request is Trumps third since hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria hit Texas, Florida and the Caribbean. If approved, it would bring the total appropriated for disaster relief this fall close to $100 billion, and that doesnt include most of the money to rebuild Puerto Ricos devastated housing stock and electric grid.

The request followed lobbying by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello, who pressed the White House for far more. There are sure to be attempts to add to the measure as it advances through the House and Senate.



This request does not come close to what local officials say is needed, said New York Rep. Nita Lowey, top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

Abbott complained that Congress approved more funding, more quickly to areas affected by Superstorm Sandy in 2012 which was half the storm of what Hurricane Harvey was.

You can see that this falls short, Abbott said. Hopefully, this is just one of multiple steps along the pathway.

Cornyn vows a fight

Abbott has visited Washington repeatedly in recent weeks, lobbying for $61 billion in disaster relief he says his state needs just for infrastructure, including ambitious projects meant to combat future floods. Not only is Fridays request far less than that, but Texas will have to share it, which didnt sit so well with Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the chambers powerful majority whip.

Its really time for the federal government to live up to its responsibilities, Cornyn said at the same Austin news conference.

He recalled that Puerto Ricos governor requested more than $90 billion, just for his islands recovery.

Just imagine, given the size and scope of our great state, extrapolate that, Cornyn said. Were not asking for that. We are asking to be treated fairly. And we intend to fight for that.

Puerto Ricos Rossello has requested $94 billion, including $18 billion to rebuild the islands power grid and $31 billion for housing. The White House anticipates sending another request focused on the needs of the island territory but hasnt indicated when that would be.

The Florida congressional delegation asked for $27 billion.

At the same time, Mick Mulvaney, White House budget director asked lawmakers to consider $59 billion in spending cuts to pay for the aid, including $44 billion from benefit programs.

At the same event, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that $5 billion was being allocated to Texas in federal grants that will help meet the long term needs of people whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Harvey. But even that may be a relative drop in the bucket since Abbott has said that, ultimately, his state will likely seek more than $50 billion in federal housing funding alone.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson hosted discussions Friday at the State Department with 37 foreign ministers or other representatives from Africa. The focus was on trade and investment, good governance and countering violent extremism.The State Department says it is looking to the future, to what Africa will look like in the year 2100, when it will be the most populous continent in the world with an estimated 2.2 billion people. VOA's Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine has more.
In a move certain to please conservatives, President Donald Trump on Friday added five names to his list of candidates for a prospective U.S. Supreme Court vacancy as he presses ahead with a campaign to move the federal judiciary to the right.

Two of them are appellate judges who were nominated by Trump earlier this year and confirmed by the Senate: Amy Coney Barrett and Kevin Newsom. Another, Brett Kavanaugh, sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, long viewed as a stepping-stone to the high court.

The others were Britt Grant, a Georgia Supreme Court justice, and Patrick Wyrick, a Oklahoma Supreme Court justice.

There is no current vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court but three justices are 79 or older.

Originalists, textualists

During his presidential campaign last year, Trump identified 20 conservative candidates for the Supreme Court. Upon taking office, he named Neil Gorsuch to the court to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, restoring the Supreme Courts conservative majority. Gorsuch was confirmed by the Senate in April and has established himself as one of the Supreme Courts most conservative justices.

Speaking at a Federalist Society conference of conservative legal advocates, White House Counsel Donald McGahn said Trump is very committed to appointing judges who are committed originalists and textualists, referring to a legal philosophy that relies on the actual wording of laws and the original meaning of the U.S. Constitution.

They all have paper trails. They all are sitting judges, McGahn said. There is nothing unknown about them. What you see is what you get.

Refreshing the list

The five jurists, all with strong conservative credentials, were added to the list with input from conservative leaders, and should another seat on the court open up, Trump will nominate a candidate from the updated list of 25, the White House said.

Leonard Leo, an adviser to the president on Supreme Court nominations, said Trump thought it was time to refresh the original list.

When youre committed to picking from a list you want to make sure its as complete as possible, Leo said in an interview.

Kavanaugh, who was appointed to the federal bench in 2006 by Republican former President George W. Bush, served as a White House counsel under Bush and worked as an assistant to Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel who investigated Democratic former President Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Grant and Wyrick both joined state challenges to the Affordable Care Act, Democratic former President Barack Obamas signature health care law, and Obama regulations aimed at reducing emissions from coal-burning power plants, said Carrie Severino, chief counsel of the Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative legal advocacy group.

Kennedy a pivotal justice

The court currently consists of five conservatives and four liberals, with conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy sometimes joining with the liberals on high-profile issues such as gay rights and abortion.

At 81, Kennedy is the second-oldest justice on the court behind liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 84, and some former Kennedy clerks have said he is considering retirement. Liberal Justice Stephen Breyer is 79.

Should any of those step down, Trump would get a historic opportunity to shape the court in a more conservative direction for decades to come. Supreme Court appointments are lifetime jobs.

Conservatives criticize the federal judiciary as too liberal, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the same conference lashed out at activist judges.

Trump has taken steps to make the federal judiciary more conservative, with 14 judicial appointees confirmed by the Senate and more in the pipeline.

Support for Moore

Catherine Glenn Foster, president of the anti-abortion advocacy group Americans United for Life, said she was pleased with the new selections.

From their known records they tend to be strong on recognizing the protections for life, she said in an interview.

On Friday, Republican Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said she would support her partys Senate candidate Roy Moore, who has been accused by several women of unwanted sexual contact, because of the importance of keeping the Senate under Republican control should another Supreme Court vacancy arise.
Turkish prosecutors launched an investigation Saturday of two U.S. prosecutors involved in putting a Turkish-Iranian businessman on trial for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, according to Turkey's official news agency.

The Istanbul prosecutor's office said it was investigating Preet Bharara, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Bharara's successor, acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim.

A statement from the Istanbul prosecutor's office said the sources of the documents and wiretaps being used as evidence in the U.S. case against gold trader Reza Zarrab were unknown and violated international and domestic laws.

Turkey's official Anadolu Agency published the statement Saturday. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.

Zarrab, 34, has been charged in the U.S. with allegedly evading sanctions on Iran. An executive of Turkey's state-owned bank, Halkbank, also faces charges and is due to appear in court in New York on November 27.

Former Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan is also among the nine defendants indicted in the case.

Bharara denies Gulen link

Turkish officials allege the case is politically motivated. They have accused Bharara, the former U.S. attorney, of links to a Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, whom the Turkish government blames for a failed July 2016 military coup.

Bharara has vehemently rejected the allegation. Gulen denies involvement in the coup attempt.

The U.S. case was built on work initially performed by Turkish investigators who targeted Zarrab in 2013 in a sweeping corruption scandal that allegedly led to Turkish government officials.

Turkish prosecutors and police involved in the investigation were removed from duty, and charges that resulted from their probe were later dropped.

Since the July 2016 coup attempt, Turkey has arrested more than 50,000 people and fired over 100,000 state workers for alleged links to Gulen's network.
Ukraine officials have arrested a man who is considered a suspect in the 2004 shooting death of Paul Klebnikov, the editor of the Russian edition of Forbes magazine.

Ukraine's state Security Service said in a statement Saturday that it had detained a suspect, a Russian man, who was also wanted in other slayings. The man was arrested in Kyiv.

"According to Interpol, the foreigner participated in a series of sponsored murders, in particular that of Forbes' editor-in-chief, the U.S. citizen Paul Khlebnikov," as well as a Chechen government official, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) statement said. It did not explain the different spelling of Klebnikov's name.

Ukraine did not identify the suspect.

Klebnikov was working as chief editor of Forbes' Russian edition when he was shot in the head outside his Moscow office on July 9, 2004. He was severely wounded and died a short time later in the hospital.

In 2006, Russian prosecutors accused Kozh-Akhmed Nukhaev, a Chechen separatist politician and alleged organized crime boss, of masterminding Klebnikov's murder, and Nukhaev was subsequently placed on the Interpol international wanted list. Klebnikov had talked extensively with Nukhaev and published a Russian-language book about him titled Conversations with a Barbarian.

Three men tried

Three Chechen men were arrested and put on trial for the Klebnikov killing but were acquitted. One was later convicted and jailed for an unrelated crime. The acquittals of the other two men were overturned, but a retrial was halted in late 2007 after one of them failed to show up in court.

Earlier, Klebnikov had written a Forbes cover story about Boris Berezovsky, accusing the then-leading Russian oligarch and Kremlin insider of a string of high-level shady deals. Berezovsky sued Forbes for libel in a British court and won a partial retraction in 2003.

Klebnikov expanded the article into a book titled Godfather of the Kremlin: Boris Berezovsky and the Looting of Russia. It also focused on Berezovsky, but looked more broadly at high-level corruption during the era of Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

Berezovsky died in exile in London in 2013. A post-mortem examination found he'd died by hanging, but that there was no evidence of a violent struggle.

Jonas Bernstein contributed to this report.
The Trump administration put the Palestinians on notice Friday that it will shutter their office in Washington unless theyve entered serious peace talks with Israel, U.S. officials said, potentially giving President Donald Trump more leverage as he seeks an elusive Mideast peace deal.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has determined that the Palestinians ran afoul of an obscure provision in a U.S. law that says the Palestine Liberation Organizations mission must close if the Palestinians try to get the International Criminal Court to prosecute Israelis for crimes against Palestinians. A State Department official said that in September, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas crossed that line by calling on the ICC to investigate and prosecute Israelis.

But the law leaves the president a way out, so Tillersons declaration doesn't necessarily mean the office will close.

Mission remains open

Trump now has 90 days to consider whether the Palestinians are in direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel. If Trump determines they are, the Palestinians can keep the office. The official said it was unclear whether the U.S. might close the office before the 90-day period expires, but said the mission remains open at least for now.

Even if the office closes, the U.S. said it wasnt cutting off relations with the Palestinians and was still focused on a comprehensive peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The State Department official said in an email that this measure should in no way be seen as a signal that the U.S. is backing off those efforts. The official wasn't authorized to be identified by name and requested anonymity.

The PLO office and the Israeli Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Peace proposal in works

Although the Israelis and Palestinians are not engaged in active, direct negotiations, Trump's administration has been working all year to broker a peace deal that would end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Led by Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a senior aide, White House officials have been preparing a peace proposal they intend to put forward at an unspecified time.

The Palestinians, though publicly supportive of the U.S. effort, have been skeptical because Trump's close ties to Israel suggest whatever deal he proposes might be unfavorable to them. The threat of losing their office in the U.S. capital could become another pressure point as the Trump administration seeks to persuade the Palestinians to come to the table.

The Palestine Liberation Organization is the group that formally represents all Palestinians. Although the U.S. does not recognize Palestinian statehood, the PLO maintains a general delegation office in Washington that facilitates Palestinian officials interactions with the U.S. government.

Fly their flag

The United States allowed the PLO to open a mission in Washington in 1994, a move that required then-President Bill Clinton to waive a law that said the Palestinians couldnt have an office. In 2011, under the Obama administration, the United States started letting the Palestinians fly their flag over the office, an upgrade to the status of their mission that the Palestinians hailed as historic.



Israel opposes any Palestinian membership in United Nations-related organizations until a peace deal has been reached.



The Trump administration has not revealed any details about its effort to bring about a peace deal that would ostensibly grant the Palestinians an independent state in exchange for an end to its conflict with the Israelis. But Kushner and other top Trump aides have been shuttling to the region to meet with Palestinians, Israelis and officials from neighboring Arab nations as it prepares to put forward a peace plan.

The requirement that the PLO office be closed if the Palestinians back an International Criminal Court move came in a little-noticed provision in U.S. law that says the United States cant allow the Palestinians to have a Washington office if they try to influence a determination by the ICC to initiate a judicially authorized investigation, or to actively support such an investigation, that subjects Israeli nationals to an investigation for alleged crimes against Palestinians.

90-day review period

Abbas, the Palestinian leader, said in his speech at the U.N. General Assembly in September that the Palestinians had called on the International Criminal Court to open an investigation and to prosecute Israeli officials for their involvement in settlement activities and aggressions against our people.

The U.S. law says that if the government determines the Palestinians have breached that requirement, it triggers a 90-day review period in which the president must decide whether to let the office stay open anyway. The president is allowed to waive the requirement only if he certifies to Congress that the Palestinians have entered into direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel.

The provision doesnt explicitly define what would constitute direct or meaningful negotiations.
The White House on Friday said it had asked Congress for $44 billion in supplemental disaster assistance to help those affected by the recent hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico, Texas, Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The request was far short of what some government officials have said is needed, with Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello asking for $94.4 billion to rebuild the U.S. territory's infrastructure. Texas was seeking $61 billion and Florida had asked for $27 billion.

"This request does not come close to what local officials say is needed," Democratic U.S. Representative Nita Lowey of New York, whose state has strong ties to Puerto Rico, said in a statement.

White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said in a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan that the $44 billion "does not represent the final request" for assistance for the victims, especially in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, where needs were still being assessed.

He said it takes 60 days to produce initial recovery cost estimates after a major hurricane and can take up to 90 days to prepare reliable estimates.

"At this time, the administration is requesting an additional fiscal year 2018 funding in the amount of $44 billion and the necessary authorities to address ongoing recovery efforts," Mulvaney said in the letter.

Ryan said in a statement that the House of Representatives would review the request and "work with the administration and members from affected states to help the victims get the resources they need to recover and rebuild."

Republican Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi, which was also affected by a recent storm, called the supplemental request "one more step toward helping states and communities recover from the destruction."

However, Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the chamber, dismissed the latest request as "wholly inadequate" for his state, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Zimbabwes President Robert Mugabe made a public appearance Friday, his first since the military took over state institutions and opened talks aimed at getting the aged leader to resign.

Mugabe, wearing a blue and yellow academic gown, presided over a university graduation ceremony for more than 1,000 students in Harare. The president appeared to fall asleep at times and said nothing about the ongoing political uncertainty.

Mugabe, 93, is reported to be resisting demands from the army and members of his own ZANU-PF party to step down after 37 years in power.

The Zimbabwe Defense Forces seized key state institutions on Wednesday, confined President Mugabe to house arrest and clamped on what they termed thieves surrounding the president, including Professor Jonathan Moyo, Home Affairs Minister Ignatius Chombo, Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, ZANU-PF Youth League secretary Kudzanayi Chipanga and several others.

The detainees, who are in army barracks, are said to be members of a faction of the ruling party that were seeking to elevate first lady Grace Mugabe to the post of vice president. President Mugabe fired his longtime ally, Emmerson Mnangagwa, from the position on November 5.

Opposition demands intensify

Members of opposition groups are expressing frustration with the pace of negotiations over Mugabes political future and have called for a mass protest in Harare on Saturday.

Christopher Mutsvangwa, chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, told journalists that the planned protest is designed to push the president out of office.

Jacob Ngarivhume of opposition group Transform Zimbabwe said hopes of Mugabe leaving office are slowly dissipating.

There is no way he should be allowed to continue holding power, Ngarivhume told VOAs Zimbabwe service. If he were to do that, then Zimbabwe would be in trouble. What I see happening is there might be a dragging on of the discussion around his departure, but eventually. he must go. He has outlived his usefulness.

Former prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who leads the Movement for Democratic Change party, joined the calls for Mugabe to resign.

Mr. Robert Mugabe must resign, step down immediately in line with the national sentiment and expectation, taking full regard of his legacy and contribution to Zimbabwe, pre and post Zimbabwe, said Tsvangirai, who returned to the country this week from South Africa, where he is being treated for cancer.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Friday now is the time for the southern African country to return to civilian rule.

"Zimbabawe has an opportunity to set itself on a new path: one that must include democratic elections and respect for human rights," Tillerson told African ministers and diplomats before a meeting in Washington. "Ultimately, the people of Zimbabwe must choose their government," he added.

Mugabe hanging on

There has been no indication Mugabe will voluntarily give up power. Nick Mangwana, who is the Britain-based representative of ZANU-PF, told VOA that, "President Mugabe remains President Mugabe as of now.

Mugabe is the only leader the nation has known since Zimbabwe won independence in 1980, and has turned back many previous challenges to his rule, often using the army, police and physical violence from supporters to intimidate opponents.

His hold appeared strong even as Zimbabwes economy, which has struggled for years, suffered a new downturn over the past 12 months. Last December, the ruling ZANU-PF party nominated him as its presidential candidate for the 2018 elections.

The turning point was the firing of Mnangagwa, 75, a liberation war hero who maintains strong support among veterans.

Mnangagwas current whereabouts are uncertain, though he is widely believed to be in South Africa.
Two days after voters approved Patricia Guerrero to become Californias first Latina Supreme Court chief justice in January, a state panel has approved Kelli Evans to be the high courts first openly lesbian justice. The moves mark the last dominos to fall after Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye announced in July that she will step down in January. Gov. Gavin Newsom first elevated Guerrero to lead the nations largest judicial system. The same day, he announced he would appoint Evans to take her place. Evans was approved Thursday by the Commission on Judicial Appointments.
Thousands of exuberant demonstrators are walking through Harare's streets Saturday demanding that President Robert Mugabe step down from office. Signs they are carrying say "Mugabe must go!" and "Not coup but cool."

The military that has stopped such demonstrations in the capital in the past is now supporting the protests, directing demonstrators to the Zimbabwe Grounds where speeches will be made by a number of activists, politicians, and former freedom fighters calling for the president to resign.

The Zimbabwe Grounds is a symbolic location. It is where Zimbabweans welcomed Mugabe back from exile in 1980 after the liberation war from white minority rule.

Demonstrations are being held in other cities around the country also calling for an end to Mugabe's rule.

Mugabe, 93, is reported to be resisting demands from the army, members of his own ZANU-PF party, and political activists to step down after 37 years in power.

The Zimbabwe Defense Forces seized key state institutions Wednesday, confined Mugabe to house arrest and clamped down on those they termed thieves surrounding the president, including Professor Jonathan Moyo, Home Affairs Minister Ignatius Chombo, Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, ZANU-PF Youth League secretary Kudzanayi Chipanga and several others.

The detainees, who are in army barracks, are said to be members of a faction of the ruling party that were seeking to elevate first lady Grace Mugabe to the post of vice president. President Mugabe fired his longtime ally, Emmerson Mnangagwa, from the position Nov. 5.

Mugabe made a public appearance Friday, his first since the military took over state institutions and opened talks aimed at getting the aged leader to resign.

Mugabe, wearing a blue and yellow academic gown, presided over a university graduation ceremony for more than 1,000 students in Harare. The president appeared to fall asleep at times and said nothing about the ongoing political uncertainty.

Demands intensify

Members of opposition groups are expressing frustration with the pace of negotiations over Mugabes political future.

Christopher Mutsvangwa, chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, told journalists that Saturdays protests are designed to push the president out of office.

Jacob Ngarivhume of opposition group Transform Zimbabwe said hopes of Mugabe leaving office are slowly dissipating.

There is no way he should be allowed to continue holding power, Ngarivhume told VOAs Zimbabwe service. If he were to do that, then Zimbabwe would be in trouble. What I see happening is there might be a dragging on of the discussion around his departure, but eventually  he must go. He has outlived his usefulness.

Former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who leads the Movement for Democratic Change party, joined the calls for Mugabe to resign.

Mr. Robert Mugabe must resign, step down immediately in line with the national sentiment and expectation, taking full regard of his legacy and contribution to Zimbabwe, pre and post Zimbabwe, said Tsvangirai, who returned to the country this week from South Africa, where he is being treated for cancer.

WATCH: Rex Tillerson Calls for a Return to Civilian Rule in Zimbabwe

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Friday now is the time for the southern African country to return to civilian rule.

Zimbabwe has an opportunity to set itself on a new path, one that must include democratic elections and respect for human rights, Tillerson told African ministers and diplomats before a meeting in Washington. Ultimately, the people of Zimbabwe must choose their government, he added.

Mugabe hanging on

There has been no indication Mugabe will voluntarily give up power. Nick Mangwana, who is the Britain-based representative of ZANU-PF, told VOA President Mugabe remains President Mugabe as of now.

Mugabe is the only leader the nation has known since Zimbabwe won independence in 1980, and has turned back many previous challenges to his rule, often using the army, police and physical violence from supporters to intimidate opponents.

His hold appeared strong even as Zimbabwes economy, which has struggled for years, suffered a new downturn during the past 12 months. Last December, the ruling ZANU-PF party nominated him as its presidential candidate for the 2018 elections.

The turning point was the firing of Mnangagwa, 75, a liberation war hero who maintains strong support among veterans.

Mnangagwas current whereabouts are uncertain, though he is widely believed to be in South Africa.

As for the president, the Zimbabwe Defense Forces said Friday it is currently engaging with the commander-in-chief, President Mugabe, on the way forward and will advise the nation as soon as possible.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Friday that the Trump administration wanted to refocus the U.S. relationship with Africa squarely on trade and investment, to help unlock the tremendous potential of what is expected to become the world's most populous continent in coming decades.

"By 2050, the population of the continent is projected to double to more than 2.5 billion people, with 70 percent of that population being under the age of 30," Tillerson said. "All of these young people will have expectations for entering the workforce."

Tillerson noted a more vibrant and economically competitive Africa would grow the middle class, increase standards of living and make the entire continent more prosperous. He made the remarks ahead of ministerial talks with foreign ministers and representatives of 37 African countries at the State Department in Washington.

"I have not had the chance during my time as secretary of state to travel to the continent," Tillerson said. "In my prior life, I came to your continent a lot, and I visited many of your countries. But I do look forward to coming early next year."

Before becoming the chief U.S. diplomat, Tillerson was the chief executive of energy company ExxonMobil.

On Friday, he noted U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa grew from $17 billion in 2010 to more than $25 billion in 2014. Tillerson said that last year, U.S. direct investment in Africa grew to $57.5 billion, the highest level to date.

"Africa is a growing market with vast potential. Five of the world's 10 fastest-growing economies are in Africa, and consumer spending there is projected to exceed $2 trillion by the year 2025," he said.

Good governance

The secretary of state noted economic growth and lasting prosperity, however, can thrive only in environments of good governance.

Tillerson said Friday's talks would focus on how lasting peace and prosperity are undermined when governments fail to respect human rights and uphold the law. He said a peaceful transition of power is important, but democracy involves more than just holding fair elections.

"Democracy requires the inclusive, peaceful participation of a nation's citizens in the political process," Tillerson said. "That includes freedoms of expression and association, an independent press, a robust and engaged civil society, a government that is transparent and accountable to all of its citizens, and a fair and impartial judiciary."

The secretary noted that a recent African Union study concluded corruption costs the African continent $150 billion a year.

Fighting terrorism

Tillerson said the United States also stood with its African partners to work to defeat what he called the scourge of terrorism and to address the root causes of violent extremism. He said the U.S. was helping 20 African countries to train, deploy and sustain more than 27,000 African peacekeepers this year in United Nations and African Union missions.

The secretary also urged African countries to help isolate North Korea, which he called a threat to all nations, by acting to implement U.N. sanctions in full, and cut off all U.N.-proscribed ties.

"I urge you to take additional measures to pressure the DPRK by downgrading your diplomatic relationships with the regime, severing economic ties, expelling all DPRK laborers and reducing North Korea's presence in your country in all other ways it may be found," he said.

Turmoil at State Department?

Friday's African ministerial meeting comes as Tillerson has been under increasing fire from a number of U.S. lawmakers for what they say is turmoil at the State Department, citing career foreign service leaders who are leaving in large numbers because of budget cuts and morale issues.

Africa expert and former U.S. Ambassador John Campbell told VOA the fact that the secretary was hosting such a major meeting of African leaders was good, but he noted the Trump administration still has no signature issue for the African continent.

"My concern about the Trump administration's approach to Africa is its failure to fill important policy positions such as the assistant secretary of state, its failure to nominate ambassadors to important African countries, such as South Africa, and the threat of massive cuts in the State Department and USAID [U.S. Agency for International Development] budget will severely curtail assistance programs in Africa."

Past policy on Africa

Campbell said the Trump administration's focus on Africa differs markedly from that of former President Barack Obama's administration and even more so from that of former President George W. Bush's, citing Bush's initiative to combat the HIV virus and AIDS.

"I would suggest President George W. Bush had even more enthusiasm for Africa than President Obama did. He went there, I think, three times. His wife, Laura Bush, went more often," Campbell said. "And he gave every indication of being absolutely fascinated by the continent and recognized how important the continent was."

Asked about how Trump was perceived in African nations, Campbell said views were mixed.

"Some Africans admire the president's 'big man' style, you know, the bluster, the larger-than-life persona. This after all is a political style that has been fairly common in Africa in the past," the former U.S. diplomat noted. "Others, however, are concerned about the president's position on things like climate change, and what they see as an over-readiness to invoke the use of military force to solve problems."
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson brought up the developments in Zimbabwe while hosting a ministerial meeting with African foreign ministers and their representatives, and the AU Commission chair in Washington. Tillerson said, "Ultimately, the people of Zimbabwe must choose their government.
Zimbabwe's once feared military is now a friend to many of the country's citizens, who've welcomed its recent take over of the state. Many attending the rally called by war veterans Saturday, to force President Mugabe from office, waved at and posed for pictures with the army vehicles and soldiers.


(Dominic Bugatto/For The Washington Post)

In North Korea, life only gets better if the state helps you. But these days, the state doesnt help. Were on our own.

The bride, now 23, from Hyesan. Escaped from North Korea in May 2017.

This story has been optimized for offline reading on our apps. For a richer experience, you can find the full version of this story here. An Internet connection is required.

When Kim Jong Un became the leader of North Korea almost six years ago, many North Koreans thought that their lives were going to improve. He offered the hope of generational change in the worlds longest-running communist dynasty. After all, he was so young. A millennial. Someone with experience of the outside world.

But the Great Successor, as he is called by the regime, has turned out to be every bit as brutal as his father and grandfather before him. Even as he has allowed greater economic freedom, he has tried to seal the country off more than ever, stepping up security along the border with China and stepping up the punishments for those who dare to try to cross it. And at home, freedom of speech, and of thought, is still a mirage.

In six months of interviews in South Korea and Thailand, The Washington Post talked with more than 25 North Koreans from different walks of life who lived in Kim Jong Uns North Korea and managed to escape from it. In barbecue restaurants, cramped apartments and hotel rooms, these refugees provided the fullest account to date of daily life inside North Korea and how it has changed, and how it hasnt, since Kim took over from his father, Kim Jong Il, at the end of 2011. Many are from the northern parts of the country that border China  the part of North Korea where life is toughest, and where knowledge about the outside world just across the river is most widespread  and are from the relatively small segment of the population that is prepared to take the risks involved in trying to escape.

Some parts of their stories cannot be independently verified because of the secretive nature of the regime, and their names have been withheld to protect their family members still in North Korea. They were introduced to The Post by groups that help North Korean escapees, including No Chain for North Korea, Woorion and Liberty in North Korea.

But in talking about their personal experiences, including torture and the culture of surveillance, they recounted the hardships of daily life under Kim Jong Uns regime. They paint a picture of a once-communist state that has all but broken down, its state-directed economy at a standstill. Today, North Koreans are making their own way, earning money in an entrepreneurial and often illegal fashion. There are only a few problems in North Korea these days that money cant solve.

As life inside North Korea is changing, so too are peoples reasons for escaping.

Increasingly, North Koreans are not fleeing their totalitarian state because they are hungry, as they did during the 15 or so years following the outbreak of a devastating famine in the mid-1990s. Now, they are leaving because they are disillusioned.

Market activity is exploding, and with that comes a flow of information, whether as chitchat from traders who cross into China or as soap operas loaded on USB sticks. And this leads many North Koreans to dream in a way they hadnt before.

Some are leaving North Korea because they want their children to get a better education. Some are leaving because their dreams of success and riches in the North Korean system are being thwarted. And some are leaving because they want to be able to speak their minds.

A new Kim at the helm

Korean Central News Agency  Dec. 19, 2011  "Standing at the forefront of the Korean revolution is Kim Jong Un, great successor to the revolutionary cause of Juche [self-reliance ideology] and outstanding leader of our party, army and people."

The meat delivery guy, now 23, from Undok. Escaped in 2014.

Kim Jong Un came to power the same year I graduated from high school, and I had very high hopes for him. I heard that hed studied abroad in Switzerland. I thought he was going to be very different from his father.

The young mother, now 29, from Hoeryong. Escaped in 2014.

I could see how young he was, and I hoped that maybe things were going to get better. We were given some rations through our neighborhood association  we even got meat and fish  at the time he took over.

The preschooler, now 7, from Hoeryong. Escaped in 2014.

I remember how fat he was. He had a very fat face like a pig.

As the regime started preparing for Kims succession, it put out a song that everyone in the country was made to learn, called Footsteps. The idea was that Kim was following in the footsteps of his father and would lead the country into a glorious future.

The money man, now 43, from Hyesan. Escaped in 2015.

We heard the song Footsteps and we were told to memorize it so [we] knew that he was going to be the leader after Kim Jong Il. We were told how great he was, that he could ride a horse when he was 5 years old and shoot a gun when he was 3. Of course we didnt believe these things, but if you laughed or said anything, youd be killed.

The university student, now 37, f rom Sariwon. Escaped in 2013.

I was in my second year at the university when this person was introduced to us as our new leader. I thought it was a joke. Among my closest friends, we were calling him a piece of s---. Everyone thinks this, but you can only say it to your closest friends or to your parents if you know that they agree.

The drug dealer, now 46, from Hoeryong. Escaped in 2014.

I created some kind of fantasy in my mind about Kim Jong Un. Because he was so young, I thought he was going to open North Koreas doors, but after he took power and I lived three years under him, life became harder.

Money talks

In theory, North Korea is a bastion of socialism, a country where the state provides everything, including housing, health care, education and jobs. In reality, the state economy barely operates anymore. People work in factories and fields, but there is little for them to do, and they are paid almost nothing. A vibrant private economy has sprung up out of necessity, one where people find ways to make money on their own, whether through selling homemade tofu or dealing drugs, through smuggling small DVD players with screens called notels over the border or extracting bribes.

The university student

North Korea technically has a centrally planned economy, but now peoples lives revolve around the market. No one expects the government to provide things anymore. Everyone has to find their own way to survive.

The hairdresser, now 23, from Hyesan. Escaped in 2016.

I had to drop out of teachers college when I was 19 because my father became ill so I needed to work. I started doing peoples hair at my house. All the women wanted perms. I charged 30 [Chinese] yuan for a regular perm or 50 yuan for a perm with better products. But it was still hard to make money. [Thirty yuan is about $4.50.]

The farmer, now 46, from Hoeryong. Escaped in 2014.

We lived in the city center, but we rented some land in the foothills of the mountains and grew corn there. During planting and harvest season, we would wake up at 4 a.m. and walk three hours to reach the farmland. Wed take a little break for lunch or a snack, then work until 8 p.m. before walking home again. Doing the weeding was the hardest because we had to get rid of them by hand. And wed buy beans from the market and make tofu that wed sell from our house. Our profit was less than 5,000 won [60 cents at the black market rate] a day. But because the bean price fluctuates, sometimes we were left with nothing at all.

North Koreans first learned how to be entrepreneurs during the famine, when they had to make money to survive. While men had to continue to show up for work in dormant factories, women would turn corn into noodles and keep a little for themselves but sell the rest so they could buy more corn for the following day. Homeless children would steal manhole covers to sell as scrap metal. Markets began to appear and took hold. North Koreans used to joke you could buy everything there except cats horns.

These days, you can probably buy cats horns, too.

The bean trader, now 23, from Hyesan. Escaped in 2014.

I had an aunt in Pyongyang who sold beans in the market there. I would buy what she needed from various farmers and get it to her. Id pay people to pack up the beans into sacks, pay porters to take them to the station, get them onto the train. You have to smooth the way with money. My uncle is in the military, so his position provided protection for my aunts business. Of course, my aunt was the main earner in the house. Its the women who can really make money in North Korea.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans now work outside the country, in lumber yards and garment factories and on construction sites, in China, Russia and other countries, earning foreign currency. Generally, two-thirds of their pay goes to the regime, and theyre allowed to keep the rest.

The construction worker, now 40, from Pyongyang. Escaped in 2015.

I wanted to earn money for my family and buy a house, so I paid $100 to bribe my way into an overseas construction job. I was sent to St. Petersburg. We lived at the construction site and would work from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., or sometimes until midnight in the summer, then wed go back to our dormitory to eat. We worked seven days a week, but we could finish early on Sundays  7 p.m.  and that was nice. My whole purpose for being there was to make lots of money and go home proud of my achievement. I still remember the first time I got paid. It was 1,000 rubles. When I finished work at 10 p.m., I went to the store and saw that a bottle of beer was 27 rubles. I thought, wow Im rich.

As the economy and the rules that govern it change, there are more and more gray areas that can be exploited. That means that illegal trade and activity have blossomed, too.

The drug dealer

I did so many things that I wasnt supposed to do. I worked as a broker transferring money and connecting people in North Korea with people in South Korea through phone calls. I arranged reunions for them in China. I smuggled antiques out of North Korea and sold them in China. I sold ginseng and pheasants to China. And I dealt ice [methamphetamines]. Officially, I was a factory worker, but I bribed my way out of having to go to work. If you dont operate this way in North Korea, you have nothing.

The doctor, now 42, from Hyesan. Escaped in 2014.

The salary for doctors was about 3,500 won a month. That was less than it cost to buy one kilogram of rice. So of course, being a doctor was not my main job. My main job was smuggling at night. I would send herbal medicine from North Korea into China, and with the money, I would import home appliances back into North Korea. Rice cookers, notels, LCD monitors, that kind of thing.

From the biggest cities to the smallest villages, there is now some kind of market building where people can sell their wares and keep their profits. Some are state-run, some are state-sanctioned, some are ad hoc. The markets have been retroactively legalized by the regime.

Money is now needed for nearly everything  even for the parts of communist life that the Kim regime crows about providing, like housing and schooling. Bribery and corruption have become endemic, undermining the regime by loosening controls and creating incentives that may not always be in line with Kims priorities.

The farmer

Technically, you dont have to pay to go to school, but the teachers tell you that you have to submit a certain amount of beans or rabbit skins that can be sold. If you dont submit, you get told off continuously, and thats why students stop going to school. The kids are hurt just because the parents cant afford it.

The young mother

I used to pay the teachers at my daughters school so they would look after her better than others. I would give them 120,000 won at a time  thats enough to buy 25 kilograms of rice  twice a year. If you dont pay the teachers, they wont make any effort.

The fisherman, now 45, from Ryongchon. Escaped in 2017.

I lived through all three Kims, but our life was not getting any better for any of us. We all have to pay for Kim Jong Uns projects, like Ryomyong Street [a residential development in Pyongyang]. We had to contribute 15,000 North Korean won per household [more than four months salary] to the government for that street.

The drug dealer

My main business was selling ice. I think that 70 or 80 percent of the adults in Hoeryong city were using ice. My customers were just ordinary people. Police officers, security agents, party members, teachers, doctors. Ice made a really good gift for birthday parties or for high school graduation presents. It makes you feel good and helps you release stress, and it really helps relations between men and women. My 76-year-old mother was using it because she had low blood pressure, and it worked well. Lots of police officers and security agents would come to my house to smoke, and of course I didn't charge them  they were my protection. They would come by during their lunch break, stop by my house. The head of the secret police in my area was almost living at my house.

The ability to make money, sometimes lots of money, through means both legal and illegal has led to visible inequality in a country that has long touted itself as an egalitarian socialist paradise. This could be a potential source of disruption. Bean traders and drug dealers and everyone in between have the prospect of making a decent living. Those working only in official jobs, whether they be on a state-owned ostrich farm or in a government ministry in Pyongyang, earn only a few dollars a month and get little in the way of rations to supplement their meager salaries.

The rich kid, now 20, from Chongjin. Escaped in 2014.

Skating rinks opened in 2013, and rollerblading became a really big thing. Rich kids had their own rollerblades. Wed carry them slung over our shoulders as we walked to the rink  it was a status symbol, a sign that you have money. I bought my rollerblades at the market. They were pink, and it cost 200 Chinese yuan. Thats the same price as 30 kilograms of rice. Its unthinkable for poor kids.

The construction worker

There were long periods where we didnt get paid. I once went for six months without getting any salary at all. We lived in a shipping container at the construction site. We were given rice and cabbage and one egg per person per day, and we had an electric coil in our container that we could cook on. We needed some protein because our work was so hard, so we started buying pigskin at the market because it was cheap. Washing was like a special occasion. But if you went to the bathhouse, you would miss out on work. Once I didnt bathe for two months. We didnt think anything of it. It was just the way we lived.



(Dominic Bugatto/For The Washington Post)

The rich kid

Cellphones are a big thing. To be able to afford a smartphone, you had to come from a rich family. Of course, there were some poor kids at my school, but I didnt hang out with them. I had an Arirang smartphone that cost $400. When boys came up to talk to me, Id check out their phone. If they had one of those old-style phones with buttons, I wasnt interested.

The markets are the distribution point not just for goods, but also for information. Chatter, rumors, illicit foreign media.

The farmer

Women make their living in the market, and while theyre sitting there at the stalls, they talk. So the market is a great place to learn about the outside world.

The phone connector, now 49, from Hoeryong. Escaped in 2013.

I watched lots of [smuggled] movies and soap operas on USB sticks from the market. I would plug them into my TV. Vendors who are selling ordinary things like batteries or rice or whatever, they hide the USBs inside under the counter. When you go into the market you say to the vendors: Do you have anything delicious today? Thats the code. USBs are also good because they are so easy to hide, and you can just break them if you get caught.



(Dominic Bugatto/For The Washington Post)

The fisherman

In the past, if you watched Chinese movies on USBs you were okay. You got put in a labor camp only if you were caught with South Korean or American movies. But now, under Kim Jong Un, you get sent to a labor camp if youre caught watching Chinese movies, too. The police and the security services and government officials live better these days. The more people they catch, the more money they earn.

The teenage prisoner, now 22, from Hyesan. Escaped in 2013.

I was 8 years old when I started watching foreign movies. I always liked watching romantic South Korean dramas like My Fair Lady.

I loved the way that women were being cherished. North Korea is a very male-oriented society, men never bother about taking care of women. And I liked to look at their fancy cars and houses.

The accordion player, now 25, from Hamhung. Escaped in 2015.

My mom worked in the market selling home appliances, so she had a way to get DVDs. I watched Chinese, Indian and Russian movies, and lots of South Korean soap operas. I thought that if I got to South Korea, I could do anything I wanted.

PART TWO: REPRESSION AND DISILLUSIONMENT

It is impossible to overstate the pervasiveness of the personality cult surrounding the Kims in North Korea. Founding President Kim Il Sung, his son Kim Jong Il and his grandson, the current leader, Kim Jong Un form a kind of holy trinity in North Korea. There is no criticizing them or questioning the system  at least not without risking your freedom and the freedom of your entire family. Your life itself could be at stake.

The preschooler, now 7 , from Hoeryong. Escaped in 2014.

I learned songs about the general and about the Kim family and how great Kim Il Sung was.

The elementary schoolgirl, now 7, f rom Ryongchon. Escaped in 2017.

We got gifts on Kim Jong Uns birthday: candy and cookies and gum and puffed rice. I was so grateful to him for giving me all these sweets. We would stand up in class and say, Thank you, General Kim Jong Un.



(Dominic Bugatto/For The Washington Post)

The university student, now 37, from Sariwon. Escaped in 2013.

We had ideological education for 90 minutes every day. There was revolutionary history, lessons about Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un. Of course, they taught us about why we needed nuclear weapons, and they would tell us that we needed to make sacrifices in our daily lives so they could build these weapons and protect our country, keep the nation safe. I was so sick and tired of hearing about all this revolutionary history, I was so sick of calling everyone comrade. I didnt care about any of that stuff.

The young mother, now 29, f rom Hoeryong. Escaped in 2014.

Everybody knew that Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un were both liars, that everything is their fault, but it' s impossible to voice any opposition because we are under such tight surveillance. If someone is drunk and says Kim Jong Un is a son of a bitch, you' ll never see them again.

The doctor, now 42, f rom Hyesan. Escaped in 2014.

Its like a religion. From birth, you learn about the Kim family, learn that they are gods, that you must be absolutely obedient to the Kim family. The elites are treated nicely, and because of that they make sure that the system stays stable. But for everyone else, its a reign of terror. The Kim family uses terror to keep people scared, and that makes it impossible to stage any kind of social gathering, let alone an uprising.

The construction worker, now 40, from Pyongyang. Escaped in 2015.

We had education sessions when we would go back to the main building and into a big room where there were portraits of the leaders. Everyone had to bow and buy bunches of flowers to lay in front of the portraits. There would be a speech by the boss, who was a party member. We would hear about how Kim Jong Un had done this and this and that [he] was working so hard for the party and for the nation and for the people. I believed it up until the Kim Jong Un era, but this exaggeration was just too much. It just didnt make sense. 

The money man, now 43, f rom Hyesan. Escaped in 2015.

Every month there was special instruction about Kim Jong Un. It came down from Pyongyang to the neighborhood associations. We were told that Kim Jong Un wanted to know everything so that he could take proper care of everyone, help everyone. Nobody believed this because if Kim Jong Un knew we had no electricity and were eating corn rice [imitation rice made from ground corn], why wasnt he doing anything about it?

The bean trader, now 23, from Hyesan. Escaped in 2014.

There was this story going around that Kim Il Sung had asked Kim Jong Un to get him an apple. Kim Jong Un asked for a shovel because he wanted to bring the whole tree. It was the kind of joke that the secret police would create. Instead of just doing top-down teaching, they would also create stories like this [about devotion to the regime] because they thought that their propaganda would circulate better as rumors and would seem more convincing.

North Korea operates as a vast surveillance state, with a menacing state security department called the Bowibu as its backbone. Its agents are everywhere and operate with impunity.

The regime also operates a kind of neighborhood watch system. Every district in every town or city is broken up into neighborhood groups of 30 or 40 households, each with a leader who is responsible for coordinating grass-roots surveillance and encouraging people to snitch.

The young mother

People in each neighborhood association are always checking up on each other. If one family seems to be living better than everyone else, then all the neighbors try to find out how they are making their money. Everybody is sensitive because if someone seems to be living well, then people get jealous of that house. Nobody has to be asked to bring that wealthy family down and make sure that this wealthy family loses their money. When you see a family lose their house, that feels good. Thats why its important not to show off how wealthy you are.

The farmer, now 46, f rom Hoeryong. Escaped in 2014.

Of course I thought about the outside world, but if you say, I want to go to China or South Korea, then it can be reported by an informant to the security services. You can think it, but you cant say it. You never know who is going to snitch on you. We often heard and saw how Chinese people had money because Chinese people used to come to North Korea to sell things, so we thought it would be nice to live there.

The rich kid, now 20, f rom Chongjin. Escaped in 2014.

There were youth leaders who would patrol around, looking for things that we werent supposed to be doing. If you were wearing jeans or skinny pants, or if you had a manicure or your hair was too long, you would get in trouble. They would sometimes check your phone to see if you had any South Korean songs. I got busted for this, but I got out of it by buying them a box of 20 bottles of beer.



(Dominic Bugatto/For The Washington Post)

For those who ran afoul of the regime in ways that money could not solve, the punishment could be harsh.

Those accused of economic crimes  which could involve any kind of private enterprise  are sent to prisons and often made to do hard labor, such as building roads by hand. But those accused of being traitors to the nation, a broad category that includes questioning the Kim family or its system, end up in political prison camps where they have to work in mines and receive almost no food. It is not unusual for three generations of a traitors family to end up in these concentration camps under North Koreas guilt-by-association system.



The teenage prisoner, now 22, from Hwanghae. Escaped in 2013.

When I was 16, I was staying at my grandma's house and there was a banging on the door late at night. Two secret police officers took me to the police station and asked me: "Where are your parents?" I told them I didn't know. It turned out that they had gone missing and I suspected that my mom's business associates, when they realized this, planted a whole lot of stuff on her, said that she was the mastermind behind this big smuggling operation. The police yelled at me: "You're just like your mother. You probably have fantasies about China, too." They slapped my face about five times.



The phone connector, now 49, f rom Hoeryong. Escaped in 2013.

The first time I went to prison, I had been caught helping people make phone calls to their relatives in South Korea. I was sentenced to four months' hard labor, building a road on the side of a mountain that they said we needed in case there was a war. The men did the digging and the women had to carry rocks and soil.

Escapees from North Koreas gruesome political prisons have recounted brutal treatment over the years, including medieval torture with shackles and fire and being forced to undergo abortions by the crudest methods. Human rights activists say that this appears to have lessened slightly under Kim. But severe beatings and certain kinds of torture  including being forced to remain in stress positions for crippling lengths of time  are commonplace throughout North Koreas detention systems, as are public executions.

The teenage prisoner

I was interrogated again by the secret police, and they wanted to know about my mothers business. They were slapping me around the face again. They always go for the face. I was beaten severely that time. They pushed me so hard against the wall that I had blood coming from my head. I still get a headache sometimes. While I was there they made me sit with my legs crossed and my arms resting on my knees and my head always down. If you move at all or if you try to stretch your legs out, they will yell at you and hit you. I had to stay like that for hours on end.

The money man

In 2015, a money transfer went bad  the woman Id given the money to got caught and she ratted on me  and I was put in detention. I spent two months there. I wasnt treated like a human being  they beat me, they made me sit in stress positions where I couldnt lift my head. Two times they slapped my face and kicked me during interrogation, but I was not beaten up badly. Maybe because I was not a nobody, maybe they feared that I knew someone who could get back at them.

Starvation is often part of the punishment, even for children. The 16-year-old lost 13 pounds in prison, weighing only 88 pounds when she emerged.

The teenage prisoner

We got up at 6 a.m. every day and went to bed at 11 p.m., and in between we would be working the whole time, shoveling cement or lugging sacks, except for lunch. Lunch was usually steamed corn. I was too scared to eat. I cried a lot. I didnt want to live.

The phone connector

Even though we were working so hard in prison camp, a ll we got to eat was a tiny bit of corn rice and a small potato. By the time I got out, I was so malnourished I could hardly walk.

It is this web of prisons and concentration camps, coupled with the threat of execution, that stops people from speaking up. There is no organized dissent in North Korea, no political opposition.

The drug dealer, now 46, from Hoeryong. Escaped in 2014.

If you make problems, then your whole family gets punished. Thats why people dont want to make any trouble. If I get punished for my wrongdoing, thats one thing. But its my whole family that would be put at risk if I did something. North Koreans have seen that Kim Jong Un killed his own uncle, so we understand how merciless he can be. Thats why you cant have an uprising in North Korea.

The university student

The secret to North Koreas survival is the reign of terror. Why do you think North Korea has public executions? Why do you think they block all communications? Why do you think North Koreans leave, knowing that they will never see their families again? It shows how bad things are. All our rights as people have been stripped away.

The phone connector

If you speak out against the system, you will immediately be arrested. And if you do something wrong, then three generations of your family will be punished. In 2009, I heard there was a going to be some kind of coup launched in Chongjin and that all of the people involved were executed. When you hear about cases like this, of course youre scared. So instead of trying to do something to change the system, its better just to leave.

Some people do leave, but not that many. Its incredibly risky and logistically difficult to get around the border guards and the barbed wire. Unknown thousands cross into China each year. Some remain in China, almost always young women who get sold to poor Chinese men in the countryside who cant get a wife any other way. Some get caught and sent back  to certain imprisonment.

The repatriated wife, now 50, f rom Nampo. Escaped for the last time in 2016.

I had lived in China for 20 years, but someone must have reported me. I was sent back to North Korea, and I spent two and a half years in a prison camp. [After she had left once more for China], I knew I couldn't be repatriated again. I thought that it would be the end of my life.

But each year, a thousand or so North Koreans make it to South Korea. In the 20-odd years since the famine, only 30,000 North Koreans have made it to the southern side of the peninsula.

During the late 1990s and the early 2000s, almost all the North Koreans who fled were escaping out of hunger or economic need. But the explosion of markets has improved life for many. Today, more people are leaving North Korea because they are disillusioned with the system, not because they cant feed their families.

The accordion player, now 25, f rom Hamhung. Escaped in 2015.

I was ambitious. I wanted to be a party member and enjoy all the opportunities that come with that. My dream was to make lots of money and be a high-ranking government official. Family background means so much in North Korea, but I had family in China and I realized that this would stop me from being able to follow my dreams. I left because I didnt have the freedom to do what I wanted to do.

The bean trader

I wanted to progress in life, I wanted to go to university, but because my mother had defected to China, it looked like I wouldnt be able to go any further. It looked like I would be stuck in North Korea where I was. I could have moved, lived, no problem, but I felt like I didnt have any future in North Korea. Thats why I decided to leave.

The meat delivery guy, now 23, from Undok. Escaped in 2014.

We were told in school that we could be anybody. But after graduation, I realized that this wasnt true and that I was being punished for somebody elses wrongdoing. I realized I wouldnt be able to survive here. So for two years I looked for a way out. When I thought about escaping, it gave me a psychological boost.

The doctor

I hoped to work abroad as a doctor in the Middle East or Africa. But to work overseas you have to pass security screening to make sure youre ideologically sound and arent going to defect. Thats a problem that money cant solve and thats where I got blocked. I was very angry, very annoyed. I cursed our society. I am a very capable person, and I was a party member, but even I couldnt make it.

The construction worker

I worked for three and a half years, but I made only $2,000 during that time. We were allowed to work overseas for five years maximum, and I was hoping to save $10,000 and return home proud. I realized it wasnt going to happen, so I started looking for a chance to escape.

The university student

I was so disgusted with the system. I didnt have freedom to speak my mind, or to travel anywhere I wanted, or even to wear what I wanted. It was like living in a prison. We were monitored all the time by our neighborhood leader, by the normal police, by the secret police. If you ask me what was the worst thing about North Korea, Id say: Being born there

The bride, now 23, from Hyesan. Escaped in May 2017.

After graduating from high school, she worked in the cornfields for two years but just sat at home after that. So when she heard that her friend had been sold to a Chinese man as a wife, she asked to be introduced to the broker so that she could be sold, too. At least shed be able to earn money in China. She has just arrived in South Korea.

The meat delivery guy, now 23, from Undok. Escaped in 2014.

Because his mother was a traitor who had defected to South Korea, he was blocked from going to college or joining the military. Instead, he was put to work doing manual labor with criminals and low-lifes, for almost no salary. He made money by delivering meat from his fathers butchery to local restaurants. He is now a university student in South Korea.

The young mother, now 29, from Hoeryong. Escaped in 2014

She came from a good family background, but her father was violent. She married young, to a truck driver, and they lived comfortably in North Korea. But her aunts lived in the South, and they told her she should bring their sister, her mother, to them. So she defected with her husband and their two daughters, a 4-year-old and a 1-month-old. She is now an office worker in South Korea.

The preschooler, now 7, from Hoeryong. Escaped in 2014.

She doesnt remember much of her life in North Korea, just her friends from preschool and a few songs that they used to sing. She is now in elementary school in South Korea.

The money man, now 43, from Hyesan. Escaped in 2015.

He had been a border guard but bribed his way out. He then started working as a money transfer broker, moving cash from families in China or South Korea to relatives in North Korea, all for a hefty fee. But one day a deal went bad when a customer in North Korea was caught with a large amount of Chinese currency and turned him in. He now works at a factory in South Korea.

The university student, now 37, from Sariwon. Escaped in 2013.

He came from an ordinary family but had big dreams. He kept thinking about escaping to China and becoming successful, doing a job that he found rewarding. One day his parents told him he should chase his dreams. So he did. He is now a reporter in South Korea.

The drug dealer, now 46, from Hoeryong. Escaped in 2014.

After bribing his way out of his factory job during the famine, he got involved in all sorts of illegal activities, from smuggling antiques to selling ice, a methamphetamine, in both China and North Korea. He is now a construction worker in South Korea.

The hairdresser, now 23, from Hyesan. Escaped in 2016.

She had been at teachers college but had to quit when she was 19 to earn money for the family after her father became sick. She started doing hair at her house, but then got an opportunity to work at a restaurant in China and earn much more. So off she went, with a broker. But she discovered there was no restaurant. Instead, she was sold to a Chinese man for $12,000. She has just arrived in South Korea.

The farmer, now 46, from Hoeryong. Escaped in 2014.

After her husband defected, she had to make ends meet. She made tofu from scratch, grew corn in a plot of land several hours walk from her home and raised pigs in her yard. It was hard to make ends meet, but it became even harder when she hurt her back and struggled to work. She still has a bad back and cannot work in South Korea.

The bean trader, now 23, from Hyesan. Escaped in 2014.

He came from a privileged family and lived well, until his grandfather got in trouble with the regime and his mother defected. So he worked as a trader, sourcing beans and sending them to his aunt, who would sell them at the markets in Pyongyang. He is now a university student in South Korea.

The construction worker, now 40, from Pyongyang. Escaped in 2015.

He worked and bribed his way into a construction job in Russia, a potentially lucrative posting. But despite working long hours, he often went months without being paid. Watching South Korean television opened his eyes to the lies of North Korea. He now works in South Korea.

The doctor, now 42, from Hyesan. Escaped in 2014.

He worked at a hospital in Hyesan and was a member of the Workers Party. He dreamed of being sent to the Middle East or Africa, where he could make much more money. But he was blocked from leaving. He now works as a doctor at a hospital in South Korea.

The fisherman, now 45, from Ryongchon. Escaped in July 2017.

He earned a good living, fishing for a state company and using his access to China to smuggle goods across the river. But his exposure to Chinese capitalism and South Korean radio broadcasts made him want to escape. He has just arrived in South Korea.

The rich kid, now 20, from Chongjin. Escaped in 2014.

She was a high school student, the daughter of a successful businessman who was flourishing in the emerging private economy. She wanted for nothing. She is now a university student in South Korea.

The phone connector, now 49, from Hoeryong. Escaped in 2013.

Using her Chinese cellphone, she worked arranging phone calls between North Koreans and relatives on the outside, either in China or South Korea. But she got caught and was forced to do hard labor in prison. She was caught a second time but paid a huge bribe to get off. She fled before she was caught again. She now works in South Korea.

The teenage prisoner, now 22, from Hyesan. Escaped in 2013.

She was a high school student and was staying with her grandmother in another city when the rest of her family suddenly escaped to China, apparently because one of her mothers business deals went bad. She was imprisoned, tortured and made to do hard labor. She is now a university student in South Korea.

The accordion player, now 25, from Hamhung. Escaped in 2015.

She volunteered for the military as a way to improve her prospects in North Korea. She hoped to become a member of the Workers Party and be the mayor of her city one day. But she was thwarted from advancing because she had family in China. She is now a university student in South Korea.

The elementary schoolgirl, now 7, from Ryongchon. Escaped in July 2017

She loves pink and a doll she was given after escaping North Korea. Shed never owned a doll before. She has just arrived in South Korea.

The repatriated wife, now 50, from Nampo. Escaped North Korea for the last time in 2016.

She escaped to China during the famine and had been living with a Chinese man. They have two children. But in 2014, she was repatriated to North Korea and spent 2 1/2 years in a prison camp. When she was released, she escaped again but this time didnt stop in China. She has just arrived in South Korea.

Yoonjung Seo contributed to this report.

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From left, Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams and Tim Meadows in the 2004 movie Mean Girls. (Paramount Pictures)

It's the age of fourth-wave feminism, of Wonder Woman and widespread girl-truce and "I believe you."

But flip on the TV, go to the movies or even slide into the soft velvet seats of a theater orchestra section, and still, somehow, the Mean Girl reigns. She's the pop-cultural archetype we just can't seem to quit.

There's Mellie Grant in "Scandal," although Olivia Pope certainly has her moments. There's the sorceress with the enviable cheekbones in "Maleficent" and Miranda Priestly in "The Devil Wears Prada." Even if a lifetime of traumas hadn't been flung her way, Cersei Lannister would probably still have been the most beguiling tyrant on "Game of Thrones." In the protracted blood feud between the Swifts and the Kardashian-Wests, the Mean Girl is definitely Taylor. (Or maybe it is Kim. It's all so super-unclear.)

And now? She's Broadway-bound.

A freewheeling 2 1 /2 -hour "Mean Girls" musical, based on the 2004 cult movie written by comedian Tina Fey, is working out the kinks on Washington's National Theatre stage before it heads north for a Broadway run.



Olivia Kerry Washington) and Mean Girl Mellie Bellamy Young) in a scene from ABCs Scandal. (Mitch Haaseth/ABC)

A serious contender for one of moviedoms most terrifying Mean Girls, Regina George, leader of the clique known as the Plastics, has a smartphone now, and skinny jeans, platform heels and tight leather jackets, not to mention a few slithery rock numbers.

Shes also just like the Regina George of Feys film, doling out her affection and seriously warped teenage vengeance in equal measure, until her victims attempt to turn the tables and replace her with one of their own.

[Tina Fey has transformed her cult classic Mean Girls into a pricey musical. Will it work?]

They betrayed you; thats what girls do, her mother, a gossipy Mama Plastic in her own right, sings to Regina in the show.

Outside the theater, 13 years after Mean Girls hit the megaplex, womanhood has changed. In our era of kindness and allies and pink-hatted sisterhood, is betrayal really still what girls do?

Im not mean! Im a woman, argues Donna Rodney, 49, of Silver Spring, as she waits to enter the National Theatre on a recent rainy afternoon. Women are her support system, she says, but she has a theory about why the Mean Girl persists.

I think theres a lot of stereotypes people want to hang on to, she says. Its more interesting to be mean and nasty to other women than to be inclusive and understanding and to be a caring person.

Being mean is far more interesting.

On screen, and onstage, it certainly does make for a good time. But who among us hasnt known one  just one!  Mean Girl in real life? Who has not dreamed of secretly slipping her Kalteen bars?



Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister in HBO's Game of Thrones. (Helen Sloan/HBO)

The Mean Girl has graduated from her high school highjinks and now has a law degree from an Ivy and thinks your life is cute. Shes in your Ashtanga yoga class, bending into her asanas just a little bit more deeply than you are. (Not that the class has anything to do with her perfectly carved calves, she wants you to know. Those are just good genes, probs.)

She doesnt just live. She thrives.

Unfortunately, yes, says Rosalind Wiseman, an educator and author who literally wrote the book on Mean Girls, laughing sympathetically.

Wiseman's 15-year-old book, "Queen Bees and Wannabes," was the source material for "Mean Girls." In it, Wiseman, who spent much of her life in Washington, described girlhood as an animalistic landscape of Queen Bees (moneyed pretty girls who alternate kindness with reproach, basically just to gaslight their entire social group); Sidekicks (the totally indoctrinated disciples of the Bee); Targets (fairly obvious, this one); and other girls you should hope never to cross in a dark alley.

But Queen Bees wasnt fiction; it was a manual for parents whose teenage daughters were growing up so fast, and potentially into psychotic little Mussolinis.

Not everyone will encounter a Mean Girl in their lifetime, says Wiseman, who now lives in Colorado, but there continue to be girls  and grown women  who disproportionately make life miserable for the other people around them.

Now, she might just use social media to do it.



Tina Fey, who adapted her screenplay for Mean Girls into the book of the Broadway-bound musical version, with cast members Barrett Wilbert Weed and Grey Henson during a rehearsal in New York. (Joan Marcus)

For women, theres a sense of having to be this billboard of yourself, this Instagram post of yourself, Wiseman says of the 2017 version of the Mean Girl, who has us all striving to appear as though we have achieved perfection, the curated life.

Worse, her friends are mandated to say, wherever they are, Aw girl, youre so cute. Youre so hot. And none of that is necessarily true, Wiseman says. The girls feel obligated to say it.

Yeah, I have some friends that are kind of terrible, confirms Elyse Collier, 26, of New York, as she waited for her cousin outside the National Theatre. Im getting married, and I have lots of bridesmaids, and they have lots of . . . personalities.

As she bats her long lashes, streaks of rose-gold glitter twinkle on her eyelids, and we cant help wondering aloud whether Elyse, who is lithe and blond, might be a Regina George. Oh, no, no, she replies without hesitation. She is a Karen  pretty, happily vapid and, um, how to put it? Not so committed to intellectual pursuits.

Even if Fey had never decided to adapt Queen Bees and Wannabes into a film, Wiseman might not have escaped the attention showered upon her after the book was published.

The media was obsessed with the Queen Bee  now better known as the Mean Girl  and with the notion that every day in America, girls were waging bloodcurdling emotional war against one another.

Wiseman, who has a quick laugh and a habit of dropping unprintable words, has written more than half a dozen books, including one on boy behavior. But she acknowledges that its her field report on girls who feed on the destruction of other girls that has endured.

Just like the Mean Girl herself.
Dear Amy: My only brother and I have always had a difficult relationship. About two years ago, we stopped talking completely.

When my husband and I found out that we were expecting our first child, I reached out to my brother to share the news. He was overjoyed, and we had a long conversation in which he apologized for his past behavior and told me he wanted to be a large part of his nieces life

I delivered about two months early, and our daughter stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit for almost a month and a half. My brother (who has never made a lot of money) generously gave my daughter a beautiful set of linens for her crib.

In our month and half stay in the hospital with our critically ill daughter, we did not get around to sending out thank-you notes. When my brother visited the hospital, though, we thanked him profusely.

A week after we returned home from the hospital, my brother sent me an angry email claiming that we were unappreciative of his efforts to be a part of our daughters life. As a result, he has refused to speak with me and is emailing my husband for updates on the child.

When I asked him what prompted these feelings, he said that we had never sent him a thank-you note for his gifts.

Was I insensitive to his efforts? My husband wants to try to make this right, because my brother is our daughters only uncle. I do not think that this is a good idea, as my brother has proven to be unreasonable. How should I go about handling this?

New Mom

New Mom: It seems that your daughter's birth has not brought on a magical change in your lifelong dynamic with your brother. And so, you'll have to do what most of us in challenging families do  take this relationship one day and one episode at a time, and react proportionally. This is something your brother, unfortunately, seems unable (or unwilling) to do.

Your brother is going to have to figure out that if he really wants to have a relationship with his niece, he is going to have to make nice with the childs mother.

Your husband should respond to him clearly: "We'd love to keep in touch, but to be a friend to our family, you will have to be a friend to all of us. You need to communicate with your sister."

Cutting you out of the loop is not the path to reconciliation. Otherwise the dynamic is only one of manipulation and capitulation.

Dear Amy: You recently wrote about the danger of guns in houses. I realize that I have no idea of how to counsel my elementary and middle school kids on what to do if they are in a house where someone brings out a gun.

Clearly, I want them as far away as possible from the gun, but telling them to leave the house and go to a nearby strangers house doesnt seem like great advice either. Do you know any good guidelines?

At a Loss

At a Loss: You should talk to your children realistically about guns. Tell them that guns hurt and kill people every day and that children are killed and hurt more than others when guns are present in someone's home.

Very young children are capable of firing a gun accidentally if they find and pick up a gun. Accidental shootings are the most common way for children to get hurt.

Tell your children that if they see a gun, these are the steps they should follow:

Stop what they are doing.

Dont touch the gun.

Leave the area where the gun is.

Tell an adult right away.

If they are at a friends house and they become aware that a parent or another adult has a gun out, they should follow these steps and also let you know. You may choose to talk with the other parent and perhaps not let the child go to that house, unless you are confident that the parents always lock their guns in a safe. Well-meaning gun owners also face the tragedy of gun accidents if their firearms are not properly secured.

Dear Amy: Thank you, thank you, for helping me to start my day with a laugh! In your response to Aussie, an idiotic architect, you managed to work in a reference to Art Vandelay. This Seinfeld reference tickled me to no end.

Big Fan

Big Fan: Thank you. I'll be here all week.
THE DISTRICT

61-year sentence in 2011 slaying of teen

A 26-year-old District man was sentenced Friday to more than six decades in prison for the 2011 slaying of a teenager in Northeast that D.C. police believe arose from an old rivalry between groups in Trinidad and E Street-Rosedale, according to the office of the U.S. attorney for the District.

Dwayne Hilton was found guilty in a D.C. Superior Court trial in September 2016 of first-degree murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed and other firearms offenses. He was sentenced to 61 years.

On Nov. 26, 2011, Hilton and an accomplice followed 18-year-old Mico Briscoe and his friends about 12:35 a.m. to close to the entry of the Circle 7 convenience store in Trinidad. Hilton and his accomplice  who remains unknown  fired at the group about 19 times, striking Briscoe and one friend, prosecutors said. His friend survived.

 Drew Gerber

MARYLAND

Arrest in Temple Hills fatal shooting

A Northeast Washington man has been arrested in connection with a homicide that occurred in Maryland in September, according to Prince Georges County police.

Anthony Stewart, 25, was charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Ibrahim Kamara, 20, of Upper Marlboro, police said.

Kamara was found dead from a gunshot wound about 12:40 a.m. on Sept. 27 in the 4000 block of Rocky Mount Drive in Temple Hills. Kamara and Stewart were acquaintances who got into a dispute before the shooting, police said.

 Lynh Bui

Shots fired at church

A church in Montgomery County was hit twice by gunfire, most recently on Thursday, authorities said.

The shootings occurred outside New Life Seventh-day Adventist Church, 7401 Muncaster Mill Rd., in the Redland area.

The first shooting was noticed Wednesday evening. A parishioner called police after he saw a bullet hole in a window frame.

The next night, at 11:13 p.m. Thursday, police were called to the area near the church for reported sounds of gunshots. Officers saw damage to the church and found bullet fragments at the scene and shell casings on Muncaster Mill Road.

 Dan Morse
A 26-year-old District man was sentenced to more than six decades in prison Friday for the 2011 slaying of a teenager in Northeast that the government believes was the result of an old rivalry between neighborhood crews.

Dwayne Hilton was found guilty in D.C. Superior Court in September 2016 of first-degree murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed and other firearms offenses. He has been sentenced to serve 61 years in prison.

D.C. police believe the shooting arose from an old rivalry between two neighborhood groups in the Trinidad and E Street-Rosedale areas, according to a news release from office of the U.S. attorney for the District.

On Nov. 26, 2011, Hilton and an accomplice began following 18-year-old Mico Briscoe and his friends for several blocks as they walked to the Circle 7 convenience store around 12:35 a.m. As Briscoe and his friends approached the entrance of the convenience store in the Trinidad neighborhood, Hilton and his accomplice  who remains unknown  fired at the group about 19 times, striking Briscoe and one friend directly while grazing the other two, prosecutors said.

Briscoe, who died several hours later, was shot directly in his back and was hit in the clavicle by a ricochet bullet. His friend was shot in the elbow and survived.

Authorities arrested Hilton on Feb. 11, 2013, and he has remained in custody since his arrest.
The former treasurer of a PTA group in Marylands largest school system pleaded guilty to embezzlement Friday after diverting more than $39,000 during less than a year as the organizations financial officer.

Lisa Betts, 45, is required to repay the countywide council of PTAs, which represents parent groups in Montgomery Countys public schools, as part of a plea agreement. She faces sentencing Jan. 17 in Montgomery County Circuit Court.

Sentencing guidelines call for probation to six months in jail, but they are not binding and a longer sentence could be given.

Prosecutor John Lalos said Betts forged the name of the PTA organization president on checks to access its money and she later altered bank statements to hide her activities.

In all, he said, 45 fraudulent checks were identified, including 30 made out to cash.

Betts, of Silver Spring, admitted in June to embezzlement, telling authorities she used the money to repay other PTA organizations she had served and stolen from. Betts also was a PTA officer at Greencastle Elementary School in Silver Spring and Benjamin Banneker Middle School in Burtonsville.

An accurate accounting of the losses to Greencastle and Banneker was not possible due to inadequate and missing documentation, Lalos told the judge.

Bettss misappropriation at Greencastle started as early as 2011, he said.

The money Betts took from the countywide group represented most of its available funds at any given time and about half of its yearly budget, he said.

[Former PTA treasurer charged with embezzlement in Maryland]

Bettss actions came to light after board members began raising questions six to seven months into her term as treasurer of the Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations. An audit team was formed, and police were contacted in April.

Prosecutors said Betts became aware of suspicions about her activity in early February and repaid about $10,000 of the misappropriated funds in February and March.

Betts answered the judges questions Friday as a small group of supporters looked on in the courtroom. Bettss attorney, Oleg Fastovsky, declined to comment afterward, saying the case is ongoing. About 10 current and former PTA officials attended the hearing. The organization represents more than 50,000 members in more than 190 schools.

[Police investigate possible fraud in a PTA organization in Maryland]

Lynne Harris, who became president of the county group after the problems surfaced, said after the proceeding she was disappointed Bettss attorney suggested Betts had begun to repay money before any problem was discovered, which she said was not true. She said the organizations insurance company will reimburse the PTA for the lost money, and Betts will repay the insurer.

Harris said the county organization has been on the rebound.

What I take pride in is that despite a difficult year last year, our organization is doing great work on many, many issues, with a very conservative budget, she said.

Harris said the group is determined to ensure such problems do not happen again, and has tightened safeguards and oversight. We are scrupulously following all guidelines and controls, she said.
The gruesome death of a beloved pet at an upscale boarding facility for dogs has left its owner distraught and grieving. Now, her lawsuit over the demise of the 4.5-pound teacup Yorkie  attacked by a Labrador mix puppy  seeks to prove that animals are far more than property.

Falen LaPonzina filed a lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court last week against Wagtime Too, which operates doggy day care and boarding facilities in Washington. She alleges that the business was negligent in allowing her dog, Dax, to be kept alongside another canine four times its weight. She is seeking $150,000 in damages.

But LaPonzina said she wants more than money. She wants the courts to recognize the role pets play in the lives of their owners. She said the 12-year-old Dax, with a giant underbite, was a friendly and loyal companion who had been a constant through her transient twenties and thirties.

I had no idea when I dropped my dog off there I would never see him again, LaPonzina said. Yorkies live to be 18 to 20 years old. He had many good years left.

Wagtime Too has denied that the business was negligent in its care of the dog. Lisa Schreiber, a co-owner, said the dogs death was a freak accident. She said that an employee had been watching all the dogs and that by the time he saw the lab mix attacking Dax, it was too late.

LaPonzina said she traveled to Alaska in July, dropping off Dax at Wagtime Too, which advertises itself as a cage-free facility. There are two locations in the District, where owners can board their pets for $55 a night. LaPonzina, a 36-year-old lawyer, and Dax had been regulars at the companys facilities, first in Shaw and later in Navy Yard, since 2010.

LaPonzina said she did not check her phone during her week-long cruise. But when she got off the ship in Canada, she found missed calls and messages from Wagtime Too indicating there had been an emergency. Dax was dead.

An 18-pound Labrador mix puppy had picked up the teacup Yorkie with its mouth, and moments later the miniature dog was no longer breathing, Schreiber said in an interview.

The Labrador, a rescue, was screened before it came to Wagtime and never displayed aggressive behavior, she said. After the incident, the dog was evaluated by a canine-behavior specialist who also found no signs of violence in the rescue dog. The Labrador has since been adopted by a woman with no children and no other dogs.

This is not anything that anyone who works for me could have prevented, Schreiber said. I do want people to understand this is a cage-free facility, and there are inherent risks here. We are not negligent here, but it is horrible that it happened.

[A kitten nursery saves tiny lives in a city aiming to become no kill]

Bruce Wagman, a partner at Schiff Hardin in San Francisco who specializes in animal law, said that a six-figure settlement awarded to LaPonzina would be an unprecedented amount in the death of an animal.

That seems an unlikely outcome, however, Wagman said.

If someone intentionally kills a pet, it occasionally might yield a significant penalty. But for LaPonzina to receive a sizable settlement, Wagman said, she would have to prove that Wagtime was not just negligent but had intentionally killed Dax. When owners do receive significant cash settlements for the death of a pet, such as when a police officer kills a dog during a home raid, Wagman said, it is typically because the officer violated the civil rights of the homeowners, not because their pet is dead.

Every state, in every court everywhere, animals are considered property, Wagman said. That said, there is no question that courts are more and more appreciating that animals are not like computers. They are not vases, and theyre not books.

This is not the first time Wagtime has faced complaints about its care of animals or how it operates its facilities.

In 2015, a dog walker dropped the leash of a 9-month-old puppy being boarded overnight, and the dog was struck by a car. Its owner sued, but the case was settled out of court.

Wagtime ran into trouble in 2003 for moving into a now-closed location near Logan Circle without a certificate of occupancy. It also squabbled with neighbors over noise and cleanliness complaints.

LaPonzinas lawsuit also accuses Wagtime Too of not having the correct license to operate its Navy Yard location. Dog-care facilities operate under a D.C. basic business license, and the Districts Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs said the Navy Yard location has not been issued one. On Nov. 3 the owners applied for a certificate of occupancy, which is not the same as a business license.

[Three elephants in Connecticut just got a lawyer]

Schreiber said that she has been in touch with city agencies and that the absence of a license is the result of a paperwork error. Matt Orlins, a spokesman for the DCRA, said there is no evidence of a clerical error.

Wagtime see hundreds of dogs a day, and until Dax, none had ever died in its facilities, Schreiber said.

Last week she sent a letter to customers informing them of the July death of Dax and ensuring them that their canines are safe in Wagtimes care. This incident was not in any way caused by negligence, the notice stated.

LaPonzina said she will be going beyond the courts and pushing for regulatory reform in the D.C. government to tighten operating standards for dog-boarding facilities.

Dax was just so adorable, you couldnt ever be mad at him  you couldnt not love him, LaPonzina said. This dog has been through it all with me.
THE REGION

Man shot by police in critical condition

A man who led U.S. Park Police on a chase down the George Washington Memorial Parkway on Friday night was shot by Park Police officers in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County, Va., and was in critical condition Saturday, Park Police said.

The mans name and age were not released, and Park Police Sgt. James Dingeldein said he did not know why he was shot or whether he was armed. Fairfax County police and Park Police are investigating, Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. said.

The incident began at about 7:30 p.m. with a car crash on the southbound parkway at the intersection with Slaters Lane in Alexandria city, and the mans sport-utility vehicle left the scene, Dingeldein said. Park Police officers spotted the vehicle minutes later heading south on the parkway and pursued him with help from Fairfax police, Dingeldein said.

The vehicle exited the parkway and crashed at about 7:42 p.m. on Alexandria Avenue near its intersection with Fort Hunt Road, in the Tauxemont neighborhood of the Mount Vernon area, Dingeldein said.

He did not know if the shooting happened before or after the crash. Fairfax officers were not involved in the shooting, Dingeldein said. No officers were injured.

 Tom Jackman

VIRGINIA

Deputy reassigned for Halloween blackface

A white Virginia sheriffs deputy has been reassigned out of her job in the local school system after attending a Halloween party in blackface as part of a costume portraying Rep. Frederica S. Wilson (D-Fla.).

Deputy Jean Browning is a 20-year veteran of the York-Poquoson Sheriffs Office in Southeast Virginia, just north of Newport News, covering both York County and the city of Poquoson.

Sheriff J.D. Diggs said in a lengthy news release that Browning was an anti-drug officer who taught the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program curriculum in local schools for 10 years. A photograph of Browning dressed as Wilson, wearing blackface, large glasses and a red hat similar to Wilsons signature hat, began circulating on the Internet soon after Halloween.

In the photo, she was accompanied by her boyfriend, who was dressed as President Trump, wearing a red Make America Great Again cap. Wilson and Trump had feuded publicly in recent weeks.

The local branch of the NAACP brought the photo to the sheriffs attention. It issued a statement on Nov. 15, noting that, For decades, blackface has been synonymous with hate, degradation, and bigotry.

 Tom Jackman

THE DISTRICT

Man sentenced in bank holdup

A U.S. District Court judge has sentenced a 24-year-old Washington man to nearly five years in prison for a Jan. 26 bank robbery.

According to authorities, Kevin Aguilar went into Capital One Bank in the 1200 block of F Street NW at about 11:15 a.m. that day. He gave a teller a note, threatening to shoot unless he immediately received $10,000.

The teller handed over $852, and the robber ran away.

Officials later identified him through surveillance footage. He was arrested in April and pleaded guilty in July. As part of his plea, Aguilar admitted that he tried to commit another robbery, in June 2016, of a BB&T bank in the 600 block of 13th Street NW. when he told a teller, "I'm going to count to three and I'll shoot. . . . One."A teller pressed an alarm and he ran away without cash, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Aguilar was sentenced to 57 months.Again, he was identified via surveillance videos.

 Dana Hedgpeth

MARYLAND

Indian Head pedestrian struck and killed

A 26-year-old pedestrian in Southern Maryland was struck and killed by a car Thursday, police said.

Maryland State Police said Demonte Johnson of Indian Head was walking just after 8 p.m. along the westbound lane of Hawthorne Road near Chicamuxen Road when a 2005 Cadillac STS driven by a 36-year-old Waldorf woman struck Johnson.

Johnson was treated at the scene and pronounced dead by emergency personnel. Police said alcohol appeared to be a factor in the reason Johnson was walking in the roadway.

Charges have not been filed against the driver, police said.

 Dana Hedgpeth
Earlier versions of this story failed to mention two Democratic challengers to incumbent District 2 County Council member Craig Rice (D). They are Tiquia Bennett and Tony Puca.

BERLIN, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 09: An "I voted" sticker lies on the floor at the U.S. elections party hosted by the Aspen Institute Germany at the Baden-Wuerttemberg State Representation on November 9, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. Many Germans are watching the U.S. elections closely and a majority are hoping Hillary Clinton will defeat Donald Trump. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

In an election cycle defined by the debut of term limits and public financing, dozens of candidates in liberal Montgomery see impending turnover on the County Council as their opportunity to enter local politics.

Yes, a few Republicans, too.

It's been 15 years since the last Republican was elected to the County Council in Maryland's most populous jurisdiction. With four term-limited lawmakers vacating their seats, a new opportunity to receive matching funds for small-dollar campaign contributions and a popular Republican governor in Annapolis, party members say 2018 may be the best chance in a while to disrupt the Democrats' monolithic grip.

But Montgomery is still Montgomery, a liberal stronghold where Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 3 to 1. Democratic candidates gleefully describe a "Trump hangover" in a jurisdiction where more than three-quarters voted for Hillary Clinton.

And Democrats are lining up to run, with more than two dozen in the race for four at-large council seats three months before the filing deadline. Another dozen or so are running for district county seats or county executive.



Republican activist Robin Ficker, who is running for county executive, delivers signed petitions to the Montgomery County executive's office in Rockville, Md., in 2016 to place a charter amendment on the ballot limiting officials to three terms. The amendment passed. (Bill Turque/The Washington Post)

In contrast, just four Republicans so far have filed candidacy papers. They are grimly aware of the odds they face.

Its not like the lottery, but its difficult, said Ed Amatetti, a first-time candidate running as a Republican for the District 2 seat. He will compete for the nomination with consultant Tom Ferleman, with the winner facing the winner of a Democratic primary that includes incumbent Craig Rice (D) and two challengers.

[Outnumbered, feeling outcast, Trump backers in Montgomery persevere]

Chevy Chase resident Richard Banach is running in District 1. Robin Ficker, a former state delegate who has sought office more than a dozen times, is the only Republican candidate so far in the race for county executive.

The challenge of recruiting Republican candidates has become an issue within local party leadership.

Dick Jurgena, who took over as chair of the Montgomery County Republican Party committee in February  is being challenged for the post by Mark Uncapher, who was chairman from 2008 to 2013 and has served as treasurer for the past four years.

The election among Montgomerys central committee members takes place later this month.

Uncapher said he is frustrated with the direction of the county party leading up to an election year and believes Jurgena has not focused enough on drafting local candidates and precinct chairs  the nuts and bolts of the party.

Weve got three months left before the filing deadline, Uncapher said. There are quite a few races in which a Republican has not filed yet.

Jurgena said the party was looking to fill all of those positions with viable candidates that feel they can win.

But he conceded progress was moving to be honest, a little slowly.

Simply convincing candidates to run is challenge enough. Amatetti and Ficker agreed that District 2  covering the relatively rural areas of Germantown, Clarksburg and Damascus  is the most vulnerable seat for Democrats, although facing an incumbent brings its own set of challenges.

Campaigning countywide for an at-large seat, they said, would be too expensive, with little chance of winning in a jurisdiction of nearly 1 million people that conservatives mock as The Peoples Republic of Montgomery County.

[Heres why these immigrants vigorously oppose sanctuary laws]

The odds are much better in a smaller district, and even thats tough, said Ficker, who has run for office at the local, state and federal level since the 1970s but won only once, when he ran for state legislature in 1978.

Connie Morella, a Republican who represented much of Montgomery County in Congress from 1987 to 2003, said challenges with fundraising and other issues are "particularly acute" for Republicans in this liberal part of the state.

The antidote, she said, is county leadership that says, Hey, you run and were going to give you these resources. Were going to help you. 

[Republicans] look around and its empty, theres nobody in the room, Morella said.

She said the party should do all it can to break the Democratic monopoly, arguing that single-party government isolates politicians and voters from those with different political views.

For now, GOP loyalists say, progress might best be measured seat by seat  not just on the council but also in Congress, where at least four Republicans and five Democrats are vying to succeed outgoing Rep. John Delaney (D) in the 6th district, which includes parts of Montgomery and all of western Maryland.

If I win, that will change some tone, said Amie Hoeber, who lives in Potomac and is one of the GOP congressional candidates. If [Amatetti] or [Ferleman] wins in council District 2, it would change some tone . . . If we can just pick up a couple of wins, it will change the tone of the whole thing.
Bobby Baker, a protege of future president Lyndon B. Johnson whose career of wealth and privilege came crashing down in an influence-peddling scandal, died Nov. 12  his 89th birthday  in St. Augustine, Fla.

The death of Mr. Baker, once the most influential staffer in the U.S. Senate, was confirmed in an announcement by the Craig Funeral Home in St. Augustine. No cause was reported.

Mr. Baker, I understand you know where the bodies are buried in the Senate. Id appreciate it if youd come to my office and talk with me, the newly elected Sen. Johnson (D-Tex.) said in his first telephone conversation with Mr. Baker in late 1948.

Mr. Baker was just 20 at the time and a staffer for the Senate leadership, keeping track of legislation and when it would be coming up for a vote. His vast knowledge of the operations of the Senate and his facility in the art of accommodation  moving pet legislative projects ahead for some senators or helping fulfill the proclivities of others for drink, sex or cash  would make him an invaluable asset to Johnson.

He would come to be known as Little Lyndon, and he became the eyes and ears in the Senate for the man he would refer to simply as Leader. As majority leader, a post Johnson was elected to in 1955, the Texas senator never wanted to be on the wrong side of a vote, and Mr. Baker developed an uncanny knack of giving him a precise head count for any upcoming tally.

He is the first person I talk to in the morning and the last one at night, Johnson once said.

For his part, Mr. Baker made it fairly clear he would do anything to curry favor with Johnson. He copied his mentors clothes and mannerisms and named two of his children after the senator.

As Johnsons power grew, so did Mr. Bakers. President John F. Kennedy once referred to the young aide as the 101st senator.

Using his guile, political skill and finesse in the art of the deal, Mr. Baker amassed a fortune of more than $2 million in his moonlighting activities with holdings in cattle, insurance, vending machines, real estate and gambling operations in the Caribbean. He lived in the Spring Valley section of Washington, close to the far wealthier Johnson. He achieved all of this on an official salary of $19,600 a year.

Years later, he justified his highflying ways in his memoir, which was aptly titled: "Wheeling and Dealing: Confessions of a Capitol Hill Operator."

"Like my bosses and sponsors in the Senate, I was ambitious and eager to feather my personal nest," Mr. Baker wrote in the book, a collaboration with author Larry L. King.

As they presumed their high stations to entitle them to accept gratuities or hospitalities from patrons who had special axes to grind, so did I, Mr. Baker added. As they took advantage of privileged information to get in on the ground floor of attractive investments, so did I. As they used their powerful positions to gain loans or credit that otherwise might not have been granted, so did I.

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Mr. Bakers world of privilege and political connections came crashing down in the fall of 1963. A former business associate, Ralph Hill, filed a lawsuit against him, charging that Mr. Baker had taken thousands of dollars in cash from Hill to use his influence with North American Aviation Corp. to steer a vending machine contract Hills way. And then, Hill charged, Mr. Baker double-crossed him.

The lawsuit piqued the interest of Senate Republicans, who pressed for an investigation. And Johnson, who was then the vice president and feared that his own questionable financial dealings would come under scrutiny, went to extraordinary lengths to deny his close relationship with Mr. Baker, the man he once declared was like a son to me because I dont have one of my own.

He basically cut his protege off without a word.

The beginning of a downfall

Mr. Baker soon showed up on the cover of Time magazine, and Life ran an article detailing his highflying career and pointing to his relationships with certain "party girls."

It was discovered that Mr. Baker owned a condominium where high-profile Washington figures were entertained by women who were not their wives. Time quoted one neighbor as saying: A lot of people used to come through the back door. That struck us as strange. Most of our guests come through the front door.

It was also disclosed that Mr. Baker was the co-founder of the Quorum Club, located in the Carroll Arms, a small hotel on Capitol Hill. It was a place where lawmakers, lobbyists and other interested parties would drink, play cards and dally with young women.

The club was outfitted with a buzzer that alerted senators when measures were coming up for a vote so they could scurry across the street for a roll call. One report from the time said that the club was just an ice cubes throw from the Capitol.

Mr. Baker thought he could control the damage from the calls for an investigation by quietly resigning his Senate post in the fall of 1963, just before a Senate panel was starting a probe.

The Democratic-controlled Senate conducted a lukewarm inquiry and offered a whitewashed report. Kennedys assassination that November and the fact that Johnson was now president may also have dampened enthusiasm for a vigorous probe. It certainly dampened the news coverage of Mr. Bakers relationship with the new president.

But Mr. Bakers troubles were far from over.

His legal downfall came in 1967, when he was indicted on charges of tax evasion, theft and fraud. Mr. Baker had allegedly been asked by savings and loan industry officials in California to deliver a six-figure sum to Sen. Robert Kerr (D-Okla.), who died in 1963. According to Mr. Bakers memoir, that money was to have been an inducement to derail a bill that would have been costly to the savings and loan industry. Mr. Bakers transgression, according to the grand jury, was that he kept nearly $50,000 for himself.

Mr. Baker denied the charges, but he was convicted and by January 1971, all of his legal challenges had been rejected. He prepared himself for federal prison, where he served 16 months of a one- to three-year sentence.

The eldest of eight children, Robert Gene Baker was born in Easley, S.C., on Nov. 12, 1928. His father, Ernest, was a postal worker. Years later, during the Eisenhower administration, when his son was enjoying considerable influence in the Senate, Ernest Baker was appointed postmaster of Easley.

At an early age, Bobby Baker was working at a local Rexall drugstore. He wrote in his memoir that he developed an aptitude for sizing up the wants and desires of some of the towns leading citizens: As a delivery boy, I witnessed secret drinkers and occasionally found a strange man in another mans house. Very early I concluded that things are not always what they seem.

He was just 14 when he was offered the chance to go to Washington as a page in the Senate after the son of a local political boss turned the opportunity down. He earned a high school degree from the Capitol Page School and received a bachelors degree from American University in 1955.

His marriage, in 1949, to Dorothy Comstock, a clerk for the Senate internal security subcommittee, ended in divorce. Their son Lyndon died at 16 in an automobile accident. Survivors include four children; several siblings; 14 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.

After leaving prison, Mr. Baker lived in South Florida and worked for a time for a waste management firm.

A few months before Johnsons death in January 1973, the former president asked Mr. Baker to visit him at his ranch in Texas, with the understanding that the visit would be kept private before and after it occurred.

According to Mr. Baker, Johnson explained his failure to speak out in his proteges defense by saying: Everything within me wanted to come to your aid. But they would have crucified me, Mr. Baker recalled in his memoir.

At the end of the weekend visit, Mr. Baker wrote that he passed by the guest book that Johnson and his wife had kept on a table in the hallway of their sprawling ranch house. Although Mr. Baker had signed it numerous times in the past, on this last visit the invitation to do so again was not extended to him. Johnson was still taking no chances.
A Baltimore homicide detectives gun was fired more than once Wednesday afternoon during a confrontation with a man that ended with the detective fatally wounded, the citys top police official Friday.

Commissioner Kevin Davis also said Det. Sean Suiters department-issued gun was the only one recovered, but that doesnt mean there wasnt a second gun.

The commissioner gave the new details amid an intense manhunt for the killer that was in its third day. We are looking at every possibility, Davis said of the investigation.

The 43-year-old detective and father of five was shot while pursuing leads in a December triple fatal shooting inside a rowhouse on Bennett Place near Fremont Avenue in West Baltimores Harlem Park neighborhood. Police have said Suiter confronted a man acting suspiciously in a vacant lot in the same block as the triple killing.

Davis cautioned that were not ruling anything out and that preliminary information could change. Police have said the man who they believe shot the homicide detective, an 18-year veteran, was injured or wounded in the incident.

Davis said the evidence suggests the gunman is still probably in Baltimore. I dont think he jumped on a plane and went to France.

A reward for information leading to an arrest had reached $190,000 as of Friday afternoon. Tips are absolutely coming in, Davis said. Were always one tip away from breaking this case. ... I know the community is just as upset as we are.

Suiter died at a trauma center on Thursday; he lived with his wife and family in York, Pa. He was originally from the District and was a Navy veteran.

[Baltimore homicide detective fatally shot while investigating case]

"We have lost our best," Baltimore Police Maj. Martin Bartness wrote on Twitter. "When I was a new sgt in the [Western], Det Suiter was my rock. He knew his post; colleagues & citizens respected him. He was the man u wanted investigating ur case & patrolling ur neighborhood. Quick with a smile & big of heart, he is dearly missed."

Davis said Friday that investigators would keep the area of the crime scene secured through the weekend.

The commissioner said he has talked to several Harlem Park residents about the inconvenience of the continued police presence. "To a person, each and every one understands why we're out here," Davis said. "They don't want a killer roaming around their community, either."
A man who led U.S. Park Police on a chase down the George Washington Memorial Parkway on Friday night was shot by Park Police officers in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County and was in critical condition Saturday, Park Police said.

The mans name and age were not released, and Park Police Sgt. James Dingeldein said he did not know why he was shot or whether he was armed. Park Police and Fairfax County police are investigating the shooting, Fairfax police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. said.

The incident began about 7:30 p.m. with a car crash on the southbound parkway at the intersection with Slaters Lane in Alexandria, with the mans sport-utility vehicle leaving the scene, Dingeldein said. Park Police officers spotted the vehicle minutes later heading south on the parkway and pursued it with help from Fairfax police, Dingeldein said.

The SUV left the parkway and crashed on Alexandria Avenue near the intersection with Fort Hunt Road, in the Tauxemont neighborhood of the Mount Vernon area, about 7:42 p.m., Dingeldein said. He did not know whether the shooting occurred before or after the crash. Fairfax officers were not involved in the shooting, Dingeldein said. No officers were injured in the episode.
One person was shot and critically wounded in Fairfax County Friday night by a U.S. Park Police officer during a confrontation that followed a chase , the Park Police said.

The shooting occurred in the Mount Vernon/Fort Hunt area of the county, at Fort Hunt Road and Alexandria Avenue, the Park Police said.

It was not clear exactly what prompted the gunfire there. The vehicle being pursued crashed at that site, but it was not immediately known whether the crash occurred before or after the driver was shot.

The incident was traced back to another, earlier crash, which occurred about 7:30 p.m. in Alexandria, according to Sgt. James Dingeldein, a Park Police spokesman. A vehicle apparently left the scene of that crash, Dingeldein said. At some later time, police began a pursuit of a vehicle that was allegedly connected to the Alexandria crash, which occurred at the George Washington Parkway and Slaters Lane, on the northern side of the city of Alexandria.

The site of the Alexandria crash is about half a dozen miles north of where the shooting occurred, and where the pursuit ended.

Dingeldein said the person who was shot was the sole occupant of the vehicle that was pursued. He was described as male, but no age was given. .

At least part of the chase that preceded the shooting occurred on the George Washington Parkway. Fairfax County police took part in the chase, Dingeldein said.
Fire involving chemicals broke out Friday night in a laboratory on the Georgetown University campus, a spokesman for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Services Department said.

Three university staff members who put out the fire were taken to a hospital for checkups, said the spokesman, Vito Maggiolo. The cause of the fire and the nature of the chemicals could not be immediately learned.

A spokeswoman for the university said the fire occurred in Regents Hall, some time after 9 p.m. It was small in extent and appeared accidental in cause, she said.

The precise cause of the fire and the nature of the chemicals could not be immediately learned.

Those taken to the hospital were two university police officers and a facilities worker. The were taken for evaluation out of an abundance of caution, she said.
Debbie James-Dean cleans the face of Aaron Albritton, 16 months, while Malachi Young, 15 months, waits in March at Kids Are Us Learning Center in Washington. Lead teachers in child-care centers will be required to have associate degrees. (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post)

The District of Columbia plans to extend the deadline for day-care providers to meet new education requirements, amid concerns that they are unrealistic and overly burdensome.

New proposed timelines announced Friday give child-care workers an extra one to four years to complete certification or degree requirements that are some of the most stringent in the nation. City officials also announced new supports for workers, including a partnership with Trinity University to begin offering classes in local child-care centers starting in January, so providers do not have to travel to a university campus to complete a degree.

We are committed to supporting our child-care providers through this transition, said State Superintendent of Education Hanseul Kang.

She said the city also remains committed to improving the qualifications of the child-care workforce, which she said is a critical step toward improving the quality of care for children throughout the District.

We know the achievement gap begins early, and staff qualifications can help address those gaps, she said.



Debbie James-Dean, right, listens to her professor during a Physiology of Religion class in March. James-Dean is studying at Central Texas College with other child-care workers, many of whom will need associate degrees to keep their jobs. (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post)

[D.C. among first in nation to require child-care workers to get college degrees]

Updated regulations that went into effect last December made an associate degree the minimum credential for a lead teacher in a child-care center. The original deadline to comply was December 2020, but new regulations, if approved by the D.C. Council, would push that back to December 2023.

The requirements have been met with anxiety and frustration by many child-care providers. Critics say many people will be unable to meet the new standards and will have to leave the profession.

And many say there is little incentive for child-care workers to get higher degrees when they are still in minimum-wage jobs. Without adequate funding for higher salaries, critics say the higher requirements will also drive up the cost of care for parents who are already paying some of the highest rates in the country. The D.C. Council is considering a plan to study the issue of compensation for child-care workers.

Education requirements also increased for many home-care providers and assistant teachers in child-care centers, who now need a Child Development Associate (CDA) certificate, considered an entry-level credential in the field. That deadline is expected to be pushed back by a year to December 2019. Home-care providers serving a larger number of children will also need to get an associate degree, but the deadline is expected to move from 2019 to 2023.

The District estimates that about 1,000 people working as lead teachers do not have an associate degree and another 1,000 working as assistant teachers and home caregivers do not have a CDA.

[Child-care workers stand to gain from paid leave, but providers say they cant pay]

There is precedent for increasing teacher qualifications. Nearly three-quarters of lead teachers in federally funded Head Start preschool programs have bachelors degrees, up from 44 percent in 2007. And by December, all lead teachers in classrooms that participate in the Districts universal preschool program will be required to have bachelors degrees  a deadline that also was extended.

The CDA typically takes between six and nine months to complete and is offered free or through scholarships. Funding is also available for child-care workers wishing to earn an associate degree, but the path is more challenging, particularly for those who need to take remedial courses or learn English before they are eligible to do college-level work.

Kang said these concerns and others are what prompted the revised time frame, and also what inspired officials to bolster supports for workers, including the partnership with Trinity University.

The Office of the State Superintendent of Education set up an early-childhood education help desk, staffed by a longtime day-care provider, who answers questions about the new requirements and counsels workers  at their workplace or over the phone  about how to meet those requirements.

A city-run fair on Saturday will show caregivers in wards 7 and 8 how they can earn their CDA or associate degree and how they can finance it.

Elizabeth Groginsky, assistant superintendent of early learning in the District, said the city is looking at further changes to help workers go back to school, including potentially offering a degree program in Spanish.

Kevin Hart, director of the Christian Tabernacle Child Development Center in Shaw, said moving the deadline back would be a big help.

This will give us an opportunity to really come up with a realistic plan of how to get this done. Right now, everyone is in scramble mode, he said.
Metros former inspector general said the office was kept under close watch during her tenure  scrutiny that wasnt applied in her previous job as an assistant IG in a federal agency  days after a Senate panel questioned the independence of Metros internal watchdog.

Helen Lew said Metros Office of Inspector General, or OIG, needs more autonomy, similar to that of a federal inspector generals office, which would allow it to call attention to the agencys problems  unencumbered by staff and board interference.

Lew, who became Metros first inspector general in 2007 and held the job for 10 years, joined calls to increase the offices autonomy and expand its oversight powers, after pleas from her successor for additional resources and questions from federal lawmakers about the internal watchdogs independence.

A letter to Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld on Tuesday, written by Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), members of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, concluded that Metros inspector general is not sufficiently independent from the rest of the transit agency.

Lew said she concurred with her successor Geoff Cherringtons request to the committee for more funding and independence to carry out the offices duties.

Lew conducted several investigations into fraud and corruption at the agency, including one that led to a September 2015 report on structural inspectors who allegedly were falsifying inspection reports. The findings came to light after a rush-hour derailment nearly a year later exposed a pattern of fabrication of track inspections. Lew was often criticized for failing to make the findings of her investigations public. But she says that like Cherrington, she was hamstrung by the agencys control.

I can identify with all of Geoffs concerns, Lew said. The oversight of the IG office is very tight there.

Lew, former D.C. chapter president of the Association of Inspectors General, said she wasnt subjected to such oversight in her previous job as the U.S. Education Departments assistant inspector general for audit services. Lew noted that the Metro board, for example, reviews all OIG audits before they can be posted online.

[Metro hires its first inspector general]

A federal IGs report doesnt go through that type of scrutiny, she said.

In a letter to a Senate committee in September, Cherrington outlined several issues that he says compromise the offices ability to function independently. The OIG, for example, does not have its own lawyers, instead relying on agency attorneys who have a legal responsibility to protect Metro.

Metros human resources department controls the compilation and vetting of job candidates, meaning the agency could theoretically weed out those who might aggressively pursue wasteful spending, fraud and corruption. And the office must secure the Metro boards approval before it can release internal audits or reports, allowing the board to determine whether to make public information that is potentially embarrassing to the agency.

Lew offered one example of how institutional rules may have interfered with the relaying of critical information.

In August 2016, parts of the mezzanine ceiling at the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station crumbled, prompting the stations closure over safety concerns. Lew said her mind immediately went to the September 2015 memo her office had compiled that documented a pattern of falsification of records in the agencys structural inspections.

[Metros Office of Inspector General knew about falsified inspections nearly two years ago. Heres the report.]

Lews office found that inspectors, under General Manager Richard Sarles, had falsified records, including copying and pasting language from previous reports and passing off old photos as new to illustrate current conditions on bridges, tunnels and platforms. Some inspections had not been performed at all.

When that happened, I thought of our report and I was wondering Okay, what happened here? Because thats infrastructure, she recalled. When [General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld] came on, we had already issued that report.

But the report had not been made public, and Wiedefeld was not aware of it, she said, an account a Metro spokesman didnt deny. But the spokesman said Lew did not make an effort to inform Wiedefeld, either.

The GM arrived . . . in December [2015] and was immediately focused on the emergency issues directly in front of him, Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said. It would have taken Helen bringing to his attention something she thought needed his focus at the time. Unfortunately, that happened after the incident rather than before.

[Metros inspector general needs more independence, Senate panel suggests]

Indeed, the investigation had been completed and new attention had been directed to it by a rush-hour derailment in summer 2016 that exposed a raft of record falsifications in the track inspection department. But its publication was held up by a lengthy review process by Metros attorneys, Lew said.

But the problem was, and I got criticized . . . was why was it taking so long?  Lew said. And we pretty much said that we had to go through a review by counsel.

Stessel said Metros recently created Quality Assurance, Internal Compliance and Oversight unit, responsible directly to Wiedefeld, is tasked with reporting critical findings  such as OIG discoveries  to the general manager.

Cherrington has privately raised his own concerns over the quality control unit, questioning why Metro has a separate office tasked with some duties similar to the OIGs. In its letter Tuesday, the Senate committee asked Metro for the quality control units annual budget and whether it exceeds the OIGs budget  and if so, why.

[Metros new watchdog: Where theres money, theres often fraud, and if it exists, we want to find it]

In comments to reporters Thursday, Wiedefeld suggested one possible resolution for questions about the offices independence: shifting the inspector generals office to the U.S. Transportation Department, similar to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authoritys inspector general.

If theres a perception issue, then I think being part of the USDOTs IG office is one way to get around that, Wiedefeld said.

But Wiedefeld added that he did not think the Metro board was constraining Cherrington and that staff members were not interfering with investigations.

Board Chairman Jack Evans said he did not know of any cases in which the board had interfered with an inspector generals report. But, he told reporters, the board would make efforts to give the OIG authority that resembles the federal model. He urged Congress to provide funding to enable the reforms Cherrington has requested.

The silver lining to this is that Congress  we now have their attention, Evans said. The letter to senators, and my admonition to [Johnson and McCaskill] would be, get 5 or 6 or 10 million dollars, whatever it would take, and well make this truly an independent inspector general.

Johnson and McCaskill, the authors of Tuesdays Senate committee letter, did not immediately respond to questions about whether they would support measures to shift oversight to the U.S. Transportation Department or provide new funding to the office.

Among the most alarming findings raised in their letter: Five years ago, a Metro employee was found to be inappropriately monitoring OIG communications through keystroke-monitoring software installed on OIG computers. Lew discovered the monitoring and reported the incident to Sarles. Metro fired the employee.

"We found wrongdoing and we reported that to the general manager and they took action," Lew said. "There were no hard feelings there."

In his September letter to the Senate committee, Cherrington pushed for IT independence from the agency, including a separate email address for the inspector general, likely to prevent someone from illicitly monitoring the offices correspondence.

Tellingly, the email address currently listed for the tip hotline on the Metro Inspector Generals Web page is a Verizon account: wmata-oig-hotline@verizon.net.
Columnist

Not without thy wondrous story, Illinois, Illinois,

Can be writ the nations glory, Illinois, Illinois.

 Official state song

This states story, which lately has been depressing, soon will acquire a riveting new chapter. In 2018, Illinois will have the nations most important, expensive and strange election.

Its importance derives from this fact: Self-government has failed in the nation's currently fifth-most populous state (Pennsylvania soon will pass it). Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner will seek reelection with a stark warning: The state is approaching a death spiral  departing people and businesses suppress growth; the legislature responds by raising taxes; the exodus accelerates.

Rauner, whose net worth earned as a private-equity executive is $500 million, give or take, probably will be running against someone six times richer. The race might consume $300 million  "maybe more," Rauner says  eclipsing California's $280 million gubernatorial race in 2010, when that state's population was three times larger than Illinois'.

The strangeness of the contest between Rauner and the likely Democratic nominee (J.B. Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune) is that Rauner's real opponent is a Democrat who has been in the State Assembly since President Richard Nixon's first term (1971) and has been speaker all but two years since President Ronald Reagan's first term (1983). Michael Madigan from Chicago is the "blue model" of government incarnate. This model is the iron alliance of the Democratic Party and government workers' unions. Madigan supports Pritzker, who is committed to the alliance. This is the state of the state under it:

Unfunded state and local government retirement debt is more than $260 billion and rising. Unfunded pension liabilities for the nation's highest-paid government workers (overtime starts at 37.5 hours) are $130 billion and are projected to increase for at least through the next decade. Nearly 25 percent of the state's general funds go to retirees (many living in Texas and Florida). Vendors are owed $9.5 billion. Every five minutes the population  down 1.22 million in 16 years  declines as another person, and an average of $30,000 more in taxable income, flees the nation's highest combined state and local taxes. Those leaving are earning $19,600 more than those moving in. The work force has shrunk by 97,000 this year. There has not been an honestly balanced budget  a constitutional requirement  since 2001. The latest tax increase, forced by the legislature to end a two-year budget impasse, will raise more than $4 billion, but another $1.7 billion deficit has already appeared.

The one Democrat who did not vote for Madigan for speaker this year says he's since been bullied. Another Democratic legislator  an African American from Chicago's South Side, a supporter of school choice  broke ranks to give Rauner a victory on legislation requiring arbitration of an impasse with a 30,000-member union. Madigan enlisted President Barack Obama to campaign against the heretic, who was purged. These were warnings to judges, who must face retention elections. They  including the one who refused to trigger arbitration by declaring a negotiation impasse  are, Rauner says, "part of the machine" in this "very collectivist state."

Thuggishness has been normalized: Because Rauner favors allowing municipalities to pass right-to-work laws that prohibit requiring workers to join a union, Madigans automatons passed a law (Rauners veto stood) stipulating up to a year in jail for local lawmakers who enact them.

In 2018, Rauner will try to enlist voters in the constructive demolition of the "blue model." It is based on Madigan's docile herd of incumbent legislators, who are entrenched by campaign funds from government unions. Through them government, sitting on both sides of the table, negotiates with itself to expand itself. Term limits for legislators, which a large majority of Illinoisans favor, would dismantle the wall.

A 60 percent supermajority of the legislature is required for such a constitutional reform. So, next year voters will be urged to oppose any legislature candidate who will not pledge to vote to put term limits on the ballot. And all candidates will be asked how often they have voted for Madigan for speaker  he has a 26 percent approval rating  and to pledge not to sin again.

I love a fight, says an ebullient Rauner, whose rhetoric cannot get much more pugnacious. He calls Madigan the worst elected official in the country and Madigans machine evil. The nation has a huge stake in this brawl because the blue model is bankrupting cities and states from Connecticut to California, so its demolition here, where it has done the most damage, would be a wondrous story enhancing the nations glory.

Read more from George F. Will's archive or follow him on Facebook.
The word has gone forth that a reckoning is due. Democrats are preparing to come to terms with Bill Clintons sexual transgressions. Sort of. Depending on what you mean by reckoning.

Last week, in a conversation with a male Democratic consultant about the extraordinary wave of sexual harassment allegations  or, more accurately, the reaction to those allegations  shaking American culture, it seemed as if some sort of grappling with the sordid side of Clintons history was inevitable. Clinton is 71 years old. His wife has run her last race. There is nothing he can do for Democrats now in return for their continued silence about a sleazy past.

Some ambitious Democratic politician, we agreed, might even perceive long-term benefit in lambasting the former president for his sins. Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, for example, seized the opportunity this week, saying Clinton should have resigned from the presidency.

Just about everyone seems to recognize that at least some of the allegations leveled against Clinton over the decades were too credible to be dismissed. Paula Jones was cynically manipulated by right-wing operatives. But, cmon, something mustve happened in that hotel room where she said Clinton exposed himself.

In The New York Times, liberal columnist Michelle Goldberg wrote a column this week titled I believe Juanita, referring to Juanita Broaddrick, a woman who accused Clinton of rape. In the Washington Post, Alyssa Rosenberg denounced moral sickness in the service of partisanship. She was referring specifically to the partisan hacks  shout-out to Ann Coulter!  justifying Roy Moores Senate campaign in Alabama. But she meant the Democrats who explained away Clintons behavior as well.

Younger liberal men such as MSNBC host Chris Hayes and Vox writer Matthew Yglesias were on board with the Kill Bill vibe, too. It seemed like a consensus was in the works to disinter Clintons presidency, let out a collective hiss and then bury it all over again with an ugly new epitaph.

But if the conversations I had this week with a few Democratic women in their 50s and 60s are any indication, not everyones ready for the funeral.

These are women who worked for sexual equality and abortion rights. Women who in the 1990s or since had worked in powerful positions in Democratic politics and government. None was willing to talk on the record. None was ready to cut Clinton loose from the party that they had given decades of their lives to. Each was ambivalent in her own way.

In the most striking conversation, an extraordinarily accomplished professional recalled Clinton as a philanderer. She sighed over Gennifer Flowers and Monica Lewinsky. But she had completely, conveniently, forgotten the non-consensual parts of the Clinton saga.

Another woman of forceful opinions, forcefully expressed, hemmed and hawed uncharacteristically. She spoke of her anger at the awkward, impossible position in which Clinton had placed his liberal supporters during the Lewinsky scandal. And she talked about forgiveness  not reckoning.

Another circled around the chessboard without ever landing on a square. This is going to churn for a while, she said. I dont know that there will be a spotlight moment on Bill Clinton. But I do believe the portrait of him will change.

That seems like a good guess. But watching devoted Democrats rationalize the past does put the sight of Alabama Republicans rationalizing the present in context. White Christians in Alabama are busy triangulating the basis of their vote for skeevy Roy Moore, just as last year they rationalized their support for skeevy Donald Trump. No doubt they would prefer an honest senator who didnt molest teenagers. But theyre going to the culture war with the candidate theyve got, not the candidate they wish they had.

Democrats in the 1990s did the same, albeit with a man, unlike Moore, who had intellectual and political gifts that paid dividends for the whole nation. Democrats are now responding to far less serious accusations against Senator Al Franken by pushing him into the equivalent of purgatory  an ethics committee investigation. If things work out, and no other credible accusations are made, he may very well keep his seat.

In New York, Jonathan Chait wrote of Moores candidacy: Its easy to feel superior about this when opposition to grotesque treatment of teenage girls lines up neatly with your own partys well-being.

The awkward truth is that the nations politics are balanced on a needle right now. Otherwise decent people will tolerate the intolerable, the indecent, even the criminal for the chance to nudge the world ever so slightly in their direction.

In one sense, with Harvey Weinsteins on the way down, women are on the rise. Surely thats the pulse of the moment, and the long-term trend. But with a groping sexist in the White House, and Republican men running Congress, women are also vulnerable in the short term.

A Clinton reckoning  whatever that means  will likely come in some form. But it may have to wait until the world shifts further toward the more equitable balance that Clinton himself, for all his grim faults, sought to bring forth.
Columnist

Here we go again. Another shooting rampage. Another from-out-of-nowhere attack on the public. Another tale of carnage, bloodshed and indiscriminate killing.

This time it's a rural community in California. Last week it was a Baptist church in Texas. Before that, a country music concert in Las Vegas.

Three different states, same toxic ingredients  a crazed man and a gun.

And the reaction, sad to say, is also the same: It could have been worse. So lets give thanks to:

The quick-thinking officials at an elementary school in Northern California who, hearing gunfire, locked down the premises, preventing gunman Kevin J. Neal from getting inside the building. Neal killed five people, but none at the school.

 The heroic neighbor who grabbed his rifle, fired back and wounded the Texas shooter, Devin Patrick Kelley, who killed 26 people, including an unborn child.

 The security guard at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino who first reported shots and warned two people in the hotel of the danger inside the suite from which bullets fired by Stephen Paddock rained down on concertgoers, killing 58 and wounding more than 500.

 And the first responders: the California law-enforcement officers who tracked and fatally shot Neal on Tuesday; the Texas police who pursued and found Kelley dead in his car; the cops in Las Vegas who descended on Paddocks hotel suite.

Now lets return to our customary hand-wringing.

Oh dear, oh dear, we ask the skies above: How can we make all this bad stuff go away?

What, pray tell, can we do about these assailants who leave bloody trails in their wake? Do we, as President Trump, chalk up the murders to a "mental health problem"  that is, if the shooter isn't someone of a darker hue named Mohammed?

Motives, state of mind, family conditions? We plumb those questions, world without end.

But we dance around the one feature shared by these tragedies: guns.

Sure, we notice the destructive force of a gun when the deaths occur. Mass shootings have a way of concentrating the mind.

Spread out the bodies over a period of days and weeks, however, and the horror of guns almost goes unnoticed.

We reached 100 mostly gun-related homicides the other day in our nation's capital. That's more deaths than those that occurred in the California, Texas and Nevada shootings combined.

The Districts homicide toll is down 14 percent from the same time last year. Nothing to cheer about; plenty to mourn. A blase city, however, did neither.

Guns.

On my desk is an Oct. 26 D.C. police department news release about the arrests of Messan Djlbom, 20, of Silver Spring, Jason White, 31, of Northwest Washington, and Lonnell Hart, 44, no fixed address. The three were charged in connection with six armed robberies of establishments on Wisconsin, Georgia and Pennsylvania avenues NW since August. Two handguns were recovered.

Guns.

From Monday, Oct. 30, through Monday, Nov. 6, D.C. detectives and officers recovered 38 firearms, ranging from handguns to shotguns.

That hardly exhausted the supply.

From Nov. 6 to 13, D.C. authorities recovered an additional 24 firearms, and in all of the citys four quadrants.

But its not just the District of Columbia.

America is flooded with firearms. One estimate by the Congressional Research Service puts the figure at more than 300 million.

Here's an America First: We have more guns per capita than any other nation in the world. Yay. Take a bow.

Every day, 46 children and teens in our country are shot in murders, assaults, suicides and suicide attempts, unintentional shootings, and police intervention, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. But you probably heard all that.

You also may have heard that guns are used to save lives; that women use guns to stave off sexual abuse; that criminals dont want to mess with an armed victim.

Well and good.

But Devin Kelley and Kevin Neal shouldnt have gotten their hands on one. There was no good reason for Stephen Paddock to be toting enough firepower to take on Boko Haram. And young men in our communities shouldnt be allowed to rob, shoot or terrorize their neighbors at gunpoint.

But we know all that, too.

We come up short when it comes to doing something about it. The to-do list is there. Whats lacking is the will on Capitol Hill.

The mentally ill shouldn't be allowed to buy guns. Private sales of guns and buying them at gun shows must be subject to background checks. We don't need assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines. There should be a firm waiting period before guns can be bought legally. And, yes, we ought to have a federal database to track gun sales.

Until action is taken, gird yourselves for more rampages, and solemn utterances of our thoughts and prayers are with  pick a name.

Read more from Colbert King's archive.
SECRETARY OF STATE Rex Tillerson too often has shown a disregard for human rights issues, especially in his public diplomacy. So his news conference in Burma on Wednesday was a welcome departure. Standing next to the country's civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mr. Tillerson spoke forcefully about "credible reports of widespread atrocities committed by [Burma's] security forces" against the Rohingya ethnic minority. He said the campaign, which has driven more than 600,000 people across the border to Bangladesh, "has a number of characteristics of certainly crimes against humanity."

Mr. Tillerson repeatedly called for a credible and independent investigation, said that those guilty of abuses should be held accountable, and indicated that U.S. sanctions against involved individuals would be appropriate. He also called on the government to allow the voluntary return of the Rohingya and provide them with a transparent and fully voluntary path to citizenship, which most lack. Myanmars response to this crisis, he said, using the name for the country favored by the regime, is critical to determining the success of its transition to a more democratic society.

Mr. Tillerson's connection of "the humanitarian scandal" of the Rohingya to Burma's democratic transition was particularly significant. Aung San Suu Kyi, who lacks authority over the country's military, has attempted to sidestep the crisis, offering bland statements about the need for "harmony" and establishing commissions with vague missions. Her aides say her priority is consolidating democracy by gaining the military's support for changes to the constitution, which now gives the generals an overwhelming role. Given the scale of the offenses, which U.N. officials have labeled "ethnic cleansing" and members of Congress have called "genocide," that's a blinkered view. As Mr. Tillerson said, "the key test of a democracy is how it treats its most vulnerable and marginalized populations."

Mr. Tillerson appeared intent on offering Aung San Suu Kyi another chance to do the right thing, saying the independent investigation he called for should be led by "Myanmar's civilian government." That drew scorn from international human rights advocates, who said Mr. Tillerson should have supported an international fact-finding mission sponsored by the United Nations and demanded that the government reverse its refusal to allow U.N. observers into Rakhine state, where the military has torched scores of Rohingya villages and allegedly carried out systematic rapes and murders.

Mr. Tillerson is understandably seeking to preserve the U.S. relationship with Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who courageously opposed military rule for decades. The alternative could be a regime that would reverse the democratic opening and ally itself with China. But critics' skepticism is well founded: It is highly doubtful that Aung San Suu Kyi's government will or can carry out the credible investigation the United States, along with much of the rest of the world, asks for. In the absence of prompt action to create conditions for the voluntary return of the Rohingya and for steps to identify and hold accountable those responsible for atrocities, the Trump administration should proceed with sanctions against senior military leaders, support an international embargo on arms sales and explicitly back the U.N. investigation.
In his Nov. 5 Outlook column, "How racist trolls will upend America, with or without Trump," Carlos Lozada reviewed three books on the alt-right while sanitizing the alt-right. These people don't simply "want nonwhites out of the country"; they want a fascist regime to re-enslave black Americans, force nonwhites into concentration camps and ethnically cleanse the United States of Hispanics, Muslims and Jews. That Richard Spencer wants to lock up black America is undisputed.

Lozada, like much of the mainstream media, fails to connect these toxic ideas to the toxic success stories of the alt-right. In polite society, the re-enslavement of blacks is called prison labor. Mass incarceration, in concert with hyper-low-pay prison labor programs, warms the hearts of alt-right sociopaths. In polite society, ethnic cleansing is called immigration reform and emergent fascism is voter suppression.

While none of these policies goes as far as the alt-right would wish, they are extreme. President Trump, for example, is calling for a massive increase in immigration detention centers. The Post must abandon the liberal myth. The myth that everything is basically okay, that we need only to remove a few bad apples, has become a danger to our democracy.

Jonathan Krall, Alexandria

The writer is a co-founder of Grassroots Alexandria.
I read with great interest the Nov. 15 Metro article "On the mainland, redefining home," on the effects of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rican families that reside in the Northern Virginia area. Among other things, it was a good description of the lives of fellow islanders who divide their time between their ancestral and present homes. As a native-born Puerto Rican American who has resided in Northern Virginia for more than 50 years, not counting four spent in Norfolk while serving on board a U.S. Navy destroyer, I identify fully with the experience so well described in the article.

The vast majority of Puerto Rican Americans, such as I, are dedicated, loyal and devoted American citizens. We love the United States and have served it in a wide variety of ways; thus we speak of ourselves as our fellow Americans from Texas, Wyoming and Nevada do. As they do, we cherish our roots and find no incongruity between them and our present situation. Unfortunately, and perhaps because of what can only be perceived as a lack of knowledge and understanding of the island, its history and loyal service to our nation on the part of our fellow American residents of the mainland, we, as an old saying goes, come as strangers to a land that is also ours.

Hopefully, this article will serve to bridge that gap of understanding.

Luis Guinot Jr., Falls Church
THE DEPARTURE from Puerto Rico this week of the Army general who led the military's response to Hurricane Maria is being depicted as a sign the island is no longer in crisis mode but instead is transitioning to long-term recovery. No matter what terms are used, it is clear there are still enormous problems in Puerto Rico, with far too many people living in conditions that simply would not be tolerated on the mainland. More than ever, the people of Puerto Rico must not be forgotten. Those charged with rebuilding the island need to show they are up to the task and not repeat the mistakes that marked the initial response to the catastrophic storm.

It has been nearly two months since Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, yet the majority of the island's 3.4 million residents are still without electricity in what ranks as the largest blackout in U.S. history. No one has a clear handle on when the lights will be back on. Other problems include damaged homes, people in shelters, lack of access to clean water and, the New York Times reported, fears of a full-fledged mental-health crisis.

Nonetheless, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey S. Buchanan, dispatched to the island a week after Maria hit once it had become clear the federal response was too slow and too small, announced troops would begin to wind down operations. He explained that the military's mission  clearing roads, search-and- rescue work, helping restore communications, opening ports around Puerto Rico  was over. The long-term work of rebuilding was now up to the local government and federal agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

FEMA officials have characterized their actions as the largest and longest in response to a natural emergency and say they will be there for the long haul. That's good to hear. Also good is the decision by the Trump administration to not just rebuild but also allow for enhancement and improvements in infrastructure projects. So, for example, a traditional power grid could be replaced with solar- or wind-power components. Getting Congress to approve the necessary resources will be key.

Puerto Rico's governor has asked for $94.4 billion, a request that hasn't been helped by the troubling questions that have been raised about the decision of the government power company to give a lucrative no-bid contract for energy restoration to a small start-up firm based in Montana. Why didn't it call on the mutual aid network proven to be effective in helping other places recover from storms? Why didn't it follow its own lawyers' advice about problems with the $300 million contract?

Gov. Ricardo Rossello canceled the contract, and the head of Puerto Rico's electric utility has resigned, but the lingering questions, as well as doubts that have been raised about the government's official death toll, underscore the need for Congress to not just write a check but also ensure the money will be put to its best use. If Mr. Rossello is unable to provide that assurance, Congress should consider whether the federal oversight board put in place last year to supervise Puerto Rico's finances should be given more authority to help speed recovery.
Columnist

Somewhere between the surround-screen animation of the New Testament and the backlit glass case containing Elvis Presley's personal Bible, I began to feel a bit overwhelmed. It was bound to happen; the guide made it clear that the Museum of the Bible was meant to be a highly stimulating experience.

Educational too, of course. The new museum's purpose, as stated in its promotional materials and in the carefully bland speeches of its largely evangelical Christian board, is to invite all people to "engage" (their preferred word) with the most popular book in the world. There was a lot to see: more than $500 million worth of artifacts, interactive exhibits and performance space in a 430,000-square-foot building three blocks from the Capitol. But actual grappling with the Bible and its implications was an afterthought.

In that way, the Museum of the Bible reflects the discouraging state of Christianity  especially evangelicalism  in the United States today. It is lavishly funded and larger than life to the point of performance, often literally. Yet the approach is strangely superficial given the wealth of complexity inherent to its subject. There are dozens of illuminated manuscripts, but it's unclear whether they've been read.

The museum is organized around the history, narrative and impact of the Bible, and a floor of the building is dedicated to each of these tracks. (Several other floors are included as garnish.) The history section is legitimately groundbreaking, presenting artifacts ranging from a first edition of the King James Bible New Testament  the only other known copy belongs to the British Library  to fragments of the contested Dead Sea Scrolls. The section on narrative is more whimsical. It features a recreation of the first-century village of Nazareth, Jesus' home town, that will soon be populated by costumed docents  a sort of biblical Colonial Williamsburg.

The "impact" floor is where the deeper shortfall becomes evident. The section offers high-tech exhibits on the Bible's role in U.S. history, popular culture and the world at large. There's a motion ride that flies you through Washington to explore biblical references around the city, spraying water at you for an extra thrill. (The tour guide winkingly noted that its designer worked on projects in Paris and Florida for a company beginning with the letter D.) As on the other floors, there is a baffling array of touch-screens and tablets, modern-day interactives and glossy timelines.

Yet while the exhibits dutifully touch on past conflicts involving the Bible (it was deployed in defense of and against slavery!) and play up its crowd-pleasing successes (verses from the book of Genesis helped to define human rights!), overall the museum eschews any difficult engagement with issues of the day. A timeline of the Bible in U.S. history conveniently ends in 1963; its role in our debates on sexuality, contraception and abortion are pointedly left undiscussed.

Therein lies the problem. It is increasingly clear that Christianity in America has been reduced to more of a cultural identity than a way of life. Fine, perhaps, if you're part of the growing minority of Americans who identify as nonreligious or in active opposition to Christian belief. Less so if you had hoped it might yet inspire moral behavior among its adherents.

A cultural Christianity that reveres religious trappings and neglects their requirements is exactly the sort that props up figures such as Ten Commandments-toting, allegedly teen-molesting Senate candidate Roy Moore. (The Gospel of Luke warns that it's better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around one's neck than to cause a child to stumble; the museum has a millstone replica Moore might want to investigate.) Cosmetic faith is the sort that displays charming engravings from Leviticus 19:34  "The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself"  while celebrating its achievements at Trump International Hotel.

"Half a billion dollars on a giant museum of the Bible? It's a very American enterprise," muttered one European member of my group near the end of our whirlwind tour. He wasn't wrong.

The Museum of the Bible touts itself as nonsectarian and apolitical, but it's obviously meant to serve as a stake in the ground, a glitzy signpost to indicate that biblical values remain foundational in the United States. Yet even as its narrative affirms America's religious beginnings, its positive development and the primacy of the Good Book throughout, the museum refuses to complicate the story. Promoting the Bible is enough, apparently  no need to engage with its demands.
CAMBODIA'S PRIME minister, Hun Sen, who has been slowly squeezing the life out of democracy in Cambodia, delivered a fawning tribute to President Trump in remarks Nov. 13 in Manila at the ASEAN summit. Hun Sen expressed delight at Mr. Trump's promise to stay out of the internal affairs of other nations. And no wonder.

On Thursday, the Cambodian Supreme Court, as expected, dissolved the main opposition party, the Cambodian National Rescue Party, at Hun Sen's behest. The party, established in 2012, posed the first real challenge in years to his 32 years in power. The government claimed the party was planning to foment "color" revolutions, an uprising against the ruling regime, but this was a flimsy pretext. Hun Sen faces an election next July and is setting the table by wiping out the only real opposition party. In June, Hun Sen warned opposition forces to "prepare your coffin." The court's ruling means that the party will lose its 55 seats in the 123-member National Assembly.

The party's leader, Kem Sokha, cannot flee. On Sept. 3, he was arrested and accused of treason, also based on trumped-up charges that stem from a 2013 video in which he told supporters he received U.S. support and advice in planning political strategy. In effect, democracy is being criminalized in Cambodia. He is being held in a remote prison. The regime also pursued his predecessor, Sam Rainsy, with politically motivated accusations. He fled the country and is now in exile in Paris.

In recent months, Hun Sen intensified a campaign against civil society and free expression. A hefty tax bill forced the closure of the already ailing Cambodia Daily print newspaper. Local FM stations in Cambodia were ordered to stop carrying Radio Free Asia and Voice of America broadcasts. RFA later closed its office after Cambodian officials threatened to jail reporters. In recent days, police detained two former RFA employes, apparently on grounds they might be engaging in real journalism. In August, the regime ordered the National Democratic Institute, a nongovernmental organization loosely affiliated with the Democratic Party in the United States, to cease operations.

Hun Sen, an authoritarian who had tolerated some measure of political opposition, is now liquidating competition, the oxygen of democracy. Mu Sochua, a senior politician in the opposition party who along with others has fled the country, said the dissolution of the party marks "the end of true democracy in Cambodia."

Mr. Trump's declaration in his inaugural address that "we do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone" was an invitation to potentates such as Hun Sen to smother liberty. On Thursday, the White House issued a much-needed rebuke to Hun Sen, warning that he is placing Cambodia's international standing at risk and pledging concrete steps in response to his undemocratic acts. Perhaps the Trump administration is waking up, belatedly, to the reality that the United States can't ignore the internal affairs of other nations when democracy is under siege.
Columnist

It seems more than coincidence that the first year of Donald Trumps presidency coincides with a trend that was heretofore unrecognized  groping.

Gropers abound, it seems. From Harvey Weinstein to Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore to Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken  and dozens in between  it would seem women are swimming in groper-infested waters.

One can hardly turn on the news without landing on a panel discussion of groping and punishment. How long before groper-fatigue sets in? The challenge for everyone, but especially the media, is to not overwhelm ourselves with trivial pursuits and blind leads. Groping is wrong and bad and awful, but it doesnt rise to the level of rape as we commonly understand it. And while a forced kiss is disgusting (and you want to brush your teeth forever), it wouldnt seem to be a life-altering event. If it is, were talking about more than groping.

Im not excusing anyones behavior. I find the whole bunch of accused men, including President Trump , revolting and pathetic. May every groper find a larger mans hand down his britches and see how he likes it. Crude  my apologies. But this is what its come to.

While the debate about these offenses is, one hopes, constructive, theres a tendency to put all these monkeys in the same barrel. There are notable differences of degree among them, and we should always give consideration to context and other possible extenuating circumstances lest we become blind to fairness and enamored of justice, with or without due process.

Do I believe every accuser who has come forward? Im inclined to. In fact, without good reason otherwise, Im inclined to first believe the woman in any case. This isnt because I happen to be a woman, but because men historically have been unfairly believed over women. Assuming no relevant pathologies, why not believe the woman?

In Moores case, of course, there is credibility in numbers. Several women unknown to each other reported similar experiences. But are these alleged offenses from so long ago sufficient to end his Senate campaign and his political career? The fact that Moore totes the Ten Commandments around like an ash sack of piety makes the allegations all the more repulsive  America hates the hypocrite more than the criminal  and makes people more inclined to send him packing.

But is it really fair to judge him based on unprovable recollections by women who were teens at the time? Is it not possible that Moore has repented or that, as he claims, these things never happened? Might four decades have changed him? Or dont we care? We have to ask.

Franken is helped only insofar as he wasnt yet a Minnesota senator when his guerrilla groping took place. The fact that he expressed remorse and didnt deny his acts is hardly courageous given that weve all seen a photograph of him as hes about to grab a womans breasts while she was sleeping. He and the woman, Leeann Tweeden, whom he reduced to an inhuman object for his audiences amusement, were on a USO tour at the time.

In the picture, Franken, erstwhile comedian and, apparently, lifelong buffoon, is looking over his shoulder at the camera grinning like a baboon. It was a stupid, thoughtless and demeaning performance. Context for Franken may simply have been his outdated sense of humor. Whats funny for one generation isnt remotely humorous to the next.

How does one punish a Franken? Democrats may be willing to sacrifice him since Minnesotas Democratic governor would appoint another Democrat to replace him. If so, they gain the high road over Republicans, who are stuck not only with Moore but with the leader of their party.

Trump, whom more than a dozen women have accused, is the gorilla in the ointment.

We know that he's an admitted forced-kisser and a groper, thanks to the "Access Hollywood" tape. It's easy to think he's guilty as charged based on his generally dismissive behavior toward women and his alarming impulsiveness.

What will happen to Trump is probably nothing. He, like Moore, stands only accused. We may not be at a point where recompense is possible for past aggressions, but there can be little doubt that groping, the trend that suddenly defined 2017, is on its way out.

Read more from Kathleen Parker's archive, follow her on Twitter or find her on Facebook.
Columnist

The United States and its allies are under attack. The cyberwar we've feared for a generation is well underway, and we are losing. This is the forest, and the stuff about Russian election meddling, contacts with the Trump campaign, phony Twitter accounts, fake news on Facebook  those things are trees.

We've been worried about a massive frontal assault, a work of Internet sabotage that would shut down commerce or choke off the power grid. And with good reason. The recent exploratory raid by Russian hackers on American nuclear facilities reminds us that such threats are real.

But we failed to prepare for an attack of great subtlety and strategic nuance. Enemies of the West have hacked our cultural advantages, turning the very things that have made us strong  technological leadership, free speech, the market economy and multi-party government  against us. The attack is ongoing.

With each passing week, we learn more. Russia and its sympathizers have cranked up the volume on existing political and cultural divisions in the West, like some psychic version of the Stuxnet hack that caused Iran's nuclear centrifuges to spin so fast they tore themselves to pieces. They've exploited the cutting-edge algorithms of Facebook and Google to feed misinformation to Americans most likely to believe and spread it. They have targeted online ads designed to intensify our hottest culture wars: abortion, guns, sexuality, race. They have partnered with WikiLeaks, the supposed paragon of free speech, to insert propaganda into influential Twitter accounts  including @realDonaldTrump. They have created thousands of phony online identities to add heat to political fever swamps.

The genius of this cyberwar is that unwitting Westerners do most of the work. Our eagerness to believe the worst about our political opponents makes us easy marks for fake or distorted "news" from anti-American troll farms. Our media  talk radio, cable news, every variety of digital communication  seek to cull us into like-minded echo chambers. The West has monetized polarization; our enemies have, in turn, weaponized it.

What was first perceived as a targeted attack  Russia attempting to hack the U.S. election  is proving to be a broader and bolder war. Britain's head of cybersecurity Ciaran Martin rang the alarm Wednesday, after a series of attacks on British media, telecommunications and energy-sector software. "Russia is seeking to undermine the international system," Martin said. "That much is clear." Those attacks and others led Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May to issue a blunt warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin during a speech in London. "We know what you are doing and you will not succeed," May declared.

So far, she's wrong about that. Seeking to weaken and discredit the Western alliance that has constrained Russia's global ambitions for 70 years, Putin pushed the Brexit vote that rattled the European Union. His cyber-sappers have also aided nationalist movements in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Hungary that are shaking the alliance, although they have failed (for now) to win power.

And then there is President Trump. He continues to insist that his campaign did not collude in Putin's disruption of America. I guess it depends on the meaning of "collude." Recent revelations indicate that Trump's oldest son, Donald Jr.  the one who declared "I love it" when a contact told him the Russians wanted to help his father  was in contact with Russian sympathizer and WikiLeaks impresario Julian Assange or a close Assange associate concerning ways to promote emails stolen by Russian hackers from Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta. In one instance, a tweet suggested by the WikiLeaks connection promptly appeared under candidate Trump's Twitter handle.

Son-in-law Jared Kushner. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Campaign manager Paul Manafort. Adviser Michael Flynn and his son. Adviser George Papadopoulos. Gadfly Roger Stone. The Russians connected with so many figures in the Trump orbit that it would take more than 20 minutes to name them all, former ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak said slyly in an interview with Russia's state-owned television. But he added that nothing covert was discussed.

Heres the point, though: Russia did not need to collude with Trump. He was already an ideal host for the virus they are spreading. Putins goal, in Mays words, is to sow discord in the West, and Trump eats, sleeps and breathes discord. He understands that our siloed, targeted, algorithmic media feeds on conflict and outrage, and he is happy to dish it up.

What are we to do when an adversary has figured out how to use our strongest companies, our most-watched news programs, even our president's pugnacious personality against our national interest? We can't defend ourselves until we see clearly what is happening, and understand that fact-checking, truth-telling and goodwill are more than virtues now. They are patriotic duties. Pogo's words were never so true: We've met the enemy, and he is us.

Read more from David Von Drehle's archive.
A torrent of sexual abuse allegations against powerful figures in politics and the media has reignited the defining political fight of the 1990s.

But this time, the battle is being waged within the ranks of Democrats and their allies, including leaders of the feminist movement. A growing number now say they were wrong to have so stridently defended former president Bill Clinton against the women who over the years accused him of offenses ranging from groping to exposing his genitals to rape.

The uncomfortable question is whether Democrats then were guilty of the sin they accuse Republicans of committing now by continuing to support President Trump and Alabama GOP Senate nominee Roy Moore, despite allegations of sexual offenses. Were they also putting partisanship and their desire to hold on to power above the principles they claim to hold dear?

A remarkable exchange of fire began Thursday when Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D)  Hillary Clinton's successor as senator from New York, a staunch backer of her presidential campaign and a talked-about presidential possibility  told the New York Times that by today's standards, the "appropriate response" for Bill Clinton would have been to resign the presidency when his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky was revealed in 1998.

That brought a retort from longtime Hillary Clinton aide Philippe Reines on Twitter, where he dismissed the president's affair with a subordinate as a "consensual" sex act. Reines lobbed an additional shot at Gillibrand: "Over 20 yrs you took the Clintons' endorsements, money, and seat. Hypocrite. Interesting strategy for 2020 primaries. Best of luck."



Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand D-N.Y.) has introduced legislation to change the way Congress handles sexual harassment complaints. (Shawn Thew/European Pressphoto Agency-Efe/Rex/Shutterstock)

In a radio interview with WABC host Rita Cosby on Friday, Hillary Clinton deflected a request for a response to Gillibrand: I dont exactly know what she was trying to say.

During the 1990s, allegations about the president's behavior went far beyond the Lewinsky affair, which led to Bill Clinton's impeachment after he lied about it under oath during a deposition in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones. Jones claimed that in 1991 Clinton, then Arkansas governor, summoned her to a hotel room, where he dropped his pants and asked for oral sex.

I wish I had done more to be supportive of her, said Patricia Ireland, a longtime president of the National Organization for Women, who is now a lawyer in Florida. For Paula Jones, there were nice distinctions that people made: She didnt work for him, he didnt have the power to hire or fire her. But that ignores the reality that he was a very powerful man.

At the time, however, the attitude of many feminist leaders was summed up in a 1998 New York Times op-ed by Gloria Steinem, who wrote that "Mr. Clinton seems to have made a clumsy sexual pass, then accepted rejection." She was similarly dismissive of other women who came forward with stories of sexual abuse by Clinton before and during his time in the White House.

A spokeswoman for Steinem said that she isnt doing interviews at this time.

Clinton settled Jones's lawsuit in November 1998 for $850,000, acknowledging no wrongdoing and offering no apology.

His defenders argued that his infidelities were a private family matter and that his pro-feminist agenda had to be protected. But the first line of defense for many of Clintons allies was to attack his accusers with lacerating insults that now seem not only sexist but elitist.

James Carville, who had been the top strategist for Bill Clintons 1992 campaign, once said: If you drag a hundred-dollar bill through a trailer park, you never know what youll find.

In retrospect, would he make that comment again?

I dont know, said Carville, who this weekend is joining the Clintons and other alumni of that campaign in Little Rock, where they are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their victory in an election where speculation about the candidates sex life and the state of his marriage became major topics.

[The TED talks empire has been grappling with sexual harassment]

Carville said he had been referring to Gennifer Flowers, who came forward during the 1992 campaign claiming that she had had a 12-year affair with Clinton. She reportedly was paid $100,000 by the Star, a supermarket tabloid, to tell her story. Both Clintons denied that it was true, prompting Flowers to hold a news conference at which she played tapes of her phone conversations with the Arkansas governor.

The circumstances were considerably different than what we see today, Carville insisted. But he added: There is no doubt the ground has shifted between that time and now. Theres no question this is a different environment, probably for the better.

Others from Clintons orbit in those days said he had been punished heavily for what he did, by becoming the second president in U.S. history to be impeached. They also point to the fact that some accusers aligned themselves with right-wing groups that were determined to destroy Clinton politically.

Those of us who lived through it know how fierce the criticism and condemnation were, and the price he paid, said Ann F. Lewis, who was a top White House official.

Republicans, meanwhile, are doing their best to add to the Democrats' unease, which grew this week with the allegation by broadcaster Leeann Tweeden that Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) had forcibly kissed and groped her while the two were traveling overseas on a USO trip in 2006. Her accusations were accompanied by a photo of Franken apparently groping her breasts while she slept.

The news brought calls for a Senate investigation from members of his own party  among them Franken himself, who also apologized.

On Friday, Trump tweeted: "The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps?" He followed that tweet with another one: "And to think that just last week he was lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women."

Trump has not taken to his favorite medium to discuss the growing pile of allegations against Moore.

Well, Al Franken was a brand-new news story yesterday, and the president weighed in as he does on the news of the day, often enough, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway told Fox News. The Roy Moore story is eight days old, and the president put out a statement during his Asia trip on that.

That statement, issued under the name of press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said that Trump believes Moore should exit the Senate race if these allegations are true.

Though the issue of Clinton's alleged sexual abuse has taken on fresh currency, it had also surfaced during his wife's campaign last year to become the nation's first female president. Hillary Clinton has long positioned herself as a champion of women's issues and tweeted at one point: "Every survivor of sexual assault deserves to be heard, believed, and supported."

Her adversaries on the right, however, saw her as her husbands enabler and shield.

At an appearance she made in New Hampshire in December 2015, a woman stood up in the audience and read a question from a card: You say that all rape victims should be believed. But would you say that about Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey and/or Paula Jones? Broaddrick had accused Bill Clinton of raping her in 1978, and Willey claimed he had groped her when she came to the White House to ask him to give her a job.

Candidate Clinton responded, Well, I would say that everyone should be believed at first until they are disbelieved based on evidence.

In the radio interview Friday, she was again asked whether she should have been more supportive of her husbands female accusers. Every situation has to be judged on its own merit, she said. She added that those allegations were investigated and that recent comments by others about her husband are not relevant. I dont know that we can rewrite and revise history.

Late in the 2016 campaign, as Trump was trying to contain the damage from his own crude and boastful comments about assaulting women, which were picked up on a hot microphone during the taping of an episode of "Access Hollywood," he brought three of Bill Clinton's accusers  Jones, Broaddrick and Willey  to his second presidential debate against the former first lady.

Ireland, the former NOW president, said there is much young feminist activists can learn today from her generation of movement leaders and what could be argued are the mistakes they made.

There are things that we can learn from each other. And we have to listen without being defensive, Ireland said. We all reflect the culture of our time.
For many years now, I have been sounding the alarm of the misguided principles the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors are employing in rewarding winery use permit violators. The latest example in this ongoing practice was the approval of the Reynolds family winery which was caught cheating in its 2014 audit.

On Nov. 1, the Planning Commission rewarded the winery with an increase in production from 20,000 gallons annually to 40,000, an increase in weekly visitors from 60 to 280 and in annual marketing events from 3 to 54.

The owner, a dentist of some assumed educational level, stated that he hadn't noticed the increase in visitors. As shocking this may be, even more so are the statements of the commissioners who appreciated the winery "owning up to the code violations," whatever owning up means.

Commissioner Basayne stated that the county wants "to work with violators who want to work with the county," another meaningless talking point. Commissioner Scott stated that the county "must support efforts of small family wineries to succeed," in effect sweeping the issue of violations under the rug.

To top it all off, staff developed a comparison chart of 14 wineries producing between 35,000 to 45,000 gallons to serve as a guide for future applications. The chart showed that comparable wineries had 6,213 visitors annually compared to 14,560 granted to Reynolds and 691 marketing visitors while Reynolds was granted 1,901.

Putting all this in perspective and leaving all the ethical and government credibility issues of rewarding violators aside, I want to concentrate on how this affects the state's California Environmental Quality Act, CEQA, intended to safeguard not the Reynolds' pocket book but our common quality of life including our resources, infrastructure and traffic congestion.

During my appeal on a similar violations reward case of the Reverie winery in 2015, I pointed out to the Supervisors the court decision of that same year in Center for Biological Diversity v. Department of Fish and Wildlife holding that "the CEQA baseline must include existing conditions, even when those conditions have never been reviewed and are unlawful."

This means that the environmental conditions factored in the Reynolds CEQA analysis included the conditions of the violations, not those which would have been in place had the winery complied with its original conditions and came before the commission seeking for an increase. In other words, the impact of the increase from 6,213 to 14,560 visitors, the increased production etc. all escaped CEQA review.

This circumvention of the CEQA law by our local government was also pointed out to our supervisors in letters by the law firms of Abbott & Kindermann representing Beckstoffer Vineyards in April 29, 2015 and by Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger representing Alliance for Responsible Governance in Aug. 11, 2017. Yet the Planning Commission remains undaunted to the fact that its policy of "forgive and reward" which was officially rescinded by Resolution No. 05-229 in Dec. 13, 2005 and signed by then chair Dillon compromises - in fact encourages - the circumvention of CEQA which was designed to protect the health and welfare of communities throughout the state of California.

When the commissioners and our supervisors increase the use permit levels of violators such as Reverie, Summers, Reynolds and others one after the other, the comparison chart of "similar wineries" is climbing up the ladder to the benefit of the next violator, all without CEQA review. If one wonders how traffic congestion levels have increased dramatically in recent years even though each project CEQA analysis has assured the public that all impacts have been mitigated to "less than significant levels," one need only look at the ladder of forgiveness.

To be clear, rewarding such violators has nothing to do with helping small family wineries, nothing to do with people who are nice or generous to the community or even those who come forward admitting to violations without having been caught let alone those who have. Unfortunately, our government refuses to get it and many fear corruption. What is the solution?

The county has suspended its auditing program and is examining solutions. No solution will be effective unless violators are caught immediately so the CEQA baseline is not allowed to move forward unexamined. This means a step up in auditing to at least 80 wineries annually, sworn affidavits of winery CEOs that they comply with the terms of their use permits and non-complying wineries having to revert to use permit levels of operation for a minimum of three years so that CEQA conditions have time to reset.

George Caloyannidis

Calistoga


Stephen K. Bannon, shown at an Oct. 23 discussion in Washington, could find his steadfast support for Roy Moores Senate campaign in Alabama to be a drain on his influence, Republican strategists say. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

With his continued support of U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama, former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon is in danger of getting bogged down in the first major battle of his season of war on the Republican establishment and faces mounting questions about his ability to marshal the resources needed to prosecute his campaign.

Bannon, the pugilistic nationalist who continues to have President Trump's ear, has vowed to recruit and field challengers against almost every GOP Senate incumbent next year with the aim of creating widespread upheaval and dislodging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

But a growing number of Republicans say Bannon's continued embrace of Moore  who defeated incumbent Sen. Luther Strange in September's Republican primary before facing a spate of allegations this month about unwanted sexual and romantic overtures to teenagers  could undercut his ambitions to play kingmaker in 2018.

This race really signifies whether Bannon has the juice, said a veteran Republican consultant with close ties to the White House, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak more candidly. Hes used it to beat his chest and threaten other Senate Republicans across the country. . . . When youre building a political movement, you have to have early victories. Youve got to show you can win.

Recent polling has suggested the Democratic candidate in the race, lawyer Doug Jones, now has a real shot at winning, a prospect that was unthinkable in Alabama just months ago. But even if Moore prevails, Bannon critics argue his association with Moore  who could face expulsion from the Senate  will tarnish his efforts to field other candidates.

It introduces a different variable for the candidates he supports, said Kurt Bardella, a former spokesman for Breitbart News, the ultraconservative website run by Bannon. Theyre going to be asked how they feel about being supported by someone who stood by a sexual predator. All of that baggage now follows Bannon politically.

Bannon associates acknowledge the accusations against Moore have put Bannon in a tough spot, but some argue he will not be held accountable for alleged behavior by Moore that did not come to light over the course of a long and controversial career, which included removal twice as Alabamas chief justice.

It would be a massive mistake to draw too many conclusions from the outcome of this race, said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union and a longtime Bannon friend. If Judge Moore stays in the race and loses, the lesson is vetting candidates is awfully important. Beyond that, its a big mistake to overly interpret this one skirmish.

A political operative close to Bannon said Bannon continues to support Moore because he believes Moores denials about the most serious charges leveled by the women who have come forward.

The operative, who was not authorized to speak for Bannon, said other potential Senate candidates across the country have continued to reach out, seeking Bannons support, and said some Bannon-backed candidates are already announced. And the operative said Bannon is continuing to court funders for his efforts, which will accelerate in coming months.

At a speech in Manchester, N.H. on Nov. 9, former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon discussed claims about Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy Moores sexual misconduct.

Hes got people banging down his door to talk with him, said one Bannon associate, who was not authorized to speak for Bannon and requested anonymity.

Even before the first stories broke in The Washington Post about Moores alleged unwanted advances, however, there were questions about Bannons ability to pull together enough resources to maintain a broad campaign against GOP incumbents.

The Mercer family, a major financial patron of Breitbart and an array of other Bannon projects, does not appear to be fully on board.

Early this month, GOP mega-donor Robert Mercer announced that he was stepping down as co-chief executive of his hedge fund and selling his stake in Breitbart to his daughters.

In doing so, he wrote a letter distancing himself from Bannon in which he expressed concern that he at times had been mischaracterized in the press as a white supremacist or a member of some other noxious group and made clear that he would be making his own decisions about candidates to support financially.

A person familiar with Mercers thinking said in the past week that he does not plan to be joined at the hip with Bannon in his Senate efforts. In some cases, there could be overlap, but in other cases they could part ways, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak about private conversations.

Less clear are the intentions of Mercers middle daughter, Rebekah Mercer, who has largely directed where her family steers its political resources in recent years. Most of that money, however, has come from her father. Neither of the Mercers speak to the news media.

In other cases, Bannon appears to have been rebuffed by major donors. Last week, Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson said through a spokesman that he would not be supporting Bannons efforts to remake the Senate and was instead supporting Mitch McConnell 100 percent. Bannon had met with Adelson in Washington about a month earlier, though an associate insisted Saturday that he had never asked him for anything.

Adelsons statement came a day after Bannon praised him during a Zionist Organization of America dinner in New York, saying Trumps victory wouldnt have come without the help of Adelson, a major donor to the organization.

One longtime Bannon associate said the real question is whether Bannon will be able to attract significant funding beyond the Mercers.

Hes scaring a lot of people with these tactics, but I havent seen anything to suggest hes going to have the financial backing he needs, said the associate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak more freely.

Josh Holmes, a former chief of staff to McConnell who has been highly critical of Bannon, was even more blunt.

I dont know a single major donor whos interested in funding this, Holmes said, referring to Bannons efforts as a vanity project.

Bannon associates pointed to his frequent travel and reported trips on private jets to bolster the notion that he is attracting donors.

Holmes argued that Bannons work in Alabama could prove to be a major disservice to Trump, particularly if Democrats win the Senate seat, further narrowing Republicans majority in a chamber that already has struggled to coalesce around the presidents legislative agenda.

Its thrown all of Donald Trumps agenda into flux, for a race in a state that should be a put-away for Republicans, Holmes said. Right now, its not about winning, its not about accomplishing the presidents agenda. Its about Steve Bannon.

Chris Pack, communications director for the Senate Leadership Fund, a McConnell-connected super PAC that backed Strange in the primary, also argued that Bannons efforts are having a more corrosive effect on the Republican Party.

After the initial Moore story broke, he said, Bannon associates were on cable TV talking about the age of consent in Alabama when party leaders should have been spending their time touting plans for tax reform.

Bannons instincts were shown to be off base when he suggested in a New York Times interview this month that Republican Ed Gillespie had closed the gap in the Virginia governors race by rallying around the Trump agenda.

I think the big lesson for Tuesday is that, in Gillespies case, Trumpism without Trump can show the way forward, Bannon told the Times. If thats the case, Democrats better be very, very worried.

Ralph Northam, the Democrat, won the race comfortably.

Bannons war on the GOP establishment appeared to be off to a promising start in September after Moores grass-roots-fueled campaign prevailed against Strange, who was backed not only by McConnell but also Trump in the special election to fill the seat vacated when Jeff Sessions became U.S. attorney general.

The Roy Moore victory in the primary showed Bannon could do something that wasnt on Donald Trumps coattails, Bardella said. That was so important to him.

Bannon has also claimed two other Republican "scalps" this year with the announced retirements of Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Bob Corker of Tennessee, two races he had said he was targeting.

Associates say Bannon is continuing to insert himself into an array of Senate races, in states including Mississippi, Utah and Wyoming.

Not all of his targets involve sitting GOP senators. In Wisconsin, Bannon has blessed the candidacy of Kevin Nicholson, a Marine Corps combat veteran, who is trying to unseat Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).

When a pro-Trump PAC aligned with Bannon announced its support for Nicholson last month, the candidate took to Twitter and wrote:  The Steve Bannon primary in Wisconsin is over and Kevin Nicholson has won. Humbled by this huge endorsement.

Even some Bannon allies questioned whether his ambitions are too broad.

One Bannon friend said he told him that he would be better off picking a few races where he could post early wins rather than announcing he was taking on the entire Republican establishment at once.

Moore would not be the horse you would want to bet on first, added the friend, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak more candidly.

Others said it was too early to tell whether Bannon's efforts would jell and said he's not following a traditional playbook.

"He doesn't have a button-down political organization around him," Schlapp said. "He himself would not say he's some Svengali of organization. He's a man of ideas."

While Schlapp said he believes Bannons efforts could survive a Moore loss in Alabama, others Republicans took a contrary view.

The smell of Alabama, hes just not going to be able to escape it, said a GOP consultant with close ties to the White House, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak more freely. Pretty soon, its just a confused delusional guy at his desk.
In years past, the Mar-a-Lago Club's White and Gold Ballroom hosted some of the finest events of Palm Beach's gilded winter season. Charity luncheons at $750 a plate. Quartets playing Mozart. Ambassadors in white tie and tails at the Red Cross Ball.

In years past.

Last week  as a new season began at the private club in Florida owned by President Trump  a speaker on the ballroom stage was talking up far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

"I'm watching Alex Jones nonstop!" Joy Villa said, according to a video she posted of the event.

Villa  a pro-Trump Internet celebrity  was speaking to a group of Young Republicans. We are populist. We are nationalist, she said, as waiters served brunch. We put America first and were not afraid!



Fliers for the party that the Trumpettes will be hosting at Mar-a-Lago in January. (Scott McIntyre/For The Washington Post)

This week, Trump returns to Mar-a-Lago for the first time since April. He will confront a changed social scene.

During the summer, 19 charities that had events scheduled this season at Mar-a-Lago abruptly quit after Trump defended participants in a violent rally in Charlottesville organized by white supremacists.

In their place, the club is turning to a different kind of customer.

Republican groups. Televangelist Pat Robertson, who started a gala in order to hold it at Mar-a-Lago. And a group called "Trumpettes USA," which is planning a dinner in January that costs $300 per person. They intend for Mar-a-Lago to keep most  or all  of the money they take in.

Once a retreat from the divisive business of politics, the Palm Beach landmark is now a place defined by those divisions  a dynamic the club is monetizing by booking events with Trumps political allies.

Mar-a-Lago is still hosting weddings and members for meals on the dining terrace. But the center of Palm Beach's traditional social scene has shifted to the Breakers, a club that Trump once mocked for getting his "leftovers."

"People will still put on their dancing shoes, and pay big money for their tickets, and go out for the night. [But] instead of going to Mar-a-Lago, they'll be going to the Breakers," said Shannon Donnelly, the society editor for the Palm Beach Daily News.

Before now, Donnelly said, Mar-a-Lago wasnt political.

Now, she said, Donald is political.

Officials with Mar-a-Lago and the Trump Organization did not respond to questions about the new season. Last month, the club's general manager told the Palm Beach Post: "We are really doing fine. It will be a good season."

The Washington Post asked the White House if Trump himself had any contact with those now flocking to hold events at Mar-a-Lago.

We have nothing to do with coordinating events. The idea that the President has time for event planning at [Mar-a-Lago] is insulting, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders wrote in an email.

[These are the GOP officials who have spent the most at Trump properties]

Trump has given up day-to-day control of his real estate and hotel businesses. But he still owns them, including Mar-a-Lago  an old estate that Trump transformed into a private club in the 1990s. Back then, Mar-a-Lago was Palm Beach's progressive club. It was open to Jewish members.

This year, in Trumps words, it became the winter White House.

For a few months this spring, it was a splendid sort of bubble. The glamour of the presidency flowed in, but the countrys curdled politics did not.

Trump visited seven times. Initiation fees doubled, according to a CNBC report. Charities held galas and couples held weddings, and Trump dropped in on both. He mixed his new job with his old job  the table-hopping host of Palm Beach's elite.

"Big night, Shannon. Big night," Trump said one evening in April, when he stopped by Donnelly's table to chat.

Donnelly didn't understand. She only knew it was prime rib night. Later, she learned Trump was talking about launching cruise-missile strikes against Syria.

There were some warnings that this winter season could be disrupted by the presidency. Earlier this year, seven charities decided to move their events, some blaming the security delays that came with a party in the presidents house.

But there were still 25 big events on the schedule.

Then: Charlottesville, and the president's comments that there were "very fine people" in the crowd. In Palm Beach and around the country, his remarks roused a backlash.

[Pro sports teams were once reliable patrons of Trumps hotels. Not anymore.]

Suddenly, Trumps charity clients found themselves under pressure from donors and strangers alike. Online, anti-Trump groups asked their members to contact charities and urge them to move. Even local Palm Beach officials jumped into the fray.

"Can you honestly say having an event at Mar-a-Lago, given all that has transpired, is the best stewardship of your efforts?" Laurel Baker, executive director of the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce, said in August. "The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis." (Days later, another chamber official apologized to Mar-a-Lago for her remarks.)

Some members of Mar-a-Lago found that their friends didnt want to be invited to galas there anymore.

 If its at Mar-a-Lago, then were not going,  one former Mar-a-Lago member said he was recently told by a friend. The member quit recently, and he asked that his name not be used, to protect his friendships in Palm Beach. Its not the charity that matters anymore. Its the venue.

Mar-a-Lagos 25 previously identified bookings fell to six, according to a Post survey of town-issued permits, public social calendars and interviews with charities. One of the groups that stuck with Trump was the Republican Party of Palm Beach County, which has held its Lincoln Day dinner at Mar-a-Lago since 2013. Before this year, it appeared to be the clubs only overtly partisan gala.

Among those that left: the Red Cross, which canceled its Palm Beach gala outright, ending a 60-year tradition.

Another charity, Leaders in Furthering Education, switched to a new date at the Breakers and wound up in a fight with crooner Paul Anka, who couldnt make the new day and wouldnt return the groups $75,000 deposit.

"They need to eat it," Anka, who sang the 1959 hit "Put Your Head on My Shoulder," told the New York Post.

The news was better for the Bethesda Hospital Foundation, which moved its Nov. 9 luncheon to a club in Boca Raton and had room for 100 more guests than it could fit at Mar-a-Lago. The lunch raised enough to buy a new physician-training tool: the Victoria S2200, a $60,000 robot woman who gives birth to a robot baby.

At the same time, Mar-a-Lagos calendar has also begun to refill.

The Republican Attorneys General Association booked Mar-a-Lago's Teahouse dining room last weekend for a dinner where some state attorneys general dined with top donors.

How did they choose the presidents club, out of all the dining rooms in South Florida?

"It is a historic venue very close to where the AGs were staying," said spokesman Zack Roday. He said the group did not get a discount for being Republicans. The dinner was first reported by the news site MapLight.

The Young Republican National Federation, which hosted Villa in the White and Gold Ballroom, had never held an event at Mar-a-Lago before. Why now? Hes the leader of the Republican Party, said Matthew Thomas Oberly, press secretary for the Young Republican National Federation.

The Christian Broadcasting Network  whose chairman is Pat Robertson, a strong supporter of Trump  decided earlier this year to hold its first Palm Beach fundraiser gala for its charity Orphans Promise.

And not just anywhere in Palm Beach.

This event was meant for Trumps club.

Secure event date at private, exclusive Palm Beach winter White House,  the charity instructed its event planner, according to documents filed with the town of Palm Beach. This event will be one of the biggest of any season at Mar-a-Lago: The town was told to expect 700 people.

The network said "a group of major donors" chose Mar-a-Lago as a venue. Through a spokesman, Robertson declined to be interviewed.

In two other cases, individual Trump supporters have come up with their own new events for Mar-a-Lago, with an aim of benefiting Trump.

Florida conservative activist Steven M. Alembik, for instance, is planning a 700-person Truth About Israel Gala at Mar-a-Lago in February. He plans to charge $600 a seat. He says he expects Mar-a-Lago will keep most of it, and thats fine.

Were supporting our president, who supports Israel, Alembik said.

The Trumpettes USA  they add the USA because Trumpette is a brand of baby socks  are led by Toni Holt Kramer, a Mar-a-Lago member who has turned part of her home into a sort of shrine to Trump.

She has planned a dinner for Jan. 18. First, it was 700 people. Now, its 800, she says. Two ballrooms and $300 per seat.

If theres money left over, Kramer says, it will go to a police charity. But she doesnt expect to have money left over, after paying Mar-a-Lago for the room and the food. And thats fine.

"I don't think any president has ever had such a rough nine months," Kramer said. She said the event, called "A Red, White, and Blue Celebration for We the People," is drawing Trump fans from around the country and the world. When the first ballroom sold out, she posted a photo of herself hugging the group's mascot: her poodle, Caviar Deux.

In recent days, Mar-a-Lago got another bit of good news.

Big Dog Ranch Rescue  an animal charity that had canceled its Mar-a-Lago booking in August  decided to come back to the venue. One of the event's co-chairs is Lara Trump, Eric Trump's wife.

To explain its reversal, the charity published a letter in the Palm Beach Daily News. It detailed how the politicization of Mar-a-Lago had torn its members apart.

The letter was written in the voice of a dog.

My furry companions loved . . . The Mar-a-Lago Club and said they would only support us if we returned to our favorite yard, the fake dog wrote.

The fake dog called for a return to more tranquil times at Mar-a-Lago, when charities that did business with Trumps club didnt have to answer for Trumps politics.

Arrffturall, the fake dog wrote, charity and politics should never be mixed.

Fahrenthold and Harwell reported from Washington, and Rozsa reported from Palm Beach, Fla. Zane Anthony and Kathryn Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.
President Trumps decision to mock Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) for groping a sleeping woman while posing for a photo has once again made him a central figure in the national discussion about sexual assault, harassment and misconduct  and has again brought attention to past accusations against the president himself.

As a growing number of prominent men have publicly faced accusations, Trump has been selective in responding, largely on the basis of whether the accused is an ally or foe and focusing relatively little on the alleged victims.

Trump called his own accusers "horrible, horrible liars" and threatened to sue them, while coming to the defense of friends such as political commentator Bill O'Reilly and former Fox News chief executive Roger Ailes, accused of harassment or assault. Trump has also been mostly silent on Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama, who has been accused of initiating a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was in his 30s, sexually assaulting a 16-year-old waitress and pursuing relationships with at least five other teenagers who were much younger than he.

Trumps responses have been notably different for some Democrats. Late Thursday night, the president tweeted about Franken, saying that a photograph of Franken appearing to grope a woman is really bad, speaks a thousand words and chastising the Minnesotan for lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women. Trump has also said he was not surprised by accusations against film producer Harvey Weinstein, a major Democratic donor; released an ad during the presidential campaign calling former New York congressman Anthony Weiner a pervert; and hosted a campaign news conference with three women who had accused former president Bill Clinton of sexual assault or misconduct, calling those women very courageous.

[My pain is everyday: After Weinsteins fall, Trump accusers wonder: Why not him?]



U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama speaks at a news conference Thursday in Birmingham, Ala. (Brynn Anderson/AP)

Liz Mair, a Republican communications consultant who has been critical of the president, said Friday that Trump appears to be trying to egg on Democrats to react and, in the process, muddy distinctions between allegations against him and others accused of wrongdoing.

Even if hes totally loathed, as long as hes a little less loathed by comparison, hes good with that, Mair said.

But White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Friday pushed back against the idea that Trump treats Democrats differently from Republicans, pointing to Trumps comments of concern over the Moore allegations. Sanders also said that there was a key difference between the accusations against Franken and those against Trump.

Senator Franken has admitted wrongdoing, and the president hasnt, Sanders said. I think thats a very clear distinction.

Last week, The Washington Post published allegations that Moore initiated a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl nearly four decades ago when he was in his early 30s and that he pursued three other girls around the same time who were between the ages of 16 and 18. On Monday, another woman held a news conference in New York to accuse Moore of sexually assaulting her in the late 1970s when she was 16 and he was in his 30s. And on Wednesday, The Post published the accounts of two additional women who say that Moore pursued them in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he was in his 30s and they were teenagers who worked at a mall. One of those women said that she went to a movie with Moore and that he aggressively kissed her without her permission.

[What Trump has said about assault allegations against Franken, Moore, Clinton  and himself]

During Trumps trip to Asia last week, Sanders told reporters that like most Americans, the president does not believe we can allow a mere allegation, in this case one from many years ago, to destroy a persons life. However, the president also believes that if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside. On Saturday, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he was sticking with that same statement for now, but Ill have further comment as we go down the road after the trip.



Sen. Al Franken D-Minn.) listens to testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 7. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

Since returning late Tuesday, Trump has not mentioned Moore in any public comments or tweets, and he has ignored questions about Moore that reporters have shouted at him. Sanders said Thursday that Trump considers the allegations against Moore extremely troubling but does not plan to rescind his endorsement and thinks that Alabama voters should be the ones to pick their next senator.

The news about Franken broke Thursday morning when radio news anchor Leeann Tweeden, a former model who participated in USO shows in war zones, published an essay accusing the Democrat of aggressively kissing her without her permission and shared a photo that showed Franken appearing to grope her as she slept on a plane wearing a bulletproof vest.

Late Thursday night, Trump jumped into the fray. The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps? he wrote on Twitter, misspelling the nickname. And to think that just last week he was lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women. Lesley Stahl tape?

[Four big questions for Al Franken about the allegations against him]

The latter remark appeared to be a reference to a 1995 New York magazine article in which Franken, then a writer on Saturday Night Live, is described as advocating a joke about raping Stahl, a prominent CBS journalist.

Trump did not mention that Tweeden also accused Franken of kissing her against her will  the same thing that at least eight women have publicly accused Trump of doing. The accusations against Trump span from the early 1990s, when beauty pageant organizer Jill Harth alleged in a lawsuit that Trump had repeatedly kissed and groped her against her will, to November 2015, when NBC News reporter Katy Tur says that Trump gave her an unwelcome kiss on the cheek and then bragged about it on air.

Two of those women, along with at least four others, have accused Trump of groping their breasts or touching their genitals without their consent. Jessica Leeds alleges that as she sat next to Trump on a flight in the early 1980s, he touched her breasts and started putting his hand up her skirt.

Trump repeatedly denied the allegations during the campaign, calling his accusers liars and vowing to sue them, which he has not done. And referring to Leeds in October 2016, Trump said: Believe me, she would not be my first choice. That I can tell you.

Several beauty pageant contestants also accused Trump of barging into their dressing rooms unexpectedly and seeing them when they were not fully dressed  something that Trump admitted to doing during a 2005 interview with shock jock Howard Stern.

In early October 2016, The Post published audio from an interview Trump did with "Access Hollywood" in 2005 in which he bragged about kissing women without waiting to see whether they wanted to be kissed and grabbing women by their genitals without asking permission. "And when you're a star, they let you do it," Trump said. "You can do anything."

[The growing list of women who have stepped forward to accuse Trump of touching them inappropriately]

Trump has defended those comments as being locker room banter, although he also issued an apology in which he said the words dont reflect who I am.

At the time, Franken criticized Trump for the remarks: Ive been in a lot of locker rooms. I belong to a health club in Minneapolis  you can tell. Our locker room banter is stuff like, Is Trump crazy? 

In Alabama on Friday, Moore's opponent  Alabama Democratic Senate nominee Doug Jones  said the accusations against Franken are a "serious matter" and that he supports an ethics investigation. He declined to comment on whether the president should more forcefully address the allegations against Moore.

You just ought to ask the president and his people that, not me, Jones said at a campaign stop at a seafood restaurant in Dothan, Ala.

Robins Carothers, a Jones supporter who was at the event, said Trump was being hypocritical in his attack on Franken and relative silence on Moore.

Hes not the one to be calling Al Franken out on anything, said Carothers, 56, who works in the cattle industry, in my opinion.

Sean Sullivan in Dothan, Ala., and Herman Wong and Ed OKeefe in Washington contributed to this report.
Embattled Senate candidate Roy Moore is pinning his hopes for victory on Alabama's long-held tradition of sharp defiance to perceived threats from forces outside the state.

That rebellious spirit, which dates to long before the state's segregationist Gov. George Wallace became a national figure in the 1960s by railing against the "central government" in Washington, has been apparent in recent days as top state GOP officials have closed ranks around Moore amid a stream of allegations of sexual misconduct against the Republican and calls by national party leaders for him to step aside.

Moores campaign has taken to repeating Alabamas motto, written in Latin on the state coat of arms in 1923 and translated to We dare defend our rights, while Moore backers have repeatedly argued that their state has the right to decide its own fate in the Dec. 12 special election.

Alabamians will be the ultimate jury in this election, not the media or those from afar, said state party chairwoman Terry Lathan.

Gov. Kay Ivey (R) said Friday she would vote for Moore despite being bothered by the accusations against him, because, I believe in the Republican Party, what we stand for, and most important, we need to have a Republican in the United States Senate to vote on things like the Supreme Court justices.

Similar sentiments are coming from local-level Republicans such as Steve Morgan, the vice chairman of the Bibb County GOP in rural central Alabama, who says he doesnt know what to make of the allegations against Moore but is frustrated by the involvement of those who live outside of Alabama  starting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other national leaders who have abandoned Moore.

The people in Alabama dont like to be told what to do, said Morgan, 69, who did not support Moore in the GOP primary.

I never liked Roy Moore, he continued. But guess what? Im voting for Roy Moore, because I hate the stupidity that has invaded the Republican Party.

Political tensions here have mounted over the past week as Moores candidacy has made Alabama the epicenter of a national debate about sexual assault, the future of the U.S. Senate, the fate of President Trumps agenda and the direction of the Republican Party.

The Senate seat had widely been expected to remain in Republican hands when it was vacated by Jeff Sessions, who became attorney general. A GOP victory was expected even after Moore defeated the incumbent who had been appointed to replace Sessions, Sen. Luther Strange, who had the backing of Trump and other national party leaders.

[I love Alabama  its special: At rally for Sen. Luther Strange, Trump vents frustrations in rambling speech]



Dr. Bonnie Libhart shows her support for Roy Moore at the Madison County Republican Mens Club monthly breakfast. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

Republican voters will have a decisive say in who wins. Nearly two-thirds of Alabama voters typically vote Republican, which means Democrats dont have enough people to win statewide without Republicans either crossing over or staying home in protest.

But Moore faces a well-financed Democratic opponent, former prosecutor Doug Jones, who has tried to reach out to white Republicans with his own twist on the politics of defiance  including a television ad called "Honor" in which he narrates a Civil War battle involving a Confederate general from Alabama.

Jones, meanwhile, has largely avoided discussing the sexual-assault allegations against Moore, although one of his most recent television ads features a Republican who makes an oblique reference. "You read the story, and it just shakes you," she says.

A Fox News poll completed after the allegations surfaced found that Jones had taken the lead with 50 percent of likely voters, compared with 42 percent for Moore. Other polls have shown the race tied or with Moore still holding on to a lead.

The Washington Post first reported Nov. 9 on four women who said Moore pursued them as teenagers, including one who said she was 14 and Moore was 32 when he touched her sexually. Two other women have since told The Post that Moore pursued them about the same time when they worked as teenagers at the mall in Gadsden, Ala. Another woman, represented by attorney Gloria Allred, says Moore assaulted her in a parked car when she was 16. AL.com has reported on two other women, one who says Moore groped her bottom in 1991, when she was 28 years old, and a second who says Moore asked her out in 1982, when she was a 17-year-old waitress at the Red Lobster restaurant in Gadsden.

Moore, 70, has consistently denied any sexual misconduct and has alleged that the women are part of a politically motivated plot against him. In an interview with conservative radio host Sean Hannity, Moore did not rule out the possibility that he dated teenagers older than 16, the legal age of consent, when he was in his 30s. He told Hannity he did not approve of such relationships now. If I did, Im not going to dispute these things, but I dont remember anything like that, Moore said.

The Moore campaign, which has always been anchored in his opposition to the Republican political establishment, has attempted to turn the debate over the accusations into a referendum on state independence, even though the accusers are all local women. At a rally Friday, Kayla Moore, the candidates wife, said that the local feedback she has heard about the allegations has been supportive of her husband. Most of the negative has been from out of state, she said. The people of Alabama know what is going on here.

She was echoing her husband, who tweeted Thursday what has become the core of the campaign's message: "This is an effort by Mitch McConnell and his cronies to steal this election from the people of Alabama and they will not stand for it!"

Moore and his surrogates regularly attack the national media and Republican leaders, arguing that there is a conspiracy to take away the rights of voters. This is a usurpation by Mitch McConnell of the 17th Amendment that gives voters the right who we want to choose who we want in the government, declared Ann Eubank, the leader of the Alabama Legislative Watchdogs, at a Moore campaign event in Montgomery on Friday.

[National Republican move against Roy Moore grows  but key Alabama Republicans are not joining in]

Many Republicans, at least so far, are embracing that view.

In interviews with nearly two dozen Republican voters across the state, only a handful said they knew people who said they would abandon Moore altogether. Some have burrowed into the details of the accusations, denials and counterclaims like detectives, trying to suss out the truth amid a sea of online misinformation.

Josh Lambert, 23, a software developer from Centreville, spent the primary volunteering to distribute Moore signs around the county, but after the accusations surfaced, he stopped volunteering. He said he wont vote for a Democrat who supports abortion rights, but he was unsure about his vote for Moore. Please hold a press conference, an actual press conference, and take questions, he said when asked whether he had a message for Moore. It would help me as a voter.

Others have made clear that, like the governors, their loyalty to the GOP and the prospect of another Senate vote for an antiabortion Supreme Court justice are more important, as long as any doubt remains.



Huntsville Republicans gather at the Madison County Republican Mens Club monthly breakfast. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

At a Republican Party breakfast in Huntsville on Saturday, party leaders argued that voters should focus more on the political implications of the race than the allegations. Doug Jones is going to vote wrong, and Roy Moore is going to vote right, said Republican U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (Ala.), who ran against Moore in the GOP primary.

Brooks also seemed to jokingly downplay the significance of allegations of Moores behavior 40 years ago. Just remember, he was a Democrat back then, Brooks said. He has been converted into a Republican now.

David Pinkleton, a young Republican activist in the Huntsville area who lost his part-time job organizing for Moore when the Republican National Committee pulled from the race, said he was struggling with his decision to continue supporting Moore. I dont envy my fellow Republicans and Alabamians, because everybody is trying to rationalize, said Pinkleton, who has worked to support victims of sex trafficking in the state. I do want a culture where victims can be heard and believed.

Some, such as Julia Cooper, 75, a semiretired nurse from Montgomery, said they were continuing to support Moore because of the spiritual battle he was waging. She said that when she was a high school student in Camden, Ala., a man in his 20s or 30s came to her house to date her but she resisted his requests. Even at the age of 14, you could have walked away, she said of the accusers. If you want to get out, you can get out.

A few said privately that they will no longer support Moore, although they are wary of announcing the decision publicly, given a party rule that bars people who want to run for office from supporting a Democratic nominee.

Jones strategists say they need three things to happen to win: Some moderate Republicans in the suburbs, especially women, have to cross party lines; black turnout needs to be high; and other Republicans who would never vote for a Democrat need to stay home.

Jones, who is white, has been carefully spreading different messages to win his target voters. On R&B radio, he is running an ad in which he recounts his closing arguments as the lead prosecutor in the case against two Ku Klux Klan members responsible for the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham that killed four black schoolgirls.

[An Alabama Senate race conjures the awful 1963 church bombing that killed 4 black girls]

At the same time on television, Jones has been trying to reach out to white Republicans directly, in part by tapping into the deep history of animosity from Alabama to Washington leaders. The signature ad of the race is the spot in which he narrates the Civil War battle, a tale from Gettysburg in which an Alabama general leads a failed charge on Union troops from Maryland.

Jones calls both generals brave men, but he says that those times have passed and it is time to change the approach. I want to go to Washington and meet the representatives from Maryland and those from every other state, not on the battlefield, but to find common ground, he says, positioning himself as an heir to Alabamas fighting legacy.

Giles Perkins, the chairman of Jones campaign, says the states strong political identity cannot be ignored by either campaign. We Alabama voters have a lot of pride in our state and like to make our own decisions, he said.

Some Republicans here suggested that the polls showing a tightening race may undercount Moores support. Its kind of like George Wallace, said Joe Fuller, a longtime state party official, who says he is voting for Moore despite the allegations because he always votes his partys ticket. You either loved George Wallace, or you didnt like him. Years ago, I never found anybody who voted for George Wallace, but he always won.

[The six likeliest ways this whole Roy Moore saga could end, ranked]

Neal Cook, a Winston County Republican who supported Strange in the primary, said he was still undecided on his vote. One day he will stand before the ultimate judge, and the truth will be revealed, Cook said of Moore.

Others have been inspired by the allegations to redouble their commitment in an effort to fight back against Moores foes.

During the primary, the Moore campaign erected an eight-foot sign for the candidate on the property of the Wilson Garage Door Co. on Dan Tibbs Road in Huntsville, which came down after the primary and was expected to go back up after Thanksgiving.

After the allegations broke, Daniel Burns, a volunteer for the Moore campaign, got a text message from the grandson of the companys owner. My granddad said the sign can go back up whenever you have a chance, Burns said the message read. Hes tired of this nonsense on the news.

Correction: An earlier version of this report incorrectly identified the Union state mentioned in a television ad in which Senate candidate Doug Jones narrates a Civil War battle. The state is Maine, not Maryland.
A pair of senators on Friday released their bipartisan proposal to renew a powerful surveillance authority for collecting foreign intelligence on U.S. soil, but with a new brake on the governments ability to access the data.

The bill from Sens. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) would require government agencies to obtain a warrant before reviewing communications to or from Americans harvested by the National Security Agency under the surveillance authority known informally as Section 702.

The measure stands little chance of passage. But, some Senate aides said, it may pressure lawmakers to insist on privacy-enhancing reforms as they look toward an end-of-year deadline to reauthorize the data-collection program  the intelligence communitys highest legislative priority this year.

Leahy and Lees proposal is the fifth piece of legislation to propose some form of restriction on the governments data-gathering authority under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The law enables the NSA to collect from U.S. companies the emails and communications of foreigners located overseas.

Those foreigners, however, may also be communicating with Americans, and the communications are stored in databases that agencies, including the FBI, can query.

That has prompted concerns from civil liberties advocates that the program enables domestic spying and the demand for a warrant to search or view Americans data.

[Lawmakers seek to impose new curb on U.S. government spy power]

The bill is modeled after a House Judiciary Committee bill, which also requires a warrant to review any communications returned in response to a query.

But the House bill applies only in criminal cases. The Senate version covers national security cases, too.

Lee and Leahys measure also would permanently ban a subset of Section 702 surveillance  collection that the NSA recently ended voluntarily but has said it would reinstate if it could find a way to comply with the federal surveillance court that oversees the law.

This bill implements some much needed reforms to our surveillance laws that will better protect law-abiding Americans privacy in a manner consistent with the Fourth Amendment, Lee said in a statement.

Congressional leaders have acknowledged that it will be necessary to impose some restrictions on the NSAs authority to secure support for extending the program.

But they are hoping that lawmakers will back an extension that imposes fewer restrictions than the House Judiciary bill.

[Spy agencies seek permanent authority for contested surveillance program]

Last month, the Senate Intelligence Committee approved a Section 702 bill that avoids warrants. Instead, it gives the FBI one business day to submit a request to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to review data turned up by an FBI query for information on a U.S. person. The court would have two business days to rule on the requests legality.

Senate leaders are now exploring ways to incorporate that legislation into a must-pass, end-of-year spending bill next month, or to adopt a short-term extension of the law that will give them a chance to revisit the measure next year.

But doing so depends on securing agreement from leaders in the House, where intelligence committee lawmakers have yet to formally weigh in on how to reauthorize the program.

That panels leaders want fewer restrictions than the House Judiciary bill to protect the intelligence agencys powers.

Senate Republican leaders are also hopeful that the House Intelligence Committee can come up with a measure that is consistent with its Senate counterparts, which they believe can secure significant bipartisan Senate support.

The Leahy-Lee bill gives privacy advocates a new measure to rally around as congressional leaders head into late-stage negotiations.

Its warrant requirement is based on a proposal from California Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala D. Harris.

ellen.nakashima@washpost.com

Read more at PowerPost
Its difficult to overstate how much Al Franken means to Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).

From Washington, Schumer oversaw the Minnesota Democrats first campaign in 2008. When Franken was finally declared the winner in the summer of 2009 after a long recount, he gave the Democrats a brief filibuster-proof majority of 60 seats  a precious gift that allowed them to pass the Affordable Care Act on a party-line vote that December.

The experience forged a strong friendship between the two that has lasted ever since. But this weeks allegations that Franken engaged in inappropriate advances before joining the Senate puts their bond to a new test. Coming amid a national focus on other powerful men accused of sexual improprieties, Franken quickly found himself under fire from Republicans and many Democrats.

Younger and newer Democrats, in particular, showed no deference. Sexual harassment, misconduct, should not be allowed by anyone, and it should not occur anywhere against anyone, said Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), a rising star in her first year in office.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who has helped lead the push for stricter rules on harassment in Congress, immediately called for an ethics investigation. Gillibrand, 50, and Harris, 53, both considered future presidential contenders, made their remarks less than an hour after the news broke about the allegation that Franken had groped a fellow entertainer on a United Service Organizations trip to Iraq in 2006. The senators did not wait to consult with Schumer before denouncing Franken.

The allegations against Franken come at a time of broad awakening on the issue of sexual misconduct, with accusations surfacing in recent weeks against film producer Harvey Weinstein, Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama and others. As the news sank in about Franken, even some veterans began adding his name to that growing list.

I think that people feel they can get away with a lot of things, said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) And nobodys going to pay any attention.

Feinstein was among four women elected to the Senate in 1992  a momentous enough occasion that the cycle was dubbed the Year of the Woman. Heres another important detail about that wave: It came after the then-all-male Judiciary Committee effectively ignored allegations that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed Anita Hill.

[Abuse allegations have revived scrutiny of Bill Clinton  and divided Democrats]

Even before this recent wave of allegations, a huge number of female candidates had signed up to run for Congress and other public offices, at first in reaction to Trumps presidency. Perhaps more will come forward in response to these stories. In a way, its a continuation of the Year of the Woman, Feinstein said.

Some things have changed since 1992. Schumer, for instance, quickly agreed with his more junior colleagues and joined Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in calling for an ethics investigation of Franken.

Sexual harassment is never acceptable and must not be tolerated, Schumer said in a statement, calling it a troubling incident and a credible allegation.



Schumer and Franken, along with Sen. Michael F. Bennet D-Colo.), discuss Facebook privacy issues in 2010. (Harry Hamburg/AP)

No Senate Democrat has called for Frankens resignation, but that is a step that they are likely to consider if more allegations emerge. Gillibrand, in an interview with the New York Times, joined a small but influential chorus of liberals who now say that Bill Clinton should have resigned the presidency in the late 1990s following his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Franken has pledged full cooperation with the investigation and has sent a personal apology to Leeann Tweeden, now a Los Angeles radio broadcaster who read the entreaty Friday on The View.

In any previous political fight, Franken could lean on Schumer for advice and counsel. Now, in a testament to the precarious politics of the moment, Schumer must remain publicly neutral and careful about any private advice he gives. It is a remarkable shift in their relationship.

For years, Schumer would tear up when he recounted what he considered the best ad of 2008, a powerful testimonial from Frankens wife, Franni, on how her husband rescued her during her battle with alcoholism.

As chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for four years, Schumer grew the caucus from 45 to 60 seats. But that last seat was the most cherished.

Up against then-Sen. Norm Coleman, Franken stumbled and struggled with allegations of sexism in his writing as a comedian and author. Finally, Schumer dispatched two future stars to Minnesota to help take over the drifting effort: Stephanie Schriock, who is now president of Emilys List, and Eric Schultz, who went on to serve as President Obamas deputy press secretary.

That fall, Obama had pulled well ahead of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the presidential race. The biggest question wasnt whether Schumer would hold onto the Senate majority or even gain seats; it was whether he would win enough to hit the magic number of 60.

A few weeks after Election Day, every race but one had been called, and Democrats held 58 seats. Then Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched parties. And finally, on June 30, 2009, the Minnesota Supreme Court declared Franken the winner in the prolonged Minnesota recount. He was sworn in with great fanfare a few days later and, after his first policy luncheon with Democrats, Schumer proudly emerged to tell reporters how serious and thoughtful the former comic was in talking to his new colleagues.

Franken quickly fell in line with the more liberal wing of his caucus, but he became a quick supporter of Schumers march up the leadership ranks. That helped provide cover for the New Yorker with the more progressive wing of the caucus and the activist base, whose trust in Schumer has been tenuous given his long ties to Wall Street donors.

Before Schumer became the Democratic leader, Franken had given him a nickname that made clear where he thought Schumers rise would end, likening him to the most powerful majority leader ever. I call him the Jewish LBJ, Franken told The Washington Post in an interview last year.

This was supposed to be Frankens breakout year. His close friend took over the caucus, and the former comedian published a new book, Giant of the Senate.

He had started to appear on more Sunday political talk shows and sat for more profiles in the national media, using his wit and celebrity image to serve as a counter to Trumps own celebrity.

Some had even whispered that Franken would be the right fit to run against Trump in 2020.

I really like this job. I like representing the people of Minnesota, he told The Post in the spring. I feel like Im really beginning to know this job.

Now, Franken has a new fight on his hands to keep this job  and it may be out of his longtime allys hands. I hope and expect that the Ethics Committee will fully investigate this troubling incident, Schumer said, as they should with any credible allegation of sexual harassment.

Read more from Paul Kane's archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Saturday said he will return to Lebanon to clarify his political position after abruptly resigning while visiting Saudi Arabia two weeks ago, setting off fears of wider instability and raising questions about whether he had willingly quit.

Hariri spoke from Paris, where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron after arriving on a plane from Riyadh early Saturday.

Lebanese officials had accused Saudi authorities of holding Hariri, a onetime political ally, hostage as part of an attempt to destabilize Lebanon. Macron quickly stepped in to mediate the crisis, inviting the embattled premier to France for an official visit and paving the way for his exit from Saudi Arabia.

Hariri plans to travel to Beirut next week for independence day celebrations and meetings with Lebanese President Michel Aoun.

I will be going to Beirut in the next few days. I will participate in the celebration of our independence day. From there, I will announce my position on all matters after meeting with President Aoun, he said from the French presidential palace in Paris.

You know that I submitted my resignation, and we will talk about this issue in Lebanon, he said.

The trip would mark an end to his mysterious self-exile since he suddenly stepped down Nov. 4, citing Iranian influence and the military power of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite political movement and his partner in government. Hariri is a Sunni Muslim.

Lebanon was shocked by his resignation and pointed to the harsh language of his statement as evidence that he only stepped down under pressure.

Saudi officials are keen to squeeze Hezbollah as Iran's most powerful proxy in the region. Saudi Arabia's Sunni monarchy and Shiite-majority Iran are in a battle for influence across a battered Middle East  a rivalry that has helped kill tens of thousands in places such as Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

Many Lebanese feared their tiny but diverse nation  which includes Sunnis, Shiites, Christians and other sects  could easily be plunged into political or sectarian turmoil. The government is run on a national power-sharing pact that divides political authority among Lebanon's three major religious groups. The agreement  made after the Lebanese civil war from 1975 to 1990  calls for a Sunni prime minister, a Christian president and a Shiite speaker of parliament.

So far, Lebanon has managed to largely shield itself from the conflicts raging around it. And the coalition government formed last year was welcomed by many Lebanese. Even opponents of Hariri  including Hezbollah's secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah  united to call for his return.

The move caused anger among all the Lebanese people against Saudi Arabia, said Elias Farhat, a retired general in the Lebanese army. We want good relations with Saudi Arabia, but now you abduct the prime minister?

It also appeared to turn many in the Lebanese Sunni community against Saudi Arabia, which some here believe humiliated not only their leader but also the country's prime minister.

Saudi Arabia didn't count on the fact that some things changed in Lebanon with the coalition government, and that the Lebanese people had rallied around it, said Mohammed Obeid, a political analyst with ties to Hezbollah.

Aoun, the president, preserved national unity, Obeid said. And he succeeded in making this crisis a national crisis and not just about Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah.

Hariri, who is a dual Saudi-Lebanese citizen with financial ties to Riyadh, has insisted that he was not detained in the Saudi capital, and that he had been there of his own free will. But a series of visits from European diplomats and a curious television interview Hariri gave Nov. 12, in which he choked up before going to commercial break, just added to the speculation that Saudi officials had orchestrated his resignation  and that his stay in Riyadh was not voluntarily.

It was only Macron's aggressive diplomacy, including a last-minute trip by the French president to Saudi Arabia in the midst of the crisis, that led to Hariri's departure. Macron has sought to position himself and France as an interlocutor on the world stage, and Hariri's ties to Paris  and France's colonial history in Lebanon  facilitated his role as regional mediator.

After meeting Macron on Saturday, Hariri tweeted his praise of France's great role in the world and in the region, adding that Macron is committed to Lebanon's stability.

Hariri's two younger children stayed behind in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, raising questions about his possible return.

McAuley reported from Paris. Suzan Haidamous contributed to this report from Beirut.

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California Gov. Jerry Brown's recent trip to the capital of the European Union had all the trappings of a visit by a head of state  he even got an upgraded title.

Mr. President, welcome in Brussels, Brown (D) was told this month as he exited his Mercedes van in front of the European Parliament in the spot usually reserved for national leaders. Then he was whisked off to a day of hearings, testimony and high-level meetings in the heart of European power.

Nearly a year into the Trump presidency, countries around the world are scrambling to adapt as the White House has struggled to fill key government positions, scaled back the State Department and upended old alliances. Now some nations are finding that even if they are frustrated by President Trumps Washington, they can still prosper from robust relations with the California Republic and a constellation of like-minded U.S. cities, some of which are bigger than European countries.

Browns 10-day trip to Europe, which ended Tuesday, was just the latest in a growing transatlantic back-and-forth that bypasses the Trump-era White House. In July, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio headlined a protest in Hamburg against the Group of 20. Several European countries have stationed ambassadors in Silicon Valley to boost trade ties.

The Swedish ambassadors search for answers in Trump country

Meanwhile, state and municipal governments are expanding or building new offices to help them manage the increased interest in Europe and Asia. This year, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) created the position of deputy mayor for international affairs to better manage relations with foreign governments.

Last week Garcetti huddled in Los Angeles with the Israeli president and Armenian defense minister. The latter stopped by on his way to a peacekeeping conference and briefly described his countrys ongoing dispute with Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The mayors motives for taking the meeting were simple. We have a big Armenian population in Los Angeles that cares about events in Armenia, said Nina Hachigian, who filled the international affairs position and previously served in the Obama administration as U.S. ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Many world leaders say they have no illusions that they can avoid the White House on critical issues at the core of global stability, especially those related to security. But they have embraced efforts by Democratic governors and mayors to present a different face of U.S. power to the world, albeit at a lower level than the White House or State Department.

There is an impression by politicians here that President Trump in person is no longer the voice of the free Western world, said Christian Ehler, a German lawmaker who heads the European Parliaments delegation for relations with the United States and helped broker Browns visit to Brussels. We are much more carefully looking now to the diversity of what is being discussed in the United States, and we see that California is one of the powerhouses of the world economically.

[For some foreign diplomats, the Trump White House is a troubling enigma]

European leaders said they have been frustrated by the Trump administrations unprecedented slowness in filling senior political jobs at the State Department and Pentagon, which has given them few policy interlocutors in Washington.

Ambassadors complain that even when they can secure meetings with administration officials, the policy is often unclear.

The problem is that people dont know anything, said one Eastern European ambassador in Washington who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share his frank opinion. They are quite open about it. . . . It doesnt matter what level. It is all levels.

In meetings with Trump to present their credentials, European ambassadors said the president was laser focused on two subjects. He wanted to know how much their countries were spending on defense and the size of their trade deficit with the United States, two ambassadors said.

In Europe, leaders have been especially frustrated by Trumps June decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, viewing it as a gratuitous slap at them on one of their top priorities. So they welcomed Browns climate-change-focused trip, which was built around global-warming talks taking place in Bonn.

Ehler said that although European countries always have had robust ties with U.S. cities and states for business reasons, the center of their conversations had shifted since Trump took office.

In the past, he said, the federal government was the focus on most big issues. Now when governors and mayors come to visit, climate change or environmental issues, or regulatory issues, are the focus. Because these issues are dropping down from the capital level to the state or community level, Ehler said.

In the United States, local governments are still figuring out how best to influence policy debates and work with international partners.

We dont have a separate foreign policy. We have initiatives and city-to-city cooperation, said Hachigian, who leads a seven-person foreign affairs team that includes former Pentagon and State Department officials. She said she has been flooded with applications from Foreign Service officers who over the first 11 months of the Trump administration have fled the State Department.

Garcettis discussions with foreign leaders at home and overseas often focus on disaster response, trade, water conservation, homelessness and sustainability.

We can create ties that could be useful and some consolation, given the difficulties that our foreign counterparts are having with Washington, she said.

[State Departments plan for staff cuts causing new worry in Congress]

In Brussels, Brown got the welcome of a global leader, delivering an address in the vast European Parliament hemicycle from the same rostrum as German Chancellor Angela Merkel when she is in town. Brown commanded applause at a Vatican environment conference; joined the Democratic governors of Washington, Oregon and Virginia at the Bonn climate gathering; and was feted by E.U. ministers for his efforts to combat rising greenhouse gases.

Brown said that he was happy to take on the role of a U.S. emissary even if he cannot negotiate treaties.

I dont think we can confine our thinking just to federal employees, Brown told a small group of reporters.

I have an opportunity to talk to a lot of national leaders, and so thats good, he said. Contact between U.S. states and other countries can be helpful and important, because you have to keep talking. This business of yelling at each other across the ocean is not good.

The trip followed the California governors June decision to sign a joint statement with the German government on climate cooperation, an unusual move by a U.S. state and an entire nation to work together to fight rising temperatures. Next September, Brown plans to host a global climate summit in San Francisco intended to support the same Paris climate agreement that Trump plans to exit.

Top officials who met with Brown said they were delighted to encounter a friendly American voice.

The engagement against climate change must be global, said European Parliament President Antonio Tajani as he spoke at a news conference alongside Brown and senior European officials. In the United States, there are several governors working in the right direction, even if the Trump government decided to change the line. What they are trying to do in the government of Mr. Brown is very interesting.
The flag of the Palestine Liberation Organization is seen above its offices in Washington. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday he was "deeply surprised" by a U.S. threat to close the Palestine Liberation Organization's office in Washington unless it enters direct peace negotiations with Israel.

He said a U.S. decision not to recertify the office of the PLO, the main Palestinian negotiating body, later this month was an unprecedented step in the history of U.S.-Palestinian relations and has dangerous consequences for peace.

A State Department official said that the decision was taken due to certain statements made by Palestinian leaders about the ICC, referring to the International Criminal Court. The office could be reopened if after 90 days President Trump determines the Palestinians have entered into direct, meaningful negotiations with Israel.

Under conditions imposed by Congress, the PLO cannot operate a Washington office if it calls on the ICC to prosecute Israelis for crimes against Palestinians. Speaking to the U.N. General Assembly in September, Abbas called for ICC investigations into Israeli aggression.

Trumps son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, and U.S. Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt have been tasked with laying the groundwork for the deal of the century in an effort to bring lasting peace to the region.

A closure of the PLO office should in no way be seen as a signal that the United States is backing off those efforts, the State Department official said.

We are hopeful that this closure will be short-lived, the official added.

If the office is closed, the PLO will put on hold all communications with the U.S. administration, said the organizations secretary general, Saeb Erekat. He said the PLO had been informed of the move in a letter.

This is very unfortunate and unacceptable, he said, blaming pressure on the U.S. administration from the Israeli government, an accusation the Israelis rejected.

This is a matter of U.S. law, said a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office. We respect the decision and look forward to continuing to work with the U.S. to advance peace and security in the region.

Morello reported from Washington.

Read more:

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In the biggest anti-government demonstration in decades, thousands of Zimbabweans marched through the capital on Saturday demanding the resignation of the president, after a dramatic military takeover days earlier.

It was a remarkable display of public opposition in a country where, until this week, such gatherings were typically quelled with force.

Thirty-seven years after he came to power, Robert Mugabe now finds his rule under threat on multiple fronts. First, on Tuesday, there was the late-night military operation that placed him under house arrest. Then, on Friday, his own party voted for him to be recalled. And Saturday, a diverse array of opposition groups marched through the city in a buoyant demonstration against Mugabe that felt like a citywide party celebrating his possible ouster.

Mugabe's fate remains unclear. He is embroiled in negotiations with the military and South African government intermediaries, and so far he has resisted calls for his resignation. But Saturdays demonstration nevertheless sent a clear signal that opposition to his rule is massive and diverse.

The rally had the air of collective catharsis. For decades, Mugabe had targeted a broad array of his own citizens: farmers from the white minority whose land was seized, political activists who were arrested or simply vanished, even Harare's street vendors, who Mugabe has tried to evict.

1 of 69 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  The scene in Zimbabwe as Mugabe resigns as president after 37 years View Photos Robert Mugabe?s exit, which was announced by the speaker of parliament, marked the end of a tumultuous reign that lasted from Zimbabwe?s independence through economic collapse. Former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa will be sworn in as the new president Friday. Caption Robert Mugabe?s exit, which was announced by the speaker of parliament, marked the end of a tumultuous reign that lasted from Zimbabwe?s independence through economic collapse. Former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa will be sworn in as the new president Friday. Ben Curtis Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.

[Zimbabwe seized white farmers land. Now some are being invited back.]

Members of those groups, and many others, converged on the country's State House, waving flags and signs that read, Mugabe must go.

If we had tried this three weeks ago, hundreds of people would have been dead in the street, said Terry Angelos, a 78-year-old man at the march.

It was the first time in decades that Zimbabweans had been able to protest Mugabe without fear of arrest.

Its like our second independence day, said Martin Matanisa, 33, who works for an agricultural program. For a while its just been oppression. This is the first time weve been able to stand here and protest.

Across the city, soldiers in armed personnel carriers observed the demonstrations, not intervening, and at times snapping selfies. They were greeted and praised.

Zimbabwes army is the voice of the people, one popular sign read.



Mugabe presides Friday over a graduation ceremony at Zimbabwe Open University on the outskirts of Harare. The event marked Mugabes first public appearance since the military put him under house arrest earlier this week. (Ben Curtis/AP)

When Maj. Gen. Sibusiso Moyo, a senior army official, arrived to address the crowd, thousands of people grew quiet. It was clear that they were waiting for an announcement that Mugabe had agreed to step down.

We are proud of what you have done and the solidarity you have shown, Moyo said. But you can't achieve everything in one day.

The crowd appeared briefly deflated. With each day, it has become increasingly clear that if Mugabe does step down, it will be through a tense negotiation. The military has said it will not push him out, even though it has effectively taken control of the country. The state broadcaster later said that talks would continue on Sunday. The central committee of ZANU-PF, the ruling party, is also expected to hold a meeting to dismiss Mugabe as its leader, but the legal consequences of such a move were unclear.

[The Zimbabwe military is discovering it may not be so easy to remove Mugabe]

Still, the demonstration was a remarkable step in Zimbabwe's break with from the 93-year-old president, the world's oldest head of state. He was once seen as a hero of Zimbabwe's liberation from British colonialism, serenaded in 1980 by reggae icon Bob Marley, who wrote the song "Zimbabwe" about the country's struggle for independence.

The military stepped in after Mugabe indicated he was setting the stage for his unpopular wife Grace to succeed him.

On Saturday, demonstrators tore down the sign from Robert Mugabe Road and stomped on it. At the Zimbabwe Grounds, where Mugabe gave his first independence day speech in 1980, thousands of his opponents gathered.

Members of Zimbabwes white minority joined the protests, many of them having lost their farms in violent government-led seizures. The land was frequently redistributed to Mugabe loyalists.

Elaine Rich and her family were given two hours to flee their farm in 2004.

Ive been waiting 37 years for this, said the middle-aged woman, carrying a Zimbabwean flag.

Im glad with this show of unity to force Mugabe out, said Joice Mujuru, whom Mugabe fired as vice president in 2014.

We have to march to State House to remove the tyrant, said Oppah Muchinguri, the current minister of water who has backed the military takeover.

Still, some Zimbabweans expressed concern that the country was offering legitimacy to military and civilian leaders with a questionable track record.

We cannot afford to give another set of leaders a blank check or license to dictate, said Ibbo Mandaza, a Zimbabwean academic.

The military commanders who detained Mugabe appear to support former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa as Mugabe's successor. But both Western officials and many Zimbabweans have raised concerns about the prospect of a Mnangagwa-led government. In 2000, in a cable later released by WikiLeaks, the State Department said he was "widely feared and despised throughout the country" and "could be an even more repressive leader" than Mugabe.

As of Saturday, Mnangagwa's whereabouts remained unknown. It was his dismissal earlier this month as vice president which set off the process that culminated in Mugabes house arrest.

Read more

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Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/11/2017 (1824 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In the Friends episode The One with the Cuffs, Joey is at home in his and Chandlers apartment, when he receives a visit from a door-to-door salesperson peddling encyclopedia.

Broke as he is, Joey laughs when his guest, played by Penn Gillette, informs him the asking price for a full set is $1,200. But after discovering a folded-up, $50 bill in the back pocket of his jeans, he strikes a deal, by agreeing to purchase a single volume  the one covering the letter V.

The next day, when everybody gathers for coffee at Central Perk, Joey tries to impress the gang by dropping tidbits about Vesuvius, volcanoes, vivisections any word he can think of that begins with the 22nd letter of the alphabet.

Finally, after bringing up the Vietnam War, he is stymied when Monica immediately changes the subject to a television documentary about the Korean War, a conflict Joey knows zilch about.

I dont think Ive ever seen that particular episode and though it sounds amusing, it isnt likely to happen, since we dont sell individual books. You have to buy all 22 volumes, says Kerry Kuran, laughingly describing himself as an LSR  thats lowly sales rep  for World Book, which, this year, is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its inaugural edition.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS World Book Encyclopedia is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Last year around this time, we profiled Garry Peters, a Winnipegger who delivers milk, cheese and yogurt to households across the city in the wee hours of the night. While milkman definitely qualifies as a once-prevalent profession thats seen better days, some might argue encyclopedia salesperson falls into that category, too.

According to Publishers Weekly, World Book, which is based in Chicago, once employed an international sales force of 40,000. Thanks to the internet, that number currently sits at around 100.

Kuran isnt surprised by those figures. Since 2005, theres only been a single soul in Manitoba, northwestern Ontario and Nunavut selling World Book Encyclopedia and youre looking at him, he says, seated in a bustling, St. Marys Road coffee shop.

Like most people from his generation, Kuran, 60, has fond memories of being told to go look it up, when, as a kid, hed ask his mother or father the length of a certain river, or the capital of some far-off nation.

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Kerry Kuran is one of the last encyclopedia salesperson standing.

I remember my parents buying a set of encyclopedia in 1967, for Canadas centennial, he says, noting he would have been 10 at the time. Going to school, we used those books a ton. I mean, that was our computer, right?

Kuran had already been selling textbooks and reference material to school divisions and public libraries throughout the province, when he added World Book to his portfolio 12 years ago. Those types of clients account for the bulk of his sales, he says, but he still fields orders  about 10 every year  from private individuals, as well.

Occasionally, Ill hear from parents who dont want their young children on the internet, for personal or religious reasons, he says. Theyll buy a set, but then I might not hear from them for three or four years, till they decide its time to buy a new, updated (set).

Kuran feels World Book is a prime example of a company that has changed with the times, and didnt go the way of the dodo bird. (Hey! According to World Books D volume, the last time a dodo was seen on the island of Mauritius was in 1662.)

The online version, which is updated daily to strive for 100 per cent accuracy, easily accounts for three-quarters of my (World Book) sales to schools and libraries. Theres video, audio its quite the resource, he says.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Three-year-old Dixa Pokharel looking through the book with her mother Daya Shrestha at the Millennium Library.

Terri Wiest is a librarian at the citys Millennium Library. One of Wiests responsibilities is ordering material for Winnipeg Public Librarys childrens and young adults collections, including World Book Encyclopedia.

Although the citys libraries have an online subscription to four of World Books databases, Wiest feels its important to have physical copies of the tomes on library shelves, as well.

We have one set of World Book at all of our branches and here (at Millennium Library) weve always had two  the current set, as well as the previous years, she says, seated in her downtown office.

They used to be for reference purposes only, but now customers are able to check them out of the library, and use them at home. Theres a certain amount of appeal to the physical copies, I find, plus, because World Book now does a spinescape with a lovely picture, they look really awesome on the shelf, as well.

Wiest, who got her start as a reference librarian at Winnipeg Public Librarys Henderson branch, laughs when she recalls an occasion World Book came in handy, early in her career.

Whenever a child came in with a school project, if I wasnt sure where to start, Id almost always reach for the World Books, she says. I remember this one kid who was doing a project on a liger, which I quickly learned was a cross between a lion and a tiger. Not too many books have been written about the liger, obviously, but when I opened the L-volume of World Book, sure enough, I found a small entry.

Paul Kobasa is the vice-president of editorial and editor-in-chief at World Books Chicago headquarters. He says while its true World Book salespeople no longer trudge from door-to-door, suitcase in hand, in search of potential customers, they havent hung up their sample bags, completely.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Millennium Library collections librarian Terri Wiest, with 2015 and 2016 volumes of the World Books in the children's area of the library.

The companys principal public face, complemented by its online presence (www.worldbook.com), is its salespeople who live and work and across Canada and the U.S., regularly calling on public libraries, school libraries and provincial and state departments of education, he says when reached at his office.

There were indeed thousands of World Book salespeople at any one time, many of them part-time workers, especially teachers taking advantage of their summer holidays, he continues. In those years, the home office was housed on two full floors of Chicagos massive Merchandise Mart, where many clerical and accounting workers managed the record-keeping required of a vast, direct-sales operation.

Because of the narrower market focus, there are no longer thousands (of salespeople), but the people in the field are supplemented by home-office staff who cover isolated parts of salespeoples territories.

Kobasa says World Books sales figures rose 10 per cent in 2017 versus the previous year, which he attributes to two factors: the companys 100th anniversary edition and Donald J. Trump.

Historically, there is almost always a bump in sales of the edition that includes the results of a U.S. presidential election so I expect that had as much to do with the volume of sales as the fact the edition marked 100 years since the first.

Kobasa adds pretty much everyone who works for World Book hears remarks of surprise, from time to time, that the company still publishes a print edition every year.

Or that the company even exists, in the Wikipedia world.

david.sanderson@freepress.mb.ca

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RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/11/2017 (1824 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Soviet writer Lev Kopelev was to become a prominent dissident, but in 1929 he was an ardent proponent of the regime.

He described the mentality of the Soviet activist: With the rest of my generation, I firmly believed that the ends justified the means. Our great goal was the universal triumph of Communism, and for the sake of the goal, everything was permissible  to lie, to steal, to destroy hundreds of thousands and even millions of people, all those who were hindering our work

This mentality, with its relativist morality, helped to engender one of the principal tragedies of the 20th century, the Holodomor  the man-made famine that devastated Ukraine, then a republic of the Soviet Union, in the early 1930s.

The grim story of the Holodomor, which led to the deaths of millions of Ukrainians, is recounted by journalist and author Anne Applebaum, a Poland-based columnist for the Washington Post whose previous books have also been about Soviet history.

Applebaum uses newly available archives and new research to tell the story of the famine. It is a gut-wrenching account thats not for the squeamish, but it details an episode that must be remembered.

The famine in Ukraine was not caused by weather or crop failure  rather, it was deliberately engineered by Soviet policy.

Indeed, a slew of decisions created a perfect storm. The collectivization of agricultural land led to declines in productivity. The wealthier peasants, known as kulaks, were evicted from their farms. Even as people in rural areas began to starve, the Soviet Union continued to export grain in exchange for hard currency.

Worst of all, brigades of party activists and police confiscated grain and anything else that was edible from the homes of starving peasant families. They also took anything that was valuable and could be exchanged for food.

Ultimately responsible for these disastrous policies was Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, who was motivated by a desire to crush Ukrainian nationalism. Accompanying the famine was a crackdown on Ukrainian intellectual and political elites.

As Applebaum writes, It was a political famine, created for the express purpose of weakening peasant resistance, and thus national identity.

From 1933 to 1991, the Soviets denied that a famine had occurred. The Soviet regime engaged in a massive coverup, altering death records and manipulating census data. The famine was simply unmentionable in Soviet discourse.

Applebaum depicts a massive and lethal project of social engineering. The suffering she describes occurred on an almost inconceivable scale. Her account is an object lesson in what can happen when too much power is concentrated in government, especially a government with a messianic plan to remake society.

Graeme Voyer is a Winnipeg writer.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/11/2017 (1824 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An unusual sidebar has emerged as United States policy-makers consider the shape of the next Farm Bill, the countrys omnibus farm policy that must be renewed every five years.

Agricultural economists with the Agricultural Policy Analysis Center (APAC) at the University of Tennessee have issued a series of opinion pieces outlining a case for the return to supply management in U.S. farm policy.

The irony of that proposition is rich against the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trumps ongoing campaign against Canadas supply-managed dairy industry. Its almost as rich as the talk in the European Union right now over how policy must change to ensure farmers get a fairer deal in the marketplace, even it means allowing them to form cartels.

The difference is that while the U.S. proposition might influence the debate, it has little chance of becoming policy. More likely is a continuation of existing farm revenue support. The European Parliament already has legislated more clout for farmers in the marketplace and politicians arent done yet.

The APAC analysis, undertaken at the request of the Texas Farmers Union, concludes that U.S. farm incomes would rise and government expenditures would fall significantly if existing farm-support programs were replaced with supply management. In fact, economists Harwood Schaffer and Daryll E. Ray estimate U.S. taxpayers could save a whopping US$234 billion over a 10-year period.

They propose setting a floor price for the eight major crops. When prices fell below, the government would buy grains and store them until markets recovered. Those reserves would then be eased into the marketplace, so as to maintain a stable supply of commodities flowing into the marketplace and protect consumers from price shocks. If reserve stocks grew too large, farmers would receive incentives to take acreage out of production.

This takes U.S. farm policy back to the 1980s, when a similar program resulted in the U.S. government owning huge stockpiles of grain. Those stocks became its arsenal for an all-out price war trying to buy back market share against the European Union, which was also sitting on mountains of surplus production.

This great grain war drove down world prices, but didnt sell more grain. People will eat less if prices go too high and they might buy better-quality food if prices are low, but low prices dont increase consumption.

The main casualties were farmers in countries such as Canada and Australia. They receive fewer subsidies and are more dependent on export markets.

But Schaffer and Ray have a valid point. The farm policies enacted since that time have at times paid farmers when they didnt need it while failing miserably to protect them from market volatility. Taxpayers are paying a huge price for that futility.

European politicians are targeting what they call unfair trading practices that have emerged in the wake of deregulation designed to make farmers more efficient and competitive. It turns out there is little appetite among consumers for a cutthroat marketplace that drives producers out of business and, some say, toward higher rates of suicide.

Our consumers can only be guaranteed a reliable food supply if farmers are guaranteed a reliable income and a fair share of the pie, said EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan in a speech last month.

He noted the main topic of discussion at a recent ministerial meeting was how to better empower farmers with the necessary instruments to address market volatility and price fluctuations. The public appears to be in full support, with the exception of food retailers. The EU passed legislation in 2015 that allows farmers to form cartels to sell certain commodities, provided their market share doesnt exceed 20 per cent.

Whats interesting about the discussions within these agricultural heavyweights is that they attempt to address the same issues Canadian policy-makers were confronting when they set the terms for this countrys system of supply-managed dairy, egg and poultry sectors in the late 1960s.

This is not to suggest Canadas approach to supply management doesnt need to be modernized. But the free-market rhetoric from its competitors on the global stage should be taken with a grain of salt.

Laura Rance is editorial director at Glacier FarmMedia. She can be reached at 204-792-4382 or laura@fbcpublishing.com
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/11/2017 (1825 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg hotel employee and gambling addict who defrauded his employer out of $134,000 has been spared jail time.

Christopher Banks previously pleaded guilty to fraud over $5,000 for stealing from the Four Points Sheraton hotel over five years until 2015. Provincial court Judge Sandra Chapman imposed a three-year suspended sentence Friday, ordering Banks to repay the remaining $44,000 he owes to the business.

Banks not only worked for the business for almost 15 years, but he was a close friend to his employer and seen as part of the family, Chapman said, describing the repeated thefts as a serious breach of trust.

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES An employee stole $134,000 over five years from a Winnipeg Four Points Sheraton to fund a gambling addiction.

Banks had a gambling addiction and was dealing with the loss of his father during the time he used his position to steal from the hotel, the judge said.

Chapman said she took into consideration that Banks had been working with a restorative-justice program and has already repaid some of the money he stole.

The Crown sought an 18-month jail sentence, but Chapman agreed with defence lawyer Kristen Jones that Banks shouldnt go to jail. He will be on probation for three years and bound by conditions including a curfew and community service work.

In this case I am impressed by the significant efforts Mr. Banks has made over the last two and a half years to rehabilitate himself and to restore the community, and ultimately long-term, the community will benefit from an individual like Mr. Banks being re-integrated into the community, Chapman said.

The purpose of this sentence is to, on the one hand, help restore the community and ultimately have you back working in the community and able to pay back the monies to these individuals, but at the same time understanding this is a serious matter and any breach of any conditions will result in you being re-sentenced with respect to this, she told Banks.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/11/2017 (1824 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Shortly after noon, Anya Kelman glides into an office on the second and uppermost floor of Klinic, threading the familiar warren of hallways that surrounds the non-profits Portage Avenue heart. She settles into a chair to talk.

It was a busy morning, she says with a nod. There was a hospital call. For Kelman, a volunteer counsellor with Klinics sexual assault crisis program, that meant racing to another tangle of hallways, this one clinical, to sit and comfort a victim.

She stayed until her shift was over, when another volunteer arrived to relieve her. By now, just eight months into her volunteer work at Klinic, that gentle dance is familiar; they will stay at a bedside for as long as the victim needs them.

Sometimes, that can be just 30 minutes. Other times, counsellors stay for up to eight hours. After their shifts are over, they pause to write reports and decompress: Kelman likes to go for long runs, to release her own anger and sadness.

Its hard, Kelman says. Theres some really, really sad stories. But my dad always says, You help just one person, youre doing a good job. And I feel like I am. Ive helped quite a few and right now is a good time to be a part of this.

This work fits Kelman well, shes discovered. She is elegant and soft-spoken, with calm and careful speech. It is part of what makes her a good counsellor: even as she speaks about trauma and anger, she radiates a sense of peace.

Yet in a way, this work is still new for her. When she arrived at Klinic, she had no background in counselling or feminist volunteering; for years, she lived a quiet sort of life as a stay-at-home mother to two children, now aged 17 and 12.

Last year, she read something that drove her to rise up and get involved. It started with Brock Turner.

In 2015, Turner was a student athlete at Californias Stanford University, who sexually assaulted a young woman behind a dumpster. She was unconscious. When confronted by two Swedish students who happened upon the scene, Turner attempted to flee.

His flight was cut short when he was tackled by the intercessors. When police arrived, one of the Swedish students began to cry, because he was so disturbed by what he had seen. Turner later claimed the contact was consensual.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Klinic sexual assault program counsellors Jerra Fraser (left) and Megan Mann say some sexual assault victims find it empowering to see more victims speaking out, while others find it exhausting and painful.

The jury didnt buy it. In March 2016, Turner was convicted on three counts of felony sexual assault, which carried a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Prosecutors sought six years, arguing that he acted as a predator seeking prey.

What is notable about the Turner case is that it might have only briefly flitted through national media  just another campus sexual assault  were it not for the statement the victim read during a June 2016 sentencing hearing.

You dont know me, Jane Doe began, but youve been inside me, and thats why were here today.

The statement went viral online; within four days, it had been read more than 11 million times. It is, in form and essence, a searing rebuke of sexual violence. In it, the victim is wounded but not silenced; her wit glows as bright as her anger.

Even after this, the judge sentenced Turner to just six months in a county jail followed by three years of probation. Turner was released from custody after just three months, though he will remain on a sex offender registry for the rest of his life.

To Kelman, 3,000 kilometres away from the courthouse where Turners fate was decided, the victims statement  and the sentence that followed  was more than just another headline. It was a call to arms: enough was enough.

I just felt I needed to do something, she says. It wasnt fair, its not right, and it needed to change.

She started researching ways to help in Winnipeg. She found Klinics sexual assault crisis program and applied to become a counsellor. That was something she could do; she had both the time and capability to be there for victims.

I kind of feel like it was something I was meant to do, she says.

Terrible things happen, all over the world. Its easy to feel helpless. But action always starts at home.

xxx

In the headlines they fell, one after the other, toppled like towers sculpted from sheer hubris and capital. Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey are arguably the most famous, but there are others: writers, comedians, politicians.

They fell so swiftly. That is whats so surprising: the pace of the revelations, breaking for over six weeks now and still unrelenting. The usual metaphors seem so obvious  a tsunami, a dam breaking  but there is no way around them.

Journalist Rebecca Traister, writing for The Cut, said the anger window was open. Unlike more cultivated forms of modern feminism, she wrote, This is 70s-style, organic, mass, radical rage, exploding in unpredictable directions.

There is truth in those words, to be sure. When a reporter asked Uma Thurman about the Weinstein allegations  his company produced her breakout vehicle, Pulp Fiction  her eyes seemed alight with incandescent, righteous rage.

Im not a child and Ive learned that when Ive spoken in anger I usually regret the way I express myself, she said, sharpening each word. So Ive been waiting to feel less angry. And when Im ready, Ill say what I have to say.

A tipping point: thats what everyone settled on calling it. Ashley Judd, who spoke of her own harassment by Weinstein, used that phrase, as did Annette Bening. So did a United Kingdom politician and countless media outlets.

At National Public Radio: Why The Weinstein Effect Seems Like A Tipping Point.

In the Dallas News: The sexual harassment tipping point: How we got here and what it means.

It is easy for writers to speak in terms of tipping points, of swells of irreversible change, of great climacterics. Almost all of us do it. To some, it smacks of sensationalism; but it is more a natural effect of the way we live these moments.

The tides of news media rise and fall in breathless cycles. We are borne by the waves of what matters today and, as those waves crest, one may look out across the sea splayed beneath, and conclude none have ever been higher.

Yet perhaps there really is something different about this crashing wave, something that demands we take notice.

Close to the ground where the work was always happening, something is changing. In Newfoundland, a sexual assault crisis centre received 748 crisis-related calls in the first 10 months of the year, up from 587 in all of 2016.

Last month, the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre told CBC it was flooded by calls in the wake of the great Hollywood purging. Many clients said they had been driven to seek support by the headlines and the viral #MeToo campaign.

Ive been waiting and praying for this, for finally something change to happen Because we need it, we deserve itso it makes me hopeful. I hope more women come out and tell their stories, if they choose.  Anya Kelman, volunteer counsellor with Klinics sexual assault crisis program

These surges are not universally distributed; Klinic, which fields about 200 calls each month to its sexual assault crisis line, has not seen any notable rise in contacts. Even as headlines swirl, their daily work remains the same.

Its hard to categorize it in a general way, says Jerra Fraser, a staff counsellor. Is there a shift in culture? It would be great if that was happening, and people were being held responsible in a different way, and becoming a new norm.

But its hard to look at that broad environment when were meeting with individuals one-on-one.

Its Thursday afternoon, and Fraser is chatting in her Klinic office; she will see a client here soon, but she has time to talk. Its a cozy room, overlooking Vimy Ridge Park, brightened by the sunlight that streams through broad windows.

On the other side of the small space, fellow staff counsellor Megan Mann nods along, as we talk.

Its really hard for me to judge, Mann says, on the question of change. We always joke about this being the Klinic bubble. Being around like-minded people all the time, it feels that way (like a tipping point). But its so hard to say.

Mann has tempered her thoughts by listening to other experienced perspectives. Recently, she found herself deep in a conversation about the unfolding news with an older colleague, who has decades of experience as an advocate.

She said, Every now and then, something comes along and it feels like a tipping point, until its not, Mann says. It feels like a tipping point, until everyone forgets about it so I struggle with feeling hopeful, but not being overly so.

We cant ignore the fact that, when you think about the celebrities coming forward, these are people with power and privilege, she continues. Theyre maybe going to be believed a little differently than an average Joe off the street.

What Fraser and Mann do see, more intimately than any reporter, is how sexual assault survivors are experiencing this moment. In the safety of their sessions, clients talk about the stories they see swirling over social media and TV.

Dan Honda / The Associated Press files n this Sept. 2, 2016, Brock Turner leaves the Santa Clara County Main Jail in San Jose, Calif.

Some find it empowering to see other victims speaking out. Others find the headlines exhausting, triggering painful memories and forcing them to relive their trauma. There is no escaping the discussion, and that can be a problem.

Ive had some folks feeling, OK, this gives me a platform, and then use social media to spread awareness, Mann says. Others feel, Is this expected of me? Is this something I should be doing? Do I have to speak up?

Part of the job then, she adds, becomes helping her clients understand that its OK not to bare their own pain for the whole world to see. Just because others find it healing, its not the right path for everyone; its not their responsibility.

Of Manns clients who have chosen to speak out, most have found it a positive experience and have been met with support. And many at Klinic have noticed there does seem to be an increased public capacity to believe people who speak out.

Because so many people have come forward, or the number of allegations against an individual is so prevalent, theres power in that, says Rosemarie Gjerek, Klinics director of counselling services. Thats a good thing.

The flip side is, what number is the tipping point? she continues. What has happened with people coming forward is its created that threshold, or that ability to identify youre not alone, there are others that have experienced this.

But I worry about (the numbers)  does it have to be 50? Is five good enough? Is one good enough?

This curls back to something worth noting: how voices are rising. Of the more than 100 women who have come forward about Weinsteins abuse, only one had reported him to police at the time. (At least two others have since done so.)

The dearth of police reports against Weinstein isnt unusual; experts widely agree sexual assault is a particularly under-reported crime. Recent Canadian studies have found more than eight in 10 assaults are not reported to police.

There are many reasons victims choose not to report, which is a whole topic in and of itself.

For now, the bigger picture is this: something about this point in history makes it safer for many survivors to tell their story to thousands or millions of people on Facebook or Twitter, than to one police officer, one judge, or one jury.

Perhaps theres a lesson to be taken from that, as we search for ways to keep moving forward. Because the thing about tipping points is they still require action. Barriers dont topple on their own; they need the force of public will.

Keep the conversation going, even when it feels bogged down, Mann says. Those tipping points that came before, they went away because people stopped talking about them, and something else came into our awareness.

Thats the next step now, Mann and Fraser say. If people read the headlines and feel angry, there are things they can do: Talking to friends and family. Ensuring their workplace has updated sexual harassment policies. Volunteering.

Its great to talk about it, and its great to have education, Fraser says. What is the action part? This (Klinic) building, this is the action part. And thats maybe a little bit behind the scenes but whats within your control?

For me, that action is how do we help empower individuals?

Those actions can change lives. Because once, a soft-spoken Winnipeg mother read what a Jane Doe had to say about the Stanford student who raped her, and was so moved that she stepped forward to help other victims.

Call it an avalanche of voices, a tsunami, a dam breaking. Call it a tipping point, if it feels right. Whatever you call it, something is happening  and for those on the front lines, the conversation shines in the heart of a long darkness.

I like that, Kelman says. There has to be a tipping point, somewhere, hopefully anyways. Ive been waiting and praying for this, for finally some change to happen. Because we need it, we deserve it so it makes me hopeful.

I hope more women come out and tell their stories, if they choose.

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca

Tribune Media TNS Sexual assault survivors along with their supporters at the #MeToo Survivors March against sexual abuse Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017 in Los Angeles. A march to CNN's headquarters in Los Angeles and a rally at the intersection of Hollywood and Highland Avenue in Hollywood were part of the events held. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times/TNS)
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 18/11/2017 (1824 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

To celebrate the arrival of the 2014 Junos, the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ led an initiative to position pianos throughout the downtown. It was a way to promote the event but also an opportunity for people to gather, to enjoy public space and to take in public art.

The pianos, designed by Graffiti Art Programmings youth and guided under the mentorship of artists such as Kenneth Lavallee, were unique blank canvases. The initiative, called Play Your Part, attracted thousands of visits to the downtown, and photographs of musicians performing at the pianos.

At 4 p.m. sharp, the sound of Portage Place Shopping Centres clock tower sounded  marking the start of a beautiful conversation. Lavallee, HTFC Planning & Designs Adam Kroeker, Freshcut Downtowns Melanie Bernadsky, Winnipeg Folk Festivals Lynne Skromeda, and nine-year-old Sadie Pusiewich sounded off on the piano initiative as an example of how to add public amenities in a civic life that is often underserviced and overlooked.

Kroeker has worked on plans across Manitoba, Ontario, and the Northwest Territories to make communities healthier, happier, and more enjoyable for people of all ages. He is also active in Winnipegs music scene as a member of The Mariachi Ghost.

Lavallee, a Metis artist, has been a committed mentor for young artists at Graffiti Art Programming. He is no stranger to urbanity, as much of his work has been modified into life-size murals  often placed in underserved areas and vacant buildings. His current work can be seen at the Winnipeg Art Gallerys current exhibit, Insurgence Resurgence, the institutions largest-ever contemporary Indigenous art show, celebrating the stories and artwork of 29 artists from across Canada.

Bernadsky has owned the floral shop Freshcut Downtown since 1995 and is an avid downtown volunteer and board member of the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ. She noted throughout the conversation how she has seen a large change in how Portage Place has welcomed the community, with initiatives like Play Your Part.

As a Portage Place business owner, I probably have the best view of the piano.

The Winnipeg Folk Festival, one of Manitobas longest running festivals, has implemented several initiatives that have purposefully invaded public, urban spaces with music  having programmed places like the Cube in Old Market Square, the City Hall courtyard and the Millennium Library.

Skromeda, Folk Fests executive director, herself has also been a community supporter of music, arts and the environment in a variety of ways through her many years in the local film and TV industry and spending time on boards such as the West End Cultural Centre, Green Action Centre and Manitobans for the Arts, all of which promote the positive use of culture and environment.

Pianos were placed around downtown Winnipeg in 2014 to celebrate the arrival of the Juno Awards. (David Moder Photography)

Pusiewich, a nine-year-old student at Riverbend Community School, recalled her story about how she encountered the piano for the first time: I first discovered the piano while coming to an acting class at Portage Place. I was preparing for my piano recital at the time, so I took a chance to play most weeks coming or going from class. It just looked like something you have to go and try. And it was so fun!

Pusiewich represents the youth for whom many planners and designers are building their cities for. As our youngest Duets participant yet, Pusiewich provided a very candid and honest opinion about how more of these pianos should be installed throughout downtown.

What resonated during the Duets conversation, as Skromeda says, was a unique opportunity to chat with people with different perspectives: Im a lifelong Winnipegger. Ive seen Adams band play. Ive bought Melanies flowers. Ive seen Kenneths art. And Kal (Barteski) has worked with us before. Its awesome to be able to sit down and have a conversation about art and public spaces, which connects so deeply to me personally and is also the whole focus of our festival and year-round initiatives.

Once the Junos concluded, the pianos were left in their locations. Left outdoors, most of the pianos had to be retired because of wear and tear, and often vandalism. The Portage Place piano  affectionately known as Happiano  however, has kept its lustre over time.

Kroeker, Lavallee, Bernadsky, Skromeda, and Pusiewich hypothesized why the piano has retained its shape and form, and proposed other ideas in which to enhance public activity at Portage Place and throughout the city.

(David Moder Photography)

Why do you think this particular piano at Portage Place has not been destroyed or damaged?

Skromeda: Its placement. Where it is  its a central focus. People can come and see it from all directions. Its obvious, its on display. People can engage with it. People can see it as a piece of art and as a piece of music.

(David Moder Photography)

Kroeker: Edmonton Court in Portage Place is such a great natural stage. Where else can you play in a place like this  where you have potentially hundreds of eyes watching you? Its a concert hall that everyone has access to. In my opinion, great spaces give people a chance to perform in all sorts of ways.

Bernadsky: From a security perspective, there is natural surveillance. There are a lot of eyes on the piano. And theres a feeling of safety in the mall when you hear the sound of the piano  you know people are around.

Lavallee: Even the design and the colours itself. I designed it that way. I thought it was going to be on the streets  so I wanted it to be visible with bright colours, so you could see it from a block away. Lately in my art, I have been trying to go big  with large murals on Main Street, big areas of colour.

I walk around downtown a lot  its drab, plain and boring. I knew the pianos were going out onto the street in the early spring  so it was dusty. I wanted something bold, bright, and visible.

Pusiewich: When I would play the piano, people would come up and say that the piano is beautiful and thank me for playing. Portage Place was pretty dull before the piano was here, so the pianos make people happy. There are even smiley faces all over the piano!

Syvixay: Whats interesting, for me, is how the piano is at the centre of many gatherings and demonstrations at Portage Place. Its been interesting to see how the piano interacts with events like the Womens March or Graffiti Art Programmings breakdance battles  the piano becomes a rallying point.

HFTC designer Adam Kroeker works on plans to make communities healthier and more enjoyable for people of all ages. (David Moder Photography)

Skromeda: I was here for the Womens March. There was a big stage set up right beside the piano. It felt like it supposed to be part of the setup.

As a business owner, Melanie, what has your interaction been with the pianos? Do you think there has been an increase in sales? What other outcomes have you noticed?

Bernadsky: In general, I support anything that is creative, positive, encouraging, and brings out all walks of life. While the mall is a business, it has become a bit of a community space too. Im supportive of that.

Bands perform at centre court. It can get a bit loud  and it can be a challenge. So, I think theres a gentle balance, a bit of a dance, that needs to happen between business and community initiatives.

I cant say that people have played the piano and then purchased a bouquet of flowers. But it does bring goodwill and joy to the mall. Its inclusive and makes people feel welcome.

Kroeker: Finding this balance is the central challenge of planning work. There are joys of living close together in a city; you can people watch. There is an exciting buzz.

But the downside is that there may be noise, congestion and other things that make urban living challenging.

Skromeda: Theres always a risk of putting something out there like the piano at Portage Place  whether its noise pollution, as some people may see it, or the potential for damage. But I think that most people treat it with respect, and can do interesting things with it. It allows for creativity. It allows for an opportunity to perform.

The piano is so real, and so raw. You really get to interact with an instrument. It makes you wonder  for the people who do play, do they have access to instruments elsewhere  at home? Maybe this is the place. This being here gives them an opportunity to play.

Kroeker: There need to be more opportunities in downtown Winnipeg for fun and for play. Sadie, you said Portage Place was a little dull before the piano. What more can be added?

Pusiewich: Theres a playground at The Forks. There are drums and an outdoor xylophone. These things are important because they give people a chance to interact with their personality.

Winnipeg Folk Festival's Lynne Skromeda is a community supporter of music, arts and the environment. (David Moder Photography)

Does this initiative give people a voice, a platform? Is that important in Winnipegs downtown?

Lavallee: Because of its location at centre court, you have a huge audience already. A lot of people who use the piano might not have Internet or Instagram to express their talents. Everyone needs some sort of outlet.

Barteski: It takes guts to perform! When you step on that piano, you earn the audience. Its this: Listen to me! You can tell your story here. I think that is super cool.

Pusiewich: Its more beautiful than my piano at home. Its made me brave to perform at recitals.

Metis artist Kenneth Lavallee (left) is a mentor at Graffiti Art Programming. (David Moder Photography)

Do you see these types of public interventions as public art?

Pusiewich: Yes, because it has paintings on it. Its in the public. We need more of them.

Lavallee: Ive been working on a large public art project for the past year. It should go up in the next week or so, right next door at Air Canada Park. Its a 12-foot tall steel sculpture of six blue Metis square dancers. Its very graphic. Ive had the model on my desk for the past six months. Ive been waiting for permit approvals. Its been a slow headache.

Ive wanted to get into public art. Its that, Be the change you want to see. Who doesnt want to see beautiful things in the spaces they go to. I think public art needs to be comfortable, interactive. Some public art is fenced off, and you cant touch it. The piano isnt that  it invites people to come up to it. I like that type of art.

Skromeda: I also like performance as art. Public art that is visual is often permanent. A person playing the piano is fleeting. At the Winnipeg Folk Festival, we have our workshops  we put artists together who may never otherwise interact. We create these amazing moments over a period of time, and then theyre gone. I think theres a real beauty in that  a lack of permanence.

The random performance is an amazing experience for people. The element of surprise, the serendipity, the spontaneity that is created with this type of art.

I also like the piano because of the two types of languages it brings together: music and visual art are universal languages. It doesnt matter who you are, or where you come from  you can create a reaction. It creates life experiences that are important to us, and can be life-changing.

Melanie Bernadsky (left), owner of Freshcut Downtown, has seen a change in how Portage Place welcomes the community, with initiatives like Play Your Part. (David Moder Photography)

Bernadsky: I like the subtlety of the piano. People can walk by it and go about their day or choose to participate in it. It doesnt feel invasive.

What kind of statement does adding a public initiative in a private space make?

Kroeker: Our traditional North American shopping malls are places built on the model of conformity and consistency. You find the same shops in malls across the country; it doesnt matter if you are in Minnesota or Moose Jaw. That consistency is comforting to some consumers, but it also makes most malls boring places.

The piano at Portage Place deconstructs the essence of a mall  here, anything goes. Portage Place has become a place where things can happen outside of the norm.

Some urbanists have looked at Portage Place as a failure  but I like to think of it as a mall of the future, something where more interesting things can take place. There are now different types of activity with space in the mall, like Studio 393s graffiti art programming. It feels like there is life here.

Bernadsky: Malls wont completely go away. So if they are going to be here, then maybe adding the community creative piece should be pushed for.

Lavallee: At the same time, I dont think malls can just fake it either. Theres something organic about this mall at Portage Place  people clean it, take care of it. If the piano was built with Portage Place originally, I dont think it would have had the same impact. The community placed the piano here. It feels more authentic.

Skromeda: Architecture has changed over time. Buildings were pieces of art  they were ornate. Now we live in a society where the angles are sharper and cleaner.

I think its interesting that we gravitate towards putting things like the piano in these buildings to make them feel alive, more artistic. There are trees around us, theres music in here.

All of this stuff is important to add in a private space  they are things we value.

Lavallee: This is a beautiful courtyard. The amount of light  its so insane. I love it.

(David Moder Photography)

Temporary installations often illuminate elements of city life that are ignored, missing, overlooked, disinvested, or under serviced. What does the piano initiative say about the state of Portage Place, about the city, downtown, and people? Does this initiative raise larger questions  like the values of our city and downtown? About what kind of city we want to live in? Does it propose creative, alternative paths for us to get there?

Bernadsky: If youre bringing in that creativity, bringing in people, bringing in energy, you feel safe, and you feel part of something. While youre here, you might pick up a coffee, and theres some economic development.

Kroeker: This was an initiative that was meant to be temporary but now has become permanent. The piano has highlighted that there is a need to keep filling our cities with places that surprise and delight.

Skromeda: It is about building community and how music and people are part of that. The piano brings people together to share these important ideas. It gets you thinking  its a conversation piece and a community builder.

Pusiewich: It shows that kids want fun things to do when they come downtown and dull spaces need to be bright, colourful and interactive. Surprises in public spaces are good  they make you happy.

Lavallee: I think they make you re-evaluate the city, and give you a fresher sense. You have your routines  you drive to work the same way everyday. But if you pop up something colourful and bright like the piano  it take you out of your routine and it makes you realize that youre part of the city, that you can have a hand in it.

Sadie Pusiewich, 9, is a student at Riverbend Community School who discovered the Portage Place piano while leaving her acting class. (David Moder Photography)
The Basics of Killing, written and directed by Jan Cvitkovic, was one of the highlights at this years Cottbus Festival of Eastern European Cinema (November 1-6). The basics of killing are the social measures and pressures that can destroy the lives of entire families in a short time.

As Cvitkovic points out in the interview below, the events in his film take place in Slovenia, a country in south central Europe with only 2 million people, but the processes at work are symptomatic of capitalist society across the globe.

The Basics of Killing opens with a portrait of seemingly idyllic middle class family life. Father Marko is a philosophy professor in a Ljubljana (Slovenias capital) high school, his wife Dunja a researcher in a pharmaceutical company. Their son Taras excels at judo, and his younger sister enjoys her ballet classes. For different reasons, both parents lose their jobs and their situation spirals rapidly out of control.

Due to a law passed in Slovenia in 2012 as part of austerity measures introduced after the financial crash of 2008-2009, the family are ineligible for any sort of social assistance. The various attempts of the parents to find new employment prove fruitless. Both are overqualified for the types of low-paid work available--in a warehouse or bar.

The situation for the father and mother becomes desperate. They have no food for their kids, and relations between the parents break down. Dunja takes to the streets, perhaps seeking a new man, while Marko hits the bottle. At the same time, they attempt to hide the state of affairs from their neighbours. The wife points out that everyone in the neighbourhood will know they cannot afford gas for their car because it is always parked on the same spot. To save face, the husband dutifully pushes the auto to a different space in the middle of night.

Since the instalments on the car go unpaid, it is towed away a few days later. How ordinary people attempt to disguise their descent down the social ladder and avoid social exclusion is a central theme of the film.

In the most moving scenes in The Basics of Killing, the children are eventually forced to steal food because their parents cannot afford to pay for their lunches.

Cvitkovic chooses to end his film on a more upbeat note. The two children are able to a bring about a reconciliation of their estranged parents--at the same time, however, none of the familys material problems have been solved.

Tribute should be paid to the excellent acting performances in the film, which stands out as a thoughtful and telling indictment of modern social relations.

I spoke to the director.

Stefan Steinberg: I was impressed with your film. My initial reaction is that it is quite an angry film.

Jan Cvitkovic: Yes, it is in a certain sense angry, but it is also an optimistic film. I myself faced a similar situation a few years ago. I was invited to work at a summer camp for children from broken families. We had fun making short films, and I started to observe the children. The deprived kids were mixed with kids from, if you want to call it, normal families. I thought I would immediately be able tell who was who, but I couldnt. The poor kids had developed a way of hiding their poverty, their status. It was then that I had the idea for the film.

A central role in the film is played by a law passed in 2012. It said that you could get social assistance based on your income. This income was calculated at the end of the year, and the process took about a year to complete. That meant that if you lost your job it could be nearly two years until you received any sort of social assistance. It was a very bureaucratic measure, which excluded many people from the system. The law was done in a hurry, but nobody has corrected it for the past five years.

It mainly affected the middle class. If one parent in a family loses their job, it is a big problem, if both parents lose their jobs, the family is totally destroyed. Especially if the family does not have relatives who can help out.

A big problem is the prevailing mentality. People are ashamed to be poor, and this is not only a problem in Slovenia. It is a general problem of contemporary society, of capitalist society. Capitalism is based on competition. If you cannot take care of yourself and your family, you are a loser, and people are ashamed to admit it. So people in Slovenia are hiding their situation. They find ways to hide their poverty.

Steinberg: What you show at the start of your film is a sort of perfect middle class family: a loving mother and father, the son does judo, the little girl has dancing lessons. Then the whole thing breaks apart--quite quickly the parents cannot afford to feed their kids.

Cvitkovic: There are many, many cases of such families. There was a big controversy in Slovenia following the introduction of electronic machines in school canteens. When a red light goes on and a buzzer sounds, everybody in the canteen knows that a kid has a chip card which has been rejected. Everybody knows that some particular child cannot afford a lunch. It has had devastating psychological effects on kids. If you are poor, suddenly you become outlawed.

Steinberg: In one scene, the philosopher-father compares the political elite in Slovenia with the cowardly and deceitful rulers in ancient Greece who forced the philosopher Socrates to take poison.

Cvitkovic: It is not only in Slovenia. You can see primitive, greedy, psychopathic people in power everywhere. There is a rejection of the notion of the state as a community. And that is a big problem. You are alone, you are not a member of a community. This is scary. If you want to survive you have to be a member of a community, and not just any community but rather a healthy community.

We are all alone in capitalist society, and this is especially the case when things go wrong. When things are okay.you have a job and income, then you have lots of friends; when things go wrong, then you are very suddenly alone.

Steinberg: We also witness the descent of the husband into criminality.

Cvitkovic: He is desperate. If you are good at your job, you know it and you enjoy the work. But then if you cannot carry out that work, you become desperate, because you know this is wrong. You can give something, but that something is rejected. After you are robbed of your integrity and self-esteem, you end up doing anything to survive.

Steinberg: The film ends with reconciliation, although none of the problems have gone away. Then the camera pans across the entire block of flats where the family live. You seem to be saying that it is not just one family affected.

Cvitkovic: Thats right. It could be your neighbour. What is frightening is that people are hiding this so well you might not even know that your neighbour is starving. This has been the case for thousands of families in Slovenia, especially in the past five years. There have been suicides. The right or the left--it doesnt matter who is in power. In fact, it was the official left that introduced the law in 2012. They are all ambitious people with no feeling, no empathy.

[Note: the main left party in Slovenia is the Social Democrats, which emerged from the regional section of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia.]
Canadas Liberal government has fully endorsed Spains violent crackdown on the October 1 Catalan independence referendum, Madrids subsequent suspension of Catalonias autonomy and imposition of authoritarian rule over the region, and its arrest and jailing of separatist leaders.

The right-wing Popular Party government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy deployed thousands of riot police to Catalonia October 1 to intimidate, harass and brutally assault people seeking to exercise their democratic right to vote. Well over 800 people were injured as officers assaulted protesters, dragged voters away from polling stations and threw people to the ground.

The Canadian government has backed Madrid throughout the secession crisis. A government statement released immediately following the October 1 repression justified Madrids actions in the name of upholding the rule of lawi.e. Spains reactionary constitution, which declares the unity of the state inviolable.

Following the vote by the Catalan regional parliament October 27 in favour of independence, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau quickly proclaimed his governments backing for one united Spain. We understand there are significant internal discussions that they are going through right now and we simply call for those discussions to be done according to the rule of law, according to the Spanish constitution, according to the principles of international law, declared Trudeau.

Trudeau delivered these hypocritical and sanctimonious remarks knowing full well that Rajoys government was, in the name of upholding the law, about to invoke the Spanish constitutions draconian Article 155. So open a break is Article 155 with bourgeois democratic norms, its use was described even in ruling class circles as the nuclear option. By invoking Article 155, Madrid was able to sack the regional government and, with the backing of national police and military forces, impose an unelected authoritarian government on Catalonia beholden to Madrid.

Catalans elected President Carles Puigdemont fled to Belgium to escape arrest, while other ministers were detained, stripped naked and thrown into jail for organizing the referendum and backing the independence vote in parliament. This turn to authoritarianism has been accompanied with the whipping up of reactionary Spanish nationalism, enabling neo-fascist forces to parade in the streets.

Led by Germany and France, the European Union, and Britain and the United States have cheered on this wave of repression, unprecedented since the downfall of Francos fascist regime 40 years ago. The EU dismissed Puigdemonts appeals for it to mediate, declaring Rajoy and Madrid their only interlocutors and the Spanish governments violence a lawful and proportionate use of force.

The EUs staunch support for Spains hardline stance was in part aimed at discouraging separatist movements in other member states, as illustrated by EU Commission President Jean-Claude Junckers remark that the EU could not become an organization with more than 90 members.

However, even more decisive is the fact that Europes ruling elites are turning to authoritarian methods of rule to preempt and suppress working class opposition to the program of militarism and austerity every government from Berlin to Athens and Warsaw is implementing.

In France, anti-democratic emergency powers have been made permanent, granting the state sweeping powers to crack down on popular protests, such as to the anti-worker labour reforms President Macron recently imposed by decree. And in Germany, the government shut down a left-wing political website in September and is turning ever further to the right with the entry of the neo-fascist Alternative for Germany into parliament.

Canada is no different in this regard.

Trudeaus Liberals have carried on seamlessly from Harpers Conservatives in erecting the scaffolding of a police state and criminalizing social opposition to its aggressive, militarist foreign policy and attacks on social and democratic rights. Under Bill C-59, the Liberals have retained all of the key elements of Harpers Bill C-51, which in the name of fighting terrorism arrogated vast powers to the national security apparatus. Meanwhile, federal and provincial governments of all political stripes routinely outlaw job actions, effectively abolishing the right to strike.

This anti-democratic record has not stopped Canadas ruling elite from cynically invoking concerns over human rights, democracy and self-determination to advance its predatory imperialist interests around the world. As a major player within NATO, Ottawa took a leading role in the war of aggression against Yugoslavia in 1999. This conflict, which involved a protracted bombardment of Belgrade, was sold as a crusade to defend the human rights of the Kosovars and their struggle, led by corrupt and outright criminal elements within the Kosovo Liberation Army, to establish an independent state by breaking away from Serbia.

However, when it comes to Spain, the fourth largest economy in the Euro zone, Canadian imperialisms interests dictate its unflinching support for the preservation of one united Spain through mass repression and the imposition of authoritarian rule.

Canadas ruling elite is anxious to ensure the stability of NATO, which it helped found and continues to view as vital for asserting it interests on the world stage, and the EU, with which it is in the process of finalizing a free trade agreement. But that is only part of the story.

The Canadian ruling elites Plan B

The Trudeau governments and the Canadian bourgeoisies attitude toward Spains secession crisis is bound up with concerns over potential threats to the integrity of the Canadian federal state. In backing Madrids efforts to prevent the Catalan people from expressing their views on independence and to forcibly retain Catalonia within the Spanish state, Canadas ruling elite is making clear that, should circumstances so require, it would not shrink from using similar methods in confronting a secessionist threat from Quebec.

In the aftermath of the 1995 Quebec referendum, which the federalist forces won with just 50.58 percent of the vote, the Canadian bourgeoisie adopted a new hardline strategy on Quebec separatism, dubbed Plan B. Its key provisions, many of which had been advocated by the right-wing Anglo-chauvinist Reform Party, were subsequently blessed by Canadas Supreme Court and enshrined in the Chretien Liberal governments anti-democratic Clarity Act.

Its name notwithstanding, the Clarity Acts provisions are deliberately vague. This is so as to give the federal government and the Canadian bourgeoisie the greatest latitude to maneuver in a secession crisis, including refusing to recognize a majority vote in favour of separation.

It empowers the federal parliament to determine after any future independence referendum whether the question was clear and whether a clear majority of voters backed independence. But it refuses to spell out what would constitute a clear question or a clear majorityalthough the implication is it would need to be significantly greater than 50 percent.

In the event parliament were to concede that the question and majority had been clear, the Clarity Act lays out a long list of issues, including Quebecs borders and share of the national debt, that would have to be resolved through negotiation with Ottawa and the nine other provinces before independence would be legal.

The Clarity Act thus provides Canadas ruling elite with a mechanism to depict, as Madrid has done, an anti-democratic policy as defence of the rule of law and to legitimize repression, including military intervention.

Especially incendiary is the Clarity Acts stipulation that Quebecs borders be negotiateda provision meant to signal that Ottawa could seek to ethnically partition a seceding Quebec by carving off parts of western Quebec, including the western half of the Island of Montreal, which are home to large numbers of English-speakers and immigrants. Under the Clarity Act, Ottawa also reserves the right to accept applications from First Nations whose territories are within Quebecs borders to remain part of Canada.

Almost two decades after its passage, the Clarity Act is celebrated by Canadas ruling elite as a signal achievement of the Chretien Liberal government. Like Trudeaus endorsement of Madrids dictatorial actions, it demonstrates that the Canadian bourgeoisie would be ready to resort to Spanish methods or even civil war to retain the integrity of the Canadian imperialist state.

The Quebec nationalists anti-democratic and anti-working class program

As they are its principal target, the Quebec independantistes have long railed against the Clarity Act. Predictably they have also broken with the ruling class consensus on Spain and are seeking to use Ottawas support of repression to cloak their own reactionary projectthe creation of a third imperialist state in North Americain democratic garb.

Parti Quebecois (PQ) leader Jean-Francois Lisee has called the October 1 crackdown a black day for Europe and for democracy and denounced the Canadian government for sanctioning it. He even succeeded in winning the support of the other parties in the Quebec National Assembly for an October 4 motion denouncing the Spanish governments authoritarianism.

But the PQs handwringing over anti-democratic measures is, to say the least, highly selective. Whenever the Quebec separatists have formed the provincial government, they have come into headlong conflict with the working class, criminalizing strikes and implementing devastating social spending cuts.

The PQ and its sister party in the federal parliament, the Bloc Quebecois (BQ) have been in the forefront of whipping up anti-immigrant and anti-refugee sentiment. When the PQ last held office it pressed for the adoption of a Charter of Quebec Values under which hospital workers, teachers and other public sector workers would have been threatened with the loss of their jobs if they wore ostentatious religious symbols, like the hajib, Sikh turban, or kippah, but not discrete crucifixes. Just days after chastising Trudeau for supporting Madrids trampling on Catalans rights, Lisee said a PQ government would consider making it illegal for devout Muslim women to wear the niqab or burka in public.

A major factor motivating the PQs drive for independence is to gain unbridled power to impose discriminatory legislation targeting immigrants, and religious and linguistic minorities.

The Quebec separatists, like the Catalan nationalists, speak for a regionally based faction of the bourgeoisie that wants to be free of central government control so they can strike their own bargains with global capital and the principal imperialist powers.

The Catalan nationalists are committed to membership in the EU, the enforcer of brutal austerity measures, and in NATO, which has played a central role in most of the US-led wars over the past two decades and is the pivot of the imperialist military-strategic offensive against Russia. One of their principal arguments for independence is that it will free Catalans from subsidizing poorer regions of Spain.

The PQ and the BQ insist a Republique du Quebec will be a member of NATO, NORAD, and NAFTA. They have been outspoken proponents of Canadas involvement in imperialist wars, including against Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya, and the ongoing conflict in Iraq and Syria

The separatists explicitly right-wing program did not stop Quebecs pseudo-left, including the Pabloite Gauche Socialiste, joining hands with the big business PQ, BQ, and right-wing populist ADQ during the 1995 referendum campaign. Some two decades on, Quebec Solidaire, the Syriza-style party of the Quebec pseudo-left, is a loyal member of the PQ-led sovereignty coalition Yes Quebec, and calls the PQ complaints about the excessive accommodation of immigrants legitimate.

The pseudo-lefts alignment with such right-wing, anti-working class forces underscores that the working class is the only social force capable of defending the democratic rights of the Catalan people and opposing the turn of the bourgeoisie internationally to authoritarianism and reaction, including the scapegoating of immigrants and minorities.

But to do so, it must be united internationally under the banner of socialism, not fragmented along regional and ethnic lines as the separatists propose. In Canada, this means fighting to unite French, English, immigrant and indigenous workers and youth against the Canadian imperialist state and its predatory interventions around the world, and against the retrograde, chauvinist program of Quebec independence.
Wilbert Jones walked out of the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison in Louisiana on Wednesday a free man after spending 45 years and 10 months in prison. Jones, now 65, was only 19 when he was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and raping a nurse at gunpoint in 1971 in Baton Rouge.

Jones was convicted of aggravated rape and sentenced to life in prison in a 1974 trial that rested entirely on the questionable identification of the victim, according to State District Judge Richard Anderson. He called the case against Jones weak, at best, and said authorities withheld evidence that could have exonerated him at the time. Anderson tossed out Jones 1974 conviction on October 31, ruling that the state withheld highly favorable evidence from the defense.

Jones, hugging his brother, Plem Jones, and other relatives outside the prison gates Wednesday, said, Freedom. After more than 45 years and 10 months. Thats going through my mind. He also thanked his legal team at the Innocence Project New Orleans (IPNO), who worked for 11 years to free him. Without them, this wouldnt be possible, he said.

Jones told reporters that doing all that time was very difficult, but that he holds no resentment. I forgave. Forgive, he said. I didnt have control of it. Why should I worry about it? Im in charge of myself.

IPNO attorney Emily Maw praised the extraordinary strength of a man who has spent over 16,000 days in prison for something he didnt do and would nevertheless come out with a faith in God and in humanity.

The widower of the nurse, who died in 2008, did not oppose Jones release. Jones lawyers wrote in a court filing that the late nurses husband feels that Mr. Jones has been in prison long enough and that he should be able to get out and spend his remaining years with his family.

Jones was picked out of a police line-up by the nurse more than three months after the rape. But she also told police that the man who raped her was taller and had a much rougher voice that Jones had. Jones lawyers say the nurses description matched a man who was arrested but never charged in the rape of another woman just 27 days after the nurses attack. The same man was also arrested on suspicion of raping another woman in 1973, but was only charged and convicted of armed robbery in that case.

Judge Anderson said that evidence shows that police knew of the similarities between that man and the nurses attacker, but, Nevertheless, the state failed to provide this information to the defense.

Prosecutors denied that state authorities withheld any relevant evidence about other Baton Rouge rapists. The state was not obligated to document for the defense every rape or abduction that occurred in Baton Rouge from 1971 to 1974, prosecutors wrote in February.

Jones attorneys also say that a prosecutor who secured their clients conviction had a track record of withholding evidence favorable to defendants. In a 1974 opinion, the Louisiana Supreme Court said the prosecutor was responsible for 11 reversed convictions over the preceding year an incredible statistic for a single prosecutor, the justices wrote.

Prosecutors said they would ask the Louisiana Supreme Court to review last months decision by Anderson, but that they do not intend to retry Jones. Attorney Maw told the Associated Press that it would be legally incorrect and morally problematic if the East Baton Rouge District Attorneys Office insists on trying to uphold the conviction.

Maw said such an attempt to fight Jones release would be saying that when Wilbert Jones was arrested in 1972 as a young, 19-year-old black man, he did not deserve the rights that people deserve today.

According to IPNO, since 1991, there have been 44 exonerations in Louisiana and at least nine in Mississippi. Since its founding, IPNO has freed or exonerated 30 wrongfully convicted prisoners from Louisiana and Mississippi.

In 19 of these 30 cases there was no DNA evidence linking the prisoner to the crime. Eleven of IPNOs clients, including Wilbert Jones, were teenagers when they were arrested. Profiles of these exonerees can be found here.

One hundred sixty death row inmates across the country have been exonerated since 1973, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. This includes 11 from Louisiana, behind only Florida (27), Illinois (20), and Texas (13).

For every person wrongly convicted, there are family members and friends who fight long legal battles for their release, many without the type of free legal counsel provided by various branches of the Innocence Project and other advocates of the wrongfully convicted.

Jones brother Plem says he may have missed only one or two bimonthly visits with his brother over his nearly 46 years behind bars. Wed sit and talk, and cried together, he told AP. I never gave up on it. I knew that he didnt do it, so, you know, it wasnt nothing but a matter of time. I knew that he was going to be freed one day. But I just didnt know when. I thought it was going to be long before now.
Asia

South Korea: Workers at public broadcaster MBC end strike

Two thousand workers at South Koreas public broadcaster MBC returned to work on Wednesday after a two-and-half-month strike which forced the dismissal of the companys president. Unionised workers, including production crew and journalists, walked out on September 3 over alleged management interference in news coverage and unfair labour practices. They refused to return to work until the broadcasters president resigned.

The strike was an escalation of earlier action by 400 MBC reporters, TV producers, camera journalists and announcers. They walked out in August following revelations of an MBC blacklist which categorised journalists into different groups based on their involvement in a 170-day strike in 2012, their relations with the labour union and loyalty to the company. Six journalists who were dismissed then as a consequence of the strike, however, are still awaiting a final court ruling on their reinstatement.

South Korean cosmetics factory workers on strike

Over 400 workers from LG Household & Healthcare products manufacturer in Seoul have been on strike since September 20 in a dispute over a pay rise. Factory and distribution outlet workers are maintaining a protest outside the companys office building in Seoul.

LG management offered a 5.25 percent pay raise, higher than the initially proposed 3.1 percent, but the union wants a 13.8 percent increase. The union claims that the company is only really offering a 1 percent rise, since 2.1 percent comes from an automatic yearly increase and 2.15 percent from post-settlement adjustments.

India: Rajasthan government doctors end seven-day strike

The All Rajasthan In-Service Doctors Association, representing doctors at government hospitals, ended a seven-day strike on November 12 after claiming the government had agreed to all 33 demands. Police began arresting striking doctors last week after the government enacted the Rajasthan Essential Services Maintenance Act and banned the strike.

The doctors main demands were for corrections to salary discrepancies, a 10,000-rupee grade salary benefit and payment of arrears, improvement in service conditions, guaranteed safety inside hospitals and a separate cadre and housing facility.

Andhra Pradesh hospital security guards on strike

Over 400 contract security guards from six government hospitals in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh began an indefinite strike on November 10 over unpaid wages. Visakhapatnam Security Guards Workers Union members said their employer Jai Balaji Security Services, had not paid wages to 433 workers for over five months.

Strikers rejected the security firms offer of one months pay if they returned to work. A union spokesman said the workers would remain on strike until all outstanding wages were paid.

Bangalore garment workers protest factory closure

More than 500 workers from the Shahi Exports garment factory in Bangalore ended a four-day demonstration at the factory gate on November 14, after management agreed to hold talks with the Garments and Textile Workers Union. Workers decided to picket the plant on November 10 after they discovered equipment being moved from the factory and were told that it was closing.

Police were called to protect the equipment and pressure workers to end the picket. Workers ended their industrial action after management gave an assurance that grievances, which included a 5,000-rupee pay rise, would be resolved within two days.

Udupi wind turbine factory workers locked out

Around 500 workers, including 326 permanent workers, have been locked out at the rotor blade manufacturing plant of wind turbine manufacturer Suzlon Energy in Udupi since Wednesday. Management pinned a notice to the front gate with a list of employees who would not be allowed to return to work when the lockout is lifted on November 29.

Workers are holding a 24-hour protest outside the Suzlon Special Economic Zone following a court order prohibiting any protest within one kilometre of the plant. Management claims the lockout was in response to ongoing industrial action by workers which had slowed production.

One hundred and thirty contract workers at the factory were dismissed earlier this month as punishment for protesting over low wages.

Bathinda rural health workers protest

Rural health workers of the All India Anganwadi Association demonstrated in Bathinda on Wednesday to protest Punjab government plans to privatise Anganwadi centres and shift pre-nursery classes to primary schools from November 14. Union leaders claim that 52,000 anganwadi workers and helpers jobs are at risk.

Protesters waved black flags and marched to the main bus stand in Bathinda. Their action followed several months of demonstrations throughout Punjab by anganwadi workers over the issues.

Pakistan: Punjab trainee nurses demand wages

Trainee nurses attending the Gojra Government Nursing School at the state-run THQ Hospital in Toba Tek Singh district demonstrated outside the facility on November 11 to demand immediate payment of 10 months unpaid wages. While hospital authorities have not paid monthly salaries, they are demanding that the nurses submit written documentation agreeing to pay for meals provided by the hostel mess.

Gujranwala municipal workers protest over unexplained sackings

Dozens of Gujranwala Municipal Corporation workers demonstrated outside the corporations office complex on November 10 to demand reinstatement of sacked employees. Members of the Ittehad union have accused municipal authorities of firing employees without providing any reason and have threatened to expand the protest if their demands are ignored.

Sri Lankan garment workers strike

Around 850 workers at a garment factory in Matale, Central province walked out on strike on Tuesday saying they would not resume duties until salary anomalies were corrected. Police were called to the factory when a clash erupted between human resources personnel and workers.

Cambodian garment workers end strike

About 500 striking garment workers from the You Li International factory in Svay Rieng provinces Bavet town ended a two-day strike on Monday after management agreed to consider their demands. The strike was in response to bullying and deteriorating working conditions after a new manager was installed several months ago.

The strikers have demanded the company stop discriminating against pregnant workers, end one-month contracts, pay wages on time and in full, and treat employees with respect. Management has been forcing employees who arrive late for work into a separate caged off area.

Australia and the Pacific

Victorian meat workers union suspends strike

The Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union, representing workers of Riverside Meats Echuca on the Victoria-New South Wales border, called off strike action on November 10 after 24 hours. Police were called to the plant on the first day of the walkout after workers picketed the main entrance and blocked the movement of all vehicles.

Workers are opposing company moves to abolish the tally system, an incentive scheme that pays workers more for increased output. According to the union, Riverside wants to shift its staff onto fixed hours and salaries. Negotiations are scheduled to resume next week.

New Zealand: Wellington rail workers strike

Over 400 rail workers in Wellington went on strike on Thursday after employment contract negotiations between the Rail Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) and private train operators Transdev and Hyundai Rotem broke down. Workers stopped for 24 hours from 2 a.m., halting all commuter services on the Johnsonville Hutt, Melling, Wairarapa, and Kapiti lines.

It was the first strike since 1994 to affect the Wellington rail network for longer than two hours, and the first since the new Labour-led government took office earlier this month. Transdev took over the operation of the Wellington commuter trains from the publicly owned KiwiRail in July last year and has a 15-year contract.

The strike comes after Transdev and Hyundai Rotem insisted on the removal of long-standing terms and conditions, including the reduction of penalty rates for weekend and night shifts, and imposed a requirement to work public holidays if requested.

During the 2016 contract-round, the RMTU promoted false company claims that there would be no reduction in pay and conditions by the private operator. The union is now running the nationalist line that the French multinational is attacking New Zealand workers conditions. In fact, the companies are carrying out what they were contracted to do by the Labour and Green Party-dominated Greater Wellington Regional Council. The RMTU donated heavily to both political parties election campaigns.

The RMTU has not lodged a claim for a specific pay increase, and has no perspective of fighting to improve conditions. It is using the first strike it has called in 24 years to try to bring the employers back to the negotiating table in order to arrange a deal.

Air France flight attendants in French Polynesia on strike

Air services in and out of Frances South Pacific territory French Polynesia have been restricted since November 11 when Air France flight attendants stationed in Tahiti began strike action. Several flights were cancelled leaving tourists stranded on the island. Air France has hired two Air Tahiti Nui aircraft to circumvent the strike.

The stoppage came after ongoing talks between the carrier and the UFSA-UNSA, the flight attendants union, on a collective agreement and changes to the distribution of wages broke down. The airline failed in its attempt to have the strike ruled illegal by the courts.

French Polynesian hospital doctors call off strike without resolution

Doctors at government hospitals in French Polynesia called off indefinite strike action on November 10 after four days following an agreement with the government. A union spokesman said that talks with the government, however, were not satisfactory and that organisational issues were unresolved.

The doctors main concern was the governments refusal to recognise and remunerate them according to work experience and seniority obtained outside French Polynesia. Although they were maintaining emergency services during the strike, the union claimed it called off the strike because of an untenable backlog of patients.
David North, chairman of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site, continued his series of lectures on the contemporary significance of the Russian Revolution Wednesday, November 15, in New York City.

The event, hosted by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality at New York University, attracted some 100 people. The high attendance follows successful meetings in California, Michigan and Illinois. The audience included workers from a variety of industries in the New York and New Jersey area as well as a number of professionals.

The audience was dominated, however, by students from colleges and universities and high schools in the New York City area, particularly NYU, Columbia University, the New School and LaGuardia Community College. The high turnout comes after a year-long campaign by the IYSSE for club status at NYU, which marked a milestone when the IYSSE won New Club in Development status at the university.

Marking the centenary year of the Russian Revolution, David North spoke on the international impact and historical origins of the revolution, followed by an examination of its growing relevance in the context of todays social and political crisis.

North recounted how historians and political figures treated the Russian Revolution in earlier periods. In the first third of the 20th Century, for example, he noted how liberals, including American philosopher John Dewey, acknowledged the Russian Revolution as an immense world-historic event representing an existential challenge to capitalism.

The revolution, North said, influenced practically every aspect of society after 1917, from world literature to the anti-imperialist movements in the colonial countries to the fight for industrial unions in the United States. North explained how Soviet economic advances, including a ten-fold increase in GDP from 1917 to 1985, demonstrated the potentials of economic planning, despite the bureaucratic degeneration of the Soviet Union.

But despite the undeniable impact of the Russian Revolution, in its centenary year it has been alternately downplayed, ignored and vilified in the bourgeois press. North cited commentaries in the New York Times and Washington Post, nominally liberal papers, which argued that Lenin should have been killed.

An animated questions-and-answers period followed the lecture in which questions were raised about the role of the Democratic Party, the conditions facing the working class and the difference between bourgeois and revolutionary journalism. In his answers, North stressed the need to bring a Marxist perspective to the working class and build a revolutionary party to provide a way forward.

After the lecture, attendees donated generously to the World Socialist Web Site and purchased literature from Mehring Books, including copies of Norths The Russian Revolution and the Unfinished Twentieth Century. Groups of students who had come to the meeting together engaged in animated discussions with members of the IYSSE.

Many attendees spoke to the WSWS about the lecture.

Miles Labat, a filmmaker, said: This was very important. There is no one constructing history with this perspective. This history shows the path to follow and the way to fight against social inequality. It also took on the lies about the revolution.

The lecture really spoke on the cultural decline in the analysis of art and social life. In my own work, I have read Sergei Eisenstein, and his level of thinking is much more progressive than what you see being written on now. There was an impulse of bringing people together and viewing art as part of human development.

Greg, a journalism major at the New School, raised the problem of historical falsification, a topic discussed at length during Norths lecture: Falsification makes historical research difficult. Studying history on a material basis is important, and this angle was really bolstered in the lecture, particularly at the end when [North] made the point that socialism must be present on a global level, not national.

Thelma, a film student at NYU, said she has been curious about the Russian Revolution for years. But from my readings and discussions with professors, it was hard to get a grasp on it. This lecture really clarified a lot for me. I wish I had come across the WSWS sooner.

When asked what it was that was clarified for her, she replayed: Theres an assumption out there that socialism is just a far-left Democrat idea. I always thought in the back of my mind that there was a difference. I didnt know that in fact it is the Democrats who are suppressing socialism. They even make a career out of it!

Thelma continued, addressing the international scale of the political and social crisis, I was in Berlin and a friend was telling me about the rise of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), and their growth. Its clear that there is a vacuum in politics for the far-right to fill on an international scale, which makes sense because capitalism operates on an international level.

Thelma concluded by saying she was interested in coming to future meetings and reading the WSWS. What attracts me to socialism is the scientific approach to history and action as opposed to being sentimental.

Fred, an economics student at NYU, was struck by the discussion of the US reactions to the centenary of the Russian Revolution. He commented: I didnt know there were this many New York Times articles on the memory of the Russian Revolution. Ive heard a lot about how biased the New York Times is. But I am surprised to find out there were articles ignoring and then articles that opposed the memory of the Russian Revolution.

The New York Times articles show less confidence when they say the memory of the Russian Revolution is no big deal or they oppose it. If they were confident, they wouldnt say these things.
The breakdown of the post-World War II two-party duopoly in the Australian political establishment reached a new level last week. The Liberal National Party (LNP) awarded its voting preferences in more than half the 93 electorates for the November 25 Queensland state election to the far-right One Nation party.

By assisting Senator Pauline Hansons xenophobic and anti-immigrant party, the LNP hopes to improve its chances of regaining office by forming a minority government with One Nations support. Under the preferential voting system, Hansons party could now win several seats with the aid of LNP preferences.

Fearing an electoral backlash, LNP leader Tim Nicholls has repeatedly ruled out forming a coalition government with One Nation. But he has refused to answer questions about whether the LNP would accept One Nations support in a de facto coalition.

The decision by the LNP, the state version of the federal Liberal-National Coalition, sets a clear national precedent. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, the federal Liberal Party leader, refused to overturn the decision, asserting it was purely a matter for the Queensland LNP.

The reality is that, across the country, popular hostility toward the traditional ruling parties, the Coalition and Labor, has reached such heights that both are increasingly unable to form majority governments. Decades of corporate-driven attacks on the jobs and living conditions of the working class by successive governments have created the political climate in which One Nation and other extreme right-wing populist formations can exploit the disaffection by posturing as anti-establishment parties.

The latest Queensland election opinion poll, conducted on November 13, revealed a further disintegration of support for the major parties. According to the ReachTEL poll, the LNPs first preference vote fell to 30.8 percent, with Labor on 30.4 percent. These are historic lows.

As a result of this collapse, One Nation is polling 16.4 percent and the Greens 8.1 percent, with other parties and independents pulling 14.3 percent between them. The other parties include Katters Australian Party, another right-wing nationalist and protectionist party established by former LNP cabinet minister Bob Katter.

State Labor Party Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has declared she would rather go into opposition than form government with One Nation. But she has made no criticism of One Nations jingoistic and anti-Islamic policies. Instead, she says a LNP-One Nation government would be divided and chaotic, and only Labor could provide stable government for business.

The truth is that Labor is just as likely as the LNP to bid for the support of One Nation and/or Katters party, whose two MPs helped prop up the minority Labor government during the past three years. In New Zealand last month, the Labour Party formed a coalition government with One Nations equivalent, the virulently anti-immigrant NZ First party.

During a media-sponsored leaders debate last Thursday, One Nations Queensland leader Steve Dickson said he was prepared to work with either the LNP or Labor to form the next government. One Nation is evidently looking to play a similar kingmaker role as NZ First, whose leader Winston Peters secured the posts of deputy prime minister and foreign minister in his coalition deal with Labour.

However, Dickson, another former LNP cabinet minister, who defected from the LNP in January, may not even hold his seat on the Sunshine Coast, just north of Brisbane, the state capital.

One Nations support is concentrated in working-class suburbs to the south and west of Brisbane, and in some rural areas, including mining towns, all of which have been shattered by unemployment and poverty. Like Donald Trump in the US, One Nation is seeking to channel the resulting discontent in reactionary nationalist and law and order directions.

One Nation has no solutions for the social crisis, which is the product of the capitalist profit system itself. Its policies, such as slashing welfare, are thoroughly pro-business. However, it cynically exploits the social misery by claiming to oppose the political elites.

A ReachTEL poll of intending One Nation voters reported that almost 40 percent were retired or unemployed, with about the same percentage living in households trying to make ends meet on less than $50,000 a year. Only 13 percent said they were motivated by One Nations policies, while 22.9 percent were determined to shake things up and 22.2 percent disliked the major parties.

Above all, Labors record in office in Queensland and nationally, always in close partnership with the trade unions, has politically opened the door for the re-emergence of One Nation. Hansons party first came to prominence in 1998, when it won 25 percent of the vote in a Queensland state election by exploiting the deep popular antagonism toward the Labor Party. From 1983 to 1996, under prime ministers Hawke and Keating, Labor and the unions restructured the economy in the interests of the financial elite at the expense of the jobs and conditions of the working class.

In Queensland, Labor premiers Peter Beattie and Anna Bligh mounted a similar assault from 1998 to 2012, which intensified after the 2008 global financial crisis and the subsequent implosion of the states mining boom. Multi-billion dollar privatisations destroyed thousands of jobs, with the trade unions again suppressing opposition.

Labors attacks allowed the LNP to regain office via a 2012 landslide. Reduced to a parliamentary rump, Labor only scraped back into government in 2015 on a negative basis. It benefitted from massive hostility toward that LNP government, in which the LNPs current leader Nichols was treasurer, after it sacked 14,000 public sector workers and decimated health, education and other essential services.

Over the past three years, Palaszczuks government has failed to restore most of those cuts, while trying desperately to deliver the requirements of the corporate elite, including by backing the proposed giant Adani coal mine.

Whichever collection of parties forms the next government, it will come under immediate pressure from investors and the financial markets to repudiate any promises of restoring public services. Much of the state has been blighted by the global slump in demand for coal and other mining commodities, underscoring the vulnerability of Australian capitalism to its reliance on mining exports and foreign investment inflows.

Annual construction spending in the resources sector peaked at $36.6 billion in Queensland in 201314, and has since dropped by 70 percent. Unemployment has doubled in the states northern, central and outback regions, and hovers around 20 percent in large working-class Brisbane suburbs.

This week, the Standard & Poors financial agency ruled out any restoration of the states AAA credit rating, which it lost in 2009. The November 17 editorial in Murdochs Australian accused both Labors Palaszczuk and the LNPs Nicholls of being cowardly for refusing to pledge to reduce the states public debt, which officially stands at $72 billion and is forecast to exceed $81 billion by 202021.

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Australia: Queensland Labor backflips on support for Adani mine

[8 November 2017]
The Sahel, which has been devastated by the 2011 NATO war in Libya and the resulting French war in Mali starting in 2013, is facing a new military escalation as France steps up its deployments in the strategic, resource-rich region in its former colonial empire.

The new regional force set up by Paris, the Sahel G5comprising Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chadcarried out its first operation, code-named Haw Bi (Black Cow) from October 27 to November 11 in the border region between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. The G5 force operated in coordination with French troops and the MINUSMA, the 12,000-strong UN peacekeeping force in Mali. It carried out patrols aimed at ethnic Tuareg or Islamist fighters hostile to Paris and the Malian central government in Bamako.

This operation has the character of a try-out, said the G5 forces commander, Malian General Didier Dacko. According to French army sources, the territorial control operation was carried out by 350 soldiers from Burkina Faso, 200 from Niger and 200 from Mali.

Since his election in May, French President Emmanuel Macron has pushed to intensify the war launched by his predecessor, Francois Hollande, in Frances former colonial empire, amid growing geostrategic tensions between Europe, the United States, and China. On July 2, Macron attended a summit of the G5 states in Bamako. The summit formally inaugurated the new force, which officially includes around 5,000 troops in total furnished by the countries of the alliance.

Macron confirmed that France will not leave Africa and or redeploy its 4,000 troops fighting in Operation Barkhane (the war in Mali), despite the launching of the G5 force. He said France would remain engaged in Mali as long as it takes to carry out a struggle against terrorism. He gave no indication of when, or even if, Paris might withdraw its forces.

I came to Bamako today and went to Gao last month to show you that France will remain engaged as long as it takes, Macron said in a speech before the French community in Bamako. Thanks to our engagement, we aim in the long term to accompany and support the national and regional forces, he added.

Paris faces a significant difficulty, in that it confronts a budgetary crisis. The G5 estimates that its operating costs will run to 423 million in the first year. Macron has announced material and logistical aid from France worth 8 million by the end of the year; the European Union (EU) has promised 50 million, and each G5 member country has committed to contributing 10 million. France is therefore forced to ask for financing from its imperialist allies, principally Germany and the United States.

In the final analysis, the imperialist capitals plan to put the costs of this neo-colonial escalation on the backs of the workerswhich Macron made clear by calling for multi-billion defense spending increases while eliminating the special tax on large fortunes. Austerity and slashing cuts to social spending aim to boost financing for wars like the G5 operation in Africa. At the same time, Macron is demanding that the G5 countries, which were already among the poorest in the world even before being devastated by the wars during this decade, to provide large quantities of cannon fodder.

The claim that these sacrifices in blood and treasures are necessary in a struggle against terrorism is a shameless political lie.

The crisis in the Sahel flows from the bloody war for regime change that NATO waged against Libya in 2011, relying directly on Islamist militias as its ground troops. After the fall of the Libyan regime, Tuareg forces that had fought inside the Libyan army returned to northern Mali and backed local Tuareg fighters, including the National Movement for Liberation of the Azawad (MNLA) against the Malian army. This provoked a major crisis in Bamako, where a coup toppled President Amadou Toumani Toure in March 2012.

Initially, Paris tried to remove the military junta of Captain Amadou Sanogo, which it forced to hand over power to an interim government. But finally Paris decided to back the Sanogo junta when it launched its own war in Mali in January 2013which it nonetheless presented as a war to protect democracy from Islamism.

Since 2013, the French war in Mali has aimed neither to fight terrorism nor to create democracy in Mali. Rather, amid increasingly sharp international rivalries, Paris is preparing major new wars in Africa to protect its imperialist interests, including its control of the regions vast uranium mines that fuel Frances nuclear plants.

These successive wars have devastated the G5 countries. According to the UN, 5 million people have fled their homes and 24 million people need humanitarian assistance in the region. Even Malian officials kept in power by French troops now feel compelled to confess that the war in Libya had horrific consequences for the region. Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop called the Libyan war a strategic error whose fall-out was not well handled.

As US troops also intervene in Niger and across the Sahel, there are growing differences between the imperialist powers and also with China, whose political influence in Africa is growing in line with its commercial weight. Washingtonwhich is opposed to French demands that African operations function under the aegis of the UN and is reticent to fund French operationshas expressed serious reservations over the G5 force.

Washington has refused to finance the G5 through the UN, particularly under conditions where the Trump administration is trying to slash US payments to the UN, and has announced that it will provide funding directly to the G5 member states. It reportedly plans to provide aid worth 51 million to the five countries and has declared that this money would not go to the UN.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley bluntly criticized the French plans. They cant show us a goal, they cant show us how theyre going to proceed, Haley told CNN. If they go back and they show us a strategy, and if its something that General [James] Mattis and General [Joseph] Dunford feel like is moving in the right direction, then yes. We will. But right now theyre not showing that, and so it doesnt make sense for us.

Amid these Franco-American tensions, the Chinese regime is providing support, on paper at least, to the new force set up by French imperialism. Chinese permanent vice-representative to the UN Wu Haitao declared that it would be necessary to support this alliance, while taking into account the leading role of the regional powers and the sovereignty of countries in the alliance. Beijing has also set up its own aid fund targeting the Sahel countries.
The heads of the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the World Food Program (WFP) released a joint statement Thursday demanding the immediate lifting of the Saudi blockade of Yemen, warning that it is putting millions of lives at risk in the poorest country in the Arab world.

On November 6, Saudi Arabia dramatically escalated its nearly three-year war against Yemen by implementing the total blockade of all seaports, airspace and land crossings into the country. The move came in supposed response to the firing of a single missile from Yemen which was shot down near Riyadhs international airport.

The blockade is a war crime being carried out in direct violation of Article 33 of the Geneva Conventions, adopted in the aftermath of World War II, which bars the collective punishment of civilians. According to a confidential brief obtained by the Intercept, UN experts believe that Saudi Arabia is deliberately blocking the delivery of aid without any legal justification.

Amid calls to lift the blockade, Saudis ambassador to the UN facetiously announced that ports and airports controlled by coalition backed forces would be reopened, meaning that an overwhelming majority of the country remains under blockade. Hodeida, the port through which 80 percent of humanitarian aid enters the country, is still controlled by the Houthis and therefore remains blocked from receiving shipments of any kind.

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake and WFP Executive Director David Beasley warned that untold thousands will die without access to crucial life-saving medicines, vaccines and food supplies. Even before the crushing blockade was put in place, Yemen was suffering from the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

The clock is ticking and stocks of medical, food and other humanitarian supplies are already running low, they warned. The cost of this blockade is being measured in the number of lives that are lost.

Their statement reviewed the catastrophe which has resulted from the daily war crimes being carried out by Saudi Arabia with the full backing of the US government. These crimes have been passed over in almost complete silence by the Western press.

Nearly the entire population of Yemen, 20 million out of 28 million people, are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance, 11 million of those in need are children, and nearly 15 million are without any access to basic health care.

Approximately 17 million people do not know where their next meal will come from, and 7 million are totally dependent on food aid to avoid starvation. Some 400,000 children are on the verge of death from starvation, suffering from acute malnutrition. Without treatment 150,000 malnourished children will die in the coming months.

The international aid organization Save the Children reported this week that 50,000 Yemeni children have already died from extreme hunger or disease this year, with more than 130 dying every single day.

The Saudi monarchy, leading a coalition of other Sunni Persian Gulf monarchies with the support of the United States, has been waging a brutal war against Yemen for nearly three years in an effort to push back Houthi rebels and allied forces who seized control of the capital city, Sanaa, in early 2015.

Saudi coalition fighter jets have carried out an unrelenting campaign of bombing, destroying hospitals, schools, marketplaces, factories, ports and residential neighborhoods as well as crucial electrical and water infrastructure. This campaign has been facilitated by refueling flights, targeting information and other logistical support provided by the United States military, first under Obama and now Trump.

So far, the Saudi onslaught has directly killed more than 12,000, over half of them civilians. Approximately 3 million have been displaced.

The destruction of Yemens infrastructure and the collapse of its health system has led to the worst cholera outbreak in modern history, with nearly 1 million suspected cases since late last year. More than 2,000 people have died from the waterborne disease, which is easily treatable with access to mediation and clean water.

While the number of newly reported cases of cholera has recently been waning, the Red Cross warned Friday that fuel shortages caused by the blockade have put nearly 1 million people in the cities of Hodeida, Saada and Taiz at risk of contracting the disease

An outbreak of diphtheria, a bacterial infection that is easily preventable with proper vaccination, has already claimed 14 lives. While the disease has been almost entirely eradicated worldwide, it now threatens the lives of 1 million children in Yemen as vaccine shipments have been blocked from entering the country.

The Saudi monarchy claims that the Houthis are being funded and armed by Iran, a charge with Tehran has repeatedly denied. Nonetheless, the war is seen by the Saudis and their backers in Washington as a crucial effort to block the emergence of Iran as challenge to Saudi and American dominance over the Arabian Peninsula and the wider Middle East.

Of particular importance to Washington is the fact that Yemen borders the Bab al Mandab strait, a geopolitical choke point through which much of the worlds oil shipments must flow.

On Monday, the US House of Representatives passed a nonbinding resolution 366-30 acknowledging the already well-known fact that the US is facilitating the war in Yemen without any congressional authorization. The House resolution will do nothing to ease the suffering of millions of Yemeni men, women and children.

Introduced by Democratic Representative Ro Khanna, the resolution grimly pledged support for Saudi efforts to improve their targeting capabilities and specifically condemned Iran. The resolution also reaffirmed the United States right to patrol the Bab el Mandab strait and wage war in Yemen under the threadbare guise of the war on terror against Al Qaeda and ISIS.

While a handful of Democratic representatives and senators, including Khanna and Senator Chris Murphy, have postured as critics of the Trump administrations support for the Saudi slaughter in Yemen, the Democrats have no fundamental opposition to the war, supporting every war initiated or expanded by former President Obama, including in Yemen.
Ben Affleck says again that he knew Harvey Weinstein was sleazy and kind of a bully, but not about the sexual harassment allegations that have hounded Weinstein out of the industry.

Appearing this morning on NBCs Today show, the Justice League actor told Savannah Guthrie, I knew (Weinstein) was sleazy and kind of a bully, but unfortunately that wasnt that uncommon. I was brand new to HollywoodI was 24 years old, I never made a movie and didnt know much of anything really.

To now look back on it and think gosh some other people were going through something really ugly and disturbing and difficult and terrible and terrifyingthe only thing I could think to do is to give my residuals from my Harvey movies to a couple of organizations that I think are making a difference and try to reconcile that.

Affleck also spoke, sort of, about actress and Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan, who tweeted that the actor was lying about Weinstein. (In an Oct. 10 tweet, McGowan wrote to Affleck, GODDAMNIT! I TOLD HIM TO STOP DOING THAT you said that to my face. The press conf I was made to go to after assault. You lie.)

Asked about McGowan this morning, Affleck said, I dont really want to get into other peoples individual stories because I feel like those are their stories and they are entitled to tell as much or as little of those as they want  I believe Rose, I support her, I really like and admire her tenacity and wish her the best.

Affleck also spoke generally about the ever-growing spate of harassment and abuse allegations in Hollywood. Noting that the problem was not limited to Hollywood, he said, It certainly feels like a really important moment. It feels like a time when survivors are finding their voice and people are, and I include myself in this, really discovering the terrible extent of this problem here in our country.

The actor has also had his own allegations to deal with: Former MTV host Hilarie Burton said he groped her while shooting a 2003 spot for the networks TRL, for which he apologized. That specific subject was not broached on Today, but Affleck did say there are plenty of things, plenty of jokes I wouldnt have made, or things I wouldnt have done.

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The interview also did not cover brother Casey Afflecks out-of-court settlements with two women who accused him of sexual misconduct in 2010.

Take a look at the interview above.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYaSRYN3Tt4&w=605&h=340]

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The biggest names in Hollywood have descended on New Orleans to celebrate the upcoming nuptials of Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian.

Eva Longoria was among the first to arrive at the rehearsal dinner held at celebrity chef Emeril Lagasses restaurant Meril Wednesday night. The former Desperate Housewives actress, 42, made an appearance with her media mogul husband, Jose Baston, at her side.

Next to arrive was Arrow and Teen Wolf actor Colton Haynes, who celebrated his own nuptials to new husband, Four Seasons artistic director Jeff Leatham, in late October.

Tony Award-winning actress Cynthia Erivo also attended wearing a white shawl over a black dress and sporting gray-tinted hair.

Colton Haynes

Top Chef star Lagasse was also spotted at the venue on Wednesday afternoon preparing for the feast.

Several of Williams and Ohanians friends attended, but there were no signs of rumored wedding guests such as Beyonce, JAY-Z, Kris Jenner and even Meghan Markle, who is currently dating Prince Harry.

Williams, 36, and Ohanian, 34, are set to tie the knot in an intimate ceremony in New Orleans.

Celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse

The couple are exchanging vows less than three months after the birth of their first child together, Alexis Ohanian Jr., on Sept. 1  almost two years after they began dating in 2015.

In early November, the 23-time Grand Slam champion gathered with her friends and family for an all-out girls weekend in New York City.

La La Anthony, Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Ciara

The ladies went to the opulent Baccarat Hotel & Residences, the first hotel from Frances eponymous crystal brand, the luxurious weekend included five-star spa treatments, trapezeing, tea brunches, and dancing out on the town.

Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams at the Met Gala in May.

The weekend concluded with pampering by the luxurious Spa de La Mer at the Baccarat Hotel and lounging poolside in the cabanas inspired by the Cote dAzur.

All guests wore white, with LaLa Anthony, Ciara, and the Williams sisters posing for a photo shared exclusively with PEOPLE.

Williams and Ohanian announced their engagement in December 2016. Rumblings of a wedding location started in October, when reports surfaced that the two had taken a brief trip to New Orleans to scope out potential venues (with their Yorkshire Terrier, Chip, in tow).

The nuptials also come shortly after Williams made her first red carpet appearance following baby Alexiss birth, at the Glamour Women of the Year awards in New York City on Nov. 13. The new mom wore Versace as she presented pal Gigi Hadid with the Supernova Award.
22 Donald Trump tweets that prove we are in the upside down

Lets be real: Theres nothing conventional about Donald Trumps presidency. In the year since he was elected, Trump has taken Americans on a roller coaster ride that few expected, but unlike your average thrill ride, this train shows no signs of slowing down. Few things are as bonkers as Trumps use of Twitter, which ranges from hilarious (remember the covefe typo tweet?!) to downright bizarre (like when he took to Twitter to say hed NEVER call North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un short and fat). These days, we can truly never predict just what will happen when Trump gets his fingers on a keyboard.

And while many of Trumps tweets are amusing purely by virtue of their sheer lunacy, we cant help but feel like were living in a completely upside down world these days. Like, how do we even get our heads wrapped around having a president who fires off so many off-the-cuff reactions to serious, real-world happenings on social media? How is this real life?

Of course, Trump was a force to be reckoned with on Twitter long before his days as the leader of the free world, but these Trump tweets in the months since he was elected president prove that were in for a terrifying ride until 2020. Buckle up.

These are the most unbelievable, over-the-top Trump tweets since he was elected to office we could round up.

1. There was the time he found creative (and sexist!) ways to attack MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.

I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came..  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017

...to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017

2. And the time he gave us this tweet version of Inception.

I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 16, 2017

3. He enjoys tweeting about how corrupt the FBI is, even calling the former FBI director an, ahem, leaker.

Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication...and WOW, Comey is a leaker!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2017

4. Hes really into the idea of a witch hunt, and actual witches everywhere are like, nahhh, we dont want him.

This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017

5. The time he kicked Kim Jong Un out of his group in the sandbox but didnt call him short and fat.

Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me "old," when I would NEVER call him "short and fat?" Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2017

6. OK, so this was from before he was elected, but were still not over how bigoted it is.

Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics! https://t.co/ufoTeQd8yA pic.twitter.com/k01Mc6CuDI  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 5, 2016

7. Hes like Batman except, you know, running a country.

For those few people knocking me for tweeting at three o'clock in the morning, at least you know I will be there, awake, to answer the call!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016

8. Not found. Terrible!

Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017

9. About that whole freedom of the press thing

10. BuellerBueller?

Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017

11. Poor Obama, Putin simply just isnt that into you.

Does the Fake News Media remember when Crooked Hillary Clinton, as Secretary of State, was begging Russia to be our friend with the misspelled reset button? Obama tried also, but he had zero chemistry with Putin.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2017

12. Sad.

Just tried watching Saturday Night Live - unwatchable! Totally biased, not funny and the Baldwin impersonation just can't get any worse. Sad  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2016

13. Happy New Year, even to you, you losers.

Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don't know what to do. Love!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2016

14. Hes dead! No really, he is!

Fidel Castro is dead!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2016

15. EVEN ON THANKSGIVING AFTER 6PM!

expensive mistake! THE UNITED STATES IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2016

16. Is this a threat or a promise?

If the press would cover me accurately & honorably, I would have far less reason to "tweet." Sadly, I don't know if that will ever happen!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2016

17. Uh, sure.

Bill Clinton stated that I called him after the election. Wrong, he called me (with a very nice congratulations). He "doesn't know much" ...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2016

18. Hes a regular old Christmas angel.

The world was gloomy before I won - there was no hope. Now the market is up nearly 10% and Christmas spending is over a trillion dollars!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 26, 2016

19. That Snoop Dogg and his failing career.

Can you imagine what the outcry would be if @SnoopDogg, failing career and all, had aimed and fired the gun at President Obama? Jail time!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 15, 2017

20. Easy D, doesnt come for free, shes a real lady.

Big increase in traffic into our country from certain areas, while our people are far more vulnerable, as we wait for what should be EASY D!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2017

21. Nordstrom is a Regina George in mid-priced luxury cashmere sweaters.

My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person -- always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2017

22. And presented without comment

SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017

Somehow, we have a feeling that the craziest Trump tweets are still yet to come. Stay tuned!
A pipeline leaked over 200,000 gallons of oil in South Dakota, and this is scary

Part of the Keystone pipeline was shut down Thursday morning after 210,000 gallons of oil leaked in South Dakota, the pipelines operator said.

TransCanada, which operates the pipeline, said it discovered a drop in pressure in the pipeline in Marshall County, South Dakota, and shut off the relevant piece of pipeline within 15 minutes around 6 a.m. on Thursday.

The company said it is working with state and federal regulators on the leak. In the meantime, sections of the pipeline from Hardisty in Alberta, Canada to Cushing, Oklahoma and to Wood River, Illinois will remain shut down. TransCanada said the leak consisted of 5,000 barrels of oil, or about 210,000 gallons.

The safety of the public and environment are our top priorities and we will continue to provide updates as they become available, TransCanada said in a statement.

The spill comes just days before officials in Nebraska will vote on whether to extend the pipeline through their state, according to NBC News. President Donald Trumps administration approved the project, known as the Keystone XL Pipeline, back in March, but the extension has been controversial, with many opponents arguing the pipeline would hurt local communities and cut across Native American lands.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission needs to take a close look at this spill, Rachel Rye Butler of Greenpeace said, according to NBC. She added that more pipeline would be a thumbs-up to likely spills in the future.
America First is finally here and it doesnt look much different to what came before. But trade is the area were seeing the most obvious unwind of American global leadership. Here, a look at the current state of five major trade deals in the era of Trumps America First.

The big Asia deal the U.S. walked away from

One of Trumps first acts as President was to withdraw the U.S. from the Transpacific Partnership (TPP), a deal which would have governed the trade rules and practices of 12 countries and 40 percent of global GDP.

The deal, negotiated by the preceding Bush and Obama administrations, was intended (in part) to rein in Beijings economic ambitions by offering Asian countries a U.S.-led trade framework in which to do business. Then came the 2016 U.S. presidential season. Trump made TPP a focal point of his campaign, arguing that multilateral trade deals place the U.S. at a distinct disadvantage. Democrat Bernie Sanders made the same case, pushing Hillary Clinton to (reluctantly) follow suit.

At last weeks APEC summit, the remaining 11 members agreed to move forward on what theyre calling TPP-11. It will be smaller in scale (just 15 percent of the world economy will now fall under its purview), but the U.S. could one day rejoin if it wants. Thats unlikely under Trump, but its possible under his successor.

Of course, the U.S. would be signing on to a worse deal than the one it helped craft, and thats the pointbeing in the drivers seat of mammoth multilateral trade deals means setting the agenda and terms, a level of nuance missing from Trumps America First rhetoric.

The big Asia deal driven by China

The U.S. retreat from TPP has given China an opening. China is a driving force behind a 16-country trade deal called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), under negotiation since 2012, which focuses primarily on countries in Asia and Oceania. Six of those countriesJapan, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnamare also part of TPP. All told, RCEP would set the terms of trade for 3.5 billion people and 24 percent of the global economy.

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But RCEP seems tailor-made for China. It isnt a high-standard agreement, mostly ignoring issues like state-owned enterprise and data flowsall problematic areas for Chinas state-capitalist modelthat made TPP a trade agreement for the 21st century.

Chinas support for RCEP fits well with its One Belt One Road (OBOR) strategy that aims to extend Chinas reach across Asia to the Middle East, Europe, and beyond. While OBOR is focused on the physical infrastructure (think trains, ports, pipelines and highways) needed to transport goods and services, RCEP is the trade framework that will govern much of the transport of those goods and services.

Technically, America First hasnt altered much on the RCEP front. But it has signaled to any countries searching for links to a strong and stable economic superpower that China is the more predictable bet.

The Canada-E.U. deal on the verge of success

Countries in Asia arent the only ones with options. On September 21, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) struck between Canada and the E.U. provisionally entered into force, though its full implementation still requires ratification from parliaments of individual E.U. countries.

The deal, which took seven difficult years to negotiate, was crafted to eliminate 98 percent of tariffs between the two parties, inching up to 99 percent over the next seven years. Just as notable is the fact that the deal now allows Canadian firms to bid on European government projects, and vice versaa testament to the strength of the deal and the aspirations behind it.

The Clinton-era deal Trump wants to renegotiate

CETA stands in sharp contrast to the other trade deal that Canada is busy with  the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. Since the deal came into force in 1994, the U.S. has more than tripled its trade with Canada and Mexico; more than 400,000 auto manufacturing jobs have made their way into Mexico, and U.S. and Mexican investments flowing into Canada have more than tripled. As far as free trade stories go, this is one of the better ones. But then NAFTA got caught up in the 2016 campaign season and the rhetorical war Trump was waging on Mexico. NAFTA renegotiations began this past August and are now entering their fifth round.

Press reports suggest the talks are not going well. Negotiating trade deals is a difficult, years-long process under the best of circumstances. And, to no ones surprise, this is not the best of circumstances. Just 22 percent of Canadians and 5 percent of Mexicans think Trump will do the right thing regarding world affairs. The looming U.S. midterm elections (November 2018), Canadian municipal elections (October/November 2018) and Mexicos presidential election (July 2018) dont help. All good trade deals require compromise; that becomes much tougher in politically-charged election-year environments.

The bilateral deal between the U.S. and South Korea (that Trump wants to renegotiate)

Whats the alternative to multilateral deals under America First? According to Trump, the answer is more bilateral agreements. The U.S. currently has 12 of those, but the one getting the most press in recent months is KORUS, the free trade agreement between the U.S. and South Korea. Back in April, Trump was calling KORUS a horrible deal thats destroyed the U.S.

That may sound like a head-scratching assessment, but it makes sense for someone with a zero-sum view of trade relations. If South Korea likes the deal enough to sign it, the thinking goes, it must have been a bad deal for the U.S. Trumps threat to unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from KORUS was enough to push the South Koreans to the table to renegotiate aspects of the deal, and will likely result in a win for Trump.

But its important to note that when the most recent trouble began to intensify with North Korea, Trumps vocal criticism of KORUS largely fell by the wayside. Bilaterals, by their very nature, are potentially subject to change whenever a new leader enters office or a geopolitical crisis erupts. That suits Trump finehe cares only about the immediate perception of his presidency. But for those playing the long game, like China, multilaterals are the way to go. It was a game the U.S. played not so long ago, too.
Madrid (AFP) - Around 600 African migrants were rescued off the coast of Spain in 24 hours, a sea rescue patrol said Saturday.

The Guardia Civil and Salvamento Maritimo rescue service added that operations to recover further migrants were still under way.

Spain is the third busiest gateway for migrants arriving in Europe, but far behind Italy and Greece. However, the number of people arriving by sea in Spain has nearly tripled over the last year to 17,687.

Many Africans undertaking the long route to Europe are choosing to avoid crossing danger-ridden Libya to get to Italy along the so-called central Mediterranean route, and choosing instead to get there via Morocco and Spain.

On Saturday, most of the migrants arrived in the south-eastern region of Murcia, where 431 people aboard 41 makeshift boats were discovered.

Patrols found more than 110 people in the Alboran Sea, between Morocco and Spain's Andalusian coast.

Operations were also conducted in the Strait of Gibraltar, recovering 48 people on four makeshift boats.

The rescues were carried out by the Navy, the Guardia Civil police and Salvamento Maritimo.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) close to 160,000 people have made the dangerous crossing to Europe this year and almost 3,000 more died or went missing while trying.
PHOENIX -- The state's high court on Friday upheld the legality of an assessment on hospitals that helps pay for health care for 400,000 Arizonans.

In a unanimous decision, the justices rejected the contention by the lawyer for some Republican lawmakers that the levy, approved by the Legislature in 2013, was illegally enacted.

Attorney Christina Sandefur of the Goldwater Institute argued that it really was a tax, making it subject to a 1992 voter-approved constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate. The levy passed with a simple majority.

But Chief Justice Scott Bales, writing for the court, said the assessment does not fit within the legal definition of what is a "tax'' subject to the supermajority requirement.

He also said the constitutional provision does not apply in cases of assessments approved not by lawmakers but instead by a state agency. That, Bales said, is the case with the $290 million being raised here, with the levy being imposed on hospitals by Tom Betlach, director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state's Medicaid program.

And the justices also rejected Sandefur's arguments that even if the assessment is imposed by Betlach, the authorization for him to do that should have been approved by a two-thirds vote in the first place. The justices said that's not the way the constitution is worded.

Sandefur blasted the ruling, calling it "a major blow to taxpayer rights.''

"Essentially what this court has done is created a very dangerous loophole,'' she told Capitol Media Services.

"It allows legislators to call taxes 'assessments' and give away the taxing power to an unelected and unaccountable administrator,'' Sandefur said. "We believe this is exactly the opposite of what the voters intended.''

She said voters who want to plug that loophole will need to go back to the ballot with a new amendment.

House Speaker J.D. Mesnard, who opposed the Medicaid expansion and was one of the lawmakers who sued to overturn the levy, said he does not think voters wanted the exception to the supermajority requirement that the high court says exists.

"It is clear Arizonans support requiring a two-thirds vote of the Legislature when taking more of their money,'' he said. And Mesnard said that's particularly true in cases like this involving hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

But Mesnard said it he's not sure at this point if it will take yet another constitutional amendment to cure the problem -- if lawmakers can restrain themselves.

"It will be incumbent on the Legislature moving forward to resist the temptation to use the court's opinion in this case to circumvent the taxpayer protections intended,'' he said. "We must not abuse the flexibility they have given us.''

Friday's ruling is more than an assurance that government-paid healthcare will continue for the nearly 400,000 Arizonans who were added to the state's Medicaid rolls because of the assessment. It also is a significant victory for former Gov. Jan Brewer who came up with the plan to expand the state's Medicaid program.

"Medicaid restoration honored the will of the voters, saved lives, prevented rural hospitals from closing and preserved the Arizona economy,'' the former governor said in a statement.

But the ruling is more mixed for current Gov. Doug Ducey.

On one hand, Ducey's administration defended the legality of the assessment in court.

But Ducey, who was state treasurer at the time of the 2013 vote, never wanted the expansion of Medicaid, actively opposing the legislation. In fact, he charged that Scott Smith, his foes in the 2014 Republican gubernatorial primary, was too liberal on Medicaid expansion.

That ambivalence was reflected in Ducey's own statement.

"The court has spoken, and I respect its ruling,'' the governor said. "The state of Arizona will continue to follow the law passed by the Legislature in 2013.''

It was Brewer who decided in 2013 to take advantage of a provision of the Affordable Care Act to expand Medicaid coverage.

That law provided for the federal government to pick up most of the costs for expanding health coverage to those earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, currently about $28,180 for a family of three. Before expansion, AHCCCS covered only those below the poverty line, or $20,420 at current levels for the same-size family.

But to qualify for those federal dollars, the state had to first restore coverage for childless adults. Enrollment for them had been frozen years earlier in a budget-savings maneuver.

To cover that cost and other state expenses, Brewer proposed giving Betlach authority to impose a charge on hospitals.

Hospitals did not object because Betlach crafted the levy so that every hospital chain actually would make money from the deal: More patients with government-provided insurance coverage means fewer bills written off as bad debt because of a person's inability to pay.

The plan was adopted by a simple majority of the House and Senate, with the Republican governor cobbling together a coalition of Democrats and some members of her own party to vote for it.

But the Republican lawmakers who voted against expansion sued, contending the levy was illegally enacted. And enough of them opposed the assessment to block it if actually required a two-thirds vote.

Sandefur told the justice at arguments last month that 1992 constitutional amendment requires a supermajority for anything that increases state revenues. But the high court did not see it that way.

Bales said the mandate first applies to "the imposition of any new tax.''

He conceded that word is not defined. But Bales said he and his colleagues said they do not believe it applies in this case.

"The assessment is imposed only on hospitals, which cannot pass on the costs to patients or third-party payors,'' Bales wrote. And he noted Betlach even was given the power to exempt certain hospitals who might not benefit because they take few Medicaid patients, like the Mayo Clinic.

And Bales said while the levy does serve a broad public purpose -- more people with health insurance -- it was designed to provide financial relief to hospitals, the very group paying it.

The justices also dismissed Sandefur's contention that it takes a two-thirds vote for the Legislature to authorize a state agency to impose a fee in the first place. They said that's not the way the 1992 amendment is worded.

That leads back to Sandefur's belief that another amendment may be necessary.

"It's important to go back to the voters and make sure that their voice, which they made loud and clear over 25 years ago, is actually heard,'' she said. "It's a shame that the voters would have to do that and would have to clarify to the court that when they said that a two-thirds supermajority should be required for any revenue-raising measures, that they meant it.''
Eight of Sen. Al Frankens former female employees defended him on Friday in the wake of accusations that the Senator forcibly kissed and groped KABC radio host Leeann Tweeden in 2006.

In our time working for the senator he treated us with the utmost respect, the women said in the statement, according to the Washington Post. He valued our work and our opinions and was a champion for women both in the legislation he supported and in promoting women to leadership roles in our office.

The eight staffers range from communication personnel to policy aides who worked with him after he was elected to the Senate..

The response comes after Leann Tweeden accused Franken of inappropriately kissing and groping her while running through one of his scripts during the USO Tour, where he was a host, back in 2006.

Franken issued an apology to Tweeden after she published her allegations on Thursday, saying he was remorseful and asking that officials to conduct an ethics investigation. Tweeden later said she accepted Frankens apology, and that she hoped her coming forward would help others feel inspired to do the same.
Animal rights and welfare groups say a proposition to speed up chicken processing lines will make slaughterhouses even worse for chickens.

Animal welfare advocates are joiningworker rights and food safety groupsin opposition to a poultry industry proposal to speed up portions of processing lines at chicken plants.

The National Chicken Council, an industry trade group,requested in September that the U.S. Department of Agriculture scrap limits on the speed of evisceration lines, where bird organs are removed. The waiver would apply to poultry plants that take part in a new inspection program meant to cut down on food safety risks and also demonstrate they can maintain control at their chosen speed. Right now, most processing line speeds are capped at 140 birds per minute.

The ASPCAlaunched a campaignagainst the proposal and joined other animal advocacy groupsin a letter to the USDAopposing the plan.

Even at current speeds, hundreds of thousands of chickens are boiled alive every year because the workers cant keep up with the machinery to properly stun or euthanize them, Deborah Press, director of regulatory affairs and government relations for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, told HuffPost in an email.

Opponents say speeding up the lines will force already-frenzied workers to rush even more, making it harder to handle the birds with care.

Rough or careless handling can mean more pain for the birds. It can also mean chickens dont get shackled properly, which may lead to them being inadequately stunned  therefore still conscious  when their throats are slit. Even worse, improper shackling can mean the birds throats dont get properly cut at all, meaningthey die by drowningin the hot water-filled scalding tank meant to remove feathers.

Tom Super, spokesman for the National Chicken Council, said activists concerns are misplaced. A pilot program allowing 20 poultry plants to operate at faster line speeds for 20 years shows they have been on par or better in worker safety, food safety and animal welfare, he told HuffPost. He emphasized that speeding up the evisceration lines would have no impact on the speeds of the shackling or slaughter parts of the process.

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These criticisms represent a gross misunderstanding of how a poultry plant operates, Super said.

But theres someone with a very good understanding of how a poultry plant operates who disagrees with Super. Stan Painter is a consumer safety inspector for the USDA who has worked in the meat processing industry in some capacity since the 1980s. Hes alsoa leader in a unionthat represents meat inspectors.

What theyre saying is not common sense, said Painter, noting that he spoke only for himself, not the USDA. If a plant speeds up evisceration lines in order to increase production, the shackling and slaughter processes would also have to go faster in order to supply more birds, he said.

Critics of an earlier proposal to speed up evisceration lines made the same argument back in 2013,The Washington Post reported at the time.

Anyone who says otherwise, Painter told HuffPost, is either blowing smoke or he doesnt know what hes talking about.

The well-being of chickens is not the only concern for opponents of the industry proposal. Poultry workers hold some of the countrys most dangerous jobs, United Food and Commercial Workersunion President Marc Perrone told HuffPost last month.Increasing work speeds, he said, could exacerbate workplace injuries like carpal tunnel.

The USDA isaccepting public commenton the proposal until Dec. 13.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
The Argentine military submarine ARA San Juan and crew are seen leaving the port of Buenos Aires, Argentina June 2, 2014 - REUTERS

Argentinas navy was hunting on Friday for one of its submarines which has been reported missing off the countrys south coast with a crew of 44 on board.

The navy said it had not had contact with the submarine, the San Juan, for 48 hours.

"We have not been able to find, or have visual or radar communication with the submarine," navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told a news conference.

The TR-1700 class diesel electric submarine had been returning from a routine mission to Ushuaia near the southernmost tip of South America, to its base at Mar del Plata, around 400 kilometers (240 miles) south of Buenos Aires.

The San Juans last contact with the navy command was on Wednesday morning, Balbi said.

Argentina said it launched an air and sea search on Thursday, involving a destroyer and two corvettes.

An initial search in an area around the subs last known position, some 430 kilometers off the southeastern Valdez peninsula, provided no clues.

Picture released by Telam on November 17, 2017 showing the ARA San Juan submarine in Buenos Aires

Balbi said the search was hampered "because it was carried out at night and in bad meteorological conditions prevailing in the area of operations."

The navy denied a press report that there may have been a fire onboard.

Balbi appealed for caution. "I dont want to dramatise the issue. Were lacking communication and dont know what happened," he said.

"There may be a battery issue, a problem of power supply," the spokesman said, adding that navy protocol was that the submarine would surface if any power problems were detected.

The San Juan sailed 10 days ago from Mar del Plata to Ushuaia. It spent three days there before heading off on the return voyage, Balbi said.

Among those on board is Argentinas first female submarine officer, weapons officer Eliana Krawczyk, 35.

"Let us pray that nothing has happened to any crewmember. At sea they are all brothers, and a submarine carries more risk than a ship," her father Eduardo told Todo Noticias TV.

The San Juan is one of three submarines in the Argentine fleet.

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Sixty-five meters (213 feet) long and seven meters wide, it was built by Germanys Thyssen Nordseewerke and launched in 1983.

It underwent a re-fit between 2007 and 2014 to extend its usefulness by some 30 years.
A host of foreign ministers from Asia and Europe descend on Bangladesh Saturday for talks on the Rohingya refugee crisis that has left the impoverished nation reeling.

An estimated 618,000 Muslim Rohingya have fled mainly Buddhist Myanmar since a military crackdown was launched in Rakhine in August, which the United Nations and watchdogs have said amounts to ethnic cleansing.

The talks will discuss international support for Bangladesh, according to an EU statement.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister A. H. Mahmood Ali will take his counterparts from Germany, Sweden and Japan, together with the European Union's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini, to the border town of Cox's Bazar Sunday to see the camps.

Refugees are penned inside vast, squalid camps, and UNICEF estimates that 25,000 children are suffering from severe malnutrition that could easily become a major killer.

Dhaka has prohibited the Rohingya from leaving the camps, fearing an influx in its bigger cities.

"It is hoped that the visit will garner further international support for the Rohingya community," said a Bangladesh foreign ministry statement.

The ministers will also meet Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi is also arriving in Dhaka Saturday, although it is not clear whether he will travel to Cox's Bazar.

China is a key ally of Myanmar, which has faced intense international pressure over the Rohingya violence.

Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed in principle to begin repatriation of the Rohingya but are still tussling over the details.

Asian and European foreign ministers are due to meet in Myanmar on Monday and Tuesday.
Donald Trump tells 'crooked' Hillary Clinton to 'get on with your life': Getty

Donald Trump has challenged the "worst and biggest loser of all time" Hillary Clinton to run against him again in the 2020 US presidential election.

Taking to Twitter, the President said: She just cant stop, which is so good for the Republican Party. Hillary, get on with your life and give it another try in three years!

His comments come after Ms Clinton, who won the popular vote in the 2016 election, questioned the legitimacy of the billionaires win.

During an interview with US news website Mother Jones, the Democrat said Russian interference was one of the major contributors to the outcome of the election.

She also claimed that Republican measures such as laws requiring voters to have ID cards contributed to the outcome as they were an effort to make it harder for Democrat supporters to cast their ballot.

According to a study by the University of Wisconsin, African American voters, who overwhelmingly supported Ms Clinton, were three times less likely as whites to vote due to the law.

Asked if she still supported her claim last year during a presidential debate that if elected Mr Trump would be Russian president Vladimir Putins puppet, the 70-year-old said she did.

I dont know how the president of the United States, with all of the concerns about the integrity of our elections, could meet with Putin just recently and basically say, Well, you know, he told me again he didnt do it, she said.

I cant believe that hes so naive. I think that he hopes or expects the rest of us to be naive, or at least the people who support him to be naive. But this is a serious cyberattack on America.
Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Egypt opened its largely sealed border with Gaza on Saturday after a reconciliation agreement with Hamas gave the Palestinian Authority control over the crossing for the first time since 2007.

A Palestinian official at the Rafah crossing said it had opened at 0700 GMT and was expected to stay open for three days.

"Egypt will open the crossing for humanitarian cases registered with the interior ministry," the official said, adding that civilian and security personnel on the Palestinian side were all employees of the reconciliation government headed by prime minister Rami Hamdallah.

Up to 20,000 people from Gaza have applied to enter Egypt.

Ten buses had crossed over in the first four hours.

Iyad Abu al-Kheer, 46, who was travelling to Romania through Egypt, said that Gazans were "suffering from a blockade for 11 years."

"All our (medical) treatments and such things have to go through this crossing," he said.

Kheer expressed hope the border crossing would remain open for good.

"Things are going well and everyone can travel and start their business and their lives," he said.

Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip had been totally sealed since August, and was largely closed for years before that.

So far this year the border has been open on 14 days, according to the Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza.

Under the terms of a Palestinian reconciliation agreement reached last month, Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas are supposed to cede civil power to the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority by December 1.

As a first step, they handed over control of its border crossings on November 1.

The Egypt-brokered deal is expected to lead to more regular opening of the Rafah crossing.

Mufeed al Husayneh, Gaza minister of public works and housing, said the Saturday opening was "the first work of the government of national reconciliation taking over its functions at the Rafah crossing."

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"The unity government is ready to carry its responsibilities and roles," he said.

The head of the Palestinian Authority's security services Majid Faraj held talks with senior Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza on Friday.

All Palestinian factions are due to meet in Cairo next week to discuss ways to move the reconciliation deal forward.

Both Israel and Egypt have maintained blockades of Gaza for years, arguing that they are necessary to isolate Hamas.
WASHINGTON  Two days after suddenly halting his own administrations decision to begin allowing hunters to import elephants killed in two African countries, President Donald Trump called such trophy hunting a horror show and said hes unlikely to change his mind and allow such imports.

Big-game trophy decision will be announced next week but will be very hard pressed to change my mind that this horror show in any way helps conservation of Elephants or any other animal, he posted to Twitter Sunday evening.

Big-game trophy decision will be announced next week but will be very hard pressed to change my mind that this horror show in any way helps conservation of Elephants or any other animal.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2017

In the face of widespread public backlash, Tump announced late Friday that he has suspended  at least for now  his administrations decision to reverse an Obama-era ban on the importation of elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts, he posted to Twitter. He adding that the issue has been under study for years but that he would provide an update after additional review.

Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts. Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2017

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement on Twitter that he and Trump believe that conservation & healthy herds are critical.

As HuffPost reported Wednesday, the administration opted to lift the 2014 ban after determining that sport hunting of elephants in those African countries would enhance the survival of the species in the wild, a spokesperson for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said. It also recently rolled back protections for African lions, releasing new guidelines that allow big game hunters to bring back to the U.S. animal trophies from hunts in parts of Africa.

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The decision regarding elephants was made public not by the federal agency but via a celebratory news release early Tuesday from Safari Club International, a trophy hunting advocacy group that, along with the National Rifle Association, sued to block the 2014 ban. Greg Sheehan, principal deputy director of the FWS, broke the news to the hunting organization during the African Wildlife Consultative Forum in Tanzania, an agency spokesperson told HuffPost. The forum, which ended Friday, was hosted by the Safari Club International Foundation and the United Republic of Tanzania.

The Safari Clubs political action committees donated a collective $24,500 to Trumps presidential campaign and Zinkes 2014 and 2016 congressional campaigns, according to Federal Election Commission data. Zinke is a former Montana congressman and Navy SEAL.

 @SafariClubIntlthe hunting group that in 2014 sued to block Obama-era ban on importing  and this week announced/cheered Trump admin's reversal (now on hold)donated big to both @realDonaldTrump & @RyanZinke. Totals from Safari PACs:

To Trump: $11,000

To Zinke: $13,500 pic.twitter.com/loLw9w52NE  Chris D'Angelo (@c_m_dangelo) November 18, 2017

(Photo: Barcroft via Getty Images)

Conservation groups celebrated Trumps sudden change in course Friday, which was believed to be a response to public pressure.

Its great that public outrage has forced Trump to reconsider this despicable decision, but it takes more than a tweet to stop trophy hunters from slaughtering elephants and lions, Tanya Sanerib, senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. We need immediate federal action to reverse these policies and protect these amazing animals.

In a post to Twitter, Wayne Pacelle, the CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, said he was grateful that Trump would reconsider. This is the kind of trade we dont need.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

Grateful to @POTUS @RealDonaldTrump for reassessing elephant and lion trophy hunting imports. This is the kind of trade we don't need.  Wayne Pacelle (@waynepacelle) November 18, 2017

The elephant trophy decision drew national headlines and a fierce response from celebrities and others across social media. Talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres launched a campaign called #BeKindToElephants. By lifting the ban, she said, Trump was encouraging Americans to kill elephants.

A day after Trumps suspension, the Safari Club sent out a call to arms, encouraging hunters to contact Trump and Zinke and tell them how much you appreciate the efforts of the Fish & Wildlife Service to remove barriers to sustainable use conservation for African wildlife. And they blasted hysterical anti-hunters and news media outlets.

The news from Africa could not have been better for hunters or for anyone who loves or defends hunting culture, the group wrote.

The Safari Club responded to yesterday's news that Trump has halted  at least for now  @USFWS's decision to reverse the import ban by sending out a "call to arms" and attacking "hysterical anti-hunters and news media outlets"https://t.co/yBLGXyDQ7C pic.twitter.com/n0vXbpYRIR  Chris D'Angelo (@c_m_dangelo) November 18, 2017

African elephants have been listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act since 1978. A provision of the law, however, allows for sport-hunted trophies to be imported if the government determines that hunting will help safeguard the population.

The FWS concluded that Zimbabwe has made strides to improve elephant management and anti-poaching efforts, according to a notice published Friday in the Federal Register.

Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was among the many people who called on Trump to abandon his trophy hunting decision. In a Friday statement, Royce pointed to the unrest in Zimbabwe  where a military coup is thought to be unfolding  and said he has no confidence that the regime is properly managing conservation programs.

Elephants and other big game in Africa are blood currency for terrorist organizations, and they are being killed at an alarming rate, Royce said. Stopping poaching isnt just about saving the worlds most majestic animals for the future  its about our national security.

Hours before Trumps review announcement, the FWS defended its decision as part of a robust United States conservation strategy that seeks to eliminate poaching and associated wildlife trafficking.

This post has been updated with the Safari Clubs response and with Trumps tweet that calls trophy hunting a horror show.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
The new Museum of the Bible three blocks from the Capitol has a political ambition. The Bible, says the museums chairman and the president of Hobby Lobby, Steve Green, needs to have a prominent voice in Washington.

We think Congress ought to know the foundation of the nation that they are running today, Green told TIME in an interview Tuesday afternoon.

We would hope the White House, whether it is the current president, former presidents, future presidents, we would invite all people to come and know about this book, he said.

Green said that the museum hopes to engage all people with the Bible, and that Washington was chosen because of its volume of tourists and concentration of museums. The museums leadership has repeatedly stated that the project is nonsectarian and does not espouse a faith perspective. The evangelical Green family has largely funded the $500 million museum, and its board is comprised of mostly white evangelical men. It opens to the public on Nov. 18.

While we say it is for all people, that includes our legislators, Green said. Many of the principles our nation was built on came from the Bible and we think that it is important for them to know that.

Read More: Hobby Lobby Head Says Roy Moore Should Step Aside If True

Asked what it was specifically that he wanted legislators to learn, Green said, Our religious freedoms, and many of the principles our nation was built on, came from the Bible.

The idea that all men are created equal, as an example, has two biblical concepts right there; the idea that we are created is a Biblical concept, the idea that we are created equal, our founders got that from the Bible, he said.

Asked what he hoped the White House would learn, Green said, Hopefully the teachings of this book  which are to treat others as you would want to be treated, dealing with honesty, integrity, to love God and to love others as you would love yourself, these kinds of lessons that the Bible teaches  we would hope would be embraced by all people.

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The museum has invited President Trump to come visit.

We heard that there was an interest from the family to come and view it, so we sent an invitation, Green says. I dont know how well he is versed on the Bible and how much he has used it, but I think that obviously if it was of an influence, it would be good.

Green says the museum has also discussed having an event for all living presidents to take a tour.

The museum held its opening gala at the Trump International Hotel in Washington on Thursday night. Trumps son Eric and his wife Lara promoted the event on Twitter.

During the 2016 election, David Green, Steves father and Hobby Lobbys founder and CEO, supported Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in the primaries and later said he only supported Trump because there was not a better option. Steve Green said on Tuesday that his support for Trump is mixed. There are things that I have supported that he has done, and theres things that I dont agree with that he has done, Green said.

Green said he likes that Trump has been stronger for religious freedom. He declined to say what Trump has done that he does not like, saying that he doesnt follow politics enough.

Hobby Lobby successfully sued the Obama Administration over the Affordable Care Acts contraception mandate in 2014.

The Bible has always been part of nearly every political debate in America. During the Civil War, some Christians cited it to support slavery, while others cited it to support abolition. Today, some Christians cite scripture to condemn gay marriage, while others use it to support it.

Roy Moore, the former Alabama state judge running for U.S. Senate who has been accused of sexual misconduct against teenage women, has made the Bible central to his political platform. Green told TIME that Moore should step aside only if the allegations against him are true. We are all imperfect, which is what the Bible teaches us, Green said. So we all have flaws, but there are ways we address those flaws.

Green has long argued he wants the visitor to decide if the museum is fair and does not push a particular perspective on the text, theologically or politically. But he also acknowledged that not all roles that the Bible could play in politics have a moral equivalence. The Bible has always been used inappropriately, and in some cases appropriately, Green said. There have been men that have used this book for their own selfish ill intent. I would argue that we shouldnt blame the Bible for mans misuse of it.

Our nation is built on a worldview, he said. Our founders built that on concepts they found in the Bible, and it has worked out real well.
Paris (AFP) - France under President Emmanuel Macron has played a leading role in trying to avert a fresh crisis in Lebanon following the surprise resignation of its prime minister Saad Hariri.

Hariri arrived in Paris on Saturday on Macron's invitation, after the premier once again dismissed rumours that he had been held against his will in Saudi Arabia since announcing his resignation there on November 4.

As Macron holds talks with Hariri, AFP explains France's role in working to defuse the situation.

- Why is France involved?

Links between France and multi-faith Lebanon go back at least to the 16th century, when King Francis I signed an agreement with the Ottoman Empire giving the French royals the status of protectors of Christians in the Middle East.

With the fall of the Ottomans in 1920, Lebanon emerged as a contemporary state but it was administered by France under a League of Nations mandate until 1943, when it gained independence.

Since then, France has maintained close ties with the unstable country.

- Is this just about history? -

No. Macron, a 39-year-old former investment banker, is also keen to make a mark in international relations after coming to power in May.

He flew to Riyadh to meet Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman himself last week and sent his Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian back on Wednesday for further talks.

Macron is trying to fill a void of Western power in the Middle East: the United States has retreated under Donald Trump, while Britain remains wrapped up in its Brexit negotiations.

This has led to a whirlwind of diplomacy from Macron with varying degrees of success, from efforts to find a solution in war-wracked Libya to a campaign in favour of maintaining the Iran nuclear deal.

- Is a resolution in sight?

Lebanon's President Michel Aoun said that he had spoken with Hariri by telephone following his arrival in France and that the premier said he would be home for Independence Day celebrations on Wednesday.

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Aoun, who had accused the Saudis of holding his prime minister "hostage" -- a claim dismissed by both Hariri and Riyadh -- had already backed the Paris trip as a step forward on Thursday.

"We hope that the crisis is over and Hariri's acceptance of the invitation to go to France is the start of a solution," tweeted Aoun, who has refused to accept the premier's resignation from abroad.

The French-language Lebanese newspaper L'Orient-Le Jour said France had "achieved the unexpected by inviting Hariri" to leave Riyadh, saying it had "lowered tensions a notch".

- What are Hariri's ties to France?

Hariri's family has properties and long-standing links in France that go back to the early 1980s when Jacques Chirac, then the mayor of Paris, became close to Saad's father Rafiq.

Rafiq Hariri, a wealthy real estate developer who made his fortune in Saudi Arabia, made numerous investments in France and headquartered his construction group Oger International in a Parisian suburb.

This could now come back to bite his son -- who inherited it -- as it recently went bankrupt, leaving salaries and pensions worth millions of dollars unpaid around the world since 2015.

About 240 laid-off French employees are seeking nearly 20 million euros ($24 million) after the company collapsed under huge debts, as tumbling oil prices hit Saudi construction hard.

The elder Hariri's friendship with Chirac turned overtly political after 1992 when he became prime minister of Lebanon. Chirac was elected president three years later.

He was the only head of state to attend Hariri's funeral in Beirut in 2005 after he was killed in a bombing.

Chirac lived in a luxurious Paris apartment owned by the Hariri family for around eight years after he left office and retired in 2007.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - France should not interfere in Iran's missile program, Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said on Saturday according to state media. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that Tehran should be less aggressive in the region and should clarify the strategy around its ballistic missile program. "It does not benefit Mr. Macron and France to interfere on the missile issue and the strategic affairs of the Islamic Republic, which we have great sensitivities about," Velayati said. "What does this issue have to do with Mr. Macron? Who is he at all to interfere? If he wants relations between Iran and France to grow then he should try not to interfere in these issues." U.S. President Donald Trump has said Iranian missile activity should be curbed. Iranian officials have repeatedly said the Islamic Republic's missile program is for defense purposes and is not up for negotiation. The program was not part of the 2015 nuclear deal with Western powers under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions. France said on Wednesday it wanted an "uncompromising" dialogue with Iran about its ballistic missile program and a possible negotiation over the issue separate from Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. (Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
BEIRUT (Reuters) - France should not interfere in Iran's missile programme, Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said on Saturday according to state media.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that Tehran should be less aggressive in the region and should clarify the strategy around its ballistic missile programme.

"It does not benefit Mr. Macron and France to interfere on the missile issue and the strategic affairs of the Islamic Republic, which we have great sensitivities about," Velayati said.

"What does this issue have to do with Mr. Macron? Who is he at all to interfere? If he wants relations between Iran and France to grow then he should try not to interfere in these issues."

U.S. President Donald Trump has said Iranian missile activity should be curbed.

Iranian officials have repeatedly said the Islamic Republic's missile programme is for defense purposes and is not up for negotiation. The programme was not part of the 2015 nuclear deal with Western powers under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions.

France said on Wednesday it wanted an "uncompromising" dialogue with Iran about its ballistic missile programme and a possible negotiation over the issue separate from Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

(Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Montana congressman falsely said Ben Jacobs had initiated physical contact

Gianforte told police the liberal media is trying to make a story

Greg Gianforte pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge and was sentenced to community service, anger management classes and a $385 fine. Photograph: STRINGER/Reuters

US congressman Greg Gianforte misled police after his assault of Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs in May, falsely stating that Jacobs had initiated physical contact and that the liberal media  is trying to make a story, according to the police incident report.

The records, made public on Friday, provide new details on the violent altercation that occurred on the eve of a special election to fill Montanas sole seat in the US House of Representatives. Jacobs had approached the then candidate at his Bozeman campaign headquarters to ask a question about the Republican healthcare bill when Gianforte threw him to the ground and punched him.

The Republican was nevertheless elected the next day.

Gianforte subsequently pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge and was sentenced to community service, anger management classes and a $385 fine in June.

Shortly after the assault, Gianfortes campaign spokesman, Shane Scanlon, placed the blame for the violent incident on Jacobs, releasing a statement that said the reporter grabbed Gregs wrist, and spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground.

Its unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ, Scanlon said.

That narrative was soon contradicted by audio of the incident captured by Jacobs, as well as the eyewitness accounts of a team of Fox News journalists. Jacobs decried the statement as defamatory, and Scanlon was condemned by the political press for lying about the incident.

Speaking of which: is documented liar Shane Scanlon now drawing a taxpayer salary? Has he apologized for defaming the man his boss attacked?  Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) June 21, 2017

Gianforte appeared to distance himself from the initial statement in an apology letter to Jacobs sent 7 June as part of an agreement to settle any potential civil claims. Notwithstanding anyones statements to the contrary, you did not initiate any physical contact with me, and I had no right to assault you, he wrote.

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The police report suggests that the misleading narrative originated from Gianforte himself, however.

Sergeant Scott Secor of the Gallatin County sheriffs office wrote in his report that he had interviewed Gianforte inside a parked vehicle outside the campaign headquarters where the assault took place. According to Secors account of the interview, Gianforte complained that Jacobs had stuck a microphone in my face and was asking obnoxious questions. Later in the interview, Gianforte described Jacobs behavior as interrogating in a very intensive way.



After the documents were made public on Friday, Gianfortes spokesman, Travis Hall, told the AP in an emailed statement: No one was misled, and anyone who says otherwise is mistaken. Greg took responsibility for his actions and is focused on serving the people of Montana.

Jacobs was attempting to ask the candidate to state a position on the Republican healthcare plan.

Secor described the interview: He then went on to explain I probably shouldnt do it but I reached out for his phone  he grabbed my wrist, he spun, and we ended up on the floor  so he pulled me down on top of him  Gianforte said the liberal media  is trying to make a story.

The police report also reveals the preoccupation of Gianforte and his campaign staff with the Guardian, which had previously published a video documentary about the special election. The video included two occasions when Gianforte refused to answer questions from a different Guardian reporter, Paul Lewis.

Gianfortes scheduler, Kerri Lin Seekins-Crow, told investigators that Gianforte and Scanlon had discussed having multiple problems with both the Guardian and BuzzFeed reports in the past because they have been duplicitous and very aggressive while driving from the airport earlier that day.

Gianfortes driver, Joshua Elle, told investigators that on at least three other occasions reporters from the Guardian had approached Gianforte in a brash or aggressive manner.

Elle added that during the drive to the Bozeman campaign event, Gianforte and Scanlon had decided not to give Jacobs an interview based primarily on negative coverage Gianforte had received from Guardian journalists in the past.

The report states that Elle witnessed Jacobs and Gianforte on the ground, and it appeared as though Gianforte was striking the reporter with closed fists. He later reported seeing Jacobs with two purple marks on the right side of his face.
There are very few black and Latinx investors, with only 2 percent of investment team members at VC firms identifying as black and just 1 percent identifying as Latinx, according to the National Venture Capital Association. This is where HBCU.vc comes in.

HBCU.vc, a pivot from HBCU to Startup, aims to diversify the white, male-dominated world of venture capital. HBCU.vc's program works with students attending historically black colleges and universities to teach them the fundamentals of venture capital and entrepreneurship.

The goal of the remote-based program is educate underserved communities about VC and to build the next generation of venture capitalists and entrepreneur.

"We haven't seen racial diversity in venture capital and realize how it has a huge impact on the overall tech ecosystem," HBCU.vc founder Hadiyah Mujhid told TechCrunch. "What currently happens is investors invest within their network -- people they know. Those people then turn around and hire people they know within their network. There are these systematic structures in place that, by design, have locked out people of color."

Through the program, students are paired with a VC mentor, work as interns at a venture capital firm and act as investors in their local college communities. The year-long program teaches students how to identify investment opportunities, conduct market research and make real funding decisions. HBCU.vc mentors include Lo Toney of Google Ventures, Carolina Huaranca of Kapor Capital, Monique Woodard of 500 Startups, Richard Kerby of Venrock and others.

HBCU.vc's first batch includes 11 students from three universities: Fisk, Florida A&M and Prairie View A&M. Students were not required to have any type of past experience in the startup and venture capital ecosystems. Instead, Mujhid said she "wanted to see a natural curiosity and passion around learning the industry."

For this academic school year, the students have internships at firms like Cross Culture Ventures, Indie.VC, Kapor Capital and 500 Startups. Their internships entail doing a lot of the work an associate VC would do, Mujhid said. That means researching startups and trends, providing analysis and bringing more startups into the firm's portfolio.

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"We seem them as an extension of the funds they're working with in their local communities," Mujhid said. "We want to empower them as mini VCs to support entrepreneurs."

Down the road, the plan is to get to 100 associates. Next year, HBCU.vc is aiming to be at 12 universities with 40 students and then the following year get to 20 universities with 100 students.

"The model is going to change and were currently investigating what it looks like for us to have our own independent venture fund and work directly through our venture fund as associates," Mujhid said.

The program, which is totally free to students, is currently supported via a $100,000 grant from an organization that Mujhid was not able to disclose to me. HBCU.vc, a non-profit organization, also accepts donations through its website.
The head of Puerto Ricos power utility resigned Friday while facing scrutiny for the slow progress being made on restoring the islands power grid eight weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory.

Ricardo Ramos, executive director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), submitted his resignation, effective immediately, to the utilitys board.

His sudden departure comes days after Ramos testified before the Senate over a controversial $300 million contract he signed with a small Montana firm to restore power to the island territory.

The contract, which Puerto Rico officials canceled after the hearing, was suspect because the bankrupt utility chose Whitefish Energy over larger firms with lower rates and more experience in dealing with disaster-stricken areas, according to The Washington Post.

PREPA workers repair damage from Hurricane Maria in Canvanas, Puerto Rico, on Oct. 10. (Photo: Alex Flynn/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

After Ramos resignation was announced, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello recommended that the PREPA board of directors appoint Justo Gonzalez, whos served the authority since 1989, as interim director.

Rossello told news reporters in Puerto Rico that Ramos is a professional and has worked hard in repairing the islands power grid, but described his tenure as unsustainable and a distraction for recovery efforts.

This designation will begin the process of evaluating the best available candidates, from both inside and outside Puerto Rico, in order to go ahead and name a permanent executive director for PREPA, Rossello said after recommending Gonzalez.

I trust that this process will occur as fast as possible and will not affect the work of rehabilitating the electricity system across the island.

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, an outspoken voice for more support during Puerto Ricos recovery, said that Ramos helped destroy the credibility of the PR government and called him a disgrace.

That Ricardo Ramos does not head PREPA is the right thing. That he helped destroy the credibility of the PR government is a disgrace.  Carmen Yulin Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) November 17, 2017

In his hearing with the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee this week, Ramos defended his contract with Whitefish Energy, saying that he chose the firm after reviewing a half-dozen proposals and found that Whitefish and another firm were the only two that offered immediate services that Puerto Rico desperately needed.

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I chose to contract with Whitefish because my priority was securing the immediate assistance of first responders that we desperately needed, he said in a prepared statement.

Ramos added that he believed PREPA was unable to meet the requirements for mutual assistance with other public utility companies, such as providing accommodations for workers and other logistics.

Ramos also said that PREPA didnt have enough supplies for their own crews, let alone another firms.

We had no fuel, no phone, no internet. No nothing, Ramos said to the committee, according to The New York Times. How could I bring more people into that situation?

On Wednesday, a major blackout shuttered San Juan, the islands capital and most populous city, and surrounding areas hours after officials announced that Puerto Rico had reached its goal of having 50 percent of its power generation restored, ABC News reported. The blackout dropped the islands power generation down to 22 percent.

As of Friday, two months after Maria hit Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane, PREPA has restored up to 43 percent of the islands power.

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Maria Lopez cries while walking from her house that was flooded after the passage of Hurricane Maria, in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, on September 22, 2017. Puerto Rico battled dangerous floods Friday after Hurricane Maria ravaged the island, as rescuers raced against time to reach residents trapped in their homes and the death toll climbed to 33. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello called Maria the most devastating storm in a century after it destroyed the US territory's electricity and telecommunications infrastructure. / AFP PHOTO / HECTOR RETAMAL (Photo credit should read HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images)

Loiza, PUERTO RICO SEPTEMBER 22: Aerial photo of the floadings in the costal town of Loiza, in the north shore of Puerto RicoHurricane Maria passed through Puerto Rico leaving behind a path of destruction across the national territory. (Photo by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

HAYALES DE COAMO, PUERTO RICO - SEPTEMBER 24: Karlian Mercado, 7, rests on the rubble that remains of her family's home after it was blown away by Hurricane Maria as it passed through the area on September 24, 2017 in Hayales de Coamo, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico experienced widespread damage after Hurricane Maria, a category 4 hurricane, passed through. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Irma Torres poses for a picture at her damaged house after the area was hit by Hurricane Maria in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico September 22, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Local residents react while they look at the water flowing over the road at the dam of the Guajataca lake after the area was hit by Hurricane Maria in Guajataca, Puerto Rico September 23, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

A man looks at damages on his flooded house, close to the dam of the Guajataca lake after the area was hit by Hurricane Maria in Guajataca, Puerto Rico September 23, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

A man sits in a wheelchair next to washing machines at a shelter after the area was hit by Hurricane Maria, in San Juan, Puerto Rico September 22, 2017. Picture taken September 22, 2017. REUTERS/Alvin Baez

LOIZA, PUERTO RICO - SEPTEMBER 22: A resident wades through flood water days after Hurricane Maria made landfall, on September 22, 2017 in Loiza, Puerto Rico. Many on the island have lost power, running water, and cell phone service after Hurricane Maria, a category 4 hurricane, passed through. (Photo by Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images)

People stay at the roof of a damaged house after the area was hit by Hurricane Maria in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico September 22, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

PUERTO RICO SEPTEMBER 23: A devastated house in Morovis Puerto Rico. Hurricane Maria passed through Puerto Rico leaving behind a path of destruction across the national territory. (Photo by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO - SEPTEMBER 22: Residents line up for gasoline days after Hurricane Maria made landfall, on September 22, 2017 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Many on the island have lost power, running water, and cell phone service after Hurricane Maria, a category 4 hurricane, passed through. (Photo by Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images)

A car submerged in flood waters is seen close to the dam of the Guajataca lake after the area was hit by Hurricane Maria in Guajataca, Puerto Rico September 23, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

A resident lay on a cot inside a shelter after being evacuated from a home near the damaged Guajataca Dam after Hurricane Maria in Isabella, Puerto Rico, on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017. Amid their struggles to recover fromiHurricaneiMaria, some Puerto Rico residents found it befuddling that President Donald Trump fired off a number of Twitter rants about professional athletes on Saturday -- yet made no mention of their dire situation. Photographer: Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images

People stop on a highway near a mobile phone antenna tower to check for mobile phone signal, after the area was hit by Hurricane Maria, in Dorado, Puerto Rico September 22, 2017. Picture taken September 22, 2017. REUTERS/Alvin Baez

A dead horse is seen next to a road after the area was hit by Hurricane Maria in Quebradillas, Puerto Rico September 23, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

An aerial view shows the flooded neighbourhood of Juana Matos in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Catano, Puerto Rico, on September 22, 2017. Puerto Rico battled dangerous floods Friday after Hurricane Maria ravaged the island, as rescuers raced against time to reach residents trapped in their homes and the death toll climbed to 33. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello called Maria the most devastating storm in a century after it destroyed the US territory's electricity and telecommunications infrastructure. / AFP PHOTO / Ricardo ARDUENGO (Photo credit should read RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP/Getty Images)

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Lee Brooke speaks to a gathering of friends and supporters in Pennsyvlania. Brooke was attacked and mauled by a grizzly bear last year and is undergoing extensive facial reconstruction surgery. (Photo: Fox 31, KDVR)

Lee Brooke, 60, was hunting in the mountains of Wyoming when a 420-pound bear attacked him.

The bear mutilated him, tearing off most of his face and knocking him unconscious. He awoke some moments later, the bear smelling him. I could feel the whiskers, he told Fox 31.

He attacked the bear with a steak knife he had in his pocket. The bear bit him in the arm, and the two struggled before the bear ultimately wandered off. This gave Brooke the chance to escape. He was found by his brother George, and the two went down the mountain for help.

Brooke was rushed by helicopter to the Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colo., and spent five months in intensive care. He was put into a medically induced coma and endured hours of reconstructive surgery, one session lasting a full 24 hours, that saved his life and reconstructed his face.

The attack happened in October of 2016, and after months of treatment in Colorado, Brooke returned home to Pennsylvania. Friends and neighbors have rallied to help him pay for his mounting medical bills. I dont know how to say thank you, he told the crowd at a benefit event.

Recalling the attack, Brooke says he rightfully should be dead. I shouldve least drowned on my blood, he told the crowd.

Brooke is the only Maytag repairman in Westfield, Penns., where hes well known and well liked. Hes unable to work but says he isnt afraid to go hunting again.

Hell return to the Swedish Medical Center just after Christmas to undergo more reconstructive surgery. His doctors say this upcoming round will take place over the next year.

The techniques used to save Brookes face are among the most advanced of their kind. Surgeons took skin from his leg in the initial procedures on his face and plan to rebuild his nose, using cartilage from his ribs and ears.

Brookes original nose was preserved by attaching it to his arm. His radial artery feeds blood to it, keeping it alive. Brooke looks forward to the next round of surgeries, Then Ill be a new Lee, he told Fox 31.

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Israels reaction to U.S. President Donald Trumps Iran speech last month was best summed up by a former senior official we recently met in Tel Aviv: It sounds very nice, and I like it very much, but whats next?

What we heard last month in Israel on Iran was less focused on the fate of the nuclear deal and more concerned about glaring gaps in U.S. strategy to deter Irans destabilizing actions and support for terrorist groups in the wider Middle East.

If and how the Trump administration addresses these gaps in its regional strategy will have implications for Americas security and its allies for years to come  and what we heard in Israel is a growing worry that Trump lacks any operable plan at all on Iran.

Historically, Iran has based its own regional foreign policy on opportunism. For decades since the 1979 revolution, Irans regime has worked to shift political dynamics in key countries across the region to their favor. And for the last 15 years, it has sought to take quick advantage of changing regional dynamics and direct them in its favor. Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq eliminated two of Irans greatest adversaries: the Taliban and Saddam Hussein regimes. Feeling insecure and encircled by the U.S. military in the immediate aftermath of those two wars, Iran quickly adapted and built new networks of proxies and political allies as balances of power shifted in its immediate region.

Indeed, the past decade witnessed a historic expansion of Iranian influence throughout the Middle East, rattling countries like Israel and Saudi Arabia in the process. Irans regional approach has been one akin to jiujitsu  the martial arts method of neutralizing an adversary by using that opponents own energy and force against him. This strategy has enabled Iran to build and strengthen political relationships over time and deeply embed itself in Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria.

By the start of this year, Iran had realized more gains in Middle East influence than any other country since 2011 when popular uprising shook many Arab countries  largely due to the deep fractures and divisions within Arab countries. As one leading academic in Israel told us, the story has not been so much about Irans inherent strength, but rather one of weaknesses within Arab countries.

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Irans foreign policy thrives off of this endemic poor governance, weak institutions, and political polarization. But in many ways, Iran is more exposed and vulnerable regionally due to how overstretched it is. Because Iran has taken advantage of division and corruption among its neighbors but hasnt remedied those problems, there is an important opening with the populations of places like Iraq and Lebanon for the United States and its partners to counter it smartly and compete with Irans influence.

But doing so will require deft diplomacy, alliance building, and long-term investments in relationships that seem to be beyond the reach of the Trump administration and its obvious disdain for cohesive strategic planning and investments in key tools of U.S. power like diplomacy. Making matters worse, Trump and his incoherent foreign policy have alienated Americas partners and shredded U.S. credibility as a trustworthy global leader.

Put simply, the Trump administrations unclear and disjointed approach to the Middle East has unnerved key allies like Israel while giving the emerging coalition of Russia, Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah a free pass. Many Israelis were dismayed earlier this week when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Irans presence in Syria was legitimate and that they would not force Iranian-aligned Shiite militias to withdraw from positions close to Syrias border with Israel.

The Trump administrations passive and incoherent Middle East policy has also fostered moral hazard with some of our closest partners in the region, as seen in the recent actions by Saudi Arabia to use threats and psychological warfare to pressure Irans partner in Lebanon, Hezbollah. The move appears to have backfired by prompting a backlash in Lebanon, and it may have forced Saudi Arabia to recalibrate, as the Washington Posts David Ignatius reported.

In the absence of a more coherent approach by the United States, key powers in the Middle East will continue to test the limits of their power. The Saudi-led move against Qatar earlier this year and the Iraqi Kurdistan referendum this fall are two examples. And new alignments may emerge and deepen  an unprecedented interview in a Saudi news outlet by Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot this week is the latest sign of Israel and Saudi Arabia sharing a common interest in addressing the threats they see coming from Iran.

But it would be a mistake for the United States to remain passive and allow its partners to shape the regional agenda. Washington needs to play a more active role and use its considerable leverage to shape the actions of U.S. partners and adversaries.

Projecting power doesnt mean going to war against Iran  it means showing up in the places where power and influence matter most. In the eyes of many in Israel, the Trump administrations mishandling of the Iraqi Kurdistan referendum is a prime example of how the United States squandered its potential leverage with partners and failed to stand up to adversaries.

Today an urgent test for the United States remains Syrias ongoing conflict. Since assuming office, the Trump administration has adopted a more passive approach than its predecessor. Though the United States remains engaged in supporting Syrias Kurds in the anti-Islamic State campaign, this counterterrorism-only focus has allowed Iran and Russia to set the terms of a future peace in Syria through initiatives like local cease-fires. Allies like Israel and Jordan are unhappy about the trends in Syria, but they shy away from strong public criticisms of the Trump administration for fear of alienating an erratic and mercurial U.S. president.

Over the next year, the ultimate question for the United States and its partners in the Middle East will come not from Irans nuclear program  still kept in check by the nuclear deal, for now  but whether or not they are able to effectively turn Irans strategic momentum against it.

Most of the potential moves to counter Iran will be diplomatic, political, and economic, such as Secretary of State Rex Tillersons recent move to encourage the budding rapprochement between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Some military moves may be necessary  for instance, sending a signal of resolve to support U.S. partners through military exercises aimed at ensuring the freedom of navigation in the regions waters and through its strategic choke points. But the burden rests on the Trump administration to formulate a coherent regional strategy that reassures U.S. allies and sends a clear message of strength to its adversaries. Here lies the greatest challenge for the United States 10 months into the Trump administration  a creeping crisis of credibility that the United States closest friends notice in the gap between the new administrations rhetoric and actions.

So as Congress focuses on the important question of the fate of the nuclear deal, the region is worried about the Trump administrations overall Middle East approach. Congress has until Dec. 12 to decide whether it will introduce a bill for expedited consideration to reimpose sanctions against Iran after Trumps decision to decertify the nuclear deal  but the current debate in the region is about what Iran is doing in multiple countries, not at home.

In a country like Israel, which shares many interests and values with the United States, some of Americas closest friends are worried about how steady and consistent the Trump administrations policy implementation will be. The new tone of warmth and support to Israel projected by President Trump is widely welcomed there, as are the increased criticisms of adversaries like Iran.

But actions speak louder than words, and nearly a month after Trumps Iran speech many top security officials in Israel are still asking: Does the United States care about the region, and does it have a plan?
DUBAI (Reuters) - The Israeli army's chief of staff told an Arabic language online newspaper that Israel was ready to share "intelligence information" with Saudi Arabia, saying their countries had a common interest in standing up to Iran. Lieutenant General Gadi Eizenkot told the privately Saudi-owned Elaph in what it said was his first interview with an Arabic newspaper that Israel had no plans to attack Lebanon's Hezbollah group. Saudi Arabia has ratcheted up pressure on arch-foe Iran, accusing Tehran of trying to expand its influence in Arab countries, often through proxies including the Lebanese Shi'ite Hezbollah group. Increased tension between Tehran and Riyadh has fueled speculation that shared interests may push Saudi Arabia and Israel to working together against what they see as a common Iranian threat. Saudi Arabia maintains that any relations with Israel hinge on Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands occupied in the 1967 Middle East war. Asked if Israel had shared any information with Saudi Arabia, Eizenkot said: "We are ready to share information if necessary. There are many shared interests between us." He said U.S. President Donald Trump's election on a platform that calls for increasing pressure on Iran has provided an opportunity for new alliances in the Middle East. Both Saudi Arabia and Israel view Iran as a main threat to the Middle East. "A major and general strategic plan must be prepared to stop the Iranian danger, and we are ready to exchange expertise with moderate Arab states and exchange intelligence information to face Iran," he said, according to Elaph, which said the interview was conducted at Eizenkot's office in Tel Aviv by an Israeli Arab journalist. Earlier this month, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri announced his resignation in a surprise move that had plunged Lebanon into a new political crisis. Hariri's resignation thrust Lebanon into the front line of a regional struggle between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Iran that has also buffeted Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Bahrain. It also raised speculation about possible military action against Lebanon by Israel, which sees Hezbollah as a strategic threat. Responding to a question on speculation that Israel may launch a military operation against Hezbollah, Eizenkot said: "We do not have any intention initiating any offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon and reaching a (state of) war. But we will not accept a strategic threat against Israel." (Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Jerusalem (AFP) - An Israeli tank fired a warning shot on Saturday at a Syrian military position in the demilitarised zone in the northern Golan Heights following construction work there, the army said.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli army told AFP that the Syrian army work "violated the 1974 ceasefire agreement" which "prohibits the entry of heavy construction tools or military vehicles into the demilitarised zone".

"In response, the IDF complained to UNDOF (the UN Disengagement Observer Force) and fired a warning shot towards the area using a tank," the spokeswoman said.

She would not confirm reports that the incident took place near the Syrian government-controlled Druze village of Hader, which was targeted by rebel forces two weeks ago.

The attack on Hader, which began with a suicide bomber blowing up a car and killing nine people, raised concern among Golan Druze for the fate of their co-religionists at the hands of Sunni extremists of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group.

The incident had prompted the Israeli army to issue a rare statement pledging to "prevent Hader from being harmed or occupied".

On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signalled that Israel would take military action in Syria when it sees fit as it seeks to ensure Iran-backed forces stay away from its territory.

"I have made it clear to our friends, first of all in Washington and also to our friends in Moscow, that Israel will act in Syria -- including in southern Syria -- according to our understanding and according to our security needs," he said.

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres (460 square miles) of the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.
Jared Kushner, seen here at the White House on Sept. 12, 2017, is facing scrutiny over his communications: AP Photo/Alex Brandon

An ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to arrange a meeting with Donald Trumps presidential campaign on the sidelines of a National Rifle Association meeting  outreach that Jared Kushner subsequently failed to disclose, sources have told NBC.

Earlier this week, the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee contacted Mr Kushners attorney asking for more documents from Mr Kushner, who is the Presidents son-in-law and a top aide.

Specifically, the panel  which is conducting one of multiple investigations into potential collaboration between the Russian government and Mr Trumps presidential campaign  said Mr Kushners attorney had not turned over documents concerning a Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite.

According to NBC, that overture involved a Russian banker named Aleksander Torshin who is described as being close to Mr Putin. Citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, NBC reported that Mr Torshin wanted Mr Trump to attend an NRA event in Louisville, Kentucky, where Mr Torshin hoped to meet with campaign officials.

Mr Kushner rejected the request and advised campaign officials to do the same, NBC reported, but Mr Trumps son, Donald Trump Jr, ended up sitting next to Mr Torshin during a private dinner.

The President has denied any collusion between his campaign and Russia, lambasting investigations as a partisan witch hunt.

But evidence that Russian-linked actors sought to contact the campaign has steadily surfaced in recent months. It emerged earlier that Mr Kushner and Mr Trump Jr accepted a meeting with a Russian lawyer who was described as having damaging information about Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation has produced a guilty plea from former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, who repeatedly sought to connect campaign officials to the Russian government. Mr Papadopoulos admitted to lying to the FBI about his meetings with Russian-linked individuals.

While Mr Trump and his administration have described Mr Papadopoulos as a bit player with no influence, the campaigns Instagram account had posted a photo of Mr Papadopoulos at a meeting with Mr Trump and then-Senator Jeff Sessions on a date that matches a meeting described in the court document laying out the case against Mr Papadopoulos. Now the Attorney General Mr Sessions has said he did not remember the meeting.
Jared Kushner, son-in-law and senior adviser to US President Donald Trump - AFP

Jared Kushner's lawyer failed to hand over documents detailing a "Russian backdoor overture", a senate committee investigating Russian interference in US politics has found.

Mr Kushner, who is president Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, also failed to hand over emails concerning Wikileaks, the senate committee told his attorney Abbe Lowell.

In a letter to Mr Lowell on Thursday, Senators Chuck Grassley and Dianne Feinstein, the Judiciary Committee's Republican chairman and top Democrat, listed the documents and emails among materials Mr Lowell failed to produce.

Among the list were emails forwarded to a campaign adviser from September 2016 concerning whistle blower group Wikileaks.

Donald Trump with Jared Kushner Credit: AP

Wikileaks published emails from Democratic party accounts shortly before the presidential election and US intelligence agencies have found the emails were hacked from accounts by Russian spies.

The committee wrote to Mr Lowell to tell him he appeared to have "overlooked several documents" requested as part of the committee's investigation on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

"Mr. Kushner and we have been responsive to all requests," Mr Lowell said in a statement.

"We provided the Judiciary Committee with all relevant documents that had to do with Mr. Kushner's calls, contacts or meetings with Russians during the campaign and transition, which was the request.

"We also informed the committee we will be open to responding to any additional requests and that we will continue to work with White House Counsel for any responsive documents from after the inauguration."

When asked about the letter, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders referred reporters to Mr Lowell. Mr Trump has denied any collusion between his campaign and Moscow.

Russia has refuted a report by three U.S. intelligence agencies that found the state conducted an operation to skew the 2016 presidential vote in favor of Mr Trump over his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

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Mr Kushner remains a person of interest to the investigations by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and congressional committees, according to a source close to the investigation.

Among other things, investigators want to know if Mr Kushner knew during the 2016 campaign that Russia was hacking Democratic emails in an effort to help Trump.

They will also try to establish whether the special adviser tried to create a secret back channel between the White House and the Kremlin, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Investigators also want to know if Mr Kushner took part in or knew of any post-election efforts by Mr Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, or others to lift U.S. economic sanctions on Russia in exchange for financial investments or other business deals.

Former White House National Security Advisor Michael Flynn Credit: Carlos Barria

Mr Flynn, a former Army general who led the Defense Intelligence Agency and later was a Trump campaign adviser, was fired in February as national security adviser after misleading Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with Kislyak.

The letter to Mr Lowell also said he had failed to produce "communications with Sergei Millian, copied to Kushner."

Mr Millian, who has used multiple aliases, is a Belarussian-born emigre who in 2006 helped incorporate the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce, which sponsored trips to Russia by U.S. businessmen.

Profile | Jared Kushner

After a December 2011 trip arranged by the chamber and a quasi-governmental agency in Russia called Rossotrudnichestvo, FBI agents questioned participants about whether Russian spies had approached them during the visit, one of the travelers said.

Mr Millian, who met Mr Trump on at least one occasion, has boasted of his ties to the former New York real estate developer and reality television star. He has denied being a Russian spy.
Disheartened by the treatment of friend and fellow rapper Meek Mill during a recent sentencing, rapper Jay-Z took a hard stance for criminal justice reform in an op-ed published Friday in the New York Times.

His piece comes just 10 days after news that Meek, born Robert Rihmeek Williams, will face two to four years in prison due to parole violations. Per the New York Times, Meek was arrested in 2008 on charges of gun and drug possession and has been on parole in the years since. But despite the outcomes of two recent parole violations  one in which charges were dropped and another in which Meek was asked to attend a driving course  Judge Genece E. Brinkley still sentenced him to more time in prison.

On Nov. 6, the day of Meek's hearing, Jay-Z called the sentence "unjust and heavy handed."

But in his Friday op-ed, Jay went further, highlighting the far reaching consequences of keeping black people on parole.

Meek's case, he wrote, "is just one example of how our criminal justice system entraps and harasses hundreds of thousands of black people every day," a pattern he says he witnessed growing up in New York.

His piece also spotlights the work Color of Change is doing on behalf of Meek and of black people across the country who are either incarcerated or on parole.

A petition from the organization calling for Meek's release reads: "The system is literally following Black people around for years just waiting for the day to justify putting us back in cages."

On Monday, supporters rallied in Philadelphia where Meek Mill is currently incarcerated. Per Complex, celebrities like Rick Ross and members of the Philadelphia Eagles turned out in support.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions had lawyers rolling in the aisles with a surprising string of Russian quips at the start of a speech he gave Friday.

Sessions was the keynote speaker at the National Lawyers Convention at Washingtons Mayflower Hotel hosted by the conservative Federalist Society.

He thanked the applauding crowd for welcoming him. Then, smiling mischievously, he added: But I just was thinking, you know, I should  I want to ask you. Is Ambassador Kislyak in the room? Before I get started  any Russians? As the laughs grew louder, he continued: Anybody been to Russia? Got a cousin in Russia? The audience roared.

The jarring jokes came just three days after Sessions was pressed in Congress on apparent discrepancies in his previous testimony about Trump associates meetings with Russians during the 2016 campaign.

Sergey Kislyak, then Russias ambassador to the U.S., met with several members of Donald Trumps campaign during the Republican National Convention, Kislyak and some Trump associates have revealed. Kislyak was widely believed a top spy recruiter.

Kislyak has said he discussed Trumps policy positions during the campaign with Sessions, an early Trump supporter who was an Alabama senator at the time, The Washington Post reported.

But during his confirmation hearings to become attorney general  before the Post report  Sessions said he never met with or had any conversations with any Russians or any foreign officials concerning any type of interference with any campaign or election.

Sessions later recused himself from Special Counsel Robert Muellers probe into Russian interference in the U.S. election.

Critics were stunned by Sessions attitude in the lawyers speech.

Sessions still doesnt get it  hes in trouble, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) told Wolf Blitzer later on CNN.

Hes not in trouble where he happened to be in places where there are Russians, said Lieu, a member of the House Judiciary Committee who grilled Sessions this week. He is in trouble because he had a nearly hour-long meeting with Ambassador Kislyak  also a spy  and then he failed to disclose the existence of that meeting under oath to the U.S. Senate. Thats why Jeff Sessions is in trouble.

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Blitzer noted that Kislyak now says he spoke with so many Trump officials it would take him more than 20 minutes to name them all.

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By Duncan Miriri and Thomas Mukoya NAIROBI (Reuters) - At least five people were killed on Friday as Kenyan police tried to disperse supporters accompanying opposition leader Raila Odinga from the airport to central Nairobi, police said. Police fired tear gas at the convoy in which Odinga was travelling and used water cannon as they tried to stop it reaching the capital's main business district. Some protesters threw stones at police. Two vehicles, including a police truck, were set on fire. A Reuters photographer saw two bodies with gunshot wounds as police and protesters fought on one of the main roads leading to the business district. Police said five people were stoned to death by angry mobs after they were caught stealing and denied they had used excessive force against the opposition supporters. "These incidences occurred before the police arrived at the various scenes," the police service said in a statement. Police retreated several times along the route after the protesters were unmoved by the teargas and water cannon spray. They finally held their ground near the city's main park, where Odinga, just returned from the United States, intended to address a rally that had been banned. He blamed President Uhuru Kenyatta for the violence. "My anger is with that guy called Uhuru Kenyatta. I went abroad... After you welcomed me well, he sent policemen to teargas you, to beat my people, to fire bullets at them. Isn't this barbaric?," he told his supporters after driving to safety. Odinga has called for a "National Resistance Movement" to protest against the outcome of a repeat presidential election last month which saw Kenyatta win a second, five-year term with 98 percent of the vote after Odinga boycotted the contest. Only 39 percent of registered voters took part. The repeat poll was ordered by the Supreme Court after it annulled the results of the August election, won by Kenyatta, over procedural irregularities. The court will rule on Monday on cases that seek to nullify the rerun election. The political crisis has stirred fears for the stability of Kenya, a regional hub for trade, diplomacy and security. Earlier on Friday, demonstrators threw up burning barricades on Mombasa Road, the highway that links Nairobi's downtown business district and the airport. Despite a partial police ban on protests in the capital, hundreds of people had gathered in the morning near Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to await Odinga's return. Police fired into the air to disperse them. Once Odinga landed, motorcycle taxi drivers and people on foot shouted their support as the motorcade, which included lawmakers from Odinga's opposition coalition, began moving toward central Nairobi. Dozens of international flights depart and arrive daily at Nairobi's main airport. The national airport authority said on Twitter just before midday that operations were running normally. Kenya Airways said it had been "impacted" by the disruptions around the airport and offered to book travellers who missed their flights on subsequent ones. Kenya's prolonged election season has disrupted its economy. Human rights groups say at least 66 people have died in bloodshed surrounding the two elections. Ahead of Monday's Supreme Court ruling, Kenya Airways' chairman told an investor briefing on Friday: "Hopefully we dont have another presidential election so we can get on with life." (Reporting by Duncan Miriri and Thomas Mukoya Writing by Maggie Fick; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace on November 11, 2017, shows King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (R) shaking hands with former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri in the capital Riyadh - AFP

Saad al-Hariri, who sparked a crisis by resigning as Lebanese prime minister on November 4 during a visit to Saudi Arabia, left Riyadh late last night on a flight bound for Paris, a television channel owned by his family said

"Mr Hariri left Riyadh airport on his private jet with his wife and is headed for Le Bourget airport", north-east of Paris, announced Future TV around 1:20 am (2320 GMT).

A source close to Mr Hariri confirmed the departure of the former prime minister to AFP, adding that the flight would take six and a half hours.

Earlier Mr Hariri had tweeted he was on his way to the airport in the Saudi capital, refuting the suggestion he had been not allowed to leave the country.

His visit to France with his family to meet President Emmanuel Macron is seen as part of a possible way out of the crisis.

Michel Aoun, the Lebanese president, had accused Saudi authorities of "detaining" Mr Hariri and refused to accept his resignation from abroad.

Mr Hariri, a dual Saudi citizen, has been in Riyadh since issuing a statement on television there on November 4 that he was stepping down because he feared for his life while also accusing Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of destabilising his nation.

Mr Macron, speaking in Sweden, said Hariri "intends to return to his country in the coming days, weeks".

The French president will meet Mr Hariri at noon Paris time today (Saturday).

The crisis has thrust Lebanon into the bitter rivalry pitting Saudi Arabia and its allies against a bloc led by Iran, which includes the heavily armed Lebanese Shi'ite Hezbollah group.

In Lebanon, Mr Hariri has long been an ally of Riyadh. His coalition government, formed in a political deal last year to end years of paralysis, includes Hizbollah.

President Michel Aoun, a political ally of Hizbollah, has called Mr Hariri a Saudi hostage and refused to accept his resignation unless he returns to Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia and Mr Hariri say his movements were not restricted. Lebanese politicians from across the political spectrum have called for Mr Hariri to return to the country, saying it is necessary to resolve the crisis.

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Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, who heads President Aoun's political party, said on Thursday Beirut could escalate the crisis if Mr Hariri did not return home.

"We have adopted self-restraint so far to arrive at this result so that we don't head towards diplomatic escalation and the other measures available to us," he said during a European tour aimed at building pressure for a solution to the crisis.

Saudi Arabia regards Hizbollah as a conduit for Iranian interference across the Middle East, particularly in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain. It says it has no problem with Hizbollah remaining a purely political party, but has demanded it surrender its arms, which the group says are needed to defend Lebanon.
By John Irish and Marine Pennetier PARIS (Reuters) - Saad al-Hariri, who resigned as Lebanon's prime minister this month while in Saudi Arabia, said on Saturday he would clarify his position when he returns to Beirut next week. Hariri's resignation on Nov. 4 threw Lebanon into political crisis and put it centre-stage in the Middle East's overarching rivalry between Sunni Saudi Arabia and its allies and a bloc led by Shi'ite Iran. "With regard to the political situation in Lebanon, I will go to Beirut in the coming days, I will participate in the independence celebrations, and it is there that I will make known my position on these subjects after meeting President (Michel) Aoun," Hariri said after holding talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. Hariri declined to take questions, but is set to return to Beirut by Wednesday when Lebanon celebrates its independence day. He thanked Macron, who has been mediating as part of French efforts to try to ease tensions across the region, for his help. Macron had leveraged France's close relations with both Lebanon and Saudi Arabia to secure a deal that saw Hariri travel to Paris and open the door to a resolution of the crisis. Hariri, who arrived at his residence in Paris in the early hours of the morning, told Aoun in a phone call from Paris that he would be in Lebanon on Wednesday for the celebrations, the Lebanese president said on Twitter. "Lebanon is being shaken so its important Hariri comes to Paris for us to work with him on the best way out of the crisis," said a senior French diplomat. "We're trying to create the conditions for a de-escalation in the region. We want to avoid a proliferation of crises that could get out of control." Hariri's abrupt resignation and continued stay in Saudi Arabia has caused fears for Lebanon's stability. He visited France with his wife and one son, which is seen as part of a possible way out of the crisis, although two of his younger children remain in Saudi Arabia. Okab Saqr, a member of parliament for Hariri's Future Movement, said after Hariri's visit to France he would have "a small Arab tour" before traveling to Beirut. A French presidential source said Macron had reiterated that Paris wanted Hariri to return to Lebanon to ensure the country's political system continued to function and that it was imperative it remained "disassociated" from regional crises. The source said Macron would continue to be active on the dossier in the coming days and that France was considering whether to host a meeting of the International Lebanon Support Group to discuss the political crisis. IRAN TAKES AIM AT MACRON The crisis has thrust Lebanon into the regional rivalry pitting Saudi Arabia and its allies against a bloc led by Iran, which includes the heavily armed Lebanese Shi'ite Hezbollah group. Aoun has called Hariri a Saudi hostage and refused to accept his resignation unless he returns to Lebanon. Saudi Arabia and Hariri say his movements are not restricted. Lebanon maintains a delicate sectarian balance after Sunnis, Shi'ites, Christians and Druze fought a civil war between 1975 and 1990, with factions often backed by regional rivals. Hariri, a Sunni Muslim, is a long-time ally of Saudi Arabia. Aoun, a Christian, is a political ally of Hezbollah. Hariri's government, a power-sharing coalition formed last year, includes Hezbollah. France, which controlled Lebanon between the world wars, has sought to play a key role in defusing tension with Macron personally getting involved and putting him at the heart of a regional power struggle that will test his diplomatic skills. That was evident since the outbreak of the Lebanese crisis over the last week with a surprise visit to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, followed by a flurry of calls, sending his foreign minister to Saudi Arabia and then the invitation to Hariri, which caught many diplomats unawares. While undoubtedly a diplomatic coup for Macron, some regional and French diplomats have cautioned that his strategy to try to appease all sides in the region may backfire. Paris has intensified its rhetoric over Iran's regional activities. On Thursday, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking alongside his Saudi counterpart, denounced Tehran's "hegemonic temptations". Iran responded by accusing France of taking sides and Macron on Friday said Iran should clarify its ballistic missile program. That was met by a rebuke in Tehran. On Saturday, Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said Macron should stay out of its affairs. (Additional reporting by Sarah Dadouch in Beirut; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Beirut (AFP) - Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Saturday left Saudi Arabia for France, a television channel owned by his family said, two weeks after his shock resignation.

"Mr Hariri left Riyadh airport on his private jet with his wife and is headed for Le Bourget airport", north-east of Paris, announced Future TV around 1:20 am (2320 GMT).

A source close to Hariri confirmed the departure of the former prime minister to AFP, adding that the flight would take six and a half hours.

Earlier Hariri had tweeted he was on his way to the airport in the Saudi capital, refuting the suggestion he had been not allowed to leave the country.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun had accused Saudi authorities of "detaining" Hariri and refused to accept his resignation from abroad.

Hariri, a dual Saudi citizen, has been in Riyadh since issuing a statement on television there on November 4 that he was stepping down because he feared for his life while also accusing Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of destabilising his nation.

Macron will meet Hariri at noon (1100 GMT) on Saturday, the French leader's office said Friday.

Hariri's resignation was quickly perceived as the latest round in a tug of war between Saudi Arabia, his longtime sponsor, and its regional arch-rival Iran.

It has raised deep concerns about the stability of Lebanon, which has long been riven by disagreements between Hariri's bloc and that of his chief rival, the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.

Hariri's resignation announcement -- which reportedly took even some of his closest aides by surprise -- and his subsequent failure to return home to officially quit in person, fuelled speculation that he was acting under orders from his Saudi patrons.

Future TV did not specify if Hariri and his wife were accompanied by their children, two of whom were with them in Riyadh. The eldest had left in the summer to study abroad.
For a painting worth nearly half a billion dollars, Leonardo da Vincis Salvator Mundi is far from perfect.

The 500-year-old portrait of Jesus Christ has a shady past that includes ownership by King Charles I, a 160-year disappearing act and a sale for only thousands of dollars just 12 years ago.

It is damaged and was heavily repainted, then restored. And at least one prominent da Vinci expert is on record saying he doesnt believe da Vinci was the primary artist behind it.

But the 15-by-17 portrait overcame all of that Wednesday night when it sold at auction to an anonymous buyer for a gob-smacking $450.3 million  the highest known sum paid for a work of art, by far.

Leonardo da Vinci's painting 'Salvator Mundi' was sold at auction in New York on Nov. 15, 2017.

Before the sale at Christies in New York, came experts like Nica Rieppi, who spent four years and used the latest technology and a lot of highly detailed art books to authenticate the painting.

Theres no doubt that this wasnt the work of a copyist, but really the hand of a master at work, Rieppi, a principal investigator at Art Analysis & Research, told TIME on Thursday.

Rieppi and her team of six scientists painstakingly analyzed the painting at a microscopic level, taking minuscule samples to determine the pigments, materials and techniques used to create it. They also used technical imaging with x-rays, infrared and ultraviolet technology to evaluate how it evolved with each stroke.

The CSI-like research contributed to the work of other teams researching the artistic expression (connoisseurship) and history (provenance) of the piece. In the increasingly high-stakes world of multimillion-dollar fine art sales, science is becoming ever more important, Rieppi said.

The purpose, ultimately, is to get inside the head of the artist, Rieppi said.

Dating back to the year 1500, the painting  translated as Savior of the World  depicts Christ holding one hand in prayer and a crystal sphere in the other while draped in a blue robe. It is one of fewer than 20 paintings known to be made by the Italian master.

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One big clue came from the composition of the paint. Through microscopic sampling, the team discovered the use of lapis lazuli  an incredibly rare pigment considered more expensive than gold in Italy at the time  in extraordinarily high quality throughout the blue of Christs robe in the painting. Imported from Afghanistan, the material was so expensive and only available to someone of a master and stature as Leonardo, Rieppi said.

Another tell-tale sign, according to Rieppi, was da Vincis complex and sophisticated layering. Using a powerful microscope, researchers found monochromatic layers applied to the canvas before pigment was added. This included a warm brown color on the robe and transparent washes throughout the painting. The detail is consistent with da Vincis technique in his unfinished work The Adoration of Magi, Rieppi said.

The fact is, this painting is extraordinary at a microscopic level and the uniqueness that we see at that level, theres no question that this painting is of the time period, Rieppi said. And then in my mind that anyone else at that time frame couldve created this except for Leonardo.

The authenticators had their work cut out for them when they started. Its complex history left many in the art world puzzled about where it came from. Some where outright doubtful.

Jacques Frank, and art historian and da Vinci specialist who examined the piece, told the New York Times, The composition doesnt come from Leonardo. He preferred twisted movement. Its a good studio work with a little Leonardo at best, and its very damaged.

The work was owned by King Charles I in the 17th century, but then it disappeared from records from 1763 to 1900, according to Christies. Its history grew more complicated after it was extensively repainted and purchased with the belief that it was created by a follower of da Vincis. It resurfaced again in 1958, and then sold in 2005 for less than $10,000.

Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev brought the painting to the market after buying it in 2013 for $127.5 million. (The extensive repainting of the piece was removed before it was analyzed by scientists.)

Rieppi said she and her team work with doubt and skepticism, given the questionable history.

However, Rieppi said, there came a point when the materials lined up and the techniques aligned into certitude about the origin and identity of Salvator Mundi.

Science is allowing us to move more toward evidence-based connoisseurship, and thats where I see things going in the art market, she said.

Correction: The original version of this story misspelled, in some instances, the last name of Art Analysis & Researchs principal investigator. She is Nica Rieppi, not Reippi.
(WASHINGTON)  Minister Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, on Thursday called on President Donald Trump to repent for Americas sins and chastised Americans who are upset with Trumps image, saying hes your reflection.

Farrakhan, in a wide-ranging, two-hour speech at the Watergate Hotel, touched on issues as varied as North Korea, race relations and relations between Muslims in the Middle East in what he called an address to Trump.

Mr. President, you wont make America great again, not in our time, said Farrakhan, 84, referring to the presidents Make America Great Again campaign slogan. She became great killing Native Americans. She became great enslaving us, bringing us from Africa into America to work the cotton fields. Youre not going to get that opportunity back anymore.

The Nation of Islam, formed in Detroit in the 1930s, in part aims to free blacks from servitude to Western civilization  white society.

Farrakhan called on Trump to repent for all of the evils that America has done to us, to the peoples of the world.

During the presidential campaign, Farrakhan sent mixed signals about Trump, indicating he saw some reflection of his worldview in the candidates rhetoric, including the Republicans talk of a global power structure that has rigged the economy. Farrakhan has long promoted conspiracy theories, blaming Israel and Jews for the Sept. 11 attacks, and accusing Jews of controlling the American government.

Trump has called some Mexican immigrants rapists, advocated policies that put Muslims under general suspicion and has been criticized for being slow to condemn white supremacists.

Farrakhan on Thursday called Trump transparent and real, and said he is what he is.

Some wanted him to put on a suit and act dignified, like the thieves and robbers who dress in suits and tell lies, he added.

Hes telling lies all right, and youre angry because hes your reflection, Farrakhan said. Hes an anomaly. You cant make him what you desire him to be so you can say, Thats my president. He wasnt made that way.
Photo taken on Nov. 10, 2017 shows the cargo train during a launching ceremony of the railway route in Kouvola, Finland. (Xinhua/Li Jizhi)

HELSINKI, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- There is viable potential for growth in Finnish-Chinese economic relations despite a slight decline in the Chinese economy, Finland's business backed economic think tank ETLA has said in its latest research.

The wide probe into the economic relations between the two countries in recent decades has been titled "The Lion and the Dragon". The writers were Markku Kotilainen, the research director of ETLA, and Villa Kaitila, a researcher of the think tank.

The report published this week indicates that Finland has recovered from the aftermath of the crash of Nokia mobile phone business, and 2017 may be a historic record year in the value of Finnish exports to China.

NEW RECORD YEAR

Although Chinese economic growth has slowed down compared to previous years, the two researchers both point out that the level of growth in China is still much faster than in western countries, which may contribute to the increase in bilateral trade and investment.

During the first half of 2017, the value of Finnish exports to China was 1.76 billion euros (2.07 billion U.S. dollars). The researchers predict that if the second half is as good, 2017 will be the record year in the value of Finnish exports to China. The value in 2016 was 2.85 billion euros.

The writers believe Finland and China complement each other both in know-how and in resources. They note that the Chinese are interested in Finnish competence in ITC, clean tech and forest industry. The same applies to availability of forest raw material and the potential of making use of it.

Kotilainen and Kaitila have shown a vivid picture of how Finnish service exports and investments to China plummeted along with the negative development of the Nokia mobile phone production but have now recovered.

In 2010, the value of Finnish service exports to China was at one billion euros, only followed by a fast decline. ETLA now concludes it was attributed to the sale of Nokia mobile phone production to Microsoft. Also, direct Finnish investments to China used to be four billion euros per annum, but plummeted to zero in four years.

Since 2014, Finnish exports of service have grown again, reaching 1.2 billion euros last year. The researchers include Chinese tourism to Finland as sales of services to China.

The researchers underline the importance of the subsidiaries of Finnish companies in China. "The role of subsidiaries is larger than that of exports," they say.

Finnish subsidiaries in China comprises 12 percent of the turnover of Finnish subsidiaries abroad in 2011, but was reduced to a half when Nokia declined. In 2015, the figure recovered to 7.5 percent.

CEILING OF IMPORTS

Despite the brisk Chinese economic growth in last decade, Chinese exports to Finland seem to have reached their ceiling under prevailing barriers of trade, the researchers say.

China is the fourth largest source of imported goods to Finland. The level had increased until 2009 and has remained stable since. In all, China covers seven or eight percent of Finnish imports.

"The market share of China in imports to Finland has reached its ceiling level, under existing structures of production and demand, and the barriers of trade," Kotilainen and Kaitila have said.

"World trade has reached a certain balance at the level of the present barriers of trade and globalization. If barriers of trade could be further reduced, international trade and value chains would acclimatize to the new situation", the writers note, reminding at the same time that barriers could be increased as well.

Meanwhile, Chinese investment in Finland is growing rapidly, even though Chinese investment in Finland has so far been low. In 2015 there were 16 Chinese subsidiaries in Finland.

Recently, Chinese companies have become active in Finland in areas where Finland has either specific know-how or raw materials. Developments include the acquisition of a majority stake in the mobile game company Supercell by the Chinese internet giant Tencent in 2016.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-17 22:17:49|Editor: liuxin

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Indian policemen carry the coffin of a junior-level police officer for his wreath laying ceremony in Srinagar, summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, Nov. 17, 2017. A junior-level police officer was killed and a policeman wounded Friday after militants attacked them in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said. (Xinhua/Javed Dar)

SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A junior-level police officer was killed and a policeman wounded Friday after militants attacked them in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.

The police party was attacked at Zakura locality in Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"This evening militants attacked a police party killing a sub-inspector and wounding a policeman accompanying him," a police official said.

The wounded policeman was removed to hospital for treatment.

A police spokesman said wreath laying ceremony of the slain police officer will be held in district police lines office in the city.

Following the attack, authorities rushed contingents of police and paramilitary troopers to the spot to carry out searches.

So far no militant outfit has claimed responsibility of the attack.

A separatist movement and guerrilla war challenging New Delhi's rule is going on in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989.
Paris (AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Saad Hariri for talks Saturday, an AFP reporter said, hours after the Lebanese premier arrived from Saudi Arabia in the midst of a political crisis.

Hariri, who made a shock resignation announcement on November 4 and has since fended off claims he was being held in Saudi Arabia against his will, was also due to have lunch with Macron.

The Lebanese leader's wife and elder son were to join them for the meal after the talks, but the couple's two younger children remain in Riyadh "for their school exams", a source close to Hariri said.

"Hariri does not want to mix his children up in this affair," the source said.

Macron has been attempting to help broker a solution to a political crisis that has raised fears over Lebanon's fragile democracy.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun has refused to accept Hariri's resignation while he remains abroad, and Macron said ahead of the talks that he would be welcomed "with the honours due to a prime minister".

Aoun said on Saturday that he had spoken by telephone to the premier after his arrival in Paris, and that Hariri said he would be back in Lebanon for Independence Day celebrations on Wednesday.
"Mad Men" creator and writer Matthew Weiner signs his book about the show in Beverly Hills on Feb. 23. (Photo: Frazer Harrison via Getty Images)

Matthew Weiner, the creator of the acclaimed AMC series Mad Men, spoke out against the accusations of emotional and sexual abuse made against him by Kater Gordon, a former writer for the show.

During a book signing for his debut novel, Heather, The Totality, Weiner denied Gordons accusations but admitted to being a demanding boss during the writing of Mad Men, behavior that he said he now regrets.

News reporter Zohreen Adamjee of KTTV-TV in Los Angeles recorded his remarks at a bookstore and published them to Twitter.

The allegations are not true and that this is a very important topic and a topic that has been an obsession of mine in my work and in my life, Weiner said, according to Adamjees recording.

For like 92 hours of the show, we wanted people to be having this conversation, he added, referencing Mad Men. Its great that were having this conversation.

BREAKING: #MadMen creator Matthew Weiner addresses sexual harassment allegations by writer @katergordon. TV writer/producer @martinoxon tweeted her support for Kater today, saying she believes her. Hear from Weiner here...more on @FOXLA tonight at 10p: pic.twitter.com/rInuQrYkVu  Zohreen (@Zohreen) November 18, 2017

Earlier this month, Gordon told The Information that Weiner had sexually harassed her while she was a staff writer and his personal assistant on Mad Men.

Gordon claims that Weiner told her that she owed it to him to let him see her naked, she told the news site. Weiner at the time reportedly encouraged Gordon to pitch own ideas for the show and offered her a chance to co-write the shows season finales.

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Although Gordon won an Emmy in 2009 for working on Mad Men, she was fired at the end of the shows third season, according to Variety.

When asked why Gordon came forward with the allegation, Weiner said he did not want to speak to someone elses character.

He did, however, say he regretted being a demanding and oftentimes angry boss while working on the AMC drama.

I will say this, that I have hired dozens of women over the years and dozens of people, he said. I am a demanding boss and, especially in the early years, it was very hard to do it and a lot of stress. Its very lonely  I got better at it for sure.

Weiner then suggested he behaved that way because he wanted the show to be great, saying, When I think back on it ... letting people go and being mad about having to rewrite everything, youre just angry a lot of the time, but you want the show to be great and its kind of what you do.

He added, So I guess if I had to do it over again I would do it differently. The person I am now would definitely do it differently.

Marti Noxon, a former senior consultant for Mad Men, stood by Gordons accusation and, in tweets Friday, described Weiners management style as oppressive.

Anyone with an even cursory knowledge of the show Mad Men could imagine that very line coming from the mouth of Pete Campbell, Noxon said, referencing Weiners alleged comment to Gordon.

Matt, Petes creator, is many things. He is devilishly clever and witty, but he is also, in the words of one of his colleagues, an emotional terrorist who will badger, seduce and even tantrum in an attempt to get his needs met, Noxon added.

On the subject of Matt Weiner and #MadMen



About a week ago Kater Gordon, a young female writer who worked on Mad Men bravely came forward with her account of being sexual harassed by Matt Weiner. While sharing writing duties with him, she recalls that he causally mentioned 1/  marti noxon (@martinoxon) November 17, 2017

something to the effect of "you owe it to me to show me your naked body."



I believe her. I was at work with her the day after what she described transpired. I remember clearly how shaken and subdued Kater was -- and continued to be from that day on. 2/  marti noxon (@martinoxon) November 17, 2017

Responding to her statement, Matt claimed he would never make that kind of comment to a colleague. But anyone with an even cursory knowledge of the show Mad Men could imagine that very line coming from the mouth of Pete Campbell. 3/  marti noxon (@martinoxon) November 17, 2017

Matt, Pete's creator, is many things. He is devilishly clever and witty, but he is also, in the words of one of his colleagues, an "emotional terrorist" who will badger, seduce and even tantrum in an attempt to get his needs met. 4/  marti noxon (@martinoxon) November 17, 2017

Noxon also described the working atmosphere that Weiner created, in which everyone is constantly off guard and unsure where they stand.

It is the kind of atmosphere where a comment like you owe it to me to show me your naked body may  or may not  be a joke. And it may  or may not  lead to a demotion or even the end of a career.

Read the rest of Noxons tweets below.

This personality type can not help but create an atmosphere where everyone is constantly off guard and unsure where they stand. It is the kind of atmosphere where a comment like "you owe it to me to show me your naked body"... 5/  marti noxon (@martinoxon) November 17, 2017

may -- or may not -- be a joke. And it may -- or may not -- lead to a demotion or even the end of a career. 6/  marti noxon (@martinoxon) November 17, 2017

Everyone at Mad Men, regardless of gender or position, was affected by this atmosphere. Why did we not confront him more or report him to our parent companies? Well, for one, we were grateful to him for the work and truly in awe of his talents. 7/  marti noxon (@martinoxon) November 17, 2017

For another, it was hard to know what was real when moods and needs shifted so frequently. Self-advocacy is important and I agree we all need to do it more and rely on less on faulty institutions to do it for us 8/  marti noxon (@martinoxon) November 17, 2017

But it is very difficult when the cost is, at best, fear and uncertainty -- and at worst the loss of a job and ruined reputation. Taking that action is one thing to contemplate if you have money in the bank and family to fall back on 9/  marti noxon (@martinoxon) November 17, 2017

but quite another for people from all walks of life without a safety net. And when sexual favors are lightly added to the bag of tools one might use to stay employed and valued, it can be destabilizing or even devastating. 10/  marti noxon (@martinoxon) November 17, 2017

It may not be illegal, but it is oppressive. I witnessed it and, despite the fact that that I was a senior consultant on the show, I also experienced it in my own way in my days at Mad Men. 11/  marti noxon (@martinoxon) November 17, 2017

I believe Kater Gordon.  marti noxon (@martinoxon) November 17, 2017

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From Town & Country

During the Committee to Protect Journalists' annual awards on Wednesday, Meryl Streep took the stage with a surprise speech about physical violence that she had experienced in her life.



According to the Daily Beast, Streep was originally at the event to thank journalists for being the "first line of defense against tyranny and state-sanctioned news." Her speech, in particular, focused on female journalists and their bravery for putting themselves in harm's way.

"We do recognize the special cocktail of venom and ridicule which is always tinged with sexual threat thats served up online for women - any woman in any profession - that stands up to tell the truth," she said. "I revere the people who do this because I am not a naturally brave person,

After thanking the room full of journalists for all they have done, Streep then shared her own personal experiences including a story involving Cher.

"I do know something about real terror - the two times in my life when I was threatened and dealt with real physical violence, I learned something about life that I wouldnt have known otherwise and I was lucky because my instincts served me well, she said.

In one instance, I played dead and waited until the blows stopped - watching like people say you do from about 50 feet above from where I was beaten, she revealed. And in the second instance, someone else was being abused and I just went completely nuts and went after this man. Ask Cher  she was there. And the thug ran away; it was a miracle.

Meryl Streep and Cher previously worked together in the 1983 film Silkwood, for which they both received Academy Award nominations. They are currently working together on the highly anticipated musical film, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, that will be released next year.

Watch Streep's speech starting at 1:39:00 below:

CPJ's 2017 International Press Freedom Awards Join us live for CPJ's International Press Freedom Awards 2017 in New York City on November 15. The annual event honors courageous journalists from around the world. The dinner is hosted by Christiane Amanpour, chief international correspondent for CNN and CPJ senior advisor, and chaired by David Rhodes, president, CBS News. CPJ's 2017 IPFA honorees are: Pravit Rojanaphruk, Thailand -- Award presented by Gillian Tett of The Financial Times.Ahmed Abba, Cameroon -- Award presented by Bill Whitaker of 60 Minutes.Patricia Mayorga, Mexico -- Award presented by the actress Meryl Streep.Afrah Nasser, Yemen -- Award presented by Miriam Elder of BuzzFeed. Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award Winner: Judy Woodruff of PBS NewsHour -- Award presented by Bert Ifill.Help support press freedom by donating to CPJ today: https://cpj20023.thankyou4caring.org/?utm_source=facebooklive&utm_medium=ad&utm_content=june17CPJ in Arabic |    CPJ en Espanol | Committee to Protect Journalists CPJ Africa - Committee to Protect Journalists Committee to Protect Journalists / Europe and Central Asia program Committee to Protect Journalists / Asia DeskCNN International CNN Politics CBSNews.com PBS Khaosod -  Khaosod English RFI RFI English RFI Afrique RFI Hausa Revista Proceso   #IPFA #IPFA2017 #PressFreedom Posted by Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday, November 15, 2017

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A humanitarian crisis is rapidly deepening in Yemen, where millions of aid-reliant people have been cut off from assistance since Saudi Arabia closed the countrys ports on Nov. 5. Riyadh eased the blockade slightly following international outrage, but humanitarian officials say its not enough. Three UN agencies warned Thursday that the lives of millions were at risk if aid is not immediately let in. According to Save the Children, 130 children are dying every day.

Together, we issue another urgent appeal for the coalition to permit entry of lifesaving supplies to Yemen in response to what is now the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, reads a joint statement from the heads of the World Food Program, Unicef and the World Health Organization. The supplies, which include medicines, vaccines and food, are essential to staving off disease and starvation. Without them, untold thousands of innocent victims, among them many children, will die.

More than 20 million people, including 11 million children, are in urgent need of humanitarian supplies that are currently blocked from entering Yemen. Riyadh froze the border in retaliation to an intercepted ballistic missile near the capital, allegedly fired by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebel group. Saudi Arabia accused Iran, its long-time regional rival, of supplying weapons to group, and sealed all entry via land, air, and sea to stem suspected arms smuggling. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called the launch a direct military aggression that could be considered an act of war.

The catastrophic Saudi blockade prompted international outcry, as 7 million people in war-torn Yemen rely completely on imported food. Saudi Arabia implemented a partial lift of the blockade on Monday, saying it would allow aid to enter government controlled ports of Aden, Mocha and Mukalla. But the World Food Program estimates that another 3.2 million will be driven to famine, and 150,000 malnourished children are at risk of dying in the coming months.

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Yemen has been gripped by civil war since a failed political transition in 2015, and its coalition government is backed by Saudi Arabia. The Houthi are backed by Iran, though Tehran has denied providing them with weapons. Since the start of the war, more than 10,000 people may have been killed, according to the Associated Press. Nearly 50,000 have reportedly been injured throughout the conflict.

Violence, famine, and the denial of humanitarian aid also threatens to exacerbate the fastest-growing cholera epidemic ever recorded, affecting nearly 900,000 people, according to UN figures. While numbers of new cases have declined for eight consecutive weeks, the UN warned that if the embargo is not lifted, cholera will flare up once again.

The clock is ticking and stocks of medical, food and other humanitarian supplies are already running low, the UN joint statement read. The cost of this blockade is being measured in the number of lives that are lost.
The mother behind a viral maternity photo shoot, in which her baby bump was covered by 20,000 bees, is now mourning the loss of her child.

Read: Mom-to-Be Covers Her Baby Bump With Swarm of 20,000 Bees in Buzz-Worthy Photo Shoot

Emily Mueller, 33, of Akron, Ohio, wrote on Facebook earlier this week that doctors couldnt find a heartbeat for baby Emersyn just days before he was due.

I was so busy prepping for our upcoming event that I wasn't paying attention to baby movement [] I began to realize I had not felt baby move much and had contractions that felt different than any I have had before, Mueller wrote. Every detail of that moment is forever sketched into my mind and I cannot stop replaying it. Dr. Sutter sat on my right side looking at the screen and turned to me and said, 'Your baby has passed.'"

Mueller then continues to detail the heartbreaking experience of being induced and delivering their stillborn son.

My heart instantly ached for any woman that has told me she had a stillborn, the post continued. How could I have never truly understood how horrible this was? How could I have never thought about these women who suffered in the way I was experiencing now? I feel selfish for never doing everything I could for any family who has told me about this.

She said doctors are unsure what caused the stillbirth and they are still waiting for the results of the test.

Mueller, a beekeeper, went viral in April after a shocking maternity photo shoot licensed by SWNS where she was seen holding a queen bee in her hands that attracted a swarm of honeybees that gathered on her baby bump.

I know a lot of people are looking at this video, thinking, This lady is crazy, Mueller told InsideEdition.com in a previous interview. And I understand completely. Many years ago, I was afraid of bees too.

She said she was stung three times during the shoot, but experienced no negative side effects.

Baby Emersyns death followed two miscarriages, Mueller said. She was inspired to do the photo shoot because honeybees symbolize death and the beginning of new life.

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Read: Woman Carries Twins for Her Sister, Who Had 9 Miscarriages

[Bees] came into my life in a time that we had just suffered a miscarriage. It was our second miscarriage and we were trying to get pregnant, Mueller said. I wanted to find an outlet for that emotion. Thats where everything fell into place for me  when honeybees entered into my life.

Baby Emersyn is survived by his three siblings, Cadyn, 11, Madelynn, 4, and Westyn, 2.

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File Photo: The photo released by SpaceX on Aug. 14, 2017 shows Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon spacecraft sitting on the top, launching at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the United States. (Xinhua)

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. aerospace firm SpaceX stood down on the launch of Zuma spacecraft scheduled for Thursday to review "data from recent fairing testing for another customer", pushing the mysterious launch to Friday at the earliest.

"Though we've preserved the range opportunity for tomorrow, we'll take the time needed to complete the data review and then confirm a new launch date," the company tweeted on Thursday.

SpaceX, based in the state of California, is now targeting the launch of Zuma spacecraft atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Friday from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

This will be Falcon 9's 17th flight in 2017. The Falcon 9 rocket is set to deliver perhaps its most secretive payload yet, a classified government satellite built by defense contractor Northrop Grumman, to low-Earth orbit.

The purpose of the mission, codenamed Zuma, is essentially unknown. It's unclear what kind of spacecraft is going up, or which government agency the launch is for.

The launch comes just one month after the mission became public, when media reported on documents that SpaceX had filed with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, requesting authorization for a launch license as Mission 1390. As reported, Zuma is a commercially contracted, built, and operated clandestine spacecraft by Northrop Grumman via a contract award from the U.S. government.

Following stage separation, Falcon 9's first stage will attempt to land at the company's Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, SpaceX said.

To date, SpaceX has returned and landed a Falcon 9's first stage 19 times on land and at sea. Such landings are part of SpaceX's efforts to develop fully reusable rockets, which the company believes could bring down spaceflight costs. It stands to reason that the selection of the Falcon 9 was by far the cheapest and most launch-date reactive choice for Zuma.

This is actually not the first time SpaceX has sent something secret into space. After receiving certification in 2015 to launch military satellites, the company has already launched two classified payloads this year, and is slated to launch more over the next couple of years.

In May, a Falcon 9 rocket delivered the NROL-76 spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office, and followed that with the launch of an uncrewed X-37B space plane on Sept. 7 on the OTV-5 mission for the U.S. Air Force.

Earlier this month, SpaceX suffered a rocket-engine explosion during a test of its next-generation model at the company's test facility in the city of McGregor, Texas, when a propellant leak ignited, damaging the test stand, according to media reports.

The setback came the company conducted 16 successful missions in 2017, twice as many as its previous high in a calendar year. Also, SpaceX has landed this year 13 of those rockets back on Earth after launch.

SpaceX is still investigating the McGregor explosion to find its "root cause." Despite the explosion, the spaceflight company will push on with its planned launches uninterrupted.

This is not the first time SpaceX has experience failure investigation. On Sept. 1, 2016, a Falcon 9 blew up on the launch pad during a routine preflight test, destroying the rocket, its payload and the launch pad, but no one was hurt.

In 2015, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket exploded a couple of minutes after lifting off from Cape Canaveral en route to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. No one was on board nor injured.
Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore initiated a sexual encounter with 14-year-old Leigh Corfman when he was a 32-year-old district attorney. The Post investigation also quoted three other accusers who said that Moore pursued relationships with them when they were between the ages of 16 and 18.

Five other women have since come forward with their own allegations against Moore. The former Alabama state judge has denied the allegations and his campaign has vowed to stay in the Alabama Special Senate election. Moores wife, Kayla Moore, has also said her husband will not step down from the Senate race.

Kayla Moore: The @washingtonpost has called everyone I have never known for 40 years. They have called everyone my husband [Roy Moore] has ever known for 40 years." pic.twitter.com/rPKq0iK53A  Scott McGrew (@ScottMcGrew) November 17, 2017

Some Republicans and Democrats have called on Moore to get out of the race, while his Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, has pulled ahead in the polls in Alabama, which is usually a conservative stronghold.

I believe the women, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. I think he should step aside.

Moores allegations come on the heels of a slew of cases in Hollywood, where public figures like Harvey Weinstein, Louis C.K., Kevin Spacey, and others have been accused of sexual harassment and assault.

Heres a list of Moores accusers so far.

Leigh Corfman

The allegations: Leigh Corfman told the Washington Post that she met Moore in 1979 when she was just 14 years old. The then-district attorney offered to watch Corfman while her mother attended a custody hearing, she said, and he asked for her phone number when he was alone with her. Corfman said that days later, Moore drove her to his house and kissed her. During a second encounter, he allegedly took off her shirt and pants and touched her over her underwear and led her hands to touch him over his underwear. I wanted it over with, Corfman told the Post.

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Moores response: It never happened, Moore said during an interview with Sean Hannity. I dont know Miss Corfman from anybody. I never talked to or never had any contact with her. Allegations of sexual misconduct with her are completely false. I believe theyre politically motivated.

Wendy Miller

The allegations: Wendy Miller told the Post that she met Moore when she was 14 and working at Gadsden Mall. She claimed that Moore asked her out on dates when she was 16, but her mother forbid her from going out with Moore. Miller said that she was flattered at the time. Now that Ive gotten older, the idea that a grown man would want to take out a teenager, thats disgusting to me, she told the Post.

Moores response: In an interview on Hannity, Moore said he only recognized the names of Debbie Wesson Gibson and Gloria Thacker Deason. Its political, Moore told Hannity of Miller and Corfmans allegations. Its a direct attack on this campaign and it involves a 14-year-old girl, which I would have never had any contact with  nothing with her mother or any courthouse or anywhere else would I have done that.

Debbie Wesson Gibson

The allegations: Debbie Wesson Gibson told the Post that Moore first asked her out in 1981, when she was 17, after he had spoken to her high school civics class. She said that they went on several dates over a period of two to three months, but they never did anything more than kiss. She said her mother approved of her going out with Moore.

Moores response: Moore told Hannity he didnt remember speaking to her civics class, but said he knew Wesson Gibson and her parents. I remember her as a good girl, he said. I know her, but I dont remember going out on dates. I knew her as a friend. If we did go out on dates, then we did. But I dont remember that. (Later in the interview, Moore said that he dated a lot of young ladies after his return from the military, but said that he didnt remember dating women who were much younger than him. He also added: I dont remember ever dating a girl without the permission of her mother.)

Gloria Thacker Deason

The allegations: Gloria Thacker Deason told the Post that she met Moore when she was 18 at the department store where she worked at the Gadsden Mall. She said they dated on and off over several months, including dates where they drank wine. But she said that the relationship did not go beyond kissing. My mom was really, really strict, and my curfew was 10:30, but she would let me stay out later with Roy, she told the Post.

Moores response: Moore told Hannity that he never provided alcohol to a minor. I seem to remember her as a good girl I had some sort of knowledge of her parents, her mother in particular, he said.

Beverly Young Nelson

The allegations: In a press conference on Nov. 13, Beverly Young Nelson said that Moore sexually assaulted her in 1977 when she was just 16. She claims that Moore offered to drive her home from her job waitressing at a restaurant and then groped her and forced her head toward his crotch. She said that she had first met Moore at the restaurant she worked at when she was 15. She said he frequently complimented her appearance and signed her yearbook with the note: To a sweeter, more beautiful girl I could not say Merry Christmas. Love Roy Moore, D.A.

Moores response: During a press conference on Nov. 13, Moore denied her allegations. I can tell you without hesitation, this is absolutely false, Moore said. I never did what she said I did. I dont even know the woman. I dont know anything about her. I dont even know where the restaurant is or was. Moore also denied signing her yearbook and called on Nelson to release the yearbook so a handwriting expert could examine it.

Tina Johnson

The allegations: Tina Johnson told AL.com that Moore groped her in 1991 when she visited his law office with her mother. Johnson, who was 28 years old at the time, said Moore complimented her appearance throughout the meeting and then grabbed her butt when her mother had left the room.

Moores response: Moore has not commented on Johnsons specific allegations, but denies all of the allegations against him.

Gena Richardson

The allegations: In an interview with the Post published on Nov. 15, Gena Richardson said that she first met Moore at Gadsden Mall in 1977 either before or just after her 18th birthday. She said that she declined to give him her phone number, and Moore then called her at school to ask her out. After Moore allegedly attempted again to ask her out, she agreed to go on a date, Richardson said. At the end of the night, she said that Moore gave her an unwanted forceful kiss.

Moores response: Moore has not commented on Richardsons allegations, but denies all of the allegations against him. If you are a liberal and hate Judge Moore, apparently he groped you, Moores campaign said in a statement to the Post. If you are a conservative and love Judge Moore, you know these allegations are a political farce.

Becky Gray

The allegations: Becky Gray told the Post in the story published Nov. 15 that she met Moore at Gadsden Mall, where she worked at the time, when she was 22. Gray said that Moore repeatedly asked her out, and that she consistently turned down his advances. She said she complained to her manager, who allegedly told her that it was not the first time he had a complaint about him hanging out at the mall.

Moores response: Moore has not commented on Grays allegations, but denies all of the allegations against him.
BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) - Traditional friendship between China and North Korea represents "valuable wealth" for their people, China said after its special envoy met a high-ranking North Korean official, but there was no mention of the crisis over North Korea's weapons. Song Tao, who heads the ruling Chinese Communist Party's international department, is visiting Pyongyang to discuss the outcome of the recently concluded Communist Party Congress in China, at which President Xi Jinping cemented his power. In a brief statement dated Friday but reported by Chinese media on Saturday, the international department said Song, who is there representing Xi, reported to North Korean official Choe Ryong Hae the outcome of the congress. Song and Choe also talked about relations between their parties and countries, the department said. "They said that the traditional friendship between China and North Korea was founded and cultivated by both countries former old leaders, and is valuable wealth for the two peoples," it said. "Both sides must work hard together to promote the further development of relations between the two parties and two countries to benefit their two peoples." The department made no mention of North Korea's nuclear or missile programs, which are strongly opposed by China. The North's official KCNA news agency said Song informed Choe about China's 19th National Congress "in detail", and stressed China's stance to steadily develop the traditionally friendly relations between the two parties and countries. Song arrived on Friday but it is not clear how long he will be in North Korea. China has repeatedly pushed for a diplomatic solution to the crisis over North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and missiles to carry them, but in recent months it has had only limited high-level exchanges with North Korea. The last time China's special envoy for North Korea visited the country was in February last year. NO MAGICIAN Song's trip comes just a week after U.S. President Donald Trump visited Beijing as part of an Asia tour, where he pressed for greater action to rein in North Korea, especially from China, with which North Korea does 90 percent of its trade. The influential state-run Chinese tabloid the Global Times said in an editorial that it was unwise to expect too much from his trip, saying his key mission was to inform North Korea about the party congress in Beijing. "Song is not a magician," the newspaper said. "The key to easing the situation on the peninsula lies in the hands of Washington and Pyongyang. If both sides insist on their own logic and refuse to move in the same direction, even if Song opens a door for talks, the door could be closed any time." It is not clear whether Song will meet North Korea's youthful leader Kim Jong Un. Kim and President Xi exchanged messages of congratulations and thanks over the Chinese party congress, but neither leader has visited the other's country since assuming power. Song's department is in charge of the party's relations with foreign political parties, and has traditionally served as a conduit for Chinese diplomacy with North Korea. China's new special envoy for North Korea, Kong Xuanyou, who took up his position in August, is not believed to have visited the country since assuming the job. (Reporting by Joyce Lee and Ben Blanchard; Editing by G Crosse, Robert Birsel)
Bonn (AFP) - The Obama-era official who helped deliver the 2015 Paris Agreement, lashed out Thursday at the Donald Trump administration's "wrongheaded" decision to abandon the first-ever pact committing all countries to limiting climate change.

Todd Stern, who was Barack Obama's special envoy for climate change, said he was "annoyed, frustrated" by the new president's rejection of a deal that took the world's nations more than two decades to negotiate.

"It's completely wrongheaded thing to do," Stern, who left the state department in 2016, told AFP on the sidelines of a UN climate conference in Bonn which he attended as an observer.

"Climate change is a huge challenge, we all know that," he said.

"We are in a... race against time to transform the economy faster than the bad stuff of climate change," he said.

"Trying to say it's a hoax, or it doesn't mean anything, or it's a terrible agreement and the rest of the world is laughing at us, is just so.. ridiculous."

Obama was a champion of the deal which America ratified just two months before Trump, who has described climate change as a "hoax", was elected to the White House.

Trump announced in June that America would abandon the pact, but the rules determine this cannot happen until November 2020.

The United States is the world's biggest historical greenhouse gas polluter, and second only to China for current-day emissions.

This week, Syria became the 196th country to formally adopt the Paris Agreement, leaving America as the only nation in the UN climate convention to reject it.

The pact commits countries to limiting average global warming to under two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over Industrial Revolution levels, and 1.5 C if possible, to avert calamitous climate change-induced storms, drought and sea-level rises.

To bolster the agreement, nations submitted voluntary commitments to curb emissions.

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But the 1 C mark has already been passed, and analysts say the world is headed for a 3 C-warmer world, or more, on current country pledges.

- 'More angry than sad' -

While waiting to exit the deal, Washington is participating in the UN climate talks, where envoys are working out "rules" for putting the agreement into action.

Not all have welcomed the presence of the Americans in their midst, and Stern said Trump's decision "inevitably undermines the credibility and... strength of the US team."

He also criticised the White House hosting a sideline event at the talks on Monday, where administration officials and energy company executives defended continued fossil fuel use.

"Do I think it's constructive to do an event on coal? No, obviously not," said Stern, now a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think-tank.

Having invested more than seven years in negotiating the Paris Agreement, Stern said he felt "more angry than sad" at the way things have turned out -- "annoyed, frustrated".

"Ideologues thought it was a good idea, and some of the president's so-called base supporters thought it was a good idea, but you have to look pretty hard to find informed people, companies... who thought that was a good idea," he said.
An Ohio Supreme Court justice who is running for governor as a Democrat is receiving criticism for a Facebook post that details his sexual history.

Justice Bill ONeill spoke up on behalf of all heterosexual males in response to sexual harassment allegations against Minnesota Sen. Al Franken in a Facebook post filled with boasts about his own sexual past. The accusation against Franken comes as several women have come forward in recent months with allegations of sexual misconduct against numerous powerful men, including Harvey Weinstein, Louis C.K., Kevin Spacey and Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.

Now that the dogs of war are calling for the head of Senator Al Franken I believe it is time to speak up on behalf of all heterosexual males. As a candidate for Governor let me save my opponents some research time, ONeill wrote in a post which has since been deleted. In the last fifty years I was sexually intimate with approximately 50 very attractive females.

ONeill said his experiences included several gorgeous women. It ranged from a gorgeous personal secretary to Senator Bob Taft (Senior) who was my first true love and we made passionate love in the hayloft of her parents barn in Gallipolis and ended with a drop dead gorgeous red head who was a senior advisor to Peter Lewis at Progressive Insurance in Cleveland, he wrote.

The gubernatorial candidate ended his post with a call to get back to discussing legalizing marijuana and opening the state hospital network to combat the opioid crisis.

I am sooooo disappointed by this national feeding frenzy about sexual indiscretions decades ago, he wrote.

Though the post is not visible now, ONeill confirmed to Cleveland.com that he wrote it and later edited it to remove identifying information. ONeills words immediately caused controversy  his campaign spokesperson said he was quitting in light of the comments.

The comments made today by @BillForOhio were both disturbing and misguided. As a victim of sexual assault, I cannot in good faith remain a part of #TeamONeill.  Chris Clevenger (@ChrisEClevenger) November 17, 2017

ONeill issued a new Facebook post on Friday, still defending Franken and calling for people to lighten up.
Jerusalem (AFP) - A Palestinian rammed his car into two Israeli civilians in the occupied West Bank Friday before trying to stab soldiers and being shot, the Israeli army said.

In a statement the army said the attacker drove his car into the two Israelis near the Gush Etzion junction in the southern West Bank, leaving them both injured.

"The assailant proceeded by exiting the vehicle, armed with a knife, and attempted to stab (Israeli) soldiers," it added, saying he was shot and "severely injured" before harming anyone.

The Palestinian assailiant and one of the wounded were evacuated to the Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said the Palestinian was 17 and in critical condition.

Since a wave of violence broke out in October 2015, at least 308 Palestinians or Arab Israelis as well as 51 Israelis and seven foreigners have been killed, according to an AFP count.

Israeli authorities say most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks. Others were shot dead in protests and clashes.

Gush Etzion junction, next to a major Israeli settlement in the southern West Bank, has been the site of multiple attacks during that time.

Violence has subsided significantly in recent months.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 01:49:10|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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MADRID, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Abdelbaki Es Satty, the imam from the Spanish town of Ripoll, considered to have been the driving force behind the terrorist attacks which killed 16 in Barcelona and Cambrils on Aug. 17, had previously been an informant for the Spanish intelligence services.

El Pais newspaper quoted sources on Friday from the Spanish National Intelligence Center (CNI) who confirm that Es Satty had worked for them as an informer while serving a four-year sentence for drug trafficking between 2010 and 2014.

El Satty was arrested at the border of the Spanish enclave of Ceuta trying to bring 121 kg of hashish into Spain and imprisoned near the city of Castellon on the east coast of the country.

The source explains that the links between the CNI and the man, who had also been investigated following the Atocha train bombings of March 11, 2004, fell "within the usual protocols of the agency" and that it was "normal to obtain information to fight terrorism from those in prisons who may have information, and that there are many people who cooperate."

Es Satty was killed on Aug. 16 in an explosion in a safe house in the town of Alcanar where he and the cell were preparing explosives for a major attack in Barcelona. The explosion caused the surviving members of the cell to change their plans and instead carry out the attack using a van on Las Ramblas, which claimed 14 lives on Aug. 17, and an attack in Cambrils in the early hours of the following morning in which another person was killed.

A further person was stabbed to death as Younes Abouyaaqoub attempted to escape after the van attack on Las Ramblas boulevard.

As a result of that attack, Barcelona City Hall confirmed a series of measures this Thursday to prevent a similar incident from happening again.

The city council's security board has agreed to place obstacles such as bollards and heavy plant pots on Las Ramblas and other busy streets in the city, while the area around the Sagrada Familia Church, which is thought to have been the original target for the terrorists, will be turned into a traffic-free zone.

"The measures will be implemented in a progressive manner and will be compatible with the model of the city, affecting above all the center of the city and around the Sagrada Familia basilica," confirmed a communique on the Catalan regional government's website.
Paris (AFP) - On December 12, 2015, 195 countries gathered in the French capital to conclude the first truly universal climate treaty, the Paris Agreement, aimed at preventing worst-case-scenario global warming.

The Palestinian Authority has since joined the UN's climate convention and the Paris Agreement, bringing the total to 196.

In June 2016, President Donald Trump announced the United States would pull out of the Paris pact, which his predecessor, Barack Obama, had ratified the year before.

The United States is now the only country to opt out, though it cannot formally withdraw until November 2020.

- The goal -

Nations agreed to hold global warming to "well below" two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels, and "pursuing efforts" to keep it to 1.5 C.

The lower goal was a demand of poor countries and island states at high risk of climate change effects such as sea-level rise.

But experts say keeping temperature rise under the two-degree ceiling is a tall order, requiring an immediate and deep reduction in emissions from burning fossil fuels.

Based on voluntary national pledges to reduce emissions, the planet is on track for warming of about three degrees, scientists warn -- a recipe for more frequent and intense floods, droughts and superstorms.

- Getting there -

Signatories will aim for emissions to peak "as soon as possible", with "rapid reductions" thereafter.

By the second half of this century, states the pact, emissions from human activities such as energy production and farming, and the amount that can be absorbed by carbon-absorbing "sinks" such as forests or storage technology, must be in balance.

The UN's climate science panel says greenhouse gas emissions have to drop 40-70 percent between 2010 and 2050, and to zero by 2100, for any chance of hitting the 2 C target.

- Tracking progress -

In 2018, and every five years thereafter, countries will take stock of the overall impact of their efforts to rein in global warming.

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It "urges" and "requests" all countries to update emissions-cutting pledges by 2020 and every five years after that.

Some nations, including the United States, set emissions-curbing targets for 2025, others for 2030.

- Financing -

Rich countries are expected to provide funding to help developing countries make the costly shift to cleaner energy sources and shore up their defences against the impacts of climate change.

Donor nations must report every two years on their financing levels -- current and intended.

In a non-binding "decision" that accompanies the treaty, the $100 billion (85 billion euros) per year that rich countries have pledged to muster from 2020 is referred to as a "floor" -- meaning it can only go up.

The amount must be updated by 2025.

On current trends, climate grants and loans from governments -- both bilateral and through development banks -- suggest total public financing would reach about $67 billion in 2020, according to the OECD.

But Trump has said the United States -- which had pledged $3 billion towards the Green Climate Fund, of which it delivered $1 billion under Barack Obama -- would not fulfil its financing commitments.
Owners of Golden Retrievers had 26 per cent reduced chance of early death - Moment RF

To own a beautifully-bred English Setter or Springer Spaniel is to enjoy a certain social cachet.

People are more likely to come up and make conversation than they would if you are sporting a Pit Bull Terrier, and you will look the part at countryside events.

However, new research has identified a far more critical reason for selecting a top pedigree dog: you will probably live longer.

A massive study encompassing the entire population of Sweden has found that those living in a household with a dog have a 20 per cent lower risk of early death compared to those living without.

But, according to the statistics, any old dog wont do.

Owners of pointing dogs like English or Red Setters enjoyed a substantial 40 per cent reduced mortality risk over the 12 years of the study, while Beagles and Blood Hounds conferred a 37 per cent benefit.

People with dogs from the retriever family, such as a Springer Spaniel, can rely on a 26 per cent lower chance of early death, but in bad news for mongrel lovers like Richmal Cromptons infamous Just William character William Brown, owning a mixed-breed dog yields virtually no advantage at all.

The researchers believe the improvement in cardiovascular health and the consequent life expectancy is driven by how demanding a given breed of dog is to exercise.

Good for the heart: dog owners tend to exercise more Credit: Gary John Norman

Simply put, dogs that need a long walk every day tend to have more healthy owners.

However, mild-mannered, friendly dogs like retrievers are believed to punch above their walking weight because their approachability means their owners are more likely to socialise with other people, which itself improves wellbeing, leading to better cardiovascular health.

The Kennel Club last night welcomed the new study, which is published in Scientific Reports, as proof that pedigree dogs are best.

The research also showed a striking correlation between health and dog ownership among people living on their own, revealing a 33 per cent reduction in the risk of early death.

Story continues

Professor Tove Fall, a vet and epidemiologist at Uppsala University who helped lead the study, said: "A very interesting finding in our study was that dog ownership was especially prominent as a protective factor in persons living alone, which is a group reported previously to be at higher risk of cardiovascular disease and death than those living in a multi-person household.

Perhaps a dog may stand in as an important family member in the single households.

English Setters are among the most beneficial group - with 40 per cent reduced risk Credit: Przemyslaw Skrzypek

She added that, alongside the benefits from exercise and wellbeing, living with a dog may improve the bacterial makeup of the owner.

Approximately 100 times bigger than any similar study, the new research included dog owners aged between 40 and 80 for 12 years from 2001.

Owning a mongrel was associated with only a 2 per cent reduced mortality risk, but Professor Fall said this could be explained by the fact that unhealthy people tend to come from lower socio-economic groups and are more likely to buy cheaper animals.

Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary, said: There are so many benefits to dog ownership, both on an individual and societal level, and the study confirms what dog owners already know  that owning a dog keeps people active, social and physically fitter in many cases.

Particularly interesting is the fact that the benefits to humans of owning pedigree dogs is noticeably higher than owning mixed-breeds. The great thing about pedigree dogs is their predictability in terms of care requirements, including how much exercise they need."
The week was filled with stunning new accusations of sexual misconduct. Additional women came forward against Republican Alabama Senate candidate, Roy Moore. Beverly Young Nelson said Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 16 years old and showed her yearbook that the Moore reportedly signed. Sen. Al Franken was also at the center of a sexual misconduct scandal after a photo emerged of him groping a TV broadcaster who said he also kissed her without her consent in 2006.

Other major headlines of the week included a man going on a fatal shooting spree in Northern California, the deadly magnitude 7.3 earthquake that hit Iraq and Iran, and Leonardo Da Vinci's portrait of Christ selling for a record $450.3 million.

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.
Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - The Palestinians will freeze their ties with the US if it follows through on a threat to close the Palestine Liberation Organisation's office in Washington, a senior PLO official warned Saturday.

The surprise American move and Palestinian backlash came as US President Donald Trump seeks bargaining chips in his bid to broker an elusive Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

Trump has a 90-day window to avert the closure if he deems progress has been made.

But PLO Secretary General Saeb Erekat said his organisation had officially informed Washington that "we would put on hold all our communications with this American administration" if the office were closed.

The PLO, which the international community sees as representing all Palestinians, must have its permission to operate its premises in the American capital renewed every six months.

Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said it was the first time since the 1980s that the State Department had refused to renew it.

Malki told AFP Palestinian officials had received a letter from Washington two days ago "saying that the Secretary of State had not found enough reasons to keep the office open".

"This has not happened in the past, and we have demanded clarifications from the State Department and the White House," he said.

"They told us that there would be a meeting of senior legal experts on Monday. Then they would give a clear answer," he said, adding that Palestinian leaders would then meet to discuss their response.

A US State Department official cited "certain statements made by Palestinian leaders" about the International Criminal Court as the reason behind the non-renewal.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, in his latest speech at the UN General Assembly, suggested taking the issue of Israeli settlements to the ICC.

In 2015 Congress issued a resolution barring Palestinians from seeking to wield influence over the ICC regarding investigations into Israeli nationals.

Story continues

- Abbas 'deeply surprised' -

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas was "deeply surprised" by the State Department's move, his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said in remarks carried by official Palestinian news agency WAFA on Saturday.

He said the decision "represents an unprecedented step in the history of the Palestinian-American relationship, and has dangerous consequences for the peace process and the American-Arab relations."

It "represents a blow to attempt to build peace", he said.

The State Department official said Trump had 90 days to decide whether to waiver the decision if he deems "the Palestinians have entered into direct, meaningful negotiations with Israel".

The peace process has been deadlocked since April 2014 following the collapse of indirect negotiations led by then US secretary of state John Kerry.

The State Department official said Washington was hopeful any "closure will be short-lived," emphasising that "we are not cutting off relations with the PLO, nor do we intend to stop working with the Palestinian Authority."

"This measure should in no way be seen as a signal that the US is backing off those efforts."

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the decision was "a matter of US law."

"We respect the decision and look forward to continuing to work with the US to advance peace and security in the region," his office said.

In a video on Twitter, Erekat called the decision "very unfortunate and unacceptable", blaming it on pressure exerted by Netanyahu's government.

"At a time when we are trying to cooperate to achieve the ultimate deal they take such steps which will undermine the whole peace process," Erekat said, echoing Trump's pledges to forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.
Pope Francis is once again proving he has absolutely zero patience for climate change deniers.

Climate change is one of the most worrying phenomena our humanity is experiencing, the pontiff wrote Thursday in a letter sent to world leaders gathered for the United Nations annual climate change conference. He also warned participants against falling prey to certain perverse attitudes on the issue, including denial, indifference and resignation.

Such attitudes certainly do not help honest research or sincere and productive dialogue on building the future of our planet, Francis wrote, according to a translation provided by Vatican Radio. We need an exchange that unites us all, because the environmental challenge we are experiencing, and its human roots, regards us all, and affects us all.

Pope Francis has long been an advocate for action on climate change. (Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The purpose of this years meeting, officially called the 23rd Conference of the Parties, is to hammer out how countries will implement the Paris climate accord. The landmark pact, which nearly 200 countries signed in 2015, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions around the world.

Francis didnt berate any particular nation. But theres only one country in the world that has remained opposed to the global agreement: the United States.

From left to right: French President Emmanuel Macron; prime minister of Fiji and president of COP 23 Frank Bainimarama; German Chancellor Angela Merkel; and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The leaders pose on Wednesday before the opening session of the United Nations' conference on climate change in Bonn, Germany. (Photo: JOHN MACDOUGALL via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump promised in June that he would withdraw the U.S. from the pact, claiming it would damage the American economy. The U.S. is one of the worlds top emitters of greenhouse gases.

The Trump administration has also proposed rolling back the Clean Power Plan, an Obama-era federal regulation aimed at limiting greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The president has instead promised to revive Americas coal industry and increase oil and gas production.

Trump has long been a climate change skeptic, previously describing the phenomenon as bullshit and a hoax created by and for the Chinese.

Francis, on the other hand, is a staunch advocate for action on the environment. In a 2015 encyclical called Laudato Si, he made it clear that he believes humans are partly to blame for the troubles the Earth is facing. He laid out a moral and theological case for addressing climate change and urged Catholics and others around the world to make the issue a top priority.

Story continues

Pope Francis exchanges gifts with President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump at the Vatican on May 24. (Photo: AFP via Getty Images)

When Francis met Trump at the Vatican earlier this year, the pontiff sent the president off with some heavy reading  a copy of Laudato Si was among the many gifts Francis gave Trump.

Judging by the administrations decision to defend fossil fuels at the COP23 conference, theres a chance Trump may not have gleaned much from his homework.

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Also on HuffPost

Pope Francis Quotes On The Environment

From a draft of "Laudato Sii," translated by The Huffington Post.

Pope Francis Quotes On The Environment

From a draft of "Laudato Sii," translated by The Huffington Post.

Pope Francis Quotes On The Environment

From a draft of "Laudato Sii," translated by The Guardian.

Pope Francis Quotes On The Environment

From a draft of "Laudato Sii," translated by The Guardian.

Pope Francis Quotes On The Environment

From a draft of "Laudato Sii," translated by The Huffington Post.

Pope Francis Quotes On The Environment

Pope Francis Quotes On The Environment

Pope Francis Quotes On The Environment

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Harare (AFP) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, 93, has a long history of making colourful or controversial remarks during a reign that has spanned nearly four decades.

Among them:

- On staying in office -

"Some are saying 'Mr Mugabe is old, so he should step down'... No! When my time comes, I will tell you." 2014

"Only God who appointed me will remove me -- not the MDC (opposition), not the British." 2008

- On coming to power -

Mugabe's speech when Zimbabwe won independence was more conciliatory.

"It could never be a correct justification that because the whites oppressed us yesterday when they had power, the blacks must oppress them today." 1980

- On seizing farms -

"You are now our enemies because you really have behaved as enemies of Zimbabwe. We are full of anger. Our entire community is angry and that is why we now have the war veterans seizing land." 2000

- On Britain, former colonial ruler -

"The British were brought up as a violent people, liars, scoundrels and crooks... I am told that (former British PM Tony) Blair was a troublesome little boy at school." 2001

- On gay people -

"Worse than pigs and dogs... Those who do it, we will say, they are wayward. It is just madness, insanity." 2010

- On gay marriage -

"(President Barack) Obama came to Africa saying Africa must allow gay marriages... God destroyed the Earth because of these sins. Weddings are for a man and a woman." 2013

- On Nelson Mandela -

"Mandela has gone a bit too far in doing good to the non-black communities, really in some cases at the expense of (blacks)... That's being too saintly, too good." 2013

- On Hitler -

"I am still the Hitler of the time. This Hitler has only one objective, justice for his own people, sovereignty for his people, recognition of the independence of his people.

"If that is Hitler, then let me be a Hitler tenfold." 2003

- On his affair -

Story continues

Before his first wife died in 1992, Mugabe started a relationship with Grace, whom he married in 1996.

"I wanted children and this is how I thought I could get them. I knew what I was doing and my wife knew." 1998

- On colonialism -

"African resources belong to Africa. Others may come to assist as our friends and allies, but no longer as colonisers or oppressors, no longer as racists." 2015

- On death -

False reports of Mugabe dying were a feature of his old age.

"I have died many times. That's where I have beaten Christ. Christ died once and resurrected once. I have died and resurrected and I don't know how many times I will die and resurrect." 2012
Washington (AFP) - The latest US and Russian bid to find enough common ground on which to build some hope for Syria is in trouble, just days ahead of talks that could make or break the peace process.

A United Nations mediator has called on Bashar al-Assad's regime and a beleaguered opposition coalition to send envoys to Geneva on November 28 to resolve the seven-year-old civil war.

This comes less than a week after Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin issued a joint statement agreeing that there is "no military solution" to the conflict.

US officials then welcomed the statement as a sign of Russia's commitment to a UN-backed political process that Washington feels must lead to an end to Assad's bloody rein.

But if their show of optimism raised cynical eyebrows then, it seemed even less plausible by Friday, after the latest heated showdown over Syria at the United Nations.

There, Russia moved to thwart international attempts to salvage a UN-led probe into Assad's and extremist groups' use of chemical weapons to slaughter Syrian civilians.

Washington's ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, was clear about what the Russian veto of a US-backed resolution meant for the broader peace process.

- Fruitless forays -

"Russia proves they cannot be trusted or credible as we work towards a political solution in Syria," she declared.

The previous US administration under Barack Obama repeatedly tried and failed to engage Putin with a peace plan that would lead to a political transition away from Assad's rule.

Then secretary of state John Kerry's frequent but fruitless forays to hotel conference rooms in Vienna and Geneva to spar with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were much mocked at home.

But, despite the undeniable progress that a US-led military coalition has made against the Islamic State group's Syrian strongholds, Putin has remained loyal to Assad.

And US diplomats now hope not only to nudge Russia into bringing him to the table, but also to have Moscow help them oust Syria's other main ally, Iran, from the battlefield.

Story continues

If Russia, in Haley's words, is "no longer trusted or credible" -- what hope can there be of this plan, with UN envoy Staffan de Mistura's November 28 peace talks fast approaching?

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert shared Haley's disgust with Russia's opposition to the UN chemical weapons probe, saying: "We were very disappointed."

"We know that Russia one again prioritized protecting the Assad regime," she said, while insisting this was no death knell for the broader peace process.

"There are a lot of areas where we don't see eye-to-eye with Russia, but there are some areas where we do see eye-to-eye."

- Ceasefire zone -

Nauert noted that Moscow and Washington agree on the need to destroy IS, and have worked together to set up a ceasefire zone in southwest Syria.

"So the secretary and the president and Mr Lavrov and Vladimir Putin have agreed to try to put together another one," she said.

"If we can do that, and we can find this area of agreement, it could potentially bring in more aid and save lives and try to get Syria more stable."

But, asked if Russia could be a US partner in saving the Geneva process toward a settlement, she admitted: "I don't know."

Many observers scoff at that idea, and most doubt that Putin, having risked Russian troops and planes to save Assad, would now encourage a peace process that would see him step down.

And western diplomats say that, in private, some senior US officials admit that Assad and Putin effectively won the war two years ago and are now just consolidating victory.

To give that a veneer of international respectability, Moscow has set up its own peace process in Astana with Turkey and Iran as co-guarantors -- leaving aside the US and UN efforts.

"The Russians are doing everything they can to drain Geneva of its substance and replace it with a process they control," said Joseph Bahout, Middle East scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

For Bahout, the Trump-Putin joint statement was meant to paper over the cracks in the breakdown, but the bitter row at the United Nations paints a clearer picture of relations.

Even the ceasefire zone, and its application, has been a source of tension. The United States saw it as a sign that Russia is amenable to countering the Iranian role.

The southwestern area covered by the agreement is largely held by Iranian-backed forces, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah, and Washington hoped the deal would lessen Israeli concerns.

But when US officials talked this up as a success, Lavrov responded sharply that the ceasefire deal had nothing to do with concern about Iranian forces.

"Since then, the climate has worsened," he told AFP. "What's happening at the UN is in part a result of those tensions."
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (Standing in the car) inspects troops during the Victory Day parade in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2017. (Xinhua/Wu Zhuang)

MOSCOW, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Russia will keep the number of its soldiers unchanged at 1,013,628, a presidential decree published on Friday said.

The scale of Russian troops will remain exactly the same as on July 1 this year, when an earlier decree took effect.

The total number of Armed Forces personnel will stand at 1,902,758, about 300 people less than the strength in July.

The new decree will be effective from January 1 next year.
The New York Times

PHOENIX  Kari Lakes defeat in the governors race in Arizona has set off a high-stakes tug of war within the Republican Party, as Lakes right-wing allies pushed her to mount a Trump-style challenge to the results, while some establishment leaders  including a former Republican governor  urged her to concede her loss and move on. Lakes next move could prove a turning point for her party and the far-right faction of election deniers that propelled her rapid rise this year. Lake stands as the
Washington (AFP) - Roy Moore, the Republican candidate from Alabama accused of preying on teenage girls when he was in his 30s, trails his Democratic rival in the race for the crucial Senate seat, according to the latest polls.

A Gravis survey published on Friday had Moore, a 70-year-old former state supreme court judge and hard-line conservative, trailing Democrat Doug Jones, a 63-year-old US Attorney, by 47 percent to 42 percent.

A Fox News poll on Thursday put Jones at 50 percent and Moore at 42 percent, while a local Fox 10 poll had Jones up 49-43.

The polls had margins of error of between two and 3.5 percentage points.

Before The Washington Post published the first allegations against Moore, the Republican was heavily favored to win the December 12 election in the state where Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton by nearly 28 points.

Moore has denied the allegations against him and his wife held a press conference on Friday to defend her husband.

"He will not step down," Kayla Moore told reporters in Montgomery, Alabama. "He will not stop fighting for the people of Alabama.

"In his words and I quote, "I will not stop until they lay me in that box in the ground," she said.

The Senate election, being held to replace Jeff Sessions, who was named attorney general, has national repercussions because Republicans hold only a slim 52-48 majority in the chamber.

A number of Senate Republicans, including majority leader Mitch McConnell, have called on Moore to quit the race, but he has adamantly refused to do so.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Friday that the president finds the allegations against Moore "extremely troubling" but that it was up to the people of Alabama to decide.
House Speaker Paul Ryan smiles as he arrives to speak to the media with House Republicans following passage of the GOP tax overhaul (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin): AP

Republicans in the House of Representatives have approved a tax proposal that includes a giant tax hike on graduate students.

Tamar Oostrom, currently earning her PhD in economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been crunching the numbers to determine how the bill  which includes more than $1 trillion in tax cuts for US corporations  would affect the taxes paid by graduate students.

This bill would increase our tax by 300 or 400 percent. I think it's absolutely crazy, Ms Oostrom told NPR. The past week this is what I've been talking about with other graduate students, with classmates. I think we're all shocked.

Graduate students like Ms Oostrom are often able to afford advanced degrees by earning tuition waivers. In these cases, students will work for the university by teaching classes or conducting research in exchange for a modest stipend and free tuition.

According to the American Council on Education, roughly 145,000 graduate students receive this kind of tuition reduction.

That cost of tuition at MIT is technically about $50,000, even though a lot of students dont have to pay it. Under the House Republicans tax proposal, these graduate students would have to report that tuition forgiveness as income.

Ryan Hill, a fourth-year PhD student at MIT, told NPR that he already pays taxes on his $30,000 stipend.

But, adding in the value of his free tuition, he said, would require him to pay taxes as if he made $80,000 a year  a huge difference for him and his wife, who works part time while also caring for their new baby.

I wish we didn't have to stress about money as much as we already do," Mr Hill said. It's been already very hard to just emotionally get through this time of life because we have to be so frugal.

The House on Thursday, in a 227-205 vote, met the threshold it needed to pass the Republican proposal. But tax legislation in the Senate faces a more uncertain future.

There is also an ocean of differences between the Senates and Houses versions that would need to be reconciled before a final tax measure could head to the Presidents desk to be signed into law.
Russian investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov, who co-wrote the definitive books on the post-Soviet security services and the history of the Russian internet, has kept tabs on National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowdens ongoing exile.

He is a sort of ghost, Soldatov told a recent Lawfare podcast. It looks like hes there, but since hes banned from talking to Russian journalists or Moscow-based foreign journalists,  he speaks only to journalists coming specifically to interview him, so they are all approved [by the Russian government] in advance. So he is almost nowhere.

Snowden arrived in Moscow on June 23, 2013, after stealing an estimated 1.5 million classified U.S. documents, providing some to journalists, traveling to Hong Kong and identifying himself.

At some point, Snowden met with Russian officials in Hong Kong before flying to Moscow accompanied by WikiLeaks adviser Sarah Harrison. Snowden and Harrison were escorted off the plane apart from the other passengers.

Snowden subsequently spent nearly 40 days in or near Moscows Sheremetyevo airport before Russia granted him asylum on Aug. 1, 2013. The 34-year-old American has lived in an undisclosed location with a security detail ever since.

The first step is to get Snowden to Moscow, Soldatov explained in early 2014. The next step is to have him locked for 40 days [to decide what to do].  The next step is to provide him asylum  then to say, Someone is looking for you, you are in danger.  And then you have the guy in a controlled environment, and then you can work with him.

While Snowdens day-to-day life in exile is largely shrouded in mystery, there are a few indications of how he spends his time.

At a 2013 news conference in Moscow, lawyer Anatoly Kucherena shows a picture of Edward Snowden in the new refugee documents granted to him by Russia. (Photo: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Nobody has seen him

Nobody can talk to him, nobody has seen him, Soldatov told Brookings Institution fellow Alina Polyakova on the podcast. And it looks like a kind of strategy to be seen just out of the United States.  Im not in Russia, specifically, Im just somewhere.'

Story continues

In 2014, Snowden began speaking directly to audiences over video chat (in addition to occasional interviews). In November 2015, he told a crowd in Washington, D.C.: People say I live in Russia, but thats actually a little bit of a misunderstanding. I live on the internet. And thats where I spend all of my time.

The following month, he proclaimed: Im not in Russia. Im not on the Internet. Im in Utah.

Snowden has made good money on the speaking circuit, including paid gigs for U.S. universities, over the last few years. While Snowden has appeared at fewer events in 2017, his statements are still relevant: He downplayed Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to a German audience in March and compared leaked NSA hacking tools to stolen Tomahawk missiles at an event near the White House in May.

Snowdens Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, said in August that the American doesnt give interviews to Russian journalists because Edward has a strong position on the issue, he does not grant interviews to anybody anywhere; the Russian media is no exception.

Kucherena who is close to the post-Soviet FSB intelligence service, added: He is non-public person. (Snowden gave an interview to Der Spiegel in September.)

These days the de facto expat mostly communicates to the public through Twitter.

Journalists writing up the VEP plan today: most important revelation was enormous loophole permitting digital arms brokers to exempt (via routine NDAs used when proliferating bugs to >1 buyer) critical flaws in US infrastructure from disclosure no matter the cost to our security.  Edward Snowden (@Snowden) November 15, 2017

He is in a very strange situation

Soldatov noted that while Snowden has criticized new Russian internet laws, the Kremlin has exploited his revelations to introduce increasingly repressive internet laws.

The most sensitive thing about him in Russia is how his revelations were used and exploited by the Russian government promoting some crazy ideas about offensives on internet freedoms, Soldatov said. For example, we got this data localization law forcing global platforms to move their servers into Russia on the pretext of protecting Russian personal data from, say, NSA spying. So theyve obviously exploited Snowden revelations.

Furthermore, Soldatov noted, Snowden has not acknowledged that his revelations are being used by the Russian government to further oppress domestic internet users.

The problem is that Snowden never tried to comment on  how his revelations were used by the Russian authorities, Soldatov said. So he is in a very strange situation, in a kind of limbo: Hes not part of the Russian political landscape, hes still there, and nobody knows what might happen to him.

Snowden pictured on a boat in Moscow in September 2013.

He still lives and works in Russia

Much of what we know about Snowdens life in Russia has come from Kucherena.

Hes planning to arrange his life here. He plans to get a job, Kucherena, who is close to Putins government, announced in July 2013. And, I think, that all his further decisions will be made considering the situation he found himself in.

Kucherena mentioned Snowdens job multiple times over the years.

Edward Snowden will start working at a big Russian company on Friday, Nov. 1, Kucherena said on Oct. 31, 2013. His job will be to support and develop a major Russian website.

In February 2015, Kucherena told reporters that Snowden has long worked for a Russian company. He is a unique specialist, the company wont let him go. The lawyer noted that Snowdens salary allowed him to live a comfortable life.

Today he has now  if one can put it like this  settled in, Kucherena said on June 23, 2015, the two-year anniversary of Snowdens arrival in Moscow. He is working in an IT company. We are not revealing this information, and it is understandable on what grounds. So today, I thank God, everything is fine. He is working. He is satisfied by the work he is doing.

Asked in April 2017 if the administration of President Trump had reached out to Snowden, Kucherena told Tass that no one tried to contact him.  Nothing has changed actually, he still lives and works in Russia.

Snowdens primary American lawyer, Ben Wizner, has told journalists that Snowden does not have a job in Russia (besides paid speaking appearances via video chat). Wizner did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the topic, including an email on Saturday morning.

Snowdens temporary asylum document from August 2013.

He could get Russian citizenship

Ever since Snowden publicly asked the country for asylum on July 12, 2013, Kucherena has signaled that Snowden could receive Russian citizenship

In line with the law, he may become a citizen of Russia, but this can happen in some time, Kucherena said after attending the restricted event. Suppose that he could enjoy  a kind of residence permit, then he could get Russian citizenship in five years.

The Kremlin-linked lawyer has reiterated over the years that Snowden may be eligible for citizenship, most recently after Russia renewed Snowdens residence permit in early 2017.

Essentially, he now has every reason to apply for [Russian] citizenship in the future, in a while, as the law [states] that one needs to spend no less than 5 years on the territory of Russia [to be granted citizenship], Kucherena said in January, as reported by RT.

He has now lived in Russia for almost four years, has not violated any laws, and there are no [legal] claims against him  this is one of the reasons his residence permit was extended.

Soldatov, who recently updated his new book to include Russian meddling in the U.S. election, noted that Snowden hasnt been used directly by Russian propaganda through appearances on RT or Sputnik.

Nevertheless, Soldatov concluded, the former NSA contractors life in Russia is largely dictated by the FSB, Russias state security organization.

Hes trapped in this situation, he said. And given the fact that [he] lives surrounded by these people with almost no option to get out, well, its tough.

Here is the podcast featuring Soldatov. The discussion of Snowden starts at around 43:30.

Follow Michael B. Kelley on Twitter @MichaelBKelley.

READ MORE:

As tensions rise with Russia, U.S. colleges still pay for Snowden speeches

Why leaked NSA hacking tools are not like stolen Tomahawk missiles

In exile, Edward Snowden rakes in speaking fees while hoping for a pardon
CAIRO (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has summoned its ambassador in Germany home for consultations over comments by German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel about the political crisis in Lebanon. The Saudi foreign ministry said the government also handed Germany's representative in Riyadh a protest note over what it said were "shameful" comments Gabriel made after a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart. After a meeting in Berlin with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Gabriel told reporters that Europe "could not tolerate the adventurism that has spread there". It was not clear from a Reuters television recording that the remark was targeted at Saudi Arabia. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri resigned while in Saudi Arabia on Nov. 4. "Such remarks provoke the surprise and disapproval of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which considers them as aimless and based on false information that would not help bring about stability in the region," the Saudi ministry said. The ministry later said on its Twitter account it had summoned the German ambassador in Riyadh and handed him "a protest memorandum over the shameful and unjustified remarks made by the German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel." Hariri's abrupt resignation has raised concern over Lebanon's stability. He met French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Saturday, several hours after he left Saudi Arabia. Lebanon's President Michel Aoun said on Twitter Hariri had told him in a phone call from Paris he would be in Lebanon on Wednesday for Independence Day celebrations. The German foreign ministry welcomed Hariri's departure from Saudi Arabia for Paris and impending return to Lebanon. "We are very concerned about regional stability and call on sides to reduce tensions," the statement read. "We aim this message at all actors in the region." (Reporting by Mohamed El-Sherif, writing by Sami Aboudi, Editing by Janet Lawrence and Toby Chopra)
As the species with the most highly evolved language, youd think humans would be better at using it to help people around us. Wrong! Lately, weve used our words to bring back pre-civil rights race discrimination, nominated a Big Pharma scion to Americas highest health-related post, and named an Australian ferry after a meme.

While weve been busy wreaking havoc on one another with our A+ communication skills, our closest great ape relatives, the chimpanzees, have been using their linguistic abilities to warn others that theyre in danger, say scientists in a new Science Advances article.

Through a series of experiments they conducted on wild chimpanzees in Ugandas Budongo Forest, the scientists, led by Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology primatologist Catherine Crockford, Ph.D., found that chimps will use unique actions and vocalizations in order to steer others from harms way  a far cry from humans failing to speak up when, say, global warming threatens to drown everyone on the coasts.

While chimps have been observed warning others about imminent danger in the past, what wasnt clear was whether chimps that perceive a threat actually modify their behavior because they understand that their neighbors are ignorant of the danger. Its been hard to rule out the possibility that they simply react to changes in their neighbors behavior as they sense danger.

After the first part of their study, which confirmed that at least one-third of the chimps will use their bodies and eyes to point toward a threat (in this case, a fake snake) so that others can be alerted to it, the researchers conducted an experiment to see how chimps would respond when they couldnt see the individual they were supposed to warn.

Here, a chimp encounters a fake snake, then points out the threat to a nearby friend.

They did so using pre-recorded sounds of chimps who had either run into a snake or encountered nothing, playing these sounds through a loudspeaker in the forest. The hypothesis was that the former sound would serve as a warning and, more importantly, that the latter  suggesting that the chimp in the recording didnt know about the snake  would cause the listening chimp to yell out a warning when it encountered one in real life. Sure enough, thats what the researchers observed in the wild, discovering that chimps will yell out a series of alert hoos when they want to warn nearby pals of the imminent danger.

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These observations support the idea that chimps really do modify their behavior in order to alert their neighbors, going out of their way for the benefit of the group. To the researchers, these observations support the idea that chimp communication actually evolved to factor in the needs of other individuals, in turn suggesting that these apes are more attuned to the needs of others than we once thought. While its not clear whether these impulses to warn one another are emotionally driven, it does seem that they are borne out of the animals social cognitive abilities.

For a long time, scientists thought humans were the only ones with the ability to see things from another individuals perspective  although our recent behavior certainly suggests otherwise.

If that alone doesnt make you feel ashamed about human behavior, take into account the fact that, among the great apes, chimps actually have a reputation for being raging assholes, warring with neighboring tribes for fun, killing ex-tyrants, and occasionally killing each others babies. If even these jerks can get their shit together to be helpful once in a while, we have no excuse not to do the same.

Photos via Credit:  Tai Chimpanzee Project, Tai Chimpanzee Project

Photos via Credit:  Tai Chimpanzee Project, Tai Chimpanzee Project

Written by Yasmin Tayag

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When Democrats began debating who should face President Trump in 2020, one interesting name cropped up a few times: Al Franken.

The Minnesota senator was touted by a few associates and pundits as a potential neutralizer, someone whose show-business past and pugilistic tendencies could offset Trumps advantages on stage while still having the policy chops Democratic voters want.

Franked eventually said he wasnt interested, but this weeks news that he groped Los Angeles talk radio host Leann Tweeden in a photo and her claim that he forcibly kissed her during rehearsal for a USO tour in 2006 would have made the race even tougher, analysts say.

Thats because Trumps election and the recent allegations and revelations about Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein and other powerful male celebrities, politicians and journalists have led to a dramatic reaction among Democratic women.

The election results have had a galvanizing result among women across the country. Weve seen a record number of women running for office and giving political donations, Tory Brown, a partner with the Pastorum Group, a progressive political advisory firm, tells TIME. The narrative about the election had been: Hillary had this in the bag  she won the popular vote and was denied the presidency.

It felt like all the times that a bully or harasser had gotten the job promotion over all of us, she added. It felt very familiar to women. I wasnt necessarily a Hillary devotee, but to see how the political world has acted in the last year has put an edge on things.

This is not mere speculation. The Virginia gubernatorial election on Nov. 7 saw Democratic candidate Ralph Northam crush his Republican opponent, the born-again Trumpian Ed Gillespie, in a landslide  thanks in large part to a groundswell of suburban Democratic voters, nearly 70% of whom voted for Northam. (The turnout, its highest in two decades, saw an uptick in unmarried women, young people, and minorities.)

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Elections elsewhere in the country saw a wave of women taking office: the mayoral elections in Charlotte and Seattle, for example, and the state legislative contest in Virginia, where Danica Roem trumped her conservative opponent, who had a deep anti-LGBT record, to be come the first transgender state lawmaker in U.S. history.)

In Alabama, the Christian conservative Senate candidate Roy Moore faces new allegations that he conducted a series of inappropriate affairs with underage women. Before the allegations surfaced in the Washington Post, Moore was the clear frontrunner; now, hes eight points behind Democratic opponent Doug Jones  again, thanks in part to a mobilization of women voters, who have rallied behind the Democrat. (Only 32% of women in Alabama now say they would vote for Moore, according to a recent Fox News poll.)

The backlash against those accused of sexual impropriety threatens to cull the potential playing field in coming elections: if not as a result of a moral reckoning within the U.S. political system, then at least because of the potential optics crisis of backing someone charged with misconduct.

The specific allegations against Senator Franken seem to doom any prospect of him seizing the Democratic nomination, Brown tells TIME. Its a moment where the Democratic Party needs to get a sense of who has morals and believes in something more than just wins and losses. This is a purifying moment we are facing.

Of course, the crisis within the Democratic Party  as with the troubles of Hillary Clintons campaign last year  transcend mere gender politics. In the national conversation, the party has been torn asunder between moderate centrists like Clinton and their critics on the left, many of whom backed Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primary and decry what they see as the partys deference to neoliberalism. Party officials will have to reconcile the chasm.

I wouldnt say if theres pressure on the party to nominate a woman  theres no quota going on, Dr. Jennifer Victor, a professor of political science at George Mason University, tells TIME. At the end of the day, they want to appoint someone whos going to win. But its fair to say that theres something significant happening with respect to gender. In terms of the candidate supply side, theres greater energy and greater availability of resources for women to consider running for higher office.

As far as who should get the nomination in 2020, its clear that the #MeToo movement has exposed a strain of toxic masculinity among men in power, Brown adds. Democrats should focus on finding a nominee who will inspire average Americans and who will stand up for those of us who have been cast aside. If thats a woman, then hells yeah.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 03:34:41|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Navy admitted Friday that one of its aircraft had drawn a phallic symbol in the sky over a town of the state of Washington.

Local news outlets said they were contacted by onlookers who had watched a plane draw what appeared to be crude depictions of male genitalia over Okanogan County, which borders Canada, on Thursday afternoon.

A mother told local media that she was upset and was unsure how to describe the drawings to her young children.

In response to the incident, Navy officials said in a statement that the drawings were "wholly unacceptable" and the service has initiated an investigation.

"The Navy holds its aircrew to the highest standards and we find this absolutely unacceptable, of zero training value and we are holding the crew accountable," the statement said.

The Navy said that the aircraft involved was a Boeing EA-18G Growler based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island off the Washington coast.

The jet, specializing in electronic warfare, is able to travel at nearly twice the speed of sound.

The Federal Aviation Administration, a government agency that regulates U.S. airspace, said the drawings did not appear to pose a safety risk and it "cannot police morality."
(MILAN)  Mafia boss of bosses Salvatore Toto Riina has died in the hospital while serving multiple life sentences as the mastermind of a bloody strategy to assassinate Italian prosecutors and law enforcement trying to bring down the Cosa Nostra, Italian media reported Friday. He was 87.

Riina died hours after the Justice Minister had allowed his family members bedside visits Thursday, which was his birthday, after he had been placed in a medically induced coma. Italian media said his health had deteriorated following two recent surgeries.

Riina, one of Sicilys most notorious Mafia bosses, was serving 26 life sentences for murder convictions as a powerful Cosa Nostra boss. He was captured in Palermo, Sicilys capital, in 1993 and imprisoned under a law that requires strict security for top mobsters, including being detained in isolated sections of prisons with limited time outside their cells.

Prosecutors accused Riina of masterminding a strategy, carried out over several years, to assassinate Italian prosecutors, police officials and others who were going after Cosa Nostra when he allegedly held the helm as the so-called boss of bosses.

The bloodbath campaign ultimately backfired on Cosa Nostra.

After bombs killed Italys two leading anti-Mafia magistrates, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, two months apart in 1992, the state stepped up its crackdown on Sicilys Mafiosi.

Riina was captured in a Palermo apartment six months after Borsellino and his police escorts were killed by a car bomb. A native of Corleone, a Sicilian hill and Mafia stronghold, he steadfastly refused to collaborate with law enforcement after his capture.

Riina was incarcerated at a Milan prison before his hospitalization. In July, a court denied a request by Riinas family to transfer the convicted mobster to house arrest because of his ailing health.
Jordan A. Thomas, chairman of the whistleblower representation practice at Labaton Sucharow, is a former assistant director in the SECs Enforcement Division and had a leadership role in the development of the SEC Whistleblower Program.

In recent years, the SEC has had greater success policing wrongdoing due in large part to the implementation of its whistleblower program, which allows individuals to anonymously sound the alarm against corruption while benefiting from robust employment protections and monetary incentives.

But the whistleblowers crosshairs are not limited to Wall Street. Individuals are beginning to come forward in a new sphere of the business world, one with its own reputation of a problematic, win-at-all-cost culture: Silicon Valley.

While Google, Facebook, Apple and other large public tech companies are standard bearers within the U.S. economy, Silicon Valley is largely comprised of startups at various stages, as well as venture capital firms, many of which fall under the purview of the Securities and Exchange Commission. That includes nearly every unicorn  a private company valued at more than $1 billion  which has taken investments from mutual funds and retail investors, such as Uber, Dropbox, WeWork, Airbnb and other firms that have grown into household names.

Potential minefields

Silicon Valley firms can engage in the same violations as any other entity subject to federal securities regulation. For instance, violations involving corporate disclosures and financials may well be a hotbed of misconduct, an area which already represents a significant portion of whistleblower tips received by the SEC.

In the Silicon Valley universe, some are already raising concerns regarding the potential dangers of retirement money invested in private early-stage companies. Given the risk of harm to the public, law enforcement will be swift in bringing enforcement actions against bad actors playing fast and loose with Americans retirement savings.

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Further, the SEC has specifically signaled that it is closely scrutinizing the way in which mutual funds calculate valuations of their holdings in these companies. Notably, in early 2017, a former employee of social networking company Snap filed a whistleblower lawsuit claiming the company lied about its user metrics ahead of its initial public offering in March. The case highlights the importance of user-metrics in valuing tech startups, particularly social media companies, and the huge incentives for bad actors to alter them in various disclosure and financial forms.

The SEC also has expressed concern regarding the propriety of a growing tech investment trend  blockchain startups, cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings. There are currently more than 70 hedge funds alone focused on investing in cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICO), many of them backed by major venture capital funds. New companies in this field have raised more than $1.3 billion in 2017 alone.

Silicon Valley is on notice. Its culture of silence is poised to crumble.

Any entrepreneur with an idea for a blockchain-based technology can solicit capital via an ICO, with little to no immediate safeguards in place for investors. The SEC has taken note, pursuing clear-cut ICO fraud cases in which operations and potential returns were misrepresented or exaggerated. In addition to pursuing cases of fraud, the SEC has also strongly suggested it will treat ICOs as securities, subject to all applicable federal securities laws. To better police this rapidly evolving area, the SEC established the Cyber Unit, a specialized enforcement unit dedicated to targeting cyber-related misconduct.

An industry exposed

For decades, potential whistleblowers in Silicon Valley have been suppressed by a culture of silence, similar to the prevalent omerta culture at many Wall Street firms. Speaking out has, in the past, often resulted in retaliation and blacklisting by an entire industry. This is an especially significant risk given the many years it can take to acquire the required skills and develop a network within the relatively insular concentration of Silicon Valley.

The widespread use of non-disparagement clauses in employment agreements has further exacerbated this culture of silence and hindered potential whistleblower activity. Recently, several brave individuals have upended the status quo by revealing startling misconduct at Silicon Valley companies. While illustrative examples such as Susan Fowlers blog post about Uber and Ellen Paos revelations regarding the venture capital industry have focused on gender discrimination and harassment, the courageous exposure of a culture of silence is the first step toward taking it down.

And it must be taken down. Those working in Silicon Valley occupy a unique position due to their expertise in a rapidly growing, highly complex and ever-evolving field. Similar to Wall Street, tech industry insiders have a heightened responsibility to speak out against misconduct because the general public may not fully grasp the funding structure of these new companies and their financial instruments.

The SEC whistleblower, the dark horse

The SEC Whistleblower Program, with its robust employment protections and the ability to report anonymously, challenges a corrupt status quo. And the programs significant financial incentives  eligible whistleblowers can receive 10-30 percent of the monetary sanctions collected in an enforcement action where sanctions exceed $1 million  quell fears of speaking out.

That said, in the current information age, the program also recognizes that intelligence can come from a much wider range of sources than employee insiders. Nearly everyone is eligible. Successful actions have been brought by professors, analysts, reporters, industry competitors and other sophisticated observers who spotted irregularities and misleading information.

As the program has successfully stretched beyond Wall Street, Silicon Valley is on notice. Its culture of silence is poised to crumble as individuals come forward empowered by the protections and benefits of the SEC Whistleblower Program. Individual bad actors who have flouted the law are no longer free to operate with impunity. Now, somebody is always watching.
Woman rejected as a job candidate for wearing a hijab. (Photo: Getty Images)

Twenty-seven-year-old Nedal Zoya graduated with a masters degree in social work and decided to apply for a job in an orphanage in India. However, to her surprise, the CEO decided not to offer her the position once she sent a photo that showed her wearing a hijab.

Al Jazeera reports that the Delhi Orphanage for Girls CEO, Harish Varma, and Zoya exchanged several emails and her chances of landing the job seemed promising until Zoya sent a headshot.

Everything was going smooth, we exchanged many emails, she said. But a few days ago, I got an email stating that I am sorry to inform you that even [from] a distance of one kilometer you look like a Muslim lady due to your external Muslim gears.

Woman claims hijab discrimination while applying for a job in an orphanage for girls in India. (Photo: Getty Images)

Zoya earned her masters degree in social work at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, and she said she was saddened to be discriminated against for her religious beliefs.

Varma suggested that to continue with the hiring process she must remove her hijab, as her institution is religion-free.

Photo: Nedal Zoya

After Zoya denied the request, a lengthy email from Varma followed stating that she did not appreciate that for Zoya, conservative Islam was her priority, not humanity.

Photo: Nedal Zoya

Varma told Al Jazeera that the candidate they decided to hire instead of Zoya was of more secular appearance.

And although Indian law prohibits discrimination based on religion, Varma said, I dont want any influence of any religion in my organization.

Zoya said that she is using the incident to create awareness of the growing Islamophobia in India.

My motive was to create [an] awareness, as I am not the only one who has faced such discrimination. People at least need to discuss this matter so that such discrimination on the basis of religion and appearance can be questioned, she said.

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Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) famously brought a chart to Attorney General Jeff Sessionss testimony before the House Judiciary Committee this week. After listening to the attorney general for five hours, I made one of my own; more on that below.

Reporters and casual viewers alike had been waiting with bated breath for the hearings promised questions about Sessionss previous Senate testimony regarding Russiagate, as well as for clarification of the Justice Department letter sent just the night before that disclosed an ongoing evaluation of the need for a second special counsel appointment. But hearings are meandering things. You never know what Gohmert is going to show up with. And even among more traditional representatives, the subjects may vary.

So the hearing ended up covering a broader range of topics, ranging from surveillance policy, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Alabama Republican Roy Moores Senate campaign, the Justice Departments treatment of racial diversity (both within and without the department), and marijuana. But the discussion mostly circled around a few major themes: Russia and perjury, the USA Liberty Act, the potential for a second special counsel with Uranium One as a main point of discussion, and the evergreen topic of the year: loyalty. For those of you without five hours to spend watching the CSPAN video for those bits of the testimony that didnt make immediate headlines, Ive got you covered with four major takeaways.

Memory is a fickle thing. What was said in this hearing didnt provide any more substantial evidence to fuel a perjury charge against Sessions  though the facts he had to admit were certainly embarrassing for him.

In the months since Sessionss previous appearances before Congress, information has surfaced suggesting that he had been aware of the Donald Trump campaigns alleged connections with Russia, namely George Papadopouloss and Carter Pages interactions with Russian cutouts and officials. In the case of Papadopoulos, his plea describes a meeting in which Sessions was not only present but in which he also personally discouraged a plan to connect Vladimir Putin with members of the Trump campaign. In sworn testimony earlier this year, Sessions denied having knowledge of anyone else in the Trump campaign engaging in those conversations, which turns out to be wrong. And Sessions had to admit that this week. He admitted that he now remembers both the Papadopoulos exchange and Pages brief mention of a trip to Russia.

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But as Susan Hennessey and Benjamin Wittes described earlier this month, there is a big difference between being wrong and lying, particularly under the law. One is politically embarrassing. The other can be perjury. Members of the House Judiciary Committee took turns trying to close the gap between political embarrassment and a serious legal problem. But Sessions held the line, insisting that he did not lie and that any past omissions resulted from innocent forgetfulness. The statements Sessions made under questioning from the members of the committee bring us no closer to meeting the standard for either a perjury or false statements charge. That could change, of course, if evidence emerged showing that he did remember what he claims to have forgotten. But absent such a development, you shouldnt hold out hope for a perjury charge.

Sessions pushed back against the Judiciary Committees proposed changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. On Nov. 8, the Judiciary Committee approved the USA Liberty Act, a bill that proposes to reform FISA Section 702 by creating, among other things, a requirement that a court order be obtained in order to access contents  in response to a query for evidence of a crime. Sessions stood by the view that Section 702 should be reauthorized as is, and he had a number of testy exchanges with members over a point on which some of them really hammered him: What is so wrong with creating warrant requirements for the FBI to query 702 data about Americans for evidence in criminal cases? Theres a month and a half left before FISA Section 702, which expires at the end of the year, turns into a pumpkin. And the attorney general and a major committee are locked in a staring contest over this question. The question is: Who will blink? This weeks hearing didnt give any indication.

Sessions did a lot to quell concerns that he is angling to sic a special counsel on former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. As mentioned above, the Justice Department, in a letter addressed to House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), disclosed that it is engaged in determining whether to investigate  and if so, who should investigate  allegations concerning, among other matters, the Clinton Foundation and the sale of mining company Uranium One. The committee focused on three aspects of the Justice Departments exploration:

Would Sessions violate the terms of his recusal by involving himself in the decision to appoint special counsel? Whats stopping him from appointing one now? What happened with Uranium One?

On all three points, he left committee members unsatisfied.

On the first point, both the Justice Departments letter (which was actually sent by Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd) and Sessionss responses in the hearing attempted to dispense with the recusal concern by deflecting to a process answer: All of the potential issues that are under consideration will be evaluated independently, and Sessions will not violate his recusal by engaging substantially with any topics that fall within the ambit of the recusal. (The recusal covers matters involving the 2016 election.) The senior federal prosecutors responsible for this evaluation would report directly to the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General, as appropriate, the letter says.

The second issue concerned both Republicans and Democrats, although for different reasons. The Republican hook was that several letters sent by the House Judiciary Committee over a matter of months had requested the investigation of a slew of Clinton allegations, and Sessions had failed to respond to any of those letters until the evening before the hearing. And he responded not by appointing a special counsel but by asking some senior federal prosecutors to make recommendations.

For Democrats, the problem was that he didnt rule out a potential new investigation of Clinton President Trumps political opponent. Moreover, the action he took aligned too closely with the presidents public requests for an investigation of her and thus suggested the influence of politics on law enforcement. Adding to the suspicion, Judiciary Committee ranking member John Conyers (D-Mich.) complained that House Judiciary Committee Democrats have not had any of their letters answered. In his opening statement, he said the Democrats had sent more than 12 letters to the attorney general asking for information necessary for oversight and had yet to receive one substantive response. This, he alleged, suggests a political nature of any potential inquiry that might arise out of the current review.

Sessions, for his part, denied any political influence on the current deliberations: A president cannot improperly influence an investigation. And I have not been improperly influenced, he said.

The concern that Sessions was toeing Trumps line on investigating Clinton arose the evening before the hearing, when Twitter  along with the New York Times  was ablaze with speculation about the subtext of the Justice Departments letter. Law professor Marty Lederman suggested in a tweet that the letter was actually his way of telling Senators nothings coming. Just Securitys Steve Vladeck tempered alarmist speculation as well by explaining that the letter simply says that the Justice Department will look into the matter, period. Wittes likewise tweeted that the letter is best understood not as a hint to Trump that Sessions will do as the President wants, but as a way of shunting the matter to a mechanism that will enable him not to act  or, to be more precise, that will enable [Deputy Attorney General] Rod Rosenstein not to act.

After hearing Sessionss testimony, I am inclined to believe that Lederman, Vladeck, and Wittes are right and that alarmed reaction to the Justice Department letter was premature. Sessions showed no eagerness for a special prosecutor.

And it wasnt that he wasnt given the chance. After listing a number of perceived Clinton and Obama missteps and suggesting that they look like theyd merit the appointment of a special counsel, Congressman Jordan asked Sessions what it would take to get one. Sessions aggressively cabined Jordans expectations: Looks like is not enough basis to appoint a special counsel. This statement, accompanied by other moments in which the attorney general insisted that the Justice Department needed to continue its evaluation before reaching conclusions, suggests that the department is far from finding that a special counsel is necessary. Theres no particular reason to think a group of senior federal prosecutors, given the matters at issue, will come to that conclusion after their review.

Republicans gained no traction on their efforts to turn the Uranium One deal into an alternative Russia scandal. By way of brief summary: In 2010, Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear company, acquired a majority stake in Uranium One, a company that held about 20 percent of the rights to uranium mining output in the United States. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States approved the deal as part of its review of foreign investment in U.S. companies for potential national security concerns. The State Department under Hillary Clinton was involved as one member of the inter-agency review process. What makes this purchase controversial by some accounts is the Clinton Foundation also received donations from Rosatom while Clinton was secretary of state.

But while Uranium One has burned up Fox News, its apparently not burning up the Justice Department  even under Sessions. And nothing revelatory surfaced in this line of questioning. In response to Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Sessions confirmed that, in theory, he has the authority to appoint special counsel to investigate the Uranium One deal. (As he had throughout all of his testimony, he studiously avoided suggesting that he would appoint one.) The most memorable moment in the Uranium One line of questioning came courtesy of Congressman Gohmert, whose now infamous chart was a bizarre effort to argue that Mueller and Rosenstein were too close to the Uranium One deal to investigate it. Much has been written analyzing the circuitous illustration, and I wont regale you with further details. Suffice it to say that the chart didnt seem to convince the attorney general (or anyone else) of much of anything.

But it convinced me of something: that I should make a chart of my own.

The concept of loyalty undergirded many of the questions from House Judiciary Democrats. Some members raised the issue overtly. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) asked Sessions point-blank if the president had ever asked him for an oath of loyalty. Sessions said, No. Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) asked Sessions an even more fundamental question on this topic: Who do you work for? In honor of Gohmert, I offer the following graphical answer:
Rome (AFP) - With Mafia king Toto Riina's death, and heir Matteo Messina Denaro on the run, is it game over for Sicily's once all-powerful Cosa Nostra?

"Boss of bosses" Riina, who was nicknamed "The Beast" because of his cruelty, led a reign of terror including the brutal daylight assassinations of anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.

He died Friday aged 87, just months after being caught on wiretaps in jail boasting afresh about his bloody crimes.

"Riina will go down in history as the man who destroyed Cosa Nostra," Mafia expert Attilio Bolzoni said.

"With his strategy of bloody massacres in Sicily and across Italy... he turned an invisible Mafia visible, with hundreds, thousands of murders, carried out first with Kalashnikovs, then bombs."

"For the first time in history, the state reacted mercilessly," Bolzoni said, with the arrest of hundreds of bosses and the introduction of harsh anti-mafia laws that saw imprisoned gangsters held in utter isolation.

Caught and jailed in 1993 after nearly a quarter of a decade as a fugitive, his revenge was swift: Cosa Nostra launched a series of bombings in Rome, Milan and Florence that killed 10 people.

But he was unable to stop the decimation of the crime group -- once nicknamed "the octopus" for its tentacled reach into all areas of society -- which was gradually supplanted by the Camorra in Naples and 'Ndrangheta in Calabria.

- 'An absolute monarchy' -

"It's infinitely less powerful than before. After the deaths of (boss Bernardo) Provenzano and Riina, the only one at liberty is being hunted by the police," the head of Italy's national anti-mafia body, Maurizio De Lucia, told AFP.

Multi-murderer playboy Messina Denaro, one of the world's most-wanted men, is seen by many as Riina's natural heir but has been on the run since 1993.

"Cosa Nostra is a very strictly structured organisation, similar to an absolute monarchy. While the king still lives, it's not possible to think of picking a successor," De Lucia said.

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"The question now is whether the organisation is strong enough to identify and appoint an heir. Many of its bosses have been arrested, and enormous amounts of its patrimony has been seized" over the years, he said.

"We'll have to see whether Riina's death will lead to a new start -- which I think unlikely -- or whether it will be another step towards the crime group's demise," he said.

- 'The truth' -

But prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio, who spent 20 years in the DDA organisation of anti-mafia prosecutors, warned the days of shootouts and car bombs may be gone, but Cosa Nostra has been growing fat instead on political deals.

"We have greatly weakened the military apparatus of the Mafia, the massacres are over, murders are rare. But the Mafia has undergone a genetic modification," Cartosio told AFP.

"The political sector has lent itself greatly to... (organised crime's) infiltration of the social fabric" and, as a consequence, "the Mafia presence in the political sphere is much greater than before," he said.

And the battle is not only against "the octopus" but also the "Stidda", a rival group formed by former Cosa Nostra members during the Second Mafia War of the early 1980s.

"The Mafia is less military, less bloody than before, but it's very efficient," he said.

Pietro Grasso, Italy's senate speaker and a former anti-mafia magistrate, stressed Friday that the battle is not over.

"Riina takes with him many mysteries that would have been essential in uncovering the facts about alliances, political links, internal and external Mafia accomplices," he said in a post on Facebook.

"But none of us must stop searching for the truth".
Beirut (AFP) - Syrian troops and allied fighters advanced Saturday to capture most of Albu Kamal, a monitor said, in a tug-of-war over the Islamic State group's last urban stronghold in the country.

The town in Syria's oil-rich Deir Ezzor province has changed hands several times, with government troops announcing its capture but losing it to a blistering IS counter-attack a week ago.

Syria's army and Lebanese, Iranian and Iraqi loyalists re-entered Albu Kamal two days ago and by Saturday had taken most of it from IS, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"Syrian regime forces, (Lebanese) Hezbollah, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and Iraqi militias seized control on Saturday of more than 80 percent of Albu Kamal, after a huge attack that began Friday night," said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.

"IS was pushed back to the northern and northeastern sectors of the city. Clashes are ongoing," Abdel Rahman told AFP.

The Britain-based monitor said the fresh push came with heavy bombing raids by regime ally Russia, and that troops were advancing more "carefully" than in their previous assault to ensure their gains would not be rolled back.

A string of territorial defeats across northern and eastern Syria left Albu Kamal, near the border with Iraq, as the last significant town held by IS in the country.

Losing it to regime forces would cap the group's reversion to a guerrilla organisation with no urban base.

On Saturday, Syrian state television aired live footage from Albu Kamal, showing plumes of smoke rising over the city's skyline as explosions echoed in the background.

It said the army was preparing to "storm the remaining areas" held by IS in Albu Kamal's east.

"What has most impeded the Syrian army's advance is the large amounts of mines left by Daesh (IS) and its attempt at using families as human shields," state television reported.
We are now walking through a media desert.

While access to content is astronomically high, the content that we read is dead, lifeless, and derivative. Yes, I see the irony in posting my criticism of the state of online media on, well, online media, but I want to explore how we got here and what we can do about it.

We begin in about 1983.

The education necessary to interact with media of that era was at once very high - it took decades to learn to read some books and understand the context and importance - and wildly low. Hollywood, after decades of aiming at Baby Boomers who preferred neurotic Woody Allen and musicals over space aliens, were targeting younger demographics. Television was moving towards a younger audience with a plethora of Saturday morning cartoons elbowing Masterpiece Theatre and Dynasty off of the airwaves. For the first time, thanks to the success of Star Wars and its associated toys, the easy media was attacking its easiest target: kids.

It was in this era that the founders of the internet - the late-stage boomers like Gates, Jobs, and Berners-Lee - met the infant Gen Xers. They began to form their ideas about interactivity and used the tools available - screens, keyboards, and mice - to iterate up to our smartphones. A defining image for many of that era was the Magic Mirror. Children around the world watched Romper Room, a children's show featuring a cheerful teacher and a group of smiling kids. The show itself was like a day at pre-school but at the end, when Miss Jean or Miss Nancy or Miss Rosemary (they had different hosts in different states) bid us all adieu, she would look into her Magic Mirror and enchant us.

"Romper, stomper, bomper boo. Tell me, tell me, tell me, do. Magic Mirror, tell me today, did all my friends have fun at play?" the hostess would intone.

The Mirror disappeared into a swirl colors that bled onto the whole screen. When the swirl was finished we were presented with the hostess looking at us though an empty frame. She called to us.

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"I see Robert and Sally and Alex and John." Parents would send in their children's first names on their birthday but, if your name was in the daily list, you were ecstatic. After all, she saw you.

She knew we were watching. She spoke to us.

It's not hard to extrapolate a straight line from that one media moment into the world we live in today. Children and young adults growing up in the overlap between broadcast media and digital media brought with them a specific set of yearnings. One of those yearnings - the desire for the person on the other side of the glass to see you - defines our interfaces today. We want to be seen on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Skype. We want to be seen on Medium and Twitter and Chaturbate. We yearn for a connection that is almost impossible through the technology as it currently exists and the unadulterated failure of that medium to offer even a simulacrum of true, human interactivity is what is killing our discourse, our culture, and our minds.

Deep stuff, to be sure, but listen: over the past two weeks I've seen two people actively "interacting" with Instagram. First there was was a young woman in Oman. She wore a conservative black Abaya and headscarf and she was using an iPhone in a crowded bus. Her interactivity style was simple: swipe down, double tap on something that looked nice, and continue. Tap tap, swipe, tap tap, swipe. Images rolled past of Bollywood stars and Arabic women. Movie posters, makeup ads, fashion, all of it received the same treatment. Tap tap, swipe. Tap tap, swipe. It was a way to pass the time on a boring bus ride but it epitomizes the state of interactivity today. She did not see as much as sip, taking in an undifferentiated stream of content.

I saw the same behavior, this time in a sports-loving guy on a flight to Chicago. Tap tap, swipe. Tap tap, swipe. He'd stop once in a while to look at a video or comment but that was it - the tap. This paradigm defines all of our interactions with the web. Except for, perhaps, Pokemon Go, the internet asks nothing from us except our attention. It is the basest form of interaction. We are prisoners in a dark cell tapping out Morse code that no one will hear.

https://twitter.com/johnbiggs/status/931525931491053568

Tap tap tap.

This tapping forced broadcast media - curated, edited, and audience-tested television and radio - to rethink its models. First it had to shock and outrage. It is no accident that Howard Stern, Limbaugh, and the other shock jocks rose in the 1980s and 1990s. It was a reaction to the changing tastes and mores of an aging boomer generation and a growing Generation X. Television followed the shockwave by bringing reality television into mix during a particularly nasty TV writers' strike. Finally 24-hour news channels took over for the trusted voices of the nightly news, creating an endless viewer appetite for controversy, fear, and schadenfreude.

We are now at the heart of the maelstrom. Our complex machines ask of us little more than a tap or a swipe and our media is free and ever flowing. Television and radio have pumped up the anxiety in order win back users they've already lost. Online media is controlled by robots and robotic humans that create content that is exactly on point, a zeitgeist-chasing machine that is unparalleled in history. That Romper Room dream - that the person behind the screen will know and love us - has come true. And we are poorer for it.

I see you

We built our own demise. We created content without context and we gave it out for free. All of us are guilty although, we could argue, the early bloggers sealed the deal by proving that entertaining writing could be made more palatable with a dash of information or timeliness. We face a future in which we become dead-eyed consumers, tapping at things that do not know us or love us.

We can turn things around, however. First, we must pay content creators. In a world in which automation will destroy millions of jobs there should be an artistic renaissance akin to Florence under the Medicis. If we wish culture to survive the coming financial apocalypse, an apocalypse which will define what mankind's real value us in the 21s century, we must prepare ourselves to truly interact with each other in the way the old Church interacted with the faithful and guilds helped birds of a feather stick together. It will not be enough to tap a picture of a dress. We will need to make the dress, to build something with our hands, to share that talent with the world.

In the coming era of frictionless payments and always-on internet, we must help each other. We must really connect. We must treasure and nurture the spaces designed for this sort of coming together and avoid places and people that would tear us apart. We've already lost bookstores. Let's hope that bars and coffee houses aren't next.

We must decide, ultimately, what the world looks like when the backlash begins. We must prepare for a reboot of all of our systems. We must be ready for the death of TV and radio as we enter a world in which media is piped in in different ways and via other sensory pathways. We have had enough of the old, fake way. We need to prepare for the real.

In my favorite episode of Technotopia, futurist Ben Hammersley mentioned that he expects the future to be full of coffee and croissants. Everywhere you go, from St. Louis to Dubai, you will be able to sit down quietly and safely and enjoy a quiet repast. While this may seem like a pipe dream for a place like Syria or North Korea, we are already seeing the destabilizing effects of the internet and politics pressure on the globe, destabilizing effects that result in a globalist form of gentrification in which the same comforts are available worldwide. We can stay with the old ways and ask the world to tap on our glass over and over, or we can change. We are moving into a world in which there is no glass. Our futures could be defined by an era of unparalleled comfort and clarity. But it will require us to really see each other, not just pretend we see each other as we tap in the dark.
President Trump on Saturday returned to attacking his favorite target: Hillary Clinton, the election foe he vanquished more than a year ago.

Crooked Hillary Clinton is the worst (and biggest) loser of all time, the commander in chief tweeted.

Trump continued: She just cant stop, which is so good for the Republican Party. Hillary, get on with your life and give it another try in three years!

It wasnt clear what, exactly, Trump was responding to. But Clinton recently suggested to Mother Jones that Russian government interference undermined the legitimacy of Trumps win.

There are lots of questions about its legitimacy, the 2016 Democratic nominee said in the interview, published this week. And we dont have a method for contesting that in our system. Thats why Ive long advocated for an independent commission to get to the bottom of what happened.

She added: Because, look, this is the first time weve ever been attacked by a foreign adversary, and then they suffer no real consequences.

Hillary Clinton on Trump's election: "There are lots of questions about its legitimacy" https://t.co/R04rgFeSwE pic.twitter.com/rhH7jQlqQT  Mother Jones (@MotherJones) November 17, 2017

Both Trump and Clinton have continued to lob criticisms of one another long after the election. Clinton talked to Mother Jones while promoting her memoir, What Happened, while Trump takes to Twitter for his attacks.

There is so much GUILT by Democrats/Clinton, and now the facts are pouring out. DO SOMETHING! the president exclaimed last month.

After winning the Oval Office, Trump signaled he was done with going after Clinton. She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways, and I am not looking to hurt them at all, he told the New York Times.

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But Trump has repeatedly urged his own Justice Department to investigate Clinton instead of looking into his campaigns contacts with Russians. The U.S. intelligence community has accused the Kremlin of spearheading the hacks that led to WikiLeaks publishing troves of emails from Democratic officials.

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Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 03:49:45|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Using new data from the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory in Mexico, researchers have ruled out two nearby pulsars as the sources of a mysterious excess of anti-matter particles coming to the Earth.

That raises the possibility of an alternative explanation that sees dark matter, a hypothetical type of matter that we have yet to observe, as the origin of positrons, or anti-electrons, according to the study published in the Friday issue of the journal Science.

"Our measurement doesn't decide the question in favor of dark matter," Jordan Goodman, professor of physics at the University of Maryland and the lead investigator and U.S. spokesperson for the HAWC collaboration, said in a statement.

"But any new theory that attempts to explain the excess using pulsars will need to account for what we've found," Goodman said.

The mystery started back in 2008, when a space-borne detector measured an unexpectedly high number of positrons -- the anti-matter cousins of electrons -- in orbit.

Ever since, two competing theories have been put forth to explain its origin.

Some suggested the extra particles might come from nearby collapsed stars called pulsars, which spin around several times a second and throw off electrons, positrons and other matter with violent force.

Others speculated that the extra positrons might come from processes involving dark matter -- the invisible but pervasive substance seen so far only through its gravitational pull.

In the new study, researchers used HAWC to measure gamma rays made by positrons streaming from two of the nearby pulsars previously identified as possible sources of the excess, which helped them calculate how far positrons generated by the stellar neighbors could diffuse through space.

"We see the positrons are not moving fast enough to make it to Earth," said Hao Zhou, a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, who was responsible for developing the particle diffusion model and calculating the gamma-ray emission morphology around the two pulsars in HAWC data.

The results indicated that the two pulsars are very unlikely to be the origin of the positron excess, despite being the right age and the right distance from Earth to contribute.

"After excluding two of the main source candidates, we are closer to understanding the origin of the positron excess," said lead author Francisco Salesa Greus, a scientist at the Polish Academy of Sciences Institute of Nuclear Physics in Krakow, Poland.

"Dark matter is everywhere, but we don't know what it is," Dingus said. "If one could prove that these positrons are from dark matter, then that would be a major step to figuring out the nature of dark matter."
WASHINGTON  President Trump, overruling a rule change by his Interior Department, said on Friday that he would keep in place for the time being a ban on importing elephant hunting trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia. Trump announced the move on Twitter Friday evening after a day of uncertainty and protests over the decision by the Fish and Wildlife Service that the ban, intended to conserve shrinking African elephant populations, would be lifted. The president said delaying a decision would allow him to review the situation with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts. Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you! Trump wrote.

The prohibition on elephant trophies from the two African nations dates from 2014. African elephants are classified as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Natures Red List of Threatened Species, which is a designation for animal species considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. A spokesperson for the Fish and Wildlife Service told Yahoo News that regulations regarding hunting trophies from endangered species are reviewed on an ongoing basis and the agency decided to lift the ban in recognition of improvements in the elephant management programs in the two countries.

Conservationists denounced the proposal when the plan for Zimbabwe was posted for public comment in the Federal Register, but hunting advocates argue revenue from well-managed big game programs can support the conservation of endangered species.

Trump has previously expressed opposition to big game hunting. In March 2012, after photos of his eldest sons, Don Jr. and Eric, posing with trophies provoked criticism, Trump sent a tweet saying, [I am] not a hunter and dont approve of killing animals.

I strongly disagree with my sons who are hunters, but they acted legally and did what lots of hunters do, Trump wrote.

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Trumps decision to review the ban on elephant trophies from Zambia and Zimbabwe came after a day of mixed signals from the White House.

President Trump with the University of Utah ski team on Friday. (Photo: Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

During Thursdays White House press briefing, Yahoo News asked press secretary Sarah Sanders why, given Trumps past opposition to hunting, the president supported lifting the ban and whether he had changed his views on hunting. Sanders repeatedly stressed that the decision was not finalized.

There hasnt been an announcement. And until thats done, I wouldnt consider anything final, Sanders said, later adding, I would defer you to the Department of Interior for the time being. And when we have an announcement on that front, well let you know.

However, a Fish and Wildlife Service official confirmed to Yahoo News that the ban on elephant hunting trophies from Zambia had been lifted effective Nov. 7. And the ban on trophies from Zimbabwe was lifted on Friday morning, about 11 hours before Trumps tweet. Sanders has not responded to multiple requests for comment from Yahoo News about the presidents position on the ban.

It is not clear exactly what process Trump can use to reinstate the ban. A spokesperson for the Fish and Wildlife Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Yahoo News about the presidents announcement.

The proposal would have only permitted the importation of trophies hunted in Zambia and Zimbabwe from the start of 2016 until the end of 2018. Older trophies would still be prohibited. Elephant trophies are currently allowed to be imported into the United States from Namibia and South Africa. The Fish and Wildlife Service is currently reviewing whether to permit elephant trophies to be imported from Tanzania.

Regulation of hunting trophies is independent of the ban on importing commercially harvested (or, more commonly, poached) elephant ivory, which remains in effect.

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By Karen Freifeld and Ginger Gibson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has begun paying his own legal bills related to the Russia investigation and will no longer cover the costs using political donations to his re-election campaign or the Republican Party, his attorneys confirmed on Friday. Trump defense lawyer John Dowd said that following payments by the Republican National Committee, the president began paying the bills and now wants to make the party "even." The RNC confirmed it is no longer paying the bills. The expenses cover personal lawyers representing Trump in special prosecutor Robert Mueller's probe of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in last year's election. Moscow has denied meddling in the election, and Trump has denied any collusion. The investigation has hounded Trump's presidency. Mueller already has secured an indictment of Trump's former campaign chief and another aide, while a third former adviser pleaded guilty. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has offered shifting accounts of his Russia contacts while he was a campaign adviser, including with Moscow's former ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak, and his knowledge of contacts between the campaign and Russian intermediaries. But Sessions made light of the investigation during a speech on Friday before a conservative lawyers' group. "Is Ambassador Kislyak in the room? Before I get started here, any Russians?" Sessions said, prompting applause and laughter from the crowd at the Federalist Society event. "Anybody been to Russia? Got a cousin in Russia or something?" Special White House counsel Ty Cobb said the administration was working with others to establish a legal fund for current and former staffers. Dowd said White House counsel Don McGahn and campaign lawyer Ben Ginsberg of Jones Day are working to structure that fund, which would be subject to rules that prohibit staff from receiving gifts or pro bono legal service. The president is exempt from those rules, Dowd said. "The geniuses are working on it," Dowd said. "If it passes muster with the tax lawyers and accountants, then it has to pass muster with the Office of Government Ethics." During former President Bill Clinton's administration, private funds were raised to cover Clinton's legal expenses related to the Whitewater investigation. Under former President George W. Bush, a legal fund was set up to help former Bush staffer Lewis "Scooter" Libby, but only after he had left White House employment. In August, Reuters first reported that the RNC was paying Trump's legal bills, which amounted to more than $230,000 that month. The payments were made to Trump's outside legal team, which includes Dowd. Additionally, Trump's re-election campaign paid more than $300,000 this year in bills to lawyers representing his son, Donald Trump Jr., according to public disclosures. The campaign did not respond to a request for comment on whether it will continue to pay for Trump Jr's legal expenses. The Federal Election Commission allows use of private campaign funds to pay legal bills arising from being a candidate or elected official. While previous presidential campaigns have used these funds to pay for routine legal matters such as ballot access disputes and compliance requirements, Trump is the first president in the modern campaign finance era to use such funds on the costs of responding to a criminal probe, said election law experts. (Editing by David Gregorio and James Dalgleish)
Washington (AFP) - The US State Department said Friday it had approved the sale of a Patriot anti-missile system to NATO ally Poland, a move likely to irk Russia.

The State Department said it had notified Congress on November 14 of its approval of the deal, which is worth up to $10.5 billion, and would mark the first time Poland has bought the sophisticated system.

"A secure Europe capable of deterring air and missile threats and other forms of aggression promotes peace and stability within NATO and on the European continent," officials said in a statement.

Congress has 15 days to raise any objections to the deal, though that would be unlikely given the close military-to-military relationship with Poland.

The total deal includes up to four radar sets, four control stations, 16 launching stations, 208 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles, as well as additional equipment, training and spare parts.

The Patriot is a mobile air-defense system made by Raytheon and designed to intercept tactical ballistic missiles, low-flying cruise missiles and aircraft.

News of the sale comes after the US military temporarily deployed a Patriot battery in Lithuania as part of multinational NATO exercises in the Baltic country.

Moscow last year deployed nuclear-capable Iskander missiles into its Kaliningrad exclave, which borders Lithuania and Poland, rattling nearby NATO members.
(THE HAGUE, Netherlands)  Venezuelas ousted chief prosecutor on Thursday asked the International Criminal Court to open an investigation into President Nicolas Maduro and four other senior officials for alleged crimes against humanity.

Luisa Ortega visited the Hague-based court accompanied by aides carrying large files of papers. She said she turned over to the court more than 1,000 pieces of evidence including forensic reports, witness interviews and expert testimony linking security forces to more than 8,000 murders since 2015.

Nicolas Maduro and his government should pay for these crimes against humanity just as they must also pay for the hunger, misery and hardship theyve inflicted on the Venezuelan people, she told reporters outside the court.

Ortega said she was taking her complaint to the international tribunal because its not possible to punish these people in Venezuela, where she said the judiciary has been taken over by the ruling socialist party.

Venezuela is one of more than 120 nations that have ratified the treaty creating the International Criminal Court. However, it is not certain the courts chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, will take up Ortegas request. Bensoudas office receives hundreds of such filings every year.

In the past, the prosecution office received other communications alleging crimes by Venezuelan authorities against political opponents since 2002. In 2006, prosecutors declined to open an investigation, but added that the decision can be reconsidered in the light of new facts or evidence.

More than 120 people were killed and hundreds more jailed and injured during months of anti-government unrest that rocked Venezuela earlier this year. Several foreign governments and the United Nations have criticized security forces crackdown on the protesters, alleging excessive force.

Ortega has been leading a campaign from exile to discredit Maduros socialist government for human rights abuses and corruption by senior officials.

Ortega fled Venezuela in August after being removed from office by a new, all-powerful constituent assembly loyal to Maduro. By law only the national assembly, one of the few institutions in the hands of the opposition, can remove the nations top law enforcement official and many foreign governments, including the U.S., have refused to recognize her replacement.
New York (AFP) - Crisis-plagued Venezuela suffered another blow Thursday as a committee of creditors ruled that state oil company PDVSA has defaulted on its debt, a decision that triggers payment of default insurance to investors.

The setback for the oil-rich but cash-poor nation came as no surprise, as the government of President Nicolas Maduro has missed payments on sovereign bonds as well as PDVSA debt, even as the population continues to suffer from acute shortages of food and medicine.

And major debt ratings agencies had already declared Venezuela and PDVSA to be in "selective default" due to the late payments on multiple bond issues.

A committee of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association examined three missed PDVSA bond payments at the request of investors and ruled that "a Failure to Pay Credit Event had occurred," according to a statement.

The so-called Determinations Committee for the Americas, comprised of 15 financial firms, said it would reconvene Monday at 3:00 pm (2000 GMT) to continue discussions on the auction procedure to pay out credit default swaps against the PDVSA bonds.

The committee said "more detailed analysis will be forthcoming."

But even with this latest evidence of Venezuela's financial collapse, the situation shows no signs of being resolved in the near future.

- Debt restructuring? -

Struggling with an estimated $150 billion in debt, the Maduro government called creditors to a meeting Monday to discuss restructuring -- the usual step for a country that can no longer pay its obligations -- but offered no concrete plan.

The government signed a 10-year restructuring deal with Russia on Wednesday for a little over $3 billion in official debt, but observers say that will at best help resolve some payments in the short-term.

Caracas has only $9.7 billion in foreign reserves and needs to pay back at least $1.47 billion in interest on various bonds by the end of the year, and another $8 billion in 2018.

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Russia and China are the two main creditors and allies of Venezuela, which owes them an estimated $8 billion and $28 billion, respectively.

About 70 percent of Venezuelan bondholders are North American, according to government figures, and there are about $60 billion in PDVSA and sovereign bonds outstanding. Investors buy CDS as a hedge or insurance on that debt.

An ISDA official explained that the next step to be discussed Monday is "whether to hold an auction to determine the settlement price that will then determine the payout in CDS," as well as the auction date.

- Assets in US -

Venezuela's situation is unique from other countries that have faced a debt crisis: it is simultaneously riven by a political crisis and is facing US financial sanctions, an arms embargo imposed by the European Union, and even a call by Argentina for an oil embargo.

The sanctions from Washington, which has labeled the Maduro regime a dictatorship, are particularly problematic since they prohibit US individuals and banks from buying new Venezuelan bonds, a requirement for any debt resolution.

And unlike Argentina, which battled creditors in US courts for over a decade after its 2002 default, Venezuela has valuable assets in the US at risk of seizure, including oil exports and Citgo with its three refineries, owned by PDVSA.

The nation depends on PDVSA's oil exports for about 90 percent of its foreign exchange earnings, but those earnings have been falling sharply due to lack of investment to update infrastructure even as oil prices have recovered.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 06:50:38|Editor: liuxin

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department has approved a possible sale of the Patriot Anti-Missile System to Poland at an estimated cost of 10.5 billion U.S. dollars, said the Pentagon on Friday.

The proposed sale will increase the Polish military's defensive capabilities without altering the basic military balance in the region, said the Pentagon in a statement.

The deal will also give Poland "greater flexibility to conduct air and missile defense operations" with the United States and other NATO members, said a U.S. State Department official.

Currently, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Greece are among the NATO members who possess the Patriot system, according to the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the missile defense systems in Eastern Europe a "great danger," saying Russia will enhance its own missile strike capability in response.

Putin said earlier the launch areas in Romania and Poland may be used for deployment of short and medium range missiles, which not only presented additional threat to Russia but also could be the prologue of breaching Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

Warning of a new arms race, Putin vowed that Moscow would not be dragged in but would take responsive measures to any national security threat.

The contract still requires approval from the U.S. Congress.
A young man in Harare washes a minibus adorned with picture of President Robert Mugabe - REUTERS

Zimbabwean activists have warned other countries not to intervene amid an apparent split between two of Zimbabwe's neighbours over whether to support or oppose the defacto coup against Robert Mugabe.

Ian Khama, the president of Botswana and a long time foe of Mr Mugabe, became the first world leader to effectively endorse the military's intervention on Friday when he said the strongman had no regional support for continuing his 37 year rule.

"I don't think anyone should be president for that amount of time. We are presidents. We are not monarchs. It's just common sense," Mr Khama told Reuters.

Mr Mugabe's departure would be an an opportunity to put Zimbabwe on a path to peace and prosperity," he added.

His remarks appeared to contradict earlier comments by Jacob Zuma, the president of South Africa who also chairs the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a 16-nation regional bloc.

Timeline Robert Mugabe as leader of Zimbabwe

"We note with great concern the unfolding political development in Zimbabwe and we hope that they will not lead to unconstitutional change of government," Mr Zuma said following a summit in Botswana.

South Africa sent two envoys to mediate talks between Mugabe and the Zimbabwean Defense Forces on Thursday, sparking speculation on Zimbabwean social media that they might have stiffened the president's resolve not to give into demands he step down.

More than 30,000 people signed a petition urging the SADC not to attempt to intervene as Zimbabwe grapples with Robert Mugabe's fall from power.

"There is no need at this time for you to do anything but business as usual," the Change.org petition reads.

"We speak for many people when we say we hoped and prayed for this day for long and now that it's here, DON'T mess it up for us." China, a major investor in Zimbabwe, on Friday called for the crisis to be resolved peacefully.

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"China calls on all sides in Zimbabwe to keep their eyes on the country's long-term and fundamental interests and to uphold dialogue and consultations to bridge differences," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told Reuters.

Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of state, urged Zimbabwe to hold quick elections but did not explicitly condemn the military's intervention.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe leaves after presiding over a student graduation ceremony at Zimbabwe Open University Credit: AP Photo/Ben Curtis

"We all should work together for a quick return to a civilian rule in that country in accordance with their constitution,"

Mr Tillerson, the US Secretary of State, speaking in Washington ahead of a previously scheduled meeting with African leaders.

Events in Zimbabwe present regional powers with a dilemma because they cannot publicly endorse a military coup, regardless of whether they would like to see transition in the country.

The army's seizure of power "flies in the face of protocol" required for SADC to recognise any new government, said Amb. Reuben Brigety II, the former United States Representative to the African Union.

Military leaders in Zimbabwe have attempted to assuage those concerns by insisting they are merely managing a peaceful change of power and seeking to use constitutional measures to complete Mr Mugabe's ouster.

Peter Fabricius, an analyst with the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies, said the South African government appeared to have underestimated Emmerson Mnangagwa, the former vice president believed to be behind the coup.

"Practically speaking, Zuma knows Mnangagwa would be better" than Mugabe, Mr Fabricius said.
Egypt faces high expectations from Saudi Arabia and its other Gulf Arab benefactors that it will have their back as tensions rise with their rival Iran, including throwing the weight of its militarythe largest standing Arab armyinto the crisis if needed.

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But Egypt clearly has no desire to be dragged into a military conflict or to see the tensions spiral into another Saudi-Iran proxy battle like the many that are already tearing up the Middle East.

Its reluctance could lead to frictions between Cairo and Riyadh.

Egypts leadership has been striking a balancing act, giving nods of support to its Gulf allies while trying to defuse their escalations against Iran.

Saudi King Salman with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Cairo wants to avoid a new falling-out over Iran (Photo: Reuters)

Last week, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi proclaimed that any threat to Gulf security is a threat to our own national security, warning Iran to stop meddling. But he also said the region has enough instability and challenges as it is and doesnt need a crisis with Iran or Hezbollah, and he called for dialogue to resolve tensions.

Other Egyptian officials sharpened their rhetoric against non-Arab, Shiite Iran, but have not embraced the sectarian or ethnic slant used by their Sunni-led Gulf friends.

In the past month, Saudi Arabia has twice accused Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of acts of war against it. A direct war between the two regional powerhouses still seems unlikely; but the heightened rhetoric raised fears that it wasnt out of the question or that a new proxy fight could erupt in Lebanon.

Egyptian commentators have bluntly warned against getting mired into a military conflict initiated by the Saudis.

Egypts real national duty is to tell our brothers ... that we are with them to defend the security of Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and the entire region ... But that does not mean that we get dragged by them into wars and conflicts that are essentially sectarian and benefit no one except the enemies of the (Arab) nation, the editor of the newspaper Al-Shorouk, Imad Hussein, wrote this week.

Hussein, who is close to the government, made sure to praise Saudi Arabias regional role, its financial support for Egypt and its custodianship of Islams holiest shrines. He also avoided naming Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the heir to the throne behind the kingdoms more hawkish anti-Iran stance. He has driven aggressive regional policies, including military intervention in Yemen and the ostracizing of Qatara move that Egypt fell in line with.

Another prominent commentator, veteran opposition figure Mohammed Aboul-Ghar, counselled the government to stay out of any potential Saudi-Iran conflict, arguing that Egypts army was needed to fight an insurgency by Islamic militants and protect the porous borders.

Coming close to that dangerous (Gulf) region is a horrifying prospect. Its neither wise nor sound to even talk about that, he wrote in Tuesdays edition of the Cairo daily Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Saudi King Salman and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Tensions running high (Photo: MCT, EPA)

Saudi Arabia has bolstered al-Sisi with massive financial backing as the general-turned-president struggles to overhaul Egypts dilapidated economy. The kingdom is estimated to have given Egypt more than $10 billion in grants and soft loans since 2013 in addition to numerous free shipments of fuel worth tens of millions of dollars.

Still, Egypt has been willing to resist Saudi demands. In 2015, it came under heavy Saudi and Gulf pressure to send ground troops to fight alongside a Saudi-led coalition against Iranian-backed Shiite rebels in Yemen.

Instead, Egypt restricted its involvement to deploying warships and aircraft on patrol and reconnaissance missions in the southern reaches of the Red Sea. Egypt has bad memories from its intervention Yemens civil war in the 1960s, when it backed republicans against a Saudi-backed monarchy in an ill-fated and costly military adventure.

Egypt has also stayed out of Riyadhs campaign to oust President Bashar Assad, supported Russias military intervention there on Assads side and negotiated local cease-fires between the government and rebels.

Those differences angered Riyadh, prompting a temporary suspension of aid to Egypt earlier this year.

In the end, Saudi Arabia did not get the foreign policy changes it wanted (from Egypt) in return for its generous support, said Eric Trager of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

The Saudis have learned to live with limited Egyptian involvement in Yemen, he added.

The Saudis and Egypt have somewhat patched up the ill-feelings. Now Cairo wants to avoid a new falling-out over Iran.

Tension has been running high between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The kingdom charged that a missile fired by Yemeni rebels toward Riyadh this month could be considered an act of war by Iran, which it accused of providing the missile.

Things further heated up when Lebanons prime minister, Saad al-Hariri, resigned in a pre-recorded message aired from Saudi Arabia, blaming Hezbollah. Riyadh swiftly criticized Hezbollah, saying its aggressions could be considered a declaration of war.

Still, Egypt seems determined to avert any slide toward armed conflict.

Al-Sisi dispatched his foreign minister to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain. In Riyadh, the minister met with the Saudi crown prince and, it appears, counselled backing off an escalation with Iran.

The foreign minister was at pains to convey Egypts concern to see the region spared any tensions that would deepen the instability and polarization its already seeing, the ministers spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said of the Tuesday meeting.

Egypts track record under al-Sisi shows his reluctance toward military action unless its own territory is directly threatened or if the Gulf is subjected to a clear-cut aggression.

Egypt adopts a deeply entrenched position against military solutions, presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said in published comments this week.

Michael W. Hanna, a Mideast expert at the Century Foundation in New York, said Egypt does have concerns about what the Iranians are doing in Syria and Yemen.

But Iran is not a high-level priority for Egypt. It does not worry about Iran the same way the Saudis do.
Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri says his stay in Saudi Arabia has been to consult with officials there on the future of Lebanon and its relations with its Arab neighbors.

He dismissed as "rumors" reports about his alleged detention in the kingdom. Hariri's tweet on Friday came hours before he was expected in France two weeks after his surprise resignation in Saudi Arabia.

The office of French President Emmanuel Macron said Hariri was expected in Paris' presidential palace by midday Saturday. Macron said Hariri will be received "with the honors due a prime minister," even though he has announced his resignation, since Lebanon hasn't yet recognized it.
Saudi Arabia has summoned its ambassador in Germany home for consultations over comments allegedly made by German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel during a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. The ministry said Saudi Arabia would deliver a protest note to Germany's ambassador in Riyadh over what it said were "baseless" comments made by Gabriel.

"Such remarks provoke the surprise and disapproval of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which considers them as aimless and based on false information that would not help bringing about stability in the region," the ministry said in a statement in English carried by Saudi state news agency SPA.

The controversy revolves around the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri while on a visit to Saudi Arabia on Nov. 4, accusing the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group of spreading chaos in the region. Hariri's abrupt resignation and continued stay in Saudi Arabia has raised concern over Lebanon's stability. Hariri has since left Saudi Arabia with his family for a visit to France, in what was seen as a possible way out of the crisis.
The Trump administration put the Palestinians on notice Friday that it will shutter their office in Washington unless they've entered serious peace talks with Israel, US officials said, potentially giving President Donald Trump more leverage as he seeks an elusive Mideast peace deal.

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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has determined that the Palestinians ran afoul of an obscure provision in a US law that says the Palestine Liberation Organization's mission must close if the Palestinians try to get the International Criminal Court to prosecute Israelis for crimes against Palestinians. A State Department official said that in September, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas crossed that line by calling on the ICC to investigate and prosecute Israelis.

But the law leaves the president a way out, so Tillerson's declaration doesn't necessarily mean the office will close.

Trump and Abbas (Photo: AFP)

Trump now has 90 days to consider whether the Palestinians are in "direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel." If Trump determines they are, the Palestinians can keep the office. The official said it was unclear whether the US might close the office before the 90-day period expires, but said the mission remains open at least for now.

Even if the office closes, the US said it wasn't cutting off relations with the Palestinians and was still focused on "a comprehensive peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians." A State Department official said in an email that "this measure should in no way be seen as a signal that the US is backing off those efforts." The official wasn't authorized to be identified by name and requested anonymity.

The PLO office and the Israeli Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.





Tillerson (Photo: Reuters)

Despite Israelis and Palestinians not being engaged in active, direct negotiations, Trump's administration has been working all year to broker a peace deal that would end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Led by Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a senior aide, White House officials have been preparing a peace proposal they intend to put forward at an unspecified time.

The Palestinians, though publicly supportive of the US effort, have been skeptical because Trump's close ties to Israel suggest whatever deal he proposes might be unfavorable to them. The threat of losing their office in the US capital could become another pressure point as the Trump administration seeks to persuade the Palestinians to come to the table.





Speciak Trump envoy to the ME Greenblatt (L) and Abbas (Photo: Reuters)

Although the US does not recognize Palestinian statehood, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) maintains a "general delegation" office in Washington that facilitates Palestinian officials' interactions with the US government.

The United States allowed the PLO to open a mission in Washington in 1994, a move that required then-President Bill Clinton to waive a law that said the Palestinians couldn't have an office. In 2011, under the Obama administration, the United States started letting the Palestinians fly their flag over the office, an upgrade to the status of their mission that the Palestinians hailed as historic.

Israel opposes any Palestinian membership in United Nations-related organizations until a peace deal has been reached.

The Trump administration has not revealed any details about its effort to bring about a peace deal that would ostensibly grant the Palestinians an independent state in exchange for an end to its conflict with the Israelis. But Kushner and other top Trump aides have been shuttling to the region to meet with Palestinians, Israelis and officials from neighboring Arab nations as it prepares to put forward a peace plan.

Trump personal aide Kushner (L) and Netanyahu (Photo: Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

The requirement that the PLO office be closed if the Palestinians back an International Criminal Court move came in a little-noticed provision in US law that says the United States can't allow the Palestinians to have a Washington office if they try to "influence a determination by the ICC to initiate a judicially authorized investigation, or to actively support such an investigation, that subjects Israeli nationals to an investigation for alleged crimes against Palestinians."

Abbas, the Palestinian leader, said in his speech at the UN General Assembly in September that the Palestinians had "called on the International Criminal Court to open an investigation and to prosecute Israeli officials for their involvement in settlement activities and aggressions against our people."

The US law says that if the government determines the Palestinians have breached that requirement, it triggers a 90-day review period in which the president must decide whether to let the office stay open anyway. The president is allowed to waive the requirement only if he certifies to Congress "that the Palestinians have entered into direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel."

The provision doesn't explicitly define what would constitute direct or meaningful negotiations.
The Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al Rai reported on Saturday that Lebanon-based terror group Hezbullah has raised its level of alert throughout Lebanon to a record level due to threats from several countries, first among them being Israel. According to the report, the alert level was raised more than two days ago.

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Al Rai reported that Hezbollah forces have been instructed to maintain high alert, despite the organization's assessment that Israel would not launch a war against it in the near or distant future.

The sources told the newspaper that they were expecting an assassination attempt of a well-known political figure in Lebanon, similar to the assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri in February, 2005. "This would be an attempt to reshuffle the Lebanese arena and embarrass Lebanese President Michel Aoun," the source said.

Nasrallah

Recently resigen Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-HaririRakik al-Hariri's sonsaid in his statement of resignation two weeks ago that he had learned of a plot to assassinate him as they had murdered his father. In the past, it was repeatedly argued that Hezbollah and the Syrian regime were behind the senior Hariri's assassination.

The report also said that Hezbollah had instructed its men not to transfer to Lebanon the weapons being sent from Iran via Syria. This directive allegedly stems from two reasons: first, Hezbollah needs accurate and long-range missiles not in Lebanon but in Syria, where it is currently assistsing the Assad regime in its war against the rebels; and second, Hezbollah has a surplus in its Lebanon arms warehouses, making it hard for it to stash anymore weapons there.

According to the report, Hezbullah already has enough weapons to assure it a great deal of firepower in any future war and for a very long period of time.

Over the past three years, dozens of attacks on Syrian territory have been attributed to Israel, ostensibly aimed at thwarting the smuggling of advanced weapons from Iran to Hezbollah.

The site of an unverified attack attributed to the IDF on the Syiran city of Homs

In a speech last Friday, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said that Saudi Arabia had declared war on Lebanon and that the Saudis were trying to get Israel to attack Lebanon.

"Saudi Arabia is inciting Israel to launch a war against Lebanon. I speak here about facts, not analysis. Saudi Arabia is ready to pay tens of billions of dollars to Israel for that," Nasrallah alleged.

The Hezbollah leader tried to reassure the Lebanese by saying that while they should be ready for war, it is unlikely that it will indeed break out, because Israel knows that the price of such a move would be heavy.

In order to make the purported Israeli-Saudi relationship clearer, Nasrallah noted the Jerusalem Ministry of Foreign Affairs' instruction to Israeli embassies around the world to profess their support for the Saudi efforts against Hezbollah, as well as what he dubbed the "Israeli assistance" given to Syrian rebels and Al-Nusra Front, a Syrian terrorist organization linked to al-Qaeda.

"Israel is trying to incite a civil war," Nasrallah claimed, before warning Israel not to make any miscalculations in trying to take advantage of the situation in Lebanon. "Israel must not think we're afraid or confused. We're stronger than ever today.
Euphoric crowds of several thousand people have gathered in Zimbabwe's capital to demand the departure of President Robert Mugabe after nearly four decades in power. In a colorful gathering that even days ago would have drawn an immediate police crackdown, Zimbabweans giddy with joy raced through intersections, raising their arms in triumph. Young men shouted, laughed and embraced.

Some had posters with an image of the military commander who swept in earlier this week and put Mugabe under house arrest, with the slogan: "Go, go, our general!!!" Marchers handed flags to soldiers, who accepted and waved. "It's like Christmas," said one marcher, Fred Mubay, who said Zimbabweans have been suffering for a long time.

The 93-year-old Mugabe, the world's oldest head of state, is said to be asking for more time amid negotiations with regional leaders that seek his exit with a veneer of dignity.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 07:00:40|Editor: Zhou Xin

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File photo taken on Nov. 23, 2010 shows the Argentine submarine ARA San Juan. An Argentinean submarine has lost contact in the South Atlantic with 44 crew on board, military authorities said on Nov. 17, 2017. The ARA San Juan was carrying out a surveillance mission in Argentina's exclusive economic zone near Puerto Madryn, around 1,400 km south of Buenos Aires. (Xinhua/TELAM/Argentinean Army/Juan Sebastian Lobos)

BUENOS AIRES, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- An Argentinean submarine has lost contact in the South Atlantic with 44 crew on board, military authorities said on Friday.

The ARA San Juan was carrying out a surveillance mission in Argentina's exclusive economic zone near Puerto Madryn, around 1,400 km south of Buenos Aires.

Argentina's naval commander for the Atlantic, Gabriel Gonzalez, told media on Friday that "48 hours ago," radioelectrical communication was lost with the submarine.

The last communication with the craft happened on Wednesday and navy spokesman Enrique Balbi denied that it had been found, after press reports suggested it had.

Answering rumors about the submarine, Balbi said that news of a fire on board was "not official information. There may have been a technical fault, there is no communication yet."

The foreign ministry also issued a statement saying that "the governments of Chile, the United States and the United Kingdom have offered logistical support and exchange of information in this humanitarian search."

Three planes, four ships and one helicopter are searching the area for the missing submarine.

The ARA San Juan is a TR-1700 submarine made in Germany, which joined the Argentinean navy in 1985.
France should not interfere in Iran's missile programme, Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said on Saturday according to state media.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that Tehran should be less aggressive in the region and should clarify the strategy around its ballistic missile programme. "It does not benefit Mr. Macron and France to interfere on the missile issue and the strategic affairs of the Islamic Republic, which we have great sensitivities about," Velayati said. "What does this issue have to do with Mr. Macron? Who is he at all to interfere? If he wants relations between Iran and France to grow then he should try not to interfere in these issues."
Egypt opened the Rafah crossing point Saturday for three days on a humanitarian basis. This is the first instance in a decade that Gaza's border crossing into Egypt is running under the Palestinian Authority's control, ever since Hamas ceded control of Gaza's crossings with Israel and Egypt to the Western-backed PA.

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In 2007, Hamas wrested control of Gaza by force provoking an Israeli-Egyptian blockade that severely restricted the movement of most of Gaza's 2 million inhabitants.

Rafah border crossing (Photo: AFP)

Hamas withdrew from the crossings on Nov. 1, implementing the first step of an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation deal to end the rift with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party.

Talks are to resume in Cairo this month to discuss the PA's expansion of its rule over Gaza and broader national issues.

Some 30,000 Gaza residents have submitted requests to leave Gaza to Egypt over the past few months.

Fatah and Hamas's reconciliation agreement between the two warring Palestinian factions was unveiled at a Cairo press conference last month and was signed under the watchful eye of Egypt.
Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri says he will return to Lebanon in the coming days to take part in Independence Day celebrations adding that he will make his political stance clear upon his arrival.

Hariri spoke to reporters in Paris Saturday after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron during which he thanked France for the "positive political role" it is playing in the Middle East.

Hariri was joined for lunch at the Elysee Palace by his wife and older son along with Macron and his wife.

Hariri made a short statement in French and similar one in Arabic in which he said: "As you know I have resigned and we will speak about this matter there (Lebanon)."

Lebanese President Michel Aoun refused to accept the resignation that was made through a TV broadcast in Saudi Arabia, and accused the kingdom of holding Hariri against his will.
The IDF says it has fired a tank shell near the Druze village of Hader in Syria Saturday as a "warning shot" after the Syrian military conducted construction along their border.

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The IDF says Syria violated the 1974 cease-fire agreement on the Golan Heights by using heavy tools to fortify a military post in the demilitarized zone between the countries.

In response, the IDF says it complained to the United Nations peacekeeper force station on the Golan and fired a tank shell as a warning.

IDF tanks in the Golan Heights (Photo: EPA)

The incident comes as Israel has voiced concerned about the growing presence of Iran and its proxy Hezbollah in Syria as that country appears to be transitioning into a post-civil war reality, in which Israel says it will defend its interests

It also follows the rare suicide attack that took place two weeks ago in the village of Hader, in which Nine Syrian residents were killed and 23 were wounded after terrorist group Al-Nusra Front detonated a car bomb inside the village.

In a highly unusual turn of events, the IDF issued a statement in light of the attack, saying it was willing to aid the Druze residents of Hader, who are currently fighting to prevent the Assad's Syrian army from overtaking the South Syria village.

"Over the past six years, there has been internal fighting in Syria. Israel's policy is very clearwe do not interfere in the fighting or assist either side, while offering humanitarian and medical aid to local residents of the Syrian Golan Heights to ease their suffering. We do not and will not assist terrorism organizations in the Golan in any way," said IDF Arabic Spokesperson, Maj. Avichai Adraee, in a Facebook post after the attack.

"In the last few hours, there has been substantial fighting in the area of the village of Hader. Despite lies spread by parties with a personal stake in the matter, Israel is not and will not assist any terrorist group in hurting the village's residents. On the contrarywe will continue to stand by the Druze living in the (Syrianed) Golan Heights," Adraee added.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot said earlier this week that the IDF had deployed tanks on the slopes of Mount Hermon to fulfill this intention of defending the settlement. The same Israeli armored force was the one to fire at the outpost the Syrian army was trying to recapture in the strip adjacent to the border fencethrough which the car carrying an explosive charge into Hader infiltrated the village earlier this month.

Roi Kais and Yoav Zitun contributed to this article.
A rights lawyer says an Egyptian court has ordered a prominent activist to remain in custody pending trial on charges of participating in an illegal protest against the government's transfer of two strategic Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

Taher Aboelnasr says Mahinour el-Masry, a rights lawyer herself and notable activist from the country's 2011 uprising, and another defendant attended Saturday's trial in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. The court ordered that they remain detained until reconvenes on Dec. 30.

He said el-Masry and four other activists are on trial over charges of protesting illegally in June against the surrender of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia. The presidency has since ratified the islands' transfer.

All unauthorized demonstrations in Egypt are illegal under a law adopted in late 2013.
The Palestinians threatened on Saturday to suspend all communication with the United States if the Trump administration follows through with plans to close their diplomatic office in Washington. The potential rupture in relations threatens to undermine President Donald Trump's bid for Mideast peacea mission he has handed his son-in-law, Jared Kushner

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Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the US decision was "very unfortunate and unacceptable," and accused Washington of bowing to pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government "at a time when we are trying to cooperate to achieve the ultimate deal."

In a video statement on social media, Erekat said: "We will put on hold all our communications with this American administration."

Trump and Abbas ahead of their meeting in Bethlehem (Photo: AFP)

There was no immediate reaction from the Trump administration. Netanyahu's office said the closure was "a matter of US law."

US officials had insisted before Erekat's statement that the move wasn't aimed at increasing leverage over the Palestinians, but merely the unavoidable consequence of US law.

Cutting off ties would carry great risks for the Palestinians. It could antagonize an administration they already suspect is biased toward Israel and cut put millions of dollars of critical US aid in jeopardy.

However, unresponsive Palestinians would deal an embarrassing blow to the Trump administration ahead of an expected peace initiative and potentially prevent it from getting off the ground. Their stance could also complicate US efforts to promote a regionwide approach by bringing together Israel with Saudi Arabia and other moderate Arab allies in a joint effort against Iran. Arab countries might be reluctant to get too close to Israel in the absence of serious progress on the Palestinian issue.

The administration announced late Friday that the Palestinians had run afoul of a legal provision that says the Palestine Liberation Organization cannot operate a Washington office if the Palestinians try to get the International Criminal Court to prosecute Israelis for crimes against Palestinians.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson determined that the Palestinians crossed that line in September, when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the court to investigate and prosecute Israelis, according to State Department officials. They weren't authorized to publicly discuss the situation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Saeb Erekat (: AP)

It wasn't clear when the office would close or whether the Palestinians would have to clear out of the building entirely or just close it to the public. Riad Malki, the Palestinian foreign minister, said he was told by the Americans that US and State Department legal teams would meet Monday to decide how the new situation would affect the office, the functioning of diplomats and contacts with the Palestinians.

"We will wait to hear back from them," Malki said. After that, the Palestinians will decide how to react.

Under the law, Trump now has 90 days to consider whether the Palestinians are in "direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel." If Trump determines they are, then the mission can reopen, officials said.

PLO official Hanan Ashrawi said the US was "disqualifying itself as a peace broker in the region" by refusing to extend a waiver from the law.

"Conditioning the renewal of the waiver on the Palestinians' sticking to 'direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel' is actually superfluous since negotiations are nonexistent, and the current US administration has yet to present any kind of peace initiative," she said in a statement.

The US said it wasn't cutting off relations with the Palestinians and remained focused on a comprehensive peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. One of the US officials said in an email that "this measure should in no way be seen as a signal that the US is backing off those efforts."

The Palestinians quickly dismissed that argument, with Malki telling Palestine Radio that the Palestinian leadership "will not accept any extortion or pressure." Erekat contended the move was the result of "the pressure being exerted on this administration by the Netanyahu government."

In response, Netanyahu's office said, "We respect the decision and look forward to continuing to work with the US to advance peace and security in the region."

The Israelis and Palestinians are not engaged in active, direct negotiations. But Trump's team, led by Kushner in his role as senior White House adviser, is working to broker a deal aimed at settling the intractable conflict.

The Palestinians, publicly supportive of the US effort, are nonetheless skeptical because Trump's close ties to Israel suggest whatever deal he proposes might be unfavorable to them. The threat of losing their office in the American capital could become one more pressure point as the Trump administration tries to persuade the Palestinians to come to the table.

The PLO is the group that formally represents all Palestinians. Although the US does not recognize Palestinian statehood, the PLO maintains a "general delegation" office in Washington that facilitates Palestinian officials' interactions with the US government.

The United States allowed the PLO to open a mission in Washington in 1994. That required President Bill Clinton to waive a law that said the Palestinians couldn't have an office. In 2011, under the Obama administration, the US started letting the Palestinians fly their flag over the office, an upgrade to the status of their mission that the Palestinians hailed as historic.

Israel opposes any Palestinian membership in UN-related organizations until a peace deal has been reached.

The Trump administration has not disclosed details about its effort to achieve an agreement that ostensibly would grant the Palestinians an independent state in exchange for an end to its conflict with the Israelis. Kushner and other top Trump aides have been shuttling to the region to meet with Palestinians, Israelis and officials from Arab nations.

The requirement about the mission closing stems from a little-noticed provision in US law that says the US cannot allow the Palestinians to have a Washington office if they back the international court's move to investigate or prosecute Israeli nationals for alleged crimes against Palestinians.

Abbas said at the United Nations in September that the Palestinians had "called on the International Criminal Court to open an investigation and to prosecute Israeli officials for their involvement in settlement activities and aggressions against our people."

The US president can let the Palestinians keep the office despite the violation, only if certifying to Congress "that the Palestinians have entered into direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel." The provision doesn't explicitly define what would constitute direct or meaningful negotiations.
The wife of Yigal Amir, who assassinated former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, claimed in a post on Facebook that a defense team is currently being set up to demand a retrial of her husband.

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In her post, Amir's wife, Larissa Amir Trimbobler, wrote: "Hello everyone. I would like to inform you that a defense team is currently preparing and submitting a request for a retrial of Yigal Amir.

"The move was done with authority and permission after Yigal Amir gave his consent.

Yigal Amir (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

"The entire media issue regarding the move will be managed by a Swiss company and no details will be given to the Israeli media."

In a conversation with a Ynet reporter, Trimbobler was asked who were the people helping her and her husband, but she refused to answer.

Attorney Gabi Shachar, who represents Amir, revealed to Ynet that he was the one who actually wrote the post.

"I wrote the post, and what is written there is correct," he said. "We will not give further details. What is written there verbatim is true.

"This is a Swiss company that, after making an informed decision on the matter, decided to handle all media and public relations itself.

"We issued the message so anyone who needs to know will know that this is about to begin."
Jake Wood on veterans finding purpose in helping others

In this episode of Resilient, Team Rubicon CEO Jake Wood shares how his organization is helping to restore a sense of purpose for veterans while also aiding communities in their darkest hours after natural disasters strike. Not only does the organization help those in need, but it helps veterans reacclimatize to life outside of the military by focusing on three core pillars:

Purpose

Community

Identity

What traits does the organization look for in its veteran volunteers? People who think big and take chances.

Were looking for people that are foolish enough that they think they can change the world and smart enough to have a chance.

Listen to the full episode to hear more from Team Rubicon CEO Jake Wood.

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Sad news reaching YEN.com.gh this morning is that seasoned radio presenter, Kwadwo Asare Baffour Acheampong, popularly known as KABA has passed on.

Click here for all the latest news in Ghana

READ ALSO: Stonebwoy 'wows' fans with designer-themed photo shoot

News reaching us from the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra indicate that the radio icon was rushed to the hospital at dawn but unfortunately, he could not make it upon reaching the hospital.

Kwadwo Asare Baffour Acheampong before this unfortunate news was the host of Asempa FM's 'Ekosi Sen'. He was noted for his many anti-corruption campaigns.

READ ALSO: Kumkum Bhagya stars speak Twi in their first live interview

He tied the knot somewhere last year with Class FM presenter, Valentina Ofori Afriyie. The wedding was held in Santasi, a suburb of Kumasi and it was attended by high-ranking personalities in the radio fraternity including Kwame Sefa-Kayi.

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| 2017-11-18 08:05:57|Editor: liuxin

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CHICAGO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grains closed higher Friday with corn futures rising nearly 2 percent on fund-driven short-covering and talk of increased export demand.

Soybeans hit a one-week high as worries about stressful crop weather in Argentina lifted soymeal futures. Wheat futures firmed along with corn and soy, drawing additional support from a softer dollar, which tends to make U.S. grains more attractive on the global market.

The most active corn contract for December delivery went up 6.5 cents, or 1.93 percent, to 3.43 dollars per bushel. December wheat delivery rose 5.75 cents, or 1.36 percent, to 4.2725 dollars per bushel. January soybeans added 18.5 cents, or 1.9 percent to 9.905 dollars per bushel.

As for international markets, limited rain is expected across Argentina in the next 2 weeks while Brazilian crops will enjoy regular rains. The Argentine dryness worry is deepening with a trend of below normal expected into early December with intermittent heat.

More heavy rains are slated to drop across New South Wales, Victoria and Southern Australia that could damage their mature winter wheat crop.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 08:06:00|Editor: Yurou

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Photo taken on Nov. 17, 2017 shows the United Nations Security Council voting on a resolution extending 30 days for mandate of mechanism investigating chemical attacks in Syria at the UN headquarters in New York. The UN Security Council failed to adopt the resolution extending 30 days for mandate of mechanism investigating chemical attacks in Syria on Friday. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Security Council on Friday failed to adopt Japan's draft resolution extending 30 days for mandate of mechanism investigating chemical attacks in Syria.

Russia vetoed the resolution.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 08:26:05|Editor: liuxin

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ISLAMABAD, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan has dispatched humanitarian relief assistance to the earthquake victims of Iran, officials said.

A C-130 plane, carrying 12 tons of relief goods, was sent to Tehran on the directives of Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the country's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Friday.

The shipment included 165 tents, 1,050 blankets, 200 tarpaulins, 200 plastic mats, food items and other supplies, which were handed over by the NDMA team to Iranian officials at the Tehran airport.

Pakistan and Iran have enjoyed a long-standing friendship, reflecting in every hour of need, the authority said, adding that the government of Pakistan has reiterated its resolve to provide all possible assistance to help the bereaved families.

A 7.3-magnitude earthquake rattled the border region between Iran and Iraq on Sunday night, leaving almost 500 people dead and extensive damage.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 10:06:25|Editor: liuxin

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UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Russia on Friday vetoed a Japanese-drafted UN securiy council resolution on renewing a joint mechanism to investigate who is behind chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

Friday's vote was Russia's 11th veto on Security Council resolutions concerning Syria and the third concerning Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

The mandate of JIM, which the Security Council unanimously approved in 2015, expires on Friday.

Bolivia also voted against Friday's draft resolution. China abstained.

Russia on Thursday vetoed a U.S.-drafted resolution that would have extended JIM's mandate for a year.

Wu Haitao, the charge d'affaires at China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, said after Friday's vote that any Security Council action must focus on the overall political process in Syria, which faces important opportunities at the moment.

It is imperative for parties to keep calm and exercise restraint and find an appropriate solution acceptable to all through patient consultation, he said, noting that there are still significant differences among members over JIM.

"Given the differences among council members, forcing a vote does not contribute to the resolution of the issue of chemical weapons in Syria, or serve to safeguard the unity and authority of the Security Council, nor does it help to advance the political process in Syria," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 10:26:30|Editor: Lifang

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TUNIS, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The United States increased aid to Tunisia's military and development sectors by 30 percent between 2016 and 2017, to 205.4 million U.S. dollars, visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan said Friday.

After meeting with Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, Sullivan said his country "recognizes the efforts made by Tunisia to revive its economy and improve the business climate." He encouraged U.S. businessmen to invest in this North African and Mediterranean country.

He also discussed with Chahed various reforms undertaken by Tunisian authorities.

According to Sullivan, the United States has given Tunisia credits with a value of 1.5 billion U.S. dollars since 2011. He said "Tunisia could benefit from a fourth credit," which is now in the study phase.

Earlier Friday, Sullivan was received by Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi before co-chairing a meeting with Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemais Jhinaoui. He and the Tunisian president spoke about the common will to fight terrorism.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 11:06:41|Editor: Liangyu

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BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- China has honored Nan Rendong, founding scientist of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), with a posthumous title of "role model of our times."

The Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee announced the decision on Friday.

Nan had worked as the chief scientist of a team who selected the site for FAST and oversaw its construction since 1994, before his death due to sickness in September at the age of 72.

He had made important contribution to the FAST project and devoted to his work without considering personal gains, said a statement issued by the department.

As a true patriot, a devoted and selfless scientist and an upright person, he should be an example of all including scientists, the statement said.

FAST, currently the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, has identified multiple pulsars after one year of trial operation, according to the National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) in October.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 11:16:43|Editor: Liangyu

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BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- China will transfer some state capital including shares of state-owned companies (SOE) and financial institutions to the country's social security funds as an aging society puts pressure on pension payments, official document showed Saturday.

Capital will be transferred to the National Council for Social Security Fund and wholly state-owned companies, according to a document released by the State Council.

Pilot programs on the transfer will start in 2017, with shares of three to five centrally-supervised SOEs and two central financial institutions to be transferred.
iStock/Thinkstock(TOKYO) -- A U.S. warship collided with a Japanese commercial tug boat in Japan's Sagami Bay on Saturday, marking the fifth time this year that a ship in the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet in the Pacific has been involved in a crash.



The Japanese tug boat lost propulsion and drifted into the USS Benfold during a towing exercise. The U.S. guided-missile destroyer sustained minimal damage, and there were no reported injuries on either vessel, according to a press release from the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet.



The USS Benfold, which is awaiting a full damage assessment, remains at sea under its own power. The incident will be investigated, the 7th Fleet said.



Here's a look at previous crashes involving U.S. Navy warships in 2017, including two deadly collisions that left 17 sailors dead:



Jan. 31: The USS Antietam runs aground off coast of Japan



The USS Antietam ran aground off the coast of Japan on January 31, damaging its propellers and spilling oil into the water.



The guided-missile destroyer grounded near the U.S. Naval base in Yokosuka, Japan, after anchoring out in high winds, the Navy Times reported.



The crew noticed the ship was dragging its anchor before getting it back underway, according to the Navy Times, adding that the crew then felt the ship shudder and lose pitch control of its propellers.



About 1,100 gallons of oil were dumped into the Tokyo Bay, the Navy Times reported. No one was injured.



A Navy investigation revealed that the former Capt. Joseph Carrian of the USS Antietam was "ultimately responsible" for the ships running aground, causing an estimated $4.2 million in damage, according to Stars and Stripes.



May 9: The USS Lake Champlain collides with South Korean fishing boat



The USS Lake Champlain, also a guided-missile cruiser, collided with a South Korean fishing boat in the Sea of Japan May 9.



No one was injured in the incident.



The warship tried to alert the fishing boat before the collision but it was too late.



June 17: The USS Fitzgerald collides with a Philippine container ship



Seven U.S. sailors were killed when the USS Fitzgerald collided with Philippine-flagged container ship in the middle of the night off the coast of Yokosuuka, Japan, June 17.



The destroyer was operating about 56 nautical miles southwest of Yokosuka when it collided with the ACX Crystal.



The Fitzgerald sustained damage on its starboard side and experienced flooding in some spaces as a result of the collision, according to the Navy.



All seven sailors who died were initially missing after the collision and found in the flooded quarters after the destroyer returned to port, a Navy official told ABC News. Those quarters flooded within 90 seconds of the collision.



The area is often busy with sea traffic, with as many as 400 ships passing through it every day, according to Japan's coast guard.



The Navy last week relieved the USS Fitzgerald's commanding officer, executive officer and senior enlisted sailor for alleged mistakes that led to the deadly crash.



Aug. 21: The USS John S. McCain collides with a merchant ship



Ten U.S. sailors were killed when the USS John S. McCain, named after the father and grandfather of Vietnam war hero Sen. John S. McCain III, R-Ariz., collided with commercial vessel Alnic MC in waters east of Singapore on Aug. 21, according to the Navy.



The collision occurred east of the Strait of Malacca around 6:24 a.m. Japan Standard Time. The guided-missile destroyer was on its way for a routine port visit in Singapore, the Navy said in a statement.



"It was one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world," said Steve Ganyard, an ABC News contributor, retired Marine colonel and a former deputy assistant secretary of state.



"One-third of all maritime shipping goes through here," Ganyard said. "So there were probably extenuating circumstances but no doubt, as we saw in the Fitzgerald, there was probably human error involved, as well."



The warship suffered significant damage to the hull, causing flooding in nearby departments, including the crew berthing, machinery and communications rooms, the Navy said.



"This leaves a real gap in the Pacific fleet's capabilities at a time when tensions with North Korea are high," Ganyard said.



All 10 sailors who died were initially missing and their remains were later found inside sealed compartments of the warship's damaged hull. Another five sailors sustained non-life-threatening injuries, the Navy said.



The crew consisted of 23 officers, 24 petty officers and 291 sailors, according to the Navy's website. Its home port is in Yokosuka, Japan.



Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Theres one name that brings smiles to just about every face at Mount Elden Middle School: Lucy.

During the school day she can be found cruising the halls, checking in with friends at the lunchroom, playing ball at recess and comforting friends in the nurses office with Assistant Principal Donna Natseway. She gets paid in hugs, scritches and dog kibble.

Lucy is Mount Eldens in-house therapy dog.

Everyone just loves her, Nasteway said. The kids, the teachers, the staff and the parents. She loves coming to school each day.

Lucy is a 3-year-old labradoodle, a mix between a Labrador retriever and poodle. The dogs were originally bred to be hypoallergenic guide dogs. According to petmed.com, they make great family pets, especially families with allergies, and shed less than most dogs.

With her big brown eyes and curly white and gold fur, Lucys a favorite at the school wherever she goes. Her sweet, quiet demeanor and soft fur just beg adults and students to bury their fingers in her coat and stroke her head.

I sometimes have teachers come in during their prep time and ask if they can have Lucy time. Theyll take her back to their classroom for a while and then return with a big smile, Nasteway said. I have a lot of people tell me that shes the best part of their day. She immediately diffuses any negative feelings for both adults and students.

MORE LAID BACK

Since Lucy stepped foot inside Mount Elden three years ago, the entire vibe of the school has changed, Nasteway said. Everyone -- teachers, staff, students and parents -- are more relaxed and the atmosphere in the school is more laid back.

Lucy also greets everyone who comes in the front door at the beginning of the school day with Nasteway and walks the halls between classes. She also makes trips to classrooms during lessons, wandering up and down the aisles of desks getting petting, rubbing and scratches from all sides.

I think having her is kind of interesting, kind of cool, said seventh grader Alaina Baca, who has several pets of her own at home. Its cool that she doesnt shed. This is the first school that Ive been to that has a dog.

One of Lucys favorite places to visit is the school nurses office, where she likes to lean against students who might have a scraped knee or who are just not feeling well.

She always knows when someone is upset, Nasteway said.

Lucy will immediately start moving toward someone who is upset, including parents. Nasteway always asks students and adults if its OK that Lucy visits with them. Some people dont like dogs or have had bad experiences with dogs or they may just be busy at the moment, Nasteway said. Interacting will Lucy is always voluntary. Lucy is also always on a leash and has an adult nearby wherever she goes. Shes not allowed to wander the school alone.

TRAINED IN THERAPY

Lucy actually belongs to Nasteway, who purposely got her to be a therapy dog for the school. She and Lucy went through basic obedience training and therapy dog training. Shes been a registered therapy dog for two years.

In order to become registered, Lucy and Nasteway had to be evaluated by Pet Partners, an organization created by two doctors and four veterinarians in 1970 to train volunteers and their pets how to become therapy teams. The organization registers 10 different species of therapy pets, including dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, guinea pigs, llamas, alpacas, birds, pigs and rats.

Lucy had to show that she could sit, lie down and stay on command. She also had to stay in place until she was called. Lucy also had to be comfortable with wheelchairs and walkers, loud noises, crowds and surprise guests dressed in weird clothing. Lucy and Nasteway also had to go through a walking pattern where an evaluator would ask them to randomly stop, lie down or sit and stay.

Once registered with the group, the animals and their handlers are able to work in schools, hospitals, nursing homes and a variety of other volunteer programs, such Northern Arizona Universitys stress-free zones during exams. Nasteway is hoping to expand the number of places that she and Lucy volunteer in the near future, such as the reading program at the Flagstaff Library, once the two of them can find the time.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 11:56:49|Editor: ZD

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UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- More than 100 Rohingya refugees are known to have drowned in shipwrecks and boat incidents as they fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh, a United Nations (UN) spokesman said Friday.

Stephane Dujarric, the chief UN spokesman who reported the grim statistics, told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York that the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has received reports of some 30 improvised rafts, carrying more than 1,000 people arrived in Bangladesh from Myanmar.

Unable to pay to cross over to Bangladesh, the spokesman said refugees "are building rafts from whatever materials they can get their hands on" to make the four-hour trip across the Naf River or the upper part of the Bay of Bengal inlet into which the river flows.

Recent arrivals told UNHCR that they had been "waiting for more than a month in desperate conditions" on the shores of Myanmar, according to Dujarric.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported approximately 620,000 Rohingya refugees have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh since Aug. 25.

"The refugees are mostly living in makeshift settlements without adequate infrastructure or services," Dujarric said.

Dujarric pointed out that the Rohingya Refugee Crisis Response Plan has received nearly 140 million U.S. dollars, just under one-third of what is actually needed. He urged donors to disburse the funds as quickly as possible.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 12:31:55|Editor: ZD

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COLOMBO, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan police on Saturday arrested at least 19 people after violent clashes erupted in the southern Galle District Friday night.

A police curfew which had been imposed in six areas across the Galle District was lifted on Saturday morning. A police official told Xinhua that the situation had not returned to normal and tight security wold remain across the district throughout the day.

Over 200 police officers and 100 officers from the Special Task Force had been deployed in Galle following the violence which erupted between Buddhist and Muslim groups on Friday night.

Media reports said the groups had clashed over an accident which had escalated to violence.

Several people were injured in the clashes while some houses had also been damaged.

Government ministers who visited the scene said the government would not tolerate any communal disharmony and would take stern action against those attempting to spread racism.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 13:52:09|Editor: liuxin

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. military members reported a total of 20,348 sexual assaults from fiscal year 2013 to 2016 at the country's military installations around the globe, a newly-released Pentagon report showed Friday.

The report, provided by the Department of Defense's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO), detailed the number of sexual assault reports across the services and joint bases, as well in combat zones.

The Army, the largest of the U.S. military services, had the highest number of sexual assault cases at a total of 8,284 in the four years, according to the report.

The number of cases in the Navy stood at 4,788, with 3,876 reports in the Air Force and 3,400 in the Marine Corps.

The Pentagon estimated that 32 percent of service members experiencing sexual assaults in the 2016 fiscal year, up from 25 percent in the previous two years.

Across all the four years, the Navy post with most reports of sexual assaults was Virginia-based Naval Station Norfolk, with 1,055, while the most in the Army was Texas-based Fort Hood, with 863.

The U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado had the most reports of the Air Force, with 168, and in the Marine Corps, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, had the highest number of reports with 634.

Holding Army, Navy and Air Force units, Joint Base San Antonio had the most sexual assault reports of any joint base across the four-year period, with 881.

As to combat areas, Afghanistan received 295 sexual assault reports from fiscal 2013 to 2016, higher than any other country that has U.S. military presence.

The report stressed that assaults listed for a particular base did not necessarily mean that the incident occurred there.

"One of the features of the department's reporting program is that service members can report allegations of sexual assault at any time and at any place," Nate Galbreath, deputy director of the SAPRO, said in a statement accompanying the report.

"A report could involve allegations for an incident that occurred while on deployment, while away on leave, or even prior to entering the military," he said.

The SAPRO said those allegations are also categorized into restricted and unrestricted.

In 2013, the Pentagon began allowing victims of sexual assault to seek legal help without notifying their command and police, which would be classified as restricted reports.

Sexual assault victims who seek police involvement have unrestricted reports.

According to the SAPRO statement, the statistics were published now "due to recent requests for this information under the Freedom of Information Act."

The report also comes as successive reports of sexual harassment and assaults have been leveled against big-name politicians, media tycoons, and Hollywood celebrities.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 14:15:53|Editor: liuxin

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Staff members of the French Embassy attend the charity sale activity in Lisbon, capital of Portugal, on Nov. 17, 2017. More than 40 embassies participated in the two-day charity sale activity, the proceeds of which will be donated to charities in Portugal to support people with severe physical disability. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 14:17:14|Editor: Lifang

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GHAZNI, Afghanistan Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Six armed insurgents and one policeman were killed and 15 militants wounded during clashes in eastern Afghan province of Ghazni on Friday, the provincial police chief said Saturday.

"The clashes erupted after government forces engaged in Taliban insurgents in Abband district late Friday. And the fighting left six Taliban militants, including two insurgents' local commanders, dead and 15 others injured," Gen. Mohammad Zaman told Xinhua.

One police officer was also killed during the clashes, he added.

Taliban insurgency has been on the rampage since the beginning of 2015 when the Afghan security forces assumed full responsibilities of security from the U.S. and NATO troops.

The Taliban militants have yet to make comment on the report.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 14:17:15|Editor: Yamei

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Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe (2nd R) and Zimbabwe Defense Forces Chief Constantino Chiwenga (1st R) pose for photos at State House in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Nov. 16, 2017. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe met Zimbabwe Defense Forces Chief Constantino Chiwenga and South African envoys here on Thursday. (Xinhua/Joseph Nyadzayo)

BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The situation in Zimbabwe remains volatile as the country's ruling ZANU-PF party has called on President Robert Mugabe to step down.

Eight out of the ten provincial committees of the ZANU-PF party made the call after the military appeared to have taken control of the government earlier this week, according to the country's state broadcaster.

They also called for the renunciation of the Generation 40 (G40), a faction of the ZANU-PF party which is allegedly led by First Lady Grace Mugabe, and the reinstatement of former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa in the party and the government.

The 93-year-old president and his wife have been reportedly put under house arrest by the military since Wednesday, a week after Mugabe fired Mnangagwa, his political ally for more than 40 years, on allegations of disloyalty and deceit.

The president is being accused of allowing the formation of cabals who had clouded his judgement. And military leaders said on state TV that they were not taking over the government, but "targeting criminals" around Mugabe.

Zimbabwe's influential war veterans' association has urged Zimbabweans to attend a rally in the capital of Harare on Saturday in support of the action taken by the military.

Leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai, has also urged Mugabe to resign and pave the way for democratic elections.

The opposition leader said there must be a negotiated all-inclusive transitional mechanism agreed upon by all national stakeholders.

The Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF) claimed Friday in a statement that significant progress has been made in efforts to "weed out" the criminals.

On the same day, Mugabe made his first public appearance since the reported military takeover, attending a graduation ceremony at the Zimbabwe Open University.

His attendance is said to show that he is still in charge of the country, at least for now.

The ZDF said it is engaging with Mugabe, who is constitutionally commander-in-chief of the defence forces, "on the way forward" after Mugabe met the ZDF Chief Constantino Chiwenga and Southern African Development Community (SADC) mediators to discuss the political impasse.

The SADC's Chairperson Jacob Zuma has said that the regional bloc stands ready to provide all necessary support to Zimbabwe, an SADC member state, to resolve the current political crisis.

The SADC hopes that the unfolding developments in Zimbabwe will not lead to unconstitutional change of government, said Zuma, also president of South Africa.

He reminded all the parties involved to ensure that maintenance of peace and security as enshrined in the Zimbabwean constitution is not compromised.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for continued calm in Zimbabwe.

He underlined the importance of resolving political differences through peaceful means, including through dialogue and in conformity with the country's constitution.

He also reiterated UN's commitment to continuously supporting Zimbabwe's national efforts to consolidate democratic governance.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 14:22:20|Editor: Lifang

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NEW DELHI, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- India is mulling a joint mission to the moon with Japan, the country's top space official said.

"We are looking at a future for a possible joint lunar mission," state-owned Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief A.S. Kiran Kumar told the media Friday.

"In the future, we will also be looking at how we can make use of this relationship for generating more input for climate change studies," he added.

India successfully launched its first mission, Chandrayaan-1, to the moon in 2008.

Chandrayaan-1 was launched on Oct. 22, 2008, and included a probe, impactor and orbiter. Its moon impact probe crash-landed on the lunar surface on Nov. 14, 2008.

The mission was lauded for costing a fraction - about 80 million U.S. dollars - of similar missions. The Japanese's SELENE cost 480 million U.S. dollars.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 14:32:24|Editor: Lifang

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SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Authorities imposed curfew-like restrictions in several parts of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, on Saturday.

The restrictions were announced following the killing of a local militant in a gunfight at Zakura on Friday evening. The gunfight also left one police officer dead and a policeman injured.

The slain militant was identified as Mugees Ahmad Mir of Parimpora locality in Srinagar.

"On the instructions of district magistrate Srinagar authorities have imposed restrictions in Parimpora, Safa Kadal, Maharaj Gunj, Nowhatta, Khanyar, Rainawari, Maisuma and Kralkhud areas," a local government official said.

Hundreds of police and paramilitary troopers are enforcing the restrictions in the areas.

Authorities have also placed separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house arrest and picked up another leader Mohammed Yasin Malik from his residence to prevent them from attending funeral prayers of the slain militant.

Shops and business establishments remained closed in the city in wake of restrictions and traffic was off the roads.

Domestic rail service has been suspended and educational institutions in Srinagar were closed as a precautionary measure.

A separatist movement and guerrilla war challenging New Delhi's rule is going on in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 15:12:32|Editor: Yurou

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NEW DELHI, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to arrive in India in January next year on a three-day visit, sources said on Saturday.

Netanyahu will be the second Israeli prime minister to visit India after Ariel Sharon in 2003, following the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1992.

Netanyahu's first stop will be the western city of Ahmedabad in Indian Prime Minister Narandra Modi's homestate of Gujarat on Jan. 14, where he will be hosted by Modi himself.

"Trade, agriculture and innovation are likely to be on the agenda of the talks between the two prime ministers," sources said.

From Gujarat, the Israeli prime minister will travel to the Indian capital where he is also likely to call on President Ram Nath Kovind, sources said.

"Netanyahu may also visit the northern Indian city of Agra to see the iconic Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world," sources said.

India and Israel are working toward a free trade agreement. Bilateral trade between the countries, except defence, stands at 5 billion U.S. dollars.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 15:17:33|Editor: Yurou

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RIYADH, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday that its ambassador to Germany was recalled in objections to remarks made by German foreign minister, Saudi Press Agency reported.

The country also revealed that it would hand over Germany's ambassador to the Kingdom a protest note refuting such remarks.

An official source of the ministry of foreign affairs referred in a statement to the remarks made by German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel during a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart as incorrect.

The German foreign ministry quoted Gabriel as telling his Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil that "Germany stands firmly by Lebanon's side," and warned against fanning tension in the Middle East.

The Saudi source said that such remarks provoke the surprise and disapproval of Saudi Arabia, and would not help to bring about stability in the region.

The rifts between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon started with the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri while on a visit to Saudi Arabia on November 4, who accused the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group of spreading chaos in the region.

He continued to stay in Saudi Arabia despite the endless calls of Lebanon for his comeback. Some accused Saudi Arabia of keeping him hostage, which was denied by Hariri. He said early Saturday that he was heading to the airport in Saudi Arabia, where he is expected to leave for France.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 15:33:11|Editor: Yamei

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People visit shops in the Dongding wholesale market in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 17, 2017. Beijing's largest clothing wholesale market will soon be a thing of the past as Dongding, the last of the wholesale district's 12 shopping centers, is set to close in two weeks. Built in the mid-1980s, the Beijing Zoo wholesale market was labeled a "paradise" for young women who wanted to look fashionable on a budget. It used to attract 100,000 customers daily. (Xinhua/Luo Xiaoguang)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 15:37:37|Editor: pengying

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Participants pose for a group photo during the opening ceremony of the 11th Asia-Europe Foundation Journalists' Seminar (ASEFJS11), in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, Nov. 18, 2017. Journalists from Asia and Europe gathered in Myanmar's capital of Nay Pyi Taw on Saturday to discuss reporting on sustainable development. (Xinhua/U Aung)

YANGON, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Journalists from Asia and Europe gathered in Myanmar's capital of Nay Pyi Taw on Saturday to discuss reporting on sustainable development.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 11th Asia-Europe Foundation Journalists' Seminar (ASEFJS11), Pe Myint, union minister of information, said the seminar is a very significant one for Myanmar as ideas and information on achieving sustainable development will be exchanged between the members.

The seminar is the first of its kind in Myanmar, the union minister said, adding that it is honored for media persons to perform a magnificent responsibility for shaping good public perceptions and minds for achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Karsten Warnecke, executive director of ASEF, expressed his belief that the two-day seminar would build the media network between ASEF journalists, who could exchange challenges and experiences in reporting on sustainable development.

During the event, panel discussions and workshop will be held to exchange perspectives and understanding with regards to sustainability reporting, as well as discussion on constructive journalism-based approach of reporting to shape positive perceptions among Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) societies about the SDGs.

The ASEFJS11 is being held in conjunction with the 13th ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting which will be held on Nov. 20-21 in Nay Pyi Taw.

Participants in the ASEFJS11 will be accredited to cover the meeting.

Foreign ministers from Asia and Europe will take part in discussions of security, trade, climate, change, sustainable development goals and connectivity in the upcoming meeting.
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko (L) shakes hands with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel during a meeting in Minsk, Belarus November 17, 2017. (REUTERS PHOTO)

MINSK, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Friday that Belarus is opening new chapter in relations with Germany.

"There are many things in Minsk that describe our relationship in a positive way", Lukashenko made the remarks on Friday at the meeting with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel.

The Belarusian leader thanked the German side for its yearly help in rehabilitating Belarusian children impacted by the Chernobyl nuclear accident and providing technological support to the Belarusian economy.

He also asked Germany to focus on the situation in belarus and to assess it objectively.

In his turn, Sigmar Gabriel said that because of its historical experience, Belarus has become a place for peace talks in the conflict situations in other countries.

"We are very hopeful that Minsk will continue to play such an important role in the future", he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 16:22:46|Editor: Mengjie

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KATHMANDU, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- China wants to develop relationship with neighboring countries including Nepal based on the five principles of peaceful co-existence, friendship, amity and sincerity under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese Ambassador Yu Hong said.

The ambassador made the remarks on Friday while briefing local media on visions and strategies adopted at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held in October in Beijing.

Ambassador Yu said that the 19th CPC National Congress added the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into the Party Constitution.

"It will be an era of securing a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and of moving on to all-out efforts to build a great modern socialist country," she said.

Ambassador Yu touched upon various decisions made by the 19th CPC National Congress during her two-hour presentation.

The ambassador said the 19th CPC National Congress has adopted various strategies to basically realize socialism modernization in China by 2035 and turn China into a great modern socialist country by 2050.

Highlighting about various facets of bilateral relationship between China and Nepal, Ambassador Yu said Nepal has opportunities to reap benefits from the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

"We are happy to note that Nepal joined the Belt and Road Initiative in May this year," she said, adding that the two countries can advance their cooperation in multiple fields such as railroad connectivity, physical infrastructure development, tourism, people-to-people contacts and culture.

She said that the Belt and Road Initiative is not something "China gives and other countries receive."

"It is a mutually beneficial approach for the economic development between China and the countries who become part of it," she said.

The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative was proposed by China in 2013 with the aim of building a trade, investment and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.

The ambassador believed that China pursues its bilateral cooperation with Nepal based on the five principles of peaceful co-existence, amity, sincerity and friendship.

The event was attended by two dozen senior journalists representing renowned state-owned and private media in Nepal.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 16:27:47|Editor: pengying

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KABUL, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Three Afghan journalists lost their lives within a week, including a reporter who succumbed to injuries following Thursday's suicide attack in Kabul, a media support agency said Saturday.

Hussain Nazari, cameraman of local Rah-e-Farda TV network, was buried Friday afternoon in western Kabul, Afghanistan's National Journalists Union said in a statement.

On Thursday, a suicide bomber struck a banquet hall shortly after a political gathering ended, killing 15 people, including Nazari, and injuring 18 others.

Among those injured was Taqi Sadeed, a reporter of the Rah-e-Farda TV, according to the statement.

Furthermore, another Afghan journalist Farooq Faizi died of cancer in western Herat province while Anita Kargar, a female freelance reporter lost her life due to heart-related illness in northern Baghlan province.

Reporters frequently come under attack in the militancy-hit country as 10 Afghan journalists and media workers have been killed mostly by terrorist attacks in the first six months of the year, according to official figures.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 16:37:50|Editor: Mengjie

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CHENGDU, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese panda researchers plan to release two giant pandas into the wild later this month under a program to help rebuild the wild panda population.

China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in southwest China's Sichuan Province said the captive-bred pair, a male and a female, have received two years of training in Wolong to survive in the wild.

Ba Xi, the male panda, was born on July 26, 2015, and Ying Xue is just 14 days older than Ba Xi.

Researchers at a meeting organized by the State Forestry Bureau earlier this month agreed that the pair are in good health and have developed the ability to live in the wild independently.

They will be the second panda pair released into the wild.

In October last year, three-year-old Hua Yan and two-year-old Zhang Meng, bred in captivity, were released to the Liziping Nature Reserve in Sichuan.

Researchers have decided that the second pair will also be released to the Liziping Nature Reserve.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature reclassified the giant panda species as "vulnerable" rather than "endangered" last year, thanks to decades of protection efforts.

According to the China giant panda breeding technology committee, the population of captive giant pandas has reached 520 worldwide.

However, the captive stock lacks genetic diversity. China has planned to improve the wild panda population by creating giant panda national parks, releasing more pandas into the wild, and furthering scientific research.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 17:53:04|Editor: Yurou

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by Zenzile Khoisan

CAPE TOWN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's national liquor Kweichow Moutai on Friday evening launched a promotion drive in Cape Town in a bid to enter the African market.

The operation was rolled out with an official event that featured diplomats, government officials, as well as cultural and business representatives from both China and South Africa.

The event, addressed by Moutai Group General Manager Li Baofang who led the delegation of nearly 100 Chinese business people, was convened under the theme: "Meeting in Africa through the Unique Aroma -- China Kweichow Moutai, the Belt and Road Branding Initiatives in South Africa."

Also featured prominently among the speakers were Cape Town Deputy Mayor Alderman Ian Neilson and Yaw Peprah, Chief Operating Officer of WESGRO, the official trade and investment opportunities promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape Province.

This was the first time for Moutai to set foot on the African continent and Cape Town will serve as a springboard for Moutai to enter the African market, said Li.

Moutai is one of China's flagship companies that has been able to showcase global success and sustainability with a market value of more than 120.3 billion U.S. dollars.

Sketching the pathway that Moutai has travelled to achieve the distinction of being the number one brand of distilled spirits in both the Chinese and international markets, Li described the branding initiative in Cape Town as the first stop in a broader continental project that was underpinned by strong cooperation between China and South Africa.

"Moutai's coming to Africa is part of the Belt and Road Initiative to promote cultural exchange with Africa," Li said.

This would help achieve the objective of uniting all the peoples of Africa and Asia, according to him.

He voiced hope that the peoples of the world will be brought closer together through the aroma of Moutai.

Li added that this is "a win-win cooperation between Moutai and the rest of the world, involving cultural exchanges and economic cooperation."

The entry of Moutai into the South African market will contribute to the South African economy, Li said.

"There is a huge space and opportunity to collaborate, and by working together we can build a rainbow bridge between Africa and China," he said.

Neilson said it was a great honor for the city to host this groundbreaking initiative and that Cape Town, which is strategically positioned on the West Coast of South Africa, has much to offer.

He highlighted the fact that many of South Africa's financial and consulting groups were based in the city and that two thirds of South Africa's green industry manufacturing happens in the province.

"We were recently designated a special economic zone and have launched a business brand initiative called Invest Cape Town," Neilson said.

"With China's Belt and Road Initiative, we are uniquely positioned," the deputy mayor added.

Speaking on behalf of WESGRO, Peprah explained that there were important areas of cooperation.

"Being part of BRICS, we see China as a very important market for us," Peprah noted.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 18:03:07|Editor: pengying

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Palestinians wait for travel permits to cross into Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Nov. 18, 2017. Egypt on Saturday temporarily opened Rafah crossing point on the borders with the Gaza Strip in both directions for three days, according to an official statement. (Xinhua/Khaled Omar)

GAZA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Egypt on Saturday temporarily opened Rafah crossing point on the borders with the Gaza Strip in both directions for three days, according to an official statement.

It's the first time since June 2007, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is in charge of running the Palestinian side of the crossing in coordination with Hamas security which is present in Gaza.

A statement by the PNA borders and crossings corporation, emailed to reporters, said that the mechanism of running the crossing is based on sharing the job.

The interior ministry of Hamas takes care of the lists of the registered passengers, who want to travel through the crossing, and the traffic police arranges the movement outside the crossing point, while the PNA presidential guards and PNA police and security will be present in the crossing to arrange the movement of the passengers to the Egyptian side, according to the statement.

Sharing the crossing was agreed upon on Friday between General Majid Faraj, PNA Chief of intelligence, who visited Gaza for several hours and met with Yehya Sinwar, Gaza Hamas chief.

The crossing of Rafah was fully closed by Egypt since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. However, Egypt temporarily opened it for a few days for humanitarian cases and to enable stranded Palestinians to cross in Gaza.

Running the Rafah crossing point by the PNA was part of a reconciliation agreement signed in Cairo between Hamas and Fatah party last October. The agreement enables the PNA to take over control of the Gaza Strip.

However, security in the Gaza Strip is still partially unresolved, where representatives of 12 factions, including Hamas and Fatah are scheduled to hold broader dialogue in Cairo on the 21st of November to agree on security issues, setting up a date for general elections and discussing the possibility of reforming Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and allow non-members to join the PLO executive committee.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 18:08:08|Editor: Yurou

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BERLIN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Police in north Hamburg have raided district offices and an event management company over allegations that 100 tickets to a concert by premier British rock band Rolling Stones, the biggest-ever event in the city, were given away to local officials free.

District officials received the tickets, worth 10,000 euros (11,800 U.S. dollars), from FKP Scorpio after they gave the green light to the gig in September, German newspaper Die Welt reported.

Tom Oelrichs, deputy head of the Hamburg North district office, told German news magazine Der Spiegel that this has been the "standard practice" in the events industry for years.

It is reported that more than 80,000 people attended the show. Some shelled out 800 euros to buy a ticket on the black market.

Harald Rosler, head of the district office, said the free tickets were given to local politicians, office employees and their partners.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 18:18:11|Editor: Yurou

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KABUL, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Up to 23 militants were killed and 25 others wounded during the military operations in Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, the defense ministry said Saturday.

"The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces have carried out 15 clean up operations and 12 special operations in 13 provinces. As a result 23 militants were killed and 25 others injured," the ministry said in a statement.

Afghan air forces also conducted five airstrikes to demolish the hideouts of the militants, the statement added.

The security forces also freed three people from Taliban custody over the period.

Afghan forces have beefed up security operations against militants as the war-weary people are facing upsurges in attacks by Taliban and Islamic State (IS) militants across the country.

The militants responded by armed attacks and bombings.

On Thursday, 15 people, including seven policemen, were killed and 18 others wounded in a suicide bomb blast in Kabul.




The unfortunate side of a voice for Arab women.

On October 20, 54 Egyptian policemen were killed in a firefight with militants in the desert, 80 miles from Cairo. Local media reported the police were attacked by the Hasm Movement, a terrorist organization that the Egyptian government claims is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Governments around the world offered statements of sympathy to the Egyptian government over one of deadliest attacks against Egyptian security forces in many years. The U.S. State Department announcedthat it condemns the terrorist attack, [offers] profound condolences, and stands with Egypt at this difficult time, as we continue to work together to fight the scourge of terrorism.

But among some Islamist activists in America, there was jubilation. In a Facebook post, written on October 20, New York-based journalist Ayat Oraby applauded the killings, accusing the deceased soldiers and police of insolence and cowardice. In another post about one of the murdered soldiers, Oraby expressed Joy at the death of that criminal!

Oraby accused the deceased soldiers of having previously been paid by Egyptian General (and now President) Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to murder unarmed Muslims during the infamous Rabaa massacre in 2013, during which supporters of the deposed Muslim Brotherhood President, Mohamed Morsi, clashed with Egyptian police and military.

In her capacity as an editor, Oraby has won the Shirley Chisholm Award in journalism (awarded by New Jersey Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver), and been invited to speak on college campuses all over North America, including at Concordia University, University of Toronto, and Montclair State University. At her Montclair State talk, Oraby was billed as an Activist, Journalist, Broadcaster & Advocate for Arab women.

What sort of activism does Oraby practice? In a 2016 Arabic-language video on her Facebook account denouncing Egypts Coptic Christian population, she declared that the Crescent must always be on top of the Cross and urged her audience to Boycott the Christians economically.

Orabys Facebook posts, meanwhile, include virulent anti-Semitism. She claims that Israel has taken overthe Middle East, and that Egypts former president Gamal Abdel Nasser was a Jew and an American Intelligence agent.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has a long history of commenting on hate speech issues. But when we asked CAIRs national office and its New York branch to comment on Orabys extremism, they refused.

CAIR was founded and remains run by Muslim Brotherhood members. Its refusal to condemn this anti-Semitic, anti-Christian and pro-terror rhetoric is explained by Orabys own history of involvement with the Muslim Brotherhood. Orabys Twitter profile lists her as a member of the Egyptian Revolutionary Council (ERC), a Turkey-based organization that supports Egypts ousted Muslim Brotherhood president, Mohammed Morsi. Although Oraby claims she is not with Muslim Brotherhood, Orabys membership in the ERC indicates otherwise. When ERC first formed, at least one Egyptian English-language paper announced, MB supporters launch revolutionary council. Another Arabic-language paper describesOraby as an active member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Furthermore, Oraby has lobbied Congress alongside MB activists who endorse the boycott of Copts, later showing up in a photo with them displaying the four-fingered Muslim Brotherhood gesture. Oraby has praised Muslim Brotherhood ideologue Sayyid Qutb as an intellectual and a martyr. And, both of her Facebook profiles feature pictures of Muhammad Morsi as the cover photo. She even captioned her personal pages photo of Morsi with the declaration, We still consider you to be the legitimate president of Egypt.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 18:53:17|Editor: pengying

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RABAT, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The United States and Morocco has officially launched the "Initiative to Address Homegrown Terrorism," local media reported on Saturday.

The Moroccan daily Al Ahdath Al Maghribia said the initiative was launched on Nov. 16 in Malta under the auspices of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) and in partnership with the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law.

The initiative aims to address the growing threat posed by Islamic State (IS)-inspired and linked homegrown violent extremists, exploring ways for stakeholders to tackle these issues in a coordinated manner, the same source said.

It gathers over 70 government officials, law enforcement officers, and non-governmental representatives from 25 countries, the source noted.

Announced in September as part of the GCTF, the initiative is launched at a context marked by IS' prolific use of social media that has expanded its reach throughout the world, and also by the growing threat of homegrown terrorism as IS attempts to compensate for the loss of control of territory in Iraq and Syria by encouraging and directing attacks elsewhere, including by leveraging foreign terrorist fighters relocating from the conflict zone.

The participants in this initiative discussed the trends and issues associated with homegrown terrorism, and highlighted available tools and programs to address this threat.

They will also reviewed ways to improve information sharing, both within and among governments, and examined prevention and intervention programs.

This initiative will result in non-binding good practices for policymakers and practitioners that will highlight comprehensive and integrated approaches to preventing and detecting homegrown terrorists.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 18:58:18|Editor: Mengjie

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BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- China will transfer some state assets, including shares of state-owned companies (SOE) and financial institutions, to the country's social security funds as an aging society puts pressure on pension payments, an official document showed Saturday.

The assets will be transferred to the National Council for Social Security Fund (NCSSF) and wholly state-owned companies, according to a document released by the State Council.

The transfer ratio will be 10 percent of the state-owned equity.

Under certain circumstances and upon approval, the NCSSF can set up a pension fund management company to independently operate the transferred assets.

The NCSSF and local SOEs that receive the equity can earn dividends from SOE shares and have the right to disposal, but will not be involved in the management decisions of the companies, the document said.

The recipients will, in principle, be subject to a three-year lock-up period before they can sell the transferred shares.

Pilot programs on the transfer will start in 2017, with shares of three to five centrally supervised SOEs and two central financial institutions to be transferred.

Starting in 2018, the program will be expanded to more centrally supervised companies, with assets to be transferred in groups.

The move will ensure the sustainable development of the country's basic pension insurance system, while also diversifying the capital structure of SOEs as part of an ongoing reform to improve SOE efficiency, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said in an online statement.

The program will only involve a small number of listed SOEs, with the majority being non-listed central and local SOE equity, the MOF said.

With more than 200 million people over the age of 60, China faces a severe challenge in meeting its pension obligations.

While the overall picture has stayed positive, geographical imbalance has remained. In areas where economic growth is behind the national average, such as the old industrial base of northeast China, fewer people have paid contributions while many have retired, resulting in a periodic deficit.

To address the issues, authorities have been striving to increase pension fund revenue by expanding coverage and raising fiscal investments.

Pensions are traditionally held by banks or used to purchase treasury bills. They are now allowed to be invested in a variety of financial products, including bonds and stocks.

Since the end of 2016, seven provincial-level regions have entrusted their pensions to the NCSSF in the hope of more diverse and higher returns.

The transfer program will further ease the mounting pressure, and cut the burden of the working generation by expanding the pension fund scale without raising taxes or pension contribution rates, the MOF said.

The MOF also said that the program is not aimed at selling off state-owned assets to meet the pension obligations. Rather, it is a long-term mechanism that supplements social security funds and optimizes the structure of state-owned capital.

According to previous estimates by China International Capital Corporation, a 6-percent transfer rate of SOE shares to social security funds would result in a 1 percentage point reduction to basic pension contribution rates for companies.

That will lower corporate costs notably, and will also foster the healthy growth of the capital market as social security funds become a large and long-term institutional investor in the market.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 20:03:33|Editor: Mengjie

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BONN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- As the 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) winded up here Saturday, China's special representative on climate change affairs, Xie Zhenhua, said the major dialogue on climate change, "though still not 100 percent satisfactory", had succeeded in reflecting the concerns of all sides in a balanced manner and he hoped developed countries would shoulder their obligation.

Xie said a balanced negotiation document had been worked out covering all related issues in implementing the Paris Agreement.

The COP 23 also clarified plans to organize facilitative dialogues in 2018 and endorsed a slew of arrangements to speed up the implementation of the pre-2020 climate action and commitments to reduce CO2 emissions.

Xie said the flexibility and constructive actions adopted by the participating countries had laid a foundation for completing negotiations on the implementation of the Paris Agreement as scheduled.

Pointing out the tough tasks lying ahead, he said China will support the work of the Fijian presidency to ensure negotiations on detailed plans for implementing the Paris Agreement could be completed according to schedule.

"We hope that all sides adhere to the principles of equity, 'common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities', and take actual conditions of each country into account while pushing forward negotiations on the implementation of Paris Agreement," Xie said.

He also hoped that all sides would speed up ratification of the Doha Amendment that establishes the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, and that developed countries would continue to execute their obligation to provide funds, technologies and capacity-building to developing countries.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 20:03:34|Editor: pengying

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by Xinhua writer Wang Bowen

JERUSALEM, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli Parliament Tuesday further eased fixed-income debt crowdfunding regulations for startups and small businesses, local media reported.

The move is seen by many as an incentive to the sprouting startups and small businesses in this so-called "Silicon Valley in the Middle East."

In March, the Israeli parliament's finance committee announced that, as of January 2018, private companies would be allowed to issue bonds or raise fixed-income debt from the public by crowdfunding platforms, which could enable small and early-stage companies not yet listed on stock exchanges to be financed by a wider range of investors than before. The investment cap will be decided based on the investors' annual income.

Until now, companies interested in raising money through crowdfunding have to do so individually. Although they are not demanded to release a prospectus like public offerings do, they are required to disclose its identity and certain legal details.

The new resolution on Tuesday decided that anonymous diversified investment portfolios are available on equity crowdfunding platforms. However, investors are required to choose the investment sum and risk degree.

Investors with an annual income of 100,000 USD are allowed to invest as much as 3,000 USD in a single company, for a total investment sum being around 6,000 USD. With the same annual income, investors who prefer a diversified crowdfunding portfolio with an investment cap of five percent in each company will be able to invest up to 14,000 USD all together. Investors who prefer diversified portfolios with a one percent cap for each company will end up investing up to 70,000 USD in total.

Based on these new regulations, the crowdfunding ceiling for an individual company or project would be a little bit more than 1 million USD, with certain conditions as high as 1.7 million USD.

Since more early-stage companies died than survived according to statistics, both types of crowdfunding are considered risky. A diversified portfolio might seem less risky than a single investment at first sight; however, risks are increased for the fact that the companies in the portfolio are not required to disclose any information to the investors.

Currently, private companies are allowed by Israeli legalization to raise fund from the following sources, including institutional investors, venture funds, angels and banks. In addition, they can also raise capital from a group of no more than 35 accredited investors.

IVC Research Center Ltd., a tech-focused Israel-based research company, released a report in September, saying that a total of 145 Israel-linked tech companies got financed through equity crowdfunding platforms, in the last five years.

In the first half of 2017, Israel-related startups raised a total of 173 million USD through equity crowdfunding, which is equivalent to 73 percent of the overall volume raised through crowdfunding in the entire year of 2016.

Today, only accredited investors are entitled to taking part in equity crowdfunding platforms in Israel.

The top four most active crowdfunding platforms in Israel are OurCrowd, iAngels Crowd, ExitValley, and Pipelbiz, with their respective share of the deals being 58 percent, 30 percent, six percent and five percent, according to IVC.

IVC also noted that, in the past five years, 68 percent of the companies crowdfunded in Israel were seed and early-stage companies.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 20:28:47|Editor: pengying

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DOHA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Qatar said it has U.S. backing to resolve the Gulf crisis with the four Arab countries and is well prepared to face any military move, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported on Saturday.

Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that Qatar is well prepared in case of the Gulf Arab neighbours making any military moves against his country, QNA reported.

The country is "well-prepared" and can count on its defence partners, including France, Turkey, the UK and the U.S., which has a base in Qatar, he said.

Thani mentioned that Qatar is the only country to respond to the U.S. initiative to hold talks between the Gulf countries at the camp David.

"The Trump administration is encouraging all sides to end the dispute and has offered to host talks at the Camp David presidential retreat, but only Qatar has agreed to the dialogue," Thani said.

Thani is scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson next week.

Camp David is the site of many historic discussions and private meetings between U.S. presidents and foreign dignitaries,and the retreat is also an active military installation.

On June 5, The Quartet that broke off diplomatic and trade relations with Qatar over its support for extremists and funding of terrorism. Qatar has vehemently denied the allegations.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 20:38:51|Editor: pengying

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CANBERRA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Two rare dolphins have died in commercial fishing nets on Australia's iconic Great Barrier Reef (GBR), authorities confirmed on Saturday.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) said that the snubfin dolphins drowned after getting caught in the nets in October.

"The fisher who caught the dolphins followed all required fishing rules and protocols, including attendance of the net and reporting of the incident," a GBRMPA spokesperson told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Saturday.

Four dugongs were also found dead in a region of the reef between September and October, the spokesperson said, one of which was killed by a fishing net.

The second dugong was found floating near a netting operation while the others were too decomposed to determine a cause of death.

"Some of these unfortunate marine mammal deaths relating to net fishing reinforce the importance of mitigating risks and ensuring ecologically sustainable fishery management arrangements are in place adjacent to and throughout the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park," the spokesperson said.

Richard Leck, head of oceans for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Australia, said the deaths were proof that a 85,000 square kilometer net-free zone should be established on the reef.

"This is a really tragic incident to hear about. These snubfin dolphins are a rare Australian species. They are only found in Australian waters and they're a vulnerable species," Leck said.

He said that most gillnet deaths were not reported.

"We think it's actually the tip of the iceberg," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 20:58:56|Editor: pengying

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SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least five militants and an Indian air force (IAF) commando were killed while a trooper wounded on Saturday in an ongoing fierce gunfight in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, army officials said.

The gunfight erupted at village Hajin in Bandipora, about 32 km north of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"In an intense gunfight today in Hajin, Bandiora, five militants were killed," Col Rajesh Kalia, Indian army spokesperson told Xinhua. "While fighting militants, one IAF garud was killed and an army trooper injured."

The gunfight triggered after joint contingents of Indian military, paramilitary and police cordoned off the area on specific intelligence inputs about presence of militants.

According to officials, the slain IAF commando was part of the joint team that took on militants in the village.

Last month two militants and two IAF personnel were killed in a similar gunfight in the village.

A guerilla 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| 2017-11-18 21:33:38|Editor: pengying

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Pakistani children attend their daily class at a makeshift school locally called "Park School", set up in a public park in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan on Nov. 18, 2017. Around 200 students, whose families are unable to afford their children's education, gather here to learn from volunteering educated people for free. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 21:29:05|Editor: Yamei

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Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe (2nd R) and Zimbabwe Defense Forces Chief Constantino Chiwenga (1st R) pose for photos at State House in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Nov. 16, 2017. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe met Zimbabwe Defense Forces Chief Constantino Chiwenga and South African envoys here on Thursday. (Xinhua/Joseph Nyadzayo)

HARARE, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Major political parties in Zimbabwe on Saturday united in their call for embattled President Robert Mugabe to resign immediately and pave way for a new democratic dispensation in the country.

The leaders were speaking at an anti-Mugabe rally at Zimbabwe Grounds in the capital organized by the influential Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association.

"We are here today to support the Zimbabwe Defense Forces who started the journey to remove President Robert Mugabe from power. We now want to fulfill the wishes of Zimbabweans for Mugabe to go.

"We are now in the dawn of a new era and there is no going back for Mugabe to go," Patrick Chinamasa, ZANU-PF secretary for legal affairs and Cyber Security Minister, said at the rally attended by tens of thousands of Zimbabweans drawn from across the country.

Chinamasa said the First Lady Grace Mugabe should also be investigated for crimes she committed against Zimbabweans.

Former Vice President Joice Mujuru delivered a solidarity message and said Mugabe must go to end the suffering of Zimbabweans.

Mujuru was fired by Mugabe in 2014 on allegations that she wanted to unseat the veteran leader.

"I am here today as one of the freedom fighters of this country to thank the ZDF for the military action they took. Let's remain united and push Mugabe out," she said.

Douglas Mwonzora, secretary-general of the Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said their party supports the military action and looked forward to the creation of a new government in Zimbabwe that would respect the constitution.

"We must now change the government and the people who rule us. We must change the country's president and we say to Mugabe your long political career has now come to an end," Mwonzora said.

He added: "This country is not a dynasty. This country if for all of us, it's not for one race. It is not for one tribe, it's for Zimbabweans together."

Social media activist Pastor Evan Mawarire who successfully organized a one-day nationwide stay away in 2016 also gave a solidarity message and urged Zimbabweans to remain united and force Mugabe out if he refuses to resign.

"This is an opportunity for us to create a new Zimbabwe," he said.

As the rally proceeded, tens of thousands of celebrating Zimbabweans were also marching in the streets of the capital demanding Mugabe's immediate resignation.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 21:29:06|Editor: Yurou

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ANKARA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The weightlifting world and Olympic champion Naim Suleymanoglu from Turkey died on Saturday at the age of 50, local media reported.

The Turkish champion underwent a liver transplant surgery last month after he had been suffering with cirrhosis for a long time.

Suleymanoglu, nicknamed Pocket Hercules due to his 1.47 meters (4 feet 10 inches) stature, became a global star after setting six world records, winning three Olympic gold medals and out lifting the winner of the weight class above him at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

In 2000 and 2004 he was elected to the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame. He was awarded the Olympic Order, the highest award of the Olympic movement, in 2001.

The Bulgarian-born athlete is the only weightlifter in history to win gold medals in three Olympic Games.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered his condolences in his address at Justice and Development (AK) party's ordinary congress in his hometown Rize.
Photo taken on Nov. 15, 2017 shows the pavilion of China in "Bonn Zone" of UN climate talks in Bonn, Germany. Events, exhibitions and presentations of countries and UN organizations attending the UN climate talks are held here aimed to raise the awareness of the climate change across the world. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)

BONN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- As the world once again focused on climate change at the UN climate talks in Bonn, China, as the largest developing country, also attracted worldwide attention for how it acted.

Through statements made in official speeches, active participation in the Bonn talks, and various side events the country organized to exchange ideas and practices, China has reasserted itself a responsible player in global battle against climate change at the 23rd Conference of Parties (COP23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

China's special representative on climate change affairs Xie Zhenhua stated at an event of the COP23, that as a responsible developing country, China conscientiously takes on its international obligations that match both its development stage and actual capacity, and implements the Paris Agreement with concrete action.

OVER DELIVERED ON CLIMATE TARGETS

In terms of domestic efforts, "China has over delivered on achieving its targets in fighting climate change, and reversed the rapid rise of CO2 emission that had lasted for years," Xie stated while addressing a high-level meeting of COP23.

From 2005 to 2015, China's economy had grown by 1.48 times, and at the same time the carbon intensity, the measure of CO2 emission per unit of GDP, had dropped by 38.6 percent, Xie said, adding the country had avoided emitting 4.1 billion tonnes of CO2.

Moreover, the share of coal in the total consumption of energy had decreased from 72 percent to 64 percent in the 2005-2015 time frame, while the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption rose from 7.4 percent to 12 percent, and at the same time, the country's forest reserve had expanded by 3 billion cubic meters, according to Xie.

"This year, we will jumpstart the nation-wide carbon-trading market," Xie said during his speech.

China's domestic climate actions have been widely recognized in the international community.

Barbara Hendricks, German environment minister, told Xinhua that she is aware that China planned to build far fewer thermal power plants than five years ago, and to generate more and more power from renewable energy, which means China is on a good path of development.

Dylan Murray, policy advisor with the Nature Conservancy, told Xinhua "China is taking real steps to peak emissions".

In the future, China's economy will further decouple with fossil fuels, and tougher controls on the efficiency, or even on the total consumption of coal are foreseeable, estimated Liu Qiang, director of Strategy and Planning Department of the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation.

GUARDIAN OF MULTILATERAL PROCESSES

Globally, China has promised to peak its CO2 emission by around 2030, and made crucial contributions to the signing of the Paris Agreement that seeks to limit a rise in temperatures to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times.

Norbert Salomon, deputy director of the Emission Control, Safety of Installations and Transport at the German Federal Ministry for Environment, said "China's engagement and contributions to combat climate change is itself an inestimable value for global community."

Xie Zhenhua pledged at a high-level meeting of the COP23 that China is ready to play the role as a guardian of multilateral processes and will work with other countries to ensure the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

At the COP23, China has played a proactive role, Gu Zihua, a Chinese negotiator, said in an interview with Xinhua.

"We have been substantially engaged in the talks on each agenda, and contributed China's proposals," Gu said. Moreover, China has been acted as a mediator of the developing countries to coordinate their stances and kept close consultations with the president on facilitative dialogue.

DRIVING SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION

China has set aside a total of 100 million U.S. dollars for South-South cooperation with 27 developing countries over the years, Xie announced at a high-level meeting at the COP23.

China has donated energy conserving or renewable-energy facilities as well as climate change surveillance instruments, and provided funds, technologies and capacity building to the least developed countries, small-island countries and African countries, according to Xie.

Best practices of many such projects are shared at the side events of COP 23. Among them, a project of low carbon town in Gampola, Sri Lanka, showed how China helped developing countries with adaptation.

Global Environmental Institute (GEI), a Chinese NGO, has completed assessment of solar energy and biomass potential of Gampola and introduced the Sri Lanka side to the fund for south south cooperation.

Ranish Hettige, deputy assistant secretary of Sri Lanka's Mahaweli Development and Environment Ministry, told Xinhua that the GEI offered them toolkits, mechanisms and technologies to adapt to climate change. "It is very hard for Sri Lanka to afford many new technologies, like introducing solar energy or electric vehicles. There are funds from other countries like China that helped us to make sure we are adapting to climate change. The help of China is very important to us," Hettige said.

Now, with the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, a new opportunity arises for south-south climate cooperation. Robert Ddamulira, with the World Wildlife Fund in Uganda, said the initiative offers a great opportunity especially considering that China is a leading country in renewable energy.

Looking into the future, Wang Shi, a former real estate tycoon and now Chair of the Board of Vanke Foundation, said he is optimistic. Having followed the UN climate talks since Copenhagen in 2009, Wang said he had witnessed that the Chinese government is getting more and more proactive.

Moreover, when the foundation is promoting environmental projects in various Chinese localities, he found the green and low-carbon concept had been ingrained in everybody's mind.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 22:04:14|Editor: pengying

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ABUJA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Twin suicide blasts in Nigeria's northeast region early Saturday killed five, including an infant and three of the bombers, local police said.

The first suicide blast was executed by two female suicide bombers suspected to be members of the Boko Haram terror group in Alakaramtii village located on the outskirts of Jere in the northern Borno State, according to Victor Isuku, a spokesman for the police.

Isuku said the second blast went off a few minutes later killing three people.

Four people were wounded in the twin blasts, he added.

Boko Haram has been blamed for the death of more than 20,000 people and displacement of 2.3 million others in Nigeria since 2009.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 22:14:19|Editor: Mengjie

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AMMAN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy in Amman on Saturday provided 36 computers to the World Islamic Sciences and Education University of Jordan as part of a cooperation agreement between the two sides.

During the ceremony to extend the donation, Chinese Ambassador in Amman Pan Weifang signed an agreement with the university's president on increased cooperation in cultural and scientific fields.

The ambassador, who stressed his country's support to Jordan, said the donation seeks to support the university and its students, adding that China was interested in having increased cooperation with the Kingdom in various areas such as culture, commerce and economy.

He also referred to Chinese investments in Jordan including a 1.5 billion U.S. dollars oil shale power plant as well as a Chinese shopping mall which will be opened soon in Amman.

The ambassador said that China was keen on increasing Chinese investments in Jordan in various areas.

The university officials voiced appreciation to China and its support to the university, which was created in 2008 and focuses on teaching Islamic studies and sciences.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 22:24:22|Editor: Mengjie

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LANZHOU, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Several staff of a metal smelting company in northwest China's Gansu Province have developed symptoms of poisoning, authorities said Saturday.

Four employees of Gansu Zhaojin Precious Metal Smelting Company checked into the Lanzhou University Second Hospital on Monday and Tuesday. Doctors suspect they were suffering from arsine poisoning. The patients showed symptoms of numbness in the arms and legs, nausea, vomiting, and abnormally colored urine. They were in critical condition and were put under intensive care.

On Friday, another four employees of the company checked into the hospital. According to doctors at the hospital, three of the four new patients appeared to be suffering chronic arsine poisoning. The patients are currently in stable condition.

The company was established in 2012. It is located in Lintao County.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 22:44:29|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TRIPOLI, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Foreign workers of Libya's southern Obari power plant on Saturday left Libya after the government failed to free four foreign workers kidnapped by unknown gunmen two weeks ago.

"All foreign workers, over 300 of different nationalities, have left the Obari power plant after government efforts to free the kidnapped foreign hostages failed," a member of the municipal council of Obari told Xinhua.

"All the efforts of the security services and the officials of the electricity company failed to persuade the Turkish company executing the project to continue and complete the final part of the project to solve the problem of the ongoing power breakout in Libya," the source added, who asked not to be named.

An unidentified armed group on Nov. 3 kidnapped four foreign workers, three Turks and one German, working at the power station of Obari, 1,100 km south of the Libyan capital Tripoli.

The kidnapping took place as the four workers arrived from the capital Tripoli on their way to the station site.

According to Abdullah Ibrahim, assistant commander of the Obari Oil Fields Guards, the armed group that abducted the workers managed to escape to the Algerian border with the abductees, before security services in the nearby city of Ghat arrested four gunmen involved in the kidnapping, without knowing the whereabouts of the hostages.

The construction of the power plant began in 2012, but was suspended in 2014 due to deteriorating security conditions in Libya, before the contractor ENKA Teknik resumed work in February.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 22:54:34|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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French President Emmanuel Macron (R) welcomes Lebanese Prime Minister on resignation Saad Hariri at Elysee Palace in Paris, France on Nov. 18, 2017. (Xinhua/Chen Yichen)

PARIS, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Prime Minister on resignation Saad Hariri confirmed Saturday in Paris that he would travel to the Lebanese capital Beirut for Lebanon's National Day on Nov. 22, after a meeting and a lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, the French TV channel BFMTV reported.

"I will go to Beirut in the coming days. I will participate in the celebration of our independence, and I will make known my position on all subjects after having met president Michel Aoun," Hariri said, quoted by BFMTV.

"I thank president Emmanuel Macron of his support, and he has shown an infallible friendship that I will never forget," he said at the exit of the Elysee.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 23:14:41|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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Photo taken on Nov. 18, 2017 shows a view of the closing session of the UN climate talks in Bonn, Germany. As the 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) winded up here Saturday, China's special representative on climate change affairs, Xie Zhenhua, said the major dialogue on climate change, "though still not 100 percent satisfactory", had succeeded in reflecting the concerns of all sides in a balanced manner and he hoped developed countries would shoulder their obligation. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)

BONN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- As the 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) winded up here Saturday, China's special representative on climate change affairs, Xie Zhenhua, said the major dialogue on climate change, "though still not 100 percent satisfactory", had succeeded in reflecting the concerns of all sides in a balanced manner.

Frank Bainimarama, President of the COP 23 and Prime Minister of Fiji, said: "I'm very pleased that COP 23 has been such a success, especially given the challenge to the multilateral consensus for decisive climate action."

"We have done the job we were given to do, which is to advance the implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement and prepare for more ambitious action in the Talanoa Dialogue of 2018," Bainimarama said. The "Talanoa Dialogue" is the Fijian concept of constructive discussion, debate and story-telling.

Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Change secretariat which hosted the conference with support from the Government of Germany, said the conference has delivered "a launch-pad that can take us to that next stage of higher ambition".

PARIS AGREEMENT

Xie Zhenhua said during his speech a balanced negotiation document had been worked out covering all related issues in implementing the Paris Agreement.

The COP 23 also clarified plans to organize facilitative dialogue in 2018 and endorsed a slew of arrangements to speed up the implementation of the pre-2020 climate action and commitments to reduce CO2 emissions.

Xie said the flexibility and constructive actions adopted by the participating countries had laid a foundation for completing negotiations on the implementation of the Paris Agreement as scheduled.

Pointing out the tough tasks lying ahead, he said China will support the work of the Poland's presidency to ensure negotiations on detailed plans for implementing the Paris Agreement could be completed according to schedule.

"We hope that all sides adhere to the principles of equity, 'common but differentiated responsibilities' and respective capabilities, and take actual conditions of each country into account while pushing forward negotiations on the implementation of Paris Agreement," Xie said.

He also hoped that all sides would speed up ratification of the Doha Amendment that establishes the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, and that developed countries would continue to execute their obligation to provide funds, technologies and capacity-building to developing countries.

Xie pledged that China will continue pursuing green and low-carbon development as well as international climate cooperation in his speech.

PRE-2020 ARRANGEMENT

Xie told a group of reporters following the closing conferences that lasted from Friday to Saturday morning, that balanced results that are not satisfactory but acceptable have been achieved at the COP 23, which demonstrated the spirit of cooperation and win-win.

Big divergence existed on the pre-2020 arrangement at the start, Xie said, adding with China's mediation, developing countries had demonstrated "unprecedented solidarity", and developed countries displayed flexibility, leading to the result of designating pre-2020 an agenda item in follow-up negotiations.

Agreement is most difficult to be reached on the issue of funding, an issue that also concerns developing countries the most. "Nevertheless, some arrangements have been made accordingly with concerted efforts," Xie said.

To achieve this result, China had stepped up coordination with the rest of BASIC nations (Brazil, South Africa, India, China), Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) group, and "G77 plus China", and kept close consultations with the European Union countries, the Umbrella countries, and others.

"We have found solutions finally, and agreed to add unresolved issues to next year's agenda," said Xie.

"This year's COP meeting lasted for three weeks if we take consultations within different groups into consideration, and today's meeting had lasted for over 20 hours, but finally we can call it a success," Xie told reporters.

During the COP 23, Syrian representatives announced that their country will join the Paris Climate Accord, and six countries, namely, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden, have ratified the Doha Amendment, which raised the number of countries that had ratified the amendment to 90, according to the UNFCCC secretariat press release.

Countries welcomed progress but also urged greater efforts to deliver the agreed 100 billion U.S. dollars per year by 2020 for support to developing countries to take climate action, according to the press release.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 23:24:43|Editor: huaxia

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ABUJA -- Twin suicide blasts in Nigeria's northeast region early Saturday killed five, including an infant and three of the bombers, local police said.

The first suicide blast was executed by two female suicide bombers suspected to be members of the Boko Haram terror group in Alakaramtii village located on the outskirts of Jere in the northern Borno State, according to Victor Isuku, a spokesman for the police. (Nigeria-Blasts)

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SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir -- At least five militants and an Indian air force (IAF) commando were killed while a trooper wounded on Saturday in an ongoing fierce gunfight in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, army officials said.

The gunfight erupted at village Hajin in Bandipora, about 32 km north of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. (India-Kashmir-Gunfight)

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ATHENS -- The death toll from the flash floods which hit the western Athens suburb of Mandra earlier this week has risen to 19, as firefighters recovered the bodies of another three victims on Saturday, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

Three more people were still missing, according to local authorities. (Greece-Floods)

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KABUL -- Up to 23 militants were killed and 25 others wounded during the military operations in Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, the defense ministry said Saturday.

"The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces have carried out 15 clean up operations and 12 special operations in 13 provinces. As a result 23 militants were killed and 25 others injured," the ministry said in a statement. (Afghanistan-Military Operation)

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RIYADH -- Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday that its ambassador to Germany was recalled in objections to remarks made by German foreign minister, Saudi Press Agency reported.

The country also revealed that it would hand over Germany's ambassador to the Kingdom a protest note refuting such remarks. (Saudi Arabia-Germany-Ambassador) Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-18 23:24:44|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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MOSCOW, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russian long-range military bombers launched an airstrike on Islamic States (IS) terrorist group in eastern Syria on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The strike was carried out by six Tu-22M3 strategic bombers on IS facilities near the city of Abu kamal in the Deir ez-Zor province, with the air cover provided by Su-30SM fighters deployed at the Khmeimim airbase in western Syria, a ministry statement said.

All targets including a number of terrorists, equipment and weapons were destroyed as a result of the strike, the statement said.

The aircraft returned to their bases after completing the combat mission, it added.

The Russian military has recently intensified its efforts to combat IS terrorists. Dozens of strikes have been launched by Russian bombers and submarines near Abu kamal, one of the last IS strongholds in Syria, since the beginning of November.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-19 00:34:57|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least six Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) militants and an Indian air force (IAF) commando were killed in a fierce gunfight in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir on Saturday, police said.

The gunfight erupted at village Hajin in Bandipora, about 32 km north of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"The encounter is now finished and was a success," the region's police chief Shesh Paul Vaid said. "A total of six LeT militants were eliminated."

The gunfight was triggered by Indian military, paramilitary and police cordoning off the area suspecting the presence of militants.

"While fighting the militants, one IAF guard was killed and an army trooper injured," Col Rajesh Kalia, Indian army spokesperson told Xinhua.

According to officials, the slain IAF commando was part of the joint team that took on militants in the village.

Indian Army and police have claimed recovery of weapons and ammunition from the gunfight site.

Of the six slain militants, two were commanders of LeT.

LeT is accused of carrying out a terror attack on India's financial capital Mumbai in 2008. The attack claimed 166 lives.

Last month two militants and two IAF personnel were killed in a similar gunfight in the village.

A guerilla war is going on between militants and Indian troops stationed in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989. Gunfights between the two sides take 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.
The file photo shows that the air defense missile system Patriot from U.S. is seen in Tobruq Legacy 2017 held in Siauliai, Lithuania, on July 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Alfredas Pliadis)

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department has approved a possible sale of the Patriot Anti-Missile System to Poland at an estimated cost of 10.5 billion U.S. dollars, said the Pentagon on Friday.

The proposed sale will increase the Polish military's defensive capabilities without altering the basic military balance in the region, said the Pentagon in a statement.

The deal will also give Poland "greater flexibility to conduct air and missile defense operations" with the United States and other NATO members, said a U.S. State Department official.

Currently, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Greece are among the NATO members who possess the Patriot system, according to the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the missile defense systems in Eastern Europe a "great danger," saying Russia will enhance its own missile strike capability in response.

Putin said earlier the launch areas in Romania and Poland may be used for deployment of short and medium range missiles, which not only presented additional threat to Russia but also could be the prologue of breaching Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

Warning of a new arms race, Putin vowed that Moscow would not be dragged in but would take responsive measures to any national security threat.

The contract still requires approval from the U.S. Congress.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-19 00:55:00|Editor: Zhou Xin

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By Peter Mertz

DENVER, the United States, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's Nanyang Technological University and China's Tsinghua University finished 1-2 in the 11th annual highly competitive Student Cluster Competition (SCC) at the Super Computer Conference (SC17) this week in Denver in the U.S. state of Colorado.

SCC was introduced in 2007 to expose undergraduate and high school students to high performance computing.

Over the past few months, six-person student teams designed and built small clusters with hardware and software vendor partners, learned designated scientific applications, and applied optimization techniques for their chosen architectures.

In the final days, students competed in a non-stop, 48-hour "mystery" challenge at the SC17 conference - to complete a real-world scientific work challenge.

A total of 16 teams competed in the 2017 competition, hailing from China, Germany, Poland, Singapore, the United States and China's Taiwan province.

The event is considered the penultimate student supercomputer competition in the world.

Tsinghua narrowly missed winning its third straight international computer competition of 2017 - edged out by a Singapore team comprised of all Mainland Chinese students.

"I was a little surprised we won," admitted modest Nanyang Technical University team co-leader Siyuan Liu from Hebei Province, whose team was considered a long shot by industry experts.

"We are very excited to finish ahead of such strong teams," the other co-leader Yiyang Shao told Xinhua, who also said they knew the team to beat was Tsinghua.

The favored Tsinghua team was having a phenomenal 2017 - taking top honors on April 17 at ASC17 in Wuxi, China, and on June 17 at ISC17 in Frankfurt, Germany, and were nudged out in a photo finish by a mere three points at SC17 in America's Mile High City.

"I thought they were going to win," SCC Chairman Stephen Harrell told Xinhua, of the favored Tsinghua team.

Harrell, a computer technical expect from Purdue University was given the difficult task of compiling results from a panel of judges who ranked the diverse international field.

"No one's a loser in this competition," Harrell emphasized, as he met with, and complimented all of the teams after the top honor was announced.

"All of these students will be very successful in life and in the HPC field," he said.

Harrell, who emphasized the integrity displayed by the Chinese students from both teams, said that interviews and a poster competition also factored into the decision-making.

This year's all decisive "mystery" question dealt with the migration of carbon dioxide around the world, and students were asked to simulate the flow of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere using calculations and creating an algorithm.

"It was exhausting," Tsinghua team leader Beichen Li told Xinhua of the final two-day, no-sleep element of competition that began Nov. 13.

"The memories and the experience of being in this competition far outweighs the paper given out here," Harrell noted.

Tsinghua University professor Jidong Zhai was gracious in finishing behind Singapore's team, and had nothing but praise for his young superstars.

"Although we finished second, the team members did a very good job," advisor Zhai told Xinhua. "They were very impressive, and I was very happy to work with such a group of smart guys."

"We will come back next year," team leader Beichen Li said with a smile.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-19 01:15:05|Editor: Zhou Xin

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BRUSSELS, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- "We are trying to defend our standards against others and that is like colonialism," Helmut Scholz, a German member of the European Parliament (MEP), has said.

Scholz made the remarks in a recent interview with Xinhua in Strasbourg where the European Parliament gave green light to the new anti-dumping rules.

The new legislation is playing with words, using the "substantial market distortions", which is stated neither in the anti-dumping nor the anti-subsidy rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), as a replacement of the "surrogate country approach".

"If you are taking this new anti-dumping legislation as a benchmark and you say that there shouldn't be any interference at all from the states, but in Europe we give state subventions to the energy sector or other subventions," said Scholz.

"We are trying to defend our standards against others and that is like colonialism," Scholz said, calling on the European Union (EU) to "go for a more global approach".

"We have to find a more general approach and work together with other countries to create new standards in the WTO. We should introduce standards valid for every country," he added.

Asked about the lack of competitiveness of the EU steel industry which is a big supporter of the new legislation, Scholz said some EU member states don't want to invest in their not very advanced infrastructures and that leads to the uncompetitiveness.

"It's not logic for the EU to ask China to shut down their steel plants when they asked China to invest and produce more 12 years ago when the economic crisis started," he said.

According Scholz, it is necessary to rethink the entire structure of the world economy as everything is interlinked. "Here we want only to defend what we have achieved until today, this is not realistic and it should not continue."

Scholz said he believed China is a normal partner in the international global economy. In Germany, he said, there are some factories closing, and "nobody apart the trade unions, is complaining about unfair competition".

"When the Chinese are coming to open factories they are even, until now, protecting certain jobs places," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-19 01:20:06|Editor: Zhou Xin

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ADDIS ABABA, Nov.18 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's national flag carrier Ethiopian Airlines (ET) announced on Saturday it has named its latest airplane Boeing 787-9 in honor of China's capital city, Beijing.

Speaking to Xinhua, ET's Corporate Communications Office said the airline decided to name the airplane after Beijing to emphasize its historical presence in the Chinese aviation market dating back to 1973.

China is the largest national market for Ethiopian Airlines which currently flies to five Chinese destinations: Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

It's also mulling starting flights to Shenzhen city, an entrepreneurship and innovation center dubbed China's "Silicon Valley," and to Hangzhou, home to Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

China is the single largest source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Ethiopia for the last several years, as Ethiopia bids to attract Chinese expertise and money for its industrialization ambitions.

Private investment from China to Ethiopia in 2017, up to September 5, has reached more than 680 million U.S. dollars, outpacing full 2016 figures of 560 million U.S. dollars.

Chinese tourists are also a rising demographics with the East African country attracting 41,660 Chinese tourists in 2015, a trend the Ethiopian government expects to grow in the coming years.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-19 01:35:11|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ADDIS ABABA, Nov 18. (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on Saturday called for concerted efforts to encourage technical innovation to boost the country's economic development.

Speaking at the 8th National Science and Technology Innovation award (NSTIA) ceremony held in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, Desalegn said encouraging innovations can make Ethiopia's economic growth more comprehensive.

Pointing to his government's focus on innovation the premier gave 29 gold, 50 silvers and 66 bronze medals for 145 innovators, students, researchers and teachers for their contribution in Ethiopia's ICT sector.

He further said while Ethiopia's ongoing economic growth is bringing about growth in the Information and Technology (ICT) sector more efforts is needed to inspire innovators for more successes.

"I call upon the awardees to modify and improve their ICT innovations, to transform the 80 percent of Ethiopians who live in agricultural and pastoral communities," said Desalegn.

Started in 2009 the annual NSTIA has so far awarded more than 1600 budding innovators.

Ethiopia hopes the ICT sector will be a key anchor of its economic ambition, which sees the East African country become a net zero carbon emitting middle income economy by 2025.
The file photo shows that army officers are seen in a drill during joint anti-terrorism exercises with officers from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, Sept. 8, 2005 at Kenya's Defence College in Karen, southern Nairobi. (Xinhua/AFP)

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The United States is looking forward to expanding its relationship with Africa in trade and investment and countering terrorism, said a top U.S. diplomat on Friday in Washington.

Addressing a ministerial meeting with the African Union, U.S. State Secretary Rex Tillerson said that Africa is a growing market with vast potential and the current U.S. administration will focus their bilateral economic relationship on trade and investment.

Bilateral trade and investment between the United States and African countries have been growing in the past years. U.S. exports to Sub-Saharan Africa grew from 17 billion U.S. dollars in 2010 to over 25 billion dollars in 2014, according to statistics from the U.S. government.

The U.S. direct investment in Africa jumped to a record high of 57.5 billion dollars last year.

"The United States sees even more opportunity ahead in the coming years," said Tillerson in the meeting with the 55-member Continental body.

The top U.S. diplomat also mentioned that the United States will seek to strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation with African countries, including addressing "the root causes of violent extremism."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-19 02:50:21|Editor: Zhou Xin

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RABAT, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Morocco's King Mohammed VI will pay a historical visit to Indonesia on Dec. 7, local media reported on Saturday.

The visit will be the first visit to the Asian country by a Moroccan king since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1960.

Citing official sources, Le360.ma news site said the visit will give a new impetus to bilateral ties at the political and economic levels.

King Mohammed VI will take part in the Bali Democracy Forum, the same source pointed out.
Members of the self-styled Libyan National Army, loyal to the country's east strongman Khalifa Haftar, open fire during clashes with militants in Benghazi's central Akhribish district on November 9, 2017. (AFP photo)

TRIPOLI, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russia demands Libya to form a unified national government before resuming weapon supplies to the country, said Russian ambassador to Libya, Ivan Molotkov, in an interview with Xinhua on Friday.

"Russia, before the Libyan revolution, had strong military ties with Libya and provided the Libyan army with sophisticated weapons. But after that, international resolutions were issued banning the provision of arms to Libya. We, as a member of the UN Security Council, have to review the resolutions," said Molotkov.

Molotkov stressed Moscow's belief that "providing Libya with weapons in the current situation is dangerous, because there is no guarantee that the arms will not fall into the wrong hands, especially in the presence of terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State (IS)."

However, the Russian ambassador said that it is possible to provide arms to Libya again after the situation stabilizes and a national unity government is formed replacing the UN-backed government in Tripoli and the government in Tobrug.

Libya is suffering a political crisis with two rival powers in the east and the west, amid insecurity and chaos.

Regarding the request of Libya's eastern-based army commander, General Khalifa Haftar, for arms to eliminate terrorist organizations in Libya, Molotkov said that "Haftar wants and wishes to obtain weapons, but we do not provide arms to him or to any other parties in Libya."

Moscow is also interested in developing economic relations with Libya, added the Russian diplomat.

"About a month ago, a large delegation from Tripoli, headed by the Libyan Minister of Transport and accompanied by over 30 representatives of companies and institutions, were in Moscow and held discussions with Russian officials including Minister of Trade and Industry, as well as relevant Russian institutions interested in developing cooperation with Libya," Molotkov revealed.

Molotkov hoped for "a quick peaceful solution to Libya which Moscow supports."

Speaking of the UN-sponsored political dialogue between Libyan parties, Molotkov was optimistic about the talks, especially between the House of Representatives and the Higher Council of State. "However, we see that this dialogue is halted."

"Russia is against military solutions in Libya. Any military solution would make the issue more complicated. We are against any military solution as long as there is a possibility of dialogue and agreement," Molotkov explained.

"We believe that the solution to Libya's is political. Dialogue remains the best way to restore stability and establish a national unity government. We believe that this is better than any military solution," he added.

When asked about foreign interference, Molotkov said that "foreign military interference is totally unacceptable," explaining that the foreign interference in Libya in 2011 caused the turmoil that followed.

"Foreign aid, such as political assistance and help in finding a peaceful solution, is acceptable and is not interference. Other than that, we do not accept it," Molotkov said.

In the end, he called on all Libyans to "be patient and refrain from any attempts of weapons and forces to impose any solution."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-19 03:20:27|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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DHAKA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi here on Saturday, with both sides emphasizing their willingness to further deepen pragmatic cooperation.

Hasina congratulated the successful holding of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and thanked the Chinese side for offering long-term support and aid to Bangladesh's development and construction.

Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a historic visit to Bangladesh, establishing the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, Hasina said, adding that the Bangladeshi side is willing to further deepen pragmatic cooperation with the Chinese side in all fields.

For his part, Wang said China is willing to work with Bangladesh to firmly support each other on issues of core interests and major concern, and deepen China-Bangladesh strategic cooperative partnership.

He expressed the hope that the two sides could speed up the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, and actively push forward the building of Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar-Economic Corridor.

The Chinese foreign minister also suggested the two sides to explore new cooperation areas such as maritime cooperation. China will continue to encourage Chinese enterprises to invest in Bangladesh, he added.

Hasina and Wang also discussed the Rohingya issue. Wang said the issue should be resolved by Bangladesh and Myanmar through dialogue and consultation, and expected the two sides to sign an agreement as scheduled on the repatriation of the Rohingya people who have crossed into Bangladesh.

China is willing to continue to offer support for a proper settlement of the issue, he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-19 03:30:29|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi addresses a news conference during his visit in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Nov. 18, 2017. (Xinhua)

DHAKA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here Saturday that China is willing to help Bangladesh and Myanmar properly solve the Rohingya issue.

Speaking to the press, the Chinese foreign minister said the turbulence in Myanmar has spread to Bangladesh and brought burden to it, yet Bangladesh has managed to provide humanitarian aid to the Rohingya people who have crossed border into Bangladesh.

While speaking highly of the move taken by Bangladesh, Wang said China has provided emergency humanitarian aid to Bangladesh timely and is willing to do so if it is necessary.

The Chinese foreign minister hoped that Myanmar will consult with Bangladesh on how to solve the Rohingya issue as soon as possible.

China is pleased that Bangladesh and Myanmar have interacted with each over on the issue for several times, and that an agreement on repatriating the Rohingya people in Bangladesh will be reached, he said.

China holds the view that the Rohingya issue can only be solved properly by the consultations between Bangladesh and Myanmar, and only by this way can the agreement be accepted by the parties concerned and be sustainable, Wang said.

The Chinese foreign minister noted that the international community including the United Nations should create a good atmosphere for the consultations between Bangladesh and Myanmar.

The Rohingya issue is a complicated one touching on history, ethnicity and religion, among others, thus it calls for a comprehensive solution, said Wang.

Stressing that poverty is the root cause of turbulence and conflict, the Chinese foreign minister called on the international community to pay more attention to and support poverty reduction and development in Myanmar's Rakhine state.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-19 03:35:30|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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Firefighters work at the site of a fire in Daxing District of Beijing, capital of China, November 19, 2017. Nineteen people were killed and eight others injured according to local authorities. (Xinhua/Luo Xiaoguang)

BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Nineteen people were killed and eight others injured in a house fire in Beijing's southern Daxing District Saturday night, local authorities said.

The fire has been extinguished at around 9 p.m.

Those who were rescued have been taken to hospital for treatment.

The accident, which occurred in Xinjian Village, Daxing District, was reported at 6:15 p.m., according to the municipal fire department.

Fire trucks and firemen were immediately sent to the site.

According to local authorities, the city will set up a team to investigate the accident. The suspects are under police control.
Chinese ambassador to Jordan, Mr. Pan Weifang (L), and the President of the World Islamic Sciences and Education University of Jordan, Dr. Salman Al-Badour, are signing a cooperation agreement between the sides in Amman, capital of Jordan, on Nov. 18, 2017. (Xinhua/Mohammad Abu Ghosh)

AMMAN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy in Amman on Saturday provided 36 computers to the World Islamic Sciences and Education University of Jordan as part of a cooperation agreement between the two sides.

During the ceremony to extend the donation, Chinese Ambassador in Amman Pan Weifang signed an agreement with the university's president on increased cooperation in cultural and scientific fields.

The ambassador, who stressed his country's support to Jordan, said the donation seeks to support the university and its students, adding that China was interested in having increased cooperation with the Kingdom in various areas such as culture, commerce and economy.

He also referred to Chinese investments in Jordan including a 1.5 billion U.S. dollars oil shale power plant as well as a Chinese shopping mall which will be opened soon in Amman.

The ambassador said that China was keen on increasing Chinese investments in Jordan in various areas.

The university officials voiced appreciation to China and its support to the university, which was created in 2008 and focuses on teaching Islamic studies and sciences.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-19 04:15:38|Editor: Zhou Xin

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By Peter Mertz

DENVER, the United States, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- American Big Oil was quick to water down the impact of one of the biggest inland oil spills in U.S. history, but environmental groups jumped on the ecological disaster with a frenzy.

TransCanada said in a news release Friday that it had scrambled more than 75 people to the site of a 210,000-gallon (795,000-liter) pipeline leak in a rural area of South Dakota the day before and crews were working "around the clock" to clean up the mess.

"The oil industry has a massive history of leaks and safety problems," said Marcie Keever, Legal Director of Friends of the Earth (FOE).

"It's clear that oil companies value profits over safety or protecting the environment," Keever told Xinhua Friday. "It's always been profits over people for them."

Oil companies are traditionally some of the wealthiest businesses in America with Exxon Mobile ranking as the country's second largest corporation behind Wal-Mart with 2016 revenues of 197 billion U.S. dollars, according to Fortune 500.

FOE is a global environmental protection organization founded in 1969 with affiliates in 75 countries that boasts having 5,000 local activist groups.

Environmentalists met Thursday's announcement from TransCanada -that it had shut down its six-year-old Keystone line due to a huge underground leak in South Dakota - with dismay and disbelief.

"It is time to say no to outdated fossil fuel infrastructure and invest in clean energy instead," Greenpeace's Rachel Rye Butler said in a statement Friday.

"Pipelines threaten human rights, put our climate at risk, and pose already realized risks to drinking water and the environment," she added.

The worst oil pipeline rupture in U.S. history occurred in 2016 after 1.2 million gallons (4.5 million liters) gushed into Michigan's Kalamazoo River, resulting in penalties of 61 million U.S. dollars to Canada's Enbridge Energy Partners.

Calgary-based TransCanada is the biggest supplier of gas and oil pipelines in North America with oil pipes totaling 3,460 kilometers and gas lines stretching almost 70,000 kilometers across the continent.

"We've always said it's not a question of whether a pipeline will spill, but when, and today TransCanada is making our case for us," Sierra Club's Kelly Martin said in a statement Friday.

TransCanada, founded in 1951 with annual revenues of 10 billion U.S. dollars, said Thursday the leak was the first detected on the pipeline since operation began in 2010.

That claim was refuted immediately by Sierra Club which reposted a 2011 article on its website Friday.

"The pipeline had a dozen spills in its first year of operation alone," Sierra spokesperson Gabby Brown noted.

The TransCanada Keystone Pipeline System was commissioned in 2010 and delivers 1.4 million barrels a day through 3-foot pipes from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta to refineries in Illinois and Texas.

The tar sands Canadian crude oil is considered by industry experts to have high pollutant content and is especially damaging to the environment.

Former NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies James Hansen said in 2010 that exporting oil from the Albertan tar sands would mean "game over for the climate."

TransCanada made national headlines in 2012 after seizing the land of American property owners in Texas through a legal process known as "eminent domain" to complete the Keystone system - that caused national outrage and support from Hollywood actors.

The company's ambitious, proposed "Keystone XL" line would run 2,164 kilometer from Canada though the western states of Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska, and was met with stiff resistance and rejected in 2015 by then President Barack Obama.

But in January of this year, President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum to permit the pipeline's completion.

Ironically, the spill occurred on the eve of a vote next week by Nebraska commissioners to allow the Keystone XL extension through their state.

"This spill puts an exclamation point on the need to reject Keystone XL, but it doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know about pipelines," environmental group "350.org" posted Friday.

"That the Nebraska commissioners won't consider safety in their decision on Keystone XL should alarm everyone," 350's Sara Shor said.

Other U.S. environmental groups jumped on the oil spill as proof of the extreme dangers and environmental risks posed by continued fossil fuel production.

"This week's disastrous spill from the existing Keystone pipeline illustrates the risks of transporting oil," One Planet Strategies founder Janet Larsen said.

"There is no such thing as a guaranteed leak-proof pipeline," Larsen told Xinhua.

"The Keystone pipeline represents a serious environmental liability with negligible economic benefits," especially with the United States now exporting oil, she said. "Canadian tar sands oil is not needed."

In its defense, TransCanada was quick to say it had shut down the leak 15-minutes after being detected.

"Fifteen minutes is too long - any time is an environmental tragedy and damaging for decades or even longer," Keever countered.

The radical environmental group Earth First went so far as to advocate illegal action against TransCanada.

"The Keystone spill is just one more example of why direct action against pipelines is justified," Earth First organizer Panagioti Tsolkas told Xinhua.

"Its a reminder that the pipeline companies are the real terrorists and the people who blockade or sabotage their construction are the heroes," Tsolkas said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-19 04:35:42|Editor: Zhou Xin

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Latvian soldiers participate in a parade marking the Independence Day celebrations in Riga, capital of Latvia, on Nov. 18, 2017. People in Latvia marked the 99th anniversary of its statehood on Saturday with a wide range of festive events, local media reported. (Xinhua/Janis)

RIGA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- People in Latvia marked the 99th anniversary of its statehood on Saturday with a wide range of festive events, local media reported.

The Independence Day celebrations started with a procession in Riga, which was held in silence to honor those people who almost a century ago won the independence and recognition of the Republic of Latvia. A flower-laying event by the Freedom Monument was held in the center of the Latvian capital, attended by Latvia's top state officials, cabinet ministers and military officials, among hundreds of other people.

In the afternoon, a military parade in honor of Latvia's Independence Day took place at the November 11 Embankment in Riga, with more than 1,000 troops of the Latvian armed forces, border guards, police officers, rescuers and young guards marching alongside soldiers from the Canada-led multinational NATO battalion stationed in Latvia, as well as servicemen from Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Britain, Lithuania, Sweden and the United States.

The military parade, which the Latvian Defense Ministry has described as the largest since 1991, drew thousands of spectators.

In the evening, several thousand people joined the November 18 torchlight procession, a tradition started by the National Alliance, a junior partner in Latvia's center-right government coalition.

Various festive and cultural events dedicated to Independence Day took place also elsewhere in Latvia on Saturday.
A staff member refills a car at a gas station in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Nov. 16, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

ULAN BATOR, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The volume of imports of automotive gasoline to Mongolia grew by 38.7 percent year-on-year in January-October 2017 to 210.5 million U.S. dollars, according to the National Statistics Committee of Mongolia on Friday.

Meanwhile, the import of diesel fuel increased by 90.7 percent compared to the same period in 2016, amounting to 347.9 million dollars.

As experts noted, the increase in volume of imported fuel demonstrates the activation of Mongolia's economy.

Meanwhile, the import of kerosene for the first 10 months of this year grew by 24 percent, compared to the same period last year. As a result, the total amount of imported aviation fuel was 24,800 tons.

It should be noted here that the Mongolian Parliament has increased the excise tax on imported fuel since July of this year in frames of the continuation of the implementation of IMF's Expanded Fund Facility Program in Mongolia.

According to the agreement reached with the IMF, the Parliament of Mongolia in October 2017 had to raise the excise tax on gasoline, but the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry of Mongolia proposed to postpone the consideration of the above-mentioned issue for uncertain term.

According to the National Statistics Committee, Mongolia imported about 94 percent of the fuel from the Russian Federation in 2016, in particular, from the Rosneft oil company.

In 2017, more than 96 percent of imported fuel was imported from Russia, and the rest from China.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-19 05:00:45|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TRIPOLI, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Libya's National Commission for Human Rights on Saturday criticized CNN for its recent "exaggerated" report on migrant slave auction markets in Libya.

CNN published a report earlier this week of auctions in different parts of Libya, where stranded African migrants are sold as slaves for as little as 400 U.S. dollars.

"We express our deep resentment at the false and exaggerated information in the report published by CNN, which wrote about the open slave markets in several Libyan cities, including Tripoli," the Commission said in a statement.

"Contrary to what CNN has published, slave trade in Libya is secret and limited," said the statement.

"The National Human Rights Commission in Libya expresses concern about the policies, attitude and statements of the European Union in general and Italy in particular, which seek to exaggerate the suffering and tragedy of migrants and refugees in Libya," the statement added.

The Commission also condemned "grave and shameful crimes and violations committed against African migrants and refugees in Libya by organized criminal gangs and human traffickers."

The Commission demanded the Libyan Attorney General and the Ministries of Interior and Justice to "start a comprehensive investigation into the crimes and violations against migrants and refugees."

Libya is a preferred point of departure for immigrants, mostly Sub-Saharan Africans, who wish to cross the Mediterranean towards European shores, due to the insecurity and chaos in the north African country following the 2011 uprising.

Migrants rescued by the Libyan navy are detained in housing centers and shelters with poor living conditions.
A worker walks past the CGN 50MW Solar Thermal Power project in Delingha City, northwest China's Qinghai Province, Sept. 23, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhang Hongxiang)

KIEV, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China and Ukraine have agreed to step up their cooperation in renewable energy, the Ukrainian government said on Friday.

The agreement was reached during the plenary meeting of the Chinese-Ukrainian Subcommittee on Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing, the Ukrainian government press service said in a statement.

According to the statement, Ukraine, which heavily relies on imported energy, sees a great potential in its renewable energy cooperation with China.

"China is the world leader in renewable energy capacity expansion. It influences the global trends of the clean energy development," the statement said.

In particular, Ukraine is interested in implementing joint investment projects with China, establishing joint factories for the production of equipment and materials for renewable energy facilities, and creating financing mechanisms for clean energy projects, the statement said.

This year, the Ukrainian government has developed the country's "Energy Strategy," setting the target to increase the share of the renewables in the energy mix to 25 percent by 2035 from the current 4 percent.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-19 05:10:48|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TRIPOLI, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Libyan security services and a Red Crescent team have found a mass grave in the city of Sirte, some 450 km east of Tripoli, according to a local official on Saturday.

"A Red Crescent team, in cooperation with security services, managed to locate a mass grave in the town of Al-Dher in western Sirte. They surrounded the site pending order from the Public Prosecutions to dig and exhume the bodies," Mohammed Al-Imil, spokesman for Sirte municipal council, told Xinhua.

"The mass grave contains an unspecified number of unknown bodies. DNA samples will identify them," Al-Imil added.

Mass graves of civilians or military personnel executed by the Islamic State (IS) are often found in Sirte.

IS affiliates seized control of the city two years ago, before the UN-backed government expelled and defeated them in December 2016.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-19 05:25:50|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Authorities said a search for a gunman was underway early Saturday after a police was shot and killed Friday night in a town outside Pittsburgh, U.S. state of Pennsylvania.

The shooting occurred around 8 p.m. Friday in New Kensington, about 30 kilometers northeast of Pittsburgh.

The slain officer, only 25 years old, was shot in the chest and was given CPR at the scene, but died of his injuries.

Reports said he had been with the local police departement for less than a year.

Police said the gunman was considered armed and dangerous. A manhunt is underway for the suspect.

The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are offering a reward for any information leading to the gunman's arrest.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-19 05:35:54|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party in Ankara Nov. 17, 2017. Turkey has decided to withdraw its 40 soldiers from a NATO military exercise in Norway after the Turkish Republic's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and its current president were included among targets of "enemies," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday. (Xinhua/Mustafa Kaya)

ANKARA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Head of NATO apologized Saturday to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan via phone after the Turkish leader's name appeared on an "enemy chart" at the alliance's drills in Norway, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

During the phone call, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told Erdogan that an inquiry had been initiated by the commanding officer and the contracted Norwegian technician involved in the incident was terminated immediately.

Stoltenberg stressed Turkey is an important ally for NATO and that he would take all necessary precautions to prevent such an incident from happening again, according to a presidential source.

NATO chief hoped the scandal would not have negative impact on relations between NATO and Turkey.

On Friday, Turkey announced to withdraw 40 Turkish troops from the exercise in Norway after Erdogan's name and the picture of Turkish Republic's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk were used in an "enemy chart."

Following the insulting incident, Stoltenberg had also apologized to Turkey in a written statement on Friday as well as to Turkish military chief during a face-to-face meeting in Canada.

"Turkey's alliance with NATO should not be undermined," Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar said on Saturday at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada.

"NATO administrators responded timely and appropriately. We should not allow anyone to undermine our alliance and our solidarity," he said.
Aerial photo taken on Sept. 1, 2017 shows flooded houses after Hurricane Harvey attacked Houston, Texas, the United States. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The White House reportedly plans to request about 45 billion U.S. dollars in additional aid from Congress on Friday for disaster-hit areas, including Puerto Rico, Texas and Florida.

The amount would be significantly less than what some officials of the affected areas have suggested is needed.

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello asked for 94.4 billion dollars on Monday from Congress to rebuild the island's infrastructure, housing, hospitals and schools devastated by Hurricane Maria in October.

Texas, hit by destructive storms and flooding months ago, submitted a request earlier this month for 61 billion dollars in federal aid for rebuilding efforts in southeastern portions of the state.

Congress approved last month a sum of 36.5 billion dollars in emergency relief for Puerto Rico and other areas struck by natural disasters.

It also said it would consider approving another round of funding after it reviewed requests from federal agencies and state and U.S. commonwealth governments.

The White House has been criticized for its response to the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico as basic necessities, including food and water, were slow to reach those in need on the island.

The Puerto Rico government said as of Friday morning that more than half of the U.S. territory remains without electricity.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-19 05:55:59|Editor: huaxia

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BEIRUT -- Lebanon's President Michel Aoun revealed Saturday that Prime Minister Saad Hariri will return to Lebanon in time for Independence Day on Nov. 22, a statement by the Presidency Media office said.

The statement added that "Hariri called Aoun to confirm that he would return to the country by Nov. 22, shortly after the PM arrived in Paris from Riyadh." (Lebanon-PM-Hariri)

- - - -

TEHRAN -- Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said Saturday the French energy giant Total cannot leave a major gas deal with the Islamic republic under the pretext of the U.S. political pressures.

Total can only drop the deal if the United Nations Security Council imposes international sanctions against Tehran, Zanganeh said on the sidelines of his meeting with visiting Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Alisher Sultanov, Press TV reported. (Iran-Total)

- - - -

TRIPOLI -- Libya's National Commission for Human Rights on Saturday criticized CNN for its recent "exaggerated" report on migrant slave auction markets in Libya.

CNN published a report earlier this week of auctions in different parts of Libya, where stranded African migrants are sold as slaves for as little as 400 U.S. dollars. (Libya-CNN-Migrant)

- - - -

RIYADH -- Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday that its ambassador to Germany was recalled in objections to remarks made by German foreign minister, Saudi Press Agency reported.

The country also revealed that it would hand over Germany's ambassador to the Kingdom a protest note refuting such remarks. (Saudi-Germany) Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-19 06:06:01|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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CHICAGO, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grains futures settled mixed over the trading week which ended Nov. 17, with short-covering and concern for world weather being the key factor in market ups and downs.

The most active corn contract for December delivery fell 0.5 cent weekly, or 0.15 percent, to 3.43 dollars per bushel. December wheat delivery went down 4.25 cents, or 0.98 percent, to 4.2725 dollars per bushel. January soybeans edged up 3.5 cents, or 0.35 percent, to 9.905 dollars per bushel over the week.

Corn futures ended fractionally lower amid additional technical selling and an otherwise lack of fresh news. The trade continues to digest U.S. old crop stocks of nearly 2.5 billion bushels, which will provide a rather sizeable buffer against adverse South American weather or adverse U.S. weather next spring or summer.

Interior basis is rallying as farmers halt sales altogether, and as harvest is still pretty sluggish in pockets of the Central U.S. Climate, forecasts are dry in Argentina amid the arrival of La Nina, but it's premature for any undue yield concern.

U.S. wheat prices ended lower, as some measure of long liquidation returned to spring wheat futures in Minneapolis. Russian FOB quotes this weekend are down another one dollar to 191 dollars per ton, versus 194 dollars in October, and so there's just no spark available to trigger any lasting recovery.

However, analysts maintain a neutral outlook as Southern Hemisphere production is in danger of quality damage. The Global Forecast System includes potentially new rain in eastern Australia next week, and long term climate guidance there remains wet through December.

Soybeans were lower through most of the week, but January was able to build support just above the October lows, and then rallied sharply on Friday to end the week with modest gains. Short covering and concern for dry Argentine weather supported Friday's bounce.

Planting in South America is underway, and new crop exports of significant quantities are three to four months away.
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Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose has told President Muhammadu Buhari to stop being hypocritical about his fight against corruption.

He told Buhari to first rid his government and the APC of corrupt elements.

Someone needs to tell the President that Nigerians no longer believe in his anti-corruption fight because he harbours the most corrupt Nigerians in his government, he said.

Buhari had during the presentation of the book, Making Steady Sustainable Progress, declared  that any public official caught will go to jail.

In a statement on Friday by his spokesman, Lere Olayinka, Fayose asked: How many of those indicted of corruption in President Buharis government has he jailed? Isnt it the height of hypocrisy for a President that is using APC broom to sweep corruption involving his men under the carpet to be talking about jailing anyone caught stealing public fund?

The governor, who insisted that President Buhari was only hiding under 

anti-corruption fight to harass his perceived political foes, said,

We have a President who is the Life Patron of Corruption in Nigeria. His government is not only corrupt, the government itself is corruption! Sadly, our President is still carrying on with the mindset that Nigerians are still listening to his lyrics of we are fighting

corruption.

Today, it is seventeen days since President Buhari sacked the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Babachir Lawal, and the Director General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ayodele Oke, has any of them been arrested by the EFCC?

Apart from sacking Oke, has President Buhari told Nigerians any other thing about the $43 million discovered in the Osbourne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos apartment? Who owns the apartment?

What has happened to those involved in the fraudulent reinstatement of the former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Mr Abdullahi Maina, who was declared wanted for corrupt practices by the International Police Organisation, (INTERPOL) after he was dismissed from office by the Civil Service Commission in 2013 for allegedly committing N2.1 billion pension fraud while in office? Why hasnt Maina been arrested by the EFCC up till now?

Isnt the same Abba Kyari, who was accused of collecting N500 million bribe from MTN still Buharis Chief of Staff? Has anything been heard about the $5 billion fine imposed on MTN by the federal government after Abba Kyari allegedly received the N500 million bribe?

Methinks President Buhari should face the reality that there are people in his government that should be in jail by now for corruption. Not until he jails those corrupt elements that are wining and dining with him, Nigerians will continue to liken his threat to jail anyone who steals pubic fund with a cow thief threatening to jail a fowl thief.
Spanish and Moroccan police have netted close to four tons of cocaine with a street value of over 100 million and seized 13 million in cash in an operation that resulted in the dismantlement of a drug trafficking network.

The Spanish Interior Ministry said that 40 people were arrested in a long-term anti-trafficking operation, in which the Drug Enforcement Administration also took part along with the German and Italian security services.

The Spanish ministry said that 1.3 ton was seized in Spain, while the Moroccan domestic intelligence agency, for its part, netted 2.6 tons of cocaine.

The busted international drug trafficking ring was operating in Spain and Morocco and run from Venezuela by a Spanish national wanted by justice.

In all, 34 men and 6 women from Spanish, British and Moroccan nationalities were arrested in this operation.

Spain is a main entry point for cocaine in Europe, and the busts are some of the biggest in recent years.

Last October, Moroccan police seized 2.5 tons of cocaine with a street value of $2.7 billion.

In May, Spanish authorities said they had intercepted in the Atlantic a boat carrying 2.4 tons of cocaine.
Who you gonna trust, me or your lying ears? Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

It can be difficult to recall all the individual low points weve experienced so far in 2017. Like, remember when an about-to-be-congressman physically assaulted a reporter for having the temerity to ask him a question about health-care policy?

That lawmaker was Montanas Greg Gianforte, and records made public on Friday show that shortly after body-slamming The Guardians Ben Jacobs in May, he falsely told police that Jacobs had been the belligerent one.

Sergeant Scott Secor of the Gallatin County sheriffs office wrote that when he interviewed Gianforte in a parking lot in the aftermath of the assault, Gianforte said that Jacobs had stuck a microphone in my face and had been interrogating in a very intensive way. Gianforte told Secor, I probably shouldnt do it but I reached out for his phone  he grabbed my wrist, he spun, and we ended up on the floor  so he pulled me down on top of him.

Gianforte described his ongoing problems with some of The Guardians standard journalistic tactics, then resorted to that hoary chestnut, telling Secor that the liberal media  is trying to make a story.

This victim-blaming was in line with the campaigns initial version of the story. Gianfortes spokesman, Shane Scanlon, said hours after the assault, Its unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ.

That account, which had seemed absurd on its face, was disputed by eyewitnesses and definitely debunked when Jacobs released audio of the altercation.

Despite his violent behavior, Gianforte was elected to Congress the next day, prevailing over Democrat Rob Quist by about six points in the special election to fill the seat left vacant by the appointment of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Gianforte pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge and offered what seemed like a heartfelt apology to Jacobs, as well as a donation to the Committee to Protect Journalists

But later, to add insult to literal injury, he refused the one-on-one interview he had promised Jacobs.

What a guy.
Here all week. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Attorney General Jeff Sessions opened a speech at the the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Friday with a joke about Russian collusion and his tendency to forget meetings with agents of the Kremlin.

I just was thinking, I want to ask you: Is Ambassador Kislyak in the room? Before I get started here, any Russians? Sessions said, drawing laughter from the crowd attending the National Lawyers Convention. Anybody been to Russia? Got a cousin in Russia or something?

The joke is that Sessions testified to the Senate that he didnt meet with any Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign when he, in fact, had met with Kislyak at the very hotel where he was speaking. Hilarious.
Whats an Alabama governor to do when she has to choose between a serial defier of federal courts who may also be a sexual predator and the ideological needs of her party? Photo: Brynn Anderson/AP

The saga of Roy Moore has led an awful lot of Alabama Republicans to say an awful lot of dubious things to rationalize supporting him in the midst of an array of sexual misconduct allegations. But the latest comment, from the normally very reserved Governor Kay Ivey, may take the cake when you think about Moores career. She said she had no reason to disbelieve the women who have described Moore as a predator or worse, and that the allegations bothered her because [t]heres never an excuse for or rationale for sexual misconduct or sexual abuse. But shes going to vote for Moore anyway:

I believe in the Republican Party, what we stand for, and most important, we need to have a Republican in the United States Senate to vote on things like the Supreme Court justices, other appointments the Senate has to confirm and make major decisions.

Now just put aside, if you can, the testimony that as a prosecutor and officer of the court Roy Moore was hustling underage women for dates at best and sex at worst. This is a man whose entire statewide political career has been based on defying the federal judiciary. He has twice lost his gavel as chief justice of Alabamas Supreme Court for ignoring federal court orders that were based on clear U.S. Supreme Court precedents (the first time he defied a long series of rulings on church-state separation, and the second time he refused to comply with the 2015 SCOTUS decision legalizing same-sex marriages).

Whatever else Roy Moore is, he is very clearly a scofflaw when it comes to the federal courts and their power to shape constitutional law.

So its more than a little ironic  and alarming  that Alabamas governor is saying she will reluctantly vote for Judge Roy so that he can help determine the membership of SCOTUS and other federal courts. It helps illustrate the climate of opinion in the state that made Roy Moore a viable political figure in the first place.
Ive never even heard of Russia! Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Either Jared Kushner is trying to hide something, or his memory is very poor for a 36-year-old.

On Friday, the New York Times and NBC News reported that the Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite Kushner failed to disclose to Senate investigators involved a banker with close ties to Vladimir Putin  and possibly organized crime.

The man at the center of the story is Aleksander Torshin, who is the deputy head of Russias central bank, a major Trump fan, and a stalwart ally of Vladimir Putin. He has also been accused by Spanish police of being a mafia godfather, which he denies, as one would.

Torshin did not email the campaign directly in May 2016; instead, his request came through a message from Christian-issues advocate Rick Clay to campaign aide Rick Dearborn, who is now a White House deputy chief of staff. According to the Times sources, Clays email to Dearborn suggests Torshin was seeking to meet with a high-level Trump campaign official during an NRA convention in Louisville that Trump was attending. The emails also implied that Torshin might have been carrying a message from Putin himself.

Kushner exchanged emails with Dearborn before ultimately deciding to nix the meeting.

Pass on this, Kushner responded, according to a letter his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee Friday evening. A lot of people come claiming to carry messages. Very few we are able to verify. For now I think we decline such meetings.

Nevertheless, Torshin scored a consolation prize: a seat at a dinner Donald Trump Jr. attended during the Louisville convention. (On Saturday, Trump Jr.s lawyer said he spoke with Torshin at the event, but that they were not seated together.)

Unbowed, Torshin was still trying to get an audience with Trump after he won the presidency. In February, Yahoo News reported that the Trump administration pulled out of a meet-and-greet involving Torshin at the last minute after learning of the organized-crime allegations.

Kushner didnt disclose the 2016 emails to the Senate until prodded by Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and ranking member Senator Dianne Feinstein. Lowell insisted that Kushner had been a mere side player in the affair. Again, this was not any contact, call or meeting in which Mr. Kushner was involved, Mr. Lowell said. He is forwarded this long chain later on.

Regardless, Kushners failure to disclose the records is just the latest example of his consistent evasiveness on all things Russia-related.

In July, he admitted to having met with four Russians during the campaign and transition, information he had not previously divulged when he applied for his high-level security clearance. The foreign contacts list on his disclosure form, initially left blank, was updated three times to include more than 100 names  just a slight oversight.

Kushner also reportedly testified under oath to congressional investigators that he had no knowledge of any campaign contacts with WikiLeaks, even though Donald Trump Jr. had sent him an email about his conversations with the organization. He failed to mention that he had attended an infamous June 2016 meeting set up by Donald Trump Jr. at Trump Tower, in which a Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, allegedly offered dirt on Hillary Clinton.

That gathering took place just weeks before the aborted attempt by Torshin to meet with campaign officials (and a couple of months after the now-indicted George George Papadopoulous told the Trump campaign that Moscow had incriminating information on Clinton).

And then there was the secret back channel Kushner tried to set up with the Russian ambassador soon after President Trumps victory.

Kushner was among the leading voices advocating for President Trump to fire former FBI director James Comey to forestall an investigation into Russian electoral interference, a move that backfired by leading to the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. As Muellers investigation begins to snare some Trump administration targets, Kushner continues to dissemble about which Russians he spoke to and when he spoke to them.

In July, after testifying on the matter to the Senate, Kushner insisted in a rare public appearance that he did not collude with Russia. Perhaps not. But it doesnt take much investigative prowess to sense that hes not on, or even near, the level.
They need all the help they can get. Photo: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

President Trump announced that he is suspending this weeks decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to end a ban on importing hunting trophies, like the tusks and skulls of elephants, from Zimbabwe and Zambia. That decision, which overturned a 2014 Obama administration ban on the import of elephant trophies, prompted fierce backlash from conservation groups.

In response to the pushback, the Fish and Wildlife Service argued on Friday that making it more enjoyable for American hunters to kill African elephants would in fact enhance the animals chances of survival, thanks to the high permit fees hunters would have to pay for the privilege. Though elephants are protected under the Endangered Species Act, trophies from dead elephants are allowed into the U.S. if the Fish and Wildlife Service determines that hunting those animals will aid conservation efforts. Legal, well-regulated sport hunting as part of a sound management program can benefit the conservation of certain species by providing incentives to local communities to conserve the species and by putting much-needed revenue back into conservation, the agency explained earlier this week.

However, as the Washington Post points out, there is widespread corruption and wildlife mismanagement in countries like Zimbabwe, and such hunting produces a negligible amount of revenue. Encouraging (rich) American hunters to kill a few hundred African elephants every year would mostly just benefit the hunters trophy collections.

On Friday, Trump tweeted that he wanted to review the evidence before making up his mind:

Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all conservation facts. Under study for years. Will update soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2017

And on Sunday, Trump indicated that he was probably going to keep the ban in place, in his own teasing way:

Big-game trophy decision will be announced next week but will be very hard pressed to change my mind that this horror show in any way helps conservation of Elephants or any other animal.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2017

Following the first tweet, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke  who has been using his position to promote hunting of all kinds  added that he and Trump have talked and both believe that conservation and healthy herds are critical. As a result, in a manner compliant with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations, the issuing of permits is put on hold as the decision is being reviewed.

In addition, the Republican head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Ed Royce, released a statement on Friday noting that he has zero confidence that the government in Zimbabwe  which is currently in the midst of a military coup attempt  is properly managing and regulating conservation programs or that elephant populations in the area warrant overconcentration measures. (The president of the U.S. Human Society agrees on both points.)

As a result of illegal ivory poaching, the already-threatened population of African elephants has been steadily dropping since 2007, and has ultimately decreased by a total of 6 percent since 2001, according to the Great Elephant Census. President Trumps sons are avid hunters, and Donald Trump Jr. hunted and killed an elephant during a 2012 safari in Zimbabwe with his brother, Eric.

In retrospect, there were some warning signs. pic.twitter.com/CT3jI9MuON  The New York Review of Books (@nybooks) July 11, 2017

This has post has been updated to include Trumps Sunday tweet.
Bank of Uganda (BOU) and the Central Bank of Sudan have agreed to expand trade and investment between Kampala and Khartoum.

This was during a meeting between BOU Deputy Governor, Dr Louis Kasekende, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Sudan Hazim Abdelgadir this week at BOU offices in Kampala.

Abdelgair was in Uganda as part of President Omar Al Bashirs delegation to the country.

Kasekende and Abdelgair agreed to push for a formal arrangement through a memorandum of understanding to guide the two central banks in the various areas of cooperation such as payments systems and correspondent banking, capacity building, and other avenues of facilitation of trade and investment between the two countries.

Kasekende said: We can exploit existing opportunities under the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) regional initiative for purposes of trade facilitation such as the Comesa Regional Payment and Settlement System (REPSS) as well as leverage the financial institutions operating in both countries to foster economic relations.

Abdelgadir said Sudan was ready to share its experience in Islamic finance and banking in light of the recent legislation in Uganda that paved way for that model of banking in Uganda.

Sudan is one of the countries that consume much of Ugandan coffee and close cooperation, which can boost that trade, is a welcome venture. BOU said the two Central banks were committed to strengthening bilateral relations.
Thousands of demonstrators in Harare, Zimbabwes capital, and in other cities around the country Saturday are calling for President Robert Mugabes resignation.

Mugabe, 93, is reported to be resisting demands from the army, members of his own ZANU-PF party, and political activists to step down after 37 years in power.

Protestors marching against President Robert Mugabe and First Lady Grace Mugabe in Harare today. Photo: @ThreeMenOnAboat

The Zimbabwe Defense Forces seized key state institutions Wednesday, confined Mugabe to house arrest and clamped down on those they termed thieves surrounding the president, including Professor Jonathan Moyo, Home Affairs Minister Ignatius Chombo, Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, ZANU-PF Youth League secretary Kudzanayi Chipanga and several others.

The detainees, who are in army barracks, are said to be members of a faction of the ruling party that were seeking to elevate first lady Grace Mugabe to the post of vice president. President Mugabe fired his longtime ally, Emmerson Mnangagwa, from the position November 5.

Mugabe made a public appearance Friday, his first since the military took over state institutions and opened talks aimed at getting the aged leader to resign.

Mugabe, wearing a blue and yellow academic gown, presided over a university graduation ceremony for more than 1,000 students in Harare. The president appeared to fall asleep at times and said nothing about the ongoing political uncertainty.

Demands intensify

Members of opposition groups are expressing frustration with the pace of negotiations over Mugabes political future.

Christopher Mutsvangwa, chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, told journalists that Saturdays protests are designed to push the president out of office.

Anti-Mugabe protestors in Harare

Jacob Ngarivhume of opposition group Transform Zimbabwe said hopes of Mugabe leaving office are slowly dissipating.

There is no way he should be allowed to continue holding power, Ngarivhume told VOAs Zimbabwe service.

If he were to do that, then Zimbabwe would be in trouble. What I see happening is there might be a dragging on of the discussion around his departure, but eventually  he must go. He has outlived his usefulness.

Thousands have turned up for anti-Mugabe protests in #Zimbabwe's 2nd largest city, Bulawayo. The army which is holding President #RobertMugabe under house arrest cleared the protests pic.twitter.com/YZuTVsawRG  The Observer (@observerug) November 18, 2017

Former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who leads the Movement for Democratic Change party, joined the calls for Mugabe to resign.

Mr. Robert Mugabe must resign, step down immediately in line with the national sentiment and expectation, taking full regard of his legacy and contribution to Zimbabwe, pre and post Zimbabwe, said Tsvangirai, who returned to the country this week from South Africa, where he is being treated for cancer.

There has been no indication Mugabe will voluntarily give up power. Nick Mangwana, who is the Britain-based representative of ZANU-PF, told VOA President Mugabe remains President Mugabe as of now.

Robert Mugabe 'surprised" by military's move against him, says former #Zimbabwe Vice President Joyce Mujuru. Mujuru was fired from the party in 2014 pic.twitter.com/E1nmxt6Z9Q  The Observer (@observerug) November 18, 2017

Mugabe is the only leader the nation has known since Zimbabwe won independence in 1980, and has turned back many previous challenges to his rule, often using the army, police and physical violence from supporters to intimidate opponents.

His hold appeared strong even as Zimbabwes economy, which has struggled for years, suffered a new downturn during the past 12 months. Last December, the ruling ZANU-PF party nominated him as its presidential candidate for the 2018 elections.

The turning point was the firing of Mnangagwa, 75, a liberation war hero who maintains strong support among veterans.

Mnangagwas current whereabouts are uncertain, though he is widely believed to be in South Africa.

As for the president, the Zimbabwe Defense Forces said Friday it is currently engaging with the commander-in-chief, President Mugabe, on the way forward and will advise the nation as soon as possible.
Makerere University lecturers have given the university council up to two weeks to pronounce itself on the Shs 40 billion unpaid incentives or else they lay down their tools.



The decision was reached during the Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA) emergency general assembly held at the School of Education conference Hall yesterday Friday. The incentives were introduced during the 2013/2014 academic year when the lecturers laid down their tools demanding for 100 per cent salary pay rise.



It is the same demands that led to the lecturers' strike about the same time last year leading to the closure of the university for months by President Yoweri Museveni.

Following the strike, Eng. Dr Wana Etyem, the Makerere University Council chairman, promised to pay lecturers their incentives for the months of February, March, April, May and June by June 2017.



He requested staff to resume work while a special audit and Visitation Committee execute their duties, which would inform the future of the incentives.

"Aware that a special audit is underway, the University Council shall review the decision on incentive after a special audit report has been received and the decision taken shall be effective 1st July 2017," Dr Etyem said in his letter.



However, on Friday, the lecturers said they will not follow the recommendations of the visitation committee since it wasn't instituted by the University Council.



Dr Chris Mpirirwe says there is no reason for the University Council to wait for the visitation committee report, since it wasn't the one that commissioned it.

"I will not examine any dissertation of Masters any supervision because private programs are purely private. I think it is high time to really let council know; theres no reason for them whatsoever to wait for this visitation report. It is not theirs and even if it is submitted to government it will take years before this report is implemented.

We very well know that these government committees are just therapies, it is going to be shelved for years. Now if it is shelved for five years, are we going to keep doing the work when theres nothing were gaining from it? Are we going to keep making money for other people to enjoy?", said Mpirirwe.

Dr Deus Muhwezi Kamunyu, the MUASA publicist, told URN that the staff are demanding over Shs 40 billion incentive arrears for over one year, adding that they have resolved to give the university council and management up to November 27th to pronounce themselves on the incentive.

"Wed asked that incentives be paid or else we lay down our tools, so we have given management and council two weeks to act on our resolution or else they shelve the examinations. It is incentives for one year which is close to Shs 35 billion.

Months have passed beyond the year so were talking close to Shs 40 billion of incentive. We have been engaging with them and we want commitment from them regarding our incentives or else they shelve the examinations according to the general assembly", Kamunyu said.



Dr Muhammad Kiggundu Musoke, the MUASA chairperson, says while the staff still look up to a full enhancement of their salaries, the University Council and management ought to continue looking for ways of improving the welfare of their staff until the promised enhancement is reached.

"We have extended so that we can allow the students to learn and that council can also get a way of attending to the incentives because people are still working - a year plus. So the extra load is not being paid for because the staff are working. No extra load is being paid for", said Kiggundu.

Adding: "The staff are also in a sorry state because even the salaries that we say are enhanced has not come to the top most, were just half way and you can imagine what the trouble can be like. So we did actually agree that council is supposed to address this and attend to the demands of the people with the spirit that looks at the employees as we also give in to have the teaching period completed."

In August 2014, President Museveni pledged to raise the gross salary of a university professor, the highest paid academic to Shs 15 million, starting in the 2015/2016 financial year. Currently, a professor earns Shs 8.5 million.
Will India resort to war with Pakistan?

18 November, 2017

By Asif Haroon Raja

In the wake of constantly deteriorating security situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) owing to heightened turbulence, exasperated and outraged Indian political and military leadership and Indian public are getting restless. 750,000 Indian security forces have been unable to quell the wave of protests that spiraled after the martyrdom of Burhan Wani in July 2016.



The girl students in IOK have also joined the protests and are hurling stones on the soldiers. No one in Kashmir fear the Indian soldiers firing bullets, using chili pellet guns and applying brutal tactics. The world and human rights bodies have begun to take note of the atrocities in Kashmir and hardly a day passes without the foreign newspapers carrying stories and pictures of clashes in Kashmir. Many in India are saying that Kashmir is slipping out of the hands of India. Indias veterans have joined the critics saying that the counter measures taken are insufficient and more force should be used to put fear into the hearts of Kashmiris.



Not knowing how to deal with the uprising and to answer the questions of foreign critics, India has been trying to distract the attention of its home and foreign audiences by blaming Pakistan that it is abetting terrorism in Kashmir. While carrying out unprovoked firing across the LoC in Kashmir, engineering false flag operations and fake surgical strikes, Indian military leaders are heaving threats that India is considering punitive actions against Pakistan for allegedly supporting cross-border terrorism. Last year and this year, Indian and Pakistani forces exchanged some of the heaviest fire in years along the Line of Control [LoC] in Kashmir.



The Indian army chief after threatening to carry out a hard strike at a place of its choosing claimed on May 23 that it had destroyed several Pakistani posts across the LoC. He has often hurled threat of limited war based on Cold Start doctrine. The Indian air chief after alerting the IAF to be ready for a major task threatened that Pak nuclear sites will be destroyed. Pakistan Army rubbished Indian claims and also gave befitting response to all acts of aggression.



India also created an impression that it had succeeded in diplomatically isolating Pakistan and that people of Baluchistan, Gilgit and AJK were supportive of India. Indian political leaders threatened to dry up Pakistan by closing water of the three rivers flowing into Pakistan from IOK and to fragment Pakistan into four parts.



RAW accelerated terror attacks in Baluchistan and elsewhere with the help of its proxies including ISIS (Daesh) based at Nangarhar/Tora Bora. Besides signing defense agreements with USA in 2016, India has speeded up force modernization of Indian armed forces and is frenetically building up its nuclear and conventional defense and offence capabilities. Ostensibly this is being done to make India a bulwark against China. But 80% of Indias strike formations are poised against Pakistan. The US Director Defence Intelligence Agency Lt Gen Vincent Stewart stated on May 23, India was updating its military to better position itself to defend Indias interests in the Indian Ocean region and strengthen its diplomatic and economic outreach across Asia.



To maximize pressure on Pakistan, India nudged Kabul and Tehran to heat up Pakistans western and southwestern borders and both obliged India. Donald Trump in his Afghan policy speech last August, maximized pressure on Islamabad by accusing it that it was involved in proxy war and was still supporting Haqqani network and Afghan Taliban. Mounting tensions have lowered down as a consequence to visits of Khawaja Asif to Washington and Rex Tillerson to Islamabad.



Panama case kept Pakistans political temperature on the boil. It led to disqualification of PM Nawaz Sharif for life followed by initiation of corruption cases by accountability court against him and his family. Although the new PM Khaqan Abbasi has steadied the



tottering ship, the overall political climate is wobbly. Some say that crisis have been brewed up by vested groups to derail the political dispensation, disrupt CPEC and other development projects and to pave the way for India to wage a war against destabilized Pakistan.



For all the dogmatic war mongering hyped in every Indian medium, India will never wage a war against Pakistan and if it commits the blunder, it cannot win a war. Verbose threats, surgical strikes, cross-border firing or boisterous bawling on TV channels are all signs of pent up frustration and an effort to let off steam.



The sooner Indian hawkish leaders appreciate this politico-military reality, better it will be for India. Short of total genocide, no country regardless of its war-withal could hope to achieve a decisive victory with a short war in todays world.



India has seen the sorry plight of USA and NATO in the 16-year war on terror and the financial loss it incurred ($ 2.10 trillion in Afghanistan and Iraq alone) and human losses (6623) they have suffered and so far have not achieved any of their objectives. Era of short and decisive war is over. USA had promised a short war in Afghanistan but it has not come out of it till to date.



Pakistan has adequately compensated for its inferiority in conventional power by maintaining full spectrum nuclear deterrence and achieving nuclear parity with India. Indias stratagem of achieving superiority in men and material to overawe Pakistan is a weak strategy and has failed to overawe Pakistan. Pak Armys stunning gains against foreign backed terrorism has astounded the world and shot up its image. It is now the hardiest Army of the world and is looked upon with respect.



Despite Pakistans handicaps and Indias superior diplomatic clout, Pakistan has managed to sail past the rough patch and today it finds itself in a better geopolitical position and seem to have turned the tables on India which had schemed to destabilize it, denuclearize it, isolate and strategically encircle it and then deliver the military instrument to Balkanize it.



Decades of mutual cooperation, technology transfer, training, equipment sales, have bonded the two armies of Pakistan and China into a formidable joint force. The duo has achieved sufficient intimacy and understanding to carry out joint missions against India.



Pakistans fast-tracked accomplishments in nuclear technology, missile delivery systems, logistic supply chain of equipment, and spares as well as new-age technologies such as cyber and drone warfare are all the result of close cooperation between the two countries.



In contrast, India has not even been able to integrate its three services, what to speak of assimilation with political leadership, industry, academia and indigenous defense capabilities.



While Pak Army having successfully fought the insurrectional war for 14 years is fully battle inoculated and motivated, Indian military has gained no such experience and its performance against Kashmiri freedom fighters, Naxalites and host of other insurgent groups in various parts of India is dismal. Indian Army is suffering from inertia, sagging morale and ever rising moral and discipline problems.



Indian armed forces still have over 60% of Russian origin defense arsenal which has become obsolete and absorption of western technology will take considerable length of time. This incongruity has affected Indias war preparedness.



India has been investing tens of billions in updating its Soviet-era military hardware to counter long-standing tensions with regional rivals China and Pakistan and is the largest importer of arms. It is now planning to produce defense equipment locally. Defence and nuclear up-gradation is at the cost of alleviation of poverty stricken of great majority.



Praveen Sahwney has mentioned in his book The Dragon on our doorsteps, India has primarily focused on developing its military arsenal whereas Pakistan and China have



been developing war waging capabilities, which is a synthesis of many strengths other than just military force.



Whereas Russia is still a strategic partner of India, however, warmth of yester years has cooled after India signed three defense deals with USA last year. Unlike in the past, Russia is now a strategic partner of China and has friendly relations with USA under Trump. It is gradually getting closer to Pakistan and finding space in Afghanistan. Irans coolness with Pakistan is fast fading and GCC States misunderstandings with Pakistan has faded.



Notwithstanding the Indo-US strategic alliance, the US cannot afford to lose Pakistan which certainly has a lot of say in Afghan tangle. It has no choice but to continue supporting Pakistan financially and militarily to ensure continuity of logistics supply for its troops and for its safe exit from Afghanistan. On the other hand Pakistans dependence on the US has reduced dramatically with China filling in the gap. Pakistan has clearly stated that it needs mutually beneficial trade and not aid.



Chinas economic aspirations and access to the Arabian Sea through CPEC and Gwadar seaport is a strategic masterstroke by Pakistan and China. 63% of CPEC is complete while Gwadar Port can get converted into a naval base in the event of war. Not only it is a win-win for the duo but it is also a lose-lose for India since CPEC has broken Indias plan to encircle and isolate Pakistan and has landed itself and Afghanistan into the mold of isolation. Full operationalization of CPEC can break the US strategic encirclement of China around South China Sea and Chinas dependence on Malacca Strait.



Chinas One-Belt-One-Road (OBOR) project of which CPEC is the linchpin has welded the two neighbors into permanent partners. With its heavy economic stakes in Pakistan, China is bound to come to the aid of Pakistan whenever its security is threatened.



Baluchistan, AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan and some vulnerable points along the CPEC in Punjab and Sindh marked as possible targets by India have become exceedingly perilous



objectives for India in the wake of possibility of Chinas intervention, thereby precluding the possibility of Indian military action.



Indian former Army Officer Raghu Raman says that any Indian operation that endangers thousands of Chinese citizens working on the CPEC project in Pakistan will draw the wrath of China and give them the loco standi to initiate hostilities against India. So beyond shallow skirmishes all along the border, India really has no operational or strategic options without the risk of drawing China into a two-front war.



Although India has posed a two-front threat to Pakistan, Pakistan military has correctly appreciated that the force levels which India will be able to muster against it will be more or less evenly matched, and in the event of Indo-Pak hostilities, it can depend on China for its logistics supply chain as well as splitting the Indian armed forces resources and focus by deploying PLA divisions along the border with India. This would in effect, pin down a substantial part of the Indian Armys reserves to cater for the eastern front.



India also know that now there are too many stakeholders dependent on the success of the OBOR/CPEC project and any disturbance in this area would be attributed to Indias truculence.



Under the circumstances, Indian covert or overt intrusion to scuttle CPEC will earn her a bad name. Likewise, by staying away from composite dialogue with Pakistan to settle disputes will depict India as an obdurate country incapable of setting aside bilateral issues for the larger good of the region.



For the fulfilment of Modis ambition to improve the economy of India, the fulcrum for development is stable and peaceful environment and not war mongering and disturbed border. War clouds are an antithesis for economic investments. Even preparation for war costs billions of dollars in terms of resources. Already the covert and propaganda wars unleashed against Pakistan has cost India millions of dollars. India can scarcely afford to go to war when millions of Indian youth are entering the job market whose un-channelised energies is another potential risk.



For a nation to go to war, all its pillars of strength, including its military, economic prowess, industrial capability, external alliances and national will must be aligned in a singular direction to achieve meaningful success. India is engulfed in too many internal vulnerabilities and can ill afford to wage an all-out war with nuclear Pakistan.



While IOK is slipping out of Indias hands, the story is no different in Afghanistan where Taliban are gaining ground and turning the tide.



There is an old couplet by Ramdhari Dinkar which suggests that forgiveness befits a snake which has venom in its bitenot one which is weak, toothless, and harmless. To be taken seriously, India needs to build that strength first rather than spewing ineffectual rhetoric.



The only option India has against Pakistan is the Covert War supplemented with Hybrid War. At best it may resort to limited attacks close to the border and LoC, which will be effectively retaliated by Pakistan.



The writer is a retired Brig Gen, war veteran, defence & security analyst, columnist, author of five books, Vice Chairman Thinkers Forum Pakistan, Director Measac Research Centre. asifharoonraja@gmail.com
Taliban representatives to join Afghanistan government-backed peace council

ISLAMABAD: Taliban representatives will join members of the Afghanistan government-backed peace council, most probably in a Gulf country, to explore ways for finding a political solution to the conflict in Afghanistan, an invitee to the meet said Friday.



Nazar Mutmaeen, an Afghan political analyst, confirmed to mediamen from Kabul that the Afghanistan Peace Studies Organisation (APSO), a Kabul-based non-governmental organisation, would organise the meeting.



He said the meeting would be held in a Gulf country, which would be attended by Taliban political envoys in Qatar. No date has been decided for the meeting; however, efforts are underway to hold it soon. He did not offer more comments.



The APSO said in Kabul that the primary agenda of the meeting would be to remove obstacles to peace process and find ways to improve the trust deficit between the two sides and to move forward with mutual consent.



In addition to this objective, other important issues such as protection of civilians during the armed conflict, role of women and youth in the peace process, freedom of press and other important issues such as health, education and human rights, would also be discussed, according to Pajhwok news agency.



An Arab source, who was aware of the meeting, said the organisers had not provided complete information to the UAE that had annoyed officials there.



Taliban have long been demanding removal of the names of their leaders from the Security Councils list so they can take part in peace efforts; however, their calls had not received a positive response from the Afghan government. President Ashraf Ghani and his Chief Executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah, on a number of occasions, had urged the United Nations to slap sanctions on the Taliban chief Maulvi Haibtullah Akhundzadah and others.



In December 2016, Kabul had angrily reacted to statement by Russia and China, permanent members of the UN Security Council, in which they reaffirmed their readiness for flexible approaches to the prospect of excluding Taliban leaders from the list of sanctioned persons as part of efforts to promote a peaceful dialogue between Kabul and the Taliban movement.



Taliban sources said political representatives would attend the meeting, as they were encouraging unofficial meetings with fellow Afghans to explore ways for negotiated settlement of the problem.



The UAE refusal of granting visas to some Taliban leaders show differences between the two sides. Relations between the Taliban and the UAE have been under pressure since the attack in Kandahar in January this year, which killed the UAE ambassador and five of its diplomats.



The Taliban had denied involvement and blamed the internal rift within the Afghan officials in Kandahar. There were suspicions about Kandahar police chief General Abdul Razaq as he had left the guesthouse just few minutes before the bomb went off. Despite the Taliban denial, some Afghan officials insisted that the Taliban were behind the deadly attack in the highly secured guesthouse of the Kandahar governor. A former Dubai police chief had suspected the involvement of Afghan officials in the attack.



Taliban had earlier good contacts with the UAE and the Taliban would also have meetings with officials of other countries in Dubai instead of Qatar.



As efforts are underway for unofficial meeting between the Taliban leaders and Afghan leaders, China has also intensified its diplomatic efforts for the peace process.



In this connection, Chinese Special Envoy for Afghanistan Deng Xijun Friday met the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa at the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, the military said.
The mathematical (and other) thoughts of a (now retired) math teacher,
Free ham dinner

set in East Hebron

HEBRON  The Hebron United Presbyterian Church East will host a community ham dinner and devotions at 6 p.m. Monday at 6559 state Route 22, East Hebron.

The dinner is free, but donations are gratefully accepted.

Parks and Rec has holiday workshops

LONG LAKE  The Town of Long Lake Parks and Recreation Department will be offering two Wreath and Balsam Workshops with Cindy Black at 6 p.m. Monday at the Raquette Lake School and at 7 p.m. Nov. 27 at the Long Lake Town Hall, 1204 Main St. Walk-ins are welcome, but sign-ups are encouraged. Call 518-624-3077 to reserve a spot.

Project cost will depend on materials used. Balsam, tools, wire, ribbon and decorative embellishments will be available. Participants are invited to bring their own items to add to their project.

There will be a Holiday Craft Class with Cindy Black at 7 p.m. Dec. 7 at the Long Lake Town Hall, 1204 Main St. Participants will make their own holiday angel ornaments. Class fee is based on materials used. Glue guns, materials and embellishments will be available.

Sign up by calling 518-624-3077, ext. 110. All ages are welcome to participate and walk-ins are welcome.

Shirt Factory to hold annual open house

GLENS FALLS  The Shirt Factory Artists Association will hold its 16th annual Holiday Open House from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Lawrence and Cooper streets. Find unique, original works of art and one-of-a-kind handcrafted items and gifts. Visit the studios, shops, galleries and the guest artists and craftspeople throughout the hallways in the building. Be sure to visit the new shops and studios in The Shirt Factory Annex on Curran Street.

The Shirt Factory Artists Association will once again offer shoppers a chance to win a Shoppers Advantage Tote filled with items and gift certificates donated by The Shirt Factory artists and shops. For each $25 spent during the Holiday Open House, shoppers will receive one ticket for the raffle.

For directions or more information, visit www.shirtfactorygf.com.

Artisan bazaar to be held in Thurman

ATHOL  The Thurman Country Christmas Bazaar will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Thurman Town Hall, 311 Athol Road. The bazaar will feature unique country gifts handcrafted by area artisans. Admission is free.

Eight artisans will offer unique handcrafted items perfect for holiday giving. The vendor table fees help support Thurmans annual Neighbor Holiday Gift Basket project, in which volunteers fill and deliver cheerful small gift baskets to be delivered to local folks who are alone, ill or in nursing homes. Those attending the bazaar may also support the Neighbor Baskets by buying raffle tickets or giving monetary donations or by volunteering time to bake cookies and breads, solicit or buy needed goods and/or help fill and deliver the baskets on Dec. 1.

For more information, call Cheryl Kenyon at 518-623-9718.

Thrift Shop part of small business day

TICONDEROGA  The Thrift Shop at the Ticonderoga First United Methodist Church will be participating in the Chamber of Commerce Small Business Saturday event from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the lower level of the church fellowship wing, 1045 Wicker St. The shop will feature special sales and refreshments for Small Business Saturday.

Staffed by volunteers, the shop is open year-round from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Wednesday and Saturday. Clothing for the whole family and housewares are always available. Call 518-585-2242 for more information.

Quakers to hold

free movie night

SOUTH GLENS FALLS  The Adirondack Friends Meeting will hold a free movie night at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at 27 Saratoga Ave.

The Quakers will show the movie Miracle of 34th Street, the 1947 black-and-white film classic with Maureen OHara, Edmund Gwenn and a young Natalie Wood. Its a Christmas classic about the difficulties Kris Kringle faces in New York City when he gets mixed up with Macys department store. Snacks will be available.

For more information, go to www.adirondackfriendsmeeting.org.

Open house and book sale planned

LAKE GEORGE  The Caldwell-Lake George Library is hosting a Holiday Open House and Book Sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at 336 Canada St. Choose from a wide selection of fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, DVDs, CDs and plenty of childrens books. Enjoy refreshments and holiday goodies. Enter to win a special gift.

Sign up kids ages 4 to 10 for an ornament workshop from 3 to 4 p.m. Space is limited. Register by calling the library at 518-668-2528.

Breakfast to raise funds, awareness

FORT EDWARD  The Fort Edward Rescue Squad is holding a breakfast for pulmonary hypertension awareness from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at 75 Schuyler St. The $8 breakfast includes blueberry or plain pancakes, eggs, sausage and toast along with home fries, coffee and juice.

All proceeds and donations will go to PH awareness.

Nativities on display at Parks-Bentley

SOUTH GLENS FALLS  The Parks-Bentley Place will open its fourth annual Christmas exhibit Away in a Manger, featuring more than 100 nativities from around the world, from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 26 at 53 Ferry Blvd.

Donations of $5 for adults and $3 for children younger than 10 go toward maintaining the 250-year-old building, which is on the National Historic Register.

Holiday craft fair in Fort Edward barn

FORT EDWARD  The Fort Edward Free Library will hold a holiday craft fair at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 26 in the newly renovated 19th-century Fort Edward Canal Street Market Barn. Vendors will be selling a variety of crafts from quilted purses, holiday items, jewelry, lotions and more.

The Fort Edward Free library will also be doing a free childrens DIY craft to make and take while supplies last. The Canal Street Market Committee will also have refreshments of cookies and hot chocolate.

Concert to benefit Code Blue shelter

ARGYLE  The musical group This Time Around will hold a benefit concert for the new Glens Falls Code Blue shelter at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 26 at the Argyle Presbyterian Church, 48 Main St. This Time Around performs a combination of folk, country and contemporary Christian music.

There is no admission charge, but donations to the Code Blue shelter will be accepted. Home-baked goods and hot beverages will be available during intermission. For more information, call 518-692-7036.

Holiday wreath sale is now underway

WARRENSBURG  Adirondack Balsam Wreaths are being sold by Warrensburgh Beautification Inc. in time to decorate for the Christmas in Warrensburgh celebration and the holiday season. The evergreen wreaths are guaranteed fresh, full and fragrant, and decorated with locally harvested pinecones and a handcrafted red velvet bow.

The wreaths are available in two sizes  12- and 16-inch frame diameters  and are sold for $12.50 and $15. The prices have remained the same since 1989 to encourage businesses and private residences to dress up for the festivities.

Orders may be placed by calling 518-466-5497 or emailing taawhalen@yahoo.com, and picked up from 10 a.m. to noon Friday at the First Baptist Church, 3850 Main St. Wreaths may also be delivered to local businesses. Special arrangements may be made for pickup at a later date.

Bottskill Church to receive grant funds

GREENWICH  The New York Landmarks Conservancys Sacred Sites Program, which helps congregations throughout New York state maintain, repair and restore their buildings, has announced its 2017 matching funds grants.

Bottskill Baptist Church in Greenwich has been named as one of this years recipients. The church will receive a $40,000 matching grant. This historical church has been closed for extensive repair since March of 2017. The congregation meets for worship at 8:15 a.m. Sundays at Centenary United Methodist Church.

Eligible projects must meet the Secretary of the Interiors Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. To be eligible for a grant, the property must be an ecclesiastical structure located in New York state, owned by a religious institution and actively used for worship, listed on the State or National Register of Historic Places or designated pursuant to a local landmarks ordinance by New York state, either individually or as a contributing component of a historic district.

Volunteers needed for tax preparation

Volunteer Income Tax Assistant Appointment Schedulers are needed for the upcoming 2018 tax season.

The VITA Appointment Scheduler will pre-screen participants by asking a few simple intake questions to see if they qualify to have their state and federal taxes done by one of our volunteer income tax preparers. Duties include: filling out appointment surveys, scheduling tax appointments and mailing follow-up paperwork. Volunteers may also be asked to make reminder calls for upcoming appointments.

Volunteers should be able to commit to four-hour shifts one to two days a week during the tax season. Appointment schedulers are needed mid-January through mid-March. To become a volunteer in Warren County, call Amy Sabattis at 518-623-3291. To volunteer in Washington County, call Joan Prouty at 518-746-2560.
QUEENSBURY  Warren County supervisors voted Friday to hire a new county attorney after an ugly debate over whether the process was being rushed and the county didnt do a thorough enough search.

Mary Kissane, the countys acting attorney, was appointed to a two-year term after a split vote that saw five of 19 supervisors vote against the hiring.

Several supervisors, and at least one incoming supervisor, expressed concerns that the county did not do a full enough search or thoroughly vet the hiring of Kissane.

Critics of the hiring also unsuccessfully tried to table the issue.

Kissane has been county attorney since Oct. 1, after County Attorney Brian Reichenbach resigned because of a potential conflict of interest with the Lake George town judgeship he holds. Kissane has been with the office since May 2016.

Claudia Braymer, a lawyer who is the 3rd Ward supervisor from Glens Falls, said she had questions about the breadth of Kissanes legal experience and believed the county should continue the search process.

Kissane has been a lawyer for about five years.

Four candidates were interviewed Tuesday afternoon, three of them from outside the county. The Personnel Committee voted at that point to end interviews, and had a discussion about the issue that the committee chairperson called heated.

Queensbury at-Large Supervisor Doug Beaty questioned why no second interviews or background check was done.

I dont think this resolution should be considered today, Braymer said.

At two different points of the meeting, when Braymer and Queensbury at-Large Supervisor Rachel Seeber brought up the issue during committee reports, Bolton Supervisor Ronald Conover, chairman of the board, abruptly asked them to discuss it at the appropriate time, when resolutions were being discussed.

When Seeber, who chairs the Personnel Committee and was giving her committee report, continued, Conover cut her off.

Supervisor Seeber, I chair this meeting, Conover told her.

A number of supervisors spoke up on Kissanes behalf.

Glens Falls 5th Ward Supervisor Matt MacDonald said she had the most experience with the county of the candidates who were interviewed.

I do believe the process was performed accordingly, Chester Supervisor Craig Leggett said. There has been a two-step review process.

Conover also said he believed the search was handled properly, and Kissane was the best candidate.

The process was open and above board, he said.

Braymer, though, said she is concerned that the county pushed Kissanes hiring through to hire Reichenbach as county administrator, with the understanding Reichenbach would assist Kissane. The conflict of interest concerns would not apply to the county administrator post.

In other business Friday, the county board passed a $182.8 million budget for 2018, and voted to formally hire a New York City law firm to represent the county in a lawsuit by municipalities against opioid drug makers.
The House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, at which Attorney General Jeff Sessions faced more than five hours of questions, was supposed to be about oversight of the Justice Department.

The committees Republicans appeared to have missed that memo. Instead, they toggled between sweet-talking Mr. Sessions  This is so great to have you here today, I sure appreciate your service  and demanding that he appoint a special prosecutor to investigate a raft of allegations, most half-baked if not entirely raw, against Hillary Clinton, her campaign for president and her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

From the supposedly crooked deal that Mrs. Clinton engineered to sell off Americas uranium to the Russians, to the Clinton-Democratic National Committee-F.B.I. conspiracy behind the dossier on Donald Trump, to the tarmac meeting in 2016 between Mr. Clinton and President Barack Obamas attorney general, Loretta Lynch  no Republican talking point was left unspoken.

Its not surprising that, after 10 months of the chaotic, scandal-strewn Trump presidency and a steady flow of revelations about the Trump campaigns ties to Russia, Republicans in Congress are desperate to talk about something, anything, else. What better way to distract from the investigation of the current special counsel, Robert Mueller, than to call for a criminal investigation of the presidents defeated opponent?

Committee Republicans asked the Justice Department to appoint another special counsel back in July, and appeared frustrated that it hasnt happened yet. It sure looks like a major political party was working with the federal government to gin up a dossier and get the F.B.I. to spy on Americans associated with President Trumps campaign, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio said. Doesnt that warrant naming a second special counsel?

To his credit, Mr. Sessions did not take the bait.  Looks like is not enough basis to appoint a special counsel, he said. But, in a letter on Monday, his department told the committee that it was weighing such a move.

Whether or not the department appoints a special counsel, the pressure to do so is clear, from both Republicans in Congress and Mr. Trump, who has threatened Mr. Sessionss job if he fails to prosecute Mrs. Clinton. Thats whats so alarming: the push for the Justice Department to undertake a politically motivated investigation of a presidents political opponent, and purely as revenge for an actual investigation already underway.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sessions spent most of Tuesdays hearing as he has all the others hes sat through this year  by not recalling things that one would think most people would. At his confirmation hearing in January, he testified that hed had no contact with Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign. Turns out he met at least twice with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak. Last month, Mr. Sessions appeared before the Senate again and was asked if any Trump campaign surrogates had had communications with the Russians. I did not, and Im not aware of anyone else that did, and I dont believe it happened, he said. Wrong again: Mr. Sessions spoke with at least two members of the Trump campaign, Carter Page and George Papadopoulos, about arranging a trip to Russia to meet government officials there.

The conversation with Mr. Papadopoulos was during a March 2016 meeting of the campaigns foreign-policy committee, according to Mr. Papadopouloss guilty plea last month for lying to the F.B.I. about his Russia connections.

On Tuesday, Mr. Sessions said he had no recollection of this meeting until I saw these news reports. His explanation for his poor memory was that he couldnt be expected to remember every detail from 2016, since the campaign was a form of chaos every day, from Day 1. No argument there.

When Democrats pressed Mr. Sessions on his chronic unreliability, he defended his honor. My answers have not changed. Ive always told the truth, he said. Hes right  if you redefine the words changed, always and truth.

As Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington said to Mr. Sessions on Tuesday, With all due respect, its difficult to take your assurances under oath.

Heres a related question going forward: What else are you forgetting, Mr. Attorney General?
Editor:

The proposed tax reform bill now pending in Congress will be ruinous for homeowners in upstate New York.

Under the proposal, the deductions of state and local property taxes from our itemized federal tax returns will be eliminated. Gone will be the only mechanism most property owners use to survive the onerous taxes levied year after year by our often irresponsible local governments.

Here in Greenwich, I am taxed by Washington County, our school district, the town of Greenwich and once again by the village of Greenwich. Add it all up and our little community ranks among the top 50 highest taxed municipalities in all of America, according to tax research organizations.

As of now, the state and local tax deduction softens the blow. But take this away and homeowners will be crushed with a tidal wave of punishing new taxes. Our anemic economy and sluggish housing market will without question get only worse.

Im hopeful Rep. Elise Stefanik can convince her House leadership that losing our property tax deductions will have a devastating impact on homeowners.

Peter Gregg, Greenwich
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The Rev. Rogers Kirk Jr. and members of Third Missionary Baptist Church, 222 W. 14th St., Davenport, plan two weeks of celebration for the 142nd pre-anniversary. The theme: "Preparing to do Ministry for the 21st Century."

Guest speakers are the Rev. Norwert Hills, pastor of Greater Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, Rock Island, who speaks at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 19. Also, the Rev. Julian Spencer of the Main Baptist Church in Aurora, Illinois, speaks at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 26.

Pastor to lead talk on Lutherans

The Rev. Luke Boehringer, of Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Davenport, will host a discussion, "What's Going on Among the Lutherans?" It is 7 p.m. Monday at the Davenport Public Library, 321 N. Main St. The talk is free. Information: 563-359-0144, or online, gethsemanedavenport.org
With or without bands and balloons, the Kwick Star Festival of Trees Parade is expected to step off at 10 a.m. today in downtown Davenport.

Unfortunately, it appears this year's 25th anniversary of the parade will encounter some of the windy conditions that abbreviated the balloon involvement last year.

The National Weather Service, Davenport, is forecasting a rain and snow mix during the morning hours, and then turning to all snow after 9 a.m. However, little or no snow accumulation is expected.

It also will be breezy with a sustained northwest wind of 15-20 mph with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Wind complicates the handling of the large helium balloons, which are a feature that sets the Festival of Trees Parade apart from so many others. It is billed as the largest helium balloon parade in the Midwest. A new cast of characters is planned for this year, including Papa Smurf, Cookie Monster, Angry Birds, Santa Elmo and Kung Fu Panda.

"We will definitely have a parade in the rain," Karie Gilson, director of marketing and sponsorship for Quad-City Arts, which benefits from Festival of Trees, said earlier this week. "Some people have asked. The parade will go on."

But a sustained wind speed of 22 mph or greater gets dicey for the big balloons.

"That's the factor: wind," Gilson said. "We take a close look at the weather conditions on the morning of. We actually get out there, look at the situation, and make the call along with the balloon company."

City workers need to know by 6 a.m. whether to move various street-light arms to accommodate the balloons, she said.

The parade leads off at 3rd Street and Pershing Avenue, turns south toward the river at Scott Street, then heads back to Pershing on 2nd Street.

Three marching units will be missing, however. The Davenport Community School District pulled its high school bands out of the parade on Friday.

District policy states that marching performances will not take place if the temperature is below 36 degrees and that students will not perform in rain, sleet or snow.
Investors found new reasons to be thankful in the week heading into Thanksgiving. Improved reports on small business and on manufacturing, along with work in Washington on tax simplification and lower corporate tax rates, helped motivate stock buying. A strong showing in stock markets Thursday was just part of a full week lift for area shares, leading to a 23.16 full-week gain for our Quad-City Times Key 15 to close at 2,276.35 (1).

Indeed, small business input was important to investors. With many more of these than big multinationals, and with smaller companies being more reliant on U.S. business, their observations are key. The National Federation of Independent Business noted in a Wednesday release that its small business optimism index climbed from 103.0 in September to 103.8 in October. This is a strong reading, in fact in the top 7 percent of all readings historically, the federation noted. One year ago in October, before national elections, the index reading was much lower at 95.0.

Whats it mean? The federation explained, More small business owners last month said they expect higher sales and think that now is a good time to expand. Also, Owners became much more positive about the economic environment last month, which suggests a longer-run view, according to NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. If smaller businesses are gaining more optimism, it surely is because of improvement they are seeing and foreseeing.

Manufacturing output is growing, too, according to the Federal Reserve. Its Thursday release puts the October output of goods nationwide up an impressive 1.3 percent over September, impressive because it is the largest one month gain since year 2010. Understandably, it is also a rebound from some September hurricanes related curtailment. But, nicely, the October output, counted in units of manufactured goods, not dollars, was up a healthy 2.7 percent over one year ago, again encouraging to investors.

Thursdays passage of a tax overhaul bill by the House of Representatives promises lower corporate tax rates and fewer tax brackets for individuals as well as simplification in filing, again encouraging. Importantly, however, the Senate still needs to debate and pass any such measure. And if there are differences with the House approved tax bill, compromise would need to be negotiated and voted. But, House passage was regarded as progress on a bill that includes motivating corporations to bring foreign-earned profits back to the U.S. with more favorable taxation.

Monday mornings earnings release from Tyson Foods shared earnings that beat analysts consensus estimates. With pork operations in Columbus Junction, Iowa, and beef operations in Joslin, Illinois, Tyson reported fourth fiscal quarter sales that climbed an impressive 10.8 percent to $10.1 billion compared with last years $9.2 billion. Profits rose yet more impressively, up 49 percent from $.96 per share one year ago to $1.43. The companys commentary was enthusiastic, noting Our Beef and Pork segments delivered outstanding returns for the quarter and for the year, again generating significant cash to fuel investments in our Chicken and Prepared Foods segments.

Tyson benefits from lower cost animal feed during these times of corn prices remaining below $4.00 per bushel. And, investors last week bid Tyson shares up on the news, and up 3.80 for the week to 77.98 (1).

Arconic, with extensive aerospace and automotive aluminum operations here, reported on Wednesday, that it has entered into a multi-year agreement with Airbus for cooperative research. Together, they will develop customized processes and parameters to produce, and qualify for usage, large, structural 3D printed components, such as pylon spars and rib structures for construction of Airbus jetliners. Those components will be sizable ones, up to one meter, or approximately 3 feet in length.

The agreement is regarded by investors as a further recognition of Arconics continued research to push for more efficient and reliable alloy-based parts for aerospace. Arconic shares gave up .39 to 23.85 (1).

And, just in time for investors to think about heading to the malls for holiday shopping, Macerich on Wednesday reported that it was awarded the prestigious 2017 Leader in the Light award for environmental achievements for an unprecedented fourth year. Macerich owns both NorthPark and SouthPark malls here in the Quad-Cities. The award is given by NAREIT, the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts. Macerich CEO Arthur Coppola explained the companys commitment to sustainability, to investing in energy assets including solar and fuel cell technology, along with conservation measures. Macerich shares finished the week off .15 to 64.23 after big gains the prior week.

Thanksgiving this week will provide a rest for investors. They, along with you and me, will be thankful for the blessings of living in a land of so much opportunity and security for our families. God bless America on this truly American holiday.
Nearly two weeks after the double political explosion that rocked Riyadh, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman appears to be doing damage control in ways that may help stabilize Saudi Arabia and the region.

The first bombshell was the Nov. 4 arrest on corruption charges of 201 prominent Saudis, including princes and government ministers. Now MBS, as the 32-year-old crown prince is known, is beginning a resolution process that may settle many of these cases out of court.

A senior Saudi official told me Thursday that the kingdom's anti-corruption commission would follow the standard "plea-bargain process" that is "usually conducted by the public prosecutor prior to transferring a case to the relevant court." The commission's overall aim, he said, was to "send a strong message" that corruption won't be allowed, "irrespective of rank or status."

The crackdown may have consolidated support for MBS among younger Saudis who resent older, wealthy princes and palace insiders. But his power play risked a backlash within the royal family because it violated the kingdom's traditional consensual politics. Resolution of corruption cases out of court may dampen such high-level dissension.

The second Nov. 4 explosion was Saad Hariri's announcement from Riyadh that he was quitting as Lebanon's prime minister. Hariri's resignation, which Lebanese sources told me came under pressure from MBS, risked causing instability in Lebanon that would have enhanced Hezbollah's power there, the opposite of what the Saudis wanted. On Thursday, the Saudis agreed to allow Hariri to travel to France; Lebanese sources said he will then return to Lebanon.

The Hariri episode appears to have convinced Washington and Riyadh that their interests are better served by stability in Lebanon than instability, even though that approach requires some cooperation with Hezbollah, the dominant political faction. A Saudi official told me that the kingdom plans to work with the U.S. to support Lebanese institutions, such as the army, that can gradually reduce the power of Hezbollah and its patron, Iran. MBS seems to have recognized that combating Hezbollah is a long game, not a short one.

Hariri's resignation and seeming house arrest made him a hero in Lebanon and a symbol of the country's yearning for sovereignty. This may give him some new leverage when he returns to Beirut. Lebanese sources told me Thursday that Hariri's supporters may urge Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters from Yemen as a gesture of solidarity. Hariri will also campaign anew for international support for Lebanon's economy and military.

MBS' sweeping arrests sent shock waves through the kingdom and the region, and surprised even some Saudis who are close to the crown prince. But the warning signals were there: King Salman said back on March 10, 2015, in his first major speech after taking the throne, that he had "directed the government to review its processes to help eradicate corruption," according to a Reuters report at the time.

MBS had a reputation as a freewheeling businessman himself before joining the royal court. But he underlined the anti-corruption theme in a May 2017 interview with Al Arabiya television: "If fighting corruption is not on the top of the agenda, it means the [king's] fight is not succeeding. ... I reiterate that anyone who is involved in corruption will not be spared."

As examples of the corrupt deals that led to the Nov. 4 arrests, a senior Saudi official cited a land purchase in Jeddah where the government paid roughly double the market price, to provide a big kickback to a prominent official. Another instance was the purchase by the Ministry of Education of vastly overpriced airline tickets for the hundreds of thousands of Saudis studying abroad, with payoffs for officials.

Corruption has been so endemic in Saudi Arabia that many observers assumed it was part of how the House of Saud governed. After first visiting the kingdom in 1981, I wrote a series of articles for The Wall Street Journal about how payoffs were undermining the defense and oil sectors. In subsequent decades, the shakedowns became less visible, but corruption continued.

MBS' purge looked to many outsiders like a high-risk political move. But a senior prince cautioned me the country isn't as fragile as it may look. One of MBS' key backers put it this way: "Corruption can't keep the country stable. Having a corruption-free country will keep us stable."

That's a worthy ambition, but as MBS detonates his bombs, he must avoid blowing himself up.
Thumbs up to the Safe Passage program, the pending creation of which Rock Island County Sheriff Gerry Bustos announced this week.

The program would permit users to turn in drugs and paraphernalia, no questions asked. These increasingly popular programs are in stark contrast to the draconian nature of the War on Drugs of the 1980s and '90s.

Instead of creating criminals, Safe Passage incentivizes those addicted to drugs to seek out treatment. It also builds trust between users and the police.

The War on Drugs has been a monumental failure. People will seek out drugs so long as stress, sadness and depression exist. Criminalizing drug possession has only driven the problem deeper underground, making it even more difficult to address. It's failure can be measured in the country's world-leading proportion of its citizens locked up behind bars.

Bustos clearly recognizes all this and is taking laudable steps to address the problem.

Thumbs down to another potential blow to Iowa's sorry attempt to cut costs on the backs of its poorest residents.

UnityPoint Health officials said this week that the massive hospital firm might not renew its contract with Amerigroup of Iowa, one of two firms that manages the state's privatized Medicaid program. UnityPoint's move would affect 54,000 Iowans.

Company officials cited problems with its contract with Amerigroup, noting that negotiations are still ongoing. A month doesn't go by that doesn't strengthen the case against last year's rushed effort to privatize Iowa's health insurance for its poor, elderly and handicapped.

Thumbs up to Davenport Mayor Frank Klipsch for rejecting populist isolationism and representing the region before the United Nations.

This week, Klipsch represented the 80 communities in Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany.

Klipsch's trip served to highlight Davenport -- and the entire Mississippi Valley -- as a place of commerce and culture to the world.

While Klipsch is a tiny player on such a global stage, his effort was a noble one.
Events continuing to happen in our country that are unprecedented and astonishing. Consider:

 As determined by our intelligence community, Russians meddled in our democratic election process one year ago. Donald Trump campaign members interacted with Russians at least 30 times during that campaign. We expect ongoing investigations will reveal in depth of who did what and how, and bring indictments and judgements against anyone found guilty of committing unlawful acts.

 Donald Trump discredits our intelligence communitys findings and denounces former intelligence leaders as political hacks. Incredibly, he praises Russian President Vladimir Putin, believing his denials of involvement in our election process. U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, has correctly tweeted, Theres nothing America First about taking the word of KGB colonel over US intelligence community  To believe otherwise is naive & places natl security at risk.

 In August, we applied new U.S. sanctions on Russia; thereupon they forced drastic cuts to our Moscow Embassy staff. Now, the U.K.s The Telegraph reports a contract for providing embassy security has been awarded to a company owned by the former head of Soviet KGB counter-intelligence, Maj.Gen. Viktor Budanov. Asked by The Telegraph whether the contract may pose security or intelligence risks to the U.S. mission, U.S. Secretary Rex Tillersons State Department offered no comment.

This is extremely troubling. We await pending investigative conclusions, and hope our country can be righted in upcoming and untainted elections. Carefully and factually consider varying points of view, exercise your constitutional rights, and always vote.

William D. Seaver

Milan
Hong Kong remains the world's most visited city by international travelers in spite of strained relations with neighboring China, industry experts said Tuesday.

In a report on the top 100 city destinations that highlights the growth in Asian tourism, market research firm Euromonitor International said 25.7 million arrivals are expected in Hong Kong this year.

The figure is down 3.2 percent compared with 2016, largely because tensions with China have grown this year as Beijing has sought to exercise more control on the territory.

Euromonitor expects the downturn to be short-lived and that growth will pick up again from next year and that arrivals to Hong Kong will reach a massive 45 million by 2025.

Unlike Hong Kong, the Thai capital of Bangkok posted further increases in arrivals this year largely linked to tour packages targeted at first-time travelers from China. Its arrivals in 2017 are expected to be 9.5 percent higher at 21.3 million, a rise that's pushed it further ahead of London, which remains in third spot with 19.8 million arrivals.

Visits to London rose 3.4 percent in 2017, largely due to the 15 percent fall in the value of the pound since the country's vote last year to leave the European Union. That has helped shift perceptions about Britain being an expensive place to visit.

"The currency depreciation has been a boon for inbound tourism into Britain," said Caroline Bremner, Euromonitor's head of travel. "It's now deemed value for money."

However, Euromonitor warned that the "Brexit bounce" may soon end if the country's departure from the EU in March 2019 undermines London's dominant position in the financial industry and its status as a hub for start-up businesses.

The research firm said London is set to set to slip down to sixth in the rankings in the coming seven year as a result of a rise in travel to Asian cities. Euromonitor expects 47 Asian cities to be in the top 100 by 2025, against 41 now and just 34 in 2010.

"The impact of inter-Asian travel, predominantly from China in particular, cannot be underestimated," said Wouter Geerts, Euromonitor's senior travel analyst and author of the report, which was prepared for the World Travel Market, the industry's top event. "Asia Pacific is the standout region that has driven change in the travel landscape over the past decade and is expected to continue doing so in the coming decade."

Elsewhere, the survey found that extremist attacks have had diverging effects in cities. While Istanbul has seen a 5.8 percent decline in arrivals this year to 9.2 million, cities like London, Paris and Barcelona have seen little long-lasting impact.

The report shows that much of the tourism that went to Istanbul and other Mediterranean destinations affected by attacks, like Tunisia and Egypt, have gone to Greece and Italy, which are considered "relatively quiet and stable."

Greece is set for a record-breaking year, with the Cretan city of Heraklion the fastest-growing in Europe in the top 100, with arrivals up 11.2 percent this year to more than 3 million. Athens, the Greek capital, is also enjoying a boom, with numbers up 10 percent, lifting its position by one to 47th.

For Greece, the surge in visits is particularly important as tourism accounts for a fifth of the economy, which has shrunk by a quarter during its debt crisis of recent years. The World Travel & Tourism Council estimates that tourism in 2017 will help boost the Greek economy by 6.9 percent, supporting nearly a million jobs.

The top U.S. city on the list is New York, which retains eighth spot after a 3.6 percent increase in arrivals in 2017 to 13.1 million. Miami was the second most-visited U.S. city with 8.1 million arrivals, up 3.1 percent.
As travel changed, so did luggage.

That's the story told by an elaborate exhibition about Louis Vuitton, the luxury luggage and fashion brand.

The exhibition, free to visit and on display in Lower Manhattan through Jan. 7, is called "Volez, Voguez, Voyagez," which means fly, sail, travel. It showcases the company's history, products and craftsmanship, demonstrating how designs changed with the evolution of travel. Luggage was designed first for transport by wagon, then for travel by sea, on trains, in cars and planes.

Trunks and bags are shown behind glass like works of art in a series of museum-like galleries. Lids open to reveal intricate compartments as if they were the contents of treasure chests. Included are cases and carriers designed for everything from toiletries to hats, from picnics to art supplies. Trunks with small drawers protected fragile objects; standing trunks had roll-out wardrobe racks so clothes could be hung, not folded. A plane is on display, along with a boat.

There's even a room where human artisans show how they cut leather and snip threads for luggage tags and handles, living proof of the craftsmanship behind the brand.

The company's history begins with Louis Vuitton himself. He started a trunk-making business in Paris in 1854 after leaving his village in eastern France and working for a box-maker. His designs were strong but light, distinguished by patterned motifs. The luggage has been a favorite of the rich and famous going back to Napoleon's wife Empress Eugenie, with later clients ranging from artist Henri Matisse to banker J.P. Morgan. John Wanamaker began to sell Vuitton luggage in his American department stores after meeting Louis' son at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. The brand remains a favorite today among celebs from the worlds of fashion and Hollywood.

The exhibition's timing coincides with the holiday shopping season, and the location is in New York's financial district. But most visitors will likely lack the means to buy Vuitton products, which can run in the thousands of dollars. Still, attention-getting temporary displays like this are becoming a standard way for brands to tell their story.

"Many of these brands pop something up, draw a big audience, get some publicity, get reporters to talk about it," said Larry Chiagouris, professor of marketing at Pace University's Lubin School of Business. "You don't need to be there 12 months a year. You just need to establish a little publicity and move on."

Chiagouris says this type of showcase can also be far more effective than a traditional ad campaign. "Ads are very fleeting and don't generate the kind of independent interaction with a brand the way an exhibit would," he said. A show like this "takes something that has almost become wallpaper and suddenly puts it into your current mindset and consciousness."

Exhibitions also give designers the space and flexibility to fine-tune their message. In this case, the subdued, museum-like atmosphere creates a "mood that reflects the brand, somewhat elegant and somewhat understated," he said.

Pace University's Manhattan campus is near the exhibition site, and Chiagouris said his students have been buzzing about the Vuitton show. They're working on a competition among business schools to come up with a campaign for Ocean Spray, the cranberry brand, and the concept of telling a company's story this way, through history, products and workmanship, resonated with them.

"It's an interactive experience not because of electronics or pressing a button," he said, but because "you get a sense of the identity of the brand."
In 1937, Italian physicist Ettore Majorana hypothesized the existence of the Majorana fermion, a particle that is its own anti-particle. His hypothesis informed the basis for decades of neutrino-based experiments, including the Majorana Demonstrator Project, which is looking for a rare form of decay called neutrinoless double-beta decay.

If the neutrino is its own antiparticle, it could explain a lot about our universe, said Vincente Guiseppe, co-spokesperson for the Majorana collaboration and an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of South Carolina. Such a discovery could help explain why there is more matter than anti-matter in the universe  and why we exist at all.

After years of planning, building the experiment and collecting data, the collaboration has something to celebrate. At last weeks Deep Talks, Guiseppe announced the initial physics results. And although neutrinoless double-beta decay was not observed, the Majorana collaboration still has much to celebrate, Guiseppe said.

We know that we created an environment that is incredibly clean and quiet. These initial results give us a better understanding of the always-elusive neutrino and how it shaped the universe.

The collaboration went to great lengths to create such a quiet environment. For the past six years, the team grew the worlds purest copper to build the demonstrator. Two ultra-pure copper cryostats each hold approximately 22 kg of enriched and natural germanium. And both are housed inside a six-layered shield deep underground at Sanford Lab to escape cosmic radiation and other impurities that could create noisy events.

To observe this type of rare physics event in just two atoms, youd have to wait over 2 x 1025 years. Thats a 2 followed by 25 zeroes.

You might say thats improbable  the universe is only 13.8 billion years old, Guiseppe said in his presentation. But so is the lottery. To increase your chances, you buy more lottery tickets. In the case of Majorana, they had to increase the number of germanium atoms.

Still, they didnt expect to see neutrinoless double-beta decay. The project is, first and foremost, a demonstrator, a research and development project built on a moderate scale to determine whether a larger version is feasible. And for it to be feasible, We had to show that backgrounds can be low enough to justify building a next-generation experiment, Guiseppe said.

Ettore Majorana disappeared mysteriously in 1938 while traveling by ship from Palermo to Naples, Italy. For decades rumors abounded about his disappearance: he committed suicide, he fell overboard and drowned or took refuge in a convent. An article from the 1950s suggests he resurfaced in Venezuela, South America, under an assumed name.

The Majorana collaboration, however, has no intention of disappearing.

We plan to continue operating the Demonstrator to study its performance, better estimate the backgrounds we observe and test some hardware upgrades, Guiseppe said. In a few years, well hit a point of diminishing returns. At that time, we can make better use of the detectors along a path towards a next-generation experiment.

That next generation is LEGEND, the Large Enriched Germanium Experiment for Neutrinoless  Decay, which will contain up to 1,000 kg of germanium. Last year, the collaboration joined forces with members of GERDA (GERmanium Detector Array), as well as other researchers in this field to begin planning for LEGEND. GERDA, another neutrinoless double-beta decay experiment, used commercial copper and shielded its detector inside a tank of liquid argon, which scintillates, or lights up, when backgrounds enter.

How can they be sure the next generation will work? They cant. Still, they are compelled to keep searching.

We live in a curious world. And as humans, we want to know what things are, how they came to be and why we exist, Guiseppe said. Thats why our collaboration is studying neutrinos. Thats why so many other experiments around the world study neutrinos.
A Vale man has been charged in federal court with falsely claiming to the U.S. Department of Agriculture that he lost cattle during a 2013 snowstorm.

Federal authorities say Dale Knutson, 57, filed a claim with the Farm Service Agency in 2014 for the loss of 23 calves during the storm Atlas, which left ranchers reeling from financial losses.

The claim was false, fictitious and fraudulent because Knutson knew he didnt lose any calves from the storm, his charging document states. The offense carries maximum penalties of five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Restitution may also be ordered.

Knutson pleaded not guilty to the charge when he appeared before Federal Magistrate Judge Daneta Wollmann in September. His jury trial has been set for February at the Rapid City federal courthouse.

Last year, a former Vale man, 28-year-old Karl Knutson, was convicted of a similar charge.

He was sentenced to a year in federal prison, three years of supervised release and a $7,000 fine after falsely claiming with the Farm Service Agency that he had lost 129 head of cattle in the snowstorm Atlas.

His application for livestock indemnity, if paid, would have amounted to $116,000, according to federal court records. He admitted to losing no more than 13 head of cattle in the storm.

When asked for the cost associated with Dale Knutsons claim, the U.S. Attorneys Office for South Dakota said the information was not public record.

Atlas, which hit in early October 2013, caused the deaths of thousands of cattle in western South Dakota.

Because the storm came early in the winter season, cattle had not yet grown the coats that would insulate them from freezing wind and snow. Most ranchers were still grazing their herds on summer pasture, which tend to be more exposed and located father away from ranch homes, the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association said at that time.

In a Journal interview following the storm, Karl Knutson said he had been checking cattle and fences on the ranch of his father, Dale, east of Sturgis.

The Farm Service Agencys main South Dakota office in Huron didnt respond to multiple messages asking about the relationship between the two cases. The FSAs Sturgis office, where Karl Knutson submitted his claim, declined to answer questions.

The U.S. Attorneys Office would say only that the charges of Karl Knutson and Dale Knutson stemmed from different ranching operations.
Good Samaritan Society officials are quick to point out their new skilled nursing facility at St. Martin Village is not your grandparents nursing home.

Backing up their case is a $8 million, 30-bed facility called Serenity Place, still smelling of fresh paint and new carpet, nestled among the pines on the campus of St. Martins Monastery in the northwest corner of Rapid City.

This is much different than what you would see in a typical nursing home, said Serenity Place executive director Dylan Spader at Tuesdays dedication and open house at the new facility.

Long gone, Spader said, are semi-private rooms, where residents might have to share a bathroom and shower.

No matter if youre Medicaid, private-pay, self-pay or a Medicare rehabilitation stay here for just a short time, we have separate rooms available, Spader said.

All 30 rooms have their own spacious bathrooms and oversized handicapped-access shower stalls. The buildings rectangular design also eliminates long stretches of hallways with commons areas within a few steps of residential rooms. The commons areas are designed in a living room atmosphere, where residents, their families and other visitors can gather for activities and socializing.

The exterior of the building evokes the look of a resort. Interior decor features rich earth-tone wall and floor treatments in spacious hallways. Weve really tried to spruce it up in colors to make it a more vibrant, homey atmosphere, Spader said.

The facility, already home to a pair of residents, is the first new 24/7 nursing care center built in the state in nearly 30 years, because of a state-imposed moratorium.

The halt in new construction was implemented to address an overabundance of nursing home beds, keep Medicaid costs down and also encourage providers to look at alternative care for the elderly and disabled, such as assisted-living and independent-living centers, said Philip Samuelson, Good Samaritan regional vice president for South Dakota.

Twenty years ago, we didnt have many assisted-living centers in the state, said Samuelson, of Sioux Falls.

The moratorium restricted new construction to replacement of existing facilities only, Spader said. The only new facilities built were to establish skilled nursing facilities on the Cheyenne and Pine Ridge reservations, he said.

The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society began talks in 2007 with St. Martins Benedictine Sisters to build a senior community on the site of the St. Martins Monastery, first established in Sturgis in 1889 and moved to the site northwest of Rapid City in 1962.

The complex included St. Martins Academy, a four-year high school originally opened in 1916 in Sturgis, moved to Rapid City in 1962 with the monastery and closed in 1991.

The nonprofit Good Samaritan Society began development of the senior living campus in 2011, with construction of twin homes, later adding a 42-unit senior housing apartment building known as Legacy Place, and 32-unit assisted-living building called Heritage Place.

The Society received permission from the state for a 30-bed skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility and ground was broken in June 2016.

Serenity Places first two residents are through private insurance plans. An upcoming Department of Health inspection will have to be completed before the facility is able to accept Medicaid and short-term Medicare rehab residents.

In all, the St. Martin's campus, also the location of St. Elizabeth Seton Elementary School, is home to 130 residents, with 50 employees. More employees will be hired for Serenity Place as the number of residents grows.

The Society, which also operates a 39-bed facility in New Underwood, has applied for an additional 30 beds for Serenity Place which could be built as a new adjoining wing within two years.

The Rev. Herb Cleveland, offering a blessing and dedication ceremony Tuesday, said the Benedictine Sisters of St. Martins would be pleased with the new facility already in place.

Imagine this whole area to be soaked in the love of those sisters, holy ground, as it were, Cleveland said. Im just so happy to see the campus continuing to grow and this particular skilled nursing facility is glorious."
PIERRE | Rural South Dakota still has a teacher shortage despite a new funding formula intended to raise salaries, the top administrator for the McLaughlin district said Friday.

Superintendent Scott Lepke told members of the state School Finance Accountability Board that many students in his school system on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation face alcohol, drug and sexual abuse at home every day.

He said suicide is a constant threat. Widespread problems among students such as diabetes drove employment of more non-teaching staff, including a nurse, than in many schools outside Indian Country.

Our kids struggle, Lepke said. But nobody wants to come to McLaughlin, S.D.  nobody.

When he couldnt fill elementary school teaching vacancies in four grades, the school board condensed three sections in each to two.

Lepke hasnt seen much help from tribal schools, state governments Department of Education or the state Indian education office.

Were changing so many things so many times, and it doesnt really matter, he said. We just need more intensive help.

The state board voted unanimously that McLaughlin violated South Dakotas new teacher-salary laws.

Lepkes remarks came after Patrick Weber, a board member and an aide to Gov. Dennis Daugaard, proposed recommending McLaughlin reopen teacher contracts and negotiate distribution of an additional $114,729 by Feb. 1.

Weber said the boards role wasnt to decide what was best for children and said that would be an overstep of what our charge is.

We are working to implement the intent of the law as it was passed, he said.

The board voted 3-2 for the conditional waiver.

Taking Webers side were Belle Fourche school business manager Susan Proefrock and Brandon Valley superintendent Jarod Larson.

Mobridge-Pollock school board member Eric Stroeder and Huron superintendent Terry Nebelsick, the boards chairman, voted no.

The Legislature set requirements in 2016 for school districts to raise teacher pay. This was the first year for a penalty: Districts could lose half of the additional state aid they were supposed to receive.

The state board held hearings Thursday and Friday for 26 districts accused of the worst violations.

The boards recommendations go to the Legislatures Joint Committee on Appropriations for decisions Dec. 4.

Lawmakers raised South Dakotas sales and use tax rate to 4.5 percent last year to pay for the increases and provide local property-tax relief. The state tax previously was 4 percent since 1969.

Other findings Friday included:

 Faith must increase total teacher compensation for this school year at least $9,101 by Feb. 1.

 Doland must increase total teacher compensation at least $12,513 by Feb. 1.

 Newell must increase total teacher compensation for this school year at least $7,631 by Feb. 1.

Gettysburg, Faulkton, Bowdle, Edmunds Central, Summit and Sisseton received penalty waivers without conditions.
Montanas top legislators in Ravalli County called the recent special session a success Friday, saying the Republican-led Legislature proved to be both efficient and effective.

Senate Majority Leader Fred Thomas, House Majority Leader Ron Ehli and House Appropriations Chair Nancy Ballance  all Republicans from Ravalli County  said they were proud of their partys efforts to shrink the government in Helena while protecting vital services for needy Montanans. They also touted their ability to hold the line on taxes. Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, had proposed temporary tax increases to raise $75 million to close the state's $227 million budget shortfall.

Raising taxes was a non-starter, even though we got thousands of letters from people saying Please raise taxes. We need these services, Ballance said on Friday, sipping a large cup of coffee and trying to recover from the long hours legislators put in during the whirlwind session, which ended at 1:40 a.m. Thursday. But we knew that raising taxes only hurts vulnerable people, and the hard-working people of Montana who were already struggling.

Bullock called legislators back to Helena, with the special session beginning Monday, to figure out how to fill the hole in the state budget caused by lower-than-anticipated revenue and the $75 million fire season.

Bullock had suggested splitting the shortfall into three parts, which included him making $76 million in cuts from state agencies, finding $75 million in transfers and $75 million in temporary tax increases.

Republicans rejected the temporary tax increases, but moved forward with the transfers and passed legislation to make permanent the $75 million in cuts that Bullock ordered for state agencies.

Legislators gathered about $123 million through fund transfers, a new fee and delayed payments, according to a spreadsheet from Ballance. That included almost $30 million from a fee charged to the Montana State Fund, which administers the state workers' compensation program, and the elimination of about $15 million in block grants for schools, which primarily pay for student transportation.

Another $30 million may come from CoreCivic, the private prison company that runs Crossroads Correctional Center in Shelby. It offered to return the money it placed into an escrow account in exchange for an extension of its contract, which ends in 2019.

The real key is that when we came away, theres $160 million that would have been cuts to service that arent, Ballance added.

Ehli said the deep philosophical differences between Republicans and Democrats couldnt have been more highlighted during the special session. He accused Bullock of politicizing the process by not putting together a realistic solution before the Legislature reconvened.

So Nancy went to work to put together a large package of potential solutions we could take to the governor and talk about, Ehli said. Nancy was in the middle of some of the toughest decisions to be made to find cuts we felt harmed the most vulnerable.

As the majority leader in the House, I thank her for pulling my caucus together better than ever before. We are going to take care of people the best we can by limiting cuts and not putting this on the back of taxpayers.

Thomas said that the untold story is how Bullock sat on his hands for six months before the special session, not making any cuts despite evidence of the revenue reductions.

We knew there were problems, but we werent in Helena, dealing with it day to day, Thomas said. Within one week, we saw a tremendous job get done that was significantly better than what he would have done.

Bullock did oversee the implemention of SB 261, which included a series of cuts totaling $990,000 the Legislature created when revenue projections reached trigger points. Many of those cuts came through layoffs, program reductions and vacancy savings.

His spokesperson, Ronja Abel, said it was "disingenuous" to say that Bullock wasn't dealing with the budget issue prior to the session. She said he worked closely with Ballance since July to come up with a proposal, and that most of their ideas were accepted.

"From our perspective, we reached a compromise," Abel said. "No one got everything they wanted, but to say the governor did nothing is disingenuous."
In the 1860s, Virginia City was a notorious collection of bushwhackers and rabble-rousers that terrorized local citizens. In an effort to thwart this den of thieves, leading members of Virginia City formed a vigilance committee in 1863. In just the first two months of 1864, the vigilantes hung 24 men, including presumed road agent leader Henry Plummer.

George Lane arrived in Virginia City in the fall of 1863. Even though he suffered from a congenital deformity in one of his feet, Lane had left the East to seek his fortune in the gold fields of California. After that didnt pan out, he made his way to Virginia City. He soon found work in Dance and Stuarts store, making and repairing boots and mending harnesses.

Prior to his arrival in Virginia City, Lane had twice been accused of being a horse thief in Idaho. After the second accusation, George left the area and he made his way to Virginia City. He soon came under suspicion after he had ridden to Bannack, Montana to inform Sheriff Henry Plummer of the trial of George Ives, accused of being a member of Plummers gang, the "Innocents." He also expressed his concern about the growing vigilante movement in Virginia City.

After returning from Bannack, he was accused by the Vigilance Committee of being a spy for Plummers gang. In January 1864, he was arrested and when he asked why, was told, For being a road agent, thief, and an accessory to numerous robberies and murders on the highway. The Vigilance Committee soon tried Lane and found him guilty. Along with four other convicted men, he was sentenced to be hanged.

Before his execution, Lane made one last appeal to his employer in a plea of innocence. Dance said that even though Lane was a fine worker, he could not comment about other activities George might have been involved in. Standing on a box with the noose around his neck, Lane spied a friend in the crowd and yelled out, Goodbye, old fellow, Im gone. He then jumped off the box without waiting for it to be removed. The five men were buried in unmarked graves.

Forty-three years after the burials, local residents began to speculate about where Clubfoot George was buried. A former vigilante claimed he was pretty sure he knew the location of Lanes grave. A body was exhumed and was easily identified as Lane due to his mummified deformed foot.

Apparently, desiring some kind of macabre souvenir, someone decided to cut off his clubfoot. It was placed in a jar and displayed for many years in the courthouse. Eventually, it made its way to the Thompson Hickman Museum in Virginia City, where it resided until 2016. It was at that point that distant descendants of Lane were able to claim the clubfoot under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

After the family took possession, the foot was cremated and the ashes spread at a ceremony on Boot Hill. But, all was not lost, at least as far as the museum was concerned. A 3-D printer was used to make an exact replica of the foot before it was incinerated.

So, if you visit the Thompson Hickman Museum in Virginia City, youll still be able to see a part of western history, albeit not an entirely real one.
An 18-year-old Victor woman was arrested on three felony criminal endangerment counts after she allegedly made an unexpected U-turn because she feared she was running out of gas.

The accident occurred in September, but has been under investigation by the Montana Highway Patrol.

According to court documents, Penny Viktora Douglas was traveling on Highway 93 between Hamilton and the Woodside Cutoff about 9 p.m. Sept. 10 when she attempted to make a U-turn across all of the traffic lanes. She allegedly caused a crash with another vehicle, which had two children in the car. They were injured as well as the driver, who was trapped and had to be extricated.

After the crash, Douglas blood was drawn and it allegedly tested positive for THC, which is the active ingredient in marijuana, and lorazepam, a sedative.

She was booked into the Ravalli County Detention Center Nov. 10 on the three criminal endangerment counts, along with a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of drugs and not wearing a seatbelt. Douglas was released Nov. 14 on her own recognizance.
An Eastern Montana rancher who admitted killing a bald eagle through a pesticide-poisoned calf carcass was sentenced to probation in Billings on Thursday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Cavan sentenced Dale Duwayne Buerkle, 66, to one year probation, fined him $1,000 and ordered $1,000 restitution.

Buerkle pleaded guilty in August to a misdemeanor count of unlawful taking of a bald eagle.

Cavan dismissed two other counts under the terms of a plea agreement.

Buerkle told the judge he took full responsibility for the eagles death.

Cavan noted that while Buerkles actions were unlawful, he did not intentionally try to kill a bald eagle. He also had no criminal record.

In 2016, coyotes were killing Buerkles calves, costing him about $20,000, the judge said. Buerkle learned from others about injecting carcasses with poison to kill coyotes, he said. Buerkles actions killed three coyotes along with an eagle and a hawk.

Prosecutors said an investigation into a bald eagle carcass found on a landowners property led to Buerkle, who admitted to injecting carbofuran into two calf carcasses to kill coyotes.

When questioned, Buerkle admitted he knew using the pesticide was illegal but that he didnt know it would kill birds. He also admitted knowing the poison was not selective, prosecutors said.

Buerkles attorney, Albert R. Batterman of Baker, recommended 90 days to six months of probation along with a fine and restitution.

He screwed up. He wants to put this behind him. You are not going to see this man again, Batterman said.

Prosecutor Tom Godfrey recommended probation, a $1,000 fine and $1,000 restitution. While the government takes the deaths of bald eagles seriously, Buerkle took responsibility, cooperated and had no criminal record, he said.
Calling the story of Latinos in Montana a sketchy and long history, Montana State University Spanish Professor Bridget Kevane told a crowd at the Western Heritage Center Thursday that their story goes back at least two centuries to early fur-trading days.

From 1807-1813, the Missouri Fur Co.s Manuel Lisa established six trading posts in what would become Montana Territory. By 1829, workers from Spain and Mexico were toiling at the Fort Union Trading Post along what is now the North Dakota/Montana border. They were not good fur traders, Kevane said, but they were great with cattle.

Montanas now home to about 34,000 Latinos, about 3 percent of the population. While most of the recent Latino population growth has occurred in Gallatin County, Yellowstone County counts more than 8,000 Latinos, many of whom arrived nearly a century ago from places like Colorado and Texas as betabeleros  those who cultivate and harvest sugar beets.

It is back-breaking work, Kevane said, displaying a photo of a child working in the fields during the Depression era.

Around the state, Latinos  who come from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and other places  have, she said, carved out industry niches. In Dillon, its been raising potatoes and sheep. In Big Sky, Latinos have been key in enabling the construction boom. They grow and harvest Flathead cherries and work in Manhattans dairy industry.

One Manhattan dairy owner told Kevane that he employs Latinos to milk his cows because few others are willing to put in the required long hours.

In the West Yellowstone area, the service industry, booming with the popularity of Yellowstone National Park, is seeing a growing influx of women laboring in hotels, restaurants and other establishments, she said.

Kevane, the director of MSUs Liberal Studies Department, said she shows her students photos like one she displayed of a 1930 wedding scene at La Colonia in Billings and a series of row housing erected decades ago to house sugar beet workers. That housing is long gone, said Western Heritage Center director Kevin Kooistra.

Kevane said she asks her students if they can detect the diversity of Latinos in the photograph, some with brown eyes, some with blue, all of the celebrants arrayed for this portrait dressed in their finest clothes.

While not substantial, Montanas Latino population has received plenty of unwanted attention from the Montana Legislature. She asserted that over the past four sessions, the Legislature has passed 28 bills that Kevane labeled anti-immigrant.

She called the state and the nations recent dealings with America's estimated 11 million undocumented people shape-shifting immigration policies. Theyve kept changing, and they keep changing.

One historical cartoon illustrated how some people viewed the issue a century ago. It depicted Uncle Sam being devoured at either end by two creatures with huge mouths, one a leprechaun, the other a Chinese coolie.

The history of Latinos in Montana is complex, she said, offering up this personal story: Her daughter, who looks very Puerto Rican, attended high school in Bozeman. When students would ask her where shes from, she told them, My moms from Puerto Rico.

Oh, students responded. Youre Mexican.
Responding to the recommendation made by parliamentary committee of the erstwhile Parliament, the government has scrapped the agreement signed with the controversial Chinese company; China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC), hired by then UML led government to build the 1200 megawatt hydropower project.

A Cabinet meeting held in May had decided to award the contract to the company to build the project under the engineering, procurement, construction and finance (EPCF) model. Following the decision of the CPN UML led government, the energy minister Janardan Sharma and CGGC President Lv Zexiang had signed in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build the project.

With the governments decision, the long-held plan to expedite construction of $2.5-billion Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project (BGHP), located in Gorkha and Dhading districts, is unlikely to materialize anytime soon.

But the concerned stake holders have appraised the government decision for scrapping the contract of the controversial company. It was alleged that then UML and the CPN Maoist Center led government would have signed the agreement with the controversial company from undue influence.

Smelling rats in the MoU, a joint meeting of the Agriculture and Water Resources Committee and Finance Committee of the erstwhile Parliament directed the government to scrap the agreement.

In the directive handed over the government, the parliament committee had stated that the decision to hand over the project to the Chinese company was against the countrys legal provisions and breaches the Public Procurement Act.

As the government had handed over the contract of the biggest reservoir hydropower project to the Chinese company without initiating a competitive bidding process, the government was criticized from different sectors. The Naya Shakti Partys coordinator and former Maoist leaders Dr. Baburam Bhattrai had protested the government decision even organizing a press conference.

The company had agreed to arrange soft or commercial loans from the Chinese financial institutions to build the project under terms and conditions acceptable to the Nepal government. But the decision was dragged into controversies stating that these types of decisions create policy uncertainty and an unpredictable situation for investors.

With the signing in the MoU, the government had begun to acquiring the land from locals in Dhading and Gorkha to build the project. The government has scrapped the agreement but not carved out any future course of the national pride project.
Guwahati, November 18 : After arresting 22 officials of Assam Civil Service (ACS), Assam Police Service (APS) and other allied service, Assam police is planning to quiz at least 38 more officials in connection with the cash-for-job scam in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC).

A top police official said that, the investigating team had accessed the forensic report of several answer scripts, which were earlier seized from the APSC office in Guwahai.

We have already identified few more officials after receiving the forensic report and would likely to be asked them to appear before the investigating team, the top police official said.

The top official of Assam police said that, apart from it, police had also identified at least 12 middlemen for their involvement in the cash-for-job scam.

Sacked chairman of APSC Rakesh Pauls brother Rajib Paul, Sudip Das, Mrigen Saikia and Mofidul Islam are among the middlemen, who are presently absconding.

They had collected huge cash amount from the candidates for Rakesh Paul and other APSC persons to provide a secured government job. We have already sent messages to all states counterparts, the police official said.

Dibrugarh police had recently arrested 22 ACS, APS and other allied service officials in connection with the scandal.

Investigating officer and Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Dibrugarh police Surajeet Singh Panesar said that, three more officials are still absconding and police is trying to arrest them.

The entire scam has been came to light after, Dibrugarh police had arrested an engineer named Naba Kanta Patir from Upper Assams Dibrugarh district after they caught him red handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from a lady doctor to provide a secured government job on October 27 last year.

Following the incident, Dibrugarh police had registered a case and arrested then chairman of APSC Rakesh Paul from Guwahati and later arrested few more persons including former members of APSC Samedur Rahman, Basanta Doley, Pabitra Kaiborta, Musharaf Hussain, Mabud Ali Choudhury, three ACS officers Bhaskarjyoti Dev Sharma, Bhaskar Dutta and Amit Sharma.

On August 31 last, the Gauhati High Court had granted bail to 10 accused persons including three Assam Civil Service (ACS) officials, who were arrested in connection with the cash-for-job scam of Assam Public Service Commission (APSC).

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Pokhara, Nepal: The Netra Bikram Chanda led CPN Maoist has intensified its attackes against the polls candidates across the country. The newly formed Maoist has hurled a pressure cooker bomb targeting a vehicle used by Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Poudel in his home district Tanahun on Saturday.

Though the attack was targeted to the Nepali Congress leader Poudel, he escaped the attack. The pressure cooker bomb went off at Bhanu Rural Municipality-9 Nepal Danda of the district at around 3:00 pm.

In the accident, a police personnel has received minor injuries.

Similarly, seven persons were injured when a bomb exploded near leftist alliance assembly at Chandrapur Municipality in Rautahat district on Saturday afternoon. Among the injured two of them are reported as critical.
With the approaching deadline for the parliamentary and federal elections scheduled in two phases on November 26 and December 7, the incidents related attacks and arson against of the candidates and their supporters have also been increasing tremendously posing the serious challenge to mention security of the candidates and voters during the election. Even though no human casualties were reported in the recent incidents, increase in the number of such attacks has left voters as well candidates terrified. It seems that the scheduled elections would face severe security challenges particularly from the Netra Bikram Chanda led CPN-Maoist, the splinter faction of the recent CPN Maoist Center, which is now aligned in the leftist alliance formed under the leadership of main opposition CPN UML .

The Chanda led Maoist, which has taken responsibilities of the recent attacks against the candidates, seems to have emerged as the incarnation of then Maoists that had dominated Nepals politics for more than 20 years after waging a decade-long insurgency on the name of the peoples movement that claimed more than 16,000 lives. Whatever the motives are there behind the recent attacks against the candidates, the government as well as the entire stake holders should take immediate attention towards the recent incidents keeping in the mind that the incidents would jeopardize not only the scheduled elections but also the recent changes made from the popular movement.

Since the scheduled elections are seen as the final step in Nepals post-war transition to a federal democracy, we had a fear that the reactionary forces that always stood against of the recent changes would remain hell-bent to foil the scheduled elections. But no reactionary forces became able to secure the position to disturb the scheduled elections except posing the security challenges o the Chanda led Maoist. The recently emerged security challenges would be dealt through the security measures to make success the approaching elections; however, it is not meant that using forces would be a means for the permanent solution of the recent security challenges.

The government and the political parties should initiate efforts immediately to take into confidence the Chanda led Maoist even though there is no possibility to grant space to the party in the scheduled elections. Being the instigator of launching insurgency in the pretext of peoples movement, the recently renamed CPN Maoist Center should take extra responsibility to take confidence to the Chanda led Maoist and to curb the recent incidents of bullet and bomb attacks against the candidates.

Being the opposition, the CPN UML led leftist alliance would have discharged its responsibilities by trading allegations to the government for failing to provide adequate securities to the candidates and their supporters. The leftist alliance has alleged the government and the Nepali Congress, the head of the incumbent coalition government, even suspecting that the Chanda led Maoist would have aligned with the government with intent to jeopardize the scheduled elections. As candidates from the Nepali Congress are also targeted in the recent attacks, the leftist alliance should have introverted from their own lexis. We have nothing to say but an urge to the leftist alliance not to add ghee in the flame on the name of gaining popularity by trading blames to the government.

The emergent antagonism generated from the Rolpa district between the CPN Maoist Center and the Chanda led Maoist has not only created dilemma to the people of the district over whether to vote or not to vote amid the tense situation but also sparked the flames of insecurities across the country. Not only the government and its allies but also the opposition should take equal responsibilities to make success the scheduled elections.
Kathmandu, Nepal: Responding to the security threats during the upcoming elections, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) has prepared a security plan that will enable security personnel to reach troubled spots in less than 30 minutes during the parliamentary and provincial elections slated for November 26 and December 7.

The MoHA has said that Quick Response Teams (QRT) made comprising the security personnel from the Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and the temporary police will be deployed within five kilometers of the polling stations to quickly reach the troubled spots in case of necessity.

It is said that the QRT will be well equipped with the authority to take any short of decision to mention the security of the polls candidates and voters and to keep secure the ballot boxes.
Out of the 100 babies born each month at Billings Clinic, at least two to three were exposed to drugs while in utero.

Thats according to neonatologist Jeffrey Cooper. And, while the problem is not new, providers like Cooper say its growing.

Drug abuse by pregnant women may cause a range of health complications for the baby, including birth defects, increased risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, seizures and learning and behavior problems later in life.

The key to curbing the problem, experts say, is a trusting relationship between patients and providers, which can help steer women toward treatment for their addiction.

Rimrock Foundation, the regions largest addiction treatment provider, is also responding to the growing problem. The nonprofit will soon open a new treatment home specifically for pregnant women fighting addiction. The company is in the final stages of licensing the home and already has three women on the waiting list, said Rimrock CEO Lenette Kosovich.

Treating infants

Vicki Birkeland, nursing director for womens and childrens services at St. Vincent Healthcare, said that most often, pregnancies during which women abuse drugs are unplanned, and the women learn of their status several weeks into their pregnancy.

It can be difficult to put precise numbers on the issue, Birkeland said, since not all pregnant women at St. Vincents are tested for drug use. But theres no doubt the problem is growing, she said.

Looking specifically at opioid use among pregnant women, St. Vincent has seen a steady yearly increase, from 7 cases of neonatal abstinence syndrome in 2012 to 16 so far this year. Neonatal abstinence syndrome, or NAS, happens when the baby is exposed to drugs in the womb and then is dependent on those drugs after birth.

But those numbers dont capture the whole picture, Birkeland said, since other commonly abused substances, like meth, dont often lead to NAS but to other problems, like premature birth and low birthweight.

Marijuana is the most commonly found drug in tests done on newborns at St. Vs, followed by meth, and then opioids.

Effects on the baby vary, depending on factors like the substance used and frequency of use, according to Cooper, the Billings Clinic doctor.

For severe cases, in which the baby experiences harsh withdrawal symptoms, hospital staff will administer a low dose of morphine every three hours.

But if they can avoid using new drugs, they prefer best practices like holding the baby frequently, feeding, swaddling and comforting it, they do.

Tackling the stigma

Both St. Vincent and Billings Clinic acknowledge it can be difficult for women to be honest with providers about what substances they are using, but that candor is best for both the mother and baby.

If you can tell us the things that youve been using, then we can identify earlier the withdrawal symptoms and maybe treat your child sooner, Cooper said.

St. Vincent has partnered with Rimrock to train staff on how to intervene and encourage treatment. The hospital is also working with the Northern Cheyenne and Crow tribes on the issue.

Birkeland said stigma is a major challenge in reducing drug use during pregnancy. Addiction is a disease, she said, but is often viewed as a moral failure.

How can she choose that drug or alcohol over her baby? Birkeland said. Does she not love her baby?

Those views make women hesitant to self-report their drug or alcohol use, which is the first step in getting treatment, providers say. Creating a safe, compassionate, non-judgmental environment where women are more likely to self-report can help change that, Birkeland said.

Because again, the addiction occurred long before she was pregnant, and itll continue after she delivers, Birkeland said.
Of them, nine villages in Da Nang include cake Quang Chau in Hoa Vang District, Cam Ne village widely known for its long-standing sedge mat-making craft, fish sauce Nam O in Lien Chieu District; bamboo bed Tan Hanh, Can wine Phu Tuc (wine drunk out of a jar through pipes), girdle cake Tuy Loan and veggies...



Quang Nam province has six village participants including bronze-casting village Phuoc Kieu in Dien Ban District, pottery Thanh Ha; carpenter Kim Bong, lantern-making village Hoi An, Palm-leaf conical hat Duy Xuyen and brocade-weaving Co Tu - Nam Giang.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, director of Da Nang museum Dinh Quoc Thien said that traditional handicraft villages are alive museum and treasures of cultural heritage. Time flies, traditional handicraft villages become important part of the countryside districts history and culture

Nowadays, many such villages in Quang Nam province and Da Nang City not only make products but also become interested tourist attractions.

On the contrary, these villages are facing harsh competition with modern products which are likely to be lost in oblivion."

Accordingly, the festival aims to honor and develop traditional handicraft villages in the central Vietnam. It is also a chance for people to find out the beauty and cultural value of these villages generating sympathy with villagers; and then join hand with the government to reserve and help them to develop the country's traditional culture values more, Thien said.

The festival which wraps up on November 19 have also cultural performances of traditional musical instruments, performance of kid in Ao dai, experience in making products with artisans.

By NGOC PHUC - Translated by UYEN PHUONG
SIOUX CITY | Linda Jo Wallen will be signing copies of her autobiographical "The Horse Trainer's Daughter: Miracles and Memories" from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at Book People, 2923 Hamilton Blvd.

A Sioux City native and the eldest daughter of well-known horse trainer Richard "Dick" Wallen and his wife Marilyn, Wallen grew up, herself, to become an accomplished horse trainer and teacher.

Throughout her life, Wallen said she's experienced 61 separate miracles. Some of the miracles were life-changing, while other miracles, like meeting 1960s teen idol Fabian, were simply fun.

The miracles, as well as a personal account of the extended Wallen family, form the basis of the 212-page book.

In addition, many well-known Sioux City citizens and landmarks are mentioned in the book.

"Even though I've lived in Kankakee, Illinois, for more than 50 years, I still consider myself a Sioux City girl," she said. "To this day, I still refer back to the education that I received at Blessed Sacrament, Heelan and Briar Cliff. A part of my heart will always remain in Sioux City."

A portion of proceeds from "The Horse Trainer's Daughter: Miracle and Memories" will be going to charities, domestic and abroad.
Samuel L. Jackson stars in so many films each year it's impossible to remember which ones were good.

Part of the problem with "The Hitman's Bodyguard" is it's so generic it doesn't stand out.

In it, he plays a hitman who has been called to testify against an international criminal (Gary Oldman). To make sure he gets to court on time, he's placed in the care of a down-on-his-luck bodyguard (Ryan Reynolds) who has been reduced to watching coke addicts. The job is redemption of sorts, but it's filled with danger. Everyone wants the hitman dead.

When the guard and guarded meet, they discover they have a mutual dislike. Still, an assassins got to do what an assassins got to do.

On their way to the Hague (where this court with a ticking clock exists), theyre shot at so many times its surprising they arent Swiss cheese. Luckily, Jackson knows how to remove bullets and does so before they have to run and jump.

Directed by Patrick Hughes, The Hitmans Bodyguard has a driving, almost obnoxious soundtrack that borrows plenty from the heyday of 48 HRS. Theres more than a little nod to Midnight Run, too, but without a surprise element.

Here, anything thats glass will be shattered; anything thats vehicular will be chased.

Both men have women in their lives but theres little romance until the deadlines are met. Reynolds has a love-hate relationship with the agent who hired him; Jackson has a foul-mouthed wife (Salma Hayek) whos in prison. We get plenty of their backstory before Bodyguard brings them in proximity to one another.

Because so much of it looks it was shot on a studio lot, its hard to believe some of the elaborate stunts were actually executed. When Jackson drives a speedboat through the Hague its clear hes not anywhere near the water.

Reynolds races a motorcycle, too, and before you know it, theyve covered every possible chase scenario before the clock ticks down.

Sadly, theres not much comedy to tie it all together. The two yell a lot, but its unmotivated and so loud its amazing others dont kill them before the bad guys show up.

Though Bodyguard has a lot of characters, theyre hardly as important as the two in the title. Even Oldman gets short-changed, despite a nice little speech in the courtroom. By the time everyone shows up, we know its not over, just ready for the big ending that comes when the heroes are carted off by emergency personnel.

In Deadpool, Reynolds had a great facility with snark; in Django Unchained, Jackson was both funny and terrifying. Combining the two should be explosive.

Instead, The Hitmans Bodyguard is more miss than hit. It aims, but not in the right direction.
SIOUX CITY | When counting sheep, reading a boring book or downing a glass of warm milk doesn't cure your insomnia, you might be tempted to reach for a bottle of prescription or over-the-counter sleeping pills.

That could be a dangerous choice, especially if you're getting up there in years.

According to Mayo Clinic, sleeping pill use may increase the risk of nighttime falls and injury in older adults. Some sleep aids are also known to interact with other medications and taking them long-term could lead to dependence.

A national poll on healthy aging conducted by the University of Michigan, revealed that more than half of older adults said they have sleep problems. Although they know there are risks associated with taking sleep medication, a third of respondents said they take pills to help them sleep anyway.

"Most people will try an over-the-counter sleep aid before they go to their doctor and report a sleep disorder," said James Case, a neurologist at CNOS in Dakota Dunes with expertise in sleep medicine.

Case said over-the-counter sleeping pills are nearly all diphenhydramine-based. Diphenhydramine is the active ingredient in Benadryl, which is primarily used to treat allergy or hay fever symptoms.

"Benadryl is discouraged. Tylenol PM, I would discourage," said Case, who noted that adults also turn to alcohol, which fragments sleep, and herbal supplements to try to get some shut eye. "Tylenol, if you also drink, increases your risk of liver injury. Diphenhydramine can cause hangover effects, dizziness, drowsiness, upset stomach and dry eyes."

According to the National Sleep Foundation, our sleep patterns change as we age. Older people tend to have a harder time falling asleep and more trouble staying asleep, the foundation says.

"I think we've seen, at least with our aging parents, the tendency of our body clock to shift," Case said. "Instead of being the night owls that we were in our 20s, the tendency as the sun goes down is for us to feel sleepy and sometimes go to bed at 6 or 7 o'clock."

Research shows that it takes older adults longer to fall asleep. They also encounter a decline in rapid eye movement sleep (REM) sleep -- the deepest stage of sleep in which dreaming occurs -- and experience more sleep disorders than their younger counterparts. Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder that causes a person to stop breathing or have very shallow breathing.

"As we age, we develop medical problems and those do include sleep apnea, which is a very common cause of disturbed sleep," Case said. "In fact, that's the primary reason I would discourage someone who snores or whose spouse suspects that they're having breathing difficulties from using any type of sleeping pill until or unless they've had their sleep apnea diagnosed and treated."

If you can't sleep, Case recommends getting out of bed and doing something relaxing, such as reading a book. If your problem is falling asleep too early, he said you might want to ask your doctor about bright light exposure therapy to help reset your body clock.

Case said keeping a sleep diary might help some patients identify why they're having trouble sleeping. Drinking coffee and energy drinks too late in the day, he said, will keep people up at night. He tells patients not to consume caffeine, which can persist in some people for up to 14 hours, after noon.

"Smokers are going to have more trouble with sleep. (Nicotine) is a stimulant that will impair the efficiency and restorative quality of sleep," he said.

Case said overactive bladder, chronic joint pain and/or restless leg syndrome are other medical issues that can disturb sleep. Before turning to sleep aids to try to cure a sleeping problem, he urges patients to see a medical professional to rule out sleep apnea or another sleep disorder.

Medical professionals who staff UnityPoint Health -- St. Luke's sleep lab can conduct a nighttime sleep study or polysomnography, which is used to diagnose sleep disorders like sleep apnea. Polysomnography measures brain waves, heart rate, breathing, the level of oxygen in the blood and movements made during sleep. The data is then analyzed and interpreted.

"Most people fall asleep as if they're in a hotel," Case said of the sleep lab. "If you are detected to have breathing difficulties, in many cases, the path toward treatment would be started that night. The treatment is generally a machine called (continuous positive airway pressure)."
The Montana State University Billings branch of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society, will present the 2017 Montana Writers Roundup from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2, at the MetraPark Expo Center, in conjunction with the Family Tree Centers Festival of Trees.

The annual event will feature authors Jim Ashcraft, Jerry Bauck (Take Charge Press), Rick Bonogofsky, Janet Muirhead Hill, Brooke Jennings, Susan W. Lyons, Precious McKenzie (This House of Books), Marcia Melton, Bernie Quetchenbach, Karen Stevens, Vicki Tapia, Alan Tucker, Vicki B. Williamson, Sherry M. Winn and others.

Authors will be available for book sales, signings and discussions during the event. Free gift-wrapping will also be available.

A deluxe basket of signed books and gifts will be raffled off. Raffle tickets cost $1 each or $5 for six. The drawing will take place at 4 p.m. Participants are not required to be present to win.

Cost of admission is $3. Sigma Tau Delta, a nonprofit academic organization, will use the proceeds to support a variety of English scholarships, awards and activities.
SIOUX CITY | A police patrol car with fresh pink decals will soon be rolling around Sioux City in honor of cancer victims and survivors.

Police on Friday unveiled a black-and-white patrol car decorated with pink ribbons and detailed an accompanying initiative that will begin soon to recognize community cancer survivors.

The department encourages cancer survivors who see the vehicle out in the community to take a photo with the vehicle and the officer, if available, and send it to the Sioux City Police Department Facebook page. The photo will then be displayed with the name of the survivor to help encourage continued cancer awareness.

The vehicle includes a special pink ribbon decal on the hood bearing the name of family members and friends of city employees who have been diagnosed with cancer.

The car is meant to not only represent breast cancer, as the pink decals indicate, but all forms.

Police officers are also participating in "No Shave November" this year and donating funds in support of the June E. Nylen Cancer Center.
SIOUX CITY | Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nate Boulton will receive the endorsement of a local firefighter union in Sioux City on Sunday.

Boulton, a state representative from Des Moines, will accept the endorsement from the Sioux City Firefighters Association, Local 7. Union president Lenny Kraker and Boulton are scheduled to speak at the event, which begins at 11 a.m. at the Public Museum.

Boulton's campaign said he has been endorsed by more than 30 labor organizations, as he vies in a wide field of seven Democratic candidates for the party's nomination in the June primary election.
SIOUX CITY | Native American leaders and local law enforcement officials will participate in a town hall meeting Monday in Sioux City as part of the annual Memorial March to Honor Lost Children.

Sioux City Police Chief Rex Mueller and Woodbury County Sheriff Dave Drew are among the law enforcement officials expected to attend the town hall, which starts at 4:30 p.m. at the Public Museum. Event chairwoman Leesa McNeil will facilitate the session, which also will address the issue of local homelessness.

"The opportunity to interact with some community leaders does not happen every day so I hope all in the Native community will come out," McNeil said.

Related events will be held over three days through Wednesday. The annual Memorial March, which started in 2003, will begin at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, starting at War Eagle Park and ending at the museum. The march remembers Native American children who have been taken from families and communities and placed in the non-native child welfare system.
CORRECTIONVILLE, Iowa | Huge dump trucks haul away old concrete and bring in fill dirt.

Miles of pavement has been laid and and bridge decks have been poured. All that construction activity is lining up toward a major goal of the Iowa Department of Transportation -- and raptly watched by Siouxlanders -- to complete a huge modernization of U.S. Highway 20 in Woodbury, Ida and Sac counties within the next 12 months.

With the previously announced November 2018 completion goal now one year away, an IDOT official said the massive project of widening the highway from two to four lanes is on pace to be met. In fact, it could come a bit sooner.

"We are actually looking prior to Nov. 1," toward late October, state DOT Traffic Planner Dakin Schultz said in an interview. "Everything is on schedule."

Throughout 2017, more pieces of the highway were completed, so people have been able to drive on some new sections in two-way traffic, while also closely watching work proceeding on two other adjacent lanes. One example came in June, when a four-mile section opened east of Correctionville to Cushing.

As work continues, another piece of good news came Friday, when the main detour along Highway 20 ended. The detour from Galva to Early began a year ago, with plans for it to last two years until the whole highway project was done.

That detour added about six miles and 10 minutes to the travel time for drivers. Schultz said the detour is not expected to be put back in place for 2018, and it will only return in the spring if the contractor elects to bring it back.

Another big step is coming in December, when all four lanes will open from Correctionville, west for three miles to Minnesota Avenue, which leads to Pierson, Iowa.

"That is another milestone we are hitting," Schultz said.

Valerie Snmutzer, of Kingsley, Iowa, said she has avoided the highway during the construction, saying it's a "hassle" to drive.

"I am always glad when construction is done," Smutzer said.

Forty miles of Highway 20 are being moved from two to four lanes from Moville to Early, under a project announced by IDOT in June 2015, with an initially-announced price tag of $286 million. That boost to the long-sought modernization came within weeks of the state gasoline tax being bumped up by 10 cents per gallon, delivering much more revenue to the state agency.

Schultz told the Journal in April that costs were running much below the $286 million estimate set by IDOT two years ago. Schultz said after contracts were set following the bidding process, the projected cost is $215 million, a roughly 25-percent reduction from the earlier estimate.

Highway 20 crosses the entire state, covering roughly 300 miles from Sioux City to Dubuque. The push to turn the east-west road into a four-lane expressway is nearly 60 years in the making.

The first portion to be widened to four lanes was between Moville and Sioux City. That occurred in 1958, with a few miles near Dubuque following in 1959. After that, eastern and central parts were converted to four lanes, long before the remaining segments in western Iowa were finally addressed.

Said Smutzer, age 31, "For people older than me, (highway officials) have been working on it for as long as they can remember. It has been a lifetime project."

The construction activities on Highway 20 never completely ended over the 2016-17 winter. Work won't shut down this winter, either, it will just be reduced. Schultz said tasks will continue on bridge decks at the Boyer River and over two creeks.

"As long as the ground is not frozen, the contractors can continue to haul dirt," Schultz said.

In 2017, east of Correctionville, to Holstein, new eastbound lanes were paved and westbound lanes were graded. Also in Ida County, from Holstein to Galva, the westbound lanes were paved, eastbound lanes were graded and two bridges over the Maple River were built. In Sac County, toward Early, westbound lanes were graded and paved this year.

Schultz said the project made much headway due to the concerted work by contractors, who often seized the option of working weekend days and well into evenings. He said contractors marshaled their resources of personnel and machinery, and "made the project a priority."

Northwest Iowa people have sought the project to boost the prospects of area businesses. Others want the safety of a modern Highway 20, so ambulances can drive more safely without being jostled by a pock-marked two-lane.

By the time the work is finished is done, 12 million cubic yards of dirt will be hauled away.

In 2018, the project will wrap with a final flourish of grading and paving. A big piece of that will include eastbound lanes in Ida and Sac counties.

Smutzer pointed to pleasure when U.S. Highway 20 is done, since she likes that the speed limit will rise from 55 mph to 65 mph.

"That will be nice," she said.
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality received about 10,000 public comments during its initial analysis of a proposed copper mine near White Sulphur Springs.

The state held a 45-day comment period for scoping the Black Butte Copper Project. The comment period closed at 11:59 p.m. Thursday. The agency also took oral comments at public meetings in Great Falls, White Sulphur, Helena and Livingston.

On Friday, DEQ communications director Kristi Ponozzo said the agency was still receiving comments Thursday and had yet to fully count and sort them. Many of the comments came as form letters, with many generally focused on concerns over water quality and quantity, fisheries and potential impacts to the Smith River.

Black Butte has been controversial since its proposal and remains contentious as it works through the regulatory process.

Proponents of the mine see it as an economic boost to Meagher County and the greater area. Its developer, Tintina Resources, has made numerous commitments to use best environmental practices and technology to protect nearby Sheep Creek, a tributary of the iconic Smith River.

Opponents have raised several concerns about the project, mainly focused on potential impacts to the Smith if the mine causes pollution in the watershed. They also cite Tintinas foreign ownership and potential for expansion as concerns over the project.

Opposition has also been largely organized, using social media, videos and billboards to question the project. The 10,000 comments received this year is a sharp jump compared to the nearly 4,000 DEQ received in 2014 for Tintinas exploration permit.

Black Butte received a draft mining permit from DEQ in September, which triggers a legally required environmental impact statement to consider potential environmental consequences and develop alternatives for the project. The first step in the process is scoping, where the agency takes public comments on what issues should be considered through analysis.

DEQ did not get a request to extend public comment for scoping, Ponozzo said.

It was 45 days, so thats a fairly robust amount of time, she said. What we do now is take the comments, review, categorize and summarize them into a scoping report and thatll help us as we lay out the EIS.

DEQ does not yet have a timeline for completing the scoping report but will publish it once completed, she said.

Ponozzo said the public meetings were well attended, and those who attended had a lot of questions and were engaged and interested in the process. The meetings remained generally respectful, she said.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Evidence that when Democrats rule taxes are never high enough can be found at any gas station in this once politically competitive state. Last month, the California gas tax was raised 12 cents a gallon. Regular gas at some stations is again approaching, and in some cities exceeding, $4 a gallon, a level not seen since natural disasters temporarily curtailed refinery production, and Gulf States manipulated prices.

Republicans plan to put the gas tax issue on the 2018 ballot, hoping voters will roll back the increases.

Some are not waiting for the next election, but are voting with their feet. One couple I know recently moved from San Diego to Arizona solely because of high taxes on their income and regulations on their small business. They are not alone.

Coupled with the increasing cost of living in big cities, California, once a magnet for new arrivals, has now reversed polarity. Taxes are only part of the reason for the exodus. According to Chief Executive Magazine's annual survey of the best and worst states for business, California has ranked last six years in a row. Texas, by contrast, has ranked first.

Add to this the recurring earth tremors, even earthquakes -- there was another Monday in Monterey County that registered 4.7 -- and expectations of a "big one," which continues to be talked about in scientific circles. Floods and forest fires destroy homes and lives. One-party rule also serves as an irritant for many of a different political persuasion.

Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed legislation declaring California a "sanctuary state" for illegal immigrants. The law forbids state and local police from providing any information to the federal government about illegal aliens that isn't already publicly available.

Then there is the annoying traffic. USA Today recently declared Los Angeles as having the worst traffic, not just in the country, but the world. San Francisco is not far behind.

The state legislature is flirting with a single-payer health insurance system, similar to Canada's. But with many Canadians coming to the U.S. for serious medical treatment, why would legislators want to replicate their less than ideal health care system? It again raises a question I have asked many times before and have yet to get a satisfactory answer: Why do so many turn to government as a first resource when government has proved its inability to achieve so many things competently and cost efficiently?

In this city by the bay, housing prices are so ridiculous The Guardian newspaper found a high-tech employee paying $1,400 a month to live in a "private room," which resembles a closet. "One Apple employee," it said, "was recently living in a Santa Cruz garage, using a compost bucket as a toilet. Another tech worker, enrolled in a coding boot camp, described how he lived with 12 other engineers in a two-bedroom apartment rented via Airbnb. 'It was $1,100 for a ... bunk bed and five people in the same room.'"

Salaries in Silicon Valley are high compared to other parts of the country, but the inflated housing costs dilute whatever buying power someone with that level of income would enjoy in most other states.

California is still a mostly beautiful state, especially along the coast, but its beauty is more superficial than substantive. According to the Orange County Register, "In 2016, some 26,000 more people left the Bay Area than arrived. San Francisco net migration went from a high of 16,000 positive in 2013 to 12,000 negative three years later.

"Similar patterns have occurred across the state. Between 2010 and 2015, California had cut its average annual migration losses annually from 160,000 to 50,000, but that number surged last year to nearly 110,000. Losses in the Los Angeles-Orange County area have gone from 42,000 in 2011 to 88,000 this year. San Diego, where domestic migration turned positive in 2011 and 2012, is now losing around 8,000 net migrants annually."

Given the policies of state government, don't look for those numbers to improve.
Jungle NASA

From rainforests to croplands, boreal forests to mangroves, NASA will take a new look at terrestrial vegetation across our living planet over the next two years with several unique instruments in space, including one from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The missions will help scientists investigate the role of plants in Earths global carbon and water cycles.

Since the 1970s, NASA has studied life from space with satellites such as Landsat, Terra, Aqua and NASA/NOAAs Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership. Scientists have used these data along with observations from international spacecraft to conduct a wide range of research, from detecting northward expansion of forests in the Arctic to monitoring how burned areas recover from wildfires.

Generally, the instruments currently in orbit do their work by detecting sunlight reflected off Earths surface, as a camera does. But the new instruments being launched over the next two years will take a new, more active approach to probe new questions about vegetation and how it is changing. Two of these NASA missions will use laser instruments that will measure the height of trees, while a third will monitor temperature to provide insights into plant health.

Laser measurements of trees

While the global extent of forest ecosystems has been mapped from satellite imagery, existing maps cant determine how tall those trees are, or the structure of their canopies  that is, the third dimension.

Two missions will use spaceborne lasers to measure tree height: an instrument mounted on the International Space Station, called the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI); and a satellite called the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2), which will focus on measuring snow and ice, but will also measure the planets forests. With data flowing in from both instruments, scientists plan to develop a three-dimensional map of Earths vegetation.

By knowing the extent of forests from existing maps, as well as the heights of the canopy from the new instruments, researchers will then be able to estimate how much plant matter  and therefore how much carbon  is present. As trees grow, they absorb carbon from the atmosphere, making forests a key player in the global carbon cycle. Over time, these missions can help give scientists clues to how much carbon is being absorbed by growing forests, and how its being released into the atmosphere through forest fires and deforestation.

Combining ICESat-2 with GEDI, were going to have a new view of the state of the biosphere on our planet, said Tom Neumann, the deputy project scientist for the ICESat-2 project at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

For Ralph Dubayah, GEDIs principal investigator from the University of Maryland, the GEDI mission will answer questions about the biomass of trees in a given region, and the impact of deforestation and reforestation on the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. GEDI will also quantify how the vertical arrangement of leaves and branches in a forest affects habitat quality and biodiversity.

While both missions use light detection and ranging (lidar) technology  which is like radar, but with laser light instead of radio waves  the GEDI instrument will use a near-infrared wavelength. This wavelength region is optimal to measure vegetation because it reflects off of leaves, and a portion of this reflected light makes its way back to the sensor. The pulses emitted from near-infrared lasers can also better penetrate through tree canopies to reflect off the ground, which is a necessary measurement for determining the height of trees.

GEDIs team has worked to optimize its systems pulse width, wavelength, sampling pattern and footprint size to cover as many forested areas as possible. GEDIs three lasers will pulse 242 times per second, sampling 10 laser tracks spread out across a 3.7-mile (6-kilometer) swath on Earths surface. Because GEDI will fly on the International Space Station, its orbital path will focus on Earths mid-latitude and tropical regions, where the vast majority of forest carbon is stored.

ICESat-2, orbiting pole-to-pole, will gather data on Earths ice sheets, sea ice and glaciers with its near-global coverage. Instead of using near-infrared light, ICESat-2s Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) instrument will use green, visible light. ATLAS has two lasers, only one of which operates at a time. The non-operating laser is an onboard spare. The operating laser will pulse 10,000 times per second and generate six tracks. As it travels over the mid-latitudes, scientists will use ATLAS to measure specific vegetated regions, complementing the GEDI measurements and creating a more complete three-dimensional map of Earths vegetation.

The photons, or particles of light, from ICESat-2s green lasers will reflect off whatevertha is below them, including the tops of trees, branches and leaves, and  if there is open space in the canopy  off the ground.

If you can separate those two  the photons reflected from the ground, from the photons reflected from the tops of the trees  you can measure tree height, which is really cool, Neumann said. However, its not always possible to separate the treetops from the forest floor, especially with a visible wavelength.

If the tree canopy is too dense, we cannot see the ground, so you cant measure tree height, Neumann said. If the tree canopy is too sparse, we cant see the trees because its one tree in the middle of a field, and your chances of hitting that single tree are not so good.

Because GEDIs lasers operate in near-infrared, and have sufficient power to penetrate dense forests with each shot, the instrument can more accurately measure forest structure even in areas that have a dense canopy.

GEDIs vegetation measurements will help close a critical gap in our current understanding of how carbon is stored and emitted over time by forests and other ecosystems. The process plays a huge role, ultimately, in how much carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere.

The central science goal of GEDI is to provide the data by which we can precisely address this question, Dubayah said. GEDI is the first lidar ever to fly that has been optimized for vegetation measurements.

Armed with this information, scientists will be able to do a much better job forecasting atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations in the future, he said, and in understanding the role of human activities on the carbon cycle.

Clouds are another obstacle for both the ICESat-2 and GEDI missions. On any given day, Earth is about 50 percent covered in clouds. So, instead of measuring the tops of trees, these lidar-based systems will measure the tops of the clouds which reflect the laser pulse. Having two systems measuring vegetation will help fill in these cloudy data gaps. By combining the data, scientists will get a better picture of the status of Earths vegetation.

Although the two missions are optimized for different scientific objectives, they will work together to create a more precise height map of Earths vegetation  a data set that can help answer Dubayahs questions.

Taking the temperature of plants

Knowing how much vegetation is present on Earth does not indicate whether or not that vegetation is healthy. How vegetation changes due to stresses caused by water availability is the key science question to be addressed by JPLs ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) mission.

As plants take in carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, they release water through evapotranspiration from their leaf pores, which helps them cool down in the hot sun, much as human sweat cools us down. And just like humans, if plants dont get enough water, they can overheat.

The plant pores open and shut in response to heat stress and water availability. When theyre open, plants take in carbon dioxide and lose water. When theyre closed, plants stop taking in carbon dioxide (i.e., growing) but also stop losing water. If we know plants are losing water, we know theyre taking in carbon dioxide, and vice versa. ECOSTRESS data will help scientists understand the total carbon dioxide uptake by plants over the course of a typical day. For example, if its a hot and dry afternoon, some plants may shut down their water use and carbon dioxide uptake in the afternoon. ECOSTRESS will be able to detect these types of responses. Current polar orbiting satellites can provide only a single snapshot of carbon dioxide uptake and water release each day, at the same time of day, so scientists have to estimate how that one-time snapshot translates over the course of the entire day.

ECOSTRESS will measure plant temperatures from space to detect the cooling nature of water evaporated by plants, or the lack thereof. It will tell us how much water different plants use and need and how they react to environmental stresses from water shortages. In addition to its carbon and water cycle science objectives, it will also study how Earths terrestrial biosphere is responding to changes in water availability.

From its unique orbital perch, ECOSTRESS will observe the same spot on Earth every few days at different times of day for a minimum of one year, allowing scientists to track changes in plant-water dynamics over the course of a typical day.

ECOSTRESS will enable a detailed investigation into plant water use throughout the day, said Josh Fisher, the missions science lead at JPL. Furthermore, well be able to better understand how certain regions are being impacted by drought. This could have important implications for managing forests or agricultural systems.

ECOSTRESS will also provide key insights into links between Earths water and carbon cycles by identifying which areas of our planet require more or less water for the amount of carbon dioxide they take up.

ECOSTRESS Principal Investigator Simon Hook of JPL began developing the thermal infrared radiometer for ECOSTRESS several years ago. ECOSTRESS will track the energy used in evaporating water in combination with other factors that affect evaporation, such as temperature and humidity.

ECOSTRESS data will be used by ecologists, hydrologists, meteorologists and other scientists as well as the agricultural and water management communities. In fact, the ECOSTRESS science team includes scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It will collect data at pixels measuring a little more than 200 feet (70 meters) on a side, about the size of a large backyard, small farm or part of a big farm. This scale of information can also be useful for applications research on the effects of droughts on natural vegetation; for example, for identifying which types of trees are most vulnerable to dying first.

NASA and its partners are planning even more future missions over the next several years to advance what we know about Earths ecosystems. For example, the agency is partnering with the Indian Space Research Organization to develop the NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission, which will routinely provide systematic observations of Earths land and ice-covered surfaces at least twice every 12 days, enabling greater scientific understanding of the dynamic processes that drive the Earth system and natural hazards, as well as providing actionable support for disaster response and recovery.

NISAR will complement GEDI, ICESat-2 and ECOSTRESS. With its capability to see through clouds, it will be able to help measure the amount of carbon stored in forests, the loss of forests due to disturbance, and the extent of agricultural areas and wetland areas across the globe.
The six-member Expedition 53 crew poses for a portrait inside the Japanese Kibo laboratory module with the VICTORY art spacesuit that was hand-painted by cancer patients in Russia and the United States. On the right (from top to bottom) are European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli, cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos and Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik of NASA. Credit: NASA. NASA

Expedition 53 checked out a specialized microscope and worked on the International Space Stations toilet today. More supplies and hardware are also being offloaded from the newly-arrived Cygnus cargo craft.

Commander Randy Bresnik opened up the Fluids Integrated Rack this morning to take a look at its Light Microscopy Module (LMM), an advanced space microscope. He was troubleshooting the device and swapping out its cables. The LMM provides a facility to examine the microscopic properties of different types of fluids in microgravity.

European Space Agency Paolo Nespoli worked on space plumbing throughout the day in the stations restroom, the Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC). The veteran station resident removed and replaced valves and sensors in the WHC as part regular preventative maintenance.

More crew supplies and research gear are being unloaded from Cygnus today to outfit the crew and continue ongoing space science experiments. NASA astronaut Joe Acaba was unpacking food, batteries and computer gear for stowage throughout the station. The second-time station resident was also removing Genes in Space gear and blood sample kits for upcoming science work.

On-orbit Status Report

Marrow: Upon wakeup, a 52S crewmember conducted breath and ambient air sample collections for the Marrow investigation, which looks at the effect of microgravity on bone marrow. It is believed that microgravity, like long-duration bed rest on Earth, has a negative effect on the bone marrow and the blood cells that are produced in the bone marrow.

NanoRacks-DreamUp Xtronaut Microbe (DreamXM) Operations: To initiate the NanoRacks DreamXM experiment, today a crewmember used cotton swabs to sample locations and inoculate several Petri Dishes to begin the DreamXM experiment. Photos were taken of each Petri Dish as a baseline data point. Kits containing nearly identical materials were provided to students to perform a duplicate ground experiment. NanoRacks(DreamXM) teaches students the different microbial growths from a home-school setting and those in microgravity using near-identical flight kits flown and operated in the International Space Station (ISS). With access to an online portal, students swab away, paralleling the procedures of crew members and comparing results with online videos and datasets. The investigation aims to promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields to the next generation of students.

At Home in Space: The crew took photographs to document ISS culture. This Canadian Space Agency investigation assesses culture, values, and psychosocial adaptation of astronauts to a space environment shared by multinational crews on long-duration missions. It is hypothesized that astronauts develop a shared space culture that is an adaptive strategy for handling cultural differences and they deal with the isolated confined environment of the spacecraft by creating a home in space. At Home in Space also uses questionnaires to investigate individual and culturally related differences, family functioning, values, coping with stress, and post-experience growth.

Fluids Integrated Rack (FIR) Light Microscopy Module (LMM) Camera Data Cable Swap: Today the crew exchanged data connections from the LMM Wide-field Camera to the LMM Confocal Camera and then relocated the connection of Fluids and Combustion Facility (FCF) Image Processor cable to troubleshoot the LMM wide-field camera data cable and connectors. The results of todays troubleshooting activities are currently being assessed by the ground teams to determine if the Wide-field data cable should be replaced. The Light Microscopy Module (LMM) is a modified commercial, highly flexible, state-of-the-art light imaging microscope facility that provides researchers with powerful diagnostic hardware and software onboard the International Space Station (ISS). The LMM Wide field camera will be used for every payload in the FIR.

Earth Imagery from ISS Target Operations: The crew captured images of Seattle and the Northwest Pacific, fishing boats in the Gulf of Thailand, and the Nile Delta at night. The Earth Imagery from ISS investigation creates a series of videos, showcasing Earth from space. These videos will be taken with cameras on the International Space Station in 6K hi-resolution, then integrated into videos for screensavers for public enjoyment, exploration, and engagement.

Two Phase Flow Operations: The crew conducted checkout activities for the Two Phase Flow experiment equipment. The Two Phase Flow investigation seeks to build a database on the heat transfer efficiency of liquids in space that can be used in the design of high-performance thermal management systems for future space platforms.

Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Urine Hydraulic Components Remove & Replace (R&R): The crew performed preventive maintenance to R&R the urine valve block, urine lines, urine pressure sensors and WHC flush water tank empty pressure sensor.

Port Thermal Radiator Rotary Joint (TRRJ) Imagery: The crew took imagery of the Port TRRJ from the Docking Compartment 1 (DC1) Window. During this task, the port radiator was rotated to specific angles in order to photograph specific sections of the radiator.

Space Station Computer (SSC) Server Deploy: Today the crew deployed and configured a ZBook Laptop to be used as a Server to replace the T61p Linux Server 1 (LS1) Laptop.

ISS Server1 Rebuild: Tonight during crew sleep, ground controllers will deploy a new build of the ISS Server1 Virtual Machine (VM). In recent weeks, ISS Server1 has experienced numerous spontaneous lockups, causing disruptions to operations onboard. The new build of Server1 has some modifications to it which are hoped to resolve the lockup issue.

On Board Training (OBT) Cygnus Rendezvous Debrief: Today the USOS crew participated in a debrief with ground teams to cover questions and comments related to Cygnus capture and berthing.

Spare Latching End Effector (LEE)/Utility Transfer Assembly (UTA) Flight Releasable Attachment Mechanism (FRAM) Swap: This morning, Robotics Ground Controllers maneuvered the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) and Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) to remove the UTA from External Stowage Platform (ESP)-2 and translated the Mobile Transporter (MT) from Work Site (WS)-4 to WS-7. They then removed the LEE and installed the UTA on ELC-1. Today, the MT was translated back to WS-4 from WS-7. Later this evening, the LEE will be installed on ESP-2. These activities are in preparation for EVAs planned next January.

Todays Planned Activities

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

JEM Camera Robot Trouble Shoot

Verification of ??-1 Flow Sensor Position

Photo TV Radiator Port survey

??? Maintenance

VIZIR. Preparation Steps.

NanoRacks Microbial Growth Polar Sample Removal

At Home In Space Questionnaire

Testing Central Post Computer 2 (???2)

Environmental Health System (EHS)  Coliform Water Sample Analysis 44 +/- 4 hours post processing

In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Waste and Hygeine Compartment (WHC) Urine Receptacle (UR) and Insert Filter (IF) Remove and Replace

Transfer Cygnus Cargo Operations

Study of cardiovascular system under measured physical CYCLE Ergometer load.

Assistance in Study of cardiovascular system under measured Cycle Ergometer load

Fluids Integrated Rack Rack Doors Open

LMM Camera Data Swap

Fluids Integrated Rack Rack Doors Close

In-Flight Maintenance (IFM) Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Tool Gather

NanoRacks Microbial Growth Experiment Start

Countermeasures System (CMS) Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Pip Pin Remove and Replace

Photo/TV WHC VIDEO Setup

WHC Urine Hydraulic Components R&R

VIZIR. Closeout Ops

SSC Server-3 Hardware Deploy

PROBOY. Station Laptop Ops.

PROBOY. Penetration Simulator Ops

HRF Generic Frozen Blood Collection Setup

FIR Image Processor SUG Cable Swap

PROBOY. Copy and Downlink Data

Return Node 3 camcorder to nominal location

NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer Installation Procedure Review

Checkout of Soyuz 736 Onboard Computer Network. Soyuz 736 ???? No. 2 test on standalone power.

Trash Locker Cleanout

USOS Window Shutter Close

Marrow Breath And Ambient Air Sample Setup  Subject

Cygnus Cargo Operations Conference

Marrow Breath And Ambient Air Sample Setup Historical Photo

Video recording of greetings

Battery Stowage Assembly (BSA) Operation Termination

Onboard Training (OBT) Cygnus Debrief Conference

Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) Two-Phase Flow Experiment Equipment Activation

Completed Task List Activities

None

Ground Activities

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

MSS LEE/UTA Swap

LMM Camera Checkout

ISS Server1 Deployment

Three-Day Look Ahead:

Friday, 11/17: Cubesat deployer installation, MARES/Sarcolab

Saturday, 11/18: Housekeeping, Crew Off Duty

Sunday, 11/19: Crew Off Duty

QUICK ISS Status  Environmental Control Group:

Component  Status

Elektron  On

Vozdukh  Manual

[???] 1  SM Air Conditioner System (SKV1)  On

[???] 2  SM Air Conditioner System (SKV2)  Off

Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab  Operate

Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3  Standby

Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab  Idle

Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3  Operate

Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA)  Process

Urine Processing Assembly (UPA)  Process

Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab  Full Up

Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3  Off
Call Me Queen Be (Eric Goodell, $8.20) retook the lead early and grudgingly held it late Friday night (November 17), winning Yonkers Raceways blindly-drawn (by modern technology) $40,000 Filly and Mare Open Pace.

Away second from post potion No. 2, Queen Be at first was pocketed to HP Sissy (Dan Dube) then retook before a :27.2 opening quarter-mile.

It was a :56.1 intermission when Regil Elektra (Joe Bongiorno) offered a fruitless, first-up bid from fifth. Meanwhile, Call Me Queen Be maintained her social status in and out of a 1:24.3 three-quarters, taking a length and a half lead into the lane.

She would need just about all of it. Slight 5-2 favourite All About Madi (Brian Sears), who won the draw but sat a loose three-hole, stormed home inside. Madis memo arrived a tad late as she missed a scant nose in 1:53.3. Mach It A Par (Jason Bartlett) left the cones to snatch third, beaten a half-length. HP Sissy and Shesjustadelight N (Ron Cushing) settled for the pre-turkey leftovers.

For tepid second choice Call Me Queen Be, a four-year-old millionairess daughter of Somebeachsomewhere co-owned by Let it Ride Stables & Dana Parham and trained by Ross Croghan, the win was her fourth in 19 seasonal starts. The exacta paid $21.40, with the triple returning $63.50.

A friendly reminder from Yonkers Raceway that Saturday evenings (November 18) Pick 5 wager starts with a carryover of $3,867.20.

The Pick 5 is a 50-cent base wager comprising races seven through 11 during every racing card. It has no consolation payoff, meaning if no one selects all five winners (as was the case Friday night), the entire pool (minus takeout) moves to the next racing program.

(Yonkers Raceway)
We witness media coverage of hate, racism, inequality, robbery, embezzlement, and on and on, day after day. Does it exist? Yes. Negative coverage for long periods of time, suggests that the above has become the norm. It sends a convincing message that we as a community, state and nation are going in the wrong direction. I think we can all agree, the vast majority of media coverage is negative, disturbing and helps create the image that we are not safe and basically going to hell  unless, of course, someone in government saves the day.

Just imagine how the media could have such a positive influence over time if we the public read, heard and viewed 90 percent of positive coverage of all the good things people do day after day. Would hate and racism, etc., still exist? Certainly, but it would be overshadowed by the good and would become the new normal offering hope rather than conflict.

The media, I believe, could be very influential in turning this country around far more than who's president, who's in Congress or Senate, or who's mayor. I witness right here in Billings the efforts of civic organizations, churches, clubs, businesses, individual group efforts helping friends, families and neighbors every day. I believe that is the norm and could be covered by a full-time Gazette writer focused on the positive aspects of Billings and surrounding community. I would bet it might help their declining readership numbers as well.

I urge everyone who happens to read my "voice," that you take the time to You-Tube a speech by Congressman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, given at Liberty University. Gowdy challenged his fellow Republicans, Democrats and young university students. Everyone should listen and live by the content of his speech.

Yes, even Trump could learn from it. The Billings Gazette should publish the Gowdy speech just as they did publishing Senator Flakes recent speech.

Edward Hoem

Billings
The Eyer and Wade families Friday each rescued a child from Washingtons foster-care crisis.

As part of National Adoption Day, Russ and GraceAnne Eyer adopted their biological nephew, 4-year-old Caleb, during a ceremony Friday morning at the Cowlitz County Administration Building. He is now part of a family that includes the Eyers two adult children and adoptive daughter, Lucy, 6.

Lucy came to us as foster parents, and  she was my daughter instantly, Russ Eyer said. There was no doubt, even before (Caleb) was adopted, that he and Lucy were brother and sister.

County officials make a special deal of adoptions done on National Adoption Day to help focus attention on the shortage of adoptive families and the many children waiting for their forever families.

Statewide there are about 1,700 children who are eligible for adoption, and Superior Court Judge Marilyn Haan said the number of children in foster care is on the rise.

The foster care system is in crisis, said Hann, who conducted the adoption proceedings Friday. We simply dont have enough homes to take in these very vulnerable kids.

She said studies have shown that children who age out of foster care at 18-years-old without a permanent family are less likely to graduate high school and are more likely to struggle with homelessness and substance abuse.

That connection to family is important to the overall health of these kids, Haan said. Its someone to connect with and identify as family.

Only two kids were adopted at the 12th annual Cowlitz County Adoption Day event, but the reception room bustled with friends and family.

Thats whats so great about Adoption Day, Haan said. These kids arent just getting a mom and a dad, they get a whole family to celebrate with.

Jared Wade said 2-year-old Bellajoan has lived with him and his wife, Amy, since she was 3 weeks old and he seemed relieved to finalize her adoption. The Wades have adopted twice before, but Wade said the ceremony Friday made the event extra special.

Third times the charm, he said with a grin.

Families who have adopted in the past are also invited to the festivities to celebrate and support each other.

Melanie Lee Siebert, who adopted two of her sons as part of Adoption Day six years ago, said she returned this year to support the Wades, who are her friends. But she clapped just as much for the second family.

She said the celebrations are a chance to show appreciation for foster kids.

Its always a joyful day, Siebert said. Our children are an awesome gift  and they deserve to be cherished and honored.

Attorney Darrel Ammons, who has worked in adoptions for more than 25 years, said he enjoys attending Adoption Day every year.

A lot of the things that lawyers and judges get to do are not so fun, Ammons said. This, for the most part, is a happy ending.

He added that there is a great need for more foster parents.

Judge Haan said there is no template for adoptive parents: They can be older or single or anywhere in between.

We are here to celebrate the adoptive families who had the courage to open their hearts and homes for children, she said.

Russ Eyer said he was glad National Adoption Day brought attention to the foster care system for at least one day a year. He and his wife each raised a biological child as single parents before they were married eight years ago. But now they are raising two young children together.

We both have older kids but we realized that we had more to give, Eyer said. We arent done being parents yet.
A plan that could potentially reduce the number of part-time employees at the Kalama Public Library had some city residents riled up at a City Council meeting Wednesday.

The citys management team and mayor are reviewing the librarys policies and staffing structure, which could involve shifting to two part-time librarians instead of four.

In an interview Friday, City Administrator Adam Smee stressed that no final decisions have been made yet.

Nobody has been terminated and nothing has been changed, he said.

The review process was triggered by the states new paid sick leave benefit, said Carol Ebe, a Library Board member whose five-year term expires at the end of the year.

Ebe said the library has had a handful of dedicated staff who generally work anywhere between one and a few days per week since at least 1974.

The library currently has two part-time employees who have have worked there for about two years, a director whos been there for more than a decade and another senior employee whos worked there for about 30 years, Ebe said.

These are older women and they really have devoted themselves to the library, she said. Ebe said the staff make about $11 per hour.

Ebe said she initially questioned what the savings would be if you simply pay two people for the hours that the four had previously split.

Washingtons new law allows employees to accrue one hour of sick leave for every 40 hours worked.

Theres no financial savings in that, and we enjoy these staff members and theyve stepped in for each other, Ebe said.

Ebe said she asked Mayor Pete Poulsen at Wednesdays meeting if he intended to make staff cuts while he was still in his office. He did not seek re-election and his term expires next month.

He stated that was his goal, she said.

Reached by phone Friday, Poulsen said he was unable to comment on library staffing because he has not made any final decisions and is barred from discussing personnel issues.

He also said rumors that hes unhappy with the current library staff are untrue.

Believe me, this is small town politics at its best, he said. This is totally blown out of character.

Poulsen said the review process was triggered by the states new paid leave law but the city is still working through the review process.

Weve brought the library into the 21st century and we just want to make sure some of the librarys policies are updated and adjusted, he said.

Kalama Library supporters held a grand reopening celebration in July after the old Art Deco building received a $500,000 makeover. The building now has a modern interior with an open floor plan, a new computer bank and free Wi-Fi.

Despite how far the library has come, Library Board Chair Cynthia Svvenson said that some people are still unhappy.

They just seem to think, I dont know, that something has to be done and Im not too sure of the why, she said in an interview. Thats the problem.

Svvenson said the board agreed at its last meeting that the city should not release any staff members unless it saves a significant amount of money.

For them to still want to do it, there needs to be a compelling reason and frankly Ive never heard a compelling reason, she said.

Poulsen said the question of how to staff the library may fall to Mike Reuter, a Kalama Planning Commission member who won the citys three-way mayoral contest last week.

I dont have enough information to make a judgment call yet, Reuter said in an interview Friday.

Ebe said she had counseled Poulsen to proceed cautiously, especially in the wake of the citys failed $2.2 million bond proposal to build a new police station at Maruhn Park.

The ballot measure was resoundingly rejected by 65 percent of Kalama voters last week.

The citizens of Kalama do not appreciate having something presented something to them as an accomplished fact, she said.
Rainier husband and wife educators and the Rainier School District have been sued for $1.8 million by two district employees who said they defied orders to keep quiet about the alleged sexual and physical abuse of a 6-year-old student.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reported Friday night that Michelle Eastham and Terrianne MacEllven say they were harassed and ostracized by Special Education Director Laurie Kash and Kashs husband, District Superintendent Michael Carter.

According to the report, Eastham and MacEllven worked with the girl in a special education class. They said she told them in October 2015 that a teenage boy was touching her underneath her underwear, had punched her in the face and had pinched her nose shut and covered her mouth, according to the lawsuit.

Eastham and MacEllven were instructional assistants in the girls classroom and mandatory reporters of child abuse under Oregon law, the suit states.

Eastham and MacEllven informed the girls teacher, who in turn, informed Kash, the suit states. But Kash insisted that the two not tell the Oregon Department of Human Services or police of the 6-year-olds report because the girl was a fantastical liar, the suit states.

Carter declined to comment to Oregonlive because the district does not comment on lawsuits. In August, Kash became state director of special education in Texas, according to OregonLive, which cited her Facebook page.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Portland on Nov. 14.
Just the facts

Editors of the Daily News want us to stick to the facts and form our opinion. Yet they provide just half of the facts. Here are a few facts that the paper omitted:

TDN editors failed to mention the fact that the proposed ammonia plant will come with a 197 foot flare stack. TDN failed to mention the 2.5 million gallons of water the ammonia plant would consume each day.

TDN editors failed to reference the 12-15 marine vessels. Theres a good chance that the ammonia will be exported because the company claims that the number of vessels may decrease over time as they increase the supply to the Pacific Northwests agricultural community.

TDN says that the benevolent ammonia company volunteered to complete a more extensive environmental review. However, this does not align with whats on the city of Longviews website. City of Longview made the determination that an Environmental Impact Statement, not a lesser review, must be completed.

This is another attempt to make Cowlitz County a sacrifice zone for explosive, dirty projects.

Linda Leonard

Kalama

Media bias

Jeff Mitchell was right on the mark about TDN being one sided. It is not just The Daily News that is biased against President Trump or conservatives, the entire media empire is biased against Republicans, conservatives and the president. I would like to see some articles on the sales of uranium to Russia approved by the secretary of state and other high government officials but it is not going to happen. I will go to Breitbart, VOX, Reuters and others to get a better look at what is happening in this once great country.

Allan Pilger

Long Beach

Thing of the past

Having actually grown up in coal country, I would like to address David Fossatis questions. He asks where are the piles? In Pennsylvania anthracite (the cleaner coal) there are giant slag piles and tunnels some of which have been burning since I was a child, and I am 70 years old. The fumes are not healthy, and apparently there is no way to douse them. As for the people harmed, has he ever heard of black lung diseases or watched a documentary on the lives of the miners in West Virginia? Apparently he is uninformed or just doesnt care. My grandfather was delivered home in a burlap sack after being crushed in a mine collapse. Coal is a thing of the past. Clean energy sources are the future of the planet. Greed is the only reason to promote coal as a positive thing. Do your research.

Michelle Navarre

Longview

Questions remain

I see in the paper (The Daily News, Nov. 14) that the city council is contemplating an increase of $3.79 per month to our ever increasing utility rates, didnt we just have a recent increase? Well I guess I know where that bump in my Social Security check will be going next year, and I was so looking forward to that trip to Cancun. Seriously members of the city council and related staff, how about giving we who are struggling to get by on a limited income some answers in the above mentioned newspaper? We need these questions answered.

1. How much money do you estimate will be raised by this increase?

2. What are you going to spend the money on, be specific. What happened to the lift the city was going to put on Oak Street between 30th and 38th last year? Can those of us who live in CVG get a break on the storm water costs since we have no sidewalks and no curbs only open ditches? Can you not cut back on the tax percentage rate since every increase also increases the taxes. How about it council members, some answers please.

Daniel Stanley

Longview
WASHINGTON  I spent part of my convalescence from a recent illness reading some of the comprehensive timelines of the Russia investigation (which indicates, I suppose, a sickness of another sort). One, compiled by Politico, runs to nearly 12,000 words  an almost book-length account of stupidity, cynicism, hubris and corruption at the highest levels of American politics.

The cumulative effect on the reader is a kind of nausea no pill can cure. Most recently, we learned about Donald Trump Jr.s direct communications with WikiLeaks  which CIA Director Mike Pompeo has called a hostile intelligence service helped by Russia  during its efforts to produce incriminating material on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election. But this is one sentence in an epic of corruption. There is the narrative of a campaign in which high-level operatives believed that Russian espionage could help secure the American presidency, and acted on that belief. There is the narrative of deception to conceal the nature and extent of Russian ties. And there is the narrative of a president attempting to prevent or shut down the investigation of those ties, and soliciting others for help in that task.

In all of this, there is a spectacular accumulation of lies. Lies on disclosure forms. Lies at confirmation hearings. Lies on Twitter. Lies in the White House briefing room. Lies to the FBI. Self-protective lies by the attorney general. Blocking and tackling lies by Vice President Pence. This is, with a few exceptions, a group of people for whom truth, political honor, ethics and integrity mean nothing.

What are the implications? Trump and others in his administration are about to be hit by a legal tidal wave. We look at the Russia scandal and see lies. A skilled prosecutor sees leverage. People caught in criminal violations make more cooperative witnesses. Robert Mueller and his A-team of investigators have plenty of stupidity and venality to work with. They are investigating an administration riven by internal hatreds  also the prosecutors friend. And Trump has already alienated many potential allies in a public contest between himself and Mueller. A number of elected Republicans, particularly in the Senate, would watch this showdown with popcorn.

But the implications of all this are not only legal and political. We are witnessing what happens when right-wing politics becomes untethered from morality and religion.

What does public life look like without the constraining internal force of character  without the firm ethical commitments often (though not exclusively) rooted in faith? It looks like a presidential campaign unable to determine right from wrong and loyalty from disloyalty. It looks like an administration engaged in a daily assault on truth and convinced that might makes right. It looks like the residual scum left from retreating political principle  the worship of money, power and self-promoted fame. The Trumpian trinity.

But also: Power without character looks like the environment for women at Fox News during the reigns of Roger Ailes and Bill OReilly  what former network host Andrea Tantaros called a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency and misogyny. It looks like Breitbarts racial transgressiveness, providing permission and legitimacy to the alt-right. It looks like the cruelty and dehumanization practiced by Dinesh DSouza, dismissing the tears and trauma of one Roy Moore accuser as a performance. And it looks like the Christian defense of Moore, which has ceased to be recognizably Christian.

This may be the greatest shame of a shameful time. What institution, of all institutions, should be providing the leaven of principle to political life? What institution is specifically called on to oppose the oppression of children, women and minorities, to engage the world with civility and kindness, to prepare its members for honorable service to the common good?

A hint: It is the institution that is currently  in some visible expressions  overlooking, for political reasons, credible accusations of child molestation. Some religious leaders are willing to call good evil, and evil good in service to a different faith  a faith defined by their political identity. This is heresy at best; idolatry at worst.

Most Christians, of course, are not actively supporting Moore. But how many Americans would identify evangelical Christianity as a prophetic voice for human dignity and moral character on the political right? Very few. And they would be wrong.

Many of the people who should be supplying the moral values required by self-government have corrupted themselves. The Trump administration will be remembered for many things. The widespread, infectious corruption of institutions and individuals may be its most damning legacy.
Despite being suspected of having links to international terrorist organisations like the Islamic State, a procedural issue has prevented Italian authorities from arresting five Tunisian migrants, even as the Islamic State makes fresh threats against Rome.



Authorities in Turin initially requested the arrest of the five Tunisian migrants in May of this year but were rejected and then appealed by authorities who were given arrest permission earlier this week. However, the migrants themselves can still appeal the court decision up to the supreme court which would see them free until a ruling is made La Repubblica reports.



The groups of five Tunisian migrants are said to have come to Italy on university visas but Piedmont Islamic extremism investigators say they formed a terrorist cell and had links to the Islamic State terror group.



Italian right-wing Senator Maurizio Gasparri expressed outrage saying, it is really disconcerting as it is happening. I call on the government to intervene immediately. We can not allow suspected fundamentalists to be free to run around Italy and to kill us all.

The justice system in Italy is in as serious need for repair as any other European country run by corruptocrats:This is why even Italy's in sore need of modifying their legal system so that these corrupt judges won't endanger the country with their awful conduct.

Labels: dhimmitude, islam, Italy, jihad, racism, terrorism, war on terror
I recently emailed Sen. Jon Tester a simple question, and I got a long paragraph with no yes-or-no answer. HR 2723 is working its way through the house, and I want to know if he would be for, or against, the bill. The bill has to do with and individuals rights in the labor market. HR 2723 states: "To provide protection for workers with respect to their right to select or refrain from selecting representation by a labor organization." Like our Montana governor, Sen. Tester ignores the question and would rather protect a union than an individual.

Just this week, an appeals court upheld a law that prevents employees from being forced to pay labor unions. Individuals rights are more important than a union forcing itself on non-union workers. I don't need a lesson on how great unions have been. Labor union membership is at its lowest point in a century  now 10.6 percent, down from 20 percent.

One of the big reasons that workers are rejecting unions (VW plant in Tennessee) is that workers pay in will go to support political candidates they oppose. Unions have a stranglehold on politicians. Bullock had 12 unions contribute to his re-election. Ask your representatives, House and Senate, if they are for individuals rights with HR 2723.

Richard Lloyd

Absarokee
A couple at a Waffle House in Florida appear to have received an unexpected addition to one of their drinksa dead frog. Claire Sheats and her husband were at a Tallahassee Waffle House recently and were waiting for their food, and her husband took sips of his water before noticing there was a frog in it. Heres the video Sheats recorded, via The Tallahassee Democrat:

Lanetra Bennett of Tallahassee CBS affiliate WCTV has more details:

Claire Sheats says she and her husband were sipping on their drinks while waiting on their food at Waffle House. Her husband eventually looked down at his glass. In my husbands drink, theres a whole frog just floating around in the water, Sheats said. Sheats said they dumped the glass of water out onto the table to be sure of what they saw. Sure enough, theres the frog, she said. Her husband had already taken a few sips of the water. Sheats says the staff was as baffled as she and her husband were, and the manager apologized. Sheats said, Its a whole frog in a water drink and youre at a restaurant. You have hairs in your food sometimes or maybe a little piece of plastic from packaging. But, this is an amphibian and thats not something thatyou definitely lose your appetite immediately.

Sheats wound up complaining to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and they inspected the location and issued multiple warnings. Heres more on that from Ashley White of the Democrat:

DBPR inspected the restaurant Nov. 9. It issued 13 warnings, three of which were high-priority. Some of the warnings included food storage temperature violations and refrigerator drawers not being maintained in good repair. When an inspector returned for a follow-up on Thursday, the restaurant had complied with nine of the warnings, including all of the high-priority ones. It received a time extension on the other four. A Waffle House spokesman, Pat Warner, said in a statement to WCTV: We are concerned about this claim and are currently investigating the circumstances. Our corporate team is working with the local operators to determine the facts. Based on what our District Manager saw at the time and after reviewing the video, there are still some issues we are looking into. Serving quality food and delivering a quality experience are responsibilities we take seriously, and we will continue to review this matter, Warner said.

This doesnt sound like a good experience for Sheats, as no one wants a dead frog in their water. (Or a live one, for that matter.) Even the Dead Frog Brewery slogan of Nothing goes down like a cold Dead Frog works much better when its referencing beer rather than actual frogs. And, as with many things in 2017, Monty Python warned us. Heres that comedic troupes 1969 warning about the dangers of dead frogs in consumable products:

If we took the bones out, it wouldnt be crunchy, would it?

[The Tallahassee Democrat]
Zimbabwe's ruling party to hold rally as anti-Mugabe tide rises

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe attends a University Graduation Ceremony in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Reuters, Harare :

President Robert Mugabe's own ruling ZANU-PF party wants him to step down and plans to hold a rally in Zimbabwe's capital Harare on Saturday to make the point.

Mugabe, at Zimbabwe's helm since independence from Britain in 1980, faces the starkest challenge ever to his rule after the army seized power on Wednesday, saying it was targeting "criminals" around the nonagenarian leader.

ZANU-PF called on Friday for Mugabe to resign, the main state newspaper The Herald reported, a clear sign that the aging leader's authority has collapsed after the army takeover.

The newspaper said that ZANU-PF branches in all 10 provinces had met and had also called for Mugabe's wife Grace, whose ambitions to succeed her husband triggered the political crisis, to resign from the party.

A senior member of ZANU-PF earlier told Reuters the party wanted their long-time president gone. "If he becomes stubborn, we will arrange for him to be fired on Sunday," the source said. "When that is done, it's impeachment on Tuesday."

The Herald reported that ZANU-PF would convene a special Central Committee meeting on Sunday to "realign the revolutionary party with current political developments".

Pointedly, the military said it "fully supports" a "solidarity march" - apparently separate from the ZANU-PF event - in Harare on Saturday, part of an apparent groundswell of anti-Mugabe sentiment unleashed by the dramatic events of the past few days.

The army said it had been "approached by several private volunteer organizations seeking to freely move and express their desires" and they could do so if they were orderly and peaceful.

Harare has been calm as the coup has unfolded but the armed forces also said in a statement that "people have been warned against looting".

The army appears to want Mugabe to go quietly and allow a transition to Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose sacking last week as vice president sparked the army action.
RANGPUR: Dr Md Mozammel Hossain, Divisional Director, Health, Rangpur speaking at a press briefing organised on the occasion of the World Prematurity Day at Civil Surgeon Office Auditorium, Rangpur on Friday.
Photo contest kicks off

A Correspondent :

With a view to depict the heritage, culture, nature and lifestyle of greater Chittagong region, a month-long photography contest titled, "Portrait of Chittagong'', kicked off on Thursday. Aamra Chattagram, a Chittagong-based organisation, is arranging the contest. Enthusiasts can email their submissions till December 17 to aamra. chattagram.bd @gmail.com.

The Daily Star supplement Star Youth, local daily Dainik Azadi and Channel 24 are the media partners of the event.




Australia gambling giants merger approved after setback

AFP, Sydney :

A merger between Australian gambling giants Tabcorp and Tatts is back on track after a tribunal on Friday approved the Aus$8.6 billion (US$6.5 billion) deal following a court-ordered review on competition concerns.

The decision by the Australian Competition Tribunal (ACT) revives the long-planned push by Tabcorp and Tatts-first announced in October last year-to forge closer ties to try to cut costs and pursue opportunities globally.

"The tribunal is satisfied in all the circumstances that the proposed merger would result, or would be likely to result, in such a benefit to the public that the acquisition should be allowed to occur," ACT said in a statement.

Tatts Group has a betting shop network in the states of Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania and also operates a lotteries business.

Tabcorp Holdings runs similar operations in Victoria and New South Wales, with a broadcasting and media arm built around Sky Racing. It also owns Odyssey Gaming, a Queensland gaming monitoring business.

The firms both compete in online gambling.

ACT said Tabcorp would be granted authorisation to acquire shares in Tatts, subject to the condition that it sells Odyssey Gaming.

It added that the "detriments identified" by Australia's competition watchdog, the ACCC, were "unlikely to either arise or are not otherwise material".
Villages can potentially gain Banking business

The Chairman and CEO of Lockpur Group of Industries and the Chairman of SBAC Bank Limited, S M Amzad Hossain is among the most socially responsible industry owners in the country. His efforts to integrate the rural people into his business empire and advance a forward thinking banking structure have largely went unnoticed in the media. In this intimate interview he shares his stories from the past and his vision for the future, as The New Nation asks him questions related to his industries and his bank.



NN: Why did you go back to your village to invest and build up an industry?

Well, I am from village," he simply said. "I've always wanted to give back to my community. I think industrialization is very capital-city-centric or at least city-centric. So, people are leaving rural areas and flocking toward the cities and you can't really blame them for that.

"I thought that if I bring the machines & set up industry in the villages then they don't have to go to the cities. People who go to cities spend a vast portion of their income on living expenses in the city. Ultimately there is no substantial change in their lives.

If I bring the industry to them, then he can live in their own houses comfortably, without paying rent and work happily.

NN: How big are the industries and how many people actually work in those factories?

SBAC Chairman: When I started, I did not think that I would get where it is now. At this moment, all of these industries together employ 18 thousand people, including officers, engineers, technicians etc. The amazing thing is, among our most skilled technical people like engineers, 30 percent are women. The workers and the supervisors at the industry are 70 percent women. But that's not all. My locality, the Fokirhat Thana, has eight Unions. The 4 Unions among them do not have a single house where at least one person isn't employed at one of my industries. These workers have proper working conditions. They work in shifts and they run the industry successfully.

NN: why do you set up branches of his bank in remote areas?

SBAC Chairman: Banks are city centric because they want to make quick profit. But if you look closely, these banks are setting up in business hubs, they are making quick profit, but they are also gaining quick defaulters. Whereas, the amount of resource/money in the villages can potentially gain Banking business and the risk of defaulters will be much less. And in the absence of banks, micro credit companies, MLM companies, loan sharks prey on the poor rural people. The rate of interest they impose start from 25 percent and go up."

"So, I thought if I set up a branch there and keep the rate of interest in the single digit. This will be good for the people and the bank can also operate risk free," he added.

"After I opened up these branches in the villages, they are performing no less than city branches. And I have to reiterate, there is no risk," he assuredly said.

NN: How is his bank doing well based purely on the villages?

SBAC Chairman: We wanted to make the bank customer centric. We wanted to get to the real customers. The bottom line was making a customer friendly bank. When I was in America I used to bank in The Commerce Bank (which is currently known as TD Bank, owned by the Canada Trust). This was the most customer friendly bank in America. The way it became customer friendly was by making the bank 9am to 9pm and 7 days a week. The extended support attracted the clients."

"People are getting engrossed in using technologies very fast. But people still value human contact. It has value and it cannot be ignored. That's why for SBAC Bank, technology is important, its indispensable, but we decided to always value the human element and give priority to it."

NN: what is your vision for the future?

SBAC Chairman: I have made 4 unions poverty free. I want to extend this to beyond my immediate locality. I feel that there are many places around my locality that could benefit from my contribution. And I want to contribute. I want to make the whole area poverty free.

NN: When do you envision this will happen?

SBAC Chairman: I think in the next 5 to 7 years, I will be able to go near the goal. However, I am often immensely bothered by the bureaucracy that you have to go through; in my case even after direct support from the highest level of the Government. But I will not go into that. What I want to say is this: I think if certain problems are handled strictly by the government, then you can build industries anywhere in Bangladesh. If you have electricity, a strong management and the will to spend some time in the rural areas, then it is possible. I would like to do more. All you need is very strict implementation of the rule of law.
Insurance in Bangladesh - its Growth, Problems & Solution

n Insurance is a risk bearing organization. By receiving premium it takes the risk of thousands/crores of industries, godowns, shops, financial institutions money insurance, and various liabilities insurance, vehicle insurance and of life insurance in a various formation (Endowment, Three Plan, DPS etc.). But due to over expenditure in procurement of business and also the increase of other management expenditure insurance companies cannot meet the losses in time due to lack of sufficient fund. n Insurance is a highly regulated sector in worldwide. In our country the Insurance Development & Regulatory Authority (IDRA) started its function from January 26, 2011. From the very inception IDRA had to face an uphill task to enforce discipline in the market. IDRA formed vigilance teams to inspect different branches of insurance companies and any violation detected was severely punished through enforcement of heavy monetary penalties. Especially in the non-life sector for documents issued without receiving money and over commission as set by the Authority.

Mir Nazim Uddin Ahmed :

Insurance is not a new business in Bangladesh. Almost a century back, during British rule in India, some insurance companies started transacting business, both life and general, in Bengal. Insurance business gained momentum in East Pakistan during 1947-1971, when 49 insurance companies transacted both life and general insurance schemes. These companies were of various origins British, Australian, Indian, West Pakistani and local. 10 insurance companies had their head office in East Pakistan, 27 in West Pakistan and the rest elsewhere in the world. These were mostly limited liability companies. Some of these companies were specialized in dealing in a particular class of business, while others were composite companies that dealt in more than one class of business.

The government of Bangladesh nationalized insurance industry in 1972 by the Bangladesh insurance (Nationalization) order 1972. By virtue of this order, save and except postal life insurance and foreign life insurance companies, all 49 insurance companies and originations transacting insurance business in the country were placed in the public sector under five corporations. These corporations were: the Jatiya Bima Corporation, Tista Bima Corporation, Karnafuli Bima Corporation, Rupsa Jibon Bima Corporation, and Surma Bima Corporation. The Jatiya Bima Corporation was an apex corporation only to supervise and control the activities of the other insurance corporations, which were responsible for underwriting. The specialist life companies or the life portion of a composite company joined the Rupsa and Surma corporations while specialist general insurance companies or the general portion of a composite company joined the Tista and Karnafuli corporations. Rupsa and Surma for life insurance and Tista and Karnafuli Bima Corporations were for general insurance.

After independence of Bangladesh, insurance industry was nationalized. Subsequently through the enactment of insurance corporation Act VI, 1973, two corporations namely Sadharan Bima Corporation (SBC) for general insurance and, Jiban Bima Corporation (JBC) for life insurance were established in Bangladesh. SBC was acting as the sole insurer of general insurance till 1984. Between 1985 to 1988 first generation of private general insurance were emerged as Bangladesh Government allowed the private sector to conduct business in all areas if insurance for the first time in 1984. A total of 16 private general insurance companies were registered in that phase. In 1996 another 8 private general insurance companies were registered. The third generation of private general insurance companies, which included 19 companies, came into operations now between 1999 to 2001 and recent 2013 in new 02 companies joined in operation. The general insurance market in Bangladesh consists of 45 private sector insurance companies and 1 state owned insurance company and of life insurance companies to 31 including Jiban Bima Corporation and one foreign company American life company (now MetLife) which has been operating since 1972.

No market is a market without competition. A Competitive Market to foster insensitiveness, adaptability and flexibility to provide new coverage and protection for new developing industries, the financial resource and the financial stability provide the growth of an insurance company. A good number of quality and experienced people can help to develop the industry with flair and integrity.

Insurance is a risk bearing organization. By receiving premium it takes the risk of thousands/crores of industries, godowns, shops, financial institutions money insurance, and various liabilities insurance, vehicle insurance and of life insurance in a various formation (Endowment, Three Plan, DPS etc.). But due to over expenditure in procurement of business and also the increase of other management expenditure insurance companies cannot meet the losses in time due to lack of sufficient fund.

Nowadays a method of undercut rate is already started in the industry. This type of (undercut) price can reduce the premium of insurance companies and also Government loses the tax and vat which ultimately hamper the Government revenue earnings.

Experts are of the opinion that too many insurance companies are operating in a small market of Bangladesh causing most unhealthy competition. In market there must be competition and it should be ethical, but in our insurance market it is highly in ethical and imbalance. Only Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority can improve the situation by providing modernize rules and regulations to bring discipline in the sector, for the interest of the insurance industry.

To build up relation with public is very important. Practical experience and positive thinking can help to furnish/polish the end result. In our country a great number of people believe that insurance business is nothing but cheating and selling papers only. This negative attitude from the people is lessening the importance of absorbing insurance policy in a large extent and advertisement need to different distribution channels (TV and Print Media) for removes of this negative attitude from the peoples mind.

Education can play a vital role in service oriented organizations. An educated man can express the idea of thinking, convince people and motivate them by his positive activities. Without education no one can sell the new and modern conceptual product. If sale force is not equipped no insurance company can take risk to innovative new policy because of huge amount is involve in innovation. Presently insurance market by the grace of IT technology everybody wants service promptly. This technical knows how personnel are very important to an organization. Those who have this type of knowledge can do better than the other.

Financial strength of an insurance company depends on earning i.e. number of policies sale in different segment and the expenditure incurred against it. Nowadays it is very difficult to make profit after adjustment of procurement cost and others calls management expenses. On the other hand investment return from FDR and Sanchaipatro is going through a downward trend and also the Share Market situation is not stable.

In developed countries on government securities are made favourable compared to other kinds of securities through the interplay of market forces of demand and supply. So, the insurance companies are attracted to invest in government securities helping the government to undertake expenditure with these funds without resorting to increase deficit financing.

A healthy insurance market must have a base and growing volume of business. In our present market, only a few types of general insurance businesses (schemes of insurance) are underwritten, mostly on compulsion basis. A vast field of private property remains outside insurance protection. No doubt the volume of business has increased to some extent, but the schemes of insurance are restricted a few types viz, a few schemes under fire, marine, motor and accident insurance business are in practice. Many insurance schemes like Householder's policy, locker insurance, jeweler's block policies, loss of profit or consequential loss policy, employers liability, public liability, product liability, professional indemnity, Machinery Break Down, Deterioration of Stock, Hotel Owner insurance, Industrial all risk, Contractor's all risks, plate glass insurance, crop insurance, credit insurance, livestock insurance, Money insurance, ATM booth insurance and many other non-traditional schemes of insurance are hardly underwritten in the private sector. Of course, the financial strength and lack of specialized knowledge of the new and smaller companies don't permit them to underwrite such risks. Even bigger companies are often shy of underwriting such risks. But for the sake of growing market more and more risks should be covered to minimize the loss. People should be persuaded and educated to buy new types of insurance products. Unless this is done, the companies will involve themselves in unfair competition in a limited market for procuring the same business.

Same is the case with life insurance. Life products are also restricted to a few traditional schemes. Various innovative products can be developed to cover different needs viz, accidents, medical needs, education/marriage of children, retirement benefits and other needs of human beings from cradle to death. But presently the life companies can't satisfy these needs satisfactorily rather they concentrate on a few products like endowment scheme, three/five stage policy and pension policy, etc. Although micro-insurance has brought about a tremendous improvement in the selling of life insurance policies but it has also given rise to many anomalies, viz, undercut of rate, high lapse ratio, misappropriation of fund etc.

Recent days it is thus obvious that insurance market in the country is not expanding and has of late come to a stagnant position. This view of supported by business statistics of the insurance industry. It is also mentioned that political instability also one of the reason for negative indication.

Insurance company diversifies the risk by re-insurance to Sadharan Bima Corporation/Jiban Bima Corporation 100% or other foreign countries as per law of the land 50% and rest 50% to two Corporations (SBC/JBC). Those who are reinsured with the foreign company they influence the market by giving low price and others suffer and lose their business. In a little market this type of discrimination can hamper the growth of those companies who are not ready to reinsured other than the local reinsurer.

In case of any loss or damages foreign reinsurer are very much active to settle it at highest priorities. On the other hand our local reinsurer asks lot of queries and hampers the flow of private company's activity. To satisfy the clients' private company pays the insured claim in time and waits years for settlement of claims by the local reinsurer.

Local reinsurer also imposes various barriers to private company in terms of reinsurance commission, loss participation clause, sliding scale, profit commission etc.

Insurance business runs with the help of Agent. In life insurance no one can procure business except agent. They officially recognized and get proper training from own office and others institutions. Agents are earning by using license. On the other hand non-life insurance is selling their product by development personnel who are the company's permanent employee and getting all facilities available in the market. No agents procure business of non-life insurance. For realizing commission as per law they nominated agents who are there relatives or family member or the person hire for banking transaction by paying some percentage to him/her. By this situation agent employment of non-life insurance need to stop and accordingly amendment of law required and to recognition and development need of Officers/Executives in same formation/hierarchy in every company. For the sake of industry Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority can apply their expertise and if need gets opinion from insurance expert to solve the problem.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer are appointed in a notify rules. The rules indicate the procedure, qualification, experience and others terms. Sometimes we see somewhere it's violated which makes it questionable.

In Managing Director and CEO, notify rules all foreign insurance degree are recommended and recognized but our local degree in insurance i.e. BIA Diploma is not recognized, it should be included otherwise, and no one is interested to acquire this type of degree from Bangladesh Insurance Academy.

Branch opening process is not so easy. Branches are the main source of earning premium of an insurance company. Before open a branch insurance companies select personnel, rent a office, connect land phone & internet, after arranging these they are to submit proposal to IDRA by a pay order/demand draft of Tk.50,000/= (fifty thousand) only. After long time observation IDRA denied to give permission of the branch due to some illogic reason, by this time companies paying office rent and other utilities charges. Companies' loss lot of money for this purpose which ultimately affect the Management expenses. If insurance companies does not earn premium in what way they pay the IDRA dues and penalties due to non IPO in market.

Maximum companies are not regular in IPO due to the Act 2010, to increase/raise the Paid up Capital from 6 crore/9 crore to 30 crore/40 crore it is a reality. This should be taken into consideration by the Authority.

It may be mentioned that the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority Act, 2010 has emphasized on training and holding of seminars and workshops etc. Bangladesh Insurance Academy was established mainly to train insurance employees. Academy is usually conducting training programs time to time but the response from the insurance companies is very poor. They are shy to spend money to train their employees.

On the other hand IDRA notification, our local degree in insurance i.e. BIA is not recognized and it is not treated as experience. Those who are acquired that type of degree companies are not also upgraded them in service. Other reason is Insurance Academy is far from the work place of companies and communication is also time consuming.

Of late a few private training institutes have also started training programs for the insurance personnel. Insurance Association, Dhaka University has opened a faculty viz Banking and Insurance Department. The program of this institute should be upgraded as per modern requirement.

Insurance is a highly regulated sector in worldwide. In our country the Insurance Development & Regulatory Authority (IDRA) started its function from January 26, 2011. From the very inception IDRA had to face an uphill task to enforce discipline in the market. IDRA formed vigilance teams to inspect different branches of insurance companies and any violation detected was severely punished through enforcement of heavy monetary penalties. Especially in the non-life sector for documents issued without receiving money and over commission as set by the Authority.

IDRA has been working on making rules and regulation for the insurance industry. The Chairman and Member of IDRA are interrelated with IDRA Act. They are working since formation and now they are working for implementation of Insurance Act, 2010. They are very much experienced and educated in their line on the other hand they work in the initial stage of preparing Insurance Act, 2010, so expectation from them is in highest level to the insurance industry.



(Mir Nazim Uddin Ahmed Writer: Managing Director & CEO, Islami Commercial Insurance Co. Ltd.)
Engage the dignitaries for a prompt multilateral approach

FIVE foreign ministers from top Asian and European countries including a few high-ups of the European Union have started arriving in Dhaka since yesterday for discussing the Rohingya crisis with government officials. It has apparently become clear that our foreign office has finally woken up to realise that - not bilateral the approach should have been a multi-lateral one to force Myanmar to take back the Rohingya refugees. Since the very beginning of the crisis the government was clearly on a wrong position. Moreover, the politicians as well as bureaucrats were also confused in tackling the growing crisis.





Following last Thursday's passing of the draft resolution at the UN, we expect the government now to move forward while effectively involve the ministers and EU high-ups to force Myanmar not only to take back the Rohingyas but accordingly repatriate them in line with the 16 points those have been detailed in the draft resolution.







In the recent history the arrival of so many foreign ministers and senior bureaucrats of two important alliances in Bangladesh is taking place for the first time. Most importantly the Chinese foreign minister is also one of them. As expected, our foreign minister would be busy accompanying them to some of the refugee camps in Cox' Bazaar but just apart from travelling and holding discussions - it's crucial for the government to make the best out of their visits, meaning speed-up the repatriation process. Their visits would surely garner further international support for the Rohingyas.







However, the global support has understandably built-up but focus should now be how to translate that support into taking actions. That said - after the visit, the foreign ministers of Bangladesh and Germany are expected to travel together to Myanmar to attend the 13th Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the ASEM, the Asia-European political dialogue forum to enhance relations and various forms of cooperation between its partners. Besides Germany, we want all our European friends to address the crisis on behalf of Bangladesh. Last but not least, given the outcome of Thursday's passing of the draft resolution, the government should now come to understand -- who are our indisputable international friends and who are not. By now, it has lived in the fool's paradise for too long.






State sponsored Legal Aid needed for victims of family violence

Staff Reporter :

Speakers at a dialogue in the capital city on Saturday said that solution of the family related violence with the help of state sponsored legal aid is very much challenging.

"It is very necessary to help those women who are oppressed by family members. But it is very important also to solve family related violence with the help of state sponsored legal aid," Justice M. Enayetur Rahim, the Chairman, Legal Aid Committee, Bangladesh, said it while addressing the dialogue as the chief guest at CIRDAP auditorium, in the city.

Amrai Pari Paribarik Nirjaton Protirodh Jot organised the dialogue entitled 'To ensure legal aid through government sponsor systems to the victims of violence against women'.

The chief guest said, "It is necessary to give more powers to the legal aid committee. It is also important to strengthen the aid committee. The law of this regards should be amended."

The chairman said also that all of the incidents of family violence should not be taken to courts. Those should be solved through counseling.

To solve those problems, the NGO's and other social organisations should make the people conscious in this regards.

The chief guest said, "It is very urgent to make the legal aid committee more active. The districts and upazila committees should be formed soon.

He said also that some of the speakers asked for introducing 'one stop services' in legal aid. To implement this recommendation, the law need to be amended. Md. Golam Kibria, the Director (training) of the Judicial Administration Training Institution said, "We found there are not sufficient consultants in this field to plead for victims in family courts. People need to be more conscious."

Baroj Kumar Majumdar, the Deputy Inspector of Police Bureau of Investigation said that the police would take action after getting information about violence against women.

Sultana Kamal, the Chairperson of the Jot presided over the programme. Jeenat Ara Haque moderated it.

MB Aktar, Co-Chair of the Jot, Barrister Tapas Kanti Bol, Advocate Farida Yeasmin and Ruma Sultana from Manusher Jonno Foundation also delivered lectures among others.
Elizabeth II, Prince Philip celebrate 70 yrs of marriage

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip will spend their anniversary with other members of the royal family. Internet photo

AFP :

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip will celebrate their platinum wedding anniversary on November 20, marking 70 years since they married in the splendour of Westminster Abbey.

Despite three of their four children (Charles, Anne and Andrew) having divorced, this royal union has endured through the decades without any public hint of marital strife.

Now, they join a small club of couples who have spent seven decades together.

No events are planned to celebrate their landmark, but the bells of Westminster Abbey will ring at 1300 GMT in tribute.

Elizabeth and Philip will spend the day with other members of the royal family, a Buckingham Palace spokesman told AFP.

After 70 years of marriage it's a burgeoning clan, with four children, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

They expect to welcome a sixth great-grandchild in April, when Prince William and wife Kate Middleton's third child is due.

The 96-year-old Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, retired from the public eye this summer, enjoying his newfound free time reading and painting.

For her part the Queen, at 91, is slowly passing over some of her official duties to her son Prince Charles, now aged 69.

It was a version of love at first sight.

Elizabeth was aged just 13 when she first laid eyes on her future husband Philip, then a dashing 18-year-old blond army officer.

The pair may have met in their teens, but it would be eight years until the nation celebrated with pomp their fairy-tale wedding at Westminster's famous abbey on November 20, 1947.

The princess dazzled, dressed in a satin dress embroidered with roses and decorated with 10,000 pearls and sparkling crystals.

In this post-war period, it was "a flash of colour on the difficult road we're taking," said Winston Churchill, leader of a Conservative Party then in opposition.

Fresh memories of the war and fears of anti-German sentiment meant several of Prince Philip's German relatives-including his three surviving sisters-were not invited to the ceremony. Prior to the wedding, the Queen Mother asked her future son-in-law if he would cherish her daughter.

"Cherish Lilibet? I wonder if that word is enough to express what is in me," he replied, using the Queen's childhood nickname. He went on to say that he had "fallen in love completely and unreservedly" with her.

After their honeymoon-at Balmoral, the Scottish holiday estate of the royal family-the newlyweds moved to Malta where Philip, a naval officer, had been stationed.

However, the premature death of King George VI, in 1952, put an end to the more carefree life the young couple had adopted on the Mediterranean island, and propelled Elizabeth to the throne.

It also forced Philip to sacrifice his career in the Royal Navy to become the Queen's spouse.

The son of a Greek prince banished from the country, he renounced his titles and Greek Orthodox faith and became a British citizen to marry Elizabeth, adopting his mother's anglicised name, Mountbatten.

But their children would take the Queen's family name, Windsor. On his 90th birthday in 2011, she surprised her husband by making him Lord High Admiral, the titular head of the Royal Navy and a role she had held since 1964.

It was reported to be a show of gratitude for his decades of unstinting support as her consort.

That support has come alongside a steady stream of gaffes, sometimes with xenophobic hints, which the Queen appears to have forgiven him for.

"I think the main lesson that we have learnt is that tolerance is the one essential ingredient of any happy marriage," Philip said in a golden wedding anniversary speech in 1997.

"You can take it from me that The Queen has the quality of tolerance in abundance."
Abducted trader Aniruddha Roy returns home after 81 days

Aniruddha Kumar Roy, Managing Director of RMM Group, has returned home after 81 days keeping the law enforcement agencies apparently in the dark about the most mysterious adduction incident.

Family members of Aniruddha, especially his wife Saswati Roy, remained tight lipped about his returning and also refrained from picking up telephone.

One of the victim's family members on Saturday said he was left by unknown persons in front of his house at about 3:30 am on Thursday. But he could not elaborate how Aniruddha returned or who left him there.

Aniruddha, who was also Belarus' Honourary Consul to Bangladesh, was abducted by the unidentified kidnappers from in front of Union Bank at Gulshan-2 in the city on August 27.

As per CCTV footage collected by the police, a gang of three had forced Aniruddha to get into a microbus and hurriedly escaped the scene.

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police [Diplomatic Zone Security] Md Jasin Uddin refrained from making any comment about the adduction incident which had occurred in the well secured Gulshan area.

Officer-in-Charge of the Gulshan Police Station Abu Bakar Siddique told The New Nation on Saturday night, "We've heard from his nephew Kallol Hazra about Aniruddha's return in the small hours of Thursday. We're trying to talk to the victim to know the details."

When asked about the identity of criminals and progress of the abduction incident, the OC said: "Aniruddha's nephew filed a general diary with Gulshan Police Station after his abduction and we had launched an investigation in this connection. In fact, there is no progress in our investigation."

According to information available, Aniruddha was among at least 10 victims including a university teacher who went missing from the capital since August last.

Driver of Aniruddha's car said he was forcibly taken by a microbus which was waiting there from earlier. "Two unknown persons talked to him [Aniruddha] when he was boarding his own car. Suddenly another one pushed him into the microbus and escaped the scene."

The incident of abduction created so much sensation that Bangladesh Hindu-Bouddha-Christian Oikya Parishad had sought Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's intervention to rescue abducted Aniruddha and ensure his family's safety.

Meanwhile, the incidents of abductions and disappearance have increased in the recent days. Significantly, most of the incidents were allegedly occurred in the name of law enforcement agencies.

Surprisingly, the victims also do not open their mouths after their return.


UN spl rep calls for steps to protect Rohingyas from sexual violence

UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten has submitted her report on Cox's Bazar visit to the UN Secretary General and called for enhanced measures to protect and assist Rohingya survivors of sexual violence.

"The international community must come together to support the Government of Bangladesh to address this vast humanitarian and protection crisis," she said.

She visited Bangladesh from November 5 to 13 including Dhaka and Cox's Bazar, to better understand the nature, patterns and trends of sexual violence related to the conflict in Myanmar.

Her visit also assessed options for providing support to the government of Bangladesh, the United Nations system and other partners to ensure that the rights of conflict affected women and girls are respected and upheld in the settlements. Her office has agreed to develop a Framework of Cooperation with the government of Bangladesh, including relevant ministries, the armed and security services, the Islamic Foundation and the Independent National Human Rights Commission, focusing particularly on the documentation, training, capacity-building, and strengthening of sexual and genderbased violence services and programmes.

Bangladesh is also in the process of developing a National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, which is an important entry-point for action to address conflict-related sexual violence and other human rights violations against Rohingya women and girls.

United Nations Secretary-General Guterres has emphasised the "safe, voluntary, dignified, and sustainable return of refugees to Rakhine".

There is a long and complex history behind this crisis, including a vicious cycle of violence, deeply-rooted discrimination, and successive waves of displacement, all of which complicate the possibilities of a shortterm solution, according to a message UNB received from UN office in Dhaka on Friday night.

"Ultimately, we must be guided by the voices and perspectives of Rohingya women themselves. One survivor told me: I need land under my feet. I need to feel at home in my country, just as you are in yours".
Deliberate bid to fuel tensions

Kazi Zahidul Hasan :

A vested quarter is often circulating fake news, morphed images and doctored videos on social media in a deliberate attempt to fuel communal tensions and incite violence in the country.

Even they are systematically spreading remours, propaganda and hate speeches on Facebook pages to destroy the social fabric, intelligence sources said.

The Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) cyber unit has identified around 2,500 of such Facebook pages, which are using to incite communal hatred in the country.

More than four incidents of communal violence recorded in the last few years across the country following circulation of extremely offensive Facebook posts.

Such posts were soon reacted upon and thousands turned to the streets to take the law into their own hands attacking Hindu families and setting fire to their houses.

The incidents took place at Nasirnagar (Brahmanbaria), Bangram (Pabna), Ramu (Cox's Bazar) and Thakurpara (Rangpur).

Nasirnagar mayhem

On October 30 last year, a group of people launched attack on Hindus that left more than one hundred of their houses and some 17 temples vandalised and looted in Nasirnagar upazila of Brahmanbaria over an anti-Islamic post.

Police have so far arrested 109 people in eight cases filed for the attack and six have so far given confessional statements in the court.

Ramu havoc

Religious fanatics attacked Buddhist homes and temples in Ramu, Ukhia, Teknaf and Sadar upazila of Cox's Bazar on September 29 and 30 in 2012, following a Facebook post demeaning the Holly Quran. It was posted using a fake ID of Uttam Barua.

They destroyed 12 pagodas and more than 50 houses of Buddhist community in Ramu of Cox's Bazar. A forged Facebook profile of a Buddhist youth was used to instigate the crimes in a planned manner.

Bangram chaos

Religious zealots went on a rampage at Bangram in Sathia upazila of Pabna on November 2, 2013 attacking and looting the houses and shops of Hindu community members following reported derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the holy Quran on a Facebook account.

The attackers vandalised and looted 10-12 business establishments, 25-30 houses and three temples. They also torched the house of the alleged instigator, Rajib Shah, a Hindu boy.

Thakurpara mayhem

Protesting a Facebook post, hundreds of zealots attacked Thakurpara village in Rangpur Sadar upazila on November 10 this year. They torched 11 Hindu houses, vandalised many others and looted valuables from there.

A man was killed and about 20 others were injured after police fired rubber bullets and teargas shells to bring the situation under control.

The following day, police filed two cases with Gangachhara and Rangpur Sadar police stations over the attack, accusing 2,000 people, including named 28.

"A vested quarter is circulating photo-shopped image or spreading religious hatred through Facebook or other social media posts in a planned way. Such posts are often hurting the religious sentiments quickly inciting the mob to take laws in their own hands," CTTC cyber unit Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Alimuzzaman told The New Nation yesterday.

He said these Facebook pages are also being used by militant organisations to recruit members.

"We're yet to develop the mechanism to prevent the spread of hate speeches on social networking sites," he added.

Alimuzzaman said the government is in a talk with the Facebook authorities to strike a deal to identify fake Facebook IDs and deactivate them.

He also said intelligence agencies are working round the clock to monitor the Faceb0ook pages and contents which spreading hate speeches and remours to provoke communal violence. The CTTC official urged the people not to believe in any kind of rumours, which is benefiting trouble mongers.

"Rising attacks highlighted how vulnerable the minorities are in Bangladesh. This kind of vandalism done by the mob is of course condemnable. The law will punish those who take it into their own hands," a Hindu Community leader told The New Nation yesterday, seeking anonymity.

He said, "Bangladesh has a long history of communal harmony. But the recent growth in religious extremism has led to an escalation in general intolerance all around us leading to such communal violence".

"Culture of impunity and partisan interest also helped flare up such incidents," he added.

He called upon the religious leaders and administration to work together to maintain peace and religious harmony in the country. "The government and law enforcers should prioritize safety and protection of rights of the minority communities after the rise of communal violence in Bangladesh," he added.
UNESCO recognition honour for the country

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addressing a grand rally organized by Nagorik Committee to celebrate the recognition of the Historic 7th March Speech of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by UNESCO as a World Documentary Herilage at Suhra

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said the recognition of the historic 7th March speech of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by Unesco is the revenge of history against those who had tried to erase his name and contributions from Bangladesh history.

"History takes its revenge, history always upholds the truth and history will make his (Bangabandhu's) place defying all those who try to erase that. Today, Bangladesh has got that recognition," she said.

The Prime Minister said this while addressing a grand rally organised to celebrate the recognition of the historic 7th March speech of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as a world documentary heritage.

Nagorik Committee organised the rally at historical Suhrawardy Udyan with Professor Emeritus Dr Anisuzzaman in the chair.

Sheikh Hasina said the recognition of Unesco does not bring honour only for the historic speech, but also for the whole country, Bengalee nation, all the martyrs and freedom fighters, and the pro-liberation forces. "All have been honoured with the recognition of this historical speech."Eminent educationist and Nazrul researcher Prog Rafiqul Islam, eminent educationist and popular novelist Prof Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, eminent journalist and editor of Samakl newspaper Golam Sarwar and eminent educationist Shyamoli Nasrin Chowdhury also spoke at the programme.

Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor recited a poem of legendary litterateur Syed Shamsul Huq on the occasion while eminent poet Nirmelandu Goon recited his own famous poem 'Jevabe Swadhinata Shobdo Ti Amader'.

Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader read out the 'Letter of Thanks' to Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) Irina Bokova. It was handed over to the country director of Unesco to send it to the DG.

The programme started with the playing of the national anthem followed by observing a one-minute silence to show respect to all the martyrs.

People from all walks of life, including AL leaders and activists, thronged the venue in processions with banners, festoons, placards, caps and other materials. They were chanting slogans 'Joy Bangla' and 'Joy Bangabandhu'.

The stage was designed like a boat, the election symbol of ruling Awami League.

The 7th March speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was being played on loudspeaker well before the start of the programme.

On October 30, Unesco recognised the Bangabandhu's historic March 7 speech as part of the world's documentary heritage. Unesco Director General Irina Bokova announced the decision at the Unesco Headquarters, Paris.

According to the decision, Bangabandhu's 7th March speech has been included in the Memory of the World International Register, a list of the world's important documentary heritage maintained by Unesco.

Hasina said history could not be erased through hectic attempts and this has been proved again with Unesco's recognition of the historic7th Marchspeech of Bangabandhu. She questioned those who had banned this speech and tried to erase the name of the Father of the Nation from country's history saying, "How're they feeling now after this recognition? Don't they feel ashamed of themselves? I don't know whether they have any shame or not because they are the ghosts of the Pakistani occupational forces," Hasina said. The Prime Minister said although these people live in Bangladesh, they are the flatters of Pakistan. "That's why they wanted to distort the history," she said. Hasina said this section failed to erase the spirit of the Liberation War from the heart of the people of this country. "The great sorrow for us is that the citizens of Bangladesh killed Father of the Nation and tried to vanish the historic speech and banned it." Hasina, also the chief of the ruling Awami League, said those who came to power illegally by killing the Father of the Nation are responsible for this heinous acts. "They were not born in this soil...they don't have any affection for this land." The Prime Minister called on the people of the country to remain alert so that this section of people cannot get any more chance to do the same. "I request you all to remain alert so that the ghosts and flatters of the Pakistani occupational forces must not get any chance to manipulate the country's history." Briefly describing various achievements of her government that put Bangladesh in a respectable position at the global stage, Hasina said the people of the country should build themselves so that the rising head of the country must bow down by any means. "The Father of the Nation wanted to see a developed and prosperous nation...we are moving towards that end, the Bengalee nation should prepare itself for that," she said.


RU abducted student rescued in Dhaka

Staff Reporter :

The Rajshahi University student, who was kidnapped from the campus allegedly by her former husband on Friday, was rescued from the capital's Mohammadpur area on Saturday afternoon.

A special team of the Detective Branch of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) rescued the victim, Umme Shahi Ammana Shova, a final year undergraduate student of the Department of Bangla.

The law enforcers also arrested her ex-husband Shohel Rana from the spot, police said.

Iftekhayer Alam, Assistant Commissioner of RMP, said that the victim and the arrestee were on the way to Rajshahi till the filing of the report at 10:00pm.

Proctor of the university Dr Lutfor Rahman, quoting witnesses, said Shova was forced into a microbus by her estranged husband and three of his unidentified accomplices when she came out of dormitory to sit for an exam.

"Shova, who hails from Mahadebpur upazila of Naogaon, got married to Shohel Rana in December last year. But Shova's father filed for a divorce just two months ago. Sohel might have masterminded the abduction since he was against the separation," the RU proctor said. Shohel came to meet Shova in front of the student dormitory on Friday morning when she along with her friend was heading towards their examination hall. A heated altercation ensued between the duo as Sohel tried to stop Shova from attending the examination, Dr. Rahman said.

At one stage, Sohel with the help of his aides picked up her in the microbus he was traveling on, said the proctor.

Contacted, Vice Chancellor Professor Abdus Sobhan, "We are trying our best to bring her back her. It's our responsibility to help her family." The fourth year Bangla student was abducted by her former husband, Shohel Rana of Naogaon from the university campus around 8:30am on Friday.

The abductor forced her into a microbus in front of Taposhi Rabeya Hall when she came out of her dormitory to appear at the final examination, according to the VC.

According to the family of the student, she got married to Shohel in December last year, but they got divorced two months back. Shova's father filed an abduction case against Shohel, his father, and four of his family members, said Officer-in-Charge of Motihar Police Station Mehedi Hasan.

He said Shohel's father has been arrested in Naogaon.

The victim's father said, "I have talked to my daughter at 7:20 in the morning for the last time. Later, around 8:25am, I got a call from my daughter's friend, who informed me about her kidnapping." "Then I informed my relatives in Rajshahi," he added. Meanwhile, around 4:00pm yesterday, more than 300 students started a demonstration and staged a sit-in in front of the Vice Chancellor's residence. They gave a two-hour ultimatum to the authorities to bring her back. One of the protestors said, "A student was picked up from an open place like the university. The authorities are responsible for this. It's their duty to protect us, but they failed."
China to help resolve Rohingya crisis neutrally, says its FM Wang Yi

As a friend of Bangladesh, China will help resolve the Rohingya issue without being biased, said visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday.

He also stressed the importance of continued consultations and dialogue between Bangladesh and Myanmar on the issue.

The Chinese Foreign Minister, now on an official visit to Bangladesh, made the remarks when the issue of exodus of displaced Myanmar nationals was raised during a bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali. Wang Yi acknowledged that Bangladesh bears the brunt of non-stop influx of Rohingya people into Bangladesh and said as a friend of Bangladesh and Myanmar, China wants the problem to be solved peacefully.

He also promised continued humanitarian assistance for the Rohingyas in Bangladesh.

Foreign Minister Mahmood Ali said Bangladesh remains engaged bilaterally with Myanmar for the solution to the problem and will look forward to China's support for the early return of the Rohingyas to their homeland with dignity and safety.

Major issues of bilateral and regional interests were discussed at the meeting, said Mahmood Ali.

During the discussion, the Chinese Foreign Minister expressed satisfaction at the progress of decisions taken and the agreements signed during the visit of President Xi Jinping to Bangladesh in October last year.

He also conveyed China's commitment to continue to extend financial assistance to Bangladesh for its socio-economic development.

Wang Yi emphasized the need for connectivity for peace and prosperity in the region.

Regarding bilateral trade between China and Bangladesh, the Chinese Foreign Minister assured that China will take measures to reduce the trade deficit.

Earlier in Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman said Wang Yi is in Bangladesh to exchange views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual concerns during his two visits.

On the Rakhine state issue, he said China continues encouraging dialogue between Bangladesh and Myanmar to find a solution to the problem through friendly consultations.

Both the Foreign Ministers had a lengthy meeting that began at 1 pm at state guesthouse 'Meghna' in the city.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam, Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque and Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ma Mingqaing attended the meeting.

Wang Yi's Dhaka visit comes hard on the heel of China's opposition to a UN resolution on Thursday for ending the military operations by Myanmar that led to "the systematic violation and abuse of human rights" against the country's Rohingya community.

Some 620,000 Rohingya entered Bangladesh fleeing persecution in Rakhine state of Myanmar since August 25.

The Chinese Foreign Minister is scheduled to leave Dhaka on Sunday for Myanmar capital.

Wang Yi will join the 13th foreign ministers' meeting of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on November 20 and 21.




NSI man allegedly demanded Tk 2cr

Human chain formed by Manikganj Jewellers for recovery of looted gold

Md Joynal Abedin Khan :

An NSI official has allegedly demanded an extortion of Tk 2 crore from Manikganj Jewellery Shilpa Samity just one week ago of the sensational Nag Jewellers robbery.

The district jewellery shop traders made the allegation from a human chain on Dhaka- Aricha highway on Saturday. They said the robbery occurred at Nag Jewellers at Shwarnaker in the district town after Asif Chowdhury, Assistant Director of National Security Intelligence, demanded the extortion.

They demanded recovery of the looted gold and ornament immediately and proper investigation into the alleged extortion demand linking it the robbery, said Raghunath Roy, the General Secretary of the samity.

He also demanded proper immediate arrest of the culprits involved in the incident.

Around 200 jewellery shops under the samity remained shut on Saturday to protest against the robbery.

The traders expressed grave concern over the robbery and sought protection from the concerned authority.

"We are investigating the link of the robbery and other suspected person with the crime," said Habibullah Sarker, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Manikganj Police Station.Raghunath Roy told The New Nation yesterday, "Asif demanded extortion of Tk 2 crore from the president of the samity. When he refused to pay the money, the NSI official then reduced the amount to Tk 70 lakh."

Earlier, police arrested a robber along with some looted gold ornaments after a brief exchange of fire in Saturia bus stand area on Wednesday night.

Arrested Sohel Molla, 30, was involved with the Wednesday evening's robbery at Nag Jewellers, said Mahfuzur Rahman, Superintendent of Police, Manikganj.

A microbus, a motorcycle, a foreign made pistol, six bullets, 11 cocktails and two machetes were also recovered, he said.

The SP said departmental action would be taken against the NSI official if he was involved with the extortion allegation.




MINOT -- Bond was set at $1 million Friday for a 38-year-old Minot woman accused of murdering a man with three gunshot wounds to the chest and stomach early Thursday morning in an apparent disagreement with two men at a Minot home.

The bond was set when Kommika Katrice Gregory made an initial appearance in court on the Class AA felony murder charge, which could send her to prison for life without parole.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case, Gregory shot the man, 58-year-old Ronald Stanley Thompson, multiple times at a south Minot residence.. A witness called police at 7:54 a.m. to report the shooting.

Thompson was found dead lying on the living room floor of the residence. Police found three nine millimeter casings at the scene.

The witness, who was not identified, told police that Thompson had been a guest at his residence.

The witness said that he had been sleeping when he heard someone knock on his door. Gregory, his ex-girlfriend, then came into his bedroom, threatened to harm him and demanded that he leave with her.

Thompson then came into the room and told Gregory she needed to leave. The group of three eventually went into the living room. Thompson kept telling Gregory she needed to leave. Then the witness heard gunshots and saw that Thompson had been shot. Gregory then took the gun and left the residence.

Police then went to Gregory's residence, where her preteen son had been left home alone overnight. The boy told Detective Cassidy Halseth that he had called his mother that morning. The cell phone showed a call made shortly after 8 a.m. Halseth called the number and spoke with Gregory, who told him she hadn't wanted "it to go down that way" and she took responsibility for her actions. She said she would turn herself in, but did not. Gregory was apprehended by law enforcement near New Town about 75 miles away around 4 p.m.

A preliminary hearing in the case has been scheduled for Dec. 19 before Judge Gary Lee, according to court records.
U.S. Sen. John Thune set South Dakota history by winning his fourth Senate term. He became the second South Dakota senator to win four terms, defying what is known in local political circles as the Curse of Karl" because Sen. Karl Mundt was the only politician to accomplish the feat. But it's not clear whether Thune's party will hold the majority after a midterm election in which the GOP failed to meet expectations of a sweeping victory. Thune says he wants to stay focused on solutions, especially on inflation, rather than bombastic politics. He is also pressing for his party to look beyond former President Donald Trump's influence.
If you are looking for the new Immoral Minority posts, you should know that they can be found here at our new home Please stop by to get caught up on politics, join the conversations, or simply check out the new digs.
GOLCONDA  The U.S. Department of Labor received more than 150 comments in September and October on its proposed closure of the Golconda Job Corps Center, almost all of them pleas for the federal government to reopen the site that for years served as a residential job-training facility for at-risk youth in deep Southern Illinois.

Department of Labor spokesman Egan Reich said this past week that the department is reviewing the feedback it received during the comment period that recently closed. He declined further comment at this time, though provided a July 18 letter to USDA Forest Service Chief Thomas Tidwell from Lenita Jacobs-Simmons, national director of DOLs Office of Job Corps outlining some of the agencys concerns about the Golconda site that prompted a temporary closure.

Not long after the temporary closure, the agency proposed the sites permanent closure, prompting the public comment period that ended in late October.

The Forest Service-operated Civilian Conservation Centers like the one in Golconda operates via an interagency agreement between DOL and the USDA, the Forest Services parent agency.

The Job Corps program dates back to 1964.

It was part of President Lyndon B. Johnson administrations War on Poverty and Great Society initiatives that sought to expand economic and social opportunities, especially for minorities and the poor. The programs provide job training to young people ages 16 to 24.

The letter cites a long-standing history of discipline and safety issues on campus, including an inability to comply with Job Corps discipline policy, the centers inability to adequately notify the department of serious incidents, and the centers inability to ensure that students are provided a safe, healthy, and secure learning environment.

According to DOLs letter, leadership failures at the Golconda center resulted in the discontinuation of its Culinary Arts program in 2015 because of health and hygiene deficiencies that persisted despite warnings in 2013 and 2014 to correct them.

As well, it states that in June 2015, Golconda staff called 911 to report a riot on center which resulted in 10 deputies arriving on campus to arrest a student who the director later decided to retain even after a fact-finding board voted to dismiss the student. This serious incident was followed by three telephone calls from the center to law enforcement for assistance over two days in July 2015, one of which involved 50 or more people running toward the police across the front yard area, shouting and screaming as if they were going to fight, according to the DOLs letter.

DOL also accused the leaders of the Golconda center of failing to properly and fully report the details of this incident to the department, as well as that of other serious incidents. The letter states that in October 2016, the Forest Service staff at the Golconda center misled DOL regarding an incident where staff lost track of dozens of intoxicated students, leading to a brief suspension of enrollment at the center. Upon restoration of enrollment rights, serious issues continued to plague the center, the letter claims.

It further states that in May 2017, a student with a history of negative behavioral incidents, including two for which the student should have been dismissed from the program if found responsible, assaulted three staff members, resulting in the hospitalization of one for treatment of facial injuries.

The incident resulted in the Pope County States Attorneys Office filing four felony charges against the student, according to DOL. Had Golconda leadership followed the clear and established rules of the program, the attack leading to the four felony charges would not have occurred, as the student would have been terminated prior to the incident, the letter stated.

On Aug. 3, U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth and Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, whose district includes Pope County, wrote a letter to DOL stating that while they believed Job Corps programs should be held responsible for maintaining a safe environment, at the same time, we should not abandon communities and youth by closing low-performing centers without making a concerted effort to reopen these centers in way that guarantees safety and a productive leaning environment.

The decision to suspend operations at the Golconda Job Corps Center has serious consequences for the surrounding region and disconnected youth the Center serves. We hope that DOL and the Forest Service will do everything possible to make sure this closure is temporary, they wrote in the joint letter.

DOL Deputy Assistant Secretary Byron Zuidema responded to Illinois federal lawmakers by writing that over the past several years, the agency has made numerous attempts to address these issues with the U.S. Forest Service and the centers leadership staff.

However, despite the introduction of multiple new procedures on-center and the efforts of numerous different center directors, the operation of the center did not improve, Zuidema stated in his return letter. After careful assessment, DOL determined that Golcondas problems were so intractable that it was necessary to temporarily close the center to ensure the health and safety of the students and staff.

The students were transferred to other centers, he wrote. Further, he wrote that DOL is taking steps to ensure resources are used to deliver the best possible services to students, and that as part of those ongoing efforts the department may determine that closing a center or centers will allow for the more effective, efficient provision of high-quality services to its students.

The Job Corps centers have been the focus of two recent reports by the DOLs investigatory arm in February 2015 and March 2017. Those reports cite numerous examples of management across the nations 125 centers misreporting serious incidents to the agency. As well, DOLs Office of Job Corps was criticized for failing to provide adequate oversight to ensure center compliance. The 2015 report showed numerous centers with as many or more serious student misconduct infractions as compared with the statistics for Golcondas center.

In an August 2015 Washington Post article titled After murders and other violence, federal Job Corps program comes under scrutiny, Luiz Santos, a spokesman for the DOL Inspector Generals Office, was quoted as saying, There have now been two homicides in the last four months. Its really raised the bar for us in terms of looking at this program. This is very serious. Still, neither the 2015 nor the 2017 OIG reports singled out the Golconda facilities, or mentioned specific incidents there as part of the reviews.

The cited homicides took place in 2015 at the St. Louis Job Corps and the Homestead Job Corps in Miami-Dade County, Florida. In the latter case, five students are accused of murdering a fellow 17-year-old student with a machete and then having sex near the body before returning to campus. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against the accused ring leader in that still-pending case, according to the Miami Herald.

The Homestead Job Corps Center was shut down on a temporary basis after that incident, though DOL only proposed its permanent closure in August, roughly a month before posting the permanent closure announcement of the Golconda site to the Federal Register. It does not appear that DOL has taken action to close the St. Louis center.

The newspaper sent several follow-up questions to Reich asking for more details on how the Golconda center was chosen for closure given that safety issues and misreporting of serious incidents are widespread, according to the OIG reports. On Friday afternoon, Reich responded, At this time, we dont have anything further than what has already been provided.

Below are a few examples of the comments people have left for the Department of Labor to consider:

"As a high school teacher at Golconda Job Corps, I worry about the future of America's disadvantaged youth in our region. My classroom had students from Southside Chicago, East St. Louis, and Detroit who needed my help to become productive citizens. I left a teaching position at a public school to teach at Golconda Job Corps because I wanted to make a difference. I feel my goal of educating America's underprivileged youth has been stolen from me.  Richard Parker

Not only does the closure of Golconda Job Corps cause the employees and students to suffer it causes the community to as well. I have lived in Hardin County since I was born and can always remember as a kid going to visit my father at work. I always enjoyed the students and always remember how thankful I was that GJCC was there for such a great opportunity for the students in our area.  Ally Lowery

Southeastern Illinois Regional Planning and Development Commission would like to express our concern for the proposed closure of the Golconda Job Corp. As the local development district we are always discouraged when an organization that provides employment and extensive job training closes. This will not only impact just the Pope County area but the Hardin County and Saline County areas as well. Many people drive and work at the Golconda Job Corp from the surrounding area counties. The proposed closure will impact the local economy by loss of payroll and benefits for the employees as well as loss of revenue for local businesses that the Golconda Job Corp supported." Alene Carr

Has anyone checked out the Office of Inspector Generals website that has two criminal cases of contract centers defrauding the government. Please do. You never see a conservation center staff on such a list nor do we have killings at our centers. Don't be mistaken in believing contract centers are cheaper or safer to run than a government conservation center. Look for youself, ask DOL for the figures!"  Deena Hubbard

"I am the state's attorney of Massac County, Illinois. Massac County is located on the southern tip of Illinois and borders Pope County, where the Golconda Job Corps Center is located. Our county and region are served by the Golconda Job Corps Center. I am strongly opposed to the closing of the Golconda Job Corps Center and request the administration reconsider its decision. Extreme southern Illinois has some of the highest levels of unemployment and poverty in the state. We have also lost a significant percentage of our population relative to other parts of Illinois. The problems we face are caused in large part by declining opportunities caused by a poor business climate and also by private and public facilities, such as the Job Corps Center, closing. The loss of additional jobs in our already struggling region would be devastating."  Patrick Windhorst

I wouldn't be the same person I am today without the center's help, there was bad days on center, but there's bad days on every center. Once a person gets into the right state of mind in Golconda, anybody could do greatness and graduate from there. What Golconda really did for me is prepare me for the real working world, not to mention my h.s. diploma which is the foundation for good jobs or furthering my education.  Sir David Anderson

I attended Golconda Job Corps in the early 90s. It was a life changer for me. I found this to be the best way for me to learn. The compassion of the teachers and staff, I can't say enough... They not only helped me attain my GED but the life lessons, guidance and personal advice I could have never received in a traditional setting. I think it would be a true loss to the youth that come from all over to receive what a traditional school is unable to adequately meet or willing to guide you through troubled water because youre being "too much work". It wasn't for lack of trying, for me, but the overcrowding and lack of interest and patience the public schools offered. I related so much more to the advisors at Golconda Job Corps than any other facility, they genuinely cared about me. I thank them for all they helped me achieve and pray they will be able to continue helping our youth today."  Shannon L, Orrs Island, Maine
Trend:

The Southern Gas Corridor project plays an important role in ensuring the energy security of Europe, Maros Shefovic, Vice President of the European Commission on Energy Union Affairs said at a meeting with Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov on a visit to Belgium, The Energy Ministry of Azerbaijan told Trend on Nov. 17.

According to the report, the meeting noted the high level of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU in various fields, including in the energy sector. Parviz Shahbazov spoke about the contribution made by long-term cooperation with the structures of the European Union in the energy sector in the process of modernization of the energy infrastructure of Azerbaijan, the improvement of legislation in this area. Having informed about the progress of the work on the Southern Gas Corridor project, the Minister expressed the hope that the work on the Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP) will be completed on time.

Noting, in turn, that the project "Southern Gas Corridor" plays a big role in ensuring the energy security of Europe, Maros Shefovich said that the European Commission will continue to support this project.

The meeting also discussed preparations for the next ministerial meeting within the framework of the Consultative Council of the Southern Gas Corridor, part of the new Agreement on Strategic Partnership between the European Union and Azerbaijan concerning energy cooperation, the issues of Azerbaijan's cooperation with the European Commission and the European Union within the EU4Energy program.
US-based Virgin Hyperloop One, a start-up developing super high-speed transportation systems, is working on an ambitious plan to connect the entire Gulf region through an ultra-fast tube transportation system, which will operate at a velocity of 1,100 km per hour.

The company has already signed an agreement with the Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz Philanthropic Foundation (also known as the Misk Foundation) for this hitech transportation system and to train Saudi youth on engineering and technical skills, reported Arab News.

On behalf of the Misk Foundation, the agreement was inked by Bader Al Asaker, secretary-general of the Misk Foundation.

The proposed ultra-fast tube transportation means that a vehicle would run through a tube at a velocity of 1,100 km for an hour, which could quickly connect countries in the region, revealed Josh Giegel, the founder of US-based Virgin Hyperloop One.

"It will be two to three times faster and cheaper than the high-speed train," he stated.

The details of the project, such as routes of operations inside as well as outside the kingdom, will be discussed with the Saudi parties shortly, Giegel told Arab News.

He pointed out that such ultra-fast transportation was also ideal for inland transport.

Within a span of two years, Giegel said Hyperloop One has assembled a team of more than 300 world-class experts, and built a campus in downtown Los Angeles, a test and safety site in the Nevada desert, and a 100,000-sq-ft. machine and tooling shop in North Las Vegas.

Pointing out the interest of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in empowering Saudi youths under the Vision 2030 programme, Giegel said his company had agreed to offer internships for Saudi youths in Los Angeles and train technicians and engineers in relevant fields.

"We are ready to train them in their own fields and update them with the latest technology in the digital world," he added.
Beeah, a leading regional environmental management company based in Sharjah, UAE, has awarded a major contract to Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, an Italian multi-disciplinary design practice, to design the interiors of its new, futuristic headquarters.

As per the agreement, Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel will provide bespoke furniture, fixture, equipment and interior design services for Bee'ah's new, iconic headquarters in Sharjah.

The iconic complex, which will be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy sources, was designed by the late Zaha Hadid, a world-renowned and award-winning architect, said a statement from the Emirati company.

The landmark building will be the first in the UAE to be powered by green renewable energy and is expected to achieve the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (Leed) Platinum certification, the green-building standard's highest rating, it stated.

Its ultra-low carbon, minimal water consumption and efficient use of materials during construction, embody sustainable principles, it added.

Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel is a specialist in the fields of architecture, interior and urban design and renowned for its exceptional work and ranks among the most distinguished designers in the world.

Its timeless, world-class esigns have led to its success globally, spanning continents and catering to some of the worlds most illustrious establishments.

Some of its most recent projects include the interior design of the Bulgari Hotel Beijing, located in the heart of the Embassy District in Chinas capital city. In addition, the Italian group's portfolio includes the Bulgari Hotels & Resorts in Milan, London and Dubai; the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and the Ermenegildo Zegna group headquarters in Milan.

"It is an incredible honour to bring our expertise in interior design principles to such a prestigious project. We have designed many acclaimed projects all over the globe but this project is unique for our company," said its co-founding principal Antonio Citterio after signing the deal with Salim Al Owais, the chairman of Beeah at the group's office in Milan.

"It will simultaneously be a landmark that will stand the test of time as well as a monument to environmental sustainability, which is among Antonio Citterio Patricia Viels foundational values," he stated in the presence of Group CEO Khaled Al Huraimel and Abdullah Hassan Al Shamsi, Consul-General of the UAE in Milan.

Beeah pointed out that this signing was with yet another world-renowned entity, following agreements with Zaha Hadid Architects and Al Futtaim Carillion. It demonstrates top companies in their respective industries working together to create Bee'ahs landmark of sustainability.

"We have always prided ourselves on implementing best-in-class practices and forming alliances with global specialists to execute ambitious projects," remarked Al Owais.

"One of our most ambitious projects to date is our new headquarters, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. Through this agreement, we look forward to utilising their unique aesthetics to complement the design of the headquarters to achieve our vision of creating an architectural icon of sustainability," he added.-TradeArabia New Service
Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), in collaboration with the management of the Global Village, has endorsed a plan for operating electricity-powered abras to serve visitors of that popular leisure destination.

The deployment of abras on the Water Canal of the Global Village has been quite popular over the past eight years, it stated.

"RTA is always keen on running the abra service with the start of the Global Village season in November each year, especially as abras had proved extremely popular among visitors," remarked Mansour Al Falasi, the director of Marine Transport, RTA Public Transport Agency.

"The growing popularity of the Abra service contributes to the growth of tourist numbers in the Global Village. The RTA is keen on taking part in this annual event, which runs for about five months," said Al Falasi.

"The service is part of our vision to generate a positive experience to this annual event by availing riders an opportunity to board a transit means powered by renewable energy. The positive response is evident from the huge footfall of residents and visitors," he noted.

The Authority is keen on running integrated transit services, including electric abras, to meet the growing public demand and realise its vision of safe and smooth transport for all.

In collaboration with the Global Village management, the RTA provides stylish mobility options featuring modern, and eco-friendly transit means with heritage-inspired design, said Al Falasi.

Through this co-ordination the RTA will do what it takes to run diverse mobility means for Global Village visitors to maximise their enjoyment of the lovely wintry conditions each year," he added.
Jazeera Airways, Kuwaits leading low cost airline operating regionally and internationally, has relaunched its India operations with daily flights to southern city of Hyderabad, its first destination.

This new service will address surging travel demands with low cost fares at convenient frequencies for leisure, business or religious travel, said a statement from the Kuwaiti airline.

Upon arrival at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, Jazeera Airways, which flew in its media partners and travel agents from Kuwait, was greeted in style.

Flight J9 608 took off from Kuwait International Airport on November 16 at 6.40pm and landed in Hyderabad at 1.35am early morning.

To mark the special occasion, all 165 passengers flying from Kuwait to Hyderabad received a gift box of traditional Kuwaiti sweets.

The return flight J9 608 will depart Hyderabad at 02.20 am and arrive in Kuwait at 05.10 am. The new evening route has a weekly capacity of 4,000 seats and allows passengers to conveniently enjoy a full day at their destination.

The Kuwaiti budget carrier held a joint press conference with GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) to celebrate the grand launch. This will be followed by flights to the south Indian city of Kochi, financial hub Mumbai and Ahmedabad early next year as the airline expands its network to serve its Indian sub-continent targeting the nearly 1 million Indian nationals residing in Kuwait.

Addressing the gathering, Jazeera Airways CEO Rohit Ramachandran said: "This is a proud moment for us marking the expansion of our network in to India. We are delighted to start with Hyderabad, a 400-year old city and a technology hub, bringing more choice to Indian travellers, connecting them to Kuwait, Riyadh, Jeddah, Bahrain and Dubai."

"In addition, we offer for religious travelers connections to Taif in Saudi Arabia, Najaf (Iraq), Mashad (Iran) and Amman for the holy land," noted Ramachandran.

"India is a financial and tourist powerhouse and we are eager to capitalize on the enormous opportunities ahead," he added.

SGK Kishore, the chief executive of GHIAL, said: "We welcome Jazeera Airways to Hyderabad and we are very happy to note that they have chosen Hyderabad Airport as their first Indian destination."

"We are confident that this will further boost the tourism potential between India and various tourist destinations in the Middle East including Kuwait, Iran, Jordan and Egypt among others. With the largest domestic network in the region, Hyderabad Airport is best placed to serve as the Gateway to South and Central India and the launch of this new service to Kuwait by Jazeera Airways is a testament to this fact," he added.-TradeArabia News Service